


Gladiator

by Seyary_Minamoto



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2018-01-07 05:59:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 135
Words: 1,569,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1116350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seyary_Minamoto/pseuds/Seyary_Minamoto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation has taken over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Princess, who needs him for her own ends...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Little do we think of how fortuitous the circumstances were during the times of Avatar Aang. Not often do we realize everything could have turned out very differently had only one factor been removed. The removal of said factor would allow for endless possibilities to unveil themselves. For what would have happened if Katara hadn't tagged along on that fishing trip with her brother Sokka? What if she had decided to stay behind to help her grandmother with her chores?_

_The changes on the story that was already written would be unimaginable… the world as we came to know it wouldn't exist. To picture such developments may be unfathomable… but who is to say it wasn't likely? Who is to declare it was impossible? Certainly, the story as we know it wouldn't have been written… but a different story would have been born instead._

_A story where the struggle to save the world is not in the manner we envisioned, where a different war wages in the form of fighters who strive to prove their worth through their bending or their weapons. A tale where the least expected love story unfolds, changing the way a Princess sees the world, changing the way a young man makes a name for himself when he takes upon the challenge of becoming…_

_GLADIATOR_

Staring into the white horizon anxiously had become, to Katara's utter displeasure, her most recurrent activity nowadays. She had started doing it when her brother had decided to join the war in hopes to force the Fire Nation out of their home. He had left the Tribe a week ago, and she couldn't even bother practicing her waterbending forms because of how concerned she was over his fate. Ever since she was a kid she had grown used to this way of life: sitting by the edge of the village, waiting for the warriors to return… and returned they had, most of them. But by now, hardly any warriors from the Southern Water Tribe were involved in the war, for there wasn't much of a war to be fought anymore.

With their skills enhanced by the power of Sozin's Comet, the firebenders had taken over the world much faster than anyone anticipated. The Earth Kingdom had collapsed when the overpowered firebenders had taken over Ba Sing Se and most of the major Earth Kingdom towns; not even Kyoshi Island had gotten away from the slaughter. The balance between the Four Nations was little more than a myth at this point in time, and not even Katara could hold on to the hope of the Avatar returning anymore. She had to face reality: the Fire Nation had won the war, and the one thing the Southern Water Tribe could do was attempt to stand their ground for as long as possible before the Fire Nation came for them, too.

Not many firebenders could endure the cold environment of the poles. They were far more comfortable in the warmth of tropical regions, where the sun would shine brightly nearly every day, providing them with the strength they needed to burn down everything in their way. The poles' dynamics were very difficult for them to bear, since the sun would shine during six months, but it would be absent for the rest of the year, weakening any firebender greatly.

The light period was about to end in the South Pole, but the six months of sunlight hadn't gone without a hitch. While they'd had the upper hand on the Northern Water Tribe after over five years of fighting, the Fire Nation's forces had split, and part of their navy had moved down to the South. After a few battles against the natives, they had taken over a small territory of the icy tundra, marking it as their land and instating a large, metal building to prove their might. However, only a handful of guards would stand by this newly obtained territory, due to how difficult it was for Fire Nation soldiers to survive in this environment.

Taking advantage of this fact, Sokka and the best warriors of the Southern Water Tribe were getting ready to attack the Fire Nation settlement. He had taken his most reliable supporters with him, the kids he had trained in the art of fighting ever since he was scarcely a teenager himself; they had grown to admire him and follow his every command over time. Currently they were on a scouting mission, or so Sokka had claimed, to obtain more information regarding the Fire Nation's new base. Hakoda, the Tribe's Chieftain and Sokka's father, hadn't approved of those plans, but Sokka was a daring young man, twenty-one winters old, determined to fight back against the Fire Nation's advances in whichever way he could.

Thus, Katara was left to await her brother's return by the edge of the village, hoping he would be back before the darker half of the year began. It was already quite hard to face the coldest temperatures while inside the village, and the weather during the dark period, outside the walls of the Southern Water Tribe, could prove deadly. Katara shook her head, trying to shun such gloomy thoughts from her mind, but she was unable to do so. She could never contain her concern for her brother when he left for too long…

"Dinner is ready, Katara," said an elderly woman, who had silently joined her granddaughter outside the village a short moment ago.

The girl turned and smiled kindly at Kanna.

"Thanks, Gran Gran," she muttered. "I'll go in a bit, I'm just waiting…"

"Katara… it will be better if you come inside," said Kanna. "You need to rest properly. The dark period is coming; it won't do you good to spend so much time out in the cold."

"For that matter, you're the last one who should tell me that," said Katara, turning to her elderly grandmother. "Let's both go inside, Gran Gran."

Kanna smiled and headed inside the village again. Katara followed suit, but she turned around for one last glimpse of the horizon. She could only hope to see a shadowy figure far away, walking towards her, clad in his warrior outfit, waving at her… She smiled sadly as she saw a humanoid shape far away, for she was certain her mind was playing tricks on her. She had seen Sokka return like that so many times that she was already seeing things… only, she was actually seeing something now. She rubbed her eyes with her gloved hands, and the shape was still there.

"Sokka?" she called, surprising Kanna, who had thought her granddaughter was right behind her.

More shapes appeared in the far horizon, all of them clad in the typical blue armor of Water Tribe Warriors. The one leading all of them was beaming and waving, his carefree attitude giving away his identity with ease.

"Sokka!" yelled Katara, smiling and sprinting towards him.

She swung her arms around his neck and embraced her brother once she reached him. Sokka chuckled and hugged her too, surprised by how much she had missed him only after a week of being apart.

"I'm back, Katara," he said, and she smiled as she pulled away from him.

"I was so worried! You guys took too long to come back this time!" she exclaimed, scolding her older brother, as ever.

Sokka grinned guiltily at her accusations. The other warriors walked by them as Sokka patted his sister on the top of her head, and they were amused to watch their fearsome leader being treated like a little kid.

"I know, Katara, I know, and I'm sorry about that. But you'll see we were worth the wait!" he said, smiling widely. "We've got some great information this time… you'll be amazed when you hear it. We'll finally have a chance to kick those Fire Nation invaders out and send them back to that slice of hell they belong in."

Katara stared at him with concern again, uneasy about her brother's ploys to beat the Fire Nation. She hated everything about the invaders, she always had… but life in the Tribe had been calm these last few days, and she didn't wish for the small peace they had achieved to be broken in any way. Whatever plan Sokka was devising to tear apart the Fire Nation settlement on the South Pole promised to disrupt said peace, and it might destroy it altogether.

"Are you sure about this, Sokka?" asked Katara, but he ignored her question as he walked to greet his grandmother.

"Hey, Gran Gran!" he called her, and Kanna grinned, hugging him tightly.

"We were worried sick about you, Sokka," said Kanna. "Don't leave for so long again, I beg you."

"I won't leave for a whole week again, I promise," he told her. "But I do have to take off again in a few days. Things are looking up…"

"What exactly do you mean by that, Sokka?" asked Katara, frowning and seizing his attention this time.

"I think I'll explain everything over dinner," he stated, smiling clumsily. "I'm starving!"

Katara sighed in defeat as the three of them entered the village amongst the other warriors, who headed into their houses and greeted their respective families. Katara smiled as she heard the cries of joy and laughter in each hut… The only good part about the war was that it helped everyone value their family members far more than they would under normal circumstances. Although, to be quite honest, it wasn't as if she knew much about what normal circumstances were like: she had never known a world without war.

Sokka headed inside the largest igloo in town, the one that belonged to Chief Hakoda's family. Hakoda had served the Water Tribe's warriors for many years now, but a few months after the Fire Nation had taken over the Earth Kingdom, he had decided, after losing some of the best fighters of the Tribe, that it would be safer for what was left of their battalion to return home. His wise decision had saved many lives, but at the same time, their withdrawal from the war had been as surrendering the world to the Fire Nation. At first Hakoda had been determined to make sure the Water Tribe wouldn't undergo the same fate as the Earth Kingdom and the Air Nomads had, but his age was starting to weigh on him. He was tired after investing half his life battling in a war he couldn't win. His son's enthusiasm wasn't contagious for Hakoda; in fact, it discouraged him instead. He had already lost a wife because of the war, and he would hate to lose his son as well.

Relief washed over Hakoda when Sokka appeared at the igloo's threshold, setting his weapons down and grinning at him cheerfully.

"I'm back, dad," he said, as he embraced his father. "And I have great news."

Hakoda patted his son on the back before pulling away, smiling also.

"The best news you could give me, you already have. You are safe and sound, Sokka, and that is what matters most. And I would like to have dinner before you fill my mind with plots to destroy the Fire Nation, if you don't mind."

Sokka sighed and rolled his eyes, but he smiled at his father and nodded in agreement.

As they ate, even though Katara was quite certain it wasn't wise of him to do so, Sokka presented his family with the tale of his trip. After explaining how some of the warriors had infiltrated the settlement, disguised as Fire Nation guards, he finally reached the main event, the great revelation that he believed would tip the scales to their favor:

"… It wasn't easy, but once I had my disguise so they wouldn't notice I was Water Tribe, I walked into the main building and pretended to stand guard during a small meeting," he explained, lifting his empty dish and requesting another serving of noodles. Katara complied with his wishes, bending some of the soup into his bowl. "And I heard the best news I could have asked for: there will be a bigger meeting in the settlement in two days: several big shots from the Fire Nation will attend it, and they'll be discussing how to take over the whole Pole. Apparently, they're striving to do it during the dark period, even when they know they'll be weakened. They're bound to bring in lots of benders to help keep guard of their station, but the cold is a great disadvantage for them: it weakens them while it gives us cover. If we surround the perimeter once the meeting is taking place, we can take out the guards and make the big leaders our prisoners."

"Who are these people who'll attend the meeting?" asked Hakoda, frowning. "Did you hear anything specific about them?"

"Not really," said Sokka, shrugging. "I heard that the governor they plan to impose on us will come, and who knows what other crazy Fire Nation military people…"

"They won't be easy to outsmart, Sokka," said Hakoda, crossing his arms over his chest. "And even if the sun is gone during the dark period, they won't be completely powerless."

"Ever the party pooper," said Sokka, sighing. "Dad, I know you're worried and you don't want me involved in anything this dangerous, but I can handle this operation. There's hardly any way for this plan to fail! We know the layout of their settlement really well thanks to this scouting mission, and we'll have the element of surprise on our side, since they have no idea we've got this information! I can devise a strategy so we can take over the whole…"

"Sokka, do you realize what's at stake here?" asked Hakoda, staring at his son sternly.

Sokka was the one to frown now, and he glared at his father as he muttered, between gritted teeth:

"Stop treating me like a child. I know what I'm doing."

"Do you, really?" asked Hakoda. "You're being selfish and naïve, Sokka. You might be a great leader, but by pulling through with this plan, you wouldn't only put your own neck in the line, but everyone else's as well. You could just as easily get them killed by dragging them to the Fire Lord's Palace…"

"You think I'm going to let my men die?" asked Sokka, snorting in disbelief.

"What I think is that you don't understand that your men CAN die!" exclaimed Hakoda. "Are you ready to face the consequences of losing your fellow warriors? Can you tell those families that their beloved husband, father, brother or uncle died fighting for you?"

"It won't happen," growled Sokka, stubbornly. "I have a good plan, and you'll see nobody on our side will die because of it."

"Does that mean you're planning on killing Fire Nation people?" muttered Kanna. "How will that make you better than them, then?"

Sokka was aghast by those words, and he looked from his grandmother to his father, feeling betrayed.

"So you just want me to sit here with the rest of you, knitting and fishing for whatever's left of my life until the Fire Nation comes to slaughter our village? You think that's what I should do? You don't want to regain the territories that are rightfully ours, the territories they took from us? The warriors that died to keep the village safe would be disgusted to see us give in to the Fire Nation like this... Bato would never accept this. He would have fought to the end!"

"Don't you dare pretend to understand Bato," growled Hakoda "He was nothing like either one of us… he knew what was at stake in this war far better than I did, and it was my own foolishness what brought him to his death. I thought myself undefeatable, much like you do, and I wasn't the one to pay the price for my arrogance. It would have been better if I'd been the one to…"

"Don't say that, dad," muttered Katara, looking at Hakoda apprehensively. "Please… can we all just calm down and talk this through?"

"I'm trying to talk this through," grunted Sokka. "But it seems the man I always looked up to isn't as brave as I used to think he was."

Hakoda knew his son was being so defiant because he wished to prove he was as capable a leader as Hakoda once had been… but Hakoda had already lost too many people he had loved dearly to even imagine losing Sokka because of the boy's own arrogance.

"Sokka, just listen to me," he muttered. "If you wish to go, I cannot stop you. But this is by far the riskiest move you've ever made, and I won't let you go until you really understand all you're risking with your scheme…"

"Believe it or not, you don't need to explain anything to me," Sokka retorted. "I know what's at stake in wars. I won't fail to bring everyone back home, you can count on it."

Hakoda sighed and shook his head, for his son refused to listen to reason. At this rate he would only ever learn the lesson the hard way… Hakoda didn't want things to develop like this, but it was bound to happen if Sokka kept acting so recklessly. The world wasn't merciful to the men who believed they were strong enough to face every obstacle headfirst. Hakoda had come upon this knowledge in the worst possible way after losing his best friend to the Fire Nation on an unsuccessful raid to an enemy campsite. He had been certain his plans wouldn't fail, since they hardly ever did, but he was proven wrong when almost half his men had been slain that day. This terrible defeat had brought him to decide to return to the South Pole to protect his people. All the hope he had held in his heart long ago had vanished slowly over time, and despite how much he loathed to think like this, he had accepted that the Fire Nation had won. The only area still relatively free from their armies and firebenders was the South Pole, and at this rate, they wouldn't last long either. At times he wondered if they should simply surrender. At least they might survive if they did…

But Sokka's headstrong nature wouldn't allow him to give up. He had been born and raised under the firm belief that the Fire Nation's deeds were completely wrong. As the idealistic young man he was, he had no qualms over putting his life in the line to battle against the people who had taken his mother from him, the people who had destroyed two other cultures in the most gruesome manner possible.

Sokka was set in his ways. He would defend his tribe, and he would defeat the Fire Nation. He was certain he would be perfectly suited for the task someday, if only he was given a chance to lead his warriors to the war's frontlines… but his father wouldn't allow him to do that, not right now. Yet Hakoda would have no reason to refuse Sokka's request to join the war once he had succeeded with the mission he had only just explained to him. And Sokka would succeed. Everything was in place for him to do so.

Katara looked from one man to the other, her eyes filled with concern. Her family had already suffered many losses, but they had always gotten along despite the upsetting circumstances. Something within her chest seemed to stir and weigh her down, for a sense of loss had taken over her even before anything troublesome had occurred. Because, if Sokka accomplished his goals, their father still wouldn't approve of Sokka's actions. And if her father was right to say Sokka would fail… Katara didn't even want to think of the consequences of that. Sokka wouldn't be able to stand losing his friends, and if it came to the worst case scenario she could picture, she would be the one completely devastated if her brother were the one to perish in what promised to be a horrible battle…

As it was, she could only trust Sokka's instincts, no matter how many times they had been wrong so far. Maybe there wouldn't be anyone particularly dangerous within the Fire Nation's big shots he meant to capture, and the soldiers would attain victory without any losses, just as Sokka planned. Maybe there was nothing worth worrying about at all. Sokka could lead his warriors, she knew he could… and she believed in him. Because all she could do for him at this point was hope for the best. All she could do was hope nothing deadly awaited her brother within the Fire Nation's settlement…

* * *

A frown spread over the Princess's brow as she tapped the edge of her throne's armrest impatiently. Usually, she would be comfortable with traveling by ship, especially while traveling in one as magnificent as her personally selected vessel, but the decreasing temperature only increased her unease with every mile they traveled.

But she didn't blame her discomfort on the weather. At least, not completely. She knew what the true source of her displeasure was; she had known it for years now. In fact, she had known what it was for her entire life.

She was pondering the matter that irritated her when the captain of her Royal Barge walked up to her and bowed before giving her the report of their situation.

"We are approaching the bay, my Lor-… Princess."

The glare she presented him with was so harsh that the man froze in place briefly, and it had nothing to do with the cold. She could easily read in his terrified features that he would much rather be tossed into the freezing water than face her wrath. He stumbled back, dreading the consequences of enraging the young woman. Yet Azula merely brought her hands together, intertwining her fingers and resting against the back of her chair as she continued to glower at him.

"Good. Do make sure we reach the settlement smoothly, will you?" she said, a venomous tinge coating her every word.

"Yes, Princess," he said, performing a very deep bow before running off as quickly as he could to the engine room of the ship. He had departed so swiftly, not because his presence would be required below, but because he wished to be as far from the deadly lady as he could be within the ship.

Azula sighed once he was gone and she shook her head in complete disgust. She was a powerful woman in a world ruled by weak men who seemed to believe that only men should hold privileged positions: during her childhood days she had been seen as inferior to her brother, not because she was the younger sibling, but because she was a girl. It didn't matter if she was a far more powerful firebender, a greater strategist or a better leader. The noblemen wouldn't care less about her qualities unless she somehow woke up one day transfigured into a man… the sole idea made her shiver in disgust. She had grown to hate the sexist society she lived within, and she most definitely wouldn't want to become another one of the males she had grown to despise. She only ever felt prized and cared for by her father, and he was the only example of a gentleman she had met so far. The rest of the men she knew… they really weren't worth thinking about. So she definitely didn't want a spirit of some sort to turn her into a man… she wanted to prove her worth as a woman. She wished to show the world that gender made no difference when it came to actual talent in politics or bending, and if it made any difference, then said difference probably served to prove that she was superior to all the men she knew.

She wasn't weak, she wasn't fragile-minded, and she most definitely wouldn't be content with a simple life based on social interaction in parties and balls, like the other women she knew. She wanted more… and she deserved more. She was the heir to the Fire Nation's throne, and once she obtained the crown, she would make sure all the disdaining of the females would vanish completely. She could become the most amazing leader her nation had ever witnessed… and she knew she would. It was only a matter of time…

But was it? For all she knew, what the noblemen hoped for could come true one day, and she might lose her claim to the throne. For all she knew, Zuko might find the Avatar and return home, regaining the honor that he had been denied… the sole thought made her cringe. It wasn't so much her dislike for her brother – which was evident and mutual – as it was her wishes to retain her current privileged position…

By now, she had almost spent nine years putting up with the pressures of being her father's heir and being a girl at the same time. And despite she was certain she had excelled at her role so far, by both terrifying and inspiring respect from her subjects, she knew that whenever she turned around they began whispering about how inappropriate it was for a woman to hold such an honorable position. And she wasn't making this up out of paranoia: once, after a war meeting had ended, she had left the hall but returned shortly in hopes to convey one final thought to her former most admired military figure, Admiral Zhao. But before entering the hall she had overheard him, and several other generals who had been present at the meeting, chuckling at her expenses, claiming a thirteen year-old girl – her age at the time – was better off playing with dolls than getting involved in military tactics and strategies. They were convinced that she would never understand the true extent of what they discussed in the meetings because she was a woman.

A woman…

And what was so wrong with that? She never understood why there was such a barrier between males and females. Sure, the differences between both genders were completely clear, but what made one better than the other? Who had decided which one was better? She truly wished to discover the answer to the second question for the sole purpose of electrifying the culprit to prove him wrong… but would such display of power and greatness help her cause? Probably not. She could have taken over Ba Sing Se on her own and they still would consider her inferior to them.

She gritted her teeth and looked forward, trying to keep those unsettling thoughts off her mind. She was heading down to the South Pole's settlement as her father's representative, to ascertain they would take over the Water Tribe as soon as possible. Circumstances were against them now, since they would be battling over the ownership of the Pole during a dark period. The absence of the sun wouldn't fail to cut to half the power of even the greatest firebenders. But they had an advantage: all the waterbenders of the Southern Water Tribe had been slain years ago. According to the reports, there wasn't a single one left. So if their soldiers were to face any hardships, they would come solely from warriors, which were still dangerous, but not as deadly as waterbenders attacking them when they were at their weakest.

She was attending the meeting in a diplomatic manner, but she was certain she could provide valuable input to their strategies to defeat the Water Tribe warriors; well, that is, if she wasn't the one to develop all the plans altogether. She could already imagine the way the meeting would proceed, with those admirals and generals discussing and arguing out of the pathetic need to show who was the more dominant one, to prove who was the manliest man… and then she'd give out a brilliant strategy, a perfect plan not only to protect the settlement, but to take over the enemy village during this period.

Azula wanted to devise a plan that wouldn't even require reinforcements. The Fire Nation armies were spread out thin all over the world, and their best firebenders would be battling in the Northern Water Tribe, since the light period would begin there soon and they would finally gain the upper hand. The North Pole was, of course, a bigger threat than the South Pole, since there were still many powerful waterbenders there. Hence, they would need as many soldiers as possible in order to submit the massive tribe to the will of the Fire Nation, and they only had half a year to fulfill said purpose. Therefore, she would make sure to keep the scales tipped to their favor by conquering the Southern Water Tribe without asking for any help from those who were currently fighting up north. She had that much confidence in her skills as a strategist.

She knew it would be no easy feat for the Fire Nation forces to triumph in the South; the cold even made her shiver, despite she kept breathing deeply and increasing her body heat at will, and she was one of the greatest firebenders alive, second only to her father. Surely the small battalion that they'd brought for this siege would have a hard time fighting in these conditions, but she was convinced they could succeed. She was already thinking about her plans, and she was certain she'd find a way for the Fire Nation to stand its ground against the savages down in the Pole… but it all depended on the men, as usual. Unless they suddenly grew a spine and admitted she understood the wages of war far better than they did, they would dismiss her every intervention by claiming this was no place for a Princess. She knew it would take a lot of effort to bring them to trust and acknowledge her, but she was determined to forge a name for herself, to prove she was far above the challenges they were unwilling to impose on her.

Because she was the daughter of the Fire Lord, and the heir to the throne. And she wouldn't surrender, not to the men of the Fire Nation or to the Water Tribe savages. It wasn't a matter of fighting to the end, of winning or dying in the process… there was no such option. She would conquer and burn to the ground whoever dared oppose her, just like her father had done when he'd had Sozin's Comet to fuel his strength a few years ago. She wouldn't waver, because she was Princess Azula, and nobody could stand in her way without facing dire consequences for it.

She didn't know it at the moment, but she would be teaching this lesson to the men around her sooner than she thought, at the expenses of a Water Tribe savage who would jump headfirst into battle, not knowing whom he would be dealing with…


	2. Chapter 2

The ship anchored on the shore, or what Azula assumed could be considered a shore, next to the handful of vessels owned by the men who were meant to attend today's meeting. Azula stood up from her throne-like seat and readied herself to disembark. The barge's crew stood on the deck, and they bowed down as Azula strode past them, glaring at the icy tundra that spread before her. It came as no surprise that there would be no committee to welcome and escort her all the way to the settlement that stood a few yards away. Azula sighed, certain that the men that waited for her within the building were the scumbags she was used to dealing with: if her father was nearby, they would treat her with phony respect. But if he wasn't, they would ignore her and hope she learned she had no place in war meetings, especially in war meetings in the South Pole.

But Azula hardly cared for what they thought of her. She would make her own path in the world through her own means, not through whatever opinion others had of her. With steady footing, she walked down the ramp that led her to the frozen ground, and she flared her inner fire to ensure she wouldn't falter due to the unfavorable conditions to her organism. The two royal guards that followed her weren't as skilled at controlling their own temperature, though. The cold caused them to lag behind, for their firebending potential was nowhere close to that of the Princess they had been tasked to protect, and their very bones seemed to be about to freeze in this weather.

To Azula's disapproval, she found, as she glanced at the settlement, that there weren't enough sentries to provide an adequate protection of the territory they had acquired. For all they knew, there could be savages lurking behind those icy mounds that stood not too far from the building, and, as it was, the settlement lacked a proper defense to fight them off. The carelessness of whoever was in charge of this station could easily cost them their one advantage over the Southern Water Tribe…

Azula frowned as she approached the metallic gates of the structure, which were wide open, for they had been expecting her arrival. The two guards standing next to the gates bowed in her direction and Azula didn't bother acknowledging them, even though their actions pleased her. At least these men knew how to show some respect. She entered the main building of the settlement after walking through the snowy enclosure as quickly as she could, trying to ignore how the inside of the metallic structure seemed to be even colder than it was outside.

Despite her fast strides, Azula hoped she was delaying them. Making a grand entrance after they were all assembled would draw a lot of attention to her, and luckily, if they studied her carefully enough, they would realize she wasn't in the mood to tolerate their sexist attitude, not now, not ever. And with said determination flaring in her eyes, she waited for her royal guards to open the door of the largest room in the building. She entered it with her head held up high, quickly identifying the six men within the room before they could even turn to greet her.

The group of men sat around a table; several files and documents were spread over it. One of them held a smoke to his mouth, the smell of which disgusted Azula, but the stench was familiar enough for her to recognize him as Admiral Chan, the man meant to govern over the South Pole as soon as the region had been conquered. The man carried his cigarettes with him anywhere he went, a trait that some people took as a fitting addiction for a firebender, but Azula thought differently. The best firebenders needed great lung capacity, since breath was essential for the art of bending fire. Smoking was the best way to deteriorate your skills as a firebender, or so Azula believed, and so far, she hadn't been proven wrong. She had known Admiral Chan for years, and she could ascertain his fighting abilities had dulled over time.

To his right sat Commander Tsong, a recently promoted man in his thirties whose arrogance was larger than whatever skill had landed him his boost in the Fire Nation's army. Captain Tao, the man of lowest rank amongst them all, sat on the other side of Chan, looking extremely nervous and even more so now that the Princess had walked inside the room. General Bujing was also there, the man to whom Azula's older brother had spoken out of turn in a war meeting a long time ago, and he seemed close to falling asleep out of boredom. Commander Gon immediately jumped when the door opened, for the man was always on the brink of a nervous breakdown, a mannerism for which Azula disliked him deeply. The last man in the room was General Mak, another recent addition to the highest ranks of the army, but Mak was far more focused on doing his job than bragging about it, unlike Tsong.

Just as she had expected it, Azula wasn't comfortable at all amongst these men. Her stern façade didn't acquire any emotion whatsoever when Tao, Bujing and Mak stood up courteously, to her distaste.

"Princess, we weren't briefed you had arrived," said Bujing, smiling.

"It would seem you weren't," she muttered, each word she uttered coated with disdain towards the men she was facing. "I don't believe my father will be pleased to hear of your impolite behavior. To leave a woman walk down this icy territory by herself speaks very ill of your manners."

"Oh, please do excuse us, Your Majesty," said Bujing, the most charismatic of them all. "As I said, we had no notice of your arrival. We were certain you would come by later…"

"Later? You believe I'm not punctual?" she asked, toying with the man's mind and pulling him out of his comfort zone by questioning his every word.

"Of course not, Princess! I wouldn't dream of…"

"Let's address the matter of your disrespectful attitude after the meeting is through, shall we?" said Azula, walking to the empty chair that waited for her across Admiral Chan. "We should get this over with."

"Indeed," stated Chan, who hadn't bothered acknowledging her presence until now.

And as the meeting began, trouble stirred outside the settlement. Behind the mounds of snow that had caught Azula's eye as she headed towards her destination, a group of men clad in Water Tribe armors awaited the orders of their commanding officer, who kept glancing at the metallic settlement, analyzing it from afar.

"Okay… Listen up, everyone," said Sokka, turning around and facing his men once again. "We have to take over the settlement itself first. It should prove really easy, there aren't many guards around, and their powers must have already weakened since the dark period began yesterday. The same must have happened to the people inside the settlement, and also to whoever was left taking care of the ships."

"There's a huge one right there," said a teenager, Kattan, pointing at the Royal Barge that stood out over the other four vessels. "Do you really think we can take these guys?"

"If we get our hostages, it won't be as hard as you think," said Sokka, smiling. "Alright, then… the plan is very simple. We have to take out the guards on the walls, which is hardly a matter of concern. We've done that before without a hitch. All we have to do is be very stealthy about it and it'll go perfectly fine. They could ring an alarm if we're spotted, but maybe they haven't installed one yet. So it's possible the hostages won't know their meeting is getting hi-jacked until it's too late for them to do anything about it. I'll be the only one to jump into the meeting room, the rest of you should take out all the firebenders. Two on one should do the trick; they'll hardly know what to do if you attack like this."

"Sokka…" interrupted another of his warriors, Haka. "Are you sure about this? I mean… things might turn out far worse than you think they will. What will we do if the people left in the ships attack us, or if there are more guards inside the settlement than you expect?"

"We'll take them out," stated Sokka, curtly. "They're pretty much powerless at this point, and if they're mostly benders, we'll have the upper hand. Once the guards by the wall are done for, we'll jump inside the enclosure and beat up any other Fire Nation soldiers that might be inside. As I said, I'll be the one heading into the meeting and I'll secure the hostages quickly."

"How?" asked Haka.

Sokka pulled out a small gray sphere from his pocket and he showed it to the group.

"It's a smoke bomb I designed myself," he said, smirking at his creation. "I'll toss it inside the room where the meeting is taking place, and in the turmoil, I'll secure the hostages one by one."

"Will you really do this on your own?" asked a boy that admired him deeply, Yuro. "That's madness, Sokka!"

"Well, I don't really need to go alone, but it'll be dangerous, getting involved with Fire Nation big shots. So I think your leader is the one who should do that." he said, smiling.

"And what if something goes wrong?" asked Kattan, again.

Sokka sighed and folded his arms as he looked at his men with disbelief.

"You guys are worse than my father, you know?" he grunted. "Okay, okay, we'll have a signal just in case we need to break off the operation at some point. If the people from the ships realize there's something wrong and come after us, you guys should…"

"Roar like polar bear-dogs?" suggested Yuro.

"Yeah, that should work," said Sokka. "Do that if things look hopeless, okay? If you think the operation can still carry on, even if the guys from the ships attack us, then it will carry on. Now, if something happens to me… I'll do my best to toss this bomb," he showed them a red sphere this time and tucked it into a different pocket. "It has red smoke in it. So if you see red smoke, you make a run for it. Just leave and make sure you don't turn back, okay?"

"And what if you need help to get out of the settlement?" asked Yuro.

"I don't know if I will, but if worse comes to worse, I'll make a run for it myself and tell you guys to flee as well by using the bomb. It's really not going to be so difficult if we take out the guards, guys, we can do this. Stop doubting yourselves so much. Who do you think will save this land other than ourselves? Pull it together! Let's get this operation going, and let's give those Fire Nation bastards what they deserve for underestimating us!"

His last words managed to encourage the group. The grimaces in the warriors' faces turned to smiles as they began arranging themselves in their respective positions to pull off the attack on the guards, behind the mounds of white snow that worked as their cover. They wouldn't have much time to take out all the sentries, but there were only about ten firebenders and thirty warriors, and considering their opponents were far weaker than they usually were, it seemed the Water Tribe regiment had the upper hand this time.

They lurked in as close as they could without revealing themselves, still using the snow as cover. Kattan, next to Sokka, muttered.

"We really could use a waterbender… we'd take out all those firebenders in a heartbeat and we could move the snow silently and use it as a cover for a little longer…"

"Quit whining," replied Sokka. "The only waterbender in the Tribe is Katara and she won't get involved in these battles if I can avoid it. We can take them anyway."

Kattan sighed and nodded. Sokka looked around and caught the eye of his companions before nodding towards them, letting them know the operation was set to begin now.

Sokka unsheathed the boomerang he carried so proudly on his broad back, and he threw it with brilliant aim straight at a guard's head. The weapon struck its target and the man instantly fell to the ground, knocked out by the blow. Sokka's boomerang soared for a few meters, but it didn't finish the trajectory back to his owner… still, Sokka didn't fret. He would have a chance to pick up his favorite weapon shortly.

Two guards heard his fallen partner collapse, and when they turned to aid him and discover the source of his unconsciousness, Sokka lifted his club up in the air and led the charge towards the firebenders. The soldiers took notice of their enemies far too late to defend themselves effectively. Following Sokka's orders, four warriors headed to knock out the two sentinels on the very moment more guards spotted the group. To Sokka's pride, his men were very stealthy about their attacks and they managed to break through the feeble defenses of the Fire Nation.

But just as Sokka and his men had dreaded, there was some movement in the ships that were anchored only a few yards away. They had been seen, and Sokka wasn't particularly surprised they had, but he still had enough time to secure his hostages before the reinforcements arrived. He picked up his boomerang and addressed his two most trusted warriors with a yell.

"Kattan, Haka! I need cover!" and, holding steadily their shields and clubs, his two men obeyed him. The three sprinted towards the entrance of the settlement, in plain sight of the firebenders that stood guard on the upper wall of the structure. To Sokka's dismay, one of them was about to ring a bell to alert they were being attacked.

Once again, he tossed his boomerang and its sharp edge struck the man on his neck: blood spilled everywhere and the soldier collapsed a few meters before reaching the alarm bell. Sokka caught his boomerang on its trajectory back to him, and he swallowed hard when he saw the red liquid coating his weapon. He had just killed a man for the first time in his life… he shook his head upon that grim thought. He would have time to think of this deed later, he couldn't lose focus when he was in the middle of such an important operation. He wiped his boomerang clean with the loose snow on the ground, and he turned to his friends once more.

"Take down every guard you see up on that wall! Keep them from reaching the bell! I'm going inside to secure the hostages!" he exclaimed, patting his allies on the shoulder before sprinting off towards the building.

Both Kattan and Haka nodded at his command and used their own boomerangs to knock out two more guards that tried to approach the bell. The two warriors then climbed the settlement's wall to make sure nobody else would touch the bell. If the alarm rang, the hostages might find a way to escape and they couldn't let that happen, not when the whole purpose of the operation was to take those Fire Nation men as prisoners.

Sokka entered the inner building of the settlement, his mind completely set on what he had to do as he put on a mask to help him breathe and see once he unleashed his bomb. If there were firebenders inside, he would break their skulls with his club, he had no other choice but to do so. He was certain it wouldn't prove much of a challenge anyway, since any firebender that waited up ahead would be too weak to defend himself to begin with…

Or so he believed.

A few minutes before the attack commenced, Azula was fighting the urge to yawn as she watched Bujing and Chan arguing like fools, discussing which of the two had been responsible for the conquest of the city of Gaoling. She couldn't believe she had to witness such a pathetic debate.

"… You claim you were so useful, but when you were facing against those earthbending students, your army was thwarted!" yelled Chan.

"It's not like you did any better by hiding amongst your men and waiting for them to do the job for you!" said Buijing.

"Did you expect me to be in the frontlines, you idiot?! I'm an ADMIRAL!" he exclaimed

Azula felt a vein in her temple pulse as her eyebrows twitched. She couldn't take any more of this nonsense.

"Gentlemen…" she muttered, surprising the other four men, who had been close to falling asleep due to such fruitless conversation. "May I ask what exactly do you believe you'll accomplish by discussing your failures in Gaoling?"

Both Chan and Buijing stared at her in disbelief, insulted by her intervention. The remaining men couldn't suppress a smirk, although they also felt ashamed to see Azula was the only one with the guts to interrupt the useless discussion.

"Failures? My dear Princess, we did not fail in Gaoling," grunted Bujing. "It may have taken months to take down the city, but we accomplished our goal eventually."

Azula didn't bother masking a yawn this time, to both the arguing men's annoyance, and afterwards she tapped the edge of the table with her index finger.

"Let's pretend you really did a good job by taking months to burn down a city that any competent leader would have crushed in half a week…" she said, but before the other two replied, she asked: "What does that have to do with our current situation, if I may ask?"

"We are debating to decide which one of us is most capable to lead the destruction of the Water Tribe," said Chan. "And judging by the fact that I'm meant to become the governor of this place, you should leave the job to me."

"And what exactly is the course of action you're envisioning, Admiral Chan?" asked Azula, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "How will you defeat the Water Tribe savages that defy our nation?"

The Admiral was silenced immediately by Azula's words, and her piercing amber stare seemed to dig deep into his soul as she waited for his answer. Chan gulped, at a loss for words, and Azula sighed.

"I figured as much," she muttered. "How about you, Bujing? Do you have anything useful in mind?"

"I believe we should ensure the safety of the settlement first," he said, with certainty. "And take care of that petty tribe once the next light period begins. It's safer."

"It is, yet I don't see the purpose of waiting so long," said Azula. "My father wants the Water Tribe obliterated, and he wants it to happen as soon as possible. There are no pending threats of waterbenders in the Southern Water Tribe, so attacking with firebenders would be an advantage if the sun was up. But since it's not, the obvious course of action is to assemble non-bender warriors and use them to pummel the savages into surrender as quickly as possible. There isn't much left of their Tribe, according to the reports, so we could achieve victory in a matter of a few weeks. You'd have your region to govern, Admiral Chan, and you can go home to fight a war worthy of your titles, General Bujing. Is everyone happy with this course of action?"

The six men in the room were astounded and stared at her in something reminiscent of awe… but they returned to their usual attitudes once they recalled the ideas had come from a female, which apparently diminished the impact of Azula's words.

"And how, exactly, would you have the non-benders attack the Water Tribe?" asked Commander Tsong. "Did you think so far already, Princess?"

"Do I have to?" she asked, disdaining him with her glare. "I believed I had cleared the pathway so whichever one of you could come up with the rest of the plans, but if you're not competent enough to do so, then I truly might have to…"

"We aren't incompetent!" yelled Captain Tao, as emotional as ever, his outburst masking the sound of the creaking door behind him. Azula frowned, wondering if the door had been ajar all along… she guessed it must have been, and even if it hadn't been, she was too busy trashing an insolent captain to care much for the door.

"Then prove it," grunted Azula. "Or are you, by any chance, so intimidated by the Water Tribe savages' prowess that you can't develop a decent strategy to annihilate them for good?"

"None of that!" replied Tao, apparently forgetting who he was dealing with. "I'm more than capable to defeat anything the Water Tribe has to offer!"

But his words proved to be completely hollow. Because at that very moment, his statement was tested, and the squeal that came out of him when the smoke started to spread through the room showed he was unworthy of his position as Captain.

Azula berated herself briefly for ignoring her instincts. Of course the door hadn't been ajar before.

The smoke came out with a loud bang from the bomb, and the six men jumped immediately. They were panicking, searching for the source of the gas and crashing against each other in the process. Azula dropped to the ground instantly, discovering the bomb responsible for the smoke was only a few inches away from her. And, on the room's threshold, amongst the dark gas that was befogging the room, she saw boots made of some sort of animal skin she couldn't recognize. She didn't need to see more to understand the Water Tribe hadn't wasted their time and had already orchestrated an attack upon them on the first days of the dark period…

Oh, how foolish of them. Had they only been a little more patient, she would have been back home and they would have only dealt with six useless soldiers… but they had chosen their own demise. And Azula had no qualms with being the one to deliver their doom.

The boots moved, stepping inside the room. Azula was certain the owner of said shoes was about to slay them all or to usher an announcement about the group being his prisoners…

"Don't move!" yelled a man's voice. "If you cooperate, this will be a lot easier on you all! You're all becoming hostages of the Water Tribe!"

So kidnapping it was. Azula wasn't so bothered by the smoke that she couldn't let out a small chuckle of disbelief. This man had to be kidding…

"How dare you?! You shall pay for what you're…!" said General Mak, but the warrior interrupted him.

"Be quiet and do as I say or else…!" yelled the kidnapper, and he was also interrupted, but not by words this time.

An unforeseen array of blue fire struck his boots, forcing him back into the hallway, and he collapsed as he tried to shake off the flames dancing on his feet.

Sokka saw a shadow move towards him while he smacked his smoking boots, the feeling of fire still clinging to them even when he had smothered the flames already. He frowned as the person who had attacked him stood up, and he caught sight of another blue flame in his attacker's hand.

"Or else, what?" said a feminine voice, to his dismay. He stood up again and held his club high, hoping his enemy could see he was armed and willing to attack, no matter who he was dealing with.

"Stay back or I'll break your head!" he said, and his opponent laughed at him.

"I would love to see you try," muttered the woman. Because it sounded like a woman… or was it a very girly man? He wished for the latter, since beating a girl up wasn't part of his plans…

But it became an essential part of them when he found she had no reserves about attacking him by throwing an amazing fire ball straight to his face. Could she see him despite not having a mask like his? He didn't know, and he didn't wish to know either. He saw the fire coming, ducked and made a run for it, absolutely aghast. How could this person firebend without any difficulty even though the sun was gone? Was she so powerful that this was only half of her skill? It seemed unlikely, but it was the only plausible explanation he could come up with as he ran, chased away by blue fire.

Azula walked into the hallway and took deep breaths once she found clean air. She had been able to withstand the smoke, but it still had damaged her system slightly. She continued rinsing her lungs as she saw her two Royal Guards, the ones that had been standing by the door, passed out on the floor, probably due to overwhelming blows to the head. She saw the Water Tribe warrior sprint away and toss another smoke bomb in her direction, probably trying to lure her outside so he could take her on with his warrior friends… oh, he would regret that deeply. No plain Water Tribe warrior could cross blows with her and come out of the strife unharmed. She took a deep breath when the smoke began spreading from the new bomb and she chased after the warrior, who had already exited the building and was yelling something at his allies.

"Haka! Kattan!" yelled Sokka, taking his gas mask off and dropping it on the ground. He waved at his men, who were currently standing on the walls. The Fire Nation guards that had still been on the wall before Sokka entered the building had been knocked into unconsciousness by the pair of warriors. Through his shouts and movements, Sokka caught Haka and Kattan's attention quickly.

"What's the matter?" asked Haka. "Please tell me you already caught all the hostages!"

"I didn't!" admitted Sokka. "There's a weird firebender here that doesn't seem affected even if there's no sun! She even ushers out blue flames! I lured her out here, help me take her out or else we won't get any hostages at all!"

"W-wait… did you say 'she'?" asked Kattan, shocked.

"Indeed, that's what he said"

Sokka turned towards the entrance of the building, from where poured some smoke from his second bomb. The blurred shape he hadn't been able to discern earlier was walking towards him again, and now he could see the curves on the body, helping him confirm that his enemy really was a woman. Kattan and Haka frowned and lifted their boomerangs as they saw the silhouette exiting the building, unwilling to weaver in their intentions even if they were to face a female.

And Azula wouldn't have wanted it any other way. A smirk played in her face as she finally walked outside the cloud of smoke, standing in plain sight now.

Sokka couldn't believe he found the firebending woman to be a striking beauty. But he blinked a few times to break the spell she seemed to unleash on his senses by reminding himself of all the damage the Fire Nation had done. Who cared if there was a beautiful woman among them? Surely she was as cruel as the rest of them…

Well, he was wrong about that. She was far crueler than any of them, of course.

"Stay back and we won't hurt you," grunted Sokka, the angry blazes in his eyes proving he wouldn't hold back against her.

Azula smirked at the ferocious glare of the savage, feeling actual joy by facing off against a man who seemed to hate her just as he would hate any man from the Fire Nation. How wrong was it for her to feel glad to see he made no distinction among them? She didn't know, but the pride she felt to see she would finally be fighting against a man as equals was immeasurable.

"I'm afraid I'm not the type to fall back upon such pointless threats, savage," she said, the smirk still growing on her face. "You believed you could hold us all as hostages inside the settlement, and you almost achieved your goal, but your luck was against you today. Because if I hadn't been inside, you probably would have caught those useless minions of my father's… but I happened to be there too. And I will not hesitate to bring you down if you're stupid enough to defy me."

"Oh, I'm stupid alright," said Sokka, gripping his boomerang in one hand and his club on another. "But I think I have the upper hand here. You're completely outnumbered. Surrender and you won't get hurt."

"I'm outnumbered?" she repeated, with disbelief. "Do you truly believe that? There's an entire battalion of Royal Guards aboard my Barge, and I'm certain they've already caught wind of what you petty savages are attempting to pull here. They'll come tear your group apart in a matter of minutes; that is, if I'm not done killing you all before they get here."

Sokka would have laughed at the idea and thrown another threat right back at the girl, but her words started to piece together in his mind slowly. Her father's minions… the Royal Guards… no way. He wasn't dealing with the Fire Lord's daughter… or was he?

"Well? Are you going to withdraw quietly into your huts again, or would you rather have me kill you and all your friends right now?" asked Azula.

"You're… you can't be…" said Sokka, taking a few steps back. "You're… who the hell are you?"

Azula sighed dramatically, but she smiled once again as she took a more recommendable fighting stance.

"I don't see why you need such knowledge, since I couldn't care less about who you are… but I do understand that I've impressed you enough for your dying wish to be to discover my identity" she said, her arrogance irritating Sokka beyond belief.

"Stop jumping to conclusions, you…" he growled, but she ignored his mumbling completely as she answered his question.

"I am Princess Azula, heir to the throne of the Fire Nation."

Sokka didn't react in any other way than by snarling at her, while Kattan and Haka stepped back, terrified. The plan might have been to catch hostages at first… but to catch the Fire Princess? If they managed to accomplish something like that, which seemed unlikely, all the armed forces of the Fire Nation would come tear apart their tribe until there was nothing left but blocks of ice…

"S-Sokka…" said Haka. "We have to…"

"I know," growled Sokka, who had come to the same conclusion himself. "I know…"

"Oh, so now you're willing to stand back? I thought you were far more resilient than that, savage," she said, teasing his ego cruelly. Sokka's expression didn't change.

"You wish I were about to step back, just like every moron you've ever met that has backed down to let you get your way…" he muttered. His defiant attitude came as no surprise for her.

"They don't back down as easily as you imagine, actually," she said, smirking.

"They don't? I guess they were probably too busy looking at your… a-at… y-your blue fire to remember they're supposed to let you get away with stuff," he finished, trying to save face, but Azula raised an inquisitive and indignant eyebrow at him.

"Excuse me? Looking at my what, exactly?"

"I… I just said it, didn't I?! Your blue fire!" he said, flustered despite the lethal circumstances he was in.

Azula was a leaning slightly towards letting the brat live due to his courage to face against her, but his last comment set her off completely. Her smirk was replaced by a grimace as she set her hands on her hips.

"Oh, my blue fire," she repeated, infuriated. "You really are nothing but an uncivilized buffoon, aren't you? And you're a pervert to boot…"

"I'm not a pervert!" yelled Sokka. "Stop twisting my words to your liking, woman!"

"To my liking?! Do you think I want a wildling such as yourself to go around taking a look at my…?"

"At your WHAT, exactly?" asked Sokka, defiant.

"At… my blue fire" she muttered, enraged, and Sokka took another step back. The temperature was probably the same it had been all along, but somehow Sokka felt his body heat rise as he exchanged verbal blows with the Princess, blows that had slowly developed into something utterly unexpected… was Azula controlling the temperature with her firebending skills, or was the heat truly being produced by his embarrassment? Could firebenders control the weather in any way? He rather doubted it, but it would make reality much more bearable if he believed that…

"O-okay… let's focus on the issue at hand," he said. "You don't seem to be willing to cooperate by becoming a hostage, but I'm not walking out of here empty-handed. So… it's kill-or-die, I guess."

"It's only 'die' for you, savage," she growled, and he lifted both his weapons.

"The name's Sokka, by the way."

"As if I wanted to know your name in the first place," she grunted, and seeing how he was getting ready to attack, she decided to strike first.

She lifted her leg and kicked a blue fire blast straight at Sokka. After the strange innuendo from just now, Sokka jumped out the way of the fire but stared at it, feeling like a fool. What the hell had he been trying to say when he had said something so ridiculous?

Azula forced him to return to reality when she lifted two fire-coated fists and aimed the blazes at his head. Sokka was surprised to see her fire wasn't as strong as he feared, since he managed to swipe both blows away with his club, which only heated up a little after the contact with the fire. Azula frowned at that and figured she would need to use more strength on this battle than what she had originally planned to. She struck another fire kick, a very potent one, and Sokka was forced to roll on the floor to avoid getting hurt. He tossed his boomerang at her, but she knocked it off course with her fist, and the weapon collapsed on the floor. Still, he took the chance to lunge at her with his club, determined to strike her and knock her unconscious. He knew what the consequences of kidnapping the Fire Lord's daughter would be, but he believed that if he took charge of the situation properly, his tribe might be favored, despite the circumstances...

But he had been wrong to assume Azula would be so easy to knock down. She spun around when he swung the club at her and she used her feet to trip him. Sokka performed a barrel-roll and jumped on his feet again, picking up his boomerang and attempting to strike Azula's shoulder with it. The Princess avoided the blow, and she delivered an uppercut straight at Sokka's jaw, making him bite his tongue in the process. He stumbled forward as Azula smirked cruelly. Sokka spat, and his blood stained the formerly pure white snow. The pain he felt in his mouth was beyond anything he'd experienced so far… and to think she hadn't even used fire on that blow. If she caught him again, he was probably a goner…

"Sokka!" yelled Kattan, as he and Haka climbed down the wall, racing towards their leader, but Sokka lifted an arm signaling for them to stop on their tracks.

He couldn't believe it had come to this. All his plans thwarted by this accursed Princess… He knew his plans weren't all that brilliant, but they could have worked. They had the upper hand on everything before, but now, even if he managed to outsmart Azula, he probably would end up on the losing end when the time came for bargains over her rescue. Indeed, the Fire Lord might even present himself in the South Pole to melt it down unless his daughter was returned safe and sound… that is, if Azula didn't sneak off on her own first. She looked like the feisty type to him.

She was more than he could handle, no matter how much he hated to admit it to himself. How was he supposed to face his father when he told him how badly the mission had gone? Would the Chief of the Tribe be ashamed to call him his son for such failure? Nevertheless, there was still something he could do for his friends, even for himself. If they couldn't win, then at least they could return home and come back some day when that Royal Barge wasn't docked in the shore anymore. He would live to fight another day, and so would his men…

Azula frowned in confusion when she saw Sokka pick up another smoke bomb, but she soon smirked at him.

"Another one of those? Is it, by any chance, filled with a volatile gas? It'd better be. It's the sole way you might defeat me," she said, proudly.

"That's interesting," he mumbled, though his jaw begged him not to say another word. "So the best way to beat a firebender is to drive their fire out of their control…?"

"Indeed, but I think I just proved I need no fire to defeat you," she muttered, smirking. "You should feel ashamed a woman can beat you so easily…"

"Ashamed?" he repeated. "The sole shame I could feel… is not being able to protect my people from the likes of you and your nation. You could be a platypus bear for all I care… being a woman has nothing to do with it."

Azula's eyes widened upon those words. He didn't diminish her for being a woman… not even in the slightest. It hardly mattered to her that he had claimed he hated her nation altogether; his shame for losing this fight had nothing to do with his opponent being a woman.

And as she allowed the words sink into her, Sokka took a last glance at his allies and flashed them his trademark crooked and confident smile. Both teenagers stared at the bomb in his hands in disbelief, understanding the meaning of Sokka's actions. They had dreaded it would come to this on the very second the woman had identified herself, and they couldn't do anything but watch as their leader threw the bomb to the floor, signaling all his allies to surrender when the read smoke spread quickly through the air.

Azula returned to reality when she was swallowed by the red cloud. Why was it red this time…? It took her an instant to realize it was probably a signal of some sort: of retreat, most likely. And if that was the case, she had to catch at least just Sokka before he could flee, since he probably had realized the warriors couldn't triumph in these conditions.

Haka and Kattan raced down the wall and ran outside the settlement, yelling at all their allies to retreat. The warriors outside had been witnesses to the red smoke that had spread upwards, and they did nothing but stare at it in disbelief, not understanding what circumstances could have forced Sokka to suspend the operation.

"Move, you morons!" yelled Haka, pushing the others towards their village. "Retreat! Retreat now!"

"Where's Sokka?!" yelled Yuro, who had been about to sprint for his life until he realized their leader was nowhere in sight.

"He'll be with us shortly, but we have to run!" screamed Kattan. "Believe in him!"

"I won't leave him behind!" said Yuro, in denial. "We have to stay and wait for him!"

"NO!" said Haka, his blue eyes blazing ferociously. "We can't stay! Nobody can stay, or else we'll all get killed!"

Kattan turned towards the ships and, with dismay, saw a group of men in red robes heading towards the settlement. They surely had seen the turmoil and the smoke… and they were going to capture them all if they didn't run now.

"We have to… guys, we really have to run!" he said, pointing at their enemies.

Yuro's despair only grew when he saw what his friend was pointing at.

"B-but Sokka…"

"He's strong, he's our leader," said Haka, determined. "He'll make it through, I'm sure! But for now, we have to run! He'll be back with us soon, you'll see!"

Yuro was forced to obey his superior officer despite not wanting to, and Kattan took it upon himself to guide the rest of the warriors back into the snowy terrains they knew so well. He chanced one last glance at the settlement when there were several yards between them and the Fire Nation base, and he hoped to see a figure sprinting through the snow towards them…

Sokka struggled within the red smoke, not entirely certain of where he was going. He hoped, though, that he would be outside the cloud soon enough, past the settlement's wall, chasing after his friends…

But all hope vanished when the strong grip of a hand with long nails wrapped around the nape of his neck. The nails clawed at his skin, blood dripping from these new injuries, and he was forced to the ground by the owner of said hand, whom he had no difficulty placing. The cold snow underneath him did nothing to appease his despair as he struggled to escape Azula's grip, but the woman had impressive strength, and she held him down with her knee pressed against his back.

Sokka swung his club in hopes strike her arm, forcing her to withdraw her hand or end up with a broken bone, and when she pulled her hand away he used the opportunity to get her off him by twirling on the ground. He made another run for it after that, but he could hear her footsteps behind him, and it didn't take too long for Azula to catch up to him again.

This time she lit up her feet with fire and kicked him on the back, scorching his clothes, to her satisfaction. The red smoke was fading slowly and she could see him crawl on the ground as he tried to regain his stance somehow. The flames that still danced on his back forced him to turn around and choke the fire with the snow; as he did, his eyes found the dark sky above him. It was the dark period… and yet he had failed to accomplish the mission. The thought kept repeating itself on his mind as everything in front of him grew clearer while the smoke dissipated. And once again, the hands with those fearsome claws gripped the front of his shirt, lifting him upwards.

He could see Azula's features clearly, and despite how beautiful she was, all he wanted to do was bend her skull inwards with the club he still held in his hand…

"So… Sokka is your name, right?" she said, smirking. "Make sure you remember the day you underestimated Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, Sokka."

Sokka lifted his club, enraged, but she threw him upwards and struck his abdomen after coating her right hand with fire, delivering a blow with the sufficient strength to break through his armor and burn directly his skin, marking his body with both her knuckles and her fire. Sokka's breath left him instantly, his club collapsed on the ground and he followed shortly, panting and cringing at the unbearable pain.

Azula stared at the man with slight contempt, feeling proud and superior. She hadn't even broken a sweat while he was twitching against the snow, still coughing blood as he covered his burn with his hands, his face contorted with pain. She could deliver the finishing blow and spare him from his suffering, but she didn't want to… she enjoyed watching him writhing in this way. But then she recalled how he hadn't undermined her for being a woman… and her pleasure upon witnessing his pain vanished immediately.

He was the only man so far who hadn't diminished her… the only one proud and brave enough to stand up to her even when he knew he couldn't win. She had to acknowledge he was worthy of praise for that, at least… and worthy to fight her another day, perhaps, if he was ever up to the challenge.

Her Royal Guards finally arrived to find her looking down on the shivering man on the ground. Three firebenders took a stance to strike him, but she raised her eyes towards them and said:

"Wait."

The man in the middle seemed puzzled, even though his face was covered with a mask.

"Princess, he is a threat to your safety…"

"If he truly were, he wouldn't be squirming on the ground as he is," she stated, silencing her own guards. "I want this man to live."

The statement took everyone aback, even Sokka, who had already discarded his life by now. Was she going to let him get away with everything? Why would she, though? Was there some sort of compassionate person beneath those layers of arrogance and power?

"W-what will we do with him, then?" asked one of the guards, surprised.

"He will be taken to the mainland," decided Azula. "He's bound to be a good slave."

Sokka wanted to slap himself for being so naïve. How could he have believed the woman would be merciful? She was her father's daughter, after all. She must have known he would rather be dead than serve the Fire Nation… and thus she decided to force the second option upon him. He truly would have preferred to drop dead than become their servant…

"It will be done," said the guards at unison, and without any kindness whatsoever, they lifted Sokka and carried him away.

Azula watched their figures shrink in the distance, and she took one last glance at the man who had dared defy her. She hoped he had learned the lesson, and she hoped said lesson would be relayed through all the Fire Nation, so that even the military figures that used to think lowly of her would realize she had saved the settlement and caught the leader of the Southern Water Tribe's resistance… so that they would understand, for once and for all, that she was not to be underestimated.

Because she was Princess Azula, heir to the throne of the Fire Nation.

* * *

Katara stared at the horizon once more, waiting… just waiting. On this occasion, though, she wasn't alone. Her father stood next to her, wondering when his son would come home… if he was to return at all.

Shapes began materializing afar, and the two of them stared in hopes to identify the Water Tribe's outfits… and to their relief, the people approaching were clad in gray armors and blue cloth. But Katara frowned when she didn't see a tall, enthusiastic man outshining the rest of them.

Hakoda's heart sank when he saw the expressions on the faces of the warriors. Just by looking at them, he understood what had happened… and he could only think he should have been harsher on his son. He shouldn't have let him undertake such perilous mission.

"S-Sokka… Where is…?" mumbled Katara, walking towards Haka.

The teenager didn't even bother looking her in the eye, tilting his head down in shame.

"I'm sorry," was all he could say, and indeed, it was the worst he could have said.

Katara's eyes widened in horror as she shook her head, her entire body shivering and not because of the cold.

"N-no… n-no… i-it can't be…" she said, tears escaping her eyes before she was even aware of it. "NO! W-where is he?! SOKKA! NO!"

She was about to break in a sprint towards the Fire Nation settlement where she had lost her brother, but Hakoda grasped her by the wrist and held her back. Katara's tears kept trailing down her cheeks as she continued to yell.

"LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF ME!"

"I'm not going to let go," said Hakoda, tears dripping from his eyes as well as he embraced his daughter despite how she struggled to set herself free from his grasp. "You're the only thing I have left now… I won't ever let go of you, Katara."

Katara was beyond reasoning, though. Eventually she would come to the same conclusion her father had reached, but right now, grief had overcome her entire being and she couldn't do anything but cry, wondering if she would at least get to see her brother's dead body, or if the Fire Nation would be merciful and let him live, by chance… oh, she was fooling herself. There was no way that could happen. Her brother was gone, and all she could do was mourn him, promising him she would never forget about him. Promising she wouldn't give up to the Fire Nation, just as he had refused to surrender to them. Promising she would fight with her waterbending skills, in order to cast those monsters out of their territory.

The sole rational thought in her head, amongst all the pain and sadness, was that she would honor her brother's memory, no matter what.


	3. Chapter 3

Sand. Dirt. Heat. Blood.

No longer could he recall the feeling of snow under his feet. The cold environment he had been born and raised in had been deadly, but within said danger, he had felt comfortable, at ease, at home.

He was as far from home as he could be now. He had been far away for two long years already, and he could hardly remember his grandmother's face, his sister's voice, his father's embrace… his father. Was he disappointed in him? Had he been glad not to see him return home because he believed this was supposed to be Sokka's fate? He wanted to believe his father missed him… but it was so unlikely, so undeserved. He had asked for this himself, hadn't he? Hakoda had warned him, told him he knew nothing of the wages of war, and he had ignored him. He had been too cocky, too arrogant to think he could lose…

But he had lost. And against that blasted Princess, to boot.

Her face haunted his every nightmare. It was extremely ironic that he would have trouble to recall the faces of his family and friends, but his enemy's features were always there, teasing him, asking if he had already learned what his place in the world was…

He shook his head and closed his eyes, deciding he would rather think of the Water Tribe again than of that evil woman.

He kept holding on to the hopes that his tribe still stood strong after he had been taken away from it. He figured he would have seen someone else from the Water Tribe in the mainland by now if the Fire Nation had conquered the frozen tundra. Yet it was also possible that the ash-makers had been completely merciless with the Water Tribe, leaving no survivors… but in that case, he would have heard the rumors, right? From what he had seen for himself, the people of the Fire Nation still boasted about taking over the Air Nomads and Earth Kingdom, and he had heard no such claims about either of the Water Tribes so far.

It was likely the Northern Water Tribe had managed to stand their ground, they were better prepared for wars than the people down at the South Pole… but he had heard most the armed forces of the Fire Nation were up north, attempting to seize control. Why, though, hadn't they moved down South already? He wasn't leading his people anymore; he doubted anyone was, unless either Haka or Kattan had taken over his position…

If they were still alive, that was. He didn't know if Princess Azula had sent out her men to pursue and chase down the rest of the warriors. Judging by how ruthless the woman had seemed to be, he wouldn't be surprised if she had. Chances were the Southern Water Tribe had been obliterated.

But all he could do was hope that his people still stood strong somehow, resisting the Fire Nation's assaults. It was the only thing he could hold on to, as a matter of fact. It was the one thought that kept him from using his boomerang to slit his own throat…

After being taken away from the South Pole he had been thrown into Azula's Royal Barge, although he didn't see her again in the entire trip. She probably had forgotten he was on her vessel altogether. He was taken to the mainland, just as she commanded, and upon his arrival to the country he had been tossed in an internment camp amongst other people who resisted the Fire Nation's authority, most of them Earth Kingdom people who had refused to join the Honorary Fire Nation Citizen system. Sokka wasn't offered the chance to enter said system, but even if he had been given said opportunity, he would have never accepted it.

The Honorary Fire Nation citizens were people who had been born to other nations but had accepted the government of the Fire Nation as their own. As a reward for not resisting, they were given the chance to live almost at the same level as regular Fire Nation people – they were frowned upon and disdained by many original Fire Nation citizens, but their rights were almost even. There were earthbenders in the Fire Nation's army now, and even some of the former Earth Kingdom noblemen had kept their titles after swearing fealty to the Fire Lord…

Sokka wouldn't deny it was a convenient bargain for both the Fire Nation leaders and Earth Kingdom citizens, but he would never ever give up on his heritage, one of the few things he still had left, just to live a more comfortable life. Well, he hadn't been offered the chance to do so anyhow, but if he had been, he would have refused to accept it and spat on the face of whoever had asked him to be an Honorary Fire Nation citizen to thank him for his troubles. The mere thought of becoming at Fire Nation citizen filled him with endless rage.

And so, he had been measured and weighed by Fire Nation officials, the ones in charge of setting the slaves into different classes. Some slaves were set up for sale to become servants to whoever wanted to pay for them, while others were shipped off to the households of important noblemen: no payment was offered for the latter. Some of them were even shipped off to work at the Fire Lord's service, if they seemed promising enough to serve royalty. Some other slaves, the female ones, were forced to undertake some very distasteful activities, mostly involving pleasing men who paid for their services. Some slaves were found completely useless, those injured or handicapped, and they were sent to the executioner… and some were found strong enough to enter another category of service: the gladiators.

To Sokka's surprise, he had been cast into the last category, and he was more than thrilled to see the guards returning his weapons to him, the ones he had been forced to relinquish upon his capture. But to his dismay, he was informed that his new duty would be to entertain people through the most outrageous and irrational idea the Fire Nation had come up with up to date. Sure they had always been heartless, but this was, by far, the worst of all tortures. It was proof of how little humanity was left in the hearts of the Fire Nation people.

Gladiator fights consisted in confronting two slaves with the weapons of their choice in a deadly combat, where the loser paid the price with his life and the winner had a chance to fight on another day against a new opponent. The fights took place in an arena, an arid perimeter coated by sand; the glow of the sun shone upon it on every battle. The stands on the arena Sokka fought in – there were several combat grounds throughout the Fire Nation – were rustic and made of wood, and they couldn't contain more than two hundred people. At times the stands were full, at times they were almost completely empty, but regardless, the gladiators had to fight to the best of their ability under the midday sun, since all battles took place at noon. Sokka assumed it was because the Fire Nation people felt most empowered at that time, or maybe because they wanted to witness the fighters wear themselves out completely, since the sun's radiance was merciless at that time of the day… but he didn't actually know why. It really didn't matter much, since he was too invested in his struggle to survive to look for logic in a situation that didn't seem to have any.

None of the gladiators had been previously trained to make the fights more interesting: watching them despair as they tried to survive was far more appealing to the sadistic people that enjoyed the combats. Often Sokka heard that the Superior League of gladiators was far kinder to its participants; apparently, those battles didn't end based on who died and who lived, at least, not always. Truth to be told he had no idea how those fights concluded, but apparently having a sponsor made reality far more bearable for gladiators, despite they were still nothing but slaves.

Sokka didn't think having a sponsor would make much difference, for he hated being a gladiator altogether. Ever since he was thrown in the pit for the first time he had loathed everything about this job. On his first combat he had faced against a massive man who had a huge spear, a heavy sword and an axe as weapons. He managed to outsmart him after discerning his weak spots and he knocked his rival out… and even though he was sure that would be enough, it wasn't. To his horror, he was commanded by the man who ran the arena to slay his opponent, no matter if his rival was clearly out of it. Sokka had refused, but then he had been threatened by both the crowd and the owner of the arena that, if he didn't kill his rival, the dead body would be his. Completely disgusted by the act, he had been forced to slam his opponent's head with his club: blood splattered all over the sand, the red liquid had attached to his clothes and stained his very soul.

He cried himself to sleep that night, wondering what had he done to deserve such a fate. His rival on the arena might have been a man not too different from himself, trying to survive in whichever way he could, hoping to return to a family that believed him dead... and now he really was dead. And not by the hands of a Fire Nation soldier, not by execution after rebelling against the heartless regime of this country... no, he had died because of a man who had no more rights to survive than he did.

The more thought he gave to his job, the more he grew to hate it and to hate himself for not standing up against the chains that weighed him down. He had underestimated the Fire Nation's cruelty, and he was too scared of death to let his life slip through his fingers, to give up the fight and allow any of his rivals to slay him. Looking at himself from another perspective, he was simply pathetic. He was worthless and undeserving even of the life he had obtained.

Several times he had been on the brink of death while facing fighters far more skilled than himself, but on the very second he had realized he was about to lose his life, his mind began flashing him images of the past, of the reasons why he had to strive for survival even in the direst times of his life: he had to return to his family, to hug his sister and promise her he would never leave her again, to apologize to his father and acknowledge he had been nothing but a fool…

And one day, he would fight his worst enemy again. The next time he faced her he would be ready. The next time it would be him staring down on her weak, writhing figure, as she struggled to recover her breath on the ground. He would be the one to spare her life in fake mercy to only unleash upon her a hell beyond her imagination…

And to fulfill all these things, he had to live somehow, even if it meant he had to kill all his fellow gladiators to achieve that purpose. Although it was easier said than done...

Gladiators didn't make friends, they didn't stand together to support each other, because on the very moment you became acquaintances with someone, you would instantly condemn whatever union you could form with them. Huang Li, the man who ran the gladiator business in the Fire Nation town of Hui Yi, kept a close watch on every gladiator, for the sole purpose of providing entertainment to his crowd by forcing two friends to kill each other on the sand pit. He was a truly cruel man: he only cared for the incomes the fights provided him with. If he was feeling particularly kind, and he had achieved a full-house sale, he would hire a group of women from the nearby whorehouse so that they would take the worries out of his gladiators' minds by making use of their skills in bed. But this was still heartless towards the two different kinds of slaves; both gladiators and prostitutes hated their jobs with all their hearts, and surprisingly often they didn't engage in mundane activities, for they preferred to simply sit next to each other as they reminisced the past times, when everything had been better…

There was no top dog, no man foolish enough to bully another. They were all deeply conflicted, they missed the lives they had led before being caught by the Fire Nation and having this lifestyle imposed upon them. No one wanted to try to earn enemies just as they refused to make friends, because by the end the day, they might not even be alive anymore. Developing any sort of bond, no matter of what nature, was simply pointless.

Around six battles were fought each day; most of them took place at broad daylight. Rainy days were most welcome by any of the gladiators since they meant nobody would perish then, although it also meant Huang Li would be on a terrible mood. He was heartless indeed: no job was more suitable for a man like him than to administer the deadly business of the amateur gladiators.

The sun was quite high when Sokka was summoned by Huang Li to head into combat today. The barracks where the gladiators lived were an old and musty building; there was no distinguishing the rooms where the combatants slept, since there were no rooms at all. In the center of the building stood a fireplace where their meals were cooked by whoever Huang Li felt like forcing the job upon. Sokka would always lie down far from the fire, for he had grown to hate the element with more passion than ever during the past few years, but he also liked to spend his time on the coldest corners of the building because, at times, if he let his mind wander long enough, he could imagine he was back home...

"Hey, Dumberang," Huang Li called him. "Time to hit the sand. You're up against Ching today."

Sokka didn't even bother to correct the way Huang Li addressed him. He had grown used to being called Dumberang by this man, and he didn't want him to call him by his real name anyways. There were a few things he hadn't relinquished to the Fire Nation, his name being one of them. To imagine getting called by his name by any of these monstrous people revolted him, for even his name was another relic of the home he had lost so long ago. He only reminded himself of it when he needed to remember his purpose of returning to the South Pole, of defeating Princess Azula some day...

He took his weapons without saying a word – he could hardly recall the sound of his own voice by now. Huang Li led the way towards the arena and Sokka followed, his brow contracted as he filled himself with determination: whoever stood in his way would fall, no matter what story existed behind their eyes. Whatever he did, he would do it for the sake of returning home.

By the time they reached the arena he could hear the roar of the crowd; judging by the sound, there had to be about a hundred people out there at least. Huang Li would be pleased. His weapons in hand, he walked into the sandy enclosure, his heart beating wildly as he entered the sand pit to face a battle he might not survive…

* * *

Azula tried her best to stay calm as she strode down the hallway, her feet carrying her towards her room with her usual powerful strides. All the servants nearby cowered in fear at the sight of her… The Princess was already terrifying when she was in a good mood, but right now she looked mad enough to murder whoever stood in her way. And she was, although she only wanted to kill one man, or perhaps two, and their identities were quite specific. Killing a mere servant wouldn't help her solve her problem, even though murdering somebody might just help her release her fury…

She slammed the door of her room as soon as she was inside, and she finally felt free to unleash her rage. She uttered a few cries and roars of anger as she recalled the decision her father had reached in the meeting that had ended just a few minutes ago… the thought made her entire body shiver in rage and she let out another howl of wrath, this time accompanied by the blue fire that escaped her throat along with her wails.

Oh, how she regretted not having cleared everything up when she had the chance… if only she had told her father that Admiral Chan had lied when he had claimed he had single-handedly dealt with the Water Tribe warriors that attacked the settlement…

She hadn't been too bothered when Chan stole all the credit at first, because she found it unimportant to reveal the truth at the moment. All the men in the settlement knew Chan had lied, they were perfectly aware that Azula was the one they owed their lives to… Chan himself knew it well enough, but to avoid having his titles stripped off him for his incompetence, and to ensure he would govern over the South Pole once they conquered it, he had claimed he was the one who had saved the group from being kidnapped by savages.

Azula had taken a few detours before returning to the Capital, one of them to drop off the Southern Water Tribe warrior she had brought as a slave to the Fire Nation, and when she finally presented herself before her father, he said he was glad to see she was fine and told her they truly owed Admiral Chan for keeping her safe during the attack to the settlement. The infamous man had been there at the moment, and he had the guts to smirk at the Princess, letting her realize her father hadn't misunderstood a thing: he simply had been lied to.

She didn't care much about who took the credit for beating the Water Tribe savage to a pulp, it wasn't something important to her. But she had felt she held a certain power over Chan, since she was well aware of the truth, and if her father discovered the actual story behind what happened at the settlement, Chan would pay a dire price for his deceit… But two years had passed, and her threat over the man had grown weaker, both in her head and in reality, as the events from the South Pole became fainter and less relevant over time.

But all of sudden, Chan had turned the tables and abused his power in the worst possible way he could have. She felt like hiring an assassin to take him out, but discarded the idea soon enough. She wanted to be the one responsible for spilling his blood all over the place, his blood and the blood of that disgusting son of his…

There was a knock at her door. She glared at it angrily, imagining the wooden plank bursting aflame for a moment before she decided to open it.

"What?!" she snapped to the servant on the other side of the door. The man fell to the ground in reverence, trembling.

"L-Lady Mai and Lady Ty Lee have arrived, Princess…" he muttered, terrified. He had been warned that she wasn't in a good mood, but he had a duty to fulfill… but under these circumstances, it might be the last time he fulfilled anything at all.

Azula's eyebrow twitched when she heard the news and she shook her head in irritation.

"What are they here for? I'm not in the mood for visitors! They should only drop by on the days when I expressly ask for their presence!"

"B-but y-you did, Princess…" muttered the man.

Azula frowned as she realized the servant was right. Today was the day of the week she set apart without fail to reunite with her two friends. She let out another groan of despair, resting her hands on her hips as she wondered if she should simply send the two girls home and tell them to meet her again next week… but she sighed, rolled her eyes and gestured the servant to get out of her way, which he did in a heartbeat as Azula walked down the hall to meet her friends.

Ty Lee was kneeling next to Mai, who was sitting on a couch, by the time Azula entered the room where they usually met. Ty Lee was muttering a few things to her friend's womb and, as ever, Mai stared at her with a skeptical look on her face.

"Who is the cutest baby in the world even if he's not born yet?" asked Ty Lee, making Mai sigh.

"I don't think he can hear you," muttered Mai, irritated.

"What are you doing, Ty Lee?" asked Azula, making her presence known. Her foul mood surprising both girls: they were used to seeing Azula suffering from strange mood swings once in a while, but when she was truly upset she definitely wasn't fun to hang with.

"I was just talking to… are you okay, Azula?" she asked, not worrying about getting herself into a dangerous situation by asking this question.

Naturally, Ty Lee's inquiry made Azula's frown deepen. She walked towards one of the windows in the room to catch some fresh air, hoping to calm down through breathing deeply, so that she wouldn't end up venting the entirety of her stress on her friends.

"How's the pregnancy coming along, Mai?" she asked, attempting to change the subject even though she was unable to forget about it altogether.

"Everything's fine as it is. I'm only on my fourth month, though…" said Mai, but she was also eyeing Azula with concern.

"Good," muttered Azula, still glaring at the horizon, her mind clearly anywhere but within the four walls that stood around her.

"Azula…?" asked Ty Lee again, forcing the Princess to frown once again.

"What?" she said, turning to face her friend, her enraged eyes trying to send a message that clearly spelled 'Quit pestering me'.

"There's something wrong with you," said Ty Lee, staring at her with genuine concern. "I've known you for long enough to realize something like that."

Azula's frown deepened and she folded her arms as she replied:

"Your mind-reading skills amaze me, Ty Lee. I should give you an award for being able to tell something bothers me. You're truly remarkable for sensing my annoyance…"

"I… I don't appreciate the sarcasm, you know?" muttered the girl, a little flustered.

"Indeed, you don't and neither do I," grunted Azula, confusing Ty Lee. "You can tell something bothers me, yet you pester me about telling you what it is that bothers me when explaining this is the last thing I want to do."

"Well, for all you know it might help if you talk to us…" said Ty Lee, shrugging.

"I don't think so," muttered Azula, irked. "I'm too upset to think about this rationally…"

"Come on, give it a try" Ty Lee encouraged her, smiling brightly. The joyous look on her face made Azula feel like punching her. How could she smile like that when so many things were at stake in her life? Well, Ty Lee knew not of these matters, and she probably wouldn't understand if she explained them anyway. She didn't understand a few things about it herself, to be honest… why had she let Admiral Chan get away with stealing all the credit of her grand endeavor? If only she had been smart enough not to give him an edge on her…

"I don't feel like it, Ty Lee. And I'm not in the mood to deal with your happy-go-lucky attitude either," grunted Azula.

Ty Lee's face fell and she stared at her friend with concerned eyes.

"T-then… you want us to leave? If that's what you want, I guess we can go…"

Azula sighed, knowing her friend was pulling her ace on her by letting her cutting words get through and ending up on the verge of tears. She sighed and rolled her eyes as Mai smirked, used to seeing Azula give up on arguments for the sole sake of not having to deal with Ty Lee's emotional outbursts.

"I didn't say that…" muttered Azula. "We meet every week, that's how it's supposed to be or else I'll probably end up losing my mind to the pressures…"

"What happened to you?" asked Mai this time, raising an eyebrow.

Azula sighed and fixed her gaze on the floor, trying to keep her anger in check. But explaining the source of her fury promised she wouldn't be able to stay as calm as she wanted to be.

"Do you both recall what happened to me about two years ago, when I returned from the settlement down at the South Pole?"

"Oh, back when Admiral Chan stole all the credit for defeating the warriors of the Water Tribe?" asked Ty Lee, all trace of her previous dejection gone completely.

"Exactly," said Azula, bitterly. "I took a detour on my way home to drop off a souvenir at a slave internment camp; Admiral Chan beat me to the Capital and fed a pile of lies to my father. I didn't bother correcting him; I didn't believe it necessary back then, for I was certain Chan's conscience would reprimand him for being unable to stand his ground against savages while I did it without a hitch. The other soldiers who were present at the settlement during that event have grown to admire and respect me. Chan, though, never truly did. I was sure he would realize one day just how low his actions were…"

"But he never did, right?" said Ty Lee, sighing.

"Of course not," muttered Azula. "My father told him, back when he lied about what happened in the South Pole, that he would reward him with anything for saving my life. Chan said he had nothing in mind at the moment, and I was certain that meant he didn't dare ask for compensation when he knew he wasn't worthy of it. And I was proven wrong today. It has been two years since then, and finally he came up with an idea for my father to thank him for what he didn't even do…"

Ty Lee gulped when she saw the furious way in which Azula's eyes gleamed now, and she started to regret asking her friend about her troubles now… but Mai wasn't giving up halfway through the story.

"What did he ask for?" she muttered, wary of the answer.

Azula bared her teeth as she replied, enraged:

"His blasted request was that his useless son would be allowed to take my hand in marriage."

Ty Lee's jaw dropped, shocked by the revelation as she was, and even Mai, who always had a very bleak expression on her face, couldn't help but stare at Azula, dumbstruck.

"T-that's just… b-but that can't be…" said Ty Lee. "Isn't that the same boy we met at Ember Island?"

"Yes," grunted Azula. "I don't see how he would agree to marry me when I deliberately burned down his house, but I guess the thought of marrying the Fire Lord's daughter is appealing enough for him to forget about that…"

"But… this isn't definitive yet, is it?" asked Ty Lee.

"It might as well be," grunted Azula. "I just came from a meeting with my father and Admiral Chan. They're both extremely enthusiastic about deciding my future for me, without even taking my opinion upon the matter into account."

"But… did you tell your father you didn't want to marry Chan's son?" asked Ty Lee.

"I wasn't allowed to intervene," she muttered bitterly. "I could only listen and hold back from frying Chan's head with lightning every time he opened that foul mouth of his to stroke my father's ego and convince him this was the best idea they've ever had."

"That's so sneaky… it's really low," muttered Ty Lee, understanding now why Azula seemed so disturbed. "I thought he was more honorable than that…"

"Of course not," replied Azula. "Honor has become little more than a myth these days, especially amongst the Fire Nation military. They're too busy trying to attain the highest ranks to care about how they reach their goals…"

"Disgusting," muttered Mai, and Azula couldn't have agreed more.

"But… I don't know what you think, but arranged marriages aren't always so bad," muttered Ty Lee, trying to give some hope to Azula. "My parents get along great and it was an arranged marriage."

"Well, I can't say the same about my parents," grunted Azula. "My mother was too feeble to fight back when she was forced to marry my father… she didn't want him, yet she accepted the marriage proposal, probably because her family would be honored by her decision. Still, she only ever made herself unhappy, henceforth making him unhappy also. She was always too weak to stand up for herself… and I'm nothing like her. I won't let the same thing happen to me."

Ty Lee seemed a little relieved to see Azula refused to surrender to her father or Admiral Chan, but there was a simple question that still needed to be answered, and Mai took it upon herself to ask it.

"And how, exactly, will you fight against what they're imposing upon you?"

Azula's frown deepened. She had been too busy basking in her rage to think things through… she knew she would have to, eventually, but she didn't know if she was emotionally steady enough to start pondering these matters. But she took a deep breath and faced her challenge head on, just as she faced everything in her life.

"Well, there's a very simple solution," she muttered. "I could take it upon myself to slay both men from the Chan lineage and…"

"No killing," said Ty Lee, grimacing. "It's awful to think about killing them… and can you imagine what would happen if you got caught?"

Azula had stared at her with disapproval at first, but Ty Lee's second argument made more sense than she thought it would.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you're probably right about that," she muttered, sighing. "Well, then… is there any other way?"

The other two were deep in thought as they tried to find a solution, but nothing came to their minds. Azula decided then to analyze the situation step-by-step: it would be simpler to find the pieces of the puzzle first and put them together afterwards.

"My final objective should be to prove to my father that my marriage to Chan will damage our lineage," muttered Azula. "To accomplish this, I must prove he's not worthy of my hand in marriage, of course. How can I prove this?"

"How about you challenge him to an Agni Kai?" asked Ty Lee.

"He's a non-bender," muttered Mai. "Non-benders can't fight Agni Kais"

"Oh, but I'm sure he could. He wouldn't survive, of course, but it could be done…" said Azula, a vicious smirk on her face now.

"Well, the mean smile is back," said Ty Lee, slightly relieved. "That's a good sign… but we said you shouldn't kill him, so no Agni Kai."

Azula sighed and stared at her nails as she pressed her mind to develop a ploy, any sort of ploy…

"The problem is that Chan is useless," she muttered. "He lives by his father's glory, holding no talents of his own. He's not a good warrior, he's not a good soldier, he's not good at anything, I think."

"Well, that should do it," said Mai, shrugging. "If he's so useless, the Fire Lord should understand your refusal to marry him."

"That won't be enough," muttered Azula. "I have to diminish him until there's nothing left of him. I ought to humiliate him completely to prove how pathetic he is."

"If that's what you're after, then… you should hit him where it hurts," said Mai. "Being a nobleman's son, he must have a hobby of some sort, right? Even if he has no talents, there has to be something else…"

"I've heard he sponsors a gladiator with his father's money, but that really doesn't count, does it?" asked Ty Lee, raising an eyebrow. Azula frowned at her words.

"Probably not. I don't see what we could do with this…" muttered Mai. "Isn't there anything else?"

"I don't know, to be honest," muttered Ty Lee.

"Your gossip skills are finally being put to the test and you're failing?" asked Mai, disappointed.

"H-HEY! I'm not a gossip!" squealed Ty Lee, blushing.

"Yeah, you're not a gossip," said Mai sarcastically. "And I'm an Air Nomad."

"Quit it!" yelled Ty Lee, extremely embarrassed. "I only hear information and pass on whatever I find interesting! It doesn't make me a gossip!"

"It sure does," said Mai, her face still unexpressive although she was having a lot of fun by teasing her friend. "You're not just a gossip, you're the queen of gossip. Don't you agree, Azula…? Azula?"

The Princess had ignored the last portion of the conversation between her two friends as an idea started to take shape within her mind. The emotion in her eyes was no longer anger but cleverness as she paced around the room, as she finally concocted her plan, the pieces of the puzzle coming together far quicker than she imagined they would.

"Are you okay?" asked Ty Lee, but Azula lifted a hand on her direction in a gesture asking her wordlessly to keep quiet.

She began chuckling and she nodded once her plan was ready. Oh, it was risky… it was dangerous. She was bound to end up buried in an avalanche of trouble if something went wrong at some point. It was going to be very difficult indeed. But she loved the idea, and up until now, she knew of nothing that could prevent her from making a place for herself in that strange world that didn't stand too far from her grasp…

"I think I have it," she said, smirking. "I think I know how to prove my superiority, how to crush him completely and blow his pride to smithereens."

Both Ty Lee and Mai were glad to see Azula back to her usual defiant and determined self, but they couldn't deny it was still a terrifying sight. What had she come up with this time?

"Nice to know, I guess…" said Ty Lee, gulping.

"Well? What is it?" asked Mai. "What are you going to do?"

Azula's smirk widened as she turned to face both girls, her eyes blazing with malice. And once she delivered her statement, both Mai and Ty Lee stared at her in disbelief, their eyes so wide Azula could have sworn they were bound to fall out of their sockets. Yet it was natural for them to react like this when they heard her declare, proudly:

"I'm going to sponsor a gladiator."


	4. Chapter 4

The wheels of the carriage spun too slowly for Ty Lee and Mai's liking. Both girls wanted this matter to be done with as quickly as possible, for they had unwillingly followed Azula into the town of Hui Yi to look for her gladiator.

Ty Lee had done everything in her power to talk Azula out of such a crazy decision, and Mai as well told her she was crazy to even consider sponsoring someone in the Superior Gladiator League. There were several reasons why they believed this would be nothing but trouble: one of them was that the royals had no reason to get involved in Gladiator fights. Making slaves beat each other up was a very unpleasant activity… and why should royals find entertainment in this lowly business when there were important wars to fight against the nations that still resisted them? The gladiator business had been set up several years ago so that simple noblemen could entertain themselves somehow. The Royalty of the Fire Nation had such duties to undertake that investing their time in such low pastime would have been simply ludicrous.

The other reason, though, did nothing but fuel Azula's urge to hire a gladiator: no woman had ever sponsored a gladiator before. Sponsors in the Superior Leauge were exclusively male. There were female gladiators, but female sponsors were unheard of. Apparently, women in the Fire Nation were too delicate to witness two slaves sparring… it was either that, or perhaps their husbands refused to lend them any money to hire a gladiator. Whichever the reason was, Azula couldn't help but frown at the thought. She loathed this misogynistic culture: she would beat down any obstacle in her way to prove she was superior to all the men that kept thinking otherwise. And if having her own gladiator would help her achieve her goal, so be it.

Therefore, Azula had requested a carriage to take her all the way to the town of Hui Yi. She had selected this town because the Capital only held an Arena for the Superior Gladiator League, and any gladiator involved in said league was already sponsored by someone else. In order to find a good gladiator who had yet to be sponsored, she had to find an arena of amateur gladiators, and the closest one to the Fire Nation Capital was the arena in the very same town where she had dropped off the Water Tribe warrior from a few years ago. As the carriage pulled by komodo rhinos moved closer to Hui Yi, she wondered if that man still lived… it was unlikely he did, though. Given his circumstances, Azula didn't doubt he would have been turned into a gladiator. But amateur gladiator fights were wild and deadly; Azula had heard the average amateur gladiator survived only for six months, and the weakling she had dealt with down at the South Pole had lacked the build or skills to make it through two years at the rough regime of gladiators.

"Why did you drag us here, Azula?" asked Ty Lee, staring through the window in distaste as they entered the old town, which was a very low-class place in comparison to what the three girls were used to. The houses were old, the paint on their walls was faded and the tiles on their roofs were broken more often than not. The roads were bumpy, too, and the few people Ty Lee had seen looked sick, elderly or underfed.

"I didn't feel like coming alone," replied Azula, simply. "You two can help me select the most appropriate gladiator for me."

Mai raised an inquisitive eyebrow as she eyed her friend with concern. Azula was so logical and thoughtful about everything she did… this whim of getting a gladiator was nothing like her usual self. Three girls, a Princess and two daughters of noblemen, heading into a godforsaken town like this one was way too reckless a decision, especially for Azula.

"And how exactly would we do that?" muttered Mai. "Ty Lee and I don't have much knowledge either about gladiators or about skilled fighters…"

"Don't try to fool me," said Azula. "You're a skilled fighter yourself, Mai, and so is Ty Lee. Maybe you two don't show it to anyone else, but I've seen your prowess with knives and Ty Lee's chi-blocking tactics. So even if you want to pretend you're an ignorant about fighting, I know you're lying."

Mai sighed in mild resignation, but she still wouldn't give up on her efforts to prove just how useless her presence was in these circumstances.

"Nevertheless, it doesn't mean I can identify who's a great fighter and who isn't," she muttered.

"And besides," said Ty Lee, gulping. "I really don't want to watch an amateur gladiator fight. They're horrible, from what I've heard…"

"Toughen up, Ty Lee," said Azula, as the carriage finally halted. "Facing death first hand will make you respect it far more than never witnessing it in your life."

"B-but I don't want to have anything to do with this…" whined Ty Lee, but Azula ignored her curtly as the driver of the carriage opened the door to help the girls out.

Azula couldn't help but frown when her feet hit the filthy ground. This was, most definitely, no place for a girl of her standards. Ty Lee seemed to agree with those thoughts as she looked around herself, utterly uncomfortable by their surroundings.

"Is that it?" asked Mai, as she got off the carriage and stared at the ragged building in front of them.

"Apparently," muttered Azula, her contempt evident on the expression in her face.

"I don't like this place… I don't like it one bit," muttered Ty Lee, gulping.

Her words reminded Azula that she hadn't come simply to judge if the town was decent enough for her or not. She didn't look at her friend as she replied.

"No one said you had to like it. We're not here on vacation or anything of the sort: we're here to find my gladiator."

Ty Lee sighed in resignation as she followed Azula into the worn-out building, with Mai treading right behind them. Azula detailed the wooden vestibule once she entered it: there was a man behind the counter on the opposite wall to the front door, and adjacent to said counter were two doors, which, Azula assumed, would lead them to the stands from where they would witness the gladiator fights. A chalkboard with the names of some fighters scribbled over it was hanging behind the man at the counter, who smiled at the girls as he saw them enter the building. Azula didn't take his enthusiasm to be genuine, there had to be an ulterior motive for his apparent cheerfulness; she didn't know this at the moment, but the reasoning behind his smile was that anyone who entered the premises of the arena would have to pay a fee to sit at the stands, and the man would be more than happy to charge the three of them for the proper cost.

"Welcome, ladies," he said with a joyous voice that that produced different effects on the three girls. Azula frowned, distrustful, as usual; Ty Lee smiled at him, glad to see a friendly face; Mai ignored him completely, only caring for whatever Azula decided to do now. "How may I help you?"

Azula scanned the board behind the man before answering his question.

"It's the first time we've come to an amateur gladiator fight. What are we supposed to do?" she asked, with her trademark authoritarian voice tone.

"I figured as much," he said, smiling kindly. Hui Yi's Amateur Arena had never been visited by high-class women such as these until today. "First of all, you must pay a fee to take your seats at the stands."

"Oh…" said Azula, surprised. She didn't recall having to pay to enter any gladiator fights in the Superior League. "And you plan to charge me?"

"Uh… why shouldn't I?" asked the man, confused.

"You… you don't know who I am, do you?" she asked, a smirk playing on her lips. "Oh, well. I suppose it wouldn't be appropriate to use my position to get out of paying all the time…"

The Princess slid her hands into her pockets, but she found no form of money within them. She wasn't surprised by that, although she had held on to the silly hopes that she might find a few coins hiding within her clothes. Ty Lee seemed to be facing the same situation as she checked the contents of her purse to no avail…

Mai rolled her eyes as she took out a pouch from her own purse.

"How much is it for each?" she asked.

"Uh… it's ten yuans per person," replied the man, surprised to see the girls struggling to find money. Apparently, high-class people didn't carry cash with them so freely.

Mai placed a few coins on the counter; the man immediately began counting them as Azula and Ty Lee thanked their friend.

"Gee, thanks for that, Mai!" said Ty Lee, hugging her happily.

"I'll make sure to pay you back," promised Azula.

"You'd better," replied the other. "You both should learn to carry money with you."

"The wisdom of a married woman speaking?" asked Azula teasingly, earning herself a glare from Mai.

"Ha ha, very funny," she grunted, as the other two smiled at her.

"Very well, everything's in order!" said the man behind the counter. "The three of you are free to pass through these doors and take a seat on the stands to watch the fight. You can also make your bets here, setting some money on the gladiator you think will win."

"Make bets?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"You could pay your friend back if you choose the right fighter," said the man, winking at her. Azula felt like punching him straight in the face for the gesture.

"It sounds like a nice idea, that way we wouldn't owe Mai anything," said Ty Lee, smiling.

"And with whose money, exactly, do you plan on placing your bets with?" growled Mai, irritated. "Who will pay up if you two lose?"

"I don't think I'd choose the wrong gladiator," said Azula. "But I would need to know them before selecting one over another."

"The fight that's about to happen is between the Dart Slayer and the Blue Wolf," said the man. "There will be more combats later, but you can simply bid on this one, I reckon."

"One fight should do," agreed Azula. "Well? Who's the better fighter out of those two?"

"Uh, I'm not sure, to be honest," said the man, chuckling. "The Dart Slayer is very powerful and he's been around for about three months: he fights using a scimitar and darts with some strange properties that numb his opponent whenever he hits them."

"Darts that numb people? Sounds like a combination of what we both do," said Ty Lee, smiling at Mai, who nodded in agreement.

"And what about the other one?" asked Azula.

"I really don't know how to describe him," the man admitted. "He's somewhat… strange. He has a few weapons, but they're nothing outstanding. I don't really understand how he's managed to survive for two years straight…"

"Survived for two years…?" repeated Azula. "Yet his fighting style isn't extraordinary?"

"No, well, not for someone like me," admitted the man. "I don't know much about martial arts, I'm just in charge of the money…"

"I see…" muttered Azula, thoughtful. She debated internally the situation and she nodded at Mai. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mind giving him ten more yuans. I will bet on the Blue Wolf."

"In that case, I'll bet on him too!" said Ty Lee, cheerful.

Mai's mood soured more as she handed the money to the man. He smiled at her sympathetically as he wrote down the bets Azula and Ty Lee had decided to make, and he handed the list of bids to the girls.

"Sign your names here, and, once the fight is done, you can come back to get your money if you've won."

Azula nodded and took the brush from the man's hand, dipping it in ink before signing the paper. Ty Lee did the same, and the three of them took their leave, entering the stands a few minutes before the battle began. The man hummed a happy tune as he stacked the money along with the rest of the bidding funds, and it wasn't until later that he looked at the paper the girls had left on the counter. He scanned the second to last name, and as he did, his jaw dropped in shock.

"No way… t-that was P-Princess Azula?!" he yelled, growing pale as he realized he had charged the arena's entrance fee to the Fire Lord's daughter…

Azula led the way through the stands, and Ty Lee and Mai followed suit. None of them was fond of walking amongst commoners; they were being judged by every single person who saw them… and that was bound to be everyone within the stands, actually. Their attires stood out since they were far classier than what the people who attended the amateur gladiators fights could afford, although, if they didn't waste money in something as pointless as amateur gladiator fights, they probably wouldn't have much trouble with money, Azula thought.

They finally found an opening within the crowd, and they dropped on the creaking wooden seats, the three of them frowning when their rears hit the uncomfortable, hard planks they were supposed to sit on.

"Seriously, why did you bring us along?" asked Mai, irked. "You could've made it all the way here without us…"

"Quit whining so much," said Azula. "You're just mad because we're using your money."

"It's really cheap of you to be complaining about that, you know?" said Ty Lee, folding her arms. "You've got mounds of gold back home, don't you?"

"Don't YOU two have mounds of money as well?" asked Mai, the frown in her face growing with each passing moment.

"W-well, I guess… and that's why you can be sure that we'll be paying you back even if the gladiator we chose loses!" said Ty Lee cheerfully, but her enthusiasm wasn't contagious. Mai glared at her and turned to look at the arena as she muttered.

"This sucks."

Azula had ignored her friends' conversation as she detailed the grounds where the battle would take place. She had seen the sandy pit of the Superior Gladiator League a few times, and within it were several obstacles and objects the gladiators could use to make the fight more interesting… but this sand ring was completely different from that of the Grand Royal Dome. The sand in itself was filthy: blotches of black stained it in many places, making it look like nobody ever bothered to clean it. No objects or obstacles were in sight, apparently they were unnecessary here. Azula assumed that the only fun part about these fights was watching the combatants slit each other's throats.

Two gates at opposite ends of the pit opened then, and the crowd roared wildly. Azula frowned at the irritating noise, and she tried to ignore it as she saw two men walking into the sand. The one entering from the left wing of the stadium wore a green armor to cover his humongous body; the scimitar hanging on his back helped her identify him as the Dart Slayer. At the other end, a less burly man walked out on the arena: his helmet was shaped as a wolf's head, and it sheltered his head and neck; the clothes and armor covering the rest of his tan body were blue, reminding Azula of someone she couldn't quite place right away.

A man on his forties jumped onto a scaffold by the edge of the stands, bringing everyone's eyes to him as he yelled:

"On to the next battle, my friends!" he yelled, and another roar from the crowd told him people were expectant to witness the slaughter. "From the old Earth Kingdom's wastelands, a tough and buff fighter with several tricks under his sleeve… it's the Dart Slayer!"

The Dart Slayer yelled and roared just as enthusiastically as his supporters, making Azula wince at his attitude. She certainly wouldn't want a man like this one as her gladiator…

"And from nowhere we've heard about, the mysterious man that has proven to be a brilliant fighter many times before: the Blue Wolf!"

The Blue Wolf lifted a fist in the air, but not in a very passionate manner. He probably had been ordered to make a few moves to rouse the crowd even when he couldn't care less about what people thought of him; regardless, the multitude cheered him on eagerly.

"Gee, I think we picked the right guy, Azula!" said Ty Lee while the man on the scaffold kept rambling about both the contestants' skills. "He's so cute!"

"How can you say he's cute if you can't even see his face?" asked Mai, rolling her eyes.

"Just look at that build, Mai!" said Ty Lee, blushing as she stared at the Blue Wolf's features, mesmerized. "No matter if you're married; you'd have to be dead if looking at him doesn't produce at least a little fascination in you! He's so great-looking…"

Azula heard Ty Lee's words and wondered why the girl was so smitten over the Blue Wolf. Granted his muscles were well defined and his slender but strong figure seemed far better preserved that what Azula would have expected to see on an amateur gladiator, but that didn't mean he was strikingly handsome. Well, maybe he was, maybe he wasn't… it hardly mattered. He was bound to be a simple-minded brute beneath whatever looks he was concealing behind his helmet. Azula decided to reserve her judgment of him until after she had witnessed his fighting skills.

"… But will the Blue Wolf's long-standing winning streak last? Or will the Dart Slayer send him to the next life today?" said the man on the scaffold. "We'll find out right away! Let the battle begin!"

And with another roar of the crowd, he dropped back on his seat, the highest one in the stands. Azula figured he was the owner of the arena, judging both by the seat he took and his attitude… but she decided to focus on the two combatants now, since the fight had finally started.

The Blue Wolf hadn't unsheathed the weapons that hung on his belt and back, whereas the Dart Slayer already had his scimitar in hand, circling his rival while showing him a smirk of yellow teeth. In a quick movement, the Dart Slayer slid his hand into a pouch that hung on his belt and he tossed something towards the Blue Wolf, something small and sharp, not easy to see with the naked eye, but for what they knew about this fighter, it couldn't have been anything other than his fabled darts.

The Blue Wolf jumped out of the way and knocked a few darts over with a club that had been on his back; he swung it with such speed that most the crowd stared in disbelief. Azula's eyes studied his movements quickly as she began thinking Ty Lee's statement had been right: she really had selected the superior fighter. He was swift and effective with his every move, not overdoing anything as he calculated the situation quickly, trying to figure out how his opponent would attack next, where he should strike back…

The Blue Wolf kept avoiding the darts for a while until the Dart Slayer seemed to grow irritated to see his attacks were fruitless. With his scimitar in hand, he ran towards his opponent, who took another weapon from his back and parried his rival's attack with it. Azula frowned when she saw what the Blue Wolf was using to fight now. Maybe she was seeing things… but it sure looked like the blue boomerang she had seen a long time ago in the hands of that reckless Water Tribe Warrior. Could it be him? No, no… it was ridiculous. That boy was a foolish fighter; he had definitely not been skilled enough to survive for two years of battling against the wildest slaves… she couldn't recognize that boy's fighting style on the Blue Wolf anyway. It was likely his weapons had been given to a man who decided to use them after he had been slain on his first battle or something… it was a more logical conclusion than to think he was the same man she had met down South.

But if this was Sokka of the Water Tribe…

Her heart skipped a beat at the thought. She gulped as she tried to keep her sudden emotions at bay. It couldn't be him, it simply couldn't. She shook her head, feeling like a fool by letting her thoughts bother her. It didn't mean anything if this man was the same one she had met all those years ago… it wasn't as if she was going to select precisely him as her gladiator, was she?

But wasn't she? As she saw him struggle against the Dart Slayer she realized his fighting style appealed to her far more than it should. It didn't help that Ty Lee's crazy ideas about the man being handsome were starting to slip into her head as she saw how his muscles tensed with every movement he made. Part of his chest was in plain sight, his armor didn't cover him completely, and the glistening sweat that ran down his skin made her mouth run dry all of sudden… She had to shake her head to return to reality, wondering what on earth was taking over her.

But her attention was quickly drawn back by the fight itself when the Dart Slayer, after his blade clashed against the Blue Wolf's boomerang several times, withdrew a dart sneakily from his pouch and stuck it into the Blue Wolf's shoulder.

The Blue Wolf jumped backwards after pushing his opponent away forcibly with one hand. The Dart Slayer fell to the ground and jumped up while the Blue Wolf walked as far as he could from his rival, his left arm growing numb instantly. Were the darts coated with some kind of poison? The Blue Wolf didn't know, but he decided he wouldn't take any chances. He removed the needle from his arm and some blood trickled down his arm. Judging by the fact that he couldn't see any liquids that proved his wound was infected with anything dangerous, he assumed he would be safe to continue fighting despite how numb his arm felt. He would have to make do with only his right arm for now.

The Dart Slayer continued tossing projectiles at the Blue Wolf now that his opponent had been weakened, but to his dismay, the Blue Wolf kept avoiding and knocking darts over with his club. The Blue Wolf's eyes narrowed as he assessed the situation quickly, or at least, Azula guessed that was what he was doing. The darts were deadly; he would need to force his enemy to fight only with his sword… so he would have to keep distance between himself and his opponent in order to force him to attack with darts until he ran out of needles. Another possible course of action would be to distract him with the boomerang and jump at him with the club when the Dart Slayer wasn't expecting an attack… well, that is, if the Blue Wolf was smart enough to think things through while catching his breath.

And to her surprise, it seemed he was smart enough indeed. Azula stared at him in awe as he tossed his boomerang at the Dart Slayer, who hadn't foreseen the attack, and he had to duck to avoid the blow. While he did so, the Blue Wolf detached something from his belt and rolled it on the floor in the direction of the Dart Slayer, who stumbled to regain his stance. And when he did, he found there was a small gray sphere between his feet.

He realized what was going to happen far too late to avoid it. The sphere began spinning on its own accord as it released black smoke on the section of the pit where the Dart Slayer stood.

The Blue Wolf smirked as he grasped his club, waiting… waiting. He was simply listening to the Dart Slayer's whimpers as he tried to find his way within the cloud of smoke. He moved towards where he heard the Dart Slayer's footsteps. Just waiting, waiting… and trying not to think things through. If he tried to reason with what he was doing, he would lose his center yet again, and he couldn't let that happen. He took a deep breath and grasped his club with a powerful grip as the Dart Slayer's figure finally began to take shape within the smoke…

The Dart Slayer stumbled and tripped as he finally managed to slip out of the smoke… but before he could make any sense of his bearings, a powerful strike hit his legs, knocking him over to the ground. His bones had just been crushed by the Blue Wolf's club, who had attacked his rival the very second he had left the smoke cloud. He repeated his blows, blood splattering all over the place as the Dart Slayer cried out loud in agony, realizing he had lost the battle even though he wasn't dead yet. He soon would be, at this rate…

The Blue Wolf stepped away from the shuddering figure in the ground, panting as he did his best to empty his mind before delivering the final blow.

He tried his best not to assimilate what he had done when he felt the man's skull shattering under the power of his club.

The crowd roared with joy as the Dart Slayer became nothing but a memory, another corpse lying under the scorching midday sun. Ty Lee had jumped into Mai's arms, hiding her face in the girl's shoulder as to avoid watching the gruesome scene, unwilling to be a witness of such an atrocious act. Mai herself had shut her eyes firmly, disgusted by the pointless violence.

But Azula, despite not feeling too comfortable by watching how a man killed another by breaking his head, was in too big a shock to care. The smoke bomb, the boomerang, the club… and the man from the counter had said this particular fighter had survived for two years straight. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions; it might not be him anyway…

All trace of doubts vanished when the Blue Wolf took off his helmet and waved at the crowd unenthusiastically, his features now in plain sight.

She didn't need to see the scars in his neck, the ones she had put there herself… she didn't need to pay attention to his warrior's wolf tail. All she had needed to see to confirm her doubts were his deep blue eyes, which glistened brightly under the sun.

When he turned to wave towards the zone where she sat, she felt time stopping as she came to a realization. This man, the only man who had ever acknowledged her as equals despite her being a woman… this man was a gladiator. She had come looking to sponsor somebody, and he had proven he had talents and expertise worthy of a professional gladiator. Her heart pounded in her chest as she stared at his features, wondering if he had been this attractive back when they'd met at the South Pole…

The man jumped on the scaffold again and kept rousing the crowd while praising the Blue Wolf's skills non-stop, as if he hadn't doubted he would survive back when the battle hadn't even begun. But Azula was too busy staring at the surviving warrior to care about the man's words. When the smoke finally cleared up, a few slaves showed up to remove the Dart Slayer's corpse from the grounds, and the Blue Wolf walked away, exiting the premises of the sand pit through the same door through which he had entered it in the first place.

"I-is it over…?" asked Ty Lee, tears streaming down her face as she pulled away from her friend's arms.

"Yeah," said Mai, feeling a lump on her throat after the horror she had witnessed.

"Azula… please, let's leave," begged Ty Lee, turning to the Princess and tugging on her sleeve. "I can't watch another of these awful fights, I really can't. Please don't do this, it's too dreadful…"

"Don't worry," muttered Azula sternly, surprising both Ty Lee and Mai. "We don't need to watch the next fight."

"What? Why?" asked Mai. "Please tell me you're saying this because you've decided you won't be part of something so gruesome…"

"It is sickening," admitted Azula. "But no, I haven't given up on my ploy, not in the slightest."

"A-are you saying…?" asked Ty Lee, staring at her in horror. "Are you saying you'll take that guy as your gladiator?!"

"Yes," said Azula, uttering that sole syllable with enough determination to silence both her friends.

She stood up then, and Ty Lee and Mai were glad to follow her and leave the stands of the horrible gladiator arena. Still, both of them were eyeing Azula with concern. Was she really going to hire such a deadly and heartless man to become her gladiator? Ty Lee no longer seemed to care about how great his looks were, aghast as she was after observing how he had destroyed his opponent's legs with such ease – she had already hidden on Mai's shoulder before he delivered the final blow. She didn't have to watch the end of the fight to be completely appalled by how ruthless he had been. He was truly terrifying… but so was Azula, truth to be told. They probably made a better pair than it seemed at first thought.

When they reached the vestibule, the man at the counter jumped at the sight and threw himself on the floor, bowing down to Azula.

"I apologize for my behavior, Princess!" he squealed, and Azula stared at him in disgust.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked. "Get up, this is ridiculous."

"Hey… where's my money?" Mai asked the man, folding her arms. "The Blue Wolf won. Pay up."

"Oh! Oh! Right away!" yelled the man, running behind the counter and pulling out far more coins than he needed to. "I'm very sorry for any inconveniences, I can't believe I was stupid enough to make you pay… I'm a disgrace."

"You probably are," said Azula, as she watched Mai collect the money they owed her. "But you can still be a little useful, despite how pathetic you are. Who should I talk to if I want to sponsor a gladiator?"

The man behind the counter put away the extra coins he had put out, and he stared at Azula in awe as he processed her words.

"W-well…" he mumbled, building up a reply. "I guess you should go up to Huang Li, he's the one in charge of the whole thing… but he's going to be busy for a while with the next fights. Once all the battles are done, you'll be able to find him in the gladiator barracks. They're right behind the arena; you can access them through an alley that runs right next to this very building…"

"So we have to wait?" asked Azula, irritated. "How many fights are there left?"

"Two, I believe," muttered the man. "Hopefully they'll be over quickly."

"They'd better be," grumbled Azula. "We'll wait here until they're done."

Mai and Ty Lee nodded and the three of them sat on a bench at one side of the vestibule. They didn't talk much, for both Mai and Ty Lee were too troubled after what they had witnessed and Azula was wondering what exactly she would do once she faced the gladiator again. This reencounter wasn't bound to go smoothly, she didn't expect it to… but she needed him. She would grant the gladiator whatever he wished for as long as he helped her fulfill her goals.

After an hour or so, people began leaving the arena: the matches were over. Azula stood up and gestured at her friends to follow her, which they did without a second thought, hoping to see this matter end as quickly as possible. They left the arena and walked down the alley the man from the counter had mentioned. Azula wasn't surprised to see the man from the scaffold chuckling and laughing as he counted the coins in his bag: he was the one in charge of this business, no doubt about it.

"Excuse me," said Azula, announcing herself. "I need to speak to Huang Li."

"I'm Huang Li," said the man, still too busy with his money to look at who he was talking to. "Whaddaya want, wench?"

Mai and Ty Lee stared at the man in shock, unable to believe the man had dared insult Azula in this manner. The Princess, though, did nothing other than smirk. This man most definitely knew not of what he had asked for… and he was about to find out, painfully.

"Care to say that again, useless scum?" she muttered, her serene voice concealing her anger.

Huang Li finally looked up when she insulted him. Nobody insulted him and got away with it… was what he had planned to say until he saw the three elegant ladies in front of him. The one who was glaring at him menacingly was wearing a golden hairpiece, to boot… he was done for, he knew it.

Huang Li couldn't do anything but squeal in horror as Azula grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and pinned him against a wall fiercely. It didn't matter that he was at least four inches taller than her and much heavier, she had more than the necessary strength to deal with him. Both Mai and Ty Lee, despite having been so shaken by gladiator fight, actually hoped Azula would beat the man to a pulp. They weren't as resentful towards the misogynist society they lived in as the Princess was, but there was a limit as to how much rubbish they were willing to put up with by stupid men like Huang Li.

Azula held the man in place with her right hand and coated her left with her blue fire, just so that Huang Li would understand the extent of his crime if he hadn't realized already who he was dealing with.

"I… I…" he said, panting. "I'm so sorry, Your Highness… I didn't notice it was you…"

"I should hope so," muttered Azula. "Regardless, I recommend you begin thinking before opening that foul mouth of yours from now on. Although I doubt you can do such a thing, you mustn't even have a brain within that thick skull… although, is it really that thick? Well, I'll find out if it is soon enough…"

As she asked the last question she raised her free hand towards his temple, and Huang Li began panting uncontrollably, fearing for his life.

"I'm so sorry, Your Highness!" he yelled. "I… I didn't mean to! I… I beg you, don't kill me!"

Azula didn't feel like sparing his life, to be honest… but she knew both Mai and Ty Lee had seen enough violence in one day to also witness how she slaughtered a man in the middle of an alley. She didn't recoil, but she decided to get what she was looking for before giving the man the punishment he deserved.

"I won't… if you help me with something," she muttered. "Can you do that?"

"A-anything! I swear, I'll do anything!" he squealed desperately, making her wince. He was truly disgusting.

"Good," muttered Azula. "I want to speak to the Blue Wolf in private. Where can I find him?"

"Oh… t-the Blue Wolf?" asked Huang Li. "H-he's in here, but the barracks… they're no place f-for a Princess such as yourself!"

"What are you trying to say, Huang Li?" asked Azula, bringing her fire dangerously close to his face.

"I mean…! I can set up a meeting between you both!" he squealed, terrified. "I will, I will! But not here! This is no place for a Princess! T-there's an inn across the street, m-my brother owns it! I'll send the Blue Wolf there, t-to room 24! Wait there, I'll have him meet you there right away!"

Azula frowned, the fire on her hand still dancing hazardously. Huang Li's eyes were almost overflowing with tears by now, as he believed he would lose his life to her left hand… and his fear of death caused him to scream when her right hand began burning the cloth she was gripping firmly.

Once she burned the fabric she was holding, Huang Li collapsed on the ground while smacking his chest, trying to smother the flames that still burned his clothes and his body hair.

"Make sure you set this up, then," Azula said. "I will be waiting. Room 24, you said? If your gladiator isn't there in ten minutes, I'll be burning more than just your shirt next time. Am I clear?"

"C-crystal clear, Your Highness!" squeaked Huang Li, bowing even though he was still patting his chest.

Azula looked down on him, feeling compelled to deliver another strike at him… but she held back. If he didn't send Sokka to her on time, she would make him pay for it afterwards, when Mai and Ty Lee weren't watching.

"Let's go, ladies," she said, walking down the alley once more, headed towards the inn Huang Li had mentioned. Mai and Ty Lee followed her, but not before glaring at the man that still lay on the ground, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

Huang Li's legs still trembled when he entered the barracks in order to find the Blue Wolf, Dumberang, Sokka of the Water Tribe. He found him washing his clothes after having taken a bath himself, a ritual he performed every time he was done with his combats for the day. Huang Li tapped the young man on the right shoulder, surprising him.

"W-what's the matter?" asked Sokka, clearing his throat. He hadn't spoken in what felt like ages… but seeing Huang Li looking this troubled was too unusual not to comment on. Something strange must have happened to him, judging by the look on his face and his scorched shirt.

"D-dum… Blue Wolf," he said, avoiding using his ridiculous nickname for Sokka. "Someone… someone wants to talk to you. You must m-meet her in the inn across the arena, room 24. Go, or else she'll kill us both…"

"She?" asked Sokka, standing up as he frowned. "Who is this 'she', exactly?"

"She… I… I was a fool," said Huang Li, shaking his head. "I called her… how could I call her wench? I'm the worst, I… I'll pay for this… and I'm sure I will… I don't know why she spared my life, b-but she threatened me with that blue fire…"

Sokka's eyes opened wide, and he dropped the cloth he had been cleansing.

A dangerous woman with blue fire who had let Huang Li live for reasons unknown after he had insulted her… it couldn't be, could it?

"W-wait… why?" he asked, frowning. "Didn't you ask her why she wanted to talk to me?!"

"How could I have questioned her?!" cried Huang Li "She's so beautiful and terrible… I had nothing to say to the Fire Lord's daughter. All she wanted was to see you, and that's all I can do… i-if I'm lucky, maybe she won't kill me when she's through with you…"

Sokka wanted to keep questioning the man in front of him, but he decided against it immediately. His worst enemy, the woman he kept thinking about, the woman he wanted to kill, had requested his presence. A smile formed on his features as he realized his hopes to take revenge on her might actually come true now.

He took some spare clothes from the pile of objects that belonged to him and he clad himself with them, buckling up, weapons included, to meet Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. For two years he had waited for the chance to cross paths with her again, and now she had sought him out herself. Maybe this was his lucky day after all…


	5. Chapter 5

Sokka breathed deeply as he walked down the alley, heading towards the inn Huang Li had indicated him to go to. After talking to him, the amateur arena's owner had scurried off to make sure his brother would be aware of the important meeting that would be taking place in room 24. Huang Li didn't actually know what business Azula had in mind, but whenever a nobleman took interest in any of his men he would have them meet on Room 24. His brother was already used to these developments, so he was bound to lend him the room without complaint.

Sokka wondered if guards of some sort would take his weapons from him before he even got to see the darned girl. It was likely to happen, but if it didn't, he would be ready to fight her… that is, if she had come to give him the rematch he had been waiting for. He carried his boomerang, his club and a knife he hardly recurred to, but he knew those weapons alone wouldn't be enough to overpower the Princess if things came to violence between them, just as he hoped they would. But the wound on his arm weakened him, despite the dart didn't have any poisonous substances on its tip. The projectile probably had punctured a muscle or something, which brought forth an irritating pain that would keep him from fighting to the best of his skill.

He crossed the street and glared at the high-class carriage that stood next to the walkway. If he had any doubts left about the Princess being here, they were dispelled immediately upon the sight of the vehicle. Nobody in Hui Yi owned anything of such value; the carriage was so out of place it was irritating. Sokka decided to forget about the carriage for now, though, and he turned to face the inn. Room 24, was it? He took a deep breath and pushed the building's front door inwards, walking inside without looking at anyone in the crowded vestibule or bothering to ask for directions, since they weren't really necessary.

He reached the stairs and continued upwards, ignoring the two girls that stood next to the stairway. The two of them watched him carefully, one of them apparently studious, the other one blushing slightly, but Sokka was so focused on the person he'd have to face in room 24 that he failed to notice them.

Ty Lee couldn't help herself to gape after the gladiator as he climbed the steps to the upper floor.

"What are you doing?" asked Mai, frowning disapprovingly.

"I know we just watched him do something really horrible," muttered Ty Lee, blushing even more. "But damn, he's hot!"

Mai groaned in annoyance and shook her head, amazed by Ty Lee's knack for allowing her hormones take full reign.

"You're unbelievable," she said, as Ty Lee stared on at the now empty stairway, waiting for the handsome young man to reappear.

Sokka was unaware of how the girl by the stairs was swooning over him, though. He looked for room 24 and found it on the top floor of the inn. He read the number over and over again, feeling his blood boil. What would happen when he entered that room? What would he say? What would she say? Would she try to kill him as soon as she saw him? Or would he be the one taken over by the urge to slay her? Well, he would find out sooner than later. He extended his trembling hand towards the doorknob, his insides twisting wildly as he thought of every possible outcome to this crazy endeavor…

The door creaked loudly as he opened it and entered the room. He tried to keep steady as he saw her standing by the window, her back towards him. Her long black hair ran down her back, a small knot stood on the top of her head, held together by a red lace and crowned by the same royal hairpiece she had worn back when they had first met down at the South Pole. Sokka hated to find his eyes studying her, hated to acknowledge she was still as beautiful as ever even though he hadn't even seen her face yet… but surely, she was still as deadly as ever as well. As he stared at her, he wondered if she felt half as nervous as he did about this encounter… probably not. It wasn't as if his face haunted her nightmares, as if she considered him the one to blame for all what was wrong in her life…

But he was wrong. The second she heard the door open, her heart had jumped in her chest. Why was it so exhilarating to meet the Water Tribe Warrior again? She couldn't let emotions sway her only because he was the sole man to ever show her respect without her forcing it out of him… the fact that she had found him attractive while he was in the gladiator pit didn't help either, it probably made the situation far worse. What would happen now? What should she say? Would he agree to be her gladiator? She deeply hoped he would…

After a few seconds, she finally calmed her nerves enough and turned slowly to face him. Sokka didn't know if to feel glad or disappointed to finally catch a glimpse of her face… he had half-hoped she would be covered in pimples so that he could stop finding her so mesmerizing, but of course, he wouldn't be so lucky. Her skin was as flawless as ever.

Her amber eyes clashed with his azure gaze once again after two years. They had only met once before, but somehow they had been expecting this reunion so badly that it didn't feel like they were almost total strangers. Both stood holding the other's stare, both wondering who would say the first words, who would make the first move…

"It's been a while," muttered Azula, unable to resist the silence anymore.

Sokka didn't reply, unsure of what to say. Anything he dared utter could have catastrophic consequences…

"I'll assume you agree to that statement," she muttered carelessly, growing a little impatient. If he wasn't going to talk, he would make this far easier for her… and naturally, as soon as this thought scrolled through her mind, he finally decided to talk.

"I don't, actually," he grunted, his voice surprising Azula. Had his tone grown hoarse after these years? She could recall he had almost been squeaky-voiced before… the time he had spent roughening up among Gladiators had changed him in more ways than she had noticed. "It's not as if I hadn't seen you at all during these two years."

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't understand, I guess," said Sokka, folding his arms. "I'm pretty sure you can't even imagine what it's like to get your life, your home and everything you love taken away by an overpowered and arrogant Princess who doesn't give a damn about what she's doing, because all she cares about is taking over the world."

Azula couldn't help but feel slightly offended at his words, but she knew he was partially right nevertheless.

"Why do I have the feeling that you'd been planning for ages what you would say at this very moment…?" she asked, trying not to show any weakness whatsoever.

"Maybe because I was," growled Sokka. "You're unbelievable… after what you've done to me, after all you stole from me, you have the guts to show your face in front of me as if what you've done meant nothing?! As if you had the right to simply walk into my life and do as you please?! What did you come here for, to make sure I've been suffering just as you wanted me to?! Well, congratulations! You fulfilled your goal! You've made me become a disgusting monster! You've made me hate myself and hate everything I have to do to survive… and I simply did it because I kept fueling my rage towards you, hoping the day for payback would come soon…"

Azula hadn't been expecting a sweet reunion of any sort, but she didn't expect the man to pour out his soul in this manner either. She stared skeptically as he spoke, wondering if he would actually dare attack her.

"And you're planning to take your revenge right here and now?" she asked, playing with a lock of her hair. "Is that it?"

"N-no," muttered Sokka, lowering his eyes and even surprising himself with his words. "I… I've spilled enough blood today."

"Ah, so I'll be on your waiting list, then," she asked, smirking.

"You having fun?" asked Sokka, gritting his teeth. "You know, at times I've had to fight against six guys in a row… and I had to kill them all. I can kill you too, no problem at all."

"Your memory must have grown faint if you truly think so," muttered Azula. "I watched you battle that odd dart man today, and despite you're far more capable a fighter than you used to be, you're still no match for me."

"Wanna bet?" he asked, lifting his hand towards his boomerang.

Azula lifted her own hand, but to Sokka's surprise, she was showing him her palm… asking him to stop what he was about to do. He glared at her, unable to understand what she was thinking.

"Despite what you may think, I didn't come all this way so that we could fight each other again," she said. "I have better things to do than to seek out slaves that might hold grudges against me."

Sokka was taken aback completely by that statement, but he didn't lower his hand yet. For all he knew, she might be lying.

"Then what are you here for?" he asked.

Azula folded her arms as she sought the proper words, in hopes he wouldn't reply to her in anger, although she was expecting him to have a hysterical outburst towards her at some point. But she'd have to endure it. She needed him, and it was rather convenient for him that she did. She only had to make him understand that…

"A few developments in my life have been considerably unkind to me as of late..." she began, but Sokka let out a bark of skeptical laughter, making her stop on her tracks. She had chosen the wrong words, hadn't she? "What's so funny?"

"Excuse me if I find your sad story to be nigh unbelievable," he said, his eyes ablaze with scorn. "I doubt I'll be able to relate to your pain, seeing as you probably suffer because your dad didn't buy you the baby dragon you asked him for or something."

Azula narrowed her eyes, his mocking attitude bothering her. But despite the way he was speaking to her, she couldn't quite bring herself to trash him with her words. She had to endure everything he threw at her, she had no other choice if she wanted him to join her…

"I don't have petty issues like those, although it hardly surprises me that you'd believe those are the problems I'm enduring," she said. "Commoners aren't able to understand the plights of the highborn."

Sokka shook his head as he stared at her in disbelief, his arms folded.

"You've got guts to tell me how miserable you are," he snarled. "You really don't know how ridiculous it is for you to whine about how troublesome your life is, do you? How hard must the Fire Lord's daughter have it! Oh, how difficult her life must be while she gets pampered by servants for twenty-four hours a day! You really have some nerve to come here to say you've suffered a lot… do you have any idea of what I've been through?! I've had to make a living by killing men, and by dying slowly in the process! I can't even look at myself in a mirror anymore! I don't recognize the sound of my voice! It takes every ounce of my willpower for me not to take my own life after the horrors I've seen, and the awful things I've had to do with my own hands! You think your life is hard? Think again, Princess. There are some things in this world you'll never have to face… some things you'll never understand because you live within your bubble of royal pains. Don't you dare come to me whining about how hard you're having it… it's so ridiculous it's revolting."

Azula's eyes were fixed upon Sokka, the expression on them completely inexpugnable. Sokka could tell she was thinking about something, but he couldn't read her thoughts at all.

"I have to say… you're wrong to believe being pampered twenty-four hours a day is fun," she muttered, making him stumble in surprise.

"The hell?! Is that all you got from what I just said to you?!" he yelled, staring at her in utter disbelief.

"I wasn't done yet," she muttered, though he couldn't help but glare at her in distrust. "When, exactly, did I say my troubles were worse than what you've been facing for two years? I don't think I ever claimed as much. On the other hand, yes, you don't really understand what problems I'm faced with. Certainly, I'm not working as a slave or a gladiator, but it doesn't mean I don't have my own issues I must resolve."

"Well, it's really nice of you to clear that up," said Sokka. "But turns out I really don't give a damn about whatever is troubling you. Because, hey… turns out the source of the misery I've been forced to face during these years is you. There's no one else to blame but you, Princess… and I hate you for it. You've made me… you've made me what I am now. And I hate myself even more than I loathe you."

 _So… is his new muscular build my fault too? Well, I don't mind taking the blame for that_ she thought, keeping her opinion private this time. Letting him know he was physically attractive to her would probably unleash an array of trouble she preferred to avoid.

"Nobody said you had to like me," she muttered, and Sokka glared at her again.

"Yeah, no one said that," he said with gritted teeth. "But I'm thinking we got sidetracked here anyways. What is it that you want from me?"

"I think you're smart enough to figure that out for yourself," said Azula, her hands on her hips. "Why do you think someone from high society would be seeking out an amateur gladiator…?"

Sokka frowned and took a few steps back as his mind processed the information. He began shaking his head in utter disbelief as he looked at the woman in front of him, wondering if she was simply insane…

"No way…" he finally said, making her raise an eyebrow. "N-no way. This is absurd. It makes no sense at all…"

"Oh, so you're refusing to believe what I'm offering you… it's not as if you were saying no to being sponsored by me, right?"

"You're crazy!" yelled Sokka, still shaking his head. "The hell is wrong with you?! What makes you think I would become your gladiator?! Why on earth would I accept a proposal like that?!"

"Why wouldn't you, though?" asked Azula, pressing her back against the wall as she studied the gladiator in front of her.

"You have the guts to ask me WHY?!" bellowed Sokka. "Didn't I just say you're the one I blame for my every misfortune?! Didn't I make it clear that I hate you?!"

"Oh, you did… but I also told you it's not as if you needed to like me," said Azula, shrugging. "Sponsors and gladiators aren't meant to be friends, they're just with each other out of convenience. And it works wonders that way."

"Well, excuse me if I'm being brutally honest with you," he muttered, his voice shriller now due to his anger. "But I'd rather you burn me alive right here and now than work for you."

"Such an extremist…" said Azula, with a dramatic sigh. "So I'm guessing you'd rather be under the orders of that pig, Huang Li, for the rest of your life, which won't be as long as you hope if a gladiator smarter than you shows up in Hui Yi. For all you know, you might die tomorrow… and you say that's more convenient than becoming a sponsored gladiator?"

Sokka stood quiet for a second, pondering her words.

"And what's the big difference if I become your gladiator?" he asked. "I might die over there as well…"

"The Superior Gladiator League isn't as heartless as the amateur one," replied Azula. "You would have far more benefits than you can imagine."

"Oh, really?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "Such as…?"

"For one, I really don't care about the money," said Azula. "I wouldn't have a problem giving you about half the winnings we get on each fight. You probably won't be in risk of getting killed, at least, not most of the time, since the outcomes of these fights aren't decided over death."

Sokka narrowed his eyes. That did sound far better than what he had to deal with on a daily basis at Hui Yi's arena…

"I'll ensure you get trained in combat by the best warriors of the Fire Nation," she said. "I'll be financing anything you need: armors, weapons, food, clothes. You name it, you'll get it. It's among the perks of being a royal, anything I ask I can achieve with ease. So… does that sound at least a little more appealing than what you've been dealing with so far?"

Sokka frowned and looked at the floor, thoughtful. Indeed, those options were extremely tempting… but the one offering them to him was Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. He wouldn't even trust her to light up a candle with firebending, she was bound to burn the world down just to prove her prowess… How could he trust her? Why should he trust her…?

Because she might be his one-way ticket back home.

"I won't deny it sounds pretty good," muttered Sokka. "But that's not enough for me to sign on. I guess you could say I just don't trust you."

Azula's face grew stern with those words. Who said he had to trust her? This savage knew nothing of the world he lived in, did he?

"I can see you don't," she muttered. "What will it take for you to trust me, then, if that's what you need in order to accept my proposition?"

"Oh, no… don't fool yourself. I doubt I'll ever trust you," he said. "But there's something I want to know before actually considering what you're offering."

"What is it, pray tell?" asked Azula, disdainful.

"What… w-what happened to my tribe?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Azula was a little surprised to hear this question, but it only made sense for him to ask about his people at some point.

"Truth to be told, I don't know much about it," she admitted. "I didn't return to the South Pole after bringing you all the way to Hui Yi, so I wasn't involved in those battles directly. But according to what I've heard, your people are still standing strong and fighting against the Fire Nation battalion that was sent to take over the Pole."

Sokka's eyes grew wide; Azula could see hope in his blue irises.

"T-then… they're still there? T-they weren't vanquished or anything?"

"If they had been, you probably would have heard about it, don't you think?" she asked.

"I did think so," he muttered. "But maybe you guys thought so little of my tribe that you didn't even bother bragging about it. I also thought you might have killed everyone and that's why there wasn't any other Water Tribe slave besides myself…"

"From what I know, matters at both Poles are still ongoing," she muttered. "The war at the North Pole grows fiercer every passing day, since the waterbenders aren't easy to defeat when they're in favorable environment for them. And according to some rumors I heard… there seems to be a waterbender down at the Southern Water Tribe as well. It seems he's leading the warriors now, or so said the rumors."

Sokka's eyes widened even more. It was good to hear his friends and family were still alive, but that waterbender leading the warriors couldn't be anyone other than Katara…

"Is something wrong?" asked Azula, reading his expression.

"N-no… well, yes. There's still something else I want to know," he muttered. "You didn't send anyone after the rest of the warriors once you caught me… did you?"

"After the ones that fled? No, I saw no point in doing that," she muttered. "I thought that you were their leader. By taking you out, they would be in disarray, unsure of what to do, unable to organize themselves… it was like killing a beast by its head, if you know what I mean. But as it turns out, the beast suddenly burst out another head, so my efforts were seemingly in vain. You don't need to worry so much about your friends; I didn't hunt them down after catching you. But I don't have any accurate knowledge about what has happened down at the South Pole ever since. I can look it up, though, if you're really that desperate to know."

Sokka nodded, his heart leaping with joy. He still loathed her, but she had given him the best news he could have asked for…

"Is this all you needed to know before joining me?" she asked, folding her arms.

"It's what I needed to know…" muttered Sokka. "But I still have two more conditions."

"Two more?" asked Azula, irritated. "Exactly how whiny can you get? Do you realize what great honor you're being presented with? I'm even negotiating with you and you still ask for more?!"

"If you want me to be your gladiator as badly as it seems, then yes," he said. "You can go find someone else if you want… but if you want me, then you've got to deal with my conditions."

Azula felt like striking the man in front of her with a bolt of lightning. How dared he act so high and mighty? He was just a pathetic gladiator! And she was the Princess of the Fire Nation! How dared he…? But then she remembered she truly needed him. She wasn't bound to find another gladiator of her liking… even though she didn't like this one as much as she could have. He complained too much. Still, she sighed and muttered.

"What are those conditions, then?"

Sokka was surprised to hear her comply. He didn't expect Azula to be so keen to have him as her gladiator… she could have anyone else. Why him? Why go along with anything he asked for? It was suspicious, extremely suspicious…

"Well, first of all, I want to take 75% of the winnings, not half and half."

"Done," said Azula. "I don't care about the money, I already said that."

"Right," muttered Sokka. "The last one is, once I achieve whatever goal you have in mind to accomplish with me… you'll let me return to the Southern Water Tribe."

Azula stared at him, aghast.

"What?" she said, in such tone that Sokka could tell her patience was in shambles by now.

"You don't think I want to stay a slave forever, do you?"

"You don't think I care for your wishes, do you?" she asked mockingly. "Just how much more do you plan to patronize me?"

"Just a little more, don't sweat it" he replied, a feisty smile on his face.

"I refuse to agree to that," grunted the Princess. "It's ridiculous. I have no reason to go along with any of what you've asked of me."

"I thought so too," muttered Sokka. "Yet you seemed oddly keen to put up with everything I've said. Why? What makes you so desperate to have a gladiator? Why are you so intent on having that gladiator be me?"

"I have my reasons," replied Azula, lowering her gaze. Sokka frowned.

"Oh, really, now? What are those reasons, then?"

"They're none of your business" grunted Azula.

Sokka let out another bark of laughter as he stared at her in utter disbelief.

"And you want me to just accept without questioning you at all…?"

"Indeed," muttered Azula. "I've given you enough quarter already for you to keep on demanding more from me."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. As I said, I don't trust you at all, and I'm not signing up on this crazy scheme if I'm not sure I'll survive."

"What do you mean you're not sure you'll survive?" repeated Azula, getting more annoyed by the minute. Why did this man have to be so difficult?

"You're refusing to tell me whatever you want to achieve with this," he said. "You keep avoiding saying why you need me. I don't want to get into this mess if I don't know what your goal is… because, for all I know, you might just be using me for entertainment. Your life might have become extremely boring lately and you're looking for any form of fun… and to watch me wither and die out in the Superior Gladiator League might just be the most enjoyable idea you've come up with in a long time."

"That's stupid," said Azula. "If I wanted to see you die, I would kill you myself. Believe me, I would enjoy it far more that way."

"Yeah, well, turns out you Fire Nation people are famous for being insane sadists. The more you play around with me, the more fun you'll have when you destroy me."

"Oh, you're such a fool," she said, shaking her head in disapproval. "Do you really think that if I simply wanted to have fun, I wouldn't be able to find something far more interesting than this? Gladiator battles aren't really that appealing to me. I have better things to do… and I'd get them done if I didn't need to tend to something right now. And the only way I can tend to it is by getting a gladiator."

"Well, I don't get it," said Sokka.

"Nobody said you had to understand anyway," said Azula. "The sole thing you're concerned about is that I'd want to watch you suffer and die in the ring… well, it's not going to happen. I want you to live and triumph."

"Why, though?" asked Sokka. "What's the real goal of what you're doing? Just say it already, will you?"

Azula sighed and lowered her gaze again.

"I have two objectives, if I think about this on the long run," she muttered. "First of all… I need you to defeat someone's gladiator. And I need it done as quickly as possible. You'll have about one month to train to be up to the skill of this gladiator… then, you must fight him. And you must win, no matter what. Understood?"

"Uh, okay…" said Sokka, gulping. Who was this person Azula seemed to hold a grudge towards? Why did she need him to smash his gladiator so badly? "What about the other goal, then?"

"It's something… something I realized just now, actually," she said. "Truth to be told… if you achieve victory on your first fight, you might be the person I need to help me accomplish the biggest of my feats so far…"

"Right… can you be direct and say what you want already?" asked Sokka, growing impatient.

"I want you to become the top gladiator of the Superior Gladiator League."

Sokka's jaw dropped in quite a comical manner. Azula, though, wasn't amused. Her stare was steady on his eyes, proving to him that she was serious about what she'd just said.

"Y-you… you're crazy, woman," he said, unable to believe her statement. "You… you really are crazy."

"That does seem to be the popular belief…" she muttered, playing with her bangs as Sokka yanked the short stubs of hair that grew on the sides of his head.

"You're insane!" he concluded, turning to her again. "How can you even suggest I become the top gladiator?! I'm not even the best in the amateur league of Hui Yi!"

"You're giving up before even trying?" asked Azula, disappointed.

"Please, cut the crap!" yelled Sokka. "You're talking about the Superior League! They have benders there and all! How on earth do you want a simple non-bender like me to beat them?! Maybe I'm good against people like me, but against benders I'll be toast!"

"Which is why you'll be trained so you can fight benders on even terms," said Azula. "You had a few tricks up your sleeve today against the dart man, which is proof you're smart enough to come up with ploys that might give you the upper hand even against the most skilled benders. Also, rules are very different in the Superior Gladiator League… and there are several non-benders amongst their top gladiators."

"And what makes you think I can be one of them?" asked Sokka, his eye twitching.

"What makes you think you can't be?" replied Azula. "Just imagine the glory you'd attain… the top gladiator, a non-bender. People would be in awe and they would hold you in high honors, no matter if you're a slave or not."

"That's likely, but still…" mumbled Sokka. "I don't know. It sounds fishy. But… if I manage to become the top gladiator, you'll let me return home?"

Azula's brow contracted as she pondered her options. She would rather have him prove he was worthy of the position of first gladiator of the Superior League during a few weeks or months… but she didn't have much of a choice at this point. It was all or nothing when it came to this slave.

"Yes," she said, and Sokka jumped, surprised.

"I… I thought you'd refuse," he admitted.

"Well, I didn't," said Azula. "Do we have ourselves a deal, then?"

Sokka didn't know what he was getting himself into… and he probably didn't want to know either. This was bound to develop into something beyond his control, something absurd that he wouldn't understand, since he didn't understand much about it already anyways. Why did Azula need a gladiator? Why him? What was the point of making him the top gladiator of the Superior League? He wanted the answer to these questions… but he figured he would find out soon enough if he was patient.

"Deal," he said, extending his hand towards her.

Azula stared at the hand, unsure if she should grasp it or not. It was a ridiculous notion, a Princess shaking hands with a slave… but he had seen her as equals back when they were at the South Pole. Perhaps she should return the favor now…

Both felt a thrill racing through them when their hands touched, no matter if Sokka's was covered by a glove. The most physical touch Sokka had had lately was when he had been forced to strangle a man to his death. Azula didn't happen to touch many people either, and for him to be the one she touched, of all people… but despite the turmoil of feelings within them, their eyes didn't betray them as they held the other's gaze, both facing this new challenge with determination and certainty.

An alliance was formed then, one that would last for many years, one that would eventually develop into something beyond their reasoning… because right now, the sole conviction they both held was that they had become sponsor and gladiator.

"Very well," said Azula, letting go of his hand. "Let's head out. There's a lot to do, and not much time to get it done."

"Uh… wait, what?" asked Sokka. "Head out where?"

"You don't expect us to stay in Hui Yi, do you? We'll go to the Capital and then I'll find a good master for you. You're free to bid farewell to this town if you think you're going to miss it."

It dawned upon Sokka that he was actually going to leave Hui Yi… somehow, the thought was so exhilarating that he forgot for a minute all his reserves about Azula being the one to get him out of the dreadful town. He had thought he would die here, but he had been given a chance to a slightly better life…

"I don't think I'll miss it at all," he said, smiling despite himself. "But I can't just head out. I have to get my stuff first…"

"Fine," said Azula, slightly exasperated by now. "Go pack quickly, I'll wait for you by the carriage."

"I won't take long, don't be so cranky," he said. "It's not as if I had much to pack anyway…"

"Do you want me to feel sorry for you?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh… no?" said Sokka.

"Good. Because it wasn't working anyway," she said. "Get a move on, will you?"

"Fine, fine…" said Sokka, glaring at her as he left the room.

Sokka sprinted down the stairs, his heart beating wildly. Once or twice he had thought about escaping from the gladiator barracks and head down to his Tribe on his own. There were only a handful of guards surrounding the arena and all its adjacent buildings, and he could have overpowered them… well, probably not. The guards were firebenders, well fed and rested, while he hardly ate two meals a day and was forced to overexert himself with the fights, which weakened him thoroughly. So leaving Hui Yi had been nothing but a dream he didn't even want to think about, especially since he believed his fate as a gladiator was well-deserved. But now…

Ty Lee couldn't help but stare after Sokka as he ran to the door, straight towards the barracks where his belongings awaited.

"So… he survived," said Mai.

"Why wouldn't he have?" asked Ty Lee, surprised.

"I don't know… I have the feeling there's something odd about Azula and this guy," muttered Mai. "She dropped that Water Tribe slave here two years ago, didn't she? And the Blue Wolf has been here for two years. He has tan skin, blue eyes… don't you think it could be the same person?"

"It could be," said Ty Lee, thoughtful. "So you think there's some bond between them, right?"

"There could be. I don't know," said Mai, shrugging.

"I hope not," said Ty Lee, sighing as she thought about the man that had passed her by a few seconds ago.

"Why?" asked Mai, although she was certain she didn't want to know the answer to the question.

"Because if there's nothing between them, then maybe I can go after him!" said Ty Lee, smiling broadly.

"You'll never change, will you?" said Mai, rolling her eyes.

"Don't be so stingy!" said Ty Lee. "Just look at him! He's so handsome that if Azula wasn't to take him as her gladiator, I'd be the one hiring him!"

"Did you forget so quickly about what you just saw him do to the dart guy?" asked Mai, skeptical.

Ty Lee winced and flashed her friend a guilty smile.

"W-well, when you remind me of that he's not so charming anymore… but still! Do you think Azula would mind if I got involved with him…?"

"Yes, she would mind very much," said the Princess, walking down the stairs and overhearing her friends' conversation.

"O-oh… y-you really would?" asked Ty Lee, blushing as she smiled guiltily.

"I don't want my gladiator distracted by anything," grunted Azula. "I want him to focus on his training and his fights, nothing else. If you want a man to fool around with, go find your own."

"Oh… so you won't lend me yours, no matter what?" said Ty Lee, pouting. "It's a bit weird to hear you consider him to be your property or something already…"

"He's getting sponsored by me and he's a slave, therefore, he belongs to me," said Azula matter-of-factly.

"I have the feeling owning such a good looking guy might make a mess out of you, though…" muttered Ty Lee. "You might be the one to end up distracted, if you know what I mean…"

Azula stared at her sternly.

"That's so ridiculous it's not even funny, Ty Lee," she said, heading towards the door. "Come on, it's time to leave."

"You really should hold your tongue once in a while," muttered Mai, and Ty Lee chuckled.

"You'll see I'm right, you'll see… want to bet on it?" she asked. "If Azula doesn't get smitten over him, I'll pay up ten thousand yuans, but if she does, you'll be the one paying me!"

"You're becoming a betting addict, you know?" said Mai, as they crossed the doors.

Azula stood next to the carriage; the driver had dozed off on it and hadn't realized the Princess was back. Azula's gaze was fixed upon the alley from where she expected Sokka to come from at any moment now. She hadn't thought it would take too long for him to say his goodbyes to Huang Li and the other gladiators, but she had no choice other than to wait for him to show up.

"But the thing is…" muttered Mai to Ty Lee. "Even if she were to fall for him, do you think he would be interested in her? It doesn't seem likely, if she's the one who got him to become a slave in the first place…"

"Well, I really don't know if he'll want her or not," shrugged Ty Lee. "I just wonder if he'd be interested in me…"

Mai sighed and shook her head, thinking her friend was definitely crazy in her own way. Just then, Sokka came out from the alley carrying a rugged bag of faded blue color on his back.

"I hope you said goodbye to Huang Li for me," said Azula, smirking cruelly.

"It's the first time he seemed happy to see me alive," muttered Sokka. "What exactly did you do to him?"

"You should be asking what he did to anger me instead," said Azula.

Ty Lee cleared her throat and looked at the Princess, begging her with her eyes to introduce her to the handsome slave. Azula glared at her and sighed, giving in for once.

"These two girls are my friends, Mai and Ty Lee," she said, pointing at both of them. "Mai, Ty Lee, this is… Sokka, was it?"

His heart lurched when he heard his name for the first time in two years. The surprise in his eyes was evident for the three girls, who stared at him in confusion.

"Did I get the name wrong?" asked Azula.

"N-no, no…" he muttered, "It's just… I hadn't been called by my name for a long time. Huang Li used to call me Dumberang, my gladiator name was the Blue Wolf… It's been ages since I'd heard my real name."

Mai didn't seem to care either way about his words, although Azula actually felt moved, despite herself. She wondered if he was thankful because she had called him by his rightful name… as for Ty Lee, her eyes were quickly filled with tears and she jumped at Sokka, clinging onto his arm while squealing:

"Oh, you poor thing! Don't worry, we'll make sure your life is much, much better than it used to be!"

"Speak for yourself," Azula snapped, as she opened the carriage's door, waking up the sleeping driver with her action. "Come on, let's go."

"I'll sit down next to you!" yelled Ty Lee, still holding on to Sokka's arm.

Sokka didn't find her strange fascination with him to be entirely uncomfortable, he was a man and having a girl so interested in him was considerably nice… but she was awfully clingy, something he didn't find too enjoyable.

Azula and Mai took their seats at one side of the carriage, both bothered by Ty Lee's behavior, but for her sake, they decided to keep quiet. Ty Lee jumped in afterwards and Sokka followed, dropping his luggage on the carriage floor after closing the door behind him. Azula stared with distaste at the old, filthy bag, which made Sokka smirk. Making her uneasy felt like just a small token of the payback he owed her for the two years of suffering she had forced upon him.

"Say… what's with this necklace of yours?" asked Ty Lee, returning him to reality. "Most guys don't wear this sort of thing."

"Oh, it's… it's something I used to wear back in the Water Tribe," he said, confirming Mai's doubts. He was definitely the very slave Azula had brought to Hui Yi. "It's pretty common down there."

"I see…" said Ty Lee. "You have some weird markings on your neck, though… what's with that?"

Sokka would have been bothered by the way the girl was detailing him, but the question gave him the possibility to glare at the Princess that sat across him.

"Maybe you can ask her instead…" he muttered.

Azula smirked at his words.

"You can't possibly be implying it was that painful… most men enjoy having a woman's nails on their skin."

Azula's insinuation made both Mai and Ty Lee blush, but Sokka didn't think much about the Princess's innuendo.

"I advise you to have a psycho with freakishly long nails clawing at your neck before saying anything like that" he grunted. "It took ages for those stupid wounds to heal, and don't get me started on the burn mark on my stomach…"

"I thought you were tough enough to bear such marks with pride," said Azula. "Apparently I was wrong…"

"D-don't act as if my toughness was to be doubted!" he yelled, angrily.

"Then be a man and quit whining so much," she stated with another smirk, to which Sokka had no answer at the moment. He hoped something useful would come to his mind… but to his dismay, no witty reply came. He was left to glare at Azula, who kept smirking proudly.

Ty Lee didn't cling onto Sokka for the rest of the trip and she only asked him a few questions, but they weren't anything personal anymore. She didn't know what the deal was between Azula and her newly appointed gladiator, but she could tell the guy next to her seemed to have a certain connection with the Princess. She was better off by not getting in the way of whatever weird relationship this was…

Mai thought the question she had asked Ty Lee earlier had answered itself after witnessing the way the slave had ignored Ty Lee and focused solely on arguing with Azula. No man she had ever seen around Ty Lee so far would stop paying attention to her, let alone to bicker with the Princess. And Mai was quite intrigued by that, truth to be told. She had the strange feeling that whatever relationship was brewing between Azula and Sokka wouldn't be anything similar to what had been seen between gladiators and sponsors so far.

The Princess, on the other hand, didn't think much of the current happenings, as she was busy envisioning what her next moves would be. She had her gladiator, but that was just the easiest part of her plan. The difficulties were only about to begin…


	6. Chapter 6

The trip on the carriage wasn't much fun for anyone, although Sokka was particularly uncomfortable by it. Ty Lee had fallen asleep halfway to their destination, and she hadn't found anywhere better to lay her head than on his shoulder. His arm was numb, but he didn't dare move and wake her up. To his slight irritation, the Princess had also dozed off with her arms folded across her chest. Not even as she slept she seemed to stop machinating evil ploys… or so thought Sokka, as he glared at her. Mai was the only one who was awake, aside from Sokka, but she was merely gazing through the window, her mind off someplace else as she stroked her belly.

It was irritating that Sokka couldn't stare in front of him without his eyes falling upon the sleeping Princess. He tried to avoid it, but somehow his eyes kept focusing on her… well, it wasn't that big a deal anyway, was it? The only other conscious person in the carriage hardly seemed to remember he was there, so it wasn't as if she would judge him for looking at the Princess…

Truth to be told, he had been unfair earlier. It did seem like she stopped thinking about cruel plots when she was asleep, at the very least. Right now she looked somehow calm, at ease… though maybe she wasn't. The arms crossed across her chest were proof of her aloofness: she seemed to be isolating herself from the rest of the world somehow. Sokka wondered if her friends were aware of the problems that troubled her, or if she had kept those matters secret even from them… Why did she need him so badly? Why him and not some superior fighter? He wasn't that great a gladiator, he had no doubts about it… and also, why did she want him to become the top gladiator of the Superior League? It made no sense no matter how he tried to think about it… what secrets did this woman hold behind those tightly closed amber eyes?

The carriage came to a halt suddenly, forcing him to come back to reality and to stop trying to unravel Azula's secrets. The brusque halt made him notice his eyes had been intent on studying the Princess without his awareness. Both the sleeping girls had woken up by their stop, and to Sokka's relief, Ty Lee finally got off his shoulder, letting him massage it in an attempt to get the blood circulating through his arm again. Azula's eyelids fluttered open and Sokka could see her pupils were trying to get adjusted to the light as she blinked and rubbed her eyes with her hands.

"Had a nice nap?" he asked her, smirking slightly.

Azula hadn't intended to fall asleep at all, but she hadn't been able to help herself. All conversations had dwindled and died down after a while, and the movements of the carriage had lulled her into a light slumber. To think the slave in front of her had witnessed her sleeping face… a mild blush showed up on her face as she glared at him.

"Sure I did!" said Ty Lee, smiling. Sokka raised an eyebrow, wondering if he hadn't made it clear he was talking to the Princess.

"Uh… good to know," he muttered, smiling a little. "Why did we stop?"

The carriage door swung open then. The driver held the door's handle on his hand as he bowed and stated:

"We have arrived to Lady Ty Lee's home" he stated.

"We're at the Capital already?" mumbled Azula. "That was fast… or maybe I slept too much."

"The second option sounds more accurate" said Mai, smirking a little.

"Well, this is my stop!" said Ty Lee. "I'll see you girls next week... I hope we won't have to ride across the country again by then."

"We probably won't have to," said Azula, still drowsy.

"And you..." said Ty Lee, smiling kindly at Sokka. "I hope things go well for you. I might catch one of your matches some day, maybe. See you!"

Sokka had half expected Ty Lee to throw some insinuation at him, or at least to wink towards him. But her smile seemed sincere and honest this time, and there was no romantic intent on her words… why had her demeanor changed so abruptly? As the girl got off the cabin, Sokka couldn't help but think Fire Nation women were crazy.

The driver returned to the front of the carriage, and they were back on track soon afterwards. Azula kept staring through the window until Ty Lee's house disappeared from sight.

"Where will we drop you off, Mai?" asked Azula.

"At my house, I already instructed the driver to leave me there." replied the woman. "I know my parents' house is closer to the Palace, but I'd rather go home for the day than deal with them."

"Are they back in the city right now?" asked Azula.

"Yeah... they're dropping by for a few days. I can't wait for them to go back to Omashu already."

"Omashu..." repeated Azula. "That name really rubs me the wrong way. They should change it to something more suitable for a Fire Nation colony."

"Something like what?" asked Mai.

"You won't even let a city keep its name?" grunted Sokka, interrupting the conversation while glaring at Azula.

"Maybe, maybe not. What is it to you?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow as he stared back at her, defiantly…

"Cut it out," said Mai, surprising them both. For just a brief second they had forgotten she was on the carriage with them. "If you want to argue, do it when on your own time. I don't want to hear your dumb spats."

"Hey, they're not dumb!" said Sokka.

"They are to me," said Mai, yawning. "Politics are boring."

Azula rolled her eyes, used to her friend's attitude, but she decided not to add any comments to that. She knew she shouldn't allow her emotions carry her away just because the slave kept pressing her on subjects they would never agree on. Still, arguing with him was far more fun than she expected it to be. It probably hadn't been that way back when they had first met… or had it? She sighed, trying to pull herself together somehow…

Next to her, Mai caressed her womb once more, and the movement caught Azula's eye. She hardly knew anything about gestation, but it was likely the bumpy ride and latest happenings hadn't been too kind to Mai nor to her baby.

"Are you faring okay?" asked Azula.

"I think so," muttered Mai. "But I'm feeling somewhat sick right now. I was told this pregnancy flu was variable for each woman… and it seems mine comes and goes as it pleases. It's so annoying…"

"Oh… so you're pregnant," said Sokka, understanding now why the woman stroked her belly.

"How observant of you," Azula mocked him, to Sokka's irritation. "We should give you an award for that."

"Hey! Quit being so…!" started Sokka, but the carriage stopped again, interrupting whatever he was about to yell at Azula.

The driver opened the door again as he announced they had arrived at Mai's home. She had never been more relieved to see to her house.

"Good, I can finally leave you two to your pointless quarrels," she said, smiling slightly. "I'll see you both around… I might watch a few of your fights, gladiator. It wouldn't hurt to see how you fare against professional fighters. And Azula… good luck."

"Good luck?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"If you don't know what I mean just yet, you'll probably find out eventually," said Mai, giving the Princess a frightening smirk. "As commoners say, 'hang in there.'"

"What are you talking about, Mai?" asked Azula, but her friend stepped down from the carriage, chuckling.

The driver returned to the front after closing the door, and Azula kept glaring at Mai until the girl entered her house and was blocked from sight.

"You have… weird friends, I'd say," muttered Sokka.

"They're really odd indeed," said Azula. "Though I normally understand what Mai's trying to say when she acts enigmatically…"

"Ah, she's just playing you, don't sweat it," said Sokka, shrugging. "It's the same thing you've done with me, isn't it?"

"I don't know. It's Mai we're talking about… she's not the type to do those things," mumbled Azula, crossing her arms and legs as she pondered the meaning of Mai's words.

"Still, I have to say they don't really come off as the type of people I'd expected to see hanging with you," said Sokka. "You don't seem to have very compatible personalities, I think… I don't know any of you well enough to say anything for certain, but the little I know makes me wonder how on earth you became friends in the first place."

"I won't deny we're very different from each other," muttered Azula. "We met when we were very young, at the Fire Nation Royal Academy for Girls. I instantly seized everyone's attention, since I was the current Fire Lord's granddaughter, but I didn't want a group of moping idiots following me everywhere just because I was a Princess. So I was as harsh as I could be towards every single girl at school, pushing them away… and only two of them stuck by me despite it all. I would always reduce Ty Lee to tears with my words or my fire, but oddly enough, she'd always come back with a smile on her face. As for Mai, she never cared for what I said and she had quite a crush on my brother… so, by the end of it, they were the only two girls I ever befriended."

"Doesn't sound much like friendship to me…" muttered Sokka, grimacing. "Sounds like Ty Lee is a masochist and Mai was using you to get to your brother."

"If she had been, she would have no obligation to spend time with me anymore," said Azula. "My brother has been gone for almost ten years, give or take, and Mai married another man. If she was my friend just so she could spend more time with Zuko, she would have no reason to keep me company by now."

"Huh… I see," said Sokka.

"There are other things that keep us together anyways," said Azula. "But I don't see why I should tell you anything else. You already know more than enough about it."

"Gee, so secretive," muttered Sokka. "I hope you know I'm curious by nature, so if you hide too many things it'll be hard for me not to go looking into them."

"Well, if that ever happens you just have to remind yourself of who you're dealing with," said Azula, smirking. "I thought you hated me so much that being under my service revolted you… yet now you want to know more about me?"

Sokka blinked blankly and nodded.

"Yeah, you're right. I forgot who I was talking to."

Azula chuckled and shook her head, staring out through the window again. Several people halted the happenings of their daily lives just to stare in awe at the magnificent carriage. Azula rather enjoyed the attention.

"But… can I ask what's your brother's story?" asked Sokka, and her satisfied expression vanished immediately.

She narrowed her eyes and stared at Sokka with slight irritation, but Sokka, despite starting to regret asking the question, didn't waver.

"My brother was banished," she said, curtly. "My father was ashamed of him and sent him on a quest so that he could learn the true meaning of honor as he attempted to accomplish my father's orders."

"Huh," said Sokka. "You seem awfully troubled by it… is it because you miss him?"

Azula laughed and stared at him in disbelief.

"Miss him? Who do you take me for?" she asked, making Sokka frown.

"I just thought…well, I miss my sister a lot," he said. "And I haven't seen her in two years. I just thought maybe you felt the same way about your brother."

"My life is far better without my brother in it," said Azula, and Sokka glared at her.

"Your heart is made of ice, isn't it?" asked Sokka.

"Sounds like a contradiction: a firebender with a heart of ice," said Azula, smirking. "Is your heart a piece of burning coal even though you're a snow savage, then?"

"My heart is a common, regular human heart," said Sokka. "I don't know what's wrong with yours, though… I bet you have ice flowing through your veins too. You're really mean. To think you don't miss your brother even in the slightest…"

"You don't understand anything about me or him," said Azula. "So you have no right to judge me."

"There it is, the girl of the mysteries…." said Sokka with a dramatic sigh. "Well, whatever. I don't even know why I'm bothering to ask all these things."

"Neither do I," said Azula, staring at her nails.

Sokka glared at her once more, especially since the claws he blamed for the scars on his neck were in plain sight at the moment. The carriage stopped once again, and the driver opened the door.

"The Royal Palace," he said, bowing and taking a few steps back.

Sokka's eyes grew wide instantly. Reality hadn't dawned upon him until then.

He was at the Fire Nation Royal Palace.

Azula stepped off the carriage quickly, and she expected Sokka would follow, but he didn't move. She turned and glared at him, irritated.

"Well? Do you plan to make a living from within the carriage or are you coming along, savage?" she asked.

"I'm just… taking in what's about to happen" he muttered, gulping as he picked up his pack and braced himself to enter the last place on earth he wanted to be in.

The Royal Palace of the Fire Nation awaited him, the open doors beckoning him and Azula to enter its premises. Not even in his wildest dreams had he imagined he would come here… well, maybe in his wildest dreams, when he thought he could get inside, slay the Fire Lord and free the world from the evil of the Fire Nation. But he never thought he'd be entering the premises of the Palace guided by the Fire Princess he loathed, by the Fire Princess who had hired him now to be her gladiator. The whole situation was so twisted that it wasn't even funny at this point.

"Something wrong?" asked Azula, the grimace on his face prompting her to inquire for the reasons behind his troubled appearance.

"I… I'm just trying to cope with reality," he muttered. "This is so unbelievable. I'm about to head into the Fire Nation Royal Palace… it makes no sense."

"No, it doesn't," agreed Azula. "But you're coming anyways. Move."

Azula walked past the gates, the men who stood guard next to them bowed down to her instantly. Sokka followed and was surprised, and annoyed, to see Azula didn't bother acknowledging the men who had honored her through the reverence.

"You should be a little nicer to your guards, you know?" he said, walking quickly to keep up with her pace.

"Why?" asked Azula. "They're doing their job, I've got my own matters to deal with. What am I doing wrong?"

"Well… thank them, at least, for doing that job!" said Sokka. "They'd probably do it with a smile if you're nicer to them."

"Their faces are always covered: they could be toothless and I would never know it," said Azula. "Thus, I don't care if they do their jobs smiling or not. It's their job; it's not as if they were supposed to enjoy it."

"Yeah, I guess that's true to the Fire Nation," grunted Sokka. "You guys don't care about anyone's feelings, for what I know."

"I never thought you'd be such a sensitive man," Azula mocked him, to his dismay. "I figured you were tougher than that…"

"Having feelings doesn't make anyone weak!" he squealed, blushing.

"I beg to differ" muttered Azula, as they walked inside the building.

Sokka forgot their discussion as he looked around, taking in every detail of the Palace. It was extremely majestic, so much that a man such as himself seemed completely out of place within it. Paintings by great artists decorated the walls, an extremely soft and clean carpet spread under his feet… this life was beyond him, no doubt about it. But it wasn't as if he wanted to live like this, to be honest. He would pick returning to his family over becoming a rich lord if he was allowed to choose whatever life he wanted…

"Where exactly are we going…?" asked Sokka, gulping as he continued to follow Azula.

"Is something the matter?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Let's just say I feel extremely uncomfortable here," he muttered.

"Don't worry, you won't be staying too long," said Azula, making him jump.

"Huh?"

"I'm simply looking for a servant," said Azula, stopping on an intersection of hallways and glancing around herself.

"Would any servant cut it?" asked Sokka, looking behind him. "There's a weird looking guy walking over there…"

Azula looked towards the direction Sokka was glancing at and nodded in approval.

"Yes, any of them would do," and, looking at the servant. "Gen, I need of your services immediately."

"Oh, Princess!" said the servant, cutting the distance between them with quick strides. "I'm glad you have returned!"

"Right," said Azula. "I need you to set up a room for this man."

Gen stared at Sokka, puzzled. He had to be sixteen years old or younger; the green in his eyes betrayed him as a former Earth Kingdom citizen.

"Who is he?" asked Gen. "He looks… strange"

"Is that any of your business, Gen?" asked Azula.

"W-well, it is, Princess…" muttered Gen. "Because if he's an important person, I should get a very good room ready…"

"Oh, don't worry. The simplest room available will be more than enough for a guy like him. And he's not staying for too long anyway."

"The simplest room?" grunted Sokka. "You know, you could be a little more courteous!"

"I think I've shown you more courtesy than what anyone expected me to," replied Azula. "Besides, the room you'll get will be the best place you've ever slept in, even if it's the worst chamber in the Palace."

Sokka narrowed his eyes, irked; Azula returned his glare and Gen stared at both, confused about this strange man with blue eyes who accompanied the Princess. Who was he?

"Uh… I'll go get the room ready, then," said Gen, smiling as he tried to walk away.

"Stop," said Azula, holding Sokka's gaze for a second longer before looking at his body up and down, to Sokka's slight discomfort. "Do this moron a favor first and get him something decent to eat. Clearly he hasn't had a real course of food in years, if he ever had one to begin with."

"I had several back when I was at the South Pole," said Sokka, cranky. "And it's your fault that I'm underfed now."

"A gladiator will fare better if he's underfed rather than overfed. He'll be more agile," said Azula, smirking.

"You really are heartless, you know?" said Sokka, irritated.

"Uh… w-would you follow me, Sir…?" asked Gen, uncomfortable by the spat between them.

"No need to be so formal with him, he's a slave. You're welcome to think of yourself as above him, Gen," said Azula. "And he's called Sokka."

"Oh, then, Sir Sokka… I mean, just Sokka!" he corrected himself as Azula raised an eyebrow towards him.

"Right…" said Sokka, and with a last glare towards the Princess, he followed the servant towards the kitchen.

Azula watched them leave and headed towards her particular office, a place where books and scrolls of her interest were stored. Once she was inside, she looked through several of them, browsing their content while making quick decisions. She studied the rules of the gladiator industry, and afterwards she took a catalogue filled with information regarding the most skilled warriors of the Fire Nation. A familiar name caught her eye, the name of a man who had trained her brother so many years ago… She wondered if he would agree to train a gladiator.

She spent almost an entire hour fixing her plans carefully until she reasoned that her newly appointed gladiator was bound to be in his room by now. She felt compelled to check on him, and she figured she should let him know he would only be spend one night in the Palace, so long as he was lucky enough to be accepted by the master she believed most suitable for him. But as soon as Azula stood up, the door swung open. The Princess looked towards it quickly, and wasn't too pleased to see her two advisers and caretakers staring at her sternly.

"Azula," said Lo, or who Azula thought was Lo. "Why did you leave this morning?"

"And where did you go?" asked Li.

"If you wanted to know so badly, you might as well have tagged along," grunted Azula, glaring at them both. "It was none of your business. I have errands to run now, so get out of my way."

"You don't need to be so abrasive, Azula," said Li.

"We are only ever trying to aid you," said Lo.

"Well, you've done a great job of it until so far," said Azula, sarcastically. "I don't need any assistance from either of you at the moment, though, so you're as good as useless at the moment."

"Azula, we are simply concerned for your wellbeing," said Lo.

"After the news you received this morning…" said Li.

"Yes, I'm supposed to be extremely shaken over that, I know," said Azula. "But I'm not. I'll get my way somehow."

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked both old ladies at unison.

"It means what it means, you don't need to know," grunted Azula, frowning as she headed to the door, walking past both women, but then she stopped on her tracks. "Although, if you wish to make yourselves useful somehow… tell my father I wish to meet with him. We need to discuss a matter of great importance regarding my engagement. And once you're done with that, send word for my Barge to be staffed quickly. I need to travel tomorrow morning. Make sure all preparations are ready by then."

"But Azula…" said both of them, albeit they knew Azula would ignore them now.

Azula didn't feel much remorse for dismissing Lo and Li in this manner; they were becoming extremely irritating lately. If they knew what she was up to they would surely report to her father… and she was the one who had to explain the situation to him. She needed to do so as carefully as possible, or else everything would go to waste.

Lo and Li used to be her most trusted advisors, the people she turned to every time she needed help… they were her firebending mentors as well, despite not being benders themselves. But, as of late, they seemed to do nothing but keep an eye on her, watching her as if by her father's orders, as if she wasn't to be trusted… she had no idea if she was simply being paranoid nowadays or if her fears were completely understandable, but she couldn't bring herself to confide in Lo and Li anymore, for her own reasons.

She walked down one of the most secluded hallways of the Palace and headed towards a room with a half open door, the plain chamber she had instructed Gen to set up for Sokka. She didn't know if the gladiator was finished eating yet, but she realized he was when she peeked inside the room and saw him spreading the contents of his filthy bag on the mattress. The delicate sheets were suddenly covered with dirt, weapons and a handful of worn-out clothes that contrasted clearly with the neat room.

"You're about as subtle as a komodo rhino," Azula said, her eyebrows rose.

Sokka hadn't noticed she was at the threshold of the room and he jumped instantly, his knife in his hand.

"D-don't sneak up on me, will you?!" he yelled, irritated.

"You should be a better listener," she said, smirking. "A good warrior would have heard me approach."

"Yeah, yeah, very funny," he replied.

"You… don't seem to have many clothes," said Azula, walking towards the bed and picking up what she thought was a shirt, or was it? She couldn't even tell. Sokka snatched it away with a small pout.

"Well, what did you expect?" he grunted. "It's not as if I had the privilege to go out shopping if I wanted to."

"You'd like to go shopping?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "Not a very manly thing to do, if you ask me…"

Sokka flushed and glared at her, wondering why he had been charged with this form of divine punishment. He had always thought the universe hated him, but this was the final straw.

"I'm manly enough not to beat you up for that comment, how's that?"

"Gee, such a gentleman," Azula mocked him; Sokka rolled his eyes and decided to ignore her presence for as long as he could.

He set his club next to the bedside table and his boomerang and knife atop it, just in case he had to be at the ready. But when he was about to place his bomb bag inside a drawer, Azula stopped him.

"Don't get too cozy. As I said, you won't be staying here long."

"Huh? You plan to kick me out at some point?" asked Sokka, glaring at Azula.

"Not exactly," said Azula. "I plan on having you move somewhere specific once I've found the right master for you."

"Oh… huh?" asked Sokka. "Why not make the master move here? Surely you could pull some strings…"

"The man I have in mind lives in a far away island," muttered Azula. "He wouldn't move here no matter the circumstances. Also, he's extremely picky about his students. Make sure not to come off as an inept savage, understood?"

"He's picky?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "And what are we going to do if he says he won't teach me?"

"He's the best sword master around… but if it comes to that, we can always resort to the second best, lesser as he might be" said Azula shrugging.

Sokka's eyes grew wide in surprise at hearing what his possible master's specialization was.

"S-sword master, you said?" he repeated. "I'll be taught how to use a sword?"

"You didn't expect to keep fighting with your primitive tools forever, did you?" asked Azula, smirking. "You need to upgrade your skills. As you are right now, even the worst of the professional gladiators would take you out."

"Yeah, I had already thought so, but you insisted on having me as your gladiator," muttered Sokka. "You should've thought about how low my level was before hiring me, you know?"

"Oh, I'm afraid you must be right," said Azula, dramatically. "I guess I should kick you out right now and find someone else. Is that okay with you?"

Sokka winced and stared at her with irritation.

"N-no…"

"Then quit complaining," said Azula.

Sokka rolled his eyes again and nodded.

"Fine, fine, whatever you say," he grunted. "Why are you here anyway?"

"On first instances, to see if you were comfortable on your new accommodations," she said. "Are they to your liking?"

"Well… you were right," he admitted. "This room is far more luxurious than anything I'm used to… it's slightly intimidating, but I guess I'll get by."

"You don't need to worry, you'll only have to 'get by' for one night," said Azula. "We'll depart to find your master tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow?" asked Sokka, surprised. "Oh… okay. I guess that's better than staying here anyways… this place freaks me out."

"You should stroll down the Royal Gallery," said Azula, smirking. "My brother was terrified of that place, if I remember correctly, and he was used to the life in the Palace… you definitely should go there sometime."

"Uh, I'll pass on that, thank you very much," said Sokka, yawning. "Well, this has been the weirdest day of my life, hands down… I'm just waiting for something to happen so that I wake up and discover everything's been a dream."

"I'm surprised you think of it as a dream rather than a nightmare," said Azula, smiling.

"Well, there's weird stuff in dreams too," said Sokka. "And you're the weirdest of it all."

"I'll take that as a compliment, Blue Wolf," said Azula, smirking. "Will you keep using that name in the Superior League?"

"Sure, why not?" said Sokka, shrugging. "Well, it's been fun chatting and all, but I think I'll jump in bed right now, if you don't mind…"

Azula grimaced and shook her head.

"I do mind… you shouldn't go to sleep yet, take a bath first. You're filthy and so are your clothes."

"Hey! I washed myself and my clothes back when I was at Hui Yi, just before you showed up!" yelled Sokka.

"May I remind you that you're a 'wolf'?" said Azula. "If you dump water on a filthy wolf, the stench only gets worse."

Sokka frowned and sniffed his armpits. Either he was too used to his odor or the Fire Nation Princess had extremely delicate senses.

"You've probably spent ages without a proper bath… well, if you ever took one, that is," said Azula, shrugging and making Sokka glare at her again. "So go take one. There's a good bathroom two doors down."

"How would you know if I've taken a proper bath or not?" he grunted.

"It looks like you haven't, judging by where you came from and where you've spent the last two years of your life," said Azula. "You probably don't even know how to use soap."

"Well, seeing as how you're being so awfully insistent about me taking a bath, I'm guessing you want to be the one to teach me how to use soap?" he said, winking at her.

He was amazed to see her blush intensely as she stared at him in dismay, disbelief and anger.

"What on earth are you implying, you disgusting savage?! Are you stupid?!"

"I'm implying you want to take a bath with me, of course!" he chuckled as he walked to the door, Azula's glare followed him closely as she blushed even more. "Okay, relax, girl! I was only joking! Although seeing you get flustered like this proves you're not really heartless… seems like you're capable of emotions, alright," he said, patting her on the head as he passed by next to her. "See you around, Princess…"

Her title seemed to lose all dignity when he was the one uttering it, and Azula couldn't help but feel outraged at the thought. How dared he speak to her in such manner…? If anyone seemed keen to take an accompanied bath it was him, not her! She never mentioned such a ridiculous idea! He was truly a pervert, wasn't he? Back when they met he had been talking about her 'blue fire', and now he wanted to bathe with her?!

She found herself even more flustered when she saw him take off his shirt as he walked towards the room she had signaled at him. His back seemed to mock her… and for reasons she couldn't understand, she couldn't get her eyes off it.

"Make sure you get plenty of rest, you savage!" she yelled. "You'll be up at six in the morning, you heard me?!"

"Yeah, yeah…" he said, shaking his hand carelessly as he entered the bathroom.

It took a few minutes for Azula to calm down, for her heart-rate to return to normal. She felt so humiliated… How dared he? And why hadn't she found anything good to retort at him with? She was never breathless… she always had the last say in everything, and thus she left everyone else in shock, not the other way around!

"Princess..." said a servant, bowing down after approaching her. "The Fire Lord is ready to see you."

"What...? Oh! Right," she had half-expected Lo and Li not to keep to her orders, and she could have been pleased to discover her assumptions had been wrong if she wasn't still so embarrassed by her gladiator's words. "I'll be there shortly."

The servant nodded and bowed again before leaving. Azula kept taking deep breaths to calm down somehow; she couldn't face her father in such a state of disarray… She forced herself to remember her goals, to try and think of Sokka not as himself, but simply as a gladiator she needed for her own ends. She knew she was nowhere near true tranquility, but she had no more time to waste dawdling and thinking about that despicable Water Tribe man…

She sped down the hallways, holding her head high as she thought over and over again about what she would tell her father… she halted in front of the Throne Room, took another deep breath and walked inside.

The red curtains by the sides of the door fluttered when she walked past them, the curtains behind which she had hidden several times during her childhood in order to sneak into war meetings she hadn't been allowed to attend. They were also the drapes from where she had seen her grandfather, Azulon, telling her father that he wouldn't allow him to become Fire Lord, because it was his first-born Iroh's birthright. To Azula's amusement, though, her father became Fire Lord anyway. She wasn't entirely aware of the circumstances that had allowed him to become the supreme ruler of the nation, but she didn't care much either way. Her father had gotten his way that day, despite the odds… and so would she.

She knelt down in front of the throne, her head tilted. The powerful fire surrounding the throne was very bright, so much that Azula could hardly make out the man's features through the flames.

"You have requested to meet with me, Azula," said the deep voice of the Fire Lord. "Lo and Li told me you wished to discuss matters regarding your marriage."

"Indeed, father," muttered Azula, nodding slowly before raising her head. "I didn't have a chance to convey my thoughts about this arranged marriage before… and I wish to do so now."

"What do you have to say about it?" asked Ozai.

Azula tried her best to keep calm despite how nervous she felt. She knew she could pull this off somehow; and truth to be told, she had no option but to succeed.

"I do not believe I should be betrothed to Admiral Chan's son," muttered Azula.

Ozai remained silent for a few seconds that felt far longer than they were. Azula's body was almost betraying her mind by having her shiver: it was the first time she had defied her father's authority so directly.

"What objection do you have to your engagement?" asked Ozai.

"I have met Chan's son already, and we didn't get along at all," said Azula. "I know enough about him to deem him unworthy of becoming my husband and a member of the Royal Family."

"I see…" muttered Ozai. "In all honesty, I don't believe there will ever be a man worthy of you, my daughter."

"In that case, I might as well be the one to select my unworthy husband, Father," said Azula, smirking slightly.

Ozai chuckled, to Azula's relief. This was going far better than she expected.

"Your wit becomes sharper every day, Azula," he complimented her, before returning to the topic at hand. "Regardless, I promised Admiral Chan I would reward him for his deeds at the South Pole in any way he wished. For me to call off your engagement, you must prove how unworthy this man is. If you succeed, I will offer the Admiral another reward in the form of anything other than handing you over to his son."

"I would appreciate that, father," said Azula, even though she felt compelled to tell her father the truth right away, to change the tides by letting her father know what had truly happened at the South Pole, but her mind stopped her on her tracks. If she were to tell him the truth now, obtaining a gladiator would have been for nothing…

"You will have one opportunity to prove his incompetence, Azula," said Ozai. "Use it wisely."

"I will, Father," said Azula. "One opportunity is all I shall need."

"I have no difficulty believing that," said Ozai, smiling. "Do as you wish, Azula. You have one month, though. The marriage contract is to be closed by then, and if you haven't proven Chan to be as undeserving of you as you believe him to be, you will be marrying him without protest."

"I understand. I will not fail you, Father," said Azula.

"You would only be failing yourself, Azula, if you fall short on this particular mission," said Ozai. "As I said, no man will ever be worthy of you in my eyes… marrying you to Chan's son or anyone else makes no difference to me. But I do advise you to begin searching for suitors. I'm not getting any younger, and it would be adequate for you to be married by the time you inherit the throne."

Azula couldn't help but smile at his words. She had known for a long time that her father wished for her to be his heir, but not often did he say it so bluntly.

"I will do so, father," she said, nodding. "I deeply thank you for allowing me to prove myself. I will do my best to succeed."

"I do not doubt that you will," stated Ozai. "You are, after all, my daughter. Make the most of this opportunity, Azula."

"I will," she said, nodding with determination and certainty. Failing had never been an option: Sokka had to defeat Chan's gladiator.


	7. Chapter 7

Sokka paced on the deck of the ship, stretching his arms and legs. They had been at sea for an entire day now, a day he had spent sleeping in the cabin he had been provided with. He was slightly bothered to notice he was the only one with a room of his own, aside from the Princess. The sailors worked hard to keep the ship afloat, but they slept in the ship's general quarters, on one of the lower decks of the Barge. Not even the Princess's guards had sleeping quarters for themselves, having to settle with sharing a single, yet spacious, cabin for all of them.

It was quite a magnificent and large ship, but Sokka couldn't enjoy the luxuries it had to offer, for he was far too wary of everything still. He couldn't remember accurately what had happened to him after being captured by the Princess, for he had spent most the journey to the Fire Nation blacking out from the pain and coming back to his senses briefly before dropping unconscious again. His only certainty was that his time aboard this ship had been anything but pleasant, and thus he was instinctively uneasy while aboard the Barge.

His inherent caution didn't keep him from studying the ship carefully this time, though, which was why he had taken to wandering the deck. The Barge's prow was crowned by perfectly symmetrical golden spikes that both kept the ship balanced and threatened to tear through whatever obstacle got in its way. A tall tower stood at a certain distance from where Sokka was, and behind it were the two tall pipes through which the smoke from the ship's engines was released.

The Royal Guards performed rounds of vigilance frequently, keeping an eye on everything that happened on the ship. Azula had been in her particular cabin, the finest room in the tower of her Royal Barge, until she was told they were approaching their destination. She had headed towards the main deck upon those tidings, and she had spent the last miles of the voyage resting on the very same throne she had sat on when she had arrived to the South Pole.

Looking back, Azula acknowledged she had never imagined those events would prove to be as crucial in her life as they had been… she had expected to be facing an ordinary mission, a mere task she needed to fulfill for her father's sake. And she had been proven wrong on her assumptions by the foolish peasant that had been walking on the deck of her barge for a while now.

"Having fun?" she asked him when he passed near her. Sokka gave her one of his typical glares.

"Why do you ask?" he grunted.

"I figured you were enjoying yourself this time…" she said, staring at her nails. "The last time you traveled on my Barge you didn't have a chance to explore anything, so it would seem you're doing it now."

"Funny how you're conveniently ignoring what my situation was the last time I was aboard this thing," growled Sokka.

"You don't expect me to apologize or to feel sorry for you, do you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sokka frowned and shrugged.

"Not really…"

"Good to know. Because I wasn't going to do either thing anyways," she replied curtly, smirking a little.

"I never expected otherwise," said Sokka, scowling at her as he approached her. "Well? Isn't it about time you tell me who exactly is the man you want as my master?"

Azula raised an eyebrow again; her hands came together, fingers intertwined, as she stared at Sokka with disdain.

"You think it's 'about time' I do something? Since when do you call the shots here, snow savage?" she asked, pronouncing the last two words in a particularly poisonous manner.

"It's not like you've minded before…" he said, smirking. "I was under the impression we had quite a balanced relationship."

"I think I'll be the one deciding the terms of our… whatever this is," she said, refusing to use that particular word; Sokka chuckled at that.

"If you say so. But I still would like to know a little more about the man I'll be facing," said Sokka. "Isn't there anything you can tell me about him?"

Azula frowned, deep in thought.

"I guess it won't hurt to comply…" she said, sighing. "His name is Piandao. He used to serve the Fire Nation military as a very high-ranked officer, but he resigned from his post a long time ago and devoted himself to teaching the ways of the sword to those he deemed worthy of the knowledge."

"Huh…" said Sokka, folding his arms as he pondered the information. "You said he was the best sword master, didn't you?"

"Or so says his reputation," said Azula. "And because of said reputation, he believes he's entitled to be picky and extremely particular about whom he takes as his disciples. Truth to be told, I doubt he's half as difficult to please as he pretends to be…"

"What do you mean?" asked Sokka, frowning.

"He's known for disagreeing with the Fire Nation's ways, he seems to despise the Royal Family… yet he had no grievances when it came to accepting my brother as his disciple many years ago. I always guessed a great sack of money was involved with that."

"If that's the case, that's really low of him" grunted Sokka, frowning.

"Which is why I have my own bag of money in case he decides to turn you down," said Azula, smirking.

Sokka couldn't do anything but stare at her, dumbfounded.

"You're crazy, woman" he stated, not for the first time. "Well, you did say he would teach those he deemed worthy… maybe your brother was worthy, despite his lineage."

Azula snorted in derision, shaking her head.

"Finding my brother worthy speaks ill of whatever criteria he uses to decide who's worthy and who isn't… but if you're right about that, he's bound to accept you as well. I hardly know you, but what little I know says you're a thousand times the man my brother will ever be."

Sokka couldn't repress a slight blush until he realized she wasn't actually complimenting him, but rather insulting her older sibling. The story of Zuko of the Fire Nation was still something confusing for him… why had the prince been exiled? Why did his sister hold such contempt towards him? Why didn't she miss him at all? Even when Sokka used to fight with his sister Katara all the time, he couldn't stop missing her. Perhaps Zuko missed his sister even if she didn't miss him…? Well, he knew nothing about the banished prince anyway. He might be even crueler than Azula herself, for all he knew…

"I'm glad you think I'll have it easy, then," said Sokka. "Is he a ruthless teacher?"

"I wouldn't know," said Azula; her eyes grew colder at his inquiry.

"Why?"

"Because he was never my master."

Sokka stared at her, surprised, and then he smirked cruelly.

"Hehe, I think someone was found unworthy…"

The sudden change in Azula's façade surprised him. She didn't shift, she didn't move: she simply closed her eyes. But Sokka found himself regretting what he said instantly. He had no clue of what he was talking about, that much was clear…

"Uh… hey… don't be so mad, I was just joking…" he mumbled, troubled.

"It surprises me you think I could be found unworthy at all," Azula muttered, her voice trembling slightly. Was she angry, or was she sad? Sokka couldn't tell at all. "I guess I didn't judge you wrongly when we first met."

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" asked Sokka, blinking.

"Matters must be very different down at your Pole if you don't understand what I'm saying… perhaps if I had been born there, life would have been easier to cope with, on some level."

Sokka stared at her in shock, completely confused now.

"Okay, so this is the part where you clear up whatever it is you're trying to say…" he suggested, trying to smile positively at her. Azula ignored him as her eyes remained focused on the shore the ship was approaching rapidly.

"We are getting close to Shu Jing," she stated, disappointing Sokka.

"Hey! Don't change the subject!" he squeaked.

"Didn't you wish to know more about Piandao?" asked Azula, standing up. "Well, you're about to meet him at last. You'll be able to come to your conclusions about him now."

"But…" he said, yet she ignored his protests as she approached the edge of the ship.

As soon as the Barge was docked and the ramp was lowered, Azula climbed it down with steady footing. Sokka followed her, still worried about her reaction after what he had said previously, but they were stopped by a sudden call from the ship's captain.

"P-Princess! What are you doing?" he called, staring at her in disbelief.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she asked, turning towards him, sternly. "I'm heading towards my destination, obviously enough."

"But you shouldn't go on foot!" exclaimed the man. "The palanquin will be ready shortly, just wait for a little…"

"There's a very steep climb ahead of us," said Azula. "I don't trust the weak palanquin bearers I've been provided with to lift me and bring me all the way to Piandao's home. They might even have me fall to the ground if one of them loses his footing. It's less risky for me to walk."

"B-but Princess…"

"My decision is final, captain. I will have half the Royal Guards come with me; the rest of them and the crew will stay on this ship" declared Azula.

The Princess resumed her strides; Sokka followed her without a word when he realized she wouldn't wait for the guards. Azula led the way uphill from the dock through the established path that led to the small town up ahead. Sokka looked at her with curiosity, for she had refused to take a palanquin when this road seemed a bit too rough for a Princess to walk through…

"Why didn't you ride the palanquin?" he asked, speeding up to keep up with her, and so that the guards behind him wouldn't overhear their conversation.

Azula studied him for a second before answering his question.

"I think I already told you Piandao has a very low image of the Royal Family. Showing up on his doorstep clad in honors, despite how well deserved they might be, could ruin our cause completely. I'm doing this mostly for your sake, so you'd better be grateful."

"I just hope it's really worth the bother…" said Sokka, stretching his arms.

"Also, walking is a good form of exercise," said Azula. "You'd better have enough stamina to make it through the whole hike."

"I don't think I'll disappoint you on that," replied the gladiator.

They continued in silence for a few more minutes, but Sokka wouldn't stop eyeing her with curiosity and concern. Just how upset was she after his stupid statement? What was so upsetting about it anyways? He was certain that the nature of their relationship, whatever it was, allowed him to annoy her and vice versa…

"Are you mad?" he finally asked, staring at her with slight guilt.

Azula frowned at turned to him, surprised.

"Uh, I'll answer you with another question… since when do you care if I'm mad or not?"

Sokka was taken aback by her inquiry, and he stopped on his tracks. What was wrong with him? Why was he asking something so strange? What did it matter to him if she was mad or not?

"I… I…" he mumbled, troubled.

"You are a very unusual man, that much is obvious" said Azula, smirking. "I'll assume you're only concerned since you fear retribution at some point if you anger me… and you'll pay if you ever offend me, don't misunderstand. But what you said back then didn't infuriate me, if you truly need to know."

"Right," muttered Sokka, still eyeing Azula with slight concern. Did she really mean that…?

"Well, now you can stop focusing on me and look around you," said Azula, and Sokka obeyed her, looking at the island with interest. "You'll probably be trained by Piandao on these very terrains. It will be better for you to start familiarizing with them right away."

"Good idea…" Sokka complied, and he halted on his footsteps when he spotted something that stood out amongst the green fields around him. "What's that?"

Azula stopped too and stared in the direction Sokka was pointing towards. A black rock surrounded by severely damaged grounds stood a few yards away from where they were walking. Azula took in the scene and continued walking, shrugging.

"I don't know. I'd never seen anything like that before."

Sokka stared at the stone with interest for a few seconds, wondering why such an uncanny rock stood in the middle on this island, atop a patch of blackened earth… but he was quick to forget about it as he sprinted to catch up with Azula. Before he knew it, they were a few yards away the town. He smiled at the thought of heading into the town, wondering if he might get something to drink since he was rather thirsty… but Azula suddenly grabbed the neck of his shirt and pulled him away from the main road that led inside the town.

"What are you doing?! What's your fixation with my neck, woman?!" he yelled. "Do you want to give me a new set of scars?"

"Sounds like a fun idea, but we can leave that for another occasion," she said, smirking as he glared at her. "I don't want to head into the town. It'll cause a ruckus I'd rather avoid if the Princess is spotted by the townsfolk."

"Huh?" asked Sokka, surprised. "Why's that?"

"Rumors would spread about me heading into Piandao's home," said Azula. "And I wish to avoid being the subject of chatter if possible. I don't want anyone knowing I'm up to something with a gladiator until you enter your first fight."

"Why?" asked Sokka again, but Azula didn't answer by doing anything but dragging him, still by the neck, to walk by the surroundings of the town. "You can let go of me now, you know?"

Azula smiled slightly, but she complied and released him. Sokka fixed his appearance, still scowling at the Princess, and he looked around, thoughtful.

"You said you don't want to walk into town… so where exactly does this Piandao guy live, then?"

Azula didn't respond with words, she merely pointed towards the cliff that stood at the other end of the town. An incredible palace stood atop it, and Sokka couldn't do anything but stare in awe as they walked towards it… was this Piandao some sort of nobleman? Was he paid so well for his services that he could afford living in such luxurious mansion? Would a man like that accept him as his student? He would find out soon enough…

After about fifteen more minutes of walking, they finally arrived to the front door of the mansion. Azula and Sokka arrived panting softly, although they both refused to show any weakness to the other. Such was the nature of the curious rivalry that had been born between them: they wouldn't waver, no matter how their bodies begged them for respite, because they refused to cast away their pride before one another. The royal guards behind them weren't as stubborn, though. They rested with their hands on their knees as they tried to catch their breath; one even had collapsed on the floor, wheezing as he finally had a moment to rest.

"So… what's the plan?" asked Sokka, standing up straight.

"The plan is you'll let me do all the talking," stated Azula. "You will keep quiet and only speak if spoken to, understood?"

"Uh… okay, I guess," muttered Sokka, as Azula took one of the knockers and struck the door powerfully with it twice.

"What will you… what will you have us do, Princess?" said the Captain of the Royal Guards, walking up to them, breathing with a little difficulty.

"You will stay outside," declared Azula, turning towards the man.

His face was blocked from sight, but it didn't need to be for the Princess to sense how affronted he was.

"I cannot accept that, Princess. That mansion might host dangers for you!" he claimed, and she sighed, rolling her eyes.

"What will it take for all of you to realize I can take care of myself? I'm far more capable a fighter than you are, and I will be more than able to stand my ground against any man inside this building."

"The man inside this building isn't just any man, you know as much" said the Captain.

"I do," admitted Azula, as Sokka grew impatient behind her and walked up to the doors. "But he's also a highly ethical man in his own way. He wouldn't dare attack me, he would be aware of the dire consequences he'd have to face if he so much raised a hand against me. And he's become too much of a pacifist to cave into such pointless urges anyways."

"I… I'm sorry, Princess, but I cannot let you head inside this manor on your own," said the man, stubbornly.

"Why, that's fine by me, because you aren't supposed to allow me to do anything, Captain. In case you forgot, I'm the one who makes the decisions here. You'll be doing what I command you to do, and nothing other than that."

"But Princess…" The Captain would have continued to argue with the Princess, if only a frantic banging behind him hadn't interrupted their conversation.

Azula jumped and turned around, and she was shocked to see her gladiator striking the doors in front of him with savage force, both knockers at the time, with a very dumb look on his face as he gritted his teeth.

"What do you think you're doing, you idiot?!" yelled Azula, forgetting completely about her Captain.

Sokka blinked and turned towards her, still holding the knockers.

"No one was coming, so I thought maybe they didn't hear when you knocked…" he said, innocently.

"Did you see the size of that mansion?!" yelled Azula. "It's so big it would take ages for whoever's inside to come open up!"

"That's true, but it's so big it's likely they didn't even hear your weak knocking!" he squealed, stubbornly.

"And so you decided to strike the doors like a madman instead! That's truly the plan of a genius! Curse it, you've already made a fool of yourself and the rest of us as well by demonstrating how uncivilized you are!" she yelled.

"Oh, come on!" said Sokka, rolling his eyes "I don't think the big master will refuse to teach me just because I was knocking like…"

Sokka was interrupted when one of the twin doors swung inwards. He was still holding onto the knocker and he squealed as he almost fell to the floor, struggling to maintain his balance. He stumbled; once he had regained his footing he saw the shoes of the man who had opened the door. Slowly he raised his head, unsure if this was the powerful master Azula had been telling him about…

A man with a stern face stared back at him once their eyes met, a man with gray hair that matched his beard. He seemed disapproving of Sokka's strange pose… especially since he was still holding onto the knocker and was bent over as he looked at him.

"H-hey…" said Sokka, letting go of the door's handle and taking a few steps back.

Azula couldn't do anything but glare at him in utter indignation. How had he dared do something so foolish…?

"State your business," said the man, with a bored voice tone.

"I wish to have a word with Master Piandao," said Azula, stepping forward.

Azula didn't remember this man from her previous visit to this castle, but she wasn't the type to recall the faces or names of people she found inconsequential. The man seemed to analyze her quickly: the ornamental hairpiece on her head was quick to give away her identity as the Fire Lord's daughter and current heir to the throne.

"What do you wish to ask of him?" the man inquired.

"I wish to request for him to train this man," said Azula, pointing at Sokka. She also glared at Sokka when she turned towards him, telling him with her eyes to abide by the commands she had already given him or he'd face dire consequences.

The man at the door raised an eyebrow, probably certain his master wouldn't accept such a sloppy student, but he welcomed them into the house regardless. Azula glared at her guards' Captain one last time, making him freeze on the spot where he stood, and she entered the premises of Piandao's home followed closely by a nervous Sokka, who only started to feel tense as they walked through the house's garden. Would he really be up to the sword master's standards?

"Are you faring alright?" asked Azula, without looking at him.

"I… I guess. I'm sorry for what I did," he muttered. "I'm not very patient."

"You'll learn to be with Piandao, if he accepts to teach you," said Azula. "And you'd better learn everything he attempts to lecture you in, no matter what it is. I don't believe my brother grasped every bit of knowledge Piandao laid out for him… if he had, he probably wouldn't have been banished at all."

"Huh…" said Sokka. "Well, I think I'm a good learner, so if he takes me I think I can pull it off…"

"Good to know you're confident," said Azula, as their guide walked inside the main building.

They remained silent for the rest of the stroll. After a few minutes of walking, they finally reached a wide and handsome room where a man sat in front of a table, a brush in one hand as he held his sleeve up with the other. He didn't show any signs of having noticed their arrival. Azula stepped forward.

"I am pleased to see you're doing well, Master Piandao."

Piandao moved swiftly the brush in his hand, finishing his calligraphy with a flutter without paying much heed to Azula's statement. He settled the brush down carefully, as to avoid dripping any ink on the desk, and he stood up, bowing curtly in Azula's direction.

"I am very surprised to find myself facing the Fire Lord's daughter once again," he replied. "You were barely a toddler the last time I saw you, if I recall correctly."

Sokka couldn't help but frown at those words as his imagination took flight. What had Azula been like as a baby? He could picture with ease a tiny, chubby child with a frown on her brow, her golden eyes gleaming with malice as she unleashed blue flames through her small hands…

"I was five years old at the time, Master Piandao," Azula stated. "Old enough to begin instruction under your guidance, if only the situation had allowed it."

"Indeed," said Piandao. "You could have made a good student, perhaps… but it is a little late to grieve over what happened so many years ago. I must say, you have grown to become the spitting image of your mother, although you carry yourself in a manner that's very much like your father's."

Azula flinched at the comment about her mother, her eyes blazing with fury. She was certain Piandao held a dormant despise for her family in general, but his ways to go about that contempt weren't the ones a regular man would take, Azula believed. Instead of being blunt about how he felt, he would resort to false paises, meaning to insult her instead. Comparing her to her mother was, by far, the most offensive thing he could have done. She wanted to be nothing like her.

"To what do I owe, then, the pleasure of this visit?" asked Piandao, his face solemn.

"You instructed my brother Zuko in the way of the sword many years ago," said Azula. "Back then you were considered the greatest sword master in the Nation, and I believe you still bear said title to this day, don't you? Hence, I'm here to request you to take this man as your pupil," she said, extending her hand towards Sokka.

Piandao focused his attention on the young man now, his eyebrows coming together slowly as he analyzed him. Bronze skin, blue eyes…

"What is your name?" Piandao asked.

"I'm Sokka, sir" muttered the gladiator, his own name still feeling foreign in his mouth.

Questions arose within the swordsman mind immediately, his face an unreadable frown. He turned once more to the Princess and said firmly.

"I need a word with you, in private. Now."

Azula stared back at him with determination and followed Piandao into the room he guided her towards. Sokka gulped, wondering if his foreign name already made him unworthy. He sighed and dropped to the floor, enjoying the feel of sitting down after what felt like hours of walking. The man next to him glared in irritation.

"So… what's your name?" asked Sokka.

"Fat," replied the man quickly.

"Fat, then…" muttered Sokka. "Could you bring me a glass of juice?"

Fat could only stare at Sokka with disbelief as the sitting man smiled broadly at him, acting as though his sudden request right now had been completely normal…

Piandao closed the door behind him once the Princess had entered the room. Given the look on his face, he seemed truly angry.

"What are you up to, Princess?" he asked, glaring at her.

"What would I possibly be up to? I'm merely requesting you to help Sokka become a swordsman," said Azula, feigning innocence.

"It seems unreasonable, though, for a Princess to request said services from me," grunted Piandao. "I believed you had come to ask for me to teach you again, and I figured I might overlook the fact that a woman has no business in swordsmanship, seeing as you're of Royal Lineage. Yet you have come to ask me to teach a Water Tribe man? Why do you bring such a man with you, if the Poles haven't been conquered yet? What are you up to, Princess Azula?"

Azula frowned. She had hoped her reasons wouldn't come up while dealing with Piandao…

"I cannot find any sense in this…" said Piandao. "It's simply absurd. That you'd wish to give proper education to a man that doesn't even belong to your country… it's not right. It makes me wonder if you're attempting to betray the Fire Nation in some way, and that's something I never would have expected coming from you. Explain this to me now."

"I don't see why this would bother you so much, seeing as it's not even a rumor that you feel no love for the Fire Nation anymore," Azula muttered. "If you truly believe I'm trying to bring down my father by using foreigners to form an army of some sort, you probably should side with me."

"I have no wishes to go against my country," said Piandao. "And I will not take part in whatever schemes you have created to overthrow your father."

"In that case, you will be pleased to discover I'm not attempting to seize power through a Water Tribe slave, since I don't see how I would accomplish that through him to begin with," said Azula, folding her arms over her chest. "I remain loyal to Fire Lord Ozai, and I will remain loyal to him forever, as it should be. My purpose with the Water Tribe slave is something different…"

"He's a slave?" asked Piandao. "How can he be a slave?"

"It's a long story," said Azula. "But he's likely to be the single slave native from the South Pole, if you must know."

"But for you to wish for me to train a…" started Piandao, skeptical at first… but the truth downed upon him quickly. "Of course. He's a gladiator, isn't he?"

Azula nodded slowly as Piandao shook his head in disapproval.

"This is even worse than I imagined," he stated. "I will not train a man for something as ridiculous as that gladiator drivel. That must be the most revolting idea the Fire Nation leaders have come up with so far… and I will have no part in it."

"Oh, you're impossible," said Azula, sighing in despair. "Stick to your ethics and morale, it doesn't bother me if you do. But as far as I knew, you only ever refused to teach a possible student if you found him to be unworthy of said teachings. Being a slave or a general wasn't an obstacle back then, or was it?"

"Times have changed, as you must know very well," said Piandao. "I will not pass my knowledge of the blade onto a man who will put it to use in a gladiator pit."

"Yet you passed it on to a spoiled prince without protest, in case you conveniently forgot that," Azula replied, her amber gaze fixated upon the sword master.

"Your brother's circumstances were very different…" Piandao muttered.

"Oh, certainly they were. You were merely hoping your teachings would sink in so he could lead the Fire Nation in a different way after all the other men in the Royal lineage had passed away… or perhaps for him to lead an insurrection of some sort in order to overthrow the Fire Lord."

Piandao's face grew paler upon her last phrase. He hadn't intended for anyone to notice the underlying intentions of Prince Zuko's training, let alone a girl who was only five-years-old when he was training her brother…

"It's not so difficult to read through you, apparently," she said, shrugging at the shocked look in his eyes. "If you want money, I'll be perfectly willing to pay for the instruction you give my gladiator. Do not make the wrong call, Master Piandao… you may not believe in the ways of the Fire Nation, but you cannot pretend to be an innocent man either. In a way, you were plotting against my father by hoping to use my brother against him. Do you wish for me to reveal said treachery to the Fire Lord?"

"Recurring to blackmail now, I see…" muttered Piandao.

"I wouldn't have done it if you kept to the principles you boast so much about in the first place" said Azula, matter-of-factly.

"Don't speak about my principles as if you understood the next thing about them," grunted Piandao.

"It is true I understand nothing, because I used to believe you would accept teaching anyone who proved to be worthy," said Azula. "If you find my gladiator to be unworthy of your teachings, I will leave and seek another master for him. But if you find him worthy, you will teach him. You will take him as your pupil."

Piandao folded his arms, thoughtful.

"If I find him worthy… what exactly are you expecting of me to teach him?"

"Anything he needs to know of the way of the sword," said Azula. "He will stay here, learning from you, for a few weeks as I head back to the Capital. Once I settle the terms for his first combat, I shall come for him. When that fight is done, he'll be returning here again, and thus will be the procedure henceforth if you decide to take him as your student."

Piandao nodded, agreeing. He hadn't enjoyed the unstable training regime he had been forced to abide by when teaching Prince Zuko. The boy had been talented despite his impatience, but he only showed up once every few weeks; it was a true wonder he had progressed so much during the years he had been his student.

"I understand," said Piandao. "That will come into effect only if I accept him, though."

"I thought we had already settled that, yes," Azula said, nodding.

"Very well. Let us see if your gladiator is truly worth the hassle, then," said Piandao, heading into the previous room once again.

Yet Piandao stopped on his tracks and stared, dumbfounded, at the scene unfolding before him: Fat and Sokka were sitting on the floor side by side, sipping the content of two glasses of juice.

"What exactly…?" asked Piandao, raising an inquisitive eyebrow as Fat jumped up in surprise.

"T-the man requested a drink. He's a guest, so I couldn't refuse…"

Sokka stood up as well and smiled guiltily.

"I'm sorry, sir… I couldn't help myself" he said, shrugging. "I was very thirsty…"

Piandao scanned Sokka with his eyes, walking towards him. Sokka must have been an inch taller than him, and his muscular build seemed pretty decent, although he was definitely underfed. Physically, he had potential to be a swordsman…

"Why do you wish to learn the way of the sword, Sokka?" asked Piandao. "What purpose would it serve for me to teach you?"

"To be honest, sir…" said Sokka, gulping. "Fighting has been the biggest part of my life for a long time, but so far, my skills have only ever been good enough for me to save my own life. When I tried to protect others I cared for, I only failed… I might be wrong, but if I were to learn to use a sword, I might become strong enough to fight for those I love."

"I see…" said Piandao, walking in circles around him. "Is that… mango juice?"

"Oh… yes, sir," said Sokka, smiling slightly. "At least, it's what Fat said it was… I've never had this sort of drink before."

"You must have had a rough time in the Amateur Gladiator League," asked Piandao. "Were you taken there right after you left your village?"

"Uh… yeah, if that's what you'd call leaving… being dragged away from my village sounds like a more accurate description of it," Sokka corrected. Piandao stopped circling him.

"Do you believe you're worthy of becoming my student, Sokka?"

Sokka stared back at the man, worried. He gulped again and lowered his gaze, unsure of himself.

"I don't know, sir. I might be… but it's not my call. If you don't believe I am, I wouldn't blame you for it. If you do, I'll do my best to become a better man. But, ultimately, it's not up to me."

Piandao found himself smiling before he even knew it. That wicked Princess had earned herself a gladiator far too good for her… he was worthy, alright. Was she worthy of him, though? That, probably, would be up to Sokka to decide some day, but meanwhile…

"I will train this man," he declared.

Azula was so relieved she let out the breath she had no idea she had been holding, and Sokka smiled cheerfully and bowed down in front of Piandao.

"I will do my best to keep to your expectations, Master!"

Azula raised an eyebrow, wondering why he wasn't so submissive when dealing with her… well, she hardly needed to ask herself that question, truth to be told. In any case, it was more interesting to argue with him non-stop, wasn't it?

"What will our first lesson be, sir?" asked Sokka, beaming.

"Relax, Sokka," said Piandao. "You clearly need to learn to be patient."

"Oh… uh, right. Sorry," said Sokka, scratching the back of his head with a clumsy smile in his face.

"I believe the Princess will be taking her leave now, won't she?" asked Piandao, turning towards Azula.

"Yes, I will be on my way," said Azula, and Sokka stared at her in surprise.

"Huh? How come? I thought you'd stay and watch every step of my training…" the gladiator said, looking slightly confused.

"I'm very flattered to see you'll miss me," said Azula, making him wince and shake his head in denial. "But I have important matters to deal with in the Capital. I will come for you in a few weeks, once I have established you as a fighter in the Superior Gladiator League."

"Oh… okay," said Sokka, now dreading the day Azula would return even though she wasn't even gone yet. "Then I'll be free of you for a few weeks?"

"Yes, you will be. Enjoy it while you can," Azula said, smirking.

"Fat, please guide the Princess outside," said Piandao. "Your gladiator will be well trained the next time you see him, Princess."

"I should hope so," Azula stated. "Good day, Master Piandao."

Sokka watched as she followed Fat through the door. Perhaps he would miss her, if only a little bit… especially since he wanted to know what exactly had she discussed with Piandao before the man had agreed to teach him. Although, truth to be told, all her secrets stirred his curiosity so much that, if he had a chance, he wouldn't even know what to ask. Would he discover whatever she was hiding someday…?

"Are you ready, then, for your first lesson?" asked Piandao, bringing Sokka out of his thoughts.

But he could think about Azula's secrets and troubles later. Right now, he would become the apprentice of the greatest sword master in the world. He nodded enthusiastically, pushing everything else away from his mind and focusing on the matters at hand.

"Yes, master."

Azula glanced back at the building once she was heading to the port amongst her Royal Guards. It was strange to think she was slightly reluctant to leave behind her gladiator: she hardly knew him yet she already felt a certain attachment towards him, something she didn't experience often. Was this the typical bond between a sponsor and gladiator? She forced herself to believe it was, although something within her was convinced of the opposite…


	8. Chapter 8

The weeks Sokka spent at Piandao's house quickly became the best experience in his life so far. At first he was extremely nervous, uncertain he would live up to his Master's expectations, but he had calmed down as he was given his first lessons, which he had enjoyed thoroughly despite how confusing their purpose was.

His first class had been of a surprisingly academic nature, but he didn't complain about the lack of action. After two years of coping with violence and aggression he found he preferred to soothe his soul with words, something Piandao had taken as a very positive sign: he firmly believed that a swordsman who only sought to kill his enemies in cold blood was no true swordsman. And so, Sokka sat on his spot, listening to every word Piandao said, not only because Azula had previously advised him to do so, but because every wise word the man uttered was of intangible value. After he was done speaking, the sword master had unsheathed one of his fine originally crafted blades and performed several movements so fluently that Sokka was left to gape at him in awe. He had always thought of himself as a decent fighter, but upon witnessing his new master's prowess, he now thought his own skills were insignificant.

Before Sokka could process what was happening, Piandao had clad him in a light armor and helmet; he also gave him a wooden sword so he could face against Fat in practice combat. Sokka had stared at his weapon for a while, unsure of how to use it. He guessed he ought to follow Piandao's teachings from earlier, about thinking of the sword as an extension of his body...

But this didn't work out so well for Sokka, since Fat bested him quickly on the first assault. Fat probably wasn't half as powerful a swordsman as Piandao was, but he was still far more skilled than Sokka. Sokka thought this to be the natural outcome, since the first sword he had ever held was this wooden one, but regardless, he found himself attempting to thwart his opponent by analyzing his every move, perhaps locating his weak points...

By the third round, Sokka had disarmed Fat, after struggling a little. Piandao was most definitely impressed.

But sword fighting hadn't been the only subject of Piandao's training. Sokka was quite surprised by the unusual tasks the sword master imposed on him from day one, tasks that seemed to hold from little to no connections with the art of the blade. He followed his every command, though, no matter if he didn't understand the intentions of what Piandao was teaching him anymore. Piandao had noticed Sokka had a very agile mind, and he expected the gladiator to reach the pertinent conclusions on his own. Still, it wasn't easy for Sokka to find the relation existent between calligraphy, painting, garden rearranging, Pai Sho and sword fighting. Regardless, he didn't question Piandao's teachings out of respect, and the master was very pleased to have such a noble student despite his humble origins.

At night, Piandao and Sokka sat down for dinner after a very exhausting day, and the master asked Sokka to explain the circumstances that had driven him to become Azula's gladiator. Sokka hadn't been too willing to retell his life's story, but he complied with Piandao's wishes and conveyed his tale to him to the best of his ability.

"... And so, despite I didn't ask for it and I used to think I'd rather die than serve her, I ended up agreeing to become her gladiator." Sokka finished, looking very downcast.

"I see..." muttered Piandao, sipping his tea.

"It's okay if you judge me for being so weak," Sokka sighed. "I'm disappointed with myself, to tell the truth... I swore I would never give up to her again, that the next time we met would be the last because either one of us would kill the other... but the minute she offered to snatch me out of that hell hole, I chose a life of indignity. I gave up what little self-respect I had left... I'm the worst kind of man."

"You are being foolish, Sokka," said Piandao. "She offered you the opportunity of a lifetime, and she changed what promised to be a mortal fate for you. Your decision was based on your survival instincts rather than your pride. You made a far more honorable move by accepting her offer than by declining it."

"I don't know about honor, sir," he muttered. "I think the last bit of honor I had was left behind in the South Pole."

"You are mistaken to think so. You are, most likely, one of the most honorable men I have ever met."

"I have no clue what makes you say that... but I don't feel too honorable."

"Honor is a very tricky matter, Sokka," Piandao said. "You might spend your entire life trying to understand it, but moral codes are so strict that even a life spent studying and living upon the demands of honor might not be honorable in the slightest. Alas, it is our very way of carrying ourselves that defines how honorable we are. Are we willing to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of those we love, for the greater good? Will we keep true to our word to the bitter end? Can we acknowledge that we are not perfect, that there are still many lessons we need to learn? Will we respect others as we respect ourselves, accepting and embracing what sets them apart from us? A life led by honor transcends merely following rules, Sokka... a life is only truly led by honor when the person understands what the very essence of honor is."

Sokka stared at him, dumbfounded, and he blinked twice before frowning as he reflected on his master's words.

"Then I guess I should reflect more upon it… because I don't really know what honor is at all."

"The first step will always be to remain humble, Sokka," said Piandao, drinking his tea. "Which is why you're already on the right path to become a better man."

"You said, though, that I was honorable," Sokka muttered. "How am I honorable already, if I hardly can grasp what honor means?"

"Your decision back in the South Pole proved you had a very noble heart, Sokka," Piandao explained. "You sacrificed yourself and gave your allies a chance to flee from a fight they couldn't possibly win. You knew your decision might cause your death, yet you cared more for them and for your people than for yourself."

Sokka blinked blankly once more. He sure didn't think so highly about himself… he hadn't thought at all about his honor ever since he had become a gladiator, of course. It was the most dishonorable thing that could have happened to him…

"But I have killed so many men…" he muttered.

"Yet you regret it," said Piandao. "And that serves as proof that you're not heartless, proof that you're not a killer machine: proof that you're superior to any man who slays another without a second thought. You understand the consequences of death, and perhaps your opponents knew them as well. You honored them by fighting at the best of your skill against them. The winner in a duel of this sort is always the better man."

"I don't think so, sir…" Sokka muttered, staring at his reflection in the green tea he held in his hands. "I was… driven by an insane urge to survive no matter the cost. I'm sorry, but I'm not half as noble as you think I am."

"Well, if you think so lowly of yourself at the moment, then you must devote your life to atone for your sins. You should attempt to live a humble and honorable life to make amends for your wrongdoings," said Piandao, standing up from his seat. "Much like I have."

Sokka's eyes widened as his master smiled down at him kindly. Was Piandao atoning for his crimes? Was he hiding a murky past Sokka knew nothing about…?

"Fat has already arranged your room. He'll take you there when you're ready to tuck in," Piandao told him. "We shall resume your training early in the morning; meanwhile, rest well, Sokka."

"R-right…" said the gladiator, nodding.

Sokka found himself in dire need for rest quite often during the weeks he spent at Piandao's mansion. He ate three courses of meals every day, something he had missed incredibly, but he would burn out all his energy through the routine of exercises Piandao had laid down for him during the first days. He had changed the training routine on the second day of Sokka's stay in his mansion because a warrior required a body as fit as his mind, and Sokka needed to tone up properly to make that happen.

After several days of hard training, his body and mind seemed to be more balanced at last. Piandao decided to keep him exercising his body in the mornings, but now he had him return to painting, calligraphy, garden arranging and a new activity Sokka didn't enjoy at all in these circumstances: fishing.

Any Water Tribe man, being born and raised in the South Pole, would have no problem fishing, but Sokka preferred using spears to catch his prey rather than fishhooks and bait. He had used both means back when he had fished for his family and his tribe, but he thought fishhooks to be considerably ineffective in comparison to spears. Simply put, he was far more skilled with the latter. Yet Piandao had him sit at the riverbank for hours, and whenever Sokka proudly caught a fish, Piandao released it from the hook and set him free in the river once again, to the gladiator's dismay. The first time his master had done this, Sokka had protested, but Piandao's sole response had been a grin as he told him to put the hook into the water once again. Sokka had obeyed him, a pronounced scowl on his face as he wondered what the point of this training exercise was.

A week after Sokka's arrival to Piandao's doorstep, the student sighed as he faced the ink and paper in front of him, struggling to understand what his master's orders had been just now. At times he had asked him to write down only a few ideograms, other times he had requested haiku, but this time…

"How exactly am I supposed to leave my mark on this paper, sir?" he asked, frowning.

Piandao chuckled and walked past him, finally deciding to reveal a small portion of what he had been attempting to teach Sokka in his lessons.

"The purpose of this calligraphy exercise is to stamp your identity in the paper. Write your name, perhaps, if you think that'd be appropriate… but stamp it all the same. Just like you would stamp your identity on the battleground with your sword, just like your enemies have stamped their identity with their own weapons as well."

Sokka frowned. That was a hint he had been waiting to hear for the whole week… He looked at the figure of his master, who wasn't watching him at the moment as he was staring out through the window. The gladiator decided to focus on the paper again and he frowned as he faced it, in deep thought. To stamp his identity on the paper as he would stamp it on the battleground…

His latest fights had all ended in the death of his opponent. He had a few scars here and there, and they were marks left behind by his rivals, the stamp they had left on the battlefield… but his stamp on them had been even more potent, since he had killed them all. Well, not all of them. There was one exception, one opponent he hadn't killed…

He clenched his teeth as he opened his robe and looked down at his abdomen. The burn mark was still there. It wasn't as clear as it had been during the first months after it had been imprinted on his skin, but it was present nonetheless. He touched it, the pain burning into him again. How had he healed from this wound was still a mystery for him… he had received no medical treatment for it. He had thought he would die, judging by the pain… but the burning feeling had subsided slowly, and by now it didn't hurt so much. Sokka followed the mark's trail with his finger, realizing he had been branded by it… Azula had been able to stamp her identity on him with a fistful of fire.

An idea came to his mind right then, and he smirked as he took the brush with his left hand, spreading ink all over his right hand. He pressed his wet hand to the paper, and when he pulled away, he was satisfied.

"I'm done, master!"

Piandao was surprised at such quick and unexpected response. He approached to oversee what Sokka had done and he was left gaping at the man's extravagant take upon this task.

"Well… that seems a very sincere way to brand your identity," said Piandao, nodding. "May I ask how you came to this con-…? Why is your robe open?"

"Oh, I was just… looking at something," said Sokka, smiling with slight guilt. "See, every opponent that managed to brand his identity on me ended up dead… except for one. And that's the mark I'm most bitter about, I guess. You can see clearly the shape of her fist on my skin. I was thinking about it… and I figured I could stamp my identity with my hand too, but I decided to use my palm so that it would be the opposite to what she did, seeing how she and I seem to go against each other on nearly everything."

Piandao raised an eyebrow, a sign Sokka didn't take too well.

"Is something wrong, sir…?" asked Sokka.

"You believe your identity is the opposite of hers…" muttered Piandao, but he shook his head afterwards, deciding to give this more thought later. "Very well, that was a good way to go about this, Sokka. I hope you understand now that none of the activities you've been engaged in is completely independent of the way of the sword. I want you to meditate about this, and to do your best to figure out what I was attempting to teach you through every task I've given you. Use whatever means you need, perhaps rearrange the garden again, or go fishing. You're free to do as you wish, but only for a week. I want an answer by then, and I hope it's a good one."

"I understand, master" said Sokka, bowing down.

Piandao left the room then, thinking now about the way Sokka had branded his identity on the paper. It was oddly unsettling that the man couldn't think of his own life without taking Azula into account… whatever bond he had with her didn't seem right. She was a royal, and even if she hadn't been of noble birth, she was dangerous and deadly. Sokka would either learn this lesson the hard way or he would be wise by detaching himself from the Princess before it was too late…

Sokka decided to follow his master's orders and he tried to reflect upon his training so far, but since he had an entire week he decided to take it easy at first. He repeated Piandao's tasks, although not in the same manner as before. Now he closed his eyes and attempted to understand what he was doing; the main difference about these circumstances was that Piandao wasn't there to keep watch on his every move. He was truly free to do as he wished… He would do his best to use this opportunity to understand the link between these activities and swordsmanship.

But after he was done with rearranging the garden for the fourth time that week, he realized he was missing out on a very important factor to achieve his goal. Fat called him for dinner, and Sokka ate his meal alone, quietly, deep in thought. Before heading to his room he made up his mind about his next step to fulfill the mission Piandao had given him, so he took a detour and found Fat practicing his own calligraphy.

"Excuse me, Fat… where can I get a sword?" asked Sokka.

Fat's hand paralyzed as he stared at Piandao's new pupil with surprise, the ink on his brush dripping all over his fold of paper.

"I… I don't know if the master believes you're ready to have your own weapon," said Fat.

"Oh, it's not like I'm planning to keep it," said Sokka. "I'm only trying to figure out a riddle he gave me. And I think a sword could help me solve it…"

Fat frowned, which Sokka didn't take as a good sign. He sighed, guessing he would have to ask his master for permission to use a sword the next day.

"Never mind," he said, bowing down at Fat. "Good night."

Sokka tucked in while wondering how he'd ask Piandao for a weapon the next day… and with those thoughts, he fell asleep. But when he woke he was pleasantly surprised to discover he wouldn't need to ask anything from his master: there was a magnificent sword placed on top of his room's drawer. Sokka trembled with excitement as he unsheathed the weapon, the silver blade shone when the light touched it.

Only a few hours later, Sokka was sitting in the yard, the sword in front of him. He stared at it for a while, pondering what to do. It was very beautiful. He didn't often think this way about any kind of weapon, since to him they were nothing but instruments to kill… but this blade had been crafted so skillfully by Piandao that Sokka couldn't stop admiring its every detail. The sword was amazing… and he had to be amazing as well. He had to honor the sword he had been given.

He stood up and took the sword with one hand. He attempted to imitate Piandao's movements, for he had witnessed his master training a few times now… but he tripped with a rock as he walked backwards and collapsed hard on the floor. He rubbed his back and hoped nobody had seen something so dumb. Falling just like that because of a silly stone… No, the stone wasn't silly. The silly one was him.

Sokka stood up and stared at the yard he had become accustomed to, realizing he had never really detailed it as much as he should have… he had taken in every detail about the sword, but not about his surroundings.

Suddenly, an answer popped up in his head. Piandao had often taken him to paint the beautiful landscapes of the island, forcing him to look once and draw everything as well as he could by memory. It wasn't easy for him and he had often made ridiculous doodles that made Piandao frown. His intention with that had been to have him take in every detail about the fighting area… the battlefield could be the death of him if his enemy analyzed it better than he did. He took a moment to look around, attempting to keep in mind everything about his surroundings, and he jumped forward with his sword once again, this time with smooth movements.

He felt almost like he was dancing, with movements like these. The sword in his hand was really becoming an extension of his arm, just like Piandao had told him when they had started their training. He closed his eyes as he recalled every rock, every root, every tree, every wall… everything. He jumped atop the bridge that stood over a small pond, still moving his sword slowly, carefully, but with deadly motions. Arranging the garden… it was so he could use his surroundings for his own benefit. He smirked as he jumped over the bridge, landing at the other side swiftly.

The fish that swam in the pond made him recall the task he had despised the most… what had been the purpose of that particular activity? For him to learn patience. A powerful, deadly and potent strike delivered at the right moment would be far more effective than to display a flurry of inefficient, desperate attacks… He smiled and turned around, running towards the other side of the yard again, and he swung his sword upwards, as if to cut his enemy.

"And thus, I stamp my identity on the battlefield." said Sokka, smiling. He finally understood what he had been taught.

"Well done, Sokka," said a familiar voice, making him jump in surprise.

"S-sir!" said Sokka, looking at his master. "I didn't notice you were there… were you watching me?"

"I was" said Piandao, standing on the house's threshold as he stared at Sokka. "From what I could see, you have grasped the knowledge of the true art of the sword, and far quicker than I expected you to. You have impressed me, Sokka. You are almost a true swordsman…"

Sokka's eyes were alight with joy, but Piandao hadn't finished.

"But there's one wrong thing about what you've done so far" he said, and Sokka's enthusiasm faded. He guessed his movements had been really clumsy… well, he was here to learn after all. Piandao was to tell him what he was doing wrong, and he would abide by every teaching he gave him.

"What was it, sir?" he asked.

Piandao approached with his eyes settled upon Sokka… but suddenly, they went down to the sword in his hand.

"You honored the blade you were given with your every move, but that is not the ideal sword for you, Sokka."

Sokka blinked, surprised. He was certain his master would criticize his fighting style rather than his weapon…

"What's the problem with this sword, sir?" asked the gladiator.

"Its balance isn't the adequate one for you. It's too short and you would be far more comfortable with a handle fit for you" said Piandao. "It is a good sword… but it's not good for you. You need a better weapon."

"Will you give me another one of yours, then?" asked Sokka.

"Oh, no…" said Piandao, smiling. "You will be making your own blade, Sokka."

His eyes grew wide in surprise and joy. He hadn't seen this development coming at all.

The sword Master took him down to his workshop, located in the basement of his grand mansion. After briefly explaining to his pupil the procedures of forging a blade, he presented Sokka with the available materials, blocks of different kinds of metals with weights and properties unique to each of them. But Sokka wasn't convinced by any of the available metals.

"I see you don't seem to like any of them" said Piandao "Do you have anything better in mind?"

"Well, I…" Sokka's mind suddenly flashed back to the day he had arrived on the island. That strange black rock… he smiled at the thought. "I think I do. Can I get my own material to make my sword?"

"I would most definitely approve of that," said Piandao, grinning.

Not too long afterwards, Sokka had led his master all the way to where the black rock stood, several yards from the town. Piandao nodded, understanding.

"This is a meteorite, Sokka. I am surprised to see you wish to use such unusual and rare material… yet I find it very appropriate."

"You think?" Sokka asked, smiling. "Wait… a meteorite?! You mean this thing came from space?!"

"It fell here a few years ago" Piandao explained. "And it brought a great fire with it. The few firebenders in town did their best to contain it, and after several hours of struggling, they succeeded. Grass has grown in the burned terrains, but the surroundings of the stone are still scorched, as you can see… I find this to be a good choice, Sokka. I hope you can craft a great sword with it."

"Me too" Sokka said, nodding "But… how are we going to move this all the way to the workshop?"

"I guess you will have to be creative" Piandao said, grinning.

Not too long after, Sokka found himself with a hammer in hand and a nail in the other, breaking the black stone into fragments. Fat aided him while Piandao watched. Once they had torn the stone to shards, they carried its remains all the way to the castle inside thick bags, and it took them several trips to bring the entire rock to the workshop. They selected the best shards and set them to melt inside a very powerful oven of Piandao's, and so, the forging of the sword began.

After a whole night of waiting for the metal to be melted, Piandao instructed Sokka on his next procedures. He repeatedly folded the metal he would be using for the core of the sword, and afterwards he folded two other layers, which were joined together with the material of the core, assembling the blade of the  _jian_  sword Piandao had guided Sokka into making. They had also built the sword's handle and sheath, and sooner than the gladiator expected, Piandao presented him the finished product: his very own sword.

Sokka extracted it from its scabbard and marveled at the black blade in front of him. It seemed to fit him really well, this space sword…

"You are now a swordsman, a true warrior," Piandao stated, smiling.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me, sir," Sokka said, grinning as well. "I would never be where I am if it weren't for you…"

"Ah, but you still are far from reaching your full potential," said Piandao, smirking. "Do you think this is all the extent of your training?"

"Uh…" Sokka said, blinking. "I guess not, but then… what am I going to do now?"

Piandao raised a hand, and Fat threw a sword at him, surprising Sokka. Piandao unsheathed it and smiled at Sokka, his silver blade shining.

"Now it's time for the real training to begin."

Sokka thought it was too much of an honor to fight against his master in this manner, and he was also certain he wouldn't win, but he hadn't been this eager to spar with someone in over two years. He smiled and took his stance, getting ready to face his master…

* * *

The weeks between her reunion with Sokka and his eventual fight against Chan's gladiator felt extremely slow to Azula. She kept browsing the rulebook of gladiator battles, making sure she wasn't breaking any of the established parameters by entering the Superior League. And indeed, she found no prohibitions either for women or royal family members to become sponsors of gladiators… so there was no reason for her to be rejected when she was ready to enroll Sokka into the Superior Gladiator League.

The rules were more complex than she had imagined they'd be, especially in what concerned the fighters' ranking. Apparently they were ranked depending on the amount of points they earned after a battle; Azula had believed the order of gladiators was simply established over who won or lost most battles. It probably was that way in the Amateur League, but not here… for a split second she wondered if she knew what she had gotten herself into, but she brushed the thought aside quickly. Of course she knew: she was Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. There was no way some gladiator league would be beyond her.

She hadn't been able to write Sokka into the tournament as soon as she returned to the Capital even when she had intended to do so. There were no vacancies amongst the 500 slots of professional gladiators allowed to participate in the league at the moment. Azula didn't despair, though. Her father had given her a month to finish her endeavor, and within one month there was an average of ten discharged gladiators, according to the data she had been browsing. Gladiators who didn't participate in any fights for three months, or those who had a loss streak of twenty fights, would be out of the system. They were allowed to return a year afterwards, but not many sponsors would be willing to pay for a gladiator who had been depurated from the ranking once before.

The morning after her trip to Piandao's island, Azula had sent a member of her Royal Guard to the Capital's Arena, to see if there was an available slot for her gladiator. He had returned to inform her that the depuration would be effected in two weeks, and, according to the man he had spoken to, nine or ten slots would likely be cleared out by then. Azula had been waiting for that day to come as patiently as she could, but it had proved to be harder than she imagined. Her mind kept drifting to Shu Jing, Piandao's island, as she wondered if her gladiator was faring well, if he would be a proper fighter by the time they met again…

One of the activities she got engaged in while she waited to register Sokka as a gladiator was heading into the royal blacksmith's workshop, tasking him with the job of manufacturing Sokka's new attire for battle. He had left his old armor from the amateur arena in the Palace, and through it she had been able to provide the blacksmith with her gladiator's measurements. By remembering their first encounter, Azula had decided she wanted his helmet and clothing to be very similar to what he had worn back when he was still amongst his tribe, and so she had handed the blacksmith the design for the outfit she had in mind. The result satisfied her when she was called, two weeks later, to see the finished product: the armor was blue and very light. The blacksmith had also developed a gray helmet with the shape of a wolf, just as Azula had asked him to. She had smiled, pleased, as she thought he would definitely deserve the name of the Blue Wolf with this new outfit.

After obtaining Sokka's new armor, she sent the same member of the Royal Guard to discover if there were any openings in the ranking yet. He returned with a positive answer, and he urged her to hurry since apparently there were only a few slots left by now. She had boarded her Royal Palanquin and had her men carry her all the way to The Grand Royal Dome, the official name of the Capital's Arena.

To Azula's satisfaction, the trip didn't take much time. She got off the palanquin and walked inside the tall building, which was far more majestic than Hui Yi's amateur arena. The walls were red and golden, very similar to the Royal Palace, and the lobby was at least ten times bigger than the one in Hui Yi. Staircases covered by magnificent red carpets led the spectators towards the stands, and they also led sponsors to the balconies from where they watched the fight. Azula was well acquainted with the building already, for she had been in The Grand Royal Dome a few times before. The name struck her as untruthful, seeing how no royal had ever been involved in the gladiator business… until now. Perhaps the Arena's name would become more accurate from now on…

She looked for a counter like the one from Hui Yi's Arena, and she spotted one at the left wing of the vestibule. It was given away by the eloquent board behind it where the daily fights had been scribbled across with a very handsome writing; the board also had the top ten fighters of the ranking with their respective earned points. Most the names weren't familiar, but she was certain that by the time she was completely immersed in the business she would begin telling each gladiator apart… for now, though, she only had to focus on getting Sokka registered.

A man a few years younger than Azula sat across a counter, writing something on a paper. Azula guessed he was handling the bids, but when she looked properly, she realized he was updating the gladiator ranking, adding the data of someone called 'The Murderous Serpent' in the 491st position. She cleared her throat and he looked up. A tag on his chest revealed his name to be Shoji. Why did he wear a tag, she had no idea, but she assumed it was the protocol for workers of the Arena.

"Wha…? P-Princess Azula!" he exclaimed, setting aside the ranking as he gaped at her with surprise. "To what do we owe this honor?"

"Are you the one who registers new gladiators?" Azula asked, heading straight to the point.

"Yes, I am," he said, nodding slowly as he realized what her words meant. "Wait, are you… by any chance, will you…?"

"Yes, I have come here to enroll my own gladiator into the Superior League. Is there any reason why I shouldn't be allowed to do this?"

"W-well, not really…" said Shoji, tapping his fingers together. "There are no rules establishing a royal cannot sponsor a Gladiator, but it might be a little unfair…"

"If it were, there would be a rule would prevent the unfairness, don't you think?" Azula said, and the man shrugged, smiling positively.

"You must be right about that. Very well, please fill this form…" said Shoji, handing her paper, ink and a brush "… and after you're done, your gladiator will be inside the ranking. He will be in the last positions right now, but once he begins fighting he will rise through the ranking…"

"Or fall down through it, for all we know," muttered Azula, taking the paper and filling it immediately. "I have some questions to make, but I'll ask once I'm done with this."

"You are free to ask anything you want to know," said Shoji, smiling. He tried his best to keep a calm façade as he watched the Princess writing the pertinent information on the paper, but deep down he was truly nervous. Never had he imagined he would have a chance to talk to a member of the Royal Family…

Azula wrote down all the information regarding herself, the sponsor, on the first section of the form, and moved down to the next one, the one that concerned her gladiator. She wrote in his fighting name, The Blue Wolf, and moved down onto his specialization. Shoji was surprised to see Azula checking the slot that corresponded to a non-bender and he wondered why a Princess would have a non-bending gladiator. She probably could afford sponsoring some of the greatest fighters in the business, and those would be the firebenders or the earthbenders, not the non-benders…

"I have a problem," she stated suddenly, Shoji jumped as he realized he had been letting his mind wander as Azula continued filling her form. "I don't know for certain what my gladiator's weapons of choice are. I have seen a few of them, but I don't know them all for certain."

Shoji looked at the paper. When the fighter was a non-bender, the sponsor had to specify ten weapons his gladiator was likely to use in battle.

"Oh… well, you're the Princess, I can make an exception and accept the form anyway. As soon as you know what his weapons are, you'll be free to write them in," said Shoji, smiling and blushing slightly. "Is that okay with you?"

"I would appreciate that," Azula stated, and she returned to the remaining questions on the form. She signed it when she was done and handed it to Shoji. "Why the weapon limit, though?"

"Despite the fact that benders often have the advantage over non-benders, it was decided by the creators of the business that non-benders who were taking part in the fights should have a limited number of weapons. After all, firebenders only have fire, and earthbenders only have earth."

"It makes some sense…" agreed Azula, nodding.

"Also, you should know that your gladiator, seeing as he's a non-bender, will only be allowed to bring five weapons at most with him when he's fighting," Shoji explained. "It's simply because carrying ten weapons on him while battling might drag him down. He can select which of the five weapons he'll use out of the list of ten that were written in his form… well, in your case, the ten that will be written in his form," he added, smiling at Azula.

"I understand," Azula said. "Very well, then… with this, is my gladiator already in the system?"

"Yes" said Shoji, grinning "I shall write him in on the latest open slot…" and thus, he wrote in The Blue Wolf right under The Murderous Snake in the list he had been working on earlier, writing he was a male non-bender on the pertinent slots, and also adding Princess Azula as his sponsor.

"Good," said Azula, feeling a sense of accomplishment as her plan slowly came into place… "Now then, when will my gladiator have his first fight?"

"That is up to you, Princess," said Shoji, putting the list aside for a moment. "You can issue out a challenge to any gladiator and sponsor right away, if you're compelled to do that. You might get challenged someday too, but that doesn't happen often when a gladiator is brand new. You must make your way up in the ranking and eventually challenges will be knocking at your door!"

"I see…" Azula said, thoughtful. "Very well, then. I wish to challenge someone."

"Oh… that's great, Princess," said Shoji, smiling as he handed her the list. "Here are all the registered fighters with their respective specializations and sponsors. Choose whoever you like."

"Do you know all these fighters?" Azula asked, taking the list and eyeing Shoji.

"I know them all roughly," said Shoji, shrugging. "Not all of them fight here, you see. There are Arenas all over the Fire Nation and the Colonies, and many of these combatants don't fight here but at their sponsors' town."

"I see…" Azula said, as she began reading the list. She frowned as she looked at the first name, surprised by how ridiculous it sounded "Combustion Man? Who on earth came up with such a ridiculous nickname…?"

Shoji cleared his throat and pointed at the name of the man's sponsor. Azula's eyebrow twitched as she read the name.

"Admiral Zhao did," said Shoji, smiling a little. "I thought it was ridiculous too when I heard it, since I was only starting on this job when the Admiral signed him up, but I've been hearing so many stupid names lately that Combustion Man sounds really nice now."

Azula sighed as she glared at Admiral Zhao's name. She wasn't too surprised to discover the man sponsored the top gladiator of the ranking… well, maybe one day she would face him and teach him not to underestimate her ever again by having Sokka defeat and humiliate his poorly named Combustion Man. She carried on reading the list, and she kept wincing at the names. Each one was worse than the one before.

"What's with this? The Twilight Drilled-Bamboo Bear?" she asked. "What is that supposed to mean, if it means anything to begin with?"

"I have no idea, Princess," said Shoji, shrugging.

"And this… this is weird," she said when the name of #146 caught her eye. "Kyoshi's Heir? Are there still people out there who worship Avatars?"

"I think so…" said Shoji, tapping on the table. "That one is a pretty decent fighter, you know? She's battled some really tough benders and come out triumphant…"

Azula was surprised to hear this. So Kyoshi's Heir was an Avatar believer, a woman and a non-bender, according to what she was reading… Well, if there was a non-bender within the top 150 fighters, Sokka had some hope after all. She continued reading through the list, focusing on sponsors rather than on the gladiators now until she found the name she had been looking for… and she restrained herself from letting out an exclamation of pride when she found it.

"So… what can you tell me about this gladiator, The Spawn of the Volcano?" she asked, the name coming off as one of the most ridiculous ones so far.

"Oh, as you can see, he's a firebender," said Shoji, pointing at the list. "He's a tough guy, most of the time. He's been falling down through the ranking as of late, though. His sponsor is Admiral Chan's son, as you can see…"

Yes, she could see. It was the only thing she had cared to see, to be honest.

"And… is he a talented firebender?"

"He's decent, not really outstanding. Else he would be higher in the ranking, I think" said Shoji, smiling.

"Very well, then. I will have my gladiator fight this one. Send Chan's son my challenge" said Azula, authoritarian. Shoji jumped, surprised.

"W-wait! But he's #234! That's really high! Wouldn't you rather fight someone in the range of 400?"

"I said I wanted my gladiator to fight this man," Azula grunted, her eyes ablaze. "I have the confidence we'll achieve victory."

"W-well… if you're so certain of it, who am I to oppose you?" Shoji asked, gulping. He sure hoped the Princess knew what she was signing up for… he opened a folder and pulled out the form to issue out a challenge. "The Spawn of the Volcano fights in The Ember Crater, Ember Island's Arena. Do you wish to travel all the way there or would you rather ask him to come here?"

Azula frowned, thoughtful. She had no problem with heading into Ember Island… it was likely Chan would accept blindly when he knew this was Sokka's first fight, and if they were willing to travel all the way to Ember Island surely he wouldn't refuse the challenge… she had good odds, or at least, she thought she did. The jerk was still bound to refuse the challenge, but goading his ego might be the best way to make him accept this fight…

"I have no qualms with traveling to Ember Island," she declared, and Shoji smiled.

"Very well…" he said, filling up the challenge carefully. "How much will you bid?"

Azula had forgotten completely about bids. In the Superior Gladiator League the sponsors would bet against each other, and whoever claimed triumph would bring a lot of money home. The spectators would still place their bets against the house, but the sponsors had a direct spat against one another. Azula sighed, not really caring about the money. If she had to pay to Chan, it would mean her entire plan had failed and she probably wouldn't have anything else to do with the Gladiator Business … but if she could take away his money, as well as his pride and his arranged marriage, she would effectively tear down the fool and leave him at his lowest point… and she was rather fond of that idea.

"Write down fifty thousand yuans," she said, Shoji's mouth fell open comically.

"F-f-fifty…? Oh, right… y-you're the Princess…" he said, smiling uncomfortably as he wrote in the bet. "The fights normally take place a week after the challenge is issued, but the sponsors can schedule the fight on any given day they choose. You will get an answer to the challenge about two days from now from the other sponsor. Are you okay with this?"

"I have no problem with it. In fact, it's perfect," said Azula, nodding.

"Very well then, everything is set. This will be sent out to Ember Island right away by Messenger Hawk" said Shoji, placing the paper in the stack of challenges he had to ship off today. Azula nodded in approval.

"Very well. I wish to know, will any messages or challenges with me as the receiver be shipped directly to my home?"

"Not really, they're sent to the Arena that's closest to your location… in your case, here," said Shoji. "You can check in every two or three days if you have any correspondence; if anyone issues out an urgent challenge I'll make sure you get it right away."

"Good," said Azula. "Well, I shall take my leave now, I believe. I thank you for being so helpful. I'll be seeing you around, I assume…"

"Yes, you will see me here all the time," said Shoji, smiling. "Good luck against Chan's son!"

Azula smiled and nodded, grateful, and she turned around, ready to leave the lobby just as a very tall man with long, greasy black hair headed towards Shoji's desk. A short girl with gray eyes, black hair and pale skin walked next to him. Azula only caught sight of them for a moment, since she was walking on the opposite direction, but she only had to see them from the corner of her eye to realize their clothing was customary for Earth Kingdom folk. So they were probably Honorary Fire Nation citizens… she wondered if people would often head into the Arena with their gladiator in that manner, as if they were of equal standing… but she stopped in her thoughts when she began wondering which of both would be the gladiator and which would be the sponsor…

"Uh… how may I help you?" she heard Shoji say.

"I'm here to sign up my gladiator," said the man, making Azula frown. So he was the sponsor… and the girl the gladiator? No way. She was probably his daughter or niece; it made no sense otherwise…

"Right, um… here you have your form, fill it out…" said Shoji.

"You can write it yourself, can't you?" the man insisted. "Come on, we don't have all day."

Azula was still able to overhear the conversation despite she didn't care much for it. She heard Shoji comply with the man's wishes, although she didn't understand what the young man said anymore. Still, the tall fellow's voice tone was so loud it was almost as if he wanted the whole world to hear he was enrolling his gladiator.

"I'm Xin Fu, and my gladiator's called The Blind Bandit!"

Azula had been wondering to what extent people would go with all those random nicknames for their gladiators, and now she discovered there were no limits at all. The Blind Bandit? Was the gladiator really blind, or was he only using the name for show? It sounded plain stupid to her…

The matter vanished from her head as she walked outside, headed towards the palanquin that awaited her. As she took another step, reality struck her… she was getting closer and closer to her goal. She was about to destroy that wretched arranged marriage and ruin Chan's life by doing so… but she could only make it if Sokka was strong enough to beat The Spawn of the Volcano. Would he be ready to fight a firebender? Just how advanced would his training be by the time they reunited?

She couldn't help but worry, but she had already done everything in her power to keep the odds to her favor. Right now, the only thing she could do was believe in Sokka as she waited for the day when they would meet again...


	9. Chapter 9

They took their stances, their unblinking eyes fixed upon the other's figure as they waited for the first strike. One of them would have to jump forward eventually, but for now they were doing their best to concoct a plan to overcome their opponent. The silver sword shifted, the black sword did not take the ruse. And since the gladiator did not move, Piandao jumped forward and attacked Sokka.

Sokka parried his master's blow perfectly, twirling to do so. He ducked and tried to strike the man on the legs, but Piandao jumped and avoided his assault. The sword master swung his blade diagonally downwards, aiming at Sokka's head. The Water Tribe man realized he was at a disadvantage too late, although he still managed to block the attack. He attempted to stab his master on the chest before Piandao could perform another move; the sword master was forced to fall back to avoid getting hit by Sokka, who took his chance to stand up and attack again.

Fat was witnessing the combat, amazed over the incredible development of the pupil's skills. He had been working for Piandao for several years, and it was the first time he had seen a man grow so strong after only three weeks of training. And Fat would have gladly enjoyed the fight for a little longer if he hadn't heard somebody knocking on the door. He didn't bother excusing himself, knowing he would be ignored. Both Sokka and Piandao were focused on their fight.

Fat was taken by surprise when he discovered who the visitor was. Looking as deadly and arrogant as ever, the Fire Nation Princess stood alone in front of the gates, and she eyed him without interest when he swung the door inwards.

"Princess," said Fat, bowing down slowly. "It's an honor to see you again."

"Indeed, it should be…" Azula said, carelessly. "Where is my gladiator?"

"I will take you to him," said Fat, prompting her to enter the mansion. "Have you come to check on his progress, or are you here because you need him for a fight?"

"Both," replied Azula. "How is he faring? Has he been any good as Piandao's pupil?"

"He can be very obnoxious at times," said Fat. "But he is a very good student. Master Piandao holds him in high regards. They're sparring right now; you'll be able to witness his current prowess yourself."

"Good," said the Princess, pleased. She had wanted to assess Sokka's growth personally, after all.

And she was most surprised to see it once they arrived to the mansion's backyard, where the combat was taking place. She still recalled the pathetic way he had fought against her in the South Pole and she had been impressed to see how he had changed when she watched him in Hui Yi's Arena. But the way he was fighting right now exceeded every single one of his performances up to date.

Piandao was attempting to overwhelm Sokka with several quick moves to surprise him, but Sokka stood his ground and blocked Piandao's sword, breaking through his flurry of attacks. He pushed his master away with his black sword, turning around quickly to gain momentum and deliver a powerful blow against Piandao, who had to brace himself to avoid tripping and falling. Sokka continued trying to stab Piandao, forcing him to fall back, knowing that if he managed to put him against the wall, he would win…

Piandao surprised him by turning the tables and attacking him while performing a defensive move with his weapon. Sokka parried it, realizing his plan wouldn't work, but the current circumstances allowed him to twirl Piandao's sword, hoping to twist his wrist into letting go of the sword… but before he knew it, Piandao changed the twirl's direction and got out of the predicament with ease. Sokka ducked again and moved his sword almost vertically towards Piandao, nearly stabbing him in the chin. The sword master was forced to lean backwards, but he was unable to keep his balance this time. Sokka moved his sword horizontally, forcing Piandao to contort his body to avoid the blade, and thus he lost his footing. Sokka smirked.

"Ha! And so I…!" he said, proudly, believing he had earned victory…

But as he swung his sword down, Piandao used his own to strike Sokka's blade powerfully, making the weapon shake in his hands and forcing Sokka to let go of it. Piandao stood up and aimed the tip of his weapon at Sokka's forehead. Sokka sighed and finished his sentence.

"… Lose," he muttered, disappointed.

"You shouldn't take for granted your victory until the fight is over, Sokka. I was certain you knew that," said Piandao, smiling. "Regardless, well done. You have grown to become a fine swordsman."

"Why, thanks, sir!" said Sokka, grinning as he picked up his sword and sheathed it.

"Is he up to your expectations?" asked Piandao, turning towards the house. Sokka frowned. What sort of expectations would Fat have about him? He turned as well and his eyes opened wide when he saw who was standing next to the butler.

"I'm rather impressed you have made a true warrior out of him after only three weeks," Azula admitted, walking down from the terrace to where they stood. Sokka could do nothing but stare at her in surprise, feeling slightly dismayed. She hadn't come just to drink tea, that was for sure… and he was also disappointed with himself. Piandao had been focusing on their fight, yet he had noticed the Princess's presence, whereas he hadn't…

"He is remarkable," said Piandao, bowing down to Azula, taking her by surprise. She never would have thought this man would perform any sort of reverence towards her. "One of the finest men I have ever taught. His mind thirsts for knowledge in ways I hadn't been a witness to in all my years of experience. His quick progress was truly outstanding."

"I'm glad. I guess I chose the right man after all," said Azula, looking at Sokka. She was surprised to see his blue eyes seemed serene now after a period of living a good life at Piandao's home. He probably had needed to get away from misery to return to his former self, or so she guessed. Sokka looked back at her, unable to take his eyes off the Princess, terrified for two reasons. The first was that she had probably come to take him away from his sword training and force him into the battlefield again… and the second one made him wish to rip out his own innards with his blade: it seemed each time he saw her anew he would be taken aback by how beautiful she was. It was too reckless for him to admire her looks. She was a demon, and he knew it firsthand. But somehow, he really couldn't help himself…

Azula turned back to Piandao when she realized she had been staring into Sokka's cerulean eyes for too long without saying anything useful, something that had made Piandao uncomfortable. A bag had been hanging on her belt and she loosened it, handing it over to the sword master. Piandao was surprised.

"What…? I don't believe this to be necessary, Princess," said Piandao, looking at the golden coins gleaming inside the bag. The gold caught Sokka's eye and he stared at it in awe, amazed to see so much money in one place.

"I doubt you truly think so," said Azula, her hands on her hips. "Putting up with this snow savage for three weeks might have been fun for you at times… but I doubt it was so enjoyable that you don't want to be paid for making a true fighter out of him."

Piandao seemed to think about her words for a moment before closing the money bag and nodding positively.

"You are right. It was enjoyable, but he did eat all my food. I could use the money."

"I thought so," Azula said, smiling.

Sokka rolled his eyes but shrugged. At least Piandao seemed to have enjoyed teaching him…

"So… what're you here for?" he asked Azula, looking at her hesitantly.

"As if you couldn't figure it out for yourself," said Azula, narrowing her eyes in a cruel glare. "Your first fight will take place in a few days. I've come to get you for it."

Sokka's heart sank at the thought. He would have to leave a place that had become his haven and he would have to return to the world he hated so much… by the hand of the person he hated the most, of course. His life had been great for far longer than usual, and the universe would refuse to let that last, of course.

"Well, it can't be helped if you need him now," said Piandao, smiling at Sokka. "You have progressed smoothly, Sokka. I'm looking forward to having you here again soon."

"Uh, b-but…" said Sokka, gulping. "C-can I at least stay for lunch?"

Piandao would have complied, but he saw the look on Azula's face. She clearly wanted to get to traveling as quickly as possible, and she wasn't going to take kindly to any delays.

"I don't advise you to do so," said Piandao, patting him in the shoulder. "I don't know if Fat's cooking will be to the Princess's liking."

"She doesn't have to eat if she doesn't want to…" said Sokka, crossing his arms in a very childish manner. Azula huffed in indignation.

"Come on, savage. We don't have all day," she growled, turning around to leave, but she stopped on her tracks and looked at Piandao again. "I am very grateful for your services. If everything goes well, I will bring him back in a few days, and you can continue his training then."

"I'll look forward to that. Fare well, Princess," said Piandao, bowing curtly again. "Good luck on your fight, Sokka."

Sokka looked at him, begging his master with puppy eyes not to let the bad girl take him… but he gave up all hopes soon enough. He really didn't have a choice upon the matter, after all. He followed Azula and Fat all the way to the gates, missing Piandao's mansion even though he hadn't even left it yet.

"Have a good day," said Fat, before closing the doors behind the Princess and her gladiator.

Sokka sighed as he took one last look at the place and turned towards the road… and he was surprised to see there had been no guards waiting for them.

"How come didn't you bring a Royal Procession and all that nonsense this time?" he asked, walking behind Azula.

"I told them I wouldn't need any of it, and they didn't protest," was her reply.

"I'm not really buying that… did you kill someone to prove your point or something?"

Azula smirked, terrifying Sokka.

"You did?!"

"Of course not," she muttered, still smiling. "They insisted for a while, but they know they cannot reason with me once I have made up my mind. They're all waiting at the Barge."

"Will we have to take a detour around town again?" asked Sokka, sighing.

"Oh, is the powerful swordsman unable to walk a few extra miles? I thought you were far more resistant than this" she said, teasingly. Sokka frowned.

"I was just asking! Don't jump to conclusions, woman!" he said, his arms behind his head as he scowled at her… although he stopped scowling as soon as he registered the words she had just said "Did you just call me 'powerful swordsman'?"

"I was merely boosting your ego, but yes, I did," said Azula. "From what I saw, you are more skilled with the blade than I thought you could ever be."

"So I've impressed you, huh?" he said, proudly.

"Even though I'd rather deny it, seeing how you'll let it get to your head, I'll admit you have," said Azula, shrugging. "Did all your training proceed smoothly?"

"Yeah, Piandao taught me many important things…" he said, smiling. "He's amazing. You really found the best master for me. I can't imagine anyone greater than him."

"I'm glad you seem so pleased," said Azula. "What is the story behind that sword of yours? I hadn't seen such an odd blade in my life…"

"Ah, you remember the black rock we saw when we got here?" Sokka asked, smiling.

"I do, and I didn't see it this time. Did you turn it into that sword, by any chance?"

"Hey, you shouldn't anticipate a great story's outcome like that!" he protested, annoyed. Azula chuckled.

"Can you show it to me?"

Sokka was uncomfortable to find out the Princess was so intent on seeing his sword, but he complied anyway. He withdrew it from its scabbard, which hung on his back, and he showed her the weapon.

"The stone it was carved from was a meteorite," he said, smiling. "So I called it Space Sword!"

Azula had been impressed at the magnificent sword, but the name made her wince. She glared at Sokka, who blinked, taken aback.

"W-what…?"

"That's a ridiculous name. You're as pathetic as most gladiator sponsors out there…"

"Huh?! What's that supposed to mean?!" Sokka asked, indignant, and he put his sword back in its place.

"Stupid names, that's what I'm talking about," said Azula, shaking her head. "Most gladiators have the most ridiculous names you could imagine. One was called The Twilight Drilled-Bamboo Bear."

"What's that?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "A Twilight… what does that mean?"

"I honestly have no idea," said Azula, shaking her head. "And I rather doubt I'll want to know anyways."

"But… you saw the names of other gladiators?" asked Sokka. "Does that mean I'm all signed up already?"

"Naturally, else I wouldn't have come to get you yet," Azula said. "I've sent a challenge to your first rival, and you will be facing him in about two days, in Ember Island's Arena."

"Ember Island?" asked Sokka. "Where's that?"

"Near the Capital Island," replied Azula. "It will take us about a day to get there. On the next you'll have to be ready to face your opponent."

"And how come are we headed to another Arena rather than the one at the Capital…?" asked Sokka with mistrust. The creepy Princess clearly was plotting something…

"I was doing everything in my power so that our opponent would be under the impression that he has the upper hand," said Azula. "I wished for him to accept the conditions of the battle no matter what, and I succeeded at that. As soon as I got a confirmation from him, I set out to find you, and now we'll go straight to Ember Island."

"I see…" said Sokka, as they walked past the town quickly. He had many questions to ask yet, so many that for some reason none came to mind right now except for one. "And who am I fighting, exactly?"

"The Spawn of the Volcano," replied Azula.

"Huh, nice name…" he said, and she looked at him in disbelief.

"Men have the most ridiculous taste in names…" she said, shaking her head.

"Hey, it's a cool name!" Sokka stated, but Azula sped up and ignored him.

They reached the barge after a few minutes of exchanging more jabs, most of them referred to men's general lack of common sense to give out nicknames. The Royal Guards were rather relieved to see their Princess arriving safely to their ship again. They had insisted on accompanying her, but Azula claimed they would delay her. Seeing how quick she had been to return, it seemed she had been right. Azula walked up the ramp and got on board: all her Guards bowed down to her. Sokka felt rather uncomfortable upon returning to high society; it seemed his rightful place was at Piandao's house, since it wasn't neither too classy nor too shabby.

"Welcome back, Princess" said a Royal Guard, bowing down to Azula. She didn't return the greeting.

"Quit wasting time with pleasantries; get this ship going," she grunted. "Set the course for Ember Island, just as we already established."

"Yes, Your Highness," said the guard, bowing down and relaying the orders to the rest of the crew. The ramp was lifted shortly, and before Sokka knew it, they were already on their way. He stared at the shrinking island, sighing as he wondered if he'd return soon, for nothing guaranteed he would. All he could do was hope he would triumph against his opponent tomorrow…

His stomach grumbled randomly, prompting Azula to glare at him in annoyance. Sokka pouted.

"What? You didn't let me eat… it's only natural for me to be hungry."

She rolled her eyes and walked to the nearest guard, who turned to her immediately.

"Get the slave something to eat, anything will suffice."

"Hey! Not anything!" he protested, but she ignored him and walked away, heading, presumably, towards her cabin. The guard prompted Sokka to follow him towards the Barge's kitchens, and Sokka trailed behind him grumpily.

To his relief, he was given a far more decent meal than he had been expecting. He had grown so accustomed to the revolting food he had eaten for two years in the Amateur Arena that he would welcome with open arms anything of better quality than that. He had finally regained some weight and he no longer seemed underfed thanks to the meals he had enjoyed at Piandao's home.

When he was done with lunch he headed to his particular cabin, pleased to find it was still his, although the special treatment came off a little scary for him. He kept expecting the Princess to strike him down when he wouldn't see it coming; she was ruthless towards everyone else, and he saw no reason why she would act differently towards him. Still, she did… therefore he expected to face retribution for it at some point.

He was thinking about taking a short nap, but as he spread across the mattress he realized he wasn't sleepy at all. He had grown used to the routine of exercising for most the day and only resting at night, so having so much time to spare seemed like quite a waste. He climbed off the bed, picked up his weapons and headed to the main deck, hoping to have a chance to at least practice some of his stances… but when he arrived he saw that someone had beaten him to his destination.

Twirling in a vortex of blue fire, the Princess seemed to have gotten the same idea he had when faced with utter boredom. Her movements, powerful and steady, had him gazing at her in amazement. As he watched her now he realized she truly had been weakened by the dark period when they had first met: had he been facing Azula at her finest, he wouldn't have survived two seconds into a fight. Even now, two years later, after all the training he had undergone, he still could tell she was still superior. She would be able to kill him so easily it was almost embarrassing to acknowledge it.

It shocked him to see she seemed to be as much of a master with her fire as Piandao was with his swords. But watching Piandao train with blades was very different from this: Sokka would simply admire his moves and attempt to emulate them, hoping to become as skilled as his master one day. As he watched Azula, he couldn't help but feel a thrill of amazement. Her fire fluttered around her, corresponding with her every move, the blue balanced with the red of her outfit, with the glow of her golden eyes... He confirmed it yet again: each time he saw her she became more beautiful to him.

But oh, how he hated admiring her beauty, how he hated to realize her fire was just as perfect as she was. Her skills forced him to accept she wasn't simply a Princess living off her father's fame and fortune: she had earned her own reputation and authority, and it was perfectly deserved.

He was left there to gaze at her, disgusted at himself but amazed by Azula. She kept flowing from each firebending stance to the next; the fire she brought forth was dangerous and magnificent, just as she was. There was nobody else on the deck: it was likely Azula had sent them away for their own safety. She had perfect control upon her fire, but her training methods were ruthless and she couldn't guarantee she wouldn't injure them when she was performing the most powerful movements in her arsenal of firebending skills. Sokka was the single witness of the spectacle, and he was most impressed by it, his eyes never leaving her figure.

All of sudden, her fire began sparkling. Sokka frowned, not understanding what she was about to do. Unlike before, Azula's moves were a little stiffer now, her feet firm on the floor underneath her. The blue fire slowly morphed into electricity as she moved her arms slowly, her limbs charged with power.

Finally she stretched her left hand forward, her index and middle fingers spread out as she used them to direct the lightning she had produced. The bolt dashed through the horizon, getting lost as soon as Azula had unleashed it. Sokka was left staring at her, open-mouthed. So the blue fire wasn't deadly enough, the Princess could bend lightning as well. How on earth had he survived her all those years before? What business could such a powerful woman have with the likes of him? Why did she need him to beat down a gladiator if she could easily do so herself? No… that was wrong. She had mentioned she wanted him to beat someone's gladiator. Her true objective wasn't the gladiator… it was the sponsor.

"Not one hair out of place," said Azula, smirking as she regained her stance and bodily balance. It was now that she sensed someone was watching her. She looked from the corner of her eye and was surprised to see Sokka paralyzed after climbing all the way to the main deck. "Did you come to enjoy the show?"

"N-not really…" he said, gulping. "I had nothing to do so I thought I'd train up here, since it's the only place with enough room…"

"It would seem we have similar thought patterns," said Azula, smiling. Sokka winced.

"I don't think so…" he grunted.

"Oh, I know. You want nothing to do with the Fire Nation, especially with me," Azula said, dramatically. "The mere notion of having similar thoughts to mine makes you feel like you're betraying the very core of your existence…"

"Quit patronizing me," he grunted, and she smirked.

"Ah, but I'm right, am I not?" she asked.

Sokka understood now why she would always come off as a striking beauty when he saw her anew, but he'd forget about it soon afterwards: it was because of that devilish wit of hers, all the cruel remarks she uttered with that malice that made him wish he could rip her to shreds. She was plain evil, he was completely convinced of it.

"Meh..." grunted Sokka, shrugging. "How can you produce lightning? Is that some sort of firebending secret trick?"

"Bending lightning is a sub-form of firebending," explained Azula. "Only the most skilled firebenders can produce proper lightning and direct it without killing themselves in the process. Therefore, not many firebenders use lightning, since it's really deadly and it might backfire if you can't control it properly."

"Wow, how impressive," said Sokka, rolling his eyes. "And I bet your creepy blue fire is some sort of superior ability too, right?"

"My creepy blue fire, as you called it, is a form of bending I developed myself. Never before has it been registered that a firebender had the potential to bend fire in this manner."

"Huh… well, kudos for you," said Sokka, shrugging. "Maybe you should be the gladiator while I'm the sponsor, since you're so good at what you do…"

"You're a slave, I'm a Princess. You might want to keep deluding yourself with such absurd ideas, but they won't ever come true," said Azula. "And since we were on that topic, you think my blue fire is creepy now? Apparently you thought differently when we first met…"

Sokka's cheeks gained a red quality slowly as he remembered what Azula had referred to. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow towards him.

"I still would like to know what you had meant, exactly, when you said that…"

"Yeah, w-well… I'd like to live a happy life down with my Tribe, but we can't get everything we want in life, can we?" he said, evading the subject as he withdrew Space Sword from his back. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have training to do if I want to beat up that gladiator."

"True, you probably need more practice," said Azula, nodding. "He's not supposed to be so good, yet it's likely he'll be able to defeat you if you're not cautious."

"I'll take my chances," said Sokka, swinging his sword. "So… what can you tell me about that guy? Normally I have some information about my opponent so I can make up plans to beat him…"

"I figured as much," said Azula. "I approve of that way of fighting, you seem to be a good strategist… not the best, though. You should work more on your tactics."

Sokka's eyebrow twitched and he glared at Azula.

"How about you quit trashing me and get on with telling me about that Spawn of the Volcano guy?"

"Fine," said Azula. "I don't know much of him, but apparently he's not in his best shape lately, seeing as his current position in the ranking is 234. He's a firebender, something pretty obvious considering his name, and…"

"W-wait… WHAT?!" squealed Sokka, shocked. "Y-y-you're putting me against a firebender?!"

"Oh, I didn't mention that before, did I?" said Azula, in deep thought.

"You conveniently forgot, yeah!" yelled Sokka, staring at her with irritation. "How the hell am I going to beat a firebender?! The only firebender I ever fought was you and I'm still facing the consequences of that battle!"

"True," said Azula, nodding. "But you don't need to be so alarmed, it's unlikely that gladiator is anywhere near my level of skill…"

"That doesn't matter!" yelled Sokka, swinging his sword around. "Y-you… y-you… You want me killed, don't you?! I mean, why the hell would you have me face a firebender?! For all I know, even the non-benders in the Superior League will beat the crap out of me! A firebender will make me toast!"

"He literally could make you toast, yes," said Azula, nodding.

"I am not joking here!" Sokka yelled, storming towards her. "You have no right to make me fight someone who'll probably kill me without even trying! We're both doomed because you're crazy enough to make me fight that guy!"

"Oh, relax, will you?" said Azula, rolling her eyes. "It's unlikely he's half as good as you think he is, and you've been taught by Piandao, the best sword master in the world. He's the one who should cower in fear, not you."

"That's what you're saying, but for some reason, I can't bring myself to believe you," grunted Sokka, glowering. "So he's 234, you said? 234 out of how many gladiators?"

"Five hundred," replied Azula curtly, making Sokka stand in shock, blinking blankly.

"F-f… f-f-five hundred…?" he repeated. "No doubt about it, you're trying to get me killed here…"

"Oh, quit being so dramatic…"

"No, I won't!" he yelled, glaring at her. "You're insane!"

"Like I've never heard that one before…" said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"How do you expect me to beat a guy from the upper half of the ranking?! And he's a firebender, on top of it all! This is plain absurd! You know, you'd better give me a good explanation for this and you'd better do it now! I'd rather you'd kill me right here than to make a fool of myself in an Arena fighting a guy who has all it takes to beat me!"

"I'm not having that happen, how many times must I say it?" she said, clearly annoyed by now.

"Give me a good explanation, then, or else I'll never believe you!" he yelled. "I'll just jump off this damn ship and swim away if you don't talk now!"

"And I'll electrocute you the minute you turn to jump," said Azula, and Sokka twitched.

"I'm serious here! Spit it out already. Why do you want me to take out that gladiator…? No, not the gladiator. What's your problem with that gladiator's sponsor? Why do you need to defeat him by using me?"

Azula smiled at his wit. She had never mentioned the true nature of her endeavor, but he had managed to see through her. This convinced her yet again that she had picked the ideal gladiator for her; he wasn't just some simple-minded fighting machine she could have found in any Arena. Perhaps he wasn't the toughest fighter… but he was, most definitely, up to her expectations. She stared at him, eyeing him with intelligent eyes, and Sokka couldn't help but feel utterly uncomfortable. Azula's gaze went to his sword and she muttered:

"May I?"

Her hand was extended towards the weapon. Sokka felt unwilling to give it to her, knowing he would be completely defenseless without it… but he complied, hoping she would either tell him what he needed to know or slit his throat already and spare him the useless fight at the Arena. Their fingers brushed softly when he put the handle of the sword on her hand.

Azula took Space Sword, staring at it carefully. It wasn't too heavy, to her surprise and approval. She swung the sword, apparently carelessly, but Sokka could tell her moves had a meaning, despite how ineffective they seemed to be. She performed a twirl, similar to the ones she did while firebending, moving the sword in such a way that Sokka immediately thought of what Piandao had said about having your weapon become an extension of yourself. The sword didn't belong to her, yet she was able to blend with it in such a way that she was, once again, that beautiful and deadly Princess he would be much safer running away from.

Azula performed a few more swings before delivering a final blow at her imaginary enemy, holding Space Sword steadily in her hand. She lowered the weapon, still gripping it tightly, and she began talking.

"About a month ago, my father settled an arranged marriage for me," she muttered, Sokka's eyes grew wide in surprise. "I didn't approve of it, since the man in question and I… we don't get along, you might say. I met him several years ago and things didn't end well between us. Yet his father, an imbecile, believed he could get the better of me by forcing me to marry his useless son. I already had allowed one of his insolences pass me by, but I refused to tolerate this one."

"What was the first one, exactly…?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"He stole my credit for vanquishing the Water Tribe raid to the settlement" said Azula "As if he'd been the one to thwart you and your friends instead of me… I let him get away with it because I thought he would thank me for it one day; you see, he was meant to be the governor of the colony your Tribe was supposed to become. His incompetence would have been obvious if I had spoken out, and I should have, but there was nobody else willing to head down to the South Pole. I figured I'd let him keep his rank and position; I didn't appreciate being cheated off like that, but it wasn't really that significant to me anyways.

"My father had told this man, Admiral Chan, that he would reward him for saving me from the savages; the Admiral claimed to have had nothing in mind at the moment, but recently he decided this arranged marriage would be his grand prize for lying about saving me when it was the other way around."

"It's odd you'd let him get away with it… and I still don't get where am I supposed to play a part in this" said Sokka, frowning.

"My father has allowed me to prove Admiral Chan's son is unworthy of me, and the way to do this is showing I'm above him even in what he'd consider his 'area of expertise', if you understand what I mean."

"You're… planning on humiliating him," said Sokka, crossing his arms.

"Exactly. If I'm able to humiliate him, prove my superiority, my father will call off the engagement. I had to give a lot of thought to this, seeing how Chan is such a useless brat that he's not a bender, a warrior or a strategist; he has no special skills or abilities to brag about other than having a well-known father. The sole thing he does is sponsor his gladiator, The Spawn of the Volcano. I really wasn't left much of a choice other than to beat him in that area."

"And so you came… to find me?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't flatter yourself," she said, tossing Space Sword back at him suddenly. Sokka caught it in midair. "I went to Hui Yi because it was the nearest town with an Amateur Gladiator Arena. I had almost forgotten that was where I'd left you."

"Yeah, right," said Sokka, smirking. "I bet you went there just to get me…"

"If you wish to give yourself so much importance, go ahead," said Azula, waving her hand as if the matter was completely insignificant to her. "But now you understand why I need you, why I'm betting on your triumph. It's essential for me that you beat Chan's gladiator… if you don't, everything we have done so far will have been in vain. There would be no point in continuing as your sponsor, so I wouldn't know what would happen to you… you'd probably return to the Amateur League, I assume."

Sokka winced and clenched his fists. Going back to Hui Yi was the last thing he wanted to do… because despite it all, he liked his current position. Working for Azula had allowed him to train under Piandao, to believe he might go home someday. He couldn't let those hopes slip away from him now. He hated to realize she had truly trapped him, forcing him to become the greatest gladiator he could be just to claw at his dreams of seeing his Tribe once again; but it was too late to regret his decisions. At least this life was better than being an amateur gladiator…

"I won't return there," he said, his eyes gleaming with determination. "I will beat that guy."

Azula felt relief washing over her as she locked gazes with him. She didn't care for his reasons, she didn't care if he planned to stab her in the back when all matters were said and done… he wanted to beat Chan's gladiator, and that was enough for her right now.

"But I can't defeat him so easily," said Sokka, lifting Space Sword and aiming it towards Azula. "I need more practice if he's a firebender on the top half of the ranking… and I could use fighting another firebender for practice."

Azula huffed and stared at him with derision.

"You don't want to practice with me, believe me on this."

"I don't really have a choice, seeing as your Royal Guards are bound to refuse to fight me," said Sokka. "If you really want me to beat that guy, you'll do this."

Azula sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You'll regret it."

"I really doubt it," replied Sokka, a smirk dancing on his features. Finally, the rematch he had been waiting for…

They sparred for a few hours, trying to keep the situation as safe as possible. Sokka was completely focused in avoiding Azula's blows, her scorching hot flames threatening him and ensuring he would make use of all his agility to avoid her. To his surprise, whenever she unleashed small fireballs at him, he could swing Space Sword and force the fire to dissipate; he would certainly use this technique when facing his future foe.

Sokka was panting and resting on his knees once they were done, a few hours later, and Azula nodded in agreement when he asked her to stop. He headed to the rim of the ship, sitting down with his back against the enclosure as the sweat coursed down his brow. Azula was in better shape, seeing as she had been the one sending the flames Sokka had been forced to dodge, the ones that had made his body temperature rise to sweating point. Azula stared at him as he huffed before she sat by his side.

"I believe that was enough for one day," she said, as he nodded.

"It's… more than enough… thanks…" he muttered, surprising her. Why was he grateful? Nobody was grateful towards her, especially bitter slaves… she didn't know how to respond to that.

"Your skills have most definitely improved," Azula said, crossing her legs before her as she changed the subject. "Piandao made wonders with you. You're not even similar to the weak brat you used to be."

"Yeah… it's all because of him…" said Sokka, resting his head against the wall behind him. "He's the greatest man I've ever met…"

Azula raised an eyebrow, and Sokka didn't miss the gesture.

"What?" he grunted.

"I simply don't think the same way, is all" said Azula, shrugging.

"Of course you don't," said Sokka. "And I bet… it's because he found you unworthy."

"There we go again…" said Azula, rolling her eyes. "He didn't find me unworthy, why won't you understand that for once and for all?"

"Well, he clearly didn't teach you anything or else your moves with Space Sword earlier would have made more sense," said Sokka, shrugging. "And you seem awfully bitter towards him, so I don't find any other explanation…"

"Oh, you just don't get it, do you?" asked Azula, shaking her head. "It's not as simple as you might think it is. You and I… we're not equals. Thus he can accept you, but not me. My circumstances… they wouldn't allow me to train under Piandao even when I wanted to."

Sokka raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"What circumstances are we talking about?"

Azula sighed, crossing her arms now as well. She didn't look at Sokka in the eye as she spoke.

"I told you my brother was trained by him, didn't I? He was about five years old when he began his instruction. I watched the way he swung around swords, the way… t-the way my mother would praise and dote on his clumsy and stupid ways. I went to my father a couple of years later, since I wanted to learn how to fight with swords as well. He accepted my request, and we all headed to Piandao's mansion one day. My mother was under the impression we were only going to watch Zuko's training; she didn't know what my father had in mind. Zuko was swinging and twirling his dual blades, showing off to mother, when father decided to request Piandao to train me. I will admit I didn't get along with the sword master at all, the way he looked at me made me guess he thought me to be inferior to him in some way and I hated it. Yet he handed me a blade and asked me to do what I could with it. I don't know how good or bad I truly was, of course… all I know is that Zuko and mother saw me then, and Zuko lost his mind, claiming I couldn't be taught how to use a sword. I just laughed at him, knowing he was simply jealous since, without any lessons, I was proving my aptitude was superior to his. Piandao seemed to approve of my potential, actually, but… but that was when my mother interrupted."

"Your mother?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"She asked to have a word with Piandao and my father alone. Zuko and I were left in the garden, and he kept claiming I wasn't supposed to learn to fight like this. You see, he was given the opportunity to become a swordsman because I was a superior firebender and he couldn't deal with that, seeing as he was supposed to be my father's heir. Mother, of course, agreed to do anything that Zuko asked for, and she enrolled him with Piandao right away so that Zuko could bask in the chance to surpass me in something for once. I wanted to use swords too, though… and I was finally going to get my chance to do so. But when the meeting ended, Piandao said he wouldn't teach me. I was devastated and Zuko was pleased. I didn't know for certain why I was refused… but it didn't take me long to find out. When we were heading back to the mainland, my mother explained to me that ladies were not supposed to get involved in the arts of war. I protested, of course, but she wouldn't budge. She was annoyed by my resistance to her decision, she didn't understand that I wanted to become a powerful fighter and turned matters around by claiming I was being whimsical because I wanted to receive lessons from someone, because I wanted to be taught things just as Zuko was being taught how to fight. This was what prompted her to send me off to the Fire Nation Academy for Girls… where I only learned useless things that I hardly even remember nowadays. I hated it, hated every second of it, because I could have been becoming a sword master if my mother hadn't gotten in the way... but I should have expected her to do this. Women aren't supposed to learn how to fight, their purpose is to stay at home and waste away as men take care of everything... this is the way she thought, or at least, the way she wanted me to think since I wasn't my father's heir; she believed Zuko to be his perfect successor instead. I have opposed her ideals for my entire life, but my determination doesn't make much of a difference most the time..."

"Huh… that's rough," said Sokka, gulping. "So… it's your mother's fault that you don't know how to use a blade. Somehow I think I should thank her… you're deadly enough as you are."

"True," said Azula, sighing. "But I still think I had potential with swords…"

"You're bad enough with the fire; believe me," said Sokka, chuckling. "But how come your mother didn't protest against you being taught how to firebend if she didn't believe you should be fighting altogether?"

"I was taught most of the firebending I know by my father and two old ladies who were my caretakers, Lo and Li," said Azula. "Lo and Li were my official teachers; they kept everything at a very basic level so that my mother wouldn't worry. My father, though, he taught me many things, many forms of firebending that only a handful of people knew. He was smart enough to do this when my mother wasn't looking, of course. He helped me develop the skill of blue fire and it was him who taught me how to use lightning, although those two things he only managed to teach me once my mother was gone. If she had seen me bending lightning she probably would have lost her mind and demanded for me to be sent to learn acting or something useless instead of fighting..."

"Seems like you two had a difficult relationship…" said Sokka, thoughtful. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know," said Azula, truthfully. "One day she was… gone. I was glad she was. Most of the oppression I felt came from her. Without her in the way I could reach my full potential both as a fighter and a leader, and my father knew it. He has helped me become who I am now."

Sokka was surprised by these confessions. He stared at her, not having expected to share any traits with her…

"My mother died when I was very young," he said, taking Azula aback. "I always relied on my father too, though I didn't have a bad relationship with my mother. I guess I can understand somehow the way you feel towards your dad even if he's the most evil man in the world."

Azula snorted and rolled her eyes, but she was slightly relieved, and also surprised. He understood her. Nobody ever understood her. It was an unusual feeling indeed…

"I guess it all depends on your perspective on good and evil," she muttered.

"Oh, so now you're going to tell me you think you people of the Fire Nation are 'the good guys'... don't make me laugh."

"I didn't say that," stated Azula. "I simply believe we have different takes on what's right and what's wrong. I believe most people in the Fire Nation are imbeciles; I also dislike most people from other nations. Simply put, I really don't take into account where a person came from or what his ideals might be..."

"As long as he's willing to work for you, you'll accept him," Sokka completed, shrugging, "I guess you simply don't care for what's good and what isn't."

"Bothering yourself with such thoughts will only lead you to confusion and self-loathing," said Azula, making him frown. "Somebody established what was right and what was wrong a long time ago, and everyone strives to follow such teachings. I believe one of the first Avatars was the one to cause this... our society is based on those teachings, and if we stray from them it means we're cruel, evil, heartless. But what entitled that Avatar to determine what was wrong and what was right? Everything is changing in the world we live in, the ancient ways are becoming hazier, and following fit through them is no longer an option, not even for a man like you. Surely you wish to do the right thing, to be a good man, but you're working for me, the one you consider evil above all things. Doesn't that make you evil also?"

Sokka frowned and flexed his legs upwards, letting his arms rest on his knees as he tried to digest her words.

"I don't believe in the notions of good and evil," continued Azula. "The way I see it, they're simply obstacles to stop you from reaching your full potential, to prevent you from enjoying your life as you want to... you only get one opportunity to live, after all. You might as well forget all about those pointless guidelines, about karma, because when your time is up, you'll be full of regrets for not living your life as you wanted to, for living it in the way others have forced upon you instead."

"Is that why you're so cruel, then? Because you don't care for karma?" asked Sokka.

"There are other reasons that explain why I am the way I am; simply put, karma doesn't stop me and it doesn't scare me," she declared.

"I don't think anything does," said Sokka, smiling slightly. "You just do everything as you please. It's somewhat admirable, but I can't live my life in the same way."

"I wasn't asking you to do so," she replied, looking at him.

Their eyes met once again, eyes that showed their opposing and conflicting natures. They were nothing alike, yet somehow they'd found a way to respect one another. It didn't mean they were anywhere close to becoming friends, but they were allies now, and they knew it. They had to rely on each other to survive, to achieve their goals… Without knowing it, they had become a team, even when they hardly trusted each other to begin with.

They were brought back to reality when a Royal Guard approached them and cleared his throat, making them both snap and realize they had been staring at the other for no reason.

"Princess, dinner awaits you in your cabin," he said, bowing. "Your meal is in your room as well, gladiator."

"Great!" said Sokka, jumping up. "I was already hungry…"

"You ate only a few hours ago…" said Azula, staring at him in disbelief.

"I've been starving for two years, it's not my fault I'm always hungry!" claimed Sokka, making her roll her eyes as she got back on her feet as well.

"No wonder Piandao said you had eaten all his food, your appetite is unappeasable" she grunted, shaking her head.

The three of them walked inside the ship's tower, the Princess moving towards the stairs that led to her cabin. Sokka wasn't headed to the stairs, though: he carried on down the hallway instead. Azula looked at him, staring at his shrinking figure. It was unlikely they'd see each other again for the rest of the day…

"Sokka," she called out to him, and he stopped on his tracks, surprised. He turned around and looked at her from over his shoulder. "Get as much rest as you can. We will be arriving to Ember Island early tomorrow, if the sailing continues as intended."

"Got it," said Sokka, nodding. "And the fight is tomorrow too, isn't it?"

"Yes, three hours after noon."

"Huh…" said Sokka, surprised. He had always fought under the midday sun… he wondered if this would change his odds somehow. "Well, I'm fine with that. I'll see you around, then, Azula…"

The name felt strange in his mouth, he wasn't used to uttering it. Often he had talked to her using her title rather than her name, it seemed far more natural… he didn't even know where the whim of calling her by her name had come from. He turned around and continued walking, expecting some sort of reprimand for not showing her the proper respect, but it never arrived. The Royal Guard next to Azula seemed surprised and offended to see Sokka talking to her as if they were equals, but she wasn't bothered by it at all. In fact, she looked the total opposite of bothered.

To hear him utter her name had made her soul stir. She didn't know for certain what this development meant, but her mind led her to imagine he had appreciated the moment they had shared on the upper deck, the first time she had opened up to someone in many years… and she had been calling him by his name for a while now, it was only logical he would do the same eventually, if he began seeing her for who she truly was…

The notion of Sokka thinking about her not just as his worst enemy anymore pleased her, somewhat. She stared after him until he turned on a corner and vanished, upon which she decided to head to her room as well, her mind still filled with thoughts of him. She entered her room and glanced at the food that awaited her in a majestic table, but she didn't focus on it just yet. She glanced out the window, still wondering if Sokka was beginning to see her under a different light… could the bond between them be convenient for a sponsor and a gladiator? What was the nature of their bond, anyway? Finding they shared one or two traits meant nothing, not when she thought him to be so inferior and when he didn't trust her at all…

Still, she had no choice but to trust him. Her fate would be determined tomorrow in Ember Island's Arena... her destiny was in Sokka's hands.


	10. Chapter 10

Sokka was forced awake by a sudden knock on his door. There were no windows in his cabin, so he couldn't tell what time it was. Only by judging how well-rested he figured he had gotten a good night's sleep.

"Gladiator," said the voice of a man from the hall, who he assumed would be a Royal Guard. "We are approaching Ember Island. Go to the kitchen to get your breakfast. Meet the Princess in the ship's armory afterwards."

Sokka blinked and rubbed his eyes, still drowsy. He slipped in some of the spare clothing available in his room, all of the garments too typical of the Fire Nation for his liking. He obeyed the orders he had been given, and he ate his meal enthusiastically, grateful, as usual, for another delicious course of food. After asking for directions, he headed to the armory where he had been summoned to, still amongst yawns and stretches. The sun had been up for a while now; he could see it through the windows of the ship's tower. Surely they would arrive to Ember Island soon.

He entered the room without even knocking, and he was glad to see Azula was already there. But she wasn't the one thing that caught his eye: a magnificent armor stood next to her. Its design was traditional to the Fire Nation's outfits, but the cobalt coloring gave it a somewhat familiar vibe… as if it were a Water Tribe-makeshift armor. Next to the armor was a wolf-shaped helmet very similar to the one he had worn back when he had first encountered Azula. He frowned at the sight of both objects, and Azula turned to him, her head held high, as usual.

"Are they to your liking?" she inquired.

"W-when did you…? How did you…?"

"These few weeks weren't an entire waste of time for me," said Azula. "I asked the Royal Blacksmith to make this armor for you. This way you will be the Blue Wolf for real, won't you?"

"I… I guess so," said Sokka, still puzzled. He walked to the armor and touched it; the metal it had been crafted from seemed strong enough to protect him from powerful blows. "I'm impressed you made something so exclusive for me. I was sure I'd have some second-hand armor if I got any at all…"

"You thought so before you knew the true nature of my mission," said Azula. "But now you know I need you to win. You will be the one to fight in the Arena, the one on whom I depend for this whole operation; once you're in the ring there will be nothing more for me to do... but before that happens, I'll do whatever I can to help you win."

"You really want to win, huh?" asked Sokka, gulping as he took the helmet in his hands. "Just how bad is that guy that you blatantly refuse to marry him?"

"I would refuse to marry most anyone, actually," said Azula. "But being betrothed to him, of all people, is something I simply cannot accept."

"What did he do to you?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "Or is it that he's not good-looking or something?"

"His looks are perfectly fine," muttered Azula. "His brains, on the other hand… oh, never mind. It's not something I want to reminisce about right now. Get the armor on, we'll go straight to the Arena once we reach Ember Island."

"Okay, okay, but I really would like to know what your deal with this Chan guy is…" said Sokka, playfully. He held the breastplate up for a moment, surprised of how light it was, and was about to strip off his clothes when he realized he was not alone yet.

Azula wasn't looking at him; her arms were folded as she thought about how badly she needed to get out of that blasted arranged marriage. She couldn't lose today. She couldn't afford it. She would never marry that useless Chan…

"Uh… do you think I need any help or something?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow as she snapped out of her thoughts.

"What?" said Azula, blankly.

"You told me to get dressed, but you won't get out… do you want to help me put on the armor or something?" asked Sokka, smirking mischievously at her.

The look in his face was enough to tell Azula he was simply joking, but the implications of what he'd just said made her flush. She glared at him and rolled her eyes as she exited the room, muttering.

"You'd wish I'd help you…"

Sokka chuckled, satisfied by her reaction. As soon as she closed the door behind her, he began fitting the armor around him, amazed by how easy it was to move in it. Metallic plates covered his arms and chest, his legs were clad in the metal coverings also. He was slightly held down by the weight, but it wouldn't put him off so much. The helmet fit his head perfectly, and he smiled slightly, feeling like he was truly The Blue Wolf now… but he wasn't. He had been a blue wolf back when he had been with his people. His old outfit would have honored his nickname far better than this Fire Nation imitation of his Tribe's style. He sighed, missing his homeland more than ever… but he would be one step closer to going back to them if he triumphed on today's battle. It probably would take him years, but Piandao had taught him to be patient. Everything would come in due time.

Sokka walked out to the main deck once again, where Azula stood, her gaze set on the island the Barge was speeding its way towards. Sokka approached her, taking his helmet off and holding it under one arm, and he stared in the same direction she was looking at.

"So… that's Ember Island?" he asked.

Azula nodded curtly, her golden eyes still fixed upon their destination. She sighed slowly, and Sokka realized just how nervous she was.

"How do I look?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

Azula frowned and turned to him, eyeing him without much interest.

"What does it matter how you look? You're not headed to a fashion showdown; you're going to a gladiator fight. You won't be awarded more points for looking good in your armor."

"Huh, so I do look good, huh?" said Sokka, smiling.

Azula let out a groan of annoyance as she rolled her eyes, Sokka chuckled again at her as she stared on towards Ember Island again; but her words resounded in his mind once more. He frowned as her words gained a meaning within his head.

"What's that of getting awarded points?" he asked, looking at her with confused eyes.

"Oh... I forgot to explain, didn't I?" said Azula. "There are many rules you need to abide by in the Superior League, rules that were nowhere to be found in the amateur fights you took part in during the past two years. For one, the winner is determined by judges, not by who kills and who dies."

"Judges?" asked Sokka, astounded. "That's odd... what exactly do they judge?"

"Your way of fighting," said Azula. "They make the call over who triumphs and who doesn't. Don't worry, they're impartial. Their role exists to avoid the unnecessary killing of gladiators to give a resolution to the fights."

"Huh, I see... that's a relief" said Sokka, smiling.

"Don't get too cozy because of that," Azula warned him. "It doesn't mean you're safe from getting killed, the danger is still there. If you face some hysterical gladiator you're not likely to walk out of it unscathed."

"It's still better than fighting to the death" stated Sokka, shrugging. "And the judges are the ones to give out the points?"

"In a way, they are, since they decide who wins or loses. Simply put, the winner takes it all, and the loser is left to weep over the battle's result. Each gladiator has an assigned value, you could say. The top gladiator of the ranking is assigned five hundred points, the second is worth four hundred and ninety-nine, and so on. The last fighter in the ranking is worth one."

"Huh, so I'm only valued in one? Seeing as I've never fought before I'm likely to be the last..."

"Didn't I tell you your position is 491? You're tied there with all the gladiators that have no points yet."

"Ah, I get it now..." said Sokka. "So I should be worth..."

"Ten points," replied Azula, quickly. "Didn't they teach you how to count in your Tribe?"

"Of course they did" grunted Sokka, irritated now. "How many points does my rival have so far, then?"

"If I recall correctly…" muttered Azula, trying to recall what she had seen on the ranking's sheet "It was somewhere near 2500. Perhaps 2560 or 2570… I can't remember the exact number."

"Gee," said Sokka, gulping. "He's probably been fighting for a while now, huh?"

"I'm not sure about how long he has been fighting, but he probably has…" said Azula, focusing on the approaching island again.

Sokka leaned on the ship's enclosure as he looked at Azula. He rose an eyebrow at how determined she seemed to be, but when he stared carefully into her eyes, he could see there was another emotion in them…

"You can stop being so anxious, you know?" he said, and Azula twitched.

"You think I can stop…" she grunted. "I can't. You don't understand what's at stake here."

"I don't really get the whole picture," said Sokka, shrugging. "But it makes no sense for you to fidget like this right now. You already did all you could do. I'm the one who should be worried now… if I fail you won't let me hear the end of it."

"Oh, you will hear the end of it, don't fret. It'll happen either when I kill you for failing or I drop you once more at the Amateur League."

"See? I'll have it worse than you, no matter how you look at it," said Sokka, sighing dramatically.

Azula couldn't help but chuckle and look at him sideways. She truly had no choice other than to trust him, and that meant there was a lot of pressure on him. Not every day did a slave find himself carrying the hopes of the Fire Nation Princess on his shoulders.

"Princess, we're almost at the port now," said the Captain of her Royal Guards, approaching her. "How shall we proceed?"

Azula turned to him, a frown on her brow now.

"I believe you must be sick and tired of hearing this, Captain… but I won't be taking any of you with me."

The Captain forgot all about rules and guidelines for a moment and he groaned in exasperation. With his hands on his hips he stared at the Princess, his body language demanding an explanation.

"Why?" he said between gritted teeth.

"Don't give me that attitude, Captain," replied Azula. "You're hired to work for me and obey every single order of mine."

"I was hired to work as a Royal Guard, and your father tasked me with protecting you at all times," said the Captain. "But you won't allow me to fulfill my duty. If you don't want me to give you my attitude, I might as well ask the same from you. Two can play this game, Princess."

"I don't think so, Captain," she retorted, frowning even more, her golden glare so fierce upon the man that Sokka started to fear she'd set him on fire. "I'll remind you of your place in the world if I have to… you're only here to serve me. If I don't require of your services, then you have no business trying to force your will upon mine, because I won't let you get away with that. I don't want my identity to be revealed before the right moment by guards or palanquins that will immediately give away who I am. Don't fret, you're still going to get paid…"

"This is not a matter of payment, it's a matter of honor and duty," said the Captain, firmly.

Azula smiled now and rolled her eyes.

"Ironies… when I need men to forget their honor, they abide by it non-stop. When I wish they would be honorable, they do the exact opposite of that… Fortune enjoys making fun of me, apparently. I am pleased to discover you're such a proud man; it relieves me to know I have such an honorable guard, but I don't want you to guard me for now. In fact, I refuse to have you guard me."

The Captain curled up his fists, irked at how unreasonable the Princess was being. She needed protection; if not, why was he serving her in the first place?

"You can go fool around in town if you feel like it, but stay clear of the Arena," Azula commanded him as the barge arrived to the port. The ship's access ramp was lowered then, and Sokka took a deep breath, knowing that the next time he climbed aboard this ship he would either be celebrating or begging Azula not to ship him back to the Amateur Arena…

"Princess, I'm asking you to be reasonable…" said the Captain, but she turned to him one last time, and judging by the look on her eyes, she wasn't about to listen to anything he said.

"I expect the ship to be ready to sail when we return, which might happen around dusk if this drags on for longer than I envision it to," said Azula. "Make sure my every command is followed, Captain. I will see you in a few hours."

The Royal Guard's Captain sighed and rolled his eyes, though his mask concealed his facial expression regardless. But even if he hadn't been wearing a mask, Azula would have missed out on his gesture since she was already walking down to the port, with Sokka treading slowly behind her.

The town was very strange in the eyes of the Water Tribe man; he looked at the stores and houses from afar with slight interest, realizing this was a neighborhood for the high-class citizens of the Fire Nation. Azula led the way inside the town after removing her hairpiece and tucking it into her pocket. Sokka frowned when the curtain of jet-black hair fell on her shoulders with mystifying elegance.

"What are you…?"

"The hairpiece gives my identity away too easily," she said. "I don't want rumors of my arrival to reach Chan's ears before the right time…"

"Huh? But he knows he's fighting us, so he'd know you'd get here eventually… or wouldn't he?" he asked, raising an eyebrow towards Azula.

"No, as a matter of fact, he has no idea he's dealing with me," said Azula, smirking slightly, her anxiety fading slightly as she found relief in her careful plan to thoroughly impact her enemy. "The challenges are allegedly issued from one gladiator to the other, they don't state who the sponsor is."

"Then how the hell did you know The Spawn is his gladiator?" asked Sokka, frowning.

"I used a very sly trick, actually…" said Azula, smirking even more as they began climbing a road that led to a small hill.

"No surprises there…" grunted Sokka, but she ignored him.

"You see, you've only just been written into the ranking. It takes time for the information on the new gladiators to travel to all the Arenas participating in the Superior Gladiator League. My challenge would arrive to Chan before the information about you came to Ember Island's Arena, which would have been the only way for him to discover who your sponsor really was. He would have assumed you were a meaningless new recruit or so, with some rich sponsor willing to go to any ends to fight someone as powerful as him…"

"So you were stroking his ego by playing everything like this," said Sokka, surprised. "That's why you decided we'd come to Ember Island rather than force him to go to the Capital's Arena, because he wouldn't have wanted to move an inch to fight a gladiator that had been registered in the ranking recently…"

"No, perhaps he might have," said Azula. "He would have thought you were a weakling and would have enjoyed bringing you down… but if he was given the chance to do that from the comfort of his hometown, he would have been less likely to refuse. Since he accepted, I'm assuming my analysis on him was spot-on."

"You're really fearsome," said Sokka, gulping. "You've got no trouble reading people and making a living hell out of their happy lives…"

"Indeed. You're proof of that," she replied, smirking slightly.

Sokka stopped when they were halfway up the hill and looked around, gazing at the town with interest. He had never seen anything similar to this place… Shu Jing was a very calm village, most of the buildings were houses and a handful of stores, but Ember Island was almost a commercial district in itself. Azula halted as well when she realized Sokka was eying the town that spread below.

"Enjoying the view?" she asked, "I'm surprised a savage like you would find any beauty in landscapes."

"Blame it on Piandao," said Sokka, chuckling. "He had me study landscapes all the time, so that I would remember every single detail on them. I'm subconsciously doing what he taught me to do…"

Azula raised an inquisitive eyebrow but joined him for a moment in staring at their surroundings.

"It hasn't changed much since the last time I was here…" she muttered carelessly, and Sokka heard her.

"You've been here before, then? Was that when you met this Chan guy?"

"Yes, that was my last visit… but I also used to come here with my family a long time ago," said Azula, frowning at the memories that assaulted her mind all of sudden. She turned towards the direction where her old summer house stood… and was slightly discouraged to see how faint the magnificent palace had become. The derangement of the structure was evident even from a distance.

"Hey, is that a restaurant?" asked Sokka, bringing Azula out of her thoughts again.

"What…? Why, yes, it is," said Azula, sighing as Sokka stared at the place with awe.

"You know, I've never been to a restaurant. Are they any good? You've been to Ember Island before, so you might have eaten there…"

"No, I haven't," said Azula. "Me and my family hardly ever ate out when we came here. And I didn't really have time to go sight-seeing on my last visit… I suppose I could have, yet I didn't."

"Why?" asked Sokka, as they resumed their walk uphill.

"On that last visit… I met Chan," said Azula, clenching her fists at the memory. "I had come here with Mai and Ty Lee; my father had told me to go on vacation for a couple of days because he wanted to meet with his war advisors alone. I asked both of them to come with me and they accepted. We were at the beach, enjoying the sunny day… but I got bored quickly. When I saw there was a Kuai Ball court not too far from where we were, I forced Ty Lee and Mai to join me to bring down the other teams. And while we defeated everyone who dared defy us, we caught Chan's eye and he invited us to a party… well, not all of us, actually."

"What do you mean?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"Seeing as my playing style was rather ruthless, I intimidated him and he was mainly interested in Mai and Ty Lee," said Azula. "But in the end he invited all of us to his dumb party anyway, since he must have known how rude it was of him not to ask me to go in front of my friends."

"Well, it would have been plain stupid of him not to invite you," said Sokka. "I mean, even if he didn't like you, you're the Princess…"

"Ah, but he never knew that," said Azula, smirking. "I didn't tell him who I was. I wanted to know if I could earn his respect through my true self rather than my title… well, his respect and…"

Sokka felt slightly uncomfortable as he understood what Azula was implying.

"You… had a crush on that guy, by any chance?"

"He's attractive," she admitted, flushing slightly. "At least, he was back then. Anyway, I wanted to flirt with him, yet I knew nothing of how to do it… Ty Lee tried to help me, but it was a complete fiasco in the end. So I left the party and I talked to Ty Lee and Mai outside. And after that, I decided the best thing I could do to feel better was…"

"Was…?" asked Sokka, gulping. Did he really want to hear the end of the story?

"Was to burn down his house," Azula finished. Sokka halted as he stared ahead blankly, in complete disbelief. He shook his head after a few seconds, no longer astounded.

"You're one of a kind, really," he said, walking quickly to catch up with her again. "I should only expect the unexpected from you…"

"I thought you had already figured that out long ago," said Azula, smirking.

"No wonder you don't want to marry him…" Sokka stated. "In fact, I can't understand why he hasn't protested against marrying you as well."

"Well, that's because he didn't know he was dealing with Princess Azula that night," she said. "And he's about to find out…"

Sokka lifted his head and was left gaping in awe at the building that stood in front of them. The pathetic Hui Yi wooden Arena was nothing in comparison to this magnificent structure, which, according to the inscription atop the gates, was called The Ember Crater. Most he could see from the outside was red, and it was shaped as an erupting volcano. Sokka gulped at the daunting sight of the building, but Azula didn't seem to care much for the Arena's appearance and walked inside it with haste, pushing the double doors inwards. Sokka followed her fit.

A man around thirty years old sat behind this Arena's counter and was surprised to see the unusual pair that approached his desk. Azula set a hand on the table as she said.

"I'm checking in for the battle scheduled at three. My gladiator is The Blue Wolf."

The man blinked for a few seconds, trying to understand the mechanics of a woman sponsoring a man… there were female gladiators, but female sponsors? It was not simply uncommon, it was actually unheard of. He looked up the list of battles of the day and saw The Blue Wolf was meant to fight The Spawn of the Volcano today; he nodded towards Azula and smiled kindly, trying to conceal his initial surprise.

"Yes, your fight is scheduled at three, as you said. What weapons will your gladiator use?"

Azula turned to Sokka and prompted him to answer, seeing as she had no clue regarding what he had decided to wield.

"Uh… I'll use a sword, a boomerang, a club, a knife and a bomb" he said, since those were the weapons he had brought with himself for this particular fight.

The man seemed puzzled again, this time over the fact that the gladiator had been the one to answer his question, but he tried to appear unsettled as he wrote down what Sokka had told him, a nervous grin on his face. Once he was done, he said:

"You'll have to kill some time before your combat begins. You can either go to the stands to watch the other fights or head into the waiting rooms that are at the upper levels of the Arena."

"A waiting room should do," said Azula, guessing Sokka might grow nervous if he watched the way the fights unfolded in the Superior League.

The man led the two of them to an empty room with scarce illumination. For some reason, Azula felt rather comfortable in it. The man closed the door once they were both inside and he walked away, leaving Sokka and Azula to themselves. The Princess sat down on a couch in the center of the room, looking unusually defeated now.

Sokka began stretching to pass the time. It was around noon by now, so they would likely still have quite a period of leisure time ahead of them; Azula frowned at the sight of him exercising like this; in normal circumstances she would have admitted to a certain appeal at watching him, but she was a bit troubled at the moment to marvel at his manly figure consciously.

"You do know that we'll be here for a while, don't you?" she muttered.

"Yeah… so?"

"Why are you stretching now? It's going to take a long time before you're called in to fight."

"I have nothing better to do, so…" was his simple reply, and he shrugged carelessly as he continued with his routine, bending over to touch his toes with his fingertips.

Azula tried to avoid watching him, although doing so proved to be quite a nice distraction to slow down her thoughts. Sokka was twisting his torso around when he noticed she was watching him intently, but through the look on her eyes he could tell her mind was elsewhere.

"Uh…" he said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing in particular" muttered Azula, blinking rapidly to force her eyes to turn away from Sokka's rear.

"Oh, really...?" he asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Don't you have better things to worry about than what my eyes are settling upon?" was Azula's retort, as she glared at him defiantly.

"Yeah, maybe... things like if there are any other rules on this League that you should have told me about already," he asked, settling his hands on his hips.

"There might be," said Azula, closing her eyes thoughtfully. "I didn't tell you there's a time limit, did I?"

"Huh?" said Sokka, surprised. "A time limit? Why?"

"It's used to conclude the battles," said Azula. "Many fights would drag on for ages if there were no time limits. Whoever dominates the battle within the established time will win."

"And who decides how long the fight lasts?" Sokka inquired.

"The sponsors agree on the determined time before the battle begins," said Azula. "The span of the fight can't exceed an hour, they're normally around thirty minutes or so."

"How long do you expect this fight to be?" asked Sokka.

"I don't expect it to be too long. I'll try to set the limit to twenty minutes."

"And... will I have to fight for all those twenty minutes? Or can the combat end before the time is up?"

"It can end before, if one of the two fighters gets knocked out. If they're both standing when the time ends, the judges debate to determine the winner. Also, I had forgotten to mention this... there will be objects in the pit."

"Huh? What sort of objects?" asked Sokka.

"Nets, wooden structures, fences of some sort… it's furniture that can serve as obstacles for you, or as an advantage, if you use your surroundings to help you in your fight. But beware… destroying the furniture doesn't go unpunished."

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Sokka, beginning to stretch again as he frowned, confused.

"Points will be deducted from your total score for every object you break," explained Azula, trying to avoid staring mindlessly at him again. "Each one is worth twenty points, so if you wreck one of them, those twenty points will be taken from your total score up to date."

"So I can break whatever I want today?" asked Sokka, surprised. "I mean… My total score is zero, isn't it?"

"It is zero, but the point deduction comes after the fight has been finished. So if you beat the Spawn, you'd still lose points for the broken objects; though if he beats you there will be no real purpose in getting worried over losing points, I guess…"

Sokka looked at her, slightly worried now. He had never imagined the day would come when he would see the Princess displaying such downcast demeanor. It bothered him more than it should have, which was slightly disturbing…

"Hey, calm down…" said Sokka, sitting next to her. "Everything will be fine, you'll see…"

"How can you say that for certain?" grunted Azula, staring at the ground. "It's not as if you really knew what will happen once you're out there…"

"As sweet as it is to see you're concerned about my safety, I don't think it's necessary," said Sokka, making Azula frown in irritation.

"I'm not concerned about you. When did I ever say you were the source of my anxiety?"

"Well, I should be! For all you know, I might end up dead out there!" said Sokka, folding his arms across his chest.

"Such a wonderful way to reassure me, really…" grunted Azula, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, quit it," said Sokka. "The only one who should be worried here is me. I mean, it's not as if you didn't have another way out…"

"You think there's something else I could do to get rid of Chan?" asked Azula, frowning.

"Sure," said Sokka. "I mean… you can kill him, right? I take you to be the type who could cut a man's throat and sleep like a baby afterwards…"

"I am, of course," said Azula, sighing. "But my father told me I had one chance to prove Chan was unworthy of me, and the span of one month to use said opportunity… If I can't perform according to the conditions I was given, then the honor I boast about wouldn't exist."

"So crazy murderous Princesses have some honor… I never would have imagined it," said Sokka, slightly surprised.

Azula glared at him, irritated.

"Do you even know what you're talking about when you say the word honor? I rather doubt it…"

"I do, actually," said Sokka, proudly. "Piandao has talked a lot to me about it."

Azula frowned in disbelief at first, disregarding that statement, although Sokka failed to notice her reaction since he was too busy thinking of all he knew about honor now.

"Has he, now…?" she asked, her contempt obvious in her voice but Sokka ignored it.

"Yeah, he talked to me about many things," said Sokka, grinning in a silly way. "He has made me a better warrior and a better man."

"Then I guess I should have paid him twice what I…" said Azula, smirking at first, but then her face fell as she frowned, patting her waist. Sokka eyed her with confusion.

"What's the matter?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I, uh… I think I…" she muttered, looking around her and closing her eyes as she forced herself to remember if she had brought the bag with her… but she didn't need to think about it much to realize she had left it in her cabin.

"What?" growled Sokka, annoyed. "What did you do?"

"It's more like what I didn't do…" said Azula, a guilty smile spreading over her face. "I… I forgot the money. I left it on the ship."

"The money…?" repeated Sokka, puzzled at first. It took him a few seconds to understand what his sponsor was talking about. "Wait… the money for the sponsors' bid?!"

"Yes, I… I left it on a shelf in my cabin and I forgot to pick it up… I was going to, but I was…"

"Too busy worrying pointlessly about what will happen and what won't," grunted Sokka, irritated. "And how much money were you betting anyway?"

"Fifty thousand yuans…" said Azula, and Sokka jumped out of his seat, his eyes wide with shock.

"Fifty thousand?! Are you mental?!" he yelled, and Azula just stared at him, surprised.

"It's not really that much…" said Azula, and Sokka froze in his spot before remembering who he was talking to.

"Right, right, you're the Princess," he grunted. "You take baths in pools of gold, I forgot that for a second…"

"Oh, please," said Azula. "Bathing in gold wouldn't clean anyone…"

"The fact that you object to the purpose rather than the possibility of getting bathed in gold proves my point," grunted Sokka, rolling his eyes. "Well? You need that money, so you'd better go get it now before…"

The door was swung open before Sokka finished his sentence. A bald man stood behind it, looking unexpectedly solemn. Judging by the way his outfit matched the attire that the man from the counter wore, they both guessed this man worked in the Arena too.

"The Blue Wolf's combat will begin shortly," he said, prompting them to leave the room with a hand.

"So much for returning to the ship to get the money…" said Azula, her stomach turning at the thought. "Make sure you win now, will you?"

"Was this some sort of ploy to put even more pressure on me?" asked Sokka, glaring at her as they both treaded behind the man who was leading them.

"What good would that have done to either of us?" she grunted, glowering back at him.

"Heck, I don't know. But you have a weird way of going about things, after all…" said Sokka, shrugging.

The man led them to a group of stairs; one flight spiraled downwards and another upwards. He smiled as he turned to Azula and Sokka again.

"The gladiator must go down and turn left until he reaches the stand-by room. The sponsor shall go upstairs and sit at the balcony from where you'll witness the fight next to your fellow sponsor."

Azula nodded positively, but to both Sokka and the man's surprise, she started downwards. Sokka shrugged as the man stared at them in disbelief and he followed the Princess to the lower level of the Arena.

"D-didn't you hear me?!" he asked, astounded.

"I did hear you," said Azula, not slowing down. "I will head upstairs later, there's no need to grow so uneasy over this."

"B-but…"

The man's complaints became simple mutters once they both reached the lowest floor.

"Left, he said?" asked Azula, and Sokka nodded, leading the way now as she walked behind him.

The hallways down below were of stone, to Azula's surprise. She hadn't seen anything this rudimentary in Ember Island before. Sokka didn't care much for the décor, though, as he finally found the previously mentioned stand-by room. There was no door in the threshold, although there was a heavy metallic grid at the other side of the room… and through it he could see the very thing he hadn't missed in the slightest.

"I hate sand," he grunted, glaring at the pit.

"You'll have to deal with it," said Azula, shrugging.

"Why did you come down here?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "You could have gone upstairs…"

"I want to make sure Chan arrives first," she said. "That way he'll still believe he has the upper hand. I'm just killing time, and… I also wanted to tell you something, before everything is said and done."

Sokka raised an inquisitive eyebrow as she suddenly turned to face him, her chest heaving as she took a deep breath, looking at him in the eyes.

"I know you had it hard for two years, I know you loathe me for all I brought upon you… It would have been completely understandable if you hadn't accepted working for me after all you've had to deal with. I'm far more grateful for your services than you can imagine… because thanks to you I had an opportunity to regain my freedom. If it weren't for you… I would have lost all hope. I'm actually proud to see the way you've changed from a crazy boy trying to play hero into a fully-fledged warrior. I'm glad I took part in your growth, and… and I thank you for giving me hope once again. Perhaps in a few hours I'll be doing anything but thanking you… perhaps I'll be thanking you again. But I just wanted you to know that…"

"I get it," he said, nodding curtly. "I get it. Yeah, you're right, I loathe you and that's not going to change, not in a million years… but I'm thankful too. Not for all you did to me back then, but what you've done for me lately. You gave me a chance to get a new life… and I'll do my best not to let that go to waste. So… thank you, too."

Azula found herself smiling slightly, and Sokka stretched his hand towards her. She shook it, just as she had the very day they had decided to work together… this might become the last time they would be sponsor and gladiator, but it could also be the beginning of a long partnership…

Azula nodded and released his hand reluctantly, knowing it was about time she headed upstairs.

"See you later, Sokka" she said, turning to leave.

"See you, Azula…" he whispered; saying each other's name like this sent shivers down both their spines.

Sokka turned to stare at the pit of sand again, and his gaze became colder as he began calculating his advantages… he would win. He had to win. It was not even an option to fail here… he would triumph, no matter what.

Once she made her way up the stairs, Azula saw a group of girls frolicking near the hallway that led to the sponsor's balcony. They were chuckling and mumbling nonsense that she only caught when she was close to the door.

"He's so handsome…"

"And he's the most talented sponsor of Ember Island!"

"Oh, he's the perfect man…"

Azula rolled her eyes, knowing she would be facing one of her worst enemies shortly. She fixed her hair before entering the room, putting her hairpiece in place once more. It was the moment of the grand revelation, the one she had been waiting for…

As she opened the door she heard someone chuckle inside. So he was going to play at being the superior sponsor, was he?

"Welcome, welcome to my domain," said a familiar voice that made Azula grimace in annoyance. As she walked inside the room she saw him sitting, his back towards her. He hadn't even noticed who he was talking to. "I'm sure you thought the name Spawn of the Volcano was really cool and that's why you wanted to challenge me, but I've got to inform you you've made the mistake of a lifetime. Me and my gladiator, we're the top dogs in the Ember Crater. You're about to go down, so low that you'll never get up again…"

He stood up now to give the final impact to his theatrical introduction.

"Because I am…" he started, but she interrupted him.

"Oh, I know perfectly well who you are," said Azula, her voice ringing a bell in Chan's head. "The question is… do you know who I am?"

He turned around slowly, terrified as he wondered if his worst nightmares were coming true. And the second he identified the woman who was standing in front of the door he froze in place, his eyes almost dropping out of his sockets. Damn right, his nightmares were coming true…

"How pleasant to see you again, Chan," said Azula, a sly smirk playing on her lips as she watched his reaction with amusement. Everything was going according to plan.


	11. Chapter 11

The dumbfounded expression on Chan's face was exactly as Azula had expected it to be. Every step of her plan, every decision she had made, had been so that on this moment he would realize that he had anything but the upper hand in this particular fight. But it was too late for him to back down now…

"I'm most pleased to see you seem to recognize me," said Azula, a malicious smirk playing on her lips. "I was certain you would have forgotten about me after all this time..."

"How could I... how would I forget?" he muttered, avoiding looking at her in the eye. "Because of you I was grounded for a year..."

"I am so sorry to hear that," she said, coating her words with irony.

"W-well, it's too late now to apologize about that now..."

"Are you acquainted with the term 'sarcasm', by any chance?" she asked, staring at him with derision. "It's a figure of speech that can be used to play tricks on gullible minds such as yours. You see, I am anything but sorry for the sorrows that befell you. Do you understand the mechanics of sarcasm now or must I spell it out word by word to you so you finally grasp its meaning?"

Chan blushed and glared at Azula, not appreciating her devious statements in the slightest. If anything, she had become even more troublesome and dangerous than she used to be.

"W-w-wha... what are you... why are you here?" he mumbled, trying to keep his cool somehow and failing terribly at it.

"You're more stupid than I remembered. Perhaps the years have killed off your brain cells one by one... not that you had a brilliant mind to begin with," she said, still smirking as she approached the empty seat next to Chan's. "I'll make this a simple game, to test if your brain is as much of a lost case as I think it is. The only thing you need to do in this game is answer a single question: why would I be allowed to enter a room that is reserved for sponsors only?"

"B-because you came here to kill me...?" was Chan's fear-induced guess.

"Dead wrong," said Azula, sighing. "It would seem your mind is as empty as I thought it was... Think, Chan. Only sponsors are allowed to enter this room. I am in this room. So...?"

Chan had to make quite an effort to put his fear aside for a brief moment as he pieced together the puzzle before him. And once he was managed to do that, his eyes opened wide and he stared at Azula, horrified. When she saw he had finally arrived to the right conclusion, she merely smirked and took her seat, making him gasp and shake his head in shock.

"N-no… y-you can't be a sponsor… y-you can't be!" he said, completely lost in denial.

"Why wouldn't I be?" asked Azula, staring into the Arena intently. She gazed down at the furniture displayed and wondered if Sokka would be able to make use of any of the material available: there were three nets at the sides of the pit, four wooden structures that spiraled as if they were the twisted roots of an old tree, and lastly three metallic plates stuck in the ground in random spots.

"B-because you're a girl! Girls don't sponsor gladiators!" yelled Chan, making Azula's eyebrow twitch in disapproval.

"Or so you believed," said Azula. "But there's no rule that establishes a woman can't sponsor a gladiator if she feels like it. Thus, I can be a sponsor, regardless of how uncomfortable that may make you."

"B-but that's plain wrong!" said Chan, shaking his head. "Girls don't like this kind of stuff! And they don't make money on their own, so they can't afford the bets…!"

"Funny you'd mention that," said Azula, tapping her chin with a finger. "Just how do you make the money you use for these fights, Chan?"

Chan grew pale at first and when Azula's gaze shifted towards him, he blushed in shame. She smirked again; she had known the answer to the question, but humiliating him like this was truly priceless.

"Well…?" she asked. "Does your father give it to you, by any chance?"

"Y-you… y-you…" he stuttered.

"I figured as much," said Azula, chuckling lightly. "You are truly more pathetic than I recalled, Chan…"

"I… I'm not pathetic!" he yelled.

"No talents of your own, no source of income but your father's job, you're a sexist moron too… You are pretty much the definition of pathetic in my personal dictionary, if you don't mind me saying it so bluntly."

Chan was irked by her comments, but his fury was easily contained when he recalled the horrible shape of his former house after she had decided to take out her frustrations on it after his rejection. He gulped and took his seat, hoping they could remain quiet for a little longer… but he still couldn't believe his worst nightmare, the woman sitting next to him, was sponsoring a gladiator.

"How… and, why?" he asked, unable to stop himself. "I mean… I don't get it… y-you just put it all so that I could have an easy win…"

"No, I didn't," said Azula, smirking. "I put it all so that you THOUGHT you'd have an easy win, but truth to be told, I was merely hoaxing you. I plan on winning this fight… well; my gladiator will be the one to take care of that anyways."

"W-why…?! Are you that desperate to make my life miserable?! You already wrecked my house! Why do you want to kill my gladiator too?!"

"I never said I wanted to kill your gladiator," said Azula. "I doubt the man I hired would want to kill him, if that's any consolation for you. And believe me, I'm actually fixing your life through what I'm doing right now."

"Huh? Fixing it?!" he yelled, glaring at her. "How the hell are you fixing anything with this?!"

"You see…" Azula began, but she was interrupted by someone's entry into the room.

"Excuse me…" muttered a man, approaching both of them with a sheet of paper in his hand. "I'm here to ask about the fight's time limit. How long do you wish this battle to be?"

"F-five minutes…" grunted Chan under his breath, but Azula ignored him.

"I'm thinking about twenty minutes, and I'm certain my fellow sponsor shall agree with me," said Azula. "It's a reasonable time limit, I believe…"

Chan didn't want anything to do with this matter anymore, so he simply sighed and nodded in agreement. Azula smirked cruelly.

"Of course, it can always end earlier than that…"

Chan twitched in his seat when he heard her words. What was she planning to do, kill his gladiator from up here? It was unlikely she had found some outstanding fighter who could take out the Spawn effectively in under twenty minutes…

"Very well, then," said the man, nodding as he wrote down the assigned time and handed over the paper to Azula. "Please sign in agreement to the conditions…"

They both complied, although Chan's hand shook when it was his turn to write his name next to Azula's. Only once he was done he bothered taking a look at the name next to his and he frowned in confusion as he began deciphering the symbols that comprised it… but the man snatched the paper from him before he could make a connection.

"Good luck to both of you," said the man. "May the best gladiator win. I shall take my leave now, Chan, Princess."

And with those words, he left the room quietly. Azula's gaze was once again upon the arena as she detailed everything about it… there had to be at least four hundred people waiting for the fight to begin; she guessed Chan's gladiator was quite popular among the people of Ember Island. Surely they hadn't come to watch Sokka when he had no fame to boast about just yet. But his name would acquire glory and praise, surely… she was betting her very life on her hopes that it would.

Azula was brought back to reality when the man next to her whimpered. She frowned and looked at him, confused. He was staring at her with such horror she wondered if there was some sort of ghost or monster behind her… though she was the monster, according to what her mother had said about her once, wasn't she? Regardless, she couldn't help but look behind her to make sure there was nothing there and, once she checked they were alone in the room, she turned to him again.

"Is the skin melting off my face or something? What's the matter with you?"

"Y-you… y-y-y-you can't be… oh, for the love of… n-no… y-y-you…" he mumbled, his wide eyes even filling with tears as the realization downed upon him. "Y-you're… you're not really… y-y-you can't be…"

Everything fell into place when he looked at the hairpiece in her head. He had failed to notice it earlier, too shocked to see that face once again to analyze her getup…

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, irritated now. "Answer me!"

"I just…" said Chan, shaking his head as he realized he had been a fool for all these years… not once he had bothered asking her name, nor had he wondered where she had come from. He knew nothing about her, and now he realized how big a blunder it had been not to ask her a single question about herself… "I just need to know one thing. W-what… w-w-what is your name…?"

Azula's annoyance disappeared as she smirked at him. She no longer needed an explanation for what was troubling him.

"So you finally had the guts to ask…" she said, smiling at him with that unique hint of malice that characterized her. "I am Princess Azula, daughter of Fire Lord Ozai and heir to the throne of the Fire Nation"

Chan's jaw dropped, just as Azula had hoped it would. The stupid look on his face made her realize she had been just a teenage fool back when she had developed a crush on him: had she gotten to see him show such a stupid expression she would have never gone to such lengths to impress him.

"N-no… n-n-no… y-y-you can't be…" he muttered, growing paler by the minute.

"Do you believe me now when I tell you I'm not attempting to wreck your life, but the very opposite of that?" asked Azula, staring at the sand again. "You don't wish to marry me, do you?"

"Hell, no!" he yelled, his hands going to his hair as he stared at her in horror.

"Then you'll be pleased to know the feeling is mutual," she said, smirking again. "Very well, then… if everything goes as planned, we might just get out of this ridiculous arrangement today."

"Huh? W-what are you trying to…?"

"Ladies and gentlemen of Ember Island!" yelled a man through a bullhorn. Azula looked up and saw another balcony across where she was; she guessed, by the appearance of the people who occupied it, that it was probably the judges' particular terrace; the man speaking through the megaphone was standing amongst them. "The fourth gladiator combat of the day will begin now!"

A cheer shook the crowd, something that surprised Azula slightly. She didn't understand why people hooted in this manner upon a mere announcement. Chan, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less about the cheering. He was too busy trying to register that the horrible girl who had destroyed his life was the one his father had set him up to marry. This definitely wasn't his lucky day…

"On the eastern end of the Arena we have the Ember Crater's most distinguished gladiator, who has been suffering from quite a bad streak lately…" said the man at the bullhorn. "But nonetheless, he's one of Ember Island's favorite fighters! After 312 wins and 113 losses, and standing in the spot 234 of the ranking with a grand total of 2561 points, I give you… the Spawn of the Volcano!"

More cheers greeted the firebender as the metallic gate rolled upwards and he walked out of the stand-by area. Azula winced at the sight: he looked like a humanized Komodo Rhino. Even his skin looked grayish, and his nose was big enough to look like a horn. Clad in a brown armor that hardly seemed to protect his torso, he walked into the sand pit while yelling and prompting the crowd to scream louder. Azula was truly revolted by the gladiator; Chan would have taken this opportunity to brag over the Spawn, but he was still unable to stop thinking about his engagement to the woman sitting next to him.

"And on the western end of the Arena, a new addition to the League's Ranking!"

Azula couldn't hold back a shudder when she realized the fight was finally about to begin. She stared at the gate, anxiety turning her world upside down as she waited for Sokka to walk into the stage that would decide both their lives…

"A non-bender who hasn't seen any gladiator fights in the Superior League so far…" said the man of the bullhorn. "Hopefully he won't chicken out after fighting against our Spawn! Give a cheer for The Blue Wolf!"

Nobody screamed for Sokka, but people did clap politely for him as the gate opened. He took a deep breath before stepping into the sand, the familiar feel of the unstable surface making him cringe. He was surprised by the amount of spectators who had attended the fight; it was likely twice as many people as there were when Hui Yi's seats were sold out. He focused on taking in the sight of his opponent, who was currently huffing at him like a rabid boarcupine. Sokka didn't need to analyze him much to tell the man's head was as good as hollow, which helped him decide on his plan of action. So the Spawn of the Volcano was a firebender, wasn't he? And wrecking furniture wouldn't go unpunished…? Sokka allowed himself a small smirk of arrogance after coming up with his idea and then turned his head towards the balconies. He saw a group of unknown people in the northern wing of the Arena and when he turned southwards, he saw the only familiar face he would spot in the entire building.

Azula was staring directly at him, her golden eyes ablaze with anxiety and despair, and Sokka was surprised that, despite all this distance, he could read her emotions so clearly. Maybe she could read his too… he smiled at her reassuringly, something that took her by surprise: she didn't know that the very second Sokka had laid eyes upon his enemy he had understood he could triumph. Sokka nodded towards her and it was Azula's turn to take a deep breath. She sure hoped that whatever confidence he had suddenly sprouted wouldn't go to waste…

"A… non-bender?" asked Chan, startling her. She had forgotten she wasn't alone in the balcony. "What the hell…? Why a non-bender? There's no way a non-bender can beat my Spawn, really…"

"Oh, so he's your spawn?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "That thing down there is your son or something of the sort, then? No wonder he looked so dumb, he takes after you well enough…"

Chan frowned and recalled who he was talking to, which prompted him to decide he would avoid speaking to her again until the match was over.

"Gladiators, the hourglass has been set: you will have twenty minutes to determine the winner of this fight. Good luck! Get ready…" said the man of the bullhorn, and the Spawn struck a firebending stance while Sokka simply folded his arms, his eyes set on the figure of his rival "…START!"

The Spawn yelled and shot an array of fire towards Sokka, who simply dodged by swinging his body to the right. He took a few seemingly careless steps on that direction while the Spawn kept tossing more fire towards him, each move more elaborate than the previous one, but all of them weaker than the fire Sokka had faced at Azula's hand. Sokka avoided each blow with such ease it startled him… had he become this good, or was the Spawn simply that much of a failure in battle?

The same procedure continued for a few minutes until the Spawn was left gasping for breath, his hands on his knees. Chan stared in dismay while Azula could only look at Sokka, wondering what he was trying to pull by merely evading his opponent…

"You done yet?" asked Sokka, and the Spawn growled. "Good! Well, how about we get to know one another while you take a break?"

Azula's facial expression twisted into disbelief as she heard her gladiator utter those words. Honestly, what was he doing?

"My real name is Sokka!" he said, grinning. "What's yours?"

"Urgh…" grunted the Spawn, and Sokka nodded.

"Alright then, Urgh, nice to meet you. Seems like you're a pretty cool firebender… and I mean that, literally. Your fire is too cold. What's with you? Have you gotten out of shape or have you always been this lousy?"

"ARGH!" yelled the Spawn of the Volcano, and he unleashed a new wave of fire, this time one that was far more intense than the previous ones. Sokka jumped back and used one of the metallic plates to shield himself from the fire.

"See? What did I tell you?" he said, smirking. "Your fire isn't that hot! Else you'd be able to melt this in a heartbeat!"

The Spawn yelled and continued throwing fire at Sokka, who only grinned as he sprinted towards another nearby metallic plate, dropping behind it.

"Maybe that metal was too strong, then! How about this one? Can you burn this one?" he teased him, smirking.

His words produced the very effect he had been hoping for. The Spawn went berserk at the provocation and ushered even more flames, making Sokka jump towards the next metal plate, which was melted even before he could continue teasing his enemy. Now Sokka didn't have many places to go. He kept jumping around, avoiding the fire in whichever way possible by having it attach to the nets on the ground, setting them all on fire along with the extravagant wooden structures. Azula was gritting her teeth at the sight, watching with slight despair as Sokka struggled to keep his footing amongst the burning objects. What was he playing at?

She understood what Sokka was attempting to do when she heard Chan whimper next to her. After shifting her focus away from her gladiator for a moment, Azula realized all the furniture had been set on fire… The ten objects on the Arena were scorched or melted, and clearly it was the Spawn's fault. He had just lost 200 points from his score in a single fight thanks to Sokka's hassling. Azula couldn't help but smile with malice now… even if Sokka didn't triumph, the Spawn would have descended at least around ten positions because of this embarrassing outburst of his.

"Well, well, that's pretty neat," said Sokka, panting after finding a safe standing place without scorched up objects. "You're a better firebender than I took you for! But gee, all this smoke is getting annoying…"

Sokka shook around his hand, trying to shun away the gas, but the Spawn laughed at him.

"You don't like smoke, little boy?" he asked, finally uttering something that made sense, and he cracked his knuckles as he walked towards Sokka.

"No, I do like it," said Sokka, shrugging. "I just think that if you're going to have smoke… you should have a proper amount of it, get it?"

"Huh?" said the Spawn.

"Let me show you, since you don't seem to understand," said Sokka, grinning as he unattached the bomb off his belt and rolled it over to his rival's feet.

The Spawn looked at the object with confusion, not understanding what it was. Sokka grinned mischievously as the mechanism was activated and the bomb unleashed a cloud of smoke so thick that the Spawn shrieked in surprise. Sokka was outside the perimeter that had gotten affected by the bomb, thus he relied on his usual strategy of waiting patiently until his enemy showed up.

And soon enough the Spawn made it past the cloud of smoke, coughing and choking as he tried to regain the air he needed to bend, but Sokka wouldn't pass out on the perfect opportunity to reduce his foe to nothingness. He unsheathed his black sword and ran towards the Spawn, baring his teeth. The Spawn jumped at the sight of him and threw a small fireball towards Sokka, who, with a simple wave of his sword, forced the fire to dissipate. The Spawn stared at him in horror as Sokka ran to him, afraid the Blue Wolf would use his sword to slice up his body… but to his surprise, Sokka picked a different method to attack him rather than cutting him.

Sokka might have ravaged the Spawn's body with his sword if he had been supposed to kill his enemy, but he didn't have to resort to such a thing anymore, which filled his heart with a sense of tranquility he couldn't quite explain, a sense that ushered him to fight far more spontaneously than he usually did… a sense that drove him to perform a very high jump towards the Spawn's head.

The Spawn didn't even know what happened at first. It was hard to comprehend what was going on when he felt Sokka's knees pressing his ears tightly. Azula's gladiator used every ounce of momentum and strength within his system to lift the heavy body of the Spawn with his legs as he performed a somersault, bringing the Spawn with him as he twirled in mid-air.

Azula was left gaping at him with awe as she saw Sokka spin once, managing to sweep the Spawn off his feet with apparent ease. Sokka fell on his back, just as he had planned, and the impact was a little harder on him than he had expected… but he had managed to dunk the Spawn's head into the sand, which had been the objective of his outstanding move in the first place.

Sokka stood up and sheathed Space Sword as he looked at the pathetic figure of the Spawn. He stuck his hand into the sand and grasped the man by his hair, pulling him up. As he did, the Spawn spewed sand and moaned, looking like he had been badly stunned by that blow. Sokka stared at him with something similar to compassion for a second, wondering if it was truly necessary for him to knock him out… he was clearly out of it already. He looked towards the judges' balcony, through the already dissipating cloud of smoke, and asked.

"He has to be unconscious for the fight to end, right?"

"Y-yes…" said the man of the megaphone, staring at him in utter disbelief along with the rest of the judges "Unless you want to wait for the remaining ten minutes to pass…"

Sokka shook his head, sighed and struck the Spawn of the Volcano on the bridge of his nose with the side of his stretched-out hand. The man's eyes rolled in its sockets as he collapsed, his body becoming so heavy Sokka almost pulled out his hair before letting go of him.

The limp body of the Spawn lay on the ground now. Azula took a moment to realize what the sight of her gladiator standing triumphantly meant… and she smiled with a wild bout of joy as she did. She was free… she had done it. She had proved Chan to be unworthy of her, she had defeated the destiny that had been imposed upon her!

"T-the winner is… T-the Blue Wolf!" said the man with the bullhorn after the judges told him to give out the obvious announcement already.

Azula beamed at Sokka, having never felt proud towards anyone other than herself before. Sokka turned to see her and he waved in her direction, almost asking her if she was satisfied with the result. She laughed to herself, which Sokka took as a good sign. He headed towards the gate from which he had entered the Arena, and Azula took a deep breath, completely relieved.

The crowd was frozen; hardly anyone could understand how their hero had been defeated with such ease, and so quickly, too. Azula was even more elated when she noticed the reaction of the spectators… surely Sokka's prowess would be spoken of throughout the entire Fire Nation: not every day did a newcomer gladiator defeat a man from the upper half of the ranking on his very first fight. Her ultimate goal was shining ahead of her and she would come closer to it slowly, but certainly…

"Very well, then…" she said, turning to Chan.

She couldn't help but smile even more when she saw him. His jaw had dropped and he was still gaping, aghast, at his fallen firebender…

"Uh… Chan? It's time to get down to business…" she said, and he blinked a few times before turning to her.

"H-how did you…? How could a non-bender…?"

"Oh, I find no purpose in telling you or else you'll try to find yourself a tough non-bender of your own to replace that useless gladiator of yours," said Azula, chuckling. "He truly is something, isn't he? You're better off not underestimating non-benders… just as I've already proved you shouldn't underestimate me."

Chan's face fell with Azula's last statement, knowing she was completely right about it. He stared at his gladiator's flaccid figure and shook his head in disbelief.

"You really found the perfect fighter to suit you… it's like you're two sides of the same coin."

Azula jumped at that statement. Two sides of the same coin?

"As much as I am somewhat pleased to hear you can make strange, poetic metaphors, I believe there's a subject we have yet to address," she said, putting aside her thoughts about what Chan had just said. "The due payment was of fifty thousand yuans, if my memory doesn't fail me…"

Chan grew paler when she reminded him of this, almost as if the blood had frozen within his veins. He looked at her, horrified, and she raised her eyebrows.

"Well…?" Azula inquired.

"N-no… n-no… I… I can't… Y-you…"

"Are you going to tell me you didn't bring the money?" she asked, indignant. "How truly irresponsible of you…"

"N-no, I do have it, but…"

"You never thought you'd lose," said Azula, folding her arms. "And you don't want to part with it. Is that it?"

"M-my father… he'll kill me if he knows I spent so much money in a gladiator fight…" he said, clenching his teeth together.

"You could have asked for a smaller bid when I sent you the challenge," said Azula, shrugging. "So it's all on you in the end. Face reality, will you?"

Chan's fist curled up and Azula rolled her eyes, knowing he was still unwilling to depart with his cash.

"Fine, while you come to terms to what you're obligated to do, you could at least tell me what I should do after I've won… I'm new at this, after all," she said, looking at her fingernails.

"N-nothing, really…" he said, his eyes focusing on the floor now. "You can go to the front counter and see what your gladiator's new position is… b-but there's not much more you need to do…"

"Huh," said Azula, surprised to discover there were no further complications to the matter. She stood up and looked at the man, who seemed to be about to burst into tears. "It makes me slightly uncomfortable that every time we meet you end up crying. I guess I have a knack for ruining your life in the span of a few hours… Oh, well. Hand over the money already, will you? I'm not leaving without it, and I'm pretty sure you want me to get away from you as fast as possible, so the sooner you give it to me, the better it'll be for the both of us."

Chan pouted in quite a ridiculous manner as tears began streaming down his cheeks, and he finally handed Azula a bag of gold. As soon as it was out of his hand he began crying fully, to Azula's disgust.

"Dad's going to kill me! You… you'll be the death of me… if not today, t-then someday…" he said, hiccupping.

"I believe you'll be pleased, then, to hear that I don't plan on meeting you ever again," said Azula, opening the bag and smiling at the sight of the golden coins. "This, if fortune favors us, will be the last time we'll see each other. I have to say that you have given me a few laughs and I have enjoyed making your life miserable… but you annoy me far too much to continue seeking opportunities to ruin you. So this is goodbye, Chan."

Chan was too busy crying his eyes out to realize the meaning behind Azula's words. Indeed, they would never have to meet again, if she was lucky enough to get her way as she would once she spoke with her father…

She exited the room quickly and sped up her pace as she headed down to the stand-by room Sokka was in. She almost broke into a sprint, desperate to see him and congratulate him for his victory…

Sokka was wiping the ashes and sand off his helmet when he heard someone walking into the room. He lifted his gaze and greeted Azula with a hand.

"How did you like my performance, Princess?" he asked, smirking slightly.

"It was… amazing, unbelievable!" she said, unable to control the joy that was taking over her senses as she walked to him, beaming.

"Uh… are you going to kiss me or something?" said Sokka, eyeing her with confusion. The doting way she was looking at him was somewhat terrifying.

Azula stopped on her tracks and stared at him in annoyance.

"Can't you ever think of anything else? Am I that appealing to you?"

"Hey! T-that's not… T-take that back!" he said, blushing slightly as he glared at her. Azula ignored his reaction, though, and tossed the bag of coins in his direction.

"There you have it… as I promised: your winnings" she said, still smiling despite his previous comment.

Sokka took the heavy bag in his hands and whistled in approval.

"I'm glad you're keeping to your word," he said. "This is really heavy, though… this is the 75% you promised me, right? It's a lot more than I expected… well, seeing how much money you had on that bid I'm not surprised, really…"

"Actually… that's the 100%" said Azula, startling Sokka.

"Huh? What?! W-why?!"

"You don't understand," said Azula, pacing around the room while laughing weakly. "What you pulled off out there, against the Spawn, it was beyond any of my expectations. You didn't even get hurt! Or… did you?"

"Nah, I'm fine" said Sokka, smirking proudly.

"And well… you already know why this fight meant so much for me," said Azula, smiling at him now. "That you triumphed in it with such ease… it baffled me. I never thought you would win without any difficulties. I hoped you would win, but this was far beyond anything I had envisioned! So… I'm grateful, truly grateful, so much I don't know how to pay you back for what you did for me today. Even giving you all the money doesn't seem to be enough of a reward…"

"Well, this is just an idea…" said Sokka, clearing his throat. "But since you seem to be feeling so generous and grateful, how about paying me the rest of your debt by taking me back to my tribe…?"

Azula's face turned into a frown and she glared at him.

"Oh, no. I'm not grateful enough to do that yet."

Sokka pouted in disapproval but sighed, knowing he hadn't been likely to get away with such proposal. Yet Azula still seemed very pleased, which didn't stop being a truly frightening sight.

"You could stop smiling so much, girl…" he said, putting the bag of money inside his helmet and carrying both things under his arm. "It's freaking me out."

"I… I really can't," said Azula, giggling. "You… you did it, Sokka. You gave me my life back."

"And now I have to go work my ass off in a hundred more fights to see if I can get mine back too," said Sokka, sighing. "Oh, well. At least you won't be tossing me back into the Amateur League."

"I most certainly won't. You proved yourself, Sokka," she said. "You are a good enough fighter to face professional gladiators with ease… you belong in the upper ring of this discipline, nobody should doubt that anymore."

Her recurrent use of his name sent a shiver down his spine. It gave him an oddly pleasing feeling to hear her say the two syllables that identified him…

"I'd rather not belong in any gladiator fights, to be honest," he growled. "But whatever. I'll get back to where I truly belong if I see this to the end. How many fights do you think it'll take me to get to the top of the ranking?"

"I'm not sure," said Azula. "What matters is the points you earn, not the fights themselves… but it might take you over a thousand fights, I think."

"Over a thousand?!" he yelled, dismayed.

"Don't worry, we have enough time to pull it off," said Azula, shrugging. "It's not as if you had to fight a thousand times in one year or so…"

"B-but… wait," said Sokka, lifting a hand in her direction. "How about if I beat the top guy in the ranking? Wouldn't that make me superior to him and automatically turn me into the top fighter?"

"Uh… no," said Azula. "You're supposed to get there through points only. Although, if you were #2 and you killed the top fighter in a fight, you would become the first one automatically."

Sokka winced and rolled his eyes.

"No way," he grunted. "I'm not killing anyone else. Well, maybe I'll try to kill you if you keep giving me suggestions like those…"

"Oh, but I doubt you'll ever succeed at that," she said, smirking as she walked outside the room, and Sokka followed.

"Well, you did tell me how to beat you when we first met…" said Sokka, smiling. "You mentioned something about a bomb that would get your firebending out of control…"

"Oh, of course. But something like that would kill you before it gets me, believe me," said Azula, smirking. Sokka glared at her as they walked down the hallway, side by side.

"You're the worst, Azula."


	12. Chapter 12

The man at the counter was writing down the result of the most recent battle on the board when Azula and Sokka returned to the Arena's vestibule. He stared at them in awe when he identified them and he grinned nervously as the pair approached him.

"You gave an astounding performance, or so I heard," said the man, bowing down to Azula. "Congratulations on your first win, Princess."

"I appreciate the compliment, but I wasn't the one fighting," Azula declared, to Sokka's surprise.

"Oh, of course not..." said the man, grinning at Sokka now. "Well fought, gladiator."

Sokka nodded at him, although he could sense some hostility from him. It wasn't hard to imagine why: clearly, not many sponsors shared the glory of victory with their gladiators. It was likely that Azula's behavior towards him seemed completely absurd in the eyes of anyone involved in the gladiator business. In fact, not even Sokka himself could grasp why she was so considerate towards a slave, but he assumed she had acted in this manner to prompt him to fight to the best of his ability, to ensure he would triumph against Chan's gladiator… but since that battle was over now, he guessed their odd relationship wasn't likely to remain as light-hearted as it had been up until now.

"I was told I could find out about my gladiator's new position in the ranking if I asked you about it," said Azula, as both she and Sokka looked around the vestibule.

The people in the room kept casting stares towards them, witnesses of the gladiator's amazing prowess in the sand ring just a few moments ago. They whispered to each other, and Sokka managed to overhear some of what they were saying.

"… he beat the Spawn, the Spawn!"

"It didn't even take him the full time span…"

"And he made it look like a piece of cake!"

Sokka couldn't help but smirk proudly as he folded his arms, turning again to the man behind the counter, who was busy making calculations to define Sokka's current spot in the ranking. After a few seconds of scrolling down the list of fighters, the man smiled broadly at the two of them and gave them the answer they had been waiting for.

"It's early to give out the definitive position he'll hold in the ranking at the moment, but so far it would seem he'll be the 419th. The final ranking for each week will be established by Sunday. Sunday is a day free of combats because it's the day when we make all the calculations of the ranking based on the results of all the fights: you'll see his actual position then. But for now, judging by what I have here, he is the 419th, with a grand total of 267 points! You both should be very proud… not many gladiators attain so many points on their first match."

"It was the natural outcome," said Azula, smirking with arrogance. "Well then, I shall confirm the information you just gave me on Sunday at my local Arena. Make sure to deduct about two hundred points out of the Spawn's score…"

"O-oh, yes, I won't forget about it..." said the man, smiling with discomfort as Azula turned to leave, Sokka treading right behind her.

The eyes of every person in the room were fixed upon them as they exited the premises of the Arena, both with their heads held high, knowing rumors about Sokka would spread in less time than it had taken him to defeat of the Spawn of the Volcano. Once they were outside, the Princess let out a sigh of relief and spread her arms wide open, happier than she had been in years. Sokka didn't stop eyeing her with discomfort as she let out a laugh of sheer joy.

"You're seriously freaking me out here..." Sokka muttered with a sing-song voice. "Quit being so cheerful, it doesn't suit you at all."

"And you can stop being so stingy too," said Azula, still beaming. "You just don't understand what this means to me... I can hold on to my freedom, to my life... People say that you don't appreciate what you have until you lose it. I differ: you learn to appreciate it when you're in risk of losing it."

"Well, good for you, you're free and happy now," said Sokka, bitterly. "I bet that you want to celebrate your regained freedom by heading into town and eating little kids or something."

"Oh, no. Little kids have too many bones" was Azula's reply, which froze Sokka on the spot.

"I hope this only means your wit gets upgraded when you're pleased," he grunted as they continued walking into town. "Because I'd be even more freaked out if you're saying that out of actual experience of eating children..."

"I'll leave that mystery to your imagination, then," she said, smirking. "But seeing how your stomach is an endless pit I don't find surprising at all that your way to celebrate your great accomplishments is by eating. You should watch your weight; you'll end up looking like the Spawn if you eat too much."

"You mean my skin will turn grey?" asked Sokka.

"If you eat too many Komodo Rhino products, you just might."

"Oh, please. People don't become what they eat, that's some folk's tale nonsense," he said, rolling his eyes.

"I hope you can tell me the same thing once you have reptile skin" she stated, her smirk growing wider.

"Ha ha, very funny," he grunted.

"You are in too bad a mood for what this big fight entailed. You should be a lot more cheerful."

"Well, sorry I can't join your parade," said Sokka. "But while you've got your freedom back, I'm sentenced to spend ages fighting under your orders to earn mine. And since you don't have any reason to be nice to me anymore, I'm guessing the royal treatment is over for me."

Azula looked at him, surprised by his statement. Sokka merely held her stare with distrust, wondering how she'd contradict what he had just told her.

"You think... you think I treated you this way because I wanted to use you," said Azula, frowning.

"Was I wrong?" he asked, even more wary than before.

"Of course not," she said, shrugging and making him lose his stance out of surprise.

"The hell?!" Sokka yelled, irked. Azula let out a light laugh and turned to face him again.

"I was using you, and I still am. I want you to become the top gladiator of the ranking, I mean it."

"Huh... you really want that so badly?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Then... Can I still get away with eating as much as I do and with training with Piandao and with having my own cabin in your ship and with only seeing you when you have to drag me to fight?"

"Probably," replied Azula with a sigh of resignation after he was finished with his rambling.

"Great!" he yelled, beaming now with joy. "Alright, now everything's better!"

Azula rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. Having her life back on track was an exhilarating feeling she wouldn't shake off for days, probably.

"Though..." he said, looking at her. "If I think about it, this really should be celebrated. And since I'm in a better mood now, I'm all in for it!"

"Do I even have to ask what's on your mind?" Azula muttered, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. Sokka merely smiled at her and she knew her supposition had been dead-on.

Not too long afterwards, Sokka had dragged her all the way through the town to a fancy building with lanterns decorating it on the outside. Sokka beamed while Azula merely eyed the place without much interest, reading the sign above the door that indicated the building was a restaurant.

"This is the place you spotted earlier, isn't it?" she asked, still studying the establishment.

"I think so," he said, grinning even more. "Do you think you can afford this?"

"I can't. I have no money on me, remember?" was Azula's reply. "But you have the winnings from the fight, so you probably can... unless you eat the entire restaurant, which I wouldn't put past your bottomless stomach, really."

"Don't worry, I'll eat with moderation!" he promised, although she didn't quite believe him.

They entered the restaurant and Sokka stared at the decoration without much interest, only wondering where the food would be. A host dressed in an elegant white shirt walked up to them and smiled kindly.

"Welcome to Xuan's Restaurant," he said bowing down.

"Uh... Right..." muttered Sokka, insecure of how to proceed. Azula sneered at him with disdain as she addressed the man.

"A table for two, please. You don't work on reservations, do you?"

"Oh, we do not, my lady," he replied, surprised to see a woman taking charge of the situation. "Follow me, please..."

Sokka wasn't ashamed at all when Azula spoke instead of him. He had no idea how to behave in fancy places; she was better off dealing with the pleasantries while he took charge of fighting against gladiators and devouring all the food.

The host led them to a vacant table within the almost empty establishment and smiled, telling them that, if they needed anything, they should let him know. He left after writing up their order, which wasn't particularly complicated to convey to the cooks: Sokka asked them to cook them surprise dishes for four people. Naturally, he was to eat enough rations for three people while Azula would be more than satisfied with taking the remaining share.

"You should learn some manners," she told him once they were alone again. "You can't barge into a restaurant and reply to a waiter by mumbling nonsense. If you want to pretend you're noble, you ought to behave in a noble manner too."

"Gee, sorry I didn't go to the Royal Institute of Manners like Your Highness did," he said, rolling his eyes. "We don't do that kind of crap in the South Pole."

"Which is blatantly obvious by now" she said, rolling her eyes. "The sole thing you ever learned in your Tribe was how to tear open the skull of sea monsters and how to perform ridiculous dances to the Moon God to ask him to send you fish, which you probably ate raw."

"Hey! Quit making it sound like we're uncivilized barbarians!" he said, frowning.

"I'm not making it sound like it; I'm stating that you are, in fact, uncivilized barbarians. Did you think I called you snow savage just for the fun of it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well... yeah" he said, taken aback.

"You're surprisingly naïve, then," she said, smirking cruelly.

Sokka glared at her, his lips forming a comical pout.

"How nice of you, as usual," he grunted. "If you're so well-mannered, then, at least you'll teach me how to deal with this high society crap, won't you?"

"Oh, no," said Azula. "You're a slave pretending to be a nobleman: if you want to head into restaurants and eat in the crude way you always do, it's your problem, not mine. If you behaved as the slave you are rather than aiming higher than that, you wouldn't have to ask me for any advice on how to proceed in situations like this one."

Sokka folded his arms, irritated.

"Well, fine! If you ever go down to the South Pole I won't tell you how to abide by the traditions and you'll end up making a fool of yourself in front of the whole tribe! And I'll be right there, in the first row, laughing as I watch you!"

"You might be surprised to hear, then, that I have no plans on ever heading down to your excuse for a village," said Azula, matter-of-factly.

"Huh?" asked Sokka, surprised. "But you said… you said that if I get to the top of the ranking…"

"I'll let you return, yes," said Azula. "But even if I gave you a lift, I wouldn't get off the ship. So you can quit basking in the dream of returning me the favor, you won't get a chance to do so."

Sokka groaned in annoyance but said nothing else for a while, unable to find the right way to contradict her now. They sat quietly on their spot, both lost in their own thoughts for a while until a group of waiters dropped by, bringing a variety of dishes that left Sokka agape in admiration. Azula was perfectly used to such opulent meals, so she merely thanked the staff and told them to leave while Sokka dove into the food with enthusiasm, showcasing the ever perfect contrast between the savage and the princess.

"Oh, man…" said Sokka, patting his full belly with his hand as he beamed, satisfied after eating every dish he had gotten his hands on. "You Fire Nation people are horrible, but your food is damn amazing…"

"I'm amazed you can tell the difference between a proper dish and whatever pathetic meals you were served in the Water Tribe," said Azula, smirking. "It seems you're a little more refined than I had taken you for."

"The food down at my Tribe was pretty amazing, mind yourself," he said, folding his arms. "I won't deny this sort of Fire Nation grub is bound to become my predilection, but the food isn't enough to keep me here if I get a chance to escape this dreadful place."

"Dreadful?" Azula repeated, her eyebrows raising as she eyed him with curiosity, crossing her legs under the table. "Did you pick the wrong word by accident, or is it you really think this place is dreadful?"

"Uh, yeah, I think your nation is awful," he said, glaring at her. "I thought I'd made my point clear already, hadn't I?"

Azula huffed and looked at him in disbelief.

"I understood you hated the Fire Nation back when we first met and when you were in Hui Yi, but I can't believe you're still clinging onto that ridiculous way of thinking after seeing the Royal Palace and spending almost an entire month with Piandao…"

"You think a month at his place has made me think differently of this nation?" asked Sokka. "And then you say I'm the naïve one. A month of kindness doesn't scratch down a hundred years of murder and war."

"Oh, so you will never forgive the Fire Nation for the Hundred Year War," said Azula. "Well, it doesn't really matter much anymore. You're merely bitter because we've won."

Sokka glared at her, indignant now.

"You can't mean that… you're ridiculous" he said, shaking his head "You think I'm mad over who wins or loses? A war isn't a game, Azula! It'd never be one! How can you act as if the people sacrificed in the frontlines and the civilians who got killed were meaningless?! You see, this is exactly what's wrong with you people! You're so sure you're superior that you don't have a shred of humanity in you anymore!"

"Oh, so that's the deal, you think we're heartless because we don't mourn over every casualty?" asked Azula.

"Your people annihilated an entire race and I'm pretty sure that doesn't keep you up at night," he stated, folding his arms across his chest. "What's better proof of heartlessness than that?"

"I don't believe you're kept up at night by any of the animals that got killed to provide the food you eat," said Azula, looking at the empty dishes. "It's, basically, the same thing."

"Huh?! You're comparing humans to animals?!"

"Why not?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "Just what's so different about it, really? Animals, humans… they're both alive, they both get killed for the sake of those who believe to be in the right to rule. It's the natural order of things."

"Oh, please! Why would the Fire Nation have any right to rule over the rest of the world?!"

"If you had a look at the rest of the world, you might find out… Oh, that's right, everything's pretty much Fire Nation already," she said smirking. "Isn't that enough proof of our superiority?"

"That makes no sense!" said Sokka. "Obliterating everyone else doesn't make you guys any better than the rest of the world. You don't even have any reasons to justify this war!"

"Oh, we do," said Azula. "Fire Lord Sozin said the war was the way in which the Fire Nation was to share its greatness with the world…"

"That's bullshit," said Sokka, angrily.

"It's not as much of a lie as you think it is," said Azula. "The Fire Nation is growing, developing into something beyond what the other three nations could be. Our technologies, our prosperity… it outmatched the rest of the world. If we didn't fight to ensure our autonomy, the other nations would have tried to take over us."

"Of course," said Sokka, skeptical. "A group of pacifist monks were a threat to you, sure thing."

"That was merely a strategic move, Sokka," she replied. "Sozin had several reasons to go after the Air Nomads first; one of them being that they were the easiest ones to take out."

"And you talk about this as if he'd done the most logical thing…" said Sokka, gritting his teeth.

"It was logical," said Azula, shrugging. "You're opposed to the idea of genocide, of course, but it doesn't change that his way of looking at what had to be done was very systematic. It made sense."

"It's preposterous," grunted Sokka. "Killing an entire race can't be justifiable just like that! He took advantage of them because he knew they wouldn't fight back."

"How convenient for you to say that," said Azula. "Who's the one who fights in the Arena by taking advantage of his opponents?"

"I do that to survive! I have no other choice!" he yelled.

"Well, then, I guess you can see it now," said Azula. "Fighting in this manner isn't exclusive of the Fire Nation if you do it too."

"Don't you dare compare me to that sketchy grandfather of yours," he grunted, irked.

"Pray tell, what's the big difference between what he did and what you do?" said Azula.

"What's the difference between me and you Fire Nation scum?" he asked, getting more annoyed by the minute. "That you guys are pure evil! You're nothing but evil!"

"Oh, and you're just evil on a smaller scale, is that it?" asked Azula, feeling a twinge of annoyance to hear him refer to her people as scum.

"No! I'm not evil!" he yelled, striking the table with a fist. "There's nothing good inside of any Fire Nation person I've met so far! You're all rotten to your core!"

Azula's eyes narrowed, unable to believe he was using such a ridiculous argument to counter her statements.

"I believe we already got to this point in a previous conversation, didn't we?" she grunted.

"Yeah, we did, and you brushed it away by claiming you don't give a crap about evil and good. You know why you don't care? Because if you did, you'd have to face that you're doing it all wrong. You'd have to acknowledge what I just said, that you're rotten."

Azula let a slight chuckle shake her shoulders and she looked at him with contempt, their stares colliding with rage this time.

"And what is it that makes me so evil in your opinion? What have I done so that you think I'm some sort of demonic spirit or something of the sort?"

"You're really asking something so stupid?" Sokka inquired. "The minute I saw you I could see it… those clothes, the way you carry yourself, how you're merciless and selfish… you don't give a damn about anything but achieving your goals"

"Sure," said Azula. "Yet I let you live in the South Pole. Why did I do that, if I'm so evil? I gave you a new life as my sponsored gladiator. If I'm as evil as you think me to be, why did I do such a thing?"

"You have an ulterior motive, you already said so," grunted Sokka. "But I have no clue as of why you didn't kill me… though I doubt it was out of the kindness of your heart."

"Is it that difficult to believe there might be something good within me?" she asked, folding her arms.

"Yeah, it is," he grunted.

"I don't see your point, honestly. You say the Fire Nation is bad because we kill, that your people are better because they don't want to kill anyone… Yet I haven't killed a single man in my life. You've killed so many you can't even keep count anymore. And then you have the guts to say I'm the cruel one…"

It was clearly a low blow for Sokka to hear this. He gritted his teeth and glared at her with even more rage than before.

"How dare you…? You know… you may not have gotten your pretty hands stained with the blood of anyone else, you might just sit by and watch from the sidelines as I smash a man's skull into his head like I did in Hui Yi, but there's something that sets me apart from the likes of you: every single time I had to slay a man, I was filled with remorse and regret. I'm damn sure that if you've ever seen anyone die you only ever think 'good riddance' and walk away without shedding a single tear."

"Oh, so now being good and being bad has something to do with being sensitive… I should've known," said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"Don't patronize me," he growled. "You know I'm right. And really, who were the ones to force me to kill all those gladiators? Who were the ones sitting in the stands, laughing as I slay a man who had given me half his meal the day before?! Yeah, your people! Fire Nation people! Why was I in that disgusting pit in the first place?! Because you bunch of deranged psychopaths created that irrational business of gladiator fighting! What's more proof of evil than that?! You ENJOY watching people getting killed! You relish in it!"

"I don't relish in anything," grunted Azula, annoyed. "I didn't even enjoy watching you kill that Dart guy, if telling you that is any use at this point. But the world is evolving, and you can't stop it from changing anymore. Good, evil… you can't be purely good nor purely evil, Sokka. Not even I am."

"Huh, that's what you'd love to think, isn't it?" he said, staring at her with derision. "I highly doubt it…"

"You're truly ridiculous. At least keep an open mind, will you?" she asked. "Else, what's the point of this whole discussion?"

"I never saw the point of it, personally," said Sokka, shrugging.

"Quit being a moron and listen," she grunted. "You want to be the good guy; you want to pretend you're pure-hearted, but you know what? You've got a dark side within yourself as well, even if you don't want to acknowledge it. Deny it as you will, but it's true. You're going to pretend that, when you were a child, you didn't feel the urge to do something that was out of bounds? Didn't you ever pull a prank on a sibling of yours?"

Sokka froze in his spot, trying not to reply to her questions but his head was already feeding him with images of the mean hoaxes he had pulled on Katara when they were kids…

"Doing something like that isn't good, is it? Yet by the look on your face I can tell you did. How do you want to excuse yourself? You want to act like you didn't know what you were doing, that you really don't have anything dark in your soul…?"

"I didn't," grunted Sokka. "I was just a kid. I've grown out of that sort of stuff."

"I doubt you have," said Azula. "Sokka… face it. You're not purely good. Nobody is."

"The Air Nomads were, yet your people obliterated them," he grunted.

"And there we go again," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "You want to know what I think? The Air Nomads weren't strong enough to survive in the world the Fire Nation has been trying to create for a hundred years now."

"Oh, and that just makes the slaughter completely acceptable, doesn't it?" asked Sokka.

"You're unbelievable," said Azula, her hands going to her hair. "Have you ever studied up on the history of this world?"

"Just… a little bit," he admitted, glaring at her.

"Well, here comes an inconvenient truth for you," she said, looking up at him. "The Fire Nation isn't the only one to have executed a war. Your people, the Water Tribe, used to live all over the same territory with the Earth Kingdom about a thousand years ago or so and the Earth Kingdom folk forced your people to the Poles through one of the bloodiest wars you can imagine. The Earth Kingdom in itself was pure chaos, they wouldn't accept a figure of authority and they were unable to settle down peacefuly with a government regime until Avatar Kyoshi acted. Before she did, the Earth Kingdom people were killing each other and fighting over their territory… what nation is the cruelest one now, pray tell? At least the Fire Nation holds its own people in high regards… The Earth Kingdom people didn't even care about kinship or nationalities, they just fought brutally for about five centuries until they finally settled down."

"Proving that others can be evil too doesn't make you guys any better," Sokka stated. "Besides, the Fire Nation killed an entire race… the others didn't."

"You just don't know anything from before the Hundred Year War, do you?" asked Azula, exasperated now. "Do you truly believe that everything has always been the way you were told, four elements and four nations? Well, forgive me for bursting your bubble, but you're wrong. There used to be benders of so many kinds you would be surprised to hear about it. Soundbenders, lightbenders, woodbenders, even energybenders… and where are they now? Nowhere to be found but in scrolls about ancient history. You believe the Fire Nation was the only one to take down an entire culture? Check your facts again, will you? This world used to be far more diverse than it currently is."

"That's ridiculous," grunted Sokka. "I've never heard of that sort of stuff before. You're making it up."

"That's exactly what those who are wrong say: they deny the truth because accepting it renders them helpless," said Azula.

"Well, then, how come is it that the Avatar bends four elements?" he grunted. "I've never heard of a lightbending Avatar… it's only ever been the four nations, it's never been anything other than that."

"Suit yourself if you refuse believe me," said Azula. "But the Avatar's figure was only born after the other bending arts began to fade away. The Avatar's role was to keep balance between the four remaining elements, to avoid having a nation walk all over another one."

"And then the Fire Nation wouldn't stay put in their island range, they had to go take over the entire world," Sokka said. "What a nice way to help keep the world balanced…"

"Ironically, though, there is no longer an Avatar," said Azula, frowning. "There hasn't been one for a hundred years. Fire Lord Sozin killed the Air Nomads hoping to take out the Avatar too and nullify his threat, but he still should have been reborn within either the Northern or the Southern Water Tribe if the cycle had begun anew. It's been a hundred years, Sokka. After all this time, there is no Avatar. Why do you think that is?"

Sokka didn't reply, he merely glared at her, guessing what she was getting at.

"The world no longer needs the balance between the elements," she stated. "The time of the Avatar is over. The world is changing, the Fire Nation is moving forward and if the other nations can't keep up, they'll be destroyed, the way the Air Nomads were, or they'll be incorporated into it, like the Earth Kingdom was. Simple as that."

"It doesn't make it less wrong," said Sokka. "The world isn't changing: you guys are changing the world, and you had no right to do that. Sozin was afraid that the other nations would take over the Fire Nation? Give me a break. That's a ridiculous excuse, just like everything you've said so far."

Azula rolled her eyes and sighed, completely disappointed in the man in front of her.

"Clearly, you refuse to see reason."

"I could say the same right back at you."

"There's no point in continuing with this argument, really. You're too thick headed to get anything I'm saying."

"And you're too naïve to realize your reasons are ridiculous," said Sokka. "If the Water Tribe had tried to take over the rest of the world, you'd be sitting where I am now and I'd be where you are, and we'd likely say the same things back and forth with no different outcome; though I'd probably never be as gullible as to think that my people are doing a good thing by destroying other nations, unlike you."

"I have said it time and time again…" she muttered. "There's no point in seeing this as good or bad. Seeing everything under that light will only ever hold you back from achieving everything you wish to fulfill."

"Right," said Sokka, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, this is pointless. Let's get going already, or else I'll throw up after this stupid conversation."

"I hope you get food poisoning," she mumbled under her breath as she stood up from the table.

Every other person in the restaurant was eyeing them with discomfort as Sokka headed to the counter with the bag of money. He was appalled to hear his meals would cost him thirty-six thousand yuans, but he paid up anyway and followed Azula outside.

It was already dusk when they headed down to the port. The Captain of the Royal Guard was pleased to see them returning, but he was surprised by the angry expressions in their faces, which made him assume the worst had happened.

"Uh… Princess?" he asked, as she climbed aboard and looked for the man in charge of the vessel.

"We are leaving now," she declared. "Set the course for Shu Jing, captain."

The ship's captain bowed down to her and raced to the machinery room to follow his Princess's command. The Royal Guard's Captain turned to Sokka and stopped him, grasping his shoulder to do so.

"You… you didn't lose, did you? Because if you had…"

"No, I… well, I won in the Arena," he muttered. "But I don't think I did when it came to her…"

"Huh?" said the guy, but Sokka pushed off his hand and kept walking, puzzling the man even further.

This time he was the one left gazing at Azula when she turned towards her room. He glared at her back, wondering if she truly believed all the things she'd just told him… how could she truly believe the Fire Nation's ways were right? It was preposterous that she'd pretend to justify their behavior… but for some reason, most her words had made some sense after all. If she was right about there being other types of bending nations who had been taken down by the remaining ones… he didn't even want to think about it. He headed to his room and tried to get some sleep, in hopes to get her piercing words out of his mind.

Azula locked herself up in her cabin and lay down on her bed as she tried to calm herself down. She had always been told the very same words she had used on Sokka: that her people were doing what had to be done, they were protecting themselves and making sure the world would be led to progress, because the four nation division was going to crumble down eventually and only the strongest nation would survive… but he was right. The slaughter was unnecessary; the gladiator fights were proof that they were being irrational… the regret he had spoken of was something she didn't feel. Was it the one thing she needed to become human, then? Her mother had once called her a monster… had she done it because of her lack of regret? Was it that her mother had thought in the same way Sokka did, and she hated the way the Fire Nation was taking over everything because she believed it to be inhumane…?

Well, who needed to be human anyway? The Fire Nation didn't, most certainly. They had cast away all weaknesses, and they would triumph over every obstacle in their way… bothering with nonsense about being ethical and righteous were excuses for the weak. The strong ones didn't need to feed on such ridiculous lies to stand up for themselves. Azula soothed herself with these thoughts and closed her eyes, not really falling asleep as the ship began moving, starting back on its route towards Piandao's home.

A day and a half passed by again, but this time, Azula and Sokka avoided each other. After that discussion they had come to realize that whatever camaraderie they had developed had only ever been superficial: they were only ever meant to be sponsor and gladiator. To aspire for any sort of reliability beyond that had been foolish from both of them.

Azula spent most her spare time training on the main deck, Sokka simply stayed in his room, only leaving it to get something to eat, but even his insatiable appetite had been affected by the huge fallout between them. All he could do was wonder if all those excuses she had given him were thought to be valid, if they were to be registered in history as the way the world had to evolve… it sickened him to think so.

After breakfast on the second day, thanks to favorable tides, they were already at Shu Jing. Sokka wasn't even sure if he wanted to return to Piandao: his heart was in such disarray that he feared he wouldn't perform up to his usual standard and he would disappoint his master because of it. Still, he wanted to be as far away from Azula as possible, so returning to the place he had called home for a month was an idea he welcomed with open arms.

He headed to the main deck and walked towards the ramp, trying his best to ignore the presence of the Princess, who was sitting on the throne-like chair of hers. Azula's eyes didn't leave the figure of her gladiator, although she wasn't particularly comfortable with the situation either. She had reached a natural conclusion during the voyage: they would never understand each other. It would be better to forget all about politics and wars, and simply focus on the issue at hand, which was training Sokka into becoming the best gladiator ever and getting him to climb all the way to the first position of the ranking. Once that was done, she could drop him off in his barren and frozen wasteland and forget about him and about all the things he had told her before.

She stood up when they anchored at the shore and Sokka headed down the ramp immediately, only turning around once he was in solid ground again. He looked at her warily, as if staring directly at an enemy, since that's what she had become in his eyes again.

"You're not tagging along this time?" he asked, hoping she'd say she wouldn't. It was too uncomfortable to be near her.

"There's no need for me to go," she replied curtly. "You can make your way to Piandao on your own, can't you?"

"Sure I can," said Sokka, staring at her sideways. "See you, then."

"I will return in about a month's time, when I've issued out the challenge for your next fight," said Azula. "Make sure you're ready to face a new opponent by then."

"Got it," said Sokka. "Do us both a favor and choose a non-bender from the bottom half of the ranking this time, can you?"

"Fine," she said, sighing.

"See you, then," he said, lifting a hand in a very disheartened wave as he walked away through the marked pathway, headed towards the town of Shu Jing.

Azula watched him go, feeling uneasy as she did. That terrible spat made her feel, for some reason, that as he walked away from her, he was taking with him something she hadn't known she would miss if she lost it… though she had no idea what she was losing in the first place. She rolled her eyes at the ridiculous thoughts her subconscious was sending her way, and she ordered the barge's captain to head back to the mainland right away, before her mind tried to pull any more tricks on her.


	13. Chapter 13

Admiral Chan was most surprised to receive a summons from the Fire Lord while spending a nice and comfortable break in the Fire Nation resort located in the north of the former Earth Kingdom. He had headed back to the Fire Nation mainland feeling quite displeased by the interruption, but hoping that Ozai had called to offer him a raise or a promotion. It wasn't until he crossed the threshold of the Fire Lord's Throne Room, after a week of traveling to get to the Capital, that he began to suspect what the purpose of this meeting was.

Sitting behind his magnificent curtain of fire, the leader of the Fire Nation welcomed him with a glare that Chan took as a bad omen. A figure sat at Ozai's right, the light emitted by the flames revealed her to be the Princess.

"Fire Lord Ozai," said Chan, bowing down. "You requested my presence?"

"I did, Admiral Chan," said Ozai. "There is a matter of utmost importance that we need to discuss."

"What might that be, my Lord?" asked Chan, trying to conceal the fear in his voice. If Princess Azula was involved, this could be anything but good…

"The matter of my daughter's engagement to your son," said Ozai. Azula's face broke into a small grin when she saw the look of confusion in Chan's face as he looked up to the Fire Lord. "My daughter conveyed to me that she did not support her union to your son and requested an opportunity to prove he was not worthy of marrying her. And she has succeeded in convincing me that your child is not suitable to take mine as his wife."

"W-what?!" squealed Chan. "T-that's absurd! How could she prove anything...?!"

"I went out of my way to sponsor a gladiator," said Azula, not caring if she was interrupting the admiral as he spoke. "A non-bender, who had never fought against another man in the Superior Gladiator League. I managed to defeat your son while sponsoring such a novice fighter… you ought to be ashamed of him."

"What?!" yelled Chan. "N-no... my son has the best gladiator in Ember Island! You couldn't have defeated him with a rookie!"

"Yet I did," stated Azula, defying Chan with her glare.

"Yes, she did," said Ozai. "And if she can overcome your son so easily, despite he has been involved in this business for years and she is but a newcomer, she has proved him to be incompetent and unsuitable to marry her. He is, most definitely, not on her level."

Chan was left to stare at Ozai, his mouth wide open as he tried to figure out what had just happened. His gateway to an easy life had suddenly shut off on him because of some gladiator fight he hadn't been informed of… it didn't make any sense to him, but apparently it did to Ozai. What was he going to do now? Was he supposed to let his family's chance to gain high honors vanish in thin air just like this?

"My Lord, don't you believe this to be a rushed decision?" he asked nervously. "It took us a long time to decide on this arrangement… isn't it a waste to throw it away now, just like this?"

"It does make me feel somewhat remorseful to see that all our meetings were to no avail, but my daughter has proved your son's incompetence. Not much can be done about that."

"Also, Admiral Chan, I believe your son will be pleased to discover our engagement has been called off," Azula said. "I'm afraid that meeting me face to face has made him fear me far more than any husband should fear his wife. The only person who refuses to let this arrangement die out is you, and I'm sorry to say, Admiral, that you don't have the last say upon this matter."

"Indeed, she is right," said Ozai. "You will have to come up with a new method for me to repay you for your deeds down at the South Pole. Meanwhile, inform your son that he will not marry my daughter."

Chan's eyes grew wide with despair. This couldn't be happening...

"Uh... Father," added Azula, looking slightly confused as Chan lowered his head. "I don't understand the nature of your bargain with the Admiral. What deed did he perform to have you pay something back to him, if I may inquire?"

Ozai's brow contracted at his daughter's question.

"You are well aware of that, aren't you, Azula? The Admiral saved your life and our settlement down at the South Pole two years ago."

Azula looked puzzled and she rubbed her chin with her thumb at her father's words. Chan began sweating, realizing what was at stake here... the Princess had never been known for her kindness. That she had allowed him to get away with his lies didn't mean she wouldn't get back at him for it some day...

"I don't believe you were informed correctly of the events, father," she said. "I don't know what you were told, but Admiral Chan cowered under a table along with the rest of the military leaders while I took care of the threat myself. Why do you believe I took a detour to drop the slave at Hui Yi? If Chan had been the one to defeat him, he would have been the one carrying the slave around, not me."

Ozai's frown grew even more pronounced as he realized his daughter's words made sense. He eyed Chan with disdain and fury before addressing Azula again.

"If this is what truly happened, why are you only speaking out now, Azula?"

"I was under the impression that the high ranked men in the army were trustworthy and honorable," said Azula. "I never thought the Admiral would have lied in such a shameful manner... I was certain that whatever favor you were rewarding him with had nothing to do with the South Pole, since his performance there was as shameful as it was."

"Is this true, Admiral Chan?" growled Ozai, the flames that decorated the room flickered with his anger.

"O-of course not, my Lord!" Chan squealed, terrified.

"Oh? You're accusing me of lying, then?" inquired Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Y-you have no proof!" yelled the man.

"Don't raise your voice to my daughter, Admiral Chan," Ozai commanded, enraged. "I hold her words in far higher value than I ever will yours."

"Don't worry, father, there's no need to get worked up over this. Despite what he says, I, in fact, have ways to prove that my words are true. There are many witnesses of what happened at the South Pole. I'm fairly certain General Bujing would be most cooperative if he were asked about Admiral Chan's behavior during the attack to the settlement."

Chan's face grew pale. Bujing would tell the truth, sticking to Azula's side of the story. They had never been on good terms, so he wouldn't hesitate to support Azula if it meant tearing Chan down.

"And Bujing isn't my only means of proof anyway," said Azula. "Did I speak to you about my gladiator, father?"

"No, you haven't told me much about him," said Ozai, curious.

"He is the very man who had been leading the Water Tribe's resistance, the one I forced to become a slave," she said. "I defeated him with a firebent fist to his stomach, and I'm fairly certain the burn mark must still be there. If you truly want to find out who the one to bring him and his entire operation down was, then I guess we could compare the size of the fist on my gladiator's skin with both my hand and Admiral Chan's. You'll see I'm not lying by then, I'm certain of that."

Ozai looked at Chan angrily, and the fire of the room grew dramatically in size and strength as the Fire Lord allowed his fury to fuel the flames around him.

"You deceived me, Admiral Chan. You lied to the Fire Lord you had sworn eternal loyalty to..."

"No, no, my Lord!" Chan mumbled. "I did it because I had to!"

"You cowardly fool!" yelled Ozai. "You will pay for this treason... You will be stripped off your titles and properties! You are not worthy of your position, just as that low-life son of yours wasn't worthy of my daughter! Make sure you remember this for what's left of your life, Chan: nobody lies to the Fire Lord and goes unpunished! I should have your head for this... you'd better be grateful for my mercy."

"I am, my Lord... I'm so sorry..." he whined, tears threatening to slip out of his eyes.

"Now get out of my sight if you know what's good for you!" he yelled, and Chan crawled away with his head down, ashamed of what he had done for the sole sake of attaining glory and fame he didn't deserve.

Once Chan was gone, Ozai looked at his daughter sideways before smiling at her.

"What a wise move, Azula," he said. "You knew better than to speak of what had happened before holding the proper proof to bring him down. Well done. You will make a great Fire Lord when your time comes."

Azula smiled and bowed down at the Fire Lord as the flames diminished in size: he was beaming in pride towards his daughter now.

"Thank you, Father."

A few minutes later, Azula walked through the halls of the Palace while trying to taste the joy of finally being free from both Admiral Chan and his son, but something kept dragging her down, and even if she would refuse to admit it out loud, she was perfectly aware of what it was.

Just mentioning him on that meeting had made her feel as though her innards were twisting. She still couldn't forget the way they had argued, how he had declared the Fire Nation people were heartless and cruel. Were they really as bad as he claimed them to be? She was horrified to realize he had been right to say she avoided the issue of what was wrong or right because, once she took those notions into account while thinking of the Fire Nation's actions, she would have to face how much her people had damaged the world. Sure, they had become prosperous and powerful, but it had been at the expenses of wrecking the other three nations. And justifying what they were doing because other nations had done it before them in other eras wouldn't serve to justify anything in the long run. It didn't make them superior, as she had always believed they were.

Azula gritted her teeth as she came to acknowledge these realizations. She wasn't supposed to question her nation, she was meant to rule it in the way her father did, and in the way his father had ruled it before him.

But when she walked by a frame that held the world map, she found herself frowning and returning on her tracks to take a better look. It was the same territory she had studied to gain a better knowledge of the world she lived in, the same mountains, deserts, rivers and oceans. The sole thing that had changed were the colors decorating the land: almost the entire map was red. The whole Earth Kingdom continent, the Air Nomads's islands... they had been claimed as Fire Nation territory now.

Azula frowned as she thought about it. Little sense did it make to think that the Earth Kingdom's arid territory belonged to the Fire Nation, that the steep and mysterious mountains of the Air Nomads were now theirs, too. How could they put their banner over such terrains? There was nothing about them to give Azula a sense of belonging, of patriotism. She actually knew nothing about those terrains and she didn't care to know either. Even after all this time, after all she had told Sokka, she couldn't think of the Earth Kingdom as an addition to the Fire Nation. It was wrong: both cultures were completely different; forcing one upon the other would never feel right.

And then she remembered those scrolls of ancient history again. The wars that had been waged between benders of different kinds... the outcome to those conflicts had been the best one, since each one of the Four Nations had obtained the territory most suitable for them. But surely, at some point in time, that division wasn't necessary. A long time ago, benders of all kinds had found a way to coexist before someone, just like the current Fire Nation, had decided to set himself and his kind apart from those who were different our of spite, disdain or paranoia.

Slowly she allowed her eyes to grow out of focus: the image dimmed, the colors were no longer as strong and they morphed into different shades. Now the territories weren't distinguished by their color, they were one and the same even when they were different too. The world was truly diverse, but everything had been able to coexist harmoniously… surely, everything had been peaceful before humanity had determined to divide the land. Oh, people were such fools indeed… it was likely that, if any deities existed in this world, they would be laughing at them right now, pitying the lowly men who played at being gods…

"Azula?" spoke a familiar voice, bringing the Princess out of her trance with a start.

Ty Lee and Mai stood at the end of the hallway, looking at her with curiosity.

"What are you doing there?" asked Ty Lee, beaming as Azula walked towards them.

"Nothing in particular," replied Azula, doing her best to conceal that the very basis of her identity was falling apart because she had allowed Sokka's words get to the best of her…

Neither one of the girls seemed to believe her, but they decided to cast the subject aside if only for now.

"So… we heard you won!" said Ty Lee, cheerfully. "How did it go? Tell us!"

"Oh, right," said Azula. "It wasn't a very troublesome fight, in fact it was anything but troublesome. Anyhow, I got rid of Chan and I also made sure his useless father would finally understand that he should have never underestimated me."

"That's… great?" asked Ty Lee, half smiling as she eyed Azula with concern.

"What's the matter?" asked Azula, surprised at the strange expression in her friend's face. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What you just told us…" muttered Mai. "It's supposed to be a good thing, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is" said Azula, now turning to her other friend.

"Then why aren't you happy?" asked Mai. "I don't expect you to go all Ty Lee about it…"

"HEY!"

"… But I've known you for a long time, and this definitely isn't the way you look when you've just gotten your way," said Mai. "What happened to you?"

Azula had always thought Mai's sharp mind was impressive, but she hated it when she used those observation powers on her.

"How about you start finding a new subject to interrogate and you leave me be for a while, Mai?" asked Azula, walking off in hopes the girl would take the hint.

"Mai's not the only one who can notice you're acting weird, you know?" said Ty Lee, as they both followed the Princess. "I know you well enough too to realize there's something wrong."

"Well, it's none of your business anyways, so there's no point in prying since I'm not going to say a…"

"It's him, isn't it?" asked Mai, making Azula stumble with her own feet. "Your gladiator. He did something to you, didn't he?"

Azula stopped on her tracks and turned around just to give Mai an enraged glare.

"I said it was none of your business…"

"It is him, then," said Mai, crossing her arms as she looked at the roof in quite a careless manner.

"Did he do something to you?!" asked Ty Lee, worried. "Because if he did, I'll teach him a lesson or two!"

"As if I couldn't do such a thing myself," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "He didn't do anything, damn it… and I don't want to talk about it anyway."

"We're going to keep asking until you give us an answer, so even if you don't want to spill all the details, you can at least sum it up somehow…" said Mai, shrugging.

Azula glared at her and rolled her eyes before huffing in annoyance.

"It's not really half as complicated as you think. I just… I realized I was being a fool by misunderstanding what the situation between us was."

"Huh? W-what did you take it for?" asked Ty Lee, her eyes growing wide.

"I don't know," said Azula, truthfully. "But I was stupid to make that mistake. He and I… there's no way we'll ever understand each other. And why should I even bother trying to understand him, anyways? I'm only using him, and he's only using me, too. Getting invested in this is only going to cause me the kind of trouble I'm better off avoiding."

"Um… what form of investment are we talking about exactly…?" asked Ty Lee again, confused.

"I… I don't even know, really," said Azula. "I was naïve and I forgot he was just a slave while I was a Princess. There was some sort of… respect between us, or so I thought. And then, just as quickly as it came, it was gone again."

"Huh," said Mai, thoughtful. "I'm surprised it upsets you that much."

"It doesn't, really," muttered Azula. "I'm just bothered by some of the things he said, not over how our relationship, or whatever that was, fell apart. I guess I did need an eye-opener. He really is just my gladiator, he was never meant to become anything other than that. I was a fool to forget that."

"Gee, that sounds so sad," said Ty Lee. "Oh, well… then, if you're really only using him for fights, am I allowed to start something with him…?"

Azula glared at her in visible irritation.

"I think we already discussed that, didn't we? I'm not letting him get distracted. He's only around to fight, nothing other than that. If you want a boy-toy, find someone else for the job."

"You're always so stern, Azula," said Ty Lee, sighing. "Well, fine! I'll find my own if it bothers you that much! But make sure to let me know if you change your mind, okay?"

"Why do you even want him so badly?" asked Azula, rolling her eyes.

"Why do I want him? Have you taken a good look at him?" asked Ty Lee, blushing slightly as she giggled, picturing him in her head. "I'm so sure he must be amazing in bed…"

The comment made Mai stare at her in surprise at her intrepid assertion while Azula's eyes went wide in shock, wondering how the hell Ty Lee would know something like that.

"Ty Lee!" she said. "What's the matter with you?!"

"Oh, come on! You know I'm right!" she said, folding her arms stubbornly.

Azula didn't understand how Ty Lee could know if her gladiator had any skills in bed; she had no clue if he really was any use in it or not, since it didn't matter much either way. Still, her mind betrayed her by reminding her that somersault he had performed: the way his muscles had contracted, the flexibility and strength he had displayed… She was blushing before she knew it, as she started to guess Ty Lee's words might be true after all. That annoying girl… she had been the one to make her notice the man was attractive in the first place and now she was making her think about his potential in a sexual scenario?!

"UGH!" she said, irked at both Ty Lee and her mind for giving her such scandalous thoughts.

The Princess stormed off, still followed by both Mai and Ty Lee, the former just glaring at the latter with disapproval. Still, for Azula's wellbeing, they decided to stay off the subject of her gladiator for the rest of the day, something that Azula was grateful for, despite she was unable to stop thinking about him anyway…

* * *

Piandao was drinking his tea quietly as he watched his student practicing his moves. He had noticed there was something off about Sokka for a few days now; his mind was troubled for reasons Piandao couldn't understand, but he could ascertain that whatever was bothering Sokka was taking a toll on his performance as a warrior as well.

"Like a turtle without its shell, a powerful swordsman can become weak if his mind is clouded by worries and troubles, Sokka," said the man. "What's wrong?"

Sokka stared at him in surprise at first, then he sighed as he lowered his sword.

"I... I've been acting weird, haven't I?"

"There's still food in my kitchen six days after your arrival. If that hadn't been clear enough a clue, watching you now has cleared all my doubts. What troubles you?" he asked again, taking a sip from his tea.

Sokka looked up at him and sighed, afraid to tell Piandao about his argument with the Princess. He had claimed that all Fire Nation people were evil... he had forgotten Piandao was Fire Nation, too. Many times he had said Piandao was the greatest man he had ever met, but now he began wondering if he had made a mistake either in his judgment of the people from the Fire Nation or in his judgment of his master.

"Sit by me and have some tea," Piandao said, offering him a cup of tea. "It will make you feel better."

Sokka didn't understand how drinking a hot beverage would improve his state of mind, but he obeyed his master despite his doubts. And before he knew it, he was telling the older man all about his discussion with the Princess right after his triumph at the Arena.

"... So she dropped me off here, and I guess she was pretty upset too when she realized I won't stand for all the crap the Fire Nation has done, the crap she has done. But the things she said... they were really unsettling. I have no clue if she actually believes every word she said or if she only says that sort of stuff because that's what's expected from her, since she's the Princess…"

"She most likely believes it," said Piandao. "Most Fire Nation people believe those arguments to be valid excuses for what their leaders have done."

Sokka grimaced and looked at him sideways as he sipped his cup of tea.

"Then... do you believe it?"

"Of course not."

Relief washed over Sokka as he sighed, feeling the world still made some sense despite all the latest happenings.

"I'm so glad..." he said, smiling "But... how come don't you believe it? Why don't you?"

"It was part of my inner journey to become a better swordsman, you might say" muttered Piandao "I began thinking about what the purpose of fighting in the war was. Why was I killing all those people, why was I following the orders of a regime that I didn't agree with? There was nothing forcing me to stick to the Fire Nation's ways if I didn't agree with them."

"So… you didn't feel any duty to your country or anything of the sort?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"I did," said Piandao. "I belong in my nation, which is why I live here and I strive to teach other Fire Nation people the true way of the sword. Those who learn through my teachings should develop their own way to judge the world, and they won't accept the doctrines of the Fire Nation without giving them proper thought first."

"And that's why you left the army, then?" asked Sokka.

"Yes. Regrettably, there's very little a man like me can do to change the world. I'm not growing any younger, and my attempts to turn the Fire Nation to the right path failed poorly. The very least I can do is hope that my students will succeed if they try to make this world a better place."

"Huh…" said Sokka. "You expect me to try to change this world?"

"Why not?"

"Uh, sir… I may be close to someone who holds a great deal of power, but I'm just a slave to her," said Sokka. "And even if I tried to talk her out of her delirium, she'd still think she's superior to everyone because she's the Fire Lord's daughter. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever be able to reason with her… the worst part is that I'm afraid I'll end up believing her nonsense someday…"

"Sokka, a swordsman who knows who he is can change the course of a fight, and by changing one fight, he can change an entire war. Do not doubt yourself; don't let her words turn you into someone you won't be able to recognize in the future. You are who you are, Sokka, and even if it's good to hear to what others have to say, you must make sure you don't lose sight of your true self as you listen to them."

"You mean… I should listen to her while staying true to who I am?" asked Sokka, taken by surprise.

"A wise man is the one who is willing to listen to the opinions of others and build his own upon his new discoveries. A fool would be stuck in his own beliefs, never caring for what others have to say."

"Well, I'm afraid she's a fool, then," said Sokka, shrugging.

"I don't believe so," said Piandao. "The Princess is cunning and highly intelligent; it would do you good to not underestimate her, even if you're angry at her. She's likely to take in only what makes her stronger, though, so you will have a hard time trying to make her see that the world we live in has been soiled with malice, greed and power. Regardless, Sokka, you mustn't take this fight to be lost just yet. I'm certain Princess Azula has a sharp mind; she's not as thick-headed as she would seem to be. Be strong, and if you feel you're about to lose yourself, remember this conversation and remember the man you truly are."

Sokka smiled and nodded. He had no idea if Piandao was right about Azula, but he hoped he would be. Maybe Sokka held the only chance to change the Fire Nation… and the way to turn everything around would be to help Azula realize that the world needed to change, and that she was the one who could turn everything to the better. She held more power than anyone else he knew, since she was the Fire Lord's daughter, after all.

Sokka finished drinking his tea feeling a lot better about himself and more certain of the future ahead of him, no longer dreading the day he would meet the Princess again.

* * *

"So… he's 420, then?" asked Azula, as she scanned the list that comprised the Gladiator Ranking with interest.

"Yeah, I'm amazed!" said Shoji. "I think it's the first time that someone rises so high with his first fight! You really picked the best fighter!"

"I wonder about that," was Azula's reply as she kept scanning the scroll.

She had taken almost two weeks to purge Sokka's words out of her mind, hoping to rid herself of the strange trance she had gone through while staring at the world map. She had to focus on what was truly important, and that was the Ranking's scroll in her hand. She had to pick a new opponent for her gladiator, and she would select one right away… if she managed to find an interesting gladiator name on the sheet of paper she was holding.

"Well… are you going to issue out a new challenge?" asked Shoji, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, but I'm not sure of whom should I challenge," said Azula, sighing. "It would be a lot easier if others were the ones to challenge me. I know nothing about these fighters…"

"I do, though," said Shoji, grinning. "I can help you choose your opponent if you want."

Azula looked at him with slight uncertainty, still holding the paper in her hand as she wondered if the boy could help her at all.

"Well, then… point me towards any good fighter in the lower half of the ranking," said Azula.

"Oh, sure!" said Shoji, smiling as he took the scroll, and after scanning it quickly he pointed at number 264. "If you want a good challenge, you can go for The Lady of Laogai, she's one tough earthbender! Or if you want something that probably won't be so difficult you can fight The Emerald Rockman, he's not that strong even when he's an earthbender also…"

"W-wait," said Azula, recalling the entirety of Sokka's request now. "It's better if you suggest non-benders."

"Oh, non-benders?" said the boy. "That's okay! Non-benders it is! The Butterfly Lady is pretty easy to beat, apparently, even if she's quite dangerous… she's 324, so she's not that high, really. You can also fight The Harvester, he has this horrible scythe but he's a good challenge if that's what you're looking for."

Azula frowned at those words, thinking both options were ridiculous to say the least. Shoji took the hint and continued looking at the scroll, searching for something better, although Azula began thinking he would fail at it. She was starting to consider ignoring Sokka's request and tell Shoji to challenge one of the earthbenders he had mentioned earlier when a fat, bald man approached the counter.

"Shoji, my boy! What news have you got for me?" he asked, grinning.

"Oh, sorry, Mr. Hosang," said Shoji, looking up from the ranking to regard the man. "You haven't received any challenges this time."

"What, not even one?!" asked the man, his squeaky voice annoying Azula a little. "Bleh, that's so boring… where's my Hornet at right now?"

"Let me check…" said Shoji, looking at the scroll again. "The Hornet is, at the time, in the position 382. Do you wish to send out a new challenge?"

"Is there anyone good out there to fight…?" said Hosang, sighing.

He suddenly realized Azula was staring at him. As usual, her golden hairpiece was an instant giveaway of her identity, and the man's face flushed with amazement as he remembered the rumors he had been hearing about.

"Could it be…?" he said, his surprise turning into a grin. "The Princess is truly sponsoring a gladiator?!"

"Yes, she is," said Shoji, smiling.

"And you are…?" asked Azula, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Oh, where are my manners?" he said, smiling. "I'm Hosang, a goods' merchant from Fire Fountain City! I moved here only a few years ago, and I sponsor The Red Striped-Hornet."

"The Red-Striped Hornet is a non-bender, by the way," said Shoji, grinning. "Hosang's gladiator might just be what you were looking for, Princess."

Azula looked at the ranking again and scanned it for the data of the Hornet with a quick look. Thirty-seven wins, eight losses… and a total of six hundred and forty-four points. She would give Sokka a hundred and nineteen points if he defeated her…

"Indeed," said Azula, staring at Hosang again. "How would you feel, then, about having your gladiator fight mine?"

Hosang's mouth fell open and he looked terrified. He had never thought he would have the chance to even speak with the Fire Nation Princess, let alone to have his Hornet fight her gladiator…

"I… I'm not so sure, Princess…"

"No need to be so shy, there's nothing to be afraid of," said Azula. "My gladiator has only fought once so far, you have nothing to fear from him."

"W-what type of bender is he?" asked Hosang, still scared.

"A non-bender, actually," said Azula. "He is quite strong, but I'm certain your fighter is good enough to give him a proper match if these numbers are accurate. Thirty-seven wins and only eight losses show your gladiator must be quite a worthy opponent."

"I… I hope so, yes," said Hosang. "You have only fought once, then? Well, I did hear a few rumors about how that fight went… he even had spare time, didn't he?"

"Oh, yes. But his rival wasn't as deadly as he seemed to be when faced against someone with a keen intellect," said Azula, shrugging. "Anyhow… shall we do this, then? Your Hornet against my Wolf?"

Hosang looked worried, afraid of what the consequences would be if his fighter defeated the Princess's… but then again, even if she was the Fire Lord's daughter the judges would play fair, wouldn't they? She couldn't just get away with triumphing only because of her position in society… if her fame was accurate, she was the type to take matters into her own hands and solve all her problems out of her skill alone. Nobody understood why she behaved like this, all they knew was that she did. So… would she take kindly to losing against him? Surely not, but she would be able to accept the result of the battle no matter what it was, wouldn't she?

He smiled awkwardly and nodded after pondering the situation.

"Yes, I think this challenge is a good idea" he agreed. "Although it makes me nervous to fight the Princess…"

"Oh, don't worry, you're not going to fight me," said Azula, smiling. "If you were, your concern would be justified. Your gladiator will be fighting mine, which is an entirely different thing. So I suggest you sit back and enjoy the show. The best fighter will win, surely."

"Right," said Hosang, grinning. "Well then… what shall be the terms of the combat?"

Shoji wrote every word down as they settled the arrangement: since they both lived in the Capital the fight would take place in this very Arena. Shoji grinned as he read the information he had just scribbled on the Arena's journal, fixing the fight's date in two week's time. He looked at that name, The Blue Wolf, and smiled. He had been waiting eagerly for the day when he would finally meet the warrior the Princess had considered worthy of sponsoring, and said day would arrive shortly…


	14. Chapter 14

Walking all the way to Piandao's mansion was nerve-wrecking for Azula this time. She blamed it on Ty Lee, since she was the one who had given birth to the strange ideas that were now nestling uncomfortably in her head. She had delayed the trip to Shu Jing as much as she could to avoid meeting the man who had been at the core of most her thoughts lately, but she couldn't put it off for much longer if she wanted them to arrive to their next fight on time.

Even when she was in front of the gates she recalled the ridiculous way in which he had struck the door on their first visit to the sword master. She sighed as she knocked, not knowing if she would ever get her gladiator out of her thoughts again, but hoping she would regardless.

The sun was setting already behind the magnificent mountains that surrounded the island when Fat welcomed her inside, neither of them talking about anything beyond the polite exchange of pleasantries. Azula allowed him to guide her towards the open garden where Sokka was training, and she did her best to keep calm and steady over their reunion, by reminding herself that her relationship with him was strictly business, nothing other than that. She was to take him back to his home eventually, he was supposed to aid her in changing the ridiculous sexist society in which she lived… he wasn't aware of it, but that was the purpose she kept him around for, and she couldn't forget it. She would have no more nonsense about their completely opposite political views, and she would definitely have no more of Ty Lee's absurd ideas of Sokka's potential as a sexual partner…

Never before had her resolution crumbled with such ease.

She stopped in her tracks when she caught sight of him, standing, shirtless, in the garden, holding a bucket of water in his hands. His hair was mildly disheveled, and, judging by the pearls of sweat dangling on his body, he had only just been hard at training and he was finally taking a break. Azula found herself forgetting even where she was standing as she stared at him in awe, her mouth agape as her heart suddenly began pounding in her chest. Not only was it enough that Ty Lee had filled her mind with weird ideas, now she had to witness him in his entire splendor, his caramel-skinned body looking ridiculously alluring for her as he lifted the bucket over his head and tilted it, showering with its content.

Azula's eyes grew wider at the sight of the water running down his body. The scars all over his skin only enhanced his appeal to her, for reasons she couldn't understand. This was madness… no, it was karma, that's what it was. She no longer could deny it was a real thing. The situation was completely preposterous, why was she even looking at him? Rather, why couldn't she stop staring at him? And why was she blushing too? She was a Princess! She didn't blush, and especially not at the sight of a shirtless savage washing his body so shamelessly…

Fat raised an inquisitive eyebrow when he saw the Princess seemed to be close to having a cardiac arrest for some reason. To Fat, Sokka had simply thrown a bucket of water over his head; he didn't know that something was stirring within Azula at the sight, something she couldn't control… and normally she hated everything she couldn't control, but it was impossible for her to snap out of the trance no matter how hard she tried. His wet hair locks had fallen out of his usual wolf-tail and his lips were parted as he tasted the water he had just thrown over him…

Fat decided to lurk away from the scene, certain the Princess had forgotten he was there altogether; and his assumption was dead-on, clearly. Sokka shook his head, spraying his surroundings with small droplets of water as he placed the bucket in the ground. He was about to fix his hair when he looked at his left and realized he wasn't alone.

"Wah!" he exclaimed at the sight of the Princess. "W-when did you get here?!"

Azula was still unable to register any of what had happened: her body was reacting to it, her mind wasn't. The blush on her face was nearly as intense as the red on her clothing by now. It took her a few seconds to regain her senses, and when she did she shook her head promptly, focusing her gaze on the wooden floor for a moment, trying to get her mind to work again. She blinked repeatedly, struggling with herself as she did.

"Uh… you okay?" asked Sokka again, and she replied with a strange sound that was halfway between a laugh and a cry.

"I… y-you, what the hell were you just…?" she asked, her eyes betraying her will as they twitched towards him, stealing another glance at that magnificent wet body…

"I always do that when I'm done training…" he said, raising an eyebrow. "What's so bothersome about it?"

"H-how can you ask what…?!" she started, then stopped on her tracks. Really, what was so wrong about it…? "I-it's plainly inappropriate. Is this the way savages take baths down at the South Pole? No wonder you're so uncivilized…"

Sokka's hands went to his hips as he wondered what was so absurd about it. Shirtless men weren't a big deal anywhere, from what he knew… but she was the Princess of the Fire Nation. How many times had she seen a man in this light? Sokka found himself smirking as he began pinpointing what bothered her so much.

"Yeah, I'm uncivilized, yet you're the one who's making a ruckus because I've got no shirt on," he said, beaming with malice. "Is it the first time you've see a man's bare chest, Princess?"

His teasing did nothing but enrage her. She glared at him, trying her best to keep her eyes focused on his, but she couldn't block the sight of his body. Flustered, angry and ashamed of her behavior, she stormed off through the hall as Sokka grabbed the towel he had brought with him and wiped the remaining water off his body, chuckling to himself.

Azula kept walking, her breathing uneven and her face still red. She lifted a hand to her forehead as she tried to calm down. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting like this? She had never felt this way before, she had never been unable to control her body. She had trained for ages both physically and mentally to keep control so that she could excel at bending and every single discipline she dared take upon. But now… all those years of molding her mind into a perfect state had gone to waste. Ty Lee's ridiculous idea returned to her for the millionth time: _"I'm so sure he must be amazing in bed…"_ with that body, he damn as well should be.

She punched the wall when that thought crossed her mind. What was the matter with her?!

"Fat informed me of your arri-…" said Piandao, who had just been walking down the hallway when he caught sight of the girl striking the wall with a fist. "Princess?"

"Hah?!" she stumbled as she walked away from the wall, moving her hand to her forehead as she tried to get level-headed again. She hadn't realized he was there until he addressed her by her title. "Master Piandao… good to see you," she said, even though she still hadn't even looked at him.

"Are you alright, Princess? Do you need anything?" he asked, confused.

"N-no, I don't. Everything's fine. Here," she said, breathing deeply to bring herself back to reality as she handed him the bag of money she owed him on this occasion. "W-what do you think of his progress this time? Was he any good?"

"He has progressed considerably…" said Piandao, still eyeing Azula with slight uncertainty. "Are you sure there's nothing I can do for you?"

"Don't mind, Piandao," said Azula, rubbing her temples and still avoiding making eye-contact.

"So… is there a new fight for me now?" asked Sokka, walking up to them while still wiping his body with the towel.

Only by hearing his voice Azula winced and stared pointedly at the floor, the flush on her cheeks, which had become fainter for a moment, came back at full strength as she recalled the sight she had just been a witness to. Piandao raised an eyebrow as he began connecting the dots: her behavior was definitely most unlike her, and Sokka was being ridiculously bold to be shirtless while being near such a high-class lady…

"Sokka… you might want to put a shirt on," said Piandao, to Azula's relief. "It's not very courteous to wander around the house in such a getup if there's a lady here."

"Oh… sure," said Sokka, shrugging. He walked into a room not too far away from where they stood, and when he exited it he was cladding his torso with a shirt to Azula's relief. She was also slightly disappointed, but she would never admit to that, of course. "So? Am I up for another fight, then?"

"Yes," said Azula between gritted teeth, still refusing to turn towards him. "You're due to fight in two days' time. So get ready to leave."

"Right…" said Sokka, sighing. "Where's the fight this time?"

"At the Grand Royal Dome, in the Capital," she replied. "Get moving, we don't have that long to get there."

"Fine…" whined Sokka, heading into his room again to gather his weapons.

Piandao followed him with his eyes until Sokka was gone from sight and then he turned his attention back towards the Princess, who was still flustered.

"Princess… is everything alright?"

"I already said so, didn't I? Why do you keep asking me that?" she replied harshly, glaring at him and finally making eye contact with him.

"Because Sokka was rather upset over a certain argument he had with you before you dropped him off here," said Piandao, taking her by surprise.

"He was… upset?" she asked, blinking rapidly.

"He told me about what motivated the argument…" said Piandao, and Azula huffed, returning to her normal state as she glared at him in derision.

"And I'm certain you side with him, don't you?" she grunted, curling up a hand in a fist.

"My side upon this matter is of little importance, Princess," he said, knowing he was walking on a tight rope by addressing the issue. Anything he dared utter might be turned against him one day. "There's one thing you need to understand, though. If you try to feed him ideas about how the Fire Nation's doings are completely justified, you'll never get to his good side. He is a strong-willed man, and his mind is sturdier than any metal I've ever seen. Bothering him with this won't be of any use to you, his contempt for this nation will only grow stronger with each word you say,"

"I am completely aware of that, you don't need to…" started Azula, but he interrupted her.

"Nevertheless… you might succeed in filling his mind up with these ideas," said Piandao. "One day, he might grow to believe them to be true. You might take that to be a great change, but if you break him in this manner, you'll destroy his identity. What makes him strong, what makes him endure this cruel world, despite all the pain and suffering he's been through, is that he's still himself. Once you take that from him, he won't be the gladiator you've come to appreciate. Don't shut him down, Princess. Don't try to turn him into someone he's not."

"And how exactly was I supposed to turn him into anything else, really?" asked Azula, rolling her eyes at Piandao's words. "The man does just as he pleases. He doesn't even behave like a slave, he's completely insane."

"I'm pretty sure we all have different standards on who sets a good example for 'insane'," said Sokka, returning to the hallway and earning himself a glare from the Princess. She was still uncomfortable around him, but after Piandao's words she had recalled the conflict she was currently having with the gladiator, that other conflict which had nothing to do with his shirtless figure.

"Of course we do," she replied curtly. "Are you ready to leave now?"

"Yeah," said Sokka, turning to Piandao and bowing down to him. "I'll see you soon, master."

"Good luck on your fight, Sokka. Don't forget to be patient," said Piandao, and Sokka nodded.

"I won't," he said, grinning. "Farewell!"

By the time Sokka was done saying goodbye to Piandao, Azula was already on her way outside. Fat didn't lead them this time, since it seemed he had other tasks to handle and the two of them could find the exit with ease already. Azula walked ahead by a few meters, trying to keep her distance from the gladiator, who wasn't particularly bothered by her distant attitude. Nevertheless, she had to wait for him to pull the gates open, since she hardly ever was the one to open or close any door due to her privileged position as a princess.

"So…who am I fighting this time?" asked Sokka, once they were outside the mansion's grounds.

Azula fumed once again before replying to him.

"Your new opponent is called The Red-Striped Hornet, a non-bender who uses knives as a weapon, according to what I know."

"Knives?" Sokka repeated. "Doesn't sound so tough. What position…?"

"382" was Azula's quick reply as they stepped into the town.

"So now you don't mind walking through the main road…?" he asked, surprised. The townsfolk stared at them in both awe and curiosity.

"I only avoided it before to make sure rumors about your training with Piandao wouldn't reach the ears of those who didn't need to hear about it," said Azula. "And that hardly matters now, really."

"It doesn't?" asked Sokka. "I mean… a gladiator getting trained by the finest swordsman in the world… it sounds like I've got quite an advantage over everyone else."

"You do," said Azula. "And you'd be a fool to relinquish that advantage or to feel any guilt about it. Every other fighter would do anything to get a chance to train under a master of Piandao's quality, and every able sponsor would look up the best masters he can afford for his fighter. So what we're doing isn't illegal or anything of the sort."

"Ah, well… if that's how it works then it's all good," said Sokka, shrugging. "Say, are you okay?"

"Why do you ask?" grunted Azula, between gritted teeth.

"You seem awfully… troubled, I think," said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "Why were you acting so weird back there? Is it really because I was shirtless?"

Azula flushed again and shook her head at his boldness.

"You're just incorrigible…"

"C'mon, that really wasn't the first time you saw a shirtless guy, was it…?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It wasn't…" she grunted, remembering the Agni Kai her father and brother had fought almost ten years earlier. "Oh, just give it a rest. Forget about it and let me forget it too."

"I bet you actually don't want to," he said mockingly, and Azula rolled her eyes, blushing slightly again.

Sokka was actually amazed to see he was comfortable around her again. He had been certain that, after their argument, their relationship had gotten completely strained. It was odd that he felt so relieved to see he had been wrong about that assumption, and it was even stranger how light-hearted he felt now to see they could talk and make fun of each other in the same way they used to. It was as if, during these few weeks, something had been weighing him down without his knowledge of it and, as soon as he saw her again, that weight was gone. He couldn't pinpoint what was happening exactly… he was simply glad everything seemed to have returned to normal now.

Of course, Azula wouldn't agree with him, seeing how shaken she still was after catching sight of his dripping wet figure; but she was also troubled over Piandao's words. As they traveled back to the Capital and she sat on her throne-like chair while watching Sokka training against imaginary knife-throwing opponents, all she could do was wonder if Piandao had been right to believe she might change Sokka's way of thinking one day… he had managed to insert unwanted thoughts into her mind, was there any chance she had done the same to him?

The trip back to the Capital was uneventful, something that both Sokka and Azula were thankful for. When the ship docked after two days of sailing, Sokka headed to his room to pick up his weapons and his armor, and when he returned to the main deck he was most surprised to see a magnificent palanquin in the middle of the ship.

"What's…?" he asked, walking towards it just before Azula climbed on board. "Weren't you against these things or something?"

"Against the palanquins?" asked Azula. "You truly don't understand anything about me, do you?"

"Well, I thought it was weird before when you refused to take it," said Sokka, annoyed. "But you did it so many times that I was sure you just didn't like it!"

"As I've told you plenty of times before, I was trying my best not to get noticed by people," said Azula. "The palanquin would have given away my identity immediately. But I don't care about that anymore, in fact, I'd rather have people move out of my way and let me pass, and the easiest way to do that is with a palanquin."

Sokka frowned at her logic, but he had nothing else to say about it as she climbed aboard, closing the drapes behind her. The palanquin bearers lifted the cabin in a swift motion, attempting to keep it perfectly steady as they walked down the ship. Sokka stared at them with some displeasure, but he was ushered by a Royal Guard into following the palanquin.

He felt rather awkward while walking amongst the Royal Guards, who made the trip anything but comfortable for Sokka, since they were all silent and stern. He kept gazing at the palanquin in front of him and only now could he realize there truly was a gap between him and the Princess, no matter if he usually acted like there was none. He couldn't help but lower his head, feeling the weight of being her slave for the first time in his life.

He was taken by surprise when the palanquin halted in front of the Royal Palace. He had been certain they were to head directly to the Arena…

"Hey, what are we doing?" he asked, walking through the guards with ease until he reached the Princess. Azula climbed off the cabin and stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "How come aren't we going to the Arena?"

"We are," said Azula. "But I have to get the money before we head out there. We have some time before the match begins anyways, so there's no need to fret about not being punctual."

"Oh, right," he mumbled. "Yeah, you'd better not forget the fee this time…"

"It seems you were the one to forget it, though," she replied, making him wince in annoyance as she turned around.

Azula walked into the Palace, feeling comfortable instantly when she was home. The gardens, the inner roads, the magnificent building, the footsteps behind her…

She halted suddenly and turned around when she realized someone had followed her inside the Palace grounds, and it was no surprise to discover who it was.

"What are you doing?" she asked, as he stared at her in confusion.

"Walking," he replied, shrugging.

"I meant, why are you following me?" she barked at him, glaring.

"Is there any reason why I shouldn't?" asked Sokka, puzzled. "I mean… your guards are so boring and annoying… If I follow you at least I'll have someone to talk to."

"You'll mean someone to irritate," she grunted, as she resumed the walk, with him right beside her now.

"You're too cranky lately, woman," he said. "Loosen up! Don't tell me you're still bitter over seeing me shirtless…"

Azula stiffened at the mention of the occasion but she didn't blush, which she might remember afterwards with some pride.

"There are ways to get even on that, you know?" said Sokka, smirking mischievously.

"What are you talking about?" asked Azula, frowning. She had a bad feeling about this…

"Well, you saw me shirtless, now I should see you topless and everything will be fine!"

She gave him the coldest glare she could muster, making him take a few steps back to avoid her wrath.

"I'm sure you'd like that, wouldn't you, savage?" she asked, her hand curling up in a fist enveloped in blue flames.

"Uh, I was just… kidding…" he muttered, sensing the dangerous tone of her voice.

"You'd better be," was her reply as she sped up her pace. Sokka sighed in relief when she decided not to pursue the matter. He could tell he had been quite insolent, but it had been too good an opportunity to annoy her to let it go to waste.

Azula raised a hand to stop him when they entered the Palace's main hall. Sokka stopped on his tracks, looking at the very hand that had just been threatening to kill him. Three different pathways spread out from the main hall: one to the left, another to the right and another one led forward.

"Stay here," Azula commanded. "I don't want you loitering around the palace and getting lost."

"Then just let me go with you and that way you'll make sure I won't get lost," he said.

"You're not coming with me," grunted Azula, glaring at him. "Stay put, I said. You don't want to face the consequences of disobeying my orders."

"I bet I don't…" he said, even though he couldn't help himself but smile at her threat.

Azula walked away towards the left corridor, still furious. Sokka couldn't help but smirk at the sight. Getting to her bad side was truly dangerous, but for some reason he couldn't restrain himself from angering her almost every time they met. He stood in the intersection of the three main halls, not doing much of anything until he decided to check out an interesting painting that was hanging on a wall.

"The Great Ship of Yonghua" he read aloud, raising an eyebrow at the painting. "What's so great about it? It's hardly even a ship! It's definitely not great!"

He was snickering at the painting when he heard the sound of several footsteps nearby. He turned towards the hall at the right and he witnessed what seemed a procession of some kind. Several Royal Guards with an even more eloquent uniform than Azula's walked behind other soldiers, who were escorting somebody through the Palace halls. And Sokka could only think of one person in the world who would have a need for such an opulent parade…

His guess was confirmed when he caught a glimpse of a tall man with golden eyes and black hair, just like his daughter's. Clad in red and elegant garments, he walked through the corridor with such grace it seemed that he was trying to prove that walking was an amazing activity that only a few selected men could perform, him amongst them. Sokka's eyes widened at the sight, the magnitude of the situation only hitting him now. He had always dreamt of having an opportunity like this, to find himself near the man he hated so much so that he could have a chance to slay him and make the world a better place by ridding it from the Fire Lord…

His hand moved automatically and slowly towards the sword on his back. He wanted to do it, he needed to do it, his pride was begging him to take the chance right away… But he couldn't. What purpose would it serve to bring down the Fire Lord in these circumstances? He wouldn't be able to pull it off anyway, there were too many guards around… and even if he did, even if the man's blood were to stain the marble corridors of the Palace, what then? The Fire Lord would be taken to be a martyr, and his equally tyrannical daughter would rule the nation in his stead… and Sokka would only get himself killed, of course. He couldn't kill the Fire Lord and go unpunished for it… his hand stopped in its motion as he realized how pointless killing the man would be…

But, oh, he just wanted to slay him. He deserved it… no man of such evil ways should live in this world, and if Sokka had to sacrifice his life to rid the nations of the Fire Lord, then so be it…

"Sokka?" someone called, startling him and bringing him out of his trance.

Two girls were walking down the corridor in front of him, and one of them was waving quite enthusiastically at him. Sokka was wondering why the girl was greeting him like that until he realized that the hand he had lifted looked just as if he were waving at them. He lowered his hand feeling extremely dumb and he took a last look at the Fire Lord's procession. Neither the ruler nor his subjects had noticed Sokka's presence. The opulent group took a turn around a corner and vanished from sight just when Sokka turned to face the girls.

"How are you doing, handsome?" asked Ty Lee, beaming at him. "It's great to see you again!"

"Uh… same," said Sokka, although he didn't quite feel as pleased as Ty Lee did. "What are you two doing here?"

"We always come spend time with Azula once a week," said Ty Lee, grinning. "We came by today and we can't find her anywhere, but if you're here she can't be too far, right?"

"If he's here…" said Mai, thoughtful. "… It's probably because he has a fight today, right?"

Sokka nodded slowly, and Ty Lee's eyes widened at the revelation.

"Oh! Of course!" she said, and then she turned to Mai. "Hey, how about we go see his match?"

"What?" said Mai, frowning. "Not happening. You only want to go to get a chance to make more bets. Your gambling is becoming an addiction, Ty Lee…"

"Oh, come on!" whined Ty Lee. "Besides, we have nothing better to do! Why not?"

"I already told you why. And the worst part of your betting is that you always use my money. At least have the decency to use yours, would you?"

"I… I guess I should, sorry about that," said Ty Lee, grinning with some guilt. Mai's glare at her didn't lose any of its harshness.

Sokka only stared at the two friends with some confusion until Ty Lee turned to him again.

"Oh, and, by the way… is everything alright between you and Azula now?" she asked, looking very worried.

"Wha… what are you talking about?" asked Sokka, taken by surprise. "What wouldn't be…?"

"Well, I don't know what was wrong, really" said Ty Lee, shrugging. "But the other day, after she returned from your first fight, Azula looked upset about something. She wasn't too specific…"

"She wasn't specific at all," Mai muttered.

"But we could tell it was something about you," finished Ty Lee. "What happened with you two?"

"Well, it wasn't a big deal, just… political differences, I guess," said Sokka. "I made it clear that I think she's crazy and her ways of thinking make no sense… and I bet that you think in the same way she does, so I'm just going to shut up now before you two end up angry at me too."

"Why would I be angry at that?" asked Mai. "You'd be crazy to think the Fire Nation is amazing and marvelous if you're not from the Fire Nation."

"Gee," said Sokka, startled. "T-thanks for the support, I guess."

"Who said I was supporting you?" said Mai, raising an eyebrow. "I'm only stating facts."

"The thing is, Azula can't quite understand that," said Ty Lee, grimacing. "She is the Princess, after all. She can't let her view on the Fire Nation get swayed by anyone at all."

"Clearly," said Sokka. "Even when it's pretty obvious that the Fire Nation's wrongdoings are completely out of control. Anyways, I'm surprised to know she actually cared about that… it didn't seem like it meant that much to her. She was colder to me after it happened, but I didn't think she really cared…"

"It seems she does," said Ty Lee, grinning. "And is it really a wonder…?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Sokka, as the girl chuckled a little viciously.

"I'm disappointed to see you can't figure it out on your own…" she said, her hands on her hips. "I thought you were a lot smarter than that!"

"Yeah, if Ty Lee can notice something before you do, it means it ought to be pretty obvious to anyone," said Mai. "You're slower than I thought, really."

"HEY! That's so mean, Mai!" whined Ty Lee, pouting.

"It's the truth. It hurts sometimes," said Mai, smirking slightly.

"Seems like you're awfully honest with everyone, aren't you?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"I do my best to be," she said, still grinning. "So, you really can't figure it out, can you?"

"What am I supposed to figure out?" he grumbled, annoyed. "I have no idea what you two are trying to say, all I know is that she's plain crazy! There's nothing more to it than that!"

"I believe we all have different standards on who sets a good example for 'plain crazy'" he heard someone say behind him. The Princess's mocking voice made him jump in surprise, especially since she was using his own words against him.

"Azula!" squealed Ty Lee, flinging her arms around her friend. Azula looked slightly uncomfortable, but she didn't push her away. Ty Lee caught sight of the bag in her friend's hand and her eyes seemed to grow wide in greed. "Hey! You've got some money there! You can lend me some so I can bet on Sokka today!"

"What?!" said Azula, startled. "What are you…? Are you even going to watch the match, for starters?"

"Of course! Why else would I ask you to lend me money to bet on him?" she asked, grinning as she let go of the Princess.

"Ty Lee… the last time you watched a gladiator fight you were reduced to tears," said Azula, her eyebrow twitching. "You're saying you can sit tight through this one without a problem?"

"Why not?" she said, shrugging. "Last time it was traumatic because it was an Amateur fight and it was very scary, but this is professional! It's just two guys beating each other up in a sand pit in a far nicer way!"

"Yeah, a really nice way," said Sokka, sarcastically.

"I can put up with it, really." said Ty Lee, extending her hand towards Azula's bag of money. The Princess stared at her hand as if the gesture was completely incomprehensible.

"What are you doing, Ty Lee?" she asked.

"I asked you for money… you're going to lend me some, right?" she said, smiling innocently.

"No," said Azula curtly, and Ty Lee's enthusiasm was replaced by disenchantment immediately. "I have the exact money I need for the fight in case this moron loses. I can't spare you any of it, and I wouldn't even if I could"

"That's so mean!" Ty Lee squealed again. "You're even worse than Mai!"

"And here I was thinking you had reached that conclusion ages ago," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "If you're going to bet anything, use your own money."

"Bleh, you both are too stingy," Ty Lee whined, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You can also get your own gladiator," said Mai, shrugging. "That way you could bet on him to fend for your addiction for gambling…"

"That's not very helpful, Mai," said Azula, but Ty Lee's huge smile showed she thought otherwise.

"That sounds like a plan! Yes!" she squealed.

"Well, great for you," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "Go get your gladiator and waste all your money on him if you have any savings at all. Meanwhile, I have an appointment to attend and this savage is supposed to come with me. I'll be seeing you both later."

With this statement, Azula began walking down the main road that led outside the Palace's premises. Sokka followed her, although he wasn't too pleased to hear the Princess refer to him in such a diminishing manner in public…

"Wait! We're coming too!" declared Ty Lee, taking Mai's hand and dragging her behind the other two, trying to keep up with their pace.

Azula didn't say a word as she climbed aboard her palanquin again. Sokka sighed at the thought of having to walk amongst those strange guards again, but just as he was about to start walking, someone called out to him.

"Wait! What are you doing?" asked Ty Lee, at which Sokka stopped and turned around towards where he had heard her voice.

The two girls were boarding a fancy carriage, and Ty Lee signaled at him to come towards them.

"We'll give you a ride! No need to walk all the way there! You'll be tired out and you need to save up energies for the combat!"

Sokka was surprised to hear the girl making such a smart suggestion. He took the offer with a smile and he climbed aboard the carriage right behind them, and to his surprise and relief, Ty Lee sat by Mai rather than clinging onto him.

The conversations during the ride weren't particularly interesting for Sokka, since he was busy wondering what his next opponent would be like. Mai and Ty Lee kept talking about matters he didn't understand or care for, and he was trying to get in the right mindset to face the battle up ahead…

He was still lost in his thoughts when the carriage stopped again. He was the first to climb off when the driver announced they had arrived to the Arena. Sokka was about to head into the building without a second thought, but he stopped in his tracks simply to admire the architecture of the Grand Royal Arena. He stood with his mouth wide open, looking at the magnificent coliseum in front of him, wondering how such a fancy building could be a Gladiator Arena.

Azula was only getting off her palanquin when she caught sight of her dazed gladiator. She sighed at how ridiculous he looked with his mouth agape as she walked up to him.

"Are you going to come inside or are you too busy gawking at the building to recall why you're here in the first place?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sokka shook his head and glared at her, annoyed.

"Let's get this over with," he groaned.

"Just what I was thinking" replied Azula, walking into the wide atrium with him by her side.

She led him towards the main counter behind which Shoji was sitting, checking the ranking as he usually was. Sokka was too busy staring at every detail of the magnificent vestibule to pay attention to where he was walking to as he followed Azula.

"Shoji," said Azula, startling the boy, who beamed when he saw her. "Check us in."

"Right away, Princess!" he said, grinning even though he was surprised to hear Azula speaking of her and her gladiator as 'us'. Most sponsors would only ever refer to themselves and ignore the slave completely "So… is this your fighter?"

Sokka finally turned to him and stared at the boy with curiosity.

"Hey," he said, simply. Shoji smiled at him, immediately admiring the man in front of him.

"Nice to meet you at last, Blue Wolf," he said. "Your sign-up can be finished now, since you're here…"

"What? What are you talking about?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as Shoji took out Sokka's initial register form.

"Here. The Princess didn't know for sure what your ten weapons of choice were when she was signing you in, so you have to fill in that part of the form now, if you don't mind…"

"I see…" he said, taking the brush and ink the boy offered and he began writing down his ten weapons.

"You also have to state what you'll be using on this next fight, by the way," said Shoji, once Sokka was done writing. "What will your weapons be?"

"Uh…" said Sokka, frowning. "My sword, my boomerang, and… three bombs, I guess. I don't think I'll need anything else in this fight."

"Understood," said the boy, smiling as he wrote his selected weapons on another file. "Very well, your fight will begin shortly. Take the stairs to the basement; you're supposed to go to the stand-by room that's on the hallway at the right. Princess, you shall go upstairs to the sponsor's balcony."

"Thanks, Shoji," she said, making him blush at her words as he bowed down to her.

"See you, kid," said Sokka, following Azula towards the huge flights of stairs in the vestibule. Shoji waved good-bye at him.

"Good luck!" they heard Ty Lee squeal from behind them, as she and Mai walked towards the stands reserved for the rest of the audience. Azula watched them both until they were gone from sight and she headed downstairs with Sokka, startling him.

"Uh… why are you coming along again this time?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why shouldn't I?" she replied curtly, having him blink in confusion.

Sokka would have pressed further on the matter but he was too busy staring at every detail of the Royal Dome. The carpeted stairs were splendid just like the ornaments around him, and they made him feel disgusted with himself when he realized he was admiring the beautiful red color that was everywhere in sight, a color he used to loathe. Rather than a stone tunnel like the one at the Ember Crater, the passageways at the Grand Royal Dome were beautiful and elegant, something that Sokka couldn't quite understand. He was certain that only gladiators treaded along these paths, therefore, why would the staff of the Arena bother making these hallways so beautiful? He wasn't against it at all, but he was certain that most noblemen would consider it a complete waste of material if they ever saw how grand these halls were. Still, they probably never would see them anyways.

The stand-by room was just as magnificent as everything else, even the golden metallic grid was sparkling in such a manner that Sokka actually felt like sitting down to admire it for a moment. Yet Azula brought him back to reality when she cleared her throat.

"What?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"Listen up," she said, once she knew she had his attention. "From what Shoji told me, your opponent isn't that easy to defeat. Watch out for the knives, be smart about this combat and everything will go well for us. Remember you don't need to knock your rival out: as long as you dominate the entire fight and stay on your feet all the way until the time is up, you can win."

"It sounds as though you're expecting this gladiator to be tougher than the Spawn," said Sokka, surprised.

"Judging by how ridiculously weak the Spawn was, you should hope this one is better" said Azula. "Don't underestimate any of your rivals, no matter if they're weaklings, because the minute you do, they're likely to prove you were wrong about all your assumptions."

Sokka raised an eyebrow at those words, surprised to hear her sharing wisdom like this.

"Alright, I won't underestimate anyone, if that's what you want from me," he said, shrugging. "See you later, I guess. I'll do my best to win."

"You'd better," said Azula, turning around swiftly and leaving the room.

Sokka was left again with a strange sense of longing once she walked away. Something was still off about them, something that caused his insides to stir uncomfortably. He wanted to fix this somehow, he wanted to make things better, to tell her he was sorry… until he realized he wasn't sorry at all about what he had said back then. All he wanted was for things to return to normal between them… he had been scared to see her smiling in joy not too long ago, but now he would have done anything to avoid getting into that blasted conversation and have her keep that scary smile on her face if only to avoid the displeasure he was feeling right now.

But it was pointless to continue mulling the matter over right now, when he couldn't do anything about it. He stood in front of the metallic grid, his eyes growing colder just as they always did when he faced the sand pit. After a few minutes, the grid began moving upwards and his resolution was as strong as he felt: he was about to face a new enemy, and he would make sure to triumph against him just as he had triumphed all along ever since he had become a Gladiator.

He wouldn't let the Princess down.


	15. Chapter 15

Cheers greeted him as he stepped into the sand. He had no idea of why he had so many supporters now, but they were most certainly rooting for him since the squeals had begun when he was announced. Just as he had been told to do back when he was in the Amateur Arena, he raised a hand to salute the crowd and was rewarded by even louder screams.

After listening to the applause for a moment, Sokka started processing the details of the fighting area. There was more furniture here than what there had been on Ember Island, such as complex systems of ladders and ropes, a stone well that seemed to be completely out of place at one side of the Arena, and sharp, metallic spikes were dangerously placed around the edge of the pit. Sokka walked amongst the objects, doing his best not to trip on anything.

The other gladiator was already at the center of the Arena, glaring at him menacingly. His shaggy light-brown hair was slightly disheveled, and he used a red bandana to keep his bangs out of his surprisingly large eyes. There were thick, red stripes on his cheeks, explaining the first half of his name, and his black armor with some golden embroidery finished clearing up why his gladiator name was the 'The Red-Striped Hornet'.

Sokka looked up towards the stands. The Grand Royal Dome seemed large enough to hold a crowd of at least a thousand people. The judges' balcony stood to one side of the building, opposite to the sponsors' terrace, just as it had been at the Ember Crater. But just above the sponsors' balcony there was another large balcony, more opulent and magnificent than the other two. It was empty, and Sokka assumed it was destined for the Royal Family's use. Since Azula was here today in quality of sponsor rather than Princess, she was sitting in the lower balcony next to a plump, bald man. Her cold gaze was set upon him, and he could see in her eyes the expectations she had for him. Sokka nodded towards her in acknowledgment before turning again to face his rival.

"Are you ready, gladiators?!" asked a man with a megaphone just like the one at the Ember Crater. "The time limit on this occasion is fifteen minutes, just as your sponsors decided!"

Sokka looked at Azula briefly again, wondering if setting the limit at fifteen minutes had been a good idea… it sounded like a very short time span to him, but there was nothing he could do about it regardless. The gladiator in front of him snarled, making him wince in surprise. He wasn't too built; in fact, he was surprisingly thin for a fighter. He was already wielding his knives and his glare was slightly terrifying, though Sokka didn't think anything else about the gladiator was quite as menacing as his face.

"Get ready… START!"

Rather than jumping into attack right away, just as Sokka expected him to do, the Hornet kept glaring at him, his hands unsheathing two knives and holding them steadily in a threatening fashion.

"Hey there," said Sokka, smiling in a friendly way. "What's up?"

"What'd you mean 'what's up'?" grunted the enemy with a shrill and rasping voice. "Don't you remember what you're here for?!"

"Sure I do," said Sokka, smiling when he realized this fighter was at least a little more rational than the Spawn of the Volcano. "My name is Sokka. What's yours?"

"None of your business!" he yelled, lounging at him with his knives.

Sokka avoided the blow, but the gladiator attempted to deliver a second slash towards him right after he had jumped. He failed to hit Sokka, but evading the attack this time took the Water Tribe man a lot of effort, and he ended up collapsing on the ground. Sokka kicked dirt into his rival's face and jumped away, getting steady on his feet once more as the Hornet stumbled, coughing and spitting up sand.

"You asshole!" yelled the Hornet. "You're cheating!"

"Hey, there are no rules that say you can't toss dirt into the eyes of your opponent," said Sokka, folding his arms across his chest as he smirked smugly at his rival.

The Hornet wiped his eyes clean before getting ready to attack again.

"C'mon, make this stupid fight worthwhile!" he grunted, running at him with his knives held up high again.

"You might want to change that form of attack, you know?" Sokka said, evading each blow with more ease than before. "It's really reckless, you've got no style at all…"

"No style is my style!" yelled the Hornet, trying to stab Sokka on the face.

"And that's plain stupid!" said Sokka, ducking and driving a fist into the Hornet's chin.

The Hornet stumbled backwards, having bitten his tongue when Sokka punched him. He spat out blood, grimacing at the bitterness of the taste in his mouth.

"See?" said Sokka. "Having no style means you're open for those attacks! Work on your stance and your offensive, will you?"

The Hornet yelled in rage and attacked him again. Sokka frowned as he evaded the attacks as he noticed there was a sound foreign to his fight with the Hornet… it seemed that people at the stands were actually laughing at them. He wasn't particularly bothered by that, but he did wonder what was so amusing about their fight.

"Would you quit being so thoughtless?" he asked, sighing as he kept avoiding blows. "I faced better fighters back in the Amateur League…"

"WHAT?!" screamed the Hornet, his eyes blazing with rage. The Hornet gritted his teeth, grasped his knife steadily in his right hand and tossed it straight at Sokka's shoulder. He managed to avoid it just in time, but the Hornet achieved his goal to stab him on the uncovered portion of his arm with his remaining weapon.

Sokka stumbled back and held his hurt arm with his other hand. The wound didn't feel too deep, but it was somewhat painful. It was finally time to get serious, was it?

"How about that, dog?!" yelled the Hornet, grinning mischievously. "Did your Amateur buddies hurt you like that?!"

"Nah, they didn't," said Sokka, smirking as he finally withdrew his sword and boomerang from their scabbards. "They were way stronger than that!"

With this last statement he tossed his boomerang at the Hornet, who ducked as he unsheathed another knife. Sokka tried to run him through with his sword, but he failed to reach his enemy, who evaded the blow by twirling to the right. The Hornet laughed when Sokka stumbled forward, trying to get back on his feet clumsily, but Sokka smirked as he turned to look at his foe.

"What'd you think you're aiming for, you…?!" started the Hornet, trying to make fun of Sokka but failing when a boomerang came flying straight towards his head.

The blow made him lose his bearings for a moment, and Sokka caught the boomerang when it rebounded towards him.

"You're damn gullible, you know that?" he asked, chuckling.

"Argh!" growled the Hornet, taking his knives and attempting to attack Sokka again.

"C'mon, can't we be reasonable about this?" he asked, as he wielded his sword and moved it in a horizontal arch to keep the Hornet at a distance.

"Quit underestimating me!" yelled the Hornet, tossing another knife. Sokka struck it down with his sword, to the Hornet's surprise, and he pierced a part of the Hornet's armor next.

"I don't think I underestimated you, pal," he said, grinning. "I actually estimated you just as I should have."

The Hornet looked terrified now as he realized his opponent was far more powerful than he was. He gave out another cry of war as he jumped forward, trying to slash Sokka's armor somehow, but Sokka ducked and knocked his opponent down by tripping him. The Hornet rolled on the ground and jumped up again, picking up one of the knives he had dropped earlier. He lunged at Sokka again, attempting to stab him several times, tossing one knife and slashing at him with the next, but the Blue Wolf's defense was impeccable.

Sokka had managed to push the Hornet all the way to the well. He aimed his sword at his neck once he had him against the stone walls that comprised the water pit.

"Sorry about this, really," said Sokka, smirking slightly. "Want to keep fighting or do you want me to get this over with?"

"Y-you…" grunted the Hornet, and to Sokka's surprise, the Hornet attempted to kick him in the leg. But the kick wasn't just a desperate last resource: attached the tip of his right boot was the last of the Hornet's five weapons, another deadly knife.

Sokka couldn't avoid the blow completely, but his armor kept him safe from getting wounded. Still, the metal plate over his thigh crashed against his skin painfully, prompting him to gasp in pain and jump to put some distance between himself and his foe.

"Hey!" he yelled, after getting out of the Hornet's reach. "That was damn sneaky!"

"Yeah, it was," said the Hornet, smirking. "Have a problem with that?"

"Of course! It was such a low move!" said Sokka, fixing his armor.

"Yeah, just like yours when you kicked sand at my face!" yelled the Hornet. "Now we're even!"

"You're one damn wicked boy, you know that?" asked Sokka, wiping the sweat off his brow as he glared at the Hornet.

"No, I'm not!" yelled the Hornet, enraged. Sokka blinked in surprise at his reaction.

"Why are you so worked up over that?" he asked. "Got a problem with handling the truth?"

"That's not the truth, you asshole!" yelled the Hornet. "I'm not a sneaky boy because I'm a GIRL!"

The realization stunned Sokka. He was left to stare at the Hornet with his jaw hanging open quite ridiculously. Even his blood seemed to slow down at that unexpected revelation.

"Y-you're a… y-you're a girl?! How can you be a girl?!" asked Sokka, and the Hornet grew even madder.

"YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" she yelled, running at him with her knives in tow.

Sokka didn't have it easy this time to avoid three knives, seeing how the Hornet was using both arms and her foot to attack him. But he didn't use his sword to fight back anymore. He was only defending himself now.

"W-why are you a girl?!" he yelled, thoughtlessly.

"What'd you mean why am I a girl?!" squealed the Hornet. "I had no choice on that, you idiot!"

"B-but nobody said you were a girl!" Sokka insisted, as he avoided a blow that passed dangerously close to his cheek. "You don't even look like one!"

"Well, sorry for not being a preppy cute princess like your sponsor is!" yelled the Hornet. "But she should've damn told you I was a girl before you got into this fight! It's too late to surrender now, you dog!"

"Don't call me dog! I'm a wolf! W-wait…" said Sokka, jumping backwards as he looked up to the sponsors' balcony. "You knew she was a girl?!"

Azula couldn't do anything other than glare at him in rage. His performance so far hadn't been half as great as she expected it to be, but now he was embarrassing her in front of the entire crowd by yelling at her like this. To top it off, it was also embarrassing that his fighting now was only comprised of resisting the Hornet's attacks without trying to inflict any damage on her. What was the matter with him?

"Your gladiator is a little strange, Princess… if I'm allowed to say so," muttered Hosang, chewing up on Fire Flakes right next to Azula.

Azula didn't reply to his comment, her blazing eyes fixed upon the sand pit. What was that fool trying to pull this time?

Sokka would have kept yelling at his sponsor if the Hornet's jabs with her knives weren't claiming his attention. He jumped back and parried some of the blows with his sword, but he still restrained from attacking.

"What's the matter?! You afraid of me now?!" yelled the Hornet, her teeth gritted as she pushed Sokka back when both her knives collided against Space Sword.

"I'm not afraid, I just don't want to fight a girl!" said Sokka.

"You WHAT?!" yelled the Hornet.

Azula clasped the edge of her seat brusquely, her knuckles turning white. What was that supposed to mean?

"I don't want to!" said Sokka. "I refuse to, in fact! I won't hurt a girl!"

"Gee, that's a gentleman," Ty Lee whispered to Mai in the stands. The gloomy girl simply raised an eyebrow, not caring at all for Sokka's manners.

The Hornet glared at him furiously before clasping her weapons with even more strength and she yelled loudly, her strength revamped after his last statement. She started moving her arms at such speed that Sokka had a lot of trouble keeping up. Regardless, he managed to keep the Hornet at bay somehow, avoiding and parrying against her dangerous and deadly blows.

"Yet he's pretty good no matter how strange he may be, I won't lie." admitted Hosang, sucking on his fingers. Azula would have found his activity disgusting if she hadn't been busy glowering at her gladiator. She couldn't believe he was acting like this… he would end up losing the match at this rate and he didn't seem to care. She brought a hand up to her forehead as she wondered why had she been foolish enough to look for a Gladiator with a brain… a thoughtless fighter could have been way more useful than Sokka was at this point.

Sokka scrambled into one of the systems comprised of ropes and ladders, trying to get away from the Hornet, who managed to toss a knife at the right spot to cut the rope Sokka was dangling from and, effectively knocking him to the ground. Sokka took the chance to run all around the sand pit and the Hornet followed, yelling at him non-stop.

"Be a man, you wuss! Fight me!"

"I'm being a man by NOT fighting you!" declared Sokka, still running.

Eventually he realized he couldn't keep up at this rate. The time would end eventually and he was still doing nothing other than running around in circles. He stopped briskly as he turned around and he ducked, stepping on the dagger on the Hornet's foot and lifting her above his head, throwing her into the air and forcing her to drop her weapons when she landed heavily on the ground again.

"There! Stay put!" yelled Sokka, kicking the Hornet's weapons away.

But the Hornet refused to surrender. She yelled again and leapt up, her lips curled into another snarl. Sokka didn't foresee her movement and he could only wince as she crashed her head against his unprotected jaw. The blow shook him, his teeth crashing together in a very unpleasant manner, and his momentary lost of focus gave the Hornet a chance to push him to the ground.

They rolled around, struggling as the fight became even wilder. The Hornet bit Sokka's hand, forcing him to let go of Space Sword and prompting him to yell out loud as he tried to get her off him. Sokka managed to push her away from him and he sprinted around the sand pit again, avoiding the obstacles while feinting, trying to shake off his pursuer. The Hornet kept yelling at him, cursing at him more and more until she finally caught up with him, pulling at his clothes and forcing him to come face to face with her once again.

"FIGHT ME!"

"How the hell do you want me to say it?!" Sokka grunted, their hands locked together at the level of their shoulders as they pushed each other. "I-won't-fight-a-girl!"

The Hornet's wrath only increased every time he said those words, and she pushed him even harder than before, trying to trip Sokka up with her feet. Sokka avoided getting knocked over and managed to keep her at a distance, until she began pushing with impressive strength, using her legs to propel herself. When she was close to him again she locked her jaws around his wrist, making him yell, outraged and pained. Against his better judgment, Sokka began smacking her head, trying to loosen her teeth's grip before she cut his hand off with her teeth...

"The time is up!" yelled the megaphone man, startling both fighters. "The judges will decide the winner shortly!"

Both Sokka and the Hornet stared at the judges' balcony in surprise. They hadn't realized the fifteen minutes had been spent so fast. To them, it hadn't felt like they were fighting for that long. And since he was wondering when the fifteen minutes had passed him by, it took a moment for Sokka to realize he was still being bitten by a girl who didn't look like one.

"Hey! Let go of me already, the fight is over!" he yelled, pushing the Hornet away. Luckily for him, the Hornet complied with his wishes and she unclenched her teeth, spitting in the sand as she glared at him.

"You're a coward!" she yelled. "You didn't want to fight me because you knew I'd win!"

"There was no way you would have won... if I'd never found out you're a girl," said Sokka, rolling his eyes. "Damn, how come are you a girl? It's ridiculous!"

"You're a jerk!" said the Hornet now. "Maybe if you were half as smart as you act like you would have noticed I was a girl before fighting me!"

"Well, maybe I would have noticed if you'd told me what your name was!" Sokka retorted.

"My real name's Smellerbee," she grunted. "And I bet you wouldn't have known I was a girl even if you'd known my name!"

"Yeah, it's not much use, actually..." Sokka mused, frowning.

"Well, whatever!" said the Hornet, smirking. "I'm damn sure you'll learn your lesson when the judges say who's the winner of this fight!"

Reality struck him with the force of a huge wave crashing against a cliff shore. His pathetic performance in this particular fight had probably cost him the match indeed. Never before had he lost in an Arena, but it seemed everything would change today... but how was he to be blamed by the outcome? Everything was the Princess's fault! She should have told him his opponent was a girl! In fact, why didn't she? He looked back at his conversations with her through the journey to the Capital and not once did she say his rival gladiator would be a female. Since when did women fight in gladiator Arenas, for starters? He had been at Hui Yi for two years and not once did he fight a girl. How come were there girls in the Superior Gladiator League? He couldn't piece together this confusing riddle... and he was certain he could hardly be blamed for his response when he discovered his rival was a girl. It was the right thing to do, it was what he had been taught to do by his father down at the Southern Water Tribe: lifting a hand against a woman was the lowest thing a man could resort to. And even when Sokka was in the worst position he could be in right now, by being slave in the enemy nation, he refused throw away his integrity.

Or so he had wanted to think…

When he snuck a peek towards where the sponsors were, he found himself gulping. He had never imagined Azula could look so mad... things would always work out for her one way or another, but this wasn't likely to end well and she knew it. The deadly glare she was sending his way was far more terrifying on its own than all the screams and snarls the Hornet had voiced out during their fight in attempts to intimidate him. He lowered his gaze, slightly ashamed even though he didn't know why he felt this way. He had been certain he wouldn't let her down today... discovering otherwise was, for some reason, disheartening.

"The judges will announce the winner now!" said the man with the megaphone, handing over the loudspeaker to a man in his mid-sixties. After clearing his throat, the second man began talking very slowly.

"After much deliberation due to the unusual nature of this encounter, it took the jury a long time to reach a conclusion. Sponsors, both your gladiators gave out a stupendous performance..."

"Why won't he get to the point...?!" groaned the Hornet, biting her thumb's nail anxiously.

"But a winner must be declared regardless. Therefore, due to the effectiveness of his attacks and defense, and despite his lack of fighting drive during the second half of the fight, the winner is the Blue Wolf."

Both Sokka's and Smellerbee's mouths fell open comically at the exact same time.

"Hey!" yelled Hosang at the sponsors' balcony. "That's not...!"

He stopped complaining when his mind supplied him with a logical explanation as to why his gladiator had be found inferior to the Blue Wolf. Of course, the Hornet never had a chance to win if she was facing the Princess's gladiator... how could the judges dare pronounce him as a loser if he was sponsored by the Fire Lord's daughter? It had been a lost fight since the beginning...

"May I inquire as to why is my gladiator being presented with the victory when his performance was as lacking as it was?" Azula's voice roared through the stadium before people could break in celebration cheers to honor the triumphant gladiator.

Everyone fell quiet when the Princess spoke, even the Hornet, who seemed to be about to break into an all out protest over her defeat.

"As I already explained," said the judge, speaking in the same slow monotone as before. It seemed that talking to the Princess wouldn't alter his demeanor in the slightest. "The Blue Wolf proved to be more effective as a fighter than the Red-Striped Hornet. He inflicted far more damage with less attacks and defended himself efficiently from her blows in numerous occasions. The Hornet was more ferocious and determined, but her skills were inferior to the Wolf's. This is why the judges have concluded that the Wolf has won on this fight."

Azula's eyes narrowed in disapproval, but she didn't debate his logic. The people in the crowd, rather than cheering, began muttering amongst themselves, and soon enough the Arena's stands were full of chatter. Both gladiators were led by a few uniformed men back into their respective stand-by rooms to exit the sand pit while Azula tried to keep her anger at bay in the sponsors' balcony.

"Well, that's that, I guess," said Hosang, sighing. "Your gladiator won, Princess! Congratulations!"

With this, he handed her a bag of money. Azula hesitated before taking it.

"I apologize for my gladiator's disgraceful behavior," said Azula. "Your gladiator should have earned the win if only because of the way mine acted."

"Oh, no worries," said Hosang, shrugging and smiling. "It was just a fight. At times you win, at times you lose. It's the way this business works."

"Right," muttered Azula, massaging her brow with her free hand.

"But I do have to say…" Hosang began. "That your gladiator might not be cut out to suit your expectations. It happens often, not every newcomer is able to handle the Superior League. Perhaps you ought to look for a better fighter, one that doesn't have any strange ideas like this one. You are the Princess, you can afford the best fighters without a problem, can't you?"

"I guess I could," said Azula, as Hosang stood up with difficulty from his chair. She frowned at the thought of getting another gladiator… could she really do that? Should she do that? After Sokka's ridiculous performance, she actually felt inclined to do so.

"It was my pleasure to fight you," said Hosang, grinning. "Maybe we can do it again sometime!"

"Perhaps," was Azula's evasive answer, and Hosang bowed to her, leaving the room.

She sat by herself for a while, her brow contracted firmly. She couldn't help but feel cheated somehow after Sokka's pathetic act. How had he dared…? She couldn't understand the logic behind his actions no matter how she looked at them. She truly didn't want another gladiator, searching for one would be a bother, but she might not have a choice if this was the way Sokka was going to behave from now on.

She stood up and walked down towards the stand-by room, her scowl warning everyone who crossed her path to stay as far away from her as possible. Sokka was taking off his helmet when Azula stormed into the room.

"What… what the hell was that, you pathetic fool?" she asked, trying her best to keep calm, but failing to do so. Her voice shook despite she was avoiding raising it as much as she wanted to. Yelling at him wouldn't make the situation any better.

"What do you mean what was that?!" Sokka replied, glaring at her. "You're the one who owes me an explanation! Why didn't you tell me I'd be fighting a girl?!"

"Why the hell should such a thing even matter?!" she said.

"It matters!" growled Sokka. "I'm not about to go out there to beat up girls!"

"Why the fuck not?!" she screamed now. Yelling wouldn't improve the situation, but it sure as hell made her feel much better, and the same applied to cursing.

Sokka was taken by surprise by her coarse word, but his determination didn't falter.

"B-because girls aren't supposed to get beaten up!"

"Says WHO?!"

"Says any moral code in any other place in this world other than in this foul nation!" yelled Sokka. "You think it's fine for me to go around injuring girls?! Well, it's not! I'm not a lowly creep who'd do something so pathetic! Yeah, I should have lost this fight, but it's only because of you! I didn't fight her properly, just like I'll never fight a girl properly! I'm not about to become some sort of monster just because you want me to!"

The word he used made her wince in rage. Sokka was taken aback by the dangerous look on her face. She looked like she was truly about to electrocute him.

"Funny you say that, you useless sack of dung…" she grunted, unable to keep her fury in check. "Why the hell did you fight me, then?"

Sokka blinked in surprise when she said those words. He stood silently, thinking of the answer to her question.

"Yes, I figured you'd conveniently forgotten about that. Why, then, 'Mr. Moral Code'? Why do you refuse to fight girls yet you're fine with fighting me?! Do you think I have a penis down there, by any chance?!" she yelled angrily.

"N-no! Of course not!" said Sokka, grimacing.

"Then say it! Why didn't you care when it came down to me?! Why, is it because I'm your enemy? Or is it because you think that I'M the monster?!" she bellowed, screaming out loud the one word she hated the most.

Sokka was completely startled by her reaction. He never expected her to act like this.

"You have nothing to say now, smart mouth?!" she asked. "You're a disgrace, you useless savage… yeah, yeah, behave as if you were all glory, morals and honor, but you know what?! You're just as bad as Zuko! You know nothing about true honor!"

"W-what are you…?"

"You said Piandao had talked to you about honor, didn't you?" asked Azula, her voice growing shriller. "Well, damn, it seems his words were a complete waste on you! You've disgraced yourself out there by refusing to fight for such a pathetic reason, you disgraced me as your sponsor and you disgraced your opponent too by acting as if she were inferior to you! What the hell does it matter if it's a girl?! She was fighting to her damn best, while you weren't even trying! What the hell do you even know about honor?! You don't understand anything about it! You're just a pathetic slave… a useless savage…"

Sokka clenched his fists and teeth as he shook his head.

"You don't get it. I never said I thought she was inferior…"

"Then why?" asked Azula, still angry. "Why do you say you refuse to fight girls?"

"Because back when I was with my Tribe I was taught to take care of girls, to protect them! Not to fight them!" he said, shaking his head. "I didn't get it at first, sure! How was I supposed to take care of a crazy waterbending sister? But then I grew up and I realized I have to protect girls, not to hurt them!"

"Well, damn, it looks like you're facing the biggest predicament of your life," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "Because that girl out there, the Hornet, she's not just a girl. She's a warrior, a gladiator just like you are. And by refusing to fight her you're showing you're a scumbag just like all those sexist assholes I've known and abhorred for my whole life! You wanted to protect the Hornet? That's, oh, so nice from you, but she was out there, fighting you! And you're just trying to protect her… do you know nothing about respecting your opponent?! One second you were there, fighting to your utmost and the next you were claiming you wouldn't hurt her because she's a girl! Do you have a clue of how humiliated she must be right now?! Do you have any idea of how lowly that was?! Girls CAN FIGHT! You know it damn well, don't you?! You've got a huge scar on your stomach to prove it! But then it turns out that you're not fighting girls because you want to protect them… yeah, what a great man you are indeed…"

"Azula, I just…" he said, her name slipping off his mouth without his thinking of it.

"Save me your bullshit," she grunted, still irked. "You're just like them, damn you. And here I was, believing you were any different. What you think is a courteous behavior is nothing but foolishness, it's nothing but humiliating. And I won't stand for it. If you ever dare do something like this again, I will strike you down. I won't care about all the goals I wanted to achieve through you, and I already don't give a damn about how sad your Tribe will be if you never return home. If you can't honor your rival in the right way next time, be it a man or a woman, I'll be more than happy to make sure you pay for it with your life."

With that threat, she stepped out of the room, leaving him frozen on the spot. Her harsh words rang through his brain several times and he seemed unable to register it all, especially the fact that she had been angry enough to curse. It was something so unlike her, to use such a crude vocabulary… and why the hell was he focusing on that, though? He shook his head in disapproval towards his own actions, ashamed of himself even though he didn't know why he felt guilty about this. He had been taught not to hurt girls… he had stuck to that principle for his entire life, yet for some reason he couldn't stop thinking Azula was partially right, if not completely right. He'd had no reserves about fighting her back in the South Pole; even when he had been training against her on her barge he hadn't held back. Why had he forgotten his ethics when faced against her? He probably had because he had known there was no chance he could have hurt her, she was too powerful for him to damage. In his eyes, the Princess was superior to any woman or man, she was powerful beyond compare. A lowly savage like himself was nowhere near her league, no matter in whichever aspect he wanted to compare himself to the Princess.

Yet he feared she was right. The Hornet had wanted to fight him properly, she had yelled at him to take her seriously but he had refused. Clearly, he was superior to her and he proved it during the first part of the match, but afterwards he had undermined her, humiliated her by deciding he wouldn't fight anymore. She must have thought he was ridiculing her... but even if he felt guilty about this, if anything set him apart from the Fire Nation people, it was that he meant to do the right thing no matter what. Was it right to stand by his decision of not hurting a girl? Or was he a fool for disdaining his opponent just because she was a female? Both of them were gladiators, slaves to their own sponsors, and she probably despised the Fire Nation as much as he did. What made her so different from him?

Back when he was at Hui Yi there had been a non-verbal agreement between the gladiators of respecting each other both inside the Arena and in the barracks they spent their free time in. They didn't have a choice but to fight each other and they knew it; by the end of the day, many of the faces they had grown used to seeing around the fireplace would be gone for good. They still had to fight, though, and they would do it properly, since it was the only way to give your opponent and brother in arms a proper death. In a way, some gladiators were actually happy to die by the hands of someone who respected him after enjoying a good battle against him. It was a code that all Amateur Gladiators abided by, and it was something that Sokka had forgotten immediately when faced with combats that weren't lethal. He remembered said code now and realized that he had to carry the same relationship with professional gladiators than he did with the amateur gladiators from Hui Yi. He wasn't used to fighting girls, seeing how there never was a female gladiator in his former fighting site, but their gender didn't matter. Refusing to fight them could result in the death of him. He had no doubt that, if the Princess was as deadly as she was, there would surely be female gladiators who, without breaking a sweat, would tear him down if he didn't take them seriously. He had been truly lucky this time to face an opponent like the Hornet: on the next opportunity he faced a girl he might not live to tell the tale if he didn't fight back.

Sokka had no idea how long he had stood there, alone, in the stand-by room, his gaze still set on the spot Azula had been standing at. He shook his head, his latest thoughts vanishing from his mind momentarily as he walked into the hallway, hoping to catch up to her to apologize for his performance. Yet when he arrived to the Dome's vestibule, he couldn't find her anywhere.

"Hey, Wolf!" exclaimed Shoji from behind the counter.

Sokka turned to him, surprised. Maybe the boy had gotten the chance to see if the Princess had already walked by.

"I heard you won and I already made the calculations," said Shoji, smiling at Sokka when the gladiator approached him. "Your new position is 402! Congratulations! It's not your definitive position, but it's a rough draft of what it'll be by the end of the week..."

"Uh, great," said Sokka, not caring all that much about his new rank. "Did Azula walk by here at some point?"

"A-Az...?" mumbled the boy, astounded to hear someone speaking of the Princess in such familiar manner. "Yeah, she left the Arena not too long ago. She kinda stormed off, though, so I couldn't tell her about your new position..."

"Huh..." Sokka sighed, and then he shook his head. "Thanks. I'll see you around, I guess."

"See you!" replied the boy, cheerfully.

Sokka wasn't surprised when he exited the building to discover the palanquin was gone; it would have been a surprise had it still been there. He had no idea as to where he was in this large city, but he was fairly certain that he could make his way back to the Palace. Grateful for Piandao's insistence about having him remember every possible detail about anything, Sokka managed to reach the Fire Nation Royal Palace by walking down the same roads the carriage had coursed earlier. But when he arrived to the gates, he was greeted by a most unpleasant surprise.

The Captain of Azula's Royal Guards seemed to be staring at him, although Sokka couldn't tell for certain if he was or wasn't due to the mask covering his features. The man's arms were folded across his chest, and his body language spoke clearly of irritation and disdain.

"Hi there, spooky guy," said Sokka. "Sorry it took me so long to get here. Is Azula down at the bay already and she forced you to wait for me here?"

"No," replied the guard, his voice deeper than Sokka recalled it to be. "The Princess is extremely disappointed in you. I hadn't seen her so angry in a long time. She ordered me to take you to Shu Jing, and she will remain here, in the mainland."

"W-wait, WHAT?!" Sokka stammered, aghast. "She told you to do that?! Why?!"

"I would have guessed you understood the reasoning behind her actions. It speaks poorly of your wit if you don't realize she is thoroughly displeased by something you did. You must have shamed her terribly during your fight at the Arena..."

"Wait, but that's just...! But she'd always come along! Why should she...?"

"Back when you fought at Ember Island, she had no choice but to take you back to Shu Jing, but she has no obligation to do the same thing on this occasion," replied the Captain. "Which simplifies my job, to be honest. I feel far more comfortable by taking you personally to Shu Jing while she stays safe in the Palace."

"B-but... I need to talk to her," Sokka blurted out suddenly. "I have to... I have to make things right!"

The Captain raised an eyebrow, trying to process what the gladiator was saying. Just as Sokka attempted to convince the guard to let him see Azula again, a familiar carriage stopped at the edge of the Palace.

"What's the matter?" asked Ty Lee as she stepped down from the vehicle. "Is something wrong, Sokka?"

The gladiator turned around, surprised by their arrival. Ty Lee walked towards them with Mai right behind her, and they both seemed puzzled upon why Sokka was at the gates of the Palace.

"The Princess commanded me to take him back to Shu Jing," said the Captain. "Though it seems he refuses to go."

"I… I have to talk to her, that's all I need!" Sokka begged. "Just let me go to her for a little while, I have to…!"

"Whatever you need to say is irrelevant at this point, she said so herself," said the Captain, still firm upon obeying his orders.

"What's going on, though?" asked Ty Lee, still puzzled. "Is she mad at you for some reason?"

"She… she wasn't happy with my performance in the fight," muttered Sokka, remorseful. "She took it really badly."

"Why? You won!" said Ty Lee. "Isn't that what matters the most?"

"It should be, seeing how she's the Princess and all…" said Sokka, sighing. "But I guess I did a few things she considered insulting because I didn't fight the Hornet as I should have."

"Oh, she's upset by that?" asked Ty Lee, her eyes opening wide. "But I thought it was such a gentlemanly thing to do!"

"Yeah, well…"

"She doesn't see it that way," said Mai, understanding immediately what caused Azula so much displeasure. "What you did… I see. No wonder she's angry."

Sokka gulped, scared at the way the girl had read both him and Azula thoroughly despite having so little information available to her. Ty Lee was still confused, but she shrugged.

"Well, if she's mad there's probably no way you'll get a chance to talk to her," said Ty Lee, shrugging. "But we can give her a message from you if you want us to."

"What?" said Sokka, surprised, but he frowned, still wanting to see Azula for himself. "But I…"

"You're not going to get any luckier than this," said Mai, folding her arms. "You only have one opportunity to get your words through to her at this point."

Sokka sighed and looked at the Captain, who seemed to approve of this course of action.

"You really won't let me talk to her, will you?" asked Sokka.

"She ordered that you'd be taken away to Shu Jing as soon as possible, so no, I won't," said the Captain, firmly.

"Damn… fine," said the gladiator, rolling his eyes in irritation as he turned to Mai and Ty Lee and gave them his message.

Azula was sitting in a living room of the Palace, her long nails tapping on a fine table as she tried to calm down her anger through a semi-meditative state. She shouldn't have been so gullible, so naïve to believe he was truly any different. What he said back then only had one meaning: he wouldn't have restrained from killing her because she was his enemy, she embodied everything he loathed and he would have welcomed with open arms the opportunity to slay the Fire Lord's daughter. She had been a fool to think he could have a different take upon the sexism that she kept trying to fight against… he was a man, after all, and a pretty shallow and dumb one at that, for all she knew. Why should he have been anything other than what he clearly was?

She shook her head as her disappointment increased. Maybe she really should get herself another gladiator, a strong one who would simply kill anyone in his way instead of someone she could have a complex relationship with. She needed someone who would simply be her fighter, nothing other than that. That was all she required. She had been stupid to take the very first option she had been presented with just because she thought he would be something different from what he really was…

"Azula…?" said Ty Lee, knocking on the door. Azula's eyes flickered towards her quickly, and since she didn't say anything, both her friends entered the room.

"We ran into Sokka at the Palace gates," said Mai, making Azula's frown grow even deeper.

"He wanted to talk to you," said Ty Lee, smiling weakly.

"Why, I have nothing to say to that imbecile," Azula replied, her voice coated with a venomous tinge. "So spare me the lecture or whatever it is he wanted you to tell me."

"It wasn't a lecture…" said Ty Lee, but Azula shook her head.

"I don't want to hear it, Ty Lee," she declared, between gritted teeth.

"But…"

"It's not something that will take so long to convey to you, Azula," said Mai. "Fact is, you might even want to hear it even when you think you don't."

"Oh, please…" said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"It's just one word," said Ty Lee, prompting Azula to turn to her, her glare still as fierce as it had been when she had been dealing with Sokka directly.

But Mai was the one to talk instead.

"Sorry," she muttered, staring at her nails without much interest in the subject at all.

"What?" said Azula, taken by surprise, her frown losing its rage and earning a quality of utter confusion.

"That's the message," said Ty Lee, smiling. "He just wanted to say 'sorry'"

Azula's eyes were still blazing with anger, but now she was extremely perplexed. He was sorry? He regretted what he'd done…?


	16. Chapter 16

Azula spent several days pondering her situation with Sokka. Even after two weeks of deliberation she was still unsure as to what to do now. Should she drop him as her gladiator and seek out someone more suitable to her interests? She rather doubted she would find anyone better, though, something she only acknowledged once her anger started to fade away. Ever since their first encounter she had known Sokka would be a handful, and he had proven she had been right to think so. This was one of the reasons why she had grown to appreciate him as her gladiator as much as she did: he exceeded anyone's expectations, all the same as she did.

But that strange bond between them was growing weaker as it became strained due to their conflicting views on the world. She hadn't even noticed that she had hoped to find in him an ally rather than a subordinate, but the better she got to know him, the more she realized those aspirations would never come true. He wasn't what she needed or what she had wanted him to be, it was as simple as that. But damn, he had been so close to her ideal gladiator... so close that she didn't think she would find anyone more suitable for the role of her gladiator than him. It didn't matter where she looked, she was completely certain that nobody would outmatch Sokka.

But what was she supposed to do about this predicament, then? He was almost what she needed, almost... yet he had ruined everything. How could she keep him around after being thoroughly disappointed by him? She had succeeded in using him to get rid of Chan, but after their two arguments she was certain that the other purpose she kept him around for was something she couldn't fulfill through him. It was somewhat sad that they'd had such a short run as sponsor and gladiator… but she couldn't care less anymore, or so she wanted to bring herself to believe. She had always used other people to reach her ends, and when they weren't useful anymore, she discarded them. She would simply do the same with him.

After reaching this conclusion, she decided to take off to the Grand Royal Dome. Surely other people would think it odd that she'd withdraw her gladiator after only two fights, but nobody would bother questioning a Princess's decision. She was perfectly entitled to do as she pleased with her life and the lives of whatever slaves she had in her power, regardless of what anyone else might say about it.

Still, her firm determination wavered as soon as the boy behind the counter identified her when she walked towards him.

"Princess!" he exclaimed, smiling broadly. Azula felt slightly uncomfortable at the strange familiarity he seemed to have developed towards her.

"Good day, Shoji," she muttered when she reached the counter, feeling somewhat uneasy as she acknowledged she was about to take a grand step to change the current course of her life… and she had no clue if it would be for the better or the worst, but she sure hoped it'd be the former. "I wanted to…"

"Wait, wait!" said Shoji, turning around as he searched for something within some drawers.

Azula frowned and folded her arms across her chest, wondering what on earth could be so important that Shoji would keep her waiting like this. Was he about to hand her over a love letter or something of the sort? Seeing how he was searching through stacks of paper, she figured he might. Would it be too cruel to burn said letter in front of him if he actually handed her one? She rather doubted it.

"It was right about… damn, I knew I had to keep these organized, but I dozed off and I forgot…" he grunted, still going through several papers as he gritted his teeth, still searching.

Azula let out a groan of exasperation, rubbing her forehead as she tried to search within her soul for the patience she already knew she didn't have. What was she doing? Why was she even waiting for him as he had requested?

"Shoji, would you quit rummaging for a second and listen to what I came to…?"

"Here!" squealed the boy, ignoring her, to her utter annoyance.

But to Azula's interest, he had a piece of paper in his hand that had nothing to do with a love letter. It was a gladiator challenge.

"Someone wrote this for you yesterday," said Shoji, grinning. "Here you go."

Azula took the paper when the boy handed it to her, and she frowned as she read the name of the challenger.

"The Blind Bandit," she muttered, thoughtful. "That rings a bell."

"It does because she got signed up just a little after you were done with your procedures," said Shoji, smiling. "Remember that man with the black and sleazy hair? He was very buff, and he looked pretty stupid to me…"

"Yes… I recall them," said Azula, thoughtful. "Then… was that little girl his gladiator?"

"Yeah, she is," said Shoji, gulping. "And she's a handful, I'll tell you that. She's already fought five times, and she's aced every fight. Knocked out every opponent she has faced off against."

"Really, now?" said Azula, growing interested. "Then I assume she's not actually blind… that doesn't sound like something a blind person can do."

"It doesn't sound like it, that's true," said Shoji, shrugging. "But she looks blind to me. I have no idea how she fights or how she walks without running into walls, but she's managed to win so far, and that says a lot about her. She's not the type of fighter anyone should underestimate."

"I see," said Azula, tapping her chin with a finger. "What position is she in?"

"So far, she's the 427th," said Shoji. "She doesn't have much value yet, but I think she'll earn it eventually. She keeps acing fights, so I wouldn't put it past her…"

"And my gladiator's position…?"

"403rd," replied Shoji, grinning. "I think it'd be a worthwhile fight. According to what some of the Arena's analysts have calculated, both your gladiator and the Blind Bandit are the most promising newcomers of the latest batch of rookies. It would be interesting if they were to fight one another, I think…"

Azula read the challenge once again, thoughtful. The Blind Bandit's sponsor proposed a bid of 20,000 yuans, and the fight was to be held in the Grand Royal Dome. The date the other sponsor had set was two weeks from now, which made Azula frown.

"I don't agree with the date," she grunted. "I don't think I'd be ready for a fight in such a short time span."

"Seeing how he set most the conditions, I rather doubt he'll mind if you ask for a different day," said Shoji, grinning. "You can send him a response with another date and he'll likely agree to that."

"If that's the case, send…" she started, stopping on her tracks as she spoke. Hadn't she come here to write herself out of the League? What was she doing? She couldn't accept a challenge if she was going to drop her gladiator…

But truth to be told, it felt like such a waste… he had said he was sorry, after all. Maybe giving him another chance wouldn't be such a bad idea. She sighed as she struggled to figure out what to do, as one side of her mind asked her to forget about this entire endeavor while the other encouraged her to see this through to the end.

But what did 'seeing this to the end' mean, though? According to what she had decided earlier, this was the end. She was here for the sole purpose of dropping her position as a sponsor. She hadn't come expecting a challenge, nor had she been interested in seeking a new fight for her gladiator… she had come to put an end to this matter. And she wanted to end it… at least, she had wanted to do it before. But her determination was shaking, as she wondered if it wasn't such a bad idea to take one last shot at the Gladiator business. She folded her arms again, deep in thought, as Shoji eyed her with confusion and interest, completely unaware of the squabble within Azula's mind.

"What… do you want me to send?" he asked, with fear of interrupting her.

Azula sighed and shook her head. She was truly a fool, wasn't she…?

"Let the Bandit's sponsor know that I will only fight him in four weeks, no less. I will agree to the other conditions."

"Great!" said Shoji, grinning as he began scribbling in a piece of paper Azula's response to the Blind Bandit's sponsor. "Uh… was there something you wanted to say before, though?"

The boy looked up at her again and beamed at her in a very friendly manner. Azula felt sick at the sight.

"No, not particularly," she lied, her hands on her hips. "That's all there is to my visit today. I'll see you later, Shoji. If the sponsor doesn't agree to my conditions, send a messenger hawk to the Palace and let me know."

"I will surely do so, Princess!" said the boy, enthusiastic. "See you!"

Azula turned around and allowed herself to release a very deep sigh. She was already regretting her decision and she knew she'd find herself regretting it more as time passed her by… but this was the final stretch. If Sokka didn't keep to her expectations, she would throw him away. If he refused to fight the Blind Bandit because of some pretentious ideals of his once more, she would have nothing more to do with him and she would seek a method to reach her goals that wouldn't involve a savage who didn't understand what his place in this world was…

* * *

Piandao been practicing his calligraphy for several hours when he heard somebody knocking on the door. Fat headed to the gates while Piandao allowed himself a small smile, knowing already that the new arrival could be none other than his current pupil. He continued dipping the brush in ink while holding his long sleeve out of the way with one hand, and he drew several words elegantly on the paper as he waited for Fat and Sokka to come to him.

He hadn't planned on stopping his motions when Sokka entered the room, but he had no choice other than to do so when his student dropped to his knees in front of him, looking defeated. Piandao looked at him in surprise, the ink on his pen dripping on the paper he had been writing on.

"Sokka?" he asked. The Water Tribe man seemed to have gotten a few wounds out of his last match, but Piandao didn't think they were the cause of his downcast demeanor.

"Master…" muttered Sokka, with a sigh. "I'm back."

"I can see that," said Piandao. "Yet you look as if you'd returned from a war you'd lost."

"I might as well have," said Sokka, still not looking up at Piandao.

The sword master frowned as he attempted to unravel the mystery in front of him. There could be several reasons to explain why his student had returned looking miserable and defeated… and all of them pointed towards the same direction.

"What did she do to you now?"

Sokka didn't even seem surprised upon Piandao's ease to identify his problem. He looked up at him, not knowing where to start.

"I just… did something pretty stupid, I guess," he muttered. "And she got really mad at me. She even threatened to kill me off and all…"

"Did she, now?" asked Piandao, wincing. "And what exactly did you do, Sokka?"

"I just… offended her, I guess."

Piandao wanted to keep a positive mind about this, but doing so proved far more difficult than he expected it to. It was very hard not to misinterpret Sokka's words, and he suspected he might not be misunderstanding at all. All clues seemed to add up… had Sokka tried to make a pass at the Princess?

"What did you do, Sokka? Please don't tell me you…"

"I… what, sir?" asked Sokka innocently. Piandao gritted his teeth. Sokka would never dare to try anything lowly with the Princess… or at least, he hoped he wouldn't. He was too clueless and naïve in some regards to attempt anything of the sort, wasn't he?

"I'd rather you spoke clearly, instead of having me conjure explanations that might be completely off-base, if you don't mind" said Piandao, gulping.

"Well… you see, I kind of messed up in my fight," he muttered.

"You lost? Is that it?"

"No, no… in fact, I won," replied Sokka, to Piandao's surprise.

"Then why is she upset?"

"Because I could have lost," said Sokka, sighing. "I had the victory in the bag, pretty much… and I nearly threw it to waste because I refused to fight halfway through."

"You refused to fight?" asked Piandao, frowning.

"S-she never told me my opponent would be a girl!" yelled Sokka, folding his arms. "It was really her fault if you think about it! I was doing fine until I realized I was going against a girl! I mean, if she had told me before…"

"Wait," said Piandao, confused. "I don't think I understand. What do you mean, that you had the fight 'in the bag' until you realized you were fighting a girl? Didn't you see she was one from the start?"

"The thing is, she didn't look like a girl," said Sokka, sighing. "I saw her and I was certain she was a boy, but later she yelled at me that she was a girl, and… and I just refused to fight. I pretty much won because those judges are crazy, to be honest."

"Perhaps they realized you were far more talented than your opponent," suggested Piandao, shrugging.

"Maybe," said Sokka, crossing his legs in front of him. "Still, nobody thought I'd get the win, but then I did… and Azula said I had ashamed her with this whole mess, pretty much. And she was really mad because I refused to fight a girl."

"Indeed, I imagine she must have been very displeased by that," said Piandao, placing his brush on the table as he focused on Sokka.

"Still… wasn't it the right thing to do?" asked Sokka, grimacing. "I mean… I was always told not to hurt girls. Is it really wrong to avoid hurting them? Or is she the one who's wrong again, as I suspect she is…?"

Piandao sighed and stood up, turning to Fat.

"Would you be so kind to fix us a cup of tea, Fat?"

"Of course, master," said Fat, bowing curtly as he headed to the kitchen.

"Sir…?" asked Sokka, gulping.

"This is a very tricky matter, Sokka," admitted Piandao. "And I'm not entirely certain of how to address it. So I believe we should meditate about this at length."

Sokka didn't care much for meditation, but still he nodded, relieved to know his master was willing to help him out in this predicament.

Half an hour later, they both sat in the garden while watching the sunset, their cups of tea firmly gripped in their hands. Piandao noticed Sokka hadn't done much more than look at his beverage.

"Drink up, Sokka. It will help clear your mind," he said, and Sokka obeyed him unwillingly, taking a small gulp. "Now, please explain the situation clearly to me."

"What else is there to explain?" said Sokka, sighing. "I was fighting that girl without knowing she was a girl, and when I found out she was one, I refused to continue because I didn't want to hurt her. I won because apparently I was far more efficient a fighter than she was… so the judges gave me the victory, but Azula was completely against it. When I was out of the sand pit, she asked me why I'd done that. I told her what I already said to you, that I was taught to be careful with girls and never hurt them, but she took it all the wrong way…"

"Did she, now?" asked Piandao. "What other reaction did you expect from her, though?"

"W-what do you mean, what reaction did I expect from her?" asked Sokka, blinking blankly.

"You thought a powerful woman like herself would think your decision was right? To say you wouldn't hurt women… I can only imagine how angry she must have been."

"But why was she angry? I just don't get it!" said Sokka, sighing in exasperation.

"Listen, Sokka. Princess Azula is one of the first females born to the Royal Family in a very long time. In past times, each and every princess with the obligation of becoming the heir to the throne has been forced to marry a nobleman of high standing, and said man would become Fire Lord while the Princess is relinquished to the position of Fire Lady. Why do you believe this happens?"

"W-well… because it's tradition, I assume," said Sokka, shrugging.

"It is. But why do you believe said tradition exists?"

"Okay, sir… I'll let you know I'm no use with philosophical matters like this," said Sokka, grimacing. "So it's easier if you just get to the point…"

"It's because females, since the beginning of time, have been forced into mundane and frivolous tasks that men consider themselves too superior to undertake. Women have been considered inferior for no apparent reason… probably only because men felt the need to control everything. Women didn't fight back, surely thinking such a quarrel was pointless, and ever since they have been neglected and disdained."

"Wait… what?" said Sokka, even more confused.

"A female heir will be the last possible successor to the throne," said Piandao, drinking his tea. "Doesn't that mean anything to you, Sokka? Doesn't it enlighten her situation in the slightest?"

"W-well…" muttered Sokka, frowning. "Maybe."

"She has always wanted to prove her worth, to demonstrate she is above the limitations others have imposed upon her solely because of her condition of being a woman. If she were a man, most her troubles would be out of the way. She would be the absolute heir, her father would have declared so by now, and there would be nobody to force her to take a husband, a difficulty she probably has endured already."

Sokka frowned as he took in his master's words. Azula had been engaged to Chan against her will, and she had been forced to resort to the gladiator business to shake off that arrangement. It seemed there were a lot more pressures on being a woman in a position of power, far more than Sokka ever imagined there would be.

"I recall the first time I met her," Piandao said, thoughtful. "She was a very determined little thing, set on proving she could outdo anyone if she so wished. She was around four-years-old at the time, I believe, but within her childish ways there was also a certain spark I don't recall having seen in anyone ever before. She strived to prove herself worthy of my teachings… yet her mother didn't allow her to learn from me."

Sokka nodded, recalling Azula had already spoken to him about this particular episode in her life.

"Her very own mother," said Piandao, sighing. "One would believe she would want her daughter to follow her calling, yet it seemed she didn't. Fire Lord Ozai, who was only a Prince at the moment, was willing to let his daughter learn the ways of the sword. He encouraged her far more than he ever encouraged her brother Zuko, which I thought was quite unusual. But his wife… she refused to hear of it. She insisted that her daughter had no business getting involved in the darker side of the world, that learning fighting arts was something a Princess shouldn't be involved with. Some women have grown so used to the position they are in that they don't see that nothing makes them inferior to men, nothing forces them to stay home knitting rather than taking a weapon to head out into battle, other than themselves. The main problem, though, is that they don't care about it. They don't mind being labeled and settled into a role someone else imposed upon them. They are comfortable enough, so they don't mind their situation at all."

"Is that really the case…?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "I mean… I always thought men were stronger than women… and that's why they fight each other and use their strength to protect women. It's what I was always told, I guess."

"Do you truly believe yourself to be stronger than Princess Azula?" asked Piandao, making Sokka choke up in his cup of tea.

"No… of course not," said Sokka, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "That's why I… why I didn't refuse fighting her back when I first met her. I mean… I don't know what came over me back then, but I just forgot all about my usual ways when facing off against her. Maybe it was the urgency of what I had to do… maybe it was that, upon the opportunity of taking her as a hostage and using her to our advantage, I didn't care at all about her being a woman… or maybe it was my hatred for the Fire Nation that blinded me, so I would ignore all circumstances completely. She was the enemy, so I had to fight her no matter what…"

"And don't you consider your fellow gladiators to be your enemies too, in a way?" asked Piandao, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I… I don't know," admitted Sokka, sighing.

"Considering women as people who need to be protected… it isn't completely wrong, yet it isn't right," said Piandao. "There are women who might need and want protection, but there are many who can stand up for themselves and who would rather fight their own battles. You should simply respect women, above everything else. It isn't a matter of protecting them, it's a matter of respecting them."

"But… but I don't want to fight girls, sir," said Sokka, grimacing.

"What makes it so different from fighting men?" asked Piandao, raising an eyebrow.

"I… I don't know, but they're girls," said Sokka, sighing. "I just don't like the thought of damaging people overall. And if it's girls… I'm sorry sir, but this is actually my way of respecting women. By refusing to fight them."

"Then I suppose you will never get to the Princess's good side," said Piandao, shrugging and making Sokka wince.

"W-wait… what?"

"Princess Azula is not simply a girl, Sokka. She is far more than that. She isn't only a Princess either, she is also a warrior. She is a woman destined to rule… yet she has never been truly respected. They might fear her, since her fighting prowess is beyond anything seen in this nation for a very long time, but they still look down upon her because she is a woman. Prince Zuko has been banished for almost ten years now, yet if you ask almost any common citizen, you will find that the people of the Fire Nation have been waiting for him to return with the Avatar so that his father will reinstate his birthright. They have almost taken for granted that he will become Fire Lord, and that the Princess has no opportunity to earn said position. And why is that? Because she is a girl. There is no other reason than that. Yet you didn't seem to mind that she was a girl back when you first met her, and that might have been the reason why she seemed to trust you would become the best gladiator for her to sponsor. What do you believe she must have felt when the very man who stood up to her and fought her, even though he knew he would lose, suddenly claims that he refuses to hurt women because his moral code forbids him to do so?"

"I don't… I mean, I think I get that, but…" said Sokka.

"Princess Azula has an ulterior motive to get you to the top of the ranking, does she not?" said Piandao, taking another sip from his tea.

"Apparently," said Sokka, gulping. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing in particular," replied Piandao, smiling and making Sokka frown. "Very well, then. The important part in this is that you know that distinguishing between men and women by claiming the latter are to be protected is a foolish thing to do, Sokka. I would bet my finest sword that if you attempt to protect the Princess against her will, she'll strike you with a fire fist that will ensure you'll never attempt to protect her ever again. Some women don't seek protection… they seek the means to prove their own worth, just like most men do. Bringing them down by treating them as weaker or inferior… that isn't a swordsman's way of living."

"I guess not," said Sokka, sighing.

"There are many women, not just the Princess, who might end up taking your life if you so much as hesitate to fight them. Female warriors deserve just as much praise as any man, no matter if they are gladiators, benders or soldiers. And it is part of the honor code of warriors to respect your opponent by fighting him or her to your very best. Lowering your fighting level to theirs is also considered as disrespectful as refusing to fight overall. You must understand, Sokka, that your honor binds you to fight anyone who goes against you, and you mustn't hold back no matter what. You might end up killing your rivals again, which would truly be terrible, but slaying a man after giving him the fight of his life is a far more dignified action than holding back to make the combat more balanced, all so you can protect your rival. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I… I guess I do," said Sokka, sighing. "Still, I'm not comfortable with fighting girls. But I guess I have no choice other than fighting them if that's what I'm supposed to do."

"Don't think of it as fighting girls, Sokka… think of it as fighting a worthy gladiator," said Piandao, nodding. "They are in the Superior Gladiator League for a reason, aren't they?"

Sokka blinked and scratched his head in slight confusion.

"Well, you're right about that part, I guess…"

Piandao grinned and looked over at Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"You haven't drunk your tea…"

"Oh! Uh, yeah, I'll get to that now!" said Sokka, flashing him a guilty smile as he downed the liquid with a single gulp.

Piandao patted him on the shoulder when Sokka was done with wiping his mouth.

"Are you feeling better now, Sokka?"

"I'm still… troubled, I guess," said Sokka, sighing. "Though in a way, I guess it had to come to this. Back when she stormed off on me, I felt like I should apologize even though I wasn't quite sure what I would have been apologizing for. At least now I know why I would say sorry. Do you really think she's got such a big conflict going on, though? Do you really think she's struggling because she's a girl?"

"I've watched her carefully enough to believe so," said Piandao. "And you would notice it too if you paid more attention, Sokka. I understand your life has been very turbulent and difficult… but even though she doesn't seem to have suffered through any of the issues that have plagued you, the Princess has a fair share of problems of her own. It would do your relationship good if you took that into account while dealing with her."

"Our… relationship?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"You are her gladiator, aren't you?" asked Piandao. "There is a bond between the two of you, a bond that I can hardly fathom, and only the two of you can grasp its true meaning. You aren't enemies, yet you aren't friends. You are allies, yet surprisingly often it seems you stand against each other. Still, she seems to think highly of you, or at least, she did before your latest argument. It would actually seem to me that she thought of you as her equal, in some form… well, at the very least, she seems to believe you have the potential to uphold her expectations. And I believe she is absolutely right to think this way."

"Wait, how could you possibly know what she thinks of me?" squealed Sokka, surprised.

"Oh, just call it an old man's intuition," said Piandao, beaming.

"But you're not even that old!" squeaked Sokka, making his master laugh as he stood up.

"You have a long road ahead of you, Sokka," said Piandao, still grinning. "But I'm certain you are on the right path. You will likely see the results of your hard work eventually if you keep this up."

"Wait, what?" said Sokka, completely baffled. "What are you talking about now, master?"

Piandao simply smiled as he walked away, taking his empty cup to the kitchen. Sokka glared at his shrinking figure as he sighed in irritation.

So… it seemed he had been on the wrong side of the discussion this time. He didn't like being wrong, but he couldn't help it if he was. He still didn't like the thought of hurting girls, but then again, he simply didn't like the thought of hurting others. He had been faced with no choice but to kill his opponents in the Amateur League, and he had done it even though it felt like he was allowing his identity to be destroyed through those murders. But he was still himself, wasn't he? He had changed slightly over time, but he was still Sokka of the Water Tribe…

He smiled to himself at the thought. It had been a long time since he had thought of his identity in such a proud manner. Indeed, he was still himself, despite all the pain he had been put through. Said pain had actually helped him become a better man… perhaps this particular matter could help him in the same way.

Maybe his Tribe's ways weren't entirely wrong, and protecting others wasn't such a bad thing to do… but he had learned a valuable lesson: he had to respect his enemies just as much as he respected his allies. And this didn't mean ignoring the circumstances of his opponent… it meant that he had to acknowledge them instead. A woman who had the courage to stand up for herself in a world that would seek to bring her down was truly worth respecting, and if she sought out a fight with him, he would give her the best combat he could muster. He would do his best not to kill anyone else, though… but regardless, he would fight. He had found his own resolution as a swordsman.

Piandao was pleased when he caught sight of Sokka again during dinner. The gladiator seemed to have been relieved from plenty of the troubles that had clouded his thoughts this time. He surely had come to open his mind and now he could understand a little more about the ways of a truly noble warrior…

Sokka spent the next days training without breaks. Piandao was once again impressed over his progress, since now he struggled a lot while fighting against Sokka on even terms. The Water Tribe man was a lot more serious nowadays than he usually was, probably still worried about his situation with his sponsor, but he had come to the firm decision that, as soon as he saw her, he would apologize and promise he would fight properly from now on. He had no idea if that would be enough to normalize their relationship, since Azula had been mad enough to curse at him as she had, but it was the least he could do…

* * *

Azula arrived to Shu Jing several weeks later, dreading the moment when she would be face to face with her fighter once again. Fat opened the gates just as she had started thinking she should simply turn around and run away from the mansion as fast as possible. She hadn't seen him for quite a long time, yet once again she had found herself unable to keep him out of her thoughts for longer than an hour. She felt like a fool for holding on to that single word he had sent to her through Mai and Ty Lee, 'sorry'… all she hoped for was that said apology had been truly heartfelt. And she was just about to find out if it had been when she told him about his new opponent…

But her mind became completely blank when she caught sight of Sokka once again.

No, he wasn't inappropriately shirtless this time, which relieved and disappointed her at the same time. On this occasion, he was fighting Piandao…

And he was winning.

Sokka's stabs were extremely fast paced, and his form had no openings. His defense seemed completely flawless. It would seem that the fight was to be determined by whoever gave up first.

Piandao found himself besieged; keeping his footing wasn't an easy feat to accomplish. Sokka's jabs were overwhelming, they didn't relent no matter how Piandao attempted to push him away. To Azula, it seemed they were both around the same level of skill… yet Sokka could use his superior agility and strength to overcome his master.

And after several more clashes of their swords, Sokka managed to twirl Piandao's silver blade away with his black one, rendering him weaponless and forcing him to surrender when the tip of Space Sword was touching the man's neck in a dangerous fashion.

"That's three out of five now, master," said Sokka, smiling smugly. "How about it?"

Piandao grinned as Sokka placed his sword in his scabbard again.

"It would seem you have accomplished the unthinkable… surpassing your master in a matter of months. I have no idea if I should feel proud of you or disappointed in myself. Perhaps I've lost my touch."

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, sir," said Sokka, chuckling.

It was then that he turned around and saw the Princess standing at the house's balcony, watching them both with an unfathomable expression on her face. Little did he know that she was in fact thoroughly impressed, that her heart was actually beating a little faster than before now that they had made eye contact. Anxiety began making itself known within her, yet she attempted to keep a completely calm façade… to her utmost pride, she managed to achieve said goal.

"Az-…" muttered Sokka, feeling a dreadful pit opening up in the middle of his chest. He had been waiting to meet her again, but now that she was standing only a few meters away from him he realized he didn't know what to say.

"That was… unexpected," was Azula's claim before she turned to Piandao. "Is he really this skilled or is old age getting to you already?"

"You are as subtle as ever, Princess," said Piandao, wiping the sweat off his brow with a towel. "I cannot say for certain if I've grown weaker over time, but I can assure you that your gladiator has progressed to the extent that he can battle me on even terms and defeat me when he has his mind set upon it."

Azula looked at Sokka again, her eyes growing cold as she studied him. She didn't want to believe Piandao's words, they would simply make it more difficult for her to let go of the illusion of having such a talented warrior as her personal gladiator. Regardless, it wouldn't hurt to believe in said illusion… for now, at least.

"I hope your assertions are correct, sword master," said Azula, dropping a bag of money on the floor. "Clearly enough, I'm not here to stay around and chat. The slave has a new fight."

"Right," said Sokka, gulping. Piandao had been looking at the bag in the floor with some displeasure before realizing Sokka was already starting off behind his sponsor.

"Sokka… wait," he said, startling both his student and the Princess.

"Is something wrong?" asked Sokka, taken by surprise.

"I merely wished to… to let you know you truly are the most talented man I have ever trained," said Piandao, smiling kindly. "You will certainly become a far more skilled master than I am and in a far shorter time span too, if you keep true to your honor as a warrior. Do not forget who you are, Sokka, and don't forget all the circumstances that have molded you into the man you are today. You are truly remarkable in many ways. You can achieve anything as long as you put your mind to it."

"Uh… right," said Sokka, surprised at the man's speech.

"Also… don't be too hot-headed," said Piandao, chuckling. "If certain urges strike you, you shouldn't submit to them until you have assessed them completely. You have the potential that not many men hold to turn this world into a better place… yet it's unlikely you will accomplish this through conventional means. You might have to step out of certain boundaries to do so, and you must think it thoroughly before taking risks of any sort. Promise me you will do so."

"W-what?" said Sokka, blinking repeatedly in surprise. "Uh… I don't really understand what you want to make me promise, but… okay. I promise."

Piandao smiled at the cluelessness of the man and prompted him to go after Azula with a jerk of his head. The Princess hadn't stopped to listen to whatever Piandao's advice to Sokka was; she was already on her way to the doors.

"See you later, master!" said Sokka, running after her.

Azula was already outside the main building by the time Sokka managed to reach her. He had the feeling that calling out her name might be a bad idea… so he simply placed a hand on her shoulder when he was close enough to her.

The Princess frowned instantly at his touch, and Sokka retrieved his hand quickly, realizing too late that touching her might have been out of bounds. Azula stopped and turned around, still looking as cold as ever.

"Uh, Azula…" muttered Sokka, gulping as he tried to find the right words in his head.

"What do you want?" grunted the Princess, clearly annoyed.

"I just wanted to say… that I'm sorry," said Sokka, bowing down to her. Azula couldn't conceal her surprise at this gesture. "What I did back then… I didn't understand what was at stake. Even now, I'm not entirely certain of what it meant to you when I refused to fight a girl, but I can assure you that won't happen again. I've come to terms with some big realizations after this, and I will make sure I don't stray from the right path this time."

Azula frowned and folded her arms across her chest.

"Oh, really?"

"I meant every word I just said," muttered Sokka, nodding as he lifted his head.

"Such a noble gladiator," said Azula, still not lowering her guard. "Then I assume you won't mind to be fighting another girl this time, or will you?"

Sokka was taken aback by this sudden claim. He frowned at the Princess.

"Another…?" he muttered, before shaking his head. "Not a problem. I will fight her. You can count on it."

"You'd better," said Azula, glaring at him. "Because I've decided this is the last opportunity you'll get to prove your worth. To be honest, I have no idea where my generosity outbursts towards you have come from, but you are getting another chance to make things right. Make sure you don't waste it."

"I won't," said Sokka, still as stern and serious as before. His unusual demeanor was putting Azula off slightly.

"Very well, then," she said, walking off towards the door again, with him at her heels. "Although… I did forget to say that your opponent is handicapped."

"What?" said Sokka, frowning.

"She's called the Blind Bandit," said Azula, making Sokka jump.

"Huh?! She's blind?! B-but… wait. You challenged her because she's really high in the ranking and you thought it'd be interesting to fight her… right?"

"No," said Azula, curtly. "She's even below you in the ranking."

"But in that case, why am I fighting her?!" asked Sokka, shocked "Did you do this to test my resolve or something…?"

"Not at all," said Azula. "The Bandit's sponsor was the one to send out the challenge for us. The girl has a perfect victory streak, and she has fought more times than you have. I wouldn't underestimate her if I were you."

"But… how can she fight if she's blind?" asked Sokka, confused.

"I have absolutely no idea, but you'll find out when you're facing her," said Azula. "Also, she's an earthbender."

"Earthbender…" said Sokka, thoughtful. "I've never fought one of those before."

"And it was about time you did…" said Azula, as he opened the gates and they both walked outside Piandao's mansion while they both kept discussing Sokka's next fight.

Piandao watched them walk away from a hall that provided him with a perfect view to the mansion's doors. He found himself sighing, yet smiling as well. Once they were out of sight, he re-read the paper he held in his hands, a letter that had arrived only a few days before.

"Everything is ready, sir," said Fat, walking into the room. "When will we depart?"

"At midnight, Fat. Take a break for the time being; we must avoid being seen by anyone when we take our leave."

Fat bowed and left the room, and Piandao sighed again. He would most certainly miss this place. He made his way to another room of the mansion, the messiest one in the entire house: it was Sokka's room. Piandao slid his hand inside his long sleeve to pull out a small, circular wooden item. The flower pattern drawn over it had a very deep meaning that Sokka wouldn't understand just yet, but it was the sole thing Piandao dared leave behind as a message for him.

He placed the White Lotus tile on top of Sokka's nightstand before turning around and leaving the room, knowing this would be his last day in the mansion he had called home for a long time…


	17. Chapter 17

The ship slowed down as it approached the port. The crew kept running back and forth, both above and below the deck, shouting out orders at each other as they tried to contain their excitement somehow. Reaching the docks of the Capital after ten years of sailing was a dream come true for them.

They were all grateful to the old-timer for this, of course. General Iroh had spent around ten months telling his nephew that spending over a decade chasing after someone who hadn't been seen for a hundred years was a waste of time and efforts. Regardless, Prince Zuko had remained stubbornly set on his goal, and he had insisted they should keep searching… and while his persistence was a source of frustration for everyone on the ship, Iroh understood why his nephew was unwilling to put an end to his goose chase.

Ten years had passed already since the Agni Kai that had scarred Zuko for life. The Banished Prince had become a cold and ruthless man, although he still behaved like a terrified kid in many circumstances: the sole thought of seeing his father again filled his mind with fears Zuko didn't know how to control. He hadn't found a way to control them during his twenty-three years of life.

Iroh had managed to convince him, though, that returning home was the safest course of action they could take, and if Ozai had anything to say upon the matter, Iroh himself would confront him about it. With this, Zuko had grown a little more enthusiastic about the idea, but not enough for him to look forward to returning to the Fire Nation Capital. He was currently brooding in his room, secluded from the crew. He had been behaving this way ever since he heard they would be reaching port.

Regardless, Iroh felt no need to go to him. He knew that his nephew would appreciate spending some time alone, and if he wasn't ready to jump on the solid, tropical grounds of the Fire Nation yet, then so be it… but Iroh wasn't about to delay his return home in solidarity with his nephew. He had been waiting eagerly to come back to the Capital ever since he had sent out a messenger hawk to the Fire Nation's High Council, requesting for Zuko's banishment to cease, and his excitement had been boosted when he read the positive response he hadn't thought he would receive. He suspected his younger brother Ozai wasn't pleased about having his son return empty-handed from his banishment, but it would seem the Council members had convinced him that his heir had been punished enough for his wrongdoings.

Iroh's belly joggled as he laughed happily at the sight of the port. Ships of several kinds were being stocked up by their crews while others were being unloaded. There were soldiers anywhere he looked, and a group of them helped to tie their ship to the dock.

"We are far behind times, aren't we?" Iroh said to nobody in particular as he looked at the magnificent vessels nearby and compared them to the old, rusty ship they had been sailing in for over ten years. They hadn't bothered with cleaning up the barnacles after one of the crewmen had cut his hand while trying to scrub them off the ship. The wound had become infected, and they had been forced to cut his hand off to avoid having him die painfully… though the man was currently whining about living painfully. Iroh wondered at times if it wouldn't have been kinder to let him die instead: it would have spared him from the pain and spared the rest of the crew from his complaints.

"We will proceed to unload the cargo now, sir," said the ship's captain, reporting to Iroh.

"Oh, very good," said Iroh, still smiling. "Make sure you are very careful with my jasmine tea supplies and my teapots."

"We will be, sir," said the captain, nodding and bowing down.

Iroh was already quite elderly, but even if he had still been in his younger years, he wouldn't have gotten involved in the hassle of unloading the ship's goods. He had many traits that set him apart from the rest of the royalty, since he would often be willing to take part in commoners' activities, but even so, he wasn't about to strain himself with something as boring as unloading the ship. Rather, he felt like getting off the deck already so that he could bask in returning home.

Iroh walked down the ship's ramp as soon as it was lowered atop the wooden dock. Bystanders would stare at him in surprise, recognizing him as the Fire Lord's brother: it seemed that the general public hadn't been informed that Prince Zuko and his uncle would be returning home. Iroh waved at those who stared at him for too long, and they would immediately return to their duties, ashamed of watching him so intently. Iroh merely chuckled at this as he looked around, curious about who owned the other ships docked at the port.

He caught sight of a few navy ships and three civilian vessels, and he didn't identify any of the people involved in the discharging of their goods… but when he turned to the last ship docked at the harbor, he found quite a curious surprise.

"Make sure to restock quickly!" yelled a Royal Guard, walking up the ramp towards a Royal Barge. "The Princess won't tolerate any tardiness! We must be ready to take off as soon as possible!"

Iroh smirked as he wondered why Princess Azula would be in such a hurry to get someplace. Indeed, she no longer would be the eleven-year-old he had last seen before he took off with Zuko, but regardless, he found it very unusual that Azula would need to travel anywhere so urgently.

"What a handsome barge," he said, smiling as he stopped by the ramp of the Princess's ship. "They didn't make them like this before my departure."

One of the Royal Guards on the deck stumbled when he caught sight of the older man, taken by surprise by his presence. The Dragon of the West hadn't been seen in the Capital in over a decade… and he was strolling about as if he had never been gone in the first place.

"G-General Iroh, sir!" said the man, kneeling in his direction. "G-good day to you!"

Iroh was amused by the guard's failure to respond appropriately to his sudden appearance.

"A good day to you, also. Would you be so kind as to answer a question?"

"Uh… of course, sir," said the guard, raising his head.

"Why does my niece need to travel somewhere?" he asked, inquisitive.

The guard was taken aback by this inquiry, but seeing how it was a Royal Family member who was asking, he didn't hesitate about answering.

"Well, I don't quite understand the full extent of the circumstances…" said the guard, earnestly. "But she has recently taken to traveling to Shu Jing and back again because she's sponsoring a fighter in the Superior Gladiator League."

"Oh… that is truly unexpected," said Iroh, his eyes widening. "A gladiator? Are women allowed to sponsor gladiators?"

"As I said, I really don't know much about it…" said the guard, blushing even though his mask concealed the redness of his face.

"I see," said Iroh, thoughtful. "Do you know who her gladiator is, at the very least?"

"Well, I have seen him," said the guard, frowning as he scratched the back of his head. "He looks foreign… I assume he's from a Water Tribe, though I don't know which one. He's dark-skinned, well built, and his main weapon seems to be a sword."

"No wonder she travels to Shu Jing, then," muttered Iroh. Azula must have had Piandao training her gladiator. "As sneaky as ever, my niece…"

It didn't take long for Iroh to realize what Azula was attempting to achieve through sponsoring a gladiator. If she hadn't changed her ways ever since he had been in the Fire Nation, then he was quite certain he understood what she meant to accomplish. Always trying to prove her worth… she was awfully similar to Zuko in that sense, even though the Princess would never admit to that.

"You can see her gladiator for yourself, though," said the guard, bringing Iroh out of his thoughts with those words.

"What?" said Iroh, surprised.

"W-well, what I mean is, I believe her gladiator must be about to enter his combat right now. You can go find out for yourself what he's like…"

"Huh, I see," said Iroh, smiling. "A wise suggestion. I believe I will do that. Thank you for your time."

"Uh, yes, sir! And… uh, welcome home, General!" said the guard, stuttering as he bowed. Iroh chuckled and started his way through the bay.

The Dragon of the West didn't like the idea of walking the long, uphill road towards the Capital, but if he wanted to enter the crater that surrounded the city and head to the Gladiator Arena, he had no choice but to walk indeed. And so, hoping his belly wouldn't weigh him down too much, he did his best to climb over the hill as quickly as possible, hoping to arrive in time to watch the gladiator combat…

* * *

Sokka was fitting his forearm guards while Azula paced back and forth in the stand-by room, a prominent frown on her brow.

"Be very cautious," she warned him. "You haven't fought any earthbenders before, and they have a great advantage in this environment. The sand pit provides them with more than enough material to bend, so you must be swift and decisive to make sure the combat goes on your favor."

"I figured that out by myself, to tell you the truth," said Sokka, gritting his teeth as he looked outside towards the sad pit. "This is likely going to be one of my toughest fights up to date… even if I'm fighting a blind girl."

"Do not underestimate her," said Azula, glaring at him. "I rather doubt she'll be as easy to defeat as the Red-Striped Hornet was."

"I'm not underestimating her," replied Sokka, rolling his eyes. "I just don't understand how a blind girl can be a gladiator. It's really confusing…"

"Yet she has aced every single fight she has been in so far," said Azula. "She hasn't simply won: she has knocked out every opponent she has faced against."

"Wait… you hadn't said that before," said Sokka, frowning and growing more cautious now. "Knock-outs… against all her opponents?"

"Or so I heard," muttered Azula. "I don't think she has faced off against anyone too dangerous yet, but she must be something to behold if she can knock her opponents out even when she's blind."

"You must be right about that," said Sokka, placing his helmet on his head. "She probably has some odd trick up her sleeve or something."

"Therefore, you should be extra-careful," said Azula, worried. "You don't know what you'll go up against today."

Sokka nodded and looked at the sand pit once more. The furniture seemed to be the same as it had been during his fight against the Hornet, although many of the objects were placed in different locations now. He attempted to get a glimpse of his opponent, who was waiting at the other side of the Arena, but she was too far away for him to see anything at all.

"Very well, then… good luck," said Azula, prompting him to turn to her. "Do not disappoint me this time."

"I won't," promised Sokka, nodding confidently. "I will fight to my best, whether she's blind or not. Her trick could be to garner sympathy from her rivals because she's crippled, but that won't work on me."

"It better not," was Azula's response, and she left the room without another word.

Sokka could tell they were still in a very bad place in whatever relationship it was that they had. Regardless, he would try to set things right this time… he had to, somehow. And the best way to do it would be by fighting against the Blind Bandit without giving her any quarter. He would win this fight.

Azula climbed the stairs all the way to the sponsors' balcony and she wasn't surprised to see the opposite sponsor was already waiting for her. He was burly and tan, and his conceited monkey-face told her she wouldn't receive the respect she deserved from this man. She wasn't surprised by his attitude, though… he was a former Earth Kingdom man, now converted to a Fire Nation Honorary Citizen. It would have been astonishing for the man to behave in a respectful manner towards her. She took her seat quietly next to him, not about to grant him any courtesy until he showed some politeness to her first.

"Good day for a fight, Princess," finally said the other sponsor, grinning cruelly. "My name is Xin Fu, and I'm the Blind Bandit's sponsor."

"I figured as much," said Azula, not looking at him. "I hope your blind girl is as strong as I heard she was."

"Oh, she isn't… she's far tougher than that," said the man, chuckling cruelly. Azula felt disgusted at the sound of his laughter. "You'll see soon enough."

"Excuse me…" said a member of the Arena staff, who had come, as usual, to ask about the time limit. "How long do you wish this fight to last?"

"I'd say… ten minutes should suffice," said Xin Fu, still as cocky as ever.

Azula frowned. Ten minutes didn't sound like a good time limit. She scowled as she shook her head.

"I don't think so. Perhaps fifteen… ten shouldn't be long enough."

"Oh… well, if you wish to make your gladiator suffer more, then I agree," said Xin Fu, smiling. "Fifteen it is."

The staff member left the room quickly once the procedures were over with, and Azula couldn't help but feel horribly uncomfortable upon being alone in the room with such a creepy man.

"But I have to say it does make sense for a Princess to have fun at the expense of her slave," said Xin Fu, grinning. "You must be quite a sadist if you enjoy watching gladiator fights, after all. Most girls are completely disgusted by them."

"Do not pretend you understand me," said Azula, growing more wary of the man with every word he said. Xin Fu chuckled and nodded.

"Whatever, Princess. But I have to say… if you don't enjoy watching people in pain, you got involved the wrong business and you definitely accepted the wrong challenge. Your fighter won't come out of this in one piece."

"We'll see about that," replied Azula, although she was slightly intimidated by his words. His confidence was overwhelming… mostly because she feared said confidence would be justified shortly. Could the Blind Bandit be such a tough fighter to deal with? Azula was starting to dread she just might be.

The metal grids slid upwards, allowing entrance into the sand to both gladiators. Sokka took a deep breath as he walked towards the center of the sand pit, passing by the water well just as the announcer called in his opponent amongst the crowd's screams.

"And, with a remarkable streak of no losses, the highly promising girl who can't see a thing… other than her own awesomeness! I give you… the Blind Bandit!"

Sokka frowned deeply when a small, slim girl with jet-black hair walked towards him from the other side of the Arena. She was dressed in a green-and-yellow outfit, the typical colors of an earthbender, yet to Sokka's surprise, she wasn't wearing armor. He felt cheated. Not only was she a girl, she was also blind and she headed into battle without any protection… though then he recalled Azula's words: _"Do not underestimate her"_. Still, he hadn't underestimated her. He had his weapons in tow, and he was perfectly armored, as opposed to her. She wasn't even wearing shoes!

He snarled when he realized that the one to be underestimated had been him.

"The time limit for this fight is up to fifteen minutes, as decided by the sponsors!" said the man from the judges' balcony. "Get ready… and START!"

Everyone was expecting an explosive beginning, or at least, that either of the fighters would strike a threatening stance towards the other… but it didn't happen. The Blind Bandit simply crossed her arms as she looked at him… no, she couldn't be looking at him, she was blind. So what was she doing?

"'Sup?" asked the Bandit, making Sokka stare at her in complete disbelief.

"W-well… nothing much, I guess," he replied, hardly knowing what to say to that. "Just here, you know… uh, you are aware that we're supposed to fight, though, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I know that," said the Bandit, digging her toes into the sand. "So, what's your real name? I'm Toph. Toph Beifong. You?"

Sokka frowned. This was exactly what he had done to the Spawn of the Volcano and what he had attempted to do with the Hornet: lower your opponent's guard through annoying chit-chat to induce him to strike, and take advantage of the situation when the foe attacked recklessly…

"I'm Sokka," was his reply, to Toph's surprise. "Though in these circumstances, I'm the Blue Wolf."

"You're pretty smooth, aren't you?" asked Toph, smirking. "So… are you really the Princess's gladiator?"

"Uh… yeah," said Sokka, distrustful.

"Gee," said Toph, chuckling now. "You'll have to show me what's so special about you, Sokka… because I can't see why the Fire Nation Princess would hire a gladiator who seems like a complete wimp."

Both the Princess and her gladiator frowned at the comment. It wasn't so much that she would be right or wrong about her assertions… it was more the utter bewilderment that arose when she spoke of Sokka as if she could actually see him.

"Come again?" said Sokka. "How would you know if I'm a wimp or not if you can't see what I look like? Or is it that all this blind nonsense is a charade, just like I suspected?"

"It might be, in some way," said Toph, shrugging. "I'm not really blind. Sure, I can't see, but that doesn't make me blind. You don't seem to be half as burly as I expected from a guy who is getting sponsored by the Royal Jewel…"

Azula became even more indignant when she heard the girl speak about her without an ounce of respect. The Royal Jewel? Who exactly did that stupid blind girl think she was talking about?

"… Because, to top it all, you're a non-bender. So… you should be really tough. But you don't appear to be strong at all. Care to show me why would she pick a weakling like you to be her gladiator?"

Sokka sighed and raised his hand towards his sword. He didn't like the idea of hurting the girl… but he doubted he'd actually maim her at all. She was stirring his mood because she was trying to take the advantage of the situation… and he wouldn't let her. He had promised he would fight properly, and he had every intention to do so.

"I guess I will," he said, once he had Space Sword in his hand.

He had to clear his mind away before his principles began pestering him about attacking a blind girl. Sokka broke into a half-hearted sprint, expecting the girl to respond at his approach somehow… and she did.

Toph simply moved her left foot upwards with a flick of her ankle, and an array of sand flew straight at Sokka's face, knocking his helmet off and stopping him halfway through his dash towards his opponent. The sudden movement of the sand knocked him off balance, but he jumped back to avoid falling over. Indeed, Azula had been right to say an earthbender had it very easy in the middle of a sand pit…

"Huh… I guess my question has been answered," said Toph, smirking. "You're smart enough to know when to strike and when to take a step back. Nice."

"Thanks," said Sokka, although he was pretty certain she wasn't quite complimenting him.

"But I doubt you'll be smart enough to beat me," she replied, lifting both her arms into a fighting stance.

Sokka didn't understand at all how was she fighting, it hardly made sense… how could she know where he was if she couldn't see him? But somehow, she knew… else she wouldn't have been able to attack him by bending several sand streams in his direction. Sokka was forced to dissolve the unexpected attacks by shielding his face with his armguard, kneeling as he waited for her assaults to end. Being struck by sand wasn't painful, but it was very unpleasant. The tiny grains of dirt slid into his armor and clothes, running down his body in quite an annoying manner, and before he knew it, his feet were submerged in sand. Still, this was something he could bear. If this was truly the best this earthbender could do, beating her wouldn't be as hard as…

That last thought was interrupted when the Blind Bandit closed her hands into tight fists, and before Sokka knew it, the sand that had covered his feet grew solidified, turning into a rock. His eyes grew wide open as the earthbender performed a high and steady kick, and he found himself flying over the Arena, crashing painfully against one of the wooden structures as the earth around his feet grew softer again, allowing him to move. His ankles ached after the brusque pressure the compressed sand had exerted over them.

"Oh, did I forget to mention I'm the best earthbender in the world?" asked Toph, tapping her chin with one finger as she frowned. "Yeah, I think I did…"

"That's crazy-talk…" said Sokka, staggering as he got on his feet again, the structure behind him collapsing loudly, costing his opponent twenty points.

"Oh, damn it," said Xin Fu at the sponsors' bench. "Stupid girl, you should be more careful!"

Azula was surprised to see the man had the guts to yell at his gladiator in the middle of a fight. He looked like an angry boarcupine as he glared at the Blind Bandit.

"Not at all," said Toph, ignoring her sponsor and focusing solely on her enemy. "Do you still need more proof?"

"This makes no sense!" said Sokka. "If you're blind, then how come can you fight like this?!"

"I shouldn't reveal my secrets…" admitted Toph, thoughtful. "But I guess telling you this could work in my favor somehow. I don't see with my eyes, true enough, but I can see you through earthbending. I have to say sand isn't the best landscape for me, the earth is scattered so I can't see as well as I normally do… but even in these circumstances, I can still beat you."

"We'll see about that," grunted Sokka, smirking slightly. So… she really couldn't see. That could work in his favor after all…

He withdrew his boomerang from its sheath and threw it after aiming it at Toph. She sensed through his movements what his intent was, and she brought forth an earth barrier, compressing the sand quickly to solidify her defense.

She was surprised, though, when she failed to feel anything colliding against her earth shield.

"What just…?" she grunted, feeling slightly paranoid. He had flung something at her, she had sensed his movements… so where was his projectile? What was his projectile, rather…?

Sokka smirked, knowing his little ploy had worked. He had tossed his boomerang a few feet from where Toph was currently standing, calculating the trajectory so that the weapon would strike her as it made its way back to him. And indeed, he landed his first blow on his opponent through this scheme.

The boomerang's edge struck Toph's back, making her stumble as she gasped, taken by surprise by the hit. She didn't know what sort of projectile he had hurled that would hurt her from behind. All she knew at the moment was that she couldn't keep her guard down. This guy was way smarter than any other gladiators she had faced so far, and she refused to give him a chance to beat her.

"Ha!" said Sokka, after hearing her huff when the boomerang hit her. Toph frowned and regained her stance quickly. She dissolved the earth barrier at will, and Sokka was taken aback when he caught sight of her face this time.

She was smirking in a very scary and cruel manner now, and she had lifted her hands as she took a bending stance. The sand behind her began shifting, as if it were swallowing something… and that something, to Sokka's dismay, was his boomerang.

"No!" he yelled, starting towards his weapon, but the Blind Bandit wasn't going to take him for granted anymore.

Not only did she make the boomerang sink deep into the sand, she also shot a great amount of solidified sand into Sokka's stomach brusquely, making him fly over to the edge of the Arena. Azula found herself gripping the armrests of her chair with enough strength for her knuckles to turn white when Sokka's right shoulder was caught in one of the metal spikes on the rim of the sand pit. Hell knew what the odds were for the tip to make its way through the only area of Sokka's back that wasn't covered by armor…

Sokka couldn't help but yell out loud in pain as the tip impaled on his shoulder pierced his body, protruding slightly through his chest. He dislodged the tip after struggling a little and he collapsed in the floor, coughing and gasping for air. He hadn't expected anything like this to happen…

"How'd you like that?" asked the Blind Bandit, smirking cruelly.

"D-damn… d-damn you…" said Sokka, struggling to get back on his feet. His right arm felt horribly numb, for his body seemed not to know how to react to that much pain.

"I do feel a little bad about this, I have to say," said Toph, shifting the sand beneath him. Sokka stumbled as he tried to keep distance between them, since the earthbender was trying to bring him closer to her. "You see… I'm about to kill you."

Sokka's eyes grew wide in horror as Toph said such dreaded words.

"W-what?!" he said, still unable to get out of the sand trap Toph was stirring.

"I don't think I'll enjoy killing you," she admitted, moving her fingers as she toyed with Sokka. "But I don't have a choice. You see… it's been said that you only won your previous fight because you're the Princess's spoiled slave…"

Azula winced at the accusation. She knew it… she had known everyone would take Sokka's victory as cheating because of the pathetic way the Blue Wolf had behaved during the second half of the fight. Even when she had tried to clear it up at the end of the combat, and after she had obtained a somewhat satisfying answer, rumors had spread about how nobody would be able to beat Sokka because of his sponsor's title…

"So the only way to make sure I'll definitely win… will be by killing you," said Toph, matter-of-factly. "Too bad for you. You'll be my first dead opponent ever, how's that?"

"What…?" grunted Sokka, frowning. "You weren't in the… in the Amateur League, then?"

"Hell, no!" said Toph, smirking. "You thought I was that weak? Only weaklings go to the Amateur League. The really tough fighters, like me, are chosen immediately for the big leagues. And you, clearly, don't belong in the upper ring of this business."

"You're not the one… to decide that," grunted Sokka, growing angrier by the minute. This girl was so cocky she was making him sick. Who did she think she was? She had no right to declare who was worthy of being a top gladiator and who wasn't…

Sokka's shoulder was throbbing now, and the discomfort he felt on it was beginning to turn into pain. He had to do something… he didn't know how much time they had left, but he knew he had to turn the tables in this fight right away if he was going to win. And he was going to win… his life was on the line now, it seemed. He couldn't lose against the Blind Bandit… he simply couldn't. It had never been an option to die in a gladiator pit, and it definitely wasn't one now.

He was still gripping Space Sword in his left hand, but he didn't have his boomerang anymore… there had to be something he could do with his remaining weapons, anything. He could fling his bombs at her… but to what avail? They were smoke bombs, and she was blind. She'd see through the smokescreen without a problem using her earthbending skills. He had his knife too, but he didn't think it would come in handy at all.

"Oh, no," said Toph, snickering. "I don't get decide if you're good or not… but I do decide if you're a winner or a loser. And I'm thinking you're the latter, really… you're not half as tough as you thought you were, Wolf."

Sokka smirked. As the girl spoke, he worked up a strange and unreliable plan that might not work at all… but he had to give it a try, at least. His eyes flickered towards the sponsors' balcony, wondering if Azula was disappointed in him… and hoping that, if she was, his next endeavor would make her beam with pride afterwards.

He was surprised to see she seemed to be worried rather than displeased, but that didn't alter his resolve. He was determined not to let her down this time. Their eyes clashed together once again, even at such distance. Azula's grip on the armchair wouldn't grow any fainter. She was so focused on Sokka and his fight that neither she nor Xin Fu noticed the door to the room opened behind them, and, unbeknownst to them, they were joined by a guest who remained silent as he stood behind both sponsors.

"Oh, maybe I'm not… but neither are you, Toph!" he yelled, having memorized her name right away.

He put away his sword for a moment before flinging a bomb towards her. Toph sent a chuck of earth towards him, and Sokka twirled to avoid the blow. Toph frowned as she noticed a strange sphere had landed between her feet.

"What the hell is this?" she grunted, just as she was about to kick it away…

The bomb released its content when she moved, and just as Sokka had planned, the smoke hit the girl in the face, getting attached to her clothes and forcing her to stumble to get away from the irritating cloud of smoke. But Sokka took his chance and sent out the other bomb, rolling it down through the ground towards her… and he instantly thought he would have to thank some god of fortune when she stepped over the second bomb, tripping and falling to the sand with a yelp of annoyance as more smoke was released by the second bomb.

That was his cue. Unsheathing his sword once more, he ran towards her, gritting his teeth as he thought he would get even with her now. He would repay her for the stinging wound she had left on his shoulder as soon as he reached her…

Azula's eyes regained their glow when her gladiator seemed to have the upper hand in this combat for once. She always had great hopes set on him, and she had known he wouldn't disappoint her this time…

The cloud of smoke didn't let the crowd witness what had happened when Sokka had lunged at his rival again. Regardless, it didn't take too long for the result of his attack to be clear to everyone.

Sokka had rushed into the smoke, ready to strike Toph down… but he was met by a sudden surge of sand that surrounded and stopped him in the middle of his sprint. Toph was struggling to get up, but before doing so, she performed an incredibly potent kick… and Sokka was sent flying outside the smoke cloud again.

Azula grimaced when she saw him rolling on the floor, wincing at the pain on his shoulder and at the frustration he felt after his plan had failed at the last moment. He had no more ideas… what could he do now? Had he already lost this fight?

"You scumbag," he heard from the cloud. The Bandit sure didn't sound happy now. "You think you're so cool, knocking me over to the ground, huh? Well, I'm about to show you the Blind Bandit's true power! Let's see how you'll counter this!"

Sokka hadn't expected her to become so livid, considering he had only managed to knock her off her feet, but he guessed nobody had ever gotten the better of her like that. He allowed himself to bask in pride for a second before feeling the sand beneath him growing more and more unstable. He jumped to his feet, but he failed to stand up in time to leap out of this new trap, which had already managed to sink him to his waist.

Azula gasped at the sight. Sokka was trying to get released from the furious earthbender's grip, but his efforts were proving useless. Xin Fu, next to the Princess, beamed cruelly. And the other person in the room finally decided to announce himself, taking both sponsors by surprise when he did.

"Well, that was quite a mischievous plan… too bad it didn't work."

Azula was already distraught enough because of the fight. She didn't need a new problem to add to her list. And this problem… this was the worst sort of problem she could ever have envisioned.

Her eyes grew wide open the second she heard that voice, and her grip on the chair grew even tighter. This wasn't happening… not when she was making a new name for herself through her gladiator. Not when she had finally found a way to make people acknowledge her… But that old man's voice was unmistakable, and if he was here, in the Grand Royal Dome, then it could only mean one thing:

Zuko was back.

"Well…" she said, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "This is a very… shocking surprise, to say the least. What are you doing here, Uncle?"

"I sent a message to my brother not too long ago," said Iroh, smiling at Azula despite the fact that she refused to look at him. She was still unwilling to acknowledge his presence. "I was certain you would have been aware that Zuko's banishment has been lifted… the Council declared he could return home."

"I… I wasn't informed of this," said Azula, keeping her head held high and her eyes set on the fight, which was growing murkier by the minute, although she wasn't registering anything of what she was seeing. Her mind was elsewhere right now. "They probably came to that decision during one of my travels."

"Most likely," said Iroh. "I didn't think my brother would have kept any secrets from you… or is it that he has grown wary of you during these ten years?"

Azula had to make quite an effort not to laugh at that statement. She knew what Iroh was trying to play at, she had always known… just as he had always been able to see right through her, she always could see through him.

"My father has always been wary of me, Uncle. Everyone is," said Azula, proudly. "I guess he didn't mention this matter to me because he didn't consider it important enough to inform me of it."

"Oh, well," said Iroh, laughing in that jolly way Azula had grown to loathe over the years. "You do understand Ozai far better than I ever will. You are most likely right about that."

"Are you the Dragon of the West?" asked Xin Fu, turning to see the man with a frown on his face.

"Ah, indeed I am," said Iroh, smiling.

"Well, what business do you have here?" grunted Xin Fu. "This is the sponsors' balcony. You're a royal, so go up to the royal seats instead…"

"On my own? That would make this experience far too boring," said Iroh, shaking his head. "And I have just returned home after ten years of sailing… I should be allowed to see my niece after all this time."

Azula scowled at such a ridiculous claim. Iroh, wanting to see her? Not even a toddler would buy such a pathetic excuse for a lie…

"You have grown a lot, Azula," said Iroh smiling down to her as he stood by her side. "You are the spitting image of your mother Ursa."

If what he had said so far had been annoying, this was borderline insulting. How dared he…? He was completely aware of how much Azula hated to hear people comparing her to her mother, and that was likely the reason why he had said those words in the first place.

"That is very kind of you, Uncle," she said, sarcastically. "Whereas you seem far older than I ever thought you'd get to be. I'm amazed to see you managed to survive ten years at sea with Zuko pestering you… or was it him the one struggling to survive you?"

Iroh chuckled and focused on the fight again, even though Azula took her time to shoot another glare at him before looking down at Sokka once more… and she felt her heart-rate slow down as she gazed at the combat below.

The smoke had cleared up completely already, so there was nothing to prevent anyone from witnessing the massacre below. Toph had spent the last few minutes throwing Sokka from one side of the Arena to the other, throwing huge blocks of earth to his face and chest and breaking most of his armor after so many powerful smashes. She had recurred to smothering him in quicksand again now, and only Sokka's head was visible at the moment.

"You know… people say that, if you get buried while standing up, you won't be able to dig yourself out," she said, smirking cruelly as she walked up to Sokka. The Water Tribe man could look at her face from his current position: he was terrified by the way her sightless eyes passed over him while her hands kept stirring the sand beneath him. "We could test that right now, couldn't we?"

With this, Sokka sank into the ground with a muffled sound that might have been a scream, but he was below the surface so fast that his yell was completely smothered by the sand. Azula couldn't contain a gasp of horror. Her gladiator had been buried alive.

Xin Fu, next to her, laughed. Azula used all her willpower to avoid going into a firebending rampage to kill both the men in the room with her. She couldn't believe this was happening… Sokka couldn't die like this, he couldn't. He had to return to his Tribe, didn't he? He had many things to accomplish! He had proven to be too damn hard to kill for him to drop dead here and now, and against a blind brat of all people. She was left staring at the spot where she had seen him last… and she wondered if that had been the last time she'd ever see him. No, there was no way she would let that happen…

Iroh raised an eyebrow as Azula stood up and walked up to the edge of the balcony, standing by the wooden fence that secluded the area. She placed a hand on a red column as she looked down into the sand pit, begging him mentally to come back up. Her heart was beating weakly as despair made its way through her… he had to come back. He couldn't do this to her, he couldn't be gone now…

She didn't know if she was relieved or horrified when Toph thrust a fist up in the air and Sokka resurfaced… but he wasn't free from her clutches. In fact, he was anything but free from her grip.

Sokka was still held tight by a gigantic sand column shaped as a hand that mimicked Toph's very own. Azula stared, aghast, as she felt some relief to see Sokka was still alive, but his face was covered in blood and his hair was no longer up in his wolf's tail. All the blows he had received had left him in his currently dreadful state.

"I hope you were trying to get out of the sand, as I told you to," said Toph, smirking. "That way we've proven that theory, huh?"

Sokka didn't respond, which displeased the Blind Bandit. She began closing her other hand, solidifying the sand and tightening its grip around Sokka until he could hardly breathe.

"Well, if you're not going to cooperate… I guess I'm just going to end you right away," said the Blind Bandit.

The sand became a solid rock eventually, and Sokka could only utter a muffled cry of pain at this stage as he felt several bones snapping under the brutal pressure. Azula was staring at him in panic, knowing that this was it… and she could do nothing about it. There was no stopping this madness…

But, to her surprise, the tight rocks fell apart and Sokka collapsed in the sand again. Azula was somewhat relieved at this and so was the gladiator as he panted, trying to catch his breath again.

"You didn't really think I'd be done with you just like that, did you?" asked Toph, smirking. "Where's the fun in that?"

Sokka could hardly move. Toph had crushed the bones on his legs and the only extremity he could use currently was his left hand. He turned around and coughed up sand and blood on the ground, his eyesight growing blurry with every second that went by. He probably wouldn't be conscious for much longer… and it might just be the last time he'd be conscious over all. He had failed…

He had lost this fight.

"So… let's see," said Toph, walking around him as if she were a beast intimidating its prey. "There are a few ways I could kill you. I could squeeze you to your death, like I was doing just now… or I could make tons of sharp stones and stab all your body with them!"

Sokka panted, a strange shrill sound was coming out of his throat with each breath he took. He didn't realize he was the one responsible for that sound.

"Or maybe… I could slide a lot of sand into your stomach," said Toph, smirking. "And I could use potential force to bring all the earth out of you and BAM! You'd die in an earthy explosion. I figured that one would suit you, seeing how you seem to be so fond of bombs and useless junk like that."

Azula hardly realized there was a burning feeling in her eyes. Tears of frustration were threatening to slip down her cheeks as she witnessed the half-dead figure of her gladiator, too weak to do anything other than drag himself in the ground with one hand…

"Well? I don't have all day, you know?" said Toph, her hands on her hips as she stared at him impatiently. "Make a choice already!"

Sokka coughed up more sand. He felt as if he hadn't had a drink of water in his entire life, his throat was horribly dry. It was sad to think he would die with an empty stomach and his mouth full of sand…

And then it hit him that he really was going to die. All the thoughts that had often come to his mind during his stay at the Amateur Gladiator League came back to him at full force… and he surprised Toph by flashing her with a most unexpected smile.

"I… I don't really care," he muttered with what was left of his voice, making Toph huff in irritation, shaking her messy bangs with the movement. "I can't… I can't fight anymore, so… I'm going to die."

"Well, gee, thanks for clearing that up, Captain Obvious!" said Toph, sarcastically. "So that's it, then? You're not even going to try to survive?"

"N-no…" said Sokka, still coughing up more sand. "I've… I've been afraid of death for all these years. I wanted to die, but I couldn't. I was… so scared… of what would happen when I passed… I didn't think I could… c-could handle the pain, so I… I fought back and killed… killed my opponents instead. I even… I wanted to kill myself, but… I didn't have it in me to do it. This time, though… this time I can't do a thing, and I'm about to die. So… I'm glad…"

Toph's face contorted with rage as she heard him speak.

"Those are the last words of a coward," she said, her nose growing wrinkled as she tightened her fists. "The hell was that? You're too afraid of death to let others kill you and you don't have the guts to do the job yourself? That's pathetic. So you just want me to make you a damn favor, is that it?!"

Sokka didn't answer anymore. He had already spent what he had left of his energy by talking to her.

"Let me tell you something, you useless pile of broken bones," said Toph, harshly. "I'm not here to do favors to any pathetic gladiators I cross in the Arena, I'm here to fight them and kill them if I must! And if you're here for another reason, then you're not a fighter! You're not a gladiator! You're just a spineless scumbag!"

Sokka didn't seem too pleased to hear this, although he hardly understood her words at this point. The world was becoming too blurry; his senses were failing him…

"And you know what, you stupid Blue Wolf?" she said, kicking at his stomach and making him wince in pain again. "You're not getting any favors from me."

Azula suddenly grew hopeful after those words. Then… he would live? She would let him live?

"What the hell does she think she's doing?!" yelled Xin Fu, standing up as well. "Kill him already!"

"Maybe one day, if you grow a pair, I'll think about finishing you off," said Toph, ignoring her sponsor's screams. "But right now… you're just not worth killing."

Sokka didn't know if he should take that as an insult, but he was far beyond caring at this point. His mind was closing down slowly, or so it felt…

"No, no, no… come on… you can do this, Sokka," Azula whispered, watching him tilt his head down as he tried to keep awake, but it seemed his efforts were doomed to fail. "Don't do this… don't bail on me just yet…"

"KILL HIM!" screamed Xin Fu next to her. Toph gritted her teeth as she heard his voice. "WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU, STUPID?! KILL HIM!"

Toph's response garnered a gasp of shock from the entire crowd. She lifted her hand at her sponsor, her middle finger sticking out as she showed him a particularly offensive sign.

"Oh, my… that's some girl," said Iroh, laughing as his belly joggled as usual.

"Y-you…!" said Xin Fu, baring his teeth at the girl.

Azula didn't care for the strife between her fellow sponsor and his gladiator. Her eyes had finally left Sokka's writhing figure as she stared at the hourglass on the balcony opposite to hers. There were only a few grains left… the fight was almost officially over. Just a few seconds more and she could go to him. He had to hold on just for a little longer…

"Please, Sokka… Please…" she begged, as if she thought he could hear him.

Iroh frowned as he caught wind of what she was saying, and he wondered when had he last seen his niece so worried about someone… he recalled she had been most pleased to witness the Agni Kai between her father and brother, and she had been especially enthusiastic when Zuko's face had gotten singed. How come was she more concerned over a lowly slave than she had been over her brother?

Azula was convinced the damned hourglass had to be malfunctioning. The sand appeared to defy the laws of gravity as it fell too slowly to the second section of the hourglass to Azula's liking. Xin Fu kept yelling next to her, and Toph refused to respond. She walked away from Sokka, unwilling to land another blow on a man who wasn't worth her efforts. Sokka shivered now, longing for the final strike that would never arrive, the strike that would put him out of his miserable life for once and for all…

And the last grain fell, finally. Azula didn't even notice she was holding her breath as she forced herself to stay put until the judges decided on the obvious winner. Not too long afterwards, the usual announcer ran to the bullhorn and yelled:

"The winner is the Blind Bandit!"

Xin Fu finally shut up when Toph was declared triumphant, relieved that the judges hadn't been as unfair as he expected them to be. But even if they had been favoring Azula, there was simply no way they could award the victory to the Blue Wolf when he lay on the floor, shaking with every new breath he took.

Xin Fu would have gloated about his gladiator's victory, even though he was displeased over the fact that Toph hadn't killed Sokka, but he had no chance to do so. Azula shoved the bag of the bid's money to his chest before turning to the door and storming out of the room, almost colliding with her Uncle as she did. She hardly even recalled what Iroh's return meant to her at this point.

"That little bitch," said Xin Fu, forgetting about Azula as he glared at Toph, who was currently exiting the Arena, unhurt. "I'm gonna teach her a lesson or two…"

Iroh raised an eyebrow as Xin Fu followed Azula's lead and left the room, albeit without running. The Dragon of the West gazed at the Arena, taking in its glory and details… it was the first time he witnessed a gladiator fight, seeing as this branch of the slave business had been developed a few years after he had taken off on his trip with Zuko. The cheering crowds at the stands, the sun's gleam sliding through the Dome's glass roofs, the outstanding girl who had just made a mess out of Azula's gladiator and finished the fight completely unscathed…

Iroh smirked as he walked out of the room, brewing something in his mind that, for once, had nothing to do with tea.

Azula didn't recall having run as if her life depended on it ever before. She used to run around the Palace when she was little, but never had she sprinted in this manner. The rational side of her brain told her she might end up falling down the stairs if she kept rushing like this, but she ignored those warnings. She had to get to him as quickly as possible…

The way to the stand-by room seemed ten times longer than when she had walked through it earlier, even when she was running this time. People turned to look at her as she passed them by, some of them realizing she was the Fire Nation Princess, but Azula didn't care about being judged by them for once. Her mind was set in only one goal right now… and that goal was Sokka.

When she finally arrived to the stand-by room, Sokka was being helped out of the ring by two staff members, who were dragging him from the sand with difficulty. Sokka kept gasping for air, too weak to cough, his legs too damaged for him to walk without help.

"Sokka…" Azula whispered, shortening the distance between them with long strides. The two staff members were surprised to see her in such a shaken state.

Sokka managed to recognize her voice, although he didn't even understand what she said. Somehow, hearing her gave him strengths he didn't know he still had within him… he had to tell her, say that damned word before she took out her anger on him again. He knew she would be extremely disappointed in him after what had just happened, but he couldn't make things right anymore. He had failed her…

"A-Azula…" he mumbled, trying to raise his head to look at her, but his eyesight was too blurry for him to see more than shapes.

"Hush," she said, approaching and sliding her hand under his left arm, surrounding his waist as she got ready to carry him on her own. The staff members stumbled back, staring at the scene with disbelief. Never before had they seen a sponsor so concerned over the well-being of his gladiator that he would choose to carry the almost lifeless slave like this. "You don't have to say anything, everything will be alright soon."

"A… Azula…" he said once more, since he hardly understood any of what she had told him.

"Where can I find medical assistance for him?" she asked, looking at the staff members with fury gleaming in her eyes, threatening them to speak at once or face dire consequences. "Answer me!"

"T-there are no medical facilities in here, Princess," said one of the men, terrified.

"How can there be no…?!" started Azula, in complete disbelief, but she shook her head, knowing she couldn't press on the subject right now. She would address that issue later. "Sokka, can you walk?"

"H-huh…?"

"Can you walk? Do you understand what I'm saying?" she asked, looking at him in the eye.

"A… a little," he admitted. "My legs are killing me…"

"Well, I'm not about to drag you all the way to the Palace," said Azula, frowning. "You'll end up in an even worse state if I do that. You have to work with me here, Sokka… try to walk, please…"

Sokka only caught the last sentences, and was bemused at hearing Azula pleading with him. He didn't understand what she wanted from him, but he would comply somehow. He nodded and used all his willpower to move his legs. Azula had him place his arm across her shoulders, and she exerted all the strength she could muster to pull him with her as she walked towards the hallway.

Sokka gasped at every step they took, even though Azula was walking as slowly as possible, trying to make the trip less difficult for him. She didn't realize she kept reassuring him through words, telling him everything would work out for the better, that he would be fine soon enough. Sokka hardly understood what she was saying, but he was clinging to her as if his life depended on it… and it sure was depending on it right now.

It took them what felt like ages to get up the stairs. Azula wondered if it would have been easier if she had been carrying him on her back, but she wasn't strong enough to lift his weight through such a long flight of stairs. Sokka was trying his hardest to climb each step, but his legs kept giving away and he almost brought Azula down each time he collapsed. Regardless, the Princess didn't give up on her endeavor; she didn't even consider doing so.

Finally, they reached the vestibule. Sokka was trembling violently by then. Azula gritted her teeth as she nigh dragged him towards the gates, and many unwelcome eyes were fixed upon the two of them. Shoji was looking at them with his mouth hanging open, wondering what could have injured the Blue Wolf like this, and definitely confused over how the Fire Nation Princess was carrying him like this on her own… but whenever someone approached her, she would glare at them defiantly. Sokka was her gladiator. She had gotten him into this fight and she would be the one to get him out of it as well, no matter if she felt too weak to carry both him and an enormous pile of guilt as burdens on her shoulders.

Another staff man got the door for her, and she didn't thank him for his kindness. There was her palanquin, at last…

The Captain of the Royal Guard hadn't been paying close attention to the door, but when the other guards and the palanquin bearers began staring at the Arena's gates with scandalized looks on their faces, he turned to see what was happening. He would have never expected to witness such a horrifying sight: The Princess was struggling to walk down to the Palanquin while holding her horribly wounded gladiator in her arms. She was stained with his blood and also with the sand that had been attached to the remnants of his clothing and armor, giving them both an extremely ragged up appearance.

"P-Princess!" he yelled, turning around at her.

"Is the palanquin ready?" was her sole question as she dragged Sokka down the steps that would lead her to the street.

"What happened to…?" asked the Guard, rushing up to her as the rest of the Royal Procession got ready to move. "Princess…"

"Don't touch him," said Azula, wincing as she walked down the last few steps towards the palanquin. "He's badly injured, so just… don't touch him…"

"I can see that," said the guard, although he kept walking nearby, afraid Azula might drop Sokka, but, despite she was struggling to stay steady on her feet, she managed to keep a strong grip around him.

Despite Azula's orders, the Captain insisted in aiding her once he realized what her intent was. He opened the curtains of the palanquin and helped her place the wounded man inside the cabin. Sokka was half sitting, half lying down on the palanquin, grunting as the dreadful pain kept making its way through his numb body.

"Are you bearers strong enough to carry two people?" asked Azula, fearing she might have to walk to the Palace, even though she loathed the idea of doing so.

"Of course, Princess," said one of the bearers, although he winced at the thought. Carrying Azula was one thing… but that man was big enough to tower over all them. Still, they were devoted to their duty and they would fulfill it to the end. They would carry both of them if the Princess commanded them to do so.

"If need be, I'll have some of the guards help carry the palanquin," said the Royal Guard's Captain, reassuringly. Azula nodded and climbed aboard, closing the curtain behind her.

There wasn't much room left in the palanquin, seeing how Sokka had taken up her usual spot. He was breathing heavily as he tried his hardest to remain conscious, but he was slowly losing the battle against his wounds and his exhaustion.

"A-Azula… w-what is…?" he managed to say before huffing in pain, his teeth clenched as a sudden burst of pain coursed through his right shoulder.

"No need to say anything, Sokka," she told him as he lifted his left hand to who knew what avail. "Or to do anything, for that matter. You're going to be fine soon, I promise you that."

"A-Azula… b-back then, I…"

"Shush, I said," she told him. Sokka seemed to be searching for something with his hand, but his eyes were failing him and he couldn't find what he was looking for. Azula had no clue what to do other than to take it in hers, and to her relief, Sokka seemed to calm down slightly at this. Was that what he had been trying to accomplish? "It's going to be alright. I'll make sure of that."

"Azula… I… I'm…" he muttered, and she no longer had the heart to shut him up. Clearly, he had something to say. "I'm… sorry."

Azula's eyes fell at those words. Sorry? Again? What was he sorry about now?

It seemed that he had been forcing himself to remain conscious only to utter those words. His eyelids fell over his blue eyes, making Azula fear the worst until she saw his chest was still heaving. She allowed herself to take deep breaths now, since it seemed like she hadn't breathed in over half an hour, but as she did, something unexpected came over her.

She couldn't quite understand it, but as she looked at the man's torn up face, she felt a powerful urge to restore him to the goofy idiot he had been before. She wanted him to open those eyes again soon, she needed to argue with him, to discuss matters they didn't agree upon, she wanted him to say and do all those ridiculous things that always took her off guard… She couldn't let him die. She wouldn't let him leave her, not now. And to think she had wanted to get another gladiator not even a month ago…

She felt something wet on her lap, and it took her a moment to realize she was actually crying. Her hand was still holding his, and she just gazed upon her worn out gladiator as feelings foreign to her began rising within her chest. She had no idea what this strange surge of emotions was, but she couldn't have cared less about understanding them right now. She was too concerned over his well-being to care about anything but him at this point.

The palanquin began moving, and she finally stopped looking at him. It was unbearable for her to keep staring at his limp figure. Yet she still held his hand tightly, unwilling to let it go… unwilling to let him go.


	18. Chapter 18

"You little bitch!" yelled Xin Fu, glaring at his gladiator.

Toph was standing with her back against the wall as her sponsor yelled at her and sprayed her with spit, but she didn't feel cornered by him despite how he towered over her. She had her brow furrowed defiantly, since she was not about to shut up and abide by the man's complaints and demands. Her careless attitude only served to enrage him further, since Xin Fu could tell that nothing he said would make it past her prodigious ears. Regardless, rather than thinking about taking a smarter approach to the matter, Xin Fu had decided he would simply yell louder at her. It seemed he was under the impression that speaking up would make a difference. But, seeing how Toph remained impassive throughout the conversation, it was clear that Xin Fu's attempts to get through to her were doomed to fail.

"I told you to kill the brat, so you had to do it! I'm the sponsor! You are here to follow my orders!"

"Yeah, right," said Toph, sarcastically. "You've got to be ten times as dumb as I thought you were if you really think I'm going to let you boss me around. I never agreed to obey your orders when we made our deal."

"Forget that stupid deal! I only accepted to do this because you said I'd get more money like this than by dragging you back to your parents! So either you do as I say, or you're never going to fight in an Arena again!"

"Oh, yeah?" asked Toph, raising an eyebrow. "You really think you can keep me from fighting just because you feel like it?"

"I'm your damn sponsor! Without me, you're nothing!" yelled Xin Fu. "So either you do as you're told, or this is it for you and your stupid whim of fighting as a Gladiator!"

"Screw you," said Toph, snarling at Xin Fu. "I make my own decisions and you're not going to get in my way! I'll sponsor myself if I have to, but you'd better get through that thick skull of yours that I'm not going to behave as if I were a slave! I work for myself and for nobody else!"

Xin Fu laughed and shook his head in disbelief.

"That's stupid, thinking a gladiator can sponsor herself... you're nothing without me! Without a sponsor, you'll be right out of the League! But you always do things the hard way, don't you, Miss Beifong?"

The man spat on the ground in front of her and Toph cringed, not so much out of disgust towards the gesture, but towards the man himself.

"You're done for, little bitch," he said, glowering at her for the last time. "You're out of the Gladiator Business. Hell knows how you're gonna get out of this one, because I'm not about to save your skinny ass ever again. The money from the bids isn't worth sticking up with a piece of shit like you."

Xin Fu stormed off without another word. Toph was quite relieved to sense him leave. She had never been fond of the man, and she was quite pleased to get rid of him at last.

Now she stood alone in the empty corridor that led up to the stand-by room, since that was the place where Xin Fu had caught up with her, and the place where he had decided to deliver his speech. The man had been affiliated with the Beifong Estate ever since the war had started looking really bad for the Earth Kingdom: The Beifongs were amongst the few former noble families that had retained their privileged positions even before the Fire Nation had instated the Honorary Fire Nation citizen policy. They were amid the richest families in the world, so they had more than enough resources to appease the Fire Nation's thirst for gold and treasures if they ever came knocking threateningly at their doorstep.

And the Blind Bandit hailed from this noble family. Toph had been born blind, and she had struggled with her impairment as a toddler. But on one fateful day, she wandered too far from the Beifong grounds and wound up inside a cave. While trying to find her way out of her predicament, she met the badgermoles, creatures who sensed their surroundings with their earthbending. And so, with the help of her new friends, Toph, at age four, had started to develop her earthbending prowess. Her eyes still couldn't see, but her other senses were keener than ever before. She longed to show everyone that she could take care of herself now, that she had honed her earthbending skills to the point that it was almost as though she weren't blind at all. But her circumstances hadn't allowed her to do so.

Her parents feared for their blind daughter's wellbeing in this world at war, and they had protected her from the outside world through her childhood and teenage years, keeping her safe at all times and doing their best to keep her from getting involved in the fights she longed to take part in. But as soon as she became of age, she fled the Beifong Estate and ran off as far as she could go, trying to land herself all the good combats she could find.

Her parents sent Xin Fu after her as soon as they realized she was gone. The man had struggled to catch up with her, following the few leads he had been able to find that would bring him closer to catching Toph. After a few months of playing cat and mouse – and after she had gotten aboard a ship as a stowaway, forcing Xin Fu to find a ride across the ocean as well, – he had finally found her in the Fire Nation Capital. After an earthbending showdown, Xin Fu realized he was nowhere near as talented a fighter as Toph was, so he proposed to get her as many fights as she wanted if she spared his life. Xin Fu promised to send messages to the Beifongs, telling them he still hadn't found her, but in reality he would be sponsoring her in the Superior Gladiator League. Toph had given said proposal some thought before agreeing to it, for it was exactly what she wanted, after all. And thus, she started out her new life as a gladiator.

Xin Fu had no intentions to have her fight weaklings: he kept sending challenges to the strongest gladiators, but none of them accepted to fight a blind girl with no reputation to precede her. Thus, Toph had been forced to fight against gladiators in the lower branch of the ranking, in hopes that word about her prowess would spread quickly. But when the rumors about the Princess's brand-new gladiator reached Xin Fu's ears he was confident he had finally found their ticket into stardom. A non-bender who had trampled with ease over his first opponent, but had scarcely triumphed on his second combat… The rumors said he had only won the second battle because of his privileged position as Princess Azula's fighter.

With this in mind, Xin Fu had instructed Toph to slay him in the Arena to make sure they would take the victory home. Toph shrugged at his command, hardly bothered by it even when she had never killed anyone before. Regardless, when faced with his squirming shape and his shameful words, she thought there would be no glory at all in bringing such a loser to his end. She was still certain of that she had made the right decision, but now she was left standing by herself in the hallway, wondering if this would be the end of her career as a gladiator. She wasn't bound to be allowed to sponsor herself, even if she found the money to do it…

"Well, well… why are you all alone in this corridor?"

Toph didn't jump at the unfamiliar voice, but a frown spread over her features. She turned to where she sensed a man's presence. His vibrations told her he was stubby and plump, and judging by his voice tone, he seemed somewhat old.

"Why do you care?" asked Toph, snarling. "Keep your fat nose in your own business, old geezer."

The man let out a loud laugh, which surprised Toph. Why would he find amusement in her insults?

"Ah, I meant you no disrespect," said the man. "But I saw your sponsor walking through the vestibule while muttering things that made me think you might need a new sponsor now."

Toph's frowned deepened. Xin Fu did have a knack for talking to himself, which was one of the things that annoyed her about him. Regardless, that wasn't important anymore. There was an unknown man speaking to her, and even though she usually would have been irritated by strangers approaching her, this time she was far more curious than she was displeased by him.

"I need a new sponsor?" she asked.

"Well, I figured you would. Didn't he drop you as his gladiator?"

"He said he would, but that's not what I'm asking you," said Toph, moving away from the wall as she walked to where she sensed him. "What do you mean with a new sponsor?"

"Oh, I thought that such a talented fighter would want to continue her career as a gladiator. When I heard your sponsor talking like that I figured I could offer you the chance to fight as my own gladiator…"

"W-wait… what?! Your gladiator?" she asked, frowning. She wasn't too sure about this… he was a total stranger to her. Should she take up on this offer? She had already struck bargains with the wrong kind of people before, and she'd hate to do it again…

"I have the resources," said the man, smiling. "And I won't be pressing you on killing your opponents. You will have much freedom with me as your sponsor. We will go evenly at everything, too."

Toph was shocked. She seemed at a loss for words for a moment, seeing how she was completely certain that this would end really badly for her, but his proposal was ridiculously tempting. She had nothing better to do anyways, she wasn't likely to get a better sponsorship offer… and she wasn't willing to relinquish the progress she had achieved as a gladiator if she had a chance to retain it. Word might reach her parents about what she was up to, now that Xin Fu wouldn't be around to feed them false information, but she would enjoy her current freedom while it lasted.

"What do you say, Blind Bandit?" said the man.

"Well… I guess giving this a try won't hurt anyone," she said, shrugging.

"Excellent! We must go change the information about your sponsorship, then!" he declared, jovially.

"Right… but first, who are you exactly, old man?" she asked, walking next to him as they both left the corridor.

"Such a deep question," he said, chuckling. "But I assume you simply seek to know my name. I have many names and titles, and I'm popularly known as the Dragon of the West, but my friends call me Iroh."

Toph was stunned upon discovering his identity. The Fire Lord's brother was offering to serve as her sponsor…? But she got over her initial surprise quickly as a smile spread over her face, to Iroh's content. The Fire Lord's brother indeed…

"Oh, damn," she said, smirking as they headed to the vestibule. "This is gonna be good."

Had she ever held her head between her hands in this manner? She couldn't recall if she had. Her fingers were digging into her soft black hair as she wondered if the anxiety she was feeling would subside sometime soon.

After leaving Sokka in the care of the Palace's medical staff, Azula had found herself at a loss for what to do. She had taken a bath, thinking that cleansing herself from the blood and sand he had soiled her with would help her calm down. Thankfully, the bath was useful enough and she felt a lot better once she was soaked up from head to toes. After she was done with that, her feet carried her back to the Palace's hospital wing without her awareness. It seemed Sokka was still being treated, so there was nothing she could do right now but wait until the physicians updated her about his status.

Hence, she had entered a nearby room and sat down on a couch, her head held up by her hands as she began reflecting on the current happenings. And the more thought she gave to the matter, the more she frowned, wondering what the hell had come over her only a few hours ago. She had carried an almost dead slave on her shoulders through the Grand Royal Dome's vestibule, in plain sight for every single attendant to the gladiator fights to see them. And this hadn't been the full extent of her bizarre procedures: afterwards she had pulled him into her palanquin and had ordered her people to carry Sokka's limp body all the way to the Palace, where he was getting the best treatment possible…

She stopped before she began thinking about how rumors of her deeds would spread. She hated caring for what was being said about her, it merely weighed her down in her path to become the best version of herself that she could be. Still, her actions had likely shamed the Royal Family altogether. Her father would definitely not be pleased to hear of how his daughter had carried a slave in front of a huge crowd, refusing anyone else's assistance…

Indeed, she had refused them. She had insisted on carrying Sokka on her shoulders, and the reason why she had done it was clear as day: he wasn't just a slave to her, he was her partner. Even though they kept squabbling and arguing, she couldn't deny there was a bond between them that went far beyond their differing opinions. He had disappointed her several times already, but despite it all, she had grown to trust him. He was her sole ally in a world where she could hardly trust anyone else. It was rather ironic, wasn't it? The man she trusted was the one who ought to have been her worst enemy if things had only developed differently somehow… He was a snow savage, she was the Fire Princess. It made no sense for the two of them to work together, but even so, they did. And after things had gone awry on their last encounter, he had gone all out on the Blind Bandit in an attempt to gratify her, to show her that he had grown into a better man, a man worthy of being sponsored by her…

And that had taken him halfway to his grave.

Azula gritted her teeth, ashamed of herself. True, she had wanted to teach him a lesson. She had wanted to make sure he would fight up to the standards she knew she could demand from a man like him… She had also been trying to snap his eyes open, show him she was his sponsor while he was nothing but a slave. If he did as he was told, things would go well for him. If he strayed from her orders, his life would be miserable. But all the lessons she had been trying to teach him by force had backfired on her now, and she was left doing nothing but wallowing in guilt as she wondered if Sokka would survive.

She frowned as she started thinking about the situation more coldly. Why was she so worried? Why was she so guilty? He was truly nothing other than a slave! He had never been meant to become anything other than that. She should simply be worried about him being in a fit state to fight in less than three months, nothing more. He was her slave, he was supposed to be useful to her… she was only keeping him around to use him, after all!

Azula sighed at those thoughts. She wanted to make herself believe them, but she knew that repeating them a thousand times over and a thousand times again wouldn't make them come true. He wasn't just a slave… he had never been just a slave, and even Sokka knew it. He had never behaved like a slave; he had always been looking down on her with his sneaky smirks, saying and doing things that embarrassed her deeply. And no regular slave would have gotten away with any of that. But there was something about him… there had been something about him ever since they first met. Even as enemies, he had spoken to her as if they were on equal standings. Now, as partners, he acted the same way. And the weirdest part… was that she liked it. She enjoyed his company far more than she enjoyed being around any other men she could think of. Surely their views in the world were conflicting, but she had even spoken to him about matters that she had kept from the rest of the world, such as her turbulent relationship with her mother. He had coaxed the information out of her, almost without her awareness, and he had remained loyal to her. He hadn't spread word about the secrets that troubled her. Thus, she had grown to trust him. She had been willing to drop him as her gladiator not too long ago, but it had simply been a fit of frustration. She truly didn't want him gone… and she sure as hell didn't want him gone now.

Sighs kept escaping her lips, knowing that having such a close relationship with her gladiator could prove truly dangerous in several ways. For one, everyone in the Arena had witnessed her dragging Sokka, and that would likely damage her reputation terribly. And for another, there was Iroh to think about. They had been holding a silent quarrel against each other for as long as she could remember. She could only ever trust him to be completely untrustworthy, and clearly, he thought the same way about her. Yet he had witnessed her uncanny response when Sokka had been pummeled by the Blind Bandit… Iroh would probably be the first person to spread rumors about how she seemed to have a soft spot for a slave, and that would make everyone think she was more unfit to rule than they already did because she was a woman…

And they'd still believe that her brother was the rightful heir to the throne. She knew Ozai had no intentions to hand over his crown to Zuko, not now, not ever, but after the way she had behaved today, she feared her father would be utterly disappointed in her. She had allowed her emotions to sway her, and he had always told her emotions were useless for a good sovereign. It was the reason why he had always shunned Zuko away, since he had the tendency to take everything to the heart, and to Ozai, that was a weakness no Fire Lord could allow himself to have. But maybe Zuko's ten years at sea had changed him, and turned him into a better heir to their father than she could ever be… maybe her chances to make a difference in this world had gone up in smoke far before she had known it.

She gritted her teeth, feeling desperate. So all her efforts, all of what she had tried to achieve with Sokka's assistance, had been in vain, both because of Zuko's return and her display at the Arena. Her struggle was over, she couldn't win anymore… what could she do now? What should she do…?

She shook her head and frowned suddenly. No, it wasn't over. No, her plans weren't finished just yet. Who was to say Zuko had matured at all after these ten years? For all she knew, he would be even more of a crybaby than before…

And there was only one way to find out if that was the case, wasn't there?

Azula left the room where she had been sitting, and she turned her back on the healing chamber, and a pang of pain burst in her chest as she did. She could only hope Sokka would make it… but mulling over the matter now was pointless. It would do her no good to keep worrying about him when there was nothing she could do for him as she was. She had to get her mind off him, for her own good, and what better way to do it than by looking for her brother? She had to meet him for herself, to discover if her plans had been thwarted just as she feared…

She didn't know if she would find him, since she didn't know if he had arrived to the Palace yet. She looked into his room, a room that had been vacant for ten years, and she caught sight of several bags of what could only be luggage in it. But despite that, Zuko wasn't inside. Azula wandered down the Palace halls for a while, trying to think of a place her brother could have headed to… she didn't spot him near the turtle-duck's pond, a place she felt bitter towards, but she knew Zuko used to like spending time there. Yet, was that the first place he would want to see when he got home for the first time in a decade? She figured not. She only had to think about it in this way to realize that Zuko would have, most likely, sought out a meeting with the Fire Lord.

She gritted her teeth as she walked off to the main wing of the Palace, the one that led to the Throne Room, certain that Zuko would be there. She walked inside it from the back doors behind the throne, but she was surprised to find the room was empty. Frowning, she crossed the room and walked out the curtains that served as doors, wondering if she had made a mistake while predicting Zuko's moves…

She was pleased to discover she hadn't read her brother so wrongly.

The Royal Gallery stood at the end of the hall that led up to the Throne Room. The paintings had never seemed particularly pretty to Azula, but their purpose wasn't to impress anyone with their beauty. The paintings of the Fire Lords had been drawn to show the power and supremacy of each ruler of the Fire Nation, and they would daunt anyone who stood to admire them if only for a moment.

Azula could recall looking up at those paintings as a child. She would always imagine what it would be like when, one day, she would sit with the Court Painter and he would make the first artwork of a female Fire Lord. The first female Fire Lord… only because of her desires to obtain such a title she would look up at those figures often, trying to ignore how terrifying they were. No Fire Lord should be afraid of his forefathers' paintings.

Zuko, on the other hand, hated them. Even when he was thirteen-years-old, just before he got banished, he would avoid looking up at the paintings in the gallery. Perhaps it was the pressure of being the rightful heir to the throne… perhaps he was simply too scared of the creepy expressions in the faces of his ancestors.

His fear of the paintings had prompted Azula to think he'd never come look at them… so she was truly surprised to discover otherwise. The man staring up at the pictures couldn't have been anyone other than Zuko. There was something awfully familiar about him, yet there was something unknown about him as well. He had his back turned towards the Throne Room, but even so, Azula could see how much he had grown. His black hair was held up in quite a long ponytail, and he was clad in a black armor with orange and red colorings on its edges. His hands were behind his back as he looked up at the latest addition to the Gallery: Fire Lord Ozai's portrait.

Azula frowned as she walked towards him, her heart pounding in her chest. Had Zuko grown into a man she wouldn't know anymore? She sure as hell hoped he hadn't, mostly for her own sake. She stopped a few meters away from him, knowing she would have to say something. Surely he had noticed her arrival, her footsteps should have tipped him off about her presence already. And so she tried to find the right words for this moment, even though she felt at a loss for them. Should she be glad her brother was back? Or should she be completely displeased about it? The conflicting emotions within her heart did nothing to make up her mind, so she figured she should just say whatever came most naturally to her.

"Still afraid of them?" she asked, pleased to discover her voice was still steady and strong despite the latest happenings.

Zuko hadn't been entirely certain of who had come up to him, but that renowned voice was unmistakable even if it was much more adult than how he remembered it.

"Not really," said Zuko, lowering his eyes from his father's painting. "They're still intimidating… but I guess I missed looking at them."

"Really?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "What was to miss about them?"

"It's not like I really missed the paintings," he replied. "I guess I missed the Palace. It's… it's good to be home."

"It must be," was Azula's simple reply. He wasn't about to receive a warm welcome from her. "Did the years treat you kindly?"

"I bet you'd like to hear otherwise," said Zuko, frowning.

"As paranoid and distrustful as ever, Zuzu" said Azula, rolling her eyes "Have you conveniently forgotten that I was the one to provide you with the ship and crew you used to travel through the world?"

Zuko jumped at those words.

"Right… you did," he muttered.

Azula was surprised when he spun around towards her. The left side of his face had still been covered by bandages during the last time they had seen each other. This would be the first time that Azula would catch a glimpse of his damaged skin… and it was quite an astonishing sight to behold indeed. She immediately wondered if his left eye was still functional after the brutal burn it had been subjected to.

Zuko himself was impressed by her as well. Despite knowing such a long time had passed, he had half expected to turn around and find the same eleven-year-old he had called his sister so many years ago. Instead, he was facing a fully grown woman who seemed the doppelganger of their mother, Ursa.

They stood staring at each other, both with distrust and surprise as they tried to recognize in each other the figure of a sibling they hadn't seen in a decade. Zuko sighed and looked down to the floor, making Azula frown.

"You're… you're a lot older."

"I'm astounded you noticed," said Azula, her voice ringing with irony as she rolled her eyes. "And here I was thinking you had grown too, but it seems you only did on the outside."

Zuko glared at her, proving her point further. Time didn't seem to have touched his personality in the slightest, or so Azula thought. He truly was the same foolish boy her father had banished over his disrespectful attitude.

"Yeah, sure…" he grunted, folding his arms over his chest in a bitter manner.

"How did your voyage go, then?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow, knowing he longed to have someone ask him about it.

"It… it was long and useless," he said, making Azula frown.

"So… you didn't find the Avatar," she said, simply stating facts. Zuko cringed as she reminded him of his failure. "I figured you hadn't. There have been no reports of the Avatar being sighted for over a hundred years. It would have been an extremely lucky hit if you had found any hints of his whereabouts whatsoever."

"Yeah, I didn't find him, you don't need to rub it in my face," he replied, annoyed. He had almost forgotten how hard it was for him to get along with his younger sibling.

"I'm not rubbing anything. I'm just saying it only makes sense that you didn't find him," said Azula, shrugging. "So… there's nothing left of the Avatar? No clues at all about his fate?"

"I found nothing," said Zuko, sulking. "I roamed through the entire world, sailed all the seas and searched every Air Temple. The only place I didn't go to was the Northern Water Tribe. It was too risky to approach them when the Fire Nation navy was attacking them."

"I see," muttered Azula, frowning. So the Avatar might have been reborn in the North and nobody would ever know… had Zuko ever thought of this? Apparently not, and it didn't seem to be a good idea to tell him about it. "Well, I suspected the Avatar cycle had been broken somehow. Perhaps the Avatar has ceased to exist altogether."

Zuko nodded, although he still seemed distraught. He raised his head and looked at Azula again before staring at his surroundings, troubled.

"Everything… everything's changed," he muttered, sadly.

Azula frowned at those words. She hadn't needed further proof that her brother was the same he had always been, but his statement reaffirmed it to her once again.

"Right. Everything has changed," she said, matter-of-factly. "Did you expect the world to halt while you sought the Avatar? It's been ten years, Zuko. Nothing stays the same for such a long amount of time."

"I know," he said, sighing. "But… everything just feels different. You're different, even though you're still you. Even the Palace… it's all the same, but there's something I can't nail down about it…"

Azula let out an exasperated sigh.

"Would you stop being so dramatic for once?" she asked.

Zuko sighed again and looked up to her, his eyes showing conflicting emotions. Clearly, there was something he wanted to say, but he feared doing so.

"What?" Azula uttered, frowning.

"There's… there's one thing I need to know," he said, gritting his teeth as he brought forth the courage to ask his question. "How… how is Mai?"

Azula hadn't expected him to inquire about her just yet, but she knew it had to happen eventually. She was surprised to find herself slightly unwilling to tell him… but, for his sake, the sooner he found out, the better.

"She's… she's doing fine, I'd say," muttered Azula, lowering her gaze. "She's… dealing with her pregnancy quite well."

Zuko's eyes fell at those words. It was the lowest blow he could have expected to receive. The pain in his eyes was such that Azula couldn't help but feel guilty at having caused him such anguish, but it had been necessary. It was the easy way for him to find out, even if he didn't realize it right now.

"W-what? What did you…?"

"I'm sorry, Zuko," said Azula. "But she's been married for about a year now. They are expecting their firstborn in a few months."

Zuko shook his head, unable to believe this. He had been holding onto a single hope during his return home: the hope that there would be one person waiting for him, not caring if he triumphed or failed, just waiting… but his expectations were proven wrong in the cruelest of manners. Mai, married and pregnant…

"Why?" he asked, gritting his teeth. "Why didn't she…?"

"Wait for you?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "Be reasonable, Zuko. She didn't know if you'd ever come home. Fact is, nobody thought you would, not even you. You're here simply because Uncle miraculously convinced the Council through his pleading to let you return, for no other reason."

Zuko scowled, but he knew she was right.

"Who is he?" he grunted.

"A man we met a few years ago on Ember Island," said Azula, frowning as she recalled the occasion. "He and Mai spent some time talking and they got along very well. He proceeded to court her, and both their families agreed to their union. They were married last year."

"So it was… somewhat an arranged marriage?" he asked, frowning.

"That's not what I said," Azula said, rolling her eyes. It was typical of Zuko to misinterpret her, he just heard what he wanted to hear. "The families thought it was convenient, but they only got married because they truly wanted to. There's nothing more to it."

Zuko frowned again, his nose wrinkling as he felt his chest hurt him horribly. This was truly the worst case scenario for him, wasn't it…?

"Stop making those faces," Azula nagged him. "It looks as if you had stomach cramps."

"You just don't get it, okay?" said Zuko, shaking his head. "You're always so perfect! Nothing ever bothers you, nothing affects you! You'd never know what this feels like because you're so flawless that you don't need anyone or anything!"

Azula frowned at those words. Under any other circumstances, she would have smirked and looked down upon Zuko's pain… but not today. Not after what had just happened in the Arena, not after she had even shed tears over the fate of her gladiator. Yet Zuko knew nothing about that, and he was better off not knowing about it anyways.

"You're making too big a deal out of this, Zuko," said Azula, sighing.

"No, it's not just this," he said, grimacing and shaking his head. "It's… everything. Everything's different, everything's changed… she's changed. But then, there's that…"

"There's what?" asked Azula, annoyed. She wanted to roll her eyes and walk away from her brother already. Talking to him seemed to be the greatest waste of time she could have gotten engaged in.

"There's that one thing that won't change, no matter what I do," he said, his gaze fixated in the floor. "He won't see me."

Azula was puzzled at first, but it didn't take too much time for her to connect the dots.

"W-what…?" she mumbled, as Zuko gritted his teeth before losing his temper.

"He won't see me! I came back, and I wanted to talk to him at once! B-but as soon as he heard I was coming, he stormed off from the Throne Room without a word! He… he won't see me because I failed… he won't accept his own son again because I'm a failure…"

Azula's eyes lit at her brother's confession. She didn't care for how cruel she would seem at relishing over Zuko's misfortune. The fact that Fire Lord Ozai had refused to meet with Zuko soothed her, for it meant that her hopes and dreams hadn't been shattered just yet. She was sure that Ozai hadn't heard about her strange behavior at the Arena, but if fortune favored her, he would never find out. He was still shunning Zuko in the same manner as he always had, still treating him with distrust and disdain…

Perhaps her battle wasn't lost yet, after all.

* * *

 

He squirmed on the mattress as he regained his consciousness, but he immediately stopped moving when the pain made its way through him. It felt as if someone had dumped a ten-stories building on top of him, judging by how numb his entire body felt after whatever he had gone through… to be honest, he couldn't quite remember what had happened. All he knew was that even opening his eyes seemed too big an effort for him to make. Regardless, he managed to draw back his eyelids, and the daylight nearly blinded him for a moment, making him cringe.

"So… you're still alive, after all," said a familiar voice near him.

Sokka's eyes were still getting adjusted to the morning light, he couldn't see anything properly, but he moved his head to his right, trying to take a look at the person who had spoken to him.

He remained quiet for a moment; both because he was still unable to see properly and also because he didn't know if he would be able to speak at all… he felt as if he hadn't uttered a word in a lifetime.

But as he finally managed to come to his senses, and his eyesight began working properly, he frowned slightly, although even such a simple motion made his head hurt. Was it just his imagination… or did the Princess seem to be worried about him?

"A… Azula?" he managed to mumble in mild disbelief. Was this a dream? Why would she be sitting beside him as he lay on a mattress? He had the feeling he had done something really shameful recently… it wasn't just their latest arguments, there was something more, but he couldn't quite remember it at the moment.

"Welcome back to life," she said. Would grinning at him serve any purpose? She rather doubted it… thus she had stopped halfway between smiling or not, and her face had simply contorted in a very strange grimace. "How are you faring?"

"I…" he said, gritting his teeth. Speaking was a lot more troublesome than he had expected it to be. "Feels like I… got trampled by angry moose-lions… 'r something like that…"

"I guess that's close enough to what happened," said Azula, crossing her arms over her chest. "The Palace's medical team has been taking care of you. They've done their best to heal you, though they decided not to try anything else until you woke up."

"S-so… I'm in the Palace?" he asked, closing his eyes as his head was suddenly struck by pain.

"Where else would you be?" Azula replied, frowning. But, thanks to the look on his face and the questions he was asking, she figured out what his problem was. "Have you forgotten what happened to you?"

"Uh… I guess," said Sokka, raising his left hand to his forehead with far more efforts than he thought he would require to execute such a simple motion. "It's a big blur…"

"You fought against the Blind Bandit," explained Azula, scowling at the memory of the dreadful fight. "She's the one who left you in this condition."

Sokka groaned as he began recalling the events of the previous day. He remembered being buried alive at some point… He could also recall getting squashed inside a rock, which would explain why his entire body felt as if he had been pressed by some brutal force. And then he remembered someone had dragged him through the Arena and laid him down someplace… but he couldn't recall much more than that. Still, he figured he didn't need to remember anything else. Sokka gave Azula a guilty glance before sighing and saying:

"I'm sorry…"

Azula's eyes snapped open at that. Again? What was he even apologizing for at this point?

"Why do you keep saying that?" she asked, looking over at him with utter confusion. "Why are you so sorry?"

"I… I disappointed you," he said, gritting his teeth at every wave of pain that came over his body. "You said that… if I slipped up one more time, this was it… B-but I screwed up anyway… so before you… before you drop me as your fighter, I just wanted you… to know that I'm sorry…"

Azula frowned at that. It seemed he would have wanted to talk more, but the pain wouldn't let him.

"You don't need to apologize for anything, then," she said, sighing. "You haven't disappointed me."

It was Sokka's turn to look at her as if she had lost her mind.

"I… what? B-but I was beaten…"

"You lost against a girl who fought like a killer machine," said Azula. "She wasn't about to give you any mercy. I was too far away to hear whatever it was you told her, but what you said, whatever it was, saved your life. And that's enough for me right now."

"W-why?" asked Sokka, frowning. "Why is that enough…?"

"Because you did your best, Sokka," said Azula, sighing. "It wasn't as if you'd lost because of a petty performance, you lost because that girl started to fight like a madwoman ever since you hit her for the first time. Even I would have struggled to defeat her."

"Y-you think?" he asked, smiling slightly even though it wasn't easy to lift the corners of his mouth.

"Well, that might have been an overstatement," said Azula, imagining the way such a fight would have developed. "Perhaps I wouldn't have had it too easy, but I'm confident I would have won anyways."

"Which… makes me unfit to be… your gladiator, right?" he asked, his smile fading away.

"What makes you…? Do you want me to drop you, by any chance?" asked Azula, raising her eyebrows inquisitively.

"N-not at all, but…" he said, stopping as he realized he actually didn't want to stop serving as her gladiator. Why not? He had no clue. Maybe if she dumped him, and if she decided to be merciful, she would spare him of all the fighting and would agree to take him down to the South Pole… but he truly didn't want that, not at this point. He had made a vow to her that he would fight until he became the first fighter in the Superior Gladiator League, and he wanted to keep to his promise. It was what a man of honor would do, after all.

"But what?" asked Azula, sighing in annoyance. "Sokka, what happened out there wasn't your fault, and it wasn't mine either. There was no way we could have known that a blind girl like her would turn out to be such a fearsome opponent."

Azula was taken aback by her own words. She wouldn't let Sokka see that she felt quite guilty for having forced him to face against the Bandit out of spite, but she was right: there had been no way either of them could have known the girl would turn out to be so deadly.

"Well, there you have it," he said, chuckling. "We… we were the ones… who underestimated her…"

"No, underestimating or not isn't the issue here," said Azula, shaking her head. "Even if we had estimated her properly, you would have lost regardless. You need more training before facing foes of such a high level."

"Care to… explain me how is that… going to happen?" asked Sokka, clenching his teeth. "I'm already… at Piandao's… league, right? Because… I can fight him evenly now… how am I going to get any better now?"

"I'm willing to bet he would have some useful advice for you about fighting earthbenders," said Azula. "He has a lot of experience, and at some point in his life he must have fought against foes with powers similar to this girl's skills. I rather doubt she's really the best earthbender in the world."

"And what if… she is?" asked Sokka, gulping.

If there was at least one undefeatable foe in the Ranking, their original goal would fade away into darkness. Azula frowned before shaking her head. She had always overcome all limits others had imposed upon her. She refused to surrender just because a new obstacle had gotten in their way.

"We'll figure that out later. For now, you only need to focus on getting better. Until you're fit to fight, there's no point in wondering if we'll ever defeat her."

"Right…" said Sokka, staring at Azula with some distrust. There was something about this soothing conversation that he couldn't quite understand… "Why are you being so… nice to me?"

Azula was startled by his question. She looked down at him, a mild blush appearing on her cheeks.

"I mean… all these days I kept annoying you…" he said. "And I got to your bad side… more times than I can count… so, why?"

Why couldn't he just let things go? Why did he find the need to pester her about questions she didn't want to answer? Especially when she hardly even understood the answer herself…

"You're my gladiator," was her response, making him open his eyes widely at that sudden remark. It wasn't as if she were simply stating a fact… there was a certain undertone to her words that impressed Sokka immediately. "And that makes you… it makes you my partner, too. We're a team, Sokka. We have fallouts all the time, I won't deny it, and at times I wish I had gone anywhere but to Hui Yi to find a gladiator suitable for me. But, truth to be told… you're the right fighter for me. I don't even know why it feels this way… all I can say is that it just does. I'm stuck with you even if things are a mess between us at most times. And you're stuck with me too, whether you like it or not."

Sokka was surprised by Azula's pronouncement on the subject, but he smiled at her words. So… it wasn't over. Their strange partnership still continued, and he was truly relieved to know it. Azula gave him a weak smile too before standing up from the chair she had been sitting on.

"Where are you…?"

"I should inform the physicians of your awakening," she said, looking down at his bandage-covered figure. "It seems like you're in a world of pain, so it would be better to have them tend to you now."

"Right…" said Sokka, nodding and making his headache worse at that. "Damn…"

"What…?"

"It's nothing," he said, trying to give her a reassuring smile even though he couldn't quite conjure one. "I'll see you later, I guess…"

"Make sure to be as helpful as you can be with your recovery," said Azula. "It would be convenient for us to head to Shu Jing as quickly as possible."

"Yeah…" said Sokka, looking at the ceiling for a moment, wondering what his master would say once he heard about the result of his fight this time. He then turned his head to the side to convey one last thought to her. "Azula…"

But the Princess was no longer in the room. Sokka sighed, even though his bones cringed at the movement. He sure needed a good healing session right away… hopefully those physicians would make it here quickly. He looked up again, still thinking about her, about all of what she had said and done for him these last two days. And even though he knew she wouldn't hear him, he muttered:

"Thank you."


	19. Chapter 19

The next days were hellish for Sokka. His only functional limb was his left arm, and he couldn't even move it properly at first. The pain-killers he was given by the Palace physicians were hardly any use, and even though there were times when his ache would subside, allowing him to drift into a momentarily peaceful sleep, the pain would return at full force only a few moments afterwards. He was lying in bed, twitching and whining at all times. Azula came by to visit him whenever the physicians decided to give him a break from the healing, and she seemed to believe that, if he was strong enough to complain, there definitely had to be some improvement to his status. Sokka disagreed strongly, but the fact that he was able to bicker with her only served to prove her point.

His meals were quite unpleasant at first, mostly because the damage in his inner organs was hard to assess. Eventually he was allowed to eat as he pleased, once it was clear that the fight had mostly damaged his bones and skin. The wound on his right shoulder was by far the worse one, even after his skin and muscles had been sewed together. He was certain that the fever he kept suffering from was a consequence of that particular injury. Due to the depth of the wound, the physicians decided to focus most their treatment upon it, but all the ointments to accelerate the healing process induced so much pain that Sokka feared they were damaging him rather than helping him heal.

"It's… damn it, it's no use," he said, panting as he tried to ball up a fist with his right hand, but he stopped his motions when a bolt of pain had ran down his arm.

"There's no point in forcing your recovery," said Azula, frowning as she watched him sternly. "It's been four days, you can't expect to be fully functional so quickly."

"Well, damn, I should be," said Sokka, sighing. "For how much longer am I supposed to waste time lying around in bed?"

"Your body is still very weak," said one of the doctors tending to his wounds as he applied more curative herbs to Sokka's shoulder. "At the very least, you have an entire month of treatment ahead of you before you can start thinking about returning to the Gladiator Arena."

"A month?" said Sokka, grimacing and not because of the pain. "That's… that's too much."

"Try not to get your body smashed next time, then," said the doctor cruelly, earning himself a glare from Azula. Physicians had a knack for being rather harsh towards their patients. At Azula's scowl, the man coughed and turned around to leave, seeing how he had nothing else to do with Sokka, and Azula was considerably terrifying when she was mad. "Very well, then, if you'll excuse me now…"

Both Azula and Sokka followed him with their eyes as he left the room nervously.

"I don't remember all too well right now, but I think you mentioned I have to be back in the ring within a certain period of time or else I'll be disqualified, right?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Indeed," said Azula, sighing. "The time span is of three months. If you don't return by then, you'll be out of the business for an entire year before you can get back to fighting."

"A… a year?" he gasped, surprised.

"We don't want that, do we?" muttered Azula, frowning, deep in thought.

"No… not at all," said Sokka, his left hand curling up in a fist. If his recovery took longer than three months, he would wind up delaying his imminent return to the Water Tribe for another year…

"Then make us both a favor and don't force your recovery recklessly," said Azula, looking at him now. "Pushing yourself over the limits won't help you, it might get you in even worse shape. So please… don't do it."

"I wouldn't have thought you'd be so worried about me, Princess…" he said, smirking suggestively at her.

"Why, I'm relieved to see you've regained your stupidity, at the very least," she replied, making him wince.

"That was mean, Azula… I'm badly wounded, you know?!" he said, moving in bed as he got overly enthusiastic with the subject… but his pain forced him to sit back down as he gritted his teeth, holding back a howl of agony to avoid embarrassing himself before the Princess.

"The one who doesn't seem to recall you're wounded is you," said Azula, rolling her eyes as he bit his lower lip and leaned down on the soft pillows of his mattress.

"Sadly, the pain reminds me of it every single time I try to forget about it…" he said, his chest heaving with every breath he took.

The sight of her injured gladiator made Azula frown with worry. Could he be ready in three months? She would seek to confront him with a weak opponent… but even doing that could bring forth horrid consequences if he wasn't fully healed by the time he returned to the Arena.

But her musings were interrupted when the door swung inwards suddenly, startling both the Princess and the gladiator.

"Oh, my!" squealed a familiar voice. "You poor thing!"

Ty Lee stood at the threshold for a moment, aghast to see Sokka's deplorable state. She approached him hastily, gazing at the Water Tribe man with horror in her eyes.

"You're so badly hurt, this is so awful! How are you holding...?" she spoke hurriedly, as Mai entered the room behind her.

But before Ty Lee could come any closer, Azula stretched her arm in front of her, forcing her to halt her advance and stopping her from flinging herself at Sokka.

The other three people in the room stared at the Princess in surprise. Sokka looked at her, not understanding what was this new protective knack she had developed towards him, Ty Lee was plainly dumbfounded, and Mai raised an eyebrow, analyzing Azula's unusual behavior silently.

"Azula...?" asked Ty Lee, eyeing her with caution.

"He's injured, as you can plainly see," she stated, not looking at anyone or anything. "Don't fling yourself at him like that, will you? You'll only worsen his condition."

"Oh... sorry," said Ty Lee, taking a few steps back and smiling awkwardly.

Azula lowered her hand then, folding her arms over her chest. She kept the usual stern look on her face, without any blushes that betrayed her true intent. Regardless, the other people inside the room couldn't help but find her behavior to be suspicious.

"How did this happen?" asked Mai, to Azula's relief. Despite she remained firm in her act, and doing her best to make it seem as if she had been protective rather than jealous, she was quite irritated by the confused stares the others were giving her.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" she retorted.

"But… how?" asked Ty Lee, her eyes blazing as she looked at Sokka with concern. "He's been trained by Piandao, and he had always been so strong…!"

"Clearly, someone was stronger than him this time," said Mai, looking at Sokka's bruised and scratched body. "Who did this to you?"

"It was a very tough earthbender…" said Sokka, gulping as he intentionally left out the defining features of his last opponent.

"Really?" asked Ty Lee, surprised.

"Yes, a tiny, blind, female earthbender," said Azula, making Sokka glower at her as the other two looked at her in shock.

"A blind girl?" asked Mai. "How could a blind girl beat him so badly?"

"I have no idea," said Sokka, fuming now. "Before I knew it, I was fighting for my life. I didn't have much time to figure out how she did it."

"But… a tiny blind girl damaged you like this?" said Ty Lee, worried.

"She was the worst challenge I've ever faced," said Sokka, sighing. "The deadliest foe I've met… and I'm including her on that list," he muttered, pointing at Azula with his left hand.

"Oh, really now?" asked Azula, glaring at him. "From what I recall, I managed to reduce you to your worst possible shape in less than fifteen minutes and with… what was it, two or three blows only? Not to mention you were supposed to have the advantage in that environment… should I add that the doctors say you'll take a few months to recover? Yet you're still facing the consequences of fighting me. Care to say which fight was worse now?"

"Why so defensive, Princess?" he asked, raising his eyebrows inquisitively at her.

"I'm merely proving my point," she grunted, their eyes colliding again as they defied each other through fierce looks.

"Could you two keep your pointless fights to yourselves?" said Mai, sighing. "I didn't come all this way to mourn over him losing against a blind girl."

Azula's attention turned to her friend. Mai was looking at her with an inquisitive quality in her eyes.

"I've heard rumors," said Mai. "People are saying he's back. Is it true?"

"Yeah, some gossip about that reached me too…" said Ty Lee, biting her lower lip.

Sokka stared at them with confusion, seeing how he was the only person in the room who had no idea what they were talking about now.

Azula took a deep breath before speaking.

"Indeed, he's back. He returned empty-handed, but he returned regardless."

Ty Lee winced at that. She knew little about the issues regarding royal honor and whatnot, but she was certain that failing on such an important mission wasn't good news for anyone… especially for the Fire Lord's son.

"I see," said Mai, her face growing clouded with concern. "Where can I find him?"

"Where can she find who, exactly?" asked Sokka, his confusion growing more with every waking moment. "What's going on?"

"We're talking about Zuko, Azula's brother" said Ty Lee. "He returned home not long ago…"

"Wait, he's back?" said Sokka, surprised. "And you didn't tell me?"

The disappointed look in his eyes took Azula aback. Why did he think she should have told him? Zuko's return wasn't that important over all. Why would it matter so much to him?

"Was I supposed to?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"W-well… it's kind of a big deal, isn't it?" he asked, confused.

"I don't see why it would be a big deal for you, you don't even know him," said Azula, looking at him warily. "In any case, Mai… he might be in his room. Still, I've only seen him once since he arrived, so I don't know his whereabouts for certain. But he's definitely in the Palace someplace. You can go look for him, if you want to."

"I'll do that, then," said Mai, nodding before turning around and leaving the room without another word.

"I thought of seeing Zuko for myself now… but I'll wait until Mai's turn is over," said Ty Lee after Mai closed the door behind her.

"A wise choice… perhaps too wise coming from you," said Azula, with a devilish smirk.

"Hey!" Ty Lee protested, although she was already used to the way the Princess had fun at her expenses. "Oh, never mind… say, why was that blind girl so hard to defeat? I mean… you're tough as you are, and you always made cool plans to beat your enemies! So… how come? Did she outsmart you?"

"It's hard to explain," said Sokka, his mood dampening at the mention of the subject again. "She was just… extremely powerful. Being blind wasn't a handicap for her at all…"

"But if she's blind, she can't see…" said Ty Lee.

"Uh… yeah, that's what makes blind people blind," said Sokka, starting to understand why Azula made so much fun of the girl's wits.

"I meant, if you threw something at her, she wouldn't have seen it coming," said Ty Lee.

"Oh, yeah, I thought about that," said Sokka, sighing. "Long-distance combat should have been the trick, and it worked when I threw my boomerang at her. But then she sank it into the sand and… and…"

"And…?"

"M-my… MY BOOMERANG!" he squealed, jumping on the bed and making his entire body ache as he did. "Owww… damn it! W-where's my boomerang?!"

"Well…" said Ty Lee, at a loss for what to say.

"Azula!" Sokka called the Princess, taking both girls by surprise by his familiarity towards her "W-where is…? What happened to my boomerang?!"

"Would you calm down?" she exclaimed, shaken by his outburst. "I… I don't have a clue, really. It sank in the sand, so… it's probably still there."

"WHAT?!" Sokka squeaked, his voice higher than ever before. "B-but… M-my boomerang… Why didn't you get it?!"

"Oh, gee, I wonder!" said Azula, rolling her eyes as she glowered at him. "So carrying your almost dead body through the Arena wasn't enough of a feat, no! I was supposed to fetch your silly toy as well! How dared I forget something so important?"

Sokka wanted to retort before realizing how unreasonable he was being. She had carried him, on her own. He towered over her easily, he was pretty well-built and no longer underfed. The Princess must have made quite the effort to carry him as she had. He sighed and looked away for a moment, slightly ashamed of himself.

"Sorry for that… b-but the sarcasm wasn't necessary," he muttered, flushing slightly upon his reply.

"Apparently, it was," said Azula, still glaring at him. "I doubt you would have gotten the message through any other means."

Sokka pouted for a moment. He should be used to Azula being so hard on him, but at times her words felt harsher and colder than dumping a bucket of ice over his head.

"W-well… I do appreciate what you did for me, a whole lot," he said, gulping. "B-but… is there any chance you can get boomerang now?"

"What?" she said between gritted teeth.

"It's… it's my boomerang, you know?" he said, sighing before looking at her with those huge blue eyes, begging her to go along with his request. "I'd go get it myself, honestly… but you know I can't right now, so… pretty please?"

"Pretty…?" said Azula, looking at him with disbelief. "What the hell is the matter with you? Who says 'pretty please' in this time and age?"

"I guess… me?" he insisted, still looking at her in the same manner. If he could have gotten away with it, he would have knelt down and hugged her knees to intensify his pleading, but he wasn't able to move his legs just yet.

Azula was disgruntled by Sokka's current behavior, knowing he was simply trying to convince her to follow fit with his wishes by looking at her with such eyes. But how could she refuse him? It wouldn't hurt to drop by at the Arena to ask where his boomerang might be…

"Something must be seriously wrong with me…" she said, shaking her head as she averted her gaze from his.

"Then… you'll do it?!" he asked, his eyes lit up with hope now.

"I…" she grunted, looking at him from the corner of her eye. "I hate you, damn it…"

"That means you'll do it! Yes! You're the best sponsor ever!" he squealed, almost starting a strange celebration dance before the pain reminded him to keep still.

"And you're the worst gladiator ever," she replied, although this claim didn't help her ruin his high spirits. "Don't pull anything weird on him while I'm gone, Ty Lee."

"Oh, I won't, no worries," said the girl, who had remained silent as she enjoyed watching the spat between Azula and Sokka as she would have watched a theatre play.

"Thanks, Azula!" Sokka called out as the Princess stormed away from the room, relieved to get away from him and his enticing blue gaze.

* * *

He had no idea why his feet had dragged him towards the fountain in the outer yard so many times now. It was a somewhat special place for him, but visiting it every day would only deepen his current heartache.

Had she forgotten about him altogether? Had she truly moved on? Was she happy with her husband? He couldn't believe she would be. They had always been meant to be together, always. They were soul mates, there was a bond between them he couldn't explain to anyone… or had he been imagining things? Perhaps he had felt this way, and she hadn't. She probably didn't remember him anymore.

Little did he know that she had actually come looking for him. Mai had given some thought to Zuko's likely location, and she had the hunch he might have come to the fountain in which they had fallen together so many years ago. It had been a silly joke back then… but their relationship had become so much deeper thanks to that event. Mai didn't just drop by at the Palace to see Azula after that. She had started to spend more time with Zuko and he enjoyed her company far more than he thought he would. She used to be his sister's friend… now she was his friend too. And there was the chance they could be so much more… but he had been banished for speaking without permission, and their blossoming relationship had been doomed.

Mai stood a few meters away from him, her eyes fixated on his fallen shoulders. He looked defeated. Would he be able to move on? Could they remain friends despite it all? She couldn't hold back a sigh as she wondered if this conversation would be any use…

"When was the last time you gave your hair a trim?" she asked, her voice steady despite the anxiety twisting up inside her.

Zuko jumped at her voice. His back stiffened as his breathing grew agitated. He turned around in slight haste, his eyes alight with hope.

It only pained him further to realize the girl had become even more beautiful after all this time. Her belly bump even enhanced her splendor. Whereas him… he was a mess.

He didn't miss the way her eyes studied his features, especially the scar over his left eye. Zuko had momentarily forgotten that she hadn't seen his wound before. He lifted a hand as if to cover the flaw on his face, but halfway there he realized there was no point in covering the scar once she had already seen it…

"Y-yeah, I…" he muttered, trying to find an answer to her question. "It's been a long time since I cut it…"

"I can tell," she said, eyeing him with concern. She was still looking at the scar over his eye. Zuko usually hated it when others looked at him in this manner, but he didn't mind so much if Mai was the one to do it. "Does it still hurt you?"

"At times," rasped Zuko, looking down. "It's not as bad as it used to be… but it's said that burns never stop being painful."

"I've heard," said Mai, sighing. "How did your trip go? Did the crew treat you well?"

"Not really," said Zuko, shrugging. "I never got along too well with them… I've never gotten along too well with anyone, for that matter."

"You know that's not true," said Mai, finally lowering her eyes as well.

Zuko eyed her with uncertainty, glad to see she hadn't forgotten about the bond between them, but still doubtful. If she hadn't forgotten, why was she with another man…?

"Azula, she told me about your… m-marriage," he said, hardly finding the strength to utter that last word. "Is it true?"

"Why would she lie about it?" asked Mai, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's Azula," he said, shrugging. "She likes making me miserable, so…"

"What use would there be in making you miserable when you've only just returned home?" asked Mai.

"What use was there in making me miserable all those years ago?" asked Zuko, folding his arms over his chest.

"She was a child, and so were you," Mai replied. "She's grown a lot in these ten years."

"Has she, now…?" asked Zuko, grimacing. Azula had seemed the same annoying younger sibling she had always been when they had spoken in the Gallery…

"In any case… she didn't lie," said Mai, looking down at the ground. "And you can see that clearly enough."

Her hand caressed her prominent womb. Zuko grit his teeth as he felt his chest split with worse pain than any he had ever experienced before. That child… it should be his. He should be the one she was married to… why had the spirits toyed around with his fortune? Why couldn't anything work the right way in his life?

"Is he… is he a good man?" he asked, his fists balling up and shaking as he tried to restrain his temper. He wanted to yell at her, to ask her for an explanation for why she hadn't waited for him, to tell her that the man she was with couldn't have anything on him…

Mai could see the pain in his eyes even though his long bangs were covering his face slightly. He had shaved his head partially before leaving on his long travels, but it seemed he had found no point in sporting such a strange hairdo after some time. He had allowed his hair to grow unevenly, while still keeping the longest strands tied up in a ponytail.

"Zuko… I'm sorry," she said, bowing her head. Zuko jumped at her apology, never expecting her to speak those words. "I understand you must be shaken up, since nothing is the way it used to be before you left… and I'm sorry that you expected me to give you something I couldn't deliver. Still… Ruon Jian is a good man. He's a wonderful husband, and I'm certain he will be a great father also."

Zuko had to struggle to keep the tears of rage and frustration from leaving his eyes.

"Just as you will be," continued Mai, making him look at her in surprise.

"W-what…?" he stuttered, looking at her with disbelief.

"I'm sure you'll be a great husband and father one day, Zuko," she said, looking up to him and letting him see that it also pained her to accept they would never be together. "For another woman, and other children… and that woman will be the luckiest girl in the world to have a man like you."

"Y-yeah… sure," he said, and she didn't miss the disbelief in his voice.

"Zuko…"

"Mai," he said, looking at her with intensity. Their eyes were locked together for a moment before he found the courage to speak again. "Does he… make you happy? Are you happy with him?"

A part of her wanted to lie, just out of curiosity. She wanted to know how far he would be willing to go for her sake if he thought she was unhappy… but she wasn't a child anymore. She wouldn't ruin her life with her husband over a silly whim. Maybe she loved Zuko… but she had grown to love her family above anything else.

"Yes," she declared, and his eyes fell at her statement. "I am happy, Zuko."

And that was it. It was the wake-up call he needed to realize his life would never be what he wanted it to be. His father would never let him become Fire Lord… the girl he had loved and trusted had been taken from him when he hadn't been around. What was left for him? What was he supposed to do with his life now? He was just a hollow prince, a failure. There was nothing left for him anymore. His life had been ruined.

Still, he found the courage within himself to give Mai a smile. Both of them knew his smile was dishonest, that he truly felt like crying rather than grinning…

"I'm glad…" he said, nodding. "I'm glad… that he makes you happy. That's all there is to it, right? It's what matters the most…"

"Zuko…"

"I hope your child is strong and brave," he said, still smiling. "Just like his mother. Thanks for… for talking to me. It was good seeing you again, after all this time…"

Mai knew this was her cue to leave, despite her heart was begging her to run to him and embrace him. Still, she knew how inappropriate that move would be… so she just nodded, knowing she was better off staying far from Zuko from now on. He had to heal the wounds she had inflicted upon his heart, and being around her would only injure him further.

"It was good seeing you also, Zuko," she said. "I suppose… we'll see each other around."

"Y-yeah, once in a while," he replied, trying to shrug carelessly.

"Thanks for… for understanding, Zuko," said Mai, sighing. She knew how hard it had to be for him to relinquish all the dreams he used to have about the two of them being together… but he had to accept they would never come true, just as she had accepted it when she had decided to start a new life with Ruon Jian. "Fare well."

"Yeah…" he mumbled, as she turned around and walked into the Palace again.

He couldn't hold the tears once she was gone. He sat at the edge of the fountain, feeling even more crushed and miserable than before upon acknowledging that his fate wouldn't be anything like what he had always imagined it would be…

* * *

Azula spent the entire trip on the palanquin wondering why she had accepted to fulfill Sokka's request. She didn't know how to gather the courage she needed to walk into the Grand Royal Dome after her shameful display not too long ago… she didn't want to face the questioning looks she would be given by the gossipy people who attended the gladiator fights often. Some might even make fun of her… well, they'd better not. She was the Princess, after all, and there would be dire consequences for such disrespect.

She stepped off the palanquin once they arrived to the Arena and she stopped to look up at the building ahead before walking to it.

"Is everything alright, Princess?" asked the Captain of her Royal Guard, concerned.

"Yes, Captain," she replied. "Wait here. I'll be back shortly."

"Understood, Princess," he replied, bowing curtly at her as she walked up the steps that would lead her to the gates of the Grand Royal Dome.

The men at the double doors opened them at once when they saw Azula approaching them. She didn't acknowledge their presence or anyone else's for that matter. She simply strode towards Shoji's counter, her head held up high proudly.

Still, she couldn't ignore the way she was attracting everyone's eyes. Azula was certain she wasn't imagining things when several people in the vestibule looked at her in awe; some even smiled at her, making her discomfort grow even further. It seemed the distance between the door and Shoji's counter was longer than she imagined, seeing how it felt like it had taken her ages to get to reach the boy.

"Good day, Shoji," she said, startling him and making him put down the scrolls in his hands.

"Princess!" he gasped, surprised at seeing her. "I'm… I'm so glad to see you. I'm sorry about what happened to your gladiator…"

"Spare me that nonsense of an apology, it's not as if you had anything to do with it," she said, rolling her eyes.

"N-no, I guess I didn't…" he muttered. "But I could have done more research on the Bandit and told you not to fight her if I had known she was so deadly…"

"Well, I won't deny that would have been helpful," said Azula, shrugging. "But it's useless to say that at this point. The fight is done, there's nothing more to it."

"I suppose not," said Shoji, sighing. "Is he okay, though? The Blue Wolf…?"

"He's alive," said Azula. "He will be fine in a few months' time, according to the Palace's physicians. In any case, I didn't come here to update you on his status, I came here to…"

Azula interrupted herself when someone else approached the counter. A kid was looking up to her with wide eyes, making her frown down at him. She had no idea how to deal with children.

"Zhou! C-come here, silly boy!" said his mother, a chubby woman of dark brown hair, who took the kid by the arm before looking up at the Princess and giving her a kind smile. "Please excuse his behavior, Princess…"

Azula didn't say a word. Since when did peasants like that woman smile at her?

"Don't mind them," said Shoji, chuckling as the woman walked away with her child. It seemed he understood why so many people were acting in such an unusual manner… "What were you saying, Princess?"

"Right, I… I came here to find my gladiator's boomerang!" she said, struggling to focus on the issue at hand. "Where can I find it?"

"Oh, it's likely in one of the storages on the back… did it fall in the sand during the fight?"

"It sank in it, to be precise…" said Azula, sighing.

"Well, it's still likely back there," said Shoji. "The staff arena always check the sand after a day of fighting and every object they find, they leave in the storages. Wait here; I'll go get it right away."

"Fine… make it quick," said Azula, wanting to leave the Grand Royal Dome as fast as possible.

The muttering in the vestibule only increased her unease as she awaited Shoji's return. She had expected people to disdain her after what had happened during Sokka's last fight… but this was a notch beyond what she had anticipated. The way that kid had looked at her… something about this wasn't right. She looked at the people on her left from the corner of her eye, and again, they were looking at her as they muttered amongst themselves. What was going on here?

"Here! It wasn't hard to find," said Shoji, bringing the blue boomerang with him. "There you go, Princess…"

"Shoji…" she muttered, anxious now. "What's going on here? Why are they looking at me like that?"

"Oh, you mean… you don't understand, huh?" he said, smiling. "If you'd been around for longer, you'd get it…"

"What do you mean?" she asked, frowning.

"Well, the way you carried your gladiator the other day… everyone was impressed," he said, beaming.

"What? They were impressed?" Azula's frown deepened at that. "What was there to be impressed about…?"

"You see… it was something most unusual," said Shoji. "When gladiators lose, their sponsors are upset and angry, they even leave them to die at times as if to make them pay for their failure… but you didn't."

Azula was confused now. If that was the usual behavior… why would people be impressed rather than displeased?

"You're the Princess… you have lots of servants and slaves," said Shoji. "You had no reason to carry him after he lost as he did. But you still did… and with this you taught everyone a lesson about something they had no idea existed!"

"W-what was that?" asked Azula, also unaware of whatever lesson she had supposedly taught the people of the arena.

"That sponsors should treat their gladiators honorably, of course!" said Shoji, beaming.

Azula was startled at that sudden assertion. She had treated Sokka honorably? She was certain it had been the other way around…

"Most people treat slaves like inferior people," said Shoji. "It's a generally accepted notion that they are. But gladiators… they're not just people who pour the drinks of the noblemen and give them bubble baths. They're the ones who walk out into a sand pit representing their sponsors and fighting for them. But rarely are they thanked for their performances… sponsors still treat them as if they were nothing more than the average slave, not caring for their efforts, not respecting them as the fighters they truly are. But you… you're the Princess, and you've set such a great example by respecting and honoring your gladiator!"

Azula frowned and looked around the vestibule. She truly hadn't imagined it, then… people were still smiling at her, gazing at her with admiration. It didn't make much sense to her still, but it was truly a relief that her actions were seen under a better light than she thought they would be.

"I didn't think people would be pleased by that…" she muttered, turning towards Shoji again.

"Why wouldn't they have been pleased?" asked Shoji. "You stood by the sidelines, waiting until the time limit was over. No matter if your gladiator seemed to be near his death, you abided by the rules and allowed him to fight until the end. And then you went to him, and rather than shaming him, you saved him with your own hands. Everyone's amazed… well, to be honest, not everyone…"

"What do you mean?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you see… your gladiator has become an icon of some sort," he said, chuckling. "Well, both of you, really. People are making a fuss over you two being the best gladiator and sponsor combination even when you lost… and it's because you stood by him as you would have done with a fellow warrior in a battlefield or so. It looks like an amazing partnership. Many sponsors have grown to admire what you did, and their points of view on the gladiator business have changed. But… there are others who think that what you did was offensive to them."

"How come? Is it because they would have preferred it if I had left my gladiator to his death?" asked Azula, folding her arms over her chest.

"It's what they would have done. They're just angry since you make them look bad," said Shoji, laughing. "And that only makes you even more famous, Princess. You were already pretty interesting before because you're the first girl to sponsor a gladiator, and you're the Princess, of course… but now you're making a breakthrough in the business like no one else has done before. You're revolutionizing the gladiator establishment!"

Azula's eyebrows moved higher and higher as the boy spoke. She was doing what, now…?

"Anyways… here!" said Shoji, handing her the boomerang. "I hope the Blue Wolf improves soon… there are many challenges awaiting him."

"Really?" asked Azula, surprised, taking the weapon in her hand and discovering it was a little heavier than she had thought it would be.

"I meant it when I said you guys had become famous now" he said, chuckling. "You're really popular. About five or six sponsors have sent challenges for you, there are lots of people asking about when you will fight again… Everyone is eager to see the Princess and her gladiator in action again!"

"Huh…" Azula hummed, deep in thought. "Very well, then. Thanks for the information, Shoji. I'll return when my gladiator is ready to get back in the sand."

"Sure thing! I'll be right here, as always!" he said, beaming.

Azula walked towards the exit, followed by many pairs of eyes again. She could make out some of what they were muttering, and it seemed they were amazed to see she had come all the way to the Arena to retrieve the Blue Wolf's weapon herself. She didn't miss their awe, although she still couldn't make heads or tails out of it. She was certain her deeds had been simply been shameful… but it would seem several people thought otherwise.

She climbed aboard her palanquin without a word, and soon enough she was being carried back to the Palace. She couldn't understand how her actions had been interpreted in the way they had been, seeing how the Fire Nation citizens weren't ones for pity and respect for slaves… but it worked to her advantage if they were suddenly growing softer. People were starting to acknowledge her for something other than being her father's daughter. She smirked at that thought… she had been certain she had ruined her plans completely after Sokka's fight against the Blind Bandit, but it seemed her assumptions were wrong… and she was pleased to know she had been mistaken for once. She couldn't accept any of the challenges Sokka had gotten at the moment, but they were proof that her name and her gladiator's were starting to become renowned through the Superior League, just as she had wanted them to. Only time would tell if they could be able to retain the attention they had earned…

By the time Azula returned to Sokka's room, Ty Lee was already gone. Sokka was napping lazily, his mouth slightly open as a trail of saliva descended over his chin. Azula frowned at the sight, wondering if the snow savage could show no manners even while he was asleep…

She woke him by pushing his head with the tip of the boomerang. Sokka opened his eyes groggily; unaware of what had woken him until Azula pressed the weapon to his chest, making him snap his eyes wide open before shouting.

"BOOMERANG! Oh, damn, I missed you!" he said, clasping it with his left hand and hugging it with one arm. Azula seemed slightly uncomfortable by his reaction, although he failed to notice that.

"Reunited once again, the man and his better half," she said, rolling her eyes. "Make sure you don't tell 'boomerang' you forgot about him for four days."

"Y-yeah… I won't," he muttered, slightly embarrassed. He hadn't quite registered she was in the room.

"I don't get it, really," said Azula, raising an eyebrow. "What's with this boomerang of yours? It's old and dented… you could make a better one if you just put yourself to the task."

"I won't do that," he replied, growing stern all of sudden as he looked at the boomerang in his hands. "I can repair it if it's needed… but I'm not replacing it. My father gave it to me a long time ago, and it was always one of my most prized possessions even when I was still living in the Water Tribe. I can't relinquish it, not now, not ever…"

Azula froze. Only now did she realize she knew very little about Sokka's past… and it was strange that he seemed comfortable sharing his stories with her, of all people.

"I see now…" she muttered, still surprised by the trust he seemed to have developed towards her.

"Was it hard to find it?" he asked.

"Not particularly…" said Azula, absentmindedly.

"Good, then…" said Sokka, eyeing her with concern. "You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just…" she mumbled, brushing away her thoughts quickly. "It's nothing. Don't mind me. Everything went well over at the Arena."

"Good to know," said Sokka, sighing as he rested his back on his cushions. "I bet I've fallen back in the ranking, haven't I?"

"I didn't bother asking," said Azula. "I rather doubt your position in the ranking is so important, seeing how you defeated a man who was 234th, yet a girl who was just 412th destroyed you. We should care more about our rivals themselves than about their position."

"You have a point," said Sokka. "But there's no use worrying about any of those things until I'm better."

"Indeed," agreed Azula. "So how about you just focus on getting better for now?"

Sokka flashed her a grin and nodded positively. Azula stood up and got ready to leave the room, but Sokka managed to stop her this time.

"Hey, Azula," he said, prompting her to turn around and face him. "Thanks for… for everything you've done for me lately. I mean it… thanks."

She walked away without another word, making Sokka's heart sink slightly. He wasn't aware that she had stormed off just to avoid letting him see the blush that had taken over her cheeks, not knowing how to respond to his gratefulness.

* * *

The next weeks were hard on Sokka, but they brought a few improvements with them as well. He was sick of lying down in bed with nothing better to do but whine about his pain, so he welcomed the moment when the physicians decided his legs needed therapy so that he could finally walk again. Flexing his legs and stretching them again were difficult motions to execute, but even though he complained, he also complied and performed every exercise he was given, in hopes his enthusiasm would help him get back on his feet sooner.

Regardless, it still took a week after he began his physiotherapy before he would finally begin walking, and there would always be someone holding him up in case he would fall. Sokka didn't mind being assisted at times, but he didn't think he needed as much help as they kept providing him with. Azula discovered he thought this way one day when she dropped by to visit him and discovered him limping across the room, using his Space Sword to support his weight, because he wanted a glass of water and he wasn't about to call for anyone's help to obtain it if he could just as easily pour it himself. He didn't achieve his goal, seeing how he couldn't use his right hand well enough yet, so Azula was the one who had to get him his water, to Sokka's frustration.

The days came and went, and both Sokka and Azula worried more at the thought of him not recovering at the pace they had expected. A month and a half had already passed and only his most superficial wounds seemed to have healed completely. He was able to stand on his own after two months passed by, to Sokka's relief, but he couldn't move much without the help of his crutches.

Azula walked into his room one day, hoping that by some miracle he would be fully healed by now… and she was surprised to discover him standing by his bed, swinging his sword expertly with his left hand.

"Sokka…" she called him, but he was so focused he didn't notice her presence.

He stepped forward carefully, wincing at the pain he felt on his legs when he stabbed the air with his sword. He continued his motions, moving his feet slowly to accompany his weapon. He was smoother than he used to be, perhaps because he was being more careful than ever before as he moved about. He bit his lip and changed his sword from hand, gripping the handle with his right hand… but even though he managed to hold it, he didn't have the strength to lift the blade.

He huffed with frustration, dropping the sword to the floor, feeling utterly useless… although his grimace vanished when someone else leaned down to pick up Space Sword.

Azula held his weapon in her hand and looked up to him, concerned. He caught the look on her face, feeling even more as a failure than ever before… because he had been the one to worry her so much. He lowered his gaze, ashamed.

"I'm sorry…" he muttered.

"You should be," she said. "I've told you time over and time again to stop pushing yourself, but you just won't listen."

"I just… I feel like time is running out," he muttered. "And I'm not ready yet. What if I can't make it? What if the three month span ends and I still can't move…?"

"You have already moved, Sokka," said Azula. "And you're getting better every day, so it's just a matter of…"

"Time, I know" he muttered, as he sat on his bed again. His legs were still not strong enough for him to keep standing for too long.

Azula had no idea what to say; especially since she had the feeling that anything she told him would be useless. Words wouldn't help him… at least, not her words. She frowned before making up her mind and extending his sword towards him. Sokka placed his left hand over hers, thinking she'd let go of the weapon, but she didn't. He looked up at her and saw she seemed determined to do something, although he couldn't tell what it was just yet…

"Azula?"

"You're right… we'll run out of time at this rate," she muttered. "We still have one month, though… and that's enough time for us to get moving. We'll be taking off to Shu Jing tomorrow."

Sokka's eyes lit with expectation at those words, and he regained his usual spirits thanks to Azula's unexpected decision.

"Maybe Piandao will know other methods to deal with your wounds… and you need to discuss the matters of your last fight with him as well," she said. "So the faster we're done with that, the better for us. You can walk already, so you're ready to go back to his lair."

"Yeah… yeah," said Sokka, smiling and nodding. "Finally… Something that'll get me out of this damn room."

Azula smiled back at her accomplice. They had lain in wait for far too long. It was finally time to set out on their adventures once again.

The Princess sent out commands so that her vessel would be stocked up and ready to travel to Shu Jing on the very next day. A carriage awaited Sokka by the Palace's main gates, but to reach it he had to make it through the entire building, seeing how his room was on the other end of the Palace. He wanted to try his luck by walking all the way to the gates, but Azula refused to allow him to continue straining himself, thus she forced him to use his crutches, no matter how much he hated them.

"This is really horrid, you know?" he told her, wincing with every movement. "To have these things stuck up to your armpit… it hurts!"

"One would suppose you'd be used to pain by now," said Azula, earning herself a glare from Sokka.

"Very funny," he grumbled, staggering as he struggled with his props. "And my right arm still hurts… this is going to be the death of me."

"What do you want me to do, carry you bridal-style or something?" asked Azula.

"Would you be so kind?" he asked, smiling stupidly at her. Azula narrowed her eyes before shaking her head.

"You're shameless, truly."

"I could use some help, though," he said, wincing again. "If you act as my support on my right side I could stop using this damn thing and avoid getting my right arm in an even worse state…"

Azula sighed at the idea, but she figured they might progress faster if she aided him. It felt as if they had spent half the morning on this, and he wasn't in the main hall yet…

"Hand that thing over, then," said Azula, taking his crutch from him as he supported himself with his hand on her shoulder.

"Let's do this," he said, wiping the sweat off his brow as he took another step.

Azula slipped a hand around his waist, making him stare at her in surprise. Azula blushed slightly before turning her face away from him quickly.

"It's easier like this."

"Oh, really now? So you're not just groping me?" he asked, smirking mockingly at her.

Azula's eyes flared with rage, but before she could tell him there was nothing grope-worthy about him, an unusual laughter filled the hall they were strolling down from. The loud cackling was also accompanied by some chatter, and Azula managed to recognize one of the voices involved in the conversation. She frowned as two people turned around the corner and walked down to where she was holding Sokka…

And both Azula and Sokka forgot immediately about their argument when they caught sight of the other pair that was walking down the hall: an old man with a huge, round belly… and a small, slender girl with black hair and gray, sightless eyes.

"You're really something, Iroh!" she laughed, as the man beamed brightly.

"I meant every word I said," he insisted. "I'll show you the basement later, you'll see. Not a single decent batch of jasmine tea to… Oh?"

Azula would have been embarrassed to be caught in such a strange situation with her gladiator, but she was too busy trying to give her eyes credit to think about whatever Iroh would interpret from the sight he was witnessing.

"Well, well…" he said, giggling. "Do you need any help carrying him, my niece? It seems you struggle bearing such a large man…"

Sokka frowned at Iroh, not knowing for certain who the man was, but he pulled away from Azula while looking at him warily.

"What is… what is the meaning of this, Uncle?" she asked, looking at the Blind Bandit with utter aversion.

"Ah, my apologies," said Iroh, laughing. "Where are my manners…? Toph, these are my niece and her gladiator. Azula, this is Toph Beifong… my new gladiator."

Azula's eyes widened as her grip tightened around Sokka's crutch. She knew her uncle could be up to no good, she had always expected the worst from him… but this was too much.

"Hey there, Sokka," said Toph, as Sokka snarled in her direction. "How are you? Why does it feel like you've got three legs?"

"Y-you…" he muttered, enraged. He had been hoping he'd never see have to see this girl again… and he had mostly hoped she would never sense him in such deplorable state. He hated the idea of her knowing how badly their fight had damaged him…

"Oh, you're mad at me?" she asked. "Well, gee… I guess I should apologize for my harshness. I shouldn't have gone all out on you, but my former sponsor had told me I had no other choice but to kill you… so sorry about that! Good to know you're on your, uh, three feet again."

Iroh chuckled, making Azula glower at him, as she still tried to find some sense in what was happening.

"How… how come are you her sponsor now, Uncle?" she asked, her angry glare seeming powerful enough to set anything on fire.

"It's a funny story," said Iroh, smiling. "Her old sponsor dumped her so I took her under my wing. I've been helping her move from the lousy department she lived in, by the outskirts of the city. She'll be staying in the Palace now, I hope that's fine with you…"

Azula couldn't believe his insolence… she could understand, though, why had he done it. She knew him well enough to see right through those amber eyes so similar to hers. He was placing his tiles in the Pai Sho board, trying to drive her into a corner through his moves… but she couldn't let him. She refused to let him.

But how could she avoid it? How could she stop from letting her emotions show in her face when she felt so enraged, so cheated…? This was the lowest thing he could have resorted to. Iroh was shameless. Those ten years at sea apparently had done nothing but enhance his urges to ruin her life…

"Well, Ozai already said he doesn't mind, so I suppose you'll be fine with this also," said Iroh, after realizing Azula was too indignant to reply. "I hope you recover soon, gladiator. Let's go, Toph."

"Hear hear, captain," said Toph, smirking. "See you around, Sokka! Nice meeting you, Princess…"

The Blind Bandit waved at them as both Iroh and her walked around them, continuing their way down the hall and returning to their previous conversation about tea. Sokka turned to glare at them from over his shoulder, not quite understanding what had just happened. He looked at Azula and was slightly worried to see her so displeased. Her body was even shaking as her gaze fell to the ground, still unable to react at that nasty surprise.

"Azula…?" Sokka called her, bringing her back to reality effectively.

"S-Sokka…" she replied, blinking repeatedly and shaking her head. "Let's… let's get moving."

"Who was that…?"

"Let's get moving, I said," she commanded between gritted teeth. Sokka gulped, realizing the last thing she needed right now was somebody pestering her. He nodded and took his crutch back, thinking it would be better to quit complaining for a while. Azula looked angrier than he'd seen her since their argument after his second fight in the Superior League, and Sokka didn't want to displease her further.

After what felt like ages, they finally reached the carriage that took them down to the port. Azula spent the entire journey in silence, a hand on her brow as she mulled over what her Uncle had done by taking the Blind Bandit as his personal fighter. Sokka didn't bring up the subject, knowing she would be best left alone for now.

It wasn't until they were on the deck of the ship, already sailing over salty waters, that Azula sighed and shook her head, walking to the edge of the ship. Sokka had been performing some of his exercises on the deck, and he figured it was finally time for him to speak with her.

Struggling with his crutches, he walked towards her and stood beside her quietly, looking down at her troubled figure.

"I never… said anything about having an uncle, did I?" she asked, knowing she owed him a few answers.

"I don't think you did, no," said Sokka, leaning against the ship's rim.

"He and I… we've never gotten along," she muttered. "He always saw through me, you could say, but I can see through him as well. He pretends to be nothing but a funny old man, an addict to tea and Pai Sho… but that's just his exterior. He carries a history of failures and shame with him, in the same way my brother does… yet he waves it all away carelessly, as if his mistakes were just a joke gone wrong. People buy his act all the time, thinking he's such a nice man with so many fun stories to tell…"

"So he goes around pretending to be a good guy," said Sokka, frowning. "Yet he went out on his way to get the Blind Bandit as his gladiator…"

"He only did it to ruin our chances," she growled. "He saw how she defeated you… so now he wants to use her against us. He knows what I'm trying to pull, so he's going to do his best to stop me… and the Blind Bandit is his best chance to make sure we won't get to the top of the ranking. He's certain that, with her, he will frustrate our attempts completely…"

"Why, though?" Sokka asked, confused. "You're his niece… what's his problem? Why would he go out of his way to sponsor the Blind Bandit? I mean… if he had chosen anyone else, I'd say you're being paranoid and maybe the dude is only trying to have some fun…"

"Which is what everyone would say, of course…" interjected Azula.

"But it's the Blind Bandit, of all people," said Sokka, shaking his head. "And that shows he's got some nerve indeed. Picking out the worst foe I've faced proves you're right. He's not doing this without some sort of ulterior motive…"

"So… you believe me on this?" asked Azula, surprised. People didn't usually take her side whenever she spoke about how Iroh kept trying to bring her down. They laughed it off, saying she was imagining things… that her uncle cared for her deeply, and he was just teasing her. It was an incredible relief to talk with someone who didn't seem to think she was wrong about her Uncle…

"Why wouldn't I?" said Sokka. "I hardly even know the guy, and you've been right in a few things in the past… so I wouldn't think you're wrong. Especially after he's taken the Blind Bandit… he's really trying to stop me from getting to number one, isn't he?"

"Clearly enough," said Azula, frowning. "She's an opponent you couldn't defeat…"

"I wonder if there's anyone who could defeat her," said Sokka, sighing. "So… is there any point to this? If I won't be number one because of him…"

Azula gritted her teeth and shook her head.

"Oh, no. I'm not going to give up, least of all now," she grunted. "I admit I thought of giving up on this gladiator madness before, I figured this wasn't going to lead us anywhere… but I'm not going to take a step back just to let him mock us for surrendering in a fight we couldn't win."

"But… if you can't win the fight, you're better off…"

"Fighting it, to the very end," said Azula, glowering at the horizon. "I'm not one to encourage suicide missions and the sort, but I won't let him get away with this. I can't give in, not to him… never to him."

Sokka thought he was still far from understanding the fray between Azula and her uncle, but he nodded encouragingly anyways.

"Got it, then… I just have to get better at fighting, and one day I'll find a way to beat her," he muttered.

"I know this is a lot of pressure on you…" said Azula. "Still, it's not as if we were fighting against them again tomorrow. There's a long road ahead of us, Sokka… but I think we can make it. We just have to be…"

"Patient, cunning, strong and whatnot," said the gladiator, smiling down at her. "No worries. Piandao will help me find a way to defeat tough earthbenders like her. He'll have great ideas, I'm sure of that."

"I hope you're right," Azula replied, her eyes set on the horizon. Piandao wasn't their only hope, but he was their best option indeed. He could ease Sokka's burden just by giving him a few tricks on how to face earthbenders.

They arrived in Shu Jing after two days of sailing, as usual. Azula had made sure there would be a carriage brought along with them so that Sokka wouldn't have to walk the long road back to Piandao's home. They both climbed on the vehicle as two of her guards steered the dragon moose that pulled the carriage. Both the Princess and gladiator remained quiet during the journey, both wondering what sort of advice Piandao offer Sokka…

Azula knocked on the doors of the huge palace when they had finally arrived, seeing how Sokka wouldn't be able to do it himself. Several minutes passed, yet nobody came to open the door.

"Call again," suggested Sokka.

Azula struck the door once more, but there was still no response.

"Maybe there's nobody home right now," said Sokka, shrugging. "They might have gone out shopping…"

"They might have," muttered Azula, frowning. "Then maybe we should wait inside. I don't feel like standing around here, doing nothing, until they finally make it back. You pretty much live here too, so it's not trespassing or anything of the sort…"

"Weird to see a Princess coming up with excuses to break rules," said Sokka, smiling. "But I agree. Let's go inside."

Azula pushed the doors with some difficulty and she entered the mansion, followed by the limping Sokka. They strolled down the usual passageways to reach the main building, both frowning at the unusual state of disarray in the garden that Fat would always keep so tidy.

"This is weird…" said Sokka, concerned. "Maybe Fat's sick?"

"Perhaps…" said Azula, although she wasn't looking at the situation from the most optimistic point of view, unlike Sokka. She was getting a bad feeling about this…

They continued until they were finally inside the house. Dust covered the remaining furniture in the living room. Piandao's calligraphy table was gone along with several more items that used to decorate the house.

"W-what… what happened here?" asked Sokka, his eyes growing wide as he limped about, looking at the room in shock. "Was it… s-some sort of robbery, or break in…?"

"I don't… I don't know," muttered Azula, thinking it would be too cruel to spell out the truth to Sokka just yet. "Stay here. I'll go take a look at the upper rooms."

Sokka nodded, but even before Azula was gone he knew she wouldn't return with good news. It didn't matter how hopeful he wanted to be about this, he couldn't kid himself when the evidence was spelling out to him that this place had been vacant for months.

Piandao was gone.


	20. Chapter 20

They didn't know what they were searching for. The guards checked every single room, canvassing the mansion in its entirety. They even searched through the wide terrains that extended beyond the building. Still, there was no evidence to show that a man and his butler had lived here recently, no evidence other than the word of an injured Water Tribe man who sat at the mansion's vestibule, his head between his hands as he tried to come to terms with reality.

Sokka couldn't believe Piandao had left without a word of farewell, without giving him a message to let him know when he would return, or what sort of exercises he should do while he was gone. The mansion looked as if nobody had lived in it for months, judging by the amount of dust on every corner of the house and also by the neglected gardens, where even weed grew at this point. But the emptiness within the very house made it seem as if nobody had lived in it ever before. There was nothing left in either Piandao or Fat's bedrooms to show they had once belonged to them. No clothes, no paintings, no calligraphy, no Pai Sho boards, no swords… nothing. The forge was still stocked up, to Sokka's surprise, but there was nothing left to betray Piandao's presence in there either. It had been as if somebody had erased his existence and everything he had ever been in contact with…

"We just went to the town as you requested, Princess," said a guard, catching his attention as well as Azula's. She was standing in the vestibule as well, and she had commanded most her guards to take part in the thorough search for Piandao. Her men came every now and then to give her the reports of their findings… or, in every case so far, the lack thereof.

"And?" asked Azula, sensing Sokka was stirring from the couch he had been resting on, his ears perked as he hoped for good news.

"Nothing, Princess," said the man, lowering his head. "The townsfolk say they haven't seen Piandao or his butler in around two months. We went to every house and asked every family head if they had noticed anything unusual around the time of their disappearance, but we have nothing. Nobody knows when he left, or how, or why."

Azula frowned and nodded, dismissing the man without words. Sokka struggled to get back on his feet using his crutches, and Azula sensed him limping towards her.

"Have you checked everything yet?" he asked. "Every possibility… everything?"

"Not just yet," she replied, sighing. "But if there's nothing so far, Sokka…"

"This makes no sense," he grunted, gritting his teeth. "Did he really… leave? It so absurd I can't get my head around it…"

"He must have left," said Azula, frowning. "I find it unlikely that he was dragged off if there's no sign of a struggle anywhere…"

"But where could he have gone to?" asked Sokka. "From what I know, he didn't have a ship or anything of the sort… this makes no sense, Azula. Don't you think he might still be on the island?"

"I rather doubt it, Sokka…" she said, unsure of what to do about the desperate look on his eyes. He should know better than to keep his hopes so high when every sign was unfavorable to his cause.

"Can't you send your guards to search the entire island, though? It's not so big," he said. "I'd go myself, since I know the territory really well by now, but…"

"Don't even think about it," said Azula, rubbing her forehead. "I don't think there will be any point in doing that, Sokka. If Piandao is gone, then…"

"He can't be gone… he can't be," grunted Sokka, shaking his head. "Maybe I was wrong and he did have a ship, and he went off on some fishing trip… you should send someone to port to ask if he was seen there."

"Sokka…"

"He can't be gone, Azula," he said, his eyes fixed on the floor. "He can't be…"

Azula sighed, knowing there was nothing she could do to change Sokka's disbelief just yet. Each time she tried to have him face the facts, he'd seclude himself in his bubble of denial, still believing that Piandao would have never left him without a note, without a goodbye…

It wasn't so hard for Azula to believe he had vanished as he had. She had never grown to trust Piandao completely; he was mysterious and unpredictable, honorable yet deceitful at the same time. But explaining this to Sokka at the moment would serve no purpose; he would only shut down and refuse to believe her words, disregarding whatever she said no matter if it was true or not. Still, he couldn't continue refusing to accept that his master had left. And from what all the clues from this riddle spoke, Azula gathered Piandao wasn't going to return anytime soon, if he was to return at all. But, regardless…

"Captain," she called out, turning her back to Sokka. "Search the port and the shores of the island. If Piandao left with all his belongings, he could have only done it over water. There might be some traces of a ship anchoring someplace. Take one of the emergency boats of the barge and use it to inspect the perimeter of the island."

"That will take a long time, Princess," said the Captain, frowning. "This search isn't getting us anywhere. We should make for the Capital again already…"

"Do as I say, Captain," Azula ordered, her eyes glowing with that dangerous glint that promised dire consequences if she wasn't obeyed at once.

The Captain stiffened, holding back the urge to tell her to quit playing her gladiator's game… what was so special about that brat anyway? He was but a slave, whereas he was the Captain of her Royal Guard! Why did she treat the gladiator much better than she treated him? It was absurd… But, given how dangerous it was to contradict her, he stormed off without another word.

"Thanks," muttered Sokka behind Azula. She turned to look at him, knowing he truly appreciated that she had complied with his wishes, but also noticing his despair was turning into hopelessness. He wasn't truly expecting them to find Piandao anymore.

But what bothered Azula wasn't the fact that Piandao was gone. She had come to terms with that ever since she realized he had left… the true problem was what to do now that Sokka's master was missing. What should be their next move?

* * *

Helping Toph move out of her old, shabby department and into the Royal Palace had been quite a predicament, partly because Iroh didn't feel at home in the Royal Palace himself in the first place. He had stayed over with Toph for a while until there had been no more tea left in the house, and Toph scarcely had any money left to buy more. After a few conversations, they had decided she was better off moving into the Palace, since she wouldn't have to worry about money if she became the Fire Lord's guest. Iroh had asked Ozai, on a chance encounter, if he had any qualms about him keeping his gladiator around. Ozai had frowned, wondering if having a gladiator was the trend these days… but regardless, it was of little importance to him if his older brother had a gladiator or not, so long as she behaved properly. And seeing how Toph had been brought up by noblemen, she could pull off a decent conduct if she put her mind to it.

But with all his latest endeavors, Iroh had let someone slip from his mind for a while… and he was surprised to enter his Palace room to find his nephew leaning on the window, looking even more upset than usual.

"Prince Zuko… what are you doing on my window?" he asked. "I hope you're not thinking of jumping off…"

"I probably should," he moaned, crossing his arms on the windowsill and laying his head down on them, covering his face.

"Please, don't," said Iroh. "If you jump off my window, everyone will think I was the one to push you! It would put me in a very awkward position…"

Iroh's statement was enough to make Zuko jump and glare at him, prompting Iroh to release a cackle of laughter.

"Uncle, I'm serious here!"

"You aren't serious, my nephew," said Iroh, smiling as he walked to him. "You can't truly be thinking of jumping off a window, or else you would have done it by now, and in your own room. You're here because you wanted to talk to me, not to commit suicide."

Zuko hated it when his actions were so easy to read, but his uncle was too witty for him to outsmart. He sighed and shook his head, his hand going up to his forehead.

"Where had you been?" he asked. "I…"

"I was spending some time with my new friend, whom I'd like to introduce to you," said Iroh, beaming before stopping to look at Zuko. He truly seemed devastated. "Were you about to say something else, Prince Zuko…?"

"Maybe you should stop calling me that," he muttered, as his fingers slipped along his dark locks of hair.

"What…? Is there something you wish to tell me, Prince Zuko?" asked Iroh, frowning. Ozai couldn't have possibly stripped away Zuko's birthright for good, could he…?

"Everything's a mess, Uncle!" he complained, snarling. "Father… he won't see me, he's even avoiding me! As if… as if I had shamed him…"

"Is he, now?" asked Iroh, thoughtful. So Ozai didn't want to see him… well, that wasn't the worst case scenario. Zuko's situation wasn't hopeless just yet. "He hasn't seen you, then? Maybe I'll have a word with my brother. I'm sure I can convince him…"

"Don't bother," said Zuko. "He won't care no matter who asks him to meet me… my father hates me, I know it."

"No, he doesn't, Zuko," said Iroh, walking to him. "You know Ozai. He has always been quite harsh. It will take time for him to warm up to you again, but once he sees you have learned your lesson after all those years at sea, he will welcome you as his son once more."

"But what lesson was I supposed to learn?!" asked Zuko, pushing Iroh away when he felt his hand on his shoulder. "I didn't learn anything, Uncle! Anything!"

Iroh looked at him with concern. Perhaps Zuko really had learned nothing at all… no, he refused to believe that. Zuko was merely frustrated right now because his return hadn't been what he had expected it to be. Yet Iroh believed their time traveling and seeing the world's current state had changed him and turned him into a better man, a just man, a man worthy of the crown…

"You know that's not true, Zuko," he said, patting him on the shoulder again. Zuko didn't brush him away this time. "You have learned a lot. You were banished as a boy, now you have returned as a man. A brave, strong man who always does the right thing…"

"Huh, yeah…" said Zuko, shaking his head. "I'm a great man, aren't I?"

Iroh didn't appreciate the sarcasm, and now he could sense Zuko was troubled by something else, something that had nothing to do with his father…

"If I'm so great, then why did she…? Why did Mai…? Why did she marry that guy? Why did she forget about me?" he asked, his fingers digging into his scalp now.

"Oh" said Iroh, grimacing. "She married another man, is it…?"

"She's pregnant with his child!" Zuko yelled. "She should be carrying my son, not his!"

"Oh, Zuko…" said Iroh, shaking his head.

"It's not fair, Uncle! Why did my life have to be like this?!" he yelled again, covering his eyes with his hands now.

"Now, now…" said Iroh, patting him gently. "There's no need for you to feel so bad about yourself, Zuko. You're going through a hard time right now because many things have changed, and not for the better… but if you wallow in your disgraces, you won't be ready to take good things when they come find you."

"Good things, come find me?" asked Zuko, with a skeptical laugh. "Uncle, if anything I'm a magnet for bad things, and good things seem to hate me. Every single time I get something good, it gets ripped off my hands before I can enjoy it. Nothing good is ever going to happen to me…"

"Not with that attitude, for sure," said Iroh, shaking his head. "Come on, my nephew. Stop thinking about those troublesome matters. There's somebody I want you to meet."

Zuko frowned as Iroh dragged him outside the room, guiding him to the Palace's gardens. Zuko was unwilling to meet anyone at first, thinking this mysterious person would be some boring nobleman his Uncle wanted to play Pai Sho with… and he was thoroughly surprised to discover otherwise.

Lying a top of a rock, chewing on a piece of wheat that only she knew where she had gotten it from, was a slender, small girl with black, long hair. Zuko frowned at the sight. Her green fine garments showed she was a former Earth Kingdom citizen, likely from high society… so why was she lying around in such a sloppy fashion?

"Who's that?" asked Zuko, looking down at his Uncle briefly.

"That's exactly what I should be asking…" said the girl, climbing off the rock and landing hard on the ground with her bare feet. "… But I'm afraid Iroh only ever talks about you, so I probably could write down your biography if only I could write."

"Huh?" asked Zuko, staring at her with confusion. "What's…?"

"Can't tell I'm blind? I thought you were brighter than that, Prince Zuko," said Toph, mockingly.

Zuko glared at her for a moment, not even caring if she was blind or not. Who was she to say if he was bright or not?

"Who is this, Uncle?" he asked, still scowling at her.

"She's Toph Beifong," said Iroh, proudly. "And she's my brand new gladiator."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Your Highness" said Toph, still in a derisive tone as she bowed down dramatically.

Zuko's eyes narrowed. This made no sense.

"Gladiator? N-no way… why do you have a gladiator? Why would you want a gladiator, Uncle?" he asked, jumping back as he looked at Iroh with disbelief. "You're… you've got to be kidding me! Why would you need something like this? Have you lost your mind, Uncle?"

Toph's smirk vanished at Zuko's response. The stories Iroh had told her about Zuko hadn't quite made her warm up to him, but she had thought that, by meeting him, she would discover why Iroh held him in such high regards. Now she was in front of him she feared she would never understand why Iroh cared so much for this brat…

"Why would you do this?" Zuko continued. "Gladiator fights are stupid, pointless violence! Don't you always say that violence isn't the answer? Well, what sort of answer are you looking for that you ended up doing this?!"

"How about you stop thinking of the answer and you look at the question first?" said Toph, making Zuko turn towards her. "The question would be, of course 'why would a guy like you have a say upon this matter?'"

"W-what?" said Zuko, frowning.

"Just saying… you're not the type to understand what a gladiator fight entails," said Toph, shrugging. "As I said before, you're not very bright."

"Well, neither are you!" yelled Zuko. "You're just a slave getting used for entertainment!"

"Gee, it sounds really bad when you describe gladiators like that," said Toph, grimacing. "Good thing I'm not really a slave, then."

"What…? You're not a slave?" asked Zuko, shocked.

"Woah, you even have to repeat things to understand them? Damn, you really are dumb!" said Toph, laughing.

"Quit making fun of me!" yelled Zuko, losing his temper as he often did.

"Stop, both of you," said Iroh, standing between them to prevent Zuko from attacking Toph. The stern look on his face was enough to convince both Zuko and Toph to grow quiet briefly. "If you behave like this you'll never reach an understanding…"

"I don't want to understand her!" said Zuko, glaring at him. "I'm trying to understand YOU! What's this supposed to mean, Uncle?! Why are you doing this?! You didn't like gladiator fights, as far as I knew!"

"That was before he saw me fighting in the Arena," said Toph, smirking. "Am I right?"

"Zuko…" said Iroh, sighing. "You'll understand in time."

"What am I supposed to understand in time? That now you're promoting useless violence rather than condoning it?! What's the matter with you?! You make no sense, damn it!" said Zuko, storming off through the garden, leaving both of them behind.

"What a wuss," said Toph, climbing on her rock again as Iroh stared after Zuko's figure. "That's quite a feeble-minded nephew you've got there, Iroh."

"He'll understand in time…" said Iroh, sighing. He had expected a better response from Zuko than this. He wished he would move past his previous life already and quit moping, but he couldn't force Zuko to accept his current life. He was the only one who could embrace these changes, but he refused to do so. If only Zuko gave himself a chance to look for happiness, he just might actually find it…

* * *

Night had fallen and there still were no reports from the scouts Azula had sent out to search through the shores of Shu Jing. She had no idea if there would be any traces of Piandao anywhere, but she rather doubted there would be. If they had been as careful as they had by removing most objects from the house, surely they wouldn't be sloppy enough to leave any clues if they had sailed away somehow.

And she knew Sokka was thinking the same thing when she spotted him, sitting in the steps that led up to the main building, his gaze on the gates as he waited for the guards to return with any news… expecting the news to be bad, of course. There had been no good news so far, and by this point in time, he doubted there would be.

"You should get some sleep," suggested Azula, walking up to him. Sokka shook his head.

"I'm not drowsy yet…" he muttered, his gaze in the ground.

Azula knew his spirits were down at last. He had relinquished every hope already, even though he didn't want to do it. She approached and sat by him quietly, studying his features carefully.

"Do you want something…?" he said, looking up at her for a moment.

"Why would I have something to ask of you?" was Azula's reply.

"Well… I don't know why else would you come sit by me when I'm such lousy company," he said, smiling weakly.

"Just so you know, you're lousy company at all times, yet I still put up with you," said Azula, smirking at him. Sokka rolled his eyes, but he couldn't deny that dealing with her cold words was somehow a relief. It was nice to see a few things would remain the same, no matter what.

He sighed again, leaning back against a column as he stared at the night sky.

"Why do you think he did it?" he asked, frowning. "Why would he take off without leaving anything behind… well, anything but me, that is."

"How should I know, Sokka?" said Azula, shrugging. "I hardly knew the man…"

"Right. I should be the one to have an answer to that, since I got to know him better," sighed Sokka, but Azula frowned.

"I don't think you knew Piandao half as well as you think you did, Sokka," she muttered, warily. Sokka lowered his gaze towards her, confused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, frowning.

"He's not… well, he hasn't always been the man who trained you, Sokka," said Azula. "He hides many secrets, secrets you could hardly fathom."

"And how do you know about those secrets, exactly?" asked Sokka, skeptical. "He never trained you, so how would you know more about him than I do?"

"I already said I don't know nearly enough about him," said Azula. "But there are a few things regarding his life as a soldier… that you might be better off not knowing, truly."

"Such as…?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "Come on, you don't expect me to sit back and ignore what you just said, do you?"

Azula sighed. He would never stop pestering her now, would he? Saying that he would be best off oblivious to this had served no purpose.

"I guess that was too much to ask of you, indeed," said Azula, folding her arms over her chest as she rested herself on the column opposite to Sokka's. "Piandao used to fight in the army, I believe I mentioned that before… he held quite a high position, Colonel or Captain, I can't remember the exact one at the moment. His troops were serving under my uncle, General Iroh, during a siege to an Earth Kingdom city about two decades ago. The siege ended successfully, but it almost fell apart at the last expected moment due to an uprising within the Fire Nation army in itself."

Sokka gulped at those words. Somehow, he could imagine how this story would develop…

"A group of soldiers made an attempt on my uncle's life," said Azula. "He was the heir to the throne by the time, so it would have been a catastrophe if the assault had succeeded. The group of conspirators was caught in the act, and they were executed for high treason against the Fire Nation."

"Uh… what does this have to do with…?"

"The soldiers involved in the attempt were the ones under Piandao's direct command. They were his men," said Azula. "Piandao's actual involvement was never proved, there was no evidence he took part in the conspiracy, but most people believed he was the mastermind, or at the very least, that he was aware of his subordinates' plan and yet he didn't stop them. It didn't take him a week to hand in his resignation after this event took place."

"Well, he probably did that out of shame, if anything," said Sokka, frowning. "It's not as if he had been involved for real. I mean, if there was no proof…"

"Indeed, that's what it would seem," muttered Azula. "He was rumored to have come to live in Shu Jing to get away from the pressures of life in the army, that he was atoning for his disgraces… but there were also other rumors that said he had grown to despise Fire Nation because of the ruthless punishment his men had received by order of the Fire Lord himself. Makes sense, doesn't it?"

"I suppose…"

"Yet if it does, why did he bother training my brother?" asked Azula, looking up at the sky. "People say he found Zuko to be worthy… I wouldn't be so sure of it. I always had the feeling he had agreed to train him because of ulterior motives. Zuko wasn't really that good with weapons, he spent most his time whining and blaming everyone else for his failures. What's so worthy about a brat like him?"

"Maybe he's not as bad as you think," said Sokka, gulping. "But I guess I have little to say about it, seeing how I don't even know him…"

"The weirdest part is that Zuko learned how to fight with dual dao broadswords… whereas Piandao usually wields jian swords like yours," said Azula. Sokka looked at Space Sword, dangling on his shoulder. "I'm not entirely certain of this, but it seems to me as that he taught Zuko an easier type of sword fighting. According to some books I looked at, those weapons aren't supposed to be wielded in the way you use your sword… the dao swords are not half as complex as jian swords, but they're several times as deadly. And most men who consider themselves sword masters use jian swords, not dao swords."

"What are you getting at?" asked Sokka, frowning.

"I'm saying… that it's likely Piandao was trying to teach a few things to Zuko that he shouldn't have been taught at all," said Azula, stern. "He might have been involved in the first attempt against the crown… why not on a second one?"

"You're trying to say that he was grooming your brother into killing a Fire Lord?" asked Sokka, aghast. "N-not possible. That's absurd. He wouldn't do something like that, not an honorable man like him!"

"Then why did Zuko only learn to handle broadswords?" asked Azula, her gaze in the ground now. "Why was he only ever taught to use weapons that hardly have any beauty, any art to them, weapons favored by many warriors because of their potential for murder? They aren't the weapons of a true sword master… also, Zuko attended lessons with Piandao since he was five. He came by in irregular intervals, yet he still kept learning from Piandao until he was about ten. Dual dao swords… it's said that they're easily mastered within a week. Why, then, is that the only thing he can use despite such a long time training under Piandao?"

"But… maybe you're right on another regard, then," said Sokka "Maybe your brother. wasn't worthy of being taught by Piandao, and he only bothered teaching him so that your father didn't kill him for refusing."

"My father would have likely laughed if he had heard Zuko was proclaimed unworthy," said Azula. "Well, perhaps not. But he wouldn't have blamed Piandao for it. He never had a good image of Zuko, he always thought of him as a failure. Still does, apparently. I guess he's still one."

"Well… maybe Piandao didn't know that," said Sokka, stubbornly. "He thought he could be in danger if he refused the Fire Lord."

"Do you believe Piandao to be a man who would be intimidated by my father's ways?" asked Azula. "He didn't get intimidated by me, and my father was just a Prince back then, just as I am a Princess now. I don't see why he should have accepted an unworthy brat if he didn't want to."

"Well, damn, he accepted me," said Sokka, shrugging. "Your brother was a Prince, I'm just a slave…"

"Yet Piandao thought you to be one of the most talented men he had ever trained," said Azula, making Sokka bite his lip lightly. "You, a slave. And he's a prince. Does that show you what I'm getting at? Piandao didn't care for where you came from, or where you were going: he trained you because you deserved it. Zuko, on the other hand…"

"But this is absurd," said Sokka, shaking his head. "I mean… he was always talking to me about honor, teaching me so many lessons… I thought he was the best man I'd ever met! Now it turns out he was a conspirator against his own people?"

Azula could see the hurt clear across Sokka's face. He didn't want to believe her words, and she didn't blame him for it.

"Sokka…" she muttered, looking at him as she sought out the right way to convey her current thoughts. "Piandao was a man of many secrets, a mystery in himself… and can you blame him, truly? The man made mistakes like the ones you've just heard about, and he didn't disclose them to people like you because he regretted them. Secluding himself in this mansion, living in an environment like this one… he probably did it because he was repenting. Perhaps you didn't know him too well, perhaps there are many things you'll never know about him, but what you know of him, you should treasure. Because that man truly made you the strong warrior you are today. If it weren't for Piandao, you probably wouldn't be sitting here right now. So… don't forget that man. Stop thinking about the Piandao you didn't know, the one behind the curtains, the one who fled… just remember the one who thought you were the most talented man he had ever trained."

Sokka's eyes widened at Azula's words. The way her eyes gleamed as she spoke… he could tell she spoke the truth, that she was actually worried about him. Was it just his imagination, or was she suddenly more beautiful than ever right now, under the moonlight…?

He managed to smile at her, a smile that longed to be more honest, but it was enough for Azula for now.

"That was unusually kind of you," he said, chuckling. "Is the Princess growing soft all of sudden?"

"Wouldn't you love it if I were…" said Azula, rolling her eyes. Sokka smiled at her before looking at the gates again.

"Still… why do you think he left? I mean… if he was repenting here, you think he took off because he's done with that? You think his repentance time is over?"

"I have no idea, Sokka," said Azula, shrugging. "I don't know, and I doubt I ever will. Maybe he found a new path in life. Let him go already… he has taught you everything he could teach you. Maybe the rest of the road to become a sword master is one you should find on your own."

"Maybe," said Sokka, shrugging. "He did say I was mostly lacking experience… but a message of some sort couldn't have hurt, right? At least a sign, something to tell me what I should do now that he's gone…"

"He might have told you something," said Azula. "But you failed to notice it was a farewell. He could have laid down all the signs and you were too dense to understand them."

"Oh, come on, there's no way…!" he started, before freezing in the middle of his skeptical retort. Piandao had behaved oddly before their last departure… "Oh, damn it, this can't be."

"Sokka?" said Azula, narrowing her eyes and frowning. "Did you remember something, by any chance…?"

"Not… not quite," said Sokka, sighing as he rubbed his forehead and shook his head, ashamed of himself. "Damn it… before we left to the Capital, he said something to me. You walked off because you were mad at me and you didn't care, I think… and I was too puzzled by his attitude to pay much attention to what he was saying. He complimented me, I believe, and I thought it was really strange that he'd say things like that, because it wasn't as if we were departing forever… damn it, it was his goodbye and I didn't even notice! And I can't remember what he told me… I'm the worst."

"You're a moron indeed," said Azula, nodding.

"For once, I won't even try to deny that," said Sokka, sighing heavily. "I'm a fool… I can't believe this. So he didn't leave a message… he actually said goodbye. He said it. And I just didn't realize…"

Sokka was startled to feel a hand on his shoulder. He lifted his head, surprised to find Azula was trying to comfort him somehow… though she pulled her hand away immediately, bashful and insecure.

"Just… there's no need to feel that way," she muttered, blushing slightly. "Now you know it, though. He really left, and seeing how he took most his possessions with him, he's not likely to return, so there's no point in dragging out this search for him anymore."

"I guess…" he replied, giving up at last. She was right, this goose chase had to end eventually.

"I'll call in the guards so we can take off in the morning, then…" said Azula, getting ready to move out, but Sokka stopped her.

"Huh? Take off? What do you mean?" he asked. The Princess raised an eyebrow at his question.

"What else could I mean? Did you think we'd stay here to no avail, Sokka?" she replied.

"Well… I always stayed here," said Sokka, shrugging. "It's pretty much my home by now, even if Piandao is gone."

Azula frowned and shook her head in disapproval.

"I beg to differ. There would be no purpose in letting you stay here if Piandao is gone. It may look like I have endless resources to you, but traveling back and forth all the time wasn't half as easy as it seemed. Stocking up, taking so many guards out of their usual routines… it's far costlier than you imagine. I only accepted this mad endeavor, as I told you some time ago, because Piandao would have refused to move out of the mansion if I requested him to come to the Capital to train you there. If he's no longer here, then you have no reason to stay."

"B-but…"

"Sokka, use that supposedly brilliant brain of yours for once, will you?" she grunted. "If he took everything with him, if he's been gone for over two months, if nobody has seen him in such a long time… do you truly believe he'll return? Really?"

Sokka sighed and shook his head, feeling defeated.

"I just… I thought that this place belonged to him, and leaving it vacant, just like that… it would be a pity, truly."

"It would be," Azula admitted. "But this mansion wasn't always owned by Piandao. It used to be the house of some nobleman who was stripped off his titles, I believe. The mansion was empty, and Piandao took it for himself when he found it. He leaves it vacant now, in the same way it was before he came across it all those years ago. Someone else is likely to come live in it eventually, I suppose…"

"Can't I be that someone…?" he asked, annoying Azula slightly.

"Sokka, it's plainly inconvenient. Staying in the Capital will work better for the both of us. I'll find you another master somehow, if there's anyone out there who could perchance teach you something Piandao hasn't taught you yet. And you can have a new house too, since I doubt you'd want to stay in the Palace…"

"You'd really do so much for me?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"You're my gladiator, damn it," said Azula, rolling her eyes as she stood up. "What do you think is the job of your sponsor, exactly? I believe we struck a deal when we started out with this… and I said anything you needed, I could grant it to you with ease. So there you have it."

"And… that's all there is to it?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "It's your job…?"

"What else were you expecting?" asked Azula, looking at him from above.

Sokka was taken by surprise by that question. Indeed, what had he been expecting? What had he grown to expect from her after all this time…? It was her job, and his was to fight in the Arena. Everything else was a bonus. Still, it had been quite the bonus, hadn't it? They were supposed to be using each other to their own ends, nothing other than that… yet, why did a strange feeling stir his gut just by thinking about her? Talking to her was surprisingly fun, and even though she was cruel and brutally honest most the time, he had discovered there was so much more to her than he had when they had first met. To think she was the same woman who had cut him down in the South Pole… he didn't even think of her like that anymore. She was, truly, his sponsor… and he was quite proud to be her gladiator. Everything else was a bonus.

He smiled at her, taking her by surprise.

"I get it… I get it. I'll go back to the Capital with you… and you can buy me a huge house where I can train with whoever you find to become my master," he said, still smiling. "Though I fear that, if this is the way things are going to be, we'll be seeing each other a lot more often from now on, huh?"

Azula hadn't realized this, but the thought wasn't displeasing for her. The long waits of months to meet him again had been somewhat annoying before, although she feared that now she would find herself trying to spend time away from him instead… but for some reason, she suspected it would be worth it.

"Probably," she replied, pretending this realization irritated her. "It will be a drag not to be able to get away from you that easily…"

"Yeah, right…" said Sokka, smirking playfully. Azula merely rolled her eyes before taking a few steps inside the house.

"You should get some rest now. We'll take off in the morning, once the scouts return."

"W-wait," said Sokka and Azula halted, sighing heavily before turning to face him again.

"What now?"

"There's… one last thing I want to do here, before we take off," he said, struggling to stand up with his crutches. Azula rolled her eyes and helped scoop him up, letting him support himself on her shoulder.

"What would that be?" she asked, raising an eyebrow once he was finally on his feet… and crutches.

"I think I recall my armor got smashed badly on that last fight," he said. "What happened to it?"

"I sent it to the Royal Blacksmith. He must have fixed it by now, but I forgot completely about it…"

"It shattered pretty easily, didn't it?" Sokka mused.

"I suppose… Why are you asking that?"

"I have an idea," he said, smiling at her. "Come."

Azula didn't feel too lenient to follow him around by his command, since it should be the other way around… but she felt responsible for him at the moment due to those injuries he still suffered from. She feared he might hurt himself if she didn't keep close watch on him.

So she followed him, helping him walk at several times, as he guided her to the mansion's forge. As the guards had reported, Piandao's makeshift weapons were gone. Still, the assortment of metals and instruments were still available, to Sokka's relief. He limped to a corner of the room and struggled to pull out a bag from there. Azula had to help him to achieve his goal, seeing how the bag was very heavy.

"What is this?" she asked, before opening the bag to find a pile of pitch-black stones.

"Remember the weird rock that we saw when we first came to Shu Jing?" asked Sokka, smiling. "It's what I used to make Space Sword… and you've seen how amazing my sword is. There were a few times when I even managed to cut Piandao's weapons with Space Sword, and while his blade was rendered useless, mine was intact. It's a very resistant material… and I was thinking I could make use of it…"

"To forge a new armor," finished Azula, thoughtful.

"I thought it would be a good idea," said Sokka, smiling after she finished his sentence. "As I told you, this is a very sturdy material… so I think it should work well to avoid sustaining as many injuries as I had to stand during that damned fight. This way, if a psycho earthbending girl flings me towards a spike, it's possible the armor will protect me and I won't end up getting my shoulder pierced completely…"

"It sounds like a good idea," Azula acknowledged. "But are you really strong enough to do this, Sokka? Making a suit of armor when you can hardly walk on your own is easier said than done."

Sokka tilted his head, slightly disappointed. Perhaps she was right… How was he supposed to work in this state?

Azula saw the troubled look on his face and sighed. What was it about those blue eyes of his…? Every time he faced hard truths, they became tinged with sadness, and she hated to see him so upset for reasons she couldn't fathom.

"Well… there are other options," she said, gulping.

"Such as?"

"I could help you, somehow…" she muttered, looking away. Sokka jumped at the suggestion, his eyes darting up at her face immediately, as if expecting to find she was merely mocking him, but seeing how bashful she was, it seemed she was honest…

"Y-you'd do that? I mean… it's a lot of work," Sokka said, grimacing. "I won't deny your firebending skills would be a lot of use, but there would be a lot of hammering and folding metal, all that stuff that I doubt you'd enjoy…"

"I wouldn't enjoy it, truly," said Azula, sighing. "But it would be best if I did most of it. I've told you time after time that I don't want you pushing yourself beyond your limits… so you leave me with no other choice but to do most of this myself."

"B-but… are you sure of this?" he asked, wincing. "I could return in a few months, once I'm better, and make the armor myself by then…"

"For all you know, someone else might claim this mansion by that time," said Azula. "So it would be most convenient for us to make it right now. The tools are here, you have the knowledge we require… I don't see a problem, actually."

"But…" said Sokka. "Do you really want to do this?"

"That's what worries you?" asked Azula, surprised.

"Well, yeah… I feel like I'm imposing on you," he muttered, shyly. Azula was taken by surprise by his unusual behavior.

"Well, you're not," she muttered, eyeing him with uncertainty. "Shall we, then?"

Sokka still seemed insecure, but he smiled at her, grateful. They began working soon enough by melting what was left of the meteorite. This was, naturally, the stage in which Azula was most helpful. Sokka was impressed by her firebending techniques to keep the heat within the forge, which helped them to melt the metal much quicker. After this, the difficult part began, seeing how molding the metal into the different sections of armor was no easy feat for either of them. Regardless, they worked hard throughout the night to make an armor that would fit Sokka properly.

It was already dawn by the time they were finished. Azula was exhausted, seeing how she had been the one to make most the efforts. As an evidence of her weariness, there were dark bags under her eyes, just as the ones under Sokka's.

"Well, it seems it works," he said, with the breastplate in place.

"Yeah, though now you're the Black Wolf rather than the Blue one…" said Azula, eyeing him sideways.

"I can make some arrangements…" said Sokka, taking off the armor with difficulty, but, to his pride, he managed to accomplish it without Azula's help. "… And get some blue stuff on it so I can remain the Blue Wolf. What do you think?"

"Do as you wish, I'm too tired to think," said Azula, shaking her head.

"I warned you this was going to be a hassle," said Sokka, chuckling. "Come on… let's get going. It's dawn already."

"I can tell," muttered Azula, grimacing at the light filtering into the forge from the east.

They needed the assistance of some of Azula's Royal Guards to move the armor, seeing how Azula was too worn out to carry it, and Sokka still had to walk with crutches, so he couldn't take it himself. They stood in the vestibule of the mansion's main building, both tired and hoping to get some sleep when they were on the ship once again.

"Ready to go, then?" asked Azula, restraining a yawn.

"I suppose," said Sokka, sighing as he looked around the room for the last time. "I'll go get my stuff, then…"

"You can't carry your luggage yourself, though," said Azula, sighing. "Captain, go with him."

The Captain of the Royal Guard was still displeased over the treatment he was getting lately, but he complied regardless, following Sokka into the gladiator's room.

There wasn't much in Sokka's room, only a few garments of clothing and some bombs he had developed whenever his master gave him spare time. The Captain flung everything he could find over his shoulder while Sokka pocketed the bombs, picking them out of the drawer in his nightstand…

Something caught Sokka's eye as he put the last bomb in the safety of his pocket. He frowned as he picked up the Pai Sho tile, not recalling having brought anything related to Pai Sho to his room.

"Are you coming, Gladiator?" asked the Captain, at the threshold.

"Uh… yeah," said Sokka, struggling with his crutches as he turned around to leave.

The Captain continued on towards the carriage that awaited Azula and Sokka outside the mansion, but Sokka didn't follow him just yet. He limped towards Azula, still staring at the tile in his hand.

"Hey… I just found this on my nightstand," he said, prompting her to turn to him.

"Huh?" Azula frowned as she took the tile from his hand. "Isn't this…?"

"The White Lotus?" Sokka finished this time. "Piandao had me play Pai Sho a few times… but I don't remember him mentioning anything in particular about this tile…"

"He didn't mention anything about it," said Azula, frowning. "But…"

The Princess walked to a window and looked down at the training grounds where she had seen Piandao and Sokka fight several times. She pointed down at it, and Sokka limped to reach her, peeking down at the yard as well. The center of the yard was decorated with the same shape of the White Lotus tile.

"W-wait, what?" said Sokka, surprised. "It's the same symbol… it's the same symbol! And actually, now I think of it, he had plenty of things decorated with white lotuses. The gates, for instance, they have a huge white lotus painted on them too!"

"Indeed…" replied Azula, thoughtful.

"And…" Sokka withdrew Space Sword from the scabbard that hung over his left shoulder. The sword's pommel also had the shape of the White Lotus carved into it. "It's on Space Sword too. Why didn't I notice this before? The symbol of the White Lotus was everywhere!"

"Why, though?" asked Azula, as she furrowed her brow, deep in thought.

"That's a very good question," said Sokka, frowning as well. "What do you think it means?"

"Do you think it means something, in the first place?" asked Azula.

"Princess…" said the Captain, approaching them. "We should take off as soon as possible. The tides are… is something the matter, Princess?"

"Nothing in particular," said Azula, still holding the Pai Sho piece in her hand. "Although… you don't happen to know if there are any hidden meanings to the White Lotus symbol, do you?"

"The White Lotus?" asked the Captain, looking at the tile. "No, I'm afraid not, Princess… but if you're curious about something regarding Pai Sho, I believe you should ask General Iroh. He's quite fond of this game, and if somebody knows about secret messages hidden within Pai Sho tiles, I believe it would be him."

Azula frowned at the suggestion.

"Indeed… my uncle," she grunted, between gritted teeth. "I'd rather relinquish my right to ascend to the throne than ask anything of him."

"Oh… of course, Princess," said the Captain, gulping.

"I doubt there's much to this, Sokka," said Azula, handing the tile back to him. "Maybe Piandao had taken it to be his personal seal or something of the sort, and he wanted you to keep that tile as something to remember him by. In any case, there's nothing else for us to do here. Let's get going already, shall we? You can ponder the meaning of the White Lotus later."

"I guess…" said Sokka, nodding as the three of them exited the mansion.

The gladiator stopped on his footsteps right after the Captain closed the doors behind him. Sokka turned around, holding his crutches tightly, and he took one last glance at the first place that had felt like home to him in two years. He sighed, wondering if he would ever return to the mansion, and wondering if he would ever see Piandao again.

Still, clasping the White Lotus tile tightly in his hand, he boarded the carriage with a strange sense of excitement. The latest developments led him to wonder what kind of life awaited him from now on…


	21. Chapter 21

"Well... I'd say you're all set now, gladiator," stated the physician, after checking Sokka's state. "I'll need to take a look at you again in about a week, but it seems traveling did you some good. Keep using the crutches if you're going to walk too far. Use them also if your legs hurt too much. That would be all for now."

Sokka could have wept of joy when he heard those words. He gave Azula a delightful smile, to which she responded with a raised eyebrow, unwilling to show him she was pleased by the news as well.

"Thank you for your hard work," said Azula, and the physician bowed down to her.

"Always a pleasure to serve the Fire Lord's daughter and her… slave," said the man, looking at Sokka from over his shoulder before leaving the room.

Sokka stood up without using his crutches and he beamed proudly. He wasn't bound to be able to fight just yet, but at least he should be able to walk properly now.

"It was about time," he said, sighing in relief. "I'm back, at last!"

"Don't expect me to welcome you back, though," said Azula, sighing. "I've had to bear with you for long enough already. I'd rather say farewell instead."

"Farewell? Why?" asked Sokka, surprised. "Did you find a good master for me already?"

"No, not yet," said Azula, frowning. It had been three days since they had returned from traveling to Shu Jing. As soon as she had returned, Azula had started her search for a new sword master for Sokka, but it had been to no avail. Every man she had interviewed so far had seemed weaker than Sokka, and their stiff fighting styles weren't what she wanted her gladiator to learn.

"Then why do you want to say goodbye to me?" asked Sokka, puzzled.

"Because I don't see why you should stay in the Palace," Azula replied, folding her arms over her chest. "We have it bad enough as it is with one crazy gladiator freeloading off us to deal with you as well."

Sokka winced at the thought of Toph. He had caught sight of her again when they had returned and he still couldn't fathom how a tiny girl with such flaccid arms had beaten him as she had. Toph would wave at him in a friendly fashion each time they saw each other, but Sokka never greeted her back. He didn't care how ill-mannered he seemed, he wasn't going to be nice to her. She didn't seem to be affected by his hostility at all, though.

"But I got here first," he muttered, pouting. "She should be the one to leave."

Azula raised her eyebrows, eyeing Sokka with interest.

"Well, this is rather interesting… I would have never thought you could grow so fond of the Fire Nation's Royal Palace, Sokka."

The gladiator paled at the thought. He had been losing perspective lately, hadn't he? He hated the Fire Nation and loathed everything about it… especially the Fire Lord, and everything about him. Staying in his lair seemed like the most disgusting self-betrayal he could ever indulge in.

"Okay, you got me on that one," he grumbled. "Where do you want to dump me at, though?"

"Dump you…?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow at Sokka's pick for words. "I don't know, to be honest, but it's of little importance where I leave you. A savage like yourself could live in a box and enjoy it, most likely."

"A box?" Sokka repeated, glaring at Azula. "You can't be serious…"

"I don't see a problem with that," she replied, smirking as she left the room. Sokka rolled his eyes before swinging his weapons and luggage over his shoulders. He grasped his crutches and followed her.

"Weren't you claiming that your job as a sponsor was to give me everything I could possibly need?" he asked, catching up to the Princess. "Well, I need a real house or else I'll never be fit to fight more gladiators!"

"That's neither here nor there…" said Azula, rolling her eyes. "But I can accept that. I'll just find you some moldy shack in the Capital's outskirts, I guess."

"Hey!" yelled Sokka, growing exasperated, to Azula's delight. Driving him over the edge was an activity she had grown to enjoy. "That's not fair! Is that really all I deserve in your opinion?!"

"Of course," said Azula, matter-of-factly. "What else were you expecting from me, snow savage?"

"Oh, I don't know…" he grunted. "Seeing how you carried my half-dead body across the Arena and how you helped me make my armor I was pretty sure you had grown to care at least in the slightest about me."

"In the slightest…?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think so. You should know well enough that I only put up with you out of convenience. It was what our original deal established, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but I don't think those things I mentioned were in the original deal… or were they?" asked Sokka, eyeing Azula with curiosity.

"Indeed, they weren't. There's no use denying that," said Azula. "Still, it means you have gotten away with enough favors from me. I'm not about to grant you more kindness, seeing how you hardly even deserve it."

Sokka gulped as he continued limping behind her. His legs were bothering him slightly, thus he had chosen to use the crutches for now.

"Well, I won't say I'm surprised by your evil ways," he muttered, dramatically. "But I doubt you meant what you just said. I didn't deserve such kindness, true… so why did you go for it, Azula? Why did you present me with such kindness?"

Azula felt a mild blush growing on her face, but she tried to keep her composure despite her embarrassment.

"Perhaps it was the heat of the moment?" Sokka teased her. "You saw me, helpless and fragile, and the heroine within you had to burst out from all those layers of cruelty…"

"What on earth are you talking about?" asked Azula, rolling her eyes.

"What else?" said Sokka, smirking. "Your obvious feelings for me! Ever since we met you've thought I'm unbearably handsome!"

"Oh, please!" Azula barked, staring at him skeptically. "What's so handsome about a pathetic snow savage like yourself?"

"Don't you know it, Princess?" he asked, his smile widening at her response. Azula hadn't even noticed Sokka had turned the tides around in their conversation: he was the one making fun of her now. "High-class ladies can't help but swoon after men like me! We're all you've ever wanted, and all you'll never attain because you're supposed to only get involved with lame men of noble-birth. No matter if you want to hide it, all you girls want is a nice fling with a guy like me!"

"Probably stupid high-class girls would feel that way," said Azula, gritting her teeth. "But I, personally, would rather stick to the annoying noblemen I've met than have a fling with an idiot like you."

"Such lies, Princess… And here I was, believing you were straight-forward and honest all the time," snickered Sokka.

Azula halted and glared at him, taking in his smile and the glow on his eyes. She stormed off again, angrily.

"What's the matter now, Princess?" he mocked her, walking behind her.

"I'm a fool," she said, shaking her head. "Letting you play me like that… that's supposed to be my job, not yours."

"You'll excuse me, Princess, but you're too easy to make fun of," he said, chuckling. "Although I meant every word I said…"

"You truly delude yourself with such ridiculous ideas?" asked Azula, rolling her eyes as she turned to look at him. "In any case, the one who seems desperate to get involved with me would be you, you useless…"

Azula would have finished the sentence if she hadn't crashed against someone who had just turned around the hall's corner at that very moment. Sokka forgot their bout momentarily as he eyed the stranger Azula had collided with. His black hair was similar to hers, albeit messier, and he also had a golden gaze… yet his most striking feature was the disfigurement over his left eye. He was about Sokka's height, hence, several inches taller than the Princess.

"Zuko…" said Azula, taking a few steps back defensively. A sense of foreboding took over her… something about happening into him right now felt rather ominous to her. "I'm surprised to see you walking around. Done sulking at last?"

"Uh…" Zuko would have caved into her mockery, but he was busy eyeing the foreigner wielding crutches. "… What's this?"

"What's what?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean, who is that?" asked Zuko, pointing at Sokka.

"Don't you know it's rude to point with your finger like that?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow, mimicking Azula's expression without even noticing it.

"Well, that's interesting. Even a savage can give you lessons in etiquette, Zuzu," said Azula, smirking. She'd had a bad feeling over how this would turn out, seeing how Sokka seemed so curious about her brother… but apparently he'd remain her ally. That was good news. Not many people kept to her side when it came to Zuko.

"W-what…? Could you just tell me who he is?" Zuko grunted, frowning.

"He is…" started Azula, grimacing at the thought of revealing Sokka's identity to Zuko. She didn't know if Zuko would suddenly feel the urge to get himself a gladiator if he knew she had her own… and she feared what the consequences would be if he did. No matter how little glory she had attained already, it would all go to waste right away if Zuko got involved in the gladiator business as well.

"The name's Sokka," said the gladiator behind her, making Azula freeze on her spot. "I'm from the Southern Water Tribe. And I already know who you are even if you want to keep playing Mystery Man."

"Water Tribe?" asked Zuko, frowning. He had traveled near the Southern Water Tribe many years ago… what sort of business did a Water Tribe man have in the Royal Palace? In fact, what sort of business could he have with Azula? He couldn't bring himself to figure it out, especially since he had heard the two of them arguing in such a casual manner… "Why is he here?"

"You're right, he has even worse manners than me," mumbled Sokka, pouting. Azula smirked. "You know, you can talk directly to me, Mr. Prince! I may be a gladiator, but that doesn't mean I'm below you, you pompous royal!"

Zuko's face twisted into a grimace. He wanted to respond to Sokka's accusations, but hearing he was dealing with another gladiator made him turn to Azula again.

"A… a gladiator? Your gladiator?!"

"Why the fuss, Zuzu?" asked Azula, playing with her bangs. "Does it bother you that I have more toys than you?"

"T-toys…?" asked Sokka, startled.

"T-that's ridiculous, I'm just…!" Zuko said, his temper flaring momentarily. "I just don't get it. Is it a fad now, to have a Gladiator? First Uncle, now you…"

"Hey! We started out first!" yelled Sokka, lifting his crutch and aiming it to the roof as if he were wielding a sword.

"As a matter of fact, we did," said Azula. "Iroh got his earthbending twat several months after I found Sokka."

"Who cares about who got his gladiator first?" said Zuko, exasperated. "What's the craze with the gladiator business all of sudden?"

"I would explain it to you, but I question you'd understand it, truth be told," said Azula, sighing dramatically. Zuko glared at her.

"Right. And why didn't you mention you had a gladiator before?" he asked.

"Probably because you never asked," said Azula, matter-of-factly. "Do you need me to refresh your memory so that you can recall all our conversations as of late? In case you haven't noticed, all of them have revolved around you. Not once did you ask what I might be up to nowadays, so I wasn't compelled to explain anything about my current endeavors to you."

Zuko froze in his spot as he realized she was right. He hadn't asked anything about her, not even once… he had taken for granted she would still be the same Azula he remembered, their father's favorite child, the flawless girl he had always envied. As he thought about it, he realized this weird gladiator trend was very fitting for Azula. Zuko knew she had always thrived in pointless violence, much like their father did… but he still couldn't understand why Iroh had gotten involved with it.

Regardless, that wasn't the matter bothering him at the moment. He eyed Sokka and raised his single eyebrow as he studied his complexion. Even if he hadn't been using crutches, he would have been the last sort of person he would have imagined his sister would take as her gladiator.

"Why him?" he asked, puzzled. "You're the type of person who would get the toughest fighter available… and your gladiator is a guy in crutches?"

"Hey!" Sokka growled, irked. "I'll have you know I'm way tougher than I look! I was trained by Piandao himself in the art of swords! And he actually said several times that I was one of the worthiest men he had ever trained! Did he ever say something like that about you, huh?!"

Zuko froze at the gladiator's outburst. Azula seemed pleased by his reaction.

"Piandao?" he asked. "You got Piandao to train him?"

"Yeah, she did. Have a problem with that?" said Sokka, scowling at Zuko.

"I just don't see why he would bother training a slave," said Zuko, finally speaking directly to Sokka.

"I told you several times, Sokka, didn't I?" said Azula, turning to look at her gladiator with a smirk of complicity. "All that talk about honor that Piandao sold you on… he gave it to Zuko as well, but the knowledge entered through one of his ears and left through the other."

"Yeah, I can see that now…" said Sokka, nodding.

"That's not true!" yelled Zuko, annoyed. The Water Tribe man didn't displease him much, but his sister always got to his nerves with ease. "I just don't know why he bothered training a gladiator when the gladiator business is as lowly as it is!"

"You're as thick as ever," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "Piandao was bothered over how horrid the gladiator business was. But, regardless, he trained Sokka because he found him worthy to be a swordsman. Worthier than he found you, if I may."

"Well, his worth didn't do him much good, I'd say," replied Zuko disdainfully, glaring at Sokka's crutches. Sokka bared his teeth at him, ready to smack him on the head with the crutches he was talking about. Azula stretched an arm before Sokka, stopping him efficiently.

"Yet he's far worthier than you, as I said," replied Azula. "I wonder if you'd even survive in the sand pit. I rather doubt you'd make it past five minutes."

"Yeah, right…" Zuko grunted.

"And if he fights the Blind Bandit, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't last over one minute," said Sokka, making Azula chuckle as she lowered her arm.

"Well spotted."

"I'll have you know I've become far stronger after these years," Zuko said, glaring at his sister.

"Oh, have you, now?" said Azula. "So your trip wasn't a complete waste of time? Good for you!"

"Y-you… Azula…" he grunted, the poison on her words wounding him, and Sokka's chuckles helping him grow even more uneasy.

"Now, if you'll excuse us, we have far better things to do than discuss your supposedly acquired new strength. I'm pretty certain I'm not going to be impressed when you show me the basic firebending stances you've been stuck with for all your life. Perhaps your fire is a couple degrees hotter now, but I doubt I'll be impressed anyhow. Come along, Sokka."

"Gotcha," said Sokka, smirking as he treaded behind Azula, leaving Zuko standing in the hallway with a prominent scowl on his face.

What the situation was between his sister and that strange gladiator of hers, he didn't understand at all. But he was definitely not pleased to see that his sister had found a new ally to torture him with. She was bad enough by herself.

"Well, well… what's with that weird hairdo, Zuko?" asked a cheerful voice behind him, making him jump and turn around quickly. "You look like you need a haircut urgently."

Ty Lee giggled as she saw him, smiling at him in her trademark careless fashion. She had always been a happy-go-lucky girl, from what Zuko could recall, but physically, she had changed a lot during these ten years. Her figure was far more womanly, and she wore make-up now. Zuko didn't miss how she eyed his scar quickly and grimaced. She hadn't witnessed his Agni Kai with his father, but she surely had no trouble imagining how he had earned the burn over his left eye.

"Uh… are you alright?" asked Ty Lee, surprised. "You're not checking me out, are you?"

"W-what?! No!" said Zuko, grimacing. Mai was one thing… but Ty Lee had always been Azula's friend in his eyes, never anything else. "I was just thinking you've changed a lot… just like everyone else, apparently."

"Yeah, things have become a little messier as of late," she said, smiling.

"Way messier, I'd say," grunted Zuko, sighing. "I can hardly keep up with it. Mai, married and pregnant; Azula, with a weird Water Tribe gladiator, and my uncle gets a gladiator as well! What about you, are you in my father's council now or something?"

"Who, me?!" asked Ty Lee, surprised. "N-no, not at all! I'm still plain, old me! Though I am involved in the gladiator business, but mostly for betting…"

"Betting?" asked Zuko, looking confused. "What…? Ugh, whatever. I'm not even going to ask."

"You can just ask, though," said Ty Lee, giggling. "I bet you're really confused, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah… it's been ten years worth of changes," he said, sighing. "There's no way I could get used to it all so quickly."

"How about I help you get used to it, then?" she suggested, smiling. "I could use some lunch… if you tag along, I can try to tell you everything you've missed!"

Zuko was surprised by her proposal, mostly because he didn't recall getting along with Ty Lee in the first place. Her kindness was welcome, though.

"Why not? Just… keep the gossip to a minimum, will you?"

"Oh, why should I do that?" asked Ty Lee, pouting as they both walked towards the Palace's Dining Room.

* * *

Azula and Sokka walked down the hallways, both smirking at the way they had teamed up to bring Zuko down. Sokka couldn't help but admire the way Azula was smiling right now, thriving in her malice. Defeating Zuko in battles of wit had always been one of her favorite pastimes.

"You know just how to handle him, don't you?" Sokka asked, making Azula smirk even more.

"You've mentioned a few times now that you have a younger sister, haven't you?" she replied. "It's only natural for siblings to mess with each other in every possible way…"

"Well, probably for you guys… though no, forget it," said Sokka, wincing. "My sister was actually just like that with me, too. Though I have to say I let her win most the time. I'm way smarter than her so whenever I'd get ahead of myself she would just smack me with her bending…"

"Bending…?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

Sokka froze in his spot, staring at her in horror. Azula was slightly amused at the expression on his face.

"So… your sister is the waterbender in the South Pole," she said, making Sokka stutter as he tried to make up excuses.

"W-what, n-no… I didn't… that's not… n-no, Katara isn't…"

"No need to worry, Sokka," said Azula, shrugging. "It's not the type of information that matters much to me. For all I care, your Tribe can remain as it is. I'm done with dealing with you South Pole savages. If it were by me I'd leave you alone and just keep watch nearby to make sure you stay in that frozen hell of yours."

"W-wait… really? Y-you mean that?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"Of course," said Azula, frowning. "Why wouldn't I mean it?"

"W-well, you're related to the man who sent the raids that killed over half my people…" said Sokka, distrustful for a moment.

"I'm related to him, alright," said Azula. "It doesn't mean we think in the exact same way. I take pride in being far smarter and more talented than my grandfather Azulon. I wouldn't waste my time in that Pole of yours."

"Huh… well, good, then," said Sokka, still surprised.

"Though I have to say I have the short end of the deal," said Azula, sighing. "Why did you have to be the one who couldn't bend?"

"Because if I had been a waterbender I would have beaten you and put out your funny fire for good," he grunted, making Azula acknowledge he was right.

"It would have been an interesting skill for a gladiator, regardless."

"So long as you don't decide to exchange me for my sister now or something…"

Azula stopped for a moment, as if considering the idea. Sokka turned to her, feeling offended.

"Hey! After all we've been through, you'd trade me for someone else that easily?!" he squealed.

"Well, if she happens to be a more reliable gladiator than you are…" she said, smirking.

"That's ridiculous! She's not going to be reliable, she'll get on your nerves all the time and she'd be even worse than I am about dealing with the Fire Nation, believe me on that one!"

"I was merely jesting," said Azula, but Sokka continued rambling.

"And she'll get your underwear soaked in freezing cold water and you'll end up with frostbite if you're not careful! And she kept refusing to sew my pants back when I fell down an ice slope and my pants ripped open! I mean, come on! That's plain cruel, making a guy wander around with his pants like that for about a week just because I forgot to say 'please'!"

"You wore the same pants for an entire week…?" asked Azula, grimacing. He didn't take notice of her remark, once again.

"And there was also that time when that damned tiger-seal was chasing me all over the place and rather than helping me get rid of it, Katara was laughing! You hear me?! SHE WAS LAUGHING!" yelled Sokka, his chest heaving as he finished his rant, his eyes glowing wildly after how spirited he had gotten after reminiscing the memories of his life in the South Pole.

"Uh… right," said Azula, smirking slightly. "I think I understand now. I got the right sibling indeed… you're the one I can make fun of, clearly. She seems far sharper and crueler than you."

"W-what, sharper?! What's so sharp about her?!" growled Sokka, frowning. "I was damn smarter than her, by far!"

"Sure thing," said Azula, resuming her strides as she headed towards the main hallway of the Palace. "I'm starting to sense there's a pattern here."

"A pattern…?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. You see, you just met my foolish older brother, and you're a foolish older brother to a girl who enjoys your misfortune… it's curious, truly," said Azula, smirking cruelly. "But I'd say we're perfectly set as it is. I'll just ask father to banish Zuko to your Pole so that your sister can make fun of him to no end and that way we'll have the perfect arrangement…"

"I don't think I want your brother or anyone from your Nation anywhere near my Tribe, thank you very much…" grumbled Sokka, bitterly.

"Ah, well, I suppose I'll spare your sister from the bother anyhow. Dealing with you is, clearly, far more fun than bearing with Zuko," said Azula. "And, by the way, that wasn't a compliment. It was just an insult towards him."

"Why did you feel the need to clear that up? I never suspected it was a compliment," said Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you're stupid enough to misunderstand my intentions, so I had to spare myself the trouble," said Azula, smirking.

"Yeah, right…" growled Sokka, glaring at her as they reached the outer gates of the Palace. "Say, what exactly are we going to do?"

"Find a place for you to stay," said Azula, frowning. "Your short-term memory sure is lousy."

"When will you get bored of trashing me?" asked Sokka, sighing.

"When you quit being so easy to trash, I suppose," replied Azula, smirking.

The Royal Guards in duty around the Palace were surprised to see Azula heading towards them, and all of them turned to look at their leader. The Captain sighed, knowing this could only mean trouble…

"Princess, where are you headed to?" he asked.

"Out," was Azula's simple response. "I won't need the palanquin, so don't bother bringing it forth."

"And I assume that, as usual, you shall remain unreasonable," said the Captain, sighing.

"In that case, you should be clever enough not to try to change my mind about this," said Azula, her eyes defying him to try and oppose her. She didn't mind having to deal with more verbal warfare.

But to her slight disappointment, the Captain merely sighed and shook his head.

"I can't believe I'm doing this…" he muttered. "But I'm sick of going through this nonsense over and over again. You'll get your way no matter what I say."

"I always knew you were a smart man, Captain," said Azula, smirking.

"Just… stay safe. If anything happens to you, the Fire Lord will have my head…" said the Captain, distraught.

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Captain, as you might have noticed in the past," said Azula. "There's nothing for me to fear in the streets of the Capital or anywhere else, for that matter."

"Still, you're taking a cripple with you," said the Captain, looking at Sokka. "Can you protect him as well?"

"I'm not a cripple," growled Sokka, glaring at the man.

"Oh, no need to worry," said Azula. "If the cripple falls back I'll just leave him behind."

"Hah?!" Sokka stared at Azula, aghast.

"Well then, by all means…" replied the Captain, taking a few steps back, proof that he wasn't about to stand in Azula's way anymore.

"HUH?!" squealed Sokka, looking at the guard now.

Azula smirked and walked away, feeling somewhat pleased. It wasn't every day that she got around convincing her persistent guard to let her off the hook. Sokka chased after her, still troubled by the way they had spoken about him.

"Cripple, my ass…" he grunted, annoyed. "And why are you so happy and cheerful, huh?!"

"No need to be so mad," said Azula. "I didn't quite expect him to give up that easily. He always was very persistent…"

"Maybe he thinks you'll be safe with me," said Sokka, smiling in a dumb fashion.

"No, he probably thinks that nobody would be cruel enough to attack a limping Water Tribe moron," said Azula, earning herself another glare.

"You're as sweet as ever," he grunted. "Anyhow… what exactly are you going to do? Find an inn for me to stay in or something?"

"No purpose in finding an inn if you're going to stay around for a long time," said Azula. "Besides, I already said earlier a box would suffice for the likes of you…"

"Yeah, well, no," said Sokka, annoyed. "I'm not going to live in a box."

"Such refined tastes for a mere slave…" said Azula, smirking.

Sokka looked around the city, unable to ignore the way people stopped with their daily chores to stare at the Princess in awe. She strolled down the streets so carelessly… Sokka was certain no other member of the Royal Family would pull off such a feat. Which was what prompted him to ask…:

"Say, you always go about in a palanquin, don't you?"

"Yes. Why the obvious question?"

"Well… that thing has those dark drapes over it, doesn't it?" said Sokka. "How do you know which way you're going?"

"I don't, actually. I give out the command, tell the bearers where I wish to go to, and they do the job," said Azula.

"So I take it you don't know the streets…" he asked, worried. "Is there any chance we'll get lost if we stroll around like this, then?"

"Not at all," said Azula. "This Capital is my hometown. I know it just as well as I know my firebending forms."

"Oh, really?" Sokka was still skeptical.

"Of course," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "I have studied the layout of the Capital enough times to memorize every single…"

Azula stopped abruptly, her gaze upon a noodle restaurant up ahead. Sokka stared at her for a moment, and he was terrified to see the confused look on her face.

"Azula…? Is something wrong…?"

"When did that restaurant get set up there…?" she muttered loud enough for him to hear.

"WHAT?!" squealed Sokka, dropping his crutches as he gazed at Azula in shock.

Azula couldn't keep her charade for much longer, though. She looked at the expression on his face and she couldn't help but laugh at him as she resumed walking. Sokka's eyebrow twitched as he realized the Princess had merely been playing him.

"Very funny, very funny! Azula got twice the dose of royal sense of humor!" he yelled after her as he picked up his crutches again. "Probably because you got your brother's share or something, and now I have to put up with your hilarious jokes! Oh, so amusing!"

Azula couldn't stop chuckling at him as she continued her way through the town, her mind set in heading towards the edge of the crater, where she expected to find newer and cheaper houses. With luck, one of the buildings would be for sale and she would be able to make the place Sokka's home…

They walked for what seemed like hours, circling the edge of the Capital. The city's finest locations were at the center of the crater. On the outer zone, the houses grew less refined and far more practical, which Sokka found to his liking… but all of them were occupied already. He feared Azula's cruel idea would come true and he would end up living in a box… still, he didn't bring up the subject again, hoping she'd forget about it.

By the eastern wing of the city, the houses grew more rugged and less fancy. Sokka was lagging behind because his legs were paining him slightly, but even when Azula asked him if they should stop, he refused to do it. She didn't mind taking the lead, though. At last, she stopped when she found quite an undignified wooden shack only a few ways ahead.

"Hah! This is it!" she called, making Sokka wince when he caught sight of the pathetic wooden structure from afar. It wasn't even large enough for one person to stand inside it, let alone him.

"That's what, now…?" asked Sokka, limping as he tried to come closer. The terrains were rougher now, the roads were no longer perfectly lined nor had they been worked properly so that people could walk on them with ease. Azula had no problems with the difficult hike, though, seeing how she wasn't trying to balance her weight with crutches.

"I said you could live in a box, didn't I? Well, this is a little bigger than what I had in mind…" she muttered, eyeing it with interest. "But it will do."

"No-it-won't!" yelled Sokka, as his left crutch got stuck amongst loose tree roots.

Suddenly, to Azula's surprise, an old man appeared from behind the wooden structure. He looked at her with a wide toothless smile, which made her wince in slight disgust. Since when did people with such deplorable aspects live in the Fire Nation Capital…?

"Ah, fine lady! Ya' come to take a look at my dandy establishment?" he asked, his hands pressed together as he tilted his head to one side, his wide eyes looking at her with such joy she could only stagger back and scowl at him.

"Y-your what, now…?"

"I see ya' have a nice-looking four-legged husband with you!" said the man, catching sight of Sokka, who was still fighting against the roots. "Wonderful, wonderful!"

"H-husband?!" squealed Azula, scandalized. "He's not my husband! He's just…!"

"No need to excuse ya'!" said the man, beaming. "No worries, no worries! In my mansion there's room for all!"

Azula took another look at the wooden shack. What was this man rambling about…? What mansion?

"So, what would ya' like to have in yar' meal?" asked the man.

"I'm not looking for a place to eat," said Azula, frowning. "I'm looking for a house on sale, to be honest."

"Ah, then ya're on yar' lucky day!" he claimed, joyfully. "Meh' fine establishment is for sale!"

"Weren't you just about to give us a meal…?" asked Azula, utterly confused and annoyed.

"The mansion's on the very cheap price of seventy thousand yuans!" squealed the man happily, ignoring Azula completely.

"Huh? Seventy thousand for a pathetic hut like that?" asked Azula. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"Oh, you don't understand where you are, do you?" asked the man, shaking his head and dipping his hands into his ravaged pants pockets. "This is the Fire Nation Capital, pretty foreigner! Ya'd do best to keep that in mind!"

"I'm perfectly well aware of where I am! I live here!" Azula exclaimed.

"Oh, you don't yet!" said the man. "But you will when you buy this wonderful house with this convenient bargain! Living in the Capital has a lot of perks! Word says ya' might even catch a glimpse of the Princess if ya're lucky!"

"Y-you wretched...!" Azula growled, her patience running out quickly. It was bad enough that the foolish man thought he could rip them off to buy a pile of garbage while making it look like the deal of the century, but he didn't even know who she was?

"Why, sweetheart! What's the matter with you?" asked Sokka from behind her, making her shiver and blush at the term of endearment.

"What is the matter with me?! How about what's the matter with you?! Or HIM?!" yelled Azula, pointing at the man, who was currently busy sniffing his shoes.

"Ya've got a lovely wife there, Mister Four-legs!" said the man. "But she's damn rude, ya' get my drift?"

"Oh, she is, always has been!" said Sokka, shaking a hand carelessly. "You know what it's like, when they're from the colonies, you gotta roughen them up and see if they can handle the good life in the Fire Capital!"

"You said it, sailor!" replied the man proudly, sitting on the ground as he scratched his butt. "Where did I leave my caterpillar…?"

"In any case," said Sokka. "We'll be off now, fine sir! We don't really need a house, so you're welcome to keep your… establishment."

"Will ya' stay for lunch?" asked the man, beaming.

"Oh, we've got plans to eat with the Fire Lord, sorry!"

"Sure, sure, I'm flexible! We can reschedule!" declared the man, waving as Sokka pushed Azula into moving. "Have a nice boat ride to the Earth Kingdom!"

"You too!" said Sokka, as he got back on the road with the Princess.

Azula was astonished, disturbed and annoyed after that strange experience, and Sokka could tell just how shaken she had been by it. He smirked slightly, pleased over how her evil ploy to irritate him had backfired on her.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, once they were out of the man's earshot.

"That, my dear Princess, is a homeless man. Welcome to reality" said Sokka, still smiling.

"Quit calling me names like that," said Azula, glaring at him dangerously, although Sokka didn't miss the blush on her cheeks. "It's sickening. What the hell is a homeless man doing in the Capital?"

"I wonder," said Sokka, shrugging. "I guess your daddy didn't do his job right and people like him managed to sneak in here somehow."

"Still, how…?" asked Azula, clenching her teeth. "There should be no people like him in the Capital… The Fire Nation is a prosperous place. I thought such lowly peasants only lived in colonies and in the wastelands of the former Earth Kingdom."

"Well, look again, Princess," said Sokka. "There were a ton of those guys at Hui Yi. They're all a bit wacked in the head, I'd say. But they're not really bad… they just have forgotten all common sense!"

"No wonder you seem to get along so well with them," Azula barked. "I can't believe he didn't even know who I was…"

"That's the way they roll, they tend to say nonsense all the time," said Sokka, carelessly. "Don't mind them."

"I can't make any sense out of it…" she insisted, making Sokka sigh. Clearly, she was very disturbed after that experience. "Why are people like him in the Fire Nation anyway? Let alone in the Capital... It's ridiculous," grunted Azula.

"Well, if you really want to know…" he said.

"Oh, so you, of all people, know the answer to that question?" asked Azula, skeptical.

"I know we've been through this before, Azula," said Sokka. "But with this evidence in front of you, you can't keep thinking the Fire Nation is flawless. You high-class people tend to be oblivious to everything the lower class has to deal with, stuck in your happy bubble as you are..."

"Stuck in a happy bubble? I'm sorry, but the high class, as you called it, keeps the order in the nation. The Fire Nation is only as prosperous as it is because of us. Lowborn people are just unable to understand that."

"Sure," said Sokka, shrugging. "There's no use denying you guys from the Fire Nation have some cool traits. I've seen firsthand some of the nicest stuff your nation has to offer. The food is simply remarkable."

"As ever, thinking with your stomach," said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"But that doesn't mean everything's perfect," finished Sokka. "You've seen Hui Yi. Now you even see a homeless man in the Capital. Despite all the cool things you boast about, things aren't half as great as they could be for the lower classes if only people like you bothered doing something about them."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked the Princess with a frown.

"You're the Princess, your daddy's pretty little girl," said Sokka. "If anyone has a shot at telling the Fire Lord about the things that need to be improved, that would be you."

"And why should I bother doing anything about this? What exactly do I gain by fixing the sad lives of weird rambling men like that one?"

"I don't know how you Fire Nation people think, truly," said Sokka. "But what makes a nation isn't the lands the lords own, or the riches, or their reputation and whatnot... it's the people. Why else would you be the Fire Nation if it weren't because you guys are firebenders, because you live by fire? The Water Tribes live by water, the Earth Kingdom used to live by earth, and the Air Nomads by air. The elements are what are what give the people their identity, and what made the people assemble to form nations. You see what I'm talking about?"

Azula frowned at his words. She truly hated discussing these matters with him. But this time it was worse than before... because he had the evidence on his side. Indeed, the Fire Lord and those closest to him were supposed to look after the Fire Nation. They were superior to everyone else in many ways, she was still convinced of it… but the entire purpose of them being in charge was that they could help their people grow. Instead, people lived miserably, like they did in Hui Yi… after having witnessed that, after seeing this homeless man, could she still claim the Fire Nation's government was doing the best for its people? She sighed and shook her head, trying to prevent him from seeing that his words had gotten to her yet again.

"You don't get it?" asked Sokka, grimacing. "And here I thought you were smarter than that…"

"Piandao definitely got to you," grunted Azula, still shaking her head. "You even talk like him now."

Sokka could tell Azula wasn't happy about what she had just said… she clearly didn't want him to be like Piandao. But to him, it was the most amazing compliment he could have heard. He looked at Azula in awe, although she missed it, before smiling slightly and shrugging.

"If you say so…"

They continued walking by the edge of the city, passing by more houses that were already occupied. Azula's frown deepened as she walked, thinking this had been nothing but a waste of time. Her mood had dampened after running into the homeless man and even further after speaking with Sokka. What did he want from her? Did he think she could change the world at will just because she was trusted by her father? It didn't work as easily as he thought it did. Fire Lord Ozai had brought her up and taught her to be strong, told her that the weak deserved their fate, and she wanted to cling onto that principle, just as she wanted to cling onto everything her father had taught her. But Sokka kept making it difficult… he kept getting all these ideas into her mind, confusing her and making her question what her role as her father's heir was.

"Hey…" Sokka brought her out of her thoughts when he pointed at a house with one of his crutches. "What about that one?"

Azula blinked before raising her eyes, looking at the place that had caught his attention. It was comprised of a single two-stories building with quite a large backyard. It seemed to be a modern house, and the best part of it was the green scroll pinned to the door, the signal Azula had been waiting for: it gave away that the place was for sale.

"Perfect," said Azula, sighing in relief. "It was about time, too."

"I like it! Very much!" declared Sokka, eyeing it with interest. "Look at those terrains! Do you think those would all be mine if I get the house?"

"If YOU get the house, you asked?" Azula raised an eyebrow, skeptical. "May I remind you I'm the one who has to waste her money on this?"

"Oh, so that's the real reason why you wanted me to get a box," said Sokka, smirking. "I can't believe the Princess is being a cheapskate. You said that anything I needed, you could buy… what's the problem now, Azula? I thought you were a woman of her word…"

"Stop playing me like that," grunted Azula, glaring at him, as they both approached the house. She finished reading the scroll on the door quicker than he did.

"So this thing costs 210,000 yuans?" asked Sokka, gulping.

"So it seems," said Azula, frowning. "It's quite a steep price, I'd say…"

"Excuse me, what are you…?" asked an unknown voice from behind them.

Azula and Sokka turned around swiftly. The salesman stared at them, confused at first, but when he caught sight of the golden piece decorating Azula's raven hair he jumped and bowed down immediately.

"Princess Azula! T-to what could I owe this pleasure…?!"

"Huh, at least this one knows who you are," said Sokka, smirking. Azula gave him a glare and he chuckled lightly.

"I wish to buy this house," she replied, looking down on the man before her. "Do I have to sign any paperwork of any sort to do this?"

"O-of course, yes!" said the man, nodding promptly. "But… is this really the house you want, Princess? You surely could afford houses in better locations in the Capital…"

"I'm not buying this for myself," Azula said, rolling her eyes. "Why would I need to buy a house if I live in the Royal Palace?"

"Oh, well, I… I'm sorry, Princess," said the man, blushing and dropping his gaze. Sokka couldn't help but smirk at the situation. It seemed Azula was used to dealing with people as easy to manipulate as this man… no wonder she seemed to enjoy herself so much more when she exchanged jabs with him. He had an intellect that, at the very least, was able to stand its ground against Azula's own.

"You're the one in charge of selling this house, then?" asked Azula, frowning.

"Yes, I am," he said, smiling nervously.

"Then get on with it. I want this transaction finished as quickly as possible," stated Azula, her eyes gleaming coldly.

The salesman nodded, sweat dropping down his brow as he sprinted into the house, looking for the paperwork.

"Y-you're most welcome to take a look at the house, if you wish!" said the man, from the upper floor.

Azula and Sokka looked inside before entering. It was structured in wood mostly, something that Azula couldn't quite understand. If a firebender went on a rampage in here, there wouldn't be a house left afterwards… but Sokka grew to like it as he studied the place's layout. The vestibule led into a common room, with a large red couch that sat before a small table. The kitchen could be found to the right, and the stairs that led to the second floor stood next to the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. There was a veranda right outside the common room, and the bathroom stood a few ways away from the house, in a separate, smaller building.

"It's cozy!" Sokka said, smiling. "I approve!"

"Huh," said Azula, shrugging as they both stepped into the living room, waiting for the man to return with his official forms. "Well, it looks pathetic enough for a man of your standing. I'd say you can keep this."

"It's wooden too," he said, smirking. "You wanted me to have a box, didn't you? Well, here you have it, as you wanted it. A huge box, just for me."

Azula rolled her eyes, though she couldn't help herself but smile. Sokka didn't miss the gesture. She would always bicker with him, they would compete against the other, trying to find out who was smarter, who had the most willpower, who would give up first…

It was as if they were fighting a war, the princess and the savage, always in a battlefield, trying to outdo the other. But strangely, it wasn't like the other fights Sokka had been involved in. Usually, whenever he was in a combat he couldn't wait for the moment it would end. Here, though… he was enjoying himself thoroughly. It was the most fun he had ever had, even if he'd never say it out loud.

She would win at times, but he didn't mind. Wars were comprised of many battles, so he would just come up to fight her once again when he was ready. And despite she didn't like to see him win, she was able to accept it whenever she lost. As a reward for his triumph, he'd get to see her blush… or she would show him a small smile, just like this one. It was a side of herself she didn't let anyone else see… a side of the Princess that only belonged to him.

The thought sent an unknown thrill down his spine. He found himself smiling, despite himself. He had wanted to bring himself to hate her, and he had, for a very long time… but everything was different now. She wasn't just his sponsor, he wasn't just her gladiator. There was something more, something he couldn't explain with words. How to explain it, then…?

He hoped he would find a way to do it soon enough.


	22. Chapter 22

The Palace workers were taken by surprise by Ty Lee's presence. She only appeared in the premises of the Royal Family's home when Azula requested her and Mai to drop by, and today wasn't one of the appointed visit days. She was in the Palace today because, after all this time, she still hadn't found the chance to have a good conversation with Zuko, and she meant to do it now, over lunch. The Prince eyed her with discomfort, seeing how he was the least compatible person with Ty Lee's upbeat nature. He had never been able to understand why the girl was friends with his sister, of all people…

"So, what do you want to know?" asked Ty Lee, smiling after their meal was placed before them.

"What do you mean, what?" replied Zuko, frowning. "What? Well, everything!"

Ty Lee was taking a gulp of juice when he replied. She coughed on the liquid and she raised an eyebrow in his direction, smirking at him.

"Everything? So you do want the gossip!"

Zuko found himself sighing in despair. She was the last person he should have asked this from, wasn't she?

"Just get this over with, will you…?" he asked, as he got started on his rice bowl.

"Well, then… I guess I can get this going by talking about me!" said Ty Lee, disregarding that she was close to last in Zuko's priorities. "I had nothing to do for a while after I was done with school, so I just lazed about for a few weeks. And well, my family is quite annoying, most the time. I couldn't stand it and I wanted out, so I joined the circus!"

"The… circus?" asked Zuko, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Yeah, they trained me to perform lots of fun tricks," she said, smiling. "But after two years of that routine I decided I'd had enough! And so I returned home. Some of my sisters had gotten married by then, so the house wasn't as crowded, and it wasn't as annoying anymore. Mai had been at Omashu back then, because her father was appointed the city's governor, but she hated living there, so she didn't even bother unpacking. She returned to the Capital about at the same time as I did."

"Right…" muttered Zuko. Just thinking about Mai filled his chest with pain, as if someone was stabbing his heart repeatedly with a very sharp knife.

"We hung out with Azula whenever she had spare time…" said Ty Lee, looking up at the ceiling as if she were struggling to make sure she wasn't leaving anything important out. "… And I can't remember if I'm leaving out anything important, but whatever. One day, Fire Lord Ozai asked Azula to take vacations and spend some time on Ember Island. I have no idea why he ordered her to do that, so don't ask me…"

"Why…?"

"Didn't I just say don't ask?" pouted Ty Lee, annoyed.

"But… it's weird," said Zuko, before finishing his rice. "I thought he trusted Azula with his life."

"Do you really want me to answer for Fire Lord Ozai?" asked Ty Lee, skeptical.

"Uh, right. I wasn't thinking straight. Move on," said Zuko, nodding.

"Well, we went to Ember Island and we had some fun in the beach. I met some really nice guys there!" said Ty Lee, beaming as memories came back to her. "Then Azula told us to join her for a Kuai Ball game. You know how she is, crazy competitive…"

"No kidding," muttered Zuko, agreeing with Ty Lee for once. His childhood had been comprised mostly of competing with Azula to earn their parents' attention.

"So she wanted us to play Kuai Ball with her, and well, how to refuse her, really?" asked Ty Lee, smiling uncomfortably. "We played and we won, and we caught the eye of a pair of handsome boys who had been on the beach at the moment."

"Huh?" said Zuko, displeased.

"One of them was Admiral Chan's son," said Ty Lee. "And the other was Ruon Jian."

The second name made Zuko wince. He hadn't quite memorized it after his conversation with Mai, but hearing it rang a bell, and he had no trouble figuring why it seemed familiar. Ty Lee gave him a sympathetic smile before continuing with her tale.

"They invited us to a party, although they had no idea who Azula was," said Ty Lee. "She took that to her advantage, since she wanted to see how people would treat her when they didn't know who she was. She tried her luck with Admiral Chan's son, but…"

"Spare me the details," grunted Zuko, grimacing. "My sister's… l-love life is not something I care about."

"That's mean!" said Ty Lee, pouting again. "She was always supportive of you and Mai!"

"You think knocking us into a fountain was support? Wait… you were on her side back then, I forgot about that," said Zuko, still grimacing.

"She did a lot more than that!" said Ty Lee, frowning. "She always told Mai to go forth with you and not to give up on you! So you shouldn't be so mean to her!"

"She's always mean to me! I'm merely returning the favor," said Zuko stubbornly, folding his arms over his chest.

"Men are so thick-headed…" said Ty Lee, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. Let's just focus on the important stuff."

"Good idea," said Zuko, gloomily. He didn't really want to hear about Mai's romance with another man but he wanted to know, at the very least, if they had actually fallen in love. It still seemed unbelievable to him that Mai would have forgotten about him so easily.

"Azula did her best with Chan, but he chickened out on her because he didn't have the courage to handle her…"

"Who does?" asked Zuko, grimacing.

"And, well… Ruon Jian approached Mai," said Ty Lee, unable to meet Zuko's eyes now. Telling him this story filled her with an amount of guilt that she felt very uncomfortable with. "He was a bit of a jerk back then, but, let's face it, jerks can be so appealing at times…"

"Huh?"

"N-never mind!" said Ty Lee, shaking her head. "Anyways, Mai kept playing hard to get, but Ruon didn't stop insisting. He actually spent most the evening with her… well, that is, until I realized Azula was gone. I told Mai we should go look for her, and she used that as her scapegoat. She pretty much told Ruon Jian that, if he really wanted her, he'd better prove it. We went down to the beach with Azula, and she seemed pretty upset over her failure with Chan."

"Well, it was about time she failed at something," said Zuko, smirking slightly. Focusing on his sister's social awkwardness wouldn't be enough to diminish his pain over Mai, but at the very least it helped him forget about it momentarily.

"You're too unfair," said Ty Lee, shaking her head. "You… you just don't get her. And to be honest, until that day, neither did I. Mai and me only stuck by her because it was easier to be on her side than against her… until that night. We found her at the beach, watching the ocean. She didn't want to talk much at first, but we pushed her to it and she suddenly showed us that there was so much more to her than she wanted to let anyone see."

Zuko frowned deeply.

"Is that so? Then Azula showed you girls her 'weaknesses'? Why is that so hard to believe…?"

"Maybe because you're too bitter to accept she's just human," said Ty Lee, glaring at him.

Zuko didn't like where this conversation was headed. Truth to be told, he didn't care much for his sister's displays of emotion. He didn't buy them as something real. Azula had a way to fake feelings and feign shortcomings simply to get her way. He didn't care if other people fell for her ploys: he had decided he never would.

"Right. So she opened up to you both," he said, still skeptical. Ty Lee didn't miss the tone of his voice, but she opted to ignore it.

"I think that was the day when we actually became friends. We weren't really honest with each other before… but that night, things changed. I loved it," she said, smiling. "But I guess what you want to know is what happened with Mai and Ruon Jian."

Zuko winced but nodded slightly.

"Ruon didn't stop pursuing her," said Ty Lee. "He sent her letters often, and they communicated like that for quite a while. She didn't give in easily, though. She didn't seem comfortable with the idea of getting involved with him. I think it was because she was still in love with you."

Zuko lowered his gaze towards his empty plate, feeling miserable.

"But I didn't come back," he muttered. "And she moved on…"

"Yeah, I guess," said Ty Lee, sighing. "It took about four years for her to get to get over you. It has to be the hardest decision she ever made…"

"But it was for the better, I bet," said Zuko, shrugging. "I shouldn't even be back right now. She had every right to go with someone else."

Ty Lee blinked in surprise, staring at him with slight confusion.

"Well, that's unusual… are you just saying that, or do you really think so?"

"At this point, I have no idea," said Zuko.

"Right…" said Ty Lee, gulping as she eyed him warily. "Alright, then, where was I? Oh, yes! Well, Ruon Jian found himself in a pickle because he realized he needed to become a better man for Mai's sake, and well, he did his best to do that. He stopped being such a jerk, he found himself a job in the Capital, and Mai became way more interested in him after that, I think. He offered her everything he was, and she decided to accept him. They got married about a year ago, and, as you already know, they await their first child."

Zuko sighed, but nodded. It didn't help him much to know the entire story, but knowing that the man had been willing to change just for Mai's sake made him think he was probably good enough for her. Regardless, he couldn't stop feeling remorseful. If only he had returned sooner, he wouldn't need to hear this story…

"Well, that's that," said Ty Lee, after downing most her food while Zuko sat quietly across her. "Anything else you want to know?"

Zuko shook his head slowly for a moment, forgetting what had been bothering him before… but he nodded promptly once he did, bringing himself to focus on one of the matters that baffled him the most.

"Yeah, there's something else. That weird guy hanging with Azula…"

"Oh! Sokka!" squealed Ty Lee, looking dreamily at the ceiling. "That's the yummiest cookie I've seen in years…"

"What the hell?" said Zuko, the veins on his temple twitching as he glared at Ty Lee.

"Oh, no need to be so jealous," said Ty Lee, smiling. "You're on the top ten on my hot guys list too!"

"What an honor…" said Zuko, exasperated.

"It is, really!" she replied, beaming happily at him. Zuko huffed in annoyance. "Anyhow… you want to know how she wound up with him?"

"I just can't make any sense out of it," said Zuko, staring at the table. "Why is she with a guy like him? Why is he her gladiator?"

"It's a long story," said Ty Lee, smiling slightly. "About three years ago, Fire Lord Ozai sent Azula to the South Pole to attend some boring war meeting in a settlement the Fire Nation had established down there. Now, I don't know all the details, but I think a group of Water Tribe warriors came to attack them. Azula was the one to handle them all, and she ended up fighting against their leader, who was none other than Sokka!"

"He fought against Azula and survived…?" asked Zuko, surprised. Maybe the man was made of something stronger than he had originally thought.

"Well, apparently it wasn't that much of a fight," said Ty Lee, shrugging and smiling awkwardly. "She overpowered him quickly. But she didn't kill him, she said he should be taken to the mainland as a slave…"

"Why didn't she kill him?" asked Zuko.

"How about you ask her instead?" muttered Ty Lee, pouting. "I have no idea. I'm not Azula."

"You don't need to say that twice," added Zuko. Ty Lee frowned.

"In any case, she dropped him off at this lousy town, Hui Yi, and then she returned to the Capital. Then, some months ago, Fire Lord Ozai set her to marry Admiral Chan's son and she didn't have a say about it at first…"

"Marriage?" asked Zuko, impressed. "He was going to set her up? Really?"

"That's what surprises you?" asked Ty Lee. "Rather than the guy being Admiral Chan's son…"

"Oh, the one she wanted to get involved with back in Ember Island?"

"Yeah. Things went awry between them and she didn't want anything else to do with him," said Ty Lee. "So when she heard about this, she devised a plan to get rid of the engagement by proving Chan was no good for her! But Chan was a lazy, useless guy with no skills and no hobbies other than Gladiator fighting. So she decided to humiliate him through gladiators, but to accomplish that, she needed a gladiator of her own."

"Who would have known…?"

"So she dragged both me and Mai all the way to Hui Yi's Amateur Arena and we watched a combat there, and as it happens, the one who won the fight we saw was none other than Sokka! Of course, Mai and I didn't know who he was, so at first I just figured she liked him because he was really good-looking…"

"Does Azula give a damn about a man's looks?" asked Zuko, skeptical.

"Oh, she pretends she doesn't, but it's just that, pretense!" said Ty Lee, chuckling. "I can tell she likes him, really."

"I rather doubt it," said Zuko, grimacing.

"In any case, she struck a deal with him… I have no idea what exactly did she do to convince him, but she swayed him anyway. A month after they started working together, they faced off against Chan and his gladiator and they won! And now, I think they're aiming at becoming the best combination of gladiator and sponsor because they want the top spot in the ranking."

"What for?" asked Zuko. "What use would that be?"

"How should I know?" said Ty Lee, carelessly. "I'm just enjoying the ride! I go bet at the Grand Royal Dome once in a while… maybe you should come with me one day!"

"I don't think I want to watch something as pointless as a gladiator fight," said Zuko, sighing. "So don't count me in on that one."

"Oh, really?" said Ty Lee, pouting again. "You're no fun!"

"Nobody ever said I was," replied Zuko. "Still, she seems to get along really well with that guy. It doesn't make much sense, if you ask me… she dragged him from his hometown, turned him into a slave and now she's using him for hell knows what ends. Why is he enduring it? Is he that stupid, or is he the one who is playing her?"

"I don't… I never really saw it like that," muttered Ty Lee, looking aghast.

"I don't know how else to see it," insisted Zuko, scowling. "You can try and delude yourself all you want… Azula isn't doing this out of the kindness of her heart or out of some crush on a Water Tribe guy. There's something else to this…"

"You're just too gloomy," said Ty Lee, sighing. "I already told you, you're too hard on her. She's a girl! She has every right to feel attracted to a guy like him!"

"Even if she liked him, Azula isn't the type to act according to feelings," said Zuko. "Our father made sure she wouldn't do that."

"That's what you think…" muttered Ty Lee, folding her arms over her chest.

She hadn't given the relationship between Sokka and Azula much thought, but she was certain Zuko was wrong. What little she had seen had been enough to convince her that the bond between them went much deeper than Zuko believed… because, after all, Azula never did anyone favors, yet she had even been willing to go back to the Arena to fetch Sokka's boomerang. And as for Sokka, he had never even bothered checking Ty Lee out: he only ever focused on Azula. She didn't care if Zuko refused to accept it. There was something else in that relationship, something that went far beyond using the other for their own ends.

She wasn't too clever in many regards, but she took pride in her skill to identify love when she saw it.

* * *

Azula struck the bargains with the salesman while Sokka wandered about the house, looking around and getting more comfortable in the place that was to become his new home. He rejoiced when he found out the main bedroom was larger than the room he had slept in at Piandao's mansion. He had shared an igloo with his family back home, everyone huddled together uncomfortably, and even though he missed the closeness, he couldn't deny having so much space for himself was refreshing.

The terrains behind the house were perfect for him to keep to the training regime Piandao had taught him. The grass was slightly uneven and disorderly, but he would take care of that soon enough, if need be.

He was horrified, though, to find the kitchen was empty… and something else came to his mind as he took in this particular detail.

"You guys done with the paperwork?" he asked as he heard Azula's distinct footsteps as she walked down the stairs.

"Yes, everything has been settled," she declared. "I'll be paying him tomorrow, but you can start staying here from today anyways."

"You couldn't pay him yet?" asked Sokka.

"No, I didn't have enough money on me even though he gave me a discount," admitted Azula. "Knocked off half the price for me."

"Woah… benefits of being a royal, huh?" said Sokka, wide-eyed.

"Still, I didn't bring that much cash along with me," said Azula. "I only had about half of what he was requesting. Naturally, he said he didn't mind if I paid later. He would have been asking for a world of pain if he had become that unreasonable."

"Though that makes you look like the unreasonable one," said Sokka, smirking. "Seeing how you're getting out of your predicaments by using your status as a Princess…"

"As if you wouldn't do the same if you had the chance to do it," said Azula, smirking back at him.

"True," admitted Sokka, recalling a few times he had gotten out of his problems merely because he was the son of the Tribe Chief. "Anyways, I was just thinking…"

"You, thinking?" Azula interrupted him, surprised. "That's a new one."

"Ha ha, very funny," said Sokka, as she smiled again. "Thing is, I can't cook to save my life, and I'm no use at cleaning and whatnot…"

"Me neither. Seems like we share a few traits despite being a Princess and a savage," she said, seemingly amused.

"I hadn't thought of it like that," said Sokka, rubbing his chin as he realized she was right about that. "W-well, anyhow, that's not my point. Thing is, how am I supposed to survive on my own if I can't look after myself?"

"Then… I suggest you learn how to look after yourself," said Azula, shrugging.

"You can't be serious," said Sokka, horror-struck. "Azula, you need a strong, sturdy gladiator! You want me to be well-fed so that I can fight to my best, don't you?"

"I suppose," said Azula, sighing.

"Well, then, I need someone to cook for me!" said Sokka, stubbornly. "And someone who can cook properly too!"

Azula huffed in irritation at his request. If someone had warned her about what a handful this man would prove to be, she wouldn't have hired him in the long run. It wasn't as if she couldn't deal with him, but despite how wealthy she was due to her status as the Fire Lord's daughter, she had never been a big spender. Wasting such fortunes on him seemed like something her father would never approve of, and neither should she.

"So you're saying you want… cooking lessons?" she asked, merely to rouse his annoyance.

"What the…? No! Hire someone to cook for me, that's what I'm saying!" Sokka squealed, and Azula sighed.

"I get it, I get it…" she replied, thoughtful.

"You can send over one of your Palace's servants or something," Sokka suggested. "He could come cook a few meals for me and then go back to his business at the Palace."

"That's counterproductive," Azula stated. "The servant would be worn out by the time he makes it all the way here, and he would be even more exhausted while going back to the Palace. An extenuated servant would be as good as not having a servant at all."

"Then…? Should I go find my own servant?" asked Sokka.

Azula raised an eyebrow at his idea before shrugging carelessly.

"It seems the most practical solution," she admitted. "I suppose we should drop by at the slave market, then…"

"W-wait, what?!" Sokka said, aghast. "No! Slave market, my ass!"

Azula rolled her eyes and glared at him.

"Of course. Do me a favor, genius, and explain this to me: how exactly do you plan on getting yourself a servant anywhere but at the slave market?"

"W-well, I don't know! But that's the last thing I'm going to do! I'm not about to go shopping for humans," said Sokka, sternly.

Azula sighed in irritation. Why was he so unreasonable all the time?

"I know of your aversion towards slavery," she muttered. "I'm perfectly aware of your resentment, I know you'd rather jump into the Boiling Rock's lake than take a slave because you think it's as if you were supporting the Fire Nation's system, which you despise…"

Sokka frowned and glared at her, knowing she was about to throw one of her typical arguments at him…

"… And I'm fine with that," Azula continued. "But I'll have you know, there's nothing you can do right now, as you are, to change the circumstances in which slaves such as yourself live in. You can't save them all through some tragic and heroic ordeal, which I'm sure is what you dream about all the time… but you can save one of them, at the very least."

"Huh…?" said Sokka, surprised.

"If you buy a slave, you'll get around treating him in whichever way you want," said Azula. "You can disdain him, you can praise him, you can treat him as if he were your brother if that pleased you. You can save the life of one slave if you get one today. Now, indeed, I know you don't want to buy people as if they were groceries…"

"I need groceries too…" Sokka mumbled, but Azula was too busy with her monologue to notice he had spoken.

"And you think this system is utterly unfair, but, as I said, there's nothing you can do about it right now," said Azula, shrugging. "The best thing you can do at the moment is change the life of a single slave. And maybe other people will follow your lead one day, if you manage to convince them that your way of thinking makes any sense."

Sokka frowned as he considered her proposal. It didn't seem such a bad idea if she worded it like that…

"Hopefully you'll be the first one whom I'll manage to turn around, then," he said, smirking slightly.

"Tough luck with that, Sokka," she said, proudly. "I'd never give up on having slaves. They make my life way too comfortable for me to change my mind about them."

"Oh, so I make your life comfortable? Refresh my memory, didn't you want to get rid of me because you were sick of me by now…?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Azula smiled slightly. She couldn't help but feel proud of him whenever he showed her his wits like he just had. Not many people were able to spot the holes within her arguments and point them out to her… and since she did it to him often, Sokka seemed determined to give her the same treatment.

"But you're not just any slave, are you?" she asked him. Sokka couldn't help but blush slightly at that.

"N-no… I'm…"

"My stupid and annoying gladiator," finished Azula, smirking. He grimaced and glared at her, unsure of what to make of the last stretch of their conversation. "Now, are you going to be reasonable and accept getting your own slave, or will you keep being stubborn and stupid?"

"Stupid?" grunted Sokka, irritated. "Say what you will, woman, but don't call me stupid. Our intellects are, likely, around the same level! So insulting me reflects directly on you!"

"You jest," said Azula, chuckling. "You think your intelligence is on par with mine? Seriously?"

"Well, if you want me to prove it, how about we play some strategy games or something?" suggested Sokka, shrugging. "I'm pretty good at Pai Sho myself…"

The mention of Pai Sho made Azula think about her uncle immediately. Pai Sho and Iroh always came to her mind in a set. The White Lotus tile Piandao had left for Sokka remained a mystery to this day, mostly because she didn't want to waste her time asking her uncle what it meant. It wasn't as if she thought he wouldn't know, it was that she didn't trust him or anything about him. Therefore, she wanted to be nowhere near Pai Sho for the time being.

"No need to prove anything, your mental skills are of meaningless importance at the moment," she said, sighing. "Shall we, then?"

Sokka was slightly surprised to see she had relinquished an argument so easily… but he figured she was merely postponing it. He smirked proudly, knowing her retreat meant he had earned himself a momentary victory.

"Sure thing, Princess," he said, gifting her with an arrogant smile. Azula only had to look at him to know what was going through his mind. She huffed in annoyance, knowing she'd have to put him in his rightful place later. But it was best for them to get going so that they could forget about Pai Sho for the time being.

The Slave Market was down by the busy commercial district of the Capital. The streets were roamed by loud salesmen and shopping families trying to make it past the crowds without losing each other in the process. Azula glowered at the sight of the masses of people and decided to drag Sokka through the emptier streets, not minding the many detours she'd have to take. She had never been one to blend in a multitude: she liked being above people, never among them.

"So… this is it?" asked Sokka, once they were about to enter what seemed to be the filthiest section of the marketplace. Azula grimaced at the smells and sounds, utterly displeased. She definitely wasn't one for environments like this one.

"This place is extremely disorderly and irksome," she muttered. Sokka could have sensed her irritation from miles away. "The salesmen tend to pester anyone who approaches and they try to get them to buy more slaves than they can take with them. Be quick to find the slave you want so we can spare ourselves all the unnecessary trouble, understood?"

"Uh, okay," said Sokka, gulping nervously.

The stands on this side of the market were full of slaves chained together, looking dirty, terrified and helpless. If Sokka could get away with it, he'd free them all, but Azula was right. He couldn't do much for them just yet… and she had actually left an open window, saying he might get around to spreading his beliefs and changing the world to his liking someday. Therefore, as Piandao had taught him, he just would have to be patient. His time would come eventually.

Azula scowled at everything that caught her sight as she walked amongst the stores. The foul stench that revolted her so much came from the slaves. Couldn't those foolish salesmen bathe them before putting them for sale? They might get more people to buy them if they did…

"So… I need someone who can cook," said Sokka, frowning as he looked around carelessly. "How about that old woman over there?"

"How do you know if an old woman can cook or not?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"My grandmother could cook," said Sokka, shrugging.

"Are all old women your grandmother?" asked Azula, rolling her eyes. "It's a ridiculous logic. Besides, if you take an old slave you'll end up taking care of her instead."

"What's so wrong with that?" asked Sokka, pouting

"She might get sick on you and you'll have to cook for her instead. And you'll end up killing her that way… actually, you'll end up killing both of you," said Azula, matter-of-factly. Sokka winced at the thought.

"Fine… Well, then, how about that guy?" he asked, pointing at a frail looking man with a face covered in pimples.

"Fool! Don't point like that or they'll notice you're…!" Azula tried to tell him off, but it was too late. The damage was done.

"Oh, young master!" said the salesman in charge of the man with pimples over his face. "You're worth much more than this useless dog! I have a very nice offer, three slaves for the price of two!"

"That's bullshit!" yelled the man from the stand across his. "Don't listen to that idiot! His slaves are no good! They can't even scrub the dirt from their own feet! It's why he makes such bargains, to get rid of those pests!"

"Not true!" replied the first one. "Quit sticking your nose in my business, Kao!"

"No, no, come over here, my lord!" called out a third salesman. "I have the finest slaves in the entire market! They're well trained to follow every command! And they do their own laundry as well!"

"My girls know how to entertain a fine gentleman like yourself!" said another man, smirking.

More salesmen joined the fray, but their shouts were becoming impossible to discern: all their voices were overlapping. Azula cringed, irritated, and her displeasure increased further when the salesmen began leaving their booths to approach Sokka, smiling at him and beckoning him to buy one of their slaves. Azula could tell there was little to nothing she could do under these circumstances other than fleeing. She grabbed one of Sokka's crutches and she pulled him through the crowd as quickly as she could in order to shake all those men off them. The salesmen kept yelling despite their flight, since they were clearly desperate to get more customers, but Azula ignored them, walking faster to leave them behind quickly.

"Didn't I warn you this would happen? You drew too much attention to yourself!" she growled angrily, once they were outside the slave salesmen's range.

"What did you expect me to do, really?" said Sokka, gulping. "I've never been shopping in the Fire Nation before. I thought you guys were dignified and noble! I never figured they'd jump on us like a hunter after its prey…"

"Clearly, you underestimated how desperate they were to make a sale," said Azula, only letting go of Sokka's crutch once they reached a relatively empty spot within the packed market.

"Well, what should I do, then?" said Sokka, grimacing. "If I just buy the first one that comes along… how will I know if he can cook?"

Azula sighed and rolled her eyes. Sokka looked at her, apparently desperate to find a solution to his predicament.

"Asking these men about their slaves' traits won't get you anywhere, in case you haven't realized that already," she grunted. "They'll cheat you off and you won't even know they did until you discover your servant can't even wipe his own butt after going to the bathroom."

"Well, I can't deny it could happen," muttered Sokka. "But hey, slaves are humans too. They have their own voice! If I talk to them directly, they might tell me what their true talents are. I doubt they'd lie about them."

"Can you tell when people are being dishonest, though?" asked Azula, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Uh… I think I might," said Sokka, shrugging. "Can't be so hard, can it?"

Azula sighed and glared at him. She suspected he had no clue on how to tell apart a liar from a goody two-shoes, but she couldn't deny his idea wasn't so bad. She doubted these slaves would be as chatty as her gladiator, but they'd likely talk to Sokka if he addressed them directly… as long as she provided a distraction so he could approach them.

"Fine," said Azula, frowning. Sokka was taken by surprise by her quick agreement, yet he could see in the glint on her eyes that she was concocting a plan of some sort. "It can't be done so easily, though. I'll have to divert the salesmen's attention for as long as I can manage. In the meantime, you can sneak into a booth when nobody's paying attention and get yourself a slave. Make a gesture of some sort once you find the right one and I'll buy him."

"Huh… that should work," said Sokka, nodding. "But now I think about it, it's weird. How come didn't they notice you were the Princess when they saw you?"

"They're like leeches, Sokka," said Azula, sighing. "The one pointing at slaves was you, and they took your gesture as a sign to identify a possible buyer. On the other hand, they might have missed my identity because the Princess doesn't stroll around the marketplace without her palanquin or an assortment of guards. Fact is, the Princess hardly ever comes to the marketplace at all. They didn't realize who I was both because they were too busy pestering you and because of how unbelievable my current circumstances are."

"Huh, so, if you go out there now, they still won't believe you're the Fire Lord's daughter?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"They might. Who cares, really? It'll only help me distract them further. Just make sure to be quick to get the best slave you can find, got it?"

"R-right!" said Sokka, nodding energetically. He let go of his crutch for a moment and extended his hand in front of him, towards Azula. "Good luck."

The Princess frowned at the sight. This had happened once before, hadn't it? Him, giving her his hand like this… She didn't know why he kept insisting on doing this pointless gesture. Regardless her discomfort, though, she shook his hand with her own promptly.

"Remember, be fast and stealthy," she said, and Sokka nodded promptly as she returned to the slave section of the marketplace.

The salesmen, disappointed when their prey disappeared, had returned to their business… that is, until one of them spotted a raven haired lady eyeing a slouchy slave on one of the stalls.

"How much for this one?" she asked, to no one in particular…

And naturally, all the salesmen jumped at her offering her all sorts of different slaves, far more suitable for her standing and needs. But while they all talked at once, one of them frowned and looked at the woman with curiosity and confusion. That hair, those eyes, that hairpiece…

"Wait!" he yelled, and everyone else quieted down for a moment, looking at him in surprise.

Azula raised an eyebrow as she looked back at the man who was so intent on staring at her. Logic kicked in, though, and the man shook his head in disappointment with himself. No matter how fancy this girl looked, or how authentic the hairpiece seemed to be… there was no way the Princess of the Fire Nation would come to a slave market.

"Nevermind…" he stated, shaking his head, and the fight to earn Azula's attention began anew.

Azula didn't even resist them; she allowed them to lead her from stall to stall, showing her their best looking slaves. Sokka watched from afar at first, and, once the crowd of salesmen was a little further away, he slid as silently as he could between two booths after making sure their owners were gone. Once he felt safe enough, he dared to sneak a peek towards the street, and he discovered Azula wasn't anywhere in sight within the crowd that surrounded her. He grimaced, thinking he wouldn't hear the end of this one. She was really putting up with a lot as it was…

"Are you okay?" asked a female voice next to him, making him jump in surprise. He had been certain he was alone… a stupid thought, truly, seeing how he knew the booths were occupied by slaves.

"Oh, no worries, I'm just hiding from those crazy men…" said Sokka, smiling casually as he turned to face the girl.

She was brown haired and fair-skinned, although her body was visibly bruised, especially under the chains that held her in place. Her eyes were also russet and they were very kind, despite the evident sadness that clouded them.

"N-no, I mean…" she muttered, looking down at his legs. "You seem like you've been badly wounded."

"Ah, well…" said Sokka, shrugging. "It's a long story, but, believe it or not, I'm way better now. Just a few more weeks on these crappy crutches and I'll be in shape, or so I was told."

The girl kept looking at him, seemingly worried. Sokka raised an eyebrow. Why was she so concerned about his status? Who was she, anyway?

"It looks painful, though," she said. "Both your legs have been injured, from what I can see. I know a few techniques that might help. There are some massages that help your chi flow and soothe your pain…"

"Huh?" said Sokka, blinking in surprise. "Wait… how do you know that sort of stuff?"

"Well, I… I used to be a healer," said the girl, sadness clouding her eyes. "Back in the Earth Kingdom, before I was dragged to the Fire Nation and forced to become a slave."

Sokka saw the helplessness on the girl's eyes and felt inexplicably responsible of her right away. There was something about her that reminded him of the way his sister would behave whenever she was feeling down.

"Uh… can you cook?" he asked, randomly. The girl blinked repeatedly, surprised by his sudden question.

"Why… yes, I can," she replied. "I'm not the best cook in the world, but I can handle making a few dishes."

Sokka smiled brightly at her then, puzzling the girl further. He left the safety of the booths and let himself out in the open before taking one of his crutches and shaking it above his head, hoping Azula would see it.

"Hey! I'm done! Found a good one!" he yelled.

The Princess had difficulty understanding Sokka's words, but the sound of his voice somehow managed to make it through all the chattering salesmen. Azula walked through them, pushing them away as she looked for her gladiator. Sokka was smiling cheerfully as he waved his crutch several booths away from where she was, and there was an innocent-looking chained girl standing close to him, staring at him as if he were a loon.

"Oh, but lady…" said one of the salesmen, trying to stop Azula before she headed to where Sokka stood with the slave. The Princess ignored him as she eyed the girl inquisitively.

"So… you think she'll do?" she asked Sokka, and he nodded promptly.

"Yeah. And you know, what you said about how I could help out one person… I think I won't find anyone I want to help more than her," he said, smiling.

Azula raised an eyebrow towards him, not quite pleased. The slave girl looked from one to the other, completely confused… and the man in charge of Song approached them, his bald head gleaming under the sun.

"Oh, I know she's promising, my lady, my lord…" he said, looking at Azula and Sokka. "But even though she's still untainted and whatnot, this girl definitely isn't the best I have to offer!"

Song grimaced at the sight of the man, and she blushed slightly when he said she was 'untainted'. Sokka's eyes widened and Azula scowled at the salesman, clearly displeased by the uncalled-for comment.

"I don't care about anything else you have to offer," grunted Azula. "Name your price. Or is it you'd like to hand her over for free?"

The man was taken by surprise by Azula's authority. Her glare was threatening enough for him to swallow his intent to make a better sale.

"Uh… fine," he said, rubbing his chest as he frowned, thoughtful. "Ten thousand, I guess."

Azula didn't stop glaring as she counted the money and entrusted the exact quantity to the man. Sokka merely tried to smile enthusiastically at the slave girl, who appeared to have a hard time to keep up with the happenings. The salesman released the girl from the chains once Azula was done with the payment. The Princess gestured at both Sokka and the girl to follow her out of the market, and they walked away, leaving many disappointed salesmen behind.

"So, we're done!" said Sokka proudly as he limped behind Azula, smiling. "I have my cook now! And you know, she's also a healer! It's why I decided to go for her. She was a very lucky hit, I tell you!"

"Good for you," said Azula, not even half as enthusiastic as Sokka was.

"Uh, excuse me…?" said the girl from behind them, still as puzzled as ever.

Both Azula and Sokka halted and turned to look at her.

"What exactly is going on here…?" she asked, looking from one to another. "I mean… who are you? Who is my actual owner?"

"Well, technically speaking, I'd be the one who owns you," said Azula. "Seeing how I was the one to pay for you."

"But you'll work for me!" said Sokka, still smiling. "No worries, I'm a nice guy! I'll treat you as equals, because that's what I've been taught people must do with slaves."

He smiled at Azula now, and she jumped in surprise.

"E-equals?! What, you and me?" she said, skeptical. "Please! How dare you even think about comparing yourself to me?"

"Why shouldn't I?" asked Sokka, beaming cheerfully. "I mean, you don't treat me like a slave, you've helped me out in many occasions before…"

"That doesn't mean you and I are on equal standing!" said Azula, with a laugh of incredulity. "Please, Sokka! Are you trying to set a new record on how ridiculous you can be?"

"You're just mad because you know I'm right," said Sokka, smirking before turning back to the girl. "Azula just doesn't like admitting that she doesn't see me like a regular slave, but don't mind her. She's proud as hell… she's like a nut that's really hard to crack, get what I mean?"

The slave was staring at them, aghast. From the second she saw he had blue eyes she figured he wasn't a Fire Nation man, but she hadn't quite thought he would be a slave too. What amazed her, though, was the way he spoke with such familiarity towards the person who could be none other than his master… and her name just happened to be Azula.

The slave market was, naturally, a place where rumors spread quickly, and word had been that the Princess had recently hired a gladiator for herself. And as she looked at the man and the woman before her, everything, including his injuries, started to make sense.

"N-no way…" she said, in utter disbelief. "W-w-why would the Princess…? W-w-why, her gladiator…? I… I don't understand!"

"You didn't explain anything to her?" asked Azula, looking at Sokka.

"Well, I just… didn't think explaining was that essential," said Sokka, shrugging carelessly.

"As thoughtful as ever," said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"Well, for starters," said Sokka, looking at the girl. "Your name is…?"

"I… I'm Song," said the girl, whispering her name as though it were the only stable thing in her life.

"Song, I'm Sokka," he said, smiling. "And this is Azula… uh, Princess Azula. And just as you said it, I'm her gladia-… wait, how did you know who I was?"

"I'd heard rumors about the Princess having a gladiator," muttered Song, shyly. "I just figured, if she was the Princess, then you were probably the gladiator…"

"She's smart, see?" said Sokka, smiling.

"That's just logic speaking," said Azula.

"Whatever you say," replied Sokka, chuckling. Knowing someone would take care of his meals had improved his mood greatly.

"T-then… what exactly is going to happen now?" asked Song. "What do you want me to do?"

"You're the slave of a slave," said Azula, smirking a little. "Sounds quite demeaning, doesn't it?"

"Nah, it doesn't," said Sokka, glaring at Azula. "Song won't be inferior to me. Fact is, we're going to be like… siblings!"

"Well, so long as you're not siblings like Zuko and I am, I'm sure you'll get along fine," said Azula. "In any case, it's time for me to take my leave."

"For you to take your what?" said Sokka, surprised. "Where are you going?"

"Back to the Palace," replied Azula, matter-of-factly. "Why are you so shocked? Did you think I'd move into your petty house with the two of you or something?"

"W-well… I actually thought you would go shopping with us!" said Sokka, smiling.

Azula stared at him with disgust, to Sokka's surprise.

"W-what? Don't you like shopping…?" he asked, innocently.

"I don't, actually," said Azula, her arms folded over her chest. "I don't shop. Other people buy things for me. The most I've ever shopped was what I just did to get that girl."

With that, she pointed at Song. Song blushed weakly, hardly knowing how to handle being addressed directly by the Princess of the Fire Nation. It didn't matter that she disliked the Fire Nation as she did… being so near the Princess was beyond intimidating. Her mere presence demanded respect.

"Which entitles me to ask you to come shopping with us!" said Sokka, beaming. "It'll be fun!"

"You're entitled to ask whatever you want to, and I'm perfectly allowed to refuse your proposals," said Azula, glaring at him. "You only want me to tag along because you have no money. And you should have some savings; really, because I let you take the winnings from your fight with the Spawn and the Hornet…"

"Hey!" said Sokka. "For one, I spent a lot of those first winnings already, and for another one, you were mad at me after the fight with the Hornet and you never gave me the money you promised me!"

"Ah, I didn't?" asked Azula, frowning as she recalled the occasion. Indeed, her anger had driven her to forget completely about that part of their transaction… "Well, you had it coming anyway."

"Bottom line is, I don't have money," said Sokka, his hands on his hips.

"And I don't want you to spend mine," growled Azula, glaring at him.

Song looked from one to the other, curious. It made little to no sense how a Princess and a slave would speak to each other so casually, as if they were nothing but good friends…

"But I need food!" Sokka whined, and Azula rolled her eyes, exasperated.

"Could you become more annoying, by any chance?" she asked.

"I can try, if you really want me to," said Sokka, smirking. Azula narrowed her eyes at him. Just by smiling like that he was already accomplishing his goal.

"I'm not going with you," she declared, determined. "My decision is final."

"You're such a party pooper" said Sokka, pouting.

"Why are you so intent on having me tag along with you?" asked Azula, suspicious "I had assumed you'd like to get rid of me as quickly as possible. Are you, for some strange reason, enjoying my company nowadays?"

Sokka knew he would be walking on thin ice no matter his reply to that question, but he merely rubbed his chin before giving out an honest reply.

"Well, truth to be told… I guess I am" he said, smiling.

Azula raised an eyebrow, stunned.

"How the hell…? All I ever do is make you feel bad!" she said, incredulous.

"It's just fun arguing with you!" he said, beaming happily.

Azula swallowed hard as he grinned at her. She had no idea how to respond to that. It didn't matter if he enjoyed her company, she didn't want to go shopping anywhere. She just wanted to go home and rest for the day.

"Well, we can argue on another day if that's what you want," she grunted, looking at the ground. "But, anyways… here."

To Sokka's surprise, Azula handed him a large but carefully calculated amount of money. Sokka looked at her, perplexed.

"What's this…?"

"What I owed you from the Hornet's fight," said Azula, still not looking at him. "Use that and get whatever you can afford. I'm going back to the Palace."

"Uh… do you want us to walk you there?" he asked, before Azula could take off.

"No need," she said, raising a hand to stop him. "I can find my way on my own."

"Sure, then…" said Sokka, knowing she was perfectly capable to take care of herself, but he felt an urge to go with her anyways. Regardless, he didn't press the Princess further.

Azula walked away without bothering to say farewell to either Sokka or Song. The slave girl was still baffled by her new circumstances, therefore she didn't pay much attention to the Princess's departure, but Sokka stood where he was, watching the Princess as she took her leave. He sighed once she was out of sight, and he turned to Song again, smiling.

"So, how about we go buy some groceries?" he asked, beaming.

Song still was rather confused by what was happening, but shopping was understandable enough. She smiled back and joined Sokka as they both selected the food they would have for the week. Song was pleased to realize her new master was far nicer than she had expected… he didn't really feel like a master. It was more as if he were merely her friend. His careless and easy-going attitude made her laugh a few times. She couldn't help but wonder why the Princess would give her personal slave so much freedom, though. It didn't add up in her mind… she wondered if it added up in theirs. Their ways of thinking seemed to be far beyond her understanding.

Sokka dropped on the common room's couch once they got back to his new house. The red fabric was quite soft, allowing him to rest his sore legs after walking so much. He knew that so much exercise would be helpful on the long run, but right now it was merely exhausting.

"I can help you out later with your legs, if you want," said Song, looking at him from the kitchen.

"Nah, don't worry," he said, smiling slightly. "I'll be fine."

"There's nothing wrong in letting others help you," said the slave girl, looking at him sternly.

Sokka couldn't help but think that even by her nagging she reminded him of his younger sibling. Sokka smiled and agreed for her to help him later, since she was busy fixing up their meal at the moment.

As he lay down across the couch, Sokka let his eyes closes and he tried to keep his thoughts from straying towards the Fire Nation Princess, where they usually went to nowadays. But whenever he stopped thinking about Azula, he was immediately reminded of his Tribe. With Song around, he felt even more homesick than before as he recalled the times when his sister would be the one looking after him. Her features reappeared in his mind and he sighed, missing Katara so much that his chest ached. He wondered how she was doing… had the tribe members gotten over his disappearance? Were they still standing strong against the settlement?

But there was one question that had lingered in his mind for quite some time now, and it was, no doubt, the most important question of all: was Katara leading the Water Tribe's Resistance?


	23. Chapter 23

The icy breeze that coursed through her dark strands of hair didn't seem so cold to her. Life in the South Pole promised you would be often trembling and seeking to raise your body temperature at all times, but she didn't care so much about that anymore. She had to keep warm enough, granted, but she had grown fonder of ice as her heart became colder with every passing day.

Perched atop a watch tower, Katara looked at the village with narrowed eyes. Warriors were working half-heartedly on their weapons, women were taking care of the smaller children, elders were sitting by the currently empty fireplace, teenagers were sulking in corners. All in all, the Southern Water Tribe felt sad and empty.

"Katara…" said Hakoda, the Tribe Chief, having climbed the tower to reach her. "You should get some rest. You've been keeping watch for hours."

"I'm not tired," she replied curtly, without looking at her father as she spoke. She didn't care if her eyes were surrounded by dark circles. She didn't feel like sleeping.

"Please, Katara," said Hakoda, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I can take this shift. Take a break, please. For me."

Katara sighed and looked at her father. The gray streaks of hair on his temples weren't the only sign of his aging: the wrinkles on his forehead also showed the man's most glorious years had taken their toll on him. Katara honestly thought he was the one who needed more rest, but the way he looked at her compelled her to sigh and nod, climbing off the watch tower her brother had built a long time ago.

She walked through the village, her eyes clouded with grief. She had never known the Southern Water Tribe during its finest years, but back when she had been a child it had lacked the horrible sense of desolation that weighed upon it nowadays. She hated it here, to be completely honest. Ever since she had taken charge of the Water Tribe's resistance, she felt there was an immeasurable distance keeping her apart from everyone else. It hadn't been that way for her brother Sokka: he was always keeping everyone in high spirits, joking with men and women alike, training teenagers and kids so that one day they could be strong enough to defend their Tribe.

Who was she trying to kid, really? It didn't matter if she was the last waterbender of the South Pole: she would never be able to fill her brother's shoes.

Truthfully, she had never meant to replace him. She had only ever wanted to nag him, to watch out for him, to keep him in line. To make sure that, every time he came home, he would find her welcoming him with a smile and her arms wide open, ready to embrace him. But two years and a half had passed, and he still hadn't returned. He likely never would.

She felt no need to get any rest. She wasn't weary. She had grown used to the days of vigil, and she had found she could stay awake for two days straight without feeling any exhaustion. There was nothing for her to do in the village at the moment, though… sleeping might be a good option indeed. Yet she knew that dropping on her mattress would be of no use if she wasn't actually tired. She would simply stay awake for hours, mulling matters over until her thoughts pained her so much that she feared she would shatter. Whenever this happened she would find no better solace but to leave the safety of her igloo and practice her waterbending far from the village, developing new skills and techniques of her own creation. She knew her inventions wouldn't compare to what a real waterbending master could perform, but her rudimentary bending had allowed her to fight for her Tribe so far. And that was all she needed to do.

Deciding to skip over the awkward stage of rolling around in bed, Katara left the enclosure of the Water Tribe and walked through the icy tundra. Nobody followed her. Nobody asked her where she was going. She had become aloof to them, and they didn't enjoy her company half as much as they had back when she had been a teenager. She had become someone else, someone who used waterbending to fight off the Fire Nation invaders. She was no longer the little girl who helped deliver babies, nor was she the kind girl who would play with the kids… now she was Katara, their fearsome leader.

It was a position she had never wanted, but she'd had no other choice but to lead the Resistance herself. It had taken a week after her brother's disappearance for Katara to decide she couldn't let this matter end like this. She had gathered the Tribe's warriors, and she even convinced her father to accompany her and, with a well-assembled group, they had attacked the settlement again, in hopes to find Sokka or, if nothing else, his dead body.

They hadn't expected the Fire Nation to have reinforced the settlement, though. Fire Nation warriors fought back against them, and even though they were aghast to discover there was a waterbender now amongst the savages, they had retaliated at full force. Hakoda told them to retreat, but Katara wouldn't go back empty handed. She managed to capture one soldier and she tried to force him to tell her what her brother's fate had been. But the soldier had claimed he knew nothing about what she was asking.

Disputes began anew between the Fire Nation settlement and the Southern Water Tribe. They kept clashing against one another, but they were always even. The shifting periods didn't make much of a difference, since most the people defending the settlement were warriors rather than benders. Katara's fighting prowess was better during the dark period, but she fought to her utmost every single time she needed to, be it under the influence of the sun or the moon.

But they still didn't know anything for certain about Sokka's fate. Haka's theory made sense: he thought there was no way they would have killed him without boasting about it. They would have likely hung his dead body on the walls of the settlement if that were the case, trying to send the rest of the resistance a message. Katara agreed with him, but she refused to be hopeful regarding her brother. She had kept her hopes up for all her life, only for them to be crushed time over and time again. To hope was to long for a happy ending that would never come to pass.

And so, after a struggle that had lasted almost two years, both the people of the settlement and the Water Tribe were tired of their pointless conflict. The Water Tribe wasn't strong enough to push the people from the settlement back to where they'd come from, and the Fire Nation soldiers weren't strong enough to destroy the Water Tribe either. So there was an uneasy truce between them now. Katara knew this peace wouldn't last long, but she would use it to develop her skills in order to defeat those Fire Nation invaders when the right time came.

She had no idea where her feet had taken her to, for she had been spacing out as she walked through the ice. The dark period always formed more layers of ice on the pole, and she was sure she was around some of those new layers right now. By summertime they would melt again, but for now they would suffice for her waterbending training.

She began moving her arms in circular motions, producing ice spikes as she did. The exhilarating feeling of controlling an element remained as one of the few enjoyable aspects of her life. She spun with the needles she had produced, directing them with her fluent but inexperienced movements. She had always wished to find someone who could train her, but she no longer let hope dictate her actions. She would make do with her own skills and creativity to come up with new moves.

She continued bending for what felt like hours, letting herself become one with the ice she was controlling. Out of all the forms of water, ice was the one she liked bending the most. Probably because it felt very familiar to her… when she was younger she had liked snow best, because it was pure and beautiful. But seeing how she wasn't interested in purity and beauty nowadays, her favorite water stage had changed all the same as she had. Ice was deadly, and it was the most aggressive of all of water's forms. Learning to use it for her advantage had already come in handy many times as she fought against the Fire Nation's warriors.

She stopped bending for a moment and glared at a large ice mound in front of her. She needed to master new skills, it was necessary for her to do so if she wanted to change the odds of their struggle against their enemies for good. She took a deep breath and began bending, breaking the ice slowly. Cracks showed up all over the previously smooth surface as she created icy shards, in order to use them as weapons later on…

She was taken by surprise when something lit up several feet below the ice she had just broken. She stared at the ice in confusion, not understanding what had happened. She looked around, wondering if by some absurd chance another waterbending master was responsible for the light under her feet, but she confirmed she was alone in the ice plain.

Or was she? The ice mound began cracking, as if it had a will of its own. It shattered loudly, and Katara had to shield her eyes with her arm to keep the ice pellets that had flown towards her from hurting her face. The ice broke into two halves and fell apart loudly, collapsing and leaving a large hole in the ground.

A white fog surrounded the broken ice structure, and it compelled Katara to look inside…

She didn't know what lay down below, but she could make out that a large figure was trapped within the ice. She gritted her teeth and began bending again, to release whatever was stuck below. She ripped the ice apart harshly, struggling to keep control of her bending.

But the ice broke out of its own accord once more, and a blinding light was released from below along with a powerful force that swept her off her feet for a moment. The glimmer shot up towards the clear skies, glowing for a few seconds before it faded away slowly. Katara stared at the hole that she had opened… no, something else had opened it. She didn't have the strength or skill to break the ice like that by herself.

She got back on her feet and approached the ice crack, cautious. What exactly had she just released from a frozen prison…?

Her mouth dropped wide open when she saw the largest creature she had ever laid eyes upon. Its fur was mostly white, although there were also brown hairs that formed an arrow over its huge head. She had never seen an animal like this one. The creature groaned and opened its eyes slowly, scaring Katara. Would it be friendly?

But her caution was soon forgotten when she heard a weak whimper from within the hole. She approached the rim and realized the white animal hadn't been alone: there was someone else down below.

Katara was surprised to find a man in such getup at the South Pole. His orange and yellow garments looked thin and unlikely to retain heat. He was completely bald too, which was not recommendable in this environment either. Had he been brought down to the South Pole against his will? Nobody in his right mind would come down here with that appearance, unless he was trying to die from frostbite…

The man turned around, still shivering badly, but now he was face up towards Katara. She caught sight of the strange blue arrow tattooed over his forehead and, despite it felt like an inappropriate thought, she noticed he had quite a handsome face too… but who was he? And why had he been encased in ice? Rather, for how long had he been there?

But Katara postponed asking all those questions when she realized he needed help urgently. She slid into the hole, forgetting completely about the possibly dangerous animal nearby. Her mind was set on reaching the young man.

"Hey… hey," she said, taking him in her arms. "Can you hear me?"

"It's…" replied the man. His voice was far kinder than what Katara was used to. She never would have imagined men could speak so softly "It's cold…"

"Yeah, it is," she said, taking off her parka and wrapping up his shoulders with it. "Didn't you think it would be before coming to the South Pole…?"

The man didn't reply. His body kept shivering violently even when Katara was trying to get him in heat once more. Clearly, her parka wouldn't be enough to warm him up.

"I need to get you out of here somehow…" she said, biting her lower lip.

She could propel both of them outside using waterbending in some way, right? But while she struggled to come up with ideas to do that, the creature next to them moved and roared loudly. Katara's eyes widened when she saw it had six feet. The animal looked down at the man in her arms, and Katara was certain she could see concern in his large eyes. There was something that looked like a saddle tied to the creature's back. Katara had no idea why she hadn't noticed it before.

The creature groaned at Katara, startling her. It seemed that, for some reason, the low temperatures hardly affected him. The creature shook its head, as if prompting her to get on board so that they could get out of where they were. Katara blinked a few times, insecure, but she decided to trust the creature. If it was saddled, it probably meant it was tame… maybe it was the man's pet or something.

The animal crouched to let her lift the man onto the saddle, which she did with some difficulty before climbing on herself. As soon as she was settled on the saddle, the creature got up and began the ascent from their hole and back to the surface. Katara blushed slightly as she hugged the man tightly. He continued shivering, his breath white and cold. She had never been forced to hold a stranger like this. She knew about the best techniques to warm up his body, but she didn't think stripping both herself and the man naked while riding a six-legged creature would be a good idea.

Once the animal had made it outside the crevice, it seemed to wait for Katara to guide the way. She realized there were reins tied to the animal's horns and she grasped them, pulling towards the direction where her tribe stood.

"This way, big guy," she said, and the creature replied with another groan. Katara wasn't used to working with animals, but she was pleased to discover it wasn't as hard as she feared it would be. The creature seemed quite docile.

Katara hugged the man again, looking at him intently. He had to be around eighteen years old, give or take… or perhaps a little older, depending on how long he had been frozen within the ice. But he was freezing. If she didn't manage to get him in warmth quickly enough, he might not survive.

To her relief, it didn't take the creature too long to reach the village, but the rest of the Water Tribe people didn't share Katara's sense of relief once he arrived. Many of them screamed when they saw the animal from afar, and several warriors came out, ready to attack if the beast happened to be hostile…

"Don't!" yelled Katara, surprising the men just as they had been getting ready to throw their spears at the furry animal. They hadn't noticed the creature was saddled and carrying two passengers with him. "Everything is alright! I found this creature in the ice, and also…"

"That… that's a sky bison, Katara," said her grandmother, Kanna, looking at the animal with reverence.

Katara's eyes grew wide at the revelation. A sky bison, encased in ice? How did that happen…? Well, she'd have time to seek out those answers later. She had to tend to the man in her arms first of all.

"Good to know, Gran Gran," she said, once the bison halted. "But there's something more important than that right now."

Everyone watched with wide eyes as Katara climbed off the saddle with the young man in her arms. Several warriors dropped their weapons and helped her with her endeavor. The man tried to open his eyes when he was carried down, but he felt too weak to deal with the world at the moment. There was nothing he could do right now other than sink into unconsciousness once again…

He felt warmer when he came to. A fire was crackling nearby, although it took him a moment to place that familiar sound. He had been tucked under some thick covers that felt like animal fur. He cringed at the thought.

"W-where am… what's…?" he mumbled, struggling under the heavy furs.

"Shh," he heard an unknown voice nearby. It took him a moment to realize it was a female voice. "You're going to be okay. We're going to make sure of that."

"W-what was…? What happened to me?"

"I wish I knew. I found you frozen cold, deep in the ice. I was actually hoping the one to tell us what had happened would be you."

"I don't… I…"

"No worries, though. If you're not strong enough, there's no need for you to speak. But… can I ask what your name is?"

His name… that was something he could remember, right? It was there, teasing him just like all those things that had slipped off his mind after being frozen, things that were only starting to make sense now. The knowledge was right in front of him, he only had to try and seize it… and, by doing so, he began recalling who he was.

"I'm… Aang," he replied, breathless, as if the mental effort to recall his name had exhausted him. "Y-you…?"

"Oh, sorry. Where are my manners? I'm Katara. I'm a member of the Southern Water Tribe"

"The Southern…?" muttered Aang, frowning. Yes… yes, the Water Tribe. Things were coming back to him slowly. He had been training, learning waterbending. Toki had been teaching him the advanced set and he had told him he would be ready for his test soon. Yes, yes… everything was starting to return to him.

He felt someone lift his head and place it under a cushion of some sort. Then he felt a hot, salty liquid seeping into his mouth. The soup he was being fed would have never been his first pick if he had gotten away with selecting a meal, but he swallowed it regardless. Once he realized he wasn't being fed with any instruments he made the connection in his mind:

"You're… a w-waterbender… right?"

"Yeah," said Katara, smiling slightly. Aang's eyes were still closed, so he missed her grin. "You need to eat this, Aang. It'll help you get better. I have no idea how long you spent frozen, but it's a miracle you survived. And we can't let that go to waste, can we?"

"Sure…" replied Aang, and Katara bent another handful of soup to his mouth. He grimaced again, swallowing with difficulty. It felt as if he hadn't eaten anything in over a century.

They continued with the feeding process until Aang asked her to stop. It seemed he couldn't handle eating that much at the moment, and Katara didn't insist. She sat by him for a moment, feeling at a loss as to what to do… until he opened his eyes and looked at her.

Their gazes clashed for a moment. Aang's eyes had difficulty getting adjusted, he couldn't see the girl properly, but even so, he could see those blue eyes, the typical eyes of a member of the Water Tribe. Yet they weren't so typical. Something about them made him feel strange on the inside…

"Say…" said Katara, biting her lip again. "My grandmother said that you have the getup of an Air Nomad. Are you… are you really one of them?"

"Y-yeah…" he muttered, lowering his eyes as he blinked a few times, trying to keep his vision from growing blurry. "I'm… I'm an Air… Wait…"

"Wait?" repeated Katara, as Aang's face formed a frown. He gritted his teeth before turning as if to get up, but he didn't have the strength to move.

"My people, they need me…" he gasped, grimacing. "I was told about it… I have to go now! Or… Or else, the Fire Nation will… the Fire Nation can't…! W-why would they even…?"

"Aang, you're not… you're not making any sense," said Katara, worried. Aang struggled to lift his body out of the furs.

"Y-you didn't hear? They're after the Air Nomads… they were going to attack us… I have to do something, or else…"

"No… no way," said Katara, staring at him in shock. "Y-you don't mean what you're saying, do you, Aang?"

"O-of course I do!" he said, cringing again. "I have to…! They need me!"

"No, Aang, no," said Katara, her hands going to his shoulders as she pushed him back to the bed. "You've… you couldn't have been frozen cold for over a hundred years, could you?"

"A… what? A hundred…? Y-you don't… that's not… no way…" stuttered Aang.

"Aang, I'm so sorry," said Katara, biting her lip. "But the Air Nomads… they're gone. And so is the Earth Kingdom. The Fire Nation wiped them both away in the span of a hundred years…"

Katara didn't think too much about what she was saying. She never would have thought she would come to face a person who wasn't aware of the events from the last century. Had he truly been encased in the ice for that long? But of course, speaking so thoughtlessly brought forth consequences she hadn't envisioned.

Aang heard her words, his eyes opening again as he looked at nothing in particular, his mouth twitching.

"N-no… n-no… y-you can't be serious… n-no way… No way!" he shrieked, with more energy than Katara would have expected him to. Where had he found the strength to shout when he hadn't even been able to keep his eyes open?

She stopped trying to make sense out of his outburst when she realized the nomad's tattoos were glowing all of sudden. His eyes also lit up as his lips curled back and his teeth formed a snarl. He seemed infused with powers Katara couldn't even start to comprehend… what was going on? That glow… it was the same light that had appeared back when he had been frozen.

He began levitating, frightening her when he did. Wind began blowing inside the igloo, scaring Katara. It seemed the Air Nomad was an airbender… and a waterbender too, judging by how the ice below them began melting and water began spinning around as wildly as the wind, and Katara knew for certain she hadn't been the one to conjure that.

"Katara!" yelled her grandmother, who had been just outside while Katara tended to Aang. People were beginning to notice the ruckus within the Chief's igloo. It was hard to miss that the ceiling was breaking down: Aang was wrecking it with his bending as he floated, his body alight with grief.

"Katara, get away from him!" yelled Hakoda, running into the house and trying to reach his daughter, even though the strength of the gusts pushed him away.

For reasons she couldn't quite understand, though, Katara wasn't as badly affected by the uncontrolled airbending Aang was currently performing. She pressed her teeth tightly together as she took a few steps forward, towards him. Her hand reached out for his, and she began pulling him down to the ground again.

As she did, she realized there were tears streaming down his face. He was crying. She had truly been tactless, hadn't she?

Aang's glow dimmed as she pulled him in for a hug, begging him through whispers to forgive her for speaking so rashly. He began sobbing silently, his weak hands seizing the front of her parka as he wept for the fate of his people, whom he should have saved…

Hakoda and Kanna watched them from the threshold of the room, ignoring the way the ceiling had collapsed after Aang's outburst. Their eyes were set on the man Katara was holding, and they both were starting to realize who he was. That glow, and the fact that he could bend both air and water, led them both to the same conclusion:

That kid was the Avatar.

* * *

It took a week for Aang to recover. Most the people of the village were unwilling to approach him after his reaction when he heard about what had happened to his people. Hakoda had dealt with fixing the igloo's roof with Katara's help while Kanna took care of the newest arrival to the Tribe. Hakoda told Katara about his suspicions of the man's true identity, and Katara nodded in agreement. She had realized that there would only be one person who would be able to bend two elements… and it would have to be the person who could bend all four. But she had been too concerned about the man at the time of his outburst to care much about who he might really be.

Now, several days after that had happened, she sat by the open fireplace in the center of the village, her eyes fixed on the dancing flames. The Avatar… the Avatar. She had given up on him reappearing back when she was still a teenager. She had figured the spirits wished for the Fire Nation to triumph in the war, seeing how they had provided them with Sozin's Comet for a second time so that they could finish the Earth Kingdom off. And if the spirits didn't care for them, then, surely, neither did the Avatar. Never would she have imagined that he had been frozen cold several feet under the surface for over a hundred years. All the blame she had placed on him was, most likely, undeserved. Being frozen probably hadn't been the Avatar's fault. If she had found him earlier, maybe the rest of the world would have had a chance against the Fire Nation…

She was surprised when she heard muffled footsteps behind her. She turned around to find the tattooed man, the Avatar, clad in Water Tribe garments, with the hood of his brand new parka covering his bald head. He walked clumsily to the side of the igloo, where he patted his pet, the sky bison, which Katara heard him call Appa. He spoke to his bison for a moment before spotting Katara by the fire, and, after muttering a short good-bye to his friend, he decided to join her.

"Hey," he said, smiling weakly at her. Katara knew his grin wasn't too honest, but that he had the courage to at least try to smile was impressive regardless.

"Hi… are you okay? Should you be out here in the cold?" she asked, as he sat by next to her, his legs crossed.

"Your grandmother said I have recovered my strength quickly," replied Aang smiling. "She advised me to come over to the bigger fireplace to get warmer. And, well, I didn't feel like lying down for much longer. I've been asleep for a hundred years, apparently… I think I've rested long enough."

"Yeah, I guess you have," said Katara, smiling slightly before sighing deeply. "I… I'm sorry I told you everything like I did. I wasn't thinking straight…"

"No, no need to apologize," said Aang, smiling back at her. "I would have found out sooner or later. I just… wasn't expecting to have been frozen for so long."

"It must have been quite an unpleasant shock," said Katara.

"Yeah. You can't even start to imagine just how unpleasant it was."

Katara looked at him sideways, finding sadness in his dark eyes. She was moved by the sight of him; he was so young, yet he carried such a heavy weight on his shoulders.

"Aang, are you… the Avatar?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer to that question.

Aang turned to look at her, worried about the consequences of admitting the truth. But he sighed and nodded slowly.

"I was told of my identity when I was twelve years-old. The monks told me who I was and they also said there were storm clouds gathering or something… I didn't really understand what they meant. They sent me down to the Water Tribe so that I could continue with the next part of my training, seeing how I had already mastered airbending. I spent seven years here, developing my waterbending skills… but then a message arrived, telling my instructor, Toki, that the Fire Nation was attacking the Air Temples. Apparently their strength was enhanced for some reason… at least, I think the letter said something like that. But it didn't say why they were attacking us in the first place. The letter said I had to stay in the Tribe, to continue training until I mastered this element and was ready to start with earthbending… because, if the Air Nomads weren't able to fight back and were forced to submit to the Fire Nation, I would be their only hope on the long run.

"But I… I didn't want to listen. I couldn't let my people face the threat of the Fire Nation like this, so I jumped on Appa and I tried to go to the Southern Air Temple. But a storm caught us, a very bad one. I can't remember what I did, exactly… I think I froze us both when Appa fell into the sea, but my memory fails me a bit. I think my last thought was that I'd get out of the ice once the storm was over, and I'd get to the Temple once I did… I never expected to be stuck in there for a century, though."

"Of course not," said Katara, looking at him sympathetically. "But, say… why were you dressed in Air Nomad garments? Had you worn those clothes during all the years you were here?"

"Not really," said Aang. "But I wanted to wear the clothes of my people when I returned to them."

"Huh… I see," muttered Katara, nodding.

"It's just so hard to believe," said Aang, shaking his head. "One hundred years have passed by and I'm still nineteen… but nineteen in another era, apparently. I'm so confused…"

"Well, if there's anything I can do to help you, you can let me know…" said Katara, eyeing him with worry.

"Uh… actually, there might be something," said Aang, lifting his head and looking at her with passionate eyes. "Are there still penguins around? They haven't gone extinct after all this time, have they?"

Katara was taken by surprise by his sudden question. Penguins seemed like a very random topic…

"Y-yeah, they're still around. No extinction," she said, smiling uncomfortably.

Aang sighed in relief and beamed at the fireplace.

"Well, at least there's that. I'll go penguin sledding one of these days, then. And I'll get to see if the penguins have changed in the span of a hundred years…"

Katara couldn't quite understand his enthusiasm, but she smiled at him. He seemed younger than nineteen to her.

"In any case," he muttered, his façade growing stern slowly. "There are more things I need to know. For one… what happened to the world while I was gone?"

Katara lowered her eyes back towards the fireplace, unwilling to tell the tale of the Fire Nation's long history of triumphs. But the man next to her was the Avatar: he deserved to know.

"Well… a hundred years ago, around the time you froze, a comet showed up in the sky," said Katara. "It was named Sozin's Comet after Fire Lord Sozin. He vanquished the Air Nomads by using the Comet's power to enhance his firebending, and the firebending of his people."

"Then… there's nobody left?" asked Aang, aghast.

"No idea. I mean, you're around," said Katara, shrugging. "I don't know anything for certain, truthfully. I've been in the Water Tribe all my life… and I honestly wouldn't want to go anywhere else."

"Why?" asked Aang, surprised.

"Because of the Fire Nation," replied Katara, sighing. "After overpowering the Air Nomads they attacked the Tribes… they didn't manage to destroy us as easily, since water beats fire most the time. Still, they killed all the southern waterbenders. They slaughtered them because they knew that, if the waterbenders stood up against them, the Fire Nation wouldn't have a chance at winning the war. After that, they went to the Earth Kingdom. They destroyed it a few years ago, when the comet showed up again, a century after it first appeared."

"But… wait," said Aang, shocked. "You mean the Fire Nation is in control of everything now?"

"Pretty much," replied Katara, shrugging.

"But… it doesn't make any sense," said Aang, troubled. "I mean… the Fire Nation has no reason to take over the rest of the world. Back when I was young I visited the Fire Nation a few times and their people were kind to me. I never got along with their food, but one of my best friends was Fire Nation, even!"

"Well, Aang… times have changed," said Katara, sighing. "The people you used to know… they're no longer around. Your friend might have been the last nice person in the Fire Nation, for all we know."

"No… no," said Aang, shaking his head. "I don't think so. I mean… even if the Fire Lord and most his people are bad, and they're throwing the world out of balance, there's no way the entire nation has gone awry. I can't believe it."

"I'm not just saying this, Aang. I mean it," she said, sternly. "If there was some good in the Fire Nation, the Fire Lord wouldn't get away with all the destruction he has brought to the world. They're jerks who think their deeds are justified because they believe they're superior to everyone else."

"But… they didn't use to be like this," said Aang, sighing. "They didn't…"

"What do you want me to say?" said Katara, shrugging. "It's the way things work now. Only the two Water Tribes are still fighting against the Fire Nation… the Northern Water Tribe is dealing with most the Fire Nation navy, from what I know. Meanwhile, the Southern Water Tribe has to fight with this metallic settlement they established down here about six years ago. We've lost many people because of the Fire Nation… we keep trying to get them out of our territory, but they won't go no matter what we do."

"You've lost people?" asked Aang, biting his lip as he glanced at the girl next to him.

"Yeah," said Katara, sighing. "Many years ago, there was a raid where a firebender killed my mother."

"Oh… I'm sorry," he said.

"And well… two years ago, it was my brother," said Katara. "He arranged an attack to the settlement, but it didn't work for some reason…"

"And…? What happened to him?" asked Aang, when Katara fell silent for a moment.

"Actually, I… I don't know for certain," she admitted, hugging her knees as she brought them up to her chin. "My brother… well, I thought they would have killed him, seeing how they killed my mother without a second thought. But we attacked them later, and they said they didn't know anything about a Water Tribe warrior being slain there. They didn't have his body. We wanted to give him a proper funeral, but they said they didn't have it."

"Then… what happened to him?" asked Aang, confused.

"I wish I knew," said Katara, her forehead on her knees. "My father said he might have been captured, but I don't know if the Fire Nation would have bothered taking him prisoner. What could they gain from doing that?"

"I don't know," said Aang, truthfully. "But maybe… maybe they're not as ruthless as you think. He might have been captured and perhaps he escaped somehow…"

"No, Aang," said Katara, shaking her head. "I'm done with that. No more hoping, no more dreaming, no more thinking about what could be if the spirits were kind to us. The world is as it is, and hoping for it to be otherwise is just asking to get disappointed."

"Hey… there's no need for that," said Aang, his hand on her shoulder. "The monks taught me many things, and one of them was to never give up hope. If you give up on your dreams, you're making sure they'll never come true."

"That's only true for things you can control, Aang," said Katara. "Sokka's fate… I have nothing to do with it as I am. There's nothing I can do for him. And hoping pointlessly for him to be alive… you're pretty much asking for me to mourn him twice. I lost my brother once already and it was the most painful period of my life. Losing him again, deluding myself in hopes that he'll return here on his own somehow… it would be a fool's errand. My brother's gone, Aang. The only thing I can do about it is accept that and keep fighting against the Fire Nation in every way I can."

Aang sighed and nodded, giving up. Maybe one day she'd change her mind…

Looking at her right now, Aang realized she was truly beautiful. Her hair was quite pretty, and her eyes were dazzling. The color of her skin also mesmerized him for a moment. When had he last met a pretty girl close to his age? When had he met a girl his age at all, actually? He had met several nuns, and he had traveled the world a few times… but for some reason, he never got to meet younger girls. He was thankful for that, though. If he had met a beautiful girl back then, he was certain she wouldn't have survived to this day, and it would crush him if that were the case… But he had no need to fill his minds with ideas of what might have happened. He had to focus on doing whatever he could about the world as it was right now.

"Are you guys still fighting against the people from the settlement?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but it's no use," said Katara, sighing. "We're evenly matched. They've got soldiers well trained and ready to kill their enemies. Our warriors are good, but not that good. I make up for it, though, since I'm a waterbender… but I'm the only one left. Those raids I mentioned to you before… well, they were done in order to wipe out the waterbenders. They never heard about me bending, I think, so that's why they didn't try to kill me back when they sent those raids."

"And have you mastered waterbending by now?" asked Aang, surprised.

"No… actually, no," she said, sadly. "The South Pole hadn't had waterbenders in about ten years until I was born. There was nobody to teach me any forms… My grandmother recalled a few movements from the waterbenders she had known back when she was a kid, but mastering a couple of forms wouldn't have been enough for me to become a master. I've made up a few moves, but I'm definitely not half as powerful as the waterbenders of old…"

Aang blinked a few times before smiling cheerfully. Katara was surprised by his grin.

"Why are you smiling at me like that…?"

"Just thinking… you can become a better waterbender," he said, still smiling. "I trained under a powerful southern waterbending master, and I'm pretty sure I could teach you a move or two."

Katara's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You… You would teach me?" she asked, her eyes glowing with an emotion she had discarded a long time ago: hope.

Aang beamed as he saw her lips forming a smile. He nodded promptly as she began laughing with joy.

"I'll… I'll be taught to waterbend by the Avatar. This is the sort of things that I could only ever dream about!" said Katara, smiling broadly.

Aang couldn't help but laugh too. The girl was pretty when she was hopeless and moody… when she laughed she was absolutely beautiful.

"You have no idea how much that would mean to me, Aang!" said Katara, looking at him gratefully. He chuckled lowly and smiled.

"I think I can imagine," he said, smiling. "You never thought the day would come when you would actually have a chance to learn waterbending from an almost-master, did you?"

"No, I really… never," said Katara, chuckling. "You, you're just… I really can't thank you enough, Aang."

"No worries," he said, shrugging carelessly. "You can pay me back for the lessons by not discarding hope, no matter how desperate the situation seems to be. If you stop hoping, you'll stop living, Katara."

She blushed slightly when he said her name. She nodded, although she didn't feel all that hopeful anyways. It was one thing that her random wish to find a waterbending master would come true, but it was something really different for her brother to be alive. She hated the Fire Nation too much to trust them to spare Sokka's life…

Aang realized she hadn't quite complied with his request, but he knew he would have more chances to give her hope. Maybe one day he would take Appa for a ride and they would go looking for Sokka…

Because Aang knew nothing about him, but he could tell that Katara loved him dearly, and he knew Sokka loved her, too. A Water Tribe man who knew his family was awaiting him would never leave them longing for him for more time than necessary. He was likely facing some hardships, but he would come back to his family, Aang knew he would. Because just as Katara was missing her brother so badly right now, Sokka was probably out there somewhere, missing his dear sister as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know… many of you must have crooked an eyebrow when Aang showed up as a nineteen-year-old instead of a twelve-year-old. Yes, I needed to age him up a notch and give him a different background story xD for a few reasons that I'm sure you guys will understand. Now, as for technical stuff… Yeah, I find it plausible for Aang to have been nineteen instead of twelve. Roku lived in a volcanic island, and the volcano could have erupted at any time. So making it erupt seven years before it happened in canon isn't that long a shot, I think. And of course, Aang was born after Roku passed away and there we go! Continuity remains! Yes, I wanted to keep most of the happenings totally canon… but yeah, for plot devices, I kinda needed to change things as I did, and well, it's a fic after all ^^U giving things a tweak or two is perfectly legal!
> 
> In any case, I hope you're happy with this chapter ^^ Gladiator wasn't going to remain Avatar-less forever!


	24. Chapter 24

He gasped for air, a smile playing in his lips as he enjoyed the situation thoroughly. Jolts of pleasure ran all over his body: a gentle tingle that translated into arousal, spreading from the tip of his fingers and all the way to his toes…

His partner was working him in such a powerful, steady way that he was unable to do anything but sigh, lost in bliss as he was. He had never been through a ride as intense as the one he was enjoying right now. His teeth were gritted and he tried to keep his groans to himself, no matter how difficult it was. His naked body shivered slightly whenever the tongue playing with his manhood slipped towards his most sensitive spots, increasing his excitement effectively. He could say for certain that nobody had ever devoured him in this manner before…

Who might it be, then? For some reason, he didn't know. It made little to no sense to be on the receiving end of a blowjob without knowing who was providing it.

He lowered his eyes curiously, just to catch a glimpse of the anonymous pleasure giver who was working all the way through his shaft…

His eyes snapped wide open when he saw that curtain of black hair. Her head was tilted down as she delivered oral pleasure to his member, so he couldn't see her face clearly, but it wasn't hard to guess her identity. She kept traveling over him slowly, her lips wrapped around him, her tongue teasing his skin cruelly…

And then she lifted her head slightly, her amber eyes darting up to find his. He was in shock, and the way she smirked at him only managed to further his amazement. But was it good amazement, or bad amazement? It was her, after all… it was Azula. The Princess he had loathed for years. He didn't hate her anymore, that much he knew, but for her to do something like this… it was wrong, in every way!

So why was the arousal increasing after he realized it was her?!

It couldn't be happening… it couldn't be true. It couldn't! Still, the way she smirked as she played with his manhood, as if knowing the turmoil he was going through… of course it was happening. Why the hell did he think otherwise? She was playing with him! Torturing him as she brought him into her field, making him lose himself in the insanity of that complicated relationship of theirs…

And why was he letting her get away with it?

Because there was no stopping it, clearly. He could do nothing to keep himself together. A familiar thrill ran through his body as he got closer and closer to his finish. Still, the arousal was rising much higher than its usual peaks, probably because he was dealing with her. The more he thought about it, the less he believed it. She was driving him towards an unknown edge, far beyond the limits he had known in his life, and he couldn't do nothing other than submit to her…

Sokka woke up with a loud gasp, sitting up in his bed as he panted, sweat running down his body. He did nothing but take deep breaths as he tried to grasp terms with reality. That dream had been so vivid he hadn't realized it was merely that. Not often did he realize his dreams weren't real, but this hadn't been like his usual dreams.

Because he had dreamt about Azula in quite an undignified manner.

The thought made him blush and grimace at the same time. How had he dared? Was he insane?! Azula… of all people, Azula! His sponsor! The woman he had loathed for two years straight, whom he had wanted to kill painfully! And he had dreamt about her doing something as degrading as pleasuring him orally.

He smacked his forehead several times as he tried to come to terms with the fact that it had been merely a dream. It meant nothing! No matter how real it had seemed, how appealing it had been, how exciting…

He stopped in the middle of his thoughts before slamming himself down on the mattress again, yanking his hair with despair; the bulge between his legs made him feel more uncomfortable. As if he needed to feel more uncomfortable…

"I need help," he muttered, appalled by his thoughts. If Azula ever found out about this, she'd skin him alive…

By the time morning broke, Sokka was still unable to get his dream out of his mind. He hadn't fallen asleep again no matter how hard he had tried, because he feared she would be waiting for him again in his dreams. And he hated how eager he was to meet her in that darkness so that they could continue with their lecherous endeavors. It was plain wrong! He couldn't think of Azula like this!

Thus he spent the remnants of the night rolling under the covers, beating himself up for what he'd dreamt about. Azula was his sponsor, someone who was using him for her own, mysterious ends. She wouldn't do something like that with him, of all people… fact was, she probably wouldn't do something like that with anyone. But if there was a list of likely people Azula would think sexually of, he would be closing off the list, surely. His advances towards her had only ever been to tease her, and she probably hated it whenever he implied anything of the sort. She was a Princess, after all, the Fire Nation Princess. He was a snow savage. Thinking about it on those terms helped him return to reality: it had only been a dream. It could never become anything else, so he'd do better to stop thinking about it…

It was no use, though. The dream had poisoned his mind, his body and soul. Poisoned or mesmerized? Probably both. The sunlight's dim glow came through the silk curtains hanging over his window and he groaned in displeasure. He had a fight today, and he had scarcely rested at all because of that accursed illusion that had taken over his brain functions. Azula would surely be disappointed by his performance…

He wanted to beat himself up when he placed that last thought on the wrong setting. There was something seriously wrong with him.

A month had passed since he had obtained his house. He had returned to the Arena after a few days of training, when his arms and legs began working properly again. Clad in his new armor – which he had guilt in cobalt, making it more fitting for the Blue Wolf to wear – he had walked out into the sand pit to face a weak enemy from the lowest stretches of the Ranking. The Murderous Serpent had only won a match, yet his sponsor had the guts to challenge Azula. She agreed to the fight because she figured Sokka needed a warm-up before fighting against stronger gladiators.

Sokka had been slightly uneasy about the fight at first, but he had gone with it despite it wouldn't provide him with many points. He beat the man with such ease he was astounded when the Serpent was lying in front of him on the sand, thoroughly defeated.

Three more fights had followed on the next weeks, and Sokka proved he was fit once again by defeating every opponent he had been faced with. Granted they were nowhere near as strong as the Blind Bandit, but at least he had managed to gain back the confidence he had lost after his fight against her.

To Sokka's surprise, the crowd seemed to love him now. Whenever he was introduced as he entered the sand pit, he was welcomed by cheers more enthusiastic than any he had heard before. When he walked through the vestibule he found himself smiling at people merely by reflex as they looked at him with admiration. What was going on? Why were the crowds interested in him? What exactly had he done, other than making a fool of himself during his fight against Toph…?

Even today he asked himself that same question. It had been almost a month since he had returned to fighting, and he hadn't asked Azula yet about what it meant. The Princess seemed to get by just fine with this newfound attitude people had towards them, since she was used to the worshipping, but he wasn't. He figured that he wouldn't get an answer if he asked, though, so he tried to shrug the matter off. But he had failed to forget about it because he had found nothing else to think about. Now, though, he wished the only issue he had to ponder was the strange behavior of his new supporters.

He climbed off his bed when he heard a few sounds on the lower level of the house. Surely Song was already making breakfast. The girl had been very nervous during her first days working with him. She likely had been expecting Sokka to push his luck with her… and she had been quite pleased to see he hadn't tried anything out of bounds towards her. Sokka had told her later that she often reminded him of his younger sister, and the girl had been surprised, but apparently flattered to know that.

The massages she had given his legs had improved his health far more than he had expected them to. Thanks to her assistance, he had been walking without crutches within only five days. He probably owed her most of the last stretch of his recovery. As she worked with him, they often talked about the old days, when their homes were still untainted by the Fire Nation. Song's father had been taken from their home when she was a child, and she had been badly burned during that raid. But she hadn't been caught and forced to become a slave until after Sozin's Comet had showed up again. Sokka had told her about his own story as well, and Song had been astounded by his complex situation with Azula. She didn't find it as unbelievable as it sounded, though. Not after seeing the two of them interact as they had when they had bought her at the market.

Song was quite shy around Azula. The Princess wasn't too fond of her, always raising an eyebrow and looking at her with her trademark arrogance… Sokka was more than used to Azula's attitude by now, but Song clearly had no idea how to handle the Princess's royal behavior. Whenever they met, Song's legs would shake and she'd stutter, trying not to make a fool of herself… and failing quite often at that, to her chagrin.

The Princess didn't stop by Sokka's house too often, though. She came by only when he had to go to the Arena or when she had found a promising master for him. The latter hardly ever occurred, seeing how few men Azula had found who were near Sokka's skill… and, to her disappointment, none was superior to her gladiator. Sokka would spar with them in his house's backyard, and he would always disarm his opponent with such ease that he'd boast about his deed for days. He often said that, instead of trying to get him a master, it seemed as if Azula had been giving him chances to humiliate swordsmen. She would roll her eyes at this statement, but she couldn't prove otherwise. She brought him sword master after sword master, and none of them could hold a candle to Sokka.

Regardless, Azula wouldn't stop looking for a master. Sokka was strong, certainly… but nowhere near strong enough. Toph's skills were unparalleled as far as they were concerned, but there were, likely, stronger fighters than her within the ranking. And if Sokka wasn't able to keep up with them, it was unlikely they would spare his life in the way the Blind Bandit had.

Trying to keep his head in the Gladiator business, Sokka got dressed and picked up his weapons and armor, ready to take off to the Grand Royal Dome once he was done with his breakfast. His opponent for today, The Eastern Wayfarer, was in the 318th slot in the ranking. Sokka himself had progressed smoothly after his latest fights, becoming the 375th gladiator on the lists. Since he was fully functional once again, Azula had decided to raise their game and she had him fight warriors on higher legs of the ranking now. They kept to non-benders, seeing how Sokka was still wary of fighting earthbenders, but so far, he had defeated every non-bender he had been faced against, and Azula wanted him to face even stronger foes. Sokka had convinced her not to go for that just yet, though. If he defeated the Wayfarer by a wide margin, he would let her accept the challenges of non-bending gladiators on the higher levels of the ranking. Thanks to the fame they had gained recently, challenges seemed to rain over them, so they had more than enough challenges to choose from.

Sokka dropped before the dining table, listening to the usual sounds in the kitchen as Song arranged their breakfast. Sokka's hands went to the sides of his head as he tried to fight the urge to fall asleep now. Resting wasn't such a bad idea… but he recalled again what might await him once he closed his eyes. The thought only made sleeping more appealing to him, though, which only led him to feel revolted towards himself. Just how more shameless could he get?

"Good morning," said Song after a few minutes, leaving a tray with his breakfast in front of him. "Did you sleep… well?" she asked, interrupting herself when she caught sight of the exhausted look on his face.

"I hardly slept, to be honest, but I'll be fine," he muttered, forcing a smile as he began eating.

Song blinked and sat beside him, eyeing him with concern.

"Why didn't you sleep? You have a fight today… is it you're nervous about it?"

"N-no, no, it's…" started Sokka, but he thought twice about letting Song know what had kept him awake. If she knew what sort of lewd dreams he'd had, she'd surely think he was a pervert. He probably was one, going by what his subconscious mind had brought up to his attention overnight. "It's nothing, really. Don't mind me."

Song still seemed worried, but she didn't press further. Sokka didn't really feel like a master even when she was his slave. He felt more like a friend to her, but he was still a figure of authority, and if he wished for her to quit pestering him, she would obey him.

Sokka finished his breakfast and took a seat on the living room, his head straying back to his dream even when he kept trying to distract himself by looking at the patterns of the floor's wooden planks. He couldn't get that image out of his mind, it had been so strong, so real… even when there was nothing real about that setting. Azula wouldn't do something of the sort, she never ever would want to satisfy him. If anything, she'd want him to satisfy her. And would he, if she ever asked?

He blushed at the thought. No, no, no… he was letting weird ideas to seep into his mind again, and that was plain wrong.

A loud knock to the door brought him out of his thoughts, but it wasn't a knock he welcomed gladly. Sokka already knew who was outside.

He blushed as he realized he would come face to face with his dream girl in a few seconds. Did he have the guts to face her now?

"Good luck today, Sokka," said Song happily, as Sokka picked up his weapons and armor and got ready to leave.

"Y-yeah, thanks… I'm going to need it," he replied, fitting the black-and-blue armor around him and gulping as he looked at the door again.

He opened it to find the Captain of Azula's Royal Guard before it, looking bored even when a mask covered his face, as always.

"Morning, Cap'!" said Sokka, trying to behave as naturally as ever. The Captain raised an eyebrow, seeing how Sokka's act actually came off as unusual and ridiculous instead of natural.

"What's the matter with you?" asked the man, folding his arms over his chest. "You're not under the influence of any weird substances, are you?"

"Huh? Oh, come on!" said Sokka, shaking a hand carelessly. "Can't I just talk casually to my good friend, the Cap'?"

"No," said the Captain, harshly. "Whoever said you and I were friends…?"

"That's rough to take, man," said Sokka. "Here I was, thinking otherwise…"

"You'd better be on your right mind, gladiator," said the Captain. "The Princess won't tolerate it if you make a fool of yourself in the Arena today."

The mention of the Princess made Sokka blush, against his better judgment. Thankfully, the Captain missed the red on his cheeks because he was already walking down the lawn that led to the main road, where Azula's palanquin awaited amongst more guards. Sokka could see her silhouette through the thin curtains that covered the vehicle. He gulped again, feeling his mouth becoming dry all of sudden.

"Well?" said the Captain, turning to look at Sokka, who had remained frozen, staring at the shape within the palanquin.

"Uh, y-yeah! I'm right behind you!" Sokka called, running down the lawn when the palanquin and guards began moving, their course set on the Grand Royal Dome.

Walking behind the palanquin usually annoyed Sokka slightly, since it used to remind him of the distance that existed between him and the Princess. Today it was more distressing than usual. He couldn't even bring himself up to glaring at the palanquin in disapproval: just looking at it reminded him of the glow in her eyes when she had been between his legs… oh, it had been a dream! She hadn't been there! And she likely never would be!

He kept beating himself up about it all the way until they reached the Arena. His heart rate went bonkers when Azula climbed off the palanquin. Her hair, her eyes, her lips… He couldn't stop staring at her, feeling both attracted towards her and disgusted by himself. He couldn't stop thinking about the way she had looked in that dream, her pale skin bare for him to see…

"Why are you in a daze?" she asked, her tone as harsh as usual. Sokka snapped out of his illusion with difficulty, shaking his head as he blushed intensely again.

"I wasn't… i-it's nothing," he said, still flustered as he walked up towards the Dome's twin doors, with Azula treading behind him as she eyed him with uncertainty.

They reached Shoji's counter and registered with him as they always did, although Sokka's nervous behavior even puzzled the boy, who decided not to ask anything even though he was staring at the fighter with curiosity.

"Sokka," Azula asked, as they walked down towards the stand-by room. He grew nervous again when she called his name. "Is something the matter? What's bothering you?"

"Oh… me?" he said, smiling awkwardly, "N-nothing, I'm okay! I mean, I'm just, uh… focused, yeah! You know, this guy will likely be tough and all…"

"No, not according to the information I've gathered," said Azula. "He's also a swordsman, but he's nowhere near your skill. He likes tossing daggers, so you'd do best to watch out for those."

"Uh… got it," said Sokka, nodding as he looked at her. He hadn't heard any of what Azula had just told him, too busy gawking at her features to actually listen to her.

"In any case, I'm certain you'll find him near your level of skill," said Azula, as they entered the room. "Truth to be told, I don't see why you would struggle against a non-bender. For all we know, you're likely one of the strongest non-benders in the Superior Gladiator League."

"I might be," said Sokka, shrugging as he sat down on a bench within the stand-by room, fixing his armguards as he tried to stop his thoughts from straying towards Azula. "But the ranking has more firebenders and earthbenders in it than non-benders…"

"I know," said Azula, frowning. "And… and I still don't know what to do about it."

"I could try to get to the top while fighting non-benders only," said Sokka, shrugging.

"The best ranked non-bender is on the 30th slot at the moment," replied Azula, shaking her head. "If we're aiming for the top, you must learn to fight benders as well."

"How?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"I… I don't know," said Azula, sighing.

"Still haven't found a good master, I take it…" said Sokka, and she shook her head.

"It's no use," she muttered. "You're already past the point of having a sword master, I suppose. But you need, at the very least, a sparring partner of some sorts or else your skills will dull. And you need to develop techniques to defeat benders too…"

"Maybe I just need to study them closely," said Sokka, shrugging. "I mean, after fighting you I managed to handle the Spawn, didn't I? So maybe I need to fight against earthbenders to understand how to beat them…"

"It's a valid point, but how, exactly, would you do that?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "Where do you think you'll find an earthbender to study? I rather doubt the Bandit would want to help you with this…"

"Well, there's not a shortage of earthbenders, is there?" asked Sokka, shrugging. "It's not like I'm saying I've got to find an airbender. There are plenty of earthbenders out there who might help out if you ask nicely enough… and by that I mean you'd have to ask while handing them a bag of gold, of course."

"Haven't I already told you I've spent more than enough money on you?" asked Azula, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, I've won most my fights. You've made back some of the money I've cost you," said Sokka, folding his arms over his chest.

"Not nearly enough yet, though," said Azula, rubbing her forehead. "You haven't even made up for half the money I had to pay Piandao for training you, let alone what I spent for your house or your slave."

"W-well…"

"We can discuss our finances later, though," said Azula, turning to look at him.

When her eyes were set on his, Sokka found himself gaping at her, his mouth slightly open. After spending more time around her he had gotten used to her beauty, or so he had thought. But right now she seemed more beckoning than ever before… that dream had messed up with his mind in more ways than he could point out.

"Be careful out there," she said, her eyebrows furrowed. "The Wayfarer has lost a few times, but that doesn't mean you'll beat him too easily. As I told you, watch out for his daggers."

"Y-yeah…" said Sokka, snapping out of his momentary trance with a nod.

Azula didn't miss the way he had looked at her, but she didn't bother asking him about it. She merely raised a slightly inquisitive eyebrow, which Sokka missed because he had lowered his gaze down to his arm guard again, trying to avoid making a fool of himself by staring at her too insistently.

"Good luck," she muttered, making him blink in surprise. The tone in which she said those words was quite unusual… as if she deeply wished he would come out safely from this fight.

He looked up to find she was already leaving the room, and he sighed, feeling like a fool. Azula might care for the outcome of the match, but mostly because she hated losing. It didn't mean she cared for him… all she had done for him lately she had done because she lacked another choice. She had bought him the house to get him away from her, gotten him a slave so that he would eat well and stay strong… but then, what about the way she had carried him out of the Arena after the fight against Toph? He had expected her to be mad at him. Never would he have imagined she would save him as she had. Did it mean anything? No, of course not. He was flattering himself, as usual.

But the fact that she had gotten him the house to spend less time near him bothered him a little. Azula needed a break from him, apparently, while that was the last thing he wanted to give her. Being around her, arguing with her, laughing at her and also feeling like a fool around her… it was much more fun than it should be. And he wanted more of it.

The golden grid moved upwards, prompting Sokka to enter the Arena amongst hoots and cheers as the announcer introduced him to the crowd. Shortly after, the Wayfarer entered the Arena as well. He was a few years older than himself, wearing a helmet and armor fashioned from iron, and holding a sword tightly in his right hand. He seemed determined to win, judging by the expression on his eyes… and Sokka didn't seem to share his drive at the moment, seeing how he was only thinking about his sponsor. Everything else seemed irrelevant when he was thinking about her.

"Get ready… START!" yelled the announcer, and the Wayfarer took a stance, wary. Word of Sokka's skills and unusual way of fighting had spread quickly, and nobody took him for granted nowadays.

But the Blue Wolf was anywhere but in the game at the moment. He lifted his hand towards Space Sword, getting it out of its scabbard as he sighed.

"You're not going to go for it…?" asked the Wayfarer, his voice a little shriller than Sokka expected it to be.

"Huh…? Oh, hey!" said Sokka, apparently snapping out of his thoughts for a moment. "Didn't see you there! How are you?"

The Wayfarer looked annoyed at Sokka's careless attitude, something the Water Tribe warrior didn't miss out on. He lifted his weapon a little higher, glaring at him with his green eyes.

"How about you open those eyes, then?" he called out, jumping at Sokka with his weapon in tow.

Sokka was slightly curious about the man's fighting style. He was, likely, a sword master of some blade technique Sokka didn't know about… but his style wasn't strong enough to challenge the Blue Wolf. Sokka evaded him swiftly, smacking the Wayfarer's buttocks with the flat of Space Sword, making him trip and stagger as he tried to regain his posture.

The people at the stands roared with laughter after that move. Sokka smiled at the sound, and looked up to the sponsors' balcony, finding even Azula seemed slightly amused at the blow he had just delivered to his rival. Seeing her smirk like that made him smile clumsily, feeling some ridiculous sense of achievement…

The Wayfarer came back at him, tossing the daggers Azula had warned him about. Sokka spun about and avoided them, knocking one of them to the ground with his sword. He snatched his boomerang from his back and tossed it at the Wayfarer, who ducked and avoided it. The man was cautious of the moment when the boomerang would return and strike him on the back, since this form of attack had become the Blue Wolf's trademark movement… but, busy as he was keeping an eye out for the boomerang, he didn't realize he had given Sokka an opening. The Blue Wolf jumped forward, shoulder first, and he tackled his opponent.

The Wayfarer flew a few meters back, struggling to catch his breath after the unexpected body slam. Sokka caught his boomerang once it returned to him and brandished it as his secondary weapon, holding it in his left hand.

The Wayfarer stood up, panting, and he drew out one of his daggers, imitating Sokka's double-weapon fighting style. He ran at Sokka again and clashed both his weapons against his, pushing at him. The Wayfarer snarled until he realized the Blue Wolf's mind seemed to be anywhere but in the fight. His eyes kept shifting to the left, where the sponsors' balcony stood. Sokka bit his lip, wondering if Azula would be proud once he beat this guy…

A kick to his stomach snapped him out of his delusions. He shook his head, realizing he was letting his newfound fascination with Azula to distract him when he should have kept his mind in the fight. His dream kept coming back to him, making him lose his focus easily, but he couldn't keep going like this. He would lose at this rate…

The Wayfarer came in for another attack, but Sokka was ready for it. He ducked at the last second, bringing his boomerang up and slamming it against the Wayfarer's chin painfully, making his helmet fly off his head with the impact. Sokka watched his opponent roll on the ground again after tripping him, and the green-eyed man collided against the Arena's well after dropping his sword when he rebounded on the sand. Sokka wiped the sweat of his brow before jumping once again to attack just as the Wayfarer stood up.

Sokka pushed him back by pressing his boomerang to his rival's chest, his sword on the tip of the Wayfarer's neck. The Wayfarer tried to balance himself to avoid falling into the deep, dark pit behind him. Sokka could see the fear on his eyes… would there be something to soften the fall if he were to drive the Wayfarer over the edge of the well? He wondered if there was. Perhaps down below were the corpses of many gladiators who had been killed by their opponents just like this.

The Wayfarer's hand shot up, taking hold of the boomerang, trying to retain some balance and avoid falling. The panicked look on his face sent Sokka on a guilt trip for a moment. The fellow really hadn't asked for this much, had he?

"P-please…" he said, desperate.

Sokka sighed and put away his sword, pulling the boomerang forth and bringing the man back to steady ground. The Wayfarer looked truly thankful… until Sokka smacked his temple with Space Sword's hilt, rendering him unconscious.

The crowd roared with cheers again, and Sokka smiled, looking towards the balcony once again, in hopes of seeing the Princess beaming down on him proudly… she wasn't looking at him, though. The sponsor next to her was surrendering a bag of money to her as she smirked with that characteristic arrogance of hers. Sokka sighed but smiled, pleased to see his debt to her was being shortened with every fight he won. The announcer declared Sokka's triumph, as expected, and some staff members of the Arena came in to drag the Wayfarer out of the sand pit and into a waiting room above so that they could perform a medical check on him.

After what had happened during Sokka's fight with the Blind Bandit, Azula had put her foot down regarding the fighters' safety in the Superior Gladiator League. She didn't merely submit a suggestion for the League's executive chief to take into consideration: she met directly with him and forced him to hire medical staff to check every fighter's health status after the fight was done, and provide treatment if it were necessary. Seeing how she was the Fire Lord's daughter, and also how her recent joining of the League had increased their winnings greatly –her joining of the League had boosted the Gladiator business both in the audience and bids–, the chief executive agreed with her terms with a panicky smile on his chubby face.

Therefore, Sokka had to undergo a medical check after the fight was done. Azula arrived to the waiting room he was in just as they were on the final stretch of his medical check. Azula couldn't help but blush slightly at the sight of her shirtless gladiator, memories of a certain day at Piandao's house drifting back to her mind… yet she kept a straight face as the two men dealing with her gladiator tested his leg's reflexes, an activity Sokka found pointless, but when he realized Azula had arrived he forgot all about the uselessness of what the physicians were doing.

"So… what did you think?" he asked, smiling. "It was an easier fight than expected, huh?"

"No kidding," said Azula, surprised by how enthusiastic he seemed. It looked like he wanted her to praise him, judging by the eager look on his face. He was behaving weirder than usual today, definitely. "I suppose this means you can aim higher on your next fight, just as I thought."

"O-oh…" said Sokka. He had forgotten momentarily about how she wanted him to fight stronger gladiators. "Yeah, that's true. W-well, I guess we can look at those big challenges now, then."

"No need to be so worried," said Azula. "After your display today, I'm sure you can handle most non-benders easily."

"Likely," he said, smiling. She was impressed by how quickly he had finished the fight, but he knew she wouldn't say it out loud.

The physicians told him he was free to go, and Sokka clad himself in his usual garments again. Azula secretly wished he would stay shirtless for a while longer, but she remained silent as they exited the room together.

"Say, about what we were talking about earlier, about me needing a training partner and whatnot…" said Sokka, his weapons dangling on his back. "I think I have an idea."

"You do?" asked Azula, raising a suspicious eyebrow. She didn't question Sokka's intelligence, but for him to find a solution to their problems before she did was somewhat unexpected.

"Well, I did mention that, back during my fight against the Spawn, fighting against you helped me think of how to fight a firebender, right?" he said.

"Yeah… so?"

"And you're likely one of the strongest firebenders around, aren't you?"

"Clearly…" said Azula, smirking slightly.

"Then, by training against you, I can solve my issue of learning how to fight firebenders," he said, smiling. "I only would need to find an earthbender to train with, as I said before…"

"And what about your regular training against non-benders?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "Or do you think you don't need it after what you did just now?"

Sokka allowed himself to smile proudly for a moment, pleased to hear her ask that.

"No, no, as you said, I should keep my abilities well honed," he said, smiling down at her. Azula's eyebrow went even higher. "But you know, that can be solved in a simple way too. I mean, all I really need is another swordsman to train with…"

"Yeah, that's what you need… so?" asked Azula. "What's your point, Sokka?"

"Well, I was thinking… how about you do it?" he asked, smiling innocently.

Azula stopped on her tracks just as they were about to reach the staircase. She looked up at him in confusion, not quite grasping what he was trying to say.

"What?" she asked, thoroughly confused.

"Look, I know it sounds weird," said Sokka, chuckling. "But you told me you wanted to learn how to wield swords when you were younger and you never got a chance to do it. So I was thinking I could give you that chance, and teach you the things Piandao has taught me. I can help you become a sword master and you can help me train! It's a win-win situation, isn't it?"

Azula's eyes began gleaming in a different way now, and Sokka found himself blushing because of that. It was odd that he wasn't even thinking about his dream anymore: he was enticed by Azula just as she was right now.

"Y-you… you'd really do that?" she asked, astounded. "S-Sokka, that would be…"

"A dream come true?" he finished, smirking slightly.

Azula couldn't help but smile as well as she shook her head, surprised by his sudden proposal.

"You're… w-what's with you today?" she asked, looking at him in amazement, something Sokka prized more than she could tell.

"Well, I just… woke up with a new take on life, you could say," he muttered, blushing slightly as he walked down the stairs, hoping she wouldn't figure out his new take had something to do with the delusion of her giving him a blowjob.

Azula watched him go, still impressed. There was something odd about Sokka… but even though before it had been slightly annoying, now it was quite interesting. Why suggest teaching her how to handle swords? She could recall that he had mentioned she was deadly enough with her fire and lightning, so why would he offer to teach her swordsmanship now?

She didn't know, of course, that Sokka's deeper intentions were related to the fact that he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. Having a house of his own had many perks, but he found he missed his time in the Palace, when he would see Azula every day. His dream had served no purpose at first, but eventually he had come to realize he wanted to be near Azula, no matter in which way. And if she became his training partner, he would have a chance to be close to her very often…

Sokka waited for her by the bottom of the stairs and she led the way to Shoji's counter, both unusually content with the other's presence. Shoji eyed them with curiosity, knowing the Blue Wolf had triumphed… but these upbeat attitudes were something he hadn't seen on either of their faces before.

"So, you won!" said Shoji, smiling. "Congratulations, Blue Wolf! You've passed the mark of a thousand points now!"

"I did?" asked Sokka, beaming too. "How many do I have?"

"1008, if I did the math right," said Shoji, smiling. "Your last fights have been so amazing that people hardly remember your first and only loss."

"Speaking of which…" asked Sokka, his eye twitching. "How's the Bandit doing?"

"Oh… she's still above you, even after today," said Shoji, grimacing. "1013, though! You can catch up if you get down to it! A few more fights and you can surpass her!"

"I doubt it," muttered Azula, taking Sokka aback.

"H-huh?"

"I have the feeling Iroh has probably issued out enough challenges against stronger foes to get his earthbender higher and higher. Likely with gladiators around the 200th position or so…"

"Then we just need to fight someone from the 100th and we'll rise higher than her," said Sokka, pouting slightly.

"Oh?" Azula looked at him in surprise. "You want to try your luck against someone on such higher levels?"

"I don't see why not," said Sokka, smirking. "As long as I go against non-benders, of course…"

Azula frowned, deep in thought. Would that be too bold of them…?

Shoji brought their attention back to the counter after clearing his throat. The boy held a couple of challenges on his hands and he held them out for Azula to take.

"I'm not sure if you wanted someone higher than these two…" said Shoji. "But out of the many challenges you've gotten, these two are non-benders and they are highly placed in the ranking. So… maybe one of them would suffice."

"How about both?" said Sokka, cheerfully, as Azula read the challenges.

"Huh…" she muttered, catching the familiar name on the first sheet. "Kyoshi's Heir… I recall having spotted her on the ranking before."

"Yup, when you and the Blue Wolf officially joined the League," said Shoji, nodding. "She's 141 right now, so she'd provide you with many points if you beat her!"

"True…" said Azula, looking at the other challenge as well. "And the Savage Hook. What's his current position?"

"He's… 178 right now," said Shoji, after scanning the ranking quickly. "I suggest you take on Kyoshi's Heir first, though."

"Huh? Why?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"Well… take a good look at the challenge," said Shoji. "Do you see anything unusual about it?"

Azula and Sokka looked down at the paper again, both trying to find what Shoji was talking about… and Azula didn't take too long to spot it.

"The bid is merely one hundred yuans?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is this even allowed?"

"Well, there are no limits as to what you can bid…" said Shoji, shrugging.

"But this is ridiculous," said Azula, frowning. "Who would want to bid such a low amount of…?"

"That…" interrupted Shoji. "… seems to be the way Kyoshi's Heir's sponsor works, from what I've seen. He always sends low bids, and waits for the opposite side to send him a larger bid. He seems to play the egos of other sponsors, making them feel superior because they see such low bets that they end up raising them to ridiculously high levels, expecting Kyoshi's Heir's sponsor to be unable to pay up if he loses. But that's the thing…"

"What is?" asked Sokka.

"Kyoshi's Heir is a very skilled fighter, and a very popular one too," said Shoji. "Strong, elegant, whatnot… But I took the time to analyze her fights, because I'd noticed the way her sponsor played others on the money game, and guess what I discovered? Whenever the opposite sponsor issues out a challenge with sky-high bids, Kyoshi's Heir doesn't fail to win, no matter what she has to do to triumph. But if the opposite sponsor either keeps the bid low, or only raises it a little higher, she doesn't fight to her best. It's why she has lost so many times: because those fights she lost didn't have high bets."

"So… you're saying her sponsor presses her to fight to her best when the stakes are high?" asked Sokka.

"No," said Azula, with certainty. "He's saying that Kyoshi's Heir's sponsor is in this for the money."

"Exactly," said Shoji, nodding. "Her fighting prowess depends on the winnings…"

"But why does he issue out challenges like that, then?" asked Sokka, confused. "If he wrote down a huge amount of money on the first go…"

"He wouldn't lull the other sponsors into a false sense of security," stated Azula. "He plays with them while doing this, makes them think such a ridiculous bid wouldn't be worth their time… but when they realize Kyoshi's Heir is so high on the ranking, they think it might be worth a shot. A sponsor with a high-ranked gladiator should be able to offer more money… so they think she's probably on a losing streak. They think the explanation behind the man's behavior is that he doesn't want to risk losing much money because he can't trust his gladiator. They're deluded by their own wealth and success to realize they're actually being played by him."

"Huh… that's similar to what you did with Chan, isn't it?" asked Sokka. "You sent a challenge that seemed so favorable to him that he couldn't say no."

"Exactly," said Azula. "You gladiators fight with bending or weapons, us sponsors have to fight through challenges. It sounds weird, but you've seen it first hand by now, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I suppose I have," said Sokka, nodding. "So, what are we going to do about Kyoshi's Heir?"

"It's simple," said Azula, leaning down and writing the response to the challenge. "I'll take this as it comes. One hundred is a pathetic bid, no doubt, but we're in this for the points, not for the money. If Kyoshi's Heir doesn't fight to her best, you'll have a better chance to win."

"Huh, that makes sense," said Sokka, nodding. "But… do you think I can't take her on if she's at her best?"

"No idea, but I'm not taking chances," said Azula. "If this is how this sponsor works, then we're going to play along with his schemes."

"So you're taking it like this," said Shoji, smiling. "I figured it would be the best course of action, really…"

"I appreciate the information you provided, Shoji," said Azula, handing him her acceptance of Kyoshi's Heir's challenge. "Your fight against Kyoshi's Heir is to happen a week from now," she told Sokka, who nodded in approval.

"Gotcha," he replied, enthusiastic.

"As for the Savage Hook…" said Azula, looking at the challenge. "It looks like it has a regular bid, and it's set to happen in two weeks. I think we should be able to pull this one off as well."

"The Savage Hook comes all the way from Ba Sing Se," said Shoji, smiling. "It's the first time someone from such a far away land would come to fight you, right?"

"So it would seem," said Azula, accepting this challenge as well. "With these two fights you should get a large amount of points, Sokka. We had better be past that Bandit by the time we're done with them."

"I'm going to make sure of that," said Sokka, determined. "She won't be ahead of us for much longer!"

"Uh, that's is pretty nice and all," said Shoji, taking the acceptance form of the Savage Hook's challenge. "But there's one thing I think I should tell you about the Savage…"

"Princess!" yelled someone from the Arena's gates, startling the three people at the counter as they turned to look at whoever was calling for Azula.

A royal guard had just opened the main doors so that an old man dressed in elegant but old clothing walked inside, his small eyes wide open as he looked for the Princess. It didn't take long for Azula to realize she had seen this man before.

"Princess! I'm so glad I finally found you," he said, panting. "I looked for you in the Palace, but you weren't there, so…!"

"Cut to the chase," said Azula, frowning as she forgot completely the conversation she had just been involved in. "What's going on?"

The man panted heavily before reincorporating himself to finally state the business that had brought him before Azula.

"It's… it's lady Mai, Princess! She's… she's in labor!"


	25. Chapter 25

Zuko raised an eyebrow when he spotted a man running down the Palace's open halls, as if he were searching for someone desperately. He wasn't a Palace servant, that much was clear, given the old-fashioned robes he was wearing. Zuko's expression turned into a frown when the man stopped running, looking around himself in anguish. The Prince stood up and stepped away from the turtle duck pond, the place where he spent most his spare time… which was a lot of time, actually. He hadn't been too busy ever since he had returned home.

"Are you looking for someone?" he asked, approaching the man. He only noticed the servant was vaguely familiar when he saw him up close.

The servant looked up and smiled at the sight of the scarred prince, who was taken by surprise by the man's joyous attitude.

"Oh, my! If it's the Prince!" he said, smiling. "It's been a long time since I last saw you…"

"Uh… sure," said Zuko, frowning. Indeed, he knew this man, but he still couldn't place him.

"I was actually looking for your sister, though. No offense," said the man, when Zuko seemed irritated to realize he was searching for Azula. Everyone wanted to find Azula nowadays… she had always been more popular than him, he knew that all too well, but it seemed her fame had grown even larger while he had been absent.

"Why should that offend me?" said Zuko, huffing. "I don't know where she is, but if you can't find her in the Palace then she must be at the Gladiator Arena. Why are you looking for her?"

"Oh, it's because Lady Mai is in the middle of childbirth right now…" said the servant, thoughtlessly.

Zuko's eyes snapped wide open. She was giving birth right now? Would she be alright? Worry began washing over him immediately, and the look on his face took the servant by surprise.

"You are most welcome to come by to see her as well, Prince Zuko," said the man, smiling reassuringly. "She has many maids supporting her and helping her with her labor, but I'm sure she'll be pleased to see her friends, the Fire Lord's children, coming by to congratulate her and meet the baby…"

Zuko snapped out of his concern after the man conveyed his last thoughts.

"W-wait, what? You think she'd want me there?" he asked, in shock. "Why would she…?"

"Well, I was under the impression you were friends… am I wrong?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.

"N-no, well… no," said Zuko, his eyes dropping. "We… we are friends."

"Then I'm sure she'll be happy to see you," said the man, beaming. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go find the Princess! Farewell, Prince Zuko!"

"Yeah…" muttered Zuko, and Mai's servant ran down the Palace halls once more, now headed towards the main gates.

Zuko frowned and paced in the garden for a moment, troubled. He wanted to see Mai, to make sure she would make it safely through birthing, but he was sure she wouldn't be pleased to see him show up uninvited… or would she? At this point, Mai was nearly a stranger for him. He couldn't pretend to understand her. And he was certain he would feel completely out of place if he caught sight of Mai and her husband holding their firstborn…

The mere thought made him clench his fists. He should have been the one she had married, he should be the father of the child she was delivering into the world right now. But he wasn't, and he'd do best to accept that for once and for all. He should just skip over the awkwardness and not go…

… But his feet were carrying him towards her house before he knew it. He kept beating himself up for what he was doing, his mind telling him one thing while his heart said the entire opposite, and for reasons unknown, he was following his heart instead. He ought to stop walking and turn around, head back to the pond, but he couldn't stop himself. His lack of self-control was truly shameful.

"Prince Zuko!" said a Royal Guard, surprised to see him out and about. "Where might you be headed?"

"I, uh…" Zuko mumbled, unable to find a way to explain his actions.

"Wherever you're going, you shouldn't go on foot, Prince," said the guard, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"I'm not going too far…" he said, lowering his eyes. "Just… M-Mai's house."

"Lady Mai has moved from her family's house, sir," said the guard. "She lives a few blocks away from here nowadays. Please, Prince, take a palanquin."

Zuko didn't seem too willing to follow fit with the man's request. He didn't see why he had to take a palanquin, he doubted Fire Lord Ozai would be displeased to know he had gone somewhere on foot. The guard really had no need to push him into the opulent ride if he didn't want to take it…

But he didn't know where Mai lived now. So, truth to be told, the palanquin didn't sound like such a bad idea.

It started to feel like a bad idea once he was being carried away by a group of slaves. For some reason he felt like an utter fool… probably because he found this to be a stupid activity. Being carried around made it seem as if he were unable to walk on his own. And being carried on a palanquin was something reserved for important people. He didn't feel too important nowadays. Regardless, he had already climbed on, so he had to endure the ride for as long as it lasted. He would run back home as soon as he had made sure Mai and her child were fine…

Zuko wasn't the only person arriving to Mai's doorstep by the time the slaves stopped at her house. He climbed off the palanquin and spotted a carriage parked right in front of where his vehicle had halted. He was surprised to find Ty Lee waiting eagerly for the door to open, looking quite nervous. She turned to look at him when she realized the person on the royal palanquin had climbed off, and her eyes opened wide when she saw him.

"Zuko?" she said, blinking a few times. "Gee… I wasn't expecting you to come!"

"Y-you mean I'm not welcome…?" he muttered, as gloomy as ever. Ty Lee rolled her eyes but smiled at him, glad that she wouldn't be alone as she waited for news about Mai.

"You know, Azula is right. You should stop being so dramatic," she said. "Nobody said you weren't welcome, I just didn't know you'd come by to see Mai."

"I figured… I just figured I would," he muttered, as the house's gate was opened by another servant, the twin of the man Zuko had seen at the Palace.

"Lady Ty Lee, it's good to see you! Oh, and… Prince Zuko? That's unexpected!"

Zuko scowled at the man's surprise. He couldn't help but glare at everyone's reaction. Was it that unbelievable that he would be worried enough about Mai to drop by when she was giving birth?

"Come inside, come inside! She's still in labor, so you'll have to wait to see her once she's done," said the man, stepping away from the door and allowing them room to enter the house.

Zuko turned towards the palanquin before heading inside.

"Go back to the Palace, please," he said. "I'll find my way back on my own."

"Or I can give you a ride if you want," suggested Ty Lee, smiling.

"Whatever, just… go," said Zuko, turning back to the palanquin bearers and dismissing them effectively now. The men looked disappointed, but they obeyed him without question, to Zuko's relief.

He entered the house behind Ty Lee and they were led by the servant into an empty living room right across the room where Mai was currently at, according to what the man said. Zuko felt snakes twisting inside him as he thought about Mai's safety. He hoped she'd make it through birthing without a hitch…

"Where's Ruon Jian?" asked Ty Lee, when the servant was about to leave.

"Oh, the master has been told about Lady Mai's labor," he said. "He was at work, but he should be home any minute now."

"I see," said Ty Lee, smiling thankfully for the information, and the man took her grin as his cue to leave.

"Huh, so her husband's not around?" said Zuko, bitterly. Ty Lee pouted and turned around to glare at him.

"Don't get started with this, please," said Ty Lee. "He's a good man. You'll see it for yourself when you meet him!"

"Yeah, yeah…" said Zuko, rolling his eyes. "I don't even know why I came here."

"Truth to be told, neither do I," said Ty Lee, sternly. Zuko was surprised by her sudden change of attitude. "Zuko… I know this whole situation makes you jealous and angry and all the things you keep talking about, but if you're going to stay here, make everyone a favor and be supportive! This isn't a competition over who would be a better match for Mai!"

"Sure it's not," he mumbled, allowing himself a sour thought: _Because he already won._

"Zuko…" grunted Ty Lee, and the Prince sighed.

"Fine, fine, I'll just shut up and pretend I'm happy! Is that what you want?"

"Yes!" she said, smiling happily now. Zuko felt a hardly bearable urge to get out of the house right away. Dealing with Ty Lee only became worse by the minute…

A fuss out on the hallway pulled him out of his thoughts. Both Zuko and Ty Lee were surprised to hear a couple of voices arguing loudly. Zuko approached the door just when the same servant from before opened it, looking slightly troubled.

"Please, w-wait here…" he said to the new arrivals, whose identities Zuko guessed correctly on the first go.

"You… are… HEARTLESS!" Sokka squealed, bending over himself as he panted by the door.

Azula entered the room, rolling her eyes as she walked inside, hardly even realizing her friend and her brother were in the chamber as well.

"You're supposed to have a lot more stamina than that, aren't you?" she replied, her arms folded over her chest as she turned around to look at Sokka. His legs were shaking as he walked inside, collapsing on the nearest chair.

"And you're… not supposed… to have me run… after you… like that…!" he said, gasping for breath, his black-and-blue armor rising with his chest as he breathed.

Zuko and Ty Lee looked from one to the other, utterly confused.

"Uh… what's going on?" asked Ty Lee, smiling uncomfortably.

"Huh, you were here, Ty Lee," asked Azula. "You and… Zuko?"

The Prince only glared at his sister, his irritation growing further. Why did everyone find it unbelievable for him to come see Mai?

"Yeah, me," he said. "What of it?"

"I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd have the guts to come," said Azula, smirking slightly, annoying him further. "What do you know about her situation?"

"Well… nothing, really," said Ty Lee, looking nervous. "She's in the room across ours, from what we were told, but we have no idea how long she's been in there, or how much she's progressed."

"Huh…" said Azula, clearly concerned but not willing to show her soft side to so many people at once.

"What did you do to him?" asked Zuko, jerking his head towards Sokka, who was still breathless.

"Oh, nothing of importance. He's just making a fuss out of everything, as ever," said Azula, shrugging.

"Y-yeah, right!" said Sokka, resting his weight on his knees as he glared at his sponsor from his chair. "She told her palanquin bearers to… to go at full speed. And I had to chase after them… carrying all my weapons… and my armor… all across town!"

"Gee," said Ty Lee, wincing. "The Arena is at the other end of the city… and you came running all the way?"

"And so did the palanquin bearers, yet they didn't complain," said Azula, shrugging.

"You know… I really wish one of them had tripped… so you'd have fallen on your royal ass…" said Sokka viciously, making Azula chuckle and smirk at him.

"I just hope you know that your resentment is like music to my ears," she said, looking down on him as usual. Sokka couldn't help but scowl at her, still angry.

"You two will never change," said Ty Lee, giggling slightly.

Zuko raised an eyebrow at Azula's attitude towards Sokka. She behaved like this with people on her same standing, not with slaves. Even after Ty Lee had explained to him the strange circumstances that had joined the two of them, he couldn't make heads or tails of why they seemed to be friendly rivals instead of bitter enemies…

"Where's Ruon Jian? Is he with her?" asked Azula.

"No, he was at work," Ty Lee replied. "Apparently he's on his way, but we don't know much about that either…"

"You two just don't know anything, do you?" asked Azula, looking at Ty Lee and Zuko disapprovingly.

"Well, how about you go find more stuff out, since we're so useless?" said Zuko, rolling his eyes.

"Why, that's quite some progress already! I can hardly believe you've finally acknowledged it," said Azula, her eyes gaining a vicious quality as she irked her brother further.

Zuko was amazed by his self-control this time. Before he had seemed to lack any willpower, but now he was using all of it to stop himself from attacking his sister. In all the time they had been apart, the sole thing about her that had changed had been her sharp tongue, which had grown quicker with every day that went by.

"I don't think anyone can ask anything anyway," said Ty Lee, shrugging. Azula frowned at the amount of words with 'any' that she used in a single sentence. "We can't do anything but wait to hear how it goes when it ends…"

Sokka sat up after he finally felt he had regained his breath and he looked out through the open door, staring at the room where Mai was supposed to be at. He couldn't hear a sound coming out of it.

"You're sure the girl's in labor?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Back when I was in my Tribe and women gave birth they screamed a lot… I mean, I know this girl is all doom-and-gloom, but I don't think she'd be able to put up with such pain without making a sound."

"Well, we're making a lot of noise," said Ty Lee, shrugging. "Maybe she's complaining and we just can't hear her."

"Or maybe it's over already," suggested Azula.

"Or something went wrong…" Zuko muttered, worried.

"Why, always the mood killer, aren't you?" said Azula, glaring at him. Ty Lee grew pale after Zuko's statement, worried.

"No need to worry…" said Sokka, standing up from his chair. "Girls are tougher than they look. Believe me, I've seen many of them give birth and come out of it perfectly fine! And that was down at the Pole, so up here it should go just fine! You guys have better technologies and medical development, don't you?"

"Uh… we do?" asked Ty Lee, clueless.

"We're supposed to, at the very least," said Azula, frowning. "You should be right. So, please, stop trying to make these two morons panic."

"Hey, I wasn't trying to make them panic!" said Sokka, pouting. "I was just stating facts! I mean, I've heard that giving birth is as painful for women as a kick in the nuts for a man… so I just figured you'd have to be incredibly tough not to scream with that."

"Ah, well, Zuko wouldn't know of such toughness, would he?" said Azula, smirking. Zuko grew pale and moved away from his sister, recalling a few moments of his childhood he wished he could cast away from his memories.

"Huh?" said Sokka, grimacing. "You mean…"

"When we were kids he would always rat me out whenever I did something out of bounds," said Azula, staring at her nails. "So at times I would take my revenge by kicking him where it hurt him most…"

"Y-you even burned a hole in my pants once…" said Zuko, grimacing as he recalled how her foot, clad in fire, had struck him in his most delicate zone.

"Indeed… you had to jump in the turtle duck pond to put it out," said Azula, with a smile on her face. "Ah, the good old days…"

"The good old days I wish I could forget," her brother replied bitterly, still glaring at her.

"You're a fearsome force to reckon with, I'll give you that…" said Sokka, grimacing. In his dream she had been considerably kind to his assets… but after hearing this, he doubted she would be kind to anyone's assets. And if she ever found out about his dream, she would end up kicking him just as she had kicked her brother in the past, perhaps with lightning instead of fire so that he would suffer even more for being so insolent.

"Watch out for her," Zuko warned him, surprising Sokka. "If you upset her for real she'll make you regret it."

"Yeah, well… I already have some experience in that regard," said Sokka, looking at the ceiling with feigned interest. Azula raised an eyebrow towards him inquisitively, but before Zuko got the chance to ask Sokka about his sister's revenges on him, they heard the heavy footsteps of someone who was walking down the hall.

"Is she still inside…?! How is she? What do you know?!" they heard a man's frantic voice as the servant tried to cool him down.

The four people within the room grew quiet for a moment until the desperate man came into sight. He was breathing heavily, his eyes slightly out of orbit. His hair was tied in a high knot, but a few locks had fallen out of it, accentuating his anxiety.

"Please, wait in here, master Ruon…" said the servant, bowing down as the man walked inside the waiting room, his hands going up to his hair in signal of distress.

Ruon Jian took a moment to realize he wasn't the only one within the room. He jumped when he caught sight of the other four people, two women he was familiar with and two men he didn't recall having met in his life.

"Princess! Ty Lee!" he gasped. "I… I'm really glad you came…"

"Hey, Ruon. We're here to support both of you," said Ty Lee, patting him on the shoulder.

"And I appreciate that far more than I can express. Thank you," replied Ruon Jian, with a shy smile.

"So… what did the servant say?" asked Ty Lee.

"He says she's been inside for a few hours now, that she should be done soon…" said Ruon Jian, anxious. "Got to say I'm not sure if I'm glad she's still in there or not. I didn't want to be late, but I thought she might be done by now…"

"These things take time, don't worry," said Ty Lee, smiling kindly. "But why were you at work today? Didn't you think the child would be due yet?"

"Oh, we knew it would happen soon," said Ruon Jian, grimacing. "But the baby came in sooner than we expected it. Mai's water wasn't supposed to break in three more days. This took us all by surprise."

"Yeah, tell us about it," said Ty Lee, chuckling.

"I had taken the next days off from work," said Ruon Jian, sighing. "I wanted to be around when the baby came… but yeah, this had to happen on the one day I didn't take off."

"Seems like your fortune is quite crappy, huh?" asked Sokka, his hands behind his head.

Ruon Jian looked at him, surprised by his fighter getup. Regardless, he performed a bow towards him, making Sokka stare at him, confused.

"Uh… huh?" Sokka mumbled.

"I suppose you must be Princess Azula's gladiator," said Ruon Jian, smiling weakly. "Mai mentioned you once when we were talking… it's nice to meet you."

"Oh, uh, nice to meet you too," said Sokka, tilting his head down curtly.

Ruon Jian turned towards the other man in the room now, and he found Zuko's harsh glare on him. The other three felt slightly wary of the showdown that seemed to be about to happen and they looked nervously from one to the other.

"So… I suppose you must be Zuko," said Ruon Jian, smiling a little. "Prince Zuko. I'm glad to see you've returned to the Fire Nation safely."

Ruon Jian bowed down in the same way he had bowed before Sokka, though Zuko didn't seem inclined to return the favor.

"T-thanks…" he muttered, as Ruon Jian lifted his head again.

"I'm glad to meet you at last," he said. "Mai spoke often about you."

Zuko was surprised by this statement, his shock evident in his wide eyes.

"Why would Mai have…?"

"She used to reject me by saying she had someone else in her life," said Ruon Jian, smiling painfully as he looked back on those times. "She always thought fondly of you… I'm sure she still does. She told me about your friendship with her, and I was really glad she had a good friend in both the Prince and the Princess when she was younger. I'm glad you were such an important part of her life."

 _But I'm not anymore_ thought Zuko, his eyes falling after hearing those words. He hated to think this way… but Ruon Jian had won. Mai belonged with him. He had been in her life, and now he wasn't. This man had taken his place, and he had no choice but to accept it and move on.

"Yeah…" he muttered, nodding. "Sure."

Ruon Jian was taken aback by Zuko's response, not sure what else to say now that he had seen how troubled the Prince seemed to be by the conversation. Azula cleared her throat, interrupting the awkward moment.

"I don't remember if I've asked Mai about this," she said, surprising Ruon Jian. "But… what names do you have in mind for the kid?"

Sokka frowned and eyed her with uncertainty at her question. It didn't take him too long to realize she had asked it merely to spare them all from the bothersome situation between both men. It might have been only for her personal benefit, but she had pretty much saved them all…

"Oh, uh… for a girl we had agreed on Jiao, and for a boy we thought about Yuudai," said Ruon Jian, smiling nervously. "I wonder what it might be…"

"What would you like better?" asked Ty Lee, beaming.

"I… I really don't know," said Ruon Jian, his smile widening. "As long as Mai delivers the baby safely, I don't really care what it might be. I'll love our child no matter what."

Ty Lee sighed and stared at the ceiling dreamily, probably thinking about how wonderful it would be to have a husband like that. Zuko looked at Ruon Jian, uneasy. It irritated him to think that he seemed to be so in love with Mai… was there no way he could compete with this guy?

But their inner musings were interrupted when an older woman showed up at the door, a smile on her face: one of Mai's assistants during her labor. The group faced her, eager to hear what the outcome of the birth had been.

"Everything went perfectly fine," said the woman, smiling.

Ruon Jian looked like he could have fainted of relief. He released the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and he beamed, looking at the servant with shiny eyes.

"So she's fine? And the baby…?"

"Lady Mai is resting right now," said the woman. "And the baby… well, it's a wonderful baby boy!"

"A boy!" said Ruon Jian, looking at the others with enthusiasm. "I'm the father of a boy! I…! Oh, I'm a… I'm a father!" he declared, as if the realization had only hit him right then and there.

"Congratulations!" said Ty Lee, clapping happily. Azula and Sokka were smiling as well, glad to know everything had gone smoothly. Zuko seemed relieved Mai had made it past birthing safely, although he still seemed quite upset regarding the fact that she had given life to a child that wasn't his own.

"I think three of you could come in to see them," said the woman. "But please be very kind and gentle. The baby is a newborn and Lady Mai is very tired…"

"We will be," said Ruon Jian, smiling. "Okay, then… who's coming?"

There hadn't been much of a need to ask that. Zuko looked reluctant and Sokka felt completely out of place, seeing how he was the one who had the least to do with Mai. Therefore, Azula and Ty Lee followed Ruon Jian into the room across the hall.

Mai looked quite tired indeed. The group of servants who had helped her deliver her baby had taken care of cleaning up the room to the best of their ability, so there was little trace of the blood and fluids spilled during birthing. She was holding a bundle of mantles in her arms and she was smiling kindly at it. She looked up when she realized more people had entered the room.

Ruon Jian smiled brightly at the sight of his wife and child, tears stinging his eyes. Mai was used to him being unexpectedly emotional at times, so she only chuckled slightly at the sight and showed him the baby. Ruon Jian walked to her side, to look closely at the tiny child in Mai's arms.

"You're both okay… you're both okay," he said, dropping on his knees next to her. It seemed like the smile on his face would never vanish.

"And you made it," said Mai, smiling back at him. "I was so afraid you wouldn't be here on time."

"I was so afraid of that too!" said Ruon Jian eagerly, making Mai smile even further. "I'm sorry, I just can't believe… it's our son. You're holding… our Yuudai."

"Yeah…" said Mai, smiling at the baby. "Our Yuudai."

Ty Lee couldn't hold back the tears as she looked at the wonderful family. Even Azula found herself moved by the scene, thinking that little boy would most definitely have the best parents anyone could have asked for.

Meanwhile, across the hall…

Sokka eyed Zuko with uncertainty, still unsure of what to think of him. It was the first time they were alone in the same room, so… maybe it was time to get to know Azula's brother better? Zuko didn't seem too willing to start up a conversation, seeing how he still looked quite depressed, so it would be up to the Blue Wolf to do it.

"So… a baby, huh?" he said, looking up at the ceiling as he paced around the room carelessly.

"Yeah… a baby," muttered Zuko, sighing. "What of it?"

"I dunno," said Sokka, shrugging. "Honestly, I have no clue what to do to start a conversation with you, so I just… went for the obvious! And you see, it's working, so I did a good job."

Zuko raised an eyebrow, in complete disagreement, but he folded his arms over his chest while looking at Sokka with inquisitive eyes.

"Why do you want to start a conversation anyway?"

"It'll be boring to stay in here without anything to do, you know?" said Sokka. "The first thing that came to my mind was talking, so just go with it, will you?"

Zuko sighed and rolled his eyes at the Water Tribe man.

"Sure," he muttered.

"Now… I'm pretty sure we started out on the wrong foot," said Sokka, chuckling and extending his hand towards Zuko. "Let's try and fix that, shall we?"

Zuko didn't seem too interested in fixing anything, but he decided to comply. He was more interested in this slave than he dared admit, mostly because his sister seemed to get along so well with him. It made him quite curious to discover what kind of man he was…

"Fine," he muttered, shaking Sokka's hand.

"I'm Sokka."

"Uh… Zuko." the Prince felt like a fool. He knew this guy's name already, and the guy knew his as well! So why couldn't he spare him the pointless nonsense…?

"Pleased to make your acquaintance for the second time," said Sokka, beaming.

"Right," said Zuko. "You're my sister's gladiator, then…"

"Yeah, I am," said Sokka, his eyes going down to the floor for a second. Zuko raised an eyebrow when he thought he saw fondness in them… why did this guy seem so comfortable around Azula? What sort of deranged masochist was he?

"Can I ask how that happened, exactly?" asked Zuko. "Ty Lee tried to explain it to me, but she didn't know all the details…"

"Oh…" said Sokka, blinking a few times as he came back to reality. His mind had been filling up with images of Azula until Zuko interrupted his train of thought. "Well, it happened pretty much because we struck a deal. She wants me to become the top gladiator in the Superior Gladiator League, and I want to go back home, so once I beat everyone and become Number One, she'll let me return. That's the agreement we reached."

"Huh, so that's it," said Zuko, looking a little relieved. "Well, now it makes more sense. You're just being used by her… now it's not as weird as it seemed before."

Sokka's eyes opened wide at Zuko's words. That was right, he was just being used by Azula. He had kept telling that to himself through the whole day, but he hadn't quite believed it until he had heard it come from someone else.

"Yeah… I suppose that's it," said Sokka. "B-but I'm using her too! That makes us even!"

"True…" said Zuko. "It's unusual for my sister to go with someone else's conditions. Either she's gotten bland or you're way wittier than I've given you credit for."

"Huh… I'd say it's the latter," said Sokka. "She made me run after her palanquin mercilessly, after all. You really think she's softened up?"

"Well, when you put it that way…" said Zuko, shrugging.

They fell silent for a moment before Sokka found another topic he wanted to talk about… something that had been bugging him for a while now.

"Say, I might have no business asking," he started. "But I've never really understood why you were banished…"

Zuko's eyes widened at the question as he felt as if an iron hand was squeezing his heart tightly. He didn't look at Sokka as he answered, his voice trembling.

"I… I just… my father was ashamed of me," muttered Zuko. "I did something… something I shouldn't have done. So he took my honor from me by banishing me, and he wouldn't restore my honor unless I brought the Avatar before him."

Sokka frowned at those last words. If Zuko was back in the Fire Nation, it meant he wasn't banished anymore.

"Then… you mean you found the Avatar?" he asked, shocked.

"No, I… I spent ten years searching for him. It was no use," said Zuko. "I'm only back because my Uncle convinced my father to let me return."

"Huh…" said Sokka, slightly relieved. He had no idea what the Avatar's fate had been, but he didn't think it would bode well for the world if the Fire Nation found him. Despite he was growing used to his life as a gladiator, he still hoped, deep down, that the world would change for the better someday. And the Avatar had always been the main hope for that change to occur.

"Anyway…" muttered Zuko, uncomfortable by the subject. "Are you sure of what you're doing?"

"W-what do you mean?" asked Sokka, blinking blankly.

"I mean, working with my sister like that," Zuko replied. "It might end much worse than you imagine. She's always a step ahead of everyone else, and her goals… well, they're all that matter to her. You might have signed up for something beyond your control."

"I probably did," said Sokka, shrugging and smiling a little. "But so far it hasn't been much trouble. Truth to be told, your sister isn't as bad as you think she is… and I suppose you're not as bad as she thinks you are either. You just have some sibling rivalry, is all. You guys seem to bring it to a whole new level, I won't deny it, but yeah… I think that's most of what there is to it."

"Y-you don't understand," said Zuko, shaking his head. "I don't think anyone would…"

"If someone understands, it's me," stated Sokka, chuckling. "I have a sister too. She's about Azula's age. She was quite a jerk to me very often. There was this one time when I needed her to save me from some rabid tiger-seal, but instead of doing it, she just laughed at my misery. So, you see, I get it."

Zuko had seen tiger-seals when he had been traveling by the South Pole and he didn't recall them being rabid creatures… but he didn't see why Sokka would lie about this, so he decided to trust his judgment.

"So you know what it's like to have a crazy sister," said Zuko. "I guess we have a few things in common, then…"

"Seems like we do," said Sokka, smiling a little.

"So… you were at a fight?" asked Zuko, eyeing Sokka's outfit. "Did you win?"

"Sure did," Sokka replied proudly, folding his arms over his chest. "It was a piece of cake. The guy was higher than me on the ranking, but I kicked his butt anyway!"

"Huh… good for you," said Zuko, still slightly disgusted by the gladiator business in itself.

"You don't seem too enthusiastic about this," said Sokka, eyeing him with surprise.

"I'm not a big fan of the Gladiator madness everyone else seems to thrive about," said Zuko, shrugging. "I don't get it, really… even my uncle is into it. It's weird."

Sokka winced at the mention of Zuko's uncle, recalling how he had fought against the man's current gladiator.

"Well, he's pretty new in it," said Sokka, shrugging. "He might get bored and dump it… hopefully."

"Hopefully?" repeated Zuko, confused. "Why are you hopeful about that? Have you already met my uncle?"

"Yeah, once," said Sokka, gulping. "He's an odd fellow… though his gladiator is way weirder than him."

"No kidding," said Zuko, sighing. He wasn't getting along much better with the earthbender nowadays. Her jabs towards him made him think of her as a younger, nastier, and ill-mannered Azula.

"You remember back when we first met?" asked Sokka. "You recall how I was on those crutches…?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Well… Toph was the one who put me in them," replied Sokka, bitterly.

Zuko's eyes widened in surprise.

"She…? Toph did? How could she…?"

"Beats me," said Sokka, shrugging. "The girl's a menace. I'm already dreading the day I'll face her in the Arena again."

"But… she looked like she was more bark than bite," said Zuko.

"Why don't you fight her one-on-one and give me your opinion then?" asked Sokka, pouting.

"I'm just saying, she's slender and short. She's probably a good bender, but is she really that great? Maybe you're the one who's not cut out to fight her…"

"Oh, you think so, do you?" asked Sokka, offended. "Go fight her, then, Zuko! I really want to see how much better you can do!"

"You'll probably be really disappointed with yourself if that happens," said Zuko, smirking a little. "I doubt I'd lose against her in a fight."

"Oh, sure you wouldn't," said Sokka, staring at Zuko in disbelief. "You're really full of yourself, aren't you?"

"Full of myself?" asked Zuko, his confidence transforming into irritation. "What makes you say that?"

"From what I've heard, Zuko, you're the one who's a lot more bark than bite," said Sokka, smirking slightly.

"Huh?! Oh, sure, if you hear it from Azula…"

"When did I say it had been Azula who had told me that?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. It had been her, of course, but it would be a lot more fun to tease Zuko making him think otherwise…

"Then who was it?" asked Zuko, frowning.

"Piandao himself, actually," said Sokka, his smirk growing. "He told me I was the worthiest man he had ever trained… still, didn't he train you too? Oh, boy. I suppose that's proof that you're more talk than anything. If our master said something like that, then you wouldn't be better than me, clearly."

"How would you know that?" grunted Zuko. "Piandao trained me when I was just a kid!"

"Well, let's just look at the full picture. I'm a master of jian swords," said Sokka, proudly. "According to what I've heard, mastering dao swords only takes a week, yet mastering jian swords takes a year, and, according to Piandao himself, I mastered the jian in less than three months. What does that say about my amazing skills, huh? And what does that say about you, who had to master dao swords because they were the only thing suitable for you…?"

"D-dao swords aren't that easy to master, I'll have you know!" he shouted, glaring at Sokka.

Sokka couldn't help but laugh with disbelief, shaking his head.

"Yeah, sure…" he said, staring at Zuko with teasing and cruel eyes. Zuko grimaced when he realized the expression on the gladiator's face seemed a copy of Azula's trademark mocking façade when dealing with him.

"You seem to forget, I'm a firebender too," said Zuko. "I can use swords and bend fire at the same time!

"Oh, really?" asked Sokka, chuckling. "I seem to recall Azula said your basic firebending wouldn't impress her… you think it'll impress me?"

"You… you're just trying to get to my bad side," said Zuko, his eyes ablaze with fury.

"Oh, no, I'm just proving you give yourself way too much credit," said Sokka, shrugging. "But, truth to be told, we won't get to figure out if you're tough or not… unless we cross blades to find out, don't you think?"

"You're… you're challenging me?" asked Zuko, clenching his fists. "I don't have any weapons with me…"

"Excuses, excuses…" said Sokka, rolling his eyes, and Zuko seemed to grow even more furious.

"Well, FINE! I'll find swords! We'll see who's Piandao best student now!"

"Oooooh, I'm trembling with fear!" said Sokka, as Zuko stormed out of the room. Sokka chuckled for a moment, feeling proud of having irked Zuko… before realizing the Prince had actually left the room to find dao swords.

He grimaced when he realized they had taken his silly spat with him way too far. Sokka bolted down the hall quickly, not sure where Zuko might have gone to. He didn't want to fight that badly… he couldn't deny he was curious about who was actually stronger, but having a combat while being exhausted after chasing a palanquin seemed a very bad idea.

Sokka found Zuko in the house's dining room, and he was just about to request to postpone their fight when he realized the Prince had found some twin ornamental dao blades placed on the wall. He picked them up and turned to face Sokka, who grimaced again.

"Okay, Zuko, how about we think this through…?"

"Oh, so now you want to think, huh?" asked Zuko, aiming the swords at Sokka. "Sounds like you've realized your sword is no match for mine."

Sokka could take insults to himself, but to hear someone diminish Space Sword's worth like that was enough to make his blood boil. He snarled and he released his black sword from its scabbard, aiming it at Zuko.

"You're about to see otherwise, Prince Zuzu…" said Sokka, recalling how Azula had nicknamed him on their previous encounter.

Zuko's rage was only fueled further when he heard Sokka mock him in that way. He jumped forth with a scream, his swords in tow, and he slammed them down on his opponent, in hopes to strike such a powerful blow that Sokka would be forced to give up right away.

To Zuko's dismay, Sokka managed to stop both his swords and he ducked. Zuko's momentum had him fly over him and perform a barrel roll on the floor before jumping back to his feet, still clenching the swords tightly. Sokka was the one to attack this time, moving his body smoothly to avoid getting struck by the dao swords. His common sense told him that Zuko would likely have the upper hand, since he was wielding two blades instead of one. Sokka had to be very careful while evading his blows, so that he could deliver his own attacks whenever he found an opening in the Prince's form.

Zuko couldn't believe his opponent was proving to be such a skillful and sneaky fighter. He would have never expected Sokka to be this strong. The gladiator kept slipping out of reach with ease, delivering such efficient attacks that now he could believe that Piandao had considered him as worthy as he had. They continued exchanging and parrying blows for a while before Sokka almost managed to stab Zuko in the chest. The Prince jumped back right on time and swung his swords in Sokka's direction, sending fire his way.

"Hey! That's cheating!" yelled Sokka, shaking the fire away with Space Sword… and it faded much quicker than he had expected it to. "Huh? Gee, your fire's way weaker than Azula's!"

Sokka hadn't needed to annoy Zuko further, but that last sentence was enough for Zuko to lunge at him, a killer intent in his eyes. Sokka jumped back, crossing the threshold of the dining room and reaching the hallway as he tried to keep Zuko from burning and slicing him up. Zuko's fury made him far deadlier, but it also blinded him… and Sokka knew he could use that rage to his advantage once Zuko had burned down most of this sudden energy outburst. Sokka continued studying his rival's moves; Zuko was quite skilled with the dao blades, but Sokka would prove himself superior soon enough…

Azula frowned when she caught notice the sounds in the hall. Ty Lee was too busy fawning over the baby, and Mai was too worn out to pay attention to anything other than Yuudai, but Ruon Jian also seemed to notice there was something odd going on.

"What's…?" he asked, moving as if to head to the door, but Azula raised a hand, stopping him on his tracks.

The Princess walked to the door and she swung it open… just in time to see her gladiator jumping back to avoid a fire blast, which he batted away with his sword. Sokka continued walking backwards, his eyes set on the other end of the hallway, from where Zuko was running down to meet him, with the dual dao swords in his hands and a furious look on his face, his mind set on striking Sokka down…

He was so focused on Sokka he didn't notice the moment in which his sister slipped out of the room she had been in. She ducked and struck Zuko's legs with her feet, tripping him and sending him flying headfirst through the hallway. The scarred man lay on the floor now, his head throbbing horribly after taking a hard blow to the head when he landed.

Sokka watched Zuko's parabolic flight with a shocked look on his face. He hadn't expected his sponsor to help him sort out his issue with the Prince.

"Hey, thanks! He was getting a bit too hysterical…" said Sokka, chuckling and smiling thankfully at Azula. Yet he failed to notice that she seemed nearly as mad as her brother was. Azula stomped all the way to where Sokka stood and struck him on the head with a powerful punch, her knuckles digging into his skull painfully.

Sokka collapsed after her fist collided with his head, feeling a pulsating pain on his now swollen head. Only now he realized how irked Azula was while she glared at him, enraged.

"What the hell is the matter with the two of you?! How stupid can you both get?!" she yelled, looking from one to the other.

Zuko lifted his head with difficulty, only figuring now that the one responsible for his sudden collapse had been Azula herself.

"What did you think you were doing, sword fighting in someone's house?!" she yelled. "Don't you know anything about manners?! What the hell could lead you fools to do something like that?!"

"I… I didn't mean…" Sokka mumbled.

"Just shut up!" Azula screamed. "I don't want to hear it, you moron! Don't you realize someone just delivered a baby?! They need peace and quiet for now! So how about you behave like a normal human being for once instead of being the uncontrollable savage you always act like?!"

Sokka had dealt with an angry Azula before, but this time he didn't feel like countering her words. He felt more like a kid who was being nagged by his mother. Zuko grimaced at what she had said, realizing how stupid he had been by behaving as he had, bending and swinging the swords around. What if something had caught fire? It could have been catastrophic…

Ty Lee and Ruon Jian peeked out into the hall to find Azula glaring down disapprovingly at both men, her hands on her hips.

"You're both such idiots…" she said, rolling her eyes before turning towards Ruon Jian. "I'm sorry about this mess. If they broke anything, just send a notice and I'll make sure to replace it."

"No, no need," said Ruon Jian, smiling and shrugging the matter off. "You don't have to pay for anything, Princess," it seemed that becoming a father had rendered him impervious to bad things for now.

"In any case…" said Azula, glaring at Sokka again, who looked at her with fearful eyes, hoping her fury would subside soon. "I think I'll take my leave now. My savage-… gladiator has proved he's as socially inept as my brother. Keeping these two idiots in the same room promises there won't be a house left by the end of the day."

Sokka wanted to drop at her feet and beg for her forgiveness, but she was clearly too displeased at the moment to listen to him. Zuko wanted to defend himself, to say he wasn't socially inept… until he realized he had been close to setting a house on fire and had been using ornaments to fight another social inept. He sighed and dropped his head on the floor again, lacking any arguments to defend himself.

"Okay, then," said Ruon Jian, smiling at Azula. "Thanks for dropping by. It meant a lot."

"I'll come by to see the little boy again on another day," said Azula. "Whenever the idiot I have to take care of learns how to behave, I suppose."

The Princess walked into the room and said her farewells to Mai, congratulating her once again. Ruon Jian and Ty Lee were left staring at Zuko and Sokka, and they both seemed to be about to grow a second head after the blows they had received.

"Let's go, then," said Azula, storming out of the room and grabbing Sokka by the ear, pulling him up and dragging him down the hall. Sokka whimpered but didn't complain, feeling stupider with every second that went by. He waved at Ty Lee and Ruon Jian before looking down at Zuko, who was starting to sit up.

"Hey…" he said, and Zuko glared at him as he got pulled away by Azula. "We didn't get to settle this, but you can see for yourself how strong I am if you come see me fight in the Arena! I have a match a week from now! Come by and watch me fight!"

"Shut up and keep moving!" Azula commanded, as they headed towards the main door of the building, getting blocked out of sight when they took a corner.

Zuko sighed and dropped his gaze to the floor, feeling even more foolish than before. He really needed to control his temper…

"Uh…" said Ruon Jian, behind him. Zuko turned around and stood up, his head still throbbing, and he bowed down, his eyes shut as he apologized.

"I'm sorry. I was completely out of control. I shouldn't have done that…"

Ruon Jian was surprised, but he managed to smile despite being impressed as he was.

"It's no big deal. Nothing bad happened in the end, right?" he said, grinning. "Now… would you let me get those back to their rightful place?"

"Oh, right," said Zuko, handing the swords over to Ruon Jian, who gave him another smile before heading down the hall towards the dining room.

Ty Lee eyed Zuko with amusement, something that irritated him slightly.

"W-what…?"

"Men. You're all crazy," she said, chuckling.

"Y-you're one to talk…" muttered Zuko, blushing slightly.

"Say… that proposal from Sokka sounded quite interesting!" said Ty Lee, smiling. "How about you actually go see his fight? You've never been to the Arena, have you?"

"No, and I don't want to go," said Zuko, his hands on his pockets.

"Oh, come on, don't be so depressing! You know what? I'll go with you!" she said enthusiastically, smiling at him.

Zuko didn't seem to think it was such a great idea, but Ty Lee's happy-go-lucky attitude knew no restraints. Giving in now would be a lot easier than fighting back, especially when he didn't feel like fighting back against anything else in his entire life. Not after this incident with Sokka.

"I… I guess it wouldn't kill me to do it," he muttered.

"Yay!" she squealed happily, beaming at him. "But for now… how about you come meet Yuudai?"

"Yuudai…" Zuko repeated, the foreign name rolling off his mouth softly.

Ty Lee smiled and ushered him to enter the room. He obeyed, walking into it with his head down. But he lifted it again when he caught sight of Mai holding the baby, a very unusual smile on her face. She looked at him and beamed, showing him the face of her sleeping child. Zuko was amazed, both by how cute the baby was and by the way he had managed to fall asleep despite the fuss right outside.

Zuko took a few steps forward, kneeling by Mai's side before he knew what he was doing.

"Hey," she said. "I'm glad you came."

Zuko was surprised by that statement, but it was all he had needed to hear to leave behind his previous foolishness. A smile spread over his face as well as he looked down at the baby again.

"He's beautiful. I'm sure… I'm sure the two of you will be great parents."

Mai smiled and caressed the baby's chubby cheek. Zuko couldn't help but be amazed at the sight. It suddenly didn't matter if the kid on her arms wasn't his child as well, because this was the first time he had seen Mai so happy. And that was the one thing that truly mattered.

* * *

Instead of treading behind the palanquin, as usual, Azula had forced Sokka to walk in front of the Royal Procession as punishment for his recklessness, making it so he had to move quickly if he didn't want the bearers to run him over. The guards walking by the palanquin seemed confused by whatever had prompted Azula to torture her gladiator like this, but they didn't say a word as they watched him panting when he had finally arrived to his house.

Azula climbed down from the palanquin, to everyone's surprise, and walked up to Sokka. He was leaning on the rocky enclosure that stood around his house, his chest heaving after what the Princess had forced him to endure.

"Learned your lesson, Sokka?" she asked.

"Y-yup… chasing a palanquin… is a lot better than being chased by one…" he replied.

Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head, trying to stop the smile that threatened to spread on her face due to his wittiness. Sokka laughed slightly and looked at her apologetically after standing straight, rubbing his head with his hand.

"I'm sorry, Azula. Your brother was a bit offensive, so I felt like returning the favor… and before I knew it I had challenged him to see which one of us was tougher. I'm sorry. It was completely uncalled for."

Azula sighed and shook her head, but she seemed satisfied with that.

"So long as you learned that lesson too…"

"Yeah. Don't pick on Zuko. He's Azula's to torture, not mine," he said, managing to make her smile this time.

"Good to know that's the conclusion you reached," she muttered. "But I'm still not taking you to the house of any of my acquaintances ever again."

"I think I can live with that," said Sokka, chuckling. "Sorry again. Didn't mean to embarrass you or anything…"

"You only embarrassed yourself," she said, and Sokka shrugged, figuring she was right. "Well, then… you probably should do something about that bump. It seems I hit you too hard."

"Is it that noticeable?" asked Sokka, touching it and wincing at the pain.

"The left side of your head looks twice as big as the right…" she muttered, unable to hold back the laughter as he grimaced, realizing she was speaking the truth.

"Well… I asked for it, I'm not going to deny it," he said, chuckling as well.

It was odd for them to laugh together like this, and it didn't take too long for the two of them to notice how odd the situation was. Azula looked at him with a strange emotion on her eyes, something Sokka couldn't quite recognize. It was something he had never seen her showing beforehand… what exactly was it?

"In any case… go inside and get some rest. You need it," she said, taking a few steps back. "We can talk about your training regime on some other day, alright?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, smiling. "I think my head aches too much for me to think properly anymore."

"Well, then…" muttered Azula, looking at him again. "I'll be seeing you, Sokka."

"Yeah… see you," the gladiator whispered as the Princess climbed on the palanquin, sneaking one last look at him as she did.

Sokka didn't enter the house yet. He stood watching how the Royal Procession walked down the street, heading back to the city. He stared until he couldn't discern Azula's shape within the palanquin anymore. The dream he had enjoyed last night had turned him into a different man, apparently… and it wasn't good for him to become different, not when it came down to her. Because, as Zuko had confirmed, he was only being used by her. It was all she cared about… and why should she care about anything else? She was a Princess, he was a slave. She was Fire Nation, he was Water Tribe. There were a million reasons and more for him to stop acting as he did, reasons to stop him from pursuing what he shouldn't be pursuing… but a heart hardly ever listens to reason.

He sighed and shook his head, feeling even more stupid than before, knowing now that he needed to snap out of this. His current infatuation was, hopefully, something fleeting that would die out soon, something he would learn to ignore in due time… because nothing else could be done about it. He had to come to terms with the fact that the Fire Nation Princess would never fall in love with a man like him.


	26. Chapter 26

The Grand Royal Dome was truly regal, there was no denying it. Zuko was amazed by every detail of its structure. The spotless marble tiles on the floor, the red carpets covering the stairs and the red-and golden-ornaments gave the building a sense of magnificence he hadn't seen anywhere other than in the Royal Palace itself.

Zuko had snuck out of his home clad in dark robes, wearing a hood over his face to conceal his features. He feared people might notice it was him no matter if he was dressed like this, but he had been right to guess they would leave him alone after spotting him in such a getup. Guards weren't too keen on keeping watch on him nowadays: it was one of the sole things that he liked about being dejected by his father. Even the soldiers that saw him leaving the Palace premises decided to let him be, knowing that, no matter whatever Zuko's business was, he clearly didn't want to be disturbed, and they had no reasons to disturb him anyway.

He didn't know why he had bothered coming all the way to the Grand Royal Dome. Ty Lee had asked him to come, sure… but why had he gone with it? Why hadn't he just forgotten about her invitation? It probably would have been troublesome to ignore Ty Lee blatantly like that, but it would have spared him from spending a day in the girl's company… but he hadn't forgotten about their appointment. He had even been looking forward to it, despite himself. He guessed it was the price he had to pay for not having anything to do in the Palace nowadays.

He detailed the vestibule upon his arrival. People were leaving the stands after the fight between The Light Bearer and The Pyro Tornado, according to what he had seen in the board where the fights of the day had been written down. His eyes kept sliding towards the names of the two gladiators that would star on the upcoming combat: The Blue Wolf vs. Kyoshi's Heir.

His eyes narrowed at the thought of the Water Tribe man who had gotten to his bad side so easily only a week ago. He had fallen into such a troublesome situation because of him… he had spent the last days beating himself up for it, even when Mai and Ruon Jian didn't seem to be upset about what had happened. He sighed and shook his head, trying not to think about that matter anymore.

"Zuko?" asked the perky voice that belonged to his companion of the day, who had only just arrived at the Dome. "Why are you dressed up like that?! This is the Arena, not some covert operation!"

"I wanted to be left alone," he replied, sighing. "Wearing clothes like these made it easier for me to get through the guards without having them force a palanquin on me."

"O-oh…" said Ty Lee, blinking repeatedly. "Well, that's all good, I suppose. But we have to get moving already! We probably will get some lousy seats…"

With that, she grabbed him by the forearm and dragged him through the vestibule. Zuko had noticed two counters in the entrance hall: one behind which sat a young man who seemed to be in charge of the gladiators and their sponsors, and another one, behind which sat an older and chubbier man who dealt with the bids.

"Didn't you want to go get good seats?" asked Zuko, frowning when Ty Lee stopped before the chubby man's counter. "Why aren't we going to the stands right away…?"

"Why, because I have to place my bets!" said Ty Lee, happily. "It won't take long, just give me a minute!"

Zuko sighed and waited for Ty Lee to finish writing in her bet on Sokka. He felt tempted to place a bet on the opposite gladiator merely out of spite, but he decided against it. He wasn't even carrying that much money with him, and what he had he wouldn't waste on something as pointless as a combat between slaves.

Ty Lee proceeded to drag Zuko up the stairs once she was done placing her bet, and she led him towards a wide golden arch that opened the way towards the stands. Zuko couldn't deny the architecture of the Arena had been thought out really well: the seats were properly spaced and placed in different heights, so that everyone would have a clear view of the sand pit below. Zuko gulped as he watched how the Arena's maintenance staff cleaned the ring. Was it a burned hand what that man had just picked up? He had to hold back the urge to puke when he realized it probably was. What sort of madness had he gotten himself into? And… whose hand was it: the Light Bearer's or the Pyro Tornado's?

"Drat! I knew we wouldn't get good seats," Ty Lee whined, looking around with pursed lips. "Sokka's fights are so popular nowadays… and if he's fighting a highly ranked gladiator, it was only going to get worse."

"Highly ranked?" asked Zuko, raising an eyebrow. "Does that mean he might lose?"

"He might," said Ty Lee, shrugging. "But he's only ever lost once before, so I doubt he'll have such a hard time today. Uh, I think I see an opening over there…"

She led the way towards the back of the stands on the eastern wing of the Arena. Zuko frowned when the only seats they could get were behind a large group of strange people wearing green clothes and some unusual white face paint, holding yellow fans on their hands.

"What on earth…?" he asked. "Why are these people dressed like this? Is this a costume competition as well?"

"No, no," said Ty Lee, chuckling. "They're supporters! They're people who root for a particular gladiator. If you look closely you can see that, at the other end of the Arena, there are some strange people wearing wolf masks and waving black sword imitations around… well, they're Sokka's admirers."

"So… these people are his opponent's supporters?" asked Zuko, grimacing as he glared at the crowd around him.

"Yeah, so we can't cheer too loudly for Sokka or else we might end up making some enemies over here…" said Ty Lee, giggling nervously.

"I hope you don't ask me to blend in with them," he grunted, looking at the people below with disdain. "They're ridiculous. This whole thing is ridiculous. Why did I even bother coming here?!"

"I am starting to wonder the same thing," muttered Ty Lee, sighing. She wasn't one to give her decisions much thought, she always went by whatever she felt was right… but asking Zuko to spend time with her was never the right thing. This was probably the last time she'd invite him anywhere. Dealing with him was exhausting.

Zuko didn't stop glaring at Kyoshi's Heir's admirers, feeling completely out of place where he was. He wished the damn fight would be done with quickly enough so he could get out of here already…

* * *

"So… did you gather anything else about my opponent?" asked Sokka, stretching in the stand-by room. He glanced at his sponsor from the corner of his eye, trying to look at the Princess without her noticing.

"I don't have much information," she admitted as she looked out towards the sand pit. The gleam of the sun was making the sand shine so brightly that it was slightly blinding. "Apparently she uses fans to fight…"

"Fans?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow as he turned to face Azula directly. "Uh… what type of fans are we talking about? Actual fans to move wind around or crazy fans like the ones in the stands…?"

"How exactly would she fight using other people?" asked Azula, staring at Sokka in disbelief.

"I have no idea! Either thing is weird!" declared Sokka, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well, it's the former," said Azula, sighing. "Not humans, objects."

"Huh… say, how is it that someone who fights with fans has made it so high in the ranking?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "She doesn't sound all that dangerous."

"We didn't think the Blind Bandit would be dangerous and I don't think you need me to remind you what the outcome of that fight was."

"Uh… okay, you got me there," said Sokka, scratching his head. "So… just fans?"

"She also has a sword, but it seems she doesn't use it unless she has no choice," said Azula. "Her blade isn't a jian like yours, it's a katana."

"Katana…?" asked Sokka, frowning. "Piandao told me once that those swords were really sharp, but they only have one edge."

"It sounds like she's a very traditional fighter," said Azula. "So don't…"

"Underestimate her, yeah," finished Sokka, nodding. Azula smiled slightly at that. It struck her as odd that someone else would finish her sentences, but she didn't find it bothersome if it was him.

"Be careful," she muttered. "There's probably no need to remind you that she's really high in the ranking, so keep that in mind. If what Shoji explained to us is true, she probably won't fight to her best… so, please, don't try to be gallant or something. Use this as an advantage, don't let your edge go to waste."

Sokka chuckled and looked at Azula with inquisitive eyes.

"Why, you don't want me to be gallant, Princess? You should know by now that gallantry is like a second nature to me…"

Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head, her lips curling into a half smile as she did.

"A gallant savage… that's what some people would call a contradiction, you know?"

"Yet you thought I'd try to be gallant… why did you think that, if it's such a contradiction?" he asked, smirking back at her.

Azula couldn't help but laugh, the look on his face too amusing for her to come up with any useful retorts right away.

"You see, I don't really think you have it in you to be gallant. Still, you always end up doing stupid things. And that's pretty much the stupidest thing you could do today."

"You really think so?" asked Sokka, eyeing her with suspicion.

"Well, I suppose you could top that if you work hard enough…"

"I wasn't talking about that!" said Sokka, prompting Azula to laugh at him again. "I meant, you really think I can't be gallant?"

Azula looked at him, their eyes clashing together for a moment. The usual physical attraction that had always existed between them suddenly caught them both with more power than ever before as they lost themselves in the other's gaze. Azula was the one to break the strange spell by lowering her head and smiling before walking up to him and patting his shoulder gently.

"Good luck, Sokka," she muttered, leaving the room silently.

Sokka was left staring at the empty spot where she had stood before, his heart beating so fast it felt as if it was about to burst out of his chest. He wasn't imagining things, was he? What had happened just now hadn't been a mere moment between a gladiator and a sponsor…

Well… to be fair, there was hardly anything about them that came off as the typical relationship between a gladiator and a sponsor. But before he'd had his dream, he'd only been teasing her, taking advantage of her shyness on a few topics and making fun of her blushing face. Instead, now… now he felt close to losing his mind whenever he was near her. He had to make use of every ounce of his willpower not to blurt out something he would regret, not to take that beautiful face into his hands and bring his lips to hers…

He slammed a fist into the wall, angry at himself. There was a fine line drawn between the limits of daydreaming and reality, yet he kept blurring it in hopes that, by some marvelous chance, the Princess might be daydreaming about him, too. But why would she think about a slave like this? What was there about him that could catch the eye of a high-class woman like herself?

He wanted to believe there was nothing, truly… but if that was the case, why had she looked at him like that? Her eyes had shown him the same emotion from when she had left him at his house after they had visited Mai, and he was starting to think he wasn't misunderstanding what it meant, not when this had already happened twice. Perhaps he was right and there was no reason why Azula would be attracted to him… but it wasn't impossible for her to be. Hell, she had scarred him physically and mentally several times now in over two years, yet he was constantly holding back the urge to take her into his arms. He shouldn't be attracted to her either, but he was, and there was no use denying it.

Still, for her to be interested in him as well didn't mean he had the right to act upon his feelings. There were more than enough drawbacks, plenty of reasons for Azula to be unwilling to do anything about their mutual feelings. Sokka didn't need to study the Fire Nation's policies in detail to know that there was no chance that the Princess would be allowed to get involved with a mere peasant, let alone with a slave. And Azula wouldn't break such rules knowingly just because she found him appealing. She was fully loyal to her father, and she wouldn't be swayed by fleeting urges that would end up unleashing a world of grief upon her in the long run. A relationship such as the one that could be built between them was forbidden, and it was doomed to fail.

It wasn't easy to accept that he'd never get involved with Azula when his heart ached to be near her, but he had to get over her. It was as simple as that. He couldn't carry on with this fool's errand, kidding himself into believing that something real could be born between them. They were enemies, had always been and always would be. It was impossible for them to be together. So he'd better grow out of his delusions and find a way out of this absurd obsession he had developed towards Azula.

There had to be a simple solution, something he could use to stabilize himself again. Clearly, just thinking about all the wrongs she had done to him was no use. He had been trying that ever since he had that dream, and it had been no use. The solution he resorted to had to be drastic, or at the very least, it had to be a powerful enough distraction to help him to stop thinking about Azula.

He tapped his chin as a sneaky thought crossed into his mind. If he needed a distraction, there was something simple he could do…

Maybe he could find another woman.

He was a slave, true enough, but that didn't mean he was such a bad catch. He was handsome, strong and witty… any girl would love that! Sure, it wouldn't be easy to find a girl who could help him stop thinking about Azula… because the Princess was, truly, the most beautiful girl he had ever met. To find someone who could top that would be impossible… but, truth to be told, he didn't need a girl who could outdo Azula. He just needed her not to be a royal, to be smart, nice and decent looking, at the very least. So long as she had those traits, he guessed she might stop being a mere distraction quickly enough, and, before he knew it, he would probably be back on his feet, hardly even recalling that he'd had a crush on Princess Azula to begin with.

The grid slid upwards, bringing him back to reality as it did. He took a deep breath and placed his helmet on his head, trying to focus on the battle at hand. He'd figure out what to do with his turbulent love life later. For now, he had to keep his every thought centered on the fight he was about to undertake.

The announcer called him in, and Sokka entered the ring, familiar already with the objects that were placed in the Grand Dome's sand pit. He waved at the stands and received a very loud cheer as a response. Was it his imagination, or was the Arena more crowded than usual today? He shrugged the thought off and stopped when he was close to the center of the sand pit, resisting the impulse to look at the sponsor's balcony for once.

The grid on the other side of the Arena was raised as the announcer spoke, and a figure entered the sand as deafening hoots were heard throughout the stadium.

"And, opposing the Blue Wolf, we have the strongest female non-bender in the rankings! A crowd favorite with an impressive winning streak behind her, give a loud cheer for Kyoshi's Heir!"

Zuko and Ty Lee covered their ears as the people on their end of the audience seemed to lose their minds, shrieking wildly for their favorite gladiator. Zuko grimaced with disgust when he caught sight of a strange man that was even releasing foam through his mouth when the gladiator entered the ring.

But Sokka ignored all the noise as his rival walked up to him. Her green garments were thoroughly traditional, as expected, and she wore a black armor on top of it. Her features were concealed behind a very careful work of face paint that gave her appearance a daring edge. She had short light brown hair and her eyes were an unusual shade of violet.

She stopped a few feet away from where he was standing, a stern look on her face. Sokka blinked a couple of times and shook his head promptly, stopping himself from admiring her. This was quite an unexpected turn of events, wasn't it? He would have never thought Kyoshi's Heir would turn to be anything other than dangerous… and he was pleasantly surprised to discover otherwise. Perhaps his plans to get over Azula could be put in motion right away…

The crowd finally settled down when the announcer ushered the fighters to begin sparring, letting them know the combat would last twenty minutes. Zuko frowned and looked at the two gladiators, not getting a good glimpse of the girl who would be Sokka's rival for today. Her hoard of supporters had prompted him to dislike her before seeing her, expecting her to be a wimp… but as he saw how she stood, with her back perfectly straight and her fans at the ready, Zuko felt some respect towards her. Even if she was a gladiator, he could see she was a true warrior as well, and surely an honorable one at that.

Kyoshi's Heir held her two fans steadily in her hands as she eyed her opponent with intelligent eyes. Sokka frowned and realized she wasn't going to relinquish the fight despite the low bid. She wasn't likely to claw her way into victory, but it didn't mean she wouldn't attempt to triumph. The determination on her face made him smile as he unsheathed his sword, his eyes fixated on her figure.

"Why… hello there," he muttered, smirking.

Kyoshi's Heir frowned slightly before replying to him.

"Hello," she said, her voice kinder than Sokka had expected it to be.

"Nice meeting you," he said, his smile widening at her response. "I'm glad you're a reasonable person instead of being as irrational as most people I've fought with."

"It's unusual hearing compliments in the sand pit…" said Kyoshi's Heir, clenching her fans tighter. She had been fighting in the Gladiator business for over seven years. It wasn't the first time she faced an opponent who tried to be a smooth talker. They used fancy words to distract her and they attacked when she least expected it, so she braced herself with that expectation in mind.

"Is it, now?" asked Sokka, amused. "I wouldn't have thought so… the other gladiators must have been either too bloodthirsty or too stupid not to compliment someone like you."

"Those who were stupid or bloodthirsty were defeated quickly," said Kyoshi's Heir. "But I'll have you know that those who couldn't hold their tongues were beaten down as well."

Sokka chuckled and swung his sword forward, finally getting in a proper fighting stance.

"You've got the looks, got the personality… is there anything you're missing out on, Kyoshi's Heir?"

"The pride of having defeated the Blue Wolf, I suppose," she replied, smirking and leering at him, waiting for him to deliver the first blow.

Sokka couldn't help but smirk at her sly remarks. This girl wasn't just any regular girl, was she…?

And, a few feet away, someone caught notice of the broad smile on his face.

Azula's eyes grew wide in horror as she heard the words that were being exchanged down below. Her hands gripped the armrests of her chair firmly as she looked at Sokka with disbelief, unable to give credit to what was happening. What exactly was he doing? Why was he speaking like that? Why was he smiling at her? What was wrong with him?

"A man with quite a quick wit and a quick tongue too…" mused Kyoshi's Heir's sponsor next to Azula, a man who had introduced himself earlier as Oyaji. "You have a hired a very interesting gladiator, Princess."

Azula ignored him, aghast as she was, snakes twisting up inside of her. This was merely a ploy Sokka had come up with to defeat Kyoshi's Heir, wasn't it? He wasn't flirting with that woman… he wasn't. He couldn't be. There was no way he would do something like that with another gladiator…

"Our gladiator names are really cool, no kidding," said Sokka, moving Space Sword about as he spoke. "But I'd really like to know what your real name is."

"Oh, so you want to get to know me better?" asked Kyoshi's Heir, skeptical. "How bold of you…"

"I take pride on that, I'm not going to lie," Sokka snickered.

"Normally people introduce themselves before asking about someone else's identity, but, regardless…" started Kyoshi's Heir, but Sokka interrupted her.

"Yikes, that's right!" he said, chuckling. "The name's Sokka, sorry about that."

Kyoshi's Heir's shoulders shook as she laughed as well, giving him a disbelieving stare.

"You really didn't need to say it," she muttered. "I'll have you know I didn't come here to exchange pleasantries, I'm here to fight. So either you shift that flirty attitude of yours, or we're going to have a problem here…"

"Hey, hey…" said Sokka, chuckling. "Why the rush? We have twenty minutes! What's wrong about getting to know each other better?"

"What's wrong is that you chose the wrong girl to play around with, Sokka," she said, shaking her head before lunging forward, her fans in tow.

"Oh, come on!" said Sokka, jumping back and avoiding the stab Kyoshi's Heir tried to deliver at his chest. "You're quite forceful, you know?"

"Why, I thought you liked girls with character!" said Kyoshi's Heir, opening her fans quickly and pivoting on her right foot, twirling and attempting to strike Sokka's shoulder now.

Sokka noted she had a very interesting fighting style. Her movements were flowing and quick, and they would have been quite efficient if only she had reached her target. But she was faced against an opponent who knew exactly what to do to get out of her reach.

Sokka leaped to the right, rolling on the sand and hopping on his feet again. Kyoshi's Heir turned to face him and she held another stance, holding a fan near her head and the other close to her leg.

By the stands, Zuko's eyes widened when he finally caught sight of the gladiator's face. Yes, her face was painted. Yes, she was wearing a huge golden ornament that didn't let him see her every detail …

But the second his gaze fell upon her, he had felt something stirring within him. The determined look on her face, the position that she was currently holding, the harsh words she had spoken… all of them combined made her the most impressive woman he could recall having seen.

Ty Lee, next to him, seemed a little surprised by Sokka's lady-killer attitude towards Kyoshi's Heir, and she voiced her opinion a few times while the female gladiator hadn't been facing them. Zuko hadn't spoken his mind yet… and he was glad he hadn't. Now he had seen what she really looked like, he couldn't help but think that, if he had been in Sokka's position, he would have behaved in the same manner towards her. Or at least, he would have tried to behave in the same way.

"Okay, okay… I can see you want a fight, so I guess I'll give you one," said Sokka, shrugging. "But on one condition…"

"We're working on conditions now?"

"If I manage to land a blow on you, you'll have to tell me what your name is," he stated, smirking at her.

Zuko suddenly started rooting for Sokka for the first time. He needed to know that girl's real name. It didn't really matter how he found out what it was, for he was insanely curious about her. He needed to know who she was…

"Ah, I'd say that does sound like a fair trade," said Kyoshi's Heir, narrowing her eyes and smirking at him. "Though I wonder if you'll manage to land a single blow…"

"How about you come here so we can find out?" Sokka replied, showing her his teeth as he smiled as well.

Kyoshi's Heir spun around and closed one of her fans, tossing it at Sokka at such speed that he nearly lost his balance in his attempt to avoid the blow. She brought out her sword now and she ran up at him, her eyes fierce as she showed him he wasn't going to overpower her easily…

Yet she didn't expect Sokka's blade to be as steady as it was when her katana collided with it. Sokka smirked as she spun around again, her fan headed straight to his face…

But Sokka shrunk in his frame, moving his sword down and striking his opponent with his shoulder, performing a powerful tackle she hadn't envisioned. Kyoshi's Heir was sent flying a few meters back after the impact, glaring at Sokka after she was steady on her feet again.

Azula gasped at that attack, her chest heaving as she gritted her teeth. Yes, she should be glad that Sokka had managed to land a blow on a fighter who held such a high position on the ranking, but she couldn't be pleased by the developments at all. The way he was smiling at Kyoshi's Heir as she tried to regain her breath… it wasn't the way he usually smiled at his enemies, at the people he had faced in the Arena.

It was the way he smiled at her.

"So, seems like you've got to talk now," said Sokka, chuckling. "How about you give up that name, huh?"

Kyoshi's Heir glared at him, feeling slightly cheated. She hadn't expected him to attack her with a body slam, of all things… but it was a perfectly legal blow, wasn't it? She sighed and softened her gaze a little before muttering:

"Suki. My name… is Suki."

Sokka's mouth curved into a sneaky smile again.

"Suki, huh? It's a nice name."

Zuko sighed in the stands, his eyes never leaving Kyoshi's Heir's figure. So, Suki… that was what she was called. He found himself smiling as well as he repeated the name in his head over and over again, making sure he wouldn't forget it.

"And now we fight for real," said Kyoshi's Heir, leaping forward and attempting to strike Sokka with her sword once more.

Sokka parried her katana's blows with his own blade, and he evaded her attacks whenever she tried to strike him with her fan. He was mostly defensive, studying the patterns of her movements as he tried to determine the openings on her stance. He found a chance to hit her right above her left arm… but to his surprise, she moved her hand quickly and she brought it back up wielding a round shield on her forearm. She caught Sokka's sword on it and lifted her shield, rendering him momentarily defenseless and she rammed her closed fan into his chest. Sokka was forced to fall back, breathless after the hard blow he had taken. There was no denying it, this girl was a force to be reckoned with. She wasn't as deadly as Toph, granted, but he couldn't let down his guard even if he wanted to…

"What's the matter? Ran out of fancy words?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, so you wanted to keep talking?" he retorted. "I thought you just wanted to speak with our weapons now… seems like my inability to hold back my tongue appealed to you, alright."

Suki's eyes widened with surprise as he smirked at her. She huffed in disbelief, but said nothing more as she jumped forth for another attack.

"Now, now… didn't you want to talk?" asked Sokka, bringing out his club and striking down her katana with it as he lunged at her ribs with his sword. Her shield protected her from his blow.

"That's not what I meant!" replied Suki, opening her fan again and avoiding Sokka's sword when he almost caught her face with a stab.

To her dismay, Sokka smirked widely and brought down his club on her open fan, tearing it to shreds and hurting her hand in the process. Kyoshi's Heir jumped back, clenching her teeth together as she looked at her opponent after putting some distance between them. She clearly had underestimated him… both him and that quick wit of his. His smirk was more attractive than it was infuriating, yet she wouldn't let herself get swayed by that. She had come here to fight, after all.

"Look," said Sokka, chuckling as he lowered his blade, letting her regain her breath. "You're a lot more interesting than any other fighter I've met in all my years as a gladiator, and you're really pretty too. So, I don't know if you're taken or what, but what do you say about going on a date with me?"

Suki's eyes widened with shock. Was he seriously asking her out?

Zuko grimaced, irritated. That idiot was asking her out?!

Azula grew paler with every word she heard Sokka utter. There was no way… there was just no way he had just done that… No! He was her gladiator, hers! Only hers! He had no right to ask anyone on a date, let alone a random girl he had just been fighting against! What did he see in her, anyway?! Surely she was concealing some horrible features behind that pathetic face paint. She was nothing! She wasn't even that strong a fighter, to boot! So… why? Why was he looking at that lowly girl, when the only one he should have ever looked at was her…?

"Slow down, Wolf…" said Suki, staring at him with surprise. "Why should I accept going on a date with you?"

"Why…? Why would there have to be a why?" he asked, still smiling. "C'mon, it'll be fun! I'm a really nice guy to hang with!"

Suki couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter. Either this guy was really stupid or he was really silly, and she began thinking it was the latter when he gave her a foolish grin. Still, she couldn't deny that going out with him might hold a certain appeal…

"Well, in that case…" she muttered, taking another fan from her belt, to Sokka's surprise. "Let's strike another bargain, shall we? If I win this fight, you'll stop pestering me and asking me for a date. If you win… I suppose I'll go out with you."

Sokka's eyes lit up in expectation at her words while a large group in the crowd seemed to go rabid. The audience sitting at the eastern wing of the Arena, comprised mostly of rabid Kyoshi's Heir's fanboys, began yelling at the Blue Wolf with rage, telling him to stay away from their goddess. Zuko himself wasn't too happy about the happenings, but he frowned and glared at Sokka, knowing there was no way he would beat Kyoshi's Heir if she fought to her best… a girl like her shouldn't lose, couldn't lose. Not to a flirty Water Tribe moron like Sokka.

Up in the sponsor's balcony, Azula's knuckles were turning white as she clasped the armrest tighter than before. Why did she comply? She didn't even know him! What the hell was the matter with that stupid face-painted woman?! Regardless, for the first time in her life, she found herself hoping deeply that Sokka would lose a fight. He couldn't win… she didn't care about catching up to the Blind Bandit anymore, she didn't care about him reaching the highest spot in the ranking. All she wanted right now was to put a thousand miles of distance between the two gladiators who were fighting down in the sand pit.

"Seems like that's the best I'll get out of you," said Sokka, chuckling. "Fine, then. If you win, I'll leave you alone. If not…"

Suki smiled and lunged towards him, her weapons ready to strike him down. If this was the way this fight would develop, then, no matter how little money there was involved in this combat, she wouldn't let him get ahead of her. She wasn't completely against the idea of going out with him, but she would rather defeat him and prove him and his womanizing ways wrong, seeing how it seemed nobody had ever rejected him before.

Their blades clashed together several times. His club tried to slam down on her fan, but she managed to stop him with her arm's shield. The collision of the club on the metal plate shook her to the bone, the vibrations of the blow a little harsher than she had expected them to be. It seemed the Blue Wolf was quite intent on triumphing, wasn't he? Suki frowned and looked up at him, and she was surprised to find him smiling at her. It wasn't a sneaky smirk, it was just a pleased smile. As if he was enjoying the fight thoroughly. For some reason, he became a lot more interesting in her eyes as she began seeing him in a different light. Maybe he wasn't a mere womanizer. Maybe he really liked her and he liked fighting too…

And before she knew it, Suki began to enjoy the battle as well. She forgot all about the bid, about the fact that the man she was fighting against was a total stranger to her. She continued attempting to strike him down, but now with a smile rather than a stern frown. Sokka couldn't help but beam at the sight.

"You look a lot better with a smile on your face, you know?" he said, ducking to avoid a blow from her fan.

"And you're too smooth for your own good!" said Kyoshi's Heir, spinning in a circle and bringing down her katana towards Sokka's head.

He jumped to the side and ducked, tripping and knocking her to the ground effectively. Suki was shocked, but she pushed herself back to her feet swiftly right before Sokka slammed his club down on the spot where her leg had been.

"If you really want to go out with me, you shouldn't be trying to smash me up like that!" she teased, moving around him and trying to strike him with her blade.

Sokka jumped away from her, an amused smile on his face.

"But if I don't smash you, there's no date!"

"What's more important, leaving me alone but still whole, or going out with me in pieces?" asked Suki, raising her eyebrows inquisitively.

Sokka frowned and looked at the sky above, thoughtful.

"Gee, now there's a predicament…"

Suki knew he was playing her, which was why she wasn't too indignant by those words. She rolled her eyes and jumped forth, trying to hit his feet with her sword. Sokka jumped and avoided the blow, laughing as he retaliated with his club and Space Sword, doing his best to keep the control of the fight.

She managed to hit his ribs with her fan, making him wince before slamming down on her with the club. He ended up hitting her shielded hand again, to which she winced but she attacked with her katana next, moving it straight towards Sokka's arm…

To everyone's surprise, including his own, Sokka swung his sword at such speed that he brought it down on Suki's katana heavily, slicing the sword's blade in two.

Suki jumped back, aghast, holding the hilt with utter disbelief. Sokka himself hadn't been expecting to swing down Space Sword with such power… he had discovered he could cut through metals with the weapon if he used enough force, but he had never used that skill in gladiator combat before.

"Uh… sorry about that!" he called out, grimacing guiltily.

Suki looked up at him and smiled sideways at him. She had underestimated him completely. He wasn't the first man who had tried to sway her in combat, but he was the first one who had proved to be strong enough to overpower her like this.

"You're something, Blue Wolf," she muttered, lifting her fan as she got ready to leap at him again…

But the voice of the announcer thundered through his megaphone, stopping both of them before they could attack each other once more.

"The time is up! The winner shall be declared shortly by the judges!"

Azula grew paler when she heard those words. No… no. The fight couldn't be over. Kyoshi's Heir was supposed to pull off an amazing comeback, right? It couldn't end like this! Because, if it did… she began shivering, barely knowing what was taking over her as she glared at the arena, in complete denial.

"Sorry about the fan… and your sword," said Sokka, smiling weakly as Kyoshi's Heir walked about the sand, picking up the remnants of the weapons he had destroyed.

"No need to apologize, you were doing your job," she said, tucking the fan into the sash wrapped around her waist. "And you did it well enough. You're surprisingly strong, for a newcomer…"

Sokka couldn't help but feel proud of himself when she said that. She was the best female non-bender in the ranking, wasn't she? If her praises were true, it was possible that he could find a way to beat people who were even higher than she was…

"After much deliberation," began one of the judges, taking the megaphone now. "We have decided on a winner. Seeing how both fighters showed an amazing prowess at fighting, both are worthy of a lot of merit… yet there can only be one victorious gladiator. And in this fight, the winner is the Blue Wolf."

Sokka smiled joyfully at those words. Yes! He had earned himself a huge array of points! And not just that… he also had a date!

Zuko didn't seem half as pleased about those happenings. Despite the fact that Sokka had destroyed two of Suki's weapons, he couldn't help but feel that her fighting style and skills were far superior to his…

He was supposed to have come to the Arena to see how strong Sokka was, yet his eyes had been reclaimed by Kyoshi's Heir's figure all along. As he watched her, all his problems, all his anger, all his sadness had faded away. She had taken over his senses with every motion, with every smile he had seen on her face, and he just needed to see more of her.

The gladiator business suddenly wasn't as disagreeable in Zuko's eyes as it had always been.

Suki giggled, shaking her head in disbelief. She had never lost against someone so low in the ranking… yet she had been unable to keep up with the Blue Wolf's prowess. His skills were truly impressive.

"So… you won," she muttered and Sokka grinned broadly at her.

"Yup! So… have we got ourselves a date?" he asked, eagerly.

Suki couldn't help but laugh. Who had ever heard about a slave being able to go out on a date? She didn't know for certain what Sokka's circumstances were, but perhaps being the Princess's gladiator held some perks she hadn't been aware of. It seemed he had no issues with hanging out with someone like her, with walking down the streets amongst the noblemen who would likely look down on them… but if he was such a particular man, she would likely enjoy his company.

"Meet me at twilight, at Dong's Noodle Store," she said, smiling at him before turning around, headed back towards the stand-by room she had entered the Arena from.

Sokka couldn't help but beam joyfully at the prospect. It had been a good day. He'd won a big fight, and now he had a date! His lousy fortune was turning around lately… because now he had managed to take his first step towards getting over Azula. This would be for the best in the long run, he was positive about it.

"Why, that was an interesting fight," said Oyaji, taking out a few coins from his pocket. "I didn't expect your gladiator to be as strong as he was. You have chosen a good man to sponsor, Princess."

He handed her the money, but he stopped on his tracks when he found the Princess to be hunched over, her elbows on her knees as her hands went to yank her hair. Her strange posture made him blink a few times, utterly confused, before deciding to place the coins on her chair's armrest and taking his leave without another word.

Azula didn't take notice of him or of the money he had left beside her. All she could do was shiver and continue telling herself that this was just a bad dream. Sokka… he couldn't have. Why would he have…?

But reality came crushing down on her, with more force each time. Yes, he had asked that girl out, she had heard his words clearly enough. So… what did that mean, then? What was this supposed to translate into? Did it mean that he would behave like this with any girl that caught his eye? Was it that he'd always flirt stupid and charmingly and ask them on a date if he liked them? He'd never asked her out like that. But then… did it mean all the teasing, all the laughing, all the smiles he had shown her… all of them had been lies?

She couldn't believe it. She hated to think about it like this, but there was nothing else she could conclude after what she had just witnessed. He was a man, a dumb, horny, impulsive man. Why had she been stupid enough to think that she was special for him? Well, she probably was. She was his sponsor. She was his ticket back home, if he pulled the job off… and he was being used by her in turn as she made the world acknowledge her. So it shouldn't hurt like this to hear he would have a date. It shouldn't mean anything that he had been swayed by another girl…

But it did. She had never felt such an unbearable emotional pain before. And it was all because she had been naïve enough to think that he belonged to her in his entirety… she had truly thought so, even if only subconsciously. Even when he had hired a female slave, Azula had been certain nothing would happen between them, because he belonged to her. He was hers… and she was unwilling to share him with anyone, especially with face-painted girls who fought with yellow fans.

Sokka belonged to her. He was her slave. He had no right to do as he wished, no right to have dates, to look at other girls… he didn't. But how on earth could she stop him? And why exactly was she so keen on stopping him anyway?

The answer tried to present itself in her mind in the form of a rational thought, but she pushed it away before it could materialize. No… it was nothing regarding feelings, nothing regarding an emotional attachment of some sort towards him. No, it was because she needed him to focus on the gladiator business. If he had a girlfriend, he would lose his center. She couldn't let him do that. He had to fulfill his duty to her first of all. Once he was done with that, he could fool around with whoever he wanted to fool around with, she wouldn't care… because, why should she care? He was just a slave. He was only ever meant to be a slave. Nothing else about him mattered, nothing…

She stood up, still trembling, after those thoughts crossed her mind. She knocked one of the coins to the floor when she moved on her chair, and she only noticed they were there when she heard it hit the floor. She leaned down and picked up the money, cringing when she realized how shaky her hand was. She needed to calm down already, she wasn't helping herself or anyone else by behaving like this.

Azula left the sponsor's balcony, her feet dragging her down the stairs before she knew where she was headed. She should go find Sokka, shouldn't she? He was probably in the middle of his medical check right now. The mere thought of seeing him again felt as though a hand of ice was squeezing her heart tightly. This had to stop: she couldn't continue feeling like this. How was she supposed to face him when she was in such disarray? He would notice there was something off about her, and what was she supposed to say? That she didn't want him to go on a date with that girl? He would keep asking why she didn't want him to… and she wouldn't want to answer. She didn't want him to know why.

Regardless, she had to go to him. If she wanted to pretend she wasn't bothered by this, if she wanted to act as if she didn't care about who he went out with, she had to try to behave as she normally would. Gritting her teeth, she climbed the stairs again and walked through the waiting rooms' hall, finding the one Sokka was in just as the medical team was taking their leave.

She felt a flare of fury within her when she saw him up close and caught sight of how delighted with himself he seemed to be. He was sitting on a long couch, smiling as he closed his shirt and tucked it into his belt, his armor lying on another sofa in the room.

"Oh, Azula…" he said, when he caught sight of the Princess. "I was starting to wonder where you were."

"Just… not here," was Azula's shifty response, her heart beating furiously as she felt an urge to yell at him, to find out if he had simply been playing around with her all along…

"Well, that much is obvious," said Sokka, chuckling. "So, I've gotten a huge amount of points now! You should be glad. I'm sure we must have passed the Blind Bandit after this…"

"Yeah, I… I guess so," replied Azula, closing the door behind her and walking towards Sokka, still wishing she could understand why he had betrayed her trust like he had.

"I really think I outdid myself today," he said, smiling broadly. "That's probably the best fight I've put so far!"

"Huh."

"I mean, considering how strong she was… To think I was up to her level baffles me. I suppose I had a few advantages, but still…"

"Yes, you did," Azula agreed, gazing at the curtains that hung over the room's window. "You already were counting on her not fighting to her best, and then you got yourself another advantage. It was quite creative, what you did out there today. Flirting to get her to lose focus…? I would have never thought you'd do something like that. It seemed unnecessary to me. Still, it worked to our favor, so I don't have much to say about it…"

"Woah, woah, woah…" said Sokka, raising his hands in signal of defense. "I wasn't flirting just to get her to lose focus."

"Y-you weren't…?" asked Azula, feeling again that cruel icy grip around her heart as she continued staring away pointedly. "So… you're saying you meant every word you said?"

"Well, you saw her, didn't you?" asked Sokka, smiling again. "She's really cool. She's strong, she's witty, she's pretty…"

"Pretty?" asked Azula, with a skeptical laugh. "She was wearing such thick face paint it could have been a mask. You couldn't see if she was pretty or not…"

"I'm not just talking about her face," said Sokka, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "The way she moved, the way her body looked as well… it's not just the face. She was really beautiful, as a person."

"How can you say that for certain?" asked Azula, her teeth gritted. "You don't even know her. You just met her."

"Well, no need to worry about that," said Sokka, grinning. "I'll get to know her better when we go on our date tonight, I'm sure. Then I'll have you know if she's as beautiful as I initially thought."

Azula found herself lacking anything to reply with. She was disappointed, she was furious… and mostly at herself. Why had she let herself believe his treatment of her had meant anything? He was a fool… a womanizer, and a fool. He wouldn't have been able to see true beauty even if it slapped him in the face.

"You know… I'm thinking I got myself the better end of our deal," he said, chuckling as he threw himself back on the couch, his face up towards the ceiling.

"What…? Which deal are you talking about, exactly?" asked Azula, enraged enough to turn around and face him now.

"The first one we struck, remember?" said Sokka, his eyes closed as he smiled innocently. "I was doubtful for a while, thinking you would make me go through a living hell… but it hasn't been half as bad as I expected. Fact is, I'm doing really well. I've got a house of my own, a friend at home who makes my food and heals me when I get beaten up too badly, I was trained by an amazing sword master, you give me a large part of the winnings from each of my fights… and now I've got a date with an amazing girl. Seriously, I never would have imagined my life would be as nice as it is right now," he finished, a dumb and proud smile on his face.

Azula began shivering with fury again. So… he had gotten the best end of the deal, had he? The damned jerk had, clearly. There was no questioning it.

He opened his eyes and looked back at her, his blue eyes colliding with hers. She took a few steps towards him, letting him see the rage that was controlling her at the moment. It annoyed her further when Sokka merely cracked an arrogant smirk… he thought he'd won. He thought she was mad because she had conceded him a dream life and he hadn't needed to give her anything in return. He was actually proud of himself, that imbecile…

"Is that so?" she muttered, her glare growing even more vicious.

"Yeah," he replied, still smirking.

Oh, how she longed to prove him wrong. She wanted to make him realize he didn't have as much freedom as he thought. She needed to make him face the truth: his life was not the fun ride he had deluded himself into thinking it was. Because, yes, he belonged to her. He was her slave! Nobody else's! And she wasn't going to share him with anyone, in any way…

Sokka started to worry a little when he realized the expression in Azula's eyes was concealing genuine hurt far behind the rage that had taken over her at the moment. In truth, he hadn't been trying to hurt her. He was just trying to spare the two of them from an affair that wouldn't end well if they dared give in to their instincts…

She smirked suddenly, and Sokka had to stop beaming stupidly altogether. There was something really dangerous about Azula right now. He couldn't say what it was for certain, but there was something in her smile…

The Gladiator didn't know that the Princess, fueled by anger, disappointment, recklessness and pain, was about to do exactly what he had been trying to stop both of them from doing: letting her feelings take over her body as she surrendered to her innermost urges.

Her hands went to the couch at either side of Sokka as she leaned down, her eyes fluttering shut a second before her lips collided with his.

Sokka did the exact opposite to what she had just done, his eyes growing wide in shock as he began to process what was happening. He gasped in surprise… and Azula took his motion to mean he was welcoming a deeper kiss. The second his lips parted from one another she took the chance to slide her tongue into his mouth, her hands going to his neck now as she held him in place.

Sokka was the one shivering now, not knowing what to make of this. There was no way… there was no way Azula was kissing him. She couldn't be… it couldn't be… it was downright impossible. Why would she do it? And after he had been flirting with another girl, to boot! Was she showing him that she wouldn't let him out of her grasp without a fight? Was she trying to prove him that she was far better than that other girl…?

Well, of course she was. She had always been. He knew she would always be superior to any girl he could ever meet. But she couldn't be his. They couldn't be together. Suki was a gladiator, a slave just like himself! Azula… she was a Princess. And it didn't matter how thoroughly he enjoyed the taste of her lips, how he felt jolts of pleasure at every caress of her tongue… it could never happen.

But it was happening.

Sokka wanted to keep himself lucid, he didn't want to slip into this madness thoughtlessly… but how could he resist? Why should he resist, when she was the one who had flung herself at him? Azula was the one who had succumbed to temptation, not him… so he shouldn't feel so bad for letting himself go with it… right?

Because he had wanted to do this for longer than he dared admit. To feel her lips against his, to inhale her breath, to have their tongues clash together…

His eyes closed slowly and his hands made their way towards her, grasping her arms and pulling her to him. Azula was surprised by that response… she had half expected him to push her away, to ask her why she had done that. She had never thought his tongue would begin moving as well, his lips pressing to hers as he made her climb atop him.

She had to place her hands on the backrest of the couch as her legs went to either side of him, his hands resting on her hips as he brought her closer to him. Azula couldn't quite process what was happening anymore, amazed as she was by his skilled motions. The way he kissed her sent shivers down her spine. She surrounded his neck with her arms as she gave him the reins of their endeavor, her fingers slipping into his hair.

Sokka's mind grew blank as he devoted himself to the moment completely. Because, for all he knew, this might be the one time he would have her in his grasp. His hands moved to her back and then they slipped a little lower… Azula couldn't hold back a small moan when she felt his fingers caress her bottom. The sound she released made him groan back, his hands moving upwards now and stroking the sides of her body. Azula couldn't help but frown, slightly confused, when she noticed Sokka's groin was becoming stiff all of sudden…

But she had no time to think about whatever was happening inside his pants when his hands slipped underneath her armor, cupping her breasts with those rough hands of his. Azula gasped and moaned, withdrawing herself from the kiss shortly as she regained her breath, but he caught her lips just a second after she had pulled away. Nobody had ever touched her like this, nobody had ever devoured her lips like this, either… and she had never desired anyone as badly as the man underneath her, the man who was taking over her senses as his tongue slipped to every unexplored corner of her mouth, claiming her as his own as he continued stroking her chest.

Azula hardly knew what she was doing when her hands went to his neck again, touching the scars she had placed on it a long time ago. She dove into his mouth in an attempt to assess her control over him once more, as she attempted to slide her tongue out of his control and into his mouth. The struggle carried on for longer than they could tell, neither willing to surrender, as ever. His hands slipped down to her buttocks for the second time, hers went to his chest, the chest that had enticed her months ago at Piandao's mansion. To think she had finally gotten her hands on it…

Moans and groans were exchanged as their arousal grew. Azula had no doubts left regarding what the bulge between Sokka's legs was. She had no clue she could produce such an effect on a man. And it wasn't just any man… it was him. It was Sokka… it was Sokka.

His hands cupped her buttocks tightly and she shivered at his touch. Goosebumps ran all over her body, and she tried not to lose control of herself, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep her head clear with every passing second. The unspoken words exchanged by their caresses and kisses were delivering a very clear message, the message she had wanted to convey through her actions: he belonged to her. And his response told her that she belonged to him as well. And nothing could change that truth: not a face painted gladiator, not the prejudices regarding their positions in the world… None of that mattered. Right now, she wasn't a Princess. He wasn't a slave. She was only Azula, he was only Sokka. And they were drawn to each other by forces of attraction that were completely beyond their control…

Sokka's arms pulled her body closer to him, her legs spread wide as their bodies came into full contact, their tongues still involved in a wild dance until their lungs begged for air. Sokka relented to his need for breath despite not wanting to, still desiring more of her. He kissed her lips one last time as she pulled away, his hands now playing with her long dark hair.

They panted, their chests heaving as their foreheads remained linked for a moment. Sokka opened his eyes at last, looking at her in awe. He hadn't had enough of her… he probably never would. Her lips were so delectable that he only wanted to kiss them again…

But Azula moved her head to his shoulder, still breathing with difficulty. Sokka's hands went to her hips as he began processing the way he had touched her, the way he had kissed her… her, of all people! His sponsor, the Fire Lord's daughter… The more he thought about it, the more he wondered what the hell had gotten into him. This was exactly what he had been trying to fight against, but he just hadn't been able to hold his own against her seductive ways.

Azula finally seemed to have regained her breath, seeing how her chest wasn't heaving as before. Sokka looked down at her for a moment, wondering what he should say… what could he do to make this situation less troublesome than it was?

But Azula was the one to make a move. She lifted her head again, her lips going to his ear, as she spoke a sentence coated with poison:

"Have fun on your date."

Sokka's eyes snapped wide open when he heard her words. His date… he had a date. There was still a world beyond the waiting room in which they had been locked.

And Azula had kissed him. She had jumped on him as soon as she had found a chance to do it. And she had finished her deeds of the day by uttering those words viciously at him…

She knew. Somehow, she knew everything. She knew he had been dreaming about her, she knew he desired her with every fiber of his being… and she wanted him to keep feeling that way. She wanted to make him hers completely. She had noticed he had been about to break free from her spell so she had cast it once again, with ten times more power than before. She had done it all just to drive him into a corner, to make sure he would be completely unable to get her out of his mind ever again…

Azula pushed herself off the couch, without sparing one last glance towards the gladiator. She walked to the door, her head held high, and she exited the room. Sokka followed her with his gaze. He had been played… he had been stupid enough to think he had the upper hand in the war they were fighting, and she had proven him wrong once again. She would always be one step ahead of him, those amber eyes of hers teasing him mockingly, reminding him he would never escape from her grip, no matter how hard he tried to undo the curse she had sealed upon him with that wild kiss…

Azula closed the door behind her and took a few steps down the hall before losing her balance for a moment, her legs failing her. She leaned on the wall with her hand first, then she pressed her back against it as her hands went up to cover her mouth. Her eyes opened wide as a prominent blush appeared on her cheeks. Her mind kept sending her signals, trying to force her to acknowledge what had happened in that room, but she couldn't think straight anymore, not after intoxicating herself willingly with his lips, with his hands, with his tongue, with him…

There was only one logical thought in her mind at the moment, a thought that kept repeating itself in her mind time over and time again:

_What have I done?_


	27. Chapter 27

He couldn't believe it yet. His mind was still a complete blur after what had happened a few hours earlier. He ran his tongue over his lips; trying to taste her on him again… he shook his head and returned to his noodle bowl. He shouldn't think about her anymore, he should forget what had gone down between them altogether. But the ghostly feel of her mouth pressed against his was still driving him mad with desire…

The chopstick on his hand snapped when his grip grew fiercer as he remembered his last meeting with the Princess. He blinked a few times, looking at the stick on his hand as if he had never seen anything like it in his life. He couldn't cope with reality while his mind was in such disarray.

"Are you alright?" asked his date, looking at him with concern.

Sokka blinked a few times and gave her a guilty smile, showing her the broken stick.

"I just… grabbed it a bit too hard, that's all" he said, smiling sideways.

Suki raised an inquisitive eyebrow but smiled back, asking the store keeper for another set of chopsticks. Sokka sighed, feeling like an utter fool, and he thanked the store clerk when he received his new chopsticks.

He had stayed in the waiting room for longer than he could tell, trying to make sense out of what had occurred between him and Azula. She had attacked him when he had his guard down, when he had been convinced that, with what he'd done by asking another girl out, she would understand they shouldn't be together. Heck, she should have even grown to hate him for doing what he did, if she was actually interested in him! But instead… instead she had stuck her tongue down his throat. And he still couldn't believe he had been stupid enough to let her do it.

With those words she told him before leaving the room, Azula had proven her cruelty for the millionth time. Sokka could have believed that kiss had meant she didn't want him to be with another woman, that she cared for him… but her words had proved otherwise. They had proved she knew he was trying to get away from her charms, they proved she would go to any ends to make sure his life remained as miserable as possible. She knew he couldn't get her out of his mind, because as soon as he had tried to push her away, she had pulled him back to her with the force of a fully formed cyclone.

And he hated to accept she had won. He had dressed up and gone to the noodle shop Kyoshi's Heir had mentioned, and he had been quite surprised to discover the gladiator waiting for him, looking nothing like woman he had met in the Arena earlier now that she was wearing a dress instead of an armor, and that her face was completely clean. He was pleased to discover that, underneath her face paint, she had been pretty indeed…

But none of that mattered. Even if he tried to smile as Suki talked to him, his head was elsewhere. He couldn't listen to what she said even if he forced himself to focus on her. His mind had been completely poisoned by that heartless and beautiful firebender, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't focus on reality when he was still being haunted by that kiss.

"Is everything okay, Sokka?" asked Suki, after finishing her noodle bowl. He was sitting across her on the table and she could see how his clear eyes gained a dark quality every now and then. Ever since he had arrived at the store he had looked somewhat different from the man she had met earlier in the sand pit. She had figured he was simply nervous, since it wasn't likely he went out on dates too often. She had tried to talk casually to help him relax, but even if he smiled and agreed with what she said, she could tell he was distraught for some reason.

"Uh? Y-yeah, why do you ask?" he replied, smiling guiltily.

"Well… you don't seem to be okay if you're breaking chopsticks," said Suki, smiling a little as well. "Don't you like these noodles?"

"What? No! I love them!" said Sokka, lifting his plate and gulping down lots of noodles savagely. Suki raised an eyebrow at his exaggerated reaction, and her suspicions grew further.

"You do? Really?" she asked. "Look, if you wanted to go someplace else you could have said…"

"N-no… there's nowhere else I would have gone," said Sokka, interrupting her. "I don't even know any other places! So yeah, this was fine. A good place for a good date!"

Suki raised an eyebrow, still insecure about what he was saying. In her humble opinion, this wasn't that much of a good date: she had only been on one date before, quite a long time ago, and even though it had been disastrous, it hadn't been as strange as this one. At least back then she had been sure the guy was interested in her.

"Well… good, then," she muttered, still looking at him with uncertainty. "Then, if that's not what bothers you, what's the matter?"

"W-why would you think something bothers me?" asked Sokka, trying to shake the matter off with a laugh, but his words came off as sarcastic instead.

"Because you were way more enthusiastic about this when we were at the Arena," said Suki "Did something happen to you, or… is it I'm not what you expected?"

"W-what? No! You're... you're perfect as you are," said Sokka, shaking his head frantically at first before sighing and placing his elbows on the table, his hands going to his hair. "Okay, I suppose there's no point in denying something weird happened to me… but I really don't feel comfortable talking about it. Not here, not now…"

Suki blinked a few times, surprised by his confession. So there was something bothering him indeed…

"So… is that why you're acting like this?" she asked.

"Yeah, and I'm sorry about it," Sokka muttered. "I didn't mean to be such a lousy date…"

Suki giggled slightly and shook her head, shrugging the matter off.

"Truth to be told, it was all too good to last," she said, still smiling at him. "A strong, handsome gladiator, witty and interesting…? There had to be something about you that wouldn't let this work out properly."

"W-what do you mean by that?" asked Sokka, aghast.

"It's hard to explain," admitted Suki. "I've been in the gladiator business for almost seven years, and never had I faced an opponent like you. Granted, I've handled some men who are much stronger than you, but none had been witty and flirty as well."

"Huh, I'll try to take that as a compliment," said Sokka, smiling a little.

"But there's the thing… we are gladiators," said Suki, her eyes darkening a little. "Even if it's fun to think we can have a life like the one honorary citizens have, we'd be kidding ourselves. We're supposed to put our necks in the line, fight to our best in that sand pit, and we don't even know if we'll come out alive. Romance seems ridiculous when that's the life you've lived for seven years…"

"Huh… I see now," muttered Sokka, pursing his lips a little. He had never thought about the matter under that light. Truthfully, his life was way too simple because Azula had granted him every little thing he could have asked for. Most gladiators didn't have the same luck. "In that case, why did you accept to go out with me?"

"I suppose I was intrigued," Suki said, shrugging. "I wondered what it would be like for me to attempt to have a normal life, as if I wasn't actually a slave."

"And I guess I've let you down after this," said Sokka, grimacing. "I'm sorry…"

Suki laughed and shook her head, patting his hand over the table.

"You're not to blame, Sokka…"

"Yeah, I am," he said, looking up at her. "This date was a mess because of me… maybe I could have given you the life you wanted to try out if I wasn't a total mess."

"Stop being so hard on yourself," she said, smiling at him again. "It's fine. I'm okay with this. It wasn't like I was expecting anything huge… but I won't deny it was a nice change of pace from the life I'd been leading so far. It's nice to make a friend in the Arena for once."

Sokka smiled back weakly and nodded, still feeling like a fool. This was an amazing girl, truly… and he had ruined everything he could have had with her.

Yet he could drop the blame for that on Azula's shoulders. Fact was, he felt like she was more at fault for this failure than he was. In other circumstances, in another world, he might have had a chance with a girl like Suki… but Azula had destroyed all those possibilities with that accursed kiss. So long as he was still enticed by her, he would be completely unable to have the normal life Suki had just talked about.

Truth to be told, he would be completely unable to have a normal life so long as Azula was in it. He gritted his teeth at the thought, knowing now that he wouldn't find a way to get rid of his problems until Azula was out of his life. And she wouldn't be out of it until he became the top gladiator in the ranking. He would have to bear with this situation for longer than he wanted to…

"So… I guess that's that?" asked Suki, bringing Sokka back to reality once again. Sokka jumped and shook his head before giving her another guilty smile.

"Yeah, I suppose. I'm so sorry," he muttered, with a sigh.

Suki squeezed his fingers for a moment before giving him another smile and getting up from the table. Sokka sighed again and pulled out some money, leaving the payment for their meals on the table before following Suki out of the store.

They walked down the Capital's crowded streets in silence. The Fire Nation's largest city was a sight to behold at night, with colorful lanterns and excited people roaming the streets. The pair walked amongst them all, both amazed by the sights and sounds. Sokka looked down at Suki every now and then, feeling guiltier by the minute. Their date had been no use… it only made him feel even worse about himself. Suki was a good girl, and he had been trying to use her to get Azula out of his mind. Jumping into a relationship with such a lowly intention was the most dishonorable thing he could have done to a woman like her. In a way, he had deserved what Azula had done to him.

But, regardless, he wished he could have another chance to make things right with Suki. He could be a better man than he had been today, a better man for her… if only his life didn't revolve around a completely different woman.

They arrived to a small building unknown to Sokka. Suki had been the one leading the way, and the Blue Wolf had only followed fit, thinking that, at the very least, he could walk her home without making the date any worse.

"Well, this is my place," said Suki, turning around and giving him another smile. "Thanks for the meal, and for the date…"

"Even if it sucked?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. Suki giggled and shrugged.

"It didn't suck… but I won't deny it was a little dull."

Sokka smiled too and tilted his head down, his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry… it's all my fault. I'm a mess right now and I didn't even know it. I shouldn't have asked you out as thoughtlessly as I did, I wasn't ready for something like this."

"Truth to be told, I don't think I was ready for it either," said Suki, shrugging. "It was a nice idea, regardless. I look forward to seeing you around the Arena again sometime."

"Yeah… same," said Sokka, smiling at her. "Sorry again."

"It's fine," Suki replied, chuckling before standing on the tips of her toes to peck his cheek.

Her kiss was soft and kind, most unlike the wild exchange Sokka had enjoyed with the Fire Nation Princess earlier. He clenched his fists at that thought. Nothing could prove enough to pull his mind away from Azula.

"Good night, Sokka. Thanks for everything," said Suki, smiling at him and walking into the house without another word.

Sokka gritted his teeth and shook his head, completely ashamed of himself. He'd had an amazing girl in his grasp and he had blown it… all because of another girl, a girl he could never be with. It didn't matter if Azula wanted him too, not really. Because they wouldn't be together, no matter how desperate they both were to be locked in the other's embrace.

Even if he currently wanted to hate Azula, he couldn't deny that what he wanted the most was to push her down and make her his. He had wanted that for a while now, but after that kiss he had grown more desperate to feel her body against him. It was probably because he had gotten a taste of what was supposed to be unattainable… and she should have always remained unattainable. She should have never tried to close the gap between them in that way… why had she wanted to close it, anyways? Why had she climbed down from her world of luxury and royalty to tease a lowly slave like himself? Was it that much fun to play with his feelings? He shook his head, unable to understand what pleasure Azula could find in making his life more miserable than it already was.

As he walked down the streets he recalled how he had claimed his life was great now… what a pile of nonsense. Certainly, Azula had given him many things, but they had an expiration date. Just as she had granted him so many benefits, she could rip them away from him with the blink of an eye. And with that kiss, she had proved it to him once again: he was under her control. He wasn't enjoying a happy life, he was enjoying the life she felt like granting him… and if he dared displease her, he would pay dearly.

His head ached and his chest felt as if he had taken an arrow to the heart. He had been a fool all along, letting himself feel anything for the Princess. He should have known he had been playing too dangerous a game. Azula was as cold and deadly as her merciless fire, and he would never get away from her without getting burned. Even back when they had first met she had left a burn on him as a souvenir so he wouldn't forget she wasn't someone to fool around with. And he had been stupid enough not to learn the lesson until now.

Sokka didn't feel like going home yet. He knew Song would ask him about his date, since he had dropped by at home to change into comfortable clothing before meeting with Kyoshi's Heir, and he really didn't want to answer anything regarding Suki or Azula as he was. He needed to give his mind a break, to forget all of which had happened to him on such a messed up day.

An establishment nearby caught his eye. The men who were entering it looked quite excited, and the ones who were leaving had red noses and were laughing loudly. Apparently, not all noblemen in the fanciest circles of the Fire Nation behaved with dignity…

But the tavern lured Sokka in. He had only drunk alcohol twice in his life, and he had never been too enthusiastic about alcoholic beverages. Still, he would welcome any form of liquor gladly right now. He wanted to forget all of what had happened, to close his eyes and pretend he was back home again, that there was no war to worry about, no Fire Nation taking over the world and no Princess to lust after fruitlessly…

* * *

The wheel of fire was powerful and steady, to her satisfaction. Azula blasted it with full force, casting it towards the scorched wall at the other end of the Agni Kai chamber.

Azula stood alone in the platform, her golden eyes fixed upon the fire that was fading away now. She should have felt proud to see the blackened marking on the wall had grown more intense after her attack, but it wasn't pride she felt right now. She hadn't come down to the Agni Kai chamber hoping to singe the walls.

She had resolved to return to the Palace right after her legs had regained their strength and she could walk properly. She had ordered the palanquin bearers to take her back home immediately, and they had obeyed her without a second thought. Yet, as ever, the Royal Guard's Captain had inquired as to why they wouldn't wait for the gladiator. Azula's glare had let him know he'd do best to stick to her orders, and he decided to spare himself from her wrath by leaving her be.

The Princess had stormed off to her room at first, but after hyperventilating for a moment she decided to work out her frustrations through firebending. Back during her childhood she had resorted to practicing her bending whenever something upset her. She hadn't trained in some time, so she could do with the exercise… and she was beyond angry at the moment, so it didn't take long for her to make up her mind about what she wanted to do. She headed to the Agni Kai chamber, the only place in the Palace where she could bend without damaging her surroundings, and she began bending to the best of her ability.

She stood on the platform, panting, her head tilted down slightly after spending an hour or two bending her flames. She still couldn't believe what she had done… why did she kiss him like that? He was a jerk, an insolent savage! He had deserved being burned to cinders, not kissed!

But what bothered her most was that he had kissed her back. Did it mean he actually wanted her…? Did it mean she hadn't misinterpreted the signs he had sent her earlier?

She gritted her teeth and sent an array of fire into the air with her legs, kicking her azure flames at invisible enemies. Yes, she probably had seen things for what they were. Sokka had wanted her, Sokka had been interested in her since the day they had met. That comment on her 'blue fire' had been enough to betray the fact that he was attracted to her even when they were enemies. And now they weren't enemies, but there was still a wall between them they weren't supposed to climb over. Therefore, even though she was appealing to him, he would run off to find women who could provide him the fun that she couldn't give him.

Well, if that was the case, fine! She didn't need him or his rough hands, or his forceful lips, or his dazzling blue eyes…

She screamed in rage when her thoughts made her long for him again. Blue fire erupted from her mouth, spreading upwards as she held her hands balled in fists, releasing fire through them as well. The frustration within her seemed endless: frustration at Sokka, for being such a simpleton, but also frustration towards herself for letting her heart waver because of him. Feelings and emotions were useless, her father had always said so. And she believed in his words. She had meant to cast away all emotional attachments she felt towards anyone and anything… but she couldn't. She wasn't strong enough to discard her feelings. She couldn't be like Fire Lord Ozai, no matter how hard she tried to be.

Azula panted after she was done screaming, her lungs in dire need for air. Why? Why did she feel so hollow inside? Why couldn't she stop longing for something she would never have? And why should she even long for him? He was a lowly, pathetic slave. There was nothing about him she should desire! But yet, she desired him. She needed to have him with her, his hands fondling her body, their tongues twirling together in a lustful dance once more…

"What are you up to?" asked someone from the stands at the sides of the Agni Kai chamber. "It sounded like someone was getting killed in here…"

Azula turned around at the sound of that voice. The black-haired earthbender didn't look back at her for obvious reasons, but it seemed she didn't need her eyesight to figure out where Azula was. For the first time ever since she had met the Blind Bandit, Azula found herself wishing the girl had killed Sokka when she'd had the chance.

"Get out of here," Azula snapped. "You have no business with me."

"You sounded really mad for some reason. I sensed your screams when I walked down the hall, and I couldn't help but wonder what was eating you," said Toph, shrugging. "Did the Dog lose today?"

"H-he… he didn't lose," Azula muttered before she could hold her tongue. Sokka's victories shouldn't be the Blind Bandit's concern.

"Then what's the matter, Jewel?" asked Toph. "Seems like you're damn annoyed by something…"

"Don't call me that," Azula retorted, her eyes flaring at the sound of the nickname. "And, as I said, whatever annoys me is no business of a petty slave like yourself. Get out of here if you don't want me to burn you to ashes."

"Huh," said Toph, smirking. "Burn me to ashes, you said? Sounds like fun."

"What?" muttered Azula, surprised.

"To me, it sounds like you're pissed as hell," said Toph, chuckling. "And I've heard a few things about your skills. Word is your firebending is astonishing. So… why don't you show me what you've got? I'd like to know how strong you are, exactly."

Azula frowned and eyed the earthbender with curiosity. That wasn't such a bad idea… well, there was the chance they would destroy the Palace in its entirety with their bending, but it was a risk she was willing to take, for her anger never failed to make her reckless as well. She had secretly wanted to have a good fight with Toph ever since she had watched her in the Arena all those months ago; the girl seemed really powerful for her age, just like Azula herself. A match between them was likely to be legendary…

"I won't deny it's an appealing proposal," said Azula, her voice coated with arrogance. "Yet I'm afraid that, in my current mindset, I'll end up killing you by mistake."

"Oh, I'm so scared," said Toph, rolling her eyes. "I would have thought that, after what I did to your Dog, you'd know better than to underestimate me like that. You'll end up becoming a Princess puree after getting squashed between two rocks…"

"Ah, will I, now?" asked Azula, her lips forming a dangerous smirk. "How about we settle, for once and for all, which one of us should be cowering in fear, then…?"

Toph chuckled and raised her hands, ready to boost herself all the way to where Azula was standing with the help of her earthbending…

"What are you doing, Toph?" sounded another voice on the entrance to the chamber, startling the two girls.

"Iroh?" asked the earthbender, turning around and looking at her sponsor in surprise. She had been so focused on her squabble with Azula that she hadn't noticed his presence until just now. "Oh, nothing. We're just going to have a friendly fight."

"A friendly…?" asked Iroh, eying his niece with distrust.

Azula delivered a fierce glare at her uncle, and he merely gulped, wondering what had ticked her off this time. He was no stranger to Azula's tradition of locking herself up in the Agni Kai chamber to work out her anger whenever someone displeased her. He didn't know she still resorted to it nowadays.

"You told me she's a pretty tough bender," said Toph, enthusiastically. "You said she might be stronger than her father already, so I wanted to try her out for myself!"

Iroh continued staring at Azula, a frown growing prominent on his brow. He didn't doubt Azula might be stronger than her father at this point… but that only made him less willing to allow Toph to battle her. Yes, Toph was an amazing earthbender, but Azula looked mad enough to wreck the whole city with the strength of her blue fire. He wouldn't let his gladiator take the risk of fighting such a fearsome opponent unless there was something to gain from it… and there was nothing to gain from fighting Azula as she was right now.

"You're not going to try anyone out today, Toph," said the man, clasping her shoulder. "I think Azula needs some time alone."

Azula was glad for once that her uncle had managed to see through her. She would have likely ended up killing Toph indeed, and doing that wouldn't be any use to her right now. The only person she felt like hurting at the moment was a blue-eyed Water Tribe man, and, against her better judgment, she wanted to kiss him far more than she wanted to hurt him.

"But she was okay with it!" Toph whined. "C'mon, Spicy Princess! You know you want to fight me!"

Azula cringed at the new nickname. She couldn't tell if it was better or worse than the one before.

"Truth to be told, Bandit… I'll be siding with my Uncle for once," muttered Azula. "You and I will have a chance to fight one day, when I'm not as displeased as I am. That way you might survive the battle."

Toph pouted in displeasure and shook her head, irritated.

"We'll see who'll survive when we clash, Jewel…" she grunted, leaving the room while stomping angrily on the ground. Azula couldn't help but feel a little pleased to see she wasn't the only frustrated person anymore.

Iroh looked at his niece one more time before leaving. He had no idea what had irked her so much, but her bad mood didn't bode well for anyone. He took pride in being perfectly able to understand his niece… but that didn't mean he didn't fear her. He had been away from her bad temper for ten years, and back then she had already been quite dangerous. He didn't even want to imagine how deadly she was now.

Without another word, he walked away. Azula sighed in relief once both the sponsor and the gladiator were gone. She looked down at the ground, a nasty feeling of loneliness making its way through her. Suddenly, she didn't feel like training anymore.

She left the Agni Kai chamber and resolved to take a bath, hoping the warm water would rid her of the unpleasant feelings that dwelled within her. She closed her eyes once she was inside the tub, trying to relax… but her mind began feeding her with illusions of Sokka's hands trailing down her body. He had even groped her… no man had ever touched her like that before. She had never thought she would enjoy being caressed in such a manner. She had lacked physical contact with people during her entire life; it was a little hard to take during her childhood, seeing how the other kids she knew didn't have the same problem. But she had grown used to hardly ever being touched by anyone, and she had convinced herself it was better that way…

Until now. She had been touched, kissed and held by the man that kept taking her breath away. By the man who had flirted with her for months now. The man who was at the core of most her thoughts and desires.

And then he had jumped straight into the arms of the next woman he had seen.

She sank in the water at that dreadful thought, leaving only her nose and mouth out in the surface. She wanted to disappear, to fade away into oblivion… why had she been so stupid? She really didn't mean anything to him, she was only a girl he could look at and tease, yet she'd never be more than that. She didn't deserve more than that, likely…

She sighed and got out of the bath, feeling even worse than before. Her chest burned, but not with excitement… with disappointment. With sadness. With anger. And it was all directed at herself, because she had deluded herself into believing they could be something more. Because, indeed, she hadn't given much thought to the matter, but, subconsciously, she had thought something else would be born between them. And discovering otherwise had been heart-wrenching.

She clothed herself before hearing a knock on her bedroom door. She stared at it, her heart filling her with hopes that, perchance, Sokka might have come to her…

The door opened, and, to her dismay, a pair of old ladies stood behind it. How many times could she make a fool of herself in one day? Of course Sokka wouldn't come. He was likely having the time of his life on his date, kissing and touching Kyoshi's Heir, and hell knew if they would end up going further than that… she grimaced at the thought and faced Lo and Li, her features slightly contorted with rage.

"What do you want?" she grunted, her fists balling.

"We heard you were distraught, Azula…" said Lo, looking at her with concerned eyes.

"We are here to ask about what troubles you" Li spoke.

Azula couldn't help to let out a bark of disbelieving laughter.

"Please! I haven't seen either of you in weeks! Months, even! And all of sudden you give a damn about what I'm going through?!" she asked, glaring at them angrily.

"There's no need to be so angry at us, we are only trying to help," said Li.

"You might need advice and counsel, and that's what we came to provide," muttered Lo.

"Oh, really? So now you're going to give me advice, are you?" Azula shouted angrily. "Where the hell were you when I needed real advice? What sort of advice could you give me now when I've already made a mess of everything?!"

The twins were surprised by Azula's outburst. They knew her quite well, having taken care of her since she had been a toddler… yet they had taken a few steps back on their constant watch on Azula by the Princess's command some years ago. Azula never went to them for guidance anymore; the twins still attempted to support her in any possible way, but they knew Azula didn't want them around anymore, even if they didn't mean any harm to her.

"Azula, we are concerned for your wellbeing," they spoke at the same time. Azula's glare grew fiercer than before as she lost her temper.

"Well, don't be! I don't want either of you around me anymore! I haven't wanted you nearby for ages now! So leave! Get out of this Palace, out of my presence, and leave!"

The two ladies stared at the girl in disbelief before responding, attempting to retain their positions as the Princess's advisors somehow.

"Azula, you are very upset…"

"That decision is something you'll come to regret once you're level-headed…"

Azula laughed again and shook her head, not looking at them anymore.

"No, that decision is something I've been mulling over for too damn long and I hadn't found the willpower to say it out loud," she growled. "But here it is, at last! And you can go beg my father to revoke my words, but my decision is final! Get out of here! I want nothing to do with either of you anymore! I don't need either one of you! So go! Leave!"

The two women stared at the Princess in shock. After all these years they knew better than to oppose Azula whenever she was this frantic… but for her to cast them away like this was unheard of. What had happened to the Princess? Why was she so furious? And had she really wanted them gone for a long time now? They both recalled the way she had pushed them away ever since a certain conversation between them a few years back…

Azula meant it. She had been thinking about throwing them away for a long time, and she had finally found the drive to do it. All those years of advising her and trying to support her had gone to waste.

They had no choice but to obey her. The two women bowed down and walked away, closing the door after they left. Azula gritted her teeth and stabbed her bedding with a fist, slamming her hands down on the mattress in despair until she collapsed, her shoulders shaking brusquely with each sob. Lo and Li… they were no good for her. They had been no good since a few years back, when Azula realized she couldn't count on them for what she planned to accomplish as a Fire Lord.

But deep down, Azula had somewhat hoped they would stay even if she had commanded otherwise. She wished someone would stay, but no one ever did. Not her mother, not Lo and Li, not Lu Ten, not her brother, not Sokka… nobody.

She cringed as she wept in silence, hating how helpless she felt and hating how badly she wished Sokka were with her right now.

* * *

Sokka took a deep breath as he stared at the tall glass before him, watching the ripples on the liquid's surface. The tavern was loud and messy: men kept brawling and yelling at all times, and the vibrations made his table and his glass shiver.

He couldn't even remember how many pints he'd had so far. He kept calling for refills, trying to use them to forget his problems. Amusing as it was, he had forgotten how many refills he'd asked for, yet he still couldn't stop thinking about Azula. Would this curse ever disappear? Would things ever return to normal? He doubted it. And because of that, he figured he would be frequenting this tavern quite often…

"You sure you can keep that one down?" asked an unfamiliar feminine voice beside him.

It wasn't surprising that people would approach him. The tavern was very crowded, and the table he had picked in the corner was, apparently, the sole table left in the establishment where people could enjoy their drinks peacefully. Sokka lifted his head and looked at the woman who was taking a seat by him. His eyes snapped wide open and his heart began beating faster when he caught sight of the black, long and straight hair that ran down her back… but he calmed down when he realized the woman by his side wasn't Azula. It couldn't be Azula, really… why would the Princess ever come to such a crude place?

Sokka took notice of the woman's beauty right away. She wore tight, black leather clothes that seemed to mold around her body in all the right ways. There was dark makeup on her eyes and lips, and Sokka caught sight of a snake tattooed on her shoulder. The drink on her hand was even larger than his own.

"I've had more refills than I can remember…" mumbled Sokka. Was his hearing fuzzy, or was his voice somehow faded…? "Pretty sure I can take this one too."

"You seem to think you have good endurance… do you, really?" asked the woman, raising an eyebrow. "You don't look all that resistant to me."

"I haven't thrown up yet, if that's what you want to know," said Sokka, shrugging.

"In that case, you're a man alright," she replied, taking a sip from her glass as she watched the brawl a few tables away. "So… what's the story? Did she dump you?"

Sokka frowned and glared at the woman.

"You think there's a girl in the world that would dump a guy like me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow arrogantly.

"I'm just being logical," said the woman. "You're alone in a bar, with a look on your face that says you've been through hell and back again… if your problem is a girl, it's only natural you'd end up coming here. It's why plenty of men come to places like this."

"And you just drop by this bar and talk to every sulking man you find?" asked Sokka, bitterly.

The woman couldn't help but chuckle and look at him with curiosity.

"Truth is, I'm not from around here. I'm hunting for a job, and since I was nearby, I decided to drop by a pub and enjoy myself some. I normally would rather go brawl…"

"Really?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"But I'm a little late and I have no clue what they're fighting about, so I'll leave them be. Yours was the only empty table around, so I decided to pay you a visit."

"And since you're so cool and tough, you think you're entitled to sit down here, uninvited," Sokka said, grumpily.

"This is a tavern, kid," said the woman. "Nobody is uninvited."

"Huh…?"

"And since you don't know that, I think my previous guess is completely spot-on. You're not the type to frequent taverns," she said. "So… who's the heartbreaker?"

"Y-you… what gives you the right to pry into anyone's business just like that?!" Sokka squeaked, glaring at her.

The woman sighed and looked at him, her brown eyes displaying honesty.

"I've seen lots of men like you, brooding in the corners of pubs, trying to mind their own business and doing their best to be ignored by the rest of the world. They want to drink and forget, but not even the strongest booze will be of any use. Even if you managed to let go of whatever's bothering you, it'll come back at you again when you wake up with a nice hangover to spice up all your problems."

Sokka looked away for a moment before glaring at her again.

"S-so…?"

"So, what most those men need is to talk their problems out," she said. "It's not going to solve their issues, but it helps them think clearly. And since I have nothing to do with my spare time, I figured I'd offer to sit here to hear you complain about how your girlfriend dumped you…"

"She isn't my girl-… and she didn't dump… W-will you just stop?!" Sokka yelled, a vein pulsating in his temple as the woman chuckled at his reaction.

"Well, there's a girl, alright," she said, sipping her drink again. "Care to tell me the story now, or do you need me to continue making a fool of you by coaxing the truth out without your awareness?"

Sokka sighed and dropped on the table, holding his head up with his hand as he eyed the woman, feeling defeated.

"I suppose talking this crap out might make me feel better…" he muttered. "But first… Who are you, exactly?"

"You don't ask for people's identities in a pub," said the woman.

"I'll tell you who I am if you tell me who you are," replied Sokka, smiling a little.

"Well, at least there's a smile there," she muttered. "My name is June. I'm a bounty hunter."

Sokka's eyes widened in surprise and he looked at her in awe.

"A… a bounty hunter?! L-like, a real bounty hunter?! That's really cool!"

June raised an eyebrow as she sipped more of her drink. The man had started to look like an over-excited little boy.

"It's not as much fun as you might think," she muttered. "It takes a lot to make a bounty hunter. I have it easier than most because I have a companion who could track a rat a continent away if need be. I finished a mission on the docks today, so I came down here for a few drinks, just as I said earlier."

"I see," said Sokka, nodding.

"And now it's your turn to reveal who you are, Mystery Man," said June, looking at him.

Sokka chuckled and sighed, not even knowing where to start.

"Well… I'm Sokka. And I'm a gladiator."

June raised an eyebrow and looked him up and down, surprised.

"You don't seem as built as most men I've seen in Arenas over at the Earth-… Former Earth Kingdom. So, is that why your girlfriend dumped you? She doesn't like seeing you get beaten up by big guys?"

"Huh? No, no, no!" said Sokka, shaking his head. "And as I said, there's no girlfriend!"

"Fine, fine… what's the story, then?" asked June, smiling again.

Sokka sighed and gulped down most of his drink before beginning to tell his tale. This woman was a stranger, she didn't know who he was exactly… and he would rather keep it that way as he told her about what troubled him. He didn't want her or anyone else to know that his distress had been caused by the Fire Lord's daughter.

"Well, the thing is… there's a girl, yeah," said Sokka, and he rolled his eyes when June smirked at his confession. "The thing with her is that I… I used to hate her, and she hated me as well. And that's the way it should have stayed, always"

"Why?" asked June, raising an eyebrow.

"Because she's… she's completely out of my league," said Sokka, shaking his head. "It's forbidden. I can't dare get close to her."

June seemed considerably surprised. She eyed the Water Tribe man with confusion, wondering what sort of woman could be out of his league.

"Why would she be out of your league?" she asked. "I think you're not giving yourself enough credit …"

"You've got it wrong, it's not because of my looks or hers…" said Sokka, shaking his head. "It's because she's the daughter of…"

He stopped in his tracks before revealing the truth about his predicament. Nobody should know the actual identity of the woman featured in his every thought. Nobody could know.

"Of a nobleman," he finished, thinking it wasn't exactly a lie. The Fire Lord was a nobleman… the highest ranked nobleman in the Fire Nation, but a nobleman nonetheless.

"Oh… she's the daughter of your sponsor or something?" asked June, finishing her drink and eyeing Sokka with curiosity.

"Uh… y-yeah, she is," Sokka muttered, lying blatantly now. If he admitted the girl was his sponsor he would reveal her identity altogether. From what he knew, Azula was still the only female sponsor in the Gladiator League.

"Talk about forbidden," said June, smirking. "Sounds like fun, though."

"Fun?! There's nothing fun about this!" yelled Sokka, grimacing.

"I beg to differ. A high-society girl and a mere slave… it's an interesting combination," she declared. "You're worlds apart, yet you long to be together, is it?"

"N-no," Sokka grunted, placing his drink on the table harshly. "I don't… I don't want to be with her. No, not with her. With anyone but her."

"Okay…" said June, sighing. "I'm completely confused now."

Sokka sighed and shook his head before focusing in explaining the story properly.

"Look, she and I… as I said before, we hated each other. But, somehow, we grew to get by one another. Fact is, she even did a few things for me that I would have never expected her to do. I thought maybe she wasn't as bad as I thought she was. She's just… she's one of a kind, but not in a good way."

"Huh, I see…" she muttered, smirking. This story was starting to sound a lot like a man confessing, unwillingly, that he was completely in love with a woman.

"She's always manipulative, cruel, vicious… she gets away with every little thing she could ask for," said Sokka, shaking his head. "She's a menace most the time. But the problem is, I forgot she was one. One day, I just… I couldn't even remember all those issues about her. I couldn't see them. She suddenly became someone else in my eyes. But she wasn't someone else. She was the same. So… the moron who changed was me. I started looking at her with different eyes…"

"Can I ask why?" muttered June.

"I think it's because… because we began spending way too much time together," he muttered. "Before, we were apart for a long time, and I didn't have to worry about her. But now, with every day that comes and goes, all I do is wonder if I'll see her again. And when she shows up I get stupidly happy, and we start joking and teasing each other… it's been fun hanging out with her, even. But then…"

"Then?" asked June, raising an eyebrow. She thought it was a little odd for Sokka's cheeks to grow redder all of sudden, and not because of the alcohol.

Sokka sighed and tilted his head down, completely embarrassed.

"I'm not… I'm not proud of it, but I… I dreamt about her."

"You… dreamt about her?"

"Yeah, and it wasn't a simple, regular dream," he mumbled. "She was… s-she was… giving me a… well, y-you can fill the blanks, can't you?!"

June raised an inquisitive eyebrow and a playful smirk showed up on her face.

"I don't think I can. There are so many possibilities… giving you a pet? Giving you a bucket of komodo sausages? Giving…?"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" said Sokka, growing slightly impatient. Between gritted teeth, he muttered. "S-she was giving me a blowjob, okay?"

"Oh, my," said June, sarcastically. "Such a dirty-minded fellow…"

"W-what's that supposed to mean?!"

"I'm just amused," she muttered, smiling. "You're a lot more innocent than I figured… being so shy about admitting you had an erotic dream? What's with that?"

"I… It's not like I'd never had erotic dreams," he blurted out. "Just… never with her!"

"Oh, really, now? Who was the previous lucky girl, then?" asked June, raising an eyebrow.

"Just some woman I met back in Hui… what the hell am I talking about now?!" he exclaimed, glaring at June, who couldn't help but cackle at his reaction. "Quit harassing me! If that's what you came for, you can just leave me alone!"

"So dramatic," she said, once she was done laughing. "So, what's so wrong about having an erotic dream about your girl giving you a…?"

"She's not my girl!" yelled Sokka. "She sure as hell will never be mine."

June eyed him with interest at that last phrase, noticing he said it with anger and frustration… but there was also a hint of resignation on his voice. And that hint cleared up how badly he wished his mystery lady would become his, no matter if he tried to cover it up with his displeasure.

"Fine, fine… not your girl. What's the big deal anyway? Men dream about stuff like that all the time… why are you drowning your sorrows in liquor over a dream?"

"I'm not finished," Sokka muttered, his hand going to his forehead. "Ever since I had that dream, I started behaving differently around her. I couldn't help but smile and try to make her laugh, and whenever we looked into each other's eyes I just wanted to…"

"Ask her to make your dream come true?" asked June, chuckling.

"Uh, y-yeah, something like that," said Sokka, sighing. "It went on like that for a week, and I realized I couldn't keep behaving as I did. She was, as you said before, a world away… she would never look at me in the way I was looking at her. She was too far away from me. But then… we had a weird moment. A few of them, really."

"Weird moment…?" asked June.

"Well, we just stared into the other's eyes, I think," said Sokka, sighing. "And, damn, those eyes… I see so many things in them. But that's only the surface, you know? There's so much more underneath… but then as I stared at her I realized she was looking back at me in the same way I was looking at her! As if she were… as if she…"

"Was in love with you?" finished June.

"I… I don't think… I don't think this is love, really," muttered Sokka, narrowing his eyes as his chest pained him.

"Oh, you don't think so…?" asked June, amused. "Well, let's put that aside for now. What happened then?"

"She had to leave me for a moment, and I just stopped to think… and I realized that, even if she liked me back, this could never happen," he muttered. "Maybe we long for each other, but we can't be anything. We can hardly be friends, there's no way we could become something more than that. So I… I made up my mind to get over her."

"And how did you plan to accomplish that?" asked June, suspicious.

"That's… the biggest issue in the story," admitted Sokka. "I met another girl just a little while afterwards… and I asked her out."

"Oh… and then a jealous fiend came to bite you in the rear?" asked June, chuckling.

"Something of the sort," muttered Sokka. "It was even worse than you think, because… I asked the second girl out right in front of the first one."

June's eyes snapped open and she looked at him in shock.

"Okay… either you're really brave, or you're really stupid."

"I'd say it's the latter," Sokka said, sighing as a hand went up to his head. "The second girl said she'd go out with me, and I thought this would work out great. I mean, it would probably be a mess at first, but with this, the first girl would likely realize that I can't be with her! The other girl, she's a slave just like I am. We're on equal standings, so for me to be with her… well, it wouldn't be such a problem."

"Huh… and how exactly did the first girl take this explanation to your actions?" asked June, curious.

"She… well, I didn't get to explain," said Sokka, sighing. "I was trying to act as if the attraction between us wasn't really there, you know? Ignoring it, making it seem like I was far more into the second girl than her. Then I said a lot of stupid things, there's no denying it… b-but that's when she… s-she…"

"She?" asked June, raising an eyebrow.

"She kissed me," Sokka's hands were tugging at his hair now as he muttered the truth with a small voice. "She… she kissed me."

June raised an eyebrow at first, but then she smirked.

"Now that's some girl…" she admitted. "Making you see you belong to her, wasn't she?"

"W-well, yeah! But that's just wrong, okay?!" Sokka retorted. "It was a damn amazing kiss, I won't deny it. But then she pulled away and muttered 'have fun on your date'!"

June couldn't help but stare at Sokka in awe.

"She said that? Really? Damn, she sure sounds like a handful," she declared, her shoulders shaking as she laughed. "You've landed yourself on a very troublesome boat, gladiator. That kind of girl is way too much for you to handle, I'll have you know… but she's going to get you, even if you don't belong with her. Brace yourself. Before you know it, you'll wake up in bed with her."

"Huh… I rather doubt it," Sokka grunted. "I don't want to wake up in bed with her! W-well, okay, I do. But I won't!"

"If she gets her way, no doubt you will," said June. "So… did you have fun on the date?"

Sokka's head fell onto the table as he sighed again.

"No, of course not," he mumbled. "It was a lame date because I could only think about the other girl. I'm a disaster. The worst part is that the second girl is really nice and pretty, and if I had a relationship with her, I'm sure things could work out…"

"But the heart wants what the heart wants…" said June.

"Apparently," Sokka replied, distraught. "I was the worst date she could have asked for. And honestly, I had it coming. She was too good for me, and I blew it all… and I just can't stop thinking about the other girl anyway."

"So… explain to me, why did you try another girl in the first place?" asked June.

"I thought maybe I was just sexually frustrated," said Sokka, shrugging. "I figured that was a large part of my problem, and that maybe I just needed to be with a girl, any girl, and my crush on her would fade away eventually. But it didn't work…"

June frowned and looked at him, slightly confused.

"I'm lost. You said your date had been lousy, didn't you?"

"Uh, yeah… so?" asked Sokka, raising his head and looking back at her.

"So, unless that other girl is stupid enough to get it on with you after a bad date, your plan wasn't even executed. Or did you manage to get into her pants anyway…?"

"N-no, I…" said Sokka, shaking his head. "I didn't, no. The most she did was kiss my cheek before parting ways."

"Well, then, your idea of getting your frustrations worked out on another girl wasn't even played out."

"No, it wasn't," sighed Sokka. "But even if it had been, it would be the same thing. I'm too lost to be saved anymore. I just lust after her like a fool… because I know nothing can ever happen. And even if I try going with another girl, all I'll do is think about her…"

June frowned and rested her elbows on the table, thoughtful.

"She's all I can think about," Sokka continued. "It's as if she had poisoned me, and there's no antidote. The one thing I thought would be an antidote probably won't work."

"Well, you wouldn't know unless you actually went all the way with another woman, would you?" asked June, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I'm positive it would be useless," said Sokka, shaking his head. "Even if I kissed someone else, I'd just be thinking about her."

"How can you be so sure?" asked June, skeptical.

"I just am," said Sokka with a sigh.

"Huh," said June, folding her arms over her chest. "It seems I have to break this to you, then, boy. If you really can't get her out of your mind no matter what, then I suppose it means you're in love with her, no matter how you try to deny it."

Sokka clenched his teeth and shook his head.

"No… I can't… No. She's off limits. I can't be with her, I can't be in love with her! Not after all she's done to me! Not after all I've been through because of her!"

June sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Can you make up your mind?" she asked. "Do you love her, or don't you?"

"I don't!" Sokka claimed.

June seemed to grow irritated by his statement and she looked at him with a grimace. Sokka sighed and shook his head, looking at her apologetically.

"I just… don't want to be in love with her, okay?" he muttered. "The whole point of going to Suki was to try and get over… her. But that was no use…"

"I insist, though," said June. "If you made it nowhere with that… Suki, as you just called her, you really don't know for certain if it was any use or not."

Sokka raised an eyebrow, confused.

"You're saying… I should go see Suki again after that horrible date?" he asked, shocked.

"You're not as sharp as I thought you were, Sokka…" she snickered.

"W-well, what are you saying, then?!"

June chuckled and licked her lips, eyeing him with narrowed eyes.

"You really don't need it to be that girl, you know? The only thing you can't change is the fact that you've got a crush on the nobleman's daughter. But the second girl… the second girl is merely a ploy to trick your body and get rid of your sexual frustration. But if sexual frustration isn't the problem, you'd really have a problem. Bottom line is, you can get any woman to fill in for the second girl. It doesn't have to be 'Suki'."

Sokka frowned and looked at his almost empty glass before draining the last remnants of the liquor, wiping his mouth with his hand after he was done.

"So… you think I should just go find another woman?" asked Sokka, frowning. "Just so that I get laid to get rid of my frustration?"

"It's a possibility…"

"Even if it's not bound to work?" said Sokka, skeptical. "And, for starters, what sort of woman would be okay with being used just by a guy like me to work out my sexual frustration on her?"

June couldn't help but smirk widely, shaking her head in disbelief.

"How exactly should I spell this out for you, gladiator?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sokka frowned first before realizing what the woman was suggesting. He blushed deeply and looked at her in utter shock. No denial, she was quite beautiful… but that had to be the lowest thing he could ever do. He began shaking his head and June looked at him in surprise.

"Why… I'm not your type, I take it?" she asked.

"No, no, no! T-that's not…" said Sokka, his flush growing more prominent. "M-maybe you're way too much of my type, actually…"

June chuckled and looked at him inquisitively.

"Then I suppose I'm the ideal person to try and get that other woman out of your mind," she whispered.

"But… I can't just use you like that!" said Sokka, grimacing. "That's something awful to do to anyone! And after you've put up with my rambling, you're actually going to do me another favor?! J-June… please, spare yourself. I don't think I'm even that good in bed…"

"I'm the one who'll decide if you're any good or not," said June, taking out her purse and dropping a few coins on the table. Sokka's stomach began twisting with anxiety, thinking this couldn't be happening… "Come on, then. I've got a room a few inns away."

"June… y-you can't just… this is… why the hell would you do this?" he asked.

"Maybe you're not the only one who's sexually frustrated," she said, smirking. "I can't even remember the last time I had some…"

"But this is…!"

"You can just shut your mouth now, lover boy," said June. "This is going to be plain, thoughtless sex. There are no strings attached. You only have to do your thing and that's all."

"But… You don't deserve something like this," muttered Sokka.

"Deserve it?" asked June, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not doing this because I think I deserve it. I'm doing this because you look like you'd be a good partner in bed and you need to find out if you're in love with your girl or not. It's a win-win situation for the both of us. I don't see a problem with it. Unless, of course, you're already so devoted to her you refuse to be with another woman…"

"That's… n-no," said Sokka, grimacing. That wasn't the reason why he was refusing… he was refusing because he was certain this would be no use, and he had already bothered the bounty hunter enough as it was.

"Then quit playing hard to get", said June, smirking down at him. "Come on. It's time you find out whether you're in love with your girl or not."


	28. Chapter 28

His breath came in short gasps as he plunged himself into her warmth repeatedly. His hips were moving brusquely back and forth, as if he believed he could kill the woman in his arms with his strong thrusts. His anger, his disappointment, his fury… all of them fueled his body, infusing him with the power he needed to force her to apologize for everything she'd done to him.

Azula had to understand he was not to be toyed with. She had to learn to face the consequences of her actions. And he was more than happy to be the one to deliver those consequences through his manhood.

Her desperate moans made him smirk with malice. He had no idea if she was enjoying it or not, but he hardly cared about that at this point. He was intent on making Azula scream his name, on leading her over the edge of insanity to teach her the lesson of the day. She had been the one to kiss him before and he had every right to open her eyes to reality: by attacking him like that she had signed on for this ride, even if she hadn't been aware of it. Because the innocent Princess had no idea that men like him wouldn't stop at just a kiss. He wanted more. He needed more. And he would get more, no matter if she didn't want him to.

Yet he was sliding in and out of her damp enclosure with such ease he was certain he wasn't getting back at her at all. She wanted it, damn it… he was playing into her hand again. The roughness didn't bother her at all, did it? His hands were settled on her hips, her back facing him as her black hair grew more disheveled with each of his thrusts. He tried to stop the groans from leaving his throat, but it became increasingly difficult every time he felt that pleasant friction wrapping around his length. He didn't want her to know he was enjoying their tryst so much…

Her pale skin beckoned him to lean down and press his lips to her shoulder, sucking at her soft skin as he continued moving in and out of her. Her body was hot and sweaty and her breath was uneven too. Dominating her was just as fun as he had always thought it would be. At last, he was the one in command in their twisted relationship.

He kept moving, his hands circling her waist now as he held her closely, entering her completely. Her legs were completely separated, so much that he couldn't help but be amazed at her flexibility. Yet he held back all possible compliments as he continued filling her up, driving her to the edge of the experience as his shaft brushed against all the right places. With a scream, the Princess finally reached her orgasm, her walls contracting around his cock in such pleasant ways that he was unable to hold back his own climax anymore. He continued moving and released himself, her name slipping from his lips as they both finished together.

Sokka panted, his eyesight blurry as he looked at the woman before him. She had been supporting her weight on the bed with her arms as he straddled her from behind, but her excitement had been so unbearable she had collapsed with her toes curled and her black fingernails clawing at the sheets.

Black fingernails.

Sokka's eyes grew wide in shock as reality struck him with the force of a thunderbolt. The snake tattooed on the woman's shoulder seemed to glare at him accusingly as he began realizing what he'd done and who he had done it with…

"Damn… damn…" he muttered, uncoupling their bodies and stumbling through the room, his hands on his hair.

June turned around, a smile spreading over her dark lips.

"W-wow… you sure know what you're doing," she said, chuckling.

"J-June…" Sokka gasped, aghast. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

June raised an inquisitive eyebrow and sat up on the bed with difficulty, her body slightly strained after the intense activity they had been engaged in just moments ago. She looked back at the gladiator, noticing how troubled he seemed to be. She hadn't missed the way he had whispered someone else's name as he thrust into her, but she had been too amazed by his movements to pay any attention to what he was saying. So long as he didn't stop, she didn't care if he pretended she was another woman.

"Your girl will be really lucky if she ever manages to get into your pants," she said. "She's in for a treat."

"S-she's not going to be in for anything…" said Sokka, shaking his head.

Yes, he had worked out his sexual frustration for now. But he still couldn't get Azula out of his head. Instead of solving his problems, everything had grown worse. He felt treacherous. He felt soiled. He'd had sex with a woman while thinking about Azula. He had betrayed Azula, betrayed June by imagining she was someone else and he had betrayed himself most of all. He had known this fling would be no use, yet he had gone through with it regardless. He was truly despicable.

"I'm sorry…" he muttered again, unable to raise his gaze to meet hers.

June rolled her eyes as she picked up her clothes. Their meeting had developed into what had been, most likely, the weirdest sex she had ever had. At first he had been awkward, insecure… but all of sudden he became more focused, more intense. All of sudden he had began devouring her and he had turned her around, taking her from behind. And she knew why he had changed his demeanor halfway through their encounter: it had been around then that he had begun whispering that other name. Had he noticed he was calling out for the girl he was infatuated with? June rather doubted it.

"You don't owe anyone an apology," she said as she began dressing. Sokka collapsed on the floor, appalled.

"I was an idiot to think this would be any use, June," he muttered, shaking his head. "I'm… I'm too damn far gone to be saved anymore."

June chuckled and sighed, looking at him with derision.

"Well, at least it was fun while it lasted," she whispered. "You won't deny it was good, or will you?"

"It… it was," he admitted. "But I…"

"But you were thinking about her, yes," June interrupted him. Sokka grimaced, disgusted with himself. How more shameful could he become?

"I'm sorry…"

"Cut it out," said June, her patience running short. "I don't care who you were thinking about. You performed your duty just as you had to, and that's the only thing that matters to me. So stop whining. It's getting annoying."

Sokka looked up at her, grimacing. June was already dressed up, her face contorting into a frown as she glared glacially at him. Sokka gulped and nodded, still disgusted with himself, but determined not to let it show to keep from upsetting her.

June entered the bathroom and left him to get dressed by himself. Sokka slid into his clothes, his thoughts in complete disarray. The alcohol was blurring his mind a little, but not enough for him not to think straight. He was feeling quite bad about what had happened… yet June seemed perfectly fine with everything. She even knew he had been thinking about another woman as he pleased her and she didn't care.

It took him an instant to realize he had been used for sex.

The thought didn't make him feel any better, but it helped him think less of the woman in the next room. Now that was something lowly to do… had she been plotting to get into his pants ever since she saw him in the tavern? He frowned at the thought. No, that was unlikely. Even if she seemed to be as devilish as Azula, she probably had decided to turn him into a sex partner during their conversation… right?

He frowned when he thought about the Princess. He almost felt as if he'd just had sex with her, seeing how his overactive imagination had convinced him that June was Azula as they rolled under the sheets. But it really hadn't been her. The forbidden fruit still lay far from his grasp, staring at him mockingly from the top of the tree. Oh, he had done so many stupid things in a single day… and it was all her fault. Everything he had done, he had done because of her.

He snarled at the thought as he tied his belt. She should be pleased now, shouldn't she? His life was an utter disaster. He had been a fool to ever claim otherwise. Just as he had thought earlier, she had given him many things and she could make them disappear with the blink of an eye. And she already had. The minute he had said he was happy, she had taken it upon herself to make his life miserable just because she could. And he wouldn't forgive her for that. He couldn't forgive her.

June reentered the bedroom to find Sokka dressed and ready to take off. The stern look on his face made it clear he had gone back to the brooding man she had met in the tavern rather than the apologetic brat she had been dealing with just now. She definitely liked the former better than the latter.

"You're done saying sorry at last?" she asked, tying up her hair in a half-knot.

"I guess," said Sokka, sighing. "Say… why did you do it? Why did you bother talking with me and going to bed with me, of all people? I'm trying to figure it out, but…"

June rolled her eyes and smirked at him.

"Has anyone ever told you that you think too much?" she asked. "Nothing is as twisted as you imagine it is."

Sokka blinked a few times before shaking his head in disagreement.

"Things have been complicated in my life for a long time now. Even if something simple shows up, I'll brace myself for the worst-case scenario…"

"And what exactly would be the worst-case scenario here?" asked June, raising an eyebrow.

"I figured you would have been tricking me just to get into my pants from the start…" muttered Sokka, feeling quite stupid as he spoke. June rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"I'd have to be some incredible evil mastermind to figure I could have sex with you from the moment I saw you," she said. "Spending so much time with that girl of yours has damaged your brain. Not all of us are as clever as she is."

"Yeah, probably not…" said Sokka, clenching his fists as he thought about Azula again.

"So… you proved your theory was right, I guess," said June, folding her arms over her chest. "You doing alright?"

Sokka shook his head, his hand going up to his forehead.

"No, I'm not. I can't be in love with her, June. It's… it's so twisted for me to fall for her that it's not even funny…"

June seemed to differ, but she had enough sense not to give out her opinion for once.

"Well, the first thing you have to do is accept it," she whispered. "Once you embrace your reality, you'll be able to move onto the second step: deciding what you'll do about it."

"What can I do?" Sokka asked, frowning. "It's not as if I could actually do something about this. Believe me, if I had a say upon this I wouldn't be in love with her altogether."

"You don't have a say upon your feelings, sure," said June, shrugging. "But you've got to decide if you'll run away from them or face them head on. Confront the situation, Sokka. You can find a solution even if everything seems hopeless."

Sokka stared at her in surprise as she delivered him her wisdom. June walked towards the room's exit then, ready to take off again.

"I don't know what you're going to do now, but I'll be off to the pub again."

"What? You're going there again?" asked Sokka.

"Isn't that what I just said?" asked June, raising an eyebrow as she looked at him.

It was clear the man's mind was completely overwhelmed by the latest happenings. From what June could tell, he hadn't had a very nice day and her intervention had, likely, only made everything worse. Well, at the very least she had helped him work off his sexual frustrations… that had to count for something, right?

"Y-yeah, what I meant was… why?" asked Sokka, puzzled.

"I didn't get to drink enough, and I might be able to get involved in the brawls this time," said June, smiling. "In any case, you can stay in here for a while if you want to. You could use some time to clear your head."

"Yeah, I think I could…" said Sokka. "But I should go home for the night."

"Then this is where we part," said June, looking straight at him. "You're not half as bad a person as you think you are, Sokka. Good luck with Lady Mysterious. Maybe you'll manage to overcome her spell if you work hard enough… or maybe you'll be stuck in her grasp forever. But it's all up to you. Fight back or give up. It's your choice, Sokka."

The gladiator was slightly surprised at first, but he nodded promptly at her advice.

"It was nice meeting you. See you around," she finished, leaving the room without another word.

Sokka's back found the nearest wall and he rested against it as he tried to make some sense out of his blurry mind. He was relieved that June hadn't said anything about seeing each other again… he had landed himself a lucky hit with the woman. Just as she had promised, there were no strings attached to their one-night-stand. She didn't seem one to commit to relationships, and, in his current state, neither was he. She had been, truly, the right girl at the right time. But the time for getting involved with random women foolishly was over now. Because, just as she had said, he had proved his theory correct: he couldn't get Azula off his mind.

To make everything worse, he could tell his performance in bed had improved when he had started to imagine June was Azula. He had been fortunate enough that her dark hair and pale skin had helped him to indulge in said illusion, but, for some reason, he was convinced that sex with Azula wouldn't feel like that. He couldn't place what was missing… other than the fact that June wasn't actually Azula, of course.

And that was, most likely, the biggest problem. Sokka sighed and yanked his hair in despair. He couldn't accept being in love with her… it would only make everything worse than it already was. She was his personal brand of poison… but there had to be an antidote out there somewhere. Other women wouldn't be the ones to save him from his doom, he was perfectly convinced of that after all of what had happened today. But there had to be something else, anything…

June's words rang in his ears again. Once he accepted his situation, he had to decide whether to confront the issue or run away from it. Had he come to accept it already? No, he didn't accept it. He couldn't. But he could go down to the next step right away, couldn't he?

What would he do? Run away from it? What did running entail? He didn't know. Truth to be told, he didn't feel like running anywhere. Confronting the problem, then…?

Oh, yes. That was quite an appealing idea.

Meeting Azula and giving her a piece of his mind. Letting her know she wouldn't get her way even if she thought otherwise…

He walked to the door with a determined frown on his face, leaving the room after deciding what his next destination would be: the Fire Nation Royal Palace.

* * *

Azula had always liked sitting on the Palace's open hallways. Staring at the gardens from afar would soothe her whenever she felt troubled. Focusing on smaller things helped her forget what distressed her, even if said small things were comprised of laughing under her breath whenever the turtle ducks from the pond tripped and fell as they tried to walk on firm ground instead of swimming.

She had been summoned to see her father a few hours ago, seeing how Lo and Li had told the Fire Lord about the decision his daughter had made. Ozai had been quite surprised by the developments that had led Azula to fire the two women that had supported her since childhood, but when he saw the determined look on the Princess's face he had assumed Azula had her reasons to send them away. He didn't need to know what those reasons were; all he needed to do was trust his daughter's sharp judgment. If she wanted the two old ladies gone, he would approve of her decision.

Azula had been surprised by her father's support. She had half expected him to realize she had been crying even though she had done everything she could to make herself look as perfect as ever, but she feared he would notice a sliver of unusual weakness in her demeanor anyways. She felt weaker, and her father wasn't one to tolerate weaknesses. It was the reason why he had always preferred her over Zuko: she could always pretend to be flawless even if she was dying inside.

The more she thought about it now, the stupider she felt. Yes, perhaps Lo and Li had it coming… but pushing them away so promptly could mean trouble in the long run. She had been too fortunate this time, since her father hadn't asked any questions regarding what had driven her to send them away, but she knew she wouldn't be as lucky if she did something so reckless a second time. She had to keep herself in check… she couldn't continue slipping up because of her circumstances with Sokka.

He had turned her life around, she had to admit that… but she couldn't carry on like this. This wasn't her. She wasn't one to undergo emotional outbursts, she was one to face predicaments and solve them in the shrewdest way. But it didn't matter how much she tried to think of a solution to her issues with Sokka, she couldn't picture an outcome in which she could triumph in this struggle. At least, her mind couldn't provide her with one at the moment… and letting her heart's desires lead the way instead of proper, rational thinking, would bring her to a breakdown just like the one she had faced earlier, and she meant to avoid that at all costs.

"Princess, Lo and Li have left the Palace," said the Captain of her Royal Guards, approaching her from down the hall. "They'll be going back to their house at Ember Island… i-in case you wished to know."

The Captain stammered when he realized Azula wouldn't be too interested in the fate of her old advisors, not when she had been the one to send them away in the first place. He froze when he noticed the Princess was sitting by herself right in front of the fence that secluded the hall from the gardens, her long hair down as she wore one of her red-and-gold sleeping gowns.

Azula frowned when she heard his voice, but she refrained from sending him away rudely, no matter how badly she wished to do it. She couldn't let her temper get to the best of her again, especially seeing how the Captain had never done anything to displease her, unlike Lo and Li.

"Good," she muttered, her voice cracking as she spoke. She cringed at that.

The Captain sighed as he looked at the Princess. He had noticed she was behaving in an unusual manner when they left the Arena, given how she had left her gladiator behind and ordered her Procession to leave promptly. He suspected something had happened between them, but he didn't have the heart to ask Azula what it was for a few reasons: first, he didn't actually want to know what had happened, and second, he knew she would likely never confide such personal information in him. She hardly trusted anyone, and, without a doubt, he wasn't amongst the people she relied upon the most.

Regardless, he cared about her. He was assigned to her, and his job was to stand by her side to assist her no matter the circumstances. His life was devoted to protecting Azula, and seeing how he had been unable to shield her from whatever had hurt her, he could at least try to heal her even if he had no idea how to do it.

Azula's eyes narrowed when she realized the man had taken his seat by her side with his legs crossed. She could sense he was quite nervous about what he was doing, but he didn't pull away. What was he doing?

"I, uh…" muttered the Captain, feeling rather stupid. "I'm…"

"What do you want?" asked Azula promptly, making him jump.

"Princess…" said the Captain, looking at her and sighing. "I know I must look like a fool before you right now, but I just thought I should tell you that… that I can tell something bothers you."

"Oh, joy," said Azula, sarcastically. "You're such a genius, Captain. You deserve a medal as a reward for your amazing insight."

The Captain grimaced under his mask when she snapped at him like that. He knew conveying his thoughts to her wouldn't be an easy matter, but her sharp remarks only made his job more difficult. Well, if there was something Azula excelled at, it was making his job more difficult in a large number of ways…

"Uh… what I meant to say was…" he muttered, looking away from her. "I will not question what happened today with Lo and Li. If you sent them away, you must have had a good reason to do it."

"Right," said Azula, glaring at him sideways. "So…?"

"General Iroh told them that you seemed upset," said the Captain. "I overheard their conversation…"

"Why, aren't you quite the eavesdropper…" Azula muttered, making him cringe.

"I-it comes with the job, Princess," he replied. "People tend to forget guards aren't simply statues standing by the doors… we have all our senses devoted to the task at hand."

"So you're saying you've heard many things you shouldn't have…?"

"I… I suppose I have, but I shall not disclose any of it if it's not necessary for me to do so," said the Captain, trying to dodge her verbal jabs. "It's not what I wanted to speak about anyways…"

"Right," muttered Azula, frowning. "So it's my uncle's fault that Lo and Li showed up in my room, then…"

"Indeed," said the Captain. "Yet… having you talk matters out with them wouldn't work if they imposed themselves upon you."

Azula's frown deepened. If he knew Lo and Li shouldn't have gone to her when she hadn't called for them, why did it seem he was trying to do the very same thing they had?

"I understand you can't rely on people who act that way," he continued. "Which is why I… I'm not going to do what they did."

"In that case, what are you trying to pull, Captain?" asked Azula, curious. "If you aren't trying to convince me to open up to you and tell you all about my life's problems… what are you doing?"

"I'm… I'm doing my best not to bother you," he said, nervously. "Because I don't wish to be a hindrance to you. Yet… I thought you should know that, even though I won't pester you about what troubles you, I'm still nearby in case you need someone to talk to."

Azula looked at him with derisive eyes.

"When exactly did you think our relationship had reached the point in which I would feel comfortable by talking about personal matters with you?"

"At none, Princess," the Captain admitted. "I understand you wouldn't wish to share your innermost thoughts with a mere guard…"

"Then what are you doing, Captain?" asked Azula, glaring at him. "What do you think you can accomplish with this?"

The Captain sighed and dropped his head promptly.

"As a guard, I'm obligated to follow your every order. If I were to displease you in the way Lo and Li did, I'd be certain to earn the same punishment… and I would find myself with no other choice but to leave if you order me to do so. Yet that's what I would do as a soldier… not what I would do as a friend."

Azula raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Since when were they friends…?

"I know it may seem rash of me to speak like this," muttered the Captain. "But I… I have the feeling that, rather than a guard, you might be in need for a friend. Standing by the sidelines as I have for all this time has proven to be useless. You… you were hurt when I should have been protecting you, Princess… and if there's a chance I can amend my mistakes by helping you cure your wounds through any means, I'll take it gladly."

Azula frowned again and looked at the Captain with puzzled eyes.

"What are you trying to say, Captain?" she asked.

"I… I'm not sure," he admitted, grimacing under his mask. "I think I'm saying that I understand if you wish to be alone… but if there's any chance I might be able to help you through your troubled times, I'll do it."

Azula looked away from the man, slightly moved by his words. Yet…

"I appreciate your devotion, Captain," said Azula. "But I don't think there's anything you could do for me as of now. You said you wouldn't make me talk this out if I didn't want to… well, I don't. Truthfully, I'd rather be alone for now."

"I understand," said the Captain, nodding. "In any case, I'll be nearby in case you change your mind, or if you need my assistance in any way."

"Good," Azula whispered.

"I'll take my leave then, Princess," said the Captain, standing up and performing a bow towards Azula.

"Captain…" she muttered, her voice quivering again although she failed to notice it this time.

"Yes, Princess?" asked the Captain, taken by surprise.

Azula struggled with the words for a moment. It wasn't every day she felt the urge to let others know she had a softer side.

"T-thanks… for everything. Even if you didn't do much," she finished, looking away after uttering the last phrase.

The Captain's eyes snapped wide open. He gaped at the Princess for a moment, realizing this was the first time she had ever expressed gratitude towards him in an earnest manner. He smiled and bowed again before leaving her to herself, just as he had said he would.

Azula frowned for a moment as she tried to assimilate what had just happened. She hadn't rejected the Captain right away because she wished to avoid making another fuss in the Palace in a single day… but she definitely hadn't expected him to offer her his helping hand in the way he had. She had been certain he disliked her due to how she always treated him, but he had been so sincere just now that she realized he was thoroughly loyal to her, no matter what. She knew he had been completely honest with her, it was easy for her to tell. He really wanted to support her even though he didn't know how…

Azula couldn't help but feel slightly relieved. She had feared that, at this rate, all her relationships would become strained due to her reckless decisions and ridiculous actions. Yet it seemed she could rely on the Captain even if she couldn't rely on anyone else… and that would suffice for now. It would give her the strength she needed to carry on until she was able to figure out how to put an end to her predicament with Sokka.

She stood up and cast one last look at the garden, catching sight of several fireflies hovering amongst the bushes. She was set on going to bed and forgetting about her troubles for now, certain that, once she had rested, she would find the common sense she seemed to have lost at some point today. She could devise a way to get out of the mess she had wrought upon herself by kissing that savage. If there was something that made her proud was her quick wit and her skills to figure out clever solutions to virtually any situation…

Azula turned around to head down to her room, feeling far more confident now. She could trust she wouldn't make a fool of herself anymore since her analytical mind was in control once again…

At least, it was in control until she realized there was someone staring at her from the opposite end of the hall.

Her heart had already sunk in her chest before she could tell for certain whom it was.

Sokka was breathing heavily, glaring at her with his zephyr eyes. His hair was down, a sight Azula wasn't used to. His clothes had been fancy garments at some point in time, but they looked rummaged and soiled now. His shirt wasn't even completely closed, and the sash around his waist was tied in a poorly composed knot.

Azula's body didn't know how to respond to seeing Sokka again. Her heart was racing again, but a horrible sensation of foreboding was taking over her as well. There was a pit in her chest, a hole that was growing larger with every second that passed by as she held Sokka's gaze with her own.

Her previous confidence vanished as he began stepping towards her, his eyes gleaming with fury. Azula fought the urge to turn around and flee when she realized there was no reason for her to wish to avoid him. Running away from him now would let him see how badly shaken she was after all of what had happened today. She couldn't show any weaknesses to him. She was his sponsor, his master. He was a mere gladiator, a slave. There was no reason why she should be frightened by this encounter.

As he approached she noticed there was a strange smell on him. There seemed to be a great mixture of odors on him, but the one she could sense clearly was alcohol. He had been drinking? The mere thought of what a drunken Sokka might have done on a date made her heart sink even deeper.

His eyes were truly a sight to behold right now. For reasons Azula couldn't understand, his evident rage made the blue in his gaze more alluring than ever before.

Sokka could tell she was frightened by the sight of him, even though he couldn't understand what she had to fear from him. Those golden eyes were screaming for someone to help her, to restrain him somehow because she didn't want to face his anger, but she didn't call out for any guards or servants. Still, her body, clad solely in a gown, was posed as if she were ready to make a run for it. He felt somewhat proud of being the one responsible for causing such an effect on her. He didn't know what she had to fear, seeing how everything had gone exactly as she had planned… right?

Azula felt her body shiver as she tried to glare back at Sokka, but she knew her dread towards what might come was far stronger than her determination. Regardless, she wouldn't step back. She wouldn't falter. He wasn't going to intimidate her, not now, not ever…

"What… what are you doing here?" she managed to say, her voice shaky.

Sokka's eyes grew even colder at that question. His hands balled into fists as he snarled at the Princess, the woman who was his salvation and damnation at once.

"You mean you really don't know?" he asked. "You're surprised to see me here, Azula? Are you, really?"

"I thought…" she muttered, her gaze leaving his for a moment. "I thought you'd be having the time of your life with your new friend."

Sokka huffed in disbelief, shaking his head.

"Sure you thought so. Sure you thought I'd be able to spend the night with another woman without thinking about what you did to me."

"About what I…?" said Azula, cringing. "Wait a minute…"

"You're actually going to pretend you didn't know what you were doing? Really, Azula?!" he yelled.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"That damned kiss, that's what!" he shouted, his chest aching at the memory of her lips on his. He could hardly believe he was actually confronting her about it…

Azula took a step back at those words. Well, it was a relief to know she hadn't been the only one shaken up by what had happened between them in the waiting room. Yet he was angry, very angry, and she couldn't figure out why. He had gotten everything he could have asked for: a date with that gladiator girl, a kiss from her… why was he so upset?

"What about it?" grunted Azula, her fear beginning to subside as her own fury began taking its place.

"You had no right to do something like that!" yelled Sokka.

"I had no right?" Azula repeated, raising her eyebrows. "Pray tell, why did you kiss me back if you didn't want it, then?! And you didn't just kiss back, you went crazy on me! Are you going to blame me for your actions too?!"

"I sure as hell will!" he replied. "You knew from the beginning what I was going through! You knew I didn't stand a chance against you!"

"What the blazes are you talking about?!" asked Azula, starting to feel slightly concerned about Sokka's mental health at this point.

"You realized I was into you!" Sokka yelled. "And you knew I was trying to pull away from you! You didn't care if I was trying to spare us from the hell, because you're so selfish you just needed to have me to yourself, didn't you?!"

"What the…? You were… into me?" Azula repeated, blinking rapidly as she tried to stomach what he had just admitted.

"Don't act as if you didn't know! You damn well did!" Sokka declared, baring his teeth at her.

Azula's eyes dropped for a moment as she realized she hadn't been wrong. Yes, he had smiled at her in a special way. Yes, he had flirted and joked around with her. And all of it had happened because he had liked her… Sokka liked her.

Or at least, he used to like her.

"Well…" she said, seeking for the courage to look into his eyes again. "Excuse me for not swallowing your lies right away. You were into me, you said? In that case, why the hell did you go with someone else?!"

"Because you and I will never be together!" Sokka yelled. "We can't be! And you should know it better than I do!"

Azula cringed at those words. True… there were forces in this world that would set them apart if they gave in to their innermost urges. There were a million reasons why they should have never opened the door towards the possibility of becoming something more than just being a sponsor and a gladiator.

But they had opened it. What now?

"I needed to get away from you so that I wouldn't feel tempted to do anything out of bounds!" Sokka shouted. "I had to get away before I was in too deep to save myself from drowning in you! And I thought I could do it… damn, I probably could have! But then you… you kissed me. You kissed me, Azula! What the hell was going through your mind?! What were you thinking?!"

Azula found herself at a loss for words all of sudden. What was she thinking? What had she been thinking back then? She had thought he was hers… and she didn't want him to pull away from her, indeed. She had wanted him for herself, to keep him by her side in whichever way possible, and she had kissed him to show him that whatever he thought he could have with another woman, he could have it with her, too. But he was right. They couldn't be together. It couldn't be done.

"So?! Tell me! Why did you do it, Azula?!" he insisted, coming closer. Azula wanted to push him away, but she refused to falter. She had no idea if she would win or lose this time, but she was going to fight him to the end regardless.

"You… you're mine," she finally replied, her eyes glinted with the very same rage that shaded his. "You're my slave. I'm the one who calls the shots in your life, no matter what you think. And if I don't want you to trample with strangers, then I'll make sure you won't!"

"Why the hell does it matter to you who I trample with?!" Sokka threw back at her. "You're the Princess! I'm just a stupid slave, just like you said! Why should you care about what I do with my life?!"

"You and I had a bargain, or are you too drunk to remember it?!" Azula yelled. "You're going to get to the top of that ranking, and until then, you only answer to me! Your loyalty lies with ME! And I won't condone any useless distractions such as that pathetic girl! You're only who you are today because of me! You owe me your life, Sokka!"

"Yeah… that's right," said Sokka, his eyes growing tearful to Azula's surprise. "I am who I am because of you. You're the one to blame for the monster I've become. I can't even look at myself in a damn mirror without feeling that's not me! Ever since I met you you've made my life a living hell! Yeah, you wanna know the truth?! I lied back there! No, my life isn't wonderful! No, I'm not satisfied with what I've got! No, I didn't get the better end of our deal! You've done everything you could to destroy me, to tear me to pieces and shape me into whatever you wanted me to be! You've made me hate you for what you've done to me… but most of all, I hate myself! I hate myself! You have no idea how badly I do!"

Azula stared at him in shock. How had he been able to conceal such pain and sorrow within himself when he was always smiling and joking around? Did he truly think so lowly of himself?

"And the worst part is that I was enough of a masochist to embrace what you'd done to me," Sokka continued, shaking his head. "I… I was fine with it. And I was stupid enough to look at you as if there were something else beneath all those layers of evil!"

"What…?" Azula gasped. Evil, he said? She was downright evil in his eyes, after all they'd been through?

"I don't know why the hell did I think maybe you cared about me," he said, shaking his head. "Every single thing you did, you did it to benefit yourself. Because that's all you care about, yourself. So long as you get everything you want, you'll be satisfied, won't you? You don't give a damn about what I might want, that's out of the question… because the only thing that matters is you."

It was Azula's turn to snarl, her hands drawing into fists as well. She wanted to burn him, to make him suffer for every single word he had uttered that evening…

"Well, congratulations. You'll get your fucking wish," said Sokka, his glare growing fiercer. "I'm going to get to the top of that stupid ranking, and that's all I'm going to do. Because, so long as you're around, I'll never have a life of my own. I understood that tonight, at last."

"What are you…?" asked Azula, slightly confused. "How did you…?"

"You're poison, you know?" he grunted. "It doesn't matter if I'm with another woman, I can't stop thinking about you. It's you, all the time. Even while I was fucking her brains out, it was you. I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Azula's eyes widened with horror. Fucking her brains out? Did this mean he had actually slept with Kyoshi's Heir?!

"It doesn't matter what I do… it doesn't," he grunted. "You're worse than poison, really. Because there's no antidote to you. There's nothing I can do to stop this madness!"

"You didn't… you didn't…" she muttered, shaking her head as she felt her chest paining her so badly she couldn't even keep looking at him anymore. She stepped back, still in disbelief.

"Hell, yeah. I did," said Sokka, knowing what had shocked her the most. "But you can rest easy, Princess. It's not going to happen again until I manage to get you out of my life. Else I'm sure as hell not going to enjoy it, with your face showing up in my mind all the time no matter what I do."

Azula looked up at him, enraged, disappointed and miserable. Despite being surprised by her display of emotions, Sokka managed to keep himself impassive.

"Such great news," she grumbled. "You… how dared you? You're… you're the worst…"

"I'm the worst?! I'm the worst?! Look who's talking!" yelled Sokka, rolling his eyes. "You've got my useless life in your hands and you can do whatever you want with me, you know?! So why don't you just kill me now, if I'm that despicable?!"

"I sure as hell should!" Azula yelled, her eyes stinging with tears. "You spineless, cowardly imbecile…"

"Yeah, I'm all that and a lot more," Sokka countered her. "You think that's going to change anything, telling me what you think of me?! It's not going to do a damn thing!"

"I hate you…" Azula whispered, the tears beginning to stream down her face as she collapsed on the ground, her shoulders shaking slightly "I HATE YOU!"

Sokka shook his head, loathing to feel his heart aching to comfort her. He was a fool, he always had been. But wanting to stand by her as she wept, after all the things he had said, seemed the most ridiculous thing he could have ever done.

"Seems like that's the one thing we can agree on," he grunted. "Yeah, let's all hate Sokka. Because he was stupid enough to feel anything for someone who doesn't give a crap about anyone but herself."

"Shut up! Y-you know nothing about me! NOTHING!" Azula yelled, refusing to look at him anymore.

"With the little I know, I don't want to know anything else," Sokka replied, shaking his head. "And I really was that stupid… I really was that stupid…"

Someone came running down the hall right then. Sokka was surprised to see the Captain of Azula's Royal Guards heading straight towards her. He dropped to his knees by her side as Azula's muffled sobs left her body, her arms hugging herself as if she wanted to keep his words from scarring her soul… but it was too late. The damage was done.

"Princess… Princess," said the Captain, aghast. She had been fine just a while ago…

He lifted his head towards the Water Tribe slave, his eyes alight with anger even though Sokka couldn't see them. Of course it was him… it had always been him. Whatever had forced her to kick Lo and Li out of the Palace, what had driven her to the depressive state she currently was in… everything was his doing.

"Leave this Palace immediately," the guard ordered him, his voice powerful and frightening.

Sokka looked at the broken figure of Azula one last time, his rage blurring his mind even now. Why should she cry, if she had gotten her way? He had said he wouldn't see any other women until he was out of her clutches. He would devote himself to fulfilling their deal and nothing else. What more could she ask for at this point?

Sokka huffed before turning around and going down the hall again, headed towards the Palace's main gates. He had no idea what outcome he had been expecting from this, but he definitely didn't think she would have ended up reduced to tears because of him. Yet that couldn't make a difference. He'd had enough of caring about Azula. The more he cared, the worse it would be for him.

Azula's nails dug into her skin as she hugged herself tightly. Every word he had uttered tonight had been given wings to everything she would have never wanted to hear from him. He really thought her heartless, didn't he? Had he ever thought that, perchance, everything she had done for him, she had done because she wanted to? Had he ever thought that, maybe, she had feelings for him as well?

No, that didn't matter to him. Because, as he had said… they could never be together. Only now did Azula understand what he had tried to accomplish by asking another woman out in the Arena. He had meant to displease her, to make her think he wasn't worth her time, and to get over her by trying his luck with another girl. But she had refused to let go of him… because she thought he belonged to her. Because he was hers.

Or so she had thought. But, truth to be told, Sokka had never been much of a slave. He got away with what he wanted all the time, he lived a better life than many Fire Nation citizens, and he had a naïve Princess yearning for him. Was he really hers? Could that man ever belong to anyone? A long time ago he had claimed she had a heart of ice… he had a soul of wild fire, in that case. It was impossible to tame him, even for someone like her. She had gotten her way throughout all her life… but everything became different when he came into the picture. He had turned her world around when she hadn't been looking, and now he was torturing her as he proved to her that, no matter if he had to serve as her gladiator, he would never be hers. His soul would remain free forever, even if she tried to submit him to her will.

It hurt beyond belief to accept he was the one thing she had wanted the most, and the one thing she could never have, no matter what. Because even if there had been no prejudices to hold their potential relationship back, Sokka had grown to despise her. He hated her. And no matter how she wished to reciprocate the feeling, she really couldn't bring herself to do it. It didn't matter if she had felt as enraged as she had… she knew she didn't hate him.

She wanted to run after him and say she was sorry. She wanted to ask him if he could let everything return to the way it had been. She wanted to be his friend again, the sponsor he had come to rely upon. She wanted to see him smile instead of seeing him scowl. She didn't even care if their relationship would be stuck in that simple friendly stage for the rest of their lives. Even though that wasn't what she truly wanted, it would be better than the hellish situation they had fallen into. She had let her feelings take the wheel and she had pushed herself upon Sokka, without stopping to think if that was what he wanted or not. Maybe he was right… maybe she was too selfish. Maybe she deserved what had happened. Maybe it was time for her to open her eyes to reality: he would never come to love someone like her.

She didn't even notice the way the Captain's arms surrounded her shoulders and pulled her into an embrace, lost in her misery as she was. The guard gritted his teeth in anger, wondering what that blasted slave had done to the broken girl in his arms. Azula's desperate sobs were heart-shattering… and he wished to punish the man he knew responsible for them. But he couldn't do anything. He wouldn't. He had no idea what had happened between them, and he had no business prying into it. For now, all he could do was hold the Princess in his arms and show her he had meant it when he had said he would stay by her side. Azula would be the one to decide what sort of justice would be unleashed upon the slave once she got over the heartbreak she was suffering from…

* * *

Sokka slammed the door when he entered the house. He cringed at the loud noise, only remembering Song had probably been sleeping and his harshness might have woken her. He climbed the steps up to his room, thinking about every single mistake he had made lately. Yes, without a doubt, he hated the man he had become. And he really couldn't blame Azula for all of it.

The memory of her tears made him grimace as he lifted a hand to his brow. There was no way she could have been faking such emotions… she couldn't be that great a liar. Nobody was.

But he had to believe she was. He was sure she had kissed him just to brand him as hers, that she had done it to make sure he wouldn't be able to get her out of his mind…

But what if she hadn't?

What if there was more to Azula than he had thought there was?

What if she had done it because she had really wanted to be with him?

Sokka shook his head and dropped on the mattress, exhausted. It had been an extremely long day. Maybe all of it had been just a bad nightmare. He closed his eyes, wishing he would never have to wake up again, in hopes that a good night's sleep would help him forget the tears Azula had shed because of him…


	29. Chapter 29

Song tried to focus on cleaning the dishes, but performing mundane activities allowed her mind to wander even when she didn't want it to. She could hear the way Sokka was swinging his sword in the backyard, a few groans leaving his throat whenever he performed really complex movements.

Song didn't understand what was happening with him right now. He had been behaving oddly for the last two weeks, but right now he was acting much weirder than ever before.

It had been four days already since he had dealt with a nasty hangover that he hadn't explained to Song. She had helped him cope with it, thinking his dreadful mood had been caused by the hangover, but once he was cured from it, his attitude had grown even fouler. It worried Song, because she had never expected her friend and supposed-to-be master to become so moody all of sudden. He'd always been so relaxed and cheerful… what had happened with him? Had it been that date of his? Did it go awry?

Song placed the last plate into a drawer after drying it properly and she walked to the living room, from where she could look out at the backyard. Sokka was twirling with his sword, his brow contracted in a perturbed frown. Song had seen him train before, and he usually moved with enthusiasm, seemingly at peace with himself. There was no doubt something had happened to him, something bad. Nobody changed his demeanor so radically without a reason…

Song sighed and looked for her duster, with which she began cleaning up the furniture. She had already cleaned the day before, but there wasn't much she could do to busy herself with anything other than her concern over Sokka. What could have happened on that date? It was hard to figure it out, truly… but maybe the date wasn't the issue. Song frowned and lowered her rug as she remembered how he had arrived home after his fight at the Arena. Sokka had looked distraught, troubled. He had taken a bath and gotten dressed quickly, but then he had taken a seat at the couch for a couple of hours, his head between his hands. That had been really odd too…

And if she thought about it, he hadn't talked about the Princess ever since that day. She hadn't dropped by to bring any new prospects to be his sword master, or just to check on him… and that was most unusual. Sokka hadn't left the house to see her in the Palace, either.

Maybe that was it. Maybe something bad had happened between them.

Song bit her lip. There was an odd sense of dread at the thought of something bad happening between Sokka and the Princess. The worst part was that she knew there would be little to no chance for their conflict to be solved if it depended on Sokka. She didn't know the Princess too well, but she had come to realize Sokka was incredibly stubborn whenever he wanted to be. And judging by his current behavior, he wasn't going to talk matters out with the Princess any time soon. So… it would be up to the Princess to come to Sokka, right?

Song dropped the duster as she made up her mind about what she had to do. She would go to the Princess and tell her about how troubled Sokka seemed to be, and she would ask her as courteously as possible to talk to him about what had happened between them…

But what if the Princess wasn't the problem?

Well, if that were the case, she would likely have no qualms in dropping by to see Sokka, and she could help him sort out whatever troubled him. The last she'd seen of them, they had been acting as good friends. She was sure Azula would want Sokka to turn back into the man he used to be. It was only a matter of talking to her, requesting her to come over, and everything would be settled!

She smiled to herself and went into the backyard for a moment, clearing her throat. The unexpected sound stopped Sokka as he moved his way through his stances. The gladiator looked at her, his cold eyes surprising her even though it had already been four days since she had first seen how harsh his gaze had become.

"I'm going to… I-I'm going to see…" she stammered, feeling slightly nervous all of sudden. If the Princess was the cause of his distress, he wouldn't take kindly to knowing she was going to look for her.

"What?" he asked hoarsely, frowning.

"I-I'm going to see if I can find some chili," she improvised. "I was going to make lunch, but it seems we ran out…"

"Huh," muttered Sokka. Normally Song wouldn't tell him she was going out unless she needed him to carry the groceries for her. And if she only wanted chili, she wouldn't need help. She had no need to lie over what she was going to do, seeing how Sokka trusted her not to get involved in anything stupid. But if she felt the urge to lie, he might as well please her by pretending she had fooled him… "Good luck with that, Song."

"T-thanks," said Song, smiling. Great! She hadn't given herself away! "I'll be right back."

Song left the house quickly, her heart racing as she made her way to the Fire Nation Royal Palace. She walked down the streets quickly, her head tilted as she passed by the townsfolk. People didn't pay her much attention, since her clothing and demeanor gave away her status as a slave, and slaves were completely irrelevant to most the people who lived in the Fire Nation Capital. The noblemen were too proud to even spare a look at a mere slave, and Song was glad that they acted that way. She had heard about the treatment slaves were subjected to in other towns and villages, where Fire Nation citizens displayed their pride by abusing of slaves in public. Winding up in the Capital, where everyone was so pretentious and arrogant, had some perks she couldn't be thankful enough for.

The roads became busier as she approached the center of the city, and her anxiety grew with every new step she took. She wasn't worthy of walking into the Royal Palace, she was only a slave girl… but she had to see the Princess, for Sokka's sake.

She felt her mouth running dry when she stood before the immense gates that led into the Palace. They were wide open, and there were several guards standing in formation before them, daunting anyone who had no business in the Palace. But Song had something to do… and she refused to go home empty-handed. She had to see Princess Azula.

"Good day," she said, once she was before the guards.

Song hadn't realized these were different men from the ones who usually escorted Azula in her palanquin. Their clothes were black, they wore helmets with horns in them and they wielded spears. And they had no idea who she was.

"Run along, girl," said one of the guards. "You have no business in the Fire Nation Palace."

"Uh, I do, actually…" she muttered. "You see, I'm the slave of… well… of the Princess's gladiator."

"The slave of a slave?" asked the guard, skeptical. "How the hell does that even work?"

"It's not as weird as it sounds… I think," said Song, gulping. "In any case, you can ask the Princess about it if you don't believe me."

"Ugh, people like you drop by all the time with stupid excuses like that one," said the guard. "I'm not letting you in. The Princess probably doesn't even know you exist."

"That's not true! She was the one who bought me!" Song pleaded, looking at the guard with despair. "Please, just let me in for a minute! I just have to ask her…"

"You have no business in the Palace!" declared the guard, taking his spear into a fighting position and threatening Song with it. "Get out now!"

Song panicked when the spear stopped only a few inches away from her belly. Yes, she probably would be best off getting out of here right away, but she couldn't give up yet. She had to do this, for her friend's sake…

"Please, sir…" she muttered, her fear evident in her eyes.

"Cut it out! Puppy eyes won't help you! Get out of here this ins-…!" the man said, ready to drive her away with his spear…

But someone else's hand came down on the weapon suddenly, ripping it off the guard's grip. Song was surprised by the unexpected intervention, and she raised her gaze to find another guard had been the one responsible for stopping the one who had been threatening her. Yet this man was one of the guards she had seen several times before, a guard dressed in red garments from head to toes, with a golden rim decorating his clothing.

The Captain of Azula's Royal Guard glared at the other guard, tossing his spear away.

"Were you trained to threaten helpless females, Fao?" he asked.

"N-no, sir…" he muttered, bowing his head and taking a few steps back, fearing retribution for his shamelessness.

The Captain turned towards Song, who was staring at him in awe and fear at the same time.

"Have we met before?" he asked, raising an eyebrow even though the girl couldn't see it. "I could swear I've seen you somewhere…"

"Yes!" said Song, relieved to discover this was probably one of Azula's guards. "I'm Sokka's slave, Song!"

The Captain frowned upon hearing the gladiator's name. He contained his anger quickly, pleased to discover where he had seen this girl before, at the very least…

"Why are you here?" he asked. "Did he send you in his stead to apologize for his rudeness?"

"Oh, uh… apologize?" asked Song, puzzled. "Is there something he has to apologize for?"

"There are many things he should apologize for," the Captain grunted. "Yet I don't believe discussing such matters here would be a good idea. Come."

The Captain lead the way into the Palace, and Song bit her lip before crossing the threshold that set the magnificent household apart from the rest of the city. It was hard to believe that she had actually come to the Fire Lord's home.

Song followed the Captain through the inner roads of the Palace, passing by magnificent gardens and beautiful ponds of pristine water. She spotted a few servants and guards walking down the Palace halls, but she didn't glimpse any members of the Royal Family. The Captain brought her to a building that stood behind the Palace's main structure, and he opened the front door to allow Song inside it.

This building was definitely not as majestic as the Palace itself, but it was quite impressive in its own right. She saw a pair of guards walking by, their masks removed to reveal their faces. Song blinked in surprised at that. She had never seen the face of a Fire Nation guard or soldier before…

"This way," said the Captain, moving through the halls and motioning Song to follow him.

They reached a traditional living room that was quite tasteful, to Song's surprise. The Captain ushered her to remove her shoes before stepping onto the soft tatami flooring. There was a table in the center of the room and several cushions positioned by it.

"I'll bring us some tea," said the Captain. "Take a seat, I'll be back soon."

Song nodded and obeyed as the Captain left the room. His hospitality was quite a pleasant surprise. She had never thought there was anything underneath those guard's masks other than heartless and mindless soldiers willing to go to any ends to obey the Fire Lord's wishes. She felt stupid by only realizing now that they were just as human as she was.

There were large windows in the room that allowed Song to look at the gardens outside. It was unusually relaxing, sitting in this room. She almost felt as if she were back home in the Earth Kingdom…

The Captain reentered the room after a few minutes, bringing a pot of tea and a pair of cups on a simple tray.

"We don't have as luxurious accommodations in the Guard's Barracks as the ones in the Royal Palace…" he said, setting down the tea and the cups on the table as he sat across Song, his legs flexed under him. "But we have everything we need here. It's a good place to live."

"I'm glad," said Song, smiling. "I'm a little confused, though. Weren't you going to bring me to the Princess?"

The Captain frowned and shook his head, folding his arms across his chest.

"I'm sorry, but the Princess is in no condition to see anyone as of now. If you have any messages you wish to deliver to her, I can pass them on. But, for both your sakes, it's best if you don't meet with her."

Song grimaced and nodded, biting her lip nervously once again. The Captain poured the tea on a cup and handed it to Song.

"Thank you," she muttered.

"So… what brought you here?" the Captain asked, pouring his own tea now.

"Well, I… I'm not sure, actually," she said, after sipping her beverage. "Things haven't been as lively as always with Sokka… he seems troubled by something."

The Captain frowned and placed his cup in the table, thoughtful.

"I won't say that displeases me. He should be troubled."

"Then you know what happened to him?" asked Song, surprised.

"Not all of it," admitted the Captain. "But I overheard something…"

"You overheard…?" asked Song, raising an inquisitive eyebrow as she looked at him judgmentally. The Captain sighed in irritation.

"Yes, yes, guards overhear conversations even when we don't mean to," he growled. "Most of us don't do it on purpose. But that's why I brought you here instead of talking at the gates. This isn't a conversation I want other guards to listen in on."

"Why? Don't you trust them?" asked Song, surprised.

"It's not a matter of trust," said the Captain, removing his hood. "It's a matter of privacy."

Song stared in awe as the man shook his head, his long black hair locks flipping as he did. His eyes were a shade of gold not as intense as the color in Princess Azula's eyes, but they had the spark of the firebender's power in them. His skin was quite pale, something that wasn't much of a surprise, given how he was always clad in layers of clothing that covered every inch of his body. But what surprised Song the most was to discover he wasn't as old as she thought he would be, going by his voice tone. He was likely in his early thirties, if not younger.

"I'm sure you can understand that," he said, taking a sip of his tea as Song blinked rapidly, to stop herself from gaping at him.

"Oh, uh, yes…" she said, not even remembering what they had been talking about before he removed his hood and mask.

"So… you were saying the gladiator seems troubled?" the Captain asked, frowning.

"Y-yes, he does," said Song. "He arrived home after midnight about four days ago, and he hasn't left the house ever since. He's always sulking and frowning… his appetite isn't as wild as always. I know something happened to him, but I haven't found the courage to ask him about it. It seems he wants to be alone, so I decided not to bother him…"

"And you came here seeking for answers?" asked the Captain, surprised.

"I figured the Princess might have known about what troubled him," said Song. "And if she didn't, perhaps she could help him feel better. He always seemed to light up whenever she was around, so…"

The Captain grimaced and sighed, his gloved hand going up to his hair.

"I'm sorry to say she won't be helping him feel better anytime soon," said the Captain.

"Is she alright? She's not sick or something, is she?" asked Song, worried.

"No, that's not it. I'm afraid that the Princess is probably the cause of the gladiator's distress," muttered the Captain. "And he's the reason why she's been terribly upset these days, too."

Song's eyes widened.

"Oh, my… I never thought… what happened between them?" she asked, concerned. "Do you know anything?"

"I know something, but not enough," he replied. "The Princess wanted us to leave quickly after his last fight at the Arena, she didn't bother waiting for him…"

"Do you think that's why he's upset?" asked Song, puzzled. "It doesn't make much sense…"

"I don't think so," said the Captain. "I'm sure something happened between them. But I don't know what it was, because… because, just as you didn't wish to bother the gladiator, I didn't wish to bother the Princess. It was clear she didn't want to talk about it."

"I see," said Song, nodding. It was good that the Captain was sensitive enough to realize the Princess needed space.

"But that's not all I know," said the Captain. "He came by the Palace that very night."

"Huh? He did?" asked Song. "Why?"

"I don't know," said the Captain. "The guards let him in because they knew he was the Princess's gladiator, but I wish they had stopped him, seeing how he was drunk."

"Oh…" said Song, gulping. Sokka being drunk while visiting the Princess couldn't bode well. Now she could understand why he had such a bad hangover, at least.

"I had been talking to the Princess and then I proceeded to perform my rounds for the night… when I heard her shouting. She was yelling at him, for some reason."

"Oh, no…" muttered Song, grimacing. "Was she really upset?"

"Very much so," said the Captain. "When I reached her, she was crying. He was looking down on her angrily. I told him to leave, because I could tell he would only continue making everything worse for her. I don't know if the Princess was the cause of this fall-out between them, or if it was the gladiator's fault… but my duty is to protect her at all costs, no matter if she was to blame or not. Thus I sent him away."

"I understand," said Song, biting her lip. "Did you manage to make sense out of anything they said to each other?"

"I think I heard her claiming he didn't know her… he replied by saying he even want to know anything about her. Those are probably not the accurate words, but I don't remember what they said exactly."

"That's terrible…" said Song, downcast. "I'm glad you stopped me from going to her. She might have grown even more upset if I reminded her of what happened…"

"And she seems to remind herself of it enough as it is," said the Captain, sighing. "She has spent these days meditating. She hardly talks to anyone. I've approached her a few times, but there's nothing I can do to help her."

"And there's nothing I can do to help Sokka either," said Song. "It seems we're both helpless, aren't we?"

The Captain gave her a weak smile before nodding.

"So it would seem…"

They drank their tea quietly now, both looking out through the window occasionally. The silence between them was awkward, since it felt as if they had ran out of words. Song snuck a look at the man again, wondering how many Fire Nation soldiers looked like that underneath their masks…

"So… do you think there's anything we can do?" she asked, biting her lower lip nervously again.

"As we are… and as they are right now, I rather doubt it," said the Captain. "I somewhat wish I knew what happened… but, at the same time, I don't want to know. I'm afraid that, if I did, I would hunt down the gladiator for hurting the Princess as he did."

"I can't say the same," muttered Song, smiling. "No matter whose fault it is, I don't want to get involved directly with it. I guess they're the ones who have to work out their problems, be whatever they may…"

The Captain looked at her sideways before smiling again and nodding.

"A wise decision. Yet I don't think they'll resolve this on their own that easily…"

"Maybe we should push them to it!" said Song enthusiastically. "And then watch from the sidelines…"

"No, that wouldn't work," said the Captain, shaking his head. "It's most unlikely they'll do anything but yell at each other if they're not ready to meet again."

"And if they're still displeased at each other, it won't end well," said Song, sighing. "So you really think there's nothing we can do?"

"Not quite," said the Captain. "I'll support the Princess in every possible way, and you can do the same for the gladiator if you wish to do so. But other than that…"

"I understand," said Song, nodding slightly.

The Captain gazed at the girl, noticing she seemed quite discouraged to discover there was little to nothing she could do for her master… or friend. Seeing such a sad expression in the girl's face prompted him to try and soothe her somehow, even though he had no idea what to do.

"Listen, maybe…" he started, only to get interrupted when another guard entered the room rashly.

"The Princess has commanded her Royal Guards to assemble!" said the guard, hardly noticing there was a random girl in the room.

"What?" said the Captain, his eyes widening in surprise. "What is she…?"

"She's going out, that's all I know" said the guard, shrugging. "She requested for her palanquin to be ready. I have no idea what she's planning, but whatever it is, you've got to be there, Captain. I figured I'd let you know…"

"Yes," muttered the Captain, nodding and setting his teacup on the table again. "I'll be there shortly."

The guard bowed and left the room again. Song watched him leave and placed her own cup on the table as well, smiling at the Captain, who was already placing his hood over his head.

"This is where we part, I guess," she whispered. "Thanks for the tea."

"Any time," said the Captain, fixing his appearance promptly. "W-well, as long as I'm not busy, that is…"

"It would seem you're busy at most times, though," she said, giggling. "But I know what you mean."

The Captain smiled too, forgetting she couldn't see his face anymore.

"Good luck with the gladiator," he said. "I'll take care of the Princess."

"Good luck to you too," said Song grinning. It was odd to think that, after all she'd been through, she had befriended a Fire Nation soldier… but the Captain was quite a nice man to talk to. Discovering not all soldiers were heartless and cruel was quite a relief for her.

She left the Palace without having seen Princess Azula, but Song didn't feel like she was leaving empty-handed at all.

* * *

Four days of moping around were more than enough to get Azula on the move again. She had spent the first day trying to ignore her anguish to no avail, yet on the second day she began to realize the world hadn't ended despite of what had happened between her and Sokka. The sun would still rise every morning, birds would chirp enthusiastically, servants would keep to their duties faithfully… there was no reason for her to continue feeling so miserable. Sokka's words and deeds were in the past… and that was where they should stay.

Because, what had she been expecting? The more she thought about it, the stupider she felt. She hadn't tried to think things through, she had played almost everything by ear when it came to Sokka. She had underestimated him in many levels, thinking she could handle him…

No, she had never really thought she could handle him. She had always known she couldn't handle him. And that was what had made him most interesting. It was what had made it all the more fun to spend time with him. But before she knew it, she had been hoping for something beyond what they already had, expecting things to develop further if she only gave it time… her hopes of becoming something more for Sokka had been foolish and naïve. Now she was certain she didn't want anything else with him…

" _Because you and I will never be together!"_

Those words rang in her head time over and time again. She kept thinking about them, trying to understand if she had been the one to make a mess of things… she didn't think so. Perhaps she had kissed him, but if he had thought it so wrong, he could have pushed her away instead of giving in. It wasn't entirely her fault, really…

But he had been trying to pull away. He had wanted to spare them the hell… because yes, it would have been hellish indeed. If she had gotten involved with him and word of it had reached her father, Fire Lord Ozai would have likely killed Sokka and stripped away Azula's right to succeed him on the throne without a second thought. She had obligations to tend to, and slaves, no matter how good-looking, amusing and interesting they were, couldn't drive her away from what she cared about the most: her role as her nation's future sovereign.

She had done everything in her power to become the best heir her father could have asked for. What she had done by taking Sokka as her gladiator had been for the purpose of earning the recognition she deserved, showing all those who undermined her that being a woman was no hindrance to surpassing anyone who dared stand in her way.

But she had gotten sidetracked because of that man and his blue eyes. And it had been to no avail… because he didn't want her. He hated her. He thought she was selfish and wanted to get away from her. And what hurt the most was to think that he might be right about her. Not once did she think that maybe he was resisting the attraction between them, and she didn't respect his wishes when he decided to try his luck with other women. She hadn't bothered thinking about what he might have wanted… and that had been her downfall. If only she had backed off and realized that they couldn't be together, they wouldn't be in this mess.

Letting her fleeting feelings for him take the wheel had been a huge mistake. She had always reached her decisions through cold logic and ruthless cunning, so why hadn't she stuck to that this time around? Probably because, from the minute she met him, Azula knew Sokka wasn't the kind of guy she could read with ease. As soon as he declared he would fight her no matter what, she knew he wasn't one of the men she was used to dealing with. They'd had their arguments, most their views of the world contradicted the other's… but they had managed to get along despite it all, because Azula had decided to respect Sokka as a person. As an equal.

Her mind seemed to sneer at her at the thought of being equal to anyone. Of course she wasn't. She was superior to him, superior to his charms and to all the idiocies he'd done these days. But why didn't it feel that way? Why couldn't she convince herself of the fact that caring for a low-life like Sokka was a waste of her time?

There was nothing she could do about their situation at this point. She couldn't win anymore. This fight was over, and she'd do best to accept her loss instead of clawing recklessly in attempts to earn a victory she didn't deserve. Her selfishness had landed her here… so it was time to quit acting on impulse. Sokka was out of her reach now, and he would never come back to her. And that would likely be for the best, seeing how he had no qualms in sleeping around with random women in attempts to get over her.

The thought of Sokka and Kyoshi's Heir together made her feel as if an invisible hand was reaching into her body and twisting her organs around. She couldn't make heads or tails out of that. If he had been so troubled after she kissed him, why had he gone so far with another woman? How come had he had the nerve to tell her about it, too? Was he just playing women at will?

Thinking about the matter filled her with loneliness and rage. She should have proved able to read him better than she had… not getting involved with him had been for the best, definitely. And pondering this now would be no use. It wouldn't change anything for the better: the more thought she gave it, the worst she felt. For now, the best thing she could do was focus on what was important: the gladiator league.

It took her a few more days to actually let that conclusion sink in. She watched as time passed her by, waiting for a sign of some sorts to bring her out of her misery. Yet no signs of the sort appeared. Why would they appear in the first place? The world had never cared for her troubles, not back when she was a child, not now… so, instead of hoping everything would slow down for her sake, she would have to keep up with the rest of the world. If everything was to remain the same, then she would pretend to be the same person as well. Her wounds wouldn't heal anytime soon, but she was skilled at making it seem otherwise. She could keep her calm charade for as long as it was necessary.

So she would simply wait for the day Sokka had to fight in the Arena once again. She could resist the urge of checking on him. She wished there was a way to bring their relationship back to what it used to be, but her gut told her it would be hopeless to expect him to behave rationally when they met again. Fixing things between them could wait until after he was done fighting the… the Savage Hook, was it?

Azula frowned when she realized she didn't know anything about Sokka's next opponent. She forced her memory back a few weeks, when Shoji had issued out their challenge to the gladiator's sponsor… and she remembered what had happened right away: Mai's servant had showed up and interrupted Shoji before he could give them information regarding the Hook.

Azula gritted her teeth in irritation when she realized she had forgotten that detail completely. Knowing his enemy was an important edge to Sokka's fighting style. Without the advantage of having information about his opponent, Sokka wouldn't do as well in the ring as he always did.

Focusing on the idea of talking to Shoji seemed to help her forget about Sokka, if only for a little while. Azula had summoned a guard and ordered him to assemble her palanquin bearers and Royal Guards, and, after fixing her appearance to its usual flawless state, she had climbed aboard her palanquin and told them to head to the Grand Royal Dome.

She was pleased to see her guards remained as stoic as ever. Even the Captain, who had witnessed her breakdown after that horrible conversation with Sokka, had done his best to behave as if nothing had happened. She was grateful for that. Indeed, even if he was an eavesdropper, he was an earnest man. She could rely on him.

She climbed off the palanquin once they arrived to the Capital's Arena. As usual, she ordered the guards to remain outside the building and she crossed the double doors by herself. The people in the vestibule stared at her in awe, as ever, but this time she failed to care about it. Being adored and revered would always give her a feeling of satisfaction… but not this time. Not when she was still in such a deep emotional turmoil. Things might return to normal eventually, but, as she was now, she couldn't enjoy being worshipped.

"Oh, Princess!" said Shoji, smiling when he caught sight of her. "I was wondering when you'd come by!"

"Good day, Shoji," Azula retorted, staring coldly at the boy as he rummaged through the drawers in search for the huge sheet where the ranking had been written down.

"I have good news for you! The ranking was fully updated only yesterday…" said Shoji, scrolling down the names with his hand. "… So I'm still getting adjusted to the changes. Was it a little lower…? Oh! Here it is!"

"What is…?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Look, look!" said Shoji, showing her the large parchment. "On slot 341, the Blue Wolf! And on slot 340, the Blind Bandit! You are two points above her!"

Azula's eyes widened. Only two points separated Sokka from Toph…

"She doesn't have any fights scheduled until the other week, so if your fight against the Savage Hook goes well, you'll surpass her," said Shoji, enthusiastically.

"I see…" said Azula, thoughtful. Her schemes to defeat her uncle seemed to have worked so far, to her surprise. She should be delighted to know as much, but she couldn't bring herself to be happy right now. "How many points would we earn if we were to beat the Savage Hook?"

"Uh…" said Shoji, moving onto the first half of the scroll. "You'd get 323 points. That's a lot more than the Blind Bandit will earn in at least two fights, if she wins them both."

"Finally, good news," Azula whispered to herself. "How are our odds against the Hook?"

"Oh," said Shoji, his cheerfulness vanishing. "Well, the Wolf shouldn't have it that hard, seeing how he even beat Kyoshi's Heir…"

Azula shivered at the mention of the gladiator's name. She tried to remain stoic, although she couldn't help but clench her fists in anger.

"But the Hook… he's a handful," said Shoji, gulping. "He's not easy to handle at all."

"What can you tell me about him?" asked the Princess, folding her arms across her chest.

"Well, I don't know all the details," Shoji admitted. "But, according to what I gathered some time ago, he used to be a criminal."

"A criminal? What kind of criminal?" asked Azula, frowning.

"He flooded a Fire Nation Colony back when the Earth Kingdom still stood strong," said the boy. "Apparently he was the leader of a teenager gang of delinquents… some members of the gang were killed by the group of elite Fire Nation soldiers that were sent to catch them. The survivors became gladiators."

"That sounds familiar," muttered Azula, thinking back to a war meeting she had attended many years ago. Her father's council had discussed something regarding a group of rebellious Earth Kingdom kids. A battalion of Fire Nation soldiers had been sent to restrain them, but Azula had never heard about the fate of the captured rebels, mostly because she hadn't cared for it.

"Well, that's supposed to be the reason why the Savage Hook has such a wild attitude," said Shoji. "He fights using twin hook-swords, and, if he can get away with it, he fights to the death…"

Azula's eyes widened.

"To the death, you said? Has he killed other gladiators in the Superior League?"

"Many times," said Shoji, gulping. "There are a few gladiators who go as far as to kill their opponents if they can get away with it… and he's one of them. He's especially harsh against firebenders, but he always goes for the kill."

"How skilled is he with those blades of his?" asked Azula, her eyebrows contracting.

"Quite skilled," said Shoji, sighing. "I wanted to warn you of this beforehand… he's not the kind of foe anyone can defeat. He's been deadly… well, at least over forty times. He killed his last opponent on a fight a few weeks ago…"

Azula gritted her teeth, wondering what she'd gotten herself into… what she'd gotten Sokka into. Two points separated them from the Blind Bandit, but was it worth fighting the Savage Hook to earn them?

"I wanted to warn you about this before sending the challenge," said Shoji. "But circumstances were against me…"

"There's no need to worry, Shoji," said Azula, finding confidence even though she hardly felt any. "My gladiator has been involved in fights to the death before. It shouldn't be a problem."

"You sure?" asked Shoji, grimacing. "I can send a cancellation to the opposite sponsor…"

Azula pondered that option only for a short moment before shaking her head.

"We won't back down," she declared. "The fight may be difficult, but it's not impossible for us to win. The Hook has lost before, hasn't he?"

"Oh, yes… he has several losses so far," said Shoji, nodding. "Most of them are knock-outs, though. When he's in the Arena, the Savage Hook is worse than an untamed beast. Since he goes for the kill, the only way to stop him is to knock him out. I haven't heard of him running out of time in his fights…"

"So with him it's either kill or die?" asked Azula, sighing. "Doesn't seem to be a good perspective, but I'll keep this in mind. Do you know if he has any weaknesses that could be exploited in battle?"

"Uh, not really, no," said Shoji, thoughtful. "Other than the fact that he's reckless and breaks a lot of furniture…"

"So he's not the type to ponder what he's going to do?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I'd say it's mostly because he doesn't need to think things through," said Shoji, shrugging. "He charges at his enemies and aims to destroy them… that's all there is to him."

"There doesn't need to be much more than that if that's gotten him the job done so far," said Azula. "What would you suggest to defeat him?"

"Oh, m-me?" asked Shoji, surprised. Azula always asked him for information, but it was the first time she wanted to hear his opinion on any fighter. "Well, I… I think you should tell the Blue Wolf to keep it cool and think fast. He could beat the Hook if he's smart enough about it."

Azula nodded, seeing how Shoji's words were exactly what she had been thinking. Brute strength could be beaten if you made sure it didn't beat you first.

"I appreciate the information you've provided me with, Shoji. I'll see you again soon," said Azula, nodding towards him and turning to the doors.

"See you, Princess!" said Shoji, waving as she walked away.

There was a prominent frown in Azula's brow as she made her way back to her palanquin. Knowing Sokka's opponent would be a handful was a little worrisome. In a way, she wouldn't mind it if he got beaten by a stronger foe… but she wanted him to win. She needed him to win. Only two points stood between them and the Blind Bandit: if they made the most out of this fight against the Savage Hook, they could leave her behind at last and make their way to the top of the ranking without a fuss. But, even though she hated to admit it, she was completely powerless in a situation involving Sokka once again. It would be up to Sokka alone to put some distance between them and the Blind Bandit…


	30. Chapter 30

The knock on the door took Song by surprise. She had been busy working on lunch when she heard it. She left the duck she had been preparing, and she made to open the front door while wiping her hands with a handkerchief.

Her eyes snapped wide open when she found a Royal Guard at the other side of the threshold. And it wasn't any guard… the golden hem on his outfit gave away his identity right away.

"Oh… good day," said the Captain, bowing down respectfully towards Song, who gaped at him in surprise for a moment before imitating him.

"G-good day, Captain," she mumbled, her voice faltering when she realized she didn't know his name. Had he told her what he was called? She didn't remember if he had… "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"The gladiator has a fight today," replied the Captain, a frown on his face. "Didn't he inform you of that?"

"Uh… no, he didn't mention…" said Song, frowning. She hadn't been talking much with Sokka lately, but he should have told her about his upcoming combats. Maybe he had forgotten about the fight?

She peeked over the Captain's shoulder and caught sight of the Royal Procession. Everything looked the same on the outside, but Song could tell something was wrong. Her intuition told her Sokka's bad mood wouldn't improve anytime soon, and she was sure the Princess wouldn't put up with his crankiness if she was as mad at him as well…

"I'll get him for you," said Song, smiling weakly and turning around. She was about to head to Sokka's room when she caught sight of him at the foot of the stairs, fully clad in his black-and-blue armor, his helmet under his arm. The icy look in his eyes was as cold as ever.

"No need to go get me. I'm here," he muttered, walking to the door.

The Captain couldn't help but feel a surge of anger when he saw Sokka's face again. The frown on his features annoyed him thoroughly. He honestly didn't know what he had been expecting to see when he found himself face to face with the gladiator once more, but Sokka's apparent anger felt out of place to the Captain. He should be repenting for having hurt the Princess instead of being angry.

"Let's get this over with," grunted Sokka, glaring at the Captain as if he could tell that the man was scowling right back at him.

"Good luck…" Song whispered. She would have been distraught because Sokka hadn't told her about his fight, but the tension in the atmosphere was such that she didn't even think about reprimanding him for it.

"See you later, Song," Sokka muttered before walking past the Captain and heading towards the palanquin.

The Captain huffed in annoyance and shook his head, and Song bit her lip in concern.

"I'm sorry about that… he's been moody all this time, I don't know what to do about it…"

"It's nothing you should be apologizing for," said the Captain. "So long as he performs his duty as he's supposed to…"

"I'm sure he will," said Song, although at this point, she wasn't sure about anything regarding Sokka.

"Farewell," said the Captain bowing at her. "We will return with the gladiator in a few hours, as always."

"Sure," said Song, beaming. "Have a good day, Captain!"

"You too," said the Captain, smiling weakly under his hood and walking towards the palanquin as well.

Sokka's glare didn't leave the palanquin as he came closer and closer to it. He could see Azula's silhouette through the drapes, and he could see she hadn't turned her head around to regard him. Her back was perfectly straight, her legs were crossed before her, her arms folded over her chest and her eyes set on the road. Well, had she been acting any other way he would have been truly shocked. He didn't want to interact much with her, and he was sure that would be the only thing they could agree on these days. He had no idea what would happen when they came face to face again…

Azula had decided she would keep her body from reacting in any manner as she rode the palanquin. She didn't want to look at him. The mere thought of being near him again was enough for her heart to shatter once again. She had tried to pull herself together during the week they had been apart, but now she could tell it had been to no avail. Just knowing he was so close threatened to tear down the calm façade she had been composing these last few days.

Her eyes betrayed her and flickered towards him even though the rest of her body remained immobile. Dread sank within her chest when she glimpsed his shape through the palanquin drapes. Her hands balled into fists as she closed her eyes, refusing to let her heartache disturb her any further. They had business to attend to, and she wouldn't allow their fallout to cause more trouble than it already had. She'd had enough of that nonsense.

The Procession began moving when the Captain returned to formation. Sokka gritted his teeth as he followed the group, his brow still furrowed. There she was again, raised above everyone else. It was her rightful place as a Princess. It was where she would stay from now on, he could feel it… and it was where he wanted her to stay. They didn't belong together. They couldn't belong together. Especially after what had happened a week ago.

He didn't feel like looking at her again. Before this crisis he had wanted to steal as many glances at her elegant figure as he could get away with, but doing so now would only make him feel worse about himself. He was certain she could understand that, being as smart as she was… therefore, as soon as they had arrived to their destination, he had headed towards the Arena's gates without waiting for her to climb off the palanquin.

The palanquin bearers set down the vehicle and opened the drapes just as Sokka entered the Arena. Azula only caught sight of his back before the door closed behind him. She rolled her eyes and huffed, her chest heaving with anger. He had no shame left, did he? He couldn't even try to behave as he was supposed to, by letting her lead the way, seeing how she was the master and he was the slave. No, there seemed to be nothing left in that hollow head of his. All that talk of honor Piandao had given him had gone to waste, just as it had with her brother.

In a way, though, she was somewhat relieved. She had no idea how to face him again. Maybe he didn't know how to face her either. But Sokka running away like a coward only served to anger her more.

"Princess… do you wish to be escorted inside?" asked the Captain, but Azula shook her head and climbed off the palanquin.

"No need. Stay here, as you always do," she ordered him. She had no idea how this situation would develop, but she certainly didn't want the Captain to witness whatever might happen between her and Sokka this time.

"Yes, Princess," said the Captain, bowing down as she entered the Arena. He couldn't help but clench a fist, his gut telling him to follow her… but he was a soldier. He knew better than to disobey the Princess's commands.

Azula entered the vestibule and people gazed at her in admiration, as usual. She ignored them as she scanned the crowd, searching for Sokka and finding he was already heading downstairs. She shook her head and walked to Shoji's counter, trying to ignore the urge to run after Sokka and yell at him for being such an idiot.

"Princess," said Shoji, smiling. "Good to see you… uh, where's the Blue Wolf?"

"He went on ahead," Azula muttered, trying not to betray herself by showing how bothered she was by Sokka's attitude. "Are we due to fight already?"

"Oh, yes… right away, actually," said Shoji. "Your opponent still hasn't arrived, but you can go ahead and settle down while you wait for him."

He gave her a weak smile as he talked, trying to be reassuring but failing in the process. Azula didn't grin back at him.

"Alright then. Sign us in," she muttered. "Write down his usual choice for weaponry, I don't think he'll use anything unexpected today."

"Right away, Princess," said Shoji, nodding. He had already memorized Sokka's weapons after only ten fights. Azula didn't find this boy to be particularly interesting, but his prodigious memory was quite impressive. It seemed he knew every single one of the five hundred fighters by heart. He wrote down Sokka's file for the day before smiling again and exclaiming. "Good luck!"

Azula nodded and turned around, a sigh leaving her lips as she walked to the stairs. She felt sorely tempted to go upstairs and ignore that fool completely… but she had to tell him what the Savage Hook was capable of. The two-point gap between Sokka and the Blind Bandit could be closed down today, and telling the moron about Shoji's warnings might help her tilt the odds to their favor.

Her heart began beating faster when she walked downstairs. What was she doing? Could this be any use? Would it help their circumstances somehow? She rather doubted it. She could tell he was just as angry as she was, and he wouldn't respond positively to anything she could tell him. Still, she had to do this. She had no choice.

Sokka heard her footsteps as she walked down the hall, recognizing the sound instantly even when she wasn't nearby yet. He had to hold back the urge to panic. Was she going to tell him off for not waiting for her? Curses, why was she unable to understand he was trying to put some distance between them for their own good?

Azula entered the stand-by room to find Sokka fixing his gloves and armguards. He was staring pointedly at the sand pit, refusing to acknowledge her presence. Nevertheless, she knew he was fully conscious that she was there. Azula took a deep breath, at a loss for words. How was she supposed to start with this? Was there any way to break the uncomfortable silence? She had no idea if there was… but she had to try to break it somehow. It was obvious he wouldn't be the one to do it.

"Sokka…" she muttered, the name stinging her heart as she uttered it.

"You didn't have to come down here," he stated suddenly, taking her by surprise.

"As a matter of fact, I did," Azula growled back. "Perhaps if you hadn't stormed off as you did, this conversation wouldn't be developing as it is."

"Oh, so it's all on me…" said Sokka, rolling his eyes. "Yeah. Sounds about right."

"Will you stop behaving like the fool you are for ten seconds and just listen to what I have to say?" Azula was exasperated. She kept glaring daggers at the nape of his neck, catching sight of the scars she had placed there a long time ago. Oh, why hadn't she struck a vital point and killed him when she had the chance? If that had happened she wouldn't have suffered through so much because of him… letting him live was, without a doubt, the biggest mistake she had ever made.

"Sorry to say I can't stop being the fool I am. It'd be the same as if I asked you to stop being the princess you are. Can't do it, can you? It's engraved in your soul. Well, being a fool is my personal curse. Can't get out of it no matter what I do."

Azula brought a hand to her forehead, growing more impatient by the minute.

"Fine. But you can shut your mouth for now, or are you plainly unable to keep your jaws together?"

"You know, I've had about enough of that," Sokka grunted, turning to glare directly at her. "Stop it. I feel bad enough about myself these days for you to try and make it worse."

"Oh, you feel bad about yourself?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow and baring her teeth at him. "You're saying you feel so bad you've regretted every single decision you've made in the past two years? You're saying you feel as if your heart had been torn right off your chest and you can't stop the pain no matter what you do? Is that how bad you feel, Sokka? Is it?!"

Sokka froze for a moment, the emotions in Azula's eyes taking him by surprise.

"And the part that makes you feel the worst…" grunted Azula. "Is that you've brought this hell on yourself. You were naïve enough to read everything as you wanted to instead of thinking things through…"

"Azula…" he muttered, making her cringe when he whispered her name. His hand moved on its own accord towards her, but Azula jumped back at the sight of it. She wanted to keep those hands as far from her as possible. She wanted to keep Sokka altogether as far from her as possible.

"No, just… no," she said, shaking her head. "Forget it. This isn't worth it. You're not worth it. Go out there and get yourself killed for all I care."

"Az-…" Sokka started, but her fierce glare was enough for him to freeze where he was. She stormed out of the room without another word.

Sokka grimaced and struck his forehead with the palm of his hand. No, no, no… this didn't mean anything. It didn't mean she actually cared about him. It didn't mean her tears had been real. Yet why did his heart ache when he looked into those conflicted eyes? Why did he stare at that enticing gold that would always make him feel at a loss? Glancing into her eyes felt as if he were glancing straight into her soul. And he could see the disappointment, the anger and hurt that dwelled within her. And all of those emotions had been born because of him.

Yet it didn't change anything. It couldn't change anything. If he had hurt Azula so badly, it should serve to keep their relationship as platonic as it should be. Maybe she hated him now, but that wasn't going to change anything either. The words she had uttered a long time ago crossed his mind once again…

" _Nobody said you had to like me."_

If things had worked back then, they could work now as well. They were only supposed to be a gladiator and a sponsor. That was the way it should be. The way it should have remained at all times.

He sat down on a bench within the stand-by room and placed his head between his hands, wondering what on earth had he gotten himself into when he had accepted the deal she had offered him so long ago…

The Princess's frown deepened as she fueled her rage towards Sokka. To think he had dared accuse her of being selfish… he had no idea what he had put her through! And he didn't even care! Was it the first time he had ever taken into account that his words could hurt her? Yes, he had claimed she was poison… yet so was he. And he had stung her worse than he imagined. All she could do was resist and attempt to survive that venom of his that hoped to destroy her.

She entered the sponsor's balcony and dropped on her seat, throwing her head back as she tried to cool herself down. Letting his idiocy affect her would do her no good. She had to perform to her usual standard, never showing any weaknesses to anyone. He would likely learn his lesson about listening to her by the hand of the Savage Hook, and, hopefully, he would understand his place in the world after the wild lunatic she had heard about was through with him.

The door creaked when someone else entered the room. Azula hardly registered the sound, her mind so invested in hating Sokka that she hardly realized she wasn't alone anymore. She straightened her back and stared at the Arena determinedly, hoping the opposite sponsor would understand she wasn't to be bothered today.

"Ah, I can hardly believe I'm finally before you, Princess," said a man's voice, bringing Azula out of her musings. She frowned before letting her eyes shift towards her left to study the man she had challenged…

He looked to be at least twice her age. He had a Manchu hairdo: his long strands of black hair composed a braid that scrolled down to his waist. He also had a long and slender mustache, and his green eyes matched the green garments he wore, which Azula found quite inappropriate. Green was the color of the Earth Kingdom… which no longer existed. A gladiator could wear green to show he was an earthbender, but a sponsor doing the same was quite displeasing. It felt like an affront to her, to her father and to the Fire Nation.

"I'm afraid I can't say the same," Azula spoke viciously, her previous anger peaked when faced with a stranger she had come to dislike instantly. "I assume you're the Savage Hook's sponsor."

"Oh, where are my manners?" said the man, chuckling and shaking his head. "My name is Long Feng, and I'm…"

"Oh… Long Feng, you said?" Azula repeated, raising her eyebrows and eyeing him with further disapproval. "It seems I actually know who you are, despite what I thought…"

"You do?" asked the man, smiling as he took his seat next to Azula.

"You attempted to double-cross the Fire Nation when the war was at its peak," Azula muttered. "You were Ba Sing Se's Grand Secretariat, and also head of the Ba Sing Se law enforcers, the Dai Li. You were striking bargains with the Fire Nation in secret, knowing there was no way you would withstand the power of our armies if they attacked your city, yet you hardly ever kept true to your own deals. When the comet came for the second time, Ba Sing Se and all its leaders were forced to surrender to our forces, and even though you had already proven your quality as a traitor to your own, you sought to retain all your titles and positions by claiming allegiance to the Fire Nation. My father knew better than to trust a man like you, though."

"I'd say otherwise," muttered Long Feng. "I had nothing to gain by betraying the Fire Nation once more…"

"You had nothing to gain by betraying us in the first place," Azula declared.

"There are risks a man must take when he knows he's playing for the losing team," said Long Feng. "It's no easy feat to juggle your fate between two sides of the same war."

"In that case, you only prove you're not too bright," said Azula. "If you knew you were standing on the losing side, it would have been easier to join the winning side than to hop from one nation to the other recklessly."

"Betraying my people wasn't as simple as you might believe," said Long Feng. "Even though I was still on the losing side, odds could have been tipped to our favor eventually. Betraying them right away was too dangerous a decision for me to make."

"Which is all I need to know to understand how unreliable and unworthy of being part of the Fire Nation you are," said Azula. "If you can't make up your mind about how you're going to play your game, you don't even deserve to be a player."

"Harsh and powerful, just as the rumors said," Long Feng commented, smiling. "I only hope your gladiator is as sharp as your tongue, Princess."

Azula clenched the armrests of her chair, her nails digging into the soft fabric at the reminder of her gladiator. Oh, he wasn't as sharp as her, that much she knew. Yet…

"Why do you believe he should be that sharp?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, the man I sponsor is not like me, Princess," said Long Feng, chuckling. "He knows what side he's playing for."

"And what side might that be?"

"The side that is willing to slice his opponent to shreds," said Long Feng, smirking cruelly.

Azula frowned, wondering if he truly believed Sokka could be reduced to nothingness so easily. His trash talk was somewhat worrisome, yet Azula kept reminding herself that he was a betrayer. He wasn't to be trusted.

"He sounds far more reliable than you, if that's the case," said Azula, just as another person entered the room.

"Princess, Lord Long Feng…" said an Arena staff member, bowing down at them. Azula frowned at hearing him address the man by her side so respectfully. Despite Ozai had removed him from his seat of power, Long Feng remained in control of the enforcers and retained a lordship he had been granted by Earth King Kuei many years before. She hadn't approved of that decision when it had been made, and she most certainly did not approve of it now. "What shall the time limit be?"

"Oh, twenty minutes should suffice to enjoy the show," said Long Feng, smirking. "Don't you agree, Princess?"

"I suppose," Azula muttered, her frown growing stronger. The way Long Feng smiled… it was enough for her to tell he basked in the violence. He genuinely enjoyed the gladiator fights.

"Twenty minutes it is," said the man, writing the number down before leaving the room with another bow.

"Where were we…? Ah, you said he was reliable, didn't you?" said Long Feng. "I wouldn't say he is, unless you're relying on him to butcher your gladiator. You are most welcome to trust him in that regard."

"You seem to believe blindly in him…"

"I believe in his wild side," said Long Feng, smirking. "He has gone mad with grief, my gladiator. His village was burned down by the Fire Nation when he was but a boy. He tried to fight against the Fire Nation in his teenage years, but he was caught and forced to become a gladiator. Several friends of his died upon capture… if you remind him of it enough, his black heart will begin to beat wildly and he will attack anyone that stands in his way until he satisfies his thirst for revenge. But that thirst of his is unquenchable. His rage has made him completely oblivious to reason. He only cares for blood and death."

"And you seem to be pleased by that," said Azula, raising an eyebrow. "Do you thrive in other people's misfortune, or are you simply aroused by the thought of blood?"

"When you're in a seat of power, Princess, you merely watch as everything else develops beneath you. Pain, misfortune, suffering… they're amusing to witness from afar, are they not?"

Azula's nostrils flared at those words. She hated to realize she had used to think in the same way as this man. She had been convinced that emotions were useless, just as her father had taught her… and she would sit back and witnessed the way others drowned in pain, enjoying the show just as Long Feng was hoping to do right now. But she wasn't that girl anymore. She knew the toll emotions could have in a person. She was still paying the price for having feelings for that stupid gladiator of hers. Enjoying the way others suffered merely for entertainment was the practice that had led the Fire Nation to create the Gladiator business. And what good came from watching pain? What good came from agony? A long time ago she would have given those questions a formidable answer. But as she was now, she couldn't answer them.

The golden grids from the stand-by rooms moved upwards as the man with the megaphone introduced both fighters. Azula was surprised when her heart didn't jump at the sight of Sokka. It seemed her conversation with Long Feng had been the first thing to get Sokka out of her mind effectively in a very long time.

Sokka took a deep breath and looked up at the sponsors' balcony. There she was, looking troubled and angry. He sighed, realizing they needed to talk this matter out as soon as possible. At this point he was willing to shut up and let her say everything she needed to say… but they had to solve this somehow. Perhaps he had managed to ascertain they would never be together, but this had gone much farther than it should have. There had to be a way to return to what they had been before…

"… START!"

He had been ignoring the man on the megaphone, not paying any heed to what he was saying. It was only with that last scream that Sokka realized he had entered the Arena and he was about to face off against the Savage-…

Sokka's loss of concentration almost cost him his head within a second into the match. His opponent had attempted to strike him with an impressive sword, a long blade with its tip shaped as a hook. The gladiator had jumped at him so quickly that Sokka couldn't respond by doing anything but bending over backwards to avoid getting his throat slit.

Sokka jumped back, trying to put some distance between himself and his rival, but the man lunged towards him, his two hook swords in tow as he glared at him with crazed and unfocused eyes. Was it Sokka's idea, or were his pupils larger than they should have been?

The Savage Hook's shaggy brown hair shook as he tried to hack at Sokka diagonally. Sokka kept jumping back, avoiding every blow that threatened to maim him. His hand darted over his shoulder quickly and he released his sword for its sheath just in time to parry the blow from the Hook's left sword, but the man's right arm slid towards an opening. He delivered a deep gash in Sokka's sword arm, the first place he found bare skin for him to cut.

Sokka yelled out loud at the unexpected pain, his hand growing too weak to continue holding his black sword. He pulled away from the Hook, snarling at him and performing a barrel roll to pick up his sword with his left hand and knock his opponent to the ground. But rolling on the floor served no purpose, since the Hook hopped right over Sokka's frame and turned to attack him again. Sokka was forced to take his sword into his left hand to fight back somehow. This man was a monster. He didn't stop, he didn't slow down. He simply attacked with a single thought in his mind: murder.

Sokka grimaced upon this realization: he was going for the kill. He was really trying to kill him.

And using only one sword to fend off the Hook would be no use. He had to even the fight somehow, although his right arm felt so numb he was afraid he wouldn't be able to hold his own against his opponent. He couldn't quite feel how the blood trickled down his arm, but could hear it dripping on the sand. For some reason, he could hear the blood although he couldn't hear the crowd. His senses were focused in the combat and nothing more.

He took a few steps back, wary of his opponent. His gaze flickered towards the sponsor's balcony, although he didn't get to see Azula properly. In order to set things right with her, he had to survive today. In order to return home one day, he had to survive. He had come too far to fall before a wild psycho with twin hook-swords.

And thus, he forced Azula out of his mind completely for the first time in months. He had to focus on the fight and on the fight alone.

It took a lot of effort to move his right arm, yet he clasped his sword with it as his left reached out for his boomerang. It might be no good to fight dually against the Hook with two different weapons, but he had no other choice. The Savage Hook lunged at him again with a roar, attacking Sokka's right flank in hopes to worsen his injury.

Sokka spun around just as the Hook came closer and he delivered a blow with his boomerang at the Hook's unprotected head. The boomerang was bloody after digging into the Hook's skull, but Sokka didn't have time to process that. As he fell to the ground due to the impact, one of the Hook's blades found its way to Sokka's neck and the hook's tip lodged itself in the small gap between his neck and his armor, injuring his collarbone badly before Sokka could detach it, groaning in pain once more.

The Hook shook his head, having it hard to see properly as his own blood ran down his face. He wiped it away with his hand, albeit knowing his eyesight would be blurred by red again shortly, but he only needed to clear his vision enough to attack the Blue Wolf once more.

He yelled and brought one of his blades down on Sokka, who parried the blow with difficulty while using Space Sword. He tossed his boomerang at his opponent, attempting to injure him in the same manner as he had hurt him earlier. The weapon struck the Hook in the ear, and blood oozed out of it. Had he cut his earlobe? Sokka didn't know and neither did he care. He brought out his knife now, seeing how the boomerang hadn't returned to him, and he tried to use the Hook's momentary confusion to his advantage.

He had to jump back when the Hook linked his swords together by their hooks and swung them around dangerously, keeping Sokka at bay effectively. His fighting style was wild and rash… but the Hook seemed to be stronger than Sokka. He wouldn't win at this rate.

"It would seem your fighter knows how to bite back," said Long Feng, smirking. "I don't know when was the last time someone managed to cut himself a slice of Jet…"

Azula tried to remain impassive at his words, but he was truly disturbing. She wanted to think Sokka deserved getting cut and hurt by his opponent, wanted to keep thinking he had asked for it… but the Savage Hook's brutality was beyond what she had expected. The man would only recoil at the pain for a couple of seconds before attempting to slay his foe again. His skill with his weapons was remarkable and terrifying at the same time. Could Sokka win this fight? Could he really?

Sokka grimaced when he realized the best way he could have attacked his opponent right now would have been with his boomerang… which was out of his reach at the moment. How more foolish cold he get? An idea came to his head when he realized the handle of the second sword was spinning very close to him…

He stabbed the end of Jet's weapon with his knife, his aim impressing even him when he managed to nail the sword's handle to the ground. But the Savage Hook lifted his other hook sword, releasing them from their joint combination and flinging his second sword upwards. The sword's momentum helped it slip out of the grasp of Sokka's knife. The sharp edges of the hilt nearly sliced Sokka's nose as the sword flew overhead.

Sokka snarled and lifted his knife again just as Jet caught his sword in his free hand. Despite being the wild brute he seemed to be, the man had some brains too. His skill was extraordinary. No wonder he was so high in the ranking.

The Savage Hook attacked again, unwilling to take any breaks. He attempted to stab Sokka's face several times, and the Blue Wolf parried and avoided the blows even though he was starting to feel weary from the blood loss. There was a pulsating pain all over his left shoulder and his right arm felt almost numb. What made the Hook most dangerous wasn't his wild side: it was the fact that he knew exactly how to cut up his opponent's odds with his blades.

The Savage Hook brought down both his swords on Sokka at the same time, and the Blue Wolf had no choice but to hold the blow back with his two weapons, his arms trembling as he did. Sokka felt the sweat dropping from his forehead, saw the furious look on his rival's face, realized he was in danger of getting killed… it was all too reminiscent of his life as an amateur gladiator. Back then he had been determined on surviving no matter the cost, and he would always find a way to defeat his enemy… could he find a way to beat this wild beast?

Jet pushed him, the rage in his eyes growing stronger. The blood on his face only made his appearance more intimidating. Sokka used all his strength to push back in hopes to get Jet off him… but the Hook ducked suddenly, making Sokka tumble forward. Then he hooked his blades around Sokka's sword and knife to keep him from using his weapons. And, crouching on the sand as he was, the Savage Hook stabbed Sokka's thighs with the sharp tips of his swords' hilts.

Sokka grimaced, refusing to scream when he felt the pain running up and down his body. Were the hilts of the swords digging into his bones? He couldn't tell for certain. He tried to pull away, but the pain was too strong. He ended up falling on his back, the swords still attached to him, and the Hook dragged them down his legs, tearing his skin open…

Azula's eyes grew wider and wider as she witnessed the way Sokka's body was being ravaged by his rival. He was getting sliced to shreds, just as Long Feng had told her before…

And the man had the guts to laugh under his breath right next to her. He was actually amused by the fight. He was enjoying the slaughter as if it were a stage play. Azula resisted the urge to electrocute him right where he was, revolted completely by the man. He would be even more amused if she let him see how disturbed she was by this mad carnage.

Sokka had no idea what to do, his body unwilling to respond to the pain. On a desperate whim, he took the bomb he had carried on his belt and he threw it down at Jet's head as powerfully as he could. The smoke released by the bomb took the man by surprise for long enough for Sokka to sit up and detach the blades from his legs, his fingers getting cut by the sharp weapons in the process.

He crawled out of the smoke cloud, reaching out for the nearest furniture piece, one of those unusual wooden constructs that had never been much use. He used it to force himself back on his feet, but his legs kept giving away. If it weren't his legs, his arms would be the ones to fail him. No… it couldn't end like this. He couldn't end like this. He wouldn't go down, not without fighting back.

He finally got to his feet again, cringing as he felt the sand grains seething into the wounds on his legs…

"Bastard cut my pants…" he said, chuckling as he thought of how ridiculous it was to be upset about the pair of pants instead of his injuries.

Using the smoke to get away from the Hook's grasp had been a good idea… for now. But it didn't seem such a great thought when he feared his rival would hop out of nowhere to tear his throat open. He grimaced and shook his head, refusing to falter. He had to win. There was nothing else to it. Losing wasn't an option. The Hook had decided it would be kill or die… and he sure as hell wasn't going to die today.

The smoke dissipated and Sokka caught sight of the Hook's figure. He was coughing due to the smoke, but he had his swords at the ready, looking around himself in hopes to find his prey. Sokka gulped and realized he had to give the Hook the same treatment he had delivered to him. He had to cut him where it hurt. Killing the beast by the head was no use if the beast's limbs continued moving.

He stumbled as he made his way towards the Hook as silently as he could, but he heard him anyways. The Hook spun around and parried Sokka's sword with his sword's hilt, making Sokka stare at him in despair. How many uses did those damned swords have?!

The Hook swung his other sword at Sokka's neck from below, the hook at the end of the weapon getting attached to the edge of the Blue Wolf's helmet to fling it off his head. The rim of the blade grazed Sokka's neck and cheekbone, leaving another large gash on him, but Sokka didn't care. He struck the Hook's ribs with his knife, thankful to discover his armor wasn't sturdy at his flanks. The Hook yelped before flinging down his sword on Sokka's breastplate, trying to tear it off, but Sokka continued prodding at his ribs, twisting the knife inside him until the Hook was left with no choice but to push him away with his other sword.

Sokka fell back, dropping on the ground right next to the well. He helped himself up with the help of the furniture once more, his eyes never leaving his enemy. Jet removed the knife from his body and glared at it angrily. He tossed it aside and moved towards Sokka, limping, to the Blue Wolf's satisfaction. At last, his attack had taken its toll on his enemy.

"That all you've got…?" Sokka asked, reaching out for his last weapon, his club. If he was lucky he might get around picking up his previous weapons, but his club and his sword would have to suffice for now. If it came to it, he would use his teeth and nails to defeat his rival, but he wouldn't lose. He refused to lose.

The Hook grew even angrier at Sokka's bravado, and he yelled loudly before running towards Sokka again, his killer intent enhanced now.

Sokka would have wanted to duck and make Jet fall into the well, just as he had almost done while facing the Eastern Wayfarer, but his legs wouldn't respond so quickly this time. He lifted his sword and club, his injured fingers stinging him as he braced himself for the impact against the Hook's weapons.

The Hook avoided the club, realizing it was quite a heavy weapon, too heavy to be used by a man who had lost that much blood. Tiring him out should make him drop that weapon, and it would render him powerless with only one sword. Once he couldn't defend himself, the Blue Wolf would be at his mercy.

Sokka tried to fling his club at the Hook's head, thinking he just had to deliver a strong enough blow to defeat him… but Jet kept dodging his blows. It was no use, the club was too heavy and large for him to wield when his left clavicle had been hurt so badly and his arm was begging for mercy.

Almost unwillingly, Sokka let go of the club, knowing he would be signing his death warrant both by dropping it or by continuing using it. But he had gotten himself backed into a corner, and wasting his energies with the club would be no use when he could save his strength and pick up his boomerang or his knife later. He lunged at the Hook with Space Sword, trying to strike him on his still unhurt flank, but his sword was caught between his blades. The two hooks were keeping his weapon in place, making Sokka grimace as he tried to find a way to release himself from Jet's grip. The Savage Hook seemed pleased by having the Blue Wolf at his mercy, and he must have begun wondering how to finish him off…

But Sokka suddenly jumped towards him, Space Sword sliding through the hooks of Jet's swords and digging its way into their owner's stomach, the powerful metal piercing through the armor much like he had cut Kyoshi's Heir's sword in two.

Jet snarled and released his opponent's sword, and he attempted to chuck Sokka's head off by moving both his swords towards the base of his neck. Sokka managed to tilt his neck back in time, but the rims of the swords caught his chin and drew two red lines under his jaw.

Sokka stumbled back for a moment, Space Sword leaving Jet's stomach. He had been about to attack again, trying to ignore the pain in his new injuries, but he found himself knocked to the floor by a knuckle-fist delivered by the Savage Hook. He had used his sword's hilt to make his punch even deadlier, and he succeeded in slashing Sokka's cheek and having him bite his tongue accidentally upon the unexpected hit. Sokka spat blood out, his hair strands coming off his wolf's tail. The Hook attempted to stab his legs again, but Sokka miraculously managed to roll away, pushing himself up thanks to surges of adrenaline he didn't know he had in him. He caught sight of his boomerang a few feet away… if he could reach it, maybe he could survive this fight. If he could even the ground between him and the Savage Hook, maybe he could win somehow…

But the Hook attacked him again, his swords aiming at Sokka's head. He was really intent on beheading him, wasn't he? Well, it was only logical. Sokka's armor was far sturdier than his, and he had no choice but to lunge at the unprotected skin on Sokka's neck, legs and arms…

Who was winning? Who was losing? Sokka honestly had no idea at this point. But it didn't matter. The outcome to this fight wouldn't be decided by the judges, that was a given. The one to survive would be the one to win, just as it had been in the old times. And just as in old times, Sokka would survive. The image of Azula appeared in his mind again, but not in the way it used to do it back when he had been in the Amateur League. Back then he had pictured her smirking cruelly at him, mocking him for being weak… now he could see her tears. He could see her anger. He could see how disappointed she was in him. He might never be able to make up for the pain he had caused her… but he had to win here to avoid letting her down as her gladiator as well. It was the only thing in which she would rely on him these days. It was the only thing he was any use at. He couldn't fail her here.

Sokka ducked when the Hook reached him, and his head dug into the wound on his opponent's stomach. Jet's blood drenched his hair, making him grimace in disgust, but he made use of his rival's momentum to flip him over his head and throw him on his back on the sand.

Jet's head was the first thing to collide with the ground. His entire body weight was supported by his head only momentarily, but it was enough to overwhelm him for once. He had almost let go of his swords due to the hard fall he had taken, and the blood that oozed out from his wounds was staining the sand around him, but even so, he found the strength to turn around and stand up. He had to keep fighting. He would never falter.

Sokka stumbled his way to his boomerang, clasping it with his maimed fingers. Blood clung onto the weapon just as it had a long time ago, when he had killed a man for the first time… He flinched as his legs became unable to hold his weight, and he fell on his knees, pain making his eyesight blurry.

By chance he looked upwards… and he found himself staring at the sponsor's balcony.

He could see her clearly. Maybe he couldn't see anything else… but he could see her. He could see the concern in her eyes, the way her already pale skin was losing its color as she witnessed a bloody combat worthy of the strongest fighters in the ranking. Her red lips seemed to form a name… he had no idea if she was actually calling out for him, but he could hear it… he could hear her voice calling him. He could hear her asking him not to give up even if his body refused to respond. And he had to obey… he would obey. For she was his Princess, and he was her warrior.

He jumped to his feet at the right timing to stop Jet from bringing his hooks on him. Sokka grimaced and pushed him away with the weapon he had recovered, his fingers paining him further due to how hard he was holding his boomerang's edge. His eyes began glistening with rage too, much like Jet's, and he found himself powered by strength he didn't know he still had in him.

He brought down his sword on Jet's second weapon and they pushed at each other, doing their best to find the perfect opening…

The Savage Hook's leg suddenly struck Sokka's stomach, making him lose his breath… yet he kept his arms up, barring his attack. Jet continued kicking at him until Sokka leaped and took his foot between his knees, flipping him over and knocking him to the floor unexpectedly.

Jet was about to attack from the ground when he discovered he couldn't move his arm… something was stopping it. He looked down to find that the something was the edge of Sokka's boomerang, hacked into his skin. Jet yelled and pushed Sokka off him, but the pain on his arm, ribs and stomach was too much for him to remain as agile as before. He stood up and gritted his teeth, dropping one of his swords shortly to throw the boomerang away, but as he tried to take the weapon off him, his previously uninjured arm was met by a black blade. Sokka had no idea if he had pierced his bone with the powerful thrust, but he had the feeling he probably had.

The Hook shouted and tried to hit Sokka with his remaining blade. Sokka took the boomerang from Jet's skin and used it to strike him on the shoulder. His armor protected him from most the blow, but it made him recoil regardless. Sokka aimed towards his neck now, finding skin he could tear at, and he attacked without second thoughts. The Hook yelped in pain and fell to his knees, Sokka still striking him at full power.

It took a moment for Sokka to realize the Hook wasn't holding either of his swords anymore. Jet still seemed to strive to attack him, but his eyesight was clouded and he couldn't sense anything around him anymore. He stretched a hand towards Sokka, finding his leg and clawing at him, just hoping to damage him a little further…

Sokka slammed his sword's hilt down on Jet's hand and raised the blade, ready to deliver the final blow… when he realized he didn't have to deliver the final blow. His despair to survive dissipated as he stared at the Hook's writhing figure at his feet, and he took a few steps back as Jet collapsed, unable to move anymore.

Sokka's chest heaved as he stared at the man who had nearly taken his life. He had spent his adrenaline and his every emotion in the deadly combat. His legs gave away beneath him, his mind becoming clear for the first time in what felt like ages.

He'd had the chance to kill a man. And he hadn't taken it.

He had always feared that, whenever his vicious side took over him, he would become completely unreasonable, just like the man he had just defeated. Back in Hui Yi he had killed more men than he could count, and he had always told himself afterwards that it had been the only way. The blood staining his hands would always disgust him, making him wonder if he had become a monster or if he still knew how to hold back from killing a man if he was given the choice.

Knowing there still seemed to be a shred of humanity within him was enough to appease his self-hatred, if only for a moment.

"T-the winner is the Blue Wolf!" the man of the megaphone shouted, not sure if Sokka would drop unconscious as well. Upon seeing he wouldn't faint, at least, not yet, the man stumbled and gave out his declaration.

"What a magnificent combat," said Long Feng, smiling and bringing out a bag of money. "You have quite a powerful gladiator. It's what I should have expected from the Princess, to be able to find such a strong fighter."

Azula grimaced at his words. That snake didn't even care for his gladiator's wins or losses… it wasn't even about the money. It was only about the blood. He simply enjoyed the sight of two slaves cutting each other up in attempts to survive in the sand… She had hoped these sorts of people would keep to the Amateur League. It was a far more appropriate place for heartless bastards like this man.

"I look forward to pitting our gladiators against each other on another occasion," said Long Feng, standing up and leaving the bag of money on his now vacant seat. "Farewell, Princess Azula."

Azula didn't reply, sickened as she was by the man. She had never thought she would see Sokka fighting like that again. She couldn't believe he had been driven to such extremes. He had won almost miraculously… she had no idea how he had managed to stand up with those long gashes running down his legs. How much blood had he lost? How had he found the strength to keep moving?

She saw how the staff members helped both gladiators out of the sand pit, picking up their weapons as they led them to the waiting rooms, which had pretty much turned into hospital wings by now. Azula's hands slid up to her hair as she shook her head, stuck in denial. Yes, they had surpassed the Blind Bandit now… but at what cost?

The horrible wounds she had seen Sokka sustain filled her eyes with tears. Why? Why did she feel like crying when she had been expecting him to get badly hurt? He deserved the pain… he did. He had it coming…

But she didn't want to see him in pain. She couldn't bear it. It didn't matter how hard she tried to hate him, she couldn't do it. Her mind wanted him to suffer in the same way she had because of everything he had put her through these days… but her heart couldn't stand seeing him in pain.

She shook her head again, desperate. Nothing made sense anymore. She had become a living contradiction. He had turned her world upside down without her awareness, turned her into someone she could hardly recognize anymore. And after meeting Long Feng, she was actually glad to have changed so much. To think she had been anything like that man…

Her legs trembled as she stood up, picking up the green bag with the money. She gritted her teeth and left the room, feeling her strength failing her as she headed towards the waiting rooms, hoping the medical staff would be healing him already.

She gazed into every room, coming across the one where the Savage Hook was being tended in. Azula was surprised to see almost a dozen doctors were working on keeping him alive, yet, as expected, there was no sight of Long Feng in the room. She walked away to the next room and she finally found Sokka, sitting on a couch, alone.

"Where are…?!" she gasped, looking around in shock. "Why aren't you being treated?!"

"They're all… with the Hook," replied Sokka, his voice sounding weaker than usual.

"There were at least ten physicians working on him! I'm pretty damn sure one of them could be healing you instead!"

"He was unconscious… he's a priority…" Sokka whispered, repeating what he had heard the men saying.

"That's bullshit!" Azula yelled, careless about her cursing. "You're my gladiator! They should be tending to you right now!"

"C-could you… stop yelling…?" Sokka asked, grimacing.

"Oh, now you're going to tell me to stop yelling?!" Azula shouted, rolling her eyes and walking through the room, searching for the medical equipment she knew was stored in there somewhere. "No way in hell I'll stop yelling, you useless jerk…"

"Uh… I beat the guy, you know?" he muttered, closing his eyes. "I could've done… a lot worse"

"Oh, really?!" Azula shrieked, taking a humid towel from a drawer which she slammed shut roughly. "Well, guess what, fool? You could have done a lot better!"

"What are you going to…?" asked Sokka, frowning a little as Azula dropped beside him, the towel on her hand.

"Just… get that damn thing off" she said, taking hold of the armor and making Sokka wince.

"Ow! C-could you be… a little more careful?" he muttered, lifting his arms as she helped him remove the metallic plates that covered his body, revealing his badly bruised and cut-up body.

"Why the hell should I be?" she grunted. "I shouldn't even be doing this, damn it! You had it coming! You deserve to be in pain!"

"W-what? Oh, come on…" Sokka grunted. "A-are you actually glad I got… sliced up like that?"

Azula had been about to clean the wounds on his face when he said that. She dropped the towel on his lap, surprising him. Her nails dug into the couch, her head tilted downwards.

"Y-you think… you think I'm glad? Y-you really think…"

"A… Azula…"

"You're the worst! YOU REALLY ARE THE WORST!" she screamed, unable to hold back the tears of rage anymore. "I sure as hell am NOT glad you're like this! And if you weren't such an asshole, maybe you wouldn't be as hurt as you are!"

"W-what?" asked Sokka, shocked.

"I went down to that stand-by room just to tell you the Hook was a murderer! I was trying to warn you to be careful, that he had killed his opponents before! But you didn't listen! YOU WOULDN'T LISTEN!"

Sokka's eyes widened as he heard those words. So she hadn't gone to him just to talk about their situation… she had been trying to warn him about the Hook. Even though things had been so strained between them, she had been trying to keep to her end of their usual bargain. She had wanted to give him the edge she always provided him with, information about his enemy. And he had been stupid enough to let it go to waste for trying to read Azula beforehand… how many foolish mistakes had he made these past few days by being stupid enough to think he knew her? Why had he been stupid enough to believe he understood her? No, he didn't. He didn't know her. She remained a mystery to him, and now he was sure she would choose to remain one forever…

… Because as he saw the way her tears fell from her eyes once more, he realized she wasn't playing at anything. Those tears were real, as real as every wound he had sustained today. And her tears had been just as real a week ago, too.

He had already been disgusted with himself for most of what he had done… but now he realized the worst of his crimes had been his hurtful ways towards her. No, she hadn't meant to make him think she controlled him when she told him to have fun on his date. That kiss had been her last resort… she had been showing him what he truly meant to her. She had done it because she wanted to be with him. The words had been a display of her jealousy… because he had been flirting like a fool with another woman. Because she had thought what they had was special. And it was… even when they couldn't be together.

And he had misunderstood everything. He had ruined everything thanks to that overthinking brain of his. She had carried him on her back after Toph had pummeled him, even though she could have simply ordered someone else to do it… why had she done it herself? He hadn't been able to understand it… until now.

He hadn't been the only one smitten in this particular relationship.

And she had been the one to pay the price that night. Every damn thing he had said to her… what had gotten into him? Sure, he hadn't understood her intent by kissing him… but that hadn't entitled him to hurt her as he had. What he had said… as he looked back on it he couldn't help but be horrified. He had thought his dark side only came out in the Arena, whenever he had to claw his way to survive… but it had appeared that night as well. And all he could do now was regret every little thing he'd done, every little thing he'd said…

"Y-you're such an asshole… you… you just… I hate you…" she whispered, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

He was the worst, just as she had said. She really had cared about him. She had. And he had betrayed her trust in every possible way…

Not knowing what else to do, he took her body in his arms and brought her close, disregarding the pain that threatened to knock him unconscious any second now. Holding her against his body as she cried made his throat burn as well, tears dropping from his own eyes.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered, his head going to her hair as he hugged her with the little strength he had left. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"

Hearing those words only made her cry harder. She wanted to get away from him, out of those arms and run as far as she could. She didn't want to see him again for the rest of her life. He was the worst thing to ever happen to her…

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

But she couldn't pull away no matter if she kept telling herself to get off his grip. He was weak, it wouldn't be so hard to push him off! But just as she wanted to get away from him, she wanted to stay with him too. She wanted to keep hearing him whisper those words in her ear. What was he apologizing for, exactly? There were so many things he had to repent for…

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

But even if he had said those words for each and every time he had cut a deeper wound into her heart, she couldn't forgive him. She wouldn't forgive him. She had bothered trusting him, thinking of him as her partner… and he had thanked her by shattering her heart, by letting her down in every possible way, by proving her trust had been futile…

Trust was for fools. Fear was the only reliable way.

"I'm sorry, Azula… I'm sorry…"

He kept whispering into her ear even though he knew nothing he said could be of any use. The damage had already been done.

"… I'm sorry…"


	31. Chapter 31

Sokka cringed when Song placed herbal moisture on his legs' damaged skin. He knew the treatment would help him in the long run, but as it was, it only enhanced his pain. Song had been doing her best to cure him for about three days, using her talents as a healer to treat his wounds and ease the fever he had been suffering from, but he was still far from recovering completely.

Song hadn't questioned him regarding why he had ended up in such bad shape this time around, but Sokka could tell she was waiting until he felt better to ask him about it. She kept him resting at most times, only waking him once in a while to change his bandages and give him medicines. Due to how badly wounded he was, the meals Song provided him with weren't as plentiful as usual, but, since Sokka's appetite had been faltering for a while now, he didn't complain about his new diet.

Song wiped away the ointments after leaving them on Sokka's skin for several minutes. Sokka groaned a little as she used a wet towel to remove the moisture.

"I… I never got around asking…" muttered Sokka, panting as the pain flared up and down his extremities. "Are my bones damaged…?"

"On your legs?" asked Song. "No, they aren't. Whatever hurt you didn't penetrate your skin deep enough to reach your bones. You should count yourself lucky."

"I do… I was sure those blades had reached them," said Sokka, chuckling a little and laying down on the couch.

Song looked at him, concerned. He had been brought home by the Royal Guards, but the Princess hadn't come with them. She hadn't dropped by to check on his recovery either. Seeing how Sokka's behavior had changed again after this fight, Song had somewhat expected it to mean their relationship was back to normal… but when she studied Sokka closely, she could see there was something else bothering him now, something other than the injuries he had sustained. There was regret in his eyes. There was a hint of sadness beneath his reassuring smiles whenever she asked him if her treatment hurt too much.

And seeing how he didn't seem to be as displeased as he had been before that fight, maybe it was finally the right time to delve into what had happened between him and the Princess…

"Sokka…"

"Hm?" he muttered, his eyes closing as he breathed heavily.

"C-can I ask you something?"

"I… I suppose," he replied, frowning slightly and looking at Song warily.

"What… what happened to you these past few weeks?" she asked. "You weren't acting like yourself."

Sokka would have sighed if he could have done so without agonizing. Even breathing was painful right now.

"Yeah, I guess I've been acting like a jerk these days."

"Well, I wouldn't go so far…"

"Not so much towards you," said Sokka, closing his eyes again. "Towards other people. Towards people who didn't deserve it."

"Are you talking about the Princess?" asked Song, biting her lip.

Sokka opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, images of Azula flashing in his mind. Song was shocked to see the regret she had previously seen in his eyes was suddenly growing stronger than before. Maybe she really shouldn't have asked anything…

"Not only her… but mostly, her," said Sokka. "I've been making so many mistakes lately I can't even keep count anymore. I ruined everything, Song… everything. I was stupid enough to think I understood her. I didn't understand her, and I don't think I ever will. She'll never forgive me for what I've done… and heck, I don't see why she should."

"W-what did you do to her?" asked Song, shocked.

"I… I hurt her, Song," he muttered. "I made her cry. I was so lost in my own point of view that I never tried to think of what I was putting her through. And now… now it's too late. There's nothing I can do to repair this."

"Sokka…" whispered Song, lowering her gaze.

"She trusted me and I betrayed her, Song…" said Sokka, grimacing as tears stung his eyes. "I ruined everything."

"Is that why she… why she won't come to see you?" asked Song.

"She has no reason to come see me," muttered Sokka. "I earned these wounds. I deserve every single one of them."

"But… but you're her gladiator," said Song. "If only because of that, she should care about you."

"I don't know if I'm her gladiator anymore," said Sokka. "I don't think she wants anything else to do with me. And I can't blame her if she doesn't."

"But…" Song muttered, not knowing what else to say. This couldn't end like this. She could see Sokka didn't want it to end either, but he didn't have the courage to fight anymore. He truly believed there was nothing he could do to make up for his mistakes. And maybe there wasn't, but… "If you really ruined everything, at the very least you should go see her and tell her how sorry you are for having hurt her."

"That won't be any use…" said Sokka. "What good would it be at this point? She doesn't want anything to do with me. She probably doesn't want to see me ever again…"

"You regret whatever you did to her, don't you?" asked Song, raising an eyebrow.

"With every fiber of my being… well, with each fiber the Hook didn't chop off me," he said.

"Well… even if there won't be anything else you can do for her, at the very least you can go to her and apologize, and ask if there's anything you can do to make it up to her," said Song.

"I don't think there's anything that could be done about this," Sokka muttered. "I probably could spend the rest of my life trying to make amends, but she'd never forgive me anyway."

"Even so, Sokka… you have to try," said Song, biting her lip. "You can't let things end like this. Even if it takes your whole life to fix it, you have to try."

Sokka frowned a little, Song's words stinging him just as her healing balm had. He doubted Azula would take kindly to him attempting to make up for his mistakes. She had already given him too many chances, and he sure as hell didn't feel worthy of another one. But Song was right… he couldn't let go of this as it was. Azula's tears haunted him still… he had hurt her in ways nobody had ever hurt her before.

That was why he had to go to her once again and try to set things right. He was sure it would take him his every breath to try and restore what he had damaged, but he would go to any ends to make sure that, one day, Azula's tears would turn into smiles instead.

* * *

"Princess, the meeting will begin in fifteen minutes," said the Captain, bowing down to Azula as he delivered his message.

Azula nodded and placed her hairpiece on the topknot the servants had just finished arranging. Nowadays she would choose to wear a half-knot, allowing her long hair to slither down her back, while her golden crown nested within a smaller knot. But seeing how she had to attend a very important war meeting today, she had decided to return to the top-knot, the hairstyle of her teenage years.

The Captain grimaced as he looked at Azula. Once again, she had left the Arena looking as if her heart had sustained worse injuries than the ones that had almost killed her gladiator… and once again, he hadn't been around to protect her. He hadn't kept her safe from the pain. Something had faded from her eyes, a spark that had been there before… and instead of wearing her trademark arrogant smirk on her face, her brow was furrowed and it had remained that way for three days now. Whatever Sokka had done to her this time seemed to have been the last straw. She was obviously determined not to show how emotionally scarred she was, and in doing so she had become far colder than ever before.

"Thank you, Captain," she muttered, her voice cold enough to match the glazing glare on her eyes.

The Captain gaped at her, in shock. Yes, perhaps that slave had put her through a lot more pain than any person should put another… and Azula had been badly hurt because of him. The Captain couldn't forgive him for it. But before knowing him, Azula would have never thanked him for fulfilling his duties. She would have never acknowledged him as anything but a guard, seeing how that was the only thing he had ever been to her. Now he was her ally… a man who knew to respect her personal space, but would still stand by her no matter what. The Captain thought she'd never come to appreciate that, and he was thoroughly surprised to discover otherwise.

Azula exited the room with her head held high. The servants who had helped her get ready bowed down as she walked away, followed by the Captain and a few guards who had been standing by the door. Clad in her royal armor, Azula walked towards the Throne Room with determination. This was what she had been born to do. This was what mattered most to her. It was time to put aside the lowly matters that had clouded her better judgment these days and become the perfect heir her father wanted her to be.

The guards opened the curtains that concealed the Throne Room, and Azula strode inside with steady footing, leaving the Captain and the other men to await her in the large hallway. Most the council members had already arrived, ten minutes before the meeting's appointed time. Fire Lord Ozai was sitting at his rightful place in the throne, surrounded by the flickering flames that each Fire Lord would cast around himself when he sat on the high chair. There were two more seats up in the dais, each at either side of the Fire Lord, and, naturally, Azula headed towards her father's right while wondering who would be sitting at his left. These past few years the only seat available by Ozai's side had been her own…

Azula climbed to the seat on Ozai's right and bowed down at her father as solemnly as possible. Ozai gave her his trademark confident smirk and nodded at her. Azula took her place with her legs crossed beside him, hardly taking notice of the hot flames next to her.

"Welcome, Princess Azula," said Ozai. "I trust you're ready for this meeting, as ever."

"Naturally," was Azula's reply. "Who shall be joining at your left hand, father?"

"Oh, that would be your uncle," said Ozai, his apparent joy fading upon that confession. "Being the important public figure he is, he must be present at war meetings such as this one."

"Is that so?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "Are all important public figures supposed to attend war meetings now?"

"I know what you're concerned about," said Ozai. "But you needn't worry. So long as your brother's honor remains as stained as it is, he will have no part in these meetings. But your uncle, despite what my better senses advise me, is a man of experience. He might be able to provide useful insight regarding what we must discuss today."

"And what shall we do if he resorts to talking about tea throughout the entire meeting?" asked Azula, amusing her father.

"Such behavior would be inexcusable and he wouldn't be welcome in my council anymore," declared Ozai. "If tea is what he wants, he would do best to set up a shop instead of bothering us with his nonsense."

"I agree," said Azula, nodding promptly. "Although it would truly be shameful for the Fire Lord's brother to waste away in a teashop."

"Iroh never shows any shame when it comes down to his hot-leaf juice," said Ozai. "He doesn't show much shame regarding anything."

"Indeed," said Azula, shaking her head. "So much for the great Dragon of the West."

Ozai smirked again. That girl was his one true heir, there was no doubt about it. He was proud of the woman his daughter had become, mostly because she reminded him of a younger version of himself. He also had been a prince eager to earn his place at his father's right hand, willing to overcome any obstacles to fulfill his ends. He had made everything easier for his daughter, for he had seen many traits of himself in Azula even when she had been just a child. He had meant for her to grow into the most extraordinary Princess the Fire Nation had ever seen, and his efforts had paid off. Azula was the right person to take charge of the Fire Nation once he was gone.

Time passed them by, and the remaining Fire Nation military leaders arrived, taking their place before the world map that was extended across the center of the room. Ozai began frowning when his brother was still nowhere in sight and it was already time to begin the meeting.

"Shameful indeed…" he muttered before raising his voice and addressing the present members of the council. "Let us begin this meeting, generals, Princess."

Upon his words, every person in the room stood up and bowed down towards him. Ozai remained seating on his throne, the flames flickering as he smirked, as ever pleased to listen to his people reciting the Fire Nation Oath at unison.

"My life I give to my country, with my hands I fight for Fire Lord Ozai and our forefathers before him. With my mind I seek ways to better my country, and with my feet may our March of Civilization continue."

"Take your seats," he said, and he was obeyed immediately. "War Minister Qin, let us hear your reports regarding the situation in the Fire Nation Colonies."

"Yes, My Lord," said the War Minister, standing up and bowing at his superior once more. "The Fire Nation Colonies have been…"

"Ah, I'm so sorry!" said a familiar voice, interrupting through Qin's report carelessly. "I'm most ashamed, Ozai! I was taking a nap and I lost track of time…"

If Ozai's glare had been any harsher, it would have been strong enough to scorch his older brother to cinders. Iroh had entered the chamber noisily, his behavior betraying he was not embarrassed in the slightest by his lack of punctuality. Azula joined her father in glaring at the man as he walked past the council members, who eyed him with distaste as well.

"Your negligence speaks ill of you, brother," said Ozai.

"I apologize, Ozai…" said Iroh, smiling clumsily at him. "It wasn't my intent to interrupt the meeting."

"It would seem old age is getting to you, brother," muttered Ozai. "Perhaps you'll need a nurse to look after you so she can make sure you'll arrive to your appointments on time. That is, if you're not senile enough to be sent to an asylum instead."

The council laughed at Ozai's cruel comment, but so did Iroh. Azula merely scowled. Her uncle really had no shame whatsoever… where was his pride? Where was his honor? Where was the man who had laid siege to Ba Sing Se for five hundred days? All three things had been lost long ago, apparently.

"I believe I still have a grasp on my senses, Ozai," Iroh said, chuckling. "We don't need to be concerned about my mental health just yet. Give it a few more years."

"We'll see about that…" muttered Ozai, turning to Qin again. "Resume what you were saying, War Minister."

"Right away, My Lord," said Qin, bowing his head at Ozai. "There are small rebellions in the Fire Nation Colonies, but they are nothing our forces can't handle. The major cities in the land are perfectly safe as of now, the last earthbending vermin who tried to lead an insurrection in Ba Sing Se was given the punishment he deserved, and all his allies were captured as well."

"Very good," said Ozai, nodding. "How is the recruiting for the army coming along?"

"Oh, it goes along really well, My Lord," said Qin. "We've had a hundred newcomers in a single month."

Ozai nodded. The war was close to ending to their favor, but the Fire Nation's army was spread too thin throughout the world. New recruits were most welcome. They would be quite useful to keep the people of the former Earth Kingdom at bay.

"What news do we have regarding the North Pole?" asked Ozai, turning his attention away from Qin.

"My Lord," said another man, Commander Gei, standing up and bowing towards the Fire Lord as Qin took his seat again. "The northern siege… isn't proceeding as well as we wish. The dark period has begun and we struggle to have the upper hand in those conditions. Their waterbenders are becoming more powerful on every opportunity. Admiral Zhao has decided to take a defensive approach to the siege until the light period begins anew."

Ozai rubbed his forehead with his fingers. His frown was deep as he analyzed the information he had been provided.

"It's been four years," he growled. "Four years since we began attacking the Northern Water Tribe. Most our navy was sent there so that Zhao could seize control of that wretched pole as soon as possible. He told me he had a plan. Why hasn't he put it into action?"

"I'm sorry, My Lord," said Gei, grimacing. "It would seem their forces are far stronger and in better synch than we anticipated. They've even captured some of our vessels, and there's little we can do to retaliate right now…"

"This is shameful. I expected better from Zhao," grunted Ozai. "When will this period end?"

"In a few months' time," said Gei. "But I'm afraid the circumstances are against us in this war against the Water Tribe."

"So it would seem," said Ozai. "What are we to do, if that's the case? Await until Sozin's Comet returns? The Northern Water Tribe is our greatest threat. We need to annihilate them or risk losing everything we have obtained in this war!"

"It's a more complicated gamble than you think, Ozai," said Iroh, staring at Gei with keen eyes. "Some wars might have been best not fought at all."

"Such is the wisdom the Deserter of The Siege of Ba Sing Se provides us with," Azula declared, surprising most the council with her unexpected intervention. "You had no problem with letting a siege of over five hundred days go to waste. But if you had taken over Ba Sing Se when you had the opportunity to do so, we could have used the power of the comet to melt those useless poles until there was no trace left of them but the scorched corpses of those savages floating in the ocean. Is it really that some wars are best not fought, or is it you are unwilling to acknowledge that we might not be facing this predicament in the first place if it weren't for your incompetence?"

Azula's harshness shocked most people, even Ozai. Her enmity towards Iroh was well known to any noble who had ever seen them interact, but hardly ever did she display it so bluntly. Ozai eyed his daughter, realizing she looked far more stern than she usually did. Attacking Iroh like that had been startling… although he couldn't help but think she had been completely right about everything she had said.

"Discussing what could have happened if our lives had developed differently isn't what we've come here for, is it?" asked Iroh. "You may question my decisions later, but doing so now will lead us to no useful conclusion regarding the matters we came to discuss."

"Perhaps," said Ozai. "She is right on some account, though. Nevertheless, if her intervention wasn't helping our cause, neither was yours. I will not hear of surrendering. This war is ours. We'll win it, no matter what's at stake."

Iroh's expression grew darker upon those phrases as he eyed his brother. Azula glared at her uncle from across the room, folding her arms firmly across her chest.

"There's little that can be done by firebenders during the dark period, father," she muttered, shifting her attention towards the Fire Lord. "I learned that on my short visit to the South Pole. Our main forces are comprised by firebenders, and the light period would have to begin anew for us to have an advantage over the savages."

"And it still wouldn't be a great advantage," Gei added. "Even if the sun comes out, the weather is too cold. We have lost men to frostbite and other diseases caused by the unfavorable conditions…"

"It's remarkable that those incompetent ice savages have figured how to survive in that pathetic frozen wasteland of theirs," said Ozai, shaking his head. "Very well. If that's the case, we'll have to continuously renovate our forces to avoid losing power. We will exchange the firebenders who were stationed there for those who have been in the Fire Nation Colonies or those on the mainland. It could help us regain some of the edge we've lost."

"But many of those warriors are already used to fighting in the North Pole… trading them for those who have no experience in the poles might not work to our favor as you hope it might, my Lord," muttered General Bujing.

"Do you have any better ideas, General Bujing?" asked Ozai.

"N-no, my Lord," the man admitted, looking somewhat surprised at being shut down so brusquely.

"Then this is what shall be done. If the soldiers in the North Pole right now could grow accustomed to the cold, the ones to replace them will be capable of doing the same thing. Begin trading soldiers right away, Commander Gei. I want the entire fleet at north to be renewed by the time we reach the light period once more."

"Does that include Admiral Zhao?" asked the Commander, surprised.

"Zhao could use a break," said Iroh. "He has been up north for far too long."

"For once, we agree on something, brother," said Ozai.

Azula cringed at those words. Zhao, returning? Not too soon, surely… but she didn't like the sound of that, not at all. Four years away from the man she had come to despise hadn't been enough for her contempt towards him to cool down. She didn't want to be around him ever again. She hoped secretly that a waterbender would freeze him alive before he could return, sparing the world from his existence…

"But, knowing Zhao, he most likely will want to see this siege to the end," said Ozai. "He shall be granted the freedom to decide whether he shall remain in the pole or not."

"Understood," said Gei, nodding.

"If he decides to leave…" said Ozai, turning towards the oldest general in the room. "You shall be the one to take his place, Bujing. Your experience as a military leader ought to serve to our advantage in the North Pole."

"Of course, my Lord," said Bujing, bowing down to him. He didn't want to go to the North Pole, but if Ozai commanded it, he wouldn't oppose him.

Ever since Ozai had discovered Azula had been the one to save him and the others from the savages down in the South Pole the Fire Lord had taken a very cold approach towards all the men his daughter had saved. Of course, the one who had earned the worst punishment had been Chan, who had been stripped off his every title and was stuck in the position of private once again. From what Bujing knew, he had forced his son to enter the military as well, seeing how they weren't in the highest social class anymore and the boy could no longer freeload off his parents as he always had.

"Are there any other matters to discuss?" asked Ozai, raising an eyebrow.

"My Lord…" spoke General Shinu, looking at Ozai doubtfully. "There's something I would like to bring up to the council."

"Pray tell, what might that be?" asked Ozai, curious. The director of the Yu-Yan archers hardly ever spoke out in these meetings.

"There was a ruckus at Yu Dao recently," he muttered. "As you know, Yu Dao is close to the Pohuai Stronghold, so rumors of what happened reached me…"

"Yu Dao?" repeated Ozai. "War Minister Qin, didn't you say there had been no rebellions in the larger cities?"

"I-I've had no reports of rebellions in Yu Dao, my Lord!" said Qin, blurting out his response quickly to avoid getting scolded.

"It wasn't a rebellion… at least, not one led by bitter earthbenders," said Shinu. "It was led by people of the Fire Nation."

The eyes of everyone in the room widened as they looked at Shinu in utter shock.

"What?" asked Ozai, frowning. "A group of Fire Nation outlaws?"

"And it's not any group of Fire Nation outlaws…" Shinu continued. "It's the Rough Rhinos, my Lord."

The room was filled with chatter after those words were spoken. Azula frowned as she thought of the little she knew regarding the group. They were considered a freelance team of Fire Nation elite soldiers who roamed the Earth Kingdom and took over any villages and towns they came across. Not all their assaults were successful, but most of them had worked to the Fire Nation's favor.

Yet, when the Fire Nation had taken over Ba Sing Se and assessed control of the entire Earth Kingdom, Fire Lord Ozai had decided to assimilate the Earth Kingdom instead of destroying it. The attacks on the villages had stopped to provide the Fire Nation Honorary Citizens with the safety they had been promised when they swore fealty to the Fire Lord. By changing their approach on the war, Fire Lord Ozai had forced freelance groups to either join the main forces of the army in disbanding rebellions, or to head towards the North Pole… but the Rough Rhinos had decided to ignore his command. The council had been aware that the group was traveling through the continent, but they had never gone against the Fire Nation's new directions so openly. It was the first time such behavior reached their ears.

"Mongke and his friends…?" muttered Iroh. "What have they done in Yu Dao?"

"From what I heard, they sacked some shops and attacked a group of Honorary Fire Nation citizens, claiming they were Earth Kingdom scum," said Shinu. "They pillaged a section of the city before the soldiers came to restrain them. They fled, and nobody knows where they are anymore."

"They attacked Honorary Fire Nation citizens?" General Ling shouted, shocked. "What has gotten into them?!"

"That sort of behavior is reckless and harmful to our nation," muttered Bujing. "If they attack another city in this same manner, our credibility will be doubted by the former Earth Kingdom citizens. We promised to protect them all the same as if they had been born Fire Nation…"

"And they are likely to strike again," said Shinu. "I investigated what I could about the Rough Rhinos' recent activity, and this isn't the first time they have attacked after the Fire Lord ordered them to rejoin the army. They had tormented minor towns and villages before. This is the first time they attack a city like Yu Dao."

Ozai frowned, shaking his head in disapproval.

"This is no good for us…" he muttered.

"Why would they do this?" asked Ling again, angry. "They may be a freelance group, but they are bound by their honor to obey our Fire Lord!"

"They do it because they have war fever," said Iroh.

"War fever?" asked Ling, surprised.

"It's a way to call it," said Iroh, smiling. "Men who kill for a living can't let go of the exhilarant sensations of war so easily. Letting go of their experiences in order to return to a life of boredom isn't an idea they can fathom. Even if it means to go against their beliefs, they'll do whatever they can to bask in the vicious joy they obtain through looting villages and murdering their enemies, no matter if they aren't enemies anymore."

"This is no good," grumbled Bujing. "They must be stopped at once!"

"Bujing, put together an emergency team and send them to track the Rough Rhinos down so they stop these…" started Ozai, but his brother interrupted him.

"The Rough Rhinos are too strong for an emergency team to handle," Iroh declared.

"Then what do you propose, General Iroh?" asked Bujing. "Would you rather go stop them yourself?"

"Oh, me?" asked Iroh, surprised.

"You know Mongke well enough," said Ozai, thoughtful. "By taking a good group of soldiers to back you up, you might be able to stop them."

"I rather doubt it, Ozai," said Iroh, chuckling. "I'm too old to chase after criminals."

"But you're a fearless and prodigious leader!" said Ling. "You're a top-rate firebender too! You can devise a strategy to take down the Rhinos, I'm sure…"

"If that's what you think will stop the Rhinos," said Iroh. "I think there's a better option than me. A top-rate firebender, a fearless and prodigious leader, who can devise a strategy to take down the Rhinos…"

"A better option…? Who are you suggesting?" asked Ling, puzzled.

"Why, my niece, of course," said Iroh, beaming.

Azula's eyes snapped wide open. She turned towards Iroh, not understanding why he would propose her for a mission of this magnitude…

"The Princess?!" said Ling, shocked too.

"I'm afraid the Princess shouldn't be a choice here…" said War Minister Qin.

"Well… she is perfectly capable of defeating the Rhinos," Bujing admitted. "But I agree. It would be best to find someone else."

"Why?" asked Iroh, confused. "She has every trait you believe necessary to take down the Rhinos, and she will likely catch them without breaking a sweat. Just give her a proper soldier squad and she'll bring the Rough Rhinos to justice in no time."

Why was he complimenting her? Why was Iroh giving her a chance to prove herself? Azula couldn't understand it. This was absurd on every level. He was right, she could pull through this mission successfully… but for him to propose she should be given said opportunity was completely preposterous.

Ozai frowned and turned towards his daughter.

"You know I don't doubt your aptitude to take care of a mission like this, although it would be the first time you'd be entrusted with such a task. It's a good opportunity for you, my daughter… I believe a good leader needs to be the one to lead his men into battle, even if only against useless traitors. Yet the decision is all yours, Azula. Do you wish to take upon this mission?"

Azula blinked repeatedly, not sure of what answer to give her father. To refuse… why would she refuse? Because she distrusted her uncle? She couldn't blurt that out blatantly in front of the council. It wasn't because she had better things to do either… this was truly a rare opportunity to prove her worth to her father and all the men in this room. She could tell that they feared that giving a woman such an important mission would be no good, they believed she would be unsuccessful. To prove them wrong, to capture the Rough Rhinos and make them cower in fear before her… it was the perfect answer to most of her life's wishes. But Iroh had been the one to suggest it… Iroh…

"I will need some time to consider this," said Azula, frowning. "It's a complicated mission to plan out. It would take me some time to devise what to do to capture a group of the Rough Rhinos' quality…"

"Indeed," said Ozai. "Therefore I advise you to decide whether you shall do it or not as soon as possible. We have no time to waste. If the Rhinos continue attacking the colonies, we might find ourselves dealing with a larger insurrection than any we've seen so far. You have three days to make your choice."

"I understand," said Azula, nodding. She was surprised her father had been so flexible upon her request for more time to ponder her options.

The meeting continued, although Azula could tell it would end soon. Still, her mind wasn't focused in it anymore. She had nothing to lose by going after the Rhinos, but why did Iroh do this? There had to be an ulterior motive, there had to be… he had been trying to pester her by joining the Gladiator business, so how come was he trying to help her now…?

Her brow contracted at those thoughts. Of course, that's what it was. Why hadn't she noticed it before? Her uncle had realized the Blue Wolf had pulled ahead of the Blind Bandit. By sending Azula away on a goose chase, he would have enough time to get his earthbender to surpass Azula's gladiator once more. The nerve of that man, trying to fool her into something like this…

… But then again, that was no reason to refuse chasing after the Rough Rhinos. Not only was that excuse something Ozai would consider unacceptable, seeing how the Gladiator Business was nigh irrelevant to him, but Azula herself didn't think it was that important anymore. Not after what she'd been through because of Sokka. She had felt tempted to drop out of the Gladiator business altogether, and seeing she would likely have to devote quite some time into chasing the Rhinos, there was little chance for her to schedule any new fights for Sokka.

And that was actually a relief. Now she had the perfect reason to drop Sokka and forget about him completely. The sickening situation between them had gone too far, and just thinking about it made her insides contort painfully. She didn't want to feel this way anymore. And the best way to accomplish that would be to get Sokka out of her life for once and for all.

* * *

The Captain of Azula's Royal Guard used to perform vigilance rounds through the Palace whenever he didn't have more urgent matters to tend to. And he had nothing else to tend to right now. The Princess had three days to convey her father her decision regarding the hunt of the Rough Rhinos, and apparently she'd spend them by gathering as much information about the group as possible, to see if she would be able to catch them or not. And she had established that she didn't want him around as she pondered her choices.

He happened to spot a carriage that was stopping on the Palace gates when he was passing by the location. He had meant to ask the guards if everything had gone smoothly today, but instead he focused on staring at the old-fashioned carriage in question. It was one of the self-employed carriages people could hire to drive them from one place to the next instead of the personal carriages most noblemen had. That was enough to tell the Captain that whoever had come by the Palace didn't belong to the Fire Nation's highest class…

The driver had been standing by the door, taking the money his passengers were paying him with. He smiled and sat on the front of the carriage once again, taking the reins in his hands and ushering the Mongoose Dragons to lead the way as soon as the two passengers had climbed off the cabin…

The Captain forgot all about the carriage when he identified the two arrivals. Seeing Song once more wouldn't bother him… but spotting the man she was assisting certainly did.

Seeing how badly wounded he was actually elicited a small sense of satisfaction in the Captain. It seemed to be divine punishment for distressing the Princess as much as he had. But why was he here? Why wouldn't he stay home to heal those nasty wounds and to stay as far from Azula as possible?

The guards let the pair of slaves pass them by when they recognized Sokka as Azula's gladiator, although that didn't stop them from staring at them with distrust. The Captain made his way towards them as Song helped Sokka walk. He limped slightly, his legs only starting to regain their strength.

"What have you come here for, gladiator?" the Captain spoke harshly, his glare fixed upon Sokka alone.

"Captain…" said Song, gulping as both she and Sokka came to a halt. She could sense he was more than willing to set Sokka on fire, his bodily language said as much. "G-good day to you. Sokka has something he needs to talk to the Princess about…"

"And why should I let him?" asked the Captain, folding his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry to be so blunt, Song, but I'm not going to let this man through just because you ask me to."

Song would have been surprised to see he remembered her name, but his words were so unexpected she put that matter aside for now.

"Y-you don't understand, Captain…" she started, but Sokka shook his head, asking her to let him speak. His arm was draped over her shoulders as she held him up by the waist, trying to support him so the weight on his legs wouldn't be too much for him to handle.

"Captain…" he sighed, staring straight into the mask. "I understand your displeasure. In fact, I share it. I shouldn't be here, and I know it."

"Then why did you bother coming?" asked the Captain.

"Because I've been a fool all this time," he said. "And I want Azula to know how much I regret everything I did. She may not want to see me ever again, but she should know I'm sorry. She should know I've realized I was wrong, and she was right. Everything I've put her through these days… it's all on me. She didn't do anything wrong. And I know there's likely no chance she'll let me try to make up for what I've done… but maybe it'll help to put her at ease if she knows how sorry I am."

The Captain frowned deeply as he studied Sokka. His blue eyes gleamed with sincerity. Was it a good idea to let him see Azula? Most likely, it wouldn't be. The last time he had left them to themselves, things had gone from bad to worse. But Sokka had come here, bearing all those injuries in hopes to do the right thing for once. Maybe he could get another chance…

"Alright," he grunted, and Sokka smiled to hear his positive reply. "But you're not going to see her alone. I'm going to be there too, and you're going to keep the proper distance with her. And if you dare say anything to displease her, I'll make you wish the Savage Hook had killed you when he had the chance."

Sokka gulped at the threats, knowing the Captain was serious. The extent to his devotion towards Azula was impressive. Even Song was frightened at the way he had delivered his last sentence.

"Got it?" asked the Captain, coming closer to Sokka and glaring at him fiercely. For the first time, Sokka managed to catch a glimpse of his golden eyes through his mask.

Sokka nodded solemnly, staring at the Captain with determination. This time he wouldn't mess things up. Anything Azula said, he would accept. He was completely willing to take the blame for everything he'd done. There was nobody else to blame anyway.

The Captain took Sokka's arm on his shoulder, telling Song to leave carrying Sokka to him. The Captain was quite harsh as he dragged Sokka through the Palace, making him wince in pain more than once, but Sokka kept himself from faltering or complaining out loud.

The Captain loosened his grip around Sokka when they reached one of the Palace's open hallways. A figure with long, dark hair, was sitting before the wooden fence. She had discarded her armor, and she was dressed now only in the robes she used to wear underneath it. It seemed as though she were meditating regarding something. Sokka couldn't help but wonder what was on her mind.

"Princess…" said the Captain, approaching her almost unwillingly. Disturbing her was the last thing he wanted to do, and doing it to make her talk to that moron only made him feel worse about himself. "There's someone here to see you."

The Captain's elusive way to refer to her visitor was enough for Azula to guess his identity right away. She heard someone stumble behind her, as if limping… Her hands balled into fists instantly. The Captain glared at Sokka to tell him to stay several feet away from her. The Water Tribe man understood the message and halted, staring at Azula's shape from where he was.

"Leave, Captain," Azula commanded suddenly, surprising the other three people in the hallway greatly. "This is a matter I can settle on my own. Leave. And take the other slave with you."

Song was impressed. How had she noticed she was there if she hadn't even turned around? That Princess's intuition was astounding…

The Captain nodded and bowed to her, acknowledging her order although he truly didn't wish to do it. Azula listened keenly until the footsteps of both the Captain and Song had faded away, and she heard how Sokka cringed as he sat on the floor, unable to stay on his feet for much longer.

Sokka stared at her back, dread filling him. This had only been a waste of time, hadn't it? There was nothing to be done… he was pleased that Azula had sent the Captain away, though. It would have been awkward to apologize about everything he'd done with him and Song listening. Surely Azula thought so, too.

"H-hey…" he whispered, staring at her intently, wondering if she'd react at the sound of his voice.

She didn't. Her back was still straight, her gaze still settled on the gardens, her hands still fisted over her crossed knees. She remained completely impassive to him. Well… that might make things easier.

"Azula…" he muttered, wondering if he was still allowed to call her by her name. "I came here because… well, I think you know already."

Azula's eyes narrowed. Was he going to play the game like this? Had he come here in hopes she would just guess whatever was going on in that lousy mind of his?

"In any case…" he continued. "Things have been really messed up these past few days. And… it's my fault. Everything's my fault."

Azula frowned now. Was he really acknowledging he was to blame? It had to be the first time she heard a man admitting his guilt openly like this…

"What I did on the Arena with Kyoshi's Heir…" he whispered. "It's what messed everything up in the first place, and it was no use either way. It was my first mistake, but not my last."

Hearing the gladiator's name brought forth a burning anger Azula wasn't too comfortable with, but she managed to hold her fury at bay and listen to anything else he would say.

"I should have known my place in the world," he whispered. "I shouldn't have acted the way I did that day, at any point in time. I was a fool… worse than a fool. I was despicable. I look back at everything I did and I wish I could go back in time to change everything…"

 _But you can't_ Azula thought, gritting her teeth.

"But I can't," said Sokka. "And I'll live with the consequences of my mistakes. And about… about what I said to you… I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I can't even start to say how badly I regret it. I shouldn't have come here that night. I should have never said any of that… I was drunk and stupid, and I wasn't thinking straight. I know saying that is no way to excuse my behavior… but there's nothing I regret more than that, even if you choose not to believe me. Well, maybe not. I… I regret having made you cry. That's what I… what I will never forgive myself for. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

Azula shook her head, a hand on her forehead.

"Coming here and saying all of this changes nothing, Sokka," she managed to say, her voice steadier than she expected it to be. "Saying you're sorry… Who do you think you're dealing with?"

"I know… I know," said Sokka, sighing and tilting his head. "I understand you can't forgive me. I can't forgive myself either… not for that day, or for how stupid I acted before going against the Savage Hook. I understand it… and I get that you wouldn't want me around anymore."

Azula was surprised at those last words. Was it time to say farewell to him now? She hadn't expected it to happen so suddenly… but for him to make their parting of ways so simple was quite a relief.

"I'm not worthy of being near you," Sokka admitted. "I… I hurt you. No man should ever do that to a girl like you. You deserve much better than that. You can find another gladiator, a stronger, smarter one, who won't ever let you down. I'm a failure, so… your odds to get to the top of the ranking would be better if you found someone else. I'm grateful for everything you gave me, I can assure you of that. It was more than… than a snow savage like me could have deserved. I'm sorry for everything, Azula… and I hope you make it to the top of the ranking soon, with a better fighter than me."

Azula sighed, shaking her head again.

"I don't think I'll be sponsoring anyone else anyway," she muttered, surprising Sokka.

"What… what do you mean?" he asked, curious.

"My father has in mind to send me on a very important mission to the former Earth Kingdom," said Azula.

"What?" said Sokka, shocked. "W-why you? You're his heir! Shouldn't he want to keep you safe?"

"It wasn't his idea," Azula muttered. "My uncle said I'd be the perfect person for the job. And he's probably right. I don't know how long it'll take me to finish the mission, so I can't sponsor a gladiator as I travel through the former Earth Kingdom."

"Oh…" said Sokka, grimacing. So her attempts to become the top sponsor had been thwarted… that was also saddening. He wished she could have accomplished her goal, even if she could only do so with another fighter. But something about what she just said hadn't seemed quite right. "W-wait a second… your uncle? Iroh?"

"How many uncles do you think I have?" asked Azula, rolling her eyes.

"He was the one to suggest you'd do it?" Sokka mused, frowning.

"Did the Hook chop off your ears?" snarled Azula. "Or did he beat you up so badly your brain has been damaged?"

"N-no, none of that…" said Sokka, gulping. Clearly, his apologies hadn't been much use. He hadn't expected them to be. "But… if it's him, he's only doing it to surpass you. After beating the Hook I wound up above Toph, so he sent you to do this to get rid of the competition!"

"You think I don't know that?" asked Azula, rolling her eyes again. "Yes, I know why he's doing it. But I honestly find no further value in Gladiator fights. They're no use, and they'll get me nowhere. This mission is far more important than a pathetic ranking. And besides, you're obviously not fit to fight again after sustaining those injuries. So, all in all, giving up on this is the one thing I can do at this point."

Sokka frowned. No… she couldn't give up. Azula wasn't a quitter. She was the kind of person who would do anything to accomplish her goals. For her to give up and let her uncle win… it was wrong. It was completely wrong. There was no way she wanted to let the guy defeat her this way. There had to be a solution.

"You really want to give up?" asked Sokka. "I know I've done bad things… really bad things. And if you don't want to deal with me anymore, I get it. But to let your uncle win…"

"Of course it bothers me," Azula grunted. "Why do you think I had to ask my father to give me time to think about it?"

"Uh, I didn't know you were given time to think…" he mumbled in a small voice.

"Huh?"

"N-nothing, nothing," said Sokka, gulping. "But… hey. Maybe something can be done. Maybe he doesn't have to win."

"Pray tell, what grandiose idea has come to your feeble mind?" asked Azula, thoroughly irritated.

"W-well… I was thinking," Sokka muttered, her sarcasm hitting him as daggers. "There are Arenas over at the Earth Kingdom too, aren't there? I think Shoji said the Hook came from Ba Sing Se…"

"Yes, there are," Azula replied. "So?"

"Well… I'm not sure what your mission is, exactly," said Sokka. "But for the Princess to travel all of sudden to the Earth Kingdom for no apparent reason would seem weird."

Azula frowned. He was right. The Rough Rhinos might hear she was tracking them down even before she got to the Earth Kingdom, if word of her mission got out. And if they heard about it, they would likely hide away until the danger had passed. They had spent a long time in the Earth Kingdom, they were perfectly familiar with those territories… as opposed to her. If they heard of what she was trying to accomplish, it would become nigh impossible for her to catch them.

"But it doesn't have to seem like you've done it for no reason," said Sokka, smiling a little. "I'm just guessing here… but proud sponsors who have a lot of money are bound to go tour around the Arenas of the world to show off their gladiators. If you make it look like that's what you're doing, people won't suspect you're trying to accomplish any complicated missions… that is, if it's a complicated, secret mission. If it's something the general public already knows about, you can forget what I just said…"

Azula's hands came together, her fingers intertwined as she pondered her options once more. If she went with this, she wouldn't lose to her uncle. She could catch the Rhinos while still being involved in the Gladiator Business, just as Sokka had suggested. With that, she would outdo her uncle in every way… for her to manage to do both things would baffle him. It was a very appealing suggestion…

But she wanted to drop out of the Gladiator business.

Her enthusiasm faded upon that thought. Sokka was still Sokka, he was still the man who had hurt her so badly that words couldn't describe the pain she had endured. He was the man who had betrayed her trust, who had made her feel horrible about herself, who had twisted her world around even though he was only a pathetic slave. She didn't want him nearby…

But he was nearby right now. And she was alright. Sure, she hadn't even turned around to face him, but he hadn't hurt her any further at the moment. Probably because she hadn't given him the chance to do so. And she wouldn't give him that chance, never again.

If she could bear being near him if only for moments like these, then she probably could use him as a smokescreen as she chased the Rough Rhinos. It was actually a really good idea, way too good for it to have come from a useless man such as Sokka.

"It… it seems to be a good option," Azula admitted. "It could work to my favor."

Sokka's eyes lit upon hearing that. The weight he had felt in his chest suddenly faded away as he smiled in grateful disbelief. He had helped her somehow. He had given her a good idea! And he wouldn't be torn away from her side just yet… so maybe he could find a way to make amends after all.

"I'm glad," said Sokka, smiling. "I'm glad I helped you somehow…"

"Indeed," grunted Azula, standing up. "It was about time something useful came from that foul mouth of yours."

Sokka gazed up at her when she turned around. Their eyes met, but not in the way he would have wanted them to. His newly found enthusiasm faded into oblivion when he looked into her amber stare, discovering how badly hurt she still was. The icy glare she provided him with was daunting, but it also proved his fears a reality: he had broken something within her. And it wasn't something he could fix just by saying he was sorry.

Azula eyed Sokka mostly to assess the damage on him, wondering when it would be safe for him to fight once again. His head was covered in bandages, and so were his legs and right arm. It would still take some time for him to recover… time she would use to plan their pursuit of the Rough Rhinos. Adding the gladiator combats into the mix would make everything far more complicated than it should be… but, in a way, it would also help her figure out what her approach to her mission would be.

"You're a mess," she said, her voice colder now that she was looking directly at him. "You're not to do anything but recover from your wounds for these next days. The minute I'm ready to set out to find the Rough Rhinos, you'll be coming along too, no matter if you've gotten better or not. My main priority is to finish my mission, so I won't give a damn if you get yourself killed in an Arena. I'll have no qualms with leaving your corpse behind so that sea vultures can feast on your remains. They'll likely wind up getting food poisoned if they do, but I care as little for their fate as I care about yours."

Sokka grimaced but nodded, not having expected anything kinder from her.

"You're getting a second chance… as a matter of fact, a third chance, to remain as my gladiator," said Azula. "You let it go to waste this time, and I assure you I will take it upon myself to finish you off for good."

Sokka tried not to shiver at those words. He wanted to hold her gaze with his for as long as possible, without faltering… but it was becoming increasingly difficult with every passing moment. The hatred she felt for him knew no ends, and he had been the one to ask for it…

"Do we have an understanding?" Azula asked, the flames of gold in her eyes the coldest thing Sokka had ever dealt with, despite having been born and raised in the South Pole.

"Y-yes… Princess," he said, bowing his head towards her as he submitted himself to her will completely.

"If that's the case, get out of here already," she declared, turning around again towards the gardens. "You're an eyesore."

Sokka winced at her cruelty but obeyed her nonetheless. He had a hard time standing up again, and he limped his way down the hall, looking for Song and the Captain. He found them a few halls away, apparently too uncomfortable by the situation to talk much. Song ran towards Sokka and let him support his weight on her shoulders again, and the Captain glared at the gladiator from his mask.

"So?" he asked. "Did you do anything stupid this time around?"

"I tried not to…" said Sokka, smiling sideways. "I tried to help her out… gave her a little idea to solve her predicament."

The Captain's eyes flew open. He had given her an idea? He had been able to help the Princess sort out her current troubles? The Captain had been unable to aid her… and the gladiator had been of some use?

"She'll probably explain everything to you later," said Sokka.

"And… are you two getting along again?" asked the Captain, suspicious.

Sokka's eyes fell as he shook his head.

"I don't think so… it's not… it's not that simple," he muttered. "She can't forgive me just because I said I was sorry. I never expected her to."

"I didn't think she would either," said the Captain, sighing. "Whatever you did, you'll spend the rest of your life paying for it."

"I know," said Sokka, nodding. "And even that might not be enough. But I'm going to do it anyways."

The Captain was surprised to see how determined the slave was. Even after facing Azula he seemed devoted to making things up to her… he hadn't wavered after meeting her, it only seemed to have enhanced his drive to fix what he had broken. His eyes still blazed fiercely, his mind set on making sure Azula would be able to smile again someday.

The Princess, on the other hand, didn't seem to care about smiling again. She stood before the garden, her nails grazing the wooden fence. She didn't quite understand it, but her heart hadn't lost itself in Sokka this time around. Maybe it was because he hadn't been behaving as stupidly as always. But she didn't feel more enraged towards him after this last meeting, she didn't feel sad… she didn't feel anything anymore. And that was the way it should have always been. Caring for the man had never been a part of the plan, and it definitely wouldn't be part of her new plan either. Sokka had provided her with a very clever solution, but that didn't mean anything would change between them. He wasn't important anymore. The one thing on her mind right now was catching the Rough Rhinos, defeating her uncle in their battle of wits and making her father proud once he saw what his daughter was truly capable of.


	32. Chapter 32

Betting on his favorite gladiator had been a better idea than Zuko had thought it would be. It wasn't that he needed the money: supporting the right fighter filled him with a thrill of excitement he had never known before.

Yes, he still found the gladiator business to be disgusting in essence… but that one girl had driven him to think that you could find beauty even in the most horrid features of the world. And she wasn't just beautiful… she was strong, she was honorable, she was admirable in every single way. He smiled as he thought of how she had trampled over her opponent with ease today, never losing the composure and elegance that set her apart from all the other gladiators.

After witnessing the fight between her and the Blue Wolf, Zuko had asked the boy on the counter for Kyoshi's Heir's combat schedule. The kid had been surprised, since Zuko had showed up out of nowhere and requested the information a little more forcefully than he had intended to, but he had complied as soon as he had realized the man under the hood was none other than Prince Zuko. And so, Zuko had come to frequent the Grand Royal Dome whenever Kyoshi's Heir was due to fight.

He would always sneak out of the Palace to attend the matches, concealing his features under his hood to avoid getting recognized by the townsfolk. He sat as far as he could from Kyoshi's Heir's crazed supporters, still finding their behavior to be ridiculous. He rooted for her as well, yet he didn't make a fool of himself to show it.

But his distaste towards her other supporters couldn't distract him whenever Kyoshi's Heir entered the sand pit. His eyes would never leave her figure, watching how she delivered every blow with skill and grace… she was something to behold. He had taken the plunge to bet on her for the first time today, and he had gone home with twice the money he had brought with him. Betting on her had made him feel quite fulfilled, but it wasn't because of the money: betting was the sole way in which he could show his earnest support for Kyoshi's Heir.

The gladiator vanished from his thoughts temporarily as he snuck into the Palace again, sliding in through a hidden door in the western end of the walls that surrounded his home. A guard spotted him, but he already knew it was Zuko. He had seen him sneak out earlier, and even though he should have stopped him from leaving the Palace in such a getup, he decided to let him go. The Prince's endeavors were of little concern to the guards anymore, seeing how the Fire Lord didn't care for what his son did. It provided Zuko with a lot more freedom than his sister could enjoy, seeing how she was followed by her Royal Procession at all times. But naturally, his father's disinterest made the Prince wonder if there was no place for him in the Royal Palace anymore.

He was planning on heading towards his chambers right away, perhaps dropping by to greet his uncle on the way, but he stopped on his tracks when he caught sight of an unusual clatter in the Royal Guards' barracks. A group of men clad in red ran up and down their building busily, some of them shouting orders while others carried objects from one place to another. Zuko raised an eyebrow and approached them, spotting a carriage that was being loaded with what could only be provisions for a trip of some sort.

"What's going on here?" asked Zuko, approaching the man who seemed to be supervising the operation.

The guard turned around and Zuko caught sight of the golden rims on his uniform. Azula's Captain…

"Prince Zuko? What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised.

"Isn't that what I just asked you?" Zuko retorted, unwilling to explain his circumstances.

"Right…" muttered the Captain, frowning slightly. Azula was downright cold towards him most the time… but there was something about her older brother that made the Captain cringe in unease whenever he interacted with him. It might be that Azula didn't strive to prove her superiority with her every action, because her authority was already implicit. Zuko's behavior was the entire opposite of that. If only on a subconscious level, he seemed to believe other people needed a reminder that he was the Fire Lord's son. Instead of acting aloof towards the servants and guards, in the way his sister did, his attitude would often come across as disrespectful and entitled. "We're getting assembled for a journey. The Royal Procession will guard the Princess as she travels through the Fire Nation Colonies."

Zuko's eyes widened.

"Azula… traveling through the Former Earth Kingdom? Why?"

The Captain froze at his question. Azula wanted her mission to develop in utmost secrecy… was it wise to tell her brother about the true nature of her journey? The relationship between the siblings was rocky, to say the least. Azula probably wouldn't want him to know what she was up to. And if she did… then she probably should tell him herself.

"The Princess will be touring the Arenas of the Fire Nation Colonies with her gladiator," said the Captain, turning towards the carriage once again. "Preparations must be done at once to make sure the journey proceeds smoothly."

"Huh…" said Zuko, frowning at the thought of Azula's gladiator. He still couldn't forgive the way he had defeated Kyoshi's Heir and extorted a date out of her… "Why is she doing this?"

"I haven't been briefed about her reasons," said the Captain. "Nor do I need to be."

Zuko's brow contracted, displeased by the man. It was obvious he knew more than he was telling… but he would say nothing more. Azula had probably told him not to share any details about their trip with him.

"Right," grunted Zuko, walking away without another word. His gut began twisting when he wondered if his sister might be trying to find the Avatar herself… well, he knew the Avatar wasn't in the Earth Kingdom. He had searched the continent high and low during his own travels, and there had been no trace of the Avatar being anywhere in the Earth Kingdom… in fact, there was no trace of the Avatar at all. If her true goal was to find him and succeed where he had failed, she would come back empty-handed.

But that wasn't Azula's goal. Unbeknownst to her brother, Azula was entering her father's chambers on that very moment, her chin held high, her eyes fierce, her soul unyielding.

She found Ozai scanning a very long scroll, sitting before a small table in his private living room. An Imperial Guard announced her presence, making Ozai lift his gaze from his reading material to regard his daughter.

"Azula," he said, as she bowed down towards him. "Have you finally come to a decision?"

"Yes, father," Azula replied, taking her seat across him. "I will undertake this mission."

Ozai's eyes gleamed with pride as a smirk spread over his features. His daughter didn't smile back.

"I'm pleased. A mission of this caliber would require a strong leader such as yourself, Azula."

"Indeed," said Azula. "There isn't enough information regarding the Rough Rhinos' movements. It will take some time for me to find them."

"Take as much as you need, so long as you bring them back with you," said Ozai. "They have made themselves enemies of the Fire Nation. We will give them the same treatment any other rebel would earn."

"I understand," said Azula. "It shall be done, father. I will be departing in two weeks…"

"Two weeks?" Ozai repeated, frowning. "It might be risky to let so much time pass you by, Azula…"

"I have no other choice," Azula stated. "It's taken me some time to decide how to chase them. Seeing how they solely travel through land, I'm not likely to find them if I take this voyage only on my barge. I have sent word to the Mechanist in the northern mountains: I heard about the train-tank he has developed, and I will require it to travel efficiently through the Colonies' territories."

"Are you sure about this?" asked Ozai, raising an eyebrow.

"I won't be entering the towns or cities in the train-tank, if that's what you're concerned about," Azula replied. "The Royal Procession will escort me in, as it should be. The train-tank will carry me from one destination to the next."

"Yet a train-tank… It might give away what you're trying to accomplish, Azula," said Ozai. "I thought you would realize that utter secrecy and discretion will be needed for you to track down the Rough Rhinos."

"I'm well aware of that," said Azula. "It's why I decided I'll be arriving to the Colonies to give the impression that I've traveled only to gloat about my brand-new gladiator as I tour the Arenas in the Former Earth Kingdom."

Ozai's eyes widened in surprise, and he nodded in approval shortly afterward, a smirk on his face.

"It's a good plan… it should serve as the perfect cover story."

"It will," said Azula. "While I travel through the largest cities of the continent, pretending to boast about my fighter's prowess, I will send out my guards in disguise so they can gather as much information as they can about the Rough Rhinos. It would be as if I were setting down a web to trap them…"

"And, since the guards never show their faces, nobody would guess they're anything other than townsfolk, or travelers from the mainland, once they're out of their uniforms," said Ozai, chuckling. "Indeed, that's quite a way to capture them. They'll be in your grasp before they even realize who the one to bring their demise was."

"It's what I was striving towards," said Azula, allowing herself a small smirk of satisfaction. It didn't matter how displeased she was in the many aspects of her life: whenever her father showed her his approval she felt a surge of pride grow within her chest.

"How will your journey proceed?" asked Ozai, curious.

"I intend to begin at Yu Dao," said Azula. "It's the last place where the Rough Rhinos have been seen. My guards will gather as much information about them as possible while I stay at Yu Dao for a week or so. Once we have enough leads, I'll devise what we must do from there on. I plan on sending a group of my men to track the Rhinos while I travel towards Omashu. I'll keep in touch with the men I'll send to follow the Rhinos' trail through messenger hawks, to make sure they're progressing smoothly. After Omashu, I will head to Gaoling. My barge will be waiting at the southern shore of the colonies to take me north to Ba Sing Se, where I hope to reunite with the men who should have captured the Rhinos effectively by then… unless they turn out to be incompetent fools, that is. And if they happen to be, I'll be making a last stop at Garsai, which will broaden my opportunities to ensnare them in case they haven't been caught by then."

"You'll be traveling throughout the entire continent…" said Ozai, thoughtful. "It sounds like an effective plan indeed, although time might not be your ally in this endeavor."

"Time is hardly anyone's ally, father," Azula muttered, sighing. "I plan to spend a week in each city, at the very least. Traveling from each place to the next will take some time as well. My men should be capable enough to seize the Rhinos by then."

"How many soldiers will you take?" asked Ozai, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't intend to raise suspicion by taking actual soldiers with me," Azula replied. "I will be taking my Royal Guards only."

"But your Royal Guards might not be enough…" muttered Ozai. "You will need to double your Royal Procession, at the very least."

Azula frowned upon the suggestion.

"If you intend to split your group by sending men to pursue the Rough Rhinos, your defenses will be very vulnerable," said the Fire Lord.

"But increasing the numbers I already have will make the traveling far more difficult, Father," Azula insisted. "You know I can take care of myself in case I'm left nigh defenseless."

"But you won't be left defenseless," Ozai ordered. "You will double your Royal Procession, Azula."

Azula knew better than to go against her father's orders, no matter how useless she thought his suggestion was. She was relying on stealth for her mission to be accomplished, and having too many men around her wouldn't help her finish her task. Yet she nodded, submitting to the Fire Lord's will. She would simply have find a way to make use of the additional soldiers her father had forced upon her.

"Are there Gladiator Arenas in each city you will visit?" asked Ozai.

"Yes, there are," Azula assured him. "I will issue out challenges to sponsors in the Colonies right away… but I wanted to let you know about what I had planned so far, to make sure I had your consent, father."

"You do," said Ozai, nodding. "Make sure to ponder every stage of this plan carefully. Any slip-ups and you might lose track of the Rhinos. Remember they are quite dangerous, so you'd do best to keep out of damage's way."

"I'll do my best to avoid any predicaments," she replied. "You needn't worry, father. I know better than to take on five bandits riding Komodo Rhinos by myself."

"Oh, I know you do," said Ozai, smiling. "You have my blessings, Azula. Good luck."

"Thank you, father," Azula whispered, bowing her head towards Ozai.

"Run along now. You need to send those challenges," said Ozai, taking his scroll on his hand again.

Azula stood up and bowed once again, turning around and leaving the room feeling slightly relieved. She had feared Ozai might set back her plans somehow, perhaps deciding he wouldn't give her the opportunity to prove herself if her strategies weren't to his liking… she was pleased to find he was most willing to entrust this mission to her. Having to add more men to her ranks was the one thing she found disagreeable, but she would do it regardless, if only to give her Father some peace of mind.

One of her guards awaited her outside the room, and she ordered him to assemble her palanquin bearers right away. She needed to go to the Grand Royal Dome immediately. She wasn't too fond of the idea of bringing Sokka along with her on her journey, but she had decided not to give the matter too much thought. He was to be used as her cover story and nothing more. If he dared take a step out of line, she would take it upon herself to put him in his rightful place, and she would thoroughly enjoy doing so.

The Royal Procession wasn't as crowded as usual this time. The preparations for their voyage kept the guards busy. Azula told the Captain to continue supervising the arrangements along most his men and she only took two guards with her on her quick trip to the Capital's Arena.

Shoji jumped when he saw the Princess walking down the vestibule towards him. The last time he had seen her, she had stormed off from the Arena without sparing so much as a glance his way. Her guards had passed right after her, carrying her gladiator on a stretcher. The boy knew nothing of the gladiator's fate, or of why Azula had seemed so upset that day…

"Princess…" he gasped. "How is the Blue Wolf recovering? Is he doing alright?"

Azula's eyes narrowed at the mention of her gladiator's name, a detail that didn't escape Shoji's sharp mind.

"I don't know how he's recovering, nor do I want to know. His incompetence landed him his wounds, and he'd best suffer them quietly. It's what a true warrior would do."

Shoji blinked a few times, surprised by the cold way in which Azula had delivered her words.

"O-okay…" he said, nodding in slight fear. The Fire Lord's daughter seemed considerably angry over something that Shoji didn't understand. Something was bothering her, but he had no right to ask her what it was. "I… I suppose you'd like to know your gladiator's position?"

Azula raised an eyebrow. To be honest, she didn't care for it much, but in order to maintain appearances…

"Yes, of course," said Azula, folding her arms over her chest.

"Well, he's 320 right now," said Shoji, beaming in hopes to transfer his enthusiasm to the Princess. "You're about twenty spots above the Blind Bandit! Congratulations!"

"Right…" said Azula, knowing she should feel a lot more excited over those news… but surpassing her uncle and the insane earthbender he sponsored had lost most of its previous appeal. "That's not the sole reason why I came here, though."

"Oh, of course!" said Shoji, still smiling. "Would you like to see the challenges you haven't replied to? Or maybe you'd like to issue out a challenge to someone else?"

"I'd like to tour through the Fire Nation Colonies with my gladiator, that's what I'd like to do," Azula retorted, feeling there was no need to wait to reveal her grand plan.

Shoji's eyes widened as he stared at Azula in surprise.

"W-what? How come?"

"Do I need a reason?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow that seemed to be asking if he was defying her authority.

"N-no, of course not!" said Shoji, gulping. She was fiercer than ever before today, wasn't she…? "I'm just surprised to know you'd like to travel through the Former Earth Kingdom… The Arenas over there aren't all that great, if you want me to be honest."

"They aren't?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"The men in charge of the Gladiator Business pretty much blew out half their budget on the Grand Royal Dome alone," said Shoji, smiling awkwardly. "This is by far the best Arena there is. I'm not saying the others aren't good… but they're not, uh, fit for a Princess such as yourself, I think."

Azula sighed and placed a hand on the counter, getting closer to the boy for a moment and making him shiver in fear as she glowered at him.

"I have to travel to the Colonies for business I will not explain to you. In order to keep my place in the Gladiator Business, I'm dragging that moron with me and I'm going to fight in those Arenas abroad, whether you think they're fitting for me or not. Am I clear?"

Shoji nodded several times, sweat treading down his forehead as he stared at the Princess in fear.

"Y-yes, of course… I understand," he muttered, lifting the large list of the ranking and handing it to the Princess. "T-take your time to choose your opponents! I'll just wait here, yeah… uh, but…"

"But?" asked Azula, taking the scroll on her hand and raising an eyebrow at him. Shoji shrank on his chair before finding the courage to finish muttering what he had wanted to say.

"W-well, if… if you have to travel for something… you wouldn't have to drop out of the business altogether," he said, biting his lip. "Even if it takes over three months… you wouldn't have to drop out."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Azula, glaring at him fiercely.

"D-didn't I explain that to you at some point…? Uh… I guess I didn't," said Shoji, scratching his head. "W-well, the thing is, if a sponsor is unable to play his part in the Arena during his gladiator's fight, he can authorize someone else to take his place until he can get back to the Gladiator Business. The sponsor simply has to sign an authorization notice so that the other person can act as a secondary sponsor…"

Azula's eyebrow twitched at that. Why hadn't she heard of that before? She probably had skipped over that rule when she was reading the guidelines of the gladiator combats…

"Is that so…?" she muttered. Not taking Sokka along on her trip would help her focus on her mission… but she had no idea whom she could ask to provide the service of secondary sponsor. Mai was absolutely out of the question right now, she had a child to take care of. Ty Lee… no, not Ty Lee. Azula might not want anything to do with Sokka in a romantic sense anymore, but she was definitely not going to throw him into the arms of a girl who was flexible enough to get into any man's pants. Zuko? No, he would never agree to help her… It was no good. She had nobody to ask to take upon sponsoring Sokka while she was gone. And besides, using Sokka as a cover story had become a major part of her plan… she couldn't discard him anymore, no matter how badly she wished she could. "Well, it makes no difference. I'm going to take him with me to the Colonies regardless."

"O-of course," said Shoji, smiling nervously as Azula began scanning the list of fighters with her golden eyes.

"I will need a response to these challenges as quickly as possible," said Azula. "I'll travel to the Colonies in two weeks. I want an answer from every sponsor by then, or else they'll have to answer directly to me when I drop by their cities."

"Yes, yes… I'll make it clear they're very urgent challenges, of course," said Shoji, smiling.

"Well, then…" said Azula, leering at the boy once again. "Let's get started."

* * *

Sokka's knuckles turned white as he grasped the sword's hilt tightly. A week had passed since his last encounter with the Princess, and he had done his best to obey her by focusing only on recovering from his wounds. But Sokka had never been able to stay put for too long. He had no idea when their journey to the Former Earth Kingdom would begin. For all he knew, Azula would show up on the next day to tell him it was already time to leave… So he had taken Space Sword in his hands today to see if his strength had already returned to him, in case the Princess finally showed up on his doorstep.

"You lost too much blood, Sokka… you shouldn't be doing that just yet," said Song, frowning as she watched him wielding his sword in the living room.

"I've… I've got to try," he insisted. "Else, how will I know if I'm doing better or not?"

"If you push yourself too far, you might just end up worse instead," said Song, folding her arms over her chest.

"No need to worry, Song," said Sokka, shaking his head as his right hand moved forward, stabbing the air with the blade. "See? It's… it's not perfect, but at least I can fight!"

"Sure…" said Song, still distrustful.

Sokka performed a few more moves, his legs stinging him as he shifted his footing. Yes, he still had long ways to go before he could fight properly, but at the very least he could hold his sword. He changed the blade to his left hand now, to test his other arm as well, but he couldn't clutch it appropriately this time around. The injury on his collarbone wasn't too deep, but his left hand begged for mercy whenever he clenched something with it. He tried to tighten his grip around the sword, but his fingers gave way against his will…

… And the sword's hilt just happened to land on his toes. Sokka screamed and jumped on one foot, grasping the other with his right hand. Song rolled her eyes as she watched him squirm in pain, falling on a nearby couch as he massaged his foot.

"I told you so. You'd only make it all worse," she said, shaking her head disapprovingly.

"Of course you'd say that …" he muttered, gritting his teeth and taking off his boot to get a good look at his swelling toes. "Damn it…"

A knock on the door took them both by surprise as they stared at Sokka's foot. Song walked to the door as Sokka's insides twisted with anxiety. Was it her? Had she come to take him to the Earth Kingdom? Or was she going to tell him when they would set out…? Maybe she'd tell him she wouldn't bring him along after all… The pain on his foot faded into the background as he watched the way Song opened the door too slowly for Sokka's liking.

But it wasn't her. It wasn't Azula. His eyes fell when he only saw the red uniform of a Royal Guard. Sokka tilted his head down for a moment, thinking he had been quite foolish to expect Azula to come here again…

_You're an eyesore._

The last words she had spoken towards him rang on his head once more. He grimaced and dropped his head, staring at the new wound on his foot. His skin was starting to turn red. Trying to focus on that, he decided to put aside his thoughts of Azula, even if he wasn't likely to succeed. He had finally come to accept that, no matter how hard he tried, he would never get her off his mind.

"Captain!" Song exclaimed, surprised to see the man. "To what do we owe the pleasure…?"

"I came to inform the gladiator of…" the Captain started, but he caught sight of the Water Tribe man sitting on the couch, rubbing his foot and grimacing at his pain. "What's the matter with him?"

"Oh, you know Sokka…" said Song, shrugging.

"As a matter of fact, I don't think I know him well enough to understand why he's fondling his foot," said the Captain, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, what I meant was that Sokka always finds a way to make a fool of himself," said Song, giggling a little. "He was testing his skills with his sword and he dropped it on his foot…"

"Huh… yes, indeed, he always finds a way to make a fool of himself. I was aware of that," said the Captain, shaking his head.

"Nice to see you two catching up on the 'Let's trash Sokka' club," Sokka growled from his couch.

"We actually should set a club up," said the Captain, smirking under his mask. "I'm sure it would get crowded quite quickly."

Song chuckled as Sokka rolled his eyes, still rubbing his foot. The Captain entered the house, sitting on a couch opposite Sokka's while Song went to the kitchen to set up some tea for the unexpected visitor.

"So… what are you here for?" asked Sokka, putting on his boot again and trying to forget about the throbbing pain on his toes.

"The Princess commanded me to inform you of what you need to know regarding the journey we'll undertake," said the Captain.

"She did…?" asked Sokka, surprised. He had been certain she wouldn't send anyone to brief him about anything.

"Don't take this the wrong way, gladiator," said the Captain. "The only reason she ordered me to do this was to make sure you would know to stay out of her way as she tends to her mission. Just as Song said, you're prone to make a fool of yourself at all times… and the Princess won't tolerate any hindrances to her plans. By informing you about this, you can keep your foolishness to a minimum. Got it?"

"I… I understand," said Sokka, nodding solemnly. The Captain was surprised to see how the demeanor of the gladiator seemed to change completely when he was reminded of his place in the world. "Well, then… what are you supposed to inform me about?"

"We will be on the road for a month or two," said the Captain. "Most preparations have been made by now. We'll set out to the Colonies in a week."

"One week?" Sokka repeated, surprised, but the Captain ignored him.

"How's your recovery going?"

"I'm getting better," Sokka admitted. "At least I can walk on my own now. But I don't know if I'll manage… a week, you said? I don't think I'll be fully recovered by then, even if I do nothing but stay put…"

"Your situation won't set back the Princess's plans, I'm afraid," said the Captain. "If you're not fully recovered by then, you'll have to fight as you are."

Sokka sighed and nodded, grimacing. He hoped Azula wouldn't pit him against dangerous opponents…

"The trip will take you from Yu Dao to Omashu, then to Gaoling, afterwards to Ba Sing Se and lastly to Garsai…"

Sokka blinked a few times and gaped at the Captain in surprise.

"W-wait… huh? I'm going to see all the big Earth Kingdom cities?"

"Earth Kingdom…?"

"Oh, I mean… F-Fire Nation colonies," Sokka grunted, grimacing with disgust. "Would it only take us a few months to go through all those places?"

"Time is of essence in the Princess's mission. You're not going sightseeing, in case you've forgotten," the Captain declared, as Song set down a cup of tea before him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," said Song, smiling and sitting by Sokka's side.

"I know I'm not going sightseeing…" muttered Sokka, pursing his lips as the Captain removed his hood.

Sokka was thoroughly surprised to discover there was just a human being beneath the mask. He blinked a few times, not knowing what he had been expecting… well, for starters he hadn't expected to ever see what lay beneath that mask. It was odd to realize the Captain was as much of a regular man as he was.

"You'll stay at each city for a week or so," said the Captain, taking a sip from his cup. "Traveling from place to place will likely take you two weeks, at most."

"Uh, alright, but… what do you mean by 'you'?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you coming as well?"

"Not for as long as you might think," said the Captain. "The Princess will divide her forces and I'll be leading the secondary division…"

"Huh?! What…? What exactly is this mission of hers about?" asked Sokka.

"I'm not sure if you're allowed to know," said the Captain. "Therefore, I won't explain unless the Princess thinks it's wise for me to do so."

"Right," muttered Sokka, an eyebrow twitching. "You know, I was the one to suggest I could act as a smokescreen. Wouldn't it be fair for me to know what I'm serving as a cover for?"

The Captain seemed to consider the idea for a moment, but he shook his head afterwards.

"I'm not here to be fair, I'm here to tell you what you have to do. Nothing more."

Sokka grimaced and shook his head.

"I don't know why I expected anything else from you…"

"You will travel with the Princess at all times," said the Captain, glaring at Sokka. "So make sure to behave properly while around her. If you dare do anything to hurt her again, you'll pay with your life."

"I… I know," said Sokka, nodding.

"Keep as much distance between you two as possible," said the Captain. "She has enough things on her mind as it is for her to also have to deal with your thoughtlessness. Know your place as her gladiator."

"I will," said Sokka. "I know better now… I won't pester her. I promise."

"Excuse me if I can't bring myself to trust your words blindly," said the Captain, glaring at Sokka. The gladiator was slightly intimidated by the fierce stare. Had he always looked at him with such anger underneath his mask? "If anything, you've proved to be the one person who can damage the Princess in ways nobody else can. I can only be wary around you."

"Yeah… and I don't blame you for it," said Sokka, dropping his gaze.

Song looked from one to the other, worried. She had no idea how to interpret the hostility she could sense between the two men.

"You can pack heavily if you want, seeing how we'll be abroad for a long time, but you will be carrying your own bags all the way to port," said the Captain. "Keep that in mind."

"Got it," said Sokka, nodding. "By the way… can Song come with us?"

Song jumped in surprise at Sokka's question. The Captain raised an eyebrow slowly, confused.

"What?"

"Well… she's my healer," said Sokka, smiling awkwardly. "And a very good one at that. If I get hurt in one of the fights, I'll need her to patch me back together so I can fight on the next ones."

The Captain sighed. Sokka's reasoning was understandable, but he didn't think the Princess would take kindly to bringing another slave with them in their journey to catch the Rough Rhinos. The Captain didn't think it was that a great idea either, mostly for Song's safety. He figured the gladiator would be able to stand his ground if faced with the Rhinos directly, but the slave girl would be at a loss in such situation…

"For her own good, it would be best if she didn't come," said the Captain, shaking his head. "You're not in a position to make any requests right now, gladiator. The Princess would likely reject your petition right away. And, for Song's safety, she should stay here in the mainland."

"My safety…?" asked Song, confused, "Why would my safety be endangered in that trip?"

"It's not a simple matter," said the Captain, looking at her with earnest eyes. "And I don't think I'm allowed to discuss it openly. You'll have to take my word for it."

"Wait… so if her safety would be jeopardized, wouldn't Azula's be as well? And mine…?" asked Sokka, blinking a few times as reality began sinking in. What on earth was Azula's mission?

"I'm sorry to destroy any illusions you might have had, but I don't care as much about your safety as I would care about hers," said the Captain, jerking his head towards Song as he glared at Sokka. "You're a fighter, you should be able to take care of yourself."

"Well, in that case, I could protect Song as well…" said Sokka, crossing his arms over his chest.

"If you really want to protect her, leave her here. It's the best way to make sure no harm will befall her," declared the Captain.

Sokka grimaced and looked at the girl beside him. Song smiled weakly at him and shrugged.

"It would have been weird for me to travel through the Earth Kingdom with the Fire Lord's daughter's procession, don't you think?"

"I suppose," said Sokka, sighing. "Will a healer of any sort travel with us?"

"No, but all the guards have basic knowledge on treating wounds," said the Captain, shrugging.

"That's not exactly reassuring," said Sokka, grimacing.

"If you were to win your fights by a wide margin and defeated all your enemies, maybe you wouldn't need anyone to treat you," said the Captain. "How about you do that instead of complaining?"

"Oh, fine," muttered Sokka. "But it depends on what kind of fighters I'll be going against…"

"The Princess has already issued out the challenges… I believe she has gotten a positive response on most of them," said the Captain. "But I have no information regarding your opponents. I can only suggest you to do your best against them."

"Not like I have another choice, do I?" said Sokka, sighing. "If I don't do my best, I'll get myself killed… and maybe not by the guys in the Arena, but by Azula instead."

"I would say the Princess wouldn't do such a thing… but her rage towards you seems strong enough for her to wish to put an end to you, permanently," said the Captain, shrugging. He didn't seem to care much for Sokka's fate.

The more thought Sokka gave to the journey they would have to undertake, the more disturbing he found it. What could Azula be up to that would force her to travel throughout the entire Former Earth Kingdom? What mysteries was she hiding this time around…?

He lowered his head as he realized he wasn't likely to find out the answers to those questions. She wouldn't deem him worthy of knowing what her true mission was, or else she would have explained everything earlier. He wanted to make up for all the damage he had caused her, for all the pain and anguish… but it seemed impossible. Azula would never trust him again. All he could do was fight to his utmost once they were in the Arenas at the Colonies, so that, at the very least, she would let him stay by her side as her personal fighter. It was the only way in which he could be of any use to her anymore.

* * *

"Father…" Azula whispered, knowing she was interrupting the Fire Lord's meditative session, but doing so anyway.

Ozai wasn't bothered by the disruption, though. He knew what Azula had come for. Two weeks had passed already since their last meeting, and her current visit could only mean one thing. He stood up and faced his daughter, a smile on his face as he detailed her flawless appearance. Her dark hair was tied in its half-knot once again, allowing the long strands of jet-black locks flow elegantly down her back. She was fully dressed in her armor, her appearance daunting and inspiring at the same time.

"Are you ready?" asked Ozai. "Did everything proceed smoothly?"

"Yes," the Princess replied, nodding. "The guards are assembled, the ship is loaded and the train-tank is on its way to Yu Dao without a hitch, according to the reports I received."

"Very well," said Ozai, smirking. "May the tides favor you, my daughter, and may good fortune shine upon you as well."

Azula bowed down solemnly before her father.

"I will complete this mission, father," Azula declared. "I will make you proud of my achievements."

"I'm certain you will," said Ozai, as Azula straightened her back again and left the room without another word, her golden eyes ablaze with determination as she strode towards the Palace's Gates with two of her guards flanking her.

Sokka dropped his large bag on the Palace's grounds, right beside the stone steps leading to the main hall that allowed entrance into the largest building in the city. The Royal Guards were chatting amongst themselves, all the same as the palanquin bearers. Sokka had just arrived to the scene, having received a message from the Captain a few days ago for him to come at mid-morning to the Palace. Sokka had thought it might be better for him to go straight to the port, but he wasn't going to question what the Captain had told him. It might have been Azula's order to have him join the Procession, and disobeying her now would surely unleash disturbing consequences upon him.

"So… you're really here?" asked someone behind him, taking Sokka by surprise. He turned around to find Prince Zuko staring at him, his golden eyes defiant. The man had been standing near the guards just a moment ago, and he had approached Sokka as soon as he saw him placing his luggage on the ground.

"As far as I know, you're not crazy enough to hallucinate, so I guess I am," said Sokka, raising an eyebrow at Zuko. His rivalry with the Fire Lord's son had been set far back in his list of priorities, but he hadn't forgotten their bitter match at Mai's house, and neither had the Prince.

"I thought this nonsense of a tour was just a ruse," muttered Zuko. "I thought she was up to something other than parading her gladiator all over the world."

Sokka frowned, holding back his urge to tell Zuko that his assumption was correct. It was surprising to see that Azula seemed to distrust her brother just as much as she distrusted Sokka… though it was quite a disheartening thought as well. She had trusted him before. And it had been Sokka's fault that she had withdrawn that trust completely.

"You shouldn't go around trying to guess what Azula is up to," said Sokka. "Your curiosity will come back to bite you in the rear if you're not careful."

"Huh?" asked Zuko, confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What do you think it means?"

"W-well… I don't know! That's why I'm asking!" Zuko yelled, flushing in embarrassment.

"That's too bad. I thought you were smarter than that. Seems like the wit doesn't run in the family," said Sokka, with a dramatic sigh.

"What…?! Take that back!" Zuko roared, glaring at Sokka angrily.

"What's ticking him now?" asked someone else, walking down the main hall towards them. "Why do you go around pissing this guy off, Dog? That's supposed to be my job."

"Your job?" said Sokka, glancing sideways at the Blind Bandit. "Since when do you have the exclusive rights to get on Zuko's bad side?"

"I have the exclusive rights to get on anyone's bad side, including yours, Dog," said Toph, smirking as she climbed down the steps and stood before them. "I just heard his sweet voice yelling at you when I was passing by, so I figured I'd come find out what the ruckus was this time around."

"There's nothing for you to do here," Zuko growled, leering at the earthbender. "And my voice isn't sweet!"

"Can't catch a hint of sarcasm, can you?" Toph said, smirking.

"I was insulting his brains too, you're welcome to join the party if you want," said Sokka, folding his arms over his chest and smirking at Zuko as well.

"Q-quit it," Zuko growled, his anger escalating with every passing moment.

"Nah, I didn't come here just to prod at his ego" said Toph, turning towards Sokka. "Iroh mentioned something about the Jewel traveling, but I didn't know you were tagging along. She's taking you with her?"

"Yeah, she is… and we're going to fight in other Arenas over at the Earth Kingdom," said Sokka, proudly.

"Oh, really?" asked Toph, smirking. "You sure you can handle those fights, Dog?"

"Huh?" said Sokka, surprised. "Why do you ask?"

"You're really naïve, aren't you?" Toph said, shaking her head. "Earth Kingdom gladiators are, mostly, earthbenders. And I don't think I need to remind you of how your last fight against an earthbender went, or do I?"

Sokka frowned at Toph's declaration. His opponents were still a mystery to him, he had no clue who Azula had challenged this time around. Probably just non-benders… right? She knew better than to put their progress through the ranking at risk by having him fight benders of any kind… but he couldn't let Toph see she had planted seeds of uncertainty in his mind.

"You're just saying that because you're mad we've surpassed you," said Sokka, smirking. "How's life in the lower half of the ranking, Bandit?"

"Seriously?" she asked, glaring at him. "You're in the lower half of the ranking as well, Dog. Didn't your people teach you how to divide five hundred in half?"

Sokka's eyebrow twitched and he shook his head in irritation, trying to focus on what mattered.

"Still, I'm way ahead of you! For over three hundred points, no less!"

"That's going to change soon, believe me," said Toph, smirking. "Enjoy your short-lived advantage for now, Dog… it's not going to happen ever again."

"Says you," Sokka said, glaring at Toph.

"My, my, such hostility," asked another arrival, surprising Sokka.

"Why do you people keep popping up out of nowhere?" he asked, glaring at the approaching Iroh, who was walking down the hall that Toph had just appeared from.

"Ah, is it all coming from you?" asked the old man, smiling at Sokka and making sure he'd glare at him with even more fierceness.

"Not really, some of it comes from Princess Zuko over there," said Toph, smiling at her sponsor and pointing at the Fire Lord's son.

"What the…?! Don't call me that!" Zuko yelled, looking as if he were about to lose his temper completely.

"Not Princess? Hmmm… Lady Zuko!" Toph said, smiling brightly as Zuko's hands became engulfed in orange fire.

"Peace, Zuko!" said Iroh, jumping between the pair. "You two won't ever try to get along, will you?"

"What for?" said Toph, chuckling. "It's a lot more fun to piss him off."

"Don't ask me to get along with the likes of her!" Zuko yelled, glaring both at his uncle and his gladiator.

Iroh grimaced at his nephew's exclamations, patting him on the shoulder in hopes he would calm down. Sokka was still glaring at him, not comfortable at being in the same place as the old man. He had only seen him a few times before, but he had kept his guard up on every opportunity. If Azula was wary of the man, he would be as well.

"What are you doing here, Uncle?" Zuko muttered, wishing Iroh would leave and give him the chance to fight Toph personally.

"I heard Azula would be taking off today, so I came to watch her leave," said the old man, turning around towards Sokka. "You'll be joining Princess Azula on her journey?"

Iroh looked at Sokka with calm eyes. Sokka stared right back at him. His eyes were the same color as Azula's… but they were very different at the same time. Sokka had seen many things in Azula's golden gaze: her emotions, her intelligence, her determination… but Iroh's amber eyes were impossible to read. He couldn't tell what the man might be thinking about.

"Yeah… I will," said Sokka, frowning. "What of it?"

"I'm just impressed," said Iroh, smiling. "I didn't know you two were so close."

"C-close?" asked Sokka, gaping at the man in shock. No, they weren't close. They had been close before, perhaps… but not anymore, and they probably never would be again.

"Well, seeing how she has quite a mission ahead of herself…" said Iroh, smiling. "For her to decide to bring you along… it must mean she trusts you quite a lot."

Sokka's eyes widened with shock at those words. Of course she didn't trust him. There was no way she trusted him… why was this man saying those things? What was the matter with him? How had he known the situation between him and Azula had grown so strained? Did the old man know his words were stabbing his heart as if they were knives? Judging by the calm contained in his eyes… he did. Sokka's reaction would have surprised him if it had been otherwise.

"Her mission?!" asked Zuko, grasping his uncle by the shoulder and forcing him to turn around towards him. "I knew it… I knew it! She wasn't just traveling to brag about him!"

"To brag about whom?" asked Iroh, confused.

Sokka only remembered then that Iroh knew about Azula's true intent by traveling to the Former Earth Kingdom. He was about to tell him to keep quiet regarding Azula's mission, but the sudden appearance of the Princess at the Palace's threshold froze him on the spot.

Iroh dragged Zuko and Toph to the side as Azula strode between the four of them, followed by her guards. Sokka wanted to look up at her, to watch her as she passed by, headed towards her palanquin, but he dropped his gaze to the ground, bowing his head down to her almost by reflex. Azula gave no hints of taking notice of Sokka or any of the others, striding towards her palanquin with steady footing, her head held up high.

Sokka looked up as she climbed aboard the vehicle. Closeness, trust… they had been there before, but they were both gone. He was left with nothing but the shadow of what they could have been, with the memories of a shared past that seemed so far away it hardly felt real anymore.

"Good luck on those fights, Dog," said Toph, bringing Sokka back to reality. "You're definitely going to need it."

Sokka nodded to acknowledge her words and he leaned down to pick up his luggage, leaving behind the three people who were staring at him intently as he treaded after the palanquin. He exited the Palace's premises, looking up at the closed drapes of the vehicle with the feeble hope that, maybe, he and Azula would find what they had lost on this journey into the Former Earth Kingdom…


	33. Chapter 33

"… From what we've been able to gather, the Rough Rhinos are heavily armed. They will injure or kill anyone who stands in their way."

"So I've heard," Azula muttered, frowning as her Captain delivered the information about their enemies. "You compiled information about each member of the group, as I commanded, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did," said the Captain, nodding.

"Very well. Let's hear it," said Azula, crossing her legs as she looked expectantly at the man.

Sitting on her throne-like seat on the barge allowed Azula to glare at all her subjects properly, but right now she was more intent on being completely briefed about the Rough Rhinos than on reminding everyone on the ship that she was the one in charge. The Captain had laid out a table on the barge's main deck, and Azula was currently sitting before it with her legs crossed, on the smoothest cushion available. The Captain sat opposite to her, searching through an array of scrolls to find the one in which he had written down all the information he had been able to obtain regarding the Rough Rhinos' members. As soon as he found the right paper, he spread it wide open and began reading.

"The Rhinos' leader is Colonel Mongke, as we already know," said the Captain. "He's the single firebender of the group. He used to serve under your Uncle in the army."

"Forming his own group was a clever call," muttered Azula. "If he had remained at my Uncle's service he would have gotten himself killed in Ba Sing Se to no avail."

"Indeed… if that had been the case, we wouldn't have a mission before us right now," said the Captain.

"It would have spared us the trouble, true… but despite it all, I need this mission," Azula declared.

"Of course," said the Captain, not entirely certain of why Azula needed a mission, but agreeing with her for the sake of it. "The Colonel is skilled at bending, but he also has a very sharp mind. His intelligence is no match to yours, naturally… but it would be best to be cautious with Mongke. He can be unpredictable, and any unpredictable firebender can be deadly."

"Naturally," said Azula, frowning. "You'll have to keep that in mind. You're likely to be the one who will face and capture them."

"You can rest assured. I will be wary of them all, especially Mongke," said the Captain, nodding. "Now, as for the other members, one is called Ogodei. He fights with chains that have steel balls attached to their ends. He's very skilled at capturing his opponents. There's also Vachir, a former member of the Yu-Yan Archers. According the information we obtained about him, he fights using arrows on fire…"

"How?" asked Azula, frowning.

"He has a torch of some sort on his bow. He uses it to set the tips of his arrows on fire," the Captain explained.

"So there's only one firebender, but this one fights with fire as well…" Azula muttered, thoughtful.

"Kahchi is the fourth member," continued the Captain. "His weapon is a halberd, a guan dao. He's the slowest of them all, apparently, but he's the most lethal in short-distance combat. His skill with his weapon is something to behold. Flawless offense, flawless defense…"

Sokka walked into the deck, overhearing the last words the Captain had just said. He raised an eyebrow, confused about what he might be discussing with the Princess. He had been looking for Azula for a while now, wanting to ask her about his opponents. Azula hadn't bothered looking his way throughout the entire voyage, and Sokka had decided to leave her alone for the time being. But with every passing second they came closer to Yu Dao, and he still knew nothing of the enemy he would be facing in the Arena. He had gone to her cabin first, and he had stood knocking on the door for several minutes, wondering if the Princess wouldn't answer because she had known it was him somehow, before a guard caught sight of him and told him Azula was on the deck.

He had hoped she would be alone, he knew better than to interrupt her if she was up to something important… and, indeed, the Princess was occupied. Sokka walked to the rim of the ship, sitting far from where Azula and the Captain were, but keeping an eye on them in hopes he would get his chance to talk to Azula as soon as she had finished her conversation with her guard.

"The last one is Yeh-Lu," said the Captain, frowning. "He's a bombs expert. His explosives are very dangerous, and they use them as a cover to escape whenever the situation is unfavorable for them. It's how they got out of Yu Dao when they attacked the city."

"Of course," muttered Azula, frowning. "So there's only one firebender, yet there are two more that fight with fire. It shouldn't be so difficult to defeat the ones who can't even bend the fire they're using to attack."

"It shouldn't, but we can't lower our guard around them," said the Captain.

"You'd best keep that in mind at all times," Azula declared. "It won't be easy to capture them. They're all skilled at riding their Komodo Rhinos, aren't they?"

"Very much so," the Captain admitted. "Their steeds are strong and fast, as good as unstoppable when they break into an all-out race. Their horns are deadly, their hides almost impenetrable."

"It won't be an easy battle," Azula muttered. "They're not just five bandits, they have five deadly mounts as well. You'll have to take ten men with you, at the very least."

"But that's…"

"Yes, twice as much as we agreed before, but now that you've briefed me about them, I fear there's no other way," said Azula, somewhat amused to think she was almost reliving her previous conversation with her father, but on the other end of it this time. "No need to worry, I'll be left with ten more guards to stand by me."

"Ten might not be enough," said the Captain, grimacing.

"Ten has been enough all along. It's always been ten guards in my Royal Procession," Azula stated. "And I wouldn't be defenseless even if I ended up on my own, Captain. I know how to take care of myself."

"Of course you do, Princess," said the Captain, nodding and bowing down his head towards her.

"Very well, then. Make sure you have selected the men you'll take with you by the time we arrive in Yu Dao," said Azula, standing up. "According to the ship's captain, we should be there by tomorrow afternoon."

"Yes, Princess," said the Captain, picking up his papers and nodding again.

Azula turned around, headed towards the ship's tower once more. Sokka jumped from where he was, extending a hand to try and stop her, but he already knew he wouldn't reach her in time.

"Az-…" he started, but he couldn't even finish calling out her name.

The Princess showed no signs of having heard him. She disappeared through the door he had passed by only a moment ago. Sokka was left standing where he was, his hand still raised towards her, her blatant rejection hurting him in ways nobody had ever harmed him before. There was nothing he could do, nothing…

The Captain caught sight of his figure, having noticed Sokka from the moment the gladiator had entered the deck. Azula had taken notice of him as well: her eyebrows had twitched as soon as she heard Sokka's footsteps. The Captain doubted Sokka planned to do any harm to her this time around. He figured the gladiator would have a good reason to come look for her… but Azula still wanted nothing to do with him. The Captain stood up and looked at Sokka, watching the way he dropped his arm slowly, his downcast eyes portraying the pain and loneliness that dwelled within him.

"What are you doing here?" asked the Captain, bringing Sokka out of his depressive daze.

"U-uh… I just wanted to ask her something, but, well… you can see how that went," said Sokka, shrugging and walking to the rim of the ship again, his eyes fixated on the water.

"You weren't really expecting anything else, were you?" asked the Captain, approaching Sokka and standing beside him with his back turned to the ocean.

"I know she can't forgive me that easily for what I did, but I'm trying to set things right. It'd be great if she'd let me," said Sokka, sighing and shaking his head.

"Unless you give her a reason to let you, she won't be interested in letting you," said the Captain. "If you're determined to earn her pardon, you should try harder."

"How much harder?" asked Sokka, grimacing. "She doesn't even want to acknowledge I'm alive, how am I supposed to do anything else to earn her forgiveness…?"

"I'm sorry to say I don't have all the answers to your problems," the Captain declared. "I just hope you have learned to never take a woman's heart lightly."

"I guess I have," muttered Sokka, sighing. "You think… you think she actually liked me?"

"She might have," said the Captain, shrugging. "I can't pretend to understand the Princess better than anyone. She's the only one who understands herself."

"Indeed," said Sokka, nodding. "She's beyond men like us, isn't she? Too far from us to grasp…"

"I have always known that," said the Captain. "Yet it seems you only learned that as of late…"

"And in the hard way," said Sokka, nodding. "I was stupid enough to forget my place in the world, stupid enough to only think about myself. And… and I said she was selfish, but even if she is to some extent, so was I… and I had no right to be. I'm just a gladiator, just a slave…"

"She didn't think you were just a slave," said the Captain. "And she doesn't think so now either."

Sokka frowned and looked at the man with confused eyes.

"How do you know…? You know what she thinks of me now?"

"Of course. She thinks you're the lowest form of life there is, that there's no way to make you pay for all the mistakes you made," the Captain stated matter-of-factly, making Sokka grimace.

"T-that's just wonderful," said Sokka, staring into the ocean again.

"And with that you can tell she sees you as much more than a slave," said the Captain. "To her, you were an ally. As you are now, it seems you are a threat. Yet she has never looked down on you…"

"Well, I wouldn't push it that far…" Sokka muttered, but the Captain ignored him.

"… Never treated you as she treats her servants. In her eyes, you've always been different. Even now, you are different. She can't behave around you in the way she would with any other slave. She can't order you around, can't make you kneel and swear eternal fealty…"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," said Sokka, sighing. "I mean, if she wanted me to, I probably would…"

"But she won't do it. Because… because she respects you."

Sokka's eyes widened at the Captain's words. The man's head was hung, as if he had finally found the solution to a puzzle he had been struggling to solve for far too long… and the result happened to be disheartening instead of fulfilling for him.

"Even now, after whatever you've done… she respects the fact that you can hurt her. Before she was on her guard, wary of anything you might say or do, and always ready to counter your jabs. Now she stays far from you, keeping her distance, because being on her guard wasn't enough. You're just a non-bender, you're not that strong… but you could pierce right through her defenses in ways nobody had ever done it before. She's afraid of what you can unleash upon her. And I'd say she has every right to be."

Sokka sighed and nodded, his knuckles turning white as he clasped the rim of the ship tightly.

"You're a threat to her, she'd be a fool to take you lightly. And the Princess is no fool."

"But I am one," said Sokka, sighing. "I… I don't even know what I took our relationship to be. I got it all wrong, though…"

"I don't know what happened between you," said the Captain. "And I doubt I want to know. It might make me want to beat you to a pulp."

"Yeah, likely," muttered Sokka, gulping. If Azula's most loyal guard knew Sokka and the Princess had shared quite a passionate moment in the Arena's waiting room, he'd likely try to kill him. He wouldn't even need to hear the full extent of their conflict, just knowing he had kissed her would be enough for him to slay Sokka on the spot.

"But you said before that you would spend the rest of your life making up for your mistakes," said the Captain. "So giving up now…"

"I'm not giving up," said Sokka, shaking his head. "I'm never giving up. But it's just… hard. It makes me wonder if anything of what I'm doing is any use."

"It's more use than it seems on first glance," said the Captain. "For you to strive to set things right speaks better of your character than you think."

Sokka blinked a few times before looking at the Captain with astonishment.

"Okay, I hadn't quite realized this until just now, but… you're being nice to me. You're actually being nice to me!"

The Captain grimaced under his hood and huffed, shaking his head. This gladiator was the most irritating man he knew.

"I'm not being nice, I'm being honest. I'm saying what I think. The Princess was reckless while around you, she would push me aside and get away with all her urges if she pleased… yet during that time there was a spark in her eyes I had never seen in them before. That spark is gone now, and I don't know if it'll ever come back to her. But you're the reason why she had that spark in the first place. If there's a chance she can get it back, it'll probably be because of you."

Sokka's eyes widened at those words. He had no idea what Azula was like whenever he wasn't around, obviously… but he had never thought someone else would sense there was a change in her demeanor because of him. His impact on her life had been evident. He hadn't been imagining things when he caught sight of what hid behind the Princess's golden irises: the Captain had noticed it also.

"Y-you want that spark… to return," muttered Sokka, lowering his eyes. "You think… you think she was actually happy back then? You think I… you think I made her happy?"

"I don't think so. I know so," said the Captain, sighing. "Why you, of all people? I have no idea. I don't see anything special about you other than the fact that the Princess thought you were special. I don't get it, personally… but I care about the Princess's wellbeing. And if someone can make her smile wholeheartedly again someday, it's probably you."

"I… I get it," said Sokka, nodding. He didn't really think he would be able to make Azula smile again, her hatred towards him seemed to know no end… but just as the Captain wanted Azula to be happy again, so did Sokka. Even if he wasn't the one who could give her that happiness, he needed to make sure she could smile once more. Once that was done, he could step away from her life and leave her alone if that was what she wished for… but as it was, he would stay by her side no matter how painful it would be. Until he was sure she had found happiness, he wouldn't leave her. He couldn't leave her.

"Just… give her some space," said the Captain. "She needs it. Show her the respect she commands. The Princess might come to accept you again one day if you do so."

"Alright," said Sokka, nodding. "I'll do that."

"Good," said the Captain, relieved to see the gladiator seemed to have understood the message indeed. He stepped away from Sokka, thinking about fetching some food, but he stopped when he heard the slave calling him.

"Captain…" said Sokka, looking at him with earnest eyes. "Thanks."

"I didn't say all that for your sake. You should know that by now," the Captain grumbled.

"Of course not," said Sokka, smiling. "But that's why I'm glad. You don't really care for me, and you clearly don't like me, but you think I can fix this. You actually believe I can set things right again. And you're willing to give me that opportunity even if I don't deserve it. So… thanks."

The Captain sighed and slid his hands into his pockets, walking away and shaking his head. That gladiator was really annoying.

Sokka smiled to himself as the Captain walked to the door through which Azula had left not too long ago. Even though speaking to the Royal Guard hadn't been that much help, considering he hadn't made any progress with Azula altogether, it had served to cheer him up. The Captain trusted him to fix the disaster he had wrecked, and he actually believed Sokka could succeed! His support was quite refreshing. Before he had felt like a tiny stone waging a war against a mountain… now he felt like a large boulder. It didn't mean he would succeed, but at the very least, he felt invigorated. It had given him the strength to fight when he had been tempted to surrender.

He turned towards the bow of the ship, his stare lost in the horizon. The ship was already sailing through Earth Kingdom waters. They had passed by the last Fire Nation islands the several days before and slipped through the ship blockade only a few hours ago. Sokka seized the rim of the ship again, the salty wind playing with some loose strands of his hair as he made up his mind about waiting. Piandao had often told him he needed to be patient, and that had been a lesson he had never managed to learn… it seemed he would have to learn it the hard way. He would endure anything and everything, and stand in wait for as long as needed until Azula could find some happiness once more.

* * *

The city of Yu Dao was the first Earth Kingdom town to become a Fire Nation Colony. The Colony had been established decades before the Hundred Year War had begun. With the joint efforts of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom citizens, firebenders and earthbenders alike, the town had turned into a very busy city in no time.

Sokka stared in awe as he treaded behind the Royal Procession, baffled by the seemingly endless sights and sounds. The noise coming from the stores was something new for Sokka. He had become accustomed to the Fire Nation Capital's inherent tranquility. The elegance in the Fire Nation's main city made it pretentious and prestigious at the same time. Yu Dao was the entire opposite of that. It seemed prosperous and well-organized, yet also it was also boisterous with business. People were hard at work everywhere he looked, and everyone seemed happy about it. It looked like a good place to live.

Azula's Procession made its way through the busy streets, earning itself the amazed stares of the townsfolk. Word had spread quickly about Azula's visit to the Former Earth Kingdom, and the Fire Nation colonials were most curious to meet the Princess for the first time. Sokka followed the palanquin as they passed through the main street of Yu Dao. To his slight discomfort, the Procession seemed to become more crowded by the minute. He looked over his shoulder to realize that curious onlookers had decided to follow the palanquin, all of them eager to catch a glimpse of the Fire Lord's daughter.

The palanquin bearers set Azula down right before the Mayor's home. The plump man was standing in front of his house, a smile on his face as he stared at the palanquin, his daughter and wife flanking him. Their elegant clothes gave away they were members of the city's high class, seeing how everyone else around them wore casual and common garments. There was a chance that the Mayor and his family didn't always dress like that, but they had to look their best if they were to welcome Princess Azula into the Fire Nation Colonies.

The curtains of the palanquin were drawn back by two of Azula's men, revealing the figure of the Princess sitting within. She cast one of her arrogant glares at the Mayor and his family before standing up and climbing off the vehicle. She didn't miss the way the Mayor's daughter stared at her in admiration. Good. She should be in awe.

"Welcome to Yu Dao, Princess Azula," said Mayor Morishita, bowing down before Azula. His wife and daughter followed his lead, and soon enough, the entire crowd of curious onlookers that had surrounded the Royal Procession were bowing down as well.

"Rise," Azula commanded, and all the people who had been bending over, with their left hands extended and their right balled into a fist, straightened their backs and stared at her with curiosity again.

"I trust your voyage was pleasant?" asked the Mayor, smiling kindly.

"As pleasant as any trip on a ship could be," Azula replied.

"Please excuse the citizens for their enthusiasm," said the Mayor's wife, smiling as well. "It's the first time a royal visits the city in over ten years."

"It's the first time I visit the city. Their enthusiasm is perfectly justified," declared Azula, proudly. "I trust my accommodations are ready?"

"Oh, of course, Princess," said the Mayor, nodding. "I hope you find them to your liking. We have arranged for you to share our home during the week you'll spend in Yu Dao."

"Very well," said Azula, staring at the house behind the family. It sure didn't look like a place she would find to her liking, but it would have to suffice. It wasn't as if she was taking a vacation. She had better things to worry about than staying in a mediocre house. "I will need a place to store the palanquin while the Royal Procession stays here…"

"Uh… what?" said the Mayor, blinking a few times in surprise.

Azula glared at him coldly. Was he going to make her repeat herself?

"Was there anything unclear in what I said, Mayor Morishita?"

"N-no, well… but there seems to be one problem" said the man, gulping. The Princess already was frightening enough without those killer glares.

"And what might that be?" asked Azula, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Well, as you can see… this isn't that large a house," said Morishita, grimacing. "We hadn't thought we would have to host your entire Procession…"

Azula frowned. He was going to separate her from her men? How was she supposed to lead them through their mission if they would be staying at another place?

"Is that so?" she growled, her eyes narrow.

"I'm so sorry to set back your plans as it is," said the Mayor, nervous. "But we only arranged rooms for you and your gladiator…"

Azula's eyes snapped wide open upon that claim. A few ways away, Sokka jumped as well. The others had to leave, but he could stay? Stay in that house, with that family… and Azula? Something about it was utterly foreboding…

Azula cringed before composing herself. Of course they would arrange a room for Sokka, but not for her guards… and she hated to realize it made sense. She was supposed to be touring with her gladiator, bragging about him and presenting him all over the world… The Mayor's house was definitely not large enough to house a Princess, a gladiator, twenty Royal Guards and eight palanquin bearers. Yet staying only with Sokka… the thought produced a burning anger in her that made her feel as if she had swallowed a chunk of lava.

And the worst part was that she couldn't show how much it bothered her to have to stick with Sokka. Doing so would seem absolutely absurd in the eyes of everyone around. She narrowed her eyes again before turning towards the Captain of her Royal Guard, who had been standing right behind her.

"I suppose that hood isn't thick enough for you to have missed what I've just been informed of," she said, raising her eyebrows.

"It isn't, Princess," said the Captain, bowing his head towards her.

"Then I suggest you get moving to find proper lodging for you all," she snapped at him, being brusque towards him even though she knew the man wasn't to blame for the unexpected turn of events.

"Oh, uh…" said a member of the crowd, a short man with an odd mustache that took a step forward towards the Procession. "I-If it please Your Royal Highness… I have an inn a few streets away. I have several rooms available… I think I can accommodate your men, if you'd like me to…"

Azula turned her cruel glare towards the man, who shivered when he realized the Princess had focused her attention on him.

"Well… I rather doubt he's not trustworthy" she said, analyzing him quickly. "There's little a short man like that could do to an entire battalion of Royal Guards."

"Indeed, Princess," said the Captain, smiling slightly under his hood. "No need to concern yourself about us. We'll sort this matter out. As soon as we find a place to stay, we'll let you know. We'll bring your luggage to the Mayor's house once we've settled this."

"Very well, then" said Azula, glaring at the Captain again before lowering her gaze, her hands balling into fists… "Gladiator!"

Sokka jumped again when she called for him as she did. Clutching his weapons and bags, Sokka stared at the Princess in mild fear. Her temper seemed to worsen with every passing second, and at this rate he would end up getting burned to ashes if she found no better way to ease her frustration.

"Don't lag behind," Azula grunted, glaring at Sokka and jerking her head towards the Morishita's house.

Sokka gulped and nodded promptly, trembling in expectation as he followed Azula into the house. Perhaps he would finally get his opportunity to talk to the Princess…

He didn't, of course. Azula focused on Mayor Morishita when she entered the house, questioning him about the city's situation. The man replied kindly to her questions, but had offered to speak at leisure over dinner instead. Azula didn't seem satisfied with his responses, but she didn't complain. The family led the two of them to their home's dining room, but to everyone's surprise, Azula refused to go inside immediately.

"Go ahead, Mayor," she muttered. "There's something I need to tell my slave. It won't take long."

"Of course, Princess. Take all the time you need, we'll be waiting for you," said Morishita, smiling as he guided his wife and daughter into the room, leaving a nervous Sokka and a rabid Azula in the house's main hall.

Azula turned to Sokka, her golden eyes as unyielding as ever. Sokka held back the urge to gulp or to take a step back. He couldn't falter right now. He owed her that much.

"I don't think there's any use in trusting you to behave yourself…" Azula grunted, staring at him. "Therefore I'll just threaten you into it. Don't do anything stupid while we're here. Don't break anything, don't touch anything, don't say anything and don't try to get into the Mayor's daughter's pants."

"Of course I-… huh? W-what?" Sokka asked, taken by surprise at her last phrase.

"You're prone to doing stupid things. I only listed the stupidest I could come up with," Azula declared, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to remind you that this trip is not, in fact, for your sake. You are the last of my priorities. You wouldn't even be here if I had found another way to sort out this mess. So if you dare do anything remotely off-limits…"

"I know, I know…" said Sokka, lifting his hands and showing her his palms in signal of surrender. "You'll tell one of your guards to stick his hand into my mouth and pull me inside-out to punish me for my misbehavior or something."

"Huh? Tell one of my guards to…?"

"W-well, I figured you wouldn't want to do it yourself, or would you?" said Sokka, smiling nervously as beads of sweat ran down his brow.

Azula stared at him in utter confusion and disbelief. There was definitely something wrong in that messed up head of his…

"I hadn't thought of doing something like that to you, to be honest," she muttered, still glaring at him. "But I won't say it's not a good idea. I hope that looming threat is enough to keep you in check."

"It is, of course it is," said Sokka, nodding. "I'll make sure my presence isn't noticed! I'll be silent as a grave!"

Azula raised an eyebrow at those words. Sokka had changed a little lately… he was far more submissive than ever before. But underneath, he was probably still the same proud, stubborn savage she had met in the South Pole so long ago. Perhaps she should test him, to discover if he would actually stand by his claims and behave himself properly…

"We'll see about that," Azula countered, her eyes finally leaving him as she headed into the dining room.

Sokka blinked a few times before frowning, worried. What was that supposed to mean? He was trying to comply with what she wished… but her response had been as though he had refused to obey her. What was going through the Princess's mind? It was the question he couldn't stop asking himself, because no matter how much he guessed, he probably would never find the right answer. Back in the day that had only made him more curious about Azula… now it made him wary. Her rage towards him grew with every second that passed by, and any of those seconds might be his last if he wasn't careful.

He followed Azula into the dining room, and he took his seat next to her, considering the only empty spots on the table were at either side of the Princess. A group of servants entered the room, bringing dishes common to the Fire Nation with them and setting them down on the table.

"I hope the food is to your liking, Princess" said Mayor Morishita, as Azula took the first bite off her komodo chicken.

Azula frowned at the taste of the food. Granted the cooks had attempted to keep the meal as true to the Fire Nation as possible, but the ingredients weren't as fresh as the ones in the mainland. The spicing wasn't as strong either, making the food considerably weak in comparison to what Azula was used to. But she hadn't come here to sample the food they served in the Colonies. Complaining openly about it would serve no useful purpose.

"It will suffice," she declared, proving the food wasn't too enjoyable for her, but she would eat it regardless.

She cringed when she heard slurping sounds beside her. She glared at Sokka as he dug into his plate, devouring his food with way more enthusiasm than he should have.

"Could you try eating like a human being?" she spat at him, making Sokka freeze with a chunk of cabbage hanging on his lower lip.

He blinked before sucking the cabbage in, and he nodded shyly. Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head before trying to focus on her own food again… to no avail. Even though Sokka wasn't eating as wildly anymore, every single time he grinded his jaws he made more noise than Azula thought humanely possible.

"Eat quietly," she growled, her golden eyes gleaming with anger. Sokka grew pale. It seemed like every single thing he did would annoy her…

"So…" said Mayor Morishita, smiling awkwardly. "What prompted you to tour with your gladiator, Princess?"

Azula frowned at the question, her attention leaving Sokka at last, to his relief.

"I didn't require a reason to do so, Mayor," Azula declared. "He had already fought ten times, and I felt inclined to seek out more interesting challenges for him."

"I see," said Morishita, impressed. "He must be quite strong for you to have reached that conclusion."

"Strong?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. Sokka blinked a few times and looked at his sponsor sideways, worried. "I never said he was strong. He isn't."

"He's not strong? Has he lost his matches?" asked Morishita, confused now.

"He has only lost one, but he has been at risk of losing several times as it is," said Azula.

"Then… if he's not strong, he must have some extraordinary skills, right?" asked Kori, the Mayor's daughter. Azula's eyed her coldly, analyzing the young woman. Had she taken an interest in Sokka…?

"So you'd expect… but he doesn't. There's nothing special about this man. Not at all," said Azula, shrugging carelessly as she picked up some rice with her chopsticks and placed the grains in her mouth.

Sokka's eyebrows twitched at her words. He couldn't help but send a glare her way. Nothing special at all?! He was a great swordsman, and an amazing strategist! None of the fighters he had faced so far had been smarter than him! Yes, perhaps he didn't have that much physical strength, but that didn't mean he had no special skills!

"Then… why did you choose him as your gladiator?" asked Kori, surprised.

"Why, I chose him precisely because he had no talents," Azula replied, smirking. "I challenged myself to see if I could turn a talentless, spineless, useless slave into a gladiator, and it's clear that I have succeeded. He has already climbed to the 320th position of the Superior Gladiator League's Ranking after only ten fights."

Sokka had been glaring at Azula, her unkind words feeling like nothing but bitterness to him. But he wouldn't say anything. He couldn't say anything. She was playing him, trying to test if he was truly going to stay silent as he had promised. And even though he had a burning desire to stand up for himself, he wouldn't do it. The Captain had said he didn't think there was anything special about Sokka, but that Azula had thought otherwise. So even if Azula was claiming there was nothing special about him right now, Sokka knew what she truly thought of him. And he knew what she was trying to pull here… so he would keep his mouth shut, no matter how badly he wanted to defend his honor as a fighter.

"Impressive…" said Morishita, amazed. "The sponsor plays a very important part in the gladiator's performance, then!"

"People do underestimate the role of the sponsor," Azula muttered. "Our roles aren't merely to bet and represent the fighters. It's difficult for some people to understand that, including other sponsors I have met in the past."

"Is that so?" said Morishita, chuckling. "Well, you are proving them wrong, if that's the case. Being able to turn a man without talents into a capable fighter should teach everyone a lesson!"

"Indeed," said Azula, her eyes narrowing. "It's what I strive for."

Sokka had been stuffing himself to hold back from claiming Azula's influence had only served to drive him crazy, but he stopped eating for a moment to take a good look at the Princess. The Captain had spoken about a spark that had appeared in Azula's eyes after meeting Sokka… and that spark was nowhere to be found in her golden eyes anymore. But Sokka could sense something else this time, something that didn't have anything to do with him directly…

He had never understood why Azula needed him to become the top fighter in the ranking. He had stopped questioning her about it after a while, assuming he'd never get to know the answer and figuring it wouldn't be important for him to discover it anyways. Whatever she was supposed to accomplish through sponsoring the top gladiator of the ranking was Azula's business, he only wanted to go back home. But it was different now. Now he wanted to discover what her true intentions were, to decipher the secrets she hid so well behind her deadly glare. The way her eyes glinted upon Morishita's last sentence made Sokka stare at her with curiosity, his mind doing its best to unravel the reason why Azula had joined the Gladiator Business…

Azula noticed Sokka had stopped moving beside her. She shifted her eyes towards him, her eyebrows arching in confusion as he gaped at her. Sokka blinked a few times when he realized she was staring right back at him. He flashed her a toothy grin, trying to reassure her that he was just being his goofy self… Azula couldn't help but grimace in disgust at the sight of his smile, since shreds of food were attached to his teeth.

Sokka was utterly surprised by the horrified look on Azula's face. The Princess seemed to be about to hurl. _Why the hell did I ever feel anything for this idiot?_ She asked herself before shaking her head and returning to her meal, somewhat relieved that his mouth hadn't been that filthy when they had kissed in the Grand Royal Dome's waiting room.

Sokka raised a confused eyebrow, not understanding what Azula's problem was now. He hadn't done anything bad! It was just an innocent smile!

"We'll be watching your gladiator's fight in two days," said Morishita, bringing both the Princess and Sokka out of their wordless exchange. "The Arena will be very crowded, most likely!"

"The Golden Eye hosts some really strong gladiators," said Kori, smiling at the Princess. "There's the Millennium Dragon, the Torch, Phoenix Flames…"

"You seem quite knowledgeable about the Gladiator Business…" muttered Azula, surprised.

"Oh, well, I… I'm just a fan, I guess," said Kori, blushing a little.

"Kori has always enjoyed watching the gladiator fights," said Mrs. Morishita, smiling. "She looks up to you, in fact. You're the first woman to ever sponsor a fighter in the Superior Gladiator League."

"Is that so?" said Azula, pleased to discover the girl actually admired her. Her previous distaste towards her faded away slowly. "Do you intend to become the second female sponsor in the Gladiator League?"

"I… well, I… I'd like to, but I don't have anyone I could sponsor…" Kori muttered, flustered.

"To find a fighter to sponsor you have to look for one first," said Azula, smirking a little. She was back in her comfort zone, her sense of superiority helping her to forget the sight of Sokka's filthy teeth. "I didn't have to search too much to find one. Just go to an Amateur Arena and pick the fighter that doesn't die. It's that simple."

"Is that what you did?" asked Kori. "Really?"

"There's not much more to be done," replied Azula, matter-of-factly.

"But from what I heard, you can't find benders in the Amateur League…" said Kori, confused. "Benders are sold directly to serve sponsors…"

"You want a bender?" asked Azula, surprised. "This one is no bender. He hardly can bend over, let alone bend an element."

"Why would I want to…?" Sokka started before catching himself. No speaking! He had to endure this!

"What was that?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow as she looked at him threateningly.

"W-why would I want to… bend an element?" he muttered, focusing on his nigh empty plate again and lowering his eyes submissively again.

Azula found his obedient behavior bothersome, but she couldn't help but smirk at his words.

"Indeed, why would you need a fighter who bends?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow and focusing on Kori again.

"W-well, I… I'm an earthbender, so I thought…"

"I'm a first-rate firebender, and I've got a non-bender with me," said Azula, lifting her chin.

"Yes, of course," said Kori, smiling. "I just thought that I'd be able to understand an earthbender better. You know, matching skills and all…"

"If you want to match your gladiator, you should wear matching clothes," said Azula, taking a sip of the juice she had been provided with. "For all you know, you might reach a better understanding with the fighter that you thought was the least like you."

"Right, that… that could happen," said Kori, smiling. "If I ever get a gladiator… would it be okay for our fighters to face each other one day?"

Azula raised an eyebrow and looked away, thoughtful. Kori stared at her expectantly, biting her lower lip as she stared at the Princess with nervous eyes…

"If your fighter manages to be fifty slots away from mine… I might take you on," said Azula, smirking at the girl. "Make sure to get a strong gladiator. There's not much fun in a fight that ends in a knock-out within three minutes."

"Of course! I… I will!" said Kori, beaming.

Azula couldn't help herself but smirk at her enthusiasm. Bringing more women into the business was a very appealing idea to her. This girl had seemed somewhat interested in Sokka before, but now Azula realized her true interest was the Gladiator Business. The way she stared at her in awe was somewhat moving. Perhaps the girl had also wanted to fight against the unjustified male dominance in their world, but she had needed a push to try to stand up for her rights… and Azula was giving it to her now. It was the first time she found a girl eager to prove herself, just like she was. It didn't seem like there were many traits they shared other than that one, but Azula didn't need anything else. That alone was more than enough for her to truly wish to pit their gladiators against each other someday.

Azula's unexpected smiles made Sokka beam as well. The Princess seemed pleased for now, at least, and she was able to smirk again. Why hadn't he cherished those smiles so much before? Why hadn't he admired the expressions on her face lately? Her entire being seemed to light up whenever she smiled. Her beauty was completely unparalleled. He would do anything to make sure that smile wouldn't vanish from her face…

Dinner was wrapped up without a hitch. When Sokka ran out of food he had also ran out of ways to embarrass Azula with his lack of manners, so she had no reason to complain about him anymore. Kori guided the Princess and the gladiator to the second-story of the house, leading them to their rooms.

"The servants said your guards have already brought your luggage," Kori told Azula. "It's waiting for you in your room."

"Good," said Azula. Even though she wasn't pleased about parting ways with her men, this visit to Yu Dao wasn't half-bad so far. But this was only the first day. Only time would tell if the rest of the trip would proceed as smoothly as today.

Kori halted in the hallway and smiled at Azula, gesturing towards a door to her right.

"This is your room. Your gladiator's room is right in front of this one" said Kori.

Azula's eyebrow twitched at that. Sokka, right behind the two girls, did nothing but stare at Azula warily. She had been doing her best to keep him as far away from her as possible… and now she had no choice but to sleep in a room right across his. Sokka wouldn't be surprised at all if she told Kori to forget about giving him a room, that sending him to sleep with the wooly pigs would be enough for a savage like him…

"Well, I guess that's it for tonight," said Kori, still beaming. "I hope you sleep well. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me!"

"I will," said Azula, nodding. "Thank you."

"Y-you're welcome," said Kori, her smile growing broader after being thanked by the Fire Nation Princess herself.

Kori excused herself with a bow in Azula's direction, and she walked down to the first floor again. Sokka kept a wary eye on Azula, who waited until the girl vanished from sight before turning towards Sokka again, glaring at him fiercely.

"It seems I forgot to tell you not to make a fool of yourself. I was quite naïve to think you'd do that without being told."

"If you're talking about how I ate…" Sokka started, grimacing. "I'm sorry. I don't eat around high-class people often. I just ate and…!"

"And you were as embarrassing as possible," Azula finished for him. "You're still embarrassing me now. Go rinse that damned mouth of yours!"

"Rinse…?" asked Sokka, confused. "What? Why?"

"You have food stuck in your teeth, at plain sight! It's disgusting!" said Azula, grimacing.

"W-what?" said Sokka, confused. He ran his tongue over his teeth, noticing only now the amounts of food scraps between his teeth. "O-oh… is that why you looked like you'd be sick?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Azula growled, her nostrils flaring with anger. Sokka gulped and covered his mouth with his hand, trying to avoid having her see his teeth again.

"I'm sorry…" he mumbled, staring at her in mild panic, and she threw her hands to her sides in exasperation.

"You're sorry, you're sorry… is that all you know how to say nowadays?" she asked, staring at him in irritation. "Stop being sorry! Stop having reasons to say you're sorry!"

"I… I'm trying my best, you know?" he said, staring at her in misery.

The way his eyes fell made Azula stop in the middle of her scolding. There was something off about him… that urge to try and do things he thought would please her most, that constant apologizing when he normally would just stick to his side of the story and defend himself even if there was nothing worth defending…

"Well…" she muttered. "Almost isn't good enough. Trying isn't going to get you anywhere unless you succeed."

"If you don't start by trying, there's no chance you'll succeed," Sokka declared, frowning.

Azula couldn't hold back a small snort. Well, there was his combative side again. It wasn't as far gone as she thought it might be.

"I'm sorry for being an uncivilized savage," said Sokka, still covering his mouth. "And I'll try not to do anything that stupid again. Are we good now?"

"I'll be the one to decide if we're good or not," Azula muttered. "Just… keep in mind you're not the reason why we're here in the first place. I have told you time over and time again that you're just acting as my smokescreen."

"Is that why you're upset? Because your guards aren't here and you can't direct them properly with whatever it is you're doing?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not upset," Azula grunted, her words coming off as quite a contradiction. "And even if I were, it's not something you should be looking into. You're here to fight as a gladiator, and that's the one thing you should focus on. Got it?"

"Got it," Sokka muttered, sighing.

"I'm not going to keep watch on you all day long, so try and keep to your best behavior," said Azula. "And don't even think about trying anything weird by crossing over the hall in the middle of the night!"

"W-why would I do that?!" said Sokka, blushing a little. "I'm not that kind of guy!"

"Excuse my bluntness, but I have a hard time telling what kind of guy you are nowadays," said Azula, narrowing her eyes. "Go get some rest… but get that mouth of yours cleaned up first, will you?"

"Sure…" said Sokka, disheartened, but nodding anyways.

Azula entered her room without another word, closing the door behind her with more delicacy than Sokka expected.

"Night," he muttered, sighing before turning around and pacing down the hall, looking for a bathroom.

He cleaned his mouth thoroughly, picking at his teeth to make sure they would be perfectly clean again. After he was done he looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, surprised at how different he looked. He didn't remember the last time he had seen his own face. He looked strong, but only on the outside. He looked into his own eyes, finding a kind of emptiness within them that he couldn't explain.

His interactions with Azula had definitely not gone as well as he would have wished they had, but it hadn't been all that bad. The Captain's words kept ringing in his head, telling him he couldn't give up as it was. The fact that Azula had finally looked at him was some progress already, wasn't it? Maybe he kept messing things up by making a fool of himself, but he'd do his best not to do that anymore. He could handle this. There was some hope left for his strained relationship with the Princess.

* * *

"W-where is A… the Princess?" Sokka asked, staring into the dining room with wide eyes.

The Morishita family was finishing their breakfast when Sokka had appeared. He had woken up only a moment ago, hoping to improve his table manners during breakfast so that Azula wouldn't be disgusted with him… but she was nowhere in sight.

"Princess Azula already had her breakfast," said Mrs. Morishita. "One of her guards came to find her once she was done, and she left the house with him. She said she would return for dinner."

"Oh… Okay," said Sokka, nodding even though he felt somewhat disheartened. "Do you know where she went?"

"If the guards are staying over at Fon's inn, she might be there," said Mayor Morishita. "The inn is right down this street, you turn right and you'll find a building with a big sign that says 'Fon's Inn'."

"Uh… thanks," said Sokka, smiling gratefully as he took his seat and began eating carefully.

He hated having to think of how he ate. Digging into the food right away was something he enjoyed thoroughly. But for Azula's sake, he'd have to hold back his urges and do his best to pretend to have manners even when he had none. He sat properly and did everything he could not to make too much noise while eating.

Even when the Mayor had given him the information pertaining where Azula was, Sokka didn't go to the inn to find her. He went to the house's backyard and spent the whole day practicing his sword stances. He felt the urge to go find Azula, but he knew better than to jump uninvited into her meetings with her guards. She clearly didn't need him around her while she dealt with her mission, and he wanted to do his best not to be a burden to her. Unless she asked for his help directly, Sokka would stay out of her way.

But that train of thought wouldn't work so well on the next day.

"She's gone again?" asked Sokka at breakfast, aghast. "B-but…"

"Your fight is in a few hours, isn't it?" asked Kori, frowning. "Maybe you should go look for her… what is it with her and her guards anyway?"

"I have no idea," said Sokka, truthfully. "But she'll have to leave that for later. I've got a fight to deal with, and she's supposed to be there too. So… where was that inn again?"

After getting the instructions, Sokka went upstairs and dressed up in his armor before heading out to look for Azula. It didn't take him too long to find the inn, seeing how the Palanquin was sitting right outside the building, with some curious passersby that stared at it in awe.

The innkeeper was cleaning up the front of his establishment, a nervous smile on his face. Sokka raised an eyebrow and approached him.

"The Princess is in here, right?" he asked.

"Oh, yes," said Fon, smiling at him. "She told me she wanted nobody to disturb her meeting with the guards, though… including me. I've been sweeping the front door for two days now."

Sokka blinked in surprise a few times before nodding, patting the man on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, she won't harm you if I go inside," _She'd rather harm me instead_ , he thought.

"Good to know," said the innkeeper. "I'll just keep on sweeping, then…"

Sokka entered the inn, closing the door behind him as he did. The inside of the building was quite dark, so it took a moment for his eyes to grow accustomed to his surroundings… and before he did, a spear nearly struck him between the eyes.

"HEY!" he squealed, his wide eyes staring in dread at the weapon's sharp edge.

A guard, clad in his usual red robes, dropped the spear as soon as he realized who Sokka was.

"Oh, it's just you," he said.

"Y-you almost killed me!" Sokka exclaimed, terrified.

"The Princess told me to slay any trespassers," said the guard, shrugging. "But I figure you're not one I should kill."

"I shouldn't be… though I'm sure she wouldn't have minded that much if you had," said Sokka, shaking his head as he looked inside the inn's vestibule.

The vestibule happened to be a tavern as well, judging by the looks of it… but nobody was eating or drinking in it. Azula's men sat before the tables, some dressed in their red uniforms and some wearing such casual clothes Sokka had a hard time realizing they were just her guards… though he identified one that was on the corner table in the establishment. His black hair and golden eyes gave him away as Azula's Captain, and he happened to be sitting right across the Princess, both focused on a map, from what Sokka could see. He made his way towards them almost unwillingly, afraid of how Azula would react if he were to interrupt an important conversation.

The Captain lifted his eyes towards him and raised an eyebrow, a gesture Azula didn't miss. She turned around and caught sight of Sokka, a confused frown on her face.

"What are you doing here? And why are you…?" she started, staring at his getup before realizing there was one explanation to his sudden appearance and his outfit. "Oh… oh, darn. I forgot completely about… damn it all."

"Princess…" said the Captain, staring at her worriedly.

"Captain, I'm afraid I have a gladiator fight to deal with right now," said Azula, sighing in irritation. "You already know your orders. You and your men know what to do, so get it done as quickly as possible."

"We will, Princess," said the Captain, as they both stood up from the table.

"Remember to return here for further orders as soon as you find a good lead on the Rhinos," Azula commanded.

"We will, Princess," the Captain repeated, nodding.

"Very well, then… let's get this over with," said Azula, turning around towards Sokka again and leading the way out of the inn.

Sokka looked at the Captain apologetically, but the man didn't pay him much attention, busy as he was readying himself for whatever journey he had ahead of himself. Sokka didn't understand why it seemed like only half of Azula's guards were wearing their uniforms, but he figured he could ask later. He treaded after Azula, who seemed quite displeased as she walked towards the exit, but not before staring at the table in which her palanquin bearers were sitting.

"Well? Will you get moving?" she asked angrily, and they jumped out of their seats, scrambling outside as quickly as their legs could allow them.

Azula rolled her eyes as they left the building, staring at the Palanquin as she waited for the bearers to be ready. Sokka stood behind her, taking note of her bad mood right away.

"So… what's going on?" he muttered, earning himself a sideways glare from the Princess.

"Something important. Very important. And I shouldn't miss out on it, but I have to take you to your fight. Yes, you're a useful smokescreen… but this is a waste of time for me."

Sokka's eyes fell again as he stared at Azula. She climbed on the palanquin, not bothering to give him another look before doing so. Sokka followed the vehicle slowly, with his head tilted down as he held his helmet tightly in his hand, his every hope shattered by Azula's words. Progress? He had been kidding himself. There had been no progress. She still hated him. She still wanted nothing to do with him.


	34. Chapter 34

She was paralyzed as she stared into the now empty sand pit. Her nails were clawing into the velvet that covered her chair's armrests; they had been from the moment Sokka's strength had started to falter in the middle of a fight he should have been able to win with ease.

He had fought against Kyoshi's Heir, 140th in the Ranking, and he had triumphed even if not by a wide margin. He had beaten the Savage Hook even when the combat had almost cost him his life. And now, against a female non-bender who stood 283rd in the Ranking, his performance had been nothing short of mediocre. Why?

His weapons were the same, he had recovered most of his physical strength by now… so why? Why had he struggled so much against the Butterfly Lady? She should have been easy to defeat! Her skill with her two short dao swords wasn't that remarkable. But Sokka's usual intelligent fighting style had been nowhere in sight. His strategies to tire out his opponent, his ability to use his weapons in the most unexpected of ways… they had disappeared without a trace. And Azula simply couldn't understand why.

What was it with him? She had told him time over and time again to focus on his duty as a gladiator, to keep his mind in the game… had he ignored her? Was that it? No… she could tell that wasn't it. He had been fighting to his current best… but that was nothing next the best performances he had given in the past. What was going on with him?

She looked at the table that had separated her seat from the one of the Butterfly Lady's sponsor. The man had left a bag of money on it before leaving her alone in the sponsor's balcony, the money she had earned thanks to Sokka's victory. But Azula didn't feel as the victor from this fight. The judges delivered their verdict, but the thrill of triumph hadn't filled her upon knowing her fighter had won. She wasn't angry at Sokka this time, as she had been during his fight with the Red-Striped Hornet… this time she was confused. She was worried. Because on his second fight in the Superior Gladiator League, Sokka had foolishly decided to quit fighting and endangered his victory by doing so… this time he had fought to his utmost, and it hadn't been anywhere near good enough. He wasn't fighting at all like the gladiator she had come to know so well.

Watching him fight used to be fun and interesting, at least before Kyoshi's Heir had come along. The smart way in which he played his enemies was amusing. He would turn them against themselves, use their energy against them, laugh his way into victory… this time he had snarled angrily as he swung his black sword at his opponent, who had stopped his attacks time after time. He had provided her with openings he normally wouldn't have allowed, done no feints. He hadn't even used his smoke bombs to disorientate the Butterfly Lady. He had won because he had managed to disarm her a couple of times, and because he had left a deep wound on her right arm. Sokka had sustained an injury on his cheek as well, but since he hadn't lost any of his weapons, he had gotten away with the victory after twenty minutes of fighting.

But Azula could see he wasn't proud of his performance either. He was disappointed with himself. He had expected to do better in this fight, especially since it had been against a non-bender. Why, then…?

She rubbed the center of her forehead with her slim fingers. She knew why. Of course she did. She had already been told about this before…

_"What makes him strong, what makes him endure this cruel world, despite all the pain and suffering he's been through, is that he's still himself. Once you take that from him, he won't be the gladiator you've come to appreciate. Don't shut him down, Princess. Don't try to turn him into someone he's not"_

Azula snarled as she remembered Piandao's words. How had the man known it would come to this…?

And what was she supposed to do, then? It seemed she had turned Sokka into a different man without even realizing it. How could she get him back to what he used to be?

She sighed, thinking of how he had been behaving these past few weeks. Submissive, guilty, shameful… that wasn't Sokka. It wasn't the fool she had hired as her gladiator, the man who had annoyed her to no end with his clumsy ways, with his ridiculous pride… the man she had come to trust and accept into her life. The man who had become much more than just a slave to her. The man who kept making witty remarks, who flirted with her just to see how far was she willing to go before rolling her eyes and calling him an idiot. The man she had come to admire for his unwavering strength, the man who had managed to change her views on the world…

The only man who had seen her as an equal.

She cringed as she reflected on what Sokka had meant to her before. On what he still meant to her. That savage had given birth to feelings Azula had thought she would never experience… and not all of them had been good. The words he had uttered that night still stung her, as if she had sustained a third-degree burn to her heart. She had decided, for the sake of healing those injuries, to withdraw herself from the confusing relationship that had been born between them. And she had remained aloof and cold towards him, in fear of what would happen if she let him into her life again.

But it seemed her protective measures weren't helping anymore. She wasn't happier as it was, and her determination to push him away had been, most likely, what had brought forth his current attitude, which had become a problem that she wanted to wipe away.

She wouldn't be trying to get him back to who he was out of any lingering feelings towards him, she had to convince herself of that. Once more, it was a move based on convenience. She needed him to do his best in the Arena, and to achieve that she had to bring him back to the man he used to be. That was all.

Yet… why was he acting like this? Why had he morphed into the submissive slave he was right now? Where had that unwavering obedience come from? Was it his way to atone for his mistakes? She frowned at that thought. He wasn't making up for what he'd done by behaving like this. He was only infuriating her further. But he didn't know better, did he? He was making blind guesses in attempts to please her and get her to forget about what had happened between them. Azula sighed, wondering what he regretted the most. He had apologized for his words and actions, but… did he regret kissing her back, by any chance?

She hated to realize she actually didn't regret having kissed him. The sensations she had felt in that moment were unparalleled. It had been almost as exhilarant as the moment when she bent blue flames for the very first time. Having kissed Sokka was definitely the sole highlight of their entire situation. Yet the act in itself had been what had brought forth their downfall. If she hadn't kissed him, she wouldn't be as angry as she was right now. If she hadn't kissed him he wouldn't be faltering in battle. If she had given up Sokka to that face-painted woman, none of this would be happening now.

At what point in time had her life turned into such a contradiction? Had it been when she had taken him as her gladiator? She suspected as much. Everything had started because of Sokka. He was the one who had caused her downfall… but why was it that he had also made her happier than she had ever been before? There had been good times between them… she had never laughed with anyone in the way she had with Sokka. She had never felt the urge to comfort someone as she had comforted him when Piandao had vanished. The despair that took over her when the Blind Bandit almost killed him had been stronger than any emotion she had ever felt before. All she knew at that point was that she didn't want him to die. She couldn't let him die. And even now she didn't want him dead. Even if she acted as if she despised everything about him… she actually didn't.

It wasn't the first time she had taken feelings of sadness and turned them into anger. She could put up with rage, she could use rage to her advantage. Sadness would only bring her down, it would weigh on her until she couldn't do anything but curl in her bed, weeping uncontrollably. Allowing anger to take over her senses hadn't been the wisest of moves, but it had helped her move past what Sokka had said.

Or had it? She was starting to doubt how efficient a move had it been to turn her sorrow into fury. Nothing had been resolved through this. As a matter of fact, it seemed it had only helped to make everything worse. As he had claimed the day before, Sokka was trying… though what was he trying to achieve, for starters? Was he trying to get over her as well? Or was he trying to entice her into being smitten with him once again? What exactly was is goal by behaving like this?

Azula sighed. He hadn't thought this through at all. And for that matter, neither had she. How could they sort out this mess? How could they mend what had been broken? She had no illusions about regaining the relationship they had enjoyed before, it was impossible for her to trust him so blindly again. But, at the very least, she longed to stop feeling such grief whenever she was around him, and for him to go back to the brash savage he had always been…

Sokka's cheek burned as the blood seeped out of the wound. He had been lucky to only sustain a superficial injury… but then again, he shouldn't have sustained any wounds. The Butterfly Lady hadn't been that strong, beating her should have been far easier. But for some reason, his intuition had failed him constantly through the fight. Why? What was the matter with him today?

He sighed as he treaded through the Golden Eye's hallways, headed towards the waiting rooms for his medical check. Yu Dao's Arena kept true to its name. The sand pit was shaped as an eye, and the sand was of a golden shade Sokka had never seen before. The accommodations were nowhere as amazing as the ones in the Grand Royal Dome, the hallway that led to the stand-by rooms was rudimentary, built of stone just like the ones back in the Ember Crater. The Golden Eye couldn't house as many people as the Grand Royal Dome, but all in all, it was cozy, in a way. The grandeur made the Capital's Arena daunting, and Sokka couldn't quite feel comfortable there, just as he couldn't feel comfortable in the Royal Palace. He wasn't one for excessively luxurious places.

He reached the first room in the hallway on the Arena's second floor, and he entered it without a second thought. But he froze on the threshold as he caught sight of a huge, burly figure sitting in the waiting room.

The man within the room had his massive chest in bare sight, and he bore so many scars Sokka wondered how he had managed to keep his body together. The man's head was covered with uneven chunks of light-brown locks, and his chin was clad with a beard that matched the color of his hair. His skin was about as dark as Sokka's, although it was obvious the man's body had been dyed that color after spending too many days fighting under the merciless sunlight.

He lifted his small and dark eyes towards Sokka when he heard him walk in. They stared at each other for a moment during which the stranger's right eyebrow moved higher and higher on his forehead.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, with a voice much more gentle than Sokka had expected.

"Oh, I… I came for the medical check," said Sokka, gulping. "I didn't notice this room was already occupied. Excuse me…"

"Huh?" said the man, confused, stopping Sokka as he was about to leave. "Medical check? The hell are you talking about, kid?"

Sokka found it odd that the man would call him a kid. He couldn't have been over fifteen years older than him.

"Medical checks… The Princess demanded there should be mandatory medical checks after each gladiator fight," Sokka explained, assuming the man didn't know about this because he had spent some time away from the sand pit.

"Huh, so you're a Capital boy," said the other gladiator, apparently amused. He gave Sokka a smile before shaking his head. "Sorry to say you'll have to fix that wound on your face on your own, kid. The only Arena with the medical attention is the Grand Royal Dome."

"B-but I thought…" said Sokka, confused.

"Yeah, the Princess wanted to have physicians everywhere, but it seems even the Fire Lord's daughter can't get everything in life," said the other man, shrugging.

"Seems like it…" muttered Sokka, eyeing him warily. The man obviously didn't know who his sponsor was.

"So, who are you?" asked the man, beaming. "First time I see you around here. And believe me, I've seen lots of people around here. Been in the business since this whole madness started out, so you're definitely a new face."

"My name is Sokka… the Blue Wolf," said Sokka, eyeing the stranger while wondering if the man would recognize him through his gladiator name, but he didn't have such luck.

"The Blue Wolf?" repeated the man, scratching his head. "Nope, never heard of you."

"Well, I am new," said Sokka, smiling sideways. "I've only fought eleven times in the Superior League…"

"Ah, is that so?" asked the man, eagerly. "How many fights have you won?"

"Ten, as it is" said Sokka.

"Well, well! Sounds like you ought to be promising!" said the man, beaming. "I might be fighting you before either of us know it!"

"And… who are you?" asked Sokka. "Sorry, but I hardly know anyone…"

"Ah, don't mind, you're a gladiator. The ones who should know gladiators are the sponsors, not the gladiators. Gladiators are out there to fight gladiators, not to know them!"

"Right" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "In any case…"

"Oh, yes. You'll find me in the ranking as the Millennium Dragon" said the gladiator, smiling at Sokka. "I'm a pretty nice guy all around. Well, so long as we don't go against the other in the sand, that is…"

"How many fights have you won?" asked Sokka, curious.

"Uh… well…" said the Millennium Dragon, frowning and lifting his hands as he began counting with his fingers. "Been against Combustion Dude thirty times… uh… Light Boy about… fifteen, was it? Oh, damn, I don't remember anymore! After you cross the line of twenty fights everything becomes a blur."

"Really?" asked Sokka, frowning. "I… I fought in the Amateur League before coming here, and I fought more than twenty times…"

"How many times did you fight, then?"

"W-well… over twenty," said Sokka, gulping as he realized he didn't know the exact number. "But I haven't forgotten the people I fought"

"Neither have I, kid," said the Millennium Dragon. "I just don't have enough fingers to count them all!"

"Oh… alright, then," said Sokka, smiling uncomfortably. This man was quite odd, wasn't he?

"So, you won out there today?" asked the Millenium Dragon.

"Yeah, though I didn't do as well as I expected," muttered Sokka, downcast.

"Huh… well, to the crowd a win is a win! And there's always going to be another fight later, unless you get yourself killed. And if you do, it won't matter if you won or lost the day before. Once you're dead, the spirits won't be looking at your place in the ranking. And if you don't die, there will always be another day to fight and win again!"

Sokka was surprised by the wisdom in the man's straightforward words. It was the exact kind of wisdom he had needed to think about to get a hold of himself after today's fight.

"So, where are you from, kid?" asked the Dragon, smiling.

"The South Pole… don't you have a fight to attend to?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, my sponsor will get me when it's time, I'm in no hurry. You in a hurry?"

"I might be," said Sokka, frowning. Azula was probably waiting for him, wasn't she?

"Ah, such a busy kid!" said the Dragon, chuckling. "You should stay and watch my show!"

"I don't think that'll be an option… though I've got to say I'd like to watch that," said Sokka, eyeing the Dragon with curiosity. His name gave him away as a firebender, and his complexion told Sokka he would be a tough rival for anyone who went against him.

"Well, you ain't missing out on anything fancy either way," said the Millennium Dragon. "Not like gladiator fights have anything fancy about them, mind you. Tell your sponsor to look me up when you become a tougher cookie!"

"Cookie…?" repeated Sokka staring at the Millennium Dragon with confused eyes. "A-alright, I'll make sure to do that."

"Good luck on your next fights, kid!" said the Dragon, beaming at him "See you around!"

"See you," said Sokka, taking a last glance towards the Dragon before turning on his heels and leaving the room. That had been an odd encounter, but the gladiator back there had stirred his curiosity. He seemed a good man. How high would he be in the ranking…?

Sokka walked through the hallways while wiping away the blood on his cheek with the bandages that were wrapped around his forearm. He had always worn those bandages back in the Southern Water Tribe, and out of all the traditions he had relinquished, that was one he didn't plan on leaving behind.

He found the staircase that led down to the Golden Eye's small vestibule, but he didn't spot Azula anywhere around. Had she left without him? A sinking feeling appeared in his stomach upon that thought. She had claimed this would be an utter waste of time, that she would have better things to do, and he had proved her right. His performance had been so lacking he was embarrassed just to think about it. It came as no surprise that she would have left before him…

"Of course…" he muttered, sighing as his hands balled into fists.

"Talking to yourself now…?" said a very familiar voice behind him, startling Sokka.

He turned around in haste, his eyes open wide as he looked at the Princess, who was staring at him intently, her arms folded over her chest.

Seeing each other again right now only served to deepen the emotional turmoil they were both suffering from. After having acknowledged her fury was nothing but mislead sorrow, Azula's chest was beginning to ache again just by thinking about him. What was she supposed to do? What was she supposed to say? How could she fix him so he could go back to being the goof he had always been…?

"I… uh… just a bit," said Sokka, looking down at the floor intently.

There it was again. Submissiveness. The Sokka she knew would have never admitted to talking to himself, and if he had, he would have claimed everyone else did it too. Azula's nails dug into her arm as she studied him intently.

"You didn't get that treated? Did you think you'd look manlier with blood trickling down your face?" asked Azula, raising an inquisitive eyebrow as she looked at his wound.

"Ah, n-no, I wanted to get it fixed but I couldn't," said Sokka, shaking his head. "Apparently there's no medical attention anywhere but in the Capital…"

"What?" asked Azula, surprised and displeased.

"Hey, that's what that weird dude told me, I don't really know," said Sokka, crossing his arms over his chest as well.

"What weird dude?"

"Uh… the Millennium Dragon," said Sokka, nodding. "Ever heard of him?"

Azula frowned. The name sounded quite familiar… too familiar, to be honest. She narrowed her eyes as she tried to recall what it reminded her of.

"I… I might have seen him fight once," said Azula. "I can't remember correctly, but I think I might have."

"Really?" asked Sokka, surprised. "I thought you had nothing to do with the Gladiator Business before I came along."

"I didn't," Azula admitted. "But I had been to the Grand Royal Dome once before, on the day the Superior Gladiator League was inaugurated. Combustion Man won that fight… and I get the feeling his opponent's name was the Millennium Dragon."

"Combustion Man?" asked Sokka, confused.

"I never told you about him, did I?" muttered Azula, frowning. "He's the top fighter in the Superior Gladiator League. A firebender of outstanding potential, with a sponsor befitting his murderous ways…"

"Who's the sponsor?" asked Sokka, curious.

"Nobody you'd know, there's not much point in telling you," said Azula, shaking her head. "Leave dealing with sponsors to the sponsors."

Sokka couldn't help but chuckle upon realizing her words were somewhat similar to what the Dragon had said earlier. Azula raised an eyebrow and glared at him, annoyed.

"What's so funny?"

"N-nothing…" said Sokka, freezing at her glare. "Don't mind me…"

Azula didn't stop glaring at him as she began heading down the stairs, still irritated. What was that fool laughing at? But… he had been laughing. When was the last time she saw him laughing? Did it mean there had been some progress? Had their conversation been of some use, then? She hadn't pushed him away harshly, hadn't been cruel… maybe it had helped indeed. Maybe they were on the right track again, at last…?

She stopped when she got to the bottom of the staircase, and she turned around to look at Sokka, who was walking behind her with his hands tucked into his pants' pockets. Sokka seemed puzzled at her sudden halt, but he simply followed her lead and stopped a few steps before reaching the main floor of the building.

"You… didn't fight that well today," Azula muttered, making Sokka's heart sink as he grimaced, expecting a reprimand of some sort… "But you won. It was a weird fight, though. We both know that's not the full extent of your abilities."

"Y-yeah, it's not," said Sokka, nodding clumsily as he scratched his neck. "I don't know what got into me…"

"Well, whatever it was, try to get it out of you before we make it to Omashu," said Azula. "Your next opponents… they won't be as easy to beat as this girl was. They're earthbenders."

"W-wait, what?!" said Sokka, surprised. "Earthbenders?"

"All of them," admitted Azula. "I didn't mean it to be that way, but I could only reach the sponsor of one non-bender, and it was the one you just fought against. Your next rivals aren't too high in the ranking, so I hope they won't be that hard to beat. But you'll need to have your every sense in the upcoming battles. Your experience with earthbenders…"

"Is terrible," finished Sokka, gulping.

"So it will be up to you to change that or to let that define you," said Azula, looking straight into his eyes.

Sokka stared back at her, noticing the concern she was showing him. She was worried about him? Was she really…? He had worried her. Instead of reassuring her, of being helpful, he was worrying her! Why couldn't he do anything right these days? He nodded promptly, looking at her with determination.

"I'll do my best. I promise."

Azula's chest ached at those words. Her experience with promises wasn't good. Hearing him promise one thing or another would do anything but reassure her… not that he could know that, of course. Yet Sokka didn't miss that glint in her eyes, a glint that betrayed the fact that she didn't quite believe him.

"You'd better…" she whispered, before turning around again and starting down the vestibule, straight towards the doors.

Sokka followed her, concern written all over his face. Yet there was a side of him rejoicing, breaking into an all-out celebration: she had talked to him willingly, she hadn't threatened him… even though his performance hadn't been his best, she wasn't completely disappointed in him for the first time in ages.

Azula meant to climb on her palanquin right away, but she refrained from doing so when she caught sight of a Royal Guard sprinting down the street in her direction. She frowned and stepped away from the vehicle, leaving the bearers crouched in place.

"Princess! P-Princess!" exclaimed the man, stumbling as he finally reached them.

Sokka raised an eyebrow as he watched him run. It was the first time he saw a Royal Guard acting in an inappropriate way for his rank. The man must have sprinted from the inn all the way to the Arena, and he looked quite sloppy as he flung his arms back and forth with every step he took.

"What's the matter?" asked the Princess, her eyes becoming fierce as her mind began concocting several explanations as to why the guard had showed up as he had.

"T-the… the scouts have returned…" said the guard, gasping for breath as he leaned down, his hands resting on his knees.

"So soon?" asked Azula, astonished. She had expected the Captain to return in two days, at least…

"Yes… they have leads on the Rhinos!" the guard finished. "Promising leads! The Captain will… explain when you get to the inn…"

"Good. Good…" said Azula, smirking slightly as she thought about what this meant for her mission. Obtaining good results so early on was a good sign. She turned to the bearers as she climbed aboard the palanquin. "Get moving! Take me to the inn right away!"

The men lifted the heavy cabin in one go before moving at quick pace towards the inn. The guard was still gasping for breath right in front of the Arena's steps, and Sokka patted him on the back clumsily.

"Oh, damn… I can't breathe…" the man gasped, taking off his mask to reveal his head, drenched in sweat.

"I don't know how anyone could breathe in that thing," said Sokka, staring at him worriedly as the palanquin disappeared after taking a turn in a nearby corner. "Did you run all the way here?"

"Of course I… I did… I had to tell the Princess…" the man panted, his hand seizing Sokka's shoulder as he used the gladiator to support his weight.

"Uh… then how are you going to catch up with them?" asked Sokka, the man's knuckles turning white as he coughed, still struggling to get his lungs to work properly again.

"I… Oh, she's… gone already?" said the man, lifting his head to look for Azula's palanquin.

"She left just a second ago… didn't you hear what she said?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't… I was… glad I'd done my job… and I didn't hear a thing," muttered the man, letting go of Sokka. "G-got to catch up with her, then…"

Sokka was about to tell the man against taking off so soon, but he didn't have to say a word. The guard only took one step forward before his legs gave way and he collapsed on the floor, shaking.

"Man! Are you crazy?! You can't go anywhere like this!" Sokka shouted, leaning down beside him and struggling to pick him up.

"Must… reach… the Princess…" said the man. His bulging eyes scared Sokka a little. There was no way this guard was going anywhere in this condition.

"Just how fast did you run?" asked Sokka, confused. "It's weird that a Royal Guard would be worn out like this… well, never mind. Come here."

The guard didn't seem to notice Sokka had placed one of his arms around his waist, sliding his head under the guard's arm to lift him off the ground. The man wasn't conscious enough to realize he was being carried by the gladiator, he probably didn't even realize he was moving at all. He kept mumbling nonsense as Sokka dragged him away, and the gladiator was still wondering why he had wound up in such a terrible shape only because of running. Was it his uniform's fault? It probably was…

It took Sokka a little longer than he expected to bring the man to the inn. He entered the building to find all of Azula's guards assembled in the vestibule. The men looked quite shaken up, both the ones dressed in uniforms and the ones wearing casual clothes. And one of the men wearing casual clothes stood in the center of the room, staring at the Princess as he spoke about something Sokka didn't understand.

"… the town was ravaged only three days ago. They even killed people this time around. It wasn't the plundering they usually perform, it went far beyond that."

"Did you find out who the casualties were?" asked Azula, her hands balling into fists.

"Townsfolk, people who simply stood in their way and thus they tore them down. There were seven victims: four women, two men and a child. And… one of the women was an actual Fire Nation citizen."

Azula snarled in irritation, her body shaking as she grew angrier upon this knowledge. So the Rhinos wouldn't even distinguish between Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom people anymore, would they?

"You said they headed south after striking in that town," said Azula, nodding. "Where to, exactly?"

"We don't know for certain as it is, Princess," muttered the Captain. "But we have two likely options as to where they might have gone to. The first is the Misty Palms Oasis, the most common gathering spot for criminals and outlaws."

"The patterns of their other attacks would suggest they'd go there… After ravaging a few towns, they'd always head to the Si Won Desert," muttered Azula, frowning.

"Indeed. The other possibility is Ba Sing Se," said the Captain. "According to some information we obtained recently, they fled to the city once before to avoid trouble with a Fire Nation battalion."

"So… if they knew we were chasing them, they would go to Ba Sing Se," Azula muttered, frowning. "But as long as they don't know, they're likely to go to the Oasis."

"Exactly," said the Captain, nodding.

Azula frowned as she began pondering her possibilities. The Captain stared at her for a moment, waiting for her to make the call regarding what would happen from here on. Sokka stared at them curiously, having taken a seat at one of the tables, as intrigued and confused as ever by Azula's secretive behavior.

"These are good news… and bad news as well," muttered Azula, shaking her head as she paced through the room. "Their raids on villages… the Fire Nation will have to make amends for the damage they've caused. And not just this time, but on every town and village the Rough Rhinos have attacked while defying the Fire Lord's commands. We have to put a stop to this immediately. We're breaking formation from here on, Captain."

"W-what?" said the man, his eyes widening in surprise. "But… I thought we'd agreed to divide our forces after arriving to Omashu."

"Well, I've decided differently now," Azula grunted.

"But we would be taking the exact same route, Princess! To reach the Oasis we would have to pass by Omashu and the desert…!"

"I understand you find it more practical to stay with the Royal Procession until we make it there," said Azula, glaring at him. "But in case you've forgotten, time is of essence in this mission. While you're standing here, talking back to me, the Rhinos might be attacking another town already. For the sake of the people of the Fire Nation, I need you to find them and intercept them as soon as you have a chance to do it. And that chance isn't going to come on its own. You are going to take off right away, Captain. And that's an order."

The Captain stared at her, helpless. It was an order, of course, and he couldn't oppose anything Azula said… but he was somewhat reluctant to leave Azula only three days upon their arrival to the Fire Nation Colonies. All along he had felt unwilling to leave her side, only agreeing to do so because opposing Azula was never an option for a man like him. And now he had no choice but to leave to chase down the Rhinos…

The vestibule had fallen silent upon Azula's exchange with the Captain. Everyone was gazing at them, to Azula's mild discomfort.

"And that also goes for all those who'll be joining the Captain," she snapped. "Go get ready!"

The men in casual clothes jumped and scrambled upstairs, heading to their rooms in a hurry. The Captain tilted down his head towards Azula, bowing down towards her.

"It will be done, Princess," he muttered, before turning to follow the others to the higher stories of the building, to gather his belongings.

Azula glared at him as he walked away, knowing he was complying unwillingly. She rolled her eyes at his attitude before turning around to find quite a surprise sitting on a nearby table, patting a nigh unconscious Royal Guard on the back as he gazed at her sideways.

"W-what…? Since when have you been there?" she asked Sokka, utterly confused.

"A couple of minutes," said Sokka, smiling weakly.

"Why didn't you just return to the Morishita's house?" asked Azula, frowning.

"I thought I should…" muttered Sokka. "But this guy collapsed on me after you left, so I figured I'd bring him back."

"How thoughtful of you," Azula spat out sarcastically, forgetting she was trying to fix her situation with Sokka just as much as she was trying to catch the Rough Rhinos.

"Uh… t-thanks…?" said Sokka, gulping as he eyed her warily.

Azula's eyebrow twitched at his submissiveness again. Oh, she wanted to punch him straight in the face so badly… she would do it, if she thought he would try to hit her back. But she knew he was more likely to crawl in the floor instead, claiming he deserved to get hit.

"So… what were you talking about with the Captain?" Sokka asked, trying his luck.

"What…?" Azula muttered, frowning. She hadn't told him about her mission yet, had she…? Was it a good idea to do it now? It might serve to make the fool a little more comfortable… which could make him behave as he usually did, hence helping her feel at ease as well. But there were too many things claiming her attention right now. Telling Sokka wasn't a priority. "I have no time to give out lengthy explanations right now. I have other things to deal with."

"Oh… right," muttered Sokka, nodding. "Important things, I bet! Well, that's okay… I can live with that."

Azula stared at him in distaste, still unable to recognize the man she had known before behind those layers of passivity. She glared at him for a moment before turning to one of the Royal Guards in the room.

"Are the steeds ready for the journey?" she asked.

"They're at the back, in the inn's stables," said the man.

"Are they well rested and fed?" Azula inquired, as she walked with the guard towards the other side of the room. Their conversation was out of earshot for Sokka when they passed through a door at the opposite end of the vestibule.

The gladiator frowned as he stared at the corridor through which the Princess had vanished. She had been nice while they were at the Arena, and now she had been snappy for a moment, but only moments later she wasn't so angry anymore. What was going through that head of Azula's? Would he ever understand it? It didn't seem like he would. She was so secretive, so uptight with her business…

The guards came and went as time passed them by. A pair of men showed up to bring the unconscious guard to his room, leaving Sokka to himself on the vestibule until the Captain reappeared, clad in his best clothes for traveling.

"You brought Taro back?" asked the man, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Sokka with curiosity.

"Taro? You mean the fainted guard?" Sokka asked. "Yeah, I did. He freaked me a little when he fell headfirst on the ground… is he always like that?"

"He has a disease," said the Captain. "He has a hard time breathing in agitated circumstances. Whenever he's anxious he's prone to blacking out like that."

"Why is a guy like that a Royal Guard?" asked Sokka, confused.

"His firebending is impressive whenever he's not fainted," said the Captain matter-of-factly, checking the contents of a large pack he had brought downstairs.

"If you say so… so, from what I heard, you'll be taking off now?"

"You already knew I wasn't staying with the Princess's group through this entire journey," said the Captain, without looking at Sokka.

"Yeah, I did… I just thought you'd leave later," Sokka replied, shrugging.

"Does it really matter to you either way if I leave now or later?" asked the Captain, frowning.

"Well… you were the only person I could talk to over here" said Sokka, smiling sideways. "At least, the only one I could talk to without weighing every single word I utter…"

"Maybe you should weigh them more often, even while dealing with people other than the Princess," said the Captain, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe…" said Sokka. He sighed and folded his arms, leaning back on his chair. "Are all women like that? Or is that just Azula?"

"Like what?"

"You know… impossible to understand," said Sokka, sighing. "One minute she wants nothing to do with me, and every little thing I do ticks her off… but then she's nice to me? And then she's cold again, but she gives out a hint as if she were about to be nice again… I just don't get it."

"I'm not that knowledgeable about women," said the Captain, staring at Sokka he grimaced in confusion. "I don't know if all of them are impossible to understand… but the Princess is special indeed. Reading through her actions is no easy feat."

"Tell me about it," said Sokka, scratching his head lazily. "And it's not just her actions… it's her emotions. When I try my best to please her, she disdains me. When I'm sure I've disappointed her, she seems to approve of me. How…? Why? I just don't get it. She's beyond me."

"I have always thought she is," said the Captain, sighing before turning around towards Sokka. "But even when I think so, there's something I need to ask of you."

"Uh… of me?" asked Sokka, blinking in utter confusion. "What's that?"

"After I take off with my group, there will be ten Royal Guards left to defend the Princess. There will be eight palanquin bearers… and there will be one gladiator."

Sokka stared at the Captain in surprise as he stood up from his chair, his eyes never leaving the man's fierce golden glare.

"One man can make the difference in a battle," said the Captain. "One man can save the Princess's life if it were to be endangered. If I had a choice, I wouldn't leave her protection up to you in a thousand years… but I don't have one. So I'm going to do what I thought I'd never have to do…"

"Captain…?"

"Promise me, gladiator… that you'll protect her with your life if it comes down to it," said the Captain. "I know the other guards will do so… but I don't know if they'll be enough to keep her safe if our plans have any miscalculations. I need to know you'll stand by her, that you'll act as her personal shield if needed."

"W-what, you… you think I can do that?" asked Sokka, surprised. "You're actually asking me to…?"

"I'm doing it because I have no choice, I already said so," the man declared, grimacing in irritation.

"Right, right… you just took me by surprise with this," said Sokka, smiling awkwardly.

"And when I'm telling you to protect her, I'm not telling you to overwhelm her by trying to take care of her at all times," said the Captain. "The Princess needs her space. Don't forget that."

"I won't… and I'll do it, when I can," said Sokka, nodding and staring at the Captain in the eyes. "Because, well, she knows how to fight for herself too. But if there are any fights I can win for her, in the sand or not, I'll do my best to win them. You can count on that."

"You'll be traveling with her for a very long time," said the Captain. "Make sure no harm befalls her… no harm of any kind. And by that I mean…"

"I know, I know," said Sokka. "By that you mean I'd better not hurt her while you're not around or you'll have my head when you get back."

"If I get back…" muttered the Captain darkly, surprising Sokka.

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" the gladiator said, staring at the man with confusion just as the Princess reappeared through the door and looked at the two men. Since when did Sokka and the Captain get along so well…?

"What are the two of you talking about?" she asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow as she passed by them.

The Captain looked at Azula with puzzled eyes, his sense of duty urging him to answer her question while his common sense told him otherwise. She wouldn't be pleased to know he was making plans for her safety… And the Captain was pleasantly surprised to discover Sokka had come to the same conclusion.

"Y-you and him were talking about stuff earlier and you didn't explain anything to me! This is just a spoonful of your own medicine!" he said, folding his arms over his chest.

Azula felt an intense urge to burn the gladiator to a crisp for those words… until she realized that was exactly the sort of comebacks he used to send her way. Her anger froze right away as her amber gaze lingered upon him for a moment.

"Huh… really? That's… that's how you're going to play this?" she asked, challenging him with a raised eyebrow.

The usual aggressive hint on her voice was gone, replaced by a strange uncertainty Sokka had never sensed on Azula before. It was as if she were probing him, testing him out in some way…

"Uh… maybe?" he muttered, not sure of how to best answer her question.

Azula seemed somewhat disappointed by his lack of conviction, but she was pleased in a way. That had been him, alright… it was only a shred of his usual self, but it was still there. He wasn't completely gone. He hadn't fully transformed into an incompetent wimp.

"Wrong answer," she said, but she couldn't hold back a small smile before moving towards the inn's main door. "Are you ready to leave, Captain?"

"Yes, Princess," said the man, nodding. Azula turned to look at him again, all trace of her grin gone from her face.

"Gather the rest of your team, then. The dragons are already waiting for you in front of the inn."

"Right away, Princess," said the Captain, heading upstairs to find his men as Azula passed through the threshold of the inn's front door.

Sokka was left alone in the vestibule, although he didn't even notice the others were gone. His eyes had snapped open wide as he gazed at the spot in which Azula had been standing just a moment ago. He hadn't been imagining things, had he? Her lips had curled into a smile if only for a second! How had that miracle happened, if he had just spouted out nonsense at her? Was the Princess fond of the nonsense all of sudden?

Whatever it was, though… it didn't change the fact that she had smiled. She had smiled. Sokka couldn't hold back the urge to laugh, feeling triumphant for the first time in weeks.

"She smiled!" he exclaimed, falling back on his chair as he beamed at the ceiling. "She smiled!"

Sokka didn't notice the door had been left open, though… and Azula stood just a few feet away from him, her eyebrows twitching as she heard his cheerful claims. She felt the color rushing to her face before she could keep her body in check. She had never thought he would take notice if she smiled or not… and what was it to him anyway? Why was he so happy about it?

She wanted to walk right back into the vestibule and strike a fistful of flames into his mouth if only to shut him up, but how was she going to explain the now prominent blush on her face? Why was she blushing anyway? It was still the same fool that had hurt her, the same jerk who had chosen another woman over her…!

It really was him. Even if he had changed so much… it still was him.

For some reason, the realization was beyond relieving even when she didn't want it to be. For Sokka to have remained as the fool he was didn't mean he was going to treat her any differently… although he had been treating her quite differently lately. He had been submissive, he had apologized, he had let her walk all over him when he wouldn't have done it before. Was he trying to prove to her that he would be willing to put down his pride if that would help him earn her forgiveness and atone for his sins…?

The thought angered her and saddened her at the same time. The situation made her feel vulnerable again, like an open wound right across her heart. It was a sensation she didn't want to experience again; yet she had missed the feeling of kinship with her gladiator. The contradictions in her mind made her want to throw up in disgust. Why couldn't she think straight anymore? Why was everything so confusing, so twisted, so absurd…? The only thing she knew for certain was that the one who had brought all those contradictions into her life had been him.

And he was glad she had smiled… he was glad she had smiled. If he prized her smiles so much, why had he made her cry before? More contradictions, more confusing thoughts… she shook her head, trying to hold back the intense emotions that overwhelmed her right now. Why had she had opened the gateway to those feelings once again? Why had she let her shield of hatred break down? She cringed and shook her head. Well, even if she had allowed her emotions burst out of their prison again, she wouldn't act upon them. She would rely on her mind and her instincts, on that alone. She was done with letting her emotions dictate her actions.

The Captain and the rest of his men showed up only a few seconds after she was done coming to her conclusion. Azula's blush vanished as she focused on the situation at hand. Each guard climbed on the saddle of their respective mongoose dragon, and Azula walked up to the Captain, who would be leading the way out of the city.

"Keep in touch," she commanded. "Send a messenger hawk whenever you make any progress. We're set to meet again in Ba Sing Se, Captain… and you'd better have seized the Rhinos when we do."

"I will make sure not to let you down, Princess," said the man, bowing his head down towards her.

"We'll see about that," Azula growled, narrowing her eyes. "Good luck, Captain."

"You too, Princess," said the man, looking at her one last time before shaking his reins and ushering his mount to break out into a sprint.

The other guards followed his lead immediately, steering the reptiles into the streets and vanishing from sight as they took a turn on Yu Dao's main street. Azula stared after them until the last one was gone. Only time would tell if her plan would be of any use… she had no choice but to trust the Captain, even when her mind advised her not to trust anyone ever again.

She sighed before turning around towards two guards who had walked outside to watch the rest of the men leave.

"Stay in the inn," she muttered. "Any messages they send while we're still in Yu Dao should reach the inn instead of the Morishita house to avoid being read by untrustworthy eyes."

"Yes, Princess," said the men, bowing down to her. "We'll keep an eye out for the messenger hawks."

"Good. Make sure to inform me if anything happens in the course of what's left of the week," said Azula. "We'll be setting out to Omashu in four days, so long as everything goes according to plan."

"Yes, Princess," the men repeated, and she turned around to leave to the Morishita home… before remembering someone was supposed to come along with her.

Azula stopped on her tracks and looked back at the inn. Sokka stood at the door, his brow contracted as he thought about hell knew what.

He had watched the way the Royal Guards in disguise had left on the back of mongoose dragons, still worried about the last words the Captain had told him. What was this deadly mission of his that could even cost him his life?

"Gladiator…" Azula grunted, glowering at him.

Sokka's eyes snapped wide open again and he looked up at the Princess. The fierce glare she was gifting him with took him aback. For what felt like the millionth time in the day, Sokka was left wondering what had he done this time around.

"Are you coming or would you rather stay at the inn?" asked Azula, folding her arms across her chest as she hoped he would pick the second choice.

"Uh, yeah! I'll be right behind you!" Sokka exclaimed clumsily, approaching Azula.

She didn't bother waiting for him to catch up with her, she took off to the Morishita's home immediately. Sokka stared at her in utter confusion, still unable to make any sense out of the Princess's mood swings. He treaded after her, keeping some distance between both of them, hoping that the strange happenings from today had meant their relationship had been mended if ever so slightly.

Yet he could see Azula was angry at him again. And he could sense her annoyance quite easily throughout the rest of the afternoon, even during dinner at the Morishita's home.

"So, you have started your tour with a win, Princess," said the mayor, beaming at her. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you, mayor," said Azula half-heartedly, taking a bite out of a dumpling.

"You weren't lying with what you said" muttered Kori, looking at her shyly. "Your fighter really isn't outstanding at all."

Sokka's eyebrow twitched at the remark, but he decided to ignore the girl as he ate as gracefully as he could.

"Why would I have lied about something like that?" said Azula, smirking. "I meant it when I said it. He has only made it so far because I am his sponsor."

"Indeed, his performance today proved it," said Kori, smiling back before continuing with her meal.

Azula frowned when she heard no groans of displeasure or bitter comebacks from the man sitting at her left. She narrowed her eyes and looked at Sokka, wondering why he hadn't tried to stand up for himself this time around. Was he still being a submissive moron? Did he know she had told Kori she was right just because she wanted to instigate him into defending himself…?

She was thoroughly surprised to find he seemed completely impervious to her belittling of him. And not only that… but he was eating carefully, cautiously, as if he were thinking through every single movement he was making. He wasn't chewing loudly, he wasn't dropping crumbs on the tablecloth… he was eating as if he actually had manners. Granted there were a few things about his posture and his movements that made him look extremely awkward, but regardless, he wasn't eating like a pig anymore…

Sokka realized Azula was staring at him just as he was eating a chunk of boiled cabbage. He was startled by her expression, but he made sure to gulp all the food down and to slide his tongue over his teeth before mumbling.

"W-what?"

Azula seemed to come back to her senses upon that. She looked down at her plate again, and she couldn't help but look at him from the corner of her eye as she continued with her dumpling. His behavior was shocking, and she didn't know if she ought to be pleased by it or not. It was as if he was trying his best to do everything she might wish for. Everything she requested, he would do it… and he wanted to see her smile, too. He really was as eager as she was to get their relationship back to the way it used to be.

But she didn't know if she wanted things to return to what they had been. Her own vulnerability terrified her, and the fear of getting hurt by him again was engraved way too deep into her soul. Was there a chance that he wouldn't damage her this time around? How much truth had there been in his apologies? And how was she supposed to trust him again after all he'd said and done? Did he deserve to be trusted? Could he be trusted…?

She wouldn't trust him in personal regards, that much was a given. She had given him too much information, opened up to him more than she ever had opened up to anyone else: she had gone too far. She had done it because she had felt comfortable by doing so, because it had seemed like he actually cared for what she had to say… but, as it was, she couldn't trust him like that anymore. He had claimed to hate her, claimed she was pure evil, and even if he said he was sorry, how did she know he really wasn't thinking such things about her anymore? She didn't… and it terrified her that he might still see her in that way. Even if his latest actions screamed the opposite, the possibility was still there. So, if he really was trustworthy this time around, she had to find out through other means. Not by opening up about her innermost thoughts and secrets to him… but by letting him in on another mystery he wanted to know about.

Azula climbed the stairs towards her room after dinner was finished, followed closely by Sokka. He could sense there was something bothering her, her head wasn't held up high as always and she seemed awfully tense.

Azula stopped in the hallway between both their rooms. Sokka stared at her, worriedly. Should he head into his room and ignore her…? It didn't look like she wanted to be bothered right now. He lurked to the side, stretching his hand towards the door that led to his room…

And for what felt like the millionth time in the day, Azula did the exact opposite from what Sokka expected. Her hand darted out towards his wrist, grasping him firmly and dragging him into her room without a word of explanation.

Sokka's eyes widened and a flush appeared on his face as his mind fell into a state of utter disbelief. Okay… this was beyond weird. What was she doing this time around? Bringing him into her room? What could she possibly want to do in there that required his presence? If she wanted to talk, they could have done it in the hallway! So did she want something else? Her tension could be translated into nervousness, perhaps… her confusing actions were speaking for themselves, and he could hardly believe what they were saying…

She tossed him on a chair near the dresser, and he almost fell over as he stumbled to keep balance on the furniture. He looked up at her in terror, his cheeks reddening while wondering what on earth was going through the Princess's mind right now…

Azula wasn't blushing, though. That was the first sign that gave away that she probably wasn't trying to do anything out of the ordinary to him. His suggestive jokes would make her face turn a shade redder than the Fire Nation emblem, so if she had any impure intent towards him, her face would have given it away already.

The Princess placed her hand on the dresser behind Sokka, striking the furniture with more strength than she had intended to as she glared at him. His eyes reflected some fear, which pleased her… but also curiosity. He wanted to know what she was up to… and he was about to find out.

"You asked earlier about what I was discussing with the Captain, didn't you?" she grunted, her fierce golden eyes never leaving his. "Well, you're about to find out what it was, so long as you keep your mouth shut while I explain this to you. Got it?"

Sokka blinked a few times as he realized what she was about to do. She was really going to reveal the true nature of her mission to him! He nodded and stared at her expectantly, determined to listen to the end.

"The mission my father entrusted me with is catching a group of Fire Nation brigands that are disturbing the peace in the Colonies. They're called the Rough Rhinos. They ride from town to town in komodo rhinos, pillaging every village they can get their hands on and causing as much damage as they can get away with. And they have gotten away with too much of it as it is. My father heard about this situation and decided to put an end to it, and he asked me to capture them and bring them back to the Fire Nation."

"He… he did?" asked Sokka, frowning.

"Well, it was my Uncle's idea originally, as you already know," grunted Azula, taking a few steps away from him, her gaze still fixated upon him.

Sokka's frown deepened as he sat properly on the chair, having been leaning back before to avoid any potentially awkward physical contact between the two of them.

"He… asked you to take care of these men," he repeated. "He sent his only daughter, blood of his blood, to catch a group of criminals and bring them home…"

"What's so hard to understand about this?" snarled Azula.

"Well, I just… don't know if he thought this through," muttered Sokka. "I'm not going to say you're not capable of catching these men… but when I arrived to the inn, the Captain was telling you they have killed people. I understand you're more than capable of getting them for their crimes, but I don't understand why your father would send you to do such a dangerous job."

"Our army is spread too thin," she replied. "Most our forces are needed at other stations. I was available, and so were my Royal Guards. It's not as unreasonable as you think it is."

"I guess not…" Sokka said, still frowning. "There's a lot of odd things about this, though. For your father to agree to send you when your uncle was the one to suggest that… I mean, I know your relationship with that old man is no good. I figure your father would be aware of that as well. Didn't he question his motives at all?"

"My uncle claimed he was recommending me because I was a capable leader and whatnot," grunted Azula, rolling her eyes at the memory of the war meeting. "And my father wasn't that keen on sending me away. He allowed me to choose whether I'd do it or not."

"That's still weird… but it's good to know that he let you choose," said Sokka, shrugging. "It seemed odd that the Fire Lord would force his only daughter to go to a mission as dangerous as this one."

"The Rhinos aren't all that deadly for someone like me," said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"Maybe not," said Sokka, shrugging. "Is it normal, though, that the Fire Lord sends his kids to get these matters sorted out?"

"Most members of the Royal Family get involved in warfare at some point in time," said Azula. "Well… most male members, at least. I don't believe there have been any women commanding an army before…"

"So you're a pioneer at this?" asked Sokka, smiling. "Sounds neat."

Azula heard those words and couldn't hold back a small smirk. She hadn't quite thought about it in this manner…

"It seems like I am."

Sokka's chest seemed to be set ablaze as he saw her smile again. He couldn't help but admire her from his seat, amazed by how beautiful she looked whenever she was pleased…

Azula took notice of the way he was beaming at her, which prompted her to stop smiling altogether. The dumb look on his face made her grimace and blush at the same time.

"W-what are you looking at? And why are you looking at it like that?"

"W-what? Like what?" asked Sokka, clueless.

"Like that! Just… ugh, forget it!" she said, shaking her head. "Alright, you got what you wanted! You can go ahead and leave now!"

"Uh… alright…" said Sokka, his gaze not leaving the Princess as he stood up again, studying her features in utter confusion.

"Get-out-already!" she said between gritted teeth, annoyed at how slowly he was moving.

Azula slammed the door shut as soon as Sokka was out in the hallway again. He stood in place for a moment, still having a hard time assimilating what had happened inside the room. It hadn't been his imagination, had it…?

"Was she… blushing?" he muttered, absent-mindedly.

And why was she blushing, he couldn't figure it out for the life of him. The Princess really was too much for him to handle.

Azula stood inside her room, feeling more foolish with every second that passed her by. That stupid savage was making a mess of her head even when she had been trying not to feel anything towards him anymore. She walked to the side of the bed and collapsed on it, hoping a good night's sleep would help her clear her mind and forget the stupid, fascinating smile she'd seen on his face just a moment ago.


	35. Chapter 35

The Royal Procession, shortened after the departure of half the Royal Guards, left Yu Dao right on schedule. Before taking off, Azula said her farewells to the Morishita family, thanking them for their hospitality politely.

"We will miss having you around, Princess," the Mayor said, smiling kindly at her. "Good luck on your travels!"

"I hope you win your next fights," said Kori, smiling at Azula. "And… I hope we'll meet again someday."

"In the sponsor's balcony next time, if everything goes as intended," said Azula, smirking at the girl.

Kori beamed as she nodded enthusiastically. Her admiration towards Azula seemed to know no ends. Azula climbed aboard her palanquin shortly after wrapping up their conversation, and the Procession made its way out of the city, struggling to pass through the crowd of curious onlookers that packed the streets once again, who hoped to catch a glimpse of Azula's palanquin one last time.

The Procession progressed all the way through the mountains east of Yu Dao. After around an hour of walking, they found what they had been looking for: the train-tank Azula had requested from the Mechanist.

"Woah! What is this thing?!" Sokka exclaimed, staring at the machine before him in awe.

Sokka had never seen anything like the train-tank. The vehicle consisted of several metallic wagons linked together, spearheaded by the railway engine car. The plow of the first wagon was shaped as an arrow, lined with spikes to help the vehicle pierce through any obstacles that might stand in its way. There was a chimney right above the engine car, which prompted Sokka to guess the machine was powered through fire, or else there would be no need to vent any smoke.

"This thing is seriously cool," he said, ducking to get a good look at the wheels of the machine. "It's creepy, but cool. Who built this?"

"That would have been the Mechanist up north," said a Royal Guard near him, startling Sokka. "And it's called a train-tank."

Sokka bolted up again and stared at the man beside him.

"I wasn't really expecting an answer… but thanks!" he said, smiling.

"It's the least I could do," muttered the man, sighing.

Sokka only realized the man's voice was familiar after he uttered that phrase. He raised an eyebrow, wondering if he'd be right to assume who the man under the mask was…

"Taro?"

"When did I tell you my name?" said the guard, genuinely surprised.

"Oh, you didn't," said Sokka, smiling sideways. "The Captain called you Taro when he asked me if I had brought you to the inn back then…"

"I see now," said Taro, smiling back even though Sokka couldn't see it.

"He said you had some sort of disease…?"

"Uh… yes, I do," said the man, sighing. "It would be fine if I had my medicine with me, but I left it in the mainland."

"Isn't that a little careless of you…?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"People often say I'm not the sharpest man in the world," said the man, shrugging and sighing again. "But I wanted to thank you for taking your time to help me back then. I didn't have the chance to do it before…"

"Ah, no need to thank me," said Sokka, smiling proudly. "I did what any man would've done!"

Taro chuckled a little and patted Sokka on the shoulder. The gladiator smiled and the man walked away towards the back of the train, where Azula's palanquin was being loaded onto a cargo wagon. The Princess was overseeing the entire operation, focused on directing the guards and palanquin bearers as they brought everyone's luggage into the train.

Sokka lurked towards her nervously. After her odd mood swings during the day of his fight, Azula hadn't showed him much kindness on the following days… although she wasn't that irritated whenever he tried to initiate a conversation. Their exchanges never lasted long, but Sokka thought that was much better than nothing.

Sokka cleared his throat once Azula stopped giving out orders at last. Her eyebrows twitched at the sound. It was the way in which she acknowledged his presence nowadays. She glanced at him sideways, a frown prominent on her face.

"Y-you don't need to look at me like that…" said Sokka, raising his hands as if surrendering to her. "I just wanted to ask a few questions about this thing."

"And why would I want to answer them?" she retorted, looking back at the bearers as one of them squealed, holding his foot in his hands. The group of bearers had accidentally lowered the palanquin on his toes, and now he was hopping inside the wagon, squirming in pain.

"Uh, well…" muttered Sokka, staring at her blankly.

Azula rolled her eyes at the bearers and shook her head before turning to Sokka.

"Just ask your question and stop acting like a beaten dog."

"Huh?" asked Sokka, taken by surprise by her, as ever.

"Ugh, never mind," said Azula, rubbing her forehead with her fingers. "What do you want?"

"I was just wondering… how does this thing work?" asked Sokka, growing enthusiastic as he spoke about the machine. "I'm guessing it has something to do with firebeding, right?"

Azula raised an eyebrow, eyeing Sokka with confusion.

"Why do you want to know that?"

"I'm just a little curious…" he said, shrugging.

"Curiosity killed the cat-owl…" Azula recited, making Sokka wince. "Yes, it works through firebending and coal. It fuels the whole machine."

"Really?" asked Sokka, forgetting her eerie words at once. "And that's enough to move the whole thing?"

"If what the Mechanist claimed about his creation is true, it should be," said Azula. "Is that all?"

"Oh, uh… almost," said Sokka, smiling nervously. "Where… where's my room?"

"Your room?" Azula repeated, raising an eyebrow. "What makes you think there's a room for you?"

"Well, it doesn't have to be a room, really…" said Sokka, sweating. "What I meant was where should I sit while the train moves? Or are you planning on not giving me a lift to Omashu…?"

"Oh, I wish that were the case," said Azula, sighing dramatically.

"Then… where do I go?" he asked, staring at her innocently.

Azula raised an eyebrow as she studied him closely.

"Would you like accommodations especially made just for you…?" she asked, her voice unusually suggestive.

"Uh… w-well, I don't really need it, but if you feel like it…" said Sokka, knowing he was stepping on dangerous grounds with each word he said…

The devilish smirk she gave him was all he needed to confirm his fears. This simply wouldn't end well…

And indeed, it didn't.

"W-w-why did you toss me in here?!" Sokka squealed, staring at the beasts before him in terror.

The special accommodations Sokka had been given were truly special… in quite a negative light. He was stuck in the weirdest of all the wagons in the train-tank, a barn-like car with enough room to fit five large, green reptiles in it. And all of those reptiles were staring at Sokka seemingly blankly with their big yellow eyes, but he could sense they were just as curious about him as he had been about the train-tank when he first spotted it. The way they had surrounded him in a circle made him grimace in fright.

"Why are these creatures in here anyway?!" he yelled again, obtaining no answer. He knew she was on the next wagon, of course she was… and she was probably listening to his shouts, with that big smirk of hers on her face.

Sokka smiled nervously at the nearest lizard, which slipped its pink tongue out of its mouth in an odd smile of its own.

"G-good lizard…" he muttered…

And before he knew it, the reptile had jumped at him, licking his face intently while the others tugged at his clothes with their sharp teeth, amused by how he squealed and screamed as he tried to get out of their grasp. If he'd had his weapons with him, he would have used them to keep some distance between them, but alas, they had been thrown in the wagon with the rest of the cargo. He was completely defenseless as he tried to fend off the five mongoose dragons who were elated to have a human all to themselves.

"G-get off! Don't touch me with that tail, dammit! You tailed creatures have the nasty habit of going to the bathroom and forgetting to-…! Don't lick me! Quit it, lizard! Argh… Help! HELP! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

The royal guards on the nearby wagon listened to his screams with slight concern. The train made quite a ruckus as it moved, but Sokka's yelling was loud enough to surpass the noise the machine was making. If only Azula hadn't been beaming, delighted by her gladiator's shrieks, the guards would have suggested bringing him into their wagon… but they knew better than to oppose Azula's obvious wishes to keep Sokka in the cabin of the mongoose dragons.

After what felt like ages to Sokka, the side door to the wagon opened up and the sunlight bathed the gladiator and his new friends. The mongoose dragons had gotten bored of picking at Sokka after a few hours, so they had decided to find comfortable places to nap within the wagon. One of them decided to nap atop Sokka, using his back as a mattress. Sokka had squirmed and tried to get the animal off him, but the mongoose dragon had merely shifted into a more comfortable position and it had fallen asleep soundly. Sokka had ended up closing his own eyes after a while as well, too tired to continue fighting against the weight of the animal. He woke up when the dragon sleeping on top of him jumped away from him and out of the wagon, along with the other four creatures.

"I… I live!" he exclaimed, climbing off the train and dropping on the grass, kissing the ground when he touched it. "I survived! I was just waiting for death to take me, but I'm alive! I'm…! Wait… what's going on here?"

He hoisted himself up to his knees and looked around him in confusion. They had come quite far from Yu Dao, since Sokka couldn't recognize the mountains nearby or the gravel road the train-tank had been coursing through before coming to a halt. He looked around himself to find the lizards were pacing on the grass happily. And right beside him, next to the wagon's door, was a Royal Guard, staring down at him.

"Uh… what's going on?" Sokka repeated, confused.

"Not much," said the guard, shrugging. From his voice, Sokka realized it wasn't Taro this time. "There was a town nearby, so the Princess passed through it on her palanquin while I drove the train to the other side of the town…"

"Why?" asked Sokka, sitting up. "What's the point of doing that?"

"Huh… I'm not sure if you know the full extent of the Princess's mission, so I'm not sure if I should explain or not," said the guard, folding his arms over his chest.

"Actually, I do know," said Sokka. "She explained it to me the other day… what does that have to do with this?"

"The Princess is trying to make it seem like her visit to the Earth Kingdom has nothing to do with chasing down the Rough Rhinos," said the guard. "To keep up appearances, she must cross through towns in her palanquin, as if she couldn't care less about how long it takes for her to travel. The train-tank would alert the people at those towns, because a machine like this one isn't something you see every day. It was developed for war purposes, the aggressive design shows as much. Therefore, the Princess decided to keep the train-tank as far from the commoners as possible, to avoid alerting them. It would be truly unsettling for those people to see this machine treading through their terrains, and word of it would likely spread quickly."

"Yeah, it must be," said Sokka, thoughtful. "That makes sense, I think… but what about the crazy lizards? Why were they in the tank?"

"These five creatures are around in case an emergency happens," said the guard. "If the Captain sends word that he needs backup, the Princess will send five of her remaining guards to help him. And the men she sends would need steeds to help them reach the Captain on time."

"Huh," said Sokka, staring at the nearest mongoose dragon with confusion. The dragon looked back at him for a moment before strutting off towards the other creatures. "Why did you release me, though? Won't she get mad at you for that? And is there no danger that the lizards will run off?"

"I released you because I thought you'd want to get some fresh air," said the guard. "It doesn't smell so good in there, does it?"

"Not at all," said Sokka, shaking his head.

"I don't know why the Princess would be mad to see you out here… she was amused by the way you were screaming, but I figure she wouldn't mind letting you out from time to time. Say, what did you do to annoy her? That sort of treatment isn't all that common in her. She may not be the nicest of people, but she certainly isn't always this ruthless…"

"Eh… I've done lots of things," said Sokka, tilting his head down as he shrugged. "You don't need to know what they were."

"I don't? Well, if you say so…" replied the guard, looking up at the pacing creatures in front of them. "And as for the mongoose dragons, they won't run away. They're feeble animals, and these ones have been well-trained not to run off. So you needn't fear."

"Mongoose what?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "Sorry, pal… but that's a lizard."

"These animals are called mongoose dragons," grunted the guard, glaring at Sokka.

"That's not a dragon, not in a million years," said Sokka, shaking his head. "You firebenders should know as much. These things are just lizards. I called them lizards while we were in there and they were perfectly fine with it!"

"They're called dragons, no matter how you decided to name them," said the guard. "Now stop saying nonsense unless you want me to pack you with the cargo instead!"

"Sheesh, how sensitive," said Sokka, shaking his head. "But… they're lizards."

"Argh! Stop it! Just stop it! They're mongoose DRAGONS! DRAGONS!" the man insisted, his fists balled as he yelled furiously at Sokka, who just gazed at him in surprise.

"Way to lose your temper…" he muttered, gulping.

"Quit calling it a lizard! It's a dragon!" the man shouted, his loud voice muffling out the sounds of the Procession that was just walking up the road towards the train tank.

Azula climbed off the palanquin and stared at the screaming guard for a moment before approaching, struggling to grasp what was the matter with the man.

"Why can't you get it through that thick head of yours?! Dragon! DRAGON! Not lizard, dragon! It's a dragon! Even if they don't spit fire, they're dragons!"

"B-but they don't fly either…" muttered Sokka, staring at the guard sheepishly.

"Whatever! They're dragons!"

"As a matter of fact…" said Azula, startling the guard and Sokka with her intervention. "… they're called mongoose dragons, yet the gladiator is somewhat correct in believing they have little to do with actual dragons."

Sokka blinked a few times before realizing Azula had agreed with him on something. The guard had grown pale upon hearing Azula's voice, turning around towards her while feeling extremely foolish.

"But they are both reptiles… so it's fine to call them dragons or lizards, either term would be correct," Azula finished, staring at the guard. "There's no need to get so worked up about such a simple matter, though. If the gladiator is bothering you, simply threaten him and he'll shut up."

"Hey…" said Sokka, grimacing.

"I see, Princess," said the guard, bowing his head down towards her "I shall do that."

"Good," replied Azula, smiling.

"HEY!" Sokka squealed, even though he knew he'd be ignored.

"Get on with loading the palanquin again," said Azula, turning around towards the rest of her convoy, "We're to leave as quickly as possible."

"Yes, Princess!" replied the guards and palanquin bearers, and Azula climbed on the train once again, leaving her men to pack everything up to resume their trip as hastily as possible.

Sokka stared at Azula until she was out of sight, frowning slightly. He still couldn't make heads or tails of her behavior… had she wanted to save him from the screams of the impatient guard? Or had she done it simply to spare herself from the man's annoying shouting? Seeing how she had added a cruel remark at the end of their conversation, he suspected she actually had done something nice for him, yet she was trying to cover it up…

He sighed as he dropped inside his wagon again, confused and troubled. The guards led the mongoose dragons into the train just a moment later, and before Sokka knew it, the train-tank was in motion once again. The reptiles approached him, eyeing him with their curious yellow eyes before curling up near him and taking another nap by his side… save for the very lizard that had been sleeping on top of him before, who had decided to drop his head on Sokka's lap this time around.

Sokka petted the lizard, dragging his fingers down the dry scales of the creature and dropping his head against the metallic wall of the wagon.

"You know… I really shouldn't feel this way," he muttered, not caring if the reptiles understood what he was saying or not. "I shouldn't be so keen to get on her good side again. Because this is what I was aiming for… isn't it? Back when I thought things couldn't continue as they were, when I decided to try my luck with another woman… this was what I was aiming towards. I knew she'd grow to hate me. I knew she'd want nothing to do with me. And I thought I'd be able to handle it, because it'd be for the best. We're not supposed to be anything but what we were, that's what I kept telling myself, what I keep telling myself… so why? Why do I feel so bad when this is exactly what I was trying to accomplish?"

The mongoose dragon on his lap let out a gurgling sound before shifting the position of his head to find more comfort.

"I thought this would be for the best," Sokka continued, with a sigh. "I thought I could endure it… but it seems I can't. I didn't think of how much grief I would cause her… and how much grief I'd bring upon myself as well. And how am I supposed to fix it now? Maybe… maybe I'm not supposed to. Maybe I was right back then… and maybe I should leave this as it is."

The reptile made its strange noise again, lifting its head and staring at Sokka accusingly.

"You don't think so?" asked Sokka, smiling sideways. "Don't fret, it's the last thing I want to do… I want her to be happy again. I want to go back to the days when we could spend hours on end together, throwing jabs at the other back and forth until either of us ended up speechless at the other's words. I even suggested teaching her how to fight with swords, you know? But… I don't think she'd want to learn anymore. At least, not from me."

The lizard placed its head on his lap once again, fluttering its eyelids shut. Sokka patted its brow again, closing his own eyes as his thoughts drifted towards the Princess who sat in the next wagon.

"If this was for the best… why does it hurt so much?" he asked. "If I did the right thing by putting a stop to this before it became something else… why does it feel so wrong? Why do I keep wondering how things would have developed if I'd just given in to falling in love with her? What if I hadn't resisted? Would we be…? What would we be? What could we have been?"

A sigh escaped his lips and he shook his head, knowing his regrets wouldn't be enough to change anything. They wouldn't change the things he'd said. They wouldn't change the way he'd hurt Azula, they wouldn't change the way she saw him now. And they wouldn't change the way he longed to find a way to make up for all the damage he'd inflicted, to heal the throbbing ache that burned through his chest, the constant reminder of the pain he had inflicted upon Azula.

* * *

The train-tank made its way through the arid countryside during two weeks, although Sokka lost track of time, for he spent most the trip locked up with his new friends, the mongoose dragons. He would be released from the wagon whenever the train halted, but all of sudden he wasn't too uncomfortable about being stuck with the creatures anymore.

Azula had been surprised to discover Sokka had adjusted to his life amongst the mongoose dragons. She had caught sight of him sleeping soundly with the beasts by opening a small window that allowed her to peek into his wagon. Seeing him grow accustomed to the circumstances had bothered her, somewhat. How was he able to find a way to adapt to everything around him? Was it something inherent that came with being a snow savage? She had the feeling she had been told in school, at some point, that the Water Tribesmen were just like water: they could change their form and adapt to the circumstances just as water shifted its forms. It was somewhat irritating, though, that he'd even adapt to living amongst lizards. Perhaps by the time they made it to Omashu he would even be talking the language of the lizards…

Their arrival to Omashu came by just as Azula had scheduled it. Even when she had to step down from the train and pass by the towns and villages in her palanquin from time to time, it seemed the train-tank was a far more efficient way to travel than she had originally thought it would be. Crossing through a few rivers had been the worst predicament they had faced, but, to the Princess's relief, the bridges in the area had withstood the weight of the metallic train.

The Captain had sent word only twice, and neither of the messages had satisfied the Princess. He kept finding villages the brigands had pillaged, yet he still hadn't caught up with the bandits. He was following their trail, just as he was supposed to, but Azula couldn't relax even when she knew he would catch up with the criminals eventually. It seemed more likely to Azula that she would run into the Rough Rhinos than for the Captain and his men to find them.

The train-tank had stopped behind the mountain range that surrounded the city of Omashu. The guards would take shifts every day to keep watch on the machine, by Azula's command. While her men readied themselves to head into the city, Azula commanded one of the guards to release Sokka.

"Where…? What's going on? What's this?" asked Sokka, completely confused as he looked at the mountain range and at the palanquin. He normally was let out of the train-tank after Azula had already gone into the villages…

"You're supposed to be back amongst the humans, that's what's going on," said Azula. "It seemed you got along with your reptiles a lot better than you do with people… beasts understand each other, is it?"

Sokka glared at her as she smirked cruelly.

"Why did you let me out…?" he asked, his eyebrow twitching.

"Why, would you have rather stayed in the wagon with your new friends?" asked Azula, raising a curious eyebrow.

 _My new friends don't insult me… they don't even talk, but that's beside the point_ Sokka thought bitterly before pouting towards Azula.

"I didn't say that…" he grunted.

"Then what is this contempt I'm sensing…? Oh, is it perhaps because I sorted the civilized and the uncivilized, and you were cast into the second group?" asked Azula, basking in the sight of his pulsating temples.

"… How about you just explain what's going on?" he muttered, his teeth clenched tight as he held back all the comebacks he wanted to throw at her.

Azula was slightly disappointed to see he still wouldn't take her ruses to fall into a full-fledged argument, but she didn't give it much importance.

"We have arrived to Omashu," she said, surprising him.

"What… we made it? So soon?" he asked, astounded.

"We made good time," Azula replied. "Your fight will happen three days from today, so get ready for it. Remember you'll be facing an earthbender this time… so you'll have to be extra cautious."

"Alright," said Sokka, nodding as he looked around himself. "But… where's the city? Is it underground or something?"

Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"We're on the other side of the mountain that holds the city. In case you haven't noticed yet, I don't want people to realize I'm in the Fire Nation Colonies on a mission, thus I'm trying to keep the train-tank hidden because it's a dead giveaway of the true nature of my visit. Got it now?"

"Oh… oh," said Sokka, blinking a few times. "Y-yeah, I got it…"

"Go get your stuff," said Azula, jerking her head towards the cargo wagon, which the guards and bearers were unloading at the moment. Sokka nodded and sprinted towards the car, telling the other men to be careful with his boomerang.

In a short time, the Procession was ready to head into Omashu. Azula was quite uncomfortable by sitting on the palanquin while they climbed the steep roads that led to the city, she hated the way the bearers tilted her as they progressed up the hill. Sokka treaded right behind the vehicle, right between the two guards that closed the group. His eyes widened in amazement when the city came into sight. Four pyramidal structures stood in the middle of a chasm, all of them the work of powerful earthbenders of old times. The city would have been far more appealing to him if he hadn't glimpsed the Fire Nation banner right above the gates of the city, or the smoke that came out of the metallic ducts that could have only been set there by the Fire Nation, because they looked completely out of place in what once was an extraordinary Earth Kingdom city.

A very long walkway stood between the city and the mountains, and walking it felt longer than it should have. With every step he took, Sokka grew more uneasy. He knew he shouldn't feel so bitter towards the Fire Nation, not after so long of living within said nation and getting used to the fact that they almost ruled the world by now, but the sight of that banner hanging on the city walls made his blood boil. It was so wrong…

A soldier caught sight of them when they were halfway through the bridge, and he shouted orders for the gates to be opened immediately. The metallic doors swung open to reveal blocks of earth, which were withdrawn by some earthbenders who were out of sight, and they cleared the way for the Princess and her Procession to enter the city.

Sokka gazed about in mild curiosity, but mostly, in distaste. Back in Yu Dao, the legacies of both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom had been combined into the city, and people lived in peace amongst both elements. Omashu was the entire opposite of that. The houses, roads, buildings and even the odd delivery system comprised by slides and carts, had been developed by the people of the Earth Kingdom before the Fire Nation came to take what should have never been theirs. Factories protruded between the buildings, and their fumes polluted the air around them with the dark smoke they were releasing. Steel covered the city, pavement had been engraved in the grounds, and only from time to time Sokka would be able to glimpse something, a house or a store, that hadn't been covered by the metal the Fire Nation favored to keep earthbenders in control. The city would have impressed Sokka if he had seen it before the Fire Nation conquest, but right now it merely disturbed him. It was a sour reminder of the Fire Nation's nature: to tear down everything in their path and impose themselves on top of it.

People stared at the Procession just as they had in Yu Dao, but instead of being regarded by cheerful people, this time they were received by the fierce glares of the Former Earth Kingdom citizens who had been lost their city and their rights. Only the soldiers seemed pleased to witness Azula's arrival, and they weren't too excited about it anyway. The Princess could sense the cold reception from within her palanquin, even through the drawn curtains. She frowned, having expected to find the city of Omashu in a far less depressing state. It seemed Mai's parents hadn't done such a grand job as governors… or perhaps they shared their daughter's gloomy ways and Azula hadn't noticed it until now.

It took the Procession quite a long time to climb to the highest peak of the city, the one which hosted the governor's palace. Sokka had been gazing up towards the pyramid, gazing at the place they would be staying at, but something other than buildings caught his eye at the very top of the mountain. He frowned as he eyed the statue, the distance making it difficult for him to recognize the figure… and the scowl on his brow grew more prominent when he did. The ridiculously pointy beard and the golden artifact behind the giant statue's head gave away the structure as a homage to Fire Lord Ozai.

He had only seen the man once before, but his features had been engraved in his mind. That man was the enemy, his one true enemy. Not the other gladiators he had fought against, not the Royal Guards, not Azula… it was him. Only him. If he ever had the opportunity to rid the Fire Nation of that man's rule, he'd do it without a second thought. Because he knew now that the Fire Nation in itself wasn't evil, and neither were its people. But their ideals were wrong, and he was the one responsible for enforcing those ideals upon the Fire Nation… well, him and his forefathers before him. That man was sending troops to invade his home and his sister tribe, and he had been the one to bring so much misery to this very city…

His dark musings were interrupted momentarily when he noticed there was something chained to the Fire Lord's statue. The statue had its hands before its chest, and there was something that looked ominously like a coffin chained to the right hand. Sokka didn't know for certain, but he thought he had seen a face peeking out through the top of the box… but the nearby buildings were tall enough to block the statue from sight as they continued walking, and Sokka couldn't confirm if the coffin had held a man or not. It seemed beyond creepy for these Fire Nation people to lock people up in cages and hang them in the hands of their nation's leader. Perhaps it was a way to show Fire Lord Ozai was a giant, and his opponents were so tiny he could hold them in his hand in that manner, threatening to squeeze them to death if they dared think of fighting back.

Sokka had quite a scowl on his face as they arrived to the governor's house's doorstep, repulsed by the city as he was. Another family greeted them this time around, although they didn't look half as lively as the Morishita family. The man was thin and lanky, and he didn't seem to be too nervous about dealing with Azula. The woman next to him looked a lot like him, although her hair was darker than his. Between the pairing stood a young boy with jet-black hair and an amazed look on his face. He gazed at the Palanquin expectantly and beamed when Princess Azula climbed down.

"Hi!" he shouted, making Azula raise an eyebrow towards him. The last time she had seen Tom-Tom he had only been five years old and he hadn't been the best-mannered kid… it seemed his ways hadn't improved that much, seeing how he had squealed the first thing that came to his mind as soon as he saw her.

"Welcome to Omashu, Princess Azula," said the man, smiling at Azula as both he and his wife bowed down towards Azula.

Tom-Tom blinked in confusion when his parents bowed, but he rushed to imitate them regardless, tilting his head down hastily and placing his hands in the wrong position.

"Thank you, governor," said Azula, prompting the family to lift their heads again. "Is everything faring well? The citizens seemed to be at unease upon our arrival…"

"Oh, the citizens are at unease at most times, Princess," said the woman, beaming and shaking a hand as if not to give it any importance. "It's a matter of growing used to it."

"Is it?" asked Azula, displeased. "You seem to have a small misconception on what a governor's duty should be. A good ruler isn't supposed to keep their people at unrest. People are the ones who make a nation what it is, after all."

Sokka's jaw dropped at her words. Was she actually quoting him? Was she really repeating something he had told her a few months ago? His distaste towards the city of Omashu fell back in his list of priorities as he stared at the back of the Princess in utter disbelief. She had remembered what he had told her. She had actually listened to what he'd said! And she was using it to teach a lesson to the other governors in the Fire Nation! His body was taken over by a strange shivering as he smiled sideways, feeling an unusual surge of pride burning in his chest.

"O-of course, Princess… we'll do something about it," said the governor, grimacing and bowing his head down towards her.

"You'd better," said Azula, glaring at him.

"Where's Mai?" squealed the kid, looking at the Procession. "Didn't you bring her with you?"

"Mai has some matters she needs to take care of right now," said Azula "Namely, her child."

"What?! She gave birth already?!" gasped Mai's mother, her hands covering her mouth.

"She didn't let you know?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"N-no, she… she didn't," muttered the governor, his head down.

Azula wasn't too surprised to hear this. Mai's relationship with her parents had never been smooth. It wasn't good, but it wasn't really bad either. It was awkward, that's what it was.

"What's the baby called?!" asked Tom-Tom, smiling broadly. "Is it a boy? Or is it a girl?"

"It's a boy," said Azula. "His name is Yuudai."

"Yuudai!" exclaimed Tom-Tom, amazed.

"Yes, you're an uncle now, Tom-Tom," said the kid's father, smiling at the child.

"An uncle? Me?!" squealed Tom-Tom. "But uncles are old! I'm not old!"

Tom-Tom's parents chuckled at their child's innocent statement before turning to Azula again.

"Please, come right in," said the governor. "You must long for comfortable lodging after spending such a long time on the road."

"Indeed," said Azula. "Do you have enough room to house my entire Procession?"

"Oh, yes, all arrangements have been made," replied the man. "There's plenty of space for everyone to stay here."

Azula nodded and the family entered the palace while the Princess turned around to address her men. She commanded them to bring the Palanquin into the house and to settle down quietly, while also ordering them to not cause any trouble to the governor and his wife. Sokka listened intently, gazing at Azula while enjoying a tingling feeling that ran down his spine. Azula didn't seem to notice he was staring at her, which allowed Sokka to smile to himself as they walked into the house at last.

The dining room was large enough to house the entire Procession, albeit the men had to sit quite tight together so that everyone could reach the table. Naturally, Azula was sitting at the head of the table, so she was perfectly comfortable while having dinner.

"Is everything faring well in Omashu, governor?" she asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow as she eyed the man. "The weaponry development…"

"Is progressing without delays," finished the governor.

"How about the rebellious earthbenders?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"They have settled down lately," the man muttered. "Probably because of their leader's circumstances…"

"Has anything happened with that mad king?" asked Azula. "Wasn't he chained to the statue?"

Sokka cringed upon the mention of the statue, and he only started paying attention to the conversation then. Mad king, she had said? Hanging on the statue… that had to mean that the coffin really held a person. His appetite decreased upon the confirmation of such an act of cruelty. Why did Azula seem to be alright with something so heinous…?

"Yes, but he has fallen into a deep slumber," said the governor. "He hasn't woken for several weeks now. His old age might have gotten to him, and being held in that box for almost seven years must have taken its toll on him. His devoted supporters have stopped their revolts because they know that, without him, they don't stand a chance."

"I see," said Azula, nodding. "It's good news. This should help you keep the citizens in check."

"It has helped, although they seem quite unhappy about these developments," said the governor. "But they'll grow out of their misery, I'm sure…"

 _Like hell they will_ , Sokka thought, frowning. Everything about this situation was so twisted that he just wanted to scream out loud in frustration and tell the governor off for his way of treating his people, like Azula had done with his wife earlier. And what Azula said had been something he had told her before, right? Perhaps if he told her how wrong it was for them to hold a man in a box, she would listen to him.

He found his chance to talk to Azula after dinner was over. She excused herself from the table and he followed suit, catching up with her in the middle of the hallway.

"Azula… wait."

"What…? What's the matter?" asked Azula, growing wary when she realized Sokka had followed her.

"W-what you were talking about just now… that mad king," said Sokka, frowning. "What's… why is he there?"

"Why? Isn't it obvious?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "He used to rule Omashu. He is a powerful earthbender, although he's quite insane, from what I've heard. He surrendered the city to the Fire Nation without fighting back. Yet his men, the Omashu Resistance, remain loyal to him, claiming that he'll bring himself out of his imprisonment and that way he will help them take back their city."

"Is there a chance for that to happen?" Sokka asked, his frown deepening.

"Why? Do you want to assist him on his escape?" asked Azula, folding her arms across her chest.

"N-no, that's not… I just figured there wouldn't be," he said. "Given how he's been locked in there for seven years, according to the governor…"

"He might not last much longer. From what he said, it seemed like he was about to cross the boundaries between the world of the living and the dead. He's old enough, it might be best for him…"

"How old are we talking about, exactly?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know," said Azula, shrugging. "A century, give or take."

"W-what?! He's been around for a century… that man is over a hundred years old and you've locked him up in a coffin?!" Sokka asked, aghast. "What's that for? Are you trying to torture him to his death or something?"

"Who exactly are you talking about when you say 'you'?" Azula asked, glaring at him.

"You! The Fire Nation!" Sokka exclaimed. "Isn't this too cruel even for your standards?!"

"Curious… I was sure you thought we had no standards in the first place," said Azula.

"It's starting to look like it," Sokka growled.

"It's funny you say so… you don't even know the quality of the coffin he's been locked in," said the Princess. "There are spikes inside the box, spikes that will push the pressure points on his body in case he tries to make a move of any kind, blocking his chi and thus rendering him completely unable to move. And you know why that's the case? Because, even when he's as old as he is, the man is a threat. He is one of the most powerful earthbenders in the world. He might even be stronger than the Blind Bandit. Think his confinement is cruel if you will, it's of no importance. If it's necessary to keep him there, we, the Fire Nation, will keep him there."

"But that's… that's wrong, Azula," Sokka whispered, shaking his head. "You can't… you can't treat people like this just because they're threats."

"I treated a threat much more lightly than I should have quite recently…" Azula muttered, making Sokka gasp. "And look at where that has landed me. I'm not making that mistake again."

Sokka watched her walk away from him, a sense of helplessness taking over his body as he stared after her. He already felt bad about himself, but now he felt even worse. It seemed his actions had been all Azula had needed to convince herself that the Fire Nation's cruel ways were the right path. Eliminating threats had been the Fire Nation's take on this war, and it seemed an ideal the country had taken as its motto. Azula hadn't eliminated the threat he posed to her, she had given him a chance to discover if he could become a valuable ally instead… and, clearly enough, she had come to regret her decision altogether. It didn't justify what the Fire Nation was doing, it didn't change that he believed it to be wrong… but now he realized he hadn't been able to change Azula's way of thinking. Worse, he had reinforced it.

He sighed and shook his head, heading towards his room and dropping on a soft mattress for the first time in weeks, although he would have preferred being in his wagon with the mongoose dragons than to be alone right now. Reflecting on the damage he had wrought upon Azula became worse every time. Just how deeply had he hurt her, how far had he injured her soul…? And how was he supposed to find a way to make amends for it?

* * *

Sokka was somewhat confused upon arriving to what was supposed to be the stand-by room of Ozai Arena. This particular arena was held inside Omashu's mountains, yet it was far more rudimentary than Sokka had expected it to be. Everything seemed to have been assembled with rocks and earth, all the way from the vestibule to the stand-by room. According to what Omashu's governor had told them during dinner the past night, the fighting area had been built by the former king of the city for unknown ends. Upon establishing the Fire Nation's authority on the city, the army had torn down the old king's palace, yet they had kept the arena to use it for gladiator fights. The arena in itself had nothing to do with Fire Lord Ozai, but it seemed Omashu had become a city devoted to worshipping the Fire Nation's leader feverishly.

Tension between Sokka and Azula had escalated again after their short squabble. She had walked down to the stand-by room with him, but they still hadn't spoken a word to the other. As usual, the Princess was the one to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Your opponent is called the Hallowed Rock," said Azula, and Sokka jumped a little at hearing her voice. "He's strong, although he relies too much on his stances to make his movements. You might be able to use that to your advantage."

"Alright…" said Sokka, nodding. "Anything else I should know?"

"He's not too young, so his movements will be stiff. Maybe that will be of some use as well," said Azula, shrugging.

"Got it," whispered Sokka, nodding.

"Good luck," Azula muttered before turning around to leave.

"Thanks," Sokka replied, almost by reflex.

Their interactions had become so rigid, so cold… Sokka grimaced as he tied down his right armguard a little rougher than intended, trying to use the pain to bring himself back to reality. Thinking about his relationship with Azula wouldn't help him today. He couldn't let the fight against the Butterfly Lady repeat itself.

The stone that separated the stand-by room from the sand pit was removed after a few minutes … only, it wasn't a sand pit this time. Just like the rest of the Arena, the ground was stone and rock, not sand. Sokka walked into it feeling somewhat eerie about the whole situation… an earthbender with all sorts of earth at his disposition? He cringed as he walked to the center of the fighting area, evading the spikes of stone that served as the obstacles in these fighting grounds.

The man who would fight him was close to his fifties, from what Sokka could guess. He was dressed in long, flowing green robes and he had a very solemn look to him. Sokka couldn't help but stare at him in slight confusion. He hadn't met too many earthbenders, but the general idea he had of them was that they'd be burly, tall, strong foes… this man seemed to be the exact opposite of that.

Just as the Blind Bandit had looked the exact opposite of that. Sokka frowned upon this thought and brought Space Sword out of its sheath, readying himself for battle. Whatever the man looked like, he would fight to his best.

"START!" was the sole scream Sokka heard. It seemed people in Ozai Arena didn't care for the lengthy introductions he had gotten used to in the Amateur Arena and the Grand Royal Dome…

The Hallowed Rock, just as Azula had told him, struck a very firm pose, his feet steady on the ground, before lifting his fists in a powerful movement. It was all Sokka could register before the ground beneath him began shaking and a column of earth shot upwards suddenly, tossing him into the air before he could begin to compose a strategy.

He collapsed on the ground and rolled on his back, hopping on his feet right away to get back on track, but the earthbender pulled back one of his fists. The earth underneath Sokka's right foot moved brusquely towards the Hallowed Rock, separating Sokka's legs and breaking his bodily balance. Sokka jumped to the side quickly, his teeth clenched, and he wondered if he wouldn't catch any breaks in this fight just as a boulder flew at him, courtesy of the Hallowed Rock. Sokka reacted quickly by slicing the rock with Space Sword, nullifying its menace, but two cilinders of earth shot out from the walls of the arena this time, almost squashing Sokka when they crashed against the other in the center of the ring. The Blue Wolf managed to jump out of reach just in time to avoid a painful fate.

Azula, up in an earthy sponsors' balcony, frowned upon the performance Sokka was putting on this time. At this rate, he wasn't going to win in a thousand years… and the worst part was to realize it really wasn't his fault. The terrains in which the fight took place would give any earthbender an overwhelming advantage over his enemies. He would need a miracle to win this fight.

Sokka struggled to avoid the blocks of earth that kept being sent his way, but it was becoming really difficult to keep up with his rival. In an act of despair, he unsheathed his boomerang and tossed it at the Hallowed Rock, hoping to hit him with his weapon and finally get a chance to attack the man directly… but the Hallowed Rock fashioned a stone wall from the ground, with which he stopped Sokka's boomerang effectively.

Sokka snarled, but he lunged forward regardless. The boomerang hadn't been enough of a distraction, but no matter how small the opening provided had been, he would have to make the best of it.

Yet all rational thoughts vanished from his head when a pillar of earth darted out right beneath him, aimed at his chin. His head was forced back with an unsettling 'crack' and his helmet flew off his head due to the impact. Sokka fell to the ground, completely disoriented, but still conscious… until the Hallowed Rock tossed a boulder straight at his head. Sokka's body refused to respond even when he urged it to move away, to get out of that attack's reach… and then everything turned black.

* * *

Every inch of his head throbbed horribly when he came to his senses again. From what he could feel, someone had wrapped his head in bandages. His neck hurt badly, even when there was a very soft pillow underneath it to appease his pain.

What had happened? He had a hard time recalling it. All he knew was that he hadn't really expected to wake up ever again. For a moment he really had thought his number was up. Discovering otherwise was somewhat soothing, yet it was quite disappointing too. Secretly, in the darkest corners of his heart, he had a small longing for death, a longing that had lodged itself within his soul ever since Azula had defeated him in the South Pole.

Azula… Azula would be furious. Now he remembered. He was fighting the Hallowed Rock, and the man had overwhelmed and defeated him. There could be no other explanation to the fact that the last he remembered was a huge rock flying at him, yet now he was lying in a very comfortable bed. He had been knocked out in battle for the very first time.

Sokka cringed as he lifted himself up from the bed. The rest of his body seemed fine… his head was killing him, though. He had been brought back to the room he had been given in the governor's home. He had been stripped off his armor and shirt, obviously to provide him with the medical treatment he had required after blacking out. For how long had he been unconscious? He had no idea, and there was nobody in the room to clarify his doubts, so he guessed he would go find someone, anyone, to let him know what had happened, and to let him know if Azula was through with him this time around. He wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

But his ill fortune followed him everywhere, apparently. He had been hoping to find someone to tell him what Azula had decided to do with him right now… he didn't expect to run into the Princess herself, sitting before a table in one of the balconies of the governor's home.

Sokka's eyes fell as he approached her, knowing it would be best to get this over with. Azula had a hand on her forehead as the other held something Sokka couldn't quite see from where he was standing, but she was alone. He decided to clear his throat, and let his presence be known even if Azula would burn him to a crisp as soon as she saw him.

The rasping sound that came out of him wasn't exactly what he had expected, and Azula didn't react upon hearing it. Sokka gulped, realizing a little too late that swallowing probably wasn't such a good idea when his head and neck hurt so badly. And, with more efforts than he should have needed, since his jaw hurt horribly, he muttered:

"H-hey…"

Azula still said nothing, but she surely had realized he was there anyway.

"For how long was I out…?" he asked, not knowing how else to start this conversation.

"Three days," Azula replied curtly, yet her voice wasn't angry, as Sokka had thought it would be. He frowned a little before his face pained him upon that simple motion.

"I'm… I'm sorry," he said. "It was really hard… t-that guy, he was stronger than I thought he would be, and he had all the rocks he could need at his disposal, so I… y-you know what? No matter… there's no use excusing myself. I should've been able to do better…"

"No," said Azula, lowering her hand at last, and Sokka realized now that she was holding a letter. "You're not excusing yourself. You're stating facts. The outcome was what it would have been in those circumstances, be it today or tomorrow, or in a year or two."

"I'm just… I guess I'm not good at fighting earthbenders," said Sokka, somewhat relieved to see Azula wasn't angry at him… but she seemed upset, for some other reason. "What's… what's that?"

Azula frowned and crumpled the paper on her hand, closing her eyes tightly as she did.

"I… I guess I should be scolding you," muttered Azula. "It's what you were expecting, most likely…"

"What… what happened?" Sokka asked, growing increasingly worried. There was only one thing nowadays that concerned Azula more than his success or his failure as a gladiator. And that paper in her hand… it could only be one thing. He looked around the balcony, and he spotted what he had been expecting to see: a messenger hawk posed on a perch.

"They found them," Azula muttered, clenching her fists. "They found the Rough Rhinos."

Sokka's eyes widened upon her words, knowing she hadn't told him about all the content of the letter just yet.

"They found them right before entering the Oasis," Azula continued. "A fight broke out… and they escaped. But not before… not before killing one of my men."

Sokka's mouth opened a little as he stared at Azula in shock. So one of the guards, one of the apparently indestructible men that had flanked the Princess at all times, had been slain…

"Bao died for nothing!" Azula exclaimed, striking a fist on the table before her. "His wretched killers are still at large. And I'm completely powerless. I can't do a damn thing where I am! I…! I…"

Sokka would have surrounded her shoulders with an arm, he would have tried to comfort her somehow… but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He wasn't worthy of doing it. He knew she wouldn't even want him to try soothing her. She would push him away, because she would find no comfort in anything but bringing the Rough Rhinos to justice. Sokka hadn't expected to discover she had such an emotional attachment towards her men: she had always been so cold towards them, pushing them away from her whenever she had the chance. For her to care so much about the fate of her men, of the men she had sent out to battle…

Sokka didn't have to think twice to see why she was so distressed: she blamed herself for the death of the man who had once served as her Royal Guard.


	36. Chapter 36

Sokka's feet ached badly when they finally stopped at the gates of the city of Gaoling. Due to their need to hide the train-tank far from possible lurkers, they had been forced to leave the machine in the mountain range that stood several miles away from the city. The merciless midday sun was strong enough to decrease the energies of the entire Royal Procession as they marched towards the city. But that wasn't the only reason why the group was so disheartened: nobody had taken well the news about their fallen companion. Sokka still didn't know who Bao was for certain, but he knew it wasn't the Captain, since he had been the one to sign the letter Azula had received.

His wounds after his fight against the Hallowed Rock hadn't been as severe as he had thought. His neck had hurt for a while, but after tilting it forward just in the right angle there had been another crack and he had felt much better. The wound on his jaw made it difficult for him to chew, which had been a relief for the rest of the group. Sokka's rabid appetite was so fearsome that some had thought he would even end up eating the mongoose dragons if he was too hungry. But since he couldn't eat as much food anymore, their provisions and their mounts would be safe for a while.

The distance between Omashu and Gaoling was much shorter than the one between Yu Dao and Omashu, yet the road they took was much rougher this time around. They were forced to cross forests and deserts, and eventually they reached the mountains behind which stood Gaoling. They hardly found any villages or towns to delay their journey, but traveling through a mountain range in a train-tank was no easy feat. It took them the span of two weeks to arrive, at last, to their destination.

A soldier clad in the Fire Nation's uniform was guarding the wall that kept the city secluded from the rest of the world. The stone wall hadn't always been there, but the earthbenders who had defended the city from the Fire Nation's army had created it in an attempt to hold their ground against their foes. Yet it had only served its purpose for a short time, for the Fire Nation had conquered Gaoling just as it had taken over the rest of the Earth Kingdom. The wall had remained because the Fire Nation conquerors thought they were useful protection for the city from any possible attacks from Earth Kingdom resistance.

"P-Princess Azula!" the soldier jumped when the palanquin reached the city walls. "We had been expecting you! Welcome to Gaoling!"

Azula didn't utter a word. She glared at the soldier from within her palanquin and waited quietly until the gates were opened, allowing passage for the Royal Procession.

Sokka gazed about Gaoling in mild relief. He didn't know why this city hadn't been transformed in the way Omashu had, but he was pleased to see the heritage of the Earth Kingdom seemed almost intact. There were many soldiers in the city, and the civilians kept glaring at the Royal Procession as they went about their business, just as it had been in Omashu, but the atmosphere wasn't so disturbing here. This city wasn't as crowded as Yu Dao, but it had a much calmer environment to it, even with the menacing soldiers around. Sokka was quite intrigued by what the city had to offer, but he didn't have time to get a good glimpse of the marketplace, since he had to keep up with Azula's palanquin.

Soon enough they had made it past the more crowded areas of the city and they reached a territory comprised by large estates, owned by the wealthiest citizens of Gaoling. Sokka looked left and right as they walked up a long road, curious as to who lived in those domains, but it was impossible to tell if Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation people were residing there.

One of the estates caught Sokka's eye. A white wall surrounded it, and on top of the front gates of the terrain was a large banner with a flying boar drawn on it. Sokka raised an eyebrow at the unusual creature, but he didn't have a chance to ask the Royal Guards or anyone else about what the flying boar meant.

Sokka was starting to suspect they had only come to Gaoling to leave the city by the other end when the last estate appeared in front of them. It was, by far, the largest of them all, and its gates were flanked by Fire Nation soldiers.

"Welcome to Gaoling, Princess Azula!" exclaimed the men, opening the doors when the palanquin arrived.

Sokka was quite impressed by the magnificence of the gardens within this estate. Birds chirped, fish swam in ponds and butterflies fluttered by them with their uneven flying patterns. Everything seemed still and calm. Sokka guessed this was the home of the city's appointed governor, just like the ones they had met in Omashu and Yu Dao. The estate was beautiful, but it was just as unsettling for Sokka as the Fire Nation Royal Palace was. It was too opulent for him to feel comfortable in it.

A man in his thirties stood in front of the estate's main building. His brown hair was of the lightest shade Sokka had ever seen in a man before. His eyes were onyx, and his outfit was so fancy he seemed ridiculous to the gladiator. But the smirk on his face was enough for Sokka to stop staring at his clothes and start glaring at him defensively. Why would anyone smirk at the sight of Azula's Procession…?

"It has been far too long, has it not?" said the man, with a shriller voice than Sokka had expected from him.

The Palanquin bearers set down the vehicle and Azula climbed off after the curtains were opened. The man's smirk grew when he saw the Princess's figure, and the more that smile widened, the more uncomfortable Sokka became.

"Indeed, it has been a very long time, Governor Kuan," said Azula, icily.

Kuan's smile displeased Azula even more than it did Sokka. She had met the man several times before, and on each occasion he became more inappropriate. This time was no different. Azula's fists tightened when she realized he had looked her over without any shame whatsoever, basking in her womanly figure.

"You have grown into quite a beautiful lady, have you not?" said Kuan, still beaming.

"Have I?" Azula growled, folding her arms across her chest and forcing Kuan to look up at her enraged eyes.

Sokka didn't miss the way the man was eyeing the Princess. His distaste towards him increased rapidly. He knew he had no right to defend Azula, that she could stand up for herself easily, but he was very tempted to toss his boomerang at the man's head and be done with his disgusting behavior towards her.

"I'm most pleased to receive you here, in Gaoling," said Kuan, his smile losing its lecherous edge for a moment. "As you must have seen while you crossed the city, everything is perfectly calm here. The biggest happening we've had in months is your visit."

"I rather believe it's the biggest happening this city has ever seen," Azula retorted, still as cold as ever.

"Why, of course," said Kuan, chuckling and shaking his head. "How is your Lord Father doing these days? I had heard he was setting up an arranged marriage for you…"

"That deal was called off," said Azula, and she didn't miss the way the man's eyes glinted at her declaration. "How did you know about it?"

"Ah, word is that Admiral Chan is no longer an admiral and noblemen were quite curious as to how that happened," said Kuan. "Some of my acquaintances began delving into the matter. They didn't discover anything definitive, but they heard rumors about an arranged marriage… to Chan's son, was it?"

"Yes," Azula frowned.

"Why didn't it go through, if I'm allowed to ask?" Kuan said, raising an eyebrow.

"I wasn't interested," Azula retorted.

"Naturally," said Kuan, chuckling and shaking his head. "The Princess wants, the Princess gets, isn't it?"

"It should be that way, at the very least," Azula stated.

"In any case, I'm pleased you weren't forced to marry such an incompetent fool," said Kuan, smiling. "He would have never been up to your standards, I'm sure."

"Of course he wasn't," Azula growled. "Else I wouldn't have refused him as I did. A man who lives by his father's fame would never be able to sway me."

Kuan froze at Azula's statement. The fierce glare with which she was presenting him was letting him know she wasn't just talking about Chan's son: the man before her was no different from the one she had been supposed to marry several months ago. Kuan was obviously uncomfortable by what she had implied, but he kept smiling regardless.

"Of course, of course…" he said, nodding. "Very well, then, shall we come inside? My slaves will put your palanquin at good store, no need to concern yourself about that."

"Good," said Azula. "I assume you have accommodations for my entire Procession…?"

"Why, of course I do," said Kuan. "Why would you ask?"

"Mayor Morishita at Yu Dao had my men sleeping it an inn because he hadn't arranged anything for them," Azula explained.

"Oh, Morishita… that man is just incorrigible," Kuan sighed, shaking his head. "One would expect him to be better at management after all the time he's been in office, yet he's as clueless as a toddler in a lecture at Ba Sing Se University."

"His management regarding my Procession was his sole fault. He has handled Yu Dao properly," Azula declared.

"Yet I have handled Gaoling and I can give your men a proper welcome while he cannot," said Kuan. "Regrettable, isn't it? It speaks ill of his devotion to the Fire Nation's Royal Family."

Azula had been anything but pleased by Morishita's mistake, yet she had grown to respect the man much more than she could ever respect Kuan. Gaoling's governor embodied everything she hated about her father's noblemen.

"Nevertheless, you needn't worry. I'm a far more reliable host than Morishita could ever be," said Kuan, smiling. "Come inside and you'll see, Princess."

Azula didn't smile back as she climbed the steps that led towards Kuan's mansion, followed by her Royal Guards and her gladiator…

"Wait, wait, wait. What's this?" asked Kuan, making Azula and her men freeze as they turned to look at him.

Kuan was glaring at Sokka with utter disgust, as if he were a pest of some sort. Azula frowned and walked down the steps again, glaring at Kuan.

"He's my gladiator. Aren't you aware of the reason why I came to Gaoling?"

"So that was… that was true? You're sponsoring a gladiator?" asked the man, raising a derisive eyebrow towards Azula. "I was sure that was only an excuse for you to travel through the Fire Nation Colonies in your father's stead…"

"It might be, for all you know," Azula growled. "But that man is my gladiator, whether the idea appeals to you or not."

"Well, I do find it quite… uncharacteristic for the Princess of the Fire Nation to get entangled with something as lowly as the Gladiator League," said Kuan, making Azula's stomach sink at his claim. "And let alone with a slave such as this one."

"What's your problem?" Sokka mumbled, glaring fiercely at Kuan. He hadn't intended to intervene, since he felt it wasn't his place to speak, but the man was attacking him directly now. He had every right to stand up for himself.

"Oh, so the petty slave speaks? My apologies, Princess. It seems you have tried to bring a man out of scum by teaching him how to talk… yet I'm afraid it has been no use. Slaves will always be slaves, and slaves are scum, as we all know," said Kuan.

Sokka's clenched his fists and his teeth grinded together even though his jaw still hurt him a little. His rage seemed to please Kuan, but it shocked Azula instead, and not in a good way. Was Sokka going to try to kill the governor…? Personally, she wouldn't mind if he did it, yet it would mean a one-way ticket to prison for Sokka for his crime.

"Yet that scum is my scum, Kuan," Azula stated, making Sokka's fury settle down for a moment as it was replaced by utter surprise. "Anything you say against him, you're saying against me."

"Ah, please, Princess!" said Kuan, shaking his head in disbelief. "Do not lower yourself to the likes of this pathetic soul! It's only a slave, and he's probably not even a good one! I'm certain you could use a much stronger fighter, this one looks bland and useless."

"Want to see how bland and useless I am?" Sokka asked, raising his right hand towards his blade, his fury returning to him at full force at Kuan's latest words.

He released Space Sword from his sheath swiftly and pointed it right between Kuan's eyes, making the man gasp and fall on his butt, terrified.

"Sokka, don't!" Azula shouted, making him freeze. "Stop it!"

Sokka looked up at her, wondering if she really wanted to protect such a revolting man. He had disrespected her in the most sickening way, and now he was insulting him, too. Why wasn't she angry about it…? No, she was. He could see it… but she wanted to avoid trouble. The man was governor of a city, and if her gladiator dared slay the man during her visits to the Fire Nation colonies, she would be in for a mess beyond anything she wanted to put up with.

Sokka frowned but he dropped his arm and put his sword back in its scabbard, reluctantly. Kuan struggled to get back on his feet, his strange clothes making the feat far more difficult than it should have been. He glared at Sokka rabidly, and the gladiator had no qualms in returning the killer stare.

"You miserable savage! Brute! How dared you threaten my safety as you did?!" he exclaimed with bulging eyes.

"Kuan…" Azula started, trying to appease the man's anger somehow, but she was completely ignored. The governor seemed to have lost his temper and he was giving them quite a display of madness.

"I should have you killed! You useless, pathetic, mindless thug!" Kuan continued. "There is no place in my house for the likes of you!"

Sokka didn't move at the man's declaration. He continued glaring at him defiantly as the man's chest heaved. It was probably the first time someone had threatened his life.

"Kuan, there's no need…" Azula began, but the man interrupted her.

"I would have expected your slaves to know how to respect people of superior birth, Princess!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, we do," said Sokka, with a malicious smirk. "But we also know who's worthy of respect and who isn't."

"Sokka…" Azula gasped, looking at him in horror. Sure, his words were completely spot-on, and in other circumstances she would have just laughed in Kuan's face at Sokka's words, but they were at the man's house. It was his territory. They were at a complete disadvantage.

"Is that so?" Kuan growled. "Then perhaps you need to learn what your place in the world is, you brute! I should lock you up in a dumpster, but I'll be merciful… you will be staying in the barn with the animals for slaughter, because that's the place where brutes like yourself belong!"

Azula's frown deepened. What Kuan was suggesting was similar to what she had done to Sokka recently, by locking him up with the mongoose dragons throughout their trip on the train-tank… and that displeased her. She had done it mostly for amusement back then, this man was doing it out of fear and spite. Azula knew Sokka wouldn't complain about spending time amongst animals, but she couldn't stand the fact that Kuan was calling the shots in regards to a man that belonged to her.

"I do not appreciate you making a decision regarding my slave, Kuan," Azula grunted. "There are better ways to deal with this man than…"

"I will have none of this vermin threatening me as he just did!" Kuan declared. "He will be staying in the stables or he won't be staying anywhere at all! This is my home, and he'd best learn to behave properly if he doesn't wish for today to be his last day!"

With this Kuan turned back towards the house and walked into it, his head held high. Azula and her Royal Guards stood on the steps before the main door, looking at Sokka with concern.

"Sokka…" Azula muttered, taking one step down towards him, but he interrupted her before she could come any closer and before she could say anything else.

"Yeah, I suppose I had that one coming," Sokka said. He had an unusual look of satisfaction on his face, it seemed he was proud of what he'd done. "No need to worry. I'll be fine in the stables. Just have to find them, but I'll be okay. Try to keep the psycho at bay."

"W-what…?" Azula muttered, but the gladiator turned around, his hands in his pockets as he began wandering about the estate, looking for the barn Kuan had talked about.

Azula frowned as he walked away. Even though threatening Kuan had been a bad move, the man had deserved it. And Sokka was her slave… she was the one who should have decided how to punish the gladiator, not Kuan.

Azula entered the house, followed closely by her men. She stormed through the halls, walking straight towards Kuan as soon as she saw him.

"Kuan," she called out, her eyes ablaze with anger.

Kuan had been delivering orders to his butler, or who seemed to be his butler. He dismissed the man with a wave of his hand, and the butler bowed down towards him before leaving his master to his conversation with Azula.

"Yes, Princess? Is there anything you need?" he asked, his previous hysteria completely gone now.

"I do not appreciate the treatment you have given my gladiator," Azula declared. "What he did was completely out of line, but if there's anyone who was offended by his behavior, it was me. I'm the one who should decide which punishment befits him, not you."

"I'm afraid that's not the case," said Kuan, sighing dramatically. "You are Princess Azula, you obviously understand that, in my house, you are but a guest. I am hosting you, and I will not tolerate that man's disrespectful attitude towards me. But you should be pleased to know I won't hold you responsible for his actions, Princess. You are not to blame for that savage's behavior…"

"As a matter of fact, I am," Azula said. "He is my gladiator. I picked him out myself. Whatever he does, I'm the one to deal with the consequences. It's what comes with being a sponsor."

"Well, well, I didn't know you really wanted to play sponsor that badly," said Kuan, chuckling and shaking his head. "Princess, there's no need to take this so seriously. You are completely above all these responsibilities you suddenly want to take upon yourself! As the Fire Lord's daughter, you shouldn't care for that useless thug's fate. He deserves what he got. Forget about him and go freshen up in your room, alright?"

Azula's fists tightened as she began regretting having stopped Sokka from killing the man.

"I will not be ordered around, Kuan," she stated. "Indeed, I am the Princess. My authority is well above yours, in this matter or any other. If you dare make one more decision regarding any of my men, I will make sure to convey to my father that Gaoling requires a new governor, one who knows what his rightful place in the world is."

Kuan's eyes widened in surprise as Azula stomped away, still followed by her escort of guards. The man turned to look at her as she turned on a corner and vanished from sight. She had just commanded far more authority than he could ever even dream of, and his stomach boiled in rage at the thought. A woman with such power, telling him what to do… it seemed her pathetic fighter wasn't the only one who needed to learn a lesson. He frowned before walking through the house as well, in search for his butler.

"What are your orders, master?" the man asked immediately once Kuan found him and dragged him to his personal study.

"Go to Gladiator Rumble," he commanded him. "Find out who the Princess's opponent is and get in touch with his sponsor."

"Yes, master," said the man.

"Once you do that…" said Kuan, walking to his desk and bringing a bag of gold out of one of the drawers. He placed the bag on the man's hands before smirking cruelly. "… Tell him I want his gladiator to kill hers."

"Yes, master."

* * *

Azula's room was quite large and orderly, and it had some additional details, such as rose petals spread over her bead, which she didn't appreciate in the slightest. She was placing her clothes in the closet when she heard a knock on her door.

She grimaced after opening it and discovering Kuan at the other side of the door. The man was smiling, but she could sense a hint of malice in the gesture.

"I hope you found the room to your liking," he said.

"The flowers were unnecessary," Azula replied, folding her arms across her chest again to avoid having the man staring at her inappropriately once more.

"Ah, I believed you would appreciate that… you must have longed for a feminine touch, after spending such a long time amongst senseless men."

"My men are not senseless, else I wouldn't have chosen them to guard me," Azula grunted. "And I needed no such gestures from you. They make me uncomfortable."

"Is that so?" asked Kuan, apparently surprised. "I was certain you were treated in this way back in the Palace…"

"I would be treated this way, if I asked for it," Azula retorted. "State your business, Kuan. Why did you come here?"

"Oh, no need to be so cold," said Kuan, chuckling. "I realize my actions back when you arrived must have displeased you, but I had no choice. This is my home, and I won't tolerate hosting a man who does not deserve to be hosted. But believe me, I hold no grudges on the matter. I believe it best that we move on to our next occasion…"

"Next occasion?" Azula repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Kuan snapped his fingers and two small girls showed up beside him, carrying a long green dress that matched Kuan's own distasteful garments. Azula grimaced at the sight.

"I believe it would be fitting for the Princess to wear this dress at dinner," said Kuan, beaming.

"And I believe the Princess won't wish to wear that dress," Azula replied, frowning. "I appreciate the sentiment, Kuan, but it's completely unnecessary."

"Ah, Princess, what kind of host would I be if I didn't offer you a gift of this kind?" asked Kuan. "I'm certain it would look wonderful on you…"

"Most anything would look wonderful on me," Azula stated, proudly. "Yet it doesn't mean I'll wear everything I'm offered. Just as you are free to present me with this dress, I'm perfectly free to refuse it."

Kuan grimaced in irritation. He shrugged and shook his head before gesturing the servants to enter the room even though Azula had refused to humor him.

"Well, at the very least I hope you'll have no qualms about keeping it," said Kuan. "I had this dress made just for you. It would be a waste if you didn't accept it."

Azula frowned as the slaves placed the outfit inside her closet before taking their leave again. Kuan smiled at Azula before performing a bow so conceited that it seemed insulting.

"I shall expect you for dinner in a half-hour, Princess," he declared before walking down the hallway with his head held high.

Was this a battle of wills? It seemed like it was. And it didn't surprise Azula in the slightest that things had turned like this. It was the story of her life, dealing with men who believed they knew better than her, who thought themselves superior to her only because she was a woman. They dared order her around, diminish her authority as if she were nobody of importance, impose their wishes over hers… she hated it. She hated Kuan. She hated all the men who looked down on her as he did.

The bitterness she felt towards the man turned dinner far more unpleasant than she thought it could be. The food was just as bad as it had been in Yu Dao, an utter failure to imitate Fire Nation cuisine. But seeing Kuan at the other end of the table, smirking at her as he spoke about the crops that had provided the meal they were enjoying… she had to hold back the urge to light his glass of wine on fire when he claimed his table befitting gods. Even though she despised him, she couldn't let her hatred get the better of her. She couldn't dishonor herself by wrecking the simple rules of hospitality. She was supposed to be his guest, and even though she despised her host, she couldn't do anything about it. She couldn't shame her father by attacking one of his governors.

But she also couldn't bear sitting at the table for much longer. She excused herself subtly, thanking Kuan for the meal curtly while wishing she didn't have to stay in Gaoling for one more day. She left the dining room as quickly as she could before guessing Kuan would likely drop by her room later to pester her further, since that was the only thing he knew how to do. He could chase her through the entire estate if he wanted to… but there was, likely, one place he wouldn't go to, no matter what.

Azula thought about the matter for a little longer before making up her resolve and heading to the kitchens before turning towards her actual destination.

* * *

Sokka found himself missing his lizards after spending just a few hours with the hybrid pigs in the stables. The animals would snort at all times, their sounds a mixture of pig and cow, chicken, rooster or sheep, and the noise was starting to drive him insane. They would settle down every now and then, but as soon as one got startled by something as measly as a bug in the ground, they all would begin snorting uncontrollably.

He thought to stay over with the ostrich horses instead, but he regretted his decision almost immediately. The animals released their bodily waste every ten minutes, and with the waste came a very unpleasant smell as well.

"You really end up longing to be in a train-tank with all this stench and noise…" Sokka muttered, sighing as he dropped on a stack of hay that stood a little far from the animals. "And it's all because of that asshole …"

Gaoling's governor had definitely given him a very bad impression. The man was not to be trusted, he had no doubts about it. Just the thought of Azula being around the jerk, even while being guarded by her men, made his stomach jolt in fury. The way he had leered at her, the insinuations he had sent her way…

"Seems like you found the stables after all," said a familiar voice, making his eyes widen and making him to forget his previous train of thought.

Azula's footsteps had been so silent he hadn't sensed her arrival at all. He gazed at the Princess in surprise, never having expected her to come see him.

"Y-you escaped the weirdo?" Sokka asked, surprised.

"It wasn't an easy feat, but I did," Azula muttered. "Don't take my visit personal… but this is the one place I'm sure he won't come look for me."

"Has he been bothering you much? He looked like trouble from the minute I saw him," Sokka grunted, frowning.

"So do you," Azula said, making Sokka blush a little at her reply. "He tried, but he failed to do anything other than irritate me. I'll never let a man like him get the better of me."

"Good to know," said Sokka, nodding. "He's… he's not a good guy at all. Why is he governor? He looks like a pathetic nobleman who can't even wipe his own butt…"

"He is a pathetic nobleman… and I don't know about the butt-wiping, but I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case," she replied. "He's the youngest of a large score of useless noblemen who are at my father's beck-and-call. His father is currently the Mayor of Fire Fountain City. From what I know, Kuan wasn't too pleased to be sent off to the Fire Nation Colonies, but the position of governor allows him to become wealthier through taxes and the sort, so he doesn't complain about it anymore."

"Sounds like a corrupt politician," Sokka muttered.

"He probably is," Azula admitted. "I'll suggest my father to investigate his finances when we return to the mainland. A man like him doesn't deserve the right to rule, even if only over a small city like Gaoling."

"Good idea," said Sokka. "Maybe that'll teach him a thing or two about messing with you, huh?"

"It should," said Azula, nodding. "You… you actually did ask for it, getting sent here for threatening Kuan…"

"I'd rather get tossed here after asking for it than get tossed here for no reason at all," said Sokka, shrugging. "He was going to send me here anyways. At least I gave him a good fright."

"If you look at it that way, I guess so," Azula whispered. "But you still shouldn't have done what you did. I could have sorted the matter out somehow…"

"No need," said Sokka, shaking his head. "If you had forced him to keep me around, the man would have been ten times as unpleasant as he already is."

"Which is something nobody would have wanted to see," she admitted.

"I just… didn't see it coming," said Sokka, shrugging. "I'd gotten used to it… to being a member of the Royal Procession, the gladiator. I'd forgotten the way noblemen usually treat slaves like me."

"He's one of the most conservative and elitist men in the circles of the Fire Nation nobility. He has his own slaves, but he treats them with contempt and derision. To him, everyone and everything is below him. Including me."

"You?" Sokka asked, looking at Azula with a confused stare. "What…? How could you be below him? How could he think you'd be below him?"

"Most men think that way," Azula muttered between gritted teeth. "Most noblemen, to be precise."

Sokka kept staring at her in shock, the troubled expression on her face making him feel at a loss for words for once. He wanted to grab that Kuan and smack some sense into him, to force him to respect Azula properly…

"In any case, I guess you have been getting along with your new acquaintances," said Azula, looking at the farm animals that were locked in their respective areas.

"I like the lizards better," Sokka sighed. "These ones are too damn noisy, and their stench is horrible."

"They're farm animals. It's a given they'll be smelly and loud," said Azula.

Just on cue, one of the wooly pigs began snorting, apparently because one of the moo-sows had crashed against it, and all the animals started squealing loudly, like an orchestra playing nothing but dissonances. Azula grimaced at the sound and Sokka sighed shaking his head.

"Told you!" he had to shout to make sure the Princess would hear him over the noise.

"How about you go elsewhere?" Azula called out. "This is downright unbearable!"

"Nah, I can put up with it!" Sokka yelled back, just as the animals' sounds began decreasing. "See? Their uproar didn't last so long this time."

"How will you manage to sleep if any of these pigs decides to snort in the middle of the night?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That… would be unsettling," said Sokka, his eyebrow twitching. "Do pigs snore?"

"For all I know, they might," replied Azula.

"Spirits, save me," said Sokka, shaking his head. "But I won't go anywhere else. If one of the jerk's slaves spots me, they'll tell on me right away and I think I've caused you enough trouble as it is. Did he annoy you much because of what I did?"

"He tried, but I put him in his rightful place," said Azula. "You're my slave. I'm the one who should make the decisions regarding you, not him."

"I agree…" said Sokka, nodding. "In any case, I guess you didn't come to take me to a better room in the mansion, did you?"

"No. I already told you I came here because it was the only place I knew he wouldn't come find me," said Azula, rubbing her forehead. "As much as I might wish to burn you to a crisp most the time, I'd rather have your company than his. And that's not a compliment."

"No, no, of course it's not…" said Sokka, although he couldn't hold back a small smile at the thought that there were people in the world that Azula despised more than him.

"I guessed you weren't fed at all… were you?" Azula asked.

"A slave came by a few hours ago and gave me a shred of bread… That's the best I've had so far," said Sokka, shrugging.

To his surprise, Azula tossed a small box towards him. Sokka's eyes spread wide when he opened it, finding dumplings, roast chicken and vegetables in it.

"I know you usually eat three times what I just gave you…" started Azula.

"This is… this is great," he said, his eyes filling with tears as he tried out one of the dumplings. "T-thank you…"

"Don't think I did it out of the kindness of my heart," Azula growled. "You have a battle in three days, and you've been fighting badly enough as it is. I don't even want to imagine how you'd fare if you're half-starved when you enter the ring. I'll send a few guards with food for you when I get the chance."

"You got this from the jerk's kitchen?" Sokka asked. "Won't he be upset if he finds out?"

"He has no right to be. As much as you're a slave, it's a display of utter shamefulness that he would pretend to feed you with less than a loaf of bread. I would confront him about it, but I'm sick of arguing with a man who talks non-stop without saying anything at all. He wouldn't feed you properly no matter how I order him to, so it's best for me to take the matter into my own hands."

"Well, you're right about that," Sokka admitted, nodding. "Thanks. I'll… I'll do my best on my fight. I'll try my hardest to win."

"You'd better," said Azula. "Your record will suffer badly if this losing streak continues."

"I know… I know," said Sokka, nodding. "And a twenty loss streak would kick me out of the ranking, right?"

"It would," said Azula, frowning. "And if that happens, you can forget about our deal."

"Yeah, I guessed as much," said Sokka, hunching over as he ate.

"Try to sleep, if you can…" said Azula. "Just as you need food, you need rest."

"Right," said Sokka, nodding.

"I'll take my leave, then. I might drop by again if I need to escape from Kuan," said Azula, sighing.

"I'll be right here if that happens," Sokka replied, smiling weakly at Azula.

The Princess nodded before turning around, but the voice of her gladiator stopped her on her tracks.

"Thanks, Azula," he whispered.

Azula's hand balled into a fist at his words. She glanced at him from over her shoulder to find him devouring his small meal hungrily. She hated to realize that, despite their rocky history together, he was the one man who didn't see her simply as a trophy. To him, she was an actual human being. She wasn't just the Fire Lord's daughter, she wasn't a one-way ticket to an easy life in the highest circles of the Fire Nation… Sokka didn't care for such things. He was brutally honest, and he had hurt her like no man ever had… but even so, he wasn't like Kuan or the men who would only look at her and care for her beauty or the rank and wealth they would obtain if they were to marry her. Sokka was so much more than that.

She stormed away, forcing herself to remember what Sokka had said and done in the past to fuel her anger towards him again. She couldn't allow herself any more slip-ups when it came down to that Water Tribe savage.

* * *

Azula found herself doing the most unusual things to get away from Kuan. During her previous visits to Yu Dao and Omashu she had hardly ever wandered the cities, but if touring the town would spare her from enduring Kuan's presence, then so be it. She would spend most the day outside with her entire Procession, and she made sure to bring Sokka as well. She wasn't going to take any chances by leaving him with Kuan and his mindless servants.

Kuan seemed to know Azula was avoiding him, but he didn't stop the Princess, to her surprise. He would simply ask her where she was bound, and he would bid her a good journey once she had explained her plans for the day…

… But his behavior changed on the day of Sokka's combat.

"Oh, his fight is today?" Kuan asked, apparently curious. "Would you mind if I tag along?"

Azula frowned as she eyed the governor warily.

"I was under the impression you didn't understand why anyone would be involved with something as lowly as the gladiator business," she muttered, glaring at him.

"Oh, I was quite harsh on my claims simply to give you a good impression," said Kuan, prompting Azula to raise an eyebrow.

"A good impression, really?" she said, skeptical.

"But I am quite interested in the qualities of your fighter," the man said, ignoring Azula's disbelief. "I want to know why you chose such a man to represent you in battle"

"I doubt you'll find out the answer even if you witness this combat," said Azula, sighing before heading to the front door. "Come along if you really believe you can handle watching a gladiator battle, Kuan."

"Of course, Princess," said Kuan, smirking cruelly once Azula's back was turned.

Sokka was most displeased to see the governor tagging along this time around. He could tell Azula hadn't wanted to bring him either: the man had invited himself to watch the show.

Gladiator Rumble, Gaoling's arena, used to be a ring in which earthbenders battled against each other before the city was conquered by the Fire Nation. Sokka grimaced when he realized this arena would be just like the one in Omashu, starting from the fact that the ring itself was underground. He tried to calm down as he followed Azula into the cave, but Kuan's unexpected presence made him feel extremely uneasy.

"Your opponent this time is called Sands of Time," Azula whispered to Sokka when Kuan was a few ways away from them. "He's about as old as the Hallowed Rock, but he's not as traditional as he was. His stances aren't so strong, and because of that, neither are his attacks. He's not supposed to be too fast, so keep agility on your side and you might stand a chance."

"Got it," said Sokka. "Why are you telling me now…?"

"Because I doubt I'll be able to shake Kuan off, and with him around, I doubt I'll go to the stand-by room with you," Azula retorted, as they approached the vestibule's counter. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I am," Sokka assured her, even though he didn't feel so confident about the fight.

"So, what are the procedures in the Gladiator League?" Kuan asked, as Azula reached the counter.

"You're about to find out," said Azula, sighing as she began signing Sokka in for the fight of the day.

Sokka whispered what his weapons would be before heading down a flight of stony stairs and reaching the stand-by room… which was non-existent. There was an opening in the hallway, which led to the earth ring, but there was no stand-by room in Gladiator Rumble.

Sokka stood in his spot, his arms crossed as he thought about the fight at hand. After a few minutes, he heard a man speaking through a megaphone, and he figured it was his cue to enter the fighting area.

He walked through an earth bridge to reach the square fighting zone. There were no obstacles in the scene, but the bridge he had used to reach the ring was torn down immediately, leaving a deep chasm behind him. Sokka didn't have to think much to realize that being thrown off the ring meant an instant defeat.

He lifted his eyes to find a gray-haired man at the opposite end of the arena, and for once, he looked a little more true to the image he had of earthbenders. He was burly and strong, and to Sokka's relief, he looked quite stupid too.

"The fight will last ten minutes! May the toughest man win! Get ready… and RUMBLE!" the megaphone man screamed, making Sokka raise an eyebrow.

"Rumble…?" he muttered before releasing Space Sword from his sheath. "Well, then. Let's rumble."

Sands of Time began the fight by tossing a large boulder at Sokka, which he cut in two with more ease than he expected. It seemed the rocks in this ring weren't as sturdy as the ones in Ozai Arena.

More rocks flew at Sokka, and he managed to cut them all quickly, always wary of the ground under his feet in case his opponent tried to manipulate the floor underneath him to bring him down. Sands of Time tried to turn the solid ground into sand a couple of times, but Sokka jumped away right on time to avoid getting sucked into the traps his opponent had set up for him.

"He's quite pathetic, never attacking his enemy…" said Kuan, making Azula's eyebrows twitch.

She had been most reluctant to allow him into the sponsors' balcony with her, but Kuan had used his status as the governor to get the Arena's staff to make an exception with him. The opposite sponsor seemed a little unsettled by Kuan's presence, but Azula could tell that the beads of sweat that ran down his forehead had little to do with nervousness over being around the Princess and a governor… what was bothering the man?

But whatever caused her fellow sponsor such anxiety was none of her concern. Azula decided to ignore both men and focus on the fight below. Sokka was still playing it safe, guarding and evading his enemy's attacks.

"C'mon, that all you've got?!" Sands of Time screamed, leaping and striking his fists on the ground to cause the earth ring to tremble. Sokka's jaws crashed together painfully with every vibration.

"Th-that's j-j-just what I was going to tell you!" Sokka yelled, tossing his boomerang at the man and striking him on the brow.

Sokka was shocked to realize he had actually hurt an earthbender for once. There was even blood oozing out of the man's wound. He allowed himself a wild smile of pride before realizing his boomerang had fallen down to the pit beneath them, and his smile turned into a grimace. He would usually bet his luck on long-distance attacks during fights against earthbenders… how was he going to win now?

Sands of Time roared angrily before unleashing an array of attacks Sokka hardly knew how to parry. The man brought forth walls of stone and tried to squeeze Sokka between them. Since they weren't steady formations, Sokka kicked his way through one of the walls and got out of their reach, but a boulder struck him in the stomach before he could assess the situation.

The Blue Wolf stumbled and took another rock to the head, making him fall on his butt. He forced himself to his feet, but when he tried to take his weapon he realized his blade had sunk into one of the quicksand spots the earthbender had created previously.

"Damn it!" Sokka gasped before a large block of earth flew straight at him. He ducked just in time to avoid it, releasing his knife from his belt before lunging at the opposite gladiator once again.

But the knife wasn't as efficient to cut rocks as Space Sword was. Boulders were flying at Sokka from all angles constantly, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to evade them.

Sokka didn't grasp at his last hope until the rocks had backed him to the corner of the ring. Sands of Time lifted a huge boulder over his head, planning on using it to knock Sokka off the ring… but just before he could throw it at the Blue Wolf, Sokka launched his smoke bomb at his enemy and forced him to fall back and drop the rock when his eyesight was jeopardized.

Sokka took his chance to get away from the rim of the arena and he ran towards where he had last seen Sands of Time, his knife in one hand and his club in the other. The earthbender heard him approach, and he dropped on the ground, using his bending to bring forth a tall, hollow cylinder of earth to surround him and serve him as a shield against his enemy.

Sokka crashed against his rival's defense, and it didn't take too long for him to realize where Sands of Time was hiding. He brought his club down on the earthen walls, trying to tear them apart, but it was no use. Yet Sokka didn't despair. Even though the smoke was fading away already, Sands of Time had secluded himself in a small space which remained filled with smoke. Sooner than later, the despair for air would force him to bring down his protective walls, and if he didn't, he would probably choke in his seclusion. Sokka smirked. If everything went well, this battle would be his! He had done a good job at it this time around!

But he shouldn't have let his guard down as he did. Sands of Time knew where Sokka was thanks to his previous blows at the wall, and he created an opening at the opposite side of his protective wall, allowing himself to breathe fresh air again. He dug his fingers into the ground and brought forth a spike of earth a few feet in front of where Sokka was standing. The spike struck him on the chest and the impact sent Sokka flying back.

The Blue Wolf gasped as he jumped on his feet again, discovering his enemy was out in the open again. His plan had failed, stupidly so. Of course the man would get out of that toxic space. He had known just where Sokka was and he had escaped his protective cylinder through the opposite direction… Piandao had told him once not to believe himself to be victorious until the last blow had been delivered. He had been foolish to forget that.

And his foolishness came with a price. Sands of Time was attacking more harshly with every passing moment, with the obvious intent of striking Sokka down lethally. His eyes bulged savagely, and he smiled every time his rocks hit Sokka. The Blue Wolf tried to fend them off with his club, but even though this weapon was more efficient than the knife, it was still not enough to get an edge on his opponent.

Sands of Time surprised him by pulling out a large boulder from behind Sokka, hitting him on the back of the head with it. The Blue Wolf's eyesight blurred as he crashed on the soft ground, having a hard time to stand up again after that blow… but should he stand up? Maybe, just maybe…

Sands of Time shattered a rock on Sokka's back, making him squirm and grow limp at the attack, his arms spread wide. The earthbender cackled loudly and Azula brought a hand to her forehead, disappointed yet again. He had done so much better this time, but he had ruined his chances once more.

The megaphone man jumped in the judges' balcony and got ready to call out the finale of the battle just as Sokka's left hand slid into the unstable ground slowly…

"And the winner is…!" the megaphone man squealed… just as Sokka's hand gripped something within the quicksand next to him.

The megaphone man was rendered speechless when Sokka bolted to his feet again, Space Sword held tight in his hand once again. He had suspected the quicksand wasn't too deep, and he was pleased to discover he had been right, or else he would have never recovered his main weapon.

Sands of Time had been so busy rejoicing in his triumph, as Sokka had been when he thought victory was his, that he hadn't noticed he hadn't been proclaimed victorious yet. He had his guard down as he lifted his left fist into the air in celebration… and he dropped his hand when he realized his opponent had gotten up again. Sokka lunged at him, a snarl on his face as he grasped Space Sword with both hands and aimed straight at his opponent's left arm…

Azula's eyes opened wide when Sokka cut the man's hand off in one swift movement and forced him to fall on the ground after swinging his sword horizontally and tearing off half of the man's armor.

Sands of Time stared at his bleeding stump in horror, terrified by Sokka's fierceness, suddenly fearing he might be the one who would die today. The Blue Wolf lifted his sword again, glaring at the earthbender intensely…

"T-the time is up!" the man of the megaphone exclaimed, stopping Sokka just as he was about to deliver the finishing blow.

Both the Blue Wolf and his sponsor froze upon that exclamation. The time couldn't be up yet! Sokka had been about to win! He was about to knock out his opponent!

"That was… revolting," said Kuan, grimacing but not only in disgust. He had been quite enthusiastic when Sokka had been feigning unconsciousness, in hopes the gladiator would never wake up again. Seeing Sokka make such a comeback had shocked and angered him.

Azula didn't care for what he had to say, though. She gritted her teeth, hoping the judges would take Sokka's comeback to be so impressive that they would grant him the victory… but she had a bad feeling about it. Sokka had managed to defend himself quite efficiently at first, but as the battle advanced he had been struck way too many times. Would the judges let him triumph…?

"The judges will deliver the verdict!" exclaimed the megaphone man after a few minutes, handing an old man the speaker as he finished talking.

"Both fighters showed great prowess…" started the judge. "… they gave us quite a fight to behold. But there can only be one winner, and after pondering the matter, the judges have decided to award the victory to Sands of Time."

Azula snarled in anger and shook her head, outraged. That comeback should have been good enough! Sokka had cut the man's hand off, for crying out loud! But the verdict was delivered, and there was nothing she could do about it as it was. She shook her head in disapproval again before turning to the sponsor next to her.

"Well played," she said bitterly, handing him the bag of money of her bid.

The opposite sponsor gulped and nodded while accepting the money, looking at the city's governor with fear in his eyes. He would have to surrender the money he had just earned to make up for failing Kuan, wouldn't he…?

Azula walked away before she could witness the way Kuan was glaring at the sponsor of Sands of Time. She was beyond frustrated by that result. This was the way her opponents had felt whenever Sokka won by a small margin, wasn't it?

She found Sokka in Gladiator Rumble's rocky vestibule. He had his head held a little low and he was slightly battered, but he was in much better shape than he had been after his fight against the Hallowed Rock.

"Azula…" he muttered, looking at the Princess with regret in his eyes, fearing facing her disappointment.

"You did a lot better than last time," Azula admitted, making Sokka smile a little.

"You think?"

"But that's not enough to get those damned judges to grant you the victory," said Azula, shaking her head. "Next time try not to lose the sword. It gives you an advantage against rocks."

"I'll do my best not to," said Sokka, nodding.

"For a moment there, you did something about as absurd as you always used to," said Azula, looking up at Sokka. "Never did I think about a fighter faking a knock-out…"

"It felt somewhat like cheating…" Sokka admitted, smiling guiltily. "But it was my only chance to get him."

"It was. If only I had decided the fight would last fifteen minutes instead of ten…" said Azula, shaking her head.

"Well, no use mulling it over anymore…" said Sokka, shrugging. "You didn't do anything wrong. I should have thought about that strategy sooner."

"You should have," Azula agreed. "Where did that idea come from?"

"Piandao once told me not to believe myself to be victorious until the fight was over," said Sokka. "Which I did when I thought I'd caught him in a smoke trap of his own making. If I was stupid enough to lower my guard by thinking I had won back then, chances were I could lull him into that same stupid sense of security I'd fallen into, and beat him thanks to that."

Azula couldn't help but smile at those words. He was finally starting to fight like himself again.

"And it could have worked… try to keep all that wit in mind for your next fight," she suggested, before leading the way outside Gladiator Rumble.

Sokka smiled and chased after Azula, still feeling somewhat dissatisfied by losing, but pleased to know she wasn't as upset at him this time around.

Kuan watched them walk away with gritted teeth, his fists balled tightly around the money he had taken from Sands of Time's sponsor. That wretched gladiator was a lot harder to kill than he thought he would be. Killing the useless slave should have served him to show Princess Azula her rightful place as a woman, but his plan had failed. How to get his revenge…? Well, perhaps he couldn't claim it yet, but he was a patient man.

He glared at them until they vanished from sight, and he vowed silently to himself to get back at the Princess and her scum gladiator one day.


	37. Chapter 37

Sokka could hardly believe he was happy to see the Royal Barge. He had never been fond of the vessel, seeing how it was the very ship that had taken him away from his home, but he would pick the rocking motions of the ship over the constant jolting and clatter of the train-tank any day.

They had left Gaoling after a week of putting up with Governor Kuan. The man had been in a sour mood during their last days in the town, but nobody in the Royal Procession cared for his attitude. Leaving the estate had cheered Sokka up quite a lot, but the same couldn't be said about Azula. Even though getting rid of a nuisance such as Kuan was a great relief for her, she was currently distraught over not having received any messages from the Captain for over a week. According to what he had said in his last letter, they had been chasing the Rough Rhinos north through the desert, which filled Azula with a strange sense of foreboding. The Procession's next destination was Ba Sing Se… and there was a chance that the Rough Rhinos might try to escape into the city to shake off their pursuers. If the Captain proved unable to take care of the matter by himself, she might have the opportunity to avenge her fallen guard with her own hands.

A hatch was opened at the front of the Barge's keel, and the train-tank was loaded onto the large ship before the ramp was lowered, allowing the Procession to climb onto the main deck. Azula was brought aboard on her Palanquin, her mind in overdrive as she pondered the chase of the Rough Rhinos, but her train of thought was interrupted when she stepped down on the deck to find quite an odd sight before her.

"Ah, I missed you, ship…!" said Sokka, lying on the deck with his arms and legs spread widely, and with a dumb smile on his face.

"I don't recall having requested for a rug on my deck," Azula muttered, glaring at him. Sokka deliberately ignored her, which irritated the Princess "Well, then, if you're so eager to be the floor on which I tread…"

Sokka's eyebrow twitched when he realized what she was about to do, and he squealed when he felt her right foot stomp on his back. Azula walked away from him with a cruel smirk on her face, and for once in a very long time, Sokka couldn't control the wild urge to stand up for himself.

"HEY!" he yelled, but it seemed it was his turn to be ignored.

He got up and walked after Azula, determined to give her a piece of his mind… but one of the ship's sailors caught up with the Princess before Sokka could reach her, waving a piece of paper in his hand. The devious smile on Azula's face had disappeared by the time the man stopped in front of her.

"A messenger hawk just arrived for you, Princess," he exclaimed, entrusting her with the letter.

Azula opened the fold of paper without another word. Sokka lurked over her shoulder, curious about the content of the letter. He frowned as he read the Captains fluttery handwriting, explaining he had been unable to send back the messenger hawk while they traveled through the desert. And according to the latest information he had acquired, the Rhinos were headed…

"To Ba Sing Se?!" Sokka exclaimed, startling Azula.

The Princess glared at him, not having noticed he was right behind her until just then.

"W-what are your orders, Princess?" asked the man who had brought the message.

Azula frowned as she finished reading the content of the letter. She folded it again and grasped it tight in her hand, her eyes ablaze with determination.

"Full speed ahead. We need to make it to Ba Sing Se at haste," she commanded. The man bowed down and bolted inside the ship, to convey Azula's order to the captain.

Sokka stood in place for a moment before realizing the Princess was heading into the ship's tower as well. He shook his head and walked right behind her, calling out for her before she left.

"Azula… wait!" he exclaimed.

The Princess wasn't pleased to be stopped by him, she wished to reply to the Captain as quickly as possible, but she halted regardless.

"What do you want?" she asked, turning around to glare at him.

Sokka reconsidered talking to her after she gave him such a glacial stare, but he shook his head promptly and spoke regardless.

"The Rhinos… they're headed to Ba Sing Se, the Captain said."

"Yes," muttered Azula. "And for the record… it's considered ridiculously rude to read other people's correspondence over their shoulder. I wasn't even sure you could read in the first place, given you're a savage, but even if you can…"

"Uh… sorry about that," he said, gulping. "I figured, well, I… Okay, okay, I have no excuse."

"Indeed, you always look for them, but none of them work," said Azula. "No excuses will ever stand for the stupid things you do…"

"Uh, I guess not…" said Sokka, his eyebrow twitching. "Anyway, we got sidetracked here. About the Rhinos…"

"What of them?" said Azula, frowning.

"I'm thinking… well, I don't really know, but it's weird that the Rhinos would manage to enter such a large city," said Sokka. "From what I've heard, there's a big wall isolating Ba Sing Se from the rest of the world…"

"Which the Fire Nation breached years ago," said Azula.

"And the Fire Nation would have been foolish to leave the city's entrances unguarded," Sokka replied. "There should be soldiers in place at all times, watching the people that enter and leave the city, just as it has been in the other cities we've been to. If the Rhinos are headed to the city, those soldiers might be able to stop them… so maybe you should send a warning of some sort, so that they can intercept the Rhinos when they get to the city."

"Maybe…" said Azula, raising an eyebrow as she eyed Sokka with curiosity.

The warrior stared back at her, slightly nervous under her gaze. She was judging him with those amber eyes of hers, trying to figure out why he had come up with this idea and why he hadn't mentioned it sooner…

"I'll consider your suggestion. Do you have anything else you need to tell me?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh… n-not that I can think of right now," said Sokka, smiling nervously.

"Well, then, I need to send a bird now. You can go stuff yourself in the kitchens if you want for the time being," said Azula, waving a hand carelessly as she walked away from Sokka.

Sokka sighed in relief as Azula left, his anxiety vanishing along with her. His conversations with her had been too smooth as of late. He constantly feared that one of them would take a turn for the worse eventually. He stared after her until she vanished, knowing there had been another thing he had wanted to talk to Azula about, but he had forgotten what it was…

He struck the palm of his right hand with his fisted left when he finally remembered what had been bugging him.

"She stepped on me. She stepped on me!" he said, pouting angrily before shaking his head and storming to the kitchens, knowing it would make no sense to try to confront Azula about using him as a rug. She probably didn't even remember she had stepped on him by now.

The trip on the barge was somewhat livelier than traveling in the train-tank. Azula was still as aloof as ever, focusing on her plans and keeping an eye out for any other messages from the Captain. Sokka often visited the mongoose dragons down in the ship's basement even though he had no obligation to spend time with them anymore. The creatures were still as weird as ever, but he could have sworn they were happy to see him. Whenever he wasn't visiting the lizards or eating wildly in the kitchen, he would go up to the main deck and train, whether solo or with Taro, who had agreed to become his sparring partner during their trip. Azula had watched them fight once or twice, yet she never said a word or showed any interest in joining their practice matches. Her attention was devoted to her mission. Anything aside from it was irrelevant for her at this point.

No more letters from the Captain arrived as they progressed through the salty waters on the east of the Earth Kingdom. Azula grew anxious as she waited for a response, any response, but none came while they were on the ship. All her men noticed how distressed she was, but they were faced by the same helplessness that she was suffering from. There was nothing they could do to ease her worries, and there was nothing Azula herself could do to get rid of them either.

Sailing towards Ba Sing Se seemed to take ages for the entire crew. The tense atmosphere on the ship was almost unbearable. Sokka would spend his leisure time with watching their surroundings, since it was the only thing he could do to entertain himself when bored. He kept pestering the guards, asking them where they were, until Taro finally handed him a map and told him to reach his own conclusions. From there on, Sokka distracted himself by deducing which lands they were passing by. He saw a mountain range from afar, and he used a spyglass to make sure he was right to guess what it was. When he caught sight of the buildings atop the mountains he knew he had been spot-on.

"The Eastern Air Temple…" he said, smiling a little. He hadn't expected to catch sight of any of the Air Temples in his life. He was impressed upon finding the structures had endured the war and the passage of time. It would seem the Air Nomads had been quite knowledgeable in regards of architecture.

The Temple was the most interesting thing Sokka spotted during their trip, yet he didn't stop looking at his surroundings with curiosity. After a week and a half of traveling at the barge's fastest speed, they found the channel of the river that would lead them to Ba Sing Se. The trip became somewhat slower then, their progress held back by the water's current. It took them two days to make it past the meanders of the river to finally reach the first wall of the great city.

Sokka gazed at the structure in awe from afar, and his amazement only grew as they approached the tall barrier. He didn't make sense out of how the ship would make it past the wall until he caught sight of a group of earthbenders perched atop it. A Fire Nation soldier commanded them to open the wall once the barge was a few yards away from it, and thus they entered Ba Sing Se at last. Azula was sitting on her great throne on deck, gazing about with mild interest yet always wary and distrustful. The Fire Nation soldier ordered the earthbenders to bow down while Azula passed by, and the men complied most unwillingly. Azula didn't pay them much attention, for she was busy analyzing the terrains between the two walls of Ba Sing Se.

Sokka stared eagerly at the next wall. It probably stood as tall as the one they had just gone through, which the earthbenders closed right after the barge had passed, yet it stood so far he couldn't see it properly. He couldn't even see the ends of the inner wall…

The barge docked by the river bank, and the Royal Procession climbed down the ship once more. The ship and its crew would wait for them by the river until Azula's visit to Ba Sing Se was over with, and once they returned, they would take off to Garsai.

The Procession made its way to Ba Sing Se's inner wall under the merciless sunlight. Everyone kept their eyes on their destination while trying to ignore the dryness and the heat. Azula was somewhat anxious while they approached the wall, eager to see Ba Sing Se for herself for the very first time. She wished the palanquin wouldn't have those long drapes covering it so that she could look upon the city at once…

Another group of earthbenders opened the inner wall upon their arrival, and Sokka couldn't help but feel completely insignificant when he found an incredible metropolis spreading before them. They entered the city's Lower Ring, and Sokka was astounded upon seeing houses and buildings covering what seemed like miles on end.

"It… it never ends," said Sokka, amazed. "This place is huge!"

"Not in vain is Ba Sing Se the largest city in the world," said Taro, next to him.

Azula could hear the boisterous crowds nearby, and for once she wished she could see them properly. The other cities had been interesting in their own way, but Ba Sing Se had always held the most appeal for her, even if only through books and stories. The city had been strong enough to hold its own against the Fire Nation for years, and it was the place where her uncle had fled from battle. It also was the place where her cousin Lu Ten had been buried… She frowned at the thought and shook her head, trying to forget the matter for now… and then she realized her palanquin wasn't moving anymore. She frowned and, against her better judgment, pulled one of the curtains out of the way to ask her bearers why they had halted their progress.

But she didn't get around asking any questions. As soon as she got the drape out of the way, she knew why her men had stopped. An odd woman with a large smile on her face and long, dark brown hair was standing right before them, blocking their passage deliberately while the rest of the crowd stood at the sides of the streets, some gazing at the palanquin in awe while others glared at it with distaste.

Azula frowned at the woman, the ridiculous smile on her face angering her right away.

"Welcome, Princess Azula, to Ba Sing Se!" said the woman, beaming. "My name is Joo Dee, and I shall be your guide…"

"I did not ask for any guides," said Azula, glaring at the woman. Joo Dee still smiled, yet Azula's fierce statement made a few beads of sweat to stream down her forehead.

"Oh, but it is my duty to guide you! My job is to assist all the important people that come to our wonderful city so that they can enjoy what Ba Sing Se provides to the fullest…"

"Do you believe I came to your city for sight-seeing, Joo Dee?" Azula asked, almost mockingly. Joo Dee's smile started to fade away at Azula's voice tone.

"I… I'm certain you wish to see what the city has to offer…"

"And I will do that on my own time, with the people I deem worthy of showing me around once I've had some rest. I don't need you to tell me where to go or what to do. I am, after all, the Princess. Therefore, Joo Dee, you're dismissed," said Azula, before turning to her bearers. "Get moving. To the Imperial Palace."

The bearers obeyed her immediately, walking towards the Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se and leaving behind the woman, who seemed quite horrified upon being shrugged off like that by the Princess.

"She's quite cranky lately, huh?" said Sokka, surprised.

"She has every right to be," Taro replied, sighing. "We have had no word from the Captain in weeks… for all we know, he might have fallen to the Rhinos as well. She has no time to waste dawdling in a city like this one."

"Huh. Makes sense when you put it that way," said Sokka, gulping. Could the Captain have failed in his quest to capture the Rough Rhinos?

It took them even longer to progress through Ba Sing Se than it did to walk from the ship to the inner wall; such was the size of the great city. People scrambled out of the Procession's way as soon as they sighted the Palanquin, some amazed to see Princess Azula was in town, others downright terrified. The Fire Lord's daughter's presence was rather daunting to the regular townsfolk.

The sun was setting by the time they arrived to the Imperial Palace. The palanquin bearers panted in quite an undignified manner after placing Azula's vehicle on the ground. Azula climbed off the palanquin, relieved to finally have the chance to stretch her legs. A dark-haired man was approaching her from the Palace's gates, with a young woman treading behind him.

Azula felt somewhat at ease at the sight of General Tiang. The man was one of the few military figures she truly admired, one of the few who respected her. He had been chosen to lead the Second Siege of Ba Sing Se, and he had succeeded where the Dragon of the West had failed. As a reward for his deeds, Fire Lord Ozai had named him governor of the great city. Tiang smiled when he sighted the Royal Procession, and he bowed down to Azula before speaking.

"Welcome to Ba Sing Se, Princess Azula," he said. The woman who accompanied him bowed down as well.

"It's been a while, General Tiang," said Azula, as the pair raised their heads again.

"Indeed, you were only a child when I last saw you," said Tiang, chuckling before turning to the woman next to him. "Ah, Princess, this is my wife, Jin."

Jin smiled at Azula and bowed down again. Azula raised an inquisitive eyebrow, surprised to see the girl dressed in green.

"How, exactly…?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"We met in a teahouse in the Lower Ring," said Tiang, smiling. "I've always thought that to rule over a large city as Ba Sing Se, you must know your people first-hand. I was visiting the Lower Ring and I entered an old teashop just to refresh myself… and there she was. After a long conversation, I realized I couldn't live my life without her in it… and a few months later, we were married."

Jin blushed at his words but her smile widened as her husband told the story.

"You make it sound as if I had been that easy to sway," she said.

"Oh, we both know well enough it was anything but easy," said Tiang, chuckling.

Azula stared at them, impressed. An Earth Kingdom commoner and a Fire Nation official… no, not just any official. He was the man who had taken over this city, who had brought down the last defenses of the Earth Kingdom. The girl was obviously a former Earth Kingdom citizen… but, somehow, they were together. Their differences hadn't hindered their union. They seemed happily in love, judging by the way they looked at each other. How had they overcome the barriers that should have set them apart, Azula didn't know, and she doubted she would come to understand it any time soon.

"How is our Fire Lord faring?" asked Tiang.

"Well enough," replied Azula. "The war against the Northern Water Tribe is progressing too slowly for his liking, but he hasn't lost his patience with it yet."

"Which is a relief," said Tiang, chuckling.

"I assume you are ready to host my Procession…" Azula said, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Indeed, I am," said Tiang, glancing over Azula's shape to catch sight of the panting men behind her. "I was under the impression you were traveling with more men… Well, no matter. Everyone will have a room in the Palace, as it should be."

"Good," said Azula, nodding in approval.

"Shall we, then?" said Tiang, smiling as he stood to the side to allow Azula entrance to the Palace.

The Princess followed the governor into the large building. She frowned upon realizing it was larger than the Fire Nation Royal Palace, yet she decided not to let the matter bother her. Even if this Palace was larger, it was under the control of the Fire Nation as it was. It's size and might hadn't been enough to keep the Fire Nation from taking over.

Tiang gave them time to refresh themselves in their rooms before serving a mid-afternoon tea for his guests in a sitting room. Azula's men took their seats in cushions as they drank the tea while the Princess sat on the highest chair in the room. She was undeniably pleased, seeing how Tiang and his wife – who had also joined them for tea – knew just how to respect a visitor of her standing.

"Jin is quite fond of tea," said Tiang, smiling. "She's an outstanding brewer."

"None of that…" said Jin, blushing and smiling too.

"It is good tea," said Azula, mostly out of courtesy than actual enjoyment. She wasn't too knowledgeable in regards of tea; she thought it was a waste for people to spend days on end trying to brew the perfect batch of tea, much like her uncle often did.

"And so… this is the famous gladiator everyone has been talking about," said Tiang, looking at Sokka with curious eyes.

Sokka had been sipping his drink as silently as he could before the landlord spoke to him. He lifted his eyes towards him, blinking repeatedly.

"F-famous?" asked Sokka. "Am I, really?"

"Well, of course," said Tiang, chuckling. "You're Princess Azula's fighter. She's the very first woman to sponsor a fighter, and you've done a few deeds worth recognizing…"

"I have?" Sokka asked, aghast. Even Azula seemed surprised by Tiang's words.

"People thought the Savage Hook wouldn't get back to the ring anytime soon," said Tiang. "He even had to forfeit a couple of matches after fighting with you. He got back to fighting about a month ago, give or take."

"You seem knowledgeable about this…" said Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I frequent the Green Gates when I have some time to spare," Tiang confessed. "Gladiator combats are interesting to watch. Long Feng is a well-known sponsor, and nobody expected his gladiator to wind up unable to fight for such a long time. You must be really strong to have accomplished such a feat."

"Well, I wouldn't say…" said Sokka, smiling in a careless manner.

"He's not that strong," Azula declared, making Sokka cringe. Oh, that was it for his reputation. "The Savage Hook took his toll on him as well. He didn't forfeit his next fights simply because I wouldn't let him. It didn't mean he was in a much better state than Long Feng's gladiator."

"I think I beat the Savage Hook worse than he did me…" Sokka grunted, but Azula ignored him pointedly.

"He's not that strong, you say?" said Tiang, surprised. He eyed Sokka again, curious. "Well, I guess he doesn't look too powerful, but he's got the eyes and vibe of a good warrior. And speaking of which, are you from a Water Tribe?"

"Uh… yeah," said Sokka, nodding curtly. "Southern Water Tribe."

"From the south?" Tiang repeated, surprised. "Well, that's unexpected. I figured you'd be a slave from the north, if anything. Not that I've heard from many slaves from up north in the first place…"

"There's only one I've heard of," said Jin "A gladiator… what was his name?"

"Oh, the Notorious Stingray!" said Tiang, nodding. "I saw him fight a couple of times. He was a fearsome thing to behold…"

"Huh? Who's that?" asked Sokka.

"Is it really of any importance who he is, considering he's not your opponent?" Azula snapped quickly. Sokka pouted and glared at her.

"I guess not…" he muttered grumpily.

"Ah, indeed, who will be your fighter's opponent?" asked Tiang, looking at Azula.

"The Lady of Laogai, I believe was her name," said Azula.

"Oh… oh," said Tiang, grimacing. "That's going to be a tough gamble."

"What?" asked Sokka, worried. "Why?"

"She's crazy strong, that one," said Tiang. "She used to serve with the Dai Li. She knows just how to handle her surroundings to her advantage… her earthbending prowess is truly remarkable."

"What are those surroundings like, if I can ask…?" Azula inquired, frowning.

"The Green Gates' Arena is a sand pit, but there are also solid rocks and stones in it," said Tiang.

"So it's another stage favorable for earthbenders," stated Azula.

"Just as the ones in the Fire Nation tend to favor the firebenders," said Tiang, smiling and shrugging. "But for those in disadvantage due to the conditions, it makes for quite an interesting challenge. Their skills are put to the test, and if they triumph it'll show what they're truly made of."

"Huh… sounds interesting," said Sokka, smiling a little.

Azula couldn't share his confident smirk. His skills had been put to the test these past two fights, and even though he had been quite impressive in the last opportunity, it didn't imply he would be able to fare well against this new opponent.

The conversations continued for a while, yet Azula's mind wasn't in the talking anymore. She had gazed out of a window that opened to the south wing of the city, and she had caught sight of a hill she knew she had to visit soon. She wouldn't go right now, but she could do it tomorrow. She felt obligated to drop by that one place… both by her honor and because, deep down, she wished to go. She wouldn't be able to live with herself unless she did.

* * *

Sokka was startled when he saw Azula gathering her palanquin bearers and Royal Guards in front of the Palace Gates on the next day. He had been about to look for Taro, to ask him to spar with him if he had spare time… and he was surprised to discover he wouldn't be available.

"Where are we going?" he asked, approaching Azula warily.

"We?" Azula repeated. She had been about to climb on the palanquin before his question caused her to stop and turn around to face him. "You're not coming."

"Huh? Why?" Sokka asked, somewhat indignant.

"What gave you the idea you were coming?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"W-well…! I just… I figured I was a part of the group or something," he said, dropping his head.

"Oh, so you're one of the Royal Procession now, aren't you?" Azula asked, amused. "You see me as your liege lord by now?"

"W-what…?" Sokka gaped at her, surprised.

"I thought you despised me so that even though you were my slave, you would never ever acknowledge me as your master…" said Azula, dramatically.

"Huh, did you, now?" Sokka couldn't help but grow uneasy at her words, scowling.

Azula sighed before looking at him earnestly.

"You don't need to come along, Sokka. You're free to go sight-seeing in the city if you please, I couldn't care less…"

"And… what if I want to go with you instead?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Azula's hand balled into a fist before looking at Sokka coldly.

"You might, but I don't want you to," she declared.

Sokka's eyes widened at her statement. Azula could see her words had stung him, but even though she felt somewhat troubled by the look on his face, she still wouldn't let him come along.

"You're free to do as you please today… except for following us," she insisted. "Make sure to return to the Palace before midnight. You'll be fighting tomorrow, and you'd better be rested if your opponent is as fearsome as Tiang said she was."

"But…" said Sokka, still somewhat distraught by how she kept pushing him away. What was she going to do? Why did she refuse to have him around?

Yet the Captain's words returned to him at full force shortly enough. The Princess needed her space. He had to give it to her, even if he didn't want to. She would be safe, she would be taking her guards along, so he shouldn't have any reason to worry. Yet he longed for her to trust him enough to let him come with her… but given how her attitude towards him had improved as it had, it would be best if he didn't push his luck any further.

"Okay… okay," he said, nodding "I'll do fine on my own. I'll get you a souvenir or something!"

Azula raised an eyebrow before climbing onto her palanquin, shutting the drapes behind her. Sokka sighed as he watched the Procession walk away, still wondering why he hadn't been allowed to tag along. Yet as he looked at the city his curiosity prevailed over his frustration. He smiled weakly before making up his mind to explore Ba Sing Se, and he started down the streets of the Upper Ring with steady footing, his eyes wide open as he took in what the largest city of the world had to offer.

* * *

It took the Procession hours to reach the southern border of the city. Azula would have arrived to her destination quicker if she had decided to take the monorail… but she wouldn't so much as consider climbing aboard massive public transportation. It was simply out of the question for her.

The guards and bearers were exhausted when they finally arrived to the small hill at the southern edge of the city. Azula told them to replenish their energies in a nearby inn, and she started towards the hill on her own. She had refused to bring Sokka along because she knew he would have insisted on accompanying her to see what she was going to do, and she truly wanted to be alone right now.

An elm tree stood at the top of the hill. A few rocks were placed by its roots, and they revealed that the hill stood as a grave for a fallen soldier. Azula dropped on her knees before the tree, her head tilted as she wondered what to do, what to say, where to start...

"Does it make any sense to speak with a tree and a pile of rocks?" she muttered after a few minutes of silence. "I guess not. But I also guess you wouldn't have cared about how little sense it made if our roles had been reversed…"

She closed her eyes and her cousin's features reappeared in her mind. She sighed and raised her head a little.

"I didn't really want to come here. But the mere thought of Ba Sing Se drove me your way… I couldn't visit this city without coming to see you. You might be glad to know your death wasn't in vain after all. General Tiang managed to take over the city a few years after your passing. I'm sure you'll be relieved to know that… you got along with Tiang, didn't you? You had learned your firebending forms with him when you were kids, right…? Your father seems fine now, in case you were worried about him. I don't believe he has had the chance to come to see you, but I'm certain he wants to, if that's any use…"

She couldn't help but picture him right in front of her now, smiling at her and asking her about everything that had happened in the world ever since he had left it… it was the way he had always been, cheerful and kind, even to someone like her. She couldn't remember what her cousin looked like without a smile on his face.

"My father became the new Fire Lord… I guess that must come as a surprise to you," she whispered. "I don't really know how it happened. I knew my father wanted the throne, but I still don't understand how he seized it. I've never had the courage to ask him. As his heir, I'm not supposed to question him… If you're wondering what I mean, he sees me as his rightful successor. He banished Zuko a few years ago over a few faults of his, and even though he allowed him to return home, he refuses to see him and to acknowledge him as his son. You're not bound to be pleased to hear this… you used to get along with Zuko as well. But it's the way things have developed lately… there's nothing to be done about it anymore."

Azula sighed, looking away before biting her lip and bringing herself to speak again. Her hands turned to fists on her lap and she stared at the grass beneath her, trying to find a way to talk about that one topic she knew she'd have to tell him about…

"My mother…" she said, with an uneasy feeling on her throat. "… s-she left one day. In fact… she did right after grandfather died. I don't know why she did… I don't know if she had anything to do with his death. Maybe she did… I don't know. I-in any case, though… s-she never… I don't think she ever… stopped seeing me as a monster."

Azula grimaced when the tears began streaming down her face. Oh, how she hated to cry… why couldn't she speak of her mother without breaking down? Why couldn't she face the truth without growing so emotional about it?

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to come here to cry," said Azula, wiping her eyes. "I'm sure you… you wouldn't want to see me like this. You were always the only one who… the only one who cared enough to hold me when I cried. B-but I… I was so selfish that I never shed any tears for you… and you know why? B-because… because being angry at you was so much easier than being sad…"

Azula buried her face in her hands as her shoulders shook slightly with every sob. She knew he would come by to embrace her if he ever saw her like this… of course he would. He always did. But he couldn't anymore… he couldn't.

"I was… so mad because… b-because you didn't keep your promise…" she said, trying to stop the tears from leaving her eyes. "I felt betrayed. I was so angry… I thought you had never cared, that you had gotten yourself killed… you were always so strong, so who could have possibly beaten you? N-nobody could defeat you… y-you were so powerful, so smart, so talented… all I ever wanted was to grow up to be like you. So… how could you die? How could you let anyone kill you? And so… I was mad instead of being sad. It always has been easier for me, you know…? Anger can fuel you so that your actions are more powerful… sadness only weighs on you, it brings you down and you're rendered helpless…"

She lifted her head again, looking at the strong tree before her, the tree that had been born from Lu Ten's ashes…

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry I never mourned you as I should have," she cried out. "I'm so sorry you were killed… y-you were always the rightful heir to the Fire Nation's throne… I never knew how hard it would be to make a life of my own as the Crown Princess. Y-you always made it look so easy, being the Fire Lord's heir… you would always smile and have enough time to spare for me when nobody else would. I miss you… I miss you so much, Lu Ten… everything was so much easier when you were here…"

She couldn't say another word. She shut her eyes and hugged herself tightly, finally releasing the tears she had been holding for her cousin for over ten years. Oh, how she hated crying… it was never any use. Tears wouldn't bring Lu Ten back to her. Tears wouldn't soothe her aching soul. They would only serve to make her feel worse with every passing moment… but she had held those tears back for far too long. Holding them for any longer had proven impossible.

Her hands went up to her hair as she bowed her head down, still unable to stop crying while holding onto the feeble illusion that, perchance, her cousin's spirit was sitting by her side right now, an arm draped around her shoulder as he waited for her to stop crying, just as he had done when she had been merely a child. She felt like a child again today, longing for his embrace and his soothing promises, even longing for those he hadn't kept. Her chest ached as she wished she could return home from her mission to see Lu Ten in the Fire Nation's Palace grounds, greeting her with that cheerful smile of his… that smile she knew she would never see again.

* * *

Sokka spent the day wandering through the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se. He dropped by the monorail station just out of curiosity, wanting to see how the system worked. Afterwards he went out to eat… yet he didn't have enough money on him to afford more than a loaf of bread and a glass of water. The Upper Ring was a very expensive place to live in.

The sun was setting when he walked by a small square where he spotted a group of women in opulent clothing putting on a performance of some sort. He made it through the crowd that was watching them eagerly, and he listened intently to one of the girls as she recited a short poem.

"What's this?" he asked at the man right next to him, who was smiling and clapping as the girl took her seat with the others.

"This is a haiku recital! The Five-Seven-Five society performs open recitals once every month, so that the common folk like us can listen to how they make magic with words!"

"Huh…" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow as he listened to another poem.

Before he knew it, he had been completely hooked on the event. He couldn't help but laugh at the witty constructions one girl had composed, and he was almost moved to tears by another girl's poem. He had never thought he would be so allured by something like poetry… After being raised in the Water Tribe, he had grown up with his mind set on becoming a powerful warrior, and poetry had nothing to do with that. Yet perhaps precisely because it was something he hadn't enjoyed before, he could appreciate listening to these poems as much as he did.

"The power of words," he said, awed as he smiled goofily while a new girl took the stage.

It didn't take him too long to understand the structure of haikus. Five, seven and five syllables would comprise every poem. He smiled after he made sense out of it, amazed by how the girls managed to join the words together in a perfect string, always abiding by that single rule…

The recital ended too soon for his liking, even though it was already past dusk by the time it was over. He returned to the Imperial Palace, his mind still full of the poetry he had listened to while wondering if, perhaps, he would have the skill to write haiku in the way those girls had.

Azula hadn't returned yet, so he dined alone in a small sitting room. After he was done he asked Tiang's servants for some ink and paper, and once he had the items he had requested he decided to put his mind to the test.

Most the poems he started ended up discarded. He would manage to construct one phrase, but the others wouldn't flow properly. He frowned as he kept working, finally finishing one piece to discover he had added an extra-syllable to the haiku.

"Ugh! How did they do it?! They made it look so much easier! I thought this wouldn't be so hard," he grunted. "I underestimated poetry…"

He figured he needed a topic, something to inspire him. What could help…? What could bring his words to make some sense…?

He gulped when an unexpected idea came by his mind. Oh, it seemed so wrong for her to serve as inspiration, but at the very least he could give it a try. He grimaced as he wrote the words down on paper, fearing it might not work… yet when he looked at it closely, it did. He smiled before taking another sheet and allowing himself to write something more regarding the same subject… and again, it worked!

He couldn't help but shake his head at the irony of the matter. Writing haiku about his boomerang, about the Water Tribe or about the mongoose dragons wouldn't work, but writing it about her would… The universe was certainly laughing at him right now, wasn't it?

Yet he decided to make the most of his stroke of inspiration. Anything regarding her, no matter what it was, would always come into paper in the form of a short poem comprised by the exact number of syllables he needed. He had been unable to write anything earlier, and now he couldn't bring himself to stop…

Azula and her men arrived to the Palace much later than she had intended. She had taken her time to wipe away her tears and regain her proper appearance, but she hadn't been completely able to conceal the breakdown she had suffered from up on Lu Ten's hill. To her relief, her guards hadn't asked her any questions. They knew they had no business prying into Azula's private life.

That was why she had refused to bring Sokka along with her. She knew he would have followed her to the hill no matter if she had told him not to, and even if he stayed at the foot of the small mound, waiting for her, he would have asked her what was at the top of it, and he would have pestered her non-stop over why her eyes were so red. She had wanted to be alone during that moment, and she had wanted be alone after it, too. Pushing him away as harshly as she had might have taken him aback, but it had been for the best. He had already seen her in a frail state too many times before. She couldn't allow herself to show more weaknesses in front of him.

She failed to notice all her thoughts were centered around the gladiator as she entered the Palace. Was he back yet…? Or was he, by chance, still out there, in the city? The mere idea made her innards twist as she relived the memory of a very unpleasant night in which he had gotten entangled with a woman he had only met that very same day… could he have done the same thing tonight? No, he couldn't be that crude, there was no way he would have gotten involved with some woman this time around…

Despite her better sense warned her not to do so, Azula walked to his room and opened the door slowly, in hopes to find him inside, resting… Her eyes widened when he wasn't there. She gripped the doorknob tightly before storming off down the hall. She couldn't even let him out of her sight for a few hours, that wretched womanizer! She hated the way her chest pained her at the thought of him with another random woman. Why, why did she care so much? She shouldn't! He was revolting, he was the worst kind of man…!

Her thoughts stopped on their tracks when she passed by the open door of a small sitting room. She frowned when a few sheets of paper were blown from the room into the hall by a strong breeze. She picked one of them up, and her eyes widened as she read the words written on the paper.

_Molten, deep, rich gold_

_Unique eyes, unique Princess_

_You set me ablaze_

Azula read the paper's content many times, a look of utter disbelief on her eyes. She looked inside the room and found an unexpected sight within: Sokka was lying on the table, his mouth wide open as he drooled in his sleep. The room was covered with scattered sheets of paper, and he had fallen asleep in the middle of writing. Collapsing while writing had resulted in him drawing an unintelligible doodle on the paper, followed by a line of ink he had drawn after his body had fallen on the table.

Azula picked up another of the papers to find an unfinished drabble about a dark, spooky cave. She found another completed one… and it only took her a second to realize it was about her again. Most the poems around seemed to be about her, at least, all the completed ones. But she couldn't bring herself to read more of them. She didn't want to.

She dropped the papers she had been holding and looked down at Sokka's sleeping figure. She had suspected he would have been sleeping around with other women again, when all along he had been sitting in this room, writing poetry about her…

"Why did we start expecting only the worst out of the other…?" she muttered, sadly.

She shook her head, deciding not to disturb his rest and determined to find some sleep as well. His fight would take place tomorrow, and she needed to be at her best shape just as much as he did.

Yet she stopped before leaving, and she picked up that one poem about her eyes again. Sure, she could set him ablaze in the literal sense… but she knew that he hadn't been referring to that. She felt stupid at wanting to keep this one haiku. Why should she want anything written by him? Yet the pain born by thinking of Lu Ten had faded away and been replaced by an unusual tingling feeling on her chest just by holding that sheet of paper. He had so many poems around him that he surely wouldn't realize this one was missing, right…?

She folded the paper and slid it into her pocket before walking away from the room, feeling quite foolish… but also experiencing an unusual sense of joy after allowing herself to be foolish, for once.

* * *

The Lady of Laogai had kept true to Tiang's description. Not only was she a fierce bender: she would also use sand to her benefit by bringing the small grains together to create shards of glass that she sent Sokka's way. Fighting glass and solid rock was easy for the Blue Wolf so long as he had his sword with him… but he found himself at a loss whenever she would use the sand itself to attack him. Even if he tried to shake it off, it would envelop him again. It was almost as useless fighting against the sand as it was to fight against a stream of water: trying to cut his way through it was impossible.

And so, even though he fought a lot better this time around and he succeeded at defending himself from the female gladiator's attacks, Sokka wasn't declared the winner for the third fight in a row. Azula had gripped her chair tightly with one hand and she rubbed her forehead with the other, enraged by the slump Sokka had fallen into. It wasn't entirely his fault, he probably should have been awarded the win against the opponent he had faced in Gaoling, but in the other two occasions he had been on the losing side, constantly. He hadn't been able to land a single blow on the Lady of Laogai.

They returned to the Palace silently, and Azula didn't utter a single word to him on their way back. Sokka sighed, having expected this treatment after losing for the third time. Everything had been too smooth between them for the past few days.

Azula walked off to one of the many sitting rooms of the Palace after finishing dinner. Her arms were folded firmly across her chest, her mind churned by her frustrations.

Sokka saw her from afar and sighed, knowing it would be best to face this matter once and for all instead of letting it stem as he had with everything else. He walked into the room as quietly as he could, trying to stop himself from feeling so helplessly nervous.

"Azula…" he muttered. The Princess didn't move an inch. "About… about my fight…"

"What of it?" she snapped back, frowning. "Did you come to excuse your pathetic performance?"

"I… I'm sorry, alright?" he said, making Azula roll her eyes in irritation before turning around to face him.

"How about you do things right for a change one day?" she asked. "Maybe that way you wouldn't have to apologize over every single time you prove to be a failure!"

Sokka was taken aback by her statement, but for the first time in quite a long time he found himself utterly unable to hold back. He wouldn't let her walk all over him anymore.

"I'm sorry, then, for being sorry all the time!" he said. "But you were the one who got these crazy earthbenders as my opponents! You saw how my fight against the Blind Bandit went, with your very eyes! I'm no good against earthbenders!"

"You're no good against earthbenders… that's the understatement of the month," said Azula, rolling her eyes again.

"Well, then, you should have thought this through!" exclaimed Sokka, frowning. "If you knew these guys would make me toast, why did you pit me against them?!"

"I had no choice!" Azula yelled back. "You think I wanted to get you the worst fights ever to make you pay for your idiocy? Well, I didn't! I tried to contact sponsors of non-benders, but they all declined to fight us save for the Butterfly Lady's sponsor! What else was I supposed to do? How was I to know you would be as incompetent as you're proving to be lately?!"

Sokka grew silent for a moment, still frowning as he watched Azula pace angrily in the room.

"And in case you're forgetting, you are not the reason why we came here in the first place," Azula grunted. "We're here because of my mission, you were only ever supposed to be a smokescreen! I was pretending to boast about your great power, but you've only embarrassed me! People thought you were strong, people throughout the Fire Nation Colonies wanted to watch the Princess's fabled gladiator in battle! And your wonderful performances have made me look like a joke! Tell me, am I supposed to sit here listening to your excuses?! Do you really think I want to listen to anything you want to say?!"

Sokka stared at her, disheartened. Well, she was right after all… she wouldn't want to listen to anything he had to say. And the good thing was that she was being direct and honest about how she felt for once, even if her words would tear at him like knives.

"At this rate, you'll end up risking dropping out of the ranking altogether!" she said, angrily. "Wasn't that exactly what we were trying to avoid by coming here? Wasn't it?!"

"I…" said Sokka, lowering his gaze. "Azula, I…"

"Save it," she grunted, shaking her head. "I don't want to hear you say that useless word ever again. It won't change anything."

Sokka dropped his head altogether, in signal of rendition. He had no choice but to concede her the victory this time around. It wasn't as if he thought he could win in the first place.

"I'll… I'll try to avoid embarrassing you again…" he muttered.

"Where's the point of trying when you never succeed?" Azula said, glaring at him.

Sokka looked up at her, aghast. Azula glared right back at him, those golden eyes daring him to defy her again. The very same golden eyes he had written about last night…

"Princess…! Princess!" shouted a guard, running into the room and interrupting their eye contact.

Sokka stood out of the way as the man in the red uniform gasped for breath before looking up at the Princess. Azula wondered for a moment about what could have caused him to run to find her in such haste… until she saw the paper on his hand.

"T-the Captain…" said the guard, standing up straight while still panting.

Azula's eyes widened, her previous spat with Sokka vanishing from her mind immediately.

"What? Spit it out! What happened?!" she asked, growing anxious.

The guard handed her the paper as he answered her question, his voice shaking slightly.

"H-he says they're here… the Rough Rhinos… They're here, in Ba Sing Se!"


	38. Chapter 38

The Captain couldn't hold back a sigh of relief as he gazed at the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. After what had felt like ages of traveling and withstanding hardship after hardship, the Royal Guards had finally arrived to the city's doorstep… empty-handed.

The Captain didn't want to imagine the Princess's reaction upon seeing him again. Would she fire him from her Royal Guards without a second thought…? He wouldn't be surprised if she did. He sighed again, this time with resignation instead of relief, and he climbed off the ferry, followed closely by the rest of his men.

Entering the large city would never be an easy feat, not even if you were one of the Princess's sworn soldiers. People were sitting on benches, as they waited as patiently as they possibly could for a train to arrive into the monorail station. His men were exhausted, and they dropped on the first available seats they could find. The Captain made a quick head-count, making sure everyone was there… save for Bao. He gritted his teeth at the thought of their fallen comrade, murdered by the Rough Rhinos in cold blood. The guards could have had the upper hand in their fight against the criminals if only they had known their surroundings better. The Rhinos were well accustomed to the Si Wong Desert, and it was an advantage they knew just how to exploit. Their top-notch firebending techniques had been of little use even before Ogodei had slammed one of his ball-and-chains into Bao's head. Mongke's skill as a firebender made it easy for him to fend off most the fire sent his way. The former Yu-Yan archer had gotten out of the guards' reach, yet he had proved able to shoot deadly, poisoned arrows at them. Their komodo rhinos had been daunting as well, fierce protectors of their riders. Mongke's rhino had trampled over Bao's lifeless body, distorting the man's features as it stomped on him savagely…

The diverse fighting styles of the Rough Rhinos matched one another quite well, and they fought in perfect synch, no doubt because of all their years of working together. The Captain had meant to press on despite knowing this, hoping to bring Mongke down, at the very least… but the explosives master, Yeh-Lu, tossed a bomb at them just as the Captain had started to become a threat to them. With that, the combat had ended far more quickly than it had begun, and all five Rough Rhinos had fled on their mounts, their flight covered by smoke and sand. They left behind a disheartened and weakened group of Fire Nation Royal Guards, who performed an improvised memorial for the man who had served as their companion and died while trying to accomplish their mission. The guards had vowed that his sacrifice would not be in vain.

The Rhinos managed to put a great distance between themselves and the guards, but the Captain and his men tracked the brigands down eventually. Just as the Captain had predicted, the Rhinos had decided to run off to Ba Sing Se until all danger had passed. There hadn't been anything to give away the guards were Princess Azula's men… save for the fact that the Captain had yelled at the Rhinos that, by decree of Fire Lord Ozai, they were to be captured and brought back to the Fire Nation. The Captain grimaced as he recalled his pathetic mistake. He had blown their cover, on top of all his blunders…

"How long is this going to take?" groaned Fei Li, one of his fellow Royal Guards. "Waiting for a train seems to take an eternity…"

"Patience," replied the Captain. "We'll be back with the Princess soon enough."

"Is she still in Ba Sing Se?" asked Fei Li. "Isn't she supposed to be at Garsai by now?"

"She ought to be…" said the Captain, sighing. "But she sent word to me that she wouldn't leave the city until we caught the Rough Rhinos."

"In this damn huge city? Tough chance of that… they could hide in there for years and we'd never find them," said Fei Li, sighing. "And to make things worse, we can't start looking for them yet because the damn train still hasn't arrived. Why couldn't we just bring our mongoose dragons with us? Would have spared us the hassle of waiting here…"

They had been forced to relinquish their steeds before climbing aboard the ferry, no matter if they were the Princess's men or not, because foreign animals weren't allowed in Ba Sing Se. The woman who had cleared their passports for the ferry had been strict about that, refusing to make any exceptions.

The Captain frowned at the thought. Foreign animals weren't allowed in Ba Sing Se, no exceptions…

He stood up and made to approach the soldiers guarding the monorail station, as he began considering several possibilities that he hadn't pondered before.

"Where are you going?" asked Fei Li, confused.

"I'll be right back," the Captain exclaimed, as he kept walking.

The nearest soldier, clad in green, raised an eyebrow when he was approached by one of the city's newest visitors.

"What do you want?" the man asked. "The train's still far from here. You have to wait a few more minutes."

"That's not what I came to you for," said the Captain. "I wanted to ask you a question. Did a group of men dressed in red and black pass through the wall recently?"

The soldier raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think so…"

"They call themselves the Rough Rhinos," the Captain insisted. "They should have passed here some days ago…"

"N-no… I don't think so," said the soldier, but the Captain noticed a glint in his eyes this time.

"That name rang a bell, didn't it?" said the Captain, glaring at him.

The soldier grimaced at the menacing stare, and the Captain raised a fire-coated hand to worsen the man's fear.

"Tell me everything you know, guard. Now," the Captain commanded.

"W-why should I say anything to you?!" squealed the man, terrified.

"Because I'm one of the Princess's Royal Guards and I demand that you speak this instant!" shouted the Captain, pushing the soldier against a nearby wall. "Answer me, or you'll be charged for treason against the Fire Nation!"

The soldier began sweating before he nodded, terrified after discovering the identity of the visitor. The surrounding people fled at the sight of the firebender's fist, and the other soldiers in green rushed towards them, meaning to restrain the Captain, but the Royal Guards jumped to their feet right away, forcing the soldiers to fall back.

"Get your hands off him!" yelled one of the other soldiers, before being stopped by a Royal Guard.

"Don't come any closer!" Fei Li shouted back.

"We've caused quite a ruckus, haven't we?" said the Captain, sighing almost dramatically. "Will you speak already and spare us from a pointless spat between our men, or would you rather face the Royal Guards with your comrades?"

"I… I'll talk!" said the man. "Stand back! I'll… I'll talk…"

The Captain lowered his fist, yet his grip on the man's collar remained firm and steady.

"The Rough Rhinos… t-they don't take the ferry," said the man. "T-they have other means of transportation…"

"What kind of transportation? And who provides it for them?" the Captain growled.

"I'm not sure," said the soldier. "All I know is that they have a ship, and they use it to bring the Rhinos across the water… but they don't actually go into the city."

"They don't?" asked the Captain, frowning. "Why? What do they do, then?"

"Those who help them get here… they bring them to the Agrarian Zone," squealed the soldier. "I think they… they take them to Lake Laogai…"

"Lake Laogai?" the Captain repeated, dumbfounded. "What on earth are you talking about? And how did you find out about this?!"

"I've seen them do it!" said the soldier. "I mean it! When I've guarded the wall, I've seen men riding ostrich horses, leading others in komodo rhinos towards Lake Laogai! It can't be anyone but them, can it?!"

"Then… they're not in the city itself, but…" said the Captain, thoughtful. "Then Lake Laogai is where we have to go."

"It should be… but they're not there anymore," said the soldier, making the Captain frown again.

"And how do you know that?"

"B-because they passed right in front of the station a few hours before you came here… headed east," said the soldier, gulping at the sight of the Captain's angry eyes. "I've heard there's a town beyond the Kuaisu River, deep in the mountains' forests… brigands and criminals gather there… I think that's where the Rhinos would go to. Every time I've heard them pass through Ba Sing Se they've done the same thing: they head to Lake Laogai and then east… probably because they're trying to…"

"To shake off pursuers like myself," grunted the Captain, releasing the soldier at last. "Is this the full extent of your knowledge? Is there anything else I should be informed of?"

"I… I don't think so, sir…" said the man. "At least, I don't know anything else about the Rhinos…"

"If that's the case, then…" said the Captain, glaring at him again as he made his last demand. "I need a messenger hawk."

* * *

Azula's stay in Ba Sing Se had been dragged out, despite her plans. Desperate to track down the Rough Rhinos and bring them to justice, she had sent all her available men into the city in hopes that they would find their enemies at last, although she knew it would be useless. The Rhinos had been ridiculously clever to hide inside Ba Sing Se… she could spend years searching for them without success. Despite knowing this, she sent all the guards she had left on the quest to find the group of outlaws as soon as she read the Captain's letter. Every effort counted in this mad chase for the Rough Rhinos.

She was perfectly aware of how she was jeopardizing her situation in the Superior Gladiator League. By delaying her stay in Ba Sing Se, her trip to Garsai seemed ages away. Sokka was supposed to fight his last match in the Fire Nation Colonies in two weeks, and she was already certain that they wouldn't make it on time. She wasn't pleased by these developments, and neither was Sokka, but there was nothing to be done about the matter. She had stated it time after time: The Rough Rhinos were her main priority.

Tiang had inquired over her guards' whereabouts after Azula sent them away to search every corner of the city for the Rough Rhinos. Azula had been as evasive as possible while answering his questions, never revealing the true intent of her visit to the Former Earth Kingdom. Tiang had been surprised to hear she would be staying in town for a little longer, but he had smiled at her and told her his house was hers. Azula clearly didn't feel the same way, still bothered by the Earth Kingdom cuisine, as always, but she was genuinely grateful for his kindness.

And so, the only members of her Procession left in the Palace were the palanquin bearers and Sokka. Many of her guards had protested about leaving her unprotected, but she didn't allow them to question her authority. They had no choice but to obey her and accept that she could fight for herself if need be.

Sokka had watched the latest developments quietly, a subtle frown on his brow. Azula had noticed his strange demeanor, suspecting it had been born from their latest squabble… but there was something else in those blue eyes of his, something that had been missing lately: a glint that betrayed his wit. He was thinking. What was on his mind, she didn't know and she wasn't going to ask him about it, yet she couldn't help but feel slightly curious about the thoughts that coursed through the gladiator's head.

A week had passed since the Captain's letter had arrived, and no further messages had arrived since. Azula would spend most her time pacing in the Palace's rooms, waiting for word of any kind from her guards, be it the ones searching for the Rough Rhinos in Ba Sing Se or the ones who should be arriving to the city soon.

Sokka had been relaxing in one of the many sitting rooms of the Palace, sharpening his boomerang carefully when Azula entered the room in the middle of her new routine of walking back and forth through the Palace. Sokka raised an eyebrow and watched her quietly as she headed to the window, stared off through it for a minute or so and turned around to leave… and she jumped when she caught sight of him sitting near the door.

"S-since when have you been there?" she asked, surprised.

"Since way before you came in, in case you're afraid I'm stalking you or something," said Sokka, smiling a little.

Azula didn't seem to find his joke amusing.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she grunted.

"Well… how am I supposed to look at you?" said Sokka, confused.

"Not as if you thought I was descending into madness and you were enjoying the show, I believe," said Azula, glaring at him.

"That's ridiculous," said Sokka, getting back to sharpening his boomerang. "All I'm doing is hoping, for your sake, that those Rhinos are really here so you can find some peace of mind…"

"Since when do you care so much about my mission, or about my peace of mind for that matter?" Azula asked, before frowning and stopping on her tracks. "But… wait. What do you mean you're hoping, for my sake…? Do you doubt the Rhinos are here?"

"Uh…" said Sokka, gulping. "Which question should I answer first?"

"Never mind the first ones!" said Azula, shaking her head. "Tell me, do you think there's a chance the Rhinos aren't here?"

"Well… why would they be?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean, why would they be?" said Azula, rolling her eyes. "This city is a perfect place for them to hide. They'd be able to conceal themselves in plain sight by coming to Ba Sing Se. It'll take ages for me to find them here."

"Would it, really? A group of brigands in komodo rhinos, with weird getups, I assume… would they be able to hide in plain sight? Common folk would be able to hide in plain sight here, but criminals who garner that much attention…? I don't think so."

Azula stared at Sokka intently, annoyed by his level-headedness but also curious… what else had he reasoned so far?

"The whole 'heading into Ba Sing Se' idea is weird," Sokka continued, shrugging. "If I were the leader of an evil group of criminals, I wouldn't go there unless I had a good reason to do it, and hiding in plain sight isn't one of them."

"Perhaps you're right about that," said Azula, frowning. "Yet this isn't the first time they do this. They've taken refuge in Ba Sing Se before…"

"And… how did they do it?" asked Sokka, frowning as well. "Have you ever thought about that?"

Azula frowned and glared at Sokka in irritation. Of course she had…! Though, actually… she hadn't. She had all the pieces of the puzzle, but she had never taken her time to figure out what they meant in the bigger picture. She began blinking rapidly, her gaze heading down to the ground as she thought about the possible options…

"This means…" she muttered, her hands balling into fists. "D-doesn't this mean that…?"

"I've thought about what the Captain said… about what I've heard of this mission," said Sokka. "Being locked in a cabin with a bunch of lizards gives you a lot of time to think. And… why do you think the Rough Rhinos have become as reckless as to even kill people in their raids? They didn't use to do that, did they?"

"No, they… they didn't" said Azula, frowning. "They had always targeted small towns and villages… but suddenly they attacked Yu Dao, and from there on they've grown deadlier…"

"Huh, I had no idea about Yu Dao," said Sokka, surprised. "But that just confirms what I feared…"

"And that is…?"

"That the Rhinos think they're ready for a higher form of rebellion," finished Sokka. "The pattern of their attacks has changed, they're suddenly more dangerous than they used to be, even engaging in a fight with Fire Nation soldiers when they used to flee from them… they're sending a message, I think."

"But how can they be ready for a higher form of rebellion?" Azula asked, confused. "The Captain engaged in battle with them… he said they were the same group of men we had been briefed about, he didn't mention a new member or anything we hadn't known about them. Five strong men riding komodo rhinos… why are they more confident now? What makes them think they can oppose the Fire Nation's authority more openly than before?"

"I don't think they have new allies that travel with them…" said Sokka. "But I do believe there's someone backing them up. Who…? I don't know, but I'm suspecting it might have to do with the reason why they keep running to Ba Sing Se when things get a little complicated."

"Of course…" said Azula, frowning and rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Those bastards have been a step ahead of me at all times… Mongke is much smarter than I gave him credit for."

"I guess so," said Sokka, sighing as he watched her pace again.

"And… now what?" she said, exasperated. "Yes, I admit I read the signs wrong, but what am I supposed to do now with what you've told me? I still don't know where the bastards are! I don't know who's supporting them, I don't know if they're hiding or on the run… I know absolutely nothing!"

"And ironically, you know more than you did before," said Sokka, with a weak smile.

Azula glared at him, making him freeze and grimace. She walked towards him, as fierce as ever.

"Since when have you been thinking of all this?" she asked.

"W-well… quite a while now, truth to be told," said Sokka, rubbing the nape of his neck with his left hand.

"And you didn't say anything until now?" Azula grunted, between gritted teeth.

"Hey!" said Sokka, jumping to his feet while giving Azula a glare of his own. "You haven't been exactly in the mood for listening to me lately, so I figured I'd do best to shut my mouth and let you go on about your business! That's what you told me to do anyways!"

"Exactly!" shouted Azula. "I told you to focus on your fights, yet here you are, revealing theories on the Rough Rhinos that you were hatching while you should have been doing what I told you to!"

"Oh, please. Putting my mind to the task would have made no difference. You know well enough I wouldn't have been able to beat those guys no matter what," stated Sokka. "I'm not strong enough to fight earthbenders yet."

"You've never been stronger than your enemies, Sokka," Azula growled. "But you've always been smarter than them. Yet you've been investing that brain of yours in what shouldn't concern you. Small wonder that you've failed to beat your rivals."

Sokka shook his head and dropped his gaze, discouraged.

"And what am I supposed to accomplish in the Arena now anyways…?" he muttered. "We're not even going to Garsai anymore. Even if we left today, there's little chance that we'll get there on time for our fight."

Azula sighed and took a few steps away from him.

"I'm not thrilled about the thought of forfeiting a match, but we have no choice. I've said it a thousand times… this was only meant to be a smokescreen. My main priority is the capture of the Rough Rhinos, and it will remain that way until we secure them."

"I know, I know…" said Sokka, nodding.

"If we secure them, actually…" said Azula, shaking her head and rubbing the bridge of her nose once more.

"We'll figure something out, no need to fret," said Sokka, positively, making Azula raise an eyebrow and stare at him in mild confusion.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she muttered.

"What?" Sokka asked, confused as well.

"Who's 'we'?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Isn't it obvious…?" said Sokka, staring back at the Princess, who seemed about to spout one of her usual responses… when their conversation was interrupted by one of the Palace servants.

"Princess!" he exclaimed as he entered the room, beaming and extending a scroll in her direction. "I've been searching for you… this arrived only a few minutes ago, and it's addressed to you."

Azula's eyes widened and she snatched the letter right away, startling the servant with her harshness.

"Leave," she ordered the man, who grew very nervous under her glare and bowed to her, scrambling off the room as fast as possible.

Sokka decided not to lurk over her shoulder this time, staring at the Princess with expectant eyes nonetheless as she opened the scroll and revealed its content.

"It's the Captain," she said, gripping the paper firmly. As she read the message, her eyes gained a quality that made Sokka grimace… and against his better judgment, he figured he'd look over her shoulder after all.

He was pleasantly surprised to discover she didn't care this time around. Her attention was devoted entirely to the letter, and she was growing paler as she read it.

"No… no…" she said as her eyes glided over the words. "No!" she shouted, tossing the letter to the floor as her hands ran through her head. She had been clinging to the faint hope that Sokka's suppositions would be completely wrong… but now the Captain had confirmed they weren't. He had been spot-on.

Sokka picked up the letter and finished reading it. He looked at Azula worriedly as she paced again, with an angry snarl on her face.

"All along they've been playing with us, those assholes!" she shouted, startling Sokka with her use of a crude word. She only ever spoke that way when she was truly upset. "They knew that coming here would serve as the perfect cover for their actual movements! And now they're hell knows where, east to the city, and I can't do anything about it!"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say…" said Sokka, shrugging. Azula turned on her heels and glared at him furiously.

"If you have something to say, say it! Quit keeping important stuff to yourself!" she shouted.

"Okay, okay! Calm down, woman!" he said, grimacing. "I'm just thinking that you're not exactly as powerless as you were before!"

"How am I not?!" asked Azula "Fact is, I'm even worse off than I used to be! I have no guards to chase them with! I sent my remaining men into the city to search for people they won't be able to find because they're not there! The Captain said he would be coming to the Imperial Palace for further orders as quickly as he could, but he won't be here for hours! How exactly am I not powerless, Sokka?!"

"I think you're forgetting something important…" said Sokka, making Azula's eyebrows twitch.

"Oh, really? And what's that?" she asked, holding back the urge to yell at him to quit being so mysterious and talk for once and for all.

"You," said Sokka, simply.

Azula frowned before she grasped what he was trying to say.

"The Rhinos are headed east of Ba Sing Se, into a town beyond the river and in the forests…" said Sokka. "Your men are scattered, yes, but seeing how that's the situation, you could find them and catch those Rhinos with your own hands."

Azula's eyes widened at Sokka's suggestion. She took a few steps back as she assimilated his words.

"That's insane," she said, shaking her head. "I'd be a fool to face five strong fighters on my own."

"Well, then, I'll go with you and that way you won't be so foolish!" said Sokka, smiling and startling Azula with his impulsive idea.

"Huh?! Taking you along will only make me even more foolish!" shouted Azula. "What makes you think I trust you enough to bring you with me?!"

"I… I guess you don't…" said Sokka, grimacing at the thought. "But you don't have to trust me in anything except for helping you to beat those guys up, right? And beating guys up is my job!"

"You haven't been any good at it lately, though," Azula growled.

"If those Rhinos aren't earthbenders, I'll be able to fight them properly," said Sokka, defiant.

"Why do I have such a hard time believing you…?" said Azula, squinting.

"Look, this isn't a matter of trusting me or not," said Sokka, staring at her. "These Rhinos are the reason you came here. It's only logical that you'd be the one to catch them. I know you wish you hadn't sent your guards to chase after them, I know you wish you hadn't made up this smokescreen, I know you wish you had been the one to face them head-first in battle. You want to put an end to this, don't you? And who's better suited than you to do it? You'd be able to catch those jerks, avenge your fallen guard and make your father prouder than he's ever been…"

Azula looked straight into his eyes. Oh, how she hated him… and how she hated the fact that every word he had uttered was true.

"Well, then…" she muttered after staring at him for a while. "What are we waiting for?"

Sokka beamed and nodded joyfully at her positive response.

"That's the spirit!" he exclaimed.

"I'll have to leave a note here for the guards in case they return before we get back…" said Azula, sighing in resignation. "And I should also tell the Captain what I'm going to do. But before I get started with that… tell me, how exactly do you propose we get to where the Rough Rhinos are?"

Half an hour later, Azula wished she hadn't asked that question. She stared at the building in front of them, horror reflected in her eyes at the thought of what Sokka was trying to drag her into.

"Y-you honestly don't expect me to use public transportation… do you?" she asked, looking at him almost pleadingly.

"How else do you plan on getting to the eastern end of the city?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "The monorail is the only thing that will get us there fast enough"

"B-but… this is ridiculous!" she squealed. "You can't make me ride that thing! You won't! Amongst so many commoners and filth of all sorts… there must be another way! There has to be!"

"What, you'd rather take the palanquin?" asked Sokka, raising his eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure a group of palanquin bearers will be of great use chasing down criminals…"

"I can't ride that thing! I won't!" shouted Azula.

"Then we're going on foot?" asked Sokka, skeptical. "You want to walk all the way there? Your feet might end up getting blisters… unless you plan on having me carry you on my back all the way to our destination?"

Azula's eyebrows twitched at the thought of such close physical contact between them.

"In my worst nightmares…" she grunted.

"Well, then…" said Sokka, gesturing towards the station.

Azula grimaced before shaking her head in utter disgust.

"I hate you," she muttered.

"I'll try to live with that," said Sokka, smiling and leading the way into the station.

The main station of the Upper Ring wasn't too crowded, to Azula's relief. Yet walking amongst these people made her grimace in disgust. She didn't mind walking in the Fire Nation Capital, her hometown… but this place was completely foreign for her, and she was walking amongst Earth Kingdom commoners… yes, perhaps these weren't actually commoners, maybe they were noblemen, but she could scarcely tell the difference. But even though she was horrified, she did her best to keep herself together. She walked right behind Sokka with her head held high proudly, glaring at anyone who came too close to her.

A few people realized she was the Fire Nation Princess and they stopped on their tracks to gaze at her, awestruck. Sokka made way for them through the crowd, some people colliding with him as they rushed to leave the platform, but since he was walking in front of Azula he managed to protect her from getting crashed into by thoughtless passersby. But even though Sokka was watching out for her, the Princess's stress levels were climbing to unsuspected levels over being so close to common folk.

Sokka led her towards the train that would take off to the eastern side of the city, and he ushered her to walk to the end of the platform, which wasn't as crowded as the center. Azula seemed at the edge of a nervous breakdown by the time they stopped to wait for the monorail.

"I can't believe you talked me into this…" she gasped, her golden eyes glinting with anger as she glared at a nearby kid. The child was reduced to tears by her harsh stare, and he ran off calling for his mother. Azula was satisfied by his flight… now it was only her and Sokka. She could trust Sokka. No, wait, she couldn't… well, at the very least, she knew him. And for now, it was just the two of them in this end of the platform. Of the filthy platform that would lodge and send off so many people with every day that went by…

"Are you alright?" asked Sokka. "Your eyes keep moving in all directions…"

"What were you expecting?!" Azula asked, hysterical. "Y-you brought me to… to the monorail station! The monorail station! What's the matter with you?!"

"Try to calm down, will you?" said Sokka, surprised. "It's not like you're going to die here…"

"For all I know, I might!" shouted Azula. "This is downright horrid! I can't…!"

"Think about why you're doing it, and calm down," Sokka told her. "I promise you we won't take the train when we return, alright?"

"Huh, that is, if we survive the crowd…" said Azula, shaking her head.

"Interesting… so you like crowds when you're above them, but you hate being amongst them," said Sokka, thoughtful. "Is that what sets noblemen and royalty apart from us regular people?"

"I've lived my entire life in the Fire Nation Capital…" Azula growled. "I know it perfectly well. It's my home. But this… this is madness. I don't know anyone, and I don't want to know them either. This place is filthy, it's low and disgusting and I would rather to be anywhere but here!"

"Is it because you're on the same league as everyone else?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"You don't get it," said Azula, shaking her head. "If my problem were to be on the same league as other people, I wouldn't be able to live anywhere! I don't care about walking in the Fire Nation because it's my rightful place, but this is… this is completely foreign, and I want nothing to do with it."

Sokka raised an eyebrow and stared at her in confusion.

"Huh… you lost me. Isn't this part of the Fire Nation now?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

Azula cringed and glared at him.

"Don't get me started on this crap. It's been bad enough a day for you to make it worse," she growled.

Sokka shrugged and sighed.

"Fine, fine…" he muttered, just as the train finally arrived into the station.

The doors of the train were opened by the people who would get off on this station. Azula glared at the gray vehicle with disgust, disapproving of how filthy it was both on the outside and the inside.

"You're not really going to make me do this… are you?" she asked Sokka one last time, her eyes pleading instead of angry this time around.

Sokka's response was to bow his head down and lean forward, his right arm extended towards the train's gates.

"After you," he said.

Azula did her best to hold back the urge to punch him. She huffed in irritation before stepping into the train, startling some of the people who were sitting within the wagon. Sokka was right behind her, smiling now as he walked towards the vacant seats by the door.

Azula folded her arms across her chest, her feet firmly planted in the ground as she glowered at everything in sight. The people nearby shrunk under the weight of her glares, terrified and in mild disbelief. That hairpiece revealed her as the Fire Nation Princess… but there was no chance that they would run into the Princess in a monorail! Why would she need to take public transportation in the first place? It made no sense…

"Uh… aren't you going to sit down?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

Azula's eyes widened as she stared at him skeptically.

"Me? Sit… here? Where all these commoners and peasants have placed their bottoms and hell knows what else…? You really expect me to sit on those filthy, pathetic seats?"

Sokka's eyebrow lowered again and he shrugged, dropping on the filthy, pathetic seats Azula had been complaining about.

"Alright, then" he said, moving over on his bench as if he were waiting for someone to sit next to him.

"What are you doing?" asked Azula, frowning and glaring at him in distrust.

"You'll see, you'll see," said Sokka, leaning back on his seat and staring at Azula nonchalantly.

Once again, Azula felt a nigh unbearable urge to punch him. What was he waiting for? Why was he leaving room by his side, as if he thought she would grow tired of standing in the train for too long? Oh, if only to antagonize him she would stand on her two feet through the entire journey. He would learn soon enough not to underestimate her…

A few more people hopped on board before the train began moving again. The last passenger to join them closed the door behind him. Azula's scowl remained as powerful as it had been… until the train started moving with a jolt.

The Princess was thrown off balance by the unexpected motion of the floor beneath her. The train had moved so brusquely that her momentum forced her to spread out a hand into the air, yet that wouldn't be enough for her to keep her footing… she was coming closer to that disgusting floor in which all the peasants from Ba Sing Se had treaded time over and time again…

Her horror froze on her face when a strong arm caught her, surrounding her waist powerfully before lifting her and placing her in the spare room Sokka had left on the bench next to himself. Sokka released her from his grip quickly, knowing she would be anything but pleased about him touching her as he had, no matter if he had saved her from falling face-first on the floor. He folded his arms across his chest, not looking at her to try and spare her the awkwardness. Yet once she unfroze and registered what had happened, she snapped at him, as ever.

"W-why did you…?! Who told you to…?!"

"Nobody," said Sokka, simply. "After falling on my face many times while we were riding the train tank, I figured what would happen if you didn't sit down. No need to thank me, not at all…"

"Why would I thank you?!" she shouted. "You've made me…!"

"Place your bottom where so many other bottoms have been before?" asked Sokka. "Well, sorry. I didn't have a handkerchief of any sort to keep you from getting your clothes dirty, but I figured you'd rather place your butt where the butts go than place your face where the feet go, am I right?"

Azula's impulse to hit the man next to her only seemed to grow by the minute. Her spite at him increased even further when she realized he was right. She fumed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"So… I'm not going to get a thank you…?" Sokka asked, inquisitively.

"Keep pushing your luck and you'll see what you're going to get," she growled back, making Sokka pout.

"You know, that's really unfair. All I'm doing is helping you out to achieve your…!"

"Shut-up!" Azula commanded between gritted teeth, making Sokka jump. He had forgotten completely about the people around them, who were regarding them with grimaces and confused stares.

"Oh… oh. Sorry," he said, gulping and deciding to keep his mouth shut for now.

The train sped up, and the houses of the Upper Ring began scrolling past them in a blur. Azula couldn't deny it anymore, traveling on this monorail would get them to the east wing of the city in a fragment of the time it would have taken them either on foot or on the palanquin. As much as she hated the thought of traveling on public transportation, it came in handy in a desperate situation like hers. Yet there was a question that kept bugging her…

"And… what's next?" she asked, after the train had stopped two or three times in stations of the Middle Ring.

"What do you mean, what's next?" asked Sokka, puzzled.

"We've come all this way on the monorail, yes… but we're not going to reach the town where the Rhinos are hiding on a train, in case you didn't notice," Azula stated, glaring at him.

"Uh… well, I didn't think that far…" Sokka admitted, rubbing his growing stubble with his thumb.

"So you brought me all the way here without thinking things through?" Azula asked, growing desperate.

"Who was the one who dragged me through the Earth Kingdom without thinking things through either?!" Sokka squealed, his voice cracking in a silly manner as he defended himself by attacking Azula.

The Princess huffed again and shook her head, sinking in her seat as she furrowed her brow and gripped her arms tightly with her hands, her legs crossed. Unknowingly, Sokka mimicked most her movements, albeit his legs remained uncrossed. They both stared pointedly at another side of the train, determined not to speak to each other for however long it took them to reach the edge of the city.

Their wagon grew more crowded as they reached the most populated areas of the city. People came and went, some staring at the unusual pair by the door, others too lost in their own affairs to take notice of their presence. Sokka had remained grumpy for a while, but as the train made its way through the city, he grew to forget why he had been mad at Azula in the first place. Evidently, her short-term memory wasn't cleared as quickly as his. Sokka glanced at her worriedly occasionally, noticing she had kept her uptight position through the entire time they had been on the train. He rather doubted there would be something he could do to make amends for what he was putting her through… but he knew that, once they caught the Rough Rhinos, she would likely grow to appreciate him dragging her into the train. She wouldn't thank him for it, most certainly, but he didn't need her to.

By the time they arrived to the eastern end of the city, all the way to the outer wall, the wagon they were traveling in was empty but for the two of them.

"This is our stop," said Sokka, standing up. To his surprise, Azula seemed calmer after fuming for around an hour. He opened the train's doors for her, and Azula walked into the platform while gazing at everything coldly.

Sokka led the way through the station again, guiding the Princess down flights of stairs that would lead them to the city gates. There was a metallic door wide open at the bottom of the wall, allowing people in and out of the city. Sokka and Azula were about to pass through them when a soldier clad in red stopped them.

"Hold it. Where are your permits to leave the city?" he asked, without even bothering looking at them.

Sokka noticed a vein in Azula's temple pulsating dangerously. Sokka stared at the guy in disbelief and muttered.

"Hey… are you serious? Don't you know who this is?"

"Don't I know who…?" said the man, rolling his eyes and finally getting a good look at Azula. He froze in place before bowing his entire torso down in quite a ridiculous fashion. "P-Princess! B-by all means! Go ahead, go ahead!"

"That's more like it," grunted Azula, storming out of the city with Sokka following her dutifully.

To Sokka's surprise and relief, there was a small market on the outskirts of Ba Sing Se. People were selling articles and objects that would come in handy to travelers that were about to leave the city; they also sold food and water for those who were only just arriving. Sokka gazed around eagerly until he found what he was looking for, and he ushered Azula to follow him as he ran towards a stall, the largest one nearby.

An old man sat on a short stool before a set of corrals that held several kinds of animals, all of them beasts of burden. He lifted his head when he caught sight of the two travelers, and he had to rub his eyes, dumbfounded, when he realized one of them was none other than the Fire Lord's daughter.

"Hey there," said Sokka, lifting a hand in greeting. "We need mounts, if you may…"

"W-why… why of course!" said the man, squealing and jumping off his seat immediately.

Azula cringed when she saw the filthy rags the man was dressed in. He probably hadn't shaved in months, maybe even years, and some of his teeth were missing. She didn't feel like borrowing her mount from a man like that…

"I have the finest ostrich horses you'll find in over twenty miles!" he declared, proudly, gesturing at the animals while beaming at them with his toothless grin.

"N-no, thank you…" said Azula, revolted at the sight. "Do you have mongoose dragons?"

"Oh! Naturally!" said the man, walking past the ostrich horses and a few other creatures before finding the enclosure that held a group of green reptiles. "I grew these babies myself! They're fine creatures, yes they are! Not many travelers pick the mongoose dragons, but I'm sure you know what you're doing!"

"Clearly enough…" grunted Azula, her eyebrows twitching.

"Can you give us two of them?" asked Sokka, as the man released one of the lizards.

"Ah? Well, of course…" said the man, allowing a second mongoose dragon out of the enclosure that held the animals. "I was certain you would be riding Her Majesty to her destination… never mind an old man's assumptions! Thank you for choosing us!"

Azula found it unusual for the man to speak in plurals, yet she decided to ignore the matter. Soon enough, the beasts had been saddled and they were ready to take off.

"It would seem he takes better care of the creatures than of himself," said Azula, caressing the lizard's neck before climbing onto its saddle.

"We should be grateful for that," said Sokka, chuckling as he imitated her and jumped on top of his steed.

Sokka waved the man goodbye after they paid him for his services, and they were finally ready to leave.

"See? I just improvised and it worked wonders!" said Sokka, smiling proudly as they sat next to each other on their mounts. "We'll find the Rhinos in no time!"

Azula rolled her eyes. It was slightly annoying that things kept going so well for him…

"Do you know how to ride?" she asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Oh, please," said Sokka, rolling his eyes and chuckling. "I spent weeks on end living with lizards just like this one, in case you've forgotten. I've gotten to know these creatures oh, so well…"

Azula raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Oh, really?"

"Of course!" said Sokka, confident. He pulled at the beast's reins, to usher it forward…

And the mongoose dragon stood on its hind legs unexpectedly, causing Sokka to drop on the ground with a thud. Azula couldn't hold back a small smirk as Sokka stared blankly at the sky, completely confused about what had happened.

"I'm going to assume you actually wanted to get the mongoose dragon to do that…" said Azula, smiling at him as she shook her reins slightly and her mount began walking slowly.

Sokka groaned before standing up and climbing on his beast again, feeling quite foolish. He shook the reins just as Azula had done with hers, and effectively, the lizard stared walking.

"Okay, okay… it's not as simple as I thought it would be," he said, when he finally caught up with Azula.

"I learned how to ride these creatures when I was ten," Azula told him. "You shouldn't need much practice to learn how to do it… unless I'm overestimating your brain capacities, that is."

Sokka groaned but said nothing. His submissiveness this time wasn't of the latest kind, though… their strange relationship seemed to be returning to its rocky ways now. He wasn't allowing her to get away with everything she said in hopes to atone for his mistakes anymore… which was all Azula needed to know that he had no idea how to reply to her this time. She allowed herself a small smirk as the animals progressed east through the landscape.

Azula gave Sokka a few tips on how to ride the mongoose dragon in a sprint, driven by her eagerness to find the Rough Rhinos as quickly as possible. In normal instances, she would have rather watched him struggle and fall off his mount as many times as possible, but time was of the essence. They needed to be as quick about their business as they could be.

After Sokka understood how to ride a galloping mongoose dragon, they began advancing much quicker. After an hour of riding they crossed a bridge over the river, and not far from the running water stood an impressive mountain range covered by a blanket of trees. Azula led her dragon towards the road into the mountains, this time in a walk instead of a sprint, experiencing a strange sense of foreboding just by staring at the mountains ahead of her. Why did she have a bad feeling about it, she didn't understand… but it wouldn't stop her regardless. She had a mission to accomplish, and to do so she had to find the town the Captain had mentioned. There was no point in questioning it, she had to get the job done and uncomfortable feelings wouldn't stop her from achieving her goals.

Sokka followed her, growing wary as the road twisted and turned, leading them deep into the heart of the mountain range. Often there would be a deep and deadly slope at either side of the road, and Sokka couldn't help but grimace at the thought of what would happen to them if their steeds gave the smallest misstep. He gulped and tried to keep his imagination under control as he followed Azula, hoping to find a trace of the Rough Rhinos eventually.

They had been traveling through the mountain for about another hour when they found an unexpected fork in their path. The road split in two ways, one to the right that led higher and higher through the mountain, and another to the left, which seemed to move towards a small valley instead.

Azula stopped her mongoose dragon and stared at both roads, frowning.

"Which way are we going to take?" asked Sokka, catching up with her and making his mount halt as well.

"Why do you think I've stopped?" Azula growled. "It's because I have no idea. The Captain didn't mention anything about this…"

"I don't know how he would have known about it in the first place…" said Sokka, frowning and stepping down from his lizard.

"What are you doing?" Azula asked, confused.

"I'm going to get a look at the road," said Sokka, kneeling on the ground and staring at the ground beneath him. "I'll try to track down the Rhinos by their mounts' footprints."

Azula raised an inquisitive eyebrow, surprised by Sokka's initiative.

"Seems like your savagery will be of some use for once," she muttered, making him cringe.

Sokka didn't reply, busy as he was trying to discern the tracks on the ground. He didn't spot the prints of the rhinos, despite staring intently around him, but he knew it didn't mean the Rough Rhinos hadn't passed by these pathways. He couldn't find their prints because other creatures had stepped down the same road, and their footprints had overlapped to the point that it became downright impossible to recognize the tracks of any animal.

"It's… it's no good," said Sokka, studying both roads. "They could have been here, but other people have passed by as well. I can't tell which prints would belong to them."

"And so, your savagery was no use, as ever," said Azula, sighing. "I shouldn't have expected otherwise."

"Yet… most footprints lead to the route to the left," said Sokka, scowling. "I'm figuring that's where the town is."

"But you don't know for certain," grunted Azula. "Do you?"

"It's hard to tell," said Sokka, sighing. "But I've got the feeling that the town must be this way. It's my… my savage's instinct speaking, if you will"

"And I'm supposed to believe in your 'instincts', am I?" asked Azula, skeptical.

"Well, it's better to go down one of these roads than to stay here debating forever about which way to go!" exclaimed Sokka. "Come on. If we find nothing down this way, you win. If we find the Rough Rhinos, you still win. So how about we get going?"

Azula sighed in exasperation, feeling like she wouldn't win at all if Sokka happened to be wrong. Yet she steered her mongoose dragon to the left, making Sokka run to climb on his mount as quickly as possible, attempting to keep up with her.

The road was long and twisted, and it descended amongst trees and wild vegetation. It grew extremely narrow until it suddenly grew wider, revealing a group of houses huddled in a small valley below. Azula raised an eyebrow as she eyed the town with distrust.

"Seems like you guessed correctly," she said, and Sokka smirked proudly behind her.

"I told you to trust my instincts, didn't I?"

"They'd better be here for real…" muttered the Princess, steering her mongoose dragon through the road until they finally reached the town's entrance.

The town was comprised by a set of old, wooden houses that looked like they were about to collapse. Both Sokka and Azula stared around in disgust when they saw men splayed on the ground, some seemingly asleep, others clearly dead, given the pool of dry blood that surrounded them and the number of flies hovering nearby. Empty bottles of alcohol were lying around in the same manner as the men, and grass grew wildly around the houses.

A couple of men sitting outside their houses leered at them as they entered the village, and Sokka glared back at them warily, the weight of his weapons reassuring him that, if worst came to worst, he would be able to defend both the Princess and himself from them.

"Do you see anything?" Azula asked under her breath, leaning slightly towards Sokka.

"No. There's no sign of them," said Sokka, frowning.

"Where are the rest of the people?" she asked, looking around herself in irritation. "Is it they're all drunk, dead or asleep?"

"No… look," said Sokka, pointing at a tavern ahead of them. Noise was coming from the small shack, and he could see through its windows that the establishment was somewhat crowded. "Looks like most of them are in there. Maybe… maybe the Rhinos are in there too."

Azula's eyes narrowed at the thought. She ushered her mount forward, her chest burning with determination… until Sokka put his lizard in her way, stopping her drastically.

"What are you doing?" she asked, staring at him in confusion.

"I'll go," he said, staring at her earnestly. "You stay here."

"Uh… you'll go? You expect me to let you go in there to look for the Rough Rhinos on your own?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Chances are, they're not even here," said Sokka, sighing. "Else the komodo rhinos would be around."

"I thought the same thing…" whispered Azula, feeling slightly distraught. "But if there's the slim chance that they're in here somewhere, I have to go see for myself."

"No, you don't," said Sokka, shaking his head.

"What's with you?" asked Azula, shocked. "Are you trying to stop me from finding them, by any chance?"

"No, I'm… look around you," said Sokka, sighing. "See those guys lying around, see the horrid state of this town… this used to be an actual village, people lived here. But these guys… these criminals took over the place. And that tavern is full of them. We're in their territory, and if you walk in there…"

"You think they could get away with anything they'd try to do to me? Really?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I don't think they would get away with it," said Sokka, rubbing his forehead. "But I'd rather they don't even try to do anything to you in the first place."

"Are you… protecting me?" Azula asked, grimacing.

"Well… at least I'm trying to," said Sokka, sighing and feeling quite foolish. "It's safer for you to stay outside, Azula. I'll deal with these guys. My time in Hui Yi taught me how to handle men like these. For your sake… let me do it."

Azula frowned and rolled her eyes in resignation.

"Fine, then. Find them, and if they're not in there, find out where they went. Got it?"

"Yeah. I'll be back with you in a heartbeat!" he said, steering his mount towards the tavern.

Azula followed him, and she climbed off her mongoose dragon right after Sokka had entered the rugged establishment. Azula patted the creature's neck before looking around, distrustful of her surroundings. The village seemed mostly deserted except for the noise coming from the inside of the tavern and those two men who had glared at them. Azula looked at the building once more, somewhat worried about Sokka. Could the Rhinos be inside…? She rather doubted they were. If they had been here at some point, they were most likely long gone by now.

An unexpected scream cut across the town, startling the Princess. She turned to where she heard the yell, cautious of whatever might be going on… was it her imagination, or were those the low groans of a creature or some sort? Could it be a komodo rhino? The sound was coming from behind a building… whoever was responsible for it was blocked from sight. Azula's common sense told her to wait near the inn, Sokka would come back any second now and she would be free to leave the wretched town, never mind the noises. Yet she heard more whimpers from where the shout had originated, and more sounds that no human could utter…

Azula frowned and walked away from her mongoose dragon, her gaze fixed on the building behind which she was starting to suspect she might find the Rough Rhinos… or, if she wasn't so lucky, at least one member of the group. She would be grateful for anything at this point. The eagerness was making her nervous, but she also felt a twinge of fear over what might hide at the other side of the building…

She was holding her breath when she finally caught sight of what there was behind the building. Yet, to her disappointment, it wasn't the Rough Rhinos or anything related to them.

Instead, she found a large creature with brown fur and no eyes, snarling at an ugly man who was lying on the ground, whimpering and squirming. It seemed the man was paralyzed and unable to move. The creature was unlike anything Azula had seen before. Its nose was star-shaped, the claws at the end of each of the four legs were sharp and deadly. There was a saddle on its back, and a woman was just climbing off it, approaching the man on the ground menacingly.

"Hope you realize this is no game now," she said, her hand wrapping around the fabric on the man's shirt and pulling him up with such ease Azula was impressed. She wouldn't have guessed the woman would be strong enough to lift a grown man with only one arm, given her delicate complexion. Her jet-black hair scrolled down her back, although part of it was tied in a high knot. Her clothes were of black leather, and she had a snake tattooed on her shoulder. Her lips and eyelashes were highlighted against her extremely pale skin through the makeup that darkened them. "I'm not even going to ask you to come quietly… it's not like you have a choice."

The man whimpered a little more before the woman threw him over her shoulder; she was hardly fazed by carrying all his weight. She was turning to place the man on her steed when she took notice of someone's presence through the corner of her eye. She raised an eyebrow as she regarded her unexpected eyewitness, whose red clothes and high-born demeanor were completely out of place in a town overtaken by criminals.

"Enjoying the show?" the woman asked, raising an eyebrow.

Azula blinked rapidly when the stranger spoke to her. Intent as she had been to discover who was behind the building, she hadn't noticed she was standing in plain sight right now.

"What's that thing…?" she whispered, frowning.

"Who, her?" asked the woman, surprised by the question. She walked towards her companion and slung the man she had defeated over the saddle, having him dangle with his head and legs in the air. "Nyla is my shirshu. She could smell your pretty royal scent all the way to the center of the earth if need be. But you see…"

The woman finished tying her hostage down on her beast's saddle before turning around to face Azula directly.

"We're not the ones who should be getting questioned here," she said. "What business could bring a big shot like the Fire Lord's daughter to these territories? Are we trying to catch a few criminals to impress daddy?"

The woman's condescendence made Azula cringe. It bothered Azula that her identity would be given away so easily, but there was no use denying who she was. She didn't mean to hide her identity anyways.

"My business is of no concern of the likes of you," the Princess stated. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Who, well, that ought to be my business and mine alone, just as your business is yours and yours alone," said the woman, smirking.

Azula didn't need to hear another word from her to be certain she disliked the woman. Yet she seemed to fit in this place, whereas Azula didn't. Perhaps she had been here long enough to see the Rough Rhinos, she might know where they were hiding…

"I could change my mind about that, then," said Azula, with a small frown.

"Oh, really?" asked the woman, raising an eyebrow. "And you think that will make me change mine?"

"Truth to be told, I don't need to know who you are," said Azula. "I don't even care for whatever it is you're up to… though given your attitude, what you just did and the creature you have with you, I'd say you're a bounty hunter of some sort."

"Wow, seems like daddy's girl knows how to put that mind to work," said the woman. "He must be beaming with pride."

"I wish I could say the same for your father, but I rather doubt he'd feel the same way about you," said Azula, sick already of the woman's attitude.

"Indeed, Princess…" said the woman. "My father wouldn't be proud of me because he would die of envy all over again if he knew that, with the shirshu he handed down to me, I've managed to catch five times the men he handed over to the authorities in his entire lifespan."

"Why, congratulations for your grand achievements," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "I didn't come all this way to hear you brag about your meaningless accomplishments."

"Given you didn't even know I existed until just a few minutes ago, I figured not. But why exactly should I care for what you came here for…?"

"Didn't you ask about it just a moment ago?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"People have slip-ups from time to time due to curiosity…" said the woman, climbing aboard her mount. "… but now that I've mulled it over a little more, I realize what brought you here has nothing to do with me."

"Well, now it does," Azula grunted. "As the heir to the Fire Lord, I command you to answer my questions."

"Oh… this is how you're going to play it?" asked the woman, amused. "I'll break it to you, then, seeing how you haven't got a clue of how the world works outside your palace's golden walls… I don't care for who your father is, or who you're supposed to be, because I have no allegiances to your nation or to any other nations for that matter. The only thing I owe anything to is money. Everything else is meaningless. So, unless you've got a sack of gold with you, which seems quite unlikely, I don't see any reason why I should give you the answers you seek."

"So you're not going to help? Your collaboration comes at a price?" Azula asked.

"You catch on quick," said the woman, smirking approvingly.

Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"All I need to know is if the Rough Rhinos passed by this town, and if they did, then I want you to point out which way they went. That's all there is to it."

"And?" asked the bounty hunter, waiting for her cash eagerly. "Where's the money? No money, no information. It's that simple."

"I… I don't have any money on me," Azula growled, becoming painfully aware that she was wearing a very expensive hairpiece… but she wouldn't give it to the bounty hunter, not even to put an end to her goose chase.

"Well, that's too bad," said the bounty hunter. "I've got a big fish to deliver to Ba Sing Se, and this conversation won't get me there any faster. Good luck in your future duty as a ruler… you'll need it if this is the extent of your skills as a negotiator."

Azula snarled as the woman took the reins of her beast in her hands and pulled them, making the animal lift its head and turn around to leave…

"Wait!" said Azula, her fists clenched.

The bounty hunter stopped on her tracks and gazed at her curiously. Azula began lifting a trembling hand towards the hairpiece that crowned her head, knowing she would come to regret this decision thoroughly… damn, she was regretting it already…

"Azula!" Sokka called out suddenly, startling the Princess as she was about to take the hairpiece out of place. "There you are!"

Azula stared at him in surprise as Sokka approached, sprinting towards her.

"The men at the pub weren't exactly helpful…" he admitted, staring at Azula without paying any heed to their surroundings. "But I confirmed the Rhinos were here not long ago. So maybe if we find someone a little easier to persuade we might… Azula?"

Sokka blinked a few times as Azula dropped her hand, only realizing now that she looked quite distraught. He stared at her in confusion, wondering what she was doing behind this building as he gazed about in curiosity…

His eyes widened when they found June's.

The bounty hunter had been staring at him in utter surprise from the moment he had showed up, having expected anything but to find him here. She frowned as she eyed him warily, and then she looked at the Princess that stood right next to him. Realizations began striking her with the force of an earthquake, and suddenly everything she knew about Sokka started to take a different meaning…

"Of course…" said June, chuckling slightly. "Of course. The Princess… it all adds up."

"J-June…" said Sokka, growing paler as he stared at her.

Azula came out of her daze when she realized Sokka had called the strange woman by a name… her name. She looked at Sokka in confusion, wondering what that expression on his face could mean.

"It's been a while," said the bounty hunter, her smirk growing more prominent with every passing moment. "I'd ask if everything's faring alright… but I suppose things worked out just fine for you, huh?"

"W-well, I… I wouldn't say that." Sokka gulped, growing more nervous with every passing moment.

"No? Then I hope you learned that alcohol doesn't help to clear a man's mind, at the very least," said June, smiling.

"What…?" said Azula, making Sokka freeze as she spoke. The worst nightmare he could have ever had was coming true… "What's going on here…?"

"Oh, you mean she doesn't know?" asked June, growing even more amused. "Why, that's not a very solid foundation for a relationship, Sokka. You shouldn't be so secretive"

"What is she…? What are you talking about?!" Azula said, staring from one to the other with uncertainty. "Do you know each other?!"

"Oh, we know each other just as well as any man and woman could get to know one another… if you catch my drift," said June, winking at Sokka suggestively.

The meaning behind June's words struck Azula worse than a jolt of lightning. Her eyes grew wide as she looked at Sokka, her stare locking with his just for a moment… but it was long enough. Sokka looked back at her, aghast, before she lowered her unfocused gaze, because staring at him was growing too painful to bear. Azula's unfocused eyes were set on the ground below her, her two fists clenched so hard that her nails were digging into her skin. No… no… this couldn't be right. It had to be a lie. It couldn't be true…

Sokka kept looking at her worriedly, knowing she had understood what June had implied. This was no good. This was definitely no good. But how to soothe her? How to talk to her? What was he supposed to say…? Well, for starters he had to get rid of the woman who had ruined all the progress of their relationship with a single sentence…

"J-June…" he said, almost begging her with his eyes to leave.

"Ah, I was just about to take off anyways," said the bounty hunter. "But I suppose I can give you what you guys want… for old times' sake, huh, Sokka?"

Azula began shivering in anger at the woman's words, her chest heaving as she found it harder to breathe. Old times' sake… she'd had sex with Sokka. They had slept together. And recently, most likely… because she came to a realization about Azula upon seeing Sokka again. She had spoken about the solid foundations of their relationship… oh, no doubt she was mocking them. June already knew there was absolutely nothing going on between the Princess and Sokka. But she had also mentioned alcohol… to Azula's awareness, Sokka only had alcohol in one particular night ever since they had struck their deal…

The day in which she had kissed him.

The very same day in which he had dated Kyoshi's Heir and gotten in the sack with her… the very same day in which he had gotten involved with the woman before them right now.

Tears began burning in her eyes before she knew it. She wanted to hurt him. She wanted to slay him, to make him feel as miserable as she did right now. How had he dared…? Why? Why had it come to this…?

"The Rough Rhinos were here alright," said June. "They returned through the way they came, and they ran uphill. They like terrorizing the towns by the high road, and they were boasting about taking off to do it while they were in the pub. If you're quick, you might catch them before they strike the first town."

Sokka nodded slowly, grateful for the information but too concerned about Azula's reaction to say another word to June.

"Well, then, I guess that's it for today. I take my leave now, gladiator, Princess," finished June, striking her shirshu with a whip and making her bolt down between the huddled houses, vanishing from sight quickly, but for Sokka she hadn't been quick enough.

Sokka stared at Azula worriedly, afraid of saying anything. The way she was shivering, the way her eyes were wider than he had ever seen them before, the way her fists shook as she tightened them even more…

"Azula…" he said, stretching a hand towards her without a clue of what to do…

Azula jumped out of reach as quickly as she could, her eyes gleaming as she glared accusingly at him. He could see it, the betrayal in her eyes, the pain that seemed to be strong enough to split her entire being…

"You… you scum…" she snarled, blinking rapidly to dissolve the tears on her eyes. "You lowly, pathetic, disgusting…!"

"Azula, I can… let me explain!" he started, but he was forced to shut up with a jet of blue fire flew straight at his face.

Sokka ducked and nearly fell over himself to avoid the blow, and he stared at Azula in horror as she prepared to strike another blow, punching the air in front of her and producing another fistful of flames, which sparkled most unusually before striking him on the chest.

Sokka rolled on the ground instinctively, trying to stiffen the flames, yet Azula wouldn't stop. She unleashed a series of fire fists on him, pushing him further and further away from her, and setting other of his clothing items on fire as she did.

She spoke no more words, since there was nothing she could say to express the indignation coursing through her body right now. Before she knew what she was doing, she ran towards the mongoose dragons and jumped on the nearest one, not even caring if it was the one that had brought her here in the first place. She shook the reins too harshly, causing the lizard to almost lose balance, yet she forced it to move straight to the road that had brought her here in the first place. Sokka was left behind, still fighting against the fire she had set on his clothes, and Azula half-heartedly wished she had stayed to watch him squirm in agony… but she knew that wouldn't have made her feel any better.

She forced the lizard into an all-out sprint as it ran through the pathways of the mountain, and she made it take the right turn when she arrived at the fork again. Even though she had been too shocked to speak, she had heard every word June had uttered. She would catch those Rough Rhinos even if it was the last thing she did. She didn't care for what Sokka had done, or for what he would do in the future… he was as good as dead to her now. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.

Tears dropped from her eyes, and she snarled as she wiped them away. Why did it hurt so much, why…? She already knew he was a worthless asshole! Why would this new revelation make things any different? She didn't know, and knowing probably wouldn't have made her feel any better either way. She pushed the lizard further, not caring for how dangerous it was to run at such speed when there was a deadly cliff opening at the left side of the road. But she didn't care. She wished that by running like this she would manage to leave her grief behind… She wanted to forget. She wanted to have nothing to regret. She wanted to erase her story with the gladiator and start anew, this time without being as gullible, this time knowing what the jerk was capable of…

The road had been winding for a moment, but it suddenly grew straight for a few meters… and to Azula's surprise, she spotted a group of men in front of her. A group of men, dressed in red and black clothes… riding komodo rhinos.

"I told you to get your water done in the town!" yelled Mongke, glaring at one of his teammates. Ogodei was crouched by the slope, trying to pee and apparently failing at it.

"It's hard to get anything done when your boss is nagging you!" Ogodei shouted back and Vachir shook his head disapprovingly at the man's response… when he caught sight of an unfamiliar figure at the end of the road, glaring at them with enraged eyes.

"Boss…" said Vachir, frowning.

Mongke was surprised by Vachir's call, and even more so when he saw what Vachir was looking at. His lips formed a smile as he caught sight of the Fire Nation Princess riding an exhausted mongoose lizard. Princess Azula looked like she was in quite a disarray, her hair out of its proper hairdo, her chest heaving and her eyes unfocused and red.

"Well, well… look what we have here," said Mongke, ushering his mount to bring him towards the center of the road again. Ogodei zipped his pants up quickly before jumping back on his rhino, turning to look at whoever their new visitor was. "Did Ozai send you? Were you the one who set those lousy soldiers on us?"

"It's none of your business…" growled Azula, allowing her rage to fuel her fighting spirit. Oh, at last… at last she was before them. Finally, she would set things right. She would do what she had to do. She would catch the criminals, bring them to justice and make her father proud… and after that, she would forget about Sokka. She could forget about him. It wasn't so hard to accomplish…

"I'm just thinking he's downright nice, sending us his little girl so that we can get our own share of fun… in more than one sense, if you know what I mean," said Mongke, smirking. "He should have sent his son, we wouldn't have wanted to do anything but butcher him up good. But you… it would be a shame to hurt such a pretty flower, don't you think, boys?"

"Oh, damn right…" said Ogodei, smiling.

"Indeed, it would be a shame," said Azula. "There's nothing to fear, though. I'll be more than capable of destroying you without breaking a sweat and without getting hurt by any of you in the process."

"Such confidence… got it from your father, no doubt," said Mongke. "You really think you can take on all of us? You sure you won't end up like that guard we trampled to death?"

Azula's eyes blazed with even more fury upon those words. She released the reins of her lizard and jumped off her steed, unleashing an incredibly potent array of fire at her enemy with a spin kick. Mongke struggled to bend his way around Azula's attack and counter her with a few fire balls, yet Azula struck all his attacks down with larger ones of her own.

But Mongke wasn't the only thing she had to worry about. Vachir lifted his bow and aimed at her, releasing an arrow straight towards Azula.

The Princess noticed the projectile before it reached her, and she shot a powerful fire fist to destroy it… but the flint tip made it through Azula's inferno, and to her horror and pain, the tip lodged itself between the knuckles of her middle and index fingers.

She stopped attacking shortly to remove the stone from her skin, unable to muffle a shriek as she did. Ogodei threw his chained ball at her, and Azula jumped out of the way just as she finally pulled out the projectile, her blood smearing the ground beneath her. Her right hand hurt horribly now, and she still had five grown men and their steeds to worry about.

If only she could bring forth lightning… but she couldn't. Her mind was in such a state of chaos right now that she couldn't consider attacking through such means. She jumped again and twirled around in midair, unleashing a powerful bolt of fire straight at Ogodei, to avoid having him toss his weapon at her again.

The man wasn't injured by her attack, but his rhino's saddle was set alight with flames. Ogodei jumped off him and the rhino seemed to lose its composure as he felt the flames licking at its skin. Azula continued attacking, with her left arm and her legs, but Mongke was stopping her every attack. The trees nearby were set on fire as they exchanged blows, but Azula didn't spare the vegetation much thought as she defended herself from her enemies.

"Restrain it!" shouted Kahchi, referring to the rhino on fire, which was starting to grow wilder and wilder as it attempted to relieve itself from the burning pain.

Mongke and Vachir continued attacking Azula as the other three members of the Rough Rhinos tried to appease the animal to no avail. Azula jumped out of the arrows' way, but by doing so she found herself in a most perilous position near the slope. One slip up and she was a goner…

She was about to come up with a plan to get back to safety when she realized the rhino on fire had suddenly started a desperate dash, trying to flee from the fire he couldn't be relieved from. And the rhino happened to be headed straight towards Azula.

Without knowing why, the Princess froze as she stared at the three horns that would pierce her body sooner than later… her mind kept yelling at her to move, her common sense told her to jump out of the way one way or another, but her body would not respond. She was unable to do anything as the komodo rhino threatened to kill her right then and there.

The Rough Rhinos were also staring at Ogodei's rhino, watching it as it was about to ram into Azula… which was why they failed to notice the newest arrival to their strange reunion in the mountain road.

Sokka pressed his mongoose dragon to run as quickly as possible as soon as he saw Azula struggling on the edge of the cliff, and he thought he would reach her on time to save her… but once he saw the rhino, his common sense told him it would be impossible. She was about to get killed by the animal, and afterwards she would spiral down into the slope, getting lost forever in the wilderness…

He couldn't let it happen. It didn't matter that she had set him on fire, it didn't matter that his logic told him he wouldn't be able to save her from the Rough Rhinos or from the burning komodo rhino that was running straight at her… he had to do something. He couldn't let it end like this. He wouldn't let it end like this.

He pressed on the mongoose dragon, and hardly knowing what he was doing, he jumped off the mongoose dragon's saddle once he was as near to her as he could get. For the second time on the same day, he draped one of his arms around her waist and pulled her away from the deadly peril…

Yet even though he had saved her from being rammed into by the rhino, the momentum of their fall forced them right down the mountainside. Azula had no idea of what had just happened, her mind seemed completely unable to process what was going on. She didn't even realize it was Sokka who had saved her, that it was him who was surrounding her body with his own to keep her safe from any possible injuries as they rolled downhill, crashing against trees and rocks alike. Sokka gritted his teeth, determined to protect Azula even though the pain caused by every injury he had received so far was becoming increasingly unbearable, to the point that his body didn't even know how to react to the blows anymore. The slope turned completely vertical and gravity reclaimed them, with a promise of nothing but blackness once they crashed into the ground…


	39. Chapter 39

Her head throbbed when she came to. For some reason she didn't want to open her eyes just yet. It was as if she were afraid of what she would find once she dared look at her surroundings…

She could tell she was lying on top of something soft, yet she had no idea what it was. It took her a second to realize that whatever lay underneath her was breathing weakly, yet she didn't assimilate what it meant. Her entire body ached, but her right hand hurt most of all. What had happened to her…? And why did she feel like she would be better off without knowing the answer to that question?

The sounds around her were most unusual. She could hear a mild breeze blowing through the nearby trees, and the scent filling her nostrils was that of soil. Her left hand stretched out towards the ground, beyond her breathing cushion, and she touched earth and grass.

She couldn't keep shying away from reality anymore. It didn't matter if it was easier to keep her eyes closed, she had to open them and assess the situation. Lifting her eyelids was harder than she expected it to be, and her unfocused eyes struggled to discern the shapes of the trees around her… why did it look like she was in the middle of a jungle? What on earth had happened to her? Where was she?

She tried to push herself up, but jolts of pain ran through her right arm when she made the slightest effort. She cringed before looking at what lay underneath her. Her eyes opened wide, even if they were still unfocused, when she realized the breathing cushion had been none other than Sokka.

His face was emblazoned with cuts and most his hair had fallen off his wolf tail. Azula looked down at his torso, and she saw several rips on his churned clothing. Burns, bruises and scrapes covered his skin. He was unconscious, just as she had been just a moment ago… and his arms were surrounding her body, embracing her tightly even when he was knocked out.

Azula stared at him in horror, panic taking over her. She had to remind herself that he was breathing, that he wasn't dead… but even that wasn't enough to reassure her. They were stranded in a forest, she had no idea how they had gotten there… and she definitely couldn't carry Sokka's limp body when she was feeling as badly as she did. There was only one thing she could do as it was…

She shook his shoulder with her unharmed hand, softly at first, more brusquely later.

"Sokka… Sokka," she called him, her voice unusually raspy. "Wake… wake up, Sokka… Sokka… Sokka!"

Sokka's brow contracted as he started to return to consciousness. Azula continued calling out his name, not knowing what else to do. The gladiator cringed, her weight on his wounds increasing the pain his body had to bear. He opened his eyes slowly, having a hard time to comprehend that what spread above them were the tops of trees, in perfect contrast against the blue sky.

He was sprawled on top of something that was prodding at his back… and there was someone lying atop him as well. He gazed down at her, her golden eyes the first thing he saw. The concern spread over her beautiful face was mesmerizing until the gears of his mind began working anew and he realized why she seemed so worried.

He looked around him, noticing they were in the midst of wild vegetation. How had they ended up here, and where was 'here', for starters…?

He groaned and let go of Azula, only realizing that he had been holding her after releasing her from his grip.

"Sokka…?" she asked when he started moving.

"H-hey…" he muttered, using his arms to hoist them both to a sitting position. "You alright…? Anything… hurts?"

"Everything…" muttered Azula, starting to feel relieved to see he was able to speak and move on his own accord.

"That makes… two of us…" said Sokka, smiling slightly. "What… what happened?"

"It's what I'd like to know," Azula replied, looking around her worriedly. "Where the hell are we?"

Sokka frowned and imitated her, gazing around himself to figure things out. Upon looking at the ground he found that what had been poking his back had been broken branches. He stared at the top of the trees above them, only noticing now that they seemed to have been shattered by something that had collapsed through the trees… and that something had been, without a doubt, him and Azula.

"We… fell," said Sokka. "We fell from above. Down from… from the mountainside."

Azula frowned at his words, slightly confused for a moment… until her mind started to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The mountainside, the slope… the Rough Rhinos. She had almost gotten rammed by one of the komodo rhinos… she had fallen down the slope, avoiding getting pierced by those fearsome horns… but how did Sokka get here anyways?

She froze in place as more of the latest happenings returned to her mind. She had decided to chase the rhinos with him… accepted his help. But when they arrived to the brigands' town…

Azula pushed away from him, disengaging their bodies brusquely and glaring at him fiercely. It took Sokka a moment to realize why she suddenly seemed so upset. The cuts and bruises on his body were no fault of hers, but the burns on his chest and abdomen… Azula had been the one to place them there. And given the way she was glaring at him, she didn't regret it one bit.

"Azula…" he said, stretching a hand towards her.

"Get away from me…" she said, her golden eyes blazing. "Stay the hell away from me, Sokka…"

"Azula, don't… please, listen…"

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say! It's not going to make a damn difference!" she shouted, bolting up to her feet and attempting to storm away… but where to? No matter how badly she wished to put endless distance between them, she had no idea where to go while in this forest…

"Azula…" said Sokka, struggling to get up. "Please, there's no point in starting with this right now…"

"Oh, of course there's not," she replied, rolling her eyes. "You're the worst lowlife I've ever seen. You… you're disgusting."

"Yeah… I am," said Sokka, using a tree to support his weight. "But we… we have to get out of here somehow, and… and fighting about the past isn't going to help us do it."

"We do have to get out of here somehow," grunted Azula. "But unlike you, scum, I can get myself out of this damned forest just fine."

"Oh, really…?" asked Sokka, growing irritated. "How?"

"Flying," Azula replied, making him raise an eyebrow.

"Flying? So you're an airbender now?"

"I don't need to be one to fly," Azula growled, approaching a nearby vertical, natural wall… the mountainside they had fallen down from. She looked at it intently, realizing it was too steep to climb, and they were both too weak to climb it anyways… but she didn't need to climb anything. She could boost herself into the air with fire, and rid herself of Sokka forevermore.

"So… you're just going to leave me here?" Sokka asked, staring at her in disbelief.

"I doubt you could give me a good reason why I shouldn't," Azula growled back. She had found the Rough Rhinos… she was certain to find them again sooner than later if she flew up to the road once more. There was absolutely no reason why she had to stay in this hellhole with him.

Sokka stared at her, frowning. Azula took a few steps back and balled her hands into fists… or at least, she tried to do it. The injury on her right hand sent arrays of pain up and down her arm, forcing her to interrupt her motions.

Azula winced and gasped, stretching her hand again immediately in an attempt to ease the pain. She couldn't bend like this… she couldn't use her fire to boost herself out of the forest if she only had one hand to do it. She was completely lost, in the middle of a forest, inside a mountain range… with Sokka, of all people.

"Are you alright…?" Sokka asked, approaching the Princess with difficulty.

"Get away from me, I said!" Azula shouted, using her left hand to throw a handful of fire at him.

Sokka evaded the blow and took a step back for safety. He frowned at the sight of her right hand, which was smeared with blood.

"You're hurt," he said. "How did that happen…?"

"Vachir," Azula growled. "He shot an arrow at me… I thought I could burn it, but the tip made it through my fire…"

"Let me look at it…" said Sokka. "I… I don't know much about healing, but I had to take care of myself when I was in Hui Yi, so…"

"You think I'm going to let you look at anything…?" Azula grunted. "Forget it. Get away from me, I said…"

"Azula… stop it," Sokka said, losing his patience. "Don't you realize how dangerous our situation is?"

"You think I don't?!" Azula replied, growing even angrier.

"It sure doesn't seem like it!" said Sokka, glaring at her. "We're lost in the middle of a forest! Nobody is bound to find for us here, because I doubt they'd even guess where we ended up at… and we're miles from the only road we knew. Villages and towns are out there someplace and we might be able to find them… but to do that, we need to survive, first of all."

"And you're saying that to survive we have to stick together?" Azula snarled.

"No… but I'm saying that we have a better chance to survive by working together," Sokka muttered.

"Well, I want nothing to do with you so I suppose we'll have to put up with the ominous odds. Have fun getting out of this forest."

"Azula, do you even know how to survive on your own in this situation?" Sokka asked. "Do you have a clue of how to do it?"

"I can improvise." Azula snapped.

"Well, you don't have to," said Sokka, cringing as his burns pained him again as if his skin was still on fire. "I know you don't want anything to do with me… that much is clear. And I… I don't blame you for it. I've already said so enough times. But I've been in dire circumstances before… and my savagery, as you'd call it, would come in handy to survive here. I know my word is worth nothing to you… but I swear I'll get you out of here even if it's the last thing I do."

"Why?" asked Azula, enraged. "Why do you want to get me out of here? Why do you think you're obligated to act the protector when you've never given a damn about me before?"

"When I've never…?" said Sokka, appalled. "Azula… don't. There's no point to this. We simply have to survive, forget the rest of it…"

"Why should I trust you to be able to get us out of this forest?" Azula grunted.

"Do you really have a choice but to trust me?" Sokka asked. "Is there a better alternative out there somewhere for you?"

Azula gritted her teeth and looked away from him. Of course there wasn't… but her survival didn't seem to matter all that much when she weighed it against the extent of his betrayal. Why, though…? Why was it a betrayal, when they had been nothing? Why did it hurt so much that he had gotten involved with two other women…? Well… she didn't even have to ask, in June's case. Sokka would have been too honorable or too foolish to refuse her, and it seemed he was neither. It hurt so much to know he had been with a woman like June; her beauty had a dark, mysterious quality that Azula doubted existed in her. It made her chest burn… because Sokka had no problem bedding that woman in one night, but when it had come to the Princess he had done nothing but goof around, toss her back and forth until she was completely smitten with him… and then he had ran off with other women who could provide him with what she couldn't. It hurt… it hurt more than her wounded hand, more than the bruises and scrapes she had gotten after falling down the slope…

"I mean it, Azula… I'll get us out of here somehow," he said. "You can… you can kill me after I've gotten you out of the forest if you want, burn me to cinders if that'll make you happy… I don't care. But you need me to survive this madness. At least… let me help you this time. Take advantage of my help… then do as you see fit."

"So… you're saying you don't care if I kill you," Azula said, her body shivering as she spoke those words.

"I… I don't… I don't know," Sokka muttered, lowering his head. The memory of his fight against the Blind Bandit came back to him… he had discarded his life, but Toph had said he wasn't even worth killing. Would Azula think the same way? He rather doubted it.

Azula shook her head and folded her arms over her chest, her expression indecipherable.

"Well, then…" she grunted. "What's your brilliant plan?"

Sokka couldn't help but feel relieved when she gave in at last. He had thought they would spend hours on end arguing… but it seemed she would be rational about this mess for now. Would she remain so reasonable for the rest of the day…? Sokka doubted it.

He unsheathed his knife from his belt and turned towards the slope they had fallen off from. He stared at it, studying it for quite a while and looking around him for reasons beyond Azula's understanding.

"What are you doing?" she grunted.

"I'm trying to figure out which way to go," he said. "We fell off from overhead, right? Then…"

"Then?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Then… this way," said Sokka, heading to his right and hacking at the vegetation to open a path for them.

Azula frowned, completely confused by what he was doing. Did he expect to find a way up to the road again? It seemed completely unlikely. The natural wall by their side spread up too high for them to climb, and she didn't recall having seen any alternate roads while she led her mongoose dragon through the mountain. The place they had fallen into had such thick vegetation that Azula thought no other humans had passed by the same territory in centuries… that is, if any humans had ever walked through these terrains.

Sokka cringed as he cut through vines and tree branches, the pain from his every wound making him wish he could simply lie down and rest… but he couldn't do it. Their survival depended on him… and he had promised the Captain that he would keep Azula safe. He had to protect her, nobody else could do it anymore. Her wellbeing depended on him, and even though he had been disappointing her constantly lately, he was determined to get her out of this mess one way or another.

They progressed further along the base of the mountain, Azula treading behind him and looking around herself in horror. Critters she had never seen in her life scrambled away as they passed by, some of them small, some of them large, and all of them making her unease grow. She glared at any insects she saw, wondering if they were poisonous… glared at plants, wondering if they were poisonous… glared at Sokka, knowing he was poisonous.

Azula nearly crashed against his back when Sokka halted unexpectedly.

"Why did you…?!" Azula started, until she looked past Sokka and her eyes widened in horror.

"That… is what we were coming this way for," said Sokka, grinding his teeth together as he stared at what lay before them.

The corpse of the komodo rhino was sprawled over rocks that used to be of a grayish color… now they were crimson. The animal had fallen down the slope all the same as they had, but he hadn't had the same luck as the Princess and her gladiator. His destiny had been to collapse on a sharp, rocky ledge, and his sturdy body had been pierced by the stone in enough places to cause him a slow death by bleeding. His head had been torn open by one of the rocks, allowing Sokka and Azula a very grim sight of what was left of his brain.

Azula wasn't one to flinch at gruesome sights… but this was downright shocking. It might be caused by the stress of the entire situation, but just by looking at the creature's mutilated body she felt the urge to retch. And as she stared at it, she became aware of why she felt that way…

"That…" she muttered. "That could have been us."

"Yeah," said Sokka, grimacing. "Good thing I pushed you out of the way, huh?"

"You… pushed me?" Azula asked.

"How do you think we ended up rolling down the slope?" Sokka asked, looking at her. "I saw the rhino was going to get you… there were only two choices: to let him pierce you and kill you, or to get you out of the way… and risk getting us both killed anyway. The odds for survival were higher if I got you out of the rhino's way, so that's what I did."

"Why…?" Azula muttered, staring at him in disbelief.

Sokka sighed and turned back towards the rhino. He didn't think explaining himself would help anyone. It would simply make Azula angrier, he knew as much. She could keep those questions for later, when their survival was guaranteed… or almost guaranteed. He couldn't say for certain they would be safe until they were out of the forest.

"I know this is going to sound bad… really bad," said Sokka, approaching the beast. "But… this is going to be our dinner."

Azula's eyes widened and she grew pale as she grimaced in disgust.

"Y-you have to be joking, y-you… no way. No way."

"Where do you think komodo sausages come from, Princess?" Sokka asked, staring at Azula with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, so you're going to use the rhino to make a sausage? Really? Do you even know what part of the rhino is used for that purpose?" Azula asked, skeptical.

"Well… when you put it that way…" said Sokka, smiling uncomfortably.

"How do you know what's edible in that thing and what isn't?" Azula asked, shaking her head.

"Well… the skin is most likely not edible," said Sokka, eyeing the dead animal. "The horns are definitely not edible… but I think we can make do with the rest. Depending on how much meat I can get out of him… we'll be set for a few days."

"Y-you want me to spend… days… eating the remnants of a komodo rhino?" Azula asked, her eyes growing wider with every word she uttered.

"Azula…" said Sokka, sighing. "If there was any other way, I'd take it no problem. But this is the best food source we have nearby, and most likely the best we'll find to survive this forest. It's easier than for me to try hunting or fishing or anything of the sort… and even if we chanced upon fruits, they could turn out to be deadly. This rhino is the easiest and safest food supply we have… so we should stick to it. We're not going to find anything better."

"B-but…" said Azula, grimacing. Suddenly she started to appreciate the Fire Nation imitation cuisine she had been eating during the past months…

Sokka knew her complaints were only going to be hollow from here on, since she knew well enough that they had no better alternatives. He studied the komodo rhino a little further, thinking about what had to be done… before turning towards Azula and handing her his knife. The Princess's eyes widened and she stared at him in horror.

"Y-you're not serious… you want me to do it?! You want ME to do it?!" she shouted, horrified.

"No, of course not!" said Sokka, shaking his head. "Calm down! I want you to use the knife to make a path through the woods. Try to find a river or a lake… a water source of any kind."

"Why…?" Azula asked, frowning.

"We need water and food, first of all," said Sokka. "Once we have that, we'll make sure we can survive for a few days. Hopefully we won't need to survive for much longer…"

"And meanwhile… you're going to tear the thing apart?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Sokka, nodding. "Open the path, and I'll follow you as soon as I'm done with this."

Azula glared at him, as defiant as ever.

"So… you're leaving me to fend for myself, with no concern over what's out there."

"Azula…" he muttered. "I wouldn't ask this of you if I could get it all done myself. But it's either chopping up the rhino or making way through the wilderness… what would you rather do?"

Her glare only grew more intense at his words.

"Maybe I should cut open several fake paths, then, to get you lost in this hell of a forest," Azula grunted, snatching the knife from him with a harsh movement.

"Do as you will," said Sokka, sighing. "But I'll go down every single path you open until I find you."

Azula glared icily at him before turning around and cutting down the plants nearby, walking away from the mountainside. Sokka watched her leave, wondering if maybe he should tag along… but he sighed as he concluded it would be best to leave her alone. The latest revelations had been a lot to handle, and if he pestered her any further she'd have the perfect excuse to light him on fire again. His clothes had ended up blackened after her previous attacks, and he didn't even want to give much thought to the many injuries he had sustained. If those injuries said anything, it was that Azula could fend for herself while he was dealing with the komodo rhino…

He turned around to face the dead carcass, and he released his sword from its sheath. He sighed and stared at the black blade, trying to ready himself for the task. He had sent Azula with his knife because he knew that gutting the creature would be far easier with his sword… but the more thought he gave what lay ahead, the more he regretted the entire situation.

"I shouldn't have told her to go look for the Rough Rhinos like this… right?" he said, sighing. "I'm so sorry, Space Sword. You weren't built for this sort of thing… But it's either this or dying. So… sorry again…"

He gritted his teeth before starting on his task, knowing Piandao would skin him instead if he knew what he was doing with one of his masterpieces…

Azula was surprised to find that chopping up plants was a handy way to release her frustrations. Spending time alone was allowing her rampant thoughts to further her anger and disappointment at everything that had happened recently. It wasn't only that Sokka had proved once more how much of an asshole he was… but the fact that she'd had the Rough Rhinos right in front of her, and she had failed to capture them. She also had no idea for how long had they remained unconscious at the bottom of that slope. Even if she could have propelled herself back onto the road, there would have been nothing for her to pursue anymore by the time she made it to the top of the mountain. Who knew where the Rough Rhinos might be by now…

Her anger helped her cut through the woods with more ease. Even though she had threatened to make several paths to throw Sokka off her trail, she decided not to. She just had to keep going until she found a damn river, right? Yet she felt like she had walked for ages and she still couldn't find anything but plants…

She stopped and listened intently, trying not to make a sound. The breeze moved the trees around her, to her irritation, and she couldn't quite hear what lay ahead… but she thought she could hear the rumor of water somewhere nearby.

Azula gripped the knife tightly and began cutting again, tearing through vines and tree branches, stepping over dead leaves and moist grounds, trying to keep herself levelheaded now as she sought out the brook she was certain she had heard…

She grew frustrated when she couldn't find it. Was she delirious already? Had she just imagined it because it was what she had wanted to hear…? She tore down another set of vines angrily and her eyes widened at the sight ahead.

A river awaited her past the nearby trees, with pristine water was streaming down the riverbed. Azula sighed with relief upon finding it, her left arm already weary after tearing at all those plants. Maybe she should have picked gutting the animal instead…

Azula made it past the trees quickly and dropped on her knees on the riverbank, sliding her hands into the water hastily. She flinched at how cold the water was, but she cleansed her hands and her face afterwards, hoping to get rid of as much dirt and filth as possible. She dipped her right hand into the water again, flinching as her wound pained her more during her attempt to clean it. She had little idea of how to deal with injuries, but she knew she had to clean it first and foremost. She didn't know if Vachir's arrow had been poisoned, but she rather doubted it. Had it been, she probably would be suffering the effects of the venom by now.

She withdrew her hand when the cold water's effect became too unpleasant. She cupped some of the water with both hands and drank it down, only noticing now how thirsty she had been. From what she could recall, she'd only had breakfast today… and the sun was close to setting by now. Her stomach growled even though she didn't want to eat anything, because she knew the menu would be comprised of komodo rhino and nothing more. She sighed and sat by the river, staring at the running water while more thoughts scrolled through her mind…

Sokka arrived to the river not too long after Azula had found it. He had taken off his burnt shirt, and he was using it to carry the first slabs of meat he had managed to cut off the komodo rhino. Azula heard him arrive and looked at him, growing disgusted at the sight of his hands and torso covered in blood. He seemed bothered by the matter, but he kept his jaw clenched and his eyes cold and steady. Azula stared at him, knowing by the way he was behaving, that it wasn't the first time he had been coated in blood… only this time it was the blood of an animal. Before it had been the blood of another human, of another fellow gladiator…

"I'm going to drop this here," said Sokka, stopping a few ways away from where Azula was and dropping the meat on the ground. "I'll clean the meat up later… and I'll be back in a bit. I think more of that thing can be put to good use."

Azula didn't answer, which Sokka took as a bad omen. He thought giving her time to think would be a good thing, but judging by her posture as she stared into the river again, she was back to her former cold and unyielding self. Oh, joy… He sighed and shook his head, taking his shirt again and starting down the path Azula had torn open.

Sokka made three more trips back and forth through the woods, trying to take all of what seemed edible from the komodo rhino. He also brought the animal's horns, in case they might be of some use later on. And through the entire time he walked back and forth from the dead rhino to their momentary campsite, Azula didn't move an inch. Sokka didn't want to pay her much attention, focused on ensuring their survival as he was, but he couldn't ignore her forever even though it seemed that was what Azula wanted.

After returning from his last trip, he went to the river as well and cleansed himself from the blood. Red stains colored the river as he washed his entire torso and his face, flinching at the pain when the water grazed his wounds. The stinging of his burns died down slightly after he bathed them with the cold water, but it wasn't enough for the pain to subside completely.

The bandages he wore on his forearms were dyed a deep crimson, all the same as his gloves, and he took all of them off to clean them properly. He scrubbed at them intently, doing his best to restore their former colors. He spent several minutes with the bandages and gloves before dedicating himself to clean his shirt, which was soaked in blood to the point that the burn stains were hardly noticeable anymore. Sokka continued cleaning his clothes, under the impression that Azula would be watching his every move… but when he snuck a look at his left, he found that she was still staring deep into the river, holding her right hand in her left with a grimace on her face.

"Your injury…" Sokka asked, putting aside his shirt. "Did you clean it?"

"You should have enough to worry about with yours, never mind mine," Azula grunted.

"Well… I did my best to clean mine already," he said. "I was just checking if you'd done the same."

Azula remained quiet, unwilling to speak another word at him. Sokka sighed and leaned towards her.

"Let me see it," he muttered, softly.

"No," she replied, tightening her left hand around her right even more.

"Please, Azula," said Sokka, sighing. "I can use my bandages to cover your wound so it doesn't get infected…"

"Keep your damn bandages," she grunted. "I want nothing to do with you."

"Azula, could you please be reasonable for one second?" Sokka asked, losing his patience. "I'm trying to help you here!"

"And I couldn't care less for your help!" Azula shouted, standing up and taking a few steps away from him. "Stay away from me."

"Azula…" he said, as he rose to his feet.

"Stay away from me, I said!" she bellowed.

"Well, fine! I'll stay where I am! But can we at least talk?!" he asked, almost begging at this point.

"Talk? Talk?! About what, exactly?!" Azula asked, turning around to look at him. "Do you think I could care less for any of your bullshit explanations?!"

"Maybe you would, if you'd just listen to me…!"

"To hear you say what, exactly?! To hear you talk about how much fun you had with those two whores?!" Azula asked. "Now, there's just one thing I'm actually wondering… did you have them both at the same time? Because given how much of a spineless imbecile you've proved to be, I wouldn't even be surprised to know that was the case!"

"What are you…?!" Sokka said, staring at Azula in total disbelief and utter confusion. "What on earth are you talking about, Azula?!"

"Oh, so we're playing dumb now, are we?" Azula asked. She would have liked to fake amusement, but she was too indignant to do anything but glare and snarl at him.

"I'm not playing anything! I'm just trying to figure out what you're talking about!" Sokka said. "I have no idea…!"

"You have the nerve to act as if you didn't know… you really have the nerve to act as if you had no idea what I'm talking about! Seriously, did the alcohol wipe away all your memories? Because if that's the case, I'd really like to have some of that crap! Maybe it'd help me stop feeling as miserable as I do because of a scumbag like you!"

"Azula…" said Sokka, his chest heaving. "Azula, please, stop… I can explain…"

"I don't want to hear it, Sokka," Azula growled. "I don't give a damn about what you have to say."

"If you didn't give a damn, then why are you so upset?!" Sokka asked. "You're miserable because of all the wrong I did to you, you just said so! So I'm trying to help you stop feeling so bad, but you're not letting me…!"

"I have no reason to let you do anything! I want absolutely nothing to do with you anymore!" Azula shouted. "I hate you, and I hate the fact that I can't stop feeling the way I do! I hate that I was stupid enough to go to you to rid me of that accursed marriage, I hate that I went to that damn Pole, I hate that I ever met you! I should have never gotten involved with you, I should have never bothered feeling anything because it would only ruin me! Because I knew this wouldn't end well, yet I was stupid enough to let myself fall into this nonsense!"

"Azula, I've said I'm sorry!" Sokka said. "You have no idea how I regret everything I did! I wish I had done things differently, every morning I wake up thinking that if I had a chance, I'd do everything right this time around…!"

"And you think that apologizing fixes everything?" Azula asked, staring at him in disbelief. "You honestly think that I would simply open my arms and throw myself at you once more just because you say you're sorry?! Because you wish you'd done things differently?! Well, it's too late now! That's the problem about regrets! That you can't do anything but feel remorse and wish things had been different, but they weren't! What happened can't be changed anymore!"

"And I know that well enough! That's why I'm trying to make amends for it now! I've been trying to make up for it for all this time, but you just close off and you won't let me help you in any way! You just…!"

"I just don't trust you. Indeed, I don't, and having trusted you in the first place was a foolish mistake I'm not going to make again. Trust is for fools."

"Azula, please…" Sokka muttered. "I have already said I was sorry, and I took full responsibility for everything I did! I know I was the one who screwed everything up and I'm willing to face retribution as it may come, but you need to understand what happened that night first of all, because I don't think you grasp what really…!"

"Oh, so you're going to tell me every detail about how you fucked her? Is that what I need to hear?!" she asked. "You know what?! I'm done with your apologies, and I'm done with hearing you own up for everything… because you know what?! Everything wasn't your fault!"

"W-what…?" Sokka asked, staring at her in shock. "What do you mean…?"

"What else could I possibly mean?!" Azula asked. "It wasn't just your fault! It never was! It's why I couldn't stand your stupid apologies! You keep saying it was all on you, but it never was!"

"Wait, so you're saying… you're to blame for… for what?" Sokka asked, completely confused. "What are you blaming yourself for, Azula…?"

"That's none of your business…" Azula grunted. "I'm done with this. I've had enough…"

"No, Azula, no!" Sokka shouted, approaching.

"Stand back!" Azula demanded. "This stupid conversation isn't going to get us anywhere, so just forget it already!"

"No, I'm not forgetting about it because I know you won't forget it either!" Sokka shouted. "I know you're going to keep feeling pain and anguish over what happened, and I'm not going to turn my back on you just because you order me to! You can go ahead and burn me again, but if my dying breath expires while I'm trying to reach out for you, then so be it!"

"Why?!" Azula asked, scandalized. "Why?! Why don't you give a damn about what I might be able to do to you? Why are you willing to put up with everything I do…? Are you insane?!"

"Why…?" Sokka repeated. "Because… because I care about you, Azula"

Azula's eyes grew wide at his words before she shook her head, in utter disbelief.

"You… you're lying…"

"I'm not lying, Azula!" Sokka replied. "Do you think I'd still be here if I didn't?! Why do you think I promised to get you out of this somehow, even if you'd kill me afterwards to get rid of me for once and for all?!"

"Sure… sure," said Azula, still skeptical. "So now, after all you did…"

"Yes, Azula," Sokka grunted. "It doesn't matter if you don't believe me, because it's the truth!"

"Well, then, if it doesn't matter that I don't believe you, quit trying to make me buy your nonsense, because it's not going to happen," she grunted.

"Why…?" Sokka asked, shaking his head. "Why won't you listen to anything I say?! Why do you refuse to accept that I'm trying to right my wrongs?!"

"Because I find it ridiculous! Because it makes no sense for you to claim you care about me after all the things you did! Actions speak much louder than words, you know?!"

"Do you think I could have kissed you as I did if I felt nothing towards you?" Sokka asked.

"Don't even start with that…"

"Do you?!"

"I don't know! And for all I know, you probably could have!" Azula shrieked. "You had no problem running off to find other women when you knew I couldn't give you what you wanted…!"

"I didn't…!"

"Yes, you did!" Azula shouted. "Even if you don't want to face it, that's what you did!"

"Azula, it's not that simple!"

"Well, I couldn't care less about how complicated you want to make it seem!" Azula shouted. "What's done is done, and it doesn't matter if you claim you care about me, because it's nothing but a lie!"

"If you just listened you'd know it's not!" Sokka insisted. "Azula, I mean it… I mean it!"

"Just as you meant it that night?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "Just as you meant everything you said to me?"

"Azula, I was drunk and angry and stupid…"

"Indeed, you were," Azula grunted. "Which is the perfect recipe to make a guy as honest as he can be."

"No, it's not! I was being idiotic because I kept thinking you were playing around with me!"

"Oh, so I was the one playing with you?!" Azula asked. "Well, isn't this wonderful…"

"No, it's not wonderful," Sokka grunted. "I know how wrong I was now… I do, Azula, I swear to you I do…"

"And as I said… you think your word is worth anything to me?"

"Azula…" Sokka muttered, losing his will to keep fighting. "Please, I… I was wrong to hurt you… I should have never… I didn't think things through, I… I'm sorry, but I… I do care about you…"

Azula shook her head, her left fist clenched as she stared down at the ground for a moment before raising her head again, gazing at him with eyes that revealed the deep feeling of betrayal that she wished she didn't have to endure.

"If you care about me… if you really cared…" she muttered, as tears dropped from her eyes, to Sokka's dismay. "Then why, Sokka…? Why did you choose them… over me?"

Sokka had no idea what took over him in that moment. Was it the way her eyes gleamed as her tears fell? Was it because of how helpless, how desperate she seemed right now? Or was it because of how eager he was to prove to her that his words were true…?

For whatever reason it may… he couldn't control himself as she finished that sentence, which showed the true nature of her pain. It wasn't just that he had done dreadful things… it was that she couldn't understand why he had picked other women over her. It was that she had thought she was special to him… that she thought he saw her as more than just his sponsor. She had truly wished something more could have been born from their twisted relationship… and he had killed it all. She had wanted him, she had truly wanted him… but the only things left for her now were pain and sorrow. She could do nothing but regret how foolish she had been to allow him to sway her… she hated the fact that she had felt anything for him, but it was only because he had hurt her. If their story had been different in just one small detail maybe something wonderful could have been born. But it was too late now. Nothing could be born between them anymore.

But if only to provide the smallest comfort, if only to show her that her feelings hadn't been as wrong as she thought they had been…

His hand reached out towards her arm, and he pulled her towards him. His arms surrounded her as he leaned down, closing his eyes as he placed his lips on hers. Azula was shocked by his sudden motion, but she didn't find the strength in her to fight him off. One of his hands went to her hair while the other slid towards her back, and he held her closely as he kissed her softly, but desperately. Azula's urge to cry only was instigated by his movement, yet she wasn't the only one crying anymore. Sokka's own tears were slipping down his cheeks, and as he kissed her their tears were mixed to the extent that it was impossible to tell whose they were anymore.

Sokka interrupted the contact and embraced her tightly. Azula was still confused… yet she didn't push him away. The touch between his bare shoulder and her face was ridiculously comfortable in this situation…

"I…" Sokka whispered in her ear. "I would NEVER choose anyone over you, Azula…"

Azula's eyes widened at that statement. Her hands, which had been on his chest, gripped him tightly now.

"B-but for a guy like me…" he muttered, still fighting his tears. "… You were never supposed to be a choice."

Azula tightened her jaws again, pressing her forehead against his shoulder as she was overtaken by silent sobs. Of course… of course. The worst part about this… was that he was right. She had never been a choice for him. She was the Fire Lord's daughter; he was a slave. She was Fire Nation. He was Water Tribe. They weren't meant to be together. They couldn't be. It had always been out of the question.

But remembering the forbidden edge to their relationship only made Azula feel worse about the situation. Why hadn't she thought about it…? Why had she been so eager to close down the distance between them? Why didn't she think of the consequences they would face if something had ever been born between them? And why, just why did she feel like she longed even more for him just by thinking about all those things?

It was the most dreadful mess she could have ever gotten entangled with. It was shameful, embarrassing and even pathetic that she would cry over a failed romance with a slave… but it wasn't just any slave. It was Sokka. And he had never been just any man to her. From the moment they'd met, she had thought he was different…

And by thinking that way she had brought forth their downfall.

* * *

Sokka stirred the tinder with a makeshift cane he had found within the trees, trying to strengthen the fire he had built a while ago. He had built a small system with sticks on top of the fire, with which he was cooking some of the meat scrapes he had obtained from the komodo rhino. While he waited for the meat to cook, he had busied himself with making a basket out of leaves, planning to use it to carry their food supplies once they moved out the next day…

And meanwhile, Azula was lying down a few feet away from the fire, her back turned towards him, hugging herself tightly. She hadn't said a word since their argument just a while ago. Sokka stared at her and sighed silently, knowing he had to do something… anything. But he didn't know what, and he was almost certain that nothing he tried would be enough to soothe her pain. Her posture and her silence spoke so loudly he was forced to accept what they meant. He carried on knitting his basket, cursing under his breath whenever he broke a leaf accidentally.

The moon was rising on the night sky by the time Sokka finished his basket. He figured the basket could use a lid to cover it, but he was too weary of working with leaves to keep going. His stomach kept screaming for food, and the scent from the rhino's meat had been making his mouth water. He looked at the meat scraps, glimpsing how the fat dropped on the fire, before deciding they had waited long enough for the food to get cooked.

He cleaned his hands by the river before picking up two improvised plates he had procured from a stone. He placed the meat on them in equal shares before turning towards the Princess, hoping this small exchange wouldn't result in anything troublesome… though the odds were that it wouldn't. It seemed the strenuous tension that had been disturbing their relationship had been unleashed upon their previous argument… yet he feared Azula would refuse to talk to him forevermore for the same reason. He hadn't even asked her to light the fire: he had produced the flames through rudimentary techniques to spare her from doing anything when she obviously just wanted to be left alone.

"Azula…" he muttered softly. "Food's done."

Azula didn't move an inch at first, but after a few moments she pushed herself up from the ground, turning around towards him. Sokka couldn't help but feel amazed, yet shaken, by the expression on her face. The sadness in her eyes was beyond anything he had ever seen before… but why, oh, why did it make her so beautiful?

She pulled herself towards the fireplace, the familiar warmth of fire soothing her if only for a moment. She gazed at the dancing flames as if in a daze, mesmerized by the blazes. Sokka handed her one of the plates, holding his breath without his awareness as he waited for her to reject his offering… but she didn't. She took the stone in her hands before staring at it in confusion.

"How did you…?" she spoke, her voice cracking. Her own sounds made her cringe. Sokka decided to ignore it, hoping to help her feel a little better by doing so.

"The plate?" Sokka asked. "I… I used Space Sword to cut up a rock. Don't worry, I made sure to clean the stones as thoroughly as possible before using them"

"Space Sword…?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah…" said Sokka, dropping his head. "Piandao would kill me if he knew what I've been doing with it lately. He'd stop calling me a swordsman altogether, I bet… but under these circumstances, I really don't have a choice but to use it like this, do I?"

"I guess not," muttered Azula, dropping her gaze towards her plate and taking up one of the meat scraps in her hand. "What exactly is this…?"

"Uh… I'm not sure," Sokka admitted. "I don't know much about komodo rhino anatomy… but I think one of things in the basket is the liver."

Azula grimaced in disgust.

"Alright… I'm better off not knowing what this is," she muttered, biting the meat chunk and getting relieved to discover it didn't taste as bad as it looked… "What's that of a basket?"

"I built one… sort of," said Sokka, smiling sideways and pointing at the basket. "I figured we'd have to use something other than my shirt to carry our provisions…"

"Carry them?" Azula asked.

"We're not going to stay here forever," said Sokka. "I've thought about it… and I think we have to follow the river. We might find a village somewhere, and then a road…"

"How do you know following the river will take us anywhere?" Azula asked, frowning.

"I don't," Sokka admitted, sighing. "But it's the safest bet we have…"

"I suppose it is," Azula muttered, biting her meat scrap again.

They ate silently from then on. Sokka wished he could break the silence somehow, and ideas for topics kept coming to his mind… but when he saw the vacant expression on Azula's face he decided to shut up. He kept stealing sideways glances at her, but she never looked at him. Her eyes were fixed on the fire before her, on nothing more.

Upon finishing her meal, she placed her plate by the fire and dropped on her same spot on the ground, once more with her back towards Sokka and her arms folded over her chest. The gladiator gazed at her with concern, but he shook his head and decided to get down to work and leave the Princess alone for now. She had enough on her mind, and he had stuff to do before trying to talk with her again.

Yet after he cleaned up their stone plates and rekindled the fire, he was left with little next to nothing to do. He still didn't feel like finishing his basket, and his entire body was telling him to take a break. The wounds he had sustained were stinging him constantly, but he had done his best to ignore them until now. Luckily for him, he had stifled the fire Azula had thrown at him quickly enough so that his skin wouldn't be damaged as badly as when she had injured him in their first encounter. But the bruises and scrapes stung badly, and he couldn't ignore the pain forever.

He dropped by a tree near Azula, and he stared at her sleeping figure, wondering what was on her mind right now. Was she overthinking things, just as he often did? Was she allowing her thoughts to deepen her grief and to convince her that shutting him off was the best thing she could do? Perhaps she was… yet, before she could pull away from him, there was something he had to do.

"Azula… are you asleep?" he asked.

"You think I can sleep that easily on the ground?" she muttered, her bite returning to her at least for now. Sokka cringed but nodded, relieved to see she wasn't depressed to the extreme of holding back her snappy remarks.

"It's been a long day… we both could use some rest," he said.

"No point trying to sleep in the middle of the wild," Azula grunted. "Something will come attack us, for all we know…"

"Maybe," Sokka muttered, sighing. "Azula…"

"What?"

"I… I think we need to talk," he spoke those words at last, feeling as if he had been waiting for far too long to say them.

Azula frowned and her grip around herself tightened. She didn't really want to talk with him… she feared that, no matter what he said, she wouldn't stop feeling as miserable as she did. For all she knew, it would just make her feel worse…

"Look…" Sokka whispered, noticing she had gone back to her unresponsive mode. It bugged him a lot, but it could be helpful that she remained in silence as he spoke. "About… well… ugh, I don't even know where to begin. I've gone through this conversation like a thousand times in my mind… but now I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything," Azula muttered. "You think your words can change something at this point?"

"No…" replied Sokka. "But you deserve to know the truth of what happened back then. I mean… if I'd sat down to explain everything properly to you, you wouldn't have been shaken by what June said…"

"And I ask again… will knowing what happened between that woman and you make this any better?" Azula grunted.

"It might… because that night won't hold any more secrets from you," Sokka said. "You'll know everything… and you won't get surprised by anything else."

"Really?" she spoke skeptically, to Sokka's mild dismay, but his determination wasn't deterred.

"Really. So… first of all, I want you to know that yeah, I… I slept with June. But nothing happened between me and S-… Kyoshi's Heir."

"Nothing?" Azula asked, frowning.

"You might be happy to know that our date was a total fiasco," Sokka said.

"She realized you were a moron and dumped you?" Azula asked, somewhat amused by the thought.

"You could say so…" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly. "The whole date thing made as little sense to her as it did to me by the time we were on it. She thought this wasn't the life of a gladiator, going on dates when we're but slaves… and she realized I had my head someplace else, that I wasn't paying her any attention. So… yeah, I walked her home and she kissed my cheek… but that was it. Nothing else happened between her and me, and I haven't seen her ever since."

The idea of Kyoshi's Heir kissing Sokka, be it his cheek or anything else, sent an unpleasant burning feeling through Azula's body. Yet she felt somewhat relieved to know that, at the very least, he hadn't bedded her.

"So to answer your previous question… no, I didn't have two women on me at the same time," he muttered. "I didn't even want to have one, but…"

"But she forced herself on you?" Azula asked. "Well, after seeing her, I wouldn't be too surprised if that were the truth…"

"N-not exactly…" said Sokka, gulping. "But… I guess I'll have to go back a few days to explain the whole situation. It's… pretty complicated."

"I thought men were always as simple as they could be…"

"We like for things to remain simple, generally speaking," Sokka admitted. "But we can't exactly stop things around us from becoming complicated… at least, I can't. I'll salute the man who can. Anyways… let's just go back a few weeks, even months… the main issue started there. I… I know it will come as a shock to hear this, but… one day, without my awareness, I started thinking about you in a way I shouldn't have…"

Azula frowned and her eyes twitched towards where he was sitting. She didn't shift, but she was listening far more intently than before.

"I wasn't just thinking of you as the Princess, as my sponsor… I was becoming… well, smitten, with you."

Azula's eyes widened. So… she hadn't been imagining things. She really hadn't been misinterpreting the signs…

"Whenever you were around, everything was far more fun and interesting. When you weren't, I'd just wait eagerly for the moment when you'd be near me again. Everything in my life was revolving around you… and I liked it. At times I'd stop to think about what madness was overtaking me… but as soon as I saw you again, I wouldn't question things anymore. I could have carried on just like that forever, I guess… but then I saw something in your eyes that… that told me I wasn't the only one getting too invested in this relationship."

Azula dropped her gaze again, grinding her teeth at his words.

"As much as I was aware of the way I felt towards you… as much as I kept making excuses to be around you even more often, it was one thing for me to have a dumb crush on you. But… for it to be mutual? I… I knew that letting myself go with it might lead to something wonderful… but the consequences were, and still are, horrid. You are the Princess, the sponsor… I'm a slave, your gladiator. We're… we're not supposed to become anything other than that."

Azula sighed in silent agreement. Of course they weren't…

"But that would only make things worse," Sokka admitted. "For this to be as forbidden as it is… it's too enticing, too alluring… so I thought that I had to do something, anything, to stop this before we went too far to take back whatever we did. And… that's when I fucked everything up. I thought… I thought I had to find another girl. By doing that, I'd push you away effectively and we could go back to what we had always been meant to be. Maybe you'd find a nobleman to marry eventually… because that's what you're supposed to have. I'm just a slave from the Water Tribe. You and I… whatever came from us was meant to be crushed."

"I'm not too keen about the nobleman idea…" Azula muttered.

"Huh, after meeting Kuan I'm not surprised to hear that," said Sokka. "In any case… I thought that was the best thing I could do. I figured it would be hard, that you'd probably come to loathe me for it, but I thought I would be able to take it. I figured you'd understand why I'd done it… I thought you'd know it would be for the best, that cutting off any possibilities for an 'us' in the future was a better idea than actually going with it…"

Sokka sighed and shook his head, leaning his back on the tree as he remembered that turbulent day… and he recalled perfectly the best thing that had happened on it.

"But then you kissed me," he muttered. Azula shivered at his words, grinding her teeth harder as she was overtaken by the memories of that amazing moment as well. "And… and all my resolutions crumbled to pieces before I knew it. I… I honestly had thought that, by being with another woman, no matter whom it was, I'd do fine and I'd be able to get over you…"

"And that's why you went for Kyoshi's Heir…" Azula muttered. "Did you… did you actually like her?"

"She was an interesting girl," Sokka admitted. "But whatever I could have felt towards her… it wasn't even a fragment of the attraction I felt towards you. She was quite a nice girl and a strong fighter… she'd be a catch for any guy. But even though I kept telling myself this, and I kept hoping she'd help get you out of my mind… it was no use. Not only didn't she deserve to be used as… as a distraction, as a consolation prize because I knew I couldn't get you… but when you kissed me, I knew no other woman would ever hold such power over me. I was driven by my infatuation to make the most of the moment, to make you mine even just for a few minutes… I had never felt that way before, and I'm damn sure I'll never feel the same way about anyone else in the future."

This latest confession was actually a relief for Azula. Her eyes widened as she heard him speak, as she heard him admit that which she had thought had been just a lie… she was special for him. She really was.

"If there's one thing I don't regret…" Sokka admitted, smiling a little. "It's got to be that kiss. I mean… the entire situation was twisted and insane, but even if I had the chance to erase everything that happened and start anew, I wouldn't erase that moment."

Azula let out a small huff that could have been a laugh, but Sokka couldn't see the look on her face to make sure if she was smiling or frowning. To the Princess's own surprise, it was the former. There was a weak grin on her face, because as much as she hated what everything had come to, she couldn't help but agree with Sokka. If there was one thing she wouldn't change… it would be that kiss.

"But after we parted, you said what you said, and I started overthinking everything," Sokka admitted. "I thought… I thought you were just playing around with me, that you had known about my feelings and you were trying to use them to your own amusement. I… I was stupid and angry and I thought you didn't give a damn about me. It's a fear I always held. Because… why should you waste your time with a guy like me? Ever since you made me your gladiator, I was sure you were just trying to use me for your own ends… and well, back then, you were. By the time we kissed, I thought things had changed between us… but when you said those words, my fears came back at full force. I thought you were enjoying it, watching me suffer and squirm as I tried to make some sense out of the world… so I told myself I wouldn't play your game. I thought I'd seen right through you, and I refused to let you get your way. So… I went to the date, still in hopes she'd help me get over you, but it was useless. The whole time I was there, all I could think of was you. After leaving Kyoshi's Heir in her home, I went to a pub in hopes the alcohol would help me forget everything… and that's where I met June."

Azula frowned, listening to his words intently. He really had gotten it all wrong, hadn't he…? But then again, she couldn't blame him for having thought that way. The Azula from a year before would have had quite a fun time shattering a guy's heart if she thought she would come out of the whole ordeal unscathed…

"June sat by me and asked me about what bugged me, I didn't want to talk at first but she convinced me to do it. I didn't explain exactly who we were… she had no clue I was talking about the Fire Lord's daughter until she saw us in the town today. She was keen to hear the whole story, and drunk as I was, I told her everything, but then she told me that I hadn't proved that no other woman would be able to get you out of my mind. I was sure of that, completely certain of it by then, but she insisted, and… well, I'm not proud at all of what happened. I have nothing to say for myself…"

Azula cringed and she shut her eyes tightly, images running through her mind about what Sokka might have done with that bounty hunter…

"And, long story short…" said Sokka, gulping. "It… it was no use."

Azula's eyes opened up again at those words, completely shocked. The thought of him being with June vanished from her mind as she turned around at last, pushing herself up and staring at him in utter bewilderment.

"W-what do you mean?"

"I mean… it didn't stop me from thinking about you as I did, and, well… sleeping with June was completely meaningless next to kissing you."

Azula's eyes widened at his confession. His earnest blue eyes told her everything she needed to know… he wasn't lying to make her feel better, he meant every word. Sokka was still the biggest fool she knew, but if there was one thing she could give him credit for was his brutal honesty.

"And that… that just freaked me out," Sokka muttered. "I couldn't believe how badly I'd fallen for you… so I resolved to tell myself that I wasn't into you at all. I needed to stop feeling that way about you… because I was convinced I meant nothing to you, that you were just playing with me. So that's when I… when I finished screwing up everything."

Azula dropped her gaze again, staring at the river as she recalled the words he had spoken that dreadful night…

"You're not going to tell me you didn't mean all those things, are you…?" she muttered. "I know better than that…"

"I… I'm sorry to say I meant them," Sokka admitted, dropping his head. "Back then, I did. I was sure you were just trying to make a mess out of me, even when you were obviously hurt by the things I was saying… the alcohol seemed to work as a shield that ensured I'd be able to ignore everything in plain sight. I was stubborn and stupid, and I… I really said all those things because back then, I thought them true…"

Azula nodded, relieved to know he wasn't lying to her. It hurt to know the truth… but it would hurt even more to get into another argument if he tried to soften all of what had happened so that she wouldn't suffer about it anymore. Now she was completely certain that he spoke the truth about everything he had said.

"But… after my fight with the Savage Hook, I finally understood the truth," he muttered. "I… I realized that I'd been a fool, a jerk, and that I'd ruined everything. That I understood nothing about you… and I wanted to understand, but I couldn't anymore. Every single time I said I was sorry… I was truly apologizing for having misunderstood everything, for having dared decide on my own if whatever could be born between us was wrong or right…"

"It would have been wrong… no matter what," Azula muttered. "That will never change."

"Yet… I really was sorry for it all. It's why I kept apologizing and owning up for what I did, because I knew that if I'd just given you a chance, we wouldn't be where we are right now… I was so conceited, so selfish… to think I said that you were the selfish one… I'm so sorry, Azula. I don't think I'll ever stop regretting all the harm I did to you that day. I meant it when I said I'd put up with any punishment you'd see fit, because I deserved it…"

"And that's why you've been so submissive lately, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah… I thought it was the best way to make amends for what I did," Sokka muttered. "I didn't know what else to do. The fact that you had allowed me to stay by your side was already more than I had hoped for."

"It was more than I expected from myself as well," Azula muttered. "But… you weren't entirely wrong about saying I was selfish anyway."

"W-what?" Sokka asked, staring at her in shock. "But that's…"

"I've always been, I'm well aware of it," said Azula, shrugging. "Trying to keep you to myself was an act of selfishness."

"I don't… I don't think so," muttered Sokka.

"It's the truth. All the same as you… as you wanted me. We both were selfish. We can leave it as that," said Azula.

"If you say so…" said Sokka, although he didn't feel like she was right about that statement. "In any case… I wanted you to know all of this. I don't know if it has helped you in any way… it probably hasn't, but nevertheless… you deserved to know the truth about it all."

"Right…" said Azula, staring at him sideways.

"You've said you don't want me to keep apologizing… I won't," said Sokka, nodding. "It must really annoy you, so I'm going to cut it out. My regret isn't going anywhere, I'm bound to live the rest of my life repenting about all of this… but I'll spare you my apologies. Still… there's one thing you said just a while ago that has been bugging me. I… I really want to know why you don't think this was just my fault."

Azula was surprised by his question. He stared at her, his eyes displaying his confusion, but the way he was looking at her revealed how much he wanted to hear her answer. She didn't think there was anyone else out there who was that eager to listen to anything she had to say…

"It wasn't," she muttered. "I… I shouldn't have been interested in you in any way in the first place. All of which you said, about me trying to ruin your life… I wish that were the real story. It damn well should be."

"But… we both know it's not," muttered Sokka.

"It's why I don't blame you for it," she sighed. "What should it be to me if you want to flirt with a face-painted slave or sleep with a bounty-hunter…? It shouldn't matter. I shouldn't care about whatever you want to do with yourself. You're supposed to be my gladiator, nothing more. I should have control on your life, but there's no point in controlling even who you trample around with…"

"It would be the case… if we were only what we're supposed to be," said Sokka, flicking a stone in the ground. It hovered for a moment before it bounced on the ground and settled a few feet away from him.

"I shouldn't have felt anything," Azula insisted. "Feelings… they help nobody. They're only a hindrance."

"Azula…" Sokka muttered.

"It's true, isn't it? If you hadn't felt anything towards me, we would have never gotten into this situation," she whispered.

"I guess, but…" Sokka frowned, thoughtful. "If there's one thing I learned from all of this… it's that feeling is unavoidable. Emotions can get the best of anyone, and fighting against them is only going to make it all worse."

"Perhaps," said Azula, dropping her gaze.

Sokka eyed her with concern, wondering if she had taken his last sentences seriously. Given the expression on her face, she probably hadn't. He dropped his head against the tree again, staring into the dark sky above them. They remained silent for a moment before he suddenly found it in him to speak again.

"We belong in different worlds… we always have," he said. "It's as if… as if I were a turtle, while you were a hawk. I had only ever lived on the ground and the water, never able to reach out towards the sky above me… the sky in which you flew. I watched you fly, and I envied you for being able to soar like that… you were beautiful, powerful, free… when I was the entire opposite of that. I was stuck inside a huge shell, forced to walk one step at a time with that huge weight in my back that kept reminding me that you're superior, that you're supposed to be above me, always, and that I'm supposed to remain on the ground until the end of time. It didn't matter how much I wished I could fly and reach out to you… it could never happen."

Azula eyed him with interest, listening intently. It was an odd metaphor, but she found she wanted to hear it to the end.

"At first I hated you," Sokka muttered, smiling a little. "But just because you could do what I wasn't able to. I was horribly jealous of you, I wished I could be where you were… but as time went by, as I admired you up in the skies, I grew to enjoy watching you. I accepted I was only ever meant to be on the ground, but I still could look up at you and watch you fly. I thought that if I were in your place, I'd likely be a sloppy flier… so I was best off where I was. Watching you was enough for me. But… one day you came down to the ground. You knew I couldn't reach you in the skies no matter how hard I tried… so you came down to the ground for me. And then… you asked me if I wanted to fly along with you."

Azula stared at the river now, hugging her knees with her arms.

"I had only ever wanted to fly… to be a part of your world. It was what I dreamt about day and night, the one thing I had ever wished for. And here you were, extending one of your talons towards me and offering to lift me up to the sky with you. The proposal was so tempting, and I only ever could have wanted to accept it… but fear took over me. What if you had to hunt for your meals, and I became a hindrance to you? What if another hawk came your way, perhaps asking to court you…? The answer was simple enough… you'd have to drop me. And falling down would kill me even before I reached the ground… because I would have been granted that which I had dreamt about for so long. Because I would have been able to fly with you, with the most beautiful bird I had ever seen… but that wonderful illusion would break as soon as I plummeted down to earth, because I was never meant to share your world with you. So… even though I wanted nothing but to fly with you… I bit you. I bit you hard enough so that you'd be offended by my refusal and so that the pain would convince you to never waste your time with me again. You flew away, disappointed, sad, betrayed… and I lingered behind."

Sokka sighed again as he stared up towards the stars.

"But as I watched you fly away I realized that I didn't care for being dropped anymore. The fall, the pain… if they were what I had to face for flying with you for a moment, then I would take it. I needed nothing more… I just wanted you to bring me along. But… I only realized this as you began flying away. I tried to reach out to you, but I was too slow… my shell was weighing on me, as ever. I wanted to call out to you, to tell you I was sorry for hurting you, that I could face the fear of falling now… but it was too late. You were gone… and I was left with nothing but regrets and disappointment, wishing I had done things differently just to have a taste of your life for one day, if that was all I could have…"

Azula sighed and stared at him.

"And… you want me to turn back and bring you to the sky now? After… after what happened, you think I ought to do that?"

"No… not at all," said Sokka, shaking his head. "I… I was never worthy, Azula. And after what I did, I'm even more unworthy of flying with you. I am sorry… but turtles are turtles. We may swim or walk… but we can't fly. You belong in the sky… that's where you should be."

"And… fear was what held you back?" Azula asked.

"Yeah. I… I was afraid. I was too scared of what would happen. I was afraid you'd find someone better down the road and drop me… or that you'd wake up one day to realize how worthless I really was. I was afraid."

"You were afraid… but not of me," Azula asked.

"Of you?" Sokka repeated, surprised. "No… not of you. I was afraid… I was afraid I wouldn't be good enough for you. Because it's downright obvious I'm not."

Azula sighed and stared at him, feeling at a loss. She could see it hurt him as well, to think that he wasn't good enough for her… that he had given up all hope of being the right man for her. She tightened her arms around her legs before gazing at him sideways.

"That's good to know, in a way," she muttered. "But… there's one thing I have to say."

"Y-yeah…?" Sokka asked, taken by surprise. He stared at her golden eyes, amazed to discover she was looking at him with just as much honesty as he had looked at her before.

"I would have never dropped you."

Sokka's eyes widened at her words. The way she spoke, the way she was looking at him right now… it only made him repent even more. Those words alone all he needed to realize the true nature of what she had felt for him. He sighed and nodded, feeling even worse about himself.

"Of course you wouldn't have… but I realized it too late," he muttered.

Azula looked away from him now, unwilling to witness how miserable he was right now. Both of them were hurt, she knew that now… for a very long time she had refused to acknowledge that what had happened between them had damaged them both. She had only focused on her pain, because not taking his apologies seriously was so much easier than to believe him… but as much as she had believed his pain was well deserved, watching him suffer was only hurting her as well.

Sokka gazed at her, wondering if there was anything left for him to say, anything to make her feel better, even if only a stupid joke… but nothing came to his mind. He stared at her intently until his eyes fell upon her right hand, clasped over her left elbow as she held herself tightly.

"How… how is your wound?" he asked, crawling towards her. His movement startled Azula.

"It's fine, nothing to worry about," she muttered. "You should be more concerned about yours. You… when we fell down the slope, did you…? Did you protect me?"

"I tried to, at least," said Sokka, smiling a little at her. "You've been hurt enough as it is."

Azula stared at him in amazement as he sat by her side, staring at her injury.

"You know… I really think we should bandage it," he said.

"I already told you… deal with your own wounds first," she grunted.

"Uh… who's the important one here?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. "The Fire Lord's daughter, or the southern savage?"

"You really don't mean to make me answer something so obvious…" Azula said between gritted teeth, staring at him with derision.

"Then your wounds go first," said Sokka, and he stood up and headed towards the tree on which he had hung his drying clothes.

Azula sighed as he came back towards her, one of his bandages in hand.

"It's all dry now," he said, smiling reassuringly. "Now… I'm not exactly an expert here, but I think I can do it."

"Well then… give it your best," said Azula, extending her right hand towards him with resignation.

Sokka sat beside her again, taking her hand on his while he maneuvered with the bandage, trying not to tighten it too much to avoid hurting her further. Azula was impressed by his sudden delicacy. Given that he had gutted a komodo rhino just a while ago, she hadn't expected him to be able to perform such a careful task as it was to bandage a wound.

He tied the bandage down swiftly, studying it carefully.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"No…" Azula replied. "It's good as it is"

Sokka smiled and nodded.

"We'll change it again later, we probably will have to… it's better to keep it clean and closed down so that it doesn't get infected."

"I guess…" said Azula, staring intently at him.

Their eyes met, and for the first time in ages, something seemed to stir within their cores as they looked at each other. But it wasn't the wild attraction there used to be before… it was something very different. He was eager to do anything to make up for his mistakes… and she was hurt, badly hurt, but even though she kept pushing him away, she wanted him to stay by her side. Her fingers gripped his as they gazed at one another, not even realizing they were holding hands anymore… until Sokka dropped his gaze, almost bashfully.

"You… you probably should get some sleep," he muttered.

Azula was surprised when the strange magic between them faded, but she knew why Sokka had interrupted the moment. Now she knew. It didn't mean that he didn't want her… it meant that he wanted her too badly, so badly that he had to push her away before he couldn't hold back anymore.

"I'll try… what about you?" she asked.

"I'll keep an eye out for the possible threats of the forest," he said, smiling at her. "Don't worry about a thing. Try to sleep, I'll keep watch."

Azula wanted to say she didn't feel like entrusting him with such an important mission: he was bound to fall asleep in the middle of his surveillance and who knew what sort of animal could creep on them while he was unconscious… but truth to be told, she trusted him to keep them safe now. He had kept her from being badly harmed while they fell down the mountainside, and he had made sure she could sleep tonight with a full stomach, even if it was only full of meat. Maybe, just maybe, he could do with another chance.

"Fine, then," she muttered, dropping on the ground again and rolling over to the side.

Sokka was surprised when she turned towards him this time. Before she had her back to him… now she was facing him. It could have meant nothing… but right now, it meant everything to him. He smiled as he watched her close her eyes, feeling that, at last, something inside their hearts had been mended.

"Good night, Azula," he whispered.

"Huh…" she grunted back. He smiled upon her response and he stared into the fire again.

Something was mended, indeed, but not all of it. Yet, after all this time, this much progress was more than welcome. He sighed with relief and stared into the fire, his own determination blazing as he stared at the flames. He would get Azula out of this forest safely, no matter what.


	40. Chapter 40

Azula was woken the next morning by the sound of snapping firewood. She opened her eyes and shuffled on the ground a little, her shoulder stiff after supporting her weight through the night. She raised her eyes towards the fireplace, finding Sokka in the middle of cooking again. The smell of the meat was slightly sickening… Being the Princess she was, Azula was definitely not accustomed to starting out the day with nothing but chunks of meat for breakfast. She groaned as her shoulder pained her, alerting Sokka of her consciousness.

"Oh… morning!" he said, enthusiastically. Azula raised an eyebrow towards him.

"You seem cheerful…" she muttered.

Sokka blinked a few times and smiled uncomfortably.

"It seemed a good idea to try to start off the day on a positive note," he muttered, as Azula sat up, rubbing her shoulder.

"Positive? Seriously?" she asked, glaring at Sokka. "We're stranded in the middle of a forest, having komodo rhino scrapes for breakfast… what's so positive about all of this?"

"Well… we're still alive," said Sokka, thoughtful. "And we have food, even if you're not a fan of it… and we have water. So we have chances to survive! We can be positive about that, right?"

"I'll only be positive once we're out of this hell hole," said Azula, sighing.

"You're just crabby because your stomach is empty" said Sokka, earning himself a disbelieving glare.

"That's why YOU would be crabby, not me," Azula retorted.

"Then why are you so upset and why am I fine, if my stomach is as empty as yours?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"For all I know, it isn't. You must have nicked some meat while I was asleep," said Azula.

"You really think I'd do something so low?" Sokka asked, feigning shock. "Because… yeah, I did. Seems like you know me better than I thought, huh?"

Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head, and Sokka just chuckled as he took the cooked meat out of the fire. Azula gazed at him sideways, impressed by how calm and cheerful he was. He had been acting quite annoyingly the last months; she had been able to sense the turmoil within him back then, the turmoil that had driven him to behave as he had… but right now it seemed like his grief had been replaced by relief. He really had never expected their relationship to reach a better place… but even so, he had fought to his utmost to try and set things right. And Azula could commend him for that, at the very least.

"I guess you're not as hard to predict as you think," Azula replied, shrugging.

"So all my efforts up to date were pointless? Well, that's disappointing…" he said, smiling, as he handed her one of the plates with meat.

Azula raised an eyebrow before beginning to eat. Meat was definitely not her first choice for a breakfast, but her stomach was craving to be filled with anything at this point in time. She already knew she couldn't be picky.

"So…" she asked, after finishing one of her slabs of meat. "What are we going to do now?"

"Well…" said Sokka, gulping. "I suppose we're off downriver to see if we find a village or town where we can get help."

"And what makes you so certain we'll find that by the river?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm certain that this river has to lead somewhere," said Sokka. "Rivers flow into seas… so if we follow this one all the way to the sea, we're bound to find our bearings, at the very least."

"Not all rivers flow into seas," said Azula. "Some flow into lakes. What are we going to do if there's only a lake at the bottom of this river?"

"If that were the case, then we'd be betting our luck on finding a road of some sort at either side of the river while we walk by it," said Sokka.

"And what if there is no road?"

"Why must you trample on all my hopes, Princess?" Sokka asked with a grimace.

"Because as much as you may be right on one thing or two… you might as well be wrong anyway," said Azula, frowning.

Sokka sighed and looked at her sideways.

"Do you have any better ideas, then?" he asked.

"I… I guess not," Azula admitted. "Our lives are in your hands now, though, and I have every reason to question your decisions because of that."

"I understand," said Sokka, nodding. "But I said it already and I'll say it again… I'm getting you out of this forest no matter what. It just… might take longer than we wish it would."

"I know," muttered Azula, gritting her teeth. "I know…"

Sokka stared at her worriedly. There was disappointment in her eyes, and he had no problem figuring out why. The Rough Rhinos… so far he hadn't even asked her about them, he had hardly taken her mission into account as they tried to survive. But given the frown on her brow, she likely couldn't get the matter off her mind. She had been so close to catching them, so close…

He had no idea how to encourage her, how to reassure her they'd get those brigands. How could he, if she hardly seemed to believe him when he said he'd get her out of the forest? Finding the Rhinos, sadly, would have to wait… and waiting when the criminals had slipped from their grasp was extremely frustrating.

"We'll be alright," said Sokka, after finishing his last piece of meat. "I know we will."

"Well, at least one of us does," said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"How's your hand?" Sokka asked, startling her. "Is it feeling any better?"

"Not really, if anything it seems to hurt more," said Azula. "Might be a sign of healing, but it also could be a sign of the exact opposite…"

"Do you want me to look at it?" Sokka proposed.

"And what would you do about it?" asked Azula, skeptic. "You already said you hardly knew anything about healing. Did you suddenly learn to cure wounds overnight, perhaps?"

Sokka frowned and rolled his eyes.

"Well, I won't deny it's a relief the bite's back at full force, but sarcasm should be my thing, Princess."

"It would be, if you didn't say stupid things that make me the sarcastic one instead," said Azula, with a small smirk.

Sokka shook his head but smiled as well. He stood up and went to the tree on which he had hung his drying clothes. It wasn't until she saw him putting his shirt on that Azula realized his chest had been bare all along. She became more attentive to his appearance upon this, noticing of the small bags under his eyes when Sokka turned around towards her again.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" she asked, eyeing him with concern.

"Huh? Well, I… I guess I dozed off once or twice," he admitted, with a weak smile. "But I tried to stay awake for as long as I could."

"Only once or twice? Hard to believe," said Azula, smirking.

"Can't let me look good not even once, can you?" said Sokka. "Well, our campsite stayed safe and you managed to sleep through the night, so even if I fell asleep, I did my job as expected!"

"Your job was to 'watch'," said Azula. "But not the inside of your eyelids…"

Sokka couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head and dropping next to his basket again, picking up the spare plants he had left and starting to thread them together. Azula would have continued making fun of him, enjoying teasing him just as much as she used to… but she was easily distracted by what he was doing.

"What are you…? Weren't you done with that?" she asked.

"Not quite… I'm making a lid now," he said, biting his lower lip as he slipped a leaf under another one. "Got to keep the meat as safe as possible"

Azula dropped her plate by the flickering fireplace, watching Sokka with interest. He weaved the plants carefully and swiftly. She couldn't help but notice he was quite skilled with his hands, no matter how rough they were.

"Seems like you know what you're doing…" she muttered. "How did you learn to make a basket?"

"I actually didn't," said Sokka. "But women in my tribe used to make them. I watched them at times, so I figured out how it was done… it wasn't easy to remember how they did it, but so long as it works, I say we're doing fine."

"Women would weave baskets?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, they did…" muttered Sokka, gulping. "I know, I know… we savages relegate women to measly tasks while men do the big stuff, we're all uncivilized and disgusting!"

"Indeed, you are," Azula agreed. "I'm also thinking that, as much as women might have been able to hunt or fish or do whatever it is men did, you're just proving men could do what women did as well. Doesn't make you less manly to do a 'woman's task', does it?"

"Doesn't it, now…?" he asked, earning himself a glare. Sokka chuckled and continued with his endeavor. "I guess not. But our cultures are very different. It's only logical you won't see things eye to eye with me about it."

"Very different is an understatement," said Azula. "You keep trashing the Fire Nation and claiming it's dreadful… seems to me that your people aren't flawless either, are they?"

"I never thought they were," Sokka admitted. "But I hope this means you're admitting your people aren't flawless …"

"Of course they're not…" Azula growled. "As much as it seems your tribe is worse off in this regard… it doesn't mean we're that much better."

"What… which regard? Women?" Sokka asked, surprised. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Azula glared at the river streaming beside her and clenched her teeth as her bitterness about the matter came back to her at full force. They had enough problems right now to add the sexist Fire Nation society to their discussion.

"Never mind," she muttered.

Sokka was about to tell her she didn't have to shut him out that way anymore, but for once he was sure he wasn't the source of her unhappiness. He focused on his basket, joining the lid with the main body of the container, and he tested it to ensure it wouldn't fall off. He placed all their provisions inside the basket and smiled when the basket proved able to hold all the weight.

"Well, we're good with this now!" he said, proudly, placing the basket on the ground and looking around himself. "Say… do you think we can use the rhino's horns for something? I brought them, but I have no clue if they'll be any use…"

Azula looked at the horns, raising an eyebrow.

"It doesn't seem like it to me… we could have used them for weapons, but you still have yours and I have my fire. It won't be necessary… unless we could use them for another purpose, perhaps?"

"Such as?"

"Using them to help us climb the slope," said Azula, staring at the mountainside they had left behind a while ago.

"Seems unlikely," muttered Sokka, studying the option and frowning as he tucked the horns into the basket as well. "They might hold our weight, but I really don't think we'll be up to climbing such a steep mountain with the wounds we have…"

"And even if we were fit to climb, there are only three horns…" Azula reasoned. "Forget about it, then."

Sokka was surprised by that last statement. One of them could climb the slope using two horns… but the other would be left behind with a single horn. For Azula to choose to stay with him instead of taking the horns and running off to the slope… he smiled and nodded, relieved and glad.

"Then down the river it is," he said, kicking the fireplace to stiffen the flames.

Azula stood up and stared at the forest that extended before them. This definitely was a situation she would have never thought she'd be in. She had spent the twenty-one years of her existence living amongst privileges and luxury… this was the entire opposite of that. She sighed before turning towards Sokka, who had just picked up the basket, which was larger than he thought it would be. He was forced to embrace it to lift it, and he immediately began regretting not having woven straps to carry the basket on his back. But half the morning was gone by now, and they had to move out already if they were to make any progress during the day.

"Let's go," he said, struggling to walk as he carried the basket.

Azula followed him, eyeing him with uncertainty as she watched the way he swayed from side to side while carrying the large basket. Sokka treaded down the riverbank, not focusing much on the road ahead since his attention was centered on the basket; he feared it wouldn't be strong enough to carry so much weight for an entire day.

They walked silently, and Azula kept gazing around herself warily, in case something unexpected occurred. They must have already covered a mile when she noticed the vegetation was becoming thicker. Sokka tripped on a few tree roots, and he had to duck to avoid colliding with low branches of trees. He managed to keep walking despite the obstacles until the bushes and vines were obstructing their passage completely. Azula crashed against his back when he stopped abruptly, facing their blockage.

"Why did you stop?" she asked, taking a few steps away and glaring at him from behind.

"The plants are in the way," he muttered, struggling to balance the huge basket in one hand as he tried to reach his knife with the other, but doing both things at the same time seemed impossible for him "C-come here, knife…"

Azula rolled her eyes impatiently before reaching out for his waist, startling Sokka greatly when her hand came in contact with his body. She gripped the knife's hilt and released it from his belt. Azula stepped in front of him and began hacking at the branches with her left arm. Sokka stared at her with a mild blush on his face, knowing her touch had been far more innocent than what he had made it out as.

"Y-you could give it to me…" he said, talking about the knife.

"Why? You've got the basket," said Azula. "Just as it is in your tribe, we shall leave the women to the meaningless tasks and the men to the heavy duty."

With that phrase, she turned around and smirked cruelly at him. Sokka's blush grew more intense, yet he couldn't help but glare at her after her irony.

"Fine, fine, I get it! Lesson learned!" he said, as Azula turned around and continued cutting up the plants, her smirk only growing wider. "Men have no right bossing women around! But you're still a woman, and I'm a man! At least let me keep that, will you?"

"Should I?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's a lot more fun not to."

Sokka fumed behind her, shaking his head as he stared at the river… which all of sudden wasn't looking as wide as it used to.

"Uh… Azula?" he said.

"What? You'd better know I'm joking, so don't even think about showing me you're really a man…"

"No, that's not… I wasn't going to do that!"

"Well, you haven't been the brightest person around lately, so I really wouldn't put that idea past you…"

Sokka glared at her and shook his head as Azula continued smirking proudly.

"The stream is getting smaller," he said, surprising her. "That's what I was going to say."

Azula looked to her left, frowning as she stared at the river, or what was left of the river. The stream used to be around one meter wide, but it had grown smaller to the extent that they could only see a trickle of water slipping down the earthy channel. Azula frowned and looked behind her: the river had been decreasing in size as they progressed through the wilderness, but they had failed to notice until now.

"Is it going to disappear completely?" she asked. "What will we do if that happens? What are we…? Sokka?"

"Calm down," said Sokka, frowning. "I'm sure it'll be fine, a river can't just fade away randomly like that…"

But after taking a few more steps forward, Sokka discovered otherwise.

"Well…" he muttered, staring at the dry ground next to them. "Maybe it can, huh?"

"What are we going to do?" Azula started, staring at him in despair.

"Wait, wait, the water couldn't have vanished just like that!" said Sokka. "It has to be somewhere, we just have to…"

"Didn't you bet on us finding a village or something near the river?" Azula asked. "If there's no river, there's no village!"

"T-true, but still…!" Sokka admitted before freezing on his spot. He frowned as he listened intently at nature, turning his head away from Azula and towards where the river should have continued, if the stream hadn't vanished. "Do you… do you hear that?"

Azula frowned as well when she sensed the rumor of water nearby… of far more water than they had seen in the stream in the first place. She clutched the knife tightly and hacked at the plants blocking the way, tearing them down as swiftly as possible…

And suddenly they found themselves facing a sight they hadn't expected.

They were standing by the top of a waterfall, but it wasn't just a regular waterfall. The water wasn't falling from the brink of the wall; instead it was leaking through the wall and it fell down to the base of the wall, creating a river about six meters wide. The river indeed hadn't disappeared, it had simply become groundwater for a while before turning into the large river they could see below.

"Wow… that's something," said Sokka, amazed. "Well, there you have it! It didn't vanish just like that, I told you so!"

"Why, congratulations on your correct guesswork," said Azula, glaring at him. "How did this happen? Why? Where's the water coming from?"

"I think the soil up there was somewhat loose…" said Sokka. "The water filtered into it, and now it's coming out through the wall."

"Odd," said Azula staring at the river with confusion. "I'd never heard of such a phenomenon. The river's a lot larger now, isn't it?"

"Well, that means there's less risk of this one vanishing," said Sokka, smiling. "Shall we climb down, then?"

"How?" asked Azula, looking at the tall wall they were standing on. "I don't see any easy way to get down from where we are. And it's too high to jump, we're injured enough as it is to risk a broken leg or two…"

"True, but we have something that should help us," said Sokka, smiling and removing the horns from the basket. "Yep, they'd come in handy eventually."

Sokka placed the basket on the ground and tucked two of the horns into his sash, holding one in his hand. Azula watched him with a crooked eyebrow as he used a root to help him hold his weight as he climbed down the wall. He stabbed the horn he had been grasping into the wall, and used it to get himself a few meters down.

The root he had been holding onto gave way, and he was left dangling with one hand on the horn. Azula gasped as she watched him remove another of the horns from his sash and stick it at the level of his knee. He released the last horn and dangled on the second one this time, repeating the procedure with the third horn and, fortunately, he was already close enough to the ground by then to let himself fall to the ground. His knees hurt, since they took most the impact of his fall, but he was able to keep his footing despite it all.

"Made it safely!" he called out to Azula. "Toss down the basket, I'll catch it!"

"I was just about to ask you what we were going to do with it…" said the Princess, turning around towards the basket and picking it up with difficulty due to its size and the injury on her right hand. "Ready?"

"Send it down!" said Sokka, spreading his arms out.

Azula threw the basket as far from the wall as she could manage, doing her best to keep it from colliding with the horns. Sokka had to take one step back to catch it, and it struck him fully on the face when it reached him. He embraced it carefully, doing his best to keep the leaves from breaking and to keep the content safely inside. Azula looked at him warily as he staggered with the basket, but she stopped worrying when he placed it on the ground and showed her a silly smile.

"Mission accomplished! Alright, it's your turn to come down!" he said. "Try to use the loose roots to help you if you can! Or the knife! Use the knife, it'll be better!"

Azula gritted her teeth and hoisted herself down the wall with a vine she had seen nearby. Sokka couldn't help but give a nod of approval at that, even though she hadn't followed with his suggestions. Azula managed to grip the first horn, but the vine ran out by the time she was trying to reach the second. Sokka's arms were far longer than hers, and the horn was far from her reach. She cursed her luck and dug the knife into the wall to support herself halfway between both horns. Azula did her best to grasp the second horn with her right hand… but it didn't go as well as she had hoped it would. As soon as she managed to make a fist around the second horn, the pain that shot up through her arm was dreadful. She opened the hand by reflex…and the knife wasn't strong enough to support all her weight. It gave way, and Azula was left gaping at the hole where the knife had been just a moment ago. Nothing anchored her to solid grounds anymore. And so, for the second time in two days, she was falling into nothingness. How wonderful…

She didn't scream, she wasn't going to bother doing such a thing… all she could do was watch the wall become more and more distant, and she gritted her teeth as she waited for the collision against the hard ground…

But two strong arms wrapped up around her, taking her by surprise. Sokka gripped her tightly as he struggled to balance his footing, and he placed her on the ground as soon as he was steady on his spot.

"You okay?" he asked, gasping.

"I… thanks," she muttered, turning around to face him in utter surprise.

"You're lucky I was watching you," he said, smiling and patting her head.

"Well, I'm not lucky you placed those things so far apart," Azula grunted, mildly embarrassed. Sokka couldn't help but smile wider at her bashfulness. He knew well enough that, in these circumstances, her retorts were just a way to mask how flustered she was.

"Sorry about that," he muttered. "Miscalculation on my part."

"Big miscalculation," Azula snapped.

Sokka eyed her with concern, staring at her stretched right hand.

"Are you alright? Is it worse?"

"It's worse if I tense it," Azula muttered. "I can't exert force with it, so as long as I don't do that, I'll be fine."

"Do you think we should change the bandages now?"

"I doubt it," said Azula. "We can do that tonight, if we're still stuck in here"

"Alright, then…" said Sokka, trusting her judgment.

"Come on, Mr. Basket. Let's get moving," said Azula, starting down the riverbank.

"Mr. Basket…?" Sokka repeated, staring at her in disbelief. He shook his head and smiled as he followed her.

The riverbank was far wider this time, so Azula didn't have to tear down any plants as they walked down the river. Nevertheless, she still gripped the knife tightly on her left hand in case it might come in handy later on. Sokka watched her from behind, eyeing curiously the way she held the weapon.

"Are you a lefty?" he asked. "You seem to handle yourself well with your left hand…"

"I handle myself well enough with either hand," said Azula. "I taught myself how to do so."

"Really, now?" said Sokka. "I've always done my best to use both hands too, but I favor my right one most."

"Any capable fighter should know how to use both hands," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "And I favor my left."

"It's not even surprising for us to oppose each other even on this," said Sokka, chuckling.

"Indeed, it isn't," said Azula, looking back at him for a moment. It seemed like he was quite keen to make conversation, wasn't he…? Did he enjoy their talks so much all of sudden?

"Say… this river is pretty huge," muttered Sokka, gazing at the riverbank. "Is there any chance you might know which river it is?"

"What?" Azula was taken by surprise by the sudden change of subject. "Why should I know what river this is?"

"Well, you're a well-educated girl from the Fire Nation… I figured you'd know more geography than me, and there might be a chance you knew which river this was… it would be helpful to know, that way we'd figure out where we're going to end up at."

"I am well-educated, and I did study geography… but mostly of the Fire Nation. I only know the most important rivers from the Fire Nation Colonies, and I don't recall having seen a river inside this mountain range on a map before. So no, I have absolutely no idea where it will lead us."

"I guessed it would be a long shot…" said Sokka, shrugging.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Azula asked, glaring at him. "You figured I wouldn't know, but you still asked? You thought I'd disappoint you?"

"No, no! D-don't take it that way!" Sokka said. "But… on second glance, I figured you should know because as much as these are Fire Nation Colonies, it's supposed to be Fire Nation anyway. Shouldn't you know the territory you'll rule one day?"

"Ah, so you're supporting me ruling over the Colonies? That's quite a surprise… I was certain you were still hung upon making the Fire Nation the bad guys…"

"Whatever I may think of the Fire Nation makes no difference at this point," said Sokka. "But you'll succeed your father one day, probably… so I thought you knew all you had to know about the Earth Kingdom's territories."

"Well, excuse me for not researching about the Former Earth Kingdom forests in which no humans live," Azula growled. "Why exactly was I supposed to know anything about this place? There's nothing here. I never thought I'd wind up here, and for that matter neither did you. So don't try to guilt-trip me about not knowing my nation. Because, besides…"

"Besides…?" Sokka repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"The… the Earth Kingdom are colonies. It's not the same as the Fire Nation," she muttered.

"That's an understatement," said Sokka. "Did it take you a trip to the Earth Kingdom to notice that?"

Azula stopped on her tracks and glared at him fiercely.

"Are you seriously going to lecture me about this now? Don't we have enough matters to worry about for you to give me that attitude?"

"No need to get so angry, Princess," said Sokka, smiling. The sight of his grin made Azula shake her head, turn around again and storm off. "Hey, I'll drop it, Azula! No more talking about the Earth Kingdom! I promise!"

Azula rolled her eyes and took a turn on the riverbank, since the river twisted to the right… and she stopped dead on her tracks right after passing the bend. Sokka was the one who almost ran into her this time, and he froze right behind her, his apologies freezing as well.

A black boar with spikes on its body had been sniffing a bush before he heard them approach. It had frozen all the same as Sokka and Azula, and it was currently staring at them in utter shock. It was, most likely, the first time it had seen humans.

Azula's eyes widened as she regarded the boarcupine, aware of its gaze upon them. It would be the last straw if the creature decided to attack them now… Azula raised her left hand defensively, threatening the boarcupine with her knife. Intimidating it might serve to send it off on its merry way…

"What are you doing?!" Sokka muttered in her ear, making her freeze. "Don't threaten it!"

"B-but…!"

"It's a boarcupine! If that thing gets us, we're done for!"

"Well then, we'll have to get him first!" Azula growled under her breath.

"No need for that! He's damn scared of us as well! If you attack, he'll attack too, but if you don't do anything he's bound to leave…"

"How do you know that?!" Azula grunted, fiercely. She glared at the animal, noticing it hadn't moved so far. If the beast killed them, she would make sure to chase after Sokka in the next life to take make him pay for causing their deaths on this one.

"Wait… wait…" Sokka grunted, gripping her left arm with his hand.

Azula continued holding the boarcupine's stare, knowing it would prance at them sooner than later… killed by a boarcupine. Oh, that was probably the most pathetic way to die, wasn't it?

But to her surprise, the animal turned around and entered the forest without further issue. Sokka and Azula remained frozen, watching the boarcupine make its way through the wilderness. They didn't dare move until they knew he was long gone.

"You seriously need to get out more, Azula," Sokka asked, releasing her. "That's not the way to deal with a wild animal."

"I've dealt with you enough, I'm pretty certain I have my share of experience on that regard," Azula grunted, starting down the riverbank again.

"Come on, I'm serious here!"

"You think I'm joking?" Azula asked, unable to hold back a laugh of disbelief.

Sokka glared at her again before sighing in irritation. He had nigh forgotten how easy it was for both of them to get to the other's bad side.

"Azula, you can't handle a boarcupine like that. You can't handle animals like that! Even a wooly pig would have attacked you if you had tried to hurt him! Surely this boarcupine was more scared of you that you were of him. He'd never seen a human before, I'm sure!"

"All the more reason it would have wanted to attack," Azula growled. "We're in the wilderness, after all. It's the wild animals' territory, and we're invading it for all they think, and they'll want us out. They'll expel us as quickly as they can, and killing us is the easiest way for them to do so."

"That's… no," said Sokka, shaking his head. "You're too aggressive. That may be true for humans, but not for animals, and not for boarcupines. They won't attack unless they feel threatened, and the best way to avoid them attacking is by not threatening them! Was it that hard to back down and let the beast be off with his business?"

"Yes, it was," Azula growled. "What if it had attacked us?"

"We would have been toast, because a knife wasn't going to deliver more damage to it than what those spikes would have done to us. And from behind you I couldn't have done much to save us either. If he had wanted to, he could have ravaged us to his heart's content, so all we had to do was not give him a reason to wish to kill us. See my point now? You can't be as ruthless with animals as you are with people."

"Says you," grunted Azula stubbornly, her head held high.

"Honestly, is it so hard for you to just back off a fight?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Azula muttered. "I don't back off, Sokka. I never have, and I never will. I'll do whatever I can to win, and even then, there's still a chance that I might lose… but the battle is done the minute you give up. And I refuse to become a quitter and a loser just because it's easier to back off than to fight."

"But there are fights that aren't worth fighting," said Sokka. "And the price you pay for winning or losing them can be beyond your expectations. Isn't it smarter to stand back and let things carry on as they should? A single battle won't decide the fate of a war, but it just might if you get yourself killed by picking the wrong fight."

"So you're saying I should turn my back on fights when I know I can't win them?" Azula asked. "I'm sorry, Sokka… but that's not the way things work with me. There aren't supposed to be fights I can't win. Perhaps I lost once against the Rough Rhinos… but I'll win again one day. I know I will."

Sokka stared at her with worry, not expecting her to see the issue from that perspective. He frowned, her undeterred determination bothering him a little.

"So you're fine with losing so long as you win later on?" Sokka asked.

"When you lose, you learn valuable lessons you can use to win later," she muttered. "When you fight a war, you can't expect to win at all times. You need to know you can lose as well, because if you take your battle for granted you might as well have made your death wish. I don't care if I lose time over and time again, so long as I win in the long run. It's the way I've always thought, the way I'll always think. And no, I will not back down. What do you learn from running away from battles like a coward?"

"I guess… I guess nothing, but you don't have to think of this boarcupine matter like that," said Sokka. "It's just a simple animal. He wasn't waging a war on you."

"I might not be talking just about the boarcupine, for all you know," said Azula, startling him.

Was she implying what it seemed she was implying? Were they fighting a war against each other? Was she stating she wouldn't back down while struggling against him, no matter what? She had already lost against Sokka a few times… he had lost against her, too. But, at this rate, who would win the war? It seemed to Sokka it was too soon to tell… unless one of them surrendered. But the mere thought of giving in to her… Sokka chuckled and shook his head, seeing things from her point of view for once.

"Huh… well, if you're talking about what I think you're talking about… rest assured, I'm not backing down either," he said.

"If you have any pride, you won't," Azula stated. "Though given that you back off fights, I'm surprised you'd say that."

"I choose my fights," said Sokka. "It doesn't mean I back off all of them."

"And you believe there's a chance you'll defeat me?" Azula asked. "Did you pick this fight because you thought you could win?"

"I didn't have much choice regarding this one," Sokka admitted. "I had to fight it, simply put. I may win, I may lose, but I'll fight to the end. Yet fighting a boarcupine is completely pointless. Even if you had killed it, we couldn't have used its dead body for anything. So yeah, don't back down on important fights. But this wasn't even a fight, so there was no point in fighting it."

"Fine, fine, fine…" said Azula, rolling her eyes. "The beast is gone, so you can drop the boarcupine matter already."

"Okay, then," said Sokka, sighing and staring at Azula worriedly. "Are we good?"

"We're never good, Sokka. Why do you even bother asking that question?" said Azula, staring at him matter-of-factly.

Sokka sighed and shook his head, still treading behind her. As ever, they were meant to clash and argue, their views would always go against the other's… but that was what made their relationship as interesting as it was: the challenge they posed to one another. Even if he set aside the feelings they held for the other, Sokka was certain he would never find anyone he would enjoy himself with as he did with Azula.

They stopped after noon and built a fire quickly to roast more meat. Azula seemed somewhat unwilling to use her fire for a task as mundane as cooking, but if she was opposed to it, she didn't speak her mind. She set the wood on fire and Sokka made sure to use the thinner chunks of meat they had available so that they would be cooked thoroughly and quickly.

They were engaged in a few more meaningless conversations over the span of the day, some ended with Azula glaring at him, others ended with Sokka glaring at her. They looked at either side of the river eagerly, in hopes to find any signs of human life nearby, but there were none. Azula's heart sank along with the sun once dusk arrived, frustration and disappointment threatening to overcome her as Sokka told her they should make camp.

"This is pointless," said Azula, collapsing by a pile of rocks and taking off her boots. Her feet had blisters after spending the whole day walking. "We're never going to get anywhere. We're lost in this forsaken forest."

"Well, this forest doesn't extend all over the world," said Sokka, dropping his basket. "We'll get out of here one day."

"When?" Azula asked, as Sokka began gathering wood again.

"I can't tell you exactly… I would if I knew," said Sokka, ducking and looking for brushwood under the nearby trees.

"This… this is a waste of time. I used to think I was wasting my time back when we were traveling fruitlessly through the continent, but now I know what wasting your time truly feels like," she said, dropping her head against the rock.

"Azula… this isn't the way I expected this trip to end either," said Sokka, carrying several sticks back to where he would build the fire. "Nevertheless, here we are. So… I say we make the most of it."

Azula frowned and eyed him warily.

"What's that supposed to mean…?" muttered the Princess.

"W-what…? No! No, no, no!" said Sokka, flushing as he realized his words had come across the wrong way. "What I meant was that you don't end up in the wilderness every day! When was the last time you had such fresh air? When was the last time you had to fend for yourself for real? It's… it's an interesting experience, don't you think?"

"I might think so once it's over," said Azula, lowering her guard again after he cleared up what he had meant to say. "Right now it's just a bother. I'm not surprised you enjoy it, savage as you are, but I'm not exactly eager to spend half my life lost in a forest. Maybe you're happy because your life outside this forest wasn't great, but mine was better out there than in here. Do you really blame me for wishing this would end soon?"

"I don't, and I never did," said Sokka. "I'd like it to end soon too, don't get me wrong. Even I can grow weary of eating only komodo rhino and walking all day long. But given the way things look right now… we'll be stuck in here for a while longer. So it would be best if we tried to enjoy the nice things about the situation and forget the lame ones. Should serve to cheer us up a little."

"Speak for yourself," said Azula. "What's so good in here anyway? Fresh air, you said? Sure it's fresh, but the purity of air isn't something I appreciate that much. You want me to enjoy the plants, maybe? The soil? The blisters on my feet?"

"How about you try to think of something you're actually enjoying?" asked Sokka, looking through the woods again. "It might be more helpful than sarcasm."

"I was quite certain you enjoyed sarcasm."

"I'm just trying to cheer you up, not to enjoy myself."

"So you're saying my happiness doesn't make you happy?" Azula asked, making Sokka walk back into the riverbank with only a pair of logs under his arms.

"Is that a trick question?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It might be," said Azula, shrugging and feigning innocence

"I'm quite certain my happiness doesn't make you happy…" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Why, it seems you're more observant than I gave you credit for" said Azula, smirking at his indignant expression. "So, there you have it. I've cheered up at your expenses. That actually does make me feel better, truth to be told."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" he said, shaking his head but smiling at her anyways as he headed to fetch more wood.

Azula sighed and allowed her gaze to drift to the sky as her smirk faded away. Even though annoying Sokka would help improve her mood, it was very hard for her to keep her head level with everything that was going on. She hadn't been holding on too tight to the hope of finding a village nearby, but the longer they walked, the more she grew convinced that they'd find nothing no matter how far they went. She had left a letter behind for the Captain, instructing him to leave Ba Sing Se if she wasn't back with the Rhinos in two days, and she had told him to meet with her by the Kuaisu River. She had figured it could take her some time to catch the Rhinos… but she never thought it would take this long. Well, she hadn't envisioned she'd be blinded by fury by the time she faced against them. All her plans had gone to waste because of that…

Sokka gathered enough wood for the rest of the night, and he set up his customary cooking system. He searched through the basket to find that half the meat left was of the kind Azula most certainly wouldn't want to eat, starting by the liver. Sokka gulped and brought out the raw meat, placing some of the best chunks for Azula on the fire and, after a great deal of pondering about it, he decided to have the liver for himself. He'd leave the better-quality meat for her.

Azula set the wood on fire, but she didn't make out what Sokka had decided to cook until the food was done. Azula was already holding her plate in her hands as stared at him worriedly, recognizing the strange blubbery organ he had picked for himself.

"Y-you're not really going to eat that, are you…?" she asked, aghast.

"We're not in the situation in which we can get picky about food," muttered Sokka. "So I'm not going to let it go to waste, even if it doesn't taste good."

"Sokka, you really don't have to eat it…"

"Why, if you want it so badly I'm willing to trade…"

"Of course not!" Azula shouted, making Sokka chuckle.

"Then don't worry about me, I'll be fine," he said.

"I'm worried about myself, really," Azula lied. "If that thing gives you food poisoning, how are you going to fulfill your promise of getting me out of here?"

Sokka raised an eyebrow towards her, surprised by her question.

"Well… we'll see when the time comes," he said, smiling at her. "I suppose you'll have to nurse me to health if that happens…"

"Never," Azula growled.

"Yeah, I figured as much," he said. "Let's hope I don't end up sick, then…"

"Come on… you were telling me a while ago to pick my fights? Well, I'm telling you now to pick your food!" she exclaimed. "Seriously, Sokka, don't do it…"

Sokka frowned with determination before diving into the liver. Azula grimaced at the sight of dark liquid spilling out of the organ. Sokka grimaced but he smiled at Azula when he finished swallowing.

"See, that wasn't so bad," he muttered, his voice failing him slightly.

"Sokka…" said Azula, shaking her head.

"I'm fine, Azula, honestly," he said. "There are worse things than this inside that basket!"

"And that's supposed to reassure me?" Azula asked, aghast.

"It should, because I'm going to eat all the weird stuff and I'll leave the good ones to you. See, I know how to treat a Princess after all!"

"I beg to differ…" Azula grunted. "Y-yet, honestly, there's no need for you to eat something so disgusting…"

"If there's anything, there's need," said Sokka, sighing. "Don't worry about me, Azula. You make sure to keep your strength, and I'll do my best to keep mine."

Azula sighed and shook her head, concluding that arguing with him would be useless. If there was something they weren't opposites on, it was their stubbornness. She began nibbling her meat, eyeing Sokka's struggle with the liver with disgust.

Azula was long done with her plate when Sokka couldn't take it anymore. What had that rhino eaten in his life that had given his liver such an unpleasant taste? Because it sure wasn't a delicious one… Sokka knew good food when he tasted it, and this definitely wasn't it. Even when he kept telling himself he needed to fill his stomach with what he had available, his entire body seemed to reject taking another bite out of the liver. He sighed and put it aside, smiling at Azula, who was eyeing him with concern again.

"I'll have the rest of it on the morning…"

"Sokka…"

"I know, there's no need for me to eat it if it's yucky," he said, sighing. "But I assure you, I'll be fine. I've had other animals' liver before… though they didn't taste this bad, truth to be told."

"You're insane," said Azula, shaking her head and dropping on the grass. "Honestly, what am I going to do with you if you get a stomachache tomorrow?"

"You'll smack me with my club and drag my unconscious body through the wilderness?" he suggested.

"Well, that's a thought… would spare me from your wailing, because I'm sure you'd be complaining all the time if you got sick."

"You seem to know me better and better with every passing second," said Sokka, smiling.

"Your personality says everything that has to be said about you," she muttered simply.

"So I really am that predictable?"

"Indeed, you are," said Azula, smirking, but the smile froze in place for a moment. "Although… there's one thing you've taken me by surprise with recently."

"Oh? Is that so?" Sokka asked, pleasantly surprised. "Is it my manliness, perhaps?"

"What?" said Azula, eyeing him in utter confusion.

"Now, now, you saw me shirtless just a few hours ago" said Sokka. "Last time you saw me shirtless you were a mess, remember?"

"That… was a very long time ago. And that's not what I'm talking about anyway," grunted Azula.

"You sure it's not? Then what is it?" Sokka asked, amused.

Azula's smile returned to her face as she folded her arms over her chest, deep in thought.

"How was it, exactly…? Ah, I think it went: _'Molten, deep, rich gold… Unique eyes, unique Princess… you set me ablaze…'_ "

Sokka's cheeks began reddening only by hearing the first line of the poem he had written. He slammed his forehead with the palm of his hand and buried his head between his knees as Azula laughed unusually loudly at his reaction.

"Yes, yes, that's exactly how it went, isn't it?" she said, smirking proudly.

Sokka would have stopped to admire the sound of her genuine laughter, but his embarrassment was such that he could do nothing but eye her apologetically.

"How did you…? Oh, spirits, where did you get that? Why did you even read it?" he said, shaking his head.

"You were unconscious on the table and I happened to pass by where you were," said Azula, still smiling. "That very poem invited me inside so that I could take a look at all his siblings…"

"You did WHAT?!" Sokka exclaimed, shocked. "Y-you read more of them?!"

"Well, not all of them…" said Azula. "Why are you so surprised? Was one of them about my 'blue fire', by any chance?"

"T-that…" Sokka said, frowning as he realized she was referring to the innuendo that had come up several years ago. "If you're talking about what happened when we first met, then no, none of that…"

"Ah, I'm sure you had meant to write one about that, but you just happened to fall asleep," said Azula, sighing dramatically. "Well, then, I'll wait for the next haiku batch, you can rest assured on that."

"I… I don't want you to! T-they're lame, there's hardly anything artistic about them! If I were a poet I'd starve to death!" Sokka exclaimed, shaking his head.

"Good thing you're a gladiator then. A gladiator sensitive to art, that's a new one," said Azula, chuckling.

Sokka groaned, shaking his head. Out of all the embarrassing things Azula could have found out about him, why did she have to find out about his haiku?

"In any case, it wasn't such a bad poem, if you ask me," said Azula, shrugging. "It had the truth of it."

"The truth of what?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of me setting you ablaze," said Azula, smirking. "Seems like you have some fortunetelling powers, given that I put you on fire yesterday… nevertheless, it happened, so you should be proud of your seer skills."

"I didn't mean…" Sokka started, but he decided not to clarify the subject. If he explained to Azula what he had actually meant, the unusually cheerful atmosphere would be ruined. If they had come to a conclusion after these two days of being stuck in that forest together, it was that they both had feelings for each other, but that they couldn't act upon them. He wasn't going to break that non-verbal rule just to explain to her what his lousy poem meant. "I don't have fortunetelling skills. There would have been many things I would have avoided if I'd had the skill to see the future."

"Is that so…?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah," said Sokka, grimacing. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason…" she said, still smiling albeit not with the same cruel edge anymore. "So… since when are you a poet? Was it Piandao's doing, perhaps?"

"N-no, it wasn't…" muttered Sokka. "You told me I could go into town and do as I wished in Ba Sing Se, so I did… and I ended up in a poetry recital. They recited some really nice haiku, so I wanted to give it a try and see if I could write one. Though I think I failed on most my attempts… every time I finished a piece I felt like there was so much more to say, so I wrote more and more poems to try and say everything I wanted to say…"

"And… all you had to talk about was me?" Azula asked, slightly nervous at asking said question.

"W-well, you're quite an unusual person, Azula," said Sokka, blushing again. "No three sentences will be enough to describe you."

Azula felt her cheeks redden as well. She definitely hadn't planned for the conversation to wind up as it had, but she had been the one to bring the subject up after all. Hearing Sokka compliment her as he just had was exhilarating, but also painful. What he said didn't make a difference, couldn't make a difference… they both were perfectly aware of it. But it was impossible for her to remain emotionless if someone spoke of her as he had. Because it wasn't any random someone… it was him. And she knew already that he wasn't one to lie.

"So…" muttered Sokka, trying to relieve them from their current tension somehow. "Now you know what I was up to that day. But what about you? Given the way you were so eager to shake me off, I was almost sure you were up to something illegal."

"Why, of course I was. The Fire Nation Princess thrives in doing illegal activities, that's common knowledge," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "Was that really your best guess?"

"You're a woman of many secrets, Azula," said Sokka, smiling. "And every time I try to figure one of them out, I find out there's an even bigger mystery to unravel. So no matter what I guessed, I figured any of my assumptions would be wrong."

"Well, I assure you that one was wrong," said Azula, sighing. She frowned and eyed him with mild doubt, making Sokka feel slightly nervous and coy.

"Y-you know, it's okay if you don't want to tell me…" he muttered, her stare a bitter reminder of how little she trusted him.

Azula stopped looking at him, her gaze getting lost in the darkening sky above them. Sokka sighed silently. He had hoped that their conversation during the previous night would have eased her a little, that their constant arguing and bickering today had been enough to convince her that they could go back to what they used to be… clearly, he had been deluded.

He had been about to go look for more wood to replenish their supplies for the night when Azula's voice surprised him.

"My uncle led the First Siege of Ba Sing Se," she muttered. "By the orders of my grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon, General Iroh took the best troops of the Fire Nation with him to vanquish the strongest city of the Earth Kingdom. Along with Iroh went his son, my cousin Lu Ten."

"I… I didn't know you had a cousin," said Sokka, surprised. All his previous intentions to gather more firewood were forgotten as soon as Azula started speaking.

"I did," Azula sighed. "As I said, he left with my uncle to fight in the war. Together they were supposed to take over Ba Sing Se and prove the might of the Fire Nation to the world, and to show the power of the members of the Royal Family. They were my grandfather's immediate successors on the throne after all… but my cousin perished on the battlefield. I never knew how, or why… he had always seemed so strong, I couldn't even picture anyone defeating him in battle – well, other than my father, that is. I never understood how it happened, all I knew was that, upon the arrival of a letter, my cousin was gone from the world. His grave stands on a hill in Ba Sing Se, and that's where I was while you were listening to poetry."

Sokka nodded, unsure of what to say. Did Azula get along with her cousin? Had she visited his grave because she felt it was her responsibility to do so? Or did she do it because she genuinely loved him? So many questions he wished to ask… but he didn't dare do it. He could tell by the look in her eyes how much this subject bothered her.

"Did you guys lose the siege because of that?" Sokka asked. "If he was that valuable a warrior…"

"In a way, we did," muttered Azula. "But the Fire Nation's failure wasn't Lu Ten's fault."

"Well, who can blame anyone for dying?" said Sokka, grimacing.

"That's not what I meant," Azula replied. "Lu Ten fought bravely, and he gave his life for his nation, just as so many other soldiers under my uncle's command did. Yet upon my cousin's demise, my uncle lost his wits and he brought down the entire siege. The operation collapsed on its own weight and the Fire Nation held the worst defeat it ever faced during the Hundred Year War. The soldiers had even managed to bring down the outer wall by then… and my uncle allowed all that progress to go to waste. He didn't care about it anymore. He never even apologized for bailing on his nation when he was needed the most."

"I guess the death of your own child can be quite a shock…" muttered Sokka.

"It doesn't excuse the way he acted," Azula responded. "A true military leader would have known the costs of war from the beginning. As soon as you take command of a unit, you know you're risking your men's lives. And if they sacrifice their lives for the cause, then all the more reason you have to keep fighting. It's the honorable thing to do, it's what my father taught me I should do when I was still a toddler. So how come a grown man like Iroh gives up battle and disappears into nowhere under the excuse that his son died in battle and he was overcome by grief? The same man who had commanded countless armies and triumphed in so many battles before; the very man who slayed the last dragon, too…"

"The last dragon?" asked Sokka, surprised. "He killed it? Really?"

"He claimed as much, at least," muttered Azula. "I don't think he brought back the horns, as he should have, but my grandfather was most eager to celebrate his grand accomplishment…"

"But… why?" Sokka asked, frowning. "Why did firebenders want to kill dragons? Is it you guys were trying to be the sole firebending race or something along those lines?"

"It's not that simple," said Azula, sighing. "Firebenders and dragons had bonded since the first man learned how to bend fire. Not everyone had the chance to bond with a dragon… they weren't a numerous race, and the cost of raising and feeding a dragon could be quite steep for most common folk. Only the high-born firebenders would seek to bond with dragons… but said bond wasn't as simple as jumping on the back of the beast and claiming it yours. For a firebender to bond with a dragon, he had to give him an offering of his own fire. The dragon would choose whether to accept or decline said offering. If he accepted, they would take the human as their rider, and they would be bonded forevermore. If he declined, though, the firebender would have to seek another dragon if he really wanted to become a rider, and as I already said, they were not easy to find nor were there plenty of them."

"Sounds like a hassle…" said Sokka.

"It was a privilege, though," said Azula. "Nothing spoke better of a firebender than having a dragon as his partner. Hence, dragons had accompanied the Royal Family's members since immemorial times. Fire Lord Sozin had quite a powerful dragon as his ally; the same goes for his son, Fire Lord Hizuo. My grandfather, Azulon, was just a young prince when his father presented him with the dragon he had procured for him. My grandfather performed the fire offering… but the dragon declined it. Enraged, Fire Lord Hizuo declared all dragons to be enemies of the Fire Nation, and he created the pointless dragon hunt that decimated the already small dragon population. Upon becoming Fire Lord, my grandfather added titles and nobility to the task of slaughtering dragons, and he genuinely basked in joy with every dragon carcass presented to him. Whoever killed a dragon would be granted the title of 'Dragon', and they would be presented with honors of the sort that not even war heroes would obtain. Fire Lord Azulon's resentment towards dragons knew no ends. Eager to please his father, my uncle killed the last remaining dragon and earned himself the title of 'Dragon of the West'."

"Wow… that's twisted," said Sokka.

"You said it," muttered Azula. "If there's one thing I never understood, it was Azulon's ridiculous notion of revenge. Why murder all the dragons just because one rejected him? His vengeance only served to damage the Fire Nation, to make our situation much worse. Just imagine how easy it would have been for us to conquer Ba Sing Se on the back of dragons… flying over those damn huge walls, burning the entire city down… But of course, my prodigious grandfather didn't bother trying to find another dragon that would accept his fire. It was as if he thought the dragon had offended his honor so terribly that his wrongdoing outweighed the war in his list of priorities, and said offense had to be punished no matter what."

"So… if your grandfather had had a better grasp of reality, he could have burned the entire world to ashes," Sokka muttered. "Well, can't say I'm not glad that the man was nuts, then."

"I suppose there's little chance that we would be here if that had been the case…" said Azula, shrugging. "Nevertheless, my uncle killed the last dragon and he didn't even mourn about what he had done. He got thousands of Fire Nation soldiers killed, and he murdered Earth Kingdom men with his own hands as well. Yet upon my cousin's death, he threw everything away in a fit of depression and disgraced his nation with his desertion of the battlefield. The fight was in the Fire Nation's hands all along, and he gave it up as he did…"

"You would have rather had him carry on fighting?" Sokka asked.

"It would have been the honorable thing to do. The right thing to do," Azula grunted. "My cousin gave up his life for a cause he believed in, and instead of honoring his sacrifice, my uncle disgraced him. It was almost as if he didn't realize that soldiers can die in wars until my cousin did. He never realized he was killing someone else's son, cousin or sibling… or that the Fire Nation soldiers perishing under his command were also someone else's family members. But nobody stopped the war for their sake. To my uncle, that was merely collateral damage. He murdered so many, and got so many others killed, without understanding the true cost of a life. What sort of a military leader is that?"

"I'm not eager to excuse him, mind you…" said Sokka, smiling a little. "But maybe there's a chance that he decided to stop the pointless violence?"

"If that's so, why did he join the Gladiator fights?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why, if he's so opposed to violence, didn't he tell my father to stop the war altogether? Why is he just standing on the sidelines, laughing stupidly, drinking tea and sending his niece on a goose chase while he plays Pai Sho and pampers Zuko? If his desertion of the frontlines hadn't meant a direct affront against Fire Lord Azulon's very authority and against the Fire Nation itself, if his suddenly new-found good will was more than just a pretense, why is it that he's doing absolutely nothing to change the world for the better? What is he trying to accomplish, really? What did my cousin's death teach him, if he actually learned anything at all?"

Sokka sighed and shrugged, his idea of the man growing murkier by the minute.

"He's older than your father, though, isn't he?" he asked. "Why isn't he the current Fire Lord?"

"My father took over the position when my grandfather passed away," said Azula. "My uncle was away from the Palace for over a year, and upon his return he didn't protest my father's rule. But even so, I always had the feeling that behind that calm charade he was hiding bitterness and jealousy upon knowing that Fire Lord Azulon had decided to give my father the crown instead of him."

"So he was supposed to be the heir, then…" muttered Sokka. "It would only make sense for him to be bitter about it, if that's the case."

"I don't even want to imagine what the Fire Nation would be like if he had ended up as its ruler," said Azula. "A coward and a deserter who hasn't got the guts to stand up for his people… what sort of Fire Lord could he have made? My cousin could have been a fantastic Fire Lord, but not my uncle."

"Did your grandfather change his mind about Iroh as his heir because of his desertion in the battlefield?" Sokka asked. "Do you think he realized Iroh couldn't rule, just as you believe?"

"No, I… I really don't know any specifics about what led Azulon to make my father his heir," said Azula. "The last I knew, he had refused blatantly to allow my father to succeed him."

"But… then you father became his heir? How?" Sokka asked, puzzled.

"As I said, I have no idea," muttered Azula. "All I know is that my grandfather passed away the very night he denied my father the throne…"

"Then…" Sokka clenched his teeth before delivering his newest question. "Do you think he killed him?"

"I don't know," said Azula. "I… I guess it's possible. But that's also the night when…"

"When what?" Sokka asked after Azula feel silent for a little longer than he had expected.

"When my mother vanished," Azula replied, her tone of voice shifting slightly as she spoke. Sokka didn't know what the change was exactly, but he could tell that there was something different about the way she spoke of her mother… "I don't know if my father killed my grandfather and my mother, or if she killed my grandfather and fled… I don't know anything, honestly."

"Would your mother have killed a man?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"I wouldn't be too surprised if she had," replied Azula. "For Zuko's sake, she would have done anything."

"Wait, what does Zuko have to do with this?" Sokka asked, confused.

Azula couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head.

"It's enough information for one night. If I keep talking your stomach will end up in a worse jumble than it already is because of that disgusting liver you ate."

"Oh, come on!" said Sokka, pouting. "You can't just give me half the pieces of the puzzle and hope I solve it on my own!"

"I don't have all the pieces, mind you," said Azula. "So you're not getting all the answers you want anyways. I'm not going to get them either any time soon. But life goes on, Sokka. We can't lose our minds just because we don't know the truth about what happened that night…"

"But talking about such things is a nice distraction for our current situation, though," said Sokka. "Will you tell me more later?"

"I might, I might not," said Azula, shrugging as she rolled over to the side, hugging herself tightly. "It depends on how much you anger me tomorrow."

"Oh, boy… I guess I'm not hearing anything else about this anytime soon, am I?" said Sokka, smiling.

"Surely not," said Azula, smiling back at him as she closed her eyes.

"Well, just as I said…" said Sokka, stirring the fire with a stick. "Every secret you hide is just a small portion of a larger mystery. You just reaffirmed my beliefs."

"I'm glad I did," said Azula, smirking still. "Where's the point in giving you the chance to figure everything out so quickly…? You seem to enjoy puzzles, so I'll let you have your fun with this one for as long as you like."

"I do enjoy puzzles, but I have to say I'm not exactly a patient man," admitted Sokka. "If the pieces don't fit, I'll just smash them into place!"

"You brute."

Sokka couldn't help but chuckle lowly at her response. Azula's eyes were closed, but he was certain she had rolled them behind her eyelids. He looked at her, deep in thought, pondering all she had just talked to him about, and as he did he managed to attach two of the puzzle pieces he hadn't noticed matched before.

"So… all this about your uncle, that's the reason why you don't give up, isn't it?" he asked. "It's why you don't back down from fights… it's why you win or lose, but you don't run away. Because that's what he did…"

"I'll never be like him," Azula muttered. "I'll never back down for my own benefit. If I lose once, I'll win twice. But I'm never going to give up, no matter on what regard. It's what my cousin deserved, and what he didn't obtain because his father was weak and cowardly. I'll never let anyone down in the way my uncle disappointed his son."

"I'm sure you won't," said Sokka, nodding. "You're much better than that."

"I… w-well, of course I am," she muttered, a blush appearing on her cheeks. Her previous sternness vanished instantly upon his words.

Sokka smiled again at the sight of her, deciding to leave Azula to her rest now. It had been quite a long and odd day… they had argued, they had talked, they had laughed, they had frowned… but even though they were lost in the middle of a forest, Sokka admitted to himself that there was nowhere he would rather be that night but here, next to the most interesting person he had ever met. He watched her as she shifted slightly until she found a comfortable position, and when she lay still for a while he muttered:

"Good night, Princess."

The smile on his face only grew larger when she replied:

"Good night, Sokka."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel the need to inform you that no, I haven't lost my mind (at least, not completely) with a few decisions I've made to alter the Avatarverse lately… one of them being my addition of a new member to the Royal Family, Sozin's son and Azulon's father.
> 
> Because… have you ever given that timeline some thought? Azulon was born, apparently, when Sozin was in his eighties… and I can only assume Ozai was born when Azulon was around 60-70 as well. Adding to this the fact that during "Zuko Alone" we hear the Fire Sage on Azulon's funeral saying quite clearly that Azulon was Fire Lord to their Nation for TWENTY-THREE years… well, I reached the conclusion that there was a generation missing, and I decided to fill that gap because it made more sense than to expect two older men (and their respective wives) to give birth to children at such old age.
> 
> On the matter regarding the dragon slaughter, Sozin ordering to hunt down all the dragons when he had one himself seemed slightly absurd to me, still does. Mayhaps it was just meant to be a display of how wacky Sozin was? Nevertheless, I've altered that too because I thought that blaming Sozin for all the wrong decisions of the Fire Nation was needless, other Fire Lords could have been responsible for the slaughter of the dragons.
> 
> Well, I guess that's all I had to say about this, though you are welcome to ask any questions if you have any. Thanks for reading, as ever, and look forward to the next one!


	41. Chapter 41

Once again, the turn by the river bend proved to conceal nothing but wilderness behind it. Azula could only sigh in disappointment. They had been walking for far too long, much longer than she had expected them to, and so far, it had been to no avail. There was still no sign of civilization anywhere around.

"This is hopeless," she muttered under her breath, her footsteps slowing to a halt.

The surroundings seemed adequate for them to make their camp, or so it seemed to Azula. It was likely that Sokka would point out a few flaws for a campsite, since he knew more about the proper conditions for camping than she did. Yet it had been four days already since they had gotten stranded, and if there was still something Azula could take pride on in the middle of this complicated situation, it was her capacity to learn new things quickly.

"I think we should stay here," she said, scrutinizing the area carefully. "We're not bound to find a better camping spot for miles. You said clearings were a good place to camp, right?"

She heard only a strange whine as an answer. Azula frowned and turned around, confused by such strange response, which seemed unusual even from Sokka. The gladiator had been uncharacteristically quiet for a while, but Azula hadn't taken it to mean anything until now.

"S-Sokka…?" she asked, her eyes growing wider.

His skin was paler than she had ever seen it, save for the dark circles around his eyes. Sokka tried to say something, Azula could see how much effort he was putting into talking, but he was unable to utter another sound. The basket in his arms collapsed on the ground with a thud just as his eyes rolled back into his head.

"SOKKA!" Azula called out, reaching out to him just in time to catch him before he collapsed on the ground. "Sokka! What's the matter with you?! Sokka!"

He only made a few more sounds, which showed Azula that he wasn't completely unconscious… but he wasn't awake either. It was as if he were standing on the boundaries between the realms of reality and dreams. Azula shook him, growing desperate, before her mind supplied her with an explanation as to why Sokka might have blacked out as he had.

"You… when did you last sleep?" she asked, staring at his gaunt face.

In a few days, it would be a week since they had gotten lost in the forest, and Sokka had kept watch every night without fail. Upon remembering this, Azula had no trouble understanding why he had collapsed. It was a wonder that he hadn't blacked out sooner. She dragged his limp body towards a nearby tree, leaning his back against it. Sokka mumbled indecipherable sounds, his eyelids attempting to open but failing at it.

"Stay put," said Azula, gritting her teeth. "Though it's not like you'll be going anywhere in that state anyways."

"A-Azu…" he muttered, her stern voice making him open his eyes just to find hers in the center of the blurred shapes he could barely discern.

"Hush…" said Azula. "Sleep."

The words worked as a magic spell. Sokka's head tilted slightly to the left and his eyes closed shut now. Azula sighed at the sight of him, wondering why she hadn't noticed how tired he was until now. She had no idea how had he managed to endure all the exhaustion. She knew Sokka was built of something stronger than most people, else he would have perished in the Arena long before she found him again… but he was just human, after all. It was only natural he'd faint eventually if he had spent four nights and days without sleeping.

Azula took it upon herself to gather the firewood and cook their food, imitating what she had watched Sokka do several times now. The endeavor took her longer than she expected: night had already fallen by the time she was finally ready to begin cooking. She opened the basket, looking for the meat she had grown to despise so much… to find a nigh empty basket. Her eyes widened as she gaped at what remained. What little meat was left was coated with thick films of fat, and she had absolutely no idea how much of it was actually edible. Why were they left with such little provisions?

Her despair didn't subside even though her logic kicked in right away. After five days, it was only natural that their food supplies would run out, especially if they were eating three times a day. Actually… given the circumstances, their supplies had lasted far longer than she had expected. How…?

She glanced at Sokka, aghast, when realization kicked in. It wasn't only that he had kept watch all those nights… but he had shortened his shares of food to make sure she would have more, sacrificing himself so she could be as comfortable as possible in this dreadful situation.

"Why…?" she muttered, looking at him in utter disbelief. That was something significant… too significant, actually. She knew Sokka well enough to be aware of his love for eating. She had always thought one of his main priorities was to keep his stomach full. For him to go about their travels with a half-empty stomach and only an hour or less of sleep each day…

What baffled her most was that he hadn't voiced any complaints about how he was feeling. She was very familiar with his knack for whining, but ever since they had gotten lost in the forest he hadn't protested about anything… no, even before that. He had stopped complaining about things after his fight against the Savage Hook. Was it that he no longer believed he had the right to voice out his opinions? Or had his priorities shifted to the point that he would discard his own health just to keep her safe…?

Azula shook her head at that and picked at the meat in the basket, choosing the chunks that looked the least disgusting. Only four slabs of meat were left now… they would have to hunt, forage or fish if they were to survive at this rate. Azula sighed and set the wood on fire swiftly, starting to cook their dinner.

As she waited for the food to be done she removed the bandage on her right hand. She flexed and stretched her fingers repeatedly, pleased to discover that the pain that had plagued her the last few days had been fading away effectively. She lifted her index and middle fingers, and she allowed her power to surge through her arm and to the tip of the two fingers. The blue flame she ignited flickered against the breeze, and she felt an extraordinary sense of relief at that. She could bend with both hands again, finally…

She walked to the river and washed her hands, cleansing them from the dirt and blood that had dirtied them after she had set camp. Azula gritted her teeth when her skin was grazed by the cold water, as uncomfortable as ever by anything that could take away her bodily warmth. Yet this time she wished she could dive into the stream and wash away the filth of four days. She had never spent such a long time without bathing… the sweat, the dirt and the exhaustion were begging to be washed away. But, naturally, she wouldn't dare do such thing with Sokka nearby. He might be unconscious, but that didn't mean he couldn't wake up. Knowing him, he'd likely open his eyes in the most troublesome moment for her... he had no qualms about exposing his torso to her, savage as he was, but Azula wouldn't consent him to see her topless, let alone naked.

Just on cue, Sokka groaned behind her and brought her back to reality. Her bath would have to wait until they found civilization again, there was nothing else to be done about it. She walked towards the tree on which she had left Sokka to find him twitching and struggling to open his eyes.

"Welcome back to the world of the living," she said, kneeling by him. "How are you feeling?"

"W-what…?" he mumbled, tilting his head to the side. "What happened…?"

"You blacked out on me a few hours ago," said Azula, as Sokka tried to push himself up to a more comfortable position. "And for quite an obvious reason, I'd say… just how much sleep have you had these past few days, Sokka?"

Sokka frowned and raised an eyebrow, the world around him feeling like a blur as he tried to think of the answer to her question.

"I… I'm a little shaken up… can't exactly do math right now…" he replied.

"I guessed not," said Azula, sighing. "No matter, we can talk about it later. For now…"

Azula took one of their plates and walked to the river, filling it with water for Sokka. She had no idea if hydrating him was what had to be done, but she figured it wouldn't hurt. The Princess put the stone to Sokka's lips and he gulped down the water slowly, trying to ignore the unpleasant feeling born when the cold water collided against his teeth.

"Better?" she asked, but Sokka didn't respond just yet. He was breathing heavily as the water made its way through him, strengthening him but also making him painfully aware of the emptiness of his stomach and the weakness of his body.

"A little… I'm more awake now, I guess," he said, smiling weakly.

"You… you're really a fool, aren't you?" said Azula, shaking her head. "Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you tell me you were too tired to carry on?"

"I guess I am one," said Sokka, dropping his head against the tree. "I just… didn't think there would be any point in saying anything. I could rest once we found a village… in the meantime I just had to make sure you'd be safe."

"And it was such a wonderful way to keep me safe, by blacking out in the middle of day," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "I know you're trying to do things the way you feel is right, Sokka, but this isn't the way to do it. Your recklessness could cost both our lives if we keep up at this rate."

"I didn't mean to… to cause more trouble," said Sokka, sighing.

"I know you didn't," muttered Azula, shaking her head and heading to the fireplace to check on their meal. "But you can't be so careless anymore. If you're too tired to carry on, you need to rest. The same goes if you're too hungry."

"H-how did you…? How did you know?" Sokka asked, surprised.

"It's been too long already. I've been having three meals a day for all this time, yet we still weren't out of food?" she muttered. "I appreciate the sacrifice, Sokka, I know just how much you love to have a full stomach. But it was a very stupid move on your part to do what you did."

"I was just trying…"

"To protect me?" Azula asked, looking at him skeptically. "Seriously, Sokka?"

"I've caused you enough trouble as it is…" muttered Sokka. "I wanted to do things better this time around. I swore I'd get you out of here…"

"Well, you won't if you starve yourself to death just to watch out for me," said Azula. "If you really plan on keeping me safe maybe you should start by considering that, without you, I'd be done for in this forest. You are the savage, you're the one who knows how to survive. My life is in your hands… so you'd better make sure your hands are strong enough to hold it if you really want to get me out of here."

Sokka blinked slowly a few times before nodding. She was right, of course…

Azula brought him the larger piece of meat she had cooked, keeping the smaller one to herself. They had a hard time chewing through the fat, and they both found hard bones inside the meat, but they were past the possibility of complaining by now. Azula tossed the bare bone into the fire and she watched Sokka as he made it through his own meal. Color was returning to his face slowly, but he still looked as exhausted as ever.

"I'll keep watch tonight," she said, startling him.

"Huh? You'll…" muttered Sokka. "Azula, you don't have to…"

"I will," she growled. "You're not doing it anymore, at least, not until you've rested properly. Sleep a week if you will, but you're going to sleep nonetheless"

"But what about you?" said Sokka. "You need to rest too, Azula…"

"I get that you think I'm a Princess, and that hence I can't take care of myself…"

"I never said that."

"But it doesn't mean I can't do what must be done," Azula ignored him, glaring at him fiercely. "Indeed, I'm used to eating three times a day and sleeping as much as I need to, but in these circumstances, there's no point in expecting those things. We're trying to survive here, not to live the lives we had before. So, if I must give up my sleeping hours to make sure we'll survive, I will."

"How about… we take shifts?" Sokka asked.

"If that's the way you want it, sure. I'll take the first one" said Azula.

"You plan on extending your shift all the way to the morning, don't you?" Sokka asked, frowning.

Azula smiled as she stared at the fire.

"It would seem you're just as evil a mastermind as I am, aren't you?"

"Only evil masterminds can understand each other, is it?" asked Sokka, smiling too.

"I've always suspected as much," said Azula, stirring the fire.

Sokka watched her intently, admiring the way the light played on her features. Azula noticed he was watching her and she turned towards him again, hoping to break the awkwardness of the situation.

"You done with your food?" she asked.

"Yeah… I'd eat the bone, but I'm afraid I'll break a tooth," said Sokka, chuckling.

"Well, it seems the sense of humor is back," said Azula, walking to him and taking his plate. "Is food what provides your wit?"

"Might be," he said, as she walked away, flinging the bone into the fireplace and to wash both plates on the river.

Azula cleansed her hands as well and returned to the fireplace, trying not to pay much attention to Sokka. His eyes were still on her, she could feel them… and although it made her slightly uncomfortable, it also filled her chest with warmth she was sure had nothing to do with her firebending skills.

"You took off your bandage…" he muttered, startling her.

"Yes, I did," said Azula, doing her best to remain as steady as possible. "I can bend properly again."

"Good news…" he said, smiling.

"Amongst all the bad ones, I guess they are," said Azula, shrugging. "Somehow we're really managing to make it in this hellish forest."

"It's… it's not that bad," said Sokka, smiling weakly. "Sure eating rhino all the time is annoying, and walking non-stop every day, too… but I could get used to it, you know?"

"Of course you could, savage," grunted Azula.

"It's been awful, but it's been fun too…" muttered Sokka, his eyes fluttering shut. He was too tired to process Azula's retort, whereas she couldn't ignore the smile on his lips as he fell asleep.

She glared at him in disbelief, wondering what he had meant with those words… he could get used to it? Did he mean that he wouldn't mind not getting out of this forest ever again? Why, it was easy for him to say! He didn't have the responsibilities she did! He had no mission to accomplish, no nation to rule one day, nor did he have a father who was expecting only the best of him…

The thought of her father made her stomach churn. She brought up her knees to her chin, gritting her teeth as she began to think of what her father would say when he saw her again… if he ever saw her again, that was. His disappointment would be even worse than the one he felt towards Zuko, because Fire Lord Ozai held no expectations regarding his son. Yet when it came to her, he had been betting on her success. She always succeeded, she always made him proud… and this time she had shamed him. The Rough Rhinos had gotten away time after time, they had killed one of her guards and now she was stuck living with a savage in the middle of the forest. If her father knew… if only he knew…

She buried her face between her knees, feeling more dishonored than ever before. She had finally been given the chance to prove her worth, her prowess… and this was how she had used said chance. This was the best she could achieve. Her chest ached painfully as she finally understood what failure felt like. How could she face her father again after this?

She spent the whole night fighting against her sleepiness. She did her best to keep awake, but while she was, her mind would continue feeding her with thoughts of her unsuccessful mission, which prompted her to wish secretly to fall asleep just to forget about the matter, but with every moment she slept through, she woke up feeling guilty for dozing off. All she could do was wait for that dreadful night to end as quickly as possible, so that she and Sokka could get back on the road, so that she might get her mind off her disgraces…

She had fallen asleep heavily by the time the morning came and she awoke with a start when she became aware of the fact that she had been sleeping. The night was over indeed… but the skies weren't blue. Dark, grey clouds were swirling above them, threatening them with a powerful storm.

The fire had died a while before she had woken up, but even if she had managed to keep it strong it would have faltered when large pellets of water began dropping heavily on the ground. Azula bolted to her feet and ran to Sokka, feeling mildly guilty over waking him up but knowing she had no choice. What were they supposed to do if it was raining?

"Sokka… Sokka!" she called him, bringing him back to consciousness with her voice.

"W-what? What…?" he said, opening his eyes and looking around him in utter confusion.

"It's raining," said Azula. "Don't we have to find cover? Better cover than this?"

"We should… we should," said Sokka, when he noticed the rain drops falling around them. One of them buffeted him on the face, making him wince. "We have to move out before it gets worse."

"Alright, then…" said Azula, ignoring her stomach's complaints for food.

"Come on," said Sokka, getting on his feet and cradling the basket in his arms. "We'll have to walk in the rain for a while, but not for too long, I hope!"

Azula was desperate under these dire circumstances, but she couldn't help but feel relieved upon seeing Sokka back on track. He still wasn't as strong as he used to be, but he was in much better shape than the day before. She stayed close to him as they progressed through the riverbank, trying to flee from the rain before it got worse.

"We need to find something!" Sokka shouted. "A shelter of some sort! Maybe a pile of rocks, I don't know, anything…!"

"How about that?!" Azula exclaimed, pointing at the other side of the river.

Sokka turned to look at what Azula had seen, and he frowned at the sight of a gaping hole within a small range of mountains. The climb towards the cave shouldn't be much trouble… but they had to make it across the river first, which was becoming fiercer and fiercer, as if imitating the weather. Couldn't something come easy for them just for once?

"We'd have to cross the river!" Sokka said. "If we're trying not to get wet, that's just the way to get it done faster!"

"But there's nothing better for miles around!" said Azula. "We've walked down this riverbank for days now, and there's nothing to serve us as shelter back through where we came from! If there's nothing back there, there's probably nothing else ahead of us either!"

Sokka gritted his teeth as thunder roared in the sky. The rain was growing stronger now… they were going to get wet anyways, and the cave might help them dry up as they waited until the storm passed. It didn't matter if he wasn't too fond of caves… it was what needed to be done.

"Okay…" he muttered. "Alright. Let's do it."

Azula nodded and looked at the raging river, wondering why it was becoming so much fiercer when they had to cross it. Fortune kept laughing in their faces lately…

Sokka slid one of his feet into the river, gritting his teeth as the water pushed him strongly and tried to knock him off balance. He entered the water body completely, lifting the basket over his head before turning to Azula.

"Hold onto me!" he called out. "We'll make it through this thing together!"

Azula swallowed hard and nodded, uncertain but unwilling to waver. She had wanted to clean herself the night before… well, now the water was going to wash her, whether she wanted it or not. She walked into the river and grabbed Sokka's shoulder with one hand, and once she did he resumed his progress through the water.

The river was much deeper than he had expected, soaking him all the way to his chest with only six steps into the water. Azula's nails dug into his shoulder, as she fought the power of river that was trying to push her away from him. Sokka took notice of her struggle and he took a few steps back, pushing their bodies together.

"What are you doing?! We're supposed to move forward!" Azula shouted, desperate.

"Climb on my back!" he said, surprising her.

"You think you can stand your ground and carry me and the basket through this river?!" Azula asked.

"Yeah, I do!" Sokka declared. "Come on! Do it before it gets worse!"

Azula cringed and obeyed him unwillingly, surrounding his neck with her arms and wrapping her legs around his waist. She would have sworn her heart rate was increasing just because of the stressful situation, but deep down she knew that wasn't the only reason for it. Sokka continued walking through the river, doing his best to keep himself steady with every step he took. Fighting against nature was anything but easy, but Azula's weight on his back reminded him that he had to win this time around, there was no alternative. But at this rate, her arms would bring him down to the river floor…

Almost reluctantly, his hands released the basket he had been holding and his hands slid down towards Azula's legs, pulling them up so that he could hold her weight much better than before. Azula watched the basket drift down the river, horrified.

"What did you just…?!"

"It had to be done!" Sokka shouted. "It was our lives or the food! I can hunt something else later, but right now we have to survive!"

Azula cringed but said nothing. Their odds were growing worse with every passing moment, weren't they…?

To Azula's eventual respite, Sokka's efforts were fruitful. Soon enough the water was level with his waist again, and he could release Azula's legs without fearing she would be swept away by the river. She held on to his shoulders until they were out of the water body. They dropped on their knees on the riverside and panted, relieved to be back on steady grounds… but the rain's increasing intensity reminded them they had to continue. Azula looked around her and found the river had pushed them several meters away from the cave's opening.

"Sokka…! Come on!" she shouted, running towards the cave. "It's over here!"

Sokka gasped for breath and followed, unable to run after all the effort he had to exert earlier to get them both across the river. They would have to climb over a small part of the mountain to reach the cave. Azula didn't allow herself a moment of hesitation when she was faced with the challenge. She pulled herself up with her hands, using her feet for impulse, reaching out to the cave. She managed to hoist herself up, and the cave waited just a few strides away… but Sokka was still down below. He attempted to climb, but his legs gave way every time he tried to use them to hoist himself. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at himself. There was just a small climb keeping him from their shelter, and after all he had done he was going to falter now? It was so ridiculous it wasn't even funny…

"Sokka…" Azula gasped, looking down at him.

"Get inside the cave! I'll be there in a bit…!" said Sokka, trying to smile reassuringly.

He threw his hand up to the next crease in the rock, supporting all his weight on one hand as he tried to pull himself up somehow…

… And to his surprise, Azula's hand clasped his. Sokka's eyes widened as he watched her struggle to push him up, gritting her teeth and using all her strength to lift him. Sokka's hand gripped hers tightly, and for some reason his legs became more eager to respond now. With Azula's help, he managed to make it all the way to the top of the wall.

"T-thanks…" he said, on his knees right next to her.

"I owed you from the river," Azula replied, turning around and stumbling her way into the cave.

"Don't go… too deep inside," said Sokka, following her and panting heavily. "There could be something dangerous in here… you never know."

Azula gazed into the cave to little avail. It was so dark within that she couldn't see anything. She sighed and dropped on the ground against the wall of the cave, her chest heaving as her body returned to normality after their previous adrenaline rush.

Sokka dropped on the ground as well, staring at the storm with a frown on his face.

"It has to stop at some point…" he muttered. "But so long as it doesn't, we have to stay here."

"Should we make a fire?" Azula asked.

"With what? We don't have any firewood with us right now…" said Sokka. "We'd have to go out there to fetch it, and it would be so moist it won't be of much use."

"Then what are we going to do?" asked Azula, gritting her teeth.

"We'll figure something out… we always do," said Sokka. "I can go out there to find fruit or something once the storm ends…"

"Are you up for it?"

"Do I have a choice but to be?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "You can come too if that's what you're bothered by…"

"What bothers me is that we know nothing about the plants here, let alone their fruits," muttered the Princess. "How will we be certain that we'll be eating something that won't kill us?"

"We can't be, I guess…" replied Sokka, sighing. "Well, in the mean time we need to do something about our wet clothes…"

"W-what?" said Azula, staring at him in disbelief. "What are you…?"

"I… don't take this the wrong way, Azula," said Sokka, gulping. "But in circumstances like these, the safest way to keep us from catching a cold would be to…"

"Shed our clothes and huddle together?" she asked, her eyes widening as she stared at him with skepticism. "Not in this life, savage."

"Huh… on another one, then?" Sokka asked, smirking and earning himself a fierce glare. "Just joking, just joking… but honestly, Azula, it's the best we can do to keep from…"

"Not a chance, I said," she muttered. "I'd rather die of frostbite."

"I doubt that…" Sokka whispered, but he shrugged. "Fine, then. Suit yourself, but I'm taking this off, at least."

And without further ado, his chest was bare again. Azula rolled her eyes and looked away pointedly, willing her blood to stay away from her cheeks ineffectively.

"You have to do something, though," said Sokka, looking at her worriedly. "If you catch a cold…"

"I'm not going to catch anything," grunted Azula. "I can manipulate my body heat to get rid of my clothes' moisture."

"You really can do that?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You think I'd say I can if I couldn't?" Azula growled, closing her eyes.

Sokka watched her for a moment, not understanding what she was up to… until he started to sense that his surroundings were becoming warmer. His eyes widened and he stared at Azula in amazement, noticing the heat was coming from her. She was, indeed, manipulating her body's temperature at will.

"B-but isn't this unsafe?" he asked, worried. "You could also get sick by doing what you're doing!"

"Shut up," Azula snapped. "A firebender's own fire won't damage him."

"N-no?" Sokka asked, still watching her with concern.

After a few minutes of manipulating heat, Azula took a deep breath and the entire cave grew colder. She sighed and lifted her right hand, and a blue flame danced on it.

"What are you doing now…?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Manipulating heat isn't a simple matter," muttered Azula. "The wetness is almost gone by now, but I'm still somewhat cold… which is something I can fix with regular fire anyways."

"Huh…" said Sokka, watching eagerly as the fire danced on her hand.

"Your fascination with my 'blue fire' will always disturb me, if you want me to be honest…" muttered Azula, making Sokka blush.

"I'm not…!" he mumbled, at a loss to how to excuse himself. Azula couldn't help but smirk.

"But you're welcome to sit by me and use the warmth if it suits you," she said. "If you really want to get dry quickly, a fire, as small as it may be, ought to help."

Sokka stared at her blankly for a moment before smiling and nodding, moving towards Azula and sitting beside her. Azula was slightly relieved to be able to look forward without having to stare at Sokka's body, but now he was beside her, and that only made her more uncomfortable than before. She kept the fire as steady as she could, doing her best not to lose her focus as she eyed the storm outside the cave.

"It's coming down really heavy, isn't it?" said Sokka.

"When do you think it'll pass?" asked Azula.

"No idea," he replied. "But we should stay here until it does."

"It's not like we have anywhere to go to… well, inside the cave, perhaps," said Azula, gazing sideways at the darkness beside them.

"It's not a good idea," said Sokka. "Going inside caves isn't something I'd recommend unless you have no better choice."

"Why?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"W-well… let's just say it's my savage instinct speaking," muttered Sokka, dropping his head against the wall.

"But there might be something in there that could help us," said Azula. "Food, maybe even something we could burn…"

"It's too big a risk, Azula," said Sokka. "We'll be safer out here"

"You seem so sure…" she muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"It's for the best, Azula, believe me," said Sokka, gazing at her sideways.

Azula sighed and dropped her head against the wall as well, staring at the forest again. Thunder roared in the sky, and the rain dropped heavily on the ground. The sounds, the scents… they were mesmerizing for Azula even though she didn't know why. She kept listening to the rain, her fire in hand, as time passed them by.

Her stomach began hurting by midmorning, and she had no problem guessing Sokka was just as hungry as she was. Exhaustion, hunger and hopelessness made their way through her, and she struggled to keep her fire steady when she was succumbing to her drowsiness again.

Sokka noticed the way her hand had begun shaking. She had been holding that flame for too long now. In normal circumstances she would be able to keep a fire going for hours on end, he had no doubt about it, but she was so worn out at this point that she couldn't keep up anymore.

"Azula…" he whispered, and she moved her head towards him, her fire wavering even more.

"I didn't mean to…" she muttered, blinking hard to try and force herself awake.

She was surprised when Sokka took her hand in his. Her fire faded away the very moment his fingers touched her palm. Sokka intertwined their fingers and looked at Azula tenderly.

"It's okay now. You did great. Thanks for the fire," he muttered.

Azula nodded, still too drowsy to make any sense out of what was happening.

"You're… you're dry now?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm all good," he said.

"Then… you should put on that shirt already," she muttered.

"Makes you really uncomfortable, huh?" he asked, smiling at her.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you…?" replied Azula, her eyes closing as her head dropped on his shoulder.

Sokka's eyes widened. He lowered their hands, placing them on his thigh as he kept staring at Azula. Her eyes opened again, but surprisingly enough, she didn't seem to be about to push off him or separate their hands.

"Azula…?" he muttered.

"Maybe… maybe you were right," she whispered. "Maybe we could get used to it. Surviving is hard… but we could make it. It's really not that bad… could be so much worse."

Sokka stared at her in disbelief. What was prompting her to say such things? Why did it suddenly sound as if she were giving up on her quest? Was she saying she suddenly didn't feel like she had to get out of this forest as soon as possible? Why…? What could have possibly taken away all her hopes in such a manner…?

Azula closed her eyes again, wishing her mind wouldn't drift towards her failures anymore. There was nothing she could do about being lost with Sokka… it was all said and done by now. She had failed her father… she couldn't do anything to make amends for her mistakes. Even if she left the forest, she couldn't face Fire Lord Ozai like this. She had always told herself she would never let him down… and she had tripped and fallen upon the first hurdle standing in her way. How could she carry on with her former life like this…?

The single answer in her mind was that she couldn't. It was pointless to try and return to being Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. But she wasn't alone… she wasn't as lost as she could be, so long as she had Sokka by her side. Knowing he was with her gave her a sense of relief and joy she had never felt before. Her life as Princess Azula had been wealthy and comfortable… but it had been lonely. At least now, at least like this, she had someone by her side…

Those thoughts were unexpectedly comforting, to the extent that they helped her forget about her grief. She fell asleep on his shoulder, her chest heaving slowly with every breath she took. Sokka watched her in utter disbelief, unable to understand why she would let go of everything now… but her hopelessness served to fuel his own determination. He gripped Azula's hand even tighter, placing his chin on the top of her head as he told himself that he would definitely get her out of this forest. Perhaps she was fine with allowing her identity to fade away, maybe she wished to forget all about what had brought them here in the first place… but he wasn't. Azula had a life to get back to, a world she belonged in, and he would help her return to it, no matter the cost.

* * *

… _Fire…_

_Fire…_

_Fire…_

_FIRE!_

Azula woke with a start, causing her head to crash with Sokka's.

"Ow!" Sokka exclaimed, rubbing his face. "What was that for?!"

Azula's breathing was uneven and heavy, and she was looking around herself frantically. Sokka eyed her warily, confused by her behavior. She had been acting strangely since before, but this was even more unexpected than her falling asleep on his shoulder.

"Azula…? Are you okay?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I… I had a dream about fire…" she muttered, staring at the ground beneath them with a frown.

"Isn't that something you firebenders dream about all the time…?" Sokka asked.

"No, no, this is… this is nothing like anything I'd dreamt before," muttered Azula.

"Why?" asked Sokka, growing even more confused.

"Because this was… this was real," said Azula, staring at him sternly.

Sokka gaped at her in absolute bewilderment. He was suddenly reminded of old Water Tribe ghost tales… and he had no idea how to react but to smile at Azula reassuringly and shrug the matter off.

"Well, you nearly caught me there… you're a great actress, you know!" he said, chuckling and beaming at her.

"I'm not joking, you fool!" shouted Azula, bolting to her feet and staring at the darkness of the cave.

She was feeling it… she could feel it. The warmth that had beckoned to her in her dreams… it was somewhere within that darkness. She had no idea what it was, but there was a certainty within her very core that told her she had to find it.

"Azula? What are you doing?" said Sokka when she took a few more steps further into the cave.

"I need to find it," she muttered.

"Uh, didn't you say it was a dream?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"No, it wasn't! I thought it was a dream, but somewhere within this mountain there's fire… powerful fire."

"You firebenders have some sort of ability to detect fire…?" asked Sokka, skeptical.

"Mock me all you want, you can stay here if you're too scared of going into the cave," she snapped at him. "But I'm going inside."

"Azula, no," said Sokka, growing stern all of sudden as he heard of her determination. "Don't do it. Caves aren't safe!"

"Neither are you, yet I'm still alive after being lost in a forest with you for as long as I have been," she grunted.

"You're stuck with me! It's not like you have a choice!" said Sokka. "But you have a choice about this weird fire of yours…"

"And I'm choosing to go inside and find out what it is," declared Azula. "Stay here, as I said. I can go alone."

"N-no, you…" grunted Sokka, growing irritated. "You can't go in there alone!"

"Well then, by all means, be my escort," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "If you're unwilling then I'll just go on by myself. But I'm going, no matter if you like it or not."

Sokka cursed her stubbornness mentally before shaking his head and walking towards her.

"You're crazy, Azula," he grunted. "You have no idea what problems could arise by going inside a cave! It could collapse on itself and we'd be goners!"

"Why are you so bothered by it?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "Would you care to explain? Because this sort of behavior is strange, even for you! What's your problem?"

Sokka cringed and dropped his gaze, gritting his teeth momentarily. There were memories he had discarded for good… this one being one of them. Returning to it was anything but pleasant.

"Back… back in the Water Tribe, a kid got caught within an ice cave when I was young," he muttered. "He was stuck in there for too long, and when he was found he was almost frozen to death. He had to be taken to the Northern Water Tribe for healing, because there was nothing to be done about him in the South."

"Uh… alright," said Azula, raising an eyebrow. "We're not going to freeze in a rock cave, especially when I can sense there's fire within…"

"The reason why he got caught was because the cave collapsed," Sokka grunted. "You can't just trust a cave to stay put, Azula. In the best case, it'll turn out to be a dead end, but there could easily be a wild animal waiting to eat you in there, or there could be a cave in and you'd be certain to never get out of this mess, because no earthbender will come rescue you here if this happens!"

"Ugh, you always complained about me being so negative and raining on your parade…! I've gone with every little thing you've told me, and so far we have been stuck in this forest for days! We've survived, yes, but we're still lost and it doesn't look like we're going to get anywhere at this rate! So how about you go with my hunches for a change?!"

Sokka stared right back into her eyes, feeling slightly desperate.

"Azula… what do you think you'll accomplish by finding that fire?" he asked. "Will it get us out of this mess?"

"For all we know, it might," she replied. "Is it that hard for you to trust me? After all that's happened between us, I put my life in your hands. Is it that unreasonable for me to ask you to do the same?"

Sokka sighed and dropped his gaze in defeat at last.

"When you put it that way…"

"The storm is still falling," said Azula, staring at the forest over his shoulder. "We have nowhere else to go or anything else to do in the meantime. So? Are you coming or not?"

"I… I will," he muttered, nodding. "It's better than to stay here worrying about what you might find in there…"

"You don't have to worry about me," said Azula, sternly.

"It's hard not to when you can't trust caves…" grunted Sokka, picking up his shirt and putting it on again.

"You're incorrigible," said Azula, shaking her head and extending her left hand before her. She conjured a blue flame again, a stronger one this time. Her sense of curiosity was a far more powerful drive than she ever realized it could be.

Her fire lit up the darkness of the cave effectively, and she began treading into the tunnel slowly, but surely. Sokka couldn't help but hold on to the feeble hope that perhaps they'd find a boulder blocking their way soon enough… but to his disappointment, it didn't happen. The cave was covered by moss and carcasses of long-dead animals. Sokka guessed they couldn't see any living creatures just yet because Azula's fire scared them away. The tunnel led them downwards for a moment, spiraling in unexpected directions repeatedly, but Azula followed it dutifully, with Sokka right behind her. He peeked over his shoulder to notice, aghast, that he couldn't see the light from the cave's entrance anymore…

"We're going too deep," he muttered. "Where's the fire you're looking for? You sure you still feel it?"

"Yes, I do…" grunted Azula. "Stop worrying. We'll be fine."

"You keep saying that, but…" said Sokka, dropping his gaze and crashing into her when Azula stopped suddenly. "What is it? Why did you stop?"

"Can't you see for yourself?" Azula growled back, increasing the size of her fire so that Sokka would realize what the problem was.

Sokka gazed at the three tunnels in surprise, never expecting the cave to divide into several different pathways.

"That's not a good thing," he muttered. "We really could get lost in here, Azula. Isn't it bad enough that we're lost in a forest already?"

"I suppose… but we've come too far to stop just because there's a fork in the way," she stated. "Let's go."

"Go where?" said Sokka. "How do you know which one will lead us to your fire?!"

"It's not my fire, it's just fire… at least, I think that's all it is," she muttered, looking around herself. "Give me a moment to think."

"Yeah, please think about what we're doing, I beg you…" muttered Sokka, sighing.

"Shut up," grunted Azula, glaring at him momentarily before focusing on the warmth she could sense.

It wasn't her imagination… there was also a pulse, wasn't it? She could hear it, feel it… there was something within, something like a heart of fire, perhaps. And she needed to find it. Her body seemed to respond to the fire, to seek it… and by following instincts she didn't know she had, Azula walked to the pathway to the right. Sokka decided not to ask why she had decided to come this way, assuming blindly that she would have picked the right path.

Azula lifted the fire towards the tunnel and nodded.

"It's someplace towards this direction, I can feel it…" she muttered.

"Well, then, I guess we have to go with it," said Sokka, as Azula entered the tunnel.

Azula raised her fire, inspecting the walls to find they still looked the same as before… the tunnel seemed unchanged so far. She lowered her fire then to look at the ground below just as she took one more step forward…

… to find emptiness awaiting her instead of hard rock. But it was already too late to take back her step. She tried to turn around and her hand reached out towards Sokka, but he was so puzzled by what had happened to her that by the time he tried to seize her arm she was already out of reach. Azula shrieked as she fell into the hole in the ground, unable to do anything as she dropped through the tunnel.

"AZULA!" Sokka's eyes widened as she was swallowed by the hole, leaving him behind in the darkness, aghast. His eyes were locked on the spot through which she had vanished. Oh, he knew this damned cave would be their undoing! But she had to go chase the fire, of course she did…

He didn't even have to stop to think about what he had to do. He jumped into the hole that had claimed her, determined to find Azula no matter the cost. He had promised he would keep her safe… and he would. Somehow, he would… even if she brought them more problems than necessary, he would stick by her and fulfill his promise to her. It was the one thing he could do for the Princess's sake.

The fall was far bumpier than he thought it would be, he found himself colliding with the tunnel's walls repeatedly as gravity did its job. Eventually, when he started to suspect the tunnel wouldn't end, he crashed against the rocky ground heavily.

His senses were fuzzy after the journey he had just undertaken, hence he had a hard time realizing someone was shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes to notice there was a blue light in the darkness… and it took him a moment to realize it was all Azula's doing.

"Sokka… Sokka, answer me, damn it…" she said, sounding slightly desperate.

"You… are insane," he grunted, pushing himself up to a sitting position. "Why didn't you look down?!"

"I did… when it was already too late," replied Azula, sighing in relief to see he was fine.

"Now we're stuck in here!" Sokka cried out, his voice cracking. "How do you propose we get out?! That tunnel twisted and turned, and we're in no condition to climb it!"

"I… I know," muttered Azula, dropping her gaze. "I didn't think this would happen…"

Sokka was taken aback by her response. He froze in the middle of his scolding as he watched her, and he proceeded to sigh and pat her shoulder.

"Never mind. We'll find a way out somehow," he said.

"But…" said Azula, hopeless. It took her a moment to realize that Sokka was as uncertain about finding an exit as she was… but he knew that telling her off would serve no purpose at this point. They could mope around and complain about their luck if they wanted, but that wasn't going to get them anywhere.

Azula nodded and got to her feet, still holding her fire in her hand. She led the way through the tunnels again, trying to ignore the guilt she was feeling. The tunnel would guide them someplace, she knew it… but what were they looking for now, she didn't know. Was it the warmth, or was it an exit…?

"Is it any closer now?" Sokka asked, startling her.

"W-what is…?"

"What, the fall made you forget why we ended up in here in the first place?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Right. Well, it's…" muttered Azula, frowning and stopping suddenly as she tried to locate the warmth.

"It's…?" asked Sokka.

"It's here," said the Princess, looking around herself in surprise. "I can feel it here…"

"In an empty tunnel?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"It is empty, isn't it…?" muttered Azula. "The ones above had animals and mold in them. Here… there's nothing here. It's like all life forms had fled…"

"W-wait… so the warmth you brought us to is like a deadly poison or something?" Sokka asked, shocked. "Like some weird poison gas?"

"From what I recall, you used to fight using gas bombs, didn't you…? I didn't think you'd be afraid of gasses of any kind," muttered Azula. "If there were poison here, the corpses of the animals would be here as well."

"Not if it's a trap from some creepy creature…" said Sokka "He could unleash his gas and get everything killed, and then he eats it all without leaving a crumb behind…"

"Oh, please…" said Azula, rolling her eyes. "Come on. Let's go."

"Go jump straight into the creature's jaws? Why, great idea!" said Sokka, grimacing as he followed her further into the tunnel.

Azula frowned at Sokka's insistence about a creature… a creature. Could there really be a creature of some sort down here? There might be. If she thought about it carefully, there was little chance that the source of the warmth she was feeling would be human. It had to be something else. But if it wasn't human, what could it be…?

"If… if there was a creature," she muttered. "There might not be one…"

"Well, for our sake, there better be none," said Sokka, gulping.

"But there's the possibility…" said Azula, thoughtful.

"The possibility…? What's that supposed to mean?!" asked Sokka, annoyed.

But Azula lifted her available hand, silencing him. Her fire lit the way, and she could see a turn awaiting right in front of them. Azula froze on her footsteps. The warmth, the pulse… it was there. It wasn't actually inside the tunnel they were in, but right past that turn in the tunnels. Her heart accelerated as her mind began connecting the dots until the puzzle started to make sense…

"Azula? What is it…?" Sokka asked, worried.

Azula lowered her hand and stepped forward with decision, keen to discover if her suspicions would be right…

"Azula!" said Sokka, chasing her closely. "What's the matter with you?"

"The warmth, Sokka! T-the warmth, it has to be…" she said, as she finally took the turn.

As she suspected, the tunnel opened to a wider room, in which she could feel the warmth that had brought her here in its entire splendor…

But she couldn't even think about the warmth anymore, it was a memory long gone along with the pulse. The flame in her hand flickered and shed light into the rock chamber they had just entered, allowing both her and Sokka to see what lay ahead. Sokka's eyes widened when his fears about the cave were confirmed in the least expected manner. His jaw dropped as Azula finally finished her sentence while staring into the most powerful and dangerous golden eyes she had ever seen…

"… A dragon."


	42. Chapter 42

Azula had known they would be facing a dragon from the moment she started to figure out the puzzle before them... but that didn't mean she could give credit to her eyes as she stared at the magnificent creature. The blue light from her fire danced within the darkness of the cave, reflecting off the dragon's scales and making him seem blue as well… but Azula guessed it was only a trick of the light and not his actual color. The dragon's horns were quite large, placed right before the mane of hair that encircled his head. His whiskers were long and seemed to dance in the air even though there was no breeze within the cave. Azula eyed the dragon's back to find, to her surprise, that the creature had no wings… could it fly despite lacking them?

Sokka, on the other hand, didn't bother wondering about the dragon's functionalities. His survival instincts kicked in as he saw the creature's furrowed brow, leading him to believe they were anything but welcome in the cave.

"A-Azula…" he muttered, his shivering hand reaching her shoulder. "We have to run."

"Run?" whispered Azula back, raising both her eyebrows. Her eyes were fixated upon the dragon as she replied to Sokka. "Run where, mind you? You said it yourself, we can't climb through where we fell…"

"Well, we have to try!" he urged her. "It's that or getting roasted alive by a… how come is there a dragon in here? A dragon?! Didn't you say they were extinct?!"

"I thought they were! My uncle said he killed the last one…" muttered Azula. "But maybe some dragons fled from the massacre… and came to the Earth Kingdom for cover?"

"This is crazy, it's dangerous, and we're going to die if we don't do something," said Sokka. "Azula, please…"

"Indeed, we will die if we don't…" said Azula, nodding before taking a step forward.

The dragon hissed at her when she approached, and Sokka whimpered behind her and clutched her shoulder even tighter.

"Are you insane?!" he squealed. "When I said do something, I meant get away!"

"And I already told you there's nowhere to go!" snapped Azula. "You said there were fights that were better to flee from… but if you can't run, then you have to face them head on. It's what you said you'd done with me, isn't it?"

"B-but this is different! This is a dragon, for crying out loud, Azula…"

"Firebenders and dragons aren't all that different, mind you…" said the Princess, a smile spreading over her features.

The dragon groaned now, with a small gurgle that sounded like he was readying himself for spewing fire at them. Azula's mind seemed to have split in half… a side of herself told her that this was too dangerous a game to play, that the dragon would devour her if she wasn't cautious… but another side of herself reminded her that she was facing the first dragon ever seen in the world for about fifty years. How could she just turn on her tail and flee, especially considering there was nowhere to go? The solution, she believed, was rather obvious…

She had to tame the dragon.

Azula shook off Sokka's hand before taking another step towards the creature. The dragon didn't make a sound this time around, but his focus was completely centered on Azula now. Its red-and-golden eyes were fixed upon her, and he was starting to show her his large fangs through a menacing snarl.

"Azula…" Sokka gasped.

"You said it before, with the boarcupine… it probably had never seen a human in his lifetime before," said Azula. "I think the same can be said about this dragon."

"But the boarcupine couldn't roast us to death…." said Sokka. "This dragon looks extremely mad, Azula, don't do anything you'll regret… or anything I'll regret either."

"Stop worrying," said Azula, smiling even wider now. "We'll be just fine…"

The dragon didn't seem to agree with her. Again there was a gurgling sound from its throat, but Azula knew he wasn't going to release fire just yet. For some reason, she knew the dragon was balancing his curiosity and his fear of the intruders right now, deciding which one he should act upon. The blue flame in Azula's hand seemed to interest him far more than it scared him… albeit their presences were anything but welcome for the creature.

"Do you like it?" she asked, lifting the flame towards the dragon. "I suppose you must have never seen fire like this. Considering you must have only ever seen your own fire, it's only natural that blue fire comes off as a surprise to you."

The dragon's groan had no gurgling sound this time. It was such a deep sound that Sokka thought he could feel the earth around him shake because of it. Azula seemed to take the groan as a positive sign.

"It's quite an interesting lair you have down here… it's somewhat lonely, though. I figure it must be so empty except you because you must have eaten everything you could find."

Azula gazed around the stone chamber, spotting a few skeletons on the ground. Judging by their sizes and shapes, they must have belonged to critters and bats the dragon had turned into his meals. Everything was so dark within the cave… Azula figured the dragon's eyes allowed him to see his surroundings just fine, without requiring a light of any kind. He must have used his fire for hunting, although he probably resorted to his talons to deliver the finishing blows. His tail swirled behind him as he contemplated Azula's flame with fascination…

"Well, if you're so fond of my fire I could gift you with some of it…" said Azula, smirking. "So long as you understand what that entails…"

The dragon took a step back and shook his head, to Azula's surprise. His teeth were bare again, and he had flexed his front legs as if he were ready to attack the intruder.

"Azula…" muttered Sokka behind her, his despair only increasing with each passing moment.

"Oh, so you're going to show us who rules this place?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. "Why, by all means, bring it on! Do you think I fear you?!"

The dragon hissed and roared, another attempt to intimidate her. Azula laughed mockingly at him, increasing the creature's irritation.

"Why, you're going to have to do much better than that if you plan on scaring me off," she said, with a smile of condescendence.

"I can't say the same thing…" squealed Sokka, gulping and eyeing the dragon with dread.

The dragon roared repeatedly, stomping on the ground as if it were a child throwing a tantrum. Azula's amusement only seemed to increase.

"Honestly, dragon?" she asked. "You are facing one of the most powerful firebenders in the world, if not the most powerful overall! And this is all you can do to force me out of your cave? This is your territory, your life I'm threatening! And that's all I get? Here I was expecting you to be a powerful dragon, worthy of my lineage… seems like I was wrong to give you so much credit, wasn't I?"

Azula had no idea if the dragon actually understood any of what she saying until that moment. His lips drew back with a stronger snarl, and the gurgling sound returned, but this time Azula knew he was for real.

"Azula… AZULA!" Sokka shouted, dreading what was going to happen now.

"Stay behind me!" she commanded, taking him by surprise.

"What are you going to…?!" he asked.

"STAY BEHIND ME!" she shouted again, and Sokka found himself with no choice but to obey her. If she knew what she was doing, everything ought to work for their favor… if not, this would be the end for them both. And she wouldn't let that happen… would she?

He was a few inches away from Azula when the dragon opened his jaws, filling the cave with a different light when his orange fire erupted from his mouth.

The fire was so potent Sokka discarded his life as soon as the dragon began to shoot the flames at them. He ducked defensively behind Azula and protected his face from the heat, not knowing what else to do as he waited for the fire's impact to scorch him alive.

But it didn't happen… it didn't happen. He could feel the heat, the temperature rising around him and he could also see the fire scrolling past him… why was it only passing by? How…?

He could hardly believe his eyes when he looked up at the Princess. Azula was moving her arms in circular motions, her left foot steady before her and her right one behind her, supporting her stance. And through her firebending skills she was controlling the dragon's flames with her every move, deflecting them and creating what seemed like a bubble of air around them, a shield to protect them from the dragon's fierce blazes.

It was Azula's turn to snarl as she continued bending his fire. The showdown between such powerful forces of fire seemed like a clash of wills to Sokka, and seeing how Azula was putting aside the fire with such ease he suddenly started to think that she was actually stronger than that dragon. She seemed so small in comparison to that beast, prone to be eaten by those massive jaws before she could even land a blow on him… but it was Azula after all. It didn't matter how impressive her opponent was, she would always find the way that would lead her to triumph.

The way she would bend the flames made Sokka gaze at her in absolute awe. Indeed, she had known just what she had been doing. The dragon's flames were increasingly hot, causing the earth underneath them to warm up to temperatures Sokka had never faced before. The dragon was unleashing an inferno upon them both… and Azula could stand her ground against it as if it weren't even a challenge. She was beautiful, powerful and terrible… and all Sokka could do was watch her in total admiration. Perhaps she was quite lost when it came to survival skills, building campsites and the sort… but in her element, Azula was the absolute best. If this dragon couldn't defeat her, then there was little chance that someone or something else could so much as defy her.

The dragon stopped showering them with fire after he was at a lack for breath. The blazes had charred the entire room. By the time he took a break he was certain that the tiny creature of the blue fire would be done for, and he was perfectly comfortable with allowing her to become nothing but a memory now…

Only, she wasn't done for. Azula swept away the last blaze the dragon shot her way, stealing some of the fire to hold as a torch again. As soon as the fire was in her control it turned blue. Azula smirked when she saw the way the dragon stared at her, fear apparent in those golden, reptilian eyes. How could she have survived his fire? How could such a small, frail-looking creature make it past the flames without sustaining any injuries whatsoever? The dragon had encountered no other creature before that had lived past a coating of his strongest fire. Suddenly her mere presence became more than menacing… she was the worst threat he had ever faced before: she couldn't be defeated with fire.

"Well… I guess it's my turn now, isn't it?" she asked, her golden eyes blazing as fiercely as the fire the dragon had unleashed previously.

Sokka watched in utter shock from behind her as Azula stretched out both her arms and brought forth a pair of blue fire whips, which lit up the room again with its eerie light. The dragon saw the fire and slinked away, daunted by the Princess's technique. Azula jumped forth and struck the ground with the whips, seeing that the dragon was quite terrified. She didn't need to strike him directly to prove herself to the creature…

His fear of Azula caused the dragon to despair. He roared and tried to seek an opening through which he could intimidate Azula, seeking a way to turn the tables to his favor, but the Princess didn't falter. She swung her whips around and struck the ground with them repeatedly, forcing the dragon to retreat to the back of the cave, hissing and smacking the ground as well with his tail furiously as he did. Azula continued manipulating her whips skillfully, never striking the dragon with them but showing him effectively who the strongest fire user within that cave was.

After several repetitions of the same movements, the dragon flexed his legs again, but this time not in a threatening manner… it was submissive instead. He bowed down his head, to Azula's surprise. He was admitting he was facing a deadlier opponent than he could handle, and he had enough wit to surrender instead of persisting in a battle he couldn't win.

"It would seem I made my point, then," said Azula, smirking. "I am the Princess of the Fire Nation, dragon. I will not fall back before you."

The dragon eyed her with such dread in its eyes Azula couldn't help but feel moved. She would have never guessed a beast could show feelings in the manner this dragon did. His gaze showed that he was certain this confrontation would end in his undoing. Never before had he faced anyone stronger than himself until now… and he feared this conflict could only end in one manner. But Azula happened to know of a better alternative…

"But there's no need for either of us to fall back, you know?" she said, withdrawing both her whips and holding a single flame once again as she took a few steps towards the dragon.

"A-Azula…?" asked Sokka, watching her with concern. "What are you doing?!"

"Just trust me!" Azula threw back at him for a moment before she focused on the dragon again. "We don't need to be enemies, dragon… why would we? My family has been bound to your kin for a very long time. Granted my ancestors made unforgivable mistakes to your kind… but I refuse to repeat those wrongdoings. You are powerful, very powerful… and so am I. Just imagine what we could achieve together. The possibilities are virtually endless, aren't they?"

The dragon eyed her with caution, afraid she might conjure her whips once again if he lowered his guard.

"Now, now… I don't wish to damage you, else I would have done it by now," said Azula. "All I need is a way out of here, and I'm sure you can provide us with it. You could help me and my… traveling companion out of this cave to never see either of us again. But is that the best choice at hand, dragon? Is that what you think we ought to do?"

The dragon groaned lowly, as if insecure about what to answer.

"I can offer you a life out of this cave, dragon," said Azula, smiling. "We could find others of your kind, and we could even restore the dragon population one day. Because if you were in here, chances are there will be more of you hidden within the most secluded mountain ranges! Isn't that a promising perspective?"

The dragon moved its head circularly, shaking and nodding as he groaned as well. Azula honestly had no idea what the creature was trying to say at first… but slowly she began to understand what troubled him.

"You've never been… to the outside world," she realized. "You don't know anything but darkness."

The dragon groaned lowly and lowered its head, as if ashamed of said truth. Azula's eyes widened as she understood what scared him so much wasn't her… but the world she came from. If she was able to overpower him, how many threats would await outside? How could he join her and leave the safety of his domains…?

"That's what you're truly afraid of, isn't it…?" muttered Azula, walking towards him until she was only a meter away from him.

"A-Azula…" gasped Sokka. She was too close: the dragon could decide to take her head off with a bite and get all this annoyance over with… he could kill her in one go. Did she forget her sense of self-preservation back in Ba Sing Se?

"Now, now…" she said, smiling at the dragon. "There's nothing to be afraid of. I'll protect you, and you'll protect me. What lies outside this cave can be perilous… but for the two of us it would be no threat at all. Not if we work together… as dragon and rider."

Sokka's eyes widened at that statement. No… there was no way she was about to do what it seemed she would do…

Azula lifted her azure flame towards the dragon with both hands, staring at him with determination. The dragon looked down at her, at the fire that danced in her hands and reflected off his own eyes.

"I won't harm you, dragon," she said, reassuringly. "I'm offering my fire to you now as a gesture of an alliance between us, a gesture that will bind us for eternity through this blue flame. I promise to look after you, that the outside world will pose no threat to you once you're out there. There are bad things in it, there's no point in denying it, but there are great things as well, things that are worth the bad ones. So… will you come with me? Will you agree to this pact? Will you take my fire?"

The dragon seemed to understand what Azula had just said. The intelligent glint in his eyes betrayed his knowledge with ease. Azula knew just how dangerous a risk she was taking by offering it her fire. Chances were the dragon couldn't fly, and he wouldn't be much help to get them out of the forest anyways… but it was a dragon nonetheless. She couldn't leave him hidden within a cave for the rest of eternity. This was an opportunity that would come only once in a lifetime, and she knew she had to seize it. The dragon could just as easily accept her fire or behead her… but something within her core reassured her that the dragon's decision would be the right one, no matter which it was. She could see the conflict in his eyes. He knew just what he had to do to join her… but he was terrified of doing it. What would triumph? Curiosity or fear?

Sokka gazed at them from afar, shivering even though it was anything but cold within the cave. She was right in front of a beast of the likes he had never seen in his life, of the likes he never thought he'd see either. And she was offering her fire to it… it would seem the most reckless move ever if she hadn't explained dragon taming a few days before. He resisted the urge to run after Azula, to pull her away from the creature right away… because he had to trust her. She had saved their lives when the dragon had a perfect shot to kill them, he could trust that she was doing the right thing now as well… but it was the dragon that he couldn't bring himself to trust. If it did anything to Azula…

The dragon had been crouching until then, but he stretched his legs and stared down at the Princess's offering. Azula remained as undeterred as ever, her hands still holding her fire strongly. The dragon suddenly let out the same gurgling sound as before… and he unhinged his jaws before Sokka could react.

"No… NO! AZULA!" he shouted, reaching out to her just as the dragon moved down towards the Princess, closing his jaws shut tightly with a loud snap.

And everything became darkness.

Sokka stood on his spot, his hand suspended in mid-air as he stared at the blackness, where he had last seen the Princess. The fire… it was gone. And so was she. His breath started coming in gasps, knowing he would be next… he could see nothing in the darkness, but he knew well enough that this was his demise. If Azula was gone, he wouldn't stand a chance…

Azula… she was gone, and he would be gone in the very same manner just in a few seconds. Despair settled into his heart with pain he had never experienced before, wondering why everything had come to this…

Tears were beginning to sting in his eyes when he saw a blue spark appear on the spot he had been staring at. He lifted his head in bewilderment, completely confused but guessing his mind was playing tricks on him. He heard the dragon groan again, in that manner which threatened to release fire. Sokka braced himself, ready to die now…

His eyes opened wide as an array of blue fire was released towards the roof of the cave… and the azure flames came from the dragon's mouth. The entire rock chamber was lit up with the fire, and to Sokka's utter relief he saw that, standing right before the magnificent beast, was Azula, laughing as she watched the spectacle in absolute awe. Upon seeing her again, in one piece and completely uninjured, Sokka's knees failed him. He stared at her and her dragon in amazement, unable to believe what he was witnessing. The bonding between a dragon and a rider… when did it happen last in this world?

The smile on Azula's face could have lit up the cave all on its own. She had known that the legends spoke of the dragons taking their rider's fire and making it their own: she always believed it was just a figure of speech. But seeing how the dragon's orange fire had turned blue after devouring hers, she realized the legends spoke the truth. The dragon stopped releasing fire and looked down at her. Darkness ruled inside the cave again, but Azula could feel the dragon right in front of her. She could sense his stare, she could feel his presence as if it were a double of her own. Whatever she had read about the bond that was formed between a dragon and a rider hadn't been enough to prepare her for what this union truly meant. Suddenly her mind was expanded with memories of events she hadn't witnessed herself… the dragon's memories. Through them she could see everything the creature had ever experienced, and she could realize how his eyesight worked inside the dark cave… because all his memories were of darkness.

And in turn, the dragon was watching her life's story. The colors, the sounds, the sights Azula had seen were baffling for him. Her friends became his friends, her enemies became his enemies. Her every thought and emotion had passed into his knowledge, and everything fascinated him and fueled his curiosity even further than before. Through a thought, Azula asked him if he was ready to meet the world of light. The dragon admitted it still frightened him. Azula smiled and stretched out a hand, reaching out for the dragon's head, and he lowered it so that she could place her palm on his snout.

"It will be fine," she said, coming closer and placing her forehead against his. "We can make it out there. We're dragon and rider now… what do we have to fear? It's the outside world who should fear us."

The dragon seemed amused at that thought. He didn't quite understand her language, and she didn't understand his… but there was a powerful bond between their minds, a bond that brought their every thought together, without blending them but without individualizing them completely either. The dragon groaned as a response, rubbing his nose against her clothes. Azula chuckled and patted him on the head, allowing her hand to slide down his hair and his long, scaly neck.

"So… shall we?" she asked the dragon. Another groan was her answer, and she could sense his enthusiasm and nervousness as he lowered his body to allow her to climb atop him.

Azula flung a leg over his body and placed herself on the creature's back, with the largest smile on her face that she had mustered in ages. She couldn't remember the last time she had experienced this sort of euphoria… oh, well, she did remember it, but thinking about the first time she kissed Sokka would only dampen her mood right now.

And speaking of Sokka…

Azula lifted a hand to bring forth her flames, lighting up the cave again. She couldn't help but chuckle as she watched the way Sokka's jaw dropped upon seeing her sitting on the dragon's back.

"Well? Didn't I say I could sort this out?" she said, smiling. "And the best part is that I didn't actually fight with him. You ought to be pleased."

"Y-you… y-you just tamed a… you tamed a dragon!" Sokka squealed, pointing at her with a finger.

"Indeed, I did," said Azula, caressing the creature's neck as she felt surges of joy rushing through her. "Now I can assure you I don't regret getting lost in the forest."

And with that she laughed again. The sound amazed Sokka, even though it wasn't the first time he had heard it. But he honestly had never thought he would witness Azula in such a state of pure happiness. She had always smirked and smiled mockingly… but she hardly ever smiled like this. He couldn't help but beam as well, basking in the sight of the first dragon and rider in more than five decades…

"Well, then… what are you waiting for?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows towards him.

"W-what do you mean, what…?" said Sokka, blinking repeatedly as he stopped admiring her.

"Why, I thought you wouldn't want to stay in this dark cave for the rest of your life, but if you're that eager to take the dragon's domains for yourself there's little I can do about it…" said Azula, sighing dramatically.

"Woah, woah, woah…" said Sokka, raising his hands defensively. "You're saying I… I get to ride with you?!"

"I guess I shouldn't, a rider's first flight with his dragon should be comprised of just the two of them… but we're in no position to do things ceremoniously as it is," admitted Azula. "So… are you coming or not?"

"I… w-won't it eat me?" Sokka asked.

Azula smiled and looked at the dragon.

"Ah, he might if I tell him he should…"

"WHAT?!"

"But you've been behaving yourself surprisingly well lately, slave," said Azula, smirking. "So I suppose I'll spare your life for the time being. Make sure not to upset me ever again, though… now you also have a dragon to answer to, not just me."

"T-that's not a very nice thing to know…" muttered Sokka, gulping. Azula couldn't help herself but laugh again before stretching out her left hand towards him, her right still holding the fire.

"Come on, Sokka. Let's get out of here," she said, smiling at him.

Sokka's doubts were cleared away upon that sight… although not completely. He walked towards Azula while keeping a wary eye on the dragon, who decided to stare right back at him as he moved. The dragon's gaze made him more uneasy with every passing moment, and he was sure he would attack him at any moment now…

To his surprised and relief, it didn't happen. He reached where Azula awaited him, her hand still extended towards him. He smiled and grasped her forearm with his hand, and she pulled him up as he threw a leg around the creature.

"This is unpleasant…" muttered Sokka, grimacing at the way the scales prodded his skin.

"Not much to do but to get used to it," said Azula. "We're not going to find a dragon saddle in here or anywhere else for that matter."

"I figured not," he replied, smiling a little.

Azula caressed the dragon's neck and sent her thoughts his way, inviting him to lead the way outside the cave. The beast obeyed without a second thought, and before they knew it they were riding through the tunnel that had brought them here in the first place.

"This is so surreal…" said Sokka, his eyes wide as plates.

"Enjoy and stop trying to make sense out of it," said Azula, still smiling. "It's not every day you get to ride a dragon."

"Well… I did get to ride that mongoose thing, didn't I?"

"I was fairly certain you had claimed those weren't actual dragons," said Azula, raising an eyebrow and looking at him inquisitively.

"I… yeah, true, I said that," said Sokka, smiling as well.

"Now you can say proudly that you rode a real dragon, Sokka," said Azula, turning to the front again as the creature began climbing the hole they had fallen through. "Lower your head."

Sokka did as he was told, and they both ducked as the dragon climbed skillfully through the tunnel. His knowledge of the tunnels amazed Azula, given that she could see through his memories the entire layout of the cave… which was more of a maze, in fact. Without the dragon, they would have certainly been lost within those tunnels. Azula gripped the dragon's horns tightly as he started climbing a completely vertical wall, and she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when she felt Sokka's arms surround her waist.

"I'm sorry, but if I don't do this I'll fall off!" he muttered, blushing.

"What are you sorry about, exactly…?" she inquired.

"That's another trick question, and I'm afraid that no matter the answer you'll want to drop me anyways," said Sokka.

Azula couldn't help but smirk in agreement.

"It would seem you've learned some valuable lessons after all," she said, making him smile as well.

The dragon kept moving steadily, climbing the rocky ledges effortlessly until he reached the top of the tunnel they had fallen through. He continued treading down the pathway, reaching the fork and continuing straight towards the entrance.

"Well, one problem solved," said Sokka, sighing with relief when they were back on familiar tracks. "Now back into the forest…"

"I don't think so," said Azula, smirking.

"W-what do you mean, you don't think so?" asked Sokka, his eyes opening wide. "Are we going to stay live here?"

"Of course not, you fool…!" said Azula, rolling her eyes. "Could you stop being so absurd for ten minutes?"

"I have no idea what you're planning, so I can't take everything for granted!" Sokka squealed.

"You can trust me on this Sokka… I was right about the dragon, and I'll be right about this, too," she said, her smile returning to her face. "He's showed it to me, after all…"

"He showed you what, now…?" asked Sokka, slightly surprised by that last sentence.

But Azula didn't answer. She leaned forward on the dragon's neck, her eyes gleaming with anticipation as they came closer and closer to the exit…

But when the first gleam of light was visible from within the cave, the dragon halted suddenly. Azula's excitement decreased as she stared at the creature, confused.

"Hey… there's no need for that," she said, with the kindest voice Sokka had ever heard from her. She caressed the dragon's neck again, stroking it gently. "You already saw what's outside, I showed it to you… and you have nothing to fear so long as I'm with you. It will be fine. You know just what to do, don't you?"

The dragon let out a small sound that reminded Sokka way too much to a purr. He raised an eyebrow, feeling completely out of place in the strange exchange between dragon and princess.

The creature released another sound, a little shriller this time than its usual threatening groans, and he broke into a sprint all of sudden. Azula smiled again and clutched the dragon's horns while Sokka hugged her tightly, but she hardly even took notice of the way he was hanging onto her. The dragon took the turn that would lead them straight to the forest again, and as if it were a tiger seal resurfacing from the water, the dragon, for the first time in his life, leapt into the outside world.

The eyes of the three of them had grown accustomed to the darkness by then, causing them all to shy away from the light at first. Azula cringed but seized the dragon's horns and directed him upwards a little more harshly than she had intended to. Sokka shook his head and struggled to force his gaze to adapt to their surroundings… though it was even more difficult to keep his eyes open when the wind was buffeting his face as it was. After a while he realized he was also being smacked in the face by Azula's hair, and he leaned back to avoid it… and it was then that he looked down and realized they were rising and rising from the ground, heading into the now clear skies at full speed.

"How…?! How?!" he screamed, shocked.

Azula managed to open her eyes at last and she released the dragon's horns, allowing him to fly freely now that they were high enough to avoid crashing against the tops of the trees. The dragon shook his head before allowing himself to open his eyes just a little bit. Azula patted him on the neck again, smiling in utter awe as she watched the forest shrink under them.

"You did great… you did great," she whispered. "Welcome to the outside world."

The dragon let out a small yelp as he began to discern the colors and shapes of everything around him. He moved his head from side to side, startling both Azula and Sokka, as he was marveled by the world his rider had gifted him with. He had been trapped in his cave, destined to live in darkness until the end of his days… and she had granted him the freedom he had desired without his awareness.

"We're… flying," said Sokka, staring around himself in utter shock. "We're flying!"

"See, turtle, you'd get to fly eventually," said Azula, smiling and making him blush.

"How did this happen?" he said, changing the subject as quickly as he could. "How can this dragon fly without wings?! Is it an airbender and a firebender at the same time?!"

"Well, for all we know he might be," said Azula, chuckling and shrugging as she patted the creature on the neck again.

Now that they were out in the open she could finally see what its colors were. The dragon's scales happened to be of a violet shade that shifted into blue and black depending on the way the light hit them. His beard and mane were blue, and his horns were white, contrasting against the darkness of his body. Azula smiled, her chest surging with pride as she caressed the creature's beautiful scales.

"I didn't know there were dragons without wings, but we're riding one right now…" she said. "Not much point in questioning it, is there?"

"Then… are dragons the Avatars amongst the animals?" asked Sokka.

"I believe they're not too comfortable with ice… but they could be seen that way, I suppose," said Azula. "Nevertheless, a dragon can only be tamed by a firebender. The only way for a human and a dragon to bond is through an offering of fire."

"Which is pretty cool and all… but this whole dragon-bonding thing is scarier than it should be," said Sokka, gulping. "Especially because we're talking about you. Aren't you dangerous enough as you are to give you a dragon, on top of it all?"

"It would seem that way to you, but without this dragon we would have been done for," said Azula. "If he had refused me… well, I honestly don't want to imagine what the consequences would have been. The price for our survival was that I'd become deadlier, so I guess you should pay it up gratefully and stop complaining."

"Yeah, I suppose I could do that…" muttered Sokka. "Damn… we're really getting out of this forest. We are!"

"You kept promising you'd get me out, why so surprised now?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"B-because I figured it'd take us ages… but now we're getting out on the back of a dragon! Of a dragon!" he said, starting to laugh as well.

"Well, go ahead and have a fit of hysteria, I really can't blame you for it," said Azula, shaking her head and smiling too.

"So, is it a boy or a girl?" Sokka asked, looking at the dragon's tail. "Can you tell?"

"It's a boy," she said, smiling. "And he was stuck underground for his entire life… I have no idea just how old he might be."

"None at all? Do you think he was around during the massacre of the dragons?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It doesn't seem like it…" said Azula, surprising him.

"Uh… how do you know what things seem like?" he asked, confused.

"The bond between a rider and his dragon… well, it's deeper than I ever thought it would be," said Azula. "It's as if I were sharing my entire identity with him, and he shares his with me as well. So I can see his memories… and all there was within his mind was darkness until now."

"So… not a chance he fled into the cave because he was running from angry firebenders?"

"I don't think so. Else he would have remembered humans and if he did I doubt we'd be riding him right now," said Azula. "I don't think he knows about what happened to the rest of his kind… he probably never considered there could be others like him."

"Quite a sad fate, huh?" muttered Sokka.

"But… he might not be the last of the dragons," said Azula, turning to look at Sokka. "If he was here, chances are that there are more dragons hiding inside mountains…"

"That would be cool… well, it might be," said Sokka, gulping. "Should be good so long as you don't use dragons to melt the poles or so."

"Not a chance," said Azula, shaking her head. "Dragons are strong creatures, but such low temperatures could damage their bodies terribly…"

"So I can rest assured you won't attack my tribe with your new friend?" Sokka asked.

"If I attacked and destroyed your tribe, where would I drop you once you become the top gladiator of the league?" asked Azula, matter-of-factly. "I'm quite certain that by the time we accomplish that goal I'll be more than happy to rid myself from you…"

"Oh, sure you will… Keep telling yourself that," said Sokka, smirking.

To his surprise, she smiled right back at him before turning towards the dragon again. That mischievous smirk was back… it was back! Sokka couldn't help but beam in joy at the sight of her, marveling in her beauty and her might… she truly was one of a kind, he had always known as much, but now she had proved it once again. She was the first firebender to tame a dragon in decades, and the way she had done it was beyond impressive too. The mere thought of how powerful she looked while wielding those blue whips was enough to send shivers down his spine, pleasant shivers of a kind he didn't recognize until it was too late…

Azula frowned upon feeling something strange poking at her from behind. Sokka stared at himself in utter embarrassment and pushed away from her, beyond flustered by his body's sudden reaction. Azula turned around to look at him in shock and mild disgust.

"W-what did just…?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" squealed Sokka, holding tightly onto the dragon and gritting his teeth. In his haste to move away from Azula before she noticed what was happening to him, he had scraped his legs with the scales. His body suddenly became a strange mixture of opposite sensations, and all he could do was withstand it all in hopes Azula would turn back towards the dragon and forget about him…

It seemed the Princess was beyond appalled by the situation, too much to even make fun of him as it was. She turned back to the front, still somewhat shocked to think Sokka's enthusiasm over the dragon could produce such an effect on him. He grinded his teeth and felt far more ashamed of himself than he had for quite a while. It wasn't just the thought of what she had accomplished in the cave… his reaction seemed to have been the sum of everything that had happened the past few days. And the fact that he had been holding onto her so closely ever since they had left the cave had only made everything worse for him… ah, she had said it before, but now it was his turn to think he was incorrigible.

He remained quiet for a moment as they flew over the trees until a question popped up on his mind. He overcame his shame momentarily in hopes Azula would be able to put aside their latest incident to answer him…

"W-where are we going, exactly…?" he asked.

Azula had been shocked by what had happened with Sokka, but after a while she had dedicated to communicate with the dragon silently, speaking to him through her mind. The bliss over having a dragon as her partner and the exhilarating sensation of flying had knocked her priorities off her mind for a moment, and upon Sokka's question she returned to reality brusquely.

Sokka was surprised when the dragon changed directions drastically, turning around towards where they had come from without any previous notice.

"Woah! W-what was that?!" he squealed, almost getting knocked off the dragon due to the sudden movement.

"We're off to do what we're supposed to do, that's what," said Azula, frowning with determination as the dragon began following the river uphill.

"Where are we…?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow as he watched the landscape pass underneath them in a blur.

"We're off to find the place we fell off from," said Azula. "And from there…"

Sokka's eyes widened.

"W-wait, you don't possibly mean to chase the Rough Rhinos right now!"

"Why not?" asked Azula. "They saw us fall, they must have carried on through the same road they were on, certain that the worst threats were behind them… indeed, they were behind them, but they're about to catch up with them once again."

"But we're in no condition to fight!" said Sokka, grimacing.

"My hand works again," said Azula, "You have your weapons with you, and on top of it all we have a dragon with us. They're short one komodo rhino…"

"The one we ate, huh…?" said Sokka. It was strange to think they had eaten someone's steed…

"And honestly, back when I first faced them I wasn't exactly in my best shape," muttered Azula. "Even if I'm underfed and I need rest, I feel a lot steadier this time around. And I'm not going to face them alone this time… am I?"

"Well… so long as you don't set me on fire again, you won't," said Sokka, smiling.

"Don't give me a reason to do it, then," said Azula, smiling too. "Though I'd say you did just a moment ago…"

"T-that wasn't intentional, I swear!" Sokka whimpered, blushing again. "T-the situation, the stress of the whole thing… it happens more often than you think!"

"Oh, I have no doubt it does…" said Azula, gulping.

"T-that's not what I meant! I mean it happens to other guys too, it's not like I'm…!" Sokka cried, but he knew he was too far from saving face at this point. "Oh, just forget it…"

"How I wish I could…" said Azula, smiling slightly before focusing on the dragon again.

Azula ushered the dragon to speed up, her eyes set on the mountain that still stood too far from where they were. It was the one they had fallen from, she was certain of it… Nevertheless, she beckoned the dragon to follow the river, and he obeyed her diligently. Azula smiled as she saw the trail of fireplaces Sokka and her had left behind by the river. She was quite amazed to see how far they had gone on foot, never having guessed they had covered such a long distance. It took them over thirty minutes at the dragon's amazing speed to reach the very first pile of charred wood they had put together, and Azula drove the dragon to fly straight towards the mountain now. Sokka gaped in awe at the tall peak as they flew higher and higher, seeking out the road they had fallen from.

"W-we fell down through here… we actually fell down through here?" Sokka asked, shocked. "How the hell did we survive that?!"

"Ask yourself!" said Azula, struggling to talk to Sokka when they were bolting upwards at such speed. "You were the one who took most the blows!"

"What the heck am I built of?! Because I honestly have no idea!" Sokka asked, prompting Azula to chuckle.

The dragon soared through higher and higher until Sokka finally spotted the road by the mountainside.

"There!" he shouted, pointing at the trail. Azula nodded as she directed the dragon to follow it.

The dragon flew over the twisting path from several feet above, guided by Azula's directions as she gazed down at the road. Sokka watched from behind, amazed by the extraordinary teamwork of the Princess and the dragon. How had everything developed like this? The more he thought about it, the less credit he could give their luck. Everything had seemed bleak and hopeless… and then Azula had tamed a dragon. The way the situation had changed so radically was still unbelievable for him…

Azula ordered the dragon to halt in mid-air when she spotted a village below. Just by watching it from where they were she could see there were no komodo rhinos around, therefore the Rough Rhinos couldn't possibly be there… but the burn marks she spotted in several houses couldn't have been there for longer than five days.

"They were here," she said, beckoning the dragon to continue following the road. "They were here! We have to keep moving!"

"It's not bad enough for those guys to chuck the Fire Lord's heir down a mountainside…" said Sokka. "They have to keep sacking towns?"

"Apparently so," grunted Azula, frowning as they resumed their flight. "We have to find them someplace…"

"I remind you they're five days ahead of us as it is…" said Sokka.

"They're riding komodo rhinos, though. We're on a dragon," said Azula, smiling. "We'll find them faster than you think. Besides, sacking towns also ought to be time consuming… we might not be as far behind as you think."

"Well, let's just hope you're right about that…" muttered Sokka, gulping and falling silent.

They flew for hours, spotting more ravaged villages, to their displeasure. The Rough Rhinos were truly living up to their name: roughness was the main quality of their every attack upon the towns. Azula gritted her teeth as they passed over another village, shaking her head in disbelief.

"How far could they possibly go?" she muttered. "How much farther can they be? Just how much more can they destroy…?"

"We'll find them… we'll find them," said Sokka, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Azula gritted her teeth and nodded, holding on both to the dragon and to the hopes Sokka was providing her with…

* * *

"This last one and we turn back, Colonel," said Kahchi, ushering his mount forward to catch up with his leader. "We've pillaged too much as it is, we can't put that much weight on the rhinos and you know it!"

"Especially after we lost one of them," muttered Vachir.

Colonel Mongke wasn't supposed to sport said title anymore, traitor to the Fire Nation as he was, yet he had ordered his men to continue addressing him as a Colonel. He meant to be seen as quite a figure of authority in front of the civilians: it would terrify them further if they thought him to still be part of the army.

"There's one village just ahead," said Mongke, ushering his mount through the dirt road of the mountains. "We can dig that one up, see what we can find, and then we go back to Ba Sing Se."

"Don't you think we're betting too much on those green blokes?" asked Ogodei, riding a mongoose dragon. The two creatures that had brought the Princess and her mysterious savior – the Rough Rhinos had argued whether he had saved her or caused both their downfall to no avail, they couldn't conclude either thing – had been taken by the criminals to replace the loss of Ogodei's rhino. One of the mongoose dragons carried a great deal of their stolen goods, and the other was serving as Ogodei's steed for now. Ogodei was anything but happy about riding a lizard, but he didn't voice his complaints too often in fear of earning himself a fistful of flames courtesy of his commanding officer. "They'll betray us to the Fire Nation if they see fit, you know…"

"Ah, they're as bad as us, Ogodei," said Mongke. "I thought you knew by now. They're not allied with the Earth Kingdom rebels, or the Fire Nation soldiers… they're their own team, just as we are."

"But he has a point," said Kahchi. "What will we do if they turn against us?"

"We just have to avoid giving them a reason to turn against us, that's all," said Mongke, as their last target came into view, a small village with only a short fence as a safety measure.

The five men entered the town atop their mounts, startling the villagers upon the sudden intrusion. Mongke smirked as he saw the fear in their eyes, guiding the Rough Rhinos into formation.

"Good afternoon, measly folk!" he exclaimed, earning everyone's attention. "This procedure is very simple, as you must know so well by now. We've done this countless times, so you're advised to comply and allow us to take what we need so that we can go on our merry way…"

"You already have stolen enough!" shouted a young man, holding a spear in his shaking hands. "You attacked all the previous villages, we were warned you'd be coming this way!"

Mongke simply roared with laughter, basking in the villager's bravado.

"Stand down, boy, you'll only hurt yourself with that thing," said Ogodei, climbing off the mongoose dragon.

"Huh… thought you were the Rough Rhinos, are you trying to become the Rough Reptiles now?" said the man, trying to infuse himself courage by making japes and by holding his ground… although his shaking knees were in plain sight.

"What a lame joke, boy, what a lame joke," said Mongke, shaking his head. "Get out of our way if you know what's good for you… if not, get ready to face the consequences."

"I'll face anything to protect my family!" he shouted. Mongke seemed unaffected by his claim.

"Well, that's how he wants it," said the Colonel, turning towards Vachir.

The ex-Yu-Yan archer lifted his bow swiftly and took a shot at the man without any ado, wounding him in the knee. The villager screamed and fell to the ground. The arrow had pierced through his bone and was protruding through the back of his leg.

"That ought to get those knees of his to quit shaking," said Ogodei, smirking.

Other villagers ran to the rescue of their fallen hero. The young man cringed as an older one removed the arrow as cleanly as he could.

"Leave! Please, leave!" cried an old woman, tears in her eyes. "There's no need for this violence…!"

"Ah, finally someone reasonable!" said Mongke. "I agree, lady, hence why I'm telling you to hand over your prized possessions voluntarily and save us the hassle of entering every house to pick up what we came for."

"We're not handing anything over to you!" squealed a little girl, glaring at them boldly.

"Oh, blast it," said Mongke, rubbing his forehead before turning to the archer. "They just can't listen to reason, can they? Should we light the whole damn village up, then?"

"It's a thought," said Vachir, lighting his bow's torch.

"They asked for it so nicely after all," said Mongke, smirking cruelly as the villagers stared at them in horror… until they started staring at something else unexpectedly.

Mongke wouldn't have cared much for whatever might have caught the eye of a random villager or two, guessing they would be sending their last prayers to whatever gods they believed in, but for almost every one of them to look up at the exact same moment seemed too suspicious to ignore.

"What is that, Granny?" said the little girl, pointing at a black shape above and pulling the robes of the old lady.

"I… I don't know, child," replied the woman, relieved to see that the Rough Rhinos were too busy staring at the black shape on the sky to recall they were about to set the village on fire. She could only hope that the figure would manage to keep them distracted for good…

Mongke turned his rhino around, stepping backwards into the village's main road as he tried to see the menace from a better angle. His men imitated him, gazing up at the skies with frowns on their faces as they hoped that whatever was approaching would be meaningless.

But the expression on Mongke's face began twisting as the creature, since it could be nothing but a creature, came closer to where they were. There seemed to be a shape on its back… no, two shapes. And they were headed straight towards them.

"D-Dragon… it's a dragon!" said Mongke when he finally recognized the creature. "A real dragon!"

The villagers screamed and ran into their houses, fearing this would be the last day of their lives. It wasn't bad enough that a band of criminals had come by to wreak havoc, a dragon had to show up as well when none had been sighted in the world for about fifty years…

But Mongke knew better than the villagers. As soon as he realized what the creature was, he knew that the shapes on its back could only be people. And who could tame and ride a dragon if not a firebender of the highest caliber…? His fears were confirmed when he saw that the rider was a woman with a curtain of jet-black hair and blazing golden eyes to match her dark dragon's glare.

The komodo rhinos and the mongoose lizards grew restless as the larger and more threatening creature approached. It's descent on land wasn't light, and Azula allowed herself to think that they would have to rehearse landing as soon as they had a chance. Both she and Sokka leapt off the dragon's back before he crashed on the ground heavily on his four legs. The three of them stood on the village entrance, denying any possibility of flight for the five criminals. If they wanted to get away, they'd have to go through them…

"Well, well… this I didn't expect," said Mongke, staring at Azula with wariness. "You look dreadful, Princess."

"I assure you you'll look much worse when I'm through with you," she said, smiling dangerously at him. "You're not getting away with anything else, Mongke. By order of the Fire Lord you're to become my prisoner willingly or face the consequences…"

Mongke thought it was quite a cruel mockery of fate for the Princess to use the same threat he had uttered just a moment past. He shook his head and glared at Azula viciously.

"Consequences be what they may… I'm not surrendering to you or to your traitor of a father. Equality for Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation? Accepting the dirt people as Fire Nation now? What a stupid joke! Where's the ruthlessness of the Fire Lords of old?! Your father is a coward, and proof of it is that he sends his frail little daughter to deal with the likes of us instead of coming himself!"

"Frail, little daughter?" Azula repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I wonder what new names you'll call me once I capture you…"

"Oh, you're not going to capture me…" said Mongke. "You'll have to kill me if you want to take any part of me to that Fire Lord you claim allegiance to! Long live the Fire Nation! The real Fire Nation! The one that would burn everything to the ground to prove its might!"

And with that, he tried to usher his komodo rhino into attacking, but Azula's dragon hissed and sprayed the enemy with blue fire. Mongke managed to deflect the fire with difficulty; his rhino was uninjured, but absolutely reluctant to go against a creature as deadly as that dragon. The same could be said for all the other animals. They shook their riders off and raced to the other side of the village, fleeing from the dragon and leaving behind the five brigands to fend for themselves.

Mongke attacked Azula, throwing fire at her repeatedly to no avail, since her defense was impeccable this time around. Vachir lifted his bow with the intention to shoot an arrow at her, hoping to injure her as he had once before, but Azula lifted a hand towards his bow and manipulated the torch's flame. The entire bow caught on fire and forced Vachir to drop it, nullifying his threat efficiently for now and allowing Azula to focus completely on the ex-Colonel.

Sokka released Space Sword from its sheath and jumped straight towards Kahchi before the man could join Yeh-Lu and Ogodei in attacking the dragon. Kahchi tried to defend himself with his halberd, but to his surprise Sokka swung his sword fast enough to slice his weapon in two. Sokka struck the man's temple with the hilt of his blade, knocking him out effective and easily. He knew Azula needed the Rough Rhinos alive, and he wouldn't have killed them anyways even if she had asked him to.

Ogodei shouted at the dragon, trying to distract him by swinging his ball and chain as Yeh-Lu prepared a bomb, which he lit before tossing it at the dragon. The dragon caught the small ball in midair and seemed to be quite puzzled, not understanding what its purpose might be. He still didn't make any sense out of it after the bomb went off inside his mouth. He didn't react as the smoke slid out of his nostrils: he was completely unaffected by the attack. Sokka smirked, pleased to count with such an ally. The dragon decided to show Yeh-Lu what fire truly was like, and after charging an attack he unleashed blue flames upon the Rough Rhino.

Yeh-Lu collapsed on himself when the flames hit him, and Sokka was certain he would die engulfed in that hellfire until Ogodei threw his chains at the dragon and caught his neck with it. The dragon stopped his attack immediately, choking due to Ogodei's firm grip on the other end of the chain. The Rough Rhino seemed quite proud of his achievement, but he wouldn't have the upper hand for too long.

Sokka jumped towards the chain and sliced one of the links with his sword. He turned towards Ogodei to find the man holding the remnants of his chains now. Sokka released his club swiftly and struck the man on the brow, knocking him out as well. He leapt towards the dragon and used Space Sword to cut the links of the chain that were still dangling off the creature's neck.

"There, there…" said Sokka, once the dragon was free to breathe again. The creature snarled, surprising him "Hey! I was trying to help…!"

It took him the fragment of an instant to realize the dragon was growling because of Yeh-Lu. The man had brought forth a new explosive, and the dragon decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. Sokka jumped out of the way, allowing the dragon to unleash his fire on the enemy once more, and the explosives blew up in Yeh-Lu's hands. The man flew away due to the impact of the explosion, and he collapsed on the ground, his armor broken and damaged. Sokka approached him and verified he was still alive before turning to the dragon and smiling.

"We did pretty well, huh? Good job, pal!" he said, before turning to watch Azula's fight.

It was interesting to watch Mongke in such a state of despair, whereas Azula was so calm she was even smirking mockingly at him. Not only was she deflecting his attacks, she was turning them against Mongke, using his own flames to set his facial hair on fire. Sokka was slightly amused by the sight until he realized Vachir, ducking next to a small hut, had brought forth another bow and was aiming straight at Azula. Sokka snarled before bringing forth his boomerang, and he directed it straight at Vachir. The boomerang hit him on the back of the head, causing him to fail on his attempt to shoot his arrow, which landed a few feet from Azula. The Princess saw the arrow and it took her only a second to guess who had thrown it… but why had he missed?

When she caught sight of the blue boomerang next to Vachir's hunched figure she smiled approvingly. She'd thank him for that later.

Sokka ran towards Vachir, who was still conscious, and he found himself threatened by the archer when the man wielded one of his arrows as if it were a knife.

"A step closer and I'll ram it into your neck!" he shouted.

Sokka raised an eyebrow before stomping on his boomerang, which was right before him. The weapon spun in the air and Sokka caught it when it was within his reach, using it to tear Vachir's arrow to shreds, avoiding more complications.

"Gotta say I get why you guys called yourselves the Rough Rhinos now…" said Sokka, smirking. "Without those animals, you're nothing."

He struck Vachir on the temple with his boomerang, and the archer dropped unconscious just as his other companions had. Sokka turned towards the last battle, witnessing the struggle of fire with admiration.

Azula seemed to dance as she avoided Mongke's blows. She leapt and threw a fire kick at him, and her blue fire defeated his with ease. Mongke bellowed with rage and threw an array of fire at Azula, which she took in her hands and sent straight back at Mongke.

"The stronger firebender never has a problem with the fire of the weaker one!" she shouted, smirking proudly.

Mongke grimaced as he panted, watching her with disbelief. This couldn't be… it simply couldn't be. How could a girl he had defeated less than a week ago tear him to shreds right now?!

"Is that all you've got, then?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mongke roared and shot fire at her from his mouth. Azula rolled her eyes and put the flame aside as if it were nothing but a shred of smoke to her. She planted her feet deep on the ground and began moving her arms and body slowly and methodically, focusing carefully on every movement she was making.

Mongke saw her charging an electric attack and he knew this was his opening, his last chance for survival. He shot out two fistfuls of flames at Azula, certain he would catch her with them at last now that she couldn't defend herself…

But the dragon roared and unleashed his own fire, engulfing Mongke's flames in his and deflecting the attack headed towards Azula. The Princess would have smirked with pride if she hadn't been focusing on the lightning she was producing. The curtain of flames provided by the dragon faded away as the creature closed its jaws, and Azula stretched out two fingers of her left hand, releasing the lightning towards Mongke. The discharge struck the ground right before him, and the charged air around the attack caused him to fly off, stunned, collapsing head-first on the ground.

Azula approached him, picking the man up by the neck of his shirt.

"This battle is over, Mongke. With my victory," she said, glaring at him. "Your days of staining the honor of the Fire Nation are over. For Bao, for all the people you've murdered, for those you tortured and robbed... You'll spend what remains of your life making amends for it all, and it still won't be enough. But no matter… we'll make sure that the rest of it is so miserable you'll truly come to regret everything you've done."

Mongke grimaced and seemed to be about to retort, but she was too quick to let him. She struck his face with a powerful fist and knocked him out cold.

Sokka approached her from behind as she dropped Mongke on the ground. After that display of greatness, the Princess was notoriously exhausted.

"It's done, Azula..." said Sokka, smiling as she turned around to face him. "It's over. You did it."

The Princess seemed to lack the energies to respond as enthusiastically as she should have upon finally having completed her mission, but she still managed to muster the kindest smile she had ever directed towards her gladiator, a smile composed by gratefulness and relief, because he had been by her side this time around… because there was no chance she could have survived that forest or found that dragon without him. She hadn't even wanted to bring him along on her mission at first… and now she realized that, out of all the decisions she had taken to chase down the Rough Rhinos, bringing Sokka along had been the best one.

"Yes, Sokka..." she said, breathing deeply and beaming at him. "We did it."


	43. Chapter 43

Sokka entered the stable and eyed the Princess carefully before approaching her. He didn't know if she had fallen asleep, giving in to the exhaustion of such a hectic day, but he dropped his guard when he saw her eyes were still open.

"Has everything been dealt with?" Azula asked, lifting her head towards Sokka.

"Yeah, the Rhinos are all locked up and tied down," said Sokka, dropping on the ground right next to her. He had been imprisoning the criminals with the help of the villagers while Azula stayed with her dragon. "The four non-benders were tied up with ropes, and the villagers had a strong chain we could use for Mongke."

"Good," said Azula, nodding in approval.

The villagers had been quite kind to them so far, to Azula's surprise. They had thanked her and Sokka for saving them, although they kept some distance from the dragon, fearing its large jaws and deadly fire. There hadn't been much to offer a Princess in such a small, poor village, but the old lady who had been present during the Rough Rhinos' assault had told Azula that she had a small stable in which her dragon could rest. The Princess had been impressed by the offer of kindness and she had accepted it gladly; her dark dragon was worn out by the longest flight he had undertaken in his life, and he needed to replenish his energies.

Thus, the old woman had opened up her empty stables for the dragon to rest. The creature hadn't been too enthusiastic about entering what seemed to be another cave, eager as he was now to see the wonders of the world, but he complied when Azula promised he would be out as soon as he had rested. She was sitting on the ground right before the dragon, staring at him as he slept with his tail curled around himself.

"So…" Sokka asked, looking at the Princess. "What are we going to call our new friend?"

Azula frowned upon that question. Indeed, she hadn't thought about names just yet… how careless of her.

"I… I'm not sure," she muttered, eyeing the dragon carefully. "I suppose there are several names that would suit him."

"How about… Knightmare?!" he asked, smiling. "It could be a play on knight and nightmare! What do you think?!"

"I think I'm not going to ask you for advice on naming anything, that's what I think," said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"Hey!" Sokka squealed, apparently hurt by her response.

Azula ignored him as she folded her arms over her chest, thinking carefully about what she would choose. Her election couldn't be something fleeting, she was looking at what could easily be the last dragon alive. But… no, she couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't let that happen. Her forefathers had been stupid to let dragons die… they had been stupid to kill them, actually. She would do everything in her power to make up for her ancestors' mistakes. She had to bring the dragons back somehow, and she would. This dragon was just the first out of many that were yet to come, she knew it. And thus…

"I think I'll call him Xin Long," Azula declared, smiling. "New dragon. The first of the new generation of dragons."

Sokka was surprised by her choice, but he smiled as well and nodded in approval.

"Sounds good," he said. "Though I still might call him Knight…"

"Don't even think about it."

"But-…"

"He's Xin Long, I said," Azula growled, glaring at him. Sokka pouted and folded his arms over his chest.

"Fine, then," he huffed in resignation, looking at the sleeping dragon. "Say, how did you know where to go and how to find him…? I mean, you did say you felt the fire, but how did you do that? Why could you feel him?"

"If you think Xin Long might have been trying to reach out to me intentionally… I doubt it," said Azula. "I'm not sure, truth to be told. Either of the two firebending techniques I used while in the cave must have resounded with his own fire, I believe."

"Then… if they resounded, does that mean you two were meant to find each other?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. "Was he always meant to be your dragon?"

"No, he… he wasn't," said Azula. "He always had a choice. He could have chosen to eat me instead of riding off through the tunnels with us. He wasn't meant to be mine, it wasn't his destiny or anything of the sort… ultimately, allowing me to become his rider was something he chose for himself."

"Huh…" said Sokka, impressed. "And now you mention it… for a moment back there I actually thought he had eaten you."

"Oh, I know," said Azula, smirking. "Your desperate screams were loud enough to be heard all the way to the forest, I'm sure…"

"Not funny," grumbled Sokka. "I was really worried back there."

"You feared you'd be next, I'm sure," said Azula, still smiling cruelly.

"Well, yeah, but that's not why I yelled anyways!" grunted Sokka. "You're really mean, you know? You heard me scream like that and for once you didn't bother telling me to quiet down! I had every reason to fear you were gone because I couldn't see or hear anything!"

"And yet I wasn't gone. You had nothing to worry about," said Azula, shrugging.

"Well, not anymore, I know now you weren't eaten…" grunted Sokka before turning towards Azula again. "But… what exactly happened, then? I saw him open his jaws and then it was all dark until he started spewing blue fire."

"He accepted my offering, that's what happened," said Azula. "I thought it was clear enough."

"B-but why did he open his jaws…?"

"How did you expect him to accept the offering?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "He ate my fire, that's what happened."

Sokka stared at Azula in total surprise until he seemed to grasp the concept.

"Huh. So then he ate your fire… and turned it into his own," he said. "Interesting."

"It's the dragon and rider's bonding ritual," said Azula. "Naturally, it's interesting."

Sokka smiled at her typically proud responses and he focused on the sleeping dragon again. Azula's gaze drifted towards her gladiator, and she looked at Sokka kindly for a moment before turning towards the dragon again. Her chest began aching as she tried to find the words she had to say, words she never thought she'd have to utter… let alone to him.

"Sokka… about the things you did in the forest…"

"Which ones?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Which ones could I possibly be talking about?" Azula asked, slightly flustered.

"Well, I did lots of things in that forest and I'm not proud of every single one of them" he declared.

"I'm not talking about your random reaction about riding a dragon, if that's what you're worried about…"

"W-what…? W-wait, what?! Hey, I didn't react that way because of the dragon!"

"No need to try and save face, Sokka, I already thought quite lowly of you even before you got a-… well, what you got over Xin Long…"

"B-but it wasn't over the dragon!" Sokka insisted, desperate. "You know, never mind that. What were you going to say?"

"Uh…" Azula's focus had drifted towards Sokka's blunder, and in the process she had forgotten all about her previous attempt to express something to her gladiator. Returning to what she had been about to say seemed twice as uncomfortable as before… "I was just going to-…"

A soft knock in the barn's door interrupted Azula and startled them both. They turned towards the sound to find the old woman smiling kindly at them.

"Is the dragon comfortable?" she asked, entering the hut.

"It seems he's having some unusual dreams," said Azula, smiling and making Sokka raise an eyebrow at her. How did she know what the dragon's dreams were like? "But he's resting well enough as it is."

"I'm glad," said the woman, relieved. "I came by to let you know I just finished making a stew, in case you're hungry."

The eyes of both Sokka and Azula opened wide at those words. Stew? Food? They had almost forgotten that they needed to eat at this point in time… although their stomachs hadn't, apparently. A low grumble shook Azula's belly and she stood up. Sokka bolted to his feet groggily, staring at the woman with grateful tears in his eyes.

"Stew… I'd really like that, yes," he said, the idea of having something to fill his stomach making him feel hungrier than ever.

"It might not be what you're used to…" said the woman, shyly. "There's only so much food we can work with in such a small village."

"Believe me," said Azula, as they both walked towards the old woman. "Anything you might have made will be much better than what we're used to at the moment."

The woman didn't quite understand what they meant, but she decided not to question the Princess. She smiled kindly and led them towards her house. She had already set down the table for them to eat, and she gestured them to sit down as she brought the stew out of the fire. Azula took her seat and watched her worriedly as the woman struggled with the large pot's weight. Sokka walked towards her and took the pot from her, smiling at the woman reassuringly and bringing the stew to the table.

"W-why… thank you," she said. "Such a gentleman!"

"Only when he feels like being one, don't get your hopes too high with him," said Azula, smirking.

"Now that's really unfair, you know?" grumbled Sokka, placing the pot in the center of the table.

Azula didn't say anything else, her smile still present on her features. Sokka took her plate and filled it with the stew before doing the same with his own…

And when they both started eating they simply couldn't stop anymore. Azula didn't care for once about the Earth Kingdom qualities of the meal, about the lack of seasoning or the simplicity of the food… she just ate rabidly, even putting aside some of her table manners as she dug into the stew. Naturally, Sokka was beyond any table manners at this point. He had started eating with chopsticks, but he had set them aside soon enough. He picked up the plate and flung most its content into his mouth, swallowing everything he could in large gulps. As soon as he was done with the first serving he helped himself with more.

"My…" said the woman, watching their despair as they ate for what felt like the first time in years. "You two must have been really hungry."

"You have… no idea," said Azula, panting after finishing her plate and reaching out for more stew.

"How long have you been without food, Princess?" she asked, aghast.

"Uh… how long was it?" Azula asked, frowning. "I… I think this is our first meal today, isn't it?"

"Yep!" said Sokka, already reaching out for a third serving. "Thanks for your kindness, old lady!"

Azula kicked him under the table at his remark on the woman's age. Sokka grimaced at the pain and glared at Azula.

"You can't just call someone 'old', idiot! Especially if they're giving you free food!" she grunted.

"Oh, it's fine, it's fine," said the woman, chuckling. "Old age is only a fact, it's not as unflattering as it might seem. In any case, my name is Zhen…"

"Well, then, I'll have you know, Mrs. Zhen, that this is the best stew I've ever had!" said Sokka, smiling broadly and digging into his plate again, the memory of Azula's kick long gone already.

"Considering you've been almost a day without eating, I'm not surprised," said Zhen, grimacing. "Why would a Princess subject herself to such starvation…?"

"Oh, I really didn't bring it upon myself if that's what you're thinking," said Azula, after gulping down some of the stew. "Well, not intentionally, that is…"

"It's a very long story," said Sokka, smiling at the woman as she eyed them with confusion. "And there's no point in worrying about it now that everything's better! Right?"

"Right," said Azula, nodding as she returned to her meal hastily.

The woman was still impressed by their behaviors, but she smiled as she watched them eat with such enthusiasm.

"Not often are pots cleared after a single meal in this house," she said, chuckling.

"Do you live alone?" Sokka managed to say between chews.

"Oh, no, I have a little girl who lives with me. She's already asleep," she said, smiling. "She was amongst the crowd when the Rough Rhinos appeared. Her parents are gone, and I raised as if she were my own grandchild. But as you can imagine, a child and an old woman can only eat so much…"

"So are we eating your supplies for the week or something…?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, no, no," said Zhen, smiling. "Don't worry about a thing, Princess."

"But it's…"

"Excuse me…" whispered another female voice, interrupting the conversation.

A young woman, around Azula's age, was standing on the open doorway, holding what seemed like a freshly baked pie in her hands.

"My family wished to express our gratitude to our saviors… so I made this for them," she said, after Zhen beckoned her to enter the house with a gentle smile.

Sokka grinned happily at the thought of more food. Azula glared at him in disapproval before turning to look at the new arrival.

"You can place it on the table, dear," said the old woman, taking the already empty stew pot away as Sokka devoured the last scraps on his plate.

"My husband would have brought it himself, but he was injured…" said the girl, smiling uncomfortably as she followed Zhen's instructions.

"Huh, is he the one who got wounded on the knee?" Sokka asked.

"Yes… did you meet him?"

"Oh, just saw him in passing while I was helping take care of the Rough Rhinos," said Sokka. "He was the only injured person I saw, so I figured as much…"

Azula frowned at the conversation and continued frowning as Sokka took a slice from the pie and gulped it down right away.

"Those are good berries in that pie!" he said before taking another bit off the food.

"Is there something wrong…?" the woman asked, staring at Azula with concern.

"W-why… no, not at all. We're grateful for your kindness," said Azula, nodding at the woman before taking a slice of the pie for herself.

"We're the ones who are grateful," said the woman, beaming. "If it weren't for you… well, I wouldn't even want to know what our village would be like right now… I suspect there wouldn't even be a village anymore."

"Maybe not, but there's no need to think about that right now," said Zhen, smiling. "We're safe thanks to the Princess and her guard."

"G-guard?" Sokka repeated, choking up slightly on his food.

"He's not…" said Azula before freezing in the middle of the explanation. No… these people didn't need to know what Sokka truly was. She had put aside her usual reservations regarding peasants for a while now, but she only could ignore them for so long. "Well, he's the kind of guard that gets me into trouble instead of keeping me from it, if you get what I mean."

It took Sokka a moment to realize why Azula hadn't clarified he was her gladiator. If these people to realize that he was her slave and not her ally, their kind treatment would surely stop being as kind as it had been so far. These people had no idea the Princess sponsored a fighter in the arenas, and he was certain they would all be better off if the villagers remained in that blissful ignorance.

"Oh, I figured as much," said the young woman, amused. "No chance the Fire Nation Princess would wind up here if that weren't the case."

"Well, I wouldn't put the blame of the whole situation on me, truth to be told," Sokka grunted, earning himself a glare which he matched without a problem.

The two villagers seemed slightly uncomfortable by the glare contest between the Princess and her protector. The young woman chuckled a little before bowing down to the two of them.

"In any case, I'm glad fortune brought you two towards us. Speaking in behalf of the whole village, thank you for saving us."

The glaring stopped as both Sokka and Azula gazed at the girl in surprise.

"You're… you're welcome," the Princess muttered, turning to her meal again as she wondered when had been the last time a commoner had felt grateful towards a member of the Fire Nation Royalty.

"Glad to be of help," said Sokka, smiling broadly.

The woman smiled back before turning towards Zhen.

"I think I'll go back to Kang now, he must be hungry too," she said. "Keep taking good care of our saviors, Zhen."

"I will do my best," said Zhen. "I shall pray for a quick recovery for Kang."

"Thanks for the good wishes," said the girl, smiling. "I hope you keep enjoying your stay in the village, Princess, guard," and thus, the girl had bowed quickly at them and she left the house.

Azula didn't take another piece of the pie, wary as she was all of sudden. Her ravenous hunger had kept her from being cautious of Zhen, but for some reason the pie had put her on her guard once again. Perhaps they had saved the village, but that didn't mean these people's intentions were as pure as they seemed. She was the Fire Lord's daughter, after all… and this was an Earth Kingdom village. Azula couldn't even fathom thinking of this place as a Fire Nation colony, because it was obvious it wasn't one. Azula rather doubted that any of the villagers were Honorary Fire Nation citizens; there wasn't a single Fire Nation soldier keeping tabs on the village. She didn't ignore the hatred the Earth Kingdom folk held towards the Fire Nation, and she doubted their hatred would subside only because the Princess had saved them from a band of criminals. The food they had been given could have been poisoned: these people could try to take her as hostage in an attempt to regain their rights, much like Sokka had wanted to do when they had first met…

Sokka didn't miss the sudden darkening in Azula's semblance. He was quite confused by it as he ate, wondering if perhaps she didn't enjoy the berries as he did…

"I hope the food was to your liking," said Zhen, smiling gently. "If you wish to replenish your energies further I have a room available I can offer you…"

"That sounds great," said Sokka, beaming.

"There's only one bed, though" said the woman, looking slightly troubled by the matter "And even if you were willing to share I'm afraid it's too small…"

"I'm certain he's willing, but I assure you I'm not," grunted Azula, making Sokka blush slightly.

"I never said I was…" he grumbled, although the red on his cheeks was enough to ascertain Azula's words as true.

"I guess we could… take turns, maybe," said Azula, shrugging.

"Then you'll stay?" asked the woman happily. "Very well! I'll get the room ready for you."

Sokka smiled as he watched the woman head into another room. He turned again towards Azula to find that she was still looking distrustful.

"Uh… something the matter?" he asked.

"Well, for one, we've dropped our guard too much," said Azula, sighing. "If there was something bad in this food, we're done for."

"Huh? Something bad? You really think…? Azula, they wouldn't poison us," said Sokka, shaking his head.

"You seem so sure of it," muttered the Princess, folding her arms over her chest. "How do you know?"

"Azula… I get that you are a high-born girl and you have no idea how the minds of the meaningless peasants work," said Sokka, rubbing his temples with his fingers. "But we saved these people's lives! They're showing us genuine gratitude, and we should welcome it with open arms rather than question it…"

"Indeed, we saved them just now, but we also brought forth the disgrace of their nation," said Azula, frowning. "Well, you didn't, but I did."

"You? You weren't the one who took over the Earth Kingdom, Azula…"

"I might as well have been," muttered Azula. "My father did, and from what most people see, I'm just the same as he is. Why would they want to thank me when the nation I will lead one day was the one that took away the Earth Kingdom's pride and tore down their glory until they were nothing but a long gone memory?"

"Well…" said Sokka, frowning as he tried to find a way to counter her arguments.

"We're welcome here for now, but I think we'd do best to move on as quickly as possible," Azula muttered. "We don't know how long their kindness will last…"

"You know… maybe that's not really the way they look at it," said Sokka, looking at her earnestly. "Maybe you're judging them too harshly…"

"What part of what I just told you could be off-base, Sokka?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "Pray tell, if you were in their situation, would being saved from one Fire Nation threat by another Fire Nation threat make you change your mind about the Fire Nation altogether?"

"Well, there's a chance that… Maybe they just…" Sokka mumbled before Zhen returned to where they were.

"The room is ready for you now," she said, smiling. "I'm certain it's very rustic in comparison to what you're used to…"

"Well, I believe any bed is better than no bed," said Sokka, smiling and standing up from the table. He looked at Azula jerked his head towards the room, ushering her to follow him. Azula seemed slightly unwilling at first, but she followed Sokka regardless.

"Your kindness is well appreciated," she said to Zhen, tilting her head towards the woman. Zhen grew quite flustered at being thanked by the Princess, but she merely smiled and gestured towards the room.

"I hope you rest well, Princess. I'll make sure to have a good breakfast ready for you,"

"Why… that would be nice," said Azula, smiling a little awkwardly before entering the room after Sokka. Zhen walked off to the kitchen once more and Azula moved to close the door before deciding to leave it ajar just as a precaution.

"Well, who naps first?" Sokka asked, standing before the bed.

The sheets had been white once, albeit now they had a yellowish tinge to them, no doubt due to excessive use. Azula frowned as she looked at the mattress, figuring it was filled by straw… but at this point in time, she couldn't care less if it was filled with feathers or rocks so long as it was a bed. Just by staring at the mattress she felt urged to drop on it and sleep the past days away…

Sokka stepped out of the way when he saw the look on Azula's face. The Princess dropped on the bed, falling face-first on the old pillow that crowned the bed.

"It's a bed… a bed, Sokka," she muttered against the pillow. "I thought I'd never see a bed again in my life… I could pass out of relief instead of exhaustion because of this."

Sokka chuckled and dropped next to the bed, his back against the mattress.

"Say… about what you were saying out there," he muttered. "I think you might be wrong, after all."

Azula raised her head and looked at him doubtfully.

"What's so wrong about what I said?"

"Well… you saved the village," started Sokka before she interrupted him.

"We did," retorted Azula. "I didn't do much damage to the Rhinos on my own. If it weren't for you and Xin Long…"

"Okay, okay, the three of us did it," said Sokka, smiling at having his efforts recognized. "That's not really my point, though. The thing is… they hated the Fire Nation, and they probably still do. The Fire Nation wrecked their kingdom, and they might have lost family members to the war as well. The Rough Rhinos are a bitter reminder of that cruel, heartless Fire Nation that would kill them all to get their way… you, on the other hand, are the heir to the throne and you saved them from those thugs. You defended them and their homes. You're relatively a new face for these people… and to them, you are a hero. You saved them, Azula. Perhaps you are a part of the same nation that tore everything down… but you could change things for the better. You protected them, and they finally have something to thank the Fire Nation for. Don't you think there's a chance that they might be honest when they say they're grateful for what you did?"

"There is that chance, but… things aren't always as they look in plain sight, Sokka," muttered Azula, rolling on the bed and curling up into a ball, her back towards him. "Saving these people hardly means anything… especially considering that we weren't actually aiming at saving them. I was just trying to get the Rhinos, that's all I ever wanted to do."

"And yet you accomplished much more than that," said Sokka. "Why is it so hard for you to accept you've done a good deed, Azula?"

"Perhaps, then, it was a good deed… but they probably don't see me as a paragon of a better future anyways. If they have any wit in them, they won't think of me that way."

"Why shouldn't they, though?" Sokka asked. "I mean… the Rough Rhinos said something that made sense. Your father is a bad man, I don't question that even when I hardly know him, but he didn't do what the Rhinos wanted him to do. He spared the Earth Kingdom people and gave them a chance to become Fire Nation citizens. True, if they have a shred of self-respect they'd decline said opportunity, but nevertheless… he didn't slaughter them. The previous Fire Lord, Azulon, was it? He was proud of killing dragons… he wouldn't have had any doubts about murdering every single Earth Kingdom civilian in cold blood, would he?"

"I can't speak for my grandfather… you're probably right about what you said, though," muttered Azula. "But I have to say my father's resolution to create the Honorary Fire Nation citizen system wasn't exactly based on noble intentions, regardless of what it might look like…"

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… he believed it to be a worse fate than dying," muttered Azula, sighing. "He proposed the Honorary Fire Nation citizen system during a war meeting. He said that, as Fire Nation people, the one thing we would loathe the most would be to have our nation stripped away from us, to lose contact with our roots… a nationality is a key part to someone's identity, he said. If we could take that from the Earth Kingdom people, they would be completely lost. They'd never be Fire Nation citizens, not for real… and they would be betraying their former nation just by accepting to become honorary citizens. If they refused to become honorary citizens, then they would still have nothing to claim allegiance to, because the Earth Kingdom would be renamed after the Fire Nation, and nothing would be left of what once was the largest nation in the world. So… perhaps you're right. Perhaps these people will see me as the new face of the Fire Nation, and they'll be glad that I saved them… but they'd be fools to believe it means that my father's Fire Nation is so much better than the one the Rough Rhinos claimed allegiance to. From the point of view of a peasant… it should be worse."

Sokka dropped his head, his fists clenched tightly. From the beginning he had known the Fire Nation Honorary citizen system wasn't but a pile of lies. But for the Fire Lord himself to have admitted that his intentions were as vile as they sounded…

"I'm not proud of this… despite what you might think," muttered Azula. "If I've learned anything from this trip… it's that these territories have never belonged to the Fire Nation, and they never will. There's nothing Fire Nation about these colonies other than the name… and I honestly don't find it appealing to consider Earth Kingdom people my fellow countrymen. They're not, and they never will be. Our fire will never burn in their eyes, just as their traits would have never been a part of us if it had been the Earth Kingdom conquering the Fire Nation. My father's decision was wrong. It won us the war, but it was wrong… and even though it saved these people's lives, it was a decision based on the wrong ideas. But… but I guess I learned this too late, didn't I? I'm in no position to do anything about what has already been done…"

"Wrong," said Sokka, dropping his head back on the mattress. "You're in the best position to change it. You are the Fire Lord's heir after all, aren't you? Maybe you can't do anything right now… but you can do something later. I don't even know what, but I'm sure when the time comes you'll know what to do."

"Sounds like you give me too much credit," said Azula, huffing.

"I give you all the credit you deserve," said Sokka, smiling. "I really felt angry just a second ago when you said what your father's intentions had been. But after what you said… I'm relieved."

"You're just pleased because you think your peasant wisdom has gotten to me," grunted Azula, bitterly.

"Well, can't help it if it has," said Sokka, beaming. "I'm glad, though, that it seems you don't agree with your father in everything just because he's the Fire Lord. You can be as loyal to him as you want to be… that doesn't mean you can't acknowledge he's done some pretty bad things."

"Right…" muttered Azula, frowning. Sokka could say all he wanted to say… it didn't change that she felt as if she were betraying Fire Lord Ozai by speaking as she just had.

"You can change your father's wrongdoings for the better, Azula," said Sokka. "I know you can. You can make amends for the damage he did to these people. You've seen just how kind they are… after days of struggling to survive, they've taken us in, fed us and given us a bed. You're looking for reasons to distrust them because you think you have to, for the sake of the Fire Nation or something… but I know that deep down, you're just as grateful to them as they are towards you. And I know that after seeing their true nature, you're not as pleased by your father's decision as you used to be."

"You seem so certain I'm that good a person, Sokka…" muttered Azula. "Considering you used to believe I was the epitome of cruelty, this is quite surprising coming from you."

"I've learned to leave behind my past reservations towards you, and you've given me absolutely no reason to regret having done that," said Sokka. "You're really not half as cruel as you pretend to be, you know?"

"You want to see just how cruel I can be…?" Azula asked, blushing slightly as she grew annoyed by Sokka. He merely chuckled.

"Fine, you're as cruel as you want to be… but Azula, you're not your father. Keep that in mind"

Azula frowned and stared at the wall in front of her with disbelief. Well… of course she wasn't her father, that much she had always known. But she was following in his footsteps, to become a leader just like Fire Lord Ozai was… or wasn't she? Was she supposed to find her own path somehow, someday…?

She cursed Sokka mentally for giving her such a headache when she had been so close to falling asleep just a moment ago. The bed wasn't all that comfortable anymore as her head became filled with a thousand thoughts, all of them claiming her attention when she wanted to give it to none of them. Damn Sokka and his skill for making a mess out of her…

"By the way… back in the barn, you were trying to say something. What was it?" Sokka asked, turning his head slightly to look at her.

The question was enough for all her conflicting thoughts to quiet down shortly. She blinked and forced herself to recall what he was talking about…

"I… I don't remember anymore," she lied, gulping. After what Sokka had just done to her already disorderly mind she really didn't feel like expressing gratitude of any sort to him right now. "The woman's interruption knocked my thoughts out of my head…"

Sokka chuckled and nodded.

"Well, that's okay," he said. "Get some sleep, then. I'll keep an eye open in case the villagers decide to prove your fears were right on track, okay?"

"Good idea," muttered Azula, sighing and closing her eyes.

Her exhaustion was such that her thoughts started dying out one by one until there was nothing left for her to do but sleep the night away, knowing her gladiator would keep watch for her yet again. Maybe he had a knack for messing her head up… but he had proved he could be entrusted with the task of vigilance, at the very least. She could cut him some slack on that regard.

Sokka sat beside her on the bed, fighting his own drowsiness as he finally realized that everything was over at last. Catching the Rough Rhinos, getting out of that horrid forest, clearing the misunderstandings from that night with Azula… it was all said and done at last. Their countless problems were finally starting to fade away.

He let out a sigh of relief and smiled to himself. He had been so hopeless, so desperate, but everything was different now. Finally, they could hold their heads high again and move past what had been troubling them. At the very least, he hoped they could…

Azula rose feeling a little stiff, but no more than she had after all those nights of sleeping on the hard ground. She rolled on the bed, rubbing her eyes as she stared at the wooden ceiling. She had a hard time recalling what had brought her to where she was now…

Her mind was cleared when she grew aware of the duality that connected her to Xin Long. The dragon was currently pacing inside the stable, growing bored and tired of being stuck in that small space when he knew there was so much more room outside. She smiled as she sensed the dragon and sat up on bed. She hadn't rested too much, there was still some exhaustion weighing on her, but she didn't feel like sleeping anymore. She raised an eyebrow upon seeing Sokka had dropped his head on the mattress and fallen asleep while sitting down, but she couldn't blame him for it. She climbed off the bed and knelt down beside him.

"Hey. You can take the bed now, savage," she said, trying to garner a response by being harsh to him.

Sokka shook his head momentarily, not even knowing what Azula had said.

"I'm awake, I'm awake…" he said, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, sure you are," Azula said sarcastically. "Come on. Get on the bed now."

"B-but Azula is there…" said Sokka dizzily.

"She's not anymore, in case you didn't notice," said Azula, struggling to hoist him and drop him on the mattress.

"She'll kill me… when she comes back…" he muttered.

"Then I suggest you to be well rested when you welcome death," said Azula, smirking at him. "Good night, Sokka."

"Night…" replied the slave, no longer trying to reason with what he thought was the voice of a dream.

Azula left the room after placing Sokka on the mattress, feeling quite relieved to discover that the old woman hadn't been plotting anything vicious against her. She felt a little foolish to suspect such a frail-looking person, but she could hardly be blamed for being wary of her surroundings in a place as foreign to her as this village. Azula would have been the main target for any attacks in case these villagers were as cruel as she feared they might be, but seeing how she had been safe for the night, she figured leaving Sokka to himself wouldn't end badly.

The night was quite dark, only illuminated by a sliver of moonlight. It was probably long past midnight by now, but she could still hear the voices of some villagers. Azula left the house quietly, gazing at the dark night sky while filling her lungs with the clean, fresh air of the town. Sokka had told her to enjoy the air, but she hadn't quite felt like doing so until now. It was truly wonderful to inhale such pristine air... She walked towards the barn, where the dragon awaited. Through their bond she sensed he was quite eager to set off into the skies again… but the same couldn't be said for Azula. Riding bareback might be fun from time to time, but not on the back of a dragon. Luckily her legs hadn't been injured during their flight, but Azula wouldn't feel too keen to set off to the sky again unless she could find a saddle of some sorts.

She communicated her need to Xin Long, who seemed somewhat confused at the image of a saddle, but he agreed to wait for her for as long as it was necessary. Azula frowned as she looked around the village, wondering where she might find what she required…

The voices she had heard earlier seemed to grow restless. Azula considered her options and figured it would be best to ask those villagers about the possibility of finding a saddle. She was certain the old woman would be asleep by now, and she had provided them with too much kindness as it was for Azula to ask for more. She had saved these men too, though, so perhaps they would want to be of service to her, just as Zhen had.

As she approached and began grasping fragments of their discussion, she realized she had been wrong to make that assumption.

"… Honestly, though, I'd rather they leave this village as quickly as possible. If she really is the Fire Lord's daughter she has no business here. This won't end well, I tell you," whispered a first man.

"You're such a fool. She saved our lives! And you plan on thanking her by kicking her, her man and her dragon out of the village?!" retorted another.

Azula frowned at the words, and a mild indignation was born in her upon hearing them refer to Sokka as 'her man'. That sounded plain wrong. What did they think the relationship between them was?

"It would be safest for us if they left quickly," said a third man.

"It wouldn't be kicking her out anyways, we can do it so that it looks like we're thanking her…" said the first one again.

"You're so stupid, both of you," grunted the second one. "They saved our lives from the Rough Rhinos!"

"And they could have saved more lives if they had been quicker! We're the last village in over twenty miles, why did they happen to find the Rhinos here if they're as kind-hearted as you think they are? It's too much of a coincidence!"

"You have no idea what their circumstances were," grunted the same man. "Didn't you see them? Do you think a Princess would be as worn out and filthy-looking if she had a choice?"

Azula's discomfort only seemed to grow upon every word they said. Well, now it turns out she was filthy-looking? Wonderful, wonderful… it seemed her suspicions were true after all. These people were desperate to get her out of their village… and she wasn't exactly eager to stay in it anyways. She had better things to do than to hear them badmouth her. But she really needed that saddle… almost unwillingly, she approached the place from where the voices were coming from, behind a house by the edge of the village.

"Maybe she just looks like that because she's trying to lure you into that stupid sense of security you're in," said the third man. "You're dealing with the Fire Nation, they always pull dirty tricks and schemes to get away with what they want."

"So you think she was allied with the Rough Rhinos all along?" asked the second man, skeptical. "You think this was just a ploy to make us see the Fire Nation as heroes just because she saved us from those guys?"

"What else could it be?" asked the first one.

"I have to say… I fail to see the purpose of doing such a thing," Azula interrupted, startling the three men.

They gazed at her in shock, some in horror, even. She was certain the two who looked guiltiest were the ones who had been claiming she was just tricking them… ah, it was always nice to make men like these feel like the fools they were.

"I really couldn't care less whether you see me as a heroine or not," she said. "I did what I had to do and that's all there was to it. I don't require anyone's approval, and I definitely don't need to trick you into giving it to me. I had a mission to accomplish, and accomplishing it is what I did. Now, you can carry on gossiping like the wives of noblemen if you feel like it, but I would appreciate it if you could tell me if there's anything in this village I could use as a saddle for my dragon."

The man who looked the least guilty took up a pair of wooden crutches and stood up, smiling weakly at her. Azula's gaze darted down towards his leg and she realized this was the man who had been shot in the knee, the husband of the girl who had offered her and Sokka the pie.

"There will be something, I'm sure… follow me," he said, limping away from the darkness of the house.

Azula walked after the man, pleased to see that the other two villagers had enough sense not to carry on their conversation while she was within earshot. She welcomed that little display of decency from them.

"I'm so sorry, Princess… how much did you hear?" Kang asked her, biting his lip.

"Enough to realize just how welcome I am here," said Azula, looking around herself. "Where did the Rough Rhinos wind up at?"

"They're tied up and locked in a spare room in Goro's house," replied the man. "I really meant to defend you, but they're just…"

"Radically against the Fire Nation," said Azula. "It doesn't come off as a surprise to me. As a matter of fact, I expected it. I also expected to wake up chained along with Mongke, truth to be told. I'm relieved those friends of yours didn't think of doing that."

"They're just wary, that's all there is to it," said Kang. "It's been too many years of watching the Fire Nation wreck our country, our beliefs, our families... They have a hard time believing good can come from the Fire Nation after all this time."

"Yet you don't seem to have such a hard time believing it," Azula muttered. "Why is that?"

"I... I guess it was mostly because of your companions at first," said Kang, struggling with his crutches. "For a moment I feared we'd just gotten out of one problem to jump into a worse one, but then you just ordered for the Rhinos to get tied down and you didn't ask for more than for a place where your dragon could rest. That much told me your true intent was to catch the Rough Rhinos and to ensure the safety of your team. I stopped judging you rashly as soon as I saw that. Your interests were obviously to capture them, and in doing so you saved our lives. True, I wish you had been able to save the other villages too... But I'm not going to blame you for not doing it. I'm certain that you would have caught those brigands sooner if circumstances had allowed you to do so."

"Indeed, it's what I intended to do. If only your fellow villagers were as understanding..." muttered Azula.

"I'm very grateful for what you did," said Kang, beaming. "If you hadn't showed up when you did, who knows how many other people would have sustained arrows to the knee, or the shoulder, or the head… You truly saved us. You saved them, but these guys are too blind by their hatred to see it."

"They must be certain the one who isn't seeing things clearly is you," said Azula. "Regardless… I appreciate your attempts to get them to see this matter from your point of view."

"It's the least I can do," said the man, smiling. "I think my wife gifted you one of her berry pies, didn't she?"

"Indeed, it was… quite delicious," muttered Azula, unable to remember just how good it was due to the wariness that had taken over her while eating said pie.

"She had just been baking it when the Rhinos attacked. She said that without your intervention, she wouldn't have made more pies for a long time… so she thought she should give it to you as a form of gratitude," said Kang, smiling. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Azula nodded as Kang turned towards a rugged house to their left. He led the way to the back of the building, where an ostrich horse was kept. Azula frowned as Kang gestured at the ostrich horse's saddle, which was hanging on the wall next to the house's back door.

"Here," he said, smiling. "I suppose it won't be a perfect fit, but you can try it out to see if it works."

"Are you certain of this? It looks like your only saddle... Can you spare it?"

"True, I don't have another saddle, but I'd like to give it to you if you need it," said Kang. "From the looks of it, I won't be able to ride for a while, and I could make myself a new saddle by time my leg gets better. You need a saddle now, and I'm more than honored to provide you with mine."

Azula nodded, taken aback by the man's selflessness. He was a mere peasant, an Earth Kingdom one, and yet he was far more respectful towards her than most noblemen back home. She thanked him softly before picking up the saddle, struggling a little with its weight.

"It might not be the best saddle for a creature like yours... I suspect you would be more comfortable with a saddle for one of those mongoose dragons or even the komodo rhinos..."

"But there's really not much to choose from, is there?" said Azula, flinging the saddle over her shoulder and starting off the journey back to Zhen's barn.

"Well, I could ask some of my friends to go look for the Rough Rhinos' steeds when dawn breaks. They ran off, but I doubt they went too far. We might be able to find them if we look through the forest..."

"Don't bother," said Azula, shaking her head. "If there's no need to go into that forest, it's best not to go altogether. This saddle ought to fit well enough."

Kang smiled and nodded as he followed Azula diligently through the village. The Princess could have walked faster, but she decided to fall back into Kang's pace. She eyed the man cautiously, unsure whether to ask him a few questions she had been pondering... Kang looked back at her, noticing she seemed uneasy.

"Is something the matter, Princess?"

"I was just wondering about something you said earlier..." muttered Azula. "You mentioned my companions had been the first reason why you hadn't regarded me with such distrust. Why?"

"Ah, well... I don't know much about dragons, but word was that firebenders were no longer trusted by dragons, and thus they wouldn't fight beside them anymore."

"Quite a fancy way to put it," said Azula, grimacing as she heard the man's tale.

"The dragons didn't agree with the war, and so they left the side of the Royal Family. But then you came riding a dragon... The Fire Lord's daughter, on the back of a dragon. If the dragon saw it in him to trust you, then I guessed you must be a far better person than the rest of your family. Seeing how you saved us from the Rough Rhinos without hardly asking for anything in return, I'm certain the dragon's judgment can be trusted, and so can you."

"I see..." Azula couldn't help but feel mildly flustered at those words. She was no newcomer to compliments and praise, but she had never heard them in this way before. Was it true? Did Xin Long's judgment of her imply the beginning of a new era for the Fire Nation's Royal Family? Considering the dragon had been convinced to allow her to ride him because of her voice tone and the appeal of her fire, she rather doubted it.

"But there was also your other companion... You two look quite worn out, your clothes are a mess, but it wasn't hard to tell he's Water Tribe anyways. For a man like him to work for you..."

"Is that really much surprise?" asked Azula. "My authority is to be reckoned with, regardless of how dreadful I may look."

"I have no doubts it is," said Kang, smiling. "Yet he's Water Tribe, the only nation that still stands its ground against the Fire Nation. I don't know why he's working with you and I won't delve into it, but the way you both fought against the Rough Rhinos together, and the admiration he gazed at you with when you were beating Mongke down..."

Azula's eyes opened wider and wider at the man's words. Sokka had gazed at her with admiration? Now that was a new one...

"As I watched you two I realized just how wretched this war has been. You're from opposite nations, yet together you're so strong that you brought down a band of criminals as you did. Yeah, the dragon helped a lot, but you two took out most the humans, right?"

"I wouldn't belittle Xin Long's feats in the battlefield..." muttered Azula, growing uneasy at the mention of how good a team she made with Sokka.

"Oh, never," said Kang, chuckling. "I'm merely pointing out that you took out the band's leader, but he brought down three members of the group almost single-handedly."

"I ignore most of what happened with Sokka and Xin Long, truth to be told," admitted the Princess. "To bring down Mongke I had to focus solely on him during our fight."

"Well, at the very least you must have been relieved when you saw all the other criminals had been taken care of."

"I was," said Azula, nodding as they entered the old woman's barn.

Perhaps she made a better team with Sokka than she ever thought... It was hard to believe, considering the conditions of their relationship during the past few months. She wouldn't have wanted to work with Sokka at all a week ago… but she had been forced to. They had faced their differences and confronted each other until everything was out in the open at last… and perhaps that had helped turn them into allies again, and not just for the sake of survival. They hadn't been working together to accomplish their personal goals, as they used to when their strange relationship began. No, this time they had been working together to reach the same ends. This time they had actually been a team.

"I don't think we'll ever thank you and your group enough, Princess," said Kang, staring at the dark dragon in amazement. "We owe you too much, even though not everyone can see it. But I assure you over half the village is on your side!"

"Why, that's a relief," said Azula, smiling as she walked towards Xin Long.

The dragon seemed quite excited to see her again, although the bond between them prevented them from feeling as if they were apart at all. Azula patted the dragon's snout, and his whiskers shook as he sniffed the saddle on her shoulder.

"We're going to try this on you, if you don't mind," she said. "It's not going to hurt you, it's just for the sake of allowing me to ride you more comfortably… is that okay with you?"

Xin Long seemed doubtful about the matter at first, but he ushered Azula to try the saddle out anyways. He knew Azula well enough, even though they had only met a few hours ago, to be aware of how unwilling she was to hurt him. The Princess went to his side and flung the saddle over the dragon's body. It was slightly loose, too large to fit the dragon appropriately, but it seemed it would serve its purpose. She fastened the saddle's buckles and secured the saddle onto the dragon's back, all the while sensing that the saddle brought forth mostly curiosity and confusion for Xin Long.

"Well, it seems to work, Xin Long," said Azula, smiling. "Yes, that shall be your name. I hope it's to your liking."

The dragon stared at her with his head crooked slightly to the right, as if questioning her purpose on giving him a name. He had never felt the need to name something… it was curious that humans were so keen to do such a thing.

"I'll find a way to repay you for this saddle," said Azula, turning towards Kang. "I'll see if I can have one sent to you as soon as I reach the rest of my group."

"No need, Princess," said Kang. "As I said, we already owe you enough as it is. You don't have to repay us for anything. We actually should be doing even more for your sake!"

Azula was about to laugh his suggestion off before her mind lit up with an idea. She caressed Xin Long's mane as she eyed Kang cautiously. Her common sense beckoned her to think more about what she was going to do now, what her next stops and goals would be and how she would accomplish them…

"You honestly think you could do more? You're truly willing to do more?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh… yes, although there's not much I can do with an injured leg," said Kang, slightly surprised by Azula's change of demeanor. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, indeed, I can't work with you if you're in that state. Given the situation, I'll need some of your fellow villagers to do a job for me," said Azula, smiling. "I'll be borrowing them for a little while, so long as they're up to the task…"

"I'll gather them at dawn, then," said Kang. "What is the task you have in mind for them...?"

"Guarding my prisoners on the road," said Azula. "But I won't be tagging along with them. My gla-... Sokka will lead them while I take care of another matter."

"Huh... Indeed, I can't help you with that, but I'll find people who can," said Kang. "What will you be doing, Princess?"

Azula smirked as she thought of the answer to Kang's question. She truly looked forward to flying through the mountains again on the back of her dragon, seeking her Royal Barge from the skies. It had been quite a while since she last had seen the Captain of her Royal Guards...


	44. Chapter 44

The blue sky above held no hopes or answers for the Captain. He sat on the Royal Barge's main deck, his gaze lost in the horizon as he waited patiently for his men to return, knowing they'd come back bringing no good tidings. He had already sent five expeditions into the mountains, and none of them had been useful. The latest one had been unsettling, even, because the soldiers had told him there seemed to have been a struggle on the mountain's high road, and that someone had fallen down the mountainside, given the way the trees had been shattered and burned in that direction…

If that had been the Princess, he could kiss his life goodbye.

It was his job to protect Azula, and he had always done so in the best way he could. Azula herself had given him the honor of becoming the Captain of her guards, and he had always held that privileged position with pride and joy. But with every second that went by he felt more undeserving of said title. He had failed Azula on their mission, he had been too late to reach her and help her defeat the Rough Rhinos and now he had even lost her. He was the most inadequate guard ever.

Other guards were lounging on the deck as well, thirsty and tired but too upset over the disappearance of their Princess to care for their own health. The group of scouts returned to the ship once again, bearing no important news judging by their bowed heads. One of them approached the Captain.

"Nothing… nothing at all. If she wasn't the one who fell off the slope… then she must have been abducted by spirits or something. There's no trace of her."

"Let's hope we get abducted by them too," muttered the Captain, disheartened. "It would be for the best for us. I can't face the Fire Lord and tell him we lost his daughter…"

"But we'll have to…" said the soldier.

"How? We failed our mission, failed the Princess, failed our nation…"

"So you're saying we're going to cast ourselves out of the Fire Nation? We're going to become exiles?" asked the soldier, surprised.

"That… no, of course not," replied the Captain, sighing. "We'll have to go back… and tell the Fire Lord what happened. He'll kill us, that's for sure… but that's all we deserve for failing to protect the Princess."

The soldier gulped and nodded, obviously not comfortable with the thought of being slain by their nation's leader. But on the other hand, the Captain seemed pleased with his realization. Facing the consequences of his actions would be terribly painful… but the Fire Lord would have every right to punish them for losing his daughter. His death, at the very least, would be just what he deserved. He wished his life had turned out differently, of course, that he hadn't failed his Princess… but everything was over now. He couldn't change the past anymore.

He stood up from where he had been sitting and looked around the river bank. They had been at the Kuaisu River for days now, waiting for Azula's return just as she had ordered in the letter she had left behind for the Captain. But it had been to no avail. He could wait and wait for ages and she still wouldn't turn up. Azula was gone now… she was gone. The time for waiting was over, and the time for mourning had begun anew…

"W-what's… what's that?" asked the soldier the Captain had just been talking to.

The Captain eyed the soldier with confusion for a moment before turning towards whatever had caught his eye. The Captain removed his hood and mask as he stared into the sky, his confused look growing more pronounced with each passing moment. Something was soaring in the air… something he couldn't quite recognize. It was long, as if it were a snake of some sort… was it a snake? But a flying snake… could only be a dragon.

As if they didn't have enough problems as it was.

"It's a… dragon," muttered the Captain. "It's a dragon! Get ready to fight if it's hostile! If not, allow him free passage!"

"A dragon…?" asked another guard, staring at the creature. "A dragon?! How do we even fight a dragon?!"

"If we're lucky, we won't have to!" gulped the Captain, aghast.

Dragons were fearsome fighters and firebenders… even the Princess would have struggled to defeat one. Perhaps they were amongst the best trained soldiers of the Fire Nation, but they hadn't been trained on how to beat a dragon… and let alone one without wings. How was it even flying? The Captain shook his head in disbelief at that pointless question. The dragon could be doing anything it wanted to do, that wasn't the issue at hand. The problem came with the part where he was supposed to defeat that magnificent creature…

And given the direction the dragon was flying in, he would have to fight against it, no question. The Captain struck a stance, waiting for the dragon to unleash fire upon them as it came closer and closer… wait, was there someone on that dragon's back? The Captain's stance grew unsteady as he stared at the creature with disbelief, and he stared at its rider with even more incredulity. This had to be a dream… a really stupid dream. It could not be happening…

The dragon was flying too fast, and his rider struggled to slow his descent to no avail. In the end, she had to jump off the saddle. She collapsed on the ship's deck as the dragon crashed and twirled just a few feet away from where she had fallen.

"Still have to work on that landing," said Azula, breathing heavily as she stood up.

Xin Long also got on his feet, trying to shake off the impact of the crash. He stumbled, feeling a little dizzy, yet he sent reassuring feelings towards Azula, letting her know he was fine.

It was only then that the Princess decided to look around herself. She was slightly amused by the shocked expressions on the faces of the guards who weren't wearing their masks at the moment. She sought out a particular face amongst the crowd and she found him to her right, a few steps away from where she was.

"Long time no see, Captain," she said, with a dangerous smirk that promised the reprimand of the century.

"P-Princess… P-Princess… a dragon? A dragon?!" he asked, staring at the creature in utter awe.

"Well, at the very least you react appropriately at the revelation," said Azula, as Xin Long approached her and nuzzled her shoulder. "Yet I have a great amount of things I need to convey to you now, and none of them revolve around Xin Long."

"P-Princess…" said the Captain, finally turning towards Azula. He fell to his knees, apparently about to faint of relief. "You're safe… y-you're alive!"

"No thanks to you, though," grunted Azula, glaring at him.

The Captain would have felt guiltier at her words, but he was still having a hard time giving credit to his own eyes. It was her… it was Azula! He had taken her to be missing in action, nearly certain she'd be dead… and here she was! She didn't look so good, her usual perfect hairstyle was quite messy, her clothes and armor looked rugged and not as majestic as before… and he couldn't ignore there was an odd scent coming from Azula. When had she last cleaned up? Ah, the Captain could hardly care for that at this point. It was her! She was alive, and she had a dragon with her! His Princess lived!

"I am very sorry, Princess… I never…" he whispered, smiling as he gazed at her. "I never thought it would be so hard to capture the Rough Rhinos, and I never intended to take such a long time to reach you!"

"I can't blame you for either thing, though…" muttered Azula, having become too familiar with the unpleasant sensation of failure to make the man feel even more miserable than he already did. "Catching the Rhinos was no easy feat after all."

"No, it… what? W-wait… you caught them?!" asked the Captain, bolting up to his feet.

"What was the whole purpose of this journey, Captain?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't come to the Fire Nation Colonies looking for a dragon, even though I found one."

"B-but… how? W-where are they?"

"Sokka is leading them here right now," said Azula, patting Xin Long's snout. "We defeated them in a village. The villagers helped us tie them down and some of them are escorting them, along with Sokka, through the mountains. Nevertheless, it's a very long journey on foot and as much as I believe those villagers have good intentions, they're no soldiers. Therefore… I need you to send a group to find them on the road and bring them back safely to the Barge. Am I clear?"

"You need me to send a group into the mountains?" asked the Captain, surprised.

"Yes, that's what I just said. How many times will you make me repeat myself?" grunted Azula, glaring at the man. "Take the train-tank, will you? It'll be faster to find them if you do. Of course, Tai Wei have to be extra-careful while driving, the roads in those mountains are unexpectedly dangerous…"

"It will be done, Princess!" said the Captain hastily, bowing down to her and gazing up at her figure in awe.

"What are you looking at?" Azula asked, growing irritated.

"I just… I'm so relieved you're fine, Princess," said the Captain, smiling.

"Well, you should be," grunted Azula, walking through the ship. "Get going! Any explanations you want can wait until the Rough Rhinos are secured."

"Yes, Princess!" said the Captain, nodding "And… what about you? Where are you going?"

Azula stopped before reaching the door that would lead her inside the ship. She turned towards the Captain and flashed him a smile that was quite an unusual sight on her face. A hopeful, joyous smile…:

"I'm going to take a bath."

Azula sighed in relief as she sank into the tub's warm water, her hair floating in the water after she had brushed and cleaned it. She had scrubbed the filth of six days off her body as hastily as possible, and now she floated in the water amongst bubbles and the scent of soap. Finally she could start feeling like herself again…

Xin Long had stayed on the deck, eyeing the soldiers warily given that most of them seemed terrified of him. Azula had let him know that her men meant no harm, and that he could trust them… but the dragon seemed to have been infected by some of her more mischievous traits. He would lie down on the floor and pretend to be safe to approach… but as soon as a soldier took one step too close to him, he'd grunt and the guards would flee, terrified. Xin Long chuckled in a curious manner whenever that happened, having learned from Azula and her memories to express his amusement through laughter. Right now he was toying with the food the soldiers had offered him, considering whether to eat it or to get picky just to tick them off. Azula had tasked her men to take good care of the dragon, and the creature seemed to be quite intent on making fun of them while they performed their duty.

Yet he was also confused by whatever Azula was doing, dipped in water as she was. The Princess reassured him through her thoughts, letting him know she was just cleaning up. Xin Long seemed to fail to understand the purpose of what she was doing, but he didn't question her. He picked one of the chicken legs they had brought him, sniffed it and gulped it down in one go, spitting out a bare, scorched bone only seconds afterwards. The bone flew straight at one of the nearby soldiers, poking him in the back. The man jumped and looked at the dragon in shock, knowing he had done that intentionally. Xin Long merely rolled on the deck and gave the man a reptilian smirk.

Azula smiled at Xin Long's impish deeds, knowing she had been quite a bad influence on the creature without meaning to. That knack of being amused at the expenses of others was something he had definitely picked up from her. She looked up at the ceiling, still having a hard time believing everything had been sorted out… what day was it? She frowned as she tried to decipher it, and she sat up when she finished her calculations. If everything was as it seemed, then maybe… Just maybe…

She got out of the tub despite having longed to spend most the day in the water. She couldn't stop smiling as she dressed herself in clean clothes, placing another set of armor on her shoulders. She fixed her hair quickly, tying it up with a half-knot and placing her golden headpiece before it. She gazed at herself in a mirror and smiled confidently at her reflection. Finally, Princess Azula was back.

She walked out of her cabin and headed to the main deck, where she found a couple of soldiers still gazing at Xin Long warily. They stood up firmly and bowed down to her upon seeing her.

"What day is it?" she asked to the nearest one, who jumped at being addressed directly by the Fire Lord's daughter.

"I-it's the thirteenth day of the month, Princess…" muttered the man nervously.

Azula nodded, her eyes lit with determination and certainty. She had two days… in normal circumstances she wouldn't have bothered trying to reach Garsai at this point in time, it would be virtually impossible for her barge to cross the entire continent in such a short time span. But on a dragon…

"Did the Captain set out already?" she asked.

"Yes, Princess. He took a group of guards and left to the woods on the train-tank an hour ago or so," said another soldier.

"How long should it take for him to reach the Rhinos…?" muttered Azula, frowning. "Well, no matter."

The soldiers were slightly confused upon hearing her talk to herself like this, and they grew even more uneasy when she approached the dragon. Azula patted Xin Long on the snout, and the dragon suddenly nodded in her direction, as if agreeing with something she hadn't even said… and before they knew it, Azula was sitting on the saddle on the dragon's back.

"W-what are you doing, Princess?" asked the men, compelled to approach her but too scared of the dragon to make a move. "Where are you going?"

"I'm off to keep an eye on my gladiator," she said. "He's leading the Rough Rhinos down the road, see…"

"Y-yes, but you needn't leave! The Captain will find him soon enough…"

"And once the Captain finds him, I'll take the slave to Garsai," grunted Azula. "As soon as the Captain brings the Rough Rhinos into the ship, set your course towards the Fire Nation. I'll catch up with you as soon as I have a chance."

"B-but Princess, we just found you again…" started one of the men, walking towards her. But it was too late: Azula had already made up her mind.

Xin Long took off right away, and Azula held on to his saddle as the dragon flew into the skies. She didn't bother saying farewells to the soldiers, invested as she was in this battle against time… they could make it to Garsai. They would make it.

They caught sight of the train-tank progressing through the mountain after flying for over twenty minutes. The machine's progress was far more efficient than Azula had thought it would be, it had already passed by the site where she had confronted the Rough Rhinos and it was close to reaching the first village by now. Azula carried on flying, ushering Xin Long to speed up in hopes of finding Sokka and his procession now.

Xin Long gazed around himself in awe, enjoying the way the air buffeted him. The open space was truly pleasant for him, the world around him held so many wonders he didn't quite understand. Trees extended below him, mountains rose before him, the sky was covered with white clouds and other creatures flew far in the horizon…

Azula was surprised when Xin Long sped off out of his own accord towards a hawk. The bird flew off, intimidated by the dragon's size. Xin Long slowed down again, seeming slightly disappointed by the hawk's response. They were both creatures of the sky, so why was he so afraid of him? Perhaps it was because he could spew fire. In that case, he should find others like him, others that would enjoy flying alongside him…

Azula gritted her teeth when she sensed the dragon's thoughts. Xin Long was startled by the unexpected grief he felt emanating from his rider. Azula sighed and patted his neck, biting her lip before muttering.

"I'm sorry, Xin Long… but there aren't others like you."

The dragon seemed to understand what she meant, although he didn't grasp why she was so upset about the matter. Azula closed her eyes and brought forth her knowledge about dragons and their fate, letting Xin Long understand the truth about her forefathers and about the demise of the race of dragons.

Xin Long saw everything she showed him, realizing that Azula's family had destroyed his kin… and even though he felt a pang of pain in his soul, the dragon asked Azula not to feel responsible for the matter. It had been her grandfather, and not her, who had ordered and enjoyed the dragon slaughter. Xin Long wished he could know others of his kind, but there was nothing to be done about it as it was. The way he saw it, he had spent his entire life alone… and even though those dragons might have been related to him, he had never really known them or thought of them as his family. Azula, on the other hand, had bonded with him and given him a new world… he knew what was in her heart, and he knew she would never hurt him in the way Azulon had hurt the other dragons. She was his family now, and he was glad they had found each other.

Azula nodded and placed her head on the dragon's scaly neck, relieved by the dragon's response. She had dreaded the moment when Xin Long would understand the truth behind her family's wrongdoings against the dragons… she had feared Xin Long would abandon her, horrified, and seek revenge against the Fire Nation for that treason. But instead, he was the one telling her to calm down. Instead, he was relieved that she hadn't kept the truth from him. He saw her for who she truly was, and he knew that if she'd had a choice, she wouldn't have allowed the dragons to die out as they had. Xin Long genuinely believed in her.

"But… there's no need to despair," she said, smiling. "We can find others… we'll find others like you, Xin Long. If you were hidden in the mountains, then there's a chance there will be more dragons in the world. We just have to know where to look."

Xin Long seemed to grow hopeful at Azula's words. It would be very nice to find others of his kind… although he wasn't going to put himself to the task right now. He had Azula with him… he wasn't alone anymore, and that filled him with happiness. He would stay beside Azula for as long as she needed him. As soon as he had a chance, he would fly into the mountains and seek other dragons. Azula smiled and nodded at his resolution, truly thankful by the dragon's partnership. It was astounding that he was as understanding as he was… She embraced his neck and Xin Long continued flying, as they both enjoyed the one-of-a-kind closeness between a rider and dragon.

Sokka had been quite surprised to wake up in the bed, with no memories of how he had gotten there, and his surprise had only grown after Azula had asked him to escort the Rough Rhinos through the mountain road. Sokka had secretly wished Azula would allow him to rest for a little longer, since they were only starting to regain their energies… but the Princess had given him his orders and flown off on her dragon, to seek the Captain and get him to meet with Sokka halfway through the mountains. Sokka had been slightly unwilling to go with her plans, not wanting to take care of the Rough Rhinos virtually by himself… but he had complied when Azula told him she would fly back to him to keep tabs on the Rhinos as soon as possible.

The villagers who had tagged along with him were strong, though innocent in their own way. They were ten, and they had brought five carts on which they had strapped down the Rhinos. The villagers pulled the carts in pairs while Sokka led the way through the wilderness. The men chattered, asking Sokka questions about the dragon and about working for the Fire Lord's daughter. One even asked if he was truly working for her, or if he was involved romantically with her somehow. Sokka kept most responses as short and unrevealing as possible, unwilling to let the villagers know more about the true nature of the relationship between him and Azula… as much as he believed these men were kind-hearted, he was certain that kindness would fade away if they knew he was actually her slave.

Sokka frowned as he walked through the mountain, wondering when had things taken such a turn… a few months ago he would have jumped at the opportunity of being set free from the chains that bound him to Azula. If they knew his status as a gladiator, the villagers with him would likely encourage him to go against her, to stand up for himself and refuse to be her slave… but he didn't want them to. Why didn't he? Why would he choose the life of a gladiator over a life of freedom…?

Unknowingly, now he was a gladiator out of his own free will. He had the choice to leave. He could find a new life for himself… he recalled the huge conflict he had with Azula back in the Fire Nation, and he remembered well enough that she didn't want anything else to do with him. He could have been free from her influence back then… and yet he had crawled back to her and followed her through the entire Earth Kingdom. Back then he had been convinced it was out of a sense for doing things the right way… but now he realized what it really was: he had genuinely wanted to be with Azula. And he didn't want someone to tell him to leave her once he had a chance… no, he didn't care for having that chance. He was bound by honor, and by his own wishes, to stay by Azula's side, to support her and help her out whenever she needed him. And he was doing so right now, by dragging the Rough Rhinos through the forest…

He couldn't help but feel somewhat proud of himself at those thoughts. Perhaps he didn't agree wholeheartedly with Azula on many things… well, on most things, but the thought of working alongside her filled him with a joy he didn't recall having experienced before. Something had changed inside him during their time in that forest…

Sokka was surprised to spot a long, snake-like creature hovering several feet above them during noon. He figured Azula would reappear eventually, but he thought it would take her much longer to do so. He wondered if she would come down to the ground… given that she hadn't descended yet, he doubted she would. It seemed she was just watching from afar, probably waiting for the moment when they would run into the Captain… although Sokka figured it would happen on the next day, at the very least. There was too much distance between them, and the Captain couldn't be going that fast, could he…?

Three hours later, after passing by the second village on their way through the mountains, Sokka discovered he had guessed wrongly. Azula had vanished for a while, she probably had landed because the dragon had needed some rest… and she reappeared a just a few seconds after the train-tank came into view on the road ahead of them.

Sokka felt somewhat foolish when he saw the machine. Of course the Captain would be able to get here quickly if he used the tank…

"Woah! W-what's that thing?!" asked one of the villagers, shocked as the train-tank stopped a few ways away from where they were.

"It's a train-tank," said Sokka, beaming. "But what matters most is what's inside it."

A hatch was opened on one of the wagons, and a group of Royal Guards climbed off the machine. Sokka had never been so pleased to see the men in the red outfits.

"Captain! It's been so long!" he exclaimed, tears in his eyes as he waved at the man with golden trims on his clothing.

The Captain couldn't believe he was actually relieved to see Sokka again, still in one piece. He needed a great amount of explanations regarding whatever adventures Sokka had lived with the Princess in the forest… but as for now he had more important matters to tend to.

"Secure the Rhinos and place them inside the train-tank," Azula ordered from the back of Xin Long. The villagers jumped at the sight of the dragon, not sure of what was more terrifying, whether the soldiers, the machine, the creature or the Princess in all her splendor.

"Well, looks like someone got revitalized," said Sokka, raising an eyebrow at Azula's getup. "Changed clothes and all?"

"I had the chance to clean off six days of filth," said Azula, looking down at him. "No way I wouldn't take it."

Sokka chuckled as the Royal Guards passed by him and headed towards the prisoners, taking them from the carts and carrying them back to the train-tank. The villagers seemed intimidated by the guards, their minds obviously scarred by the years of fearing Fire Nation soldiers… they really had a hard time believing these men weren't here to harm them.

Once every Rough Rhino had been placed inside the train-tank, Azula turned towards the villagers and nodded in their direction.

"I will make sure to send my thanks for your cooperation as soon as I have an opportunity to do so," said the Princess, bowing her head towards them curtly. "And I'll seek to make amends for the Rhino's pillaging of the villages, if it's possible."

"S-sure…" said one of the villagers, gazing at her in awe along with the rest of his fellow folk. Sokka could help but smile at their reaction.

"You look terrible," said the Captain, approaching the gladiator.

"If you had any clue of what I've been through, you'd think I look way better than I should," said Sokka, grinning.

The Captain smiled too and he patted Sokka on the shoulder.

"I have no idea what you went through… but I'm relieved you did as I asked. Thanks for watching over her, gladiator."

"You can just call me Sokka, you know?" said Sokka, chuckling. "And in turn, I ought to call you by your name! What is it, by the way? I realized I didn't know just a while after you took off…"

"Why, such blissful reunion," Azula interrupted their conversation, glaring at them. "Could you keep your pleasantries for later, Sokka? We really don't have much time to spare."

"Huh? Why don't we?" asked Sokka, confused. "We're finally about to go back… if anything, we should finally catch a break from everything now!"

"Not at all," said Azula, smirking at him. "You and I have somewhere we need to go, and we can still make it there if we take off now."

"What are you…?" Sokka asked, confused, before the realization seemed to hit him on the head with the force of a hurricane. "Wait… Garsai?! Y-you mean to get me to my fight?!"

"I know we had both given up on the opportunity to reach your fight on time… but we can make it on Xin Long," said Azula, smiling confidently. "So long as we leave now, that is."

"B-but… I'm going to get killed!" Sokka squealed. "I used to be in great conditions before and I still lost against earthbenders! Imagine how badly I'm going to fare now!"

"If you think you're going to get killed, then you probably will be," grunted Azula. "Quit with the negative attitude, will you? If we survived a forest for five days, you can face off against an earthbender and survive him also."

"You seem so sure…" gulped Sokka, approaching the dragon.

"W-wait… what about us?" asked the Captain. "What are your orders, Princess?"

"Take off to the Fire Nation," said Azula, extending a hand towards Sokka and helping him onto the saddle. The Captain watched them with incredulity. "We'll meet you halfway there, just as we did here."

"B-but…" muttered the guard, worried before shaking his head and bowing down towards Azula. "As you command."

"That's more like it," grunted Azula, glaring at the Captain.

She patted Xin Long on the neck and the creature blasted off towards the sky immediately. Sokka was about to hold onto Azula to keep his balance on the saddle, but he decided not to on a second thought. His hands grasped the saddle's back, hoping it would help him find enough support to fight off the momentum. Azula leaned down on Xin Long's neck as they gained even more speed, dashing rapidly into the west…

Garsai's Jade Range was one of the most unique Gladiator Arenas. Instead of sporting the traditional sand or earth pit, the Jade Range's fighting grounds were covered by a film of emerald grass. Fighters were less prone to being knocked off their feet on these stable terrains, and the sunlight that gleamed through the open ceiling of the dome wouldn't blind them as it did when it reflected against the sand. Due to these conditions, the Jade Range was thought to be the one arena where the best fighter was certain to prevail.

But that might not be the case today. The Twin Hammer's sponsor was slightly relieved to see that he might be about to take an easy win through a forfeit… although he hadn't been too worried about the fight's outcome for a while. Accepting the Princess's challenge had seemed too bold a move at first, but when he heard the Blue Wolf had lost most his fights abroad he had felt quite hopeful. And for the seat beside him to be empty only fueled those hopes further. The Twin Hammer wasn't in his best shape lately, another earthbender had broken his leg in a fight and it hadn't mended properly… thus the Twin Hammer had lost several fights, and his sponsor was more than pleased to see that streak end even if it only through a forfeit.

"Ten minutes have passed now…" said a staff member, approaching him on the balcony. "Are you willing to wait five more minutes, or shall we call the forfeit now?"

The Twin Hammer's sponsor snorted with derision. There was no chance the Princess would make it into the city and all the way into the Arena in five minutes, considering her Royal Procession hadn't even been seen leaving Ba Sing Se. He nodded with condescendence, finding some delight in delaying the unavoidable result.

The staff member left him, and the sponsor just smiled to himself for five minutes. It seemed the Princess could only pretend to play this game for so long…

"The judges have an announcement to make!" called the man at the Jade Range's bullhorn.

The public seemed restless, knowing that an announcement at this point in time could only mean a forfeit. Many had come expecting to see the Princess's fighter eagerly, and it was the biggest let-down for this fight to result in a forfeit…

"Due to the absence of one of our fighters," started one of the judges, taking over the megaphone. "We have decided that this fight shall be awarded to…"

He was interrupted when the megaphone man shrieked unexpectedly. The Twin Hammer's sponsor frowned and looked at the judges' balcony to find the megaphone man pointing at the sky in utter shock. The judges' faces showed that very same distress quickly, the expression on their faces mirrored that of the megaphone man. The Twin Hammer's sponsor frowned and looked towards whatever might be so surprising…

His skepticism froze on his face when a massive black dragon landed heavily in the middle of the Jade Range's grass pit. Everyone jumped at the sight of such terrifying creature: the judges' shrieked, the sponsor jumped and toppled over his chair, and a great portion of the audience fled the Arena altogether. Yet the dragon kept calm, not minding the chaos nearby so long as his rider patted him on the neck reassuringly. And to the Twin Hammer's sponsor's utter shock, said rider was none other than…

"P-Princess… P-Princess Azula?!" said one of the judges, staring at her in utter shock.

"Pardon my delay," she said, lifting her head towards the judges' balcony. "I'm usually one to be punctual, but circumstances were against me on this occasion. Nevertheless… here I am, and here's my gladiator. Shall we?"

"T-the… that's a… t-the dragon can't… c-can't be in the fighting ground, Princess…" said another judge, shaking as he pointed at the creature.

"Ah, naturally," said Azula, smiling and turning towards Sokka. "You're up now, Sokka. Do your best."

"Don't I always?" Sokka asked, smiling back at her and jumping off the saddle. "Let's hope this wasn't a big mistake, Azula!"

Azula would have told him off for being so pessimistic, but she knew well enough that the odds weren't in their favor this time around. She nodded at Sokka and ushered Xin Long to leap out of the sand pit. The dragon used his mysterious flight abilities to climb up to the roof of the dome, from where both he and Azula would be able to watch the fight.

"I hope this isn't a bother…" Azula said to the judges, who were right below her.

"It… it's fine, so long as the creature… s-so long as the creature behaves," said the leader of the judges, notoriously terrified but somewhat reassured to see Azula seemed to control the creature perfectly. His common sense told him to stay as far from the creature as possible, but it also told him not to upset the Princess or her steed in any way… he had expected this to be a common, typical day until the risk of getting scorched alive by a dragon had appeared. He truly hoped to live past this unexpected turn of events…

"I won't bring him into the arena on future occasions, you can rest assured," Azula called back to them. "But given how late I was, I really didn't have a choice…"

The judges were restless in their balcony, and only the most curious members of the audience had suppressed the urge to flee in hopes to understand what surreal event was happening in the arena: this was certain to be a great tale to pass on to their acquaintances later.

The Twin Hammer's sponsor stared at the dark creature on the dome's roof in utter disbelief, unable to believe he was actually witnessing what he was witnessing. He gazed down at the fighting area, discovering the creature had left a few gaps where it had landed… and by those holes stood the Blue Wolf. He didn't look too intimidating, but the sponsor figured nothing would seem intimidating after a dragon…

But the gladiator seemed ready to fight, and he was waiting patiently for the gates of his opponent's stand-by room to be swung open. Suddenly the Twin Hammer's sponsor began regretting having accepted extending the waiting time for five more minutes…

"T-the gladiator will be allowed to fight…" said a judge on a megaphone. "What time limit shall we give the battle?"

"I believe my fellow sponsor should choose," said Azula, sighing. "We are late after all. It's a small price to pay for it."

The Twin Hammer's sponsor gulped and gestured at the judges for ten minutes, hoping to get out of the Jade Range as quickly as possible. Chances were he would have a kick out of telling other people about the dragon later, but right now all he wanted to do was run away.

Nevertheless, he knew he would have to wait for the battle to conclude before taking off. The judges reminded Sokka to use only five weapons, and he nodded promptly before dropping a handful of his bombs and keeping only one for the battle. Once he was done with that, the wooden grid was drawn back and the Twin Hammer entered the field.

The man was tall, broad and dark-skinned, his face was bearded although the top of his head was cleanly shaved. Sokka picked up on the man's limp even though he was doing his best to mask it. His right leg had been wounded… and it probably had healed badly.

"The time limit shall be of ten minutes," declared the megaphone man, his voice shaky instead of enthusiastic. "G-get ready, fighters… and start!"

Sokka didn't move as the Twin Hammer roared and stuck his hands into the ground, only to bring them back up holding a pair of makeshift earth hammers.

"Huh… neat trick, that one," said Sokka. "Twin Hammer indeed, aren't you?"

"I used to work with metal hammers, boy… stupid rules won't allow me to use them, so I make do with what I can," said the Twin Hammer, grinning. "So? Ready to perish?"

"Not really, no…" said Sokka, shrugging carelessly.

The Twin Hammer seemed shocked by Sokka's response, mostly due to how genuine it was. Most gladiators would just counter his bravado with more bravado… but this youngling would merely shrug him off as if he weren't even interested in the fight.

"You should be!" said the Twin Hammer before planting a foot on the ground, rising a tower of boulders from the ground and striking at them with his hammers, sending them all Sokka's way.

Sokka brought forth Space Sword and cut through each rock as if it were child's play, without putting much effort into his motions.

"Sorry, I'm a little tired," said Sokka, yawning. "I would be a little more into it, but it's been an exhausting week, you see…"

The Twin Hammer bared his teeth and continued flinging rocks at Sokka to no avail. The Blue Wolf evaded some of them and sliced others in half, now growing a little more taxed by his efforts.

"You see, I was back at Ba Sing Se and I just had the brilliant idea to go chasing a band of criminals…" started Sokka, talking as if the Twin Hammer were an old friend to share his stories with.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" the Twin Hammer shouted, jumping forward towards Sokka and attempting to strike him with the makeshift weapons.

Sokka leapt back and smirked slightly when the Twin Hammer found himself landing on one of the gaps on the ground left behind by the dragon's talons. The ground wasn't as close as he had expected it to be, and pain had shot through his right leg after his misstep.

He shouted out as he struggled to stay on his feet, lifting his earth hammers and throwing one of them at Sokka. The swordsman evaded the blow again.

"And well, you see, we fell down this nasty slope and we were stuck in a forest living off komodo rhino meat for five days, you hear me? Five days! Can you believe it?" said Sokka, walking off carelessly as the Twin Hammer tried to regain his stance.

"Shut… shut up…" grunted the Twin Hammer, glaring at his opponent. "SHUT UP!"

"And then we went into this cave and we found the dragon!" said Sokka, spreading his arms cheerfully before looking at his rival in surprise. "Wait, you don't want to hear it?"

"When did I say I did, you blockhead?!" shouted the Twin Hammer, throwing earth at Sokka rashly.

Sokka pouted as a batch of grass flew overhead, dropping some soil on his already filthy appearance.

"Well, then, what's the point of this if you don't want to talk?" he asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"This is a gladiator fight! If you want to talk nonsense go find a politician!" shouted the Twin Hammer, trying to throw more earth at Sokka but failing in his attempt. His leg was killing him… such a simple impact, just one slip of his foot, and it would cost him the fight?!

"Well, given that you're not much good a fighter, I figured you'd rather talk…" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "But if that's the way you want it…"

Sokka withdrew the bomb from his belt and threw it to the ground. Dark smoke covered the whole fighting ground, hiding the two fighters from the public's sight and each other's. Sokka smirked when he heard the Twin Hammer trip and fall again due to his compromised vision. He owed the fight to Xin Long for leaving those gashes on the ground. It seemed everything was going according to plan…

Until the Twin Hammer, in a fit of frustration, anger and madness, began pounding at the ground with his massive fists.

The entire building shook with the strength of the earthquake the earthbender was producing. Sokka's confidence faded away when the grounds underneath him cracked and shifted, some chucks of earth rising while others sank. Sokka jumped, trying to escape the unstable grounds, but everything around him was shifting. At this rate, the Twin Hammer would bring down the entire enclosure.

Xin Long grew restless on the top of the dome, and he began floating to avoid being bothered by the instability of the shaking building. He nearly asked Azula to leave and forget the pointless battle below, for he found it too boring, but the Princess was completely invested in it. She stared down at the dissipating smoke, dreading that might Sokka have fallen to his rival…

But to her utter relief, he was still struggling to escape being buried alive by the intense earthquake. Just watching him jump from side to side filled her with anguish and hope on even amounts. He could do it this time around, Yes, yes he could, he had been doing too well to lose at this point…

Sokka's mind was filled with similar thoughts. There was no chance he wouldn't be able to beat an injured man when he had already driven him to such desperation. He could do this, he knew he could! As a matter of fact, he had to. If he didn't stop the Twin Hammer, the man would tear down the entire city in his fit of anger. All Sokka had to do was get close enough…

And thus, instead of trying to escape him, Sokka jumped forward, avoiding spikes and slumps of earth as he tried to reach his enemy. He hacked off some large chunks of earth and kept moving towards the place where all the shock waves were coming from, the spot where the Twin Hammer was slamming his enormous fists on the ground…

Time seemed to slow down as he finally reached the gladiator. He had to cut down a tower of earth with his right hand, and by doing so he wouldn't have enough time to strike the man with his sword… hence he pulled out his club and brought it down powerfully on the Twin Hammer's brow.

The earth stopped shaking, and the rumbling sound that accompanied it fell silent as well. A cloud of dust floated level to Sokka's waist, product of the intense earth movements of just a moment ago. Sokka was panting, staring at the unconscious man before him…

It took him a moment to realize what had actually happened. His eyes snapped wide open at the reigning thought in his head.

"I beat an earthbender…" he muttered, smiling. "An… an earthbender!"

The megaphone man spoke nervously when he finally found it in himself to make the announcement that had to be done.

"T-the Blue Wolf wins!" he declared. He took a deep breath before setting down the bullhorn and walking away from the judges' balcony.

"Where are you going…?" asked one of the judges, surprised.

"I'm calling it a day," said the megaphone man, shaking his head. "And I think you guys ought to do the same."

There were two more fights left for that day… but the judges found themselves welcoming the advice more than they usually would. After all that destruction, there were little chances that anyone would be able to fight in the Jade Range any time soon anyways…

"I beat an earthbender!" Sokka squealed, sheathing his weapons. "I beat an earthbender!"

Almost by instinct, he sought out his sponsor, in hopes to see her reaction at his great accomplishment… and he wasn't disappointed at all. Because neither was she.

Azula couldn't stop herself from beaming down at him, relief washing over her, telling her that she hadn't been wrong, for once, to give Sokka another chance. Because in doing so, he had become the man he had been before… their time in the woods would go down as one of the lousiest periods of her life, but she knew well enough that without it, without having allowed Sokka to convey to her everything he had to say, he would have never turned back into the fighter she had hired to work for her.

She knew it now… it really wasn't impossible for him to beat earthbenders. Granted, it would be hard, but he could learn to do it. The truth behind his losses and failures was that he had been in such an emotional turmoil that he had been unable to fight properly. He had even mocked around his opponent in his strange psychological play again! When was the last time he had done such a thing? Azula couldn't help but smile at him, knowing her rational side begged at her not to show such feelings of delight towards Sokka, but she could hardly help herself. Her gladiator had returned.

Sokka didn't miss the way she was smiling at him even though there was such distance between them. His chest seemed to be set ablaze with pride and joy… because he hadn't let her down. No, his time of disappointing Azula was over. Their eyes clashed together, just like they used to long ago… no, it was different this time around. They both were prizing the other in ways they hadn't done it before… She was reveling in Sokka going back to who he had always been, while Sokka was cherishing the look on her face above everything else. Beating an earthbender seemed a meaningless feat next to making Azula smile in that manner. He would go to the ends of the earth if just to keep that smile on her face.

And as ever… he was down below, and she was above, out of reach. Once more, they were the turtle and the hawk. But the hawk had returned, even after he had hurt her. They were still worlds apart… but that didn't stop them from staring at the other with admiration. That didn't stop them from holding each other in the high regards they did. Maybe they belonged in worlds apart… but that wouldn't hold them back from reaching out to what should be out of reach. What was so wrong about doing so?

What was left of the audience had been celebrating Sokka's triumph, but he had been too busy gazing up at his sponsor to notice. The magical eye contact broke off as he looked around himself and raised a fist in the air, feeling genuinely victorious for the very first time, although it had little to do with having beaten his opponent. Azula chuckled and shook her head at the sight of his enthusiastic celebration, allowing him to bask in his joy for now, but aware that his exhaustion would take a toll on him eventually. After all, they had flown for two days to get here, on top of all the tiredness they already were suffering from…

"It's really over now," she said, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. "Everything is done, at last."

Xin Long looked up at her in mild confusion, still wondering what the fuss was with that random-looking fight between their fellow companion and the weird man who could shake the earth. He was even more confused by the joy he could sense from within Azula… what was the nature of the bond she had with that boy? It was definitely nothing like the one she had with him, Xin Long could tell as much… but what it was, he didn't know.

All he knew was that Azula seemed to prize her bond with Sokka just as much as she prized the one between the two of them.

Sokka dropped on the tavern's seat with no subtlety whatsoever, still smiling cheerfully. After his fight, Azula had dragged him through the city in search for a bathhouse, because Sokka's smell was starting to remind her too much of that homeless man they had met once in the Capital…

The stench still held on to his clothes, but at the very least he looked much better when he came out of the establishment. Afterwards they had decided to fetch something to eat. Azula wasn't interested in the pleasantries and questioning she knew she'd be subjected to by the town's mayor if she went to him as scheduled – and since she could make use of the winnings from the fight against the Twin Hammer, she decided they should go to the nearest food store she could find. She wasn't too fond of it being a tavern, but she didn't feel like looking for a better establishment. She rather doubted there would be anything up to her standards, but she could still make use of her current tolerance of living a commoner's life. Her time in that forest had driven her to realize that peasants didn't have it as bad as she had always thought…

"Wow, I'm so tired…" said Sokka, smiling. "That bath was a great idea, but it just reminded me of how exhausted I am."

"It's been the most chaotic week ever…" said Azula, dropping on the seat before him. "I feel like sleeping for a month."

"A year sounds more like it," said Sokka, chuckling. "Where's our new friend right now?"

"He's off hunting," said Azula. "We're having dinner, so he's having his."

"Makes sense," said Sokka. "Say… how do you know all those things about him? Is there a sort of telepathic link between you two or something?"

"It's quite ironic that you'd say it sarcastically…" said Azula, smirking slightly as Sokka's mouth opened up comically.

"S-seriously?" he mustered after a moment. Azula still seemed amused.

"Yes, seriously. I doubt you'd understand if I tried to explain it to you, though," said Azula, as a waitress brought their meals and drinks to them.

"Always underestimating the power of my brain…" muttered Sokka, shaking his head. "Anyways, after being stuck in a forest for ages, after two encounters with a band of criminals, after facing a dragon in his own domains and after beating an earthbender for the first time… The occasion really calls for a celebration of some sort! So cheers!"

He picked up his pint of rice wine and drained it quickly as Azula raised an eyebrow in his direction. Sokka eyed her, confused.

"You're not drinking?"

"Not that stuff, I'm not," she grunted.

"Oh, back to the refined Princess, are we?" Sokka asked, teasingly.

"You think she ever left?" Azula inquired, making Sokka chuckle.

"Ah, true enough," he said. "Even when eating rhino meat you would do it so gracefully it would look as if you were just having a snack in the palace or something."

"And you'd know about how I eat snacks in the palace…?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"W-well, no, I mean… it's just an assumption!" Sokka said, making her chuckle quietly.

"Always one to jump to conclusions, aren't you…?" she said, looking at her dish with utter joy as she tasted the first dumpling. She was returning home slowly, but surely, and the improvement on the food quality seemed to be a metaphor of it.

They ate silently, too desperate to quench their hunger to find any room for trivial conversations. Azula suspected she would spend weeks trying to smother the desperate appetite she had developed after being stuck in that forest for so long. She was likely to put on some weight at this rate, but at the moment it didn't bug her much. Sokka, on the other hand, had no such worries about the future. He was too busy ravaging his meal to stop to think about anything else.

Sokka asked for a second round of both food and drink, Azula requested nothing else. She sat on her chair, going over the past few days in her head while Sokka finished his food. At long last he leaned back on his chair and smiled brightly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as his plate lay empty before him.

"Now that's a meal… I missed real food," he said, cheerfully.

Azula would have told him off for not using the handkerchief next to him to clean up, but there were other matters on her mind at the moment, matters that drove her attention away from his lack of decency and towards other issues…

"You okay?" he asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

Azula felt compelled to lie and claim nothing was bothering her. Lying to cover up what was going through her mind seemed a good idea, but something convinced her that it wasn't. Perhaps Sokka's inner turmoil had been soothed… but the same couldn't be said for hers.

"Not quite… there are a few things we need to talk about," she muttered.

"Is it what you were going to tell me in the stables?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"W-why, that…" Azula froze on her spot at the reminder of that unfinished conversation.

"Or is it you don't remember what it was yet?" Sokka asked.

"I… I do, but that's not… there's a lot more to be said before that," Azula whispered. "You… you told me your side of the story, didn't you? It's probably time for you to hear mine."

Sokka froze on his spot, not expecting her to say those words. Unease and nervousness took over him … but he nodded, letting her to open up to him if she truly felt like doing so.

"Back when this whole mess started… well, I didn't see it coming in the slightest," muttered Azula. "I'd been convinced that whatever we had was meaningful, important to you… when I saw you in that fight I couldn't believe my eyes. I wanted to think you were just manipulating her somehow, trying to make the fight easier by distracting her through your flirting or something… but then you said otherwise when I was in that waiting room with you. And… I lost it. I became desperate. I didn't know what I was doing or what the purpose of my actions was… I just wanted… to open your eyes and make you see me for who I was again, to get you to stop looking at her and come back to me…"

Sokka had already thought this to be the true intent of her actions, the true meaning of that kiss… but hearing her admit it was almost as if he had never known it in the first place. He dropped his gaze, unable to continue looking at her in the eye. Azula wasn't meeting his gaze either… doing so would have made giving this explanation far more difficult than it already was.

"It was probably the wrong reason to do such a thing," Azula said. "Yet… just as you said, I actually don't regret it. It was… unexpectedly exhilarating."

Sokka smiled and nodded, agreeing completely with that statement.

"What I said… well, I blurted it out mostly out of frustration. I thought that, if we could kiss this way, then maybe you wouldn't want to go back to her. In a way… I really wanted to keep you to myself even though I had no right to do so."

"I'm your gladiator," said Sokka, frowning. "I'm supposed to answer, first and foremost, to you. You'd given me too much freedom as it was…"

"I never expected you to be like any common slave, though," Azula admitted. "It was a lot more fun to walk beside you than to stride ahead just to remind you that you belonged beneath me. Perhaps you do… perhaps you're supposed to be inferior. But I never wanted you to be. When I thought you'd leave me, when I thought you'd run off to the next woman's arms… I knew I couldn't stop whatever it was you felt towards her, but that didn't hold me back from wanting to stop you anyways. That kiss was my last resort at that point in time… my last resort to make you see me for who I truly was, to make you realize what you could have with me if you only decided to give us a chance. But I guess what I said didn't help illustrate my goal. I just… I was so… angry, and jealous, and… I still couldn't believe you'd done what you did."

"I… I understood for a moment, I think," muttered Sokka. "But then I started coming up with the worst case scenarios, and I convinced myself that you were out to get me…"

"In a way, I can hardly blame you for thinking that way…"

"Well, I disagree. If I'd only opened up to the possibility that perhaps you hadn't been trying to ruin my life, we could have talked things through later. But I jumped to conclusions and, well…"

"And thus you said everything you said," muttered Azula, her chest aching at the memory. "I'm glad you didn't deny having believed everything you told me that night. I half-expected you to claim you had been too drunk to make any sense out of what you'd been saying…"

"I believed it back then. I don't anymore," said Sokka, looking up at her. Azula still didn't meet his eyes.

"It hurt, though… it really hurt. And I was too angry at you to be honest about my true intentions as well," she whispered. "Your fury only helped fuel mine. At that moment… I actually wanted to hurt you with my words far more than you were hurting me with yours. But given the result, I lost against you on that particular fight. I felt as if I were breaking, shattering into a million pieces… I spent the next days looking back on the matter and realizing I had to move on from it. You were still my gladiator, and I was still your sponsor, we had to play that part no matter how much you seemed to hate me."

"I figured the hate was two-fold… wasn't it?" Sokka asked, surprised.

"Not at first," Azula admitted. "After that night, I… I actually hated myself far more than I could hate you. I blamed myself for the outcome, for being stupid and delusional regarding you. I had no reason to prize our relationship as I had. You were a slave, what did it matter what you thought of me? You spent two years loathing me from afar, and that didn't keep me up at night. It was stupid to grow so conflicted and troubled just because you still felt the same way towards me now… feelings, emotions, they're unreliable and useless. All they can bring on the long run is pain, and I'd known that from long ago. Why had I allowed myself to fall again into that useless vortex of pointless agony brought by feelings, I didn't know. By the time I could think of this whole matter rationally, all I could do was blame myself for it. I felt so stupid… my father had always told me emotional attachments were futile, and yet I'd gone off and gotten attached to you as I had. That was no fault of yours, it was all mine… and I was willing to live with that, but I wanted to move on from this mess while it seemed you didn't."

Sokka lowered his head again and sighed.

"When I went to you on the stand-by room to tell you what I knew of the Savage Hook… and you brushed me off as you did, I only grew to despise myself further. How could I ever feel anything for someone as thick-headed as you were? I guess it was then that I started hating you. I actually… I actually wished the Hook would kill you as I went to the sponsors' balcony. After all you'd said and done… I felt it was all you deserved. If it happened, I would be rid of you and of all these mixed feelings and find peace once again."

"Harsh… but I get it," muttered Sokka.

"Needless to say those wishes faded into oblivion as the battle unfolded," Azula admitted. "As the Hook hurt you more and more, I realized I didn't want you to sustain any pain at all. I watched you struggle in that fight, claw your way to survival as he kept injuring you, and even though I'd been hoping you'd die at first, I knew I truly wanted you to live. That wish for your death had been merely an attempt to relieve myself from the pain I was feeling… I hadn't meant it. And watching you collapse and struggle like that taught me just how thoughtless I'd been to dare wish for your death. To my relief, you won, but then you said what you said. You asked if I was glad you'd been hurt that badly… and I snapped. I couldn't believe you. My anguish, my grief for your sake… it felt like such a waste in that moment. All my concern over you… what had been the point of it, really? You hugged me and apologized, but I didn't know what you felt so sorry for. And honestly, at that point, it didn't matter. I wanted you out of my life. I couldn't stand having cared so much… for all that care to go to waste. I had trusted you… I had believed in you. I had even…"

She found herself unable to whisper the last few words. Her entire being forced her not to say it, because the minute she said it, it would mean it was true. And she didn't want to accept that fact as true, not even now.

"And you just threw it all right back at me, as if it had been meaningless to you," muttered Azula. "As if you could just replace me with a random girl you had met in the sand pit… as if that was all I ever meant to you. It hurt so much… and I refused to let it hurt me anymore. I was done trusting you. I was done with you altogether."

There was a burning feeling in Sokka's throat. Her words brought back all his regrets at full force. Knowing now just how innocent most her actions had been… Azula had never been involved with anyone before. This had been the first time she had found herself invested in a relationship… and he driven her to discard everything she had felt. He had made her believe that emotions were truly useless, that trust was for fools…

"And yet…" said Azula. "You convinced me to give you one last chance. I kept regretting having given it to you, certain that whatever came from keeping you around would merely result in more pain for me. And I'm not one to bask in feeling miserable. I'm not one to bask in feeling anything, honestly. My best ploys always come when I'm level-headed… and with you around, I was anything but level-headed. So I kept pushing you away, being harsh with you, glaring at you, ignoring you… all in hopes that the day would come when I wouldn't have to make any efforts not to give a damn about you anymore. Of course… it was useless. I deluded myself thinking it was working until we ran into that woman, June… and all the pain came back at ten times its previous intensity. It drove me mad to the point I couldn't even bend properly when faced against the Rhinos. But then you saved me… and then you spent five days saving me. You told me what you had needed to say, and I found I actually wanted to hear it. I was relieved by your honesty, and glad to know that I had meant something to you after all. It killed me inside to think you hadn't cared… it was a pleasant surprise to discover otherwise."

"I was stupid to think you were the one who hadn't cared." muttered Sokka, sighing. "I'm sorry, Azula…"

"Still on with the apologies, don't you ever get tired of saying the same phrase over and over?" she asked, with a weak smile.

"It doesn't feel like saying it once will show just how much I regret it all," muttered Sokka, looking up at her shamefully. "I know there's nothing I can do to make up for the pain I caused you…"

"Perhaps not," replied Azula. "Yet you saved my life time after time. I wouldn't have survived that rhino's attack, and I surely wouldn't have survived being stuck in a forest for five days. Without you I would have truly been lost… and that's what I wanted to tell you in the stables. I… I'm really grateful for all you did. Without you, well, I'd be dead for starters, and I would have never found Xin Long, and I'm certain I wouldn't have caught the Rough Rhinos on my own. I had wanted to get rid of you… but now I'm more than glad that I gave you another chance. It's been worth it, even though it hasn't been the smoothest ride…"

Sokka stared at her, almost unable to give credit to his ears. An earnest smile appeared on his face as his eyes glistened. He didn't feel worthy of her gratefulness…

"Thanks… for everything, Sokka," Azula muttered, her cheeks reddening a little. "I really would have been lost without you."

"Huh… you were lost with me anyways," he said, chuckling and taking a sip from his drink. "I… I'm really glad you've come to see things like this, Azula-…"

"Nevertheless…" she said, making him freeze where he was. Her previous flush had faded away from her face. "I'm grateful, yes, but… if I realized anything in that forest after you told me everything, it was just how thoughtless I was. You were right to refuse being with me, though I'm certain there should have been a less painful way to get the point across."

"W-what do you…?"

"You were right, Sokka. I don't know what was I thinking when I genuinely thought that it was an option… that there was a way for us to become more than what we were. Because… there isn't. There shouldn't be. Us… it can't happen, Sokka."

Hearing Azula say those words knocked down Sokka's previously joyful feelings. For her to admit it meant the fact was validated completely… they weren't supposed to be together. And she knew it just as well as he did. He had been certain of it, his actions had been aimed towards making her understand they weren't meant to be… but for some reason, he had held on to the hope that she wouldn't care, that she would still want to be with him. Hearing otherwise was unbearably disheartening.

"And that's why… despite all you did, despite I owe you my life, my dragon, my honor and more…" said Azula, her hand balling into a fist over the table. "… I won't forgive you for what happened back then."

"W-what…?" Sokka's eyes opened wide in shock, totally confused by what she was saying. Was the whole purpose of this conversation to tell him she could never forgive him…?

"Don't get me wrong…" said Azula, sighing. "I could forgive you. It's not like I can't… but I won't do it. Because doing so… it will mess me up again. It will lead me into the stupid mindset I was in before, it'll convince me that we can be together. Forgiving you would mean opening myself for another round of that poisonous, vexing confusion we were subjects to."

"But it doesn't have to be that way…" muttered Sokka.

"I know," said Azula. "Which is why I want to put this past us. I want to go back to the Fire Nation alongside with you, my gladiator… but just as a gladiator. That's what you're supposed to be, after all. I want us to go back to our stupid arguments, yes. I want to find people for you to spar with, I want to tell you off for saying dumb things, I want to watch you win in the Arena against fearsome enemies. But I don't want to let myself make the same mistake of…"

"Misunderstanding the true nature of our relationship," said Sokka, nodding. "I get it."

"I can't slip up again, Sokka. And neither should you," she muttered. "It's too painful… we make a good team as we are. There's no need to look for something else…"

"I know… and I agree," said Sokka, nodding. "This is actually a better outcome than I ever thought we'd get… goes to show that talking things through is a good idea, huh?"

"It seems like it," said Azula, smiling weakly. "I suppose it's no relief for you to know I'm not forgiving you, but…"

"I get your reasons, though," said Sokka, smiling back. "It's a good idea. Should keep us from making the same mistake again."

"Hopefully" replied Azula, staring into Sokka's eyes.

Just by looking at each other right now, they knew the previous conversation had been virtually useless. Forgiveness or not… it wasn't going to be enough to stop them from succumbing to what they felt. Because they still felt the same way towards the other… if anything, those feelings might have just been revamped after this hectic week. Resisting them… was it possible? Could they do it? Could they keep their relationship as steady as they wanted it to be…?

But thinking about it this way wouldn't help at all. If they were going to leave the past behind them, they'd better do it with more enthusiasm than this, or at least that's what Sokka thought. It ought to make the whole matter easier to deal with. He smiled and stretched out his right hand towards Azula, taking her by surprise by his gesture.

"What…?"

"Well… we're back to sponsor and gladiator now," he said. "I half-expected you to discard me after your mission ended, because I really wasn't much use until we were lost in the forest…"

"True to a certain extent, perhaps, but still…"

"I'm relieved you didn't decide to do that," said Sokka, chuckling. "And I figure we should seal the deal again, right? And we'll seal it with no more instability now. This time… gladiator and sponsor, for real. We're off to the top, and we're going to get things done! So… are you with me?"

Azula was startled by his strange enthusiasm. She could sense his underlying disappointment, which seemed to correspond with how she felt about casting aside the possibilities of them being together. The regret would always be there in the back of her mind… that question poking at her, making her wonder just what it would have felt like to kiss him again, this time without despair, guilt or confusion… making her wonder what it might have been like to wake up in his arms one day… making her wonder just how it would have felt to give herself to him completely. Deep down, that was all she wished for… but it was a fleeting urge she'd have to muffle until it was gone. There was nothing else she could do about it.

She stretched her hand towards his, and the contact nearly felt electric as she shook his hand. She accepted his proposal silently, closing off the door that led towards becoming what she truly wished to be with him…

"I'm with you," she said, nodding softly. "Gladiator and sponsor, as it always was supposed to be."

Sokka clearly wasn't happy about the development either. His chest ached and burned as he resisted the urge to pull her towards him and kiss her, as he tried his hardest to contain his feelings towards her. Bottling things up had never been his policy… but in this case, it was the single thing to be done. It had to be done, for both their sakes. For the very first time they agreed on something… and thus he would do his very best to make their renewed deal endure everything that tried to shatter it. He owed it to Azula. He refused to cause her more pain. This time he was going to do things right, and if shutting away his heart was the way to do it, then so be it.

Azula and Sokka left the establishment a short while later. They went to the edge of Garsai, where they reunited with Xin Long. Azula had decided it would be safer to meet up with the dragon outside, given that most the city was in quite an uproar after sighting the creature when it had landed on the Jade Range. For Xin Long's sake, it would be best if he stayed away from panicked citizens.

They mounted the dragon and flew into the night without further ado, hardly speaking at all. Azula sighed and closed her eyes, enjoying the freshness of the night air, yet feeling a sense of loss within her chest… that feeling would subside eventually, she knew it would. Once they were back home and she realized their relationship had returned to what it used to be, she'd stop feeling so badly about the conclusion they had reached today…

Her resolution threatened to crumble down to pieces when she felt something on her shoulder. She turned slowly to find Sokka's face next to hers… he had fallen asleep.

She couldn't help but smile at the sight of his sleeping face. It had been too long since he had last truly rested, hadn't it? Yet feeling him so close to her was almost like a form of torture by now. He was right there, but she couldn't have him. He couldn't have her. They wanted each other, they both were aware of it… but nothing could be done about it. They couldn't be together.

But nevertheless… one last slip up wouldn't hurt much, would it?

She reached out for his hand on the saddle, taking it in hers as she leaned down towards him, kissing his lips softly for the last time. Again, it was a kiss full of emotions she wished she weren't experiencing… it made her wonder just how good a decision had it been to miss the chance of kissing him again one day without feeling such sorrow. But for now… just for now…

The tears that burned in her eyes forced her to interrupt the kiss. She pressed her forehead against his, still holding his hand. It was over for good now… it had to be.

Xin Long sensed her sadness, completely confused by what it meant. Azula smiled at the dragon and stroked his neck reassuringly with her free hand. She would be fine one day… she knew it. She was sure she would be, as soon as she found the way to stop loving Sokka.


	45. Chapter 45

The Royal Barge progressed through the Kuaisu River smoothly. As soon as the Rough Rhinos had been secured in the ship's basement, the Barge's captain had started the vessel on the journey that would bring them home.

It was the afternoon of the third day of traveling, and the Barge was gliding though the large western lake of the Earth Kingdom when the men on deck spotted a dark creature soaring in the sky. They greeted the dragon by waving their arms, excited by their Princess's return, until they recalled the way Xin Long's last landing had gone. They scrambled away from the deck, hoping the dragon wouldn't squash them, but standing by just in case they had to help the Princess out somehow.

Azula told Xin Long to slow down, but it was hard for him to fight the air currents, slow his descent and resist gravity all at the same time. Sokka grimaced and held on to the saddle as Azula attempted to direct Xin Long in his struggle to land on the ship.

"S-steady! Keep him steady or else we're going to…!" Sokka squealed when the wind struck them hard enough to cause the dragon to spin in midair.

It was unavoidable that they both would hang on to what was in front of them. Azula held on to the dragon's neck while Sokka threw his arms around her waist, his cheek pressed against her back. They both bared their teeth, unaware of the awkward closeness between them as Xin Long tried to fight the forces of nature. The dragon twirled in the air, kicking his legs and swinging his tail to find balance. Soon enough he was upside down, staring up at the blue sky while his two riders tried not to fall off his back.

Xin Long managed to find a little stability in that moment, and he turned around again in hopes he would finally reach the ship. But on his latest twirl he swung around too strongly and, because Sokka had just released his grip around Azula and decided to grasp the saddle instead, the force of the dragon's spin threw Sokka off the saddle, down to the ship.

To Sokka's relief, the ship's deck hadn't been too far away and so the crash wasn't as bad as he had feared, but he took quite a nasty blow to the rear when he fell on his butt. Azula had almost been tossed off the saddle as well, but her two arms were wrapped tightly around the dragon's neck and she managed to keep her position. Xin Long seemed quite nervous after what had just happened… but the ship was only a few meters away. He hovered for a moment until his talons touched the deck, and for the first time he managed to land delicately, despite the savage struggle that had gone down just a moment earlier.

"Well, at least the actual landing went well," said Azula, releasing her grip around Xin Long.

"Well?! WELL?!" Sokka squealed, standing up and looking at Xin Long in utter disbelief. "What the hell is your standard for well?!"

"There's room for improvement, I'm not going to lie…" said Azula, climbing off the saddle while feeling a little dizzy after the dragon's shaken-up descent to the ship.

"Princess! Are you alright, Princess?!" called one of the Royal Guards, sprinting towards her.

"I'm the one who flew off the dragon, you know?" grunted Sokka and the man ignored him. The gladiator shook his head at them and rubbed his buttocks, still in pain after crashing against the metallic deck.

"Welcome aboard again," said the Captain, approaching Azula as well. "The Rough Rhinos are secure in the brig, Princess."

"Good," said Azula. "You made the rest of the trip back to the ship safely?"

"We did. There were no setbacks," said the Captain, nodding. "Everything went smoothly, save for…"

"For what?" grunted Azula after the man grew silent. She glowered at him, threatening him to finish his sentence or face her wrath anew.

"We have tried to question them about who they were working with," said the Captain. "But it has been to no avail. None of them will speak."

"Chances are they won't because you just haven't asked the right questions…" said Azula, thoughtful. "Nevertheless, that matter can be settled later. I don't have it in me to interrogate criminals at the moment."

"Naturally," said the Captain, bowing his head towards her. He wished to ask her about the events that had taken place while they had been apart, about what had happened between her and the gladiator as they chased down the Rhinos, and most of all, about how had they had chanced upon the dragon and how she had tamed it, of course. But he knew he would have to wait. Her safety and comfort came first. He could ask his questions later "What shall you do now?"

"Food… I need food. Of the best kind available," said Azula. "Make them deliver the meal to my room."

"It will be done, Princess," said the Captain.

"Get some food for Xin Long as well," the Princess requested, caressing the scales of her dragon. "He's exhausted. Make sure he can rest properly."

"Of course," replied the Captain, nodding.

"And… well, I suppose you should get some for the gladiator too," said Azula, shrugging and earning herself a grateful smile. Sokka had been glaring at Xin Long after being flung off his back, but the mere thought of having some food had helped him forget why his butt pained him as it did. "In the meantime, I'll be in my cabin."

"Of course, Princess," said the Captain, nodding.

"And I'll be in the kitchen," declared Sokka, his mouth watering. He didn't care for having anything fancy, unlike Azula: he only wished to fill his stomach as soon as possible.

The Captain seemed slightly reluctant to let Sokka go, having wanted to question him about what had happened while he had been away with the Princess. Yet given the dark circles around Sokka's eyes and the man's savage hunger and appetite, he knew Sokka wouldn't be willing to talk either. The answers he wanted wound have to wait for later.

Azula left to her chambers after patting Xin Long's snout. She walked down the ship's hall, feeling as if she were treading the road towards paradise…

She couldn't hold back the smile that formed on her face when she caught sight of her bed. Oh, how she had missed her pillows, her sheets, her mattress… she only bothered removing her armor before dropping on the bed, her eyes fluttering close as she smiled despite her exhaustion. Her entire body ached to get some rest, and she really needed a break from all her latest troubles… she didn't even remember by then that she had wanted to have a meal first. As soon as her eyes were closed, she drifted into the first peaceful sleep she had enjoyed in a very long time.

* * *

The Princess and her gladiator spent two days focused solely on sleeping and eating, replenishing all the energies they had spent on the most troublesome week of their lives. It wasn't until the third day after their return to the ship that Azula left her cabin, finally well fed and rested, and walked towards her dragon, who had just returned from a short flight by the shores of the Earth Kingdom.

"Princess…" said the Captain, approaching her nervously.

Azula had been communicating with Xin Long, patting his snout as he sent her images about a fishing village he had watched from afar, and thus she didn't welcome the Captain's interruption kindly. She turned around towards the Captain, regarding him with all her displeasure.

"I hope you didn't come to give me bad news…"

"No, there are no bad news," said the Captain, shaking his head promptly. "But I… I figured, since you seem to have rested well enough by now, that you could tell me what happened while you were in the woods."

Azula frowned at first but sighed in resignation. There was a lot of explaining to be done, and she couldn't blame the Captain for asking.

"Sokka and I had been holding a conversation about the Rough Rhinos just before your letter arrived. When it did, I thought I had no way to chase them down, since I had recently sent out my men to search all of Ba Sing Se for the Rhinos. Sokka proposed the two of us could go find them. I wasn't sure I could trust him, but I was tired of this mission and desperate to catch them already. So we took off through the city… in a very ungraceful manner."

"What ungraceful manner…?" asked the Captain, watching Azula twitch as she recalled the occasion.

"He… he dragged me to that wretched train," grunted Azula, shaking her head. "I had to use public transportation. He said it was the quickest way out of the city, and he was right! But it was…"

The Captain gulped, never having even imagined his Princess riding anything fit for peasants…

"Well, it was hardly anything compared to what came next, truth to be told," said Azula, sighing. "We went into the mountains, seeking the Rough Rhinos. We reached a town, where… where we were told what the Rhinos' location was. Due to something I will not explain to you, I left to face the Rhinos by myself."

"W-what? But that's…!"

"Reckless? Crazy? Call it as you will, it didn't end well for me anyways," muttered Azula, sighing. "I paid dearly for it."

"That's why there seemed to have been a struggle…?" asked the Captain. "We found evidence of a fight, and of someone falling down the mountainside…"

"Well, that would have been me. And Sokka. And the burning rhino," said Azula, matter-of-factly.

"Burning rhino? And you just said you'd gone face them alone, so how…?"

"The fight was troublesome, Mongke and Vachir were attacking me at once. Vachir even hurt me, he hit my hand with one of his arrows," muttered Azula, holding up her fist for the captain to see the small scar. "I managed to set fire to Ogodei's rhino, and the creature went berserk. I was standing by the slope when the rhino shook off his rider and came running towards me. Sokka had followed me, and he reached me just before the animal did. He pushed me out of the way… and that resulted in the two of us falling down the slope together. We woke up a few hours afterwards, our lives saved by sheer luck if anything. The burning rhino didn't share the same fate, though."

"He perished? Well, that should have been good for you both…" said the Captain, thoughtful.

"In the long run, it was… but it wasn't fun to survive in a forest eating nothing other than the remains of a komodo rhino," said Azula, grimacing. "Hence why the train wasn't such a dreadful situation, now I look back on it. We were stuck in that forest for days, trying to find a village or a road of some sort. We were following a river, so we had water and food, but we wore ourselves out every day as we walked, and Sokka kept guard nearly every night until he fainted out of exhaustion. On the day after I'd forced him to sleep to regain his strength, dawn broke with a storm. We took refuge in a cave, and we were supposed to wait until the storm passed… but then I sensed some warmth below us."

"Xin Long," said the Captain, surprised. "I never knew firebenders could feel a dragon's fire like that."

"Neither did I, but that's how I found Xin Long nonetheless," said Azula. "We went deep into the cave until we found him. He was scared of us at first, he had never seen a human before and we were foreigners invading his territory. So he attacked, but I deflected his fire and afterwards daunted him with my own, showing him he wasn't the only one who could control fire. Nonetheless, I didn't hurt him. I offered him my fire, and mostly out of curiosity he accepted it.

"From that moment onwards we were bonded, and with his help we left the cave. I'd seen through his memories that he could fly despite not having wings, so I ushered him to fly us out of the forest. And he did. We decided to chase down the Rhinos now that we had the opportunity to do so, and we found them in an eastern village. It wasn't such a complicated battle now, since the dragon helped scare off the komodo rhinos and Sokka took out most of the Rough Rhinos. I took care of Mongke and the villagers thanked us for what we'd done. Afterwards, I told Sokka to lead the Rough Rhinos through the mountains while I found you, and that's all you've missed ever since."

The Captain nodded, although he could tell Azula was lying. She had been stuck for five days in the forest with her gladiator, and nothing of importance had happened between them? She had also left unanswered the reason as to why she had run off on Sokka when they had discovered the Rough Rhino's whereabouts… there was much the Princess wasn't telling him. But he realized she believed he needn't to know about those things. Rather, she didn't want him to know. Whatever her relationship was with her gladiator… it was something far more complex than the Captain wished it were, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"And… how did things go in Garsai?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, Sokka won for the first time against an earthbender," said Azula, patting Xin Long's snout again. "His opponent was strong, but weakened by a past injury. Sokka made use of that advantage to defeat him."

"And it sure came in handy!" Sokka exclaimed, happening upon the deck as they spoke about him. "It was a rough fight anyways, but for once I won."

"I'm afraid you'll need a lot more training, though," said Azula, her attention drifting towards him now. "Not all the earthbenders you'll face will be struggling to fight against you and their old wounds at the same time."

"True," said Sokka, his cheerfulness decreasing a little at the thought, but he shook his head just a moment later. "Well, no point in worrying about that now! We should just rejoice because I won, that's what we should do!"

"Sure seems like you've rejoiced," said Azula, smiling a little. "Just how many meals did you have yesterday?"

"Uh, well…" said Sokka, counting with his fingers. "I think they were nine, if I'm not forgetting a couple of them…"

"Y-you… you're going to take out all our food reserves at this rate!" the Captain scolded Sokka, glaring at him.

"Hey, after surviving on komodo rhino for six days I need some proper food!" Sokka squealed. "And I'm sick of komodo rhino, so I won't be finishing up that reserve anytime soon. You guys can have that, you have nothing to fear from me eating any rhino."

"Ugh, don't even talk about it," groaned Azula, her throat tightening at the thought of eating another komodo rhino product. She would make sure not to have any of it in over a year.

She shook her head and sighed, deciding to focus on Xin Long again and forget about the komodo rhino meat. The dragon communicated a single thought to her, to which Azula nodded in approval, hopping up onto the saddle in a swift motion.

"And where might you be going?" asked Sokka, taken by surprise by her actions.

"Xin Long wants to fly over the coast again," replied the Princess. "He wanted me to come with him, so we'll be airborne for a while. I'll try to rehearse his landing, to see if we can descend on the ship without such a ruckus when we get back."

"Huh… good idea," said Sokka, grimacing at the thought of their last landing. "Maybe that way he won't fling me off his back the next time I fly along with you two."

"And what makes you so sure there will be a next time?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow and staring down at him with curiosity.

Sokka blinked a few times, taken by surprise by that quick comeback.

"W-well, I… I just guessed there would be. Why wouldn't there be?" he asked, growing uneasy with the conversation.

"The answer to that question depends mostly on you, I believe…" said Azula, smirking a little before patting Xin Long's neck.

The dragon stood on his hindquarters, taking his rider and the nearby watchers by surprise. Xin Long jumped upwards, kicking his legs as he took up to the sky again. Azula smiled at his new take-off maneuver and she leaned on his slender body, in hopes to gain even more speed as they twirled in the air, enjoying the sensations that only flying could provide them with.

"Crazy woman, really," muttered Sokka, watching the dragon's figure shrink as Xin Long flew farther and farther away.

"The Princess just spoke to me of what happened while you were lost…" said the Captain, approaching Sokka eerily.

"Uh… yeah?" said Sokka, gulping at the menacing way the Royal Guard spoke.

"But I'm afraid she left out many details," muttered the man. "Particularly those regarding you. And I'm certain something must have changed between the two of you if she's talking to you and even smiling… last I knew she wouldn't have smiled at you; well, she wouldn't have smiled altogether."

"True, I suppose," said Sokka, scratching his head. "And you want me to tell you what happened…?"

The Captain stared at him for a moment before lowering his head in defeat.

"If she didn't believe I needed to know the details then the likelihood is that she's right," he admitted. "Nevertheless… I could gather from what she said that you saved her and protected her several times. She didn't speak much of your time in the woods, but I'm fairly certain you were more than helpful while you were both stranded. I rather doubt the Princess knew much about survival in such harsh environment."

"Well, I didn't know much about it either, truth to be told" said Sokka, smiling. "But we did what we could."

"And thanks to that you're both back with us, having brought the Rough Rhinos and a dragon along as well," said the Captain. "Therefore, since you did as I asked… I have to thank you, gladiator. Without you I could have lost my Princess forever."

"Your Princess…?" muttered Sokka, feeling slightly uncomfortable to hear the Captain speak of Azula in that manner. He gulped and smiled awkwardly, unsure of how to respond to his gratefulness. "You're welcome, though I didn't do it just because you asked me to… say, I think I told you to call me Sokka. And I asked you to tell me your name as well, so how about you give it to me now before I forget about it again?"

The Captain was surprised by the sudden change of subject. He lowered his head, as if trying to recall what his given name was. It had been such a long time since he had last been called by it…

"Rui Shi," he muttered, his arms folded. "That's my name."

Sokka blinked a couple of times, surprised to discover the man had a name after all.

"Well… R-Rui… Captain Rui…" muttered Sokka, trying to find a way to speak the man's name that felt comfortable or natural.

"You can still call me Captain," said the man, smiling a little.

"Yeah, I guess I've gotten way too used to that," said Sokka, chuckling.

"In any case… I hope whatever you did to her in that forest wasn't inappropriate in any way," grunted the soldier, stern again. "You should have been taught to respect women, be it by your Tribe or by Master Piandao…"

"I-I didn't do anything…!" Sokka started, yet he recalled he had kissed her, and held her hand in the cave, and she had fallen asleep on his bare shoulder… had that been inappropriate? He didn't think those had been sins of the worst kind, but he was certain the Captain wouldn't share his opinion.

"Oh, really?" grunted the Captain, sensing the lie.

"Well, I didn't do anything that would have damaged her for a lifetime, that much I can assure you of!" squealed Sokka. "Besides, do you really think Azula is reckless enough to get tangled with me in… potentially inappropriate situations?"

"I believe the Princess's judgment when it comes to you is, well, far more clouded than it usually is," muttered the Captain, frowning. "And given she's making fun of you again… last time I saw her she was deeply angry and disappointed towards you. Now she seems to have left all of it behind, and she's… she's back to who she used to be, from what it seems."

Sokka walked to the edge of the ship, staring at the still visible figure of the dark dragon. He smiled at the sight, still able to discern Azula's shape leaning on Xin Long.

"Yeah, you could say she's back," said Sokka. "You saw it too, didn't you? That spark we talked about before… it's there again."

The Captain froze at that realization. It was true, the spark had returned. Azula had been quite rough on him, yet she hadn't been as cold as she had been ever since her fallout with her gladiator. Something had changed, and now the Captain knew what it was. The spark…

"And you know what I think?" said Sokka. "I think I didn't bring it back. I don't believe I was the one who made her happy this time around."

"You think it was the dragon."

"I'm certain it was Xin Long, rather," said Sokka, chuckling. "You should have seen her when she found him. And when she protected both of us against the dragon's fire… she was amazing. And once they bonded, when the dragon roared with her fire, she was laughing… and it was the most genuine laughter I'd seen in my life. That's when the spark returned, I'm sure. Because she had found someone she could truly rely on. She thought she could count on me, but I let her down. Yet now she has the dragon, and she can count on him just as he counts on her. And thus… I believe that's why the spark returned."

"Is that so…?" asked the Captain, amazed by Sokka's insight. "Then it's not because of you this time? Are you certain of it?"

"Does it even matter?" asked Sokka, chuckling. "I don't really care about who was the one to make her happy. Chances are she'll spend every waking moment with Xin Long, and she'll throw me aside because she still hasn't forgiven me for what I did…"

"She hasn't forgiven you?"

"She said she hadn't," said Sokka. "But I don't need her to forgive me… I don't think it's important if she accepts my regrets as genuine, as long as she finds a way to be happy. She gets to choose if I'm in the picture or not, and whatever she decides I will accept, so long as the outcome guarantees she'll be happy. And I'll stick around to make sure of that."

The Captain stared at the back of Sokka's neck, stunned by his last confessions. He had just claimed the Princess hadn't forgiven him… but the Captain was quite certain Sokka was wrong to believe that. Chances were Azula had told him she could never forgive him for whatever it was he'd done, but her actions spoke much louder than her words ever could. Perhaps Sokka hadn't been the one to give her the spark back, but the Captain was sure Sokka had helped intensify its glow. The Captain could see it clearly enough, even if the gladiator couldn't… she had forgiven Sokka. She trusted him again.

* * *

The trip back to the Fire Nation was uneventful… except for when Sokka's ravenous appetite had forced them to stop by Fire Fountain City to replenish their empty food stock. Azula had attempted to coerce information out of the Rough Rhinos, just as she had been asked to, yet Mongke kept his mouth tightly shut. Normally she would have asked him questions and used his body language to find the right answer, but unless she knew the exact questions she had to inquire about, there was no chance he would yield the information she required. Nevertheless, she didn't fret. Her mission had only been to capture the Rough Rhinos. Her father could take over on the regards of questioning the men; she had already completed her share of the work.

Xin Long seemed rather curious about the Fire Nation, the tropical climate and vegetation were drastically different from what he was accustomed to, yet all of it felt natural to him, familiar, and it wasn't because he shared Azula's memories that it felt this way. It was as if he were coming home just as much as she was.

Azula couldn't hold back the delight she felt when she saw the Capital's port up ahead. She could see it was lined with people who had heard she would be arriving today. The rumors about her dragon had spread faster than any plague, and many people wished to see the creature with their very eyes. It was hard to believe the Princess had actually tamed a dragon considering there were supposed to be none left…

"Seems like you have a pretty big welcoming committee, don't you?" said Sokka, approaching her on the deck as the ship reached port. The ship's sailors ran back and forth passing right by them, shouting orders as they strived to secure the Royal Barge to the dock.

"It would seem half the city wants to see Xin Long," said Azula, proudly. "The rumors from Garsai must have arrived long before we did."

"It would seem like it" said Sokka, gazing at the Fire Nation people waiting for them down below.

"It shouldn't be so hard for us to make our way through the crowd with the help of the Royal Guards," said Azula. "They'll have to open up more room than the usual for Xin Long's sake, and that should work well for you if you walk right behind us…"

"Uh… walk behind you?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you really don't expect me to arrive to my father with you on the saddle…" said Azula, grimacing. "Most riders didn't even allow their dragons to be ridden by anyone but themselves, and I'm quite certain my father would…"

"That's not what I meant, though," Sokka interrupted her, smiling a little. "I just… didn't think I'd be part of this whole procession now that we're back in the Capital."

"Why not?" asked Azula, surprised. "You saved my life, helped me find Xin Long and capture the Rough Rhinos…"

"I'm not really one for big Fire Nation celebrations," said Sokka, sighing. "I really don't feel like being thanked publicly by your father for saving you or anything… and I doubt he'd want to thank me in the first place. I'm just a petty slave after all. It's your day to shine, Azula, not mine."

"But…" Azula stared at him in disbelief. How about if she said she wished to share her great success with him…? She did, truth to be told. Not once did she think he wouldn't tag along on their return home…

"I really don't belong in this big parade, Azula. But I don't need to belong," said Sokka, smiling reassuringly. "You've already given me more recognition than I ever expected to be worthy of, I don't need to be welcomed as a war hero in a nation I'm not even a part of."

"I guess you don't… I understand it would make you uneasy," muttered Azula, lowering her gaze. She could acknowledge his reasons. They didn't change the way she felt, yet she could respect his decision. "What will you do, then? You'll go home?"

"Home…?" Sokka muttered, surprised at the word she had used. He had never quite thought of the house he shared with Song as home… but it had become that, hadn't it? It wasn't the same home that awaited him down at the Water Tribe, true enough, but it was his home now. He smiled at Azula and nodded. "Yeah. We're both coming home today."

Azula sighed softly and nodded at him as well, unable to mask her disappointment.

"Well, then, good luck making it past the masses," said Azula, as Sokka swung his pack over his shoulder.

"Thanks. I'll see you around, Azula," he told her, smiling gently at her before climbing down the ramp that would lead him to the dock.

Azula watched him until he disappeared within the crowd. She sighed again, wishing she wouldn't feel so disappointed to see him leave. Yet other matters pulled her attention away from Sokka. She heard the sound of heavy footsteps and the rattling of chains, and she turned to see the Royal Guards had brought the Rough Rhinos to the deck, their every limb cuffed and their feet chained to one another, forcing them to walk in a line.

"The Rhinos are ready, Princess," said the Captain, bowing his head towards her. "Ten guards will keep them secure while the others make way through the crowd."

"Good," said Azula, nodding. "Are we ready, then?"

"We are," declared the man.

"Then let's get this over with," said Azula, walking towards Xin Long with strong strides.

She reassured the creature with soft words, letting him know she would keep him safe. He would be free to fly up into the skies again as soon as this ceremonial nonsense was over. Xin Long still seemed uneasy, wondering what the point of walking through the crowd was when they could fly over them… but he complied, thinking that, if it was important for Azula, it was important for him as well.

Azula hopped on the saddle and followed the Royal Guards that climbed down the ramp first. As soon as the dark dragon was visible, the entire crowd shook with a gasp. The tales of the Princess's dragon were confirmed on the spot… the Capital's citizens were so impressed by the sight of the dragon and his rider that they didn't notice that, treading a few steps behind them, walked five criminals who had betrayed their nation, chained and defeated.

The Royal Guards opened way through the crowd, allowing Azula to pass by the people with her head held as high as ever. Xin Long seemed slightly intimidated to be around so many humans, but Azula told him to show pride and strength, to lift his head and show just how powerful he was even if he didn't feel too strong at the moment. Xin Long tried to obey, but he actually didn't feel like anything had improved after lifting his head and staring down at the humans.

They climbed the steep roads that led into the Fire Nation Capital, and the crowd was becoming far more cheerful now. Some of the people would squeal and hoot, congratulating Azula for having found and tamed the last dragon. Azula answered to no words she heard, no matter if she shared their enthusiasm or not. She was a Princess, and she wasn't supposed to lose her composure over her shared excitement with the crowd.

Entering the city was a difficult feat since countless onlookers wanted to glimpse the Royal Procession. Azula couldn't help but wonder if Sokka had arrived safely to his destination. He should have walked with them and changed course when he came close to his house, it would have been a wiser move. She sighed and shook her head, unwilling to allow her thoughts of him to deter her right now. A long avenue spread in front of her, and it would lead her straight to her Palace…

She couldn't hold back a smile as they came closer to it, appreciating the building more than she ever had. She had always cherished her home, but after spending such a long time away from the place where she belonged, it was the greatest bliss to come back to it at last.

Soldiers stood by the gates, watching in utter disbelief as their Princess made it through the doors on the back of a magnificent beast. Azula's gaze was fixed upon what lay ahead, ignoring the servants and people of noble birth who had been waiting to watch her return from inside the Palace.

"Did your niece suddenly turn into a weird, four-legged creature or are my feet messing with me?" said Toph, frowning as she tried to interpret the signals the ground was sending her.

Beside her, Iroh stared at Azula in mild distrust, his bushy eyebrows drawn into a frown.

"She's… she's riding a dragon? A dragon?!" asked Zuko in utter disbelief, at Iroh's other side.

"Oh, well, now it makes sense…" said Toph, chuckling.

"How could she find a dragon?! I spent ten years looking for the Avatar through the entire world, not only the Earth Kingdom, and I never saw a dragon! This is ridiculous! What are the odds for her to find a dragon when I couldn't find anything useful at all?"

"Well, given it's the Royal Jewel we're talking about, I figure the odds are way higher than yours," said Toph, teasingly. Little did it matter to her if Azula came into the city riding a dragon or a wooly pig, so long as it provided her with the chance to make fun of the Fire Nation Prince.

"Besides, the dragons were gone," said Zuko, frowning. "You said you'd killed the last one… didn't you, Uncle? Didn't you?"

Iroh's frown only grew deeper at his nephew's question.

"Indeed, I said so…" he muttered, just as Azula passed in front of them without so much as a nod to acknowledge their presences. "I can only hope your sister's intentions with the dragons do not resemble the ones of the man she was named after…"

Zuko frowned, confused at his uncle's words. Didn't Fire Lord Sozin start the hunt of dragons? Had he mixed them up? He frowned as he tried to remember the stories he had been told as a child, confused now by what his uncle was saying…

Azula could have paid attention to her relatives and the earthbending gladiator, but her eyes were set on the man who stood at the end of the long avenue, on the very steps that led into the Fire Nation Royal Palace. And to her delight, he was smiling.

The Princess mirrored her father's grin when Xin Long halted in front of Fire Lord Ozai. The most important man of the Fire Nation wore magnificent robes of gold and crimson, his hair was perfectly combed and his hairpiece stood in place, light glistening against the golden accessory.

"I'm back, Father" said Azula, proudly.

Ozai couldn't help but chuckle softly, gazing at her entire procession with admiration.

"I can see that, my daughter. You truly know just how to make an entrance," he declared, to her amusement.

"I will admit the dragon wasn't part of the original plans," she stated. "Yet the Rough Rhinos have been caught and chained, just as you commanded."

Ozai glanced at the men who stood behind the black dragon. He didn't miss the way Mongke glared ferociously at him… and said glare only served as fuel to his proud smirk.

"I always knew you would be up to the expectations, Princess Azula," said Ozai, turning his attention towards his daughter again. "But at this point, you have outrun all expectations I could have ever held for you. At such young age your accomplishments are already legendary, no less!"

Azula couldn't help but lower her head slightly, smiling broadly. She was a legend now? She sure didn't expect her father to deem her as one…

"I am most honored to call you my daughter," he said, bowing his head before Azula.

Azula watched him in awe, as the rest of the people nearby bowed down to her as well. She had always been the one to bow to her father, not the other way around. Xin Long also seemed quite surprised, recognizing the gesture as a submissive one. They were being regarded as heroes…

"And I would be quite honored to know what name to call your new steed," said Ozai, lifting his head and regarding the dragon with interest.

"His name is Xin Long, Father," said Azula, patting the dragon on the neck.

"New dragon… he is new indeed," said Ozai, nodding. "Does he fly despite not having wings?"

"It's his favorite thing to do, actually," said Azula, smiling.

"Good, then. He would be a member of a new species, I'm sure. Perhaps even an ancient one that had been lost until now."

"I wouldn't know, nor would Xin Long. He doesn't recall anything but the dark cave I found him in. He has never met another of his kind."

"I see. Is the fabled bond between dragon and rider as the ancient writings say?"

"I'd say it's even better," stated Azula, proudly.

Ozai beamed at his daughter, beyond pleased by her accomplishments.

"So, a cave, you said...?" he muttered, gazing up at the Princess. "There's much we need to talk about. I believe I would enjoy most thoroughly hearing everything about your tale."

Azula rather doubted that would be the case: she had already determined to keep a few of her journey's happenings in utmost secrecy. Nevertheless, she complied with her father's wishes and she dismounted Xin Long, readying herself to enter the Royal Palace with the Fire Lord.

"I would advise you not to bring the dragon into the Palace," said Ozai. "I fear my chambers aren't large enough to accommodate him."

"Of course," said Azula, smiling and nodding.

Ozai stood on the Palace's threshold, watching his daughter turn towards her dragon to communicate him what was next. Xin Long asked her why wouldn't she fly away with him, to see more of what this interesting warm land had to offer, but Azula explained she had to uphold her duty to her father. Xin Long seemed slightly discouraged, but more than happy when Azula told him he was welcome to take off into the sky again if he wished to do so. The bond between them would allow her to call Xin Long once her meeting with her father had ended, and if it was still daytime by then, perhaps they could fly together again for a short while.

And so, amongst gasps from the crowd, the dragon took off, as blissful as ever to take flight into open spaces. There was no doubt that he wouldn't have been comfortable in the Palace's dark, narrow halls, since it would have reminded him too much of the restraining darkness he had known for his entire life. He was curious about larger spaces, and even staying in Zhen's barn at the village had been irritating for him. His love for the open skies amazed Azula, and she knew how unhappy he would have been if he had been dragged indoors against his will.

"We'll need a place for him to stay, father," said Azula, approaching Ozai. "As much as he would rather spend his entire life flying, he needs some form of shelter to spend the night in."

"Indeed," said Ozai, nodding. "The dragon refuges were torn down a long time ago, but I'm certain we'll find a way to build one for yours here, in the Palace."

"That's exactly what I had in mind. Thank you, Father," said Azula, bowing her head towards him as they began walking through the Palace halls side by side.

"It's a true wonder that you have found this creature," he said. "I always believed my father's quarrel with the dragons was much alike the temper tantrums he would scold me for as a child. I'm most relieved to discover his wrongdoings against the species weren't as irreparable as they seemed."

"You were the one who taught me just how wrong Fire Lord Azulon's rage against the dragons was," said Azula, nodding. "Although now I've come to understand more about why dragons shouldn't have been massacred, aside from the reasons you had already exposed to me."

"Is that so?" asked Ozai, raising an eyebrow.

"The bond between a rider and a dragon… there's nothing like it, father," said Azula, smiling. "They're such clever creatures, proud and strong, just like the Fire Nation people. It's true that they could have aided us in battle, and with their help we could have brought down the Earth Kingdom quicker, and then used Sozin's Comet to attack the Poles, but their functionality isn't the only thing that makes them valuable allies."

"You seem to have grown quite attached to the creature…" said Ozai, his semblance darkening at the thought.

"Dragons are so much more than just creatures, father," replied Azula. "To think they were butchered as they were…"

"My father was never known for his wisdom. He was efficient in several of his military tactics, ruthless and skilled on his maneuvers against the Earth Kingdom and the Poles alike, yet the entirety of his knowledge regarded warfare, and nothing more. His thoughtlessness on so many other matters… you might say it was what brought his demise."

Azula frowned at those words, astounded to hear her father admit to knowing something about Azulon's mysterious death. She had never had the courage to ask, but she had always suspected he knew the truth. Had he murdered his own father… or had he made someone else do it for him? The latter seemed the only reasonable option, killing the previous Fire Lord was an offense that could have cost him his life if the truth had been discovered.

Or perhaps he had no part in it? But Azula rather doubted it. She could have believed her father to be innocent in other circumstances, but her brother was supposed to be killed on the very same day that her mother had vanished and her grandfather had died. Deep down she had always suspected her father knew the details regarding Azulon's passing… but she had never dared say a word about it. Questioning him about his potential involvement with Azulon's death would be seen as a form of betrayal by her father. All she could do was gather the clues until she finally unveiled the truth of what had happened that night…

"I'm most proud you have found he failed on his attempts to destroy the dragon population," said Ozai. "Is there a chance there might be more, or are you positive yours is the last one?"

"I'm not certain," said Azula. "It's possible Xin Long is the last, but it's also possible for a certain breed of dragons to exist within Earth Kingdom caverns. I happened upon Xin Long when I entered a cave by chance… who is to say that there are no other dragons hiding in mountains north to the Earth Kingdom?"

"I'm more than pleased now to have held back from destroying the Earth Kingdom as many of my war advisors hoped I would," said Ozai. "With dragons by our side again, we truly shall be unstoppable."

"Father… dragons shouldn't only be seen as an aid to tip the scales to our favor in the war," sighed Azula, looking down to the floor.

"Oh, of course not," said Ozai, not giving the matter much importance. He didn't seem too comfortable by whatever sensitivity his daughter seemed to have developed towards dragons, but so long as it didn't present a problem for him, he wouldn't scold her for it. She had just returned home after months on the road, after all…

Azula gazed about the hall they had just turned into, the one that would lead them down towards the Fire Lord's chambers. The frown on her face grew more accentuated as she caught sight of the decoration, which had been in place ever since the times of Fire Lord Hizuo. Heads of the most magnificent dragons lined the walls, their dead eyes staring into hers in ways they never had before. She had walked by this hall since her childhood… but she had never felt as uncomfortable, as hurt by the sight of what remained of the dragons of old, as she did now. On top of the door that led to the Fire Lord's rooms stood the head of Huoyan Long, Hizuo's very own partner, the dragon he had slain to honor his son.

"Father," she said, feeling sick to her stomach at the sight. She stopped right before they entered the room, glancing at the heads on the walls "If we're starting a new age, a new alliance with dragons… don't you believe we ought to take down these tasteless decorations?"

Ozai, as accustomed as he was to the dragon heads on the walls, was taken by surprise by her question. He knew her reasons were likely based in the strange attachment she was developing towards dragons… but he liked taking down anything that could remind his people of his father's rule. He'd had Azulon's statue in Fire Fountain City replaced by his own, and he would have done the same for the Great Gates of Azulon if only his council would agree to do such a thing. Any opportunities to tear down mementos of his father, he would take without question.

"It seems an appropriate course of action, my daughter," he said, smiling at Azula. She seemed relieved by his response, even though she already suspected the reasoning behind his decision. She was no stranger to her father's enmity towards her grandfather. "I shall order the servants to take them down at once. The Fire Nation is the enemy of dragons no more. Our Fire Nation, my daughter, will follow on the footsteps of Fire Lord Sozin, as it always should have been."

Azula nodded and followed him into his chambers. She took her seat before the living room's small table. Ozai entered his personal room and changed into a more comfortable outfit before sitting across his daughter, his eyes blazing as he stared at her expectantly.

"Well, then, Azula… what happened during your voyage?"

* * *

Song had finished watering a plant she had recently acquired when she heard a knock on the door. She was quite startled by it; she had received no visitors while Sokka had been away.

She was already approaching the door when it swung open. Song's eyes widened when she saw who stood at the other side, a half-grin on his gaunt, tan face.

"I'm home," he said, smiling, before she threw her arms around him with a hug.

"You're back!" she squealed joyfully, not having realized just how much she missed having company until she saw him again. "You're alive, and whole, and back!"

"You'll say that again after you hear the whole story," said Sokka, chuckling as Song pulled away from him, a cheerful smile on her face. "How did you fare? Were you alright, Song?"

"Oh, I handled myself well enough, yes," said the girl, her smiling unwavering as she took Sokka's luggage from him. "I'm running out of money now, but I'm still handling myself somehow. But how about you? How was the trip, Sokka? You're the one who must have been through so many exciting things…! Go to the kitchen, I'll make something for you quickly while you tell me everything!"

"Oh, boy…" said Sokka, chuckling as he walked to the kitchen, dropping on one of its stools.

Song ran upstairs and dropped his luggage on his room before racing down to the kitchen again. She grinned happily at Sokka as she got ready to make him a meal.

"So, tell me everything!" she said happily, bringing out her cooking items.

Sokka laughed again, not having expected a reception of this manner from Song. He complied with her wishes, being far more explicit about his tale than Azula ever would be. Song was quite astounded to hear about his losses in the arena, she gaped at him with horrified eyes when he told her all the details about the trip on Ba Sing Se's train, and she actually gasped when he confessed to having kissed Azula to prove he cared for her. She kept silent for most the time, but she had an array of questions she wanted to ask Sokka as the story unfolded.

By the time he was finished answering every single one of her questions, and when he was done eating as well, Song was slightly confused regarding how she should feel about his tale.

"I'm happy that you worked things out… I really am," she said. "But after all that… wouldn't you expect the two of you to reach an even better conclusion?"

"What, a happily ever after?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "Nah, that's… that's out of the question, Song."

"But… after all that time, even if she says she hasn't forgiven you, I'm sure somewhere deep down her feelings towards you are still what they were…"

"They might be," said Sokka, gritting his teeth. He felt somewhat lightheaded to hear Song say those words.

"And I'm sure yours are still… well… aren't they?" asked Song, raising an eyebrow.

"Without a doubt," admitted Sokka, smiling weakly. "But this is beyond us, Song. I knew from the start that this couldn't work out… and not because of us. It's not a matter of being incompatible or something… heck, maybe we're too compatible, even. But it's because of what it would mean for the rest of the world, what it could bring down on both of us if our potential relationship were revealed."

"But… why would it matter what they have to say?" muttered Song, looking at Sokka sideways.

"It wouldn't, if she weren't the Fire Lord's daughter," said Sokka, sighing. "It's really not as simple as it might seem, Song. It's better this way, really. For both of us."

"If it is… why do I know she must feel as miserable about it as you do?" said Song, raising an eyebrow.

Sokka stared at Song in surprise. The look on her face made him laugh under his breath and shake his head.

"We'll get over it. This mess is about to end at last, and when it does we'll both be happy about it, no question," he said, even though he didn't believe his own words.

Song didn't seem to believe them either, but she shrugged and walked away to wash the dishes.

"And… when will you see her again? When you're up for another fight?" she asked, looking at Sokka with curiosity.

The question took Sokka by surprise. That would be too much time without being around Azula. True, he wanted to get over her for real and she wanted to do the same about him, but that didn't mean they couldn't spend time together. And he had come up with an excuse to be around the other just before this entire disaster had blown up on their faces…

A smile appeared on Sokka's face as he made up his mind to visit the Palace on the very next day.

* * *

After the best breakfast she had ever eaten, even when it was the same cooking she'd had for most her life, Azula went to the Royal Palace's gardens, where Xin Long awaited her. She smiled at the sight of her dark dragon and approached him, caressing his snout gently when she reached him. She had conveyed to him that he was not to enter the Palace: he was so large that he was bound to get stuck in some of the halls, and he was prone to scare off the servants as well. Xin Long didn't mind her condition at all; so long as Azula would spend time with him once in a while he would be content.

"My father said he would be building a dragon refuge for you soon," said Azula. "It ought to be in here, in the Palace someplace. There used to be refuges all over the Capital, but they were taken down when… well, you know when."

Xin Long nuzzled her shoulder happily at the thought of having a place to come home to, especially since it would be near Azula. He was about to tell her all about his chase of a group of lion vultures a couple of hours earlier, but he noticed there was someone watching them. He grew uneasy and glared in the direction of the scarred man, not knowing if to trust him or not. Azula's opinion about her brother was so mixed up that Xin Long truly didn't know how to judge him.

Azula turned towards Zuko, who jumped with a start when she gazed at him. Their eyes locked for a moment as Azula tried to understand what he was doing, as Zuko tried to find a way to excuse himself for watching them…

"So… you still haven't done anything to fix that weird haircut, Zuzu?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking slightly. "Here I was expecting you to look more presentable after I was away for months."

Zuko fumed and shook his head, not surprised at all by Azula's mockery of him. Of course she would think she was entitled to make fun of him: she had their father's trust, she had found the last dragon, the entirety of the Fire Nation worshipped her as if she were a deity…

"How did you…? Where did you…? Why did you bond with it?" he grunted, not knowing which question to ask first.

"Why?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow. "Why shouldn't I have?"

"The previous Fire Lords would give titles to people who killed dragons…" retorted Zuko.

"Well, take a good look at Uncle and tell me just how much good a title has done to him," said Azula, skeptical. "There's no profit in killing dragons, Zuko. The dragon massacre was only ever a manner of stroking Azulon's ego."

"Huh…" said Zuko, uneasy.

Azula gazed at him in confusion until she read through the signs he was sending. She looked at Xin Long and back at Zuko, wondering just what to do… she could sense his jealousy, how he wished he had been the one to return to the Fire Nation on the back of a dragon. He wanted to meet the dragon firsthand, though, even if it wasn't his… Azula's mind flashed to her childhood, back when she would want to play with Zuko's toys and he would refuse to let her borrow them. She frowned at the thought and shook her head. A dragon was no child's toy. Zuko would truly be a fool if he didn't want to meet the dragon directly. There was nothing he could do to take Xin Long for himself if he wanted him, and if he dared hurt him Azula would deliver him the same damage tenfold, so… what risk was there, truly?

"You can come touch him if you really want to," said Azula, raising her eyebrows. "It's why you came here, isn't it?"

"W-what? I… I never said I'd…" grunted Zuko, his fists clenched. His curiosity had ushered him to approach the dragon while Azula wasn't around, truth to be told… but his timing had been really bad. Of course he wanted to touch it, to ride it, to know what it might feel like to be a dragon rider… but that was Azula's dragon. If anything, it was bound to treat him just as Azula usually did. He wasn't taking any chances with the creature, or with his sister. "Forget it!"

With that, he stormed off down the Palace halls. Azula sighed and shook her head, accustomed at her brother's dramatic demeanor. She turned towards Xin Long again, and he asked her just what had happened with the scarred boy's face. Azula raised an eyebrow at the question, but flashed Xin Long an image of the Agni Kai her father had fought against Zuko. Xin Long was still asking her about her other memories of Zuko when Azula heard a set of footsteps approaching them through the palace halls.

"Well, I'm amazed you had second thoughts about this, Zuk-…" she said, turning around midsentence to discover her assumption had been dead wrong "… S-Sokka?!"

The gladiator raised an eyebrow on her direction, surprised by her surprise.

"Expecting someone else, from what I can see…" he said, chuckling. "Why would I have been Zuko?"

"He was here just a moment ago… being the fool he always is, of course," said Azula, trying to mask her unexpected flare of nervousness.

"Well, that's really unfair, mistaking me to be him just because we're both fools," said Sokka "I'm a very different one, mind you!"

"Of course you are…" said Azula, smiling and shaking her head. "A dumber fool, perhaps. I'd say Zuko has more common sense than you, and that's saying a lot."

"Hey! I meant he's the worse fool, not the other way around!" he squealed, as Azula chuckled and climbed onto Xin Long's saddle. "Well, are you really this desperate to get away from me, Princess?"

"I should be, but were not flying anywhere right now," she said, staring at the saddle carefully. "I'll need a better saddle than this one. It's just… not right. It's getting torn by the scales."

"Well, ostrich-horses and dragons aren't exactly alike, are they?" asked Sokka, smiling. "It's a wonder an ostrich-horse saddle worked until now."

"Indeed, it's a wonder, but I doubt it'll last much longer. We need an actual dragon saddle," said Azula, frowning as she studied the leather even more carefully.

"And you will need one befitting your status, Princess Azula."

The unexpected intrusion into the conversation took Sokka by surprise. Azula felt as if her blood were slowing down in her veins as she lifted her head towards the hall to find just who the new arrival was…

Sokka turned to where he had heard the voice as well, and his eyes widened as he took in the sight.

He wasn't even three meters away from him. In all his opulence and magnificence, with that golden hairpiece in a high knot, very much like his daughter's own… the Fire Lord was standing at arm's length from Sokka, staring at Azula and her mount as if he weren't even aware of the gladiator's presence.

Time stood still for both Azula and Sokka in that moment. Azula knew well enough about the prejudices Sokka held against her father, she knew he blamed him for all that was wrong in this world… she knew he wanted him dead. And she could see that Sokka had come armed, as if he had been expecting a fight today. He could kill Fire Lord Ozai if he just wanted to…

Azula's readings of Sokka's mind were terribly accurate. This was even more surreal than flying on the back of a dragon, than watching Azula bend fire with the prowess of the greatest masters… Fire Lord Ozai was right next to him. And he could kill him. He could end this war in one gesture… or could he? What difference would it make to damage Ozai? It surely wouldn't put an end to the war, and he knew well enough what the consequences would be. No matter how strong Azula's feelings for him might be, she wouldn't even blink at sending him to his death if he ever tried to pluck a hair out of the man's perfectly orderly beard. Not that he'd want to pluck a hair out of it, of course…

What was the point, really? The Fire Nation was violent, unjust and cruel… all that was true. But was he supposed to turn into the same thing the Fire Nation was and finish everything off through violence? Was this war going to end through blood-spilling, just as it had begun? Because… because he'd rather believe there was another way. Perhaps he was just scared of the man, perhaps he was intimidated by his presence and he knew that Azula and Xin Long would cook him alive if he so much as attempted to lift a hand in Ozai's direction… but as soon as the urge to kill him came to his mind, another urge had come forth to subdue it. He couldn't do it. He shouldn't do it.

He had sworn he'd never kill another man.

"I have already sent word to the Royal Workshop. They're already attempting to develop a proper saddle for your use," said Ozai. "I have also sent orders to our leaders in the Fire Nation Colonies to make amends for the damages in the villages, just as you requested."

"I… I appreciate that very much, Father," said Azula, still uneasy about the strange situation unfolding right now. Xin Long sensed her nervousness, and he could also see the strange look on Sokka's face, but he couldn't make heads or tails out of it. Azula's mind was such a blur at the moment that the dragon had no idea how to interpret her thoughts. "And the Rough Rhinos…?"

"Still being questioned. Mongke and his fellow men seem to have been taught by some of our best soldiers how to keep their secrets to themselves," said Ozai. "But it's not a matter of importance. We'll discover the truth about who was supporting them soon enough."

The Fire Lord couldn't ignore Sokka's gaze forever, it made him quite uncomfortable to be glared at in such manner. He turned slowly towards him, startling Sokka, whose heart pounded powerfully in his chest.

"Why… am I right to guess this is the fabled gladiator I've heard so much about?" asked Ozai, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah… yes, he is, Father…" said Azula, her grip on her saddle shaky now that the unavoidable confrontation was happening.

Ozai looked at Azula as she replied, but his gaze darted back towards Sokka when she was done speaking.

"You're not what I expected to find as my daughter's gladiator…" said the Fire Lord, his eyebrow rising higher yet.

"Well…" said Sokka, with an uneasy smile. "I'd say that, if you've heard so much about me, you should know there's more to me than just the first impression."

Azula's jaw dropped at Sokka's reply to her father. Was he kidding her?!

"Why, I sure hope so. Else I wouldn't believe my daughter's tales to be as accurate as I've taken them for," said Ozai, still humiliating Sokka through his gaze and words.

"Well… I suppose it's not every day your daughter talks to you about her slaves, is it?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow and mimicking Ozai. "I think that alone speaks loudly enough in my favor."

Ozai couldn't help but regard Sokka with a smirk. The smile frightened Sokka, not because of the displeasure in being smiled at by the Fire Lord, but because of how similar the grin was to Azula's. The Fire Lord's smile felt crueler than his daughter's, though.

"Indeed, you're right on that analysis. You are more than you seem to be, gladiator," said Ozai. "No slave has ever dared speak of me in this disrespectful manner before."

"Oh, don't take it personally," said Sokka, shrugging. "I'm just a snow savage, as your daughter often reminds me. I don't know how to treat your Royal Highness properly, and I doubt I'll ever learn how to do so."

"You wouldn't seem to be such a savage if you're willing to call yourself one," said Ozai, eyeing Sokka carefully. "Well, it is of no importance to me whether you know how to behave or not. So long as you know your place when it comes to my daughter, I shall have no problems with you."

"Huh…" said Sokka, surprised. He would have expected Ozai to tear him to shreds just for his rebellious refusal to regard him properly…

"Very well, then. Expect your new saddle soon, Princess Azula," said Ozai. "In the meantime you will have to put up with that old rag."

"Thank you, Father," she replied, lowering her head towards him.

"Take this as your reward for all your hard work," said the Fire Lord. "Along with the dragon refuge, of course. Plans are already being made to build it by the Palace's South Wing."

"I'm most grateful for your gifts, Father," said Azula.

"And I'm grateful for your deeds. You have honored the Fire Nation greatly, my daughter," said Ozai, smiling at Azula before turning around to leave. "We shall meet again later, Azula."

"Of course, Father" said Azula, as Ozai walked away without another word.

Sokka watched him until he vanished from sight, and even then his entire body was still tense. Azula climbed off Xin Long's back, eyeing Sokka in utter disbelief.

"W-what was… what was that?!" she asked, aghast.

"You're asking me?!" Sokka squealed, turning towards her. "I have no idea!"

"B-but… you hate my father… you hate him," said Azula, staring at him up and down as if he had morphed into someone else without her awareness. "Don't you? Don't you?!"

"I… well, of course," he said, between gritted teeth. "But do tell me, if you kill the king of scorpion bees while in his lair, what do you think is going to happen to you?"

"So… you're saying you didn't kill him only because I would have killed you afterwards?" asked Azula, mildly disappointed.

She had truly hoped Sokka might have changed his views at least a little… well, to be fair, he had changed them a lot if he hadn't tried to murder her father on sight. If he didn't want to die after doing something he would have considered honorable… did it mean he didn't consider killing Ozai honorable anymore, or did it mean Sokka had something else to live for now? She was certain he would have taken the chance to slit Fire Lord Ozai's throat when he first arrived to the Fire Nation…

"You're going to question my motives now, woman? Shouldn't you just be happy that I didn't do anything?" Sokka asked, pouting. "He took me by surprise. Never saw that one coming…"

"You… you said so many stupid things to him," said Azula, dropping her forehead in one hand and shaking her head in disbelief.

"I was just being me, okay?" he said, folding his arms over his chest.

Azula couldn't help but laugh at his claim.

"Which only reinforces my belief that you're quite stupid, of course," she said, smiling at him.

Sokka blushed faintly, and his pout grew accentuated by her response.

"I'm glad you did nothing you'd regret, though," said Azula. "I didn't expect for that encounter to end with either of you alive."

"Neither did I. Your father was surprisingly cooperative," said Sokka. "And I had no idea you'd talked to him about me…"

"Ah, d-don't misunderstand," she grunted, at his inquisitive stare. "He knew I had a gladiator, and he was most eager to know how I'd happened upon Xin Long. I had to tell him the story, and there was no way to tell it without featuring you in it."

"Well, I do hope you kept a few details to yourself," Sokka smiled. Azula's cheeks were the ones to turn redder now.

"You… what are you doing here?" she asked, growing exasperated. "Did you grow that used to being around me during our travels?"

"That… might be true," said Sokka, shrugging. "It was a strange change of pace to be at home again, with nothing to do."

"Huh… so your life is boring when I'm not in it," said Azula, smirking proudly. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Yeah, well… but it's not like I came here just to pester you," said Sokka.

"Why, and here I was certain that was your sole intention!" said Azula. "If it wasn't, though, you're doing a great job at it…"

"You're not kidding anyone with that, Princess," said Sokka, pouting again. "If I were bothering you so much, you wouldn't be smiling!"

The grin Azula had no idea was still on her face froze and disappeared instantly.

"And now it's gone…" said Sokka, gulping.

"Well, then, if that's not what you came for…" she asked, trying to focus on that edge of the conversation instead. "Why are you here, Sokka?"

Sokka smiled and placed his hands on his hips cockily.

"You must have forgotten by now, after all that happened… but I seem to recall proposing to teach you how to handle yourself with a sword."

Azula's eyes widened as she gazed at Sokka in disbelief. Indeed, he had suggested teaching her to use swords about a lifetime ago, or so it felt for Azula. Could he be serious when he proposed to teach her now…?

"Didn't you say I was deadly enough on my own… and that now with a dragon I've become even worse?" she muttered, confused. "Even with that, you want to teach me to swordfight?"

"Aye, that's right. So take it or leave it before I come to my senses. What will it be?" said Sokka, his smile growing more confident by the minute.

Azula had made her decision even before Sokka had asked her the question.


	46. Chapter 46

The door opened with a loud, creaking sound that made Sokka flinch. Azula pushed it open completely, and ushered her gladiator to follow her inside the room. The gladiator gazed about it in surprise, never having entered a Fire Nation armory before.

"We're lucky it wasn't locked," said the Princess, relieved at how easy it had been to enter the room. "I suppose they only felt the need to keep it shut when Zuko and I were children…"

"This place is creepy," said Sokka, gazing at the weapons with curiosity nonetheless.

"Oh, it is," replied Azula, passing through the rows of spears with sharp and deadly tips. "Which is why I loved sneaking into it whenever I could get away with it."

Sokka stared with interest at an assortment of chain-sticks before following Azula through the room, his eyes peeled at the sight of many dangerous and interesting weapons. There were staffs, knives, daggers, bows with their arrows, more spears, tridents, clubs, maces; and all the kinds of weaponry of different kinds and sizes. There seemed to be a replica of every single weapon Sokka had ever heard about in this room.

"When I was younger I was supposed to be forbidden from ever approaching this place," said Azula. "There was too much peril in this room for a little princess."

"And if you were anything like the Princess you are now, I figure that didn't stop you," said Sokka, smiling.

"Indeed, instead of stopping me, the prohibition only fueled my curiosity," said Azula, smirking. "The excitement that came from going against the rules has always held an undeniable appeal for me. And the stronger the prohibition, the more beckoning the challenge became. I'd make up excuses to be free to sneak around the Palace, such as lying by saying I would go play with Mai and Ty Lee at either of their houses when I would actually be hiding inside the armory.

"It was no easy feat to sneak into the room, of course. The Fire Lord had a wooden chest in which he kept a set of spare keys for every room in the Palace; only him, the top ranked Royal Guards and head servants would have every single key for the Palace. Yet the Fire Lord's keys were the least used set, and the easiest for his granddaughter to steal. On a certain occasion in which my grandfather had to attend a pointless ceremony to greet a nobleman, I snuck into his room and took his key to the armory. Nobody ever suspected I could have done something so bold, of course. Once I had the key, I could make it into the armory without a problem. I'd go inside hastily to make sure nobody saw me."

"So you were an evil mastermind even when you were a little brat?" Sokka asked, amused by her tale.

"You have no idea," said Azula. "I probably shouldn't be so proud about it, but I really can't feel any shame over it, no matter how hard I try…"

Sokka couldn't help but laugh out loud at her confession. Azula seemed surprised that her story would amuse him as much.

"I'm not surprised to hear that at all," he said, chuckling still.

"I will admit, though, that after a while the fun part wasn't looking at the weapons as much as it was going to Zuko to boast about my trips into the armory," she said. "At first he wouldn't believe I had done it, then he'd be jealous because he wanted to see the armory as well. I invited him a few times, but his strange sense of righteousness would tell him not to go with me. You could see the conflict written all over his face as he wondered whether to do it or not. In the end he'd settle for not doing anything, and threatening to tell our mother…"

"Did he ever do it?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, yes he did," said Azula. "Once he told her, and my mother was about to tell me off for my misbehavior… but when I denied it she found she couldn't prove I had been in the armory after all. I'd hide my grandfather's key inside my boot, and since it was just one spare out of several, they never suspected I had stolen that one. The armory was intact, and so it seemed as if I hadn't set foot in there. Zuko then decided I was lying about my visits to the armory. Of course, I told him that I just wasn't stupid enough to get caught. He still wouldn't believe me, though, so every time I snuck into the armory I'd bring back a story about one of the weapons I'd seen…"

"A story?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, several of these antiques have stories behind them. The tales aren't fully explained, but the inscription below each one says who it belonged to," said Azula, stopping by a shelf and pointing at a golden dagger on it. Sokka stared at it with interest, noticing the caption she had just mentioned. "I'd only read the inscription, detail what the weapon looked like, and then run to Zuko with a makeshift story about my weapon of choice. He'd keep saying I was lying, but I wouldn't stop doing it… until our father caught me in the middle of a story of a sword that was wielded by a Fire Nation General as he fought singlehandedly against an army of earthbenders riding badgermoles. The general died quite honorably after slaying all his enemies, taking his own life with his sword because he had nothing to live for anymore."

"What a weird way to end the story," said Sokka, frowning. "What did your dad have to say about it?"

"He seemed to find it quite amusing, actually," said Azula. "Zuko told him all about how I was lying about sneaking into the armory and bringing back these awful stories to him. Upon that, my father frowned. I thought he was going to scold me, because he knew I had the courage and brains to get in there without being caught. But instead of reprimanding me, my father actually congratulated me, and asked me if by chance I had seen the Bloodlust Spear. The mere name scared both me and Zuko right away. I said I hadn't, and then he proceeded to tell us a terrifying tale of a spear that would fly into battle on its own accord, slaying every single man that stood in its way. It would murder and murder and coat itself in blood until its bloodlust was subdued, but that only lasted for a few years and soon after it would go on a killing rampage again…"

Sokka's eyes opened like plates, and he gazed about himself in horror, looking for the spear Fire Lord Ozai had spoken about.

"He warned me not to go into the armory again if I didn't want to rouse the spear, because if any human warmth reached it, it would awaken and hunt humans until its thirst for blood had been quenched. You can imagine just how horrified Zuko and I were after hearing that tale."

"No kidding," said Sokka, gulping. "That's spookier than all the Water Tribe ghost stories I've ever heard…"

"It is, but it was a fake tale, just as fake as the ones I told my brother," said Azula, smirking. "Of course, I didn't know that at first. Both me and Zuko spent nights on end with nightmares about that spear coming out of the armory to get us. It wasn't until I grew a little older that I began suspecting my father was just trying to keep me out of the armory, because it was simply impossible to keep me out of it just by telling me not to go in there. I snuck in again after a few years, and I inspected the whole place thoroughly. There's no such thing as the Bloodlust Spear in here."

"Sounds like a pretty extreme way to keep a kid out of where she shouldn't be…" said Sokka, gulping. "Can't imagine what I would have reacted like upon hearing such a story as a kid."

"Well, it actually spared me more trouble," said Azula, sighing. "Zuko would go to my mother every time I told him a scary story about the weapons, and she'd always tell me to quit harassing my brother… but I didn't want to stop. He had accused me of lying when he had been the only person I'd been honest with. It was very immature of me to act like that, but I wasn't too good at keeping my emotions at bay when I was much younger."

"Well, we were all kids once," said Sokka, smiling at her and shrugging. "I snuck into a few Water Tribe armories myself, though they weren't half as fancy or creepy as this one. And I would also listen into the war meetings my father would hold from time to time…"

"Oh, I used to do the exact same thing until I was invited to take part in them," said Azula, smiling. "If I hadn't been, I'd likely still listen in on them."

Sokka chuckled and followed her as she continued walking, leading him towards the last shelves at the back of the room. It amazed Sokka to realize they had been somewhat similar as kids… there was a chance they would have gotten along quite wonderfully if they had known each other from a young age. Though of course, there was absolutely no chance they could have met each other as children. Even the relationship they held nowadays, as complicated and troublesome as it was, had been absolutely unpredictable for Sokka. If anything had been different, he probably would have only ever met Azula as an enemy, and he would have never come to see her as anything other than that…

"And here they are," said Azula, smiling as she stopped in front of the shelf they had just reached. "At last, the swords."

Sokka had to admit it was quite an impressive display of swords. There were several broadswords like the ones Prince Zuko had mastered, but also jian swords like his own. He was also surprised to see hook swords, like the ones the Savage Hook had wielded. All sorts of one-edged swords stood to the left side of the wall, while the two-edged swords were assorted to the right.

"Well… I can only teach you how to use jian swords, so I suggest you take one of those," said Sokka. "Pick whichever you like best, and we'll get started on your training right away."

Azula nodded and smiled, staring at the weapons without being able to suppress her glee. After years of staring at them from afar, of wishing to hold one of those swords, to take them in her hand and discover the secret arts to wielding them… it was hard to contain her excitement. She walked down towards the corner at the right, recalling a beautiful sword that hung on the wall, her favorite weapon to stare at when she was a kid.

"On my many trips to the armory I'd gaze upon this one," she said, smiling and stretching her hand towards the sword. "I always wondered what it might be like to use it…"

She picked the weapon up, surprised by its weight and by the tingle of joy she felt upon holding it at last. What she had never been allowed to do, what she had always been told not to do… she was finally doing it. And she couldn't have been happier about it.

"Are you sure that one will work for you?" asked Sokla, raising an eyebrow as he regarded the blade. "The hilt looks too large for your hand..."

"You can tell that easily?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you'll scarcely find a blade to suit you perfectly unless it was made for you. And even then, the sword is bound to have its flaws…"

"Then I suppose I should make my own sword one day," said Azula, a glint of determination in her eyes. She had always liked this blade, but the thought of holding a weapon that was hers and hers alone…

"That's the plan, in the long run. But Piandao taught me how to use a sword first, and then how to make one," said Sokka. "So that's what we're going to do."

Azula placed her free hand on her hip, making Sokka grimace, figuring she was about to throw one of her trademark comebacks at him merely by her gesture.

"Do tell, though… if I won't be able to handle other swords properly, because they're not perfectly fit for me, shouldn't you teach me how to make my own sword first and spare me from learning with a sword that wasn't meant for me?"

Sokka stared at her blankly, and Azula raised an eyebrow as she awaited his answer.

"Y-you… well, I… how about we just get started and stop with the weird questions?!" Sokka squeaked, as he turned around towards the door again.

Azula rolled her eyes, but smiled at the thought of having gotten the better of him once more in an argument that he thought he was winning. When was the last time she had done such a thing…? She couldn't remember, but she sure had missed the pleasant feeling of accomplishment that she only enjoyed so much when she was dealing with Sokka.

They chose to train in the open grounds of the Palace. There was a training room inside the Palace as well, yet Sokka insisted it would be better to do it outdoors. Azula complied and led him towards a spot that stood far from the buildings and yet remained distant from the walls, where she figured they wouldn't be disturbed in their training.

"Well, then, the first thing you'll need to know," said Sokka, unsheathing Space Sword and smirking slightly. "Is that you really shouldn't get frustrated with yourself if you don't get everything right on the first go. I mean, even I, Piandao's most talented student, had a hard time finding my way with swords at first…"

"Interesting… I'd never heard a man boast his ego in such an obnoxious manner," said Azula, staring at Sokka with raised eyebrows. "And that's considering I've spent my life around pathetic noblemen whose only activity seemed to be to talk wonders about themselves…"

"But what sets me apart from those noblemen is that what I'm saying is actually true," said Sokka, smirking proudly now.

"Which you believe justifies your arrogance?" asked Azula, skeptical. "Well, wonderful swordsman, I'm certain I could beat you up without breaking a sweat as I am, without knowing how to use a sword."

"But you're here to learn how to do it with a sword, aren't you?" asked, Sokka, lifting the blade and smiling now at Azula.

"Now that sounds much better…" said the Princess, smiling back and unsheathing her own blade. She dropped the scabbard and held the sword in her left hand, gazing at the details of the crafting quickly before focusing again on Sokka.

They stood staring at each other for a moment, waiting for the other to make the first move. Sokka remained immobile, knowing well enough that Azula could be dangerous if he dared jump forward just to take her by surprise. He knew just how deadly she was an ally: as an enemy she was a thousand times as lethal. Even if this was just mere training, he wasn't going to take any chances with her, especially when she wasn't yet a master of the weapon she was using.

As Sokka expected, Azula took it upon herself to attack first. What was he waiting for? Was this his idea for teaching her the ways of the sword, standing four feet away from her and stare at her intently? What exactly was she supposed to learn from that? She frowned and attempted to stab at Sokka quickly, taking into account every detail about the effort she had to make to counter the steel's weight. The blade felt somewhat unbalanced, and it moved a little too far to the left to her liking…

But her sword's balance was the least important thing to her when Sokka parried her blow with such a swift and efficient movement that she was forced to drop her sword instantly.

"Uh… sorry, got a little carried away there," he said, smiling uneasily as she bent down to pick up her blade, a frown on her face.

"You seem awfully wary of me… aren't you a great swordsman, Sokka? What do you have to fear from a mere amateur like myself?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You are not a mere amateur, Azula," said Sokka, chuckling. "You are Azula. It wouldn't have surprised me much if you had been the one to disarm me instead on your very first attempt to use a sword."

"That's a lie," said Azula, smirking. "It would have surprised you, and you would have gotten stupidly frustrated…"

"Yeah, well, didn't happen so no need to elaborate on it," the gladiator retorted, his eyebrow twitching. "But I'll say, though, that you shouldn't hold your sword as you did. You were grasping it too close to the hand guard. There's enough room behind it to hold the sword properly. Since your hand was in contact with the hand guard, the impact shook you even more than it should have, and you made it much easier for me to disarm you. Watch out with that, alright?"

Azula seemed slightly bothered at being lectured at first, but she obeyed Sokka nonetheless. So long as he was her master, the only thing she could do was to listen to what he had to say. By the time she was better with swords than he was, she'd be the one telling him how to hold his sword…

"It's… heavier like this," she muttered, when she held the sword as Sokka told her to.

"Well, it's steel after all," said Sokka, smiling awkwardly. "It's bound to be heavy… you can handle it, though, can't you?"

"Yeah, I think so," said Azula, struggling to keep the sword steady in her hand.

"Alright then, let's go again," said Sokka, and he was the one to take the first step this time around.

Azula parried Sokka's blow, but the weight of her blade made that single movement quite a struggle for her. Sokka attempted to attack again, and Azula's arm shook upon the vibration that rang through her blade. At this rate, she would end up dropping it again… Sokka raised an eyebrow when Azula grasped the hilt with two hands and swung the weapon down on him. He only had to take a step back to evade her blow, and the Princess provided him with too wide an opening. He swung down Space Sword towards her left flank, and he saw the panic in Azula's eyes when she thought he would wound her…

Before he knew it, Azula had let go of her sword and thrown a fistful of flames towards his hand. Sokka jumped back, escaping the fire almost by sheer luck, and he squealed in dismay, not having expected her to bring out her firebending powers in the middle of a sword duel.

"Hey! That's not fair! Firebending is off the table!" he declared, glaring at Azula as she lowered her sword.

"You were about to cut me! Was I just supposed to let you get away with it?!" she asked, glaring right back at him.

"Of course I wasn't going to cut you! How could you think I was going to do that?!"

"You swung your sword straight at me, how was I supposed to know you'd know just when to stop it?!" Azula retorted.

"You had too big an opening, I was just trying to make you realize that," said Sokka, sighing. "Holding a one-handed sword with two hands… it's going to end just as it did right now."

"Well, I'd hold it with a single hand, but it's too heavy for me to move it properly," Azula muttered.

"You'd need to exercise your sword hand a lot to get used to that sword's weight, but you're already quite strong as you are. I guess the sword is just not good for you," muttered Sokka, thoughtful.

"How about you spare me, then, from building unnecessary muscles, and just show me how to make a sword more suitable for me?" she asked, running out of patience. The sword she held was beautiful, but beauty wouldn't teach her the ways of the sword.

"Uh… how about we give this sword one last go and then we think about what we ought to do next?" said Sokka, frowning. "One more round of sparring and then we'll decide."

Azula puffed in annoyance but complied, lifting her weapon with her left hand.

"And no firebending this time, alright?" said Sokka, getting ready as well. Azula rolled her eyes at him.

Sokka moved forward and Azula parried his blow. He proceeded to attack to her left and she managed to deflect his movement again. Next he moved to the right and she still managed to stop him, but at the cost of taking one step back. Sokka's attacks were slow, and Azula would have felt slightly insulted by realizing he was obviously holding back… but on these circumstances, she was actually glad he was doing so. One day she'd be the one holding back against him, she could only hope so…

"There, much better," said Sokka, smiling as he tried to strike her shoulder but Azula put his sword aside with her own blade. "You really need a sword that works for you, but if you're able to do this much with that one, you're bound to do great later."

"Huh," was all Azula could muster as she ducked to avoid one of Sokka's blows. Sure, she was doing better in a matter of performance, but her left arm was strained due to the amount of energy she had to put into each motion. She couldn't keep up at this rate…

Sokka attempted to attack her again when she stood up straight again, and she decided to evade him instead of parrying the blow. She twirled to her left and tripped Sokka to the ground with her feet when he hadn't expected it. When he turned around he found Azula aiming the heavy sword at his neck.

"Alright… you have great footing," said Sokka, grimacing at being threatened. "You are a great fighter, no kidding, but you ought to defeat me with a sword, right? That was the whole point of this, wasn't it?"

"I couldn't… I really couldn't keep up with that pace," said Azula, reluctant to admit weakness, but unable to do anything else. She put the sword away, to Sokka's relief, and sighed loudly as he stood up. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this properly with a sword that doesn't suit me."

"Well… there are other things you could learn before we hit the forge anyways…" muttered Sokka, slightly unwilling to change the order of the training Piandao he had undergone.

"Such as?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh… Pai Sho? And calligraphy... Oh, and there's also landscape painting…"

The look of incredulity on Azula's face made Sokka flinch.

"I don't need nor want to play Pai Sho," she grunted, glaring at him. "I already know how it's done, and I actually could beat my uncle at it when I was only ten. As for calligraphy, I've done my fair share of it throughout my entire life. There were days in school in which all we ever did was practice calligraphy. And landscape painting… I could do it, but is it really necessary for me to draw landscapes before having my own sword?"

"Well, I just… that's the way Piandao taught it all to me, I just figured I'd do the same to teach you," muttered Sokka, scratching the back of his head.

"But it's not really necessary to do it in that order, is it?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I suppose not," said Sokka, sighing and shrugging. "We can't quite do everything I used to do with Piandao anyways. He'd take me fishing and he'd make me reorganize my surroundings…"

"Sounds like a hard thing to accomplish in a royal garden," said Azula.

"Is there a forge we can go to, though?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The Royal Workshop is right outside the Palace walls," said Azula. "The blacksmith who works there is the one who made the armor you wore before my uncle's earthbending twat nearly killed you."

"And we can use his forge at will, just like that?" asked Sokka, distrustful.

"Do you forget who you're talking to, Sokka?" asked Azula, smiling at him with condescendence.

"Oh…" said Sokka, blinking a few times upon recalling his sparring partner was the Princess. Azula had returned to her role without much difficulty after their time abroad, and she more than happy to get her way again in everything she set her mind to do.

"Let's get going, then," said Azula, jerking her head towards the Palace gates, gesturing for them to take off right away.

It didn't take them long to reach the Royal Workshop. Sokka stared at the building in mild confusion, not quite grasping how a forge could be elegant… yet this one was, at least on the outside.

"Quite a fancy place for a blacksmith, isn't it?" he said, raising an eyebrow as he followed Azula inside the workshop. "I guess it's what you ought to expect from most places in the Fire Nation Capital... But it's still weird."

"I suppose," replied Azula, leading Sokka through the vestibule and into the actual workshop.

Sokka was relieved to see it wasn't as neat on the inside as it had been on the outside. The wide workshop was more than just a forge; it seemed that whoever worked in here was a master of metals, wood, leather and all sorts of different materials, given all the supplies they could see in the different areas of the Workshop. There was a mechanic door on the back wall, which would shut the forge away from the building's back yard, but it was wide open at the moment, allowing them to look out into the garden behind the building. All in all, the workshop was quite an interesting place, much like the armory had been.

"Well, then, let's get started with whatever we're supposed to do…" said Azula, heading towards an assortment of different types of metal stacked in a shelf.

"Just like that?" asked Sokka, surprised by her boldness. "Don't we have to talk first to whoever is in charge…?"

As soon as he spoke, a door on a wall to their left was opened and a man entered the workshop, holding a pile of parchment in his hand. He was short, but with a very broad chest. His arms were strong and powerful, and his face was lined with a trimmed, yet bushy, black beard.

"Uh… P-Princess?!" he said, surprised to find her in his workshop. "Why, I didn't expect…! Y-your saddle, I'm just starting to work on it, but it will be finished as quickly as possible, I guarantee it! I'll have it ready for you in a few days, at most! I'll get all my assistants to work on it, but I gave them the day off today since I have to draw the designs first… Nevertheless, I'm working on the saddle, rest assured! It's my main priority, as it should be!"

He babbled on, obviously in fear Azula had come to demand him to deliver her the new saddle immediately. Azula raised an eyebrow at his rambling, and she nodded once he finally fell silent.

"Good to know. Keep up the good work, then," she said. "I didn't come here to get the saddle, though. It would be beyond unreasonable for me to ask for it right now, don't you think?"

"Uh, well, perhaps," said the man, relief washing over him when Azula confessed she hadn't come to threaten him.

"There's no need to fret," said Azula, waving a hand carelessly. "Get it done on your own time. Just make sure it's the best saddle possible, will you?"

"Naturally, I shall, especially since it is for our Princess," said the man, growing out of his unease slowly, but surely. He turned towards Sokka and raised an eyebrow. "Is this the gladiator, by any chance?"

"Indeed," said Azula, nodding. "The one you built an armor for, about half a year back."

"It was a good armor," said Sokka, smiling politely at the man.

"Oh, I heard it didn't serve you too well against General Iroh's new gladiator, though…" muttered the blacksmith, looking grim at the thought of his great cobalt armor, wrecked. "I figured you might come to get a replacement eventually…"

"Oh, I made a new armor myself, actually," said Sokka. "With some material from Shu Jing…"

"Is that so? Well, if it has served its purpose then I'm glad you managed to make a new one, gladiator," said the blacksmith, smiling. "But… if you're not here to get a replacement for that armor, then what service do you require of me?"

"I actually require a sword this time around," said Azula, folding her arms over her chest.

"Uh… for the gladiator? Will he use two blades now?" asked the blacksmith, confused.

"Who said it was for him?" asked Azula. "It's for me."

The blacksmith's eyes widened upon that statement. The Princess wanted a blade for herself…? Not only had it been a great shock for the general population to watch her return to the Capital on the back of a dragon, with a set of chained criminals walking right behind her, now she also wanted to use a sword...? The Fire Lord's daughter was full of surprises.

"W-well, that sounds… marvelous, truly," said the blacksmith, smiling. "A Princess who has mastered so many ways of fighting will be a wonder to behold in the battlefield, if there were need for you to take part in the war. But in this case, what would you rather have me make first, the sword or the sad-…?"

"Wait, wait, wait…" said Sokka, taking a couple of steps towards the blacksmith. "We didn't come here so that you would make it. We came here because you have a forge. But you're not the one who will make the sword."

"I'm not?" asked the man, astounded.

"No, you aren't," said Sokka, firmly. "The sword is for the Princess… so the Princess herself has to make it."

Azula seemed a little surprised by Sokka's statement, but she didn't complain. She stared at him in slight concern, while the blacksmith blinked repeatedly as he looked at them.

"T-the Princess…? Undertake such rough task? Are you really going to do this, Princess?" asked the blacksmith.

"So it seems," muttered Azula, still looking at Sokka. "But at the very least you'll tell me how to do it, won't you? You can't expect me to get it done if you don't tell me how…"

"That's what Piandao did with me, he told me what to do and I'd do it," said Sokka, smiling. "And I'm sure you'll be able to do it just fine. If something gets too hard for you, let me know and I'll give you a hand,"

"O-oh… me as well," said the blacksmith. "If there's anything you need, I'll be willing to provide… but are you sure about this, Princess? Will you do the forging yourself?"

"I don't wait for others to provide the fire which I bend," said Azula, determined. "It only makes sense for me to build my own blade."

Sokka smiled at her reasoning, and the blacksmith still seemed somewhat uneasy about the whole matter. Yet he nodded and welcomed them to use his installations as they saw fit.

"What metal should I use?" Azula asked, approaching the stack of steels available for forging.

"It really depends on what you wish the final product to be like," said the blacksmith, walking alongside her and showing her all the metals he could supply her with. He talked about the qualities of this or that one, but there were so many different steels that Sokka was certain the man's explanations would drag on for ages.

"What do you want your sword to be like, Azula?" he asked, interrupting the man's rambling about copper and iron alloys. "We'll make use of a light one, that's for sure, but… is there anything in particular you want?"

Azula turned to look at Sokka. He knew her well enough to be aware of her quirks as a Princess… naturally, no regular, common sword would be of her liking. There had to be something to set it apart from all others, much like Sokka's own. Azula frowned and stared at the hilt of Sokka's weapon for a moment before making up her mind about what she wanted and turning towards the blacksmith.

"Is there any chance I could have a sword with, say… a white blade?"

Sokka raised an eyebrow at her question, and so did the blacksmith.

"Well… this one over here might give you the color you want, if that's what you're after…" said the blacksmith, kneeling and searching through his shelf for the exact metal he had in mind. "It's quite a rare steel alloy, but I've found it makes blades of great quality. The original metal is found in mines, naturally, and it's processed afterwards for usage in Fire Nation factories. Its popular name is sterling steel."

As soon as he was done with his talking he stood up, with a pale steel alloy in his hand.

"I believe this will serve for the purpose you have in mind," said the man.

"Most likely," said Sokka, taking it and smiling at him. "Well, I can take over from here. You can go back to working on the saddle now."

"Oh, yes, of course, although I'm mostly finished with my designs now," said the man, eyeing Azula with uncertainty. "What I need now are the creature's measurements…"

"Is that so?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "Well, that can be arranged easily enough."

She closed her eyes shortly and fell silent for a while, making the two men eye her in mild confusion.

"What exactly…? Are you calling the dragon?" Sokka asked, astounded.

"What else could I possibly be doing? He'll be here shortly," said Azula, turning towards the blacksmith. "You can take your measurements when he arrives. In the meantime, we'll be working on the sword. I'll let you know if we need anything else from you."

"Of course," said the man, nodding. "Good luck, Princess."

The man retreated towards a desk on which he spread out his plans for the dragon's saddle, and Sokka and Azula were left with the material for the blade they would begin forging shortly.

"We're bound to use a little over half of this block of metal, to make the weight and length of the sword suitable for you," said Sokka. "It's the whole point of this, after all. You'll have to build up some muscle anyways, to make sure you can handle it well. It's not going to be light as a feather, a sword too light is bound to be useless."

"I figure as much," said Azula, nodding. "Well, then… when do we start?"

Sokka would have answered the question if the earth beneath their feet hadn't shaken when something heavy collapsed on the blacksmith's back yard. Azula didn't need to wonder what it was, naturally. She smiled and forgot about the sword for a moment, walking to the back of the room to greet her dragon.

"Well, that wasn't such a bad landing, for once," said Sokka, a little bothered by Azula's quickness to forget everything around her upon Xin Long's apparition.

"Oh, my…" said the blacksmith, forgetting about his papers as he stared at the dark dragon in awe.

"You'll let that man take some measurements of you, alright? He's not bound to harm you with it," said Azula, patting Xin Long's snout gently. "If he bothers you much, make sure to let me know."

The dragon groaned what seemed a positive response, to which the blacksmith grew uneasy. Nonetheless, he got ready to figure out all the pertinent measurements required for the dragon's saddle.

"So… we were in the middle of forging a sword, weren't we?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"Actually, we had hardly even begun," said Azula, turning towards him. "What do we do first?"

"Well… not something that will interest you much, truly," said Sokka. "We have to heat the metal in order to work with it. It must be heated so we can fold it several times, which is how the blade is made… and that takes time. So I guess you can frolic with your dragon meanwhile and I'll just put the metal in the forge…"

"Wait… the forge's fires will take a long time to heat the metal, you're saying?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah, it's how it always goes. Metal doesn't grow bland in a heartbeat, you know?" said Sokka, shrugging.

"But… we don't need to use the forge," said Azula, looking at the old foundry. "We'd have to set it on fire first, and then we'd have to spend ages making sure it's hot enough… when we have a better alternative right here."

"What, you plan on using a neat firebending trick on it or something?" asked Sokka. "Or will you ask your pet to do it instead?"

"Pet?" Azula asked, affronted. "Pet, you said?"

"What?" said Sokka, folding his arms over his chest. "He's your animal buddy, you two have a bond beyond reasoning and you love spending time with him… isn't that what is usually regarded as a pet?"

"A dragon is not a pet, Sokka," Azula said, shaking her head in disbelief. "A dragon is a companion, a partner… he's my dragon, and I'm his rider. As you say, it's a bond beyond compare. You can't just equal a majestic dragon to a common pet…"

"Sure, then, he's not a pet… but, say, can I have my own pet?" Sokka asked, his eyes lighting up with the sudden idea. "Just talking about pets made me think about it…"

"What the…?" said Azula, staring at him in disbelief.

"Well, you have a dragon! I ought to get something too so that we both get to be riders, you know? That way we wouldn't just meet in battle blade against blade, but also riding our own animal companions!"

"Of course…" said Azula, grimacing. "An animal companion such as what, exactly?"

"Uhm, well… a wolf, surely! You're the firebender with a dragon, and I'm the Blue Wolf already, so I should have a wolf!"

"Why, let me know when you find one of those large enough to ride," said Azula, rolling her eyes and making Sokka flinch.

"Uh… I didn't think about that," he admitted.

"You don't think much overall, I believe…" said Azula, sighing and taking the metal block from Sokka's hand.

"What are you…? Wait, are you really going to have Xin Long shoot fire at it?!" Sokka asked, shocked.

"Of course not," said Azula, stretching the metal towards her dragon. Xin Long seemed surprised at first, but after his rider communicated her thoughts to him, he grasped what she wished him to do.

And to Sokka's further astonishment, Azula tossed the metal block upwards and Xin Long caught it with his mouth, securing the metal by shutting his teeth together tightly.

"W-what are you…? What are you doing?!" Sokka squealed, losing his cool in a matter of seconds.

"It will be much faster and easier this way" said Azula, smiling.

"What, you think he'll eat it and shit the finished sword or something?!" Sokka shouted, aghast.

Azula's hand went to her forehead. She could hardly believe the amount of nonsense Sokka had been saying in such a short time span. She had forgotten just how absurd her gladiator could be if he only put his mind to the task…

"He's way more efficient a forge than that old one," said Azula. "His fire is hotter than regular fire, just like mine, and he'll be able to heat the metal in less time. He'll spew it out when the metal is hot enough to be folded."

"Huh," said Sokka, blinking rapidly at the thought of using the dragon as a forge. "Well, if it works… but did he swallow it or something?"

"No, it's only in his mouth," replied Azula. "He's coating the metal with his fire. Since his teeth are firmly closed we're safe from the inferno within his jaws. If he were to open them, though…"

"Make sure he doesn't," muttered Sokka, gulping. "You have already burned me before, I don't want to get burned by your pet now…"

"He's not a pet, I said!" Azula bellowed, but Sokka only waved a hand in dismissal of what she was saying.

As Azula had planned, Xin Long was able to heat the metal in record time, and soon enough he had spat the red-hot steel out for them to begin folding it. Sokka began with the process, to make sure the sterling steel had been heated properly and it could be molded to their needs. He surrendered the hammer to Azula afterwards and led her through the hammering of the metal while she struggled to strike the blade properly. They folded the material on itself once and gave it to Xin Long again so that he could join the fold together perfectly. They performed the same procedure several times until the metal finally was thin, compact and strong.

Sokka guided Azula through making the shape of the blade, and she followed his instructions dutifully. They removed some of the material, just as Sokka had said earlier, since the sword was going to turn out too large and too heavy for Azula to hold if they had used the entirety of the steel block available. It was already dusk by the time they were ready to cut the shape of the sword to fit the hilt and pommel to it. The blacksmith had already measured Xin Long and he had no more business in his workshop anymore, but as he was leaving he told them to stay for as long as they needed to. Sokka and Azula thanked him for his help, and proceeded to work with the sword's hilt now.

"A gold hilt, huh?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "I should have figured. We can work with gold, it shouldn't be so hard. I assume, though, that you'll want it to have a particular engraving of some sort on the hand guard, won't you?"

"It would be fitting, I'm sure," said Azula, wiping away some of the ashes on her forehead with a free hand.

"And as for the grip… You'll have to wrap it with leather," said Sokka.

"Black leather" said Azula, smiling and nodding as Sokka looked through the available leather, showing the best of them to the Princess.

"This one looks promising. You're bound to end up getting blisters on your hands regardless of how smooth the leather is, anyway," he said. "It's what usually happens when you first start to handle a sword."

"A firebenders' hands are strong after training around fire for so long," said Azula. "If I could withstand and control heat with them, I'm sure I'll be able to put up with blisters."

"Then let's keep going," said Sokka, smiling as they continued with their work.

It was already dawn by the time they had the finished product before them. Sokka had submitted the blade to a few treatments once it had been shaped properly, and afterwards they adjusted the hand guard, grip and pommel into it to make the sword whole at last.

"I suggest you leave it be for a while," said Sokka, as Azula held it proudly in her hand. "We still need to make the scabbard, but I'm exhausted by now and I'm sure you are too."

Azula was conscious of how tired she was, yet she didn't wish to rest. She wanted to try out her blade as soon as possible…

"We'll get it finished tomorrow," said Sokka, reassuringly. He hadn't missed the look of disappointment on her face upon having to part with her new sword. "And by then, you'll be another step closer to becoming a sword master."

The words worked to soothe her, and she nodded and smiled gratefully at him. Sokka couldn't help but feel amazed at the sight of such joyous smile. It was nearly as if she were just a small kid about to get the present she had always dreamt of…

Sokka returned to his home to find Song rubbing her eyes on the kitchen; she was getting up from bed by the time he arrived.

"Where were you?" she asked, surprised. "I figured you'd be back sooner…"

"I, uh… got caught up with something, you might say" muttered Sokka, smiling uncomfortably.

The color drained from Song's face as she began reaching her own conclusions. She stared at Sokka in disbelief as he began realizing what she had understood upon joining the pieces of the puzzle…

"You did not… after all the things you said, you spent the night with her?" she said, shocked.

"What? No, no! It's not what you think!" said Sokka, shaking his head. "I was helping her make her own sword!"

"You were what…?" she asked, her astonishment freezing as she stopped judging Sokka for a moment.

"She told me ages ago that she always wanted to use swords, and I promised I'd teach her how to do it one day! I figured I'd do it now, since I had a good chance to teach her," Sokka explained.

"Oh, really…?" asked Song, distrustful.

"Yeah! Don't you see all the soot on me?" he asked, spreading his arms to show Song his appearance. "It's because we were working at the forge, hammering metal and whatnot! So it's not what you thought, at all!"

"Huh…" said Song, raising an eyebrow at him but starting to believe his claim. She thought she had to push Sokka more towards making amends in his relationship with the Princess, but apparently there was no need to do such thing. It seemed Sokka was doing just fine on his own.

Azula arrived to the Palace to find the Captain had been looking frantically for her. When he finally saw her entering the Palace gates again he sighed in relief and walked to her with a stern frown behind his mask.

"What on earth happened, Princess? Where had you been? Your father asked about you at dinner, and the guards have been searching through the Palace for you…!"

"I was somewhat busy," said Azula, looking somewhat uncomfortable at being forced to make excuses for what she had been doing. "See, Sokka decided to teach me the art of the blade and…"

"Wha-… Sokka?" repeated the Captain, frowning. Azula had to fight a blush under his stare, even though she couldn't quite see the confusion in the man's eyes due to his mask.

"He just suggested he could teach me," said Azula, shrugging the matter off as if it weren't important for the Captain to know about it. "He's the best swordsman around, he needs someone to train with and I've always wanted to learn how to wield swords. It's a win-win situation."

"Is it, now…?" asked the Captain, frowning a little.

"There's no need to worry, Captain," said Azula, walking past the man and heading towards the dining room. "I was alone with him for nearly a week. If he wanted to pull something bad on me, don't you think he already missed the best occasion to do so?"

"I wasn't thinking that he would be the one trying to take advantage in an unusual manner…"

Azula stopped dead on her footsteps and turned to glare at the man, who, for once, didn't seem intimidated by her stare.

"What exactly are you implying, Captain?"

"Well, Princess… he's proven he won't do anything out of bounds already, as you said. What concerns me now, though, is that it would seem you've grown to trust him again much like you did before. Is that wise? What are you expecting to gain from this?"

Azula frowned before turning around again, muttering a quick response.

"You needn't know what I'll gain from trusting him again," and with that, she headed off to find something to eat, leaving behind a very troubled Royal Guard.

Azula rested for a few hours, yet the excitement prompted her to run right back to the workshop as soon as she had woken up. Sokka hadn't arrived yet, but the blacksmith and his apprentices were already hard at work, and they helped her in the making of her blade's scabbard. She chose red leather this time, and the contrast of the blade's colors against the scabbard's worked wonderfully.

Sokka arrived just in time to see the assistants and the blacksmith standing around the Princess in awe. He watched her release the sword from the dark red scabbard, and he as well held his breath before Azula's masterful creation.

The pommel was golden, with the Fire Nation emblem was engraved into it, much like the White Lotus on Sokka's Space Sword. The handle was covered in black leather, and the golden hand guard had been carved to resemble a dragon's head. The blade, just as the man had promised, was whiter than most steels. Light bounced in the most graceful manner against it.

Sokka gazed at the sword in amazement, realizing they had made the perfect blade for the Princess. The weapon was beautiful enough to match her majesty, and just by imagining what Azula would look like with the sword in her hand, charging into a battlefield on the back of her dragon, Sokka ran out of breath again. He couldn't help but look at her in admiration. She'd grow to be remarkable with that sword… so long as the sword proved to be as deadly in the battlefield as it was beautiful, just as Azula was.

"You finished it all on your own, I see…" he said, approaching the Princess with a smile on his face.

Azula was quite startled to hear him return, but she grinned back when she saw him. She swung the sword with her left hand surprisingly masterfully, as the blacksmith's apprentices jumped back in fear the sword might fly out of her hand by mistake. It didn't, and that was exactly what the Princess wanted her gladiator to see.

"This one seems to suit me much better. I can actually control it," she said, smiling at him "It feels right, as if it were..."

"An extension of your arm?" asked Sokka.

"Exactly," said Azula, proudly. "What do you think?"

"That our mission has been accomplished," he stated, chuckling. "Hell knows how we're going to handle your Royal Deadliness now."

Azula chuckled at that and sheathed her sword again, beaming as she held the weapon in her hand.

"What shall you name it, Princess?" asked one of the apprentices, one out of many young, eager boys who stared at Azula with fervent admiration. A Royal who was willing to go down to a forge and do the job herself was a rarity nobody had ever heard about.

"How shall I name this sword…?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. She frowned for a moment, unsure of how to answer the question.

"Well, it ought to be Light Sword, given that it's white and light!" said Sokka, smiling dumbly. Azula glared at him in disbelief.

"No, now I think of it, I know exactly what to call it…" she said, smirking at him after the idea came to her mind. "Wolf's Bane."

Sokka grimaced and his eyebrow twitched as the Princess delivered her trademark cruel grin towards him. Of course she would pick a name to irritate him…

"Well, unless you actually learn how to use it, I rather doubt it'll be much of a bane for the Blue Wolf, Princess," said Sokka, folding his arms before his chest.

"Indeed, you're right. My training ought to start right away, since we've got the proper sword at last," said Azula, smirking. "Or are you afraid it truly will be a bane that you can't handle?"

"You can go ahead and believe you have the high ground on most everything, Azula…" said Sokka, cockily. "But I wouldn't be so confident regarding swords if I were you"

"Shouldn't I be…?" said Azula, still smiling. "We'll see about that soon enough, I'm sure."

Azula paid the blacksmith for allowing them to use his installations, and after thanking him and his apprentices for their assistance during the process of forging the sword, she walked right back to the Palace along with Sokka. She gazed at her sword in wonder through the short journey, the smile on her face one of the brightest Sokka had seen since she had found Xin Long.

He smiled too at the sight of her joy, recalling the frown that had been ever present in Azula's face only a few months ago. He had made up his mind to ensure his sponsor would find happiness again, but he never thought it would happen so quickly… and even when he wished he'd be part of the equation to bring Azula happiness, he never figured he'd be in the solution as well. But given the way Azula was smiling at him again now, it was clear he had done his part to give the Princess happiness again. And he was more than proud of having helped her. He would do his very best to keep that smile on her face for as long as it was in his power to do so.

"Well, then… shall we find out how adequate my new sword's name is?" Azula asked, releasing the weapon it and dropping the red leather scabbard on the ground. They had returned to the area where they had trained on the previous day.

Sokka chuckled and released Space Sword from its sheath across his back.

"You ought to keep that scabbard on you, it'll get lost in the battlefield if you just drop it," he said.

"I'll figure the mechanics of that matter later," said Azula, grasping her white weapon accurately this time. "It truly seems to work much better than before…"

"It's a sword better suited for you, it's what's to be expected," said Sokka, lifting Space Sword so that the black blade was in contrast with the white one. "Say… did you pick a white sword so that you could wield the exact opposite to Space Sword?"

"Why, did it take you this long to figure it out?" asked Azula, smirking.

"You really can't help but want to go against me in everything, can you?" asked Sokka, more amused than he was bothered by the situation.

"It's the nature of things, Sokka, you should be used to it by now," declared Azula, swinging the sword circularly in quite a careless manner. "You and I are completely opposite people already. The perfect contrast of our blades is only another reminder of how different we are."

"Yet we're still getting along well, to my utter surprise," said Sokka, smirking and getting ready to battle. "Or at least, we're bound to keep getting along until I prove your sword's name to be nonsense… which is about to happen right now."

"Or so you'd wish…" said Azula, smiling back at him and lifting her sword as well, ready for their first real sword confrontation…


	47. Chapter 47

Aang swallowed the sea prunes hastily, trying to taste them as little as he could. If there was one thing he didn't enjoy about the Water Tribes, it was the food. He didn't mind meals based off seaweed, but anything with meat in it was off the table for the Air Nomad. His declining of Kanna's food wasn't unkind, yet he always felt bad about himself when he pushed away dishes of fish or seal and he saw the disappointed look on the old woman's face. After all the kindness Kanna's family had shown him during the past months, the least he could do was to try to eat the sea prunes, at least. He might grow to like them better in the future…

"Ah, eating the prunes today, are we?" asked Kanna, smiling as she looked upon the Avatar. "I'm glad you finally decided to give them a try."

"T-they're really good," said Aang, trying to grin at the elderly lady but showing her an awkward grimace instead.

"No need to lie about enjoying my stew, Avatar," said Kanna, still smiling at the young man. "You've been here long enough for me to know your taste in food, and to know it's not going to change overnight, or will it?"

Aang grinned and shook his head, stuffing his mouth with more sea prunes in hopes to finish his plate as quickly as possible. He had been staying over at the Chief's igloo ever since Katara had found him in the ice, taking up as little room as he could. The same couldn't be said for Appa, of course. The bison was so large they had no idea how to hide him, to prevent the men from the settlement from spotting him if they tried to spy the village from afar. The entire Southern Water Tribe had been warier of the Fire Nation soldiers ever since they had found the Avatar and his air bison, but, fortunately, there had been no suspicious movements in the settlement so far. It seemed they hadn't noticed the Avatar or his steed's presence yet.

Aang hadn't needed much time to adjust to life in the Tribe, since he had spent seven years in the South Pole already. But the differences between the Tribe he remembered and the one that existed a hundred years later filled him with a deep sense of loss. Nevertheless, he did his best to keep his sorrow well locked within his heart and mind. These people had suffered enough as they had for him to burden them with his own sadness as well.

Katara was still somewhat moody and grim, but she had cheered up considerably when he had begun teaching her the basic waterbending movements, the same ones he had learned upon his first arrival to the South Pole, over a hundred years earlier. Aang wasn't much of a teacher, growing easily distracted by anything, and also by trying to compliment Katara's performance even when she did things badly. That last thing irritated her to no end: she'd snap at him whenever he tried to encourage her upon her mistakes, but she'd apologize quickly afterwards. She knew Aang meant no ill, but her lack of patience often got the best of her.

Katara wanted to learn everything quickly, hoping secretly to confront the Fire Nation soon enough, but her waterbending training was taking more time than she wished it would. Luckily, the movements and stances she had developed over time had been quite helpful, and she had plenty of skill in handling water in all of its stages. Out of all of Aang's compliments, his praise of her natural talent was the truest of them all.

Katara's progress was quite impressive, in Aang's opinion. On the very previous day they had sparred with their waterbending, and Katara had managed to defeat him. Aang had praised her again, and told her she would be as good as him in no time. Her eyes had glowed at those words, because for once she actually could believe them. She had smiled happily at him again as she bid him good night when the day ended.

And just as he recalled the events of the day before, Katara passed through the curtain that led her from her private room into the living room. She smiled weakly at Aang before sitting down to have her own stew, still somewhat drowsy after a good night's sleep.

"Good morning, Katara," said Hakoda, who had been sitting quietly at the head of the table all along.

"Morning, dad," she replied, making him smile at his daughter. He could hardly remember the last time he had seen Katara as cheerful as she was nowadays.

"You seem to be in a good mood," he said, as Katara thanked her grandmother for the stew.

"Oh, my training is finally paying off, that's all," she told her father before digging into the meal.

"That's all?" repeated Hakoda, chuckling. "You're trying to make it sound as if it weren't something important."

"I'm just not that great yet," said Katara, laughing as well. "But I actually defeated Aang yesterday."

"That she did," said Aang, smiling as well. "She genuinely scared me back there. She got me with the octopus form."

"Oh, you know I wouldn't hurt you," said Katara. "Who would teach me the rest of the waterbending forms I need to know if I did anything bad to you?"

"Well, I guess I'm safe for now…" said Aang, chuckling before blinking and staring at Katara in dismay. "B-but then… I'll be in danger from you once I have nothing else to teach you?!"

"Of course not, silly," said Katara, shaking her head and gobbling down more prunes as she laughed at his response. "There's no chance I'm hurting you, or anyone in this village, with my bending. But as for the Fire Nation… oh, they'll never know what's coming for them."

"Katara…" muttered Aang, lowering his head at hearing her speak in such rash manner.

"What?" asked the waterbender, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's just… do you just want to learn to waterbend in order to fight?" he asked, looking at her from below. "There's more to bending than just combat…"

Katara stared at the Avatar in surprise. Those weren't words she had been expecting to hear.

"W-well, it's true, I guess," she said. "But we'll have to use it to fight eventually, whether you like to or not. I mean, we'll have to take out the settlement when we have a chance, and from there we'll have to go fight in the rest of the world to free it from the Fire Nation's influence…"

"What?" asked Aang, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? You're the Avatar! All the stories I heard as a child said that you have to preserve the balance in the world, and to do that you have to fight against the Fire Nation," said Katara, turning towards her grandmother and her father. "Right, Dad, Gran Gran?"

The frowns on their faces told Katara how wrong she had been upon assuming that they'd agree with her. Her own brow contracted as she stared at her family in confusion.

"Not quite, Katara" said Hakoda, sighing.

"What do you mean, not quite?" she asked, scandalized.

"We've had a few conversations with Aang about the situation in the world, Katara, and…" said the Southern Chief, making his daughter's eyes grow wide in surprise.

"You've talked to him about it without me? Why? When?"

"You have the tendency to sleep in, Katara…" said Kanna.

"Oh, so then you decided to go change our plans behind my back while I was sleeping?" she asked, frowning.

"Our plans?" asked Aang. "Whose plans, exactly?"

Katara froze at that.

No plans had ever been laid down regarding what they would do upon the Avatar's return. She had assumed he would help them defeat the men in the settlement, and then they would move on to fight through the world and rid them of the Fire Lord's tyranny… but judging by the look on Aang's face, he didn't agree with that idea. Which wasn't all that surprising, actually. She had never even asked him what he wanted to do now that he had woken again…

"The world's plans, I guess," she replied, lowering her gaze. "You are the Avatar. You're supposed to keep balance in the world, and the world is unbalanced right now. You have a responsibility to mend this, because if you don't do it, who will?"

"That's a lot of weight to drop on a young man's shoulders, Katara," asked Kanna, frowning.

"But it's his responsibility! He has to…!"

"Katara," said Hakoda, frowning. "We need to talk. Could you leave us for a moment, Aang?"

"But…" said the Avatar, blinking a few times.

"Please," said Hakoda, bowing his head down towards Aang.

The last airbender sighed and nodded, getting up and stepping out of the igloo. He was relieved to get away from the sea prunes but displeased over missing the conversation. Hakoda and Kanna had often told him he would have a home with them here in the South Pole so long as he wanted it, and he had told them there was nowhere he'd rather stay. If the world had changed as it had, there was no guarantee he would be welcome anywhere else. Even if the food was terrible and the cold was hard to bear at times, at least the South Pole was a safe place for him.

But Katara hadn't been a part of most of these conversations, and it was likely that Hakoda and Kanna had kept her out of them for a reason. The girl's hatred towards the Fire Nation was powerful, and Aang was her one-way ticket to destroying the oppression she had been fighting ever since she was a child. But fighting a war wasn't as easy as she had believed it was.

"What's the matter, dad?" Katara asked, frowning deeply. "What are you guys keeping from me?"

"Katara… your friend, the Avatar, may be powerful," said Kanna. "But he's only human. He has spent a hundred years encased in ice. His entire race has been vanquished, and he probably has no home to return to…"

"So?" asked Katara, frowning. "All the more reason for him to step up and fight against the Fire Nation!"

"To what avail, Katara?" grunted Hakoda. "What do you think this boy will gain from fighting a vindictive war against the Fire Nation by himself?"

"He wouldn't go alone," retorted Katara. "I'd be with him, every step of the way!"

"And you and the Avatar will be able to take down the entirety of the Fire Nation regime by yourselves?" asked Kanna, raising an eyebrow.

"There's a chance we could," said Katara. "There's only two of us, we could pass unnoticed if we just…"

"Unnoticed?" asked Hakoda, unable to give credit to his ears. "Katara, your complexion is an immediate give-away that you're from the Water Tribe. Do you honestly think nobody will take notice of your blue eyes? And let alone Aang's arrows! How would he conceal all of them effectively? And I'm certain you're betting on the bison to carry you into the Fire Nation. Do you honestly believe a sky bison can pass unnoticed when none have been sighted in ages?"

"I… I don't know, dad!" she squealed. "But we can't just stay here and do nothing!"

"You can stay here and train. Become the best waterbender you can be, and be ready to defend your home if it's necessary," said Hakoda, sighing. "Our family, our tribe, has lost too much to the war as it is."

"So that's it, then? We're just giving up?" asked Katara, in utter disbelief. "The Fire Nation won?"

"The Fire Nation defeated us a long time ago. I don't believe that means they won," said Kanna. "What have they gained from all the strife they've caused in the world…?"

"They gained everything they could take from the rest of us," retorted Katara. "And they still want more. If we give up, we're just letting them get away with what they've done! We have to make a stand, dad!"

"You sound like…" said Hakoda, smiling for a moment before his eyes were clouded with grief. "… Like your brother"

Katara felt her stomach churn at those words. Never before had she thought she would remind anyone of her brother. Had these years of leading the resistance turned her into Sokka without her awareness…?

"And what's so wrong with that?" she asked, frowning. "You… you loved Sokka."

"You know well enough that I did," said Hakoda, lowering his gaze.

"Then why shouldn't I be like him?" asked Katara, her hands shaking at the thought of Sokka. They hadn't spoken of him in such a long time…

"Because your brother's recklessness caused his… his demise," said Hakoda, gritting his teeth. "And if that were to happen to you… I wouldn't be able to bear it, Katara."

"So it's about not letting me get hurt, is it, Dad?" asked the waterbender, folding her arms over her chest. "Dad, the world has already suffered enough. If I'm to be sacrificed as well in order to make it a better place…"

"Can't you make it a better place while still being alive, Katara?" asked Hakoda. "Can't you do it through different means?"

"How?" she asked. "How are we supposed to make anything change, dad?! The Fire Nation has taken control of everything else! There's nothing we can do aside from waiting until they finally decide to come here and take over our home! And then, what? Will we become slaves and spend the rest of our lives serving the Fire Lord who murdered our people? Why should we do that?! We should be free to choose to fight or not to! And I want to fight! For my brother's sake, for my mother, and for everyone this wretched war has taken from us!"

"And that's the same reasoning I had, Katara," admitted Hakoda. "I wanted to make a difference, to find allies who would help us defeat the Fire Nation. The entirety of the Southern Water Tribe's fleet was with me. And even though we joined with Earth Kingdom forces and warriors from our sister tribe, nothing was accomplished. Many of my men died, Katara. What was the point of sacrificing them when we couldn't succeed? War is pointless, Katara. It doesn't matter how many sacrifices you have to make… there should be no sacrifices made in order to gain freedom. Once you have to sacrifice something to attain it, it's no longer true freedom. Fighting back against the Fire Nation won't resolve this matter…"

"And standing idly by won't help either," replied Katara. "What do you want me to do, dad? Do you want me to stay here, watching the snow fall and counting the days until the North Pole falls and the entirety of the Fire Nation navy comes to get us?"

"If that will keep you alive for the longest… then yes," said Hakoda, closing his eyes and dropping his head. "I already lost a son and a wife. I can't lose my daughter."

"You'll lose me anyways if we do nothing, Dad," grunted Katara.

"We can still fight for our territory, child," said Kanna. "That much we should be able to do…"

"In our pole we have the upper hand," said Hakoda, nodding. "And I suppose making a stand here shouldn't be that much of a risk. But leaving the pole and seeking to fight against the stronger forces of the Fire Nation army… that's completely reckless, and it will accomplish…"

"Nothing, I know," grunted Katara. "But what of Aang? He's the Avatar. Isn't his duty to keep balance in the world? The world is in absolute chaos. The Fire Nation is taking everything, and we've been powerless to stop them so far…"

"And you believe the Avatar can change everything?" asked Hakoda.

"Of course! He's the Avatar, Dad!" exclaimed Katara.

"He might be the Avatar, my daughter… but he is still one man," he stated. "A single man can make the difference in any battlefield. But you want him to face the Fire Nation on his own…"

"I said I'd be with him, he wouldn't be alone," grunted Katara.

"And that way you'll only get both of you killed once a truly powerful firebender stands before you," retorted Hakoda, losing his patience. "You think together you'll be able to defeat the Fire Lord?"

"Why not?" grunted Katara.

"Even if you caught the Fire Lord unawares and unguarded in the perfect moment, which I rather doubt, how would you change anything by slaying him?" asked Hakoda. "It's been a hundred years, Katara. One hundred years of the Fire Lords convincing their people that their war is justified for reasons we cannot even fathom, and the death of one Fire Lord will only bring a new one to office, who might turn out to be even more merciless than the one before. From what I heard while we were in the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Lord had banished his son in a fit of cruelty to teach him a lesson or so. The only lesson anyone could have learned from that was to hate, to loathe being powerless against someone else. There's a chance that boy could be a better leader than his father… but who is to say it won't be otherwise?"

"Nobody believed it could be worse than with Fire Lord Hizuo… and then came Fire Lord Azulon," sighed Kanna. "And Fire Lord Ozai has already outdone his father in regards of cruelty. Destroying the entire Earth Kingdom as he did was a gesture of evil I never even believed possible."

"So you think that the answer is to leave Fire Lord Ozai in charge because his son is bound to be worse than him?" asked Katara, skeptical. "Let the wretched man do as he will, because it could be much worse? That's such a pile of nonsense… if we don't act, nothing will change!"

"And if you act recklessly, everything will get worse!" declared Hakoda. "What will you accomplish by dying in battle? What would be the point of risking the life of the last of the airbenders in a suicide mission, Katara?! The Fire Nation is too strong now, and he's not even a fully realized Avatar yet! If he makes a stand against them right now, he might as well be asking for them to murder him in cold blood!"

"Then you're saying he'd stand a chance if he had mastered all elements?"

"Of course he wouldn't!" replied Hakoda. "And who would teach him anything else anyways? The earthbenders have been taken down by the Fire Nation, and no firebender who follows Fire Lord Ozai's laws would accept to teach anything to the Avatar."

"Well, then he'd just have to find someone who doesn't agree with the Fire Lord's ways! I'm sure they must be out there somewhere!"

"And how would you know they're not simply going to capture him and send him straight to the Fire Lord?" asked Hakoda. "Katara, you can't trust these people! They've wanted to find and murder the Avatar for over a century now!"

"I never said I trusted them! But I'm starting to think that you trust me even less than you trust them!" she bellowed, growing desperate.

"Don't, Katara," said Hakoda, sighing. "Don't you dare say I don't trust…"

"You just think that I'll mess up like Sokka did!" squealed Katara. "Well, I'm a bender and that's not going to happen to…!"

"You think being a bender is that great a benefit, Katara?" Hakoda yelled. "You really think that's going to make a difference? How many benders did they take from our Tribe during your grandmother's youth? How many did they kill?! All of them, Katara! All of them!"

"B-but that doesn't have to happen to me…" said the waterbender, grimacing.

"No, it doesn't. And the best way to keep it from happening would be for you to stay safely with your Tribe," responded Hakoda. "Katara, don't do this unless you know what you're doing. If… if you find an opening, an opportunity to sneak past the Fire Nation and accomplish your goal safely, then I'll support you completely. But until that moment, Katara… until then, I won't have you throwing your life away in a pointless mission that will only destroy the last hope we have."

"Aang truly is our last hope, Katara," said Kanna, sighing. "He is the Avatar. And he must bring balance to the world. All the more reason why we should want him to be safe and far from the Fire Nation until he can develop his skills properly and fight the Fire Lord when the time comes."

"And when will that be?" asked Katara, glaring at them. "When the Fire Lord has enslaved us all?"

"I don't know," said Kanna, her head dropping.

"But Aang's best chance is to remain hidden for now, Katara," said Hakoda. "As soon as word reaches the Fire Nation about the Avatar being alive, they'll try to murder or capture him. We'll keep him safe and alive for as long as possible…"

"It's as if you were taking for granted he won't survive this," Katara grunted.

"If you try to have him to murder the Fire Lord, as it seems you're trying to, then it's unlikely he will," said Hakoda.

"And you think there's another way to put an end to this war?" Katara asked. "How, by sitting down with the Fire Lord and reasoning with him so that he'll change his ways? That's completely ridiculous!"

"If it will keep you and the Avatar from dying… I'd be willing to try something like that," said Hakoda, sighing and closing his eyes, deep in thought.

Katara stared at him in disbelief before shaking her head and storming out of the igloo. Kanna stretched a hand to stop her, but her granddaughter walked past her too quickly.

The waterbender stomped through the fresh snow with a deep frown on her face. She hadn't been certain of what the future would bring, but as soon as she had realized that Aang was the Avatar, she thought he had a mission to accomplish. He had the brightest, most important destiny of all, and if he didn't fulfill it, the world as they knew it would end. There might be sacrifices to be made, but in order to save the world they should do everything they could do… Sokka would have done anything. He would have paid the price with his life if it meant to take down the Fire Nation! And he already had…

As she wandered through the village, hoping to work out her frustrations through her waterbending, she found that Aang was standing on the edge of the town, holding his staff in one hand while he tugged at his black hair. The weather down at the South Pole was quite harsh, and even more so if you were bald. Even when Aang's customs would have had him shaving his head, he hadn't sheared his hair again ever since he had come out of the ice, in order to keep his head warm. He had told Katara that they had found him with his head shaved because he was trying to return home, but in all the seven years he had been in the South Pole he hadn't shaved his head completely not even once, no matter if his Air Nomad traditions told him otherwise. It was simply a matter of common sense.

But even when the hair could conceal the tattoo on his head, and when the arrows on the rest of his body were well covered by the thick clothes he had donned, his forehead still revealed the tip of his largest arrow. Even when he hardly looked like the monk Katara had found frozen in ice… this was Aang. And he was the Avatar.

Katara clenched her fists tightly before walking up to him, wondering how to start this conversation. If Aang really didn't want to fulfill his destiny… then she would hear it directly from him, without her father or her grandmother's influence working to change the Avatar's mind.

"It's odd, having hair again," said Aang, when she stood right next to him. "I never even knew it was actually black until I came to the South Pole, you know?"

"You shaved every day?" asked Katara, willing to change the topic if only for now.

"Not every day, only when the new hair started to sprout out," said Aang. "But when it was short it was hard to see what color it might be… I didn't know if it was dark brown or black."

"I see," said Katara. "Well… I like the way it looks. It suits you."

"You think?" asked Aang, smiling weakly at her. "Thanks."

Katara smiled as well, but the grin vanished quickly as her mind returned to the pressing matters that still bothered her deeply. Aang saw her face darkening, and he dropped his gaze, readying himself for the questions he knew she'd have for him.

"Aang, I know there's a lot of pressure on you, and it's not fair of me to force you to kill a man or enter a war against a nation, but you're the Avatar…"

"And an Air Nomad too," said Aang. "And we value all life, Katara… even if the Fire Lord were the cruelest man of the world-"

"He is," retorted Katara instantly. "There's no questioning it."

"Well… even so, I can't kill him. You can't ask me to murder another person like this," said Aang, closing his eyes and sighing. "It's wrong, no matter the circumstances."

"Why, though? If it's the only way, Aang…!"

"If I were to kill him, what would make me any better than he is, Katara?" asked Aang, looking at her sideways. "This war… I know hardly anything about it, but it's wrong by all accounts. Enough blood has been shed for me to shed even more."

"But if you do nothing he'll keep destroying everything, Aang," said Katara, almost desperate by now. "The bloodshed won't stop. We can put an end to it…"

"Perhaps we can," said Aang, nodding. "But not like this. We have to save the world, Katara… but we have to save the Fire Nation too, from the horror they have become. Balance isn't only about keeping every nation in its place… yes, we should get the Earth Kingdom and the Air Nomads back somehow, and the Fire Nation should back off from the territories that don't belong to them. But this doesn't mean that we're going to tear apart the Fire Nation so we can help the other nations to rise as well."

"Why…? Why are you so willing to protect them, Aang?" asked Katara. "After all they've done, after all they did… they killed your people, and yet you're forgiving them for it?"

"I… I don't think I'm forgiving anyone," said Aang, sighing. "But there's no point in revenge, Katara. It won't bring my friends back to me. Giving in to revenge will only serve to destroy me on the inside. The Fire Nation isn't to blame for the crimes of Fire Lord Sozin and his sons…"

"But they are crimes that still harm everyone to this day. And they deserve to face justice for them!" exclaimed Katara.

"The last I knew, the Avatar wasn't out to deliver justice in the world," said Aang. "I was told my duty was to keep balance, not to punish those who have done terrible deeds."

"And what if keeping balance involved punishment? What would you do then?" asked Katara, frowning.

"Keeping balance involves punishment? Inflicting pain on someone else?" asked Aang, raising an eyebrow. "If that were the case… then maybe keeping balance isn't such a good thing after all."

"But… Aang," said Katara, looking at him in despair. "You're the Avatar…"

"I am," said Aang, nodding. "And I have a duty to this world, whether I like it or not. A duty I'll fulfill… but I can't fulfill it by discarding who I am, by losing sight of what's right and what's wrong. I know it's hard for you to understand, Katara, but this isn't the way to do it. This isn't the way to change the world into a better place."

"Then what is?" asked Katara, frowning.

"I don't know yet," said Aang, sighing. "I have no idea. But attacking the Fire Nation in an act of war will only result in more death for us and them. I won't kill soldiers or innocent people just to get to the Fire Lord… and I won't kill the Fire Lord either. There has to be another way."

"And what if there isn't?" asked Katara. "What if you find no way? What if the Fire Lord destroys the poles and kills us all before you have a chance to discover how to improve things, Aang?"

"If that were to happen… t-then I guess the Avatar would be reborn in the Water T-…"

"There will be no Water Tribes by then!" declared Katara. "The world will be in utter chaos…"

Aang lowered his head and sighed before looking at the waterbender again.

"And by attacking them directly, will I actually bring peace to the world? By going head-on against them, as you expect me to, will I avoid chaos?"

Katara blinked a few times at the question, confused over how to answer it.

"Well, t-there's a chance that you'll succeed and…"

"Succeeding at killing the Fire Lord will only throw the Fire Nation itself into chaos, and with it, the rest of the world," said Aang, making Katara cringe.

"But…"

Aang sighed and approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder softly. She looked up at his onyx eyes, almost begging him to give her an answer, to tell her that their lives weren't completely lost yet. That there was still something worth fighting for… and something he would be willing to fight for, too.

"I understand your anguish, Katara," said Aang, looking at her gently. "And I know just how hard this is for you. You want to keep your people safe, and to do that, the easiest thing to do would be to bring down the Fire Nation. But you are the leader of the Water Tribe's warriors now, aren't you? Who will defend this village if you leave to fight directly against the Fire Lord?"

"Well, my father isn't getting any younger, but I'm sure he could…"

"You love the Water Tribe, don't you?" asked Aang.

"Wha…? Of course I do! This is my home," said Katara. "I've been fighting for it for years."

"Then defend it," said Aang, smiling. "Keep it safe. Fight for those you love. Fight against the Fire Nation soldiers that who are trying to take what doesn't belong to them, and keep them far from the Water Tribe. Defend your home… in the way I was unable to defend my own."

Katara's eyes widened when she saw the grief in the airbender's eyes. His biggest regret wasn't having been frozen, or not having mastered all the elements quickly enough to face Fire Lord Sozin when he began his war. The true regret weighing on him was that he hadn't been able to save his people, his friends, his family, his entire race. And now, with his advice, he was trying to keep her from making a mistake that could destroy her people now.

"You want me to stay here… and fight against the men from the settlement," she whispered. "You think that's what has to be done for now."

"I hate to think of this entire matter as a war, but a war it is," said Aang. "And wars are won by small victories, one by one. You can save your own, Katara. You're strong enough, and if we keep training I'm sure you'll find the way to…"

"Crack the polar casket and send that settlement floating into the Earth Kingdom's coasts?" asked Katara, smiling. Aang laughed at her suggestion.

"That actually sounds like a good idea," he said, pleased.

"And you…? You have a destiny to fulfill, Aang. If I stay here, keeping my people safe… what of you?"

"My destiny is to keep balance between the four elements," said Aang. "And to serve as the bridge between the human and spirit worlds. The Avatar's destiny has never been to kill tyrants. There has to be another way, and I'll find one as soon as I can. An opportunity will come, and I'll use it to restore balance so that all nations will become equals once more. No nation will be able to impose itself over another one. I promise, Katara… I'll do it. I'll do my duties. Just be patient, alright?"

Katara smiled kindly and nodded at him.

"And in the mean time…" she muttered. "You'll stay here to help me protect the Water Tribe?"

"So long as you'll have me," said Aang, chuckling.

"Well, where else would you go?" asked Katara, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess there's nowhere else safer for me, but I could always go make a living with the penguins," he said, smiling innocently. "And speaking of which, you still haven't taken me to see them!"

It was Katara's turn to laugh at Aang's childishness. She shook her head and led Aang outside of town, bringing him with her to the farther plains of the Pole in search for the waddle of penguins she knew resided nearby. How many times had she come looking for them with her brother when they were children? The thought of Sokka made her chest ache, as it always did, but it faded away when Aang stretched a gloved hand towards her to pull her up to the ridge from where they could see the penguins clearly.

"I missed this," said Aang, beaming. "Toki would penguin-sled with me whenever I had mastered a new waterbending form…"

"It sounds like you had lots of fun with Toki," said Katara, smiling.

"He was a great friend," said Aang, nodding. "Much like you are."

Katara blushed faintly, somewhat pleased that Aang thought that way after all the things she had told him today. He was a very kind man. And by looking at him right now she realized that, just as she wanted to protect her village, she wanted to protect her friend from the Fire Nation too. The Fire Lords had hunted for the Avatar since the war had begun, and sending him straight to their lair surely couldn't end well. Now she could see that. In order to do the best for Aang, she'd give up her hopes to attack the Fire Nation for now. She only hoped that this decision wouldn't harm the rest of the world…

"So… ready to get them?" asked the Avatar, bringing her out of her thoughts again.

Katara smiled at the sight of Aang's goofy smile. The world was a mess: there was a war raging outside their pole, catastrophes waiting to happen. Two nations had been wiped out, and only two more remained: Aang's people had perished. A hundred years of tyranny had taken their toll on the world and on every single person living in it… yet this young man, who could have been growing the seeds of vengeance for the death of his people, was standing right next to her, smiling at her. He was a beacon of hope, like a gleam of light shining through a sky covered with grey clouds. For him to still find the strength to smile, the courage to make the right decision even if it was hard…

He gave her hope. The hope she had thought she would never regain. Hope that led her to believe that perhaps the world wasn't as dark and cruel as she had grown to think it was.

Katara's response to Aang's question was an enthusiastic nod.

Katara's response to Aang's question was an enthusiastic nod.


	48. Chapter 48

The boulder struck Sokka on the left side of his head just as he tried to fend off the other rock with his weapon. The impact of the strike sent him rolling through the sand pit, losing track of what was happening after receiving such a powerful blow.

He had been holding up well until then, even managing to get the upper hand of the fight every now and then, but the Giant of the Rock had torn down the well in the Arena and he was currently using the stones that comprised it to his advantage. He would be discounted twenty points from his total score, but given how the battle had turned around completely when he had genuine rocks to use, the twenty points had been worth the sacrifice for the Giant.

Sokka struggled to get back on his feet, feeling lightheaded after the blow. He had to command his hand to grasp his sword before rolling out of the way of another rock, and he had a hard time making a stand against the boulders the Giant was tossing his way. Sokka had fought many times in the Grand Royal Dome by now, but he had never thought to face an opponent who would use the well against him in this manner. It was quite an unexpected take on using your surroundings to your advantage.

He sliced another rock in two, and the Giant proceeded to perform a punch with which he threw another large stone straight at Sokka.

"I can't go on like this, damn…" Sokka muttered under his breath, jumping out of the way. He had defeated an earthbender before, he could take this one as well, it couldn't be so hard!

Yet the maneuvers of the Giant had almost convinced him of the opposite by now. Time was running out, and each attack was reinforced by the next one. The Giant wouldn't let him get any closer, pushing him away as he sought to win the battle through his prowess with the rocks. Sokka grimaced and jumped away, cutting one rock and avoiding the next almost as a routine by now. The man was putting more distance between them with every attack… but that might work for Sokka's favor. The rocks were coming constantly, but they weren't moving any faster. They couldn't cover the distance between them so quickly. And he could make use of that.

Sokka walked backwards, evading the rocks effectively until he reached the spikes that lined the sand pit. He gulped at the memory of the last time he had been so near the edge of the ring… the scar in his right shoulder often reminded him bitterly of his first encounter with Toph. She was the strongest earthbender he had faced so far, without a doubt, and he wouldn't reach the top of the ranking if she remained undefeatable for him. In order to become strong enough to beat Toph, he had to start by beating this guy. He just had to.

He pulled his boomerang out of its sheath and began sprinting by the hem of the sand pit, too close to the spikes to his liking, but doing so with the intention of keeping the most distance between him and the Giant, who was having a hard time tossing his rocks in the right direction when Sokka had started to run. The Blue Wolf took a bomb from his belt, attached it to one of the holes in his boomerang and, with all the strength he could muster, he hurled it straight towards the Giant.

He would do it… he could do it! If the boomerang reached the Giant and the bomb released its smoke right away, the Giant would be wounded and confused. And when he was, it would be Sokka's time to attack with Space Sword…

But his plan didn't work as efficiently as planned, just as it usually happened when he faced earthbenders. The Giant saw the combined weapon coming straight at him and, to Sokka's chagrin, the man bended the sand around him and sunk into a makeshift crater. The boomerang soared past him and returned straight at Sokka…

"Oh, crap," he said, when he caught the boomerang and the impact caused the bomb to release its content all over him.

Up in the sponsors' balcony, Azula's face sunk into the palm of her hand. She had liked Sokka's plan, it had been quite witty… but there was never a plan B with him. He never knew what to do when things went awry. And it seemed like they always did when he was facing earthbenders. She had no doubts he could defeat them, but he needed to rely on more than just his instincts when faced with opponents such as the Giant of the Rock.

Sokka stumbled in the smoke: he could breathe it easily, but the cloud had compromised his vision. He had trained himself since his times in the South Pole to inhale the smoke, but it was quite difficult to continue fighting when you were at the core of the gas cloud. This method of fighting often came in handy for him, but it was useless when his opponent wasn't trapped along with him. The Giant was no genius, but he had been very clever at turning Sokka's schemes against him.

Sokka stumbled through the dark cloud, his eyes squinted as he attempted to find his way to safety. He heard the Giant's heavy footsteps behind him, knowing the man had the upper hand right now. Sokka turned his head around to find the Giant was ready to unleash a new attack on him.

Upon seeing the man was ready to strike him down, Sokka jumped and twirled in the air, flinging his boomerang at his enemy in one desperate attempt to survive the fight for a while longer.

And this time, it worked. The Giant had been bending a rock at him: he couldn't protect himself from the Blue Wolf's attack on time. The boomerang struck him in the left flank, and it would have been a dreadful blow if the earthbender's armor had been any less sturdy.

Sokka snarled, frustrated to see that his blow hadn't been as effective as it should have been. He took the Giant's distraction as an advantage and he got out of the smoke cloud, as far from the Giant as possible, hoping to think of a new strategy now.

The smoke began to dissipate, and Sokka caught sight of his boomerang lying only a few feet away from him. He could run quickly, pick it up and throw it right away, aiming now at the man's uncovered head...

But as soon as he was ready to start out on his new scheme, the megaphone man spoke up.

"The time is up!"

Sokka's face fell as he stared at his opponent in dismay. Why did the battles always end when he had finally found an advantage? He sighed and shook his head, walking towards his boomerang with his head tilted down. The Giant was sure to take the victory.

"Good fight," said Sokka courteously, nodding at his rival.

The Giant merely groaned and wiped his sweaty brow with a hairy fist. The man was broad, tall and extremely hairy. Sokka had never seen a man who had such thick fur covering his skin. He seemed more beast than man, and given his response to Sokka's polite words, he probably was.

"After our long deliberation..." said the judge at the megaphone. "... And after the skillful display by both gladiators, we have decided to award the victory to the Giant of the Rock."

Cheers from the stands celebrated the earthbenders triumph, yet it seemed the public had come to witness the Princess's powerful gladiator in action instead. After Azula's epic entrance into the city, riding on the back of her dragon, most of the Fire Nation's populace had grown interested in the Fire Lord's daughter's deeds. Azula had strived to earn the recognition of her people for a very long time, hoping they would be able to acknowledge her as Fire Lord Ozai's heir. She didn't require them to look down on Zuko, being seen on the same standing as him would work for her all the same.

Since she was the talk of the town right now, and since Sokka's first fight in the Arena after their return had been sold out, she could tell was getting closer to the goal she had wanted to accomplish for many years now. She could be proud of herself, proud of her deeds... but she wasn't all that proud of her gladiator's latest performances.

Princess Azula was earning the respect she deserved now, that was true, yet her intervention in the Superior Gladiator League, despite how stellar it had been at first, was starting to weigh her down. Commoners had grown to admire her over her dragon and her capture of the Rough Rhinos, but the noblemen who were involved with the League were quite determined to set aside her accomplishments as a public figure, and instead they only focused on her gladiator's shortcomings in an attempt to crush the Princess's career as a sponsor. They had been challenged by twenty different sponsors of earthbenders upon their return home; it seemed word had spread that the Blue Wolf wasn't too skilled at fighting earthbenders.

Given that Sokka had defeated the Twin Hammer with a week of exhaustion weighing over him, Azula had assumed Sokka wouldn't fare so badly against the Giant of the Rock. She had hoped that her daily training with Sokka would serve to keep his skills sharpened, and she had also hoped he'd defeat the Giant so that all those who had issued those condescending challenges would come to regret having done so.

But Sokka had failed to win, and the noblemen who had challenged her were certain to regret nothing. If anything, this turn of events would make her look like a joke in front of them. Now that she was rising, now that her name was imbued with fame and glory, and that people were starting to take her more seriously as her father's likely heir, most noblemen were keen on bringing her down. And unless Sokka managed to turn the tables on his next fights against earthbenders, the two of them would remain the laughingstock of these men. And if there was something Azula couldn't fathom was that she would serve as a form of amusement for the noblemen she despised.

"Well, that was an interesting fight," said the Giant's sponsor next to her, a large smile on his face as he stretched his hand towards Azula. Begrudgingly, she gave him the bag of money she owed him for his victory. "Send my regards to your father, Princess. I look forward to pitting our gladiators against each other on another occasion."

Azula only nodded in his direction and the man slinked out of the room, holding his earnings proudly. Azula grinded her teeth and stood up, frustrated by the way things had turned out. She didn't blame Sokka for what his losses meant to her, he wasn't the reason why these men didn't have a shred of honor… but that didn't stop her from feeling quite disappointed upon his failure in battle again. She had hoped he would have learned to handle himself against earthbenders, but one victory against them didn't mean he could beat all of them. She should have kept that in mind.

She arrived in the waiting room to find Sokka being tended to, the wound on the side of his face had morphed into a very nasty bruise. He looked in her direction when he heard the door open, and he gave her an awkward grimace as a greeting.

"Sorry I lost," he muttered.

Azula sighed and shook her head, her arms crossed.

"It's not your fault entirely. Maybe we shouldn't have taken up these challenges against earthbenders yet," she replied.

"But skipping over those challenges would have seemed…"

"Cowardly, I know," retorted Azula. "It's why I did it. I thought you'd be able to hold your own against them, but it seems I was wrong. That trick with the boomerang and the bomb would have been wonderful had it just worked."

"That was such a disappointment… It's the first time one of my bombs backfires like this," said Sokka, before flinching when the medic rubbed an ointment on the wound on his cheek. "Ouch! Be careful, please…"

"Making up plans as you go isn't working for you, Sokka. It's not going to work when you're facing earthbenders," said Azula, sighing. "Their defense is impeccable. Ploys you come up with on the spot won't bring us victory."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" asked Sokka, as his wound was covered with a bandage. "I've always fought like this… I try to take my enemy by surprise and defeat him that way."

"And it had worked wonderfully all along until you were up against earthbenders," grunted Azula. "I'm sorry, Sokka, but you can't carry on like this. Not when you're facing these sorts of fighters."

"So you want me to develop a new style of fighting?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow as the physician excused himself and left the sponsor and gladiator to themselves.

"I want you to improve the one you already have," replied the Princess. "At this rate we'll become the joke of the Superior Gladiator League. You can defeat fighters in the top half of the ranking, but if you go against a newcomer who happens to be an earthbender, you're completely helpless. It's a given that you won't be strong against all kinds of fighters, but you need to find a way to hold your own against earthbenders somehow."

"Well… how?" asked Sokka again, picking up his weapons and following Azula out of the waiting room. "You're already training with me, and that's keeping my skills well-honed."

"But that alone is not enough," replied Azula. "And you should know that by now. I might be helping, but I'm not strong enough with swords to be a real challenge for you just yet. So, despite it all, your training is currently stalled."

"Then what should we do? We'll stay clear off the Arena until you're strong enough to help me train for real?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"No, that's… that's not going to help," sighed Azula. "There's another alternative… which I'm not too fond of, but that's the single thing I can think of right now. And that is for you to find an earthbender to train against."

"We've been over this before," muttered Sokka. "Who could I possibly ask this from? The only earthbender we meet frequently is Toph, and…"

"Not a chance," declared Azula. "Even if she were willing to help you, it would be the most counterproductive thing we could do. You're supposed to grow strong enough to defeat earthbenders and, in time, to defeat her. If you trained with her, she'd learn everything she'd need to know about you, and beating you in battle would be even easier than it already is for her."

"Exactly what I was thinking. And that's why I don't know what to do," said Sokka, sighing. "I suppose I could keep fighting against earthbenders until I find one who's willing to train with me, but that sounds like a long shot…"

"I rather doubt the sponsor would agree to that, and our position in the ranking is bound to suffer heavily if we do that," said Azula, sighing as they walked down the stairs towards the vestibule.

"Would the opposite sponsor have a say upon the matter?" asked Sokka, surprised. "You're the Princess, you get away with everything!"

"Well, I suppose it shouldn't be so hard for me to intimidate the sponsor of whoever you choose for your training partner," said Azula, shrugging.

"Intimidate?" repeated Sokka. "How about you pay them or something? Isn't that a little more civil?"

"Don't you think you've cost me enough money as it is?" asked Azula, with a grimace.

Sokka froze for a second before shrugging and smiling with a hint of guilt.

"Well, when you put it that way…"

Azula walked towards Shoji's counter, trying to ignore the gazes upon her and her gladiator. Keeping her head held high was difficult when she knew just what they were whispering behind her back. How could it be so easy to shift from being the most revered person in the Fire Nation to the main focus of people's gossip and jokes?

"Are you okay?" asked Sokka, as they reached the counter. It wasn't hard for him to see how tense Azula had become. He hadn't seen her like this since she had been angry at him less than a few weeks ago. The Princess looked at him from the corner of her eye and nodded curtly before turning towards Shoji.

"A loss, huh?" he said, smiling sympathetically at them. "So sorry it turned out like this, Princess. It shouldn't have been that way…"

"Never mind the 'should have been's', they'll get us nowhere," retorted Azula. "It's been too long since I checked that ranking. What's our position?"

"The Blue Wolf is currently our 311th fighter," said Shoji, nodding. "Your win against the Twin Hammer gave you quite a boost, but…"

"If we don't keep winning, we'll be stuck in the 300's forever," sighed Azula, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her finger and thumb.

"Do I dare ask where the Blind Bandit is?" muttered Sokka, gulping as Shoji scanned the ranking rapidly.

"Well… she got ahead of you guys again," said Shoji. "You had the advantage for quite some time, but the tides turned once more. She's the 300th right now."

"Brilliant," said Sokka, his eye twitching, "Well, when will we surpass her again? Should I go fight the leader of the ranking to get enough points to leave her behind for once and for all?"

"I wouldn't recommend that," said Azula, grimacing. "You might have had better luck with firebenders, but that one isn't a fighter you should go up against…"

"Combustion Man has never lost a fight," said Shoji. "He's ruthless, and he doesn't hesitate to kill his enemies if they're not strong enough to stand up against him. If you really want to get ahead of the Blind Bandit, I'd suggest you do it through a different approach."

"Well, then, how about I go against the second guy in the ranking?" asked Sokka, with an ironic smile on his face. Azula merely glared at him, knowing he wasn't serious about what he had just said.

"The Millennium Dragon? No, I wouldn't recommend that either…" said Shoji, shaking his head.

Sokka's eyes snapped wide open at the boy's words. Azula was quite startled as well when she made the connection.

"W-wait… did you just say the Millennium Dragon?" asked Sokka, aghast. "As in, the Millennium Dragon?"

"Yeah, I did," said Shoji, blinking a few times, unable to understand what was the source their astonishment. "Why are you so surprised?"

"T-that's the guy I met in the Golden Eye!" squealed Sokka, staring at Azula in dread. "He was second in the ranking?!"

"Why are you looking at me like that? I had no idea!" Azula replied. "I knew his name was familiar, but I never thought…"

"He's always been second," said Shoji, nodding. "Well, save for when the Lava Masquerade came in second for a while, but that only lasted until he challenged Combustion Man and he got blown to smithereens… literally."

The color drained from Sokka's face upon that statement.

"Y-you can't be serious…"

"Uh…" Shoji could tell just how uneasy Sokka was growing upon these inconvenient truths. He smiled uncomfortably, trying to find a way to appease both the Blue Wolf and his sponsor. "Nevertheless, to outdo the Blind Bandit quickly you don't need to do anything as rash as to fight people from the top of the ranking."

"They probably wouldn't accept our challenges anyway," said Azula, matter-of-factly.

"Well, aside from that, and that I doubt you're ready to face them yet, there are other things you can do to earn enough points to surpass the Blind Bandit. And that is to take part in gladiator events!"

Azula raised an eyebrow at the Shoji's cheerful declaration.

"Events?" she repeated, dumbfounded.

"From time to time, the Superior League hosts events in which the gladiators can earn points far more quickly through some unique fighting experiences," said Shoji, beaming. "The fights that take place during events don't always go into a gladiator's streak of victories or losses in the ranking, but all the points go in, and usually, winning in these events will give you more points than you'd obtain through regular fights! The events tend to be divided by categories within the ranking, there aren't any events that are open for all gladiators. For example, in a week there will be a Pairs Tournament in Ba Sing Se for those between the slots one and a hundred in the ranking…"

"And we can't take part in that one?" asked Sokka.

"Not yet, but there will be other Pairs Tournaments open for your level in a few months or so," said Shoji, smiling. "Although there's an upcoming event open from 200 to 400, and it's quite a fun one at that!"

"Huh, really? And what is it?" asked Sokka, surprised by the boy's enthusiasm.

"The Gladiator Scavenger Hunt in The Ring of Ash," replied Shoji, smiling cheerfully. "That's the arena down in Fire Fountain City. The event is about finding some special objects that will have been placed in the city for the gladiators to find. The goal is to bring each object back to the Arena to earn two hundred points in the ranking. And if you manage to find the ten objects… well, that means two thousand points for you!"

"Woah! Two thousand?" asked Sokka, shocked. "Just for a scavenger hunt?"

"It is impressive, no kidding," said Shoji, chuckling. "But it's not as easy as it seems. Gladiators often take each other out in order to get the objects. You have to bring them back safely to the Arena, and you'd be at risk of being attacked as you return…"

"Sounds like a lot of trouble… but it also sounds like it would be worth it," said Sokka, looking at Azula expectantly. "What do you say, huh?"

"When will this event be held, Shoji?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"In about two months… but it's the closest one in which your gladiator can participate," said Shoji.

"It seems too risky a gamble, Sokka," grunted Azula. "You can't even fight an earthbender in even terms. Imagine what would happen if they were to attack you in the middle of an event like this one."

"Well… I guess you have a point," pouted Sokka, having been quite enthusiastic about the prospect of taking part in the event.

"So, how about we go back to what we came for?" said Azula, turning towards Shoji. "What challenges do we have available?"

"Well, heaps of them…" muttered Shoji, looking for Azula's stack of challenges. "And almost all of them by sponsors of earthbenders, as you already know."

Azula nodded as Shoji showed her the many challenges she had available. Azula looked at them all, with Sokka gazing over her shoulder, and she gritted her teeth as she realized these men, every single one of them, aimed at destroying her and her gladiator. And what irritated her the most was that, if things didn't turn around for them soon, her enemies would achieve their ends eventually.

"So, these are our challenges," said Sokka, gulping. "Which one are we going for this time?"

"No idea. They all look the same to me," said Azula, sighing. "Any suggestions, Shoji?"

"Ah, well," said the boy, peeking at the challenges. "You have challenges from all sorts of sponsors, some even have gladiators amongst the first hundred gladiators..."

"In an attempt to thwart us," grunted Azula, her glare turning glacial.

"So I wouldn't suggest going against those" muttered Shoji "There are a few gladiators who are close to your level, though... And there's one right here that I believe could be a good match, and the Blue Wolf could win it if he's smart about it."

"Aren't I always?" asked Sokka, proudly.

"No," was Azula's harsh reply, making Sokka wince.

"Hey!"

"Which is the one you're talking about, then?" asked Azula, focusing on Shoji again.

"This one," said Shoji, taking one of the challenges and showing it to the Princess. "The Emerald Rockman."

Sokka raised his eyebrows in appreciation at the name. Azula took the challenge in her hand and she read it carefully as Shoji began briefing her on the reasons why he deemed this combat to be worth fighting.

"The Emerald Rockman is a very good earthbender, but he's in a lousy slump as of late. The Blue Wolf might not have it easy against him, but out of all the fighters challenging you, he's the one you're most likely to defeat, I believe. You'd earn a large amount of points from him, 203, if I'm correct."

"Huh, that ought to come in handy," said Sokka, approvingly. "I guess it won't be enough to beat the Bandit, but we'd get pretty close, right?"

"Close enough. And if there's a chance you might beat this one… well, I say we take it," said Azula, though she didn't seem half as enthusiastic about the prospect as Sokka was. "Hopefully you'll win and with that we'll send a message to all those who have looked down on us as of late."

Sokka agreed with her wholeheartedly, but the look on her face only served to worry him. His losses didn't please her, they never had and he was certain they never would, but his failure at seizing victory couldn't be the sole reason why she seemed so bothered by the situation. After all this time, he had grown a little more skilled at reading what Azula was refraining from saying out loud.

"Then the Rockman it is," said Shoji, smiling as Azula wrote down her acceptance of the challenge. "The fight is due in a week."

"Then we'll see you again by then," said Azula, nodding in Shoji's direction.

"Sure," said the boy, smiling. "Have a good day!"

Azula didn't reply, she turned on her heels and started for the exit. Sokka waved goodbye at Shoji before following the Princess.

The palanquin wasn't awaiting then by the sidewalk, Azula had dismissed them before entering the Arena. As much as she would rather ride it than walk, it wasn't much use to have her palanquin bearers lounging at Sokka's house as they waited for their training sessions to end. They would arrive at the house by dusk to bring her back to the Palace, but meanwhile they would leave the Princess to her own means.

"Where's my favorite flying lizard today?" asked Sokka, hoping to change the mood by annoying the Princess. She looked like she could use getting her mind off her concerns.

The thought of Xin Long helped improve her mood, yet the way Sokka spoke of him could only earn him a glare.

"Flying lizard? You really don't know any respect, do you?"

"After being around me for such a long time, I expected you'd know that by now," replied Sokka, chuckling.

"You can't blame me for hoping you'll change for the better. It's futile, I know, but it's in the human nature to hope for the impossible," replied Azula, as they made their way through the streets of the Capital. "He's fine, currently flying over the volcanoes west of the Fire Nation. He's growing to love the Fire Nation more with every passing day. He's happy to have found a place where he belongs."

"Has he found any other dragons yet?"

"No, I don't believe he'll find them here. I suspect he would have to make a long trip into the Earth Kingdom in order to search for others of his kind."

Sokka raised his eyebrows at hearing Azula referring to the Earth Kingdom without adding the word 'former' to it. It was surprising, but he approved of it even if Azula hadn't been completely aware of what she had just said.

"And I'm sure you'd want to tag along in those trips," said Sokka.

"I would like to, but it depends on the responsibilities I'd need to heed," said Azula. "Xin Long knows I can't travel leisurely, so a new trip to search for dragons will likely have to wait until I have time to spare."

"It would be cool for us to do it once I'm able to beat earthbenders," said Sokka, carelessly. "We could go on a new tour, and this time I wouldn't be an embarrassment to-…"

"Wait, how come are you counting yourself in?" Azula asked, lifting an eyebrow. "If I don't need to bring you, I won't."

"B-but… but if you don't sponsor me, I won't be able to fight and we'll be kicked out of the League!" Sokka squeaked.

"I'll just authorize someone else to take my place as your sponsor for a while," said Azula, with a small smirk. "That way I can get rid of you as I look for other dragons along with Xin Long…"

"But that's…! I want to go too!" Sokka protested childishly, at which Azula could only laugh.

It took them about ten minutes to reach Sokka's home. Song welcomed Sokka with a smile and Azula with a low bow, fidgeting nervously while in the Princess's presence. Azula found it perplexing that Song would keep behaving like this after all this time, but she wasn't bothered by her attitude. Her latest experiences had changed her views on several things, but not regarding her ability to elicit fear on almost everyone around her.

After sharing a meal, during which Azula was once again disgusted by Sokka's lack of table manners, the Princess and the gladiator went to the backyard of the house, their preferred training area. They would train in the Palace grounds from time to time as well, but it was far more comfortable to practice swordsmanship someplace where servants and noblemen wouldn't intrude upon their daily sparring.

"So, if you won't take me to the Earth Kingdom with you when you go find dragons, at least can we participate in the gladiator event Shoji told us about?" asked Sokka, stretching and bringing Space Sword out of its sheath.

"Neither thing is a good idea," replied Azula, imitating him and releasing Wolf's Bane as well. "You're no use against earthbenders yet. Until you are, I'd rather you focus on improving your skills as a fighter than to have you ruin what little fame we have obtained."

"Well, you can't live off fame alone, can you?" said Sokka, pouting a little.

"That's actually not true," replied Azula. "And especially in a business such as this one. Here, fame is everything. With fame you can instill fear into your enemies, and you could intimidate even those who might stand a chance against you. Thanks to your fame we have obtained challenges from people in the highest levels of the ranking. If we lose that edge, you'll have to face off against fighters on your same level and our progress will become much slower. Not to mention that those sponsors who had feared us are starting to think we're just a joke…"

"What, they think we're not serious about this?" asked Sokka, shocked.

"No, they think we're getting exactly what we deserve for daring dream of joining the Superior Gladiator League," retorted Azula, bitterly. "There are no female sponsors but me, remember? They believe women have no place in this business. And now that it's out that you're weak against earthbenders, they will use that knowledge to their advantage in hopes to kick us out of the ranking. They want to prove I made a mistake by becoming a sponsor."

"But you're the Princess," said Sokka, frowning. "Why would they treat you that way? Shouldn't they revere and adore you, and feel like miserable bugs in your presence?"

"Why, yes, they should," declared Azula, proudly, performing a stab with her sword.

Sokka jumped back at her attack and smiled slightly. For some reason, he had grown to find an unusual amusement while fighting against Azula. In most instances, combats would always bring his darker side to the surface and he would enjoy nothing about it. Yet he felt in the exact opposite way when he trained with the Princess.

Azula twirled and changed her sword to her right hand in order to reach Sokka with more ease. The gladiator was patient and he used his sword to block the blow she had aimed towards his shoulder. He sought the opening he required to strike her, but Azula pulled away as soon as she realized she was in danger. Her instincts were remarkable, and her movements with her sword became more fluid with every passing day, but she was still a beginner in the art of the blade. Despite her numerous attempts to defeat Sokka and prove the truth behind her sword's name, she had yet to best him with her sword alone. She would bend at him if she became too frustrated by the training, which would often lead to arguments, but she knew as well as he did that defeating him through anything but the sword would amount to nothing.

Sokka darted forward and sought to hit her in the chest, but Azula parried the blow and proceeded to attack while he was still steadying his arm after it was shaken by the recoil. Nonetheless, Azula's attack, which should have worked in her favor, was no threat to Sokka once he twisted his body around her arm and struck her sword with such strength that he forced Azula to drop the weapon.

The Princess cursed under her breath before leaning to pick up the blade. Sokka was no stranger to how unpleasant she could be when she was in a bad mood, and thus decided to return to their discussed topic immediately before her aggravation over her performance grew beyond what he could handle.

"They should, so why don't they?" he inquired.

"Because in their eyes, I have no business doing what I'm doing. And I can be kicked out of the business in a just manner so long as they find a weakness they can exploit."

"And I'm getting higher in the ranking, which I bet isn't much help."

"Defeat the Princess and earn two hundred points while at it, without risking anything because, if she complains about it, she'll come off as immature and undeserving of being a sponsor," muttered Azula. "There's nothing to lose, from their point of view."

"Well, not unless they lose," added Sokka. "If that happens, the one to be ridiculed won't be you."

"That's the plan," said Azula. "And it has been the plan all along… so do both of us a favor and stick to it, will you?"

"I'll try my best," said Sokka, smiling awkwardly.

"This is the most challenging moment of our career in the Gladiator League, Sokka," sighed Azula. "It's no longer about our personal conflicts… now it's to prove we actually deserve our spot in the ranking. From here on, we're fighting to show them what we're made of, to gain their respect or to lose it forevermore."

"Well, that's going too far, I think," said Sokka, frowning. "When I beat Combustion Man I'm sure I'll get that respect back no problem!"

"You think you can take on Combustion Man, yet the measliest of earthbenders can defeat you?" Azula asked, her eyebrow twitching. "You really need a blast of reality straight in your face."

"Well, then, the Millennium Dragon," said Sokka, shrugging. "Maybe I can beat him! And that would help to get me back into the radar, wouldn't it?"

"Sokka, you can't go against the second gladiator in the League," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "The man has only ever been defeated by Combustion Man. The fact that he's been able to fight him and survive is proof enough of how powerful he is."

"But I'm going to have to go against them one day, whether you like it or not," said Sokka, frowning. "Or is it you don't want to get me to the top of the ranking anymore?"

"Of course I do, but as you are, you'd be toast. Literally," said Azula. "You're not in a fit state to fight either of them. Once you've grown strong enough to fight evenly against earthbenders and firebenders alike, I'll start thinking about pitting you against those men. But for now, this is our reality."

"It still feels surreal, you know? That the guy I talked to was the second in the ranking…" said Sokka, gulping. "Well, that's enough talk about bothersome stuff we can't do anything about as we are. Back to business! Hold that sword steadily or else you'll be done for in battle!"

Azula's eyebrow twitched and she glared at Sokka before lounging at him swiftly, her blade deadly enough to chop his head off if he hadn't bended over backwards to avoid the weapon's sharp edge.

"That's better, much better!" declared Sokka, smiling as he attacked Azula again.

It bugged her slightly to hear him cheer her on while she was trying to defeat him in such a violent manner, but eventually she was smirking as well as she blocked his sword and proceeded to attack him in the best way she could. If Sokka was surprised at how much fun he would have while sparring against her, the same could be said about her. It had been a very long time since she had actually enjoyed herself in a battle as she did with Sokka nowadays. The memory of the boy he had been when she had first fought him in the South Pole often returned to her: it was hard to believe the master swordsman she was sparring with was the same Water Tribe warrior who had tried to stand up to her so long ago. Back then they had been enemies… and now they were partners. What other unexpected twists did the future have in store for them?

* * *

Sokka waited for Azula on the steps of the Arena, keeping his eyes set on the palanquin once he saw it approaching down the road. He waved at the Captain and smiled as a greeting towards Azula once she stepped down from the vehicle.

"We'll be at the gladiator's home by nightfall, as you commanded," said Rui Shi, bowing his head towards her.

Azula nodded and walked up to Sokka, who showed her his teeth in as wide a grin as he could muster. Azula merely raised an eyebrow.

"Ready for your fight, then?" she asked, as they made their way into the Arena.

"As ready as I could be," said Sokka. "You've been helping me train all along, so you ought to know if I'm ready without needing to ask."

"I've found your emotional state has a lot to do with your performance in battle," said Azula. "And for all I know, you could be upset over not having breakfast, or not having enough courses for your liking…"

"You think food is what sets my mood?" asked Sokka, scowling.

"I don't think so, I know so," retorted Azula, smiling slightly.

Gazes followed them as they progressed through the vestibule, gazes that made Azula restless. She knew what they were thinking. She knew what they were expecting, and she hated to think their suppositions could be proven right today…

"You alright?" asked Sokka, when he caught sight of the frown on her face. "You seem rather tense, yet again."

"I wonder why," said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"Don't worry about any of them," Sokka recommended. "Even if we don't blow their minds away today, we'll do it on another day. The world won't stop no matter what the result of this battle is."

"That would please me if it didn't sound as if you were implying you're going to settle for another loss," grunted Azula, glaring at him.

"Hey, I'm serious here!" said Sokka. "There's nobody in that public that should concern you in the slight-…!"

"Azula!" squealed a familiar voice beside them, startling Sokka and interrupting him in his speech.

Azula didn't have time to react before she felt a pair of arms flinging around her shoulders. A grimace appeared on her face as she waited for Ty Lee to let go of her. She ought to be accustomed to the girl's enthusiastic attitude, but even after all these years, her cheerful greetings were often unexpected.

"It's been too long!" she declared happily, finally releasing Azula from her grip. "I've heard all about the crazy stuff you've been up to, but we haven't even had the chance to talk lately!"

"Indeed, we haven't," said the Princess. "I took off rather suddenly, so…"

"Yeah, you did! We had no idea you were leaving," complained Ty Lee. "Mai has been alright, in case you were wondering. Yuudai is getting bigger and he's sprouted the softest hair EVER!"

"Well, that's good news," said Azula, with a weak smile. "Is that all I've missed so far?"

"Regarding Mai, I guess so," said Ty Lee, trying to recall if there was anything else to rely to Azula.

"And about you? Are you here gambling again?" asked Azula, judgmental.

"Hey, I'm getting better at it every day!" Ty Lee retorted. "I've been making so much money I can hardly believe it! I'm on a winning streak right now."

"I don't know whether to congratulate you or to tell you to lay off the gambling once and for all," said Azula, sighing.

"Ah, don't be such a spoilsport!" said Ty Lee, pouting before turning towards Sokka. "And it's been ages since I last saw you! How have you been, handsome? You managed to get out of the Colonies in one piece, from what I can see…"

"Not even I know how I did that, honestly," said Sokka, chuckling. "It was the weirdest trip ever."

"You caught the Rough Rhinos and you found a dragon," said Ty Lee, turning towards Azula again. "You were pretty busy, huh? And… in more than one sense, perhaps?"

The glare Azula presented her with was enough of an answer for the girl. She gulped and took a few steps away from the Princess, grimacing.

"I'm going to take that as a no."

"It's a very long story to tell, and there's a fight awaiting us, so it'll have to wait for another day," said Azula, sighing.

"Oh, I know, I came here to watch it!" said Ty Lee, cheerfully. "I hoped to see you and ask about your trip, since you've been out whenever I drop by the Palace…"

"You could have waited until I came home. You could kill time by bothering Zuko or something," said Azula. "But right now, I don't have much time to talk."

"Oh, speaking of Zuko… it's odd he's not here today," said Ty Lee, gazing around herself. "Your brother has been coming to the Arena often lately, did you know?"

Azula had wanted to ditch the conversation as quickly as possible until Ty Lee spoke that last sentence. A frown appeared on her features as she tried to digest the information, staring at her friend while expecting her to confess she was merely jesting. Yet no confession of the sort came, and Azula was left staring at Ty Lee in disbelief.

"What… Zuko? To the Arena?" Azula repeated, puzzled.

"Yeah, I've seen him around a lot ever since you two were off overseas," said Ty Lee. "I come here to bet nearly every day, so I've seen him when he drops by. He keeps wearing this black hood to keep people from recognizing him, but everyone knows who he is anyways."

Azula couldn't help but smirk at that statement. It was very much like Zuko to think he was being clever and mysterious when it was the entire opposite of that. Yet she wasn't sure she welcomed the situation at hand. Even if Zuko had grown interested in the Gladiator Business, which had seemed unlikely to her after Zuko had met Sokka, it was odd that he would follow through with the urges to watch more fights. Much like when she had asked him to come to the armory with her, his sense of righteousness had always kept him from doing whatever seemed wrong according to his moral code, even if it was all he wanted to do. What was so different this time around?

"I never thought Zuko would come to enjoy gladiator fights," muttered the Princess.

"He didn't seem too interested in them, from what I could gather," said Sokka, frowning. "I invited him over to watch-… uh, a fight, and I don't even know if he came by."

Azula's eyes widened upon Sokka's words, recalling just what fight he had asked her brother to come watch. The memory of that day came crashing on her with the force of an avalanche, yet instead of thinking about the dreadful consequences it had had, she found herself recalling just what had happened between her and Sokka in that waiting room…

"Oh, he did!" said Ty Lee, ignoring Azula's reaction. "I dragged him here to watch it. He wasn't completely bored by it, but I never thought he'd be as interested in it as he is right now. I haven't talked to him in ages, though. Whenever I see him I try to say hi, but he just covers up his face with the hood and walks in the opposite direction. I wonder what's his deal."

"I'm sure he's convinced himself he's being so stealthy while fleeing from you like that," said Azula, the malicious glint in her eyes returning. Having new reasons to make fun of her brother often cheered her up.

"Why is he interested in this all of sudden, though?" asked Sokka, confused.

"I wonder. He would have a reason for it, I'm sure," said Azula, shrugging. "It's bound to be a ridiculous reason, yet he'll have one all the same."

"I want to ask him, but he always ignores me," sighed Ty Lee. "I really wonder what's up with him."

"I wouldn't worry much about it. It's Zuko after all," said Azula. "Just take this as a wonderful chance to tick him off and forget everything else…"

"I knew you'd see it that way," said Ty Lee, and Azula's smirk widened. The noble girl smiled as well and turned towards Sokka, cheerfully. "Anyways, good luck in your fight! You've changed a little after that trip, haven't you, Sokka? You're a little skinnier, and your beard is getting a little longer…"

"Uh, well…" said Sokka, his hand instinctively going to the stub of beard he had in his chin. "I have forgotten to trim it lately."

"It looks great on you, if you ask me," said Ty Lee, winking.

A vein palpitated dangerously on Azula's temples. She glowered at Ty Lee, who was surprised to find herself at the receiving end of the glare, before deciding they had dawdled in the vestibule for too long.

"Sokka needs to worry about more important things than facial hair, Ty Lee," grunted Azula. "And we're supposed to get him signed in right now, so if you would be so kind as to take your leave…"

"Oh, sure," said Ty Lee, blinking rapidly before a small smirk appeared on her face. "By all means, go ahead…"

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Azula demanded, irritated.

"No reason at all! I'm just thinking I might earn some money from another bet that has nothing to do with gladiators soon enough…" said the girl, chuckling as she walked away. "I'll be watching your fight! Good luck! I'm betting on you, so don't let me down!"

Sokka stared at Ty Lee as she walked away, as clueless as Azula was regarding whatever other bet the girl had been speaking of.

"You've got one seriously weird friend right there, Princess," said Sokka, as they resumed the way towards Shoji's desk.

"She's always been an odd soul, but she's getting weirder with every passing day," said Azula, shaking her head.

"And honestly, whatever her deal is with my beard," said Sokka, chuckling. "From the first time I met her I've thought Ty Lee is strange. I mean, a guy really can't complain about getting a girl's attention, because she's quite a pretty girl and all, but even so…"

Sokka stopped on his tracks when he saw the way Azula's eyes were narrowing. He had a pretty good idea as to why that was: it wasn't hard to guess her anger was only being fueled by his every word. And it wasn't hard for him to guess what had upset her, either.

"W-wait, I didn't mean…!"

"Sign us in, Shoji," said Azula, taking the last strides towards the boy's counter as quickly as possible. Sokka was left chasing after her with a grimace of dread in his face. He didn't need to get to her bad side again after almost two weeks of getting along so well…

"Sure thing," said the boy, smiling at Azula and completely oblivious to the strife between her and her gladiator. "Is the Blue Wolf ready for his fight?"

"You know, you can just call me Sokka…" said Sokka as he stood next to Azula, whose eyebrow twitched when he stood too close to her.

"W-why, I…" said Shoji, gaping at him in surprise. Since when did gladiators tell other people to address them so casually?

"He'll call you as he sees fit, that's his problem. Write down his weapons and let's get this matter over with," grunted the Princess. Sokka winced.

"Oh, sure. What weapons will you be using, Blue… Sokka?" asked Shoji.

"Blue Sokka?" Azula repeated, slightly amused.

"I'll be using my sword, my boomerang, my club and two bombs," said Sokka, all the while glancing at Azula worriedly.

"Are you sure about that?" asked the Princess, raising an eyebrow. "Two bombs…"

"I think they'll come in handy," said Sokka, smiling weakly. Azula didn't mirror the gesture.

"If you say so," she replied, as Shoji scribbled Sokka's weapons on a paper. "Is the other party ready for the fight?"

"Yeah, they came in about half an hour ago," said Shoji, smiling uncomfortably. "The Rockman's sponsor is a bit extreme regarding punctuality."

"We're on time, though, aren't we?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"Yeah, you're even a little early," said Shoji, nodding. "He's just a bit neurotic, always has been."

"He mustn't have much to do with his spare time, I assume," said Azula, shrugging. "Let's go, then."

"Good luck!" said Shoji, as Sokka and Azula walked towards the stairway.

Sokka could still sense some hostility from the Princess, though he counted himself fortunate it wasn't as intense as it had been a few weeks prior. Perhaps an apology, or explaining what he had really meant to say… because as much as Ty Lee was a pretty girl, she wasn't as beautiful as Azula was! And that was something the Princess ought to know before she decided to start despising him over the nonsense he spouted with his big mouth again…

So, once they had reached the stand-by room, he made up his mind to speak and amend the mistakes he had made previously… yet Azula didn't allow him to.

"The Rockman is supposed to be quite skilled," she muttered, making Sokka grit his teeth as he waited for the right moment to talk. "He'd be higher in the ranking if he didn't happen to break furniture by mistake as often as he does. Perhaps you can trick him into destroying objects or so, it might be of use to break his concentration. Yet he's not supposed to be as foolish as most gladiators we've faced. So, as ever, don't underestimate him."

"Sure thing," said Sokka, nodding. "Uhm, Azula, about what happened upstairs…"

The Princess's frown grew more pronounced as she looked at Sokka sideways. How would he recover from it? She truly wanted to see him try…

"I didn't mean to say Ty Lee was all that pretty, or well, that I had enjoyed her attention because I actually didn't…! It was more uncomfortable than anything, really! I hardly knew her back then, so… well, it's not as if I knew her any better right now. I would have to know her a little better to… wait, I'm not saying I want to get to know her more! T-that's not what I…!"

Azula would have continued being angry, but watching him babble as he did only brought her to smile slightly at his awkwardness. It wasn't as if she had any right to tell him whom to like or not, no matter if her heart ached for it to be otherwise. And despite whatever he might say about Ty Lee's looks now, Azula could tell he wasn't really interested in the girl. She had seen men smitten over Ty Lee enough times to spot the difference between their attitudes and Sokka's.

"Sokka," she said, walking up to him. "I'll give you a little piece of advice."

"W-wha…?" said Sokka, staring at Azula with dread written all over his face.

"If you have nothing useful to say…" said the Princess, lifting a hand towards his chin and taking his beard stub in her hand. She pushed upwards and forced him to close his open mouth. "… then shut up."

Sokka blinked a few times as he stared at her in utter shock. So was she upset, or wasn't she…? Was he supposed to do something to make amends for this or wasn't he?

"Good luck out there. Don't make a mess of things," said Azula, releasing his hairs from her grip. "We really could use a win today. Do your best."

"I… I will," said Sokka, nodding promptly.

"See you later," Azula said, so calmly Sokka grew reassured. Perhaps she wasn't as angry as he had thought…

The Princess patted his armored shoulder before walking out of the stand-by room. Sokka sighed, relieved that she wasn't actually angry, and he walked to the golden grid, getting himself ready for the fight that awaited him outside this room.

Azula couldn't help but smile all the way to the sponsors' balcony. There was an undeniable amusement in being able to get Sokka as nervous as he had been just a while ago. She chuckled to herself as she entered the sponsors' balcony, but the grin fell off her face as she approached her seat, remembering that the man awaiting her was one of the noblemen who wished to thwart her by earning winnings from Sokka's inexperience against earthbenders…

"You're just on time. I would have expected the Princess to be here earlier than this," said the sponsor, glancing at her sideways.

He was a slender man, with a sharp nose and gray hair. His hands were together in front of him, his fingers intertwined as if he were calculating matters carefully. Azula raised an eyebrow as she took her place next to him.

"I'm as punctual as needed. The fight was scheduled at eleven, and eleven it is. Perhaps it seems fitting in your opinion that I would be here sooner, but unbeknownst to you, a royal has a tight schedule, and wasting hours doing nothing but waiting for a fight to begin is pointless when you have as many responsibilities as we do."

"Do not believe I haven't got a tight schedule of my own, Princess. That is the reason why I want this battle to be finished immediately. I have business to attend to other than the gladiator fights."

"Is that so? Then, if your business is as important as it is, why did you waste your time and mine with a fight that seems so irrelevant to your interests, oh, great businessman?" asked Azula.

"My name, your Highness, is Tiao, and I do not appreciate your mockery," he groaned. "I take part in whatever businesses will bring me profit. Nothing other than that."

"Then if you're so certain you'll profit from this fight, why don't you spare me the pointless lecture on my inexistent unpunctuality?"

Tiao was unable to find a good counter argument, but to his relief, the usual staff member came in to ask about the time limit. Tiao insisted on ten minutes, hoping to end the fight as quickly as possible, but Azula didn't let him get away with it. In the end, they agreed on twenty minutes, even though Tiao was anything but happy about it. Azula smirked at having gotten her way, pleased by frustrating the man as she had. Even if Sokka didn't win, she would have attained a personal victory over Tiao.

Sokka had taken his seat inside the stand-by room, waiting patiently until the golden grid began ascending. He stretched his arms and stood up, ready to face his opponent.

"Coming from a lousy streak while he was overseas, Princess Azula's gladiator is ready to fight and get back to the crowd's good side!" shouted the megaphone man, as Sokka strode into the sand. "Give a big cheer for the Blue Wolf!"

Shouts and screams welcomed Sokka, and he lifted a fist into the air in a proud gesture, at which the audience grew wilder. Sokka walked to the center of the pit while the golden grid at the opposite side began to slide upwards. Sokka watched as a tan man with long, brown hair walked into the ring. His outfit was so humble Sokka began wondering just how cheap his sponsor could be that he wouldn't provide the man with any better clothes. He seemed to be about his age, and he had a stub of beard not unlike his own, though he also wore an unusual mustache Sokka hadn't seen on anyone before. His eyes were green, and his forehead sported an emerald bandana to keep hair and sweat from falling into his eyes.

"On another slump, yet the best earthbender to come from the Former Earth Kingdom mines, I give you the Emerald Rockman! Let's see which fighter will break his bad streak today!"

Sokka was surprised to see how serene his opponent looked. Sokka unleashed his sword from its scabbard even before the megaphone man gave out the call for them to begin the fight, knowing that earthbenders would often be absolutely unpredictable. He didn't want to be caught off guard by this one.

"START!"

Sokka braced himself for an attack, but it didn't come right away, to his relief and his unease at once. This probably meant the guy he would be fighting was smarter than most… which wouldn't bode well for him, most likely. Dumb earthbenders could beat him… smart ones could nigh kill him, just as it had happened a few months ago in this very sand pit.

"Not attacking right away, I see," said Sokka, smiling and aiming his sword at his opponent. "Quite unusual for an earthbender. The others of your kind I've fought will always try to wreak havoc all over the place in one go."

The Emerald Rockman chuckled and shook his head.

"I don't think that's the best way to use my bending skills," he said, with a raspy voice. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to fight. We're here for a combat after all."

"You seem so civilized you're scary, you know?" said Sokka, chuckling as the Rockman took a steady stance. "What's your name?"

"Don't you think it's rude to ask someone's name without giving yours first?" asked the earthbender, and before Sokka knew it, the Rockman ducked and struck a fist into the air.

And array of sand on the very spot Sokka had been standing on flew upwards and molded into a single spike of glass. Sokka jumped back right on time to avoid a deadly injury, and he knew at once he hadn't judged his opponent rashly when he had assumed he would be a dangerous fighter.

The Rockman proceeded to crack the glass and attack Sokka with the shards, sending them all straight at the non-bender. Sokka brought out his club this time, and he did his best to use it to swipe away all the glass that had been sent his way. One shard got through his defense, but it shattered against his armor, to his relief. It wouldn't have boded well for him to be wounded so early in the battle.

The Rockman ran out of glass and Sokka had a chance to attack. He jumped forward, his sword in hand, but the Rockman conjured a shield of sand. Wary of the technique, Sokka only tried to cut through it once and jumped back immediately after he discovered the shield wouldn't fall apart with a single blow of his sword.

"You're a tough one, aren't you?" he asked, as the Rockman dropped the defense. "Well, my real name is Sokka. Now are you willing to tell me what yours is?"

The Rockman smiled and brought forth a stream of sand, ready to unleash it straight at Sokka, who gulped and braced himself for the impact even before it struck him.

"My name is Haru."


	49. Chapter 49

Sokka wished he had a shield when the array of sand struck him. He could only cover his face with his arm plates, shutting his eyes to keep the tiny grains from compromising his vision. He was completely vulnerable, there was absolutely nothing he could do to fight back while the sand stream was crashing against him. He knew just what the Rockman was about to do… he just knew it. He had turned sand into glass before, and he wouldn't have any reason not to do it now when it would likely award him the victory immediately.

So Sokka took a moment to fuel himself with determination to fling his club towards Haru before the earthbender could solidify the sand once more.

If Sokka had used his boomerang, his attack would have been predictable. But never before had it been heard that he would toss his club through the air to strike his opponent with it. Azula had been worrying about the fight becoming one-sided so soon, but upon Sokka's surprising move she stared at him in admiration and hope. Perhaps he wasn't as lost as she had thought at first…

The club struck the earthbender in the stomach, causing him to gasp for breath as he stumbled, losing his stance and thus the chance to thwart Sokka so early in the battle. The Blue Wolf shook the sand off himself, glaring at the breathless Rockman as he did. His move had delivered a good amount of damage… but would it be enough?

When Haru stuck his hand into the sand powerfully, Sokka knew it wouldn't be.

The grounds beneath him grew slippery as the sand became softer, shifting in itself to sink Sokka into the ring. The process was so fast that it didn't take over one minute for Sokka's feet to be buried in the sand. He jumped out of the unstable grounds as quickly as he could, but it wasn't quick enough. Haru followed him with his gaze and shifted his hand, and the grounds where Sokka landed became quicksand as well. Sokka tried to escape Haru's influence, but it was such a difficult feat that eventually it became impossible. He tried to hold on to one of the wooden structures, but Haru's powers sank both Sokka and the object into the unstable grounds.

Sokka tried to free himself, but when he began squirming he found himself waist-deep in the sand trap. He grimaced as he wondered how to free himself from this predicament, but no ideas came to mind, especially when the Rockman brought forth a huge glass formation and shattered it on Sokka's head.

Everything became hazy for the Water Tribe man after that blow. He hardly noticed that his opponent had lifted him from the ground, using the sand around Sokka to make him levitate, before throwing another rock of glass at him with enough force to blast Sokka out of the sand trap.

Sokka spun in the air after that last blow, landing in sand far away from Haru. He panted and lifted his head slowly, still trying to get a hold of himself. Thankfully he hadn't moved too fast, or else he might have ripped his skull apart with the spike that stood right above him. Haru had thrown him all the way to the edge of the ring.

Sokka gulped and crawled away, doing his best to avoid getting himself branded with a new scar provided by those spikes. Now that he saw them up close he realized their tips seemed reddened by the blood that had been spilled on them so many times…

Sokka turned towards Haru again, deciding not to focus in the spikes anymore. Any second of dawdling could cost him his life, especially when fighting against an earthbender as skilled as this one.

"You should be called the Glassman instead," Sokka stated, chattering in order to gain some time to recover after the blows he had sustained.

To his surprise, Haru laughed gently at his declaration.

"I've trained myself to use all sorts of earth derivates," said Haru. "If you think I'm good with glass, you should see me with rocks."

"I'd rather not, thank you very much," muttered Sokka, smiling sideways as he threw his boomerang at his enemy.

Haru saw the attack coming this time around, and he was quick to react to it. He created a wave of sand, which took Sokka by surprise again, and with it he stopped the boomerang in the middle of its progress. The entire Arena shook when he shifted a mountain of sand in Sokka's direction… and he wrecked more of the furniture in his attempt to overpower Sokka.

Haru cringed as other wooden structures snapped, and the well, which had been rebuilt after its latest destruction, almost sunk underneath the wave Haru had brought forth.

"That imbecile," whispered Tiao, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb.

Azula would have been bothered by the man's harshness on his gladiator when the Emerald Rockman was obviously winning, but she was too busy struggling to find Sokka amindst the sand to worry about whatever the sponsor by her side would say. Where was he? Had he sunk within the immense sand attack? Azula was impressed by this fighter, though. He wasn't as deadly as the Blind Bandit, but he handled his element quite powerfully in his own way.

Haru panted after so much effort, and he gazed about himself to find the Blue Wolf as well. Where had he gone…? Had he been buried? He sure hoped not. He had definitely gone overboard with this attack…

And just as he was trying to spot Sokka, a boomerang soared from behind the well and struck Haru on the back of the head this time around.

The Emerald Rockman stumbled and looked towards the well in astonishment. So he was alright? He had made it out of the sand wave? How?

Azula sighed with relief after spotting Sokka crouching behind the structure. He had managed to run towards it when the sand wave was still rising, and he had taken cover in the sole spot in the Arena that had been safe from the sand attack. As clever of him as always.

Haru cringed at the pain and, against his better judgment, he tore down the well despite knowing how many points it would cost him. Sokka stumbled and stared in astonishment, wondering how much destruction could that piece of furniture withstand…

He didn't have too much time to think about it, though. It seemed he was about to discover why Haru was deemed the Emerald Rockman.

The stones flew towards him so fast Sokka hardly had enough time to react. He sliced them in two, but that wasn't enough for their trajectory to shift. The two halves of the rock still flew towards him, one striking him in the leg and the other in the shoulder. And he didn't even have time to complain about the pain: more rocks were about to come crashing on him.

He had no idea what else to do but to run for his life, and doing so through unstable sand was definitely not a good idea. Another rock crashed against his elbow, sending stinging pain shooting through his arm. He cringed as he made his way through the sand, trying not to lose his footing, but he failed to do so when he tripped with something hard on the ground. He rolled down the uneven sand, clutching his aching elbow as he did. The single positive thing about what Haru had done was that the sand was quite soft, and thus falling on it wasn't as painful as it would have been in other circumstances.

The object he had tripped over came rolling down right after him, striking his shoulder again. Sokka yelped in pain, growing frustrated. Was he really going to lose this fight so easily?! Even his surroundings seemed to work against him…!

It wasn't until then that he realized what had hit him. If his club could have spoken, Sokka was sure it would have apologized for hurting him. But despite the wound it had given him, Sokka couldn't have been happier to see it. He would have hugged the weapon, but the situation was pressing enough as it was for him to waste time with kind gestures. He could hug it later.

Sokka picked up the club, and, despite the pain that endured in his elbow, he clutched Space Sword and he faced the rocks with both weapons at the ready. He used Space Sword to slice the first rock that came forth, and with his club he smashed it powerfully, sending both halves of the stone off-course this time.

Haru gaped at him in surprise. Now that was a trick he hadn't seen from another non-bender before.

Azula smiled approvingly at Sokka's performance. He had almost been overpowered just now, and he had sustained some troublesome injuries, but he had come through the strife, and there was still time to spare. If he was doing so well as of now, then he might gain the upper hand later on…

Sokka waited for the next rock for a moment before noticing it wasn't coming. His opponent was so shocked he hadn't reacted yet… and that was an opening. It might be the only one he would get.

Sokka ran towards Haru, his arms protesting as he clutched his weapons with even more strength. The Rockman turned towards him and dread crossed his face when he realized he had been wasting time pointlessly by standing in awe of what Sokka had done. Why did he have to be such an airhead?

He tried to defend himself with a shield of sand, but Sokka's attack with the club was so strong that he cracked through the defense in a single attempt. The club didn't reach Haru, who grimaced as he tried to get out of the weapon's reach, and after twisting around Sokka's blow he had broken his stance. Sokka smirked and slid Space Sword through the weakened sand that was collapsing to the ground now, and he hit Haru on his left flank with the blade.

Haru screamed and kicked the air, sending a column of sand straight at Sokka's face. The non-bender stumbled and fell down, shaking his head to throw off the dirt. His sword hand fell to the side, and it touched something with an edge in the ground. When Sokka glanced down towards it he grew convinced it was his lucky day. It could have just been a shard of sharp glass… but it was none other than his boomerang! First the club, and now the boomerang. All his weapons kept coming back to him, fortunately.

The Rockman staggered, having a hard time to walk after sustaining such a wound. He glared at Sokka briefly before returning to his strategy with the well's rocks. Sokka jumped out of the way, picking up his boomerang in the process, when one of the largest rocks plummeted on the very spot he had been on. Haru seemed upset by the sudden turn the battle had taken, and his anger seemed to fuel his fighting spirit. He wasn't out of control, his eyes were still focused as he aimed the stones straight towards Sokka, but he was determined to be as deadly as possible now. Sokka used his club to fend off the rocks, unable to use Space Sword while he was still holding his boomerang in his hand.

But his attempts to get rid of the rocks were no use. Haru seemed to juggle the stones, tossing them at Sokka expertly even after the swordsman had thrown them out of the way. He would take them in midair and send them Sokka's way again by controlling two rocks at once, one with each hand. Sokka struggled to get away from the boulders, growing weary of getting chased by them. He was too heavy for the unsteady sand underneath him, and his feet kept sinking into it as he did his best to get away. The efforts weighed on his knees, making him cringe at the difficulty he found in moving through the sand.

Haru suddenly stopped throwing rocks, and when he did Sokka's ascent through the unstable mountain of sand became far more difficult. It took him a moment to realize the earthbender had gone back to bending sand and left the rocks aside for the time being. And right now he was moving the sand Sokka was stepping on in order to make his climb steeper than it already was. Sokka struggled to figure out what to do in this predicament. He could stop walking and allow himself to fall back, but doing so probably would serve no purpose. Haru would drop the wall of sand he was building on him, and he would certainly be buried alive this time around. Continuing to climb might serve some use, at the very least he would likely fall on the surface of the sand, which was better than the other alternative he had thought of…

But another thought came to mind as the wall became larger and larger. Perhaps if he were able to break the earthbender's focus again…

Sokka glanced back and took his sword in the hand that held his club. He threw his boomerang powerfully at Haru, but from that distance the earthbender would obviously fight it back. Nevertheless, he would have to stop bending his mountain of sand for a short while to fend the weapon off…

And doing so made Haru uneasy. He tried to keep control of the sand he had been bending, knowing he couldn't stop now or else he would lose the edge he had gained over Sokka… but if he didn't let the wall go, he would be struck by the boomerang's attack, and he would lose control over the wall regardless. What was he supposed to do?

In an attempt to save himself, Haru kicked up an array of sand towards the boomerang, but the weapon spun too fast and he missed it by a few inches. The boomerang struck him in the shoulder again and flew away just as the sand formation began to collapse.

Sokka took off his helmet and jumped on top of it, in hopes it would help him to slide over the sand without sinking in it. His feet went to either side of the helmet, and he balanced himself as he went down to the ground again, pushed by another powerful wave of sand. The boomerang returned to his hand in that very moment, and Sokka struggled to keep balance as he attached to it the two bombs he had brought with him. Haru struggled to regain control of the sand that was coming down on him, and he would likely succeed at that if he had enough time to focus… which was something Sokka was definitely not going to provide him with.

He flung the boomerang at his enemy again, and once more Haru faced the same predicament. He cringed and flung his right hand towards it, trying to use sand to wave it off again, but as soon as he struck the weapon the two bombs released their smoke, blinding him and preventing him from focusing on his attempts to control the sand.

The new wave of sand came down to the ground, and Haru couldn't do anything but scream as it collapsed on him. Sokka grimaced at the sound and continued to surf until he lost balance and had to jump out of the helmet in order not to lose himself in the mess of sand. He picked his helmet up and ran away from the sand that was still shifting, but to Sokka's relief, it was almost done moving by now.

And Haru still remained hidden within the cloud of smoke.

Sokka gulped, unsure of what would happen when his enemy came out of it again. He picked up his boomerang before walking away from the mess of smoke and sand his opponent was trapped in.

Time ticked away, and the smoke didn't dissipate yet. Sokka's chest heaved as he grew anxious. Would the Rockman hop out of the cloud when he least expected it? Or perhaps he had dug his way out of it through the sand and he would attack him from below…? The thought made him jump back, but he reassured himself. The sand was so loose that he would have sensed any movements below him even when he wasn't an earthbender.

And so Sokka was left doing nothing but waiting. He crouched on the ground, ready to pounce away if it were necessary, and kept his eye on the smoke cloud in front of him.

Tiao gritted his teeth, a gratifying sight for Azula, but not more than the sight of Sokka winning this fight. There was always the chance things would take a turn for the worst… but for once she allowed herself to hope they wouldn't. He had outdone himself this time around.

But she was surprised, and not for the best, when the cloud disappeared and the Emerald Rockman was nowhere to be seen.

"Where…?" gasped Tiao, his eyebrows twitching as he stared down to the sand pit in disbelief.

There was no question, the earthbender had been buried under his own attack. But was that a good thing, or a bad thing? Azula wanted to imagine the best case scenario, but it wasn't easy to do so after having witnessed so many of Sokka's fights against earthbenders. Chances were the Rockman had built an underground haven and he was just waiting for the right moment to attack…

But if that were the case, why hadn't he done anything yet? Why was there no movement under the sand? Azula frowned and so did Sokka, as they stared intently at the spot where Haru had been standing before the wave crashed down on him.

Underneath the sand, Haru struggled to move. He had shut his mouth completely in order to prevent the grains from slipping into his mouth, which would have been chaotic. He was in quite a troublesome position, there was nothing he could do to move. And if he couldn't move, he couldn't bend. If he couldn't bend, then the battle was over with.

And who cared about the battle anyways? He had been buried alive! He was about to die because of his own carelessness, and his mind would choose to lecture him about another loss to add to his slump? He would be more than happy to face his sponsor's wrath upon his failure… if that meant getting out of this predicament alive.

He tried to stretch his right hand upwards, but doing so was hardly any use. He couldn't bend the sand around him. He had to find a way to bend the sand, that was all there was to it. He couldn't bend with his mind, regrettably, or else his sheer willpower would have gotten him out of his ordeal.

He stretched and extended his fingers repeatedly, and that seemed to work well enough. The sand right above him was loose, so he could try to reach out through it. He continued repeating the same process until he finally found it in him to bend with those fingers alone. As he did, the sand around his hand grew loose, and he moved his wrist in order to wave away the sand that was threatening to kill him. Slowly, his entire arm became mobile and he bended the sand around it so that he could reach his face and wipe away the sand, in order to cleanse his lungs with new air.

He spent longer than he should have in the process of regaining his breath, but he succeeded at it eventually. He continued bending the sand around him steadily, releasing his body from the tight trap and getting ready to lift himself from underground…

Sand flew everywhere when Haru finally erupted from the ground. Sokka shielded his eyes and the public screamed when the patches of sand soared towards them. Even Azula and Tiao had to brace themselves from the explosion before looking down at what was happening between their gladiators.

Haru's chest heaved as he stared at Sokka, his eyes mildly unfocused. Sokka gulped and looked back at his opponent, worried over what might happen next. The judges had been about to declare him the winner when Haru had been underground for as long as he had, but upon the movements in the sand they had decided to give him a chance. And Sokka deeply regretted that they had. Perhaps he could find another way around the earthbender now, but how? Haru was careless, but he was insanely skilled. If he had the sliver of a chance to strike Sokka down, he would take it, especially after what he'd just been through.

Nevertheless, it took longer than Sokka expected for Haru to return to his fighting stances. He panted for a while, horrified by what he had just been through, before lifting his arms and bringing forth the rocks from the well. His hands shook as he held them, and he had a hard time keeping a steady grip on them. He feared he would fail to use the boulders efficiently, he had spent too much strength on freeing himself from the sand trap. But he could win… he could beat the Blue Wolf. He wasn't even wearing his helmet anymore, so just a blow to the head ought to serve to knock him out quickly enough…

"The time is up!" shouted the megaphone man, startling both Sokka and Haru.

Time had run out far quicker than anyone had expected. The gladiator, the sponsors and the public hadn't expected it to end right now. Without a doubt, it was the most intense combat Sokka had fought in for quite a while. But had he won, or would the victory be awarded to his foe again? He gulped at the thought but stood strong where he was, trying to wait for the judges' decision patiently.

Haru's hands dropped, and so did the stones he had been holding. He gazed around himself, watching with a grimace as he realized he had torn down all the furniture in the Arena. And what he hadn't torn, he had buried under his avalanches of sand. This was why he liked working with real earth better, he was much better at controlling it…

He didn't even want to look up at the sponsor's balcony. He knew his sponsor would give him an earful over what he had done. Even if he were awarded the triumph, he would still fall back in the ranking after wreaking havoc in the sand ring as he had. He truly hoped the man wouldn't give him a beating, though. He was wounded enough as it was. He clutched the injury on the left side of his ribcage to find it was still bleeding, and after being coated with sand it was prone to getting infected. He needed medical attention right away.

"You alright there, Haru?" asked Sokka, staring at him with mild concern after watching him flinch at the pain.

"I'll be fine," he said, smiling reassuringly. "You're… you're much stronger than I thought."

"That was luck, that's all there was to it," said Sokka, waving a hand carelessly. "You are quite an impressive bender, I'll say."

"And a careless one as well," muttered Haru, dropping his gaze. "I should learn how to use my skills without destroying everything in the process…"

Sokka frowned at those words. Haru needed to learn something. He was a powerful earthbender, but he truly could use a little more control…

And Sokka needed to learn how to deal with earthbenders more effectively. No matter if he won or lost today, there were too many earthbenders out there who could beat him, and they had proven it over and again. And since this gladiator seemed such a nice man, and he was quite capable and powerful… then maybe, just maybe, he would be the solution to the problems he had been facing as of late!

"You could learn to do that," said Sokka, his eyes glistening in hope as he walked towards Haru. "Maybe if I help you, you could…"

"The judges have reached their decision," declared the megaphone man, interrupting the conversation between the two gladiators. As always, one of the judges took the bullhorn in order to declare the winner of the fight.

"After quite a chaotic combat," started the judge. "We have decided to award the victory to the Blue Wolf."

Sokka's eyes widened and he stared at the judges' balcony in shock at first before turning to the opposite direction, smiling enthusiastically at the Princess. Seeing that she was beaming as well as she sighed in relief made him feel quite proud of his accomplishment. There it was, the grin he wanted to keep on her face at all times…

The grids were raised again, and it took Sokka a moment to register that the Emerald Rockman was limping his way towards his exit.

"W-wait!" he exclaimed, hoping to stop him, but then deciding against it. Haru was badly injured. His proposal could wait until the earthbender had been tended to.

He walked back to his stand-by room, with hopes of get his medical check done as quickly as possible. He needed to talk to Haru, and he had to do it quickly. He had to catch up to him before his sponsor could take him home…

"Well, it would seem you made no profit from this fight after all. What a pity," said Azula, her previously peaceful smile turning into a smirk.

Tiao didn't bother replying. He dropped Azula's winnings on the table between them and stormed out of the room. Azula's amusement only grew at that. Sokka had done it, he had done it! He had beaten the earthbender, and with this they had sent a message to all those fools who dared challenge them thoughtlessly. Maybe Sokka had struggled to win… but he had proven he could triumph against earthbenders, and if they dared underestimate him they would pay dearly for it.

She made her way towards the waiting room in which Sokka was being treated, passing by the one where the Emerald Rockman was getting patched up by several physicians. She entered Sokka's room to find him wincing at the ice that was being rubbed on his wounds.

"Azula…" he said, giving her a pained smile as a greeting.

"You did it," she told him, beaming. "I was almost expecting you wouldn't, but you did!"

"So you didn't trust me to pull this off?" asked Sokka, an eyebrow twitching.

"After your stellar performances in the Arena lately, you truly can't blame me for doubting you," said Azula, shaking her head. "But nonetheless, you have proven yourself. You were still building your plans on the spot, but they paid off this time around. You'll need to try harder on the next opportunities, but this will do for the moment."

"Thanks…" said Sokka, cringing as they placed the ice on his face now.

"Wait… does ice bother you now?" asked Azula, amused. "You have been too long in the Fire Nation."

"I agree, it's been too long," gulped Sokka. "I'm getting too used to the weather and to your knack to make fun of every little thing that you can poke at me with…"

"Given your bitterness, I doubt you're really getting used to that," said Azula, smirking.

"He'll have to keep ice on his wounds until the swelling is gone," said the physician, looking at Azula. "He should be able to fight again in a week or two."

"Good. So be it," said Azula, nodding as the man walked out of the room. "Well, then, are you ready to go find out if you've risen in the ranking?"

"Ye-… No," said Sokka, shaking his head. "Azula, that guy… that guy is it."

"Who… the physician?" asked Azula, confused.

"No! The Emerald Rockman!" exclaimed Sokka. "He's the one we've been waiting for!"

Azula's puzzlement only seemed to grow larger upon those words. She allowed herself a nervous smile and looked at Sokka sideways.

"I assure you I was not waiting for him. But if this is the way you're swinging now, Sokka, I'll try not to judge…"

"That's not what I…! What the hell, Azula?!" Sokka exclaimed, grimacing. "No, no, no! I mean the earthbender that I should train with! The one that will help me develop techniques to defeat other eartbenders!"

Azula frowned now, in deep thought.

"Him? Why him?" she asked. "He may be strong, but he's too careless in comparison to the ones you usually fight with. He lacks discipline."

"Which is exactly what I thought! I can help him to be less reckless with his attacks, to develop his fighting style better," Sokka declared. "And he'll do the same for me! So it's a completely beneficial situation, we both will have something to gain from it!"

The frown in the Princess's face only deepened as she considered Sokka's idea.

"It sounds good, Sokka, I'll grant you that, but I doubt we'll be able to make it happen. Convincing that sponsor won't be an easy feat, in fact I don't think I'll be able to…"

"How about you give him back the winnings you earned from him and use them as leverage?" asked Sokka, with a goofy smile.

Azula shot him a venomous glare and Sokka just scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Even if I did that, I don't think he'll accept this deal," muttered Azula. "With what little I found out about him, it's going to take more than returning his money to convince a man like him."

"Did you tick him off in any way?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"Just by having a gladiator strong enough to defeat his I've ticked him off," said Azula, sighing. "Even if he went with it, enacting this agreement would be awful. Just imagining having to deal with the man on a daily basis gives me a headache…"

"Well, it doesn't have to be every day," said Sokka, shrugging. "Maybe once every two days! Or three times a week? Whatever pleases you most!"

"I'd be pleased if you'd decided on a training partner that wasn't so hard to acquire," said Azula, sighing heavily. "Why must you always make everything ten times as difficult as it already is, Sokka?"

"Look who's talking," said Sokka, pouting. "You're the most difficult person I know!"

"I'm a difficult person, yes; you, on the other hand, complicate everything unnecessarily, and that's what I'm complaining about," grunted Azula. "Are you sure this Rockman will serve as your training partner? Absolutely certain of that?"

"Yeah, I am," said Sokka, still pouting. "He's a nice guy too, to make it even better! One of the most rational earthbenders I've met up to date, and he's not a vicious little thing like the Blind Bandit, so he's really the best choice we've got!"

Azula groaned and shook her head, wishing there was a better alternative ahead. But if they didn't try to get this gladiator to work with them, there were no guarantees they'd find another fighter suitable for what they had in mind. Chances were he would be the best choice for the role, and if they could convince him through suggesting a mutually beneficial arrangement, there was a chance he would comply. Tiao had proven to be an ambitious man… it was time to see just how ambitious he truly was.

"We'll try to recruit him, then," said Azula, though she didn't seem too enthusiastic about the perspective. "But chances are he'll refuse us and we'll still have to find another earthbender to sort out this problem."

"Nothing wrong with trying anyways, is there?" asked Sokka, smiling as he stood up.

"I hope not," said Azula, irritated by the thought of having to come face-to-face with Tiao once again.

They walked into the hallway, and Azula peeked into the room where she had seen Haru earlier… to find it vacant.

"He was in here…" said Azula, frowning. "Were they done healing him that quickly?"

"Probably not, but his sponsor could have stopped the healing session if he wanted to," said Sokka, walking off towards the staircase. "Come on, maybe they haven't left the building yet. We might still have a chance to catch them!"

Azula followed him promptly, and they almost ran down the stairs on their way to find Haru and Tiao. And they were truly fortunate to find them in front of Shoji's counter, Tiao speaking sternly to the boy while Haru stood a few feet away, still gripping his left flank with a grimace on his face. It seemed his sponsor had dragged him out of the room as soon as he had been bandaged, without giving him a moment to rest.

"Two more losses and he's out?" Tiao had just said when both Azula and Sokka approached. "This is ridiculous."

"Well, that's just the rules, sir…" muttered Shoji, lowering his face.

"That's a ridiculous way to excuse something ridiculous," grunted Tiao, glaring at the boy.

"There's no need to blame him for the way the system works, Tiao," said Azula, earning herself a large smile from Shoji. The boy's eyes had lit up as soon as he had realized she was there.

"Come to gloat again, have you, Princess?" grunted the man. "Regrettably, I have no time to waste on this nonsense. I have better places to be at than this foul…"

"We're in luck that you have no time for my gloating, because I didn't come to rub your loss in your face," said Azula. "Your gladiator has qualities that interest me. I sought a training partner for mine, and yours might just be the fighter I was looking for. Therefore, I expected the two of us could reach an agreement so that our gladiators could begin a joint training regime-…"

"What?" asked Tiao, staring at Azula in utter disbelief. "You want my Rockman to build up your pathetic excuse for a fighter…"

"Hey!" exclaimed Sokka, insulted. "I won!"

"So that your gladiator develops the skills to fight against earthbenders?" Tiao continued, ignoring Sokka completely. "You truly believe I would accept such ludicrous proposal?"

"Your fighter could gain important experience from this as well," muttered Azula, having expected this response. "Just as Sokka learns to fight earthbenders, the Rockman will learn to fight more carefully so he doesn't tear the entire Arena down as he almost did today."

Sokka didn't miss the way Haru's face fell. He surely was frustrated with himself enough already… hearing the Princess of the Fire Nation bring up his shortcomings so harshly seemed to make him wish he hadn't climbed out of his sand trap after all.

"What my gladiator does is my concern," grunted Tiao. "Maybe yours could help him, I will not deny that, but I have no time to waste in this pointless agreement. My answer is no."

"Oh, come on! Be reasonable here, will you?" exclaimed Sokka. "This will benefit everyone, and I'm sure Azula would be more than happy to pay you for-…!"

"You dare speak to a man of my standing?" asked Tiao, aghast. "You lowly slave… the Princess might be soft with you, but you're not getting the same treatment from me. Know your place, slave. Behave as one of your kind should."

"What?!" squealed Sokka, his voice creaking. "Can you believe this guy, Azula?!"

"Why… he's right, you know?" said Azula, making Sokka wince. "You never act like a slave, and I always let you get away with it."

"WHAT?! You don't mean that!" Sokka said, aghast.

"I apologize over my gladiator's inadequate behavior," said Azula, smiling a little as Sokka fumed next to her. "Nevertheless, as he said, if money is what you require, I would be willing to…"

"I do not want your money," grunted Tiao. "You are not buying my services, or the services of my slave! He belongs to me, and I don't care if the Fire Lord's daughter wants him, I will not sway so long as he belongs to me!"

Azula cringed and Sokka's irritation turned towards Tiao again. Haru had actually seemed interested in joining them for training when Azula had explained herself, but if he dared protest against his sponsor's decision he was bound to get a slap or something worse. Tiao clearly wasn't a gentleman, let alone towards slaves.

"Then would you stop being so twitchy if he wasn't your gladiator anymore?" asked a perky voice, surprising the two gladiators and their respective sponsors.

Azula shouldn't have been surprised to see that Ty Lee had lurked into a conversation uninvited, but she definitely hadn't expected her to appear out of nowhere right now. Sokka blinked a couple of times, eyeing the girl with distrust. What was she up to…?

"What…? W-who are you?" asked Tiao, frowning.

"Oh, I'm just a friend of the Princess's" said Ty Lee, smiling carelessly. "Now, Mr. Sponsor, I think there's a very nice way to settle this matter…"

"Ty Lee, do you even know what we're talking about?!" asked Azula, staring at her friend in disbelief.

"Sure I do! I was listening in all along!" replied Ty Lee happily.

"That's not a very courteous thing to do," grunted Tiao, glaring at the girl.

"Neither is treating the Princess, Sokka and your slave as you do," said Ty Lee, crossing her arms over her chest. "Who is the least courteous around here, huh?"

"I'm willing to say Sokka…" whispered Azula under her breath, so that neither Ty Lee nor Tiao would hear her. But someone else did, since he was standing too close to her to miss out on what she had just said.

"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed, angrily.

"Do not lecture me about etiquette, you foolish girl!" grunted Tiao. "This matter is of no concern of yours!"

"Truly, Ty Lee, it isn't…" said Azula, glancing at Ty Lee sideways.

"Maybe it wasn't, Azula, but now it is," said Ty Lee, turning towards Tiao with a determined look on her face. "I'm going to buy your gladiator."

Eyes snapped open and jaws dropped at Ty Lee's words. Nobody spoke for a moment as they tried to digest what the noble girl had just declared. Shoji was looking from Tiao to Ty Lee, eager to watch how this matter would play out.

"Y-you can't do such a thing, you… that should be illegal!" exclaimed Tiao.

"It actually isn't," said Shoji.

"Silence, boy!" shouted Tiao, and Shoji shrank in his seat. "He's not for sale! You can't buy him because I'm not willing to sell him!"

"That's just absurd" said Ty Lee, rolling her eyes "At this rate he'll lose his position in the ranking, and you're losing more money than any gladiator should ever have his sponsor lose. I've made more money than you these past few months and I'm only just betting on fights!"

"Y-you… how would you know that?!" squealed Tiao.

"Word spreads quickly enough through the gladiator business' fans, you know?" she said, smiling. "I heard you're about two or three fights away from him being forced to drop out for a year. Are you really going to risk that?"

"You little…" muttered Tiao, his fists balled as he glared at Ty Lee.

Sokka leaned in towards Azula, without taking his eyes off from the argument in front of them.

"What's going on here?" he whispered to her.

"How should I know?" replied Azula, completely shocked. "It's the first time I've seen Ty Lee like this…"

"Well, then, you don't have all day and neither do I," said Ty Lee, tapping the floor with her foot. "What will it be? Will you be reasonable and choose to make profit out of this, like a smart man would, or not?"

"I… I would only ever sell this boy for his true worth," grunted Tiao, smiling with malice. "And that would be five hundred thousand yuans, which I doubt a petty girl like yourself would…"

"Deal," declared Ty Lee, making Sokka and Azula jump right next to her.

"Deal?!" repeated Azula, aghast.

"W-what? I didn't even finish…!" said Tiao, just as shocked by the response.

"You said you'd sell him for that, I said I'd buy him. I'm willing to pay up, so what's the problem?" said Ty Lee. "With that much money you could go out to the slave market and buy a new gladiator for yourself, right?"

"But I…" started Tiao, grimacing.

In truth, this deal was too good to be true. He would earn money, far more than his gladiator had ever made for him. And he would be rid of the failure of a slave as well. It was so good that he truly had a hard time understanding why anyone would accept spending that much money on that earthbender. Nevertheless, he was the one profiting from this deal, wasn't he? If that girl was really so foolish… then he had to make the most of it.

"Well, if that's the way you want it, meet me here again tomorrow. Bring the money, and the useless slave will be yours."

"Will do," said Ty Lee smiling and stretching a hand towards the man. "It was a pleasure doing business with you."

Tiao seemed to have second thoughts about shaking her hand, but he did so nonetheless. He turned around and dragged his gladiator towards the exit, as the young earthbender stared in utter awe at the woman who had just settled a bargain to buy him. Why had she done that? Was she going to be a better master than Tiao was? She seemed like it, which was scary in its own way. And if she was friends with the Fire Lord's daughter, who knew just what sorts of ruthlessness hid underneath that seemingly harmless exterior.

"What just happened…?" asked Sokka, staring at Ty Lee's back as she waved good-bye to Haru.

"I… I have no idea," replied Azula.

"I got lost after the part where she said she'd buy him," confessed Sokka. "How is she going to put that much money together? Did she earn that much from her bets?"

"I wouldn't know, but if she's that willing to pay it, I assume it's because she did," said Azula, shrugging.

Being wrong had never irritated the Princess more.

"I just need a little loan for it, that's all!" whined Ty Lee, after revealing the truth to Azula.

Instead of heading to Sokka's place, as planned, Azula had decided to return to the Palace in order to give Ty Lee the answers she sought regarding Azula's trip to the Earth Kingdom. Little had she expected the girl to suddenly confess she didn't have the money to buy the slave, even when she had seemed so confident about it.

"A little…?! You're unbelievable, Ty Lee!" snapped Azula, walking through the room with a hand on her forehead.

Sokka had been gazing out of the window towards the garden, where Xin Long was currently enjoying his lunch, until Ty Lee's confession had come forth. Now he had chosen to turn around in order to stare at Ty Lee judgmentally.

"Why did you accept to pay that huge sum of money if you didn't have it?" asked Sokka, frowning. "You could have haggled to get something more reasonable…"

"And five hundred thousand, for crying out loud" whispered Azula. "That guy isn't even worth a hundred!"

"Hey! He'll be worth it, alright!" squeaked Ty Lee, pouting.

"What on earth is that supposed to mean?" asked Azula, staring at her friend warily. "You're not trying to say… Ty Lee, why exactly did you decide to buy him?"

"Well, I heard you guys needed to get that guy for some reason, and that jerk wouldn't budge, so I figured…"

"Do spare me the blatant lies," grunted Azula. "Tell me the truth, Ty Lee."

The girl looked at her shyly for a moment before staring dreamily into space.

"Did you get a good look at him? He's a total catch…"

Sokka smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand as Azula threw her hands in the air in despair. She walked around the room again as Ty Lee squirmed where she was, unusually bashful as she thought about the gladiator she had been swooning over as soon as she had lain her eyes on him.

"That mustache, and the beard…" she continued, giggling.

"Seriously, you got him just to make the man your sex slave?" asked Sokka, his eyebrow twitching.

"Hey! I wouldn't do that! No self-respecting woman would do that!" exclaimed Ty Lee.

"But you did!" Azula shouted.

"Well… maybe I did in a way, but I really didn't! I mean, he's good-looking and I'm pretty sure he'd rock my world in bed," she said, giggling again before getting serious. "But that's not the point! You guys needed him too, so all in all, I'm doing you a favor!"

"You're doing yourself a favor, Ty Lee, quit trying to sugarcoat this," grunted Azula.

"Well, fine, if you want to take it like that then do it!" said Ty Lee, pouting. "But even if my main concern were to make the most out of him, I still would be able to give you two what you want! If he's my gladiator, you'll have a better chance to use him for whatever it is you want him than if he remained the gladiator of that weirdo!"

"Yeah, that's about right…" muttered Azula, rolling her eyes.

"She does have a point, despite how impure her intentions may be," said Sokka, shrugging.

"Couldn't quite expect you to think otherwise," said Azula, glaring at him. "You know no shame, you're just as bad as her."

"Oh, is he, now?!" asked Ty Lee, her eyes gleaming at the prospect of gossip regarding the possible relationship between Azula and her gladiator. Little did it matter to her that Azula had just insulted her.

"Stop jumping to conclusions!" retorted Azula. "That's not what I meant! There's nothing going on with him and me!"

"Yeah, just gladiator and sponsor, nothing other than that," said Sokka, trying to sound convincing, but Ty Lee smiled at them.

"Oh, sure… just as you say I shouldn't lie, Azula, neither should the two of you," she said, giggling happily. "I can sense lies regarding this topic from a mile away!"

"If it were a lie, I'd be more than pleased to inform you otherwise," said Sokka, smiling and looking away towards the window again.

"What the…?! Sokka!" shouted Azula, her cheeks reddening at his unexpected admission.

"But it really isn't one," said Sokka, sighing. "So how about we go back to the main topic, huh?"

"Oh, but talking about you two is a lot more…!"

"Ty Lee," said Azula, with an angry and dangerous tone Ty Lee hadn't heard from her in a long time. The girl gulped and stared at her friend in mild fear. "Back to what we were discussing. Now."

"Okay, okay, sheesh…" said the girl, sighing and placing her hands on her waist. "Well, I think you guys need him, so I really don't see a problem with this…"

"The problem is, it would have seemed as if you were doing us a favor," said Azula. "When instead you're making me pay for you to get a new sex toy-…"

"That's not it! And if the matter of payment is what you're so worried about, just how much money do you think that guy would have coaxed out of you if you had managed to strike a deal with him? I may be asking for you to help me with half the money, but that's still nowhere near the price this guy would have put on his gladiator's services if he thought he could get away with it!"

"But you still didn't have to settle for five hundred thousand!" exclaimed Azula. "Spending this much money on a slave… when has anyone ever done such a thing?!"

"Huh, you're saying I'd have the priciest slave ever?" asked Ty Lee, thoughtful. "That sounds like a very nice catchphrase for his first fight under my sponsorship in the Superior League!"

It wasn't until that moment that Azula realized what it truly meant for Ty Lee to become the Emerald Rockman's sponsor: Ty Lee would become the second female sponsor in the League. No longer would Azula be the sole woman in the formerly all-male business. Azula had wished that other women might be inspired by her example so that they would decide to join the gladiator business... But months had gone by, and even though Mayor Morishita's daughter had said she wanted to become a sponsor, it didn't seem she had found the proper fighter for herself yet. Azula had been the only female sponsor until now, the only one to be undermined by the sexist regime that ruled over the gladiator establishment. But if Ty Lee joined, chances were that other women would feel encouraged to follow, and eventually she would stop fighting this particular war on her own. It was a nice prospect to look forward to... But the cost still seemed rather steep to her.

"Do you understand the responsibility that comes with sponsoring a gladiator?" asked Azula, with a deep frown. "Will you train him so you can keep him from dropping out of the ranking? He's only two losses away from being kicked out of the League. You have to get him into better shape."

"Why, sure!" said Ty Lee cheerfully. "The two of you train together, I can train my guy as well!"

"Yet our training doesn't include..."

"I know, I know, and what a shame that is," said Ty Lee, sighing. "I'm sure that would get you both in much better moods."

"Our moods have nothing to do with this, Ty Lee," grunted Azula. "Quit changing the subject!"

"Ow, fine, then..." said Ty Lee, pouting.

"How much money do you have?" asked Azula, already regretting her decision.

"About three hundred thousand," said Ty Lee, sighing at the thought of spending all her winnings in one go.

"How about you?" asked Azula, looking at Sokka. "Do you have any money to spare for this madness?"

"What, me?" said Sokka, surprised.

"You were the one who insisted on having this guy as your training partner," Azula reminded him.

Sokka sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.

"I should be able to gather around forty or fifty thousand," he muttered.

"Then that will have to do as well," said Azula, sighing. "I'll cover the rest of it."

"Oh, yay!" said Ty Lee, jumping enthusiastically. "You're the best, Azula!"

"I can't believe I'm actually paying for you to get laid," Azula muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, you're paying for a lot more than that! You need him too, after all!"

"I'm certain you'll make a lot more use of him than we will."

"Most likely," said Ty Lee, with another silly giggle.

"You're going to owe me a huge favor after this, you heard me?" said Azula, frowning sternly. "Beyond huge, rather."

"Sounds good to me," said Ty Lee, cheerily. "I'll give you all the tips you'll need for when you and Sokka get physical!"

"Will you stop?!" Azula shouted, her face reddening again.

"I just thought that you wanted a big favor, and that's the biggest one I can think of..." said Ty Ler, shrugging.

"I'll be the one to decide how you'll repay me!" stated Azula. "And if you don't stop implying what you're implying, you'll have to sell yourself in order to pay off that gladiator!"

"Wow! Okay, okay, sheesh... You don't have to be so mean," said Ty Lee, shrinking at her friend's words.

"Are you sure about this, then?" asked Sokka, looking at Azula.

"I'm having second thoughts already, but in order to make you stronger..."

"No, I meant refusing her tips," said Sokka teasingly.

"The hell?!" Azula shouted, and Sokka laughed loudly, walking away to avoid Azula's wrath.

"I'm just kidding, just kidding!" he said, unable to stop laughing at the enraged look on the Princess's face.

Azula's mood didn't improve much over the next hours, although neither Sokka nor Ty Lee continued to tease her. The thought of spending that much money irritated her to no end, but she had no option other than to go with it. And thus, on the next day she had headed to the Arena along with Sokka, to give Ty Lee the money she required to seal her deal. Azula was sure she hadn't imagined the look of satisfaction in Tiao's face as the transaction finished, once he was heading for the doors.

Ty Lee beamed happily as she stared at Haru, who was looking back at her, still completely baffled by what had occurred. How had he landed such a lucky hit? There had to be a catch someplace: he wasn't the kind of guy who'd have fortune smiling upon him in any way. But it had smiled upon him this time, hadn't it?

"How's your wound?" asked Ty Lee, looking down at his torso. "Do you need any better healing? I can afford a good physician to look after you if you need…"

"N-no, I'm… I'm better now," said Haru, shyly. "You shouldn't spend more of your money on me."

"She shouldn't spend more money altogether, be it hers or anyone else's," grunted Azula, at which Haru jumped. Being near the Fire Nation Princess was a terrifying and amazing experience at the same time. "In any case, Ty Lee, you'll stick to your side of our bargain. We'll give these two a week to recover from their fight, and after that they will begin to train together. And you still owe me that big favor anyways."

"Yeah, yeah, no need to worry, I have everything under control!" said Ty Lee cheerfully, linking her arm with Haru's. The earthbender's face turned red upon the physical contact. "See you when I see you!"

Azula and Sokka only watched with worried looks on their faces as Ty Lee dragged Haru outside the Arena, the earthbender clutching his wound as he stumbled to keep up with her.

"Can this end well?" asked Sokka, looking at Azula.

Azula sighed and shrugged, not knowing how to answer that question. Ty Lee had a knack for making it through dire and potentially troublesome situations. Perhaps she would find the way to deal with the dangers of getting involved with a slave…?

"And there it is, my especial recipe of sea soup!" said Ty Lee cheerfully, setting the bowl in front of Haru.

The slave stared at the meal in awe, certain he had never eaten something as fancy as this in his life. He picked at the shrimp before taking a bite out of it, and the spicy taste made him gag for a moment before he gulped the food down, trying not to displease the girl before him. Who knew what she would be capable of if she were upset by something he did…

"Are you alright?" asked Ty Lee, staring at him worriedly as he coughed and drank water in quick gulps.

"I, uh… I'm just not used to these spices," he said, lowering his gaze. "It's a very good dish, my… uh… lady? Sponsor?"

"You can just call me Ty Lee," said the girl, giggling. "Everybody does!"

"Well, then… T-Ty Lee," said Haru, growing flustered.

"You're so cute it's ridiculous," Ty Lee whispered, squirming. "You can look at me, you know? There's nothing wrong with doing that!"

"B-but I'm just a slave…" said Haru, gulping. "Slaves aren't supposed to look at their masters…"

"Is that what Tiao told you?" asked Ty Lee, frowning. "Well, I know of a slave who talks back to his sponsor, makes fun of her, spends lots of time with her, goes with her on adventures and I'd say he's even falling in love with her… and it might even be mutual, you know?"

"T-that…" said Haru, frowning in confusion. "What?"

"Yeah, and I'm talking about none other than my dear friend Azula and the gladiator you fought against yesterday!" said Ty Lee, cheerfully. "If the Princess can be friends with her gladiator, why shouldn't the two of us be friends as well?"

"Because we're from different worlds," said Haru, frowning and raising his eyes at last. "You're nobility… I'm scum."

"What?" said Ty Lee, shocked. "You're not scum! You're a very good-looking guy! And you're a person, just as I am! You're a guy, I'm a girl, and that's the single thing that should set us apart!"

"But the Fire Nation policies state…"

"Oh, forget about that," said Ty Lee, waving a hand carelessly. "Who cares for those boring social standards? If anything, prohibition makes everything a lot more fun! So just go with it, Haru… will you?"

"Should I really?" asked Haru, gazing at her shyly. "Can we really be… equals?"

"Well, maybe not in public," said Ty Lee, shrugging. "People will be rude to you if you step over the line, they always are with Sokka. But behind closed doors, Haru… that's a very different story."

"Then… we will be equals," said Haru, smiling. "You won't… you won't hit me?"

"Wha-…" said Ty Lee, her eyes widening before she gave Haru a gentle smile. "Of course I won't."

"And you'll… you'll give me the same food you have?" asked Haru.

"So long as you want it," said Ty Lee, giggling. "You can tell me if you don't like it, I could get something else for you if that's the…"

"No, no! I… I like this," said Haru, smiling as he drank more of his soup. He had another fit of coughs before turning to beam at Ty Lee again. "This is the best thing that has happened to me since I became a slave."

"I'm glad that's the case," said Ty Lee. "And… it could get even better, you know?"

"What… better?" asked Haru, his eyes opening wide. "I don't think that's possible… after all I've gotten, there's still more?"

"Well… only if you're up to the task," said Ty Lee, winking at him suggestively.

Haru's face reddened deeply when he caught the meaning of what she was implying. Out of all the things he could have expected from a sponsor… this was the one he would have considered the least likely to happen.

* * *

"You two did what?!" Azula screamed, staring at Ty Lee in utter shock.

"Well, how was I supposed to help it?" said Ty Lee, giggling and squirming as she often did. "He's so cute! He's not just handsome, he's beyond cute!"

"But couldn't you even wait… I don't know, two weeks?! You hardly even know the guy!" shouted Azula.

"What, did you wait two weeks before getting started with Sokka?" said Ty Lee, staring at Azula blankly.

"TY LEE!" Azula yelled now, and her friend laughed so loudly she fell over.

The promised week had passed them by faster than expected, and Azula had

brought Sokka over to Ty Lee's house on the appointed date. Her home stood in the middle area of the city, since she wasn't of the same high standing as Mai, and she had moved out from her family's villa into a place of her own. Life with her family had always bothered her to no end, and she had always sought her own independence, which was why she had started working for a circus as a teenager. That independence had remained partial until she had begun earning real money through her betting. Now, as a sponsor, she was certain to have a stable income, so long as her gladiator performed properly.

Azula and Ty Lee sat in the house's balcony, looking out into the garden where Sokka and Haru would begin their training. Ty Lee had never been too careful with her gardening, so she had no problem with having the two gladiators fighting on the back of her house.

"Are all noble ladies like that?" asked Haru, with a dumb smile on his face as Sokka stretched. "Do they really like slaves so much?"

"I think they find something really appealing about us," said Sokka, smirking. "They can't resist, mate. We have charm running in our blood."

"S-so… you and the Princess?" asked Haru, gulping.

"Oh, yeah," said Sokka, smiling proudly.

"The two of you have… done it? For real?"

"Twice now," said Sokka, proudly. "And I'm pretty sure she's got no qualms with my skills for kissing."

"Only with the kissing ones?" asked Haru, surprised. "Isn't she happy about the rest of it?"

"Wha-…? The rest of what?" said Sokka, blinking blankly.

"W-well, you know, the rest of the deed…" said Haru, blushing as he smiled shyly.

Sokka's mouth fell wide open.

"Y-you two banged?!" he asked, shocked. "Already?!"

"Not so loud!" said Haru, bashful. "No need for the entire world to know… but then, you and the Princess haven't…?"

"Of course not! She's the Princess! How could she ever let me…?"

"But you've kissed her," said Haru, surprised.

"Uh… t-that's another matter entirely," said Sokka, waving a hand carelessly. "That's not something you can't come back from."

"Ty Lee thinks otherwise," said Haru, rubbing his chin. "She's sure the two of you are falling in love."

Sokka's cheeks reddened and he could only shake his head, trying to laugh Haru's words off.

"In love? With me?" said Sokka. "She's got better things to do than waste her time with the likes of me, she's said so enough times by now."

"But what about you?" asked Haru, puzzled. "You don't feel anything towards her…?"

All traces of a smile faded from the Blue Wolf's face as he brought out his sword hastily.

"Well, we came here to fight, didn't we?! Let's get on with this so you can quit harassing me!"

"I was only asking a question!" said Haru, startled by Sokka's response.

"Get ready, Rockman!" shouted Sokka, running towards Haru, who brought forth a wall of earth to defend himself.

Sokka's refusal to acknowledge what Haru had said worked as a way to boost himself, and he climbed over the wall to continue giving chase to the earthbender. Both Azula and Ty Lee had been discussing Ty Lee's recklessness until the gladiators had started to fight. They both focused on the battle, impressed by how swift Sokka was and how clumsy but powerful Haru could prove to be. This was only the beginning of their training regime… but from the moment Azula saw them fight, she knew Sokka had been right to choose this gladiator: Haru had what it took to become the man who would help Sokka learn how to fight earthbenders.


	50. Chapter 50

Sokka woke up in a very good mood that day. Today he would fight a non-bender for the first time since he had beaten The Butterfly Lady in Yu Dao. A month had gone by in which he had only fought against earthbenders: Azula had meant to prove that she wouldn't back down no matter if her gladiator seemed to be at a disadvantage. But the disadvantage was decreasing with every passing day.

Sokka's training with Haru had started out with analytical sessions, to Sokka's surprise. Haru had devoted their encounters to explaining the way earthbenders fought, hoping to show Sokka how he should attack them. The main weakness of benders, as Haru had explained, was the time they required to bring forth their attacks. There were other weaknesses worth exploiting: unlike firebenders, who could produce their own flames, earthbenders required the earth under their feet to fight, and they couldn't manipulate it just by willing it. There was a short window that Sokka could make use of, the moment in which the earthbenders took their stances to bring forth their attacks. It would require all of Sokka's stealth and agility to use that opening properly. Thus, when they started to train physically, Haru compelled Sokka to seek out the right opening. That little guidance alone had been incredibly helpful.

Haru had also briefed Sokka in the common ways earthbenders would attack him in the Grand Royal Dome. The knack of using the stones from the well was growing quite popular lately, but breaking it down would take time that Sokka could use to his advantage. The sand attacks were troublesome, but if Sokka broke the earthbender's stance he would be able to get out of sand traps without much issue.

Haru's advice regarding Sokka's offense was to stun his opponents, or to seek to maim their extremities. Earthbenders didn't bend with their heads, at least, not that Haru knew of, so attacking their limbs would serve Sokka well. Upon this advice, Sokka recalled the way he had almost taken down his opponent in Gaoling. Cutting his hand would have served him much better if he had done it earlier… but there was no point worrying about a lost battle anymore. He would do his best so that he wouldn't have to lose another one in the same fashion.

And to his satisfaction, Haru's help paid off almost instantly. Now that Sokka knew what to aim for with his attacks, his performance against earthbenders was no longer as inconsistent as it had been. He collected two more triumphs, against earthbenders in higher standings than Haru, and afterwards the challenges from sponsors of earthbenders ceased to arrive. Pleased by that change of tides, Azula had decided to give Sokka a break from the relentless combats against earthbenders and she had finally accepted the challenge of a non-bender.

The one they had accepted was well beneath Sokka in the ranking, but that didn't bother the Blue Wolf. He might not award them heaps of points, but having the chance to face off against a non-bender was very refreshing. He wouldn't underestimate his opponent, of course, but it was a relief to know he would be able to fight without fearing the grounds underneath him would swallow him if he wasn't careful enough.

All in all, everything was faring off surprisingly well for Sokka nowadays, which gave him a mild sense of foreboding. Perhaps it meant something bad would happen sometime soon, but he shook his head as the thought came into his mind while he enjoyed his breakfast. If he was on a roll right now, he'd do best to enjoy it instead of worrying over whatever troublesome matters might come next.

"You seem rather happy today," said Song, smiling as Sokka gulped down the remnants of his breakfast as rashly as ever.

"Well, I'm finally off to fight something other than an earthbender," said Sokka, sighing happily. "And that's a relief beyond compare, believe me. I'm so tired of those guys and their sandbending… all the little grains get stuck in the most uncomfortable places, you know?"

"I can imagine," said Song, smiling awkwardly. "I am the one who does your laundry after all."

"And I owe you lots for that, my friend!" said Sokka happily, standing up from the table and mussing Song's hair. "Alright, then, I'm off to get ready!"

"Okay," said Song, smiling as she fixed her hair as she could. "Good luck today!"

"Thanks!" said Sokka, as he entered his room and donned his armor and weapons.

He climbed down the stairs once he was ready, and he waited patiently for the knock on the front door, but it didn't come. He frowned and decided to wait a little longer. Perhaps his fight was set to happen later than he had thought?

After a while of waiting he started pacing in the living room impatiently. Did Azula tell him to go to the Arena and wait for her there? No, he didn't recall her saying so this time around. But maybe his memory was failing him. Maybe she said that before taking off yesterday, after their sword training…

Azula had improved much in regards of handling a sword. She was still not up to Sokka's level, but she had taken upon training by herself from time to time, combining her firebending with her skills with the blade. She had showed Sokka the new fighting forms she had developed, and he had watched in awe as she used a fire-coated blade to direct fire blasts. He had instantly reminded her quite nervously that, while training with him, she wasn't to use her firebending at all, and Azula was rather amused by his unease.

But now he thought about it, he recalled Azula telling him expressly to wait at home for her arrival. So, if she had said that, where could she possibly be right now?

A loud thud on the house's backyard startled him, knocking his thoughts out of his head. He turned around just as a shrill roar came from outside, and he identified the sound instantly. With a smile on his face, he walked out to the yard to find a most interesting sight.

Azula was patting her black dragon's neck kindly, a delighted smile on her face as she shifted in her brand new saddle. It was black and crimson, honoring both the colors of the dragon and of the Fire Nation. It was unexpectedly anatomic, fitting the dragon perfectly and keeping several layers of steels and leather between Azula and the sharp scales on the dragon's skin. Metallic bars lined the back of the saddle, which served as a grip for passengers to hold onto during the flight. The metal stirrups covered Azula's feet well enough, providing solid protection for them. She held leather reins in her hand, though they weren't attached to the dragon's head. The reins criss-crossed over the dragon's chest, allowing Azula to steer Xin Long's flight gently, although the reins weren't entirely necessary for that purpose. The link between their minds was strong enough for Azula to guide Xin Long without needing to pull the reins at all.

"Well?" she said, raising her head arrogantly as she smirked down at Sokka.

"It's… impressive," said Sokka, blinking repeatedly and approaching the dragon, forgetting most caution as he admired the saddle. "Looks somewhat scary. Suits the two of you pretty well."

"I thought the same thing," said Azula, proudly. "I'm pleased with the final result."

"It's really nice," admitted Sokka, nodding. "But at this rate we're going to be late for the fight, so you'd better stop showing off and…"

"Why would we be late?" asked Azula, raising her eyebrows. "The saddle was built for two in case it might be necessary… and it seems to me it's necessary right now."

Sokka's eyes widened as he stared at Azula with a cheery, goofy smile on his face. Azula jerked her head towards the seat behind her and grinned back at him.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

Sokka jumped towards the dragon and hurled himself on board swiftly, his smile unfaltering. The seat he had taken had been developed carefully so that he wouldn't press against Azula's body uncomfortably.

"There's a fair amount of distance between us just in case you get a little too happy again…" said Azula, and Sokka blushed as his smile turned into a grimace.

"You'll never let that rest, will you?"

"Absolutely not," said Azula proudly, smirking and ushering Xin Long to take off.

Sokka held on to the saddle's support bars, which helped him keep his balance as they flew into the air quickly. It would take them no time to reach the Arena on the back of the dragon.

"This is some quality saddle, really," said Sokka, beaming. "Did you get it today?"

"They finished it yesterday," said Azula. "Xin Long and I tested it as soon as it was delivered. We only needed to try out the second seat now… and from the looks of it, it's working out rather well for you back there, isn't it?"

"It's great, I tell you," said Sokka, smiling widely. "And the refuge? Are they done with that yet?"

"No, it takes longer to build such a large structure," said Azula. "It's bound to be finished in another month. So far, Xin Long is less than impressed by what it looks like."

As if to reinforce Azula's words, Xin Long shook his head and exhaled smoke, with a low gurgled sound that spoke for itself even though he hadn't said anything.

"For now, it's only the foundation of what it will be," said Azula, smiling and patting the dragon's head. "But it will be formidable when it's finished. I have looked at the old paintings of the dragon refuges, and blueprints of them as well… I'm certain Xin Long won't be criticizing it so harshly when it's finished."

"You'd better hope not," said Sokka, chuckling. "Who knows, perhaps he'd rather take the Fire Lord's chamber for himself and toss your dad into the refuge if it's not up to his standard…"

"Xin Long doesn't enter the Palace, for starters," said Azula. "He's bound to get stuck while trying to make it through the doorway in my father's room, so I wouldn't recommend him to choose it as his lair. You shouldn't worry, I'm certain Xin Long will have no qualms about the finished product. And if he does, I'll make sure to get the builders to improve it immediately."

"Yeah, I don't doubt you would," said Sokka, smiling. "Only the best for the Princess and her dragon, is it?"

"If only that were the case... but we're stuck with you, aren't we?" asked Azula, smirking.

"Hey!" Sokka whined, making her chuckle.

Much unlike his descent on Garsai's Jade Range, Xin Long touched ground before the gates of the Grand Royal Dome instead of diving into the sand pit. His landing was quite gentle, to Sokka's relief, and Azula nodded approvingly.

"His landing training has paid off, apparently," she said, smiling and turning towards the dragon. "We'll return in a few hours. I'll let you know when to get us. In the mean time… you can go find a snack, perhaps."

Xin Long groaned back cheerfully just as Sokka climbed off the saddle. Azula beamed and slid off the dragon's back as well, and Xin Long took off into the sky once more, free to roam the lands at will.

"Where's he off to?" asked Sokka, after Azula turned towards the Arena's doors, once Xin Long was out of sight.

"He enjoys flying through the volcanoes west to the Capital," said Azula. "He claims he feels their fire, much like I felt his when we found him."

"So long as he doesn't decide to stay and live in one of those volcanoes…" said Sokka.

"Well, that would be… unexpected," admitted Azula. "But he's a dragon, he can do as he pleases. No matter where he lives, his bond with me will endure until death."

"So it wouldn't bug you, huh? Now that's unexpected," said Sokka, raising his eyebrows.

"What is unexpected is how enthusiastic you are today," replied Azula, her arms folded as the gates were opened for them. "You seem to be in too much of a good mood for your usual standards. Even if I tick you off, you're back to carefree Sokka in no time. Is Ty Lee rubbing off on you all of sudden?"

"What? No, none of that" said Sokka, shaking a hand carelessly. "Things are just going pretty well lately… but I don't want to talk about it much or else I'll jinx it, much like it happened when…"

"No need to remind me," muttered Azula, raising a hand to stop Sokka before he said anything they both would regret. Putting their strife behind them seemed easy at times, but there were days when they couldn't ignore the doubts that haunted the peace their relationship had finally reached.

"So, let's just relax enjoy the joy, alright?" said Sokka, cheerfully.

"Ruining your happiness would be fun, but considering there's a fight up ahead I'd rather not do it," said Azula. "Who knows how badly you'd fare if I dared burst your bubble…"

"Your one concern is my performance in battle?" asked Sokka, his eyebrow twitching.

"It is, but you're free to think otherwise if it'll make you fight any better," said Azula, smirking. Sokka glared at her and shook his head as they reached Shoji's counter.

Another man was currently speaking to the boy, so Azula, despite herself, stood in line patiently, waiting for Shoji to be free. Sokka had been standing by her until a small hand had tugged at his pants. He frowned and turned around, and he was shocked to find a little girl smiling widely, with eyes shining in delight as she looked up at him.

"Uh… hey there," said Sokka, blinking a few times as he looked down at the child. She couldn't have been older than nine years old.

"The Blue Wolf… you're the Blue Wolf!" said the girl, laughing cheerfully. "When I grow up I want to sponsor a fighter like you!"

"W-what, like me?" asked Sokka, surprised. He couldn't help but smile at the kid. "You sure about that?"

"The Princess sponsors you, and you're amazing!" said the kid. "Do you think I can sponsor a gladiator one day?"

Sokka smiled and leaned down towards the child.

"Sure thing, you'd make a good sponsor too, I bet," he said, grinning.

"Then I'll get you to be my gladiator!" said the girl, beaming.

"What? Oh, I'm sorry," said Sokka, chuckling. "I don't think the Princess will agree to that."

"Because you're really good, right?" replied the girl, looking somewhat disappointed. "I knew it. Well, never mind! I'll find one just like you, you'll see!"

"I sure hope you do," said Sokka, just as a grown man approached and took the girl by the hand.

"Come along now, don't bother the fighter," said the man, nodding curtly in Sokka's direction before leading his daughter away.

Sokka smiled as the girl left, waving cheerfully at him. He couldn't help but wonder if, perchance, he would come across the girl again several years from now, to fight against her chosen gladiator…

"Wha-...?" said a raspy male voice behind him, taking Sokka by surprise and making him stop thinking about the little girl.

Sokka turned, a confused frown on his face as he wondered if it would be another admirer... until he caught sight of the man and realized he knew him from someplace.

The dark tan on his skin evidenced he had been forced to withstand the fierce sun far too many times. The mail he wore protected his chest well, but his arms were bare, and covered with scars. With such appearance, he could only be a gladiator.

From the looks of it, he had just come out of a fight. There was a bandage draped around his right leg, and there was a dark red stain on it, proof that the injury was still bleeding. His haggard, bearded face was bruised, and there was also a wide gash above his right eyebrow. The wound hadn't been tended to, and it was bleeding down on his closed eye.

But even if he was only using one eye, the man seemed to have recognized Sokka. And it took Sokka but a moment to realize he knew the other gladiator as well, from what seemed to be another life…

"Dumberang! It's really you!" said the man, smiling. "I thought it might be, but I wasn't sure. It's great to see you here!"

"You too, Maggot," said Sokka, smiling weakly as he looked at the other gladiator in disbelief. "You had gotten a sponsor? I thought you'd gotten killed when you disappeared from the barracks…"

"Easier to believe someone got killed than sponsored in Hui Yi," said Maggot, shaking his head. "It's been ages, though! So glad you've made it to the big leagues, Dumb-… oh, sorry. I probably shouldn't call you that here, you're not Dumberang anymore, are you?"

"No, not really," said Sokka, still slightly uncomfortable. "My name never was Dumberang anyways, and I guess you're no Maggot either…"

"No, of course not," said Maggot, chuckling. "It's just the only thing I ever heard Huang Li call you, so…"

"Same," said Sokka, nodding. "How are you faring in the Superior League?"

"Not as well as I could be, as you can see," said Maggot, pointing at his injuries and Sokka grimaced.

"Well, I've had my fair share of injuries too, I won't lie about that," said Sokka, gulping. "And I'm off to fight just now, so…"

"Watch out for those danged spikes," said Maggot, shaking his head.

"No need to warn me, they've almost killed me enough times by now," said Sokka, smiling and getting Maggot to beam as well.

"It's good to see you again, really," said Maggot, patting Sokka's shoulder. "Always nice to find out that someone else got out of the hell hole. Even if it just meant to get into a bigger hell hole, but still…"

"Well, I…" said Sokka, about to explain his situation to the gladiator when suddenly a rough shout interrupted him.

"Get going, you useless sack of dung!" yelled the man who had been standing in front of the counter when Azula had arrived.

He walked towards Maggot and kicked the man's shin brusquely. Maggot almost fell over upon the blow. Sokka caught the gladiator in midair, his eyes wide open in shock.

"Get moving, I said!" yelled the man. "You, let go of him! Let him suffer, that's all he deserves for losing as he did! You should have gotten killed in that bloody sand pit, you pathetic excuse for a slave!"

Maggot pulled away from Sokka and gave him a weak smile.

"At least he feeds me every day… can't ask for much more, really," he whispered, as the sponsor walked away towards the gates without looking back at him. "I hope to see you around again one day… you didn't tell me your real name, did you?"

"Sokka… it's Sokka," he whispered, staring at the opposite gladiator worriedly.

"I'm Fa Ling," replied Maggot, bowing his head towards Sokka. "Good luck today, Sokka."

Limping, Fa Ling followed his sponsor, who yelled at him again for being so slow. Sokka wasn't sure if he had only seen things, but it had seemed the man had kicked Maggot once more when they were outside the Arena. But the men at the doors shut them too quickly for Sokka to see properly.

He stood grounded in the same spot, staring at the gates in utter disbelief, as if a bucket of freezing water had been emptied over his head just now. It was almost as if a door he had closed had been opened again, and everything he thought he had left behind had suddenly returned to haunt him. His past in Hui Yi…

A hand on his shoulder startled him. Sokka jumped and turned around with wide eyes, moving so fast Azula withdrew her hand instantly.

"What…?" she asked, utterly confused.

Sokka stared at her in shock, almost as if he didn't recognize her. He blinked a few times as his eyes seemed to find their focus, and Azula could only frown at his unexpected reaction.

"Sokka?" she muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"Y-yeah?" he said, nervously.

"Your weapons this time…" she muttered, and Sokka dropped his gaze, seemingly confused regarding what Azula meant. "You have to tell Shoji what they'll be."

"I… I do," he said, nodding. "I'll get on with it, then, yeah…"

Sokka went to Shoji's counter as if in a daze, and he muttered his chosen weapons for this battle without holding the boy's gaze. As soon as he was done, he turned towards the staircase, walking towards it as if the noose awaited him. Azula frowned deeply and followed, without turning around to reply at Shoji's wish of good luck.

Azula caught up to him halfway through the stairs, and she could only watch him in concern when she did. He had been fine just a moment ago, he had even joked about his good mood getting ruined! But it had only been a joke, hadn't it…?

Then again, he had been talking to a gladiator when she had turned to look at him. What could the man have said to lead Sokka to be this troubled right now?

"Who was that man?" she asked, once they had arrived into the stand-by room. "Why was he talking to you?"

"He… he was just an old acquaintance," said Sokka, shrugging. "Even less than that, I guess. It's the first time I've ever talked to him."

"Then why did speaking to him turn your cheerful mood into nothing but sulking?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "You were fine just a moment ago…"

"I'll be alright," said Sokka, avoiding looking at her. "Don't worry about it."

"It's hard not to," muttered Azula. "I just reminded you again that your performance in the sand pit is closely related to your attitude…"

"You did… but there's nothing to worry about," said Sokka, his hands gripping the golden grid. "I'll win today."

"How do you know that? How can I be sure of that?" asked Azula, frowning. "Why are you acting like this all of sudden, Sokka?"

"It's… it's nothing, Azula. Not to you," he said, gulping.

"Not to me? If it were nothing to me, I wouldn't be asking about it," Azula retorted, growing annoyed.

"Well, it shouldn't be," said Sokka, still with his back to her "You're worried that I'll make a fool of myself in the Arena today. Well, I won't. I'll win."

Azula frowned and shook her head, displeased.

"You're just as you were back then. You have that same look of vacant determination in your eyes."

"Vacant…?" repeated Sokka, surprised.

"When you kept promising you'd win even though you didn't know how you'd do it," said Azula. "And then your opponents would destroy you. You would keep apologizing, because you had vowed to triumph, yet you would lose every time, no matter how close you came to winning."

Sokka gritted his teeth and clutched the grid with more strength.

"I thought we were past this," said Azula, shaking her head. "I thought…"

"We are," said Sokka, his head against the metal bars. "What happened between us is settled now…"

"Perhaps it is, but if that's the case, what is it now, then?" asked Azula."Why won't you tell me what's troubling you now?"

"The battle will begin soon," said Sokka. "I… I should just focus. You don't have to worry. You want me to win, I'll win. I'm stronger than I was the last time I faced a non-bender… I'll win, I know it. And that's all that should matter."

His words irritated Azula even further. How dared he…? Was he implying he thought she didn't truly care for whatever troubled him? She rolled her eyes and huffed before turning around, ready to leave.

"Your opponent has broadswords," she grunted coldly. "Put that black blade to use and be done with it quickly before he beheads you while you're too busy sulking as you are."

Azula's spoke spitefully, startling Sokka. When he turned around to respond, he found she was already gone. He dropped his gaze and gritted his teeth again, his mind in disarray. He was sorry to have displeased her, truly… he would try to say so later, if she allowed him. She likely wouldn't.

And she sure didn't feel like allowing it. Azula stormed into the sponsors' balcony, slamming the door angrily once she was inside. The balcony was empty; the opposite sponsor hadn't arrived yet. She folded her arms across her chest and sat on her chair, glaring at the golden sand below. How could Sokka still act like such a fool? After all they'd been through, after all this time, he would still think she only cared for him as her gladiator?

Her fury froze when she realized it had been her who had tried to convince him of that in the first place. She had been the one to propose they should stick to their respective roles as sponsor and gladiator, nothing more. If anything, Sokka was right to say that she should only care for his victory and not for his peace of mind. The state of his mind should only matter to her in regards of his performance, and stating otherwise would only get them into that problem she wished to avoid so much nowadays.

It was hard to ignore just how smooth everything was for Ty Lee and Haru. He was just a slave, and yet she had accepted him as if they were perfect equals. And perhaps they were… but the same couldn't be said about Sokka and her. They would never agree on anything, they would always argue until one of them finally conceded defeat. He was water, and she was fire. He was a gladiator and she was a Princess. He was destined to return one day to his simple life, to being a snow peasant… she was destined for greatness in the heights of the Fire Nation. No matter if they were sponsor and gladiator just like Haru and Ty Lee, their situations weren't similar at all.

There was so much at stake… too much at stake in any potential relationship she might start with Sokka. And neither of them dared risk their much-needed stability simply over their feelings. He needed to return home, she needed to prove herself before the world. They both had been goal-oriented when they had entered their deal, but things had changed beyond recognition ever since. She was definitely not the same person who had sought him out so long ago. And he wasn't the same either. Somewhere along the way, they had grown closer… too close, perhaps. Azula refused to believe they were friends, but what were they, truly? They weren't only gladiator and sponsor. Was there a term for whatever relationship they were leading?

She sighed and shook her head, knowing none of her thoughts would lead her anywhere. It didn't matter what Sokka meant to her. He was her slave, first and foremost. She had promised she would only think of him as such. And she would do her best to keep her word…

And below, in the stand-by room, Sokka's hands shook as he gripped the golden grid. The thought of Azula being angry at him bothered him, but too many thoughts were battling in his mind at the moment as it was, and he couldn't think properly anymore…

Why? Why had he locked everything away in his mind for so long? How had he gotten so lost in his new reality as Azula's gladiator to forget the truth of the world he lived in? He had blocked every possible thought of the Amateur Arena of Hui Yi. Thinking about it now was bringing all the nightmares back, all those moments when he had wished he could just give up on his life and be done with everything…

…  _Bec_ _ause the blood stained his hands, the blood of the man he had just injured_ _mortally_ _in the stomach. He would still breathe heavily as he lay face-up on the sand, his eyes bulging as a pool of blood spread over Sokka's feet. Sokka cringed and stepped away, horrified. It wasn't the first man he had killed… no, it wasn't. He had murdered a Fire Nation soldier back home. His boomerang had come away bloody, so he had killed that man, he was sure of it…_

_But he hadn't stayed to watch. He hadn't been forced to murder him. It had been war, it had been an enemy. This was only another gladiator. One who had tried to kill him too, in hopes to keep his life if only for a day longer. The man lying on the ground could be him eventually… the thought only brought tears to his eyes. What was this madness? How had everything come to this…?_

" _What are you waiting for, Dumberang?!" shouted Huang Li, from the place where he would usually rouse the crowd_ _._ _"Kill the bastard and be done with it, you fool!"_

" _He's already dying!" Sokka replied, glaring at Huang Li_ _._ _"Isn't that enough for you?!"_

" _Kill him, I said!" yelled Huang Li_ _._ _"_ _Or I'll_ _climb down to kill you instead_ _!_ _"_

" _I won't kill him!" yelled Sokka, though a voice in his head told him he already had. He felt his bile rise upon the thought._

" _I'll send another gladiator to finish you off, then, you_ _scum_ _!" yelled Huang Li, striking a fist upon the platform he was on_ _._ _"TAI RONG! GET HIM!"_

_Sokka thought everything was over when a hairy man of broad shoulders had suddenly walked into the Arena. Sokka lifted his club towards the man, his shivering hands betraying him as he thought of having to defend himself in another fight to the death… but he knew he would die this time. He was already worn out after his previous battle. This man would destroy him without breaking a sweat._

_Nevertheless, Sokka tried to attack. Tai Rong avoided the blow and punched Sokka's stomach, rendering him breathless. Sokka thought Tai Rong would kill him now… but instead, the fighter had dragged Sokka back towards where the other gladiator lay dying. Tai Rong's enormous hand wrapped around Sokka's, forcing him to seize his club._

" _No…" said Sokka, when he realized what the man's true intent was. Tai Rong lifted Sokka's arm with ease, and Sokka's attempts to fight back were_ _useless. "_ _No! Stop it! NO!"_

_His pleas weren't heard. The club fell upon the head of the gladiator with a horrible splattering sound, and all Sokka could see was blood. All Sokka could feel was grief. All Sokka could wish for was his own death…_

But that hadn't happened. Huang Li had only meant to teach him a lesson that day. A lesson he didn't want to remember anymore. A lesson he had no choice but to abide by while he was in Hui Yi. He had forced himself not to think about what he was doing anymore, just to act until his death finally came for him, because death was all he had deserved…

And instead of death, she had appeared in his life yet again: Azula had come to offer him a life in the Superior Gladiator League. An offer he was certain was too good to be true, an offer he felt completely unworthy of. And she had been the one who had reduced him to a slave in the first place, hadn't she?

She had stood there, terrible and beautiful, amid the snow. She had struck him down and bested him in combat as if he had posed no challenge to her. Her nails had left those gashes on his neck, and just as the burn to his stomach, the scars hadn't left him. Just as all the scars he had collected afterwards. She had pardoned his life, though… just to send him into a living hell. She hadn't been the one to decide he would turn into a gladiator, yet she had her guards dump him in the slave market. Had she thought she was doing him a favor by letting him live? Those years of misery said otherwise quite clearly…

The grid was lifted suddenly, startling Sokka and making him stumble backwards as he stared at the sand ahead of him. His chest heaved as he tried to calm down, but the roar of the crowd would only make him more anxious. He had to relax, he had to stop thinking just for a moment, to send all his traumas back to the place where they belonged…

Azula frowned from the balcony when the megaphone man introduced Sokka and he didn't appear. The crowd's cheers dwindled upon his delay, and the hoots turned into an uneasy muttering through the stands after a minute. The sponsor of Sokka's opponent stared at Azula, as if wondering if she had misplaced her slave. Azula stared down at the stand-by room in worry. He had said he would fight and win… had he run away? Or was he going to forfeit? What was taking him so long?

The megaphone man called the Blue Wolf yet again. Sokka gritted his teeth and forced his legs to move, entering the sand pit with his head bowed. Applause and cheers sounded again, but not as powerfully as before. Azula gripped her arm rest tightly, as she often did whenever something in the sand pit was bothering her.

Sokka stared at his feet, flashes of his hands covered in blood still returning to his mind. How many gladiators had he murdered? He recalled his conversation with the Millenium Dragon, and his irritation when the man had been unable to keep count of his rivals. He was no better, though, was he? Worse… he had killed them. His body bore the scars from almost every single fight, but did he remember how each and every single one of those wounds had been delivered?

It took him a moment to realize the other gladiator had arrived too. Sokka gulped and raised his head, trying to find the strength he needed to settle this fight quickly.

His eyes widened when he gazed upon his opponent.

The boy before him couldn't be older than fourteen. His eyes blazed with determination, yet Sokka could see all the fear behind them. The boy's hair was dark and unruly, and his skin was rather pale. He couldn't have been fighting as a gladiator for too long…

"START!" shouted the megaphone man, and the boy unsheathed his broadswords. Sokka's mind instantly told him the weapons were too large for the kid when he saw him wield them.

The boy shouted and ran towards Sokka, his blades in tow. Sokka jumped back, baring his teeth as he avoided the attacks. The boy was no master of the weapon, but it seemed he knew what he was doing as he swung the broadswords horizontally and quickly, and Sokka almost stumbled to avoid him.

Azula's concern and irritation only grew with every passing moment. Why didn't he just bring out his own sword to fend off the boy's attacks? What was he doing? This opponent was obviously easy to defeat and he was just evading his blows clumsily! Where was the fighter who had been able to defeat three earthbenders in a row?

It seemed he was nowhere around. Sokka watched the boy's attacks, and he knew he had to fight back, but his mind kept feeding him memories he had tried to keep away, memories of the bloodiest fights he had been involved in… and to think he had to fight a kid now, of all things. When he had been fourteen he had wanted to be a warrior… and that was a far cry from being a gladiator. This boy was fighting for his life. He was just a child, and Sokka would have to defeat him for what purpose? So that Azula would be pleased?

Azula, who had brought him into this mess in the first place. Sokka cringed and jumped out of the way when he got too close to the spikes that lined the arena. The boy's blades followed him relentlessly, and he gave out war cries with every swing of his weapons. It was a boy, much like he had been once. A boy who had to fight in an arena in to survive, even if it was in the Superior League. A boy who wasn't that masterful with his weapons, who was bound to die at the hands of another gladiator eventually, and why? What for? For the entertainment of the highborn? He couldn't fathom it. It was such a repulsive notion. It always had been. And he had gotten used to it. He had actually gotten used to it…

And it was a notion that would behead him if he wasn't careful. The boy's blade swung perilously close to his neck, and Sokka stumbled backwards again, his face contorting into a frown. Fighting as a gladiator was a dreadful thing, but it was what he had become. And he had done it quite well so far. This wasn't the Amateur League, so he wasn't bound to get killed… but he had to fight. Piandao had taught him about honoring his opponent: that kid was doing his very best to defeat him, no matter how hopeless the fight might be. Sokka owed it to him to fight back to his best as well.

Just as he had owed the other gladiators in the Arena to kill them. It was better to die by the hand of a fellow gladiator than to be killed by soldiers or by Huang Li. And whether it was him, or if it was another gladiator, one of them would die in the end. It didn't matter who died or when, because the situation would never get any better for anyone…

But it did for him.

He stole a look towards the balcony, and he gazed at Azula for a moment, just a short instant. She was staring down at him worriedly, those golden eyes no longer as cruel as they had been when he had first met her. She had been his damnation then… she became his salvation years later. He was certain she only sought to make his life worse when she proposed to sponsor him, but it hadn't been like that. Even these past troublesome months, no matter how terrible they had been, had turned around for the better eventually. He had come to know Azula so well; he had held her, talked to her, argued with her, kissed her…

It was so hard to believe she was the same person who had defeated him in the South Pole in the first place. Allowing him to live had seemed a kindness at first, afterwards Sokka had grown certain it had been a curse… what did it mean to him now? Was he glad she had let him keep his life? Was he grateful for what she had done for him? And what was he going to do with the life she had allowed him to keep?

He held no answers to those questions. He didn't know yet if he was glad or if he wasn't. It would take longer for him to find out. But for now… he had a fight to finish.

With the swiftest of motions, he unsheathed Space Sword and it was his turn to hack at his opponent now. The boy jumped backwards, his eyes widening as he stared at the black blade in fear. Yet his fright didn't stop him from attacking again. He lunged at Sokka, the broadswords held high, and Sokka ducked. Space Sword moved towards the opposite gladiator's left blade, and with a quick jab, Sokka had cut his opponent's sword in two.

The kid stumbled and stared at the useless hilt in his hand. Sokka didn't waste any time before cutting the remaining broadsword, and the boy was rendered unable to do anything but stare at him in horror as he collapsed on the ground. The Blue Wolf's sword was as powerful as the rumors claimed…

The boy grimaced and breathed heavily, staring at Sokka with wide, horrified eyes as Sokka aimed at his neck with his sword, threatening him not to move.

"How old are you, boy?" Sokka asked, his menacing glare softening.

"I... I'm twelve," replied the boy, gulping. "The youngest gladiator in the Superior League..."

Sokka's eyes widened. His grip on his sword shook a little before he withdrew it, to everyone's surprise.

"Are you proud of that? Of being the youngest?"

"Sure am," grunted the boy, no longer as scared as before. "I'm the strongest of my siblings. I'll win for their sake, for my mother and father as well!"

"Oh, Wei..." said the boy's sponsor, his hands on his face as he stated down at the Arena in horror.

Azula looked at the man, surprised by his concern. It wasn't until now that she realized just how alike they were. Could the gladiator be this man's child?

"Did your father and mother want this life for you?" asked Sokka, gritting his teeth. "Is this really the life you want for yourself?"

"This is the life I have," grumbled the boy. "Mom is sick, and dad hasn't got the money... So I fight in the Arena! I'll do what I can for them, even if it's not enough."

Sokka sighed. The boy had his own conviction, he could see that clearly. He had his own reasons to fight, just as he did.

"Your father knows about this, then?" asked Sokka.

"He's my sponsor," the boy replied, confirming Azula's suspicions. "He taught me everything I know."

Sokka gritted his teeth and looked away, growing angry at himself. The boy had such a powerful resolve to fight… so many gladiators did. Who was to say the kid's cause wasn't more just than his own? Sokka's life was so comfortable, so wonderful as of late, while this boy struggled to help his parents, even when he was barely strong enough to fight at all. How many gladiators had deserved to live, and yet he had cut them down…? Why was he the one to survive, when he had discarded his own life time after time? He was afraid of dying, that much he knew… but why? Why could a coward like himself escape the fate that had been forced on so many other brave gladiators who didn't deserve it?

"Don't… don't you dare look away like that," grunted the kid, struggling to get up while glaring at Sokka. "Stop pitying me… Stop it! If you're going to win, then win! Don't look down on me!"

The kid's shout made Sokka turn his face towards him again. The boy jumped at Sokka, his hand balled into a fist. He had no weapons left, so all he had left were his own fists. Sokka snarled, hating himself when his body moved instinctively to defend himself and defeat the boy… truly, only the strongest prevailed. It wasn't a fair fight. It never would be. But he owed the boy all the respect he could grant him… and that meant he had to fight him, even if he loathed the idea of doing so.

He dropped Space Sword and brought forth his own fists just after avoiding the boy's attack. Sokka leaned forward and struck a fist into the boy's stomach, which was only protected by a leather vest. The kid lost his breath and was unable to respond to the punch. He stumbled back and tried to move against Sokka again, but now his face met Sokka's fist. The boy fell to the ground, unconscious.

And the battle was over.

The megaphone man announced his victory, but Sokka hardly heard him. His eyes were fixed upon the boy's limp figure, and they didn't leave him until he was carried away into the stand-by room by the Arena's staff. He didn't celebrate his victory with the crowd. He didn't look at the sponsor's balcony. He stood in the sand until a staff member asked him to leave. He moved away without a word, picking up his sword as he did. The fight had done nothing to wash away his doubts. His mind was even more troubled than it had been before.

He had guessed correctly that morning: there was no chance that the universe would let him enjoy his careless happiness for long.

* * *

Sokka toppled over yet again, falling into Haru's earth trap for the sixth time today. Azula watched them from the back of the house with a frown on her face, unwilling to take her eyes off him for a second.

Once his fight had ended she had meant to ask him if he was feeling well, if he truly wanted to train with Haru today, but the words hadn't found their way out of her mouth. She hadn't been brave enough to ask once she saw how miserable he was. The look in Sokka's face had been so blank, so distant, so troubled… had she ever seen him like this? Back when they had trained on the deck of her barge, so long ago, she had told him that if he failed to defeat Chan's gladiator, he would likely return to Hui Yi. The expression on his face had resembled the one he bore now… but perhaps not. He had been determined then. Now he seemed broken. What had happened to him?

"And Haru wins again," said Ty Lee, sitting by Azula and bringing a tray with several cups of tea with her. "My gladiator is just that wonderful, isn't he? He already broke his loss spree, did I mention that?"

"You haven't failed to remind me every day since it happened, Ty Lee," muttered Azula.

"Well, I'm still stoked about it!" said Ty Lee, happily. "Sokka's advice to Haru has been really helpful, he only broke about five objects on his last fight…"

"Then he lost a hundred points," concluded Azula. "Why are you so pleased? That's not enough of an improvement."

"Well… I'm not in this for the points," said Ty Lee, folding her arms over her chest. "So long as he keeps winning, I don't care how much furniture he destroys."

"You two are the perfectly careless match then," said Azula, grimacing.

"And so are you two," said Ty Lee, teasingly, but Azula's frown only deepened. Instead of the usual denial, or instead of snapping at her, Azula seemed bothered by those words. Ty Lee blinked a couple of times before tapping her friend on the shoulder. "Azula?"

"What?" grunted the Princess, taking a cup of tea and sipping it slowly, all of this without looking at Ty Lee in the eye.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, worried. "You look… angry."

"I'm not," Azula replied, staring at Sokka as he tried to cut through Haru's defenses ineffectively.

"Well, then, what's the matter?" asked Ty Lee. "You can tell me. They won't hear, they're too busy fighting, so…"

"Maybe they won't hear now, but they'll hear later anyways. You never keep anything to yourself, Ty Lee," snapped Azula, trying to change the subject.

"Hey, that's not…!" started Ty Lee before sighing. "Well, maybe it is true, but it's always better to get your problems out there than to bottle them up! So please, will you talk? I won't tell anyone if it's that big a secret."

"It's no big secret," said Azula, sighing. "I'm sure you wish it were."

"Well, if it's no secret then I won't feel like spreading it," said Ty Lee, happily. "You can definitely trust me if that's the case!"

"I doubt it," said Azula, her eyebrows twitching, but she sighed with resignation. "There's something wrong with him. I have no idea what it is, but there's something really wrong with him today. He was fine before the fight, but now…"

"Is that why Haru keeps defeating him?" asked Ty Lee, surprised. "I thought maybe he had been injured today or something…"

"No, he wasn't hurt at any point," said Azula. "It's something else. He talked to another gladiator before his fight. He had been fine earlier, rather cheerful, even… but after that conversation he started acting strangely. I tried to ask him what was the matter, but he didn't tell me. It's as if he thought speaking will do no good or that I won't understand even if he explains…"

Ty Lee was quite concerned by the subject, but she couldn't hold back a giggle when she heard Azula speak of Sokka so worriedly. That was a sight she hadn't witnessed ever before.

"But you're sure he's just being an idiot, right?" she asked, trying not to smile too much.

"He always is," grunted Azula. "But this time it's different. I don't know what to do with him. Just asking seems pointless."

"Why would it be?" asked Ty Lee, raising an eyebrow.

"Because the only thing that can come out of that is an argument," replied Azula.

"Oh, please," said Ty Lee, rolling her eyes. "You can't just sit here and stare at him all day. You're crazy worried about him! So just do yourself a favor and go to him already."

"I'm not going to throw myself at him, if that's what you're suggesting," Azula growled, glaring at Ty Lee.

"Well, it could help, you know?"

"Ty Lee…" said Azula with that dangerous voice tone that always heralded her wrath.

"Okay, okay, gee!" said Ty Lee, gulping. "The thing is… you two are friends, really good friends, so…"

"Friends?" Azula repeated, in disbelief. "We're not friends, Ty Lee. We're…"

"You're not?" asked Ty Lee, raising an eyebrow. "What are you, then?"

"I… I don't know, but we're not friends," said Azula, shaking her head. "We don't agree on anything, ever. You could search the ends of the earth if you want, but you won't find two people as opposite to each other as Sokka and me."

"And yet you've gotten along wonderfully so far!"

"That's what you think," said Azula, grimacing. "You have no idea, Ty Lee…"

"Well, granted you two have your squabbles," said Ty Lee. "But you two are so close already! You know you're opposites in everything, which is something I can't say about me and Haru. And not because we are or aren't, but because I don't even know if we are yet! I guess I'm just getting to know him, so…"

"I thought you knew him quite well already," said Azula, as sarcastically as possible. Ty Lee pouted.

"Maybe in one regard, but he's still a total mystery in so many other ways!" she said, crossing her arms. "So see? You and Sokka are way closer than me and Haru! And if I think Haru and I are friends…"

"You're not friends, Ty Lee, you're something quite different," said Azula.

"Well, then! You and Sokka are way past that anyways!" said Ty Lee, startling Azula. "If Haru and I are more than friends, and you are closer to Sokka than I am to Haru… then how about you make the math?"

Azula flushed before shaking her head and trying to dismiss Ty Lee's accusation.

"That makes no sense," she grunted.

"Maybe not to you, but it does to me," said Ty Lee, pouting again. "And I think letting this matter eat away at you won't help at all. You have to do something. Talk to him and show him you're here for him, that he can trust you! And even if you don't like what he's saying, be supportive! That's what a friend… well, a more-than-just-a-friend would do!"

"I'm not going to feign support just because…" grunted Azula.

"Then all the better," said Ty Lee, waving a hand carelessly. "Maybe he needs you to irritate him as always so that he starts to act more like himself, who knows?"

"I sure don't," said Azula, sighing and sipping more tea.

"Well, how about you go find out?" said Ty Lee, cheerfully. "I'll ask Haru to help me with dinner while you two talk things over!"

"What? Ty Lee, you don't have to…"

"I insist!" said the girl, beaming. "Make sure to get him back to normal, he's a lot more fun when he's being himself, don't you think?"

Of course Azula thought so, but she wasn't about to disclose it to Ty Lee. Without another word, the girl pranced towards the training area, where Haru had just struck Sokka with a boulder from behind.

"You ought to be more careful with that, don't you think?" said Sokka, rubbing his back.

"It's not real training unless we're actually giving it our all, isn't it?" asked Haru, smiling weakly. He had taken notice of Sokka's strange behavior as well, but was trying his best in their training regardless.

"Haru, my dear!" squealed Ty Lee, bouncing towards where he was and clinging to his arm lovingly. The sight made Sokka crook an eyebrow and Haru blushed. "I thought you should help me make dinner, I figured we'd make a meal for Azula and Sokka today."

"Wha-…? Would my cooking be worthy of the Princess?" asked Haru, skeptical.

"Why wouldn't it be?" asked Ty Lee, shrugging. "I'm sure she'll be fine with it."

"Huh," said Sokka. "I wouldn't be that sure. She's pickier than you think"

"Oh, she's not all that picky…" said Ty Lee, waving a hand as if it weren't a matter of importance. "It's surprising that you know about her food likings, though."

"I know she wants nothing to do with komodo rhino, and neither do I," said Sokka, with a weak smile.

"Huh, really? I always thought she liked it…" said Ty Lee, rubbing her chin. "Well, we're off to make dinner anyways! So take a break now, Sokka. We'll see you in a bit!"

"Sure…" said Sokka, as Haru was dragged into the house by Ty Lee.

Sokka's gaze fell upon Azula for a moment, finding that she was looking at him as well. He lowered his head and walked away towards the wooden fence that lined Ty Lee's property. Even if he could talk about Azula's taste for food, he didn't feel too comfortable talking to her just yet.

He hadn't attended the medical check, and he had only nodded in her direction when they met again before Shoji's counter. She had been informed of his new position in the ranking and they had left the Arena together. Xin Long came down upon Azula's call, and they rode him towards Ty Lee's house. Azula had wanted to enjoy the flight for a little longer, it had seemed to Sokka, but he was sitting so quietly behind her that she seemed rather unwilling to put up with his strange behavior any longer. He was surprised she hadn't asked again about what bothered him, but he figured it was his own fault. He had blown her off quite thoughtlessly before, and he would make sure to apologize for it. But he still was too confused and troubled to speak his mind to her. He needed some time to think things through and straighten out the mess within his head.

He climbed and sat on a fence post at the edge of Ty Lee's property. He stared at the darkening sky, hunched over, with his back towards the Princess. And Azula just stared, frowning. She really shouldn't talk to him, like Ty Lee had suggested… why should she? She didn't even want to… well, perhaps she did. But she feared it would be no use. Sokka wouldn't want to talk about whatever bothered him. She knew she wouldn't enjoy disclosing her personal problems to anyone else so randomly. Sokka was bound to feel the same way.

But she had told Ty Lee they were perfect opposites on everything. If she preferred to keep matters to herself, then it was likely that Sokka didn't. Maybe, just maybe, she ought to talk to him… no, no, it was stupid. She would only be a bother.

Well, she was Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. She shouldn't be a bother to anyone. So why did she feel so uneasy regarding this matter? Why did she feel like leaving him alone? Was it because she feared she'd irritate him? Well, why should she be afraid of that? Since when was she so unwilling to get to someone's bad side? Especially Sokka… she would enjoy ticking him off on most occasions. This time it was different, though. She truly didn't want to upset him any further.

But maybe Ty Lee was right. And maybe it would be best to talk to him instead of sitting here, staring at his broad back while feeling a ridiculously childish urge to push him off the fence. She shook her head at that wild thought before making up her mind and standing up.

Sokka frowned when he heard her footsteps through the grass. He knew it was Azula instantly, but the thought of her approaching right now was nerve-wrecking. Why couldn't she just wait until he had sorted all his problems out…?

"I didn't come here to push you over, in case you thought so," muttered Azula once she stopped next to him.

"I didn't think you had…" said Sokka, slightly surprised.

"I felt like it, I won't lie," said Azula, and Sokka looked at her sideways with a skeptical smile. "But I decided against it."

"Well, that's a relief" he said, turning his head around again towards the horizon. "Then… why are you here, if not to push me?"

"I don't know," said Azula, sighing before climbing on the fence too, sitting next to Sokka but leaving some distance between them. "I suppose you don't expect me to care for whatever troubles you, and I don't mean to be bothered by it either, yet…"

"I… I didn't mean to say that," said Sokka, sighing. "I'm sorry, Azula. I say stupid things…"

"Whenever you're messed in the head," finished the Princess. "I know you do. I'm not about to hold it against you when I know that's just your nature."

"I suppose I should be grateful for that," said Sokka, mildly confused by her response.

"Still, I thought it might stop bothering you eventually, whatever it is that's got you in this mood. But that doesn't seem to be the case," said Azula, frowning. "I don't know if perhaps it might be some use to talk about what bothers you… maybe it won't be. But I figured I would ask anyways."

"You're… you're that worried about me?" he asked, smiling weakly.

"You could at least pretend not to be so pleased by it…" grunted Azula between gritted teeth.

"I suppose," said Sokka, his smile dwindling when he thought of how to address to Azula's concerns. "Something… something happened today."

"I would have never guessed…" said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"Will you let me talk?" asked Sokka, his eyebrow twitching as he glared at her. "That guy… the one I was talking to, he was from Hui Yi"

Azula frowned at that.

"From Hui Yi? An old friend of yours, then?"

"There are no friends in the Amateur League," muttered Sokka, his face growing stern as he spoke. "As soon as you make a friend, you're forced to fight against him on the next day. Huang Li would always keep an eye out in case he saw two gladiators getting along better than usual. He thought it made for a more interesting show, having friends killing each other. Because of that, the gladiators hardly ever talked between them. Growing attached to someone would end badly for everyone involved. So, I had only ever seen this guy from afar. Huang Li used to call him Maggot. I thought he had died when he disappeared from Hui Yi, but it seems he had gotten a sponsor…"

"Well… that should be good news, or isn't it?" asked Azula, confused. "You would have rather he had died?"

"No, that's not…" said Sokka, sighing. "That's not the case at all. You saw his sponsor, didn't you? He was… a thug, just like Huang Li was. Probably worse than him, if that's even possible."

"Then you feel his condition hasn't improved at all," muttered Azula.

"And it's probably not just him," said Sokka, lowering his gaze. "All those gladiators from the Amateur League… they're still killing each other with every passing day, under the orders of that scumbag. And most of the ones who got out of there and got a spot in the Superior League have to deal with the same sort of masters: sponsors that won't care at all about their fighter's wellbeing. They want the money, the glory, the fame… all of it, without doing anything. It's the gladiator who puts his neck in the line, and yet those sponsors who don't ever do anything are so proud of themselves… And if the gladiator loses, they beat him up. As if they hadn't sustained enough injuries already. As if they were only good for being whipped and bossed around."

"But you…"

"I don't have to face that," said Sokka, nodding. "I'm… I'm the lucky one. And hell knows why I got as lucky as I did. You spared my life. I survived the Amateur League. And then you showed up to sponsor me. You, the Fire Lord's daughter, no less. You had the best swordsman training me, you got me a house, a maid… you've even let me fly on your dragon. And while all this happened, I conveniently forgot that I should have died so long ago…"

"That's… that's not true" said Azula, frowning. "You didn't have to die back then. If that had been what you had deserved, then I assure you I would've…"

"Why did you spare me, then?" he asked her, staring at Azula as if begging for an answer. "Why me, Azula? I… I'm not worth all of this. I'm a mess, I've always been. There are so many gladiators out there who have better causes, better reasons to fight than me. I'm just trying to go back home even when I don't know if I'll be welcome…"

"Why wouldn't you be?" asked Azula, confused. "Why wouldn't your people want you back?"

"They must believe me dead," muttered Sokka. "And it might be a lot easier if I were. If they knew what I've been doing…"

"What, fighting in an Arena? Your Tribe would blame you for that?" asked Azula, frowning.

"Not that," said Sokka, sighing. "I'm… I'm getting used to this, Azula. To this life. I'm growing adjusted to it, and I'm enjoying it. I've gotten so much more than I could ever deserve. I live in the Fire Nation Capital, for crying out loud. I'm sponsored by the Princess, and I'm her sword master as well. I eat as much as I can, as often as I want… and I'm comfortable. I'm… I'm happy. I woke up today, and I was happy. How can I be happy when they're still fighting this war? Why on earth am I just sitting back and enjoying the ride while they're still trying to hold their own against the Fire Nation?"

"So, you believe you should strike the Fire Nation from within, perhaps?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "You should go to the Palace and kill my father at once, so that you can return home like a hero…"

"I… I don't think so," said Sokka, cringing. "That's the part that makes me feel the worst, Azula. I… I don't think I want to anymore. I don't hate the Fire Nation anymore."

Azula's eyes widened at his confession. He didn't? After all this time, something had actually changed within Sokka? He had come to see things differently?

"And I can't face my people like this. I can't go to them to say that I've had the time of my life here," said Sokka. "I couldn't be more shameless… but it's the truth. I've… I've had too much fun. It's been a mess, no kidding. But after you took me as your gladiator, I've seen the world. I even caught sight of an Air Temple! I met a dragon, I've become a better warrior than I ever dreamt I could be. Everything I could have wished for is happening. But why? Why did I get away with this? Why me, of all people…? That boy today… he was trying to fight for his family. He wanted to save his mother, and I had to defeat him. I couldn't let him win out of pity, he didn't want me to. And yet… he must be at home today, crying over his mother's condition, while I'm sitting here, talking the Fire Lord's daughter's ear off. And it's not just that boy… it's all the men I've ever killed."

Sokka stared at his hands, seeing them drenched in blood again. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, trying to stop seeing the red anymore.

"Every single one of them… they must have had a reason to live. A better reason than the ones I hold on to. Returning home, taking my revenge… what's the point? I don't even want revenge anymore. And how could I dare return like this? Truth to be told… I'm just a single, common guy, who got much luckier than he ever deserved to be. There's nothing special about me. I'm just… me. And that's all I'll ever be."

"Perhaps you are just you…" said Azula after a moment, still unsure of what to say. "I don't see a problem with that."

"You don't get it," sighed Sokka. "Those guys…"

"They should have been in your place, while you were in theirs," said Azula, frowning. "You think you should have died. Your reasons to carry on weren't as powerful or as important as theirs. Is this the reason why you were fine with letting the Bandit kill you?"

Sokka was surprised when Azula brought that matter up. He stared at her in surprise, having forgotten that instance completely.

"I… yeah, it was," he muttered, lowering his gaze again. "I've always been too much of a coward to kill myself. I had considered it, but I can't do it. Whenever I feel I'm in mortal danger, I… I lose it. You saw me against the Savage Hook. I went insane by the end… I almost killed him."

"Well, he almost killed you as well," said Azula, displeased by that memory, which brought forth others she didn't want to recall…

"But even though I keep thinking I don't deserve to go on, that I ought to die, every time a guy like the Hook shows up, or even the Blind Bandit, I claw at staying alive no matter what. I… I'm truly shameless, aren't I?"

"You are a fool, that you are," said Azula, sighing. "I don't think you're shameless for doing everything in your power to keep on living. Perhaps you're right, you've been quite lucky. But perhaps all of this has happened for a reason. Maybe you're supposed to accomplish something you can't even imagine…"

"Oh, really?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "You truly believe a scum slave like me will ever achieve anything in this world?"

"I'll never know until you do," said Azula, shrugging. "You have a life, though, Sokka. A life that you could use for more than you believed possible, be it thanks to luck or fate or whatever you want to believe it was. You have had opportunities none of those other slaves have gotten."

"But why me?" asked Sokka, yanking at his hair. "Why am I the one who gets to live like a king…?"

"Well, that's stretching it…"

"I live like a nobleman, at the very least," said Sokka.

"A low-class nobleman, perhaps."

Sokka's eyebrow twitched and Azula gave him a malicious smirk.

"Whatever, then. I still live too well in comparison to what slaves usually get," he said, huffing.

"Well, do you want me to make your life a little more difficult? Because if that will make you feel any better about yourself, then I'd have no problem…"

"No, that's not it at all!" exclaimed Sokka.

"Ah, now you're being shameless. You complain about having such a great life but you cling onto it like a baby to its mother…"

"Will you stop making fun of me?!" asked Sokka, and Azula chuckled.

"You need something uplifting, I believe. Making you argue with me might just be the thing," she said, smiling. "But what is it you want, Sokka? Are you planning on dwelling in your misery forevermore, believing you're the worst human being ever just because you're enjoying a better life than that of most slaves?"

"No, I… I don't know," said Sokka, sighing. "I just wish that slaves didn't have to put up with what they do. That maybe they could be respected… that the Amateur League was no longer as bloody, that the gladiators wouldn't have to kill each other over there. I wish I could change things. I wish I could make it all better, but I can't. What's worse, I had even forgotten all about these problems. I was so pleased with my life that I didn't even remember… I had locked away all thoughts about my time in the Amateur League. When I became your gladiator I was so glad to be out of there that I threw everything else into oblivion. Maybe… maybe I was getting adjusted, and to accomplish that I had to put all those matters out of my mind for a while. But it's not until now that I remembered why I hated the Fire Nation as much as I did. It's not until now that I recalled all the wrong they've done, all the pain they've caused… the pain they're still causing. And I was just so comfortable that I couldn't even give it a thought…"

"You feel guilty, then," said Azula, frowning. "For growing to enjoy the life you have. For liking the Fire Nation, even in the slightest, when you had always hated it."

"Ever since I was a kid I was told the Fire Nation was the source of all evil… that you guys were rotten to the core," said Sokka, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "There was nothing good within you, you had wiped out an entire race and you were fine with doing the same to the Earth Kingdom's culture. My mother was killed by a Fire Nation raid… and so were so many others."

"Your mother…?" said Azula, surprised.

"I never told you?" asked Sokka.

"You said she had died… I didn't know she had been killed," said Azula, aghast. All the more reason why he ought to hate them.

"She was killed for no reason," said Sokka, shaking his head. "Kata-… my sister and my dad were the ones who found her. My sister said a Fire Nation soldier had been threatening her, and she went to get dad, but by the time they returned it was too late. Why was she killed? I never knew. I likely never will."

"I'm sorry…" muttered Azula, gritting her teeth.

"Well, I'll accept that, but it's not like you were the one who did it," said Sokka, smiling weakly. "It was a long time ago."

"Still, I didn't know you had such a reason to hate us."

"My dad's best friend died in the war too," said Sokka. "Lots of the Tribe's warriors did. In the end, I'm not short on reasons to hate the Fire Nation… but lately I can't bring myself to hate it. Not anymore, I… I hate everything you guys have done. All of it. The slavery, the genocide, the world dominance… it's completely wrong. If I could do anything about it, I would. But still…"

"The Fire Nation has done its fair share of unforgivable crimes to your people," said Azula. "And to others as well. I won't deny that any longer, there's no use in sugarcoating anything. If I had been in your position, I would have likely been beside myself in hatred. But not everything about the Fire Nation is bad… and now you know it."

"I don't like acknowledging it, though," said Sokka, sighing.

"It's a good place to live, despite the homeless people roaming around the city from time to time," said Azula, making Sokka chuckle at the memory. "It has great landscapes."

"Great sunsets too," said Sokka, smiling weakly. "And great food."

"How could I possibly forget?" said Azula, rolling her eyes but smiling.

"And… the people have a knack for being a little crazy and mean," said Sokka, smiling at her. "But once you get to know them better, they're not exactly what they seemed on the outside."

"Perhaps…" said Azula, changing the subject before the blood rushed to her face. "We have good technologies too. Most public services work wonderfully as well."

"And nowadays you even reimburse the towns in the Earth Kingdom that got sacked by pillaging bandits," said Sokka, smiling. "So yeah, maybe it really isn't all bad. But acknowledging that just makes everything worse…"

"Why?" asked Azula, frowning.

"Because changing my views about you so radically would make me… it would make me seem a traitor to my people," said Sokka, clenching his fists. "Even when I don't really believe I've betrayed them, when I'd rather be there than here… all along they've said the Fire Nation is the enemy. And I no longer think of it like that."

"You're a traitor for opening your eyes to reality?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow. "Why, if that's the case, then I suppose I must be a traitor to the Fire Nation also. A year ago I would have never even thought about the Earth Kingdom people as anything but lowly peasants who deserved nothing but to bow before us. But the people from that village took us in. They gave us food and shelter… they were grateful for what we had done, no matter if I was the daughter of the man who had destroyed their nation. And that gratefulness… it was better than their reverences or their fear. I never thought I would come to think so, but it really was."

"I didn't know you had been so shaken up by that…" said Sokka, surprised.

"It was an odd experience. Much like everything we went through while in that forest," said Azula, sighing at the memory. "And truly, I have come to accept that perhaps the Fire Nation isn't as flawless as I used to believe it was. Perhaps some of what you told me back in Ember Island was true. And I doubt that thinking this way makes me a traitor to my people. Even the fact that I'm sitting here, talking so easily to the Water Tribe's most annoying peasant, doesn't make me a traitor, I believe…"

"Now, wait a second…" said Sokka, holding up a hand. "I'm no peasant."

"Well, maybe you're a slave now, but back when you were in your Tribe…"

"No, no, I was never a peasant," declared Sokka, proudly. "My father was the Tribe's Chief!"

Azula's eyes widened at that.

"The Tribe's Chief?" she repeated. "Truly? Why didn't you say so until now?"

"Huh, surprised, aren't you?" said Sokka, smirking. "A little late to try and send them a ransom message, I guess, but you still might get a good price for the Water Tribe's Prince, I believe…"

Azula's disbelief turned into laughter at his self-appointed title. Sokka was obviously displeased by that reaction.

"Hey! I mean it!" he squeaked.

"A Prince? You?" she repeated, still laughing. "Not a chance, Sokka, no matter how much you wish for it…"

"I'm the Chief's son! He's the most important person of the Tribe, much like your dad is the most important person of your nation! You and I, Azula, are equals in more ways than you believe!"

"Please, don't ever bother comparing us like that," said Azula, shaking her head while looking at Sokka mockingly. "The Fire Lord is the strongest firebender, the most powerful descendant of the sun… all the Fire Sages believed themselves to be children of the sun, but since the Fire Lord was the most powerful of them, he's the one that rules the Nation. Therefore, I'm a descendant of the sun."

"Well then, we came from the moon if that's the case!" squeaked Sokka. "If you guys are descendants of the sun, we're likely descendants of the moon."

"Yes, there's a chance that's true… but not for you," said Azula, smirking. "The Northern Water Tribe has its royalty. There's a Princess there, isn't there? She's a descendant of the moon, I'm sure. You, on the other hand, have no royal blood in your veins, and that much is painfully clear just by looking at you."

"Oh, please," said Sokka, rolling his eyes. "Then if all this is true, the former Earth King popped out of a pile of dirt and that's why he was a royal?"

"I wouldn't rule it out…" said Azula, chuckling at the notion.

"And the Air Nomads appeared out of thin air too, huh?" asked Sokka, and Azula could do nothing but laugh.

Soon enough he was laughing along with her, unable to take his eyes off her while the moment lasted. Azula composed herself and shook her head, trying to calm down.

"Putting aside all these absurd and irrelevant notions," she said, still smiling. "You are a Water Tribe… member."

"Prince!" insisted Sokka, apparently indignant.

"Go ahead and delude yourself, we both know you're not one," said Azula, chuckling again. "Anyways, the matter is that you and I are completely different, aren't we? But… I've never laughed like this with anyone from the Fire Nation."

Sokka's eyes widened as he stared at her. He wasn't seeing things… she was blushing a little, wasn't she?

"You've influenced me in ways you shouldn't have, and that irritates me more than you imagine," said Azula, sighing. "But truly… I don't think I have ever met anyone I could get along with as well as I do with you."

"R-really…?" asked Sokka, amazed.

"And that is truly something that ought to be decreed a betrayal," said Azula, shaking her head and smiling again. "Who is the shameful one now, pray tell?"

"I'm not so sure," said Sokka, chuckling.

"But… I'm fine with this," said Azula. "I've grown to accept it, that you're completely different from me. There's nothing wrong with that. I still don't know how we get along as we do, but it's the way it is. And even if matters between us were rather dreadful just a while back, I'm still glad that things have turned out as they have."

Sokka was astounded as he stared at her. He never thought Azula would speak these words… she was glad? Glad to have taken him as her gladiator, perhaps? Glad that she had decided to give him all the chances that he had almost wasted?

"I don't think I've betrayed my people with what I've done," she said. "My views have changed after what I've experienced, after the things you've said… but this doesn't mean I'm turning my back on them. I will do everything I can to make the Fire Nation the best it can be. My loyalty to my nation has always been my main priority. If my father will truly bestow its rule upon me one day, then I shouldn't blind myself to the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it is. I need to understand the Fire Nation's shortcomings, its wrongdoings, to understand what I must do to improve it."

"Then you're proud of changing so much…?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"I'm proud of who I am," said Azula, nodding. "I haven't betrayed my nation, not truly… because I haven't betrayed myself. Even after all this time around you, I still believe I've kept true to who I am. And that's what you should think of, first and foremost. Perhaps your Tribe won't be pleased to hear you enjoyed a pretty nice life while in the Fire Nation… they might think you've been corrupted, perhaps. But so long as you know who you truly are, Sokka, they can say whatever they want to say. You own your truths. You know yourself better than anyone else will. So long as you are loyal to yourself, Sokka, there's nothing to be ashamed of."

Sokka's eyes were filled with hope as she finished talking. Azula was startled by his reaction. She had spoken what she believed was true, and what she thought he needed to hear… but why was he looking at her like that? His gaze was making her too nervous. Those blue eyes… why did they have to be so clear, so mesmerizing…?

"You… you're right," he said, smiling. "That sounds like what Piandao might have said, actually…"

"Really?" said Azula, still uneasy by his stare.

"Yeah… it's true," he said, chuckling. "I just… I shouldn't forget the Fire Nation's flaws, and I won't. There's much of it that should be improved, and I'll be around to pester you until you make things better."

"Now that's an idea I'm not fond of…" said Azula, grimacing.

"But just as I won't forget its wrongs, I won't forget the good of it either," he said, smiling. "There's both things in it, truly. So maybe… maybe we could make things better, don't you think?"

"We? The two of us? How, through a marriage alliance, oh Peasant Prince? I don't think so," said Azula, sarcastically.

"Huh… that doesn't sound so bad, actually," said Sokka, scratching his chin as Azula slapped her forehead with a hand.

"That was just a joke, you fool!"

"But it really might work!" said Sokka, cheerfully.

"You are insane," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "Not a chance. Keep dreaming."

"B-but… it really could help," said Sokka, still smiling. "Wouldn't it be nice, to find a way to stop all this war and the slavery and everything that's wrong with the world…?"

"Indeed," said Azula, sighing. "But I am just a Princess right now. If I dare ask my father to stop enslaving people, he'll likely enslave me as punishment."

"How about we start this by fixing your father first?" muttered Sokka, grimacing. "You take over his position, and take care of the Fire Nation in his place…"

"He's the Fire Lord and he's my father, Sokka. I'm not going to usurp his rule," said Azula, rolling her eyes and climbing off the fence. "Come on. Let's see if Ty Lee's done with dinner."

"But you really should try to do something! You could, I'm sure," said Sokka, following her off the fence.

"Likely, but in the far future, if anything," said Azula. "You'll have to wait patiently until then."

"Well, fine, I'll try to do that…" he said, sighing. "Hey, Azula…"

"What?" she said, looking at him.

Sokka smiled gratefully at her, and her heart raced in her chest upon that sight.

"Thanks," he said. "You saved me from losing my mind, pretty much. I owe you a big one."

Azula blushed slightly and looked away, starting towards the house at a slow pace.

"People keep owing me favors lately, it seems…" she muttered, not knowing how else to respond.

Sokka chuckled and sighed with relief, his mind clear at last. He would have never guessed Azula would be the one to soothe his sorrowful heart, or that she would do it so quickly. He smiled and trotted up to her, walking side by side with her towards the house, still beaming. Indeed, she had been his damnation a long time ago. But without a doubt, she was his salvation now. She had changed his views on the world while he was changing hers, and she had given him hope… hope that the world could change for the better as well. One day, surely, Azula would set the Fire Nation on the right course, and he'd make sure to stick around to watch it happen.

Azula snuck a look towards him and smiled, pleased with how matters had turned out. How had she managed to appease him, she had no idea. She hated to think Ty Lee had been right about how to address this problem, but she was so relieved she could hardly be upset about that anymore. Sokka was back to himself now, and that was all that mattered.

He looked at her as well, and he caught her in the middle of her smile. Sokka blinked at the sight of her grin, taken by surprise by the sight of such joy in her features. She grew even more beautiful when she smiled…

Azula blushed and turned away when she met his gaze, walking off towards the house more quickly. But before she could get away, Sokka's hand darted out and grasped her wrist.

Azula turned around towards him and stared at him in apprehension. What did he want? Was he going to make fun of her stupid smile…? But the way he was looking at her said otherwise. Those blue eyes, so clear, so sincere, so dazzling…

She had lost herself in them when his other hand went to her waist and brought her closer to him. And she could have sworn her heart was about to burst out of her chest when he leaned down to kiss her.

It was a gentle kiss: it wasn't savage, it wasn't sorrowful, it wasn't desperate… was it a display of his gratefulness, perhaps? She didn't know, but feeling his lips move against hers was as exhilarating as ever. She closed her eyes before she knew it, returning the kiss just as kindly as he brought her closer to him, releasing her hand and surrounding her with his arms.

"And yet they keep saying there's nothing going on, huh…?" said Ty Lee, smirking as she stared out the window. "Caught red-handed."

"Did you say something?" said Haru, looking up from the oven towards Ty Lee when he heard her speak.

"Nothing, dear. Everything is just the way it should be," said the girl happily, beaming and turning back towards Haru, deciding to give the pair their privacy. "I'm just going to cash an old bet first thing tomorrow."


	51. Chapter 51

He lowered his head, his gaze centered on the batch of grass before him. He didn't make a sound, and he tried not to move either. The cricket was right in front of him, and he could have snatched him with his jaws in a heartbeat, but it was so much more fun to trick it into believing he was no longer being hunted.

And indeed, the bug failed to notice he was there, leering at him. The cricket climbed to the top of the grass blade he was dangling from, and he hopped into the air, spreading its wings with a flutter…

And then the cricket was scorched in midair by a fire blast. A forked tongue darted out to pick up the bug before it could drop to the ground. Xin Long rolled his tongue back and savored the cricket before swallowing, chuckling in his own reptilian way once he had gotten away with his malicious endeavor.

He turned towards his rider cheerfully, wanting to share his great accomplishment with her, but even though Azula was sitting with her back resting on the dragon's long frame, the Princess's mind was nowhere nearby. Xin Long groaned loudly and brought her out of her meditative state, and Azula turned towards him, startled.

"What? Oh, you caught another one?" she said, as Xin Long flashed her mind with images of his successful hunt "Well done. You'll catch them all at this rate"

Xin Long groaned again, knowing she wasn't being completely sincere with the words she was speaking. Something was preventing her from admiring his hunting skills genuinely, and Xin Long already knew what it was.

Azula was startled by the next thought her dragon sent her way, and she stared at him in disbelief.

"What do you mean, what is the big deal?" she said "You should know by now, Xin!"

Xin Long growled, letting Azula know he was aware of the fact that it was important to her, but he was unable to understand why it was. He doubted dragons touching their mouths together would make a fuss like the one she was making right now…

"Not like we'll know if they would or wouldn't make a fuss" grunted Azula, sighing and dropping on the dragon's back again "It's more than just 'touching our mouths' together, Xin… it's the heralding of my doom, that's what it really is. It doesn't matter how amazing it might feel, it just can't be…"

Xin Long grew more confused with every passing moment. What couldn't be?

"Him and me. We're not supposed to be together" sighed Azula "Do you have any clue of what would happen if we ever went any further than that and my father were to find out…?"

It didn't make any sense to Xin Long that Azula would speak of 'being together' with Sokka. Ever since Xin Long had met the pair of them, Azula had almost always been with Sokka. What she was saying was completely absurd in Xin Long's opinion…

"I don't mean together in the conventional way" said Azula, blushing as she came up with a very embarrassing way to explain this to the creature "What I meant was for us to… mate"

Xin Long actually made a hooting sound, at which Azula stared at him in indignation, her blood rushing to her face even faster.

"Will you stop?!" she exclaimed, and the dragon was amused by her reaction "Yes, that is what I meant! Now you understand why I can't be with him?"

Xin Long stopped chuckling when he realized he still didn't understand. Why couldn't they mate? If they were from the same species, they had fun together, they liked each other and they shared common interests, such as pressing their mouths together, why shouldn't they mate? It wasn't all that complicated…

"It's far more complicated than it seems to you" said Azula "It doesn't matter how much I wish we could go any further, it can't happen. There's too much at stake… and he knows it. I told him as much! I… I thought we had reached an agreement, a new deal, but he just broke it as if it were nothing to him! Why did he have to kiss me…?"

Xin Long was still confused, but he didn't keep from pointing out that she had kissed him back. Azula shot him a glare she never thought she would have to use on her dragon.

"It wasn't as if I could… as if I could resist, damn" said Azula, dropping against the creature's back again "I wish I could. I should have just shoved him off and told him to keep his tongue to himself…"

Xin Long blinked a few times as he stared at Azula, sending other thoughts her way. Azula would have smiled at his innocent idea if she hadn't been as troubled as she was.

"If he wants to catch crickets with his tongue like you do, he's welcome to try" said Azula "But if he'll start hunting crickets like that, then all the more reason he should keep it away from me"

Xin Long seemed slightly offended at that, and he stuck his tongue out at Azula, but she ignored him.

"I know I don't want for us to just be sponsor and gladiator… of course I don't" said Azula "But I've already had my taste of what happens if I forget the rules of the game. Any slip-ups will end badly… even if it could work at first, there's no chance a relationship between us could endure through the strains of the world we live in. If I just wasn't the Princess, then maybe…"

Azula's eyes widened when those words slipped from her mouth. She didn't recall ever having wished not to be a Princess. All along she had enjoyed every single perk that came from being a royal, and there was absolutely nothing she would have traded her life away for. How had she even dared think about the possibilities of not being a royal…? How could she even wonder what her life might be like if she weren't a Princess? And it was because of him that she had come to think of this…

"What is he doing to me, Xin?" she asked, her face in her hands as she tried to find the answer to her own question "How can he make a mess of me without even trying? And why am I letting him…?"

Xin Long encircled Azula with his tail, not knowing how to soothe her. Azula allowed it to wrap around her shoulders and sighed, shaking her head.

"It's pointless to keep thinking about it. Dwelling upon the matter is just not going to help at all. But even though I wish I could just act as if nothing had happened, I can't. I can't face him like this, when I have no idea what to say or what to do… what if he tries to kiss me again, Xin? Am I supposed to just go with it again…? Even if I tell myself I won't do it, I know it will be useless. I've been unable to hold my own against him so far…"

Xin Long nudged at her shoulder with his nose, growing concerned over her. It wasn't like her to feel so weak-minded over anything, and it seemed even weirder for Xin Long that she would feel this way about her best ally. Sokka was the only other human, aside from Azula herself, who had ridden him, and it was only because Azula had allowed him to. He had fought alongside with Azula against the Rhino Gang, and Xin Long hadn't ignored just how much Azula's mood would improve whenever she was with him. If she enjoyed herself so much when she was with Sokka, why not let herself go and forget all her reserves?

"Because it's too big a risk, Xin" said Azula, shaking her head "If my father even knew he has kissed me, he would lock him up without a second thought. He might even behead him for just a kiss…"

Xin Long groaned teasingly and Azula rolled her eyes.

"Well, it really wasn't just a kiss for me. None of them have been" said Azula "Still, Xin, it can't happen. I can't let it happen. I need to… I need to get over him. I need to leave all these useless feelings behind. My father has always told me emotions are pointless, and he's right… they've only brought me sorrow and pain so far. I can't let myself make the same mistake I did before, no matter how badly I wish to make it"

Xin Long nudged at her shoulder again with his nose, and Azula sighed.

"I said I wouldn't make the mistake, stop trying to convince me. No, it doesn't matter if it'll make me happier, it's going to ruin everything on the long run, so quit harassing me, Xin… I said quit-…!"

The dragon had been nudging at her playfully until he stopped upon noticing they were being watched. Azula was surprised when he actually obeyed her, but it didn't take her long to realize he hadn't stopped because of her.

She felt the color drain from her face when she realized her brother was staring at her with utter confusion.

The first question that popped up in Azula's mind was: how much had Zuko heard?

Being caught in such a strange situation was most unlike her. She was sitting on the grass, with a dragon's tail wrapped around her, while talking seemingly to herself… it was not something most people would get to witness. So why did Zuko, of all people, have to be the one to spot her?

Yet she wasn't the only one sporting an appearance that would arise many questions. Zuko's frame was draped by a black cloak, a dark hood drawn upon his face that failed to conceal his features completely. Azula could see his confused frown just as clearly as she would if he hadn't been wearing the hood.

They stared at each other silently for a moment, both wondering who might be the one to take the initiative. For once, Zuko actually might have an edge on her… but as soon as he realized he did, she decided to grasp hers.

"Well, if it's not you, Zuzu" she said, seeking to lead him into believing she was as calm and collected as she usually was "It has been long. Did you come here in hopes to pet Xin Long without my awareness?"

"Wha-…? Of course not" grunted Zuko, his sole eyebrow twitching.

"I suppose not, that getup implies you're up to something else…" said Azula, tapping her chin with her index finger "Perhaps you're playing hide-and-seek with the Bandit?"

"What? Playing…? What on earth are you talking about?" asked Zuko, staring at her in bewilderedness.

"I'm merely making guesses here" said Azula, smirking slightly "It will be quite useless to try to sneak past her by wearing a hood, Zuzu. She's blind, she wouldn't care if you're wearing a skirt… doesn't mean she can't catch you if she puts her mind to it, of course. You've never been all that good at games, as you surely must recall…"

"I wasn't playing anything, let alone with her" grunted Zuko "And since you're that hung on games, why don't you go play with your gladiator and your swords?"

Azula had to make use of all her willpower to keep the blood from flowing up towards her face in a rush when Zuko happened to mention Sokka.

"I could ask you the same thing" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow, and startling Zuko.

"What…? I don't have a gladiator" replied Zuko, flinching away from her.

"I thought as much" said Azula "Yet you keep frequenting the Arena, from what I've heard. Why might that be, Zuzu? Didn't you think the lowly Gladiator Business was revolting and that you wanted nothing to do with it?"

"That's… that's none of your concern" grunted Zuko, gritting his teeth "How did you know?"

"Ty Lee saw you" said Azula, pleased by Zuko's response since it had helped her to change the subject "She told me all about how witty you thought you were by concealing your face underneath that hood… anyone would know it's you, Zuko. You really shouldn't bother wearing it"

"Shut up" grunted Zuko, turning around and storming off the hall, fuming.

Azula sighed and dropped her head on Xin Long's back again. He was gone now, and he had made no mention of what she had been talking about to Xin Long… so he probably hadn't heard anything important. If he had heard her mention a kiss he would have likely poked at her to no end. He would have finally found an opportunity to pay back for all the times she had picked on him since childhood, which had been more than she could count… and it was because of this that she couldn't allow herself any weaknesses in front of him. To Zuko, she was flawless. She would do everything in her power to keep him thinking that way.

Zuko walked away from the gardens feeling rather irritated. Why was it that every single time he crossed paths with his sister she had to make him feel like a fool? Why did she enjoy feeling superior to everyone else so much? It annoyed him beyond belief…

And it annoyed him even further to think that he had almost found the chance to return the favor, but he had let it go to waste. She had been talking to the dragon about a mistake… since when did Azula make mistakes? He would make sure to ask her next time she spoke to him. He was sure she'd be unable to avoid the matter if he brought it up one day…

But for now, it would be best if he stopped thinking about his sister. He walked towards the Palace walls, slipping past the hidden door and walking out into the town while feeling slightly foolish. Wearing the hood… was it any use? Why did Azula have to be so skilled in throwing his world out of balance? Maybe Ty Lee had spotted him, but that didn't mean everybody else knew it was him! Surely she was just exaggerating…

He entered the Arena, still wondering if people already knew who he was. He sighed and walked towards the bets counter, but not before stopping by the board where today's fights were written.

"Kyoshi's Heir against the Chained Titan…" read Zuko, smiling weakly as he read the name of his favorite gladiator.

He approached the counter and set a bag of coins before the staff member, who nodded in greeting.

"Kyoshi's Heir again, is it?" he muttered "You sure about doing that this time around? The Titan isn't above her in the ranking, but he has won over a hundred fights, no losses"

"It doesn't matter" muttered Zuko "I'm placing my bet on her"

"Suit yourself" said the man, shrugging and putting the money away.

Zuko glared at him, irritated. It didn't matter if she was up against a man who had won every single one of his fights… of course she would win! There was simply no questioning it! Suki was strong enough to defeat…!

His thoughts were interrupted when someone collided with him. The crash almost knocked him to the floor, and he stared around himself in confusion, wondering who it might have been and why…

"Oh, spirits, I'm so sorry!"

Zuko's eyes almost fell out of their sockets when he realized that the person who had run into him was the very gladiator he had been placing a bet on. His mouth fell open as he stared at her, incapable to utter a sound.

"Are you alright? I'm coming in a little late, I was in a rush and I didn't realize… did I hurt you anywhere?" she asked, grimacing and looking at Zuko in concern.

"N-no, I… I'm fine" he said, weakly.

"Really…?" muttered Suki, still looking at him worriedly before recalling she was late. She edged away towards the stairs and made an apologetic gesture with her hand "Sorry again! I've got to run now, so see you around!"

"Uh… sure" said Zuko, staring after her wide-eyed as she sprinted down the stairs hastily.

He gaped after her in shock, his heart racing in his chest. She had talked to him… she had seen him. They had been face to face for the very first time… He had thought he would only ever watch her from afar, admiring her talent and dignity while fighting. But he had just talked to her… what had he said? Had he made a fool of himself? He didn't even remember what he had told her anymore! He should have asked if she was fine as well, or at least wished her luck in her fight…

His hand went to his forehead and he shook his head in disbelief. And he would have continued regretting not having said anything useful if he hadn't turned around to find quite an unexpected crowd staring at him.

He had seen them before many times now, and he had always avoided them, pulling up his black hood to show he was nothing like them. Yet he had always dreaded that Kyoshi's Heir's fans might round him up eventually… and it seemed the day he had feared had finally come.

They were a strange group, truly. They were all clad in green and yellow clothes, wearing bandanas and holding up fans. Some of them had headpieces, others wore the face paint… and in Zuko's opinion, all of them looked slightly crazy. There was one who stood to the front of the group, a plump and short man who couldn't have been older than Zuko, and he seemed to be the leader of the fans, given that he had a ribbon on his chest that identified him as 'President of Kyoshi's Heir's Fanclub'. He stared at Zuko with wide eyes before smiling broadly.

"She talked to you! She talked to you!" he said happily "That's something to remember, truly!"

"She… she crashed into me" muttered Zuko, staring at the man in confusion "She was just apologizing. What do you want? Why do you talk as if you knew me…?"

"Oh, but we know you! You always show up at Kyoshi's Heir's fights!" said the man "We're her fan club! I'm the president, Zhai Gou! Who might you be, my fellow fan?"

Zuko could have almost thrown a celebration fit right then and there if he hadn't caught himself. The guy had no idea who he was! Take that, Azula!

But truly… he didn't want the president of the fan club to know him. Even if he didn't seem a bad person at heart, this guy was too cheerful and happy… and he wasn't the sort of person Zuko wanted to involve himself with. Zuko hardly wanted to involve himself with anyone, for starters.

"I'm… Lee" he muttered, not knowing if he had spoken with enough conviction.

"Nice to meet you, Lee!" said Zhai Gou, and the others behind him chorused his words "I've always wondered if I should come up to you and invite you over to our side of the stands, but I didn't know until today if you were her fan or perhaps if you wanted to see her fall…"

"See her fall?" asked Zuko, shocked "Why would I want to do that?"

"There are many spectators that come by just to watch the gladiators lose" said Zhai Gou "They bet against them instead of betting for them… so I thought perhaps you would be like those, given how scary and eerie you are! But she just spoke to you, and if she did, then you must be one of the good guys!"

"Says who?" grunted Zuko, growing irritated, but it seemed he could say nothing to push away the man who pestered him so much.

"You are more than welcome, Lee, to take your seat with us today!" said Zhai Gou, grinning "You are one of us, so…"

"Wait, I'm not one of you!" said Zuko, grimacing "I'm not!"

"You are Kyoshi's Heir's fan!" said another member of the crowd "Of course you're one of us!"

"B-but I…!" started Zuko, trying to defend himself from the horde of fans to no avail.

Zuko found himself engulfed by them, and they all squealed happily as they dumped what seemed to be Kyoshi's Heir's merchandise on Zuko. He found himself holding fans, bandanas, a Kyoshi outfit, several different kinds of headpieces, posters, amongst so many other things, as the crowd gifted him with what might have just been what they considered the beginner's set for cheering on Kyoshi's Heir.

"We'll be waiting for you in our side of the stands, Lee!" called out Zhai Gou as the entire crowd moved away, leaving Zuko behind amongst all the objects he had just been gifted with.

Zuko stared after them in disbelief for a few moments, and the man at the bets counter looked at him worriedly.

"You alright there, Prince?"

"I'm… uh… fine" grunted Zuko, growing slightly irritated when the man addressed him by his title. Maybe Azula hadn't been so wrong after all…

Zuko wondered if he should drop all the stuff he had been given, but he decided against it. Littering the Arena wasn't a good idea. And so, he carried all of it with him as he climbed the stairs towards the stands.

He looked for the group of Kyoshi's Heir's fans just to make sure he would go the exact opposite way. Once he spotted them, cheering at the east side of the stadium even though the match hadn't begun yet, Zuko walked away as discreetly as possible. Whatever spot they had saved for him, he certainly didn't want to take it. These people were even crazier than he had expected them to be…

He walked away towards the west of the Arena, and he sat on the highest bench available, dropping his gifts on a vacant seat by his side. He stared at the pile of goods in mild disbelief, still wondering what the point of it all was… was that a peach? Why had they given him a peach? Was that Kyoshi's Heir's favorite fruit or something?

Zuko sighed and shook his head. He frowned as he relived what had just happened in the Arena's vestibule, and recalled what the president had told him… he wasn't one of them, not at all. He enjoyed watching her fight, but that didn't make him a crazed fan like the rest of them. He wouldn't wear paint his face like hers as they did, nor would he try to dress up like she did… Perhaps he was curious about her and he wished to know more about the girl, but he wasn't going to waste away his life with this, this was just a hobby, a simple way to pass the time for now…

Though, was it? Zuko frowned and shook his head, feeling quite foolish. Perhaps he ought to be busy with something more important… but what? His father still wouldn't meet with him. His uncle and his sister were both completely involved in the Gladiator Business. Maybe he should go into the Earth Kingdom to find another dragon so that he wouldn't lag behind his sister… but what use would that be? She had gotten one first. He would come second, as always, and his luck was such that he wasn't even bound to find a dragon no matter where he looked…

Then… the Avatar? No, he'd had enough of chasing him for a lifetime. He hadn't found him in ten years. There was no chance he would find him if he tried to do so one more time. The Avatar was gone… maybe he had been reborn in the Northern Water Tribe, or in the Earth Kingdom by now, but there was no Earth Kingdom anymore. And the Air Nomads were gone as well. How would he be an Avatar if he couldn't be taught how to bend all four elements?

Zuko sighed and shook his head again, picking up the peach and wondering if perhaps he should eat it to forget about his thoughts for a moment. He was quite helpless as he was, and there was little he could do to change that for the better. Perhaps his father would come to accept him again eventually, if Azula was too busy frolicking around with her slave or with her dragon to fulfill the Fire Lord's orders… but if not, then he would have nothing else to do for now. Dropping by at the Arena served to distract him from all his concerns, at the very least…

Zuko was staring at the peach on his hand when he realized there was someone trying to take a seat beside him. He looked up to find a plump young woman, staring at all the goods in mild confusion as she tried to make room for herself.

"Could you please…? The rest of the Arena is already so crowded…" she said, smiling apologetically at Zuko.

"O-of course, I'm sorry" he said, pocketing the peach. He picked the rest of the objects up and dropped them on the ground by his feet. The movements made the hood on his face fall back slightly, revealing his face without his awareness.

The girl stared at him in awe when she caught sight of his scar, his dark hair and his golden eyes. Had she been carrying anything on her hands, she would have certainly dropped it.

"I-is there any problem?" asked Zuko, when she still wouldn't sit down "I already put everything out of the way…"

"N-n-n-n-no… not… no problem…" muttered the girl, sitting next to him while her face turned red. How was she going to be able to act naturally when she was dealing with the Fire Lord's son…?

Zuko might have taken notice of her unease, but the grids of the stand-by rooms were lifted on that very moment, claiming his attention. Zuko stared avidly towards the sand pit, and he smiled when Kyoshi's Heir walked into it, waving quite charismatically towards the crowd. She sure didn't seem to be the same person who had bumped into him clumsily just a moment ago…

But Zuko's smile dwindled when he caught sight of Suki's opponent. The man was ridiculously buff, and his face was ugly and disfigured by scars. His hair was a mat of brown, falling over his eyes in total disarray. He wore a heavy armor, and he was armed with several different kinds of blades, but his hands were gripping a large dragon-beard hook attached to a long chain, which seemed to be his main weapon.

Suki squinted under the sun as she stared at her opponent. She had fought worse… of course she had. She brought forth her fans and stared at the man with a frown on her face. The Chained Titan had never lost a fight, according to his records… and what was worse, it seemed he was one of those gladiators who relished in murdering his rivals.

And she couldn't let him win today. The bid was really high this time around… she couldn't let it go to waste. Oyaji had already told her she couldn't chance this fight. She needed to defeat this opponent, no matter what the cost was.

"… Can Kyoshi's Heir bring down the Titan's perfect winning streak? We will have fifteen minutes to find out" said the megaphone man "Get ready, and… START!"

The Titan didn't wait another instant before beginning his assault. With a roar, he threw the hook straight towards Suki, and she jumped out of the way swiftly… but the Titan swung the weapon in her direction, and she had to duck to avoid getting beheaded by the hook. As she saw the weapon pass right above her she realized just how sharp the edge was…

The Titan continued roaring, still flinging his hook dangerously towards her. Suki grimaced and began running through the sand, forced to make feints in order to avoid his attacks. It was shocking that she would have such trouble against an opponent at the very beginning of the fight. He was below her in the ranking, he shouldn't have the upper hand this easily…

But Suki knew better than to despair. She had to be careful regarding how she fought against this foe…

"Just how high is that guy in the ranking?" Zuko asked to the girl sitting next to him, as he watched worriedly how Kyoshi's Heir struggled to keep up with her opponent's deadly weapon without being able to counter any of his attacks.

"I… I don't know…" she replied, blushing again upon being addressed by Zuko.

Zuko frowned and stared down even more intently, his fingertips digging into his knees as he leaned forward. She could do this… she always found a way to defeat her opponents, this time would be no different…

Suki had to sprint, running back and forth through the Arena while trying to avoid being struck by either the chain or the hook. She would be able to sustain a blow by the chain… but that hook would slice through her armor as if she were wearing none, not only because of its sharpness but because of the momentum it was gaining thanks to the way the Titan spun it in the air.

She ran forward, straight towards her opponent, her fans gripped in her hands as she tested him. The Titan would have to reel in his chain in order to strike Suki, and upon doing so, the spinning had to slow down. Suki would have smiled upon having gained an opening, but she really couldn't waste any time in celebration when she still hadn't won. Especially when the Titan swung the now shortened chain straight towards her, again with enough momentum to kill her if she failed to defend herself.

She brought forth the shield on her left arm and lifted it to protect her face, since the hook was coming straight towards it. The hook's blow shook her, almost knocking her off balance, and it actually tore through her shield. Suki grimaced when she noticed the deadly tip of the blade was peeking out through the shield only a few inches above her hand.

She released the shield from the hook, and the Titan reeled it in again only to swing it above his head, again relying on the force of the spin to make his weapon even deadlier. Suki grimaced, wondering what she ought to do to defeat him. No wonder he hadn't fallen before other gladiators before… He was quick and his offense served as defense as well. If that chain caught her it was bound to maim her badly, and there was also the chance that the hook would find its way into cutting her if the chain wrapped around her body…

She couldn't give him any opportunities. She had to defeat him as quickly as possible.

She tossed one of her fans at the Titan, and he was finally forced to shift his stance, but that only served to make the hook's trajectory even more difficult to predict for her. Suki snarled and jumped towards him, bringing forth her remaining fan just as her opponent directed his chain towards her again. Suki dropped to the ground to evade it, but the Titan slung the hook around himself on a second lap, and he lowered the chain so that the hook would still find her. But Suki wouldn't let him defeat her so easily. She leapt forward and struck the center of the chain with her fan, rendering the weapon useless for the moment as it lost its firmness.

But the Titan was anything but helpless after what she did. The dragon beard hook fell to the ground a few feet away from Suki, but as soon as she turned around she found the Titan running towards her, yelling again, with a dagger in hand.

Suki hardly had enough time to unsheathe her katana to protect herself from the man's attack. He used the dagger to stab at her wildly, his eyes bulging with madness as he did. It seemed he hardly had any prowess with the knife, most unlike with his hook, but he still had an advantage over her. Suki had to jump back to keep from getting pierced by the blade, and when she did so, the Titan pulled the chain again and the hook came flying straight towards Suki.

She used her katana to knock the hook off-course, but the Titan pulled on the chain and swung it towards his right. The chain caught her right below the knees and brought her down head-first into the sand.

Zuko gasped, along with the rest of the crowd, when Suki took a fall in such disgraceful manner. It wasn't like Kyoshi's Heir to lose her footing…

Suki rolled on the sand, almost as a reflex, before bolting up to her feet. She was relieved to have done that, given that only a few seconds later the hook plummeted down on the very spot she had been lying on. The sharp edge sank into the sand so swiftly that Suki couldn't help but stare in horror. The blade would have definitely killed her if she had lingered a moment longer… and it would if she lingered where she was now.

The Titan roared again, unhooked his weapon and threw it towards her anew, and Suki grimaced, ducking below the chain to avoid it once the Titan had tossed it towards her. The hook spun around the Arena and swung towards Suki again, this time aiming at her legs. Suki jumped high and forward, hoping to avoid the hook and to reach the Titan this time around, but the gladiator took advantage of the spins to shorten the chain, and the hook was coming straight towards her again.

Suki grimaced and tossed her fan at the chain when she realized the hook would strike her. It wasn't much use, but at least it helped alter the trajectory of the blade.

Even so, it seemed that every passing second would only make the Titan deadlier. The hook had become slightly unsteady for a moment, but its momentum only seemed to increase as he spun the chain harder. Suki gritted her teeth and gripped her katana tightly, lounging forward in a last, desperate attempt to reach her opponent.

The Titan stopped the hook and yanked it back when it was right behind Suki. The hook lost some power, but it still flew rapidly as it came closer to its objective. Suki grimaced, knowing the hook was much faster than she was. And it was right behind her, about to rip her back in two…

The Titan was smirking as he saw her running towards him, knowing she would be unable to hit him before the hook struck her down… she was done for, the fabled Kyoshi's Heir. This was definitely going to be her last fight.

But just as he was starting to feel triumphant, Suki dropped flatly on the sand. Her head hit the ground a little harder than she intended, and she slid towards him as her own momentum kept her moving, even though she wasn't going to attack her opponent anymore. It wasn't necessary.

Suki watched as the hook passed right above her, the edge shining brightly against the sun as it was flew back, straight towards its wielder.

Blood splattered Suki and she closed her eyes, knowing just what had happened to her opponent. She was on her feet again quickly as the blood oozed out of the Titan, his stomach cut open by his own blade.

The Titan spat blood as his shivering hands went down to his hook, and he stared at Suki almost accusingly… and she could only look at him in horror. He had brought this upon himself… he should have been aware of the perils of his own weapons. And she had been forced to win, she didn't have a choice but to defeat him…

The Titan tried to roar angrily again, but upon doing so he collapsed on the ground, too weak due to the blood loss to utter any sounds at all. Suki heard the hook sink deeper into his body after he dropped on his stomach on the sand.

The staff members ran into the sand pit quickly, picking up the man carefully as the megaphone man decreed Kyoshi's Heir to be the winner. The crowd seemed satisfied by the result, but the cheers weren't as loud as usual given how bloody the battle had been. Kyoshi's Heir had never been one for spectacles of this sort.

Unlike other fighters, Kyoshi's Heir would never put up much of a celebration show after winning a match. She would simply stand in spot, her head held high, as she listened to the cheers of the crowd, before walking away.

Perhaps this was the reason why nobody other than Zuko caught the unusual change in her demeanor this time. Instead of keeping her head high, she was staring down at the blood-stained sand. She had her back turned towards where Zuko sat, but that didn't keep him from noticing she was clearly shaken up by what had just happened.

"She's… is she okay?" he muttered, gulping. She hadn't sustained any injuries… but that didn't mean she hadn't been wounded in this fight.

Kyoshi's Heir was led into the stand-by room by a staff member, and Zuko watched in dismay as she walked away, still with her head tilted. Her supporters were still cheering her on, but it didn't seem to serve its purpose, and it seemed to Zuko the fans didn't even realize how troubled she was.

Suki entered the stand-by room and she was gone from sight. Zuko grimaced worriedly, his eyes fixed upon the golden gate. Could she be alright? Even though the fight had been as bloody as it was, she had still managed to triumph in quite an honorable fashion, in Zuko's opinion. Yet she was clearly disturbed by what she had been forced to do to defeat the Titan… and there was absolutely nothing Zuko could do about it. He could only sit there and watch her from afar, as always…

"Maybe you should… maybe you should go see her" said the girl that had been sitting next to him, startling Zuko.

"What?" he said, looking at her with wide eyes. She jumped at his response, her cheeks reddening again.

"I mean… y-you are… well, you… you are worried about her, aren't you?" she muttered, gulping "You were supporting Kyoshi's Heir…"

"Well, yeah…" said Zuko, frowning "But I can't just walk to where she is and ask her if she's fine! She doesn't even know who I am"

"W-well… if you told her who you are, she'd know…" shrugged the girl, matter-of-factly.

"No kidding" said Zuko, grimacing "But I don't think…"

"It was just a suggestion…" muttered the girl, lowering her head and leaving the stands without another word. Zuko watched her leave, still surprised by what she had told him.

"Why would she want to help me…?" he muttered, confused.

He looked again at all the goods he had been given, frowning. The people who had given him these objects cheered on for a gladiator, not for a woman… they didn't think of the toll that these fights took on Kyoshi's Heir. They surely didn't understand the reality of the Gladiator Business…

But Zuko did. Perhaps the girl had been right… perhaps he could talk to her. He didn't admire Kyoshi's Heir merely because she was a gladiator. On the contrary, he admired her because he could see that she was much more than that. And there was a chance that he might be the only one who saw her in this light. There was a chance that he might be the only one who could help her in this moment of sorrow…

He gritted his teeth and picked up all his gifts yet again, and he walked through the stands, back to the stairs that would lead him to the vestibule. But instead of heading straight to the gates, Zuko continued downwards, determined to reach the stand-by room before she could leave it…

He dropped the fans' presents on the hall, making a note to pick it up later. It wouldn't be a good idea to talk to her while carrying a load of junk that would convince her that he was merely another foolish fan of hers.

To his relief, she was still in the stand-by room. He almost smiled when he saw her… until he processed the sight completely. She was sitting on the stand-by room's bench, hugging herself, her head tilted down, her hair falling as a curtain to cover her face. Her clothes were stained with the Titan's blood, and she seemed to be breathing agitatedly as her body shivered. Was she crying…?

All of Zuko's delirious ideas to help her out vanished on the spot. How could he dare approach her now? She was miserable… and he wouldn't be able to make her feel any better! He couldn't even cheer himself up when he was upset, how would he be able to help her in any way?

He gritted his teeth and decided to turn around and leave, but his movement made his cloak rustle. The sound gave his presence away, and Zuko grimaced, knowing he had revealed himself without meaning to.

And Kyoshi's Heir lifted her head and found him standing only a few feet away from him, looking at her with worried eyes.

They stared at each other for a long moment, during which Zuko was relieved to find that she wasn't actually crying. She seemed confused to find herself with company in the stand-by room, but she looked down quickly once she remembered who he was.

"Y-you… sorry again for tripping on you, I didn't mean…" she muttered, avoiding his gaze.

"That's… that's not why I'm here" Zuko blurted out thoughtlessly, and she seemed quite confused at that.

"What are you here for, then?" she asked, looking at him sideways.

"I… I watched the match, I…" he muttered, nervously. How was he supposed to do this? How could he just talk to her naturally, after spending such a long time admiring her from afar…?

"I hope you placed your bet on me, then…" she said, smiling so weakly that it almost seemed a grimace.

"I did, but that's… that's not really important" said Zuko, scratching his head "Are you… are you alright?"

Suki's eyes opened wide upon his question. She finally dared look at him, and she was surprised to be admiring such a handsome face underneath that hood. His left eye was marked with a scar, and yet it didn't make him any less appealing to her. Who was this dark stranger…? And why did he care how she was faring? Nobody ever asked such questions to a gladiator… only one out of ten sponsors cared for their gladiator's wellbeing, and she was one of the lucky gladiators with a gentle sponsor. Oyaji had always been kind to her… but the same couldn't be said for the crowd. Perhaps she had fans and supporters, but they only loved the gladiator, Kyoshi's Heir. So long as she won, they cared for nothing else. This guy, though… since when did spectators care so much for fighters?

"Why do you ask?" she muttered, staring at him with her outstanding violet eyes.

"B-because… I watched the fight, I… I've been watching you for a while, and this time it was… well…"

"You're a fanboy, then?" asked Suki, smiling sympathetically at him.

"No! I'm… I'm not!" said Zuko, flustered "I just… you're the best fighter I've ever seen. I just thought you seemed upset, and I thought… maybe you needed someone to talk to after what happened"

Suki stared at him in surprise. He really wasn't one of those crazy fans, or else he might even be wearing face paint… but he was still one of her supporters. And for once, it was someone who was worried about her as more than just a gladiator. She smiled at him, almost shyly, and shrugged.

"Maybe it could help…" she muttered.

Zuko's eyes widened and he had to hold back from grinning at her response. She would talk to him! She would actually talk to him! But he had to keep from losing his cool. This was a very important matter, and he couldn't ruin it now. He was talking to Kyoshi's Heir, for crying out loud! He had messed many things up in his life already, he definitely didn't want to ruin this one.

He approached as she made some room for him on the bench, and once he sat down she sighed deeply.

"Must be ridiculous for a gladiator to be this bothered by a mere fight, huh…"

"It was rather disturbing" said Zuko, frowning "For a moment there I was afraid you might not make it safely"

"That makes it two of us" said Suki "I didn't mean to injure him so badly, but…"

"You used his strength against him. He pretty much did it to himself" said Zuko "And besides, chances are he might not die…"

"No use sugarcoating this" said Suki, shaking her head "He probably will die, even if he's still alive right now"

"I guess so… but it would have been you or him anyways. If you hadn't done what you did, you'd be the one dying right now"

"Doesn't sound that bad an idea…" muttered Suki, dropping her head between her hands.

"Don't say that" said Zuko, surprised by her words "You're the most amazing fighter I've seen, you… you deserve to live"

"And he didn't?" asked Suki "What makes me so much better than him?"

"You… you're honorable" said Zuko "If you weren't, you wouldn't feel so bad about this"

"Honorable…?" repeated Suki, surprised.

"After all these fights, you still hurt inside when you kill a man, no matter how many you might have killed before" said Zuko "And that shows that you're still human, still honorable. Even when the world has tried to corrupt you, you're still pure…"

"I wouldn't know about purity" said Suki, smiling weakly "But I hadn't killed another man before… this one would be the first"

"Really?" asked Zuko, astonished "But you've been a gladiator for quite a while, haven't you?"

"About six or seven years" said Suki "I don't really keep track. My sponsor is very kind, he… he usually keeps me from the fighters that will be a handful, or that are bound to beat me. It's the first time we have accepted a challenge from a gladiator with a killer reputation to precede him, but it was because…"

"Because…?" asked Zuko, raising an eyebrow when she fell silent.

Suki sighed again before finishing the sentence.

"The winnings were huge. That's why" she said "Do I still seem all that honorable to you when I just fight for the money?"

"W-well… everyone has their own reasons to fight" said Zuko, gulping "It's not about your motive, but about the way you do it, I guess…"

"You're quite an idealist, aren't you?" said Suki, smiling at him "It's unusual to find people like you in this time and age"

"I… I guess" said Zuko, looking back at her. She didn't know him, then? She didn't realize who he was?

"So that's the story" said Suki, sighing "That's why I'm… I'm such a mess right now. I've never had to do this before…"

"Not even in the Amateur League?" he asked.

"I was never in the Amateur League" replied Suki "My sponsor and I… we're both from Kyoshi Island. Almost everyone there was enslaved, but he became an Honorary Fire Nation citizen. He took me as his gladiator to protect me from the dangers of slavery, pretty much. I used to be a Kyoshi Warrior, I had mastered several fighting styles already, but chances were I would be forced to become a different kind of slave…"

"I'm glad that wasn't the case" said Zuko, grimacing at the thought.

"Me too, but… even though this life isn't all that hard on me, at times it just gets to me" said Suki, sighing "You really think there's a chance that guy might live?"

"Likely" said Zuko, nodding.

Suki smiled weakly. It was a ridiculous hope to hold on to, but a hope no less. It might make reality more bearable.

"And… why did you come here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow "Were you really worried about me?"

"It was a bad fight. I… I saw the way you kept your head low when it was over" he said, folding his arms over his chest "It wasn't like you to act that way after winning, so I thought I'd find out if you were alright after all…"

"Well, there was no reason to fret, I… I'll be fine, yeah" she said nodding.

Zuko frowned as his hand hit something bulgy within his clothes. It took him a moment to realize it was the peach he had pocketed earlier. He took it out and looked at it insecurely, and Suki watched him with curiosity.

"What…? Why do you have a peach?"

"I… I don't know" said Zuko, mildly flushed "But you can have it, if… if you want it"

Suki was quite confused by his offer. Why would she want a peach…? If anything, she wanted to puke after that fight… but the way he was blushing under that hood, holding that peach out with that trembling hand…

"I guess I could save it for later" she said, smiling and taking the peach from him "Thanks… uh, you never said your name, did you?"

"I didn't" muttered Zuko, shaking his head promptly.

"Well, I'm Suki" she told him.

"I…" started Zuko, freezing before saying he already knew that. Suki might have stopped thinking he was a stalker by now… and he wasn't going to convince her otherwise.

He coughed to cover up before saying his name… but what name should he say? Should he stick to his alias, or should he be honest with her? He didn't want to lie to her, even if it risked she would realize who he was… and so, even though his mind advised him otherwise:

"I'm Zuko"

Suki frowned and stared at him thoughtfully.

"Zuko… huh?" she said "It's a good name. Thanks for the peach"

"Y-you're welcome. If you want another, I can get you one on your next fight, or…"

"I'm not really hungry after fights" said Suki, smiling awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah, of course not…" said Zuko, scratching his head "W-well, then… if you're feeling better now…"

"You must have other things to do, surely" said Suki, nodding "Thanks, Zuko. I… I really needed a friend right now. Though I guess I really don't know you, but…"

"That's okay" said Zuko "You can think of me as your friend if… if that's what you want"

"Well, then" said Suki, smiling "Maybe we'll meet again sometime"

"Surely" said Zuko, nodding. It would be best to give her some space, he shouldn't be too pushy "I'll leave you to yourself, then… I guess you need to be alone for a while"

"Might help a little" said Suki, nodding "Thanks again"

"Not a problem" replied Zuko, standing up and walking down the hall without looking back towards her again.

Suki watched him leave, with a half-smile on her face. That had been unexpectedly nice… She wouldn't have thought the cloaked man would happen to be friendly. He seemed so aloof, so mysterious… and that name rang a bell, but she couldn't quite place where she had heard it before.

Zuko made sure to pick up all the objects he had been given by Suki's supporters before heading out of the Arena. It took him his every effort not to beam like a fool as he walked through the city carrying his goods. He had talked to her… at last, he had talked to her! And maybe he hadn't helped her much, but at the very least it was a start…

He entered the Palace with difficulty due to all he was carrying. A shadow sped past the Palace yards as he walked towards the building, and he was surprised to find Xin Long was flying above, with Azula on his back. For once, the sight didn't bring forth jealousy or irritation… not today. Not after what had happened. He even found himself amazed by the contrast of the dragon's dark shape against the blue sky above…

Zuko ran into the Palace, entered his room and locked himself inside it. He couldn't help but laugh at himself in joy, amazed by what had happened. He was Suki's friend now, it seemed… He dropped the goods of his bed, unsure of what to do with them. He was still Suki's supporter, even though not of the same kind as the rest of her fans. But that didn't mean he couldn't make use of some of what he had been given, right?

He placed one of the posters on the wall and stared in awe at Suki's painting: her hands held yellow fans, her legs were wide open as she took a stance for a fight and there was a fierce frown on her face. Zuko found himself admitting the picture for a moment… before shaking his head and taking down the poster. He was the Prince, for crying out loud. There was no sense in putting up a poster in his room! He was above this sort of nonsense…

But despite himself, he pinned it up again. It didn't matter just how foolish it seemed of him to have a poster in his room… that picture portrayed Suki in all her honorable beauty. And that was why he had grown interested in her in the first place. No matter how stupid he felt… her picture served as a reminder that his time wasn't being completely wasted. She had talked to him when he thought she was unattainable… if that had happened, then there was a chance, no matter how slim, that his father would accept him again one day. There was a chance that he might yet regain his honor.

* * *

"Oh, there you are! How did it go today?" asked the neighbor, smiling at Suki once she saw her on the building's hallway.

She was actually the neighbor's slave, much like she was, but they had grown to get along as time passed them by. They had lived next to each other on the same building for several years now, and they had bonded quite quickly.

"It was troublesome" said Suki, smiling as well as Oyaji looked for his keys "But it wasn't just a bad day. I guess I made a new friend…"

"Oh, really? Another gladiator?"

"No, he's a spectator" said Suki "A strange one, too… he wears a dark hood, and he's always avoiding the crowd, it would seem. But we talked today. He seems rather nice"

"Is that so?" asked Oyaji, interrupting the conversation as he slid the door open.

"Yeah… he's not as terrifying as he seemed" said Suki, smiling.

"That's really good news" said the neighbor, as Oyaji entered the apartment.

"Sure is" said Suki "See you later, Han Lun"

"See you, Suki! Take a nap, you look like you need one"

Suki smiled and entered the room, closing the door behind her. Oyaji stretched and walked towards one of the few pieces of furniture they had, an old cupboard in which they stored their winnings. He took out a large bag, and he added to it the winnings from today's match.

"You have to deliver the money today?" asked Suki, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm supposed to meet with them in a few minutes. I'll be heading out right away" said Oyaji, holding the large bag in his wrinkled hands "Keep the place safe while I'm gone"

"You stay safe as well" said Suki "This is already risky enough as it is… keep the money well hidden until they arrive"

"I shall, I shall" said Oyaji "You worry so much that at times I wonder who the old one is out of the two of us"

"Very funny" said Suki, rolling her eyes as he smiled at her and passed her by, headed to the door again.

Oyaji left her to her thoughts, and Suki dropped before the dining table. She might have passed out atop it, but her mind was racing still. The fight lingered in her thoughts, but so did that mysterious man…

She took out the peach and stared at it thoughtfully, still not hungry. She placed an elbow on the table as her mind was filled of thoughts of that curious man, Zuko. Where did she hear that name before? She frowned as she tried to remember… it was something official, wasn't it? The name of a big governor, or a nobleman… or maybe…

"Prince Zuko?" she muttered. She seemed to recall that was the name of the Fire Lord's son… but she laughed and shook her head, feeling foolish to even consider she might have caught the eye of a royal "Not a chance"

* * *

Oyaji sighed in relief when the three men finally appeared in the alley by his apartment. He had been waiting for enough time to lose his patience. He was starting to think of going back when at last they had showed up. They walked towards Oyaji and the four of them took out their White Lotus tiles, confirming their identities as members of the ancient society.

"How much do you have this time?" asked one of the men, as Oyaji tucked away his tile and brought forth the money.

"Four hundred thousand" replied Oyaji "It should help a lot more with the funding"

"Sure should. The White Lotus really owes you a lot" said another of the men, taking the bag of winnings in his hands "Your contributions won't be forgotten. You will be acknowledged for sure once the Fire Nation has fallen…"

"I don't care for recognition… just go quickly, before people notice us…" said Oyaji, nervously.

The men nodded and turned around, ready to leave. These operations would never cease to make Oyaji anxious. It didn't matter if it was during the sunset or at midnight, there was too great a risk at being caught in the middle of their operation. But there was no other manner in which he could provide the Society with his contributions…

The men were already walking away, but they stopped on their tracks all of sudden. Oyaji frowned at that, his unease increasing. The three of them blocked the rest of the alley from his sight, and he couldn't see what had prompted them to turn around.

"What is…?" Oyaji asked, but his question was answered before he could finish it.

"What are you people doing in there?" shouted a voice, a powerful voice… the voice of a Fire Nation soldier.

"It's nothing, officer" said the man with the money, trying to hide the bag behind him "Mind your own…"

"Where did you get that? Is that the old man's money?" asked the soldier, stomping into the alley.

"No, not at all, good sir…!" said Oyaji, trying to salvage the situation somehow…

But if there was an issue within the White Lotus Society nowadays, it was how rash the youngest members were. Instead of searching for the most peaceful manners to sort out their troubles, they would rather brave their way out of their predicaments…

"It's none of your business, we said!" shouted another of the White Lotus members, snarling.

"I am Captain Kuo of the Fire Nation Army! If we say it's our business, it means it is!" shouted another soldier.

Oyaji saw a flash of fire, and he winced as a battle broke out between the soldiers and the White Lotus members. And Oyaji couldn't get away. The alley was a dead end, there was no way he could escape from where he was… this was what he had always feared, he had always known they would get caught at the money delivery one day…

Captain Kuo pushed a White Lotus member against the wall, and the White Lotus tile slipped out of his clothes. He stared at it on the ground with confused eyes for a moment before snarling angrily, threatening the White Lotus member with a dagger of fire.

"The White Lotus…? The White Lotus?!" he shouted "You scum… Capture them! All of them, including the old geezer!"

"What…? The old geezer?" asked another of the soldiers, confused.

"They're the White Lotus!" shouted Kuo "Get them if you know what's good for you!"

The rest of the group didn't seem to understand the importance of the Pai Sho tile, but clearly, Kuo was their leader. He was the oldest and most experienced member of the squad, and he seemed to grasp the true meaning of this meeting far better than the rest of them could. And thus, they obeyed without question.

Oyaji had never been a fighter, and he definitely wouldn't be able to stand his ground against the soldiers, but he still tried his hardest to escape them. It was to no avail. A soldier grabbed him before he could turn around to attempt to climb the walls that surrounded him, and he pushed him to the ground, twisting Oyaji's arm behind his back, forcing him to surrender.

Two of the White Lotus younger members were captured as well, subdued through the soldiers' fire and weaponry… but despite their efforts, one of the rebels managed to run off on them, using his earthbending skills to launch himself into the air by generating a rock pillar.

"Get him! Get him now!" shouted Kuo, and two of his best men ran after the White Lotus member.

The White Lotus member ran as fast as his legs would allow him, fleeing from the soldiers as he snuck into other alleys in an attempt to lose them. When he had a chance, he brought forth a wall of earth to stall them, and he hid inside another alley, closer to the center of the city, as he waited for his pursuers to run past. He panted as the soldiers knocked down the wall and failed to find him. They were gone quickly, to his relief, but before he could even start to think of what he should do in this dreadful scenario, an unfamiliar hand gripped his shoulder…


	52. Chapter 52

"…–cess… Princess. Princess!"

Azula jumped when she realized she had been asleep. She struggled to open her eyes, and she squinted as she tried to figure out where was that worried voice coming from…

"Princess? Are you awake now?" asked a familiar voice… the Captain?

"What…?" she muttered, frowning as her eyes grew accustomed to the light of overcast skies. How come could she see the gray skies so clearly from her room? Unless this wasn't her room… "Where…?"

"It seems you fell asleep outside, along with your dragon" replied the Captain, staring at her. Worry rang along his voice as he gazed at the waking creature through his mask "Are you alright, Princess?"

"I…" said Azula, rubbing the nape of her neck as she sat upright on the saddle. Her legs hurt after spending the night atop Xin Long… they had flown together for hours, and perhaps they had even flown through the night, but given that she had no recollections of the way the flight had ended, she could only conclude she had fallen asleep as they soared through the sky.

Xin Long seemed to be just as drowsy as she was. He looked at the Captain and sent a greeting his way, with his usual reptilian noises. The Captain looked at the dragon with unease, but he nodded in his direction to acknowledge him.

"We were flying" muttered Azula "I must have fallen asleep on his back without even realizing it… is it morning already?"

"Yes, Princess" said the Captain while she climbed off the saddle with unusual difficulty "The servants went to find you in your room, since you hadn't showed up for breakfast. They thought you might have had dinner someplace else, but it was unexpected that you wouldn't be at the dining room for breakfast. They've been running around the Palace, searching for you… and you were sleeping in the gardens all along"

"It seems I was" said Azula, rubbing her forehead. Was that a headache…?

Curse it, this was all because of Sokka again, wasn't it? She gritted her teeth, determined to make him pay for this. Hadn't she been as troubled as she was because of what he had done, she would have been able to continue with her daily routine just fine without feeling compelled to run to her dragon for solace.

"You should have your breakfast now, Princess. And… will you go to the gladiator's house today? You failed to do so yesterday…"

"I know I did" muttered Azula, frowning. Well, if she really wanted to make him pay for making a mess out of her she had to go see him, didn't she? "I'll go after eating, Captain. Narrow down the servants you talked about, the ones that are looking for me… tell them you found me so that they quit running amok on the hallways…"

"Princess…?" asked the Captain. There was something strange about Azula today. She was rubbing her forehead repeatedly, and her face seemed contorted with pain or irritation "Are you well, Princess?"

"It seems rather difficult to feel well after sleeping off the night on the back of a dragon" grunted Azula "It's not the most comfortable position for resting… if you tried it one day, you'd understand"

"I wouldn't even dream of sleeping atop your dragon, Princess" said the Captain, gulping "He's… he's yours"

"Right, that he is" said Azula, stumbling towards the Palace "Get some food for him too, will you?"

"Should I get the servants first, or the food…?" asked the Captain, but Azula was already climbing the steps into the Palace, and she failed to hear him.

The more she walked, the more her legs hurt. And the throbbing inside her head was only getting worse, a pulsating pain that only seemed to worsen her mood. And Sokka would suffer the consequences of that mood, yes he would…

A soldier was speeding through the hall as she headed towards the dining room, but thankfully he caught sight of her in time to keep from crashing against her. He stood firmly and bowed down to her as she walked by him, still rubbing her forehead.

"Good day, Princess Azula!"

"Huh…" she replied, and the man frowned at her lacking response.

Azula wasn't exactly kind to her subjects, or to anyone for that matter, but she would usually respond to these greetings more appropriately, especially when they came from a Captain of the Army. Captain Kuo was well accustomed to hearing her address him respectfully… but given the way she hadn't even looked at him, he could only guess that the Princess wasn't much of a morning person.

Azula walked away without another word, and Kuo watched her until she vanished around a corner. By then he recalled what the purpose of his visit to the Palace had been, and he headed towards the Throne Room, determination sparkling in his eyes. Kuo wasn't too ambitious a man, but he was betting his performance on the previous night would earn him a medal or a promotion. It wasn't every day that soldiers would capture members of the rebel association that posed the greatest threat to the Fire Nation. He was certain Fire Lord Ozai would be quite pleased once Kuo informed him of the new set of prisoners he had acquired for him.

But he found the Throne Room to be empty upon entering it. He frowned and decided to seek out a servant, in order to discover what the Fire Lord's whereabouts were. When at last he found one, he was told the Fire Lord was currently meditating in the Capital Temple. Kuo sighed and walked off towards the Temple, not knowing if the Fire Lord would be accept to see him now… but this was an urgent matter. He was certain to listen to what he had to say even though he was in a meditating session, wasn't he?

It seemed he wasn't.

"The Fire Lord is meditating, and he has declared he will tolerate no interruptions" declared the Head Sage, as Kuo tried to plead with him.

"But I need to see him now! I must communicate urgent news to him!" Kuo insisted, trying to make it past the sage in order to reach the room where the Fire Lord was, but the sage still blocked his way "This is of vital importance to the Fire Nation, let me through to him!"

"No matter how important it is, you must wait!" declared the Sage, losing his patience "You can either sit out here and wait for him to come out, or you can go back to the Palace and wait there! But you will not interrupt his meditating session, and that is final!"

"Ugh, fool of a sage…" grunted Kuo, shaking his head as he surrendered "Fine, I shall wait here! Just make sure he's out soon, curse it"

"The Fire Lord will take as much time as he needs to" stated the High Sage, frowning as Kuo stood with his back against the wall, glaring at the door behind which stood the Fire Lord. Ozai would best get out of there soon...

* * *

"Damn, damn, damn, damn" Sokka muttered as he walked back and forth in the living room "I've really done it now..."

The fact that she hadn't showed up the day before for their usual training convinced him that he had brought forth his own doom. He hadn't dared to go see her in the Palace, certain she would want some space right now… but shouldn't she show up at some point now, to beat him to a pulp for what he did?

He couldn't help himself, though. The way she had been smiling, and the helpless look on her face when he had grabbed her… Why did she have to be so adorable without even meaning to? And this was Azula he was thinking about, for crying out loud! He should take her to be deadly or terrifying, perhaps dangerously beautiful… but instead he would believe she was adorable. What was wrong with him?!

After that wonderful moment, which had lasted longer than he expected to, they had separated and stared at each other in confusion. No words were spoken as they stood so closely, their gazes locked. It had been the moment to speak, of course, to say this had been wrongly done… or to kiss her again to show her he wouldn't hold back anymore.

But Sokka's ill fortune had struck again. Haru happened to walk outside the house right then and there, to let them know the food was done. Azula had jumped out of Sokka's arms as soon as she heard him approach, and Sokka had no idea if Haru had seen them. Given the fact that he had acted completely naturally afterwards, Sokka guessed he hadn't…

… Though Ty Lee had been smiling mischievously throughout the meal, even giggling on occasion. Whenever Haru would ask her what the matter was, she would wave him off. Her behavior only served to make Sokka even more uneasy… but the most troublesome matter definitely hadn't been Ty Lee: Azula had become dangerously stern and silent. Her golden eyes were colder than he had seen them in a long while, and her movements were completely precise. She wasn't looking at anyone, and she said absolutely nothing during the meal.

By the time she had finished her food, Azula said her farewells and walked outside to find her dragon waiting for her. Sokka thought perhaps he should follow… but he decided not to. He rather doubted she would want to give him a ride home after what had happened between them in the back yard.

And so he had told Ty Lee and Haru that he would just walk home. Ty Lee seemed discouraged about it, for some reason, but she let him go, still without explaining to him the reason behind her disappointment.

Sokka had been certain Azula would show up on the next day, and they would manage to settle matters down after her visit... But she didn't. And he was left with nothing but worrying about what to do about this problem. Yes, he had stepped over a line and he knew he shouldn't have... He would tell her as much, and hope she could leave his slip up behind. Still, there was one thing he was certain of: he wasn't going to apologize for kissing her. He felt remorse for ruining the balance they had tried so hard to achieve, but that kiss really had been worth it. He had spent the whole day reminiscing the way it had felt to hold her, to press his lips against hers…

He groaned in frustration and dropped on the couch. Why did everything have to be so complicated when it came to the two of them? Why couldn't they just give in to what they wanted to do and damn the consequences...?

"And what did you do to her now?" asked Song, raising an eyebrow as she saw him lying across the couch.

"I just... I messed everything up again" sighed Sokka "She's not going to approach me in a hundred years after that. I promised I wouldn't break our new deal but... Ugh! How was I supposed to help it?!"

"Uh... How, indeed" muttered Song, gulping. She didn't understand what Sokka was talking about, but she would do her best to help him regardless "Can you amend it?"

"I doubt it" said Sokka, dropping his head on a cushion "Next time she shows up, it'll be to kill me"

"What on earth did you do this time?" asked Song, surprised "Should I be worried her wrath will reach me when she comes to get you?"

"I doubt it, she knows how to control her powers well enough to concentrate all of them on me" said Sokka, grimacing.

"But… wouldn't talking about it help this time? Shouldn't you go find her so you can settle this peacefully?"

"Yeah… no, I doubt it" said Sokka "I don't think she wants to see me, else she would have come here yesterday and she didn't… so going to see her in the Palace would just be asking for trouble. So…"

"But you thought so as well before, and when you talked to her you got a chance to fix things" said Song, blinking.

"It's not exactly the same situation" said Sokka, frowning as he placed his chin on his hand "It was something more troublesome back then, I guess… but that just makes it all worse now!"

"How can it be worse if…? I'm really confused, Sokka" asked Song, her eyes widening.

"It's just a mess, Song" he muttered, shaking his head "I have no idea how to deal with it this time. I don't think anything I do will make it any better"

"If there's nothing to do about it, how about you stop worrying?" asked Song, sighing "If you're utterly helpless and you already know how this disaster is going to turn out, then just let things follow their course and…"

"Oh, you just don't get it!" whined Sokka, shaking his head "I can't just stop worrying! It's her we're talking about! She's… she's… Azula!"

"And because it's Azula then it's impossible for you to stop worrying?" asked Song, raising an eyebrow.

"Pretty much" retorted Sokka.

Song couldn't help but smile as she stared at him with amusement.

"You're just a little in love with her, aren't you?"

Sokka jumped off the couch at the sentence, staring at Song in utter shock.

"W-w-w-what?! D-do not say something like that so leisurely, woman!" he exclaimed, blushing.

"But…"

"Don't!" said Sokka, shaking his head "It's… nothing to do with that! At all!"

"Really?" asked Song, smiling.

"Really! So stop jumping to assumptions" said Sokka. He sat on the couch again, as though assimilating Song's words, and he dropped across it once more, looking even more disheartened than before. Song watched him, her teasing smile turning into concern again.

"Sokka…?" asked Song, raising an eyebrow.

A thud on the garden startled them both, and all color drained from Sokka's face. Song couldn't help but smile weakly as she turned on her heels and headed to the kitchen again.

"Well, if your assumptions were correct, it would seem your doom has arrived… it was nice meeting you, Sokka"

"Gah?!" squeaked Sokka as Song walked away, smiling to herself.

Sokka's hands were almost shivering as he looked towards the backyard. Well, it would be best to confront her immediately, wouldn't it? Maybe even pretend nothing had happened? It might make the situation less uncomfortable… He gulped and picked up his weapons, walking outside while trying not to seem too terrified of what he would face right now.

The stern look on her face promised he wasn't going to make it out of this one unscathed. She was placing the reins on the saddle, completely devoted to what she was doing. She hadn't even lifted her head to regard him yet. And, driven by his nervousness, he walked down to where she was, with such an uneasy smile on his face that it seemed as though he had cavities.

"Hey, there…!" he said, waving and getting no answer from the Princess "Good to see you today, Azula. Uh, so… are we going to Haru's today, or…?"

As soon as he said that he regretted doing so. How stupid could he be?! He couldn't talk about that place so carelessly, not when it was where their new set of problems had begun!

But her demeanor didn't change in the slightest when he mentioned Ty Lee's house. She kept fumbling with the reins, and Sokka took it to mean that she had let his foolish question slide…

"So, how's my favorite lizard today?" he asked, slinking towards Xin Long and patting his neck cautiously "Your scales are as black as ever, my friend! What do you do to take care of them, huh? Do you bathe in charcoal, or is it some special dragon secret you can't share with us common humans?"

Xin Long's response was to breathe smoke through his nostrils, engulfing Sokka in the dark cloud and making him panic as he felt threatened. Xin Long's devious laugh followed Sokka's fright, and the dragon seemed to look at his rider as if hoping for her approval after what he had done to Sokka… but there was still nothing.

Sokka frowned as he stared at her. Either what had happened had shaken her up in even worse ways than he had envisioned… or there was something else wrong with her on top of what he had done to her. Her eyes seemed clouded… those eyes that were always clear and gleaming with determination. Was she alright?

"Azula…?" he asked, just as she slipped her feet off the stirrups and leapt down to the ground.

She stumbled before walking towards Xin Long again, letting him know through their mental bond that she would meet up with him later. Xin Long groaned in agreement before trotting off and jumping into the air, flying away into the cloudy skies. Sokka watched him leave in mild relief. At least if Azula planned on killing him it seemed she would do it singlehandedly…

"We're…" she said, with an unexpectedly faint voice as she lifted her hand towards her back "We're not going to Ty Lee's today"

Sokka's eyes widened when she released Wolf's Bane in an instant. She leapt so quickly towards him that Sokka had to jump back before pulling Space Sword out of its scabbard. Azula attacked him viciously, and her seemingly calm face had contorted into a snarl. Yet her eyes were still as clouded as they had been before…

Sokka parried her blows while studying her carefully. She was too wild for her usual standards… her fighting style had always been deadly and precise, never as reckless as it was now. If only he hadn't been so busy trying to figure out what it was that troubled her, he could have disarmed her in a heartbeat. The fact that he could have done so was what betrayed just how strange the situation really was…

Azula tried to cut at his chest, glaring at him angrily, and he blocked the attack with more ease than she expected him to. He was staring at her worriedly… what was with the look he was giving her? This was what he deserved! This was what he had earned after breaking their deal as he had…! But if he was terrified of her anger, he should have been looking at her in fear. Instead, concern was what flashed in his eyes. Why…? Did he know just how badly her head was pounding? No, there was no chance he could know that, nobody but herself and Xin Long knew about it…

She continued attacking him, growing frustrated at her failure. She knew she wasn't a better swordsman than him yet… but this was embarrassing. She had to harm him somehow, she had come to make him pay for what he had done to her, right? Then maybe she would have to play outside the rules this time around in order to achieve her goal…

Sokka winced when a blast of blue fire burst from her free hand, and a fistful of flames flew his way.

"Hey! T-that's not fair! We said no fire while training…!"

"This is no training, you fool!" shouted Azula, stumbling after using her fire. What was wrong with her today? Why couldn't she even keep her footing?

"Azula, please… w-we can talk this through! We've done that before, haven't we?!" asked Sokka, growing slightly desperate now that she had admitted she was genuinely trying to harm him.

"So you can claim you didn't mean to?!" shouted Azula, as lightning crackled in the clouds above them "So you can lie and say you'll never do it again even though we both know you will?!"

"Azula, I…!" said Sokka, flinching as cold water pellets began to drop upon them "I know I shouldn't have, but you just…!"

"Was I asking for it?!" shouted Azula, throwing another fire blast towards him, using her blade to direct it "Is that it?!"

"N-no, that's not…! It just felt right, you know?!" he said, jumping out of the fire's way, while also trying to disperse it off with his sword.

It seemed fire wouldn't do the trick either. Azula leapt and sent a tower of fire his way, but she didn't make the landing properly. Again she stumbled, and this time she bent over in a fit of coughs as Sokka fought to avoid the blazes.

"Azula?!" he called out, after realizing she was coughing "Are you okay?"

If her head hadn't been aching so badly she would have allowed herself to feel even more insulted by his question than she already did. She was giving her everything in her attempt to hurt him, to damage him badly, and he was asking her if she was fine?! It was the last straw, truly…

Sokka grimaced when Azula began moving her arms slowly, her face returning to calm for a moment as her limbs grew charged with electric power.

"Oh… oh, no. Azula, please… Y-you're going too far…" he said, growing paler as he lifted his sword before him defensively… but just how much defense could his sword provide him with when she was trying to electrocute him?

But pleading would serve him no purpose. She was too angry to listen to anything he dared say.

"Let's see if you can get out of this one…" she grunted, stretching her sword towards him and directing the lightning straight at Sokka.

Sokka winced and gripped his sword's hilt tightly as the lightning struck him. He couldn't have jumped out of the way, there had been no time…

But although he was certain he would be electrocuted to death by the attack, it didn't happen. A jolt shook his hand powerfully as the lightning hit his blade, charging it with electricity. Sokka stared at the strange phenomenon with wide eyes before the vibrations of the sword became too violent for him to withstand holding the weapon any longer. He shouted and dropped Space Sword several feet away from him, and the electric charge in the blade seemed to disseminate as the metal touched the ground.

Sokka stared at the sword in utter shock, unable to understand what had just happened. His sword had caught the lightning blast… and yet he hadn't been electrocuted? What exactly…?

He looked towards the Princess, expecting to find Azula to be as confused as he was at the moment, but she wasn't in a fit state to think about what the result of her lightning blast had been. A hand rose to her forehead as she grimaced, and she fell over to the side, her eyes closing as she did.

"AZULA!" he yelleed, jumping towards her and catching her before she hit the ground "Azula, what's the matter? Azula! Azula, answer me! What…?"

The Princess cringed at the sound of his voice. It took her a moment to process he was holding her in his arms.

"What…? Sokka…? G-get off me, you… get off me…" she grunted, failing to pull away.

"What's wrong with you, Azula, what…?" he said, as he finally realized that her face was flushed… and it didn't seem that it would be over embarrassment.

He touched her forehead with a hand to find she was burning up in ways that no firebender should be. He grimaced and gripped her shoulders tightly with one arm as the other went down to her legs

"Blast it… Azula, you have a fever" he said, gritting his teeth as he picked her up in his arms.

"I what…?" she said, breathing heavily "I… I have no fevers, I… I'm not… don't touch me…"

"Azula, I need to get you inside" grunted Sokka, as the rain grew more intense "You're not well. No wonder you couldn't scorch me…"

"Hah! You… you just got lucky this time" she grunted "You'll be a pile of ashes in a moment, just… just put me down and I'll get it done…"

"The Princess I know wouldn't need me to put her down to burn me to cinders…" said Sokka, entering the house "Azula, you're sick. You must have caught a cold of some sort, and it's only going to get worse if you don't treat it and if you stay under the rain like…"

"I'm not going to get worse, I… if it's fever, I can work out the temperature through my fire" she grunted.

"Like you did while we were fighting?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow "Not a chance"

"You… you jerk…" Azula gasped, as he placed her on the couch he had been lying on previously "I'm going to get you for this… and you're going… you're going to be so sorry…"

"Yeah, I already am" muttered Sokka, looking at her worriedly "You need care, immediately. I bet you'd rather I take you home so your highly qualified royal medics can take care of you, but…"

"I need no care… yours or nobody else's, you… I'm not sick" grunted Azula, shaking her head "I'm not sick. Stop saying I… I…"

And she sneezed so hard Sokka had to pull away from her, staring at her in worry.

"Yeah. You're sick" he stated, and she groaned in irritation "I'll get Song, just wait a moment…"

"I don't need you to get anything!" Azula insisted "I… I can take care of myself, I don't need… I don't need you, or anyone, or anybody…"

But Sokka was already at the kitchen, where he found Song frowning at the sounds that were coming from the living room.

"Song, I need your help!" said Sokka, and she raised an eyebrow.

"What did you do to her now?" she asked, completely confused.

"I didn't do anything else! It seems she's sick, she's coughing and sneezing and her forehead is ridiculously hot, and…!"

"Wha-…?" said Song, shocked "Oh, my…"

The healer ran outside the kitchen quickly, with Sokka tailing her, but when they reached the living room they found Azula sitting up on the couch, a determined look on her face as she tried to stand up.

"Princess! You mustn't force yourself to do anything if you're…!"

"I'm… NOT… SICK!" yelled Azula, glaring at her. Song jumped back, terrified.

"Hey, no need to be that way to Song! She's just trying to help!" said Sokka, but Azula seemed to ignore him.

"I'm fine… I'm fine…" she insisted, lifting a fist into the air and bringing forth fire "See, I… I can still… bend… and I can… w-work the… the fever out with…"

"Azula…?" said Sokka, as her body began shivering uncontrollably "AZULA!"

The fire faded away as she fell to the side once more, shutting her eyes as she lost balance anew. Sokka caught her again and sat on the couch beside her, with Azula's burning forehead pressed against his chest.

"What is… what is going on with her?" he asked Song, worriedly "Is this normal?"

"I don't know, Sokka, I've never treated a firebender's fever before" muttered Song, as Sokka held Azula closely "I only hope it's not too different from a regular fever…"

"You've got to know what to do, though… don't you?" asked Sokka, desperate "She'll get better, right?"

"If she keeps bending like that, she won't" said Song, frowning "I'm sure the efforts just made it worse for her…"

"Seems like she gets really reckless when she's sick" said Sokka, frowning as Song touched Azula's forehead.

"Wow, that's some fever" she said, gulping.

"She threw lightning at me too… you think bending makes it worse?" asked Sokka

"It seems like it, she can't even say she's not sick anymore, can she?" muttered Song, biting her lower lip.

"I… I'm… not" grunted Azula.

"Do you even know I'm holding you?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"You… let go… just… jerk…" Azula mumbled, but she didn't seem to be about to pull away anyways. Her face was pressed against Sokka's chest, as if he were the only solid thing in the world. Sokka surrounded her shoulders with an arm before turning towards Song again.

"What do we do?" he asked.

"Well, I… I'm not too sure of being able to deal with this myself" admitted Song "I know how to deal with regular colds, but I don't know if this might be different… it might be best to take her back to the Palace, I believe. They must have qualified physicians there who know all about her condition…"

"But… how would we get there?" asked Sokka, looking out the window at the storm that was raging outside "Putting her out in the rain would only make this worse, wouldn't it?"

Song looked outside as well, grimacing at the dreadful weather. It seemed this really wasn't the Princess's lucky day…

* * *

Captain Kuo groaned in exasperation. It had already been over two hours since he had been sitting here, waiting for the Fire Lord to put an end to his meditating session. He had even asked the Sage for how long did he expect Ozai's to stay inside the room, and the man had refused to answer. Kuo's patience threatened to disappear completely with every passing moment. Even if this was the Fire Lord he had sworn eternal fealty to, this delay was completely absurd… he had important matters to inform him of and he was being stalled for no reason!

"Ugh, this is pointless" grunted Kuo, shaking his head and standing up.

He felt an urge to punch the Head Sage as he walked by him towards the Temple gates, because the man seemed rather pleased to watch him leave. There had definitely been a smirk there…

"Stupid sages and their stupid meditation rules…" he grunted, walking under the rain towards the Capital City's Prison Tower.

The Tower was located northwest to the city, secluding the dangerous criminals from the noblemen that resided in the Capital. It was in the Tower where he had locked down the three White Lotus members he had caught on the previous day. There was still the matter of the escapee to think about: his men had failed to find him. It would seem he had managed to hide somewhere… but they would smoke him out easily, of that Kuo was sure. He would expose the situation to the Fire Lord, bringing the prisoners before him, so that he would decide how to deal with the threat the White Lotus Society posed. And he was certain the Fire Lord would authorize him to perform a thorough search of the Capital to find that missing scoundrel. Soon enough, all four rebels would be subjected to the Fire Lord's justice.

But if the Fire Lord was to judge these men at some point, he needed to be briefed about the situation first. And if he wouldn't see him yet, he certainly would do so as soon as he brought that gladiator's sponsor before him. Once he did, Ozai was certain to realize the dangers these men posed to his nation. The Fire Lord was the most powerful man in the world: he would do anything to protect his people. And that meant to destroy anything that might threaten the peace he had fought so hard to acquire for the Fire Nation.

The rain was already weakening by the time Kuo reached the crater where the Prison Tower stood. He walked towards it with his head held high, despite how unbecoming he looked with his soaked clothes and his dripping mustache.

"Where's Warden Poon?" he called out, upon entering the building "I need to discuss a matter about the prisoners I brought here…!"

"Ah, Captain Kuo?" asked to the hall to his left. It was none other than Poon himself "I'm sorry, I dozed off for a moment there… what are you here for?"

"I came to get the criminals I brought you yesterday" grunted Kuo "It seems I need to throw them at the Fire Lord's feet for him to realize we're facing a real problem here…"

"Huh… but…" said Poon, frowning as he stared at Kuo in confusion, as though the man before him were crazy "Your men already came for them. They took them a few hours ago, Kuo…"

"W-what? My men didn't…! How could they come get them? I made up my mind to come here less than an hour ago! Nobody knew I'd do it! How could my men come here and…!" exclaimed Kuo before freezing right where he was.

Poon looked at Kuo in concern, still wondering what he was rambling about, until he finally understood what had truly happened. His own eyes widened as he realized what a huge mistake he had made…

"They've escaped" said Kuo, gritting his teeth and shivering as his hands balled into fists "THE BASTARDS ESCAPED!"

* * *

Azula's head throbbed terribly. When was the last time she had suffered from such a dreadful headache…? She lifted a hand towards her forehead, moaning weakly at the pain.

Her hand was caught, unexpectedly, by another one, by a hand that was pleasantly cool to the touch.

"You blacked out there for a while, Azula" said a familiar voice, though it took her a moment to place it "How are you feeling?"

"Not… good" admitted Azula, finally "S-Sokka…?"

"Yeah, that's who" said Sokka, smiling and caressing her hair gently.

"You… you…" she muttered, moving her head to the side. Where was she resting? It didn't make any sense… she was lying down, that's what it seemed. But where, exactly…? "Where am I?"

"Lying on the couch at my place… my legs are your pillow right now" said Sokka, scratching the nape of his neck nervously "I suppose it's not too comfortable, but Song thought it might help to lift your head up a little"

"Huh… Song…" said Azula "You… Sokka? You idiot…"

"I take it you're feeling better now, huh?" said Sokka, grimacing.

"Why did you have to…? Why did you… kiss me, moron?" she asked, cringing as she spoke.

"Well… I don't think there was much of a reason behind it" he said, sighing "I couldn't help it"

"If I… if I went around doing things… I couldn't help… I… I would have… I would have killed you by now…" she grunted.

"You forgot you already tried?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

Azula was silent for a moment before muttering:

"Oh. Right"

"I know I shouldn't have done it" said Sokka, sighing "We've had enough problems for me to cause even more of them now… but I guess there are some things you really can't avoid no matter how hard you try. I know we've made promises and vows and whatnot, but keeping them is so much harder than I thought it would be…"

"You're… you're a fool" grunted Azula "I was doing just fine… you had to go off and make a mess of things… make a mess out of me…"

"I know… I know" said Sokka, caressing her forehead "I'm sorry I got to your bad side when you were sick, I really…"

"I'm… not sick" she insisted, and Sokka sighed in frustration.

"How many times will you say you're not, girl? It's a bit ridiculous that you'd say you're not sick when you're as feverish as you are…"

"Did she come to her senses?" asked Song, approaching with a cup of water "Would you help me with getting her to drink this? It might help cool her down. Once she's done… well…"

"Well what?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow "What happens later?"

"I think… she should take a bath" said Song, blushing weakly.

"W-what… here?" asked Sokka, his eyes widening as his cheeks reddened as well.

"Where else, in the rain?" asked Song, sarcastically.

"B-but… our bathroom isn't…"

"Worthy of a Princess? I know" said Song, sighing "But what can you do in this situation?"

"W-well… what will she wear?" asked Sokka, gulping "And she can't bathe on her own, look at her!"

"I'll help her with the bath… or at least, I'll try to" said Song, gulping "Make sure to stay clear of the bathroom meanwhile"

"What's with that warning?! Who do you take me for?!" squealed Sokka, his voice cracking.

"I'll get the bath ready for her, then. Get her to drink the water, okay?" said Song, placing the cup on Sokka's hands.

Sokka glared at her as she walked away, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Hell knows where that judgmental edge came from, she used to be the nicest girl in the world…" he muttered, irritated "Come on, Azula… drink this, alright?"

"Hmm?" was the sole sound Azula uttered, as he placed the cup on her lips.

"It's just water. It should help you" he said, tilting the cup a little so that she could take a sip.

Azula took a mouthful of water and swallowed. Sokka stared at her worriedly, taking the glass away for a moment. His other hand caressed her hair gently, and Azula seemed to relax upon his touch. Sokka had never seen her as defenseless as she was now… or in this much physical pain either. Even during their time in the forest she had been capable to withstand the agony from the wound she had taken to the hand… but this time the pain came from within her, and he truly didn't have a clue of how to subdue it.

"Hang in there, Azula. You'll be better in a bit" he said, smiling reassuringly at her even though her eyes were closed and she'd be unable to see his grin.

"I'm…"

"Fine?" Sokka finished, sighing "Why can't you accept you're sick, Azula? Why is it so hard to admit you've caught a cold? Is it because you can't stand to be weak even when you're not to blame for it?"

"She… she would always…" muttered Azula, her chest heaving with every breath she took "She would always be at his bedside, whenever he… whenever he had a fever. She'd sing songs to him and… soothe him. But she never… she never did that for me. At least… not that I know of. It was… it always was Lo and Li taking care of me, even when I wasn't feeling well. Father wouldn't watch over me either, it was just Lo and Li… S-so I thought… I thought maybe… maybe I just couldn't get sick like… like Zuko could. Maybe I just… don't really get sick. So I… can't be sick. Because… if I were… she'd be here, wouldn't… wouldn't she?"

Sokka's eyes widened as he heard those words. What was she talking about? Was it her childhood? Her mother would look after her brother, but not over her? That couldn't be right… it had to be a mistake of some sort, without a doubt. No mother would do such a thing… his mother would always watch over him and Katara when either of them was sick. But he really knew nothing about Azula's mom… and trying to convince her that her mother cared all the same as the others, when he had no idea if she did, seemed a rather foolish thing to do. It would likely just irritate Azula further.

"Well… maybe she's not around right now" said Sokka "But I am. I… I guess it's not much of a relief, but…"

Azula's eyes opened and she finally looked at him.

"You are here… really" she muttered, her gaze lingering on his.

"Yeah. And I'll look after you now" he said, smiling "Until you feel better. Is that good?"

"It's… okay" said Azula lowering her gaze now "Then… am I really sick?"

"Sorry to say you're not as advanced a human as to avoid sicknesses, Azula" said Sokka, cupping her cheek with a hand "You are sick. But you'll get better. You just have to rest a lot and do whatever Song tells you to, because she's the one who knows what to do around here"

"So… you say you'll look after me… but you don't know how?" asked Azula.

"I'll do what Song says I should" said Sokka, putting the water to her lips again "I'll help however I can to get you back on your feet as quickly as possible"

"So that I can… so that I can kick your butt for… for what you did?" asked Azula, after swallowing.

Sokka chuckled and nodded.

"Exactly. Keep your mind set upon giving me the punishment I deserve and you'll surely get better even faster"

"Good… I'll do that" said Azula, moaning again as the headache intensified.

"You alright?" asked Sokka.

"How could I be…? I'm sick" muttered Azula bitterly, and yet Sokka couldn't help but smile.

She was such a fascinating girl, in so many ways… How could she be so powerful and daunting while having such a troubled heart? There was so much about her that he didn't know… he caressed her hair again, wondering how she could stay beautiful when she was sick. He was pretty sure he looked dreadful whenever he caught a cold… yet Azula even made it look dignified. But she seemed so fragile, so broken… it really was hard to believe this was the same person who had caught him in the South Pole so long ago. The same girl who had reappeared to give him a better life than he could have envisioned… the same girl whose heart he had broken.

How had he been so foolish, truly? How could he ever hurt her as he had? He had thought he had moved past it, but as he looked at her, lying on his lap with her cheeks flushed and her eyes closed, he really couldn't forgive himself for it. He probably never would. Azula deserved so much more than he would ever be able to give her… he wasn't worthy of her, and he had proved that enough times by now. But he couldn't walk away from her. He couldn't stay away from her. And rather than couldn't, he wouldn't. She had given him joy, in quite a strange form but joy nonetheless, she had given him strength he never knew he had in him, and she had given him hope as well… hope to return home, hope that this world might change for the better eventually. Was it really that unreasonable for him to wish to be near her for as long as she would consent it…?

"The bath is ready now…" said Song, approaching the couch and pulling Sokka out of his thoughts "Could you help her get there? I'm going to pick out a set of my clothes for her… I guess it's better than for her to wear yours, huh?"

"Likely" said Sokka, smiling weakly "I'll get on with that, then. Come on, Azula. We're moving again"

"We are…?" she asked, wincing.

"Well, it's either walking or I'll just carry you there. What's your pick?"

"Neither" she replied, at which Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Since you're in no fit state to complain…" he muttered, sliding an arm under her legs and lifting her again.

"What are you…?" asked Azula, frowning at the movements.

Sokka walked towards the bathroom without giving Azula any explanations, and she didn't ask for more of them anyways. Her head dropped on his shoulder as he carried her, and her breathing was still heavy as he walked towards the end of the house.

A covered passageway led the way through the yard towards the bathroom, and the rain was still pouring beside them as Sokka carried her inside the room. A wooden bathtub sat within the room, amongst a few wooden shelves with hygiene items. Sokka failed to recognize a set of herbs Song had brought into the room, but he figured she might be planning to use them for medicinal purposes, which was something he knew virtually nothing about.

He set Azula down on her feet carefully, trying to help her to retain her balance as he did. Azula had a hard time keeping her footing, but Sokka supported her until it seemed she could stand up properly.

"There you are" said Sokka, grasping her arms gently "Song will be here any moment now, alright? Just relax and do your best to get better, alright?"

"Huh… I'll try…" said Azula, looking down at the way he was holding her "Your… your hands are… cold…"

"You're hot, rather" said Sokka, smiling.

"For once… c-cold actually feels good…" muttered Azula, tilting her head "Just… don't let that go to your head… alright?"

Sokka couldn't help but smile gently, a hand reaching up to her cheek. Her temperature was really high, but it really seemed his touch could soothe her. Azula closed her eyes again, her hands grasping his.

"You'll be better in a bit" he whispered to her "This time I mean it. I may be quite the oathbreaker… but not today. I'll do my best so that you can recover as fast as possible"

"Then I'll… try to believe you this time" muttered Azula, gripping his hand a little more tightly before letting it go.

She stood there for a moment, and Sokka worried she might fall over again, but she seemed to be able to stand her ground now.

And so, driven once more by an urge he couldn't control, Sokka leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. He was well aware of what he was doing, but again, it had simply been unavoidable. He couldn't keep himself from it, there really was no resisting her…

"See you later" he muttered when he pulled away, caressing her cheek one last time before walking out of the room once more, knowing he'd have to leave now before he had the urge to do something worse.

Azula stood in the same spot for a moment, without showing any visible reaction to his gesture or to his words. But after a while she lifted a hand to her forehead, her eyebrows contracting gently…

"Did you just… kiss me?" she muttered.

"Uh… nope, I didn't" replied Song who had just entered the bathroom, her eyes widening upon the unexpected question.

If it was possible, Azula's cheeks became even redder upon that response.

* * *

Sokka sighed as he washed the cup Azula had drunk her water from. Seeing the Princess in such state was a truly fearsome sight to behold. She had terrified him before in many ways, but he didn't think he had felt as scared for her fate as he did now. She had always been so strong, no matter the circumstances… he barely knew what to make out of the situation when she was as frail as she was at the moment. It hardly mattered if she would beat him to a pulp once she felt better, much like it hadn't mattered if she had decided to kill him once they were out of the forest. Her wellbeing was his absolute priority at the moment. Whatever she decided to do to him afterwards was irrelevant for now.

The rain was starting to dwindle at last. Sokka looked out the window, relieved to see that the dark clouds were finally starting to dissipate, allowing blue skies to loom above the Fire Nation Capital once again.

"We'll take you home now" he muttered to himself, his mind still hung up on Azula "The physicians there should have better resources than we do…"

But just as he made up his mind to stick around the Palace to keep an eye on Azula's recovery, a strange sound boomed throughout the city. Sokka frowned upon listening to it… it was akin to a sound coming from a war horn or so, but it was so far away Sokka couldn't hear it well enough to identify it. Was the city under attack, by some ill chance? He shook his head in disbelief… how could the Fire Nation Capital be under attack out of nowhere? There had to be another explanation to that strange noise…

But people started to run outside their houses, all of them looking anxious and troubled. Sokka frowned and watched them race down to the center of the city, and he couldn't help but worry over the unusual racket. What exactly was happening here…?

"Please let it be simply that the marketplace is holding a big sale…" he muttered, gulping.

Yet he knew his wishful thinking could be nothing more than that. Without a doubt, something bad was stirring within the Fire Nation Capital.


	53. Chapter 53

The sound of the horn made him frown, and the small, glittering flame in front of him blinked and flickered when his concentration wavered. A deep groan left his throat, and he extinguished the candle before standing up, turning to leave the room.

The Head Sage seemed quite startled at the sound, and his unease only grew when he saw the Fire Lord had left the meditation chamber an hour before the usual. Ozai's eyes blazed fiercely, and he glared at the Sage as though the horn's noise were his responsibility. And Ozai didn't know it, but perhaps it really was.

"T-the alarm, my lord…" mumbled the Head Sage nervously, as though he thought Ozai ignored the meaning of the horn.

"I heard it as well, Sage, I'm not deaf" he grunted "The Capital is in danger. You know your cues. The city must be vacated at once. This is no drill. Go immediately"

"Yes, my lord!" said the Sage, bowing and nodding before heading off to find the rest of the sages. They would hide in the catacombs underneath the Capital, where the noblemen would hide during emergencies until the army had cleared the city away from whatever might be threatening it. And while most soldiers would deal with the threat above ground, others aided the noblemen escape and protected the tunnels from the inside.

Ozai turned to find his own way down towards the catacombs. He was the most important person in the Fire Nation, his safety was the main priority and he was well aware of it. His curiosity wanted to get the better of him, though. What had happened? What was this emergency about? He wished to know, but he knew better than to put his life at risk to find out.

His Imperial Guards waited on the hallway, and they were eager to lead the Fire Lord to the catacombs. Ozai allowed them to escort him, but not before questioning them about what peril the Fire Nation was facing this time around.

"It seems to have been a break-out of some sort, my Lord" replied one of the guards "The alarm came from the Prison Tower, or so it seemed. We ignore what makes the situation so dangerous, though"

"A break-out?" asked Ozai, frowning "What sort of prisoner could have escaped from the Prison Tower?"

"Do not worry, my Lord" said another guard, as they opened a gate of the Temple using their firebending. The door slid out of the way to welcome the procession into a dark tunnel that spiraled down into the catacombs "We will keep you safe. The army will take care of the escapees"

Ozai questioned that. He didn't mistrust his men… what he mistrusted was the need to blow the alarm horn if the army could take care of this matter without much ado. If there was truly no danger, they would have captured the escaped prisoners by now and there would have been no need to evacuate the city…

But he didn't speak his thoughts aloud. He was being needlessly paranoid, clearly. He would be safe, and so would be his noblemen. Drills were performed on a yearly basis, and no resident of the Capital should ignore where they could find entrances into the catacombs. And the army would subdue these criminals without much effort; not in vain had the Fire Nation's soldiers been triumphant for a hundred years of war. There was nothing for him to worry about.

* * *

People appeared and disappeared on the streets, and Sokka failed to understand where they were going on such a rush. He tried tailing a few of them, but they vanished before he could reach them, and he never figured out where they had gone. Had they taken a turn he'd missed out on? Or were they hiding in the nearby houses? They wouldn't talk to him either, he almost managed to stop two of them but they were so desperate to get away that they wouldn't stop on their tracks to explain anything to a total stranger. To get away from what, though? The question still bothered Sokka, and with every passing moment it bothered him further.

He stood in the middle of the city's roads, still wondering what on earth was happening, when a man ran past him.

"Wait! Hey, pal, stop!" he yelled, but he was ignored yet again.

Sokka chased after him into a corridor, but this time he managed to catch sight of the man jumping through a trapdoor into what could only be an underground tunnel. Sokka tried to reach the tunnel, but someone else shut the door from within before Sokka could reach it, someone who seemed to be clad in crimson clothing; in all likelihood, it was a soldier.

"Hey! HEY!" he yelled, pounding at the closed door "Open up! What's going on?! Where did you people go to?!"

But there were no answers to his questions. Sokka gritted his teeth and tried to force open the trapdoor, but it was perfectly sealed and he ignored what to do to get the people below to open it. Maybe he could only open this trapdoor from the outside through firebending. Given the strange pattern on it, there was a chance that was the case. Sokka gritted his teeth and walked away, his anxiety increasing. The city was growing emptier, and Sokka was losing his hope of figuring out what was happening. But chances were he might figure something out if he went to the Palace…

He had left the house without letting Song know where he was going. Whatever was happening, there was a chance Azula would understand it much better than he did, but he doubted asking her about it would be a good idea. Azula was badly sick, and telling her that there was trouble in her hometown surely wouldn't help her feel any better. Knowing her, she was bound to run off to sort everything out on her own. Sokka could only hope she hadn't heard the horn herself… she shouldn't have to worry about anything while she was dealing with that cold. He would find out what was happening, and… and what came afterwards was still a mystery. First of all he had to know what that horn meant.

Sokka wondered for a moment if perhaps heading to Ty Lee's place might be some use, but he decided against it quickly. If most people were hiding already, chances were she would have left by now as well. Could she have snuck into those firebending-powered doors? Chances were the soldiers within had opened it for her. Sokka shook his head. He couldn't bet his luck on her still being above ground. The safest destination would have to be the Palace. There had to be a guard of some sort there, a soldier, someone who would be willing to tell him what was going on…

To his relief, the Palace actually seemed crowded at a distance. He sighed in relief and raced towards the gates, hoping to run into one of Azula's guards, since they would know him immediately. He sped up when he caught sight of a group of men in Royal Guards' robes, panting when he finally reached them.

"Hey… HEY!" he yelled, and for once he wasn't ignored.

Not only were these Azula's guards, but the Captain himself was amongst them. They turned towards him, but the Captain was the only one who spoke.

"You… Gladiator!" yelled Rui Shi, speeding towards him as well.

"Captain!" said Sokka, upon recognizing him "Thank goodness, finally someone with a smidge of common sense! What on earth is…?

"Where is she?! Is she with you?! Where is the Princess, Sokka?!" asked the Captain, grabbing Sokka by the shoulders when he reached him.

Sokka's eyes snapped wide open at the man's demanding questions. He couldn't see his face, masked as he always was, but the Captain was clearly more shaken than Sokka had ever seen him before.

"Tell me! Is she with you?!" the man demanded, before Sokka could react to his questions.

"Y-yeah! She's at my place!" said Sokka, nodding and hoping his response would soothe the Captain "Are you alright, Captain?"

The Captain let go of Sokka, his hands trembling. He was silent for a moment, as though he didn't know what to make of this new information. A hand on his forehead, his body hunched over, he didn't seem to care for answering Sokka's question at the moment.

"What's the matter, Captain?" asked Sokka "Why are you so desperate to know…?"

"She should be here" muttered the Captain, shaking his head "She needs to take cover immediately. But… but your home is too far away, bringing her here now might just worsen everything…"

"She's sick, Captain" muttered Sokka, frowning "I planned to bring her to the Palace once the rain stopped, but then I heard that sound… what's going on? Why do you need her to take cover?"

"I…" said the Captain, sighing and looking over his shoulder nervously, studying the circumstances in the Palace. He turned towards Sokka again "You said she's sick? What sort of sickness?"

"It's a cold, but a very nasty one from what it seems" said Sokka "She has a bad fever, she can't bend and she can barely move on her own because of how bad she feels. She tried to beat me to a pulp and she couldn't do it: reach your own conclusions"

"It's bad, then" said the Captain, frowning under his mask "Really bad. If she can barely move then all the more reason she shouldn't be brought to the Palace…"

"Song is looking after her; she's a healer, she can take care of Azula while…" said Sokka before stopping on his tracks "While what, really? What's going on? Isn't it about time you explain? I came here to find out what that horn was, and why people are disappearing from the city. Where is everyone going? And why, Captain?"

The Captain sighed, as though explaining matters to Sokka were taking up more time than he had available. Yet it would be best if he knew what was happening. If the situation was as troublesome as it seemed, there was no point in keeping him from the truth, especially knowing just how prone the gladiator was to making a mess of things.

"There has been a break-out. I don't know who could have escaped from the Prison Tower, but that's where the alarm came from, so it can't be anything else" muttered the Captain "The horn signals for an immediate lockdown of the city, which means that all the city's residents are to hide in the catacombs below ground for their own protection. If they called for a lockdown, it must mean the escapees aren't aware of the Capital's means of defense, much like you weren't. To sneak into the catacombs amongst the rest of the city, they would need to either tap the proper code into the trapdoors so that the soldier watching the gate from within opens it, or they must be able to firebend to open it. But if this defense mechanism was activated, chances are the escapees aren't capable of doing either thing… so the criminals are still at large, but it shouldn't be too long before we find them. They couldn't have gotten too far just yet"

"But you don't know who these escaped prisoners are, and you don't know where they are" muttered Sokka, frowning "Sounds like things are going really well, huh?"

"Y-you… don't ridicule us" grunted the Captain "This is an emergency, there's no time for witty comments like those! The Princess… will she truly be safe at your house? Can you protect her?"

"Well… yeah, I think I can" said Sokka, startled by the Captain's request.

"You already did it once before" said the Captain, earnestly "You saved her life in that forest. You can do it again… I hate having to ask this of you, but we're left with no other choice. Promise me you'll keep her safe again, especially now that she's as helpless as she is"

"Y-yeah… I promise" said Sokka, nodding "But then… shouldn't we go underground as well?"

"I don't know the code for the trapdoor in your area" muttered the Captain "I would help you enter the catacombs, but the code varies on every street. And if she can't bend, she can't open the gate. You'll… you'll have to stay above ground. It's a dangerous gamble, but it's the only thing we can do. If the Princess's health is as frail as you say, it would be best for her to stay where she is. Make sure she doesn't leave. And… try not to tell her about what's happening until she's feeling better. She is having a hard enough time as it is, knowing about the situation…"

"Won't help her, I know" finished Sokka, nodding "I thought the same thing. I'll get on with it, then. Catch those guys, Captain. I'll keep her safe, you do your job as a soldier!"

The Captain wanted to point out that his actual job was protecting Azula specifically, but he decided against it. Rambling on would get them nowhere.

"Go now, then. Protect her, Sokka. Keep the Princess safe" the Captain almost begged him, and Sokka nodded with determination.

"I will. See you when this disaster is over!" Sokka said, turning on his heels and starting back towards his house.

The Captain watched him run, wishing he didn't have such a bad feeling about all this. It wasn't that he didn't trust Sokka, or that he could hardly believe the Princess would fall sick when they were on the midst of this catastrophe: it was that he had no idea of what said catastrophe really was about. There was no information at all; they didn't know who the enemy was or why he was so dangerous that evacuating the city was necessary in order to capture him.

Ignorance definitely wasn't bliss, not when you understood just how ignorant you truly were.

* * *

Sitting silently within his safe chamber underground, Ozai was sipping tea calmly when a man stormed into the room, unannounced. Ozai raised his eyes to find Captain Kuo panting heavily, looking disheveled and desperate. The Fire Lord's eyebrows contracted slowly as he regarded the man before him coldly.

"I was told you were the one who knows what's happening, Captain Kuo. Are you the one to blame for this sudden emergency, even…?"

"My Lord, I tried to reach you earlier…"

"This better not be an overreaction, Captain" grunted Ozai, glaring at him "If you have sent my entire city underground for no reason…"

"My Lord, on the contrary… this is an emergency. The worst the Capital has faced up until now, as far as I know" said Kuo, gasping for breath as he approached Ozai, several soldiers following him into the chamber "Last night I caught a group of men in the middle of illegal business, my Lord… and they were members of that White Lotus organization, my Lord"

Ozai's arrogant calm façade disappeared as soon as he heard the last sentence. The cup he had been holding fell to the ground, cracking and spilling its remaining content.

"The White…? Why wasn't I informed of this immediately, Captain Kuo?!" exclaimed Ozai, angrily.

"I tried to let you know today, once they had been secured in jail, my Lord!" replied Kuo "I sought you out, but you were meditating and the Head Sage would not let me through to you!"

"You pathetic fool!" said Ozai, shaking his head and standing up, stomping as he paced before his seat "You should have come to me regardless! Do you truly believe my meditation session was more important than this terrorist threat?!"

"I knew it wasn't, but…!"

"You are TRAINED in martial combat, Captain Kuo! Do you intend to say you could not subdue a Sage who can only perform ceremonial firebending if you truly felt the urge to inform me of what happened?!"

"It… it was only… I apologize, my Lord, but…"

"You fool… you… Where are they?! How did they escape?! How did you allow this to happen?! Secured in jail, you said?! How could they be secured and yet get away?!"

"My Lord… it was not my fault, my Lord!" exclaimed Kuo "If you are to unleash your anger at someone, it should be at Warden Poon! The criminals were in his custody when this disaster began!"

"I will unleash my anger on whomever I see fit, Captain Kuo, and the more you speak, the more I'm willing to do so upon you!" shouted Ozai "Get out of my sight! Find them, seize them, secure them at once! Don't show your face before me again until you have brought my city to safety, you worthless fool! Go now!"

"Y-yes, my Lord…" muttered Kuo, gulping and bowing down before Ozai.

"Send out all our available military forces" grunted Ozai, looking at the leader of his Imperial Guards "Every single house in this city will be searched thoroughly until these White Lotus scum are found! Close down the port, don't even think about letting them get away or I'll have your head instead of theirs! Get on with it immediately!"

"Yes, my Lord" said the Guard, performing a quick salute towards Ozai and leaving the room to convey the Fire Lord's orders.

Ozai's frown was almost heavy enough for his eyes to be hidden under his eyebrows. His amber eyes burned with the fire in his heart, a fire of hatred and anger. He would burn the world to the ground if it was needed, but he would annihilate the Order of the White Lotus one day. They had been a threat to his father, who had underestimated them and believed they could do him no harm… but Ozai always knew they would come back to haunt the Fire Nation one day. They had always sat in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to attack. Was this it? Would the White Lotus triumph today? No, he wouldn't allow it. His men would win. They would trample over every single one of those traitors and rebels, so that all those miserable fugitives would regret having dared defy Fire Lord Ozai's rule…

* * *

Azula took her seat again on the couch, her head still heavy, as though an invisible weight had been strapped to it. Despite the pain, she actually felt better than before. The bath had helped, no matter how uncomfortable it had been. It wasn't as though Azula had never been aided in baths, if anything she should be used to having servants help her through it, but Song wasn't a Palace servant… the girl had been ridiculously nervous, so much that Azula feared she'd be no help at all. Nevertheless, she had managed to overcome her awkwardness eventually, and she had assisted the Princess as promised.

Song had helped her sit down, and she stood next to Azula, as if studying her to figure out what to do next. It was very strange to see the Princess of the Fire Nation in such humble outfit… surely Sokka would find it just as strange as she did. And speaking of which…

"Where did he go?" muttered Song, looking around herself "Sokka? Sokka?"

She called out through the house several times until she realized her voice wasn't helping Azula. The Princess winced at her loudness, and Song made an apologetic grimace.

"I'm so sorry! I'll go look for him, I'll be quiet now…" she said, leaving Azula to herself as she walked through the house, trying to find the gladiator.

Sokka's absence made Azula frown. Where did he go? To take a nap? He said he would be here, didn't he…? Oh, she was acting like a fool. As if she needed him.

But the thought of Sokka having disappeared actually bothered her more than she cared to admit. Thinking about everything he had done lately made her head hurt even more. That kiss, how worried he had been while they were fighting, the way he had let her rest on his lap and then caressed her face… No, she shouldn't think about it, truly. It wasn't a good time to lose herself on the useless feelings that slave could awaken in her.

Yet there was one thing she couldn't keep out of her mind: how had her lightning failed to reach him? Why? Her eyesight had been quite blurry by the time she finished bending her attack, yet she thought she had seen him catch the electric blast with his sword… how had he done that? She didn't recall ever having heard of such thing. But then again, she never had heard of someone being bold enough to fight against lighting with a sword. Who knew if someone else had succeeded in doing that before? As soon as she felt better, she would force Sokka to try that again. She needed to understand what the nature of such a strange phenomenon was.

"Well… I have no idea where he went. He's not in the house, it seems" said Song, climbing down the stairs again and standing by Azula on the couch "I think he wanted to take you to the Palace now, the rain has stopped at last… but maybe I could make something for you to eat before you go back, it might help you feel better. Would that be okay?"

Azula blinked a few times before nodding weakly, resting against the back of the couch.

"If it'll help…" she mumbled.

"I'll get on it right away, then. But first…" said Song. She touched Azula's forehead with a hand carefully, and she smiled enthusiastically at Azula "I think your temperature isn't as high as it was before. You're getting better, Princess. You'll be on your feet right away, you'll see"

"Huh…" was Azula's response, and Song put her hand away.

"I'll go get the food done, then" said the girl "Rest for now, Princess. I'm sure Sokka will be back in a bit, and I'll punch him for you for disappearing just like that"

"So what if he disappeared…?" grunted Azula "We're all better off without him…"

Song smiled and nodded, although she could tell the Princess didn't mean her words. Maybe it was because of her condition, but Azula wasn't as intimidating today as she always was. Song walked away, but not before sneaking one last glance at the Princess. She was looking at the couch with a frown on her face… but her hand was where Sokka had been sitting before, when the Princess had rested atop his lap. Better off without him? Song couldn't hold back a smirk as she headed into the kitchen. Perhaps Sokka wasn't the only one who was a little in love after all…

Azula sighed and closed her eyes, hoping that sleeping would help her feel better. Yet instead of losing herself to a careless sleep, images began flashing in her mind. It took her a moment to realize it was the Fire Nation Capital, seen from above… it was Xin Long who was looking at it, and he was sending what he was seeing towards her. Azula frowned when she saw the empty streets and the Palace swarming with soldiers. What was going on…?

Xin Long let her know he had heard a strange noise not too long ago. Azula's frown deepened and she sat up straight on the couch as Xin Long repeated the sound in his mind so that she could hear it.

Her hands balled into fists: it was the alarm for evacuation, the sound that instructed the Capital's people to hide within the catacombs under the city. It wasn't the first time she had heard the alarm, drills were performed often so that the Capital's residents knew what to do in a state of emergency… yet there had been no notice of a drill this time. This time the alarm was ringing for real.

"What's…? Xin, what can you see…?" she muttered, her headache intensifying as she stood up brusquely "There… there has to be a reason why… Xin, tell me… is there an attack?"

The dragon looked over the city and moved towards the port afterwards, guessing an attack would be prone to come from there. Soldiers were lining the docks, and it seemed as though no ships would be allowed to leave, yet if there was an attack, it wasn't coming from the seas.

"Then why…?" grunted Azula, confused "No… never mind. Watching won't help, Xin… Come back. Come get me now"

The dragon seemed surprised by her strange behavior. He could sense her illness, even though he wasn't affected directly by it. Was it a good idea to lift her into the skies while she was feeling unwell?

"Just do as I say, damn it…" Azula grunted, limping on her way towards the yard.

Xin Long wasn't too pleased by her last message, but he obeyed her nonetheless. He turned around in midair and headed back to Sokka's house. Azula stood on the yard, waiting for him, and she glanced back at the house for an instant. Surely Song would lose it if Azula disappeared all of sudden… but it couldn't be avoided. The safety of her nation was her priority, it always would be. Song would have to deal with her disappearance all the same as she had dealt with Sokka's.

The dragon descended on the grass after a short while, and Azula greeted him with a sharp nod. She approached him firmly, even though she was still in pain. Climbing atop him wasn't easy, but Xin Long helped her by leaning down so that she wouldn't need to push herself onto the saddle brusquely.

"Let's go, Xin" said Azula, taking the reins in her hands and patting the dragon's neck, as always. Xin Long waited for her to inform him of their destination before blasting off into the sky swiftly "To the Palace"

"Princess…" said Song, walking out to the living room again only brief moments after the dragon was gone "Would soup be to your liking? I can make you chicken noodle soup if you…"

She stopped on her tracks when she realized she wasn't talking to anyone. She gazed about herself, worrying instantly. Azula was in no fit state to wander around on her own, where was she…?

"Princess? Princess!" she called out, much like she had called Sokka previously. Why was everyone disappearing so suddenly today?!

But Sokka's disappearance was definitely less worrisome than Azula's. Song looked through the entire house just to return to the living room, empty-handed and aghast. What was happening? Where had she gone? And just how mad Sokka would be at her when he found out Azula had escaped while under her watch…?

* * *

Captain Rui Shi was surprised when Captain Kuo appeared on the Palace's premises at dusk, looking shaken and troubled. The soldiers nearby flocked towards him: word had it that he had been the one to set off the alarm in the first place.

"Captain Kuo" said the Captain of Azula's Royal Guards, bowing his head curtly towards him "What are the Fire Lord's orders? What are we to do?"

"Find them, that's what" said Kuo, grimacing.

"How?" asked a soldier "These men could be anywhere right now!"

"The Fire Lord wants every house in the Capital searched" replied Kuo "I believe the head of his Imperial Guard has already begun with that. Yet I… I don't know…"

"Who are we trying to find anyways?" asked a guard, crossing his arms "We don't even know who our target is!"

"Three members of that White Lotus Group" said Kuo, sighing "One is an old man, with a large beard. The others are younger, tall, dark haired… they have Earth Kingdom looks to them, both…"

"They escaped the prison, then? An old man and two others?" asked Captain Rui Shi "How?"

"Poon was fooled by some men posing as my own. He let them take these criminals, he thought they would bring them before the Fire Lord…" said Kuo, shaking his head.

"They couldn't have gotten away yet, could they?" asked the guard "Are you certain they're still in the city…?"

"They must be" said Kuo, looking desperate "If not, then we're doomed…"

"Who are these White Lotus men anyways?" asked another guard, but Kuo didn't reply.

"Get ready to defend the Palace in case there are more of these White Lotus scum than I thought at first" commanded Kuo "Who knows what might happen if they decide to attack the Fire Nation instead of escaping it…"

"A… an actual attack to the Fire Nation Capital?" asked the first soldier "Is that even…?"

"Possible? We'll find out today" muttered Kuo "Spread out! We will defend this city with our lives!"

The men were about to obey him immediately, but Captain Rui Shi raised a hand to stop them.

"Wait a moment. You said they were released from prison because Poon was tricked, didn't you, Kuo?" repeated Rui Shi "He thought your men had come to drag the criminals to the Fire Lord…"

"Yes, but my men were resting, we spent the night dealing with these White Lotus scum…"

"Of course" said Rui Shi, frowning "But if Poon was tricked into believing it was them…"

It was Kuo's turn to frown as Rui Shi's stomach sank. The Captain of the Royal Guards looked at his fellow soldier, dread written all over his concealed features.

"Kuo, they were impersonating your men. They were pretending to be soldiers… they might still be doing so"

Kuo's eyes widened as he stared at Rui Shi in shock. The rest of the guards seemed to be as shocked as he was.

"Y-you mean…"

"They're amongst us. The White Lotus men, the ones you caught and whoever is helping them, Kuo…!"

"Amongst us?!" said another of the guards, looking panicked "B-but then…"

It could have been comical for the guards to glare at each other in suspicion, but when a block of earth flew at Rui Shi, their fears were proved right. There was nothing amusing about the situation anymore.

The soldier, the first to intervene in the conversation between the captains, had been the one to earthbend at them. There were earthbenders in the army nowadays, but not amongst the soldiers who served at the Capital. And thus he had panicked, fearing the other soldiers would realize he was one of the men they were after.

Rui Shi struck the patch of earth with a fist, but the blow still managed to knock him off balance. He fell to the ground while the others stared at the soldier they had thought was their ally, horrified.

"You're the one that got away last night!" shouted Kuo, recognizing the infiltrate's fighting skills "Seize him! He's not one of us! We must capture him immediately!"

The earthbender clad in soldiers clothing fled, followed closely by men who flung fire at him in an attempt to stop him. Rui Shi got to his feet again, but they disappeared before he could help the others give chase to the rebel. He turned towards the Palace, the feeling of dread making his stomach sink. If this was as bad as it looked, the army might be destroyed from within, by a handful of people he didn't know anything about. How had they developed such an effective plan? Where had they obtained uniforms to impersonate soldiers? How many White Lotus infiltrates were there? What was their ultimate goal? There were too many questions, and not enough answers. The only thing he knew for certain right now was that the White Lotus had turned the Fire Nation against itself: they couldn't even trust their own soldiers anymore.

* * *

The city was completely empty by the time Sokka was hiking his way back to his house. He looked around himself warily from time to time, wondering if perhaps he might run into the men who had escaped from prison. He saw no one at all, though. The skies were darkening, and it was still rather cloudy. There was nobody to light up the lanterns in the streets, the Capital was being enveloped by darkness… did they really think they would find those criminals after nightfall in these conditions? It seemed rather unlikely to Sokka that they would.

Yet, what purpose did it serve to get out of prison if you didn't know what your next step would be? He had considered fleeing from Hui Yi back in the day, but even if he had been able to make it past the barrack's guards and slipped out of the city, what next? Where was he supposed to go, and how was he going to get there? Those thoughts had never failed to hold him back. So these men were either too stupid to think ahead, or they actually had a plan to escape from the Capital… but Sokka ignored what the nature of such a plan might be. He didn't know any ways out of the city other than through the port, and if the authorities were competent enough, they would have blocked it already to keep the rebels from escaping. So how…?

The questions scrolled through his mind as he finally reached his house. He frowned as he made his way to the front door, wondering what to do about Azula now. She really shouldn't hear about the situation yet, it wouldn't help her recover… but she surely wouldn't forgive him if he kept the truth from her for her own protection. Sokka sighed and shook his head. Why did everything have to be so difficult when it came to Azula? Perhaps he was making too much of this matter, though. Maybe she would be sleeping placidly by now, and he wouldn't have to inform her of anything until she woke up.

Hoping to find her dozing off on the couch, Sokka opened the door and entered the house carefully. He slipped inside the dim living room, where Song had lit some candles. At least, he guessed it had been her. Azula shouldn't have been using her powers to light anything up… if she had he would scold her, no matter how ridiculous it might seem for a slave to tell off his master. Bending would only worsen her situation; that was the only thing he knew for certain about her cold.

Yet he didn't find Azula in the living room. Was she in the kitchen, perhaps? Or maybe Song had let her sleep in her room… or even his? The idea made him gulp. Azula sleeping on his bed…?

His delusions were interrupted when he heard a gasp from the kitchen. He turned to find Song looking at him in horror, as though she hadn't wanted to see him. The look of distress on her face made him forget his previous thoughts completely.

"Song? What's the matter?" he asked "Is everything alright?"

"S-Sokka… you're home…" she said, a hand going to her mouth as she looked at the floor nervously.

"Yeah, is it such a bad thing?" asked Sokka, confused "What's wrong with you? Is… is she okay, Song? Did something happen to her? Is she worse, or…?"

The look of desolation on Song's face made Sokka fear the worst. The blood drained from his face as he stared at her in disbelief. It was just a cold… there was no way a cold could knock Azula down like that. It was impossible that she would be rendered completely helpless against one, or that Song wouldn't know how to treat her…

"Song, what happened?" he asked, his voice grave. He couldn't jump to assumptions just yet. She needed to explain herself first "What happened to her? Song…"

"I'm sorry, Sokka, I…" she muttered "She was there, on the couch, but then I went away to see what meal I should make for her and when I came back…"

"S-she was… gone?" Sokka finished, his eyes wide as plates.

"I'm sorry…" said Song, on the verge of tears.

But Sokka truly wasn't mad at her. He shook his head in disbelief, his hands balling into fists. That girl… indeed, nothing could ever be easy when it came to her. He had already thought so enough times for today, but this was far worse a predicament than he could have imagined. Hell knew where she had gone to, or how she planned on getting there, especially on her condition. Well… at the very least he didn't have to worry anymore about either telling Azula about what was happening in the city or keeping the truth from her. She was certain to find out through her own means soon enough.

* * *

Azula gripped Xin Long's reins firmly, the wind buffeting her face as she urged the dragon to move faster. Deep down she knew she was being rather reckless by what she was doing… but her common sense was overwhelmed by her urge to discover what was happening to her nation. She needed to know: she needed to ensure the Capital's safety.

The city was too dark for her to see anything from above, though. She gritted her teeth and shook her head, guiding Xin Long towards the silhouettes of the Palace's tall towers. She could barely make out shadows moving in the garden until some of them unleashed fire blasts that lit the grounds long enough for her to see there was a battle below. Azula frowned, trying to make out the situation. The garden's soil looked uneven… which was unequivocal proof of the presence of earthbenders. More fire blasts were shot, but they were extinguished through means Azula couldn't discern from high above. Water? There were waterbenders in the Palace as well?

Nothing about the situation boded well for the Fire Nation. How had they gotten in here? Azula didn't know… but her mind was set on ridding her home from these invaders. Whoever they were, they would regret challenging the Fire Nation as they had.

Xin Long's descent upon the Palace grounds was as gentle as possible. He landed on an area at the back of the Palace, which seemed clear from battles, for the Princess's sake. The dragon knew Azula was in no fit state to jump head-first into any fights, even if that was what she wished to do. He could sense there was pain coming from her, and he wanted to keep her from feeling any worse than she already did. Fighting could only aggravate her illness.

Still, Azula didn't seem to care much for appeasing the throbbing in her head. She climbed off Xin Long's saddle with difficulty, stumbling as she stood on solid grounds with bare feet. Xin Long groaned at her, and Azula patted his neck a few times, trying to convince him that she would be fine.

"Stay here, Xin. I'll get back… just stay, okay? Don't go into the Palace… and don't try to scorch anyone unless they attack you. Whatever's going on… I'll go figure it out and I'll let you know what to do about it. Got it?"

Xin Long didn't seem too pleased by her command, but he lacked the means to contradict her wishes. He watched her as she made her way towards the Palace, and he was unable to keep his unease at bay. She was in no fit state to do anything right now… not by herself. She needed help, but he couldn't enter the Palace. She had always told him not to, he was too big and he might get stuck in the hallways.

Yet there was someone else who could help her: a human, just like Azula, who wouldn't tear down the Palace if he entered it, much unlike Xin Long. And surely, he would be able to help her. He had saved Azula in the past, hadn't he? Couldn't he do the same this time around? Xin Long wasn't sure if he was making rushed decisions, or if Azula would get mad at him for finding Sokka… but he was certain it was the best thing he could do for her sake right now.

And thus he took up into the sky just after Azula had entered the building, supporting herself with a hand against the wall as she walked through the corridors. Some torches were lit, to her relief, but there were no guards or soldiers in sight for her to question regarding what was happening. She cringed as her nose began to itch, and she sneezed three times, too loudly.

Yet the sound was what brought forth, at long last, a soldier. He didn't wear the crimson robes of the guards, only the soldier's uniform; he wasn't one of her men. Still, he recognized her instantly.

"Princess…! P-Princess? What's with that getup, and…? Why are you here, Princess?! You should be in safety! Your guards were looking for you, but Captain Rui Shi said you would be safe…!"

"Shut up" Azula groaned, and the man was startled by her anger "What is happening? Speak. Now"

"W-well… apparently we've been infiltrated by members of a White Lotus gang, I don't know what it's about exactly…"

"White…? White Lotus, you said?" repeated Azula, frowning.

Images flashed through her head as she was taken to a few months earlier. Her last visit to Shu Jing… the White Lotus symbol on Space Sword's hilt, on the back yard, on the gates, on the tapestry, and on the tile Piandao left behind for Sokka…

"According to Captain Kuo, he had caught some members of the group yesterday" said the soldier "They escaped today, helped by men disguised as soldiers like myself. They're amongst us right now, and we're trying to subdue them, but they're devilishly quick and we don't know what their purpose is. We keep losing track of them because they're dressed all the same as us… one of the Royal Guards attacked a fellow soldier because he mistook him for an infiltrate"

"He…? Fool" said Azula, shaking her head in disapproval "You don't know what their purpose is? If they broke their allies out, they obviously seek to get out of the city. Is the port…?"

"It was shut down, by your lord father's command" said the soldier.

"Good" said Azula, frowning "Then keep fighting. Seize all of them and…"

"But we don't know what to do, Princess" admitted the soldier "How will we know who we're fighting with if they're disguised as our own? If they're hiding behind our own masks?"

"Why, you fool, there's a very simple way to solve that issue" grunted the Princess "Take off your mask… tell all the soldiers and guards to remove them. Tell them I have commanded it. Whoever refuses to do so will be regarded as a suspect. You know your fellow soldier's faces, do you not?"

"Yes, of course…" said the soldier, blinking in surprise.

"Well, then, go get the job done, soldier" Azula commanded "Find them and seize them all… Take off your helmet and mask so that they know you're a true Fire Nation warrior"

"Yes, Princess!" said the soldier, removing his helmet hastily and running off through the hall, shouting loudly "TAKE OFF YOUR MASKS! REVEAL YOUR FACES SO THAT WE KNOW WHO OUR MEN TRULY ARE! REVEAL YOUR FACES!"

Azula sighed in relief. If this was done efficiently, chances were their enemies would be discovered soon. She could have feared this man was only another infiltrate, but she was certain he wouldn't have recognized her while she was wearing such strange clothes, and when she didn't have her hairpiece either, if he hadn't been a regular member of the army. The man had spoken casually about Captain Rui Shi as well, and it was unlikely that an infiltrate would have known who the Captain of her guards was. She had decided to trust him… and it seemed she had done the right thing.

Yet there was one thing that bothered her… if these enemies of theirs, these White Lotus people, were trying to escape, what were they trying to accomplish by hiding amongst guards in the Palace? If she had been trying to orchestrate an escape, the first thing to ensure was an escape route, in fact, more than one just in case something went wrong. So why return to the Palace after they had what they needed…?

Perhaps they didn't have what they needed. Perhaps these White Lotus men were far greedier than she took them for… she knew too little about them to judge them properly as it was. Perhaps they sought to tear down the Fire Nation, although she rather doubted there were enough members of the association involved in this operation to fight against all the soldiers and guards that protected the city.

Or perhaps… perhaps the Palace was their way out.

The thought made her feel nauseous. There was a way out of the Fire Nation Palace, a secret route that wasn't often spoken of… a route that members of a rebel group shouldn't be familiar with unless someone had tipped them off about it. Could it be that they were attempting to escape through the secret river?

Chances were that was the case. And if it was, she couldn't waste another second dawdling while trying to figure out what to do. She'd reach that river immediately to make sure they couldn't get away… she wouldn't let them. The Fire Nation would not bow down before anyone, not tonight.

She stumbled on her way to the Throne Room, her determination unwavering. Long ago, she had discovered a quick route from the Throne Room to the secret river under the Palace. An old Fire Lord, Sozin, Hizuo, perhaps even Azulon, had built a tunnel through which they would reach the river much faster than through regular means in the unlikely case that they might need to escape the Palace. Azula had found it once by chance during one of her many expeditions to discover the hidden passageways of the Royal Palace. She didn't know if her father was aware of the existence of this tunnel, in fact, she rather doubted he was. There was another entrance to the river, the one most people knew about, located in the Palace's basement. That tunnel was longer and more winding than the one in the Throne Room, and thus Azula hoped she would be able to intercept their enemies if she took the latter, in the likely case that her assumptions about their plans were correct.

What would she do once she found them? She had no idea. She aware of her current frail state, and she feared she would fail to hold her own if she had to fight against them. Yet what choice did she have? She had to do whatever it took to stop them…

She walked past a window through which she could see guards and soldiers, now unmasked and without hoods to cover their heads, fighting against three men who had refused to reveal their faces. Fire flew towards them, to meet towers of earth the infiltrates were using to their defense. Azula gritted her teeth and carried on, hoping the army would manage to subdue these men. But there were sure to be more of them. Where had they come from? How had they slipped into their ranks so easily? Azula cringed as her head's throbbing intensified. No matter. These men could be questioned about their methods once they had been captured. It was no use thinking about it now.

The way to the Throne Room seemed longer than ever before. She had to make it there as soon as possible, and hope to find a soldier or a guard who wasn't engaged in battle to assist her. In normal circumstances, the thought wouldn't even have passed her mind, but it was unavoidable when she was feeling as weak as she was.

Yet the next men she found, in a long, dark hallway, weren't bound to accept helping her. Azula froze when she saw them, still wearing their masks. The order had already gone out, she had just confirmed that the Fire Nation soldiers were fighting without covering their faces… had these two failed to hear the order? Or were they enemies? They were whispering nervously, angrily even. Azula frowned and listened silently to their discussion, hoping to determine if they were either friend or foe, without revealing herself just yet.

"… we can't just leave like this!"

"We need to get out immediately. The ones we leave behind will understand…"

"Understand what? We came here to save our men! If the others were worth saving, so are they!"

"And how do you plan on saving them?! We can't do this anymore! The operation has failed, that's all the truth of it! We should have asked for advice from the higher members of the Order before trying to…!"

"But we can't give up! If we give up they'll win!"

"And you think they haven't won yet?"

"We're in the Royal Palace right now! We could wreck their pretty city, tear it apart so that…!"

"So that they kill us when they catch us?! We are not strong enough to make a stand against the Fire Nation's forces right now! We have to leave before it's too late! The old man is already on the ship, so let's just get this over with!"

"But…!"

"Let's go!" shouted one of the men, grabbing the other by the wrist and pulling him away down the hall.

But before they could turn around to leave, a blast of blue fire flew towards them. One of the men pushed the other down, protecting him from the attack.

"What…?!" gasped the man who had been pushed, looking towards the direction from where the unusual fire had appeared.

The woman that stood with her fist raised towards them was almost unrecognizable. Her black hair was disheveled, her clothes were simple and common and her feet were bare. Her cheeks were flushed, and she seemed to be sweating as well.

And those angry golden eyes could have given away her identity if the blue fire hadn't done so in the first place.

"And where exactly… do you two think you're going?" she asked, glaring at them dangerously.

"It can't be… Princess Azula?" asked one of the White Lotus members, as they both stared at her from the ground, terrified.

Azula couldn't keep from smirking at the looks on their faces. Their fear fueled her, it gave her strength, enough strength to defeat them despite what ailed her… or so she hoped.

"Well?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"We're… soldiers, Princess, your allies…" one of the White Lotus members lied, trying to save their lives desperately.

"Shameful, truly, that you'd try to fight us with such underhanded tactics…" said Azula "Who provided those outfits, I wonder?"

The men stood up, glaring at her from within the masks. They struck their battle stances, and the Princess's face grew stern as she tried her hardest to keep steady. She had to fight them… to defeat them for her Nation, for her Father. She would protect the Fire Nation, no matter how weak she felt today. Her weakest was still stronger than anything these rebels could do, she was sure of it.

"So you'll fight me… such a wise move" she mocked them.

"Don't come any closer, or we'll attack!" shouted one of the White Lotus members, stepping on the ground to raise a large boulder from the floor.

"You… now that's truly shameless" said Azula, looking at the hole left on the ground "How do you propose we fix that gap now? This is the Royal Palace, you pest. You can't just tear the floor as you just did"

"Stop me, then" grunted the man, challenging her.

"Believe me, I intend to" said Azula, lifting her arms before her, her index and middle fingers stretched.

As chunks of the floor flew in her direction, Azula readied herself to fight to her fullest. The faster she was done with this combat, the better. And thus she summoned her azure blazes, snarling as she unleashed an inferno upon her foes…

* * *

"Ah, she's just unbelievable, I swear!" shouted Sokka, walking back and forth on the living room "Why must she never fail to make things more difficult than they already are?! Every single time I think I have things under control she has to go and pull one of hers…!"

Song watched him in surprise, her eyes wide as she saw how angry he was. She had expected him to lash out at her, for not keeping an eye on the Princess… but it seemed he was only angry at Azula.

"So… you're not mad at me?" asked Song, raising an eyebrow as she looked at him warily.

"You? You did nothing wrong!" said Sokka "I'd be a worse fool than I am to think you're to blame for this. She's the one who's being completely thoughtless and reckless! She's always been keen to take risks that no normal human being should take, but because she's amazing she always pulls through! But she's sick now! She could barely beat me up, how far could she go if she's like this? How much can she endure?"

"I have no idea… but, if she couldn't have gone too far, why didn't you run into her on your way back home?" asked Song, confused.

"I don't know" muttered Sokka, before giving her question some thought "I didn't run into her… because she didn't walk, that's why. She must have taken off on Xin Long, curse it. And it was so dark outside that they must have flown over me and I didn't even notice it!"

"But if she flew, where did she go to?" asked Song, confused.

"Where else?" muttered Sokka "The Palace, obviously. Because, as I said, she felt the most powerful urge to make things worse than they already were, and that's pretty much the worst thing she could have done right now"

"But… what's she wrong about her going to the Palace?" asked Song, confused.

"There's trouble going down on the Capital, Song. Some prisoners escaped from jail" said Sokka, frowning "I don't know who they are, but the Captain told me as much. The entire city was evacuated… save for us, because we're new here and we have no idea what to do during emergencies. Maybe you didn't hear the alarm, but a big horn was blowing and I didn't make any sense out of what it was… so I went to figure it out. I saw the Captain at the Palace, and he told me to keep Azula safe here. And I told him I would, but upon my return, she's gone. Just wonderful, isn't it?"

"The Captain…?" repeated Song, gulping "But… wouldn't it be dangerous for us to stay here? If they evacuated the entire city…"

"I doubt the escapees will come hide in our house exactly, Song, so I don't think we need to worry. I think that ploy of getting everyone underground is just for the sake of keeping noblemen as safe as possible in dire circumstances like these; they could be kidnapped and used as leverage, for instance, by the escaped prisoners if the situation allowed it. We're not noblemen, though, so they'd gain nothing from kidnapping us. We'll be fine"

"I hope you're right about that…" said Song, worried "What now, then? Will you go find her, or…?"

"I… I should, I guess, but what use would it be?" asked Sokka, grimacing "Going on foot to the Palace again will take long, and she'll probably be properly protected by her guards by the time I get there…"

"And what if she isn't?" asked Song.

Sokka's heart sank at her question. Truly, what if she wasn't? It wouldn't be the first time her guards failed to defend her when she needed them most… But then what?

"But if… if that's the case then I'll be too late, Song" he said, panic written all over his face "Even if I take off now, I won't make it in time…"

"Sokka, maybe…" said Song, looking quite desperate as well.

But whatever words of encouragement she wanted to say to him were forgotten when something crashed unexpectedly on their backyard. A current of wind slipped through the backdoor and windows, buffeting both Sokka and Song furiously.

"What…?" said the girl, but Sokka instantly knew what it was.

"Xin Long…" he said, breaking into a run as he headed outside "It's Xin Long!"

His fears were appeased shortly as he thought Azula had returned. She would likely be feeling worse than before, but that wouldn't keep him from berating her for her recklessness. How could she flee that way, without saying anything at all?!

"Azula, you…!" he started upon walking outside… when he realized the saddle on the dragon's back was vacant "A… Azula?"

She wasn't there. She wasn't back. Xin Long had returned without her… where was she? What had happened to her? Despair was washing over him in waves, making him feel more helpless with every passing moment. She wasn't there…

Xin Long roared at him, as though to bring him back to his senses. The dragon kept making sounds and noises, but Sokka failed to understand what he was trying to convey.

"Xin… hold on a moment, I don't know what you're saying, I… I don't get you! I'm not Azula, remember?!" said Sokka, trying to approach the dragon to appease him.

Xin Long seemed to grow impatient at Sokka's lack of understanding. He bent his body down, tilting sideways to allow Sokka to climb atop him, and if the message wasn't clear enough, he used the tip of his tail to point at the saddle. Sokka stared at him in shock, unable to give his eyes credit.

"Y-you want me to ride…? You'll take me to her, Xin?!" he asked, looking at the dragon hopefully now.

Xin Long actually rolled his eyes, as though he couldn't believe how dense Sokka was. He was wasting valuable time! Sokka stared at the saddle, determination building up inside of him. He turned towards Song, who was standing by the edge of the house, still slightly intimidated by the dragon.

"Song… stay safe, alright? Don't go out. Lock the doors, don't let anyone in… especially not escaped prisoners, got it?"

"Sokka…" she said, worriedly "Stay safe. And find her… and…"

"I'll keep my promise to the Captain" said Sokka, nodding "I'll get her out of the mess she jumped into. I'll protect her, Song. And then I'll bring her here again so you can finish healing her up"

"That sounds about right…" said Song, smiling weakly.

Sokka nodded at her once more before turning towards Xin Long. He grasped the saddle and heaved himself onto the front seat for the very first time. He gulped as he reached out for the reins, feeling completely out of place as he did.

"When she hears about this, lizard, she's going to kill us both. Me for riding you, and you for letting me" said Sokka.

Xin Long seemed to disagree: he was certain Azula would choose solely to blame Sokka for this even when it hadn't been his idea. But thinking about what Azula would say was just another waste of time, and they both knew it.

Sokka frowned with determination and shook the reins in his hands… to Xin Long's confusion. Sokka looked at him with a raised eyebrow and pressed his heels into Xin Long's sides, again to no avail.

"Well, how am I supposed to tell you to take off, huh?" asked Sokka, looking at the dragon with a skeptical frown.

Xin Long rolled his eyes again before jumping into the sky so brusquely that Sokka almost flew off the saddle. He held on to the reins as tightly as he could, leaning forward to help the dragon fly even faster. They had to reach the Palace right away… he had to find her. He had to keep his promises to her this time around. He would protect Azula with his life…

And thus, Xin Long flew as fast as he could through the darkness, just as determined as his temporary rider to reach the Palace quickly while blasting at full speed through the air.


	54. Chapter 54

The restlessness and the noise within the catacombs were nerve-wrecking. The tension in the atmosphere increased in a chain reaction: as soon as someone lost his patience, others were sure to follow. Zuko didn't want to succumb to the anguish that was taking over the noblemen around him, but it was proving rather difficult to keep his cool in these circumstances. All the Capital's citizens were currently inside the tunnels, complaining over the quality of the food they had been given, or about how distressing it was to hide underground. Some people even panicked over being locked in closed spaces, and their despair was, to Zuko's irritation, quite contagious.

It was what ought to be expected from locking so many noblemen up in the same place, he assumed. These were vain people, selfish and arrogant, who spent most their days thinking about how to earn more money, how to increase their properties, how to dress to outshine everyone else in the city. The vicious competitiveness that existed amongst them was rather sickening, and holding so many highborn within these tunnels for hours on end promised chaos would ensue eventually.

"I don't see what they're complaining about so much" said Toph next to him, sitting comfortably on a rock she had bent a while ago "Being underground is a blast"

"Of course it is, if you're a badgermole in a human's body" said Zuko, sighing.

"Did you know badgermoles are blind too, Prince Cranky?" said Toph, beaming.

"That's why I compared them to you in the first place" grunted Zuko "I'm not as much of an ignorant as you might think"

"That's surprising" said Toph, smirking "I thought all you had ever studied in your life was a manual on 'How to catch the Avatar'… though I guess you didn't read it all the way to the end, did you?"

"Amusing, coming from someone who can't even read" Zuko snapped.

"Oh, so you're saying I'm the one who's an ignorant because I can't read?" asked Toph, tapping her fingers on the rock she was sitting on "Making fun of my condition… you really are a wicked man"

"I'm not…! You were making fun of me first!" Zuko exploded, and Toph smirked.

"Gotcha again. You're getting better at arguing, but you still have a lot to learn about comebacks…"

"Ugh, you're unbelievable…" said Zuko, rolling his eyes.

Iroh was sitting beside her on the floor, his legs crossed under him. His eyes were closed, which made Zuko wonder if he had fallen asleep amidst the noise and restlessness of the catacombs, yet the troubled expression on the retired general's face said otherwise.

"Uncle?" he called him.

The heavy frown on Iroh's face let up, and he smiled amiably at his nephew.

"Yes, Prince Zuko?"

"How long do you think this is going to last?" asked Zuko "I could use some fresh air… and getting away from her would be great as well"

"Learn to get along with the people around you, Prince Zuko. You never know when you might need their assistance…"

"You heard it" said Toph, smirking "What will you do if you ever need my assistance and I don't feel like giving it to you?"

"Fetch a better earthbender than you" Zuko retorted.

"Ha! Tough luck doing that! I'm the best earthbender in the world, and you should know it well enough by now… unless you need a demonstration?" said Toph.

"That won't be necessary" said Iroh, raising his hand to stop their bickering "There is no need for you two to fight underground during as dire a situation as this one. To answer your question, Prince Zuko… I don't know how long this will last. It ought to be over by daylight, that's the only guess I can venture"

"It better be" said Zuko, sighing "What's happening? Do you know anything?"

"I believe a break-out from Prison Tower" said Iroh "It is where the alarm rang from. But who escaped? How? Where might they be? What is their purpose…? Such knowledge escapes me, Prince Zuko. I cannot know"

"People can escape from Fire Nation prisons just like that?" asked Toph, surprised "You people have some serious issues in your defensive mechanisms, don't you?"

"If this situation is to be taken into account… it seems so" said Iroh, sighing.

"Won't this signal rebels all over the world?" asked Zuko, frowning "Won't it tell them we're not as powerful as we say we are?"

"Perhaps…" said Iroh.

Zuko frowned, worried. This wasn't good, not in the slightest. Perhaps he didn't agree with everything about the Fire Nation nowadays, but he still thought they had the upper hand on what regarded the war. But breakouts from jails in the what should be the nation's safest city said otherwise.

For a breakout to require a complete evacuation of the city was unprecedented. At least, it seemed to him that it was. Was everyone truly safe down here? Had everyone gone underground? His mind instantly went to Suki as he thought about these matters. How was she faring in these circumstances? Well… he didn't have to make blind guesses about that, did he? He was underground, amongst all the citizens. If he wanted to make sure she was fine, then he might as well go look for her and appease his doubts… right? And if finding her would help him get away from the irritating earthbender, even better.

"Where are you going?" asked Toph, when she sensed Zuko was walking away from them.

"Just… to get some food" he lied, and Toph raised an eyebrow.

"Say hi to the 'food' for me, then" she said, and he stumbled "So… you're off to find someone after all? Zuko actually has friends?"

"Just… ugh" said Zuko, rolling his eyes and walking away. He owed her no answers or explanations. She didn't need to know whom he was looking for, and he didn't need to tell her either.

"Maybe he's going to find his sister, huh? Wants someone else to pick on him for a while…" said Toph, shrugging once Zuko was out of earshot. But she frowned after speaking, as she realized she hadn't sensed Azula's familiar powerful but graceful footsteps while they were down below. She hadn't sensed her presence at all for quite a while… "Speaking of which, Iroh… where is your niece?"

Iroh was surprised by the question, and he frowned heavily.

"I… I don't know. Perhaps with her father. She has always been closer to Ozai than Zuko ever was. She might be with him, in the royal safe chamber"

"Huh… really?" asked Toph, uncertain "Where is that safe chamber anyways?"

"It is a safe chamber for a reason" said Iroh, smiling "Not many know where it is"

"Well, you should"

"And I shouldn't share such crucial knowledge so freely, even with my own gladiator" said Iroh, smiling at her.

"How about sharing it with a trustworthy friend?" asked Toph, raising an eyebrow.

Iroh chuckled and shook his head, making her pout towards him.

"You truly needn't know. I'm sure Azula is fine, Toph. Why are you so worried about her?"

"Because I really haven't sensed her in hours" muttered Toph "More than that, even. Where's the dragon? She would have kept it safe… wouldn't she have dragged it down below with her?"

"I wonder if the dragon would have wanted that…" said Iroh, thoughtful.

Toph frowned. No sign of Azula or her dragon, and there was no sign of her gladiator either… what was going on here? There was something really troublesome about those disappearances in the middle of this incident. Suddenly being stuck underground, ignoring what happened above, wasn't as comfortable as it had been…

Zuko walked by the crowds of bickering noblemen quickly, trying not to attract attention. Nevertheless, he was stopped by them several times. For whatever reason, they believed that the Prince would have been briefed about what was happening, and that he held the answers to their questions… which irritated him. Most of the time he was ignored, his sister was favored over him, and people would just glare at him sideways because he was the disgraced member of the Fire Lord's family. Yet today they had conveniently forgotten all about their contempt for him as they clung onto him, some asking him if they might be granted permission to return above ground to retrieve their great-grandmother's china set, or a golden vase that was valued in a million yuan, and a few simply asking him if he understood what they were facing. And he held answers for none of them. He tried to appease them, assuring them there was no need to fret, that they would return to their homes shortly, but there seemed to be little to no effect to his words. The noblemen remained as frantic as they had been before he interacted with them.

After shaking off a particularly annoying man, who was complaining about the soldiers keeping him from bringing his cabbage cart underground with him, Zuko began wishing he was wearing his hood. Even if Azula was right, and people still recognize him even if he wore a disguise, at least they knew better than to pester him when he wore it…

"Zuko? Zuko!"

The Prince groaned in irritation. Now what?

It took him a moment to realize that, for once, it wasn't some unknown person trying to coax answers out of him. Ty Lee was waving at him enthusiastically, a tall man with long hair and tan skin standing next to her. And on her other side…

Zuko was shocked to see Mai again. When had he last seen her? When had he last thought about her…? After spending such a long time brooding over how their relationship had failed, he had almost forgotten all about Mai during these months… until now. Seeing her standing there, with a small boy held to her chest, made his chest ache a little… but not as much as it used to. And that was a relief.

He approached them, nodding towards Ty Lee, since she had been the one to call out to him.

"Good to see you here" said Ty Lee, smiling at him.

"You all made it down safely?" he asked, looking at Mai "Where is Ruon Jian?"

"He's gone to find food" replied Mai "Are you well, Zuko? You look… irritated"

"I am" Zuko admitted, grimacing "A single one of these noblemen is annoying, but when you have to deal with them in packs…"

"Hey, I'm a noblewoman myself! And so is Mai!" squealed Ty Lee, offended.

Zuko would have apologized to Mai and assured her he wasn't referring about her… but he would have only excused her from his harshness. Ty Lee was different from the rest of the noblemen, no denial, but that didn't mean she wasn't rather annoying in her own ways.

"Who is he?" Zuko asked, raising an eyebrow as he regarded Ty Lee's companion.

"Oh, this is Haru" said Ty Lee, smiling cheerfully "He's my gladiator!"

"Wha-…? You too?" asked Zuko, staring at her in disbelief.

"What, you're going to keep pretending you don't like the Gladiator Business? I've seen you enough times at the Arena to know that's a big fat lie, Zuko" said Ty Lee, crossing her arms over her chest. Zuko grimaced again.

"I don't sponsor anyone, though…"

"The only thing I found was this gruel" said Ruon Jian, returning to the group on that very moment. He handed the bowl over to Mai, taking the child from her so that she could eat comfortably "It's not bound to be too tasteful, but…"

"It sure doesn't look like it will be…" said Mai, sighing and staring at the food with disgust. The things she had to do to stay strong and feed Yuudai…

"Any sign yet?" asked Ruon Jian, looking at Ty Lee.

"Not really, but at least we found her brother…" said Ty Lee, smiling uncomfortably.

"Huh?" said Zuko, frowning and looking from one to the other "Any sign of what?"

"Princess Azula" said Ruon Jian, frowning.

"We've been looking for her, but we haven't seen her at all" said Ty Lee, looking worried "Not her or Sokka. Which is pretty strange… I mean, maybe she's with her father, as Mai thinks she might be, but Sokka wouldn't be allowed to go into the Fire Lord's safe chamber, would he?"

"Would be quite surprising that my father would appreciate a slave's safety far more than the one of his own family" grunted Zuko. Iroh hadn't been allowed into the safe room, and neither had he. If Sokka was really in there with Ozai and Azula…

"Well, you could go find out, right?" asked Mai, after gulping down a spoonful of gruel and scowling at its taste "If anyone can figure out if Azula is in there or not, it ought to be you, right?"

Zuko gritted his teeth. Perhaps that would have been true, eleven years ago… but his father still hadn't even looked at him ever since he had returned. He had passed by Zuko on the hallway a few days ago, and Zuko had greeted him as formally as he could… to receive no response. Zuko wasn't invited to meetings, Zuko wasn't granted guards to flank him wherever he went… Zuko seemed to be nothing but a bad memory for Ozai, if he was even a memory at all.

"I… I don't know if I'll be allowed inside the room" he muttered "But even if my father doesn't want to deal with me, Azula might answer if I call for her, even if only to mock me. I… I'll see what I can do"

"You will? Thanks!" said Ty Lee "We're really worried about her"

"Sure" said Zuko, nodding and wondering if they would have felt the same way if only the situation had been reversed. Would they ask Azula to find him if he were missing…?

He walked away, frowning. He'd find Suki first, Azula could wait. There was absolutely no way the Fire Lord's beloved daughter would find herself in a troublesome situation of any sort, was there?

Ty Lee watched Zuko walk away, hands in his pockets, until he was gone from sight… and her gaze fell upon something else as she watched him disappear within the crowd.

"Uh… Mai?" she asked, as her friend told her husband she wasn't eating another mouthful of that revolting food "Mai?"

"What?" she grunted, irritated.

"Aren't those two old ladies over there…?" said Ty Lee, jerking her head towards the people she had seen "Aren't those Lo and Li? Azula's old advisors?"

Mai seemed to forget her food for a moment as she looked at them. Twin old ladies, their hair tied in high braids, the lobes of their ears freakishly huge even for people their age…

"It's them alright" said Mai, frowning "Why are they here? Hadn't Azula sent them away?"

"People had said they had gone to Ember Island. They were staying there… right?" said Ty Lee "That's what I heard"

"You're the queen of gossip, I don't know where they went exactly" said Mai "I just know they had left the Capital. Why would they be here today?"

"Maybe visiting a relative…?" suggested Ty Lee "It was bad luck to drop by just when this happened. If only they had come on another day, they wouldn't have wound up locked underground with the rest of us…"

Mai didn't bother making up excuses for them, much unlike Ty Lee. Conjectures would get them nowhere… those women weren't supposed to be here, that was the only solid information they had. So why were they underground? And why did it seem Azula wasn't?

* * *

The rock didn't move fast enough to reach her, even when Azula wasn't at her full capacity. It seemed her agility was still too much for her enemies to keep up with.

But even so, Azula feared she didn't have the upper hand in this battle at all. Fighting in bare feet, and in such baggy clothes, was too much of a hindrance. Her hair fell on her face as well, compromising her vision at times and making it hard for her to defend herself from her enemies' attacks. And defeating earthbenders might have been easy… but she hadn't expected one of her foes to be a waterbender instead. The man was bending water out of a pouch he had been concealing under his armor, attempting to defeat the Princess through his element's advantages.

Azula's head throbbed more powerfully with every brusque movement she had to make in order to avoid the attacks. She couldn't let that water whip touch her, she couldn't let those rocks strike her, and she couldn't miss out on any opportunities to strike back at her opponents whenever she had an opening, no matter how small it might be.

Her fire wavered, to her irritation, between blue and orange. When the fight had begun, she was still capable of producing her usual brand of fire. But now her power was failing her… just when she couldn't let herself falter.

It wasn't fair. It truly wasn't fair. That was the single thought in her mind as she jumped and kicked twice while in midair, sending blazes at her enemies. She had spent her entire life training, molding herself into becoming the strongest fighter she could be, so that she could defend and protect her nation if it were ever endangered, so that her father could be proud of her when she took down all those who dared challenge her. All the talk about being a prodigy, about being the greatest firebender in the history of the Fire Nation… had it been no more than empty words? Was it simply nonsense she had told herself to make her believe she was better than everyone else? She wished she could deny it… but how could she, when she was being bested by a pair of pathetic rebels who weren't even all that skilled in the first place?

She grew desperate as she tried to triumph. Her attacks became as reckless as she was at the moment, and she had more openings than she would have allowed if she had been fighting with her usual composure. A rock found its way to her stomach, and she lost her breath when she stumbled back. She was met with a water blast straight to the face right after, to keep her from recovering from the previous blow. Firebenders drew their power from their breath, and these two obviously knew it.

She stumbled and fell to the ground, too weak to stand up again. The water dripping from her face and hair made her feel freezing cold, even when she knew she had a fever. Her body shook, and she gasped as she rolled onto all fours, telling herself to find her strength. She was Fire Lord Ozai's daughter… she was the first dragon rider of the century, she wasn't meant to falter before these worthless enemies…!

"Seems like she really was more talk than anything" said the waterbender, smirking and removing his helmet upon seeing Azula fall. His tan skin was akin to Sokka's, yet his eyes were a lighter shade of blue "I always heard that blue fire was so fearsome… seems like we were briefed wrongly, huh?"

"There's got to be something wrong with her" said the earthbender, eyeing Azula with curiosity and imitating his companion by taking off the helmet to fight more comfortably. Little did it matter to keep concealing their identities when they had given themselves away as her enemies already "Maybe she's scared?"

"She ought to be. We are from the Order of the White Lotus after all" said the waterbender, glaring at Azula arrogantly "Well? Is that all you've got? Shouldn't you run back to daddy now, little princess? Leave the battlefield to the real warriors!"

His words were the perfect trigger for Azula's anger. She snarled and grunted, her brow contracting over her blazing golden eyes. Taunting her would be their undoing…

She stood up again, glaring at them so viciously that the waterbender's smirk was wiped off his face immediately. And when she began moving her arms around her, two fingers extended on each hand, the two members of the Order of the White Lotus winced. Sparks crackled and glistened around her, blue sparks that danced dangerously around her limbs, and they lit up the hallway as Azula called forth as much power as she could.

They would regret it… they would regret ever having set foot on the Palace. And given by the horrified looks on their faces, they were already regretting it. If Azula's head hadn't been victim of such excruciating pain as she commanded her lightning, the Princess would have smirked while watching them.

She stretched her left arm out, and an unfamiliar pain stung her skin as she did. She winced upon feeling it, and her elbow flexed just a little…

And that was all it took to send the lightning off course. Azula would have watched it twist towards the ceiling, aghast, if her attack hadn't partially backfired on her. She flew back and took another blow, this time to her back, when she landed again. Azula rolled on the ground, affected by the attack's momentum until she finally reached a stop. The remnants of the electric charge made her body shake violently as she twitched and breathed heavily, lying on her side on the wrecked Palace floors.

The ceiling cracked with terrifying sound when the lightning struck it. The members of the White Lotus had to jump out of the way when chunks of it fell to the ground, threatening to crush them. They both yelled, escaping only barely, and the rocks that collapsed on the ground lifted dust and shattered the already torn-up floor.

"That girl is a menace…" the waterbender conceded, staring horrified at the piles of rocks before them. If another second had gone by, or if that lightning had struck the ceiling just a little further, they wouldn't have survived.

"At least she didn't accomplish her goal" said the earthbender, sighing and standing up "Crazy bitch was trying to kill us"

Azula heard their words, but she couldn't process them. Sweat rolled off her brow, and she still couldn't command her limbs to move. She cringed and grimaced, and she would have yelled in outrage if only she could have found her voice. It was the first time she had failed to produce and direct lightning properly. It had backfired on her, and the charge had stunned her completely. It didn't help that she wasn't in good health already… if anything could go worse tonight, it would, she had no doubts about it.

"Well, that was a pretty nice show you put there, Princess!" shouted the waterbender "But the fun is over! So you'd better surrender, or…!"

"Or?" asked the earthbender, raising an eyebrow "What are we going to do with her?"

"Uh, well… well" said the man, doubtful at first, but his third word rang with a tone of confidence "Maybe we ought to do the right thing, don't you think, Bai? Give those bastards what they deserve… by making their precious little Princess our captive?"

Azula's eyes widened, her heart rate accelerating. No… no, that couldn't be. She couldn't be captured, not by these scumbag White Lotus men…

"You know… you say lots of stupid things, but for once you've got the right idea" replied the earthbender, smirking as he stared at Azula's crumpled figure through the cloud of dissipating dust.

She couldn't believe she was so helpless. She couldn't fight back, couldn't say a word, couldn't do anything to strike at them again, to defeat them and force them to surrender before her instead… Other people were used to this feeling, other people understood what it was to lack power to stand up for themselves, but not Azula. Never had she been faced with such hardships that she couldn't even lift a hand, that she couldn't conjure her fire to her defense… even while being lost with Sokka in that forest she had been able to bend despite her injuries, she had been capable of walking miles and her mind had worked perfectly… tonight, everything she took pride on was gone. This was all there was left of Azula: a vulnerable girl, trembling and squirming on the floor. For the first time in her life, she was truly doomed to fail.

"Just think about it" said the earthbender, setting the wreckage aside with his bending "With her in our power, the Fire Nation will be on their knees. The Fire Lord would go to any ends to recover his little girl… he'd play right into the White Lotus' hand to get her back"

Oh, that wasn't a good plan… if Azula had been able to talk, she would have said as much. They didn't want to face Fire Lord Ozai's wrath. No organization would be able to conceal her from him. If they touched so much as a hair from her head, they would pay with their lives. She had no idea what the White Lotus truly was, but it hardly mattered. Her father would tear them apart to get her back, she knew he would…

"Finally some proper leverage" said the waterbender, following the earthbender through the debris and stopping right before Azula, staring down at her before stretching a hand towards her "At last we'll get the upper hand in the war. We'll get rid of the rotten Fire Nation for once and for-…!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" shouted someone down the hall, his voice so commanding that the two benders froze in their spot.

That voice… Azula's heart accelerated again, but no longer in dread or fear. If only she could have smiled, she would have.

The members of the Order of the White Lotus stepped down warily, staring at the newcomer with apprehension. He was pointing a black blade at them, his blue eyes blazing with fury as he glared at them. For some reason, the enraged man was almost as intimidating as the Princess had been when she had first appeared.

"Who… who are you?" asked the waterbender, wary.

"Stand back" grunted Sokka, stepping forward cautiously "Or you will be sorry"

"S-Sokka…" Azula gasped, finally able to speak. The stunning was fading away too slowly for her liking, but it was relenting regardless.

"Wait…" said the earthbender, staring at Azula "Did she just call him by some name? Some Water Tribe name…"

"Yeah" said the waterbender, frowning "Wait just a moment… that sword…"

"She knows him, so… it's him!" said the earthbender, and to Sokka's utter disbelief, the man smiled.

"Huh?" said Sokka, frowning in confusion "I'm who, now?"

"The guy Piandao spoke about! His student!" said the waterbender, smiling "Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe!"

Sokka's eyes widened at the shocking statement, and Azula frowned. These guys… they belonged to the association that bore the same symbol that had been all over the sword master's house. They must have known Piandao… perhaps Piandao himself was involved in this operation. And Azula found she was hardly surprised to think he might have been. Her father had said his sword fighting skills were astounding, but his loyalties were questionable. He had been involved in an attempt at Iroh's life… he held no love for the Royal Family. He could easily be the mastermind behind the prison break, the one handling these men as though they were puppets…

"What… what do you know about Piandao?" asked Sokka, cautiously. He was still pointing his sword at them, but the expression on his face had changed completely upon the mention of his old master.

"Oh, he's a Grand Lotus of our association, no less than that" said the waterbender "He spoke fondly of you when he was called back to headquarters. Said you would be a valuable asset for us when the time came"

Sokka stared at them, aghast. What was that supposed to mean? There was no way… there was no way that Azula's warnings to him about Piandao had been right. The man was incredible! There was simply no way he had been grooming him into a tool! Piandao wasn't that sort of a man… he had spoken of honor, of loyalty, he had taught him so many valuable lessons, he had even helped him get along with Azula…

" _Why did he bother training my brother? People say he found Zuko to be worthy… I wouldn't be so sure of it. I always had the feeling he had agreed to train him because of ulterior motives…"_

Azula's words rang through Sokka's head again. There was no way… there was no way this was true. Piandao wasn't that sort of a man. If he had been, if he had wanted to use Sokka to his own ends, wouldn't he have dragged Sokka with him instead of taking off without warning? If he wanted him to join his group, why didn't he explain anything about this weird organization before? They had plenty of time to hold a conversation about it… so why? What was the explanation to justify this?

"So, Sokka… right? Nice meeting you, then" said the waterbender "Come now, we don't have much time. Drop that sword and let's get going. Bai can carry her and…"

"N-no…" grunted Azula, twitching still "N-no…"

"Yeah… no" said Sokka, frowning.

"Huh… well, fine, if you want to carry her yourself…" said the earthbender, shrugging.

"Who the hell are you people?" Sokka asked, stomping down the hall towards them "What are you trying to pull here?"

"Well, what else?" asked the earthbender "We're trying to take her captive, isn't it obvious?"

"Huh? And you want me to help you do that? Really?" asked Sokka, staring at them as though they were the stupidest people he had ever met.

"Well, sure!" said the waterbender, and Sokka began thinking they truly were as stupid as it seemed "Come now, help us out. Once we have her, the Fire Lord will crumble down and he'll do whatever he can to get her back. We'll use her to our advantage, and we'll take back everything the Fire Nation took from us! We'll tear down this horrid nation and pay them back for a hundred years of war in their own coin"

"You… what?" asked Sokka, in disbelief.

"If we get her out of here we'll have more than what we came for, and the operation would be a complete success" said the waterbender "Don't worry, I'm sure the Grand Lotuses will let you go back home for a while so you can see your family again…"

Sokka's eyes widened again, and so did Azula's. Was he really offering to return Sokka to his Tribe?

"And after that's done, you can come back and help us beat down the Fire Nation" said the earthbender "Tear it apart completely, giving them what they've given us during all these years. Let's see just how well slavery and mass murder sits with them…"

"You probably could get her to do your laundry" said the waterbender, chuckling and looking down at Azula "Throw her into a fighting pit just as she did to you. She's the one who dragged you away from your people in the first place, isn't she? That's what Piandao said. All the more reason for you to get back at her, don't you think? Might have to chain her up so that she doesn't get too wild, but that ought to work out anyways…"

"Chain her up?" Sokka repeated. He lowered his sword, now staring at the men with an unreadable expression "Really, now?"

"Sure, I mean, she's the Princess at the moment" said the waterbender "But when we're through with this pathetic nation of spineless smoke-breathers she's just going to be another slave. You can give her the same treatment she gave you, see? All the beating and the yelling, every single time she spoke down to you and made you feel inferior, the nights she left you without food and shelter because she didn't give a rat's ass about a slave…"

Azula grimaced and gritted her teeth. It was over. She was definitely done for. She thought he would come to save her… that he would help her fend off these rebels. She could barely look at Sokka in the position she was in, but she had seen him put his sword down. The tone in which he spoke now wasn't as indignant as before… she was losing him. She probably had lost him already.

Because the waterbender was right. She had attacked him. She had hurt him, time over and time again. She had burned him, she had even tried to beat him to a pulp only a few hours ago. She had yelled at him too many times to remember anymore, she had spoken down at him while he was on his knees, begging for forgiveness. He had gone without food in that forest, even if it was his own decision, because he had bought all her talk of superiority, putting himself in second place for her sake… and her way to reward him was telling him she still wouldn't forgive his slip-ups. And perhaps she had offered returning Sokka home as well… but these guys were Piandao's allies. They weren't asking Sokka for anything in return, unlike she had, and they were bound to take him South much faster than she would if he were to stay with her…

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. At the very least, if he were there, she could hope things might not be as terrible as they would be if she had to deal with the White Lotus on her own. But that still wasn't enough of a relief. She was lost. She had failed her nation, failed her father, failed all those who had ever believed her worthy of the throne…

Sokka's gaze went to Azula on the ground. She was twitching still, her legs shaking slightly. He sheathed Space Sword over his shoulder again, and he approached cautiously, eyeing the White Lotus members with the same cold, calculating stare with which he had just looked at Azula.

He went down on one knee right next to her writhing figure, and she gritted her teeth as she sensed him right beside her.

"You are such a fool, Azula…" he said, as he slid one hand under her legs and the other under her back "Truly, how could you be so thoughtless?"

"S-Sokka…" she muttered.

"I know, I know" he said, cradling her in his arms and standing up with some difficulty "I should spare the lecture for later, you're clearly suffering enough already…"

And with that, he turned right towards where he had come through. The waterbender and earthbender stared after him for a moment, unable to understand what he was doing. Azula herself frowned slightly… hadn't the White Lotus men been to the other side of the hallway?

"Hey! HEY!" shouted the earthbender, glaring at Sokka's back "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Walking down a hallway, that's what" Sokka replied, still walking.

"You're supposed to come with us!" said the waterbender, and Sokka stopped on his tracks, turning around with a raised eyebrow.

"And why exactly am I supposed to do what you want me to?"

When she heard those words Azula's hope flourished anew, as blazes in a fireplace that had been rekindled. She gripped his shirt tightly with one hand, no longer reluctant to be carried in his arms. Sokka didn't fail to notice the way her demeanor had changed. If the situation had been any different, he would have likely blushed or made her blush in turn by asking her if she liked his chest that much… but his face was a mask of determination. He was glaring at the White Lotus members fiercely, daring them to challenge his decision. And they fell for the taunt headfirst.

"B-because you're one of us!" shouted the waterbender "I'm from the North, but we're still kin!"

"Because you of all people ought to understand what the Fire Nation has done! Why would you defend her?! What's the matter with you?!" yelled the earthbender.

"I understand what the Fire Nation has done, believe me when I say I do" said Sokka "They killed my mother and the man who was almost my uncle, they tore down cultures and destroyed the pride of those who opposed them just to make them suffer more…"

"Then why are you…?!"

"Because you're downright insane if you think I'm going to let you people replicate the Fire Nation's wrongdoings!" Sokka shouted "You don't want to set things right! You don't want peace in this world, all you want is revenge! You think I want to get back at her for the things she's done to me? If we got back at the Fire Nation for everything they've done, there would be no Fire Nation left when we're finished!"

"And so what?!" asked the waterbender, aghast.

"What makes you any better than them if you act just like they did?" asked Sokka, glaring at them furiously "Killing a Fire Nation soldier for every fallen soldier of the Earth Kingdom or the Water Tribe won't make a difference. You wouldn't get your people back by doing that, would you? Killing a Fire Nation civilian for every civilian that has been murdered in cold blood won't bring the dead back either! Blood for blood? If you go about it this way, in the end we'll all be dead!"

"You're crazy!" shouted the earthbender "The hell did they do to you?!"

"Nobody did anything to me" grunted Sokka "I just realized the world isn't as simple as I used to think it was. You people hate the Fire Nation blindly… and the Fire Nation did everything they did out of blind hate as well! When does the hate stop?! When everyone's dead?! Getting back at the Fire Nation will only gain you more enemies! Their people will strike back, and a bad war will become worse still! Do you really think that kidnapping Azula was going to get you somewhere? The only thing you'd accomplish would be getting Fire Lord Ozai to set the entire world on fire in order get her back!"

The two benders stared at him in shock. They sure hadn't thought about it that way…

"Y-you… you don't know what forces work with us. You have no idea who our allies are. They'd be more than able to take on Ozai…"

"Who, those White Big Lotuses you talked about? Piandao?" asked Sokka, raising his eyebrows "If they were strong enough to kill Ozai, wouldn't they be here with you tonight? Wouldn't they have come to murder him directly instead of settling with capturing his daughter? Or is it you're acting without their permission? Because I'm pretty sure that if they thought revenge was the way to rebel against the Fire Nation, they would be here tonight and they would be the ones I'd be dealing with right now instead of you two"

"You… you're a traitor" grunted the waterbender, not knowing how else to retaliate "That's all you are! A traitor! Scum traitor! You've been tainted by those smoke-breathers!"

Sokka couldn't help but snort in derision, shaking his head.

"You're going to deny it now?!" shouted the earthbender "You are a traitor! You're not worthy of being part of the White Lotus, you…! Piandao was wrong to think we could trust you! Piandao shouldn't have trained you! He should have known you would turn into one of them!"

"Now that's amazing… they think I'm Fire Nation, Azula, can you believe that?" he asked, glancing down at her for a moment. The look of utter bewilderment on her face told him she was about as confused as the two men they were dealing with. Sokka smiled weakly at her and turned towards the benders again, now frowning "Piandao taught me many things… Piandao taught me pretty much everything I needed to know to become a real warrior, a true swordsman. Do you want to know what sort of things he spoke to me about? Honor. Loyalty…"

"Funny way to show it!" shouted the waterbender.

"No, this is exactly the way to show it" retorted Sokka, glaring at them "Where's the honor in taking a wounded girl, who can't even stand on her own, as your captive? Where's the honor in facing off against her, two on one?"

"Y-you… and where's the honor in saving her?!" the earthbender retorted "After all she's done to you…!"

"You might get a kick out of this, pal…" said Sokka, sighing "But if it weren't for Azula, I wouldn't have even met Piandao in the first place. If it weren't for Azula, you people wouldn't even be looking at me right now! I wouldn't be anyone in your eyes! The only reason you two give a damn about me, the only reason why you didn't try to kill me as soon as you laid eyes upon me, is because I'd be a great asset for you, and you said so yourselves!"

"That's not…! We wouldn't have attacked a Water Tribe guy!" shouted the waterbender.

"Oh, you wouldn't have? So if I had really been a traitor, you'd be done for now, huh?" asked Sokka, smirking "If you wouldn't attack a complete stranger on the Palace just because he's not Fire Nation…"

The benders were growing angrier with every word Sokka uttered. The waterbender stepped forward, a fist raised.

"And you dare talk about loyalty too after what you've done?!" he yelled "You'd rather defend the Fire Lord's daughter than your own people?!"

"Uh… just a second now" said Sokka "You are a White Lotus guy. Even if you're from a Water Tribe, you're not here for the Water Tribe. You're here for the White Lotus, and you've made it downright clear as it is. You're attacking someone I know, someone I respect and admire… and you're a total stranger, to boot. Tell me again, why exactly should I hold any sort of loyalty for you or your society of Pai Sho-loving kidnappers?"

"Don't you dare say a word against the Order of the White Lotus!" shouted the earthbender, lifting a boulder and tossing it at Sokka.

It wasn't easy to move while carrying Azula, but Sokka managed to jump out of the way regardless. He glared at his enemies before turning around swiftly and placing Azula on the ground against what was left of a wall.

"I'll be back in a second" he whispered to her.

"Sokka…" she gasped, reaching out to him as he walked away, but he marched firmly, taking his sword out of his sheath again as he did.

He jumped forward, swinging his sword as he went and tearing down another boulder that had come his way. A stream of water came his way right after, and he almost lost his balance while evading it. He hadn't fought against a waterbender since his last time in the Water Tribe… ah, Katara. Just what was it that she did whenever he wasn't expecting it? Oh… ice.

Another stream of water came his way, straight at his arm, and he already knew what the purpose of his attacker was. Sokka changed his sword to his left hand last minute and slid away from the water right before it froze in midair. The waterbender winced and melted the ice again, but he was too slow to attack again.

The earthbender tried to bring forth another boulder, but Sokka struck his opponent's face with his elbow while he was still lifting it from the ground. The earthbender stumbled and fell, grasping his bleeding nose as Sokka turned to the waterbender and hit his forehead with Space Sword's hilt.

Sokka wasn't sure if he heard a crack when his blade connected with his opponent's skull, but the blow was strong enough to knock him out cold instantly. And Sokka smirked when he saw the forehead of the man now sported the White Lotus symbol; Piandao had engraved it on the hilt of his sword.

"The White Lotus knocked out by the White Lotus" he said, turning towards the earthbender now "You want the same treatment?"

The earthbender couldn't even answer before Sokka hit him with the hilt as well. The man's eyes rolled back and he went limp. Sokka glared at him one last time before standing up and turning towards Azula again. She was staring at him with half-closed eyes, and it seemed as though she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.

"Only you, Azula" said Sokka, shaking his head as he dropped beside her again in one knee "You just had to fall sick and run off to fight against the first bunch of morons who wanted to take you hostage, did you?"

"Sokka, I…" she muttered, breathing heavily "T-they just…"

"Showed up out of nowhere?" asked Sokka "I think the army and all your guards should have dealt with them. Especially when you're in such frail state. This was too reckless, even for your standards. Is this what you're always like when you get sick, huh?"

"Y-you… Sokka…"

Sokka frowned and touched her forehead again. He removed his hand quickly, alarmed by how warm she was. If he had thought she was in bad shape back when they were home, it was nothing in comparison to how she was now. He grimaced and gritted his teeth, knowing he had to act quickly. He had no idea what would happen to her if her fever kept rising…

"Now, now, forget it all now" he said, taking her into his arms again and lifting her from the ground as he stood up "Let's go. Nagging later, you need to go back with Song first…"

"N-no… n-no… Sokka, no" she breathed, gripping his shirt again "Sokka… please…"

"What…? Azula, maybe you'd rather have your official healers look after you, but they're underground right now. Song is our safest choice, she's nearby and…"

"No!" Azula said, pulling at his shirt and looking at him with despair "Sokka… I have to stop them, I… I have to stop them…"

"What?" Sokka said again, looking at her in disbelief "Are you nuts?! Azula, you have to rest and drink lots of liquids! That's all you have to do! Let the army take care of this, you need to be nursed, not to fight…!"

"I can't let them… I can't… they're going to get away… t-there's more of them, Sokka, there's…" Azula gasped, closing her eyes as a new wave of pain washed through her head "Let me stop them… t-they're down below… the river, down the Throne Room…"

"What?" said Sokka, confused now "How many times have you made me ask 'what' in the last minute, Azula? Really…"

"Sokka… please…" she said, gripping his shirt so tightly he feared she would rip it "You have to… they can't get away…"

Sokka gritted his teeth and stared at her for a moment. Why did those dazzling eyes have to move him as they did? He sighed and shook his head again.

"Ugh, you're unbelievable. You're not going to do anything, Azula. I'll stop them, if that's what it'll take for you to stay put" said Sokka, though it seemed he wasn't too pleased by the idea.

Yet Azula's face seemed to light up upon that perspective. Sokka swallowed hard and looked at her inquisitively.

"And what exactly is it you want me to do?"

It took a moment for Azula to answer. She seemed dazed for a moment as she tried to think of what to answer, but once she had gathered her ideas, she was a little more lucid than she had been previously.

"The Throne…" she started, but a fit of coughs interrupted her. Sokka struggled to keep hold of her as she arched forward, her throat stinging with every cough "T-the Throne Room, Sokka… in the center… t-there's a map. B-but below it, there are… there are loose tiles on the floor, and a trapdoor into a tunnel… t-the tunnel leads down to a river, and… and there's a lever… you pull that lever, you shut down the river's gate, and no ship can… no ship can come in or out"

"The Throne Room, then?" Sokka repeated "And… which way is that, exactly?"

"Down this hall… that way" said Azula, pointing at the direction towards where the two unconscious men lay "Keep going… y-you'll come to the Gallery… then when you reach Fire… F-Fire Lord Ozai's portrait, you turn to your right… there's a curtain, w-with the emblem…"

"Got it" said Sokka, starting down the hall while gripping her tightly "Now, promise you'll behave yourself once this is done. I can't keep running around the world trying to keep an eye on you, you heard me? The Captain asked me to…"

"D-didn't you say you wouldn't… you wouldn't nag me now?" asked Azula, with a weak smile.

Sokka was moved by the sight of her. Even when she was so frail, even when she couldn't even walk on her own, when her warmth was almost enough to make him sweat, she could still smile at him. She could still say witty things, and she seemed confident now, no longer as hopeless as she was before. And it was because she trusted him. Because she believed he would accomplish what she couldn't… and he wouldn't let her trust go to waste. Not today.

"Yeah, I did" he said, nodding "I'll shut up now, then"

It seemed as though Azula wanted to say something else, but the pain in her head kept her from doing so. Sokka only sped up his pace, walking quickly until he reached a hallway lined by intimidating portraits of men in black and red robes. Fire Lords, every single one of them. Sokka grimaced, deciding this was definitely his least favorite area in the Palace. But he kept going regardless, not caring if Azula's forefathers were staring down at him, wielding dangerous fire in their hands. Yeah, an unworthy snow savage was carrying the Princess in his arms, and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it, the paintings they were!

Sokka almost walked by Ozai's portrait, failing to recognize his painting, but he stopped on his tracks when he caught sight of the curtain Azula had mentioned. He looked at Ozai's portrait and crooked an eyebrow.

"Sure as hell doesn't look like your dad, you know?" he said, turning towards the Throne Room immediately.

"The paintings are… done by the best painter in court…" said Azula.

"I assure you I'd do a much better job. When you become Fire Lord I'll make yours" he said, beaming as he walked through the curtain.

"I don't… I don't want you to" Azula retorted, frowning slightly. Sokka chuckled.

"C'mon, I'll do you justice!" he said, before looking around the room "Huh… so this is the Throne Room"

There was something rather daunting about this place as well, and it wasn't just the bright, polished floor or the tall black-and-gold columns: it probably was the imposing Throne at the back of the room. A few torches on the walls lit up the place, letting Sokka analyze his surroundings before striding quickly towards the map Azula had mentioned.

"Well, here it is" said Sokka, stopping when he reached it "What do I do? Push it and that's it?"

"Lift it" said Azula, pointing at the farther end of the map "It's… a carpet. You lift it, t-then there are two loose tiles on the floor, and once you remove those there's a trapdoor…"

"A firebending-powered trapdoor?" Sokka asked, frowning "You're not bending that thing, you heard me? No more bending for you"

"B-but…"

"I'll just use one of those torches. You're staying put for now" said Sokka, setting Azula down next to the map before lifting it by the Eastern Air Temple, just as she had told him to.

He removed the loose tiles following Azula's instructions to find the promised trapdoor, just like the one he had seen in the city. Sokka rolled the map over and walked to the wall, picking up a torch and heading back towards where Azula waited. He thrust the flame inside the trapdoor's opening, hoping it wouldn't sense it wasn't true firebending… and it didn't.

Something within the trapdoor seemed to click when it came in contact with the fire. Sokka removed the torch and pulled the trapdoor upwards, and it opened with a low rumble. Sokka gazed down into the darkness below, and he slid a leg inside the tunnel.

"I can't carry you and the torch at once" he said, looking at Azula again "So you'll have to wait here. The lever you talked about is nearby, right?"

"Once you reach the bottom of the stairs… you should find it right in front of you" said Azula, nodding.

"Stairs? So it's a stairway…" said Sokka, thoughtful "Well, better a stairway than a slide. Alright. Don't you dare move an inch, Princess, or else I won't hold back from nagging you this time, okay?"

"Just go…" said Azula, and Sokka jumped inside the dark tunnel.

The stairs were made of stone, it seemed. Sokka lit the way, using the torch to remove spider-webs as he walked. It was a rather steep stairwell, spiraling down below and giving Sokka an unpleasant sensation of being trapped. Climbing his way down wasn't an enjoyable experience in the slightest…

He didn't know how much he had descended by the time he reached the rocky bottom of the tunnel, but his discomfort had only increased with every new step downwards. And when he arrived to the end of the stairs, he found he wasn't alone in the cave.

"Where are the rest of them?!" shouted someone "We need to leave now! There's no more time to waste if we're going to make it out of here!"

"We need to wait! They'll show up" another man pleaded.

Sokka peeked out from his tunnel, relieved to discover that the walls blocked him from sight effectively. There was a Fire Nation ship docked in a small bay within the cave, floating as the river underneath it rocked it back and forth.

"We have no more time! It's enough" said the first voice "We have the money, we've got the old man and the others…!"

"And the rest of us? They'll become prisoners now! What are we supposed to do about them?!" yelled another man "Are we coming back to save them later?!"

"They understood the risk of this mission!"

Sokka grimaced. A side of him wanted to let them go, he couldn't deny it. Helping the Fire Nation capture criminals wasn't part of his job, it never had been. The White Lotus members would bring their own demise even without his involvement at this rate. Still… he had promised Azula he would do it. And just as he had told the men he had defeated, he owed these people no allegiance whatsoever. They were strangers to him… and even if they weren't, it didn't change the way he felt about their course of action. It was completely wrong to fight a war in such a foul manner, and if Piandao was really involved in this, Sokka would be more than happy to stop him and ask for a few answers before the soldiers took him into custody.

He looked away from the ship to find there was a large grid hovering above the river, not too far from where he was standing. If he found the lever Azula had mentioned, the grid would drop and the White Lotus people would be trapped. They wouldn't know what hit them, and they would be captured without being harmed. It seemed a rather nice plan to Sokka. If they managed to get away, chances were they would be chased down by the Fire Nation navy and they weren't bound to survive if that happened. So… he would almost be doing them a favor. Almost.

But where was the lever? Sokka frowned as he looked around, trying to spot it… and when he did he realized that to activate it he would have to be in plain sight. He considered tossing his boomerang at it for a moment before discarding the idea. It was a heavy lever, or so it seemed, and he wouldn't get the right angle from where he was. Using his boomerang would only serve to alert the White Lotus people of his presence, on top of it all…

So he'd have to wager on luck, that was all there was to it. He would have to run to the lever, pull it and make a run for it. If he was lucky, he might not be seen…

He took a deep breath while the men on the ship still argued, and he moved as stealthily as he could towards the lever, leaving his torch behind. He gripped it with both hands to discover it wouldn't budge. Sokka felt the sweat running down his brow as he gritted his teeth, pulling at it with all his strength… the rusted lever moved a few inches, but it was enough for the sound to startle the men on the ship.

"Just great" Sokka muttered, when someone aboard the ship shouted for silence.

He gripped even harder and pulled back with all his might just as he was spotted in the middle of his endeavor.

"What is…? HEY! DON'T TOUCH THAT, YOU…!" he heard a yell, but it was too late.

The lever finally gave in, and the grid collapsed on the river loudly as the metal scraped the stone wall. The sound was enough to make Sokka flinch, and it drained away the shouts from the men on the ship momentarily.

"It was that sneaky bastard!" shouted another man, pointing at him with a finger.

Well, he had been spotted. So all he had to do was run… but what use would it serve? Now he thought about it, the trapdoors could open from within… they would chase after him, and he would lead them straight to Azula! And he wouldn't do that… he couldn't do that. He couldn't run away. He would have to face them.

He grimaced and took a few steps back, taking Space Sword out of its scabbard in a defensive manner. It was one thing to face off against a pair of thugs… but against an entire ship worth of thugs? The odds definitely weren't in his favor.

"Bring down the rocks above him!" shouted a man on the ship "Kill him and then we'll open the damn thing again!"

Oh, so here he was trying to save them from being blown up by the Fire Nation Navy and they decided to kill him for his troubles. Really, what was it with these people?

Sokka gritted his teeth when he saw a broad man on the deck of the ship, looking at him menacingly. He lifted his arms, and surely, the rocks above Sokka began to move…

"Curse it…" he said. Facing off against an earthbender while being underground… brilliant. Just when he thought his luck couldn't get any worse.

"SOKKA!"

His eyes widened when he heard the scream coming from the stairs he had taken to reach the river. Azula stood on them, apparently still struggling to move… but that wasn't the real problem. Yet again, her limbs were charged with electric power.

"What the…?!" Sokka said, aghast as he stared at her "What are you doing?!"

"CATCH!" Azula yelled, with what was left of her strength, before stretching out her fingers towards him.

Sokka had less than a second to react when the lightning came his way. He lifted his sword, just as he had done back when she had attacked him at home… but instead of dropping it when the energy hit him, he stretched the sword towards the ship almost by instinct.

And to his utter disbelief, their improvised attack paid off. The lightning changed course when it hit his sword, and Sokka had directed it straight towards the White Lotus ship. The electric discharge hit the hull of the metallic ship, electrifying it and the people atop it. The rocks threatening to crush Sokka stopped moving, but he scrambled out of the way anyways.

The people on the ship were shouting and screaming. Most of them had been electrocuted and stunned by the attack, and Sokka actually felt rather guilty about it… he hoped none had died after what he had done. Still, his concerns changed their objective when he realized Azula was struggling to keep her footing on the stairs. Sokka ran towards her, catching her with one arm before she collapsed, unconscious again.

He sheathed Space Sword and held her with both arms, panicking as he looked at her.

"Azula… Azula, please…" he muttered. She was even warmer than before…

He gritted his teeth and scooped her up, putting her legs around his waist and throwing her arms over his shoulders. Carrying her across his arms as before while walking through such narrow space was not a good plan, he would end up hitting her head against a wall and that simply wasn't an option.

And thus he hugged her, carrying her in such an uncomfortable way, yet carrying her nonetheless through the dark stairwell. He was determined not to trip or lose his balance, but the steep climb through the spiral stairwell was rather dangerous, and it threatened to knock him back down if he wasn't careful. As he moved upwards, he felt her breathing weakly against his neck, which was a good sign. But would she get any better from here on, or would her condition only continue to worsen? He gritted his teeth, trying not to lose himself to despair. She would be fine… he would make sure of it. No harm would come to Azula, not anymore. Not while he had something to say about it.

Momentary relief washed over him when they reached the trapdoor. He slipped out of it, laying Azula's limp body atop the map after doing so, in order to close down the trapdoor and restore the tiles into their rightful place.

"Now… you can wake up now, okay?" he said, swallowing hard when he moved towards her again "Everything worked out, Azula… we did it. We beat them. S-so… Azula, please…"

But there was still no answer. He grimaced and picked her up again, one arm surrounding her shoulders, the other under her knees, and he raced out of the Throne Room immediately. The White Lotus men down below were forgotten completely as he tried to figure out what to do. The only thing he knew for certain right now was that he wouldn't forsake Azula when she needed him the most.


	55. Chapter 55

Her forehead rested against his neck, her excessive warmth increasing his concern with every passing moment. Sokka had been more than willing to take Azula back to his house at first, but that didn't seem such a good idea anymore. Traveling and being exposed to the nightly air would only worsen the Princess's health. She needed treatment immediately… and she needed it here, in the Palace.

But who was supposed to nurse her back to health? Sokka had no idea what to do other than to give her water and he knew that wouldn't be enough to heal her, especially when she was in such delicate condition. If her fever worsened… he didn't even want to think about the possibilities. It wouldn't worsen, he wouldn't allow it to happen. He would find someone to help him cure her...

Still, how was he supposed to find a healer for her in these circumstances? The entire city had been evacuated, according to what he knew, including the Palace's workers. The physicians would be underground at the moment, and that meant they wouldn't be able to come look after Azula immediately. Song waited at the other end of the crater, and he had already decided taking Azula out of the Palace wouldn't be any help. So what was he supposed to do? He gritted his teeth and kept racing through the halls, deciding to find Azula's room so that she could rest there… if he managed to find it. He had never been in her room, so he had absolutely no idea where it might be…

A young man dressed in soldier's robes walked into the same corridor in which Sokka was about to lose himself to despair. The soldier wasn't wearing his helmet, his face was in plain sight … but that didn't keep Sokka from being cautious. The pair of thugs assaulting Azula earlier had been wearing Fire Nation uniforms as well. How did he know this guy wasn't just another foe?

The man was hunched over as he walked, his eyes on the floor, until he realized he wasn't alone in the hall. He froze when he looked up to find Sokka carrying a weakened woman in his arms. His eyes opened wide as he tried to make sense out of the scene before him…

"G-gladiator?" he asked, raising an eyebrow "You're the Princess's gladiator, aren't…? Wait, is that the Princess?!"

"You're… you're a soldier? A real soldier? A Fire Nation soldier?" asked Sokka, glaring at the man with glacial blue eyes. His stare was daunting enough for the soldier to take a step back, regarding Sokka warily.

"Y-yeah, I'm… I usually guard the gates, I've let you enter the Palace a few times now…" he replied, hoping to appease Sokka with his explanation "The Princess had ordered us to take off our helmets so that we could tell apart our allies from our enemies…"

"Huh, really?" said Sokka, still wary. Well, if the guy hadn't been a Fire Nation soldier, he probably wouldn't have recognized Azula in such a frail state. She barely looked like a Princess right now, disheveled, unconscious and cradled in his arms as she was. And if he knew Sokka to be her gladiator instantly, then he was probably telling the truth about his identity… probably "Well, if that's the case, where is Azula' room?"

"The Princess's room?" repeated the soldier "It's two halls down, then you turn to your right. It's a big door at the end of the corridor, a gold-and-crimson door… you can't miss it"

"Huh" said Sokka, still distrustful "Let's hope you're right about that…"

"Enough questioning me, though! Why is the Princess here in the middle of a lockdown?" asked the soldier, worried "And why are you? You both should be underground right now!"

"We were underground just a while ago, actually, stopping those prisoners and rebels from escaping" Sokka retorted harshly "That weird river under the Palace? The White Lotus people were trying to get away through it. The gate is shut now, though, so they can't leave anymore"

"W-what, through the…? Oh, no, they were trying to escape through…?!" the soldier mumbled, aghast.

"They're probably still in there, they were in no shape to escape when I last saw them" grunted Sokka, walking through the hall and passing the man by "You owe Azula a big one for doing your job in your stead even when she was in this condition…"

"Was she injured?! Is she alright?!" asked the soldier, chasing after Sokka.

"She's sick, not injured, and she won't be alright unless she gets medical attention right away" said Sokka "So get someone, a healer if you can. She needs assistance"

"B-but… the White Lotus men, they… what am I to do about them?!" asked the soldier, panicking.

"You want me to tell you?!" asked Sokka, shocked "You're the soldier here! You should know what to do!"

"But I'm just a private!" the man continued.

"And I'm just a gladiator! You don't expect a slave to know better than a soldier, do you?!" Sokka exclaimed, frowning, but the man's eyes were begging for Sokka to help him. Sokka sighed and shook his head, in utter disbelief "Ugh, go find your superiors and tell them to seize the people down below, I don't know! Just make sure to find a healer for Azula, will you?"

"Uh… uh… yes, sir!" said the soldier, gulping before sprinting off.

"Sir?" repeated Sokka, staring at the soldier, baffled by the private's way of addressing him. Had he been so commanding? Or had the stressful situation had blocked the soldier's common sense for the time being? Whichever it was, Sokka just hoped he would be quick in finding a healer for the Princess.

Sokka followed the soldier's directions, coming into a long hallway that ended in a metallic gate of the exact qualities the private had described. The door was red-and-gold, with a scarlet arch lining it. Sokka had some difficulty grasping the doorknob while carrying Azula, but he managed to push the door open to find himself in the most regal room he had ever seen. The marble floors were perfectly polished, some sections of it were covered by a burgundy carpet. There was an opening towards another room to Sokka's left: judging by the furniture in it, it was a small dining room. It was probably the place where Azula ate her meals. On the chamber's right wing there was a slim window, with a dresser to its left and a large closet to its right.

And right in front of his eyes was the largest bed he had laid his eyes upon. Sokka swallowed hard, feeling completely out of place, and made his way through the room, climbing the steps that led to the bed. He placed Azula as gently as he could atop the crimson sheets, her head resting on the long pillow. Sokka sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her with concern.

"Azula…" he muttered, caressing her forehead gently to remove some strands of disorderly hair from her face "Please, wake up… please. It's over now. You're safe, you won, everything's good… so please, open your eyes"

She gave no signs of having heard him. Sokka's helplessness only increased with every passing moment. His hands grasped her shoulders and he lowered himself, placing his forehead against hers.

"This isn't what I had in mind when I told you to stay put…" he muttered "If I could just… if I could just change our roles right now, I swear I would. I'd take that damned fever, that cold, for myself so you could be healthy again, as you should be… I'd do anything…"

"A-any… anything?"

Sokka jumped when he realized she had replied. Her breathing had become slightly more agitated now she was conscious again, but her eyes remained closed. How much had she heard? It really didn't matter.

"Azula… Oh, blast it, did you have to worry me so much?" Sokka asked, feeling he could pass out with relief upon hearing her voice again.

Azula actually mustered a weak smile before opening her eyes to find Sokka perched atop her. If the situation had been any different, she might have pushed him off her immediately, but the idea didn't even cross her mind right now.

"I'm sorry…" she muttered, at which Sokka shook his head.

"No… no, don't apologize, Azula" he said, placing his forehead against hers anew "You did nothing wrong, you… don't say you're sorry. You don't have to apologize for any-…"

"I made you… I made you fight those guys…" she muttered "You told me… you told me not to move an inch, but I…"

"Never mind" said Sokka, smiling weakly "You saved my neck, Azula. They would have killed me and raised that gate again if you hadn't done what you did. You…"

"B-but you… you did it all, Sokka, you… are you… are you crying?"

Her gaze was unfocused, even more so in the darkness of her room, but she was certain she had caught sight of something glistening in the corner of Sokka's eyes. He was startled by her question and he shook his head as a response, closing his eyes to keep her from seeing she had been right about her assertion.

"That cold is really bad, you're seeing things now…"

"I'm not… you're really… I'm not delusional" she said, the last sentence almost indignant, to Sokka's relief and slight amusement.

"Maybe not delusional, but you are badly sick. After all that happened, you're too stressed to make any sense out of what's going on right now…" said Sokka, his hands cupping her face.

"That…" said Azula, closing her eyes again "Stay that way. Please…"

Sokka smiled and nodded weakly, trying to cool Azula down even if only slightly. She was breathing deeply through her mouth, her lips slightly parted.

"You… you didn't have to… you didn't have to help me" said Azula, surprising Sokka when she spoke again "You… you could have just… joined them, couldn't you?"

"What, you'll tell me now you wanted me to help your kidnappers?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't want… I didn't want you to, but I thought you might…"

"You thought you had me all figured out, huh, Princess?" asked Sokka, grinning proudly "Think again. Maybe I'm not as predictable as you thought"

"But… why?" Azula asked, opening her eyes again and looking into his "Why did you…? Instead of choosing the… t-the easier way out, you went and… why, Sokka?"

"Because…"

He stopped on his tracks. The words weren't spoken, but they needn't be.

His silence brought him to internalize his feelings at last, to realize why he kept pushing himself so far for Azula's sake, why no matter what he did, he still felt there was more he could do for her. Why he was mesmerized by gazing into those amber eyes, why he would marvel over how beautiful she was even when she was as untidy as she was tonight…

It wasn't as though he had genuinely ignored it. The knowledge of what he felt towards her had been there for some time now, waiting for him to simply accept it. He had cowered away from it long ago, and running from it had only led him to make mistakes he could never truly repair. He wasn't going to do the same thing this time around. He refused to lie to himself again. The answer to her question was a simple one, even though embracing it promised to make his life far more complicated than it already was:

Because he was in love with her.

And he could accept it this time. In fact, admitting it, if only to himself, felt almost as though removing a vast weight from his shoulders. After finally giving a name to what he felt for her, he was filled with a sense of freedom he hadn't experienced before this moment. He couldn't help but smile, his thumb caressing her cheek gently, as the words passed through his mind time over and time again. He loved Azula… he loved her.

"Why, when… when they said what they said…?" Azula continued, unable to infer the meaning of Sokka's silence "Everything… the things they said, they were true… I've hurt you, I've… I've treated you like scum, I…"

"You have hurt me, but I've hurt you as well" said Sokka "So in those regards…"

"B-but you've never actually… you've never hit me, or…"

"You conveniently forget I've tried" said Sokka, smiling weakly "Back when we first met I tried to strike you and paid quite the price for it…"

"And then you… you were in pain for… f-for months, years, and I… I never even said… I never even said I was sorry…"

"You…" Sokka stared at her in surprise before his gaze softened again "Never mind, Azula. Stop thinking about…"

"And I've… I've acted superior, like they said. I've… I left you without food, and…"

"You've acted superior from time to time, Azula" said Sokka "But how many more times have you surprised me by treating me as your equal? And if you're going to tell me you left me without food in that forest, which isn't true because I was the one who chose not to eat… then how about you look a little further back and think about our stay in Gaoling? Who brought me food when that dumb governor planned to make me starve?"

"B-but I've… I've done things to you that I shouldn't have, Sokka…"

"And not all the things you've done were bad" said Sokka, smiling "You see, that's the same problem those guys had. They were only thinking about the lousy stuff. But what about all the amazing things, Azula? What about the times we've laughed together, what about every experience we've shared? How about all those times you've helped me out when I wasn't feeling so good about myself? Back when Piandao left, when I had to fight that kid and I was struggling to figure things out… you helped me, Azula. You saved me from myself, you helped me become the man I am today…"

"Wasn't that… something you said Piandao had achieved, instead of me?" Azula asked "I think you… I think you said so once…"

"Maybe back then I thought so. Now I see things rather differently" said Sokka, smiling and stroking her cheek again "You really are silly, asking me why I'd choose to help you instead of them. Didn't I tell you some time ago that I'd never choose anyone else over you?"

Azula had forgotten completely about that instance. She blinked a few times, lowering her eyes now as she wondered if she really should have questioned him so much. He really had said so, she remembered now…

"You said it… you did" she muttered.

"Then I guess you understand now" said Sokka, closing his eyes "We're… we're really different, you and me. And maybe we want different things in life… maybe we see the world in different ways. But at some point along the way, we became partners. And we will remain as such, for as long as you'll let me stay by your side"

"No matter how different we are, we'll be partners… always?" asked Azula, smiling weakly.

"Always" Sokka repeated.

Azula's hands reached up for his, clasping them weakly. Her palms were also warm, but the heat wasn't uncomfortable for Sokka. They remained on the same position for a moment, until Sokka opened his eyes again to find she seemed about to fall asleep again.

"Azula…" he whispered, stroking her cheek again.

"What?" she replied, her eyes closed now.

"I told a soldier to get a healer for you, but it seems he's not planning on getting here any time soon…" he muttered "I'm thinking maybe I should go fetch Song after all. Thought it'd mean you'd have to be alone for a moment…"

"You're afraid of leaving me to my own devices…" said Azula, a light smirk on her lips.

"Do you blame me?" asked Sokka, smiling again "After running off on Song as you did without any warning whatsoever, in the condition you're in…"

"I don't think I'll have to run anymore" she muttered "It's done… right? You got them, didn't you…?"

"Yeah, we got them" said Sokka "No need to fret about that. Just stay here, rest… and I'll go get Song as fast as possible"

"Huh… alright then…" said Azula, nodding.

"Just a little detail" said Sokka, gulping "The fastest way possible is actually… on the back of your dragon"

"Huh" said Azula, no longer as relaxed as she had been before.

"So… would you mind if he gave me a ride home and back here?" asked Sokka "He was the one who brought me here after all…"

"He let you ride him? Alone…?" asked Azula "What a traitor…"

"He did it for you, Azula" said Sokka, smiling "Don't be so harsh on him"

"I should be harsh on him, and on you… but I can't afford it right now" said Azula, sighing "Go, then… but only this once. Not going to happen again… make sure to tell her that"

"I will" said Sokka "And I'll be back immediately… I promise"

"You'd better" muttered Azula, her grip on his hands tightening a little before she released him.

Sokka leaned forward, pressing his lips to her forehead again. A groan escaped Azula's throat, and one of her hands reached out once more, her fingertips touching his chest. Sokka didn't know if she was going to pull him closer or if she was trying to push him off her… but he really couldn't stay to find out. For her sake, he needed to be gone immediately.

He stepped away from the bed, glancing at her as he walked towards the doorway. Azula lowered her hand and dropped her head back on the pillow, her breathing heavy again for a moment. Sokka kept his eyes on her until he was already at the door. He turned around unwillingly, and he was about to shut the door behind him when someone called out to him.

"S-Sokka…?"

The Captain had been passing by the hallway when he had spotted the gladiator closing the door. He had stopped on his tracks and looked at him, astounded to find him in the Palace.

"What are you doing there, why…? Sokka?!" he repeated, and the slave gestured at him to be quiet.

"Good you're here, Captain" said Sokka, approaching "Go in there and keep Azula company while I…"

"What is she doing there?!" asked the Captain, shocked "I told you to take care of her, not to bring her home while we were still handling a crisis! You promised you'd keep her safe!"

"Well, I'm sorry to inform you that Azula is too much for either of us to handle" said Sokka, unwilling to raise his voice in case it might disturb Azula "Sick as she was, she realized there was something happening and she flew to the Palace before I got home. I came here to find her and bring her back, but her condition has worsened… she's in bed right now. I'm going to fetch Song right away, so that she can tend to Azula while you people deal with your issues…"

"The matter is almost settled…" admitted the Captain "Apparently the White Lotus men were trying to…"

"Escape through the weird river underground, yeah" said Sokka, nodding and walking by the Captain "I'm going to get Song! You keep an eye on Azula for now"

"Wait, how did you know that?!" asked the Captain, surprised "Come back here!"

"I have no time for explanations! I'll tell you all about it later, alright?! Watch her and don't let her run off on you!"

"B-but…!"

"Do it!"

And with that, Sokka took off, leaving behind a very confused Royal Guard. Had the slave just given him an order…? He was really irritated by the thought, but he decided to repress his urge to follow Sokka and shoot a fire blast at him. If anything, he understood and agreed with Sokka's sense of urgency. The Captain turned around again, heading into the Princess's room apprehensively.

He pushed the door open and found Azula lying on bed, wearing strange clothes. Her feet were filthy, which was most unlike her, and her face was flushed. She moved her head sideways upon hearing him enter the room, and he heard her mumble:

"Sokka…?"

The fact that she would call out for the gladiator before calling out for anyone else made the Captain's stomach sink. She could have asked for her father, or for her friends, her brother, even for the Captain himself! But she would call the gladiator? Was it because he had just been here and she guessed he might have turned on his tracks… or was it because she simply wished it were him again?

"No, Princess" he said, approaching the bed quickly to get a better look at her. Her hair was unkempt, and she was shivering lightly "It's me, Princess. Your Captain"

Azula opened her eyes, and it took her a moment to recognize his features. She nodded in acknowledgment, and the Captain was certain he hadn't imagined the disappointment that crossed her face upon discovering it was him instead of the Water Tribe man.

"R-Rui Shi…" she muttered, taking him by surprise. She hardly ever had called him by his given name before "Did you get them all…? T-the White Lotus, they… in the river, you must…"

"A squad has already gone to secure them" said the Captain, nodding "Private Wei Li informed Captain Kuo about the White Lotus men trapped below. All our available men have headed down to find them"

"Good… good" said Azula, taking a deep breath.

"Princess… how?" asked the Captain, looking at her with confusion "How did you know they were there?"

"Who do you think took those men out…?" she muttered, her defiant tone returning to her voice briefly, and the Captain's eyes widened in shock upon her statement.

"P-Princess, you don't mean… in this condition?! You took them out by your-…?!"

"Not me, fool…" said Azula, closing her eyes again "Sokka did. He… he did it"

The Captain definitely wasn't prepared to endure so many surprises in one day. His mouth fell open as he stared at the ailed Princess.

"He what?" he repeated, still in shock. Perhaps Sokka had kept his promise to him after all…

* * *

Ozai raised an eyebrow when the soldier barged into his safe chamber, his face in plain sight. Where was his helmet? Ozai was about to lash out at him, to tell him he should respect the uniform code no matter the circumstances, but the man bowed down and spoke before the Fire Lord could do so.

"The enemy has been captured successfully, my Lord!"

Ozai forgot about the scolding momentarily when relief washed over him upon that report. Just the words he had needed to hear…

"Finally. It took you long enough" he grunted "Why such a getup, officer? Why aren't you wearing your helmet?"

"My Lord, they had… they had infiltrated our ranks, dressed in our uniforms" the soldier replied, nervously "We took off our helmets in order to recognize our allies and to force our enemies to reveal themselves"

"They infiltrated…? Are you certain you have captured ALL of them?" Ozai asked, his eyebrows contracting dangerously as his irritation increased. If there were infiltrators, this matter would be even more troublesome than he believed…

"They have been seized, my Lord. They sought to escape with the prisoners through the river under the Palace, but…"

"But?" asked the Fire Lord, when the soldier fell silent "What is it?"

"I don't know how it happened, my Lord, but when we got downstairs, all the White Lotus men were stunned and unconscious on their ship. We ignore what happened to them, or how it happened…"

"Unconscious? All of them?" the Fire Lord asked, surprised.

"Yes, they were knocked out cold" said the soldier "The escaped prisoners were on board. There's barely any sense in all of them falling unconscious at once, but that's what happened, it seems. Still, there's… there's something else you should be aware of, my Lord…"

"What? Did any of them get away after all?" Ozai asked, angrily.

"Not at all, my Lord. But… this might be wrong, but… a-according to what I heard, the Princess is…"

Ozai's eyes widened. The blood seemed to drain from his face when the soldier stopped talking.

"What of Azula?" he said, his voice becoming graver as he stared at the soldier with dread.

"She's above ground, sir" said the soldier, gulping "And… from what I was told, she requires medical assistance…"

"Is she injured? Is she…? Why was she above ground?!" Ozai shouted, standing up from his throne, his face contorted in an angry grimace.

Azula knew the emergency drills by heart, she couldn't have forgotten how to proceed! Had she decided to take the glory for herself and thus sought to defeat the White Lotus single-handedly? Such foolish behavior seemed unlikely to come from Azula… If she had thought she could take care of the threat, it was because she had been confident she would be victorious, as she had been in most instances where her strength had been put to the test. But if even Azula had gotten hurt while facing the rebels, then the Order of the White Lotus was a worse threat than he had imagined they would be…

"Sir, I'm not completely certain… but apparently she was the one who ordered us to remove our helmets…"

"A clever idea worthy of my daughter's mind indeed" Ozai mumbled, walking into the stone tunnels, followed closely by the soldier "But how was she careless enough to get hurt?"

"I'm not sure if she's actually hurt, apparently she's… sick?"

"Was she poisoned by them?" asked Ozai, frowning "The White Lotus is more dishonorable than I thought if that's the case…"

"I don't know, my Lord, I… I heard that from the man who saw her, he told us she needed medical assistance right away…"

"If that's the case, then go find a physician immediately!" Ozai shouted, startling the soldier.

"Y-yes, my Lord!" he whimpered, turning on his heels and racing down the tunnel's opposite direction in order to find the cave in which most the citizens hid. The Palace's physicians would be there, he hoped…

Ozai walked through the tunnels with determination, his forehead wrinkled due to the heavy frown on his face. His guards were startled to watch him walk so firmly, but they tagged along behind him, without questioning his actions. There was great peril in opposing the Fire Lord when he was in such foul mood.

He took a different tunnel than the one he had used while coming down to his safe chamber. His guards opened the door for him when they reached it, and the Fire Lord found himself in the Palace's premises when he came back to the surface. He strode towards the building with steady footing, wondering where he might find his daughter. If she needed medical attention then probably in her room… he would start there, then. But if she decided to continue being as reckless as she had been today, then chances were she might be someplace else.

"Find my daughter" he told the guards, as they walked down the Palace halls "She should be someplace in the Palace. Find her, and bring her to me if you do"

The guards nodded and split through the Palace. Ozai continued alone towards Azula's room, a place he hadn't visited in longer than he dared admit. He strode the way down to the open crimson door at the end of the room, barging into it quite carelessly…

… And he froze when he spotted the scene in front of him. The Captain of Azula's Royal Guards stood beside her in bed, staring down at her. The Princess lay on the mattress, looking more helpless than Ozai had ever seen her before.

His frown disappeared when he caught sight of her. His daughter had never showed any weaknesses… his daughter had always been a perfect combination of power, cunning and leadership. She was his perfect heir… or at least, he had thought of her as such. Now, as he watched her limp form in utter disbelief, he realized for the first time that not even Azula was infallible.

The Captain heard someone stride into the room, and he lifted his gaze to find the Fire Lord standing on the chamber's threshold.

"M-my Lord, why are you…? Why did you come here? Shouldn't you have remained in the safe chamber until the danger was cleared away completely?" he asked, surprised.

"Azula…" said Ozai, ignoring Rui Shi's words.

Azula had been calm until she heard his voice. As soon as she realized her father was in her room, she began fidgeting and squirming, her teeth gritted as she tried and failed to look presentable before him. How was she supposed to explain everything to him?

"What happened to you, Azula?" asked Ozai, approaching, still frowning, but no longer angrily. For once, the Fire Lord's eyes glinted with something the Captain had never seen in them before: concern.

"F-Father, I… I'm sorry, Father, I didn't mean to… I…" Azula cringed upon every word, struggling to sit up to prove herself to him. The Captain watched her warily, afraid her condition might worsen if she continued being so restless.

"What happened?" Ozai asked, his tone softening.

"I… I didn't hear the alarm, Father…" she muttered "I was someplace else, and the sound didn't reach me… X-Xin Long told me there was a ruckus in the Palace, and I thought I should find out what it was…"

"You knew you had to go underground, Azula" said Ozai, frowning "That is the way we have always dealt with emergencies. The army handles threats, we stay in safety until the issue has been sorted out"

"I know… I know" said Azula, breathing heavily "And I'm sorry, Father. I… I was reckless, I know so, but I… I couldn't let them get away with attacking the Fire Nation. I… I'm sorry…"

"You should be" said Ozai "Look where this has landed you, Azula… you shouldn't have been so thoughtless"

"My Lord, with all due respect, the Princess hasn't been feeling well since before the security breach" said Rui Shi "She's been suffering from a bad fever. She had been in her gladiator's home, training with him, when the situation arose. She was in no fit state to come here, and yet…"

"Either she was extremely courageous or extremely reckless in her behavior" said Ozai, looking at Azula again "Which might define best your actions of tonight, my daughter?"

He shook his head and sighed. Never before had he been obliged to worry about Azula, let alone in this manner. Her exemplary behavior was one of her many defining traits, just as her fierce loyalty to her nation. Could he truly blame her for what she had done? She had put her life in the line to save the Fire Nation… instead of crawling into a cave and cowering until the danger was gone. Reckless or not, her course of action had been undeniably heroic.

"At the very least, you are safe now, Azula" said Ozai, sighing before turning to the Captain "Was she responsible for what happened to the White Lotus men who were attempting to escape? I was told they had been stunned…"

"Apparently not" said the Captain, frowning "She claims…"

"Sokka did it, Father… m-my gladiator" Azula gasped, startling both of them "I didn't… I tried, but I couldn't do it. They were going to make me their hostage…"

"What…? What?!" said Ozai, shocked.

"But then he got here. He… he took them out, Father" Azula muttered "T-they told him to help them, but he… he didn't. Then he even beat the men in the ship, he… he did it, Father, not me"

Ozai could barely give any credit to her words. There was no chance she was trying to say her slave, a Water Tribe man she had snatched from his home and turned into her gladiator, had saved her life.

No… not just her life. If he understood her words correctly… then this slave had saved the Fire Nation.

The idea was so shocking he didn't know if to feel indignant or relieved. For his nation to have been salvaged by a mere slave, a man who didn't belong here… to think his men hadn't achieved their goal, that even his daughter had been helpless until the gladiator had intervened… It had to be a bad joke. He couldn't believe it… and yet he doubted his daughter, sickly and frail as she was at the moment, would lie to him. What could she possibly gain by doing so?

"The slave, Captain? Is this true?" he asked, frowning "Was he the one who caught them? The one who…? What of our men? What of the army? What of her guards? Why was the slave protecting her instead of you?"

"I ignored the Princess was here, my Lord" said the Captain, lowering his gaze and swallowing hard "We attempted to find her when the alarm rang, but we couldn't. Her gladiator showed up and said she was in his home, sick with a bad cold. Given her condition, I told him to keep her there for her sake, but apparently she gave him the slip and flew with her dragon to the Palace…"

"And you were fine by letting a gladiator protect my daughter's life?" muttered Ozai, studying the soldier "I suppose you had already done so before, but in these circumstances, Captain, do you really think you can justify your actions?"

"I… I'm sorry, my Lord" said Rui Shi, lowering his head "I cannot justify them at all. I have failed you, and the Princess…"

"And so has every single member of the army, apparently" said Ozai, shaking his head "A gladiator protects the Princess, saves the Fire Nation and takes down those who threatened us… and to think of what might have happened if the Princess hadn't been as reckless as she was. Would we have captured our enemies if she hadn't behaved as she did?"

The Captain was startled by Ozai's question. The Fire Lord's gaze was fixated upon his daughter's figure. Azula was still breathing heavily, her headache so powerful she couldn't find it in her to respond to what they were saying anymore.

"I… I don't know, my Lord" said the Captain, dropping his eyes in shame.

"Is Azula speaking the truth, or is her disease clouding her better judgment?" asked Ozai.

"I… I fear it's the only explanation we have for what happened tonight. The rest of the army was fighting against the White Lotus agents that were still above ground. Nobody was aware of those underground… I take it the Princess figured out what they planned to accomplish, and somehow the gladiator took them out…"

"A gladiator…" Ozai repeated, shaking his head again "Out of anyone who could have done this, a gladiator…?"

The Captain didn't respond, but not only because he lacked an answer. Voices were coming into the room from the corridor. The two men looked out towards the hallway, frowns on their faces as new arrivals headed towards the room.

"No, no! This way, Song!" said Sokka, pulling Song down the right hall.

"T-this Palace is so big, how did you know where her room was? I thought you'd get lost…"

"Honestly, so did I. Let's just be glad we found it" replied Sokka, gulping and barging into the room carelessly… to find there were more people in Azula's chambers than he had expected.

Song froze in place, her eyes wide as plates, when she spotted the man in red robes, wearing an opulent hairpiece atop his half-knot. Her mouth fell open as she stared in disbelief… and Sokka stood still right next to her, slightly concerned over how to handle himself now that Azula's father was here as well. No, not just her father… the Fire Lord. The man he had always wanted to vanquish…

He shook his head and urged Song to move towards the bed, dragging her by the shoulder so that she wouldn't waste valuable time doing nothing but gazing at Ozai. It seemed as though she had forgotten completely that Azula's status as a Princess implied she was the Fire Lord's daughter…

"What is this?" asked Ozai, as Sokka and Song approached. Song looked as though she was determined to turn around and run, but Sokka didn't let her.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty" said Sokka, not even knowing if he ought to address Ozai in that manner. Ozai's eyebrow twitched upon the disrespectful way Sokka had pronounced the title "But your daughter isn't well, as I'm sure you can tell by yourself. Your healers probably could do a great job in patching her up, but as you can see, they're nowhere around. Hence I brought my own healer, she should be able to get something done…"

"A slave? Like you?" asked Ozai, and Song nodded, lowering her eyes.

"Yeah, a slave like me" said Sokka "And she had been taking care of Azula just fine before your daughter decided to save the world while dealing with a fever. Sorry if you don't trust a slave's skill, but I'm afraid she's Azula's best bet right now"

"You… you've just brought a slave to take care of Azula, you…" said Ozai, staring at Sokka in confusion. Sokka had expected him to be angry, disgusted to watch a slave tend to his daughter… but either he wasn't displeased, or his irritation was almost insignificant next to his astonishment.

"That I did, Fire Lord" said Sokka, looking at him with slight defiance "Will you let her do her job?"

Rui Shi looked back and forth between Sokka and Ozai. His gaze fell upon Song later, and he nodded in her direction, encouraging her to heal Azula. He stepped back to leave room for the girl, and Song climbed the steps towards the bed warily, with the eyes of the three men focused on her.

"P-Princess?" she whispered, and Azula acknowledged her with an almost imperceptible nod.

"You're here… good" she said "Sokka…"

"Yeah, not just her" said the gladiator, smiling "Song handled the flight pretty well, I'll say…"

"It was a little terrifying" said the nervous healer, placing a hand on Azula's forehead to measure her fever. She grimaced at the warmth, but said nothing as she sought out a towel to wipe away the Princess's sweat.

"You'll be alright now, Azula" said Sokka, smiling and approaching the bedside "You'll see, everything will…"

"Gladiator" said Ozai powerfully, interrupting Sokka in the middle of his reassuring statements "A word"

Sokka stared at him in mild fright, despite himself. Even Azula seemed daunted by whatever her father might do to Sokka now. Even if he was quite disrespectful and thoughtless as he spoke, he was only trying to help them…

"Uh… sure" said Sokka, gulping. It was a good sign, at the very least, that he would choose to talk to Sokka instead of simply kicking him and Song out of the Princess's room.

"F-Father, please…" said Azula, attempting to sit up in bed as she tried to reach Ozai, but the Captain stopped her.

"Hey, what happened with staying in bed now that everything's done with?" Sokka reminded her, and she looked at him worriedly "Come on, you have nothing to worry about. I won't do anything to your father, you don't have to worry so much about him"

"I… I doubt that…" said Azula, though her eyes told him her actual concern was Sokka's wellbeing, and not her father's. There was little chance Sokka could hurt Ozai, but the Fire Lord likely could kill the gladiator without breaking a sweat…

Sokka winked at her and turned towards Ozai, who motioned for him to walk into the corridor. The conversation they were about to have was something he didn't want Azula to overhear.

The Fire Lord closed the bedroom door behind him, and Sokka swallowed hard as he waited for the man to begin talking. Ozai turned towards him, a heavy frown on his face.

"My daughter has told me of what happened tonight, gladiator" he said, his piercing stare fixated upon the gladiator's blue eyes "Or, at least, she attempted to do so. She wasn't too precise in her explanations, but she assured me that it was you who had defeated the Fire Nation's enemies tonight. Is it true?"

Sokka looked at him with challenging eyes before nodding slowly.

"It's not like I beat them all on my own, though" he muttered "If it weren't for Azula, I wouldn't have…"

"You took out the men on the ship?" asked Ozai "How?"

"She helped me there" said Sokka, lowering his gaze "I shut down the gate so that they couldn't escape, but then they were going to attack me… so Azula sent a bolt of lightning my way, and I directed it towards the ship with my sword"

Ozai's eyes widened. So that was what happened… it was a logical, plausible explanation also, despite how unbelievable it had seemed at first.

"Is it true my daughter was going to be held hostage by the Order of the White Lotus?" asked Ozai, and Sokka was surprised to hear his voice tremble slightly as he posed this new question.

"Y-yes, they… they tried to capture" said Sokka "She fought back, but in her condition she couldn't defeat them. In other situations she would have reduced them in a moment, but…"

"What is this cold of hers? The Captain said she had been suffering from it since before the attack happened, he said she was in your home…"

"She was" said Sokka, nodding "The Princess trains me directly so that I become a better fighter… she wasn't fighting too well herself today, though. She blacked out after attempting to strike me with lightning, and that's when I realized she had a fever. I don't know what brought this cold on, but I wanted to keep her safe in my house until she was better…"

"And then the break-out occurred" muttered Ozai, frowning "You haven't been in the Capital for long enough to undergo any drills, have you?"

"No, I didn't know what we were supposed to do" said Sokka "Azula found out about the situation somehow, though, and she decided to take matters into her own hands… which I wouldn't have minded at all, if she hadn't been sick. Your daughter is capable of anything, I have seen that enough times by now…"

"You were there when she was lost in the forest also, or so she told me" said Ozai, narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah, I was" said Sokka, smiling nervously "I've watched her tame a dragon, so I know what I'm talking about when I say she's capable of anything… but she was in no fit state to fight anyone today"

"So you saved her from them. You defeated those who meant to take her hostage, and those who planned on escaping from the Capital City… how did you know they were in the river?"

"Azula told me that was where they were headed" replied Sokka "She planned on going there herself to subdue them, but she was in such pain she couldn't even stand up on her own by the time I found her. It's why I did it in her stead"

"Then this is the truth" said the Fire Lord "This is what happened tonight, gladiator… is it?"

"It's what I know" said Sokka, shrugging "I have no idea what those White Lotus men were doing, or who they were…"

"But why did you defend my daughter?" asked Ozai, folding his arms over his chest as he studied Sokka intently "What was the purpose of your actions, gladiator?"

"I… I get it, you must think it's weird for a slave to help the Fire Nation out, yeah…" said Sokka, gulping "Well… I've never been one to lie to save my ass, and I won't do that now, not even when dealing with you of all people: I don't agree with most of what the Fire Nation does"

Ozai raised an eyebrow at Sokka's statement. He would have replied instantly, but he could tell the gladiator still had more to say.

"Still… that's not the way to fight against you guys" said Sokka "There's been a war ongoing for a hundred years, truly, but that wasn't an act of war. Kidnapping your daughter was a vile way to go about things, and it wasn't even well thought-out. They were sure you'd play into their hands if they had her in their grasp…"

"Is that so?" asked Ozai, a hint of cruelty in his voice "They shall pay dearly for those schemes…"

"Well, in any case… I did it because it was the right thing, I think" said Sokka, sighing.

"The right thing" repeated Ozai, forgetting about his thirst for revenge momentarily to stare at Sokka pointedly "If that's the case, gladiator… well, regardless if it is or not, it would seem I've found myself in the most unlikely situation…"

"Huh?"

"Do you even understand what you did tonight, gladiator?" asked Ozai, looking at Sokka with inquisitive eyes "You saved my daughter's life… and not just hers. You saved the entire Fire Nation"

Sokka was astonished upon those words. He hadn't quite seen it that way… he had saved the Fire Nation? Really? Oh, his tribesmen would be so proud…

"I… I guess I did" said Sokka, gulping.

"There's truly nothing I can do to thank you for what you have done tonight" said Ozai, shaking his head "The Fire Lord owes his nation's safety to a slave…"

"It's… don't worry about it, I didn't…"

"I am a man of honor, gladiator" said Ozai "And even if you fail to understand the value of what you did tonight, I don't. There is nothing I can do to show the extent of my gratitude… but if there is anything I can do to repay the immense debt I owe you now, both for my daughter's life and the safety of my nation, name it and it shall be granted"

Sokka's eyes widened. He stared at the Fire Lord in utter disbelief, wondering if his Tribe would be proud now… the Fire Lord owed him his nation! And that could be used for their advantage, actually… so long as he didn't push the man's patience too far and he played his cards properly, his actions tonight might actually turn out to be a way to make this world a better place…

"You are welcome to take your time to think about what you want to ask for" said Ozai, turning as though to leave "In the mean time, I shall ensure the men from the Order of the White Lotus have been secured"

"Wait!" said Sokka, holding up a hand to stop him "Just… wait. What are you going to do with those men?"

"Question them, naturally. And afterwards, execute them" said Ozai, bitterly "Clearly, keeping them alive will only be a hindrance, we had those prisoners for the briefest moment and that brought forth this entire situation…"

"I've thought of a request, then" said Sokka, frowning "Since I saved Azula's life… then you have to let those guys live"

Ozai stared at him in utter confusion, his mouth agape.

"Let them live? Is that really…?"

"You have them in your grasp now, don't you?" asked Sokka, frowning "Shouldn't that be enough?"

"They are rebels, terrorists, criminals we simply cannot trust…!"

"I didn't tell you to trust them or to release them" said Sokka "I told you not to kill them. And don't torture them either. There are ways to interrogate people without making them suffer. This nation has spilled enough blood as it is, and if you really are the man of honor you said you were, you'll accept my request as you said you would. You're probably thinking your daughter's life is worth more than that of a thousand men, aren't you? Asking for you to spare these White Lotus guys still would mean you're getting the better end of the bargain, don't you think?"

Ozai stared at Sokka in shock. This wasn't what he had thought a slave would ask for… money, perhaps, lands, or being revoked from his status as a slave were the possibilities he had foreseen. Yet he was asking him to spare these rebels' lives…

"Are you certain this is what you'll ask of me, gladiator?"

"Well…" said Sokka, rubbing his chin with his thumb "You said I'd saved your daughter and your nation. So that should mean two favors, right?"

"Oh, really, now?" asked Ozai, and Sokka was suddenly aware of how similar Azula was to his father. How many times had he heard her say those same words, with that same voice tone…? "What shall the second favor be, then?"

"I… uh… I'll have to think about that one a little more, if you don't mind" said Sokka, gulping.

"I already fear the day you find a way for me to repay the second debt" said Ozai, at which Sokka smiled nervously "Very well, then, gladiator. They won't be killed, as you requested"

"Thank you… sir" said Sokka, unsure of how to address him. Ozai raised an eyebrow.

"'Your Majesty' might be more suitable, or 'My Lord'"

"Uh… yeah, probably" said Sokka, scratching the back of his neck.

"I'll be off, then" said Ozai, his gaze falling on Azula's door again for a moment "There's much to do to restore the peace on the Capital city after this security breach, and there are many White Lotus members to question…"

"Say… Y-your Majesty" said Sokka, before Ozai walked away.

"Now what?" asked the Fire Lord, albeit he only seemed uncomfortable by Sokka's constant delaying him.

"About this security breach…" said Sokka "I've been thinking about it, and there's one thing I can't put out of my head. The White Lotus guys were pretending to be members of the army, weren't they?"

"Yes, what of it?"

"Well… adding that to the fact that they knew how to access the secret river under your Palace, there's a conclusion you can reach easily without even having to interrogate these guys"

Ozai frowned and looked at Sokka with slight concern.

"You don't mean…"

"The White Lotus men you've captured weren't operating on their own" said Sokka, frowning "Someone supplied the uniforms. Someone told them how to sneak into the Palace, someone told them where they'd find the secret river"

"An infiltrator? An infiltrator within my closest allies…" said Ozai, gritting his teeth as the realization sank in "There's a White Lotus spy amongst my men, you believe"

"It's the only thing I can make out from all this" said Sokka, dropping his gaze "This plan was thought out way too carefully… by someone who knew exactly what he was doing"

"Truly" said Ozai, shaking his head "If Captain Kuo had been any more stupid than he is, they might have even gotten away with it all. We would have only noticed these men's disappearance by the time they were half a world away…"

Ozai looked at Sokka again, as though analyzing him anew. Sokka felt time slowing down as the man's fierce glare pierced him once more.

"I… I truly underestimated you, gladiator" said Ozai, exhaling heavily "You are much more than you seem on the first glance. Perhaps you are a more suitable fighter for my daughter than I ever took you for"

"Uh… thanks" said Sokka, feeling the blood rushing to his cheeks. So he was suitable for Azula, according to her father…?

Ozai nodded in his direction once more before turning on his heels and starting down the corridor. Sokka wondered if he wasn't going to say goodbye to Azula before taking off… but the man had many matters to tend to. Surely he would visit his daughter again later, wouldn't he?

Sokka stood on the hallway for a moment, slightly confused by the surreal conversation he had just held with the Fire Lord, before turning back to Azula's room.

The Captain had been assisting Song as she sought to lower Azula's temperature. The Princess's eyes were closed; it would seem she had fallen asleep after he had left the room.

"I told her to rest, she looked exhausted" said Song as an explanation when he approached, as Sokka looked at the Princess worriedly.

"Yeah, she needed it" Sokka agreed.

"And so do the two of you, don't you?" said the Captain, looking from one slave to the other before his eyes settled on Sokka "What did he tell you?"

"Well… he asked for explanations on what happened tonight" said Sokka "And then he thanked me for saving Azula and the Fire Nation…"

"Really?" asked Rui Shi, surprised "He… thanked you?"

"I bet you don't hear about the Fire Lord showing gratitude to slaves every day, but even if it sounds weird…"

"You don't hear about the Fire Lord showing gratitude to ANYONE on any given day" said Rui Shi, looking at Sokka pointedly "I doubt I've heard him genuinely thank someone more than three times ever since I started working as a Royal Guard"

"Really now?" said Sokka, blinking a few times "Then I take it I won't be hearing that again, huh?"

"Probably not" said the Captain "You should have cherished the moment more"

"I guess" said Sokka, smiling uncomfortably.

The three of them remained in Azula's room for another hour, until finally the promised team of physicians had appeared. By then, Azula's fever had dropped several degrees. Rui Shi recommended for Sokka and Song to return to their house, since Azula wasn't the only one who needed her rest. Sokka seemed unwilling to leave her bedside, but Song pulled him away. The Captain would watch over her, and these people were better equipped than she was to take care of Azula. Sokka ended up complying half-heartedly, walking back to his house side by side with Song.

The sun was already rising by the time they arrived home. Song was quick in deciding to go to bed, but she made sure Sokka was in his room before doing so. She knew how reckless he could be… it would come as no surprise if he didn't sleep at all, and instead just snuck out of his room in order to go see Azula again.

Her predictions almost came true… almost. Sokka took off his clothes and dropped in bed, not noticing how worn out he was until his head hit the pillow. He closed his eyes for what seemed to him like a moment, but when he opened them again the strong sunlight revealed several hours had passed without his awareness. Sokka sat up on bed, his heavy limbs alerting him of his lingering exhaustion, but he ignored their message completely. He wouldn't stay in bed any longer. He had to return to Azula.

He entered the kitchen to snatch a quick breakfast, comprised simply by buns and bread, before taking off. He headed down to the Palace once more, passing by several people who were finally returning to their homes after having remained underground during the Capital's most hectic night in decades. Nobody paid him much attention as he walked down to the Palace, but his trip wasn't completely uneventful. Upon arriving to the gates Sokka found a huge crowd of people shouting and asking for answers. It would seem the Fire Lord hadn't spoken to the public about last night's incident just yet…

Sokka had a hard time making it past the enormous crowd until he finally reached the soldiers on the gates. They weren't wearing their helmets still, probably as a safety precaution, and thus Sokka saw the face of one of them light up upon recognizing him. It was the same soldier he had seen while carrying Azula back to her room.

"Gladiator?" he asked "Why are you here again?"

"I came to see the Princess…" he muttered, struggling as a particularly aggressive woman in the crowd elbowed him, shouting about her rights as a citizen of the Capital "Can you guys let me in?"

The soldier jerked his head to the right, ushering him to leave the crowd in that direction. Sokka obeyed with some difficulty, and once he did he found he had reached a side of the Palace walls that was deserted… for the moment. A soldier paced atop what looked like a huge crack, and he nodded at Sokka in acknowledgement. It seemed the guards trusted him well now, curiously… Sokka nodded back before approaching the crack. He slipped through it with some difficulty, and with that, he had made it into the Palace. Two guards stood vigilant next to the crack on the inside, but they didn't attack him. They knew he wasn't a threat.

"Thanks for letting me in" he said, smiling at them before jogging towards the building. The men gave him no answer, though they watched him with interest and even slight admiration.

Sokka entered the Palace, struggling to find his way through the mazes of corridors that looked so alike to him. At last, he found the hallway with the crimson door, and he headed towards it with determination.

Azula was still asleep when he entered the room, while a physician kept watch beside her, sitting on a chair. The physician glanced up towards Sokka when he heard him enter, but he only acknowledged him with a nod, much like the soldiers had.

"Is she any better?" Sokka asked.

"She's improving progressively" said the healer "She put herself at a great risk by getting involved in those fights. You told the Fire Lord she had even conjured lightning?"

"Twice, at least" said Sokka, nodding.

"It's a wonder she survived" the man said, shaking his head "Her body is incredibly strong and stubborn for having withstood so much strain without collapsing. Anyone else would have been done for with only one lightning bolt in those conditions, but two…?"

"She's not like anyone else" said Sokka, before he could try to hold his tongue. A blush crept up through his face, but the healer failed to notice.

"Truly" was his response, before falling silent once more.

Sokka didn't know for how long he stood there, watching Azula breathe gently in her sleep. She looked better, at the very least… but only time would tell if she would recover soundly or not. If her bending from last night had really taken its toll on her, she might be in bed for longer than most people would while suffering from a cold.

After half an hour or so, Azula stirred in the sheets. The healer jumped off his chair and approached her as she woke up, assisting her as she sat up and asking her if she felt any better. Azula responded groggily, accepting the man's offering of food, and after rubbing her eyes she realized there was someone else in the room.

"S-Sokka…?" she asked, staring at him in confusion "You're… since when have you been there?"

"Uh… a while" he replied, smiling weakly "Feeling alright, Azula?"

Azula snorted and gave him a half-shrug.

"Well… I wouldn't say 'alright', but I've been worse" she muttered "Why are you here? Why… why do you look so terrible? Did you even sleep?"

"I look terrible?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"I hadn't seen bags under your eyes since the forest" said Azula "Don't tell me you spent the whole night…"

"He arrived not long ago, Princess" said the healer, bringing a tray with food for Azula and placing it beside her in the mattress "Here's your meal, Princess"

"Good" said Azula, picking up her chopsticks before starting to eat.

Sokka watched silently, the healer standing by Azula in case she reported she was feeling unwell. The Princess took her time with her food, but despite being in bed, she managed to eat with as much décor as possible. The healer put away the tray once she was finished, and he placed a hand in her forehead again to check for fever.

"It's going down, Princess" he said "You'll have to stay in bed still, but the fever is starting to fade"

"It was about time" stated Azula.

"About time?" the man repeated "Princess, nobody should be as well as you currently are after undergoing such intense situations…"

"I suppose I'm made of better material than most people" said Azula, shrugging.

"Anyone in your condition should stay in bed for a week" said the man "That fever was dangerous, Princess. It could have taken your life"

"Fevers don't kill people, let alone firebenders…"

"It could have killed you" the healer insisted "Especially after unleashing two lightning bolts…"

"Two?" Azula said, frowning.

"What, were there more than two?"

"No, of course not" said Azula, smiling innocently "Now, are you done with your nagging? Because I'm afraid it's the slave's turn now"

"My turn?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"What did you come for if not to reprimand me for my irresponsible behavior?" said Azula, dramatically "You're dismissed, Fei Rou. Return in an hour if you feel obliged to check on my health, but I wager it really won't be necessary"

The physician seemed irritated by being waved off in such careless manner by the Princess, but he obeyed nonetheless. He closed the door of the room with a little more force than necessary on his way out.

"Well? At the very least sit down, would you?" said Azula, bringing Sokka back to his senses as he stared at the closed door.

"Right" he said, smiling and sitting beside her on the chair the physician had been on previously.

Neither spoke for a moment, both apparently at a loss for how to start this conversation. Azula took a deep breath and rested her back against the wall. Upon her silence after that motion, Sokka decided to say the first thing in his mind.

"You shot more than two lightning bolts, didn't you?" Sokka asked.

Azula smiled a little before sighing.

"In all truthfulness, I only managed to fire two lightning bolts properly…" she muttered "I sought to attack the White Lotus men with another one, but it partially backfired on me…"

"It WHAT?!" asked Sokka, aghast.

"It wasn't a pleasant experience" said Azula, shaking her head "Don't ever try it"

"Azula, it backfired on you?! Is that why you were…? That's why you were stunned when I found you" said Sokka, a hand going to his forehead "I heard the ruckus and headed to where I'd heard the sounds, but I was sure you'd collapsed because of the fever, not…"

"Much as you're not easy to predict, neither am I, gladiator" she said, smiling "I could put up with the fever to a certain extent, but not with the backfiring. In any case, Sokka… what you did was… well…"

"Oh, no, don't even start with that" said Sokka, shaking his head "I didn't do it so you'd thank me…"

"I didn't think you had" replied Azula "You're the kind of person who does great deeds in order to make up for his mistakes instead of doing it to earn people's gratitude…"

Sokka's eyes widened when he heard those words. If she hadn't said so, he would have forgotten completely about what had happened between them before this disaster had occurred.

"Uh, no, I didn't… Azula, about that…"

Azula began chuckling and she shook her head.

"I know, Sokka, I know. You didn't do it to make up for the kiss either. There wasn't much to make up about it anyways"

"Uh… huh?"

"You shouldn't have done it" said Azula firmly, at which he flinched "But having done it didn't imply you needed to go through hell in order to get back to my better side"

"Really, now?"

"I hope you're not thinking you wish you had known that before saving my life…"

"Blast it, caught red-minded" said Sokka sarcastically, shaking his head and smiling at her "Not really, Azula. I just thought… I thought you were more upset about it than that"

"I was until this mess happened" Azula replied "For some reason I can hardly fathom, being in danger of getting abducted and having your nation endangered by a group of rebels pretending to be members of your army gives you the impression that a kiss really isn't the end of the world"

Sokka couldn't help but smile and nod now.

"It seems a little meaningless after all that happened afterwards, yeah…"

"I… I just don't get it, Sokka" she said, looking at him in confusion "I know you said what you said, but… they were offering you to take you back home, to get you to see Piandao again, and yet you refused so blatantly, you just took me and walked away… why?"

"You're never going to stop asking that, are you?" said Sokka, sighing. He didn't plan on explaining his new discoveries to her… not even if she had just said the world wouldn't end because of a kiss. A love confession might not end the world, but it promised to turn it into a very uncomfortable place for him to live in…

"Well, until I make any sense out of it, I probably won't" said Azula, looking at him with questioning eyes "Why pick the Fire Nation, Sokka, when you were offered that deal…?"

"Azula…" said Sokka, shaking his head "That deal may have sounded brilliant, it might have seemed like everything I could have ever wanted… but as far as I remember, I struck a deal with you first of all, didn't I? You offered to take me back home as well, or is it you forgot about that now?"

"N-no, I didn't forget, but… it sounded like they would have been able to take you to the South Pole far sooner than what I offered"

"So you think I should have broken my deal with you to accept theirs… when they were completely blatant about using me as a tool to reach their ends?" asked Sokka, raising his eyebrows "At least I've gotten everything I could off you…"

"I'm glad you have the decency to admit that…"

"Our deal may look one-sided, but it really isn't" said Sokka "We're both getting what we want in the end… I think. I still don't know why you want me to reach the top of the ran-…"

"That's not the topic of the day, is it?" asked Azula, interrupting him.

"No, it isn't" said Sokka, smiling "But really, Azula… I made a promise to you first of all. I'm not about to double-cross you just because a group of strangers come by to tell me they know Piandao and they can take me home"

"But… your people have always wanted to take down the Fire Nation. You did, not even two years ago" said Azula "This change of heart…"

"You told me not three days ago that so long as I was true to myself, I wasn't a traitor to anyone" Sokka reminded her "If you actually meant that… then you'd understand that what I'm doing isn't as strange as it seems"

"You were true to yourself by not letting them take me?" asked Azula with a small voice, as though talking to herself.

"I was true to myself by telling them that what they were doing wasn't the right way to fight this war" said Sokka "I wasn't going to let them take you, no matter how they tried to convince me that they'd give me everything I'd ever wanted. How was I supposed to trust the words of a pair of men who were more than happy to talk about turning a weakened girl into a slave?"

Azula's hands balled into fists atop her sheets. The scene repeated itself in her head, and she sighed as she recalled how helpless she had felt. She never wanted to feel that way again.

"You really… you really saved me, Sokka" said Azula, closing her eyes "The more I think of what would have happened if you hadn't showed up when you did…"

"Don't do that to yourself" said Sokka, smiling kindly "Just be glad everything was sorted out. If something like this ever happens again, I'm sure you'll be perfectly capable to handle the situation with your own power"

"I hope so" said Azula, glancing at him again "And about what they said… about Piandao…"

"I'm still having a hard time believing it" said Sokka, grimacing "I know you warned me about Piandao being more mysterious than I gave him credit for, but… do you really think he was just trying to turn me into a tool?"

"I… I don't know, Sokka" said Azula, frowning "His past is turbulent, but I believed he was moving on from that. It's why having you train with him was the best option I had. If I had still thought he would threaten the Fire Nation, I would have never let him teach you the way of the sword"

"I talked to him about you a few times" said Sokka "Those two times we had those spats… he helped me relax and taught me to understand your point of view without losing myself in the process…"

"He said something to me as well, actually" Azula muttered "On that occasion when… when you were completely shameless"

"Oh. When I was washing off the sweat, huh?" asked Sokka, smiling. The blush on Azula's cheeks intensified upon the memory.

"He said I shouldn't try to fill your head with ideas about the Fire Nation being right about the war. That if I ever broke you while trying to make you see things the way I did, you'd stop being who you were. You wouldn't be the strong fighter you've become"

"So he…" said Sokka, frowning "He told you to let me be who I was so that I wouldn't turn into a mindless slave…"

"And despite the fact you've changed the way you see things, I don't think you've become a different man altogether" said Azula "It would seem he was…"

"Trying to get us to understand each other" said Sokka "But… but if he really wanted to make me his tool, why would he do that? So that he could get to you through me?"

"Perhaps that was the aim of the operation all along…"

"It's stupid" said Sokka, looking slightly disgusted "Piandao wasn't that stupid. He would have known my loyalty to you would be true, and I wouldn't give you up to his weird society even if they asked. Much like I didn't"

"Then… you don't think he was trying to turn you into a tool" said Azula.

"I can't know anything for certain yet" said Sokka, sighing "I hope not. Else it's a big let-down. To think my worst enemy has become my best ally, and my favorite mentor was a fraud…"

Azula was surprised when he addressed her as he had.

"Don't… don't dwell over it" said Azula, smiling a little "If I'm not supposed to think about what might have happened, then neither should you. Remember Piandao as the man you knew, not as the man they spoke of"

Sokka lifted his head and smiled at her, nodding slightly.

"Not the first time you tell me that… and I really should abide by it. It's good advice" he said.

Again they fell silent for a brief moment, but this time it was the Princess who broke it, after coughing a little. Sokka glanced at her in worry, but she simply carried on with the conversation.

"That strange maneuver with the lightning and your sword…" she said, thoughtful.

"I… I don't know how it's done, really" muttered Sokka "I didn't do anything the first time, but the lightning was just… caught by the blade, I think"

"But you managed to use it to your advantage later, didn't you?" said Azula.

"I have no idea how we managed that, to tell you the truth" Sokka admitted, smiling "I'd say fortune was in our favor, despite it all"

"We'll have to practice it more, it seemed a handy trick" said Azula, smirking.

"Huh?! Practice it?" Sokka repeated, shocked "Are you sure you're not just looking for excuses to electrocute me…?"

"Of course not" said Azula "We need to figure out the mechanics of it, or else we won't know how to handle it if we ever need to resort to this movement again"

"You think we'll ever have to do that again?" asked Sokka.

"Who knows?" said Azula, shrugging "Nobody could have predicted what happened last night. Who is to say a similar situation won't arise in the future?"

"Who is to say so indeed…" said Sokka, sighing "Well, we can try and figure this attack out, but only once you're fully healed. And I demand you think of how to ensure my safety before throwing your lightning bolts towards me, alright?"

"Fine" said Azula, sighing and dropping her head back against the wall. Yet there was the subtlest smile on her face… a smile that told Sokka she might choose not to respect his last condition. But before he could call her out on it, the Princess spoke again "What did my father want from you?"

"Oh, he… he just thanked me for what I did" said Sokka "Told me he owed me the safety of his nation and his daughter, and if I had any ideas on how he ought to repay me, I should let him know"

"Is that so…? Did you ask for anything yet?" asked Azula, surprised to hear her father would actually seek to return the favor.

"I… I told him not to kill the White Lotus men" said Sokka, at which Azula's surprise grew "I know you probably think that's completely crazy, after what happened, but as I told him… the Fire Nation has shed enough blood as it is. If I could save those lives, even if they might pose another threat to the Fire Nation in the future, then I would"

Azula breathed deeply and nodded.

"I'm not all that shocked, truly. You have an odd way to stay true to yourself, but yet you've done so by requesting that" said Azula.

"And I've still got another favor to ask of him" said Sokka "And I guess I'll give it more thought than I did with this one"

"My father shouldn't have decided to repay you himself, I'm sure you'll make him regret it" said Azula, smiling.

"Ah, would have rather done it yourself?" asked Sokka, smirking "What would you have done to thank me for saving your nation and your life, Princess? Would you give me a brand new set of clothes? Or maybe my own palanquin…"

"Your own palanquin? You want me to ask my father to adopt you, by any chance?" asked Azula, raising her eyebrows and making Sokka laugh.

"I'm just joking, Azula. I really don't need any remuneration, I said so… well, not from you" he said "Still, I won't deny getting your father to do as I say is more fun than I expected it to be…"

"You're incorrigible" said Azula, smiling and shaking her head.

"Say… what do you think about these White Lotus guys?" asked Sokka, growing a little more serious upon touching this new topic "You'd thought the symbol wasn't important back when we were at Piandao's place, but…"

"I was proven completely wrong" Azula admitted "It's clear it's an association of some sorts, but who are their members? What is their real objective? What are they trying to accomplish?"

"I take it, from what those guys said, that they want to take down the Fire Nation, but…"

"But if they spoke of Piandao as one of their bigger leaders, and yet he wasn't here, I take it they might not understand the purpose of the group as well as they pretended to" said Azula "If Piandao sent them, he would have known it to be a suicidal mission, and yet…"

"I don't think it was Piandao who sent them" said Sokka "Or the one who devised this particular mission. I think… and I already told your father, that there was someone else involved in this. Someone with easy access to the soldiers' wardrobe, for starters…"

"Someone… well, yes. I recall having wondered the same thing" said Azula, frowning "I asked them who had provided the uniforms, and they didn't answer"

"There's someone helping them, Azula" said Sokka "Someone within this very city is a member of their group, I bet…"

"And he's conspiring against the Fire Nation under our noses, without our awareness…" grunted Azula, gritting her teeth "Curse it. I take it my father is already doing everything he can to discover who this double agent might be?"

"I don't know for certain, but he probably is" said Sokka "Has he come to see you again?"

"I was asleep all along, if he came I didn't notice" said Azula, sighing "He has much to do right now, though. In such critical situation he really shouldn't…"

"He shouldn't have time to spare for his sickly daughter?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to demand his attention as if I were a child, Sokka" said Azula, rolling her eyes "He has to take care of the Fire Nation first. I'll be fine soon enough"

"If you say so…" said Sokka, looking at her warily.

Again, a moment of silence. Azula sighed and looked at Sokka sideways, her mind racing as she thought again about what had happened the previous day. Even after asking him a second time about his decision, she still couldn't give credit to the fact that he had chosen her instead of returning home. He probably hadn't seen it that way, of course…

"What's on your mind now?" asked Sokka, when he realized she was looking at him.

"I'm just… I guess my father thanking you makes sense, but I… I probably ought to do something as well" she said, smiling weakly "I just don't know what to…"

"Never mind, Azula" said Sokka, a little exasperated "You don't owe me anything at all, I mean it…"

"I owe you my freedom, and my nation's safety. Even if that's meaningless to you…"

"I didn't say it was meaningless" said Sokka, grimacing "I just… I did what I thought was best. I followed what I believed in, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I ever had to"

"Doesn't mean I shouldn't thank you for it" said Azula, sighing "I really can't do anything as I am now other than saying the words, but… but I owe you so much more than any master should owe his slave. Thank you, Sokka. For everything you did yesterday"

"Everything?" asked Sokka, smiling a little.

"Likely" said Azula "Just… don't expect another kiss as a reward"

"Oh, I know, I…"

"Else you'll likely get sick as well" said Azula, her blush intensifying again.

Sokka found himself flushing also, but he nodded. That had been rather unexpected of her… pleasantly so.

"Oh. Well, it's okay, I wasn't expecting anything else anyways" he said, grinning.

"Really, though… thanks. Hell knows where the Fire Nation would be, where I would be, if it weren't for what you did last night… I could probably waste away the rest of my life thanking you to no avail, it still wouldn't convey what I…"

She fell silent when one of his hands reached out and to grasp hers in a reassuring way. She looked at him again to find him smiling gently at her, his cool blue eyes making it a little harder for her to breathe as she looked into them.

"It's okay, Azula, really" he said "All you need to do is get better and whatever debt you think you owe me will be settled. Relax, and just focus on feeling better. Alright?"

Azula smiled and nodded, her thumb grazing his fingers as he gripped her hand a little more tightly. Not only was she grateful for everything he had done… she was grateful for his presence, for his patience, for standing by her in the worst moments of her life. For showing her that, despite everything they had been through, and everything they were bound to go through in the future, he still believed in her, and she could still believe in him.


	56. Chapter 56

Her room felt like a cage of sorts as of late. She hadn't left it in over a week, not because she really needed to continue resting but because her father and his healers insisted her health was still too frail for her to leave the comfort of her bed. She didn't believe that was the case, though. Often she would stand up and wander around her room, just for the sake of moving around a little, and she had convinced the servants and healers to let her eat in the left wing of her chambers after proving she was up to the task. But aside from that, all she could do was gaze through the window and wait until they finally gave her leave. It should happen soon, she hoped, but still…

Her aggravation usually would help her daunt whoever dared oppose her, but it wasn't as easy to intimidate the healers into releasing her from her chambers when her father himself had often come to ensure she was still here. She could ignore the healers… but she couldn't dream of going against her father's orders. She would always tell him she felt better, but he would tell her he was still worried both about her health and about the Capital's current chaotic state, hence he preferred to keep her in the safety of the room.

The secret agent that had double-crossed them was still at large; it seemed he was far more slippery than Fire Lord Ozai had expected him to be… and the captives hadn't said a word about the spy or their society as of yet, which displeased the Fire Lord. Nevertheless, he had remained faithful to the vow he had made to the gladiator: Ozai hadn't executed any of the criminals. They were being held in the Prison Tower, where vigilance had been increased drastically to prevent more escapes.

Yet it had also taken time for Ozai to entrust his soldiers with their duties once more. He had forced every single one of them to prove they were actually Fire Nation soldiers and not infiltrators. Every man was registered in files upon joining the army; therefore, in order to prove they were true soldiers, the men had to give their names to General Mak, the man Ozai had left in charge of this operation, and if he failed to find their respective file it meant the soldier would be held in suspicion for betraying his nation. To Ozai's relief, Mak's operation had been successful. Every soldier had his own file, and thus he could trust they weren't infiltrators…

But could he really?

Even when Mak had proved every soldier in the Capital belonged to the army, the Fire Lord's anxiety was still far from appeased. Whoever had assisted the men from the Order of the White Lotus was, in all likelihood, hiding comfortably amongst his most trusted advisors. It could be anyone, Mak himself, even… it was someone who had led him to believe he could place his trust in him. His generals, his noblemen… someone who had been watching him closely without his awareness. Even one of his servants might be to blame for what had happened…

All in all, the Fire Lord was more tense and stressed than he had been in a long time. Some of of his noblemen had fled to nearby islands, fearful of another attack, which had only added to Ozai's concerns. He had yet to speak to the masses to explain what had happened during that troublesome night, but he planned on doing so once the spy had been captured… and to his displeasure, he was nowhere close to achieving that end. Azula could tell he was uneasy over so many problems he was facing, but there was little to nothing she could do to soothe her father, aside from giving him one less concern to worry about… which meant she would stay in her room until the healers declared she had recovered from her cold completely.

And to the impatient Princess, it seemed as though that day wouldn't come. She lay amongst pillows and sheets, glaring at the roof of her bed while wishing she didn't have to waste one more second of her life in this room. There were so many things she could do! She could help her father narrow down his search of the infiltrator, she was sure she could assist him in some way or another…

A knock on her door would have startled her in other circumstances, but by now she was completely used to it. Azula raised an eyebrow, wondering who it might be this time.

"Come in" she called out, sighing and hoping it wouldn't be another healer trying to make sure her temperature was on regular levels: she hadn't been suffering from a fever for days now.

To her relief, it wasn't a healer. Naturally, she would do her best not to show she was glad to see her gladiator, but it was harder to keep from smiling than she thought it should be.

"Ah, it's just you" she said, as he entered the room and closed the door.

Sokka raised an eyebrow and looked at her in slight suspicion.

"What, expecting someone else, Princess?" he asked.

"Fearing it might be someone else, rather" said Azula, no longer unable to restrain her smile until she saw what Sokka was carrying in his right hand "S-Sokka? What is…?"

Sokka blushed slight and grabbed the bouquet with both hands nervously. He had told himself it was a bad idea time over and time again, but it might have helped cheer Azula up… or perhaps it would compel her to get back to her feet completely just to punish him for bringing her flowers. Either option would be good, he thought… albeit he was only expecting the latter to take form.

"It's just… well, I was walking down the market thinking I should get something fun for you so that you don't get so bored sitting inside all day" said Sokka, walking towards her and sitting on the chair he usually took by her side.

"And flowers were your best idea, Sokka? Really?" she asked, slightly flustered but not to the extent of behaving as anyone but herself upon receiving this ridiculous gift "How am I supposed to be entertained by them?"

"In all honesty, I wanted to get something cooler, but I couldn't find anything good!" complained Sokka "I think some stores haven't gone back to business yet after what happened with the White Lotus. They think something similar might happen again sometime soon"

"Is that so…" muttered Azula, frowning. The impact the White Lotus' attack had had upon the citizens was worse than she had expected, if Sokka's suspicions were true.

"I wanted to get you some sort of dragon figurine, maybe, but there was nothing similar to what I had in mind anywhere! So… so in the end, I brought you these. They're called dragon orchids, or so I was told, so… it's the closest thing I could find to a dragon, oddly enough, hehe…"

"It's nowhere close to a dragon in anything but in name" said Azula, raising an eyebrow and studying the plants. They were dark red, with a tinge of orange close to the center, where the petals joined together.

"W-well… it's a gift anyways, so… here" said Sokka, handing the bouquet to her.

Azula took it in her hands, staring at the flowers with interest. It wasn't too large a bouquet, but she shouldn't have expected more from Sokka. These flowers were bound to have been more expensive than he should have been able to afford…

"They have an odd smell, but I suppose I could get used to it" she said, shrugging and trying not to give the matter too much importance.

"Sorry if it's inconvenient" said Sokka, scratching the back of his head "I just wanted to do something nice for you, I know being stuck here is driving you nuts but if that's what the healers say…"

"I know, I know" said Azula, rolling her eyes "If that's what they say, that's what I should do. It's getting ridiculous at this point, though. I should have been out of bed ages ago"

"Well, it's for your own good that they're keeping you here" said Sokka, sighing "Your father wants you in here too, so it's not just the healers' fault"

"And you agree, it seems?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow "Never did I believe the day would come when Sokka would think the Fire Lord's decision is correct"

"Wait, wait, I'm not siding with him" said Sokka, lifting his hands defensively "I'm thinking that, for your wellbeing, you're better off resting a little longer, and he happened to reach the same conclusion… coincidentally"

"Oh, really? Coincidentally?" asked Azula, smirking.

"Not my fault we both want you to heal completely as soon as possible" said Sokka, folding his arms over his chest "Our goals are the same, and there's just one way to get there"

"Of course" said Azula, rolling her eyes and looking at the flowers in her hands again, with slight discomfort now "I should probably leave these someplace…"

"Don't you have a vase of some sort?" asked Sokka, looking around the room eagerly.

"Oh, as you can see, all my available vases are currently occupied with the flowers all my other suitors have gifted me with…" said Azula, her words impregnated with sarcasm.

"Uh… so you're saying you don't have any?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"Just how often do you think I get flowers, Sokka?" asked Azula, looking at him in skepticism "You seem to overestimate my socializing skills…"

"But Azula, you are the Fire Nation Princess" said Sokka, stunned "And you had a suitor once, at least, that I know of… I'm sure there are still others who want to get away with marrying you, aren't there?"

It was odd that the words would sting him after he spoke. A burning sensation in his stomach made him grimace at the thought of other men pursuing the Princess…

"Of course there are, but they would much rather win me over by wooing my father than by courting me" said Azula, shrugging "They care more about earning his favor than mine, hence I get no flowers from them. You should be proud of yourself, truly. It's the first time anyone has presented me with a bouquet"

"W-what, really?" asked Sokka, shocked "But that's…! That makes no sense, other people should've…! Now, what's with your noblemen, really? They have nothing noble about them if they can't present you at least with a single flower!"

"Noblemen and gentleman aren't the same thing, Sokka" said Azula, shrugging.

"S-so… I'm a gentleman, you say?" he asked, smiling proudly.

"That's not what I said" grunted Azula, between gritted teeth "Stop misunderstanding"

"Now, now, but you just said…"

"I meant to say those men are of noble birth, but that doesn't make them gentlemen. And you aren't one either, even if you bring me flowers" said Azula, with determination "You are, as you well know, a snow savage. Snow savages can't be gentlemen"

"Or so you say, how can you be so sure?" said Sokka "I've surprised you before… I might do it again"

"By doing what, exactly? How would you prove you're more of a gentleman than I take you for?" asked Azula, folding her arms over her chest.

"Well… uh… gentlemen would… a gentleman would…" started Sokka, frowning as he tried to think of what a gentleman might do aside from giving flowers to a girl.

"And there it is, proof you're not one and you'll never be one. You don't even know how a gentleman acts" said Azula, sighing.

"W-well, they give flowers!" squealed Sokka "That's the only clue I have, so… I should just keep on bringing you flowers every day until you're better! How's that for gentlemanliness?"

"Are you…? You're not serious, are you?" asked Azula, staring at him in shock.

"Why do you ask?" he asked, puzzled.

"Sokka…" said Azula, gulping "It's one thing to do it once… but to bring flowers every day? Don't you think it would be weird?"

"It might be, but that doesn't matter" said Sokka, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Maybe not to you" said Azula, frowning "But what do you believe my father would think upon finding out that my slave, my gladiator, has been bringing me flowers every day?"

"Uh…" said Sokka, thinking hard for a moment before answering "Probably… 'I didn't think slaves could afford to buy flowers', right?"

"Of course not, you idiot! That's not what…! Ugh, never mind!" said Azula, blushing slightly and shaking her head. If Sokka couldn't understand that it would seem as though he were officially courting her, then she wasn't going to spell it out for him. If he really sent those flowers on a daily basis, Ozai would likely be enraged and Sokka would come to understand, perhaps a little too late and in quite a nasty way, what his display of gentlemanliness truly looked like.

"Really, though, I doubt I can afford it" said Sokka, frowning as he rubbed his beard stub with his thumb "Isn't there a cheaper way to prove I'm a good guy?"

"Don't you think you've proven it enough as it is?" said Azula, sighing "After what you did that night..."

"Ah, well, if that still counts then I shouldn't have to prove anything else" said Sokka, smiling proudly.

"Yet you've also been quite a pig in other occasions" added Azula, to Sokka's chagrin.

"I guess that's true as well, isn't it?' he muttered "Well, I'm trying my best to become a better guy now, to keep from coming off as a pig ever again..."

"Please don't try too hard" said Azula "Every single time you make up your mind to not do something, you end up doing it again just after swearing you won't"

"N-not every time" said Sokka, lifting a hand defensively "You told me not to underestimate my rival gladiators ever again after fighting with the Hornet, and I haven't done it since!"

"Perhaps that's the next thing you'll go back on" said Azula, smirking "Maybe on your upcoming fight you'll..."

The Princess fell silent then, a frown on her face. Sokka studied her cautiously for a moment before calling out to her.

"Uh, Azula? You were making fun of me...? You're really going to let the chance slide?"

"T-today is..." she mumbled, rubbing her forehead and setting the flowers down beside her "Wait, I've been here for seven days, two more had gone by and so... That means..."

"That means?" the gladiator repeated, raising an eyebrow as Azula looked up, horrified.

"Sokka, your next fight is today!"

Sokka blinked a couple of times before shaking his head promptly to make himself react. He looked at Azula, dumbstruck.

"What? Today?! B-but I didn't...!" he gasped "How come is it today? You never accept challenges so close to another fight!"

"Well, I did this time, it looked like a fighter you could defeat easily!" said Azula, her hand on her forehead "You weren't listening when I accepted the challenge from Shoji the last time we were at the Arena, were you?"

"N-no, I wasn't" muttered Sokka, recalling he had been too lost in his misery to pay any attention to what had happened between Azula and Shoji by the counter "I thought you had just found out what my current position in the ranking was…"

"I did that, and I accepted the challenge we had studied once before, the one from an earthbender called 'The Rock'" said Azula.

"Ugh… that one, huh?" said Sokka, gulping "Well, too bad. If you're like this, we can't go"

"What?! What do you mean 'too bad'?" said Azula, looking at him in disbelief "We're going to that Arena immediately! I'm well enough to go, there's no need to…"

"Hell, no!" declared Sokka, glaring at Azula "Not going to happen!"

"But Sokka…!"

"I'd rather go alone than have you come along! Not a chance I'm letting you out of here before the healers approve of it!"

"You can't go alone!" Azula said, desperate "They won't let a gladiator participate in a fight without his sponsor!"

"Then… we forfeit, I guess" said Sokka, sighing.

"No way" said Azula, her eyes widening "Not going to happen. We simply cannot forfeit! It's not an option!"

"No, not an option, a reality" said Sokka, sighing "I don't want to do it either, Azula, but if you can't go then…"

"No, Sokka! I'm in bed just because they keep saying I can't go, but I'm all better now!" said Azula, pulling away the sheets and swinging her legs off the bed, but Sokka stood up and blocked her way.

"Get back in there!" he said, pushing her down on the bed by the shoulders when she attempted to get up "You're not going anywhere today!"

"I can go, Sokka! I'm perfectly…!"

Azula found herself unable to finish the sentence when a fit of coughs took over her. She hunched over, sitting on bed again as she coughed far more violently than she expected. Sokka stared at her in worry, wondering if to pat her back to help her or if perhaps he shouldn't do anything at all.

Just as he stretched a hand towards her back, Azula seemed to calm down. She took several deep breaths, worn-out after the fit of coughs.

"C'mon" said Sokka, grabbing her legs and lifting them, pulling Azula into bed again "I think those coughs spoke for themselves…"

"Sokka, please" said Azula, begging him with her eyes "It's not as though I'll have to do so much… it's just sitting on that balcony, watching the fight and waiting until you're done with it…"

"And you can do that once we know you're not in risk of falling prey to coughing fits again"

"Why are you all so over-protective of me lately?" asked Azula, sighing and closing her eyes "I get I couldn't take good care of myself back then, but that doesn't mean I can't do it altogether…"

"Azula… it's for your own good and you know it" said Sokka, sitting on his chair again, a little closer to the bed now "You know you put your body under some serious strain with all you went through…"

"But I'm not going to get any better just by lying down on bed doing nothing" grunted Azula.

"And you definitely won't by going over to the Arena today" said Sokka "So just be patient. We can send another challenge to this same guy later on if you like, there's no need to…"

The door creaked open again, startling both Sokka and Azula. They weren't expecting anyone to show up… especially when Sokka was unconsciously leaning down towards Azula. He jerked back again instinctively, not wanting anyone to spot him in a potentially compromising situation.

And yet when he saw who the visitor was he felt he could relax… although the same couldn't be said about Azula.

"Eh, it's just Zuko" said Sokka, sighing "Here I thought it would be your father…"

"Z-Zuko?" asked Azula, surprised "What are you doing here?"

"I… I heard you were sick" he muttered, looking at them from the threshold "I heard about it a while ago, but I figured you would be better by now…"

"I am better" said Azula stubbornly, and Sokka rolled his eyes in exasperation "Yet they won't let me off, even when I have important business to attend to"

"Come on, Azula, could you just let it go…?" whined Sokka, rubbing his forehead with his fingers

"Really?" asked Zuko, raising an eyebrow and walking inside the room "You look quite healthy to me…"

"Well, I'm amazed to find Zuko is being more reasonable than everyone else for once" said Azula, nodding in her brother's direction "You should feel bad about that, Sokka"

"Azula…" sighed Sokka, exhausted after repeating the same words to her time over and time again "You'll be given the thumbs up anytime now, can't you just wait until it happens?"

"But Sokka, if you have a fight…"

"Enough about the fight, it's not more important than your health" said Sokka, determinedly "If I were sick, would you drag me to the Arena to fight regardless?"

"Yes" she answered in a heartbeat, at which Sokka stared at her, shocked.

"HEY!"

"He has a fight today?" asked Zuko, raising an eyebrow "Bad timing, huh?"

"Worst timing ever, truly" said Azula, shaking her head "Why are you here, Zuzu?"

"W-well, I… I came to see just how bad this cold was that you were still in bed after all this time" said Zuko, gulping.

"I don't buy it" said Azula, folding her arms across her chest and making Zuko wince "I'm sorry, but I'll have quite the hard time believing you've suddenly decided to become a concerned older brother…"

"Hey, I…!" he started, freezing at her accusation.

"You really expect to trick me with this, Zuko?" asked Azula, raising an inquisitive eyebrow "My cold didn't turn me into an idiot, in case you were expecting otherwise"

Zuko frowned and looked at his sister with irritation. Sokka looked up at Zuko as well, wondering what his answer to Azula's accusations might be. The Fire Prince sighed and shook his head before looking at his sister with a colder glare, which she returned without any inconvenience.

"I heard you were above ground when the White Lotus attacked" he muttered "Ty Lee and Mai were wondering where you were, and they asked me to find you. I looked around everywhere but the safe chamber, because I guessed you would be there… and then I heard you had fought those guys yourself. Is it true?"

"It's… not a lie" said Azula, gripping the sheets firmly as her hand balled into a fist. For the first time, she wished she could steal Sokka's credit for what he had done if only to impress and irritate her brother…

"Why were you…?"

"Your sister was pretty reckless" said Sokka "She was sick, and thus not thinking straight. She wanted to protect her nation at all costs, instead of her own life, and she went out there to fight those guys without putting much thought into it"

Azula looked at the gladiator in surprise, not expecting him to have her back as he had. Was he going to tell the rest of the story…? As soon as he did, Zuko would likely snicker and ridicule her…

"W-wha-… really?" asked Zuko, staring at Sokka in shock. Sokka nodded solemnly, his arms tight across his chest "That's… well…"

"Reckless, but since it ended relatively well, you could say it was brave" said Sokka.

"Reckless Azula…" said Zuko, at which Azula twitched. So he was going to grasp at that, was he…? "Hard to picture, but I'll take your word for it"

"Good call" said Sokka, smiling now.

"Though it is pretty reckless of you to try and get out of bed when you're still supposed to keep resting" said Zuko, frowning "Why so desperate?"

"Because, as you just heard, this moron has a fight ahead of him, and I will not allow a forfeit unless it's absolutely necessary" grunted Azula.

"Seems like it is, thought" said Zuko, raising his single eyebrow as he looked at his sister.

"Sorry to say it, Azula, but your brother is right" said Sokka, sighing.

"Sorry why?" asked Zuko, glaring at Sokka now.

"Well… it's not every day someone says 'Zuko is right and Azula isn't', is it?" said Sokka, feigning innocence.

"Maybe it happens more often than you think it does" grunted Zuko, defying Sokka with his glare.

"And maybe you're deluding yourself in hopes you'll come off like a cooler guy than you actually are…" replied Sokka, serenely, but facing the Fire Nation Prince now with a similar glare.

"Want to see just how deluded I am, gladiator…?" asked Zuko, gritting his teeth.

"What, you want to go right now?" asked Sokka, lifting his chin "Because I don't think you brought your lame dao blades with you, did you?"

"Maybe I just need fire to tear you apart"

"Maybe your fire is way easier to extinguish than…"

"Wait" said Azula suddenly, as Zuko and Sokka glared at each other, promising to resume the fight they hadn't finished back at Mai's house "Wait…"

"What, Azula? Don't worry, your brother will still live once I'm through with him" said Sokka, smiling reassuringly at the Princess.

"I doubt the same can be said about your gladiator, though" grunted Zuko, still glaring at Sokka.

"Wait…" said Azula, looking from one to the other as despair gave her the strangest idea she'd had in a long time.

"What is it?" asked Zuko, uncomfortable upon the way his sister was looking at him.

"You can do it, Zuko" she said, swallowing hard "T-the forfeit isn't necessary… not really. There are ways for a gladiator to have a replacement sponsor when his actual sponsor can't attend the fight…"

"What?" said Sokka, staring at Azula worriedly now "What are you trying to…?"

"You can do it, Zuko" said the Princess, now determined "You can be Sokka's sponsor for one day"

Time seemed to freeze, although it actually didn't. In truth, the ones who froze were the two men, who now stared at Azula in utter shock. The Princess's eyes went from one to the other at least five times before they finally responded… both shouting and rambling at the same time

"What the hell, Azula?! Did you lose your mind?!" asked Sokka, horrified.

"What on earth did they give you to heal that cold?" asked Zuko, looking at her in utter confusion "It's making you delirious, you know?"

"Really, though, and then you claim you're all better! You definitely need to stay in bed waaaaay longer, that sort of suggestion proves it!"

"Seriously, out of everything you could have said, Azula…"

"Could you both just shut up?!" she shouted, at which they obeyed just for a moment.

"Azula, though, really? That can't even be done, can it?" asked Sokka, after an instant of silence.

"Actually, it can" said Azula "Shoji told me about it before we went to the Earth Kingdom. If a sponsor can't perform his duties during some time, he can authorize someone as his substitute until he can sponsor his fighter again. I hadn't needed to resort to that before today, but now it might just be what will save us from a blow to your position in the ranking because of a forfeit…"

"B-but… Azula, really?" whined Sokka "Can't you ask someone else, like… the Captain? Or even your father…?"

"You'd rather be sponsored by my father than by me?!" asked Zuko, shocked.

"Gotta say I get along better with ole' Ozai than with you, you know…"

"Don't you ever refer to him like that again" said Azula, grimacing in disgust.

"Sorry, sorry…" said Sokka, smiling weakly.

"You even… you've met my father?" asked Zuko, aghast "You've talked to him? You…?"

"I know it's weird, a slave who has talked directly to the Fire Lord…" said Sokka, shrugging, but Azula knew what Zuko's real problem was. And before he could make a ruckus over the fact that his father would willingly deal with a gladiator before his son, she spoke again.

"Zuko" she said, making him turn towards her again "Will you agree to do this?"

"I… what…? No, Azula, no" said Zuko, shaking his head and taking a step back "I'm sorry, I know you're sick and you hope I'll feel sorry for you and accept your every request, but…"

"What, feel sorry for me? Really, Zuko?" asked Azula, slightly indignant.

"I'm just… I'm sorry, but I won't" said Zuko, determined "I can't stand your gladiator, in case you hadn't noticed"

"The feeling is mutual, pal…" said Sokka, nodding.

"And I'm just not going to… I'm not going to sponsor someone in the Gladiator League…"

"Oh, please, cut out the nonsense" grunted Azula, shaking her head "You're not going to keep up that pointless farce, are you? I know well enough that you watch gladiator fights nowadays, so don't even think of excusing yourself by claiming that 'lowly business' is beneath you, because it clearly isn't"

"I didn't mean to say that! I just… I don't know how to act as a sponsor!" said Zuko, folding his arms over his chest "And besides, wouldn't you be ashamed that your gladiator would show up at the Royal Dome with me as his sponsor?"

"Curious, because if anything, the one who should be ashamed of showing up with me is you…" muttered Sokka, thoughtful.

"This one's also a mutual thing, 'pal'" said Zuko, as sarcastically as possible.

"Zuko…" said Azula, sighing and shaking her head "I really didn't want to resort to this, but if you won't give me another choice, I'll have to do so…"

"What are you…?" said Zuko, looking at her warily.

"You owe me a big favor from ten years ago, Zuko" said the Princess, looking at him sternly "A favor I did for you out of the good will of my wicked heart, if you may"

"Huh?" said Sokka, looking at Azula in confusion. Zuko bore the same expression until he finally realized what his sister spoke of.

"W-wait… n-no, Azula. You... don't you have something better to ask of me?!" he said, grimacing.

"Not that I can think of" said Azula, crossing her arms over her chest "I've had enough time to think about it, and finally there's something you can do. So how about you do this and we call it even, Zuzu?"

"Azula…" he said, sighing and shaking his head.

"A man of honor would pay his debts…" said Azula, knowing she would strike a nerve with those words.

Zuko flinched and glared at her, perfectly aware of her intentions. The Princess held his stare defiantly, knowing she had caught him. Zuko huffed in irritation and broke their eye contact.

"I'm going to regret this" he muttered "Fine, then. But just for today, alright?"

"What?! No, no, you have to keep fighting against her!" said Sokka, aghast.

"I knew you'd be reasonable, Zuzu" said Azula, smiling and getting off her bed.

"W-what are you doing?! Where are you going?!" asked Sokka, jumping off the chair.

"Zuko needs an authorization note so that he can sponsor you. I'm going to write it now" said Azula, relieved to have an excuse to get off bed

She rummaged through a drawer in search for paper, ink and a brush, and she began writing down the document without further ado. Sokka just glared at Zuko all along, and the Prince was already regretting his decision as he tried to ignore the slave.

"Well, this should do" said Azula, folding the paper into a small tube and handing over the scroll to Zuko, along with a pouch of coins "Good luck as a sponsor, Zuko"

"T-thanks, I guess…" he muttered, taking the scroll and the money almost unwillingly.

"Azula…" said Sokka, begging her with his eyes not to do this.

"Your opponent is supposed to be rather dumb, from what I've heard" she said to the gladiator, ignoring his pleas "A strong earthbender who doesn't think things through. Apparently he likes playing with the crowd, or so I've heard. You could pretend to get hurt by an attack of his, and then take the offense while he's asking for ovations. He wouldn't see it coming. But if he's really as dumb as I've heard, you might not even need to resort to that"

"Uh, got it, but Azula…"

"What? I'm not going to go anywhere, so I see no problem at all with this course of action" said Azula, crossing her arms again. Sokka's gaze went down to her breasts almost instinctively upon her motion, her robe showing more of Azula's skin than he had ever seen up to date… which made him blush and forget all about his refusals while trying to cover up for what he'd seen.

"W-well, yeah, you… you're right?" he said, gulping and hoping she hadn't noticed the way his eyes had slipped down to her cleavage.

Azula failed to realize what had brought his change of mind, but she welcomed it nonetheless. She raised an eyebrow and smiled at him, which brought Sokka to fear she might have realized he had just forgotten what they were talking about…

"Well, it's quite relieving you're being so compliant all of sudden, I'll admit" she said, smiling "Thank you for your cooperation, Sokka"

"W-wait…" said Sokka, as the topic returned to his mind "Now, I didn't mean to…!"

"No backing down now!" said Azula, pushing both him and Zuko towards the door "Go to the Grand Royal Dome, and please return with tidings of victory!"

"Azula! Y-you can't just…! Azula!" squealed Sokka, but as soon as both him and Zuko were out in the hallway, the Princess slammed her bedroom door shut.

"Seems to me like 'she can just' all the same, even if you say otherwise" Zuko mocked, turning on his heels and heading down the corridor. Sokka glared at his back before following him.

"How funny" said Sokka, stomping as he caught up to the Prince "At the very least I tried to fight back! How about you? Why didn't you say anything and just accepted this so easily? What kind of debt did you owe her that was worth sponsoring me for a day?"

"W-well…" said Zuko, lowering his gaze as they walked through the Palace halls "When my father banished me, I asked Azula for help. I thought she might refuse me, but to my surprise, she didn't. She was the one who procured the ship with which I traveled during those ten years at sea. Sure it wasn't the biggest or the most advanced ship of the Fire Nation fleets, but it was a good ship nonetheless. It carried me through all those years…"

"Huh" said Sokka, surprised "How did you convince her, though? Sounds so generous coming from her… and to you, of all people"

"I think she expected me to repay her for it whenever she saw fit" said Zuko "Though I also suspect she just wanted me out of the way, as far from the Fire Nation as possible so that she could have a clearer shot at the throne"

"You two seem to have quite the competition regarding who ends up sitting there…" said Sokka, eyeing Zuko with suspicion.

"It should be me" grunted Zuko, startling Sokka. The gladiator had expected Zuko to brush the matter off carelessly "I'm the first-born son. Every law says I should be my father's heir, but… but he's never wanted that. Ever since I was a kid he would often compliment Azula and ignore me completely. More than once I heard him say she was his perfect heir. I always tried to catch up, to show my father I could be as good as she was but my efforts never made a difference. And now… now he's just ashamed of me because I came home empty-handed"

"You and Azula have a very complicated relationship, don't you?" said Sokka, frowning.

"It's been that way for as long as I can remember" said Zuko, shrugging "Back when we were kids we just coveted what the other had. We would play together from time to time, but things just got more strained as time passed. After my mother was gone, things just got worse for everyone, even for my father"

"Really?" said Sokka, surprised "Your father took it that badly?"

"We all did" said Zuko "Well, Azula pretended she didn't care, but for once she couldn't fool me. No matter how troubled their relationship was, she was still her mother just as she was mine"

"So… you also think they had a troubled relationship" said Sokka.

"They did" said Zuko, shrugging "All the same as me with my father. Azula and my mother would often have fights and arguments… my mom would always scold her whenever Azula did something out of bounds. Which, for some reason, didn't keep her from doing bad things anyway…"

"A handful as a child, huh?" said Sokka, smiling a little as he pictured young Azula in his mind.

Zuko nodded as they walked down the last corridor and reached the Palace's outer yard.

"Say…" he muttered, looking at the gladiator sideways "What's that about you getting along better with my father than with me?"

"Uh, well… I guess I've talked to the guy twice and so far he hasn't tried to kill me, so I think that means we get along better than the two of us" said Sokka, shrugging.

"I wasn't trying to kill you" grunted Zuko, glaring at the gladiator "And besides, I'm sure he'll want to kill you himself soon enough. Nobody has enough patience to deal with you for that long without attempting to get rid of you, not even Azula"

"Especially not Azula" said Sokka, gulping "You tried to kill me upon our second meeting… she did on our first and almost succeeded. She spared me, though… for some odd reason. I don't know if I'll ever understand why"

"Azula's mind works in strange ways" said Zuko, shrugging "You really never know what she's up to. Anyhow, my father… why does he get along with you? My father doesn't even bother learning the name of slaves that work directly for him, what makes you so different?"

"I don't think he knows my name" said Sokka, frowning "But I guess it's because of what Azula has told him. I think she told him about what happened back in the Earth Kingdom, and then also about what happened a week ago…"

"What? What did you do then?" asked Zuko, surprised.

"What, word hasn't reached anyone yet?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"There have been no official declarations about it yet" said Zuko "Nobody knows what happened when we were under attack. Were you involved too?"

"A little… I… I just did what I could" said Sokka, shrugging the matter off "And your father thought it was worth thanking me, so…"

"Really?" asked Zuko, shocked "Y-you… earned his gratitude?"

"Why so surprised?" asked Sokka "Underestimated me much, huh?"

"It's not… my father's favor isn't something to take lightly, you know" said Zuko, frowning as they walked by the Palace's guards and entered the city's roads "My whole life I've struggled to be useful to him, to show my father I'm a worthy son, but all along I've been unable to keep to his expectations. Because I couldn't be the son he wanted, I was banished. Because I wanted to earn his favor, I was burned and cast out of my nation. All because I couldn't fulfill what he expected me to. I tried to find the Avatar, the only thing he commanded me to accomplish, but I failed. And now he won't even spare a moment to look at me, his own son"

"Huh…" muttered Sokka, frowning also.

"The same could happen to you" said Zuko "If my father thinks you might be useful or helpful to him in any way, it might be more of a curse than a blessing. The day might come when the favor you've earned will backfire on you…"

"You're quite the pessimistic guy, aren't you?" said Sokka, gulping.

"Maybe" said Zuko, still as serious as ever "But you shouldn't take my father for granted. The only person who has managed to fulfill and even exceed my father's expectations is Azula. And who knows, maybe if she ever failed to do so he would even turn his back on her… he did with me, who is to say it can't happen with her? So… don't take him lightly. For your own good"

Sokka didn't speak much more, his mind still troubled. He doubted Fire Lord Ozai would expect anything else from him, for starters… what could the man gain from him at this point in time? But as for what concerned Azula…

He hadn't pursued a relationship with her, no matter how difficult it was to resist it, because he thought there would be too much pressure on them. A slave and a Princess together would never gain anyone's approval… especially not Fire Lord Ozai's. And for the first time, Sokka was actually considering this matter properly. What would Ozai ever do if any word of what he had done with Azula, any of the kisses or the contact or the closeness, were revealed to the Fire Nation's ruler? For starters, Sokka knew he would be executed for the crime of defiling the Princess, that wasn't even a question. But what would happen to Azula later? She would likely be shamed for what she had done… perhaps her father would resort to favoring Zuko over her. As far as Sokka knew, Prince Zuko hadn't soiled himself with a slave of any kind, had he? So chances were Azula could pay a steeper prince than she should ever afford if they ever got involved for real… a price Sokka didn't want her to afford. Everything she had ever worked for would be on the line if she ever dared take a step out of her role as Ozai's 'perfect heir', just as Zuko had referred to her a moment ago…

"You don't have your weapons with you, do you?" asked Zuko, bringing Sokka back to reality.

"Uh… no, I didn't think I'd need them" said Sokka, frowning.

"We'll have to go get them first, then" said Zuko, sighing "Lead the way, and then we're off to the Arena"

Sokka nodded and complied, and he led Zuko to his home. The house was empty; Song had been out since early in the morning. Sokka picked up his weapons and clad himself in his armor quickly, and soon enough they were heading down to the Grand Royal Dome again. Zuko was rather anxious and uncomfortable upon walking into the Arena without his hood concealing his features, but he tried his best to pretend he was calm. Still, he failed to fool Sokka. The gladiator sensed his increasing tension as they walked through the streets. Zuko's unease was slightly contagious… but he couldn't let himself be affected by it. He had a fight to win today.

"Ready?" asked Sokka, when they were in front of the gates of the Grand Royal Dome.

"Y-yeah" said Zuko, nodding, and each pushed a door open, both strolling into the vestibule side by side.

Shoji frowned as he saw the two men entering the Arena together. He had been waiting for Sokka to show up… but he had never expected him to appear next to the Prince today instead of the Princess.

"What…?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Azula couldn't come today" said Sokka, telling Zuko to show the boy the authorization note by prodding his ribs with an elbow.

Zuko took a step away from Sokka before pulling out the scroll and handing it to Shoji, the only thing he knew to do. Shoji read the note and nodded in approval, although he seemed bothered by Azula's absence.

"Everything is in order, but… why couldn't she make it?" he asked.

"She's not feeling well" lied Sokka, unwilling to explain what Azula's actual condition was. If he went into detail he would spend hours telling the young boy about what had happened with the White Lotus, and he doubted he had that much time to waste "We're not late, are we?"

"You're just in time, rather" said Shoji, looking from one to the other "You should go already, the other fighter awaits"

"Got it" said Sokka, sighing "Let's move, then, Zuko"

The Prince had been looking at the board where the fights had been written, in hopes to spot a familiar name on it… but it was absent. So she didn't have a fight today, then. He nodded at Sokka when he heard him call his name, and Zuko made up his mind to ask Shoji about Kyoshi's Heir's next fights after Sokka's fight was done.

"Good luck!" exclaimed Shoji, as the two men walked towards the stairs.

"What… what am I supposed to do now?" asked Zuko, as they stopped at the foot of their respective flights "What does a sponsor even do, Sokka?"

"Well…" said Sokka, lifting a finger before lowering it as he wondered how to answer that question "You've got the money, right?"

"So it's just a matter of having the money?" asked Zuko, grimacing.

"And putting up with the other sponsor, I think" said Sokka, shrugging "Azula seems to think it's an art, but I honestly have no idea what she does while I'm fighting. I'm pretty busy down in the sand to pay too much attention to what happens on the balcony, you know…"

"I guess" said Zuko, gulping "So what if there's stuff I'm supposed to do when I get up there, and I don't know about it?"

"That… is your problem" said Sokka, shrugging and turning towards the stairs that would lead him down to the stand-by room.

"Hey! It's your problem too! I'm your sponsor!" shouted Zuko.

"Well, you're a grown man, aren't you? Figure it out for yourself! I have a fight ahead of me, and I've got to focus!" said Sokka, waving at Zuko as he headed down into the corridor.

Zuko seemed genuinely irritated by Sokka's dismissal, but he guessed he shouldn't waste more time as it was. He walked upstairs quickly, not heading towards the stands for the first time. Nervousness coursed through him as he climbed the way towards the sponsor's balcony…

Sokka couldn't help but feel rather lonely as he reached the stand-by room on his own. Azula always walked downstairs with him, and he had grown accustomed to her company. He sighed and shook his head, knowing that missing Azula wouldn't help him keep his mind in the fight. He needed to defeat that gladiator, if only to give her some peace of mind when they met again. He had to show her she could count on him, in every possible way…

But not in every way. Sokka frowned and glared at the golden grid, his mind racing. Not long ago he had come to terms with his feelings for the Princess… and today, her brother had given him an uncomfortable taste of reality. He hadn't quite considered acting upon his feelings, he had known there were boundaries he needed to respect in his relationship with Azula… but now, more than ever, he understood why those limits existed.

There were more than enough reasons for him not to attempt to have a romantic relationship with Azula… and the main one, he believed, was that he wasn't worthy of being with her. Surely neither were those other men who were trying to marry into Ozai's family rather than to actually marry Azula, but that didn't mean he was a better option for her. Not after all the damage he had done to her… after all the pain and anguish he had caused her. She was grateful for his help in the forest, and she also was quite thankful for his performance when the Order of the White Lotus attacked, but his latest deeds couldn't erase his past mistakes. And he knew as much. So… even when he loved her as he did, he knew it couldn't happen. It shouldn't happen. Azula deserved better.

And Sokka believed her father was perfectly aware of that as well. Ozai might accept Sokka, and perhaps he would hold certain expectations regarding the gladiator, but that didn't mean he would give him his blessing to court his daughter. The mere idea was ridiculous. It was quite a depressing thought, that he wouldn't be allowed to be with the woman he loved, but at the same time he thought he should be satisfied. He knew Azula wouldn't settle with anyone below her standards. Whoever the Princess chose as her husband would be very fortunate and, hopefully, a much better man than he was.

Still… the thought of Azula in the arms of another man made his stomach twist in anger. She wasn't his to covet… she was free to do as she pleased, and so long as she was happy, he should be as well. The things that truly mattered were Azula's happiness and safety, nothing else. His feelings should be the last of his priorities.

The grid was raised, and Sokka frowned. If he kept thinking about Azula he would make a mess of himself in the Arena. He had a fight ahead of himself. He needed to focus!

Putting together all his courage and strength, Sokka breathed deeply and walked out into the sand, glaring at the odd man who awaited him in the ring.

"Well, here we go" said the nobleman beside Zuko, smirking "May the best gladiator win, Princess A-… oh, excuse me, I had been practicing that line for such a long time that I forgot for a moment who sat beside me"

Zuko gritted his teeth and said nothing. He didn't understand what the purpose of this trash talk was, but he sure wasn't going to fall for it. Yes, he wasn't his sister and he belonged nowhere close to the sponsor's balcony… but he was here today. And he refused to make a fool of himself. He had to show he was up to his sister's level, and he knew she wouldn't fall for taunts such as these. But in order to get the chance to prove he was as good as Azula was, in order to show that man that his trash talk served no purpose, Sokka needed to win…

The gladiators glared at each other fiercely as the megaphone man called for the start of the fight…

* * *

"Azula!" squealed an all-too familiar voice from the bedroom door.

Azula set aside the scroll she had been reading to pass the time before raising her gaze to find her two friends standing on the threshold.

"Ty Lee? Mai?" she said, surprised, as the two girls walked inside, Ty Lee hastily and Mai solemnly.

"We were so worried about you!" Ty Lee said, running up to Azula and flinging her arms around her. The Princess grimaced and pushed her away.

"You might not want to do that, Ty Lee… I'm supposed to be sick, in case you don't recall it" Azula muttered.

"Oh! Right!" said Ty Lee, jumping back and sitting on the chair Sokka usually took "Though… you don't look so sick to me"

"I don't feel sick, but I've been confined to my chambers by the healers and my father" said Azula, rolling her eyes "I should be allowed out of here by now. They're being unreasonable"

"Surely they think the unreasonable one is you" said Mai, stopping next to Ty Lee "From the rumors we heard, you were badly sick"

"We were so worried when you weren't underground!" said Ty Lee "We thought maybe you'd be with your father, but both me and Mai had such a bad feeling about it…"

"It seems for once your instincts were right" said Azula, sighing "Nevertheless, even if I was badly sick, I'm much better now. I have better things to do than lounge around in bed all day"

"Oh, surely…" said Ty Lee, with a smirk. Azula ignored her.

"Still, you say you were worried… why didn't you come before if you were so concerned about my state? I've been under house arrest for a week now…"

"We tried" said Mai "But we couldn't make it past the gathering of whining citizens in front of the Palace until today"

"The soldiers weren't letting anyone through until the crowds settled down" explained Ty Lee.

"Really?" asked Azula, confused "Then how has Sokka been able to get in here all along…?"

"Oh, I suppose some men will stop at nothing when they have a good reason to try their hardest…" said Ty Lee, smirking in the same way again. And this time Azula couldn't let the matter slide. It was clear that the girl was dying to get the Princess to ask her what her problem was.

"And what exactly do you mean by that, Ty Lee?" asked Azula, glaring pointedly at her.

"Oh, come on, don't act so innocent! No need to hide anything anymore, Azula" said Ty Lee, proudly "I know all about it now! It's fine to admit what's going on with you and Sokka, your secret is safe with us!"

Azula's eyebrow rose slowly as she looked at her friend as though she were delusional.

"And… what exactly is this secret that even I ignore, Ty Lee?" she asked, confused.

"You'll keep up the act, Azula? Really?" asked Ty Lee, pouting "I'm talking about you and Sokka! You kissed him the other day at my house! I saw you two smooching into the night!"

"You saw what, now?" asked Azula, looking at Ty Lee warily now.

"I saw you two kissing, I said!" insisted Ty Lee "You're not going to pretend it didn't happen, are you?"

"It's hard to 'pretend' something didn't happen when it genuinely didn't…" said Azula, sighing and looking away, as though bothered by Ty Lee's lies…

… Which were actually true, but Azula's lying skills could overcome Ty Lee's declaration any time of the day. For some reason it was much harder to lie when it came to Sokka, but it didn't mean she couldn't convince Ty Lee that she had just been imagining things. It was quite a startling surprise to discover the girl had seen them, but it didn't matter. She was to keep distance between herself and Sokka, and in order to accomplish that she had to invalidate the progress of their relationship. It didn't matter if Ty Lee had seen them or not: if Azula denied it, barely anyone would believe what Ty Lee had to say. Because why would the Fire Nation Princess bother kissing a slave…?

"Oh, come on!" Ty Lee demanded, frowning now "I saw you! You're going to say I'm crazy now?!"

"I'm not the one saying it…" said Azula "But it's the best conclusion I can come to at the moment"

Mai began snickering, which startled Azula and embarrassed Ty Lee.

"W-what's so funny?!" asked Ty Lee, glaring at her chuckling friend.

"To think you were really trying to make me pay for that bet…" said Mai, shaking her head.

"Bet? What bet?" asked Azula, frowning and looking at her friends inquisitively. Ty Lee froze upon her question.

"W-well, that's… uh… you see…"

"Back when you hired Sokka, Ty Lee told me something was going to happen between the two of you" said Mai, to Azula's dismay "I told her I didn't think so. Hence she decided we would hold a bet, and she planned to make me pay for it when she told me all about how she'd seen you and Sokka kissing. I said her eyes had been playing tricks on her, and she kept going about it until I couldn't take it anymore. I figured the only way to find out if it was true would be to ask you directly… and now you prove my beliefs correct: Ty Lee is delusional"

"Truly" said Azula, though she still looked at her friends with mild indignation "Though I can't believe you were holding a bet about me"

"I figured it was the best way to teach Ty Lee a lesson on thoughtless gambling" said Mai "And I would earn money through it, so I had nothing to lose"

"Y-you… You didn't win, Mai! Stop lying, Azula!" screamed Ty Lee, growing desperate "You know even better than I do that you've kissed him! So why are you denying it now?! Is he a bad kisser or something? Because it sure didn't look that way from where I was standing!"

"You were standing in a dream, I'm sure…" said Azula "Indeed, if I had kissed that idiot I would be aware of it, and I'd likely be unable to lie about it. So why can I deny it? Because it's not true, that's why"

"Just as I said" said Mai, smirking

"Ugh! You… you two are the worst!" squealed Ty Lee, jumping off her chair and glaring from one girl to the other "I'll go get him, then! I'm pretty sure he won't be able to lie as well as you do, Azula!"

And with that, the girl walked out of the room angrily, slamming the door as she exited the room. Azula couldn't hold back a small smirk of satisfaction and she leaned back on the pillows again.

"What were you reading?" asked Mai, without taking her seat.

"An old firebending scroll" said Azula "It has some information on lightning bending… but not what I'm looking for, apparently. In any case, should you be here, Mai? Should you leave your son unattended?"

"He's not unattended, Ruon Jian stayed with him today" said Mai "He promised to look after him while I came to see you. He's growing quick, he already started crawling the other day…"

"Did he?" said Azula, surprised "That was fast"

"Time flies, it seems" said Mai, nodding "We were quite worried about you back when this mess happened. It was really confusing, we still don't know what exactly happened…"

"I believe my father will make an official statement about it either today or tomorrow" said Azula "But he's hoping to capture the remaining White Lotus members that are still at large, including someone we suspect had been spying on us all along…"

"A… a spy?" repeated Mai, surprised.

"Yes, a spy. We ignore who it is exactly, but it had to be someone who knew the Palace perfectly, who knew how to acquire soldiers' uniforms…" said Azula, sighing "My father doesn't trust anyone at the moment, he's questioning the loyalty of almost everyone around him in hopes he'll discover who the spy was. It must have been someone he trusted…"

"Do you truly believe so?" asked Mai, frowning "Why would anyone want to cross the Fire Lord? Especially someone who is on his good side. His council is completely comprised by people who seek his favor… what use could there be in stabbing him on the back?"

"I don't know" said Azula, sighing "But I'm certain they'll have their reasons…"

"Reasons?" repeated Mai, thoughtful "You think this spy would hold some sort of resentment towards the Fire Lord? Double-crossing him would have served a purpose…"

"Why else do it?" asked Azula "Seeking revenge for a wrongdoing, hoping to gain power if the Fire Nation's government had fallen… whichever purpose there was in these actions still makes it impossible to justify them. Whoever did this will be punished, my father will see to it"

"And… are there any suspects so far?" asked Mai.

"Too many suspects to come to a conclusion yet, from what I've been told" said Azula "Why?"

"Because… because I saw some people down in the catacombs, Azula" said Mai, looking at her friend worriedly "People who might have a reason to take revenge against your father… against you"

Azula's eyes widened when Mai proceeded to explain what she meant. Her friend's words were hard to digest, but at the same time, they made sense. The thought of being betrayed by people she had been so close to was rather distressing… and to think she was probably to blame for it all made the situation worse still. Nonetheless, she couldn't weaver, especially not over personal feelings. If Mai's suspicions were spot-on, Azula had a duty to her people and her father. She had to tell him of Mai's guess, there was nothing more to it.

"Thanks for telling me this, Mai. I… I shall convey what you've told me to my father" said Azula.

"I'm sorry" said Mai, sighing "I should probably go see where Ty Lee ran off to, shouldn't I?"

"I wouldn't be too worried. She's not going to find Sokka anytime soon" said Azula, shrugging "He's in a fight right now"

"Is he?" asked Mai, surprised "How can he be in a fight if you're here?"

"Zuko is sponsoring him for today" said Azula "It was either that or forfeiting, and I refused to let that happen"

"Naturally" said Mai, smiling a little. It was good to know Zuko was busy… "Now, about what Ty Lee said…"

"I'm not that offended about the bet, but it's something rather ridiculous, Mai" said Azula "I didn't think friends would go around betting on each other's love lives…"

"Neither did I. But I expect to win it, Azula… I'd better win it" said Mai, looking at Azula sternly.

Azula froze where she was as she looked back at the girl with confusion.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't care for the money, Azula" said Mai, her gaze falling upon a vase with flowers that sat on Azula's dresser "It's not that steep a gamble. Nevertheless… you know better than to get entangled with a slave, don't you?"

Azula grew paler at Mai's words. So her act hadn't served any purpose… Mai knew it was true, she could see it in her eyes. Ty Lee had caught her in the middle of the kiss, and she herself was well aware of the fact that it had happened… so it really was no secret. Nobody had been misled by that silly argument earlier.

"Your doubts are insulting" Azula said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest and closing her eyes. Even if Mai had seen through her lies, it would be best to pretend she was in control of the situation even when she knew she wasn't…

"They'd better be" said Mai.

"Weren't you going to get Ty Lee?" asked Azula, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she refused to look at Mai and to carry on speaking of the same subject.

"Alright, then" said Mai, turning to the door and walking away, Azula's glare fixated on her back.

It wasn't bad enough that she already told herself not to get involved with Sokka, now other people were telling her the same. Was she that obvious? Had her sickness ruined her lying abilities? Although, if she were to be honest… ever since she had pulled Sokka into her life she had been having it much harder to lie.

She sighed and decided to stop thinking about him, but her mind drifted again towards the people Mai suspected to be the spies. Azula gritted her teeth and threw her head down on the pillow, wishing her mind would be quiet for a moment. She'd had enough of worrying about betrayals and relationships for the time being…

* * *

The boulder flew Sokka's way, but for some reason he wasn't having a hard time dealing with it at all. The Rock had resorted to the now frequent technique of breaking down the well in order to use the stones to fight, but that wasn't enough to tear Sokka down anymore.

The Blue Wolf sliced through every stone skillfully, as though it were a simple feat. Sokka wished to think it was just because he had become used to fighting against earthbenders… but he knew the actual reason why he was winning against The Rock was because the man's offensive was comprised mostly by head-first aggression. The Rock wasn't trying to think the fight through, he only tried to hit Sokka with his boulders and hoped to land a lucky hit. Though, in all fairness, if Sokka's sword had been any less sharp than it was, The Rock would have crushed him with his first attack.

Sokka lunged forward when The Rock lost his focus shortly as he tried to find another rock large enough to chuck at his opponent. Sokka attempted to cut at the man's bare chest, but The Rock jumped back and shot an array of sand at Sokka's face before trying to punch him without using his bending. Sokka shut his eyes by reflex before the sand struck him and he twisted his body to avoid the hit, performing a barrel-roll with which he knocked The Rock headfirst to the ground.

Sokka leapt back up to his feet and wiped away the dirt on his face. His eyes prickled slightly despite his attempt to protect them, but, to his relief, he could still see his rival fighter despite the uncomfortable sensation. The Rock struggled to stand up again, toppling over the sand in a comical manner as he tried to push himself up.

"You feeling alright?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"The Rock feels angry!" exclaimed the man, spitting sand as he spoke "The Rock is going to crush you!"

"Why do you speak of yourself in third person…?" asked Sokka, frowning, but the man attacked again and didn't respond.

Sokka avoided another rock and stared at his opponent, who was panting heavily. The Rock had spent his energies thoughtlessly, and he barely had any rocks left to attack him with. Sokka had the upper hand today, as he had suspected he would as soon as the fight had begun. This earthbender was dumber than any he had faced before…

"So? Why talk in third person, Mr. The Rock?" asked Sokka, trying to make time. He was certain he would be declared the winner any moment now, the fight's twenty minutes had to be close to over by now…

"The Rock… The Rock is confused" admitted the man, failing to understand Sokka's question.

"Maybe because it's not your real name, is it?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow "Maybe you're so deep into your role that you can't talk of yourself as if you were yourself! Is that it?"

"… The Rock is still confused" mumbled the earthbender "Silence, wolf-boy! The Rock will destroy you!"

"Now, now, what's your real name? Maybe if you get out of that mindset you'll be able to sound more reasonable" said Sokka, taunting him as he paced around the man carelessly.

"The Rock's real name…? The Rock's real name is…" started The Rock, taking a deep breath before answering "The Rock's real name is The Boulder!"

Sokka froze where he stood. That was definitely the answer he would have expected least.

"And The Rock and The Boulder will crush you!" shouted the earthbender, flinging the remnants of the shattered rocks straight at Sokka.

Sokka pulled out his club now; fighting pebbles with his sword wouldn't be too helpful. He swung the heavy weapon to fend off the stones, and The Rock ran at Sokka desperately, not knowing what else to do. He had been rendered weaponless, he clearly was no master of sands, and he was trying to reduce Sokka in any possible way… and if that way was to be by fighting with his own fists and not with bending, then so be it.

But his attempt to attack Sokka while he was distracted proved futile. Sokka swept the last of the stones away just as the man reached him. Sokka struck The Rock's stomach with his club, making the man lose his breath, and then tripped him. The Rock landed on his back this time, his face contorted as he squealed in quite a girly manner. Sokka smiled down at the man and then lifted his face up towards the sponsors' balcony by reflex, hoping to find Azula smiling down at him in approval…

… and he only found Zuko frowning as he gazed upon The Rock, likely wondering if the guy was unable to keep fighting.

"The time is up!" shouted the megaphone man, and the crowd cheered enthusiastically.

Sokka turned back down to The Rock, who seemed completely disappointed with himself. Sokka helped him back on his feet, offering a hand the other fighter took with gratitude.

"You're strong, wolf-boy" said The Rock "The Rock would like to fight you again one day"

"Sure…" said Sokka, smiling weakly and patting the man on the back.

"But the next time it will be on The Rock's domains! You will go Gladiator Rumble and fight him there!"

"Uh… alright, big guy, whatever you say" said Sokka, gulping.

"After quite an impressive fight… the winner is The Blue Wolf" declared one of the judges eventually, and the crowd cheered for Sokka yet again.

Sokka wanted to feel happy about his triumph, but for some reason he couldn't feel the thrill of victory today either. Maybe he could beat this guy… maybe he could win every fight ahead of him. But if it wasn't Azula with him, it wasn't the same… it didn't feel right. And it wasn't as though Zuko had done something wrong, as far as Sokka knew Zuko hadn't made any mistakes while filling in for his sister, but Sokka would have much rather shared his victory with her instead…

Zuko was still looking down at the Arena when the man beside him pushed a bag of coins in the Prince's direction and walked away without another word. Zuko couldn't help but smirk a little. At the beginning of the fight the man's cockiness had been almost unbearable, but as Sokka fought expertly against his opponent, the man's taunts had diminished until they had disappeared completely. Now he surrendered and walked away without a word, and Zuko felt rather proud of himself… and proud, even if he wouldn't admit to it, of having sponsored his sister's gladiator for today.

He walked down to the vestibule on his own, assuming Sokka would meet up with him when his medical check was over. Shoji's counter was empty, so Zuko decided to approach him, grasping the perfect chance to ask Shoji about his favorite gladiator.

"I just heard Sokka won" said Shoji, smiling "Congratulations. Your first time sponsoring and you've won!"

"Uh… I didn't do anything" said Zuko, grimacing "Anyways, I didn't come here to boast about Sokka winning. I wanted to ask about Kyoshi's Heir's next fights, if you would be so kind to tell me"

The boy's eyes widened, to Zuko's discomfort. What was so surprising about his question?

"Are you okay?" he asked Shoji, who grimaced and looked down, unable to hold the Prince's stare.

"I, uh… I'm sorry, but I can't… I can't tell you" he muttered.

"Huh? W-why? You've been telling me about her fights all along, why can't you do it anymore?!" asked Zuko, astonished.

"Well… I've got some bad news for you, Prince Zuko" muttered Shoji "We got a message a few days ago… and it informed us that Kyoshi's Heir was dropping out of the Gladiator League"

Now Zuko's eyes were the ones that widened. Zuko stared at Shoji in disbelief, unable to utter a word, doing nothing but shaking his head as he tried to assimilate the information.

"B-but… why? How could she…? Why did she…?" he asked, aghast.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know. I could try to investigate more if you want me to…" said Shoji, looking at Zuko with concern "But right now all I know is that she won't be fighting as a gladiator anymore"

Maybe that was good news… maybe it wasn't. Zuko didn't know how to take this information. If she wasn't going to fight as a gladiator anymore, then what was she going to do? Why had she dropped out all of sudden? Could he find her and ask her those questions? Or was she out of his grasp, as she had always been, and he would be rendered unable to reach out for her again…? He had sought her out during the incident with the White Lotus, but he had failed to find her within the catacombs. He had searched everywhere… had she dropped out of the League already? Right after meeting him…?

The questions tormented him as he made his way back to the Palace, side by side with Sokka. They didn't talk much, both lost in their own train of thoughts, but Zuko did congratulate Sokka for his triumph. Aside from that small exchange, they didn't bicker or speak of anything else, which in itself was some progress. It was the first time they had spent time together without ending up fighting or arguing badly.

Nevertheless, Zuko wasn't cheerful at all upon arriving at the Palace. He strode towards his room, ignoring everyone and everything around him, including his Uncle.

"Prince Zuko! I was wondering where you were… would you have some tea?" he asked, smiling, as Zuko walked by him "Uh… Prince Zuko?"

"I'm not thirsty" he muttered, entering his room and slamming the door, leaving a worried Iroh staring after him.

Zuko glared at the poster on his wall and ripped it off angrily. How stupid had he been to misunderstand the situation… she had opened up to him, but chances were she might have wanted nothing else to do with him. What if she had even left just to get away from him? It seemed a long shot, but fortune had never been kind to him and he doubted that was going to change anytime soon.

Still… she had given him happiness when nothing else had. She had gotten his mind off troubles that only made him miserable. He had helped her when she had been upset, and she hadn't measured him, she hadn't compared him to his sister to see which of them was stronger, smarter or more talented… no, she didn't care for all those things. To her, he was just a man who had given her a peach. So… why run away from him? Why did she vanish without a trace?

Against his better judgment, Zuko placed the poster on the wall again. Until he knew the truth of what had happened to Suki, he wouldn't jump to any conclusions. He knew she was a good person, an honorable, strong woman… even if she was gone now, he knew he hadn't judged her wrongly. She was a great person, much better than he was. But thus, even if he tried to convince himself of that, the same question still lingered in Zuko's mind: what had happened to Suki?

"Very well… very well" muttered Ozai, a dark frown upon his features "It is the only theory that makes sense so far, Azula. Well done discovering this"

"I didn't unveil this on my own, father, but…" said Azula, her gaze on the floor as she spoke to the Fire Lord.

"I will send word for them to be seized" declared Ozai "If they truly are to blame for the operation that almost took down the Fire Nation, they will face the consequences of their actions"

"As they should" replied Azula.

"Get back in bed now, Princess" said Ozai "I believe you will be allowed to return to your activities by tomorrow. At least, that is what the head physician told me. Nonetheless, you must continue to rest today"

"Tomorrow? Finally" said Azula, relieved "Very well, then, father. Thank you for letting me know"

"Back to bed, then. I will see you tomorrow" said Ozai, turning around to leave.

Azula slipped into the sheets and sighed. She had a bad feeling about Mai's theory… she had a bad feeling about telling her father about it too. For some reason something seemed off about it, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It was truly hard to believe those two old ladies would be to blame for what had occurred…

Ozai opened the door just as someone tried to grasp its handle on the other side. The Fire Lord raised an eyebrow upon spotting Sokka stretching out clumsily to reach the doorknob.

"Oh… hey there, Fire Lord" said Sokka, smiling uncomfortably "How's it going?"

Ozai merely raised an eyebrow at Sokka's extremely casual way to speak to him. It was also fishy that he would come to visit his daughter so often…

"I never knew a gladiator and a sponsor would be this close" he muttered, making Sokka jump.

"Ah, w-well… I just came to inform your daughter of something, don't misunderstand" said Sokka, nervously.

"Is there anything to be misunderstood?" asked Ozai, making Sokka jump.

"Ah, no, of course not!" he squeaked, his voice incredibly shrill as he tried to feign innocence and failed completely at it.

Ozai only leered at him judgmentally for a moment before walking past him without another word. Sokka breathed heavily, watching the man go. How could Ozai wreck his nerves so easily…? Even if he tried to act as naturally as possible while around him, it was impossible to do so.

Sokka heard a huff of irritation from the bed, and found Azula sitting straight on it, glaring at him.

"Honestly, Sokka… he failed to notice your flowers and yet you still had to make a fool of yourself" said Azula, shaking her head.

Sokka smiled uncomfortably before noticing that the flowers sat on a vase now, on the Princess's dresser.

"You found one, then?" he asked, smiling and approaching the Princess.

"One of the healers procured one for me" said Azula, looking at the flowers on her dresser "For some reason, nearly everyone has ignored them. Which relieves me, to be honest. Ty Lee came by today and if she had caught sight of them she would have annoyed me to no end"

"Doesn't she do that even without the flowers?" asked Sokka, smiling cruelly.

Azula couldn't help but smile and shake her head.

"You're really something, gladiator…" she said "Which reminds me, how did it go? Did you win? Was Zuko any use as your sponsor?"

"Oh, uh…" said Sokka, scratching his head "Well, it went fine. I won"

"Good to know" said Azula, smiling with relief now "See, I told you forfeiting was pointless"

"He was quite a dumb fighter, to tell you the truth" said Sokka, chuckling "He was funny in a way, but he's definitely not the best earthbender I've faced. I think he would have done better in an ambience with more rocks instead of sand… which is why I'm glad the fight was at the Grand Royal Dome"

Azula smiled and nodded.

"You were favored by the circumstances, thankfully" she said "And what of Zuko? Did he do his job or did he make a mess of things?"

"Well…" said Sokka, looking up at the ceiling as he wondered how to explain himself "He didn't make a mess of things, not quite…"

"Not quite? What did he do, then?" asked Azula, confused.

"Nothing, really" said Sokka, scratching his head again "He pulled off his job as he had to, dealt with the other sponsor, got the money when I won and all that…"

"Money he ought to give to me soon enough" grunted Azula, an eyebrow twitching.

"Yeah, he should deliver it at some point" said Sokka, smiling nervously.

"So? If he did everything right, why do you sound as though he had failed at his job?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, he did everything right, yeah, but… there was just one small thing I couldn't overlook no matter how hard I tried. Something that just wouldn't make him good for the job, not for real…"

"And what is that?" asked Azula, expecting Sokka to complain about Zuko's whiny or angry nature, or even his lack of experience at dealing with noblemen.

But to her surprise, Sokka gave her a tender smile before answering her question in the way she had least expected him to:

"He's not you"

Azula's eyes widened and her cheeks reddened quickly at Sokka's statement. His azure gaze was too intense for her to keep holding it. She looked away, a hand going to her forehead as she tried to digest what Sokka had just said.

"Ah… I… Of course he's not me, hadn't you noticed that beforehand?" she asked, refusing to look back at him anytime soon.

"Uh… are you okay, Azula? You're red again… is the fever back?!" he asked, startled at the idea.

"Shut up! There's no fever, you're… Ugh, just get out of here!" she shouted, flinging a pillow at him.

"Now, Azula, I'm worried about you!" said Sokka, catching it on midair

The Princess refused to answer to what he said now, knowing that Sokka was playing a fool right now just to liven up the atmosphere. It was truly shocking that, after such a stressful afternoon of dealing with friends who betted on her love life and struggling to uncover conspiracies, this foolish man could make all of that disappear with a single sentence.

And now she had no idea how to overcome the embarrassment after what Sokka had just said… how was she supposed to respond to what he had told her? She could act proud or send him back through where he had come from, but it wouldn't change the fact that her heart had skipped a beat upon his words: it was the first time someone had told her, without referring to her skills or talents, that she was irreplaceable.


	57. Chapter 57

Sokka pushed the door open, only realizing a little too late that he should have knocked first as a precaution. He froze on the doorway when he caught sight of the Princess standing before her dresser, pulling her hair out of her shirt as she got ready for the day. He hadn't seen anything he shouldn't have, she was already wearing everything but her armor, yet the sight of her was enough to send the blood rushing up to his face again.

Azula turned around when she heard the door creak open, and she looked at Sokka with surprise and almost bashfulness.

"Forgot how to knock, did you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"S-sorry, I thought you'd still be in bed!" he said, nervously "And since you're not… does it mean they gave you leave at last?"

"Yes, the head physician came by a moment ago and decided I would be released from the confines of my room. Finally" said Azula, buckling her belt.

"Then you've managed a full recovery… I'm glad" said Sokka, smiling weakly. Should his heart be pounding so hard by watching her getting dressed…?

"It seems I have" said Azula, picking up her armor and placing it on with some difficulty.

Sokka's gaze was on the floor as Azula struggled with the armor. Maybe if he stopped watching her he would manage to stop being so mesmerized by her… for some reason the effect she already had on him was stronger now that she was back to normal.

"So… what are we going to do now you're free?" he asked, still not looking at her as she finished buckling the armor.

"We?" she said, raising an eyebrow "Putting us together in a set now, are you?"

"W-well, why not?" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly as Azula sat before the dresser and attempted to pull her hair up in a knot "Uh… why are you pulling all of it up? Don't you usually have just a half-knot?"

"Today is a special day, of sorts…" said Azula, struggling to pull her hair together "Where are those blasted servants when you need one? Curse it…"

"You want me to help you?" asked Sokka, before he could hold himself. Azula dropped her hair in surprise and stared at him in confusion.

"You?"

"A-ah, well, I… I've put my hair together ever since I was a kid, so…" said Sokka, shrugging and looking at the floor once more.

Azula failed to understand what was with his bashful demeanor today. It didn't seem Sokka himself understood what was happening with him either, though. If anyone should be embarrassed by his walking in on her while she was getting dressed it was her, not him. Yet here he was, acting in a more foolish manner than usual…

"Do you really know how? My hair is very different from that of a snow savage, in case you don't know it" said Azula, trying to tease him in order to bring forth his usual attitude.

"You don't need to say that twice" said Sokka, smiling weakly and approaching.

Why had he even offered? What was with him? He had to keep a healthy distance from her now that he was well aware of what he felt for her. He had to keep the boundaries! But why was it that every time he told himself to do so, he was compelled to close the distance between them even more? Now he shivered just by thinking he was about to fix her hair for her…

"Make sure not to pull it" grunted Azula, when Sokka stood right behind her. She was still slightly concerned by his attitude, but she said nothing more as his trembling fingers slid through her hair.

Now it was Azula who wondered why she had accepted to let him do this. Her reflection in the mirror showed her cheeks reddening as he picked a brush from the dresser and ran it down her hair in a much gentler manner than she had expected from him. She was stiff and nervous at first before she gave in to the odd sensations she felt as his hands slid over her scalp. So many people had brushed her hair before, and yet she had never found herself as exhilarant by such a simple act as she was now.

Sokka set her bangs before her ears and then proceeded to pull her hair up. His breathing was a little heavier than usual as he gathered the strands gently, making a tall bun and doing his best to keep every hair in place. He knew Azula wasn't one for imperfections.

"The ribbon…" he muttered, when he had already shaped the bun.

Azula hadn't realized she had closed her eyes as she genuinely enjoyed his every motion. She took the red ribbon and handed it over to Sokka almost harshly. He took it, trying not to touch her hand. It had been more than enough physical contact for one day…

He could feel himself sweat by the time he finished binding the top-knot. Azula looked at herself in the mirror once he was done, surprised that he had accomplished his goal properly without pulling her hair at all. Sokka stepped back, wiping the sweat off his brow. This was definitely the last time he'd offer to do something like this for her, he was sure he wouldn't be able to keep his cool if he ever did it again…

"Surprisingly well done" said Azula, taking her hairpiece and placing it right before the bun "You could pursue a career in hairdressing"

"How funny" grunted Sokka, as she smirked and stood up

"Oh, have I offended your manliness?" she asked.

"You should thank me instead of making fun of me, don't you think?" said Sokka, glaring at Azula.

"You should know I don't often do what I'm expected to… which is something we have in common" she said, walking past him but not before dedicating him another malicious smile.

Sokka could have pursued the matter, and maybe in the past he would have. But for some reason he couldn't keep from smiling now as she headed towards the door. He followed her, a few steps behind her, his gaze falling upon the back of her neck. What was with her decision to pull all her hair up? It was the first time he had seen her like this…

He thought the Princess might go have breakfast now, but to his surprise, she walked off towards the gardens instead. And he couldn't keep from smiling when he saw what her objective actually was.

"Well, well… it has been quite a while, you treacherous dragon" said Azula solemnly, approaching the reptile that slept lazily in the Palace grounds.

Xin Long jumped upon hearing her voice. His eyes opened and he gazed at Azula in surprise at first. The Princess smiled weakly at him before the dragon jumped at her with a cheerful groan, blissful to see her for the first time in over a week.

"Hey, hey!" said Azula, as Xin Long leapt back and forth around her, still amongst cheerful whimpers "I was trying to convey something important here! Stop being such a baby and…! Xin, what are you even…?"

The dragon stopped leaping and surrounded Azula with his long body. The Princess lifted her arms, not knowing how to respond to his unexpected display of affection.

"Now, now, I'm quite glad you're so happy to see me, Xin, but I have some serious scolding to do to you, in case you've forgotten" said Azula, trying to be stern. Xin Long simply gurgled, as he often did, and pressed his head against her chest "Xin… Xin, are you going to listen to me at all?"

The dragon seemed to ignore everything she was saying, now nuzzling her and chuckling in his dragon-like groans. Azula sighed, knowing nothing she said would go through to her dragon. Yet she found herself smiling as well as she petted his head, her hands sliding through his soft blue hair.

"Yes, yes…" she muttered "I'm glad to see you too"

Xin Long seemed to squeeze her harder after what she said, and he whimpered again happily. Azula couldn't help but laugh as she caressed his mane gently, forgetting about scolding the dragon for the time being. Sokka watched them, beaming. If there was a sight he would never get enough of, it was that of a genuinely smiling Azula. Her devious smirks were often present on her face, but this kind of pure-hearted joy was something the Princess hardly experienced. Witnessing her in this state of bliss never failed to bring a smile to Sokka's face as well.

"I hope you're not really going to scold him for what he did that day" said Sokka, at which Azula remembered he was still around. She felt slightly embarrassed at being watched by him in a moment like this one, but she decided not to act upon it. Sokka understood quite well the nature of her relationship with the dragon; that Xin Long would wrap his body around her, and that she'd accept the creature's gesture, shouldn't be much of a surprise for him.

"I wanted to, but he won't let me" said Azula, sighing in resignation "Such a stubborn dragon"

"A happy dragon, I'd say. Happy to see his rider again" said Sokka, grinning "In any case, you shouldn't scold him at all. Without him, you wouldn't have known to come to the Palace, and if he hadn't brought me afterwards…"

"I know, I know" said Azula, nodding "I just want to make sure he won't get used to having other people ride him"

"I don't think he wants anyone else riding him in the first place" said Sokka, reassuringly "You have nothing to worry about"

"Good to know" said the Princess, smiling and patting the dragon's head again.

"So… what are we going to do today?" asked Sokka "Will you take flight with him? Or would you rather go train? Knowing you, you're probably despairing to pick up your sword again just hoping to cut me up with it…"

"I would be" said Azula, growing stern suddenly, to Sokka's surprise "And I would be more than glad to fly with Xin Long for a while, but… there's something else I must do today"

Sokka blinked a few times, looking at her with confusion.

"Really? What sort of…? Wait, does it have something to do with the reason why you wanted to have your hair up?"

"Surprisingly observant of you, Sokka" she said, smiling weakly at him before telling Xin Long through their mind's bond that she needed to leave, but not without assuring him she would come to him again later. The dragon seemed reluctant to let her go, but he did so nonetheless, prodding her shoulder with his nose and asking her not to take too long so that they could fly together once more.

"Then… what is it you have to do?" asked Sokka, as Azula passed him by and entered the Palace's halls again.

"You told my father about your suspicions regarding a spy, didn't you…?" said Azula, as Sokka treaded along with her.

"Wait, you found him?" asked Sokka, shocked "You know who the spy is?"

"Not exactly a 'him', nor is it just one spy" muttered Azula, dropping her gaze "Though I'm not sure if we actually caught the right person. I doubt it, to be honest…"

"More than one spy? Then… who are they?" asked Sokka, frowning.

They turned around a corner and entered the Royal Gallery, and Azula smiled weakly upon doing so. Even if she had been so sickly, she still recalled Sokka's offer to make her portrait one day…

"I don't think I ever got around introducing you to my former advisors, did I?" said Azula, relieved Sokka was so involved in their conversation that he wouldn't criticize the portraits this time around.

"You had advisors?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"They had been my caretakers as a child, then they became my firebending teachers and afterwards they took the position of advisors" said Azula.

"But… you said 'former' advisors" said Sokka, frowning again "Did you replace them or something? Or did they leave your service?"

"You could say I replaced them with a foolish gladiator who happens to make ten wrong decisions for every right one…" said Azula, smirking a little at him, at which Sokka scowled.

"At least I get something right once in a while…" he muttered, noticing too late that he wouldn't save face with that argument "But then… I'm your advisor now?"

"Without my awareness, I'd say you've become one" said Azula, at which Sokka found himself beaming with pride "You have been handing out advice even when I don't ask for it, so it really isn't as though I appointed you officially or anything…"

"Well, I don't need any fancy ceremonies or anything of the kind" said Sokka, smiling and waving a hand carelessly "It's quite cool to think I've hijacked the post of Azula's advisor…"

"You would likely say otherwise about the fancy ceremony if you thought there would be food in it…"

"Would there be?!"

"As predictable as ever, Sokka" said Azula, sighing and shaking her head.

"But… wait, back to the main issue" said Sokka, frowning again "What about those former advisors of yours? They're… they're the spies? How?"

"That's what I'd like to know" muttered Azula, her face darkening as she pondered the matter again "And that's what I'm supposed to find out during their trial"

"W-what… trial?!" asked Sokka, shocked "That's what you're going to… that's what you have to do today"

"Indeed" said Azula, turning to the right upon reaching Fire Lord Ozai's portrait.

And the Fire Lord himself stood before the curtains of the Throne Room, speaking solemnly to a guard who bowed down and moved away. Ozai caught sight of his daughter and the slave, and he nodded in acknowledgment towards Azula.

"Are you feeling well, Azula?" he asked his daughter.

"I have felt well for long enough now, father" said Azula, bowing her head before him "There is no need to worry about me any longer. Is the trial about to begin?"

"Shortly. The guards have gone to retrieve our suspects" Ozai informed her "I see you brought your slave to witness the trial…"

"Oh, he just tagged along" said Azula, shrugging, as Sokka gave Ozai an awkward smile "He'd have no problem waiting outside, I'm sure…"

"There's no need for that" said Ozai "Your gladiator provided quite a service to the Fire Nation. If he wishes to witness this trial, then he is welcome to do so"

"W-wha… really?" asked Sokka, astounded. Even Azula seemed surprised.

"Are you certain of this, father?" asked Azula, staring at Ozai in disbelief

"So long as he behaves himself, he shouldn't be a concern" said Ozai, looking at Sokka solemnly "Just stand still and go unnoticed, gladiator, I want no disturbances of any kind coming from you. Keep silent, and don't make me regret my decision of allowing you to stay for the trial"

"Uh… okay" said Sokka, blinking a few times and nodding.

"Well, then" said Ozai, entering the chamber and leaving the other two outside.

"That was odd" said Sokka, staring at the curtain after Ozai had gone through it" "Did your father really just authorize me to watch this?"

"You were involved in capturing most the White Lotus members" said Azula "Perhaps he believed you might be able to help determine if these two are White Lotus spies as well…"

"You think?" asked Sokka "But I don't know anything about the White Lotus… and I hardly know anything about these advisors of yours either. How much use could I really be?"

"No idea" said Azula, shrugging as she walked towards the curtain "Perhaps he simply has grown to like you"

The idea of the Fire Lord liking him didn't sit too well with Sokka. He grimaced and looked at Azula's back in utter disbelief before following her inside, entering the Throne Room for the second time.

To his surprise, the room wasn't too crowded. Only a few men dressed in military garb were within, and they failed to notice him as they spoke amongst themselves. But there was another familiar face inside the room, sitting at the left side of the high seat Ozai was about to occupy.

"He's early…" muttered Azula, glaring at her uncle, who was so invested in the tea he was drinking that he didn't seem to have realized Azula had entered the room "That's rather unusual coming from him"

"Say… about these advisors of yours" said Sokka, prompting Azula to turn around and look at him "Why are they suspects? And why did you dismiss them or whatever it is you did?"

"They're suspects because I had cast them out of my service long ago, and yet they suspiciously appeared in the Capital when the Order of the White Lotus broke the prisoners out of jail" muttered Azula, frowning "And I dismissed them from my service because as time passed by they proved they were completely unreliable and useless. Hence, I got rid of them as soon as I found an opportunity to do so"

"W-woah… harsh" said Sokka, surprised. He really shouldn't be so astonished. Azula had warmed up to him, but he could still remember quite easily what she used to be like.

"And that might be, as we believe, their motive for aiding the White Lotus in their attack against the Fire Nation" grunted Azula, her hand curling up into a fist "Revenge for being removed from their position as my advisors…"

"Wow… wow" said Sokka, grimacing again "That sounds crazy. Would they really betray the Fire Nation like this just to get back at you?"

"I… I don't know" said Azula, dropping her gaze "But if everything points at them…"

"But… do you have any evidence aside from this?" asked Sokka, frowning "Having a motive doesn't necessarily mean they're the perpetrators"

"We actually have no evidence" said Azula, with an ironic smile "Just the fact that their timing to visit the Capital was terrible and that they knew the Palace and army well enough to instruct the White Lotus on how to proceed…"

"Then… you really don't have much to accuse them on" said Sokka, frowning "Are you sure these people could do it? That they would do it? Would they really hold such a grudge against you?"

"I did take their job after decades of service in the Palace" said Azula "If it were me in their situation, I'd likely seek to take my revenge in one way or another"

"But… you really think they did this?" asked Sokka, staring at Azula intently "Do you actually believe these people who were your most trusted advisors would do something so awful? I mean… those guys wanted to kidnap you, but if they had been working under the orders of people who wanted to take their vengeance on you, don't you think they would have mentioned it? Don't you think they would have been even more determined to capture you? If this was just an act of revenge on you, why set those prisoners free?"

"Because… because it might have been an act of revenge on the Royal Family in general" said Azula, although Sokka's words were increasing her already plentiful doubts "I may have demanded their dismissal, but my father was the one who executed it in the end"

Sokka's frown only deepened. He looked at Azula sternly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Are you really sure these people did this, Azula? Do you actually think them capable of this?"

"I… there's no point in asking me this" said Azula, shaking her head "I can't know until I judge them directly. Until then, everything is a conjecture"

"Including believing they're to blame for all this" said Sokka.

"Indeed, even including that" Azula agreed, although she didn't seem too happy to give him the right of it "The trial will begin any moment now, so go stand on the back of the room. Try your best to go unnoticed, as my father said, will you?"

"Alright… I'll do that" said Sokka, nodding "Just make sure actual justice is made today, can you?"

Azula just walked away, frowning heavily as she climbed her way to the seat at her father's right side. Sokka obeyed her by heading to the end of the room, where he stood with his eyes set upon the throne area, and now Iroh met his gaze. The old man nodded towards Sokka, who could only look at him with unease.

"Gladiators witness trials nowadays, Ozai…?" said Iroh, sipping more tea.

"If said gladiator saved the Fire Nation, he'll be welcome to any ceremony I see fit to invite him to, brother" replied Ozai "I still find it unusual that a slave would have gone to such lengths to protect our nation…"

"So… you wish to study him?" asked Iroh "To understand what compels him to fight along the Fire Nation?"

"Perhaps" said Ozai, simply, as Azula took her place at his other side. Ozai knew better than to share his thoughts with his brother, of all people…

A guard appeared through the curtains and bowed down towards the Fire Lord. As he did, the other soldiers in the room took their places, lined at either side of the large map that was spread before the Fire Lord's throne.

"Bring the suspects in" said Ozai, at which the guard left the room again and entered it once more along with three other soldiers…

… And the four of them escorted a pair of old ladies into the Throne Room. Sokka's eyes widened and his mouth fell agape when he caught sight of them. What was going on here? Azula hadn't mentioned her advisors were a pair of old ladies! How could they expect them to be the traitors they were looking for?!

The women performed a careful bow before Ozai, but when they looked at him there was fear in their eyes. Ozai showed them no sympathy.

"Lo and Li, you have been brought here today under the charges of conspiracy and treason against the Fire Nation during the terrorist attack perpetrated by the Order of the White Lotus" Ozai declared, at which the women stared at him in horror "Do you claim to be innocent or will you confess to having committed these crimes?"

"My Lord! We would never betray the Fire Nation!" exclaimed Lo.

"We would never betray you!" continued Li.

"Our allegiances have always lain with the Fire Nation, and so it shall be until the time of our deaths!" they claimed at unison.

"I might take your word for it… given that, if you are proven guilty, your death shall come to you soon enough" declared Ozai, making the women gasp.

"My Lord, we weren't involved in this matter at all" said Li.

"This is simply a big misunderstanding, no more than…" muttered Lo

"You dare claim it is nothing but a misunderstanding, Li-… Lo… whichever one you are?"

Azula might have aided him in discovering which of the old ladies to address, but as it happened, she also mixed them up quite often. She decided to keep her silence; under these circumstances it would be best to let slide the matter of confusing the twins.

"My Lord, we know nothing about the Order of the White Lotus" said Lo, at which Azula frowned.

"We would never wish for any harm to come to the Fire Nation" said Li.

"So your loyalties are unquestionable?" asked Ozai "Even after you were dismissed from service? Even after my daughter declared she wanted no more to do with either one of you?"

"My Lord…" said Li "The Princess's decision was hers, and we would never hold any grudges for it against her or against the Fire Nation. If we were of no further value to her, then we would leave as she commanded"

"And that we did, my Lord" said Lo "We had come to the city a week ago to retrieve the goods that still remained in our former home. We were planning on taking everything back to Ember Island with us when this catastrophe took place"

"We had nothing to do with this incident, my Lord" they finished, together.

"And why should I believe in those alibis?" asked Ozai, frowning "There is nothing to prove that your words are true, and on the other hand, you have a motive to seek to destroy my family and my nation! You could have provided the men from the Order of the White Lotus with the information they required to infiltrate our ranks and take down the Fire Nation from within!"

"We would never do such a thing!" exclaimed Lo

"We didn't do such a thing!" cried Li "We have the Fire Nation's best interests' at heart, even long after our dismissal!"

Li's words echoed in Ozai's mind, compelling him to condemn the women with even more determination. It would teach a lesson to all those who believed the Fire Nation could be threatened by spies and infiltrators…

"You claim to be innocent of these charges?" asked Iroh, studying the old ladies carefully "You are ready to swear upon the Fire Lord's life that you had nothing to do with this incident?"

"We would swear" said Lo and Li, making Ozai scowl. Upon his life? How about they swore on Iroh's life instead?

"That isn't good enough" grunted Ozai "A mere vow like this can easily be broken"

"Yet you have no evidence that points at these women directly, Ozai" said Iroh, sipping tea again "And unless you find some, there will be no purpose in sentencing them to death or otherwise"

"Yet I will not allow them to walk freely if they happen to be the instigators of this heinous crime, Iroh" grunted Ozai, glaring at him.

"Then we have reached an impasse, it seems…" said Iroh, setting down his cup and closing his eyes.

Everyone in the room fell silent, all of them judging the situation and trying to discern if the women were speaking the truth or if they had lied to protect themselves. Yet only one person knew if they spoke earnestly… only one person had known them personally for enough time to distinguish whether they lied or not.

But Azula was puzzled nonetheless. Most of what they were saying was true, and yet there was something that wasn't… there had been something off about Lo when she had claimed not to know anything about the Order of the White Lotus. So perhaps she knew them after all… which would mean she could have known about this attack. And even if she didn't, just being acquainted with the Order of the White Lotus meant the twins could be held accountable for treason against the Fire Nation. That crime alone would mean they would be executed, or at least they would spend the rest of their days locked in jail.

Nonetheless, when they denied having been involved in this attack, Azula could tell they were being truthful. Even when that alibi surely had sounded ridiculous to the ears of every other attendant in the room, it wasn't a lie. So… what should she do? Should she speak in their favor or allow Ozai to condemn them?

Her father clearly wanted to accuse them of being the spies he sought to find, but it seemed his assumption was wrong to Azula. Declaring he had found the spies who were to blame for the White Lotus incident would surely help to appease the current unrest in the Fire Nation, and Azula knew that was his ultimate interest. He wanted to soothe his people so that he could carry on with his other pending matters and put aside the threat of the White Lotus for once and for all… but how to do so if he locked down the wrong people? Should he blame Lo and Li for being the infiltrators while the real spies remained at large, conspiring behind his back and waiting for another opportunity to tear down Ozai's reign?

It was folly… it was a very bad move to sentence the old ladies. Sokka had asked her if she truly believed they were to blame… and from the moment Mai had suggested the idea, Azula hadn't thought it possible for Lo and Li to be the spies. It had nothing to do with any emotional attachments she might feel towards old ladies, since she was certain she had none. She also wasn't proud enough to think that there was no way someone would betray her, not after she had fired these two… nevertheless, she could tell when people were lying. She could especially tell when Lo and Li were lying. And even though there were some lies mixed with their truths, she knew they weren't the spies her father was looking for.

"What shall be done about them, Fire Lord?" asked one of his Generals, looking at Ozai with caution.

Ozai glared at the old ladies, making up his mind to take his decision. It didn't matter if these women were innocent or not, so long as he could cast the blame on someone and be done with this disturbing matter of the Order of the White Lotus…

"Father… if I may intervene" said Azula suddenly, startling everyone in the room "I believe they speak the truth"

Lo and Li looked at Azula, their mouths open as they couldn't give credit to what the Princess had just said. Ozai himself looked at her, aghast. She of all people would want to lock these two women up if she suspected them of betraying the Fire Nation!

Sokka looked at her from the back of the room with a mixture of shock and admiration. He had asked her to make sure actual justice would be made… and it seemed she had actually listened to him. Whatever hard feelings she might hold for these people had been cast away as she faced this situation for what it was. And for some reason, even if it wasn't his place to do so, Sokka couldn't help but feel proud of her. He smiled and hoped the Fire Lord would listen to his daughter…

"How can you be certain of this, Azula?" asked Ozai, looking at his daughter with mild confusion.

Azula almost felt herself sweating. It was the first time she had dared oppose what her father obviously wanted… it was the first time she was openly going against his will. Yet she had to. For the Fire Nation's sake, she needed to make him realize these women had no part in the White Lotus' attack.

"In the long time I have known these two women, I have come to learn how to discern whether they lie or speak the truth" said Azula "When they claim they have had nothing to do with the White Lotus's attack, they're telling the truth"

"Azula… this better not be a sudden gesture of kindness from your part" said Ozai, frowning and looking at his daughter glacially "If these women are the culprits for this crime…"

"If you insist on believing these women are the actual perpetrators, which I am certain they're not, you could just as easily give them house arrest. They're too old to endure an actual prison" said Azula, startling Ozai "Yet if they aren't the spies we're looking for, father, you would be locking them down for no reason while the actual spy remains at large. The Fire Nation would be lulled into a false sense of security upon believing you have seized the criminals, while the real culprit stands down and prepares a new plan to attack our nation"

Ozai's eyes widened as he looked at his daughter in utter shock. He could see it in her eyes, she was speaking her mind and yet she was slightly intimidated by doing so. She feared that going against her father would be a mistake, and yet she had done so nonetheless…

"…  _I'm certain he could be useful, father. I believe… I believe he's too powerful to be imprisoned or executed" Ozai had declared, trying to keep his palms from sweating as he spoke, fearful._

_Azulon merely glared at the young boy before them, the boy the guards were restraining. His eyes were sad, and he wasn't looking up at them. The child knew he would be executed for what he had done… and yet Ozai was vouching for him, asking his father to be merciful. The boy could come in handy eventually, he was certain of it._

" _He could… he could take up a position in the army one day, father" Ozai insisted "I'm certain with his firebending skills he could be…"_

" _Silence your mouth, child! That is more than enough rambling coming from you" Azulon exclaimed, and Ozai flinched._

_The young prince lowered his head, shameful, knowing his father would much rather have Iroh today in his place. Yet the oldest son of the Fire Lord was off winning over more Earth Kingdom cities for the Fire Nation, and it was up to Ozai to fill in his place. And given the way Azulon was treating him, he wasn't doing so correctly._

" _This brat is but a brat" grunted Azulon, and a long pause followed, during which Ozai could only tighten the fists on his lap. But then his father spoke anew… "Still… in due time he might become useful"_

_Ozai's eyes lightened up again when, for the first time in his life, his father had acknowledged him. He had actually accepted his intervention! He looked at Azulon in awe, but the Fire Lord didn't return the gesture._

" _But if this boy becomes a threat to the Fire Nation instead of an advantage, you will be the one to face the responsibility for it, Prince Ozai" declared Azulon, still without looking at his son "I will have you murder him yourself if that were to happen"_

" _Y-yes, father" said Ozai, slightly uncomfortable by the idea of having to kill someone, but accepting the conditions nonetheless._

" _Very well, then, remove that pest from my sight. Send him to train with one of our best firebenders in the army, to see if he has anything in him aside from brute talent. Unless he miraculously manages to become a Captain or a Commander in some way, I will have nothing more to do with him" said Azulon, waving the matter off as if it were of no importance to him._

_Ozai allowed himself a small, victorious smile. The boy was carried away, albeit he snuck a glance towards Azulon now that his life had been spared. Ozai couldn't help but feel slightly irritated… it was he who had requested for him to be allowed a chance to survive, maybe the boy should give him some credit…_

_And he did. He turned his brown eyes on Ozai and looked at him as though looking at a savior. Ozai was surprised by the strange look on his face, but the boy was dragged away and gone from sight before Ozai could finish identifying what the meaning of his looks was…_

The memory of that moment returned to Ozai's mind with the force of a lighting strike. He didn't know for how long he had been looking at his daughter without speaking a word, but it seemed it was enough to make her stare back at him in unease. It was no time to recall his first occasions in the Throne Room…

Or was it?

His father had granted him his trust once, in this very room. He had given Ozai a chance… he had believed in him. And Ozai had delivered in the end. And unlike Ozai at a younger age, Azula had already had her fair share of opportunities to prove her worth, and she had aced them every time. So today he was being defied by her… much as he had defied Azulon once, seeking to make justice and to gain a valuable ally. Azula's reasons made sense… Azula was right. And much as his father had given him a chance once, he would grant one to his daughter.

"Then… shall we keep soldiers vigilant in their house at Ember Island, as you suggested?" asked Ozai "Even if you believe they speak truly, there is always room for mistakes"

"Ah… yes, that would be the safest way to proceed" said Azula, surprised to hear her father respond so amiably when just a moment ago he had been so silent, looking at her with such an expression in his face that she had feared he would banish her much like he did to Zuko a decade ago.

"Then that is what shall be done, unless anyone has any objections" said Ozai, looking at the soldiers and at his brother.

"It seems a wise plan" said Iroh, nodding.

The rest of the men in the room agreed with him, and Ozai nodded also.

"If any evidence is discovered, evidence to point at the two of you…" he told Lo and Li "You will receive a far harsher punishment than this. If you spoke truly, as Azula believes, and you were not seeking to damage the Fire Nation, your lives shall be spared and your freedom restored. That will be all for now. Guards, take them away"

The guards who had escorted Lo and Li into the room approached them in order to obey Ozai. The two women looked at Azula in utter disbelief, amazed by the fact that she had spoken in their favor and saved them from certain doom. The Princess didn't look back at them as they were led outside the room.

"I have trusted your judgment, Princess Azula…" said Ozai, turning to his daughter once the women had been taken outside and the soldiers who had witnessed the trial began to vacate the room "Hence I hope you knew better than to make your request to spare Lo and Li's lives out of lingering sentiment of any kind…"

"Sentiment, father?" asked Azula, looking at Ozai with skepticism "After I had you fire them and after I didn't spare a single thought their way until this situation arose, do you truly believe I would hold anything as useless as sentiment towards them?"

"They did watch over you ever since you were a child"

"And ever since I was a child, my father taught me that feelings of attachment of any kind were a waste" said Azula, looking at him sternly "Do you truly believe I would go against your teachings?"

Ozai studied Azula for a moment before smiling proudly at her.

"Truly. You know better than that" he said, standing up and walking through the back of the room.

"Where are you going?" Azula asked, surprised to see him head towards the Throne Room's backdoor.

"To issue out the official statement to explain the White Lotus incident" said Ozai "Our people are becoming restless, it is of utmost importance that I speak now. Even if I cannot state I have captured the spy amongst us, I can keep that information concealed from the public until we seize him. The rest I shall make public, to appease them for once and for all"

"I see" said Azula, nodding, and Ozai left without another word, taking a door on the back of the Throne Room that would lead him close to his chambers.

Sokka had been watching the exchange between the Fire Lord and his daughter from afar, while the generals and commanders passed him by, some shooting confused glares at him. What was this man doing here? Had he been allowed into the Throne Room? No matter how he had assisted the Princess during the White Lotus incident, he was still a mere slave…

Sokka did his best to ignore their glances, but it was more difficult to do so than he expected. He glared back at a man with white hair and a long mustache, who blinked in surprise and sped up on his way outside, to Sokka's relief. Yet as Sokka basked in his pride at having been able to intimidate the man, someone else approached him.

"Astonishing to find a slave within the Throne Room for any purpose aside cleaning…" said the familiar voice of Azula's uncle.

"I… guess" said Sokka, gulping and looking down at the old man with distrust.

"I know Ozai is quite permissive with Azula, but I never expected him to let her gladiator inside the Throne Room just because she asked…"

"She didn't ask for me to be allowed in here" said Sokka, slightly uncomfortable by the questioning "The Fire Lord said I could stay… I had provided a service to the Fire Nation, so I was welcome to watch the trial, he said"

"Is that so?" said Iroh, surprised "Why, impressive. I haven't heard all of what you did during the White Lotus' attack, but according to what little I know, you were quite the hero to the Fire Nation"

"Uh… maybe?" said Sokka, grimacing.

"I'm sure both Azula and the Fire Lord are quite pleased with the slave you've turned out to be" said Iroh "Your unwavering loyalty surely is well prized by them… isn't it?"

"It seems so" said Sokka, frowning a little.

Iroh smiled at Sokka before walking off through the curtain. Why was it that Sokka could never bring himself to regard this man casually? He could even talk to Iroh's gladiator freely, even when Toph had beaten him to a pulp once… but Iroh would always make him wary. Something about those gentle smiles told him the man was far more mysterious than he seemed at first glance, that he might be concealing more secrets than Sokka would never unravel…

"Well, well… What did Iroh want with you now?" asked Azula, walking up to Sokka as she watched the curtain through which Iroh had just vanished.

"I have absolutely no idea" said Sokka, looking at her with concern "You may be a hard to figure out, but that guy is just…"

"He's what?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow while Sokka sought the proper words to explain himself.

"Completely unreadable" said Sokka, shaking his head "He looks so nice and relaxed all the time, and yet when you look into his eyes you know there's a lot more to him than he lets on"

"I believe you're flattering him unnecessarily" said Azula, heading towards the door "It really isn't that hard to read him"

"Maybe not for you, you've known him for ages" said Sokka, following her "But to me he's a total stranger, and the more he talks to me the more of a stranger he seems…"

"You want to get to know my uncle better, then?" asked Azula, raising her eyebrows "That's definitely one I didn't expect from you, but alas, to each his own…"

"What the…?! No!" shouted Sokka, as Azula chuckled "Stop mixing things up! That's not at all what I meant!"

"No need to be so shy, though I'll say there should be better-looking men of advanced age out there, if that's what strikes your mood nowadays…"

"Would you quit saying that sort of stuff?!" squeaked Sokka, shuddering "I'm going to vomit!"

Azula laughed again but left the matter as it was, mostly for the Palace's floors sake. If they had been elsewhere, she probably would have continued annoying him until he spilled the content of his stomach. Irritating him seemed the best way to make him behave as he usually did; putting up with his newfound bashful and stern demeanor was slightly stressful for Azula. He was better off being the fool he always had been…

"Say…" he muttered, as they treaded the Palace's halls "I'm glad you spoke your mind to your father today. For a moment I thought you wouldn't, but it relieved me that you kept him from sentencing those women unfairly"

"Blaming people who weren't involved with this incident would have only helped the White Lotus" muttered Azula, frowning.

"It was really surprising, though" said Sokka "When you talked about having advisors before, I wasn't expecting them to be two old ladies…"

"What of it?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow "They could have been ancient or they could have been toddlers, what is it to you?"

"No, not to me, to you" said Sokka "Why fire two old women? I know you well enough by now to know that you wouldn't have just kicked them out for no reason. They looked pretty inoffensive to me, which is why I'm so confused…"

"Much like Iroh, Lo and Li aren't simply what they look like" said Azula, stopping once they reached an open hallway. She gazed out into the garden and frowned, deep in thought.

"Azula?" asked Sokka, who had kept walking and only realized she had lagged behind now "You okay?"

The Princess had grown silent and solemn as she gazed down at the grass. Memories she had cast away along with her advisors returned to her, to remind her why she had decided not to trust those old ladies anymore… She looked at Sokka again, who was regarding her with concern. She had refused to trust Lo and Li… she had refused to trust anyone for the longest time. Yet nowadays she found herself trusting him, of all people. Should she address his questions? Should she let him know why she had fired her former advisors…?

"Given that you've been doing nothing the whole day aside from chasing after me…" said Azula, making Sokka blush and glare at her.

"I wasn't chasing after…"

"I suppose it wouldn't bother you to stick around a while longer, if you really want to understand what compelled me to fire those two" she finished.

"Oh… oh" said Sokka, blinking a few times before nodding "I can do that, yeah…"

"Not like you have anything better to do anyhow" said Azula, smiling a little at him before starting off through the Palace halls again, with a blushing Sokka walking behind her.

Being asked by her to stay around a little longer, even if it was only to address his questions, was a rather pleasant surprise for Sokka. Only a few months ago she would blatantly refuse to even look at him, and whenever she did she would glare so fiercely he would freeze in place. That her demeanor towards him had changed so much was beyond relieving; it made him prize every moment like this one far more than he usually would.

Azula settled by a random Palace room with a large window, which happened to give her quite an unwanted view of a turtle duck pond… yet she decided to give no importance to the matter. Sokka was asking questions about Lo and Li, not about her mother…

Azula ordered a nearby servant to bring them some tea, and she continued gazing into the gardens as she waited for it to be delivered. Sokka simply sat across the table between them, glancing at her nervously. Clearly he was thinking too much of this, she simply wanted to drink tea while speaking of some matters, it wasn't as though this meant anything beyond what it did…

It wasn't until the servant had come and gone that Azula finally began speaking. She had a sip of tea and she set down the cup again on the table, and, looking quite uncomfortable, she started talking.

"Several years ago, I… I had an argument with a man. A man who was a Captain of the army at the time" she muttered, looking down at the table now "A particular incident had brought forth our debate, and, for the first time ever, a man used flattery and charms to conceal underhanded insults towards me"

"Wha-…? How could anyone even…?" asked Sokka, shocked.

"Some people in the highest circles of the Fire Nation are far more conceited than you'd take them for" said Azula "In any case, his condoning enraged me. When I called him on it, he simply waved the matter off as though it had no meaning, and yet it had every meaning in the world to me. It taught me I couldn't trust people blindly, not even the people my father had always relied upon"

"I see…" muttered Sokka, looking at Azula worriedly. Clearly, the memory of the event still bothered her, given how tense she had become just by sharing the experience with him.

"I returned to my chambers, aghast over what had happened, and my advisors were there" Azula continued "I told them about what he had said… about the way he had undermined me, how he had pretended to be superior when he clearly wasn't, and Lo and Li just… they just told me to go with it"

"What?" asked Sokka, startled.

"Much like my mother believed sword fighting was no activity for a Princess to undertake, it seemed Lo and Li were certain I was supposed to fill the roles society had in mind for me. Straying from them would mean I would be shut down, according to them. And I had duties as a Princess that I couldn't ignore… duties narrowed down in being polite, gracious and gentle to every nobleman around me, in having the best table manners ever seen, in obeying every command given to me by my father and in finding myself a good husband one day. Simply put, to be the perfect ornament, even when I knew well enough that I could be much more than that"

"But… you didn't listen to them" said Sokka, trying to sound encouraging as he drank some tea "You've become much more than that"

"I have, but not with their leave" muttered Azula, his words failing to lighten her mood "As soon as this happened, I knew I couldn't trust them. No matter how I tried to reason with them, they wouldn't listen. Nothing I said would matter, not when their old minds had been molded by the antiquated world they lived in. They didn't dare question the system, the sole idea was ridiculous to them. So… I realized I couldn't rely on them. If I was to become Fire Lord, as my father had before me, I couldn't surround myself with people who didn't trust in my abilities, who would set limits to my growth just so that I would fit in their definitions of what a Princess should be"

"And so you fired them" Sokka concluded.

"I didn't do so right away" said Azula "They had served my father for the longest time… I actually wondered for some time if perhaps they had been informing him of my every move. Yet the actual reason why I withdrew my trust from them was what I explained before. Hence I just drifted away from them, commanded them to leave me whenever I could get away with it… and the more time passed by, the easier it became to push them away. By the end they would be out of my sight for weeks without pestering me, just as I wanted it"

"And after that, you fired them" said Sokka, nodding "Under the pretense that they weren't advising you properly anymore, I take it?"

"Oh, it was no pretense" said Azula, smirking a little "If I didn't allow them to advise me, just what sort of advising could they give me?"

"Well, you have a point there" said Sokka, smiling also "In any case, it didn't make much sense for them to be the culprits. Even after you explained this, I don't think they should have been considered suspects at all. They might have wanted to take revenge on you for all this, but why let so much time pass them by? Why wait years…?"

"It hasn't been years since I fired them" said Azula "Only a few months. Half a year, perhaps, at most"

"Wha-… huh?" said Sokka, startled "But then that means I was already around when…"

"If you must know, the day I fired them was… well, that night" muttered Azula, frowning.

"What night?" asked Sokka, clueless, earning himself a glare from the Princess.

"Are you really going to make me say it?" Azula asked, and the coldness in her tone should have been enough to give away what she was referring to "The night you were whoring around town…"

"Eh… Eh?! That night?!" asked Sokka, astonished "Wait… how come?"

"I saw an opportunity and I took it, that's how" said Azula, standing up and walking to the room's window "I wasn't quite on my right mind that day, as you must recall…"

"Well, I wouldn't really say… I wouldn't say it was you who wasn't on her right mind" Sokka mumbled, but Azula ignored him.

"I did something rather stupid that day, led solely by impulses and instincts, which was something an advisor of any kind should have been able to warn me against. I made mistakes that couldn't be undone, and yet they only bothered showing up before me once everything had been said and done. Although, to be fair, not everything had been said and done yet. Our fun little argument happened shortly after I fired them…"

Sokka cringed upon hearing her speak of it with such dry sarcasm. Obviously, the memory of the incident still hurt her, despite it had been such a long time since it had happened.

"Then… how come did I never meet them? Was that because you kept shutting them out, as you said before?" asked Sokka, seeking to change the subject as quickly as possible.

"Indeed. And because I truly didn't want them nosing around me having a gladiator" said Azula "Getting involved with the Gladiator League isn't something a Princess should do… you heard Kuan back in Gaoling, didn't you? Most people think that way. They still do, even today"

"Even when now it's both you and Ty Lee sponsoring gladiators?" asked Sokka.

"Even so" said Azula "Changing the way a society thinks is easier said than done. It isn't a one-day job"

"I figure" said Sokka, nodding "In any case… nobody can hold you back anymore. You've already proven yourself time over and time again, before your father and the entire Fire Nation, haven't you?"

"And yet I fear it might not be enough" muttered Azula, frowning.

"Maybe… Uh… well, you said they weren't lying about the White Lotus, so that's a good thing" said Sokka, gulping as he tried to cheer Azula up again "They weren't the spies you thought they might be, nor were they seeking revenge…"

"They may not have been involved with this incident directly…" said Azula, her brow furrowing further "But that doesn't mean they didn't lie at all"

"Uh… what?" said Sokka, blinking blankly "Come again?"

"When Lo said… oh, well, Lo or whichever one it was" said Azula, rolling her eyes "When she said she knew nothing at all about the White Lotus… she was lying"

Sokka's eyes widened and he jumped at Azula's statement.

"They were lying? S-she lied about…?! But then, why didn't you say something?!"

"What was I supposed to say, Sokka?" Azula asked, smiling at looking at him with skepticism "Was I to point out that she was lying right after saying they had spoken truthfully? If I had said she had any knowledge about the White Lotus, my father would have kept them imprisoned and he would have had them questioned long and thoroughly until they confessed to having been the spies only to make it all end faster. That is what often happens with those questioned by Fire Nation soldiers"

"Then… you were protecting them?" asked Sokka.

"Not them" Azula replied, folding her arms across her chest "I was protecting the Fire Nation. They truly weren't the spies we wanted, even if they are acquainted with the White Lotus somehow. And as I pointed out…"

"Having these two take the fall for the White Lotus' attack would give free reign to the actual spy" Sokka muttered "He would have been able to come up with another plan if he had the freedom to do so…"

"So long as my father continues searching for this spy, he won't dare act in fear" said Azula "And that way, the Fire Nation will remain safe for a while longer. Whoever this spy is, it won't be long before he's captured. Whatever Lo and Li know about the White Lotus is pointless. We don't need to know what this Order of the White Lotus is. We only need to defeat them, or at least to make them believe we have powerful enough forces to defeat them. If they don't find the resolve to stand up against us again, they won't pose a threat to the Fire Nation"

"That makes sense, I guess" said Sokka, settling down again, his eyes still fixed on Azula "But then… how will you guys find the actual spy?"

"My father's men still are questioning the White Lotus captives…"

"But if their questioning is the way you just told me, they'll spill any beans just to end the interrogation faster" said Sokka.

"Not quite" said Azula "Not every questioning is of the same nature. Lo and Li were under suspicion of having committed treason of the highest order against the Fire Nation. With them, it would have simply been a matter of pressing them into claiming they had actually done it. It was simply a 'yes or no' question, you could say. Yet this kind of questioning is completely different. This time it's a question of 'who' and 'how', and no matter how threatening the interrogator can seem, if the captives are strong-willed, they will hold their silence because they know they have the leverage in these conditions. And if they are fiercely loyal to their organization, as I suspect they might be, then all the more reason they will refuse to speak"

"This sounds too complicated" said Sokka, grimacing "Can your dad's men make them talk at all? Shouldn't you try to do it yourself? I mean, if you can tell whether Lo and Li are lying…"

"Questioning is a delicate matter, and it would take very long to break a man into surrendering the information he has" said Azula "I honestly don't find myself compelled to waste that much time to coax truths out of them, not if they refuse to speak as I suspect they do. If they were easy to break, it wouldn't have taken a whole week to do it"

"Then you're just going to let this White Lotus matter go forgotten?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm going to seek information through other means, if possible. That is what I'll do" said Azula "I'll try find out who they are, and why they have targeted the Fire Nation…"

"Well, that part should be pretty obvious…" said Sokka, shrugging.

"Yet they hadn't attacked before. Or if they had, it wasn't in such a reckless manner" said Azula "I'll find what I want to know somehow, someday, and not through interrogations. There must be a better way to figure out what the nature of this organization truly is"

"I hope you're right" said Sokka, sighing "It's surprising you won't pursue them yourself. Here I thought you might just do that"

"I have other matters to attend to, don't I? Wherever might you be in the ranking nowadays…?" Azula muttered, surprising Sokka.

"The ranking? Really, Azula?" Sokka said, looking at her in confusion.

"The Fire Nation isn't in a good position right now. We've probably never been more vulnerable throughout the entire war" said Azula, thoughtful "The only way for our people to recover from what happened would be for everyone to return to their activities, so that we regain the usual atmosphere that has always reigned over the Capital…"

"So… you think we should move on from this and just go back to what we were before?" asked Sokka, astonished "As if nothing had changed?"

"The fact that nothing has changed is a miracle in itself" Azula said, looking at him "That you remain my gladiator, and I your sponsor, after all we went through…"

Sokka gazed back at her, suddenly realizing what her words truly meant. He leaned back on his elbows, his eyes never leaving her.

"Well… when you put it that way, no doubt you're right" he muttered, at which she gave him a small smile.

It really was a miracle that their relationship still remained what it was… yet Sokka didn't think nothing had changed. He had accepted his feelings towards her, and he had made several decisions he hoped he would never come to regret. Azula herself wasn't the same anymore, not after having been as vulnerable as she had been. No matter if she had recovered completely from her cold, she still wasn't the same Princess she had been before falling ill. And yet, despite everything that had happened, despite all that could have made them drift apart, they had drawn closer to each other instead. He could still remain by her side, as her gladiator, while she fought to prove her worth in the world she lived in…

And with that uplifting thought in mind, Sokka smiled back brightly at Azula.


	58. Chapter 58

"Wow… wow!" Katara exclaimed, staring at the tall mountains in amazement "This is incredible, Aang!"

"I told you you'd like it out here" Aang said proudly, beaming as he shook the reins on Appa's horns, compelling the bison to fly faster.

The air was fresh and pure, yet so much warmer than Katara was used to. She had loosened her parka when they were still flying over the ocean, which had surprised Aang. The continuous cold weather in the Pole must have made Katara more sensitive to temperature changes than he was.

They had taken off on a short trip at Aang's insistence. Hakoda hadn't been too thrilled about the idea, but after being pestered by the two benders for long enough, he had finally complied and allowed them to travel, but not without telling them for the millionth time not to fly too far away from home. Aang had promised him he would keep both himself and Katara safe, and thus he had taken upon a journey that would lead him home for the first time in over a hundred years.

The perspective wasn't too thrilling, not when Aang had heard about the fate that had befallen the Air Nomads… but he was certain he needed to see the Temple for himself. He needed to make sure everything was truly as hopeless as everyone had told him it would be.

And it didn't hurt either that, as soon as he asked Katara if she would like to see the Southern Air Temple, she had given him the brightest smile she had ever showed to him. The girl had been more than happy to leave the South Pole, if only briefly. From a long time ago she had been hoping she and Aang would be able to travel through the world, in order to help him find people who would teach him to bend the remaining elements he had to master, but it seemed it wasn't an option. And even though this wasn't quite a chance to help Aang to take upon his duties as the Avatar, it was a start. If they returned home safe and soundly, and her father realized that they were more than capable of taking care of themselves, he might consent to let them travel again, this time to seek an earthbending teacher for Aang…

"I'd never seen anything like this before" said Katara, staring down at the mountains from Appa's saddle "Well, of course I hadn't, I mean, you know I'd never left the South Pole before…"

Aang chuckled at her nervous rambling. Katara gazed down at the streams trickling down the mountains, at the large trees, at the birds that flew from one branch to the next, at the critters down below… and all along, her eyes gleamed with excitement. There were so many wonders beyond the South Pole…

"And you still have to see the best part of it all…" said Aang, smirking as he steered Appa through a large mountain…

… And before them appeared the tallest buildings Katara had ever seen before. They were pristine and beautiful, and they seemed to be entwined with the very mountains…

And yet they were solitary. They were decaying, and it was obvious for Katara that those tall buildings had seen better days in the past. She looked at Aang, who had been rather enthusiastic during the journey so far, and discovered his face was clouded with sadness now. The magnificence of the Southern Air Temple he had once known was gone… not because of the state of the buildings, which had been preserved all-too well considering the Fire Nation had attacked the Air Nomads ruthlessly a hundred years ago. No, it was because the true spirit of the Temple was not here anymore: the airbenders were gone.

"Aang…" Katara said, reaching out towards him and wondering if perhaps she should climb down the saddle to embrace him… yet it might not be a wise move. She had come to know Aang quite well over time, but she wasn't sure of how he would respond to close physical contact of any kind. The idea still made her rather nervous.

"I'm… don't worry, Katara" Aang said, giving her a weak smile "I already knew… you guys had already warned me about this. It's just… I guess I wished you had been wrong. I wished, even when I knew it was impossible, that maybe they would still be here…"

"I'm sorry, Aang" said Katara, swallowing hard. Maybe journeying into the Southern Air Temple hadn't been such a good idea after all…

"Sorry why?" Aang asked, smiling again as he steered Appa towards a bison landing site "I was the one who came up with the idea of coming here, wasn't I?"

"True, I guess, but… are you okay with this?" Katara asked "We can go back if it's…"

"I think I need to see things for myself" Aang said "And… I don't know, maybe I ought to check if my room's still in place. I haven't cleaned it in over a hundred years, how about that?"

Katara could only smile weakly at Aang's silly joke as Appa touched the ground gently. The bison roared upon landing, and Aang patted his head in appreciation for his hard work.

"Good job getting us here, buddy" he told the bison "It was quite a long trip… get some rest now, alright?"

Katara climbed off the saddle swiftly and looked around herself in awe. Even if there was an undeniable sadness to the Temple, it was a beautiful place nonetheless. It was in such perfect harmony with all the nature around it… it wasn't hard to understand why Aang was such a spiritual man, or why he loved nature so much to the point of being a vegetarian. She could just close her eyes and imagine what this place had been like during its golden days…

"Liking it so far?" Aang asked, approaching Katara with a smile on his face.

"It's beautiful" Katara replied "It feels so… peaceful"

"I assure you it wouldn't be so peaceful if everyone was still around" said Aang, his grin becoming a little sadder.

"What do you mean?" said Katara, frowning "Were airbenders conflictive or something?"

"Ah, not really" said Aang, smiling and scratching the back of his head "I just think they'd be making a ruckus upon watching us arrive. And my masters would be pretty shocked if they saw me with hair, they'd likely demand I shave it right away"

"Woah, that's harsh. Would they really do that?" asked Katara, smiling now.

"Yeah… I can picture it" said Aang, chuckling "They were quite strict, but I still got my way around them more often than not. It was thanks to Monk Gyatso, mostly. He was my favorite master, and the one who taught me most of what I needed to know"

"Really? Was he the one who taught you the most advanced airbending techniques?" Katara asked.

"Oh, not at all" said Aang, laughing cheerfully "The one who taught me how to have fun!"

Katara stared at him, puzzled. Was he serious?

"Come, I'll show you!" Aang said, reaching out to grab her wrist.

Katara was surprised when he grabbed her gently, pulling her through the long walkway that led through the buildings. Katara found herself smiling at Aang's sudden child-like behavior. She hadn't expected him to change his demeanor so quickly, but she figured it was his way of coping with the circumstances. Remembering old days might be painful, but the endearing memories were also a matter of joy, not solely of sadness.

After leading Katara into one of the tallest buildings, Aang brought her to an open terrace with what looked like a firewood oven to Katara. The view from where they stood now was amazing, yet it didn't seem that was what Aang had wanted to show her.

"See, this is where Gyatso would bake his fruit pies" said Aang, smiling at the oven.

"Oh? Were they good?" Katara asked, surprised. She hadn't expected the fun Aang spoke of would be something as innocent as cooking.

"Uh, they weren't that great" said Aang, scratching the back of his head again before turning towards Katara with a small smirk "I never got to eat them much anyways, because he baked them so that we could toss them at the other monks!"

Katara gaped at him in shock, and Aang could do nothing but laugh. She definitely hadn't seen that one coming…

"Really? He would bake just for the sake of…?" Katara muttered "You Air Nomads are strange. The penguin sledding, the fruit pies…"

"Strange?" Aang asked, raising an eyebrow "Well, you think so, but that's because you're too serious, Katara. You have to learn to loosen up!"

"What…? I'm not too serious!" Katara said, slightly indignant. Aang jumped back as she proved his point by taking his teasing to the heart. Yet the frown on her face was enough to daunt him a little… maybe he should word his thoughts differently, to keep her from getting offended.

"W-well, what I mean is… you've never had the chance to fling fruit pies at old men, so you wouldn't know what it feels like!"

"It really sounds crazy to waste valuable food in something like…"

"Oh, boy" said Aang, shaking his head "So you never did anything crazy or silly back in the Southern Water Tribe? Something like… I don't know, taking those pelts you guys have to make a puppet show?"

"A… a puppet show?" Katara repeated, dumbstruck.

"My… you've got to learn to have fun, Katara, really" said Aang, shaking his head.

"I'm able to have plenty of fun! I'm… I'm not dull!" Katara declared, flushing slightly.

"You're not" said Aang, chuckling "But you could use being less uptight about things. I get that… that you've been through some tough things, but…"

"But so have you" said Katara, frowning before giving him a weak smile "And yet you're able to have fun. So… you think I should do the same"

"Yeah, more or less" said Aang, smiling back.

"Well, there's a chance I just have a different way of having fun than what you're used to…" said Katara, looking up in feigned innocence before giving Aang a devious wink. The Avatar blinked a few times and blushed at the look on her face, and she laughed at him before leaving the room.

Was dazzling him her way of having fun? Because if it was… he could get used to it.

The next station Aang led her to, once he was out of his daze, startled Katara upon seeing it. Tall wooden posts stood before her in the middle of a yard, forming a rectangle. Two posts with squares atop them stood at opposite ends of the field. Katara frowned and Aang smiled at her.

"This is where we used to play airball. That was so much fun… I think we could try to play it, but I don't think it'll work so well with waterbending" said Aang "Still want to try it?"

"It sounds a little crazy" said Katara, smiling uncomfortably "But if you think it might work…"

"Huh, are you really willing to try it?" Aang asked, amused "Sure it's not too much fun for Katara?"

"Oh, you'll see just how much fun I can have…" said Katara, threateningly, yet smiling as she did so. Aang chuckled and jumped off towards the one end of the post field, while Katara climbed with some difficulty onto the other one.

Aang had been right to expect airball wouldn't work so well with water as it did with air, but not in the way he had expected. To his chagrin, Katara had it rather easy to deflect the wooden ball using the water from the pouch she carried around her waist, and before Aang knew it, the score was so one-sided he could hardly keep up.

"So… twenty-five on three, is it?" Katara said, beaming.

"Twenty-five? Wasn't it twenty-fo-…? Oh, never mind, you're trashing me anyways" said Aang, sighing in defeat "You're better at this than you should be, Katara!"

"Beginner's luck, maybe?" said Katara, smirking as they both climbed off their posts.

"Or maybe you're more talented at airball than I am" said Aang, smiling as he walked towards her.

"I wouldn't say so" said Katara, chuckling "See, I was playing waterball, you were playing airball"

"That's true as well" Aang admitted, grinning "Ah, everyone would be shocked at watching me lose like this…"

"Really?" asked Katara, raising an eyebrow "Why would it be so surprising?"

"Well… I was a pretty good airbender, even if it's not too humble of me to say so" said Aang, smiling shyly "I even developed the technique of the air scooter, you know? I taught it to the other kids, but they had a hard time keeping up with me. Every time we held air scooter competitions I'd beat them all without fail… At least, that's how it was until they found out I was the Avatar. When I was revealed as the Avatar, they said I had an advantage over them so they wouldn't race or play with me anymore"

"Wha-…? Really?" Katara asked, shocked "But that's… that's stupid!"

"You think so?" Aang asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, you may be the Avatar and you may be able to bend all four elements, but that doesn't mean you'd have an advantage if you're bending only one!" said Katara, frowning.

"Well… to be fair, I was already an airbending master by then" said Aang, smiling uncomfortably "So I did have an advantage…"

"But it was because you were a master, not because you were the Avatar… I just pounded the Avatar in airball and I can only bend water!" said Katara, folding her arms across her chest as Aang laughed beside her "They were just making excuses so that you wouldn't make them look bad, that's all there was to it"

"Surely" said Aang, smiling at her "So it's not as though I were a talented bender, you say? Even when I mastered airbending at age twelve…?"

"You had already told me that, so there's no point in hoping to impress me with it now" said Katara, at which Aang sighed.

"Drat, I forgot about that. Then what does it take to impress you, Katara?" Aang asked, playfully.

"Oh, I wonder…" she replied, smiling at him "Say, you talked about not cleaning your room for a hundred years, didn't you?"

"Ah, yeah" said Aang, grimacing now "Having a look at that might not be such a good idea, but I might as well try…"

"Putting it off won't make it any easier" said Katara, smiling.

As Aang led the way to his room, in the Temple's main building, they walked by a large door. Katara frowned as she looked at it, realizing there was quite a strange mechanism on it…

"What's that?" she asked Aang, who stopped and looked at the door, swallowing as he did.

"That's… the sanctuary. I was allowed inside a few days after they told me I was the Avatar. It's… it's just full of old statues, nothing other than that"

"Really? If that's the case… why does it sound like it bothers you?" Katara asked, raising an eyebrow as she stopped walking as well.

"It's just… well, the statues are of all the previous Avatars before me" said Aang, frowning "The monks hoped that perhaps I would find enlightenment by entering the sanctuary and meditating in it, that I might be able to speak to my past lives… but it didn't happen"

"And why did they want you to do that?" asked Katara "Can that even be done, for starters? Talking to your past lives?"

"I don't know, they said so" said Aang, shrugging "Gyatso knew the Avatar before me and he said he had been able to speak to his past lives, so I guess it must be"

"Who was the one that came before you?" Katara asked. She had grown so used to the idea of Aang being the Avatar that it was hard to picture anyone else in the role…

"His name was Avatar Roku… and he was from the Fire Nation" said Aang, at which Katara stiffened.

"W-well, but…" she muttered, her fists clenched "That was a long time ago. Your past life wasn't like the Fire Nation people nowadays, I'm sure"

"I hope" said Aang, smiling weakly.

"Why couldn't you connect with them, though?" Katara asked.

"Well… in a way, it wasn't as though I really thought I needed to do it" said Aang, shrugging "They were going to see me off to the Water Tribes on the next day, so I was anxious and I couldn't meditate properly"

"Then… do you think you could connect with them now? If you try now, do you believe you might be able to…?"

"Who knows?" said Aang, shrugging again "Maybe. But… would that be any use? Won't they just scold me for being irresponsible during the past hundred years?"

"I'm pretty sure they'll know you didn't plan on getting stuck in that iceberg for so long" said Katara, smiling encouragingly "Go on, give it a go. Who knows if it might come in handy?"

Aang sighed and turned towards the door. He took a deep breath and stretched his arms out towards the mechanism, blowing a powerful stream of air that served for the doors to swing inwards, allowing them inside a very dark room.

"According to Gyatso, I'd be able to meet the guide for my journey here…" said Aang, entering the sanctuary, followed closely by Katara "And that guide is supposed to be Roku, I guess. But… but Gyatso also said he'd reveal himself to me when I was ready. Will it be any use for me to force this if I'm not ready yet?"

"Maybe not…" said Katara, gazing around herself in amazement as she looked at the lines of statues before them.

There had to be thousands of them… How many Avatars had this world seen? It was shocking to think Aang carried such an important legacy on his shoulders. The title of Avatar was so much more than she had thought it would be… back in the day she had just wanted to see the Avatar return, as though he were a hero from legends. Now that she knew Aang personally, though, she had almost forgotten all about her previous notion. He was a good friend to her now, the best she had ever had… and yet he still bore the weight on his shoulders of having to become the hero she had believed in. The hero the world had always believed in.

"This is him" said Aang, stopping before the statue of a man with long hair and beard, flowing robes and a very particular hairpiece crowning his head "Avatar Roku"

"He's… tall" said Katara, smiling.

"All these statues are taller than us, but I think it's because they were made to look bigger than us" said Aang, grinning back "So… see? He's Fire Nation, but he's not a bad guy. Else it would mean I'm a bad guy too, you know?"

"It's your past life, Aang, he's not really you" said Katara, frowning "And besides, I already said I doubt he was as bad as the Fire Nation people nowadays"

"Well… I suppose unless proven otherwise, you're allowed to believe that" said Aang, albeit her judgment against the Fire Nation still seemed rather harsh to him. He was certain there still had to be good people amongst them, even if Katara refused to believe it…

He gazed up at Roku's eyes, wondering if this man would really serve as his guide. How could a statue help him, if it could help at all? Did he have the answers Aang needed? Would he tell him how to end the war? How to restore balance in the world?

Aang lowered his head and sighed. How could a statue hold any answers for the questions that plagued him?

"Well? Are you going to try meditating?" Katara asked Aang.

"I… I don't know, Katara" said Aang "I've always been told I'm good at meditating and at dealing with the spiritual side of bending, but… for some reason, I don't think this will work out. I guess he might have the answers we're hoping to find, maybe he'll help us restore balance in the world, but…"

"But what?" Katara asked, frowning "What is it, Aang?"

"I just… don't know" Aang muttered "Can I do it? Am I really capable of… of doing whatever it takes? Because I don't think I'll be able to, Katara. The fate of the world is in my hands, but… but I don't know if I can fight a war. All my life I was taught to treasure life, to cherish it in its every expression, and now I'll have to sacrifice my spiritual needs in order to… to keep balance in the world by fighting a war? What if I sacrifice them to no avail? What if… what if everything I do proves to be useless on the long run?"

"Aang… stop" said Katara, looking at him sternly "Nothing you'll do will be useless, not if you truly mean to change the world, to make it what it used to be. You're… you're the Avatar, Aang! If anyone can restore the balance in the world, it's you!"

"But that's… that's where you're wrong, Katara" said Aang, frowning "I am the Avatar… but in the end, the Avatar is just one person in one generation. Look around us… all these statues are of different Avatars, and all of them together in the same place make quite the spectacle to behold, but every single one of them had to pull off the job of keeping balance all by himself, and…"

"Not true" said Katara "Not if they could reach out to their past lives in order to gain the knowledge they needed to keep balance. And not if they had friends… and you have friends, Aang. At least, you have one in me"

"And I appreciate that, Katara, but… the fact that I can bend four elements, just as you said before, doesn't make me a better person than anyone else" said Aang "It doesn't mean that I simply will be able to change the world just by willing it. If it were that easy, I would have done it by now"

"Aang…" said Katara, reaching out to pat his shoulder.

But before she could do so, a long shadow appeared on the floor behind them, startling them. Aang and Katara jumped back, looking at it with distrust and wariness, wondering what were the chances for someone to show up in the deserted Air Temple exactly when they did…

… And it happened to be no more than a lemur, who looked at them with curious eyes, his ears twitching as he regarded the strangers.

"It's… it's a lemur!" Aang squealed happily, and Katara stared at him in surprise.

"Aang?"

"Lemur!" Aang shouted, running off after the creature.

"Aang!" Katara exclaimed, glaring at him as Aang pursued the small animal through the Temple "Oh, for crying out loud… one second you're talking about the heavy weight of being the Avatar, having to save the world… and on the next you're off chasing a lemur?!"

Nonetheless, the waterbender found herself running out of the sanctuary as well, in order to find the rampaging Avatar, who had gotten the great idea of pursuing the lemur by riding a ball of spinning air.

"So… is that the air scooter?" Katara asked, smiling despite herself as she continued to follow him.

"Where are you going?! I'm not going to hurt you, I'll be a good friend to you!" Aang exclaimed, as the creature ran off into the ruins of an old house.

Aang had to climb off the scooter before entering the lemur's hideout, since the house seemed rather ravaged, for reasons he didn't stop to think about…

Yet he was forced to face those reasons upon finding corpses clad in red-and-black outfits once he had entered the house.

Aang's eyes widened as he looked at the dead bodies around him, horrified. So far he had barely found any evidence of the war, to confirm that the Fire Nation had indeed attacked the Air Nomads… but as he looked at the skeletons of the many soldiers who had perished in battle, his hopes were crushed. And it wasn't just Fire Nation soldiers: several bodies wore orange-and-yellow clothes, stained with blood that had been dry for over a hundred years.

And the sight that horrified him most was that which stood farthest from where he was.

Aang walked towards the last skeleton, as though compelled by a force beyond him. He dropped on his knees before the corpse, taking in the worn out clothing, but mostly, the wooden necklace around his neck.

"G-Gyatso…?" he muttered, as tears began to slip from his eyes "Gyatso…"

The man who had taught him almost everything he knew, the best friend he had known through his childhood days… he had always been able to put a smile on his face when Aang had been sad or bored. Nobody had supported him as thoroughly or cared so much for Aang's wellbeing as Gyatso had. Surely he had died here, hoping that, at the very least, Aang would be able to escape the massacre…

Sobs began shaking Aang's shoulders before he could hold them back. His hands went to his hair, and he pulled at it as he curled, horrified with himself. If only he had left for the Temple earlier… if he had never even left the Temple, in the first place, perhaps he could have saved Gyatso. Perhaps he could have saved everyone! But he had failed… he had failed. He had spent the past hundred years frozen cold, and now he couldn't regain what he had lost. There was nobody to help him find the answers he needed. He had allowed the world to fall out of balance, and he was supposed to restore it… but how was he supposed to save the world when he had been completely unable to save those he loved?

"Aang? Aang…" Katara muttered, as she crawled into the tattered house. She couldn't see him at first, but the sounds she heard were undoubtedly those of someone in tears

When she saw what was within, she realized why Aang was crying. There had to be twenty dead Fire Nation soldiers in here, if not more… and, amongst them, were also several Air Nomads' corpses.

Katara approached Aang carefully, knowing he was prone to dangerous reactions when he was too emotional… but he didn't seem to mind hearing her footsteps behind him. His shoulders still shook as he sobbed desperately.

"Aang…" said Katara, her hand touching his shoulder.

"I… I couldn't save them, Katara, I… I wasn't strong enough" Aang muttered, gritting his teeth and wishing his voice wouldn't fail him as he tried to speak.

"Aang, it's not your fault" Katara said, pulling him towards her and away from Gyatso's body.

She embraced him; this time there was no room for doubts regarding if she should hug him or leave him be. Her gesture would have taken him by surprise if only his grief had been any less intense. Aang clutched at her clothes now, his forehead on her shoulder as he wept uncontrollably.

"None of this is your fault. Don't blame yourself for it" said Katara, hugging him tightly "This war, these… these firebenders, they're the ones that should be held responsible for it, not you. You're right, Aang… you're just one guy. You were only a kid when you were last here, and you were trying to return to save them…"

"B-but I failed… I failed them, I've failed the world, I…" Aang insisted, shaking his head.

Katara gulped and patted his back, not knowing what to say to him.

She held him for what felt as though an eternity to Katara, hoping he would be able to drain his sorrows… yet she rather doubted a few tears would make up for the massive hole in his heart. She could only imagine what this loss meant to him… she knew she would never be able to move on if her Tribe, her family, everyone she loved, was ripped away from her in such heartless fashion.

Nevertheless, Aang had an amazing inner strength Katara could only envy. He was so much stronger than he looked for, as she had realized earlier, his losses hadn't turned him into a brooding man, a mere shadow of who he truly was. She believed wholeheartedly that he could overcome any obstacle in his way…

But for that, he needed to get out of here in the first place. Remaining in this house, in the Air Temple, would only depress him further. His wounds would likely never heal, but given time he would be able to put his past behind him and look forward to the future…

"Aang… let's go" said Katara, patting his shoulder and prompting him to leave the house "Come on. Let's… let's get out of here"

She would have still wanted to see Aang's room, as they had planned originally, but the circumstances clearly wouldn't allow for it. It would be best if they returned to the Southern Water Tribe. They could come back to the Air Temple later, so long as Aang wanted it.

She helped him outside the house, and by then Aang was attempting to dry his tears with the back of his hand. Katara looked at him worriedly.

"Aang…"

"I'm sorry, Katara, I…" he muttered, shaking his head "I didn't mean to break down like this, but…"

"Aang… I really meant what I said before" Katara said, looking at him with concern "Please, don't do this to yourself. There's… there's always going to be a regret on the back of your head, asking you what might have been different if you had acted, or if you had been any faster… I know, Aang. I've been through the same thing"

"You?" Aang asked, shocked "What… what do you mean?"

Katara gritted her teeth before answering, her heart shrinking as she recalled the experience.

"If I had been any more skilled in waterbending, I probably could have frozen cold the man who came to kill my mother. If… if I had found my dad any faster, he could have protected her. But I didn't. And… and she died"

Aang looked at Katara, concerned. The grief he felt was awful, but he had never imagined Katara would carry such a heavy burden as well…

"But after some time blaming myself for it, I realized… it's not really my fault" said Katara "I wasn't the one who took her life. Yes, I wish I had been stronger, but the only thing I can do about that is becoming stronger now, so that I can protect those I care about if they're ever in danger again. That's… that's what my brother did. And… well… maybe that's what you should do"

"Maybe" said Aang, sighing.

Katara surrounded his shoulders with an arm again, looking at him worriedly.

"Aang…"

"I'll be okay" he said, smiling weakly "I… I just kept wishing you guys had been wrong. That maybe… that maybe things hadn't been as awful as you thought. But I guess it was too much to ask"

Aang stepped away from her, approaching the area where Appa had remained, dozing off after the long trip. Aang looked at him with a weak smile before turning towards Katara again, drying the last of his tears from his eyes.

"Still… you… you're right, Katara. Blaming myself… it's not going to help, is it? It won't bring them back, and it won't amend my mistakes… nothing will. What's done is done, and all that is left is for us to carry on, to try to make sure it doesn't happen again. Maybe the Air Nomads are gone… but the Water Tribes remain. Maybe my other friends are gone… but now I have you. And even when I wasn't strong enough to protect them… I can try to protect you"

"You don't have to" said Katara, smiling at him "I'll be able to watch over myself just fine, I believe"

"Yeah. I hope so too" said Aang, smiling back weakly.

Katara hugged him once more, and Aang sighed before returning the embrace. The grief in his heart would never subside, he feared… the pain he felt upon the demise of his people would linger in him until his death, most likely. Yet it was up to him to make some use of the life he had… it was up to him to find a way to restore the Air Nomads. Even if he couldn't bring his people back, he could at least try to find a way to repopulate the Air Temples with new people. If he was to restore balance between all four nations, he had to restore the missing nation as well.

"So… should we go back?" Katara asked, pulling away from him.

Aang sighed and nodded, smiling at the girl.

"Yeah. It'll be for the best, I'm sure" he said "Let's go, Katara"

Katara smiled, but before she could turn around towards Appa, another figure caught her eye behind Aang. She frowned as she eyed the lemur they had seen before, and she was startled to see it was carrying a peach in his small hands.

"Um… I think he wants to say goodbye" Katara said, pointing at the creature.

Aang frowned and turned, and he actually found himself smiling when the lemur ran towards them and handed the peach at him.

"Well… hey there, little buddy" said Aang, grinning "Came to see us off?"

Aang stretched his hand out for the lemur, and it climbed up his arm, settling on his shoulder. Aang chuckled and the lemur handed him the peach, making squeaky sounds as he did.

"Would you look at that. He brought us food for the road, even" said Aang, smiling at Katara "And here I thought he was afraid of us"

"Well, you did freak him out when you chased after him" said Katara, at which Aang grinned with guilt now.

"I guess I did" he muttered, looking at the lemur with a smile "So… we must be some of the first people you've seen in quite a while, huh, buddy?"

The lemur didn't answer, he just looked around himself as though trying to spot more food from this privileged position on Aang's shoulder. The Avatar beamed and scratched the lemur's head with his free hand.

"You, Appa and I are all that's left of this place, little fellow" said Aang, sighing "But… but one day, that will change. I don't know how, but I'll manage to make this place as amazing as it once was. I'll find new airbenders, if possible, and… and I'll teach them all I can about airbending, so that we can restore the Air Nomads"

Katara looked at Aang in amazement. It was the first time he had ever spoken with such determination. Had this visit changed him…?

"But in the mean time, I'll go back to the South… and you're a pretty lanky fellow, I don't know if you'll be able to put up with the cold" said Aang, smiling weakly at the lemur "So it'll be best for you to stay here. I'm pretty sure you'll be more than capable of taking care of yourself, if you've survived all along, so…"

The lemur squeaked again in approval, it seemed to Aang. Aang smiled and nodded at him.

"Then you'll stay here… Momo. Yeah, that'll be your name. You'll stay in the Temple, and you'll keep an eye on everything until I get back. How does that sound to you?"

Momo seemed to accept the deal. He jumped off Aang's shoulder and looked at him one last time before darting into the wilderness again. Aang smiled sadly as he looked at the Air Temple, hoping it wouldn't be the last time he was here… hoping he would be able to keep the promise he had just made. He would bring his people back one day…

"Let's go" he said, smiling at Katara with a little more enthusiasm now.

Katara smiled back and, together, they walked towards Appa, climbing atop the bison that woke as they took their seats, Katara on the saddle and Aang on the creature's neck.

"Come on, Appa" said Aang, patting the bison's head "Time to go home"

* * *

The trip back to the Southern Water Tribe felt shorter than the one into the Southern Air Temple. Both Aang and Katara were still rather shaken up by what had happened in the Temple, and thus they had remained silent for most the journey, both lost in their own thoughts.

Aang turned and glanced at Katara, whose gaze was fixated in the deep blue of the sky. He gulped before climbing towards the saddle, trusting Appa to fly without anyone steering him.

"Hey…" he said, smiling weakly "We're getting close to the Pole. I can already see the casket from here"

"So soon?" Katara asked, startled. She looked at the direction towards which they were flying, and she found Aang was right "Well… that was faster than expected"

"Yeah" said Aang, somewhat uneasy "Say… do you want to share the peach? I mean, since we're about to arrive and all, we could wait until we get there to eat…"

Katara smiled at him and patted the saddle next to her, gesturing at Aang to sit beside her. The Avatar returned the grin and took his seat, taking the peach out of his pocket and splitting it with some difficulty.

"Thanks" Katara said "I'm amazed that you'd offer to share this with me"

"What…? Why wouldn't I?" said Aang, aghast.

"Well, I like Water Tribe food, but you obviously don't" said Katara "I thought you'd keep this peach all to yourself because it's finally the food you like"

"Oh, well… but food is better when you share it with a friend, don't you think?" said Aang, smiling weakly. Katara giggled and took her share of the peach.

"True" she nodded before digging into the fruit.

"Say…" said Aang, looking at her from the corner of his eye "I'm sorry about what happened back there"

"What? You mean when you cried? That's not something you need to apologize over, Aang…"

"No, I don't mean that" said Aang "I mean… you asked me to try to connect with Roku, but then I got distracted and that's when I found Gyatso… and then we forgot all about my meditation. I didn't mean for that to happen, I just…"

"It's hard, I know" said Katara, patting him on the shoulder "I'm not upset about that at all, Aang. If… if what you told me is true, then he'll come to you when you're ready. I doubt that just meditating before a statue will make you more ready than you are now. I think Roku will find you when the time comes"

"But what if I had to meditate? What if the statue really has something to do with it?" Aang asked.

"I don't know, Aang" said Katara, frowning "But what I think is that, first of all… you need to be certain that you want to have him guide you through your path as the Avatar. He won't come unless you really want him to, I think"

"You might be right" said Aang, biting his peach and frowning. In truth, he wasn't all that thrilled about his guide appearing before him. Not when he feared recrimination for his mistakes, when he felt as hopeless as he did. How could one of the past Avatars tell him how to restore the balance in a world as chaotic as this one? How could they have the answers he needed…?

Katara gazed down at the snowy pole, feeling a little disappointed at returning so soon. Still, she was glad to come back to the safety of her home. She looked intently at the snowy mounds far ahead, hoping to spot the Tribe…

But her brow contracted as she saw something else in the field of ice below. She squinted, hoping to get a better look at what stood ahead. The Tribe was there, a thin line on the horizon… but there was a mass of people outside it.

A mass of people clad in red.

"Aang… Aang!" Katara shouted, startling him as she leapt to her feet, staring down at the ground in horror.

"W-what's the matter Katara?" Aang said, jumping up as well "Why are you…?"

"They're attacking the Tribe! The Fire Nation soldiers from the settlement…! They're attacking us!" Katara screamed, horrified.

Aang's heart sank at those words. No… not now. It couldn't be the Water Tribe next.

He jumped back on Appa's neck and shook the reins fiercely. And upon doing so, he confirmed, to his horror, that Katara was right. The Fire Nation was attacking again.

"Yip yip, Appa! Get us there, fast!" Aang shouted, as Katara gripped the edge of the saddle tightly, her nails digging into the fabric.

"How… why?" Katara asked, gritting her teeth "How did they know not to attack until we were gone?!"

"Maybe they saw Appa" said Aang, gritting his teeth as the bison's speed increased "They might have sent scouts to look at the Tribe before, and while they saw Appa they thought twice about attacking. He's a big creature, they must have thought he would be hostile, so they waited until he was out of the way…"

"Oh, it doesn't even matter, not really!" said Katara, growing desperate "We have to… I have to do something, Aang! They can't get away with this!"

"They won't" said Aang, frowning "They… they won't"

But doubts gripped the Avatar's mind once more. He had been unable to save his people. He had failed once before… could he save the Water Tribe now? Would they reach the fight in time to keep the Water Tribe from falling? Could he make a difference at all in the outcome of this battle? He hadn't been raised for fighting… the monks had always rejected violence of any kind. Their teachings had to live on in him, if they were going to live on at all…

But he had little time to think of what he should do when they finally could see the battle, which was taking place in the territory right in front of the Tribe's icy walls. Aang could only grimace as he watched the fight up ahead. About fifty Fire Nation soldiers, equipped with spears and thick armor, fought against a handful of Water Tribe men whose weapons and protection weren't half as sturdy as those of their opponents.

"Steer him down, Aang! We have to get to them, NOW!" Katara shouted, staring at her fellow tribesmen with concern.

"We can't just descend from over here!" said Aang, worried "If we do…"

"We'll ambush them! We can get them from behind, so they get a taste of their own medicine!"

"Katara, that's crazy!" said Aang, still steering Appa towards the Tribe "We'll touch down by the tribe, we can't be so reckless as to ambush them or else they'll end up killing us!"

"If they don't kill us, they'll kill them!" Katara shouted, looking at Aang with determined eyes.

"Katara…" Aang said, turning towards her and begging her with his eyes to bear with him "We'll be able to fight them off, I promise, but just… don't be so reckless, Katara. If you fight violence with violence…"

"You'll get a better result than by doing nothing" Katara declared, angrily, climbing up the edge of the saddle "I'm sorry, Aang… but I won't stand by while I watch my people get massacred!"

"No, Katara, don't be so…! Katara!" Aang shouted, trying to reach out for her, but it was too late.

The waterbender launched herself down into the snowy fields, taking a very hard blow when she reached the ground. She went down on her knees, grimacing at the pain, but the sound of her fall served to drift the attention of the soldiers away from her Tribesmen as they turned around to look at her, about forty meters away from where they were.

"Where…? Where did she come from?!" asked one of the soldiers, just as Katara waved her arms around herself, bringing forth spikes of ice from the ground.

"It's the waterbender!" shouted another one.

Most the soldiers jumped back, terrified at the girl's prowess. She had always been skilled, but it seemed as though she were stronger now than the last time they had fought against her. Nevertheless, they wouldn't allow themselves to weaver. Several of them leapt forward to attack Katara, some of them shouting for their nation as they raised their spears above their heads. And Aang watched from above, aghast. She had jumped… she was putting her life in the line to save her people, just as he had intended to do back when he had heard about the Fire Nation's attack on the Air Nomads.

Gritting his teeth, Aang forced himself to come to a realization as he looked down at the conflict below. Perhaps he could make a mess of things, perhaps the outcome wouldn't be what he wanted it to be. But if he didn't do something, if he didn't act now, the Water Tribe would suffer the same fate the Air Nomads had. Even if he didn't know if he was strong enough, even when he was certain that violence wasn't the answer, the answer wouldn't be to stand by and do nothing either, much as Katara had just told him.

"Boy… let's do this" said Aang, patting Appa on the head before jumping down, allowing gravity to pull him to the ground.

Appa roared, scaring the Fire Nation soldiers and eliciting cheers from the Water Tribe warriors. Aang pulled together the snow in order to make his landing much lighter. He fell right between Katara and the soldiers, and upon reaching the ground he stomped strongly on the ice and stretched his arms out.

A wall of ice rose so powerfully that the entire casket shook with the force of Aang's bending. The Water Tribe warriors ran back to the safety of the Tribe while Aang brought forth a ten-foot tall wall to separate the Fire Nation soldiers from them.

Katara watched him in utter awe. How had he managed to bend something so immense in such short time span? She was stuck on the same side of the wall with the Fire Nation soldiers, all the same as Appa, who touched down on the ground and attacked the soldiers by striking the ice with his tail and sending a gust at them.

The soldiers couldn't put up with the power of the air Appa had sent their way. They flew back, crashing against the ice wall. Appa roared again, looking at them with fierce brown eyes. Katara smiled as she looked at him, and she beamed even more upon raising her eyes towards Aang. So… he had acted at last. And what an act had it been…

Aang stepped forward towards the soldiers, who stared at him in awe and fear. Since when had there been two waterbenders in the Pole?

"Leave the Water Tribe alone" Aang commanded, angrily "You have no business invading territories that don't belong to you! The Fire Nation has nothing to do here!"

"Y-you… you're not going to get away with giving us orders!" shouted one of the soldiers, reaching out towards him.

Aang stretched a hand towards the snow underneath the soldier, which solidified and became slippery ice. The soldier tripped and fell in quite an embarrassing fashion, to his utter horror, but even though it would have been a rather amusing sight, nobody found it funny. Not even Aang.

"Go back to your settlement, or better yet, go back to the Fire Nation!" Aang shouted "You don't belong here! I'll let you go peacefully so long as you swear you will not bother the Water Tribe ever again!"

"Aang… you can't just let them go! We should capture them, they're in our grasp…!" Katara said.

"No" said Aang, frowning "We're not going to become like them, Katara. If… if we're going to make this a better world, then we're not going to do what they do. We'll restore balance without becoming the Fire Nation"

Aang's words made Katara stare at him in utter shock. He had said what?! He was going to do it, then? He would change the world? He would restore balance? He would fight this war?

Aang focused on the soldiers once more, raising his hands menacingly.

"Don't come back here" he said again "Go back to where you belong, and leave the Water Tribe in peace!"

Nobody answered this time. Terrified of his skills and his presence, the soldiers had backed down into submission. Aang lowered his hands and walked towards Appa.

"I'll keep an eye on you to make sure you go back straight to your settlement, you heard me? So get going already!"

Katara approached him as Aang climbed atop the bison's neck, and he stretched a hand to help her up with him. The bison took up to the sky and Aang glared at the soldiers from above. They didn't move at first, but slowly they began retreating. Aang continued to leer at them menacingly as he watched them leave in defeat, satisfied by the outcome of this unforeseen conflict.

Aang didn't relax until the last of the soldiers was long gone. Katara sat behind him, and she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder as she let him know it was safe to go back now. Aang sighed and nodded, and he steered Appa over the wall of ice, in order to descend on the Tribe.

"Haha! Way to go!" shouted Hakka, beaming at the Avatar "That was amazing, Aang!"

"You guys got here just on time!" said Yuro, smiling as well "We had no warning they were coming, the fight had barely begun by the time you guys showed up!"

"That's good to know" said Katara, climbing off Appa "Did anyone get hurt? Is everyone okay?"

"It looked worse than it was" said Hakoda, embracing his daughter tightly once she reached the ground "Kattan has a bloody nose after taking the butt of a spear to the face, and I almost got my chest hacked open, but I got out of the way before the soldier could reach me"

"Good to know you did" said Katara, growing worried at the thought of her father facing such a threat to his life "I'm sorry we left, we shouldn't have… if we hadn't gone they wouldn't have attacked today"

"It's nothing to apologize about" said Hakoda "You couldn't have known this would happen"

"I suspect… I suspect they attacked when they saw Appa was gone" said Aang, frowning "He's so big, they probably didn't even know what he was and they were too wary to attack while he was here. So when they saw him leave…"

"It's a possibility" said Hakoda, sighing "Would they know he's a sky bison?"

"I don't know" said Aang, grimacing "Because if they realize he is, they might also realize that I'm…"

"You didn't airbend at them, though" said Katara, frowning.

"I did jump off Appa without an issue" said Aang, grimacing.

"Well, I also survived jumping off a bison several feet above the ground and I'm no airbender" said Katara, smiling at him "Maybe they don't know yet… hopefully, they won't have realized you're the Avatar"

"Hopefully" said Aang, sighing and flattening his hair with a hand "My arrows don't show, do they?"

"Nope" said Katara, smiling and patting him on the shoulder.

"Why are you so happy?" Aang asked, looking at Katara with concern "Your tribe was just attacked…"

"Well…" said Katara, looking at him with kind eyes "The fact that you stood up against them, that you… that you repelled them as you did! It's just amazing, Aang. Never before had we been able to send them running back to their settlement with their tails between their legs. What you just did…"

Aang looked at Katara in shock, amazed by the expression on her face. She was… she was hopeful. And so were all her tribesmen, who were also beaming at him.

"A while back you said you were just one man, didn't you?" said Katara "That a single man can't restore balance in a world… and you're probably right. By yourself, you can't do much. The world is comprised by so many people, and there's so much to do that to expect you to be able to pull this off on your own is unreasonable. You can't change the world in one day, and you can't do it by yourself… but you can change it on the long run. You can restore balance, Aang, by fighting every battle one at a time. By… by protecting the Water Tribe, by making sure they don't trample all over us in as they have with other nations in the past"

"And by doing this, you'll gain your allies" said Kattan "And once you've got enough allies, you'll be able to take down the Fire Nation!"

Hakoda seemed to grow uneasy at the cheerfulness of the younger members of the Tribe. But Aang caught his eye. The Avatar seemed surprised by the way everyone was responding, but there was more in his eyes than just that astonishment. It was as though he had grown conscious of the weight that he carried on his shoulders… and he had accepted it was his burden. He had realized it was up to him to make a difference. Yet he wasn't as wishful or innocent as the others… he knew what was at stake far better than Katara or Kattan could.

"Thanks, Katara, Kattan" said Aang, smiling weakly "But… but until the battles down here have really been won, I'm not going out there to overthrow the Fire Nation"

"W-what?" said Kattan, startled.

Katara sighed and nodded. Disappointing as it may be to hear this, it was as she had expected from him. She had just said so herself, hadn't she? Restoring the balance wouldn't take one day… it would take a lot of effort, and it might as well take an entire lifetime. Yet it was what had to be done, what Aang would do. And she would follow Aang, no matter which path he decided to take in order to restore balance.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you" said Aang, looking at Kattan "But I'm not going to leave the Tribe again as leisurely as I did this time, in order to fight a war I don't know if I can win. If I did that, what would happen to you guys? What if they attacked again?"

"We'd manage to fight them off somehow, Aang! It's not like we can't…!"

"Maybe you can" said Aang "But before going out there to face off against the Fire Lord, I have to make sure this first threat is out of the way. You win a war by taking small victories first, don't you?"

"I… I guess" said Kattan, surprised now "Then… it's a strategy? You're going to get rid of the settlement before going out into the world again?"

"I'll try" said Aang, sighing "There… there has to be a way to do it. But yes. I'm going to make sure the Water Tribe is safe before doing anything else"

"That's good to know" said Hakoda, smiling and patting Aang on the shoulder "That's… that's the wisdom of a leader, Aang. First things first. Still… regarding fighting the Fire Nation…"

"I know" said Aang, nodding "I know you think it's crazy, and we shouldn't get involved in a battle when we're not bound to win. But… but I'm the Avatar. It's my duty to restore balance. I just… I just have to find my own way to do it. A way in which shedding so much blood isn't necessary…"

"And I'll support you, whatever way you choose to fight this war" said Katara, smiling brightly at Aang.

Aang smiled at her, thankful for her support. The others seemed rather startled by her acceptance of Aang's ways, and it seemed as though they were still having a hard time understanding the Avatar's plans…

Nevertheless, nobody complained about his decision. The Tribe returned slowly to its calm state while that rush of excitement subsided, and Aang lowered the ice wall once again. The wall might have worked as a very useful shield for now, but it wasn't going to help him protect the Water Tribe on the long run…

"Thanks, Aang" Katara said, once he was done bending the ice.

"You're welcome. Good to know I wasn't the only one who thought the view shouldn't be covered with this wall. I figured we'd need perfect visibility in case they attack once again…"

"That's not what I'm talking about" said Katara, smiling and standing right next to him "I mean… for what you did today. All of it. It was rather fun and also rather stressful, but I can assure you this was the most exciting day of my life"

Aang looked at her in surprise before smiling at her.

"I'm glad you saw it that way"

"I know how hard it was for you to choose to fight… I know that's not the way you do things" said Katara "And I understand you were taught not to be violent. So… I appreciate that, in order to protect my Tribe, you went out of your way and acted as you did. You defended us, even when there might be a great cost to it… if they did realize you're the Avatar, they might just send more people in order to restrain you…"

"Well, that is if they actually figure it out" said Aang "Hopefully they won't. But even if they do, I won't let them take me. We'll defend the South Pole, Katara. Together"

Katara smiled and nodded enthusiastically. Aang beamed back at her, beyond glad to see her as happy as she was now. He wouldn't let anyone erase that smile from her face. He wouldn't let the Fire Nation destroy her people as they had destroyed his. Even if he wasn't going to change everything right away by staying down South to fight, he finally felt ready to face this war.


	59. Chapter 59

Shoji arrived to the Arena early in the morning, as ever. Almost all the other staff members were there already, and a few of them greeted him back upon his cheerful salute. The young man walked towards his counter, and he made sure to check that everything was set for his duties of the day.

After looking over the ranking to keep tabs on its latest changes, a co-worker arrived to deliver the challenges that had arrived overnight. It was well known that the Grand Royal Dome was the best Gladiator Arena there was, and thus people from all over the world would seek to fight the gladiators in the Capital. Shoji was delivered these challenges every day, and he would notify the sponsors about every new challenge that had arrived for them.

"Let's see…" said Shoji, looking through the stack of challenging forms he had been delivered as the gatekeepers opened the Arena's doors to the public "Two for Storm's Edge, one for the Duke of Fire, another for the Blinding Sun… hey, Phoenix Flames is the challenger! How about that…"

Shoji finished looking through the challenges and yawned, watching the people enter the Arena and head directly towards the betting counter. It still amazed Shoji that people would be so quick to place their bets every morning… the gladiator business was only what it was thanks to those people, though. It was their compulsive betting that paid Shoji's salary.

As the morning went by, sponsors and gladiators began arriving to attend their fights of the day. The gladiators hardly ever spoke, they would only stand beside their sponsors and wait for the regular procedure to be over. Shoji would be as friendly to the sponsors as possible, but it wasn't easy to be nice to people who treated him as though he were as insignificant to them as the slaves they sponsored. Their behavior had always bothered Shoji, especially considering he was a regular Fire Nation citizen like all of them…

After a particularly annoying sponsor walked away from the counter at long last, Shoji sighed and looked around himself, his eyes nestling on the small calendar he kept on his station. According to his scribbles on it, today was cleaning day. Shoji sighed and prepared himself mentally before beginning with the task of removing waste material and old files of gladiators who had retired from the league… or who had gotten themselves killed. Shoji gulped as he removed the file of Combustion Man's latest kill, but he frowned when he picked up another of the files he was supposed to move into the storage today.

Never had he imagined he would have to put Kyoshi's Heir's file away, let alone for reasons unknown. She had been in the League even longer than Shoji had been working in his counter, and she had always seemed to be one of those gladiators who would always occupy a privileged spot in the ranking, yet not high enough to be one of the top dogs. Still, her retirement had absolutely nothing to do with her prowess in the Arena. She had even killed her last opponent, for crying out loud! So why was she signed out? Why had they received a notice to let them know she was resigning from the League?

The question would always linger… but maybe he could find the answers. Maybe he could make some research, ask a few questions… Prince Zuko was bound to come back to ask if he had found anything about Kyoshi's Heir's disappearance, wasn't he? He couldn't disappoint him by giving him no answers this time around…

He made up his mind to look up whatever information he could just as the Arena's doors opened again. Shoji's gaze flickered towards them and he found himself beaming when he saw who the new arrivals were.

"Princess!" he exclaimed happily, once Azula reached the counter "Oh, I'm so happy to see you! Are you doing better now?"

"I am, else I wouldn't be here" said Azula, sighing and looking at Shoji with slight irritation. The boy's eyes glistened while looking at her… but not just at her. He was looking at Sokka with amazement as well.

And it wasn't just Shoji either. Azula had tried to ignore the way people had looked at them and muttered under their breaths as they made their way through the Arena's vestibule. Sokka had attempted to do the same… yet he had failed at pretending to be calm. He couldn't keep from shooting glances everywhere, wondering if people were looking at Azula, or if they were actually staring at him.

"That is a big relief" said Shoji, beaming "Because for you to get sick, after everything that happened…"

"Ah…" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "So my father already issued out the statement over what happened with the White Lotus, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did" said Shoji, smiling at both of them "You're both the heroes of the Fire Nation!"

Azula didn't seem displeased at all to hear the boy exclaim that, although she was rather surprised Sokka had been given the merits he deserved. Whereas Sokka…

"W-what… hero of the Fire Nation?" Sokka repeated, grimacing "Is that why everyone's looking at us like that?!"

"Indeed it is" said Shoji, smiling "The statement came out yesterday in the afternoon, and once everyone read it they were impressed! Nobody thought a gladiator would be capable of doing such things!"

"Yeah, not even the gladiator did" said Sokka, gulping. If he had known he would be heralded as the Fire Nation's hero… no, who was he kidding? If he had known so, he still would have done everything he did that night. It didn't matter what these people thought of him, because he hadn't done what he had in order to gain anyone's approval or disfavor "Still, it's weird I'm even getting mentioned in that thing. I thought your dad would just give you all the credit, Azula, or even take it for himself…"

"My father is a man of honor" Azula muttered, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Sokka "He's not the kind of leader who steals his subordinates' triumphs"

"Yet I'm not his subordinate… I'm a common slave" said Sokka, frowning "Why did he credit me at all?"

"Why would you want him not to credit you?" Azula asked, looking at Sokka in confusion "Would you rather I had been declared the savior of the Fire Nation so that then you could complain about how I took all the glory unfairly?"

"No, no, that's not at all what I…!"

"Then you don't want the Fire Nation to be thankful to you, is that it?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows again.

"Y-you… I don't need any credit, okay?!" Sokka snapped, looking at her in irritation "I didn't do the things I did so that anyone would thank me!"

Shoji kept looking back and forth from one to the other, utterly confused. All the sponsors and gladiators he had seen today had been so distant… the slaves would simply bow their heads and remain silent, the sponsors would even behave aggressively towards the gladiators…

And these two couldn't possibly be more distant from that. There they were, arguing and glaring at each other, as though they were good friends instead of sponsor and slave. Could they be good friends and still work together like this, though? Shoji couldn't help but wonder… the relationship between them had always struck him as odd, but after reading the official statement, in which the Princess and her fighter had been acknowledged as those who had found and seized the terrorists that had attacked the Fire Nation, their relationship seemed stranger still…

"Ah, well, then, maybe we shouldn't thank you at all and just resort to treating you like normal people treat slaves" said Azula, rolling her eyes and shrugging.

"Ha, yeah right" said Sokka, smirking "You've tried that before, Princess. You don't know how to treat me like a slave"

"It's more like you don't know how to behave as one" Azula grunted, before realizing they had resorted to bickering thoughtlessly before the kid on the counter "Uh… never mind this, Shoji. We came by to have a look at this fool's place in the ranking, and also to check whatever challenges we might still have available"

"Oh, sure" said Shoji, smiling and hoping the Princess and the gladiator would refrain from arguing again.

Sokka and Azula waited patiently and silently while Shoji browsed over the Ranking quickly. It didn't take too long for the boy to find The Blue Wolf amongst the many names, given how well acquainted he was with the list of gladiators. After a brief moment, he spotted what he was looking for and smiled as he read the list aloud.

"You are, officially, in the 273rd spot!" Shoji said, smiling "And you have collected a grand total of three-thousand, one-hundred and thirty-six points!"

"What?!" Sokka said, amazed. He had already breached through three thousand points?! Woah… he hadn't seen that coming.

"Are you sure about this?" Azula asked. She didn't recall at all what his previous position had been, let alone how many points he had before his fight against The Rock. The stressful situation she had lived had brought her to forget, if only briefly, about how important Sokka's position in the Ranking was for her.

"Of course!" said Shoji, chuckling "You have every right to be surprised, though. Not every gladiator manages to earn over three thousand points with only sixteen victories under his belt… those with sixteen triumphs usually are lucky if they've got a thousand!"

Sokka looked at Azula enthusiastically as he digested the information. He could see she approved as well; it seemed as though Sokka's progress had exceeded her expectations.

"And… may I inquire where the Blind Bandit is?" Azula asked, at which Sokka cringed.

"C-can't we just enjoy our great accomplishment and forget about her for a while…?" Sokka asked.

Azula hardly ever failed to ask about the earthbender's position, and for good reason: if they managed to leave her behind in the ranking, Sokka wouldn't be forced to fight against her on another opportunity. Yet if she remained ahead of them, a fight would be unavoidable if they were aiming for the top… and after the previous pummeling Sokka had received by Toph's hand, Azula would much rather keep him as far from the blind girl as possible.

"Uh, the Blind Bandit…" said Shoji, and to Azula's chagrin, his finger moved upwards through the list as he sought her name. So she was still above Sokka. Curse it… "She's the 258th at the moment. She's got about five hundred points over the Blue Wolf"

"Five hundred…" Azula repeated, frowning "Closing that distance shouldn't prove so hard now we're this high. What challenges do we have, Shoji? Do we still have anything pending from someone in the higher levels of the ranking?"

There it was… there was that which made the Blue Wolf and the Princess so different from everyone else. She had asked about what challenges 'they' had, not the challenges 'she' had. And for all Shoji could remember, The Princess had always referred to herself and Sokka in plural, whereas most the other sponsors only spoke individually. They took their gladiator's triumphs and great accomplishment as their own, yet their failures they blamed completely on the fighter. But that wasn't the case with Princess Azula… no, she spoke of her and Sokka as a team. Because that was what they were.

Shoji smiled upon his realization as he looked through Azula's challenges as requested. Yet, as he looked from the messages to the Ranking in order to check the positions of the challengers, he discovered the Princess wouldn't be pleased with what he would tell her…

"I'm sorry, but… all your current challengers are beneath the Blue Wolf in the ranking" Shoji said, gulping "None are above him… you have The Notorious Stingray, though. That could prove a cool match"

"And how many points would that fight provide?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Eh… about one hundred and forty" said Shoji, grimacing now.

"Perhaps it would be a good fight, yet I'm looking for a way to make more points as quickly as possible" Azula grunted "I'm not going to have Sokka wear himself out fighting someone who won't give him a boost in the ranking"

"Uh… how about The Last Dragon? He's only a few spots below the Blue Wolf… or maybe The Steel Hurricane?"

"No, thank you" said Azula, frowning "If they're beneath Sokka, I refuse"

"But you had him fight the Crimson Wonder and he was below him…" muttered Shoji nervously, fearing Azula might get enraged if he displeased her by voicing his opinion.

"That kid, huh?" said Sokka, grimacing. That wasn't a fight he liked to remember…

"That was simply to give him a break after battling earthbenders non-stop for quite some time. But if we're going to give chase to that bandit, we'll have to do much better than that"

"Huh, but we're not soldiers or anything… We shouldn't have any business chasing bandits" said Sokka, chuckling at his dumb joke. Naturally, the stupid remark only earned himself a disbelieving glare from his sponsor.

"You know what I mean, idiot" Azula said, and even though Sokka could have taken offense by the insult, he could only smile goofily at her "And we might not be soldiers, but we have given chase to actual bandits before. Need I remind you of it?"

"Oh, no. I remember pretty well" said Sokka, gulping now. Those memories he wasn't all that fond of, the crazy chase they had given the Rough Rhinos and all the catastrophes that had come with it…

"So? There's nothing more to it? I'll have to start issuing out my own challenges again?" Azula asked "It's been quite a while since I last had to do that, but if we're to earn a decent amount of points…"

"Well… maybe you don't have to do that just yet" said Shoji, rubbing his chin as an idea came to his mind "If what you want is to earn lots of points in a short notice… then maybe there's a solution for you, an even better one than having you challenge other fighters"

"And what might that be?" Azula asked, surprised.

"I think I spoke to you two about Gladiator Events before, didn't I?" said Shoji, smiling now.

"Ah… you did, once" said Azula, recalling the occasion.

"You said something about a Pairs Tournament, right? And something else about…" Sokka said, frowning as he tried to recall the information the boy had given them.

"About a Scavenger Hunt!" said Shoji enthusiastically "The Scavenger Hunt will happen a week from now. The deadline for signing up to participate in it is tomorrow, so if you want to join…"

"Wait, wait, wait…" said Azula, lifting a hand "You told us, more or less, what this event was about back then…"

"If you need me to refresh your memory, I'm more than happy to do so" said Shoji, smiling "The Scavenger Hunt takes place in The Ring of Ash, over at Fire Fountain City. And the event is comprised by having the gladiators fetch ten objects that have been scattered through the city. They gather in the Gladiator Arena, and all of them take off at the same time in order to find what they're looking for"

"And every gladiator gathers as many objects as possible… right?" Azula asked, remembering what Shoji had said before.

"Indeed, though that's easier said than done" said Shoji, smiling uncomfortably "It's a pretty tough competition. There are ten objects, each worth two hundred points. If your gladiator were to return to the Arena while carrying all ten objects, he would take two thousand points"

"And we would surpass the Blind Bandit in a heartbeat" said Azula, smiling with malice "Back then I had refused to join this event, but now it sounds rather appealing…"

"How many gladiators join this event, more or less?" Sokka asked, frowning "Because it sounds like getting all ten objects might be a fool's errand…"

"Uh… it might be" said Shoji, smiling and shrugging "I don't think anyone has done it before"

"No matter. There's always a first time for everything" said Azula, proudly "Just imagine the scandal you'd make in the Gladiator League if you were the first gladiator to ever take the ten objects…"

"You seem rather confident…" said Sokka, gulping. Maybe it was because of how effectively he'd fought against the White Lotus guys… but it seemed as though Azula believed he couldn't lose. For some reason, he couldn't share her conviction.

"Well… maybe you're right" said Shoji, smiling shyly at Azula "I mean, the Blue Wolf is rather strong… he might be able to pull it off, who knows?"

"Why do you seem so doubtful, Shoji?" Azula asked, frowning "Is there something you haven't told us yet?"

"Uh… well…" said Shoji, gulping "It's not information I should disclose freely to sponsors…"

"No, it's information you should disclose freely to a Princess unless you'd rather face her wrath" said Azula, with a very ironic smile that made Shoji feel as though the blood in his veins had frozen cold.

"A-ah, w-well… t-there's a chance you two might… well, the gladiator… He might be able to win" said Shoji, biting his lip "But the issue is that, well… I'm not supposed to tell anyone about who else is participating in events, it should be confidential, but… well, it's the two of you, so I guess I probably could…"

"Ah, curse it, just say it!" Azula snapped, freaking the young man out.

"T-the Blind Bandit is participating in the Scavenger Hunt as well!" Shoji said quickly, hoping she wouldn't be enraged upon this new bit of information.

"Wha-…?" said Sokka, aghast. Well, that was that. If Toph was going to be in this, then he definitely wasn't going to get himself those two thousand points…

Azula was startled by the revelation for a moment, but her brow contracted as she thought deeply about the situation. If the Blind Bandit was taking part in the Hunt, she'd be a big threat to Sokka… and yet…

"Azula?" Sokka asked, afraid she might have grown angry now given her sudden silence. But she didn't reply to him. She looked at Shoji with determination before saying:

"Sign us up for it"

"A-Azula?!" Sokka squeaked, aghast "W-what do you mean, sign us up?! If she's going to be in it…!"

"Then all the more reason for us to join as well" said Azula, looking at him before turning towards Shoji again "The event is in a week, then? In Fire Fountain City?"

"Ah… yes" said Shoji, surprised by her accepting the challenge so determinedly "Then… you're joining the Hunt…?"

"I just said I would, didn't I?" Azula retorted "Is there anything else I need to do in order to formalize our participation in the event?"

"Uh… no, I'll write up your form myself, Princess" said Shoji.

"Then I suppose that will be all for now, Shoji. We'll likely see you again once that matter is over with"

"Of course. I-I'll be here, as always! G-good luck at the Hunt!" said Shoji, smiling nervously at them. Even if Azula wasn't behaving in a hostile manner right now, her previous snapping at him still scared him.

Sokka didn't realize Azula had turned around to leave while he gaped at Shoji's counter, trying to digest that he would be facing off against the Blind Bandit again…

"Uh… she already left" Shoji said, making Sokka jump.

"Huh? Oh… oh!" said Sokka, running after Azula, who was already by the Arena's gates "Hey! Wait up!"

"You're saying I should wait for you? You should stop being such a slowpoke, rather" Azula declared, rolling her eyes as she passed by the gates, with Sokka trailing right behind her.

"Azula, what the hell got into you?! How am I supposed to…? Why did you accept joining when you knew Toph would be in that event as well?!" Sokka asked, aghast.

"Why shouldn't I have?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow as they walked down the steps that led to the streets together. The gazes of most the citizens fell on them as they walked, yet this time they actually failed to notice them.

"What the…?!" Sokka asked "Maybe because she'll KILL ME?! Didn't you say you weren't going to make me fight needlessly against gladiators that might tear me apart? Well, in case you've forgotten, she already did that to me once and she's going to do it again if we go to that Hunt!"

"In case you hadn't thought of it, that's not going to be the case" said Azula, stopping in the middle of their walk to look sternly at him "Think about it logically, Sokka. There will be heaps of gladiators participating in this event, and the purpose of the Hunt isn't to see who the last man standing will be. No, the point of this is fetching those items and bringing them back to the Arena. Why should the Bandit resort to beating you to a pulp when that's not what's at stake here?"

"Because she's crazy?" said Sokka, grimacing "Azula, if only to screw with us, she'll do it. You know she's not to be underestimated just as well as I do"

"I'm not underestimating her" Azula stated "If anything, I'm trying to estimate her properly with this event. You won't be fighting directly against her this time, but you still will be able to see if you're any match against her as you are. You have improved greatly since you first fought against her, so there's a great chance you won't be as helpless against her as you used to be"

"B-but…" Sokka muttered, grimacing.

"Need more convincing, do you?" Azula asked, rolling her eyes "I did say maybe you could take all the ten objects by yourself, but now I doubt you'll be able to, if she's going to join as well. And now I ask you, what would we do if she were the one who managed to take all ten objects? She'd shoot off through the ranking and she'd be out of reach in no time! But if you join, and you take your own share of objects, you'll take those points for yourself, and in doing so, you'd make sure she doesn't get two thousand points. What potential problem do you find in this situation, Sokka? Why shouldn't we have joined the Hunt?"

"B-because…"

"You'll have to get rid of your fear of that girl one day" Azula advised him, making Sokka grimace as they resumed their walk "I get she terrifies you because of what she did to you, but you've become much stronger… and we'll probably have to fight her again at some point anyways. If you go against her while being scared, you're sure to lose"

"But… don't you think I should keep becoming stronger and stronger until I'm finally capable of beating her?" Sokka asked "I mean… there are plenty of other gladiators out there who…"

"Who might join the Hunt as well. I think the Bandit will have more than enough gladiators to concern herself with aside from you. So long as you keep some safe distance between you two while gathering the objects, you'll be able to survive this event, I believe"

"It's still a bit terrifying… and a bit strange" said Sokka, frowning "A hunt through the entire city? Rampaging gladiators running around town, wrecking streets, houses and whatnot in order to find what they're looking for? Isn't that going to damage the city?"

"There are probably other rules that Shoji neglected explaining to us, rules that keep crazy earthbenders like the bandit from tearing the entire island apart" said Azula "I doubt the organizers are so thoughtless regarding these events, they have to know what they're doing"

"I hope so…" said Sokka, gulping "So… we're off to train now, then?"

"It's the best thing we can do at the moment, I believe" said Azula "And it's been quite a while since Wolf's Bane and I last tore you apart…"

"A while? Um, excuse me, Princess, but I don't believe that has ever happened before" said Sokka, his unease being replaced quickly by cockiness.

"Why, much as I said earlier… there's a first time for everything, isn't there?" Azula asked, smirking at Sokka in the most challenging way she could muster.

"Heh, we'll see about that" said Sokka, returning the smile. Well, much as she had wanted it, it seemed as though things would go back to normal after all…

* * *

Iroh sighed heavily, looking at the closed door with a frown on his face. It had been too long now… Zuko hadn't locked himself in his room in this manner ever since they had returned home. He had become outgoing, even, though Iroh ignored where Zuko went on every trip he made out of the Palace. He hadn't needed to know, though. Zuko had been in a better mood than usual the past few days, so he had thought worrying about him was needless… until he had locked himself up again a few days ago.

"Again on his doorstep, Iroh? What's the point?" asked the familiar voice of his gladiator, approaching him while snacking on sizzling crisps.

"I… I'm worried about Zuko, nothing more than that. He hasn't come out of his room in quite a while" said Iroh, lowering his gaze "I call him and it is as though he didn't hear me…"

"You sure he's in there?" Toph asked, raising an eyebrow "Maybe you're talking to an empty room. Maybe he ran away from home and you have no idea!"

"I doubt that" said Iroh, smiling weakly "Zuko wouldn't do something so reckless…"

"You sure have a weird image of your nephew" said Toph, making Iroh look at her in surprise.

"What do you mean by…?" but the girl ignored him.

"LITTLE PRINCESS! GET OUT OF BED RIGHT NOW OR ELSE I'LL GET IN THERE TO KICK YOU OUT OF IT MYSELF!" Toph shouted so loudly that Iroh stumbled away from her, covering his ears.

No answer still. Toph rubbed her chin and stepped on the marble a little more strongly than needed, producing an earthbending move that made the marble right under Zuko's bed shake quite violently. That ought to irritate him enough to pull him out of bed…

"Princess Zuzu…?" Toph repeated, knocking on the door hoping to get an answer now.

The only thing she got was a loud bump on the door. Zuko clearly had flung something at it, probably a pillow, in order to send Toph away.

"Ah, well, then he's in there alright" said Toph, smiling. She could have checked if Zuko was within the room through her earthbending, but she would never pass out on a chance to annoy the Prince "You've got nothing to worry about, Iroh!"

"You believe so, yet…" said Iroh, lowering his gaze "It isn't like Zuko to shut me out for so long. This behavior means something must have happened to him… and it isn't as though whatever bothers him were my fault! I haven't done anything that could displease him so much since…"

"Hey… hey" said Toph, crossing her arms over her chest and turning towards Iroh with a frown on her face "You don't have to freak out like this over a brat's temper tantrum or whatever it is that he's throwing right now. If something happened to him, it's his business, not yours"

"You don't understand, Toph" said Iroh, sighing "My nephew…"

"You see him like the son you lost" said Toph "And I get that well enough. To you, Zuko is like a son. And to him, you're like a father. His actual father doesn't even look him in the face, so you're pretty much all he's got. Did I miss out on anything?"

Iroh looked at Toph with a grimace and placed his hands on his hips.

"After knowing all that, can you blame me for…?"

"For worrying? No, I'm not blaming you for that" said Toph "What I'm blaming you for is for pestering him when he clearly wants to be alone"

"But…"

"But what?" Toph asked, frowning "You think you've got to help him out with whatever problems he's got at the moment? You think he needs your constant guidance and advice to make it through life? Well, you're wrong. What that guy wants is to be alone for a while. If he needs you, he'll come to you"

"But he is so proud" said Iroh, sighing again "He would never admit he needs me, and he would try to sort out everything by himself when he needs someone to assist him and show him the right path…"

"That might be the case, Iroh" said Toph "And yeah, he's even more stubborn than I am, which is saying a lot. But I had parents who would always try to protect me and show me the right way to do everything, who thought I couldn't do anything by myself, and I got sick of them. I decided to prove them that I can do whatever I want if I just mean to. And look at where I am now! So for what regards Zuko… just leave him be. When he's ready to talk to you, he will. And if he never is, then maybe it's because he's trying to figure things out on his own, and maybe you should give him a chance. You might be surprised by how well that can work out"

Iroh looked at Toph in utter amazement. She was right about the things she was saying, surely… especially considering that she spoke out of experience. In his constant concern for Zuko's welfare, he might have driven his nephew to the edge. Maybe Toph was right… maybe he ought to leave Zuko alone for the time being, no matter how worried he was over him. If he was fortunate, Zuko would be able to find his way out of his predicament all on his own…

"In any case, you still won't be able to do anything about Zuko for a while" said Toph "We're taking off to Fire Fountain City tomorrow, aren't we?"

"Yes" said Iroh, smiling at her "Hopefully he will be feeling better by the time we're back… or, at the very least, he will feel like talking about what troubles him. In the mean time… are you ready for the Hunt?"

"Ready? I can't wait for it!" Toph exclaimed, enthusiastically "This is just the kind of crazy stuff I signed on for when I decided to become a gladiator"

Iroh chuckled and patted her on the shoulder, and Toph gave him a broad grin. This was something Iroh liked about the girl: that she could go from being so serious in one moment to being carefree on the next. And strangely enough, whatever he lacked in wisdom, she made up for it without fail. For some reason, it seemed to Iroh that he had really found the gladiator that suited him most.

"Well, then, then perhaps we ought to make a toast to your triumph in the Scavenger Hunt. How would you like that?" asked Iroh, leading her down the hallway.

"A toast? You mean, with actual alcohol?"

"What? Of course not, Toph! With tea!"

"… You can make toasts with tea?"

"Why not?"

They walked off the hallway, chattering noisily, just as Zuko opened the door to glance at them. He had stepped out of bed in order to recover the pillow he had flung at the door, and he had caught most of their conversation. He was rather surprised to hear Toph had actually advised Iroh to give Zuko some space for the prince's own good and not just because he wasn't worth the trouble. Yet his uncle was that worried about him… could he tell the man about what had happened? Would he understand what Kyoshi's Heir's disappearance meant to him…?

Well, he had some time to make up his mind about it, if his uncle would truly be taking off in a trip. The only thing he knew for certain so far was that, even if he were to tell Iroh about this, he wouldn't do so while the earthbender was around… he appreciated her advice to his uncle, yet it didn't make them best friends now. Chances were Iroh would understand what Zuko was going through… but Toph would simply laugh at him, there was no questioning it.

Still, should he open up to his uncle about this? Was it really a good idea to do so? Could Iroh help him see matters a little more clearly than he currently did…?

* * *

Instead of taking her palanquin to the port, as Azula usually did, she had decided to fly down to it on the back of her dragon. It was a far more efficient way to travel, and flying on a dragon had far more grandeur than traveling by palanquin. Still, part of the magnificence she boasted by being the Princess who rode a dragon was diminished because there was a Water Tribe slave sitting right behind her, clutching at the support bars of the saddle while looking down on the city one last time before they descended on the port.

Only three days separated them from the Scavenger Hunt now. The trip to the island wasn't bound to take them too long, but in order to keep her plans a secret from her uncle for as long as possible, Azula had delayed their trip intentionally until she was certain Iroh would be out of the way. She didn't want him to know that they would take part in the Hunt… not until it was unavoidable, at least. If the Bandit knew Sokka would be participating, she was bound to plan beforehand to knock him out and render him helpless…

"Is it weird that I always find I missed this ship whenever we climb aboard?" Sokka said, smiling as he jumped off Xin Long's saddle and onto the deck of the ship.

"It really is weird you're so happy about it, yes. Considering… well… everything" said Azula, lowering her gaze in hopes Sokka wouldn't understand what she was referring to. She simply patted Xin Long's neck, letting him know she would ride again with him once the ship was safely on its way to Fire Fountain City.

"Oh… well, yeah, it's the ship that took me from home" said Sokka, slightly bothered by the memory "But… I take it it's also the one that will bring me back to it when the time comes"

Something seemed to snap in Azula's head at those words. Sokka had simply stated a fact… it was true, when she took him back to the South Pole it would be with this ship… and she had promised to take him back, so long as he fulfilled his part of the deal.

But why was it that she suddenly didn't want him to fulfill it? She gripped Xin Long's reins tightly, only realizing now that their days as partners were actually numbered. She didn't know how many they had left… all she knew was that, at some point, she had stopped wanting to rid herself of him only to wish she could keep him beside her at all times. And that was a very ridiculous thing to wish for. Nevertheless, thinking that one day she would be carrying him to the South Pole again on this very ship sent a pang of loneliness through her chest…

"Still, even though I had a very lousy first trip on it, the next ones weren't that bad" Sokka said, smiling at her and only realizing now that she seemed bothered by something "Uh… Azula?"

"If you say so" Azula muttered, sliding off the saddle as well and walking past Sokka, determined to ignore the look he was giving her. He wouldn't get her to explain what bothered her, especially when she was the one who kept struggling to keep their relationship as it was. If he ever knew she didn't want to take him back to his Tribe…

It was undeniable that her life had become far more interesting with him in it. She didn't know what she would do once their deal had been settled… hopefully her father would give her other missions to accomplish, perhaps he would even declare her his official heir at long last. She'd have a busy schedule, she believed… but the thought of it seemed rather boring if she considered he wouldn't be around to throw his foolish remarks at her, to irritate her beyond belief, to retort to everything she said…

Sokka was left on the deck, watching her enter the inside of the ship. He looked at Xin Long, who seemed to glare at him accusingly.

"Hey, I have no idea what that was about!" Sokka exclaimed "The only one here with an exclusive access to her mind is you, so stop looking at me like that!"

And despite his worries, Sokka found himself smiling as the ship began moving at long last. Maybe he feared the outcome of the event… but it cheered him to think of how much everything had changed since the last time he had sailed from this port. Hopefully, Azula and him would return home just as proudly as they had when they had returned from their trip into the Earth Kingdom…

* * *

"Curious… he must have changed it at some point during the past ten years" Iroh said, gazing up at the statue in the center of the city.

"Changed what?" Toph asked, her eyes closed and her arms folded over her chest as her toes grazed the ground below her.

"The statue" said Iroh "This city was built around a statue of Fire Lord Azulon, my father. It wasn't a statue that could blast fire, mind you, yet it was quite a nice statue"

"If the statue didn't blast fire before, then why is this place called Fire Fountain City?" Toph asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It wasn't" said Iroh "Back when I was younger, it was called North Chung-Ling. I had heard of the name change, but I ignored the new name was as literal as it is… and I also ignored my brother had turned my father's statue into one of himself"

"Well, I guess it's kudos to the Fire Lord for changing the name and statue" said Toph, shrugging.

"I wonder if he intends to change every remembrance of Azulon into his own figure…" said Iroh, frowning slightly "Perhaps the Gates of Azulon will turn into the Gates of Ozai… though I rather doubt he'll change his daughter's name into one similar to his own. That would be ridiculous"

"Isn't it already ridiculous to take his father's statues and turn them into his own?" Toph asked.

"Well, Ozai is… a complicated man, to say the least" said Iroh.

"Hmm… as complicated as his daughter, you'd say?" Toph asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why, Azula is complicated as well, though I believe it is in a very different manner. Why do you ask?" Iroh said.

"Well… because she's right there, scolding her fool" said Toph, pointing in the direction of a post office in "You've got a good chance to ask her if she'll accept to change her name to Ozaia or whatever it is you think the Fire Lord would switch it to"

"My, my…" said Iroh, watching curiously as Azula seemed to lose her temper at her gladiator.

"Why the hell would I want to buy you a messenger hawk?!" Azula asked, exasperated.

"But just look at them!" Sokka whined, pointing at the creatures "I deserve something nice! You have a dragon, so it's my turn to get a cool animal companion that can fly!"

"You'd need a flock of hawks if you expect them to lift you up into the sky…" Azula muttered, crossing her arms and looking through the city…

… And she froze when she realized who was watching her from Ozai's statue. Ah, brilliant. Just what she had been trying to avoid… why had she accepted Sokka's stupid request to go sight-seeing? Now Iroh had found them, and it would take him no time to understand what her presence in the city meant…

To her chagrin, her uncle waved at her enthusiastically and approached, with Toph treading right behind him. And Sokka still spoke to the hawks in the office, using a dumb and squeaky voice to talk to them.

"Now, now, who wants to be my pretty little hawk? I'll be great company, I swear!"

When Azula didn't retort that he was flat-out lying about being good company, Sokka realized there was something bothering her. He looked at Azula inquisitively before realizing her attention had been stolen by something else… which happened to be nothing other than her uncle and the Blind Bandit.

"I don't think those hawks would like to go with you" Toph said, smirking "You're the blue dog, and dogs do enjoy a taste of chicken…"

Curiously, the animals became restless after what she said. Sokka jumped back and stared at them in worry before shooting a glare at the earthbender.

"Look at what you did! Now none of them will come with me!"

Toph simply laughed at his reaction while Iroh smiled kindly at Azula. The Princess regarded her uncle with the same caution and distaste she always reserved when dealing with him.

"Well, well, quite a surprise running into you here, Azula" said Iroh, beaming at his niece.

Azula gritted her teeth, not knowing how exactly to respond… well, what was the point of trying to lie over her presence here? There could only be one reason why she would have come to Fire Fountain City just when Iroh had, and her uncle clearly knew it…

"I can't say the same, truth to be told" said Azula, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh? Then you already knew I would be…? Ah, are you here for the Scavenger Hunt, then?" Iroh asked, still smiling.

"It should be obvious by now" Azula retorted, while Sokka gulped next to her. He knew she hadn't wanted for Iroh and Toph to know they were taking part in the event until they were already there, and he could bet that Azula would blame him for this blow to her plans…

"You should have told me you would be participating!" Iroh said cheerfully "We could have all come in my ship together!"

"In your… ship?" Azula repeated, with derision "That's a boat, Uncle, not a ship"

"Ah, when you get to be my age, small and cozy is always nicer than large and fancy" said Iroh, beaming "If only you had come with us you would have enjoyed the best tea the Fire Nation has to offer!"

"And by that he pretty much means ALL the tea the Fire Nation has to offer" said Toph, smiling a little "We just got to Fire Fountain City today because he insisted on stopping by at every single island to check the tea specialty of the area…"

"You're not serious…" said Azula, looking at Iroh in disbelief first and later at Toph with pity "I'd be astonished to know you didn't have grown sick of tea after that"

"Oh, not really" said Toph, shrugging "It was fun, even if it was a bit too much tea. It does get a little annoying when you've had so much of it that you have to go to the bathroom every hour just because of all that tea…"

"You can never have too much tea!" Iroh declared, looking slightly indignant "Sick of tea… it's like being sick of breathing!"

"And have you had Fire Fountain City's tea yet?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Nope, but we'll be on it in a minute" said Toph, digging her toes on the ground again "There's a shop two streets away"

"How can she…?" Sokka asked, in utter disbelief.

"Ah, then we'll be off to the teashop… unless you'd like to join us?" Iroh asked.

"No, thank you" Azula said, with the most unpleasant smile she could give Iroh.

"Your loss" said Iroh, shrugging "Tea is very good for your health"

"Tea stains your teeth" Azula retorted.

"Ah, as you wish" said Iroh, giving up at last "Good luck on tomorrow's Hunt! I'm certain we'll see you there"

"Got to say it's nice to know there'll be a friendly face amongst all the gladiator's I'll face" said Toph.

"Friendly face?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "How am I supposed to be a friendly face considering our history?!"

"Well… let's just say you're not the only gladiator between the ranks of two hundred and four hundred that I've beaten to a pulp" said Toph, snickering "And you definitely ended up in real good shape compared to others I dealt with…"

Sokka stared at her in disbelief, at which the blind girl just beamed.

"See you tomorrow!" Iroh said, and together with his gladiator, they departed towards the tea shop.

Azula and Sokka watched them until they vanished from sight, and as soon as they were gone Azula presented Sokka with one of her trademark murderous glares. Sokka gulped and looked at her nervously.

"So… I guess I'm not getting a hawk, huh?"

"I hope you're proud of yourself" Azula grunted "Now you're really doomed. She's going to crush you as soon as she gets a chance"

"Well… if the friendly face comment is real, and she's got so many enemies, then maybe you're not so right about that" said Sokka, thoughtful "Because if she's got lots of people who want to crush her, maybe they'll take her out all at once and I won't have to worry about her at all"

"Your wishful thinking is just adorable" said Azula, as sarcastically as possible. Nonetheless, the idea of Azula saying that about anything of him was adorable made Sokka blush a little.

"I… manly men aren't adorable" he muttered, looking away from her and frowning "Don't say that sort of stuff!"

"Well, in all honesty, you're not a manly man and you aren't adorable either" Azula declared, now smirking as she earned herself a glare from him.

"In any case… even if Toph is bound to go out to get me, I could get out of her reach. If there are plenty of gladiators involved in this event, she won't have it so easy to get to me"

"I guess not" said Azula, frowning "But I also suspect she won't be the only threat you'll have to worry about. She might be the worst threat indeed… but not the only one. There are two thousand points in the line, Sokka, and I'm quite sure we're not the only ones who want to earn them"

"True enough" said Sokka, sighing "Well, we'll see if we can get those two thousand points tomorrow…"

"Indeed. Maybe the situation won't be as hopeless as we feared" Azula muttered "It's just bound to be a matter of skill, agility, quick-thinking and luck…"

"Just that? You sure you're not forgetting anything?" Sokka asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow. Azula rolled her eyes and looked at him sternly.

"Just make sure not to take this event for granted, will you? Don't let her win, and try to win yourself"

"Gotcha" said Sokka sighing.

Clearly Azula was passionate about this… clearly she refused to lose against her uncle, even when he wasn't the only rival they'd have on the Scavenger Hunt. Nevertheless, Sokka understood her concerns. And he understood he had to prove himself at the same level as Toph, if possible, if he was to ever defeat her or rise higher than her in the ranking. Azula needed him to get the job done, and he would do his best to keep to her expectations. He had been on a pretty good roll with her lately, and he definitely didn't mean to break it now…

"But say" Sokka muttered, as they resumed their walk through the city "If I were to win this thing, would you get me a messenger hawk?"

Azula only answered with an exasperated sigh.


	60. Chapter 60

"So... here it is, then" Azula said, looking at the Arena with a determined frown.

"Literally, it's a Ring of Ash" Sokka pointed out, gulping as he looked at the fighting area with mild confusion.

It was nothing like the Gladiator Arenas he had seen so far. Instead of being a fighting ring with stands surrounding it, the stands had been built in a line at one side of the circle of ash where the gladiators collided. Said circle was only defined by the coloring of the sand that comprised the ring: no fences or balustrades limited the Arena. That dark sand couldn't be actual sand, Sokka guessed… it could only be ash, genuine ash. How did earthbenders fight here? Using earth outside of the ring's perimeter, perhaps? Or were they capable of bending ashes?

The Arena stood in the outskirts of the city. The stands were large and quite tall, allowing for hundreds of people to take their seats on them, despite how limited they were compared to the stands at other Arenas the Blue Wolf had fought in before.

"There are lots of them, huh?" Sokka asked, his eyes nestling now on the group of people within the ring. They were plenty, and they were widely different amongst themselves. Some looked lanky and scared, others were burly and daunting. Yet every single one of them was an opponent today. All of them were gladiators Sokka would have to defeat or fail trying…

"You needn't fret. Most of them aren't stronger than you, if the ranking is truthful" said Azula "From what Shoji told us before, it's an event for gladiators between the ranks of 200 and 400. You should have no problem facing off against the fighters down there"

"I hope so" said Sokka, gulping "I'll say I'm relieved, though. Here I was wondering how the hell were so many gladiators supposed to run out of an Arena through stand-by rooms and then into a vestibule before reaching out into the city… it's good to know that's not going to happen. Good thinking to hold this event in an open area"

"One can only guess the heads of the business know what they're doing" said Azula, shrugging "You couldn't have a Scavenger Hunt in limited space, else chances were only ten gladiators would make it past the initial chaos that would ensue if…"

"Ah, you're here for the Hunt?" someone asked, interrupting Azula. Both Sokka and Azula turned to find a man wearing the uniform of the Arena's staff, smiling at them. Upon gazing at the hairpiece on Azula's head, though, the man's kindness was replaced by nervousness "O-oh… P-Princess Azula?! It is none other than you, is it? Oh, my, this is such an honor…"

"I'm sure it is" Azula said, her head held high. Sokka couldn't help but chuckle slightly at her proud demeanor. How she enjoyed it when people paid her the respect she commanded… "You work here, I take it?"

"Yes, I'm one of the event's organizers!" the staff member exclaimed, smiling "I'm here to explain the rules so that you can take part in the Hunt successfully"

"Ah, very well" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "Explain, then"

"Uh… first off, I'll warn your gladiator against destroying city property" the man said "Any damage in the houses, factories and public property will have to be repaired, and the one who will pay for those repairs will be none other than the sponsor of the gladiator responsible for the damage"

"Heard that, did you?" Azula asked, giving Sokka a significant look.

"Yeah, yeah… you don't need to say it again" Sokka said, smiling weakly "I've cost you enough money as it is, isn't it?"

"Indeed" said Azula, crossing her arms over her chest "Anything else?"

"Fighting other gladiators is allowed, of course" the man continued "Please try to keep the violence to a minimum, though… we don't want casualties in this event. It happened a few years ago and we don't want to repeat that"

"You needn't worry about that with me" said Sokka, his hands on his hips. He sure wasn't here to kill anyone, not after refusing to do so for such a long time.

"The event shall begin in about ten minutes… a signal will be shot when it's time to start. You are welcome to scan the entire city in order to seek the ten items you must find, even roofs of houses… just remember there's a fee for everything you break, as I already said. Take as many objects as you want, but as soon as you step inside the Ring of Ash again, your run in the hunt is over. You can't set off into the city again once you've crossed the line of ash, not even if you hear there are still more items to be found"

"Uh…" said Sokka, grimacing "That doesn't sound like fun. So you're saying there's no way to secure the objects you've earned so far? You can't come back here and bring them to safety and set out afterwards to find others?"

"No" said the staff member, smiling sympathetically "If you find any items you're welcome to protect them by entering the ring, but if you want more, you have to take the risk of having other gladiators attempting to take the objects you've already earned. The fights for the items are usually quite fierce, so I warn you that it might not be too wise to stick around the city if you find one or two of them. You might want to head back and secure your victories, even if they're small"

"Got it" said Sokka, grimacing and gulping "So stealing other people's objects is allowed, then?"

"Many gladiators seek to gain the objects simply by stealing" said the man "They're better at beating people up than at finding items scattered through such a large city…"

"Makes sense, but it sure is worrisome" said Sokka, becoming rather nervous after this conversation. Had it been a good idea at all to join this event…?

"And what do the objects look like?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "You ought to show us a sample or describe them…"

"Ah, here" said the man, pulling out something from his pocket "This is what you have to look for"

The item was a flat metallic plate, not bigger than the hand of the man holding it. It was golden and shaped as a flame, all the same as most things in the Fire Nation.

"It's not actual gold, so stealing it won't do much good for gladiators who think about doing so" said the staff member, smiling as he looked at how Sokka's eyes were fixated upon the object "Ten of these little flames are concealed in public locations throughout the city. None of them are inside buildings, so don't barge into them to find them, for it will be a mere waste of time to do that. So you'll have to look for the items… or wait for someone who will, if that strikes your liking more"

"Very well, then" said Azula, sighing "Is that all?"

"Well, there's a prize in cash for the sponsors with the most successful gladiators…" said the man, tapping his chin "And… I think that's it"

Sokka's eyes were still on the flame, an idea forming up in his mind. Perhaps he was being too paranoid… but having a back-up plan had never hurt anyone before, had it? If anything, Azula always told him to plan things beforehand! Doing so right now wasn't something she should be against to… yet he guessed she wouldn't be against his planning, but against his plan in itself…

"Your gladiator shall go into the ring with the others" the staff member said, pointing at the group of gladiators "And the Princess will have a seat in the first row, given that she's the Fire Lord's daughter, of course"

"Alright. Let's get this over…" Azula started, nodding and looking at the stands, but before she could say anything else, Sokka's hand darted out and grasped her by the wrist.

"Wait" Sokka said, and Azula looked down at the contact, frowning noticeably.

The staff member seemed aghast to see someone touching the Princess in this manner… and not just anyone, a slave! Did he know no shame, didn't he appreciate his life?! How dared he…?

"What?" Azula asked, lifting her eyes towards his face now.

"I, uh… need a word" Sokka said, glancing at the staff member warily "In private. So…"

And with that, he dragged her behind the stands. The staff member continued watching until they disappeared from view, in utter shock. How had that guy kept from getting scorched to cinders after doing that…?

"I've got an idea" Sokka said, looking at Azula with serious eyes.

"An idea?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "What sort of an idea? An idea that I would want to hear about or an idea that would make me want to break your neck…?"

"I think both, to be honest…" said Sokka, gulping "It should help us secure at least two hundred points, if anything. You know that with those crazy guys in that ring, and with Toph on top of it all, my chances to win this thing are pretty slim. But there might be something we can do… something that could get me to secure two hundred points"

"Sure… two hundred points in the bag at least, or so you say" said Azula, frowning "How?"

By the time he was done telling her how, her reaction was just as he had feared it would be.

"What the…?! No! Absolutely not! Of course not! What's wrong with you?! Are you insane?!" Azula asked, looking at him in utter disbelief.

"Please, Azula! Be reasonable…!"

"What you're requesting for is NOT within reason!" the Princess exclaimed "That's one of the worst ideas you've ever had, Sokka! Y-you can't just… no!"

"Well, then, fine, if Toph catches me and steals my stuff then I'll be done for and you'll be the actual responsible for it because you didn't let me go through with this!" Sokka declared, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes.

"Don't be so stubborn, you… Ugh, Sokka, no! You can't just…!"

"I think my filthy peasant fingers can touch that without you making such a ruckus, Your Royal Highness" Sokka said, rolling his eyes.

"Don't you… Don't talk like that, idiot" Azula said, rubbing her temples with her fingers "How do you even plan on doing this? How could you possibly…? Do you really think this can work? How could it even work?! It's not like people won't be able to tell…!"

"That things aren't what they seem? In the middle of a rush, most people are willing to believe anything just to get out of the mess they're in" said Sokka "If this hunt is half as crazy as it promises to be, I'm sure these gladiators will fall for this without giving it any thought. So come on, just go with it, will you?"

"Sokka, you… ugh, this is beyond ridiculous" Azula said, shaking her head "You can't ask this of me. Nobody can ask this of me!"

"Just think about what we're here for, what the whole purpose of us participating in this event is! It will be worth it, won't it?!" Sokka asked, almost pleading by now "I can't beat that girl with just my bare fists…"

"Those weapons you've got there are for fighting, I thought you were aware of that" Azula said, sarcastically "Or did you bring them just for the sake of pretending to be a strong gladiator?"

"Weapons or no, you know that crazy girl will beat me to a pulp if she gets a chance!" said Sokka "And I don't want to give her the chance to beat me up, and I definitely don't want to let her win with a perfect score either. This is the only way to mislead her, distract her, confuse her! So please, Azula…"

She glared at him accusingly for a moment, still wondering how he had dared even ask this of her. Yet… yet his arguments made some sense. And if anything, after the things he had done recently, Sokka had regained the trust she had once placed on him… but trusting him with this matter was beyond anything she would have done even before the incident with Kyoshi's Heir and that other woman Azula wished she could erase from her memory. Still… she had been able to trust him with protecting her nation, her city and even herself only a couple of weeks ago, and he hadn't failed her. So maybe… maybe…

"Ugh… be careful. BEYOND careful" Azula grunted, glaring at him "Only hell knows why I'm complying, because I sure don't…"

"Yes, thank you! You won't regret this, Azula, I promise!" Sokka said, at which she glared at him.

"I'm already regretting it" she grunted.

As their exchange took place, more gladiators and sponsors arrived to the Ring of Ash. The staff members informed them of the rules, and they headed towards the stands and the ring as soon as the explanations had been conveyed. By the time Azula and Sokka had finished talking and left the area behind the stands, Iroh and Toph arrived to the Arena. Iroh waved happily at Azula, who simply scowled at him and moved on.

"Do your best, Sokka" she muttered "Your very best. And if you can't win, at least make sure not to lose embarrassingly, can you?"

"I'll try" he said, smiling.

"And don't lose it" Azula said, glaring at him "If you dare lose it, you'll find out firsthand just how cruel I can be…"

"Yep, I… I'll be careful. Very careful" Sokka said, gulping. If she hadn't showed him her cruel side yet in all the time they'd known each other, then he definitely didn't want to meet it anytime soon.

"You'd better be" Azula grunted, before turning towards the stands.

Sokka should have imagined her behavior towards him would be just as it was after his request… but he was positive she would be thankful for his strange idea when this event was over with, so long as everything went as planned. He moved towards the ring, frowning and hoping to look at least slightly intimidating while approaching the other gladiators.

There had to be sixty of them so far, at the very least. It wasn't too promising a perspective, fighting against so many strong gladiators over the possession of those gold metal flames… he even recognized some of them, such as The Eastern Wayfarer and The Hallowed Rock. The sight of the latter made Sokka flinch as he recalled how his encounter with him had gone in Ozai Arena… naturally, he walked towards the exact opposite direction, hoping to avoid that particular gladiator as much as possible.

Yet when he found a good spot to stand, where he didn't feel daunted by the other fighters nearby, he found himself with more unwanted company…

"Hello there, dog!" Toph said, standing right next to him and crossing her arms over her chest "I trust you had a good night's sleep?"

"Is it any of your business how I slept?" Sokka grunted, glaring at her even when she wouldn't notice his scowl.

"Well, if you didn't sleep well, you'll be even less of a challenge today…" the Blind Bandit said, shrugging "Though even if you did, you won't be that big a deal, will you?"

Sokka rolled his eyes and shook his head while the girl beside him snickered.

"By the way, that's a cool armor" Toph said "It's not the same you had before, is it?"

"Obviously not" Sokka grunted "You tore that one to pieces, remember?"

"Ooooh, that's right…" said Toph, tapping her chin with her finger as she smirked. Oh, if only he could erase that smug look on her face…

Azula looked through the front row of seats, wondering where to take her seat until she found empty spots in the center, at either side of a chubby man. Even from behind, she recognized him as Fire Fountain City's Mayor. It had been quite a while since she had last seen him…

"May I take this seat?" Azula asked, approaching him "I was told I should sit in the front row, given my status…"

The man frowned and looked at her for a moment, apparently failing to recognize her at first. But afterwards he smiled and greeted her with a booming laugh.

"Why, if it isn't the Princess! My, oh, my, you were but a child when I last saw you!" the man exclaimed happily "I hadn't been told you would be participating! Now I see why there were other reserved seats aside from mine! Is your lord father coming as well?"

"Not her lord father" said another voice behind Azula, making her scowl "Her old uncle"

"Oh, General Iroh! How long has it been since I last saw you?" the Mayor asked, beaming "Have a seat, both of you! I had heard you had joined the Gladiator League, but I ignored you were strong enough to take part in an event such as this one!"

"We are, we are" said Iroh, smiling as he took his seat at the Mayor's left while Azula took his right "Our gladiators happen to be rather talented. Mine is called the Blind Bandit. Hers is the Blue Wolf. And they're right there, see?"

Iroh pointed at a pair of gladiators who stood slightly far from the rest of the group. Azula wasn't surprised to find Sokka brooding while the girl beside him smirked proudly.

"Oh, the small girl and the dark fellow?" asked the Mayor "That's quite an odd choice for a gladiator… for both of you"

"Hopefully you'll come to see some sense to it once the event begins" said Azula.

"Ah, yes" said the Mayor, beaming "It's the first Hunt for both of you, am I right? We hold them every year in Fire Fountain City. They're always fun, despite the casualties from time to time…"

"Casualties?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "The staff member who explained the event to us spoke of casualties as something that doesn't happen often…"

"Well, we try to keep the trouble to a minimum" said the Mayor, sighing now "But some of the gladiators go overboard…"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Iroh.

"Well, you see… there are always certain kinds of gladiators in the Hunts" said the Mayor "Depending on the strategies they go for, they fit into one category or the other, or so I've noticed. I've developed these theories on the different gladiators in this hunt… would you like to hear about them?"

"Why, of course!" said Iroh, happily.

"For starters, there are the searchers. They're those who look for the objects, and usually succeed at finding them. Yet there are also the snatchers, those who steal the objects from the searchers"

"Do the snatchers often win?" Iroh asked "If they steal the items from those who fetch them…"

"No, they don't" said the Mayor "For there are plenty of other kinds of gladiators too. There are the strikers, the gladiators who wait close to the finish line in hopes to obstruct those who are carrying items for the sake of robbing them in the last moment"

"Is that allowed?" Azula asked, frowning.

"Everything is allowed, more or less" said the Mayor, shrugging "There are others, of course. The bigger troublemakers, I'd say. On the moment the event begins, the strongest gladiators either shoot out right away into the city… or they just turn on each other to take out the competition"

"As soon as it begins?" Azula asked "You mean…?"

"The Ring becomes a huge mess of fire, earth and whatnot" said the Mayor, grimacing "It's not usually a pretty sight… and about half the competitors get taken out in this stage of the event, if I'm to be truthful"

"What the…? Half of them?!" Azula asked, shocked.

"That sounds bad" said Iroh, albeit he didn't seem too worried. Clearly, he trusted Toph would be able to overcome any hurdles without the slightest inconvenience.

"And amongst these strong ones, there are always some who aren't in the competition for the sake of earning points" said the Mayor, sighing "Some are breakers, as I like to call them, and their purpose is to injure the gladiators they'll be facing in future matches, in hopes to force them to forfeit or to weaken them so that they can have an easy win later on…"

"That's rather filthy" said Iroh, frowning "Such cruel way to seek victory…"

Azula couldn't help but smirk at Iroh's displeasure. She didn't think she had anything to fear from these breakers, since Sokka had no pending challenges… but chances were the Blind Bandit did. And if those breakers didn't go after her, the fighters who held a grudge against her over their lost battles against her were sure to target her. It was only natural Iroh would be uncomfortable by the idea… she knew she would be, if she had the suspicion that the other fighters would chase after Sokka.

Yet there was something that set the Blind Bandit apart from the Blue Wolf and most the gladiators in that ring, something that she would make sure to use to her advantage in this event…

"What are you doing?" Sokka asked, as Toph sunk her feet into the ashes all the way to her ankles.

"Ah, there it is. Actual earth, right beneath my feet" said Toph, smiling "I don't think bending ashes would work too well for me… but there's nothing to worry about. The earth is right here!"

"Oh, joy" said Sokka, rolling his eyes "Are you a plant or something? Can't live without soil?"

"Gladiators, assemble in the Ring!" a man with a megaphone exclaimed, and all the gladiators that weren't within the Arena just yet headed towards it. The event was about to begin.

"You know, Sokka…" Toph said, digging her feet into the earth and smiling at the sensation of the dirt between her toes "I'm no plant, but I think you know already just how useful earth is to me. Rocks, earth, all the sort… with my earthbending, I can see anything so long as I've got the ground underneath my feet"

"Yeah, you already told me that before, no need to brag about it now" said Sokka, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not bragging, I'm just… explaining" said Toph, smiling.

"Explaining what?" Sokka asked.

"Explaining why you have absolutely no chance of winning this thing"

Sokka's eyes widened and he looked at Toph accusingly. The megaphone man was giving a speech of some sort, repeating the rules he had already been told just in case the gladiators would forget them, and also disclosing other ones that the staff member had neglected…

"All gladiators must leave the Ring of Ash and head into the city, so long as they're capable of moving!" the man said "As soon as they step inside the ash again, the gladiators will have finished their run on the Scavenger Hunt!"

"Care to tell me why you're so full of yourself this time around, Bandit?" Sokka asked "It's not just me you're up against, you know…"

"It doesn't matter who I'm up against" Toph snickered "I can see anything through my earthbending, Sokka. I just told you so, didn't I?"

"And…?"

"What do you think I was doing yesterday, while I was with Iroh near that fire-spitting statue?"

"You said you were off to get tea" Sokka muttered, frowning "You said… wait…"

She had been able to find a teashop in a matter of seconds, Sokka recalled. Her toes dug into the ground, and with that alone, she sensed everything in the city…

"We went to get tea alright" said Toph "But that wasn't the only purpose we were there for"

"You were scanning the city" Sokka muttered, gritting his teeth "Using your earthbending, you were…!"

"That's a smart dog" said Toph, smirking "The objects weren't placed yesterday, see… but they are today. And I can sense every single thing that's different in the city between today and yesterday through my earthbending"

"… there will be staff members stationed in strategic positions in the city, to keep tabs on the gladiators who wreck city property…" the man kept talking, but Sokka hardly heard him. His fists were so tight he thought he would rip his palms open with his nails. It wasn't fair. How could she be a step ahead on every opportunity, even when he tried to plan ahead?! There had to be a way to beat her, somehow, she couldn't be as invulnerable as she pretended to be…

"This is, as you must have figured by now, the way I'm getting those metal plates" Toph said, smirking "Because I can already sense where all of them are. And I'm off to get them all as soon as that megaphone moron lets us"

Oh, perhaps… but she was only one person, Sokka thought. And there were ten objects. She couldn't split in ten, from what he knew! So long as he and others reached some of the metallic flames before Toph did, she wouldn't be able to beat them all, even when she expected to do so. Heck, perhaps the burly guy at Toph's other side would smack her head with his hammer and she'd be knocked out cold! It was too soon for her to claim victory just yet. And he would do anything he had to do in order to keep from winning this time.

"On your marks, gladiators!" exclaimed the megaphone man, and Sokka frowned. He lifted a hand towards his sword, just in case the nearby gladiators got violent as soon as they were allowed to take off "Set… GO!"

It happened so fast Sokka hardly noticed what was going on. The first thing he took notice of was that Toph had stomped on the ground and a huge pillar of earth had shot out below her, sending her flying straight into the city. The second thing he noticed, a split second afterwards, was that he was in the very center of the chaotic situation that had unfolded as soon as the megaphone man had said that last word.

Azula winced when chucks of earth, jets of fire and weapons began flying back and forth within the mass of gladiators… because right now it was no more than a mass of people. It was impossible for her to recognize Sokka anymore. Where was he? Was he still alive? Was he conscious? Hell knew what was happening within the turmoil the Ring of Ash had become.

"Well, there she went" said Iroh, beaming as he watched Toph fly through the air.

"So that's yours?" said the Mayor "Impressive… there are usually a few fighters who manage to get away, but they're not plenty… mine is still in that tangle of bodies"

"Calling it a tangle of bodies is an understatement" Azula muttered, her eyes darting back and forth desperately as she tried to find her gladiator within that pandemonium.

"No need to fret, Princess" said the Mayor, smiling "The better gladiators always escape these brawls within a matter of… WATCH OUT!"

The three of them had to duck when a chuck of earth flew straight at them. It would have smashed the Mayor on the head if he hadn't climbed atop Iroh to avoid it. Azula shielded herself from the rock, glaring at the battling gladiators angrily. Sokka had to get out of there… where was the fool?! She could see other gladiators had managed to escape the chaos, on foot and not hovering through the air as Toph had, yet they had escaped nonetheless. But she couldn't find Sokka… where was he? He was better than most these idiots, Azula knew so…

"Ah, there goes mine!" exclaimed the Mayor, beaming upon sighting a middle-aged woman who was running to the edge of the Arena "Blazing Strike, that's her name! And blazes, she runs fast! Go, girl, go!"

Azula gritted her teeth, despairing. If Sokka didn't make it out any time soon, all those who had escaped would seize the items before he did…

She had to hold back the urge to yelp of relief when she saw a man in a dark armor, crawling out of the group of warring gladiators. Despite the crazy situation that had unfurled within that crowd, Sokka seemed relatively uninjured… though most his hair had fallen out of his wolf's tail. Azula hated herself for thinking he actually looked quite good with his hair like that.

"Ah, the Blue Wolf made it too" said Iroh, pushing the Mayor off his lap "Good, good! Then all three of us have a chance to win, don't we?"

"Indeed" said Azula, taking a deep breath and releasing it as she watched Sokka run into the city. He had to achieve something, anything… his crazy plan had better work.

Sokka dashed out of the Ring of Ash, relieved to get away from the hell that was unfolding within the Arena. He didn't have any serious injuries, albeit his chest hurt quite a lot as it heaved against his breastplate while he ran.

He had recurred to pretending he had been knocked out when the brawl had begun. Several other gladiators had stomped all over him in the midst of the fight, and Sokka had thought he could take it until one had decided to stand atop him while bending fire against his enemies. Upon that, Sokka had pushed himself up, knocking the other fighter off balance and he had ran off as fast as his legs allowed him, dodging fighters, weapons, fire and earth as he made his way out of the chaos.

By chance, he had managed to come out on the right direction. The pandemonium had taken its toll on him, even when he was in a good state, relatively. But that was over now, he had managed to get out of that mess and it was time to focus on finding the items.

As he ran through the buildings, he tried to think of where would he hide those metallic golden flames if it was up to him… where was the best place to conceal them, so that gladiators wouldn't find them easily?

An idea came to him suddenly. Those metal flames reminded him of the Royal Family's hairpieces… where better to disguise them than in the Fire Lord's head?

He ran downtown through empty streets, straight towards the center of the city, where the black statue of Ozai continued to eject fire through his mouth and hands. Sokka ran past a few other gladiators, who seemed to be searching for objects frantically, but thankfully nobody was hostile towards him. The more savage gladiators had lagged behind in the Ring of Ash… so the real problems would arise once they finally left the arena to chase after whoever had obtained objects by then.

Sokka reached the statue, finding no obstacles in his way. The center of the town was deserted as well, which meant nobody would watch him as he did the last thing he could have ever imagined himself doing.

Sokka gulped and glared at the immense statue. If he failed to find anything atop it, his hatred for the Fire Lord would only be rekindled…

"Okay, okay…" he said, stretching his arms and pulling himself up to Ozai's feet "Damn, if only it was a statue of your daughter instead… though that would be awkward for a whole different reason, to be honest"

The metal was rather slippery, to Sokka's irritation. He could help himself climb using Space Sword, but then Azula would have to pay repairs for the holes he left on the statue and she'd be furious… so he had to use his hands and feet, there was nothing more to it than that.

He felt like a century had passed when he finally reached the Fire Lord's pants. Sokka moved away from the statue's groin, revolted by the idea of facing it even when this was just a figure… yet as he tried to avoid it he found his hand on the Fire Lord's right buttock anyways. He felt the blood drain from his face and he forced himself to keep climbing, trying not to think of how well-acquainted he was getting with Azula's father…

Nevertheless, he had to move to the front of the statue, no matter how much it disgusted him, or else risk getting burned by the fire expelled by Ozai's hand. And Sokka climbed over the Fire Lord's statues belt, grimacing as he thought nothing in his life had ever prepared him for this…

"What's that wacko doing?" asked a gladiator, who had just passed by the center of the city, watching Sokka as he climbed the statue. Another had stopped as well, an eyebrow raised while enjoying the show.

"No idea, man" the other one replied "But I think that should be illegal, you know? Climbing the Fire Lord's statue…"

"You think there's an item up there?" asked the new arrival.

"Probably not. It's just gonna be fun to watch that dude scream in frustration once he gets to the top and gets nothing, you know?"

The other gladiator snickered and crossed his arms, and the pair stood in place, watching the Blue Wolf climbing over the Fire Lord's statue.

Sokka sweated as he moved over Ozai's abs, struggling to keep in place now that he was so high and in such great risk of falling. His fingers hurt as he tried to hold on to the metal… if he fell now he'd make the biggest fool of himself, surely… and hell knew if he would survive the fall. The ground below was comprised by solid rocks…

Hence, he simply couldn't fall. He had to make it to the top, for his very life was at stake here. He gulped and stretched his hand up, probing Ozai's chest… ugh. This was just sick.

He managed to push himself up when his hand found the statue's collarbone. Sokka was careful not to hoist himself completely, or else he would risk getting burned by the fire coming out of Ozai's mouth. He moved over to Ozai's shoulder and panted heavily, trying to regain his breath after that exhausting climb. But after a moment he recalled just what the purpose of this crazy maneuver had been, and he looked at Ozai's hairpiece, fearing he might not find what he had come to look for…

… But there it was! Just as he had predicted! Sokka couldn't help but laugh in joy as he stretched out a hand towards the flame-shaped golden plate, relieved to discover his guess had been spot on.

"Yes! Yes! Haha! Thank you, Ozai!" Sokka shouted, only noticing afterwards that those were three words he had never expected to say in the same sentence…

"He got it?! HE'S GOT ONE!" shouted one of the men who had been watching him, and it wasn't until then that Sokka realized he wasn't alone in the town square.

"Uh-oh" Sokka said, gulping and gripping the flame tighter.

One of his spectators had bared his teeth and he struck the ground with his large feet… and as soon as he did, Sokka felt he was falling over. The man had been an earthbender and, from the looks of it, he had just bent the earth under the statue in order to bring Sokka down…

But his movement only served to knock over the statue, and the foolish earthbender only realized it when it was too late.

"What did you do, you idiot?!" the other gladiator screamed, as the statue tilted sideways.

Sokka grimaced and held on tightly to Ozai's neck as the statue broke off its pedestal. Sokka had a split second to realize the fire pouring out of Ozai had vanished when the statue began to fall over, yet he was too busy trying to survive this to think about what it might mean. He climbed up to the statue's face and, once they were a few feet from hitting the ground, Sokka leapt with a loud yell.

The statue collapsed on a street, yet it tore down a few buildings on its way to the ground. Sokka's jump managed to land him a few feet away from where the statue had fallen, and he instantly bolted up to his feet and ran as fast as he could, trying to get away from the two gladiators who had tried to take the item he had found. Yet the two fighters didn't follow him, for they were still in the square, staring in horror at what only could be the worst catastrophe in the history of Fire Fountain City.

The statue's fire was powered through a natural gas reserve and an inner mechanism in the ground that allowed the Fire Lord's figure to release fire. Yet now it had been torn off, the statue's site had literally become a fire fountain.

And the two gladiators could only look at it in horror.

"Shit" said the earthbender, gulping. His sponsor would kill him for this.

Sokka had gone into hiding in a deserted alley, just in case those two gladiators decided to come chasing after him. He looked outside of it quickly, making sure nobody was nearby, and he set off again, his gold flame held tightly in his hand. One down… nine to go. Well, even if Toph had gotten hold of all the others by now, at the very least he had one. And with one, he would still keep her from breaking any records.

Still, despite how long it had taken him to climb up the statue, he doubted the Hunt was anything but over. As he ran through the streets he saw a few more gladiators than before, which led him to guess the brawl had ended. How many had passed out in the Ring of Ash? And how many of the savage gladiators were out here right now? Chances were they'd come after him, as soon as they realized he already had one of the items.

Yet he still had hopes. He would look for more of them, he was sure he'd happen upon one or two more flames in no time, it was just a matter of running into other people who had already found objects or figuring out where other metal plates might be hidden…

As soon as those thoughts went through his head, though, he happened upon a new brawl. Sokka stopped on his tracks, looking at the mass of fighting gladiators with a grimace. The fight was rather fierce, again with fire, earth and blood flying all over the place… blood? So someone in there was hurt already? Sokka gulped and guessed he'd do best to get away immediately…

But that was when a golden flame happened to fly out of the brawl. Sokka's eyes widened as he watched it soar, almost in slow motion. If he jumped over there he could grasp it and he'd have two…!

And that was when she showed up.

Toph slammed into ground with such power the streets cracked. She stomped again, her arms moving with her, and Sokka watched in horror as the earth underneath the gladiators bolted upwards and flung the entire brawl into the air.

The flame hit the ground briefly, for Toph moved it towards her immediately, making use of her earthbending. Sokka still couldn't give credit to his eyes as he watched her, and Toph shot out into the air again after picking up her latest finding. Sokka's eyebrow twitched when she flew by him and he caught sight of three more golden flames dangling on her belt. So she already had four, then. Why she was off again instead of trying to steal the item he had, Sokka had no idea, but he frowned with determination and ran in the opposite direction Toph had gone in. If he was lucky, he would find another item nearby… he refused to let her take such an advantage over him.

* * *

Azula hadn't thought about how stressful this event would be until she found herself doing nothing but waiting in the stands until the gladiators returned. Well, until those who had managed to set off returned, rather.

When the brawl ended, the survivors had ran off into the city to find more people to beat up… leaving behind at least twenty unconscious gladiators who were dragged outside of the ring by staff members, who gave them medical attention immediately. She had heard no reports of any casualties in the city, but she saw the staff members behaving quite uneasily while talking about a statue…

"Does this usually take so long?" Iroh asked, sighing "I should have brought some tea with me…"

"Normally, few gladiators return early" said the Mayor "But they're either quitters or they only hold one item. At least, that's how it used to be. Maybe it's a little late for that right now, though. It's been about half an hour… we ought to see someone soon"

It took a couple of minutes more until the first returning gladiator showed up. The people in the stands seemed surprised to see him, especially one who jumped to his feet and screamed:

"That's my gladiator! Oh, YES! Go, Rangaloosh!" he screamed excitedly as the fighter ran up to the Ring of Ash.

"He seems to hold two items" Azula said, squinting and looking at the gladiator attentively "One in each hand"

"Well, good for him" said the Mayor "I just hope my Strike got herself more than…"

The Mayor was interrupted when a wall of earth rose right in front of Rangaloosh at such speed that the entire crowd fell silent with a gasp. The excited sponsor stopped jumping and looked at what had happened in utter shock.

"M-my Rangaloosh?" he said, grimacing.

The wall was lowered again, and when it was, its creator revealed herself. Toph stood by the writhing Rangaloosh, who had ran into the wall and almost knocked himself unconscious with the blow. The Blind Bandit leaned down and took the two items he was holding.

"And that makes six" she declared, proud "Thank you very much for your cooperation!"

Rangaloosh didn't even seem to realize what had happened. Toph simply flew off into the city again, powered by her earthbending. And by the stands, Azula looked at the fallen gladiator in horror, the Mayor was speechless, and Iroh just scratched his head and smiled.

"Well, I suppose I should have said she is rather ruthless…"

"T-that was your…? T-that was your gladiator…?" the Mayor muttered, in utter disbelief.

"Much more than what meets the eye, isn't she?" Iroh said, laughing proudly as Rangaloosh's sponsor squealed in despair behind them.

Had she said something about six, though? Azula grimaced. If that girl had gotten hold of six items, then she had secured the victory by now. There were only four more flames left… and who knew if Sokka was in possession of any of them. That fool had better find a way to get second place, at the very least, if first was really beyond his reach…

* * *

Sokka had only begun wondering if he ought to turn on his heels and just head back to the Ring of Ash when he turned a corner to find someone else in the same street he had just entered. To Sokka's relief, it was a gladiator holding a scimitar, making him a non-bender… but to Sokka's surprise, he was gripping a golden flame tightly in one hand.

His opponent spotted Sokka's flame as well, and his eyes blazed in greed. He snarled at Sokka and attacked, and the Blue Wolf had no qualms doing the same. Sokka released his sword from its scabbard and parried his opponent's blade several times before taking the offensive. He put as much strength as he could to a slice, and with it, he cut effectively through the scimitar. The opposite gladiator stared at the remains of his sword in horror before Sokka knocked him out cold with his hilt.

"Sorry about that, pal" said Sokka, panting. It was the first time he had beaten a gladiator so easily, but from what he could see, this guy had already received a fair share of blows. Chances were he had been involved in one of those scuffles over the golden flames and he had managed to come out as the victor, but he had spent too much strength to get out of that fight to battle against Sokka properly.

Sokka leaned down and scooped up the metallic flame, smiling proudly when he did. So now he had two… well, that was good news. He had secured four hundred points so far. Now it was just a matter of keeping Toph off his trail and hope that others would have gotten hold of a few more golden flames, so that the earthbender wouldn't earn too many points…

He had two choices now, and he had a feeling that time would run out for him quite soon. There wasn't supposed to be a time limit for the Hunt, but after about one hour running through the city, Sokka feared he would be taunting destiny if he decided to chase for another flame. For all he knew, Toph had gotten hold of all eight remaining pieces…

He sheathed his sword and slid the second item he had obtained into the neck of his armor, cringing when the edges pressed against his chest. He clutched the other one tightly in his hand and started off towards the Ring of Ash, hoping Azula would be content… surely she wouldn't be genuinely happy, and he probably wasn't going to get his messenger hawk, but she probably would understand why Sokka had decided to return to the Arena at this point in time. He couldn't risk losing his collected objects to his opponents, not when he had secured four hundred points so far. It was this or nothing.

Sokka got lost a few times within the city: he was having quite a hard time to guide himself through the streets without Ozai's statue. At long last he figured out his bearings and ran off towards where the Arena must have stood…

And that was when he heard an angry roar behind him.

"GET HIM!"

Sokka grimaced and kept running, but it seemed he had walked himself into an ambush. A group of gladiators jumped out of alleys into the street he had been running through, all of them taking up aggressive stances. Sokka halted, wary of the people ahead, yet he heard the footsteps of those behind him. Curse it. They were coming for him from all sides… just what he had been trying to avoid.

The first ones to reach him were those behind him, and Sokka resorted to pulling Space Sword out and whirling, not caring for what he might cut with it. Indeed, he cut someone, but he had no time to assess the damage he had delivered, for he was attacked again by the gladiators who had blocked his way through the streets.

Sokka yelled, bit, kicked and swung his sword around, despite receiving blocks of earth straight to the face and feeling his right arm getting scorched by someone's firebending. He dropped to the ground defensively, clutching the item to his chest since he knew that was what these gladiators were after. They pulled his hair, scratched his face and kicked him a few times as they tried to knock him out so they could fight over the object he was carrying, but Sokka wouldn't let this end so fast.

As soon as he saw a gap between the bodies of his assailants, Sokka knew he had to dart out through that direction. No matter which way he came out through, he just had to make his way and run for it.

And that he did, by leaping up and sticking the pointiest edge of his item into the stomach of one of his aggressors. The gladiator who got wounded stumbled back, clutching his wound, perhaps in hopes to grasp the object Sokka had punctured him with, but Sokka pulled it out and ran while making use of the small window of time he had earned himself. It took a moment for the gladiators he left behind to realize what had happened, and not long afterwards they were chasing him through the streets.

Sokka panted and gasped, the injuries he had sustained promising to take their toll on him. Yet his pursuers promised also to make everything worse if he dared stop… so he didn't.

He glanced down at the golden object in his hand and grimaced when he caught sight of the red liquid staining it.  _Damn, she's going to kill me…_

By some twist of fortune, though, he was on his way to the Arena again. Maybe he wasn't doing so badly… maybe he could make it to the Ring of Ash and shake off his pursuers in the process. He gritted his teeth and kept running, pushing himself to go faster even when his legs didn't want to answer.

At some point, someone happened to show up right next to him. Sokka glanced sideways, wary, but he realized the woman next to him was carrying her own two golden flames. She looked at him as well, perhaps fearing he might try to steal hers.

"You only got one?!" she asked, upon only seeing one item in his hand.

"You feeling like giving me one of yours out of pity?!" Sokka yelled back "Because I sure wouldn't mind!"

The woman would have rolled her eyes at his response, but she was relieved to find he wouldn't try to steal hers. Still, she decided to exert some caution. She was being chased by a group of gladiators as well, and she sure hoped she could make it to the Ring of Ash before they reached him, or before the one next to her decided to steal what she had fought so hard to obtain…

Azula was beginning to wonder if she ought to head into the city to find Sokka's unconscious body, or whatever was left of it, just when the pair of gladiators took the street that led towards the Ring of Ash. Her eyes widened when she recognized Sokka running right beside the woman the Mayor had identified as his gladiator.

"She's there! She's…! Oh, yes!" the man exclaimed happily, clapping.

"Go, Sokka… go" Azula said, looking at him in expectation when he was scarcely a few feet from the ashes that lined the Arena, a crowd of gladiators chasing him "Get into that damn ring, just…"

But it just couldn't be so easy, could it?

The earth right in front of Sokka and the Blazing Strike suddenly blasted out, creating a crack in the ground that threatened to knock both gladiators to the ground. Their pursuers stopped, wary of what had just happened, but Sokka and the Blazing Strike couldn't falter. They struggled to keep their footing and to continue running just as the perpetrator of the sudden explosion revealed herself.

Sokka wasn't even surprised to find Toph covered in dirt, rising from a tunnel underground. She surely had been waiting for them, probably knowing she would haul four flames in one go…

Sokka tried to dodge her, but she brought forth a pillar of earth that struck Sokka in the stomach, stopping him effectively. In the meantime, though, the Blazing Strike was threatening to get away. Toph had to bend the earth under the woman in order to make her trip and fall over. She was rather persistent, though. She sought to crawl towards the ring, which was only one feet ahead of her now…

But Toph brought forth another pillar, smacking her opponent's stomach and sending her flying up into the air. The two flames she had been holding dropped to the ground with a clinking sound, and Toph picked them up as quickly as she could… and she turned around to face Sokka again, who hadn't let go of the pieces in his hand and had managed to get around the pillar she had just struck him with.

Toph moved towards him and snarled, raising a rock to the level of his knees and making Sokka trip. Sokka grimaced as he saw the ash coming straight at him… but it was ash. It was ash! As soon as he touched it, his run on the hunt would be over!

Yet Toph's hand gripped his before Sokka hit the ground. And with a brusque movement, she took his items for herself as Sokka embarrassingly fell face-first into the ring

Toph stepped into the arena, smirking down at Sokka.

"And that's ten out of ten" she declared, as staff members came rushing at them.

Two staff members attended Sokka while others ran towards the Blazing Strike. Another one headed towards Toph, looking at her in utter shock after she declared to having seized all ten objects.

The Mayor looked as though he were on the verge of tears as he looked at his gladiator, and Azula simply sighed in disappointment. So much for keeping that little twat from getting all two thousand points… well, she knew Sokka had tried, that much was clear. But it seemed he truly wasn't strong enough to deal with her just yet.

"You… you have all ten objects, you said?" the staff member asked Toph, and she placed her collection of golden flames in his hands.

"Yep, got that right" said Toph, smirking "I heard no one had done that before. Brand new record, isn't it?"

"Well… it was a good event" Iroh said, smiling and earning himself a glare from his niece. Ugh, if she could just erase that stupid grin off his face…

Toph waved at him and Iroh chuckled at the gesture while the staff member checked the collection of items Toph had given him… and soon enough he was frowning as he looked it over one more time.

"Uh, excuse me… Blind Bandit?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's me. Going to write my name down someplace to give me my record or something?" Toph asked.

"I… uh, maybe I would, but… you haven't obtained the record, I'm sorry to say" the man said, gulping.

"What?!" Toph exclaimed, looking at the man in mild indignation "What do you mean by that?!"

"Well… there aren't ten objects here" the staff member said, growing nervous "You… you only have eight"

"How could I possibly have eight?!" Toph exclaimed, taking them from the man "I got two from that girl, and this moron had two of these things as well, he…!"

It was only then that Toph realized that what she had taken from Sokka was a single object. And it was slightly heavier than the rest of the metal plates… which was why she had mistaken it for two when she had sensed it with her earthbending. She frowned, trying to make sense out of this mishap… what the hell had happened here?! She had distinctly sensed Sokka had taken the item on the statue, and she had also sensed him steal an item from another gladiator… so he had to have two! How come was she holding this strange thing now, a thing that didn't feel quite the same as the others…? Oh, for crying out loud, how hadn't she realized this was a very different object from the ones she had picked up before? Lost in her arrogance and pride, and hoping to stomp all over Sokka's, she had mistaken this for her absolute victory… and it wasn't.

A low chuckle came from Sokka, who was pushing himself up with the help of the Arena's staff members. Toph turned to him in slight outrage, and Sokka tried to wipe the ash off his face with his forearm, although it seemed he had only soiled himself further.

"Fell square for it, didn't you?" Sokka smirked, unbuckling his armor, to everyone's surprise.

Azula's eyes glistened with pride and she found herself smiling uncontrollably when Sokka's armor fell to the ground… to reveal that, disguised within his breastplate, had been the two items he had obtained during the hunt.

He had done it. He had kept Toph from taking the record, he had earned four hundred points and kept her from earning all two thousand!

"You must be wondering how I did it, I wager?" Sokka asked Toph, handing the two golden flames to the nearby staff members "I was concealing Azula's hairpiece inside my breastplate at the start of the Hunt. You'd never sensed my new armor before, so, if you stopped to analyze it, you would think that strange metallic thing on my chest was just part of the outfit. So… when I got my first gold flame, I hid in an alley and took off the breastplate quickly, replaced the hairpiece with the flame and used the hairpiece as a decoy. It was quite lucky that it was about as heavy as two pieces, that way you wouldn't notice the difference if I secured two of the flames. You'd think I was holding both flames in one hand unless you actually stole the hairpiece… and from what I can see, it seems I was right on that. You fell for it, Toph"

"Yeah, maybe… but I still won" she said, spitefully.

"You broke no records today, though. And you're not the only one who earned points in this event. And now… would you be so kind to return my sponsor's hairpiece?" Sokka asked, extending a hand towards her "I'm pretty sure she'll want it back"

Toph gripped the bloody hairpiece for a moment, only understanding now what it really was… well, she had never touched it before, she couldn't have recognized it… and Sokka had known so. The witty jerk had realized the hairpiece was about the same size as the golden flames they had been chasing after, and he had set up a trap knowing Toph would have quite a hard time to tell the difference between the hairpiece and the flame-shaped metal plates if she was too invested in defeating him. How had he come up with such a plan, she had no idea…

Azula couldn't stop laughing now. Iroh was staring at Sokka with his mouth hanging open, while the Mayor had stopped crying, looking at the situation with interest.

"Oh, my…" he said, only realizing now why he'd had such a hard time recognizing Azula as Ozai's daughter: she wasn't wearing her hairpiece because her gladiator had been holding it "Your two gladiators are really something"

"And here I thought she was a bandit in name alone" Azula said, smirking "You've gotten yourself quite a thief of a gladiator, uncle, stealing my hairpiece like that…"

Sokka took back Azula's hairpiece and sought to clean it with the fabric of his shirt. Thankfully, the blood didn't seem to have stained it… still, he was certain Azula would be anything but happy about knowing he had stabbed a gladiator with it. He looked towards the stands and found, to his relief, that his sponsor seemed to be beaming with pride. He nodded in her direction, giving her a smile of his own.

There was a prize for the winners of the event, a prize that was awarded while Sokka received medical treatment right outside the Ring. A burn on his arm was being taken care of when Azula showed up, a small bag of money in her hand.

"Second place had its own reward, apparently" she said, showing him the bag "So did third, but since nobody else managed to secure any points, that award went to waste"

"Heh" said Sokka, smirking and flinching when the medic rubbed an ointment on his damaged skin.

"You look… terrible" Azula muttered, looking at him in worry.

"Well, the Hunt was anything but uneventful" Sokka said, smiling weakly "Got myself covered in bruises, I have a few scrapes here and there… I've got a burn in an arm, and I'm pretty damn lucky I didn't get more. And I figure my hair is a disaster"

"Your face is a mask of ash too" said Azula, smiling "But alas… all the trouble was worth it in the end. For a moment there I really thought you hadn't managed to make your plan work…"

"I honestly started doubting it would for a while" Sokka admitted "I feared she'd notice the hairpiece was heavier than the actual items, but I think she was too busy getting every other object to pay close attention to me. Which worked to our advantage in the end"

"It was quite a smart move to disguise the hairpiece and the actual objects as part of your armor" Azula said, approvingly "It really seems like your witty last-minute plans are far more reliable than I took them for"

"Only when they work" Sokka said, chuckling "Still… we didn't win. We didn't lose pathetically, but we still didn't win"

"No need to fret" said Azula, smiling "We may have gotten second place alone… but this is a start. Considering how badly she beat you back when you faced off against her the first time, this event shows you've improved greatly"

"Why… good to know you see it that way" said Sokka, smiling "Here I thought you'd be mad I didn't take all ten objects"

"Maybe that was too much to bet on" Azula admitted "But hopefully one day you'll be capable of more than this. Either by becoming stronger or by coming up with wittier plans, I believe you'll be able to stand evenly with the Bandit one day. If you were able to pull this off, I'm sure you'll do even better the next time you fight her"

Sokka smiled and nodded, relieved to hear Azula seemed pleased. She was placing a lot of hopes on him, and to know he hadn't disappointed her once as of late was reassuring… he just hoped he could keep this up. He didn't want to displease her ever again.

He cringed as he reached out for something he had set down right beside him, and he extended it towards Azula, who looked at his offering in disgust.

"Here. Thanks for letting me borrow it" said Sokka, smiling and giving back her hairpiece.

"You honestly don't think I'm going to put it on after that, do you?" Azula asked, grimacing "I think I saw blood on it when the Bandit took it from you…"

"Oh, yeah… I kinda had to stab someone with it" said Sokka, smiling uncomfortably and scratching his head.

"Y-you…? Did you kill someone with my hairpiece?!" Azula asked, scandalized.

"No, no, I… I don't think he's dead" said Sokka, grimacing "It didn't go so deep, I think"

"But still… ugh, Sokka" Azula said, arching away from the hairpiece "You don't expect me to put on a hairpiece that bore the sweat of your chest and the blood of an unknown gladiator, do you?"

"Uh… now that you mention it, you might not want to" Sokka realized, smiling weakly "You need to disinfect it from all the disgusting germs and filth, of course"

"Indeed" Azula said, folding her arms over her chest "So you can hold onto it… until we get home. By then I'll find a way to cleanse it, and then I'll take it back"

"Gotcha" Sokka said, nodding "So… what're you going to do with the money? Invest it? Use it to make up for the money you've spent on me? Or maybe to restore your dad's statue…?"

"I've actually managed to make back lots of the money you… wait, what?" Azula looked at Sokka with a frown, and Sokka gulped "What happened to my father's statue?"

"Well… I'll have you know it wasn't my fault!" Sokka squealed "I didn't do it, it was that crazy earthbender who was hunting after me when I found that gold flame on your dad's hairpiece…!"

"Wait a second… you climbed my father's statue?!" Azula asked, shocked.

"It's not like I wanted to do it, but I figured that was where they'd hidden one of the items and I was right!" Sokka responded.

"And then… an earthbender knocked it down?" she asked, her gaze going to the ground. She definitely didn't want to be near her father when he was told about what had happened to his statue.

"He was a big brute" said Sokka, shaking his head as the medic finished bandaging his wounds "I think his sponsor will have to pay for it, though"

"Either he'll pay for it or he'll be executed" Azula said, grimacing "Both him and his slave, likely. Knocking down the statue of the Fire Lord is considered treason…"

"Well, in any case, unless they're unable to pay up, there's no need to spend your money on that" said Sokka, smiling weakly as he stood up.

It was only then that Azula realized he had been shirtless while getting patched up. Adding that to the way his hair was falling over his face made her heart race a little faster than it should. Curse that slave for being so handsome without even realizing it…

"So?" he asked, putting on his shirt with some difficulty "What're you going to do with the money, then?"

"Well…" said Azula, looking away while Sokka picked up his armor and weapons again "I never really thanked you for what you did about the White Lotus…"

"Again with that? Azula…"

"I happen to have this money" Azula continued, silencing him effectively "And you made quite a ridiculous request yesterday… but given that you didn't lose pathetically against the Bandit, and that you're actually still able to keep walking after facing her, then perhaps I ought to get you what you want…"

Sokka's eyes lit up and he looked at her as though he were a child who was finally getting the toy he wanted most.

"Y-you… you'll do it, Azula?! Really?! Y-you'll get one for me?!"

"Just promise you're not getting me a turtle in exchange, if you will" Azula said, smirking and making him blush as she walked away towards the city.

"I… I wasn't thinking about that when I asked for it! I just want a hawk because sending messages sounds like fun!" Sokka exclaimed.

"That had better be the case" said Azula, smiling "Well, so long as you promise not to use him to send me prank messages, you can have one… but you'll have to learn how to handle a hawk by yourself, got it?"

"Sure thing!" said Sokka, proudly "I'll train him up real good!"

"I think the one who'll be in need of training will be you and not the bird…" Azula said, smiling with malice.

"Hey!" Sokka squealed, as Azula chuckled.

It wasn't the best case scenario, but they both knew it could have gone much worse than it had. Even if they had only earned four hundred points, and Toph had gotten even further away from them than before, this was a start, as Azula had said. If they kept going at this rate, they day would come when Sokka would manage to fight on even grounds with Toph and defeat her… at least, Azula hoped so. She looked at Sokka, who was still trying to wipe clean his face with his arm and failing at it, and she smiled. He may never become stronger than that girl, but his wits had proven themselves all over again. And he didn't need brute strength so long as he could come up with a good plan to defeat her.

And as they walked side by side into the city, Azula found herself remembering why she had thought Sokka would be the perfect gladiator for her. It had been quite an unconventional way to prove himself, but he had accomplished the unthinkable today through his brain prowess alone: he had proved to everyone that a non-bender could be even more capable a fighter than other gladiators. And together they had proved they were one of the best combinations of gladiator and sponsor ever seen in the Gladiator League.


	61. Chapter 61

"Oookay..." Sokka said, extending a hand towards the ground "Hop on now, Hawky. Carefully…"

The messenger hawk looked at him for a moment before leaping up to his gloved hand, flapping his wings in the process. Sokka tried not to be startled by the bird's quick motion, but it seemed it would take some time for him to get used to his pet's movements. Nevertheless, the hawk landed on his hand, its talons digging into the thick glove Sokka had donned to learn the arts of falconry.

"Ha! You didn't fall!" Sokka exclaimed happily, as Hawky sought to find the proper balance on Sokka's hand "We actually did…!"

And before he could finish celebrating, the hawk hopped off his unstable hand yet again, clearly uncomfortable by the way Sokka was holding him. Sokka grimaced and frowned, scratching his head with his free hand.

"Drat, what am I doing wrong…?" he muttered, dropping on the floor with his legs crossed as he looked at the hawk "I think I'm doing what the Captain told me…"

"The Captain taught you how to use messenger hawks?" Song asked, taking Sokka by surprise as she approached him in the garden.

"Eavesdropper" Sokka said, pouting childishly before answering her question "Yeah, he told me how to handle messenger hawks when we were heading back to the Capital on Azula's barge. I think he might have forgotten a few details, though…"

"You ought to ask him again whenever you have a chance, then" said Song, smiling and kneeling by the bird "He's a beautiful hawk"

"He's a pweetty little Hawky, that he iiiis" Sokka said, earning himself a confused look from Song as he stroked the hawk's feathers "He's got pweetty feathers, yes he doooes!"

"Well… that he didn't fly away after that shows just how loyal he is" Song said, at which Sokka glared at her "Have you seen if he's properly trained to deliver messages?"

"Well… he's got to be" said Sokka, shrugging "According to Azula, this bird is perfectly trained, and if anyone needs training in this relationship, it'll be me"

"In the relationship between you and the bird, or between you and her?" Song asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"In… both, I suppose" said Sokka, blushing and lowering his gaze "You really have an evil mind underneath all that alleged kindness, don't you?"

"Oh, don't be so sour" said Song, giggling "How about you try directing him towards me for starters, to see if he's ready to deliver messages?"

"Delivery training?" Sokka asked "But you'll need a glove too… you don't want those talons digging into your arm, do you?"

"Oh… right" said Song "But he could land next to me, can't he? Not all people have gloves on their hands at every moment, do they? So if you get a message out of the blue… the bird has to land somewhere, doesn't he?"

"I guess you're right" said Sokka, rubbing his chin before extending his gloved hand towards the bird again "Well, then, Hawky! Your first flight test starts now! Go over to Song and flap your wings at her! Give her a big fright so that she stops picking on me!"

"Oh, please…" said Song, rolling her eyes.

"Come now, Hawky…!" said Sokka, as the bird hopped up to his hand "And… Go! To Song, Hawky, to Song! You can do it! You can…!"

"You don't have to yell so much!" said Song, when the bird landed right beside her only instants after setting off "We're not even six feet apart"

"W-well, it was Hawky's first flight test! I needed to give him proper support!" Sokka exclaimed, his voice cracking.

"You should worry more about giving him proper support with your hand than with your cheers…" Song said, with a guilty smile.

"Okay, what's with you today, woman?!" Sokka exclaimed, glaring at her as she laughed again "Don't you think I have to put up with enough snarky remarks from Azula for you to add more to the list?"

"Sorry, sorry…" said Song, still giggling "You've got your hands full as it is, truly"

"Thanks for noticing" Sokka said before turning his attention towards his hawk again "Now, come back here, Hawky… jump right up to my hand, boy, okay? Come here, come here… come now, Hawky…!"

The bird turned towards him and leapt, flapping his wings until his talons had safely gripped Sokka's hand.

"There you go!" Sokka exclaimed cheerfully, as he watched Hawky in joy "Who's my favorite hawk ever? Yes, you are! Yes, you are!"

Hawky let Sokka pet him, this time managing to stand in Sokka's hand with more ease. Sokka almost wept of relief when the bird was able to spend over ten seconds perched on his hand without falling or jumping off.

"We did it at last, Hawky" he said, wiping invisible tears from his eyes "See, see! When we work together, there's nothing to worry about! It's you and me against the world, Hawky!"

"You make a good team indeed" said Song, smiling "You just need to finish getting the hang of it…"

"Well, it's been a couple of days since I got him, I'd say this is too much progress as it is" Sokka admitted, smiling and lowering his hand so that Hawky could jump down to the ground again "At least I didn't make the blunder to have him stand on my burned arm this time…"

"That's why it had those scratch marks?" Song asked, grimacing as her eyes went to the wound on Sokka's forearm that she had treated upon his return home.

"Yeah" the gladiator replied, as the bird hopped down "I made the mistake when I was trying to learn how to handle him on the ship… it's why the Captain decided to teach me what he knew about messenger hawks. First thing he told me was that you couldn't assume this was easy just because it looked easy…"

"Well, you've seen he was right about that" Song said, smiling "But say… did you want a messenger hawk for any particular reason? It's an odd thing to request…"

"Nah, not really" said Sokka, shrugging "We just passed by that post office and I thought they were cool, you know? And given that Azula already has her flying pet, I figured I'd get one too!"

"Huh… well, so long as you don't hope to fly on him like she does with her dragon…" said Song, smiling uncomfortably.

"Why does everyone think I'm that stupid?" Sokka asked with a grimace, as Song chuckled "What did you think I wanted him for, anyways?"

"Oh, well…" said Song, lowering her gaze "I sort of guessed you might be planning on using the hawk to send messages to your family, maybe. To let them know you were okay"

"To let them know I'm alive, in the first place" said Sokka, sighing "They probably think I'm dead, for starters. They wouldn't have expected otherwise from the Fire Nation"

"You mentioned something about that when we were just meeting, yeah…" said Song.

"But there's not much point in trying to send Hawky down to the South Pole" said Sokka, caressing the hawk's feathers "I don't know if he'd survive polar temperatures, he's clearly a tropical bird. And in the unlikely case he could survive the weather, he could get caught in snow storms and the sort, so I really don't think it's a good idea. And to make it worse, they'd probably just shoot him down if they saw a Fire Nation bird flying towards them…"

"Oh, I… I didn't think about all those things" said Song, grimacing "I actually thought that might be what you were up to, with this messenger hawk thing… I figured you wanted to reach out for your family"

"It would be nice to let them know I'm okay" said Sokka "But I think I'd need to send about fifty letters to them so that they understand just how I ended up becoming the gladiator of the very Princess who dragged me away from home in the first place…"

"Not easy to explain, truly" Song muttered, lowering her gaze "Anyone would be startled by the thought of you getting along with her when she's supposed to be your worst enemy. You were fighting against the Fire Nation the last time they saw you in your Tribe… and now you even saved the Fire Nation from those attackers a few weeks ago. That's news they're not bound to react kindly to"

"Probably not" said Sokka, frowning as his eyes seemed to darken "I guess they wouldn't understand this… hell, I wouldn't have understood it a year ago either. But things have changed far beyond what I ever expected them to… and I'm genuinely glad they have. I guess they might take me for a traitor or they'll think I was brainwashed, but if anything, I think I've opened my eyes to reality after all this time"

"Meaning?" Song asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… the Fire Nation made heaps of mistakes, and their wrongdoings just can't be erased from history, nor should they be seen as acts of kindness, as some of their people think… But no more blood needs to be shed for this war to end, I think"

"You hope the Princess will change things for the better, don't you?" Song asked.

"She told me she would" said Sokka "She has every intention to do so, once she's the one ruling the Fire Nation. And there's a chance she could be able to influence her father, perhaps, so that he realizes he doesn't need to keep tearing down the world to prove his might. But that could be too far a stretch…"

"You have so much faith in her anyways" said Song, smiling "I'm glad"

"Glad that I have faith or glad that Azula might end this war?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… both things" said Song, shrugging "I never saw any sense in the war… I don't really like the Fire Nation for the bad things they did, but I don't want anyone else to die over the Hundred Year War. If the fighting could just end… if we all could just find peace at last, I'd be content"

"That's not all there is to it, though" said Sokka, sighing "There's a lot more at stake… you and I, Song, we're fine despite our status as slaves, but there are plenty of others who aren't as well off as we are"

"I know" said Song "But the Princess has been rather kind to us. If she's the one in charge of the Fire Nation, she might order her people to treat their slaves better, perhaps?"

"I'd rather hope she abolishes slavery altogether… but she might not want to do that" said Sokka "Though who knows? She just might…"

"Even if she doesn't, though… you told me she would take you home again once she's through with you, didn't you?" asked Song "So you're not going to remain a slave forever"

"Probably not" said Sokka "But the day our deal ends is so far away I can hardly picture it, to be honest"

"I guess" said Song. She didn't understand the true nature of their deal, and thus she didn't know what Sokka was supposed to do to earn his trip back home. Whatever it was, though, it was clearly going to take a long time to get it done "But… you miss your Tribe, don't you?"

"What…? Well, of course" said Sokka, smiling weakly "How could I not? They're my comrades, my family… I wish I could see my sister and ask her if she's really leading the warriors nowadays. I heard as much, but I have no clue…"

"Oh? Your sister? How are you so sure it's her?" Song asked, puzzled.

"Well, she's the only waterbender in our tribe" said Sokka "And apparently there was a waterbender leading the southern forces as of late. That's what Azula told me, at least. And if that's the case… if Katara is the one in charge right now, I just can't help but wonder how many things have changed down there since I left"

"I doubt your disappearance went unnoticed" muttered Song "They must miss you"

"Yeah… maybe" said Sokka, swallowing hard. Every day he wondered what his father might think… what he would say if he knew what had really happened to his son. Maybe he'd think Sokka would have been better off dying, as Bato had, than becoming the Princess's gladiator…

"Still, I'm sure they'll be very happy to know you're okay" said Song, smiling.

"I can only hope so" said Sokka, with a smile that seemed a grimace instead.

"So… are you going to send Hawky for another flight?" Song asked, hoping to change the subject. Sokka had been rather lively before, but as the conversation had drifted towards this topic, the atmosphere between them had become rather uneasy.

"Oh… maybe" said Sokka, rubbing his chin with his free hand "I guess we should, huh? He ought to deliver a real message this time around, too"

"A message now? Will you be sending the Princess a love-letter, then?" Song asked, giggling as Sokka blushed at her words.

"You're really something, Song" he said, shaking his head "If she ever got a love-letter she'd burn it, no matter who sends it"

"Oh… so the real reason you wouldn't send one is because she'd burn it, and not because you don't want to confess your feelings?" Song asked, smiling.

"Okay, you've hauled enough amusement out of this conversation for the time being" Sokka grunted, glaring at her before standing up.

"Though… jokes aside, if you're really sending a message, it'll be to her, won't it?" Song asked, raising her eyebrows.

Sokka couldn't keep from blushing again as he stalked into the house, muttering under his breath. And Song laughed again at his embarrassment, stroking the hawk's feathers gently while Sokka found parchment and ink to compose the letter he'd be sending shortly…

* * *

Azula was finishing her breakfast when she heard a strange sound by the window in her room. She frowned and looked towards it to find none other than the very hawk she had bought for Sokka a few days earlier.

"And what does he want…?" she muttered, although she couldn't help but feel slightly pleased to see him contacting her so early in the morning.

This was probably just a message for the sake of making sure the hawk was properly trained to find his bearings, Azula assumed, as she stopped beside the bird. Hawky turned around on the windowsill so Azula could access the canister on its back with ease, and she pulled out the small scroll, unfolding it to find a message at which she could only stare at in utter disbelief as she read it over and over.

_My place or yours?_

Curse it… did that moron know what a message like this one seemed to convey?! For crying out loud, did he truly lack any common sense?!

No… he knew what it came off as. And he knew she'd be indignant about it. Which was exactly why he had written those words, and no more. She could easily picture him smirking proudly at his newly discovered form to tease her… Oh, but he was going to get it. She had told him no prank messages, or else he'd pay for it… Yet she was sure that, as soon as she told him off about this, he would claim that she had read too much into it. He was only asking if they would train in the Palace or at his house, of course!

Azula rolled her eyes as she anticipated his responses, but she couldn't keep from smiling. That stupid gladiator would be the death of her…

But as she started to think of how to reply to him in the perfect manner to tear apart his great plan to tease her, there was a knock on her door. Azula frowned and turned towards it, thinking she ought to change out of her sleeping gown before facing anyone who might have come to see her… but it wasn't wise to keep the person outside waiting when there were chances it might even be her father.

"Come in" she said loudly, setting down the scroll on a nearby dresser and looking at the door warily.

She didn't have to worry much, apparently, for the visitor happened to be the Captain. She looked at him inquisitively as he turned towards her, which was his cue to speak quickly.

"The Fire Lord has just called for a war meeting, Princess" he said, at which Azula frowned "An urgent war meeting"

"What about?" Azula asked, confused "Did he explain anything? Or is this some top-secret matter he cannot disclose to a Royal Guard?"

"Apparently it is" said Rui Shi, shrugging "I ignore what the purpose of the meeting is. But it seemed he wanted it done right away. I suggest you get ready as quickly as possible, Princess"

"I shall" said Azula "But in order to do that, you need to get out first"

"Oh… of course, Princess" said the Captain, bowing down curtly and walking outside the room as she watched him with a frown on her face.

What could have happened that her father had decided to hold an urgent war meeting? Did he find the spies they had been looking for? Or was this some matter completely unrelated to the White Lotus? Azula's frown only deepened as she gave the matter further thought…

Her gaze found the hawk again, and she remembered she hadn't replied to Sokka yet. But her intent of giving him a response that would make him drop his jaw and fail to find an answer for her had lost its appeal. Nevertheless, she scribbled a quick response before starting to get ready for the meeting that awaited her.

* * *

_Chances are it will be neither. I have a war meeting to attend, and I don't know how long it will take. You're free to play with your hawk for today._

"War meeting?" Sokka repeated as he read the message, frowning. That seemed ominous, for some reason. Maybe because he had been talking to Song about the hopeful end of the Hundred Year War just a moment ago, and meanwhile the Fire Lord was calling for war meetings…

"Did Hawky make it back okay?" Song asked, from the kitchen.

"Yeah, he… he's fine" Sokka said, still clutching the paper with mild concern.

"Will you meet her there, then, or will she come here?" Song asked, wiping her hands with a cloth and walking towards the threshold of the room "I need to know if she'll eat lunch here or… Sokka?"

"I think… I think I'll be going over there" Sokka said, smiling "Don't worry about feeding me, I'll probably snatch something at the Palace if I can get away with it"

"Oh… okay" said Song, blinking a few times "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just… she seems to think I 'play with my hawk'" said Sokka, an eyebrow twitching "You think that was an innuendo, or do you think she actually meant it literally? Am I reading too much into this?"

"Huh, well…" said Song, falling silent for a moment before chuckling and heading into the kitchen again.

"What's so funny, woman?!" Sokka exclaimed angrily, shaking a fist towards her, which only compelled her to laugh louder.

Yet as his mind returned to the main content of the letter, he frowned again. He would go by the Palace, and he'd probably take Azula by surprise by doing so… and he'd find out whatever this emergency war meeting was about one way or another.

* * *

Ozai nodded towards Azula when she entered the Throne Room. Only War Minister Qin had arrived by the time she passed the curtains, but several generals entered the room when she took her seat at her father's right hand.

"An urgent meeting, is it?" Azula asked "I hope this isn't about the matter of the statue…"

"Oh, that has been taken care of already" said Ozai, though Azula sensed the displeasure distinctly in his voice as he thought about what had happened to his statue during the Scavenger Hunt "Apparently it was an earthbending mishap… apparently. Hearing about this has made me reconsider having earthbenders joining our nation. If they'll thank me for my kindness by tearing down my statues…"

"I doubt this is a conspiracy, father…" said Azula, knowing she treaded dangerous grounds by contradicting Ozai when he felt insulted.

"I hope not" said Ozai, looking at her sternly and judgmentally for a moment. The force in his stare was such that Azula froze in place "For I heard your gladiator was partially the cause why the statue fell in the first place"

"That… well, father, if you believe my gladiator might be at fault for it, you ought to blame the Arena's staff members first of all" said Azula, blushing slightly under his unspoken questioning "If they hadn't placed the item of the Scavenger Hunt on your statue, Sokka wouldn't have climbed it and that earthbender wouldn't have knocked it down…"

"Indeed" said Ozai, frowning "Fools, all of them. I should have them all punished… but I won't. I am a merciful man after all"

"So if you won't punish all of them… it means you will punish some of them, at least?"

"It took an earthbender to tear down my statue. So it'll be the earthbender who will face the consequences of his wrongdoing" said Ozai "The statue has been restored successfully already, and it sustained no permanent damage. But this slight must be punished nonetheless"

"I… I understand, father" said Azula, nodding "And if you believe you ought to punish my gladiator as well…"

"I should, he is quite reckless for climbing my statue" said Ozai "Yet he is your gladiator, and he has provided plenty of services for the Fire Nation in the past. I will spare him this time, but I rather doubt there will be a second opportunity in which I'll forgive such atrocious crime. Make sure to convey that to him, so that he gives it a second thought before climbing another of my statues"

"I shall, father" said Azula, rather relieved to know her father wouldn't unleash his wrath upon Sokka. That was for her to do "What is this meeting about, then?"

"You will find out soon enough" said Ozai, looking forward again, as the last generals entered the room "Let us begin this urgent meeting"

Azula frowned as she performed the Fire Nation Oath along with the rest of the men, as tradition in every meeting. Was it her idea, or there was no seat available at her father's left side this time? Her uncle wouldn't be attending this meeting?

"Take your seats" said Ozai once the Oath was done "I thank you all for coming at such short notice. The matter we must discuss could not bear any waiting, I'm afraid. War Minister Qin, if you will"

The man in question stood up and bowed at Ozai before beginning to speak.

"Thank you, my Lord" he said, turning towards the rest of the crowd "An urgent report arrived this morning, from our settlement down at the Southern Water Tribe"

Azula froze in her spot upon those words. She looked at Qin as though he had driven a spear through her chest with his words. What had he just said…? The South? Weren't their problems with the North as of late? There couldn't be problems with the Southern Water Tribe, not now…

"According to this report… there is a second waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe" Qin said, and the entire room seemed to gasp at his statement.

"A second…?" repeated Mak, aghast.

"That cannot be" said Azula, frowning "There is only one waterbender down south… if there happens to be a second one it would have to be a child, or a late bloomer, at best"

"Apparently it's neither, according to the report" said Qin "It seems it's a young man, and he managed to bend the ice in ways our soldiers had never seen before. He is far more powerful than the only other waterbender we had knowledge of… he frustrated an attack on the Water Tribe by taking out our entire brigade single-handedly"

"That's ridiculous, no single man would be capable of such a feat" said Bujing, his eyes widening in horror.

"I find it hard to believe myself, general…" said Qin "But if this is the report we received, then I suggest we act upon it instead of doubting its veracity…"

"And Qin is right on that regard" said Ozai, who hadn't flinched upon the War Minister's revelation. He had been informed of the matter beforehand, clearly, which was why the council had been summoned in the first place "If it is true that there is a new, powerful waterbender down south, then we had best handle this threat properly instead of crossing our fingers and hoping we have been misinformed"

"Yet it's simply… according to what I know, there was only one waterbender left in that Tribe" said Azula, shaking her head.

Sokka would be furious… he would lose his mind if he heard about this. But he would have to find out eventually… she couldn't simply not tell him, not if her father intended to send soldiers to vanquish the Water Tribe, as she suspected. And if anyone would know about there being a second waterbender in his tribe, it would have to be him…

"Did your gladiator say as much?" Ozai asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not quite" Azula muttered "Yet he never mentioned another waterbender, let alone a skilled one"

"Perhaps he concealed it from you" said Ozai, frowning.

"Or perhaps this new waterbender is a newcomer" Azula suggested "My gladiator hasn't been in the South Pole for over three years. This man might have arrived into the tribe while my gladiator wasn't there anymore"

"Then… is it someone from the Northern Tribe?" asked General Ling "Someone who has gone down to the South Pole to assist them?"

"That is most unlikely" said Commander Gei "The Northern Water Tribe couldn't possibly send a ship anywhere while avoiding our navy's notice. And the north needs all the waterbenders they can find to fight against the full strength of our armies"

"So what is it?" said Ling "Is he a hermit of some sort? He might have been a waterbender living deeper inside the Pole who…"

"It hardly matters who he is or where he came from" Ozai growled, frowning and silencing Ling effectively "What matters is for us to decide how we shall handle this threat"

"We should send more troops down South" said Bujing "Firebenders. The light period is about to end, but if we send them right away they will have an advantage and they will be capable of seizing the two waterbenders in the Tribe…"

"I would much rather have them vanquished completely" muttered Ozai, between gritted teeth "Water can extinguish fire, thus making the waterbenders our biggest threat. And I would rather have the world burn down under the power of our firebenders than allow those pathetic savages to extinguish our flames"

Azula's hands balled into fists upon her father's words. Vanquish the Southern Water Tribe? He couldn't possibly mean it… not now. Not when she finally got along with Sokka. Not when she was already thinking about sending him back down with his people once he fulfilled their deal. What was she supposed to do with him if he no longer had a Tribe to return to?

It wasn't as though she wanted her father to end the Water Tribes to begin with… at least, not anymore. She understood the strategic value of defeating them, given that, out of all the nations, the Water Tribes were the only ones that might be capable of defeating the Fire Nation. But even so… the Earth Kingdom was one thing, with its large territories and people that served much better as allies, or at least, as subordinates, than they did as enemies. The Poles, on the other hand, were places the Fire Nation could never occupy. There was nothing of value for them in the forsaken icy tundra… and destroying them for naught was a waste of time, wasn't it?

"Yet sending firebenders might work against us…" said Mak, frowning.

"Sending anyone might work against us" Azula declared, taking a deep breath. Ozai's eyes moved towards her.

"And what might that mean, Azula?" Ozai inquired.

"I understand completely the need to eliminate the threat that is the Water Tribe, father" Azula stated "Yet if you are attempting to take out the Water Tribes, you cannot divide your forces. Not when the North Pole has proven as difficult to conquer as it has"

"So you're suggesting…?" Ozai muttered, looking at his daughter carefully.

"Take the North down first" Azula said, knowing Sokka would still be enraged if he knew she had said such thing… but there was nothing to be done for it right now. If she told her father to stop fighting the war altogether she could kiss her life goodbye "The South can wait. They hardly have any ships, and there are only a handful of warriors and two waterbenders now, apparently. They pose no military threat to us at all. We could take them out in no time, but only once we have obtained the North. Until then…"

"The Princess speaks truly" said General Shinu, reserved as he was "Taking out the South might be easy, but to do it you would need to use troops that are currently engaging in duties elsewhere. Most the navy remains in the North and they need every possible ship, or else this battle, that has almost lasted half a decade by now, will go to waste just as the Dragon of the West's siege on Ba Sing Se did. The armies are spread thin through the Fire Nation Colonies and the Fire Nation itself…"

"The Southern Water Tribe isn't as big a threat as it seems, not in truth" Azula finished "Taking over the South… it's not a priority at the moment. It will be an easy battle if we ever need to fight it"

Ozai frowned. He didn't want this matter to remain pending… and he wondered if this was Azula's true reason for wanting to leave the Southern Water Tribe alone for the time being. If only her gladiator weren't a southern savage, he wouldn't take her arguments to be biased in any way… nevertheless, this was Azula. How could her arguments be biased at all? She knew better than that. It wasn't as though she saw that slave as anything but a slave…

"Then you believe we ought to forget the South Pole for the time being?" Ozai asked, probingly "Perhaps even take the men in the settlement and add them to our ranks wherever we might need them?"

"I did not say that" Azula muttered "Those in the settlement ought to remain there, so that we don't lose the territories we have gained. That much should remain as it is"

"Of course" said Ozai, nodding as she passed his test. If she had told him to call back the troops on the settlement he would have asked her if her illness had affected her better judgment.

"The troops in the South should guard our position and remain stationed in the settlement, perhaps even arrange careful attacks in hopes to take the waterbenders captive" said Mak "In the mean time, the rest of our navy should take upon tearing down the Northern Water Tribe as quickly as possible"

"It has been anything but quick" said Ozai, sighing "Very well. I take it this should be our plan in action… for now, at least. All in favor?"

To Azula's relief, most hands were raised upon Ozai's question… save those of a few military leaders. And Azula could sense the Fire Lord sided with those who hadn't cast their votes… yet it seemed he was willing to let this matter slide for the time being, if only in hopes the new asset of the Water Tribe would destroy the settlement so that Ozai could recriminate Azula for developing such useless plan to solve their predicament.

But Ozai could do something worse than just telling off his daughter, and given the look on his eyes, Azula already suspected he might do it. He could ignore the council's decision to impose his own… he had done as much on countless occasions before: he was the Fire Lord after all, and his decisions were final. He would send his own people down South to eliminate the threats, regardless if it meant splitting his forces beyond what was reasonable. Because one waterbender wasn't much of a concern, but two of them could mean trouble. And Ozai would not stand for any form of trouble coming from the Water Tribes, not while he remained the Lord of the Fire Nation.

* * *

Sokka stood in the Gallery, his arms folded over his chest as he looked at the Throne Room. He was well aware of the fact that he wasn't welcome to war meetings, no matter if he had been allowed to witness a trial… surely the image Ozai had of him would have crumbled if he were aware of the fact that Sokka had some part in the incident with his statue. Hence, Sokka hoped he wouldn't face the man today… he only had come to see Azula after all, to make sure they wouldn't be shipped off to the ends of the world to capture more war criminals… or to make sure the White Lotus spy wouldn't be executed, if that happened to be the subject of this meeting.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of footsteps and conversation down the same hallway in which he stood. He raised an eyebrow and saw, to his surprise, that the Blind Bandit and her sponsor were walking by, carrying bags and luggage under their arms. Had they only just arrived to the Palace?

"I assure you, the tile of the Tiger is far more important than most people give it credit for" Iroh said "Not as much as the White Lotus, mind you, but the Tiger is not only a piece with offensive abilities…"

"I have offensive abilities myself, most the people I talk to get offended one way or another" said Toph, snorting "Included that one right there! Hey, Dog! Been a while, hasn't it?"

"Missed me that much? It's only been about three days since I kicked your butt…" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow as the two arrivals walked up to him.

"Kicked my butt?" Toph asked, apparently amused "Sorry to burst your bubble, Sokka, but you didn't kick anyone's butt. Do I have to remind you who got the first place in the Hunt?"

"You know, it's a bit irrelevant who won or not considering just how embarrassed you were after realizing you'd taken your absolute victory for granted…" said Sokka, smirking.

"Well, you don't have to worry, I'll probably be able to get all ten objects next time… but oh, of course I won't" said Toph, with a dramatic sigh "I'd forgotten I'll be too high in the ranking to take part in that Scavenger Hunt again. Oh, well. Make sure to take all ten objects for me on the next go, will you?"

"And what makes you so sure I'll still be able to participate in it?" Sokka asked, glaring at her.

"Well, probably the fact that you're no good against benders of any kind..." Toph snickered.

"Good enough to fool you, though" grunted Sokka.

"Wow, you're so proud of that... is it that hard to realize that, despite your trickery, I still won?"

"Well, well, calm down, you two" said Iroh smiling "No need to hold on to what has already passed"

"True enough…" said Toph, folding her arms over her chest.

"What are you doing here, though?" Sokka asked "Weren't you asked to attend the urgent war meeting?"

"Oh, were you?" Iroh asked, startling Sokka by his odd question before laughing loudly at his reaction "Toph and I only just arrived to the Capital about an hour ago. If there was an urgent meeting, I clearly wasn't informed. But it's of no matter, these meetings tend to be so boring..."

"Huh..." said Sokka, frowning. Boring or not, shouldn't the Fire Lord's brother attend important meetings? This man was too weird... "How come did you just get here, though? Were you drinking tea all over the world again?"

"Now that is a trip I would like to take…" said Iroh, his eyes glistening.

"Apparently we had missed out on a few places" said Toph "Not that I mind that much, but after having so much tea you just keep hitting the bathroom non-stop for…"

"I don't need to hear the details, thank you" said Sokka, raising his hand to stop her.

"Well, aren't you Mr. Oversensitive now! And here I thought that was Zuko!" said Toph, smirking. Sokka raised an eyebrow upon her mention of Azula's brother, but it took only an instant for him to realize why the earthbender had decided to criticize the Prince.

Zuko had approached his uncle from behind as silently as possible, but it seemed no amount of sigil would be enough to keep the Blind Bandit from noticing him. He frowned upon her insult, and she turned towards him with a beam.

"But it seems our friend here grew out of his title, if he's done moping around at last" said Toph, smiling "Welcome to the real world again! We really didn't miss you much, but since you're back we'd better pretend we're glad to see you, huh…?"

"Zuko" said Iroh, giving his nephew a warm smile, yet eyeing him nervously. Zuko seemed about to retort at Toph, but he caught sight of the look on his uncle's face.

"U-Uncle…" he said, swallowing hard "You're back"

"Yes, we just returned. We were victorious in our event, in case you wondered" said Iroh, still smiling.

"Uh… good" said Zuko, though it seemed he didn't care much for the information "Uncle, I… I think I'm ready to talk with you. If you still want to hear me out, that is"

"Oh… oh" said Iroh, surprised. It wasn't every day that his nephew declared he would open up to him. And considering how Zuko had behaved the last few days, Iroh had thought the Prince wouldn't want to speak to him any time soon. Yet here he was, asking him for a conversation… "Good to know, Zuko. Of course I'll hear you"

"Hear him? What do you have to talk about?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's… not your concern" said Zuko, lowering his gaze.

"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed, pouting "You're going to be all stuck-up again now, huh?!"

"No, he's serious" said Toph, folding her arms over her chest "This isn't a matter you should be concerned with"

"Oh, really?" said Sokka, looking at Toph with skepticism.

"Yep" said Toph, nodding "It's just a matter that involves Iroh, Zuko and me"

"You?!" said Zuko, startled "What? You have nothing to do with this either!"

"What?! So you're not telling me?!" Toph asked, a hand going to her chest as she turned towards Zuko dramatically "Wait a minute, you're actually shutting me off?"

"Of course I am! I want to talk to my uncle, alone!" Zuko said, looking at her in utter confusion.

"Oh, well then, fine!" Toph stated, folding her arms over her chest again "Don't worry, that's okay, you go tell Iroh your sad little secrets, I don't mind! He'll tell me all about it later anyways!"

"What?!" Zuko exclaimed, looking at Iroh accusingly "You wouldn't…!"

"Of course not, Zuko" said Iroh, smiling sympathetically at him "I won't tell anyone the details of our conversation, you have my word"

"Huh… good" said Zuko, relieved, but Toph's reaction was the exact opposite of that.

"What?! So you're not telling me, Iroh?! After all this time, after everything our friendship means to me?!" she exclaimed, now turning towards Iroh and making him chuckle under his breath as he realized she was just being overly dramatic to tease Zuko.

"Now, now, Toph…"

"No, forget it! Don't worry, I don't want to hear his petty princely problems anyhow!" Toph exclaimed "We'll make our own club, this other reject and I! The club of the badass gladiators, no Royal Family members allowed!"

"So I'm not invited to join your gang? I'm so disappointed…" said Zuko, rolling his eyes "Uncle…"

"Yes, yes, let's go, Zuko…" said Iroh, chuckling "I'll see you later, Toph"

"Yeah, sure you will, but I won't be seeing you!" Toph exclaimed "And… that's literal"

Iroh laughed at her joke on his way out of the hallway with Zuko, and Toph smirked as she sensed them leave. Sokka looked at her with slight unease, wondering just how someone could undergo so many mood swings in just a short while. Toph seemed to realize he was staring at her, and she turned around to smile at him.

"No, the club isn't a real thing, just trying to tease and bug Prince Moody over there. So don't get excited. If I were to make a club of badass gladiators, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't fit the requirements…"

"Of course not" said Sokka, rolling his eyes "Soon enough you'll eat your own words, you'll see"

"Oh, I sure look forward to that… only I don't" she said, smirking "And you can take that one literally too"

With that, she chuckled again and walked off, leaving Sokka staring after her in utter confusion. Who knew a blind girl would joke about her condition so freely…?

But as she turned into another hallway, one that probably led to her room, the curtains before the Throne Room were pulled back by the generals that were leaving the war meeting. So it had ended already… Sokka swallowed hard and watched intently, hoping Azula would come out soon.

And she did, though Sokka didn't fail to see she seemed somewhat disturbed. Sokka frowned, worried, but he walked up to her with a smile, hoping she would relax a little upon seeing him. But given the way she looked at him, eyes wide and fists clenched, it seemed he had achieved the exact opposite effect of what he expected with his smile.

"Azula? Are you okay?" Sokka asked.

"What… why are you here?" Azula asked, trying to act natural and failing at it.

"Uh, no reason, I just… I just thought that was a bit surprising for you to have an urgent meeting all of sudden" said Sokka, shrugging "I thought it might be about the White Lotus. Did you guys find the spy?"

"No, we… we haven't, not yet" said Azula, shaking her head "Or, if we have, my father has failed to inform me of it"

"Then it's not this?" Sokka asked "What was it, then?"

Azula looked at Sokka worriedly for a moment before taking a deep breath. Well, he was going to find out sooner or later, and she much preferred it would be sooner rather than later. If he was going to lose his mind over this matter, she would rather he wouldn't lose it while accusing her of keeping the truth from him, on top of it all.

"Sokka, there was a… a report from the settlement" Azula said, without meeting his eyes.

His eyes widened instantly upon hearing those words. Just as Azula had expected, he wasn't bound to take this well… especially once she told him about what she suspected her father would do.

"Apparently there is a second waterbender in your Tribe… a waterbender strong enough to tear down an attack from our soldiers all by himself" said Azula "You had said your sister was a waterbender…"

"My sister is the only waterbender" said Sokka, frowning in confusion now. Azula didn't fail to notice it was ages since she had last seen Sokka behaving as seriously as he did right now. It reminded her of the way he had acted back when they met for the second time in Hui Yi "She… she's the only waterbender in the Tribe. This has to be a mistake"

"According to this report, this other waterbender is a man" said Azula, still keeping her eyes low "There were no late bloomers in the Tribe? Not even someone who seemed to have skills for bending?"

"No, nobody… not while I was there" said Sokka, shaking his head in disbelief "This can't… how could it be? It's got to be wrong. It's… what are you going to do? What is your father going to do about this? Is he planning to attack again? To…?"

"No, well… that isn't what the council agreed" said Azula "I told him not to… I advised against it, telling my father that it would be wiser to continue focusing on the North and leave the South be for the moment"

"Then… you'll do nothing?" Sokka asked, still uneasy but it seemed he was growing relieved slowly upon Azula's words.

"It's what the council decided" said Azula, sighing "The North has held its own for as long as it has… I'm sure the tides won't be turning in that battle any time soon, neither side is going to surrender so easily. So I think you needn't worry about your sister tribe getting destroyed any time soon. Yet…"

"Yet what?" Sokka asked, his frown deepening again "Is there anything else, Azula?"

"Just…" said Azula, gritting her teeth "The council may have decided this, but my father… chances are he might not heed that decision. It wouldn't be the first time he gathers his council and makes a choice that goes completely against what was said during the council. He is the Fire Lord… his word is law, regardless if it's supported by the rest of his advisors or not"

"So you think… you think he'll try to attack the South?" Sokka asked, clenching a fist as he felt a surge of anger within his chest.

"He might" said Azula "And I fear he… he doesn't want any captives this time around"

"They didn't come for captives when they killed my mother" grunted Sokka, his gaze darting towards the curtain again "You really think he'll do this?"

"He might. I don't know" said Azula, looking at him in worry "I did my best to convince him it was a waste of time, but…"

"But it might not have been enough" said Sokka, frowning and walking past her "Is he still in there?"

"Wha…? Sokka, you can't just…! What are you going to do?!" Azula asked, reaching out towards him and pulling his arm to hold him back.

"Maybe you can't convince him… but maybe I can" said Sokka, looking at her seriously.

"Y-you…?" Azula asked "Sokka, what are you going to…?"

"Don't fret. I'm not going to do anything I'll regret" Sokka said, as Azula relinquished her grip "I'll be back in a moment"

"But…"

And with that, Sokka swept aside the curtains and stepped into the Throne Room. Azula found herself even forgetting to breath upon the idea of Sokka confronting his father regarding this particular matter… her gladiator would get himself killed outside the Arena if he dared threaten her father or attempt to give him an order of any kind. Or else, he would try to kill Ozai himself… and that was something Azula wouldn't be able to stand for either. It didn't matter what sort of things Sokka had done for her or her nation, how successful he had been in the Gladiator League as of late, or what feelings she held towards him… if he hurt her father, she wouldn't let it slide. Her loyalty was with her people… with her father. And that wasn't about to change anytime soon.

All the same, Sokka's loyalties still lay with his people. No matter how much he had grown and learned over the course of these last years, or how he had grown to appreciate the Fire Nation despite its wrongdoings, his heart still lingered with his Tribe. And if someone was planning on crushing it, be it Azula's father or anyone else, he would make sure to have his say upon the matter.

When Sokka entered the room, Ozai had been speaking to the moustache man who had looked at him during Lo and Li's trial. The Fire Lord took notice of his presence and lifted an eyebrow. The general turned and saw Sokka, and he imitated the Fire Lord's gesture.

"Why… barging into the Throne Room just because you feel like it, gladiator?" Ozai asked.

"I need a word" said Sokka, striding quickly towards Ozai "In private"

"Is that so?" said Ozai, frowning. Whatever the man wanted, it seemed he thought it was important enough to barge into the Throne Room as he just had "Well, then. Bujing, please leave us. The gladiator needs a word"

Bujing bowed before Ozai and walked away. The man crossed the curtains of the Throne Room just as Sokka reached Ozai.

"Given the look on your face… it would seem you coaxed the subject of the war meeting out of my daughter" said Ozai, raising an eyebrow "I take it you truly know nothing about the second waterbender we recently heard of, as she said you wouldn't?"

"I don't" said Sokka, frowning "This is news for me too. But I didn't come to you to talk about the new waterbender"

"No? Then to what do I owe this… talk?" said Ozai, refusing to refer to this conversation as a 'pleasure', for he was sure it wouldn't be one.

"Are you planning on attacking the Southern Water Tribe?" Sokka asked.

"It seems my daughter failed to inform you of the decision of the council, if you have to ask me whether I shall…"

"Your daughter told me what happened" said Sokka "She said the council decided not to attack"

"Then where is the need to barge into my Throne Room as you just did to ask me what you already know?" Ozai asked, with a sigh of exasperation.

"I know what she said. But I also know you're the Fire Lord" said Sokka, his frown deepening again "If you feel like going against your council's decision, you can simply do so. You're the one who calls the shots here, aren't you?"

"So you came to make sure I wouldn't melt down your pole?" Ozai asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No… I came here to make sure you won't melt down my pole" said Sokka, so firmly Ozai fell silent for a moment, wondering how a mere slave could boast so much confidence.

"Ah… is that so?" Ozai asked, his golden gaze clashing against Sokka's.

"It is" said Sokka "Because you're a man of honor, aren't you"

Ozai was actually startled when Sokka pulled that card out of his deck. Again it took him a moment to digest just what this slave was referring to, but once he did he could only smile in amazement.

"Ah… you are truly far more than just a common slave, are you not?" Ozai said, smirking.

"I thought you already knew that by now" said Sokka, his frown letting up now that the Fire Lord's response hadn't been as explosive as he had expected it to be.

"Then this is what your second favor will be? You want me to leave your Tribe alone?" said Ozai.

"The first favor was for saving your daughter's life, so I traded it for the lives of others" said Sokka "Now I exchange saving your nation for my own. Don't order an attack of any kind upon the Southern Water Tribe, not now, not ever"

"Oh? And whatever shall I do if your tribesmen attack us instead?" asked Ozai "You cannot expect my soldiers to remain idle…"

"My tribesmen aren't bound to attack anyone" said Sokka, though he knew he was kidding himself, likely. If this new waterbender was as fierce a leader as he was a bender, chances were his tribesmen would be attacking the Fire Nation settlement anytime soon… "Not unless they feel threatened"

"From what I recall, we weren't threatening your people by the time those ships from the Southern Water Tribe sought to defeat my army in the Earth Kingdom…" said Ozai, folding his arms over his chest.

"Times have changed" said Sokka, lowering his gaze "I rather doubt my… the Chief will want our people to take part in the war again. If anything, he'll be grateful for this peace, even if it's only down South. So leave them be. The South holds no threats for you anymore"

"So you want me to sign a treaty for peace with them, then?" Ozai asked "Should I pull back the soldiers in my settlement as well?"

"Why… that would be quite nice, if I'm to be honest" said Sokka, his hands on his hips as he remembered all about the settlement in which he had relinquished his freedom so long ago.

"Shall I give you a room in the Palace as well, now we're at it?" the Fire Lord asked.

"Now that is a stretch, I'll say…" said Sokka, rubbing his chin.

The Fire Lord rolled his eyes but couldn't keep from laughing under his breath.

"You truly have no shame. Are you like this around my daughter as well, gladiator?"

"Ah… maybe" said Sokka, gulping now "Yet I think I'm entitled to ask for your people to leave mine alone. I helped you get rid of those who could have torn down the Fire Nation… didn't you say you hardly believed there was a way to pay me back for my services? Well, this is the way to pay back. Leave the Southern Water Tribe alone, from here on. Don't attack them ever again. Give out the order to those in the settlement to leave them be, and tell them to relocate elsewhere as well… for I can't say what that crazy waterbender might be capable of. He might tear the settlement out of the Pole if he's really that strong"

"Can't our people live together in harmony, though?" said Ozai, smiling ironically.

"Well, I wonder" said Sokka, shrugging "If you're willing to risk it…"

"Oh, truly… owing you anything has been quite a mistake" said Ozai, sighing heavily "I'll do my very best to avoid it in the future. Here I thought pleasing a slave would be far easier than this…"

"Well, I am no mere slave" said Sokka "As it seems you've come to notice"

"Surprisingly witty, and quite knowledgeable about how to play his role in the world" said Ozai, nodding "I'm not certain if you're an enemy or an ally, especially after your last request. But thankfully, that was truly the last one. You are getting no more favors from me, gladiator"

"I need no more favors so long as you consent to fulfill this one" said Sokka.

"Very well, then" said Ozai "You have my word, gladiator. No harm will come to your people. As you well said, I am a man of honor. I won't order any attacks upon them"

"Good" said Sokka, nodding.

"And that is enough of you for the time being" said Ozai, waving Sokka off "Go find someone else to cash favors out of… not my daughter, though. Try my brother, perhaps. Though he will likely only provide you with tea and cookies…"

"Uh… right" said Sokka, smiling uncomfortably.

He didn't even want to imagine what sort of favors Ozai thought he would ask of Azula… yet Sokka knew well enough that, even if she owed him anything, there was no chance she would pay him back physically in any way. He sure wouldn't ask for it either anyhow. It didn't matter how strongly he felt towards her… no, exactly because of how strongly he felt towards her, he refused to act on those feelings. He wasn't the sort of man she deserved, and no matter how much he longed for her, he knew she was far beyond his reach. A single grain of sand couldn't shoot out for the stars, regardless how badly it wanted to join them in the sky.

"Very well, then, get out" said Ozai, waving Sokka off and heading towards the backdoors "It has been more than enough of the Southern Water Tribe for the time being"

"Alright, then. Uh… thanks for complying" said Sokka, but Ozai didn't respond. Sokka sighed with relief as he walked towards the curtains, hoping Ozai would remain true to the favor he had just requested of him. So far Sokka had heard the White Lotus people still remained safe and alive in prison… so if the Fire Lord had kept his word in that regard, he ought to keep it in this one.

Azula was stunned to find Sokka had come out of his meeting without a scratch on him… at least, not a new one. He was still bruised and wounded from the event, and there were some scratches on his arm and hand because of his hawk, but he bore no injuries aside from those.

"Sokka…?" she muttered, and he showed her a reassuring smile, to her surprise.

"Told you I'd do it" he said, laughing at the look of utter disbelief on her face after hearing his words.

Several hours later, they both sat by the Palace gardens; Sokka's hawk was perched on his hand again while Azula taught him how to hold the bird properly. He had told the Princess about his conversation with the Fire Lord, and she was rather shocked to hear the matter had gone as successfully as it had, but naturally, she was relieved. Sokka had raised an eyebrow when she had declared she was only glad that she had somewhere to drop him at by the time she was through with him, but he knew her well enough by now to understand what those words truly meant. Azula was rather dishonest when it came down to her feelings… but it was the only matter in which Sokka could see right through her with ease.

It was already afternoon by the time the entire matter of the Water Tribe was said and done, hence they had decided not to use their spare time at training in swordsmanship. Instead, Sokka had asked Azula to help him figure out the matters he still didn't understand about handling messenger hawks. He had fetched Hawky and returned to the Palace, and now he was busy training with the bird in hopes to perfect his falconry skills.

"Is this really any better?" Sokka asked, holding the bird close to him "I kinda get the feeling he'll pick my eye out if I hold him like this"

"If you're that scared of him, I'm pretty sure he'll feel compelled to do so" said Azula, smirking "I didn't think you'd be so afraid of losing an eye…"

"Well, Princess, my eyes are my best feature" said Sokka, waving his free hand around himself before standing up and walking towards the garden.

"Your cockiness truly knows no boundaries, does it?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow and Sokka chuckled.

"Alright, Hawky" said Sokka, smiling "You're going to fly and then get back to me, okay? Let's practice your landings! Azula had to do that with Xin Long, so we've got to do it too"

"Ah… you'll call him if you name him" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest.

"Huh?" said Sokka, looking at Azula in confusion for a moment before a groan was heard from the skies.

The hawk in his hand flapped away when the dragon landed heavily in front of Sokka, making him squeal and jump back in surprise. Azula couldn't help but laugh at his reaction, and Xin Long did the same.

"You're trying to give me a heart attack here, Xin Long?! You crazy dragon!" Sokka squeaked, before looking around himself in despair "Hawky?! Hawky! Where did you go, buddy?!"

Xin Long seemed to wink at Azula, at which she could only beam. That devious dragon was just as mean as she was… every time he startled Sokka in one way or another she felt a surge of pride towards him.

"Hard to believe he can go from being such a serious man, making demands to the most powerful man in the world, to the clown he's currently behaving as"

Azula managed to keep from being startled by her father's voice, and she stood up as gracefully as she could, hoping Ozai wouldn't criticize her for sitting so leisurely by the garden. But given how he was focusing on watching Sokka asking his hawk to come down the tree he was perched at, it seemed he wasn't here to tell her off for some reason.

"He happens to go back and forth quite often. I'd say I'm already used to it" said Azula, turning towards her father "He told me what he asked of you…"

"And he happened to know about our meeting quite quickly… you two are closer than I expected" said Ozai, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"He was simply waiting for me today, for our daily training sessions" Azula lied quickly "When I didn't show up at his house, he decided to come here instead. He was waiting for me outside the Throne Room, and he overheard other generals speaking about the Water Tribe… so he asked me what the meeting was about"

"I see" said Ozai. It was a perfectly logical explanation after all… even when he didn't approve of her disclosing the information as she had. Yet he hardly blamed her, not when he had seen just what that slave was capable of… "He's quite something, your gladiator. Not at all what you would expect from a mere slave"

"He is rather unexpected in some ways, though predictable in others" said Azula.

"Definitely not predictable when it came to these favors, I will admit" said Ozai, looking at Sokka fixatedly. The gladiator had managed to convince his hawk to hop back on his hand, but the dragon nearby was expelling smoke through his nostrils, making both the bird and Sokka rather uneasy upon the dragon's menace of fire.

"He would have made you regret them one way or another" said Azula, sighing "I suppose now you wish you hadn't promised to fulfill any promises to him"

"Truly" said Ozai "I only expected him to make a predictable request from a regular slave… instead he has managed to wreck my plans on the long run to obliterate two of my worst enemies. Fortunately for you he didn't tell me to stand down on our war against the Northern Water Tribe… he would have died quite an unseemly death if he had made such a request"

"You would have…?" Azula asked, the idea of Sokka dying by her father's orders making her feel lightheaded.

"No, not me. Someone else could have killed him, there was no need to do it with my own hands" said Ozai, simply "But he had the good sense not to take this matter so far, hence he won't be slain"

"Indeed, he did" said Azula "I would have loathed having to find another gladiator after all the hard work I've put into this one"

"Understandable" said Ozai, smirking. It was good to know the only reason his daughter didn't want him to kill the fighter was because finding a replacement who could accomplish the same deeds as he had wasn't an appealing perspective for her.

"Can I ask, though…?" Azula started "What were you expecting when you offered those favors to him? What did you think he would request from you?"

"Oh, slaves given the opportunity to obtain anything they wish for can be rather gullible" said Ozai "After living a life of suffering, they jump at every chance to improve their lives and rid themselves of their strife permanently. Hence I thought your gladiator might ask me to revoke his status as a slave… and even request a title of nobility or two. Given how shameless he has always been, that wouldn't have surprised me in the slightest"

"And you would have accepted that?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Revoking his status, certainly" said Ozai "That wouldn't have been a bother. But a title of nobility…? That would have been a definite 'no'"

Azula smirked and nodded. Just as she had expected.

"Yet he had two favors, didn't he?" Azula asked "If this is what you expected him to cash out of the first one… how did you expect him to make use of the second one?"

Ozai smiled now, and he looked at his daughter fondly, to her surprise.

"By requesting that which other men who had earned my gratitude and good will had asked for in the past: your hand in marriage"

If Azula had been drinking a beverage of some sort, she surely would have spewed it all over her father upon that last sentence. She looked at him in utter disbelief, an eyebrow raised, her mouth agape while Ozai smiled at her reaction.

"Y-you honestly thought… you thought he would ask for that? Why?" Azula said, still in utter shock.

"Why, it would be rather foolish of him not to wish to marry you" said Ozai, turning towards Sokka again "The beautiful Princess of the Fire Nation? Any man would dream of it… unless said man was rather blind or incredibly stupid, as I said. Not only this, but life as an Honorary Citizen might have been quite hard, if he had asked to be revoked of his status as a slave. Finding something to make a living from would have been a difficult feat for someone who used to be a gladiator. Yet by marrying into the Royal Family he wouldn't have had to concern himself with such matters. He would have earned his way into quite an easy life…"

"Truly, but…" said Azula, shaking her head. This had to be a sick joke… her father was telling her he had expected Sokka to wish to marry her. Not even in her most ridiculous dreams could she had ever imagined to hear her father utter such words… especially when he wasn't aware of the way her heart was racing upon the mere thought of marrying Sokka. It was ridiculous to even consider it, and yet… "Would you have accepted that? I know he saved my life, but… would you have allowed him to make such a request, father?"

Ozai laughed again, and Azula only grew uneasy at the sound. Did he know what strange thoughts were passing her mind right now? Did he know she was currently imagining what her life might be like if her father had agreed to marry her to her gladiator?

"Of course not" was Ozai's curt response at her question "Marrying my daughter to a mere Water Tribe man? I hardly believe so"

And with that, the strange daze Azula had been in vanished instantly. Well, that had been surreal. She should have never been as gullible as to think her father would give his consent to allow her to marry Sokka, it was simply ridiculous… and it was also ridiculous that she would feel disappointed to hear her father dismiss the notion as he just had. There was no reason for her to feel this way… it wasn't as though she had ever believed there was a future for them. She knew there had never been one, and there never would be.

"I figured as much" Azula said, folding her arms over her chest.

"You need a husband, that much we already know" said Ozai "But after keeping your hand safe for so long, in hopes to find a man suitable for you, I definitely wouldn't have you marry… that"

Sokka was currently standing in front of Xin Long, glaring at him in quite a silly manner. Xin Long looked back at him, but his gaze kept flickering towards the hawk on Sokka's hand.

"Hawky, meet Xin Long" said Sokka "Xin Long… don't eat Hawky. He's my pet hawk, and he's a good friend. Am I clear?"

Apparently, he wasn't. Xin Long spat blazes aimed towards the bird, only missing his head for a few inches. Sokka squealed and jumped back, and naturally, Hawky flew out of his hand and away from Xin Long.

"Xin Long, you evil dragon! And what do you think you're doing now?!" Sokka squealed, as the dragon jumped into the air to chase down the dragon "Xin Long, STOP! COME BACK HERE, BOTH OF YOU!"

"Clearly…" Ozai continued, as Sokka ran after the dragon, still shouting at him "I would not stand for having such a buffoon as my son-in-law"

Azula watched the chase with amusement, despite herself. Ozai sighed and rolled his eyes, turning to leave.

"Nevertheless, you will have to marry someone. And the sooner, the better. I would much rather know our lineage has been secured as soon as possible… and through you rather than your brother"

"Of course" said Azula, though for once she actually wished her father wouldn't choose her over Zuko. Why couldn't he be the one pressured to procreate while she became her father's official heir in the eyes of the entire Fire Nation?

"I'll see to finding proper prospects for you soon. I'll notify you if I find anyone suitable for you" said Ozai, before starting down the hallway. Azula had no answers for his last statements.

It was one thing thinking about marrying the buffoon… for at least she knew she wouldn't be bored for an instant if she were to share her life with him. They had been together as gladiator and sponsor for over half a year now, and despite the countless arguments and dreadful fights they'd had, Azula saw him as an integral part of her life. She enjoyed her time with him, even when he was her exact opposite on almost any regard.

Yet thinking about marrying a nobleman of any kind… the idea made her nauseous. She wanted no husband, for she knew what sort of life would await her if she were to take one. As she was, she had proved to the Fire Nation just how capable a Princess and leader she was… but if she were to marry someone, her claims and rights to succeed her father would vanish.

For it didn't matter if she was the one who actually carried royal blood in her veins… if she were married, her husband would become Fire Lord. And she would simply become the means to perpetuate their dynasty, no more than that. The title of Fire Lady had always seemed as an empty carcass to her.

But so long as she had a say upon the matter, she would rid herself of every potential suitor her father found for her, no matter if that displeased him. And just as Sokka had helped her with Chan, she was sure he would be able to help her take down any other man who dared try to take her as his wife without her consent. So long as they continued to work together, she doubted she had anything to fear.

For Sokka hadn't asked for her hand in marriage, either knowing he wouldn't be granted such wish or because he understood how little she wished to become anyone's wife. And yet he was the only man she had ever felt comfortable around… the only man who had been capable of turning her entire world upside down and gotten away with it all while bearing that proud smile on his face. The only man who had ever stirred those feelings that currently burned within her chest as she watched him, chasing after the two flying creatures… though now it seemed it was the bird and dragon who chased him.

Azula raised an eyebrow as she saw him stumble and trip with his own feet as he fled from Xin Long, and right behind the dragon flew the hawk. Sokka landed face-first on the ground, and Xin Long claimed his triumph by settling atop him, trapping Sokka underneath him. Hawky perched on one of Xin Long's horns… and neither bird nor dragon seemed bothered by each other anymore. It seemed as though they had decided it was more fun to gang on Sokka instead.

"Oh, joy" said Sokka, his face covered in dirt as he lifted his head to glare daggers at the dragon.

And Azula could do nothing but laugh at him, as Sokka shouted he wasn't the dragon's mattress. His foolishness knew no ends, did it? Yet she couldn't stop smiling while watching him. Yes… so long as she kept him by her side, so long as they fought their battles together, there would be nothing for either of them to fear.


	62. Chapter 62

"How many times have I already told you to stop doing that, Azula?!" Ursa yelled, grabbing the young girl by the arm as she tried to get out of her mother's grip.

"Stop it! You're hurting me!" cried out Azula.

"Oh, so now I'm the one who's hurting you" said Ursa, letting go of her hand, almost reluctantly "You don't like the pain, but you hurt others all the time! You were practicing your firebending on a turtle duck just now! Do you think he doesn't feel pain?"

"Father said I had to practice more of my bending to make my fire hotter" said Azula, lowering her gaze "And he doesn't care if I attack those stupid animals…"

"Azula! How can you say such things?!" yelled Ursa "They're living creatures! You can't treat them like this!"

"Father doesn't mind that I do!" yelled Azula again, avoiding looking at her mother.

"Well, clearly your father doesn't care to see his daughter is becoming a monster!" said Ursa harshly, her eyes blazing as she spoke viciously to the five year-old in front of her.

Azula looked up at her mother now, eyes overflowing with tears. It was only then that Ursa realized what she had just said, and the harsh cruelty Azula had witnessed in her turned into remorse immediately.

"A… Azula…" she said, as the young girl gritted her teeth. Azula shut her eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling from her eyes, yet she failed to do so "Azula, I'm so…"

She refused to hear those words. She didn't want to hear them, she knew they were a lie. Finally her mother had admitted it… this was what she truly thought of her. Ursa had always thought her daughter was a monster, and last she had found the guts to say so. But it was still too much to take for the little girl.

Azula turned around and sprung down the hallway as fast as her short legs could carry her. The tears rolled down her cheeks, despite how hard she willed them not to. And her mother reached a hand out towards her, hoping to catch the girl before she could run away.

"Azula!" called out Ursa, trying to chase after her, but her large robes got in the way when she attempted to run after her daughter "AZULA! Come back!"

The Fire Lord's granddaughter ignored her mother's pleas and continued running through shortcuts and passageways of the Palace, passageways that Ursa wasn't aware even existed. Eventually, Azula jumped out into the garden again, yet she had headed towards the area that was in the complete opposite direction from where those damned turtle ducks lived. Upon her arrival, Azula ducked before a statue of a very imposing dragon, one that had been raised by Azulon's command, for it represented a dragon he had slain himself. The statue's horns were the dragons actual horns. It wasn't a place many people frequented, and Azula knew so because she used to hide here to get away from her mother. So far, Ursa had never found her here. She crawled right underneath the statue, between the dragon's talons, hoping that nobody else would intrude upon her until she was finally willing to come out of her hiding spot.

She hugged her knees and dropped head fall atop them, tears streaming freely down her face now. She had always known her mother didn't care much for her, that she preferred Zuko; that she didn't care if Azula was more talented in studies or in bending than her brother was, she simply liked him better. Yet now she knew why that was: her mother believed Azula was a monster.

What was so wrong about what she had done in the pond, really? She couldn't make any sense out of it, not when her father encouraged her to train this way only for her mother to tell her otherwise later. It was confusing, extremely confusing for her young mind. She had always been quick-witted and smart, but this was simply beyond her comprehension at the moment.

She tried to stop the tears from leaving her eyes, knowing her father would disapprove of her if he knew she had been crying, since he considered emotions were a sign of weakness, but she couldn't help it, despite herself. She hated crying, Zuko did it all the time just to get Ursa's attention and it irritated her to see how he succeeded to earn their mother's love through faked weakness… well, nowadays she wasn't so sure if he was faking it. It seemed to Azula he was truly just as weak as he acted.

Thinking about how he wasn't stronger or better than her in any regards only deepened her bitterness and sadness. What did Ursa see in that weepy boy? Was it the same she could see in those pathetic creatures that roamed the garden's pond? What was that ridiculous notion of having to protect those who were incapable of taking care of themselves? Nobody had to take care of her in most circumstances, and that had made her strong. She stood up for herself, without needing anyone to show her the way. Her father would teach her what she needed to know, but he wouldn't always stay nearby to see if she was faring well whenever she tried to put his teachings to good use. He trusted she would be able to watch out for herself. On the other hand, her mother was always taking care of Zuko and sorting out all his problems when he came weeping to her, so Azula had grown to think that she could prove to be a better child than he was if she showed she didn't need anyone's help. It seemed that Ursa thought differently, though. She thought she was a monster...

"Well, well... what do we have here?" asked a familiar male voice, startling her.

Azula looked up quickly, wiping off the tears on her eyes with the back of her hand. Her cousin's bright smile almost blinded her when she looked at him. Normally she liked his kind grins... today she wanted nothing to do with them.

"Why, it's the pretty dragon lady" he said, chuckling "Why is the dragon lady hiding down here, I wonder?"

"It's none of your business, Lu Ten" Azula growled, looking at the ground pointedly "Go away"

"What's the matter, Azula?" Lu Ten asked, putting aside his playful demeanor and sitting at the foot of the statue, looking worriedly at his youngest cousin.

"I said it's none of your business! Leave me alone or I'll burn you!" Azula shouted, glaring at Lu Ten. Both of them knew her threat was completely hollow: not only would she be unwilling to hurt him, but even if she tried she wasn't bound to succeed. Lu Ten was far stronger a bender than she was at her five years of age, and stopping her fire wouldn't prove too difficult to him.

"Hey, no need to be so stingy" said Lu Ten, grimacing "I'm trying to be nice and help you out with what bothers you! Bottling feelings up isn't good for anyone, especially for firebenders. If you're not calm and at peace, your fire might get out of control! And if you try to bend lightning while you're distressed you might find yourself in a nasty pickle..."

"I can't bend lightning" Azula growled, pouting.

"Not yet" said Lu Ten, smiling "But I'm sure you'll do it one day. You can become the strongest firebender this nation has ever seen!"

Azula's eyes lit up as she watched Lu Ten flipping his arms around to give his speech more impact.

"B-but Father is much stronger than me..." she muttered.

"Well, my dad is also stronger than me" said Lu Ten, chuckling "But that's okay. He's so strong it would be crazy for a guy like me to even think about beating him. But you... you're Azula! You're only five-years-old and you've already mastered six firebending forms! I tell you, at that age I was still picking my nose..."

"Kind of like Zuko" said Azula, laughing a little.

"Yeah, just like him" Lu Ten agreed, smiling. He didn't think so lowly of his cousin, but apparently making fun of Zuko was the easiest way to cheer Azula up.

Azula smiled, still hugging her knees, but she was no longer crying. Lu Ten beamed at her and placed his arms around her, lifting her with ease and placing her on his lap.

"So... care to tell your humble servant what was displeasing you earlier, dragon lady?"

"Humble? You're going to be Fire Lord, cousin Lu Ten. There's nothing humble about you" said Azula pointedly, making him laugh.

"In that case, young Princess Azula, the Strongest Dragon ever seen, ruler of the Western Earth Kingdom Provinces... Your Fire Lord commands you to tell him what is this foul evil that clouds your mind"

Azula giggled and smiled as she heard all the makeshift titles her cousin had granted her. They had always gotten along quite well. He had no qualms about playing with her even when she was a girl and he was boy, all the opposite to Zuko. He never showed any favoritism towards Zuko either, unlike Azula's mother and uncle. But all the same, he showed no favoritism towards Azula, unlike Azula's father. And even so, or perhaps because of that, Azula enjoyed his company the most. He was everything she wanted to be one day. Some people believed he had only attained his position as Captain in the army because he was the Fire Lord's grandson, but Azula knew much better than that. Lu Ten was strong, smart and skilled. He deserved his every title.

"Well... the thing is..." started Azula, her grin fading away from her face as she spoke "I was practicing my firebending and my mom told me off for it"

"What, for practicing your forms? How come?" said Lu Ten, surprised.

"Weeeeell... it wasn't because of my forms" muttered the girl, biting her lower lip "It was because of my targets..."

"Oh, no... did you set a servant's robes on fire again?" asked Lu Ten.

"No, I... I wanted to try and evaporate the water in the turtle duck's pond" Azula admitted "It would have gotten refilled with the fountain's water anyway, so it wasn't that big a deal!"

"But still..." muttered Lu Ten, grimacing. Now he understood why his aunt had told his cousin off.

"I was trying to see how hot my flames are now!" Azula insisted "I'd be able to tell depending on how quick I can evaporate water, it's why I was doing it!"

"That actually makes some sense..." muttered Lu Ten, thoughtful. This girl was smarter than he had ever imagined, coming to that conclusion at such early age…

"But she caught me when I was starting out, and one of those stupid turtle ducks got his tail scorched by my fire blast because I lost focus" Azula said, rolling her eyes "She told me off and said I shouldn't attack living things... And then... and then she..."

"She what? What did she do?" asked Lu Ten, worried.

Azula took a deep breath before muttering the last part of her tale, her eyes filling with tears as she remembered the fierce glare her mother had given her while saying what she thought of her...

"S-she said I was a monster" she managed to say, before sobs and tears took over her body. She began weeping uncontrollably, even when she didn't want to shed one more tear over this matter...

"She said what?!" said Lu Ten, aghast. The relationship between Azula and Ursa had never been smooth, but for Prince Ozai's wife to call her daughter a monster seemed beyond reason to Lu Ten. Perhaps Azula was far more ruthless than most kids her age, but deeming her a monster was heartless. The girl was just a child. She simply needed to understand the error of her ways, and Ursa should resort to explaining it to her instead of insulting her and bringing her daughter to tears as she had "Oh, Azula... It's okay, it's going to be alright. I'm sure your mother didn't mean to say something like that..."

"B-but she did!" squealed Azula "She said I was a monster! She just wants me to be like Zuko, but I don't want to be like him! I'm smart and strong and Lo and Li said I was really talented... s-so why does she hate me? I-it's not fair..."

"Your mother... your mother doesn't hate you, Azula" whispered Lu Ten, hugging Azula tightly "Why would a mother hate her child? It... it makes no sense"

"But she does... she does, cousin Lu Ten" Azula muttered between sobs.

"Your mother just said something really stupid, that's what happened" Lu Ten said "You're not a monster, Azula"

"Y-you think so...?" the young Princess asked "B-but then why does she think I am one?"

"Maybe an evil spirit came by and tweaked her better judgment" said Lu Ten, smiling a little.

"That's stupid" Azula retorted.

"Okay, okay, it is..." Lu Ten admitted, between chuckles "I'll tell you what: I'll have a really good talk with your mother and I'll make sure she realizes you're not a monster, that you're the most wonderful girl in the world!"

"I am?" Azula asked, looking up at her cousin in amazement.

"Sure you are" said Lu Ten, beaming "Your mother is just crabby because she didn't have an apple on her breakfast today"

"That makes no sense" said Azula, confused.

Lu Ten laughed again and shrugged.

"Maybe not, but it doesn't mean it's not true!" It made more sense for Ursa to be upset over an apple than for her to call her daughter a monster, from Lu Ten's point of view. No mother should ever say such a thing about her children. But she must have said so, or else Azula wouldn't have been genuinely upset...

"Then... you'll talk to her? When?" asked Azula, looking up at the Prince.

"As soon as I see her again" said Lu Ten "I'll make her see you're not a monster, Azula. I promise"

Azula's eyes lit up as she stared at her cousin with hope. This little girl in his arms was anything but a monster, Lu Ten thought, as he smiled at her reassuringly...

"Ah, there you are!" a familiar voice called out, startling the cousins "Lu Ten, I've been looking all over for you!"

"Dad..." said Lu Ten, smiling as he turned his head around and regarded his father "What's the matter?"

"Your grandfather just told me we must take off right away" said Iroh, walking towards them "A storm approaches the shores of the Fire Nation, and we ought to take our leave right now if we want to outrun it"

"W-what? You're leaving to Ba Sing Se today?!" Azula gasped, looking at Lu Ten, horrified.

"Yeah, I thought you knew... We were planning on leaving tonight, but..." muttered Lu Ten, downcast.

"B-but..." Azula mumbled, looking aghast "What about...?"

Lu Ten smiled reassuringly towards Azula once again and patted her head.

"No need to worry. As soon as I get back, I'll talk to your mother" he said, grinning.

"But… you're going to fight in the biggest city of the Earth Kingdom" Azula muttered "Won't the battle take too long?"

"It might" said Lu Ten, grimacing "But I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise that too"

"Well... okay" said Azula, slightly disappointed regardless

"Try not to burn any turtle ducks while I'm gone" said Lu Ten, playfully "And take good care of yourself, Azula"

"You too" said Azula, looking at him worriedly "I'm going to miss you"

"I'll miss you too, my wonderful dragon lady"

Lu Ten embraced her tightly, and Azula gripped his clothes as he did. Not often was she hugged by anyone… she was almost a complete stranger to any displays of affection. But her helplessness upon being hugged like this didn't matter to her cousin. He was the kindest person she knew.

Lu Ten pulled away and gave Azula one last smile before turning towards his father. Azula glared at Iroh begrudgingly, blaming him, on some level, for Lu Ten's departure. She knew it wasn't Iroh's fault directly, for it was her grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon, who had decided to send both Iroh and his son to wage the war in Ba Sing Se. Yet Iroh should have waited for her conversation with Lu Ten to end… he should have waited until his son had fulfilled the promise he had made to her. Because Azula didn't know how long Lu Ten would be gone… weeks, probably months, and until he came back, her mother would continue to think she was a monster. But of course that wouldn't matter to Iroh, would it? All he ever wanted was to drink tea and laugh at his lame jokes… he probably thought she was a monster too.

Azula walked back into the Palace, her head low. She didn't know where she was going now… maybe she ought to find Lo and Li and have them supervise her as she practiced her forms, but the thought wasn't too appealing. All she really wanted was to stay as far from her mother as she could be…

"Azula… oh, I've been looking for you all over the Palace"

Oh, such was her luck.

Azula cringed upon the sound of her mother's voice, and she didn't turn around to look at her. She felt compelled to racing away from her again, but for some reason she stopped on her tracks. Surely her mother was planning on apologizing, on claiming she hadn't meant what she said… and it would all be a lie, of course. Azula knew otherwise.

"You shouldn't have run that way, Azula…" said Ursa, approaching with caution at the little girl. Azula looked at her over her shoulder, just as warily as her mother "Please, Azula, I…"

"Mom! Mom, Lu Ten is leaving!" shouted a boy, Azula's older brother, Zuko.

All of what Ursa was going to say to her daughter was forgotten when she heard her son's voice. Zuko came running towards his mother, passing by Azula quickly.

"A guard just told me that Uncle Iroh and Lu Ten are about to leave to Ba Sing Se, mom!" said Zuko.

"Oh, my, so soon?" Ursa said, a hand going to her mouth as she thought about what her son had just told her "Well, then, we must go with them to say farewell and wish them luck on the battlefield"

"Yeah, that's what I thought!" said Zuko, smiling and taking Ursa's hand in his "Let's go, mom!"

Ursa beamed back at her son before turning towards Azula… to find she wasn't there anymore. Her eyes widened as she looked at the empty hallway, shocked. Where had she gone?

"Azula? Azula! Come back, you must say your farewells to your cousin and uncle!" Ursa exclaimed, but there was no answer.

"Maybe she went on ahead" said Zuko, shrugging.

Ursa sighed and clasped Zuko's hand tightly, leading him towards the Palace gates while hoping her son would be correct in assuming Azula had already gone to say goodbye. She didn't know, of course, that Azula had said goodbye to her cousin already. And the young girl was determined not to spend more time near her mother than the absolute necessary.

She had run off, again into one of the passageways, but this time she had gone deeper inside the Palace, headed for its lower chambers. She didn't want to be around anyone right now… not her mother, not her father, her brother or her cousin. She just needed to be alone. She was good at that.

She found her way into the Agni Kai chamber, and she stood on the center of the platform, performing her bending forms and yet also releasing fire thoughtlessly, carelessly. She just needed to pour out all her disappointment, all her sadness… and the only way to do that was by turning those feelings into anger, so that she could channel them through her bending.

And so she kicked and punched the air around her, fire bursting from her extremities at will as she put her mind to the task of becoming stronger, of becoming better, of proving she didn't care if her mother thought her to be a monster…

Azula woke with a start, her chest heaving as she pulled away from the dream she had just had. Yet as the sweat coursed down her brow she realized it had been no dream… it had been a memory. Why had she relived that very moment now, all of sudden?

She sat up on the bed, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand and frowning. Thinking about her mother was definitely the worst way to start off a day. And it just happened to be that very memory…

"Princess?" someone knocked on the door repeatedly, and Azula only realized then that it was already time to get up. She had to eat breakfast, to get ready for the day, to forget her mother…

"Come in" she said, pushing the covers aside and climbing out of bed as a group of servants entered the room, some carrying silverware and food for the Princess while others hurried to prepare a bath and clothes for her.

Yet one of them only approached her as Azula was about to head towards her dining room, and the Princess eyed him with a frown. Shouldn't he be busying himself with something?

"What is it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively as she guessed he might be a messenger.

"Princess, I was told to inform you…" said the man, nervous upon speaking to the Princess "It has been finished. The dragon's refuge… it's finally finished"

Azula looked at the servant in surprise once she heard the news. She had been certain it would take several more weeks until the structure was complete. Well, these tidings ought to help her forget her mother...

As soon as she had eaten her breakfast, taken her bath and donned her armor and her usual hairdo, Azula sought out Xin Long and, together, they headed towards the South Wing of the Palace. She had seen the foundations for the building several times already, but she hadn't known the refuge had been so close to completion.

The building was a tall, dark cylinder, with several panels placed in strategic positions that opened for the dragon's easy exit or entrance to the refuge. There were also gates through which people could enter the building on foot… namely, Azula. There weren't many people who would approach the dragon, for nearly any humans who came up to him, even if it was solely to admire him, would often run away seconds after the dragon threatened them, either with smoke or actual fire, to burn their clothes off.

"It's quite large… and impressive" Azula noted, once they were inside the building "You should be comfortable here. It's far more spacious than the cave you used to live in, I believe "

Xin Long agreed and nodded as he gazed about the refuge. The building was almost completely empty within, save for a central pole that reached all the way to the ceiling where he could perch himself on with ease if he felt like doing so.

The builders explained to Azula how the building worked, namely focusing on how the panels could be opened and closed by the dragon himself if he pulled down the levers right beside them. The compound could be closed completely, to protect the dragon from the rain or in case the blowing wind might bother the dragon while he slept, yet it was easily opened as well. And as Azula heard the explanation, she sent her thoughts towards Xin Long so that he'd know what to do whenever he wanted to leave the refuge. Naturally, upon understanding the nature of the panel system, the creature jumped towards the first panel he saw and struck the lever beside it with his paw to make sure it truly worked… and after checking it did, he decided pushing the lever up and down repeatedly was rather fun, hence he proceeded to do that while Azula smirked, amused by his childishness.

The material with which the refuge had been built was virtually flame-proof, yet the builder recommended Azula to tell the dragon to keep from trying to set the walls on fire, for dragons' fire had special qualities to it. Azula merely smirked at that and told the builders to leave them, since they had finished explaining everything already. They did so with a bow, while Azula continued gazing about herself. Once they were alone, Xin Long hopped down to the ground beside her with a happy groan.

"You look pleased" said Azula "You should be. It took them quite some time to get this finished… though I will say it's rather plain considering how long it actually took"

Xin Long groaned and moved around his rider, and Azula merely smiled.

"Yes, I know, you're too happy to care. You have a cave from where you can shoot out into the sky at ease. It's perfect for you"

Xin Long closed his eyes and seemed to giggle, though that was just another groan from the creature. Azula smiled and caressed his hair, her fingers sliding through the tangles of Xin Long's blue locks.

"The builders claim the building is fire-proof…" said Azula, and Xin Long snickered "No, that isn't a challenge. They're not trying to put your fire to the test… so please don't try to prove them wrong, will you? If you do they'll take ages again to repair the refuge, and you don't want that, do you?"

Xin Long nudged at her shoulder with his nose and Azula just rolled her eyes, smirking at him.

"I've truly been the most terrible influence upon you" she said, her hand sliding over the scales of his neck now "Who knew a dragon could be as competitive as you are?"

Xin Long seemed to take that as a compliment, and Azula didn't contradict him. It was no insult to compare him to her… though maybe it was.

She froze in place for an instant, as her dream and all implications of her being a monster returned to her mind suddenly. Xin Long noticed the change in her demeanor and frowned, turning towards her with concern. Azula returned to reality upon Xin Long's reaction, and she smiled at him, patting his back.

"Now, then… you have a home, and a good one" she muttered, changing the subject quickly before the dragon could ask any questions "And there is a place for us to set down your saddle right over there, isn't there? It's quite a heavy thing to bear on your back at all times, so…"

Xin Long seemed startled when Azula began unbuckling his saddle. He had been wearing it non-stop for quite a long time, and thus he would appreciate getting out of it… but he was still concerned regarding whatever had bothered the Princess earlier. Azula paid no heed to him, though, busying herself with this activity mostly to keep from thinking about her mother. She finished undoing every binding that kept the saddle in place before lifting it with some difficulty…

… Well, in all honesty, with too much difficulty. She was no weakling, but the saddle was far heavier than she had taken it for. She gritted her teeth as she pulled it off Xin Long, and she struggled to keep her balance while holding the saddle over her head, fearing she might trip and fall on her butt, saddle included…

And that was when another pair of hands came out of nowhere, it seemed, and reached out for the saddle before Azula could fall over because of it. The Princess was astonished, but even more so when she felt herself crash against the chest of her helper…

"And what exactly are you up to now, Princess?"

Who was none other than Sokka, of course. She would have recognized his gloved hands anywhere. Yet she hadn't expected to end up with his body pressed against her back like this… all thoughts of the saddle faded from her mind as she processed just how close they were right now.

"Could you…?" Azula muttered, as Sokka stepped away from her, taking the saddle with him.

"Right" he said, grimacing as he struggled to hold the saddle by himself. It was good that he was as muscular as he currently was, else he wouldn't have managed to lift it "Where do you… where do you want this thing?"

"Anywhere, just… drop it anywhere" said Azula, blinking a few times as she looked at Sokka's expressions while he tried his hardest to lift the saddle.

He stepped towards the nearest wall and placed the saddle beside it as carefully as he could, and he massaged his fingers after completing his task.

"Woah, that thing is way heavier than it looks..." he said, grimacing.

"It's mostly made of metals and leathers, so naturally, it would be" said Azula, shrugging as she smiled a little.

Xin Long looked at his rider, and he actually lifted his eyebrows as he did. A moment ago she was upset over something, he had sensed it but she had barred the matter from her mind too quickly for him to recognize what it was. Yet now, when Sokka showed up, she was as lively as ever…

"I guess so" said Sokka, still rubbing his fingers before turning towards Azula, with a smile of his own "So this is your dear friend's lair? Pretty big, isn't it?"

"Big enough" replied Azula "I wouldn't have had it any smaller, and neither would have Xin Long. This way it won't remind him much of the cave he was stuck in before we found him"

"Does he think about it a lot?" Sokka asked, curious "You see his memories and whatnot… do you think the darkness still bugs him?"

"It… it does, at times. But less so nowadays" said Azula, albeit her conscience betrayed her upon Sokka's question. He was asking about Xin Long's memories, not hers…

"Well, soon enough he'll forget all about it, I hope" said Sokka, smiling "Once he has seen enough things in the world to forget completely about that cave"

"We can only hope indeed" said Azula "In any case, he'll never go back there. He'll be fine in his new refuge"

"Truly" Sokka agreed, smiling "So… what will we be up to today? Training? Eating? Keeping our pets far apart so that they won't keep conspiring against us?"

Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head at his suggestions, yet she was amused by them nonetheless.

"None of them" she declared "And may I remind you, first of all, that Xin Long, as I have told you countless times, is not a pet. And secondly, he doesn't conspire against me along with your hawk. You're the only one who elicits that sort of behavior out of them"

"What?! You're not possibly suggesting I've asked for it…" said Sokka, sarcastically, and Azula chuckled.

"As if you really needed for me to suggest it to know it's the truth" said Azula, shaking her head again "Anyways, we're not going to train today… at least, not yet. I was planning on having a look at our place in the ranking, and we ought to accept a challenge or two… perhaps send some of our own, if needed. We've lagged behind the Bandit despite how we fared in the event, so we'd better do something to remedy that"

"Not a second to waste, is there?" said Sokka, smiling "Well, then, let's go! Those four hundred points should have sent us quite high anyways…"

Azula turned towards Xin Long, who was swinging his tail back and forth as he watched the exchange eagerly. Azula glared at him and placed her hands on her hips.

"Enjoying the show, are you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows, and Xin Long laughed "Why, I'm glad I amuse you, though I fail to see what's so interesting. Entertainment is exactly what any rider would like to provide to his dragon, of course..."

Xin Long seemed pleased by her ironic tone, and Azula smiled at him despite herself.

"Anyways…" she continued "I guess I won't impose on you today. Play around in your refuge as much as you want, just try not to break the levers by pushing them too much, will you?"

Xin Long groaned before hopping around Azula and proceeding to shoot up towards the ceiling. Azula smirked at the sight of him and turned towards Sokka again, gesturing at him to leave the refuge with a jerk of her head.

"He sure seems happy" said Sokka, smiling "So I take it you're happy too, then"

"And thus you're in a good mood as well… for you think that means you won't have to face my wrath today, is it?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, do you have any reason to feel any wrath today?" Sokka asked, looking at her inquisitively.

"You never know" Azula replied, enigmatically, at which Sokka just rolled his eyes and smiled.

"You're one of a kind, truly" he said, at which Azula blushed ever so slightly. Whatever his intent had been by directing that very phrase towards her, it was hard to conceal just how much it meant for her to hear him say that.

"Oh, really? Do you say so because I can terrify you without even trying?" she asked, hoping to change the subject. She really wasn't up for sensitive matters today, of all days.

"Come on…" said Sokka, smiling as they walked towards the Palace gates "Azula, there simply is no one like you and you know it. And it has nothing to do with you being capable of scaring the hell out of me…"

Sokka didn't bother noting when she had scared him most, though. Much as she hadn't wanted to approach any subject that might bring out her feelings, neither did he. Yet recalling that night, when he had held her in his arms as he ran through the Palace hallways, worrying over whether she'd ever wake up again, filled him with a terrible sense of dread. He never wanted to fear for her life as badly as he had during that night.

"It speaks well of your mental faculties that you're able to notice that, I'll say" Azula stated, proudly "Because if you actually believed there are other people like me out there…"

"Wow" said Sokka, chuckling now "Just imagine what that would be like, more than one Azula. You'd team up with your other selves and you'd conquer the world in ten minutes, at most"

"Sounds like fun to me" said Azula, smirking.

"Uh… Azula?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows as they passed through the gates and headed outside on foot "Won't you be taking your palanquin or something, given that we won't ride Xin Long?"

"Bothered by a little walk, are you?" said Azula, lifting her eyebrows "It'll take ages for them to set up the palanquin, so we're going like this. Or would you rather I get it so you're reminded of your rightful place in the world, slave?"

She said the words teasingly, but Sokka furrowed his brow regardless, shaking his head while they entered the city.

"Yeah, I'd much rather not" he said "Though I'll say… It may be true that I don't belong in your beautiful and imposing palanquin, but I seem to recall somebody pulled me aboard it once…"

"Oh, my, who might it have been? I shall take his head for such slight" said Azula, sarcastic and proud. Sokka couldn't help but laugh.

"Come on, you're really not going to pretend you forgot about that, are you?" he asked "The first time I fought the Bandit you pulled me into it, I'm sure of that"

"How would you remember, if you were nigh unconscious after the combat?" Azula asked, folding her arms over her chest as she looked at Sokka with a raised eyebrow.

"I was conscious all the way until you placed me in your palanquin and… and said some stuff I can't remember" said Sokka, grimacing "It was just a little hard to think properly after getting pummeled like that. But I know it was your palanquin!"

"You got pummeled so hard your memory is faulty, it seems to me" said Azula, proudly.

"Why, yes, my memory ought to be faulty after getting smashed like that " said Sokka "But you, on the other hand, should recall that moment perfectly! Or is it you have selective memory all of sudden, Princess?"

Azula frowned upon Sokka's question, something he took as a bad omen. The talk of memories brought back the dream… and the teasing and playfulness between them had faded from Azula's mind upon recalling her mother's words again. A monster…

"Azula?" Sokka asked, worriedly "Did I say something…?"

"You… you didn't do anything" she said, shaking her head "I'm fine"

"You don't look fine, though…" said Sokka, but Azula ignored him.

Well, that was typical. Just when he thought they were good, it turned out they weren't. What had he done? Did it bother her to talk about her palanquin? That didn't seem right, though… whatever it was, though, she could share with him… couldn't she?

At that thought, he realized that he was getting ahead of himself, as ever. Their relationship was in a better place than it had ever been, Sokka believed… but that didn't mean she trusted him to the point of disclosing her innermost thoughts to him. To this day, Azula remained a mystery to him in most regards… a mystery he wished he could unravel, but he feared he never would. For she was right beside him, yet she would always remain far from his reach. A Princess should never entrust her secrets to a simple slave.

They were both unusually silent on the rest of the walk towards the Arena, both lost in their own thoughts. Sokka could only worry about her, yet Azula was too busy trying to quiet her mind to take notice of his concern. The more she tried to fight the memories, the more they sought to return to her mind at full force. She sighed and pushed the Arena's doors open by herself upon reaching them, at which Sokka, and the gatekeepers, were startled.

Yet Azula froze upon stepping into the vestibule, and not because of the people who turned to look at her and Sokka in awe. Her eyes went straight towards Shoji's counter, and the motive behind her grimace was to find two other people had beaten them to the boy's counter… two other people they knew all too well.

"Eh, look at that, it's Haru!" said Sokka, beaming and eating himself a glare from his sponsor "Hey, Ha—AAAAH!"

Sokka jumped in one foot, rubbing the other one with his hand after Azula had stomped on him powerfully enough to keep him from finishing his sentence. The gladiator hopped in one leg, glaring with indignation at his sponsor.

"What the hell was that for?!" he asked, looking at her in disbelief.

"Don't approach them just yet" said Azula, sighing "We have… a bit of an issue regarding Ty Lee"

"Well, if it's just Ty Lee then Haru is fine, right?" said Sokka, still rubbing his aching foot.

"You'll be sure to get her attention as well if you scream like that, moron" said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"What's your problem with her, though? Did you two have a fight or something?" Sokka asked, confused.

"Not quite… that's not really it" said Azula, frowning "The issue is that… she saw us"

Sokka raised an inquisitive eyebrow, confused by Azula's statement. The Princess frowned, slightly bothered by his inability to understand what she was referring to.

"She saw us, in her house. Remember the last time we were there, Sokka?" she asked, trying to hold back the blush that threatened to spread over her cheeks.

At last, Sokka seemed to connect the dots. He grimaced, and unlike the Princess, he couldn't keep from flushing when he recalled he had kissed her… they had left that matter behind with such unusual ease that he had almost forgotten it completely. But now the recollection of how it had felt to hold her in his arms as their lips moved together had returned to him…

"S-she saw… oh, damn" said Sokka, grimacing and gulping "Did she tell you anything about it?"

"She pestered me enough about it, in fact" said Azula, sighing "I lied to her, of course, and claimed she was simply delirious, that nothing had happened. So you'll do the same, if she asks you anything about it. Am I clear?"

"Ah… pretend she was delirious?" Sokka repeated, shocked "And how exactly are we supposed to convince someone that she didn't see something that she really saw?"

"By being convincing, obviously" Azula stated, raising her eyebrows before walking towards the sponsor's counter.

Sokka wasn't sure if he could accomplish the deed as easily as Azula could. He had never been that great at lying, people could see through him with ease… would Ty Lee sense it if he dared lie about what had happened between him and Azula? But he couldn't tell the truth, that much was obvious… else Azula would set him on fire, something Sokka knew firsthand just how adept she was to doing.

Sokka followed the Princess, telling himself to put up a proper front while dealing with Ty Lee. If he was lucky, she wouldn't even ask him anything… and he could simply busy himself with talking to Haru, couldn't he? That way Ty Lee would leave him alone…

"Then we're up against the Last Dragon in a week" Ty Lee exclaimed happily, as Haru smiled at her "Are you ready for it, Haru?"

"I… uh, I hope so" said the earthbender, slightly uncomfortable.

"Don't be so coy, you'll do just…" said Ty Lee, turning to look at Haru and catching sight of someone familiar approaching the counter "Oh, Azula!"

"Ty Lee" Azula muttered, with hardly any enthusiasm "What a coincidence"

"Oh, hello, Princess!" said Shoji from his counter, happily.

"It really is one!" said Ty Lee, beaming at first before her eyes were clouded by irritation, and she suddenly glared at Azula, taking everyone by surprise "Though I'm sure you're not all that happy to run into me, are you?"

"My, my, is something bothering you, Ty Lee?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Of course!" Ty Lee squeaked, her brow furrowed "You owe me TWO apologies! Two of them, you heard me?!"

"Two?" Azula said, confused "To my knowledge I didn't even owe you one. What do you expect me to apologize for?"

"First, for keeping me from cashing my bet!" Ty Lee squealed "Mai keeps saying I'm crazy and you went and lied and now she thinks I really am crazy and she refuses to pay up! But we both know the truth, Azula! And not just us, he knows it too!"

And with that, she pointed at Sokka, who stared at her stretched finger as though it were compromising his very existence.

"Of course" said Azula, rolling her eyes "And pray tell, what exactly is the other thing I should be apologizing for?"

Now Ty Lee's anger turned to sadness, it seemed, and Azula could only stare at her in utter shock. What on earth was the matter with this girl?

"Y-you… you went off to Fire Fountain City all by yourself and you didn't invite me!" she screamed, indignant again now "Why didn't you tell me?! It would have been so much fun for us to go on a trip together! When was the last time we did that, huh?!"

Azula's face was a blank mask now that Ty Lee had revealed the reasoning behind her requests for apologies. Well, at least it wasn't anything serious… not as though she had expected it to be anything serious in the first place anyways. Yet she wasn't planning on apologizing for either thing, not now, not ever.

"I can scarcely remember, Ty Lee, but I'm not here to reminisce old trips" she muttered "Shoji, where are we in the ranking now?"

"Oh, come on, don't change the subject! It's not fair, Azula! Why didn't you ask us to come with you!" Ty Lee continued "Where's the fun in taking part in those events all on your own?"

"Why, I assure you, it would have been quite fun if it had been just us" said Azula, smirking "That way all the points would have gone to Sokka…"

"Wha-…? Oh, I see…" said Ty Lee, folding her arms over her chest as Shoji read the list of gladiators quickly "So you didn't want us to participate because you thought Haru would beat you guys?"

"I rather doubt he would have been that efficient, really, given his track record" said Azula "And you should be glad you didn't attend, really. If Haru had been there, he probably would have been the one who knocked my father's statue over"

The earthbender blushed and lowered his gaze, quite embarrassed by the Princess's words. Ty Lee only grimaced, which told Azula that the girl was aware of what had happened to the statue.

"Right…" the girl muttered, finally speechless, to Azula's relief.

"You are currently in the 258th position, Princess!" exclaimed Shoji, happily "That's quite the boost you got there, with those four hundred points"

"What, you're that high already?!" Ty Lee asked, scandalized "You've left us far behind, then?"

"Well, not that far…" said Shoji, looking at the ranking with expert eye again.

"It's still a lot, though…" muttered Sokka, amazed "We're almost on the top half of the ranking, Azula!"

"Indeed" she said, nodding "And we'd better make it to the top half as soon as possible. What challenges do we have, Shoji?"

"Oh, uh, nothing that might interest you much…" said the boy, shrugging "All your new challengers are beneath you in the ranking yet again… and then there's the Stingray. He's sent another one yet again"

"He never gives up, does he?" Azula noted, frowning "Why on earth is he so insistent?"

"I have no idea, really" said Shoji, shrugging "Maybe you could accept the challenge just to quiet him down…"

"Is that advisable?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, if you beat him he'd likely stop pestering you guys for a while" said Shoji "That's the way it usually works with persistent challengers"

"Of course…" said Azula, sighing "When does he want to fight us?"

"In two weeks time" said Shoji "Though, well… if you're going to take it, I think I ought to advise…"

"Two weeks!" Ty Lee exclaimed, interrupting the boy "That's perfect!"

"Perfect why?" Azula asked, frowning. What did this her challenge have to do with Ty Lee?

"Because Haru and I will be heading off to Ember Island in a week for his next fight!" she stated, beaming.

"And that's relevant how…?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow now. Oh, why did Ty Lee have to bring up Ember Island, of all places…?

"See, if you didn't want to invite us to that event, that's fine…" said Ty Lee, although it didn't seem it was actually fine to her "But since I'm not as picky and mean as you are, then I'm inviting you two to come with us to Ember Island in a week!"

"Huh?!" said Azula, shocked "Ember Island…? Why on earth, Ty Lee…?"

"It'll be fun, you'll see!" Ty Lee squeaked, excitedly "Just as our last trip to Ember Island!"

"I don't think that was so much fun, if I'm to be perfectly honest…" said Azula, frowning.

"Oh, come on, you set Chan's house on fire!" Ty Lee exclaimed.

"Ah, well… that part was fun, I won't bother denying it" said Azula, with a proud smirk, while Sokka looked at her in disbelief.

"See?" said Ty Lee "It'll be amazing! And Sokka surely wants to go, doesn't he?"

"W-well, I…" said Sokka, freezing for a moment as he considered the idea "It… it really might be fun this time, I think"

"Wait, what?!" said Azula, startled "You want to go?"

"My only visit to the island didn't end that well, if you might recall" he said, with a weak smile "And there were plenty of places I didn't get to see. It might be fun to go again, so that we take our time to enjoy the trip better now… don't you think?"

Azula looked at him in utter shock. She had no idea Sokka wanted to go to Ember Island again… and discovering as much wasn't going to help her cause in the slightest. She didn't want to visit the darned place, especially not when every little thing was leading her thoughts towards her mother lately… going to Ember Island promised she wouldn't be able to get Ursa off her mind at all.

"Oho, then it's perfect!" said Ty Lee, smirking, and Azula glared at her.

"Just a moment, now… what are you plotting, Ty Lee?" Azula grunted, angrily.

"Oh, nothing at all, I just want to spend quality time with my friends!" she exclaimed, but upon Azula's glare she decided to give up her actual thoughts "… or maybe I want to prove I'm not crazy by catching you two red-handed?"

"Ridiculous" said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"Come on" Ty Lee insisted "You can't keep denying it! And if you will, then at least he'll admit that I saw the real thing that night!"

"I… you… I don't think so, no" said Sokka, gulping and crossing his arms over his chest "I don't know what you saw, but… but you must have been seeing things. It was pretty dark, so…"

Ty Lee frowned, looking at Sokka pointedly. Azula could be a convincing liar… but Sokka definitely wasn't. He wasn't bring truthful, that much was obvious, and surely by Azula's command… for if nothing had happened, as they both kept claiming, Sokka wouldn't even know what Ty Lee was talking about. If he denied the kiss as he did, then it was probably because Azula had told him to… and Ty Lee could see in his eyes that he wished he weren't denying it at all. Something seemed to break within her at the sight, and she realized just why Sokka couldn't admit he had kissed Azula… and why Azula couldn't admit having kissed Sokka either.

"Huh… I… I see, then" she said, her eyes overflowing with tears, which garnered her another look of utter confusion and disbelief from Azula.

"What the hell? Why are you crying now?!" she asked.

"I-it's nothing, I just have something in my eye…" said Ty Lee, sniffing "B-but alright… I guess I won't bother you two anymore. But still… don't you think going to Ember Island might be fun, Azula? I mean… it's the beach, and there are so many cute shops, and so many wonderful things to do…!"

Azula frowned. Even if Ty Lee's intent was only to spend time with friends, it didn't change the fact that she didn't want to travel to Ember Island, especially not now…

"I don't think so, Ty Lee" Azula stated "Sokka and I just got back from another trip, and I wouldn't go to Ember Island unless I actually had a good reason to…"

She stopped on her tracks upon that thought. Maybe she actually had a reason to go there… no, there was no doubt about it, she had a pretty good reason to accept Ty Lee's request. Ah, but she still didn't want to...

"I do think it could be fun…" said Sokka, sighing "But if Azula doesn't want to, then I guess we're not going"

"Well, you could always tag along on your own…" said Ty Lee, shrugging.

"Uh… I don't think so" said Sokka, grimacing. He wasn't about to accept traveling as Ty Lee and Haru's third wheel, not in a million years "It probably wouldn't be as much fun if she's not going as well"

Again Ty Lee stared at Sokka as though he had just made the revelation of the century. Sokka was startled by her reaction, all the same as everyone else… but they were about to be startled by something else.

"Well… if you're all this insistent on the matter, we might as well do it" Azula muttered, having ignored the exchange between Ty Lee and Sokka just a moment ago.

"W-wait… What?! Y-you're doing it just because he said it wouldn't be fun without you?!" Ty Lee squeaked, her hands going to her mouth as she looked at Azula in awe.

"Wha-…? No! Don't misunderstand!" Azula said, grimacing "Of course not! I just… I remembered I have a reason to go to Ember Island, something completely unrelated to your ridiculous motives or to Sokka's random blabbering. Stop jumping to conclusions. I'm not doing this for his sake"

Sokka was surprised by her harshness, but he didn't miss the fact that Azula had blushed slightly. Perhaps she really had a reason to do this, he couldn't put it past her, for most things Azula did had an underlying motive… yet she couldn't help but react when Ty Lee suggested she might do it for him. He smiled weakly, but tried not to make himself too noticeable, much as Haru could do with such ease. The earthbender stood beside his sponsor, only looking back and forth between the two girls as they argued regarding this unexpected groupal trip to Ember Island.

"Sure thing" said Ty Lee, giggling "Oh, well, nevermind your reasons! Then we're going to do this?"

"I suppose..." said Azula, rolling her eyes and turning towards Shoji "Accept that challenge from the Stingray, will you?"

"W-why, sure, I… I guess" said Shoji, gulping. There were a few things he ought to have explained about that particular fighter first, though…

"Well, then, I guess we're done here" said Azula, sighing and walking towards the door again, and the other three walked with her.

"So you'll do it? You'll do it, Azula?!" Ty Lee chattered, happily "Oh, yes! This is perfect! It'll be the best vacation ever!"

"But I have a fight…" said Haru. It wasn't going to be much of a vacation for him, was it?

"Oh, don't worry, dear" said Ty Lee, smiling "Your fight won't take too long, you'll see! We'll just have lots of fun the rest of the time!"

"That sounds promising" said Azula, rolling her eyes. She imagined just what sort of fun Ty Lee was looking forward to, and she was certain the only thing Ty Lee's fun would bring her was discomfort.

"Ah, I have to ask Mai if she wants to come!" Ty Lee exclaimed excitedly, breaking into a sprint as she headed outside "Oh, and Zuko too, surely he's got nothing better to do!"

"Wha-…? Zuko?!" Azula exclaimed, grimacing "Don't you dare ask him to come! Ty Lee!"

But by the time Azula had finished talking, Ty Lee had already jumped out the door, with Haru tailing her closely. The girl likely hadn't heard Azula's last demand… and even if she had, she was only bound to ignore it. Azula's eyebrow twitched as her hands balled into fists. Going on a trip with her brother sure would be oh, so fun…

"Promise you won't tell anyone where I hid her body if I kill her during this trip" Azula muttered at Sokka as they passed the doors together.

"Hide her body?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "Now, Azula… what's the point of doing that? Aren't you Fire Nation people renowned for burning your dead? If she's a pile of ashes it'll be harder for people to find her body. Isn't that way more convenient…?"

Azula even surprised herself by laughing at his response as they walked down the steps back to the streets. Sokka couldn't keep from smiling at her.

"I've broken you, haven't I?" she asked, still chuckling "Instead of telling me not to kill her, you're advising me on how to do it?"

"Well, if you're going to do it, you'd better do it right, don't you think?" he said, smirking at her.

Azula shook her head in disbelief as they kept walking. It was truly impressive just how easy he had it to cheer her up when she was distraught or irritated.

"But, say, what's that reason of yours for going to Ember Island?" Sokka asked "Were you serious about that or did you just agree because we have nothing better to do for now?"

"I do have a reason… though you don't need to understand what it is" said Azula "I guess I'll explain once I'm through with it, I believe"

"So secretive, really…" said Sokka, biting his lower lip as he looked at her sideways with concern "Say… Azula"

"What?" she asked, surprised by the sudden seriousness in his tone. She halted and looked at him, for he had also stopped on his tracks.

"I…" he started, gulping. What was the point in saying this, really? She wouldn't take it well, probably… and even if she didn't dismiss his concerns for her as if they were unimportant, it didn't mean she would open up to him just because he asked. But it was better to say it now rather than swallowing his feelings and letting the matter slide, wasn't it? "I've just noticed you seem a bit… troubled, maybe? I don't know what it is..."

"Oh?" Azula muttered, looking at him with unjustified skepticism. Of course she was troubled… and it was quite a surprise that he had been able to pick up on that "You think something's bothering me?"

"I… do" said Sokka, gulping nervously "You're acting slightly different than usual today, so… well, if anything's happened to you, you can tell me about it. If you want to. I mean, I get it if you don't, but if you did, I… well, I'd be more than glad to hear you out"

"No matter what it is that bugs me?" Azula asked, a hand on her hip "Even if you were the problem, you'd want to hear me complain about you?"

Sokka chuckled at that.

"I think you already do that every time you feel like it, and I've never failed to listen, or have I?"

"True enough" said Azula, smiling a little.

"Am I the problem, though?" Sokka asked, stepping towards her "Because if I did something…"

"I told you already, you… you didn't do anything" said Azula, and Sokka didn't fail to notice she moved away, keeping the distance between them "But I'll take your offer into account. If I ever feel like disclosing my innermost thoughts with you, then I might do so… well, so long as you can take them, that is"

"You think I can't?" Sokka asked, folding his arms over his chest again "How many times have you underestimated me and regretted it, Princess?"

"Plenty, all the same as the times you've disappointed me completely" said Azula, shrugging carelessly as she resumed her walk.

"W-well, but that hasn't happened that often lately, has it?" Sokka asked, grimacing nervously as he struggled to keep up with her. Azula only smiled again.

"Then it's probably about time it happens again, don't you think?" she asked, and now Sokka pouted.

"Wow, you really don't trust me, do you?" he muttered, apparently hurt, but she only laughed once more.

She appreciated his offer, of course she did… and perhaps she would be inclined to share her load of problems with him, given that he had proven himself plenty of times as of late, but not when it was related to this particular issue. For Azula couldn't bring herself to speak about her mother easily with anyone, not even if it was the person she got along best with.

And it was especially because Sokka had once hated her… Sokka had seen the worst in her plenty of times already. His feelings towards her had changed now, apparently, and she wanted to keep it that way… she wanted him to remain her partner, she wanted laugh with him, to spend time training with him…

But that illusion was only bound to shatter if he discovered the secrets she concealed deep within herself. Every time someone saw the truth she disguised beneath her façade, they left her side to never return. Her mother, Lu Ten… both had known it, and both had left her forever upon understanding her true nature. And for some reason, the sole thought of Sokka abandoning her in the same way brought unparalleled dread to her mind, it produced an anxiety she couldn't placate… so she refused to open up to him, not when it came down to this. Not when she feared he would side with Ursa if he knew… for what mother would ever come to hate her own child? The only reason why she would have treated Azula as she did was because Ursa had seen the truth about Azula… and Azula wouldn't bear it if Sokka as well came to discover said truth. She wouldn't be able to take it if he as well came to believe she was a monster.


	63. Chapter 63

Dinner time was hardly ever an enjoyable experience for Azula. Her father's solemnity was enhanced while they ate, and he only spoke when his wife asked him questions regarding how his day had fared. Soon afterwards, Zuko would proceed to ramble about whatever he might have learned that day, and Azula would only look at him with a raised eyebrow as he boasted about his newly mastered firebending form. It pleased the young girl, though, that her father hardly seemed to care for Zuko's blabbering… but it displeased her, in turn, that Ursa would always smile and encourage Zuko to continue talking, even though he surely had already shared the tales of his accomplishments with her earlier.

Today, everything seemed to repeat itself. If anything, the sole difference was that Azula wasn't willing to speak much. She had nothing to share with her family today, she was especially reluctant to talk with her mother. And if her father knew she had been crying…

"The ship was so big, wasn't it, mother?" Zuko exclaimed, happily "Royal barges are amazing! When I'm a Captain, like cousin Lu Ten is, I'll have one of my own as well"

"Sure you will" said Ursa, beaming at her son.

"Why didn't you come see Lu Ten off, father?" Zuko asked, looking at Ozai "Were you busy?"

"Regrettably so" said Ozai with a tone that suggested he didn't regret it in the slightest "I would have been more than glad to watch my brother sail into the horizon, but Fire Lord Azulon required of my presence"

"Oh…" said Zuko, lowering his gaze "What did he want you for?"

"You're too young to understand, Zuko" Ozai stated sharply, and Zuko looked at him in shock before dropping his head.

"I… I see" he muttered, while holding the mild suspicion that, if it had been Azula who had asked, Ozai would have been more than happy to explain, even when she was two years younger than he was.

Azula couldn't help but smile weakly at her father's dismissal of Zuko, something Ursa didn't ignore. She frowned at her daughter before turning again to her husband, who only seemed to wish to enjoy his meal in peace.

"I caught your daughter doing something rather unpleasant today, Ozai"

Azula froze in place. She should have known her mother would jump at the opportunity to tell her father just what a monster their daughter was...

"Something unpleasant?" Ozai asked, as though whatever Ursa was saying would probably fail to hold anything of interest for him. Unless Azula had done something vicious or cruel, he surely wouldn't care less for Ursa's tale.

"She was setting a turtle-duck on fire" Ursa stated, frowning.

Azula flinched and looked at her father, with eyes that gleamed with despair. Would he also think she was a monster for what she had done?

"Is that so?" Ozai asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I only did it for training!" Azula burst, at which Ursa's frown deepened "Father, I was only trying to do what you told me!"

"What your father told you?" Ursa asked, in disbelief.

"You... You said I was talented, that my fire had potential to burn hotter" said Azula, addressing his father alone "I was just trying to see if I could make fire hot enough to evaporate the pond's water..."

"You meant to leave the turtle-ducks without water?" Ursa asked next.

"It would have been refilled later!" Azula retorted, glaring at her mother.

"Now, now, quiet, both of you" said Ozai, with a sigh.

"Ozai, you cannot expect me to let our daughter harm innocent creatures only because you believe this to be good training! It's preposterous!"

"What is it with your ridiculous obsession with watching over the weak?" Ozai grumbled, turning towards Ursa now. It relieved Azula to no end to find her father had sided with her "None of us ought to pay any mind to those pathetic creatures. If they stand in Azula's way, they deserve to be burned"

"Ozai, how can you say such awful things?!" Ursa was scandalized. It seemed she only had just realized that, indeed, it didn't matter to Ozai in the slightest if his daughter turned to be a monster.

Ozai sighed. It wasn't the first time they argued about Azula's education and behavior, and it also promised not to be the last.

"She did something terrible, you cannot stand by idly, let alone encourage her…!"

"I cannot?" Ozai asked, raising his eyebrows "And what would you have me do instead, Ursa? If anything, what she did was incredibly witty. It was the smartest way to make sure her fire has gained a couple more degrees…"

"You cannot be serious" said Ursa, shaking her head "Will you say now that it is also perfectly fine for her to have run off when she should have said her farewells to her cousin and uncle? Zuko and I saw Iroh and Lu Ten off by ourselves, when Azula should have been there as well!"

"I had already said goodbye to Lu Ten" Azula growled "If you had asked him, he would have told you I had!"

"If she had already said her farewells, then why make such a ruckus…?" asked Ozai, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingertips. This never-ending conflict between his wife and daughter promised to give him a headache.

"You had said your farewells, Azula? When?" Ursa asked, frowning.

"In the gardens. After you… after you told me off about the turtle-ducks" Azula muttered, looking away. She wasn't about to remind Ursa of what she had said… but hopefully, her mother would remember now that she had called Azula a monster. Maybe that way she would finally quiet down, and, perhaps, she would apologize.

But, naturally, she didn't.

"You told her off about it already? Then why are we even speaking of this, Ursa?" said Ozai, frowning.

"Because your daughter is damaging innocent creatures and claiming she has done so by your command!" Ursa exclaimed "I want to know if she's telling the truth, and if she is…!"

"If she is, then what?!" Ozai asked, growing angry. The sight of his snarl seemed to silence Ursa, if only shortly "If I told her to train by setting those useless animals on fire, then what?! You would proceed to lecture her on morality, on your ridiculous notion of saving the weak?!"

"It isn't a ridiculous notion, Ozai, it is wrong to abuse power…!"

"It is wrong not to make use of your strength when you have plenty of it!" Ozai declared "It is wrong to restrain your daughter and hold her back when she was born for greatness! This child is the most powerful and talented to be born to the Fire Nation in centuries! I will not have you poisoning her mind with your feeble ideals when she is far above them! The weak will fall before the strong, and all those who are weak will be certain to fall before Azula! She is my legacy, my daughter, my rightful heir and I will not have you or anyone else turning her into anything but what she is!"

Azula stared at her father in shock, all the same as her mother and brother. Ursa seemed indignant by what Ozai had said, too indignant to even find the proper words to express her anger… Zuko, on the other hand, was dismayed. Azula was their father's legacy? His rightful heir? And what about him, then?

But Azula was grateful, if anything, for her father's words. He had found an efficient way to silence her mother, and he had defended her while at it. He believed in her, he knew she had spoken truly even though her mother always thought her to be a liar… surely, her father didn't believe she was a monster…

But now, almost seventeen years since that dinner had taken place, Azula knew that, even if Ozai didn't believe it, it didn't make it any less real. It didn't make her anything short of a monster.

Azula sighed as she gazed into the waters below her. The ferry Ty Lee had acquired for their trip to Ember Island was more spacious than Azula had expected it to be... Thankfully. This way she wouldn't have to be near her brother for longer than necessary.

Normally she would jump at these chances to irritate and displease Zuko, but she couldn't bring herself to do it properly while her mother was on her mind. She wanted to cast away all thoughts of her, of the things she had said about her... Of wondering how come her mother had thought she was she a monster while she believed Zuko was the entire opposite of that...

"And what might you be doing all alone over here, all the way to the other end of the boat?"

Somehow, his presence served to appease her. He had never chosen Zuko over her... He had an easy way to make her laugh and forget her troubles, too. It was the reason why he was the only person who could make her smile earnestly right now, even when her heart was as troubled as it was.

"Just looking at the ocean" Azula lied, as he settled himself right next to her, his back against the balustrade that enclosed the ship "I only thought to watch my home fade in the background… while I unwillingly head into the land of fools that is Ember Island"

"Unwillingly?" Sokka repeated "Azula, if you really didn't want to come, you could have just… not come?"

"I didn't lie when I said I had business in Ember Island" said Azula, sighing "This was the best chance for me to tend to it, to my chagrin"

"Well, we're supposed to have fun in Ember Island" said Sokka, with a weak smile "It shouldn't be so bad…"

"Ha, with this company?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows before turning to eye the group of people who shared the ferry's deck with them.

Zuko sat near the balustrade at the opposite end of the boat, frowning, his arms folded over his chest. And Azula couldn't blame him at all for his disposition, for Ty Lee was currently fawning all over Haru while sitting right next to her brother. It was quite an irritating sight.

"Why do you reckon he came with us?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow "Ty Lee said Mai refused…"

"Mai refused because she has a child to take care of" said Azula "It was wise of her not to come, I believe, for she would have had to bring Yuudai along if she had… and if Ty Lee is going to spend the entire trip being as obnoxious as she's currently being, I surely wouldn't want my son to watch her exchanges with Haru. Well, if I had one, I mean"

"Which is not going to happen any time soon, I take it" said Sokka, smiling.

"Of course not" said Azula, sharply "In any case, it's better Mai didn't come, and for other reasons as well"

"Why, you think your friend wouldn't have been happy to go to Ember Island?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"Her happiness is her own business, not mine" said Azula, curtly "Yet if she had come, she would have likely only made the trip worse than it already is… I fear Zuko would have likely sunk the ship with his sorrows if she had come with us. Who knows if he would have gotten drunk and chased after Mai throughout Ember Island, begging her to leave his husband and run away with him…?"

"Woah, do you think he'd really do that?" Sokka asked, surprised. Azula only smirked.

"Well, you never know…" she said, shrugging.

"Your brother had some weird history with Mai, huh?" said Sokka "You mentioned some of it, but I didn't know their relationship was that important to him…"

"I don't know, to be honest" said Azula, shrugging "When I was younger I would often tease them about being in love, and I guess they were… but by the time Zuko was banished he was only thirteen. You think a relationship at such an early stage of their lives was bound to last?"

"Well, definitely not if he was gone for ten years" said Sokka "Which is why I figure he'd be over it by now, it's been a decade…"

"Well, I don't know if he is or isn't" said Azula "He went to see Yuudai when he was born, though. I suppose that means he's already getting over Mai…"

"But since you never talk with your brother, you just don't know" said Sokka, smiling a little as he looked at Azula with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not about to begin sharing my life's predicaments with Zuko, if you're going to suggest I do" Azula growled.

"I know better than to suggest that sort of stuff, don't worry" said Sokka, holding up his hands defensively "Though I guess it wouldn't hurt you guys to get along a little more…"

"Not going to happen" said Azula, sighing "And not just because of me, mind you. Go over to the 'fun side of the ferry' and ask him if he wants to get along with me, I'm sure you'll appreciate his answer. He might even do it in the form of a hand gesture and everything…"

"You two, really…" said Sokka, shaking his head and smiling "Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not about to go back to the 'fun side of the ferry'. It's actually only fun in name…"

"Well, if it's just Brooding Zuko and the lovebirds, I'm sure that's the case" said Azula, smirking.

"Ah… they're such lovebirds and they don't even know it!" Ty Lee squeaked right then, at the other side of the ship. Luckily, the distance and the sounds of the sea kept her scream from being heard by Sokka and Azula "I can't even look at them, Haru"

"Then don't" said Zuko, sighing "Lovebirds, really? Do you actually think they're in love?"

"Well… maybe" said Ty Lee, shrinking before Zuko's pointed glare "I mean, there's got to be something special there, don't you think? I'd never seen Azula get along so well with a guy before! And it's not just any guy either…"

"Uh… what do you mean by that?" asked Haru, looking at Ty Lee accusingly.

"Oh, now, dear, don't be silly, you're not just any guy either!" squealed Ty Lee, hugging him. The gesture seemed to surprise Haru a little, but he was still mostly embarrassed by her sudden outbursts of affection.

Zuko frowned as he looked at Ty Lee before his gaze drifted towards Sokka and Azula, who seemed to chat amiably while the ferry soared through the sea. It wasn't the first time Ty Lee said something about his sister having feelings for the gladiator… and it wasn't the first time Zuko found it completely ridiculous. His sister wasn't the sort of girl to fall in love with anyone… and if Sokka had somehow developed a crush towards Azula, he would only be burned in the end. Zuko didn't think anyone could hold a close relationship with Azula for too long.

And he was thankful for that, if he was to be completely honest. If this trip had been comprised of traveling to Ember Island between two obnoxious couples of gladiators and sponsors, he would have likely jumped out into the open ocean to get away from them. Ty Lee and Haru were annoying enough, he didn't even want to imagine what his sister would be like if she were involved with anyone, especially with Sokka.

In truth, Zuko hadn't been too excited about this trip even before knowing he would have to put up with Ty Lee playing with her boy toy. But he had accepted coming, despite himself, for Iroh had advised him to do so.

Zuko had been rather surprised by his uncle's response when he had shared his problems with him. He had half expected the man to laugh his strife off as though it were meaningless. Zuko thought it was rather foolish of him to be as miserable over Kyoshi's Heir's vanishment as he was, truth to be told… he hardly knew the girl. It didn't make sense for him to be so upset over a matter with a woman who was almost a total stranger to him. For all he knew, she had found a better life, and he had no business sulking over that. Yet he couldn't help himself… but his uncle seemed to understand his struggle, even though Zuko hardly understood it himself. Iroh hadn't judged him at all, he had listened patiently to Zuko's explanations and offered him tea, for he believed it might help soothe his troubled heart.

Iroh seemed to believe Zuko had to get his mind off his misery, though. He had told Zuko that there were plenty of people who cared deeply for him, and he would do best to accept their love. He had friends and family who genuinely liked to spend time with him, and who would be more than willing to help him overcome his strife… but he had to let them try if they were ever to succeed in helping him.

Hence, once Ty Lee had asked him to join her on the trip, Zuko had frowned but nodded, and the girl's jaw had almost dropped to the ground. It wasn't every day that Zuko agreed to her proposals, let alone on the first try.

But if Ty Lee continued being this irritating, Zuko's disposition would change for the worse soon enough. If anything, he was grateful this was a one-night trip. He was sure he wouldn't be able to take it if he had to share a house with Ty Lee and her gladiator boyfriend for any longer than that. Being near them right now as they giggled and whispered to one another, with Ty Lee now sitting on Haru's lap, made him want to bend over the side of the ship to retch, and not out of seasickness.

"Oh! We're here already!" Ty Lee exclaimed, beaming as she looked over Haru's shoulder to find they had arrived to Ember Island.

Sokka caught what Ty Lee had said this time, and he looked towards the land, surprised to see she was right. There it was, the very island where he had his first professional gladiator fight. And also the very island where he had first landed himself in a serious argument with Azula… hopefully, this visit would end on a better note than their previous one had.

"Well, that was fast" he said "I thought the journey would take longer"

"The sooner this is over, the better for all of us" said Azula, sighing "I already miss Xin Long"

"You could have asked him to come with us… he might have made the trip more fun for you" said Sokka.

"He wanted to travel through the volcanoes again" Azula replied, as they walked towards the rest of the group "Who knows if he'll find something interesting in them this time… it would be better than having him waste his time in Ember Island, where I'm certain he won't be finding anything of interest, let alone other dragons"

"Well, the Last Dragon is at Ember Island, if anything…" said Ty Lee, giggling. Azula only glared at her.

"Why, you're hilarious" said Azula, rolling her eyes "I hope you found us a better place to stay than that shack from last time"

"Oh, yes, I made sure to find a very nice place" said Ty Lee, smiling widely "With four rooms and everything, so everyone will be comfortable! So yeah, not a shack, not at all!"

"Four rooms?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, why not?" asked Ty Lee "Haru and I can share…"

"And I think I could have shared with him" said Sokka, jerking his head towards Zuko "You could have gotten one with three, might have been cheaper…"

"Oh, I doubt you would have wanted to share with Zuko, really. You haven't done anything bad enough in your life to deserve that, even when you've done some pretty awful things" said Azula, smirking deviously as the ferry came to a halt by the port.

"Yeah, how funny" grunted Zuko, glaring at his sister as he picked up his bags and got ready to disembark "I'm sure you just think you're the only one who ought to share a room with your boyfriend, huh?"

Zuko's words made everyone react differently, yet not at all in the way the Prince had expected them to. Ty Lee's hands flew to her mouth and Haru's jaw dropped… yet the only reactions that were elicited from Sokka and Azula were grimaces of distaste. And that didn't surprise Zuko in the slightest. Naturally, his sister wouldn't want anything remotely similar to a boyfriend, as he had always suspected…

"Boyfriend? B-boyfriend…" Sokka said, gulping. Well, that was one thing he was sure he'd never be of Azula's. Being her boyfriend sounded really stupid.

"For crying out loud, Zuko…" said Azula, shaking her head while resisting the urge to shudder "You may be desperate to find yourself a girlfriend, but the same will never apply to me"

"Just… boyfriend? Seriously?" Sokka repeated, still toying with the word in his mind. It just didn't seem it would ever suit their relationship, for some reason…

"You say that, yet you both spend every second of your time together…" said Zuko, wondering if he had finally found the very string he had to pull at to get back at his sister for all the times she had teased and mocked him.

"Don't say those things!" Ty Lee said suddenly, startling everyone "Azula and Sokka… t-they're not together. Not at all. So… don't pester them about it, alright?"

"Uh… huh?" Azula was astonished. The last she had known, Ty Lee had been fidgeting and squealing over the idea of her and Sokka together… had she changed her mind all of sudden, despite her ongoing bet with Mai?

"Sokka and Azula are just friends, Zuko" Ty Lee stated firmly, even though saying the words seemed to bother her greatly. Naturally, she wished she could say Zuko had been right to claim her friend and the Blue Wolf were in a relationship… but she couldn't, and she understood well enough why she couldn't. Hence, she wouldn't keep pestering them over the relationship she believed should exist between them.

"Friends?!" Sokka and Azula exclaimed at once, before looking at each other in shock.

"W-well, you are friends, aren't you?" Ty Lee asked, surprised.

"I… I don't know, really" said Sokka, frowning.

"It doesn't seem… right" said Azula, grimacing.

"See, boyfriend and girlfriend works better for them" said Zuko, smirking as he climbed off board.

"No, it doesn't" said Azula, glaring at his back "This is ridiculous"

"But if we're not even friends… then what are we?" Sokka asked, scratching his head, confused.

"Honestly, I rather doubt we'll ever find out" muttered Azula, following Zuko onto the dock.

The house Ty Lee had rented stood deeper within the island than Azula had expected it to. She was used to staying in houses that were near the shore… so she was actually grateful to find that wouldn't be the case this time around. A completely different house, in a very different setting, might help keep her troubling thoughts at bay.

They all picked out their rooms as soon as they arrived. Azula chose one on the second floor, the most spacious one she could find. It wasn't even half as large as her room in the Palace, but she would make do. After spending a dreadful week she would never forget living in the wilderness, she was definitely not going to complain about this arrangement, no matter how small it might be.

"Hey…"

Azula was finishing unpacking when she heard Sokka's voice from the threshold of her room. He seemed slightly uneasy, and she could hardly blame him for it. Trust Zuko to be capable of tearing apart the balance they had worked so hard for during all this time…

"Ty Lee is saying she wants to go shopping" said Sokka "Then to the beach, and afterwards to Haru's fight…"

"Ah, too bad I brought no beach gear with me…" Azula retorted quickly.

"Well, I think that's precisely why she said we had to go shopping first" muttered Sokka, heading into the room "But given your response… I take it you don't want to go"

"I have something better to do" Azula declared, after finishing placing her clothes within the closet "And I never had any intentions of going to the beach in the first place"

"Don't tell me that's why you didn't want to come here…" said Sokka, now smirking "Come on, Azula, you ought to be more confident than that. I'm pretty sure you'd be more than able to wear a swimsuit…"

"Oh, I am" said Azula, turning to look at him with slight indignation but also amusement "And I'm well aware of the fact that I am. But it doesn't rule out that I have something better to do than to tag along with you for shopping and swimming and rolling around in sand…"

"Really, now…?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her in suspicion.

"Yes, really" Azula declared "And now I wonder why you're so insistent upon the matter. Was seeing me in a swimsuit the only reason why you wanted to come to Ember Island, pervert?"

"Woah, woah, none of that!" said Sokka, raising his hands defensively in front of him, yet his cheeks reddened distinctly. Azula only looked at him in disbelief.

"Oh, sure, you deny it now…" said Azula, rolling her eyes yet smirking as she passed him by to go back to the hallway.

"Come on, Azula, I just thought coming here would be fun, but it won't be any fun if you're not around!" he muttered.

"Sure thing, it won't be fun to go to the beach without me" said Azula "And I can only wonder why…"

"Ah, that's not it!" Sokka insisted "Can't I… can't I come with you, to wherever it is you're going?"

Azula stopped before they reached the staircase and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. It wasn't as though she couldn't bring him with her… but doing so wasn't a great idea either. He might make things a little difficult if he came along… she didn't want to have any weird questions asked about her relationship with him, let alone after the one Zuko had brought up earlier.

"You could… but I truly think it would be best if I went on my own" said Azula "I'm sorry, Sokka, but you'll have to put up with the other three for a while. I'll probably rejoin with you at the Ember Crater"

"But…" Sokka muttered, lifting a hand towards her before dropping it again, as a gesture of surrender "Well, alright, then. I won't get in your way"

"Don't be so dramatic" said Azula, smiling a little "Though I can't really blame you for it, having to endure Ty Lee drooling over Haru while Zuko sulks… but I'll be back soon enough. Stop looking like a helpless puppy, will you?"

"I don't… I don't look like a helpless puppy" he growled.

"Ah, am I insulting your manliness?" Azula asked, her smile widening at his expense as she walked down the stairs, leaving Sokka behind to glare at her.

"W-well, yeah, you are!" he exclaimed, embarrassed. Azula couldn't keep from laughing at his response.

She told Ty Lee she would be taking her leave, and, naturally, the girl was scandalized. She begged Azula to come shopping with them, but the Princess remained undeterred. And so, after shaking Ty Lee off, Azula left the house and headed towards the bay.

It took her some time to reach her destination, which stood at the other end of the island, but once she was there she had no difficulties recognizing the lousiest house by the shore. It looked bad enough by now that Azula actually feared the shack would collapse upon itself… yet if those two were still living in here, as they probably were, then the house was, in all likelihood, still inhabitable.

She walked towards the door and struck it with her knuckles thrice. A mild thrill ran through her body as she waited to be allowed inside…

The door swung open, and the old lady who stood behind it stared at Azula in shock when she identified her.

"Azula…"

"Lo… Li" Azula muttered, correcting herself. Ah, blast it, she didn't know which one she was talking to anyways… "It's been a while"

Shortly afterwards, the Princess sat in the living room before a small table, as the twins brought her a cup of steaming tea. Azula accepted it mostly as a courtesy, for she wasn't truly thirsty.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" asked Lo.

"If you came to hear us thank you for helping us in our trial…" said Li.

"We are both most grateful for what you did" they both said at once.

"I'm quite certain you both know I didn't do it for you. I did it for the Fire Nation, first and foremost" Azula declared "Throwing the blame at any random person wasn't going to help us find the spy we were looking for"

"Naturally. Your priorities have always been unquestionable" said Lo.

"Nevertheless, those priorities kept us from being imprisoned" Li insisted.

"And for that we owe you greatly" once more, they spoke as one voice.

"You owe me, is it? Even when I cast you both out as I did, you believe you owe me?" Azula asked, genuinely surprised "That's actually unexpected. I thought you harbored resentment towards me after what happened…"

"For a long time you had been pushing us away, Azula" said Li.

"We both knew the day would come when you would part from us altogether" whispered Lo.

"And even though you knew it, you didn't try to stop me from casting you away?" Azula asked, surprised.

"We would have done so, yet we failed to understand what we had done to cause your aggravation" said Lo.

"If we were no longer of any use to you, then it was only natural you would send us away" Li said.

"Odd" muttered Azula, after sipping some of her tea "Yet I suppose I should be glad you harbor no hard feelings towards me. Nevertheless… if you do believe you owe me greatly for what I did, then I know just the way for you both to repay me. It's actually what I came here for in the first place"

"Well, then… by all means, tell us, Azula" said Li.

"I was listening quite carefully to everything you said during your trial" Azula said "And I spoke truly when I said you two weren't lying about not being involved with the White Lotus. Yet… one of you said you knew nothing about the group. And that was a lie"

Lo and Li didn't say anything, but Azula saw a gleam of guilt in their eyes. Just as she had suspected back then, they weren't as ignorant in regards of the White Lotus as she was.

"So now I want the two of you to tell me everything you know about them… and how you came by this knowledge as well, if you don't mind" said Azula, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at her two former advisors with a determined frown.

Lo and Li sighed as one, exchanging a look before lifting their heads towards Azula again.

"The Order of the White Lotus is an ancient society, Azula" started Lo "It's formed by men from every nation, men who seek to uphold the philosophies of cherishing all which is good, beautiful and true…"

"They were formed many generations ago" said Li "The original members shared as a common trait a great love for Pai Sho, and their name is derived from the White Lotus tile…"

Well, that last bit wasn't new information. Azula frowned upon their words, taking her cup again and lifting it to her lips before asking another question.

"And what is the purpose of such a society?" Azula inquired "It doesn't seem to me that their sole interest is to play Pai Sho…"

"They used to be a group of wise scholars, whose favorite pastime was Pai Sho. In recent times, the group has become much more than that" said Li.

"They seek to make the world a better place. More beautiful, more truthful"

"And that is a goal they'll accomplish by abducting princesses… sounds believable" said Azula, skeptical "Why do they have such ridiculous philosophies, and why have they targeted the Fire Nation all of sudden?"

"We don't know where or when were these philosophies born" said Lo "Nor do we know who might have been the man to conceive them"

"But they have targeted the Fire Nation because they believe the Fire Nation endangers the beauty in the world. They believe the world has fallen out of balance…"

"And naturally, the Fire Nation is to blame for that" grunted Azula, irritated. She was sick of hearing the same dumb story over and over again. What was the big deal about balance anyways? "And what is their standard for beauty, I wonder? Do they want everyone to waste their days away playing Pai Sho? If that's what their objective is, they'd better find better ways to get it across. Attacking the Fire Nation as they did, disguised as our own soldiers, sounds like something that is just as far from their ideal of beauty as our nation is"

"The White Lotus wasn't an organization of this nature at the beginning, Azula…" said Lo "They used to be philosophers, not soldiers. There have always been strong warriors and benders within their ranks, but they used to strive for peace, not violence"

"Really?" asked Azula "And why have they strayed so far from their original ideals?"

"We don't know the actual reasoning behind it…" said Li "But we suspect it happened after the Avatar disappeared"

"Huh?" Azula frowned "What do they have to do with the Avatar? Don't tell me it was an Avatar who created the group in the first place…"

"We don't know" replied Li "Yet it wasn't until years after his disappearance that they performed their first assault upon the Fire Nation"

"What assault was that?" Azula asked.

"An attempt on the Fire Lord's son's life" said Lo and Li at once.

Azula frowned for a moment. She hadn't heard anyone had tried to kill Zuko…

Her eyes opened wide when she understood which Fire Lord, and which son, they were referring to.

"My uncle?" she asked "That assassination attempt… the one Piandao was probably involved in?"

The two old ladies nodded at once when Azula voiced her conclusion. The Princess's frown only deepened after the revelation.

"It was only then that the existence of the Order of the White Lotus was brought to the Fire Nation's attention" Lo confessed "Until then, nobody in the Palace had even heard of their existence"

"Fire Lord Azulon demanded the execution of all those who had tried to kill his son, and he believed that would be enough to send a message to any rebels, to prevent them from ever attacking his family or nation again" said Li

"He seemed to forget the matter in time" said Lo.

"He had a war to fight, against the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes" continued Li.

"So he didn't seek to pursue them?" Azula asked, surprised "Anyone touching a hair out of his dearest firstborn son would have compelled him to burn the entire world down to find them…"

"It was a waste" said Lo "Nobody knew where the White Lotus was, nor what they were, exactly"

"It was General Iroh who sought to discover what the Order of the White Lotus was" stated Li "He investigated everything he could find about the society which had tried to take his life, since his father was more interested in tearing down the two nations that continued to oppose him. He had no time to deal with the White Lotus"

"So you're saying… that Iroh decided to take on them by himself?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Iroh did no such thing" said Lo "He relied his information to those in the highest circles of trust within the Palace… but once had conveyed his discoveries to all of us, he said he would do nothing about the Order of the White Lotus"

"Why?" asked Azula, frowning. If a group of people attempted to take her life, she would chase them to the ends of the world if she had the resources to do so…

"He believed their ideals were well-placed" said Li "He thought they had simply made a mistake when they sent a group of young men to take his life. If anything, he actually seemed to believe it was impossible that the high-ranked members of the order would command an attack of the sort"

"So he thought these people had tried to kill him out of their own free will, and not because they were under the orders of some member of the society?" Azula frowned.

"He thought these young men had their beliefs misplaced, that they had interpreted the Order of the White Lotus's teachings wrongly" said Lo "He was certain that those who understood Pai Sho and who cherished that which was good, beautiful and true, would have never commanded such an attack"

"That was awfully confident of him" grunted Azula "Why should he have trusted those men to actually abide by those beliefs? It could easily be a smokescreen for what the group's true intentions are. You say they only attacked the Fire Nation once the Avatar was gone. Do you believe they're trying to bring balance to the world, to take up the Avatar's role?"

"We do not know" said the old ladies.

Azula sighed and downed what was left of her tea. She knew delving into what the White Lotus was wouldn't bode well for her… she figured it would be a very twisted matter, for a group of rebels fashioning themselves after a tile of an old board game was something she could only interpret as an irony or a delusion of grandeur. And after hearing about this, she was certain it was the latter. Goodness, beauty and truth? Just what sort of conceited fools were they dealing with?

"Their latest attack… it was an attempt to break out members of their group from jail" said Azula "What sort of activities could those White Lotus men be taking part in that would sentence them to prison if they're truly after beauty, truth and all that nonsense?"

"We do not know" said Lo and Li again.

"Not everyone is as good as they believe to be" said Lo.

"There is, most likely, a darker side to this society than what Iroh discovered" said Li.

"So what you know is simply what Iroh has told you?" asked Azula "You have no more information regarding the White Lotus aside from this?"

"We don't" said Li "The White Lotus's true nature remains a mystery even to us, Azula"

"Does my father know about this?" Azula asked, frowning "I've never asked him if he knew what the White Lotus is…"

"Your father was present when Iroh spoke about his discoveries regarding the White Lotus" Lo confirmed "All we have shared with you today, he already knew"

"Yet why…?" said Azula, confused "If these men are really such a threat, why did my father ignore them until now? He would have certainly believed his father was making a mistake by letting the White Lotus carry on freely…"

"I fear your father must have forgotten about the White Lotus until now" said Lo.

"They have always kept a very low profile" said Li.

"As a matter of fact, they have only ever bothered the Fire Nation in two occasions up to date" the ladies stated at unison.

Azula frowned. Well, if that was the case, now she understood why her father hadn't attempted to thwart them. Perhaps he even hoped they were only after Iroh's head, and he secretly wished they would kill his brother. It wouldn't have been unlike him to hope for such a thing.

"Then this is all you know" Azula said, looking at the women defiantly, her eyes studying their features to make sure they wouldn't lie to her "You have no more information to share with me regarding the Order of the White Lotus. You don't know who the spy within the council is, do you?"

"We don't" said Lo and Li "This is the entire extent of our knowledge on the matter"

Azula sighed and nodded. Well, this time they were telling the truth, it seemed. It would serve no purpose to question them further… but they had already granted her with quite a lot of knowledge as it was.

"Very well, then" she said, standing up.

"You're leaving so soon?" asked Lo.

"Why, I had no idea you two missed me so" said Azula, rolling her eyes "I have other places to be at now. Thank you for your time and for the information you shared with me. I'll put it to good use, or at least, I'll try to. But with these men it feels as though any discovery is only a new mystery. Nevertheless, I'll take my leave now, if you don't mind"

The ladies nodded towards Azula and made to stand up, but the Princess lifted a hand.

"I can lead myself out, don't bother" she said.

"Thank you for your visit, Azula" said Lo.

"If you were to ever need us again…" whispered Li.

"You know where to find us" the two women stated.

Azula looked at them in surprise before nodding. Were those words supposed to be a sign of their loyalty? Perhaps they were. But Azula couldn't bring herself to believe that. Surely, the only reason Lo and Li would have to wish to return to her service was boredom.

Azula left the house without another word, and she wandered through the roads of the island for a moment, her mind lost in thought. It was hard to make sense out of most of what Lo and Li had said, but she was glad it was so complicated. Attempting to unravel the mystery of the White Lotus was a much better way to spend her time than thinking about her mother…

It took her a moment to realize just how much time had passed her by during her visit to Lo and Li. Haru's fight would be about to begin soon… it wasn't as though she was too enthusiastic about watching a gladiator fight, it didn't seem too important unless it involved Sokka, but she had said she would attend it nevertheless. Surely Sokka would be waiting for her, desperate to have someone more fun to talk to than Zuko…

Azula arrived to the Ember Crater by herself. She strode into the Arena for the second time, glancing about herself, and she was rather surprised to find there was someone in the vestibule, waiting patiently for her.

"Woah, here I was thinking you weren't going to make it" said Sokka, smiling when he sighted her.

"Where are the others?" Azula asked, walking towards him.

"Ty Lee is at the sponsors' balcony, Haru is either in the stand-by room or already fighting" said Sokka "And Zuko went inside already, he's waiting for us within the crowd…"

"That sounds like fun, watching a gladiator fight with Zuko" said Azula, grimacing.

"Did you get your stuff done, whatever it was?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah, it took some time, but I did" replied Azula "How long have you been waiting for me here?"

"Oh, a while, but not that long" said Sokka, smiling weakly "I kept myself busy. I went to the counter and asked the guy there about the Spawn of the Volcano, to see where he was in the ranking nowadays… and apparently he's changed sponsors. Did you know that?"

"I'm not the least bit surprised to hear it, to be honest" said Azula, as they walked towards the stairs that led to the stands "Chan apparently has been forced to enroll in the military along with his dear father… he shouldn't be able to afford a gladiator when he's only just been enlisted"

"Seems like you really ruined his life, huh?" said Sokka.

"It's what happens to people who seek to ruin mine" Azula replied, with a devious smirk as they passed the doorway that led into the crowd.

The Arena was quite crowded, though not as full as Azula would have expected it to be. She looked around herself, wondering where her brother was, while Sokka looked down at the sand pit with interest.

"So… this is what things look like from outside the ring?" he asked.

"Oh… I forgot you've never been in the stands before" said Azula "Well, to be honest, I don't frequent stands either… still, the ring looks pretty much the same way down here than it does from up in the sponsors' balcony. It's a lot more luxurious in the balcony than here, though…"

"Naturally" said Sokka, smiling "Well… where is Zuko? You think that's him over there?"

Sokka pointed towards someone at the right wing of the stands, and Azula squinted, trying to recognize him from such a distance. He happened to turn his face in that very moment, and she caught sight of his scar, confirming his identity.

"Yes, that's him. So… come along" she said, jerking her head towards the other side of the crowd.

"Wha-…? Aren't we going to join him?" Sokka asked, surprised.

"No, thank you" said Azula "If you want to spend more time with my brother, go ahead, but I assure you I don't want to be near him any more time than necessary. And I'm quite certain he'll agree with me"

"You're really something…" said Sokka, smiling yet looking towards Zuko a little sympathetically. Would he actually miss them? Well… chances were he probably wouldn't.

Azula led the way towards the other end of the stadium, and she settled in seats that were as far from the ring as possible. She knew all too well how capable Haru was of throwing sand or glass at the audience whenever his attacks were too wild. Sokka sat beside her, still glancing at Zuko and confirming that he hadn't spotted them.

"I'll say you really were doing both of us a favor by getting us to sit away from Zuko" said Sokka, folding his arms over his chest.

"I figured you wouldn't enjoy having him bicker with me throughout Haru's fight" said Azula, as the announcer began calling in the fighters "Or else, having him pester you about being 'my boyfriend'"

"Really, though…" said Sokka, shaking his head "That was quite dumb, coming from a guy who pretends to be so serious all the time"

"I think he was simply getting back at me for all those times I teased him over Mai" said Azula "Though it's one thing to do it to your brother when you're seven… it's something rather different when it's a twenty-three year-old trying to pull the same joke on his sister. But given he didn't have a chance to pester me about boys back then, he's probably made up his mind to use up this opportunity…"

"You didn't know any boys when you were young?" Sokka asked.

"Not me, nor him" said Azula "I went to a school of girls… Zuko was home-schooled, so he didn't spend much time with kids his age. It was just… him and my mother"

"Huh… can't say that sounds like much fun" said Sokka, grimacing "I probably would have lost my mind if I had spent my entire childhood just with my mom. Not to say I didn't like my mom, because I did, but…"

"It was fun for Zuko, though. My mother was wonderful to him, after all" said Azula, with unusual spite in her voice. Sokka frowned. He knew Azula didn't like talking about her mother much, but it seemed she was even more irritated about the matter today than usual. So… in order to cheer her up, in some way…

"Say, what was it you were up to?" he asked "You said you could tell me once you were done with it, so…"

"Ah, I did, didn't I?" said Azula, brightening up quickly upon the change of subject "I'd almost forgotten… well, you see, I had said I'd get down to talking with Lo and Li one day, regarding what it was they knew about the White Lotus…"

"Oh… right" said Sokka, suddenly understanding Azula's intentions "And they live here, so… well, damn, now I feel stupid for not realizing it"

"Well, you are pretty stupid, so…"

"Am not! I'm just… not that quick-minded at times, is all!" Sokka exclaimed, as she laughed at his reaction "And well? What did you find out?"

Haru's fight unfolded in the ring while Azula relied on him everything she had discovered. Haru seemed to hold his own quite well against the firebender he was facing, the Last Dragon, but Sokka and Azula weren't focusing much on the fight as they talked.

"But… wait, your uncle was the one who knew all this stuff?" asked Sokka, frowning.

"Apparently he did his homework after he was almost killed by them…" said Azula, shrugging.

"Well… it's still hard to believe Master Piandao would try to kill someone like that, but… maybe that's why he wasn't caught? Maybe he really didn't want to?" Sokka wondered.

"Who knows?" said Azula "But I fail to understand why my uncle would be so willing to forgive their attempt on his life simply because their philosophies are almost as ridiculous as his own. The only thing missing in that motto is 'tea'. If Lo and Li and said they were tea worshippers as well, I would have run back home immediately to tell my father that my uncle is the spy he's looking for"

"But… could he be?" asked Sokka, frowning "I mean… it doesn't sound too far-fetched to think your uncle might be the spy…"

"Joining the ranks of the people who tried to kill him? To be honest, it actually sounds about right" said Azula, rolling her eyes "His decisions have always been rather ridiculous, if you ask me"

"Though… would it really be him? Would he stop being loyal to his family, to his nation, because of… Pai Sho?" Sokka asked, frowning.

"I have no idea" said Azula, shrugging "For all I know, he could do that. Yet I suppose accusing my own uncle of being a spy wouldn't make much sense. How would he have set everything up, and how would he have contacted his fellow White Lotus members when he did?"

"By messenger hawk?" suggested Sokka "Though I'll say we're really going about this blindly. There's hardly anything to back up this theory"

"Which is for the best, really. If my father's own brother happened to be the one who set that entire operation up, who almost got me captured… it would mean my father wouldn't even be able to trust his own family, and that's the last thing he needs at the moment"

"He's already paranoid enough, I take it…" said Sokka, frowning "And then he might even stop trusting you"

"I doubt he trusts Iroh all that much, but it's because he thinks he's unreliable. He doesn't think he's an actual traitor" muttered Azula "If he were one…"

"Can't even imagine the consequences, can you?"

"It's more like I don't even want to" said Azula, sighing "How did things go with you guys, though? You don't look like you'd been to the beach…"

"That's because we didn't even make it there" said Sokka, with a smile "Ty Lee got hung up on shopping and she took up all our time at that… I'm not going to complain, she bought a few things for me, but yeah, in the end it was already so late that we decided to go to the Ember Crater and forget the beach"

"I'm not surprised, really" said Azula, sighing. In the ring, Haru had knocked his opponent down and imprisoned his limbs within the sand, which he hardened into glass soon enough, to the entire crowd's amazement.

"Well, would you look at that" said Sokka, nodding in approval "The man's getting tougher by the minute. And he didn't even break anything for once!"

"Now that's truly a miracle" said Azula, slightly amused.

After Haru had rendered his opponent helpless, he simply stood by and waited patiently for the time to be used up completely. The Last Dragon was enraged by Haru's disposition, naturally, for he believed the earthbender was being conceited… hence he began roaring fire, hoping to scorch Haru up with it. Haru found himself unable to continue with his plan of action, and in the end he had to strike the air out of his opponent with a rock before striking him on the head to knock him out. And with that, he earned his victory.

"I knew you'd be able to win, I just knew it, you're the very best! I'm so going to make this up to you later, Haru!" Ty Lee rambled on towards Haru a few minutes later, while she clung to his arm. They both headed towards the vestibule together, where Azula and Sokka were waiting for them.

"Congratulations there, pal!" said Sokka, smiling "A perfect win!"

"Rather impressive, I'll concede" said Azula, nodding "He has progressed a lot"

"Hasn't he?! He's amazing!" Ty Lee exclaimed, squeezing Haru's arm even tighter.

"Ow… eh, thanks, both of you" said Haru, blushing slightly while he feared Ty Lee's grip might stop the blood from flowing through his arm.

"Uh… where is Zuko?" Ty Lee asked suddenly, releasing Haru while she looked around herself "Shouldn't he have been with you two?"

"Well…" said Azula, smirking "I was here just on time, and Sokka was waiting for me… but the crowd was so thick that we couldn't find Zuko, so…"

"Oh? Is that it, or did you just want Sokka to yourself?" asked Ty Lee, folding her arms over her chest.

"It's more like we figured it'd be a lot more fun to hang on the stands without Mr. Party Pooper…" said Sokka.

"If you say so…" said Ty Lee, gulping. It was a dangerous game these two played… were they playing it consciously? Did they realize that, the more time they spent together, the more difficult it would be for them to resist the attraction that existed between them?

"Well, there he is now" said Haru, smiling as he spotted Zuko amongst the masses of people that were leaving the Arena.

"Good fight" said Zuko, nodding towards Haru curtly.

"Azula and Sokka were a bit late, so they couldn't find you…" said Ty Lee, sticking to Azula's story even though she already knew it was a lie.

"Huh, well…" said Zuko, shrugging with a gesture that said he clearly didn't want their company either. Maybe Iroh was right to think that his friends cared for him… but he was certain Azula only cared to irritate him. The less time they spent together on this trip, the better for both of them.

"Good to know you don't care…" said Ty Lee, grimacing "Well, anyways, we ought to go get some food now so that we can head to the theater later on…"

Zuko grimaced noticeably at that. Azula hadn't been paying much attention to what Ty Lee had said until she replayed her friend's words in her head a few times, as though having a hard time understanding what she meant. And once she did, she cast Ty Lee a look of utter disbelief.

"Wait, wait, wait… what?" she said, an eyebrow twitching.

"What, you're not hungry? Did you eat something already?" Ty Lee asked, tapping her chin with a finger.

"No! That about the theater, what is that supposed to mean?!" Azula exclaimed, panicking.

"Well, I thought you might appreciate it…" said Ty Lee, smiling as she pulled five pieces of paper from her pocket "But I got us all tickets for 'Love Amongst the Dragons'!"

"You did WHAT?!" Azula exclaimed, and Ty Lee realized now that maybe Azula wouldn't be so happy about this.

"I… I bought…" she mumbled, terrified of the Princess's reaction.

"Are you insane?! How could you buy that?! It's got to be the rendition by the Ember Island Players, Ty Lee, and they're downright terrible!" Azula exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief "How could you…? Zuko, why the hell didn't you stop her?!"

"I told her not to, but when has Ty Lee ever listened to reason?!" Zuko retorted, wondering why his sister would throw the blame on him "I said time over and time again that these guys are terrible but she insisted that we always talked about that play when we were little, so she wanted to know what the fuss was about!"

"Ugh, for crying out loud…" Azula exclaimed, a hand going to her forehead as she tried to digest what Ty Lee was about to put her through. It was just perfect, really… she had almost managed to get all thoughts of her mother far from her mind at long last and Ty Lee just had to ruin everything in one simple sentence, did she?

"It should be fun! I mean… it can't be that bad!" the girl was exclaiming now, hoping to save face somehow.

"You really want to bet on how bad it can go, Ty Lee?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "Because I assure you I'll be taking all the money you just earned if you do"

"Well, then, no bets" said Ty Lee, smiling weakly "But… I already bought them and I don't think I can return them, so… how bad can it be? If it's really that terrible you can just laugh about it, can't you…?"

"I doubt it" grunted Azula, glaring at Ty Lee "Why didn't you even ask me if I wanted to go before buying those tickets without a second thought?"

"I kind of assumed you'd want to, as I said…" said Ty Lee "Well, I can treat you to anything you want for dinner, Azula… would that help?"

"Sure it would" said Azula sarcastically at first before smirking with malice "Though you'll end up wasting away all your winnings if you'll treat us… Sokka, you're free to eat at will if she'll really pay for it all"

"Wait, really, now?" Sokka asked, his eyes lighting up at the idea.

"Yeah, I'll do it" said Ty Lee, smiling weakly "So… we'll go to the play? Even if you guys don't like the Ember Island Players?"

"Ugh…" said Azula, rubbing her forehead with her fingers.

"It… it couldn't hurt much" said Zuko, sighing "If anything, it'll be a good way to… to recall old days"

Which was exactly what Azula didn't want to do. She glared at Zuko with irritation and spite. Perhaps his life had been wonderful when he was their mother's golden boy, and now it sucked so much he wanted to return to those days… but the same would never apply to her. She wanted no memories of her mother. Fact was, if she could simply only rip those memories away from her mind, she would. And much unlike Zuko, her life had turned for the better as she grew older… she didn't want nor need her past. She didn't care for it. She didn't want to remember any of it.

"Then… Azula?" asked Ty Lee "Will you do this?"

Azula's glare shifted towards Ty Lee for a moment before she directed it to the floor. This really wasn't going to be fun… this trip was slowly turning into some form of torture instead of the fun ride Ty Lee had promised it would be.

"Hey… it'll be over quickly, won't it?" said Sokka, taking notice of Azula's current fury. At first she had simply been irritated at Ty Lee… now she seemed mad enough to set the whole building on fire. And it wouldn't be the first time Azula burned down a building in Ember Island.

"Not quick enough" Azula grunted, shaking her head "Just… eat to your heart's content and that way I might have a reason to be glad about this mess"

"Are they really this bad?" Sokka asked, surprised "They've got to be terrible if they get you this angry…"

"I wouldn't say it's their fault entirely…" muttered Azula, at which the whole group seemed slightly surprised… and it was only then that she realized all the attention was on her.

The realization served to cool her head down a little, though she still couldn't placate her wrath completely. This was no time to let any of them see the monster that existed within her. She simply gave Ty Lee a cold smile next and dropped her hands at either side of her body as a gesture of surrender.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing you regret this soon enough, Ty Lee…" she said "Let's do this, then, before I come back to my senses"

"Now, that's just mean…" said Ty Lee, pouting, as they headed outside the Arena.

Sokka glanced at Azula worriedly while they walked down the hill where the Ember Crater stood. He could tell there was something big bothering her, just as there had been a week ago, when they were leaving the Grand Royal Dome. What was the matter with Azula lately? Was it related to the Gladiator Business? Or was it Ember Island itself? Though, no… there had been something else before, even. Something he had said on their way to the Grand Royal Dome didn't sit well with her… but he couldn't figure out what had been so wrong about it. And he definitely couldn't find a link between what he had said back then and what was displeasing her now. The only thing he thought he could assume, to his relief, was that he wasn't the cause of her irritation… she had been rather nice to him as of late. So it wasn't his fault.

But then what was it?

"Oh, I know where to go! Xuan's Restaurant!" Ty Lee exclaimed suddenly, at which both Sokka's and Azula's thoughts were interrupted drastically.

"Hell, no!" Sokka exclaimed immediately.

"For crying out loud…" said Azula, as Sokka refused drastically, to everyone else's surprise. It seemed Ty Lee was determined to make the worst possible decisions today… as if everything she had dragged them through so far wasn't bad enough.

But truly, heading to watch the play seemed the perfect way to finish tearing her down to pieces, to force her to succumb to the anger that swelled within her. Could she endure this? Could she make it past that wretched play without thinking about her mother, without having her head filling up with undesirable thoughts because of her? The bad feeling in her gut told her that she probably wouldn't…


	64. Chapter 64

"You did well today in your training, Azula" said Lo.

"You will master this new bending form in no time" said Li.

Azula smiled proudly as she walked down the Palace's halls with the two old ladies. Of course she would master this form soon... She was the most talented child to be born in the Fire Nation for centuries, her father had said so last night. She made him proud, she was his heir and he didn't care if she was a monster...

"I'm hungry" she said as she stopped by one of the gardens, and she turned to look at her caretakers firmly "Training was tiring. Get some snacks for me"

"But... You can't have snacks right before lunch, Azula" said the two old ladies.

"Oh, yeah? If you forgot, I'm a Princess. If I want snacks, you should get them for me. My father will be very angry if you don't do as I say..." Azula said.

Lo and Li didn't believe any father would be angry upon his daughter being kept from snacking before meals, yet the Princess had a point indeed. Ozai wasn't a reasonable man at all times, and he might actually grow furious if he knew they had refused his daughter. Perhaps they could leave in order to fulfill Azula's request, yet delay so long on the service that the child would be called for lunch before they could bring her the snacks.

It seemed a reasonable enough plan, a plan they conveyed through a mere glance towards one another. They bowed before Azula and took their leave without further protest, which pleased the child. Giving out commands, and having them obeyed, gave her a sense of fulfillment she relished in, and it provided her with the feeling that she truly was her father's heir.

But there was someone didn't agree with that notion.

"I am Father's heir" Zuko declared suddenly, almost startling Azula. She hadn't noticed he had approached her once Lo and Li were out of earshot.

"Oh? Why would he say it's me, then?" Azula said, turning to smirk at him.

"He… he just made a mistake" said Zuko, frowning "He knows I'm his heir. I'm the oldest. I'm a boy! You can't be his heir, no matter what!"

"You'll have to tell Father that" said Azula, still smiling proudly "I doubt he thinks so"

Zuko gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. The way his sister smirked so proudly made him angrier beyond belief… because she actually had reasons to be so proud. Why did their father love her better? What trait did she have that he lacked? She was two years younger than him, and granted she was a skilled bender, but that didn't mean he wasn't one as well! The same blood flowed through their veins, so what made her a more suitable heir for Ozai than Zuko was?

"It's not fair" he said, glaring at her "It's not fair! What makes you so special?!"

"What…? That father doesn't think of you as his heir isn't fair?" Azula asked, growing irritated. Well, if Zuko's loving mother thought her daughter was a monster, it didn't seem so unfair that Ozai would disregard Zuko as he did… "It's fair alright, even if you don't know why it is. I'm stronger, I'm smarter and I'm better than you at everything. It's only obvious that he'll think I'm his heir, because you're always running to mom and begging her to show you the turtle ducks…"

"W-what? I… I don't run to mom!" Zuko exclaimed, blushing.

"And then you say I'm the liar…" said Azula, smirking again.

Being called a liar didn't sit well with Zuko. He yelled and lifted a fist towards his sister, a fist that brought gold-and-orange flames with it. Azula jumped back instinctively and looked at Zuko in surprise. So this was how he wanted it, then…? He actually was going to bend at her? Well, two could play this game…

Never before had they fought one another like this. Azula was smaller, but that only seemed to be an advantage, for it made her quicker than her older brother. Zuko's movements weren't fluent, he didn't shift easily from one stance to the next, whereas Azula's fire seemed to obey her every move. She deflected his fire and evaded it, and Zuko sought to do the same about hers, but when Azula kicked an array of fire towards her brother, he found himself tripping with his own feet.

Zuko struggled to regain his balance, but Azula's hand reached out to his chest and she gripped his shirt, keeping him from falling with one hand while she got ready to shoot out a fire blast with the other one…

"AZULA!"

The scream was all too familiar, but terrifying for the child nonetheless. Her grip around Zuko's shirt was released instantly, but it was already too late. Ursa stood at the end of the hallway, looking at her in utmost indignation. Azula looked at her in dread, wide-eyed, while Zuko fell on his butt, embarrassed and bitter over the way his fight with his sister had ended.

Ursa was paralyzed as she assimilated what Azula had just done. Her eyes shone with fury and disbelief, and Azula could only step back. Well, now she had really done it… now nothing would change her mother's mind. It wouldn't matter that Zuko had attacked first, that if he really were stronger than her, he would have been the one attempting to strike her with his fire… no, it didn't matter, because all that would matter to Ursa was that Azula had been about to hurt her son.

The only thing that mattered was that Azula had proved, once again, that she truly was a monster.

The young Princess gritted her teeth, turned on her heels and ran away from her mother yet again, ignoring her angry commands for her to get back to her immediately. She couldn't go back. She wouldn't go back. She couldn't see her mother again. All she could do was run and cry in despair as she realized Lu Ten had been wrong about her… as she realized her mother was right. She was a monster…

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt someone taking his seat next to her, between her and Zuko.

"Fire flakes?" Sokka asked, beaming as he offered Azula the snacks.

Ah… snacks. Lo and Li never brought them for her, not on that occasion nor at any other. A Princess had to eat properly, and it wouldn't do her good to snack between meals… Azula would have rolled her eyes upon that thought if she hadn't thought Sokka would take it as a rejection. She didn't smile either, though. She simply stretched a hand towards his bag of food and took some fire flakes in her hand, hoping the spice would give her a reason to complain over something aside from her mother.

It sure didn't help that she had been sitting next to Zuko while Sokka went to get food. It was likely that his presence had triggered her memories again. And she didn't want them triggered, she wanted them gone for good…

"Uh… can I ask why are the three of us sitting behind those two?" Sokka asked, frowning "I don't approve of this seating order"

"You should approve of it" said Azula, sighing as she looked down at Haru and Ty Lee, who occupied the bench in front of theirs on the balcony "This way we can kick their seats if they get obnoxious and stop paying attention to the play. If she dragged me here for it, I'll make sure she doesn't miss a single detail of what happens in that stage"

"You won't have to kick my chair, that's too mean…" Ty Lee said from the front bench, pouting. Azula simply glared at her, eyebrows raised, daring Ty Lee to talk back to her again. The threat managed to silence Ty Lee effectively.

"Gotta say that's a good idea" said Sokka, smirking at Azula before turning towards Zuko with the fire flakes "You want some?"

"We just ate" growled Zuko. Azula rolled her eyes.

"Gee, alright, Mr. Mood-killer" said Sokka, grimacing "Here I thought this was the cool bench…"

"Not a chance if Zuko's sitting on it too, as expected" said Azula, shrugging.

Zuko might have retorted something, probably related again to the relationship he was certain didn't exist between Sokka and Azula, yet the lights on the stage were switched on at that moment, and their attentions drifted towards the play that was about to start.

"Uh… say, what exactly is this supposed to be about?" Sokka asked, leaning towards Azula ever so slightly. She rolled her eyes again, for the umpteenth time today.

"If you watch, you might find out" she said, glaring at him.

"But if they're really as bad as you say they are, they'll probably suck at the play, don't you think? It should be fun to criticize and judge them along with you!"

Azula couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief, but she smiled weakly. If he really wanted to hear her criticism, he surely would once the play was past its opening scenes. It was good to know she would have someone to condemn the play with.

"The story revolves around a powerful deity, the Dragon Emperor" said Azula "He is arrogant and foolish at the beginning of the story, relishing always in his own greatness and never caring for anyone other than himself. There is another dragon who had always loved him, but, since he only cared for himself, the Dragon Emperor hardly ever spared a thought towards her. His problems begin when a dark Water Spirit, spiteful over an old squabble with the Emperor, found a magical way to turn the Emperor into a mortal being in order to take revenge on him. So, with the help of the dragon who loved him, the Emperor struggles to regain his true form and defeat the spirit that wronged him so…"

"Heh…" said Sokka, munching fire flakes as he listened intently to Azula "Sounds like a classic story of some sort"

"It's a play based off an old Fire Nation folk's tale" said Azula, shrugging as the actors stepped into the stage and began their performance "And… ugh, they're already ruining it" she whispered, shaking her head. Sokka frowned and leaned towards her, trying not to speak too loudly.

"Why? What's wrong about that?" Sokka asked.

"Look, this very scene is meant to portray why the Dragon Emperor's selfishness earns him the disdain of the other dragons…" Azula muttered at him, gesturing towards the stage as she spoke softly.

Sokka found himself unable to keep track of what she was saying after a short moment. He wasn't paying any attention to the play either, all he did was look at her as she talked about the Ember Island Players' mistakes. He smiled as he detailed her face carefully, the way her mouth moved as she talked, the way her brow became furrowed and her eyes glared down at the stage with disapproval and contempt…

"That seems to be a very exaggerated Water Spirit…" muttered Zuko, frowning and pulling Sokka out of his daze when he spoke.

"Well, I suppose you'd know, expert Water Spirit as you were…" said Azula, unable to hold back a smirk.

"Yeah, I guess I would" Zuko retorted, bitterly.

"Huh?" Sokka asked, looking from one to the other rapidly "What's that about? Was Zuko in a play?"

"What? Of course not!" said Zuko, looking at Sokka as though he had lost his mind "Azula and I… when we were young we'd play at being the Dragon Emperor and the Water Spirit, and Azula would never fail to be the Dragon Emperor"

"You can't deny the role suited me best" said Azula, shrugging "And it would even suit me better nowadays"

Zuko groaned and rolled his eyes at that. He was sick and tired of Azula's superior attitude… he had been sick of it for ages. His entire childhood he had spent it under her shadow when it should have been the other way around. She got her way more times than not, she had their father backing her at most anything… and she had her way even while at play. Not once did he have the chance to play at being the Dragon Emperor. She was the younger sister, he had to be nice to her even when she wasn't nice to him…

There was only one thing in his childhood that Azula hadn't ruined: his mother. He had always feared she would cease to love him, all the same as his father had, when Azula grew older… but no, Ursa had always remained by his side. She had taught him much, and helped him grow into the man he was today. She had raised him almost by herself, since Ozai had cast him aside to focus completely in Azula once she had proven to be better than him at nearly anything.

But that had never mattered to Ursa. She didn't care who was the most talented child… she had loved him unconditionally, for he had been her son. She had believed in him, she was the only person who had ever granted him lasting happiness… and then she had disappeared. She wasn't with him anymore, much like nobody else was.

Iroh had insisted that he would always stand by Zuko to support him… he had told Zuko that he had friends who loved and cared for him. But did he really have them? Iroh only thought of Zuko as his own because Lu Ten was gone. Ty Lee had asked him to come to this trip, but all along she had been drooling over Haru and she hardly paid him any attention at all. Mai had forgotten about him and married another man. His father kept choosing Azula over him, as always… and Kyoshi's Heir had vanished without a trace, for she likely didn't want anything to do with him either.

Ursa was the only person who had ever loved him for who he was, to the point of asking him to never lose sight of his true self as her last wish. But who was he? She didn't want him to forget who he was, but that was easier said than done… she thought he was someone who didn't give up even when things were hard, but he had given up on finding the Avatar. So what was he now? Who was he? Had he disappointed his mother completely? Would she be ashamed of him if she knew…? No, hopefully not. For she loved him. She always had. She promised she always would.

He bent forward and rubbed his forehead with his fingers, incapable of watching more of the play. He thought it would be good to remember his mother by watching this performance, but the memories were far more painful than they were enjoyable. Every time she had smiled to him, every time she had told him to let his sister be the Dragon Emperor this time…

Azula could only glower at her brother in silence when she saw him move. She grew stiff and her hand balled into a fist on her lap, for she knew just what Zuko was doing to himself while watching the play. It was the same thing she had been doing to herself, after all. What she had been doing for weeks on end now. She couldn't keep her mind from drifting towards her mother either as the Dragon Emperor and the Water Spirit fought for the first time on stage.

But her thoughts were noticeably different from Zuko's. In her mind, her mother was nowhere close to a heroine. She thought Azula to be a monster… she always had, she always would. She had always hated Azula, favored her brother over her and never given Azula any of the care she had given Zuko… not even when Azula and Zuko played at being the Dragon Emperor and Water Spirit. Ursa would always hug Zuko and tell him he could be the Spirit this time around… that it wouldn't make her like him any less. And what of Azula? She played the hero, the one she was supposed to root for. And yet Ursa never had. She would never support Azula, no matter the situation… and why? Wasn't she her daughter, all the same as Zuko was her son? Why was it that Azula was never hugged, that she was never the one Ursa laughed with, that she had never even heard her say she loved her…?

Sokka noticed Azula growing tense next to him. She had turned her face away from the play, but the look on her face wasn't that of someone disappointed with a bad performance. No… she was upset, genuinely upset, over something he couldn't understand. It was the same expression she had made back when they were at the Arena. What was the matter?

He took her by surprise when he placed his hand atop hers. She blinked and turned to look at him, expecting him to withdraw it immediately, but he didn't. There was something in his eyes… concern, was it? Why was he looking at her like this? Was it that easy to notice she was troubled…? Was it so easy for him to see she still didn't want to accept she was a monster?

"You alright?" he asked, frowning a little.

"I…" she said, not knowing how to respond to his intense gaze.

Yet she didn't have a chance to respond. Zuko suddenly stood up, taking the entire group by surprise when he did. Sokka's hand moved away from Azula's as he turned to look at the Prince, who was gritting his teeth as he turned to leave the balcony even though the play had only just begun.

"Zuko?" Ty Lee called, as Zuko stormed out through the hallway "Zuko!"

There was no answer to her calls. Haru had turned as well, just as confused over whatever had upset Zuko as Ty Lee and Sokka were. But Azula knew. Azula understood why he had stormed off. She knew why he couldn't bear watch another second of this wretched play…

"What the hell was that about?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We… we should probably go after him" said Ty Lee, standing up.

"Zuko knows Ember Island well enough, Ty Lee" Azula stated coldly "You needn't fear he'll get lost in the dark…"

"But Azula…" said Ty Lee, grimacing "He wouldn't have stormed off unless there was something wrong"

"Maybe he needed to go to the bathroom" said Azula, shrugging "Why worry so much about Zuko, Ty Lee, really? Didn't you want to enjoy the play?"

"I don't think I'll enjoy it if I'm worried he might go do something stupid…" said Ty Lee, gulping "We should go find him"

"What?" said Azula, glaring at Ty Lee.

"Azula, he's your brother" said Ty Lee, looking at her reproachfully "You should care if he's distressed over something"

 _And who cares when I'm distressed over something, pray tell?_ Azula thought bitterly, glaring at Ty Lee. Hardly anyone had cared in the slightest if she was upset, angry or sad. She didn't need anyone's assistance to get over her problems, so why should she help Zuko overcome his?

"I… I want to watch the play, but not like this" said Ty Lee, standing up and walking towards the doorway "Let's find Zuko"

Haru followed her immediately, and Sokka gulped. He looked at Azula worriedly… clearly, there was something bothering her just as well as something bothered Zuko. Was it they were each other's reasons to be upset? If that were the case, the wisest thing might be to keep them separated. Maybe he ought to stay here in the theater with her…

But Azula rolled her eyes and huffed angrily, standing up swiftly and motioning Sokka to do the same.

"Come on" she said, annoyed.

"But… Azula, are you…?"

"I'm fine" she spat back at him before he could finish his sentence "Get moving, I said"

Her authoritarian tone startled him. She hadn't spoken to him like this ever since had gotten stranded in the forest. It was the exact same tone with which she had deemed him an eyesore when he had come to apologize to her after his fight with the Savage Hook. Her eyes even had the same cold quality to them… even though they gleamed like raging fire. Curiously, Azula had always held an odd balance between fire and ice within herself.

Sokka didn't understand why she was forcing herself to do something she didn't want to do. Ty Lee would likely be able to take care of Zuko on her own… and Haru could help her if she needed any assistance. If Zuko was upset about something, about anything, all logic told Sokka that Azula wouldn't be able to help him… and if Azula was upset about something, there was hardly any chance that helping Zuko would help her in turn.

But it seemed that logic wouldn't stop her. Maybe she was trying to pretend there was nothing wrong with her, that she needed nobody's attention, much unlike Zuko.

She passed Sokka by, her brow contracted in a deep frown as she left the balcony as well. Sokka gulped and walked after her, far more worried about Azula than he was about her brother…

It took them longer than expected to find Zuko. Azula had suspected he might have headed towards their family's old house in Ember Island, but to her relief, the gates of the house were closed and barred when they approached it, as they had been for the last thirteen years. He couldn't have come in here if that was the case.

Yet they spotted a lonely figure by the empty beach later on, sitting on the sand while staring off towards the dark sea. The group had headed towards him, guided by the streets' lanterns until they reached the shore, where the only light that gleamed was that of the moon in the night sky. They reached Zuko silently, and nobody spoke a word until Ty Lee approached and knelt beside him.

"Zuko…" she muttered, noticing he was far sadder than he was angry "Are you alright, Zuko?"

"I just stormed off a theater and you ask if I'm alright?" he retorted with sarcasm, unwilling to look at Ty Lee.

"You don't have to be so mean, we're just trying to help you" said Ty Lee, as Haru approached as well. Sokka kept some distance, and Azula stood even farther behind him, glaring daggers at her brother's back.

"I don't want any help" Zuko grunted "I… I just need to be left alone"

"Well, good. Let's leave" said Azula, unwilling to waste another moment with this.

"Azula…" Ty Lee said reproachfully, looking at her before turning towards Zuko once more "Zuko, please, if there's something wrong you can just tell us!"

"Well, why do you care?!" Zuko exclaimed "It's not like it really concerns anyone but me!"

"But Zuko, we're your friends! Of course we care!" said Ty Lee, a hand on his shoulder "If we didn't care, we wouldn't be here for you… but we are. So please… let us help you, Zuko"

"Help…?" he repeated, gritting his teeth. Would it really help to tell her anything? Would it be any use to open up to Ty Lee? Opening up to Iroh hadn't worked out so badly… could it be the same this time around? "You can't help me…"

"At least I can try" she said, biting her lip.

"I doubt you can do anything, Ty Lee" he said, shaking his head as he finally gave in to her pleas "It's not like you can bring my mother back…"

"Z-Zuko…" she said, gulping.

Sokka frowned as he looked at Zuko in confusion. Was this about their mother…? Then… was that the reason Azula was so angry?

"I… I thought remembering her might help…" he said, gritting his teeth and lowering his head "The play… i-it should have been fun to watch it, to remember how it was when she took us to the theater… but the only thing I can feel is loneliness! I… I can't stop feeling miserable, she's been gone for too long… I just miss her…"

Azula's anger could only increase upon hearing Zuko talk. It seemed he was about to cry. Well, perfect. There it was again, just as it had been when they were children. He would cry and earn everyone's attention, because his problems and his pain were so hard to bear he just had to project them onto everyone else, even if nobody else cared. For she sure didn't care. She didn't care if he missed his perfect, wonderful, loving mother. She'd never had a mother of the sort, so this way he might understand what it felt like to be Azula. He might understand what it was like to be abandoned by those who should have loved her most…

"It's okay to miss her, Zuko…" said Ty Lee "There's nothing wrong about it at all. And it's better if you just tell us about it, I'm sure… keeping everything inside won't help you at all"

Azula had to hold back the urge to laugh as she turned away from Zuko, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingers. Keeping things inside? Zuko wasn't keeping anything inside! He was showering the world with his sorrows constantly, day by day, never moving on, never progressing with his life! He was too busy burdening everyone else with his own problems to even realize others had their own hardships to bear… ah, but he didn't care, did he? He was the one who needed all the attention, the one who needed to be loved and cared for at all times…

"I… I just feel so alone, I… I failed her, Ty Lee, she… she told me not to forget who I was. It was the last thing she said to me, when she said goodbye…"

Azula turned upon that and looked at Zuko with indignation.

"What…?" she muttered, her voice shaking.

"S-she told me never to forget who I was…" Zuko said "It was the last thing she ever said to me, and…"

"Wait just a moment, Zuko…" Azula said, stepping towards him "What's that supposed to mean? She said… she said goodbye to you? Really?"

"She came into my room… the very night when she left" Zuko replied, sighing "I didn't think it was a goodbye, so I just fell asleep again… I didn't realize it was the last time I'd see her…"

"But she… she went into your room" said Azula, stepping back again, gritting her teeth as she felt the weight of the world falling down upon her with this new revelation "Of course she would have…"

"She's the only person who had ever loved me for who I was" said Zuko, gritting his teeth "And… and I don't know what to do. She'd be so disappointed in me if she saw me now…"

"No, I'm sure she wouldn't be" said Ty Lee, biting her lip.

"No, she wouldn't be, Zuko" Azula agreed, with a dangerous smile that only served to conceal her hurt and fury.

Sokka looked at her worriedly, knowing now that his guess must have been spot on. Now he thought he had never seen Azula like this… there was something about her that seemed out of place, perhaps… as if she were broken inside. It was even worse than when she had lost the spark in her eyes back when their relationship had fallen apart…

"I assure you, our mother would never be disappointed in you" she said, seeking to conceal her bitterness but failing at it "I thought you were aware of that. You'd never let her down, no matter what you did. So why think you would have this time? Obviously, if she were here, she would have hugged you and said that your failures mean nothing to her, that her love for you will linger forever"

Zuko glanced towards her for a moment, with a scowl. Azula simply met his gaze with anger while Ty Lee grimaced.

"Azula, please…" she said Ty Lee, at which Azula twitched.

"What? Isn't that what he wants to hear?" Azula retorted angrily.

"It's not the time to be snarky like that… a-and there's no need to be so upset!" Ty Lee said, looking at Azula warily now.

"No… of course not" said Azula, glaring at Ty Lee and Zuko. There was no need for her to be so upset… ah, but Zuko had every right to be upset, didn't he? This was like a sick, twisted joke, truly… "You know what? I'm… I'm done with this. I can't even watch this. By all means, go ahead and bawl your eyes out, Zuko, I'm not ruining your parade… but I sure as hell am not joining it either"

"Azula…" Sokka said, as she turned around and stormed away through the beach in anger "AZULA!"

"Let her go" said Zuko angrily, as Azula climbed the steps towards the streets again. Sokka didn't listen, though, for he continued calling out for the Princess. But she ignored him all the same.

"Uh…" said Ty Lee, standing up and looking towards where Azula had just vanished. Oh, she ought to apologize to Azula, but something told her approaching her right now wouldn't end well for her.

"This isn't good" muttered Haru, gulping. This definitely wasn't the idea he had of a fun trip… who knew a prince and princess could have so many problems?

"We should go after her" said Sokka, gritting his teeth "Something has been bothering her for a while now, I don't know what it is, but…"

"Never mind her" said Zuko, standing up and glancing towards the sea before turning towards Sokka "Let her leave, it's not like it matters. She's perfect after all… this sort of stuff is beneath her"

"What…?" said Sokka, turning towards Zuko and staring at him in disbelief.

"She can't feel any empathy for someone in pain, that's the way she's always been" said Zuko "She'd hurt the turtle ducks in the Palace's pond and she wouldn't feel a thing. Maybe she's just selfish. Maybe she just doesn't care about anyone but herself. Just let her leave, she just can't watch how people with real emotions behave, it just makes her too uncomfortable to…"

Zuko's speech was interrupted drastically, in a way nobody expected it to be.

One of Sokka's hands had gone to Zuko's shirt, with which he pulled him towards him. The other hand was pressed into a tight fist, which struck Zuko's jaw so powerfully that the Prince fell over into the sand upon the force of the impact.

"ZUKO!" Ty Lee exclaimed as he collapsed on the sand.

Haru looked at Sokka in shock, but his expression soon turned to fear when he saw the anger in Sokka's features now. Never before had he seen his friend as furious as he was now.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Zuko shouted, a hand going to his brand new injury as Ty Lee tried to help him sit up.

"That's what I ought to say, you asshole!" Sokka snarled at Zuko. His wrath was such that Zuko seemed to freeze, unable to find it in him to respond to the gladiator "How dare you…? How can you say such things about your own sister?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I… it's the truth, nothing more than that…!" grunted Zuko, rubbing his jaw.

"The truth?! You're… you're unbelievable" said Sokka, shaking his head "You don't even know her! How dare you talk about her as if you understood anything about her?! You have no idea what that girl has been through!"

"And you have no idea what I've been through!" Zuko shouted back.

"Oh, yeah? I'm pretty sure EVERYONE knows what you've been through, Zuko!" Sokka yelled "The Fire Lord's son, got burned and disowned by his father, spent ten years at sea trying to find the Avatar and failed! The girl he hoped to marry one day went with another guy and now he's left with nothing! Tell me, did I miss anything?!"

Zuko recoiled at that. He looked at Sokka with some fear now, not knowing if he ought to be ashamed now or if he should press on…

"And what do you know about your sister?!" Sokka shouted "Do you have the slightest clue of how many hardships she has endured?! Do you even begin to imagine what sort of battles she's had to fight to keep others from stepping all over her?! Do you have a clue of what sort of pain your sister has endured in silence, simply because she'd rather keep all her problems to herself than trouble others with them?! No, you don't! And you know why you don't?! Because you're too busy burdening everyone with your own crap to even spare a thought her way that isn't full of envy and spite!"

Zuko stared at Sokka in shock, the pulsating pain in his jaw increasing with every passing second.

"Don't you dare judge her!" Sokka shouted stepping towards Zuko and grabbing him by the shirt again to pull him up "And don't you dare call her selfish! You… you really should be ashamed of yourself…"

With that, he dropped Zuko to the ground again. The Prince could only look at him with the same dumbfounded expression on his face.

"She's your sister" Sokka grunted, his teeth gritted "Your only sister. Yeah, sisters can be a pain in the ass to their older brothers, but that doesn't make them any less their siblings. And as an older brother, your parents tell you to put your needs aside for your sister's. They'll tell you to protect her, to watch over her, to make sure she's safe! That's what an older brother should do! That's what you should be for her!"

"But she's…"

"She's difficult?! Why, how long did it take you to figure that out?! Hell, of course she is! But don't you think that might be because you've spent your entire life thinking only about yourself and never about her?! When was the last time you ever did something for her sake, Zuko?! Tell me! When was the last time you put your needs aside for hers?! When was the last time you talked properly with her?! When was the last time you asked her how she was doing simply because you CARE?!"

Zuko looked helpless now. Haru and Ty Lee were also looking at Sokka with utter disbelief, never having seen him as angry as he was now.

"Ah, but… maybe you just don't" said Sokka, his glare becoming even colder as he looked at Zuko with disdain "Maybe you're too busy thinking about your own problems to realize she has a fair share of her own… who is really the selfish one, I wonder?"

"I…" Zuko mumbled, wishing he could defend himself somehow but failing to find the means. That terrifying azure glare kept him from thinking straight.

"You've got no right, Zuko… no right at all" grunted Sokka, shaking his head "Don't you dare judge your sister. You don't know anything about her. Do her a favor and grow up so that you can begin acting like the brother she deserves, will you?"

"S-Sokka…" Ty Lee whispered, but Sokka turned on his heels and left, following the very same path Azula had walked earlier. Ty Lee looked down at Zuko again, aghast to see his jaw was swelling "Oh, Zuko…"

But Zuko was in such a state of shock he couldn't react just yet. What Sokka had said had been far more hurtful than the punch… and it was hurtful because behind those words there was truth, far more truth than he dared acknowledge. Maybe Azula hadn't been the perfect sister to him… but he wasn't a perfect brother either. And that was something he couldn't blame her for. Maybe she was difficult… but maybe he hadn't tried as hard as he could have. Maybe his mother had been wrong to think he was someone who always tried his very best… he never had when it came to Azula.

* * *

She ran fast, and yet it wasn't fast enough. The consequences of her actions would catch up to her, she had always known they would. Her mother wouldn't let this go, she wouldn't listen to anything she had to say… all Azula could do was run and hope Ursa never found her.

She took a sharp turn around a corner and glanced up long enough just to see she had come in the right direction. She confirmed it when she saw him standing there, speaking solemnly to his father and other generals that had just come out of a war meeting. Azula dropped her head again and moved quickly past all of the men before finally reaching Prince Ozai.

Ozai was startled when he felt a pair of arms wrapping around his leg. He looked down and saw, with utter astonishment, that it was none other than his daughter, who seemed was crying inconsolably for some reason he couldn't fathom. But he was certain the sight of a child in tears would displease Azulon… and as he predicted, it did.

"What is the meaning of this, Ozai?" Azulon asked, his furrowed brow contracting even more so.

"I can't presume to know, Father" Ozai replied, unsure of what to do. Should he push Azula away, to keep from incurring in his father's wrath, or should he address whatever it was that had made his daughter cry?

"Then go find out" grunted Azulon, shaking a hand as though to give the matter no importance "Get that tearful girl out of my sight"

"I'll make sure she doesn't cry on the next opportunity you see her" Ozai declared, as he pulled Azula away "You have my word, father"

"You'd best not make promises you cannot keep…" grunted Azulon, leering at Azula one last time before turning towards a nearby general to speak with him.

Ozai ignored his father's words and he took Azula away, towards the higher levels of the Palace. He needed to know what it was that had made his child cry in this way… and soon enough he did, once they were both within an empty room, safely outside anyone's earshot. Azula poured everything out as soon as he beckoned her to explain the reasoning behind her tears, and she looked up at her father in hopelessness once she was finished. If there was anyone left in the Palace who could be her ally, it would be her father…

But to her dismay, her father seemed to think this was a bad joke, for he had smiled at her with disdain once she had finished talking. Now she regretted having spoken…

"Is this truly why you wept, Azula?" he said, shaking his head "This is no matter to cry about, child"

"But… b-but mom thinks I'm a monster, and…" she gasped, tears still streaming down her face.

"What of it, Azula?" Ozai asked, taking her by surprise "What is so wrong of being a monster, I wonder? Why should you be so scared, so unwilling to be one? Azula… there's only one motive behind Ursa's behavior towards you: she fears you"

"S-she… she fears me?" Azula repeated.

"Of course. She knows you're powerful. She doesn't know how to keep you in line, so she's afraid" said Ozai, smiling "She's afraid you'll become greater and stronger than anyone before you. She fears… because she is weak. And so is Zuko. But you, my daughter, you are not weak"

"I'm not…" Azula agreed "I'm talented, I'm strong, I…"

"You are better than they could ever dream to be" Ozai declared "Take pleasure in that, Azula. Take pride in your strength. Don't hide it behind tears and flights… don't run away from anyone ever again, Azula. Don't lower your head before them, for you are a Princess. You are my heir, as I already said yesterday. They are the ones who ought to lower their heads before you. Ah… and don't cry. Sorrows only weigh on you. Sorrows only make you weak. You cannot be weak if you're to take my place in the world one day, Azula. You cannot be weak if you will become Fire Lord"

"I… I'll become Fire Lord?" Azula asked, surprised "How?"

"Why, once I die, you shall succeed me on the Throne, of course" said Ozai, smirking "You don't believe your grandfather will be around forever, do you?"

"No, but… uncle Iroh…"

"Never mind your uncle. He hasn't got what it takes to rule, everybody knows it" said Ozai, frowning "The crown will pass on to me… and then to you, when you're ready. But I will not let my crown be placed on the head of a girl who cries and runs away. My heir must be strong, resilient, proud… my heir capable of anything, Azula. Do you believe you can you do that?"

"I… I think so" she said, biting her lip.

"No more insecurities, then" he said "No need to fear anything, Azula. The entire world exists solely to answer to you. And you fear your mother will see you as a monster? Why, then, let your mother see just what you're capable of. Let her see that you are the most powerful firebender ever born in the Fire Nation. Let her scold you and tell you to hold back, but never do as she tells you. You needn't let anyone hold you back"

"But then she'll… what if she punishes me?" Azula asked.

"Why, I had assumed you were witty enough not to let her catch you" said Ozai, smirking "If you don't want to be told off… then be smart about your means, be careful about what you do. Defy her, but don't let her realize you're defying her. Smirk whenever she gives you a command… play with her, toy with her feeble mind. You can do this and much more, Azula. You are superior to your mother, superior to Zuko… you have nothing to fear from them. If your mother dares say another word against you, she will have to answer to me"

"She will?" Azula asked, surprised "Then… about what happened just now…"

"If she dares to accuse you of attacking your brother, I shall tell her the very story you just told me" said Ozai, smiling "And it matters not if she chooses not to believe it. We both know the truth, Azula…"

"I didn't start it" Azula said, and Ozai chuckled.

"No, Azula. We both know the truth above that, the one I've just told you. You're superior. You're better than her. You needn't cry over her, over anyone or anything… for it is only her fear which makes her treat you as she does. It is only fear that leads her to believe you are a monster. Prove to her that you don't care if she calls you a monster… Prove to her just how much of a monster you can be. Teach her a lesson she will never forget. Show her who holds the true power in your relationship…"

It took a moment for Ozai's words to sink into Azula's young mind, but eventually, they did.

And from that day onwards, she was no longer the child who fled from her mother's lectures. She didn't hide her tears as she sought solace in the darkness, as far from Ursa as possible… no. From that day onwards, Azula smiled at her mother, for she knew she held a power her mother didn't possess. She knew her father was on her side. She knew she would become Fire Lord one day.

She knew that everyone around her feared her. She knew her powers existed for the sake of exploiting that fear. She knew she was meant for greatness, and she knew emotions could hold her back from it if she let herself be swayed by them. From that day onwards, Princess Azula shut her heart away completely. No longer did she care for her brother's boasts of his great deeds, for she knew she was destined for something superior than whatever he could hope to accomplish. No longer did she cry before her grandfather, nor did he dismiss her as though she disgusted him. No more tears left her eyes for years on end, for she wouldn't allow them to.

Even when the notice of Lu Ten's death arrived, Azula did not cry. A part of her heart still wished he would return one day to let her mother know Azula wasn't a monster, a part of her heart she had kept buried deep inside herself… but it was only a small part, she had made sure of that, and she refused to let her sadness show. And why should she be sad? He had broken the promise he had made to her. He had said he would come back to tell Ursa that Azula was no monster… but it was too late now. He would never return. Ursa would never know her daughter wasn't actually a monster…

And for that, she could only begrudge him. For that, she could only be angry. She deserved better… and thus she concluded she could trust no one. She wouldn't trust anyone anymore, anyone but her father. He was the only one who had believed in her. He had turned her into the powerful leader and bender she was shaping up to be. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else could matter.

Not even that her mother vanished without a trace not long after Lu Ten died could matter. That the woman hadn't even said goodbye to her was irrelevant. It didn't matter just how much her heart hurt when she thought about Ursa, it didn't matter that at night she might dream of sitting beside her by the turtle duck pond, as she often did with Zuko… for said dreams would never become a reality. Her mother had left… she had left and Azula didn't know why. But she didn't have to know why. No longer would Ursa hold her back anymore. She was free to release her full potential and become what her father wanted her to be. Those lingering feelings of pain were only a hindrance. And she couldn't allow them to fester within her heart. Everything had been for the best, she knew it was so. Crying at night was wrong, it was stupid, it was something Zuko would do. Not her. She was strong. She couldn't let herself be weak. She was to become Fire Lord one day…

Azula stumbled as she made her way through the house Ty Lee had rented. It was quite dark inside, so it was hard to make out the shapes, especially when her eyes were blurry and unfocused because of the tears she refused to shed. She walked through the vestibule and towards the living room. She reached the nearest window and placed her hands on the windowsill, her long nails digging into the wood as her chest heaved. She needed to calm down. She couldn't let her emotions get the better of her, not now, not ever… her father told her those emotions were futile, useless, and he always made sure to remind her of it. Emotions only lead to weakness… and she couldn't be weak. She couldn't let herself cry another tear over her mother, not anymore. She had better things to concern herself with, the only hope she should still hold towards her mother should be for the woman to remain gone…

She heard sounds behind her, and she turned around quickly. No… nobody should have followed her. They should have remained with Zuko, comforting him as he wept because he missed his mom… why would anyone come after her?

But when she saw who it was that had come, she surprised herself by not being surprised at all. Of course he would have come… of course he would make the brilliant decision to come to her when she was most troubled. She couldn't face him like this… especially not him.

"Azula…" Sokka whispered, as he closed the house's door behind him, the door Azula had left wide open when she had barged inside "I'm glad you came here, for a moment I didn't know where you might have…"

"Go… go away" she said, glaring at him menacingly. Sokka stopped on his tracks upon the viciousness on her voice.

"Azula?" he said, confused, as he walked towards her by the window "What is…?"

"Go away, I said! Leave me! Go cradle Zuko in your arms, he clearly needs someone to do that now that his dear loving mother isn't here anymore, so just…!"

"What the…? Hell, no!" said Sokka, grimacing "Why on earth would I want to cradle Zuko in my arms? Azula, what are you…?"

"Just LEAVE!" she exclaimed, and it wasn't until then that Sokka saw the tears on her eyes.

He froze on his spot, only a few feet away from her. The look on his eyes was that of concern… but to Azula it looked like fear. Well, perfect. Now Sokka feared her as well, even though he had never feared her before. But naturally, he would be afraid… he was finally seeing the monster she hid behind that apparently perfect exterior…

"Azula…" he said, still unmoving.

"Get out of here, Sokka, if you know what's good for you" she grunted, her glare as fierce as ever.

"Azula, come on, I… what's the matter? Can't you tell me what…?"

"No, I can't" Azula muttered "And you're not going to help me. Nobody can help me. Get out of here"

"I… I came here for you, Azula" he said, frowning "I came to…"

"To do what, exactly?!" Azula exclaimed, as her invisible mask finally fell off her face so that he would finally see the real Azula "To watch how I fall apart for no apparent reason?! Well, you see, Sokka, I've always been broken inside! From the very beginning, I've been broken! You never knew it, you never saw me for what I really was, but I've always been broken! And she knew it! She saw me for the monster I really am!"

"What the…? Monster?" Sokka repeated, puzzled "Azula, what…?"

"My own mother…" she said, shaking now. The tears began streaming down her face, even though she willed them not to. She couldn't cry. She shouldn't cry. It was wrong. Her father had said so enough times, so why should she? "… She said so herself, she… she believed I was a monster. She… she would ask what was wrong with me, she would yell at me… because she knew I was a monster. Because she saw the truth behind everything, she… she knew I was a monster"

Sokka couldn't utter a single word. He hadn't seen Azula cry in quite a long time… and even though this time it wasn't because of him that she wept, all he wanted to do was to erase those tears. To exchange her sadness for happiness. But how?

"It's why she wouldn't say goodbye, you see…" said Azula, now laughing nervously as her shoulders shook "It's why she didn't care for me. It's why… why Zuko's mother was such a sweet, loving woman, while mine was strict and unloving… because… because no matter how I tried to impress her, how I sought to gain her attention one way or another, it… it wouldn't work because I was… because I was a monster. I am one. I've… I've always been one"

Sokka gritted his teeth now. How could Azula say these words…? How could she speak of herself like this? Why had her mother said such a thing about her…?

"And Lu Ten knew it…" Azula said, her head going down as she found herself sobbing now "He knew it! He… he promised he would change her mind… he… he said he would talk to mother, he would tell her… he would make her see I wasn't what she thought I was… but then… but then he died in Ba Sing Se, and for the longest time I never even… I never even mourned him, because… because I was angry, because he hadn't returned to tell mother that I… I … I was just… It was so much easier to be angry than sad, it was so much easier because I didn't want to miss him… but in the end, that's just… that's just what makes me a monster, isn't it? Maybe… m-maybe that's why he couldn't come back… because he couldn't tell mother… he couldn't tell her I wasn't a monster, for it would have been a lie…"

Her cousin, the one who had been buried in a hill at Ba Sing Se… Sokka looked at Azula worriedly, as she fell silent for a moment, her crying so violent now she couldn't say another word. He made to approach, and this time she didn't send him away… but soon enough she was speaking again.

"And I know… I know I shouldn't cry. I feel so… so stupid" she said, shaking her head "What does it matter what she thought? What did it matter if Lu Ten… if Lu Ten didn't return? What does it matter if she's gone?! It doesn't! She's… she's better off away from me! I don't… I don't want her… I don't need her… I don't deserve her…"

"Azula…"

"W-what mother would hate her own child…?" Azula asked, shuddering "What sort of a mother could ever…? She loved Zuko so much, so… so it's obvious the problem was always… the problem was always me… and I shouldn't cry about it, because I know it! I… I know I've brought this upon myself… I know crying won't help me… if anything, it only renders me helpless… I can't cry anymore about her, I shouldn't… Father… Father says emotions are weakness, Father… he thinks I shouldn't care… he always thought I shouldn't care… but why can't I stop caring? Why… why can't I stop crying?"

She tried to wipe away the tears from her eyes, but it was impossible, for they wouldn't stop flowing. She hugged herself and lowered her head, wishing to conceal her crying even though it was too late to do so. He had seen her… he had heard her. After all this time thinking she didn't want Sokka to know the truth about her, now he did, and all because she had suddenly began rambling. Why had she said any of this to him? What did she think she would accomplish by telling him anything? She had accomplished nothing. Now he knew she was a monster… and soon enough he would leave her, all the same as her mother had, all the same as Lu Ten had…

But instead of walking away from her, as Azula had expected him to, Sokka strode towards her. His arms surrounded her suddenly, and before she knew it she was crying on his chest, her nails now clawing at his clothes as she sobbed desperately, uncontrollably, in his arms.

Sokka held her closely, his head atop hers as he rubbed her back gently. None of what she had said made any sense to him. There was no way he could believe it… no way he could believe she was a monster. Not after everything they've been through, not after he had come to know her as well as he did.

But now he understood why Zuko had spoken of his sister as he had. Now he understood why Azula always pushed people away even when they genuinely cared about her… it was because she thought herself unlovable. She thought she was a monster. And at some point along the way, she had actually decided to believe she was one, so that nobody would ever come close enough to see her for who she truly was. It was why she couldn't pardon herself any weaknesses… why she didn't wish to feel, why she had shut herself away from emotions. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do it. She couldn't stop feeling. If anything, the tears she was shedding right now were proof of it. Azula was incredibly smart and calculating… but not when it came to herself, it seemed to Sokka.

She clutched at him as though she might fall to pieces if she didn't hold on. His arms were around her all the same, to keep her together, to show her that this time she wasn't alone… all her life she had been alone, all along there had been no one who would stand beside her in either the best and worst moments of her life. And she had always kept everything inside because she thought her emotions were a waste. Her father wouldn't approve of her tears… he would believe that his daughter was weak for caring about what her mother had thought. And thus Azula herself had come to think she had no right to cry about this. She didn't think anyone would understand why she wept… she didn't want anyone to understand it either, for they would think her weak, like Zuko.

And Azula could only think she truly was as weak as her brother now. She was pressed against Sokka, crying her heart out because her mother thought she was a monster… she was shameful, really. He'd likely think she was stupid for weeping over something as ridiculous as this. At the very least Zuko had a scar across his face, it was acceptable to cry about that, surely. But her mother deeming her a monster… it was dumb. What sort of a fool would suffer over this?

She didn't want him to judge her… especially, not him. Anyone else could do it, but not Sokka. She had no idea what he was to her… for he sure wasn't just her gladiator, but she didn't really understand what the nature of their relationship was. Nevertheless, she didn't want to lose him. She didn't want him to lose the image he had of her… and surely, after this, he must have lost it. As he held her while she cried over something so stupid, all the respect he had ever held for her must have gone down the drain…

Azula forced herself to stop crying on him, taking deep breaths in hopes to calm down. It had been enough weakness for now. She couldn't let her grief consume her…

The touch of his hand on her face startled her. She glanced at it, through her watery eyes, and realized his thumb was wiping away her tears. What was he doing…? Why wipe her tears, what on earth…?

"Sokka… what are you…?" she muttered, but she was brusquely interrupted when it wasn't only his thumbs on her cheeks.

His lips pressed against hers gently, keeping her from saying anything else. Now she shivered, but for a completely different reason. Why was he kissing her…? Didn't he hear what she had told him? She was a monster! She couldn't be loved, not even by her own mother! What did he think he was doing?

"S-Sokka, you…" she said again, when he pulled away briefly. When he saw she would still try to talk, he silenced her with another kiss.

She couldn't respond, baffled as she was. Nothing she had said was worth kissing her… what was it with him? What the hell was wrong with Sokka? Why should he want to kiss her right now, when she was such a mess? She was disheveled, emotionally wrecked and crying uncontrollably, and yet he was kissing her. What the hell was he trying to accomplish?

After a few more kisses, she found she didn't care about what he was trying to do. Even though she was miserable and upset, the thrill of excitement as he kissed her was still there. If he really was going to do this, then maybe she should go along with it… The hands that had been clutching at his clothes with despair now moved up to his chest. Sokka feared for an instant that she might push him away, but she didn't. She still wasn't responding to his kisses, but it didn't seem she was going to fight them anymore…

Sokka held her face in his hands gently as his lips caressed her cheeks now. Azula was breathing heavily as she felt him kiss her face, wiping away her tears through different means now. She had stopped crying, but probably only because she was too astonished to figure out how to react to Sokka's actions. She closed her eyes tightly, and after she did, he kissed her eyelids. She shivered almost violently now, gripping him again to keep him close to her, as though he were the only real thing in the world.

She gasped, and Sokka didn't know if she was about to say something else, but he didn't really want her to. He didn't want her to question his motives, his motions, his kisses… and he was sure she would, as soon as he gave her a chance to speak. But he wasn't planning on giving her one.

His lips found hers again, but now it was his turn to be surprised when she actually returned his kiss, even if only weakly. His arms went around her, and he held her as closely as he could while still kissing her softly. Azula's arms reached out to surround his neck, bringing him lower as she sought out more of the gentle touch of his lips. She didn't know why she needed it, all she knew was that she did. Whatever he was planning didn't matter… chances were he wasn't planning anything at all, Sokka always made everything up as he went… surely what he was doing now was also an improvisation. He probably only wanted to make her feel better, and this was the best idea he had.

It surprised Azula to think he was actually succeeding. She wished she could kiss him back with the enthusiasm the act deserved, but she couldn't stop shivering, either because of her violent crying earlier or because she was kissing Sokka right now. One of her hands went to the side of his face and slid down his neck… and there she found the scars she had left on him during their very first encounter. How was he kissing her now when she had hurt him as many times as she had…? Why was he kissing her when he knew what a monster she was?

She didn't understand it. She couldn't even begin to understand it, and she was certain she never would. This man had never made any sense to her. Maybe that was the reason why she had become smitten with him in the first place. She simply couldn't read him, even when she always claimed she could. She would have never expected this day to end with him kissing her while holding her so intimately, in a way she had never been held before, not even by him. It was as if he prized her above all else… as if he…

No, that was folly. She was a monster. She couldn't be loved.

But these kisses seemed determined to prove otherwise. Sokka wasn't being desperate or wild, as he had been in the past. No, this time there was something really different in the way he was kissing her… something Azula couldn't put her finger on. Or perhaps she could put her finger on it, but she refused to do so. She couldn't fill her mind with pointless hopes, as she had when Lu Ten had promised to talk to her mother… she couldn't be so stupid as to think Sokka might love her. It made no sense for him to like her in the first place, how could she even hope for something more than that? He was just comforting her, that was all there was to it…

Which was more than anyone else had done for her as of late. The last time someone had held her while she wept was Lu Ten, when he had found her under the statue… for her father hadn't accepted her tears. He had told her to discard them. She was meant for greatness. She couldn't cry.

But Sokka didn't seem to care if she was meant for greatness or not. He was kissing her, holding her, replacing her everlasting sadness with something she could barely begin to understand…

Sokka's arms released her briefly and he leaned down, surprising her when he lifted her gently, one arm on her back and the other one under her legs. Sokka leaned down on her face to kiss her lips once more and Azula returned the gesture slightly more enthusiastically now, a hand on the side of his head while she caressed his neck with the other.

She had no idea where he was taking her, but for some reason, she couldn't care less. After a moment she guessed he had decided they had to move before the others returned to find them like this… surely Ty Lee would do anything to cash her bet if she saw them this time. But for some reason, Azula couldn't bring herself to care. That Ty Lee earned money at her expense or not was completely unimportant. All that mattered right now was that she was being held by him once again, and her lips were united with his. She didn't understand why he would kiss a monster… but she meant to make the most out of it for as long as it lasted.

Sokka climbed the stairs with some difficulty, trying not to stop kissing her while doing so. He reached a room Azula couldn't quite recognize at first, busy kissing him back as she was, but after a moment she realized it was hers. Sokka shut close the door by pushing it with a foot, and he proceeded to carry Azula towards her mattress.

He placed her atop it gently, lowering her as carefully as possible. Azula's arms were around his neck again when he placed her on the bed, and she refused to shift them until she was certain Sokka wasn't planning on pulling away. He sat beside her, leaning down so that his lips could still move against hers. His hands were on her sides now, while her legs flexed as though she was hoping to trap him with them all the same as she had with her arms.

They exchanged more kisses as Sokka pressed down on her, until he finally pulled away… but not completely, to Azula's relief. She was gasping for breath as she looked at him in disbelief, still incapable of reasoning through what had just happened between them… what this meant for the two of them.

"Azula…" he said, tracing her face gently with his fingers, as if he as well needed reassuring that she was real, that this was more than just a dream "Azula…"

"Sokka" she muttered back, her voice raspy after crying as she had "Why… what the hell, Sokka? You… what was… what was all of this for?"

"You have to ask?" he said, with a weak smile.

"Of course I do, you… you moron…" she muttered, her hand caressing his cheek gently as if to counter the harshness of her words.

"I thought it was obvious" he replied, his forehead against hers "But maybe it is… I guess you already know, really"

"You're… taking advantage of me?" Azula asked, and upon Sokka's indignant reaction she actually found the strength to smile.

"Hell, no!" he exclaimed "Really, though… Azula, the things you said down there…"

"Are stupid, I know" Azula replied, her smile fading away again "It's stupid for me to suffer over…"

"It's not stupid, Azula" Sokka interrupted her, looking at her earnestly "It's anything but stupid"

She fell silent upon that, looking into his clear blue eyes with surprise.

"I… I never imagined you were holding something like this inside" he said "Well… I knew you had some pretty big secrets, that's not new. But this… that you actually think you're a monster? Azula…"

"What? You're not going to say… you're not going to say it's not true" Azula muttered, lowering her gaze.

"No, it's not"

Azula looked up at him once more, her heart racing within her chest as she gazed at him in shock.

"Azula… I have no idea what the hell was wrong with your mother" he said, shaking his head "And yeah, I probably shouldn't talk like this about someone I don't even know, let alone your mother, but… but she has to be insane if she really thought you were a monster"

"Wha-…? But… Sokka, I…"

"You're an unusual person, Azula" Sokka said, his fingers caressing her face "You're a lot more than what most people are used to. Not everyone knows how to react to someone who is, well, everything you are. You're beautiful, talented, witty beyond belief… and you have a knack for accomplishing every little thing you're set out to do. Are those the traits of a monster, I wonder?"

"Y-you don't understand, Sokka…" Azula said, shaking her head "All along, as I was a child, I was a menace. I'd do… I'd do things my mother couldn't even bear look at, I…"

"Like what, pray tell?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I… I set those turtle ducks on fire once…"

"Uh… yeah, that's kinda how I'd cook roast duck, and if that alone made you a monster then I think nearly everyone would be one…"

"I'm serious!" Azula exclaimed, startling him "She… she saw me doing that, and she said I was a monster…"

"Uh… did you burn them because you found an unbelievable pleasure in burning them, I wonder? Did you thrive in the way they churned up in your flames? Did you kill them?"

"I… I didn't" Azula muttered "I was just trying to train, but… the animal got in the way"

"Oh… I see now" said Sokka "And your mother thought you were a monster because of a mistake like that one?"

"I… I would often set things on fire when I was younger, I didn't know how to control my powers that well…" Azula said, shaking her head.

"That's hardly your fault" said Sokka, frowning "In time you'd learn to control them, as you have"

"I'd always hurt Zuko, one way or another" Azula said now, gritting her teeth "Be it physically or… or through my words, I'd always hurt him. And I enjoyed it"

"Seems to me like you still do" said Sokka, shrugging "How did you hurt him, then? Did you mutilate an arm of his? Ah, don't tell me, are you the one who scarred him and not your father?"

"What…? Of course not, I…"

"Then you burned him at times?" Sokka asked raising an eyebrow "You pushed him? You laughed when he did something stupid?"

"I… did" Azula muttered this time.

"Why, then that sounds just like what my sister would do to me. Just, she'd freeze me or throw water at me instead of burning me" said Sokka, smiling "And nobody ever called her a monster for that"

"It's… it's not that simple, Sokka" Azula muttered, gritting her teeth "You don't understand…"

"What don't I understand?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If I weren't one… then why did she… why did she love Zuko, if she didn't love me?" Azula asked "If… if she could love him as she did, then there had to be something wrong with me, there has to be something about me that just…"

"I beg to differ" said Sokka, his forehead against hers "If I could just go find your mother and force her to explain herself, I would. Maybe that way we both would come to figure out why she called you a monster… why she hurt you as she did. Because I see no sense in it… not in asking what was wrong with you, nor in calling you a monster. If anything, it makes me wonder if the monster might have actually been her"

"But that's…" Azula said, looking at him in despair "I'm not… Sokka, I'm not what you think I am. I'm really not… I'm really not as good as you believe I am"

"Huh? Are you trying to convince me you can be cruel, mean and vicious?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "As if you needed to! I believe I saw just how cruel you can be on our very first meeting, remember?"

"I…" Azula muttered, her hand on the scars on his neck again "I did this to you, and yet…"

"And yet here I am, telling you you're a better person than you ever thought you were" said Sokka, smiling "Azula… you're not half as bad as you think you are. You've just pretended to be bad for so long you've ended up buying into your own pretense"

"B-but…" Azula said, her chest heaving as she breathed heavily.

"These feelings you said before that you shouldn't be feeling?" Sokka asked, caressing her hair "These useless emotions? The ones you said your father told you to cast away because they made you weak?"

"Y-yeah…?"

"Well, they're vouching for me, girl" he said, smiling "They're saying I'm right, Azula. And they say your mother and every other idiot in the world who dares call you a monster is wrong. That you can feel this so strongly, that you can't hold back the tears, that you can't help but care about what your mother thought of you… they're proof that you're not a monster, Azula. And that you can't chase these feelings away, that you can't leave them behind even when you've tried your very best to do so, is all you need to see you're not truly a monster"

His hand was cupping her cheek now, and he smiled ever so kindly at her.

"You're not a monster, Azula. A monster wouldn't care" he said, before kissing her brow.

"B-but…" she gasped, shaking her head "T-then… why did she think…? Why has everyone just left, if I'm not…? Why…? Why didn't my own mother love me, if I'm really not a monster, Sokka? Why…?"

"I…" he said, at a loss for words this time. The helplessness in her eyes was that of a child being scolded for something she didn't do "I don't know, Azula. I'm sorry… I can't even begin to make sense out of that. I… I'm not going to say she must have loved you on some degree, I don't know her and I really don't know if she did or didn't. But… but even if she didn't, Azula, don't make the mistake to think that you can't be loved just because she loved Zuko and not you"

"And what am I supposed to think, then?" Azula asked, gritting her teeth as her tears threatened to slip out of her eyes again "What am I supposed to…?"

"Azula, you're… you're amazing, alright?" said Sokka, caressing her face as she looked up at him "Maybe your mother didn't see it… but that doesn't mean others can't. That doesn't mean others can't come to love you if you just let them"

"Really?" she asked, trying to sound skeptical, but her tone came across as insecure instead.

"Really" said Sokka, his forehead against hers again "Really. You… you deserve to be loved, of course you do. By… by some guy who is as amazing as you are. There's got to be someone worthy of you someplace, I'm sure… some guy you'll be able to love back all the same. He's out there, I'm sure… and you'll find him one day"

"Right…" said Azula, now lowering her gaze. So it wasn't him, then… it wouldn't be him. He didn't want to be the one who loved her… the one she would love back.

"But given that he's not here yet…" he said, making her look up at him again "Given that… that you haven't found him, then… then maybe I can try to show you, if only for tonight, that… that you are more than deserving of love. You can be loved, Azula, so much you can't even begin to imagine it…"

"You'll… you're going to show me?" Azula asked, her eyes widening "What are you…?"

"I know I… I know I'm definitely not worthy of you" Sokka said, with a weak smile "I know well enough you deserve better than me. But, if… if you'll have me, then… then I'll love you, if only for tonight"

Azula stared at him in utter disbelief. He had actually said…? Had he actually said he would love her? Did he even know nobody had ever said such a thing to her before?

The tears began streaming down her face again, but before Sokka could dare do anything about them, her hands reached up for his face and she brought their lips together again, passionately, powerfully, with a kiss completely different to all the kisses they had exchanged tonight.

Sokka closed his eyes as their tongues met, as Azula put everything she had into this kiss. His arms surrounded her as he responded eagerly as well, taken by surprise by her initiative. She sought to reach out to him, to be closer to him than she had ever been before, and she pulled him down so their bodies would be in perfect contact. No longer could he sit on the bed, she had made him climb atop it without asking… though she didn't need to ask at all. Being this close to her was everything he could have ever wanted… but no. This wasn't about what he wanted. This was about what Azula needed. Anything he might wish for came last, and he wanted it to remain that way. She was all that mattered, be it tonight or tomorrow or at any point in time. He loved her, and for once, he was free to show her he did.

His hand reached up to her face and wiped the tears that she had been unable to suppress yet again. Her hands moved over his body, caressing him in ways she had never touched him before. He was all hers for one night… even if it was only for one night. She could claim him tonight, forget all about what held her back in the past, because it was Sokka… and he had said he loved her. He would love her for tonight…

"S-say it again…" she muttered against his lips, as he continued kissing her face "Sokka…"

"I love you" he whispered into her ear, and she smiled. The tears wouldn't stop, it seemed, but it didn't matter. For once, she didn't care if she was crying. All she could think of was that he had said he loved her yet again… "I love you, Azula"

Her chest seemed ablaze with fire she couldn't bend… a fire she had never known until now. She could only kiss his face as well, shutting her eyes tight as she willed the tears to stop. It was a single night… a single night with a man she should have never had a chance with. For once they had a real opportunity together… for once she could forget all the prejudices, all the nonsense that had held her back in the past. There was no point in clinging onto those things now, not anymore…

Her legs went around his waist, to his surprise, and she locked her ankles in place as she found his lips with hers again. She craved him desperately, even though he was right in front of her, gifting her with every caress she had never known she needed. Every contact between them said more than their words ever could. His hands stroked her skin gently, his lips kissed her mouth and his tongue darted out to seek hers. She could only feel herself coming undone in his arms, as she tried to become his in every possible way…

She lifted her head and allowed him freedom to move down to her neck, an opportunity Sokka grasped as soon as it was presented to him. Azula gritted her teeth, trying to keep from moaning when he kissed her sensitive skin. He knew what he was doing, naturally… Azula wouldn't have expected any less from him. She couldn't keep track of how many times his name escaped her lips as she enjoyed the pleasure his mouth was providing her with. His breath was warm on her body… and she could feel his erection in his pants. It would seem she wasn't the only one who was becoming too excited over this sudden turn of events.

Sokka couldn't have enough of her, he had always known as much. He should have never had any of her, for starters… that she would be underneath him, as he brushed her skin with his lips, was so much more than he should have ever been granted. Her legs had brought him down on her, and he could sense her warmth with his own body. It seemed she wanted more than this, even…

But he couldn't do it. It wasn't that he didn't want to, for there was nothing he desired more than her. If he had leave to do so, he would love every inch of her body… but it would be a death sentence, for both of them. And Azula knew it too. So if she only stopped being so alluring without even meaning to… if she stopped trying to break his resolve with her every moan…

Sokka moved to the side of her neck, and Azula turned in the mattress, her legs locked around him to move him with her. They were on their sides now, and his lips continued delighting her as her hands traveled over his back and chest. She couldn't stop touching him, couldn't pull away even if she wanted to… she needed him like this, closer to her than anyone had ever been before. She felt safe in his arms, safer than ever… because he didn't think she was a monster. Because he loved her, even if he would only do so for one night. And it was none other than him… it was Sokka who kissed her, who held her so intimately, so closely…

She moved her head down again, at which Sokka moved away from her neck. But she didn't give his lips any chance to rest, for she pressed hers against them again once their heads were level again. Sokka closed his eyes and enjoyed the kiss to the fullest, his hands stroking her waist until hers clutched them. He didn't know what she sought to do, and he almost gasped in surprise when she led his hands to her chest, inviting him to touch her as daringly as he had when they had first kissed all those months ago. Oh, at this rate he wouldn't be able to endure any more of this…

His hands cupped her breasts and his erection could only grow as he touched her. He continued kissing her, but he had to move his hands away soon or else he wouldn't be able to stop himself. This wasn't about what he needed, he reminded himself yet again… this was about Azula, and she had endured enough pain as it was for him to add a broken maidenhood to it all. It didn't matter if he had to put up with a wasted hard-on… it was better than to take a step he doubted Azula wanted to take just yet. Nobody would ever know she had kissed him as passionately as she had tonight, and nobody would know she had been touched by him… but there would be no going back from surrendering her virginity to him. And as he had told her before, he knew he wasn't the right man for her even if he wished he were. She deserved better. And maybe he could become a better man… but he definitely wouldn't be one if he deflowered her tonight.

He had promised to love her for tonight… so when morning came, this would only be a memory. And it had better be a memory that couldn't bring with it the terrible consequences of taking her virginity.

His right hand reached up to her neck and he pulled her closer, his kiss deepening. His left hand still caressed her breast, to reassure her that it wasn't that he didn't wish to do it… but he couldn't pull through with what she wanted. Not tonight. She deserved much better than what he could give her.

His left arm soon moved towards her waist and pulled her close again. Azula's legs remained locked around him, and their lips were still moving together, their tongues finding each other, her hands on his chest as he embraced her ever so tightly.

Azula panted when their kiss was broken off. She looked at him longingly, wondering if he really wouldn't pull through with this… would it be for better or for worse that he wouldn't? Probably on the next morning she would think it was the former… at the moment it seemed to be the latter. Didn't he want her? Didn't he realize he was the only man who had ever loved her? She would much rather give herself entirely to him, if only for tonight, than to keep herself pure and untainted until she had married some of her father's noblemen…

But the noticeable stiffness of his cock told her otherwise. Yes, he wanted her, just as he had back when she had gone down on him in the waiting room at the Grand Royal Dome. But this time around she wouldn't whisper anything spiteful into his ear… he had free reign, but he was choosing not to carry on, even when he really wanted to.

Azula had forgotten everything that had ever held her back, but he couldn't do it. She couldn't have cared less if Zuko barged into the room now and found them tangled around each other in this intimate embrace, but Sokka hadn't lost sight of what would happen if they were found. And that was why he wouldn't pull through… it wasn't because she wasn't worth it, or because she was undesirable, or because she was unlovable…

He kissed her brow and hugged her tightly, her head going to his chest. They both breathed heavily, their chests heaving as one. Sokka found himself inhaling the scent of her hair as she caressed his torso, almost shyly now. Her priorities were returning slowly to her mind, and now she was slightly ashamed of how far they had come… but she didn't want to pull away. She wanted to stay close to him, just as they were, from now on and forever… if she could freeze time, she would have done it now. She would have made this night eternal, for it was the one night Sokka would love her…

She lifted her head towards him, and she was slightly surprised to find him smiling down towards her. Never before had the sight of his grin made her feel so elated. She reached up to him, caressing his lips with her own almost shyly, almost insecurely… and he responded yet again with ardor, with desire, with love…

"Say it again…" she whispered against him, and he kissed her before complying.

"I love you, Azula" he said, his hug tightening as he said the words "I… I really do, Azula, I…"

She silenced him by kissing him again. She didn't want to hear him say he couldn't love her for more than just tonight… she didn't want to consider that maybe he would have confessed his love would actually last longer than that. She didn't want to hear anything that made her think about the future… all she wanted was their present, the here and now, she wanted to belong to him even if he hadn't claimed her completely.

"I love you… I love you…" he muttered between their kisses, as though saying it once wouldn't be enough to convey the depth of what he felt for her. As if he was trying to say it for all the times he hadn't told her what he felt before. As if he would say it for all the times he might not have a chance to tell her in the future. And Azula only wanted to hear him say those words countless times… she needed to hear them more than she had ever thought she did.

They didn't know for how long they had remained wrapped around each other. The moon was now visible through the only window in the room, a window right next to the bed where they lay, still exchanging kisses and gentle touches.

Exhaustion made its way through them both, though, and Azula's head was throbbing now since she wasn't crying anymore. She gritted her teeth upon the pain and lowered her head, and Sokka kissed her brow yet again.

"My head…" she muttered, and it took him no time to make sense out of what was happening to her.

"It hurts?" he asked "Maybe… maybe you should get some rest"

"But…" she said, looking at him desperately. Again she met a smile when she saw his face "I can't just… when I wake, you'll… you'll be gone, and it'll be over…"

Sokka lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it gently.

"I won't go anywhere" he said, smiling at her "I did say I'd love you for one night… whether you're awake or asleep, it makes no matter. I'll love you all the same"

"Then you… you'll stay? You…?" Azula asked, and he kissed her lips again.

"I will. So long as you'll have me… I'm yours" he said, making no mention of the time limit deliberately, hoping she might understand what he meant… for it wasn't just for tonight that his heart belonged to her. It had been hers for much longer than that, and it would be hers forevermore, he was sure of it.

Azula closed her eyes again as she kissed him softly. Sokka's fingers intertwined with hers as he returned her affections wholeheartedly, making sure to keep her as close to him as he could. She gripped his clothes with her free hand, grasping him to make sure he really wouldn't leave… and he had said he wouldn't. He wanted to remain with her. Countless others had left her before… and she would have sworn he'd do the same, but he wouldn't do it tonight. For tonight, they would remain in their tight embrace, while feeling they had finally found the place where they belonged…

The curtains rustled gently, and Sokka did nothing but caress her hair as he watched her become drowsier by the minute. Hopefully, that headache would recede soon enough. It was a pity that they both would need to sleep… if only they wouldn't…

"Sokka…" she muttered, with her eyes closed.

"Yeah?" he said, touching her nose with his and smiling.

"Stay… will you really… will you stay?" she asked.

"I thought I'd already promised I would" he said, his grin widening.

"Stay…" she repeated, and Sokka wondered if she was speaking in her sleep or if she was still conscious on some level.

"I will, Azula. I'm yours… I'm completely yours" he said, kissing her brow "I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay with you"

She smiled weakly, and he leaned down to kiss her lips anew. The hand that wasn't holding his caressed his face gently.

"Say it again, Sokka… what you said before… say it"

He kissed her one more time, muttering the words she needed to hear one last time before she fell into the sweetest slumber she had ever enjoyed, before she drifted into a sleep where she wouldn't find herself faced with memories of a past that had haunted her until tonight. No… her dreams would be filled with him, and nothing but him. And that was how she wanted them to be, from here on and forever…

"I love you"


	65. Chapter 65

A pang of pain awoke him, though it took him a moment to realize he wasn't asleep anymore. His right arm felt numb, somewhat. And yet again, it took him a moment to realize why that was.

His eyes opened slowly, and he would have rubbed them to make his eyesight less blurry, but both his hands were occupied, it seemed. But once he managed to focus his gaze on the figure before him, all his confusion was swept away immediately.

His heart began racing when he looked at her, sleeping so soundly in his arms. It wasn't the first time he had seen her sleep… yet it almost felt as though it was. He had been close to her before, but never like this. His numb arm was surrounding her waist, keeping her close to him all the same as her legs still held him close to her. They had fallen asleep in this very position, and it seemed they hadn't moved away from each other through the night. Sokka found he was glad for that, though. The last thing he wanted was for Azula to jump away from him because he had drooled all over the pillow or rolled around in bed, his limbs all over the place… thankfully, neither of those things had happened. It better not happen the next time they…

The next time, though? He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes again upon that thought. There wasn't supposed to be another time… this one alone had already been too much, much more than he should have ever had with Azula. It had been one slipup, one they both had agreed on because it was needed… because Azula had deserved to know the truth about herself. She needed to understand what an amazing person she was in his eyes…

He pressed his forehead against her, sighing. He could see her beautiful features all too clearly now… it was already dawn. The sun was still rising, for the light that drifted into the room wasn't too strong just yet… but the night they had shared, that single night, was already over. And despite himself, he could only be disappointed. He needed more of this… even though this wasn't about what he might need. But being this close to her was fascinating, exhilarating. He needed to hold her if only for a little longer… if only until she woke up. By then he'd let her go, by then he'd do something about his numb arm…

Though he rather doubted he'd do something about what had actually awakened him painfully in the first place. He grimaced as another rush of pain came from his groin. This little problem wasn't part of the plan… and he doubted he would get the solution he wanted for it. He tried to ignore it, for he could worry about it later, once Azula wasn't in his arms anymore…

Sokka's eyes raked her figure slowly, taking in every detail about her in this very moment. Her hair was quite ruffled after the night they had spent together, and her lips seemed chapped. He found himself smiling weakly when he realized they had fallen asleep in their clothes. He truly hoped none of the others had found out…

Well, chances were they wouldn't have. If someone had entered this room through the night, he probably would have noticed. Yet that didn't mean nobody could come inside later… and if they did, surely chaos would ensue if they were caught like this…

He gasped at wake of more pain. This was so much more intense than he had expected it to be… He breathed heavily and turned his attention towards the Princess again. Still she hadn't woken… for her, it was still night, wasn't it? For her, this wasn't over just yet…

Excusing himself with that idea, although he felt quite foolish by making excuses in the first place, Sokka leaned in again and caressed her lips with his own as softly as possible. He didn't want to wake her… but he really wanted to kiss her one last time before this was over. He didn't want to part from her uncertain if he would ever have another chance to do this…

Kissing her was addictive, he simply couldn't get enough of it. He needed to keep doing it… he couldn't pull away. Nobody had ever held such power over him… nobody had such an undeniable influence on him as she did. No other woman had ever made him forget himself and the world around him like this… for she was the only one he had ever come to love in this way, of course. And truly, was this love? He had cared for his family, and he had seen other people who claimed to be in love before… but the passion he felt for the woman in his arms seemed beyond everything he had ever deemed love before. Was it more than love, then? Had anyone even come up with a word that could come close to what he felt for Azula?

All he wanted was to touch her face, to slide his hands through her hair and to smile brightly at her as they woke up. He wanted to stay in bed with her, to talk to her more, to make her laugh one way or another…

Azula stirred slightly, and Sokka's illusions were shattered when her movements brought him back to reality. No, there was no chance that his wishes would come to happen. She wasn't his. She had never been meant to be his…

Azula grimaced as she woke, for her head was pounding powerfully. Ah, there it was, another reason why she hated crying…

As she came to her senses, she realized her hand was gripping another, and she didn't figure out what that meant right away. She opened her eyes slowly and found his, and she found herself looking at him, almost in disbelief. So last night hadn't been a dream… everything had been true, every last thing. He had promised her he would stay, and here he was…

"Morning" he said, with a weak smile.

Azula blushed slightly and nodded before shifting her position, releasing him from the grip of her legs. Sokka couldn't hide his disappointment, yet he pulled away nonetheless, rubbing his right arm once Azula's weight wasn't pressing down on it.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, as he felt warmth spreading through his now free arm.

"I… the headache's still there" Azula said, gritting her teeth "I don't know why"

"I don't know if we slept that much, really…" said Sokka, glancing over at her quickly "It's only dawn now, see…"

"I see" Azula replied, looking at him sideways as he continued massaging his arm "Is it numb?"

"A little" he said, with a weak smile "But I'll be fine"

"I'd hope" she said "You've been through some awful situations, put up with terrible injuries and yet you'd lose your arm because you…?"

"Because you slept atop it? Well, considering just how whimsical my fortune is, I would hardly be surprised" he said, chuckling as she blushed at the memory of what had happened between them the night before "In all honesty, losing a limb to you would be better than losing it to anyone else…"

"In all honesty, it's better you don't lose it at all" she said, as he smiled and sat up.

He flinched when he did, his groin sending him more jolts of pain he couldn't suppress. Azula frowned when she heard him whimper weakly.

"What are you…? Are you alright?" she asked, pushing herself up with her elbows as well.

"I, uh, I'm fine…" he said, smiling in a manner that wasn't compliant with his words "I just realized that, uh… that you had to sleep on a very small bed and with company, on top of it all! And when you're used to that bed that's so big you could fit a whole family in it…"

"Uh… a small bed and unexpected company are still better than sleeping on the ground in the middle of a forest, or than sleeping in a cave" Azula pointed out, at which Sokka looked at her with surprise.

"O-oh… well, you're right about that, of course…" he said, blushing a little as he scratched his head nervously.

It was slightly amusing for Azula to see Sokka behaving in such manner. He was hardly ever shy or nervous… it seemed last night's developments had also been quite a surprise for him. Well, he deserved no less for being so foolish and pulling through with whatever felt right instead of thinking things through… but truly, Azula was glad he hadn't been thinking straight last night. She was glad she hadn't thought straight either. For the first time in her life she had allowed herself to be vulnerable before someone else… and surprisingly, it hadn't ended badly. If anything, it had ended exactly as she had needed it to.

Did Sokka have the slightest clue of what his actions from last night had meant to her? Azula couldn't help but wonder if he did as she watched him stretching, still sitting on the bed as he cast her nervous glances once in a while.

"Uh, well, I guess I… I ought to go to my room" he muttered, startling her.

"You… what?"

"Well… we took quite a big risk with this without even knowing it" he said, smiling with unease "For all we knew, one of them could have walked in on us in the middle of the night..."

"Don't say it that way, you're making it sound as if we had been…" Azula muttered, lowering her gaze as she flushed yet again.

"You know what I mean" he said, chuckling and climbing off the bed "It's still early, so they're probably not up yet… but if I stay here, and they see us leaving your room together…"

"Misunderstandings will ensue" said Azula, nodding.

"Yeah… and I take it you don't want Ty Lee to make a fuss about us being together again, do you?" said Sokka, biting his lip.

"I sure don't… though if she wants to win that bet of hers, she'd never be closer to winning it than now"

"Bet?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I hadn't told you…? Why, Mai and Ty Lee have been holding a bet about us" Azula said, and a pleasant shiver went down Sokka's spine upon hearing her speak of them as 'us' "It's why Ty Lee is so desperate to catch us… well, in the act, as she puts it. If she ever proves we're involved in one way or another, she wins the bet"

"Weird that your friends would bet on your love life…" said Sokka before sighing "Though considering what your friends are like, I'm not really that surprised. No wonder you lied to Ty Lee about that kiss… you don't want her to win that bet"

"Well, to be honest, in what regards that bet… it's not my money she'd take" said Azula, shrugging "She could win it or lose it, it's not my business either way"

"Really, now?" Sokka asked, surprised. Well, he knew Azula had more important reasons to keep them from being together than some simple bet between her friends…

"Why would it be?" Azula asked, pushing herself all the way to a sitting position.

"Well, that bet sounds like the sort of stuff that would displease you, so I just thought that maybe…" he said, as his eyes locked with hers.

They both fell silent for an instant, exchanging a glance that told them both just why Azula didn't seem to care about the bet anymore… why she didn't care if Ty Lee won it or lost it. Why she was actually becoming convinced the girl had already won it…

But the moment was brusquely interrupted when Sokka's wasted erection sent another surge of pain through his body. Azula frowned as he flinched again, and this time she realized what the problem was when she caught sight of the noticeable bulge between his legs.

"Sokka…" she said, her eyes widening.

"Ah, please, never mind that, I… this is really common with men, you know?!" he said, shaking his head "We're disgusting and weird, I know you must think so…!"

"I didn't say… are you alright?" she said "It looked like it was hurting you…"

"Uh… no, none of that" he said, smiling "I'll be fine, Azula. I… I can put up with this, really. There's no need for you to worry about me"

Azula raised an eyebrow and looked at him inquisitively before dropping her gaze again.

"Whatever you say…" she said, shrugging. Well, she really wouldn't have known how to help him with his current problem in the first place…

"I, uh… guess we'll probably talk more about this later on, if you… if you want, or need to" he said, unsure if Azula's behavior meant she was shutting him off again, even after everything that had happened between them during the past few hours "You'll be fine if I go, right?"

"Who do you take me for?" Azula asked, with a weak smile "I'm better now. I get what you mean, it's probably better if you take off. I don't want any weird rumors spreading around about what happened here… I'm sure everyone and anyone would assume we did what we didn't do, and if we can avoid that sort of trouble it'll be for the best"

"Yeah…" said Sokka, nodding "At least if it really had happened…"

"Well, it didn't" said Azula, shaking her head and trying not to sound too disappointed "So I'm not going to put up with false accusations of any sort…"

"It won't be necessary for you to do that, don't worry" said Sokka, a hand on the doorknob "Say, uh… get more sleep if you can. It might help with the headache"

"I'll try" Azula said, looking at him one last time.

Their gazes were engaged once more, and Sokka's heart thumped so hard he was sure Azula could hear it. Was it longing he saw in her eyes…? Could she see he bore the same wistful desire in his?

He dropped his hand suddenly, surprising her as he walked back towards her.

"I'm sorry…" he said, sitting again on the bed, right before her "I… I really am"

"W-what are you…?" Azula said, unsure of what he was apologizing for.

"I know I said… I know it was only supposed to be one night, and I meant to keep it that way, but…" he said, gritting his teeth "But I'm too weak, I think, I… I really am sorry, but I just…"

His hands cupped her face gently before he leaned in to take another kiss from her lips. Ah… so he was apologizing in advance for this, was it? Well… he might not know it, but she sure wouldn't mind accepting apologies before kisses more often.

Azula's hands fell on his chest again as she closed her eyes and kissed him back feverishly. Now there was no excuse… not at all. She wasn't crying, he didn't have to comfort her… and he didn't have to love her anymore, for he had promised he'd do it just for one night. So why was he kissing her now? Either it meant his feelings were true… or it meant he had enjoyed kissing her. Whichever it was, though, it hardly mattered to Azula. She pulled closer as their kiss deepened again, as it had so many times through the night. Sokka's hands moved down to her waist, and all he could have ever wanted was to keep going… but no, it wasn't supposed to be him, it couldn't be him… he wasn't a good enough man for her. He needed to become a better one if he was to ever deserve her…

They panted lightly as they parted, and Sokka caressed her face gently again.

"I… I'll see you later" he muttered, knowing that if he stayed one more second it would become impossible for Azula to deny having been deflowered by him… it was already taking up all his willpower not to push her down on the mattress to finish what they had started before.

"Right…" she said now, and somehow it seemed she wasn't so disappointed anymore. Knowing Sokka's interest in her had lasted through the night was beyond relieving for her.

He leaned in and pecked her lips gently one last time before moving away. Azula actually found herself smiling as he left the room. Her hand went to her lips and she closed her eyes, hardly capable of believing everything that had happened in such short notice. She sighed and dropped on the mattress again, thinking it was too early to get up anyways… she drew out plans in her mind to take a bath once she did, for she sure could use one after such a hectic day…

She turned on the bed and found Sokka's scent still lingered on the side of the bed he had slept in. Hoping deeply he wouldn't come back into her room to find her behaving so embarrassingly, she rolled over to where he had lain earlier, wishing to feel his presence with her even if only for a little longer…

* * *

Sokka rolled over in bed for hours, it seemed, and yet no matter which position he took, he was unable to fall asleep again. And it was probably because he found it impossible to ignore the pain from his groin…

"Ugh, why was I born with a penis…?" he asked himself at a certain point, before his hands flew up to his mouth in horror. Thank goodness nobody else had heard that.

The bed he was sitting on – for he had ended up sitting with his back against the wall, once he gave up on his hopes to get any more sleep for the time being – felt too big even though it was smaller than his own back at his house. It seemed a waste of space for him to be the only one to occupy it…

His thoughts couldn't stay away from Azula, not for a second. Everything she had told him last night, every expression he had seen on her face, it all played back in his mind repeatedly, filling him with an urge to run back to her room and tell her he couldn't have only one night… but it would be for the best if he didn't. It should be for the best. He may have to endure wasted erections for the rest of his life, but it didn't matter. He loved her… and loving her meant to understand her needs, to put her before him in every way. That she felt the same way towards him wasn't important… it never had been. His love for her wouldn't change, even if she didn't reciprocate his feelings. So long as he could remain by her side, he needed nothing more.

He had no idea how long he remained there, sitting with his back against the wall, watching the sun rising through the window at the other side of the room. It seemed that thinking about her was the best way to make him lose track of time. He was quite relieved when the stings of pain began dwindling, decreasing in strength, until they finally vanished. He sighed and smiled, hoping his arousal wouldn't come back any time soon. Yet it was really a miracle that he wouldn't spend his days with a constant hard-on while being around Azula, as shameful as it was to admit it to himself…

He heard sounds outside, in the hallway, and it didn't take him long to recognize the voices of their traveling companions. He didn't quite understand what they were saying, but it sounded as though they had gone down to the first floor… surely they were off to make breakfast. Sokka couldn't help but wonder if he'd have to go out to find food for himself… after the punch he had landed on Zuko's face, chances were the others would want him to apologize… ah, but he didn't feel like apologizing for anything, let alone to him. Let alone now, when he had discovered so much about Azula that he had never known before.

He resolved to wait a little longer before heading downstairs, and when his stomach began roaring he sighed and decided it was time to get moving. He dressed up quickly before heading out of his room, determined to keep his head held high. He was proud of what he had done! He had every right to do what he did…! Though, truth to be told, maybe it should have been Azula who had punched her brother for being so senseless towards her… but it had been up to Sokka to do it right then and there. And he didn't regret having done so.

When he arrived to the kitchen, he found Ty Lee and Haru busy cooking while Zuko sat by a table, his jaw bandaged. Despite himself, Sokka gulped at the sight. The Prince was bound to try to get them even now, he could see it happening…

But to his surprise, Zuko caught his eye and simply nodded curtly towards him. Sokka looked back at him, puzzled. That wasn't what he had expected, not at all…

"Oh, you're awake?" Ty Lee asked, biting her lip as she looked at him. It seemed she also expected a fist fight to arise between Sokka and Zuko now…

"Yeah, and hungry…" said Sokka, with a foolish grin "When an empty stomach won't let you sleep, you've got to do something about it"

"True enough" said Haru, smiling at him as Sokka took a seat at the table.

Ty Lee and Haru muttered amongst themselves, likely about whatever it was they were cooking, and Sokka simply gazed at Zuko with concern. The Prince's eyes weren't full of anger, as he would have expected… there was something odd about him. Sokka frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, wondering if Zuko would tell him anything, but, oddly enough, it seemed there was nothing for him to say. And that, in a way, was a relief.

"It's odd Azula isn't up yet…" said Ty Lee, setting down the plates with food at the table "She's always up right on time, not a minute sooner, not a minute later…"

"Maybe she's sleeping in because we're on a vacation...?" Haru suggested, shrugging.

"Maybe" said Ty Lee "But… shouldn't we wake her up? Or do you think she's…?"

"She's what?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, she was… she was pretty upset last night, when we last saw her" Ty Lee muttered "You followed her, didn't you? Do you think she's still mad at… well, us?"

"Uh… I… I really don't know" said Sokka, smiling a little and shrugging "But you know what she's like. She just needed some time to relax and forget about everything… she might be feeling better now"

"Should we risk it, though?" said Ty Lee, grimacing "I don't want to annoy her… maybe we should just wait until she gets up"

"Well… maybe I could go" Zuko muttered, his voice deep "It might be better if I talk to her and not you…"

Sokka raised an eyebrow and looked at him in confusion. What led Zuko to believe that Azula would rather talk to him than Ty Lee? And given their reactions, it seemed the others thought the very same thing Sokka had.

"You?" Haru said, blinking in surprise "Are you sure about that…?"

"Yeah, maybe that's not a good idea either" said Ty Lee, smiling weakly.

"You know what? I think I ought to do it" said Sokka, sighing and standing up from the table "I'll be back in a sec, hopefully"

He didn't allow anyone to talk back to him for his decision, and it seemed nobody would anyways. It seemed that the general consensus now was that, out of all of them, the one who was closest to Azula was him, and thus, he was the one with a better chance at waking her up without ending up with his butt scorched for his troubles. Though he just might get it scorched anyways...

Yet as Sokka climbed up towards the second story of the building, he found himself gulping nervously. There was too much to talk about with Azula, and he wasn't sure if he was ready for it just yet… he wasn't sure if she would ever be ready, truth to be told. And if he found her asleep still he might just end up climbing onto the bed with her…

Sokka shook his head and breathed deeply. This was no time for being stupid. The chance that someone might come upstairs to check on them was even more likely now, and if they found him kissing her or doing anything else, they'd be in the middle of a serious crisis. So he had to stop thinking about her that way… if only for a few minutes, for he doubted he'd manage to restrain himself for much longer than that. He probably wouldn't even be able to restrain himself for that long anyways.

He reached her door and sighed. It was just knocking on the door and checking on her, nothing more than that…

But just when his knuckles were about to touch the wood, the door swung inwards.

Azula stood before him, carrying clothes and a towel under her arm, and she looked at him in surprise. Whatever was he doing before her door…?

"A-ah, so you're up!" Sokka said, jumping back and lowering his hand "Good to know, they were worried about you downstairs, so…"

"They?" Azula repeated, with a raised eyebrow until she figured what he meant "Worried about me? Why?"

"Well, they… they kind of figured you were still mad at them" said Sokka, shrugging.

"Oh? So those guys actually cared about me storming off? It wasn't just… you?" Azula asked, surprised.

"Ah, well… no, not just me, it seems" Sokka said, nervously "And well, breakfast is all ready, so…"

"Huh… well, I'm off to take a bath first, if you don't mind" Azula said, stepping out of the room "I can heat up the food myself if there's any need for that"

"Oh, right… firebender" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly still "S-say… are you feeling well now? How about the headache…?"

"It's gone now, finally" Azula said, before her eyes went down to Sokka's groin "And how about your little friend…?"

"M-my…?" Sokka said, blushing at first before frowning in irritation "Now, wait just a minute, he's not little!"

His defensive attitude made Azula laugh, despite herself. Sokka seemed to be fuming now, looking at her in foolish irritation.

"If you say so…" she muttered, still smiling.

"Putting that mishap aside, though, Azula…" he said, his attitude changing again as he became a little more serious "Are you really okay? After all that…"

"I'm… fine, actually" replied Azula "To my very surprise, I'm feeling fine. I probably shouldn't be… I should be angry beyond belief for all the things you made me spill last night, but…"

"Hey, I didn't make you spill anything" Sokka said, at which she smiled.

"True… I just began rambling" she acknowledged, shaking her head "It must have been really weird for you…"

"Nah, it wasn't" said Sokka, smiling and shrugging "I mean, it was unexpected that you'd finally talk to me about things you've never talked of before… because I take it nobody else knew about that, am I right?"

"Indeed" said Azula "It's the first time I say anything about it, to anyone… I half-expected you to think I was crazy and to turn on your heels immediately, but… you didn't"

"Why would I have done something like that?" Sokka asked, with a weak smile.

"Well… you should know now why I expected you to do it" Azula said, shrugging.

"But I suppose now you know better than to think so lowly of yourself, don't you…?" said Sokka.

"What? Me, thinking lowly of myself? As if that were possible…" Azula said, lifting her head proudly and making him chuckle.

"Very well, then… so, we're good?" Sokka asked.

"Why wouldn't we be?" was Azula's reply, frowning "If anything…"

"I mean, well… that deal we made a while back, I just keep breaking it time after time" he said, scratching his head and looking at her apologetically.

"Oh? Well, I'm almost getting used to it now, truth to be told" Azula said, smiling "You're incorrigible, always have been and always will be. It's part of what I have to deal with for choosing you as my gladiator"

"You make it sound as if it were such a bad thing…" Sokka said, smirking.

Azula looked at him, unable to hold back a smile of her own. This was something she never expected to have… she had never even dreamt of it, for all along she had thought herself to be a monster. Yet here stood that irritating Water Tribe man, smiling in a way in which nobody else had ever smiled at her before. He had held her, kissed her and loved her as well… he had granted her a chance to believe she could be loved for who she was. And even if nobody else ever would… at least he did, once. At least he cared for her. And for now, that was enough for her. It was something she didn't want to discard, no matter what.

"Yeah… maybe it's not" she agreed, nodding towards him before walking off through the hall, heading towards the bathroom.

Sokka's heart was racing again after Azula's last words. He had almost expected her to threaten him into never telling anyone about what had happened between them… which would have been unnecessary, for there was little chance Sokka would tell anyone about this. He had also thought she would tell him not to look forward to anything else, that he had already gotten more than he deserved… but instead, she had simply smiled at him and agreed with his flirty comment. She hadn't stifled the possibility of something else being born between them… even though she should have. They both knew that, if they dared move on any further than this, their lives could easily turn into a living hell…

But maybe that was Azula's logic after all. Maybe she didn't plan on moving any further… she wanted them to remain as they currently were. And if Sokka thought about it calmly, that wouldn't be so bad… granted he might have to endure a few more wasted erections if something remotely similar to last night repeated itself, but the pain was definitely worth it if it came to Azula.

He let out a happy sigh before shaking his head and trying to act normal. The others would pick up on his weird behavior if he was too happy… but it was hard to keep himself in check. Despite he had told her it was for one night, for he knew he didn't deserve more, Azula didn't want to stop at that…

He walked towards the stairs, his hands on his pockets as these thoughts coursed through his mind, filling him with unprecedented joy. Oh, well, he would come up with a good excuse for the others when they saw the stupid smile on his face…

* * *

After soaking in the bathtub for longer than usual, Azula had dressed up and headed down towards the kitchen, hoping it would be empty by now. She honestly didn't feel like dealing with her brother at the moment, and if Ty Lee were there she'd probably tell her off for having stormed away through the beach last night. Those thoughts weren't too bothersome, truth to be told, Azula was in too good a mood to care if her friend nagged her or not. And precisely because she was in such a good mood after being so irritable throughout the trip, Azula hoped to remain by herself for the time being. She didn't want Ty Lee prying into what didn't concern her…

But her luck had been too good to last, it seemed, for Ty Lee was waiting in the kitchen, and she looked at Azula with guilt-ridden eyes when she saw her. Azula raised an eyebrow as she walked towards the table, where her plate awaited her.

"Hey…" Ty Lee muttered, sitting beside her once Azula had taken her seat "I hope you like it. It's not exactly perfect, but I did my best with it…"

"It'll be good enough, I think" said Azula, casting confused glances at her friend "What's the matter with you?"

"I… I think I should say I'm sorry" Ty Lee said, taking Azula by surprise again "I saw how unwilling you were to come here, and yet I dragged you to Ember Island all the same, even if it would make you miserable. I'm a terrible friend…"

"You didn't drag me anywhere, I came here out of my own free will" Azula declared "I had something to do. It's the only reason I agreed to this"

"But then I took you to the play, and then to the beach, and… and you were so mad and I didn't pay any attention to your feelings. I should have…"

"It doesn't matter, Ty Lee" said Azula "There's no point in you apologizing to me…"

"I really think there is" the girl insisted "I've been so inconsiderate towards you…"

"Oddly enough, I think I was the one who was always deemed an inconsiderate friend, wasn't I?" Azula asked, with a crooked smile "It's amusing for our roles to be reversed for once… though it's odd that they are, I will admit. Why are you apologizing this much? Weren't you concerned about Zuko's misery instead of mine?"

"I was, but you were upset too" said Ty Lee "And I care about both of you. I don't want either of you to be sad, for whatever the reason"

"Quite a hard feat to accomplish in Ember Island, I'll say" said Azula "I can't recall the last time I came here without ending up miserable for one reason or the other at some point in time…"

"And that's why I'm sorry. I should have known better" said Ty Lee, sighing.

"Well, we're heading back today anyways, so you shouldn't have much to worry about anymore" said Azula, shrugging "Forget it now so that I can forget it too, will you?"

"Uh… sure, but… are you alright now?" Ty Lee asked.

"I'm perfectly fine, Ty Lee" Azula replied, starting to eat her meal.

Ty Lee blinked blankly and looked at Azula in confusion. Was this her prodigious lying skill again… or was Azula actually telling the truth? Was she really well, after last night?

"Really? You're… better, really. You don't look half as angry as you did yesterday"

"I guess it would be because I'm not? Didn't I just say so?" Azula muttered "But if you keep pestering me like that, I might just get as angry as I was again"

"R-right, I'm sorry!" said Ty Lee again, and Azula lifted an eyebrow once more before continuing with her food.

"Where is everyone else?" Azula asked, once she had finished a dumpling.

"Packing, I think" said Ty Lee "After yesterday's shopping session, the guys have a lot of stuff to carry…"

"Huh…" Azula said, with a raised eyebrow, but she refrained from asking questions. She wasn't all that interested in knowing whatever Ty Lee had bought for them, no matter what it was.

"And I take it Zuko is probably doing something about that swelling, so…"

"Swelling? What swelling?" Azula asked, frowning "Did he get a rash of some sort? It happened to him once when a bug bit him at the beach, I recall… he would have had it coming for heading out there in the middle of the night, honestly"

"Uh… no, nothing bit him" said Ty Lee "Didn't Sokka tell you anything when he went after you? I thought… I thought he would have said something about it"

"About what?" Azula asked, confused.

Ty Lee looked at Azula blankly for a moment before swallowing hard. She had almost expected Sokka to tell Azula about this about that as soon as he saw her…

"Well… when you left, Sokka said we ought to go after you, but then Zuko said we didn't have to" Ty Lee explained "He said you were incapable of emotions or something of the sort… he was being pretty mean with the things he was saying about you"

"Why doesn't that surprise me in the slightest…?" Azula muttered, rolling her eyes.

"And when he was in the middle of saying those things… Sokka punched him"

Azula's eyes snapped wide open and she looked at Ty Lee in shock, dropping her chopsticks at those words. Her friend simply gulped, waiting for Azula to process what she had just told her.

"H-he… he did what? Punched…? Why the hell did he…?"

"Well, he began telling Zuko off for the things he was saying about you… he said Zuko knew nothing about you, and he told him he was a horrible brother, in short. He was pretty angry, really… I'd never seen him like that. His eyes were somehow bluer than usual, for some reason… and he was just so furious. He said Zuko had spent his entire life thinking only about himself, and that he had never showed you he cared for you. He told him to grow up and be the brother you deserved before turning around and going after you…"

"He… he actually did something like that? And what did Zuko do?" Azula asked, still too dumbfounded to continue eating.

"He protested a little at first, but then he stopped talking back" said Ty Lee "As if he had never really thought about things that way…"

Azula's gaze went to her half-empty plate again, yet she wasn't hungry. All she could think about was of what Sokka had done… of what he had said to Zuko, what he had said to her. Long ago she had been pleased to see Sokka choosing her over Zuko… she never knew he would go this far to stand up for her, though. Nobody had ever said Zuko was a bad brother, she had always been the problem. She was the liar, the violent sibling, the cruel one… and Zuko was always her victim. And she had never really cared about people's perception regarding her relationship with her brother… she knew just how to make him miserable, and she'd exploit that as often as she could, it couldn't be denied. If that made her a terrible person, then so be it…

But Sokka had defended her. Sokka hadn't seen her as a monster, not when it came to her mother, not when it came to her brother…

"He was really terrifying, honestly" said Ty Lee, gulping "It was odd that he would be so upbeat today. I expected him to still be beyond angry at Zuko for the things he had said… I think Zuko expected that too, truth to be told. But he was back to normal, somehow. Wasn't he still angry when he ran into you last night? Or was it you didn't meet up with him after all?"

"He… he was… he didn't look angry, at all" said Azula, eyes wide still. She would have never suspected Sokka had only just punched her brother right before taking her in his arms and saying he loved her…

"Really?" Ty Lee frowned "Well, that's odd…"

Azula lowered her gaze towards the meal again, still unable to digest what Ty Lee had just said. Never would she have imagined the extent of Sokka's devotion towards her would go this far…

On some level, she had feared his words from the previous night had been whispered out of pity. She had expected him to only love her for one night because he was unwilling to love her for any longer than that. Because she truly wasn't worth the trouble… but if that were the case, why did he go so far for her when she wasn't even watching? Why stand up for her when he could have easily turned on his heels and left them, without trying to correct whatever they thought of her…? Why tell Zuko he was wrong about Azula when Sokka himself hadn't even known Azula's darkest secrets just yet?

That he had done such a thing could mean many things… some of them slightly misguiding and confusing, she guessed, for she shouldn't be hoping so badly for him to love her for longer than just one night. Those hopes could easily be shattered if they were ever proven wrong, and she didn't want to let herself feel miserable over him ever again. Yet… yet this meant that, even before knowing that Azula thought she was a monster, Sokka had never seen her as one. Sokka had heard Zuko speaking against Azula, and he had instantly stood up for her, refusing to let her brother treat her that way…

Azula sank in her chair suddenly, a hand going to her mouth as she felt the same feelings from last night burning in her chest, as the wildest fire she had ever known. Ty Lee looked at her worriedly, a hand going to her shoulder.

"Azula? Azula, are you alright?"

The Princess didn't answer, for she had no idea what to say to her friend. How could she say she was fine when she definitely wasn't right now? There was no way she would be fine ever again… not after knowing this. Not after spending that night with Sokka…

For now she realized that trying to stop this was futile. She had fought it, she had resisted it in every possible way, but it was pointless. Casting away her feelings had been a mistake, for now it seemed they were stronger than they had ever been, strong enough to cause her physical pain, even. For now she knew it… now she faced the reality she had been unwilling to admit to herself, even though she already had once before. Maybe Sokka had only loved her for one night… but she had loved him for much longer than that. And those feelings had increased to the point where she couldn't restrain them anymore. To the point where it seemed they would only continue to grow from here on…

Indeed, fighting it was pointless. Resisting was a waste of time and efforts. Maybe they weren't meant to be together… maybe the world would condemn them eternally if they were. But her heart was set on loving him… and after these revelations and unexpected developments, she had grown certain it always would be.

* * *

Sokka was surprised to find there was a balcony in the house. He had taken a quick bath after packing up. He hadn't brought too many things with him, but now, with everything they had bought at the Island's shops, his pack would be six times the size it was before. He was fine with that, actually. It hadn't been his money, after all, and now he had almost renewed his wardrobe completely. He always welcomed new clothing and accessories, no matter if he'd be teased for that behavior. And since Ty Lee had been so happy to indulge his enjoyment of shopping…

The view from here was quite remarkable, Sokka thought, as he looked on towards the distant horizon. There was still too much in Ember Island he hadn't seen… he had yet to visit the beach, and Ty Lee had spoken of hot springs, if he recalled correctly. It was a pity this trip had been so short, even though so much had happened in the span of a day…

He heard footsteps behind him, footsteps he would recognize anywhere. With a hand on the balcony's balustrade, Sokka waited until she reached him while wondering if his heart would never stop beating this strongly around her… at this rate it would tear its way out of his chest, and if that happened it would drop down straight to the street below. And that surely wouldn't be a very nice sight for the Ember Island inhabitants to behold, a beating heart rolling down the streets…

Those ridiculous thoughts were slightly distracting for him, but not enough, it seemed. He was still far too conscious of her presence as she reached him. They both stood in uneasy silence for a moment, but before Sokka had a clue of how to break it, Azula began speaking:

"Back when I came here with Mai and Ty Lee, Lo and Li told us Ember Island would give everyone a clean slate" Azula muttered "Apparently the beach has a way to smoothen even the most ragged edges…"

Sokka frowned and looked at her curiously.

"Supposedly, this place helps you understand yourself better" said Azula "Or so they claim"

"Did it help you, then?" Sokka asked, with a weak smile.

"Up until yesterday, it never had" said Azula "All my previous visits were less than helpful for me. If anything, they convinced me that maybe I really was just what I feared I had become…"

"Even when we came here last time?" Sokka asked, worried. It was Azula's turn to smile.

"Need I remind you how that trip ended? I believe you called me and my people evil and heartless quite a few times…"

"I… I did, didn't I?" said Sokka, sighing "Well… you already know I don't think that way anymore, don't you?"

"If any of what you said or did last night is true, then I guess you really must have changed your mind about a lot of things" Azula said "Sokka…"

"Yeah?" he said, looking at her warily. Azula frowned at that.

"What's with that look?"

"I'm just a little worried about what you might say next, that's all" he said, gulping and looking at her nervously "See, uh… I know there were a lot of things I did that I shouldn't have, and I said plenty of things you may not have wanted to hear from me, of all people. That kiss before I left, that was… not intentional"

"Oh? Incapable of repressing your urges now, are you?" Azula asked, with a smirk.

"Terribly so" he replied, smiling weakly "I'm shameful, I know"

"Well, I recall telling you just a while ago that you are also incorrigible, and thus, that shamefulness is never bound to be fixed" Azula said, shrugging "But as I said…"

"Somehow, now you don't mind that so much" said Sokka, looking at her, almost entranced "Why, though? All of sudden…"

"You really have to ask why?" Azula said, looking at him in disbelief "After everything you've done as of late… after everything you did last night? Ty Lee told me of what you did to Zuko…"

"Oh… oh" he said, blinking a few times "Well, I'm pretty sure he's endured worse injuries than what I gave him, so you probably don't need to worry about your brother…"

"You might underestimate your strength if only a little" said Azula, smiling "You're only about eight slots away from reaching the top half of the ranking, aren't you?"

"Well, true" Sokka acknowledged, nodding weakly.

"And you're considered one of the strongest non-benders in the League. With that… well, I do wonder how long will it take for his jaw to heal"

"Considering the crap he was saying about you, it better take ages" Sokka grunted.

"So you… you don't regret it?" Azula asked, surprised "Here I thought your conscience would kick in…"

"Heh, I haven't been acting without my conscience's leave, I'll have you know" said Sokka "Everything I've done, I've done because I've wanted to. Don't ever think otherwise, will you?"

Azula looked at him in mild disbelief before lowering her head and shaking it, a smile on her face.

"What?" said Sokka, frowning "You don't believe me?"

"That's not it. It's just… people talk ill of me behind my back, Sokka" Azula said "That's what they do. That's what they always have done. That's what most Fire Nation people do, really, be it about me or about anyone else. But you… you, on the other hand, went all out to defend me instead? What would you have done if Zuko had attacked you as well?"

"Keh, I would have been able to take your brother up in a fight any time" said Sokka, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Right. You were unarmed, he's a firebender… and you're sure you could win?"

"Well, if he's not half as good as you are…"

"Nobody is half as good as I am, Sokka" Azula said, proudly, at which he found himself laughing.

"Right. Of course not" he said, smiling at her.

"Still… you stood up for me" Azula said, looking at him in confusion "And then you came to me and… and you did and said all those things. Did you even… did you have a clue of what you were doing? Or were you just making things up as you went?"

"The latter, truth to be told" said Sokka, chuckling "You've always told me off for that, I need to plan things out better… but I really didn't know what I was doing at first. I just wanted to keep you from spilling more tears somehow"

"And kissing me was the best idea that came to mind?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Hugging you came first, but since that proved not to be enough…" said Sokka, shrugging as she laughed next to him.

"You're unbelievable, truly" she said, shaking her head "Do you even…? Do you have the slightest clue of what…?"

"Of what that meant to you?" Sokka asked, looking at her kindly "I… I think I do, at least on some degree…"

"Do you really?" Azula asked, her gaze finding his.

"Azula…" he muttered "If you're wondering if I really meant the things I did and said last night… then yes, I did. Every word. All of it"

Azula looked at him with an odd glint in her eyes now. Was it… hope? Sokka didn't think he had ever seen such a unique shade of gold in them before…

"All of it, then?"

"Even if I wasn't supposed to" Sokka said, smiling weakly "I know this isn't something to take lightly… last night was a big deal and not only for you. You can rest assured, I'm taking this to the grave if I have to… both what happened, and everything you told me. I promise I won't tell…"

"Ah, don't even bother" said Azula "You jinx everything when you turn it into a promise"

Sokka froze and she just chuckled at his reaction.

"W-well, that is true, I guess…" he said, gulping.

"Though, honestly, don't tell anyone. Nobody can know, no matter what you hear them say about me" Azula said "If they think I'm a monster, then let them… what matters is that you know the truth of it"

"And you know it too" said Sokka "That's what matters most"

"Right" Azula muttered, her eyes drifting towards the ocean now "In any case, though, Sokka… I…"

"Yeah?" he said, looking at her eagerly.

Azula turned towards him now, and her eyes found his again.

"Thank you" she said, and the words were more heartfelt than ever before. It wasn't the first time she showed him any gratitude… but it certainly was the first time Sokka felt so elated to hear the words.

He looked at her, his intense gaze as alluring for Azula as hers was for him. Soon enough she had closed her eyes and the short distance that separated them, and he let his own eyes flutter close as he felt one of her hands land on his abdomen. Their lips found each other once more, and Sokka's hand went to her waist while the other kept gripping the balustrade tightly. He kissed her intensely, hoping to show, without words, that his feelings wouldn't last for one night only. Every second he spent near her strengthened them, and every time he kissed her, he reaffirmed them. She should have never done any of this… the hawk should have never dropped to the ground again to give the turtle a second chance. But she had. And he was determined not to waste it.

Her hand moved up to his chest as her body pressed against his. She didn't know why she had succumbed to the urge to kiss him yet again, but if he had done it earlier, surely she had every right to do it now. It hardly mattered if the others might see them… though she sure hoped they wouldn't, but if it happened it couldn't be helped. She would just have to find some way to silence them… but right now she was too invested in this kiss to genuinely care about anything else. This man could become her undoing and she was sure she wouldn't find it in herself to regret that at all, not so long as she could continue to kiss him like this…

A couple of hours later, the group was boarding the ferry again to return to the Capital. It wasn't until they were on the deck that Azula saw Zuko again, and she raised an eyebrow at the bandaging on his jaw.

"What?" he said, when he caught her looking at him "Are you thinking my left isn't my good side, Azula?"

"Now, now, do me a favor and keep in mind it was you who said that and not me" said Azula raising her eyebrows.

"Of course… Uh, say, are you… mad?" Zuko asked, looking at her worriedly. Azula looked at him in confusion.

"Why, I thought you were convinced I was, but if you're going to start a campaign to make me admit it, you're not going to be in luck…"

"I don't mean it that way" said Zuko, rolling his eyes "Are you upset because…? See, you stormed off last night, so…"

"So did you, in case you don't recall" Azula replied. Zuko sighed in exasperation.

"I mean to ask… are we alright?" he muttered.

"Curious" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "I don't think we ever have been. Why would we start being alright now?"

"W-well… because I don't want your boyfriend punching me anymore, maybe?" Zuko said, with a crooked smile.

"Huh? My boyfriend? And just who might that be, pray tell?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows inquisitively as the others finished boarding with their immense packs.

"Dang, this is a lot of stuff, really…" Sokka said, wiping the sweat off his brow after dragging the last of his bags on board. Azula looked down judgmentally.

"I hope you don't expect me to pay back Ty Lee for all your junk…"

"Hey, it's not junk!" he squeaked, irritable.

"Now, Azula, don't tease him, it's so rare to find a guy who admits he enjoys shopping!" Ty Lee said happily, as Haru dropped all his bags and Ty Lee's right next to those of the rest of the group.

"Well, who doesn't like having new stuff? People just don't appreciate the small things in life nowadays, they really don't!" he declared, folding his arms over his chest.

"But don't you think you appreciate them too much…?" Haru asked, and Sokka gasped, indignant.

"What, you too, Haru?! What is this, peer shaming?!" he exclaimed, as the other gladiator laughed.

Azula couldn't help but smile at the sight of Sokka arguing one-sidedly with the earthbender, who simply held his hands up and smiled uncomfortably, hoping Sokka would quiet down. Ty Lee seemed amused, and Zuko wasn't paying much attention to their banter or to her, to Azula's relief. If her brother had caught sight of her right now, if he had seen the way he was staring at the Water Tribe man, he surely would grow convinced Sokka really was Azula's boyfriend.

Which he wasn't, Azula was certain. Yet he wasn't her friend either, for he was so much more than that. She honestly didn't know what he was for her just yet: if anything, now she was more confused about the nature of their relationship than she had been before this trip. But as she watched him acting so stubbornly, behaving in such a foolhardy manner before everyone else, she realized she had no clue what the proper label for their relationship was… but at last she knew what she really wanted it to be.


	66. Chapter 66

"Yeah, yeah, I know what's on your mind" Sokka said, sighing "Maybe I wasn't thinking things through, maybe I was just going with what felt right, but can you blame me for it?! If you had seen her back then, you'd understand! And no, don't jump to conclusions, I wasn't taking advantage of the situation! Hell, if I had been trying to do that, I'm pretty sure I would have gone all the way with her and she wouldn't even have refused…! Though she would have butchered me on the next morning, I think. Well, maybe not, if she'd enjoyed it… still, that's not it! We didn't do it, so there's no reason to freak out about that! And yes, well, I slept beside her, that much is true, but I didn't sleep WITH her, alright?! I haven't done anything that should cost me my head! Though… well… her father would have my head anyways if he only knew I've touched his daughter… still, I did what any man with guts would have done! I did what I had to do because I care about her! Hell, I don't just care… I didn't say those things because I wanted to please her for one night, I said it because I meant them all. And these feelings won't die out only after one night… they can't vanish that easily. Believe me, I'm speaking of experience here. I tried to get rid of these feelings and in the end I only made everything worse, and not for myself but for her. I still can't forgive myself for that… it's proof of how pointless it is to fight what I feel for her. I just… love her. I do. I have for a while now, and I really don't see why I shouldn't. I mean, she's amazing! In every possible way! Though, well, you know her… you've seen just how remarkable she is. I think I could waste away my days just talking about her non-stop and I'd still be left with heaps of things to say. I can't really narrow this down… I can't just express what I feel for her as easily as that. But I love her… I love Azula. I think I always will… and yeah, she's out of my league, you don't need to tell me that! I know it already! But I really don't care. I don't need to be in her league. So long as she's happy, I don't think I need anything else… it would be crazy lucky if I was the one who made her the happiest she can be, but if I'm not, then I'll just accept it and hope she finds a great guy. She doesn't deserve any less than that… and I'm not being cowardly! I just…! There's a lot at stake, and I don't want to land her in trouble, I've done her enough harm as it is! So stop judging me! I know what I'm doing!"

Sokka finished his monologue and glared at the one who had been listening to him intently. Naturally, his hawk could only look at him in confusion. It seemed he hardly cared about Sokka's inner conflicts regarding his feelings and his strange relationship with the Princess… for all he was interested in was the slabs of meat Sokka had been giving him during training today. Yet for some reason, after every new lap the bird made through the sky, his owner would feed him and begin rambling on and on about matters that didn't concern Hawky in the slightest.

"Oh… right, the meat" Sokka said, smiling weakly "Maybe I ought to give you some for listening to me, huh?"

The hawk seemed excited upon the expectative, but Sokka smirked and shook his head before offering his gloved hand to him.

"That was just a joke, silly" he said, as Hawky hopped on his hand "You'll have to fly first and get your meat after you do, alright? You know the drill, Hawky… so up into the sky you go!"

And with that, Sokka lifted his arm and helped Hawky take off. The hawk flapped his wings as he flew upwards, just as Sokka had commanded. He was only a black spot on a cloud by the time he took a turn and glided down towards his master again. Sokka smiled proudly as Hawky approached, and he held out his hand to help the bird land. The claws latched onto his glove as the hawk's wings fluttered while he found balance on Sokka's hand. And once he was in place, Sokka beamed and gave one of the promised slabs of meat out of his pocket and offered it to Hawky, who ate it ravenously.

"Woah, boy, don't eat me as well" Sokka said, chuckling as Hawky devoured his meat "Uh, but really… I can't keep my mind off her, Hawky. All I can think about is seeing her again"

But when would he? They had only arrived to the Capital the day before, and everyone had parted ways after that. Sokka hadn't expected to see Azula again that day, but he sure hoped he would on the next one… but she had yet to appear. He sighed and looked at Hawky with sad eyes, and the hawk responded by screeching so loudly that Sokka tripped and fell while the bird flapped his winds and dropped gracefully on the ground.

"W-what was that for?! You trying to give me a heart attack, Hawky?!" Sokka squeaked, looking at his pet indignantly before sighing "Ugh, let's just keep training… and I'll try to stop thinking about her somehow"

But his attempts weren't successful at all. After Hawky performed only a few more loops, Sokka began wondering if he should send Azula a message… but what should he write? What could he possibly tell her through a letter? It would have been a good idea to contact her through messenger hawk only a week ago… but now he didn't feel like teasing her through a foolish flirty message. He wanted to see her, but even if he did, what would he say? What could he possibly do? After what they had been through, being around her was nerve-wrecking. He thought the tension between them would fade away as the limits that defined their relationship were blurred… but if anything, it seemed to have increased tenfold. His heart raced only by thinking of her, and if he saw her he would lose his mind… but if he didn't see her his chest would split in half over the pain of missing her. And why miss her so badly when they hadn't been apart for that long? Oh, these feelings were going to be the death of him one day…

And thus he found himself waiting, even if he hardly meant to do so. Anxiety made its way through him, unjustified anxiety he kept trying to placate by using his common sense. No, it wasn't as though Azula needed to show up just yet… she had better things to do than to come waste her time with him. And that she hadn't dropped by didn't mean she was sick of him, or that she didn't want to see him anymore. It didn't mean their relationship had been ruined… though if it wasn't ruined, it definitely had changed beyond recognition now. And since things had changed so radically, did it mean she didn't want to spend time with him because she feared he would be unable to stop himself the next time they were alone…?

And there they were again, those ridiculous thoughts that were consuming Sokka's mind. He huffed and shook his head, letting Hawky take a break for the day as he went about his own business, trying to occupy himself with any random tasks just to keep from self-destructing with these foolish thoughts of his. He wasn't the sort of guy who suffered from anxiety. He would get over this quickly, he had no other choice but to do so.

And thus, he busied himself with anything he could think of. He cleaned his bedroom, and he folded neatly every single new clothing garment he had bought in Ember Island before placing them inside his drawers and closet. He helped Song cook even though she didn't seem to need help. He read a book that had been left behind by the house's previous owner, a book on Fire Nation geography, and he fell asleep on the couch while reading. He woke with a start after that, and his first thought was that Azula surely would arrive now only to find him snoring with a book on his chest. It was just like her to catch her in his most embarrassing moments…

But she wasn't here yet. Sokka sighed and felt his heart sink, fearing this would mean she wasn't going to show up today. The sun was almost setting by now, and she'd never drop by so late. So she simply hadn't come… for one reason or another. He tried to appease himself, to think it had nothing to do with their current strange, unstable situation… if she had been uncomfortable about it, she could have said so back in Ember Island…

Yet that might be the reason she would keep her distance now… because it had happened in Ember Island. The place gave everyone a clean slate, she had said… was the slate only clean while you were in Ember Island? Was it that they had returned to the Capital now, and Azula had remembered just how many mistakes Sokka had made, just how many times he had hurt her, willing or unwillingly, and she didn't want to put herself in danger of being hurt by him again…?

He could hardly blame her if that were the case, now that he thought of it. He sighed, thinking he probably wouldn't have given himself a second chance if he had been in her place. She had been quite generous to him up until now. Maybe he should stop pushing his luck… and he definitely shouldn't consider dropping by at the Palace to see her and ask her if they were really doing fine. All he had to do was keep his head on straight. He had to think of what was important, both to her and to him… and that was the Gladiator Business, of course. He had a fight in five days, if he was counting right. He needed to focus on that, to train for it… and to train properly he needed to relax first, to push away these vexing thoughts from his mind. And the best way to start doing that would be by taking a bath, Sokka concluded. It surely would help clear his mind, yes it would…

Song had been folding the laundry when she heard a knock on the door. She blinked a few times, surprised to hear there was a visitor at this time of the day. She didn't bother looking outside through a window to check who it might be, though, for she had no problem guessing who this visitor might be. Only one person dropped by at the house on a frequent basis.

"Good day, Princess" Song said, smiling shyly.

Azula nodded towards her and the slave moved away to allow Azula inside. Song didn't miss the fact that the Princess was gazing around the living room, surely looking for Sokka.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of this… late afternoon visit?" asked Song.

"I had some matters to tend to, I simply didn't expect them to take so long" Azula replied "Where is he?"

"Uh, I'm not sure" said Song, tapping her chin with a finger "He's been lounging around the house all day, training Hawky and whatnot… he might be in his room now, maybe"

Azula had to make use of all her willpower to keep from blushing in front of Song. She wasn't about to go see him in his room, not after everything that had happened between them as of late…

"You didn't bring your sword today, did you?" Song noted, looking at Azula with interest.

"I'm not here to train" she muttered "I came here to tell him about…"

Azula fell silent when she heard footsteps coming from outside. And when she lifted her eyes towards where she heard the sound, she forgot completely about what she had been telling Song.

"A-Azula!" exclaimed Sokka, and his cheeks reddened at the same time hers did.

He probably would have been beyond happy to see her, if only he had been wearing more than just a towel around his waist. Azula had to do her very best to keep from gawking at his almost naked body, but it was slightly difficult to keep her eyes focused on his.

"Sokka?" she said, looking at him in disbelief.

"I… I'm sorry about this, I wasn't expecting you to show up!"

"Considering your fancy getup, I'd hope not" Azula stated. It didn't matter how much their relationship might have changed as of late, she was certain this was definitely out of bounds…

"I, uh… I'll be right back" he said, grimacing before running up the stairs, holding his towel with one hand as he tried to keep it from falling off.

Azula actually couldn't help herself when he had his back turned towards her, and she followed him with her gaze until he was gone from sight. Her throat was slightly dry all of sudden… ah, why did he have to be so shameless?

"Does he do that often?" Azula asked, an eyebrow twitching as she tried to play off her embarrassment as irritation.

"Uh, more or less" said Song, smiling weakly "When he takes a bath he gets dressed right after, though. It's not like he wanders around the house wearing just a towel, if that's what you thought…"

"Well, knowing how shameless he is, I wouldn't have put it past him" Azula said, sighing "It doesn't make you uncomfortable to live like this, with a guy like him?"

"Huh? Well, no, not really" said Song, shrugging "Most the time it feels like watching over a sloppy child, truth to be told"

"Even when you see him like that?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh… it's not a problem, really" said Song, blinking a few times "As I said, he bathes and gets dressed afterwards… I'm normally doing other things in the mean time, so it doesn't bother me much if he walks like this. And well, it's not like I haven't seen shirtless men before…"

"Of course…" said Azula, gritting her teeth. But this wasn't just any shirtless man, this was Sokka… Azula could only wonder if Song truly wasn't affected by seeing him like that. Either the girl was far too innocent to care about seeing Sokka like this, or she had gotten accustomed to him… and for that Azula could only envy her. If only she could keep from being so affected by him…

"So sorry about that, Azula, I didn't think you'd be showing up today" Sokka said, as he climbed down the stairs, now fully clothed as he dried his hair with his towel.

"Alright then, I'll leave you two to your business…" Song said, smiling before heading off to continue folding the laundry.

"It's… fine, I suppose" Azula said, carefully weighing her words. She didn't want him to know just how fine it really was "I didn't plan on coming this late either, but I was rather busy…"

"Really?" Sokka asked, looking at her with interest as he lowered the towel. Again Azula had to try to keep from staring at him in amazement. Why was he this attractive when he had his hair down? "Well, if you had stuff to do you really didn't have to drop by… it's not easy to live without you, but I'm doing my best at it"

"Huh? It's not?" Azula asked, smirking now as he gave her a foolish grin "Still, I thought it best for me to come now. One of the things I did was drop by at the Royal Dome to ask Shoji about our next opponent…"

"Oh, right… we didn't get anything about him last time" said Sokka, frowning as he sat on the couch.

"It shouldn't have taken me too long to come here after that, but alas, using the palanquin tends to consume a lot of time" said Azula, sighing and stepping away from him as he tied his hair, to her relief. This way it would be much easier for her to focus on the issue at hand… for it really was an issue.

"Is Xin Long still off on his trip?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He hasn't found traces of more dragons as of yet, but he's having the time of his life flying around volcanoes" said Azula "He has also enjoyed hunting in new terrains, so I wouldn't worry much about him. He'll be back when he feels like it"

"I figure" said Sokka, smiling "You must miss him, though"

"We're not as far apart as it might seem, even when we're not together" Azula said, and Sokka simply stared at her in bewilderment.

"Right…" he said, and Azula turned towards him again. Once she confirmed his hair was tied, she finally felt capable of focusing on the matter that had brought her here in the first place.

"About this Stingray, though…" she said, looking down at him with a frown "We never really analyzed him much because he wasn't a promising fighter. Shoji only told us he was underneath us in the ranking, and with that alone we had discarded him. But with that name I suppose we should have guessed…"

"He's Water Tribe, isn't he?" Sokka said, frowning as well as his gaze went to the floor "A man whose gladiator name is 'stingray' could hardly be anything else"

"Indeed" replied Azula, sighing "According to Shoji, he hailed from the Northern Water Tribe, and, well, he's got quite an odd story. But the main thing you need to know is that he's a waterbender"

Sokka sighed and leaned back on the couch before giving Azula a weak, insincere smile.

"Well, I've had my fair share of fighting waterbenders in the past…"

"I honestly doubt this will be on the same level as struggling with an unexperienced younger sibling who keeps soaking you" said Azula, with a grimace.

"Yeah, you're right about that" said Sokka, sighing again "I somewhat suspected this would happen, but on some level I wished this guy had just taken up a random name that sounded cool. I guess not… but how come is there a northern waterbender in the ranking? I thought there were hardly any Water Tribe slaves…"

"There aren't many, truly" said Azula "But this guy, as I said, has some strange history about him. Apparently he was sent by the higher-ups in the Water Tribe to murder my grandfather many years ago…"

"Wait, he's the one who killed your grandfather?!" Sokka asked, shocked.

"No, of course not. I told you I didn't know how he died, and he definitely didn't die by this guy's hand" said Azula "You see… apparently, this Stingray was a threat to anyone, even to his own people. He was an unreliable assassin, not because he couldn't get the job done but because he went to unnecessary lengths with what he was trying to pull. Apparently he could put the most bloodthirsty Fire Nation soldiers to shame when he showed his cruelty on the battlefield, he even killed Commander Fon in cold blood and tore apart his ship singlehandedly"

"So he was some sort of killer machine?" Sokka asked.

"Not quite… a machine would follow the commands it's given. This guy made his own choices" said Azula "And thus, he was unreliable"

"He sounds like something too nasty to come out of a Water Tribe, truth to be told" said Sokka.

"It's probably why they wanted to get rid of him" said Azula "See, the assassination attempt went awry. The information about it was leaked, and my grandfather managed to protect himself properly and gain a new waterbending prisoner… though of course it wasn't easy to seize him. He must have killed about twenty soldiers, more or less, before he was subdued and captured. After that, he was kept locked up with other dangerous waterbenders that had been taken from the South… but unlike most of them, this guy didn't die after being locked up for over a decade"

"So he was kept captive and turned into a gladiator when the slavery began?" Sokka asked.

"Indeed" said Azula "My father determined that all surviving captives from the war would be available to serve as slaves, so long as they had masters who could handle them. If nobody wanted them, they would be kept in jail. One of my father's noblemen requested to be granted this very waterbender as his slave, and he enrolled him into the Gladiator League right away…"

"But… this means this guy has been around for ages" said Sokka, frowning "He's been here for way longer than I have, and if all this about him being a dangerous murderer is true, so dangerous that his own Tribe wanted him dead, then why is he so low on the ranking?"

"I thought it odd as well" said Azula, lowering her gaze "And I asked Shoji the same thing. See… he had been in the higher levels of the ranking for a very long time, in the top hundred, to be precise. But after sustaining some awful injuries he was unable to return to the Arena for over three months. He was out of the ranking for a year… and he had to start from scratch when he came back"

"But if he got badly hurt then it means he's not undefeatable" said Sokka, thoughtful "Unless it was in an event similar to the Hunt, then it only took one fighter to reduce him to that dreadful state…"

"The problem is, it wasn't just any fighter" Azula said, looking at him now "The one who left him in that dreadful state was Combustion Man"

Sokka's eyes widened. He looked at Azula in disbelief, and he remained silent for a moment as he digested the information.

"Wait… but, then… well, he lost against him. If I were to beat him it would mean…"

"It would be a huge risk, Sokka. Bigger than just a huge risk" Azula said, shaking her head "The reason why I came was… I wanted to know if you really were up for this. Not only is he your kin, even if he's from the North, but his skills are likely beyond you. Combustion Man has killed countless fighters… that the Stingray didn't die when he went up against him is proof of how deadly he is. There is a chance you might be capable of defeating him, but knowing the peril there is on this battle, I…"

"You think we should forfeit?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "I find that hard to believe coming from you…"

"I'd much rather forfeit one fight than risk you dying by this guy's hand" Azula said, looking at him sternly "I was unwilling to forfeit in the past because there was little chance you'd end up dead. This time, though…"

"You place so little trust in my skills?" Sokka asked, with a weak smile.

"It's not a matter of trust, but of survival. I don't want to do something reckless" she said "No matter how badly we want to get you to the top of this ranking, it's not going to happen if you get yourself killed in this fight"

"But if this guy was a big deal in the past, as you've said… then I might earn myself some serious challenges after fighting with him" said Sokka, thoughtful "There will likely be other sponsors who remember this Stingray guy. I'd earn a better reputation if I take him down"

"And what if you don't?" Azula asked "What if he kills you? He has some crazy techniques with water and ice, and he has killed countless people by soaking them with his water before freezing them alive, just to mention one of his techniques…"

"Well, then, I'll just have to keep from getting killed" Sokka said, and Azula sighed.

"You're not serious, are you? Sokka…"

"It's another fight, no different from all those I've had up till now" said Sokka, frowning "That he's Water Tribe shouldn't make a difference… not when he's got that downright creepy story behind him. I've fought plenty of other gladiators for years now, no matter where they came from, no matter if they had a noble story or a rotten one. I think I'll be able to take this guy on, even if he's from a Water Tribe. But, say, why was he so insistent about fighting us? Why did he keep sending challenges even when you kept ignoring him?"

"I don't know… I honestly don't know what's behind his constant challenges" Azula said "I rather doubt he's an acquaintance of yours, he was probably captured when you were only a child, that is, if you had been born at all when that happened. Maybe he just wants to see another Water Tribe fighter…"

"But it's the sponsor who chooses the opponent" said Sokka "Does this guy hold some grudge towards you of some sort? Did he ask for your hand in marriage and you turned him down or something?"

"No, he didn't, but I probably would have turned him down if he had" said Azula, at which Sokka smiled a little "I don't know this man personally, and I don't see why he would hold a grudge against me or my family, in case that's what you suspected. I don't know…"

"Maybe it's some White Lotus thing?" Sokka asked, frowning "Maybe… they're trying to finish me off after what happened back then?"

"It's a possibility. A very distressing possibility" Azula said, sighing "Maybe this man is the spy my father has been looking for…? But I doubt it. He's not a member of the highest circles of society. He wouldn't have known about the tunnel in the Throne Room"

"Then it's all a big mystery?" Sokka asked "Or maybe there's more than just one spy? It could be a chain of sorts…"

"Whatever it is, it's not good. Heading off into a fight that could be easily linked to the White Lotus is just…"

"Crazy? It might be, but you'd rather back off instead of facing this head on? That doesn't quite sound like you"

Azula raised an eyebrow and Sokka looked at her defiantly. Maybe backing down wasn't like her, but it was just like him to manipulate her in this way… but what was he trying to accomplish?

"Why are you so eager to do this?" asked Azula "Why are you willing to put your life on the line like this when the potential benefits really don't justify it, Sokka?"

"Because…" he said, before lowering his eyes as he played with his thumbs. He really couldn't say he didn't want to let her down, could he? She was right, maybe it was too reckless…

"Do you really think it's worth the risk?" Azula insisted.

"So far, we haven't fought the strongest gladiators there are" Sokka said "And I'm aiming at becoming the best, am I not? If I can beat this guy, I'll know if I have a chance at surviving a fight against Combustion Man. If I can beat this guy, I'll know if I'll be capable of reaching the top hundred fighters. If I back off, I won't know anything. I won't know if the risk will be worth it until I've taken it"

"That's… that's the way of thinking of an idiot, I'll have you know" Azula said, her eyes gleaming with concern as she glared at him. Sokka couldn't help but marvel at the expression on her face. Could anyone else show emotions in the way Azula did…?

"Maybe it is" he said, with a weak smile "But I really think it's best if we go with this, Azula"

"You'd better not come to regret that later" she said, with a sigh "Very well, then. We're doing this. Don't expect me to mourn you if he freezes you alive"

"Alright then, I'll try to keep you from having any reasons to mourn at all" said Sokka, still smiling "I'll keep training these next few days… I'll do everything I can to keep from getting killed by that guy"

"Shoji described his fighting style to me, more or less" said Azula, sighing "I should be able to help you with the training somehow, I hope"

"Good, then" said Sokka, smiling.

"It's already late, though, and I didn't bring my sword" said Azula "So it will have to wait until tomorrow"

"Don't worry, I didn't think we'd start right away" he said, chuckling.

"And I probably should take off now" Azula muttered "It's getting late, and I left the Royal Procession waiting on me…"

"Right" said Sokka, with a weak smile as he stood up and walked with her to the door "So I guess… I'll see you tomorrow?"

Azula looked up at him for a moment, perhaps worriedly, perhaps expectantly… as if she had thought he would do something else now they were about to part again. Yet she did nothing other than nod quickly.

"Tomorrow it is, then" she said, opening the door and walking towards the palanquin that awaited her on the road.

Sokka smiled as he watched her leave, beyond relieved upon knowing Azula would come again tomorrow… it didn't matter if she'd beat him to a pulp during training, for he was certain she would be using both her sword and fire this time around, and with both skills combined the Princess was nothing short of lethal. Yet it didn't matter… so long as he knew he'd see her again, there was something in the near future worth looking forward to.

But that which loomed in the not-so-near future wasn't something Sokka actually looked forward to. The days passed by, and his training with Azula was far more intense than it usually was. To his mild joy, there was some physical contact between them, far more than usual, though to his disappointment, they didn't kiss again. It seemed Azula wasn't going to take more risks of being caught by anyone, they had already been too reckless during their stay in Ember Island. Still, Sokka found he didn't mind so much. Being near her was thrilling for him already, and unless Azula wanted to make more of this, he wouldn't push his luck any further. He truly cherished what they already had.

Yet she seemed uneasy over having him fight the Stingray… and her unease only seemed to increase with every passing day. Sokka could tell she didn't want Sokka to end up dead for more reasons than the ones she would always use to justify herself with. But just as she often did, she kept all those other reasons to herself. Not once did she admit that she didn't want him to die for any other motive than for feeling unwilling to find a new gladiator. Yet Sokka didn't need for her to say it… not this time. Her blazing eyes often spoke the words she refused to say aloud.

And the expression in her eyes only grew more pronounced as the fight loomed over them. Sokka actually thought she would finally put her worries into words when they were in a waiting room before the fight began… but other than sending glances his way while pacing through the room, Azula said nothing. Maybe it was better this way, Sokka thought…

"Beware the ice attacks most of all" Azula warned him for the millionth time once she had walked down to the stand-by room with him "He'll try to overwhelm you with them. Waterbending is a very dangerous fighting form, and if he's half as good at it as I was told…"

"I know" said Sokka, smiling weakly as he fit his helmet on his head "You've already said so, Azula. Don't worry, I'll be…"

"You keep saying you'll be fine, but how can I just believe that?" she asked, frowning "You're telling me to believe in you blindly, wholeheartedly, even when all odds are against you?"

Sokka turned and smiled brightly at her, and he took her by surprise with his confident response.

"Yeah"

Azula froze in place before glaring at him with irritation.

"Do you really think I can do something so thoughtless? You can't win a fight by willpower alone, you blockhead"

Sokka actually laughed at her insult, but her face remained as serious as it had been all along.

"Good thing I brought a few weapons along then" he said, smiling at her "I can do this, Azula. You'll see it for yourself soon enough"

"So you say, but…" Azula muttered, sighing "If you get yourself badly injured, it'll be all on you, you heard me? Don't expect me to bother taking care of you…"

"Got it, Azula" he said "You can stop worrying. I'll sort this out one way or another"

"You'd better" she said, gritting her teeth before looking at him, her eyes still gleaming with concern "Good luck… and don't get yourself killed"

"I won't" Sokka said, looking back at her with determination.

It seemed to him she might resort to a gesture of some sort, of any sort, to ask him not to get himself killed today yet again… but she didn't. Perhaps she knew that showing him affection of any kind would likely only serve to make him lose concentration, and he needed to keep his head focused on the upcoming fight.

So Azula simply nodded towards him and walked away, an unpleasant feeling of dread filling her with every step she took towards the sponsors' balcony. Perhaps she was being pessimistic, or perhaps her feelings for Sokka were clouding her better judgment, but pitting her gladiator against a murderer such as the Stingray simply couldn't sit well with her. She could only wish he'd win, that he would meet her again in the waiting room during his medical check with a cocky grin and an 'I told you so', but it wasn't easy to indulge in those thoughts. She was too fearful of the worst case scenario to even think about the better ones.

Sokka took a deep breath as he brought himself to focus. He had a fight right in front of him, a fight with an ex-Water Tribe assassin… and even though he had tried to keep level-headed about it until now, it really wasn't easy to think about facing off against someone that belonged to his nation. Never mind if this guy was from the north and not the south… it still gave him a bad feeling to fight against him. He tried to ignore that feeling, for he had fought heaps of Earth Kingdom gladiators and defeated them all the same, but for some reason it wasn't so easy to put aside his unease now that he was in the stand-by room. Assassin or not, the gladiator he'd be dealing with was a fellow tribesman…

Azula entered the sponsors' balcony to find the opposite sponsor was already there. He was a man close to his sixties, it seemed to Azula, but unlike most noblemen she had met of that same age, this particular man was thin and lanky, with streaks of white and grey discoloring his formerly black hair.

"Ah… Princess" he said, as she walked to her assigned seat "It is such a pleasure to meet you"

"It better be, considering how much you insisted on this fight" Azula replied, trying to sound as confident as ever "To what did I owe all the persistent challenges, I wonder?"

"Why, this is the Gladiator League, Princess" said the sponsor, smiling "Challenges are bound to come and go all the time, aren't they?"

"I suppose…" said Azula, looking at the man judgmentally. He was hiding something behind those smiles, without a doubt… "I take it you will be satisfied with a single fight, won't you? I won't be finding more challenges coming from the Notorious Stingray anymore no matter what today's outcome is, will I?"

"Ah, no, I don't believe so…" the man said "I've heard much about your fighter, Princess. Apparently he's very strong"

"I've heard much about yours as well" Azula replied "Though I'm partially hoping the information I was given was fake…"

"It most likely isn't" said the man "If you were told about him being a former assassin, you heard the right tale"

"It sounds like he would be a handful of a gladiator to handle for a sponsor such as yourself, then" said Azula.

"Well, I take it you must have quite some experience dealing with Water Tribe men, if your gladiator is from the South as I was told" said the sponsor "The Blue Wolf's already a few places away from the top half of the ranking, isn't he?"

"Indeed" Azula replied "Only eight slots away from the 250th place"

"Strong indeed" said the sponsor, nodding "Yet strength isn't always a good omen for a fighter…"

"What?" Azula said, frowning "It's not a good omen? Whatever do you mean by that?"

"Well… it doesn't matter how powerful you become, there will always be someone capable of defeating you. No matter how much you believe you're the best at something, someone better will always come along. That's the way life is"

Azula glared at him in confusion upon those words. Was he trying to Sokka couldn't possibly win this fight? Was he claiming his fighter was better than hers? He might even be implying this would be the end of Sokka's career… and if he made it so, Azula would make this man, and his murderer gladiator, pay for it. She wasn't about to lose Sokka today… she wasn't about to lose him now, after everything that had happened between them as of late.

The time limit they settled was of ten minutes, by Azula's request. If this man planned on having his assassin butcher Sokka, she wouldn't allow it to drag on much longer than necessary. Surely Sokka could withstand ten minutes stuck in the sand with that gladiator…

The two gladiators were ushered into the ring by the megaphone man, and cheers of all sorts welcomed Sokka into the fight. It seemed his supporters grew in number with every passing day… surely his feat of coming second in the Hunt had earned him the recognition of plenty more people.

And maybe he wasn't paying enough attention, or maybe he couldn't see everyone in the stands properly from down in the ring, but he couldn't see or hear anyone screaming for the Stingray. All the signs he saw had wolves drawn upon them. He lifted a fist into the air, and most the public screamed joyfully. So this Stingray didn't have many supporters, it seemed…

And considering both his history and his appearance, it wasn't so hard to figure out why that was. The Stingray was a man in his forties or so, with glacial eyes that seemed to shift between gray and light blue. Yet the main feature about him that would catch anyone's eye was the man's face. Perhaps it had been a handsome face in the past, but it sure wasn't anymore. The Stingray had sustained the worst burn Sokka had ever seen, even including the one on Zuko's face and the one Azula had branded Sokka's own stomach with. The man's nose seemed to have been burned away, and the skin that still covered his face was dark and runny, as though it were melted wax.

Sokka recoiled upon the sight of him. Without a doubt, those burns must have been Combustion Man's doing…

"Hello there" the Stingray said, with a sing-song voice that only served to increase Sokka's unease.

"Hi" he replied, gulping.

"So you're the famous Blue Wolf, huh?" the man asked, and his charred lips lifted to form a smile. It made for quite the gruesome sight for Sokka.

"And you're the Notorious Stingray" said Sokka "Nice to meet you"

"The look in your eyes says you really don't think so" said the Stingray, with a shrill laugh "Don't you like the souvenirs Busty gave me?"

"Busty?" Sokka repeated "Are you that familiar with him that you can call him that?"

"Eh, it's not like it'll make a difference whatever I call him" said the Stingray, chuckling, still with the same odd laugh.

The megaphone man screamed and announced the beginning of the fight right then, but neither gladiator took the offensive just yet, busy studying each other as they were.

"Why were you so eager to fight me?" Sokka asked, frowning.

"Oh? And what makes you think it was me who wanted to fight you?" asked the Stingray.

"Because you happen to look like the sort of gladiator who could terrify your sponsor into doing your bidding and not the other way around…" Sokka replied, walking on a circle as he looked at the Stingray. There were pouches of water hanging on his waist… the longer this guy continued wasting time like this instead of attacking with icy shards, the better it would be for Sokka.

"Ah, well, that much is true, I am that sort of gladiator…" said the Stingray, chuckling "And what about you, Wolfy? Are you the sort of gladiator who terrifies his sponsor? Or is it the other way around?"

"I'd say we go on even terms, more or less…" Sokka replied, and that caused the Stingray to lash out in laughter, to Sokka's surprise.

The man was laughing so hard he had to bend over himself, a hand on his stomach as he tried to calm down. Sokka gritted his teeth and lifted a hand towards his sword warily. That sort of behavior was nothing short of terrifying.

"Even terms?! Even terms, he says! HA! As if that were possible!" he exclaimed "It's like you don't even know you're just another puppet in a puppet show! It's like you don't realize what they've done to you! You saved the Fire Nation, boy! You saved the pretty Princess's life, and the life of every idiot in these stands! And yet you say you're on even terms with her? You're an even bigger idiot than I am, you Blue Wolf! And that's saying a lot!"

Sokka's eyebrows drew together as he glared at his opponent. This didn't sound good. But if the guy was hoping to defeat him by recurring to underhanded techniques, such as making him doubt his latest decisions, then maybe it meant he wasn't fully functional… maybe it meant he wasn't strong enough to beat Sokka through skill alone. And if that was the case…

"Naïve, naïve…" said the Stingray, smirking before grabbing two of the pouches on his waist "Too naïve to live, boy!"

Sokka gritted his teeth and jumped back instinctively. He really should have attacked while the man was rambling. Waiting for the right moment hadn't been helpful this time around.

The Stingray popped the two pouches open, and he unleashed the water with swift movements. He gave Sokka another gruesome smirk before moving his hands in a circular motion and throwing an array of water straight at Sokka.

The stream was fast, but Sokka was faster. He jumped out of the way quickly, and he was only reached by a few stray droplets of water that didn't quite follow their intended course. Yet just when Sokka expected the Stingray to pull back the water in order to attack again, the opponent tightened a fist and all the water he had just used solidified into ice, including the drops which had reached Sokka.

He didn't feel the temperature change, for luckily, the water had only hit his armor. But the Stingray gave him another dangerous smile as Sokka looked at the frozen parts his breastplate worriedly.

"That was a warning shot, Wolfy" said the Stingray "Ready for the real deal? Or will you beg for mercy just like you must have to those ashmakers you've sold your life to?"

Sokka gritted his teeth and pulled out Space Sword. So maybe he really wasn't fully functional… but it seemed he needn't be to be a threat to Sokka. How was he supposed to beat this guy without getting frozen up in the process?

The Stingray unfroze the ice he had used previously, and now he directed it again towards Sokka. Sokka jumped away, but this time the Stingray didn't freeze the water just yet. To Sokka's dismay, the man leapt and spun around in the air with a kick, and with that, the water he was bending made a turn in midair and flew straight towards Sokka's back.

Sokka dropped on the ground and rolled on the sand, but it seemed that wasn't going to work out either. Again with his legs, the Stingray continued to chase Sokka with his stream of water. It was impossible to get closer, or to attack him in any way. Trying to split the stream of water with his sword would serve no purpose, Sokka knew. If anything, it would only worsen matters for him, for a frozen sword could shatter if he wasn't cautious. So Space Sword wouldn't be much use here… and neither would be most of his weapons, truly.

What was he supposed to do? Now he began wishing he had actually bothered trying to defeat Katara whenever she used her waterbending to attack him. Maybe that way he would have known how to defeat this guy. There had to be something he could use for his advantage, there had to be a way to stall this guy, to distract him and use up a tiny window of an opportunity to defeat him…

In a wistful motion, Sokka's hand went down to his waist and he threw the two bombs he had brought with him today straight at his opponent. The Stingray seemed to panic at that, and Sokka would have smiled upon this favorable sign if only he'd had enough time to grin.

He pulled his boomerang out of its sheath and threw it at the Stingray just as the man separated in half the water he'd been bending in order to stop the bombs in mid-air. He mustn't have known they were only smoke bombs, expecting them to be actual explosives. The Stingray froze the bombs before turning his attention to Sokka again and looking in horror at the fast-approaching boomerang he would be unable to freeze the water he was already using to hold the bombs…

But to Sokka's dismay, the Stingray jumped and kicked upwards. What was he trying to do, if he had already used up all his water…?

It wasn't until then that Sokka realized there had been more water within the Arena than the one in the pouches the Stingray had brought with him.

A pillar of water rose powerfully from the Arena's well, and the Stingray brought it down on the boomerang when it was only inches away from reaching him.

Azula looked in utter disbelief… Sokka's plan had failed to work, and it had been quite a good plan, to boot. If that hadn't been enough, and if the Stingray had access to such a large supply of water, how was Sokka supposed to accomplish anything in this fight?

"Oh, dear…" said the Stingray's sponsor, biting his lip.

Azula looked at him in irritation, thinking he was being sarcastic or mocking… but it didn't seem like it. The expression in his eyes said he was genuinely concerned. Why should he be? Was there something wrong with the Stingray's latest movement? Perhaps the waterbender had left an opening Sokka could make good use of, and Azula hadn't noticed it…?

But if that was the case, it seemed Sokka couldn't notice it either. He was grimacing as he looked at the pool of mud the Stingray had created with the well's water, the pool where his boomerang currently lay. If he didn't have bombs, and if he didn't have his boomerang, he had idea what techniques he could resort to in order to beat this guy…

"It's sort of funny, you know?" said the Stingray, chuckling "You brute gladiators always happen to forget just what the purpose of a well is. Ironic, isn't it? I've caught so many morons with this technique and they just keep falling and falling…"

"I don't think your funny technique did you much good against Combustion Man, though" Sokka said, gritting his teeth as he tried to stall his opponent while coming up with a plan, any plan…

"Ah, but you're not Busty, are you?" asked the Stingray, smirking again "No, you're a non-bender… a non-bender who got way too far, and way too ahead of himself. A non-bender who shouldn't have survived this far…"

"I don't think you have the right to say who should survive and who shouldn't" Sokka grunted, glaring at the man.

"Well, we're about to see if I do or don't, aren't we?" said the Stingray, with another maniac shrill laugh before flinging the frozen bombs at Sokka.

The bombs couldn't possibly work anymore, not after being frozen as they just had been, but, encased in ice as they were, they would serve as extremely dangerous missiles. Sokka pulled his club out now, grasping it with his left hand, and he swung it diagonally to shatter the first ball of ice that reached him. Yet there came the other one… and he couldn't dodge in time.

The ball struck him powerfully on the chest and knocked him down on the sand, but it didn't injure him greatly, to Sokka's momentary relief… but soon enough he was panicking for a different reason. The Stingray opened his hand slowly in order to melt the ice surrounding the bomb. He meant to soak Sokka's body to freeze him alive afterwards.

Sokka struck the ball of ice with the hilt of his sword, knocking the ice off him just in time before it melted completely on him. Again, it only got his armor. The Stingray seemed irritated at the failure of his plan again, yet the black armor had been drenched in cold water… water that the Stingray turned into ice by tightening a fist. Sokka stood up with some difficulty, and he grimaced as he realized another strike could easily shatter his armor, unless it was made of even better material than he thought it was. He really didn't know much about the cold-resistance of the meteorite he had crafted both his armor and sword from, but he sure didn't plan on experimenting on said resistance now.

He didn't have many options left, and with his enemy's swiftness Sokka really might end up on the losing end today. Unless he came up with something immediately, there were little to no chances he would defeat the Stingray.

Cutting his water supply, or forcing him to use up all of it, seemed an impossible feat considering the Stingray used the content well as a resource. So if he couldn't limit his access to water… then the only other option was to render him unable to bend water.

The Stingray didn't seem willing to give Sokka much time to keep thinking, though. He pulled back all of his water supply slowly, while giving Sokka a vicious smirk. The mass of water the Stingray was bending was huge, and Sokka could only grimace as he watched what his opponent was doing now.

"Well, well… ready for the fun part, Wolfy?" he asked, wiggling his fingers. Upon his movement, the mass of water sprouted out ten tentacles, and Sokka stared in horror as the tips of each tentacle solidified into sharpened ice.

If he was struck by that, he'd be a goner. His armor might resist, but if it didn't he'd be in risk of getting punctured by that ice… and wounds of that sort might not heal at all.

But he couldn't waste much time thinking about this. He had to act now. He'd shatter the ice spikes if they came his way, and he'd keep running towards his opponent somehow. The sooner he reached him, the faster this battle would be over… and he really needed it to be over as quickly as possible.

Sokka sprung out towards the Stingray, who looked at him in confusion briefly before directing his spikes towards Sokka. As planned, the Blue Wolf used his club and his sword to shatter the ice… but, busy worrying about the ice as he was, he happened to forget completely about the water tentacles the ice had been attached to. And those tentacles began surrounding his limbs as soon as he broke the ice that crowned them.

Sokka tried to keep moving, but it was impossible to do it when the tentacles were holding him down to keep him from moving. This was ridiculous… water couldn't restrain. He should be able of moving through liquid! But it was then that he realized there was something very cold in the spots on which the tentacles were surrounding him. One look told him his opponent had solidified the tentacles of water that had wrapped around his body, and by doing that, the Stingray could keep Sokka from moving altogether.

"Should I give this a proper end already? No, probably not… it's not over yet, of course. There's still time to punish you" said the Stingray, smirking.

Sokka would have asked what he was up to, but a tentacle spun around his neck now and kept him from speaking. Sokka gasped for breath as he felt himself choking, the tentacles gripping him tighter with every passing moment…

The Stingray lifted Sokka off the ground, to the younger gladiator's despair. The entire audience gasped as they watched the Blue Wolf squirming in the grip of his opponent, who seemed to play with him as he held Sokka in place with one hand while summoning more water out of the well with the other.

"This attack you just saw, with the pretty tentacles? I like to call it 'the Viper's Wasps'. I have another special one, if you want to see it" he said, smiling up at Sokka as he lifted the new mass of water towards him "Well, that is, if you manage to survive this next one… for how long can you hold your breath under water, boy?"

The new mass of water began soaking Sokka's feet and it moved upwards slowly, covering his entire body as he kept trying to fight back. He gritted his teeth when the water reached his face, and soon enough he was left doing nothing but floating in the large water bubble as his lungs begged him for the air he wouldn't be able to supply them with.

Maybe if he played dead the Stingray would leave him be… maybe. Maybe if he stopped fighting the water and ice around him would recede. He just needed to breathe, that was all he asked for right now…

Azula gritted her teeth and watched in horror for the umpteenth time. Why did she always have to end up panicking whenever she sent him out into a fight? Why couldn't he finish his rivals off and just give her a goofy smile when he was done with it? Why had she let him do this…? She should have withdrawn, forfeited this match. It didn't matter if the Stingray had kept challenging them, ignoring him wouldn't have been a problem. Yet it was too late to change her decisions now… and as ever, she could only look in dismay and helplessness as Sokka writhed within that immense ball of water.

And then he stopped writhing altogether.

Her eyes opened wide when she saw him close his eyes and stop moving. No… no, that idiot was surely playing a trick. He couldn't have passed out, he couldn't have died… either thing was out of the question. It had always been. So he couldn't just fall apart here…

The Stingray lifted what was left of his eyebrow before smiling and releasing his grip around the water bubble. And with that, Sokka fell sloppily, face-first, on the sand.

It was no surprise for the Stingray to see Sokka coughing violently, for he had guessed the Blue Wolf had only been pretending to be unconscious. Yet up in the stands, Azula could only sigh in relief when she saw he was still alive. This combat was starting to remind her too much of Sokka's fight against the Blind Bandit…

"Enjoyed getting soaked, boy?" the Stingray asked, smirking down on Sokka, who was still coughing "You looked like you could use a bath. You should be happy I gave you one. You'll go straight into a grave worthy of a blood-traitor like yourself, surely, but at least you won't be smelly. I did you quite a favor, see?"

Sokka growled and lifted his blurry eyes to glare at the Stingray, a gesture that only seemed to excite his opponent further. The Stingray smirked as he manipulated the water around himself, shaping it into the form of a snake. Sokka's eyes were full of confusion now, yet he was slightly desperate as well. What was the waterbender up to now?

"Should I tell you a 'Snake's Tail' now, Wolfy?" he said, smirking "Yeah… that's the name of the attack that will take your life. I figured you should know. Ready to die, boy?"

No, he sure wasn't ready, Sokka thought. He glared at his opponent, who only regarded him with a cruel grin. The water snake's mouth opened wide, and it showed Sokka sharp icy fangs that were bound to find their way into his skin soon enough.

But he wasn't ready. And he refused to let this man kill him today.

The Stingray lifted a hand, in order to command his snake, and Sokka jumped forward. The snake darted out, ice fangs bared, and Sokka twisted his body around just in time for the fangs to dig into his frozen armor.

Yet the ice wasn't capable of breaking the metal plates… to Sokka's relief, his breastplate had been far more resistant than he had given it credit for.

The Stingray was surprised when his snake's teeth shattered on Sokka's armor, but he lifted his right hand and readied himself for another attack. He could defeat the Blue Wolf even if the Snake's Tail had failed him…

But as it happened, he suddenly had no right hand to perform another attack with.

The blood began rushing out of the stump that remained on the Stingray's wrist before he could register what had happened. The waterbender stared in horror, hardly understanding how his opponent had cut off his hand…

Sokka gripped Space Sword tightly in his right hand, a look of ferocious anger gleaming in his unfocused eyes. His blade was dripping with blood already, and it was about to become coated with even more red as Sokka swung it towards the Stingray's left wrist now. This time he only stabbed the Stingray's forearm, without chopping off his hand as he had before.

And with that, the Stingray began howling in pain. But it seemed the limb-cutting hadn't been enough. He kicked upwards, trying to use whatever water he had available to attack Sokka. But the waterbender was troubled, and his control on his water had weakened, allowing Sokka to find a new window of opportunity to act… and thus, after being splashed by a weak stream of water the Stingray had sent at him, Sokka struck one of the waterbender's feet with his club, forcing him to fall on the ground on a puddle of his own blood.

Azula looked in shock as Sokka struck both of the Stingray's feet with his club now, rendering them unusable. The Stingray's screams were horrifying as the blood kept rushing out of his wounds. Yet Azula noticed the man beside her didn't seem tense… he didn't seem bothered by this sudden turn of events at all.

In fact… he looked relieved.

"Enjoying the slaughter…?" Azula asked, unable to keep from prying into whatever had caused this man to seem happy about his gladiator's fate.

"A-ah, no, well… It seems this is it for us, I believe. If his hand is missing, he can't fight, can he? He's… he's useless now, can't bend…"

"So that's it, then?" Azula asked, frowning "That's what you actually meant by the things you said before. That's why you spoke of someone stronger coming along later. You wanted my gladiator to be stronger than yours. You wanted him to kill the Stingray"

The fact that the man only responded by swallowing hard was all Azula needed to confirm her suspicions. Combustion Man didn't finish the job… so the Stingray's sponsor wanted someone else to do it for him. The Stingray was too dangerous for him to control, too powerful, too terrifying. Surely this man woke every day fearing to find the Stingray looming over him, bending a vicious water snake that would look down on him before sinking those icy teeth into his skin. He had no means to kill a killer, he couldn't do it himself. There was no chance he would be able to murder a man who knew more of murder than he ever would.

It was for this reason that he had hoped a gladiator would do the job for him… it was for this reason that he had been desperate to fight against Sokka. He had believed, for some reason, that the Princess's gladiator would do him the favor to rid him of his gladiator forever. Yet…

"It seems you didn't do your homework half as well as I did…" Azula grunted, frowning heavily as she looked down at the Arena "You're not getting rid of the Stingray today. Because my gladiator is not a murderer"

The opposite sponsor looked at Azula with wide eyes, and she didn't look back. She didn't want to see him grow disappointed upon Azula's last words. He had no right… he never had any right to use Sokka as a tool to get rid of his own gladiator. This had to be the most revolting situation she had ever been involved in ever since she had joined the Gladiator Business. If the man wanted his gladiator dead, he'd do best to get the job done with his own hands or die in the process…

Sokka stumbled back, sheathing his weapons after wiping them clean of the blood. He still coughed, and there were black stains dancing before his eyes. If the Stingray hadn't released him from the water when he did, Sokka would have likely drowned. Yet it hadn't happened… he had escaped death once more. And he had beaten his opponent, as he had been meant to. Despite being on the losing end for most the fight, now Sokka stood before the Stingray, who continued to squirm on the ground, bearing far worse injuries than the ones he had given Sokka.

"You… you wolf, you…!" the Stingray said suddenly, his eyes blazing with madness and anger as he looked at Sokka "Do it now, then, scum traitor! Kill me already! You're gonna leave the job unfinished?!"

Sokka gritted his teeth and glared at the Stingray. It didn't matter if the man demanded for him to kill him, he wouldn't do it. Not this time… not anymore.

"Look at what you did to me, you scum traitor, you…!" screamed the Stingray, lifting his hand to stare at the stump on his right hand "Finish me off, damn you! KILL ME!"

"I'm not going to kill you" Sokka said, lowering his gaze.

"Ah… Ah! Y-you're going to be noble now, then?!" the Stingray screamed, pushing himself up with his remaining hand to no avail. Blood gushed out of his wrist, and all he managed to accomplish was to roll over until he was laying on his stomach, his broken legs only adding to the pain he was enduring "You think leaving me a cripple is noble?! You think killing me is to do me a favor, you scum traitor?! You… SCUM TRAITOR! You'd do this to me, a fellow kinsman, a fellow Water Tribe member…! And yet you won't even touch a hair out of her head… you would protect all these shitty Fire Nation ashmakers just because you're their pet, you scum traitor!"

Sokka looked at the Stingray with anger upon those words. It seemed to be the very reaction the Stingray had been aiming for, given that the man's eyes now sparked with delight despite the pain he was enduring.

"Oh, yes… that's what you are. A traitor who just went for the easy life, a disgusting deserter of the Water Tribe who has forsaken his people and now upholds the Fire Nation! You fight for them, you kill for them, you do anything they ask! You'd sworn to hate them forever, yet look at you now! You're doing their bidding, you're doing HER bidding! What the fuck's wrong with you?! How can you work for them?! How can you fight for them?! How can you be willing to die in a bloody Arena because she commands it?!"

Sokka flinched at the man's accusations. Azula hadn't sent him to his death… she had told him to forfeit this fight, and he had been the one to insist he could do it. The Stingray knew nothing of what he spoke of…

"You're her dog! You're their pet! You're just a scum traitor!"

"Shut up…" Sokka grunted, his hand balling into a fist.

"Traitor! Scum traitor! You've forsaken your own people because you're scum! You've forsaken them because you didn't have enough conviction to die for the Water Tribe's cause! You're a disgrace! If your Tribe knew what you've become…!"

"You have no idea what you're talking about" Sokka growled, glaring "I… I've protected them…"

"You've condemned them, you fool! You've given up on your beliefs just because a pretty face promised you a life of luxury!" the Stingray shouted.

"Shut up… Shut up!" Sokka shouted, angrily.

"Shut me up, then, scum, if you don't have the balls to hear me!" The Stingray shouted "From the moment I heard about you I needed to see it for myself… I needed to make sure that you were a rebel like the rest of us. I needed to see who the other Water Tribe fighter was… but you're nothing but a toy. The Princess's toy. That bitch has broken you into something you can't even recognize anymore and you're surely thankful for it, you scum… scum traitor, you… how dare you call yourself Water Tribe?! HOW DARE YOU?!"

For once, Sokka felt sorely tempted to strike the man down for real. If it would serve to silence those words forever, loping his head off wouldn't be a problem… but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Maybe that was all the Stingray wanted… he wanted to die, but all the same as Sokka, he was incapable of doing it himself. He needed someone else to deliver the finishing blow, just as Sokka had wanted Toph to deliver it back when he had fought her in this very Arena.

But surely the Stingray meant every single word he had uttered. Surely he believed Sokka was a traitor… he couldn't have known Sokka had requested Ozai not to kill the White Lotus men, and to leave the Southern Water Tribe alone. The Stingray didn't know anything about him… he had no right to judge him. He didn't understand any of the experiences Sokka had been through, he didn't know anything about the importance of his bond with Azula…

The Stingray didn't stop screaming, and Azula found herself gripping the armrests of her seat tightly yet again. Those words couldn't reach Sokka… he knew better than to fall for such a ruse. Yet maybe he didn't… maybe the Stingray was playing this game in the exact way he needed to. Taunting Sokka about the Water Tribe in this manner was beyond vile, and the waterbender surely knew it. But he wouldn't stop… he wouldn't quiet down. And Sokka looked as though he might just turn towards the Stingray and slide Space Sword through the man's mouth to keep him from talking anymore.

But he didn't. All Sokka did was stand in place, fists clenched, head dropped, as the Stingray shouted at him.

"You think you mean ANYTHING to them?! You're just another slave, you idiot! Nothing but a slave that can easily be replaced by a better one! She'd throw you away like a used rag as soon as she's done with you! Because that's what they do! That's what the Fire Nation is like! And that's what you've become as well! YOU'RE JUST AS SICK AND EVIL AS THEY ARE!"

The megaphone man shouted that the time for the fight was completely spent now, but nobody paid him much attention. The jury conceded the victory to Sokka, but it didn't seem this was something important anymore. The Stingray's yelling wouldn't recede, not even when a group of Arena staff members ran into the ring to take him for medical support.

"TRAITOR! SCUM TRAITOR! YOU'RE WORSE THAN ANY ASHMAKER, WORSE THAN EVEN ME!" the Stingray exclaimed as he was being dragged towards the stand-by room "NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED, I'VE REMAINED LOYAL TO MY PEOPLE, EVEN WHEN THEY SOLD ME OUT TO THE FIRE NATION! YET YOU… YOU'RE SCUM! YOU'VE BETRAYED THEM! YOU'VE BETRAYED THE WORLD! YOU'RE A TRAITOR! SCUM TRAITOR! SCUM TRAITOR!"

The screams were barely muffled as the man was dragged outside, and Sokka still heard them as he walked towards his own stand-by room. Surely the Stingray wouldn't cease to yell about scum traitors even while he was being tended to…

Azula almost forgot to take the winnings from the opposite sponsor. The man had to remind her of it before she stormed away from the room, her mind set on finding Sokka and making sure he wasn't as wounded by the Stingray's words as it looked he was.

"Where is he? Where did you take him?!" Azula asked one of the staff members while she was checking the waiting rooms to no avail, for she couldn't find Sokka in any of them.

"T-the Stingray? He's being brought upstairs…"

"Not him!" Azula replied angrily "The Blue Wolf!"

"A-ah, he was supposed to come up here himself, but…" the man blabbered, and Azula simply passed him by when he didn't give her any useful information.

She searched through almost the whole Arena, and yet she didn't find him. Had he simply gone home after the fight? Azula raced towards the vestibule and asked Shoji if he had seen Sokka, but the boy simply shook his head. The Blue Wolf hadn't passed by his counter after the fight.

Azula slid a hand over her head as she wondered where else could he be within this building. There were a few more places she hadn't looked at, but even if Sokka happened to be in them, how was she supposed to do anything to help him? What was she supposed to say? Was there anything she could say to appease him after that?

One of the places she hadn't checked yet was the royal balcony, right above the sponsors' balcony. She wasn't surprised at all to find Sokka hadn't come to seek refuge in it when she opened the door that led to it; it seemed nobody had entered this particular room in ages.

The last place to look at was the roof. Azula climbed the stairs towards the top level of the building, and she pushed the door open.

To her relief, she had finally found him. Sokka stood with his back towards where she had come from, his body slightly bent forward as he stood before a curb that enclosed the Dome's roof. Azula gritted her teeth and sighed before approaching cautiously, not knowing whether or not this was a good idea. She was probably the last person he needed to see right now… but she was beyond worried about him. She couldn't walk away from him even if her common sense told her so.

"Sokka…" she called him, and she saw him flinch upon the sound of his name. He was trembling as well, it seemed to Azula… "You need to… you need to get seen by a physician now. Your wounds…"

"They can wait" Sokka muttered "They have to tend to him first"

"But you… you nearly drowned" said Azula "And… Sokka, you have ice burns. Look at your arms and legs…"

"I'll be fine" he said, still without looking at her "Don't worry about me, Azula. I…"

"You came for me when I was in trouble" Azula said, frowning "You expect me to turn my back on you now? I heard what he told you, Sokka… everyone did. You think I'll just leave you be after that?"

"You should, probably" said Sokka, gulping "Azula, I just… I just need some time to get over that. It's not a big deal, I just have to… to accept it and move on. It's no big deal. I can do that"

"Sokka…" Azula muttered, approaching until she stood right behind him.

"It's just…" he said, with a nervous laugh before gritting his teeth "I can't help but… but realize that's what they'd say. That's what everyone would think if… if they knew what has happened while I've been your gladiator. Nobody would understand… They'll think I'm a traitor…"

"But you know they're wrong" said Azula, clenching her fists now "You know you haven't forsaken them. You know you haven't become Fire Nation, you couldn't be further from that! Maybe you've gotten used to your life here, but that doesn't mean…"

"I doubt it'll matter to them… I doubt it'll matter to anyone but us, really" Sokka said, lowering his head.

"And why should it matter to you what they think?" Azula muttered "Just prove them wrong and get them to shut their mouths about what they're saying about you…"

"I know… I know. You told me once" Sokka said "I know who I am. I… I actually don't regret my decisions. I think I've done the right thing on most accounts, and… and I've gained new knowledge and perspective, I know much more about the world now than I used to. But still… is it really that wrong for me to wish I wouldn't be misunderstood? Is it bad that I want to explain everything to them, so that they don't think I'm… so that they don't take me for a scum traitor like he did?"

"It's… it's not" Azula muttered, dropping her gaze as she found herself at a loss for what else to say to him.

"But everything I say is just going to come off as an excuse" said Sokka "Everything… they won't care about the truth. They'll only rush to conclusions… just as they always have. Just as they did when they deemed that everything about the Fire Nation was evil because of what its leaders had done. So I really… I really shouldn't even care about clearing things up. Nothing I say will sink in… they won't listen. Nobody would. I doubt I would have, if it had been someone else in my place and I was still in the Tribe…"

"Sokka…" Azula said, placing a hand on his back. At that, he straightened his back and shook his head.

"Don't worry. I… I'm fine. I'll be fine. I said so, and it's true. So… I'll be okay, Azula" he muttered "I just need time to…"

Her arms surrounded him before he could finish his sentence. Azula pressed against his back, trying to ignore the unpleasant sensation the cold plates produced on her skin as she touched his armor.

Sokka fell silent when he felt her behind him. Her arms held him tightly… her natural warmth would be more than enough to defrost his armor. More often than not he had thought Azula was more similar to ice than she was to fire, for even her blue flames had a coldness to them that was only comparable to her lightning. Long ago he had said her heart was of ice, and she had replied by claiming Sokka's was a piece of burning coal. But now it seemed he was the one who had frozen in many ways… and she was the fire that would give him warmth once again. She stood behind him, encouraging him, letting him know he wasn't alone, just as he had done for her in Ember Island…

He gritted his teeth as he lifted his hands to find hers, to grip them tightly as to ask her not to leave him, as she had asked him once before. Azula's forehead was pressing against the back of his neck, and her grip around him only tightened when he responded.

Sokka took a few deep breaths before lifting his head again, a weak smile on his face. Overcoming his grief seemed anything but an easy feat until now. She was right, of course. He knew who he was. He knew why he had made the decisions he had made. He was proud of said decisions, and if he had to do everything all over again… well, he knew which ones he would take back, but he most certainly wouldn't have helped the White Lotus. He wouldn't have left Azula to her own devices in the forest. He had remained true to himself with everything he had done… he knew where his loyalties and allegiances lay. And as long as he knew himself as well as he did, what other people said about him wouldn't matter. He knew he wasn't a traitor…

"Thank you" he muttered, his fingers intertwining with hers.

Azula didn't respond, at a loss for words as she was. She simply nodded and held on to him, hoping this would be good enough… and wishing she had the same courage he'd had in Ember Island when he had been able to tell her all the right words he had needed to say to appease her. Yet she didn't know what to tell him… she didn't know how to do the same for him. Still, the least she could do was try…

"You're really not half as bad as you think you are, you idiot" Azula whispered, at which he smiled more truthfully and turned around to face her.

Azula caressed his cheek, noticing he was still cold and damp after the fight. If anyone on the streets looked up right now they'd see them… if anyone dared enter the roof, they'd be done for. Yet for this moment, just as it had been in Ember Island, Azula couldn't find it in herself to care. He needed her, as she had needed him… and just as he was set in not disappointing Azula anymore, she was determined not to let Sokka down either.

Sokka's arms surrounded her now and he leaned down, hugging her tightly. One of Azula's hands went to the back of his head as she continued to embrace him. He was colder than he had ever been before, but she was warm enough for both of them. He clutched at her tightly, and she responded in kind, promising to him without saying a word that, despite everything that had ever happened between them, everything that was bound to happen in the future and everything people dared say of him, Azula actually believed blindly, wholeheartedly in him, and she was certain she always would.


	67. Chapter 67

He had alerted her that he would be arriving home today, and he could see she was already waiting for him. The Capital remained as boisterous as ever, he thought, as he flew over it and watched the tiny humans walking around to for purposes that Xin Long knew nothing about… but he didn't care about what those purposes might be. Whatever they were up to was their business, and it surely was a downright boring business anyways, like most human matters were.

The gates to his refuge were wide open already, to allow him entrance through whichever door he chose. He slid inside through one at the easternmost end of the building, and he slowed down in order to land gently…

Yet as soon as he hit the ground he began prancing joyfully around his rider, who had been inside the refuge, tapping her foot on the ground as she looked at him sternly.

"You woke me up earlier than usual to come greet you, Xin Long…" Azula declared, while the dragon kept jumping happily "… and you're late. HOURS late. What was the point of waking me as you did just to make me wait, Xin?"

Xin Long seemed to be too cheerful to see Azula again to bother answering her questions. He pressed his scaly head against her neck and nuzzled against her, and Azula could only sigh as she patted his head.

"Yes, yes… I'm glad to see you too. Now what happened to you? Did you get distracted on the way at some point and I missed out on it?"

The dragon pulled away from her before retelling all about how, after waking her up through their mental bond, he had found a herd of hippo-cows pacing in a meadow, and he had enjoyed himself by chasing and frightening them. Azula raised an eyebrow at his story, one she hadn't quite watched through his eyes because she had been too drowsy to pay attention to what Xin Long was doing. Hippo-cows had been a recurrent thought on her mind during the morning, though, which had been quite weird… only now did she understand why that had been the case.

"Well, I'm pleased you were having fun. I hope you didn't eat any of them, though. My father won't take it well if I ask him to make up for some farmer's dead cattle…" Azula said, menacingly. Xin Long gave her a guilty look before saying he had spat some fire at a few of them in order to make them run, but hadn't eaten them. Azula rolled her eyes at that but smiled "You know, at times I think you're even worse than me, Xin Long…"

The dragon seemed to take it as a compliment, though, for he just pressed against her again. Azula petted him momentarily, but she frowned when she took notice of how unkempt the dragon was.

"What's all this? Soot?" Azula asked, frowning as she patted his scales. Puffs of ashes appeared wherever her hand landed "I suppose it should be of no surprise, considering you were wandering around volcanoes, but couldn't you clean up before coming here?"

The dragon was bothered by her question. He shook his head and reminded her that she had been nagging him about hurrying up in his return when he had been on his way. So if he was filthy, it was her fault! If she hadn't been so insistent, he could have dropped by at a river to clean up…

"My fault?" Azula asked, indignant "Considering you were wasting your time by chasing hippo-cows, it's MY fault?"

Now the dragon seemed happily guilty again. Azula gave him a judgmental look and Xin Long simply looked at her with amusement before scratching his head quite clumsily with one of his talons. Azula watched him with a confused look on her face.

"If you got fleas from those hippo-cows, you're NOT touching me again until you've cleaned up" she said determinedly, and Xin Long decided to probe her resolution by pressing against her "Xin Long! Quit it! Ugh, you ridiculously stubborn dragon! You're not asking me to clean you myself, are you?! Because I'm not going to do it! I won't clean anything, let alone a dragon who could easily clean himself up just fine!"

Xin Long looked at her inquisitively before asking her why she was so grumpy all of sudden. Azula scowled.

"You need ask? I already told you, you woke me early…!"

The dragon interrupted her by pacing around her and reminding her of the cloud of joy she had been in during the recent days. Azula had to fight down a blush upon the dragon's accusation before denying it… partially.

"I haven't been in a cloud of joy, as you call it" she grunted "Not as of late, anyways"

Xin Long wiggled his eyebrows and told Azula not to lie about things, which earned him to get flicked on the forehead, something that didn't hurt him at all.

"Your information must be outdated, Xin" Azula grunted "And I don't know how that's possible, but it seems it is. Did you miss out on his latest fight?"

Xin Long confessed to being bored by gladiator fights, at which Azula could only sigh before shaking her head and conveying everything to her dragon. Xin Long was quite surprised by what Azula was showing him, and more so to see how Sokka had been faring during the week after the combat. Azula had visited him a few more times, for training purposes, and though he kept trying to smile and pretend he was fine, it was clear he wasn't. Still, he had become less prone to dazes during the past few days, and he was slowly cheering up for real.

"I guess claiming he's fine works well enough for him. After a while he finally believes his own pretense" Azula muttered, looking pointedly at the ground "I can't help but wonder how will he deal with more people like the Stingray in the future, though. I guess on some level I fear… I fear he might just decide to return to his roots and revert to the same Fire Nation-hater he used to be because of them"

Xin Long looked at Azula with concern before brushing against her again in a gesture of affection. Azula smiled and patted him, only to withdraw her hand again to find it covered in ashes.

"Honestly, Xin… is this filth from your entire journey? Didn't you bother cleaning up at least once while you traveled?"

Xin Long simply shrugged and said it had been worth it. Traveling through volcanoes was a lot of fun, he said, and he enjoyed being close to the throbbing fire that he could feel underground. And considering Azula had been having a blast on her end, he had every right to enjoy himself with a little lava also.

"A blast, you say?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

She shouldn't have said anything, it seemed, for Xin Long decided he would show her exactly what he meant. He began showing Azula's very own memories to her, focusing quite a lot in the latest kisses she had exchanged with Sokka, and the fact that they had shared their bed during a whole night. If she really meant to say that hadn't been enjoyable for her, Xin Long said, then maybe she should try her luck by lying to someone who didn't know her as well as he did. It didn't matter how hard she tried, she could never deceive him.

"W-well, but that's not…! It wasn't as though it was the most fun experience in my life, I'll have you know!" Azula exclaimed, gritting her teeth before noticing there was something poking out of two of Xin Long's scales "What is…? A stick? How on earth did you get a stick prodding between your scales…? For crying out loud, Xin, and you didn't even notice it? You're a mess!"

The dragon didn't seem to care, insistent as he was in browsing through Azula's memories and proving to her that she hadn't been happier in her life than she was when Sokka had said he loved her that night. Azula rolled her eyes and removed the stick as he kept bringing about more and more memories, some unwanted, some irrelevant, and some slightly embarrassing… and naturally, the embarrassing were the ones that interested him most.

"Why are you looking at my school memories, you annoying dragon?" Azula asked, scowling "Quit it, that's… oh, spirits, what are you looking at that old recital for?"

Xin Long seemed quite amused by the memory he had found, one he hadn't paid much attention to before. Azula was a young girl in it, she couldn't have been older than ten, and she was singing a song. Xin Long was quite excited about his new discovery, and Azula could only sigh, picking up a brush that had been supplied to her for the purpose of cleaning up her dragon's mane.

"You really have no business looking at that, Xin…" she muttered, brushing through his white-blue hair while he listened to the song "It's not even that good a song. And I honestly shouldn't be cleaning you either, curse it, but if I don't do it, nobody else will… you'd better appreciate that, you heard me?"

But apparently Xin Long was too interested in the song to pay much attention to what Azula had just said. He complimented his rider on her singing voice, which brought a weak smile to Azula's face, and suddenly he began groaning and making weird sounds…

"Wait, are you trying to sing it yourself?" Azula asked, amazed "Xin, really?"

Never would Azula have imagined she would hear a dragon attempting to sing. The sounds coming out of him were so odd and off-tune that eventually she was rendered unable to do anything other than laugh at him. Making her laugh only seemed to fuel the dragon's intent to sing, and the more he tried, the more Azula laughed.

"Stop, stop already before I lose it!" she said, panting as Xin Long told her to join him and continued singing "You're… you've got the beat wrong, Xin, that's not exactly how it sounds"

Xin Long finally quieted down and looked at her inquisitively, asking her to sing it again so that he could see how he should do it. Azula rolled her eyes and sighed, still smiling, before she started to sing the song's lyrics, despite herself.

Xin Long listened intently, hoping to capture the song properly now. After a moment he began groaning again, and Azula chuckled.

"No, no, not like that" she told him "You're extending that note too much. See…"

And she showed him again. This time Xin Long caught the rhythm properly, and he continued to sing with her shortly, at which Azula could only smile as she finished the first verse.

"Who knew a dragon would enjoy music?" she said "Dragons, the most fearsome beasts in the world… and all they want to do is sing old Fire Nation songs"

Xin Long groaned joyfully at that and asked Azula to continue with the next part of the song. She simply smiled, brushing the dragon's tail gently, and despite herself, she complied with his request. Ah, curse that dragon for making her laugh like this…

Xin Long had been watching her as she sang, trying to capture the next part of the song, when he suddenly took notice of a presence over at the refuge's door. He turned quickly, and his motion startled Azula, who stopped singing when that happened.

"What's…?" she said, turning around as well…

She dropped the brush when she realized Sokka was standing by the door, his eyes open wide as he looked at her with amazement.

"W-what are you…?! What the hell are you doing there?!" Azula exclaimed, jumping and looking at him in horror. Well, that was the last straw… now the jerk had caught her singing?! If this had been some ploy of Xin Long to embarrass her she'd get back at him… she had no idea how, but she most certainly would.

"I was just dropping by because you hadn't come over for training today…" Sokka said, blinking a few times before smiling "Say… you sing really well!"

"How I sing is none of your business!" Azula shouted, wishing the blood wouldn't rush to her cheeks now, of all moments. Why could she control her body while dealing with anyone aside from him, when it was with Sokka that she needed to control it most? "Since when have you been standing there?!"

"Just a bit, you were saying something about fearsome beasts when I got here" said Sokka, scratching the back of his head sloppily "But really, though, you never told me you could sing!"

"Why the hell would I have told you I could sing?" Azula asked bitterly, turning around and brushing Xin Long again. Turning away from him was the only way to keep him from seeing her red face.

"Because now I think we should make a singing group, all three of us!" Sokka exclaimed happily "I know plenty of Water Tribe songs and…!"

"Ha! You want me to sing your Tribe's songs?! And you expect me to sing with YOU?" she asked, raising her eyebrows as she looked at him in disbelief "You clearly can't sing, Sokka. Your voice gives it away easily enough…"

"Hey! That's not true! I'm a very gifted singer!" Sokka exclaimed proudly, before clearing his throat and starting to chant "'Oh, I once found a pebble, a pebble of stone I fooooound…!'"

"What the…?" Azula said, cringing at the way his voice cracked mid-song. She looked at him with utter disbelief, though it seemed Sokka didn't care "Do tell me what other sorts of pebbles you'll find, if not stone ones…"

"'And the snow was piled high on the mountain, the mountain was piled high with snooooow!'"

"That doesn't even make sense!" Azula exclaimed, at which Sokka looked at her indignantly.

"Of course it does!" he said "How would you know if it makes sense or not when you haven't lived in snow?"

"I don't need to do that to know it makes no sense" Azula said, shaking her head and looking at him a little more calmly now.

He had been making a good recovery after his incident with the Stingray, and the few wounds he had sustained had healed by now, but he hadn't been his goofy self in quite some time. It actually relieved her to see him acting this way… though in no way did it relieve her to hear him sing.

"Well, I wasn't judging your weird song on sunsets and stars and whatever it was you were singing about!" Sokka said, proudly, just as Xin Long groaned at him and head-butted his chest as a greeting "Woah! Hello, pal! Been a while, huh?"

"I'm honestly having a hard time figuring what's worse, your singing voice or your singing material" said Azula, matter-of-factly, and Sokka pouted.

"Now, my voice isn't half bad! You're just all high-and-mighty because yours is…"

"Better?" Azula said, with a proud smile "Indeed, it is. But there's really no point of comparison when your voice nothing short of dreadful"

"Hey!" Sokka said, glaring at her as Azula picked up the brush again "Well, then, if I'm such a bad singer and my voice has scarred you for a lifetime, I guess you ought to do something about it…"

"What do you mean?" Azula asked, frowning, and Sokka smiled mischievously.

"Well, keep singing that song of yours and I'm sure you'll forget how badly mine sounds!"

"You're just trying to get me to sing again, aren't you?" Azula asked, between gritted teeth "Not in a million years. Why would I sing for you?"

"And why not? You have a beautiful voice!" Sokka squeaked "It's a waste for you not to sing more often… I've been hanging around you for almost a year now and it's the first time I've heard you sing!"

"That still isn't going to convince me of anything, if you must know" Azula said, passing the brush at him. Sokka almost dropped it, taken by surprise by what she had done "Be of some use and brush his mane, it's probably full of sticks and dead bugs…"

"Dead bugs?" said Sokka, looking at Xin Long who just seemed to smile happily "You ought to eat those, not hide them in your hair, pal"

"Oh, is that what you do with your own dead bugs?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows and giving Sokka a very sarcastic smile. He stared at her with disbelief before beginning to drag the brush down the dragon's hair.

"Stubborn woman… just because I heard her singing, I mean, really…" he muttered.

Xin Long seemed amused to watch Sokka complying with Azula's demands like that, and Azula seemed relieved that he had finally decided not to retort to her. She found another brush and continued cleaning the dragon's tail, and Xin Long seemed beyond pleased by their attention.

"You're really filthy, though" said Sokka, grimacing as he plucked out a spiderfly from Xin Long's hair "And if I'm saying it it's because you are… Why are we cleaning him, again?"

"Because, as you noted, he's filthy. Why else would we do it?" Azula said, matter-of-factly "You just answered your own question, Sokka"

"But, say… if someone could have anyone else doing her dirty work, meaning, cleaning up her pet dragon…"

"He's not a pet" Azula groaned.

"Then it'd be you, right?" Sokka finished, ignoring what Azula told him.

"Truly, I could have someone else do it for me, but in truth, I'd rather not" said Azula "He is my dragon after all…"

"So you refuse to give anyone else the honor to clean Xin Long…?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Pretty much" Azula said "I shouldn't even give it to you, but alas, you looked like you needed something to do. And I can't have you lounging around doing nothing other than bugging me about my singing voice…"

"I sort of came hoping for training, not for being a dragon's hairdresser…"

Azula chuckled, something that had Sokka frown. She smiled before explaining what amused her so.

"Xin Long seems to think you've got a double standard. You were perfectly willing to brush my hair once, but not his?"

Sokka actually grew flustered at that, which apparently was the dragon's intent. Sokka looked at him accusingly.

"And how do you know that, you silly lizard?" he asked, raising an eyebrow "Are you that close to your rider, huh? You share every little thing, is it?"

Xin Long nodded enthusiastically, which made Sokka slightly uncomfortable. So that would mean Xin Long knew about Ember Island… nevertheless, that wasn't the issue at the moment. Sokka jabbed Xin Long with a finger, and he was about to tell him off for making fun of him when another arrival appeared at the dragon refuge.

"Princess" said the familiar voice of the Captain, startling all three of them.

"Captain?" Azula said, turning to look at him "Came to join the brush party, did you?"

"Hey there" Sokka said, waving clumsily at him while Xin Long spewed smoke in Rui Shi's direction, as he often did when he saw a soldier or guard, no matter who it was.

The Captain waved away the smoke with a hand, and turned towards Azula exclusively.

"Not at all, Princess. Your father is requesting to speak to you"

Azula frowned at that. She looked at Rui Shi for a moment before putting away the brush.

"Did he say for what purpose? Or is he still not disclosing the subject of our meetings with guards such as yourself?"

"He didn't give away the topic" Rui Shi admitted, which came to no surprise to Azula "But he didn't say it was a war meeting, at the very least"

"Then I take it it's not over an urgent matter…" but that wasn't exactly reassuring for the Princess. If her father wanted to talk to her privately, it could be over something that could get her into trouble… but it could also be over something far less worrisome than she took it for. What were the odds that her father would have found out about the strange twist her relationship with Sokka had undergone recently? She sighed and shook her head, moving towards the gates of the refuge while trying to appear calm. She was thinking too much of this, surely "Very well, then"

"Wait, are you just going to leave me here brushing your dragon?" Sokka asked, and Xin Long suddenly darted past him to keep up with Azula "… okay, you're going to leave me here without a dragon to brush, even"

"Is it really that hard for you to live without me, Sokka?" Azula asked, mockingly, trying to ignore the way her heart drummed in her chest as she awaited his answer to that.

Rui Shi watched Sokka carefully, wary of what his response might be. Sokka didn't quite miss the way the Captain was watching him, and thus his response was to slink away, catching up to the dragon and his rider, who were walking towards the front of the Palace. Rui Shi stayed behind, his eyes studying Sokka carefully before he decided to tidy up Xin Long's refuge instead. No matter whatever was happening between the Princess and the gladiator nowadays, he was certain he would be better off not knowing anything about it.

"It just might be, who knows…?" Sokka muttered when he reached Azula. Azula eyed him cautiously to find him smiling mischievously at her, and she rolled her eyes and kept walking, patting Xin Long's head.

"You do need a bath…"

"Hey, that's not fair, I took one yesterday and I still smell fine!" Sokka declared.

"I'm not talking to you, moron" Azula said, sighing as she caressed Xin Long "You could go find yourself a river while I talk to my father, Xin. But try not to eat anyone's cattle if you do that, please… And I guess I could be telling that to you that as well, Sokka. You're also the kind who would eat cattle if nobody's keeping an eye on you, aren't you?"

"N-not at all. I don't eat raw food" Sokka said, folding his arms over his chest "Not even when we were in the forest did we eat raw food!"

"D-don't even remind me of that…" Azula said, shivering "I haven't touched anything remotely related to komodo rhino products ever since"

"You might be surprised to hear me neither" said Sokka, chuckling "It'll take a while for me to actually get down to eating that again…"

"That's rather impressive, to tell the truth… here I thought you'd be over the trauma in a heartbeat" Azula said, raising her eyebrows as she looked at Sokka with curiosity. He simply shrugged and smiled at her, trying not to lose himself in the shade of her amber eyes.

"See, I keep surprising you and you just won't admit it… all the same as I surprised you with my amazing singing voice!" Sokka exclaimed proudly, and Azula rolled her eyes.

"What really surprised me was the absurd song you were singing, I knew your voice would be terrible. Please tell me that's not an actual Water Tribe song…"

"Of course it is! Want to hear the rest?"

"No"

"See, it goes like this…" Sokka said, ignoring her negative completely "'Up in the sky fall the snowflakes, the snowflakes fall from high above, and the biggest treasure we can imagine is a roasting meal of booooooar!'"

Azula was covering her ears with her hands when he began singing again, but she lowered them quickly when she realized they weren't alone. Sokka, being as careless as he often was, continued singing inspiredly until he had finished his verse, and he was quite surprised to find Azula had stopped walking and wasn't covering her ears anymore.

"Heh, how did you like that, Azula?" he asked, proudly, turning around towards her "Not so displeased by my singing voice anymore, are you?"

"I believe anyone with functioning ears should be displeased by your singing voice, gladiator"

Sokka froze at the sound of those words… and he turned with a nervous smile to regard the Fire Lord, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, a group of Imperial Guards flanking him.

"And as far as I know, my daughter has functioning ears…" Ozai said.

"I used to have them until he began singing. Now I'm not so certain I do" Azula said, and Ozai smirked. Sokka only seemed flustered at that, and he backed up slightly. He felt much safer standing closer to Azula than to her father "The Captain of my Royal Guards just told me you had summoned me, Father. You didn't have to come out here…"

"It wasn't about an official matter, we could have met virtually anywhere" said Ozai, waving a hand to give the matter no importance "When I was told your dragon had returned, I concluded you'd be with him and thus I came here"

Xin Long groaned towards Ozai, who simply nodded towards him. Xin Long seemed satisfied by his greeting and proceeded to wander through the garden, most likely looking for critters he could chase after while the humans spoke of whatever they had to talk about.

"Though I will say it might have been far more comfortable to meet someplace where your slave hadn't been singing… Why he is here?"

"He just came by for training, nothing else" Azula declared, not too quickly to keep her father from suspecting that the question made her nervous, and also without stuttering or faltering as she spoke. The last she needed right now would be for Ozai to realize her relationship with Sokka had changed… into something she still didn't quite understand, but it definitely had changed "What did you wish to talk about, then, father? Or would you rather I send him away first?"

"It's of no matter if he's listening or not" said Ozai, at which Sokka smiled a little. It was good to know he would be allowed to stay "I only meant to ask you about your birthday, we haven't discussed it yet. Will you choose a feast or a ball this time around? I know you tend to favor the former…"

"Ah, and I shall this year as well, Father" said Azula, with a smile "Balls hardly hold any appeal for me, as you already know…"

"Given recent events, I thought I'd do best to ask" Ozai said, nodding "Then a feast it is…"

"Wait, wait, wait… feast? Birthday? What's… whose birthday? Your birthday?!" Sokka said, looking at Azula with wide eyes "Your birthday is coming and you didn't tell me?!"

"And why was I supposed to tell you that?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ozai was slightly pleased, despite himself, to find that the gladiator hadn't known his daughter's birthday was approaching. That fact alone told him their relationship wasn't as tight as he was beginning to dread it might be.

"W-well, I guess because I've been your gladiator for about a year now and…"

"It's been less than a year or else you would have been around on my previous birthday. Common sense, don't you think?" said Azula, with a sarcastic smile.

"B-but still…!" Sokka said, looking at her with wide eyes "Wait… feast?!"

Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I should have known that was all your brain would register…"

"You'll have a birthday feast…" he said, his eyes gleaming as he wondered what sorts of royal dishes would be served for the Princess.

"Indeed, I will. What is it to you?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "You're not invited…"

"Hey, but I'm your gladiator!" Sokka exclaimed "I should be invited! I've made the last year of your life very exciting and I actually am the reason why you can celebrate that feast in the first place… how many times did I save you the last year, huh, huh?"

Sokka smirked at Azula with that, and she felt the mightiest need to punch him. Yet, to her surprise, punching him wouldn't be necessary…

"As a matter of fact, Azula…" said Ozai, startling both gladiator and sponsor when he interrupted their banter "I believe your gladiator ought to attend your birthday feast"

"What?!" Azula exclaimed, just as Sokka jumped in celebration.

"Yeeeah! Now we're talking!"

"Father, that's completely absurd!" Azula said, looking at him in disbelief "He's… he's going to eat all the food! You have no idea how brutal his appetite is, you can't have him in my birthday feast just because…! Wait, why would you want him in my birthday feast, Father?"

"I dunno, but maybe slaves with good behavior are allowed in feasts now in the Fire Nation" said Sokka, proudly, and Azula glared.

"If that were the case, I'm pretty sure you'd be the last one allowed in it"

"But I…!"

"Are you both like this all the time?" Ozai asked, rubbing his forehead. Azula swallowed and felt the blood draining from her face. She didn't want to displease him… anything but that.

"I'm sorry, Father. Excuse us, we're… not, not at all" she said, solemnly. Her change of demeanor surprised Sokka. It was almost like watching a Private in the army suddenly realizing he was speaking to a General… "In any case, allowing him to attend the feast would not be a good idea, Father, I honestly advise against it. He doesn't know how to behave himself, as you can tell already, and he will eat everything in his way, even if it had human form…"

"That's not true!" Sokka squeaked, offended "I'm not a cannibal!"

"Oh, right, implying there are limits to your gluttony…" Azula said, with disbelief. Sokka kept looking at her with irritation.

"The concerns you have are quite legitimate, Princess Azula, but, nevertheless, I still believe it will be best if he attends the feast" said Ozai, sternly "You will have to find proper clothes for him to wear, and he will do best to behave himself… or else he will have to answer to me, personally"

Sokka swallowed. The way the man had glared at him with that last sentence made him wonder if the food really would be worth it…

"Isn't it simpler to keep him in his best behavior by not having him come?" Azula asked, frowning. Her father had underlying intentions, without a doubt, but she rather doubted they could be worth the trouble…

"It could be. But he will be attending, and it's my final word" Ozai declared, turning towards her exclusively now "We will have to speak about the finer details of your feast later on, I believe. We must also speak about which guests should be invited…"

"I suppose" said Azula, nodding "We could do that now, though, couldn't we? If it's imperative…"

"It isn't, I said" Ozai muttered "There's still over a month until your birthday arrives. We can talk at leisure later, when your gladiator isn't busy tailing you"

"Indeed" said Azula, nodding again while Sokka looked at Ozai with irritation.

"I'm not tailing anyone… not really…" he muttered, lowering his head.

"I will meet you again later, Azula" said Ozai, bowing his head towards his daughter curtly before turning around and leaving, his guards flanking him.

Azula and Sokka watched the Fire Lord leave, frowns on both their faces. Xin Long noticed the important matters had been tended to, and he approached them cautious and curiously.

"Why does your dad want to feed me?" Sokka asked, scratching his head "It's… awfully generous in his part, don't you think?"

"I have the suspicion he's not doing this out of generosity… though he probably would say otherwise if asked" Azula muttered, a hand on Xin Long's neck "Don't even bother trying to ask him about it, though"

"Why would I do that?" Sokka asked.

"You're the sort of man who does the stupidest things he could without putting any thought to it" Azula said "And you know that's true. Confronting my father about this yourself is the worst thing you could do about it"

"But you know how to play him, I take it?" said Sokka, smiling a little.

"I know him better than most people, at least" Azula stated "So don't get yourself into trouble pointlessly if you can avoid it, got it? I'll sort this out myself. In any case… I suppose we ought to be off to clean you up, Xin?"

"Uh… 'we' sounds like a lot of people, huh?" said Sokka, smiling uncomfortably. Azula looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean? You don't want to come? Well, I can't really blame you, washing a dragon isn't as fun as it sounds…"

"Nah, it sounds like it could be, but…" said Sokka, biting his lip "I think I've got training to do. You know, more fights will come soon, and I've got to be in shape, don't you think?"

"Well, I suppose… but weren't you planning on training with me?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "That's the main reason you bothered coming all the way here, isn't it?"

"Indeed, but… see, you've gotta bathe the pet!" Sokka exclaimed, at which Azula glared at him "And who knows how long that will take you, so… don't worry, we can meet again tomorrow or whenever you've got time to spare for me. It's fine"

"Are you sure?" Azula asked, frowning "You look…"

"What?" Sokka asked, as she studied him with her eyes. He smiled and dropped his hand on her head, a gesture that seemed to irritate her slightly "Stop worrying about me. I told you I was fine. I'll see you later, Azula"

"Right…" she said, making sure her hair hadn't been ruined by Sokka's gesture.

He grinned at that and turned on his heels, walking towards the Palace gates carelessly. Azula watched him go, his behavior striking her as odd… and her father's as well. What had gotten into both of them in the last few minutes?

Xin Long pressed his snout against her arm, and Azula's attention returned to her dragon. She patted his head before raising her eyebrows.

"So… time to clean up, Xin? Or are you going to keep behaving like a spoiled brat, as you have since you got here?"

Xin Long seemed to agree with taking a bath at last, and Azula smiled. She led him back to the refuge, where the Captain helped her saddle Xin Long, and soon enough they had darted through the sky together, directed towards a nearby river.

Meanwhile, the careless gladiator was no longer as careless as he had pretended to be while leaving the Palace. He arrived to his house to find Song sorting the new spices she had acquired, and she looked up at him, surprised he had arrived so early.

"That was fast. Is training over so quickly?" she asked, and Sokka shook his head, his eyes closed as though he was thinking hard about something.

"Her birthday…" Sokka muttered, now looking at Song with wide eyes "Her birthday's coming, Song!"

"Uh… huh?" said Song, as Sokka paced around the living room, grimacing.

"It's her birthday, her birthday and she didn't even tell me! She really should have told me, I could have used a warning of some sort!"

"I guess you could have…" said Song, blinking blankly "What's the big deal, though?"

"What'd you mean, what's the big deal?!" Sokka exclaimed "I…! I need to get her something. A present. Of any sort! She… she deserves a present, alright, Song?! So I've got to give her something great, something worthy of her, something she's always wanted… though… haha, how the hell am I supposed to give a rich Princess something she doesn't already have?"

"Well… you could write her a poem!" said Song, happily, and Sokka grimaced.

"Nope, been there, done that, and it just made her laugh at me"

"Y-you actually wrote a poem for her?!" Song exclaimed, surprised, as he blushed.

"And I think I ought to go for something… bigger, you know? Something awesome!" Sokka exclaimed, with a fist in the air.

"W-well… that sounds nice" said Song, gulping "But you're right. How would you find something awesome for a girl who already has everything she could ask for?"

"It's a problem…" said Sokka, grimacing "A big problem. I mean… what could she possibly need that I could help her with? Whatever she asks for she can get, right? So… though, wait. Maybe… maybe not something she needs..."

"What, then?" asked Song, puzzled as Sokka's eyes lit up and he looked at her proudly.

"I've got an idea"

* * *

Yuudai knocked over his cup, drenching his clothes with milk. Mai sighed. It was truly unbelievable how her son kept soiling himself in all sorts of ways. If he wasn't soiling himself most literally, it would be with food, and if it wasn't with food, it was with dirt. He must have gotten that from Ruon Jian, she was certain she hadn't been like this as a child… but if Yuudai was to eat and drink properly one day, he should start learning how to do it as early as possible, regardless the countless mishaps.

"Come on, Yuudai" she said, lifting him in her arms and trying not to stain her own clothes with his as she carried him away.

Life with a son was a little more interesting than she had expected it to be… it was tiresome, but it wasn't actually boring. And it made her all the more happy to see her husband when he finally arrived for the day, not only because it was good to see him, but because she could charge him with watching the baby while she rested. Ruon Jian would comply, but soon enough he would fall asleep as well, exhausted after a long day of work, and Yuudai would end up waking them both with a start when he began crying inconsolably because nobody was paying him attention.

The days were somewhat repetitive, and she hardly left the house nowadays… but she found herself enjoying it despite that. Taking care of her son wasn't as mundane a task as she thought it would be… though maybe it was. Maybe now she enjoyed mundane… the thought made her grimace. That shouldn't be right…

She heard a knock on the door, which surprised her. Ruon Jian couldn't be arriving at this time, and she hardly ever had visitors nowadays, both Azula and Ty Lee were too busy with their gladiators to drop by to see her lately. So who could it be?

One of the servants answered her question, once Mai had finished changing Yuudai. He cleared his throat, and Mai turned to look at him expectantly before he told her who the visitor was.

"Prince Zuko is here" he said, bowing before Mai "Should I send him away?"

Mai's eyebrows rose as she registered the information. Why would Zuko be here? It was odd that something would bring him to her house without warning…

"No, let him in. I'll be with him shortly" she said, and the servant nodded.

Zuko was sitting by the house's inner garden, looking at the plants without much interest, by the time Mai walked towards him, Yuudai in her arms. Zuko jumped to his feet when he noticed her presence, and he looked at her and her son nervously.

"H-hey…" he said, gulping "Sorry I dropped by so suddenly"

"It's fine, you're not really intruding on anything important" Mai said, with a smile.

Yuudai waved his hands towards Zuko, looking at him with curiosity as he babbled baby nonsense. Zuko smiled weakly at him, despite not being too sure of how to deal with a child. It was the first baby he had dealt with… at least, since he'd been a kid himself.

"Hello" he told Yuudai, who seemed happy to see he was being addressed directly "How are you? Enjoying yourself with your mother?"

"He's probably growing tired of me" said Mai, smiling "Mine is pretty much the only face he sees all day long…"

"I can't see why that would tire him… uh, well, I mean…" Zuko said, clumsily, before sighing in defeat "Sorry. I shouldn't have said…"

"It's okay" said Mai, sitting down before the garden, Yuudai on her lap "It was quite flattering of you, if anything"

Zuko gulped before taking his seat, keeping some distance between him and Mai. Here he was, hoping to make this visit anything but awkward, and it was the first thing he had done…

"Why did you come all of sudden, Zuko?" Mai asked, her gaze on Yuudai as she fixed the child's black hair "I take it you're not just dropping by to say hello, are you?"

"I guess not" said Zuko, sighing "I suppose I wanted to see a friendly face… and I wanted to see the one person who gives me some clarity when the rest of the world is a blur"

"Who, Yuudai?" Mai asked, startling him. She smiled at that "I have a hard time believing I've given you clarity, truth to be told…"

"Well, in a way, he's given me some too" Zuko said, smiling and looking at the boy. The first time he had seen Mai holding him he hadn't cared whether or not he was his son, and for once he had been able to forget all about his pain regarding his situation with Mai just by looking at the little boy "But I really meant you. You're… honest. And you're not biased, I think…"

"And who is?" Mai asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Everyone else, I guess" Zuko muttered "For better or for worse. Some people treat me like I'm great… others think I'm scum. Which one is it?"

"Whichever you want it to be, of course" Mai replied immediately, at which Zuko was quite startled "Ultimately, you're the one who decides who you are, Zuko, simple as that. What brings this about, though? Did something happen to you?"

"I guess you could say a lot of things have happened" he said "It'll take a while to explain everything… but I can give you the short version of the story, I suppose"

"Then fire away" said Mai, smiling when Yuudai suddenly laughed at random.

"Well… Ty Lee dragged me to Ember Island with her, Haru, Azula and her gladiator" said Zuko "And I guess I let myself get depressed because I couldn't help but remember my mother while I was there. We were at the beach at night and Ty Lee was trying to get me to spill what troubled me, which displeased Azula, for some reason. She stormed off later, and Sokka was worried about her, but I told him not to bother. I said a few things that… well, probably weren't right, but I said them anyways. And then he punched me and began defending Azula, telling me I was an awful brother. I didn't quite respond… I didn't know how. And well… ever since, I've been confused. I mean…"

"Things aren't as simple as you thought they were?" Mai asked, looking at Zuko sideways.

"All my life, I've thought Azula is out to get me" Zuko muttered "She was just a kid, but she always did mean things to me and just laughed about it later. Almost every time we played together when we were toddlers she ended up making me cry one way or another. My mother would always comfort me while she got away with it all, and I guess all my life I've felt like… like I'm living in the repetition of that. Maybe I don't bawl my eyes out about what Azula did anymore… but I still felt like I'm her laughingstock, like she's always two steps ahead of me, mocking me and taunting me. And when I try to reach her, I'll just trip with my own feet and fall on my face… and she'll smirk because I proved that I couldn't be up to her level. And it's…"

"Stupid"

Zuko froze at Mai's sudden declaration. He looked at her in confusion, and she didn't look back.

"W-what's stupid?"

"That way of thinking. Yours, hers… you're both really stupid when it comes to each other" said Mai, shaking her head "I've always thought so, but it's the first time anyone seems to want my opinion on the subject…"

"Wait, but… how is it stupid? I mean…"

"You do realize Azula is two years younger than you, don't you?" Mai asked "You're her older brother. You have the same father, the same mother… and yet you two act like you're trying to vanquish one another, as if being siblings was the same as being enemies. Like trying to overcome the other is what your life's purpose should be. And that's plain ridiculous"

"W-well, but wait…" said Zuko, frowning "That she's younger doesn't matter, not when our father has been determined to pretend I don't even exist for years now. He's trained her, taught her everything he knows and pushed me aside because she's the better child and I'm just a nobody in his eyes. You really think it's ridiculous for me to complain about that?"

"I think it's ridiculous for you two to keep competing with each other over your father's appreciation, that's what I think is ridiculous" said Mai "There's a certain degree of sibling competition that is normal, Zuko… but you two take it to a level that's beyond ordinary, and that won't end well if you both keep going at this rate. If your father said he'd love you if you killed your sister, would you do it?"

"W-what?!" Zuko said, shocked "I…! What's that about, Mai? I wouldn't… I couldn't even do it, Mai, that's crazy…"

"Let's pretend you can" said Mai "Pretend you're more skilled than she is at virtually anything. Pretend you can catch her off guard and do it. She'll be gone, and the throne will be yours when the time comes. Would you do it, Zuko?"

Zuko froze at that question. What the hell was that? Mai was crazy! How could she even ask such a question, it was absurd! But… what would he do?

He pictured the scene she had just described to him, he thought about it as though it were truly happening. He could imagine her standing with her back towards him, unaware of the fact that he was about to do it, to behead her with his swords…

"You're crazy" he told Mai, shaking his head and dropping his gaze "You're crazy, Mai. I… I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't"

"Not even if your father would give you all his love and appreciation?" Mai asked, raising her eyebrows.

"What sort of a father would want his children to kill each other only to choose the best of them and decide that's the one he loves?" Zuko said, gritting his teeth.

"Well, then, there you have your answer" Mai said, at which Zuko looked at her again.

"My answer?"

"Yes, your answer. It's ridiculous indeed, Zuko, because you two keep competing over your father's love, but is that really what you think you'll gain, Zuko?" Mai asked "Getting Azula out of your way so that you can become Fire Lord one day… is that the way into earning your father's love? Is that love, really? Is that the way two siblings should act?"

"No…" said Zuko, dropping his gaze "It's not. And I know it's not. She is my sister, and I should get along with her better than I do, but it's just… hard. And she doesn't make it any easier"

"What efforts have you made towards getting along with her, Zuko?" Mai asked him, raising her eyebrows "When you were kids, did you ask her to play with you? Or did she have to string you along for every game of hers she wanted you to join?"

"I think… the second one happened more often than the first" Zuko muttered, frowning.

"As you got older, did you ever approach her to, I don't know, compliment her on her firebending expertise, maybe? Did you ever ask her how did she bend blue fire, for instance?"

"I… no, I didn't do that" Zuko said, lips pursed.

"And when you came back home, did you ask her how she spent those last ten years?" Mai asked "Were you interested in what might have changed in her life?"

"I… I didn't. I found out later, though…"

"Indeed, you found out later" said Mai "Through other sources and not her. So… do tell me, when was the last time you showed any interest in your sister's life just because she's your sister?"

"Look, I get it, I've been an awful brother and I'm a terrible human being, but…!"

"Don't be so dramatic, that's not what I said" Mai stated "I didn't say you were a terrible human being, Zuko. But… you could use a lot of work, you know?"

"Yeah, I figure that's what everyone thinks" Zuko grumbled, and Mai sighed at his irritation "But the last years have been anything but easy on me, alright? It would be nice if people stopped acting like I've been having the time of my life when it's been anything but that! I was traveling through the world for ten years because my father didn't want me, my mother disappeared from my life when I was a kid, and I have a horrid scar all over my face simply because I spoke out of term in a meeting! Do you think I have no right to suffer over this because I've been an awful brother? Is this the price I have to pay for being as terrible to Azula as I've been?!"

"No, don't blow things out of proportion, Zuko" said Mai "That's not at all what I said. You have every right to suffer over your past, Zuko… anyone would agree on that. Your life really isn't ideal, nor is your situation, nor is anything about you. But are you going to hold on to that past forever, Zuko? Are you going to let your life pass you by while you sulk over everything that has made you miserable during the last few years? Granted, your experiences have shaped you… but you can't let those experiences become everything you are, Zuko. You can't waste away your life by being bitter over what happened ten years ago. Because that's what it would be, a waste. Letting your past weigh on you as you have has only brought you misery"

"You make it sound as it if were so easy to just move past it…"

"I know it's not easy, Zuko. But it has been ten years" muttered Mai "And it's about time you put your life together. Yes, you have a scar. Yes, your father banished you. Indeed, your mother is gone… and what can you do about any of those things at this point in time? You're back from banishment now. Your scar can't be removed, and who knows what fate befell your mother. Can you do anything about those things now, ten years afterwards?"

"I can't" said Zuko, sighing.

"Then you have to understand that it's time to move forward, Zuko" said Mai "You have a life to live. It will slip past you if you keep holding on to what could have been if your father liked you better than Azula, or if your mother hadn't left. You can't control most the events around you, Zuko… but you can control the way you respond to them. You can move forward if you will it, Zuko, and you can get over your misery if you give yourself a chance"

"I suppose…" said Zuko.

Mai sighed and looked at the garden while they fell quiet briefly. She was the one to interrupt the silence again, by returning towards what had brought across their conversation in the first place.

"Back to the main topic, though, and about your mother… wasn't Azula abandoned by the same mother who left you behind? Isn't that something that brought misery for her as well? Did you try to approach her when it happened?"

"W-well, I thought it would have upset her, yeah…" said Zuko, lowering his head "But she never wanted to talk about it. I went up to her a few times, asked her if she had discovered anything about our mother's disappearance and she'd ignore me, push me away, taunt me because I was a baby who needed his mom. I thought she didn't care. I figured… it didn't matter to her. If anything, she seemed happy that she was gone"

"I suppose…" said Mai, as Yuudai climbed off her lap and looked around himself with curiosity "But I also suppose you know Azula's relationship with your mother was far from ideal as well"

"I never really got it" said Zuko, frowning "They were always fighting, but I never got why that was…"

"For an array of reasons, surely. But no matter how much Azula pretended not to care, Zuko… truth is, she did" Mai said "And she can keep denying it nowadays, but she does care about her mother. Isn't that why she stormed away from the beach? Because she couldn't hear you talk about her?"

"Well, I… I don't know exactly" Zuko muttered "But maybe. How would you know about her feelings regarding our mother, though? Did she ever say anything about this to you?"

"Not about this…" Mai admitted "But about other things. About matters that you'd never imagine Azula would suffer over. Her façade of absolute perfection was only ever a façade, nothing more. If she were half as cold-hearted as she pretends to be, why would it have bothered her to be rejected by some witless boy who was intimidated by her? And saying it bothered her is an understatement…"

"I honestly have a hard time picturing that" said Zuko, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers "Anyone rejecting Azula would…"

"Would have been granted a death penalty for it?" asked Mai "Anyone who rejects Azula will end up paying the ultimate price, you think? Do you believe your sister is a murderer?"

"I… guess not" said Zuko "She didn't kill that guy, did she?"

"No, she just ruined his life"

"Well, that's much better" said Zuko, eyes widening as he grimaced.

"Still… you do realize that Azula hasn't actually killed anyone in her life" said Mai, looking at Zuko "And I suppose not because she didn't quite want to, there have been some occasions when she's been rather upset at certain people…"

"But she resorted to other means to get rid of them?" said Zuko, sighing "I wonder what's worse, that she ruins their lives or that she'd kill them…"

"The life-ruining gives them a second chance, at the very least, to live a better life than the ones they had been leading thus far" said Mai "Chan and his father may have lost their reputation and credibility, but thanks to this, Chan has to work for things at last. Ruon told me it was about time he had to fend for himself…"

"So you're saying Azula did him a favor?" Zuko asked.

"Not a favor, but she taught him several good lessons nobody else ever had" said Mai "And all of it without taking the offensive. What she did was worthy of a military tactician, you could say…"

"Well, great for her…" said Zuko, sighing "What of it?"

"Azula has been playing people ever since she was a child, Zuko" said Mai "You could call it manipulation, maybe… but she has been doing that from a very young age. She's been misleading everyone, making them fear her because she could kill them if she wanted to. And… that much is true. Azula is fearsome, and far too powerful for her own good. But you see… it's the fact that she holds such power what makes her fearsome. And she knows it. Thus… she never uses it, not for real. People must always remain afraid of getting to her bad side, no matter if she'll never actually pull through with most her threats, because they haven't seen the worst of her and, for their sake, it's best that they don't…"

"So you're telling me Azula is more bark than bite?" Zuko asked, frowning.

"I'm telling you you've been scared of your younger sister your whole life" said Mai "And that fear has only increased as you both grew older because she knows just how to play with your head. But is Azula really half as terrible as you think she is?"

"I'm betting you'll say she's not" said Zuko.

"And you're not half as bad as she thinks you are either" Mai pointed out "It's not a matter of pointing fingers at each other, Zuko. It's actually a matter of acknowledging what's wrong and mending it. Isn't that what you came for?"

"I… I don't even know if that's what I came for, truth to be told" said Zuko, sighing.

"Well, you're here already, so we're not letting it go to waste, are we?" said Mai, looking at Yuudai, who had resorted to crawling around her "Your uncle isn't helping, that much is obvious or else you would have gone to him, am I right?"

"He's never really gotten along with Azula, I think…" said Zuko, a hand on his forehead "And on the other hand he gets along with me just fine. It was Sokka, though, who told me I was wrong about Azula… someone who hardly gets along with me and who seems to know her better than anyone else does. And the things he said, well… they had me wonder…"

"If there's more to Azula than you thought there was" muttered Mai "Or if perhaps she was just manipulating Sokka all over again. Is that what you were suspecting?"

"Well… I don't know. It's not impossible. He's pretty stupid and she's really smart" said Zuko, shrugging.

"People don't give his brains enough credit" said Mai "He has managed to go evenly at lots of things with Azula ever since we first found him in Hui Yi, and that's not something many people can claim they can do. Perhaps it's also because Azula has lowered her defenses around him, she feels confident when it comes to him… but that's because he has made it so. I do believe there's a high chance he's partial towards Azula, and that he may not have an unbiased view of everything that has happened in your relationship with your sister… but he does understand Azula better than most, I'm sure of that. So whatever it was he told you to defend her…"

"He told me she had feelings, that she was the most amazing person he knew" said Zuko "And that I was selfish and had no right to say she just cared about herself"

"Well… he is right about most of that" said Mai, at which Zuko frowned "Azula does have feelings, yet she doesn't show them. She reads people, Zuko, and if they're predictable enough she'll figure them out without even trying. It's why she knows how to turn every situation to her advantage, why she responds to your advances as she does. Why she's cold and cruel with you… and why she's not with him"

"Because he's not predictable?"

"I'm sure he isn't. But it's not only that" said Mai "It's the fact that he has overcome her expectations time over and time again, and he has proved she can't handle him as easily as she handles other people.

"And yet he has sacrificed his own well-being plenty of times for Azula's sake. How many people do you think have done this for her, Zuko? How many times has she found someone who will do everything in his power to save her life while they're stranded in a forest, with no signs of civilization for a week? And who knows how much longer it could have been if they hadn't found the dragon. Sokka has done all these things, and she never expected him to. She hasn't asked it of him. She hasn't intimidated him into doing anything for her… from what I know, when she tries to daunt him into doing something he often ends up doing the exact opposite just to spite her"

"But that just makes him a masochist, don't you think?" said Zuko, raising an eyebrow.

"True" said Mai, smiling "But it has made him irreplaceable for her. He's willing to defy her, and yet he's also willing to put his life in the line for her sake…"

"You're not going to join Ty Lee's party, are you?" Zuko asked, frowning "You don't think he's in love with her… and you don't think she's in love with him, do you?"

"What would be so wrong with that, I wonder?" Mai asked, at which Zuko was startled.

"Huh?!"

"I know, the social pressure, the problems they'd land themselves into if they were discovered together or so…" said Mai, nodding "It's why I don't expect either of them to ever act on their feelings. It's why I've even told Azula not to dare do it. But…"

"So you're saying… he's in love with her. You're really saying that" said Zuko, gulping.

"It could be" said Mai, shrugging "And what would be so bad about it, I ask again?"

"Well… it makes my respect for him grow, I'll say" muttered Zuko "It'll take some seriously unbelievable man to sweep my sister off her feet… and one even more unbelievable to fall for her in turn"

"And?" said Mai, raising her eyebrows "Isn't it proof that she can feel something, then?"

"I confess I said that without thinking, really" said Zuko, sighing "You're right, she just doesn't show her feelings, but she's got them. Still, if you're going to prove him right on everything he told me…"

"I have to ask, though… why did you think Azula had no feelings, Zuko?" Mai asked "What has led you to think so?"

"Other than the constant manipulation we just talked about?" asked Zuko, raising his eyebrows "Well… she's always out to get her way, no matter the obstacles. Whatever obstructs her, she gets rid of… isn't that the case?"

"You could say that means she's driven, then…" said Mai, folding her arms over her chest "Yet, as I pointed out, she doesn't quite take them out. You could say… she pushes the obstacles away. She doesn't destroy them. And why wouldn't she destroy them?"

"B-because it's unnecessary?" asked Zuko.

"Oh, but maybe it is necessary" said Mai, raising her eyebrows "Maybe killing Sokka back in the Pole would have been better for her. She could have sent a message to the Water Tribe if she had killed him and hung his dead corpse at the settlement"

"Then… what stayed her hand?" asked Zuko, frowning "Why wouldn't she…?"

"He gave her a reason to spare him" said Mai "And I don't know what it was… but considering what he's proved to be like, you could say that he began overcoming her expectations even back then. Something he did, something he said… it reached her. It told her it might be better to spare him, despite it all"

"So… he cracked his way into her heart of ice?" Zuko asked.

"It's less of a heart of ice than you think it is, I'm certain of it" said Mai "And she avoids making decisions with her feelings, of course she does… but she did it back then, I have no doubt about it. Nothing else could have convinced her to spare him. She couldn't have possibly known she would find a good use for Sokka so many years later"

"So her relationship with him is evidence that she has feelings, then…" said Zuko, sighing.

"And so do most people, Zuko" said Mai, looking at him sternly "Which… is why Sokka called you selfish"

"What?" said Zuko, frowning "Are you saying…?"

"Zuko… you've been through a lot, and it's true. You have a lot of misery to carry with you, and I'm not denying that. But you've spent ten years thinking about your misery… and how often do you give thought to other people's problems? Your uncle, for instance"

"My uncle?" asked Zuko, surprised.

"He's always been as kind to you as he possibly can. He chose to spend ten years with you at sea, disregarding his own interests, just to support you in these trying times. He was teaching you firebending too, wasn't he? And apparently he made your trip far easier on you and your crew than it would have been without him. How many times did you thank him for all this?"

"I…" Zuko blinked, looking at Mai in surprise.

"Well?" asked Mai, raising her eyebrows.

"I guess… I hardly ever did" muttered Zuko, lowering his head.

"What your uncle has done for you… it's worth the appreciation, don't you think?" said Mai "And yet, from what I know… you're still angry all the time. And considering he spends most his time with you, I suppose you're always angry around him. Is that fair, after everything he's done for you?"

"I… no, it's not" said Zuko, gritting his teeth.

"Your uncle has been through his own share of problems" said Mai "He lost his son, and became quite infamous after he failed to conquer Ba Sing Se. Perhaps people still respect him on some level, but behind his back, all they do is whisper about his failures. So you see… your uncle has tons of problems of his own. And so does Azula"

"What sort of problems does she have?" asked Zuko, frowning.

"You wouldn't imagine what sort of hardships she faces while trying to prove she's more than capable an heir for your father, would you? No matter what she does, everyone's always talking about you"

"S-she… wait, what?" said Zuko, surprised.

"Most the Fire Nation regards you as Fire Lord Ozai's true heir" said Mai "They think you're the first born, you're the son. Your destiny is to inherit his throne and crown… but for the longest time, you were banished. Your birthright was taken from you. And the responsibility should have fallen to Azula… but even though she was officially the Crown Princess during your absence, hardly anyone regarded her as such. Because she was a girl, and the second child… because everyone thought you'd come back one day, and they were ready to welcome you with honors and glory. So for ten years, Azula did her best to earn their recognition, for better or for worse. She's fearsome because that seems the most efficient way to make them realize she's out for real business, that she's not just filling in your shoes while you're gone…"

"But she is" said Zuko, looking at Mai "I mean… it's true. Tradition, logic… everything says that I'm our father's heir. Well, except for our father, I guess"

"And perhaps you are his heir again now" said Mai "But you weren't for ten years. If your father had died while you were at sea, Azula would be Fire Lord now. Or she would have tried to be, if the Fire Nation had allowed it. But they wouldn't have, most likely… because most people held on to the hope that you'd return triumphant to take your rightful place in the throne"

"So she went out of her way to get people to respect her as our father's heir…" said Zuko, frowning.

"And it has been no easy feat, Zuko" said Mai "It sounds simple, but it's really not"

"So… she's been through her own problems" acknowledged Zuko "And I should be more mindful about it, you think…"

"No, Zuko, it's not about what I think" said Mai, sighing "You've spent your whole life hoping that other people will provide you with guidance, that they will tell you which way to go… but it's not up to me to tell you what you should do, Zuko. You want advice? You can have it. You want your uncle's advice? He'll give it too. You could even ask for Azula's advice if you wanted it… but what you do is up to you and nobody else. You are the one who makes the decisions in your life, Zuko. Nobody can do it for you. So if you want to mind other people's problems, if you want to become considerate towards others, do it. But don't do it because I'm telling you to. Do it because you want to. Do you understand?"

"I…"

A small hand fell on Zuko's leg, and he lowered his gaze to find it was Yuudai, who looked up at him with curiosity.

"I think I do…" he muttered "It's… it's what you did, isn't it? When you chose not to wait for me… when you chose Ruon Jian. When you chose Yuudai"

With that, he picked Yuudai up, and the boy laughed. Zuko swallowed hard and placed him on his lap, something that seemed to make the child quite happy.

"It is" said Mai, looking at Zuko "I didn't know if it was the right choice, Zuko… I didn't know if it was wrong. I didn't know if you'd come back one day, or if you never would. But I made a choice… a choice that I still stand by. A choice that was anything but easy… and a choice that required the advice of a great number of people"

"Your parents, I take it…" said Zuko "Ty Lee and Azula as well? And… what did they tell you?"

"My mother had no hopes anymore…" said Mai "She encouraged me to marry Ruon Jian. On the other hand, my father insisted that I should wait for you. Ty Lee told me to choose Ruon Jian too, actually. She told me it was pointless for me to sit around waiting for you when I didn't know if you'd come back, and that I deserved to make myself happy"

"Well, she didn't tell me that part…" said Zuko, sighing "And what did Azula say?"

"I didn't think you'd have to ask" said Mai, looking at Zuko "She told me to wait"

Zuko's eyes widened. Ty Lee had mentioned something about this… about Azula telling Mai not to give up on him, but he hadn't given it much thought until now.

"She said you'd probably return, and she was right" said Mai, nodding "You did. I don't really know, but I guess she always thought you and I would end up together. Maybe she wanted me to become her official sister or so, who knows? Or maybe she's a hopeless romantic and won't admit it…"

"Heh, well… any of those options are quite surprising coming from her" said Zuko, smiling "So she… tried to get you to wait. But you didn't"

"I made a choice, Zuko" said Mai, shaking her head "Whether it was good or not…"

"It was" Zuko said, startling her "I mean… surely you would have helped me become a better man if you had waited for me. But you are doing it right now and we're not together… and you have a kid with a man you love. So… what's the best situation, really? Did you ever think you'd be as happy with a family as you are now?"

"I didn't" said Mai, smiling a little "I never really expected it, truth to be told"

"Ty Lee was right, Mai" said Zuko "You should have chosen what made you happiest… and I think you chose right. I mean, look at me, I'm a mess. And… if you hadn't chosen Ruon Jian, you'd be picking up the pieces of my mess right now… and I probably wouldn't have even thanked you for it"

"Well, you really can't say…"

"No, Mai, you… you're right" he said, nodding "And Sokka was right. Maybe I didn't get it before, but I get it now. I think so, at least… but I guess I'm still confused"

"About what?" asked Mai, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… I was accused of being a horrible brother to Azula, but she doesn't make it any easier to be a good one, you know?" said Zuko, sighing "And it's not like she's been the greatest sister either…"

"I didn't say she had been, but you already heard what I told you" said Mai "She asked me to wait for you, despite it all… and she also gave you that ship you used throughout those ten years, didn't she?"

"Well, but she did it as an exchange, really" said Zuko "She was just hoping to make me pay her back in kind"

"And has she made you pay already?" Mai asked, raising her eyebrows.

"W-well… yeah" said Zuko, gulping "She had me sponsor her gladiator for one day… she used that debt I owed her to make me do it"

"You're not serious, are you?" asked Mai, looking at him in disbelief "That's how you returned her the favor? Really?"

"Y-yeah, well… why?"

"Zuko… without what she did, you wouldn't have even gotten off the Fire Nation while being banished" said Mai "What would have happened to you if she hadn't procured that ship for you?"

"I… I guess I would be homeless or dead by now" said Zuko, gulping.

"And yet that debt was paid by sponsoring her gladiator for one day, to avoid forfeit, I believe…" said Mai, as she put the mystery together in her head. This was what had happened back when Azula had been sick… "For giving you the means to travel and look for the Avatar, you repaid her by sponsoring Sokka in a fight that surely wasn't all that important anyways"

"I guess… she pardoned that debt too kindly, didn't she?" said Zuko, sighing "Well, I doubt I can return her the favor in kind, anyways. I don't have the means… and she doesn't have the need. So I guess…"

"So you guess she's not as bad as you took her for, despite all the things she's done to you" said Mai, and Zuko sighed in resignation.

"Maybe not. It's just… not easy to change my mind about her after all this time. But I'll try… I'll do my best to digest all this information. But still, what am I supposed to do? Just go up to her and say I want to fix our relationship? She'll laugh in my face. I doubt she'll want to change it… and for starters, why should I be the one trying to…?"

"For what you just realized, maybe?" Mai said, looking at him "Because she actually has helped you when you needed it, even if she expected you to repay her in kind? Don't you think it's up to you to take the first step now, considering everything you've just discovered about your sister?"

"Okay, okay…" said Zuko, gulping "Got it. I'll do it, but… how is this supposed to work, Mai? As I said…"

"You are right, you can't just tell her you want to fix things" said Mai, nodding "You have to show it to her. You have to prove to her that your relationship with her matters to you… that she matters to you. Show her that, despite your past history, and all the problems you've faced, despite the fact that your father has brought you both to compete irrationally over a chance to sit the throne, you still want to try being normal siblings, if possible"

"And what if she laughs?" Zuko said, grimacing.

"If she did, it wouldn't mean you should stop trying" said Mai "If anything, it would mean she can't believe it… so you'd have to prove her that you meant it when you said it. But even if you succeed, which I can't guarantee you will immediately unless you do something really amazing… don't expect it to mean that Azula will change radically and turn into some dream-like sister or so. She'll likely still make fun of you and…"

"And will tease me and tell me just how foolish I am whenever she has a chance" said Zuko, nodding "I guess that's a given. I can't picture her trying to be a dream-like sister, truth to be told. It'd spook me out"

"It'd spook everyone out, really" said Mai, smiling.

"But then what I have to do is… I have to accept her as she is, then" said Zuko, looking at Yuudai who was beginning to doze off on Zuko's lap "I don't need her to be anyone else… I just need to put the past behind me. To try and give us a new start, more or less. One where… where we can stop trying to outdo each other. You're right to say it's stupid… it is. All along I was trying to beat her at everything, and I ended up losing sight of who I was because of that. All I did was stare after her and try to surpass Azula… and to what avail? I probably never will, and I'll probably spend the rest of my life feeling miserable if I keep trying to attain some impossible ideal. It's stupid… it really is"

"You said Ty Lee was right to tell me to be happy" said Mai, looking at Zuko gently "Then the same goes for you. Be happy, Zuko. I don't know how, and I don't need to know either, just… find a way to live a life you can be proud of. A life where you won't have to feel like a failure just because you didn't earn someone's acceptance, no matter who that someone is. Your happiness needs nobody's validation but your own. So just… be happy by doing what you must do to be at peace with yourself, Zuko. That's the advice you'll have from me. Heed by it, or don't… it's your choice. Remember that too"

"I will" he said, smiling at Mai "I will. Thanks, Mai"

"Any time" said Mai, smiling back as Zuko breathed deeply.

"I guess I really needed to talk with you. You don't sugarcoat things, and what you told me was really helpful. So… see? You could give me clarity, I told you so"

"Well, I'm glad I could" said Mai "You both deserve happiness, Zuko. You and Azula. And it doesn't have to be at the expense of one another. So give your relationship with your sister a chance… it might not be as hard to mend it as you think it is"

"But… it might not be as easy either" said Zuko, gulping "I'll have to give it some thought. I guess there's got to be something I can do for her… but you really think this can work? Do you think she'll want to make things different? Isn't it more convenient for her to keep our relationship as it is?"

"Indeed, refusing to let your relationship change would keep you from prying into her business and making sure that she does have feelings…" said Mai, nodding "And she probably won't take it so well when your approaches towards her become different. She's bound to think you're trying to play her… she's bound to take your kindness as some sort of trick or trap. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try regardless. You can't give up without a fight"

"I… can't" said Zuko, blinking. That phrase was quite familiar… "And I won't. I don't know if this is all I need to be at peace with myself, but it should be a start"

"I really hope it will be" said Mai "As I said… you both deserve a better relationship than the one you've had so far. I've known you both for too long, and I care too much about you two to keep watching how you try to destroy each other pointlessly. So, please, do your best, Zuko. And get her to do her best as well. You both owe it to yourselves, first and foremost"

"Right" he said, nodding "I will, Mai"

"In the mean time… you don't happen to need a job as a baby-sitter, do you? It seems that Yuudai likes you quite a lot"

Zuko chuckled and smiled. It was a curious sensation to have the boy sleeping on his lap like this. Yuudai's existence, even while in the womb, often made him think bitterly to himself that he should have been this child's father. But for some reason, that thought hadn't crossed his mind today, not even once. Perhaps he was embracing his reality now… maybe he was already letting the past go, as Mai had told him to. It had been ten years, and coming back to find so many changes after such a long time had been quite troublesome. Still… it was time to move on for real. He couldn't keep using people like Kyoshi's Heir as scapegoats from reality, and he couldn't expect others to lead him through the path he would choose in life… because Mai was right. He made his own choices, and that was what he meant to do, from now on. In order to live a life he could be proud of, in order to have his own child sleeping on his lap one day, he needed to close the door to the past and face his future head-on…

Zuko returned to the Royal Palace not long after, and when he arrived to the entrance he found Azula was flying overhead on the back of her dragon. He had envied her so when she had found it… but Mai had been right to say Azula had been facing terrible hardships before finding him. She could have even died if she hadn't happened upon Xin Long.

Maybe he'd try to find dragons himself one day, to see if maybe one would accept his offering of fire like Azula's had taken hers. But for now… for now he could stop begrudging what Azula had. For now he would do his best to accept his sister as she was, no matter if she was better or worse than him. She was his sister, and that was all there should be to it. That was all there should have ever been, even though his father had tried to make it otherwise.

Surely it wouldn't be easy to change things between the two of them… but he was determined to try anyways.

"Oh… Oh, Zuko!"

Zuko was startled to hear the voice of his uncle behind him. Iroh ran up to him and smiled brightly, a package in his hands.

"I'm glad you were right here, it saved me the time of looking for you in the Palace. I had found this some time ago, my nephew… I had forgotten which teashop sold it, but I finally remembered!" he said, proudly "This… uh, is everything alright?"

"Yes, Uncle" said Zuko, nodding "Everything's good. What do you have there?"

"Well, you see, I had some of this tea once before" said Iroh, opening the package to reveal green herbs within it "And after what you told me the other day, I thought maybe it would cheer you up. It's a special blend of tea, Zuko, from Kyoshi Island"

Zuko's eyes widened. Well… that was surprising. He didn't really think it was a good idea to have tea that would remind him of the girl who had vanished without a trace… a girl who might have run away from him because he had struck her as odd, a girl who might not want anything to do with him anymore.

But for some reason, thinking about Suki wasn't so bothersome anymore. He was still worried about Kyoshi's Heir's fate, of course he was, and he wished to know what had happened to her… but it wasn't right to brood over this matter as he had. Something must have happened to Suki, and whether it was good or bad he didn't know… though he hoped it would be good. She deserved good things happening in her life. If they ever were to cross paths again, he'd make sure to be less doubtful, less nervous, and far more helpful than he was the one time they had talked before. But in the mean time, there were a lot of aspects in his life that could use some work… and he could start working on one of those aspects right now.

It wasn't too wise of Iroh to bring him the tea that would remind Zuko of the girl he had been pining after to no avail… for all he knew, his would only make Zuko miserable. And yet Zuko saw the happy smile on his uncle's face. He knew Iroh had meant well by what he had done. It wasn't too smart a move… but he had done it with Zuko in mind. He had wanted to cheer him up. And the very least he could do was to appreciate that.

"Kyoshi Island, Uncle? Really?" he asked, looking at the tea blend with interest "Is it good?"

"It was when I first had it" said Iroh, pleasantly surprised by Zuko's response. Why did he look different, though…? There was something about his nephew that wasn't quite the same as it had been when he had seen him last… "Would you like to try it?"

"Sure" said Zuko, smiling "Thanks, Uncle"

"Oh…" Iroh blinked a few times and smiled back "Well, you're welcome, Zuko. Anytime you want tea, you are more than welcome to come to me"

"I'm not just talking about the tea…" said Zuko, with a weak laugh "Thanks for everything"

Iroh's eyes widened and he poked Zuko with a finger, at which the Prince jumped.

"W-what are you…?"

"Well, what's gotten into you, Prince Zuko?" he asked "Is there something else you want to tell me now?"

"It's nothing, really" said Zuko, smiling "So… how was your day, Uncle?"

"Huh? You never ask me about my day…" Iroh said, blinking blankly as Zuko chuckled and ushered Iroh inside the Palace.

"Well, it's as good a day as any to start asking, don't you think?" he said, patting Iroh's back.

Iroh was puzzled, beyond puzzled… but Zuko was pleased. Being grateful towards his uncle simply felt right. For some reason it made him feel lighter, as though he had finally found something he had never known he needed. And maybe he had… maybe he finally understood what he wanted to do in life. Or at least, he understood what he wanted to do with his life right now. And that alone made him feel brand new, like a different man than the one who had headed off to visit Mai earlier.

And the different man helped Iroh inside, listening intently to what his Uncle had to say about his hectic day looking through teashops in the Capital City. It was the same as many conversations they usually had… but it was better than ever before. Maybe because this time Zuko actually wanted to hear what Iroh had to say. Maybe because this time he wanted to spend time with his Uncle just as much as Iroh wanted to spend time with him.

Mai mustn't have known it, Zuko thought… but by not choosing him, by picking Ruon Jian instead, she had given him the very chance nobody else ever had, the chance he had needed someone to give him: she had allowed him to be himself for once, with no strings attached, for nobody's sake but his own. And thanks to that, for the first time in over ten years, Zuko actually felt happy.


	68. Chapter 68

The Captain had been on his routine patrol through the Palace grounds when he saw the gladiator approaching the gates, with his trademark foolish smile on his face. It was to be expected that he would keep showing up, of course, he always did… but something had felt off to the Captain in what regarded the gladiator as of late. He wasn't sure of what it was, but for some reason leaving the Princess and her slave to themselves made him quite uneasy ever since they had traveled together to Ember Island.

Sokka waved at him, and the Captain didn't wave back, his arms folded across his chest as they were. Sokka couldn't see it, but one of the Captain's eyebrows had risen as he watched Sokka judgmentally. The gladiator walked past the other guards that were currently stationed by the Palace doors, and he moved straight towards the Captain, who regarded him coldly.

"Hello there, Captain! Been a while, huh?" said Sokka, smiling widely.

"Not really" Rui Shi retorted "To my chagrin, I just saw you yesterday. I wish it had been longer, but alas, you seem to be quite desperate to spend time with the Princess as of late…"

"Well, then, I guess you'll be glad to hear that's not at all what I came for today" said Sokka "I didn't come today to find Azula… I came to find you"

The Captain frowned and looked at Sokka with confusion.

"Me? To what purpose?"

"Well… I couldn't think of anyone more suitable for a covert operation, you know?" said Sokka, placing a hand on the Captain's shoulder and raising his eyebrows "You're just the man for the job, Rui Shi…"

"What do you want?" the Captain asked, irritated "If you're going to ask me to do something that will jeopardize the safety of the Princess…"

"No, no, no, not at all!" said Sokka, shaking his head "Aren't you dramatic, Captain? No, I'm trying to do something nice for her… for a change, you'd say, probably"

"Huh" said the Captain, raising his eyebrows "What sort of a nice thing, gladiator? You're not attempting to make a move on her, are you? Because if you came here to get my permission…"

"You think I'd need your permission for something like that?" asked Sokka, with a bark of laughter. The Captain glared at him.

"Are you trying to say you've already done it, then?!"

"I… I didn't say that"

"Did you do it, gladiator…?" the Captain said dangerously, and Sokka swallowed.

"I haven't done anything I shouldn't have! No permanent damage, no defiling her purity, none of that!" Sokka exclaimed, shaking his head promptly.

"Why do I have such a hard time believing you…?" asked the Captain, his glare becoming fiercer.

"Well, if you don't believe me you can ask her instead, can't you?"

"She would lie to protect her honor, I'm certain she would. She wouldn't admit to…"

"To what?" asked Sokka, looking at Rui Shi quizzically.

"To thinking of you in the way I know she does" muttered Rui Shi, sighing while Sokka smiled happily, elated by what the guard had just said "And you're a common man. You're not going to hold back when she's everything anyone could dream of…"

"Oh? Does that mean you dream of her too, then?" Sokka asked, looking at him inquisitively. The Captain stumbled at that "Well, it's not like I'd blame you, really…"

"I never said I did!" the Captain exclaimed, surprising Sokka with his outburst "She is my charge! I'm the Captain of her guards, and I must protect her from those who could harm her, and you're one of those I must protect her from!"

"So you're saying you would do anything for Azula, then?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I would, but not because I… I would because it's my job" the Captain grunted, glaring at Sokka.

"Well, that works in my favor anyways" said Sokka, smiling "I need your help, Captain. I've got a great idea for a present for her, and you're the one man who can help me with it. So… will you work with me?"

"A great idea…?" asked Rui Shi "What sort of a great idea? If you expect me to accept without knowing what this entails…"

"Yeah, fat chance for that to happen, huh?" said Sokka, sighing "You're just that much of a nit-picker. See, I'm trying to make something for her… something awesome! Something she doesn't have yet. And that's… a big set of armor for Xin Long!"

The Captain looked at Sokka with a confused expression on his face. Sokka stood before him, his arms extended to give his words more impact. But upon the lack of reaction from the soldier, Sokka ended up dropping his arms and pouting.

"What? You don't think it's a good idea?"

"I… why would a dragon need an armor?" asked the Captain, frowning "His scales are thick, and it's not as though the Princess will ride into battle on the back of her dragon any time soon…"

"Well, you never know, do you?" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows "I'm not really doing it for battle, though. Azula was complaining a lot about Xin Long being all filthy the other day, and I figure armor will help to protect him from filth and everything else that might get attached to him. It just might be helpful, you never know!"

"But… that's not a present for the Princess" said the Captain, thoughtful "It would be more of a present for the dragon than for her"

"W-well, my budget is pretty limited, alright?!" exclaimed Sokka "I can't get her any fancy jewels or something incredible and worthy of a Princess because I'm pretty sure she's already got everything she could ask for! So I'm sorry if my one idea is absurd to you, but it's the best I've got!"

The Captain could have proceeded to dismiss Sokka's grand birthday present plan, but he decided against it quickly. Armor for the dragon was a good present, far more innocent than anything Rui Shi had expected from the gladiator. In fact, it was a relief that this was the best idea he had come up with.

"Well, then… kudos for you" said the Captain, to Sokka's surprise "Go ahead and build that armor; whether it's useful or not doesn't concern me in the slightest. Why did you say you needed me, though?"

"Uh, yeah, you see…" said Sokka, with a weak smile "I kind of need someone very bold to help me accomplish this. I can build most of it myself, though Song already offered to work as my assistant, but…"

"Song? Your sla-… cook?" Rui Shi asked, frowning. The whole slave-of-a-slave situation still struck him as odd. He had no idea how to refer to Song in relation to Sokka without making it sound offensive "She's a girl, a young girl… is it wise to make her work in something as rough as the forgery of an armor?"

"Well, what do you think she is, a fragile little crystal doll?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow "Granted, she won't do the hardest work, but that doesn't mean she can't help at all. Besides, girls can do rough stuff. Azula helped me make my own armor, and we forged her sword together too. If Azula could do it…"

"That's hardly any point of comparison" said Rui Shi, folding his arms again "Princess Azula has always excelled at anything she puts her mind to, and she is stronger than most. Surely far stronger than me, if I'm honest. But Song…"

"I didn't say Song was as tough as Azula, of course she's not" said Sokka, waving a hand "But you're being really thick-headed if you think a girl can't take care of herself. Believe me, I've crossed more than enough girls who surpass my expectations and leave me lying on the ground wishing I hadn't been stupid enough to underestimate them. So watch yourself. There's more to that girl than what meets the eye"

Rui Shi sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Fine, fine… so she'll help you. And what of me? What do you need someone 'bold' for?"

"Well… you see, I even made the design for the armor and everything already!" Sokka exclaimed, pulling out a sheet of paper and showing it to Rui Shi excitedly "But I can't start working without a crucial piece of information…"

"And what might that be?" asked Rui Shi, frowning.

"Well… measurements" said Sokka, with a nervous smile. Rui Shi paled.

"Measurements…? Y-you want me to… to measure the dragon? Me?! Why don't you do it instead?!"

"Because if I do she'll know I'm up to something!" squeaked Sokka "But if you do it, she won't have a clue of what you're up to, and you can always make up some lie of sorts…"

"I won't make up lies to mislead the Princess, you fool" said Rui Shi, gritting his teeth "That's the sort of thing you'd do"

"I… would try, but I wouldn't manage to trick her anyhow, I'm not good at lying" said Sokka, sighing "Well, but you could do it while everyone's asleep, right? Go at night, approach cautiously and get all the measurements! It can't be so hard, can it?"

"If it wouldn't be hard, why not come at night yourself?" the Captain insisted, glaring at Sokka.

"Because sneaking into the Palace at night might just get me into trouble" said Sokka "So you've got to do it, there's no other choice!"

"And what if I refuse?"

"Well… I'll have to ask Azula what present she would rather have of me" said Sokka, which a mischievous smile "And if she thinks of me as you think she thinks of me, her ideal present might just be…"

Rui Shi felt a vein pulsating powerfully on his forehead upon that. He lifted a fist and Sokka snickered, stepping away just in case the guard might attack him.

"Fine, then!" said the Captain, dropping his hand again, blazes dancing briefly around his fists when he moved brusquely "And then what? I deliver your measurements and you'll stop bothering me?"

"Well… I suppose" said Sokka, shrugging "Can you bring them to the Royal Workshop tomorrow? I've already asked the blacksmith if he'll let me work there, and he's more than willing to help, even. Which I guess is odd… but I suppose being Azula's gladiator has lots of perks to it, huh?"

"Indeed" grunted the Captain, sighing "Fine, then. I will bring you your information tomorrow, if I manage to accomplish this tonight"

"Yeah!" cheered Sokka, excitedly "You're the man, Captain!"

"Sure I am…" said Rui Shi, glaring at Sokka again, but now sighing in resignation.

Facing Xin Long by himself wasn't an appealing perspective in the slightest. It wasn't that he feared the dragon… well, truth to be told, on some level he actually did. But the real problem was to keep from landing himself in trouble with the Princess later. How would he measure the dragon without waking him up as he slept? And if he woke him, wouldn't that wake the Princess as well?

The questions kept bugging him all day, and they still rounded his mind by the time he approached Xin Long's refuge at night. Rui Shi swallowed hard before entering the compound stealthily, hoping the dragon wouldn't notice his presence…

And of course he did. A low gurgle came from the higher levels of the refuge, and Rui Shi looked up quickly to watch how the dragon dropped heavily on the ground, eyes squinted as he glared at the Captain. Xin Long stepped forward, still leering as he began releasing smoke through his nostrils, as usual The Captain gritted his teeth and tried to remain firm and steady. The dragon was sure to have a blast teasing him if he wavered…

"You needn't fear, noble Xin Long" said Rui Shi, bowing his head curtly towards the dragon "I mean you no harm"

The noble Xin Long, now well-versed in human language thanks to his bond with Azula, snickered upon the label he had just been given. He wandered around the Captain, hoping to make him uneasy while he rounded him.

"I am only here for… for Sokka" said Rui Shi, gulping "He has requested me to measure you… will you cooperate, Xin Long?"

Xin Long was surprised to hear this had anything to do with Sokka. He stopped walking upon that, and looked at Rui Shi with a raised eyebrow… before shrugging and deciding it didn't matter who had sent the Captain anyways.

Xin Long moved quickly and squeezed Rui Shi with his body. The Captain gasped for breath when the dragon's scales dug into him… and he was aghast to discover Xin Long had curled up around simply because he meant to sleep while holding him tightly.

"N-no, please! I must…! Let me do this quickly and I'll be gone! I beg of you!" Rui Shi insisted, but Xin Long didn't seem to care.

Rui Shi sighed when Xin Long decided to get even more comfortable by dropping his head atop the Captain's. This promised to be a very long night…

* * *

Azula woke with a confused frown on her face. She sat up on bed and rubbed her eyes, still feeling odd about whatever she had dreamt of… thankfully, all dreams about her mother had vanished for the time being, but now it seemed they had been replaced by dreams that were nothing short of ridiculous. She didn't quite remember, but she was under the impression she had dreamt of the Captain trying to ride Xin Long…? Or was it that Xin Long who had ended up riding the Captain? She hardly remembered by now. All she knew was that it had been a very odd dream.

She readied herself for the day, eating her breakfast and dressing up as she usually did, helped by the servants who usually assisted her. But just as she was walking down a hallway, thinking of heading towards Xin Long's refuge, a servant approached her.

"Princess…" he said, bowing down quickly "Your father requests your presence in the Throne Room"

"In the Throne Room?" she repeated, frowning slightly "Is it another urgent war meeting?"

"No, not today" said the servant "Some people have asked for audiences with the Fire Lord, and he will receive them today"

"And he happens to require me for that?" Azula asked, with a raised eyebrow. That was unusual. Ozai always dealt with those audiences in private… "Well enough, then. I will be on my way"

The servant nodded and Azula changed her course towards the Throne Room, her frown growing more pronounced. Her father had been behaving oddly as of late, but she knew there had to be an explanation for it. Perhaps he only meant to speak with her about her birthday feast… she truly hoped that was all there was to it. She kept fearing maybe her father had found out about her latest approaches towards Sokka… and it was an irrational fear, she knew as much, for there was no way Ozai could know about it. Yet no amount of logic could appease her…

"Ah, Princess Azula" Ozai greeted her, already sitting at his throne when his daughter arrived "Do take your seat, I hope to be done with this quickly…"

"To what do I owe the pleasure of being invited to this particular occasion, Father?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows as she moved towards Ozai's right.

"I believe I told you we had matters to discuss about your feast" said Ozai "And I thought it would be best to do so now. You don't have any urgent matters to tend to at the moment, do you?"

"What could possibly be more urgent than the Fire Lord's orders?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows as she sat, legs crossed, next to her father.

"Perhaps a gladiator fight" said Ozai, casually "You have a responsibility as a sponsor, don't you?"

"Why, naturally I do" said Azula, nodding while looking at Ozai warily. Why was he talking about the Gladiator Business unexpectedly? Since when did it interest him so much? "I have no pending fights, though I meant to train my gladiator today. Nevertheless, I'm perfectly willing to put anything concerning the gladiator business on hold if you require me"

"As you should" Ozai declared. Azula still eyed him cautiously, despite finally having garnered what she considered a normal response from her father.

"Is it only going to be the two of us, Father?"

"Indeed, us and the guards" said Ozai, gesturing at a man who stood by the curtains "Bring in the first one"

"How many people requested audiences today?" asked the Princess

"Four, I believe" said Ozai "As soon as this is over we will have a private conversation, Azula. We have matters to discuss"

"I agree" the Princess said, as the guards entered the room, bringing a man in his forties with them.

The man's clothing wasn't particularly elegant, and his hair was slightly unkempt. His face looked sunburned, and he was somewhat muscular too. Azula couldn't help but wonder what a man with such appearance could want from her father. If she was judging correctly, he has to be a construction builder of some sort.

And considering how nervous he seemed upon addressing the Fire Lord and the Princess, it would appear he had never even dreamt of entering the Royal Palace to speak to a member of the Royal Family. He bowed down before them in quite a clumsy manner, and he stood up again quickly.

"F-Fire Lord Ozai, it is my pleasure… a-and Princess Azula! I wasn't told you would be here, I… it is also my pleasure, of course! I'm most honored you have accepted to meet with me…"

"As you should be" said Ozai "Don't make me regret allowing you an audience. Speak quickly and be done with it"

"O-of course, my Lord. I am En Xiao, and I have come in behalf of the town of Shangren. Some time ago we decided to refurbish our docks, but what seemed a good idea at the moment has turned out to be a disaster. Many ships have been unable to deliver their cargo to our village, and we are only capable of eating what little food we produce ourselves…"

"You refurbished the docks, yet you failed to think of a method for shipments to be delivered to your town while you remodeled them?" Azula asked, frowning "How thoughtful of you"

"We made the mistake to tear down the docks completely on the first go, Princess" said En Xiao, gulping "It was very thoughtless on our part, indeed, but it's too late to do anything about it now. We have tried to be as quick about the job as possible, but in order to have our first dock functioning properly, we need more manpower"

"Are you requesting I lend you men to finish your job faster?" Ozai said, raising an eyebrow.

"My lord, we are in a very bad situation" said En Xiao "Without the shipments, our village is facing quite a predicament…"

"What happens with these ships that are bringing you their cargo?" Azula asked, frowning "Are they floating about, waiting until you're done with your rebuilding of the port?"

"Some simply pass us by when they see they can't unload their cargo here…" said En Xiao "I believe they take their shipments to other nearby islands. But others linger nearby, waiting to deliver their goods when we're ready to receive them"

"The ones that stay close to the island would make easy target for pirates" Azula muttered, looking at her father sideways "Wouldn't they, Father?"

"Pirates roaming our waters…" said Ozai, sighing "I haven't heard reports of the sort, but you are right, Azula. If this is the situation, surely soon enough groups of pirates might target Shangren. It would be best to avoid problems of the sort"

"Would you be so kind, my lord, and allow some men in your service to help us?" said En Xiao "I'm certain the Capital has many builders to offer…"

"You assume much, En Xiao" said Ozai, and the man shivered when the Fire Lord spoke his name "I have builders, but they are currently engaged in the construction of a factory on the outskirts of the Capital. I cannot allow you to borrow men for your cause"

"B-but my lord…!"

"You could find men in other cities" said Azula "Perhaps head towards the Colonies. If you managed to come here, which I find quite odd considering you said your ports aren't functional and you could have only arrived through sea, then you will be able to take a trip all the way to Yu Dao, won't you?"

"I… p-perhaps…"

"I'm willing to guess that their Mayor will be able to supply you with what you wish for" said Azula.

"Unless Morishita's builders are busy as well" said Ozai.

"B-but if that's the case, what will I do?" asked En Xiao, looking at Ozai with despair.

"Oh, stop behaving like a lost pup" said Ozai, rolling his eyes "If you find no men who are willing to work, find slaves. Buy them, make them do your bidding. That's how it works"

"But I… I don't believe I have the coin…"

"Then sell whatever your island produces and use those winnings to buy slaves" Ozai growled.

"And what about when the refurbishing of the port is completed?" asked En Xiao "What will we do with the slaves by then?"

"Ah, as if that were a matter of concern" said Ozai, rolling his eyes "If you're unwilling to feed and lodge them, and if you have no further use for them, then sell them again. Send them back to where you got them, perhaps. Get rid of them somehow, nobody will care for the fate of more common slaves"

Azula glanced at her father sideways upon that. He was harsh, he had always been… but no longer could she listen to him speak of slaves in this manner without feeling uneasy. He treated them as scum… as though they weren't human, as though they were inferior to them because they hadn't been born in the Fire Nation. Slaves were on the same level as beasts of burden for him. And it was rather disturbing to be bothered by a notion that she also had believed in not longer than a year ago… she had seen slaves under the same light her father still did. Inferior, filthy, worthless…

"Is that all, En Xiao?" Ozai asked, raising an eyebrow.

"W-why, yes, my Lord. I only meant to make my one request, and I thank you for receiving me. May you live long and reign longer… oh, reign long and… well, may you enjoy your reign as much as your citizens have enjoyed it" said En Xiao, bowing before being led outside the chamber by a pair of guards.

"Foolish commoners" said Ozai, sighing once En Xiao was gone "If I had a coin for every absurd request they have sent our way…"

"I didn't know a factory was being built nearby, father" Azula said, frowning "For what purpose?"

"You recall that man who has taken to living in the Northern Air Temple, do you not?" said Ozai "He has been developing plans to create aircrafts as of late. We will need to dedicate a new factory to build them"

"Aircrafts?" Azula asked, surprised "Has he really accomplished such a feat?"

"Not quite" said Ozai, shaking his head "In fact, he seems to be facing a predicament of sorts, a predicament which escapes my knowledge. But as soon as he finds a solution for it, the production of aircrafts will begin. Our warfare will go unrivaled"

"I believe our warfare is already unrivaled, father" said Azula, with a smile.

"That it is" said Ozai, smiling as well "Yet now we will definitely be unstoppable"

Azula smiled, but she felt no joy upon hearing this. She found herself cursing Sokka's influence on her as she looked to the front of the room again, where a guard was bringing in another man. If only Sokka hadn't brought his notions into her mind, her life would be much simpler right now. She could still be as careless about the fate of others as she used to be. But hearing her father dismiss slaves, and hearing him speak of a boost in their warring potential, which he clearly would orient towards destroying the Water Tribes, filled her with a sense of despair she hadn't known before. A part of her wanted to find a way to stop him, to tell him it was a bad idea… but another part of her wasn't as reckless. Contradicting Ozai in what came to these matters wouldn't end well for her. She had already played her luck with him too many times before… she couldn't risk playing with it any more than she already had.

"Greetings, my lord… Princess" said the new arrival, a man dressed in far more elegant clothing than the previous one. Naturally, he was a high-society man, but given that Azula didn't know him, she guessed he had only acquired his status recently. He wore jewels on every spot in his body that could sport them, and the smile on his face spoke of self-satisfaction "My lord, I have come to repay the debt I owed you"

"Is that so?" said Ozai, a smile on his face. The man brought out a bag of money, and he stepped forward to place it before the Fire Lord, who parted the flames that surrounded him in order to pick up the bag.

"My business has finally taken off, thanks to my lord's kindness. I even added more money than I owed you, as a gesture of gratefulness for everything you have given me and my family. Never had we enjoyed the comforts we have attained now. And we owe it all to you, of course…"

"You also owe it to your hard work, never think otherwise" said Ozai, as he looked at the golden coins with approval before setting the bag of money aside "Many others have requested money from me and failed to settle the debts when the time comes. I am most pleased to see there are still vassals that prove themselves worthy when they must. Well done. You may take your leave now"

The man smiled and bowed his head before walking back to the exit. Azula watched him leave before turning towards her father again.

"Are loans a frequent practice of yours, Father?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Are you judging me for it?" Ozai asked, amused "Loans are the best way to ensure a man's loyalty belongs to you and to no other. The ones who deliver are those on whose allegiance you can rely on. The ones who don't will be singled out and rendered helpless. Too many fools have requested money from me and failed to pay back when the time has come…"

"So, as punishment for their failure, you took everything you could from them in order to regain the money you wasted on them" Azula finished.

"It is what a ruler must do, Azula. I'm certain you understand"

"Of course I do, Father" said Azula, smiling.

"Loans aren't as unreliable a practice as you might believe, Azula. They serve many purposes. So long as you remain true to the contract, you shall ensure to be respected by your people" Ozai declared.

"I understand" said Azula "But is it wise to trust blindly in noblemen such as that man, Father?"

"Whoever spoke of trust, Azula?" asked Ozai, raising an eyebrow "Only a handful of people can truthfully claim to have a share of my trust. I was certain you knew as much"

"Oh, I do" said Azula "It only makes sense for you not to trust them. I wouldn't do so either, if I were in your place"

Ozai smiled again and gestured for the guard to bring in the third man. It happened to be the Head Sage, to Azula's surprise. She hadn't expected this man, of all people, to request an audience with Ozai… why not wait until the Fire Lord went to the Temple for a meditation session?

"My lord, Princess" said the Head Sage, who seemed quite surprised to see Azula present in the Throne Room but acted as though it were of no importance anyways "We have begun the preparations for the festivals…"

"You have only just begun?" asked Ozai, raising his eyebrows "I believed preparations for the next festival would begin as soon as the previous one had ended"

"I-indeed, my lord" said the Sage, nervous "What I meant to say was, we are almost ready. Only a few matters are still pending… and one of them being your selection of whoever shall perform the Ceremony of the Sun"

"Ah, indeed…" said Ozai, at which Azula glanced at him with confusion "Have you already selected your candidates?"

"Yes, my lord" said the Head Sage "They are ready to display their skills before you. Please, make your selection whenever you find time for it. The chosen performer will need some time to prepare for the actual ceremony, so the sooner you make your decision, the better for all of us"

"Naturally" agreed Ozai "Very well, then. I shall let you know when I have time to spare for this. In the mean time, run along, Head Sage. There are other matters I must deal with"

"Yes, my lord" said the Head Sage, bowing down and leaving the room on cue.

"Since when do you choose the performer for the Ceremony of the Sun?" Azula asked, with amusement "That's new"

"It is" said Ozai, smiling "I recently suggested to the Head Sage that I might be the one to select the performer this year. Naturally, he understands my suggestions are orders"

"I take it he's not so pleased by these developments, though" said Azula, as the last man was brought into the room "The Sages are quite uptight when it comes to their traditions"

"That they are, but it makes no matter. I am the Fire Lord, and my decisions are final" said Ozai.

"It is so" Azula agreed, nodding.

The last man to arrive was unexpectedly different from those who had preceded him. En Xiao's appearance hadn't been the ideal for a meeting with the Fire Lord, but this latest arrival wore such tarnished clothes that he made En Xiao's look like the clothes of a nobleman. His face was bony, his hair greasy, but his eyes were fierce. And said eyes were nestled on the Fire Lord, at whom he glared with determination.

"Fire Lord Ozai" he said, as he knelt before Ozai, frowning still "I have come to make a petition"

"A petition, you say?" asked Ozai, looking at the man with contempt "What sort of petition would it be?"

"My lord, I have come to request for you to shut down the refinery at Danqian river" said the man, at which Ozai's eyes narrowed.

"And why should I do such a thing?"

"My lord, all the villages close to the river are being directly affected by the smoke released by the refinery" said the villager "People are sickly because of the air pollution. Also, the water that used to be crystal clear is now contaminated by chemicals, and children have died after drinking and playing in the river as they used to! And if this weren't enough, the refinery was built where our cattle used to pace, and we hardly have any room for the animals when most our available terrains have been destined for farming and sowing. My lord, our village cannot carry on in these conditions, you must do something…!"

"I must?" Ozai asked, angrily "Why, perhaps the Fire Nation has moved past the stage where we needed thousands of farming villages to feed our people. Perhaps your terrains, your animals and crops aren't needed anymore. You needn't fret, though, I'm certain you and your fellow villagers will find proper jobs in the refinery…"

"Jobs in the…? My lord, we have spent all our lives living off farming!" exclaimed the man, astounded by Ozai's suggestion "We don't want to change that, we never meant to! And even if we did, it wouldn't solve the problem that has been brought up by the refinery's waste being evacuated into the river!"

"And thus you would have me shutting down a refinery that is crucial for the progress of our nation?" asked Ozai, growing angry. Azula clenched her teeth when she felt the flames around the Throne becoming fiercer and stronger than before.

The villager looked at Ozai with wide eyes, as though the image he had once had of the man before him had crumbled to pieces. He stared at him in disbelief, and he shook his head before replying to the Fire Lord's question, indignant:

"Your people are dying… and that's what you're concerned with?! Progress?!" asked the man, standing up and looking at Ozai with indignation "My son is lying sick in bed with no signs of recovery after drinking that poisoned water, and you tell me that he must die so that our nation prospers?!"

"Indeed, that is what I told you" said Ozai, his eyes blazing with fury "And how dare you speak to your Fire Lord in this manner?!"

"How dare you let my son die for such a ridiculous reason?! How dare you call yourself Fire Lord when you don't care about the Fire Nation at all?!"

"You accuse me of not caring for my nation? Why, perhaps it is you who doesn't care for his nation! You wish to stop our progress, you fool? That makes you a traitor to your people!" Ozai said, glaring at him "No more than that! Guards, rid me of this eyesore! Take this scum out of my sight, and give him the punishment befitting a man who dares oppose his Fire Lord!"

The guards approached the villager, and the man grinded his teeth when he heard them move towards him. He couldn't take no for an answer… not today. Not now. Not when his son was going to die because the man who ruled over them was too obsessed with alleged progress to genuinely care for his people.

The man had no idea what was driving him when he lashed out at Ozai, shortly before the guards reached him, yet lashed at him he did, to the Fire Lord's dismay. The villager jumped forward, not caring about the flames that might engulf him. He refused to walk away from this matter with his head bowed in submission…

But when he was about to pass through the curtain of orange flames, said flames turned blue. The man didn't register the change until the blue fire flared powerfully and sent him flying back in the direction he had just come from.

The Princess hadn't even stood up in order to defend her father. She remained cross-legged, her left hand raised, for it was all she had needed to use in order to bend the fire and repel the villager. The man's worn-out clothing was scorched, and it seemed some of his hair had caught fire, but he smothered the blazes quickly by rolling over and dragging his body over the floor.

Ozai seemed quite surprised by Azula's quick response in behalf of his safety. His instincts had been to move back, and perhaps to kick at the man if he managed to make it through the curtain of fire… but Azula had been faster, and far more efficient than that. And she looked as relentless as ever, her eyes blazing along with the fire she turned blue.

"You heard my father" she told the guards "Take him away"

The guards nodded, and they obeyed promptly, picking up the man and dragging him away as he flinched at the pain, muttering about his son until he was out of the Throne Room. Azula lowered her hand, while the other one curled into a fist. Yes, she had done the right thing… she had to protect her father from threats, she was his loyal daughter, always had been. So why did she feel remorse upon having attacked that villager? Why did she feel sorry that he would return home probably to find his son had died while he had been gone?

"Something told me having you along this meeting today was the right decision" said Ozai, smiling and standing up "Ah, pathetic commoners. Such a man should be demoted into slavery"

Azula didn't reply, for she rather doubted that would be a good idea. Ozai took notice of her lack of response, but he paid no heed to it.

"Very well, then, Azula. Shall we take our leave now?" he asked, gesturing at his daughter to follow him out of the Throne Room.

Azula stood up quickly, and walked with Ozai all the way to his chambers. They hardly spoke on the way to the appointed place, and Azula remained as silent and solemn as she had been during their walk while a servant poured tea for both of them.

"I do feel it was rather unfortunate you were witness to such a sight…" said Ozai, sipping his tea "But alas, people like that one villager tend to show up every now and then. It's best if you prepare yourself for it, for whenever you sit the throne instead of me"

"Not everyone will agree with our way of ruling, of course" said Azula, nodding "How often has this happened, Father? Has anyone ever hurt you in these audiences?"

"No, this is the first time a reckless fool tries to physically wound me" said Ozai "Nevertheless, you needn't worry. He will be punished accordingly for his crime"

"You mean… you mean he'll be sentenced to death?" Azula asked.

"Oh, I am a merciful man" said Ozai "If he had actually touched me, I might have had his head for it. But alas, as I said before, being demoted to the status of slave would suit him best. I will not suffer men of the sort to be deemed as part of my nation"

"So you hope to take out every man who opposes your will?" Azula asked.

"I have the power. I have the means. Why should I not use them for my own ends?" asked Ozai, smiling "You will grow to understand, Azula. Once you become Fire Lord you will realize that, in order to keep the nation in your control, you must make decisions that will seem ruthless and cruel. Yet you must make those decisions nonetheless. It will be your duty as a ruler"

"Is this why you wanted me to witness these audiences?" asked Azula, frowning "You meant to have me learn how to deal with petitioners through a direct experience?"

"And you did it marvelously" said Ozai, nodding "Every day that goes by I grow more convinced that you are my one true heir. You shall carry on my legacy, Azula. But, in any case, this isn't what we were supposed to discuss"

"No… the birthday feast" whispered Azula, drinking some tea as well while trying not to press on any further with the matter "What is it you wanted to speak of, Father? You want my input on the guests?"

"Why, not quite" said Ozai "I have always chosen whoever will be invited to the feast…"

"Indeed, so what do you need my opinion on, Father?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"I would like to speak of you of another matter… another pending matter" said Ozai "Many of the guests I plan on inviting have made petitions for your hand in marriage at some point in time, whether for their sons or for themselves…"

Azula frowned at that. She placed the cup on the table and looked at her father warily.

"And… you're planning on using this feast to bring them here" she muttered "You want to set me up, Father"

"Azula, you know that by this point in your life you ought to be married" said Ozai "And considering what has been happening lately…"

"What has been happening lately?" asked Azula, folding her arms over her chest "Father, what is it that you're not telling me? First you wanted my gladiator in my feast, now this matter of my hand…"

"My, will you command me to talk, Azula?" Ozai asked, amused.

"I… no, Father" said Azula, shaking her head "I'm only asking a question. That's all"

"Well, then" said Ozai "Truth to be told, I find it quite unbelievable that you remain oblivious to it. I was certain you had done all this purposefully…"

Azula felt the blood draining from her face. If her father was referring to what she feared he was referring to, she would have to find a way to deny everything convincingly. It wouldn't be easy, but she could do it… her life was on the line, and not only hers, but Sokka's as well. If this was all a ploy to make her understand her position in the world, to force her to acknowledge that Sokka could never become anything other than her gladiator, she would play through it as innocently as possible…

"From the moment you obtained that gladiator I wondered what your true intent might be" said Ozai "Only now do I understand…"

"Father, I… you are overthinking matters" said Azula, shaking her head "I swear I…"

"You are as witty and thoughtful as I always believed you were" said Ozai, smiling. Azula looked at him with mild confusion at that. Witty? If he knew about her and Sokka, the last thing he would call her would be witty… there were plenty of other five-lettered words her father could use to refer to her if he had found out what had happened between them. So why witty, of all things? "And resourceful too, of course… there's no need for false modesty, Azula. You know you made a brilliant move when you joined the gladiator fray"

Azula blinked a few times and raised an eyebrow, at which Ozai laughed under his breath.

"You spent ten years being undermined for being a female, even while being the Crown Princess" said Ozai, smirking "I tried to make matters easier for you, but it did not work as well as I hoped it might. I gave you as many opportunities as I could, though… and you have made great use of them. And with this matter you have finally accomplished what nobody knew you would accomplish"

"What do you mean, Father?" Azula asked "Do you mean to say your noblemen…?"

"They acknowledge you, Azula" said Ozai, smiling "They have watched you rise through that ranking, and they are quite amazed by your fighter's prowess. Though not all of them seem marveled by you, if I must be honest. Many resent you for finding such a powerful fighter… I do wonder how skilled he might be, if I am to be honest. He looks like little less than a clown to me"

"He's not as foolish in the Arena as he is outside it" said Azula, sipping her tea again. The twist the conversation had taken had relieved her… but it hadn't quite appeased her fears yet "And precisely because he looks quite weak on first glance, he happens to be quite difficult for his opponents to measure. He defeated Chan's gladiator without a hitch, after all"

"Indeed, I haven't forgotten that" said Ozai, nodding "And by doing this, you have entered the public life in a grand fashion, Azula, with an unexpected gladiator, who happens to be a non-bender nobody can predict. By sponsoring someone others would take as a weakling, and yet rising through the ranking as steadily as you have, you have been the talk of the Fire Nation during the past year. Zuko's return threatened to outshine you, but your brother has done absolutely nothing worth any merits ever since he came back. You, on the other hand, have continued to overcome challenges constantly, both in the Gladiator Business and outside it. You have overcome many opponents, and you even defeated that disgusting Water Tribe murderer…"

 _I did nothing, though. It was Sokka who fought against him, not me_ Azula thought, but she kept from saying a word. A slave had no worth of his own, in her father's eyes. Whatever Sokka accomplished in the Arena would be credited to his sponsor, not to his own skills and efforts.

"You never told me someone had attempted to murder Azulon" said Azula.

"Why, attempted murders on Fire Lords are far more frequent than you think, Azula" said Ozai "You just thwarted one yourself, did you not?"

"It hardly seems a matter to take so lightly" said Azula, raising her eyebrows.

"A man like that foolish villager couldn't have possibly injured me" said Ozai "When faced with actual threats, though, we have always managed to keep a step ahead of our attackers. We shall continue to do the same in the future. Despite what you may believe, our security is our greatest priority"

"It should be" said Azula "Yet it's not easy to keep so secure, with groups such as the White Lotus looming over us…"

"You needn't worry. I believe we sent quite the message after we took their men captive" said Ozai "I would have much rather murdered them, but it would seem keeping them as hostages is wiser. Your gladiator did us a favor, I believe"

"Perhaps" shrugged Azula "But what about the spy? Do you have any leads on him yet?"

"None" said Ozai, sighing "But I'm certain he has learned his lesson as well. He won't be bothering us…"

"Until we give him another opening, or another excuse to bother us" said Azula, frowning "Father… I have a suspicion. One I didn't think I should share, but… I fear it'll be worse to keep quiet about this"

"Azula?" said Ozai, surprised.

"This spy… I suspect it might be Iroh" confessed Azula.

"Iroh?" asked Ozai, before chuckling under his breath "Ah, that would be ideal. If my brother was a full-blown traitor I could rid myself of him for good. But alas, it's quite unlikely. After the White Lotus attempted to murder him…"

"After that, he decided not to prosecute them" Azula reminded her father "And that is suspicious, you must think so as well, Father"

"Why, you seem rather knowledgeable about this…" said Ozai, raising his eyebrows "Have you been investigating much, Azula?"

"I spoke to Lo and Li recently" admitted Azula "I saw them at Ember Island and they told me what they knew about the White Lotus. Which, according to them, is the same you already know"

"Most likely it is" said Ozai "All I know is what Iroh disclosed. Why would Iroh join them, though? Do you believe he learned the ways of tea, Pai Sho and foolishness from them? Because you would be wrong to believe so. My brother has been wasting his time with all those things throughout his entire life, long before being attacked by the White Lotus"

"And what better idea than to join other people who enjoy wasting their time with the same nonsense he does?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I would be more than pleased to say you're right about this" said Ozai "But Iroh was underground all along. He couldn't have been the mysterious benefactor…"

"Lo and Li were underground also, Father, and that didn't keep them from being suspects" Azula said.

"Truly" said Ozai "But unless we had actual evidence, Azula, pointing fingers at your uncle will get us nowhere. If anything, the acceptance you have gained in the Fire Nation's circles after everything you've done recently might disappear if you try to turn on members of your family"

"Why… I don't think that kept you from banishing Zuko" said Azula, frowning.

"I was already Fire Lord, and your brother only got what he deserved" said Ozai, simply "Whether or not it was accepted by the masses, it was irrelevant. My decisions are final, as befitting the Fire Lord. You, on the other hand, are still a Princess. Soon enough you might become Crown Princess, if you continue to earn the admiration and respect of Fire Nation people, but for now, you must abide by what will garner you acceptance. If you continue to rise through the Fire Nation, your brother is sure to continue lagging far behind you. Eventually they shall speak ill of him, and well of you. And once that happens, you will be one step closer to becoming Fire Lord once I'm gone…"

"Which is quite wonderful, Father" said Azula, a hand under her chin as she leaned on the table "And you know I would want nothing more than that. Yet I have to ask… how am I to become Fire Lord after you if you plan on marrying me off to some nobleman's son? You haven't forgotten it would be my future husband who bears your crown and not me, have you?"

"I haven't" said Ozai, nodding "But I take it you shall be the Fire Lord, even if you're not bearing the hairpiece. No matter what man you marry, you will be more than capable of ruling through him, won't you?"

"That was never the plan, though, was it?" grunted Azula, dropping her gaze "I suppose it won't make a difference whether I rule as myself or through another… not considering I will be doing this for the sake of the Fire Nation, and not my own. But still, Father…"

"You don't want me to give you away to a fool" said Ozai "And if only I could do as you ask. Yet, as I once said, there is no man worthy of your hand, Azula. You are, most certainly, better than all of them. So if none will be worthy…"

"Then at the very least it should be up to me to decide which worthless man I marry" said Azula "Just as I once said myself"

"A righteous request" said Ozai "But given you have yet to inform me of having found a better husband, I suppose the responsibility of finding your worthless husband falls to me. All you ever do is waste away your days training that gladiator of yours. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by his prowess, considering all the training you submit him to"

"I do what I must in order to make him the best gladiator there is" said Azula "As you said, I have earned a great deal of acceptance in society through him. I have proven myself time over and time again thanks to him, and considering how it's not enough still, for there are fools who still dare doubt me, I believe I should continue to prove myself as his sponsor for the time being. Marriage can wait"

"Can it? Will you wait until I have perished, Azula?" asked Ozai, at which Azula was slightly startled "Even then the odds won't be in your favor. Your brother is the legitimate heir at the moment. Until you become Crown Princess, your claim won't be above his. And for that to happen…"

"You'll need to convince the council that I am a better option than he is for the seat of Fire Lord" muttered Azula.

"Or your brother would have to die"

Azula's eyes widened upon that. She looked at her father with surprise, her eyebrows raised, and Ozai sighed.

"It would be useless to hope for that, of course. There have been too many disappearances and demises in the family recently for us to add your brother to the list. He is healthy and finally home… his death would come off too suspicious. We would never get away with it"

"Us?" asked Azula, raising her eyebrows "Father, are you even…? You're not honestly telling me you would kill Zuko if… if only you thought you'd get away with it"

"You wouldn't?" asked Ozai, looking at her with surprise "I thought you were made of better material than this"

"I… Father, he may be quite a fool in many regards, and the Fire Nation might be best off without him, but never have I thought…"

Azula was suddenly feeling slightly nauseous. Killing Zuko was completely absurd. He almost always irritated her beyond belief, he was a nuisance more often than not… but her lust after the throne wasn't large enough for her to wish to sit upon it after stepping over Zuko's dead body. How could Ozai speak of this so casually, as if talking of Zuko dying was the same as discussing what he would have for dinner? She had always known he was ruthless… but Zuko was his son, despite it all. And he had been commanded to murder his son once, but he hadn't done it…

No, he had killed his father instead.

Suddenly the thought of her father killing Azulon seemed to be less ridiculous than she had once taken it for. That he would speak so naturally of murdering his own son made Azula wonder why he hadn't killed Zuko back then… why he had chosen to kill Azulon instead. There had to be a reason for this, clearly. Had it been in order to become Fire Lord? And who had killed Azulon, really? Had it been him… or had it been her mother?

"Now, you won't claim to having developed some sort of attachment towards that brother of yours, Azula" said Ozai, rolling his eyes.

"I wouldn't call it that" said Azula, for she hardly thought it was out of any attachment to Zuko that she couldn't even consider this. It was the thought that her father would gladly murder his son if he thought he could get away with it…

Because Zuko was useless for him. Zuko wasn't his ideal heir, Zuko wasn't the son he had wanted. Azula had been closer to his desired child, and thus he had chosen her to follow on his footsteps. But what if she strayed from those footsteps? What if she ever made a choice he couldn't accept? Would he be willing to kill her all the same as he was willing to kill Zuko?

"You'd best not" said Ozai, sipping his tea "Any bonds of affection you feel towards anyone or anything will be a hindrance for you. I was certain you already knew as much"

"Indeed" Azula said mechanically, agreeing with him solely for the sake of it.

"But as I said, it would be pointless to try and kill your brother. It might bring about a civil uproar of sorts" said Ozai "Never you mind, though. Zuko is more than capable of bringing himself down. You won't even need to make any efforts towards it. Just as he got himself banished for ten years, he will bring about his own doom eventually"

 _He didn't get banished for ten years… you banished him. And I was certain you were more than proud to take the credit for it…_ Azula thought again, watching him warily.

"Well, indeed, that just might be the case" she said, lowering her gaze "And once he does…"

"You will be Crown Princess" said Ozai "And so long as you continue to triumph with your gladiator, so long as you prove how competent you are at anything you put your mind to, no members of my council will oppose my decision"

"Speaking of which… is this why you want my gladiator in the feast?" Azula asked "Because he's earned me my recognition?"

"It hasn't been only him, but he has become quite popular amongst the noblemen as of late" said Ozai "You also earned recognition by finding and taming a dragon, and returning to the Capital in triumph after capturing the Rough Rhinos. Though he helped save the Fire Nation from the White Lotus… people were quite astounded to hear such heroic deeds coming from a slave. And since he has proven to be a competent gladiator, he has gained a great following. I'm certain the noblemen who will attend your birthday will be pleased to see him there. They might ask questions about him, but I'm certain that won't be anything you cannot handle"

"It won't be" said Azula, nodding "Then this is why…"

"Were you expecting anything else?"

"I was expecting a proper reason, no more than that" said Azula, with a smile "I knew you hadn't insisted upon this on a whim"

"Despite being the Fire Lord, the absolute ruler of most the world, I do believe earning the acceptance of your subjects is important" said Ozai "Indeed, not all of them will be satisfied with your decisions… but it is your duty to make said decisions, and stand by them, as I said earlier"

"Which is why the refinery will remain as it is, where it is, no matter who comes to ask you to do something about it" Azula said, and Ozai nodded.

"Exactly. I will stand my ground. I know what my nation needs, and it isn't more cattle and crops. We need power, more power than ever, to conquer the world. That is what we must strive for. And together we shall earn said power, Azula. So long as you continue to rise through the Fire Nation as you have as of late, you will be as powerful as I am one day"

Azula nodded and continued to drink her tea silently. She had spoken of these topics with her father long ago, without feeling as troubled as she did now as she heard him justify what couldn't be justifiable. Why did his decisions bother her so? Perhaps because, when it came to Ozai, everything was a decision. He was used to having everything go his way… he had made sure it would be so ever since he became Fire Lord. No longer would anyone question him or look down on him. He was the Fire Lord now, and his word was what counted. So in those regards, she probably should be safe… he had decided she was his favorite child, and thus Zuko was the one he wanted to get rid of.

But it still bothered her. Despite herself, it could only bother her. As much as she had warred with Zuko her entire life, he was her brother. As much as she would often laugh whenever he was in misery, she hadn't considered his death as an option for her to earn the throne faster. Back when she had been a child, she had heard Azulon commanding her father to kill Zuko… and she had teased Zuko about it. But she hadn't quite thought he would die, and she had been right. He didn't. She had thought it obvious that her father wouldn't kill him… Zuko was his son, and Ursa often said family was what mattered most, hadn't she?

Though that hadn't stopped her from thinking Azula was a monster, had it? Then… maybe it wouldn't stop Ozai from murdering his son to get what he wanted. And if he was willing to kill Zuko, then it meant he would be willing to kill virtually anyone to get what he wanted… if he had murdered Azulon, then he had killed his own father without any remorse. Because her father had no earthly attachments… he only sought power. He only sought control. He didn't care for feelings, for emotions, for anything that would make him weak… and if he had to kill his family for the sake of whatever he desired, he would do it. He would do it.

Ozai changed the subject then, deviating towards the more technical aspects of Azula's birthday feast. Azula tried to pretend she was calm despite the conversation they had just shared, smiling at her father and agreeing with most of what he said.

And since a table stood between then, Ozai couldn't see how his daughter's clenched fists trembled atop her lap.

* * *

Sokka beamed when the Captain finally appeared at the Workshop, handing him a paper where he had scribbled all the measurements he had believed necessary for Sokka's enterprise.

"You'd best be grateful for it, gladiator" grunted Rui Shi "You wouldn't believe the night I spent to get those"

"You did it at night?" asked Song, surprising the Captain. He hadn't noticed she was there as well.

The Workshop was somewhat crowded at the moment. The blacksmith, his assistants and his family were hard at work, and several clients had showed up to shop for weapons or utensils, some even hoping to commission the blacksmith with custom-made materials just for them. It was a wonder that there was enough room for them to work as well.

"I had no choice…" said Rui Shi, looking at Song with concern "You will help him, then?"

"Well, yes" said Song, smiling "It sounded like fun… and this way I'm finally involved with the interesting things instead of watching from the sidelines, you know?"

The Captain was genuinely surprised by her enthusiasm. Sokka missed their exchange, busy as he was setting everything up to start working. The Captain looked at him judgmentally for a moment before sighing and removing his mask and hood with a swift motion.

Song was quite pleased to have another glimpse at the Captain's face, but her relief suddenly turned into discomfort when the man removed his belt as well and pulled his red tunic off without warning.

"Alright, this is what we're going to…" started Sokka, turning around towards them again just as the Captain finished taking off his clothes, revealing a sleeve-less shirt underneath his garments "W-what the hell, Captain?! Stripping naked is NOT what we're going to do! What do you think this is, your private bathhouse?!"

"I'm taking these things off because I don't want to get them soiled with workshop filth" grunted the Captain.

"Well, by going back to protecting Azula obsessively you wouldn't get them soiled, you know?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "No need to make the girl here uncomfortable…"

"I'm staying here for the time being" the Captain said, surprising both of them "I'll work with you"

"Uh… huh?" said Sokka, blinking blankly "You're… huh?"

"You heard me" said the Captain, glaring at him "Let's get this over with before my wits return to me"

"Y-you don't have to do this…" said Song, while the gladiator continued to look at the guard in utter disbelief "Sokka and I could handle this by ourselves…"

"Well, now you won't have to do it by yourselves" declared Rui Shi "What are we supposed to do, then, gladiator?"

"Uh, well…" said Sokka, scratching his head, still quite puzzled by this unexpected turn of events "I guess we should get started, then"

The process to begin building the armor was slightly more complicated than they expected, for finding the proper material for it was no easy feat. They needed a great amount of metal, and using two different sorts of it wasn't a good idea. When at long last Sokka found the right kind they began working slowly, selecting certain amounts of steel to make the different pieces of the armor.

"It can't be too thick, but it can't be too thin or else it won't be any use" explained Sokka "Well, we can start off by the head-guard, I think… uh, we need a hammer, though. Do we have a hammer here?"

"I think all hammers are being used right now" Song pointed out with a weak smile, and Sokka saw, aghast, that the blacksmith and several of his assistants were currently hammering away at their own creations "I guess we could wait until they're done…"

"Don't we have a hammer at home?" Sokka asked her "That way we won't have to bother waiting…"

"No, we'll only have to bother waiting for you to get back here" said the Captain, an eyebrow twitching.

"Come on, I'll be quick as a cat!" said Sokka "Wait here, I'll be back in a bit"

The Captain glared after Sokka while the gladiator left, running off towards his house. After a while he had to stop jogging, for indeed there was quite some distance between the Workshop and his home, and he shouldn't tire himself out when he had an entire afternoon of forging ahead of him…

… Or so he had thought his plans were until he entered his house to find it wasn't empty.

"Why, at last" Azula exclaimed, standing up from the living room's couch and looking at him with a frown, her hands on her waist "Here I was thinking you had moved out and had forgotten to inform me of it"

"Wha-…? What are you doing here, all of sudden?!" Sokka squeaked, trying not to seem too nervous and failing at it.

"Why…? I think I have been dropping by here on a frequent basis, haven't I?" asked Azula, raising her eyebrows "Xin Long left me here before he went to hunt. What is it, am I no longer welcome here?"

"I didn't say that" said Sokka, shaking his head and laughing in an odd manner, earning himself a look of confusion from the Princess "You're so quick to jump to drastic conclusions, really…"

"It's hard not to jump at them when you're acting weirder than ever. And that's saying a lot" Azula pointed out, at which Sokka pouted "Where were you? And where's Song?"

"She's, uh, busy. Doing laundry" said Sokka, quickly.

"Oh? And she forgot that pile of clothes on that corner?" Azula asked, gesturing towards it. Sokka felt the blood draining from his face.

"A-ah, well, she… uh, she wears a lot of clothes, you know? Keeps getting them all filthy…"

"What are you hiding, Sokka?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "What's the matter with you?"

"What's the matter with me? You'll mean, what's the matter with you? You're here so late for… for training, are you?"

"It's not that late" Azula said "Perhaps a little later than usual, but I needed to talk to you, regardless the unusual hour I've come at. I expected you'd be here when I arrived. It was quite odd that you weren't…"

"Huh, I suppose it must have been" said Sokka, blinking "Well, uh, you did come for training too, right?"

"Why, yes" said Azula, gesturing at the sword that hung on her back "Why?"

"Uh… just a second" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly before running off towards another room.

Azula watched him, growing even more confused upon his behavior but rendered unable to ask any questions about it when he left her to herself. Sokka had run off to scribble a quick message to the Captain and Song. He had sent it to them through Hawky in order to let them know that Azula had appeared randomly at their house and he'd be back in the Workshop as soon as she left. Which wouldn't happen any time soon, it seemed…

"Okay, uh… what do we have to talk about?" asked Sokka, when he finally returned.

"About the fact that you're acting like you're hiding something" said Azula, at which he gulped "And that I will find out what it is eventually, you heard me?"

"Well, that sounds like quite an interesting challenge" said Sokka, smiling "How do you plan on finding out what it is?"

"Considering you just confirmed that indeed you're keeping secrets from me, I don't think it will be so hard to manipulate you into revealing whatever it is at some point" said Azula, unable to keep from smirking at him.

Sokka hadn't even noticed he had stepped closer to her than the strictly necessary… he smiled back at her, hoping not to seem too eager to finish closing off the distance that still existed between them.

"Well, then, manipulate away" he said, smiling "Was this what you came for, though?"

"Actually… no" Azula confessed, stepping away from him in order to keep focused. She didn't miss the disappointment on his face when she moved "I mean to let you know that yes, you will be training more nowadays… for you will be fighting more often as well"

"Wha-…? Fighting more often?" asked Sokka, surprised "What's that about?"

"I know it might not sound like a good idea, considering what your last fight was like" said Azula "But I believe it will be needed in order to have you progress properly through the ranking. It would seem you have earned yourself the appreciation of a great amount of Fire Nation people, and it'll be for the best if we keep it that way. More fights will help us keep their attention"

"Is that for real?" asked Sokka, surprised "Huh… no wonder I've seen more people than usual cheering for me. Well… then how often will I fight?"

"Once a week" Azula replied, at which he flinched.

"O-once a week?" he asked "And what if I get hurt?!"

"You'll have a whole week to get better" said Azula, with a fake smile "If anything, this should convince you to keep from getting any bad injuries. You've managed to prevent getting badly hurt for quite a while now, it's been some time since you last endured worrisome wounds. I trust your skills and strength will be enough to continue fighting against bigger foes yet…"

"That's a bit troublesome, but… well, I guess it can be done" he said, shrugging.

"Troublesome why?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh… because I'm not used to it, is all" said Sokka, with a weak smile. If Azula executed these plans, it would mean he would have less time to work on the armor… but if he refused she would likely become even more nosey about it than she already was "Don't worry, I'm good with it. I just suppose I'll have to train a lot, huh?"

"Likely" said Azula, pulling Wolf's Bane out of its sheath as she walked towards the garden "So we'd better get started already, don't you think?"

Sokka gulped before picking up his weapons and running outside after Azula, a silly grin on his face as he readied himself for their drill. Azula watched him with a raised eyebrow, still bothered by his odd behavior.

"So… have you already chosen a new opponent for me?" Sokka asked "Anyone I should be worried about?"

"Some fighter called the Fisherman of the East" said Azula, shrugging "He's a non-bender, you should do fine against him. So long as you focus on the fight and stop having your head in the clouds, of course"

"Oh, want to see how good I am even when my head is in the clouds?" Sokka asked, with a smirk.

"Why, I think I would like that" said Azula, smiling "I'm certain beating you to a pulp will be quite an enjoyable experience…"

"Heeeey!" Sokka retorted, at which she laughed, despite herself "What's so funny, huh?"

"Ah, you're such an idiot" she said, as she lifted her sword towards him.

"An idiot who still has never been beaten by you in sword fighting, though" said Sokka, cockily.

"Should we change that today, then?" asked Azula, looking at him with determination, still smiling.

She should be used to it by now… it should come as no surprise to her that he would be able to get her mind off her concerns and problems by being as foolish as he always was. Yet it still amazed her how easy he had it to make her laugh. She felt at such ease with him, as though her problems could be put on hold while their swords clashed.

And defeating him for the first time today would certainly improve her day quite a lot. Her eyebrows drew together as she looked at him defiantly, and she jumped forward as he pulled forth Space Sword and readied himself to fight back…

* * *

"So… he's left the work to us" said Song, after reading the letter Sokka had sent.

A vein pulsated dangerously on the Captain's forehead. That wretched slave was doing his very best to earn his animosity…

"He's unbelievable, I swear. Off fooling about with the Princess as if he had any right to do such a thing…" he growled.

"Well… I suppose it's up to us to get this done, then?" said Song, with a weak smile, and the Captain sighed in resignation.

"Right. I'll get a hammer"

He went towards the other men working and asked them if they could lend him one while Song watched him with interest. Maybe this wasn't going as planned… but spending more time than usual with the Royal Guard's Captain, while his guard was lowered, promised to make these days far more interesting than she had expected them to be…


	69. Chapter 69

Her movements were agile, quick, on point. She slid her sword through his openings as smoothly as though she were gliding through running water, and he was left parrying her blows while trying to keep up with her. His defense was slower than usual, and she hadn't failed to notice as much. There were bags under his eyes, but he had claimed it was only because he had stayed up all night reading. Teasingly, she had asked him if perhaps he had been studying up on haiku. His response to that had been a scowl.

It had been weeks of constant training. They hardly stopped ever since Azula had decided Sokka would face a new opponent in the Arena every week. Sokka had taken notice of an unusual aggressiveness in Azula's fighting style as of late, but he hadn't found the proper moment to inquire about it, for she kept prying into what he was hiding from her. So far he had managed to keep his secret, but only because he either resorted to dangerously flirt with her, which never failed to make Azula forget what she had been asking about, or because he changed the subject swiftly. She noticed his intent to distract her, though, and that only boosted her determination to discover what he was hiding. She became more observant than ever, to Sokka's unease, for she meant to discover what he hid… but given that she seemed to be in a much better mood when she was pestering him about his secrets, Sokka didn't mind much to be interrogated about them.

Up to date, Sokka had already fought against five new opponents in the Grand Royal Dome, and to his sponsor's relief, he had aced every fight. He had sustained a few wounds against the Vortex, a strong non-bending woman who had used razor-sharp knives to attack him, but the shallow injuries were no matter of concern when Sokka had already managed to rise to the 214th position on the ranking. Advancing through the list of gladiators was no longer as easy as it once had been, but the increase on the frequency of Sokka's fights had greatly helped him to improve his position.

It seemed to Azula that Sokka was more tired than usual lately, though. She wasn't imagining the bags under his eyes, or the fact that, whenever she arrived at his house he would be dozing off. She wasn't sure what had brought this about, and on some level she suspected it might be the new weekly fight regime they had established. Nevertheless, his tiredness seemed odd to her, and it worried her to a certain extent… but upon seeing him greet her with a warm smile every day, even when he looked so sleepy, she figured he wasn't feeling as bad as he looked.

Azula wasn't aware of the actual reason why Sokka was so tired, of course. The weekly fight regime wasn't his only source of exhaustion, and it definitely wasn't the main one.

The forging of the armor was going quite well, to Sokka's and his helpers' relief. Rui Shi and Song would head to the workshop from time to time: the former did it whenever he had spare time and the latter would do it whenever she wanted to. Yet Sokka, on the other hand, visited the workshop every day as soon as his training with Azula had ended. Once the Princess had gone home for the day, Sokka would go to the workshop to spend most the night working, usually by himself, in building the armor for the dragon. Song would stay with him from time to time, but she would usually end up falling asleep on a chair while Sokka made sure the metal plates fit together properly.

All in all, Sokka only managed to sleep a few hours before getting up again to train with Azula. His body begged for mercy, but Sokka couldn't stop pushing himself yet. The armor only needed finishing touches by now, he would get proper sleep soon enough… Azula's birthday was tomorrow, and Sokka had been trying too hard to keep on schedule to bail now just because he was tired. He would deliver the finishing touches to the armor today, he would rest after he was done with that…

But his body refused to work with him. It had been too much strain, too little rest, and too much recklessness on his part…

Azula's smooth movements were incredibly fascinating to watch… and incredibly deadly too. Not for the first time Sokka wished they were training with blunt swords when Wolf's Bane sharp edge nearly cut through his cheek.

"A-Azula!" he exclaimed, as he stumbled to evade her.

"Too slow, Sokka!" she declared, stepping forward and attempting to reach his chest with the sword.

He parried her blow with his sword, but he had to take a step back to maintain his balance… and a sharp jolt of pain rushed up through his leg when his foot touched the ground. Sokka cried out in pain as his knees buckled under him. He fell on his butt, one hand on his leg while he dropped his sword with the other one.

He was rubbing his thigh when he noticed the tip of a white sword was only inches away from his forehead. He lifted his head and found she was beaming with pride, her golden eyes blazing.

"And so I win" she said, smirking.

"N-no, you don't..." Sokka said, and her self-satisfied smile vanished for a moment.

"You're lying on the ground, I could kill you if I wanted to, you're not even holding your weapon anymore... And yet you say I didn't win? I fail to grasp your logic, gladiator..."

"M-my leg, Azula…" Sokka muttered, clutching it tightly.

"What about your leg?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"I've got a leg cramp, that's what!"

"A leg cramp? Pffft..." she said, rolling her eyes "Oh, sure thing. So when I defeat you in the most embarrassingly fashion possible, you happen to be cramped. Makes sense"

"I'm serious!" Sokka said, grimacing.

"And I'm serious too, you're such a sore loser" said Azula, shaking her head "For the first time I've beat you fair and square, following your petty rule of 'no firebending allowed', and when I do, you throw a tantrum. You know, it's very inappropriate for a grown man such as yourself to act like such a baby..."

"I'm not throwing a tantrum, woman!" Sokka squealed "If you want me to say you've won, then fine! You got me! But I still have a leg cramp, whether you want to believe me or not!"

"Well, I sure don't believe you" said Azula, moving towards him "If I did, my victory would be tainted and thus, invalid. Isn't that the way of it?"

"It doesn't have to be, I really don't care that much…" growled Sokka, trying to get up. His left leg shifted only slightly, and that was enough to send him through another world of pain "Ah, blast it!"

"Who knew you were such a delicate thing, Sokka..." whispered Azula, squatting beside him and encircling his waist with an arm "Come on, at least make the effort to move, will you? I've had to carry you enough times as it is"

"What's that supposed to mean? Aaaah, dammit!" Sokka whined as Azula pulled him up with her.

"Well, what else?" said Azula, as Sokka draped an arm around her shoulders and she helped him towards the house "Did you conveniently erase from your memory that I carried you out of the Grand Royal Dome when you were half-dead?"

"Heh, I carried you through the river and towards Xin Long's cave when we were in the forest" Sokka retorted.

"And then I had to pull you up when you couldn't climb the rocks that led to the cave"

"Oh, but then I carried you when you were sick, and I did it like five times in a single day!" Sokka declared, as they climbed the steps towards the house "And then in Ember Island...!"

"Well, fine, then" said Azula, rolling her eyes "You've done it more times than I have. Doesn't mean I should be helping you walk anyways"

"Yeah, it does" said Sokka, cringing upon every step he took as they moved towards the couch in the living room "You… you're bound by your honor to repay the debt you owe me!"

"Why, how ironic" said Azula, looking at him skeptically "Who was it that constantly said: 'I didn't do all those things so you'd owe me'?"

Sokka gave Azula a pouty glare, bothered by how she had lowered her voice to imitate his. He was still thinking about how to respond to what she'd said when she dropped him heavily on the couch, and he whined in pain again when his left leg took most the impact of his fall.

"Really, how whiny can you be?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow as Sokka cursed under his breath and rubbed his leg.

"Well, next time you can't walk because your leg is killing you, I'll ask the same question!" Sokka snarled, as Song left the kitchen and approached them, looking at the pair with curiosity.

"What's the matter now?" she asked, hardly even surprised to find they were arguing, as ever.

"Good thing you're here" said Azula, regarding Song with only a flicker of her gaze towards her "He's broken. Do something about it, will you?"

"What the…? I'm not a thing, you know! I'm hurt! Not broken!" Sokka squeaked, while Song looked back and forth between them with confusion.

"You broke something…?" she asked, approaching Sokka.

"I didn't, my leg's cramped. That's all" grumbled Sokka.

Song looked at him, noticing his left leg seemed to be bothering him. She tapped her chin for a moment… logic said that his muscle would begin working properly again in no time, there wasn't much to do about it. Yet…

"Well, I suppose a massage could help" said Song, shrugging.

"Then get on with it" said Azula "I'd very much like to show him that, cramp or not, I can defeat him"

"Right" said Song, smiling weakly "Though I think it would be best if he took some time to rest his leg. He might endure a worse injury if he puts a lot of strain on his body"

"So no more training?" asked Azula, clearly disappointed to hear this.

"At least not for today" said Song, sighing before biting her lip "It's getting pretty late, too… Well, I have to go somewhere right now, if you two don't mind…"

"Huh?" said Sokka, looking at her in confusion "Song, it's not that late, and… wait… uh… oh. You've got to go, then. Of course you do. What about the massage you mentioned, though?"

"Oh, well, the Princess could do it, right?" said Song, shrugging.

Song should have known the response she would earn upon those words would be as explosive as it was. Azula jumped back and looked at her, in utter disbelief, and Sokka also tried to leap to his feet in surprise… though soon enough he had to sit down again, grabbing his leg in the process while grimacing.

"What the hell?! No, I couldn't do it! Why on earth would I do that?!" Azula asked, looking at Song as though the girl was mental.

"Well… I thought it wouldn't be a problem" said Song, shrugging "It's just a simple massage. Just rub his leg a little until he feels better, no more than that"

"Actually, it IS a problem" said Azula, trying to fight back the blush that was creeping over her features "What could possibly make you think it's not one?!"

"I just… I just guessed you'd be willing to help Sokka get better" said Song, blinking a few times and looking at Azula with apparent innocence "I mean, he is your gladiator after all…"

"And you're his healer, aren't you?!" asked Azula "You do it! Whatever you have to do can wait, can't it?"

"Y-you know, nobody else has to do it…" said Sokka, with a weak smile "I can do it myself, no need to worry…"

"Well, it would be better if it was someone else who…"

"He said he could do it" Azula repeated, looking at Song dangerously "So he will. Now, unless you have a better idea, and this time one I might actually approve of, you're more than welcome to take off as you meant to"

"O-okay…" said Song, swallowing. How did Sokka manage not to be intimidated by the Princess's wrath? The way she glared at her was enough to make Song regret her attempt to tease the pair… if only it were possible to turn back time, she surely would have.

"See you later, then" said Sokka, waving as Song gulped and moved towards the door.

Azula watched her leave, her eyebrow twitching until the door was closed behind her. She sighed and rolled her eyes before dropping on the couch at Sokka's right.

"You've got a real trouble-making slave there, Sokka" she said, crossing her legs "Is she always like that?"

"Eh, from time to time" said Sokka, shrugging "You haven't seen the worst of her"

"What do you mean?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…" Sokka gulped, hoping she wouldn't jump to the wrong conclusions "She can be like an annoying little sister, picking on you and irritating you when you least expect it, you know? She's quite the feisty one, but she always manages to hide it behind that perfect pretense of innocence and kindness…"

"Deep down she's not a bad person, though" said Azula, crossing her arms over her chest as well "She doesn't give off the vibe of it"

"Heh, so proud of your people-reading skills, aren't you?" asked Sokka, smiling.

"Well, I have every right to be" said Azula, her head held high "Many people believe themselves unreadable, but nobody is. It's just a matter of observing them"

"You do a lot of observation, then?" asked Sokka, chuckling "So, if you can read Song so well… what do you read about me?"

"That you're a moron pretending not to be one, that's what"

"Hey!"

Azula chuckled as he looked at her with apparent hurt, rubbing his leg already and grimacing upon the pain at times.

"You're an honest man, that's what you are" said Azula, at which Sokka dropped his guard again and looked at her with interest "No matter if you try not to be, you are. You're pretty idiotic, though, often saying everything you think without hesitation…"

"Well, life is too short to worry about the effect your ever word will have, huh?" said Sokka, shrugging.

"And thinking that way will only serve to shorten your already short lifespan" said Azula, with a smile "But you're also ridiculously thick-headed, so even if I warn you not to be so thoughtless, you won't change your ways… and you'd better learn to restrain yourself, Sokka. At least for one day"

"You mean tomorrow?" asked Sokka, gulping "Is this going to be like my introduction into high society?"

"I… wouldn't call it that way. Not exactly" said Azula, growing stiff all of sudden, to Sokka's surprise.

He frowned as he studied her with his eyes, worrying over the way she had changed her demeanor. She was tense again… as she had constantly been during the past weeks. And maybe it was the right time to ask about this at long last, wasn't it?

"Are you alright?" he asked her, taking her by surprise with that question.

"Me? You ought to worry more about yourself, Sokka" replied Azula, sternly "I guess you don't understand what I just implied…"

"Well, I kind of figure what you meant by that" said Sokka, shrugging "I'm a slave, and I know it. Maybe you and your dad don't treat me like I'm worth less than the soil you tread on, but the same can't be said for the rest of the noblemen I'll be meeting tomorrow. Right?"

"Right…" said Azula, sighing. She wouldn't quite put her father in the same group as her, though. Perhaps Ozai was intrigued by the gladiator, on some degree, but not to the point where he'd actually see Sokka as a human being on his same standing…

"But that's to be expected" said Sokka "What I don't understand, though, is why you've got that frown on your face whenever you get lost in thought. You end up with a little crease between your eyebrows when you do that, you know?"

"W-what? I don't get a crease between…!" Azula exclaimed, taken aback by that sudden remark.

"And there it is!" said Sokka, chuckling when she frowned as a reaction to what he had said.

The crease remained in place, for she was still frowning, and Sokka kept laughing about it until Azula flicked him on the forehead.

"Hey! No need for that! Don't you think I'm in enough pain already?!" he complained, rubbing his forehead now while looking at her accusingly.

"Well, that last comment gave me the impression that it really wasn't enough" she said, raising her eyebrows and looking at him defiantly.

"Keh, leaving that aside, though…" said Sokka "You're not the only observant person around here, Azula. What's going on? Something's been bothering you for a while. You can tell me what it is, you know? I've kept every single secret you've ever shared with me, I'm not about to start giving them away now"

"Considering you're keeping secrets from me at the moment as well, I don't see why I should talk" Azula said, crossing her arms over her chest again.

"My secret isn't making me miserable, is it?" said Sokka, at which the grip of her fingers on her arms grew tighter "Come on, Azula. Whatever it is, you can just tell me"

Azula frowned again and sighed. It was true, there should be little to no risk in sharing this with him. Still, something compelled her to hold back. Maybe it was that she didn't want to tell him about the objectives her father had set for the feast… at the very least, she didn't want to tell him about one of her father's objectives. Still, what good would it come from hiding it? If things went Ozai's way, she'd end up married, and hiding this from Sokka would only wound him. The sooner he knew, the better… but she didn't want to start off with that part, though.

"Well, for one thing, I attended an audience session with my father on the same day I came here to tell you that you would be fighting a new opponent on a weekly basis" said Azula, her jaw tense as she spoke "It was… it was an odd experience"

"How so?" asked Sokka, surprised "You'd never done that before?"

"No, my father usually dealt with those meetings by himself" said Azula "I suppose I learned a few things, but… the last man lashed out at my father. I had to defend him to keep him from reaching him"

"Woah" said Sokka, gulping "That sounds crazy. I didn't think people would actually try to touch your dad…"

"One would expect them to know better" admitted Azula "No matter his reasons, no matter his conviction, attacking the Fire Lord wasn't going to end well for him"

"And I wager it didn't" said Sokka, frowning.

"He was turned into a slave" said Azula "And he was sold a week ago, or so my father told me"

"Huh…" said Sokka, dropping his gaze "Well… odd that he didn't want his head for what he did"

"He told me that if I hadn't stopped him, and the man had actually reached him, he would have" said Azula "I didn't expect something of the sort to happen, though. Ruling isn't exactly what people are led to believe it is"

"Well, you'd do fine at it, though" said Sokka, encouragingly "You wouldn't have a problem kicking away all the people who try to attack you, huh?"

"If my people were willing to physically assault me, just how well would I be doing that job?" asked Azula, at which Sokka froze "I… I've been working my entire life towards the same goal. The goal my father set down for me. And perhaps I'm prepared in some regards… but you did tell me once that what makes a nation is its people. And as much as I didn't want to admit it then, I can say it now… you were right about it"

Sokka looked at her in surprise, his jaw dropped. Azula looked at him sideways, slightly bothered by his reaction.

"What?"

"Y-you… you said I was right about something" he said, dropping back on the couch, his gaze now on the opposite wall "I'm just trying to digest that…"

"Oh, please, don't be so ridiculous" said Azula, rolling his eyes.

"No, seriously, I need a moment to actually process what you just said…" he muttered, at which Azula huffed.

"Yes, I said you were right, what of it?" she snapped, and he seemed to grow even more elated to hear her say it again "But ever since you got that damned idea into my head everything has become more difficult. I mean… my father says he's working for the sake of the Fire Nation's progress, but what sort of progress is there in reducing our own people, the ones born in our very nation, into slavery…? Whose sake is this progress for, really? Is it for the so-called greatness of the Fire Nation? Because it… it doesn't really sound like it"

"I guess it must have been hard to see things from a different perspective for you…" said Sokka, stroking his stub of beard "But even if it's not easy at first, I think it's what you have to do. A good leader is capable of acknowledging his shortcomings, and the shortcomings of his system. That way you can do something about it when it's your turn to rule"

"I suppose I should" said Azula, sighing heavily. Sokka frowned again.

"And… this is the extent of what bugged you?" asked Sokka "Because really, Azula, I'm pretty sure you're on the right track…"

"That's not all there is to it" said Azula, and Sokka's reassuring words were silenced.

"Oh… then what else is bothering you?"

"After those audiences, I spoke privately with my father" said Azula "I happened to find out why he wants you to attend the feast…"

"Huh? Really, now?" asked Sokka, surprised "Why is it, then?"

"Well… you're becoming quite renowned in the circles of high society, apparently" said Azula "I suppose it's because of all those noblemen who sponsor their own gladiators. They've spoken to my father about you, and he seems to think it will be a good idea to parade you before them like some circus hogmonkey…"

"Huh?! Y-you're not literal about that, are you?!" asked Sokka, grimacing.

"Oh, well, I will confess it would be fun to watch you perform circus hogmonkey acts…" said Azula, chuckling for the first time since the conversation had drifted to these topics.

"No, it wouldn't!" said Sokka, horrified "B-but then… parade me? What do you mean?"

"Well… he wants you to be some sort of attention bait, if you understand what I'm saying" said Azula "After all the things you've done, you're almost like a celebrity… which is pretty ridiculous considering you're a slave, isn't it? So all those noblemen are curious about you… and if you attend the feast they might just be quite pleased to see you there"

"So your father does care about keeping people happy" said Sokka, with a grin that actually came off as a grimace "Just, high-class people who will look at me like I'm the Royal Family's clown. Yippie"

"I'm warning you beforehand… please try not to do anything stupid" said Azula, sighing "I know it'll be frustrating for you, but if you do anything out of bounds you might just end up locked up somewhere for misbehaving. And I'd much rather avoid that sort of trouble, if you'd be so kind…"

"What, you thought I wouldn't behave myself?" Sokka asked, pretending to be hurt by her words. Azula gave him a skeptical look.

"When have you ever behaved yourself, Sokka? You don't even know what the word stands for" she stated, and he chuckled weakly.

"Maybe not. But I'll do my best" he said "I can't promise I'll be just a nice ornament standing next to you if your dad's noblemen ask you if you don't need to keep a leash on me… but I'll try to keep from saying everything that goes through my head, if that's any consolation"

"I suppose it is, on some level" said Azula, nodding "You're ready for it, then?"

"Yeah" said Sokka "Those clothes Ty Lee got for me will work for the occasion, I think. It'll be the first time I dress up all fancy, though… but I think I'll manage somehow"

"You'd better" said Azula, sighing.

"How about you? Are you ready for it?" asked Sokka "Ready to turn… how many, is it? Nineteen?"

"Ha ha" Azula laughed sarcastically, at which he chuckled "I was nineteen when I caught you in the South Pole, you know?"

"Curious that you've become a nicer person at almost twenty-two, then" said Sokka, smiling "I admit I like the almost twenty-two Azula much better"

"Are you certain of that?" asked Azula "I actually think otherwise. Beating you up and stepping all over you in the snow wasn't half bad…"

"Sure thing" grumbled Sokka, and she smirked "So you're really ready for it, then? Off to face those irritating noblemen?"

"Well… more or less" said Azula, growing tense again. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Is there something else?" he asked. He sure hadn't expected Azula's problems to be threefold.

"I… suppose" said Azula, looking down at his legs "Feeling any better yet?"

"Oh, a little" said Sokka, but upon trying to stand up he ended up dropping on the couch again "Aaah, well… not that much better yet"

"Huh…"

Sokka jumped when he felt Azula's hand on his leg. Blood began rushing to his face… and he was quite grateful that it had gone upwards instead of downwards. The last he needed was a mishap with his groin right now…

"If you're not going to do it yourself you're leaving me no other choice" said Azula, somewhat embarrassed yet massaging his leg all the same. He had touched her inappropriately quite a few times now… and she had an excuse to return the favor now. It wasn't like he'd complain about it anyways, though.

"W-well…" said Sokka, gulping and failing to find any other word to respond to what she had just said. It seemed Song's devious plan had worked out after all.

"There… there is another issue" Azula said, her heart thumping in her chest as she tried to bring herself to say it "As you said, I am about to turn twenty-two… and every past Fire Nation Princess has already been married off long before they reach this particular age"

Sokka frowned now. This didn't sound good.

"My father… he often tells me I need to find a husband" said Azula, incapable of looking at Sokka as she spoke "But he had never put that much pressure on me about it, despite it all. I've always been opposed to the idea of marrying before I take the throne, if I am to take it at all…"

"Yeah, I heard as much…" said Sokka, dropping his gaze "If that happened, you'd end up as Fire Lady and your husband would be Fire Lord… right?"

"There's no record of a female Fire Lord in all of Fire Nation history" said Azula "When you walk through the Royal Gallery, you'll only ever see portraits of men after men… and for a very long time I dreamt that my very own painting would make the difference one day. Marrying someone now would send such dreams to the wrecker… and all my hopes to improve the Fire Nation would go along with them. I trust myself to be capable of bringing real progress to my nation. And manipulating a husband into doing my bidding, as my father expects me to… I don't want to put the fate of my nation, of my people, in the hands of some incompetent puppet my father deems worthy of my hand. Not when I could do better by myself"

"Which is why you didn't want to marry Chan" said Sokka "Well, one of the many reasons, I guess"

"Indeed" muttered Azula "But… it seems my father thinks it's time I accept a suitor. And even though I tried to pull out of it, he didn't let me this time. He… he actually expects me to choose my future husband tomorrow"

Something inside Sokka seemed to break upon this last confession as he looked at Azula in disbelief. She couldn't get married, she… she was too good for any man out there, he was completely certain of it. But if Ozai expected her to marry someone now… if her father was commanding this, Azula would obey. That was how it always had been, hadn't it?

Imagining another man with her made him clench his jaw. To think another would touch her, kiss her and make her his… it even caused him physical pain just to think of it. His chest had hurt him in the past for an array of reasons, but never as it did just now. He didn't want Azula to marry someone… he didn't want her to be with any random nobleman, especially since she didn't want that either! For, if she did, why would she be unable to hold his gaze now? Why did it seem it bothered her so much to tell him about this?

The last thing he could have wanted was for Azula to wed someone she couldn't care less for. But how could he keep it from happening when Fire Lord Ozai was the one who insisted upon it? And it wasn't as though Sokka had any right to beg Azula not to marry someone… he was just a slave, after all. And he had no right to be selfish when it came to her, of all people… especially when she had never been meant to belong to him.

But thinking about it only made his chest ache more. Azula, married… clearly, she wasn't on board with the idea either. But what other choice did she have?

"Who…? Who are the guys trying to court you, though?" Sokka asked, swallowing hard "Are they any good?"

"Most aren't" muttered Azula "Remember Kuan?"

"How could I forget?" grunted Sokka, an eyebrow twitching at the memory of the man.

"Well… he would be one of them" said Azula, sighing. Sokka looked at her in disbelief.

"What?! Hell, no! I mean… I have no idea if the other guys are any good, but just don't marry that one! Please, don't!"

"I'm not going to marry Kuan, of all people, Sokka" said Azula, with a weak smile. He sighed with relief at that.

"Well, good. You deserve better than that" he said, nodding before taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly "And… well, you just might find better. I mean… maybe the idea of husband-hunting sounds awful, but who knows? Maybe… maybe it won't go so badly"

"What?" said Azula, finally looking at him with disbelief.

Was he actually saying he didn't mind that she got married? Was he genuinely telling her that maybe this could end well? Why on earth would he do that? Didn't he… didn't he have feelings for her, just as she did for him?

"I'm just saying… not all guys are bound to be awful" said Sokka, shrugging, avoiding her gaze while trying to sound supportive even if it was the last thing he wanted to do. He just wanted to hug her, to hold on to her, to tell her he wouldn't let anyone else take her… but he had no right. He couldn't make matters more difficult for her than they already were "You'd have some really bad luck if that were the case…"

"Sokka…" said Azula, at which he looked at her sideways.

"What?" he muttered.

"Are you…?" she whispered, trying not to sound like she was really bothered by what he had just said. She knew she should be hoping to find an adequate husband in tomorrrow's feast, just as he said… But the idea hadn't even crossed her mind until now. She didn't want to find a husband tomorrow. And she thought he'd know as much.

Sokka looked back at her, finding the hurt in her eyes to be even more heart-wrenching than being told she was to accept a suitor tomorrow. Why was she looking at him like this? She had to get married, her father was commanding it… what did she expect him to do, to tell her he couldn't fathom the idea of her being married to someone else? Because indeed, he couldn't fathom it. But what was he supposed to do, to ask her if she wanted to fly off into infinity with him? Did she want him to ask her to give up all her responsibilities so that they could finally be together as they wanted to be? Because… he couldn't do it. He knew how much the Fire Nation mattered to her. She had a place she belonged in, a life worth living… he didn't want to take that from her. He couldn't do it. So why was she looking at him like this? Didn't she realize her gaze could obliterate his determination completely?

"Are you trying to say it doesn't matter to you?" Azula asked, despite herself "You… you don't care if I…?"

Sokka dropped his head, incapable of looking into her eyes any longer. She had been right earlier… he was an honest man. Too honest to keep his thoughts to himself now, of all times.

"I… whatever I think isn't important here, Azula" said Sokka, swallowing "I mean… I kind of had taken for granted that it was going to be the two of us, always. I had forgotten that… that you've got a lot of responsibilities and pressures and expectations placed upon you. And… I don't mean to get in the way of that by being a selfish prick. I've been selfish when it comes to you enough times by now, I think, so… so I won't be anymore. I'm… I'm not going to tell you not to marry someone. But… I'm also not going to tell you to get married"

"Then what are you trying to tell me?" asked Azula, looking at him with mild despair, her hand gripping his leg a little tighter than intended.

"I… I guess I'm saying…" said Sokka, sighing "That I'll accept whatever choice you make… I'll accept whatever man you choose, so long as I know you'll be happy with him. If you can guarantee you will choose whatever makes you happiest, then I'll be… I'll be happy too. That's… that's all I dare ask of you"

Azula looked at him in disbelief. That was completely ridiculous… how could he ask this of her? How could he act as though it was reasonable to tell her to make a choice she could be happy about, when the only choice that could fulfill those requirements was him? And he just happened to be the one man she could never have…

"Happiness isn't supposed to be a part of this" muttered Azula, dropping back on the couch "I can't picture any potential outcome where I won't end up miserable if I go through with what my father wants of me. So… I doubt I can do as you ask"

"But…"

"Sokka…" she said, looking at him and rubbing his leg again "Just… forget it. Even if I did end up betrothed tomorrow, it doesn't mean I'm definitely getting married. I might just find a way to get out of it somehow, I've done it before, so… it's really not the end of the world"

"No… I guess not" said Sokka, smiling a bit "I mean… even if you did end up getting married, you'd still be my sponsor. It's not like… like we wouldn't still be the best team out there, huh? Things don't have to change between us…"

"I suppose not" said Azula, looking into his eyes again.

That was a lie, though, and they both knew it. There was no way things wouldn't change between them. They weren't just a gladiator and a sponsor nowadays… they probably had never been. The forces of attraction in play between them had always been too powerful to fight against.

"Just… try to do as I asked, Azula" muttered Sokka, between gritted teeth "I… I really can't promise I won't butcher your husband if he reminds me in the slightest of Kuan"

"I probably would like him better once you butcher him, though" said Azula, with the hint of a smile on her face. Sokka didn't know these noblemen as she did. The ones who were actual decent beings were mostly taken already… such was the case with General Tiang, for instance. She probably would have chosen him, if he had been an option. He wasn't a bad man… but he had married a Ba Sing Se girl already. And all other men she could think of were nowhere near close to the standard Tiang had set.

And even then, Tiang held no sway over her. He wasn't a man who could make her breath hitch, who could make her heart race in her chest just by looking into his eyes… much unlike the one who sat next to her on this couch.

"Huh?" said Sokka, smiling a little "And what happens once they realize I'm the one who murdered your husband? They'd marry you off to someone else, wouldn't they? And I'd end up…"

"You're really not careless enough to get caught, are you…?" said Azula, teasingly, and Sokka actually laughed.

"You give me too much credit" he said, smiling at her "I can't say I'd be too thoughtful about the things I do when I'm…"

"When you're… what?" she asked when he stopped talking.

They hadn't noticed they had been inching closer to each other as they spoke. Her hand was still on his leg, and their breaths were mingling together…

"I…" he said, forgetting completely about what they had been talking about. One of his hands found hers on his leg, and Azula looked down at the contact briefly before he called her name again "Azula…"

"What?" she whispered, her forehead against his.

"Y-you know… that's the wrong leg"

Knowing she had made a mistake had never mattered so little to Azula. She was a born perfectionist, the smallest errors would be catastrophic in her eyes… but this time it was completely irrelevant. This time she just couldn't care less.

She moved in, a hand going to his cheek as she brought their lips together. Sokka's arms surrounded her waist to pull her closer. He had thought she would have rolled her eyes and pushed him away for pointing out that she had been massaging his right leg instead of the left… and for pointing it out so late, too. But it didn't seem to matter to her… for which he was beyond grateful. For all he knew, this was the last time he would be presented with the chance to kiss her… for all he knew, she would belong to another man starting tomorrow. But if he could be with her for now… if only for now…

His lips moved against hers, now his hands caressed her face while hers went to his chest. He licked her lips softly and she allowed him entrance into her mouth without hesitation, caressing his torso and now running a hand over his left leg. His cramp was almost gone by now, for which he was grateful… and now there was a jolt of pleasure instead as he felt her hand stroking his thigh.

His kiss was somewhat desperate, more so than usual… but Azula found herself matching his despair after a moment. Tomorrow should never come… she couldn't concede to marry another man when she only wanted to be with Sokka. It was out of the question…

Only, it wasn't. Her father wasn't bound to take no for an answer this time. Time was running out for them… and they could do nothing but feel it slip away. They couldn't go any further than this either, no matter how much Azula wished they could. If she could only give herself to him now, she would do so without a second thought… but she couldn't do it, let alone when she was supposed to take a husband soon. And yet she couldn't pull away. She never wanted to pull away from him.

Sokka's hand was on the back of her neck as he kissed her repeatedly, longingly. Azula leaned forward, pushing him down so he ended up on his back, lying across the couch while she climbed atop him, her lips still on his.

He seemed to understand what she was asking for, though. And nothing would have made him happier than to comply…

But all the same as it had been in Ember Island, they had to put a stop to this now. The desire was almost too powerful to resist now, but they had to.

"A-… Azula…" he whispered against her, and to his surprise she decided to muffle his words by slipping her tongue into his mouth again.

His hands were on her waist, and he thought he had to push her away now… but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Maybe it would be best if he stopped trying. Maybe he should just let this run its course and damn the consequences…

It surprised Azula that his attempts to stop this would cease suddenly. His arms went around her, his fingers sliding through the strands of her dark hair, and his kiss became as heartfelt as it had been before.

So it would be up to her to stop this, then? It was a saddening thought… yet at the same time it was somewhat pleasing as well. Knowing that Sokka didn't have the willpower to stop them anymore, knowing that his passion for her was beginning to overwhelm his rational thinking, was something she could rejoice in.

Yet if she didn't put an end to it now, she never would. No matter that she didn't want to end it at all, she had to. The consequences of arriving to her wedding night without her maidenhood were too steep.

Truth to be told, she probably could have dealt with the consequences that solely involved her. Being shamed for her recklessness was hardly a matter of concern anymore, not when being with Sokka promised to be worth the price she would have to pay for it. Granted it would be a living hell, but she was sure she could endure it… what she couldn't endure, though, was the thought of Sokka being held accountable for the loss of her virginity. For there was simply no other man worth suspecting for said 'crime'. Her father would guess as much… and he would execute Sokka on spot for it. No matter how many times he claimed to be a merciful man, there was no way he would be merciful when it came to something like this.

And even though she wanted nothing more than to continue losing herself in his kiss, in his caresses, in him… she forced herself to stop their exchange by biting quite hard on his lower lip.

"O-ow!" Sokka exclaimed, as they parted, panting "W-what was that for?"

Azula's chest heaved, and she looked at Sokka, her hands at either side of his face. She sighed and dropped atop him, her head on his shoulder.

"You know what it was for" she muttered, closing her eyes and caressing his chest.

"Heh…" said Sokka, dropping his head back and sighing as well "If you were so mad about massaging the wrong leg you could have said it… you didn't have to bite me for it"

"I'll bite you if I feel like it" she muttered, as his arms surrounded her "I get the message across with bites better than with words"

Sokka chuckled a little and closed his eyes as well. One of his hands went to her nape as she nestled her head on the hollow of his shoulder. They could still be together for now, at the very least… and for that, Azula was grateful. If only time could stand still… if only she could stay with him and forget all about marriages and suitors. That would be the one and only way to fulfill Sokka's request… that was the only choice that would actually make her happy.

But, just as it was for him, Sokka had never been meant to be an option for Azula.

* * *

"So… that's it?" asked Song, looking at Rui Shi with inquisitive eyes "You think we ought to do anything else to it?"

The Captain looked at the fully assembled armor before shaking his head. It had taken a lot of effort, and it had been anything but easy, but it seemed they had finally reached the end of their forging ordeal.

"The gladiator can change and upgrade it all he wants later on" said the Captain "But I think this is the extent of what we should do to it"

"It looks good, though, don't you think?" asked Song, smiling at him.

"I suppose" said the Captain, nodding and looking out through the window. Dusk was already upon them "We should take off, I believe"

"Well, we don't need to rush much" said Song, smiling but complying "I'm sure the Princess is doing fine…"

"Heh" said the Captain, his eyebrow twitching as they left the workshop together. If the Princess was with the gladiator, he rather doubted she would be just 'fine'.

A light breeze ran through the Captain's hair as they walked down the streets. It wasn't every day that he could enjoy the wind like this, since he hadn't pulled up his hood and mask yet. Song glanced his way to find he was delighted by the breeze, and she smiled as they headed towards her house together. She had become quite used to his presence during the past few weeks, and even though they had always managed to get along quite well, now she felt she could deem the Captain as her friend.

"If you like the breeze so much, why do you wear that hood at most times?" asked Song "Is it because you want to respect your uniform?"

"Well… that, and also because I shouldn't take off my hood when the sun is up" said Rui Shi, gulping.

Song raised an eyebrow before she realized what she meant. She began chuckling and nodded in understanding.

"I guess you are the palest person I know, Captain" she said, smiling at him "Were you always like that?"

"I never had much color" shrugged Rui Shi "But wearing thick layers of clothing every day only made me lose what little I had. I suppose it's quite ridiculous, a firebender who gets sunburned as easily as I do…"

"It's not ridiculous; considering your situation it makes sense" said Song, shrugging.

"Uh…" said the Captain, before clearing his throat "You can call me Rui Shi, if you want. It's my name"

"Ah… oh" said Song. She had heard Sokka call him by that name a few times now, but she didn't think she was allowed to do the same… until now "Rui Shi, then. It's a good name"

"I suppose" said the Captain, somewhat embarrassed by the compliment "Not many people say as much"

"Others don't like it?"

"Well… hardly anyone knows my real name" the Captain admitted "Which means only a handful of people can say it's good"

"Just your friends and family, I take it?" asked Song, biting her lower lip.

"I… suppose" said the Captain, dropping his gaze.

Song looked at him worriedly as they walked, wondering if she had said something wrong. The Captain was suddenly distant, lost in thought…

"Is everything alright?" she asked

"I just… hadn't thought about my family in some time" he muttered "I haven't seen them ever since I joined the Army"

"Really? Hasn't that been quite a long time?" said Song.

"It has been, but I chose this life after all" said Rui Shi "I decided to become a Royal Guard, and that means to forsake everything else in order to fulfill your duty. You cannot have any ties, not even with your fellow guards. You must be ready to give your life for the member of the Family you were set to protect… and that person must become your absolute priority. It may not be easy at times, but it's what I chose"

"I… guess" said Song, frowning "Even so, well… I suppose you had your reasons to make your choice, and I'm guessing you have no regrets about it. But… to give up on your family like that? On your life? On your humanity?"

"My humanity?" asked the Captain, raising an eyebrow "What do you mean by that?"

"Well…" said Song, her semblance darkening "It seems that giving up on your name, on sunlight, on your features, on your identity is almost like giving up your humanity. Isn't it?"

"I… I wouldn't say as much, of course not. I haven't relinquished my humanity…" said Rui Shi, frowning.

"Really?" asked Song, raising an eyebrow "I don't know if I should tell you this, but… before talking to you for the first time, I honestly didn't even think of Fire Nation soldiers as humans"

"You… what?" said the Captain, shocked.

"The only thing the Earth Kingdom people saw, when the soldiers arrived to attack the villages and cities, was a group of uniformed murderers" whispered Song "People who had no consideration, no conscience, no heart, no family, no principles… that's the sort of person that should be capable of the massacres that the Fire Nation has committed so far. At least, that's what it seemed like to us…"

"You honestly believed we were only killer machines?"

"What else were we supposed to think?" asked Song, looking at him with earnest eyes "Your fellow soldiers and Fire Nation people may have bought into that talk about greatness and the sort… but to us, what the Fire Nation armies did was murder. And I don't care whether or not we were in a war… a death is a death, whether it's a civilian's death or a soldier's"

"Then the death of Fire Nation soldiers is wrong too?" asked Rui Shi, frowning.

"Of course it is" said Song, surprising him with her response "The Air Nomads are gone… they have been gone for a long time. But I remember my father told me, when I was a little girl, that they believed all life was sacred. I don't know much more about what they used to say… but I believe it's true. Though I confess that, for a time, I didn't quite think so…"

"You wanted the Fire Nation soldiers dead?" asked the Captain, gritting his teeth "Since you thought they were mindless beings… in your eyes, it was the same as though we were lifeless?"

"It used to be the same" muttered Song "My father was dragged away from our village by soldiers, after all…"

Rui Shi's eyes widened at that. He looked at her with worry, realizing how much the memory still hurt her.

"And my mother was forced to become a slave all the same as I was" muttered Song "From what I know, she was taken to Ba Sing Se, but… I honestly don't know anything about my parents anymore, or about my neighbors, or my friends… For all I know, they all might be dead by now"

"The Fire Nation took everything from you" muttered the Captain, unable to keep from feeling guilty to hear this.

"Indeed" said Song, nodding "But… when I met you, I realized I had been wrong all along about the soldiers. I mean… surely some of them are genuinely bad. But that doesn't mean they all are… and it doesn't mean you're not human either. I don't know what I was expecting when you took off your hood for the first time in front of me… but when I realized you were just a man I felt stupid. Soldiers… plenty of you must have families too, friends and loved ones. And the Fire Nation soldiers that have died are victims of the violence too…"

"Do you truly believe so now?" asked the Captain, frowning.

"Yeah. You're just a man, a man who decided what sort of life he wished to lead…" said Song "And all people should be allowed the same decision. Just as you chose to spend your life protecting the Princess, I think everyone deserves to choose what they want their lives to be like. I should have had a choice… I shouldn't have been forced into being a slave. Nobody should have been. Deep down, Captain… deep down we're all human. Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribe… what makes one better than the other? Why should one nation want to take over the others when living peacefully is a much more wonderful solution?"

The Captain looked at her with slight confusion and sighed, his hands on his hips as they approached the house. He had never really seen these matters under this light… and it ashamed him to only do so now. He hadn't taken part in the war against the Earth Kingdom, for even while he was an apprentice Royal Guard, he wasn't given the same duties as soldiers. Nonetheless, the words whispered by the girl beside him were knocking his world off-balance. She wasn't physically strong, just as he had always suspected… but had a strong and gentle heart. She had more insight than she let on, and she was clearly wiser beyond her years… wise enough to make a man like him realize just how wrong the Fire Nation's actions had been during the last hundred years.

"I… I'm sorry about your family. And about your friends" muttered the Captain "I can only hope they've found a kinder fate than what you fear they might have"

"Hopefully" said Song, giving him a weak smile "I mean… I got quite lucky. So did Sokka. Maybe… maybe my mom is in a better place than I expect her to be. Maybe a Ba Sing Se nobleman is enjoying her finest roast duck as we speak…"

"She just might be" said Rui Shi, nodding weakly as they finally reached the house.

They climbed the steps up to the front door, and when Song swung it open they both heard something tumbling inside the house, followed by a complaint in Sokka's voice.

"What was that for?!"

Song smiled and shook her head, assuming the pair had been fighting again, as ever. Even when they had all the time in the world for themselves, all they did was argue. Or at least, that's what it sounded like to her…

Little did the girl know that the Princess and the gladiator had fallen asleep together on the couch, and the sound had been nothing other than Azula realizing they would have company soon, which had prompted her to panic and push Sokka off the couch where she still sat, while Sokka glared at her from the floor.

"That wasn't fair" Sokka said, while Azula tried to act natural when Song and the Captain entered the house.

"Captain?" she asked, raising an eyebrow "Well, isn't that coincidental. Why is it the two of you decided to show up at the exact same moment?"

"A-ah, well, it's…" mumbled the Captain, as Sokka began panicking as well. They had kept this secret from her for five weeks and they were going to spill it now?!

"We happened into each other while he was on his way here, Princess" said Song, smiling "We simply walked to the house together, there's nothing more to it"

"Right" said Azula, still looking at Rui Shi with interest "That still doesn't explain why he's not wearing his hood and mask"

Song was startled by that, and Rui Shi blushed intensely upon Azula's remark. The Princess continued to look at him with curiosity before standing up and sighing.

"Just put it on again, Captain, and let's go back to the Palace" she said "I will be seeing you tomorrow, then, Sokka… make sure to look decent, if it's actually possible for you to do that"

"Ha, who're you trying to fool?" asked Sokka, smirking "You know my handsome face will amaze everyone so much that they won't even care what I wear!"

Azula gave him a glacial glare before rolling her eyes and sighing, gesturing at the Captain to follow her. Yet Sokka bolted up to his feet before they could march away.

"A-Azula…"

The Princess turned around, and neither the Captain nor Song missed on the fact that her face seemed softer now. As though she were expecting something from the gladiator…

Sokka seemed at a loss for an instant. Clearly he wanted to say goodbye to Azula on a different fashion… but with two witnesses he didn't dare do anything other than smile at her and drop a hand on her shoulder.

"See you tomorrow, birthday girl" he stated with a grin.

The softness on Azula's features faded away, replaced now by disappointment, it seemed. She rolled her eyes again and removed his hand from her shoulder before heading towards the door. The Captain followed her, but not before shooting a warning glare at Sokka. Song seemed slightly amused by that, and the Captain didn't fail to notice her. Azula had turned around, and thus she missed out on how he bowed ceremoniously in Song's direction.

"It may have been… somewhat troubling on some levels" he muttered, at which Song was quite surprised "But I deeply appreciated our conversation earlier. Thank you"

"U-uh… right" said Song, with a nervous smile "I suppose I'll see you around, Captain"

The Captain nodded before donning his mask and hood once more, and he followed Azula outside without another word, Song's gaze following him.

"Heh… and then you tease me about Azula" said Sokka, chuckling "Way to go, girl! Here I thought the man had no feelings!"

"I-I didn't…! That's not it, not at all!" she exclaimed, blushing.

"Oh, sure it's not" said Sokka, chuckling "Well, no matter if it is or isn't, I'm off to the workshop now. Want to give me a hand moving the armor all the way here?"

Song's face fell upon that. Just when she had finally gotten home, when she meant to soak her feet in warm water… ah, life really had its way of being unfair.

She smiled weakly and complied, despite herself. They took off to the workshop together, to take the last steps in order to finish putting together Azula's birthday present…

* * *

"Hey, Zuko, catch!"

Zuko frowned and turned towards the voice that had called him just in time to see a small projectile flying towards him. He frowned as he caught it with a hand, and his single eyebrow rose as he looked at what Toph had tossed him.

"A cookie?" he muttered, looking at the earthbender with confusion.

Toph huffed and her bangs moved when her breath grazed them. She shook her head in disappointment, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, now I sure don't believe Iroh. That's the best kind of cookie you'll find in the Fire Nation and you're just being the same old Grumpko you always have been"

"Believe my uncle?" muttered Zuko, looking at the man with inquisitive eyes.

They were in a Palace room Iroh frequented, the one where he often brewed his tea. He had asked Zuko to join him and Toph in it today, and he was currently chuckling at what Toph was saying.

"Iroh told me you'd been in a better mood lately" said Toph "And I wanted to see if he was just yanking my hair with that"

"I did no such thing" stated Iroh "I wouldn't yank a lady's hair, either figuratively or literally"

"Well, good thing I'm not a lady, then" said Toph, smirking proudly. Iroh chuckled again.

Zuko raised an eyebrow and nibbled on the cookie… which actually was good. Still, he wouldn't remark on it. It was one thing to be kind to his uncle; being nicer to someone who had irritated him since the moment he met her was a whole different story.

Which was why he still hadn't acted upon most of what Mai had told him regarding Azula. His uncle had been more than happy about Zuko's change of demeanor... His sister would likely take him as a fool for it. And if he suddenly walked up to her just to ask about her day, she would most likely twist their entire interaction to her liking just to make Zuko come off as an idiot. Because even if Mai was right, and Azula wasn't as bad as he'd always taken her to be, it didn't mean she didn't genuinely enjoy making his life more difficult.

So, as Mai had told him, he needed to do something big. Something that wouldn't allow Azula to twist matters around, something that showed her that he wanted to try to improve their relationship.

And Mai had said something that had given him an idea. He had pondered the matter over for the last few weeks, and even though on some level he didn't want to do this, on another level he did. And considering that tomorrow would be Azula's birthday, it was his perfect opportunity to do it.

"Where are you going?" asked Iroh, when Zuko stood up suddenly.

"Just... To my room, for a bit" said Zuko, shrugging "Enjoy the tea, Uncle"

"Oh, I shall" said Iroh, beaming as Zuko turned to leave the room.

"Well, your loss! Now I'm having all the cookies!" Toph exclaimed happily while Iroh groaned. Zuko smiled, despite himself, and left them behind, arguing over the sweets.

Once he arrived to his chambers he headed towards his weaponry closet. A pair of old Dao swords hung inside, along with his armor and other blades he had collected over time.

But his attention went to the smallest of his weapons: a knife with a black hilt and a matching scabbard that he'd had in his possession for quite some time.

He took a deep breath and made up his mind. This was the right thing to do. This was what he wanted to do, too. Maybe he was nervous about it, and yes, he feared this might not serve the purpose he meant it to... But he wasn't going to give up without a fight.

* * *

The guards at the Palace regarded him with a nod and allowed him entrance without a hitch. The place was decorated quite beautifully, Sokka noted, as he walked towards the main building. He only hoped the feast wouldn't take too much time… he really wanted to give Azula her present today.

He was led through the Palace hallways by a servant who was somewhat familiar... It was the same one who had found him food and a room in the Palace during the day he had stayed here. He smiled at the boy, who only regarded him politely, more than he had on their first meeting. Being Azula's gladiator meant he had earned a lot more prestige and respect than he ever realized he had.

The room where the feast would be held was spacious and quite bright. There were several guests there already, and Sokka wasn't surprised when most eyes fell upon him as he passed through the doors. For a moment he felt at a loss for what to do, wondering if maybe he ought to herald his own arrival, but he was saved by the least expected person.

"Ah, so this is the one, my Lord?" said a voice nearby, startling him "The slave?"

"Indeed" said another voice, this time one that Sokka was familiar with "This is my daughter's gladiator"

Sokka turned towards the Fire Lord to find him speaking with a pair of noblemen, presumably siblings. Ozai regarded him with cold eyes, and Sokka gulped before unwillingly bowing his head towards him. Paying respects to the man made him feel beyond uncomfortable.

"His build isn't the most adequate, is it?" asked one of the men "Why did your daughter choose him?"

"Considering how efficient he has been as her fighter, said question ought to answer itself" declared Ozai "My daughter has extraordinary insight, after all"

"Naturally" said the other man "A child born on the summer solstice… she is a true marvel, my lord. Without a doubt, she is the most prodigious firebender the Fire Nation has seen in millennia"

"It is so" said Ozai, smirking proudly.

"Is he fed every day?" asked the first man again, looking at Sokka with curiosity "And he doesn't reek as badly as most slaves…"

"He is fed every day, and I believe he must bathe on a regular basis as well" said Ozai, while Sokka bit back the urge to snap. It really sickened him to be treated by them as they would treat a stray dog on the streets… "My daughter wouldn't keep him as the filthy savage he used to be"

"And her generosity towards him has earned her his loyalty, hasn't it?" said the same man "It is what slaves should be like, truly. They should be obedient, doing their master's bidding without question as this one does"

Upon that, Sokka smirked a little. Perhaps he was loyal to Azula… but that sure didn't mean he was obedient at all. These men knew absolutely nothing about him…

"Oh, indeed. Though on some regards he hardly makes the ideal slave, this one" said Ozai, looking at Sokka with a raised eyebrow. Sokka looked back at him defiantly.

"Whatever do you mean by that…?" he said, surprising the others when he spoke to the Fire Lord directly.

"Y-you… speak to the Fire Lord with respect!" exclaimed one of them.

"Don't bother. He is, after all, an uneducated savage" said Ozai.

"An efficient uneducated savage, if I must say as much"

Sokka lightened up noticeably upon hearing her voice. He turned around and did his best not to drop his jaw upon seeing Azula in such a get-up for the first time in his life.

He had never seen Azula wearing a dress before. It was a red  _hanfu_  outfit with a golden collar and black cuffs, and the cloth was patterned with dragons. Her bangs still fell on either side of her face, while the rest of it was held back by an ornamental comb that was crowned by her royal hairpiece. Sokka swallowed hard, his eyes gleaming as he looked at her in amazement. She never failed to look beautiful… but right now she was breathtaking.

"I rather doubt his lack of education is of any importance" Azula said, looking at the men sternly "He's only meant to be a gladiator, after all"

"P-Princess!" exclaimed one of them "It is our greatest honor to attend your birthday feast!"

"As it should be" she stated, with a sardonic smile.

"You arrive just on time, Azula, as ever" said Ozai, approaching her and cutting off the two men from their conversation, at which they both walked away with disappointment "Are you prepared for the feast, then?"

"I am, I believe" said Azula, nodding "Hearing people praise me to no end has never bothered me much, if I must be honest"

"There's no reason to be bothered by that, Azula" said Ozai, smiling before pointing at Sokka with his thumb "Keep this one in line. He may have been allowed to attend the feast, but I refuse to suffer any problems caused by him"

"You can address me personally, you know…?" said Sokka, but Ozai ignored him.

"I shall, father" said Azula, nodding as Ozai walked away, in order to speak to other noblemen nearby.

Azula sighed and looked at Sokka with a raised eyebrow. He blushed a little at that and gave her a lop-sided smile.

"You look… great" he muttered, as he bit back all the compliments he would have wanted to give her.

"I know" said Azula, proudly, though she blushed a bit upon hearing him say as much "Haven't embarrassed yourself yet, have you?"

"Well, I did talk directly to your dad, which seems to be some sort of affront against him all of sudden" said Sokka, scratching his head clumsily "But other than that…"

"Let's try to keep your record as clean as it currently is, then" sighed Azula "And please behave yourself once the food is served. Try to eat like a normal human being"

"I'll do my best" said Sokka, smiling weakly "Say, once this is done…"

"Ah, Azula!"

The Princess frowned for a moment before conjuring a fake smile that couldn't have been meant for anyone other than her uncle, who was looking at Sokka in surprise now.

"Oh, we were allowed to bring our gladiators?" he asked, stroking his beard "Ah, Toph will be upset over missing this…"

"I highly doubt she's the type to enjoy social situations" said Azula "I'm certain soaking in mud must bring her more amusement than a feast"

"Ah, she might just be doing that indeed…" said Iroh, at which Azula grimaced. He smiled again afterwards, dropping his hands on his belly "In any case, have a very happy birthday, my niece! I trust you shall enjoy this celebration thoroughly"

"I hope as much" said Azula, curtly "Although I doubt the same can be said about you. I suppose it shall be quite upsetting for you to join an event where there is no tea…"

"No tea?!" Iroh exclaimed before entering a phase of denial "No, no… that cannot be right. I shall go speak to the cooks! That cannot be!"

Azula rolled her eyes as Iroh skulked away, and she sighed before turning towards Sokka again.

"Well, at the very least it was easy to fend him off" said Sokka, smiling a little "And see? I didn't even open my mouth!"

"Indeed, seems like you're actually holding your tongue for once" said Azula, smiling back "Just keep up at that same rate and this whole matter will go smoothly"

More people approached to greet Azula, too many for Sokka to keep track of them. He stood next to her, simply hoping she wouldn't resort to saying anything too harsh about him just to please the noblemen… but so far she hadn't done as much. Some people asked questions about him, and Sokka kept from responding on most opportunities. He felt quite dumb, letting Azula speak for him when he could easily do it himself, but he did his best not to show his discomfort.

Once the latest bootlicker nobleman was gone, a waiter carrying a tray with beverages appeared before them. Sokka eyed the drinks intently, his eyes alight with interest.

"I'd say these drinks are far too refined for you…" said Azula, taking two glasses and handing one to Sokka "But you can take it as your reward for behaving so far, I guess"

"Thanks!" Sokka squeaked, sipping his drink happily before his semblance darkened a little "So… uh, when should we expect your suitors to start bugging you?"

"They'll make themselves known while the feast progresses" said Azula, sighing "No need to hold your breath for such an unwanted matter to unfold it-…"

"Uh… Azula?"

The pair turned around to find an unexpected sight in the feast. Azula had been completely certain Zuko wouldn't bother showing up at all, but here he was. His clothes were darker than those most people were wearing, but he had tried his best to comb his messy hair properly. Azula raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. Did her father know Zuko had decided to attend the feast…?

"Zuko?" she said, her eyes as judgmental as ever as she regarded him coldly. Zuko swallowed and held back the urge to turn on his heels and leave "To what do we owe this surprise, I wonder?"

"I… I just thought I'd come" said Zuko, shrugging "I mean, I am your brother, right? It's not like… like I'm forbidden from attending your birthday feast"

"Oh?" said Azula, looking at him inquisitively "So all of sudden you actually care about my birthday? Well, then, you owe me ten presents if that's the case"

"W-what?!" said Zuko, looking at her in disbelief "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you were out traveling through the world for ten years, so I'd say you could have gotten souvenirs for me…" said Azula, shrugging innocently.

"Yeah, very funny" grunted Zuko "If that's the case, you owe me ten years' worth of birthday presents too!"

"Ah, well, see, there's the difference. You decided to care for mine… I did no such thing about yours" said Azula, smirking cruelly.

Sokka grimaced at that, looking at Zuko warily. The Prince seemed to be about to storm off… which just might have been Azula's intent anyways. She was eyeing her brother in the way she usually regarded him, challenging him to fall for her ruse… or to run away, as he usually did when she irritated him.

Zuko took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead with a hand. He should have just given her the damn thing and been done with it already… but he could still do it now. No matter what nonsense she told him, he could do it…

"Look, I just wanted to…"

"Aha! So this is the famous gladiator everyone talks about, isn't it?"

Zuko paled noticeably suddenly, and Azula turned around towards the new voice they had heard. Yet that wasn't the reason why Zuko's blood seemed to have frozen in his veins…

The man who had spoken sported an army uniform, had dark black hair, and he was looking at Sokka with keen eyes. And Fire Lord Ozai stood next to him, nodding at his words.

"It is indeed" said Ozai, smiling "And this is my daughter, I don't believe you have ever met…"

"Oh, we haven't" said the man, bowing down elegantly towards Azula "I wish the happiest of birthdays to you, Princess. I am Lieutenant Zhen. It is a pleasure to meet you. Such a beautiful woman… it is a true wonder no man has claimed your hand yet"

"It would seem that will change eventually, though" said Azula, with a smile that didn't quite conceal her discomfort. Sokka's eyes narrowed at that. Was this guy one of the accursed suitors…?

"Without a doubt" said Zhen, smiling "Ah, if only I weren't taken already I would be first in line to request your hand in marriage to your father…"

Azula smiled a little more sincerely after that, and Sokka released the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. The Princess kept smiling upon Zhen's remarks about how wonderful a Princess she was… and while the man rambled, Azula realized her father had failed to acknowledge Zuko's presence yet again.

Her brother stood frozen in spot, but no longer was he looking at his father. Now his head was tilted, and he kept telling himself that this had been nothing but a mistake. Coming to this feast had been the worst idea he'd had in ages… for again he realized just how much he meant to his father. Again he was less than an eyesore, again he wasn't worth noticing. It was almost as though he weren't there.

"E-excuse me…" he whispered, though he didn't expect anyone would hear him as he turned around to leave the room immediately.

"Zuko" Azula called out, and he stopped for a moment, without looking back. He didn't want to be in the same room as his father for another instant "You were saying something, weren't you?"

Zuko was surprised to discover Azula wanted to hear him out, but that wouldn't make him stay anyways.

"I… I'll tell you later" he muttered, walking away from them without another word.

Both Zhen and Sokka watched him leave in slight confusion, while frowns appeared on both Ozai and Azula's faces, though for very different reasons. It pleased Ozai, despite his reaction, to see that Zuko had walked away. He wasn't needed here. Considering his track record, he would only manage to ruin the entire event if he stayed.

"Alas… you were saying?" asked Azula, turning towards Zhen again.

"Ah, that I've heard much about you" said the man "And also about your gladiator, if I must say so… though he hardly looks like an interesting challenge for mine. Too short, too lanky…"

"Huh?" Sokka looked at the man in disbelief, incapable of holding his tongue upon that. Azula grimaced "What do you mean, short and lanky? I'm taller than you!"

"You are indeed, and look at that, he speaks!" said the man, chuckling "That's more than can be said of mine, truly. In any case, it will still be some time before we collide in the Arena, I'm sure…"

"And who is this mysterious fighter of yours who would make mine look like a joke, I wonder?" asked Azula, raising her eyebrows. Sokka was very appreciative of her defensive attitude towards him.

"Combustion Man"

Both Sokka and Azula looked at him in disbelief for an instant before they both reacted to his revelation.

"What?!" said Sokka, jumping back and almost dropping some of his drink.

"Just a moment, I am certain Combustion Man's sponsor is Admiral Zhao" said Azula, frowning "What do you possibly mean by saying it's you?"

"Well, Admiral Zhao isn't here right now, is he?" said Zhen "I'm his substitute sponsor. He requested the favor from me when he was sent up to the North Pole. I've sponsored Combustion Man for longer than he has, truth be told…"

"Huh… I see now" said Azula, frowning. Well, that actually made sense…

"I trust we shall see our gladiators fight one another one day, then!" said Zhen, smiling "Even if by then the Admiral might be back already…"

"Most likely, he will be" said Ozai, at which Azula stiffened "The Admiral will return soon, or so he told me. In no time he shall be in the Capital again"

"Ah, well, I shall make good use of my time as a sponsor in the mean time, then" sighed Zhen.

"Oh, my Lord! Princess!" someone else called then, and Ozai smiled as another nobleman approached, this time one that wasn't such an unfamiliar face to Sokka, though it took him a moment to recognize him as Fire Fountain City's Major.

"Ah, why, Major Kuan" said Ozai, beaming as the man approached, smiling happily "It is my pleasure to see you again. I trust my statue is back in place, as you reported?"

"Indeed it is, my Lord! I guarantee it!" said Kuan, chuckling.

Sokka stared at the man in horror upon that exchange, and he leaned down slightly towards Azula.

"K-Kuan, he said? Isn't this…?"

"Fire Fountain City's Major, yes, he is" replied Azula, sighing.

"B-but then that means…"

The look on the gladiator's face turned to that of utter disgust when the dreaded Governor Kuan, son of Major Kuan, also approached them with a proud smirk… and with a tall, burly, dark man next to him.

"And Governor Kuan" said Ozai, smiling at the younger man "It is a relief to know you could make it"

"My Lord, I wouldn't have missed out on this feast for the world" said Kuan, smirking unpleasantly… until he found Sokka with his eyes and his apparent delight dimmed "Oh, my. And what is that doing here?"

"Why, that would be my daughter's gladiator. I believed you knew him already"

"I do, my Lord" Kuan declared "Regrettably I met him once before. Quite the charming savage your daughter has hired into the role of her gladiator… ah, but we should speak of more pleasant topics, should we not? It is her birthday indeed!"

Azula raised an eyebrow and she looked at Kuan skeptically.

"Took you long enough to notice" she said, with her mocking smile again. Sokka actually grinned at that.

"Oh, do excuse me" said Kuan, with a smile "It is such a special occasion, Princess… and I meant to honor it through two gifts to you"

"Why, you can leave any gifts you brought over…" said Azula, pointing at the place where the servants were placing the presents, but Kuan laughed.

"No, I would much rather give them to you directly" he said, presenting Azula with a small box.

She regarded it skeptically while she opened it, hoping Kuan's enthusiasm would decrease if she showed little to no interest in his presents… which she did when she pulled a golden comb out of the box, embroidered with ostentatious jewels.

"I charged one of our finest jewelry makers with its creation" said Kuan, beaming "I'm certain it shall be the perfect accompaniment to your natural beauty"

"Why, how thoughtful of you" said Azula, placing the comb in the box once more. For some reason she suspected that she would find a thousand articles just like this one in the pile of gifts she would have to go through later "I'm most grateful, Governor Kuan…"

"Ah, but this isn't all" said Kuan, smiling and now looking over at Ozai "My lord, you have been aware of my intentions to court your daughter for quite some time…"

Sokka felt fury boiling in his stomach when the man uttered those words. Azula remained expressionless, wondering what Kuan's next move would be.

"Indeed" said Ozai, nodding "You have sent one too many letters about it"

"Well, my lord…" said Kuan, with a smirk "I mean to make my first engagement gift to your daughter today, if you'll allow me"

Ozai raised an eyebrow, surprised by how forward Kuan was… yet he wasn't disapproving. He seemed pleased, rather, to see the man was so driven to obtain what he wanted.

Naturally, though, the other's reactions were quite different. Sokka scowled and glared at the man, Zhen seemed slightly baffled by how forward Kuan was, and Kuan's father gulped as he noticed the glare of pure hatred Azula was sending his son's way…

"Oh?" said Ozai "And what sort of gift is that?"

"Why, no other than him, of course" said Kuan, pointing at the man he had brought with him.

"Why, your first engagement present to me is a man?" asked Azula, raising her eyebrows "Your ideas for courting are quite unconventional, Governor Kuan"

The whole group laughed at her remark, though the Governor only chuckled to cover his displeasure upon her response to his advance.

"Well, nobody knows of the Princess's interest in the gladiator business as well as I do… I even stood by her during her gladiator's combat in Gaoling. But I do believe the Princess is deserving of a more suitable fighter than the one she has at the moment…"

"And thus you decided to bring a replacement for him" said Azula, looking over the man in question quickly. Considering it was Kuan she was dealing with, surely this gladiator's strength was as shallow as he was.

Sokka's eyes widened when he realized what the Governor was trying to pull. Indeed, he had known for some time that the man was out to get him, but this was outrageous… to have him replaced, just like that? And to believe he could court Azula by doing so… Oh, he had despised people in his life, but never as he despised Kuan…

"He is a fine firebender, you can have your Guards test him if you wish to" said Kuan, smiling "It seems far more appropriate for a Princess of your standing to have a firebender as your fighter, instead of some inferior and insolent Water Tribe non-bender…"

"Heh, you want to see just how insolent I can…?!" Sokka started, but Azula's arm darted out in front of him, keeping him from assaulting Kuan.

"Keep-your-mouth-shut" she said between gritted teeth before looking at Kuan again "Why… it's such a thoughtful present on your part, Governor, but did you bring along anything that guarantees that this new fighter is better than the one I currently sponsor?"

"Why, Princess, please" said Kuan, chuckling "It's just a matter of logic, I was certain you would be able to see it. He's a firebender! That alone should be…!"

"That alone is not enough" said Azula, curtly "My gladiator's first opponent in the Superior League was a firebender, and he defeated him with such ease that it was almost embarrassing to watch. Why am I supposed to believe yours is so much better?"

"Because this one has been in the Gladiator League for some time now, and he occupied a very high position until recently" said Kuan, proudly.

"Oh? And what happened recently?"

"He, uh… had to retire for a year over wounds he had sustained in the Arena" said Kuan, somewhat nervous when he mentioned this "His sponsor replaced him with another gladiator, and I bought him into my service after your last visit to Gaoling"

"Is that so…?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "And… what fighter was responsible for the wounds that forced his retirement?"

"T-that would be…" said Kuan, looking at the man nervously "Who was it? Speak!"

"I-it was DragonClaw, sir" said the gladiator.

A smile appeared on Azula's face upon that, a smile Sokka hoped to interpret as a good sign. Kuan did otherwise.

"S-so… it's time to relinquish that useless fighter you've been sponsoring, Princess" said Kuan, smiling "This one is clearly a great improvement, and on top of it all, by accepting it…"

"By accepting it, I accept your attempt to court me" said Azula "By accepting him, I would gain a fiancée and a better fighter"

"Why, exactly, Princess! I was certain you would…!" said Kuan, his eyes gleaming with joy when she said the words he wanted to hear, but Azula stopped him before he could get too enthusiastic.

"There's just one problem" said Azula, sighing "Your fighter really is no match for mine"

Everyone present looked at Azula, most of them with confusion, but Sokka did it with hope. Was she going to do what he thought she would do…?

"P-Princess, how could you possibly think…?" said Kuan, snorting in disbelief.

"I think so because I can tell, Kuan. I haven't made my way through this business blindly, even if you might believe otherwise" she said, crossing her arms over her chest "And even if I'm wrong, there's literally nothing to guarantee otherwise. How am I to believe your fighter is an improvement over mine by your word and nothing more?"

"Why, Princess, I wouldn't lie…"

"I'm not saying you're lying, Governor" said Azula "I'm saying you're jumping to conclusions, and that I refuse to accept your gift without testing it out properly first"

"You mean…" said Kuan, his eyes widening.

"Azula…" said Ozai, looking at her with confusion.

"I mean I am challenging you, Kuan" Azula declared, determination blazing in her eyes "Your gladiator against mine"


	70. Chapter 70

The Grand Royal Dome had never faced a ruckus remotely similar to this one. Fights had been hastily re-scheduled, the crowds were utterly bewildered and the staff kept running back and forth, trying brief people about the unexpected development that had brought all this confusion upon everyone in the Arena. Some sponsors complained about the delay of their fights, others demanded explanations… and when those explanations were offered they fell silent instantly. For there was no way they would contravene the Fire Lord's commands, even if it meant their fights would be delayed for a few hours.

Azula's challenge to Kuan had taken everyone in the celebration hall by surprise. Mutterings and questions had arisen instantly, for it seemed everyone was quite interested in to witnessing the fight for the Princess's hand in marriage. Without a doubt, it was the most intriguing happening so far in all of the Princess's birthday feasts.

Ozai didn't seem overly pleased with the developments, which had worried Azula to a certain extent. Even so, he had been quick to smile and almost laugh about the situation.

"Well, well… it would seem my daughter wishes to test her every suitor herself in order to make sure she has found the right man" Ozai had said, smirking, while Kuan was looking at Azula in dread "It might be that all men ought to overcome obstacles of the sort to earn the right to marry a woman"

"B-but my Lord…" said Kuan, looking at him with a grimace that attempted to be derisive "What would a gladiator fight prove, for starters? It's… it's only a game, after all"

"Ah, but a man worthy of my hand should be capable of keeping up with me" said Azula, eyebrows raised "Still, there's no need for you to accept this challenge if you don't believe yourself up to the task…"

"I do believe… I am more than capable, of course" said Kuan, angrily "If I didn't believe my gladiator is better than yours I wouldn't have brought him here. And I am more than ready to prove it"

"Sure you are" said Azula, smiling "And thus? When should we hold this fight, Governor? I trust you'll be returning to your role in Gaoling once again in no time…"

"I… planned on leaving tomorrow" muttered Kuan under his breath. Naturally, this challenge hadn't been part of his schemes. He had meant to leave the Princess with the new gladiator, removing effectively the scumbag who currently served as her fighter. He would return to Gaoling until Ozai appointed a substitute for him as Governor, and then he would have taken off to the Capital again in order to marry the Princess…

Or so he had thought. How had he been foolish enough to forget how feisty this girl could be? It actually made him wonder if all the efforts he was putting into this were worth it…

"Is that so? Then we ought to make haste" said Azula, pretending Kuan's quick departure troubled her greatly "Do you believe we could put the feast on hold for a few hours, Father, while this matter is sorted out?"

"It can be done" said Ozai, looking around himself to find most people were staring at them, eyes wide while hoping to catch wind of what they were saying "Albeit I figure you shall require the Grand Royal Dome?"

"It would be ideal" said Azula, nodding "Though I wonder if the staff will comply with allowing our gladiators collide there today without any warning whatsoever…"

"They will comply" said Ozai, at which Azula was surprised "I rather doubt they would be as foolish as to refuse to cooperate with their Fire Lord. How long do you believe this fight should last?"

Azula glanced at Kuan's gladiator before looking at the man himself.

"What time limit would you propose, Governor?" asked Azula "I usually lean towards ten minutes, give or take. We could head to the Arena and return to the Palace within the hour, if only the Governor complies…"

"W-wait, we actually will be doing this NOW?!" Kuan exclaimed, shocked "H-how is that supposed to happen? He's… look at him! Can he fight without his weapons?"

With that, he pointed at Sokka. Azula raised an eyebrow, amazed by how desperate Kuan was that he would grasp at any potential straws in hopes to keep his name in the suitor contest for a little longer. She looked at Sokka, who returned her gaze with determination. Well, that was a good sign. It seemed he wouldn't need half as much motivation as he had back when she had needed him to rid her of Chan…

"It's too bad you took your time to look decent today to no avail…" she told Sokka "But as you can tell, we need you in your fighting gear immediately. Go home, get your weapons and armor. I'll meet you again in the Royal Dome"

"Gotcha" said Sokka, smiling and nodding. He took a moment to stare defiantly at Kuan before leaving, hoping it would serve to trouble the man further.

"He's…" grunted Kuan, glaring at Sokka's back "How can you allow a slave to speak to you like this, Princess?!"

"For one thing, he doesn't question me" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "And he doesn't ask me about the things I allow or don't allow. It's quite amusing when you think about it, for it seems that he knows his place much better than you know yours, Governor…"

"Now, now…" said Lieutenant Zhen, swallowing and trying to mediate between the pair while Kuan stared at Azula, scandalized, and she gave him one of her trademark smiles. Ozai could only grind his teeth while Mayor Kuan tried to appease his son "There's no need for trouble here. We're all going to watch a fun fight, and that's what it's going to be, no more than that. So how about we all just enjoy the ride…?"

"Why, I believe I am enjoying it just fine as I am…" said Azula, with a proud smile before turning to her father "Shall we, then?"

Ozai wasn't too happy when he nodded towards Azula. She knew she was playing with fire here, and she knew she could get burned… her brother had been burned literally by her father once, after all. Still, she wasn't Zuko. She had her own convictions, and she knew better than to cower in fear if worst came to worst. And she had played her cards in the most appropriate moment, too. It was one thing to speak out of turn in a war meeting, but this was only a social gathering. Contradicting her father's wishes wouldn't count as a slight against him under these circumstances.

And indeed, even though he wasn't pleased by the developments, Ozai had sent word to the Grand Royal Dome to inform them that they required the Arena's installations for an unofficial fight between his daughter's gladiator and another fighter. Most the feast's guests were quite excited about the happenings, for they wished to witness Sokka's skills as a fighter after meeting him just now, and they were quite pleased that an opportunity to do so had presented itself so quickly.

A procession of sorts that hadn't been seen in a very long time took place as the Fire Lord, the Princess and the noblemen were carried in palanquins through the city, all the way to the Grand Royal Dome. Most the people on the streets were rather confused by this, and several of them decided to tag along once they heard about the gladiator fight that would take place over the right to court Princess Azula.

All in all, the Grand Royal Dome was currently facing the weirdest situation it ever had seen since its creation. Never before had the Fire Lord arrived with hardly any notice, in hopes to witness a fight that wasn't even supposed to take place today. And with him came a swarm of noblemen who were ridiculously demanding, complaining over the seating and declaring that the Royal Dome's accommodations were nowhere close to what they should be.

Shoji watched the disaster unfold before him with a grimace. He had been tasked with explaining the situation to the sponsors of today's fights, and they had been quite unwilling to believe him until the Fire Lord himself strode into the vestibule, heralded and escorted by his Imperial Guards. To Shoji's relief, the sight was enough to shut up the sponsors that had been threatening to get him fired for his incompetence.

For once, he was more confused than relieved when his eyes fell upon Azula when she arrived, and he looked at her with wide eyes as she approached his counter.

"What's going on, Princess?" he asked, worried "Is it true that you're challenging a former gladiator…?"

"It is, and I will need all the information I can get on him" said Azula, pointing at the man in question with her thumb. Kuan and his fighter had entered the Grand Royal Dome behind her, and, much as expected, Kuan was already shouting at the slave, telling him to do his job and defeat his opponent before storming off up the stairs.

"Huh… is that Blast of Death?" asked Shoji, surprised "That's someone I thought I'd never see again…"

"Oh? And why is that?" asked Azula, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, he wasn't a very effective fighter" said Shoji, shrugging "He did make it quite high in the ranking, but he had almost lost as many times as he had won. He took some bad injuries against DragonClaw once, and I hadn't heard of him since I was told to remove him from the lists…"

"And how strong is this DragonClaw?" asked Azula, folding her arms over her chest "Where is he in the ranking?"

"Right now? About 132, if I recall correctly" said Shoji, tapping his chin with his index finger "Why?"

"Huh…" said Azula, smiling "And Blast of Death fell before him?"

"Blast of Death is an odd fellow, honestly" said Shoji, shaking his head "He's usually very methodic, but he's quick to despair when things don't go his way. He's a good firebender… not great, just good. He relies too much on his stances. It's something you could exploit. Also, he might still be dealing with the aftershocks of the wound that took him out of the ranking… it was a pretty nasty hit to his right shoulder, I think. Or was it the left one?"

"You're not sure which one it was?" asked Azula, frowning.

"I'm sorry, it was a long time ago…" said Shoji, shrugging and looking at her apologetically.

"Indeed it was" said Azula, with a sigh "Is there anything else I should know about…?"

"Azula"

The Princess felt as though the floor had been removed from underneath her feet when she heard her father call her name. His tone spoke of displeasure… and being the object towards which he directed said displeasure was anything but reassuring. Maybe she really was playing too much with her luck…

"I need a word" Ozai said, as she turned around to face him "In private. The Royal Balcony should do"

"Of course" she said, as compliant as ever. Shoji had frozen behind his counter as he stared at the Fire Lord in utter awe and disbelief. Never had he dreamt to be this close to the man himself…

Ozai began moving towards the stairs, still escorted by his guards. Azula glanced at the young man one last time before following her father.

"Send Sokka down to the stand-by room when he gets here" she told Shoji "I have something else to tend to at the moment, as you can see, so clearly I can't wait for him here…"

"O-of course, Princess…" said Shoji, nodding hastily.

"Thanks for the information, as ever" Azula said, raising a hand in farewell.

"Good luck with the fight!" he exclaimed as Azula followed the group of Imperial Guards through the flights of stairs that would lead them to the Royal Balcony.

The balcony in question was, without a doubt, the most luxurious of all balconies in any Arena of the Superior Gladiator League. To Azula's relief, it seemed that, despite the short notice, the staff members had been able to dust the whole place before Ozai's arrival. She was certain the Fire Lord wouldn't have taken well to finding the Royal Balcony in the status she had seen it not long ago, when she had looked for Sokka through the entire building after his fight against the Stingray.

Ozai ordered his men to stay outside, guarding the door, and he entered the balcony with his daughter treading behind him. He took a seat on the finest of the available armchairs, and he sighed deeply as he rubbed his forehead with his fingers. Azula didn't sit beside him, standing behind his chair and looking at him while the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach increased with every passing moment.

"You do realize what a difficult position you're putting me in, Azula?" he asked, turning his head towards her.

"I do" said Azula, dropping her gaze "I understand this isn't the way you intended the feast to develop, but…"

"What an understatement" barked Ozai, with a dry laugh.

"I just couldn't marry Kuan, of all potential suitors I might have" said Azula, shaking her head "Excuse me for being so blunt, but I find the man to be completely deplorable. I cannot fathom wasting away my life alongside a man such as him"

"All the same as you couldn't waste away your life with a man such as Chan's son?" said Ozai, standing up again and looking at Azula with a raised eyebrow "Azula… this is becoming ridiculous. You have a responsibility as the Fire Nation's Princess, and you'd do best to fulfill it already. It's been enough dillydallying already. Choose a man and…"

"Father, with all due respect, I will not comply with your wishes" Azula declared, firmly.

Ozai stared at her, disbelief in his features. He had raised Azula to become a strong girl who would get her way more often than not, who would bow to no one other than him… was she refusing to bow down to him now as well? Was she truly defying his authority?

"And why is that?" he asked, frowning. The way his eyebrows moved together slowly sent a chill down Azula's spine. He was definitely upset… but mostly it seemed he was disappointed.

"Ever since I was a girl you have brought me up with the notion that the Fire Nation should be my main priority" Azula spoke before beginning to recite words that startled Ozai "'My life I give to my country, with my hands I fight for Fire Lord Ozai and our forefathers before him. With my mind I seek ways to better my country, and with my feet may our March of Civilization continue'. Isn't that the way of it, Father? Isn't this what I should devote my life to? I am the Fire Nation's Princess, Father… and I'm certain there's still much more I can do for the Fire Nation other than taking a husband and making babies for him"

Ozai looked at Azula skeptically, not appreciating the derisive tone with which she had just spoken.

"For starters I don't even want to be a mother!" said Azula, looking at Ozai with disbelief "It's… it's an idea that has never even crossed my mind. I can't simply put down everything I've worked for because 'we must abide by traditions'. It's a waste, Father. It would be one. I have much to give to our nation, and a husband would only be a hindrance for me"

"And so you believe we ought to discard traditions?" asked Ozai "You do realize traditions exist for a reason? You do realize that you're the strongest firebender to be born into the Royal Family in centuries? And yet you refuse to marry and perpetuate your legacy…"

"I do, father, for I am not ready to become legacy just yet" Azula stated "It wasn't the same for you, for you would have still become Fire Lord even if you were to marry…"

"In case you have forgotten, I was never meant to become Fire Lord" said Ozai.

"And yet that never stopped you, did it?" asked Azula "What you were meant to do or not… it made no matter, did it?"

Ozai froze upon that. Azula looked at him with determination, knowing her words had hit the right spot this time.

"You managed to keep from being annulled, Father" said Azula "You found your chance and took it, and now you're the leader of our nation, as you should be for many years to come. And all the same as you, I refuse to be annulled by tradition. You took the throne even when you were the second-born son, and I shall not marry any random suitor of mine unless he proves himself worthy. Isn't it convenient, even, Father? This way you won't have some pathetic, mindless bootlicker as your son-in-law…"

"So you say…" said Ozai, folding his arms over his chest "And you seem to believe Gladiator fights are the way to prove a sponsor's worth. I fail to understand the logic of this"

"A sponsor isn't just a person standing by the sidelines, waiting to earn the money once the fight has ended" said Azula, shaking her head "A sponsor's job begins from the moment he selects his fighter. A sponsor has to keep said fighter as fit as possible, he must ensure his gladiator is strong enough to fight in the challenges issued against him. Any mistake by a sponsor could easily get his gladiator killed in the sand pit"

"And why is this relevant?" asked Ozai, frowning.

"A sponsor who makes the proper choices will have a successful career. A sponsor who doesn't is bound to fall before the first obstacle that presents itself before him. Careless sponsors who don't realize the importance of their own actions, who leave everything up to their gladiators and care only for the money… they cannot compare to those who actually invest themselves in the job. And that's exactly why it is relevant. Because I refuse to marry a man who fails to realize the importance of his role in the big picture. I refuse to marry a man who will gladly take his gladiator's triumphs as his own when he has done virtually nothing to help his fighter achieve those victories. Because those men will treat our nation in the exact same way they treat their gladiators. They're in it for the money, they're in it for the glory. But when worst comes to worst, they won't have a clue as to what to do. They'll blame others for their failures, they'll shake away their responsibilities and run away from them at first notice"

Ozai stared at Azula in utter disbelief. To his surprise, what she was saying actually made sense…

"If somehow you effectively manage to name me your heir, my husband will follow you in the Throne" said Azula "And I rather doubt you want one of the men I just described to become Fire Lord once you're gone. All our greatness, everything we have worked for, it'll go to waste in the wrong hands"

"And discovering whether or not their gladiators can beat yours shall prove if they are worthy or not?" asked Ozai, frowning "Your gladiator isn't all that strong…"

"Exactly" said Azula, with a smile "I didn't need a strong, overconfident, powerful bender as my gladiator. I chose a non-bender… a strong non-bender, perhaps, quite witty and inventive, yet when it comes to physical prowess he's often overwhelmed by his opponents. And he has already reached the top half of the ranking. He wouldn't have risen any higher than the 300th slot if he had been sponsored by anyone but me. Do you understand what I mean, Father?"

Ozai sighed and looked at Azula with troubled eyes. It wasn't an expression she had seen him show often, let alone because of her.

"So if someone wants your hand in marriage, from here on out he will have to fight against you to obtain it. Will that be the way of it?" asked Ozai.

"I believe it should be" said Azula, nodding.

"And if a man requests to marry you, and succeeds in his attempt to defeat your gladiator…" asked Ozai, stepping towards her and looking at her firmly "Will you cease to resist and allow this man to be your husband?"

Azula swallowed hard. She sure didn't want to do that either… but she had little to no choice. All the same as it had been with Chan, she would only have one opportunity to rid herself of any suitors that attempted to court her. And once chance had been enough for Chan… it should be enough for Kuan and whoever came after him. Still, she knew Sokka wasn't undefeatable. As much as he had grown stronger, there were still two hundred fighters above him, and there was no way of telling if he would be capable of defeating them all. Yet she had no choice but to trust him. And nowadays she actually felt like trusting him. It wasn't as it had been during her situation with Chan… no, for Sokka had proved himself time after time. And if she was reading the signs right – which she deeply hoped she was – Sokka wouldn't want her to get married at all. So she could trust he wouldn't mess things up… couldn't she?

"I… I will, Father" said Azula, nodding "If a gladiator sponsored by one of my suitors were to beat my own, I would take said suitor as my husband"

"And that includes today's fight, of course" said Ozai "If Kuan's fighter defeats yours, you will accept him without question"

"I suppose…" said Azula, and it didn't escape Ozai's notice how she had spoken the words with resentment.

He sighed and turned towards his seat again, sinking in it and shaking his head.

"You know just how to make everything more difficult for your poor father" said Ozai, at which Azula raised an eyebrow "I feel as though I had aged ten years in a single day after everything you've said and done today"

"I'm sorry to hear that" said Azula, with a sympathetic smile "For what it's worth, you don't look ten years older"

"I'd hope not" said Ozai, sighing "Go to the sponsor's balcony, then, Azula. The sooner this is over, the faster we'll be back in the Palace. I didn't eat much in breakfast, for I hoped to enjoy better the meals during your feast… and now I am famished"

"I'll make sure it's over quickly, then" said Azula, bowing down even though Ozai had his back towards her "Thank you for listening to what I had to say, Father. It means… it means more than I could possibly say"

"You should be glad I hold you in such high regards, Azula" said Ozai "Not many people can oppose my will and get away with it. You really are quite fortunate…"

"And I really cherish being as fortunate" said Azula. She knew just what sorts of things Ozai could do when he was very displeased… "I will see you when the fight is over, then"

"Be quick about it" said Ozai, dismissing her.

Truth to be told, he was intrigued and interested by the fight, for he wished to see with his own eyes just how strong his daughter's gladiator was. He truly wondered if his reputation was well-deserved… but at the same time, Azula's latest trick had made a mess of his plans. Even if his curiosity regarding the gladiator would be quenched, his daughter still wouldn't marry, still wouldn't bear children… But perhaps she was right. Perhaps it would be for the best on the long run…

Sokka was struggling with the bindings of his left armguard when he heard footsteps approaching the stand-by room. He had arrived just a moment ago, having raced as quickly as he could through the city, and he was trying to finish gearing up when he saw Azula entering the room.

"Hey…" he said, smiling weakly and still panting after his intense race.

"Did you run all the way here?" asked Azula, grimacing.

"And all the way back home, too" said Sokka, wiping the sweat off his brow "I'm okay, though, I'm more resistant than this…"

"You'd better be" said Azula, sighing as she approached.

To Sokka's surprise, she took his hand in hers and took upon the duty of tying up the laces of the armguard he was having trouble with. He smiled as she finished, and she looked at him when he dropped his hand, her eyes full of concern.

"Are you up for this? I know a fight that popped up out of nowhere might be troublesome for you, and considering your leg was cramped just yesterday…"

"It was, but it's not anymore, so why worry?" he said, smiling "Besides, it really doesn't matter whether or not I'm ready… I'm going to do this no matter what. And I'm going to win"

"Why, good to know you're so confident" said Azula, though his certainty didn't seem to be contagious "You should be able to beat this guy. I've asked Shoji about him and he told me that he was removed from the ranking after a fight against DragonClaw"

"Who's DragonClaw?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"What does it matter?" said Azula "DragonClaw isn't even in the top hundred fighters of the ranking and yet he defeated your current opponent, Blast of Death, giving him a bad injury that Shoji isn't even sure has healed. Taking into consideration that you defeated the Stingray, a man who was knocked out of the raking by Combustion Man himself, I believe you have a good chance to triumph this time as well. He's not bound to be as strong as the Stingray was"

"He'd better not be" said Sokka, sighing and nodding "Anything I should know about this guy?"

"He's methodical, relies too much on his stances" Azula muttered.

"Then he's like most earthbenders" said Sokka, nodding "And I've been able to beat my fair share of earthbenders as of late. If his stances are a weakness of his, I should have an advantage of sorts…"

"You should be, but…" muttered Azula, looking at him worriedly "I don't know if it's just my idea, but you look… terrible"

"Well, isn't that nice of you" Sokka said sarcastically, an eyebrow twitching "That's definitely the best inspirational talk you've ever given me, you know! A little support would be…!"

"I'm just asking you if you really can do this" Azula interrupted him, at which Sokka looked at her with a small grimace "You weren't fighting at the best of your ability yesterday, and you don't look that much better today. If you can't beat this guy…"

"If I can't beat this guy, you'll end up marrying Kuan" grunted Sokka, frowning "And that's the last thing I'll have happen on my watch. I'm not going to lose. I can't lose"

"You'd better not" said Azula, sighing before stepping back and looking at the sand ring through the golden grid. She smiled weakly for a moment before turning towards Sokka again "It's quite a familiar situation, isn't it?"

"I guess" said Sokka, with a smile as well "Just, with a different guy, and a different Arena…"

"And we're both very different from what we were back then" muttered Azula, turning towards the sand once more. So much had changed since their first fight in the Superior Gladiator League…

"Yeah. Both of us" said Sokka, smiling and moving towards her.

"As it was when we first became gladiator and sponsor, once again my life happens to be in your hands" said Azula, looking at him worriedly "I hope I don't even need to ask you to take good care of it…"

"I was going to do that even if you didn't tell me" said Sokka, chuckling a little "Even back then I was set on beating the Spawn. Now I'm more than determined to kick this guy's butt than ever"

"So you're not going to ask for explanations today? Or claim I'm just bored and that I did all this because watching you die in the Arena might be amusing?" asked Azula, with a smirk.

"Maybe I will, if you insist that I have to take a bath because, how was it? Dumping water on a filthy wolf will only turn the stench worse?" he asked, trying to remember what she had said during the night he had stayed in the Palace.

Azula couldn't help but laugh at the memory. Well, she still would threaten to kill him if he dared say she wanted to bathe with him, but despite herself, she felt quite relieved as she remembered the beginning of their partnership. They had done it once… they could do it again. She was sure of it.

Sokka was somewhat surprised at first when she extended a hand towards him, but soon enough he had smiled and grasped it with his own.

"You know what to do" she whispered "So… do it"

"You can trust me" he replied, holding back the urge to pull her in for a hug instead of just this handshake "I won't let you down today"

"I hope not" she replied, releasing his hand and stepping back "See you later, Sokka"

He smiled as she left the room, her back towards him. He looked at the hand she had just shaken, and he told himself this wouldn't be the last time he would touch her. It wouldn't be the last time he held her hand. He refused to let that be the case.

"See you, Azula" he muttered, even though he knew she couldn't hear him anymore.

After a short while, the golden grid was hoisted and Sokka was allowed inside the ring. He breathed deeply before stepping into the sand, and he looked at his surroundings in awe when he realized the Arena was full beyond its capacity, thanks to all the noblemen who had decided to come watch his fight. His gaze moved over to the balconies to his left, and his throat felt dry when he caught sight of Ozai on the Royal Balcony, sitting above everyone else in the building.

Still, when he dropped his gaze a little, he found Azula sitting beside Kuan. The sight of her was quite comforting, even when already he knew she would be there, for she always was watching over him in his every fight. And she really looked quite beautiful in that dress…

He was forced to pay attention to the ring and stop staring after the Princess when he saw his opponent entering the Arena. The opposite gladiator wore an armor that seemed too small for him, and Sokka could only raise an eyebrow as he looked at him with confusion. Clearly, Kuan hadn't expected Azula's challenge… and thus he had gotten his gladiator the first second-hand armor he could find in the city. Considering those conditions, it shouldn't be so hard to win…

Or so thought Sokka before he suddenly was struck by the urge to yawn. Dang. He hadn't had proper sleep in a while… this might not to go as smoothly as he hoped it would…

"My public!" exclaimed the megaphone man, clearly trying too hard to put on a good show for the Fire Nation's leader "We have been honored with a surprise fight between our very renowned Blue Wolf and a former fighter of the ranking, Blast of Death! Do enjoy this showdown, for it is one of a kind and…!"

A gesture from the Royal Balcony made the megaphone man fall quiet. It seemed Ozai cared not for introductions and was telling him to get on with the matter already.

"A-ah, yes, let's… START!" the megaphone man exclaimed nervously, dropping the speaker once he was done talking, even forgetting to mention what the fight's time limit would be.

Sokka looked up at him with a raised eyebrow momentarily before focusing on the fight. He looked at Blast of Death, who was trying to move towards Sokka and struggling with his armor to do so.

"Got some trouble there, pal?" Sokka asked, stepping back cautiously. This one didn't seem to be as foolish as the Spawn… he'd have to be quite careful on how he went about this fight.

"You know, armor problems" groaned Blast of Death, moving his arms circularly "I'm almost considering shedding it, you know… wait, why are we chit-chatting?!"

"You kind of look like you could use a talk, you know?" said Sokka, but the opposite gladiator flung a flurry of fire at him, prompting him to jump back "Hey! No need to be so aggressive! Jeez, you firebenders are so hot-headed…"

With that, Sokka started laughing, and Blast of Death looked at him in disbelief. Azula sighed heavily on her seat and brought a hand to her forehead.

"Seriously, you moron? Making stupid jokes now?" she muttered to herself.

"Oh, come on! Hot-headed firebenders! It's a classic!" exclaimed Sokka.

"Sure it is…" said Blast of Death, rolling his eyes before shooting more fire towards Sokka.

"You seriously have no sense of humor, do you?!" asked Sokka, narrowly evading the fire.

Firebenders were strong, but they could burn out quite easily, Sokka thought. So long as he kept his opponent shooting fire constantly everything should work out well by the time he managed a counter-attack…

But he didn't realize his tiredness was making him slower. Blast of Death's shot some blazes right after him… blazes that caught Sokka's boots and forced him to stop running from his rival order to stomp on the floor clumsily, trying to kill the flames while the crowd watched in amusement. Azula could scarcely hide her embarrassment.

"Do you see, Princess?" declared Kuan, next to her, with a proud smirk "Clearly, my gladiator is superior. Yours… well, he's making a fool of himself, and if I must say so, of yourself as well. Given that he's your fighter, after all…"

Azula allowed her gaze to flicker towards Kuan shortly. The man was smiling proudly, sitting back on his chair, no longer as nervous as he had been before. It seemed his insecurities had been erased once Sokka started to behave as he had…

The Blue Wolf stomped hard on the ground, smacking his boots with his hands and glaring at Blast of Death once he was done with that. The firebender seemed more than pleased with himself.

"Those boots were pretty expensive, you know?!" Sokka exclaimed, irritable.

"Sure they were" said Blast of Death "It's gotta be real nice, being the Princess's gladiator. You get all the finest products you could ask for… and well, I really shouldn't even waste time imagining it. I'll find out for myself just how nice it is soon enough…"

Sokka stopped behaving as foolishly as he had so far. His eyes narrowed and his glare became harsher, something Blast of Death didn't ignore. Was this the moment when the Blue Wolf would start fighting seriously?

"You really want to be her gladiator, huh?" he asked, between gritted teeth.

"Any gladiator in his right mind would dream of being her fighter" said Blast of Death "Why?"

"Well…" said Sokka, with a crooked smile "It's just going to remain a dream for you, pal. Because I am her gladiator"

"Not for long" said Blast of Death, smirking.

"We'll see about that" growled Sokka, and with a quick movement he whipped out his boomerang, flinging it at his opponent with more force and speed than usual.

Blast of Death attempted to predict the weapon's trajectory and he sought to keep it from spinning by shooting fire at it, but he failed on his endeavor when the boomerang curved upwards. The blade of the weapon cut across Blast of Death's face, spraying the sand with blood and making the entire crowd gasp in amazement. Just a short moment ago he had been making ridiculous jokes… and now he was fighting to the best of his ability, rendering the firebender almost defenseless thanks to his quick moves.

Sokka didn't stop at this, though. As soon as he had tossed his boomerang, he sprung towards his opponent, knife in hand. Blast of Death stumbled backwards, a hand on his face while he threw more fistfuls of fire towards Sokka. The Blue Wolf dodged the weak flames and caught his boomerang again before tossing both his weapons towards his opponent.

His double attack didn't cause as much damage this time, but both weapons effectively cracked through the second-hand armor Blast of Death wore. The knife sunk into his breastplate, the boomerang crashed against his armguard and split it in half. Sokka jumped back after that, glaring at his opponent as he waited for the comeback he was sure would come next.

Blast of Death swung his arms around erratically, to Sokka's surprise. Some flames erupted from his attacks, but they weren't powerful enough to threaten Sokka. The firebender wasn't holding a firm stance at the moment… he couldn't fight properly as he was. Sokka felt somewhat relieved at that, but he kept from attacking again while Blast of Death continued to unleash his flurry of desperate flames. For it was despair and nothing else that fueled his fire at the moment. And once he had tired himself out, once he had burnt his energies down, Sokka's chance to give the finishing blow would come.

Sokka kept proper distance while Blast of Death kept losing himself in his fire. Eventually, though, the man seemed to stop his tantrum and he wiped his face clean with a sleeve before facing Sokka. The Blue Wolf had only given his opponent a gash on his cheekbone, which wasn't a bad thing, but at the same time Sokka wished he had delivered more damage than that…

Blast of Death was panting when he removed the knife from his armor, and its tip was coated with blood. He tossed it right back at Sokka, blazes accompanying it, and Sokka had to move out of the way again. To Sokka's surprise, his opponent took a firm stance before jumping and sending a wheel of fire towards him. Sokka grimaced and pulled out his club, swiping away some of the fire, but his clothes still got caught by some of the flames when they reached him.

Again he had to roll on the ground to stiffen the fire, an activity he really shouldn't have gotten used to… but it seemed it was necessary whenever he fought against a firebender. Blast of Death sent fistfuls of fire now, and Sokka had to continue rolling on the sand to evade them. Despite his plans, it seemed his opponent hadn't tired himself out… whereas he was getting pretty tired. Why, of all times, did he have to fight for Azula's life when he was so exhausted…?

Nevertheless, he wouldn't give up here. He couldn't give up now. He gritted his teeth and lifted his hand towards his waist, picking the one bomb he had brought with him today. He also released Space Sword from its scabbard, and began drawing strategies quickly. If he tossed the bomb he would likely have a chance to attack his opponent, for smoke wasn't good for firebenders… the man would have trouble breathing, and no matter how steady the stance he took would be, he wouldn't manage to attack Sokka effectively because of that disadvantage.

Betting his success on a single bomb wasn't exactly reassuring, but Sokka had no other choice. Not when he was being chased by blazes wherever he went. Now, he just had to be closer to his opponent in order to throw the bomb effectively, or else…

Blast of Death stretched his arms out before sweeping them together in a loud clap, with a move Sokka had never seen before. A horizontal arch of fire was born after his movement, and Sokka had no choice but to duck to evade it. When he ducked, another fistful of fire awaited him and he had to jump quickly to keep from getting hurt by the attack…

And that was when the now familiar shot of pain coursed through his left leg as painfully as it had during his training with Azula. Sokka kept from crying out in pain, but his eyes widened and he dropped his sword before falling to the ground, his now free hand rubbing his thigh as he grimaced.

Azula felt the color draining from her face. No, not now… why another leg cramp now, of all times? He had to get up, he simply had to! He needed to fight, he couldn't let this end here!

Blast of Death was surprised by Sokka's fall, but he didn't seem to be about to offer a hand to pull his opponent back up. If the Blue Wolf was down, he would do his best to make good use of this opportunity.

And Sokka knew his rival was about to strike him. He didn't even need to lift his head to see it… yet he did anyways. And he saw how Blast of Death was stepping towards him, an arm pulled back, threatening to end to this fight with one last fistful of fire.

What could he do? What should he do? There was nothing else to this than to fall prey to another fist of fire… but he could only let himself fall before one person's fist of fire. He wasn't about to give that honor to anyone other than Azula. And Azula… he couldn't lose today. If he lost, she would marry Kuan. If he lost, he wouldn't be her gladiator anymore. The price was too steep to afford it. By losing today he wouldn't lose a battle… he would lose her.

And the horrifying thought of being torn from her side gave him the boost of adrenaline and creativity he didn't know he had in him. If it was to stay by her side for a little longer, he would do anything…

And thus he did something that nobody expected him to.

Blast of Death roared as he delivered his finishing blow, and he would make note of never screaming again in battle after what happened next. For if only he had kept his mouth shut, the consequences of this incident wouldn't have been as severe as they were.

Sokka removed the latch from his smoke bomb in a quick motion, and proceeded to fling the small sphere towards his opponent… and the bomb so happened to fit perfectly inside Blast of Death's enourmous mouth, who allowed himself a confused grimace when he felt the bomb passing through the arcs of his teeth…

And then it detonated.

Sokka found himself forgetting the pain on his leg when he saw the man stumble back, smoke pouring out of his nostrils and mouth as the bomb dropped on the sand, still releasing some smoke… yet it seemed it had ejected most of it into Blast of Death's organism.

Everyone in the Arena was staring in sheer horror as Blast of Death stumbled and coughed uncontrollably. Kuan whimpered next to Azula, but she was so aghast that she hardly even noticed him. Sokka himself seemed rather shocked by what he had done, for he was staring at his opponent in horror as the man dropped on the ground, his violent coughs shaking through his body in a way disturbing enough to send shivers down Sokka's spine.

Everyone watched Blast of Death tensely as he arched his back and continued to cough. Sokka shuffled insecurely, his leg still hurting a little, but his attention was completely centered on his opponent. Was he supposed to do anything else after this? It seemed to him that Blast of Death was clearly unable to continue fighting after what had happened…

And when the man dropped flat on his stomach, still coughing, Sokka glanced up towards the judges' balcony.

"I really doubt he can keep going, you know…?" he said, waving at them "Shouldn't you send medical support right away?"

The men at the balcony were startled by the gladiator's suggestion, but they were quick to act when they realized Blast of Death wasn't about to stand up and fight. Sokka looked down at him, a grimace on his face as he wondered if the man would recover after what he had done. Smoke was quite harmful to begin with, but a smoke explosion within someone's mouth… it had been Sokka's last resort, and he had gone for it without thinking about the potential consequences it might have on his opponent. Now he couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty as he watched the staff members enter the ring hastily to pick up the shivering, coughing man and carry him outside the sand pit.

"T-the winner is the Blue Wolf!" exclaimed the megaphone man, who had almost forgotten his duty as he watched in utter disbelief the event that had unfolded below.

The crowd only gave Sokka a polite clap, which hardly surprised him. It wasn't the first time he had given a fight an unexpected finale… but this was, without a doubt, the strangest of all the combats he had taken part in so far.

Azula was still staring at Sokka in utter surprise when she digested what this meant. Whether or not he had ended the fight in a very shocking manner… Sokka had won. He had won again, even though for a moment she had actually thought this would be the end for them.

She allowed herself a relieved smile, which soon turned into a smirk when she heard another whimper next to her. She looked at Kuan and found him glaring at Sokka with despise. Well, that wasn't anything new…

"I suppose that settles it, then" said Azula, smiling and standing up "Just as I said… your gladiator was no match for mine"

"T-that cheater! That can't be in the rules!" exclaimed Kuan, standing as well and snarling down towards Sokka, who was limping towards the stand-by room, rubbing his leg as he did "He can't be allowed to do that!"

"If he weren't allowed, why would they have declared my gladiator as the winner, I wonder?" asked Azula, pointing at the judges' balcony "I am terribly sorry for the fate your gladiator has undergone… I do hope he survives. Yet it is your fault if he doesn't"

"M-my fault?!" exclaimed Kuan, aghast.

"Why, of course. You witnessed my gladiator's ruthlessness first hand in Gladiator Rumble, didn't you?" asked Azula "Or is it you forgot he cut off his opponent's hand instants before the fight ended?"

Kuan's already pale complexion became paler still. Azula could only smile as she watched him realize how thoughtless he had been.

"If you want to rid me of my gladiator, you'll have to try harder than that" said Azula "Though I rather doubt you can do any better than this, honestly. I do hope you enjoy the feast once you return to the Palace, and that your trip back to Gaoling goes smoothly… oh, and please, do yourself a favor and try to find a wife whose pace you can actually keep up with, Governor"

Kuan's jaw dropped at her last jab, and Azula felt quite pleased upon the sight. Never before had she been happy to look upon the man. But this was bound to be one of the last times she'd lay eyes upon him…

"I'm grateful for your gifts, but as you must have noticed, I'm not taking the slave" said Azula "You can keep him if he's still some use to you, but I won't accept that particular gift. That should be all, I believe"

With that, the Princess left the sponsors' balcony, leaving behind a man who could only stare, aghast, at the spot where she had been standing. Unlike how it had been back in Gaoling, this time around Kuan actually felt helpless. He had aimed at marrying the Princess since a long time ago… he was only a few years older than her, and since his first encounter with her when they were young, he had wondered what it might be like to become part of the Royalty through marrying her. Now, though… now all those dreams had been destroyed, cast into oblivion, both thanks to her gladiator and the Princess's own ability to get away with everything she wanted.

And on some level, he was actually relieved that his aspirations smashed as they had been. He wouldn't admit it aloud… but the Princess was right. She truly was beyond him.

Sokka was resting against the wall, rubbing his leg in the stand-by room. To his relief, the pain was fading quicker than it had the day before. He sighed, telling himself to stop worrying about the fate of his opponent. Surely the man would be fine, even if the bomb's detonation must have harmed him badly…

But his thoughts were brusquely interrupted when he heard someone approaching. He lifted his gaze, his heart drumming in his chest as he guessed who would be coming towards him…

And he had guessed right, of course. There she was, still radiant in her outfit of the day… but what made her most beautiful was the euphoric smile on her face.

"You… you did it, you idiot, you did it!" she exclaimed as she strode towards him "For a moment I could have sworn you were going to lose, but you…!"

Sokka ignored the pain on his leg as he moved towards her, meeting her halfway through the room. Azula found herself stopping on her tracks when she saw the emotions in his eyes. His azure eyes blazed with kindness, just as they had during that fateful night… but there was also relief. And there was a pure-hearted joy she wasn't sure she had ever seen in him until today.

She had stopped talking as she looked at him, and he had closed down the distance between them, placing his hands on her shoulders before leaning down on her, his lips pressing against hers. Azula froze momentarily before relaxing in his arms, a hand moving towards his neck before she kissed him back. It wasn't hard to understand what he was trying to convey through the kiss… for she felt just as elated as he did to know their time together wouldn't be cut short as they had feared it would.

She shut her eyes tightly, amazed by the way he was kissing her. Even though he had almost said he would accept that she would marry another man if it made her happy, now she could feel just how unwilling he was to let her go. She had been quite hurt to think that it hadn't mattered to him… that he wouldn't have cared if she had married someone else. But this kiss said the exact opposite of that. The way he was embracing her, so intimately, so closely… she wanted nothing more than to keep feeling cherished by him as she did right now. She wanted to continue kissing him back, their hearts racing as they took such a dangerous risk…

But eventually she did realize just how dangerous it was. Despite herself, yet again, Azula was forced to pull away, but he continued catching her lips with his, even when she sought to tell him they couldn't carry on like this.

"S-Sokka…" she whispered, trying to keep herself from responding to his kisses "Not now…"

Sokka breathed heavily, unwilling to part from her just yet. He couldn't control the bliss born out of being with her again when he had been afraid he would lose her. He had been determined not to let it happen, but the seed of doubt had been there all the same… the only way to fend it off, to make it disappear, was to make sure she wouldn't disappear… to make sure she was still here, that he could still be with her…

"Anyone could come in here…" Azula muttered, though her excuses almost felt foreign, as though someone other than her was saying them. She understood his despair all too well, and she didn't want to put a stop to this either… but alas, the conscience she hardly knew she had was speaking for her right now.

Even so, even when he knew she was right, Sokka couldn't let go yet. He leaned down, his head dropping on her shoulder as his arms surrounded her tightly. For a moment he wondered if he might ruin her dress… but that thought was just a fleeting matter soon enough, for it seemed Azula didn't care about ruined dresses. Else she wouldn't have hugged him back.

Eventually she pulled away, against her better judgment. Or was it her better judgment that had compelled her to pull away? She didn't know, and she rather doubted she'd ever know which one it had been. She gripped one of his hands with hers and pulled him out of the stand-by room… but she let go of him as soon as they entered the hallway. Sokka couldn't help but be slightly disappointed by that, but he voiced no complaints. As they walked together he realized just what big a risk they had just taken… ah, but it really had been worth it. Just as any risk he could ever take would be worth it when it came to Azula.

"You really should know better than to frighten me as you did" said Azula, glancing back at him to find him smiling weakly "When you fell I really thought that was the end of it… is your leg any better now?"

"It's still a little troublesome, but nothing I can't handle" he said "But if you want to massage the wrong leg again, I seriously have no prob-…"

"Shut it" Azula growled, at which he chuckled "I… I am very grateful to you yet again, and I owe you more than I could say, but I still will advise you not to push your luck with me, gladiator"

"Fine, fine…" said Sokka, still laughing under his breath while they climbed the steps towards the higher floors of the Arena.

Azula led Sokka to his medical check, where he was told his cramps would fade away in time so long as he had proper rest. The physicians also noted that he had sustained a few minor burns, and they treated them quickly. Once that was done, he was free to go.

Azula had already guessed the vestibule would be quite crowded, but it took Sokka completely by surprise to find as many people speaking excitedly and turning to look at him as though he were some sort of hero. Sokka couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow and stare, dumbfounded, at all those who approached to speak to Azula about her gladiator's prowess. Some complimented his fighting style, others told her his wits were extraordinary, and all the while Azula accepted their words as gracefully as she could, hoping nobody would notice just how flustered and agitated she still was after Sokka's kiss just a while earlier…

To Sokka's relief, neither Ozai nor Kuan were anywhere nearby. He didn't feel like dealing with either of them at the moment. He suspected the Fire Lord wouldn't be too happy about his triumph over Kuan's fighter, and he sure didn't want to hear Kuan whining about his loss.

"Is this good enough to rid you of that asshole, though?" he asked Azula, as they reached the building's doors "Will he quit pursuing you now?"

"He'd better" said Azula, smiling proudly "And with this, we've set a standard from here onwards. Every man who means to become my suitor will have to bring a gladiator with him, and you will have to fight them…"

"Huh?! W-what the…? What?!" he asked, dumbfounded.

"It's the agreement I reached with my father" Azula explained, as they moved down the steps that led to the street. Sokka slowed down, though, and the Princess's brow furrowed when she realized he was limping "You're really not feeling better, are you?"

"Never mind, I can walk anyways" he said, with a smile "The Palace isn't that far"

"Maybe you shouldn't attend an important event as the feast in your fighting gear, though" said Azula, smiling "Could you change again, Sokka?"

"Uh… no, I can't" he said, looking irritated "What for? It'll be a pretty damn long walk all the way to…"

"It doesn't have to be" said Azula, lifting her gaze to the skies.

Sokka did the same to find a dragon descending upon them. Sokka greeted the creature enthusiastically while Azula smiled at her animal companion.

"Hey there, pal! Should I say it's your birthday too?" he asked, patting the dragon's head when he landed before him.

"You could, maybe" said Azula, smiling "In any case, after what you did today, you're allowed to ride Xin Long back home and to the Palace… but just don't get used to flying solo, alright? It's not going to happen often"

"Huh? Wait, just me?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"I did bring my palanquin with me, so it's only fitting that I take it again while returning to the Palace" she replied "Just be quick about it and get back to the Palace soon. Now you really must be the main attraction in the feast, after all…"

"Heh, attraction…" said Sokka, rolling his eyes before smiling when an idea touched his mind "Well, I'm thinking being an 'attraction' might just be fun if I get to attract a particular Fire Nation Princess…"

"Oh, for crying out loud, don't twist my words to your liking! That's not what I was saying!" Azula exclaimed, as Sokka approached Xin Long and made for climbing his saddle, chuckling again.

"But it's too much fun to do it!" he said, smiling at her as he sat on the front seat on the saddle. He felt a surge of pride upon acknowledging that she was actually giving him leave to do this today… she was letting him fly the dragon on his own. That gesture spoke lengths of what today's events had meant for her… "Say… thanks for lending me your dragon"

"It's just because your leg is useless" said Azula "Else I'd never allow it"

"I figured as much" said Sokka, chuckling "So, once we're neatly dressed up we've got to go back to the Palace, then?"

"Naturally" said Azula, nodding before patting Xin Long's snout "Be as quick about it as you can be"

"Sure thing" said Sokka, smiling proudly at her before taking the reins and shaking them slightly "Let's go, Xin Long!"

Azula watched them leave with a grin. She figured witnesses might find her gesture of allowing her gladiator to ride her dragon quite odd… but, in turn, she found she didn't mind so much. There was just one thing that made her frown with confusion, and it wasn't related to public's opinion of her…

"What exactly did he mean by 'we'?" she asked herself, before deciding it wasn't worth the bother, surely. She sighed and shook her head, figuring Sokka was just rambling as ever, and headed towards her Palanquin, where her Royal Procession awaited her.

She was forced to wait inside the Palanquin until Ozai had finally appeared, so that they could head towards the Palace in the exact way they had set out of it. Azula found she didn't mind the delay, though. She was quite glad that the curtains were drawn, for she was sure she had the most ridiculous smile on her face at the moment. She was rid of Kuan, and she had found a way to keep suitors at bay for the time being… ah, despite it hadn't been easy, and that she had almost thought things would end badly for her, everything in her life was falling into place. And she was beyond pleased by that.

Most the noblemen returned to the Palace, right behind them, though Azula failed to see Kuan when the feast was resumed as soon as both Azula and her father were in the venue. She couldn't help but smirk by thinking he would be too embarrassed to show himself in front of the rest of the noblemen after his failure earlier.

People congratulated her now for her success on the Arena, and now most the ones who had been on the fence about Sokka were complimenting her on his skills, even though she suspected some of those compliments were hollow. It didn't matter much to her, though. It seemed they knew better than to put down her gladiator after watching him succeed in battle earlier.

And said gladiator hadn't reappeared at the Palace yet, which made Azula somewhat anxious, despite herself. Had he decided to ditch the celebration? It seemed unlikely, considering he hadn't gotten anything to eat yet. And Sokka wasn't one to run away from free meals, something she knew all too well… She sent a thought Xin Long's way, asking if Sokka had changed again or not, but the dragon seemed to be busy with something and he ignored her completely. He was probably hunting bugs again, Azula guessed, for she could see he was still in Sokka's backyard…

The feast carried on without another inconvenience after the sudden interruption due to the challenge between Azula and Kuan. Young noblemen approached Azula constantly through the evening, all of them eager to talk with her and congratulate her for her birthday. She responded to their enthusiastic approaches with disbelieving smirks and dry sarcasm, and most of them failed to understand she was mocking them. She knew these were more of the fabled suitors her father had found for her… and each one seemed blander than the next. For what felt like hours on end, they all came to speak to her, trying to make conversation up until the subject of gladiator fights was breached… and by then they would ask if she meant to proceed with the rest of her suitors by challenging them to gladiator fights before presenting them with the right to court her. Azula's lively and positive answer to said question seemed to make them quite nervous. She couldn't keep from smirking widely every time they walked away, disappointed, after discovering she wouldn't be swayed so easily.

She had just turned down one who seemed particularly appalled by the idea of finding a gladiator to fight against hers when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Is it true? You just had a fight with Kuan?"

"Why, I wish that were the case" said Azula, turning around to regard her brother again as naturally as possible "Fighting him directly would have been quite amusing, I believe"

"You would have reduced him to a pile of charred bones, though" said Zuko, raising an eyebrow "He's not even a bender, and he was never any good at fighting, if I recall correctly…"

"He seems to think he's very good at scheming, oddly enough" said Azula "But he went against the wrong opponent if he really believed as much. You should have come watch. Tearing apart Kuan's pride was most entertaining…"

"Yeah… I guess so" said Zuko, with a grimace. He could easily picture his sister directing that very same sentence towards him instead… "Good to know you've enjoyed yourself, then. Still…"

"You had something to say" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "What did you want from me?"

"Why would I want something from you?" asked Zuko, frowning.

"Well, why else would you seek me out?" Azula replied, looking at him matter-of-factly.

Zuko stared at her in surprise. Azula genuinely believed he would only ever approach her for a purpose… she actually thought he only interacted with her to achieve his own ends. The realization felt just as badly as being showered in cold water. He did believe Azula enjoyed teasing and mocking him more than any younger sister should… but he had never realized that, just as he would reach his own conclusions about his sister, she would reach hers about him. And hers said that he would only bother coming to her when he needed something from her.

And if he thought about it for a moment, that had been true up to date. But only up to date. He was determined to change that today, so long as she would let him…

"What is it, Zuko?" Azula asked, growing slightly exasperated when he remained silent for too long a moment.

"I just… have something for you, is all" he said, sighing as he felt the heat rising through his body. Azula frowned when she saw his cheeks redden.

"You have something…? What?" she repeated, in utter disbelief.

Zuko slid a hand into his pocket, and he took an object out of it. He extended it towards Azula, who frowned before extending a hand and letting him place the object on her hand…

"Happy birthday" he muttered, under his breath.

Azula's eyes widened when she looked at what he had just given her. Her mouth opened slightly as she regarded the dagger with utter confusion. It was the very dagger from all those years ago… a dagger she hadn't looked upon in ages. She unsheathed it, blinking as she read the inscription on the blade: "Never give up without a fight".

What had gotten into Zuko? Why had he suddenly given her this? Had he genuinely gifted her with his knife?

"What the…? Zuko, what is the meaning of…?" she started, raising her eyes… to find he wasn't standing before her anymore.

He had known she would refuse to accept this if he waited for her response… so he had lost himself in the crowd before she could ask him if he had left his wits back in Ember Island. She glanced around her, hoping he might still be nearby, but she failed to find Zuko with her gaze.

This was beyond ridiculous, this was… this was wrong, on all accounts. Zuko wasn't the sort of person to give other people gifts out of the good will of his heart… she had only been teasing him earlier when she said he owed her ten presents. She had never expected him to actually give her something… why had he done it? What was the purpose of this apparent gift? It had to be a trick of sorts, it couldn't be real. Zuko had never been the kind older brother who shared his treasures with his younger sister. She recalled having taken this very dagger from his possession a few times after he received it from their Uncle, and he would always make a ruckus over how she had stolen it from him. Their mother would berate Azula when she took it from Zuko… and the young Princess had acted as though she hadn't really cared about the dagger, it wasn't all that great a blade anyways.

She had thought it was great, though. From the moment she had received a dumb doll and her brother had gotten this meaningful dagger with such a history behind it, she had been irritated and had wondered if maybe Ba Sing Se's General hadn't had another weapon that Iroh could have sent to her… eventually, though, she stopped caring for the dagger. She stopped caring over who had it or which present she had gotten… because one day she would have the keepsakes from the battles she fought herself. She didn't want hand-me-downs from her Uncle, she didn't need them…

She hadn't thought about this dagger in a long time. It was why she was as surprised as she was by this sudden gesture of her brother's. Why was Zuko giving this to her? Was it that he didn't care for blades anymore, and he decided to give her his scrapes? That seemed logical… maybe. Or perhaps he was giving this to her because he was asking for a truce, after the things Sokka had told him in Ember Island…

No, that was downright stupid. It was Zuko, after all. If anything, this had to be a ploy to make her believe he was trying to get along with her, when in fact he was only hoping to beat her once she was down. There could be no other explanation to this sudden ridiculous turn of events…

"Hey"

Azula was startled when she heard Sokka's voice. She turned to find him dressed in his elegant clothes again, though he looked even more tired now. Still… there was a self-satisfied look on his face that made her raise an eyebrow as she tucked the dagger into her sash.

"Why, look who has dressed up properly again" she said, smiling weakly "How is your leg feeling?"

"Better" he said, grinning "I snuck some food on my way through the crowd too, so I'm feeling a lot better about life now!"

"Which was to be expected from you" said Azula, shaking her head but smirking nonetheless "You're lucky there was still anything left, the feast is pretty much over by now…."

"Huh, if it's almost over then… do you think your presence here is absolutely necessary right now?" Sokka asked, moving closer to her as though he were conveying some sort of secret to her. His behavior made her raise an eyebrow.

"Well, it is my birthday feast… so I ought to be here until the end, don't you think?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

"So you can't take some time off?" he asked, grimacing "I… kind of have something to show you"

"Now you as well…?" muttered Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"N-nothing, it's… it's nothing" she said, shaking her head.

She scanned the crowd, and found most guests left in the hall weren't bound to notice her absence if she took off now. Her father was currently speaking with a crowd of noblemen who had gathered around him, and the guests who weren't with him were either chatting amongst themselves or eating quite ravenously.

"Well… I suppose I won't be missed for the time being" said Azula, shrugging "What do you want, though?"

"You're about to see" he said, smiling before leading her outside.

Azula made a point to let a guard know she would be leaving briefly, and she told him she would return soon, in case her father asked for her. The man let her go without a hitch, and soon enough she was walking with Sokka through the Palace halls as he led her to the dragon refuge…

She had been rather busy keeping up with her discouraged suitors to pay much attention to what Xin Long had been up to. It wasn't until Sokka had brought her here that she started to pay attention to the information he was feeding her through their mental bond… and she frowned in confusion when she realized Sokka had done something to Xin Long that the dragon seemed to find quite amusing.

"Sokka…" she said, looking at him as they entered the refuge "What exactly did you do to…?"

She fell silent when Xin Long groaned at her as a greeting, and her eyes opened wide when she realized her dragon had been clad in a magnificent dark armor with silver linings. Sokka snickered as he enjoyed the look of utter disbelief on her face. Azula approached Xin Long to ask him about this unexpected surprise… the dragon replied by saying that Sokka hadn't only dressed himself when he had gotten home.

"W-what is…? What did you do, Sokka?" she asked, looking at him in amazement "How did you…?"

"Well, can't you tell?" he asked, chuckling "I made armor for your pet!"

"My…" Azula instantly wanted to retort at that, but she held back as she turned to stare at the dragon again "This is completely crazy, I… I hadn't heard about a dragon who wore armor before"

"No wonder you guys got them all killed, then" said Sokka, folding his arms over his chest "A dragon needs proper protection! At least, I think so… and if he's 'your partner', you should give him some nice clothes and armor to keep him from getting all filthy as he did the other day, right?"

Azula found herself smiling in approval upon that last statement, and she looked at him in disbelief again.

"So you're saying you built this… how did you do it?" she asked, as she walked around Xin Long, who was more than happy to parade his new outfit in front of his rider "This is definitely new…"

"It wasn't easy, but I asked the Captain to take Xin Long's measurements, and then I had both him and Song helping me out in the workshop…"

"The Captain and Song? So… this is what you were hiding" said Azula, smiling as she ran a hand over the metal plates that covered the dragon's neck "The reason why you were so sneaky, why she kept vanishing suddenly for no apparent reason… You were building this…"

"Yeah, actually" said Sokka, smiling proudly.

"When did you do it, though? You had so many fights, and we were constantly training…"

"Well, the reason why I'm so tired… is because I used to work at night" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly now "I spent most the night getting this done, trying to keep you off my case…"

"Then this is why you were tired?" asked Azula, looking at him in disbelief.

"Well, yeah. I just figured this would be an useful present for you, so the efforts and exhaustion would be worth it" he said "But I kind of blew out my budget for the month by paying the blacksmith both for letting me use his supplies and for building the armor in his workshop…"

"I'm thinking you and Song could live off today's leftovers for a whole month, probably" said Azula, smiling "Still… considering everything you did, I'm perfectly willing to give you some money. Loyalty should be rewarded…"

"You think this is some display of loyalty?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"The fact that you took time out of your life to build something like this without even needing to do so says as much" said Azula, smiling at him "You really didn't have to do this, Sokka…"

"Yeah, sure" he said, chuckling "Just say you like it and stop being so stubborn, girl! It's a gift, it doesn't matter whether or not I had to do it…"

"A gift for me or for Xin, I wonder…?" said Azula, smiling as the dragon touched her forehead with his own.

"Well, I figured it counted for both…" Sokka muttered, while she walked towards the saddle that stood amongst the metal plates "Off for a trip now, are you? Don't you have to get back to your feast?"

"They probably can live without me for now" said Azula, settling on the saddle "In the mean time, I'll make sure he can fly with me on his back, and…"

Sokka found himself smiling happily when she extended a hand towards him, just as she had when they had found Xin Long for the first time.

"You're coming along too" she said, beaming back as she helped him up the saddle.

The flight was rather comfortable, even though Xin Long was still adjusting to the armor. The dragon took the armor to be clothes instead of a protection device, and he kept saying as much to Azula. She chuckled and patted his neck as they coursed through the sky, congratulating him on not being naked anymore.

They touched down by the edge of the Capital's crater, and Sokka and Azula climbed off Xin Long's saddle. The Princess fixed the dragon's armor and made sure it wasn't bothering him, though Xin Long made a point of saying that the joint plates around his paws were bothering him.

"Eh? Really?" asked Sokka, grimacing as he sat down on the ground, glancing at Azula and Xin Long worriedly after she conveyed the creature's thoughts to Sokka "Oops. Well, I can upgrade the armor later on anyways… I could add so many things to it, you know? Maybe something like a ball of spikes dangling on his tail and…"

"Do you want to turn Xin Long into a killer machine?" asked Azula, raising her eyebrows and making Sokka blush.

"N-no, I just thought… I just thought it would be cool, is all" he said, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand.

Xin Long decided to prance around the crater; chasing insects had always been a predilection of his. Azula smiled and watched him before dropping next to Sokka, who was startled when she sat beside him.

"Is it okay for you to sit on the ground when you're dressed like that?" he asked, nervously. Azula sighed.

"Maybe not. And that's why I don't wear dresses often. It's pointless to wear something elegant when it's going to be so impractical"

"Heh, well… it suits you anyways" he said, smiling.

"I think my armor suits me better" replied Azula, already wishing she could change out of these clothes into more comfortable ones.

Something was prodding at her waist, and she frowned for a moment before realizing it was Zuko's dagger. Or… maybe it was her dagger now. She removed it from where she had placed it, and Sokka stared at her in confusion when he saw the weapon.

"What's that? You brought me all this way to kill me with that thing?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why, of course I did, how could you expect otherwise?" Azula said sarcastically, rolling her eyes "I wouldn't need a tiny knife to kill you…"

"It's what I thought" he said, chuckling "I'm pretty sure you'd do it with your fire…"

"Ah, yes, with my 'blue fire'. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't mind getting killed by it, would you…?" said Azula, at which Sokka blushed again.

"You're never going to let that one go, are you?"

"Well, why should I?" she asked, smiling at him.

"What's the knife for, though?" Sokka asked again "Did you have it just in case you had to kill Kuan?"

"Slaying Kuan wouldn't have ended all too well for me, you know" asked Azula "I actually didn't have this knife until just a while ago. Actually… Zuko gave it to me"

"Huh? Zuko?" asked Sokka, frowning "Wait, is this why he was trying to talk to you? He wanted to give you this…?"

"Apparently so" said Azula, looking at the dagger with a frown.

"Odd that he'd give you a dagger just like that" said Sokka, tapping his chin "Is there anything special about it?"

Azula handed the weapon to him, and Sokka unsheathed it as she started to explain the dagger's story to him.

"That knife was given to him as a present by my Uncle. It was a very meaningful gift, as you can see, both for what it says and for how my Uncle came to possess it…"

"What it says?" said Sokka, frowning as he looked at the weapon "I'm pretty sure 'Made in Earth Kingdom' isn't something remotely extraordinary…"

"On the other side of the blade, you blockhead" Azula growled, and Sokka turned the weapon around to read the actual inscription he had been referring to.

"Oooh… 'Never give up without a fight'" said Sokka, nodding "Your Uncle got this for him?"

"Yeah, after defeating the General who was in charge with the defense of Ba Sing Se's Outer Wall" Azula explained "He took said weapon from him, and sent it to Zuko… while I got a doll. A common, regular doll he probably didn't even buy himself. Hence, I was always… envious, I guess. I didn't think Zuko could appreciate the gift half as much as I could… thus I kept taking it from him when he least expected it until it stopped being funny. I'd almost forgotten about this dagger's existence until today"

"Zuko gave this to you, then? As a present for your birthday?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow "Well, that's interesting…"

"It's weird" muttered Azula, sighing before taking the dagger from him and slipping it into her sash again "I can't figure out why he did it. Though I suspect it might have been because of what you told him…"

"Which would be a good thing, right?" said Sokka "If he actually listened to what I said, maybe he'll start being a better brother to you…"

"Ha. Sure thing" said Azula, rolling her eyes "You honestly think Zuko wants to make any efforts to be a good brother after all this time? It's too much work, and for all he knows, he'll get no reward for it"

"You know, by judging his intentions as harshly as you're doing right now, you're treating him in the same way he treats you" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, most unlike Zuko, I'm not trying to convince people I'm a good person" said Azula, shrugging "I don't need to be a good sibling to make peace with my conscience…"

"The fact that you know it should disturb your conscience is a good sign already" said Sokka, smiling proudly and earning himself a glare from Azula "C'mon, you don't really want to tell me, of all people, that you're a bad person. Not after everything, Azula"

"It depends on your definition of what a bad person is, I guess" she retorted, and Sokka laughed.

"Sure thing" he said, smiling "But still… I think you can give Zuko a chance. What's the worst that could happen?"

Azula frowned and looked at him sideways. Truth to be told, she had no idea what the answer to that question was. She was proud to be stronger and better than her brother at everything she put her mind to. So what did she have to fear from him…?

"In any case, though, meaningful dagger and all, I guess I still must have been the one who gave you the best birthday present, huh?" Sokka declared, his head held high.

"Oh? So sure of yourself, aren't you?" said Azula, looking at him with interest now.

"Well, at the very least, I'm the one who almost literally broke a leg for your present's sake, so for that I deserve some praise" he said, folding his arms over his chest. Azula let out a weak laugh.

"Is that so?" she asked, smiling as she looked at him.

Truly, he had done much more for her the last few days than she could have ever expected from him. It seemed he would always find new ways to surprise her, new ways to amaze her…

"I guess I should cut you some slack…" she muttered, nodding "Despite that unfortunate leg cramp, you did behave yourself quite well today, gave me an unexpected present and helped me keep my freedom yet again…"

"Ah, well, you know…" said Sokka, smiling proudly "It's just what I had to do, don't think that much of it…"

"Oh, sure, don't think much of it, you say…" said Azula, narrowing her eyes as he laughed loudly "You're pretty much begging for praise and compliments, Sokka"

"What gave you that idea?" he asked, trying to sound sarcastic, but he couldn't keep himself from laughing as she looked at him with disapproval, shaking her head even though she was smiling at him.

"You're incorrigible, you know" she muttered, and he seemed pleased to hear her remind him of it "I will say, you turned this particular birthday of mine into a most memorable day…"

"Well, considering you're the one who decided to challenge Kuan out of the blue…" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows.

"Must I remind you that you expressly demanded I wouldn't marry him, of all people?" she said, looking at him with the same expression he bore on his face. Sokka laughed again.

"Heh, well, I can hardly believe I'm such a big influence on your life, Princess…" he said, looking at her sideways.

"You have no idea…" Azula muttered, sighing and lifting her head when a gentle breeze blew towards them.

Sokka stared at her, as ever mesmerized by her beauty. There was quite an amazing sunset on the horizon right now, and the landscape before him was a sight to behold, but none of it was in the slightest as breathtaking as she was.

"So… I suppose we've entered a cycle now, considering you gave me a birthday present out of the blue" said Azula "When's your birthday?"

Sokka was startled by that sudden question. He straightened up and looked at Azula with confusion, and she raised her eyebrows, glancing towards him. Sokka gave her a weak smile and waved a hand carelessly, as to give it no importance.

"Nah, don't worry about it. It passed us by a few months ago" he said, shrugging "And it's not like you've got to do anything for me just because I did something for you. That's not how it should work"

"Well, maybe that's not the real reason why I'd do it…" said Azula, disappointed to hear she had missed the right date.

"It's fine, really" said Sokka, smiling at her and shrugging "I doubt people give their slaves any presents, so it's not like you had to…"

"Sokka"

He turned his head towards her just a notch, but her hand on his chin managed to move it to the right angle for her to kiss his lips softly.

Sokka's eyes widened at that. It didn't matter how many times he had kissed her by now, every single time it happened he felt as though the world around him would become a blur… for all he could think was real was her. And even after all this time, he could hardly believe Azula would kiss him as she was doing now.

He closed his eyes and grasped her shoulders gently as he responded. His hands caressed her arms while hers slid up to the back of his neck, bringing him closer as she shifted herself towards him.

"Huh… so now we can do this, then?" he asked playfully, smiling at her when she pulled away momentarily. Azula could only smile as well before leaning in again, their lips joining once more.

As their tongues met, Azula continued to move closer to him. Sokka's arms surrounded her, and she allowed herself to be enveloped by him. Never had she felt as willing to belong to him as much as she did now. She wanted to thank him for everything, to show him just how deep her feelings for him were…

Sokka seemed to have lost all inhibitions after their exchange the previous day, and he returned her affections hungrily, though not as desperately as he had back in the stand-by room. Even so, he was daring, far more daring than Azula had expected him to be. His lips left hers and moved down to her neck, and she gasped when he kissed her exposed skin. Not often did she wear clothes that showed cleavage… and he had decided to take advantage of her dressing choices for today. She couldn't say the fact bothered her in the slightest.

She slid her hands through his hair and hugged him tightly when his mouth stopped kissing her skin. Holding her in this tight embrace was starting to make him dizzy, but not in a bad way…

"Happy belated birthday, Sokka" Azula whispered, kissing the top of his head.

Sokka lifted his head and looked at her with a crooked smile, which she kissed off his face as his arms surrounded her even more tightly. Azula dropped her head on his shoulder, feeling his furious heartbeat drumming along hers.

His embrace was intimate, full of desire, which brought a smile to Azula's face. For it was her that he desired… it was her. Unlike all those who wanted titles, money, fame or glory, Sokka cared not about any of those things. All he really wanted was her.

She hugged him as well, caressing his back as he moved his head down to find her lips with his once more. Azula closed her eyes and returned the kisses, unable to get enough of this exchange. All the same as he wanted her, she wanted him… nobody other than him. The rest of her father's noblemen were fated to end in the same way Kuan had, one way or another. She couldn't belong to anyone else… she didn't want to belong in anyone else's arms. For there was a man who had conquered her heart without hardly meaning to, and she couldn't be happier about it. He was the only man she wanted… he was the right one for her, she had no doubts of it. And today, more than ever, she was grateful to have him by her side. Today, more than ever, she was glad she had fallen in love with him…


	71. Chapter 71

"Nothing today either?" asked Katara, when the warriors had reached the fire that stood in the middle of the village.

"Nothing at all" replied Kattan, sinking on his seat and digging straight into the dish that stood closest to him.

"I'm starting to suspect they're not going to do anything…" said Yuro, who had been Kattan's companion on today's shift to keep watch on the settlement "It's been months now. If they were waiting for reinforcements, wouldn't they have arrived already?"

"Maybe" said Hakoda, frowning "But dropping our guard wouldn't be wise. Our sentries will have to continue watching the settlement, no matter if they try to strike us or not"

Katara nodded at her father's decision, agreeing with it wholeheartedly. Aang, who was trying to eat sea prunes without grimacing noticeably at their taste, listened but didn't intervene in the conversation.

It was a tribal tradition to hold open feasts once a week. It was a way to keep their community as prosperous as it could be, for all families cooperated in order to make enjoyable meals for everyone. And Aang loved the kinship between the members of the Tribe; he often engaged in conversation with whoever spoke to him, and he also played with the children… but as of yet, he still hadn't found a dish of Water Tribe food to his liking. Seaweed noodles were the one thing he could eat without making faces, but they only cooked the noodles on rare occasions. And thus he was left having prunes during the feast, trying to ignore the scent of the meat cooking above the fireplace.

Aang had revealed his abilities to the soldiers some months ago, and while everyone in the Tribe had been bracing themselves for the Fire Nation's imminent counter-attack, it never came. Aang had decided he would fight for the Tribe, and he would find a way to send the Fire Nation people back where they belonged… yet he had expected to have a genuine fight ahead of him, instead of months of waiting for the enemies to attack.

Nobody had asked him to attack the settlement out of his own accord, for everyone knew Aang was too much of a pacifist to do such a thing. He only resorted to violence if he had no other choice, and he wasn't about to start any fights with the Fire Nation himself. Even so, Aang was perplexed by this sudden period of tense peace that had suddenly settled over the Pole. To Katara's surprise, he actually seemed uncomfortable by it. She would often find him worrying over it, lying atop Appa's saddle and asking his bison friend about his thoughts on the matter.

"So… who'll be up for tomorrow's shift?" asked Kattan, raising an eyebrow as he reached out for another fish he would soon devour.

Nobody answered, since the job of watching the settlement was beyond tedious. Usually Hakoda would have to pick someone from the Tribe himself, because nobody would willingly put himself through such a boring task. The Chief looked around the fire and sighed when he found everyone else had suddenly decided to dig into their meals hungrily, in hopes to avoid answering Kattan's question.

"Any volunteers?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

As expected, there was no answer. Hakoda rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Well, then, I guess I'll have to choose…"

"I can do it"

Everyone looked at the Avatar in surprise. He usually was spared from the daily activities the rest of the Tribe had to take care of, a privilege he was awarded both for being the Avatar and for not actually being a member of the Tribe. Aang still felt as a guest to the Tribe members, even though it soon would be a year since Katara had found him. He didn't mind being spared from most the hard work, for he had never liked overexerting himself… but he did feel guilty about getting special treatment, so at times he would decide to work even though nobody expected him to. Katara assumed this was just another instance in which Aang's guilt had gotten the best of him, and thus she smiled when he volunteered for the sentry job.

"Then if Aang is going…" said Hakoda, his gaze flickering towards his daughter. Katara raised an eyebrow.

"You're making it sound as though Aang and I came in a set…" she said, at which Aang blushed.

"Well, don't you?" asked Hakoda, and nearly everyone around them laughed.

"Sure, sure, I'll go with him" said Katara, chuckling "It should be fun, right?"

"Right" said Aang, smiling as well but biting his lip.

Katara didn't miss out on his strange behavior. She raised an eyebrow and regarded him with confusion, but it seemed he wouldn't disclose whatever he had in mind just yet.

The feast proceeded smoothly, and everyone headed to their homes eventually, save for the warriors tasked with keeping vigilance around the Tribe for tonight. Katara and Aang returned to Hakoda's igloo along with the rest of the waterbender's family, and they helped Kanna into bed. The woman was still quite strong in spirit, but not so much in body anymore. Katara worried a lot over her grandmother, but she did her best not to seem pessimistic about Kanna's health.

"Say… did you decide to pick up that shift for a reason, Aang?" asked Katara, before Aang made towards his own room. The room that had once belonged to Katara's brother.

"Huh? Well…" said Aang, looking somewhat nervous upon the question. He flashed Katara a smile before saying "I did, but I'll tell you why tomorrow"

Katara stared after him as he entered his room, and she kept frowning in confusion before moving towards her own room. Well, that was odd, even for Aang's standards…

Yet she had no idea just how odd it was until they were already watching the settlement from afar, sitting next to each other behind the mounds of snow that concealed them from their enemies.

"You want to WHAT?!" Katara asked, scandalized "Are you nuts, Aang?!"

"Oh, I do miss nuts…" Aang sighed, looking into the sky with a dreamy gaze.

"Aang, we can't just go up to the settlement and ask for a word with a soldier!" Katara exclaimed "They'll kill us!"

"They can't kill us, you know we're stronger than they are" said Aang, matter-of-factly "We're both great benders, after all. And I'm sure if we tell them we mean no harm they'll agree to cooperate with us no problem…"

"Aang, quit being so naïve. You can't walk in there and hope you'll survive just because you happen to believe in the good will of people!" said Katara, shaking her head "Imagine what would happen if they knew you're the Avatar… by walking in there you'd be handing yourself to the Fire Lord on a silver platter!"

"Well, then, fine, I won't go inside the settlement" Aang said, sighing in resignation "But we need answers. And I'm sure we can get them if we just try, Katara"

"How?" she asked, frowning.

"Well… we could seize one guard" said Aang, pointing at a man who was performing his round of vigilance by the settlement's metallic enclosure "And we can coax answers out of him"

"Huh? You mean to question a soldier?" asked Katara, dumbfounded.

"W-what of it?" asked Aang, surprised by her reaction "It's not like I'm going to hurt him…"

"It's just… a bit more aggressive than usual, that's all" said Katara, smiling weakly "I didn't see that one coming from you"

"It's the best idea I can come up with that won't involve getting us into serious danger" said Aang, shrugging and looking out towards the settlement, where a single guard was pacing outside the walls "And I'm sure any of those soldiers would be willing to cooperate with us so long as we isolate him from the rest, for starters…"

"How?" asked Katara, raising an eyebrow "What's on your mind, Aang?"

"You're about to find out" said Aang, licking his lips and smiling excitedly, rubbing his hands together as he got ready to bend the snow around them.

Katara frowned as she sensed what Aang was doing through his bending. She raised an eyebrow as he bit a lip, moving his arms steadily. On the surface, it seemed as though Aang's movements weren't affecting anything… but Katara knew better, for she was a waterbender all the same as the Avatar was. And she felt the ice shifting a few feet below them…

"Aang, this isn't a good idea" she muttered, and he simply looked at her with skepticism before smirking a little at her.

"You're right, it's actually a great idea!" he declared, chuckling as he made the last movement of his sequence…

And the ice underneath the single soldier by the settlement suddenly cracked open.

The man hardly realized anything was happening when he was quickly enveloped by the snow under his feet. He disappeared as though he had been swallowed by the polar casket itself, and he went down with a scream that was quickly muffled when Aang used his bending to cover the hole with loose ice again.

Aang proceeded to push the man through the underground ice sled he had created, and in no time, the soldier had popped out of the snow mounds next to them, still screaming. Katara had been impressed by Aang's capacity to bend at such distances, but her admiration was soon replaced by annoyance upon the soldier's irritating wailing.

"Hey! HEY! Quiet down!" said Aang, waving his hands before the man as an attempt to get his attention.

The soldier had kept his eyes shut tightly while he shouted, and it seemed he hadn't even noticed he was in the surface already. He opened his eyes now and looked at Katara and Aang with utter surprise before jumping back and falling atop another mound of snow.

"S-savages! Savages! G-get away from me! Y-you don't know what I'm capable of!" he exclaimed, a hand reaching down his waist for a weapon…

But Katara used the snow to slap his hand away from his body, binding it down to the ground through ice. And her movement prompted the soldier scream unbearably loudly yet again.

"Spirits, he's got some lungs!" said Aang, before stuffing the man's mouth with snow in hopes to shut him up.

The soldier found himself coughing up the snow after a moment, and he made a few faces as he grimaced upon the unpleasant feeling of cold against his teeth.

"W-what are you…?! Leave me alone! Let me go! We haven't attacked you savages in ages now, so leave me be!" he exclaimed, shuffling away from the pair "I wasn't asking for any trouble, I was just doing my routine vigilance round! So let me go already…!"

"Well, at least he's talking now instead of shrieking…" said Aang, while Katara glared at the soldier with irritation.

"Hey! I don't shriek!" retorted the soldier, twisting against the ice binding that kept his hand in place.

"You were shrieking just a moment ago!" said Katara, before turning towards Aang "Aang, this one won't do. Maybe you should send him back and get someone rational instead"

"Huh… it's tempting, but I don't think we can just get picky about the soldiers we seize…"

"Seize?! Don't sugarcoat it! You're abducting me!" exclaimed the soldier "You're taking me prisoner! HELP! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

"Oh, damn it, SHUT UP!" Katara exclaimed, yelling so fiercely that both Aang and the soldier stared at her in utter shock. She looked back and forth between them for a moment before settling her gaze on Aang "Well? Didn't we borrow this guy for a reason, Aang? Get it done quickly before he starts making noise again. The other soldiers might notice he's gone"

"Oh, uh, right" said Aang, turning towards the soldier, who seemed a bit sad now.

The man in question had brown eyes, and his head was covered by a helmet. He wore no mask, which Aang found unusual, but thanks to that the Avatar could tell this soldier was narrowly Katara's age. The soldier's youth wasn't that surprising, though, for the man's screams would have made a five-year-old proud.

Aang had no idea how to do what Katara asked him to, though. He had never questioned anyone in his life… how was he supposed to do this? He guessed the best way to get answers would be by being nice, though…

"Hello there" he said, with a grin "Uh… what's your name?"

"My name? What'd you want my name for?" asked the soldier, staring at Aang with distrust.

"What, your mom told you never to tell strangers who you are?" asked Katara, condescendingly, and the soldier blushed.

"W-what's your problem?! Didn't your mother tell you the same thing?! Y-you know what, I don't like you! I'm just going to talk to…! Wait, I don't like you either" he realized, as he looked at Aang

"You sure shouldn't, you would still be performing your rounds if it wasn't because Aang had the brilliant idea to pull you here" said Katara, at which Aang smiled apologetically at her.

"Still, see, we're not going to hurt you" said Aang, smiling at the soldier now "We just want to ask you a few questions. I figured we'd be attacked by the soldiers if we just walked up to the settlement…"

"Yeah, you sure would have been" said the soldier, smiling proudly. Katara raised an eyebrow, and the gesture made the man swallow his confidence.

"Which is why we decided to do it this way" said Aang, still doing his best to be friendly "So we mean you no harm, alright? We just want to know a few things, that's all there is to this"

"So you're extorting me for information? That's what this is about?!" exclaimed the soldier, glaring at Aang accusingly "Well, I won't talk! You're not getting anything out of me!"

"But it's just a few questions…!"

"I'll say nothing!" exclaimed the soldier, at which Katara huffed in annoyance and dropped on the ground, her arms folded.

"You just had to seize the most unreasonable soldier in the settlement, huh?" she said.

"Well, I had no way of knowing Soldier would be like this" said Aang, shrugging.

"W-what do you mean, 'Soldier'?" said the man "I've got a name, you know! It's Kino!"

"Kino?" said Aang, looking at him with curiosity before smiling "Well, he's answered the first question already, Katara. See? He's not as bad as he pretends to be…"

"Huh…" was Katara response. Had Aang planned on coaxing the soldier's name out as he had?

Yet, even if Aang had gotten his name by chance, Kino was now writhing and shaking his head in utter disbelief over what he had done.

"I'm such an idiot…" he sighed.

"Well, it seems we can all agree on that, at the very least" said Katara, smirking.

"H-hey!" he squealed again, blushing and glaring at Katara, who simply laughed at his reaction.

"Okay, okay…" said Aang, chuckling as well "Let's try and be cool about this, alright, Kino? We're not going to ask you for the Fire Nation's royal secrets or anything, so there's nothing wrong with cooperating with us"

"You're the enemy! There's nothing right with cooperating with a pair of savages!" exclaimed Kino, angrily.

"Hey, that's really offensive, you know?" said Aang, frowning "Katara isn't a savage, and neither am I!"

"Well, that's what Fire Nation people are like, Aang" said Katara, shrugging "I told you they treated us this way, but you never listened to what I said…

"I'm sure Kino doesn't really think of us like that, though" said Aang, smiling at Kino "Don't you?"

"W-why wouldn't I think this way? And why are you smiling like that…?" said Kino, gulping

"Well, I'm just thinking you don't want to make enemies out of two waterbenders, do you…?" said Aang, shrugging innocently.

Kino looked at Aang and Katara in utter disbelief before he realized that the man spoke the truth. Kino hadn't tried to make sense out of how he had suddenly cracked through the ice and wound up with these two, but all of sudden it seemed the answer to his unasked question would be waterbending… they were the waterbenders. The Water Tribe's two waterbenders…

"Feeling a little more cooperative now?" asked Katara, smirking.

"I… n-not as much as you'd hope, I'm not going to betray my nation because of you two" said Kino, gulping.

"Nobody's asking you to betray anyone, Kino" said Aang "We just want you to answer our questions, as we already said"

"Y-yeah, well…y-you're delusional if you think I'll feel like helping the waterbenders that have ruined everything we've worked for" was Kino's bravado, as he folded a single arm across his chest… for when he tried to fold both he found the other one was still held down by the snow "Hey, could you please do something about this?"

"Only if you promise not to run" said Aang "We'll let you go back no problem once you've answered our questions"

"But if you try to run, we're going to stop you" Katara declared, at which Kino flinched "And since we are the waterbenders who ruined everything for you guys, then I think you should be well aware of what we can do…"

"Heh, well, it's more like what HE can do" said Kino, jerking his head towards Aang "You're not that tough, you're the one we've been fighting since about two years ago, so…"

"Hey! What do you mean, I'm not that tough?!" Katara exclaimed, offended, and Aang leapt towards her to calm her down.

"Now, now, Katara…" he said, grimacing "It's okay! He's just trying to tick you off, you know you'd best him in battle no problem!"

"I sure would… him and his entire settlement of cowardly Fire Nation jerks!" Katara shouted.

"Yeah, yeah, sure thing" said Kino, waving a hand towards her "About the snow, though… My arm's going to freeze off, you know?"

"Right, right" said Aang, nodding and allowing the snow to soften so that Kino could move at ease again.

Kino rubbed his arm to regain the warmth he had lost… and then he promptly crossed both arms over his chest stubbornly, as he had planned on doing earlier.

"Alright, then! What do you two want?" he said.

"Uh… to ask questions" said Aang, blinking "You're going to answer us now? Because you'd just said…"

"Oh, right" said Kino, freezing for a moment before returning to his former attitude "I'm not going to tell you two anything about…!"

"Ugh, for crying out loud!" said Katara, a hand going to her forehead "This guy is an idiot, Aang! He's useless! Send him back already, he's not going to give us anything because…"

"Hey…" Kino said, with a pained look on his face "I'm not… useless"

Both Katara and Aang were paralyzed upon that. Kino's behavior had changed drastically… and was it for the better or for the worse? Now he looked genuinely depressed…

"K-Katara didn't really mean that" said Aang, smiling and kneeling beside Kino "Though if you don't want her to insult you, you could try and not insult her for a change, you know? She's not a savage, just as you're not useless…"

"Uh… well, I suppose not…" said Kino, scratching the back of his head.

"So nobody's going to insult anyone here" said Aang "We're all going to talk calmly and that's all there is to this, alright?"

"What do you want to talk about, though?" said Kino, raising an eyebrow "You people have never wanted to talk before…"

"If we had wanted to talk before, would you guys have listened?" asked Katara, skeptical.

"Eh… probably not" Kino confessed, with a goofy grin.

"Either way, we're going to talk now, and we're asking you to please answer our questions, if you'll be so kind…" said Aang, smiling.

"Fine, fine, so what do you wanna know, then?" said Kino, staring at Aang warily now "I'm not guaranteeing you'll get an answer out of me, but if this is what you captured me for, the sooner I've answered you, the quicker I'll be back in the settlement…"

"Well, we want to know why haven't you guys done anything ever since I revealed to be a waterbender" said Aang "You could have tried to attack the Tribe and strike back, or you could have gathered reinforcements… but you didn't. Why?"

"Heh… that's not really your concern, is it?" exclaimed Kino, lifting his head in stubborn demeanor.

Katara huffed in annoyance and Aang frowned. Apparently, Katara's reaction wasn't a big deal… but seeing the male waterbender growing irritated made Kino rethink his choices.

"U-uh… y-you don't have to look so mad, you know?" he said, gulping.

"As you just said yourself, the sooner you've answered us, the quicker you'll be back with your people. So if you'd just talk, you'd be on your way!" said Aang "Come on, Kino. Don't make this more difficult. It's just a simple question"

"Well… I guess" said Kino, sighing "Fine, fine… we're not plotting another attack on your Tribe. Nope. That's in the past"

"In the past? What the… what do you mean, in the past?" asked Katara, frowning "You guys attacked us just a few months ago and now you're making it sound as though you want to strike a bargain of peace with us?"

"Eh, I'm not the one who makes the decisions here, so don't look at me like that!" said Kino, lifting his arms up in gesture of defeat "We informed the mainland of the discovery of another waterbender, and we all expected the Fire Lord to respond by sending his entire army here to blow your huts to smithereens… but instead we got a notice telling us not to attack you guys anymore"

"Not to attack?" asked Aang again, surprised "Why…? But that's…"

"That makes no sense" said Katara, frowning "Either he's lying or he's keeping something from us!"

"Hey, I'm not lying!" said Kino, looking at her earnestly "This is what I know! It's the message we got at the settlement! I was the last one to read it, yeah, but it's not like the other guys would alter it just to tease me or something…"

"I guess not, they're your comrades after all" said Aang "It'd make no sense for them to try and mess with you like that, would it?"

"Eh, I wish they would, though…" said Kino, sighing, a gesture that surprised Katara and Aang "At least if they picked on me they'd acknowledge my presence, you know…?"

"They don't acknowledge your presence?" Katara asked, surprised.

"Half the time it's like I'm not even there" Kino whined "I wish they'd pay me some attention, you know, just to greet me, or to tell me about the weather, or to complain about the lack of toilets… but no! I'm always the last one to find out about everything and nobody notices it. I was the last one to hear that the Captain had an affair with the old Lieutenant's wife, and I'm always the last one who gets the menu for the day. I'm always stuck with the leftovers because nobody calls me for dinner, and I had to stick with the bottom bed on the bunk even when I wanted the upper one…"

"So… it's not like you're briefed about the more important stuff, then…" said Aang, thoughtful.

"I get briefed about what I need to know, along with the rest of the soldiers" said Kino, shrugging "I'm not anywhere high on the authority pyramid, if anything I'm at the base. I'm just a regular private, nothing more to me than that"

"Well, that doesn't really work for our favor…" said Katara, folding her arms over her chest "Seems like you don't have a hectic life, then"

"Yeah, I guess not… being abducted by you two has been the most exciting thing to happen ever since I got here, you know? Though, wait, I shouldn't have said that…" said Kino, gulping.

"Hey, that's okay" said Aang, smiling "But see, thanks to us, you'll have something fun to tell your fellow soldiers"

"Come on, Aang, you can't just encourage him like that" said Katara, looking at the Avatar in disbelief "He's not going to cooperate just because…"

"You're saying I'll be the one in the spotlight…?" said Kino, his eyes gleaming with excitement now "T-they'll want to hear what I have to say… haha, yes, they will! I'll be a celebrity, almost! Nobody else has been abducted by the two waterbenders! Though well, from what I heard, you people took someone once, but that was about three years ago, so…"

"You took someone?" asked Aang, surprised, turning towards Katara with a look of utter confusion on his face.

"It was back when… when we lost my brother" said Katara, at which Aang's expression softened "We questioned a soldier, but he had nothing to tell us. He didn't know what had happened to him"

"Right…" said Aang, turning towards Kino again while hoping not to look too troubled. Yet Katara's facade had darkened noticeably after speaking aloud about Sokka "Well, then, Kino… this is the full extent of your knowledge? You don't think you'll attack the Tribe any time soon?"

"Not unless the Fire Lord suddenly changes his mind, we won't" said Kino "I have no idea why he would tell us not to attack, to be honest. The Captain thought that, since you're such a nasty waterbending threat, we would get tons of firepower and we'd hunt you down with it, but… nope. None of that. Instead, we're even being told we might even have to change locations and return to our old station at Whaletail Island…"

"What? You'll… you guys will leave the settlement?!" Katara exclaimed, shocked.

"Well, that's not definitive yet" said Kino "But we were told we might have to leave the Pole altogether…"

"Why?" said Katara, dumbfounded "W-why, all of sudden, after all these years of fighting…?"

"I don't know, and I wish I did" said Kino, shrugging "But if it's an order by the Fire Lord, we'll have to comply. Not that I'm too fond of the idea, really… but I guess at least we won't have to eat stale food in Whaletail Island"

"Stale food?" repeated Aang.

"Yeah, it's awful, you know?!" exclaimed Kino, grimacing "We get ships bringing us food like every ten weeks, and the food's already all old and musty when it gets here. I miss natural, yummy, fresh food…"

"Seems like being Fire Nation in the Water Tribe isn't easy" said Aang, smiling weakly.

"Tell me about it" said Kino, sighing "How do you guys cope, seriously? Nobody brings you food…"

"Well, they hunt for it themselves" said Aang, gulping "That's how it works in a Tribe like this one. I don't hunt, though, I just have prunes and seaweed…"

"Just prunes and seaweed?!" asked Kino, aghast "How can anyone live on that alone?!"

"It's what everyone asks, but… it's, uh, my way of life, you know?" said Aang, growing nervous. He had made quite a blunder there, and Katara had noticed as well. If he was to pretend he was Water Tribe, all the same as she was, he couldn't be so careless, so he'd better make up for it… "I just love going against the rest of the Tribe… you could say I'm a rebel of sorts"

"A rebel? Hey… that's seriously cool!" exclaimed Kino, nodding approvingly "So that's why you don't even look Water Tribe! Ever since you were born you've been a rebel! That's so cool!"

"It is, huh?" said Aang, smiling awkwardly while Kino nodded approvingly towards him.

"It's a great way to get people's attention, I'll give you that…" said Kino "Still… I don't want people to be mad because I'm rebellious, you know? I'd rather they like me instead of thinking I'm a freak"

"H-hey, they don't think I'm a freak!" Aang said, surprised "Yeah, I may not hunt nor fish, but…"

"Fish?!" exclaimed Kino, interrupting Aang brusquely "Y-you guys… you Water Tribe people go FISHING?!"

"Uh… yeah?" said Katara, raising an eyebrow "It's pretty much what we do most, actually"

"Y-you guys…" Kino said, his eyes gleaming "I, I… I've always wanted to go fishing, you know?"

"What…? Are you serious about that?" said Katara, frowning " Why would you want to do that? I mean, fishing is just… it's just catching a fish! And that's not what we got you here for anyways!"

"Well, I already said everything I know, so what're you gonna get out of me now?" Kino said, frowning.

"I… I don't know, but this really can't be everything you know" said Katara, in denial "The Fire Lord must have had a reason to do this…"

"I suppose I could try to find out if he did or didn't, you know?" said Kino, shrugging "If you guys want, I could ask over at the settlement. I doubt they'll know much more than what I've told you, but still…"

"You're willing to do that for us? Just like that?" asked Aang, surprised.

"I'm doing this as an exchange, actually" said Kino, with a mischievous smile "You'll get what you want… so long as you take me fishing!"

"Take you… fishing?" Katara repeated, with a grimace.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Kino, beaming "I really want to give that a go! I get the feeling I'd be good at it!"

"Uh… so you're saying we're going to meet again?" asked Katara, raising an eyebrow "And you're asking your worst enemies to take you fishing?"

"Well, if it's you two then sure thing" said Kino, smiling and standing up "While the two of you are stuck with me, you won't be able to attack the settlement. And without the power of their waterbenders, your tribesmen won't risk attacking us"

"How could you be so sure?" asked Katara, frowning now "For all you know, they just might"

"Heh, well, if you pull some sort of ploy like that on me, I won't tell you whatever I learn about the Fire Lord's orders… or about your brother"

Katara's eyes widened and she looked at Kino with disbelief. Kino looked at her with raised eyebrows, his arms folded over his chest.

"W-what did you just…?" said Katara, stepping forward "What do you… what do you know about my brother? Answer me!"

"Woah, woah! Calm down, water lady!" exclaimed Kino, grimacing and moving away from Katara "You mentioned you'd lost him… and I've heard about some scam your Tribe tried to pull on the settlement two years ago. I don't know much about the details, all I know at the moment is that most the warriors escaped except for one"

"Sokka…" said Katara, breathing heavily "That was… that was my brother!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought" said Kino, nodding "I don't know for certain what his fate was, though. Still, I can figure that out for you, if you really want me to…"

"Y-you… you could tell us if he's alive?" asked Katara, eyes wide as she stepped towards Kino "You'll know where he is? You…?"

"I can't promise I'll find out everything about what happened to him…" said Kino, grimacing uncomfortably as she came closer to him "But I can still try. The Captain surely knows a lot about it, he keeps the records of everything that happens in the settlement. So I can ask if he knows how things went that day, with your brother. I doubt he'll have any reasons not to answer my questions…"

Katara's eyes now gleamed with a very different expression, something that bothered Kino slightly. The girl's blue eyes were hopeful, and that worried Kino. Nobody had ever placed any hopes or expectations upon him… until now. And even though he had wanted to be important for someone, one way or another, this was something bigger than anything he'd had in mind, and he wasn't sure he was mentally prepared for it… what if he had to tell the hopeful girl that her brother was dead?

"Can you really do this?" Katara asked him "C-can you…? You're not going to trick me with this, are you?"

"W-well, why would I trick you?" said Kino "I don't think your brother's fate is some state secret or anything… I don't think I'll have a reason to lie to you about it"

"Then… then do this. Please" said Katara, gritting her teeth "Whether he's… whether he's dead or alive, I need to know. I need to… please find out, I beg you"

"Y-you're begging now?" asked Kino, raising an eyebrow but knowing better than to use her pleas to his advantage. Clearly, the girl was very emotional about the topic of her brother. He knew that wasn't something to mess with "Okay, okay, I already said I'd do it… but you're taking me fishing! Both of you!"

"B-both?" said Aang, grimacing "Do I have to…?"

"Yes, you have to" said Kino, smiling happily "You'll teach me how it's done, and I'll have my first fresh meal in over a year!"

"You will" said Katara, nodding solemnly, her eyes on the ice under her feet "You will. Just… be here by tomorrow again, with the information you've promised"

"Tomorrow?" asked Aang, raising an eyebrow "They'll get suspicious in the Tribe if we come out here tomorrow as well…"

"Then what? Should we wait a week?" asked Katara, grimacing "That's too much, don't you think?"

"I take the outside shift every three days" said Kino, tapping his chin with a finger "Come back by then, and I'll have all the information I can gather, both about the Fire Lord's command and your brother. So… make sure to bring fish rods with you! And whatever you guys use as gear to catch fish!"

"Can you just walk out of your watch as if nothing, though?" asked Aang, surprised "It's a miracle they haven't realized you're gone right now…"

"Nah, they won't" said Kino, waving a hand "As I said, they hardly notice I'm there at all. So if I'm not there, they won't tell either. Don't worry, we can go fishing no problem! And if they find out I walked off, I can make up excuses for it. I can make an excuse for my disappearance just now, too. I could say the stale food took its toll on me…"

"Yeah, surely that'll keep them from asking questions" said Aang, grimacing before smiling kindly "Well, then… I guess we're doing this"

"Three days, then" said Katara, taking a deep breath.

"You don't have to be so eager to meet me again, you know" said Kino, winking at Katara "Sorry, but you Water Tribe gals aren't really my type"

"Wha…? Yuck!" exclaimed Katara, shuffling away from him "What makes you think Fire Nation morons are mine?!"

"Now, now… we were all finally getting along" said Aang, sighing. He couldn't help but feel somewhat angry at Kino for his attempt at flirting with Katara, though. Even so, Aang was relieved that Katara's rejection towards his advances had been as blunt as it had "Come on, we can all leave this meeting without any hard feelings whatsoever, can't we?"

"If he behaved like a decent man, we could!" exclaimed Katara, frowning.

"Heh, you just can't deny I'm attractive no matter how hard you try!" said Kino, laughing happily as he walked towards the hole he had popped out from "But never mind, I know better than to steal someone else's girl after all"

"W-what?!" exclaimed Katara, though this time she blushed, all the same as Aang, whose feelings of irritation seemed to disappear at that "That's…! I'm not someone's girl!"

"Yeah, yeah" said Kino, rolling his eyes "Whatever you say, water lady. Now, are you going to send me back or not?"

Aang bit his lip and nodded, getting ready to shoot Kino through the ice tunnel again once the soldier had settled himself inside the hole.

"Don't forget about meeting with us in three days, alright?" said Aang.

"You guys really think I'm that forgetful?" said Kino, raising an eyebrow "I'll remember alright. I'll see you both by then… uh, Aang, was it?"

"Yeah" said Aang, smiling "And she's Katara. We'll meet again"

"Sure thing!" said Kino, smiling and waving before Aang cracked the ice wider so that Kino could fit into the tunnel more comfortably.

To their surprise, Kino began screaming again as he was sucked into the tunnel, but this time he seemed to shriek excitedly, for a change. He appeared on the very spot he had been standing at before, and Katara and Aang watched him as he looked around himself, probably wondering if someone had noticed his absence… but it seemed no soldier had taken notice of Kino's disappearance, even though he had been gone for quite some time.

"I guess he wasn't lying about his fellow soldiers not paying him any attention, huh?" said Aang, grimacing.

"Well, that's better for us" said Katara, sighing "If they really don't take him into account much, then they probably won't believe him if he tells them about what happened today"

"We're playing a weird game here, I'll say" said Aang, biting his lip "But I think we can trust this guy. He seems nice"

"Heh, nice for a Fire Nation soldier, maybe" said Katara, frowning "You can't trust them, Aang. When they thought they could get the better of our Tribe, they attacked it in the most cowardly way. Now, because you're too powerful for them, they're huddling in their settlement in fear… and they'll probably stay there until they get reinforcements. By then, you might think twice that about trusting Fire Nation soldiers…"

"I don't know, Katara" said Aang, smiling "You saw how this guy was. He wasn't what anyone would expect from a Fire Nation soldier, is he? If anything… you could see he's a normal human being. That he's a soldier doesn't make him evil…"

"How can you say that when they destroyed your people, Aang?" asked Katara, looking at Aang in disbelief "How can you still believe in the good within them when they've done so much wrong…?"

"Because I want to believe the world can change" said Aang, sighing "And if Kino turns out to be a good man, if he keeps his word and promises, then maybe you'll start to see things as I do. The wrong the Fire Nation has done can't be erased, but we can hope the new generations will be able to mend the damage caused by the previous ones"

"I still think that's very gullible of you…" said Katara, sighing "How do we know it's not some trap? How do we know the Fire Lord really said they shouldn't attack? And… why would he say that, for starters? It's so confusing…"

"Well, hopefully we'll find out in three days" said Aang, smiling and patting Katara's shoulder "In the mean time, we can't do anything other than waiting"

Katara sighed and nodded at that. He was right about that. For now, she needed to be patient…

Hours later, they returned to the Tribe again, and all the while, Aang watched Katara worriedly. Knowing she would discover what fate had befallen Sokka made her anxious, far too anxious. She was afraid of knowing the answer to that question, for she would dread to hear her brother was dead… but what if he lived? What if…?

Everyone in the Tribe noticed Katara was acting strangely, but she kept from saying anything. Aang and Katara had agreed on not revealing what they had been up to until they had gotten results from their deal with Kino, and thus they both remained silent about it during the three days they had to wait before meeting Kino again. Whenever they went training, Katara would begin asking questions nervously, and Aang could only laugh before telling her not to worry, for everything would work out well in the end. And if things didn't work out on their own, they would make them work somehow. Katara would only sigh at that, and she continued practicing her forms, her mind still lost in thoughts of her brother.

Eventually, the eve before the chosen day came, and Aang and Katara volunteered for the watch again. Hakoda had been rather surprised by their quick response, for nobody had ever seemed enthusiastic about taking a shift to watch the settlement before… but he came to his own conclusion soon enough. After agreeing with letting them take this shift, Hakoda had made the firm decision to keep tabs on his daughter's relationship with the Avatar. For even if he didn't mind having Aang as his son-in-law one day, he would need the young man to abide by tradition and ask to court Katara properly if he meant to take her as his wife eventually…

"Your dad started leering at me last night after we asked for this shift" said Aang, as he walked with Katara towards their vigilance site on the next day "I don't know if he suspects something about what we're up to…"

"Well, it's not that big a deal if he does" said Katara, breathing heavily as they reached the snow mounds "Because once we're done with this today, we'll be able to tell them whatever Kino tells us…"

"You think they'll take it well?" asked Aang "That we're getting information from a Fire Nation soldier…"

"They won't, but it's too late to worry about that now" said Katara "Besides, whatever they think isn't that important. What really matters right now is… he's there, Aang"

Aang glanced over the snow towards the settlement, and just as Katara had just said, Kino stood by the metallic wall, looking around himself as though he were searching for them. Aang couldn't help but smile before proceeding just as he had during his original capture of the soldier.

Kino was startled again when the ice cracked underneath him, and soon enough he was screaming again as he moved under the ice. Katara rolled her eyes at the sound and wondered just how was it that the Fire Nation soldiers didn't pick up on Kino's shouting. Either they weren't too smart, or they were really set on ignoring this particular comrade of theirs…

"AAAAAAH…!" Kino was squealing by the time he appeared before them. He opened his eyes and stopped screaming when he came to a halt, and he found Aang smiling down at him while Katara looked at him in disapproval "Oh… hey there!"

"Hello" said Aang, smiling kindly and extending a hand towards Kino to pull him to his feet.

"You don't have to scream every time you go through that tunnel, you know?" said Katara, looking at Kino skeptically.

"But it's fun!" exclaimed Kino happily, beaming "Good to see you both again!"

"Why so enthusiastic?" asked Aang, surprised.

"Because we're going fishing, right?!" said Kino, smiling brightly.

"Oh… yeah, sure, but first" said Katara, stepping forward towards Kino. She had almost forgotten all about the fishing trip by now "Tell us what you found out. Please… tell us"

Kino looked at her in surprise before clearing his throat and nodding solemnly. Both Aang and Katara looked at him expectantly.

"Well, first of all, nobody knows why the Fire Lord gave the command" said Kino, his hand going into his armor to pull out a sheet of paper "This is the official notice, in case you guys still don't believe me… the guys told I could keep this one, we've got a few of them after all. And well, as you can see…"

Katara took the sheet of paper in her hand, and Aang peeked over her shoulder to read the letter along with her. They both frowned as they read the content, and the looks on their faces were those of utter confusion.

"How can this be?" asked Katara, looking at Aang in disbelief "If this is real…"

"It looks real" said Aang, blinking a few times "And it says just what Kino told us, so…"

"See? I said I was serious about it" said Kino, folding his arms over his chest "It's why we haven't attacked you people lately. Not to mention that your waterbending prowess had us all very scared, Aang… how do you do it? This girl can't make half of what you…"

"Hey!" Katara exclaimed "I'm getting better at waterbending with every passing day, I'll have you know!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" said Kino, waving a hand carelessly.

"And well, even if this were true…" said Katara, leaving the letter in Aang's hands "What about… w-what about Sokka, Kino? Did you… did you find out something?"

"Well…" said Kino, gulping "I found out a few things. It took me quite a while to get a hold on the Captain, and he was so busy that I had to tail him for a whole day before he finally had time for me! So, well… the Captain wasn't here when the incident happened. He was still in the mainland, apparently, but there were rumors about what happened. According to what people were saying, General Chan had defeated the Water Tribe warriors when they attacked the settlement, and he had saved Princess Azula… afterwards, the Princess stopped at a village before returning to the Capital in order to drop a slave there, and…"

"A… a slave?" said Katara, her eyes widening "Y-you don't mean…"

"Yeah, well… and that's not really all of it" said Kino, biting his lip "Thing is, apparently they'd caught a Water Tribe warrior indeed, and he became a slave… but rumor says that the Princess decided to take him as her personal gladiator not long ago"

"What?!" Katara exclaimed, looking at Kino in disbelief "Y-you're saying… the Fire Nation Princess enslaved my brother and turned him into…? He's her slave?! How can that…? That's impossible! Sokka wouldn't let something like this happen to him! He… he's too stubborn, too hot-headed, too…!"

"He's alive" said Aang, looking at Katara gently when she stopped talking suddenly.

The realization brought tears to her eyes, even though it was what she had wanted to hear for years now. It was almost as though her numb heart had been revived upon this news, and it was starting to beat as powerfully as it had back when her brother had still been here, when he had been around to annoy her and goof around in the village…

"He's alive, Katara" said Aang, smiling and placing a hand on her shoulder "He's alive"

Katara couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She turned towards Aang and held onto him tightly, crying on his parka as he surrounded her with his arms. Kino watched them with slight discomfort, feeling as though he were out of place completely. Were they really going to fish if she was so upset about the news he had given her? And here he had thought she would be happy to know her brother was alive…

"B-but he's in the worst situation, Aang…" said Katara, pulling away after a moment, with a pained look on her face as tears streamed down her cheeks "He's… he's the Princess's gladiator? What sort of…? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well… if I may" intervened Kino, earning himself their attention again "It was just a rumor. I have no idea if he's really with the Princess or not… I'd need confirmation of some sort, but this is just what the Captain has heard. Maybe she got herself another gladiator, one that has nothing to do with your brother, and people are mixing both stories up"

"That's likely the case, truth to be told" said Aang.

"W-well, but even if that were the case, we still can't leave Sokka in their mercy now that we know of his situation, Aang" said Katara, looking at him with despair "We have to do something, somehow…"

"Do what, exactly?" asked Kino, frowning "You're not expecting to cause trouble in the Fire Nation after we've decided to leave you guys alone, are you?"

Katara froze upon that. The soldier was looking at her judgmentally, a silly pout on his face. She gritted her teeth and shook her head.

"I can't just stand by and leave my brother in some ashmaker's control…" she muttered.

"No, I guess not" said Aang, nodding "Still, there's little we can do as we are. We'd have to travel to the Fire Nation or so to discover if what Kino told us was right or not…"

"And how do you plan on doing that?" asked Kino, raising an eyebrow "You guys wouldn't make it ten minutes through Fire Nation waters, anyone would know you don't belong there. Especially her, since she's got Water Tribe written all over her face"

"Ugh, true enough, but we have to do something, I don't care what, but we do!" said Katara, pacing nervously.

"Uh… how about we go fishing and then we figure out what to do?" said Kino, biting his lip "You guys promised, after all…"

Aang was taken aback by that, and he looked at Katara with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, we did promise" he said "And while he fishes we could decide on what to do, too…"

Katara looked at Aang in dismay before sighing loudly and shaking her head.

"Fine, fine, let's take him fishing now… but we're going to figure out how to rescue Sokka!"

"The guy might just be living as a royal and you're insisting on bringing him into this frozen wasteland… you know, if I were your brother, I'd be mad at you if you did that to me" said Kino "But never mind, it's your brother and your problem! I say we should just go catch some fish!"

Katara swallowed hard as she and Aang started towards the fishing area together, with Kino treading beside them enthusiastically. Aang smiled at Katara and placed a hand on her shoulder, and she lifted her gaze towards his.

"See, you could believe in your brother after all. He's still out there, Katara" he said "And if he's been strong enough to survive this long, I'm sure he'll survive until we find a way to bring him back home. Believe in his strength, Katara"

"I… I will" said Katara, gulping again and nodding "I will. It's Sokka, after all… he wouldn't just let the Fire Nation kill him. He's too stubborn for that, isn't he? He's…"

Aang smiled when she suddenly chuckled, as more tears she couldn't hold back poured from her eyes.

"He's alive, Aang" she repeated, laughing in relief "He's alive!"


	72. Chapter 72

"And after your last two fights, you're officially at the spot 199 in the ranking!" Shoji exclaimed, beaming as he looked at the Blue Wolf and his sponsor "With a grand total of 5734 points!"

Sokka's jaw dropped, but Azula smirked in approval. She had been expecting Sokka's results to be quite positive after his latest fights, and even though his new privileged position in the ranking was a surprise, she was far more satisfied than disbelieving upon the news.

The people who passed them by in the Grand Royal Dome's vestibule looked at them with reverence. Some greeted her with a nod, others smiled, some bowed respectfully… but almost all of the people who passed them by acknowledged Azula and her gladiator's presence one way or another. And earning the masses' respect, commoners and noblemen alike, also stirred satisfaction within Azula. Her history with Sokka within the gladiator business had been anything but smooth, yet this new respect they had obtained was proof that their reputation had recovered from the blows it had received in the past. The pair of them were currently more successful than they had ever been. Only time would tell if everything would continue to go their way…

"That's real crazy" said Sokka, gulping "I'm way too high!"

"What, afraid of heights, are you?" Azula teased, smirking "If anything, we're where we should be. And we can still aim much higher than this"

"Heh, well… if you say so" said Sokka, gulping. Long ago, when Azula had found him, he had never even dreamt he could rise at all within the Superior Gladiator League's ranking… surviving while being within the lower half had been a surprise already. Being on the top two hundred fighters was a lot to digest, and rising from here on promised to prove far more difficult than everything they had faced up to date…

"What challenges do we have, Shoji?" Azula asked.

"Oh, I'll get them for you right away!" he said, moving towards where the challenges were stored.

Azula glanced towards Sokka, finding he was fidgeting. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of him.

"And what are you so nervous about?" she asked "You're usually so pleased with yourself, why do you seem bothered by being 199?"

"W-well, it's a lot of progress, you know" said Sokka, scratching the back of his head "I didn't see it coming so fast, if it came at all"

With that, he gave her a nervous chuckle. Azula raised an eyebrow, but she couldn't continue to question Sokka, for Shoji approached them again, giving Azula the sheets of paper where her challenges had been written.

"There they are" said Shoji, smiling "They're not too many, but maybe one of them could interest you…"

Azula frowned and took the six challenges Shoji had given her. None of the names of the challenging gladiators were remotely familiar.

"Where in the ranking are these fighters?" she asked, waving the challenges towards Shoji.

"Uh… well, they're all below the Blue Wolf, actually" said Shoji, smiling weakly "It's to be expected, since you're already on the top half of the ranking. You're bound to get more challenges from lower-ranked gladiators from now on…"

"Which isn't very helpful" said Azula, disapprovingly, placing the challenges on the counter "The last time Sokka fought someone below him, it was a crazed waterbender who wanted to kill him, so I'm not taking that sort of risk anymore"

"You think I'll be safer by fighting people who are above me in the ranking?" asked Sokka, looking at her in disbelief.

"I think the fighters above you will want to fight you for the sake of points, perhaps for money… the ones below might have crazy intentions or delusions of grandeur, and I'd rather avoid people like that" said Azula.

"Well, you can always issue out your own challenges, of course" said Shoji, smiling "Or better yet, now I think about it... you could join the Pairs Tournament in Ba Sing Se!"

"Pairs Tournament?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't say anything about it before, but the Blue Wolf is in the proper level of the ranking to participate in the event now" said Shoji, smiling "In fact, he's in the exact position he had to be at in order to join the Tournament. It's open from the spot 100 to 200, after all"

"Huh, right in the nick of it" said Sokka, surprised "Well, that doesn't sound so bad…"

"Of course not, but who would you have as your partner?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow "I figure 'pairs' implies you'll have to fight alongside another gladiator…"

"Could be better if it meant that both the gladiator and the sponsor would fight together, don't you think?" said Sokka, smiling.

"Oh, well, we would win the tournament without a doubt if that were the case" said Azula, smiling proudly "But I don't think that's the way it works"

"It's not, actually" said Shoji, smiling weakly "As you said, it's two gladiators fighting against two gladiators. It's a pretty interesting tournament, though. I wish they would hold them here from time to time, but it's a location event, just like the Scavenger Hunt is always held at the Ring of Ash. All Pairs Tournaments take place in Ba Sing Se. Still, even if traveling there takes a while, this is the sort of tournament that you two would surely join if you could…"

"Surely?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow "You're all that confident you'd know what decisions we'd make, Shoji…?"

"Well… I just think you'd like to take part in this event" said Shoji, blushing weakly "See, for every fight you win, you take the points from both fighters you defeat. So if it's a boost in the ranking what you want, you're sure to find it with this event"

Azula raised an eyebrow, now actually intrigued by the Tournament.

"That does sound appealing, I will admit…" said the Princess.

"Still, there's also a big risk" said Shoji, smiling weakly "If you lose, you get your opponent's gladiator value deducted from your total points score as well…"

"Huh?!" Sokka said, jumping "Losing points? Oh, no. No, no, no, no! Not a chance we're going to risk something like that! Not when we got this high!"

"Indeed" said Azula, frowning "The idea of taking points for two fighters in a single fight is quite appealing… but losing points takes away that appeal instantly. And even if we didn't care about the points, we can't join this event. We don't have anyone to join with, after all"

"Well… you could try to ask other sponsors with fighters in this level" said Shoji, shrugging "I'm sure there are plenty of them who would comply…"

"Surely, but we don't know how efficient their fighters are, let alone if they could work well with Sokka" said Azula, shaking her head "I don't think I can genuinely trust in joining forces with anyone else"

"Yeah, we've done well by ourselves so far" said Sokka, smiling proudly "So let's just send off another challenge and forget this Tournament thing"

"Indeed, let's do that" said Azula, nodding "Can I see the ranking, Shoji?"

"Sure thing" said Shoji, handing the large sheet to them.

Azula inspected it closely, with Sokka looking at it from over her shoulder. The Princess frowned as she looked at all the available fighters, hardly any of them spiking her interest.

"Who is Miracle Stone?" she asked, raising an eyebrow "Is it someone interesting?"

"He's a pretty strong earthbender, truth be told" said Shoji, grimacing "I would stay clear off that one for the time being. The Blue Wolf has improved, and he's had a great streak lately…"

"And you think this guy could break it?" asked Azula, sighing "Well, not this one, then. How about the Dancing Staff?"

"Eh, that's a good one, but his sponsor has a weird policy, only sends challenges and never accepts them" said Shoji, shrugging "But maybe he'll send you one someday?"

"I'm not about to keep waiting until he does" grunted Azula, sighing in defeat "I'm looking for a fight we could win, simple as that"

"Well, maybe we could try to fight against someone who's higher than this one" said Sokka, taking the paper himself "I do think we've gotten too high too fast, but if you think about it, I fought against some pretty strong people back when I was just starting out, didn't I?"

"Indeed" said Azula, thoughtful.

"And I've gotten much stronger since then" said Sokka "Also more resourceful…"

"Which has worked in our favor, despite how extreme your latest resources have been" said Azula, raising her eyebrows before turning towards Shoji again "How is the smoked gladiator doing? Have you had any word on it?"

"He survived, if that's what you're wondering" said Shoji, smiling a little "Mayor Kuan had him moved to a hospital over at Fire Fountain City, where he's being cared for. His battling days are over, though"

"Huh…" said Sokka, sighing "Well, I'm glad he didn't die, at least…"

"What were you saying before, though?" Azula asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"Just that, if I'd already fought against people ranked higher than this dancer gladiator, we should be able to go up against tougher ones yet" he said, looking at the ranking "See, the Savage Hook is up here and he's currently the 148th. I beat him back then, and I'm much tougher than I was when I fought him. We've definitely got to be stronger than him by now, I think. And we should also be stronger than…"

"Than?" asked Azula, raising her eyebrows when Sokka didn't finish his sentence.

Sokka seemed to grow nervous when she looked at him questioningly. He really didn't think mentioning Kyoshi's Heir would be a good idea, not when their relationship was doing better than ever…

But even though he wanted to simply point at her name to show Azula what he'd meant, to avoid any problems, he quickly realized he couldn't find it. He frowned as he continued to browse through the paper, a confused frown on his face.

"Where is she?" he asked, looking at the top hundred fighters "She can't be that high by now, or can she?"

"Who, exactly?" asked Azula, though she already knew what the answer to her question was.

Sokka gulped and looked at her with mild guilt, and Azula raised an eyebrow slowly, giving him a dangerous look.

"Y-you know, Kyoshi's Heir was the highest ranked gladiator we've fought against, so I figured we'd be better than her by now… but I don't know if I missed out on her or something" said Sokka, frowning and looking at the ranking carefully "I mean, she should be around 120 by now, maybe more, maybe less… I figure, at least"

"And she's not?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow and looking at the ranking herself "Maybe she dropped instead of rising, if you can't find her up there"

"I suppose it's a possibility, but i still don't see…"

"Uh… you're asking about… Kyoshi's Heir?" said Shoji, biting his lip.

"Yeah" said Sokka, looking at Shoji and dropping the ranking in front of him "I beat her, so I thought I'd be able to fight against some gladiators around her level just fine, but…"

"She's not there anymore" Shoji finished, earning himself a confused frown from both sponsor and gladiator.

"What do you mean, she's not there anymore?" said Sokka "What is it, did she change names or…?"

"She's out of the ranking" replied Shoji, sighing "She's not there anymore because she dropped out a few months ago…"

"She dropped out? Why?" asked Azula "Was it because of wounds? Or did she go three months without fighting...?"

"Maybe a twenty loss streak?" asked Sokka.

"None of those" said Shoji, shaking his head "On her last fight she even killed her opponent. He was a tough one, but she managed to defeat him and got out of it unscathed…"

"Maybe she didn't mean to kill him…" said Sokka, frowning.

"Of course she didn't" said Shoji, shaking his head "But that's… that wasn't it, not really. See, I also thought it was odd to get an unforeseen message one day telling me to write her off the ranking… so I decided to look a little more into it"

"And what did you find?" asked Sokka, a hand on his waist as he looked at Shoji expectantly.

"Not nearly enough" said Shoji, shaking his head "I tried to find out why I had gotten an official army message to tell me she wasn't going to fight anymore…"

"Official army message?" Azula repeated "What would the army have to do with this?"

"That's what I was wondering when I got the message" said Shoji "It didn't make much sense to me either. When gladiators drop out, either the sponsor himself comes by to inform it, or he sends the message himself… but that's not what we got with Kyoshi's Heir. So I wasn't sure what had happened… it was quite a hectic week, to top it all off, so…"

"A hectic week?" Sokka said "But if you said that was months ago, then…"

"It was back during that incident when we were all sent underground" said Shoji, nodding "I received the message once the Arena resumed working. We had a few things to reschedule, some fights had overlapped because that we had lost almost two whole days… and getting messages about gladiators dropping out in that situation would have been understandable, maybe. People were scared, and they feared the terrorists would come back to the Capital, so they might have wanted to flee from the mainland…"

"But it's one thing to get a drop-out message from a sponsor and another one to get it from the army" said Azula, frowning "Especially when the army was as busy as it was at the time…"

"I thought so too" said Shoji, nodding "So after a few weeks, I went over to the army's barracks to ask about it, and I got very vague answers… but from what one soldier told me, well… it seemed her sponsor was one of the terrorists"

"What?" Azula exclaimed, her eyes widening "Her sponsor…? That old man was a member of the White Lotus?!"

"That... That makes no sense!" said Sokka, shaking his head "Why would they be members of the White Lotus? And if this is true, then that means I… I got Kyoshi's Heir locked up in jail?!"

"I don't know if she was a member of this Lotus thing like her sponsor was" said Shoji, shaking his head "But even if she were, she wasn't sent to jail. I asked them about her exclusively… and they told me what happened with her. She wasn't directly involved in the situation that you two dealt with"

"She probably wasn't on that ship, then" said Sokka, frowning "And she wasn't she one of the people they were breaking out, right?"

"No. I think her sponsor was, but not her" said Shoji "According to the Lieutenant I talked to, a large group of soldiers went into Oyaji's house to search it, trying to find anything else that might link him with the Lotus people. I don't know if they found what they were looking for, they wouldn't tell me… and I didn't really care about that too much. But they found her there, and apparently she tried to send them off when they barged into the house without permission. Still, even though she was so strong, there was little she could do in such a small space, fighting against at least ten firebending soldiers…"

Sokka's eyes widened, his fists clenched as he heard Shoji's words.

"What… what happened to her?" he asked "They didn't kill her, did they?"

"No, they… they didn't" said Shoji, shaking his head "They had no idea who she was. None of the soldiers were the type who frequented the Arena, so they had no clue she was a gladiator. They were impressed by her strength, but they didn't understand they were dealing with an accomplished fighter… so after subduing her, leaving her unconscious, they sent her to the slave market"

"The slave market?" asked Sokka again, aghast "They sold her?"

"They didn't, they just threw her in the market" said Shoji "They made no money out of it. They figured she was just Oyaji's servant or so. Oyaji wasn't going to need her services anytime soon, so they sent her to the same place where they figured Oyaji had gotten her, so that she could be sold to someone who could keep her in line. That's what they told me, at least"

"And then what?" asked Sokka, worriedly "Did she get sold, or is she still there? Did she rejoin the ranking under another name, with a new sponsor…?"

"No, she didn't" said Shoji, shaking his head "I went to the market after that, and I asked at every servant stand, hoping to find whoever had taken her after the soldiers had dropped her here. The lieutenant described the salesman who had taken her for me, but he didn't know his name, so it took me some time to find him. When I finally did, I asked him about her fate… and he told me she had been one seriously feisty slave, and he'd had to use shackles and chains to keep her in line. And that, just a few days before I asked, two men had showed up at the stand, and they'd decided to buy her…"

"What sort of men?" asked Sokka, looking more worried with every new bit of Shoji's explanation "Did the salesman tell you anything about them?"

"He said the guys told him they'd come from Shu Wo, an old town located southeast from here. It takes a long trip to get there" said Shoji "And, well… I have no idea what sort of men they were, but the salesman wanted to get rid of Kyoshi's Heir as quickly as he could. She really was too much to handle for him. He took them up on their first offer… and that's the last I could find out about her"

"S-so she's… she's working as some guys' slave?" Sokka repeated "Maybe in… in the Amateur League now?"

"I doubt it" said Azula, frowning "I don't think there was an Amateur League Arena there… I've never heard of such, at least. Gladiator fights, even the amateur ones, are too organized a practice for a town like Shu Wo. They don't even have their own slave market, which is why, when I first brought you to the Fire Nation, we took you to Hui Yi instead. In all honesty… it would have been utter cruelty to leave you in Shu Wo"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Sokka, looking at her worriedly.

"Shu Wo means Rat's Den" said Azula "It's one of the worst locations in the Fire Nation… it's similar to that nest of scumbags we found when we were looking for the Rough Rhinos. Sick practices of any sort take place there; whatever you can imagine, it's certain to happen there. Army raids take place in the town once in a while, in an attempt to keep the town in check, but as soon as they army is gone, it goes back to its usual state"

"H-how can such a place exist here?" said Sokka, looking at Azula in disbelief "This is the Fire Nation! Aren't you guys boasting constantly about being advanced and civilized? That town sounds like the entire opposite of that!"

"Well, precisely" said Azula, lowering her gaze "Order and civilization don't work unanimously everywhere. There will always be rebels, just as the Rough Rhinos. The only thing the Fire Lords could do in order to keep from slaughtering their own people and bringing about a civil war was to seclude those sorts of rebels in a single town…"

"That's stupid" said Sokka, shaking his head "It's preposterous! And she's… she's there, in a rat's den, being subjected to hell knows what treatment?! This is… this is awful, Azula…"

"I know it is, but there's nothing we can do about it as we are" said Azula, shaking her head "She might have gotten out of there already, for all we…"

"If the salesman kept her chained, he must have told the ones that bought her to do the same thing" exclaimed Sokka "Chained, Azula! She's being treated like some wild beast or something, has been treated like one for months now, and we're just…!"

"We're what, Sokka?" she asked, looking at him with raised eyebrows "How were we supposed to know her sponsor had anything to do with the White Lotus, or that her fate is as awful as it is? It's not like we got her there, we had absolutely nothing to do with it!"

"But we can have something to do with it now" he said, frowning "I get that you're not her biggest fan or anything close to that, but we have to do something. She doesn't deserve a fate like that, Azula! Nobody does!"

"I know as much" said Azula, staring right back at him "I did just say it would have been beyond cruel to leave you there, didn't I? And what do you even want me to do, Sokka? You think I'm some sort of advocate for slave's rights? You think I can just walk into that hell hole and pull her out of there because I feel like it?"

"Of course! You're the Princess!" said Sokka, looking at her in disbelief "If anyone can get her out of there, it's you!"

"The girl is a slave, and those guys bought and paid for her" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "By logic, she's just a possession, so by taking her from them I'd be committing a crime, no less…"

"That's… yeah, sure, a crime" said Sokka, gritting his teeth "And what they're doing to her isn't a crime as well? If as you said, they do all sorts of practices there, she's got to be in a living hell right now! And even if you don't know what that's like, Azula, I do! Do I have to remind you that you were the last person I would have ever wanted to join forces with back when you found me in Hui Yi? I agreed to your deal because I'd rather become my worst enemy's gladiator than to continue living like that! Hell, I didn't even have a clue if I'd continue living or not! For all I knew, my next day could have been my last! And I almost…!"

"You almost what?" asked Azula, frowning, when he shook his head.

"Never mind. What I'm saying is, if you got me out of there, we can get her out of this place too. Azula, please…"

"I…" she said, shaking her head "Do you expect me to save every single slave we meet, Sokka? Do you think I have magical powers and I can just give every one of them a new, better life just because you ask me to? As much as you may not think so, my resources really aren't unlimited, so…"

"So you're not doing this, then" said Sokka, his gaze hardening and making Azula freeze in her spot "You're just… going to let her rot there, that's it?"

"Sokka, that's not what I'm saying, I…"

"I get it, don't bother explaining" he said, shaking his head and staring off towards the Arena's doors.

"Sokka!" she called after him, frowning. She would have pursued him immediately, but people were staring towards them now. She didn't need negative attention, not now…

"Uh… so, um… are you going to challenge anyone at all?" asked Shoji, biting his lip.

"I… I'll get you back on that later" said Azula, shaking her head before following Sokka outside, a heavy frown on her face.

"Okay, then…" said Shoji, sinking in his seat and watching them leave, worriedly. It was a relief that someone had finally asked about Kyoshi's Heir, but he definitely hadn't expected it to end this way...

Azula blasted through the Arena's doors, her eyes looking for Sokka frantically until she spotted him already walking down the street, his head hunched and his arms at either side of his body, hands balled into fists. She gritted her teeth before following him, knowing this new conflict they'd landed themselves in couldn't possibly end well… just when things were starting to go well, on top of it all. Azula could hardly believe her bad luck.

"Sokka, stop. Sokka!" she called him before reaching him, grabbing him by the shoulder.

"What?" said Sokka, frowning and turning towards her "Changed your mind?"

"No, I… I didn't change my mind, but you can't just storm off like that!" she exclaimed "Why are you acting like this? It's not like you… you said things with you two hadn't gone well, so why are you taking this so personally? It's not like you're responsible for what happened to her, Sokka!"

"I already told you, I may not be responsible, but I can make a difference!" said Sokka "We can, the two of us! You saved me from my own hell, why can't we do the same for her?!"

"Because as I said, I can't go around saving the lives of every single slave you happen to have dated once or twice" she growled "You alone have caused me more trouble than I could handle on most accounts! So why don't you try to step into my shoes for a moment and realize I'm in no position to steal other people's slaves just because you're asking me to do so?!"

"I didn't tell you to steal her, you could just buy her off, couldn't you?" said Sokka "Hell, you're the Princess! Whatever you say should be a command, Azula! The moment they see you they'll crawl to your feet and tell you to do as you wish, that's how it works!"

"And then what?" asked Azula, frowning "What do you want me to do with her, huh? Set you two up so you can live happily together in your house? When we found Song, I bought her for you because you clearly needed someone like her in order to survive! I didn't do it out of the good will of my heart, out of some irrational urge to save the lives of everyone in pain that I might come across!"

"So you're saying… you're saying it doesn't matter, then?" he said, looking at her in disbelief "You're saying that the pain a slave is subjected to… it doesn't matter? Unless that slave can be of some use to you, you're not going to bother? Is that how it works, then, even after all this time?"

Azula froze at that. No, it wasn't the way it worked… not really, not anymore. But she couldn't save this girl… she couldn't even consider it. Her entire body was against the notion, simply because she knew she had caught Sokka's eye once. But the more she thought about it, the more ridiculous that excuse seemed to be…

"It's not because it's her, Azula…" said Sokka, shaking his head "It's not like I'm asking you to do this because I want her for myself. You can get her and, I don't know, free her, maybe! Let her return to the Earth Kingdom, something like that! My real problem is… that she's living in those conditions. I can't fathom that someone like her is in that situation. It's wrong, by all accounts, it's just…"

"She's not the only slave in a dire situation, Sokka" said Azula, shaking her head "If your problem is that slaves are mistreated, well… I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about it right now! My father established the slavery industry as it is, and telling him to abolish it would be to ask for a death sentence, especially when I'm not even on his good side after refusing his wishes as openly as I did during my birthday"

"You still could try, damn it… you could do something" said Sokka, his head dropping.

"I don't think slaves… I don't think slaves deserve to be treated like this, Sokka" said Azula, stepping towards him "And I… I will do something about it, when I have a chance. But as we are, it's not going to work. I know it's not reassuring at all, Sokka, but I will do something about it… one day, I will"

"One day?" said Sokka, looking at her reproachfully "One day, when every gladiator in the Amateur League have killed each other and there's none left? When all abused slaves have died at the hand of their masters? Is that when you'll be able to do something, then?"

"Sokka, you can't just… I'll do everything in my power to change that, but I can't do it at the moment!" she said "I can't save everyone just because you ask me to! No matter how hard I tried right now, I can't just…"

"Yeah… I guess not" said Sokka, shaking his head.

"I've done my best when it comes to you and Song" said Azula, looking at him with a frown "But that doesn't mean I'm some sort of slave savior or anything of the sort, Sokka, I…"

"The problem is, Azula…" said Sokka, with a bark of skeptical laughter "That you saved me. And I…"

"You what, Sokka?" asked Azula.

"I'm a mess, Azula" he said, shaking his head "I… I'm an idiot, and I keep making mistakes. I'm not… I'm not that great a person, you know? So while I am what I am, I'm your gladiator… while someone like Suki, who probably had never done anything bad in her life, is stuck in that town, enslaved by a pair of scumbags. That's what I just…"

"That's it, then. You think you're not worthy of this" said Azula, looking at him, but he refused to meet her gaze "For some reason you… you think you shouldn't have an easy life. That there are others who should have this life, but not you. Why?"

"Azula… you wouldn't understand" he said, shaking his head before turning around "Forget it. I just… forget it"

"Where are you going?" Azula asked, frowning when he started walking away.

"Nowhere. Never mind" he muttered so softly she hardly heard him.

Azula gritted her teeth and turned around, huffing in frustration. She could hardly believe he was behaving so unreasonably… and yet he was acting as though the unreasonable one was her. She couldn't deliver justice to every soul out there, not when she was simply a Princess. Once she became the Fire Lord she would be free to change laws and make different decrees that would treat slaves more fairly, perhaps… but right now she was virtually powerless. And she couldn't save every single slave individually, that was simply preposterous!

Still… she couldn't help but feel guilty as she thought about the things Sokka had said. Indeed, if she didn't act soon, most slaves would die. Heaps of them already had. But she felt helpless… she couldn't do what he was asking from her, even if she had every intention to do so.

And she frowned while wondering what Sokka's problem was. It wasn't the first time he confessed to feeling unworthy of the benefits he had obtained by being her gladiator, but this time it seemed worse than before. This time he was more upset than usual, and he had even walked off on his own accord… and it was all because of this girl, of course. Even when she was gone, when they hadn't even seen her again in months, the mere mention of her could estrange their relationship in a matter of seconds. Azula shook her head and sighed. She shouldn't care about that… she really shouldn't. Her heart shouldn't ache upon the thought of Sokka worrying over someone other than her… for why should he only care about Azula? He was his own person, and he had every right to worry for whoever he wanted to worry… right?

But she feared being replaced again. She feared he might have underlying intentions when it came to this girl… back when he had first met her, he had tried to use her to forget about Azula, he had confessed as much. Who could say he wasn't hoping to accomplish the same feat now? Maybe he was worried, maybe he really wanted to save her just for the girl's sake… but what then?

Azula was rubbing her forehead with a hand when she heard a familiar groan coming closer. She raised her head to find Xin Long landing right before her, making people scatter in fear and admiration of the dark creature.

"Ah, nice timing" said Azula, sighing and approaching the dragon, caressing his helmet gently "Finally someone whose real thoughts I can see without an issue…"

Xin Long had perceived how troubled she was, and he had flown towards her quickly. He sniffed her clothes and prompted her to jump on his back, and Azula sighed before complying with his wishes.

"I don't know what he expects of me" she sighed, lying back on the saddle as they flew through the clouds "I guess I'm the only person who can change things for the better… but that's easier said than done. I can't possibly tell my father to abolish slavery… and I can't just go save that girl because he asks me to. By that logic, I should save every single slave, right?"

Xin Long groaned and nodded, though he made a point to say she shouldn't be so opposed to the notion. What was so wrong about saving this girl?

"You don't understand, Xin" she whispered "She's not just any girl… I mean, at least she's not that slut of a bounty hunter. If Sokka had asked me to do anything for her, I'd burn the moron to a crisp before informing him that I'd rather relinquish my position as Princess than to have anything to do with her. But still…"

Xin Long snickered before asking if this former gladiator girl was competition. Azula retaliated by kicking his flank lightly.

"Competition… well, for all I know she might be" growled Azula "No matter how far he tries to go with me, he'll never get what he wants through me. She could do that for him, I can't. And if he really thinks she's oh, so wonderful, that she mustn't have done anything bad in her life, who's to say that's not what he wants? But I… I'm not going to gift him with a wife just because he asked nicely. Which he didn't, by the way"

Xin Long's next response made Azula glare at him. For the dragon believed that, if she didn't want Sokka to mate with anyone else, she should simply mate with him herself, screw the consequences. If that was all Sokka wanted, then he wouldn't ask her to save this girl for that sake anymore. This way she could save her without fearing he would abandon her. It was all really simple, it seemed to Xin Long…

"You deserve another kick for that" she grunted "I already said I can't do something of the sort. And it's anything but simple. I just… I don't want him to get involved with her, or anyone. And well, he actually said he wouldn't involve himself with anyone, now I think of it. That he would focus only on fighting for me because I wouldn't let him have a life…"

Xin Long turned his head to look at her worriedly when he felt Azula grow more miserable still, as she remembered the worst argument she had ever had with Sokka.

"I guess he was right" said Azula, sighing "I won't let him have a life. He was willing to let me marry someone else… and I won't give him the same luxury. Maybe I'm really not as wonderful a sponsor as I thought I was… maybe I'm just…"

Azula sighed and shook her head. Only one word came to her head that described what she really thought of herself right now. And it was depressing… because it was true. There was one main reason why she refused to comply with his wishes, and as much as she tried to deny it, it was undeniable.

"I'm really a bad person, aren't I?" she muttered, sitting up and rubbing her forehead with a hand "Because of an old grudge that's actually no fault of hers, I'm willing to let that girl suffer until the end of her days…"

Xin Long asked her if she really would do that. Azula sighed and clenched her jaw.

"I would… but I guess I won't" she muttered "I owe him as much, after all. I might just be paranoid about her because of what happened back then… maybe nothing would happen between them if I brought her back here somehow"

But even if she wanted to believe that, she couldn't quite do so. The fear of being forsaken by Sokka could only linger inside her, growing stronger if she tried to fight against it. It really wasn't that odd for Azula to brace herself for the worst case scenario, was it? It was what any capable strategist would do… but this wasn't about strategy. It was about saving someone's life, even though she wasn't really sure she wanted to do that.

She sighed and realized she really had no choice. If she didn't do something about this, Sokka would fall into the same mindset he had been in when he fought against Jet. She knew his fighting was at its best when his mind was at peace, so she had to bring peace to him somehow. Even if she didn't think it would end well for her, she had to do it for his sake. He had fought for hers just a few weeks ago… it was only right for her to return the favor, wasn't it?

But she couldn't just fly there herself and fetch the girl. Maybe it was her pride that told her she shouldn't follow that course of action… maybe it was her common sense, for a Princess snatching a slave randomly would be seen as nothing more than abuse of power. So she couldn't do it directly… but maybe someone else could. Someone who could take care of the girl once she had been brought to safety. Someone who could watch over her and employ her somehow… someone who owed Azula a favor, and who could keep this girl away from Sokka, at least, for the time being…

She was already regretting her decision as soon as she had made it, but it was better than nothing. And it was definitely better than saving the former gladiator herself. And if what Sokka really cared about was to know Kyoshi's Heir was no longer a slave in Shu Wo, he would have no right to object to this course of action… right?

It still wouldn't keep him from getting involved with Kyoshi's Heir if that was what he wanted, of course. But this way Azula wouldn't have to deal with her directly. She wouldn't hand the slave over to Sokka as some plaything, telling him to do with her as he saw fit…

Xin Long touched down at the location she requested him to fly towards, and she still didn't feel comfortable at all about what she was doing. Nonetheless, she approached the house and knocked on the door swiftly, but loudly. The quicker she was done with this, the better it would be for her. Once her demands had been conveyed, she would have nothing to do with this matter anymore.

She heard sounds coming from the upper floor, and she frowned as she raised her gaze, wondering what was going on. Voices spoke agitatedly, then hurried footsteps…

And after a moment, Ty Lee opened the door hastily, looking outside nervously.

"A-Azula?! What are you doing here, out of the blue?" she asked, once she had realized who her visitor was.

Azula's face contorted into a disapproving grimace as soon as she detailed Ty Lee's appearance. She only wore what seemed to be a bathrobe, and her hair was in total disarray, not assembled into the braid she was always so careful about. If that hadn't given away what she had been up to, her flushed cheeks and odd stance sure did.

"Well, I was just hoping you'd be available… for some reason I was under the impression that you kept your 'fun activities' with Haru to a minimum while we're still in broad daylight, but apparently I was wrong" she said, looking at Ty Lee with a raised eyebrow, and the girl blushed and slinked into the house, a weak smile on her face.

"C-c'mon, Azula, it's not like you really blame me, do you?" she said, ushering Azula inside "I don't know how you hold back around Sokka, but I sure can't do the same thing with Haru!"

"Which is why I figure you'd appreciate it if this visit is done quickly" said Azula, sighing "Well, my business won't take long anyways…"

"No? Ah, well, good to know" she said, smiling with relief "I kind of left Haru in a bit of a troublesome situation and…"

"You need to get back to him, I get it, I don't want nor need any details" said Azula, lifting a hand to stop Ty Lee from rambling "I'm only here because you owe me a favor, in case you've forgotten. A great one, apparently, for you're still enjoying your gladiator in more ways than any sponsor should…"

"Oh, come on, if you could get away with it you'd do the same with…"

"Nevertheless" Azula interrupted her, hoping to change the subject before Ty Lee began pestering her actively about Sokka "I finally have something to ask of you. And the sooner I'm done telling you what it is, the sooner you'll be back with your dear boy toy"

"Okay, then" said Ty Lee, a little nervous "Shoot"

Azula took a deep breath, resisting the urge to turn on her heels and leaving right away. She had gotten this far, there was no point in delaying this anymore. It was for the best, she just had to focus on that…

"I need you to head into Shu Wo" she said, trying to ignore the look of utter horror in Ty Lee's face when she heard the town's name "And find a slave who was a gladiator of the Superior League once. You might have seen her fight, maybe Haru has heard of her…"

"W-why would you need someone who wound up in Shu Wo?" she asked, grimacing "That's a very nasty place, Azula. I don't think I want to go there…"

"You have a massive debt to me, Ty Lee" Azula growled, glaring at her friend "So either you do this and I consider that debt settled, or you don't do it and I'll find an even worse way to make you pay for it. How do you feel about that?"

"Can't say I'm thrilled by the idea" said Ty Lee, gulping "W-well, alright then. It can be done, I think. Who do you want me to find, though?"

"Her gladiator name was Kyoshi's Heir" said Azula, her stomach burning when she pronounced the name.

"Heh? Kyoshi's Heir? That's the one who fought Sokka ages ago, right?" said Ty Lee, tapping her chin "The one he was being all…"

"Yes, I do know who she is, Ty Lee, no need to ramble about that" said Azula, gritting her teeth "You watched that fight?"

"Ah, yeah, I dragged Zuko to it" said Ty Lee, smiling "But… what is she doing in Shu Wo, Azula? Why did she…?"

"What matters is for you to get her out of there, not why she's there or how she got there" grunted Azula "Buy her off from whoever owns her at the moment and bring her back to the Capital. That's all you need to do"

"B-but… I don't think I need another slave" said Ty Lee, frowning.

"Clearly, considering how the one you've got is already catering to your every need" said Azula, disdainfully, and Ty Lee smiled guiltily "But you're going to do this, Ty Lee, because I'm telling you to. I don't care if you don't have any use for a slave like her, taking care of her will be part of the debt you have to settle. Eventually we shall figure out what to do with her… but right now, you're doing as you're told. Am I clear?"

"Ah, well… on my mission, you are, but not on what the whole point of this is…" said Ty Lee, scratching her head.

"You don't need to understand that, you just need to find her and bring her here. That's it" Azula stated, moving towards the door "And try to do it soon, if you'll be so kind…"

"W-well, I was kind of in the middle of something right now, so I can't say I'll be going right away, but… I'll make sure to do it, don't worry" said Ty Lee, smiling nervously.

"Good" Azula replied, stepping outside into the street again, where Xin Long awaited her "Make sure to inform me once you've accomplished your goal"

"Sure thing!" said Ty Lee, smiling "This is cool, though, it almost feels like I was some secret agent on a royal quest of sorts…"

"Uh… right" said Azula, looking at her in disbelief "Think whatever you will of it, no matter if your idea of what you'll do is somewhat delusional…"

"Hey!"

"Please, do me a favor and don't resume your tryst with Haru until you've made sure I'm out of earshot" said Azula, sighing before climbing atop Xin Long "I definitely don't want to hear you two going at it"

"Now, now, it's not like we're that loud…" said Ty Lee, giggling.

"In conclusion, just make sure to fulfill what I've asked from you, and let me know once you have" Azula repeated, looking at Ty Lee sternly.

"I will" her friend replied, smiling.

"Very well, then" said Azula, sighing and ushering the dragon to take off again.

Xin Long tried to encourage her with enthusiastic thoughts as they flew towards the Palace, but his intent served for little. Azula's mind was lost in thought, in speculation and in picturing all the worst-case scenarios she could fathom as a resolution for this mess. And the more thought she gave the matter, the more she regretted having done as she had. She could have coaxed a better favor out of Ty Lee, one she might have actually felt good about... For this one was a good thing, or so her conscience said, but she couldn't keep her surging jealousy at bay no matter how hard she tried. Why was it so complicated to do a good deed? Her life had been so much easier when she hadn't known Sokka...

And for all she knew, her life would soon return to what it had been before Sokka had appeared.

That depressing thought did nothing for her bad mood, and she climbed off Xin Long at the Palace by telling him she surely was not good company for him at the moment. The dragon tried to tell her otherwise, but Azula had walked out of the refuge, her fingertips rubbing her brow.

She kept trying to appease herself, but it was serving to no avail. Should she find Sokka and tell him what she'd done? No, that would make him think she was trying to get to his good side and nothing more... Though in truth, that was the main reason why she had sent Ty Lee to find Kyoshi's Heir. But Sokka needn't know that...

Her thoughts were brusquely interrupted when she collided with someone in the hallway. Azula frowned and glared at the person she had run into, and upon realizing who it was, she felt even more compelled to lash out at him.

"Physically incapable of walking with your head raised, are you, Uncle?" she asked, her teeth bared towards the man.

"Ah, I am very sorry, Azula!" exclaimed Iroh, giggling happily and showing her a sheet of paper on his hand "I was just reading this, see…"

"Well, do your surroundings a favor and don't walk while reading" said Azula "Such an old man shouldn't do something so risky, the next thing you know you might just stumble down a flight of stairs…"

"Ahaha, that would be unfortunate" said Iroh, scratching his head and smiling at her "And you are right, I am growing old… it is actually quite lucky that my eyesight still works well enough for me to read these tiny words!"

"Indeed, that's quite an accomplishment, Uncle…" said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"Let's hope it goes in the family" said Iroh, smiling "That way, once you're an old woman, you will be able to read as well as I can!"

"And I'll make sure not to bump into my niece because of being as careless as you are" said Azula, with a skeptical smirk.

"Now, now, perhaps fate decided for us to bump into each other, Azula…" Iroh stated, smiling.

"Into each other? Didn't we establish YOU bumped into me?" Azula muttered, irritated.

"I just went to the Grand Royal Dome today…" said Iroh, ignoring her deliberately "And I was given this flier for a Pairs Tournament!"

Azula frowned as Iroh showed her the paper. It was the same tournament Shoji had told her and Sokka about.

"Why, I suppose free fliers might be something exciting and shocking for one like you, Uncle, but it really isn't all that interesting to me" said Azula, frowning "And I already know about that Tournament, Shoji told me about it"

"Oh, then did you know it's open for my gladiator's level?" asked Iroh, excitedly "Toph is currently 179th in the ranking! How about the Blue Wolf?"

"W-why would you ask where my fighter currently is?" Azula asked, uneasy "It's none of your concern…"

"Because we should enter this Tournament together, Azula!" exclaimed Iroh, happily "A trip to Ba Sing Se should be fun…"

"Y-you… you're kidding, aren't you?" she asked, glaring at him "You aren't really asking this, you can't possibly think…"

"It will definitely be fun! There are great teahouses in Ba Sing Se!" said Iroh, beaming, and Azula's eyebrow twitched.

"Why am I not surprised to hear that…?" she grunted, rolling her eyes "Your logic baffles me, Uncle. Thinking a trip to Ba Sing Se is fun is one of the most ridiculous things I have heard from you, and that's saying quite a lot. Do I need to remind you of how much fun both our trips to Ba Sing Se have been up to date?"

"Oh, no" said Iroh, shaking his head "But I thought giving the city another chance wouldn't be so…"

"Not in this life, Uncle" Azula interrupted him.  _And definitely not with you as company_  she thought, looking at Iroh with disdain.

"Now, Azula, there's no need to be so stubborn" said Iroh "The event will take place in a few weeks, so I don't have much time to find a partner…"

"If all you want is a partner, you can fetch one in the Grand Royal Dome just as easily. You have to be out of your mind to think our gladiators could ever join forces" said Azula, shaking her head before resuming her walk through the hallways.

"Ah, well. Your loss, Azula!" Iroh called out, but he still smiled at the paper in his hand "Who should I ask, then…?"

Azula rolled her eyes upon what her uncle had said, wondering just how foolish that old man could be. It wouldn't be her loss in the slightest, joining that dumb tournament would likely mean a bigger loss than refusing to enter it…

But now she thought about it, joining the tournament with a ruthless fighter such as the Blind Bandit as their fellow fighter wouldn't be so bad… Toph had yet to lose a combat, and she probably could take two gladiators on at once without much issue. If they were to have a partner in a tournament such as this one, it should be someone with a track record like hers…

Still, it was stupid. It was preposterous, really. Azula had no idea why she was even allowing herself to think of the possibility of joining this pointless event, she didn't care for it at all. And in order to join it, she would have to take off tomorrow at most to reach Ba Sing Se on time. So it was a hassle, one she couldn't bother taking upon when…

Azula slowed down suddenly, a frown on her face. She didn't really have any responsibilities to tend to right now… and the one thing she needed to keep an eye out for would be Ty Lee's rescuing of the slave girl. But that wasn't in her hands anymore, and she wanted nothing to do with it after all. She had asked Ty Lee to report to her once she had finished her task… but Azula didn't really care for it so much. What she really cared about… what really bugged her was Sokka, and how he would respond upon seeing this girl again.

If she took him to Ba Sing Se, his reunion with her would be delayed. Maybe Azula could tell him she had tended to the matter, just to appease him, and then he would be back to his normal self… well, if it was necessary at all, of course. Maybe it wouldn't be… maybe Sokka wasn't as upset as he had been in previous occasions. The things he had said hadn't been as insulting as those he had uttered during that night, which was still highly ranked as one of the worst in Azula's life. So maybe he really wasn't in such a bad place as back then…

And maybe she could drag him away from the Capital, to distract him while Ty Lee finished her errand. The Tournament would surely require all of Sokka's focus, especially if they were to fight alongside someone who usually was his enemy… so this could be an answer. Maybe not a definitive one, but it could be. Ty Lee would still save the girl, and Azula would have a chance to keep Sokka away from her for a while longer…

"Maybe I should ask Nightmare Trigger's sponsor…?" Iroh was saying behind her, and Azula turned towards him.

"Uncle…" she called him, startling Iroh.

The man looked at her, frowning. That tone of voice gave away that his niece was plotting something… which instantly made him feel wary. He looked at her with confusion, raising a bushy eyebrow.

"Yes?" he said, looking at her worriedly "Is there anything you want, Princess Azula?"

"I… I have reconsidered your offer" said Azula, a slow smirk spreading over her face "You and your dear gladiator must want to participate in this Tournament, after all…"

"W-wha…?" Iroh said, his eyes widening "B-but you just said… Azula, you said you didn't want to do it. I wouldn't want you to do something you don't want to…"

"Stop it with that gibberish" said Azula, walking towards him with determination "You need a partner, and I'm saying I'll do it. You were so insistent about it just a moment ago, so why back down now? A trip like this one should give us quite some quality uncle and niece bonding time, don't you believe?"

Iroh definitely didn't appreciate the sarcasm with which Azula spoke, let alone the mischievous smirk she was presenting him with. In truth, he had only suggested for them to join the Tournament together as a joke. He hadn't imagined his niece would accept, not now, not ever. Not if she didn't have an ulterior motive to do so… and the smile on her face said that she had found said ulterior motive.

"I… I'm not really sure…" said Iroh, panicking slightly.

"Please, what could possibly go wrong?" said Azula, smiling "You said it would be fun, after all…"

Iroh's unease only increased at that. This was exactly why he would always move carefully when it came to Azula. The girl was sly, conniving, witty… and certain to get away with what she put her mind to, whatever that was. So what on earth had he gotten himself into by playing with her as he had…? He sure didn't feel ready to find out just yet…

* * *

He reached the building, and a frown appeared on his face when he realized he didn't know in which apartment the former gladiator had lived in. The area was one of the cheapest in the city – as cheap as living in the Fire Nation Capital could possibly be. And Sokka wouldn't have even thought about coming here hadn't he walked Suki back to her place after their fiasco of a date.

He sighed and moved towards the closest apartment, knocking on the door and hoping to get a few answers from any of the neighbors. They might be more cooperative about the situation than the soldiers Shoji had asked questions to.

"Y-yes…? Oh. Oh?!" said the girl who opened the door for him, jumping in surprise when she saw him. She seemed to recognize him, although Sokka could swear for the life of him that he had no idea who she was.

"Hello" he said, trying not to seem uneasy by her behavior "Uh… sorry to intrude, but…"

"Y-y-you're the Blue Wolf!" squeaked the girl, pointing at him and dropping her jaw. Sokka smiled awkwardly and nodded.

"Uh… yeah. I…"

"Oh, please, this is…! W-w-why would you come here?!" she asked, nervously "T-the Blue Wolf, I can't believe…! Oh, oh, oh, is the Princess nearby too?!"

"Eh, nope" said Sokka, gulping "She's not with me today. Rather, I'm not with her… w-well, anyhow, uh, yeah, I'm the Blue Wolf, but…"

"I'm such a fan of yours!" she exclaimed, happily "I watched you in the Arena a few times! Or well, I did, back before things, well…"

"Before what?" asked Sokka, frowning.

"Well, it's… it's not a pretty story, really" said the girl, biting her lip "And I'm not going to bore you with that, unless… unless that's what you're here for? I mean, there's no chance you're knocking on my door by accident, or because you came to see me, I mean, you don't even know me, so…"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but I really didn't" he said, smiling awkwardly again "I, uh… knew someone who lived here, and apparently she doesn't anymore. She was a gladiator all the same as I was, her name was…"

"Suki… Kyoshi's Heir" said the girl, dropping her gaze "You… someone came here to ask about her after all this time? What for? Did you know her?"

"Hardly, but… I just heard a story about her, something that may or may not be true" said Sokka, frowning "You could help me figure that out, I think, if you were here when it happened…"

"We all were" said the girl, sighing "It was dark already, and a raid of soldiers suddenly came into our building, asking where Oyaji's room was. Someone told them, they barged in there and… it was awful. The screams, the fire… it was terrible. They dragged her away, and… well, we've never really known why that happened. It just… did. I watched a few times in the Arena, but once she disappeared I just stopped going altogether…"

Sokka's frown deepened and he breathed deeply, trying to keep himself calm.

"Then you don't know anything else? You didn't try to ask the soldiers why they'd done it?"

"No, and, well… it was hard to think about it when it happened, too, because not long afterwards that crazy thing happened where… where you saved the city, right? You and the Princess… that's seriously amazing, you know?" said the girl, smiling again "That you two would work together like that to save us from those crazy rebel people…"

"Huh, yeah" said Sokka, smiling a little "Well, thanks for your help, then. Though… could you tell me where she lived?"

"Ah, yeah, of course" said the girl, pointing towards the left "Two doors down. It's, uh… a mess. Don't hope to find much stuff in there, it's all scorched and whatnot. Nobody has dared buy it after what happened there"

"Yeah, can't say I'm surprised to hear" said Sokka, sighing but making towards the apartment.

"W-wait! Could you…?" the girl said, biting her lip "Could you sign something for me? Pleeeeease?!"

"Uh… I guess" said Sokka, smiling and shrugging. Upon his positive response, the girl scrambled into the house, and soon scrambled outside again with a piece of paper and a brush wet with ink.

"My name is Han Lun, if you… if you want to dedicate it, or so" she said, smiling eagerly.

"Alright, then" said Sokka, nodding and signing the paper as the girl wished before returning it to her "Thank you for the information"

"Thank you for the autograph!" she squealed, hugging the paper "This is a treasure! A real treasure!"

Sokka couldn't help but chuckle. That was a story he should tell Azula… she would never believe someone would think his crappy handwriting was worth so much, surely.

Thinking about that brought a nasty feeling to his chest, though. As he walked towards the apartment Han Lun had pointed to him, he couldn't help but sigh. He had been somewhat unreasonable with Azula earlier… and just when things were better than they'd ever been. Trust it for him to ruin everything without even trying…

He stepped into the apartment after pushing the unhinged door with a hand. It was still broad daylight, but the room seemed rather dark. Sokka frowned and looked around himself, hardly knowing what he was looking for. Maybe he wanted a sign, something that confirmed that Suki's sponsor had been a member of the White Lotus… something that confirmed the girl herself was a member of the group, maybe.

Yet there was nothing to be found inside the apartment other than torn-up furniture and charred walls. It looked as though someone had turned the whole apartment upside down, and it probably had been the very soldiers who had taken Suki, searching for clues that gave away Oyaji's belonging to the White Lotus. Sokka sighed and dropped his head, knowing it had been pointless to come here… but having needed to see things for himself to make sure it was all real. It still seemed unbelievable, as though it was nothing but a nightmare…

And it was someone else's nightmare, not his own. Suki was living in who knew what conditions right now, and there was nothing he could do about it, it seemed. He could only let himself be overcome by helplessness, apparently…

"What good is there in being a strong fighter when you can't save anyone?" he grunted, his fists balling again.

For it wasn't just Suki. She was an acquaintance of his, he had known her… and he knew she didn't deserve something remotely similar to this. But countless others were in the same situation, whether he knew them or not. And he could do nothing for any of them, all the same as he could do nothing for Suki.

"I'm useless…" he muttered, shaking his head and turning on his heels, incapable of being in this place for another second.

As soon as he was outside the building he began walking down the streets, not really knowing what to do now. His head wouldn't stop reminding him of how weak he actually was, and he could only grimace at his own failure to save anyone. Had he let that ship get away, would Suki be safe today? Or would the White Lotus have forgotten about her, and taken off without their gladiator? It seemed an awful thing to do, but since they would have gladly kidnapped a Princess, Sokka wouldn't put it past the members like those he had run into…

Azula had talked to Shoji back when they had first accepted that challenge from Kyoshi's Heir, though, and Sokka frowned as he recalled the conclusion Azula had reached back then: _"Kyoshi's Heir's sponsor is into this for the money_ ". So if that was the case, and he was a White Lotus member…

Sokka grimaced and shook his head. So Suki had been a money generator for the grand ancient society… of course she had been. So maybe she really had nothing to do with the group, but her sponsor clearly did. All along he had used her to help fund the White Lotus…

Well, at least that was one less mystery to worry about, Sokka figured. But it still didn't appease him in the slightest. First being used by the White Lotus, now by the Fire Nation's worst scum… Suki didn't seem to catch a break at all. And he couldn't provide it to her even if he wished he could. There was nothing he could do…

But someone else could do something. Maybe Azula didn't think she could help right away… but she could on the long run. She could change things, Sokka believed as much. And she had the intentions to do that, Sokka thought… but she really was in no position to make demands to her father right now. Still, the day would come, surely, when Azula could turn the Fire Nation into a better place… and some time ago, he had told her he would stick around until she managed to improve it. Azula hadn't seemed too happy about that, but she hadn't refused to do it… right?

Sokka sighed and raised his head, finding his feet had been leading him towards the Royal Palace without realizing it. He probably should apologize to Azula for being as forceful as he had been… he hadn't intended to come off as a jerk, but then again, he almost never did. It seemed it was his nature to make a mess of things…

He entered the Palace without any inconveniences, as usual, and headed towards the dragon refuge. When he found Xin Long was placidly sleeping, Sokka assumed Azula would be somewhere in the Palace… and the only place he thought she could be at was her room. He decided to head there, feeling somewhat uneasy, but determined about what he would do. He believed in her, and he would make sure to tell her as much. He wasn't too patient, never had been… but he understood that, in order to get better results, he had to wait for the right moment. It was a basic fighting rule, after all… no matter how unpleasant being patient was, he would have to endure it.

He knocked on the metal door to her room a few times, but there was no answer. Sokka sighed, assuming she wouldn't want to talk to him after his behavior earlier. But he'd better fix this before making another mess out of a seemingly small problem…

"Azula… it's me, yeah. I don't know how you knew, but… yeah" he said, guessing it would be wiser to start the conversation from the other side of the door. She surely wouldn't want him intruding in her room right now "Look, I… I didn't mean to be so harsh on you today. I know you're not responsible for this, not really. You're not the one who got her stuck in that town, you're not the one who captured her… and really, we didn't bring this about, so… so neither of us should feel responsible for what happened, you're right about that. Still, I… I can't help but think we're the only ones who could make a difference if we just tried. As much as you're not sure of it, you are the Princess and… and even if you're not on your dad's best side right now, you probably will be again, eventually. So… you could make a difference one day. Maybe not today, I get that, but… eventually, right?"

Still no answer. Sokka sighed. What else was he supposed to say?

"I'm sorry you're mad" he said, placing his head on the door "I was too brusque, I know that. I just… get stupidly emotional about a lot of things, even when I shouldn't. Don't take this the wrong way, though. It's not like I'm doing this because I'm interested romantically in her, if that's what you thought… I know we went on a date once, but it was just a one-time thing and it was terrible in the end. I care about this, yeah, but I'm not doing it in hopes to be some sort of savior for her or something. I don't want to be anyone's savior. That's… that's a stupid notion for stupid people to bask in. That's not the way the world works. But I still want to make a difference, and if I can make it by asking you to help her, I'll do that. See, I… I believe in you, Azula. I have, for the longest time, and… and I know you can change her life, and that of countless other slaves as well. If you just put your mind to it, you could do wonders!"

And yet there wasn't a single sound from within the room. Sokka closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I'm sorry" he muttered "I… I never meant to make you feel bad about anything. I just want… for this world to be better, you know? One way or another… and I end up getting carried away by my feelings more often than not. And I guess… I guess you know that firsthand, don't you? Because that's why… that's why I keep doing things I shouldn't when it comes to you. That's why I can't stay away from you, even though all logic says I'm just going to end up being both our ruins if I keep up being so reckless around you. And see, here I am now, trying to… to get through to you somehow, hoping to get you to stop being mad at me because… because I'd much rather see you smile. I don't think I've ever told you just how beautiful you look when you smile for real… well, you look beautiful all the time, really, but it's… I don't even know what it is. All I know is that I don't want to let that smile disappear from your face. I just… I don't want to make you miserable ever again, and I don't want anything else to make you miserable. I… damn, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. The thing is, I…"

"You seem to be having quite the passionate conversation with my door, that would be the thing"

Sokka jumped back and turned on his heels, horrified to find Azula had been standing behind him, arms crossed over her chest while she stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"A-Azula?!" he squeaked, his voice cracking as he realized he had been talking to an empty room "I-I-I-I…."

"I understand quite well that you wouldn't want to make a door miserable, of course…" said Azula, nodding "Especially a metal one. If it closed brusquely on your head it could easily chop it off for you, did you know that?"

"I… didn't quite know, but I'll keep it in mind" said Sokka, trying to keep from blushing. Well, that was seriously embarrassing… would he ever stop making a fool of himself? And just how much had Azula heard him say…?

"Please do. You never know when one might slam on your face, after all" she said, with an unpleasant smile. Sokka grimaced. Yeah, that wasn't the smile he had been talking about earlier… yes, she looked beautiful, but terrifying as well. And that was a bit worrisome, he couldn't deny it… "Still, I won't say I care if you seek to pursue a relationship with it. Only, try to keep the mushiness to a minimum, or else you might not let me sleep…"

"I wasn't trying to pursue a relationship with your door, I wasn't… I thought…" Sokka started, but even though he had been courageous enough to talk so much earlier, all his bravery seemed to have disappeared after being caught in such embarrassing fashion by the Princess.

"Well, good to know. That way the distance between you two won't bother you during the upcoming weeks, if that's truly the case" said Azula, at which Sokka frowned.

"Uh… what? Distance? Next weeks?" he said, blinking blankly.

"Lost your ability to conjure a proper sentence, did you?" asked Azula "You heard what I said. We're going on a trip starting tomorrow"

"A trip?" said Sokka, astonished "W-what sort of trip? Where? Why? Huh?"

Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Trust the wittiest gladiator alive to fail to understand the mere concept of 'traveling'…" said Azula, looking at him coldly. Sokka would have taken her first words as a compliment if only he hadn't been as confused as he was "You recall you stormed off and left before we could actually decide what to do about your next fights, don't you?"

"Uh, yeah, and I'm so-…"

"I don't want to hear it" Azula said sternly, making Sokka freeze. So he wouldn't even be able to apologize? Well, that probably meant she hadn't heard everything he had said to the door, at the very least… "It doesn't matter anymore. Because I've already made up my mind on what we'll do next, whether you like it or not"

Sokka frowned in confusion, and looked at Azula warily.

"W-why wouldn't I like it…?" he said, uneasily.

"Because you have a way of opposing my every wish and decision whenever you put your mind to the task" said Azula, smiling sarcastically "But it doesn't matter now. It's been settled, and our entry to the Tournament has been sent through messenger hawk already. So gather everything you might feel like taking with you for about a month or so, because we're going to Ba Sing Se"

Sokka's eyes widened, and he looked at Azula in utter confusion for an instant.

"W-wha-…? Wait, wait, wait… WHAT?!" he said, his jaw dropping "You can't be serious! To the Pairs Tournament? How? With whom? And why?!"

"Yes, the Tournament. And simply because I've decided it'll be for the best" said Azula. Sokka frowned.

"Alright… alright. You want to do this out of the blue, that's fine… even though it really isn't" he said, frowning "But who are we supposed to join forces with? Why didn't you answer that question, Azula…?"

Azula replied with a sigh, and Sokka grimaced. The fact that she looked bothered by who his partner was could mean a lot of things… and not a single one of them could be good.

There was a sinking feeling in Sokka's stomach right now, one he was afraid would only grow stronger once he found out who was supposed to fight beside him in Ba Sing Se…


	73. Chapter 73

"When are we going to get there? I'm sick and tired of being stuck in this crappy metal boat!"

Sokka rubbed his forehead with his fingertips, a frown on his face as he tried to ignore the Blind Bandit's protests. She had spent the entire trip complaining over their schedule, because it failed to include any instances where she could step out of the Royal Barge and enjoy the feeling of the earth under her feet. Her mood had only worsened with every passing day, and she often resorted at picking on everyone else in order to cheer up a little.

"Don't call it that, Toph" said Iroh, grimacing "I'm certain my niece won't appreciate any slights against her ship…"

"Meh, ship, boat, what's the difference?" said Toph, pacing around the deck with her hands linked behind her head "It's still a crappy thing floating over water, and that just means it sucks"

"Uh… I may be wrong, but I think the more offensive part was calling it 'crappy' instead of saying it was a boat" Sokka muttered sarcastically.

"Now, now, you're not going to defend this big metal nonsense of a boat, are you, Dog?" asked Toph, stomping on the deck loudly while walking by where Sokka stood "It's so boring! There's nothing to do here!"

"Well, if you want something to do you could always train with me" Sokka said, with a pleased smile on his face. Toph scowled.

"Oh, haha, I'm so funny, I'm the funniest guy in the world" she mocked Sokka, deepening her voice to imitate him "You think that because there's no earth here I wouldn't be able to beat you, huh?"

"Well… yeah" said Sokka, shrugging.

Toph blinked a few times before sighing and shaking her head.

"Sadly true. But don't worry. Once we're in solid ground we can go ahead and train all you want! And I'll kick your ass as I've never ever failed to do before"

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you" stated Sokka, folding his arms over his chest "Last time we faced off you underestimated me, and it didn't end all that well for you, did it?"

"Uh… sure it did, I won" said Toph, frowning and turning towards him, her hands balled into fists and settled on her waist "You don't think that because you bested me over two objects you're better than me, do you? Because, in case you need a reminder, I had seized all the other eight and I walked all over you in the end"

"Maybe, but we still found out that you're not smart enough to outsmart me thanks to that event" said Sokka, smiling.

"Doesn't seem I need to be smart to beat you to a pulp, Dog" Toph growled, and Iroh finally stood up from the place he had been sitting at, brewing tea.

"Now, now, there's no need for arguments or bitterness over here" he said, placing a hand on Toph's shoulder "We are all very tired, for it has been too long a voyage and we could all use some rest. Relax and drink some tea, Toph, will you?"

"I'm not the one who needs to relax! I'm fine!" she declared, and Sokka rolled his eyes before stepping away from them, moving towards the area of the deck where a dragon was placidly sleeping, his rider caressing his head.

The trip to Ba Sing Se had extended for several more days than they had anticipated. Traveling all the way to the other end of the world was going to take a long time, but the tides had been against them throughout the entire trip. A raging storm had only served to delay them further, and with all those inconveniences, they only had one day left to reach Ba Sing Se in time for the Tournament. These unexpected issues had soured everyone's already sour moods, and Azula was probably the most irritable of them all.

After their latest conflict, the relationship between Azula and Sokka had hit a stop that neither of them had anticipated. Sokka felt at a loss upon it, always hoping to find the right moment to speak to Azula privately… but he was having a hard time to do so when either Royal Guards or their new unexpected allies were constantly around, keeping them from being alone at all. She wasn't acting as distant as she had back when they had journeyed to the Former Earth Kingdom the first time… but there was still coldness, and a lot of bite, in most words she sent his way.

Sokka reached her, looking at her worriedly for a moment before sighing and stepping towards the nearest enclosure of the ship, letting his back rest against it. Azula didn't react upon the movements, even though she clearly noticed he was there.

"Say…" he muttered, trying to start their first proper conversation since they left the Fire Nation, in hopes that talking would help appease her anger towards him somehow "Why are we doing this at all? And why with them, of all people?"

For a moment he thought Azula wouldn't respond, but eventually, she did.

"Is it really that hard to guess?" she said, raising an eyebrow and continuing to slide her hands over Xin Long's slick hair "Our concern was that we might lose points if we joined this Tournament, but if we join it with that girl as your partner, there are hardly any chances for that to happen. She's never lost a fight, and we know she can take on multiple fighters without a hitch. We won't be risking anything by entering this event along with her"

"Eh, maybe that's so, but…" said Sokka, grimacing "I'm getting the feeling she's planning on knocking me out when the fights begin because I'll get in her way"

"Then don't get in her way" said Azula, shrugging "It's that simple"

"N-no it's not" said Sokka, grimacing "You remember what the Green Gates is like. There are real rocks in there, big ones she could use to kill anyone if she felt like it. And…"

"Ah, you're exaggerating matters" said Azula, shaking her head and standing up "She didn't kill you when her old sponsor had told her to, why would she do it now?"

"I kind of hurt her pride back in the Ring of Ash, if you might recall…" said Sokka, grimacing.

"Oh, indeed" muttered Azula, sighing and stepping towards the enclosure as well, standing right next to him. She frowned as the ship drifted past what looked like tall, thin stone peaks… was this the Serpent's Pass? "I recall you let that nasty little dirt worm grab my hairpiece, that's what I remember most"

"I… I had told you of my plan already, you knew what was going to happen" he said, blushing a little "Though I didn't want it to happen at all, but it was the only way to make sure we'd take points in the end…"

"And miraculously, it worked" said Azula, nodding "Surprisingly, you're only twenty spots away from her. I was certain that after her result in that event she'd shoot off immediately towards the first hundred fighters…"

"Well, it takes a while to rise that much, doesn't it?" said Sokka, smiling a little "The ranking isn't something to take lightly, not even for her"

"Which doesn't speak too well in our favor" said Azula, frowning "If the upper gladiators are such a threat even for her, this tournament may not go as smoothly for us… but then again, she really has gotten this far without a single loss. With that track record, we should do fine. So long as you don't make any stupid mistakes to cause you two to lose your matches, we should be fine"

"It' going to be a bit hard, though" said Sokka, grimacing "We don't exactly get along with those two… they may be compatible with one another, but that doesn't mean they'll be compatible at all with us"

"If there's someone I know my uncle isn't compatible with in any sense, it's me" muttered Azula, sighing "If I didn't think this operation will benefit us in the end, I wouldn't have accepted his proposal at all"

That was a lie, of course, but Sokka didn't have to know it. Maybe their odds of winning were quite high with the Blind Bandit as their partner, and they had a great chance at securing heaps of points in the tournament… but Azula's true reason to accept Iroh's request had been one that hardly had anything to do with the tournament itself. And it was the actual reason why she had been keeping her distance from Sokka as of late. If he only wanted to talk about the tournament, she wouldn't mind… but she definitely didn't want to discuss the matter that had caused them to drift apart recently.

And almost as if he could read Azula's mind, Sokka seemed to decide it was time to attempt talking about the matter now, to Azula's chagrin

"I figured as much" he muttered as a response towards her previous words "U-uh… say, Azula…"

"What?" she said, frowning. Just his voice tone gave away that she wouldn't like whatever he was going to say next.

"I just wanted to… well… talk?" he muttered, nervously "See, uh… what did you hear when you found me at your door, exactly?"

"Nothing much" said Azula, shrugging "I was just heading towards my room once I was done sending our entry to the Tournament. You were rambling nonsense about smiles and misery, and I figured I shouldn't intrude upon your heartfelt moment with my door, but alas, it was too promising an opportunity to miss it…"

"Y-yeah, right…" said Sokka, grimacing. So she really hadn't heard anything, had she? "Well, then, I… I really wasn't talking to your door, you know?"

"Then you were talking to yourself?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow "There was nobody there, after all"

"I… I just thought…"

"You think too much when you don't need to, and when you do need to, you forget how your brain works altogether" Azula declared, making Sokka freeze "Your thoughts at the moment really weren't that important, if you ask me"

"That's not…!" Sokka exclaimed, before sighing and shaking his head "Look, I just have something I want to tell you, if you don't mind…"

"As a matter of fact, I do mind" muttered Azula, frowning "You're making a fuss over nothing as ever, aren't you?"

"W-what do you mean, over nothing?" said Sokka, gulping "Azula…"

"The whole matter really is nothing to me anymore, but apparently it still is to you" she said, shrugging "And I honestly am not in the mood to hear you make up excuses for the way you acted. We both know that you're not the kind of guy who keeps his innermost thoughts hidden, after all, so telling me now that you didn't mean any of what you said…"

"Well, I wasn't going to say that, but I know that what I said wasn't fair to you" said Sokka, frowning "I know I keep making mistakes when it comes to us, but…"

"Us?" Azula repeated, a sarcastic smile on her face "This has nothing to do with 'us', whatever that means. This is about you and me as completely different and separate beings, with our own flaws and issues. You are brutally honest and not very bright, and in the mean time, I'm a selfish hag. Did I miss out on anything?"

"Wha-…? No! Who the hell said that about you?!" Sokka exclaimed, looking at her in disbelief "That's not it, not at all!"

"Ah, so now it turns out you don't think I'm selfish? Or is it you don't think I'm a hag?" she asked, still smirking.

"Neither! Nobody said that, Azula! I'm trying to say that I acknowledge my faults, Azula, not that…"

"Well, then, I acknowledge mine too" Azula said, frowning now "But it's not something I need to tell anyone about. I already know where I went wrong, and it's too late to fix my mistakes now. And you have yet to understand how that works, from the looks of it…"

"Azula, I know I can't take back my mistakes, but…" he said, frowning "It doesn't mean I don't feel bad for treating you as I did. And I think I get why you're so annoyed, but what I wanted to tell you about that is that I really don't…"

"You owe me no explanations, and I don't want to hear it" said Azula, shaking her head "Whatever happened has happened. There's no point in dwelling over it anymore"

"Yeah, right" said Sokka, folding his arms over his chest and turning towards her "If it's so pointless and useless to try to do anything about it, why are you so insistent on not letting me talk at all?"

"Because I already know what you're going to say" Azula replied, simply "You may be unpredictable in some regards, but when it comes to problems between us you're immediately apologizing in the most heartfelt way ever in hopes to get back to my good side"

"You think I'm just trying to get back to your good side?" Sokka repeated, blinking "You don't really think I mean the things I say?"

"Whether you mean them or not isn't really what matters" muttered Azula, her gaze lost in the seas that extended towards the horizon "Because you will mean them again next time. And next time. And then again, next time…"

Sokka dropped his gaze, feeling even more miserable now. Azula trusted him in many regards nowadays, it seemed… and one of them was in messing up constantly, apparently. The thought was downright depressing.

"Azula, I don't… I don't plan on there being a next time at all, you know" he muttered, sighing "I'm too impulsive at times and I blurt out things without even thinking. And more often than not, those things just hurt the people I care about when I'm being too stupid to notice it. So I'll do my best not to do that anymore…"

"What a nice resolution! Such a good guy, who would think the Dog has manners of any kind?"

Sokka froze and frowned slowly upon realizing who had intruded upon them. Azula's eyebrow twitched as well, but she hardly reacted when Toph stepped between them, a grin on her face and her arms across her chest.

"Seems like you've trained him quite well, huh, Jewel?" she asked Azula, still beaming.

"I doubt I have" Azula retorted "Yet I find it odd that a Dirt Worm would be able to recognize manners when she sees… oh, right, I forgot it was a Blind Dirt Worm, on top of it all, so she really can't see anything"

"Hey, that's not very nice, preying on someone's disability like that" said Toph, reproachfully.

"Mind you, I'm not trying to be nice at all" Azula responded, glaring at the girl.

"Well, well, what a fun gathering seems to be taking place here" said the other person present on the deck, also approaching them right after Toph had.

Azula's eyebrow twitched more now. It wasn't only that she wasn't in the mood to deal with any of these three people right now… it was that she definitely wasn't in the mood to deal with all of them at once. Sokka was already being enough trouble, and keeping a front before him was already quite a tasking effort… but now her uncle came to claim her attention, on top of it all. This wasn't her lucky day.

"We could move over to the center of the deck, if you want some tea" said Iroh, beaming "I just finished preparing it!"

"I believe I have refused all your offerings of tea from the beginning of this trip, and my stance on the matter remains firm, Uncle. I still don't want any of your beloved tea" she said, slowly, as though she were dealing with a three-year-old who still had trouble comprehending what people told him.

"Ah, but I should still ask!" exclaimed Iroh, shrugging "One day you might change your mind! And why wouldn't you want any tea of mine anyhow? Toph can guarantee I'm a great brewer"

"Oh, yep, he actually is" said Toph, nodding.

"Mind you, the testimony of a girl who eats mud for a living really isn't worth much, Uncle" said Azula, with an unpleasant smirk. Sokka found himself unexpectedly relieved over not being on the receiving end of that smile.

"Heh first, she thinks I have no manners and now she thinks my senses aren't good" said Toph, snickering and placing a hand on Iroh's shoulder, as though that were the most hilarious joke ever told. Azula frowned at that.

"Ah, well, Azula is always rather harsh with people she's not friends with…" said Iroh, nodding.

"She's harsh with people she's friends with, too" said Sokka, smiling weakly. Azula glared at him "N-not that I'm saying we're friends or so, I just meant… well…"

"Shut up" Azula grunted, and Sokka scowled.

"Fine, fine, geez, everyone gets to talk but I've got to keep my mouth shut…"

"Ha, as though you were physically capable of not talking for over ten seconds" Azula snapped, her glare still fierce.

Toph and Iroh were rather surprised at that unexpected row between the Princess and her gladiator. Toph ended up laughing while Iroh still stared at them, rather confused.

"Seems like the Dog is right, she's even worse with people she's closer to" she said, chuckling.

"Closer? You think I'm close to this blockhead?" Azula asked, pointing at Sokka, who naturally took offense at that.

"Wha-…?! What the hell, Azula?!"

"Ahahaha, oh, I'm keeping that one! Blockhead, that's perfect for him!" Toph exclaimed, laughing even harder now.

"Well, oddly enough we seem to agree on something for once, Dirt Worm" said Azula, smiling, and Toph beamed back while Sokka scowled.

"Sure we do, Spicy Princess!" Toph replied.

Azula rolled her eyes at the nickname and turned towards Iroh once she felt his gaze upon her. The man seemed intent on studying her and Sokka, for some reason…

"What's so interesting, Uncle?" she asked, irritated. He couldn't possibly have picked anything up about their… turbulent relationship, could he have?

"I'm simply wondering… how the two of you ever manage to get anything done" he said, making Sokka and Azula frown.

"Excuse me?" said Azula "Get what done, exactly?"

"You're sponsor and gladiator, but you're always fighting and arguing and you seem unhappy around one another…" said Iroh, stroking his beard "Perhaps you both get crankier when you're traveling? Yet… it isn't very good for a fighter to have such an unstable relationship with his sponsor"

"Handing out advice now, are you, Uncle?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "I don't recall asking for it"

"And we really do get along… sort of" said Sokka, shrugging "The fact that we fight and bicker as much as we do is just proof that we're not afraid of being who we are in front of one another, see? Ours is a relationship of understanding and, uh, mutual trust…"

"Why, yes, I trust you'll make a fool of yourself more often than not, that's right" said Azula, nodding and making Sokka freeze in the middle of his motivated speech.

"You know, that's not really helping" he said, scowling at Azula.

"I honestly don't see why you should tell us anything about how we handle each other, Uncle" said Azula, looking at Iroh with derision "I don't advise you on how to deal with your fighter. I could just as easily tell you not to give her so much tea, to say one thing. For all you know she'll end up having an emergency in the middle of the fight because you keep making her sample your every brew, but see, I really don't care about the state of her bowels. Hence, you shouldn't care about the state of my partnership with Sokka either"

Sokka couldn't help but laugh at that while Iroh frowned and Toph shrugged.

"Well, I can't say the urge doesn't hit me at times in the worst situations" she admitted, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand "Though I figure the Royal Jewel has to hit the bathroom once in a while too, or are royals exempt from such common tasks?"

"You know, I think this conversation is somewhat getting out of hand…" said Sokka, grimacing as he saw Azula was about to retort…

But the Princess froze when she caught sight of someone else on the deck, moving towards them.

Xin Long was awakened by the sounds of the arguing voices, but he had simply listened to them bicker until he saw Rui Shi had appeared on the deck. He jumped happily to greet the Captain, surrounding him with his body and squeezing him before brusquely releasing the man, which made him spin in circles on the deck as he tried to find his bearings anew. Azula rolled her eyes at that, hardly believing the Captain of her Royal Guards had would up in such a silly situation. The other three also turned towards him, eyebrows raised as he approached them.

"P-Princess, I, uh… do excuse me for that unsightly mishap" he mumbled, gulping and bowing his head before her. Azula simply continued to look at him with disapproval.

"Is something the matter, Captain?" she asked, moving past the other three in order to address Rui Shi comfortably.

"Yes, Princess" said the Captain, nodding curtly "I'm afraid I have some bad news… though I'm certain you must have figured them out by yourself already"

Azula frowned, her glare becoming glacial as she regarded her guard with irritation. It wasn't his fault, of course, but any unexpected setbacks to her plans would never fail to be a source of displeasure for her.

"The Barge won't reach Ba Sing Se in time for the event, will it?" she muttered, gritting her teeth "Even when we're making better time now…"

"It will take two or three more days for the ship to reach Lake Laogai as intended" said Rui Shi, nodding "We have only just passed the Serpent's Pass, after all. At this rate, it will be impossible for us to make it on time"

Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head in disapproval, feeling rather enraged upon the news.

"So after undertaking such a long voyage and putting up with two more morons than I usually bargain for, you're telling me every effort we have made is useless?" she asked, raising her eyebrows "You're saying I'm to return home empty-handed, Captain?"

"I-I… I'm sorry, Princess" said Rui Shi, grimacing "But nothing can be done about the ship as it is, we're going at full speed already…"

Azula huffed in annoyance and shook her head. The other three didn't seem any happier than she was about the Captain's report.

"So we're not going to make it?!" Toph exclaimed, aghast "Well, what the hell? I was stuck in this metal thing for two weeks for nothing?! I don't get to beat anyone up?!"

"Now, now, Toph, there's no use in yelling at anyone…" said Iroh, patting the girl's shoulder.

"This can't be that hopeless" said Sokka, frowning and stepping towards Azula.

"What's on your mind now, Sokka?" Azula asked, almost sarcastically.

"I'm thinking we have Xin Long, right?" he said, gesturing at the dragon "He could fly us into the city while they take the ship to the lake, can't he?"

"That would be a wonderful solution, if only it were just the two of us" said Azula, frowning "But the saddle only fits two people, and I rather doubt Xin Long can take off at all with Iroh on his back. Haven't you seen the size of him?"

"Oi, I'm not so fat!" exclaimed Iroh, before whispering at Toph "Am I fat?"

The Blind Bandit shrugged carelessly, trying to keep Iroh from the truth in order to spare his feelings. Her attempt didn't seem to soothe his concerns at all.

"Well, but the two of us together have to be heavier than him, don't you think?" said Sokka.

"Maybe, but I'm not letting Iroh travel by himself on my dragon" said Azula "According to what I know, he murdered the last one he encountered, so I cannot trust he won't do the same to Xin Long if he's not being supervised, see?"

"Ah, that's… we are in a different era now" said Iroh, frowning and folding his arms over his chest "I won't kill your dragon if that's what you fear"

"Your word on the matter hardly holds any meaning, Uncle. You're not riding him, not now, not ever" Azula declared, glaring at Iroh. He recoiled upon the sight of her angry eyes.

"Such coldness…" he said, grimacing.

"Well, can't say riding a beast would've made me feel any better about this trip" said Toph, scratching the back of her head "But if that doesn't work, what are we going to do? I sure as hell am not going back to the Fire Nation just like this…"

"But the first fight takes place tomorrow" muttered Sokka, frowning "And there's no way we can get there on time if that's the case…"

"I wouldn't quite say… that there is no way for us to succeed at that" said Iroh, stroking his beard thoughtfully. Azula turned and glared at him.

"What now?" she muttered.

"I'm not too familiar with this area, I will admit that, but during my travels with Zuko we came through these very territories as well once. And if my memory is correct, if we already crossed the Serpent's Pass, then by heading north-west we should find the ferry station. From there, we could enter Ba Sing Se on train…" said Iroh, thoughtful.

"What?!" Azula exclaimed, looking at Iroh in dread.

"As a matter of fact…" muttered the Captain, nodding "I'm certain the ship's captain could maneuver into the station so we can all head into Ba Sing Se, even if just through the train…"

"Y-you're kidding… you have to be kidding" said Azula, staring from one to another in utter dread "I am NOT getting on that filthy train ever again!"

"What, you don't like filth, Princess?" Toph asked, snickering.

"Indeed, which is why I want nothing to do with you" Azula responded bitterly, and Toph only laughed harder.

"Well, Azula, riding it might not be that bad this time" said Sokka, tapping his chin with a finger "If anything, this seems the only reasonable way to make it there on time without killing your dragon in the process…"

"I wouldn't have killed the dragon!" Iroh insisted.

"Perhaps not intentionally, but your weight would have done it if you didn't slay him with your own hands" said Azula, rolling her eyes before turning towards Sokka "You're… you can't actually be proposing this. You really don't expect me to sit through another wretched trip on that train…"

"It's not bound to be as bad as your first ride, you already know how it is" said Sokka, smiling weakly "And it's probably the only means we'll have for reaching the Imperial Palace on time, as we planned"

Azula frowned at that. Not because of what Sokka had said, but because she distinctly felt Iroh stiffening after Sokka talked. There was no reason for her uncle to act with unease when Sokka was agreeing with him…

"I still don't like it" muttered Azula, shaking her head "Arriving to the Palace on a train is definitely not the way I expected this trip to end…"

"Well, it's either that or turning back to where we came from" said Sokka, sighing "I know it's a nasty predicament, Azula, but this is the only way. Though, well… if you decide it's better to go back to the Fire Nation, it's fine. I'll back you on whatever decision you make"

Azula raised an eyebrow and looked at Sokka with confusion. He looked at her nervously, trying to give her a kind smile, but it didn't seem to appease her at all. Was she thinking he was only trying to get to her good side again…?

"So if I decide we're going back, you'll accept it without a hitch?" she asked again.

"I'm not very fond of the idea, but I'm not exactly thrilled about joining forces with her" said Sokka, pointing at Toph, who stuck her tongue out at him "And let's face it, our last visit to Ba Sing Se wasn't exactly fantastic and it started out alright…"

"That's true" said Azula, sighing "This one is already beginning badly. I don't even want to imagine what else might happen at this rate"

"You're being ridiculous, both of you" said Toph, shaking her head "What's the worst that could happen? It's just a dumb city with a bunch of walls and an Arena where I'll beat people up. Quit being so dramatic, it can't be that bad. Or are you two going to back down just like that before the first obstacle on your way?"

Azula looked at Toph with irritation, yet also determination. And as soon as Sokka saw that look on her face, he knew his case was done with. Now, without a doubt, Azula wasn't going to let this matter rest. Never had she surrendered at anything without trying her hardest first… and even if her hardest wasn't good enough, she would find a way, any way, to succeed on the next opportunity that presented itself. That was her nature, after all…

"Back down, you call it?" she muttered, gritting her teeth "As if… but in a way, you're not wrong. We can't just let this city get the better of us all the time, can we?"

"I guess not" said Sokka, sighing in defeat "So… we're going for it?"

"If she puts it that way, it's hard not to" replied Azula "I'm not faltering because of some train. We will arrive to the Palace afterwards anyways, so we should face no problems with this on the long run… or so I hope"

"Very well, then" said Rui Shi, nodding "I shall inform the Captain of the change of course so we can head into Ba Sing Se at…"

"Uh… not so fast, Captain" said Azula, lifting one finger and making the man frown underneath his mask.

"Don't tell me. You have decided you won't be taking your guards with you" he said, an eyebrow twitching.

"Don't take it personal, Captain, it's not the first time I do this and it most certainly won't be the last" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "I need you to make sure the ship will arrive safely to Lake Laogai. I can entrust that mission to you, can't I?"

"With all due respect… ah, well" said Rui Shi, shaking his head eventually "Never mind. I don't know why do I still expect to sway your judgment when I have never succeeded at that in the past…"

"Indeed" said Azula, smiling weakly at him "We will reunite in the Palace once again, and this time there should be no setbacks or trouble. If anything were to happen on your way to the Lake, send us a message"

"And if anything were to happen to you, please do the same, Princess" said the Captain, sighing and nodding "As much as I am meant to obey your commands first and foremost, my duty is supposed to be to protect you… so please, avoid getting involved in any troublesome situations, if possible"

"I can't promise much, especially with the lousy company I'll have this time, but I'll do what I can" said Azula, nodding.

"Lousy company, she says" said Toph, shaking her head "You know we're making your life far livelier than it ever has been!"

Azula glared at the girl, who simply beamed at her happily.

"You really seem to have too great an opinion of yourself, Dirt Worm"

"I can say that right back at you, Spicy Princess"

"Okay, okay, enough with the nickname back-and-forth" said Sokka, sighing "We've got to get ready for disembarking, don't we?"

"Indeed" said Azula, nodding "Though the trip is bound to take a few more hours still, but we ought to get ready anyhow"

The Captain was the first to head inside the ship, to inform the Barge's captain of their change of course, and Azula followed him quickly, headed towards her cabin. Sokka was quick to trail behind her, and even though Toph was about to do the same, Iroh made no move just yet. Toph stopped and placed her hands on her hips.

"You're not coming, Iroh?"

"I… I'm simply taking a moment to think about this, is all" he said, breathing deeply "You are aware of what troubles we could find in this city…"

"I am" said Toph, frowning momentarily before smiling again "But I get the feeling we'll be fine, Iroh. I don't know why, but… even if we keep bickering with those two, something tells me this won't go as badly as it looks"

"Maybe your gut is telling you your feet will be on proper ground soon enough" said Iroh, smiling and approaching her "And that happy thought has dulled your intuition, Toph"

"Oho, how funny" said Toph, punching him on the shoulder and making him wince.

"Now, now! I'm an old man…!"

"Yeah, you're only an old man when I punch you!"

"I only need to remind you of it when you do…"

Together they entered the ship, laughing, and they each headed to their cabins to gather their belongings. Sokka was the quickest to be finished, for even though now he had more possessions than he did months ago, he still had a smaller pack than the rest of them. He returned to the deck and waited there, watching as land finally appeared on the far horizon.

Xin Long approached him and hit his shoulder with his head, and Sokka chuckled before patting the dragon's head.

"Should you join us over at Ba Sing Se, pal?" he asked "Might be fun for you to hang with us there… though it's probably crazy crowded, and I have no idea how these people would react upon seeing a dragon. You still remember how you freaked everyone out in Garsai, don't you?"

Xin Long responded with a growl, but Sokka didn't know what the dragon meant to convey to him. He simply smiled awkwardly and continued to stroke the dragon's scales for some time, until the creature leapt away from him and towards his rider, who had reappeared on the deck, a large pack on her shoulder.

"Woah!" said Sokka, surprised as she set down her bags next to the ship's rim "What're you bringing so much stuff for?"

"Excuse you, but the last time we did something unforeseen out here in the Former Earth Kingdom, it went anything but smoothly because we weren't prepared for any trouble" said Azula, sighing "So I'm doing the best I can to be ready for whatever eventuality that might arise…"

"That's very thoughtful of you" said Sokka, smiling "Still, let's hope that all your caution is for nothing"

"Which is how these matters go, usually" said Azula, nodding "When you brace yourself for the worst of the worst, nothing happens…"

"So you're playing with fate?" asked Sokka.

"Hoping to, at the very least" muttered the Princess "The problem is… it's hard to play a game when you don't really know which pieces are on the board"

"What do you mean?" asked Sokka, frowning.

"Iroh" Azula replied, placing a hand atop one of Xin Long's horns "He's hiding something"

"Huh?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that from the very beginning I found his idea of coming to Ba Sing Se beyond absurd" muttered Azula "Why would my Uncle willingly come here? Why would he want me to come along, to top it all off?"

"This is where he failed the army, isn't it?" asked Sokka "You mentioned something along those lines…"

"And where he lost his son, too" said Azula "I believed still grieved because of that, and returning to Ba Sing Se after that experience would be out of the question… but he seemed to think that coming for a Gladiator Tournament was a good idea. Why?"

"Maybe he's doing this to get over it?" asked Sokka, shrugging "You really can't expect me to know what's going through your uncle's head. He's a weird guy, I've always thought so"

"He is" said Azula, frowning "But it's more than that. He has been coping with the trip without an issue so far, and he even seemed disheartened when we thought we wouldn't make it. He proposed our new plan, too, so now we can actually succeed at this. Yet he still flinched when you talked… when you spoke of the Palace. You were agreeing with him, telling me this could be done, but when you mentioned the Imperial Palace he reacted oddly"

"Really?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow "Is there something in the Palace that could trouble him?"

"I don't know… maybe" said Azula, frowning "Maybe not"

"You might be looking too deep into this" said Sokka, smiling at her "Hopefully, your uncle was just reacting because a bug stung him or so"

"I'm not quite fond of being hopeful when it comes to him" muttered Azula "As you said, you never know what to expect from him"

"Maybe you're just a bit too tense about the whole train thing…" said Sokka, shrugging.

"Undeniably so" Azula admitted, an eyebrow twitching "Yet there should be no reason for concern on the long run. I've found a way to resolve that particular problem"

"Oh? How?" asked Sokka, intrigued.

"I'll just lay down a towel before sitting down" Azula replied simply, and Sokka's face fell before turning into a disappointed pout

"Huh. That's not particularly interesting" he said. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"What were you expecting?" she asked, looking at him skeptically.

"Well, you could have said you'd sit on my lap or something along those lines, that would have been way more surprising" he said, with a proud and dumb smile. Azula looked at him in disbelief before shaking her head.

"In front of my uncle and his pet? Yes, of course I'd do that" she said, rolling her eyes.

"So wait, that's why you wouldn't do it?" Sokka asked, looking at her in surprise.

"You know full well why I wouldn't do it, idiot" Azula retorted, flicking his forehead and making him jump back.

"Hey! You didn't have to do that!" he said, rubbing the spot she had hit with a hand.

Azula shook her head before turning towards Xin Long, communicating with him through her mind. Sokka sighed and dropped against the rim of the ship once more, his eyes set on her.

"Well, I had to try, didn't I?" he muttered, gulping. Her responsse hadn't been as cold as he had expected it to be, though. Testing the waters with a dumb attempt at flirting definitely wasn't one of his finest ideas, but he'd had to try something regardless.

Azula caressed Xin Long's head while telling him he wouldn't be allowed in the city, most likely, and the dragon groaned in irritation. His mood brightened when she told him he was free to roam the nearby mountains, though, and he was almost cheerful thanks to that perspective when it was time for them to part.

The Barge docked at the ferry station, and once the ferry's staff had been informed of the situation, the sponsors and gladiators disembarked. Azula went first, with Iroh treading behind her and his gladiator following suit. And Sokka almost stepped on Toph when she abruptly dropped on the solid ground, her arms stretched out and her belongings scattering after her brusque move.

"Earth! Land! Oh, I'd missed you so much!" she exclaimed, happily.

Sokka raised an eyebrow and poked her with one foot, prompting her to push herself off the ground to regard him.

"What? You don't want to let me enjoy the feeling of nice, precious earth underneath me?"

"You're kind of in the way, you know, and I'm already carrying enough stuff to take yours as well" he said, and Toph frowned. She began picking up her possessions, but she turned towards Sokka, confused.

"Why are you carrying so much stuff, and… why isn't the Jewel carrying anything? You're carrying her bags?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah" said Sokka, shrugging, already accustomed to the earthbender's ability to see even while she was blind "She's pretty miserable about this whole thing, and carrying this crazy huge pack of hers wouldn't have helped improve her mood, so…"

"Eh? Eager to please the Spicy Princess, aren't you?" Toph interrupted him, smirking "I'm starting to guess what's going on here, you know…"

"Guess? Guess what?" Sokka said, wishing his body wouldn't react upon Toph's words, but, despite himself, his heart was already racing.

"It's pretty damn obvious and you know it" said Toph, chuckling "The lad is aiming way higher than anyone of his standing should…"

"What the hell are you even talking about?" Sokka said, rolling his eyes and resuming his walk, hoping to leave her behind fast enough to keep from hearing her response to his statement.

Still, he didn't get too far, for an officer of sorts was currently before Azula and Iroh, writing down information related to their arrival into the city.

"What's the matter?" Sokka asked the Princess, raising an eyebrow "Aren't we allowed to enter the city?"

"Of course we are" said Azula "But they have to keep tabs on who enters and leaves the city. This man here is registering all four of us"

"Then Princess Azula and General Iroh…" said the man who was writing down the information, a nervous looking soldier who glanced at the gladiators once he was done registering the sponsors "And… may I have their names?"

"Oh, I'm Sokka" he replied quickly, to the soldier's surprise. Usually, masters were the ones that spoke for their slaves. Yet in this particular case, it seemed the slave wanted to talk for himself…

And it was also the same case with Iroh and Toph, for the soldier noticed that the General wouldn't give away the girl's name. Still, it seemed Toph didn't want to give him an answer at all. The girl grinded her teeth before muttering, almost unwillingly:

"I'm Toph"

Sokka frowned and glanced at the girl with confusion while the soldier wrote down her name and informed Azula and Iroh of what they had to do next in order to board the train. Sokka wasn't quite sure right now, but he had distinctly recalled that, on their first encounter, the Blind Bandit had introduced herself with a last name as well…

The question continued to poke at him as they waited for the train to arrive. Sokka didn't think he should ask the girl directly, though. He didn't trust she would give him a proper answer.

Azula swallowed hard when the train arrived at long last, already uneasy by the idea of boarding it. The four of them were the only passengers right now, for the next ferry would arrive on the next morning, according to what the city's soldiers had told them.

"Apparently it's pretty late" said Sokka, as they entered the train "You think we'll make it to the Palace before the night is out?"

"We'd better" muttered Azula, sighing and laying down her towel before taking her seat. Toph snorted as she sank into the seats across Azula and Sokka's, Iroh next to her.

"Seriously, how delicate can you be?" she asked, chuckling "I thought you were tougher than that"

"Oh, you want to know just how tough I can be? I have no problem teaching you a lesson or two on underestimating me, Dirt Worm" Azula snapped back, crossing her legs and glaring at Toph.

"Heh, well, I already taught that one to the pair of you when we first fought…" said Toph, smiling, as the train began moving "I doubt you'll be teaching me anything of the sort, Jewel"

"You two are never ever going to stop, are you?" asked Sokka, grimacing and dropping his head on his hand.

"I don't see why you're complaining" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "I bicker with you like this all the time, don't I?"

"Heh, he's got to be jealous" said Toph, and Azula's eyes widened upon the mention of that very word "He wants to hoard all your arguments for himself!"

"Huh? That's not something to be jealous about!" said Sokka "If anything, I wish I'd stop arguing so much with her, but…"

"You're the source of most our conflicts" Azula completed, smiling unpleasantly "It's in your nature to find ways to tick me off. In fact, it's in the nature of everyone in this cabin"

"Oh, come on, that's true for the Dog and me, but Iroh just wants to be nice by offering tea to you and you think he's trying to poison you or something" said Toph, waving a hand around "He's not as conflictive as the three of us, right?"

Iroh didn't respond at once, for it seemed his mind had been elsewhere for the time being. He jumped when he realized everyone else was looking at him.

"A-ah, well, surely not" he said, smiling weakly.

"Is everything alright, Uncle?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I was simply on a daze" he responded, as the train began to move "There's nothing to worry about"

"I wouldn't quite define what I felt as 'worrying', but suit yourself…" said Azula, shrugging.

Azula turned her head around towards the windows behind her, and she watched the landscape with interest as the train progressed through Ba Sing Se's Agrarian Zone. Toph and Iroh engaged on a trivial conversation on the other seat, and Sokka crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at Azula. Eventually, his blatant staring began to bother her.

"What are you looking at?" she muttered, irritable, and he gulped.

"I-I wasn't really…" he muttered, before gesturing towards the lands that passed them by down below "I was just glancing at the Agrarian Zone and I happened to look at you, is all… see, this is apparently where the city's food is produced! How about that?"

Azula raised an eyebrow, and Sokka felt the color rising on his face.

"Well, it's easy to tell why you're so interested in the Agrarian Zone, if that's true. Food is the main priority in your life after all"

Sokka grimaced at that before noticing she was right. Food had been the main priority… usually. He should have been interested in the food, in the scenery, in the sunset… and yet he was only staring at her. His priorities had changed at some point, without a doubt…

"Nothing wrong with liking food, is there?" he said, shrugging "I mean, so long as it's not rhino meat…"

Azula shuddered at that and shook her head, and Sokka chuckled.

"No rhino meat, please" she said, grimacing "Even after all this time…"

"It's pretty hard to stop thinking about that, isn't it?" said Sokka.

"The day I eat any komodo rhino-based food again will be a very odd day indeed" muttered Azula, folding her arms over her chest "And it definitely isn't going to happen any time soon"

"Well, I'm pretty sure it won't" said Sokka "There's no chance that we'll end up in a situation as awful as we did last time, don't you think?"

"Don't jinx–"

"Azula"

The Princess froze when she heard her uncle call her name in a way that almost sounded nervous, interrupting what she was telling Sokka. She turned towards him, regarding him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" she asked.

"I… I know it isn't what we planned" said Iroh, playing with his thumbs and not meeting Azula's gaze with his own "But I, uh… I was just thinking about visiting the Lower Ring. And since we are already on the train, I thought we could go now… if it isn't a problem, of course"

Azula frowned. Yes, she definitely would mind in normal circumstances, even more so when said request came from her uncle, of all people. Yet there was only one reason why she imagined Iroh would want to head into the Lower Ring... And it was the very same reason why she had traveled to it back during her first visit to this city. She didn't think her uncle had ever visited Lu Ten's grave. Was he hoping to make up for that now?

She honestly felt like refusing to his request, and she would have... If only it hasn't been about Lu Ten. Her uncle was one of her least favorite people in the world, but even so, he had been her cousin's father. Lu Ten deserved to be visited by him, and he also deserved an apology from Iroh, Azula believed, all the same as he had gotten one from her when she had visited him last.

"That's crazy" said Sokka, frowning "Haven't we had enough problems for the time...?"

"Maybe" Azula said, ignoring Sokka's input. Her gladiator froze.

"Huh?! What do you mean, maybe?"

"I mean… I meant that we could stop by for a moment, that's what" said Azula, sighing in defeat. Iroh looked at her in disbelief, but soon enough with gratefulness.

"Thank you, Azula"

"Mind you, I'm not doing this for your sake" she muttered, and Iroh gulped.

"I know... I know"

"It's just going to be for a short while anyways" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "Our schedule is already a mess, after all, so this new issue hardly makes a difference. This is the last setback I'll stand for, though. We've had enough unforeseen nonsense happening to us already as it is"

"Well, that sounds scary" said Toph, smirking. Azula rolled her eyes "What are you going to do to the next setback we get?"

"I'm not bound to do something to the setback, but to the source of that setback" Azula stated, and Toph snickered "And I don't believe you would really want to know what I have in mind for whoever causes more trouble to us"

"Heh, well, whatever it is, it sounds like fun to me" Toph said, smirking.

The train halted at the first station in the Lower Ring, and some people entered it in order to travel to other locations of the city. Azula, Sokka, Iroh and Toph stepped down into the platform, surprising the people who were waiting for other trains. Not often did the Lower Ring witness visitors who clearly belonged to the highest class of society.

"So... What are we going doing here?" Toph asked, raising an eyebrow, once they headed out into the streets.

"There's someplace I need to go, Toph…" said Iroh, biting his lower lip as Azula led the way, for she was the only one who had ever visited Lu Ten's hill before "That's what this is about"

Azula kept flinching upon everything unsightly that caught her eye as they walked... Which was most anything in the Lower Ring, actually. At this rate, this new trip to Ba Sing Se would only worsen her opinion of the city. Still, she had no choice but to carry on. The sooner this was over, the sooner she would be at the Imperial Palace…

"It's getting late, Azula" Sokka said after a while, struggling to carry both her and his bags "I seriously don't think we should be doing this. I don't know if trains still take off at this hour..."

"It is late indeed" said Iroh, grimacing "And I'm beginning to feel hungry, too..."

"Ugh, so now you're hungry?" Azula snapped "Why, you'll have to bear with it. Sokka is right, at this rate we won't make it back to the train station before they close it down for the night"

"Well, yeah, but it's not just Iroh who's hungry, you know…" confessed Toph, and soon after, a growl came from Sokka's direction, his stomach the source of it.

"Uh... Oops" said Sokka, smiling guiltily. Azula froze and stared at him in disbelief before her expression became indignation.

"You three are unbelievable" Azula said, shaking her head "Fine, then! There's an inn nearby, we can eat something there. I would much rather have dinner in the Palace, obviously, but this will have to do for now, since you all seem to be incapable of enduring hunger for a few hours"

"How do you know there's an inn?" Toph asked, raising an eyebrow "I'm sensing it with my own two feet, yeah, but you can't do that, and you haven't asked for directions..."

"I know there's an inn because it's not the first time I've come here" she retorted, before stepping off towards where the inn awaited.

Sokka frowned upon that, wondering what she meant… until he recalled their momentary separation when they had come to Ba Sing Se the first time. Azula had ditched him and left him to wander the Upper Ring, where he had gotten the silly idea of writing haiku. And in the mean time, she had been visiting her cousin's grave… Iroh's son's grave.

Was that why Azula had accepted to do this? Sokka had been rather confused about by her decision; he hadn't found any sense in it until now. Of course that was it. Azula thought Iroh had to pay his respects to his son. Sokka looked at her, his eyes fixing upon the back of her head. He knew she held her cousin's memory quite close, but her relationship with him was still somewhat a mystery for him. Yet, it seemed fitting that she would want Iroh to visit his son.

The inn Azula had talked about definitely wasn't equipped to receive visitors like them. It was somewhat crowded, but there was enough room for the four of them. Iroh proposed he would pay for the meals, an idea Azula was quite fond of…

"Because I didn't bring any money with me, after all" she confessed, shrugging, as she, Toph and Sokka sat at a table they had found at the dining area.

"Well, that's nothing new coming from you" said Sokka, smiling "I seem to recall you did the same thing back in our first fight…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Toph asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I forgot the bid's money on my ship during our first fight in the Superior League" replied Azula "Which would have caused us quite some trouble if only Sokka had been the incompetent most people took him for"

"Oh? So you're really not that useless, Dog? That's surprising to know" asked Toph, smirking and setting her feet on the table. Both Azula and Sokka recoiled at that.

"Would you behave yourself?!" Azula asked, glaring at the sole of the girl's feet with utter disgust, for Toph was sitting across her "When was the last time you cleaned your feet?"

"What's it to you? They feel fine like this" said Toph, smirking.

"Oh, I'm sure they'll feel even better once I set those reeking toes of yours on fire" Azula growled, lifting a hand so that a blue blaze danced dangerously on her fingers.

To the Princess's relief, the threat served to get the Blind Bandit to stop being so inappropriate. She lowered her feet, scowling and shaking her head.

"Such a spoilsport, really" she grumbled "Can't let a girl have her fun, no…"

"Ah, there you were!" Iroh exclaimed, approaching the group and settling on the seat next to his niece.

"Where's the food?" Sokka asked instantly, prompting Azula to roll her eyes, yet still smile weakly at his question.

"It will be here soon… but I have some unpleasant news" said Iroh, gulping "I spoke with the inn's owner, and I found out you were right about the trains. The service stops at six… and it's already half past six by now"

"So… the train we were on was probably the last one to travel the city for today" Azula muttered, looking at the table in despair.

"Apparently so" said Iroh, looking rather guilty before lifting a hand "But do not despair! I have already arranged it so we can stay here in the inn for the night. We will have a roof over our heads, warm beds and good food, so we should be perfectly fine"

"Heh, I'm cool with this" said Toph, nodding in approval.

"Stay here?" Azula asked, an eyebrow twitching "Y-you can't be serious…"

"Well, you can try to cross the entire city on foot, but according to the stories, it took Earth King Yi Ming two days to travel from one end of Ba Sing Se to the other one…" said Iroh, shrugging

"I know as much" snapped Azula, irritated "My problem is, Uncle, that every plan we had established so far stated that we would be staying in the Imperial Palace by now. And in case you have failed to notice, this establishment in no way resembles a palace, let alone Ba Sing Se's… ah, well, I should cut you some slack on those regards. You've never even seen what the Palace looks like, after all"

"And neither have I!" Toph exclaimed proudly, and Azula rolled her eyes.

"Ahaha, well, I haven't indeed, but I shall eventually, won't I?" said Iroh, nodding "In the mean time, this place should do for the night. It isn't so bad, is it?"

"I think it's cozy" said Toph, nodding "The only problem is that it's mostly made of wood, but I can deal with that. At least the ground floor is literally a ground floor, no wood involved…"

"Heh, well… my opinion will depend on how good the food is" said Sokka, pouting "I was really looking forward to a grand banquet-y meal, you know?"

"Well, this is the Former Earth Kingdom after all. Don't have your hopes on food set too high" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "It's never going to be half as good as Fire Nation meals"

"I thought after our last trip you'd learned to enjoy their food" said Sokka.

"After almost starving to death, you'll mean" Azula corrected him "After enduring such a catastrophe, any form of food will be perfectly welcome, no matter how lousy it really is"

"Starving to death… you two had some fun adventures in Ba Sing Se, from the sound of it" said Toph, intrigued "I've never really heard of what happened with you two when you were here before"

"And you're not going to hear it any time soon" said Azula, determinedly, and Toph pouted.

"You're damn stingy, you know?" she muttered, before looking at Iroh "So… how are we going to split up?"

"Split up?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, he's got two keys on him, I can sense them" said Toph, her feet caressing the ground "I figure they're for our rooms, right?"

"Indeed" said Iroh, nodding and setting them on the table. Azula frowned.

"Couldn't you possibly afford four rooms, Uncle?" she asked, irritated.

"Most the inn's rooms were already occupied…" Iroh said, sighing "And it was going to be cheaper this way, too"

"So, as it turns out, my Uncle is a cheapskate. Why am I even surprised?" grunted Azula, irritated.

"Eh… well, given that Azula seems to be anything but pleased with me, she shouldn't share with me" Iroh said, gulping "So… it's either splitting by gender or by sponsor and gladiator"

"I suppose" said Sokka, nodding.

"And it would only make sense for us to go by gender, of course" said Iroh, nodding "It would be very inappropriate for the Blue Wolf to stay in the same room as the Princess…"

"Huh?! You think I'd do something to her?" Sokka exclaimed, looking at Iroh with a frown.

"I mean no offense, but can you blame me for thinking that way?" said Iroh, shrugging innocently "A man in his prime like you could have a hard time holding back while being alone with as pretty a girl as my niece…"

"Heh, he thinks you can't be restrained" Toph said, punching Sokka on the shoulder and laughing.

"That's real nice, though" grunted Sokka, an eyebrow twitching "Hell, even if I wanted to pull something inappropriate on her, I wouldn't get away with it because she wouldn't let me! So if I were as bad as you think I am, I'd pay direly for it!"

Azula raised an eyebrow and looked at Sokka somewhat skeptically. Considering how several encounters between them had ended before their latest spat, she actually thought Iroh's distrust wasn't as misplaced as Sokka was trying to make it…

"Meh, whatever, the Princess is a delicate little flower and she shouldn't be near manly men like you, Dog" said Toph, mockingly "So… there's a single option left now. We'll be sharing rooms, Jewel!"

"That's… no" said Azula, grimacing, and Toph beamed "Just no. I cannot share rooms with her, of all people!"

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun! It's going to be like a sleepover!" Toph exclaimed, happily "I've never been to one, so it'd be my first, hehe!"

"A sleepover? Really?!" Azula said, looking at the earthbender in utter disblelief.

"Yep! Just us girls, see! Sokka goes with Iroh, so you see, everything will work out just great" said Toph, happily.

"I think we all have different definitions on what's great… not saying that sharing with the old man will be too awful" said Sokka, grimacing "But I'm afraid the two of you will enter that room, and only one will come out of it in the morning…"

"That just might happen indeed, I fear I'll end up chucking her out of the window at some point through the night" snarled Azula, as a waiter approached their table, balancing dishes in his hands.

"Well, well, we can worry about windows and sleeping later" said Iroh, happily "For now, let's enjoy our food!"

With a defeated sigh from Azula, they started eating without a hitch. All four of them had been hungrier than they realized, and they dug into their plates ravenously, hardly saying a word through the meal. Azula grimaced at the revolting way Toph ate, so revolting that it almost made Sokka seem civilized. And to think she'd have to share rooms with the same girl later on…

When they were finished dining, Toph and Iroh decided to order extra tea for them. Azula, naturally, was reluctant to indulge in her uncle's hobby as well, so she decided to head to her room to check out its accommodations. Sokka tagged along, bringing her luggage with him.

"I acknowledge it, don't worry. This was definitely one of the worst decisions I've ever made" said Azula one they arrived to the room, sighing and sitting on the bed while Sokka placed her pack next to it.

"You think?" he asked, stretching after carrying the heavy bag all the way to Azula's room "I mean… we could be worse off. I still think we're not doing as badly as we were in the forest"

"Of course not" said Azula, shaking her head "But as you pointed out earlier, this is only just beginning. We have at least five more days of staying in this city. Do you really think an improvement is on its way?"

"Well, we can only hope" said Sokka, sighing and shrugging.

"Uh… thank you, by the way" said Azula, gesturing at the pack "You didn't really need to do that, but…"

"It's the least I could do" he said, smiling weakly "It's not a problem at all"

Azula nodded, and Sokka sat on the bed next to her, their gazes falling upon the mattress the Blind Bandit would occupy later. Azula sighed.

"This promises to end badly" she muttered, shaking her head "And I have to endure all this nonsense because…"

"Because of him, huh?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "I never thought you'd accept any requests coming from your Uncle…"

"I'm not doing it for his sake" she muttered, irritated.

"I figured as much" said Sokka, nodding "This is about your cousin, isn't it?"

Azula raised an eyebrow and glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

"Quite perceptive all of sudden, are we?" she asked.

"I just put the puzzle pieces together, is all" he said, shrugging and smiling "The only moment we were separated during our stay in Ba Sing Se last time was when you came to see his grave… did you stop by at this inn for a refreshment or something?"

"The Royal Procession did. They had endured a very long trip, after all" said Azula "They rested here while I went up to his grave by myself"

"I figure you expect Iroh to visit him alone as well?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"It wouldn't make much sense for us or the Dirt Worm to be there during his first visit to his grave, would it?" said Azula "Though knowing my uncle, he might just bring her along anyways even when she didn't know him at all…"

"You think she might not respect your cousin's resting place…?"

"I think my Uncle should mourn him properly" muttered Azula "And having a girl picking her feet on his grave might not assist on that"

"I figure not" said Sokka, sighing and shaking his head.

He looked at Azula, finding her with crossed arms, a frown on her face. He bit his lip lightly before settling on a different position, his arms supporting his weight on his knees.

"About your cousin…" he muttered, insecurely. Azula's gaze flickered towards him before darting away again "You've never really talked much about him. I kind of figure you got along with him, though…"

"I did, back in the day" said Azula, grinding her teeth "He was a good man. Better than most… better than his father, without a doubt. I constantly wondered how could they be so different and still be father and son"

"He was better with you than Iroh, I take it? No dumb dolls as presents for you?" he asked.

"No, he… he actually played with me, and showed me his bending" said Azula, with a weak smile as she recalled some of her most precious memories "He also liked to invent titles for me, though not of the sort the Bandit does"

"Oh? What titles?" Sokka asked, smiling as well.

"Once he called me the Wielder of the Ever-powerful Flame" said Azula, tapping her chin as she recalled with some amusement the moments she had shared with her cousin "On another occasion he also deemed me the Master of Lightning. He had just showed me how he did it, and I was quite amazed. I told him I wanted to do the same thing one day, and he assured me I definitely would one day. He also granted me the title of 'Strongest Dragon Ever Seen', Ruler of the Western Earth Kingdom Provinces… we hadn't conquered the Earth Kingdom yet, so it was obviously a makeshift title, yet he acted as though it were a real title. Back then I was sure he would be Fire Lord, so I always took his word for fact. I figured he definitely would make me one of his highest ranked officers by the time he started to rule the Fire Nation"

"Huh. Well, he sounds like a fun guy" said Sokka, smiling "I'm glad at least you got along with him, even if not with his dad"

"Yeah… so, as you can see, not everyone in my family was born inherently evil" said Azula, which turned Sokka's smile into a grimace.

"Come on, Azula, I don't think that way anymore and you know it" he said "Zuko is gruff, your dad is creepy, your uncle is weird, your cousin was fun, so see? I don't blatantly call anyone 'evil', not anymore…"

"And… what do you say about me?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Y-you…" said Sokka, blushing and swallowing hard "I think I told you once, didn't I? N-no three sentences would be enough to describe you… so a single word probably wouldn't work either"

"No?" asked Azula, her fists tightening on her lap as she dropped her gaze.

Well, this time she was actually looking for trouble, wasn't she? She shouldn't ask him questions of the sort… she should have known better than that by now. She didn't really want to know what he thought about her, especially after what had happened lately. She already imagined what sort of words would be crossing his mind right now to describe her, it wasn't that hard to do…

"B-but if you really want me to tell you, I can try to…" Sokka started when he found she looked somewhat upset now. Yet Azula shook her head, stopping him from saying another word.

"No need to sum it up, I really don't need an ego boost" she said, waving her hand around "We both know you can't help but think I'm absolutely extraordinary, of course"

"A-ah, well… uh, wait why are you being sarcastic about that?" Sokka muttered, blushing, but Azula ignored him.

"In any case, I hope my Uncle will have the sense to visit Lu Ten's grave after he's done with his tea" said Azula "Because this is all I plan on opening myself up to when it comes to this trip. I only accepted this detour because it was about Lu Ten, simple as that. I'm tolerating no more setbacks after this"

"That sounds about right" said Sokka, smiling a bit "Still… I'm a bit worried about this whole thing. You said Iroh was hiding something earlier…"

"And you said I was just looking too deep into it, didn't you?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"But now I'm not so sure" said Sokka, looking at her earnestly "You were suspecting Iroh was hiding something, but now I think it's not just him. Toph only gave away her first name when we were telling that soldier who we were. Why tell him the first one only when she introduced herself with her full name when she first fought against me?"

Azula frowned and looked at Sokka, deep in thought.

"The fact that she has a last name is odd enough already" she muttered "What name was it, exactly? Do you remember it?"

"Baihua? Boutei…?" said Sokka, grimacing as he struggled to recall what Toph had said on their first encounter "It starts with a 'B', I know it does"

"Well, whatever it is, it really is odd" said Azula "Few people boast about their last names, and I've never heard of a slave who has one… and she's willing to reveal that last name to you, but not to a soldier asking for her identity in Ba Sing Se?"

"It really makes you wonder what that's about" muttered Sokka "Why would she hide her name? And why wouldn't she tell us why she's doing it? Because, for all she knew, we could have remembered what it was and given her last name away to the soldier when she didn't do it. So what is she up to, and why won't she tell us about it?"

"That's really not so hard to guess" replied Azula, sighing "We don't trust them, they don't trust us. It's all comes to that"

"And it shouldn't be that way" said Sokka, sighing "I mean, it's just logical that we don't trust each other. We've been enemies all along, so for us to try cooperating when we're all reluctant to do it probably won't end well for any of us"

"This whole matter is just going to pose an issue on the long run" muttered Azula, shaking her head "I really don't like the idea of our allies operating on a different agenda from ours. Their business could easily interfere with our objectives, for all we know. Allies you can't trust are as good as enemies"

"Indeed" said Sokka, glancing towards her "But hey… even if they don't trust us, and we don't trust them, at least we've still got each other, right? That… that still counts for a lot. We've sorted out plenty of problems together, haven't we? So even if they're not totally trustworthy… at least we can trust one another"

"I… I guess so" Azula whispered, dropping her gaze.

Sokka looked at her worriedly. It wasn't like Azula to look so upset by those words. If anything, he would have expected her to look at him defiantly and mock him, asking if he was so sure he could trust her. If not that, then she should be embarrassed… though considering their relationship's latest derailment, she should have snapped at him instead, telling him she couldn't trust a man like him. But instead, she seemed insecure. It was as though she wasn't sure that they could trust each other at all.

But he trusted her. Even if she thought he was an idiot, for he was, he wholeheartedly believed in her. Long ago he would have never trusted her, of course, but after everything they had been through, he found that Azula was currently the person he trusted most. And no argument could change that. If only he could make her see it…

He didn't know if what he was going to do would be any use, but his hand was already moving before he could stop it.

Azula jumped when she felt his hand atop hers. She stared at the contact between them, her heart racing in her chest as he attempted to soothe her concerns in the only way he knew how.

But Sokka had no idea why his words had struck her as they had. He believed he could trust her… or so he claimed now, after all this time. Could he really be so blind about how selfish she truly was? How could he trust her at all, when she was as unreliable as she was? She accused Iroh and Toph of not trusting them, but at the very least they were bound to trust each other. But she couldn't trust Sokka. She couldn't trust in his apologies, she couldn't trust in his touch, she couldn't trust in his words… all because she was too scared of being hurt by him yet again.

And if she gave the matter some thought, she actually had set everything up just so he would wind up hurting her again. Once they returned to the Fire Nation, Ty Lee would have rescued the slave and Sokka was bound to jump into the arms of the former gladiator, leaving her behind wondering what sort of idiot would let go of the man she loves when at long last it seemed he would finally become hers…

She withdrew her hand and stood up, and Sokka's breath caught in his throat. That she would reject him should hardly surprise him, but it still felt like being slammed over the head with his club. He swallowed hard as she moved towards the door, without looking back at him.

"But if we can't trust them at all, how are you supposed to fight alongside the Bandit tomorrow?" she muttered, hoping to change the subject quickly "You can't hope to win a fight when you can hardly count on your partner…"

"I'll figure something out" said Sokka, sighing and standing up "Even if they do have secrets, we're here for a Tournament, aren't we? We all want the points, we all want to win. So at the very least, we can trust they're aiming at winning the Tournament, right?"

"Let's hope that's so" said Azula, though she sounded anything but hopeful as she walked outside the room again.

Sokka followed, crestfallen. It wasn't as bad as it had been during their previous trip through the Former Earth Kingdom… but it didn't mean they were doing well either. Because Azula didn't actually seem angry this time, she seemed depressed instead. And all he wanted was to change that, to cheer her up again and make her laugh whole-heartedly once more…

Toph was alone, sitting with her feet on the table again, by the time Azula and Sokka returned. Azula frowned and approached her, trying to ignore the smell that came from her feet.

"If you're done drinking tea you should go settle down in our room, don't you believe?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't be so fussy, girl, I'll get going when I'm done relaxing" said Toph happily, smiling and placing her hands behind the back of her head.

"Where's Iroh?" Sokka asked, and Toph scratched her head before reaching towards her pocket with a hand.

"He left a while ago, but he left this for you anyways" she said, handing him the key to his room "So you can start sleeping while he's off running errands"

"Running errands…" Azula repeated approvingly, folding her arms over her chest "Do you happen to know what sort of errands? Or is it something private, perhaps?"

She already guessed where Iroh would be by now, but she still wished to ascertain her Uncle would be doing what she expected from him. That Toph had stayed behind was a good sign, for this way Iroh would pay his respects to Lu Ten properly…

"Oh? Private? Hell, no. He's shopping" Toph relied simply, shrugging and closing her eyes.

Azula's jaw dropped and Sokka stared at Toph in disbelief.

"Shopping? Shopping?!" the Princess exclaimed, aghast "You're not serious, are you?!"

"Why would that be a joke? You have a weird sense of humor if you think that's funny, Princess" said Toph, raising an eyebrow "Of course I'm serious. He promised he'd bring some clay for me, it's always fun to bend it…"

"S-shopping…" Azula repeated, with a snarl. Sokka grimaced.

"T-there, there, maybe he just said that to get her off his case" said Sokka, gulping.

"Oh, no, this is Iroh you're talking about" Azula said, her eyes narrowing. She looked so angry Sokka genuinely wondered if she'd set something on fire "The Bandit has it right, I'm sure of it. The witless, idiotic oaf really must have gone shopping…"

Again, the only thoughts crossing her mind were those of distrust. She couldn't even rely on her uncle visiting his son's grave properly, of course not. His main priority had always been to head outside and find souvenirs… the sole thought of it made her feel sick. What was that man playing at, and why did he have to play at it at her expenses? There really was no questioning it anymore: accepting this absurd deal was the worst decision she had ever made.

* * *

Her hands were balled into fists. Her teeth were gritted, her eyes closed shut. It was already over, but his weight was still atop her. He was unconscious now, it seemed, for he hadn't moved in several minutes. He had been drinking heavily before having his way with her, and whenever that happened he would usually end up falling asleep… unless she attempted to fight back. Then he would turn violent, and she couldn't overcome him while being chained, weak and underfed as she was. But she hadn't fought back tonight. She hadn't fought back in quite some time now.

She was chained to a pole by the kitchen, or what these men seemed to believe was a kitchen. Usually, when the worst one wanted to have his fill of her he would release her briefly, but not today. Today he had been too drunk to even think of what he was doing. But, unbeknownst to him, she was relieved by his inebriation this time around.

"What the…? Ugh, Yong, not again!" the other one exclaimed. He had only just arrived home for the day… if a place like this one could be called home at all, for starters.

The new arrival, Akira, approached his companion and pulled him off her. Yong groaned and complained, coming back to his senses briefly.

"See, bitch? I told ya'…" he said, a hand on her chin, forcing her to lift her head before Akira pulled him away completely "I told ya' I'd be good when ya' started to behave, bitch…"

"Shut up already and come on" grunted Akira "You fucker, just get into bed…"

Yong complained more, but Akira ignored him as he dragged him to the next room in the shack. She was left where she was, sitting on the wooden floor, her legs now closed all the same as the rest of her. She had shut herself away from everything, because it was the only way to endure the hardships she had to face…

But once she heard the bedroom door closing behind the two men, she opened her eyes.

A streak of fury appeared on her violet orbs, and determination coursed through her body. She had closed herself away for weeks now… but it was only for the sake of accomplishing what she should have done from the very moment she had started to be plagued by misfortunes. She had traced a plan, and this time it wouldn't fail. This time she would succeed, there was no questioning it.

She opened her right fist, and she looked down at the rusty key that sat on her palm. Simply gazing upon it filled her with hope, with more anger, with more determination.

One way or another, she was going to get out of here.


	74. Chapter 74

Azula climbed down the wooden staircase, stifling a yawn as she headed towards the dining area. She hadn't slept as well as she wished, for she had found it rather difficult to relax with the Blind Bandit constantly tossing and turning on the next bed, asking her if she was awake every five minutes. Azula spent almost two hours telling the girl to shut up in as many different ways she could think of, hoping to get the message across eventually, until Toph finally fell asleep, still tossing and turning every now and then. Her movements were rather brusque, and they startled Azula more often than wished they would.

The Princess had woken up inexplicably by dawn, and she had been unable to fall asleep once the morning lights began drifting into her room. She tried to sleep regardless, attempting to ignore a grumbling noise outside the room, but she soon gave up hopes of getting more rest and she climbed off her bed, dressed up and left the room. She'd had enough of rolling around hopelessly in bed as it was.

The idea of having breakfast in this shack didn't appeal to the Princess, but she rather doubted there would be somewhere better for her to eat nearby. Upon reaching the main floor of the inn, she informed the establishment's owner of what meal she expected for her breakfast before entering the dining room to look for an available table. Yet she found a familiar figure amongst the few ones that were occupied…

Azula frowned as she approached the table where Sokka was sitting, or rather, sleeping. His arms were crossed on the table, his head resting atop them. His loose hair covered his face, and he was breathing so unevenly that Azula realized he wasn't sleeping at all.

"Are you alright?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and sitting across him.

A weak giggle came from Sokka, and he lifted his head to regard her properly. Azula grimaced when she saw the dark bags under his eyes. To her chagrin, Sokka with his hair down was still a rather alluring sight for her, despite the awful look on his face.

"I wish I were, hehe… I really… I really do" he said, his awkward smile turning into a grimace as well.

"What happened? Did Iroh do something to you?" Azula asked, frowning and looking at Sokka with worry.

"Heh, other than not letting me sleep at all through the night…" said Sokka, sighing "His snoring is unbearable, Azula. Every now and then I got used to it, but then he'd suddenly shift and snort so loudly that I'd end up coming back to full consciousness again. And he did that… he did that all night, you know? I managed to sleep a few minutes at most before he arrived after his shopping trip…"

"So you're saying you're completely exhausted?" Azula asked, gritting her teeth "Sokka…"

"I know, I know" he said, with a grimace "I'm probably going to be useless today at the Arena. But it's hardly my fault, you know! I came down here after a while, precisely because I wanted to get some sleep while I could, but it really wasn't that helpful…"

Azula shook her head and looked at him with concern as he regarded her apologetically.

"Don't worry. You're right, it's not your fault" said Azula, sighing "I should have remembered his snoring. I heard odd sounds outside my room, but I didn't make a guess about who it might be"

"Yeah, well, it was probably him" said Sokka, dropping his head on the table again "What the hell am I going to do if I'm like this, Azula…?"

"You're going to do what you have to do, simple as that" said Azula "Saying 'don't overexert yourself' this time seems impossible, because no matter what, you'll end up overexerted anyhow… still, you managed to beat the Twin Hammer after an entire week without sleep, didn't you?"

"Eh, at least I had some sleep before fighting him" said Sokka, his voice muffled "Both at the old lady's house, and then while Xin Long was flying us to Garsai I slept a bit…"

"Well, that is true" Azula conceded "Still, you're not alone this time. If you can't fight to your best, the Bandit can compensate for your shortcomings. Her sponsor is the reason why you're like this, after all"

"For some reason I doubt things will work as well as that" said Sokka, sighing and lifting his head to look at Azula through half-closed eyes "You think we can trust Toph with something like that? I'm not questioning her strength or anything, but you did say yesterday that you didn't trust those guys… right?"

"I don't" said Azula, rubbing her forehead with the tips of her fingers "But you did say their goal had to be the same as ours. They want to win, don't they?"

"I hope" said Sokka, sighing before looking at her with some concern as well "How about you? Could you sleep well despite having a wacky earthbender on the next bed?"

"I wouldn't say I slept 'well', but I definitely slept much better than you did, even though she spent the night fidgeting on the next bed" said Azula "I'm never comfortable sleeping in beds that I'm not used to, though, so I wouldn't have been fully rested anyways"

"Really?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"Really" said Azula, frowning "Why are you giving me that look?"

"W-well, just… y-you seemed to sleep alright in Ember Island, is all…" muttered Sokka, not meeting her gaze anymore as they both blushed at the memory.

"Huh… right" said Azula, swallowing hard. Well, that was odd indeed. She had woken to quite an unpleasant headache, but other than that, it had been quite a restful night, much better than those that had preceded it, for they had been haunted by unwanted dreams. Yet Sokka had chased them away singlehandedly…

Sokka sighed again and dropped his head on a sleeping position once more, knowing he had said something he probably shouldn't have.

"I'm going to try and sleep again… if you don't mind" he muttered, and Azula nodded.

"Suit yourself. I'll try not to make much noise while I have my breakfast, then…"

"Heh?" said Sokka, his head rising again upon the mentioning of food. Azula wasn't startled by that in the slightest "Breakfast sounds kinda nice…"

"Mind you, I only ordered mine because I didn't know you'd be here already" said Azula, her hands linked and placed under her chin "And you're definitely not going to nick food from my plate"

"That's mean…" he pouted, sighing and dropping his head once more "Fine, then. I'll go sleepless and starved into the Arena. It's really going to feel just like our last trip if I do…"

"How dramatic" said Azula, rolling her eyes "As if you couldn't go a little while without food"

Sokka made a harrumph sound, but he didn't say another word. Azula smiled and shook her head before standing up and heading towards the kitchens, where she informed the establishment's owner, who just happened to be the cook as well, that he was to double her order. The man seemed to panic slightly at that, for he was already struggling with a single royal meal to add a second one to his to-do list, but he assured the Princess it would be done.

Sokka had noticed Azula had walked away shortly, but he remained slumped over the table even after she returned. It wasn't until he caught the smell of a freshly cooked meal that he raised his head, his stomach growling.

"A-Azula…" he whined, looking at her desperately as the waiter placed the meal in front of the Princess… but the expression on his face froze when he noticed she had pushed the tray towards him "A… Azula?"

"This way you won't have to steal anything from my meal, see?" she said, simply "Don't fret, I ordered more food for me just a moment ago. Eat now before it gets cold"

Tears of despair had seemingly gleamed in the corner of Sokka's eyes, but now they had turned into tears of gratefulness. He gave her a warm smile as he sat up straight, gazing at her as though she had saved his life.

"Thank you… You're the best" he said, before starting on his food.

A compliment of the sort would have been welcome in any other circumstances, but Azula most certainly didn't feel like 'the best' today, even when Sokka seemed to genuinely mean what he had said. She tried not to show how his words had affected her, and it was easy to succeed at that when she could only grimace at his lack of table manners, as ever.

"Morning, Jewel, Dog!" Toph declared, taking her seat next to Azula this time. The Princess' eyebrows twitched, for she definitely didn't welcome the earthbender's presence "Ready for the big fight?"

"Maybe" said Azula, looking at her sideways "Are you?"

"Sure I am, slept like a baby" she exclaimed happily "Just gotta get some food in my stomach and we can set out to the Arena as intended!"

"It's good to see you're that enthusiastic about it" said Sokka, as a waiter appeared to bring Azula her own food.

"It's weird to see you're not" said Toph, tapping her chin with a finger "One would think you'd be happier about joining forces with someone who is undefeatable, and yet it feels like you're all gloomy. What's the matter with you, Sokka?"

"The matter is that your sponsor snored all night long" he said, sighing "The food's good, though, so I guess that can compensate for my lack of sleep to a certain degree, but…"

"Ah, well…" said Toph, smiling innocently and shrugging. The gesture made Sokka frown.

"Are you trying to say something?" he grunted, looking at her with a harsh glare.

"Well, I'm trying not to say it, actually…" Toph confessed.

"And what is it you're trying not to say, Bandit?" Azula said, frowning before she started eating "Spill it already"

"Simply that I didn't choose to share rooms with the Jewel because she's a fun gal, if you know what I mean…" said Toph, with a smirk.

"You knew you wouldn't have gotten any sleep with all the snoring" said Azula, frowning.

"Nope, especially because my ears are waaaay more sensitive than his" said Toph, pointing at Sokka "So see? You had to take this one for the team, Dog. You know I'm our best bet at winning today, so I had to be properly rested and…"

"You're our best bet?" Sokka repeated, still glowering at her "Don't get me wrong, because everyone knows you're as tough as you want to be, but this is a Pairs Tournament after all. How much sense would it make for you to do all the work?"

"Heh, so that's how you're playing it all of sudden…" Toph muttered to herself as the last member of their group arrived to the table, dropping next to Sokka, who scowled as soon as he saw the man.

"Ah, good morning everyone!" said Iroh, beaming "Did you three enjoy the night?"

"Not half as much as you did, I believe" said Azula, looking at her uncle with a raised eyebrow "We had already tucked in by the time you returned from your 'shopping trip'. Had a lot of fun, did you?"

"Ahaha, well, it took longer than I expected" said Iroh, smiling "But don't fret, I brought souvenirs for all of you"

"Oh, yeah, just what I wanted to hear!" exclaimed Toph, beaming "Did you order our food already?"

"Ah, yes, with two cups of tea for both of us!"

"Two? One isn't enough already?" asked Azula, skeptically.

"You can never have enough tea, Azula" Iroh declared, nodding "One day you will understand, I'm sure"

"Sure I will" she muttered sarcastically, before looking at him with a frown "You simply went shopping yesterday, then. You didn't…"

"No, I… not yet" said Iroh, knowing what Azula wanted to ask him "I hope to head out after breakfast is done, if that's alright with you"

Azula sighed and nodded, thinking it would be for the best. At the very least, it seemed Iroh still remembered the only reason why they had bothered coming to the Lower Ring in the first place.

Yet, to the Princess' chagrin, breakfast took much longer than she expected, for Iroh and Toph had ordered massive meals, and they took their sweet time to eat and drink their tea, talking and laughing while Azula tapped her fingers on the table impatiently and Sokka dozed off on his chair.

"Ah, well, that was a nice meal" Iroh declared, happily, as he stood up at last "I would very much enjoy a bath now, but…"

"But you have something else to do, don't you, Uncle?" Azula asked, frowning, and Iroh nodded.

"I do, I do, I must…"

"Go to the Arena?" Sokka said, interrupting them. Despite the still prominent bags under his eyes, he looked much better once he'd had a good share of food in his stomach "Have you guys forgotten we're in the Lower Ring? It's going to take quite a while to get to the Green Gates from here. We have to take off now if we're going to make it at all"

"B-but…" said Azula, freezing "Iroh hasn't done what he has to do yet, Sokka. If we go to the Arena now, we'll have to return to this inn again later instead of heading to the Palace, as we planned"

"And what's the big deal? This is a nice place" said Toph, smiling "Besides, what Iroh has to do can wait a little longer. We'll end up being late if we don't go now, just like the Dog said"

"Well, this is unfortunate" said Iroh, sighing and caressing his beard "But you two must be right. We will have to come back later, there's nothing else to it"

Azula looked at Iroh in utter disbelief before huffing and throwing her hands up in the air and turning towards the inn's door. Sokka gulped, knowing she wouldn't be in a good mood at all after this. She had been counting on heading to the Palace once their fight at the Green Gates was over with.

"This is ridiculous" she muttered next to Sokka, once they were waiting for the train at the station "My uncle is merely behaving as an irresponsible idiot… which should hardly surprise me, honestly, considering his track record. We should simply head to the Palace afterwards and leave Iroh to visit Lu Ten whenever his brain processes that he ought to honor his fallen son"

"Huh, maybe" said Sokka, frowning "So why didn't we do that in the first place?"

Azula froze upon that and sighed, shaking her head. Sokka raised an eyebrow before she replied.

"I guess I just wanted to make sure he'd visit Lu Ten's hill" she said "Lu Ten deserves that much, after all. But I never imagined Iroh would be so thoughtless about this matter. I thought it would be a priority for him, but apparently shopping is far more important than his son…"

"Now, now, don't let this get to your head" said Sokka, patting her shoulder "Iroh is a weird guy, we don't really know what he was up to. And getting angry about him being thoughtless won't help you in any way"

"I suppose, but… it's not so easy to control how I feel when it comes to something that actually matters to me" Azula growled.

"Well, that's not something to feel bad about" said Sokka, smiling weakly at her "That's true to all of us"

"I suppose it must be…" Azula replied, as the train finally appeared.

The trip to the Upper Ring took quite a long time, which only displeased Azula further. The train got crowded rather quickly, and several people took their seats in spots they didn't quite fit in, squeezing all those who were sitting on the bench at the moment. Sokka tried his hardest to keep a reasonable distance from Azula, but when a particularly fat lady almost sat atop him, he ended up forced to scoot way closer to the Princess than it should have been appropriate. Still, Azula was too bothered by the crowd itself to be embarrassed by Sokka's closeness. If anything, it was somewhat comforting for him to be beside her right now. Despite her thoughts the night before, he really was the only person he could trust in this chaotic situation.

And in the mean time, Toph and Iroh seemed to have no problems at all on the seats across theirs, a fact that only contributed to Azula and her gladiator's irritation.

The Green Gates was a massive cylindrical building located in the Upper Ring. It was quite an unusual Gladiator Arena, for it bore colors traditional to the Earth Kingdom. The structure was comprised by pearl-white bricks, with a green, gabled roof. Iroh stared at it in wonder for a while, and Toph analyzed the area with her feet, sensing everything she could about the building long before entering the sand pit. Sokka and Azula weren't as amazed by the structure, for they had already fought here once before, and they led the way inside the building through the tall emerald doors that had spawned the Arena's name.

The vestibule wasn't as wide as the one in the Grand Royal Dome, but it was still spacious enough to host the masses of people who were waiting to head towards the stands for to witness the next fights. Azula spotted a pair of counters towards their left, and she walked steadily to them, followed by the rest of the group. A teenage girl sat before one of the counters while a boy identical to her sat on the one beside her. Azula guessed the girl was the one in charge of the bets, given that plenty of people were standing in line before her. Meanwhile, the boy didn't seem half as busy as his twin – for she could only be his twin – was.

"I wager you're in charge of the gladiators?" she asked once she had reached the boy's counter.

The boy jumped and sat straight, looking at Azula with slight panic. He had been rather eager about meeting the Princess as soon as her entry for the Tournament had arrived, but seeing her in person now left him even more awe-struck than he expected to be.

"A-ah… y-yeah, I am, it's me" he said, nodding awkwardly "You're the Princess, aren't you? And that's the Blue Wolf… and the Dragon of the West with the Blind Bandit!"

"He's new" said Sokka, glancing at Azula sideways "Not the same guy who dealt with us back in our last visit here"

"No, clearly not" said Azula, as the boy swallowed hard.

"You're here for the Pairs Tournament, of course! I'll inform that you're here, then, I… let me write it down first, yes… uh, what weapons will you be using? Though, wait, I should probably tell you the rules first? I, uh…"

Sokka chuckled before telling the boy which weapons he'd bring into the ring with him, and the boy wrote down them down quickly. He smiled at Sokka awkwardly before swallowing hard and dropping his gaze, somewhat embarrassed by his behavior. Next to him, his sister elbowed him in the ribs and whispered at him to calm down, which only prompted the boy to blush harder.

"Well, well, now that's out of the way, how about you tell us what those rules are?" Toph said, stepping forward, her arms folded over her chest. The boy found himself staring in disbelief at her sightless eyes before he shook his head and began answering.

"Uh, uh… welcome to the Pairs Tournament!" he exclaimed, still nervous "As you know, it will take place here, in Ba Sing Se's own Arena, the Green Gates, during the next four days. There are sixteen pairs of fighters, and you guys are amongst them, of course… your fight is scheduled to happen after the two next ones. You can stay in a waiting room meanwhile, if you want"

"And… that's all?" asked Toph, raising an eyebrow.

"N-no, no, of course not" said the boy, gulping "Each sponsor must pay an entrance fee of ten thousand yuans. The sponsors of the gladiators who win the Tournament will take the full extent of the collected money home, and a trophy as well"

Azula gulped, and Iroh smiled approvingly as he pulled out the money for his fee. Iroh finished paying the boy, yet Azula hadn't even made a move to pay her own fee.

"What's the matter?" Sokka asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"The matter would be that I have no money on me" she said, simply, and Toph scowled.

"You're royalty and you're broke? That's absurd"

"I'm not broke, I had brought enough money with me on my Barge. I just didn't bring all of it with me after our sudden change of plans yesterday" she said, and Toph still looked at her judgmentally. Iroh merely chuckled.

"Ah, well, luckily I can afford Azula's fee as well. It's the least I can do for her, she did bring us all the way here on her Barge" Iroh told Toph, as he paid the boy another ten thousand. Once the boy had placed the money in a safe, Iroh smiled kindly at him "Anything else we should know?"

"Uh, yeah. Your first opponents will be Your Doom and Earth Bane…"

"Huh? Whose Doom?" asked Toph, with a skeptical smirk on her face "And Earth Bane? Who the hell named these pricks?"

"W-well, I guess it was their sponsors, I mean… that's not important, is it?" said the boy, swallowing hard "If you two were to defeat your opponents, you would take the points worth from both fighters. If you lost, you'd lose that same amount of points from your total score. The Tournament's fights will be registered in your record, too…"

"Seriously?" Toph muttered, her smile fading upon that. Sokka gulped at the sudden stern look on her face.

"The fights have set time limits of twenty minutes each" said the boy "So whoever is in better shape by then will be awarded the win. Of course, knock-outs are allowed, but there are some conditions to it this time"

"Such as?" asked Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Both rivals must be unconscious for the fight to be over" said the boy "Just defeating one opponent won't do, because the remaining fighter just might be able to make a great comeback and win in the end"

"Sounds about right" said Toph, smiling again.

"Still, there is another rule about knock-outs" the boy stated "It's somewhat unnecessary if you ask me, but it's a rule regardless: if a fighter were to knock out his own partner, the pair will be instantly disqualified from the tournament, and their opponents shall win the match"

"Well, that's a reli..." Sokka was saying, but Toph's indignant exclamation cut him off.

"WHAT?! Hey! That's ridiculous!"

"W-well, I think so too, nobody would take out his own ally..."

"That's not it! If I'd get instantly disqualified by knocking the Dog out...!"

"If so, what?" Azula growled, glaring at Toph angrily. The Blind Bandit fell silent upon the Princess's menacing tone.

"Oh, no... This won't be pretty" Iroh whispered to himself, gulping.

A few minutes later, Azula's question was answered once both gladiators and sponsors were within a waiting room. And the answer she got only served to enrage both her and Sokka.

"So all along you were planning to do this?" Azula asked, glaring at Toph "From the very start, you meant to knock Sokka out and fight by yourself?!"

"What's the big deal?" asked Toph, huffing "Do you actually think he could do anything to help me win this fight? He's going to be totally useless!"

"Help YOU win this fight?" Sokka repeated, his fists clenched "What part of 'Pairs Tournament' do you fail to understand, Toph?! A 'pair' is comprised by two people, you know?! The point is for us to cooperate in order to win this thing!"

"Oho, sure thing, cooperate" said Toph, sarcastically "That sounds about right"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sokka grunted.

"You two agreed to join us in this event in hopes to win through Toph's prowess" Iroh muttered, sitting on a green armchair at the opposite end of the room from where the other three argued "Or were we wrong to think so?"

"Wha...?! That's not it!" said Sokka, though he froze on his spot. That was it, though, wasn't it? Azula herself had said it. If the Blind Bandit was their ally, they were most likely to win.

"Mind you, if you believed Sokka and I were simply taking advantage of you two, why exactly did you ask me to join this Tournament, Uncle?" Azula snapped.

"Whatever he was thinking doesn't matter" said Toph, scowling "Though I doubt he was thinking much anyways..."

"I didn't think it through indeed" said Iroh, sighing "But I never believed you'd accept my proposal. When you did, it became apparent that you meant to use Toph's prowess as a steppingstone to climb your way through the ranking..."

"You're making it sound as if we'd gotten this far by chance..." grunted Sokka "Mind you, I may not be some destructive, crazed and overpowered earthbender, but that doesn't mean you have the right to dispose of me just because you two think I'm weak! Especially considering we're supposed to work together here!"

"Yeah, 'work together' my ass" Toph snapped "You're free to delude yourself by thinking we'd 'work together' but it's damn obvious who's going to win this Tournament for us. You, Dog, would've only gotten in my way whether you want to admit it or not"

"Well, that's too bad, then" said Azula, shrugging "Because now you know you can't knock him out, whether he gets in your way or not. Ruining your victory streak mustn't be an appealing prospect for you, or is it?"

Toph shook her head and stepped away from them, unwilling to keep arguing, yet still stubborn enough to add:

"Doesn't mean I can't keep him out of my way somehow anyways..."

Azula rolled her eyes while Sokka snarled at the girl. Toph walked up to Iroh, refusing to answer to anything the Princess and her gladiator said to her anymore.

"Well, seems like you were right after all" Azula muttered, begrudgingly "You'll be fighting three opponents instead of two, from the looks of it"

"This is preposterous" said Sokka, shaking his head "I already smelled something bad about this whole thing, but this is just ridiculous…"

"Indeed" said Azula, sighing "I should have seen it coming. It's my Uncle, after all…"

"Well, truth to be told, I get the feeling Toph came up with this grand idea all by herself" said Sokka, frowning.

"Whoever came up with it isn't important, really" said Azula, sighing "You'll be fighting in that sand pit regardless who the mastermind was. Just make sure to keep your five senses in the fight, and don't take anything for granted. Try your best to stay conscious, and to knock out the other two if possible…"

"The other two? I'm sorry, but if she tries to take me out I sure as hell won't accept it without fighting back" said Sokka, frowning.

"And by doing so you'll only cause us pointless trouble" said Azula, looking at him sternly "Defend yourself from her all you want, but actively fighting against her will only be counterproductive on the long run. Don't focus on fighting her. Get her off your case, try to defeat your actual enemies and make sure she doesn't grind your bones with rocks or something"

"Easier said than done" said Sokka, with a grimace "Honestly, Azula… we really shouldn't have accepted this at all. I know you like the idea of earning a lot of points, but this is getting out of control. It would have been safer if we'd just fought a random gladiator back home"

"Maybe" said Azula, dropping her gaze. She hadn't decided to do this solely because of the points, of course, but Sokka didn't know that. And she wasn't about to reveal that to him any time soon "But it's too late now. We're here and we're already stuck in this mess, so we'll just have to make the most of it… whatever that means"

Sokka sighed in resignation, nodding weakly. Azula looked at him worriedly before placing a hand on his shoulder, at which he raised his eyes towards her, looking desperate.

"Just do what you do best" she muttered "That's what matters most. Give this your best efforts, and show her just how wrong she was by underestimating you"

The helplessness in Sokka's eyes faded away as she spoke, as he found comfort and support in her words. Maybe this wouldn't go so badly. He had survived Toph in several occasions before, after all…

He nodded and gave Azula a determined smile, clasping her hand with his, his mind set in making her proud of him through the fight up ahead. He wouldn't lose, even against three rivals. Not when he knew she believed in him…

Sokka seemed reluctant to leave Azula when the staff member arrived to tell them their fight would begin shortly. Nevertheless, he bowed his head towards the Princess before taking off to the stand-by room, Toph treading after him. Azula breathed deeply before starting towards the sponsors' balcony and Iroh followed her, keeping what felt like a safe distance from her.

"I only want you to know, Azula, that I never intended for matters to escalate this way…" said Iroh, once they entered the balcony, another area that sported the traditional green, yellow and white of Ba Sing Se "Still, you cannot quite blame Toph for believing you only accepted my proposal because it was convenient…"

"And why else should I have accepted it, Uncle?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows as she sank in one of the chairs that were designated for the sponsors. Their rival sponsors had yet to arrive "Did you ask me to choose to join forces with you because you think we're family and we should get along? Why, it's such a remarkable effort coming from you, considering that, from the minute you joined the Gladiator Business, you did it in hopes to thwart me. Or will you deny that now, Uncle? You don't actually think I'd believe you if you did, do you?"

"Surely not" said Iroh, sitting next to her, his shoulders squared "I didn't quite… I didn't quite think things through, Azula"

"No, clearly not" she said, frowning "You're supposed to be a grand strategist, aren't you? The fact that you chose the Bandit for your gladiator says as much. So why did you make the blunder of asking me to join you? Did you think my pride would prevent me from doing so?"

"Your pride almost prevented you from doing so" said Iroh, dropping his gaze "Azula… I wasn't truly interested in the Tournament. What I wanted was…"

"To visit Lu Ten's grave, surely" she muttered "Yet for some reason I cannot fathom, you decided shopping was more important than that. For some reason, you decided your gladiator should knock out mine even though the Tournament hardly interests you. Don't you think you're being rather contradictory, Uncle?"

"I know everything looks murky to you" said Iroh, sighing "But facing Lu Ten's grave isn't as easy as it may seem… I will do it, of course, but I need more time than I thought I would. Of course, you must think that makes no sense. I've had thirteen years already, how much longer would I possibly need? But I…"

Azula frowned and looked at Iroh. Her immediate thought was that he would be doing this to earn her sympathy… but she wasn't sure if his intentions through what he was saying mattered anymore. Iroh had to visit Lu Ten, regardless if he was trying to appeal to her softer side or not.

"You just have to do it" Azula said, shaking her head "It will always be hard, Uncle, whether you do it today or tomorrow or in six years or in ten. It won't become easier… in fact, it'll only be harder. Delaying it will only make it worse"

"Most likely" said Iroh, dropping on the couch and sighing "But doing this feels like… like acknowledging that I will never get him back"

Azula frowned and looked at Iroh in confusion.

"You expected to do something about it? At this point in time, Uncle?" she asked.

Iroh sighed heavily, closing his eyes before smiling weakly.

"After losing my wife, I told myself I would never lose another person I loved again" he said "When Lu Ten died, I did everything I could to bring him back, to reach him. Still, no matter how hard I tried, it was impossible…"

"Tried what?" Azula asked, genuinely intrigued "There's no way to bring someone back to life… is there?"

"Apparently not" said Iroh "I… I sought Lu Ten's spirit, I searched for his soul for an entire year, but my search yielded no results"

Azula frowned. So all the rumors about her uncle taking a trip into the Spirit World seemed to be true, after all…

"Even so, I always thought that there might be something I had overlooked. Something I don't know about. Some secret method for me to speak with my son once more…" he said, before sighing in resignation "But that would be ridiculous, wouldn't it?"

"Is this why you willingly traveled with Zuko for ten years?" asked Azula, frowning "Either to have him fill the void left by Lu Ten's death… or to search through the world for means to bring back the dead? Perhaps both?"

The door to the balcony swung open then, and with that, Azula's questions went unanswered. A young, dark-haired teenager, around the age of the twins from the counters, entered the balcony, with a tall, burly man following him. Azula forced herself to stop thinking about her conversation with Iroh briefly as she regarded the two arrivals.

"Greetings! You must be the Princess, aren't you? And you'd be the Princess's uncle!" said the teen, beaming and slumping in his seat "Are you guys ready to witness Your Doom?"

Azula raised an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically, and he began laughing at her reaction.

"I assume you named him simply in hopes to make that joke?" she asked, and the teenager smiled and nodded.

"It cracks me up every time!"

"Do excuse my son, he is rather reckless and he often fails to think before speaking" said the older man, gulping before bowing at both Azula and Iroh "It is an honor that our gladiators will be fighting against yours"

"Oh, it is our pleasure" said Iroh, smiling at the man.

"Dad, we should have bought to eat something on our way here, I'm starving" said the teen, and his father sighed, shaking his head before replying softly to him. Azula raised an eyebrow at the boy's request while Iroh smiled.

"It would not be such a bad idea, having a meal while watching the fight" Iroh told Azula.

"It would be rather unfair, if you ask me" said Azula "Our gladiators would be beating each other up in the sand, struggling under a merciless sun while we sit in perfect comfort, eating sizzle crisps while the carnage unfolds below. Hardly seems adequate, don't you think?"

"W-well, it doesn't have to go as far as carnage" said Iroh, gulping.

"When it comes to your fighter, it's bound to" said Azula, frowning. Iroh sighed.

"I should have told her not to plan on knocking out the Blue Wolf" said Iroh "I'm sorry for that, Azula"

"It makes no matter anymore" said Azula "Nothing you do or say will change the outcome anymore, but your gladiator had best understand she cannot simply take out Sokka…"

"She won't. I believe not, at least" said Iroh, swallowing hard.

"If she cares about that record of hers, she shouldn't" replied Azula, frowning "Though she shouldn't do it just because of that"

Iroh looked at Azula guiltily, despite himself. Usually he could play his cards right when it came to Azula, but this time around, for the first time in his life, he felt as though he were on the wrong side of an argument with the Princess…

"Oh, it's starting!" the teen exclaimed, gazing down with excitement as the green doors from the stand-by room swung open.

Sokka breathed deeply, casting uncertain glances at the blind girl next to him. Toph seemed to be in a foul mood after discovering she couldn't simply knock Sokka unconscious, and she stepped forward with a frown on her face once the way was clear for them to enter the sand pit.

"Don't get in my way" she growled at Sokka.

Sokka rolled his eyes and kept up with her pace, his brow furrowed as well.

"Don't get in mine either" he snapped back.

The crowd cheered when they walked into the sand, but neither Azula nor Iroh found the sight of their gladiators reassuring. They both knew their fighters well enough to tell they were beyond reluctant to cooperate with each other.

"Now welcoming the gladiators who will take part in our fifth fight of the day!" exclaimed the megaphone man from Ba Sing Se "Our first team is comprised by a pair that came all the way from Gaoling for this fight: Earth Bane and Your Doom!"

"G-Gao…?" Toph muttered, stiffening. Sokka frowned and looked at her warily for a moment before deciding not to inquire about whatever bothered her. It wasn't his problem, was it?

"And from the Grand Royal Dome, a pair sponsored by actual royals: the Blind Bandit and the Blue Wolf!"

"Hmmm… now I think of it, the Blind Bandit sounds familiar" muttered the teenager's father on the sponsors' balcony "Not sure why, but it does. Have I ever fought against you before?"

"Aah… not that I know of, no" said Iroh, gulping "Though I haven't always sponsored Toph myself, of course"

"Toph, you said?" repeated the teenager, surprised "That name sort of sounds familiar too…"

"Surely you must be mistaking her for someone else" Iroh said quickly, smiling and turning towards the fight "Oh, they're about to begin!"

The megaphone man counted down for the start of the battle, and Sokka readied himself, studying his opponents intently. One of them looked incredibly brutish, his head was bald and he looked rather filthy in the worn-out red rags he wore. Given his choice for clothing, Sokka assumed he was a firebender. The other fighter had long black hair, sunken eyes and was ridiculously tall.

"START!"

Sokka jumped away immediately when the black haired one, Your Doom, lifted his arms brusquely, procuring an array of sand that shot towards where Sokka and Toph stood.

Yet even though Sokka had been so wary, Toph scarcely reacted other than by turning on her heels and avoiding the attack almost effortlessly. Her feet sank into sand, and she solidified the grains into rocks in order to steady herself. She lifted her arms swiftly, and, before they knew it, her opponents had sank to their waists in the sand.

"That's not very nice, you know?" she said, sighing "Shooting sand at me like that… you weren't actually trying to hit me, were you? Because either your aim is terrible, or you think I can't take you… and I'm not sure which one might annoy me more. Here I thought you'd be a decent earthbender"

Your Doom scowled, struggling to release himself from the sand trap, but Earth Bane laughed sadistically next to him. Toph frowned.

"Your petty dirt ain't gonna stop me!" he exclaimed, and to both Sokka and Toph's utter disbelief, the man arched himself down… and dug his teeth into the sand.

"W-what the hell are you trying to…?" said Toph, disgusted.

Earth Bane took a mouthful of sand into his mouth before roaring fire towards Toph. The flames were accompanied by scorched rocks and sand, which posed an actual peril for the earthbender this time. Toph was left with no choice but creating a sand wall to protect herself from the attack. She lost her control over the sand she had been using to keep Earth Bane and Your Doom in place, and Your Doom soon bent himself and his partner out of the holes they had been in.

Sokka darted forward then, his sword at the ready, racing past Toph's wall so quickly that the Blind Bandit was surprised when she sensed his movements. Sokka targeted the earthbender first, his thoughts set on defeating his opponents one at a time…

Yet he didn't quite register he would be attacked by both gladiators at once. He felt quite stupid when he realized that was the logical way of fighting in a Pairs Tournament. Why would these two fight individually when they could do it together?

Your Doom flung another array of sand at Sokka, which effectively stopped him on his tracks. Sokka could only berate himself for not jumping out of the way on time when the sand slammed against his armor. On top of it all, he had instinctively closed his eyes to avoid getting sand in them, which left him open for another attack from Earth Bane, who kicked a flurry of fire towards Sokka.

Fortunately, the Blue Wolf happened to jump out of the sand stream's way just then… yet the blazes still caught his clothes, forcing him to roll on the ground to stifle them. It was no easy task, not when Earth Bane did everything he could to spike the flames to burn Sokka.

Yet Earth Bane soon had to leave Sokka alone when a boulder flew straight to his stomach, rendering him breathless and diminishing his control over his fire. Toph had brought down her wall and attacked the firebender with a nearby rock, forcing him to recoil and gasp for breath.

"Thanks for being a distraction, Dog!" Toph snickered, before launching herself into an all-out earthbending combat with Your Doom.

The flames that had danced on Sokka's clothes finally faltered, and he stood up with a start, wary of any potential attacks. He was relieved when he found Earth Bane was lying on the ground, coughing, and his relief increased when he watched Your Doom struggling to match Toph's bending skills. All the people who could kill him seemed to be busy or out of the way… momentarily, of course. He had to do something before they remembered he was there.

He placed Space Sword in its scabbard again, for it probably wouldn't be much help right now, and he withdrew his boomerang instead, throwing it ata Earth Bane. Earth Bane roared and cursed when the weapon tore through his clothes and lodged on his shoulder, and albeit the wound it left upon it was rather shallow, it still was strong enough to spill the fighter's blood on the white sand.

Sokka grimaced when Earth Bane took the boomerang with one hand and tossed it randomly into the air, accompanied with a blast of fire. And the weapon just so happened to wind up in the middle of Toph's wild earthbending exchange with Your Doom…

Toph flinched when she sensed there was something unbendable within the rocks and sand they had been bending. Yet she couldn't see what it was… while Your Doom could. And he took his chance to throw a rock at the boomerang in a very specific angle. Upon Your Doom's strike, the weapon flew towards Toph and, since she couldn't bend it, let alone sense it, the boomerang struck her by its edge on the top of her head.

"OW!" Toph exclaimed, and Sokka couldn't help but feel somewhat proud to see his boomerang had damaged the girl yet again… but his pride damped quickly when he remembered she was supposed to be his teammate this time.

Her momentary distraction almost allowed Your Doom to get the better of her, but the earthbender failed to anticipate what an angry Blind Bandit would resort to.

Sokka had never given much thought to what sort of tantrums a girl like this one could throw… until now. He swallowed hard as she suddenly began stomping on the ground, her arms stretching out and flexing, her fingers moving as though they were dancing…

And it would have been quite a sight to behold if only she hadn't been bending everything within the sand pit with her movements. The ring roared with the sound of the earth rumbling underneath it, and the people in the public squealed, panicking as they feared the Blind Bandit would bring an earthquake upon them. Yet the only ones who had true reasons for concern were the three men within the fighting area.

Arrays of condensed sand shot upwards where each of them stood, tossing them all into the air at once. Rocks and more sand shot back and forth, smacking and hurting every one of them. Your Doom attempted to bend the earth somehow, but doing so while in midair proved useless. Earth Bane recurred at taking another mouthful of sand and shooting burning earth back at Toph, but the Blind Bandit wouldn't fall for the same trick twice; with a flick of her hand she conjured a solidified stream of sand that defended her from the attack. And in the mean time, she continued to use sandbending to toss the three men into the air as though she were juggling them.

"None of you, NONE OF YOU, is going to mess with me, got it?!" she shouted, angrily. A trickle of blood was spilling down her face, its source the wound Sokka's boomerang had given her.

"Stop it, Toph!" Sokka shouted, and she decided to shut him up by striking him on the head with a rock.

"I told you to stay out of my way, idiot!" she shouted before focusing on her actual opponents.

Sokka spun in midair before falling flatly on his back. The world seemed to go round and round after what Toph had done. His gaze was lost in the Arena's open ceiling, and he wondered if he was seeing double or if all the clouds had exact copies floating right next to them…

Azula gasped upon the attack Sokka had sustained, a hand flying to her mouth and the other clawing at her armchair, while Iroh grimaced next to her. Had Toph knocked her partner out? Because if she had, they were done for…

Sokka raised a hand, attempting to push himself up even though he was having a hard time telling which way that was. The megaphone man had been about to declare Your Doom and Earth Bane as winners after seeing Sokka take the rock to the head, but he decided to hold his judgment, wondering if the Blue Wolf would find his bearings after all.

"D-damn it…" Sokka muttered, forcing himself to his feet and stumbling in the process. Everything felt hazy, but he could still fight, somehow… right?

Toph carried on with her intense earthbending trap until she decided she had dragged on with this. With a quick movement, she bent the sand around both Your Doom and Earth Bane, causing them to fly straight towards where the other was. The two fighters collided headfirst against the other and fell with a loud thump on the finally still ground, groaning and whining. Toph proceeded to touch the top of her head, irritated when she felt the liquid sticking to her palm.

"That stupid thing… it's the last time I'll let it get me, fuck it" she growled, irritated "You two, still alive?!"

The gladiators didn't respond, but Your Doom suddenly stuck his hand in the sand, solidifying it around Toph's feet and pushing it backwards in order to trip her. The man bolted to his feet again after that, and his companion shot an array of fire at Toph… but they didn't expect her to take advantage of being tripped. She extended her arms and used them to propel herself upwards thanks to her bending. The flames cast by Earth Bane tore apart the sand Toph had used to fling herself into the air, yet it made no difference. She kicked the solid earth around her feet straight towards Earth Bane, striking him in the stomach again, and she landed on her two feet without an issue.

Your Doom tried to shoot one of the Arena's large rocks at Toph now, but she spread her legs, taking a strong stance before overpowering her opponent. She took control of the rock and cast it towards Your Doom, who jumped back. And it would have been the perfect opportunity for Toph to finish him off while he was struggling to keep his balance…

But when she tried to move next, an unpleasant thrill coursed through her body, starting right below her navel. Her eyes widened, despite not being capable of seeing anything, and her lips curled into a grimace as a hand flew towards where the irritating feeling had been born at.

"Uh-oh" said Iroh, the grimace on his face a perfect mirror of the one on his gladiator's.

"What is it? What's the matter with her, Uncle?" Azula asked.

"I fear… it's what you said yesterday" he said, gulping "I think…"

"I've got to pee" Toph muttered, horrified by facing the consequences of drinking too much tea in the least appropriate moment.

Your Doom and Earth Bane seemed startled upon the girl's confession, but they both took the revelation much better than Toph had, launching attacks on her now that she seemingly was in no fit condition to fight. The girl grimaced and avoided the attacks, hoping to use mostly her arms to avoid twisting her body in ways that would cause her trouble… but it was hopeless. It didn't help either that the sensation was messing with her senses, for she could hardly focus on her surroundings when all she could think about was running to a bathroom right away.

Sokka was finally feeling steadier, probably because Toph wasn't shaking the Arena around anymore… which he couldn't quite understand. Why had she stopped dominating the Arena so ruthlessly?

He decided he'd find out once he had recovered his boomerang, which had been halfway through sinking in the loose sand Toph had bent. Sokka was busy cleansing it from the blood, his mind only capable of fitting a single idea at a time, when his fighting partner suddenly flew past him, to his utter surprise.

Toph had thrown herself back to evade the fire blasts and flaming chucks of rocks Earth Bane was tossing at her. Against her better judgment, she stomped hard on the ground – she gritted her teeth when her bladder sent a shot of pain through her body – and she moved her hands forward, sending two rocks towards her opponents, but the earthbender tore the rock in two, and the firebender simply evaded the attack.

They both lunged at Toph at once, knowing they could succeed in attacking her now. If they took her out, the battle would be as good as won for them…

Or it would have been, if they had only noticed the boomerang that was coursing straight towards them.

The weapon struck Earth Bane on the temple at full power, and his eyes rolled back as he collapsed. The boomerang rebounded on Your Doom's neck, leaving a dangerous cut across it. The earthbender shouted in pain and lifted his eyes, glaring at the Blue Wolf, who was running towards him, Space Sword in hand again.

Your Doom attempted to throw a rock at Sokka, but the wound on his neck made it hard for him to react properly. Sokka himself wasn't in his finest state either, but he could still make it past the rocks that Your Doom hoped to finish him off with.

In normal circumstances, Sokka might have leapt into the air and finished his opponent off with a grand strike. This time he simply tore through the rocks Your Doom sent towards him and slashed at his opponent with his sword. Your Doom bent backwards to avoid being struck, which prompted him to topple and fall over… and Sokka kneed him on the nose now. The earthbender writhed on the ground briefly, but he soon blacked out upon the pain produced by the last attack.

Sokka didn't quite process he had delivered the finishing blow against both fighters. He blinked blankly for an instant, falling sideways right in front of his boomerang as he rubbed the huge bump that Toph's rock had left on his head.

"This wasn't a good idea. Nope. Nope, it wasn't" he said, picking up his weapon and sighing while his ears failed to register the fact that the crowd was cheering over their grand triumph.

"The winners are the Blind Bandit and the Blue Wolf!" shouted the megaphone man, and Sokka frowned before realizing the fight really had been won after all.

"It's… over?" he muttered, turning towards where he had last seen his partner… who was already racing past the green doors of the nearest stand-by room, in hopes to find a restroom as quickly as possible "It's over. It really is"

Sokka continued to rub his bump and he stood up as the medical staff filed into the Arena, picking up the unconscious gladiators and dragging them away. Up on the sponsors' balcony, Azula sighed in relief, sinking in her chair and feeling relaxed for the first time ever since their trip had begun. Iroh, next to her, stared at Sokka in disbelief.

"Your fighter has improved greatly…" he muttered, smiling at Azula "Although it doesn't seem our gladiators know just how to work together, I'll say"

"What could you expect other than that?" replied Azula "They've never worked together before… it's a wonder that they managed to win"

"Drat, out in the first round!" the teenager complained "That's disappointing"

"Ah, what can you do" said his father, patting him on the shoulder "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That's life"

"Yeah, I guess" said the boy, jumping off his chair and turning towards Azula and Iroh with a smile on his face "It was a cool fight! Weird and crazy, but cool! I'll be rooting for you two for the rest of the Tournament!"

"Why, thank you" said Iroh, smiling "That is very kind of you"

"It was a pleasure to be your opponents" said the father, bowing down before Iroh and Azula. He placed a hand on his son's shoulder and prompted him to head outside "Let's get the food you wanted now, shall we?"

"After we check on My Doom, sure thing!"

With that, the two were gone, leaving behind the two royals. Iroh watched them leave, a smile on his face, before glancing at Azula sideways. It seemed the Princess was still trying to process what had happened, to the point where she couldn't even boast about her gladiator's great deed… the look on her face suggested she was too worried about him to brag about what Sokka had accomplished.

"Well, it ended in our favor somehow" said Iroh, standing up and smiling at Azula "We should check on our gladiators now, Azula"

"Right" she said, nodding and standing up.

They headed towards the waiting rooms again, finding the one Sokka was in after trying a couple of doors. Azula couldn't hold back a smile, despite knowing he wasn't in a good state at the moment. The gladiator raised his head when he heard her enter the room, recognizing her footsteps instantly.

"Do not move, please!" exclaimed the physician tending to him, pressing a bag of ice to the bump on Sokka's head.

"Well, you look dreadful" said Azula, smiling at him weakly as she approached, Iroh lingering behind her, looking for his fighter with his gaze, yet failing to locate Toph in the room "But you did it in the end, huh?"

"I don't think I know what I did" said Sokka, but he responded with a smile too "Good to see you again"

"You make it sound as if I'd been gone for ages" she said, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. Sokka's smile just became goofier as he laughed weakly.

"Okay, okay, I'm here now… Sorry, but I really had to hit the bathroom" Toph said, entering the room after Iroh, who turned around, startled.

"Toph! Here you were" he said, looking at her worriedly.

"And here's the one who gave me one too many cups of tea, eh?" said Toph, raising an eyebrow, at which Iroh smiled guiltily.

"I never expected tea to produce such a crisis on the battlefield" Iroh admitted, swallowing hard "We were very lucky the Blue Wolf managed to secure the triumph despite what happened to you. How is your head?"

"Heck, I haven't got a clue, but I suppose it's not that bad" she said, shrugging as the other physician in the room rushed towards her "Else I would have blacked out or died, huh?"

"Sorry about that" said Sokka, sighing "I wasn't trying to hit you with my boomerang"

"Yeah, I guess not" Toph replied, taking a seat while the physician began to examine her "Sorry I tried to knock you out with that rock, too. I acknowledge it, I really shouldn't have done that. I'm glad you didn't end up unconscious, though. You pretty much saved the day with what you did, Dog"

"I suppose I did" said Sokka, blinking blankly "I'm not so useless anymore, am I?"

"I guess not" Toph admitted "If I'd knocked you out, we would have flat-out lost the fight. So see, it's a good thing you're such a blockhead after all, huh?"

"Very funny" he said, rolling his eyes as the girl chuckled.

"I'll need help here, she's going to need a few stitches" said the physician dealing with Toph, gesturing at his companion to help him.

"U-uh, but…" said the one who was pressing the ice to Sokka's bump.

"Go on, I can take care of this" Azula said, gesturing at the physician to help his partner. She took the ice pack, and the medic gaped at her, surprised, before moving towards the Blind Bandit.

"Well, this ought to make you smarter. It looks like you're popping out a second head" Azula said, looking at the large bump on Sokka's head and smiling before placing the ice on it again. Sokka flinched when the ice touched his skin.

"Yeah, but I'll only get smarter if the new head is equipped with an extra brain" he said, with a weak laugh of his own. It felt incredibly comforting for Azula to help him heal like this…

"So you're going to stay as stupid as you are? And here I was hoping it'd be an improvement" Azula sighed, and Sokka chuckled.

"If anything, I think the impact from the rock must have killed a whole bunch of my brain cells. I don't even know how I'm still functional right now…"

"Well, we should be glad you are" said Azula "Seems like the Bandit is right, being a blockhead finally worked in your favor"

Sokka smiled and sighed happily, and Azula actually felt content as well, for the first time since the day she had decided on joining this Tournament.

And Iroh watched the two of them curiously for a moment, surprised by how they were behaving now. During their trip he had believed they didn't get along at all, for more often than not he would find Azula in a foul mood while around her gladiator… but now he wondered if perhaps he had misjudged their relationship.

Watching Azula get along with someone else was a bigger surprise for her uncle than he expected it to be. He couldn't quite recall having witnessed her showing any kindness to anyone before. Had he misjudged their relationship… or had he misjudged her?

Toph and Sokka were kept under observation for several hours, since their wounds had been more severe than usual. The physicians allowed them to leave eventually, and once they were free to go, the four of them took off to the train station yet again.

Soon enough, the four of them had boarded the train, back towards the Lower Ring. Yet this time around, they chose to sit together at the same bench. Toph had talked with Iroh for a little while, complaining about her bandaged head, before drifting to sleep on her sponsor's shoulder. Iroh had followed her lead, his head tilting back as his mouth fell open and he began snoring. It wasn't a very busy hour by the time they boarded the train, and the wagon they were in, the very last one of the train, was empty save for them through most the trip.

"So this is what you put up with through the night" said Azula, as Iroh's snores filled the cabin "No wonder you couldn't sleep at all"

"You and I should have shared rooms instead" said Sokka, flinching when Iroh gave one of his loud snorts "See? Toph has no problem sleeping despite his noise"

"And I'm sure you would have had no problem sleeping with me either" Azula said, deliberately wording her sentence suggestively. When Sokka blushed she smiled "Well, seems like the wound doesn't keep the blood from rushing to your head. That should be a good sign"

"I suppose it is" he replied, smiling as well before sighing "Sorry if I worried you down there. I guess after all the experience I've got I shouldn't make you worry about me anymore…"

"Whoever said I was worried about you?" Azula retorted harshly, and Sokka winced.

"W-well, I… I just thought…" he mumbled before she smiled at him again.

"No need to mumble randomly" she said, her voice unusually gentle "I'm quite surprised to find you're fine. That rock to the head would have broken anyone else's skull"

"Probably" said Sokka, smiling as well "Still… it went well in the end, somehow. I don't know how I managed to knock those two out, really…"

"You'll have to be more careful tomorrow, though" said Azula, frowning "You won't have a couple of weeks to recover from the wounds you sustained. Both you and the Bandit need to reach the end of this Tournament on your best possible shape… or, well, on the best possible shape you can muster after this mess of a fight"

"Which might be impossible if we keep fighting against each other through the Tournament" said Sokka, sighing "Still, she apologized back there. Maybe… maybe she doesn't mean to keep fighting against me from here on. I mean, I did save us from getting disqualified. Those guys were definitely going to take advantage of how badly she needed a potty break…"

Azula couldn't help but chuckle at his words. Sokka blushed again and scowled at her.

"What? You think potty breaks are funny?"

"You do realize how ridiculous it sounds for a fully grown man such as yourself to speak about 'potty breaks', don't you?" she asked, looking at him inquisitively, and Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not being crude about it. You should be grateful for that!" he exclaimed, but his excuses only served to make her laugh again.

Sokka couldn't help but smile as well, though, by watching her laugh. It almost felt as though their latest row hadn't even happened. Seeing a cheerful smile on her face instead of tension and displeasure was the best reward he could have asked for after winning that fight.

"It still ended for the best, though" said Azula, once she stopped laughing "And I hope the next fights end in the best possible way as well"

"Yeah… me too. Though I'm seriously exhausted" said Sokka, sighing and leaning back on the seat, his eyes closed.

Azula gazed up at him before allowing her eyes to travel down his body, finding his right hand was placed on his lap. Yesterday she had rejected his touch blatantly, but now she felt rather differently about the idea of joining their hands together. She still worried over what would happen once they returned to the Fire Nation… but being unkind on him wasn't bound to help her case. If anything, her abrasiveness might just compel him to leave her as soon as he discovered Kyoshi's Heir was safe. Perhaps by not shunning him away so harshly he might not feel the urge to run off with another woman…

Sokka had known he wouldn't get any sleep, for Iroh's snores were still as annoying as they had been during the night. Yet he didn't expect something else to keep him awake.

His eyes opened immediately when he felt Azula's hand atop his. He glanced down momentarily, finding she was attempting to link her fingers with his, as she had several times before. He was more than happy to help her achieve her goal, naturally, and he smiled weakly as he felt his chest aching again, yet not in the way it had when she had rejected him. Now it ached for the exact opposite reason of why it had back then…

He ran his thumb over hers, and Azula released the breath she hadn't known she was holding when she felt Sokka's hand close around hers…

Yet their contact disengaged quickly when a ridiculously loud snort came from Iroh's direction, startling both of them. They had almost forgotten they weren't entirely alone in the wagon. Azula took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest, berating herself internally for her thoughtlessness, but Sokka simply smiled and closed his eyes again. Maybe that hadn't lasted long, but it had been a start, at the very least.

Neither Iroh nor Toph gave any sign of having noticed the subtle exchange between Azula and Sokka once they woke up, something that helped ease Azula's mind as they disembarked the train and headed to the inn. The last thing she needed, now that she finally felt better about this Tournament, would have been for her uncle or his gladiator to pry into her relationship with Sokka.

As soon as they arrived to the establishment again, Iroh requested to rent the rooms again and they also ordered their meals. Sokka and Toph devoured their food quite ravenously; Azula figured their raging appetites were as good a sing as Sokka's blush earlier.

"Woah, I sure as hell needed that" said Toph, sighing and dropping back on her wooden chair, a hand on her stomach.

"Make sure not to drink so much tea this time, though" said Azula, raising her eyebrows. Toph chuckled a bit.

"Don't fret, Jewel. Next time I'll go to the bathroom before jumping into the ring, to avoid these sort of mishaps" she said, smiling.

"I hope so" Azula replied, folding her arms across her chest "And I also hope we've all learned our lesson today"

"Other than going to the bathroom before starting a fight?" asked Sokka, sarcastically, and Toph punched his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, that's going to get old soon enough, you know?" she barked at him, as he kept laughing "And yeah, Princess, I got it. Even if your Dog feels kinda useless, he actually wasn't. Joining forces with him may not have been as bad an idea as I originally thought it would be"

"So… this means we will be cooperating properly from here on out?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, but only when you're not being annoying" Toph said, and Azula let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Then I'm sure she won't be cooperating with you at all" she told Sokka, which prompted him to glare at her while Toph laughed.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, and Azula responded by smirking maliciously.

Iroh smiled as he watched the exchange, somehow feeling he had a better grasp of the relationship between his niece and her slave. It definitely wasn't half as awful as he had originally thought it was.

"I believe we all had our faults when it came to all our hasty decision-making about this Tournament" said Iroh, breathing deeply "But we can move past them. I'm sure the two of you will make a wonderful team once we all set aside our reservations towards one another"

"Yeah, I think so too" said Sokka, nodding "I mean, if we actually won today and we were such a disaster, we'll wipe the floor with those guys if we work together properly tomorrow"

"And you'd better work properly tomorrow" said Azula "We can't afford losing fights in an event like this one, and I'd very much like it if we could dine in the Palace tomorrow instead of here…"

"Why are we still here, anyways?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "We could have just…"

He fell quiet when he remembered why they had wound up in the Lower Ring in the first place. It was quite curious that all four of them knew what Iroh had to do, yet they weren't willing to talk about it openly.

"I will be back in a moment" Iroh said then, smiling gently and standing up.

Azula and Sokka watched him leave, somewhat worried, yet Toph put their concerns at ease quite easily.

"He didn't leave the inn, he just went upstairs" she told them, shrugging the matter off as though it weren't too important.

They remained quiet for the time being, and soon enough Iroh returned, carrying a basket with him. Azula frowned when the man pulled out a bag of clay and placed it in front of Toph, who leapt excitedly upon finally having her promised gift.

"Yeah! Thanks, Iroh!" she exclaimed happily, while Iroh beamed.

"I also have these" said Iroh, handing a couple of hardened clay figurines to Sokka and Azula, one shaped as a dragon, the other shaped as a wolf "They made them upon my request. I figure it'll make a better present than the doll from all those years ago, won't it, Azula?"

Azula raised an eyebrow while Sokka stared at his wolf with interest, quite intrigued by the careful carving.

"Why, indeed, it is better" said the Princess, analyzing the dragon carefully "Though this dragon has wings…"

"Uh… Azula" Iroh said, interrupting her admiration of the figure "I would like to ask something from you"

"And what is that?" she replied, looking at him with curiosity.

"Would you… come with me?"

He didn't need to say where, for she already knew… but that he would request her company baffled her regardless. Azula stared at Iroh in disbelief for a moment before dropping her gaze and, without knowing if she was following her better judgment or not, she simply nodded. Iroh smiled gladly, almost having expected his niece to blatantly refuse to accompany him.

Sokka watched them, surprised, while Toph played with the clay in her hand, bending it into different shapes at will. She continued to do that while Azula and Iroh readied themselves for their short trip, and she even carried on doing it once the other two were gone.

"I wonder when they'll be back" Sokka muttered, thoughtfully, still seating at the table next to Toph.

"When they're done with what they're up to, obviously" said Toph, shrugging "I wouldn't worry much about them… though well, I'm not head over heels about my sponsor, so what I'd do really isn't what you'll do, is it?"

Sokka froze upon Toph's accusation, not just because of what she had said but because of how simply she had said it, as though she were merely commenting on the quality of their meal. He stared at her, aghast, while she continued to play with the clay.

"I-I-I… what did you just say?!"

"That I wouldn't do the same things you do because I'm not in love with my sponsor, is what" said Toph, now smirking cruelly "Come on, Sokka. You really think you can fool me? Just by being near her your heart starts beating faster, and when she talks to you it beats even faster, and if you keep going at that rate, I'm pretty sure you'd end up having a seizure if she so much as touched you…"

"That's ridiculous" said Sokka, angrily, while Toph chuckled "I… I haven't wound up with seizures because of her touch! That much should be obvious!"

"Well, true, she did put the ice to your head and you're still fine, but you did get ridiculously excited about that" said Toph, raising an eyebrow "If you're trying to convince me you're not totally in love with her, hell, the evidence really is against you"

"I'm not… it's really none of your business whatever I might feel for her, you know?!" Sokka exclaimed, embarrassed, and Toph laughed again "It's not funny!"

"It kind of is, though" she said, smiling now "You're acting like a ten-year-old with his first crush, really. Not that I'd know much about how a ten-year-old with a first crush acts like, but you hear things anyways"

"Why wouldn't you know? You didn't have many friends while growing up?" asked Sokka, surprised.

"Eh… actually, I didn't" said Toph, shrugging the matter off "Still, I'm pretty sure they'd act like you're acting now. Come on, you don't have to be so dumb as to cover up for that. It's pretty obvious you're crushing real hard on her. I can see it, and I can't even see!"

That last argument was the final stretch Toph needed to go to before Sokka finally surrendered. He dropped back on his chair and sighed loudly.

"Well… it really doesn't matter whether I'm crushing real hard on her or not" he muttered, somewhat bitterly "It makes no difference on the long run, because no matter what I feel for her, she can't be with me. I've already pushed my luck too far as it is"

"Oh? Have you, now? Gotten a bit too friendly with the Princess, Dog?" Toph asked, raising an eyebrow "I sure hope not. From what I've heard, the Fire Nation has some pretty high standards…"

"It does, which is exactly why I haven't gotten 'too friendly' with her" he muttered, sighing.

"Heh, so if that weren't stopping you, you would've gone for it" said Toph, at which Sokka blushed, hardly even realizing what he had just said "You're one daring guy, I'll give you that. Yet you've got some guts to restrain yourself as you have so far. Not any guy would hold back if the Princess offered to spread her legs for him"

"W-wha-…?! S-she hasn't offered to do such a thing!" Sokka exclaimed, blushing even harder.

"Hell, now that's a shocker! I was just kidding with that, but you're lying! I can tell you're lying!" Toph laughed, dropping the clay on the table while Sokka still sought to deny her accusations.

"Hell, no! She hasn't…! Not at all, you've got it all wrong!" he continued denying, but neither his mind nor his body would stop betraying him. The blood rushed through him hastily as he became more nervous, his head overflowing with memories of that one night in Ember Island…

And as Toph continued to tease Sokka over his close relationship with Azula, the Princess climbed the way up to Lu Ten's hill along with her uncle. It was a steep hill, yet reaching the top of it posed no issue for either firebender.

Azula didn't speak as Iroh prepared a small shrine at the foot of the tree. She watched him pull a piece of cloth out of his basket, and afterwards different fruits as well. Was this what he had been buying at the market yesterday, then…? So maybe he had been thinking about Lu Ten, after all…

Azula's breath caught in her throat when Iroh also brought forth a painting of his son. He placed it on the cloth, right atop the stones that marked Lu Ten's grave. He lighted two sticks of incense and placed them before the painting as well. And after taking a deep breath, Iroh finally addressed his son.

"I'm sorry I took so long" he muttered, smiling weakly "I know I should have been here sooner, my son. I wish I had been, too. And there are many things I wish for indeed… but most of them cannot come true anymore"

After that, Iroh took another deep breath. Azula watched him intently, eager to hear whatever he might say next.

"There are one too many things I should apologize for, Lu Ten" he said, dropping his head "If only I could have helped you, I would have. But I was too late, and for that I'm sorry. I was too busy, and for that I'm sorry, too. I was blind to many truths, and for that I'm sorry yet again. And I didn't know how to atone for my mistakes after losing you… so I sought you, I tried to find you, even though I knew you were gone. And… and even to this day, I cannot believe you truly are gone, Lu Ten. Still… it is time to let your memory go, isn't it? It is why I'm here, after all…"

When Azula saw his shoulders shake softly, she turned around, her back towards the tree. She hadn't wanted anyone to see her cry at Lu Ten's grave when she first came here, after all. Surely Iroh needed privacy, even when he had asked her to come with him…

"I love you, Lu Ten" he said, smiling despite the tears dropping from his eyes "And I do hope I will meet you again in my next life. You will always be my son, even if I wasn't worthy of as wonderful a son as you"

Azula's eyes widened when she heard Iroh sing. Her hands balled into fists as she tried to keep from being affected by her uncle's song. She had heard it as a young girl, she was sure of it… who had sung it? She couldn't quite remember. Yet she couldn't keep from reciting the lyrics in her mind as Iroh sung aloud.

" _Little soldier boy, come marching home._

_Brave soldier boy, come marching home"_

Azula took a deep breath once Iroh had finished his song. This had been much more difficult than she had expected it to be. Iroh hadn't quite apologized for what she had expected him to… yet it was clear he felt remorse for the death of his son. And despite how much she disliked Iroh, and how disappointed she had been upon his abandonment of the Siege when Lu Ten died, Azula actually felt this was enough for now. The man carried enough sadness within himself as it was.

It wasn't until then that she finally found something she could do. Up until then, she had been wondering if her company had made any difference at all… but if she wanted to make a difference at all, there was no better time for it than now.

Azula stepped towards him and knelt by her uncle's side, a hand on his back. Iroh sniffed, wiping the tears from his face with the back of his hand.

"I'm sure he… he'd be happy you came here even after all this time" Azula muttered, not knowing if her words would be any use or not. She had no experience comforting people "You can come by again before we leave the city, if you want to. But for now, I think… it would be best if we returned to the inn"

Iroh actually smiled at her and nodded, and for once, Azula didn't feel as though his gesture had any ulterior meanings, any secret intentions she had to unravel. For the first time in her life, she truly felt as though he were her uncle, as though he saw her as his niece. For once, she felt as though they were family…

"Just…" said Iroh, placing a hand on Azula's shoulder "Just a little longer, can we…?"

Despite herself, Azula sighed and nodded, and Iroh smiled again.

"You two always got along, didn't you?" he said, chuckling "Even though you and I have never been on good terms, Azula… you were with Lu Ten"

"Lu Ten was always different from the rest of us" Azula muttered "You, me, my father, Zuko… we're always judging, always thinking too much, looking too deeply into what is actually just shallow. Lu Ten wasn't like that… he was kind, and he accepted others as they were. He truly was one of the best men I've ever known"

"Indeed, he was" said Iroh, nodding as more tears slipped through his eyelids "Indeed, he was"

The incense continued to burn as dusk passed them by. And despite knowing they had to get back soon, being with Lu Ten right now seemed to matter much more than anything else. And thus they remained on their spots, their eyes set upon Lu Ten's painting, bonding as uncle and niece for the first time ever over the death of a family member they both had loved dearly.


	75. Chapter 75

Every day, without fail, Akira would drag Yong to work once they both woke up. At times he'd do it at dawn, but they had no set schedule. There was nothing stable about living in Shu Wo, in no regards. And Suki had learned it quite soon while being slave to the pair of men.

Yong was the taller and broader of the two, a man with a nasty temper and an enjoyment for other people's misery. He would never bother feeding her; for him, Suki was merely a prop. After only a few days it became clear that he'd only wanted to buy her for the sake of having his way with her, something Suki had resisted in every possible way at first. She had fought back toe and nail, despite the injuries that had yet to heal from her fights with the soldiers back in the Capital. But precisely because of those injuries, she had been subdued by her captors more often than not. Still, Yong hardly wanted to risk touching her when she became too aggressive. She had scratched him quite deeply on his first pass at her, and she had left him with black eyes on the next opportunities. Yet her efforts to retain her dignity were rewarded by violent kicks and beatings, and she couldn't quite defend herself properly while being chained to that wretched pole in the kitchen.

Akira, on the other hand, was slender and less violent, and he only seemed to want Suki to become their maid. He was a terrible cook, albeit Yong was even worse at it than him, without a doubt. Akira constantly burned the food and he was no good at cleaning either, which was why their hut was so filthy and unhygienic. Yet it was Akira who would give Suki anything resembling a meal whenever he happened to remember that leaving her to starve would be inconvenient. He referred to Suki as 'girl', instead of calling her 'bitch', like Yong did, and he had even hoped to call her by her real name, but the former gladiator had refused to tell him what it was.

Yet, even though Akira wasn't cruel, Suki had no illusions about him: he may not be as bad as Yong, but that didn't mean he was any good either. Suki had always suspected Akira was an ambitious man, one that was mostly driven by money and hopes to achieve success than by the pleasures Yong seemed to indulge in. And she had confirmed her suspicions a few weeks ago, upon a conversation the two men exchanged in their room, when they thought she wasn't conscious to listen to them.

"You've gotta stop being so reckless, Yong" Akira was saying, as he tended to the scratches Suki had left over the man's face when he had assaulted her that day. He had returned the favor by yanking her by the hair and slamming her head against the pole. He thought she had been knocked out by the blow, yet she hadn't quite lost her senses, despite feeling as fuzzy as she did "Keep his up and you're gonna kill the girl, just like you did with the last one, and we ain't got enough money to get a new one this time"

"Shut up. We got the bitch for a reason, didn't we?" Yong retorted.

"Not to make her your personal slut, we didn't! Don't be such an ass with me, man, work's been rough enough as it is…"

Suki had slept on the floor that night, still tied to the pole, shivering over the words she'd heard them exchange. These men had killed a slave before already… and the only reason why they didn't want to do the same to her was because a replacement would be too costly. The thought sent waves of rage through her body, and the urge to escape, which had been there since being caught by the soldiers, only grew stronger after that.

But if she was to find a way to get out of here, she couldn't do it through brute strength alone. She couldn't continue to fight back as she had so far, for it had bore her no fruit at all. Struggling would only make everything harder for her…

And thus, on the next opportunity Yong had assaulted her, she had only struggled a little, for the sake of keeping up appearances. She had tried to push him off her, but pretended her strength had failed her. And with that, Yong had been satisfied. That night, Akira gave her more food than usual. It seemed he was grateful for not having to nurse any new wounds on his companion this time around.

It had been two weeks of letting everything run its course. She had stopped resisting altogether, and in exchange, Akira had even unchained her from the pole and guided her to a closet where she was allowed to sleep on an old mattress, for once. She was chained to a wall regardless, but having a bed and a pillow for the first time in months was a welcome improvement.

Yet she didn't care for these improvements. That wasn't what she was after. She hadn't done everything she had in hopes to be treated more pleasantly… no, she had done it to escape.

And she would definitely escape today.

Akira woke up at midmorning and he kicked his companion awake as well. He strolled into the kitchen and looked at her with a little guilt before starting to cook.

"Didn't plan on leaving you there, girl" he said, gathering the ingredients for breakfast "Sorry about that. Forgot to take you to your bed"

Suki didn't reply. The fact that Yong had forgotten to unchain her had worked in her favor after all, for she was the one who had the keys to her shackles right now. She simply closed her eyes and kept quiet, hoping Akira wouldn't talk anymore, that he wouldn't ask her why she kept her left hand shut tightly. He didn't.

She was given a bowl of oatmeal, the same batch of oatmeal the man had cooked over five days ago. The taste had been bad even when it was fresh, and now it tasted even worse. Suki really wondered if being such a bad cook wasn't a talent of some sort…

"She locked up good there?" Yong asked, yawning, before the pair of them took off for the day.

"'Course she is, prick, she's been there all night no problem" said Akira, rolling his eyes "C'mon now, work"

"I want another round with her, damn…"

"Not now, you piece of shit. We've gotta go" Akira growled, grabbing Yong by the collar and dragging him outside without another word.

Suki felt her heart drumming in her chest as she started counting in her head. If they just so happened to forget something at home, they'd likely notice and return in the span of half an hour. After that was gone, she had a window of at least five hours to get away… and she had to flee now, one way or another. Akira and Yong would notice the key's absence soon enough, the key she had removed from Yong's pocket while he did what he always did to her. It was a relief he would always get so lost in the moment that he failed to pay any attention to his surroundings.

She folded her legs, and crossed her arms atop her knees as she waited. Time had never seemed to pass slower than today. She would get away, and she would find another place to stay while she figured out what to do. She really didn't have a plan in mind as she was, for all she really wanted was to get away from here as quickly as possible. She couldn't fathom another day stuck in a place like this one. Staying here would be as good as forsaking her life, and that was something she refused to do, despite everything…

Her hands trembled by the time she decided it would be safe for her to leave. She bit her lip as she clasped the key carefully in her hand, and she had a hard time inserting it on the keyhole properly. Afterwards, maneuvering to remove the shackles wasn't easy, but she managed to do it nonetheless, waves of nervousness washing over her as she told herself to do it faster, to be done with it immediately before the other two could return.

She could have cried of relief upon being free… could have, but she didn't. She had no time to spare with sentimentalism when she had to get out of the house right now.

She limped her way to the back of the shack, and she pushed a window open with some difficulty. Suki flinched at the weakness of her arms, slightly horrified by how hard it was for her body to move altogether. The soldiers had probably fractured one or two of her ribs back when they seized her, and every breath she took reminded her of the fact that they hadn't healed, and if they had, then not properly. Her legs were weak, and she had twisted her ankle too on her attempts to escape the marketplace, but the ball and chain she had worn back then had kept her from getting away, and they had given her another bad wound, on top of it all.

All in all, she felt pathetic. She felt weak. And she hated it with every fiber of her being.  _Not anymore_ , she told herself,  _I won't accept being reduced to this. I'm getting out of here now. This will be over today._

With that thought in mind, she climbed the windowsill with some difficulty and let herself fall to the other side of the wall.

Being outside should have filled her with relief, yet stepping into the unknown only induced more anxiety in her. They couldn't be nearby, could they? She had no idea what the two men worked on, they hardly ever discussed it at home, so she had no clue where they would be at the moment…

She shook her head and tried to focus on getting out of the rotten town as quickly as she could. She had no idea if there would be a better place nearby, but surely nothing could be worse than Shu Wo, could it?

She took a deep breath before starting to walk, making her way between the houses. It would be best for her to avoid the streets, she had no clue what would happen if someone found her there… so the stinking alleys between the houses would have to do for now. It wasn't as though she weren't used to stench, for Yong and Akira's house had a hideous stink as well. Her nose had almost grown desensitized altogether after being stuck there for as long as she had been.

Stealth was no easy matter, not when she felt like she couldn't quite control her body. She grimaced and flinched with every step she took, and she had to crouch under the windows of the houses in hopes to keep anyone from seeing her. She had no idea how long she would have to go before reaching the edge of the city. Was this a bad plan? It probably was. But it was too late to start having second thoughts when she was already halfway through it.

Not all houses had fences around them, but to her chagrin, some of them did. Pushing herself up them was no easy feat, and putting her body through such strain prompted her to whimper in pain. She bit her lip hard to keep the sounds from leaving her throat, though, as she hoisted herself over one of the barriers and slung a leg over to the other side…

She miscalculated the distance separating her from the ground, though, and she dropped on her wounded ankle. The pain shot through her body, and although she should have been used to agony by now, she couldn't hold back a weak cry upon it. She pushed herself up and rubbed her ankle, closing her eyes to keep the tears from leaving them. She had no time to cry, she had no time to calm down. She only had time to run before anyone saw her…

"What'd ya reckon that was?" asked a voice from within the house… an eerily familiar voice. Suki's eyes widened when she heard it "Got a pet on the back, old man?"

"N-no, I don't, just take your money and leave, Yong…" an unfamiliar voice responded.

"That ain't enough, old man. That ain't enough. You know what the agreement with the boss was, dontcha'?"

"Please, two more weeks!"

"I don't got two weeks. The boss don't got two weeks" Yong retorted "Akira? C'mon, help me give 'im a proper beating. What'cha doing by the window?"

"That voice…" Akira muttered, and Suki felt the blood slow down in her veins.

It just had to be her luck, it just had to be, that she would just so happen to fall in the very house these two were being thugs at. It was fitting that their jobs would be related to beating people up and collecting money, but why did they have to be at this very house right now? Why…?

She couldn't think it through anymore. She couldn't stop to ponder her options. If fortune wanted to be a bitch today, she'd have to fight against it with all her might even if she lost her life in the process. Better dead than chained to that pole for another day.

She darted through the garden and raced over the other end of the fence, jumping over it quickly and happening upon a street, for this house was at the end of the block. She almost tripped again when she passed the fence, but she managed to keep her balance this time.

The people on the streets glanced towards her just out of the corner of their eyes, as though the sight of a battered slave, with ragged clothes and splotches of dry blood all over her body, were completely ordinary in a town like this. Suki grimaced and started running with all her might, yet all her might wouldn't be nearly enough, it seemed. She could hear the indignant voices behind her… they must have seen her. Akira probably had glanced outside the window and spotted her. Maybe she should have hidden behind the fence, maybe she should have crawled under the windowsill… oh, why did she had to come up with better ideas when it was too late to put them to action anymore? She didn't know, and she didn't care. She just had to run, to flee, to get away from the two men who had dragged her into this living hell…

"There she is, Yong! Come on!" Suki heard behind her, and she almost stumbled as she forced herself to move faster. Her ankle pained her further, and she whimpered as she tried to get away from her captors.

She lifted her gaze, panting, to find she was actually reaching the outskirts of the town by now. It didn't seem it was such a large place, after all. Yet what use was it to get out when Akira and Yong were giving her chase? Even so, she didn't dare stop. She kept running, wishing the gravel roads didn't feel as unpleasant as they did against her bare feet. Yet she had to put up with it. The pain would be over soon, one way or another…

And it seemed it would be over indeed, in the worst way she could imagine, for a large hand gripped her shoulder just as she was making her way through the paths outside Shu Wo. She grimaced and struggled to get out of its grasp, but a kick to the back of her knees sent her tumbling. Suki cried out in pain again, rolling on the ground until she was facing the sky. If only she had her weapons… if only she had her strength… if she had anything at all right now, she could defeat those two, but she had nothing…

"Stupid bitch" Yong said, clasping her by the shirt and pulling her up "The sweet slave act was to get away, huh?!"

"Fuck it, Yong, let's just take her back" said Akira, shaking his head, but Yong refused, slamming Suki hard on the ground once more.

"Not happening" he said, angry "She's gonna pay"

"Yong…"

Suki gasped for breath when Yong's hand pushed her head down on the ground, hard. She struggled, trying to push him off her, but she couldn't do so. Her nails clawed at him, leaving bloody gashes on his forearms, but that only served to make him hit her in the stomach repeatedly. Suki cried out in pain, mentally begging anyone to help her, anyone… but nobody would. The town's people weren't about to come save her, they didn't care for her at all. Why would they? There was no mercy in that town. There was no glory. There was nothing but pain, and soon enough, death…

Suki closed her eyes, her ears drumming with sounds she couldn't quite place as Yong continued to assault her. His grip around her head hadn't eased at all, and she was certain she would black out from the pain any second now…

"What the…? Get off that girl!"

Yong's grip on her head suddenly disappeared, and so did his blows. Suki coughed, tasting blood, and she tried to move but Yong's legs were straddling her. Whoever the newcomer was, Akira was the one addressing them, and Suki could scarcely understand what they were saying.

"Mind your own business, pretty girl" Akira said, glaring at the high-class carriage that was anything but welcome in the town "Get outta here if you know what's good for you"

"How about you mind your manners instead?" the pretty girl said, frowning and stepping off the carriage "That's no way to treat a girl, you're…! Oh my, she looks terrible. Get off her, she needs medical attention immediately!"

"She needs nuthin'" said Yong, looking at the girl with anger "Nuthin' but a good beating. Take a hike"

"Don't talk to her that way" said a young man with long hair and an Earth Kingdom look to him, the one who had been driving the carriage "And do as she says, or you'll be sorry"

"Sorry? This ain't yer business, brat" Yong growled "Get your dirty Earth Kingdom ass outta here if you know what's good for ya'. Ye've got no right to tell us how to treat this hoe slave of ours"

"You're revolting" the girl said, grimacing "Just get off her! If she's your slave, you should take better care of her than that!"

"Ah, just shut up, you lady slut!" Yong shouted, standing up and turning to face the girl in question, who gasped upon being insulted that way.

She didn't quite react by more than gasping, but her companion grew so indignant by the slight against the girl that he struck his arms forward, conjuring a glass pillar from the ground that struck Yong on the face, breaking his nose and knocking him down right next to Suki, who winced and moved away from him with what little strength she had. Akira gazed at his fallen partner with disbelief before turning towards the girl and her earthbender.

"Okay, okay! That'll do!" he said, grimacing as he thought about how costly it would be to find a healer to deal with Yong's broken nose now "Go about your business and leave us be! You didn't come here to beat us up, or did you?!"

"Not quite" said the girl, who had been looking at her glassbender with doting eyes before Akira spoke "We didn't mean to, but you really don't expect us to keep walking when we see guys like you two beating girls up like you just did!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, chick. He ain't beating her anymore, is he? Get a move on already and leave us be" said Akira, scowling.

"Fine, I will, but… not yet" said the girl, frowning "I'm here to look for someone, and if you'd help us find her, we'd be on our way"

"Who's that, then?" said Akira.

"W-well… I don't really know her name. I know a nickname for her, though… Does Kyoshi's Heir ring a bell for you?"

Suki's eyes widened when she heard her gladiator name for the first time in months. It almost felt as though she had blocked away all the memories of her past. It hadn't been such a brilliant past anyways, but it had been so much better than this…

And hearing someone say her name, her old name, the one she had proudly taken up while she joined battle in the sand ring, reminded her that she once had a life beyond this world of pain. Someone out there knew who she was… someone had come to find her. She wasn't as lost as she had thought.

"I…" she gasped, raising her gaze towards the two newcomers. Her eyes could hardly focus on their shapes "K-Kyoshi's… I…"

Upon the slave's mumbling, Ty Lee frowned and gave her a closer look. She had thought she was only a common slave being mistreated, as most slaves in Shu Wo would probably be. Yet it didn't feel like it all of sudden. There was a spark in her eyes, her violet eyes… Ty Lee didn't recall Kyoshi's Heir's features all too well, for they had been hidden underneath a very thick face-paint. But now she looked at her carefully, she found those eyes were somewhat familiar…

"We don't know any Kyoshi's nuthin'…" grumbled Yong, standing up with a grimace, a hand on his bloody nose "Just get the fuck outta here and leave us alone, you…"

Haru glared at Yong significantly, and the man winced. He knew better than to ask for another glass attack.

"Never heard that name, really" said Akira, shaking his head "Got the wrong town, probably"

"No, I didn't" said Ty Lee, looking at the girl with wide eyes "It's… it's you, isn't it?"

Tears streamed down Suki's face as she nodded, and she pleaded with her gaze for this girl to save her. She had no idea if this new arrival was any better than these two, but getting away from them was what she wanted most. She had almost discarded her life before this savior had showed up… could she give her a chance at a real life now? Could she get her away from Shu Wo?

"Her?!" Yong spat, angrily "Whaddaya' want with our slave?! She's ours! Bought and paid for!"

"True enough" Ty Lee said, sighing, before raising her eyes with determination towards the man "How much?"

"How…?" said Yong, staring at her, dumbfounded "Ye wanna buy her from us?!"

"Yes" Ty Lee said, nodding "We'll pay for her. Just hand her over and…"

"You can't just buy someone else's slave because you feel like it, lady!" said Akira, frowning "Why would you wanna…?"

"I suppose I've got to appeal to you guys differently, then. Haru, if you would…" Ty Lee said, smiling at him. Haru nodded and climbed onto the carriage again before stepping down, a bag of money on his hand. Akira's eyes brightened upon seeing how large it was "I'm hoping this will be enough"

"T-that is… yes, yes" said Akira, a greedy smile on his face as Haru handed him the money "This is good. This is…"

"No! Akira, ye' punk, whaddaya think yer doing?!" shouted Yong, angrily "She's my slut! I got her, I bought her, she's mine! And no petty lady's gonna…!"

Ty Lee rolled her eyes before stepping towards Yong while he rambled. Haru grimaced and tried to stop her, but he couldn't reach her in time before she struck Yong's body with her fists. Yet it wasn't a matter of merely hitting him… Ty Lee struck Yong's body masterfully, carefully, touching the exact spots in his body with the proper pressure to paralyze the man and render him helpless. She finished her attack on him by knocking him to the ground, incapable of moving.

"Yong!" Akira squeaked, jumping towards him.

"Now, as for you…" Ty Lee said, leaning down on Suki and pulling her up with difficulty. Suki winced when she grasped her arm "There, there. I'm not going to hurt you. Come on, don't be afraid. We're getting out of here"

Suki's tears continued streaming down her face as Ty Lee helped her on her feet. She winced and grimaced, an arm slung over Ty Lee's shoulder. Ty Lee surrounded her waist with her own arm, and she led the girl to the carriage. Haru waited until they were both sitting on it safely before climbing to the driver's seat, glaring at Yong and Akira in the process. He shook the reins of the carriage, prompting the dragon moose to turn the vehicle around so they could leave through where they had come from.

"Those horrible men" said Ty Lee, grimacing as she held Suki in her arms "It's okay, dear, you're safe now. Nobody will hurt you anymore. We're off to the Capital now, we're going home. You'll eat well, and you'll have a bed, and you're never going to see either of those nasty guys ever again, I promise!"

Ty Lee's words were meant to be reassuring, but even when they were, on some level, Suki couldn't quite stop crying. She gripped Ty Lee's clothes tightly, unwilling to move away from her and also to engage in conversation just yet. She had no idea who this girl was, or who her glassbending partner might be, but it didn't matter to her right now. All she could think of was that she was finally getting out of Shu Wo, at long last.

* * *

"And the winners are the Blind Bandit and the Blue Wolf!"

Toph smirked and lifted a fist into the air, and the crowd roared upon her gesture. Sokka's chest heaved and he wiped away the sweat from his brow. This time it had been her who had knocked out both the enemies, and quite efficiently as well. Sokka felt as though he had hardly done anything at all, but it seemed Toph was virtually unstoppable when she was in a good mood.

After finally overcoming their conflict regarding their partnership, both Toph and Sokka had fought as a team at last. And even though the wounds they had sustained the day before still weighed on them, they had managed to go through this new fight, this time against a non-bender and an earthbender, practically unscathed.

"You got a few scrapes there, but it's no big deal, right?" said Toph, when they were being tended to in the waiting rooms.

"Nah, not really" said Sokka, smiling weakly as the healer cleaned his superficial wounds.

"And with this, we've made it to the semifinals!" Toph exclaimed happily, and Iroh gave a jolly laugh at her proud statement.

"We have indeed" he said, beaming "Who knew we would make it this far?"

"Well, that was what we hoped for, after all" Azula said, standing next to where Sokka sat "We should hardly be surprised by this turn of events"

"C'mon, stop trying to suck the joy out of everything, Jewel" said Toph, smirking "You're not really a party pooper, are you?"

"I'm simply hoping to keep your heads level, is all" said Azula, shrugging, and Sokka smiled at her.

"Don't worry. We're not going to be reckless from here on out" he said "We've got our sights set on that last fight, and we're going to get there one way or another"

"Hell, yeah!" said Toph, beaming. Azula raised an eyebrow but couldn't quite hold back a smile of her own. Despite being off to an awful start, the partnership between the four of them was finally working out for the best.

Yet again they had an impasse upon reaching the train station. Azula led the way towards the platforms, her mind set on heading towards the train that would lead them the closest to the Palace… and while Sokka followed suit, the other pair lagged behind, looking at the Princess in confusion.

"Uh… Jewel? Where are you going?" Toph asked, her hands on her hips.

"Where do you think?" Azula replied, turning and looking at her defiantly "Iroh did what he had to do already, didn't he? It's time to go to the Palace, just as intended"

"Yeah, that sounds neat and all…" said Toph, scratching her head while Iroh grimaced and looked at Azula warily.

"You see, Azula…"

"What now, Uncle?" Azula asked, frowning. She should have seen some protesting coming, although she had no idea why her uncle wouldn't want to go to the Imperial Palace "Do you want to live as a monk from now on, staying in old inns and living as humbly as possible or so? Because I assure you, I don't. So if you would like to head back to the inn now instead of going to the Palace, by all means, do as you wish. We'll meet again in the Arena tomorrow if that's the case"

"T-that's not it" said Iroh, a finger rubbing his nose before he smiled clumsily at her "We simply can't go to the Palace yet, can we? We left all our luggage back at the inn"

Azula froze cold and looked at her uncle in disbelief. Sokka, who had been backing her in the idea of heading back to the Palace immediately, grimaced as he realized Iroh was right.

And thus, soon enough, the four of them were riding the train back to the Lower Ring, Azula's head buried in her hands while Sokka smiled awkwardly next to her, Iroh and Toph simply chatting and enjoying the trip yet again.

"We have enough time to take the last train to the Upper Ring again, though" Azula said, as they entered the inn "It's not so late this time around. So we're going to gather our luggage and head to the station again as soon as we do, understood?"

"Whatever you say, Princess" said Toph, shrugging as they all climbed the stairs "But really, we don't actually need to take another long and annoying trip on the train, do we? I mean, it's just some Palace…"

"Why, indeed, it's an Imperial Palace" Azula snapped "And I don't see why you're so bothered by the idea of being in a Palace, considering you've been living in one for the past year or so"

"Well, that's pretty much it, you know? I'm tired of the royal shenanigans" said Toph, sighing and entering the room she had shared with Azula during the past few days "It gets old after a while"

"Surely for you it does" said Azula, rolling her eyes "Why did I ever expect a Dirt Worm to understand the joys of a high-class life…?"

"I honestly have no idea!" Toph replied, laughing.

Sokka smiled at their exchange and entered his room as well, Iroh treading behind him. The man had been unusually silent once they had entered the inn, as though he were in deep thought.

"Your luggage isn't going to pack itself up, you know" Sokka called out for him, raising an eyebrow as he refilled his bag with all the stuff he had pulled out of it during the last two days.

"Oh, it won't" Iroh admitted, with a smile, and he got down to work. Yet to Sokka's surprise, the old man hardly took any time in gathering his belongings, and he had soon left Sokka to himself in the room they had shared the last two nights.

Sokka raised an eyebrow when Iroh closed the door behind him, but he simply shrugged, trying not to think that Iroh's actions were somewhat suspicious. Still… why would he keep his pack at the ready? In a way, it made sense, for Iroh should have known they would set out for the Palace today. Yet it was fishy on some level too, for Iroh hardly seemed to want to leave the inn altogether. Sokka sighed and assumed he was just making too big a deal out of this, and he finished checking his bedside table for whatever he might have left there… to find a small, clay statue.

He blinked a few times when he realized this wasn't his statue. Instead of having the wolf, he had wound up with the dragon. When had they switched statues, and why hadn't he noticed at all? He smiled and placed the dragon within his pack, hoping to return it to Azula once they reached the Palace, perhaps…

And in the next room, Azula just so happened to make the same discovery. She looked at the wolf with a raised eyebrow, certain she hadn't brought neither the dragon nor the wolf all the way to her room. She had been distracted by heading to Lu Ten's hill with Iroh, after all. So what was this about?

"Uh, Azula…" Iroh's voice suddenly sounded in the room, just as Toph got ready to step outside "May I have a word with you?"

"I suppose" Azula muttered, pocketing the figure before facing Iroh, who fist-bumped Toph just as she left the room, her pack slung over her shoulder. The old man grinned before stepping towards Azula, looking somewhat nervous "What is it?"

"It was simply… well, something for you to consider, really" he muttered, swallowing hard. Azula turned, her bags in hand, and she gave him a dangerous glare, analyzing him carefully.

"You're not going to ask me if we can stay here… are you?" she muttered, and Iroh swallowed hard.

Outside, Toph greeted Sokka with a nod when he finally left his room. He acknowledged Toph with a grin, even though he knew she wasn't bound to notice his gesture.

"Done so fast?" he asked her.

"It's not like I brought that much stuff with me, really" said Toph "I'm a lightweight kind of girl, unlike your Princess"

"My Princess, really…" he said, rolling his eyes "Did you switch our figures, by the way? For some reason I had the dragon in my nightstand instead of…"

"Oh, did you, now? That's so curious. Must be some sort of sign of true love or something…" Toph said, with a mockingly dreamy voice. Sokka blushed and lifted a fist towards her, which prompted her to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, you're so funny!" he said, as she doubled over and kept laughing "So it really was you, huh?"

"C'mon, you don't really have a problem with that, do you?" she said, still chuckling "Now you have a pocket-sized clay Azula to carry around with you all the time!"

"Yeah, that sounds just neat" said Sokka, fighting off the blush while Toph laughed "Please stop doing and saying troublesome stuff, though. You could get Azula in a serious mess if people hear you talking about us being in love or whatever…"

"Just Azula?" Toph asked, raising an eyebrow "Here I thought you had a better sense of self-preservation than that. You'd be the one in worse trouble, if word was ever out about whatever stuff you've done with her"

"I suppose" said Sokka, sighing "So if you actually care for my wellbeing, don't go around talking so leisurely, will you?"

"Care for your wellbeing, you said?" Toph replied, chuckling "That's a new one. Now we care about each other's wellbeing?"

"While this Tournament lasts, we should" said Sokka "We've got to watch each other's backs, don't we?"

"I guess so" said Toph, smiling weakly and nodding "It's weird, really. I never actually thought about getting along with you, let alone with your sponsor. You two always seemed to despise me and Iroh, so I just figured I'd have fun at your expenses and that'd be that. Now, though…"

"Now what?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her with confusion.

"Now… we're friends, I think" she said, still smiling "At least, it sort of feels that way. Even if just for this Tournament, we're all on the same boat, aren't we?"

"I guess so" said Sokka, smiling a little as well "Got to admit it's a lot easier being your ally than your enemy"

"Heh? Then I should definitely make it harder for you" said Toph, smirking "I'm going to run through town shouting that you and the Jewel are in love, then, let's see how easy that goes on you…"

"For crying out loud, you're really…" said Sokka, an eyebrow twitching as the girl chuckled again.

Something kept Sokka from finishing his sentence, though. He frowned as he felt an odd prickle on the back of his neck, the unpleasant sensation of being watched. Yet the hallway was empty but for them, wasn't it?

"Uh… Toph?" he muttered, looking at the stairwell from the corner of his eye "I might be imagining things, but… can you sense anyone near us right now?"

"Sense someone?" Toph repeated, raising an eyebrow "Well… I really don't have an easy time sensing stuff when it comes to wood, so I really don't…"

Yet as soon as she'd heard Sokka's words, she knew something was wrong. And when a pillar of earth shot out straight through the inn's wooden floors, right between her feet, she realized something definitely was wrong after all.

She jumped out of the way when she sensed the powerful vibrations underneath her, and she pushed Sokka away as well before he could be struck by the fearsome earthbending attack. Sokka's eyes widened and he instinctively pulled out his sword, even though he didn't quite understand what was happening. Who had just attacked…?

His question was answered before he had enough time to formulate it within his head. From the stairs jumped a man clad in dark green clothes, bearing a hat of the same color. His hands were covered with stones, it seemed, and he bent those on his right hand straight towards Toph, who, at a lack of proper perception of what this new foe was doing, couldn't defend herself from the attack…

Sokka jumped between Toph and the hand-shaped rocks and struck them hard with Space Sword, succeeding at cutting the rock and almost rendering it useless… yet another hand-shaped rock came flying towards him so quickly he couldn't defend himself from it. It struck him on the neck, the cold stone fingers surrounding his throat hard in order to choke him. Sokka fell to his knees as he tried to fill his lungs with air again, but the hand's grip was too powerful. He started seeing black stains as he realized the attacker wasn't satisfied by choking him, for he was trying to smash his neck…

An array of blue fire, accompanied by a scream of outrage, managed to make the earthbender lose control of the rock he had been bending. Azula's glare was fierce enough to make the earthbender recoil, and soon enough she had shot a wheel of fire towards him, being so quick upon her attack that the man couldn't defend himself from the fire that churned his clothes.

When she saw the man was too busy trying to smother the flames to fight properly, Azula turned to find Toph and Iroh helping to remove the rocks asphyxiating Sokka. Azula dropped on her knees beside him, looking at him worriedly.

"Sokka…"

"I'm fine…" he gasped, giving her a significant look and a nod of his head "It wasn't that bad, I…"

Another boulder came soaring from the stairs, and this time two more men in green climbed them hastily, both of them with rocks covering their hands. They attacked the group once more, yet this time it was Iroh who stepped forward, and with fire-coated punches, he tore apart the hand-shaped rocks.

"We must get out of here!" he exclaimed "Now!"

Azula nodded and pulled Sokka to his feet before pushing both him and Toph towards the open door that led to the room they had just vacated. They scrambled towards the window, and Azula opened it violently before pushing Toph and Sokka towards it. Sokka dropped to the ground first, and the earthbender was soon to follow. Toph grimaced as the wind buffeted her face, and she was greatly relieved when her feet were finally on the ground… yet regaining her capacity to feel her surroundings also brought some bad news she had started to expect from the moment they were first attacked.

"They're everywhere!" she shouted, just as Azula dropped next to them "There's at least thirty of them!"

"Crap!" Sokka growled, when another earthbending attack shot towards them, now in the form of diagonal pillars. He jumped out of the way just in time for Iroh, who had leapt off the window, to fall on the spot Sokka had stood, shattering the earth the enemy had bent with his weight "Huh… that was a pretty good move, Iroh"

Azula turned to her right to find five of the men in green shooting their rock-hands at them. She gritted her teeth before kicking arrays of fire towards them, glaring dangerously at the foes. To her irritation, her counterattack didn't serve to dishearten them. Perhaps she needed a different approach, then…

She moved her hands in circular motions, carefully, as her limbs charged with power. Toph aided her by keeping the men in green busy while Azula composed her lightning bolt, which she cast towards the foes powerfully enough to stun three of them and knock out the other two.

Yet it wasn't enough. More agents in green showed up, and despite their hopes to fend them off, it didn't seem they were about to succeed. The people on the streets screamed and fled from the commotion right outside the inn, yet the men in green hardly seemed to care. They continued to attack, and the four of them continued to resist. Azula shot another blast of lightning against another of them, but her attack was stopped by a tall wall of earth the group of men had built quickly.

"We've got… to get out of here!" Sokka panted, tossing his boomerang and hitting one of the men on the helmet with it before it soared back to Sokka "We can't keep this up much longer!"

Azula grimaced, knowing he was right. Toph slammed a boulder against a pair of the men in green before pulling up a tall wall of her own.

"And how the hell are we going to get out of this?!" she asked, before shooting the wall forward, effectively pushing away the enemies until they thought about breaking through the wall in order to continue their attack.

Azula closed her eyes briefly, a powerful, urgent thought in her mind. When she heard the answer she was waiting for, she unleashed another wave of fire upon their foes, setting more of their flowing clothes on fire while she waited for the right moment…

Iroh roared, startling Sokka as he cast blazes through his mouth towards his enemies. The flames spread wider than those he had executed so far, and they were also hotter, which served to keep the men in green away. Sokka struck the boulders and earth pillars with his sword and mace, hoping to outlast their foes while it was possible. They were bound to get caught by them sooner than later if this struggle carried on at this rate…

"Toph, throw us into the air, now!" he heard Azula exclaim, and he turned towards her with confusion upon her demand.

"You want me to what, now?!" Toph retorted, shooting more rocks at the agents, who were now jumping down on them from the roofs of the nearby buildings.

"DO IT!" Azula shouted, after performing a spin kick and striking one of the green agents on the chest with a blast of fire.

Toph groaned and flexed her arms before extending them rapidly, and with that, the earth underneath the four of them shook and shot upwards brusquely, blasting them up in the air. The men in green were confused by the sudden development, for they found no logic in it. The four of them would soon fall down again, and they'd only catch them once they did…

They didn't foresee that a dragon would dash through the air just then and there, determined to reach his rider.

Azula extended a hand and gripped Xin Long's saddle, settling on it quickly. Sokka was the next to hop on, sliding into the secondary seat and reaching out for Iroh, who had been near him during the fight. Yet Toph and Iroh were starting to drop by then, and the earthbender had a horrified look on her face as she feared she'd wind up collapsing on the ground…

Xin Long descended what was necessary for Azula to grasp Toph's forearm and pull her on board, setting her between herself and Sokka even though the saddle wasn't equipped for a third person to sit on it. Toph still seemed horrified, and she held on to Azula tightly as Sokka leaned down to clasp Iroh's hand in his own…

And while Toph's weight had affected Xin Long's flight subtly, the same couldn't be said about Iroh's.

Xin Long groaned when he lost his flight's balance, and he leaned on the direction Iroh was dangling on, Sokka struggling to keep his grip around the old man's arm. Toph screamed, despite herself, and Azula snarled before grasping Xin Long's horns and attempting to steer him to find proper balance in the air

The men in green below watched the situation that unfolded above with wide eyes until they realized the dragon would actually remain airborne unless they did something. Their leader commanded them to continue attacking, and boulders soared near Xin Long as he tried to regain control of his flight.

Azula grimaced and pulled Xin Long's horns hard, and the dragon groaned in complaint. Nevertheless, he shook his tail and clawed at the air, forcing himself to ascend through the air even though the excessive weight threatened to be stronger than him.

"Come on, Xin, come on…" Azula said, baring her teeth as they sped upwards, leaving the ground behind progressively.

Azula had no clue in what direction they were headed other than upwards, focused as she was in putting as much distance between them and the men in green as possible. They probably were out of their range by now, for no rocks flew past them anymore. Azula allowed herself a relieved sigh as Xin Long continued to climb into the skies, giving them some cover once he drifted through the clouds that swirled high above the city.

She let go of Xin Long's horns, thinking she didn't have to steer him forcefully anymore, but soon enough she came to regret doing so. As soon as she wasn't leading him, Xin Long began to drift sideways, towards where Iroh's weight was pulling him.

"He's… he's going to fall! I can't keep holding him like this!" Sokka shouted, clenching his teeth and trying to pull Iroh up, yet the force of gravity seemed determined to reclaim Iroh for itself.

"Can't you pull him up here?!" Toph retorted, still clinging to Azula.

"That won't do us any good, Xin Long can't carry all this weight!" Azula exclaimed, as Xin Long stopped ascending and begun descending instead "We're losing height!"

"Dammit…!" Sokka exclaimed, sweat treading down his brow as his fingers dug into Iroh's arms.

"I promise I'll start a diet after this is over!" Iroh shouted, but his vow didn't mean much to anyone while they were too worried over plummeting to the ground to pay any attention to what he had said.

They coursed through the clouds yet again, this time downwards, and Azula grimaced when she realized they were heading straight into the Agrarian Zone. She clasped Xin Long's horns again, trying to pull him up again, but it was impossible this time. The dragon was groaning and gasping for breath. Either it was losing the excessive weight, or it would be another crash landing, worse than those they'd endured when they had only just met Xin Long…

Xin Long tried to fight against the forces that were bringing him down, but despite his attempts, he couldn't rise anymore. His struggle either kept him floating on the same height, or they'd simply bring him lower. He groaned again and gave up, and Azula gritted her teeth as she realized there was only one thing they could do before this ended badly.

"Sokka, let go of Iroh when I tell you to!" Azula shouted, and Sokka grimaced.

"Y-you can't just ask me to…!"

"It's that or we're all going to crash!" Azula yelled, as Xin Long sped his way towards a stream.

"Uh-oh" Iroh said, grimacing.

"Can you handle the drop, uncle?!" Azula asked him, as their altitude continued to decrease.

"I'll try!" he replied, gulping and looking at Sokka worriedly.

"Then we'll just wait for the right moment and then…" Azula muttered, and once she thought they were low enough, she yelled "NOW!"

Sokka gave Iroh an apologetic grimace as he let go of him, and as soon as he did that, Xin Long was free to control his flight again. He slowed down and made a turn by the riverbank, his paws helping him land as he broke into a gentle trot, still gasping for breath.

Azula glanced back at Iroh, who was on his knees, a few feet from where they'd landed. The man lifted a hand towards the dragon, letting them know he was fine. Azula sighed deeply and her shoulders dropped as she finally relaxed, even though she felt relaxing was a luxury they shouldn't afford just now.

Sokka struggled to get off the saddle, for with Toph sticking out between him and Azula he couldn't quite climb off as easily as he usually could. Toph ended up having to scoot even closer to Azula before Sokka could jump back on solid ground, and she followed him quickly, dropping on her knees before stretching across the dirt, this time looking even more relieved than she had been after descending from the Barge.

"Ground… nice, solid ground…" she whispered repeatedly.

Azula climbed off as well and tended to Xin Long, caressing his head and apologizing for calling him on such a short notice. Xin Long apologized as well for his bumpy flight, but Azula assured him he had nothing to apologize for, placing her head against his forehead as she told him to rest now. In the mean time, Sokka helped Iroh on his feet again, and the old man grinned at him and patted his arm as a thank you.

"For a moment I thought you might let go when I started to bring the dragon down" he said.

"Yeah, I guess I could have…" said Sokka, smiling weakly before moving towards the other two, Iroh treading behind him. Sokka rubbed his forehead and sighed as he looked around himself, grimacing "And we're in one hell of a mess, aren't we?"

"We are" Azula agreed, closing her eyes and patting Xin Long's head gently before moving away from him "If only we knew just what mess we're in, though…"

Iroh grimaced and dropped his gaze, and Toph stopped caressing the ground lovingly, sitting up and turning towards where the others were talking. Azula frowned upon their reactions. Just as she had suspected…

"But I suppose these two can shed some light on the subject, after all" she muttered, raising an eyebrow and looking at Iroh inquisitively.

"These two?" Sokka asked, frowning "The guys attacking us came because of them?"

"Well, I'm quite certain the two of us have done nothing that would compel the Dai Li to hunt us down, have we?" Azula asked him, before looking at Iroh judgmentally.

"The what, now?" asked Sokka, scratching the back of his head "The Dai Li, you said?"

"They're Ba Sing Se's law enforcers… or, well, they used to be. They're not supposed to hold that role anymore" Azula replied "I honestly have no idea what their current business is. I actually thought they had been disbanded, but after what happened just now, I can see I was wrong to assume as much"

"Seems like it" said Sokka, crossing his arms over his chest "And you think they were after these two, then?"

"No…" said Azula, turning her gaze away from Iroh and looking accusingly at Toph now "I'm pretty sure they were after her"

The Blind Bandit only reacted by grimacing and dropping her gaze, incapable of covering up for her guilt. Azula glared at her, her fists balled.

"Well, then, start talking, Bandit. What did you do to enrage the Dai Li?"

"I didn't do anything to them, if that's what you're thinking" Toph growled "This is the first time I've come to Ba Sing Se altogether. I'd never even ran into the Dai Li before"

"Then why on earth would they come after you?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "They weren't after my uncle, or were they?"

"Azula, this really is a delicate matter…" Iroh said, looking at her pleadingly and earning himself another glare.

"It is indeed, Uncle, I have no doubts about it" she said, looking at him skeptically "Yet I believe I'm entitled to ask why we were attacked just now, aren't I?"

"Azula…"

"Fine, fine, fine" said Toph, sighing and rolling her eyes as she took her seat on a nearby rock "You want the whole story? You'll get the whole story. No point in hiding it anymore"

Azula frowned and both her and Sokka, who was massaging his neck gently, stared at Toph as the girl readied herself to answer their questions.

"As I said, I have nothing to do with the Dai Li. Not directly, I mean. I didn't attack them or offend them in any way, so if you thought they were chasing after me for retribution of some sort, you're wrong. That's got nothing to do with it"

"Then what is it?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Toph sighed again "What sort of bone would they have to pick with a gladiator, of all things?"

"Well… it's a bone that has nothing to do with me being a gladiator. Though, then again, it just might have everything to do with that" said Toph, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips "You see, I… I'm not really like you, Sokka. I wasn't caught and dragged to the Fire Nation so that I'd become a slave. I'm not a slave, I never was one. Heck… I'm actually a Fire Nation Honorary Citizen"

"You're… what?" Azula exclaimed, her eyes wide "W-what the…? You're in the Honorary Citizen System?"

"Yup" Toph said, with a nod "Pretty shocking, huh?"

"Wait, but… how can you be an Honorary Citizen and a gladiator?!" Sokka exclaimed, aghast "That's absurd!"

"Not really" said Toph, shrugging "They don't ask for your identity documents or anything when you sign up. They don't check if you're a slave, if you're lowborn, if you're highborn… they just add you to the lists if you have a sponsor with you. And that's what happened with me. Never mind if the blind girl just so happens to be the daughter of a noble family from the Former Earth Kingdom. If she came to fight, she'll fight…"

"Wait… what?" said Azula, staring at her in disbelief now "What did you just say?"

"That I showed up to fight, and that's all they really cared about…"

"No, no, what you said before that" Azula said "The daughter of a noble family? You?!"

"Uh… yeah. What of it?" Toph said, raising an eyebrow as both Sokka and Azula's jaws dropped at once.

"W-what do you mean, 'what of it'?!" Sokka squeaked "You, of all people, a girl of noble birth?!"

"That's right" Toph said, frowning "And yeah, I may not be a pretty princess like your sponsor and yeah, I like swimming in mud way better than undergoing beauty treatments, but that doesn't mean I was born in a gutter or something"

"This is preposterous" said Azula, still looking at the girl in utter disbelief "Y-you, highborn? That's worse than when Sokka claimed he was a Prince…"

"Hey, I kinda am a…" Sokka started, but Azula silenced him with one look

"Cut the nonsense, that's not what we're discussing now anyways" she muttered before turning towards Toph "You're highborn, then? Is that why you have a last name?"

"Yeah" said Toph, sighing again "I'm the only daughter of the Beifong family, so as a bonus, I get a last name. Such a great perk, huh?"

"The only daughter?" Sokka repeated "The only daughter of an old noble family has wound up as a gladiator? Did something happen to your parents or something?"

"Not at all" said Toph, shaking her head "There are few former noble families that can say they weren't so affected by the war. The Beifongs are one of them. After the Earth Kingdom forces protecting Gaoling surrendered, my parents were at risk of losing their estate, so to avoid that, they paid a hefty price to the Fire Nation so that they'd allow the Beifongs to retain their status, territories and belongings. The only condition, aside from the big pile of money, was that the whole Beifong family had to become Honorary Fire Nation Citizens. And thus we did"

"So you're from Gaoling" Sokka said, frowning "Can't remember hearing anything about a Beifong when we last were there"

"Probably not, but you might have seen one big estate with this flying boar as its sigil…"

"I don't really think… Oh!" Sokka said, suddenly recalling the banner "I did see it! When we were on our way to Kuan's place I saw that boar. That was your family's home?"

"Yeah" said Toph, nodding and sighing "That'd be the Beifong Estate"

"Alright then, you're a Beifong and you're of noble birth" said Azula, frowning "But telling us that you're an Honorary Citizen still fails to explain why the Dai Li, of all people, were chasing you"

"Yeah, I guess not" said Toph, sighing again "When I was a kid, long before the Fire Nation showed up at Gaoling, I wandered off into this mountain and I happened upon some badgermoles. According to what I had been told, badgermoles were born blind all the same as I was. Yet I found out they could see through their earthbending… and I learned from them how to feel the earth underneath me, how to bend it and use it as an extension of myself. I hadn't even known I was an earthbender before that…"

"And…?" said Azula, growing impatient.

"I told my parents I could earthbend, but heh, for some reason, they thought I was saying that I wanted to learn how to earthbend. I was given the lousiest teacher in the history of teachers, and I was only ever taught lessons on basic earthbending that I didn't even need in the first place. You see, my parents… they always thought of me as a weak little girl, their frail daughter who couldn't do a thing to save her own life. They never even bothered seeing me for who I really was. Whenever I strayed from their expectations they'd make sure I started behaving like a proper young lady again, with manners and decency and all that fake politeness that I never cared for"

Azula's eyes widened as she looked at the girl in surprise. Oddly enough, she could understand that struggle, on some level…

"And since I was sick and tired of my parents controlling my life, I started sneaking off from the estate at nighttime to fight in this big tournament, Earth Rumble. Now that same place serves as a gladiator Arena, but it used to be just for earthbenders. I joined the Rumble, and I won on every chance. Most people didn't even know the Beifongs had a daughter, and they wouldn't expect her, of all people, to be the Blind Bandit who was taking out every other earthbender in Earth Rumble. Still, as I said, that was over when the Fire Nation started pounding on the city's doors. It took a while for them to take over, but once they did, Earth Rumble was done for. It became Gladiator Rumble after a short time, but I couldn't join that without a sponsor. So my one shot at fun within my boring, pathetic life was taken away from me just like that"

"Your parents never knew about your involvement in those fights?" Azula asked, surprised.

"Nah, they wouldn't have stepped into Earth Rumble in a million years" said Toph, waving a hand carelessly "They never had a clue. And revealing I was involved in it would have only made a bigger mess of things. My father would have been outraged and he would have declared I had been given too much freedom, so he probably would have chained me down to keep me from ever leaving the estate again. And so I just put up with everything for a few more years, enduring a life that just didn't feel like my own… until I left"

"You left? Just like that?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah… I ran away" Toph said, with a guilty smile "Sounds a little more accurate, really. I was done with that wretched, boring life. I was born for so much more than that! So as soon as I turned of age, I gathered some stuff and I got away. I wanted to join the gladiator fights, I heard there were awesome fighters involved in them, but I couldn't do that without a sponsor… and well, soon enough, I discovered my parents had set up a massive reward for whoever dragged me back to the Beifong estate. I had to run as far as I could, fight a bunch of bounty hunters and gold diggers that attempted to seize me and drag me back, and I didn't know what else I could do other than heading to the Fire Nation. It was the one place where I wasn't bound to find any wanted posters about me, or so I hoped. Still, one of my parents' hired benders, Xin Fu, followed me to the Fire Nation… where we struck a deal when he realized he couldn't overpower me. It was a simple plan, really: he'd sponsor me and win way more money through that than by bringing me back to my parents, and I'd get to fight to my heart's content…"

"Which I guess didn't work out so well for him on the long run" said Sokka, sighing.

"He decided I wasn't worth the trouble after I refused to kill you" said Toph, shrugging "So I guess I owe you for ridding me of him, after all. Thanks for not being worth killing, Dog"

"Yeah, no problem, I guess" said Sokka, an eyebrow twitching.

"So you're saying… that the Dai Li are hunting you down in order to deliver you to your parents?" Azula repeated, looking at her inquisitively "That's it?"

"Well, I can't think of another reason why they'd attack me" said Toph, shrugging "The reward is supposed to be pretty big, so maybe they're acting like bounty hunters now instead of law enforcers…"

"Maybe they hope to buy their way into the Fire Nation's services with the reward from Toph's capture" Iroh muttered, thoughtfully.

"Maybe" said Azula, frowning.

Something still felt fishy to her, no doubt. Even if Toph had confessed everything she had, she still wasn't satisfied. There was more to this riddle, without a doubt…

Sokka noticed the look on her face and sighed before stepping forward, looking at the other three worriedly.

"Well, whatever the situation is, guys… we're going to have the Dai Li on our tails any moment now. They probably saw Xin Long drop, and frankly, it's weird they haven't come after us yet"

"Well, what can we do anyways?" Azula asked, frowning "Heading back into the Inner Wall isn't going to end well for us when we don't know if the Dai Li will find us as soon as we're inside it. They found us once: they can probably do it again"

"And what do you propose, that we just turn on our heels and run for cover?" Toph asked, confused "What's that going to accomplish?"

"Why, I don't know, but maybe it'll avoid getting us killed" Azula snapped, sarcastically "I suppose you don't mind falling prey to the Dai Li because, if it's true that they're after you for the money, they won't harm you in order to deliver you to your parents intact. Yet when it comes to the rest of us…"

"Oh, come on" said Toph, huffing "You think those guys would genuinely hurt you or Iroh? You guys are royals! They'd know better than to do anything to the two of you!"

"Ah, yes, and that leaves just one of us in the line of fire, doesn't it?" Azula asked, frowning. Sokka's eyes widened when he heard how indignant Azula seemed to be "In case you failed to notice, my gladiator almost got his throat smashed by those men earlier today, and while that may not matter to you at all because you only care about your freedom, or your clean record in the Gladiator Ranking, or perhaps the points you've gathered, I assure you, it does matter to me"

"I... I'm not saying it doesn't matter" Toph said, feeling somewhat nervous now. It felt as though Azula was angrier at her than ever before. And while she would have welcomed any conflict with her in other circumstances, she sure wasn't ready to welcome one as serious as this one "I didn't think they'd come for us at all. I actually did everything I could to keep from being identified as Toph Beifong altogether..."

"Which is why you didn't give up your full name when we entered Ba Sing Se" said Sokka.

"And it's why I wanted to ask you if we could stay at the inn instead of making to the Palace" Iroh muttered "Word of the reward for Toph's capture was spread throughout the Earth Kingdom. We thought we could avoid incidents by staying as low profile as possible, yet..."

"Hard to keep a low profile when you two are a renowned gladiator and a former army general" Azula rebutted, bitterly.

"Well, whether or not they could keep it low or not, we still have to figure out what to do" Sokka said, looking at Azula worriedly "Else we risk those guys coming after us again"

Azula sighed and shook her head. She honestly didn't know what she wanted to do. She was partial towards seizing Sokka, climbing on Xin Long with him as soon as the dragon was ready to take off again, and flying towards her Barge, damn everything else. Iroh and Toph had only brought them problem after problem, and it looked as though they were set on making things worse with every moment that passed them by. She gave Sokka a look that said as much, and he looked at her apprehensively.

"I'm not putting your life at risk again unless I have no choice" Azula said "Gladiators like you don't grow on trees, even if the Dirt Worm thinks otherwise"

"I appreciate that" said Sokka, with a weak grin "But if we stay put, we're going to be attacked again anyways"

"Well, we just might not be" Iroh said, stroking his beard and looking at the others with determination "I have an idea"


	76. Chapter 76

Toph worked steadily with the clay she had found by the river bend, molding it skillfully into humanoid shapes. Iroh helped her by heating the clay when she requested it, and he also dressed up the figures with the extra clothes they'd had in their packs – luckily enough, they had managed to hold on to their luggage despite the Dai Li's sudden attack.

Sokka handed Iroh the clothes for his statue, and the old man smiled at him and muttered a thank you, and he soon returned to the nigh finished statues. Sokka watched the pair work with a frown on his face. Iroh's plan might work out after all, but Sokka wasn't too confident. It would serve to give them time, but what would they do afterwards?

Azula wasn't happy about the plan altogether, but at a lack of a better idea, she had begrudgingly accepted Iroh's suggestion. She was caressing Xin Long's head right now, her gaze fixated upon the thin, flowing river before her, and she had taken her seat far from where Iroh and Toph were. She had been reluctant to surrender her spare clothes: she had only slung one of her packs on her shoulder before realizing the Dai Li were attacking Sokka and Toph, so she had left behind at least two more of her bags, to her utter displeasure. And sending Xin Long away now only worsened her already dreadful mood.

"Hey" Sokka said, approaching her and looking at her worriedly "Are you alright?"

"I should be the one asking that question" Azula said, lifting her gaze towards him.

Sokka's hand instinctively moved towards his neck. His skin was redder where the stones had gripped him, but he was able to breathe properly, despite some lingering pain.

"He didn't hurt me too badly" he said, smiling a bit "You stopped him right before he could break my neck"

"I could have been there sooner" Azula replied "If only Iroh hadn't been asking me about staying at the inn instead of going to the Palace…"

"Don't beat yourself up about it" said Sokka, sitting next to her and giving her an encouraging smile "You got there right on time, and I managed to hold my own in a fight afterwards, too. So, see? You don't have to worry about me. I'm good"

"If you say so" said Azula, sighing and dropping her head on her hand. Xing Long, his head on her lap, groaned and pressed against her belly, as though trying to appease her.

"I'm pretty sure he'll be alright" said Sokka, trying to sound reassuring "If he flies high enough, the Dai Li won't manage to reach him"

"That still doesn't make me comfortable about this" Azula whispered "It feels rather stupid to send Xin Long away with four clay dolls on his back to mislead the Dai Li into thinking we're leaving. Why don't we actually leave and forget this ever happened, for starters? It's not our problem, Sokka. We have no obligation to deal with it"

"True, we don't" said Sokka, sighing "But there's the Tournament to think of. And, well, it just feels wrong for the two of us to leave them behind just like this…"

"But I'm not one who cares much about wrong or right, am I…?" Azula grumbled.

"I know you think they should have told us about this beforehand, but there's not much we can do about it at this point" said Sokka, looking at her sympathetically.

"If they had said anything before, we could have headed to the Palace straight away" Azula said "While under Tiang's protection, the Dai Li wouldn't have attempted to attack Toph. Yet for some reason I can't fathom, it seems Iroh's insistence on staying at the inn wasn't just because he wanted to visit Lu Ten's grave: he was doing it to 'protect' his gladiator as well. And instead of protecting her he just put her in more danger by avoiding the Palace…"

"Maybe he's afraid Tiang will just toss Toph back into the Beifong Estate" said Sokka, frowning.

"We should have seen this coming, though" said Azula, shaking her head "This is why he flinched when you mentioned the Palace before. From the very beginning, he dreaded heading to the Palace, even though that was the plan we had laid down back then. Why didn't he just say something instead of trying to lead us on, constantly tricking us and keeping all the important information to himself?"

"I… I have no idea" Sokka said, gulping and dropping his head.

"I'll tell you why" Azula muttered, between gritted teeth "It's because, even if they're willing to trust us when it comes to this tournament, they won't trust us when it comes to anything else. And while normally that wouldn't bother me in the slightest, it's different when our safety is in jeopardy just because they're unwilling to share their precious secrets with us"

"I don't think they should have hidden this from us at all either, but as I said, what are we going to do about it now? At least we've found out about what Toph was hiding…"

"At what cost?" Azula asked, looking at him with concerned eyes "Sokka, had I reached you one second later, that agent could have killed you. He had every intention to do so. And now we're stuck in the Agrarian Zone, not knowing if the Dai Li will find us before we can start using Xin Long as a fake lead, and not knowing what we'll do after Xin Long takes off either. This grand idea of my uncle's may buy us time, but time for what? Heading back into Ba Sing Se now, as I said, is suicide. And that Tournament doesn't matter to me as much as…"

Sokka looked at her hesitantly as she stopped herself from uttering the rest of that sentence. Azula lowered her gaze and shook her head, unwilling to look at Sokka right now.

"I… I know" he said, nodding "You're right about that. I don't know what those two have in mind at the moment, but putting our lives in the line for a mess that we knew nothing about is plain ridiculous"

"Yet for some reason I can't fathom, you think we shouldn't just forsake those two, don't you?" Azula said, raising an inquisitive eyebrow, and Sokka grimaced upon her disapproving frown.

"I didn't say anything" he muttered, almost coyly, but he sighed in defeat soon enough "I just suppose it'd be best if we all got out of this mess together…"

"You're too kind-hearted for your own good, Sokka" said Azula, closing her eyes and rubbing her eyebrows with her fingertips "How in the blazes do we get along?"

Sokka chuckled upon that and smiled at her, but she didn't seem amused at all. Xin Long groaned and rubbed against her lap again, as her other hand caressed his hair.

"I don't know what we're going to do next, really" said Sokka, sighing deeply "But whatever you choose, Azula, I'll be with you to the end"

"Oh?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "What if I decide to screw over Iroh's grand plan, hop on Xin Long now and head back to the Fire Nation on my own? You wouldn't be with me if I did that, most literally…"

"W-wha-…?! You wouldn't dare!" Sokka squeaked, as she chuckled, despite herself.

"Ah, cheering up at your expenses never fails me, Sokka" she said, smiling now.

"Must be, you keep doing it all the time" he said, pouting.

"Oh, poor Sokka, he's a sad victim to his evil sponsor's ways" Azula said mockingly, and Sokka scowled.

"Yeah, yeah, in fact, I am" he declared, and she chuckled again "A guy's just trying to say something cool and you just have to twist it around to make fun of him, woman… how do you even do it?"

"It's a natural talent of mine, don't take it to the heart" she said, smiling "It's not anything new for you anyways. You've done your fair share of that as well"

"Heh, well, that's true" he said, smirking "I figure you still wouldn't mind bathing with me, would you…?"

"Ahaha, how hilarious" Azula said, rolling her eyes. Sokka wound up laughing this time as she shook her head, trying to conceal a smile of her own "Why, if you insist, you're welcome to bathe in this river if you please. Though for all you know, it might be Iroh joining you and not me…"

"That's… ugh. Well played" he said, and Azula beamed proudly.

"You should know better than to mess with me by now" she declared, looking at him defiantly.

Before Sokka could reply, Iroh called out for them, waving a hand in their direction.

"We're all set over here!" he exclaimed.

Azula's cheerfulness vanished as quickly as it had come, and she sighed before nodding and standing up, prompting Xin Long to come with her. Sokka followed them towards where Iroh and Toph stood, and he looked with surprise at the clay statues the earthbender had built.

"Not bad" he said, nodding "They just don't have hair… but other than that, you did a decent job"

"Yeah? Good to know you think so. I wouldn't know if they look good or not…" she said, smiling and shrugging.

"That's just why I wasn't sure of entrusting this to you, but I guess there was no better choice, huh?" said Sokka, and Toph scowled.

"Well, then, next time you can make the clay dolls while I share inside jokes with my sponsor…" Toph growled under her breath before moving the figures with her bending.

She placed them on Xin Long's saddle carefully, making sure they wouldn't shatter. Azula's statue was first, while Toph's sat behind hers. Sokka's was behind Toph, and Iroh was outside the saddle, clutching at Sokka's figure to make it seem he was trying to keep from falling. All the figures were hollow, making them considerably lighter than the people they were standing in for, so that Xin Long wouldn't struggle in his flight this time around.

"Keeps it realistic, huh?" said Toph, pointing at Iroh's statue before stepping back.

Xin Long glanced at the fully occupied saddle, making sure everything was ready. Azula approached him and caressed his neck, grimacing.

"Be careful" she whispered, sighing "Let me know if anything goes wrong. I'll make sure to contact you if we happen to need you to return for one reason or another…"

Xin Long groaned and pressed his nose to her forehead before turning away from her and breaking into a trot. Soon he jumped into the air and he glided upwards, the dolls still properly attached to his saddle. Azula was relieved to see they didn't fall apart, for she had feared they might.

"Let's hope the statues survive the trip, eh?" said Sokka, staring at Xin Long as he flew towards Ba Sing Se's Inner Wall.

"They'd better" said Azula, sighing and turning towards the other three once her dragon was out of sight "And so? What now?"

"Well… the plan was for the dragon to buy us enough time to decide what to do" said Iroh, his hands linking together above his belly as he stared at the ground before him "Thanks to him, the Dai Li will be off our tracks for now. They'll think we're leaving the city altogether because of them, and if they truly want Toph's reward, they're bound to chase after him…"

"Are you taking for granted that all the Dai Li agents will pursue Xin Long?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "For one thing, we don't know their full numbers. They might send only a brigade or two after him while the rest of their forces remain in the city. And for another, they're bound to notice there's something odd about this. Xin Long's flight is steady and easy this time around, most unlike before. You believe they won't find that suspicious?"

"Hopefully, it will be too late by the time they do" said Iroh, sighing "This was the best thing we could do right now, Azula"

"Apparently" said Azula, sighing and shaking her head "But we can't stay here anymore. We need to decide what we'll do now, and we must move out in case they decide to come here to see if we left any leads behind… such as that"

Azula pointed at the riverbank, which had been perfectly smooth when they had arrived here. While bending the clay she had required, Toph had left enormous gashes right next to the river. Upon taking notice of this detail, the earthbender stepped forward and pulled the earth together, trying to erase all evidence of what they had been doing by the riverbank.

"There. No leads for them to pick up on. Happy now?" Toph said, turning towards Azula.

"You're not seriously asking me if I'm happy, are you?" Azula said, glaring at the girl.

"Nah, I'm not" said Toph, sighing in defeat "You're just like your big brother, can't be happy even if you try"

"Not when I'm stuck in disasters I didn't bargain for, I'm not" Azula retorted.

"Eh… how about we focus on the important stuff again?" Sokka said, grimacing "What are we going to do next?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Toph, folding her arms over her chest "We're going back in there. We have a Tournament to win. We didn't come all this way just so we could chicken out because some morons are trying to abduct me. If the ruse with the dragon works, they won't realize we're still here. We can just go back inside the Inner Wall and then…"

"You can't be serious" Azula said, staring at Toph in disbelief "Didn't you hear what I just said? We have absolutely no idea how many Dai Li agents there are. If they found us once, they're bound to do it again. My only guess is that they found us because of the Tournament, so going back to the Arena is asking for them to assault us again as soon as we drop our guard"

"Well, then, we won't let them catch us with our guard down!" Toph said, shrugging "Really, though, what else are you expecting us to do, Jewel? What better idea do you have than this?"

"My better idea is that we head to Lake Laogai, board my Barge again and leave before they can come after us" Azula stated, earning herself disbelieving gasps from her new companions.

"Leave? You can't possibly mean that…" said Iroh, astonished.

"Like hell we're going to do that!" Toph retorted, opposed to the idea completely "You can't just give up on the Tournament!"

"Oh, of course I can't…" Azula said, rolling her eyes before looking at Toph sternly "Unless either of you come up with a better idea than this, one that doesn't involve getting any of us killed by those Dai Li agents, then I'm perfectly willing to forsake the Tournament, forget the points and the money and go back to a city where I know I won't be attacked at random by former law enforcement agents. I'm sorry to say I don't care as much about Sokka's record as you care about yours, Bandit"

"You don't care about his record, you say?" Toph snarled "Well, that's your problem if you don't, but I sure as hell care about mine! You're not going to drag us away when we have great chances to win this thing!"

"Why, I do wonder just how great your chances will be when those guys seize you and lock you down somewhere…" Azula said, sarcastically.

"How about we tone it down a bit, you two?" said Sokka, waving his hands in hopes to catch their attention, but he didn't manage to keep them from bickering this time. Iroh looked as worried as Sokka was, unsure of how to prevent the two girls from fighting.

"Even then, they'll be way better than by running away like you want us to!" Toph retorted "Heck, I always thought you were stuck-up and self-involved, but I never pegged you as a coward, to boot"

Sokka froze at that, knowing Toph had just stepped into truly dangerous territory after that. Even Iroh realized the girl had gone too far, but Toph didn't seem to care. She just continued to frown defiantly while Azula raised an eyebrow slowly, her expression soon becoming utter indignation.

"Now that's quite amusing" she said, with that cold voice Sokka knew she only used when she was truly enraged "You're calling me self-involved? You and Iroh have dragged me and Sokka through Ba Sing Se without ever mentioning there would be bounty hunters and Dai Li pursuing you because there's one immense bag of gold waiting for whoever captures you. Not only this, but you also hoped to knock Sokka out in the Tournament before this mess began, just because you thought he would get in your way. And, if your story is true, you've been making selfish decision after selfish decision ever since you were a kid, putting yourself in danger just because you think it's fun, and because the consequences of your actions have never reached you. So now, at long last, your great decisions have started to affect other people aside from you, and yet your main concern is your record in the Gladiator League! And yet you have the nerve to say I'm the one who's being self-involved?!"

"I'm just saying you could just find a way to solve this instead of just wanting to run away!" Toph defended herself, gritting her teeth, but Azula wasn't finished yet.

"Why, such great advice coming from the girl who has spent about two years of her life running away" Azula snapped "You fled from your parents, from everyone who has come after you, and you kept all your juicy secrets to yourself because you were sure I'd never accept this, weren't you? But of course, I must be the coward because I don't want anything to do with a mess that was never supposed to concern me in the first place!"

"I just…!"

"So don't you dare call me a coward or say I'm selfish when you're so much worse than I am!" Azula shouted, her chest heaving as she glared ferociously at Toph "At the very least I give a damn about Sokka's safety and not just my own! What about you, though? You've been dragging Iroh around, putting him in danger without a care in the world! Have you ever bothered asking him if he's alright with this? Have you ever wondered if maybe you shouldn't impose on him as much as you have? He probably doesn't care, of course, he's Iroh after all, but it still should matter to you. But your one priority has always been you, and you alone. So do excuse me for having different priorities from yours"

"You're just… I wasn't trying to put anyone in danger" she said, dropping her gaze, her fists clenched and her teeth bared.

"Little does it matter what your intentions were when you refuse to face the result of your actions" Azula retorted "Understand your decisions have serious consequences, Bandit, and then I might actually ask for your opinion when it comes to what we'll do next"

Toph shivered upon those words, her fists so tight that Azula narrowed her eyes and readied herself to fight against her if she dared resort to her bending. Yet if Toph meant to defend herself from Azula's accusations in one way or the other, in the end, she didn't do anything. She just gritted her teeth before turning on her heels and marching away, unwilling to continue with this argument.

Azula watched her leave, feeling a pang of guilt, yet also satisfaction on some degree. Hopefully, her harsh words would serve to teach the girl a lesson this time.

Iroh groaned and placed a hand on his forehead while Sokka stared after Toph, worriedly. Azula turned towards them, only remembering now that they had witnessed the entire discussion from the sidelines. She frowned, her hands on her hips.

"You're not going to tell me to chase after her and apologize, are you?" she growled, staring pointedly at Sokka.

"You were rather harsh on Toph indeed" said Iroh, sighing "Now we have a brand new problem to deal with, and it wasn't as though we needed more of them, did we?"

"She needed a dose of reality, Uncle, and if nobody else was going to give it to her, then I would" Azula stated, firmly.

"Still, being so direct… who knows what she'll do now?" said Iroh "Someone has to go get her, or else…"

"Yeah, you're right" said Sokka, scratching the back of his neck "I guess I can do it while you two wait here…"

"Oh, please" said Azula, rolling her eyes "You expect her to become erratic and leave us behind? You know she can't accomplish her goals without you, Sokka. She won't be participating in that Tournament without her sponsor and without her partner, so…"

"That's not really the problem here" said Sokka, looking at Azula earnestly "See… I might be seeing this from a wrong angle, I don't know. But it's not going to work so well for us to be a team only when we're in the Arena. I get that we all thought this was just a matter of dealing with each other until the Tournament was over, but with this new crisis, all the more reason we should stick together. This is when we should be a team, more than ever"

Azula's frown deepened at that. Sokka sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder before walking in the same direction Toph had taken.

"I'll go get her. Wait here"

Azula huffed in irritation and rolled her eyes, walking towards the rock Toph had been sitting on earlier. She shook her head repeatedly, wondering just why nobody else seemed to have any sense of self-preservation here… though if she gave it some thought, it might be because they didn't blame themselves for this mess, while she did. If only she hadn't accepted Iroh's proposal on such a stupid whim, none of this would be happening…

"I truly am sorry you were dragged into this" Iroh confessed, sighing and dropping his gaze. Azula glanced towards him, as distrustful as ever "I knew from the start about Toph's situation… she told me about it shortly after she accepted my offer to sponsor her. We hoped it wouldn't continue to chase after her, for nobody had ever tried to seize her while in the Fire Nation… she was actually worried about it when I told her we would come to Ba Sing Se, but I told her to relax. Everything would work out well, I said. Only… I was wrong"

"Yes, you were" said Azula, sighing heavily "I just can't make sense out of this. You came to Ba Sing Se with Lu Ten in mind, Uncle. That's the reason why you wanted to come altogether, isn't it?"

"Well… yes" said Iroh, nodding and taking his seat next to his niece "I believed I had put off visiting his grave for too long. You know I had"

"Of course I do" said Azula "But maybe you should have thought about this twice if you knew there was such great risk in visiting Lu Ten's grave like this. Toph's situation isn't a matter where you can simply cross your fingers and hope for the best outcome. It was wrong of you to put her in danger as you have just because you wanted to visit Lu Ten. You should have come here on your own instead of dragging Toph here, knowing she could get captured if her identity was ever revealed"

"I know" said Iroh, nodding "It was wrong of me to act so recklessly, putting not only Toph in danger, but also you and Sokka. And Toph knows we have no right to impose upon you two, but she is rather stubborn, as you noticed. Being a gladiator has been the highlight of her life, and she takes it very seriously. She meant no harm to you two… in fact, I believe she actually looked forward to spending time with you two. It's why she was happy to do this when I told her about joining the Tournament with the two of you. But even so…"

"Even so, things just happened to develop in the worst possible way, it seems" Azula muttered "And it's really not that hard to see why that is. I guess Sokka is right, to a certain degree, but I don't see how we're supposed to be 'a team', as he puts it, when there's nothing reminiscent to trust between us all. We don't understand each other, and we probably never will"

"We'll have to learn to do so now, that's all there is to it" said Iroh, sighing "I know we are very different, you and I, and we never grew to like one another. Still… it might be time for us to stop pushing the other away and to try and step into the other's shoes. It's a better time than any, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't know" said Azula, with resignation "So you believe I can trust you, then? You think I can understand both you and the Bandit?"

"You could try" said Iroh, smiling weakly at her "We are in the same team, and the same boat. It's better that we try to understand each other, even if we really are as different as we are. It's the only way for us to actually become a team"

"Well, then, if we're going to understand each other, I have a question for you" said Azula, frowning and looking at him pointedly "Why did you accept to sponsor the Bandit once you knew what her story was? Why didn't you ever try to convince her to face her parents?"

"Why, you ask…?" said Iroh, surprised.

"Her parents are waiting for her, have been for at least two years now" Azula said "And while she clearly loves being a gladiator, she's flat-out ignoring that her parents are desperate to see her again. She's playing the rebel, and you're playing along with her. And why would you do that, Uncle? If it so happens that you see her as some sort of replacement for Lu Ten, just as you probably see Zuko, then all the more reason you should understand the position her parents are in. You chased after your son through the Spirit World, after all. You should understand their plight. Don't you think they deserve a chance to see their daughter again, to have a proper explanation for her departure?"

Iroh sighed deeply and dropped his gaze, his eyes looking rather sad now. Azula was taken aback by that reaction, but she didn't take back her questions.

"Zuko and Toph will never replace Lu Ten" Iroh muttered "Nobody ever will. I care for those two as they are, for who they are. I cannot lie, I do feel a certain fatherly attachment to them… but it isn't the same. Nothing ever will be"

Azula swallowed and nodded at that, somewhat relieved to hear Iroh say as much. Lu Ten had always been very special for her, and some of her resentment towards her uncle had spawned because of the way he had started to treat Zuko once his own son had died. Knowing Iroh hadn't been hoping to replace Lu Ten genuinely relieved her.

"Still… my son died in this very city, Azula" said Iroh, lifting his head and looking at the distant Outer Wall. He lifted a hand and pointed towards the west "Somewhere in that direction, my son helped tear down Ba Sing Se's defenses by my command. And by my command, he fought with all his strength until a rock smashed his body, killing him instantly"

Azula's eyes widened at that. Never before had she heard the details on her cousin's death, and she never expected to hear them from Iroh directly.

"I didn't see it happen. I wasn't at the frontlines that day… well, I hardly ever was, truth to be told" Iroh muttered "I was informed afterwards… and I couldn't believe it. I broke down upon the news. My one and only son, dead in a battle I had dragged him to without even asking him if he wanted to fight in it"

"What do you mean? Lu Ten always talked about joining the army, about following in your footsteps…" said Azula, staring at Iroh in confusion.

"Yet after he died, I started to wonder if that was truly what he wanted to do in life. If he had other choices, if he was given the opportunity to dedicate his life to whatever he wanted to, would he have chosen to follow me? I sure hope he wouldn't have. My son… I forced him into a life he should have never been part of. I never asked him if he wanted something else, I never thought he would. But what if he did, yet out of respect for me, he decided to follow my wishes? If I had only asked, he might have told me he wanted a different life for himself. I would have accepted that… and that way, he would still be with us now. But I took everything for granted, Azula. And I fear that was what cost him his life"

Iroh lifted his gaze now, meeting Azula's. She stared into his eyes, surprised by how clear they were, despite how emotional Iroh was right now.

"And this is why I won't force Toph to see her parents: because I won't make the same mistake I did with Lu Ten, by not taking her wishes into account and forcing her to do as I see fit"

Azula frowned and held his gaze until he sighed and dropped his eyes. Azula rubbed her forehead with her fingertips again, guessing Iroh was right to a certain degree.

"She still should face this matter, if you ask me" said Azula "Nobody will be forcing her to do so, but she'd better do it eventually. Parents who are willing to pay a steep price to see her safely home again surely aren't that bad. At the very least they care enough to want her back with them…"

"That is true" Iroh said, nodding.

"But it's up to her in the end" said Azula, shrugging "There's nothing we can do about it"

"Indeed" Iroh agreed, sighing.

They sat together on the rock, occasionally speaking, yet both deep in thought. They still had no answers regarding what they'd do, and they had to wait for their gladiators' return before making a decision. As Sokka had put it, it was time for them to truly start acting as the team they were supposed to be.

* * *

"Well... I think this is how you do it. I'm not so sure, but... it's what your mom said, at least. So, umm... Let me know if I'm doing it wrong, okay?"

The baby sitting before him simply chuckled and waved his hands towards him. Zuko breathed deeply and lifted his hands to his face, covering his eyes and blocking Yuudai from sight. A giggle helped Zuko think he was on the right track.

"Where did he go, now? Where might Yuudai beeee...?" he said, feeling somewhat dumb even though it was fun to play with the child. He moved his hands away from his face and gasped in feigned surprise "Ah! There he is!"

Yuudai laughed loudly at that, his hands gripping his feet as he swung backwards in his amusement. Zuko actually smiled for an instant before his expression turned into concern, as he saw Yuudai was bound to lose his balance by rocking on his rear like that.

"C-careful! You'll hit your head!" Zuko squealed, reaching out for him. Yuudai didn't wind up hitting his head, thanks to Zuko's intervention, and instead the child decided to grasp at his face and hair as he could with his tiny hands "Uh… I suppose that's alright. Just don't… Owww! Don't pull my hair!"

Yuudai just laughed while Zuko grimaced, and Yuudai's mother was just as amused as her son, even though she simply chuckled under her breath, watching them from the room's threshold. After making sure that Yuudai would be fine with his new babysitter, Mai decided to leave them to their games and headed towards the dining room, where Ruon Jian sat, looking through books and files with a frown on his face.

"You sure look busy" said Mai, raising her eyebrows. Ruon Jian looked at her apologetically.

"I know I shouldn't bring my work home, but it's piling up…" he said, and she simply shrugged.

"It doesn't bother me, though it sure looks boring" said Mai, sitting beside him.

"It really is" Ruon Jian replied, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips and slumping on his chair "It's stupid to come home early just to keep working, but that's how it is. How's Yuudai? Is he good friends with Zuko yet?"

"On his way to be, it seems" said Mai, smiling a little before frowning and looking at Ruon Jian skeptically when he seemed jealous upon those news "Don't be an idiot. You know your son loves you. He never fails to make a happy ruckus when you get home"

"But I hardly spend enough time with him" he said, sighing "What if he… what if he ends up thinking Zuko is his father and not me?"

"I think the aghast look on Zuko's face upon hearing Yuudai call him 'daddy' will be such that Yuudai won't ever use that word again" said Mai, leaning on the table and looking at her husband with amused eyes "You really aren't jealous of Zuko now, are you?"

"It's just… he could easily be your husband instead of me, right?" said Ruon Jian "And he's already having fun with our son while I end up working overtime instead of spending time with our son…"

"You're not constantly with Yuudai because you're providing for the family, Ruon, you don't need to make everything so dramatic" said Mai, looking at him with irritation "That's exactly why I married you instead of Zuko, you know?"

"O-oh… sorry about that, then" he said, smiling weakly and giving her another apologetic look "I just wish I could spend more time with you and Yuudai"

"Well, I got Zuko to do this precisely so I wouldn't be constantly exhausted after taking care of Yuudai all day long…" said Mai, a hand on Ruon Jian's forearm "This way you can spend proper time with me later, see?"

"Huh… well, that does sound promising" he said, as she smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

To their chagrin, their kiss was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door. Mai's brow furrowed, and Ruon Jian was simply confused.

"We're not expecting anyone, are we?" he asked, disappointed by the interruption.

"I don't think so" she muttered, standing up and moving towards the hallway "I'll find out who it is"

Ruon Jian would have returned to his work, but his curiosity prompted him to peek from the dining room's door, from where he had a perfect view of the front door Mai was opening. And his eyes widened, all the same as his wife's did, when they saw three people waiting outside their house, two of them familiar, the last one unknown and unconscious, in Haru's arms.

"Hi…" Ty Lee said, with a guilty smile "Could you please do me a favor, Mai?"

Zuko noticed there was some movement in the hallway, and he heard nervous voices outside. Yet before he could turn to ask what was going on, Yuudai claimed his attention by sliding his fingers up Zuko's nose.

"Hey, don't do that" Zuko said, grimacing and placing Yuudai on the floor again "Let's play again. I'll hide now, just as you like it, okay?"

Yuudai smiled enthusiastically, and Zuko proceeded to cover his face with his hands. He counted a few seconds in his head before talking to the child before him.

"Where might Yuudai be…? Where did he go now? Oh, maybe he's right…!" he said, putting his hands away theatrically… before realizing the child wasn't before him anymore.

Zuko's eyes widened as he looked around himself frantically, wondering where the baby had snuck to. This just couldn't have gone smoothly…

"Yuudai? Yuudai, where did you go?!" he said, trying to keep his voice low. The last thing he wanted was for Mai to realize he had lost her son "If you wanted to play hide-and-seek you should have said so… damn it"

He crawled through the room, still hearing the noises outside, but paying no heed to them when he was in such dire situation. He looked under the furniture, calling Yuudai's name repeatedly, until he heard a noise from the closet. Zuko jumped towards it, opening the ajar door completely to find Yuudai underneath some drawers. Zuko raised an eyebrow and the child squealed, making Zuko smile despite himself.

"You took the game too seriously, Yuudai …" he said, pulling the baby out of his hiding spot and holding him close again "Don't do that again, you heard me? You'll give me a heart attack… your mom will kill me if I lose you. Do you want her to do that?"

It seemed Yuudai didn't care much for what Zuko was saying, deciding that pulling his hair again was better than listening to him. Zuko sighed and grimaced.

"Okay. I need a haircut"

Meanwhile, in the upper story of the house, servants were assembling a room, fixing the sheets on the bed just in time before Haru brought the battered slave inside, placing her on the mattress carefully. Mai, Ruon Jian and Ty Lee watched him as he lowered her, all of them staring at the girl with worried eyes.

"I'm sorry I dropped by unannounced like this" Ty Lee told Mai "I didn't mean to do this at all, but things got out of hand. Azula asked me to find her, but I never thought she'd be in such a dreadful condition…"

"She needs a healer" said Mai, sighing "My servants can help with that, but she might require more than just that. People have come out of wars looking better than this"

"I know" said Ty Lee, biting her lip "And I didn't know what to do. I thought maybe you'd be able to help…"

The girl on the bed stirred, and all four of them were startled by her movements. She pressed her eyelids tightly closed shortly before opening her eyes drowsily. Yet when she noticed Haru was sitting on the bed, right next to her, she inched away from him, looking at him with panic reflected in her violet eyes.

"There, there…" said Ty Lee, sitting next to Haru and reaching out for the girl, touching her hand with hers "You're okay. I said you would be, didn't I? You're in a nice bed, right? And this is a pretty house, far away from Shu Wo…"

"Y-you… who are you?" Suki asked, recoiling from the contact "Why did you come for me? W-who are you people?"

"Let's keep the questions for the right moment, shall we?" said Mai, placing a hand on Ty Lee's shoulder and prompting her to give Suki more space "You need medical attention right now… uh, what's your name?"

"I… I'm… S-Suki" she muttered, almost unwillingly. Ty Lee only recalled her name then, for she had given it to Sokka back when they had fought against one another.

"Very well, Suki" said Mai "You need someone to tend to you right now. My servants will help you with that. Tell them what hurts, and they'll help you heal. Nobody is going to harm you anymore. You're here to heal, nothing other than that"

"I… why?" she asked, staring at the noble woman with disbelieving eyes "Why would you…?"

"Well, truth to be told, because I was asked to find you" said Ty Lee "And while I wasn't asked to get you healed, I just couldn't leave you be when you're like this"

"Y-you're… you were asked…?" Suki repeated, staring at Ty Lee in confusion.

"You'll get your answers later. First, you must heal. We'll bring you some food in a little while" said Mai, prompting the others to leave the room with a flick of her hand "For now, focus on resting and healing. Everything will be better soon"

Suki stared at her as though she couldn't quite believe those words, but she stopped asking questions nonetheless. She nodded weakly, and with that, the matter was settled. Mai bowed her head curtly towards her before leaving the room with Ruon Jian, and Haru followed them. Ty Lee smiled at the girl, hoping to seem encouraging somehow, before leaving and closing the door behind her. Suki was left by herself with Mai's servants, elderly women who were supposed to heal her… she wasn't too fond of human contact right now, but she didn't refuse them when they approached to ask her how she felt, and if she had any significant wounds that needed treatment.

The others headed downstairs, and Ruon Jian went to the kitchens, to fetch food for their new guest.

"This is really troublesome" said Mai, sighing, once Ty Lee conveyed what little she knew about Suki to her "What does Azula have in mind? Why did she ask you to get this girl out of Shu Wo? Why didn't she do it herself?"

"That's what I'd like to know, but we went to the Palace and they said she was gone" said Ty Lee, shrugging "My house isn't equipped to receive her at the moment, and I have no healers or anyone other than Haru to look after her… and from the looks of it, she doesn't want Haru anywhere near her. She doesn't want anyone to touch her, but she's has a certain aversion towards men… I guess it's because of the jerks that were beating her"

"She can grow out of it in due time, don't take it personally" said Mai, looking at Haru "Still, I really would like to know what Azula was thinking. What does the girl have to do with her? Does she want another gladiator all of sudden? I really don't see much sense in…"

"What are you talking about?"

Ty Lee was startled when she heard Zuko's voice. She hadn't known he had been here, and seeing him holding Yuudai only added to her surprise.

"Zuko, you were here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow "Why are you…?"

"I'm helping Mai out with Yuudai" Zuko muttered, blushing a little before remembering what he had just overheard as he walked down the hallway "What were you saying about Azula? And another gladiator…?"

"That was just speculation, we don't know what she's up to" said Ty Lee, smiling and waving a hand carelessly. Mai took Yuudai from Zuko's arms before answering his questions better than Ty Lee had.

"Azula sent Ty Lee to fetch a slave girl in Shu Wo. Ty Lee meant to bring her back to Azula, but for some reason Azula isn't there…"

"She's in Ba Sing Se" Zuko explained "My uncle told me they had joined some Pairs Tournament together or so…"

"What?! S-she joined a Tournament with him and not me?!" Ty Lee squeaked, devastated. Mai sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Long story short, the girl needed medical attention and Ty Lee couldn't give it to her, so she brought her here. That's it"

"A slave, though? If she's in such a bad state, why would Azula want her as a gladiator?" asked Zuko, frowning.

"Well, she was a gladiator before, is all" said Ty Lee, shrugging "In fact, you might just remember her. I dragged you with me to watch that fight she had with Sokka. Her name was Kyoshi's Heir. Does it ring a be-… Zuko?"

Mai was quite relieved to have taken Yuudai from Zuko when she had, for the look of utter shock in Zuko's face was such that he would have dropped him if he had still been holding him. His eyes had widened, his jaw had dropped and he looked at Ty Lee as though he had never looked at her before. He took a step forward and Ty Lee instinctively walked backwards, colliding with Haru, who stood behind her.

"Y-you… y-you just said… y-you didn't mean…" he said, lifting a trembling hand towards Ty Lee "Kyoshi's Heir? You just said…? She's…?"

"She's upstairs, yes…?" said Ty Lee, gulping. The expression of disbelief on Zuko's face only seemed to intensify when she confirmed the fact to him.

"How come is she…? That's… wait, Azula asked you to get her? You said…? Why did she…?"

"We just said we had no idea" said Mai, looking at Zuko with curiosity "What of it, Zuko? Do you know this girl?"

"I… I kind of…" he said, a hand going up to his head as he dropped his gaze, his brain refusing to process the information just yet. Suki was here… but she had been in Shu Wo? Why? How had she wound up there? And why had Azula sent Ty Lee to fetch her…?

"All I could get right now was fruit, but we can give her a decent meal later" said Ruon Jian, returning with a tray of food in his hands.

Zuko turned towards him, his eyes wide. Ruon Jian was startled when Zuko suddenly reached out for him, offering to take the silver tray from his hands.

"C-can I take that to her?" he said, breathing heavily.

"Uh… I suppose?" Ruon Jian started, and Zuko was quick to take the tray from him and climb the stairs, his mind set on reaching Suki immediately.

A pair of servants was leaving a room, and he guessed they had either left to find medical supplies or they had decided to leave Suki resting. He passed them by and reached the room, his heart racing so fast he thought it would burst from his chest…

He froze on the threshold when he finally saw her. She was, if anything, a ghost of the woman he had once admired from afar. If he hadn't been told it was her, he might have failed to recognize her altogether. Granted that he had always seen her with her face paint, but he still expected to recognize the girl who had dazzled him in the sand ring so many times…

Suki breathed deeply, her eyes closed until she heard the wooden floor creak. She opened her eyes warily, her mind warning her that they were back, they had come again to finish what he had started at the outskirts of Shu Wo…

She jumped away instinctively, hoping to defend herself somehow… until her eyes fell upon the new arrival to discover it wasn't who she had feared it might be.

More memories from a life that didn't feel like her own came back when she looked upon him again. The fear in her eyes started to fade away as she recalled that day, when he had taken his seat next to her, when he had spoken to her and helped her relax after one of her worst fights in the Arena. She stared at him with disbelief soon enough, wondering if he was really here… wondering if he was the reason why she had been rescued in the first place.

"Y-you…" she said, her eyes now hopeful.

Zuko opened his mouth, wishing to say something, but the words got lost in his throat. His grip on the tray grew weaker, and his eyes couldn't tear away from the girl before him. He wanted to ask her what had happened to her, why she was here now, why she had vanished in the first place… but he couldn't utter a single word. The thoughts raced through his head in a disorderly fashion, and he couldn't string a proper sentence together…

So, surprising himself, he actually managed to keep from making a mess of this situation. He took a deep breath and moved towards her nightstand, placing the tray on it carefully. Suki's eyes followed him, still in utter confusion.

When he pulled away from the nightstand, he actually managed to smile at her. It wasn't an uneasy smile, and he didn't look revolted upon seeing her in this state… he seemed relieved to see her again altogether. His gentle smile said as much.

He took a deep breath and nodded in her direction before stepping away again, turning towards the door and leaving without a single word. Yet Suki needed none to feel refreshed, to her utter surprise. The tension, the wariness, the fear of being amongst strangers faded away slowly as she realized that, at the very least, one of the people in this house wasn't completely unknown. She hardly knew anything about him, she scarcely remembered his name, but knowing he was here soothed her.

She stretched a hand towards the tray he had brought, and the soreness of her body made her flinch. Still, she grasped one of the fruits Zuko had brought, and when she looked at it she actually smiled for what felt like the first time in her life.

It was a peach.

* * *

Toph hadn't gone too far, but she had put plenty of distance between her and the rest of the group. Sokka found her sitting atop a hill, her knees drawn up to her chin, her arms crossed atop them. Sokka guessed she had noticed he had approached, but he still made his presence known.

"Thanks for not hiding underground or something" he said, taking his seat beside her "You spared me some hours of pointless searching"

"I could have hidden underground if I'd wanted to" she mumbled "There are a bunch of tunnels and stuff under this city. You'd be surprised if you could sense them"

"Really, now?" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows "So it's like the Fire Nation's Capital?"

"Maybe" said Toph, shrugging.

Sokka sighed and swallowed, wondering how to breach this matter without earning her antagonism. Yet Toph decided to spare him the trouble by talking first.

"You didn't need to bother coming after me. I just want to be alone" she muttered.

"I thought someone had to make sure you wouldn't just bail on us now" said Sokka "I know Azula said some pretty harsh things, but…"

"Don't make excuses for that. I get it, I'm an awful person and she hates me for it. Not that hard to understand"

"I'm not here to make excuses. And you don't need to blow things out of proportion" said Sokka, frowning "Azula isn't an easy person to get along with, and she's hard on everyone around her, so don't take it personally. I've been at the other end of her anger quite a few times before, and believe me, the first time I had no idea how to deal with it… heck, who am I kidding? Even nowadays I don't know what to do about it"

"Well, that actually does make me feel a little better" said Toph, sighing "Then it's not just me"

"No, and there's something else you should know" said Sokka, leaning back, his hands supporting his weight behind him "Azula is hard on all of us, but the one person she's hardest on is herself. She may have said you were cowardly and self-involved when you accused her of that… but she didn't deny it when you said it, did she?"

"Huh, now you mention it, she didn't…" said Toph, frowning.

"Azula has been regretting this trip for a while now, and I'm pretty sure she's blaming herself for the outcome" said Sokka, sighing "Sure she says otherwise, and she lashes out at everyone else, but most the time she's just telling herself she should have done this or that differently… so don't bring yourself down by thinking she despises you. By that logic, it'd mean she hates herself most of all, and I really hope that's not the case"

"I suppose you don't see any reason why she should hate herself after all, crazy in love with her as you are…" Toph muttered, skeptically "In your eyes, there's nothing to hate about her"

"Heh, you'd be surprised by how many things I used to loathe about her" said Sokka "I actually spent two years of my life dreaming of killing her, how about that?"

"But now you adore her. You're one weird guy" said Toph.

"Yeah, probably" said Sokka, grimacing "But that's not really the problem here, is it?"

"No, clearly the problem here is me. Me, and my cowardice, and how selfish I am…" said Toph, burying her face in her arms. Sokka looked at her worriedly before she sighed "I hate to admit it, but… she's actually right about me. I never wanted to accept it, but I'm scared. I've always been. And why the hell should I be? My parents… they're not even benders, there's nothing they could do to me other than nag me. What's so scary about that? Yet even when that's the case, I just…"

"I think we all have that little fear in the back of our heads towards our parents" said Sokka, smiling weakly "My dad was in charge back home, but whenever my grandmother told him off for anything, he'd look as though he were about to have a panic attack. And he was a strong, tough guy, while she was just an elderly lady. So fearing your parents is normal, I think. And I think Azula knows that, too"

"She's afraid of her parents? Yeah, seeing how judgmental she was towards me, I doubt it" said Toph.

"I wouldn't quite say she's afraid" said Sokka, sighing "But she never had an easy relationship with her mom. From what I know, the woman disappeared one day, so even if Azula wanted to confront her, and face the conflicts they had, she can't do it anymore. So I guess that might be part of why she can't understand why you'd turn your back on your parents, fleeing through half the world just to get away from them"

"I didn't know she'd had problems with her mom. But what about her dad? I mean, he's Fire Lord and he's pretty creepy, so unless she had a death wish, she wouldn't stand up to him… would she?"

"You'd be surprised. She actually stood up to him not long ago" said Sokka, smiling a little. Toph was startled by the revelation "She refused to get married when he tried to force her to choose a suitor…"

"Oh? Did she do it because nothing can get in the way of true love…?" Toph asked mockingly, and Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Well, obviously. Why else would she do it?" he said, sarcastically, and Toph smiled "She did it because she wouldn't let anyone else make decisions for her anymore. Still, believe me, it wasn't easy for her. Standing up to your parents is never easy, and I'm sure she knows it. I don't think she wants you to return to your old home and sit still as a doll while your parents dote on you… but you didn't try to stand up to them, to tell them what you wanted in life, before running away, did you?"

"N-no. I just… left" Toph admitted "Talking to them wouldn't have changed much…"

"Still, trying wouldn't have hurt much either"

"Well, a bit too late to ask that now, isn't it?" she said, shrugging "We'll never know what would have happened if I'd tried at all"

"You still could try, I think" said Sokka "Go back to your parents' place one day, tell them you've found your calling, and tell them you won't be their perfect little daughter anymore"

"You think I should do what she did" Toph muttered, tapping her arms with her fingers "Face them and hope for the best, but what if the best doesn't happen? What if I'm chased by Dai Li and bounty hunters for the rest of my life?"

"Heh, well, that sure wouldn't be nice" said Sokka, grimacing "But you've been safe in the Fire Nation before. Staying there would keep you out of trouble, I think. As for right now… well, I think we'll help you out, if we can. Azula might be mad about this right now, but she's just really tense. She can come around. And once she does, we can figure out what to do. As the team we're supposed to be"

"You really think she'd accept that?" said Toph, stretching her legs and frowning "I doubt it'll be that easy. You're not too objective about her because you two are all lovey-dovey, but…"

"How many times must I say it? There's no lovey-doveyness!" Sokka exclaimed, and Toph laughed harder this time "Seriously, damn. You'll never learn, will you?"

"I sure hope not" she said, standing up and sighing "So… I guess I should apologize for involving you guys in this mess, don't I?"

"If you feel like it, but I don't know if Azula will respond well to that…" said Sokka, standing up as well.

"You know… at first I couldn't believe that she wouldn't get it" said Toph, her hands in her pockets "I thought she knew just how boring the good life is. I thought she'd understand why I'd left…"

"I think she does understand" said Sokka "But what she probably doesn't understand is why you'd refuse to ever face what you left behind. It seems she torments herself with every decision she makes, so she doesn't know how you can live at ease with yours. And I guess you actually can't, can you?"

"Oh, so now it turns out she's right and I'm wrong? I bet you always think she's right even when she's not" Toph said, shaking her head disapprovingly. Sokka huffed.

"She's right way more often than not, and believe me, it's pretty damn frustrating" said Sokka "But she is really harsh on people, and our situation is delicate enough for her to lash out at you like that. We're a team right now. All four of us. We only have one another at the moment, and we should stick together because of that"

"You're probably right" said Toph, sighing "But… you really don't think she hates me?"

"Nah" said Sokka, smiling and patting the girl's head "She's just being her usual, grumpy self when things get out of control. Don't take it to the heart"

"I'll try not to" said Toph, sighing "I think she and I could get along… well, if we stop arguing all the time, that is"

"Heh, fat chance for that to happen. You'll have to bond over the arguments" said Sokka, chuckling "That's how I did it"

"Really? Well, since I don't want to fall in love with her, I'll have to find another way to do it…" Toph smirked, starting back towards where Iroh and Azula waited.

"Seriously, what are you, five? Why can't you just act like a mature person and – ouch! Hey! What was that for?!"

Toph chuckled after punching Sokka's shoulder, a pleased smile on her face as he rubbed his arm while scowling at her.

"Thanks, Sokka" she said, smiling. He froze and looked at her in confusion before following her.

"Thanks for…?"

"It just seemed better to thank you than to say I was sorry" she said, chuckling. Sokka frowned before making a mental note about that. Maybe he should trade his apologies for gratefulness the next time he hit an impasse with Azula…

Iroh jumped off the rock when he saw them approaching, several minutes later. Azula glanced in their direction, an apprehensive look on her face.

"Oh, Toph..." he said, smiling and taking her hands in his once she had reached him.

"Hey" she muttered, with a guilty smile "Sorry. Didn't mean to worry you"

"It's fine. I'm glad you're back" he said, beaming and hugging her.

"Seriously, Iroh? I was only gone for an hour at most..."

Sokka looked at Azula, taking note of how she stared at Toph somewhat warily, as though she wished to avoid a confrontation, yet still expected one to happen. He stepped towards her, giving her an encouraging smile.

"Did Iroh bug you much?"

"It could have been worse" she admitted, shrugging "What about the Bandit?"

"I expected worse" said Sokka, smiling "She's really not that bad... she's annoying when she wants to be, of course, but I think..."

"Uh... Jewel?"

Azula raised an eyebrow before turning to face Toph. The girl was standing a few feet away, her head bowed.

"Yes, Bandit?" Azula replied, standing up and looking at her warily.

Toph froze for a moment, not knowing how to start. She sighed and scratched her head before sighing heavily.

"I just… I'm not going to force you guys to do whatever I want, alright?" she said, somewhat flustered "I just… wanted you to know that"

"Huh…" said Azula, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Yeah, of course you're baffled by it" said Toph, stubbornly "Well, I don't care if you can't believe it. Even so, I… I will try to be more considerate towards the rest of you. I know I'm not easy to get by… and I'm just used to getting everything done on my own. So being in a team, like Sokka puts it…"

"It sounds pretty awful" Azula said, and Toph smiled when the Princess finished her sentence "I honestly don't know why he keeps rambling about that"

"Yeah, me neither" Toph said, and Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"Oh, so now you two will bond over bashing me? After all my efforts, that's how it'll work?" Sokka asked, indignant.

"Why, yes. I'm surprised you mind so much" said Azula, smirking at him "Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Sure it is, you're so funny" said Sokka, rolling his eyes as Toph laughed.

"Still… maybe we can give this team thing a try" she said, shrugging and turning towards Azula again "If it doesn't work, we can always blame it on him"

"Good call" said Azula, nodding towards Toph. She wasn't about to say just how relieved she was by not having to argue with the girl again. Whatever Sokka had said to the Bandit had served to appease her, all the same as talking to Iroh had helped Azula understand his situation with Toph better.

"So we're all good now?" Iroh asked, smiling "All problems solved?"

"I doubt it" said Azula, sighing "It's not like we're all magically going to get along from here on, but…"

"We all want to get out of this mess" said Sokka, grinning "And we can do it, even if we argue all the way to the very end"

"Right, but now you mention it… what are we going to do now?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… for one thing, you were right, Azula. The Dai Li might come here to look for leads" said Iroh, frowning "So we definitely need to leave now. I don't know where we should go, but we have to leave"

"I can feel the foundations of a house not too far from here" Toph said, her toes digging into the dirt "It feels like a farm. I don't sense anything alive nearby, so it's probably empty"

"Then that should do for now" said Sokka, stroking his stub of beard with a hand "Once we're there, we can establish our plans"

"And hopefully, get something to eat" said Iroh, grimacing and rubbing his belly as Toph started to lead the way towards the empty farm.

"Now that's a very good idea" Sokka agreed, nodding enthusiastically. Azula sighed and shook her head, bumping against Sokka intentionally and making him smile as the two of them started after Toph and Iroh.

The farm Toph led them to had two stories, even though it wasn't particularly large, and it had been abandoned some time ago. There were no animals within, and the last crops had withered a while back. Iroh and Sokka had been horrified to find there was nothing worth eating in the house; Toph decided to honor her gladiator name, and she snuck off into a nearby farm, where she nicked some food. Azula was aghast when she confessed to having stolen the tomato-carrots she had found, but Toph said she had left some of Iroh's money as payment for them.

Once they had eaten their respective tomato-carrot, they sat at the kitchen table – for the dining and kitchen area were one and the same in the small building – and their conversation about what to do began anew.

"The only way I will accept returning to the Arena to fight the rest of the Tournament will be if we find a plan where we don't risk falling in the Dai Li's claws, simple as that" Azula established "So, by all means, start coming up with ideas. We don't have all day"

"Geez, slow down, Spicy" said Toph, grimacing and folding her arms over her chest, her brow furrowed "We've got to think about this carefully"

"It's no easy feat, entering Ba Sing Se" said Iroh, with an uncomfortable smile "Believe me, reaching the Agrarian Zone is the easiest part when you're not wanted within the city…"

"Yeah, that might be true" said Sokka, frowning, his hand on his chin "But we won't breach the Inner Wall to get into Ba Sing Se, will we?"

"No, that would bring too much attention to us" said Azula "And if we ask the guards to lower the Wall for us to enter the city, the remaining Dai Li might notice it. For all we know, some of the earthbenders who work for the Fire Nation nowadays could be members of the Dai Li, or they could be allied with them…"

"Allied with them…?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow at that. An old idea sought to return to him upon that suggestion…

"So we can't rely on Ba Sing Se's soldiers, at least. My soldiers, on the other hand, are reliable" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "We could find support in numbers through them"

"But they might be in the city already, right?" said Toph "I mean, if the tides weren't that bad anymore, they might have reached the Palace by now. And we're as far from the Palace as we can be. So we can't rely on them for help"

"Truly" said Sokka, sighing "We should have kept in touch with the Captain, as we said we would. Maybe he could have come help us if we had"

"Too late to regret it now" said Azula, sighing "We have no means to send him a message while we're stranded in the Agrarian Zone. So… this means we'll have no back-up during our entrance into the city, nor in our way to the Arena"

"We shouldn't take the train either" said Toph "Earthbending soldiers operate them. If we think guards could be Dai Li allies, they could be as well"

"So it's as if we couldn't enter the city at all?" asked Iroh, sighing "This doesn't look good"

"Not quite" said Sokka, intertwining his fingers and leaning on the table, deep in thought "I think there actually is a way to get inside, avoiding the Dai Li in the process"

"And how's that?" asked Toph, raising an eyebrow.

"You're the one who gave me the idea, actually" said Sokka, smiling a little "And you're the one who can make it happen, too. Didn't you tell me a while ago that there are tunnels under the city?"

Toph's blind eyes brightened upon that. She smiled and nodded enthusiastically, surprising both Azula and Iroh.

"That's right! I sensed them!" she said, beaming "I sensed tunnels both in the Lower Ring, and some by the Arena. Sure, the ones in the Lower Ring felt more like sewers than anything, but they might connect with the ones in the Upper Ring!"

"S-sewers…?" said Azula, grimacing.

"We could reach the Arena safely" Toph insisted "Even if the Dai Li also used the tunnels, I could sense them through my earthbending and guide us away from them if they're coming. Above ground there's too many people to know who's who, but below ground I can help us avoid whoever might run into us. It's really going to work!"

"It sounds good" Azula acknowledged, nodding "This allows us to attend the semi-finals, true, but what will we do afterwards? We can only guess the Dai Li found us through the Gladiator Business in the first place. By returning to the Arena we will have them on our tails again once they hear you two attended your fight. They'll know Xin Long was just a hoax, and they would search the entire city if necessary to find us. So…"

"We could just come back here" said Toph, shrugging "I suppose traveling there and back again won't be easy this time, because we'll have to go on foot, but…"

"You two will have to fight, Toph. How are we to know you will be perfectly uninjured and capable of guiding us through the tunnels after your combat is done?" said Iroh, worriedly.

"Well, I usually don't end up injured, do I…?" said Toph, but Iroh shook his head.

"It's too risky to return here once the fight is through. We will have to find some means to lie low while in the city…"

"Lie low, or lie protected" said Azula, looking at Iroh for a moment "If Toph is right, my men might be in the Palace by now. And the Palace is currently occupied by Fire Nation troops, by Tiang's men. We may not be able to rely on Ba Sing Se's natives, on the people who might hold a certain loyalty towards the former system that operated here a few years ago… but we can rely on our people"

"So, you're saying…?" said Toph, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm saying the safest place we can go to is the Imperial Palace" said Azula, determinedly "The Dai Li shouldn't act against the governor of the city. That alone would be seen as terrorism, and their organization would be immediately persecuted and terminated for it. Once we reach Tiang, and we tell him what has happened to us, he will act in our defense. He won't let the Dai Li reach us anymore"

"You seem quite sure you can trust this guy" said Toph, surprised "Why…?"

"We've known Tiang for a long time" said Iroh, his gaze on the table. Azula looked at him, noticing he seemed affected by talking about Tiang… "He is a good man indeed. We can rely on him"

"Well, whatever you guys say" said Toph, shrugging "If you think he's a nice fellow, I'll trust your judgment"

"Then… this is what we'll do" said Sokka, looking at the other three "We'll finally reach the Palace tomorrow, right?"

"Yep" said Toph, nodding "And if that guy knows who I am and sends for my parents, I'll beat him to a pulp for it"

"I wonder if you'll be able to" said Azula, raising her eyebrows and nodding towards Sokka "This is our plan, yes. Any questions or objections?"

"Not particularly" said Toph, shrugging. Iroh shook his head, although Azula didn't miss the troubled look on his face.

"Well then, it's time to get some rest" the Princess said, standing up "It seems we'll have one hectic day ahead of us tomorrow"

There were only two bedrooms in the building, and there was only a single, individual bed in each. Toph withdrew from the scuffle over the beds immediately, saying she could make an earth tent outside and sleep there. After Toph was out of the contest, Sokka decided he would sleep on the floor, saying the royals should take the beds. Azula had protested, for he had to sleep properly or he would make a mess of tomorrow's fight, but Sokka had declared it wouldn't be right to make an old man sleep on the floor, and doing that to a Princess was simply out of the question. Iroh had seemed pleased by that, but Azula still wasn't comfortable by Sokka's decision.

Iroh searched the house after their conversation was over, finding old items the farm's former owners had left behind, and amongst them he happened upon several blankets. He picked four of them, and offered one to each of his companions. Azula accepted it without much ado, and Sokka took his gratefully, but when he handed one to Toph she almost laughed in his face.

"You think I need a blanket?" she said, smirking "The earth keeps me warm enough. Give it to your niece, or keep it yourself"

With that, Iroh headed back to Azula's room, but upon offering the extra blanket she looked at him as though he were crazy.

"Where do you think we are, the South Pole?" she asked "I don't want another blanket. One will be enough. You can keep it. You're old and your joints will hurt if the chill gets to you"

Iroh didn't quite appreciate her comment, but he didn't retort. What was he supposed to do, force her to keep the blanket? He sure didn't want it himself, that he could say with certainty. Most the time he sweated through the night, and a blanket would only make him hotter still. So his only choice was…

"Here. This is for you" Iroh said, dropping the blanket on Sokka's knees as the gladiator settled himself on the hard floor.

"Heh? But I don't think I need…"

"Then give it to Azula" Iroh said, walking away and climbing up the stairs, glad to having gotten rid of the blanket issue by passing it on to Sokka.

Sokka raised an eyebrow, holding the blanket for a moment while wondering if he should give it to Azula. Maybe she would tell him to keep it, as proud as she always had been… but he still decided to offer it to her. She just might need it…

He climbed the stairs towards her room, moving as silently as he could in case she was already asleep. When he tip-toed past the door, he found her shape curled on the bed, a blanket over her body already. Sokka continued to move towards her, willing the floor not to creak and he got ready to place the extra blanket over her…

"I think I already told you, Uncle, that I didn't need…" Azula started, sitting on the bed brusquely and making Sokka stumble when she spoke so suddenly. Her eyes widened when she realized she wasn't dealing with Iroh "Wha-…? Sokka? What are you doing here?"

"I… Iroh gave me this blanket, and then said that if I didn't want it I should hand it to you…" he said, standing up and scratching the back of his neck "I didn't mean to startle you"

"The one who got started was you, actually" said Azula, with a weak smile.

"True enough" Sokka conceded, smiling as well "Then I didn't mean to wake you, if I woke you at all, that is"

"You didn't" Azula admitted "I can't seem to fall asleep"

"Really?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow and sitting on the edge of the bed "Too worried about tomorrow?"

"Too worried wondering if we'll survive past tomorrow, rather" said Azula, sighing "Working with those two as we have for the last few hours hasn't been so bad… and I am doing my best to be understanding of both of them. Yet… part of me still wishes we hadn't done this at all"

"Can't blame you for that" Sokka conceded "Hopefully, in a couple of weeks we'll be back home, this whole mess behind us… and who knows? In a few months we might be laughing about it and all! Just as nowadays we laugh about stuff that happened to us before, right?"

"Plenty of things that happened aren't worth laughing about" Azula said, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh? I'm sure you've had a kick out of making fun of me for my haiku" he said, and she smiled at that "Or because of my, uh… unfortunate accidents"

"What are you…? Oh. That" said Azula, her eyes widening as she smiled uncomfortably "I had forgotten that dragons arouse you until now…"

"Y-you… I already told you that wasn't it" Sokka squeaked, but Azula was already laughing, which had been his intent anyways. He rolled his eyes as he waited for her laughter spree to end "Well, now that I made a fool of myself, as ever… there's something I wanted to tell you about"

"Huh?" said Azula, her amusement dissipating upon those words as she started to brace herself for the worst confessions Sokka could possibly make right now.

"I hadn't quite thought about this for a while, seeing how it happened a lifetime ago, it seems" said Sokka "But today, when you suggested the Dai Li could have allies, I had an idea"

"You did?" Azula asked, interested in what he would say now that it seemed it had nothing to do with Kyoshi's Heir.

"Do you remember back our last visit to the Ba Sing Se, when we were chasing the Rhinos?"

"I remember, yes" said Azula, frowning.

"Before leaving the city we talked properly for the first time in ages, and I told you of my suspicions about the Rhinos. I mentioned they must have had back-up of some sort, remember…?"

"You did. Though, wait… you think the Dai Li were allied with…?" Azula started, at first with confusion, but soon with dread, her heart sinking upon the information "The Dai Li were allied with the Rough Rhinos. They… they were the ones helping them. All along, it was them?"

"The Rhinos never gave away the identities of their allies, did they?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "I figure it must have been these guys. They might have hoped they'd break them out of prison one day"

"This is… this isn't good" Azula said, grimacing "You don't think they're chasing after us to take revenge for the Rhinos, do you?"

"I doubt it" said Sokka, frowning "Though it does seem fishy that they'd hunt after Toph just because she's a runaway…"

"I knew there had to be more to this… I just didn't think it'd involve the Rhinos" said Azula, rubbing the bridge of her nose with the tips of her fingers.

"Uh… still, there's no need to get too worried about it now" said Sokka "I might be wrong, for all we know"

"No… no, I get the feeling you're right" Azula said, looking at Sokka "And it's good you didn't keep it to yourself, unlike how you kept your theories back when we chased down the Rhinos in the first place"

"I figured I had to say something, but I didn't do it so you wouldn't sleep at all…" sighed Sokka "You've got that look on your face that says you're going to spend the rest of the night worrying about it…"

"Well, what do you expect?" Azula said, raising an eyebrow "This is important, Sokka. It might just mean the Dai Li and the Rhinos had been orchestrating a conspiracy we didn't know about, a conspiracy to take back the Earth Kingdom somehow and…!"

"Azula!" Sokka said, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking at her earnestly. She froze at that "Just… sleep now. You can think about conspiracy theories later"

"You think I'm crazy, don't you? That I'm looking too far into this" Azula said, raising her eyebrows and making Sokka laugh "You'll see I'm right. I will prove I'm right"

"I know you will" he said, smiling "You don't know how to hold back when you put your mind to something. Still… you need your rest now. You said you have it hard to sleep in beds that aren't your own, but well…"

"It's better than the floor" Azula muttered, as he dropped his hands again.

"Heh, yeah" he said, smiling a little "But I'll be fine. It won't be the first time I sleep on the floor, and a wooden floor is better than sleeping by a river in the middle of a forest, right?"

"I suppose, but… we could take turns, as we did when we found that village" Azula suggested, shrugging.

"Would that appease your conscience?" he asked, smiling again "Well, then, take the first round on the bed and…"

"Well, aren't you creative" said Azula, rolling her eyes and looking at him skeptically "That was the same idea I had in the forest. You'll let me sleep on the bed the whole night and stick with the floor because you're an idiot"

"Oh? Well, then, if I'm an idiot for saying that now, weren't you an idiot for staying up all night back then just so that I'd sleep?" Sokka asked, smirking.

"Perhaps, but you're four times as idiotic considering you spent at least four nights doing the same thing" Azula replied, and Sokka smiled and bowed his head, conceding defeat again.

"True enough. I didn't deny I was one, though, did I?" he said, looking at her again.

Azula looked at him, her eyes softening as she stared into his. His kind smile, his gentle eyes, everything about him right now made her feel comfortable and happy despite the circumstances… but soon that annoying feeling reappeared, the one that kept reminding her of what had happened back in the Capital, of what would happen once Sokka saw Suki again…

He seemed to notice her mind had drifted just now, and he placed a hand on hers, squeezing it a little and bringing her back to reality with that.

"Get some rest, alright?" he said, smiling kindly again before standing up.

Azula didn't know what made her reach out for his hand right then. Sokka froze when he felt her grip on his wrist, and he turned to look at her, surprised. A mild blush tinged her cheeks, and she refused to meet his gaze.

"J-just… it's not really like… like we've never done this before" she muttered, weakly "There's no need for you to sleep on the floor downstairs. You could just…"

Sokka's eyes widened, his heart drumming in his chest upon that proposal. Soon enough, a smile spread over his features. He slid his wrist out of her grip, but only to clasp her hand with his.

"You sure?" he asked "You don't think your uncle might peek here in the middle of the night…"

"He sleeps like a rock, you've seen that yourself" Azula muttered, releasing his hand before dropping on the bed, curling with her back towards him so she wouldn't face him anymore "Do as you wish… but you can stay here, if you want to"

Sokka lowered his head, his smile widening. For Azula to allow him to share the bed with her, despite their latest conflicts, was a bigger relief than he expected to get. She still wanted to be with him, it seemed… and as much as she was right to say he was an idiot, he wasn't stupid to the point of refusing her offer.

Azula held back a gasp when she felt him sit on the bed again, removing his boots before stretching across the bed with her. It was rather small, but Sokka didn't need it to be bigger. The bed didn't matter at all when he could be this close to her.

He turned on his side as well, and he inhaled the scent of her hair. He smiled and moved closer, trying his luck, driven by his desire to be near her. His hand found hers again, their fingers intertwining as he pulled her closer. Azula was truly glad she had turned her back on him, for the brightness of her blush right now could have lighted the dark room all by itself. Why had she brought this upon herself? There was something wrong with her, simply. Sharing this bed with him surely wouldn't change a thing on the long run, but she hadn't been able to hold back the urge to be near him again after these long days. She could allow herself a moment of weakness for once, couldn't she…?

She breathed heavily when he placed his head on the nape of her neck, his hand still caressing hers.

"Thanks" he whispered, and she swallowed hard.

Her hand gripped his more tightly, and she turned her head, surprising him. Azula could feel his powerful heartbeat against her back, which allowed her to realize she wasn't the only one anxious right now. And she wasn't the only one doing impulsive things, or else he wouldn't have joined her in bed… but she was the more impulsive one, without a doubt.

She closed her eyes and brought their lips together. Sokka responded immediately, passionately kissing her as well as he shifted his position, making it easier for her to reach him. Her free hand caressed his cheek, while his stroked her dark hair…

But soon enough, the memory of everything that had ever gone wrong between them came back to Azula's mind at full force. Knowing what great dangers awaited them tomorrow made her wish to make the most of this moment… but remembering what might happen upon returning home made her break off the contact altogether, despite not truly wanting to.

Sokka was surprised when she drew back, breathing heavily. But before he could hope to kiss her anew, she turned around. He was disappointed by that, yet he was glad their hands were still together. Again, he settled against her back, holding her as he wished he could hold her every night…

Azula sighed and brought their hands up to her mouth. She kissed his fingers softly, despite herself, and she closed her eyes, breathing deeply. His other hand continued to stroke her hair.

"Night…" he whispered, and she didn't respond.

Despite how exhilarant she felt, being close to Sokka was soothing enough for Azula to sleep at ease through the night. Sokka slept soundly as well, only waking up occasionally to move closer to her in case they had separated. Even the muffled sound of Iroh's snores in the next room didn't disturb them. Yet their peaceful sleep was interrupted eventually, and in the last way they would have wanted it to…

"Well, well… you two look real comfortable"

It took a moment for Sokka to register the voice, and another one yet to recognize its origin. He jumped away from Azula immediately, his eyes widening as he realized who had entered the room without their awareness.

The grin on Toph's face was the biggest he had seen on it yet; she seemed beyond pleased by her grand discovery. Sokka paled as he looked at her in dread. It was one thing for Toph to tease him about Azula, but for her to find them in such a compromising situation was nothing short of a crisis…

"And I can't even see, to boot…" she said, chuckling.

"T-Toph, this isn't what it looks like…" Sokka muttered, hoping Iroh wouldn't hear what was happening in their room if he kept his voice down.

"Well, not like I'd know what it looks like, I was being sarcastic before" she said, laughing "Oh, but damn, so much for saying there's nothing going on here, huh?"

"How did you even know I was here?!" Sokka said, frowning "You can't see through wood!"

"I thought I'd stumble upon you downstairs, but I didn't find you anywhere…" Toph said innocently, as Azula sat up on the bed, rubbing her forehead with a hand "I just did the math, figured you'd be here… and when you jumped like that I confirmed my suspicions!"

"Y-you're just…" Sokka started, but he fell silent when Azula climbed off the bed.

"I hope your Dog was a nice sleeping partner, Spicy. I've heard some people like to sleep with their pets, but I didn't take you to be one…" Toph said, smirking, but the self-satisfied look on her face froze when Azula grasped her by the collar of her shirt, lifting her from the ground so they'd be face to face.

"Say a single word of this to my uncle, and your parents, the Dai Li, the bounty hunters and whatever else might be hunting you down will be the least of your concerns" she said, with a calm voice that conveyed she truly meant that threat.

Toph actually smiled again after that, rather amused by Azula's reaction.

"Well, wow. That actually sounds fun" she said, smirking.

"Just as fun as flying on the back of a dragon, I'm sure" Azula grunted, and now Toph grimaced.

"Woah, no need to take it so far…" she said, gulping "I was just teasing, I wasn't serious!"

"Keh…" Azula said, dropping Toph again and huffing "You'd better not be. Go wake my uncle, then. We need to get going as soon as possible"

"Whatever you say, boss. Just, don't make me ride that flying crocodile again" said Toph, grimacing and leaving the room.

Sokka sighed and looked at Azula, who was still rubbing her eyes. It was truly impressive to find just how threatening she could be while still being sleepy.

"You okay?" he asked, and she sighed.

"I will be if she doesn't rat us out" Azula muttered "We need to get ready for the trip now, though. Keep your head focused on that"

Sokka nodded and smiled at her, though she kept from returning the grin. He left the room, rushing downstairs quickly to keep Iroh from noticing he had been upstairs… yet there was an unpleasant pressure in his chest after leaving Azula like this.

It wasn't as though staying behind to talk about the previous night would be much use, not when they had to take off now, but for some reason, he felt guilty about it. Something just wasn't right. Spending the night beside Azula usually would have him in a cloud of bliss on the next morning, even though he wouldn't be happy about leaving at all… but today he couldn't quite feel that way. Even when they had kissed, when they had slept with their hands intertwined, he knew she was hesitant. She was doubtful. Something was holding her back… and after the things he had said back in the Capital, it wasn't that hard to tell what her problem was…

Yet the matter remained pending, even though Sokka wished he could do something about it right away. They had quite an ordeal ahead of them now… and they had to focus on making sure the plan they had developed the night before would succeed.

"I can sense a tunnel starting right about here" Toph said, once they were outside. She had led them close to the Inner Wall, just as dawn's lights started appearing on the horizon.

"Oh, this is going to be nasty" said Iroh, grimacing upon the idea of heading into the city's sewers.

Toph raised her hands to bend the earth away, but she dropped them again, turning towards Sokka and Azula, who stood side by side, right behind her and Iroh.

"Weren't you going to bend that tunnel open, Bandit?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, but… I just wanted to say one last thing to you two" she said, smiling "I know you had no obligation to do any of this. You shouldn't have put up with my nonsense, neither of you, in any way… and yet you have. I know it might not mean much, coming from me, but I'm really glad you guys agreed to join me and Iroh in this Tournament. I couldn't have asked for better comrades in this mess"

"Heh, I can't quite say the same thing…" Azula said, and Sokka looked at her skeptically.

"Azula…"

"Oh, relax" she said, rolling her eyes before turning towards Toph "I really didn't think we could get along at all, Dirt Worm, but we could have been worse off indeed…"

"Well, the worst part has yet to come" said Toph, smiling weakly "But I figured this was the best moment to say something…"

"I'm glad you appreciate our support, then" Azula said, stepping forward and placing a hand on the girl's shoulder "But we need to get going, don't we?"

"Yep" she said, cracking her knuckles and standing in front of the tunnel she could sense "Stand back, Jewel…"

Azula did as Toph said, and the earthbender compressed the earth before her, revealing an opening that led to a tunnel below. Azula, Sokka and Iroh looked at it warily, already disgusted by the stench the tunnel had released.

"Alright, then" Toph declared, determinedly, leading the way underground "Let's do this"


	77. Chapter 77

The Captain couldn't have been more disheartened. He had seen this coming to a certain extent, for this had been the story of his life ever since he had become one of Princess Azula's guards, but he had been gullible enough to hope that maybe, just maybe, he would arrive to the Imperial Palace to find she was safe and sound in it this time. To find that, for the first time, his job wouldn't be any more difficult than it already was…

Naturally, he had been mistaken.

The panicked look on Governor Tiang's face when the guards asked about the Princess spoke for itself, letting them all know, without uttering a word, that Azula's whereabouts were unknown at the moment. Tiang had been expecting the Princess indeed, but he had assumed she would arrive when her Procession did. Discovering otherwise had alarmed him greatly, and he was quick to send soldiers to scan the entire city to find Princess Azula. Some of the Royal Guards had joined the search, but the Captain had stayed behind with a few others, eating lunch in one of the Palace's dining halls as he sulked, wondering if he would ever do his job right…

"Now, now, don't be so hard on yourself" said Taro, who was sitting next to him as they ate "You did exactly as she commanded. It's not your fault"

"But I should have known better than to listen to her commands when she's being reckless" said Rui Shi, sighing heavily "I should have known. I should have sent one of you with her to make sure she'd be safe. I suppose the gladiator could have protected her if worst came to worst, but…"

"You know, I'd assume the gladiator would end up being the one protected instead" said Fei Li, smiling a little "Half the time I feel like the Princess really doesn't need any protection…"

"It's like we're just in the way…" said Taro, coughing a little when he finished talking.

"Did you forget your medicine again?" Rui Shi asked, as one of the Palace's servants approached the table, bringing a large tray with her.

"Oh, no, not this time! It's right…" Taro said, proudly, patting his pocket only to realize it was empty. His eyes widened and he started to turn all the pockets in his tunic, panicking when he failed to find what he was looking for "Damn it! I must have left it on the Barge!"

"Well, that's Taro for you, eh?" said Fei Li, chuckling.

"Is he sick, now? What do you suffer from, young man?" asked the servant, an elderly but slender lady who smiled kindly at him.

"Uh… a breathing condition, is all" said Taro, blinking blankly, puzzled by the woman's intervention.

"Oh, my" said the woman, looking at him worriedly "I believe I could fix you a proper drink to help you with that, if you'd like. I worked as a healer during many years before…"

"Before becoming a servant?" asked Fei Li, carelessly.

"Before becoming a slave" said Rui Shi, frowning.

The servant was somewhat surprised when he spoke the words so intensely. Yet she smiled at him and shrugged, placing her tray on the table the three men were sharing.

"That would be correct" she said "But I will admit, life as a slave isn't so bad when you're a slave whose roast duck is greatly appreciated by the city's governor. I can also work as a healer if need be, and my services are quite appreciated. I'm well fed, I have my own room, my own belongings… it has been easier on me than one would expect"

"Well, truth to be told, at your age you shouldn't be working at all…" said Fei Li, and the woman glared at him.

"I may be old enough to be your mother, boy, but I still work as hard as anyone"

"Respect your elders, Fei Li!" Taro exclaimed, looking at his fellow guard with reprobation and earning himself a glare from him "See, that sort of behavior is exactly why you can't get a girlfriend"

"What the…?! Stop messing with me! That's got nothing to do with anything!" Fei Li exclaimed, jumping to his feet and shaking a fist towards his comrade just as Taro moved away from the table and sprinted towards the hallway "Get back here, you idiot! You're going to kill yourself if you run like that!"

Rui Shi glared at them and sighed, shaking his head before trying some of the roast duck the old woman had brought them. She was simply watching the other two as they chased each other outside the hall, and she laughed and shook her head before turning towards the Captain again.

"Do excuse them for their idiotic behavior" said the Captain, sighing "They're Royal Guards, yet they act as though they were rebellious teenagers whenever the Princess isn't nearby…"

"It would seem you're the most serious one of the group, then" said the woman, looking at him curiously as she took her seat across him "Your behavior isn't at all like theirs"

"I can't be as childish as them when I'm their leader" said Rui Shi, shrugging and taking another bite of the duck "I will say… Governor Tiang has good taste indeed. I've never had roast duck that tastes quite this good before"

"I'm glad you're enjoying it. I used to make too much of it back in the day" she said, smiling "My daughter couldn't finish it all by herself. My husband could eat most of it without difficulty, but that was before he was taken from the farming village we used to live in…"

Rui Shi frowned and stared at the woman carefully as she lost herself in thoughts of her past. He analyzed her features to find that he had seen eyes like hers before…

"Your… daughter" said Rui Shi, bringing the old woman back to reality with the sound of his voice "She couldn't quite finish your roast duck, you said…"

"Ah, yes. She was the sweetest girl" said the servant, smiling "So even if she was already full, she would still try to eat more to make me happy. I always told her not to push herself, of course, I didn't want her to end up sick…"

"Is she working here with you, perhaps…?" Rui Shi asked, casually.

"Why do you ask?" said the servant, surprised. Rui Shi blushed, despite himself.

"I just… I guessed she would be a slave too, seeing how you are one. I just hoped that, maybe, you wouldn't have been separated. The Princess's gladiator has a maid of his own, a girl who cooks for him and heals him whenever he gets hurt in battle… and I recently spoke with her about her past. She told me she had been separated from her family… so I hoped that, maybe, you wouldn't have undergone the same fate…"

"Well, that's too bad for her" said the servant, sighing "Many of us were separated from our families… most of us, actually. It happened to me also. My daughter was still held by slavers when I was taken to Ba Sing Se. I don't know what happened to her… I haven't seen her since"

"And your husband…" Rui Shi muttered "He was taken away by soldiers?"

"Yes" the servant said, sighing "It took me quite some time to get used to soldiers after that happened. My first years under the governor's service weren't easy… this Palace was filled with soldiers to the brim, and I hated working for them at first. But they have been kinder than I expected, and even though I still long for the old days, I also appreciate my luck. So many slaves could have it worse than me… I can only hope my daughter has had some luck as well. Perhaps she is working for a nobleman now, who knows?"

Rui Shi smiled at that, despite himself. The servant stared at him, confused.

"Is something funny…?"

"I just…" he said, sighing and looking at her with a smile "Your daughter really is a gentle girl, isn't she?"

"She was indeed. Why do you…?"

"And she was also a skilled healer, and a good cook…" said Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow.

"W-well, she… I didn't say she was" said the servant, surprised "But… yes, in fact, she…"

"And her name… is her name Song?"

The servant's eyes widened as she stared at Rui Shi with disbelief and hope. Rui Shi smiled gently again.

"The roast duck was my first clue" he said, smiling "She told me once that she hoped you would be cooking some of it for a nobleman… just like what you only just said about her"

"My… my Song? You know her? You've talked to her, you…?" she said, her eyes filled with tears as she stared at him in joyful disbelief.

"Song is the gladiator's maid" said Rui Shi, nodding "And she is living well enough. She worries about you, of course, but…"

Rui Shi was instantly silenced when the woman stood up, walked towards his end of the table and threw her arms around his neck to embrace him tightly. Rui Shi's eyes widened and his cheeks flushed again, taken by surprise by the woman's sudden gesture. He couldn't even remember the last time anyone had hugged him…

"My Song… you know my Song, and she's alive! She's… oh, this is just wonderful, I… thank you, you wonderful man, you… what's your name?" the woman asked, pulling away shortly to look at the Captain properly, tears streaming down her eyes.

"I… I am Rui Shi" he said, awkwardly, almost as if he had forgotten how to pronounce his name due to how surprised he was.

"Oh, thank you so much, Rui Shi! Thank you, thank you!" the woman said again, crying tears of joy and hugging him once more. Rui Shi could only pat her back awkwardly, gulping but smiling all the same "You have no idea what this means to me, you… oh, my Song, she's fine… she's fine…"

"Yes… she really is" said Rui Shi, still patting the woman's back, and she laughed and cried more, still holding onto the guard who had delivered her the news she had thought she would never hear…

"And it looks like the one who got a girlfriend is the Captain, eh?" Fei Li said, chuckling under his breath as both him and Taro stared at the scene from the dining room's threshold "I didn't know he liked elderly ladies, but to each his own, eh?"

"I wouldn't mind if he's got a girlfriend or not… if only I didn't need my medicine right now" said Taro, coughing again. Fei Li glared at him.

"You were the one who ran off on his own accord, so don't…!"

A sudden tremor silenced Fei Li in the middle of his scolding of his friend. Both him and Taro stared down the hallway towards the Palace's entrance, the area where the vibrations had come from. Song's mother released Rui Shi from her grip as well, surprised by the strange event. The Captain frowned, confused. That had felt like earthbending…

"Stay here" he told Song's mother before heading towards the hallway, where Fei Li and Taro waited for him.

"Oh, ah… thank you again, Rui Shi! Thank you!" the woman exclaimed once more, smiling happily at him.

The Captain smiled back and waved goodbye at her before racing down the hallway, followed by Fei Li and a coughing Taro. And Song's mother was left behind, staring at the roast duck's leftovers, wondering just who might eat them now…

* * *

The Green Gates was boisterous with activity yet again, for people from throughout the entire city had come to watch the two semifinals of the Tournament. The first fight was already taking place within the sand ring, and the second would begin as soon as the first had ended… yet one of the teams set to fight on the second semifinal hadn't arrived.

"Do you think they'll be late?" the boy at the counter asked his twin "It's a bit weird for royals to be late, but it's even weirder that they're not here yet…"

"It's not that weird" the girl replied "They are royals, after all. They can get special treatment whenever they want it. Surely they'll show up here any moment now, without even noticing that they were late in the first place…"

"You think? Because…" the boy started, but he fell quiet when the floor underneath them started vibrating…

And suddenly the center of the vestibule cracked open.

The people on the vestibule panicked, some running off while others began screaming, staring at the hole in dismay and utter confusion. The siblings at the counter jumped back as well, terrified and bewildered. There was no way the fight in the sand ring right now would be intense enough to wreck the rest of the Arena…

And indeed, the crater had nothing to do with the current semifinal combat, as everyone discovered when a girl, covered in dirt and dressed in filthy green clothes crawled out of the hole she had created with her earthbending. An old man followed her, coughing and looking beyond relieved to finally see daylight again, and after him came a dark haired woman, who helped a dark-skinned man out of the hole. The three of them were covered with dirt as well, and they looked rather worn-out after spending hours on end walking through underground tunnels.

"Fresh air… at last" Iroh said, almost tearful. The journey through the city's sewers had been beyond unpleasant for the entire group.

The twins' eyes widened as they realized just who these four sudden arrivals were. The rest of the people in the vestibule had a harder time recognizing them. Not many of them could tell who these filthy people were, let alone why they had decided to make an entrance through the ground instead of taking the doors…

"Woops, seems like we made quite the scene. Get out of there quick, Iroh" Toph said, stretching her arms as she got ready to close the hole again "We don't want to make a bigger fuss than this…"

"Why did you bring us out through the vestibule, of all places, Bandit?" asked Azula, grimacing while Sokka grimaced next to her, surrounding his stomach with an arm.

"Can we get something to eat before charging into battle…?" he was asking Azula, pulling her sleeve.

"Sorry, Spicy" said Toph, closing the hole. She also placed back the tiles she had blown away when she had created the crater. The floor was mismatched by the time everything was in place again, but Toph assumed that would be irrelevant on the long run "I just figured we had to register at the counter, and I thought this way we would save up some time…"

"Save up time and in the process earn all the attention we wanted to avoid. Just brilliant" said Azula, sarcastically "And no, Sokka, I doubt we can get anything to eat"

"B-but I'm tired and hungry, and so are you…"

"We'll have to put up with our needs for the time being" Iroh said, sadly "We will have a proper meal in the Palace, I'm sure"

"Heh, hard to believe…" said Sokka, pouting as Toph blended the tiles together in order to make the floor completely smooth again.

Azula and Iroh headed towards the counters, finding the two siblings staring at them in disbelief. Sokka and Toph lagged behind, the former still upset over his empty stomach while the latter made sure she had fixed the crater properly.

"Good day to you both" Iroh told the twins, with a kind smile on his face, but the pair of them just kept staring at them in confusion.

"G-good day…" the sister said, nodding in his direction.

"Do excuse us for this unsightly arrival…" said Azula, with a deep sigh "But we're here at last, and that's what matters"

"Y-yeah, well… don't sweat it. You just broke through the floor, what's the big deal, eh? A-anyways, your fight, uh… your fight will begin once the next one is done, which should happen soon enough" said the boy, gulping as he wrote Azula and Iroh's timely arrival into their upcoming fight's file "But if I may ask… why did you show up through the ground?"

"We just wanted to make quite the entrance, is all" said Iroh, laughing happily. Azula raised an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically, wondering if he really expected the twins to believe that, but she kept from saying anything regardless.

"Well, that's… that's just fine, then" said the boy, with an awkward smile as he continued to write down the information "I take it your gladiator will use the same weapons this time as well, Princess…?"

"Indeed" said Azula, nodding, as the boy wrote down the details.

"Very well, you'll be fighting the Amazoness and the Feathered Snake" said the boy "You can go to a waiting room while the other fight…"

The boy fell silent when he noticed people were returning to the vestibule through the doors that led to the stands. The first semifinal was over, from the looks of it, and several people headed towards the counters, in order to retrieve their winnings after guessing the fight's winner correctly.

"Oh, well, never mind" the boy said, smiling weakly "I guess you'll be fighting right away"

"Ugh" Sokka complained, behind Azula "So I really won't get any food, then?"

"You've endured and even won a few fights while with an empty stomach" said Azula, sighing "So you'll just have to put up with it"

"Ugh. We really didn't think this plan through as much as we should have" Sokka complained.

"C'mon, then" said Toph, jerking her head towards the stairs "The faster we're done with this fight, the sooner we'll reach the Palace"

"What she said" Iroh nodded, and he waved goodbye at the boy behind the counter "See you later, I hope"

"Uh, sure…" said the kid, as he bowed before the two royals.

But just before Azula turned to leave, in order to follow the other three to the stairs, she caught wind of what a crass man was saying to the girl behind the counter.

"Come on, now! I placed a thousand on the Savage Hook and the Iron Rain, and they just won!"

Azula froze on her footsteps and looked at him with a frown on her face. The man was waiting for his money eagerly, a line of people waiting behind him, but despite how hasty he was, he still had enough sense to notice someone was watching him. He looked at Azula with confusion and surprise, failing to recognize her due to her unkempt appearance after the trip through Ba Sing Se's underground tunnels.

"The… Savage Hook, you said?" she asked, turning towards the boy from the counter again "The Savage Hook is in the finals?"

"A-apparently" said the boy, gulping "We have to be officially informed at the counter of the fight's result, but if he says so, then he must have won…"

"Indeed he is!" exclaimed an old man in the line, waving a cane over his head "And I'm here to collect my money too, so hurry up, girl!"

"Y-you know the procedures, you just have to be patient!" the girl said, nervously.

Azula stood in place, staring at the line of people in front of her. The Savage Hook… The Savage Hook was in the Pairs Tournament. The memory of Sokka's fight against him returned to her, and through it she also remembered the Hook's unpleasant sponsor. If the Savage Hook was involved in the Tournament, then maybe there were even more layers to this riddle than she had imagined at first…

"Azula? Hey!"

Sokka's voice brought her back to reality, and she walked away from the counters without another word. Her companions were staring at her with confusion as she approached them at the foot of the stairs. One flight led up to the upper floors of the Arena, just as it was in the Grand Royal Dome, while the one next to it would lead below, to the stand-by rooms.

"Is everything okay?" Sokka asked her, frowning.

"Is anything ever okay?" Azula replied, raising her eyebrows and sighing heavily "Never mind. Just focus on your fight, and focus on getting it done as fast as possible"

"We'll do that" said Toph, nodding "You two should be ready to leave as soon as it's over, don't dawdle. We won't attend the medical check, hopefully we won't even need it… but if we're to avoid the Dai Li, we can't waste our time with that"

"Indeed, we cannot" said Iroh, nodding "Good luck to the pair of you. I'm sure you'll do fine today"

"Let's hope" said Sokka, sighing "Come on, then. Let's get this over with"

Azula watched both him and Toph head downstairs, a frown on her face. She'd had an uneasy feeling from the very start, but her unease had only increased after this latest discovery. The Savage Hook had given Sokka one of his worst fights ever, and the Savage Hook's sponsor just so happened to be the former Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se, the leader of the Dai Li. And while he had lost his first title, the second one might have never been revoked from him….

"Azula" Iroh called her, heading upstairs already "Let's go"

"Right" she said, nodding and following him, a heavy frown on her face.

Toph looked quite nervous, it seemed to Sokka, as she kept twitching at every little sound and vibration she caught. He would have smiled encouragingly and told her to relax, for they had this fight in the bag, as ever… but he didn't feel too confident either, despite himself. He sighed heavily and patted the girl's back, at which she flinched.

"Come on now" he said "We can do this. If we've survived all along, we can get by this time as well"

"I'm not so worried about the fight, to be honest" said Toph, frowning "What if the Dai Li hear we're here? What if they jump on us in the middle of the fight?"

"Well, if that happens it'll be because you jinxed it" said Sokka, shrugging carelessly and earning himself another punch, this time on the elbow "Ow! Hey!"

"Hell, the Jewel really must like you, if she puts up with comments like those all the time" she said, with a smirk that wasn't entirely heartfelt, and Sokka noticed it. It seemed she was trying to fight back her nervousness by picking on him…

Sokka smiled as well and shrugged carelessly, to Toph's surprise.

"I'm a pretty lucky guy if that's the case, then"

"Heh, you're way too lucky, I'd say" Toph declared, now smiling a bit more earnestly.

But her mood was dampened again when the gates of the stand-by room swung open, allowing them into the sand ring… where two of the most unusual gladiators Sokka had ever seen awaited them.

One of them was rather tall and burly, and she bore weapons and an armor that looked just as deadly as the glare on her face. The armor was covered with blades and spikes that made Sokka grimace, wondering just how many people had died upon being body-slammed by this fighter. And while this fighter looked rather menacing and fierce, her partner wore an armor covered with feathers that Sokka found completely ridiculous at first sight. The Feathered Snake had long hair and delicate features, while the Amazoness's were the exact opposite of that. They were both non-benders, seeing how they both carried weapons with them, and something about the pair sent chills down Sokka's spine, and not of the good kind.

"Heh… this already feels like it's going to be fun" said Toph, smirking proudly as she sensed their two rivals through the sand "Leave the big one to me"

"Gladly" said Sokka, grimacing.

"And so the second one of our semifinals begins!" exclaimed the megaphone man "This time featuring two seriously deadly fighters from the Jade Range, the Amazoness and the Feathered Snake, who'll be fighting against the Royal Dome's Blind Bandit and Blue Wolf! Who will make it past this fight and into the finals to face the Iron Rain and the Savage Hook?"

"W-wait… What?!" Sokka said, his eyes widening at the second gladiator the announcer mentioned.

"What's the big deal?" said Toph, frowning "Come on, dummy, focus"

"It's just… yeah, sorry. I'll focus" said Sokka, gulping. He had never imagined he would face the Savage Hook again… suddenly, winning this fight wasn't all that appealing anymore.

"So get ready, gladiators, and… FIGHT!"

With that cue, Toph immediately launched an attack at the Amazoness in the form of a boulder. But the woman swung her bastard sword upon the rock Toph had tossed, and she shattered it with such ease that Sokka almost was left gaping at her, surprised that someone other than himself could accomplish such a feat…

But his attention had been grabbed by their other rival. The Feathered Snake had jumped and spun in midair, tossing the feathers attached to his outfit straight towards his enemies.

Toph sensed the man wasn't on the ground anymore, but she couldn't feel his attack coming since he was airborne. Sokka only had an instant to jump at her and knock her off her stance in order to help her avoid the feathers.

"What the hell?! Get off me!" Toph exclaimed, as Sokka stood up and pulled her with him again.

"That guy fights with projectiles, Toph!" Sokka exclaimed, grimacing "And if he's got a name such as that one, it's probably because they're poisoned or something creepy like that. We have to do something about him or else…!"

Another attack of feathers stopped him from talking, but this time Toph sensed it. She brought forth a wall to defend them, and the feathers were caught by the sand. She continued to bend the sand as a tall wave, and she used it to push the two fighters away from them with a powerful move.

"Poisoned, you said? Crap, is that even allowed?!" she asked, panicking slightly.

"I've never heard otherwise" said Sokka, gulping and withdrawing his two predilect weapons from their respective scabbards "We have to take him out first, Toph. His outfit is covered in feathers, so we'll have to knock him out or else…"

"Gotcha" she said, nodding and bolting forward, set on taking out the slender fighter now.

Yet it was easier said than done. The Amazoness tore through the sand wall through brute strength, bringing her companion along with her. Once she was through the sand, she flung her sword at Toph. The girl, racing towards her foes as she was, couldn't possibly stop to take a stance in order to defend herself from the weapon. Upon seeing this, Sokka threw his boomerang as fast as he could, and fortunately, it hit the sword and knocked it off course just before it could strike Toph.

The Blind Bandit struck her arms forward, and a pillar of earth struck the Amazoness's breastplate, but it only served to push her back shortly. The attack failed to damage the opponent at all.

Toph gritted her teeth, confused by how difficult it was to fight against this woman. She had never had any trouble in her fights before, she never needed to go too far to keep her foes in check… but this one was stronger than she had expected. And not only was she strong, but the teamwork between her and her partner was remarkable as well. When the Amazoness didn't attack, the Feathered Snake would.

Toph jumped back again and brought forth a new wall to protect herself in case the Snake attacked once more, and just as she had expected, the man leapt… yet, upon seeing she was defending herself, he decided not to attack to keep from wasting his needles.

"We must get the earthbender" said the Snake, pulling out his own sword "The other one will be easy enough to defeat once we're done with her"

"You're right, Lau" said the Amazoness, with a deep voice. She winked at the Snake, and he smirked proudly before they both separated, circling around Toph's wall.

Sokka missed the exchange of the other two. He was ready to defend himself in case they came his way. He clutched his sword tightly, hoping to get a chance to recover his boomerang, which lay near the place where Toph had pulled up her wall.

"They're coming around the wall, Toph!" he shouted, and the Blind Bandit had already sensed their opponents' movements.

"I know!" Toph replied, splitting the wall in two and shooting both halves rapidly towards her foes.

The Amazoness braced herself for impact, and with her shoulder she cracked through the wall yet again. The Snake, on the other hand, was so swift he jumped over the wall the Blind Bandit had bent, and he spun in midair again to shoot his feathers at both Toph and Sokka.

"He's doing it again!" Sokka shouted, and Toph instinctively brought up a shield of sand that encircled her entire body, making it so she couldn't be hurt by the Snake anymore.

Sokka wasn't as lucky. He had to run to get away from the deadly, sharp darts concealed as feathers, and in doing so he just so happened to race his way straight towards the Amazoness. He grimaced and started to run back through the same way he'd come, just as the Snake landed on the ground again.

"Afraid, are you? Hiding in a cocoon is pathetic!" the Snake shouted at Toph, striking the sand shield with his sword just as Sokka raced away from the Amazoness.

Sokka knew he could stand a chance when it came to swordsmanship… but the woman towered over him, and her armor wasn't only a defensive mechanism. All those spikes and blades looked as sharp as her bastard sword, and if her partner used poison in his projectiles, her armor might be coated with some of it as well.

He quickly scrambled atop one of the rocks in the sand ring, hoping to have an advantage over his opponent in this way. The Amazoness glared at him and, using the blades on her forearm guard, she started to climb her way towards where Sokka stood. It was truly fortunate that her armor was heavy enough to slow her down as it did… for had she been any more agile, she might have stopped Sokka from cutting through the blades on her left forearm with a swift stroke from Space Sword.

The Amazoness dropped to the ground, although it wasn't that steep a fall. Sokka didn't pay her much heed, his eyes focused on the blades he had cut, which were still attached to the rock. He didn't see any liquid of any sort on them, so the Amazoness' weapons probably weren't poisoned after all…

"You are just as much of a coward as that earthbending brat" said the Amazoness, her deep voice taking Sokka by surprise "Get down here and fight me properly!"

"I would, but I won't" said Sokka, smiling and shrugging "I suppose I really am a coward after all"

The Amazoness roared in anger and ran towards the rock, and when she collided with it she actually managed to move it, rolling it over with her sheer brute strength. Sokka's eyes widened as he started to panic, and he had to jump off the rock to avoid falling stupidly…

He jumped and hovered over his enemy for an instant, but it was enough for him to turn around to face her. And once he did, he used Space Sword to slice his foe's sword in half.

When she noticed he had cut her main blade, the Amazoness roared in anger and charged towards Sokka, who, again, had no other choice but to run for his life. And in the mean time, the Snake continued to strike the shield where Toph hid.

"Get out of there, you miserable little blind git!" he exclaimed, sweeping his sword back and forth to no avail.

Then, without warning, the shield Toph had been using started to shrink, as the sand solidified into rocks. The Snake watched with confusion as the stones wrapped around the Bandit's body completely, only leaving a small opening for her to breathe through.

"So, tell me, Snail" Toph said, smirking "How are you going to poison me now?"

The Amazoness stopped pursuing Sokka when she realized her partner was in real danger. She ran to assist him immediately, allowing Sokka to take a breath to pant… and to pick up his boomerang, to his joy and relief.

"Oh, I missed you, buddy" he said, breathing heavily as he watched the fight before him.

The Feathered Snake was unable to land any blows on Toph now that she wore the rock armor. The earthbender had trapped him with sand, seizing his body and ripping off all the feathers from his armor so he couldn't use them anymore. Yet before she could deliver a finishing blow, the Amazoness tossed the hilt of her broken sword at Toph's back, making her lose focus on what she was doing.

"Well, and then we're the cowards…" said Toph, shaking her head "Attacking your enemy from behind? Not nice, big one!"

With that, Toph kicked the rocks on her right foot straight at the Amazoness' face. The woman could have defended herself from the attack if only her sword had still been intact. All she could do was turn away and get struck on the side of the head by the stones.

"Rong!" the Snake shouted, tearing free from his sand bindings and picking up one of his feathers.

Toph only realized the man was about to attack when it was too late for her to do anything about it. The Snake's eyes blazed with fury, and he aimed at striking Toph's foot with the needle he had picked up…

But again, a soaring boomerang kept Toph safe when it caught the Feathered Snake on the forearm, digging into his skin and spilling his blood on the sand.

Toph would have thanked Sokka, but she was too focused on finishing the fight off to be grateful right now. She brought forth another stone pillar, right underneath the Snake. It struck the man on the chin, knocking him backwards and leaving him stunned on the ground.

In the mean time, the Amazoness got ready to charge towards Toph again, but Sokka was ready with his sword this time. He attacked through the Amazoness's left flank and he struck her powerfully with Space Sword, cracking through the thick armor and hurting the woman's ribs.

The Amazoness was knocked off balance after that, but she didn't stop moving despite the wound she had taken. She crawled her way towards her stunned comrade, fearing the worst for him.

"Lau… Lau, are you alright?!" she said, shaking him. His eyes were out of orbit, and he just groaned weakly in response. Yet knowing he still was alive was good enough to please the Amazoness…

And soon she fell unconscious atop him, when Toph struck the woman's head with a heavy rock.

"That ought to do it" she said, panting and stepping away.

Ten seconds passed by, and neither of their opponents moved. Sokka sighed with relief when the megaphone man declared both him and Toph as the winners, and the Blind Bandit turned towards him with a smile, lifting a fist that Sokka bumped half-heartedly, his relief beating his enthusiasm when it came to finishing this fight unscathed.

"That one wasn't too easy, but that was that" said Toph, heading towards the stand-by room "Come on, now, let's go. We've got no time to waste standing around like this"

"Right" said Sokka, nodding and following Toph towards the stand-by room while the other gladiators were tended by the Arena's staff "They should be waiting for us at the vestibule, right?"

"They'd better be" muttered Toph, biting her lower lip.

The earthbender frowned as they strode towards the room, her hands balled into fists. Sokka frowned as well and looked at her worriedly as they stepped inside it.

"Toph… what's wrong?"

"I've got a seriously bad feeling" she said, between gritted teeth "Let's just get out of here before…"

Just as she said the words, the green door slammed shut behind them.

Sokka glanced back instinctively, but Toph had already struck a fighting stance again.

"I knew we couldn't drop our guard!" she shouted, tearing a chunk of the wall and tossing it towards the hallway just as several men in green started to sneak into the stand-by room.

"Dammit!" said Sokka, as Toph used her prowess to bend the floor under the Dai Li upwards, squeezing them against the ceiling before they could do so much as strike a stance of their own.

"We've got to scram! I don't know how, but we've got to…!"

The air around them suddenly became warmer, to their confusion. Toph lowered the earth she had lifted, and they found two streams of fire, one orange and one blue, were currently forcing back the Dai Li agents that Toph hadn't caught with her technique. The Dai Li were being forced down the hallway, in the opposite direction of the stairs that led to the vestibule.

"Come on, you two!" Iroh exclaimed from the hallway, yelling at them "They've found us! We've got to go, now!"

"Go where?!" Toph yelled, stepping through the unconscious Dai Li in the stand-by room as she made her way towards the sponsors "We can't stick to the plan if they've already found us!"

"We can still try!" Azula replied, jumping and performing a wheel of fire in midair. The attack struck one of the Dai Li on the chest, knocking him breathless and rendering him unable to keep fighting "Let's go!"

Sokka nodded and obeyed immediately, and Toph followed him, uneasy. As the other three raced the steps up the hall, to the vestibule again, Toph stopped and collapsed the hallway on itself, keeping the few agents that were still conscious from chasing after them.

"What are you doing, Toph?!" Iroh asked, staring back at her.

"They'll have a harder time following us if they've got to get through this rubble first!"

"True, but come on, quickly!" Iroh urged her, and Toph nodded, racing upstairs along with him.

The vestibule was even more crowded than before, and making it to the doors would prove difficult amongst the multitude… but while Azula had hoped the crowd would be an advantage for them, she was proven dead wrong when more Dai Li agents appeared at the doors that led to the stands, shooting their rock gloves towards them.

"Damn it!" Azula grunted, jumping and kicking at one of the gloves powerfully as the people near her screamed upon being caught in the crossfire.

"Azula!" Sokka shouted, pulling out his club and striking another of the hands "We're surrounded!"

"They're not holding back!" Toph screamed, running towards Azula and Sokka "If we don't get out of here, they'll hurt everyone else!"

"Or maybe we will!" Sokka acknowledged, grimacing "We have to get out of here, fast!"

Azula kicked another array of fire towards the Dai Li at the stands' threshold before turning towards the chaotic multitude. Most of them were screaming, terrified and confused, and some ran to the doors while others simply tried to scramble out of the Dai Li's reach. It was one of the biggest commotions Azula had ever witnessed… and unless the four of them got out of the building soon, these people were bound to fall prey to the Dai Li's merciless attacks. They clearly didn't care for collateral damage: their eyes were set on their prize, and they'd do anything to obtain it.

"OUT OF THE WAY!" Azula shouted powerfully, her authoritarian voice startling the people who were heading to the doors.

To her relief, her command was heard, and the crowd parted just as she had needed them to in order to allow Azula, Iroh, Sokka and Toph to run to the gates. Iroh was the one who turned this time and shot fire back at the four Dai Li that had jumped down the stairs to seize them, and they pulled up walls of earth to shield themselves from Iroh's attacks.

The streets, to Azula, Sokka and Toph's chagrin, were also crowded with Dai Li agents by the time they were past the tall green doors. As soon as they stepped outside, the earthbenders began attacking them, and it was up to Toph to pull up earthen walls as well to defend their group, walls the Dai Li soon shattered through their own bending skills.

"This is a mess!" she shouted "We're not going to make it anywhere at this rate!"

"We just have to stay out of their grasp somehow…!" Azula exclaimed, attacking the Dai Li that approached from her right. Her fire kept them at bay, but more of them kept appearing regardless.

"How many of these guys are there?!" Toph screamed, as she manipulated the earth the Dai Li were bending against them. She used the rocks on their hands to break their bones, delivering some serious damage at last… but it hardly seemed to make a difference. For as soon as one agent fell, two more appeared out of nowhere to take his place.

"They're coming!" Iroh yelled. He had been defending the group from the Dai Li that were inside the building, yet it seemed the ones they had defeated at the stand-by room were conscious again and had resumed their pursuit.

"Damn it, just… Toph, shoot us up again!" Sokka yelled, and Toph frowned.

"What for?! Do you have some sort of flying dog that will save us this time or something?!"

"Xin Long isn't nearby, Sokka!" Azula shouted, unleashing a bolt of lightning towards one of the Dai Li "He won't be able to…!"

"I know, but we need to shake these guys off!" said Sokka "And there's something else we can ride if we just get the right boost!"

"Something else we can…?" Azula repeated, before understanding what Sokka meant. Upon lifting her gaze she found one of the train's tall railings was not too far from where they stood. The train wasn't nearby at the moment, so it was their best option… "Toph… Toph, do it! The train!"

"The tr-…?! Oh, fuck it, you two are insane!" Toph exclaimed, and with a strong stomp on the ground, the earth underneath Azula, Iroh, Sokka and Toph shot upwards diagonally, hurling them towards the train's railing.

They darted through the air, the wind buffeting their faces as their bodies followed the trajectory Toph had roughly calculated. Yet they landed, somewhat painfully, on the train tracks she had been aiming for. Iroh fell on his back, and he groaned when his head hit against the rim of the railings. Azula dropped on her knees instead, her tall boots protecting her from taking a worse blow. Toph managed to land on her feet, to her own surprise and relief. Sokka almost landed safely as well, but, as unluckily as ever, his legs collided against the side of the railing. The momentum caused him to fall over forward, slamming his face on the tracks.

"Ouch…" he said, pushing himself up and rubbing his bleeding nose.

"Okay, okay, so we're on the train's rails. And what now? They'll come get us any second now!" Toph exclaimed, turning towards the others with a worried face.

"Don't fret…" said Sokka, wiping his nose clean "We're not staying here for long"

Toph felt the vibrations of the approaching train and she swallowed hard. Azula and Iroh stood up as well, turning towards the vehicle that was speeding through the rails.

"We're going to jump on the train's roof" said Azula, sternly "Once there, we'll be on the move and they'll have a hard time keeping up with us"

"It sounds complicated for all of us to jump on it" said Iroh, gulping as well "But if there's nothing else to do…"

"It's either that or being run over by it" said Sokka, shrugging "Choose whatever suits you best"

Iroh laughed nervously at that, but he bit his lip as he watched the train approach. Azula moved forward, studying it carefully as she came up with a scheme on how to board it.

"There's a ledge on the wagon" Azula said, frowning "There will be no need to jump too high to hop on it. Toph, Uncle, the two of you will ride on the ledge. Sokka and I… we'll jump on the roof"

"W-wait, wait, what?!" Sokka asked, his eyes widening.

"Toph can't use her earthbending to hurl herself atop the train" Azula said, looking at him sternly "If she did, she'd deform the train's tracks; the train could be derailed because of that, rendering this entire endeavor useless. Iroh can't jump high enough to reach the top of the wagon, and there's not enough room on that ledge for all four of us. Get it yet?"

"Ugh… alright, alright, point taken" said Sokka, gulping and stepping forward as well "This'd better work…"

"We'll pull you two up after we're on board" Azula told Iroh and Toph, turning towards them briefly "Make sure to get on that ledge, alright?!"

"Got it" said Toph, grimacing and readying herself to jump. Iroh swallowed hard again, wiping his sweaty palms on his clothes.

"Let's do this" said Azula, turning forward again, and Sokka nodded.

They both ran, Azula dashing before him for she wasn't as exhausted as Sokka was. She jumped first, boosting herself with fire to reach the wagon's roof with ease, and Sokka followed, using all his strength to jump as high as he could.

They landed on the roof, as planned, but the momentum made them roll across it, and they struggled to hold on somehow. Meanwhile, Toph and Iroh hopped on the ledge as well, and they were currently pressed completely to the outside of the train, the speed of the train ensuring they wouldn't fall off it despite the ledge being so small they could hardly stand on it.

Sokka crawled on the roof, the wind making it nigh impossible for him to stand up properly. He looked towards Azula to find she was clutching at the rim of the wagon, the only way she had managed to keep from falling off. From where she was, she could glance down to the streets… and she grimaced when she saw the Dai Li, tiny green specs down below, chasing after the train. They weren't fast enough to catch up to them, but they still trailed after the vehicle relentlessly.

"T-they're still after us!" Azula exclaimed, her words blown away so fast that Sokka didn't catch what she said.

"Azula!" he shouted, stretching a hand towards her to pull her to the center of the wagon.

She grimaced and reached out for him with some difficulty. Soon enough her hand clasped his, and he helped her crawl towards where he was. Together, they crawled towards the front of the train, where Toph and Iroh were still pressed to the wall.

"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed, earning their attention.

"Took you long enough!" Toph shouted, struggling to talk as well.

Sokka looked back at Azula, grimacing as the wind threatened to blow them off the train altogether. He struggled to get on all fours, and she soon followed his lead.

"I'm going to grab you!" Sokka told her "And you'll pull those two up!"

"The two of them?!" Azula asked, staring at him in disbelief.

"Well, one at a time!" Sokka replied, matter-of-factly "C'mon, it won't be that hard!"

"As if…!" Azula started, but she was silenced when his arm went around her waist. It didn't matter if she knew he was doing this because it was necessary… she couldn't help but be flustered by being touched like this by him.

Nevertheless, she leaned down while Sokka held her strongly, and she stretched a hand down towards where Toph waited.

"Give me your hand!" Azula shouted, and Toph complied with some trouble, grazing Azula's palm with her fingertips.

The Princess squeezed Toph's hand hard and pulled up with all her strength, and the earthbender held back a groan as she was lifted onto the roof. Both Azula and Sokka sat up as they brought her above, and Toph panted once she was with them, a displeased grimace on her face.

"Whoever had the great idea of putting us on this train will pay once we're done with this…" Toph growled, bitterly.

Before the other two could so much as say a word to her, she slammed a hand on the wagon to elevate the ledge where Iroh had been left by himself, in order to lift the man up to the roof with them. Iroh was surprised by what Toph had done, but he seemed pleased he wouldn't have to be pulled as she had been. He crawled up next to the rest of them while the other two just stared at Toph accusingly.

"Why didn't you do that in the first place?!" Sokka squeaked.

"I didn't think about it until just now!" Toph said, as they all crawled to the center of the wagon, still struggling to stay on the train's roof.

"We're still being pursued by the Dai Li!" Azula shouted "I just saw them chasing after us"

"Damn it" Sokka grunted "Is this train the one that goes to the Palace?"

"I don't think so!" Iroh replied, grimacing and pointing at a building behind Sokka.

Sokka turned and looked at it, disheartened. So they were moving in the exact opposite direction they should be headed to… their luck had been so awful so far that he could have laughed about it if only the fierce wind had allowed him a chance to do so.

"What are we going to do?!" Toph asked, grimacing "If we keep going in this direction…!"

"For all we know, the Dai Li could catch up to the soldiers operating the train when we reach the next station" Azula said loudly, struggling to speak despite the roaring wind "And if that happens, we won't have any means to get away from the Dai Li anymore"

"And we'll put everyone in that station at risk if we just lead the Dai Li there" Sokka added, gritting his teeth "We have to think of something else right now. There has to be a way… is Xin Long really that far away?"

"He's not going to make it back in a matter of minutes, that's for certain!" replied Azula.

"We can't count on the dragon, we've gotta do something else!" Toph exclaimed "There has to be something…!"

"There might be" Azula said, shaking her head so her hair wouldn't bat against her face "I… I think I have an idea!"

"What is it?" asked Iroh, looking at her with despair. Azula looked at him, knowing he was probably the only one who would agree with her plan once she'd conveyed it.

"We have to split up" she declared, and as she expected, both gladiators stared at her as though she had lost her wits.

"What the hell?! What's that going to accomplish?!" Toph exclaimed, looking at her in disbelief.

"They're after you, aren't they?" Azula shouted "They didn't come after me and Iroh while we were in the Arena, they just headed downstairs to find you two! By splitting up we could mislead them, and if we succeed at that you'll have a break to reach the Palace! Once you're safe, far from their reach, there won't be any use in them pursuing the rest of us anymore!"

"Azula, that's crazy!" Sokka exclaimed "That's only going to work if the rest of us manage to bait them away from Toph somehow! And how the hell would we accomplish that?!"

"It can be done!" Azula replied, with determination "Uncle… you'll jump off the train and make a run for the Palace. You're capable of running towards it, aren't you?"

"I hope so…" Iroh said, gulping.

"Avoid following the train tracks, that way you won't be likely to run into the Dai Li. You'll fetch the guards and soldiers, and you'll inform them of the situation!" Azula shouted "Sokka, Toph, you two will drop at the next station. Toph can make a hole so you two can take the tunnels again. Do your best to reach the Palace from underneath. It worked once, it can work again!"

"B-but then what about you?!" Toph asked, worriedly.

"As for me… I'm the bait" Azula said, and Sokka refused instantly.

"What the hell?! No!" Sokka yelled.

"I can do it!" Azula replied, staring at him with determination "I can leave a trail for them to follow, and at the very least I'll get a large amount of them off your backs!"

"But where's the point in doing that?!" Sokka asked, frowning "You could just come with us…!"

"And let them follow you two into the tunnels?!" Azula asked "If I act as bait, at the very least they'll have to split up to chase after all of us! The train's speed works to our advantage! Even if they continued to follow the train, they would probably miss how Iroh jumps off and how you two drop off at the station! The only lead they'll have to follow will be me!"

"That's exactly my problem, though! You can't fight all these guys on your own!" Sokka retorted.

"After all this time, you're going to underestimate me?" Azula asked, but there was no hint of her trademark arrogance in her voice. Maybe the wind blowing against her kept her from sounding like her usual self… or maybe she really wasn't as confident as she wanted to pretend she was.

"Azula, this is completely crazy, you can't just…!" Sokka exclaimed, but she silenced him with a glare.

"It's the best thing we can do now, and the sooner we start, the better!" she exclaimed, looking at Iroh "Jump off as I told you, Uncle, got it?! Splitting up should make it easier for at least one of you three to reach the Palace. Whoever gets there first will get my guards and Tiang's soldiers, so they help us fight and restrain the Dai Li. Got it?!"

"I… it's a very risky plan, Azula!" Iroh said, gritting his teeth "How do you plan on being bait anyways?!"

"You're about to find out!" Azula declared before turning away from the group. They watched her worriedly, save for Toph, who simply sensed her movements on the wagon's roof.

"Spicy, don't do anything too reckless!" she called out "That's supposed to be my thing!"

"Oh, it is, Dirt Worm!" Azula replied, with a smile "But if you dare do anything reckless this time around, I'll kill you when I see you again!"

"Heh… I wish I could say that right back but I'm not going to see you at all, am I?!" Toph exclaimed, trying to lighten up the situation somehow but failing.

Azula actually was amused by that as she took her position at the edge of the wagon. Sokka looked at her worriedly, half of him wanting to tell her not to keep to this plan while the other half urged him to go with her. Azula glanced back at him and gave him a confident smile this time.

"Azula…!" Sokka said, grimacing. He wanted to say something more, clearly… but all he could muster was "D-don't get yourself in trouble, will you?!"

"The ones in trouble will be them, not me!" Azula retorted, still smiling before she started to charge her body with firepower.

The others moved away from her instinctively when she suddenly shot into the air, propelled by a powerful blast of blue fire. She flew upwards, speeding into the air as she continued to release jets of fire, leaving the brightest trail of azure flames behind her.

"S-so that's how she planned on being bait…" Iroh said, thoughtful, before staring down at the ground behind them.

Just as Azula had anticipated, Iroh watched how the Dai Li in pursuit of the train changed their direction when they saw the stream of blue fire. It was so dense that they couldn't tell if Azula was flying by herself or if she had taken her companions with her. Iroh sighed deeply before leaning over the edge of the wagon, knowing it would be best if he did as Azula had told him.

The drop wouldn't be too heavy, but Iroh still calculated to drop on a group of bushes down below. He glanced towards Sokka and Toph, the former still staring after his sponsor.

"This is my stop, then!" he shouted "Make for the Palace, you two, as Azula said!"

"Be careful, alright?!" Toph shouted, grimacing as she turned towards him "I'm not fond of the idea of you running around like that!"

"You think I'll lose my way or wander into a teashop?!" Iroh asked, before laughing "I won't be so careless today, my friend!"

"You'd better not be!" Toph screamed, and Iroh looked at her worriedly, understanding through her voice tone just how conflicted she was by this entire situation.

"We'll be fine, Toph!" he said "You told me so, didn't you? Just before we reached Ba Sing Se…!"

"And how the hell was I supposed to know anything back when we were still on that ship?!" Toph retorted, and Iroh laughed.

"We'll make it so you were right, Toph!" exclaimed Iroh "We can do this, all four of us!"

"Iroh…" Toph said, biting her lip.

The old man waved at Sokka, who stared at him in disbelief as well before Iroh dropped at last, landing just on the spot he had meant to. He bounced off the bush and rubbed his buttocks, having poked his bottom with the branches. He watched the train speed away, and he frowned with determination before climbing off the bush.

"And now… to the Palace!" he declared, following Azula's advice and running far from the train's railing in order to avoid the Dai Li agents that might still be in pursuit of the train.

"Damn it…" Toph muttered, back on the roof of the train's first wagon "This is just…"

Sokka looked at her worriedly, moving towards her with difficulty and patting her shoulder.

"C'mon, don't act like it's hopeless!" said Sokka "Those two can take care of themselves, you'll see!"

"Of course they can, but this isn't right!" Toph shouted, dropping her head "The sponsors fighting for the gladiators…? What sort of twisted logic is this?! They're giving us a chance to get away unharmed by putting themselves in danger! This is just…!"

"I get how you feel, Toph! Believe me, I do" said Sokka, gritting his teeth "But… but all we can do for now is follow through with what Azula said…!"

"Like hell we're going to do that!" Toph snapped, glaring at him "That fire's she's flying with, it's leaving a big trail behind it, isn't it?! You can see it, can't you? You can see where she went!"

"W-well, yeah, I can. Why?" Sokka asked.

"Because you're going with her!" Toph shouted, startling him "And I'm going to make sure Iroh reaches the Palace safely!"

"What the…?! What?!" Sokka exclaimed, his eyes widening "How?!"

"Stay on this train if you can, and just wait for it to lead you as close to her as you can get!" Toph exclaimed "It should help, shouldn't it?!"

"B-but…" said Sokka, before shaking his head and frowning. Yes, actually… that felt right. He didn't know if it would work at all, but he needed to go with Azula. All the same as Toph had to follow Iroh "You're right. We're going to do this!"

"They're our sponsors after all!" Toph said, swallowing hard, but speaking with determination despite her unease "And we're supposed to save their butts, both inside and outside the Arena! That's… that's what you guys have been doing for me, after all! It's just right for me to return the favor somehow! Because we're a team, right?"

Sokka actually smiled at that, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder and nodding.

"We can do this, Toph. We can do this!"

The earthbender smiled at him, despite herself, and Sokka gripped her shoulder firmly as they approached the station. Toph sensed the train slowing down, and she raised her head towards him inquisitively.

"We're at the station now" he said "The Dai Li don't seem to be after the train anymore… so go ahead and make your way underground again. Cover up your tracks, and bend your way through those tunnels as fast as you can!"

"Gotcha" she said, nodding, as the train came to a stop "Say, Dog…"

"What?" Sokka asked. She turned towards him with a heartfelt smile, surprising Sokka.

"Thanks" she muttered, before hopping off the wagon and surprising the people on the platform.

Sokka pressed himself down on the roof, hoping that they wouldn't notice he was there altogether. He turned towards the blue fire that still blazed in the sky, not too far from where he was now. And he grimaced as he watched, even from this distance, how the boulders and chunks of earth soared dangerously towards Azula…

* * *

Iroh didn't remember having run like this in over twenty years. He had to stop to take deep breaths every now and then, but he soon pressed himself to continue afterwards, striving to reach the Palace somehow, despite how difficult the entire ordeal seemed to be.

People stared at him as he passed by, for an old man running as if he were being chased by a demon was quite unexpected sight in the Upper Ring. Iroh simply smiled awkwardly at whoever looked at him and he just kept running, telling himself he would have to lose some weight indeed… if only he had been fit he could have reached the Palace already! Or at least, he liked to think he could have…

He did his very best to avoid the train tracks, which wasn't that difficult a feat, for it was easy to recognize them from afar. Yet he saw no Dai Li agents nearby…

Naturally, as soon as he allowed himself to think that, he heard the unmistakable sound of the ground cracking behind him, and he turned just in time to find at least ten agents were behind him, all of them lifting boulders from the ground, aiming them straight towards Iroh.

"Attacking your elders isn't nice!" he shouted, but his words were ignored by the Dai Li.

Iroh had to do his very best to evade the attacks, and he couldn't quite avoid all the rocks. He kicked an array of fire at the Dai Li, but it served for little other than to buy him a few seconds of time to continue running.

To his relief, he realized he was only a few meters away from the stairs that led to the Imperial Palace by now. Iroh panted as he ran towards it, still turning once in a while in order to know just where the Dai Li would toss their rocks next.

Upon reaching the stairs, though, one of the glove rocks grabbed him by the heel, and Iroh fell face-first on the steps. He groaned and used his fire to strike the rock attached to his foot, but it served to no avail, for the Dai Li agent only tightened his grip around Iroh…

The two soldiers keeping watch at the Palace gates stared down in confusion, not quite grasping what the situation was at the bottom of the steps. They started to climb down, thinking they'd have a word with the Dai Li about whatever they were doing this time…

And it was then that a mild quake shook the entire Palace, for, right at the top of the stairs, a massive crater opened up. And Toph climbed out of it, accomplishing her second impressive underground entrance in a single day.

"GET-OFF-HIM!" she shouted, and with such prowess as to amaze the Palace's guards, the girl started to bend enormous rocks out of the ground to toss them at the Dai Li agents below.

She struck the agent who had been attacking Iroh on the head, knocking off his helmet and leaving him unconscious on the floor. The soldiers stared at her in utter disbelief… until one of them stopped and realized who these two people were. The Princess was supposed to stay in the Palace since several days ago, and one of her companions was her uncle, while the other was an incredibly skilled earthbending girl…

"It's the Princess's companions!" he yelled at the other one "We have to help them!"

"W-wha…? W-well, if you say so!" said his partner, gulping as they both raced down the stairs towards where Iroh lay, rubbing his aching foot.

Iroh still managed to kick a few fireballs with his uninjured foot, but he hardly needed to defend himself at all. Toph was raining an array of rocks upon the Dai Li, and whenever they attacked her in return she would manage to manipulate the earth they had bent and turn their attacks right back at them.

Iroh was truly relieved when the two soldiers arrived to help him. They surrounded him with their arms and helped him up, and now, with his weight between them, they raced up again.

Toph continued to attack from the higher ground, avoiding hitting Iroh and the soldiers as she shot more and more rocks… and suddenly there was fire raining down on the Dai Li as well.

She stopped attacking as men dressed in long, red tunics, were helping her defend Iroh. She raised an eyebrow as she recognized the presence of the nearest one… was it the Captain of Azula's guards?

"Were you the one who caused that tremor just now?!" he asked, jumping in midair and kicking a powerful stream of fire towards the Dai Li, who had to back down upon the fierce attack.

"I guess so!" Toph replied, before returning to attacking the Dai Li along with the Royal Guards that were helping her.

The Dai Li backed down, disappointed by their failure. If only they had managed to seize the old man to use him as a hostage… that way they still could have succeeded on their scheme partially, and they could have caught the earthbender too if she had come fetch her sponsor. But she had been smart enough to fight from the Palace's premises…

"Don't you dare attack me or my friends ever again!" Toph shouted, just as the soldiers that were carrying Iroh finished running up the stairs.

And with her fearsome war roar, Toph bent the stairs, breaking them off the ground and tilting them forward, making them fall slowly on the spot the Dai Li agents had been standing on. The earthbenders scrambled in the most unsightly manner, accepting defeat despite clearly not wanting to.

Toph breathed heavily, wiping the sweat off her brow before turning towards Iroh, who was smiling at her, despite the pain on his foot.

"You are truly fearsome, Toph…" he said, smiling "Thank you"

"It was the least I could do for you" she replied, smiling back and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"That's all good, but if I may inquire, just where is the Princess?" Rui Shi asked, looking at them with despair.

"W-well…" Toph said, and Iroh frowned, looking at her.

"Where's Sokka, too?" he asked "Wasn't he supposed to come with you?"

"Well, we actually talked later and decided that…" Toph started, but another strange phenomenon interrupted the conversation.

The roof of one of the Palace's buildings suddenly collapsed with a loud cracking sound, startling everyone in the courtyard. They turned towards where the sound had come from, and Iroh stared at it in confusion as he watched the bricks come apart. He had the distinct feeling that, for a fleeting moment, there had been a blaze of blue fire by the edge of that destroyed green roof…

* * *

Flying over Ba Sing Se wasn't as easy as Azula had hoped it would be. She definitely needed to give the skill much more practice in case situations like this one happened again… but in all honesty, she couldn't possibly have foreseen this turn of events. She was paranoid at times, more often than she was willing to admit, but there was no way she could have imagined an entire association of earthbenders would chase after her in Ba Sing Se.

Keeping her arms and legs stretched while she poured all her firepower from them proved a difficult feat when she had to sustain the flight for as long as she could. She gritted her teeth and struggled to evade the rocks the Dai Li tossed in her direction, for steering wasn't all that simple either. There had to be an easier technique for flight than this… and if there wasn't, she'd develop it herself. But she was burning out her reserves of energy, and she'd have a hard time fighting against the Dai Li… unless she changed her trajectory towards the Palace and forgot about fighting against them altogether.

She discarded the idea as soon as she came up with it. For the other three to reach the Palace as safely as possible, she had to distract as many of the Dai Li as she could. Leading them back there would make this entire ordeal pointless

But eventually she couldn't quite carry on anymore. She grimaced as she stopped releasing fire from her limbs, noticing there was a clearing below where she could land. She used her fire again to slow down her descent as much as she could, and everyone nearby fled when the powerful blue blazes danced above the ground just before Azula landed.

Upon placing her feet on the ground again, she realized the clearing was actually one of Ba Sing Se's squares. She panted and looked around herself, noticing there were no Dai Li nearby… but she knew they would appear at any moment. She wasn't as gullible as to think they would stop pursuing her.

And just on cue, men in green started appearing at the square. Some of them used their earthbending to boost themselves towards where she stood, at the center of the square. Others just ran to approach her. In a matter of seconds, she was completely surrounded by them.

"Well, well" she said, her hands on her hips "I'm almost sorry to say the Beifong girl isn't with me"

"We'll get to her in due time" one of the agents stated, stepping forward "In the mean time, you'll have to do"

"I'll have to do?" Azula repeated, smirking "You do know who you're talking to, don't you? I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, you half-witted, dirt-eating buffoon. I will not be captured by the likes of you"

"So you say now" the Dai Li replied, lifting his hands towards her "Take her down!"

The men in green jumped forward, and Azula gritted her teeth. The flight had left her even more exhausted than she already was… but that didn't mean she was going to surrender without fighting back.

The one who had been shouting commands was the first one to fall when she used her hands to produce a wheel of fire that he couldn't fight back against. It struck him straight on the chest just before he could defend himself with earth. Azula smirked when he fell and continued to fight the next ones, flowing from each firebending stance to the next as she performed every movement with precision, trying to be as efficient as she could while striking every one of the earthbenders with her fire. Evading their attacks was no easy feat when they attacked her at once, but her fire proved strong enough to tear through their rocks at most cases.

If only the Dai Li had attacked one at a time, she surely would have thwarted them with ease, but they knew just how to use their superior numbers to their advantage. Azula could hardly defend herself while attacked from three different angles at once. She had to produce shields of condensed flames to fight back against the earth the Dai Li shot towards her, but the more energy she spent, the more difficult it became to continue fighting. Her stamina was usually something to behold, but resistance alone wouldn't help her defeat her foes this time…

She jumped to avoid being struck by the earth columns one of the agents brought up under her feet, and she turned in time to find one of the Dai Li was aiming at shooting one of his earth gloves at her…

Azula shot a fistful of flames at him, but before her fire could reach him, something else struck the man on the back of the head, knocking off his helmet with the impact. Azula's fire caught his hair, burning his scalp and making him scream as he scrambled to find a way to recover from such a nasty injury… but Azula wasn't staring at him. Her eyes were set on the blue boomerang that flew back past the Dai Li's formation right after knocking the helmet off that agent's head.

"Sokka?!" she shouted, aghast.

Her call was answered by an attempt at a war cry, and she watched how some of the Dai Li changed their objective upon being attacked by him. He wasn't too efficient against earthbenders on most circumstances, but even so, he managed to use his club and boomerang to make his way through the law enforcers. And upon his unexpected apparition, the Dai Li soon split in two groups, one to fight against the Princess while the others dealt with her gladiator.

Azula gritted her teeth and started to fight more fiercely, wondering just why that fool had bothered coming for her. She hadn't asked him to. So why…?

She shot arrays of fire at the Dai Li agents, condensing her flames again to increase the damage she delivered them as she tried to reach Sokka. He kept delivering strong attacks against the agents, now having sheathed his boomerang as he used his sword to cut through them instead.

Separated by a single line of earthbenders, the pair of them attacked the same agents at once in order to reach one another. One of the Dai Li brought forth a tall wall to defend himself and his comrades from Azula's fire, but her attack was powerful enough to tear down the wall, to their surprise.

The earth collapsed on them, and for a second Azula feared the wall might crush Sokka as well, but he actually jumped over it and rushed towards her, a look of relief on his face that contrasted with hers.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you idiot?!" she bellowed, before jumping and shooting a fire blast at a Dai Li agent that tried to seize Sokka as he ran towards her.

"Well, what else?! I'm helping you!" Sokka shouted, using his sword and club to shatter the hand-shaped rocks the Dai Li shot towards the pair of them.

"I never asked for any help!" she replied, jumping high again. She performed a triple summersault, charging a powerful fire stream she shot through her feet. The attack was strong enough to effectively knock out one of the agents, but again, another one took his place… "I could get out of this mess on my own! You should have stayed with Toph!"

"She's off to help Iroh, and I'm here to help you!" Sokka growled "And I'm sorry if you don't like the idea of having a gladiator who'd rather fight alongside you than run away…!"

He stopped talking as a Dai Li agent shot a wave of earth towards where Azula stood, fighting against the men before her. He clasped both the club and Space Sword in one hand before pulling out his boomerang and hitting the man on the neck before his attack could reach the Princess. Azula turned just as the wave fell apart, inches away from her.

"Because I sure as hell won't let you do this on your own" Sokka said, their gazes meeting briefly before they both continued to fight.

Azula wanted to yell at him, she really did. She couldn't understand just how reckless he could be. He was an idiot, no doubt about it… but he wanted to fight alongside her, despite how dangerous it could prove. The Dai Li would catch both of them, for all he knew… but that didn't stop him. He would stand by her, no matter what.

She didn't know what to think of his outburst of loyalty. All she knew was that her chest was starting to hurt, but not in an entirely unpleasant way. Long ago he had discarded returning home just to save her, and he had also stayed with her, despite discovering some of the darkest sides of her soul… and now he wouldn't let her face the Dai Li by herself. He would stay with her…

"You're… an idiot!" Azula shouted, producing a fire wheel with her legs by spinning in circles "Jump!"

Sokka did as she said, and the fire grazed his boots as it passed underneath him. The Dai Li pulled up a massive wall at once, protecting themselves from the fire. Sokka gritted his teeth at the disappointing result of Azula's attack, but she hadn't stopped moving. He frowned when he looked at her, finding that she was currently producing lighting…

"Azula?!" he said, grimacing.

"Lift your sword!" she shouted, and he grimaced but obeyed her promptly.

When the Dai Li's wall dropped and they moved to attack Azula, she shot her fully charged lightning bolt towards Sokka. He grimaced and held his weapon tightly, and it vibrated powerfully when the surge of energy hit it. Yet the energy soon left his sword as it distributed towards the Dai Li, their metallic helmets attracting the electricity. Upon releasing the bolt, Azula removed her hairpiece and dropped it on the ground to avoid being electrocuted by her own attack, and she watched, eagerly, as the earthbenders collapsed one by one, stunned by the power of her lightning.

Sokka lowered his sword once the electric power had left it completely, and he panted and rubbed his arm, the vibrations having been as brusque this time as ever. He looked at Azula as she straightened herself, placing her hairpiece on her top-knot again.

"Well, that went… well?" he said, blinking blankly before walking towards where his boomerang had fallen.

"You're truly a fool" said Azula, shaking her head as she breathed heavily "You didn't need to risk yourself to help me! The entire purpose of what I was doing was to help you three get to safety!"

"Yeah, I know, Azula" Sokka replied, sighing and sheathing his weapons again before turning towards her "But you see, I don't care more about being safe than about you"

Azula froze at that, and Sokka only seemed to realize what he had said after he had said it. As usual.

"U-uh… w-well, it's true, you know?!" he exclaimed, flustered, as she looked at him in disbelief "I'm not going to deny it, I keep doing stupid things, I keep screwing things up between us because I don't think things through half the time, and I keep hurting you even when I don't realize I'm hurting you, and…!"

"S-Sokka, stop talking…" Azula said, looking warily around her.

The Dai Li agents nearby were unconscious, so there was no chance for them to hear what Sokka was saying… but that was only true for the ones they had defeated with their trick of using the sword as a lightning rod. Because, only a couple of blocks away from where Sokka and Azula were, another group of men in green were running straight towards where they stood.

"No, I'm not going to stop" Sokka said, determinedly, his back turned towards where the Dai Li were coming from "You may not want to hear this now, but I have to tell you now or else, heck, maybe I never will because I keep being an idiot and I keep thinking I can just not say it… but I should! I should have said this since the very moment I knew how I felt!"

"Sokka, for crying out loud!" Azula said, grimacing and shaking her head "This is not the time or place for you to… to do or say whatever you want to! Shut up!"

"No, I won't!" he declared, as the new group of Dai Li arrived to the scene, without his awareness "I'm not going to shut up because I need to say it! You need to know that I l-…"

Time seemed to stand still when he started to shout the word, and Azula knew she had to shut him up immediately before the Dai Li could hear what he was saying. If they heard him… if they knew… if anyone else knew…

Sokka had almost finished saying the word 'love' by the time Azula coated her fist with blue fire… and punched him hard on the stomach for the second time.

Her hand hurt awfully when she came into contact with his armor, but the firepower helped both to protect her from getting badly injured by the metal and to deliver proper damage to him. Sokka's eyes widened as he received the unexpected blow and ended up bending over her arm, losing his breath and falling on her shoulder, gasping for breath. And just as the Princess had planned it, his words were completely lost in the moment.

"A-Azula…!" he squeaked, yet he frowned in confusion as she turned around and placed him on her back, so his arms would surround her neck "Azula…?"

"Hold on tight!" she growled, and that he did when she used her firepower, again, to propel the pair of them into the skies, away from the Dai Li that stared at them in utter confusion after witnessing how the Princess had punched her own gladiator.

Sokka would have shrieked if only he'd had any air to shout with. He clutched at her tightly with both his arms and legs, looking down at the square they had been on, which became smaller and smaller while they roses through the sky.

The wind buffeted their faces yet again, and Azula made sure to continue rising in order to stay as far from the Dai Li's reach as possible. Her arms and legs shook, already having been subjected to too much strain in a single day, but she forced herself to carry on. She couldn't falter now… not when he was with her.

"Azula…!" he managed to say into her ear at last, weakly "This is…!"

"Insane?! Probably!" Azula replied, looking around herself as she tried to figure out their bearings.

Once she found the Palace she aimed towards it, hoping Iroh and Toph would be there already. The Dai Li couldn't still pursue them once they were safely inside it, Azula hoped… and this was the full extent of what she could do for them already. She needed to keep Sokka safe, too. And this was the only way to do it. So she continued to fuel herself upwards and onwards, her eyes set on the Palace.

"We're going too fast!" Sokka gasped, gripping her tightly.

"If I slow down, we won't get there at all!" she replied, grimacing "I can hardly… keep this up anymore!"

"Azula…!" Sokka muttered, looking at her worriedly.

As they crossed the Upper Ring from above, they were finally close to the Palace… but they were too high. Dropping from such a distance could be the death of them. Azula grimaced and stopped propelling them, and she turned in midair to adjust her flight. Sokka continued to hold on to her, dreading the fall even when Azula started to use her fire to fight against the power of gravity… but her power was growing weaker. She didn't have enough strength to slow down their descent as she meant to.

"We're going to crash!" Sokka exclaimed, grimacing.

Azula sent a wave of fire down through her limbs, trying to charge her technique before releasing the flames, but while it did slow them this time, she couldn't hold it for too long. They weren't going as fast as to get splattered against the ground anymore, but they sure weren't slow enough to the Princess's liking… and, to boot, she only realized now just why Sokka had said they were going to crash.

A tall building of the Imperial Palace stood in the direction they were headed to. It was an elegant and fancy building, and Azula almost felt guilty for what she decided to do to it. She grimaced and, instead of using the fire to slow their descent now, she shot it towards the roof they were going to collide with, tearing it apart effectively.

She continued to try to slow their fall after that, but they were only a few meters away from the building already. The fire helped briefly, but they were set to crash anyhow…

And just as they were about to plummet down through the building, Sokka's arms forced them to turn around in midair before Azula could register what he was doing. He surrounded her with his arms, pressing her against him in order to keep her from taking the worst of the impact…

The half-shattered roof ended up falling apart completely when they crashed through it. Sokka's back hit the beams that held the building in place, breaking them with their weight as their descent was finally slowed down painfully with every blow he took. Even so, he continued to hold on to her as tightly as he possibly could as the ground approached rapidly. He landed on his back, taking most the impact of the fall with his own body as he enveloped her completely with his frame.

They were both knocked out cold for a few minutes, and it was Azula who came to her senses eventually, waking up atop him to find the wreckage and dust around them. She hardly felt like she could move, but she still pushed herself up to her knees right beside Sokka, and she stared down at him worriedly. His head was bleeding from a long cut on his forehead, his hair had fallen out of his usual wolf's tail, and he seemed to breathe weakly… but his breathing alone wasn't enough to reassure her. Not after all the damage he had sustained today.

"Sokka…" she said, shaking him by the shoulders and feeling an awful sense of déjà vu as she did. It wasn't the first time this had happened, was it…? "Sokka, wake up, please. You're okay, aren't you? Answer me, damn…"

"A-a… I… ouch…" he muttered, coming to his senses as she called out for him "A-a… Azula?"

She breathed out with relief and embraced him when he said her name, but she pulled away after a moment to look at him and assess his damage properly.

"Can you move? Is anything broken? Sokka…"

"I guess I could move if I tried… but I don't really want to" he said, opening his eyes to look at her "You? Are you… okay?"

"I'm fine… as fine as I could be after that fall" she said, with a weak smile before frowning again, staring at the large cut on the side of his face "You're badly hurt, you fool… why do you feel that ridiculous urge to shield me every time we fall of someplace?"

"I… I think you know…" he said, chuckling despite himself "I'm a blockhead, after all… I should be able to take crash landings better than you… thick skull and all…"

Azula actually laughed at that before leaning forward, pressing her lips to his forehead, her hand stroking his face as she held him close. Sokka blinked again, one of his hands reaching out to find her waist.

"Heh… you know, that actually helps" he said, with a weak smile "Care to… try it again?"

Azula rolled her eyes and looked at him gently, cupping his face in her hand. Sokka swallowed hard as their gazes met intensely again. She closed her eyes before kissing his lips, and he responded despite hardly having any strength left to do anything at all. It was a fragile kiss, but it was heartfelt all the same. Azula felt herself set ablaze as she kissed him, still caressing his face. The thought of what he had been about to say in the square filled her with that feeling she still couldn't get used to, that fire she couldn't bend…

She pulled away after an instant, still looking at him more tenderly than ever. The sight of her with such a warm expression on her face almost made Sokka think he was unconscious and that he was imagining it… but he was certain his imagination couldn't provide him with as a beautiful sight as that kind smile on her face. So it was real, alright…

Azula's attention was pulled away from Sokka when she heard voices outside, and she turned her head towards them, to Sokka's disappointment. One of his hands moved towards her face, but he only caught her arm, failing to find enough strength to reach her.

"Someone's here" she said, smiling at him "Hopefully it won't be Dai Li agents this time"

"Hell… it better not be" he said, as she laughed "Azula…"

"We'll talk about everything later" she said, clasping his hand in hers before she moved away from him, listening intently for more sounds.

"B-but I still don't feel so good…" he said, with a weak smile "I need more…"

"What you need is medical attention, not kisses" Azula said, blushing despite herself.

"I disagree…" he said, still smiling. Azula rolled her eyes but looked at him with a smile of her own.

An earthbender started to remove the wreckage, for those rocks couldn't possibly be moving out of their own accord… and she was beyond relieved when she saw just who the earthbender in question was.

"Is it them?" Toph asked a man next to her, once she had cleared the way completely in order to reach the battered pair.

"Princess…!" Rui Shi said, staring at her in dismay.

Azula actually smiled at him guiltily, and Sokka groaned when he recognized their voices. Toph and Rui Shi were flanked by other soldiers, and two of them were assisting an injured Iroh, who was looking at them worriedly.

"It's us, Dirt Worm…" Azula said, sighing as the adrenaline surging through her body started to fade out "We made it"


	78. Chapter 78

After the hectic day they had undergone, the gladiators and their sponsors wanted nothing more than to rest… but their wish couldn't come true. At least, not right away. Sokka and Iroh were led into the Palace for the medical treatment they urgently required, for they had both taken dreadful injuries. Azula, personally, had needed little medical care. She had few scratches and bruises on her body after the rough fall she had taken with Sokka, but overall, she wasn't badly hurt. And Toph was practically unscathed.

The two women were currently at the dining hall where the Captain had been previously, and they were eating eagerly, hoping to replenish the energies they had spent during the past two days. Azula's exhaustion had even rendered her unable to bend, but she was certain the vacant feeling in her limbs would fade away once she had enjoyed a proper meal.

"Hell, I'm real sorry we delayed our arrival to the Palace" Toph said, after swallowing a mouthful of roast komodo chicken "And I already was before tasting this food, but now I feel worse about it…"

"You're lucky I'm so tired, or else I would be making you feel even sorrier about it right now" Azula said, before picking up a loaf of bread and taking a powerful bite out of it.

"Yeah, I figured" said Toph, giving her a weak smile "It sure would be no fun fighting you right now, tired as you are"

"Only right now?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "Here I thought you'd stop being so eager to fight me after everything I've done for you…"

"Wait, wait, that's not what I meant" Toph said, chuckling "I don't want to fight you, or Sokka, to destroy you guys anymore. I mean, I never really wanted to do that to you, but I won't lie: I did look forward to beating your gladiator to a pulp again someday"

"Swell…" said Azula, bitterly.

"But I just don't see you two as my enemies anymore" she confessed "Before, you guys were my rivals. You still were when this trip started. But now… now I'll have a hard time thinking about you guys as our opponents when the Tournament's over. It's been a wild ride, but my opinion about you two has changed a lot in the process. I guess I'm trying to say that… well…"

"You like us now, don't you?" Azula said, smirking "Amusing. Can't quite say I feel the same way, but I suppose I'm flattered, to some degree"

"Yeah, well, it'd be weird if you felt the same way" Toph admitted, chuckling "I caused way too much trouble for you guys… but I'm glad you didn't give up on me and Iroh despite that. It's weird that you didn't, I think… I never expected you to be so selfless"

"Selfless?" Azula repeated, raising an eyebrow "I actually was anything but selfless with the choices I made during this trip…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Toph inquired, before gobbling a pair of dumplings.

"Oh, nothing you'd understand" said Azula, shaking her head "You are very fortunate indeed, Dirt Worm, and you'd better keep it in mind. From here on, you owe me a very large favor. Be ready to pay it up whenever I deem it necessary"

"Heh, well, I think I can live with that" said Toph, smiling at Azula.

Their conversation was interrupted when they heard sounds outside the room. Azula reacted instantly upon noticing Sokka's voice, and she stared at the door anxiously. Toph, on her part, smirked as she sensed, to her amusement, how the Princess's usually perfectly paced heart rate started racing...

A pair of soldiers opened the doors to reveal Sokka being helped to walk by a pair of healers. He looked worn-out and battered, but otherwise he seemed to be well. Azula shifted on her seat, worried about him needing assistance to walk, but he gave her a confident smirk, despite his appearance suggested anything but confidence.

"Hey" he muttered, as he was helped into a seat at the table.

"Sokka..." said Azula, looking at him worriedly.

"I'm doing way better than I look" he said immediately, chuckling under his breath "My armor has to be magical or something, apparently I didn't break a single bone"

"Really?" the Princess asked, looking at the healers with Sokka "Is he just saying that, or is it true?"

"It's almost a miracle" said one of the healers "Of course, he has several wounds and plenty of them bad, but nothing fatal despite that awful fall. He's a resilient one, this gladiator"

"But his wounds will require treatment, no doubt about it. It would be wise for him to stay in the Palace for a week or two so we can help with his recovery" said the other.

"Is that so?" Azula said, frowning with concern "Well, so be it, then"

"Will I be able to fight tomorrow, though?" Sokka asked, but Toph replied before the physicians could.

"You won't have to" she said, pushing a tray of roast duck towards him, which Sokka began to devour instantly "We can back off the Tournament if you're not fit for it. I do care about my record… but there are more important things than taking one loss, right?"

"It's good to know you've come to that conclusion" Azula said, looking at the blind girl with curiosity.

"But we 'houldn't 'ive up, tho-…" Sokka mumbled, with a full mouth. Despite how sympathetic she felt towards him at the moment, Azula couldn't help but grimace with disgust at the sight. Sokka swallowed quickly when he saw the look on her face "I mean… I think I can walk on my own, despite what these guys say. I'm just real tired and I need both food and sleep… but I think I'll be better by tomorrow"

"You'd better be, but you still shouldn't push yourself too far" Azula said, and Toph nodded.

"If you do join the fight, though, I'll be okay with doing all the work" she said, before smiling "When this began I was mad because I thought you guys were just trying to use me to win the tournament… and now I've got no problem with kicking the butts of both our last opponents all by myself. You two broke me, really…"

"Heh, well, it's your fault at the end of the day" Sokka said, shrugging before looking at the dish in front of him with confusion "And this tastes a bit familiar… I think. I wonder why that is…"

"I know it's my fault, I really do" said Toph, with a weak smile "It's why I'm willing to do this to repay you guys in some small way. Though doing this won't feel like enough, even…"

"And I already told her she owes us a big favor. Our good deeds mustn't go unrewarded" Azula said, continuing with her own meal and Sokka chuckled after swallowing another mouthful of duck.

"I like the sound of that" he said, smirking "How about you let me win next time we fight against one another, Toph?"

"Oh, yeah, sure" said Toph, sarcastically "You wouldn't beat me even if I went easy on you…"

"It's not that great an idea indeed, Sokka" Azula said, shaking her head "The next time you two fight, you'll defeat her fair and square while you both fight to your best, don't you see?"

"Ha!" Toph exclaimed, laughing "Oh, boy, now I'm seriously scared of what the Dog's going to pull on me the next time we fight…"

"As you should be" said Azula "You never know just what he'll do next. He's unpredictable in the battlefield, albeit not so much outside it, but still…"

"Now, now, are you serious or are you trying to be sarcastic? Because I'm having a hard time telling…" Toph said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, my. The earthbender who can hear even the most subtle sounds can't catch the hints of irony in my voice?" Azula said, tapping her chin with a finger.

"Why, nope, I didn't catch it" said Toph, beaming "Maybe it's my ears, or maybe it's because you actually have no idea how to convey sarcasm…?

"Ladies, ladies…" said Sokka, pushing away the now empty tray he had gobbled down quickly while the other two spoke "You're both going to have to try way harder than that if you're really trying to be sarcastic. That doesn't even start to cut it"

"Oh?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "Since when are you some sort of sarcasm professional, if I may ask?"

"Why, since forever, Princess!" Sokka exclaimed, proudly "After all, 'Sokkasm' is my specialty!"

Toph's jaw dropped upon that ridiculous joke, and if she had been able to stare at Sokka, she sure would have done as much to convey just how utterly bewildered she was upon what he had just said. Yet she was even more surprised when the girl next to her chortled with laughter for an instant before covering her mouth with a hand, looking rather embarrassed again.

"Wait a second, you're actually amused by that?!" Toph exclaimed, aghast "Damn it, Jewel! What's wrong with your sense of humor?!"

Azula just shook her head, covering her face with a hand while Sokka smiled happily. He hadn't quite expected the joke to amuse either one of them, for he had just wanted to keep them from bickering. Regardless, he was rather pleased that it had made Azula laugh, despite how much that seemed to embarrass her.

"You two were made for each other, really…" muttered Toph, her eyes widening as she shook her head "Nobody in his right mind would laugh at that…"

"Now, it was a nice joke!" Sokka squealed, as someone else entered the room.

Azula was glad the conversation was cut across now, for she had no defense for her unexpected burst of laughter. Her embarrassment faded away when their host approached them, looking at them with an anxious expression on his face.

"Oh, Princess…" he said, breathing heavily "Are you alright? Were you wounded?"

Azula actually mustered a smile, something that surprised her mostly due to how easy it was to conjure it. She nodded at Tiang as he dropped on his knees next to her, still looking at her worriedly.

"I'm well enough, though I'm mostly exhausted" she said "The food is helping me keep the weariness at bay. Thank you for receiving us, despite our chaotic arrival…"

"No need to thank me at all" said Tiang, smiling at her "If anything, I wish you had been able to come sooner, as you were supposed to"

"Oh, believe me, we all do" said Sokka, nodding at the man before picking up another plate to devour its content.

"You don't look so good" said Tiang, grimacing as he gazed upon the numerous bandages and wounds the gladiator sported.

"Well, I'm feeling somewhat better than I look, apparently" said Sokka, shrugging "Though not that much better yet. Still, I'm alive and that's what matters most, right?"

"Good to know you're looking at the bright side of things" said Tiang, smiling "We'll watch over you guys from now on, though. We won't let anyone else harm you"

"We would appreciate that" said Azula "About the Dai Li…"

"Yes" said Tiang, grimacing. Azula had relayed the accounts of her story to Rui Shi, who had explained everything to Ba Sing Se's governor "The Dai Li, indeed. I knew I should have abolished them as soon as I took office, but the potential consequences it would unleash prevented me from doing it. A group of skilled, elite earthbenders with a thirst for revenge could have easily spurred an uprising in the city…"

"I can't blame you for thinking so" said Azula "It was rather likely. But they're no longer the law enforcers of Ba Sing Se, are they?"

"No, they aren't. While I allowed them to remain as a group, I still took their jobs away from them. I believed the idea of the Dai Li lingering, in name, might lead to their disbandment eventually… they aren't funded by the government anymore, they have no official role in the city either, so I guessed their members might drift away from the group in order to find a new purpose"

"Well, clearly, that didn't happen" said Azula, sighing "Nevertheless, they fell short on their mission to seize Toph. We're here now, we're safe… and I suppose we can count on your protection from here on, governor?"

"Of course" said Tiang, smiling "My soldiers, and your guards, will escort you if you decide to attend your fight tomorrow. I might even accompany you myself, if you'd agree to that. The Dai Li won't harm you ever again, you have my word"

"And I shall keep you to it" said Azula, nodding towards him "Nevertheless, we haven't decided what we'll do tomorrow. I suppose we will once my uncle's available for talking…"

Tiang's eyes widened a little at that, and he lowered his gaze before nodding.

"Of course. The physicians should be done with him soon, hopefully" he said.

"Hopefully" repeated Azula "You sound unsure, though. Is he alright?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know. I haven't seen him yet" said Tiang, smiling weakly "But I hope he's fine. From what I was told, he took a bad injury to the ankle… and to the face, apparently? And considering how old he is, on top of it all…"

"He's tougher than he looks" Toph said, smiling a bit "He'll be fine. He's bound to complain a lot and beg for tea, but I'm sure he'll be fine"

"Yeah, that sounds about right" said Azula.

"Well… I'll go see him now and make sure he's well, then" said Tiang, standing up again "You can continue eating in the mean time, it looks like you need it. I'll tell him to find you guys here once he's done with his healing session"

"No need to say it twice, Governor!" said Sokka, putting aside another empty plate and picking up a new one.

Azula sighed and rolled her eyes while Tiang smiled with approval upon the gladiator's enthusiastic eating. Yet the General didn't leave right away. He stared at Azula for a moment, his hand on his clean-shaved chin.

"Princess…" he said, thoughtful, and Azula stopped scowling at Sokka to turn towards him.

"Yes?"

"You left in quite a hurry the last time you were here" said Tiang "I found out why that was later on, of course, though back then it was rather perplexing. Nevertheless, we stored everything your guards left behind when they took off hastily to find you"

"Oh?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "Is that so…?"

"It's not much" said Tiang, shrugging "But there are a few things I figure belonged to you or your gladiator… and there were also some that I sure hope belonged to either of you two. Many of my servants said it might have been the work of spirits, but I'd like to think otherwise…"

"Huh?" said Azula, confused "What exactly are you talking about, General?"

"Well, sometime after you were gone, we happened upon lots of loose papers in this room of the Palace…" said Tiang "Papers with poems written on them"

Sokka had been gobbling down noodles when he heard those words and he almost choked on his food. It took Azula a moment to make the connection once she saw the panicked look on Sokka's face.

"Oh… haiku poems, you mean?" said Azula, smirking.

"Ah, yes. Then they really were yours?" Tiang asked, relieved "That's good news. Here we thought we had some dead poet's ghost stalking the Palace…"

"Oh, I'm sure a dead poet would write better ones…" said Azula, her malicious amusement increasing as she watched Sokka blush and grimace.

"Well, they weren't so bad if you ask me…" said Tiang, shrugging "But my wife does say I have no sense for art, so my opinion's not worth much, is it? Anyways, we also found one poem in the room you had stayed at, Princess. It's why I guessed you might have had something to do with it…"

"Well, indeed, you had it right, Governor" said Azula, smiling happily "Those poems are all my property, yes they are. Where might I find them?"

"Ah, I'll ask a servant to guide you to them if you want" said Tiang, smiling as well "Oh, you have no idea how relieved I am to find out it's not a spirit… Anyways, I'll tell the servant and then I'll go check on General Iroh"

"Please do" said Azula, nodding.

Tiang bowed before her and gave them a smile before leaving the room. The smirk still lingered on Azula's face while Sokka looked like he wanted to disappear in thin air, given how embarrassed he was…

"Heh…" said Toph, dropping to the side and supporting her head with a hand as she stretched over the floor "And what's this funny haiku matter now, eh, Jewel?"

"Azula, for crying out loud, don't get them" said Sokka, looking at her in horror "They're pathetic! If you're getting them it should only be to burn them!"

"Ah, and miss out on the amusing horror-struck look on your face?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows while still smirking "Not a chance. I'm keeping them forever and I'll blackmail you with them until I find no further amusement in doing so. Which isn't going to happen any time soon, of course…"

"Oh, come on, Azula…!" Sokka squeaked, growing more flustered.

"Heeeey, what's going on?" Toph asked, tapping the table with her free hand.

"You see, Bandit…" Azula started, and Sokka's jaw dropped, for he couldn't believe she'd actually explain things to Toph "I visited this very Palace some time ago with that fool I call my gladiator. And back then I was rather mad at him for several reasons I don't want to disclose… so I kept ditching him whenever I could, and I did that on a certain day when I traveled through this city. When I came back to the Palace, I found him passed out inside this room, with a pile of poems scattered around him…"

"And…?" Toph asked, smirking as well. She was delighted by how distressed Sokka was by this situation.

"And I was quite surprised to pick up this particular poem which seemed to be an attempt to flatter me in all the cheesiest ways possible…" said Azula, at which Toph started laughing, while Sokka buried his face in his hands.

"Are you serious?! He wrote poetry about you?!"

"Oh, he sure did" said Azula, proudly "And it's probably the worst poetry I've ever read, but at the very least he made an effort, right?"

"Ah, for crying out loud, I know it was bad but that's exactly why I'm telling you not to go get them!" Sokka squealed "It was a stupid thing to do, okay?! I know it! S-so just forget about them, will you?!"

"Not going to happen" Azula said, happily "I'm fetching them and I'll read them aloud whenever I see fit so that the world knows just how bad your taste for poetry is. It's the right thing to do, Sokka…"

"The right thing to do would be to bury them at the core of the planet and forget they existed altogether!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Heh, if you bury them I'm going to fetch them" said Toph, smiling "And then I'll ask the Jewel to read them aloud for me!"

"Gladly. They'll amuse you, I just know it" said Azula, as the girl beside her laughed loudly.

Sokka grumbled and shook his head, avoiding eye contact with Azula again. The Princess couldn't help but continue smiling, staring at the gladiator while Toph continued to laugh next to her. Truth to be told, she wasn't about to parade the content of Sokka's poems, but teasing him about them had felt just right at the moment.

The entire situation felt right at the moment, actually. She was quite surprised to find that it did, given in whose company she was right now. And it wasn't because she was in Ba Sing Se's Imperial Palace at last, or because she was eating great food again… she actually knew just why she felt as comfortable as she did. During her last visit to the Palace she would have never even dreamt of sitting here, laughing along with the Blind Bandit while Sokka groaned in embarrassment… she would have never believed something of the sort would come to happen. But to her surprise, she was quite glad that it had.

* * *

Iroh's ankle was sprained, a type of injury he had been well acquainted with during his youth. He had been as cooperative as he could while the healers tended to him, despite the pain he was enduring, and his efforts had been rewarded with a cup of steaming tea that brought a smile to his face as soon as he saw it.

"Ah, just what I needed" he said happily, sipping the drink.

The physicians had left him by himself for the time being, because they were fetching the crutches he would need to use for several weeks. Apparently, due to his old age, it wasn't a good idea for him to use crutches, but Iroh had refused to take the wheelchair he had been offered. Despite how different he was from most the members of his family, Iroh still had a streak of the pride that characterized the Fire Nation's Royal Family.

A gentle knock at the nursery's door brought his attention away from his tea, and he raised an eyebrow as he waited for whoever was outside to enter the room.

"You can come in, whoever it is" said Iroh, curious to find out who his visitor was.

He almost dropped the tea on his lap when the door swung open to reveal Tiang behind it.

They both stared at each other silently, Tiang's hand resting on the doorknob still while Iroh felt the air in the room become heavier. He swallowed hard as he looked at the man before him, who was looking at him with guilt-ridden eyes in turn. Eventually, Tiang managed to smile.

"It's… it's been a while, General" he said, sadly.

"Oh, it truly has" said Iroh, blinking a few times before smiling back "You seem bigger… or maybe I'm just smaller, eh?"

"Neither thing, I think" said Tiang, shaking his head.

"Then my memory is faulty" said Iroh, chuckling softly before dropping his gaze "But it has been far too long, eh? Fourteen years?"

"Yeah, more or less" said Tiang, nodding now.

"Well… it is good to see you after all this time" said Iroh, glancing up at him again "I heard many things about you while traveling with Zuko, and even more once I was back in the Capital. Is it true you got married?"

"A-ah, yes" said Tiang, blushing a little "I did indeed. Her name is Jin. I actually met her in a teashop…"

"Did you, now?" said Iroh, amused "That is wonderful. The next time someone tells me tea isn't important I'll tell them you met your soul mate thanks to tea!"

Tiang chuckled at that, having recalled just how much the old man liked tea. He stepped away from the threshold and approached Iroh, who sipped the contents of his cup again before resuming the conversation.

"I also heard you have done great deeds for the Fire Nation" said Iroh, his voice a little darker now "You are the one who bears the title of Conqueror of Ba Sing Se, eh?"

"I… yes, apparently so" said Tiang "I wouldn't have done it without my men, of course. It was no easy feat, but…"

"I'm sure it wasn't, but you must be a great leader" said Iroh, nodding "You're a good Governor, too. You have been quite successful, which pleases me. You deserve a good life, Tiang"

Tiang gritted his teeth and sighed before shaking his head, denying Iroh's words. The old General glanced up at the younger one, surprised by his response.

"I… I don't deserve to hear those words, let alone from you" he said.

"And why wouldn't you?" said Iroh, raising his eyebrows "You've done what I failed to accomplish. You took over Ba Sing Se… and you honored my son's memory through your actions, didn't you?"

Iroh didn't actually believe his last words, but he knew that was the way the Fire Nation society looked upon Tiang's accomplishments. To Iroh, winning the siege would have been pointless violence nonetheless, and it wouldn't have brought his son back. But revealing his innermost thoughts right now wouldn't be appropriate…

"T-that might seem so, but that's… that's wrong" said Tiang, clenching his fists and looking at Iroh with despair "I deserve no praise of any sort, General. B-because… because it should have been you who conquered this city, with your son beside you. And that didn't happen because of me"

Iroh's eyes widened and he looked at Tiang in surprise. The man's eyes were starting to get tearful, and it seemed to Iroh that he had been holding these words inside for the longest time… but what did he mean by that, exactly?

"Y-you had commanded us to protect the hole on the wall at all costs…" Tiang whispered, making Iroh frown "We were fighting Earth Kingdom soldiers who were trying to rebuild it. But I fell for the ruse of one of their soldiers, and a rock… a rock was hurled my way, one so big I couldn't have shattered it if I used my firebending…"

Iroh stared at Tiang in disbelief as the man tried to keep from shivering. Tiang fell on his knees before Iroh, his head bowed before him as he failed to contain the emotions washing through him right now.

"I-it was my fault all along" he said "H-he… he pushed me out of the way to keep that rock from killing me… and it took him instead"

Iroh was at a loss for what to say as Tiang shivered on the ground. Iroh had never looked upon his son's dead body, let alone heard about the manner of his son's demise. Only upon hearing he was gone he had lost himself in grief… he had no idea Lu Ten had died to defend his childhood friend.

"I was never any better than him at anything" Tiang muttered "He was always… the best. And he's the one who deserved this life. H-he… he deserved to live, and marry, and be a renowned hero throughout the Fire Nation. Not me… never me"

"No… perhaps you weren't meant to be a hero after all" said Iroh, and Tiang flinched.

Tiang had known from the start his explanations would serve no purpose. But despite knowing this was only going to hurt Iroh further, he had decided to speak because he thought the man had deserved the truth. And he truly regretted that decision now.

"I… I didn't want to come here at all, Governor" said Iroh "Not to Ba Sing Se itself, but to the Palace. I wanted to visit Lu Ten's grave… but I didn't want to come here. But it was never any fault of yours that I didn't. Truth to be told… I didn't have the guts to show myself before you until it was my very last option"

"T-the… guts?" Tiang repeated, raising his head again.

He was astonished to find there was a kindly, but sad, smile on Iroh's face. Tiang looked at him in utter confusion as the man continued talking.

"You were Lu Ten's best friend" said Iroh "And… and you honored his memory in a better way than I ever could. You moved on, Tiang. You fought on for the cause Lu Ten had believed in. You are the Governor now of the city where his remains lie… and you accomplished all this while I succumbed to my misery. I chased after what I thought was his spirit in my desperate attempts to bring him back, only to discover I had to let go of him. Reviving the dead wasn't an option. But even though I knew it, I lost myself in that pointless endeavor. And even after I finally understood the wrong of my actions, I still couldn't find my rightful path. I thought… I thought I would by helping someone else, maybe.

"And meanwhile, Tiang… meanwhile, you did everything I never could. Heh, you even… you even met the woman you'd marry in a tea house! Just how marvelous is that?"

"W-well, if… if you say so…" said Tiang, with a weak smile now despite the tears on his eyes.

"I blamed myself for Lu Ten's death for a long time, Tiang…" Iroh said "And if I must be honest, I still do. Despite what you just shared, I still think it was ultimately me who brought Lu Ten to his untimely death…"

"B-but I… if I had been more careful, maybe he wouldn't have been…"

"Oh, maybe not that day, surely" said Iroh, dropping his gaze "But the war had yet to be won. He might have died any day, Tiang. He just so happened to do it by saving his best friend…"

"W-well… he shouldn't have" said Tiang, gritting his teeth "He deserved this. He did, and I'm sure you know it…"

"Now, now" said Iroh, smiling and extending a hand towards Tiang "You don't think Lu Ten would want you saying that, would you? He'd likely be angry if he thought you're not satisfied with your life…"

"I'm more than satisfied" said Tiang "In fact, I feel it's too good for me to deserve it"

"Well, think of it as Lu Ten's life, then" said Iroh "He gave up his life for the cause he believed in, for his nation. Now he lives on in all those who knew him and loved him: you, Zuko, Azula, me… all of us will remember Lu Ten, Tiang. And he gifted you with the life he sacrificed. His time is now your time. So… so make good use of it, will you? Well, I… I shouldn't need to say that, for you already have…"

Tiang stared at Iroh in dread when he realized the old man was crying softly now. He moved towards the stretcher where Iroh had been sitting and he surrounded the man's shoulders with an arm. Iroh chuckled and patted him on the chest, grateful for his support.

"Lu Ten… he would be proud of you" he said.

"And I'm sure he'd be proud of you too" Tiang replied, sighing "You said you hadn't wanted to see me… and I was very ashamed of seeing you as well. I thought… I thought you'd hate me for being the reason why your son is gone…"

"Oh, I do not resent you, my boy" said Iroh, chuckling "Not at all. My son… he was quite a selfless one. He'd put others before himself at all times. Truth to be told… I should have always guessed he had sacrificed himself for someone else. It's just like him… it really is"

"Yeah… that was him indeed" said Tiang, as Iroh's tears started to soak his clothes.

"For what it's worth, though… I thank you, Tiang" said Iroh "I… I'm actually relieved to know the truth. And I'm also sorry. I shouldn't have turned my back on everything, and left you to pick up the rubble I left behind me…"

"Don't be so hard on yourself" said Tiang, rubbing Iroh's shoulder "Losing him was really hard for all of us…"

"Oh, it sure was" said Iroh, nodding "But indeed… it's too late to change anything now. All we can do as we are is honor Lu Ten, as you have honored him ever since he left us"

Tiang looked at Iroh with guilt-ridden eyes, but he soon was staring at him with gratitude. Iroh smiled through the tears and patted the man on the shoulder.

"Thank you again, Tiang" he said "For everything you did for my son's memory"

The Governor seemed to be about to break down upon that, but he mustered a smile, despite himself, and he nodded at Iroh. The Dragon of the West beamed through his tears and patted his son's friend's back, and Tiang breathed heavily, tears leaking from his eyes as well. That had gone way better than he could have ever expected it to, despite the tears…

"Uh, sir…" said someone, stepping into the room.

Both Iroh and Tiang looked up to find several servants, one of them bringing the crutches for Iroh to use. Iroh finished his tea hastily before giving them a grateful smile, and Tiang wiped his eyes before turning towards the one who had spoken to him.

"Yes?"

"We have only just received news of an arrival to the city" said the servant, ignoring how shaken up his master seemed to be "A pair of noblemen came into Ba Sing Se just today, and apparently they want a word with you"

"Oh?" said Tiang, raising an eyebrow "And who might it be?"

"I think the names I got were Poppy and Lao, but I could be mistaken…" said the servant, scratching his head.

A rattle behind Tiang surprised everyone present in the room. Iroh had been maneuvering to stand up with his crutches, but when he heard those two names he had dropped them on the ground and stared at the servant in horror.

"E-excuse me… could you repeat what you just said?"

* * *

"So everything's here?" Azula asked, looking around the storage room with curiosity "Even that one paper that had been in my room?"

"Yes, all of it" said the servant who had guided her here "A group of soldiers has been sent to retrieve everything your group left behind both at the Agrarian Zone and the inn at the Lower Ring. They should bring everything back by tomorrow, for certain"

"Good to know" said Azula, nodding "Very well, then. You're free to take your leave"

The servant bowed down curtly before turning on his heels and leaving Azula to herself in the storage room. It was a dark and dusty chamber, and there weren't too many items stored in it. Yet Azula's main priority was to find those poems…

She spotted a pile of papers atop a drawer, and she picked them up to find she had found exactly what she had been looking for. She smiled as she read the jumbled handwriting, amused by the strings of awkward sentences and his unsuccessful attempts to create elegant poetry.

Nevertheless, she kept reading the poems, a smile on her face as she did. She actually had wondered if maybe there really was one about her fire, for she had teased him about that, but she found the poems either highlighted some of her features or simply rambled about how foolish a man had to be to hurt her.

She couldn't help but wonder what sort of poems he would compose about her now. They had barely known each other back then, compared to how well they knew one another now. What sort of haiku would come to Sokka's mind nowadays…? Would they be any better than this? She doubted there would be much progress in what referred to his artistic sensibility, but she sure wondered what he might have to say about her nowadays.

Still, she wasn't about to ask him to write more haiku. If he had something to say, he might as well just… well, he might as well say it when the time was right instead of confessing his feelings, whatever they were, in front of hoards of Dai Li agents, as he would have if only she hadn't shut him up harshly.

Azula read through every poem, but she frowned upon not finding the one she had been looking for. The servant had said it was here, though…

After pulling open a few drawers she happened upon it, and she couldn't hold back a grin as she read the familiar words again. It was probably the best of the poems he had composed, despite it wasn't even that great… but she was determined to keep this one, at the very least.

She heard someone approach and she folded the paper quickly, pocketing it… and finding something else in her pocket that she'd forgotten she had placed there. She grimaced when she realized what that other thing was… but she was soon distracted when she heard his voice.

"C'mon… you really came to look for them?" Sokka asked her, looking at her with downcast eyes.

Azula turned to face him, an innocent smile forming on her face as she regarded him.

"And why shouldn't I have?" she asked, before looking at him worriedly "More importantly, though, shouldn't you be resting? Are you able to walk so freely?"

"Well, I got here, didn't I?" said Sokka, with a goofy grin.

"That doesn't answer my question" said Azula, curtly "You're known for doing things you're not supposed to"

"That's hardly fair" he said, chuckling "I only do things I'm not supposed to when I really have to do them…"

"Such as coming all the way here now?"

"I had to try and prevent you from finding those dreadful poems again… but I guess I was too late" he said, sighing. Azula smiled again.

"Indeed you were. I've already looked through all of them and I can assure you… you really don't have the soul of a poet" said Azula, making Sokka pout "I suppose if you actually practiced you might improve…"

"Heh? You expect me to write more of those? Really?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula blushed.

"That's not… I didn't mean to say that" she said, rolling her eyes as he smirked.

"Seems to me like the Princess enjoys lousy poetry" said Sokka, chuckling "Who'd have thought?"

"I don't enjoy the lousy poetry, I enjoy teasing you for your lousy poetry" Azula declared matter-of-factly, but as she expected, Sokka's amusement remained unchanged.

"Now, don't be so proud" he said "I can write more for you, sure thing!"

"By all means, humor me" said Azula, smirking "I'll have a blast reading through your embarrassing verses once again whenever you like"

"I… uh… well, maybe I won't do it after all" Sokka said, gulping and looking at her warily. He had thought he had the better of her this time, but she had turned the tables again without any difficulties. Just as could be expected from Azula.

"Still, you really aren't making too much of an effort to be here, are you?" she asked, looking at him worriedly.

"I feel a lot better after eating" he said, smiling "And truth to be told, I figured we ought to talk without Toph nearby…"

Azula swallowed and looked at him warily, yet also eagerly. Was he going to finish what he had said earlier…?

"You know, I get the situation was pretty dire, but you really didn't have to punch me like that" he said, pouting again. Azula froze and stared at him in disbelief, an eyebrow twitching "It threw me back to our first meeting and that's not something I enjoy recalling, mind you…"

"Oh, certainly" said Azula, smiling again, despite herself "Still, I thought the armor had protected you from the fire"

"Well, sure, but it still hurt!" Sokka exclaimed.

"You plummeted through the skies into the roof of a building headfirst to protect me, and yet my simple punch hurt you more?" Azula said, looking at him inquisitively "Why's that?"

"B-because… w-well, you know why" Sokka, said, blushing a little as well "Besides, the roof thing I did it willingly. The punch took me unawares"

"It sure shouldn't have" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "You needed a punch of reality, most literally. I figured it was better for me to give it than for the Dai Li to do it"

"Heh, how awfully kind of you" said Sokka, looking at her skeptically and Azula smirked again "Still…"

"Still, I actually am sorry it had to come to that" said Azula, sighing and stepping towards him "I confess I didn't plan on punching you like that ever again… but this time it hurt me as well, most unlike when we first met"

"Believe it or not, that doesn't make me feel much better" said Sokka, smiling as she stopped in front of him.

Azula sighed and looked at his battered body with concern. Sokka raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat, at which she looked up at his face again.

"Something the matter?" he asked.

"You just… should get more rest" said Azula, sighing "You look worse than you have in a very long time, and that's saying a lot"

"I probably ought to take a nap or two, sure" said Sokka, chuckling "But I'm feeling better than I look, really. Truth to be told, I…"

"I don't think feeling better than you look is good enough, though" said Azula, sternly. Sokka frowned "I don't know if we'll attend tomorrow's fight, but the idea doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. If only your opponent was anyone but the Savage Hook…"

"Well, I'm way stronger than I was when I first fought him" said Sokka "I've come a long way since. And I won't be alone. Toph did say she was willing to do most the work this time if she had to…"

"Which sounds wonderful, but I don't think I need to remind you that the Hook won't be alone either" said Azula "I don't know anything about his companion, but it's easy to assume he'll be quite strong if Long Feng chose him as the Hook's partner…"

"Long who?" said Sokka, blinking blankly. Azula sighed heavily.

"The Savage Hook's sponsor. A very unpleasant man… and one who might be more dangerous than I took him for when we first fought the Hook"

"Why?" asked Sokka, surprised "Who is he?"

"He used to be Ba Sing Se's Grand Secretariat back when the Earth Kingdom still stood. He was using the former King Kuei as his puppet and controlling the entire city through him. He proved to have shaky loyalties, which convinced the Fire Nation's leaders that he couldn't be trusted. He was revoked from his position by the time Tiang took office. He managed to keep his goods and most his fortune, though… and he might have kept something else, too"

"What are you talking about?" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows.

"He was the Grand Secretariat… but he was also the Head of the Dai Li" Azula said, and Sokka's eyes widened "A fact I gave no importance to until now"

"Woah, woah, woah…" said Sokka, grimacing "Are you certain he's still the Dai Li's leader?"

"I rather doubt he's not" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "It's awfully coincidental that the Savage Hook has presumably reached the last fight of the Tournament without a hitch while we've been putting up with ordeal after ordeal because of the Dai Li. I wouldn't think anything of it, if only the Hook's sponsor weren't who he is"

"But… why would he pull something like this?" Sokka asked, confused "If he really is the leader of the Dai Li, why does he want to seize Toph? What's he trying to pull?"

"Truth to be told, it's not so hard to think of reasons why someone would want to…" Azula started, but another voice down the hallway startled them both.

"Azula! Azula!"

The Princess looked over Sokka's shoulder with a frown, and her gladiator turned around with a similar expression on his face. Iroh was limping his way towards them, and to keep him from making excessive efforts, both Sokka and Azula approached him quickly.

"What's wrong?" Azula asked her uncle "You shouldn't be moving around like this when you're…"

"Toph… Toph's parents" Iroh said, grimacing, and Sokka and Azula froze "They're in the city, and they're coming here!"

Sokka and Azula exchanged one look before starting to the Palace's vestibule, with Iroh lagging behind them, struggling to maneuver with his crutches.

* * *

Tiang stood on the Palace entrance, staring at the approaching carriage with a worried frown. His wife stood next to him, along with a dozen guards, all of them waiting for the hardly announced noblemen to arrive.

Toph had overheard the servants running around after Sokka decided to go after Azula, and her curiosity had gotten the better of her… but that curiosity soon turned into dread when she overheard the reason why these servants were panicking so much. Soon enough, she was panicking all the same as they were…

Yet while she had toyed with the idea of hiding, she discarded it quickly. Her argument with the Fire Nation Princess returned to her, the one where she had forced Toph to realize she was running away from a past she shouldn't run from. And while Toph was naturally afraid of her parents, the only figures of authority she had ever respected and listened to in her whole life, she decided she wouldn't be afraid of them anymore. She had no reason to be. She was the strongest earthbender in the world, after all.

So she was currently standing behind the soldiers, her head lowered, her fists clenched. She would face her parents for the first time in over two years…

The carriage came to a halt before the steps that led up to the Palace's main building, and a man and a woman climbed off the vehicle, both dressed up far too elegantly for travelers… but they were highborn travelers, so their outfits weren't completely out of place.

The man was the first to make for the steps, looking at the governor with hopeful eyes as he climbed his way towards him.

"Governor Tiang, sir, it is such a pleasure to see you again" he said, smiling. Tiang nodded towards him.

"It's a pleasure to see you as well, Mr. Beifong. If only I'd had some warning of your visit I would have prepared a proper welcome for you and your wife…"

"Do excuse us, of course" said Lao "We didn't mean to come so suddenly either. But we received a messenger hawk a few days ago, and me and my wife decided to made haste to get here as soon as possible…"

"Governor, we've heard the most terrible thing" said Poppy Beifong, walking behind her husband "Our daughter… she was seen fighting in the Gladiator Arena"

"Y-your… your daughter?" Tiang repeated, frowning "How is that possible?"

"She escaped home a few years ago" said Lao, as they finally reached the top of the steps "And we have failed to get her back ever since. She's blind, sir, she's…"

"She needs us!" Poppy exclaimed, looking at Tiang with despair "She's somewhere within the city, she has to be…!"

"So sorry to break it to you, but you're not going to find that hopeless, needy daughter you're looking for in this city"

Poppy and Lao froze when they heard that voice. Tiang stepped back and turned towards where Toph stood, arms crossed over her chest, head held high as she tapped an arm with a finger, her blind eyes hidden behind her disorderly bangs and her heavy frown.

Poppy looked as though she would pass out of relief and horror at once when she looked upon her daughter. Lao's jaw dropped as he stared at her. And Toph simply scowled, almost snarling at them.

The soldiers who had been standing before Toph also moved away, leaving her to face her parents directly. And Toph meant to do as much.

"Not what you expected to find, huh?" she said, gritting her teeth "Can't say it bugs me if that's the case…"

"Toph…" Poppy said, tears on her eyes "Oh, Toph, you're…"

"A mess? Oh, sure I am" said Toph "As you can see, the pretty girl in the dresses and the proper hairdos is gone, mom. The little responsible brat who learned all her lessons and went to bed at the right time doesn't exist anymore. I'm not that girl. I never was!"

"Oh, Toph, please…" said Lao, grimacing and reaching out towards her.

A pillar of earth that rose before him stopped him on his tracks. Lao stumbled back and looked at his daughter in disbelief when he realized she had conjured the rock.

"Surprised the helpless blind girl can do that? Heck, you should've seen me fighting Dai Li agents earlier" she said, smirking "You should see me in the Arena, beating every single opponent they send my way without breaking a sweat! Oh… but as it turns out, you're not going to see that at all. Neither of you ever wanted to see me for who I truly am. Neither of you care to see what I can do, you refuse to acknowledge that I can take care of myself! And then you have the nerve to say I'm the blind one…"

Sokka, Azula and the limping Iroh arrived to the scene then, and they froze as they watched what was happening at the Palace's entrance.

"I'm not weak! I'm not helpless!" Toph bellowed "And I can just as easily prove it to both of you right here and now if you don't believe me! Not even the awful world you two were shielding me from could bring me down! I've survived without your help, I've made friends and I've become stronger than I ever thought I'd be! I've found my own path, and I want to follow it, no matter what gets in my way! And… if you get in my way this time, I won't just turn on my tail and flee. Not this time. Not anymore. I have no reason to be afraid of you two! I never did! I'm the strongest earthbender in the world! And nothing's going to hold me back, from here onwards! I want to be free to be who I am without thinking…! W-without thinking that I'm just a disappointment and a failure in your eyes…"

It took Toph a moment to understand why she was incapable of saying another word, despite still having plenty of things to convey to her parents. But she was choked up. She was crying, and she hardly knew why.

"Toph… but you're…" Lao started, grimacing and reaching out to her, moving past the rock she had raised.

"Mr. Beifong, if you will…" said Iroh, stepping forward with his crutches and looking at the man with a kindly smile "I would like to speak in behalf of my gladiator, if you'd let me"

"Y-your…" said Lao, frowning "Your gladiator? You're Toph's sponsor?"

"Don't take it badly" said Iroh, smiling uncomfortably now "I am her sponsor indeed, but it's because we mutually agreed on that. Toph needed a sponsor to continue fighting in the Gladiator League, and I offered to do it"

"Continue fighting?" Lao said, his eyes widening "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Your daughter was fighting while being sponsored by someone else at first" said Iroh "When that man bailed on her, I offered to help her with her predicament. We have become good friends ever since we met, and we have shared several wonderful experiences together. Every day that goes by, she amazes me more. Toph doesn't lie when she says she's the strongest earthbender in the world, Mr. Beifong. She has yet to lose a fight in the Gladiator League, and she usually comes unscathed from most of them. Your daughter… she's nothing short of extraordinary"

"And if you don't believe him, believe me" said Sokka, with crossed arms "Your daughter could have killed me when we first crossed paths, and look at me! I'm a tall, strong guy, aren't I?"

"You… just a moment now, who are all of you?" Lao asked, confused.

"I'm Sokka, or the Blue Wolf. Azula here is my sponsor" he said, pointing at Azula "And the old man here is Iroh"

Lao frowned at first before all color drained from his face. His wife, still behind him, covered her mouth with her hands as she also realized the real identities of the two sponsors.

"And your daughter over there is the Blind Bandit" Sokka stated proudly, at which Toph sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand.

"Toph has made my days far brighter than they had been in a long time" Iroh said "And thus I understand why you'd want her back so badly. Yet…"

"It probably says a lot that your daughter would rather leave her nation and fend off bounty hunters than to confront you two" Azula said, as cuttingly as ever. Sokka looked at her warily, warning her with his eyes not to say anything too hurtful "She's truly prodigious, and she's not at all the kind of girl who would love the high-class life. Which you would have known if only you had accepted your daughter for who she really is instead of forcing her to fulfill your standards of what a good child should be like"

Toph turned towards Azula, astounded by her harsh defense of her. The Princess stepped forward, her menacing eyes softening somewhat now.

"Still… it's not too late to see where you went wrong, is it?" she told the Beifongs "It's not too late to be the parents this girl deserves. You clearly care enough about her to chase after her through the Earth Kingdom, so why not change your way of treating her? How about you actually welcome her into your lives and start to appreciate her for who she truly is?"

Lao and Poppy Beifong stood in place as they stared at the Princess in both awe and fear. Toph, next to Azula, actually managed to muster a smile at that.

"T-thanks, Spicy…" she whispered, and Azula only flickered her gaze towards her once before focusing on her parents again.

"Well?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

After a pause that felt much longer than it actually was, Lao finally moved again. And Toph didn't threaten him this time. She simply stood where she was, trying not to shiver as she feared what her father would do or say now.

"For all these years…" Lao said, his eyes set on his daughter "For all this time, your mother and I have been beside ourselves with worry. We thought you had been abducted at first… then we guessed you had run away and gotten lost in the process. We had hoped you might be looking for your way back home…"

Toph gritted her teeth and bit back more tears. Her fists were clenched and her head was bowed again now, as she tried to hide her vulnerable side from her parents.

"But as it turns out, our helpless little girl…" he said, with a sad smile now "Our helpless little girl doesn't need us anymore"

Toph's eyes widened. She almost felt the blood freeze on her veins as she lifted her head again, tears leaving her eyes freely now.

"If all they said is true… i-if all you said is true, Toph…" Lao said, looking at her sadly "Then perhaps we really have no right to hold you back. You have every right to choose your life for yourself, my dear… truth to be told, it should have never been any other way"

"Oh, Lao…" Poppy said, approaching him with tears in her eyes as well.

"We were so afraid you might not be able to face the world on your own" said Lao "We thought you would get hurt, that you would be mocked and looked down upon because of your disability… but you've proven how wrong we were, haven't you? You made friends, and with Fire Nation royals, on top of it all, and… and you're strong indeed. Stronger than anyone else I've ever known"

Toph sniffed and trembled again, biting her lower lip as she failed to control her emotions.

"We… we won't get in your way, Toph" said Lao, smiling at her "Not anymore. We will respect your choices from now on, whatever they are. Yet… would you forgive us for still thinking of you as our little girl? Because… because…"

Toph shivered again as her father reached out to touch her. When his palm was on her shoulder she couldn't hold back a sob before her father pulled her in to embrace her. Poppy soon followed, kneeling before Toph and taking the girl into her arms as the three of them held each other, tears streaming on all their faces after reuniting for the first time in years.

"Well… that went better than I expected it to" Sokka whispered at Azula, who looked at him with a crooked eyebrow while Iroh smiled.

"It did indeed" he said, nodding "They are good people, the Beifongs"

"It's good to know they are" Azula agreed, finally breathing out in relief.

"So I take it the chase is over?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "Now that her parents got here…"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that just yet…" the Princess replied, frowning.

Tiang had watched the scene silently, feeling completely out of place in the midst of this reunion. He glanced at Iroh with inquisitive eyes, and the old man gave him a guilty smile.

"I'll explain later" he said to the Governor, who simply chuckled and nodded.

"Over dinner, I take it?" he said.

Sokka's eyes brightened when he heard the word 'dinner', and Azula rolled her eyes but chuckled at his reaction. As ever, the thought of food could make him burst with excitement…

Despite the teary reunion, Toph's mood soon brightened as she spoke to her parents about everything she had experienced while outside the Beifong Estate. Iroh took it upon him to explain matters to Tiang as well, and both the Governor and his wife listened intently at the man's story. Meanwhile, Azula tried to advise Sokka on how eat in a proper manner instead of gobbling food down hastily, yet despite her coaching, his manners hadn't improved much by the time dinner was served.

"See, this is exactly why I'll never believe you when you claim to be a Prince" she said, using an extra plate on the table to shield herself from his unsightly eating.

"Oh, gommon! Ij's tasty!" he exclaimed, grinning at her. Azula grimaced at the sight and resolved not to look at him until the meal was over with.

"… When Xin Fu bailed on me, Iroh happened to come to my aid" Toph said, smiling "After that, I became his gladiator and things started looking up for me"

"It sure looks like it" said Poppy, giggling "Here we thought you had been living in the worst conditions, and it turns out you were in the Fire Lord's home all along!"

"Hehe, yeah" said Toph, chuckling as well.

"I do thank you deeply, General Iroh" said Lao, bowing his head before the old man "You have taken good care of our daughter"

"Oh, hardly" said Iroh, waving a hand carelessly "She has taken care of herself all along"

"Indeed, when my Uncle starts 'taking care' of her, he gives her too much tea and that doesn't end so well" Azula said, at which Toph laughed again.

"Yeah, that was one nasty incident, but it won't happen again! You have my word!" she declared.

"You're here for a Pairs Tournament, then?" Lao asked "A neighbor from Gaoling attended it as well, with his son as his partner"

"Ah, yes" said Azula, nodding "The ones we fought on our first round"

"Indeed, they were the ones who told us Toph was here" said Poppy, smiling "We came at haste, even paying some sandbenders to bring us across the desert safely…"

"Sandbenders?" Toph said, surprised "Woah. I met a few of them when I took off, and they weren't the kind of people I'd expect my parents to hitch a ride with…"

"We had no choice if we were to find you, did we?" Poppy asked, caressing her daughter's cheek "Parents do anything for their children, Toph. I thought you already knew that"

Azula watched the exchange and dropped her gaze to her half-empty plate. The Blind Bandit truly was lucky, having parents who fought so hard to find her again… Azula's mother had disappeared without any explanations, and her father was willing to kill her children if they proved useless to him. So despite herself, she couldn't quite help but envy the earthbender, if only a little…

"Well, I guess so, but even so, you shouldn't have sent the Dai Li to get me" said Toph, grimacing a little "That was too much. I know you were desperate, but…"

"The Dai Li?" said Lao, his eyes widening "We didn't send the Dai Li after you"

"Huh? You… you didn't?" Toph asked, surprised "I thought you guys had realized Xin Fu had bailed on you, and you had turned to the Dai Li instead…"

"Not at all" said Poppy, shaking her head "We requested your retrieval, but never exclusively to them. Word was sent throughout the Earth Kingdom… but we never expressly requested the Dai Li to find you"

"B-but then…" said Toph, frowning.

"Well, that clears it up" Azula said, surprising everyone around the table.

"Clears what up?" Iroh asked her, looking at her in confusion.

"If the Beifongs weren't the ones who set the Dai Li after their daughter, someone else did. Someone who had something to gain by getting the reward from Toph's capture… someone who needed her out of the way in order to succeed with his endeavors, too"

"Princess… what are you talking about?" Tiang asked, confused.

"I'll explain in a moment" Azula said, with determination "But first… does your offer to send soldiers to escort us into the Arena tomorrow still stand, Governor?"

"Of course" said Tiang, nodding "Why?"

"Because we're going to need every one of your available soldiers, and my own, to catch the real culprit for the hell the four of us had to face during the past few days"

Azula's ominous words were delivered with determination, and her eyes narrowed as she conveyed her discoveries and her new plan to everyone in the room…

* * *

The slave's eyes fluttered open as he lay on the stone-cold ground. He blinked, confused, as memories that felt as though they were from another lifetime started to return to his mind. His name, his dead family, his dead friends… grief and anger started to fill him, and he would have screamed in frustration if only someone hadn't grabbed his face and forced him to look straight into his eyes.

"Now, now. No need for that, is there, Jet?"

The man before him was one to be despised, he had no doubts about it. And he only recalled the reasons why he was to be despised an instant before the man spoke the accursed words…:

"Jet: The Fire Lord has invited you to his Palace"

His entire body numbed upon those words, and his consciousness sunk into darkness once more.

Long Feng smirked when the man's pupils dilated, and his face contorted into a grimace of pure rage. He released the boy and jerked his head towards his companion, the Iron Rain's sponsor, who was currently whispering hypnotizing words to his own gladiator. This sponsor was a Dai Li agent, yet he was dressed in casual clothing for today, since he was meant to play the role of a sponsor for today.

"Come along, now" Long Feng said "You know just how aggressive they get when they're like this"

Unlike how it was in other Arenas, the Green Gates sported a door at the end of the stand-by room, and Long Feng always closed it behind him as soon as he'd left an enraged Jet within the room. The gladiator's hypnotism convinced him that his enemies were Fire Nation soldiers: namely, a certain Fire Nation soldier he had come to hate after watching him burn down his village.

Long Feng had been quite amused upon discovering Colonel Mongke was acquainted with his gladiator. The Colonel had become his ally for some time, and the knowledge of how crazed Jet could be while under the belief he was near Mongke had led Long Feng to change his hypnotic phrase from the usual 'The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai' into the one he had just used on Jet. Ever since he had come up with it, Jet had failed to lose a single match. He entered a frenzy that made him unstoppable.

"Do you believe the strong hypnotism was necessary on Jet, sir?" his fellow sponsor asked "If our plans work, there won't even be a fight today…"

"IF our plans work, indeed" Long Feng repeated, his eyebrows furrowing as they climbed the stairs towards the sponsors' balcony "They haven't worked at all as of late, have they?"

"It's only a matter of time before we seize the girl" the Dai Li agent replied "Our men are already posted at strategic positions to seize her when she makes her way for the Arena"

"If it were as simple as that, we would have taken her by now" growled Long Feng "Our strategy should be to break her limbs. That way she won't be able to fight against us anymore"

"A good thought" the other sponsor said "I'm sure our forces will be capable of defeating her this time"

"They ought to be… but indeed, she may be a good earthbender, but she's truly no match for the finest earthbenders in the Earth Kingdom" Long Feng declared, proudly "They will seize her this time, and we will win when they're forced to forfeit…"

Yet all his self-satisfaction disappeared in thin air when he entered the room to find that the other two sponsors were here already.

Azula turned her head as soon as she heard the door opening, and she gave Long Feng an unpleasant smile, of the sort she used whenever she was certain she'd get her way. Iroh, next to her, cast a glare towards both Long Feng and his fellow sponsor.

"It has been far too long, hasn't it, Long Feng?" Azula said.

"P-Princess…" said Long Feng, his eyes widening "You're… rather early. The fight's not set to start but in another hour"

"Oh, my Uncle and I decided to arrive early today to make up for our recently lacking punctuality. And yes, of course, introductions are necessary… Long Feng, this is my Uncle, the renowned Dragon of the West, General Iroh"

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance" said Iroh, with a certain hint of malice in his voice that made Long Feng's unease increase as he approached the seats. If these two were already here, did it mean the Blind Bandit had reached the stand-by room already? Then their plan to seize her outside the Arena was already doomed…

"And I've already spoken at leisure about Long Feng to you, Uncle" said Azula, turning towards Iroh as Long Feng and his companion took their seats "This is Ba Sing Se's former Grand Secretariat… and leader of the Dai Li"

Long Feng's knuckles turned white when he gripped his armrests too tightly, but he soon laughed and looked at Azula with skeptical eyes, pretending her words hadn't reached him.

"Leader of the Dai Li, you said, Princess? Hardly" he declared "I was their leader once, but as you know, all my titles were revoked"

"Indeed, all the same as the Governor revoked the Dai Li's jobs" said Azula, turning to smile at Long Feng again "Meaning, nobody else was appointed as Dai Li leader after you… which leads me to guess you're still their leader, naturally. I think your friend there ought to be able to confirm my suspicions, though. You're one of them as well, aren't you? A Dai Li agent"

The man next to Long Feng hardly reacted, but Azula could sense how tense he had become when she had addressed him.

"Princess, please…" said Long Feng, chuckling "What on earth are you trying to imply?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong" Azula said, turning towards the sand ring "I'm not implying anything. I'm simply stating the obvious. You are the leader of the Dai Li, which means you're responsible for the chase me and my fellow teammates were subjects to during the past two days"

"Chase? You were…?"

"Are you honestly going to act innocent now, Long Feng?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows and looking at him with derision "It doesn't suit you at all. There's a reason why nobody relied on you after you switched sides as often as you did: because your performance is unbelievable. You can't fool anyone, not even yourself. And I assure you, you're not about to fool me"

"Nor me, for that matter" said Iroh, frowning "So you might as well stop pretending, Long Feng. Everyone here knows my niece is speaking the truth"

Long Feng froze for a moment before huffing and shaking his head.

"You have absolutely no evidence to back up what you've just stated…"

"Oh, we have no evidence indeed" said Azula "But we will have all we need eventually. For starters, all the Dai Li agents you'd have brought with you, the ones you'd have tasked with capturing Toph, will have either run away by now or been restrained by Fire Nation soldiers. It's rather unlikely that every single one of them will manage to keep his mouth shut, don't you believe?"

Long Feng scowled at that, and he felt the urge to take off immediately. If his allies had been compromised, he might as well flee… but Azula wasn't finished yet.

"And I'm certain I'll find hard evidence anyways to prove I'm right about the deception you were attempting to pull, Long Feng" Azula said "I'm not fully certain where, but I'm sure it's there, waiting for us to find it in some secret hideout of yours..."

"Are you, now?" he asked, his hands resting on his lap "Do tell, then, what am I trying to accomplish by seizing your blind gladiator, General Iroh?"

"Hey, hey, speak to my niece about that" said Iroh "She's the one who came up with the theory"

"And if you need me to answer your question…" said Azula "It took me a while to make sense out of why you'd want to capture Toph. It makes sense for you to do it to retrieve the reward's money from her parents, yet it also makes sense for you to do it for your gladiator's wellbeing, since she's quite the force to be reckoned with. Your fighter narrowly survived fighting my gladiator once, so with the Bandit as his partner, the odds were against your Hook. Nevertheless, there's another reason: earning the money for being the Tournament's champion"

"Oh, please" said Long Feng, rolling his eyes "Do you think I'm so greedy, truly?"

"No, I didn't think you were" Azula admitted "You were most willing to relinquish your money when my gladiator almost murdered yours. You actually seemed to enjoy the butchery that day, and the money seemed the least of your concerns… you proved to be more cold-blooded upon witnessing the carnage than many high-born sponsors I've seen. When I thought about that, I started to piece the puzzle together…"

"And what did you discover, then?"

"That you're not greedy. Your true desire, Long Feng, is power" Azula declared "It's quite easy to see your whole history in your eyes, you know? You were born with nothing, so you've had to struggle and connive as you clawed your way into power. Yet while having such a humble background, you're crueler to slaves than plenty of highborn men I've met. Was the struggle so hard that you ended up developing some form of psychosis, perhaps? You strike me as a bit of a sadist, actually. Are you one?"

"How can you accuse me of such a thing…?" Long Feng growled, and Azula chuckled.

"Oh, of course not. Surely I'm wrong. The pleasure doesn't come from seeing people in pain. The pleasure comes from being the one with enough power to cause pain to whomever you see fit. Only… you actually don't have that much power anymore, do you?"

Long Feng gritted his teeth and Azula glared at him sideways.

"After you were unmasked at the end of the war, you lost everything you'd fought for. And you did everything you could to regain it… but the easiest way to enter the Fire Nation's circles of trust would be by buying your way into it, am I right? That's how many Earth Kingdom noblemen kept their titles. So you thought you could do the same. You could buy your way into Governor Tiang's service, and you'd use your Dai Li agents to overthrow his government when the opportunity arose. Because you would have meant to overthrow him on the long run, of course… he's not a puppet you could use to your liking, as the former King Kuei was.

"So the first way to reach him would have been through money, as I already said… but why, then, would you waste so much of it in gladiator fights when it was so important for you to use it to buy your way into power? Perhaps you did it at first because you had no hopes to climb the ladder of power anymore… but one day you were presented with a remarkable opportunity from which you could make great profit: an opportunity in the form of the Fire Nation brigands, the Rough Rhinos"

Long Feng no longer spoke, his body shivering as the Princess spoke so calmly, as though she were commenting on the quality of her armchair. As though she had no doubts she was speaking the truth… and why should she have them? To Long Feng's chagrin, everything she had said so far was accurate…

"The Rhinos pillaged and looted throughout the entire continent for a few months, and while that just seemed reckless behavior on their part at first, we soon realized the Rough Rhinos were acting in this way because there was something backing them up. Someone was supporting them, providing them with shelter and aiding them if they required any assistance to rid themselves of Fire Nation soldiers. And who would these mysterious allies be other than Dai Li agents?"

Iroh eyed Long Feng with interest to find the man's brow was covered in sweat. He couldn't help but smirk upon that sight.

"The Dai Li were providing protection and a hideout for the Rough Rhinos all along" said Azula "In exchange for that, they gave you a decent percentage of whatever they looted. They stole from so many towns, even killing people in the process, and yet they didn't care for the consequences these actions might bring upon them. One of my personal guards was murdered by them, even, and they couldn't have cared less. And that's because the Dai Li were backing them up"

"So the Dai Li were allied with these brigands?" Long Feng said, huffing "And where is everything they looted, pray tell? If we were helping them…"

"In the hideout I mentioned before, of course" said Azula "And I already suspect where that hideout just might be. In any case… the reason why you wanted the Dai Li to seize the Bandit isn't just one out of those I mentioned earlier: it was all of them. When the Rough Rhinos were imprisoned, you were left without a provider. Your dream of using the profit you had obtained through those bandits was thwarted… by me, actually, and I had no idea I was thwarting it at all"

"Life has its ways of being ironic, doesn't it?" said Iroh, smiling.

"It does indeed" Azula said, smirking "So you needed money. You already had a good amount, but you could use some more. Hence, you required the reward for the Bandit. You wanted the winnings from the Tournament. And naturally, by taking Toph out of the equation, you'd kill three birds with one stone, for this way your insane gladiator wouldn't have to be pounded and shattered into unconsciousness as he had to be back when we first crossed paths. He'd be perfectly fit to continue fighting, if need be, and you'd continue earning more money to achieve your ends and become powerful yet again"

Long Feng breathed deeply, and Azula looked at him coldly.

"Did I forget anything?" she asked "Or are you just not going to speak from here on because you know there's nothing you can say to prove your innocence?"

"I have no innocence to prove" said Long Feng "You are building a theory based off conjectures and nothing more. I needn't…"

"You wouldn't need to prove your innocence indeed, if only you actually were innocent" said Azula, nodding "But we both know you're not. Everyone in this room knows you're not. Nevertheless, don't fret. Governor Tiang will make sure to throw you in a cell right next to the one where your former king is locked in… and perhaps you'll decide to admit the truth once the despair of being imprisoned drives you completely mad"

Long Feng looked at Azula frantically, his eyes out of orbit. Azula returned his gaze with complete serenity.

"Yet, for what it's worth, you're welcome to enjoy the fight for now" she said, smiling at him condescendingly "You'll be seized and dragged to the Imperial Palace as soon as it's over, you can count on it. So do enjoy your last minutes of freedom, Long Feng… for they're the last ones you're ever going to get"

Iroh smirked again at that, and he exchanged a satisfied look with his niece as they all fell silent. Long Feng was enraged, his face turning red as the Dai Li agent next to him fidgeted nervously.

The minutes ticked past them in awkward silence as people started to file into the stands below the balcony. Azula wasn't as relaxed as she was making it seem, though. She was partially expecting Long Feng to attempt to make a last minute escape… but if he was smart at all, he wouldn't even try to run away. He had lost this game… but Azula doubted he had even been a player, to begin with.

Eventually, the doors at the stand-by rooms opened as the megaphone man welcomed the gladiators into the sand ring. And Azula glanced towards Long Feng when he buried his face in his hands upon watching Toph Beifong entering the sand pit.

"Oh, I actually did forget something" she said, making Long Feng wince "As it turns out, even if you had captured Toph now, you wouldn't have obtained a reward of any sort. Her parents are in Ba Sing Se right now, and they've already reunited with her. There's no reward to claim anymore. But don't beat yourself over that, it's not like you could have possibly known as much…"

"Y-you're… you're a monster" Long Feng said, at which Azula chuckled.

"The man who sent hoards of elite earthbenders to hunt after a little girl just because he wanted power and money has called me a monster. Have I hurt your pride, Long Feng, and you can't think of how to return the favor? Because I honestly expected a clever man like you to go down with some dignity, at least…"

With that, she managed to silence him again just before the battle began.

"Will our local Savage Hook and Iron Rain defeat the fearsome Blind Bandit and Blue Wolf?! We're about to find out!" the megaphone man declared "So get ready for the Tournament's Final Battle to begin!"

"You sure you can handle this, Dog?" Toph asked, her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, I can hold my own" said Sokka, covered in bandages as he was. He doubted he'd be able to fight properly, but he would still stand his ground. Even if the Hook or his companion managed to knock him out, Toph would still be able to win them the Tournament by herself…

"Don't get yourself into trouble, alright?" Toph said, stepping forward and cracking her knuckles "I can handle these two non-benders without a problem"

Sokka smiled a little, hoping her cockiness would prove itself correct, before assessing their opponents. The Iron Rain was thin and tall. His hair was long and black, his nose rather large and he wore a straw hat. There were a bow and quiver on his back, which made Sokka frown as he thought Toph wouldn't have it that easy to defeat him… yet his main concern wasn't the archer. It was the vicious Savage Hook.

Sokka remembered his fight with this man all too well. The wrath in his attacks had taken him aback at first, and only when he matched the Hook's viciousness did he manage to defeat him. This time, though, he doubted he'd be able to match the man's anger at all. The contorted snarl of utter hatred on his face made Sokka recoil and stare at him warily. Did the Hook remember him? Was that why he was even angrier than the last time they had met in an Arena.

"Long time no see, eh?" he called at the gladiator, jerking his head towards him "Remember me?"

The Hook's snarl grew even more vicious. He could barely wait for the word that would allow him to tear apart Colonel Mongke, or who he thought was Colonel Mongke…

"START!"

The Hook roared before throwing himself at Sokka, his hooked swords in tow, but he was soon repelled by a wave of sand that rose under his feet, tossing him back and keeping him away from the Blue Wolf.

"Not on my watch, you rabid boarcupine!" Toph shouted, moving her arms as she stirred the sand in the ring. The Iron Rain jumped away from where the sand movements were strongest, and he pulled out his bow and an arrow so quickly Sokka hardly had any time to warn Toph.

"Shield us!" Sokka shouted, and on cue, the earthbender lifted a wall of sand before them "Solidify it so the arrows don't get through to us!"

"An archer, is it…?" Toph said, nodding as she obeyed Sokka. As expected, the Iron Rain's attack failed to reach them "How about that? Listening to what you say actually comes in handy…"

"Well, let's keep it up, then" said Sokka, smirking and then grimacing when the Hook appeared at one end of the wall Toph had procured to defend them "Toph, watch out!"

The Blind Bandit's arms darted out towards where she sensed the Hook was, and a block of earth struck him on the chest, tossing him back again and slamming him on a nearby rock. Toph smirked at that just as the Iron Rain appeared at the opposite side of the wall, an arrow posed to attack them.

"The archer's to your left!" Sokka shouted, but he knew Toph wouldn't be able to move fast enough to attack him.

He tossed his boomerang as powerfully as he could, although the Iron Rain managed to shoot an arrow towards Toph before Sokka's weapon reached him. Toph brought forth a sturdy rock right in front of her to deflect the arrow, knocking it off-course effectively. The Iron Rain had to evade the boomerang before pulling out another arrow and aiming at Sokka now.

The Blue Wolf was currently doubled over in pain, breathing heavily after making such sudden movement to throw his boomerang. Maybe he really shouldn't have fought at all. He'd get himself killed, no doubt, if every movement sent unbearable pangs of pain through his body…

Toph tossed another rock at the Iron Rain, distracting him long enough so he wouldn't attack Sokka after all. Yet the Hook was right behind her…

"Ugh, for crying out loud…" she said, rolling her eyes and lowering both her hands so that a pillar underneath the Hook shot upwards to toss him into the air.

She was a bit amused when she heard him scream, and even more amused when the Iron Rain stepped away to keep the Hook from dropping atop him. The Hook slammed into the sand and pushed himself up despite the hard fall he had taken, and he turned towards Toph with his enraged snarl after spitting on the sand.

"Well, geez, and I thought the Dog had no manners" said Toph, raising an eyebrow "Well, guess what… I can spit too!"

Sokka grimaced when she spat even more disgustingly than the Hook before lifting the sand she had just spat on and bending it towards the Hook. With his swords in tow, the Hook tried to evade the stream of sand, but it seized him by the ankle and brought him down on the ground just as the Iron Rain busied himself with attacking Sokka.

Sokka had barely managed to catch his boomerang on its trip back to him, but he had no idea if it was wise to use it when his opponent was so skilled in ranged combat. So how was he to fight the Iron Rain…?

He wasn't supposed to fight him at all, apparently. Toph brought forth a new rock just as the archer aimed at Sokka, and her stone flew towards his bow just as he took aim…

She was actually surprised when the Iron Rain pulled out another bow after the first one was shattered, but this time it was Sokka who broke it, tossing his boomerang again – and his back ached unbearable as he threw the weapon. Sokka's attack worked this time, and the archer was rendered weaponless.

The Iron Rain procured a dagger, though, and he raced towards Sokka, who readied himself for the attack… but Toph created a wall right in front of the Iron Rain just as he was running his fastest. He slammed headfirst against it and dropped on the sand, rubbing his nose as Toph turned to deal with the Hook, who was currently attempting to slice Sokka up.

"Trying to get even for last time, huh?" Sokka asked, jumping back with difficulty before unsheathing Space Sword "You're not going to get so lucky…"

Fighting was truly an ordeal for Sokka. He kept grimacing as he tried to parry his opponent's blows, every movement making him think he would pass out from the pain… but it wasn't long before the Blind Bandit aided him.

She procured a wall again, this time between Sokka and the Hook, and even though the latter attacked it and tore it apart with his blades, Toph still managed to bend him towards her and away from Sokka.

"Hey, wacko!" she called him "If you want to chop him up, you'll have to get through me first!"

The Hook didn't seem to have a problem with that, though, for he lashed out at Toph rabidly again, dodging the rocks she threw at him and almost besting her for once… but a boomerang to his temple got him off track, and allowed Toph to strike him on the face with a boulder.

Toph lowered all the walls she had lifted throughout the fight, and she was ready to attack again in case her opponents got up. Sokka caught his boomerang and grimaced again before approaching the Hook, to make sure he was unconscious.

The gladiator was still awake, to a certain degree, and his face contorted with rage when he looked at Sokka. The Blue Wolf knelt beside him and punched him hard on the face, rendering him unconscious for certain this time just as Toph did the same to the Iron Rain, hitting him hard with a rock.

And as soon as the countdown was over, they were the official winners of the fight. Sokka's legs gave way under him and he smiled widely, relieved to know it was over at long last as the crowds cheered around them…

"Oh, yeah! We did it! We did it!" Toph exclaimed happily, throwing her fist into the air as the megaphone man congratulated her, Sokka and their respective sponsors for their brilliant performance in the Tournament.

"And that would be all, then" said Azula, smiling just as the door of the balcony opened "It was a delight to watch your gladiator falter in such embarrassing manner this time around. How did your fighters make it this far in the Tournament, really?"

"Long Feng probably kept handicapping his opponents before the fight to make it easier on the Savage Hook" Iroh suggested, at which Azula shrugged.

"Actually, that's quite believable…"

"Congratulations on your triumph, Princess, General" said the newst arrival to the room. Long Feng gritted his teeth upon hearing him speak "And my condolences to you, Long Feng, and not because of the fight's result: I am here to inform you that you, and every member of the Dai Li we encountered within the premises of this building, are under arrest"

"You have no right…" Long Feng said, standing up and glaring at Tiang, who remained impassive "You have no right!"

"I have every right" said Tiang "The Princess and her Uncle have given testimony that the association you're the leader of assaulted and attacked them, with the intentions to abduct General Iroh's gladiator. Most the city witnessed how the Dai Li pursued them, on top of it all, and unless the Princess's theory to link you to a conspiracy with the Rough Rhinos is somehow wrong, which seems rather unlikely, you will spend the rest of your days in prison. Will you come willingly, or will you make this more difficult, Long Feng?"

The man seemed to ponder the possibilities, but he soon dropped his head as Fire Nation soldiers filed into the balcony, prepared to restrain him. He gritted his teeth before nodding, almost unwillingly, and both him and his fellow sponsor were escorted out to the hallway without another word.

"And that's that" said Azula, with a pleased smile.

"So… it's done, eh?" said Toph down at the sand ring, smirking and approaching Sokka "We did it, Dog!"

"Yeah, looks like we did" he replied, smiling as well "At the end of the day, we weren't such a bad team, huh?"

"Nah, not at all" she said, chuckling "We totally ought to do it again next time… oh, but we won't be able to. I'll probably be the top gladiator of the ranking by then and you'll still be struggling to reach the top hundred, so I guess it won't happen again at all…"

"Ahaha, aren't you cocky" said Sokka, pushing the girl as they moved towards the stand-by room, and Toph grinned before punching him "Ow!"

"Cocky and way stronger than you, don't forget it!"

"You know, I'm hurt!"

"Oh, gee, did I hurt your feelings? Poor Dog…"

"You hurt my ARM, damn it!"

"Ah, please, you're so wounded that my punch hardly even counts! Want me to deliver some real damage?"

"Like hell I do!"

Toph laughed loudly at that, and Sokka rolled his eyes before sighing in relief. It had been way worse than anything he had expected from this trip to Ba Sing Se… but despite the conspiracies, the persecutions, the secrets and the never-ending bickering, the Pairs Tournament was finally over.


	79. Chapter 79

"And how are you feeling today?" Mai asked, sitting on the bed next to the former gladiator.

Suki looked much better, physically-wise. But she still was rather wary of her surroundings, and there was a certain hint of sadness in her eyes that Mai feared might never fully disappear. The girl hadn't wanted to leave her room since being brought into it, and she had only left the bed to take a single bath, something she had agreed to rather reluctantly. She hadn't wanted the servants to assist her in it, but she couldn't quite do it by herself, so she had no choice but to accept their help. She wasn't comfortable amongst all these strangers, both the noblemen and the servants alike. And while she didn't think they wanted to hurt her, her body instinctively recoiled from any unwanted physical contact, which was pretty much any possible form of physical contact.

She couldn't quite trust these people, even though a part of her really wanted to. But how could she, when she knew nothing about them or what their intentions towards her might be?

"I'm better" she said, despite still feeling rather miserable "But everything hurts still"

"It can't be helped. You were so battered and bruised it's a wonder you're still in one piece" said Mai, sighing. Suki looked up at her, warily.

"C-could you tell me… who you are?" she asked, taking Mai by surprise "I just don't know anything about you people, and it's starting to worry me"

"Is that so?" Mai asked, with a weak smile "Well, my name is Mai. The girl who brought you here was Ty Lee, and the man with her was Haru. And…"

"Why did they bring me here?" Suki asked, frowning "And… why are you looking after me? Is someone paying you to do that?"

"Should someone be paying me to do it?" Mai asked, intrigued. Suki froze before shaking her head.

"N-no, no, I just… I don't understand why you're doing it, is all" she said, shrugging "I'm a total stranger to you, aren't I? So why show me all this kindness?"

"Well… helping random people isn't something I do on a regular basis, I'll admit" said Mai, shrugging "But you're the most interesting thing to happen to me since Yuudai, so I guess that's partly why I'm doing this"

"Uh… Yuudai?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My son" Mai replied, with a small smile "He's almost one year old by now. Time has passed in a blur, really. It almost feels like he was born yesterday"

"Your son, huh…" said Suki, with an almost-heartfelt smile "He must be cute"

"He is, though he's quite a messy child as well" said Mai, smiling a little "I'm lucky Zuko is taking care of him while I'm up here with you"

"Oh…" said Suki, lowering her gaze. Zuko was his name, yes. That's what he had said when they met in the Arena, now she remembered it. But if he was taking care of the child, did it mean he was this woman's husband? Probably… The idea made Suki feel slightly uncomfortable. Why had he come see her so many times in all those fights if he had a family to take care of?

And if he was this girl's husband… then it probably meant he was the one who had wanted her to be saved. Ty Lee, the one who had bought her off Akira and Yong, had mentioned she had been asked to do this by someone. So had it been it Zuko who had asked her to find Suki? Why, though?

"He actually wanted to come talk to you, but I decided to check on you first" Mai said "You two seem to know each other, given how worried he is about your situation. How did you meet him?"

"W-well, we just ran into each other a couple of times, in the Arena…" Suki said, shrugging "I literally bumped into him once, before one of my fights. Then he came to talk to me after the fight was over, and… that's it, I guess. I think he had been watching my fights for a while before, but we'd never talked until then"

"Huh…" said Mai, frowning. Zuko, frequenting gladiator fights? Something about that just didn't feel right. As much as Zuko had an aggressive side to his personality, and while Mai knew he had sponsored Sokka once before while Azula had been sick, Mai was under the impression he wouldn't be a fan of gladiator fights.

"I'm sure he was only betting or something, you don't have to worry about it" said Suki, making Mai raise an eyebrow.

"Why would I be worried?" she asked "Well, then… should I send him upstairs? Do you feel like talking to him, or would you rather rest for a little while longer?"

"I… I think I'd like to talk with him, yes" said Suki, nodding. If anything, she wanted to thank him for sending someone to save her.

"Alright then" said Mai, standing up and leaving the room without another word.

Suki sat up on the bed, feeling somewhat nervous as she waited for the mysterious Zuko to appear before her again. Despite how uneasy she was about the rest of the people she had met lately, she felt somewhat comfortable with the idea of being around Zuko, even when he was almost as much of a stranger as the rest of them. But she had so many questions to ask him, so many things to say…

When he showed up at the room's threshold she couldn't help but stare at him eagerly, which seemed to surprise him. He looked just as nervous as she felt, biting his lower lip as he walked into the room, as if he were unsure if he was welcome here or not.

"Uh… s-sorry I didn't bring any food with me this time" he said, dropping his gaze.

"You think you need to feed me in order to talk with me?" Suki asked, smiling despite herself. When Zuko blushed she actually laughed softly. She didn't even remember the sound of her own laugh.

"I just thought… yeah, well… never mind" he said, sitting on the chair next to her bed, his cheeks still flushed "How are you feeling? Mai told me you're doing better today… you still look pretty thin, but you do look better than yesterday anyways"

"Well, they did wash me, so I guess that was a good improvement on my appearance" said Suki, sighing "And I've had three decent meals in the last twenty-four hours, which is quite the rarity… so I suppose I am better, yes. I just…"

"You're still hurt" he said, lowering his gaze. Suki shrugged.

"Well, it's hard to heal in a matter of a day" she said, smiling weakly "But I was going to say I'm just really confused about a lot of things. The last few months have been horrible, and the last few days have been a blur. And I'd just like a couple of answers… if that's possible"

"W-wha… of course" said Zuko, sitting up straight and looking at her with determination "Mai hasn't answered your questions yet?"

"No, not really" said Suki, smiling weakly "I suppose she's pretty busy, what with taking care of your son and having to help a slave she never even knew…"

"Uh… my son?" Zuko asked, surprised.

"W-well… yeah?" said Suki, blinking blankly "I mean… Mai said that you were taking care of her son, right?"

"Well, that's her son alright" Zuko said, chuckling a little "But he's not mine. Mai is an old friend, and I'm helping her take care of her son Yuudai lately. Her husband is called Ruon Jian, and he's the baby's father, not me"

"Oh… I see now" said Suki, smiling again "Then it makes sense now that she wouldn't know you came to watch my fights. I was thinking you were sneaking around without your wife knowing…"

"No, none of that" said Zuko, shaking his head "I'm not married, and I don't have children"

"Well, that makes one less mystery then, I guess" she said, lying back against the pillows.

"You mean, that out of everything you wanted to ask, this is what you wanted to ask the most?" Zuko asked, at which Suki blushed a little.

"Eh… not really, no" she said, smiling guiltily "It's the first thing that came to mind, though. I'd very much like to know why I was saved from Shu Wo, to be honest. Did you send them to get me?"

"Me? No" said Zuko, shaking his head "I had nothing to do with it… and I'm sorry to say I didn't. I went to the Arena one day to ask about your next fight, but the fellow at the counter, Shoji, told me you weren't in the ranking anymore. I asked him why, but he didn't know and I didn't look into what had happened to you. I should have, though. Had I known what you were going through…"

"Well, don't beat yourself up for that" said Suki "It wasn't your fault"

"But I could have helped you sooner" Zuko muttered, biting his lip "If only I hadn't been… if I hadn't been wasting my time feeling sorry for myself, or picking fights with people I didn't need to pick fights with, then maybe I could have been figuring out what had happened to you…"

"Well, to be perfectly fair, we only met once" said Suki, smiling a little "So you weren't obligated to help me in any way. You had nothing to do with what happened to me either, so don't feel so guilty about it. I'm out of there now, and that's what matters most"

"Yeah… I guess so" he said, sighing "I'm still sorry, though"

"But if you had nothing to do with it …" said Suki, raising an eyebrow "Then who did? If not you, who sent those two to save me?"

"Well, according to what I know… it was my sister who sent them to get you" said Zuko, frowning.

Suki raised an inquisitive eyebrow, her confusion only increasing at that.

"Your sister?" she repeated "Why would your sister want to save me? Do I know her?"

"Uh… well, you fought her gladiator once" said Zuko, shrugging a little "That's the only link I can think of between the two of you. I don't know how she found out about you, or why she sent Ty Lee to get you…"

"I fought her gladiator?" Suki said "Which one was hers?"

"That big oaf, Sokka… the Blue Wolf" Zuko said, uttering the last three words with derision.

Suki frowned at that, even more confused. She hadn't thought about the Blue Wolf in quite a long time… let alone about his sponsor. And she seemed to recall his sponsor wasn't just any sponsor, but the first woman to ever sponsor a gladiator in the Superior League… and that woman was none other than Princess Azula.

Her eyes widened as she stared at Zuko in utter shock, as if she'd seen a ghost. Zuko jumped at the expression on her face, worried about what had caused her to look at him like this.

"What's wrong?" he asked, as she pointed a finger towards him.

"Y-you are… oh, for crying out loud, I should've known, you… you're Prince Zuko!"

"Oh… that" said Zuko, blinking a few times "Uh… yeah. That's me"

"W-what the…? Why are you a…? How could you…? Huh?!" the girl mumbled, incapable of finishing a sentence. Never had she imagined she would cross paths with the Fire Lord's children, let alone that one of them would constantly show her kindness while the other one would save her life for no apparent reason. She couldn't make any sense out of these latest, shocking revelations. How was this even happening…?

Despite himself, Zuko started chuckling at her string of unfinished questions. The dumbstruck look on her face was truly amusing.

"Why am I a Prince? I wish I knew" he said, shrugging "I didn't ask to be born one, if that's what you're wondering"

"No, no, that's not it…" said Suki, shaking her head "Why are you here if you're a Prince? W-why would you even…? Why did you go to all those gladiator fights? Why would that interest you and why…w-why would I interest you at all?"

"W-well…" said Zuko, blushing a little upon her last question "I wasn't all that interested in gladiator fights, it's true. Ty Lee dragged me to watch your fight with Sokka, though, and… well, I watched you fight him and I was amazed. You were such a great fighter that you even made the whole thing look graceful. And you weren't graceful only in that fight against him, but in all your fights. So… yeah. Watching you fight was quite, uh… extraordinary. I was intrigued by your style, so I kept watching your fights because of that"

"So you're saying it was just my fights you watched?" Suki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh… yeah" said Zuko, smiling a little and dropping his gaze.

"I see" she muttered, blushing a little despite herself. That was unexpected. She had seen him in plenty of her fights, but she had guessed he might be a frequent Arena visitor. She had no idea he only cared about her combats "So… you kept hiding your features so people wouldn't know you were the Prince?"

"Yeah, well, I tried to hide them but according to some people I failed at it" said Zuko, smiling weakly "But a lot of people would have thought the same thing you did if they knew it was me. Why would a Prince bother coming to gladiator fights? Yet nobody seems to be bugged over Azula being involved with the Gladiator Business, even more involved than I ever was…"

"Oh… well, you might be surprised" said Suki, biting her lip. Zuko frowned.

"Huh?"

"Well, it feels like a thousand years ago, really…" said Suki, sighing "But I remember it was a bit of a scandal when she joined. Some sponsors were angry, thinking she was just joining to steal their money and glory for no reason… and they were sure that she would buy the judges' off so her gladiator wouldn't fail to win every fight, regardless if he deserved it or not. After a while, the talk about her died down… I suppose they either got used to it, or they discovered she was actually playing by the rules so they had no right to complain"

"Really?" said Zuko, surprised "They thought so lowly of her?"

"Most the ones who did were stuck-up noblemen" said Suki, sighing "My old sponsor was friendly towards them for… well, for his own reasons. So I heard a few conversations between sponsors that I didn't really care for"

"Well… in your defense, I do believe it was unfair that Sokka won when he fought against you" said Zuko, and Suki laughed.

"Not really. He cut my sword in half, that was a big deal. He wasn't the best fighter I've ever faced, but he did win that fight, no contest"

"Heh, well, you fought better than him anyways" Zuko said, proudly "And he resorted to stupid things like asking you out to win, so…"

"Oh, right" said Suki, smiling a little "I'd forgotten all about that"

"You forgot?" Zuko asked, surprised "Do you mean… you didn't go out with him?"

"Just once" said Suki "Right after the fight, because I did say I'd go out with him if he won. But he wasn't exactly fun to be with… the whole idea of a date was weird to begin with, and he was in a daze during most of it, so nothing came out of it"

"Then… you weren't involved" Zuko said, trying not to show how pleased he was to hear these news.

"Not really" said Suki, shrugging "I never even saw him again after that"

"Huh… then I guess I really don't get it" said Zuko, frowning "For a moment I figured he might be the reason why Azula sent Ty Lee to get you, but if this is the case, then I guess it wasn't because of him"

"You think he would have asked her to do that?" Suki said, surprised "And… that she would have listened to him if he had?"

"Heh, well, if you'd seen them interact you'd see things are pretty weird with them" said Zuko, scratching the back of his head "It's almost as if she didn't think of him as a slave. And that's weird, considering it's my sister we're talking about. But according to Mai and Ty Lee, she's totally in love with him and I don't know what other nonsense…"

"Well… I don't know your sister, but that does sound a bit weird" said Suki, frowning "Some sponsors did use their gladiators as… well, sex slaves, if they felt like it. I'd never heard of a sponsor falling in love with his gladiator, though. It'd be even weirder in this case, considering she's a Princess…"

"Yeah, I agree" said Zuko, nodding, but he noticed Suki's face had darkened upon that. He grimaced, looking at her in concern. He didn't know for certain what she had suffered through during the past months… but he had the suspicion she knew what she was talking about when she uttered the term 'sex slave'. The sole thought made him cringe and clench his fists, and he berated himself again and again for not having helped her sooner. He was the worst…

"Well, I suppose you could just ask your sister about it" Suki said, bringing Zuko's attention to her again "She'll know why she sent Ty Lee to find me, if there was a reason for it at all"

"I would ask her, but she's not here right now. She's in some Pairs Tournament or something…" said Zuko, shrugging. But Suki's eyes lit again at those words.

"Oh… in the Green Gates, huh?" she said, smiling "Who'd have thought I'd think of that place fondly nowadays…?"

"Huh" said Zuko, with a weak smile as well. He wished she wouldn't think of her gladiator days fondly. It was heartbreaking to think that she would brighten up by remembering them.

"I fought in a few Pairs Tournaments myself" she said, smiling "Me and my partner never won, though. And I joined some other events, yeah. There was this weird one, not even in an Arena, about climbing up a wall… I never even knew what the point of it was. They only held it once, because some earthbender just pulled down the wall and stood atop the spot where it had been before, saying he'd finished the job and that they ought to give him all the points"

With that, she started laughing. Zuko joined her, hardly realizing he was doing it. The sight of her smile was quite reassuring for him.

"Anyhow…" she said, looking at Zuko again "What do you think your sister might want me for? Just so I'll be ready once she returns, because…"

"Hey… hey" he said, leaning forward "Don't worry about that right now. I would tell you what she wants, or what I think she wants, but I'm not smart enough to figure her out. I don't think anyone is, really. So stop worrying about her. All you have to do is relax and feel better. Don't get stressed about this. I'm sure Azula doesn't want to… well, I don't know what she wants or doesn't want, but I don't think more harm will come to you. In fact, none will. I won't let that happen"

"You won't let it happen?" Suki asked, smiling "Well, I could use someone watching out for me right now. I've got no weapons and I can hardly move as I am, so thanks for that"

"W-well, yeah… no need to thank me" he said, with a shy smile "It's, uh… the right thing to do. In any case, I don't think anyone wants to harm you anymore to begin with. The most that can happen to you in this house is that Yuudai sits atop you and drools all over your clothes…"

"Oh, well, that is fearsome…" she said, chuckling a little "Well… it's good to know. I could use some peace and quiet for the time being"

"You'll have it" said Zuko, smiling "We'll make sure of that"

Suki smiled back, feeling rather relieved after this conversation. Not all her questions had been answered, but it was a start. And it was quite a good start, regardless how unexpected some of the revelations had been. She gulped again when she remembered she was in the presence of the Fire Nation's Prince, and as she thought about that, plenty of new questions arose in her mind.

"Something wrong?" Zuko asked, when he saw her swallowing hard.

"It's just… you're a Prince" she said, shaking her head in disbelief "And now that I really think about it, I just… I guess I have way more questions to ask, but I figure I'll just be pestering you, so maybe not"

"Pestering me?" Zuko asked, smiling a little "No, actually… not at all. I wouldn't mind answering your questions"

"You don't have questions to ask me instead?" Suki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess I have a few more, but they can wait" said Zuko "I figure you might not feel like answering them right now"

"And do you feel like answering the ones I have for you?" said Suki, surprised "I mean, the things I've heard about Prince Zuko… it sounds like you've been through some awful experiences, haven't you?"

"Huh… yeah, I guess" he said, shrugging "But I've had eleven years to cope with it all, so I think I'm ready to talk about it now. You're welcome to ask anything you want to know, really"

"Really?" she said, smiling a little "Well, then…"

Mai had come upstairs again, holding Yuudai tightly in her arms. She had come to make sure everything was going smoothly, just in case Suki might need some time alone again. But as she looked into the room she was surprised by how well the conversation between her and Zuko was going. She actually raised an eyebrow when she heard Zuko was chuckling, and she couldn't help but smile when she heard Suki talking so calmly and animatedly, even though there was still a certain hint of sadness in the girl's countenance. But without a doubt, it was good progress. And that Zuko was laughing along with her, as she asked him something about peaches, made Mai smile as well.

"It seems they're getting along just fine, huh, Yuudai?" said Mai, smiling at her son, who smiled back and touched her face gently as she walked downstairs again.

* * *

The medical check took longer than it usually did, because, while Toph was perfectly unscathed, some of Sokka's wounds had opened again after the fight. He was tended to quite gently by the healers, but even so, Toph had to help him walk, letting him support his weight on her shoulders as they headed to the vestibule.

"Weird that your beloved didn't come to check on you right away, huh?" said Toph, smirking. Sokka huffed.

"She's got plenty of stuff to worry about at the moment, and I'll be fine" he said, trying not to make a big deal out of it despite having wished Azula would come see him after all.

"Yeah, well, you say that but you look pretty damn s-…"

"Sokka!"

Despite how badly Sokka felt, his eyes lit up when he heard his sponsor's voice. He smiled at Azula, who was at the top of the stairs that led down to the vestibule, with Iroh next to her. Sokka waved at her with one hand, and he stopped using Toph as support once they reached their sponsors.

"Are you alright?" Azula asked, looking at him worriedly.

"Eh, apparently a few wounds opened again because some of my movements were way too forceful… but I'm fine, really" he said, smiling goofily

"You fool… I thought we'd told you not to do anything risky" Azula said, frowning.

"Well, it's a bit hard not to when you have a freaky guy with hook-swords trying to tear you to shreds, you know?" said Sokka, pouting "Here I was, expecting some nice, encouraging words but no, you just want to nag me…"

"If you didn't give me so many reasons to nag you, maybe I wouldn't be so eager to do it, mind you" Azula said, sighing but smiling. "Still, it's done. You can focus on healing from now on."

"It is done, huh?" Toph exclaimed, laughing happily as she punched Iroh's shoulder. The old man laughed at that, despite how much the blow hurt "Damn… it almost felt like this Tournament would never end. Hardly feels like we've been in this city for only five days"

"No, not at all" said Iroh, chuckling "But it was the most exciting thing to happen to me in a long time. Perhaps it was even too much excitement for an old man like me, huh?"

"Well, you're free to return to the armchairs, the tea-brewing and the Pai Sho now, Uncle" Azula said, smiling at him. Iroh nodded promptly.

"Yes, yes, no doubt" he said "I'll gladly leave the crazy things to the young ones like you three from now on"

"Toph! Oh, Toph, that was amazing!" sounded a female voice behind them, coming from the hallway that led to the stands.

Toph turned with a self-satisfied smirk when she heard her mother call for her. Poppy Beifong was walking fast towards her daughter, and she leaned down to hug Toph tightly. Her husband was right behind her, and he patted his daughter's shoulder kindly while she embraced her mother back.

"That was truly remarkable, Toph" Lao said, proudly "You beat them without getting hurt at all!"

"See, I told you I was good, didn't I?" Toph snickered, smirking, as the group started to make its way down the stairs.

They were greeted by clapping and congratulations when they were halfway through the flight of steps that led to the vestibule. Several staff members approached them, with one fat nobleman behind them who was holding a large trophy in his hands.

"General Iroh, Princess Azula, I am Ying Man, the chairman of the Green Gates" the nobleman said, beaming at them "And I'm here to award you both with the trophy for your triumph in the Pairs Tournament!"

Again the people in the vestibule broke into applause, and the man beamed as he handed the trophy to Iroh... Only to find he couldn't take it, for his hands were on his crutches. He smiled apologetically at him and jerked his head towards Azula, and she sighed.

"Oh, well" she muttered, before taking the heavy trophy on her hands "For once I do feel like taking some of the credit, I'll admit"

"Hehe, well, you do deserve it, so cut yourself some slack" said Toph, smirking.

"So do you, though. I guess we all do" Azula said, and Sokka smiled.

"Well, then, we all should accept the trophy together!" he exclaimed happily, putting a hand on the golden relic shaped as the Green Gates.

"Sounds good to me" said Toph, doing the same thing with a grin on her face.

"Oh, and, also..." said Ying Man, ushering two young men to approach the Tournament's winners. The men carried a large bag with them "Your winnings"

Iroh's eyes widened as he looked at the bag with amazement. Azula and Sokka were also impressed by it, and even Toph, despite being unable to see the bag with her own two eyes, whistled in approval when she sensed how big it was.

"Seems like a lot of winnings, huh?' she said, smirking.

"I could buy a teashop with this!" Iroh exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes, you could, but you won't" Azula said, cuttingly "That'd be one serious waste of money..."

"We ought to divide it between the four of us, then" Iroh suggested, smiling "And I'll buy all the tea I want with my share!"

"Still a waste, but it's more reasonable if you do it with your part" Azula conceded, shrugging.

"What are you going to use it for?" asked Sokka, looking at her inquisitively.

"To make up for all the money I invested in this ridiculous journey, of course" Azula replied, simply, and Sokka smiled.

"W-well, that's good then" said Ying Man, though he seemed surprised still by Iroh's intentions to share the money with the gladiators "They are your winnings, so you're free to use them as you wish, naturally. In any case, well done and congratulations for winning the Pairs Tournament!"

With that, the vestibule broke into another round of applause. Toph grinned proudly, her parents patting her shoulders as she enjoyed the triumph... But today it meant more than it ever had to Toph. Today she hadn't just won a fight, but she had proven herself to her parents. And for the first time ever, she felt like they were truly a family.

But before they could continue discussing what they'd do with their respective shares of the money, some agitated voices drifted from the hallway that led to the waiting rooms. Sokka was the first to notice it, and he frowned before glancing over his shoulder.

"Leave us alone! Come on, Longshot! We have to get out of here!"

When the agitated voice reached Azula she handed the trophy to Toph, who didn't seem to mind holding it despite also being curious about what was happening above. Azula climbed the steps again, and Sokka followed her, despite the pangs of pain from his back, where he had sustained his worst injuries.

They recoiled when they discovered who was shouting. Azula struck a firebending stance, and Sokka instinctively reached for his sword when they saw the Savage Hook storming towards the stairs, with the Iron Rain behind him. He stopped when he saw his way was blocked, and he breathed heavily as he looked around himself nervously. He was gripping his archer friend by the wrist, and the glint of despair in their eyes betrayed they were both very confused for some reason.

Sokka lowered his hand when he met the Hook's gaze. They stared at each other for a moment, until the Hook swallowed hard and looked at them with determination.

"Let us pass" he grunted, and Azula was ready to give him one of her trademark responses when Sokka placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait" he said, and Azula frowned before looking at him with confusion.

"Wait for what?" she asked.

"His eyes" said Sokka, frowning "They're… different from before"

The Hook stared at Sokka with something reminiscent to hope upon hearing Sokka say those words, albeit he was still confused.

"His pupils were all creepy and big before, Azula" Sokka explained "But they're not anymore. There's something different about him now. And heck, he just talked to you, right?"

"Right" said Azula, frowning. She didn't recall having heard the Hook uttering a single rational sentence before "But he's trying to escape…"

"Yeah, which really shouldn't be our problem, right?" said Sokka, shrugging.

Azula dropped her stance and stared at Sokka, as healers and staff members reached the Savage Hook and the Iron Rain, who instinctively moved away from them.

"While you may be right about that, I doubt it's a good idea to let a guy like the Hook wander loose around Ba Sing Se" Azula said, staring at Sokka sternly "So yes, it is our problem. His sponsor is gone, so by logic we'll need to do something about…"

"We're in… Ba Sing Se?" the Hook said, frowning "W-what is this place? What do you mean with that about a sponsor, and…?"

Azula turned towards the Hook, confused. But it seemed the more confused one was him. His friend was scowling at the healers that had approached them, and the Hook's grip on his wrist loosened as his eyes gained an inquisitive quality now.

"What's going on?" he said, staring at both Azula and Sokka.

"You're trying to say you don't know where you are, or what you were doing here?" Azula said, frowning "When just a moment ago you were fighting wildly in the Arena…?"

"Fighting…? Is that why I'm wounded?" he asked "Why the hell was I…?"

"He doesn't remember anything?" Toph asked, having only just climbed to the top of the stairs along with her parents and Iroh, and they were staring at the Hook and the Iron Rain with curiosity.

"Apparently not" said Sokka, gulping "Which is pretty damn weird. Why would he forget…?"

"You said his pupils were dilated, didn't you, Sokka?" Azula asked, at which he turned towards her again.

"Yeah, I remember noticing that back in my first fight against him" Sokka said, nodding.

"And he doesn't remember anything" said Azula, frowning "I think we've got a real mystery on our hands. By the sound of it, it'd seem this man and his friend were hypnotized… which wouldn't be all that surprising, considering they've been stuck with Long Feng and the Dai Li for who knows how long"

"Huh?" said Sokka, surprised "Hypnotized? How?"

The Hook gritted his teeth as he lifted a hand to his head. Some memories returned after he heard what the girl with the hairpiece had just said, memories of dark tunnels, green crystals, and words about a lake…

"The Dai Li hypnotized people back in the day, when the Earth Kingdom was still standing" said Azula "At least, I believe that's what the rumors said…"

"How could they hypnotize…?" Sokka asked, frowning "That's plain weird. And why didn't you Fire Nation guys do anything about them if they were hypnotizing people?"

"I figured they were just rumors" Azula confessed "And I suppose they were, because it was never confirmed that they had hypnotized anyone…"

"And dilated pupils are a sign of hypnotism?" Sokka asked, frowning.

"I don't know if they are" Toph said, walking towards them "But something else probably is. Their heart rate, and their breathing… they're uneven now. They were perfectly even back when we were fighting, or at least, far too normal considering they were in the middle of a fight. Back then, their bodies almost felt as though they were fighting while being asleep or something. Now, though, they actually feel like normal people do when they're anxious"

"H-how…?" said the Hook, staring at Toph with utter confusion "How does she know that?"

"She's a clever girl" Azula said, turning towards him again "Very well, then, Hook… though I guess I shouldn't call you that. What was your real name again? I think Long Feng mentioned it, but…"

"I'm Jet…" he said, frowning "And this is Longshot. And… you know Long Feng?"

"Not as well as you do, I suspect" Azula said "Well, then, Jet. Would you mind coming along with us? I believe you need some answers… and I also believe you might shed light on some subjects we have yet to understand"

Jet looked at Azula warily for a moment, but after weighing his options, he nodded at her. He didn't seem too eager to comply with Azula's request, and he kept glaring at the hairpiece on her head, but nevertheless, he ushered his friend Longshot to follow him as he stepped towards Sokka and Azula.

* * *

Jet and Longshot were quite surprised upon arriving into Ba Sing Se's Imperial Palace, but their amazement came with wariness as well. They glared at every Fire Nation soldier that crossed their path, and Jet even gritted his teeth whenever he sighted the Fire Nation emblem, but despite everyone feared they might turn violent, they never did.

They were led into a common room in the Palace, along with Azula, Iroh, Sokka and Toph. The Beifongs stayed with Governor Tiang, as he supervised the imprisonment of the Dai Li agents.

"Well, we'd be glad to explain everything you might need to know, Jet" Azula started, once they were all settled in the room: Jet and Longshot were sitting next to each other on a couch while Toph and Iroh took an armchair each. Sokka was on a wooden chair, while Azula was the only one standing "But first of all, we need to know just what we have to explain in the first place. Your memories seem to be foggy, so tell us whatever you can remember about your circumstances and we'll try to fill in the blanks, if possible"

Jet sighed and dropped against the backrest of his seat. He looked at Azula with inquisitive eyes, as though he meant to ask her a question, but he decided to comply with her wishes regardless.

"As I already told you, my name's Jet. And he's Longshot" he said, jerking his head towards the young man sitting next to him "We met a long time ago… his village was burned by the Fire Nation, and so was the town where I lived. I… I wanted to take revenge on the Fire Nation for the damage they'd done, even when I was only eight at the time, so I decided to fight back against the Fire Nation somehow. I started a gang called the Freedom Fighters, and Longshot was one of my first recruits. We became a big group eventually… we lived in some tree houses we had built in the forest near Gaipan Village. And we attacked whatever Fire Nation people we saw. It didn't matter who they were: soldiers, civilians, children, elders… we'd attack every single one of them just because they were Fire Nation. There was no worse crime for us than for someone to be Fire Nation"

Azula frowned at that, and Sokka looked at her warily. This guy sounded a lot like he had back in the day, and he was well aware of how much it displeased Azula to find herself face-to-face with someone who hated the Fire Nation like this…

"We had plans to destroy the Fire Nation, but they were… they were the stupid plans of a stupid teenager" said Jet, shaking his head "I wanted to destroy the nearby village, because I thought it'd be a great blow against the Fire Nation. The village had been colonized some years before we started living in the Forest, and I believed it was better off destroyed than in the hands of the Fire Nation. There was a reservoir in the valley, and by blowing up the dam we could flood the village… so we started putting our plans together, stole some blasting jelly from a group of soldiers who were stationed in our forest, and we waited until the reservoir was full. And after a few months, it was. And we did it"

Azula frowned and glared at Jet, a fist clenched. She recalled having heard of the flooding of Gaipan Village several years ago, and thanks to Shoji she had already known this man was responsible for it… but hearing him confess his crime now filled her with an anger she hadn't felt upon hearing about the flood the first time.

"We… we killed them all" Jet said, sighing deeply, as Sokka and Iroh stared at him in disbelief "Nobody in the village survived the flood. A-and I… I knew it had been wrong when I saw the dead bodies. We'd never murdered anyone before, and now we'd killed so many people… several of them were even Earth Kingdom people, and we'd killed them. All of them"

"Hell, that's…" Toph said, frowning.

"I know" Jet said "I didn't know it back when I was planning it, but after it happened, I knew it was wrong. And yet I… I thought I couldn't back down, not after what I'd done. So I told the Freedom Fighters we had to keep going. What we had done was a great victory against the Fire Nation, after all… but most of them knew it wasn't. Many of them turned their backs on me that day… others stayed, because they had nowhere else to go. Back then, I accused the deserters of being traitors… nowadays, I wish all of the Freedom Fighters had left me. T-that way…"

Jet leaned forward, his forearms supporting his weight on his knees as he gritted his teeth. His friend looked at him before sighing and taking over his story.

"We were captured for our crime of flooding the village" he said, frowning "But not by Fire Nation soldiers"

"The first to find us were Fire Nation soldiers, though. We stood strong against them, but then another group showed up… but they weren't Fire Nation. We thought the Dai Li had heard about us, and that they wanted us to join their ranks" Jet said, his hands balled into fists "But that wasn't the case. I still don't know why the Dai Li joined forces with the Fire Nation to attack us… but when they did, I realized that the Fire Nation wasn't the one and only evil in the world"

"They captured most of us" Longshot said "They killed others. We didn't know what happened to the rest of our friends… the only thing we knew was that the Freedom Fighters were done"

"The Dai Li helped seize you as a favor to the Fire Nation" Azula said, and everyone's attention turned towards her "Long Feng changed sides several times through the war, trying to earn my father's favor in any way he could. I suspect the Dai Li's assistance to the Fire Nation battalion sent to subdue you was one of Long Feng's many deceitful attempts to join the winning side of the war"

"So… he betrayed the Earth Kingdom, huh? And so did the Dai Li? I'm not too surprised to hear that" said Jet, frowning "Still, I don't know what happened exactly after they took us. They dragged us through some tunnels, I think, and then I met Long Feng in person. He was cold, and cruel, and he… I never knew what he did to me. But there were Dai Li agents restraining me as he spoke. And… ever since that happened, my memory has been a blur. I can recall a few things, but nothing is clear. I… I don't know how many years have passed, even. And… well, I just want some answers, if possible"

"Well, we'll try to help you with that" said Iroh, smiling.

"I believe the Dai Li must have caught you a few months before Sozin's Comet came again" Azula muttered "So it's been around seven years, for starters"

"S-seven years…?" Jet said, his eyes wide "W-well, do you know anything about my friends? Maybe the Dai Li have kept them around as well…"

"Not really, no" said Azula, frowning and shaking her head. Longshot sighed.

"It was unlikely anyways" the archer whispered.

"Maybe they do have them, though" said Jet, frowning "In those tunnels they kept us in. You remember them too, don't you, Longshot?"

"Yes, but I doubt they kept us all together" said Longshot.

"Especially not when you guys were tough enough to be gladiators" Toph added, taking both the former Freedom Fighters by surprise "It'd be pretty stupid of them to keep you all in the same place and risk having you rebel against them"

"Right…" Jet said, looking at her "What's that about gladiators, again? I think I've been fighting with some people, and in fact, one of my best memories is having fought against you before"

With that, he looked at Sokka. Sokka gulped and nodded.

"And it sure wasn't a pretty fight" said Sokka. Azula looked at Jet with confusion.

"Why do you remember that, though?" she asked.

"I think I wasn't hypnotized right after that fight" said Jet "I was kept chained to a stretcher while my body healed, I think… and at that point in time, I was somewhat aware of what was happening. But other than that, most of it is just a blur… what's this thing about gladiators?"

"The Gladiator Business is the only interesting branch of slavery the Fire Nation has come up with" Toph said, picking her toes. Azula cringed at the sight "Slaves are forced to fight one another in a sand pit. In the Amateur League, the fights are to the death. In the Superior League they're not, but you can still die anyways"

"And you say that's interesting? That's madness!" Jet exclaimed, looking at the girl in utter disbelief.

"Madness? Depends on where you're standing" she said, smirking "I haven't killed anyone, if that's what you're worried about. But it sure is fun to fight some seriously dangerous opponents. You weren't one, sadly, but…"

"Hey, hey" said Jet, looking at her with a crooked eyebrow "I was hypnotized, remember? Maybe I'd give you a better fight right now"

Toph snickered at that, shaking her head before giving him a mischievous grin.

"Yeah, I doubt it. I'm the best earthbender in the world. You wouldn't stand a chance against me"

"Really now?" Jet asked, smiling a little "So… you're Earth Kingdom, like us?"

"Yeap. Born and raised" said Toph, nodding.

"But you are Water Tribe, aren't you?" Jet asked Sokka "Your eyes are blue, so…"

"Got that right" Sokka said, nodding as well.

"And you…" Jet said, looking at Azula with a frown "You're Fire Nation"

"Oh, indeed, I am" Azula said, looking at him defiantly "And I'm the Princess of the Fire Nation, no less. So tread carefully, Jet. I'm not a merciful person, and it takes a lot of effort to get to my good side, especially when you've actively meant to harm my nation as you have"

Jet frowned at how viciously she spoke the words, but he sighed and shook his head.

"I won't attack your nation anymore" Jet said "I used to think the only evil thing in the world was the Fire Nation, but I know now I was wrong. If the Dai Li attacked us, and killed some of my friends while turning the rest of us into slaves, then I guess it's not just the Fire Nation that's evil"

"Some people would say flooding villages is also an act of evil…" Azula muttered, and Sokka gave her a meaningful stare, asking her not to press on with this.

"So I take it the Fire Nation won the war?" Jet asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, once Sozin's Comet came again" Iroh said, nodding "I'm Iroh, by the way. I'm Azula's uncle. Her gladiator is Sokka, and mine is Toph"

"Huh…" said Jet, looking at all of them in turn "So you're saying you own these guys?"

"No, well" said Iroh "Azula does own Sokka, but Toph is my gladiator out of her free will"

"Really, now?" said Jet, frowning.

"Nowhere better than an Arena to prove I'm the best fighter in the world" Toph declared, smirking. Jet raised an eyebrow, but smiled at that.

"Well, you've got guts, no doubt" he said "Still, what's the purpose of this Gladiator Business? And what's this about slavery, exactly…?"

"Whoever doesn't pledge his loyalty to the Fire Nation is turned into a slave nowadays" Iroh said, softly "Not all slaves are treated badly, mind you, but it isn't an easy life…"

"No kidding" said Jet, frowning "And I was Long Feng's gladiator, right?"

"And your friend there was another Dai Li's gladiator, too" Azula said, nodding "I'd say chances are that whoever was captured from your old gang would have been either sold into a slave market or working as the Dai Li's own slaves, like you two were"

"If they were working as their slaves, though, where do you think they are?" Jet asked, frowning.

"I was hoping you'd be the one to tell us that" Azula replied "Long Feng and his friends aren't bound to say a word unless they want to, and I fear they won't want to"

"But getting some information out of them shouldn't be that hard" said Sokka, looking up at Azula "I mean, the soldiers captured lots of them. What are the chances that none of them will talk?"

"As a matter of fact, all chances are against us" Azula said, crossing her arms over her chest "The Dai Li are elite earthbenders, Sokka. They've undergone rigorous training since joining the group, and they probably know how to hold their own during interrogations. As ever, the odds aren't in our favor"

"But you did say you had suspicions on where the Dai Li's lair might be" said Iroh, frowning "Or was that a bluff?"

"I'm sorry to say it was" Azula said, sighing "I told Long Feng that we had all the evidence we needed to prove they were working with the Rough Rhinos, but as a matter of fact, we have nothing other than theories. No doubt, it's a good theory and I am certain it's spot-on, but as we are, we can only charge them for the relentless pursuit they subjected us to. Unless a member of either the Rhinos or the Dai Li confess to having worked together, we've hit a dead end"

"Or unless we find that place Jet's talking about" Toph said, shrugging "Those tunnels? I'm pretty sure I could find them if I tried…"

Azula frowned, tapping her arm with a finger as she considered Toph's idea. As they all fell silent, the Captain entered the room. Jet and Longshot scowled upon seeing another soldier.

"Princess, the Dai Li and their leader have been imprisoned, as commanded" he stated, bowing his head before her "It would seem we have captured most of them, but several of them escaped us regardless…"

"Well, that's a pity" Azula said "Did you send more soldiers after the ones who got away?"

"Yes, Princess. Hopefully they'll return with the prisoners soon" said Rui Shi, nodding.

"Or perhaps they merely ought to follow the prisoners into their hideout…" Azula muttered, thoughtful. Rui Shi frowned.

"Hideout?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The Dai Li had some creepy hideout in some tunnels" Sokka said "Or at least, that's what Jet remembers, apparently"

"But there are far too many tunnels in this city, so without another lead, it's as good as nothing" said Azula "And we need something else, direly. The evidence for the Rough Rhinos and the Dai Li's partnership must be in their hideout"

Upon those words, Rui Shi frowned and placed a hand under his chin, deep in thought.

"Well… perhaps we have another lead, after all"

"We do? What do you mean, Captain?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I wrote a message to you to tell you where the Rough Rhinos were headed to back when we first came to the city" said the Captain "And I obtained this information by questioning a soldier while we were in the train station. I didn't mention this in the letter I sent you because it seemed useless information at the moment, for that wasn't where the Rhinos would be anymore, but…"

"Could you get to the point?" Toph asked, frowning.

"The point is that the soldier told me he had seen some men on ostrich horses leading the Rough Rhinos to Lake Laogai" said Rui Shi "I didn't give that much thought before, but now…"

"Lake… Lake Laogai" Jet said, standing up "That sounds awfully familiar. It has to be it!"

"Well… I suppose that must be all the more evidence to support our theory" said Azula, but there was a grimace of unease on her face. Sokka stood up with some difficulty and looked at her worriedly.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, and she swallowed hard.

"Oh, nothing, only that my Barge is currently docked in that very lake, is all" she said. Sokka's jaw dropped.

"Uh-oh" said Toph, grimacing "You don't think they might have attacked your boat, do you?"

"I don't know" said Azula, between gritted teeth "And I'd love to find out, but… well, I might actually have a chance to do that soon, it seems"

"What do you mean, Princess?" said Rui Shi, as Azula moved towards the door "Princess? Where are you going?"

Azula didn't reply, her attention focused on the thoughts that coursed through her mind. Thoughts that weren't her own, but that weren't foreign to her either. She smiled as she sensed how close her dragon was, and she encouraged him to speed his way towards the Palace.

Xin Long had flown quite far with the dolls on his back, but despite having helped keep some Dai Li agents off his rider's trail, not all of them had fallen for the ruse. The few that were in his pursuit soon stopped following him when they saw the clay dolls were crumbling, and they returned to the city to assist in the hunt for the actual Princess and her group. Xin Long hadn't noticed this at first, far too busy enjoying his flight and exploring his surroundings that it wasn't until the next day, when he saw his rider was in trouble again, to the point where she had been forced to fly without him, that he had turned back to Ba Sing Se, but he had been too far away to reach the city on time no matter how fast he flew. Azula had managed to save herself without his help on this opportunity, but the dragon still had wanted to reunite with his rider.

Azula reached one of the many gardens of the Palace, and she stared at the skies eagerly as she waited for Xin Long to reach her. The rest of the group followed her outside after a while to find her scrutinizing the horizon.

"What's with her?" Jet asked, confused.

"You'll see soon enough" said Sokka, the only one who had a pretty good guess regarding what Azula was expecting.

"Huh?" said Jet, raising an eyebrow.

And when Jet saw what Azula was waiting for, his jaw dropped. The large black dragon landed rather harshly, almost crashing into his rider in the process. Once he had touched the ground he leapt happily around her before surrounding her with his long body, brushing his head against her armored chest. Azula laughed and slid her fingers through the creature's soft mane, pressing her forehead against his to let him know she was alright.

"Huh, I was wondering if the flying crocodile would ever come back" said Toph, smirking.

"T-that's a… dragon?" Jet said, astounded.

"Yep" said Sokka, smiling "It's not every day that you get to see one of those, huh?"

"N-no, not really" said Jet, smiling a little "You guys are really something, huh?"

Once they were finished greeting one another properly, Azula spoke through her mind to her dragon. Xin Long nodded gently once she told him what she wanted, and he released her body so she could climb onto his saddle.

"Very well, then" Azula said, turning towards the others "We'll be off to Lake Laogai. Bandit, you probably don't want to come along on Xin Long, but we'll need you for this. If there are tunnels, as Jet says, they'll probably be underground. It'll be up to you to find them. So if you'd be so kind as to start on your way…"

"Gotcha" said Toph, stretching "I'll just take a train to the east. It'll drop me by the Inner Wall, right?"

"Most likely" said Azula, before turning towards Jet and Longshot "I'd say you two ought to come along as well, if you're up for it. You might find your friends in the Dai Li's hideout, or perhaps leads that could take you to them"

"Yeah, you're probably right about that" said Jet, nodding "We'll do that"

"Uncle, you'll stay put" Azula said, and Iroh pouted before sighing in resignation.

"Fine, fine" he said "I'm in no fit state to dig out hideouts anyways. I know I'm not as healthy or young as I once was"

"Don't look so upset, Iroh, I'll bring you a souvenir!" Toph told him, and the old man laughed.

"Sounds good to me" he said, beaming.

Sokka looked at Azula inquisitively before sighing in defeat as well. He and waved in her direction, and she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"J-just… saying goodbye? And good luck too, you'll probably need it while finding that creepy earthbenders lair…" said Sokka, shrugging.

"While I do appreciate your good wishes, you don't have to say goodbye unless you want to stay here" Azula said, with a small smile "I was certain you wanted to see this mess to the very end…"

Sokka's eyes lit up at that, and he smiled before making his way towards the dragon. Upon Azula's command, Xin Long lowered his body as much as he could to allow Sokka to climb onto his secondary seat with more ease, seeing how he was still healing from his injuries.

"If nothing goes wrong, we'll meet up safely at the Lake" Azula told the others, as Xin Long stood up and got ready to take off "If something does go wrong, Xin Long and I will try to roast whatever stands in our way before you three reach us. In any case, be as quick as you can about this. There's no time to waste"

"I heard you the first time, Jewel" Toph said, nodding before gesturing at Jet and Longshot "C'mon, let's get going"

Sokka settled on his seat, making sure he was in a comfortable position. Azula turned her head around to look at him.

"Let me know if you need Xin Long to slow down or ease his flight at some point" she told him, and Sokka smiled "You are still badly injured, and maybe taking you along isn't that great an idea after all…"

"Don't worry about it" said Sokka, smiling "I don't want to miss out on finding this hideout. And I'm pretty sure Xin Long's smooth flight won't be as crazy as ours was yesterday, right?"

"Let's hope" said Azula, smiling weakly and turning around. After caressing Xin Long's horn, the dragon trotted forward before jumping into the sky, darting upwards elegantly and dazzling everyone who had watched him take off.

"It's not every day that you see a creature like that" Iroh said, smiling before looking at Toph "Good luck, Toph! Try not to break anyone's bones!"

"Can't promise that I won't if I run into the Dai Li!" Toph called back, for she was already walking towards the Palace's entrance, with Jet and Longshot behind her. She lifted a hand as a goodbye towards her sponsor, and Iroh smiled at the sight before entering the Palace's building again, with Rui Shi assisting him.

Jet and Longshot walked behind Toph as she led the way towards the nearest train station. Jet stared at his surroundings with awe and apprehension at the same time.

"It's the first time I've been in Ba Sing… well, that I've been in Ba Sing Se consciously, at least" he said "I'd always thought this city was where everything great about the Earth Kingdom was held. But it's… it's not really what I expected"

"Well, lots of things aren't what you expect, Tree-house boy" Toph said, smirking "I'm not a big fan of this city either, I'll say. But at least I got to beat people up in the Arena, and that sort of makes up for it"

"You're quite a feisty one, aren't you?" said Jet, smiling "You would've been a nice addition to the Freedom Fighters back in the day…"

"Heh? Maybe" said Toph, shrugging "But what would you have needed an earthbender for?"

"Well, to be honest, it probably would have ended up being the other way around" said Jet, chuckling "What could the rest of us possibly do for the best earthbender in the world?"

"Hehe, so I would've become your leader? Sounds cool" Toph replied, smirking "I could've bossed you around all day long, then"

"Probably" Jet admitted "But one of our old friends would've probably fought back if you'd tried to force her to do anything she didn't want to…"

Longshot lowered his head at that and sped up his pace. Jet sighed, and Toph frowned.

"What's the matter with the quiet one?" she asked Jet.

"Well, she was his best friend, is all" said Jet "Her name was Smellerbee. She was one of my fiercest supporters. We don't know what happened to her, nor to Sneers, or the Duke… but I suppose it's better that we don't know"

"Why?" Toph asked, confused.

"Another one of my friends, Pipsqueak…" Jet said, biting his lip "He sacrificed himself to give the Duke a chance to escape the attack by the Fire Nation soldiers and the Dai Li. I hope the Duke escaped thanks to him, but I don't know if he managed to…"

"That's awful" said Toph, swallowing hard "You guys had it pretty rough, huh?"

"I guess so" said Jet, sighing with defeat "But it's already been seven years, apparently. The only thing we can do is hope everyone else is okay. With any luck, the Duke will still be somewhere in the forest, proving he's not someone to mess with"

"Yeah, maybe…" said Toph, before frowning "He had one weird name, though. The Duke? What's with that?"

"Oh, well, it's…" said Jet, smiling and scratching the back of his head. Toph smirked as she figured out the reasoning behind his sudden bashfulness.

"Well, well, seems like someone's has a knack for nicknames" she said, amused "Longshot sounded like a pretty weird name. Smellerbee, Pipsqueak… who would name their kids like that?"

"No one would" said Jet, chuckling "Yeah, you caught me. I gave everyone fake names."

"So I take it Jet's not your real name either, or is it?" Toph asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Maybe it is, maybe it's not" Jet said, enigmatically "We'll never know, will we?"

"Oh, maybe we will" Toph said, smirking "I'm pretty good at figuring out when someone's lying or telling the truth, you know?"

"Sounds like I ought to be careful around you, then" said Jet, smirking as well as they arrived into the train station.

After giving Jet the money to buy the tickets for them, Toph led the two men into the platform, where they soon boarded a train. All three of them sat on the same bench, Longshot remaining silent while Jet came up with a new topic of conversation.

"So…" he said, crossing his arms "The Princess has a dragon, huh?"

"Yeah. I don't know how she got it, or where she found it, so if you want one for yourself I'm sorry to say I can't help you" Toph said, and Jet smiled.

"I didn't want one for myself" he said "I just thought it was a bit weird that the Fire Nation Princess would let her slave ride her dragon…"

"Oh, well, that's just…" said Toph, but she froze mid-sentence. She had only just met Jet, and she had no idea what he might do if she randomly disclosed what she knew about Sokka and Azula's relationship. She wanted to believe he was good-hearted, but she wasn't about to trust him thoughtlessly with information about her two new friends "They're something else, those two. He's her slave alright, but they act like friends instead. It's nice, but weird"

"It is weird. I'd never expect a Princess, let alone a Fire Nation one, to treat someone inferior to her as a friend" said Jet, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't really know why she does that with him" Toph lied, shrugging "But I suppose she's discovered it's more fun to have friends than to treat everyone like garbage, huh? Still, I don't know anything for certain. The three of us haven't always been in good terms. We only started getting along during this trip, and only after some bad rows, too"

"Really?" Jet asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep. After I beat Sokka up the first time I fought him, the two of them seemed to hate me" said Toph, smiling innocently "Can't really blame them for that, I went a bit overboard on him. I let you and Longshot get off easy"

"Huh, so we should have broken bones instead of bruises?" Jet asked, smiling.

"You would if I had gone all out on you" Toph replied, proudly.

"You're really a handful, aren't you?" Jet asked, looking at her with interest.

"Oh, I'd say I'm more than just a handful" Toph declared, smirking "You just don't know me well enough yet"

"And will I get to know you all that well, then?" Jet asked, raising an eyebrow. Longshot huffed with exasperation next to him, but Jet didn't seem to care.

"Huh?" said Toph, blushing a little. This conversation had taken a turn she hadn't quite foreseen, and for once in her life she actually found herself at a loss for words.

Jet chuckled and shook his head as Toph's blush intensified. Was he making fun of her? What the hell did he mean by that just now?

"Never mind" he said, smirking a little. Upon looking at Longshot he found his friend was glaring at him judgmentally, and Jet gave him an apologetic smile "What?"

Longshot rolled his eyes and shook his head before slumping on his seat. The train continued to speed its way through Ba Sing Se, stopping whenever it reached a station. Each stop hindered on their progress, and by the time they were reaching the border of the Inner Wall, Xin Long was already descending on the Royal Barge which, to Azula's relief, seemed to be in perfect state.

"It seems they didn't attack it" she muttered.

"It's pretty weird that they didn't, though" Sokka muttered, frowning as Xin Long landed gently on the ship's deck "They could have delivered plenty of damage by striking down your ship…"

"Hopefully it's because they were too busy chasing after us and Xin Long to attack my Barge… hopefully" Azula said, climbing off the saddle as some guards came rushing towards her.

"Princess!" one of them exclaimed, smiling under his mask "What might you be doing here? Is the Tournament over yet?"

"Are we going home now?" another asked.

"Not quite" said Azula frowning and looking at them sternly "For how long has the Barge been stationed in the Lake by now?"

"Well, three days, give or take, I think" said the first guard "Why?"

"Have you seen any suspicious activity around here? Perhaps some men clad in green, lurking around the Lake?" Azula asked.

"N-no, not really" said the guard, looking at his companion with confusion.

"Nothing has happened in the Lake ever since we got here, Princess" the second guard said.

"Well, nothing you've noticed, at least…" said Azula, as Sokka approached "If they had a chance to destroy all the evidence before we could get here, this will be no use"

"Maybe they haven't destroyed anything yet" said Sokka "Or they have some other entrance to their secret hideout that isn't close to this Lake?"

"I'm actually worried about being in the wrong place" said Azula, sighing "I know the evidence points in this direction, but…"

"What exactly are you talking about, Princess…?" said the second guard, confused.

Azula turned towards them again to explain the situation to them, and the two guards were aghast to hear about everything their Princess had endured during the past few days. While Azula busied herself with that, Sokka wandered the deck of the ship, studying the Lake intently for any evidence that the Dai Li might have left behind.

It took almost an hour for Toph, Jet and Longshot to show up. When they did, Azula and Sokka climbed off the deck to meet them on firm ground.

"Apparently, my men haven't seen the Dai Li around here, but they're willing to drain this lake if it's what it takes to find their lair" Azula told Toph "Still… I'm hoping that won't be necessary"

"No worries, Jewel, it won't be" Toph said, stretching systematically as she got ready to bend.

"Good to know" Jet said "Draining a lake would've taken ages"

"Is that so? And here I thought it'd taken you just a few explosions…" Azula said, turning to look at him with merciless eyes.

"Hey, hey" said Jet, raising his hands defensively "I know what I did was wrong, and I'm not about to blow up Lake Laogai anyways. Especially not when there's a chance my friends are somewhere around here"

"I suppose I'll hold you to your word, then" Azula said, as Jet chuckled.

"You're seriously a cold one, aren't you? Who'd have thought, seeing how you're supposed to be a firebender and all…?"

"Well, she's one very special firebender" said Sokka, interrupting the conversation "And I wouldn't goad her if I were you"

"Goad her? Who said I was goading her?" Jet asked, smirking "I'm merely remarking she's not at all what I expected from a Fire Nation Princess… for better or for worse. No need to get so touchy, I'm not even talking to you"

"I'm… I'm not touchy" Sokka grunted, glaring at Jet "Why would I be touchy?"

"Beats me" said Jet, shrugging "I suppose you're afraid she might want to replace you with me if she realizes I'm more interesting than you"

"What? Why would you be more interesting than me?!" Sokka squeaked, his voice cracking "As if! She wouldn't switch me for the likes of you!"

"And why not? I'm better looking than you, to begin with…"

"Like hell you are!"

Longshot sighed again and shook his head, and Sokka scowled at Jet. What exactly was he up to…?

But to everyone's surprise, Azula's reaction was merely to laugh at their argument. Jet raised an eyebrow and Sokka looked at her worriedly, wondering just what the source of her amusement was, exactly.

"So you want me to exchange you for Sokka, Jet?" she asked, with a malicious smirk "I assure you you'd regret wishing for it as soon as it was done…"

Jet gulped at the look on her face and smiled, uncomfortable.

"M-maybe I'm regretting it already" he said, and Azula laughed again.

"Good to know" she said, before turning towards Toph "Do ignore those idiots and look for that hideout, will you?"

"Already on it, Jewel" Toph said, her toes digging into the earth underneath her.

"Really, though, you're both foolish and you have ridiculously high opinions about yourselves…" Azula said, looking at Jet and Sokka, who glared at each other from the corner of their eyes "Are you sure you're not related to him or something, Sokka? I seem to remember you remarked on my 'ice-cold heart' once, didn't you?"

"Eh… yeah" said Sokka, smiling a little as Jet raised an eyebrow "And you told me mine would be burning coal, huh?"

With that, Sokka's unease seemed was somewhat appeased. Naturally, Azula wouldn't replace him with this guy, of all people. He had flooded a Fire Nation colony, for starters, and their first impression of him had been that he was a total madman. So there was no way Azula would like him better Sokka… right?

"Okay, I've got something" Toph said, and everyone's attention turned towards her "And it's one heck of a something… and it's right there"

And with that, she pointed at the Barge. Azula frowned and stepped forward, looking at the hull of her ship with confusion.

"What exactly are you trying to say, Bandit?"

"I'm saying there's some big-ass tunnel there and your pretty ship was docked right on top of it"

Azula froze at that and looked at Toph, surprised. Sokka stepped forward as well, with a frown on his face.

"S-so you're saying… that the entrance to their hideout is under the ship" Sokka said, his eyes wide before he placed a hand on one of Azula's shoulders "This is why your guards didn't see anything suspicious, because the entrance was covered by the ship and the Dai Li didn't dare do anything fishy while your Barge was in the way!"

"Hopefully" said Azula, frowning "But what if they had other ways to get inside their hideout…?"

"Well, we won't know if they did unless we get in there" said Toph, shrugging "But I do know that I need your pretty boat out of the way if we're going to do this"

It took some time to move the Barge away from the tunnel, but once the way was clear, Toph maneuvered with her earthbending and brought forth a long earthen platform. She walked through it and removed swiftly a rock at the end of the platform, opening the way into the tunnels within the Lake.

"Well, you guys coming or what?" Toph asked the others, and they followed her into the tunnel that led deep under the lake.

The tunnel was long and dark, and it was furnished with a single ladder, which ended at the top of a staircase. Toph was the first to climb down, and Azula followed her. Longshot climbed down after Azula, followed by Jet, and lastly came Sokka. Toph could see her surroundings far better than the rest of them in the dark, so she led the way until they reached the foot of the stairs.

"There's something green there" Sokka said, as they stopped before entering a corridor.

Azula was the one who peeked around the corner, finding that the glow's source were green crystals. She raised an eyebrow and gazed about herself to find there was nobody in the corridor.

"Do you feel anyone's presence, Bandit?" she asked Toph.

"Nope" said Toph "I think there's no one else other than us around here"

"Good, then" said Azula, stepping into the corridor freely now. The others followed her, but some of them did it quite unenthusiastically.

"Nobody's here, you said?" Jet repeated "So my friends aren't here…?"

"I guess not" said Toph, shrugging "Sorry about that, Jet"

Azula looked around, finding archways that led into other rooms, some of them lit by crystals, others completely dark. Longshot stepped ahead, frowning heavily.

"This is where we were" he said, with certainty "This is where they brought us, Jet. I remember these lights"

"Y-yeah," said Jet, frowning as well "The green fire… there was green fire, and I think it was because of the crystals"

"Green fire?" Azula said, surprised "Huh. Well, I suppose mine couldn't be the only unusual one… in any case, Bandit, we're not here just to look around. We need to find the evidence that links the Dai Li and the Rhinos. Can you sense what's in those rooms?"

"Yeah" said Toph, nodding and closing her eyes "What do you want me to find?"

"I'm not completely sure… but I think you should look for objects that don't belong here" Azula said "If this is where the Rhinos brought what they pillaged, what they robbed must be in here somewhere"

"Well… I can't feel anything like that in these rooms" said Toph, shaking her head. Azula gritted her teeth.

"No? Then where the hell did they…?"

"I said not in these rooms" Toph repeated, smirking before stretching her hands forward swiftly.

Her movement opened a passageway on the floor. The tiles moved away as she bent them, revealing another staircase that led even deeper underground.

"Heck, is there no end to this hideout?" Sokka asked, grimacing as they started down this new flight of stairs "I'm starting to feel lightheaded with all this stale air…"

"Sensitive much?" Toph teased him, and Sokka snarled at her "C'mon, Dog. Cheer up. I think we've hit a gold mine…"

Azula frowned when she said that. The stairs weren't illuminated, so it wasn't until she reached the bottom of them that she realized they were at a dead end.

"Gold mine, Dirt Worm? Seriously?" she asked, and Toph snickered.

"A little trust wouldn't hurt, Jewel…" she said, sarcastically, before bending down the wall to their left.

Green light shone over them again, its source the room Toph had just revealed… and Azula's eyes widened when she saw what this room concealed.

"It's here" she said, staring at the mounds of stolen objects "This has to be… it has to be what the Rhinos stole!"

"Really?" Sokka asked, dashing past Longshot and Jet to glance into the room as well.

His eyes spread wide as well when he caught sight of everything inside. Vases, scrolls, cookware, cutlery and several bags of money filled the room in the most disorderly manner. Most the objects weren't especially valuable, but they would have been important possessions for the humble people the Rough Rhinos used to steal from.

"You were right" Sokka said, smiling at the Princess "Azula, you figured it all out! It's done!"

It wasn't until Sokka said those words that Azula realized the importance of their discovery. No longer would they need to worry about the Rough Rhinos' mysterious benefactors, or about the people they had stolen these goods from, for they would be restored to them right away. The Dai Li wouldn't be able to start any more trouble either, for their leader, and most their members, had been locked away. As Sokka had just said, this twisted matter was finally over.

Hours later, all of them were outside by the lake's edge again while soldiers and guards carried the stolen goods out of the Dai Li's hideout. Sokka was happy to breathe fresh air again once they were outside, and he was currently watching as the soldiers came and went, each of them carrying stolen objects. They had decided to have them move everything manually instead of resorting to bending, for moving more walls around might destabilize the hideout's structure, causing the Lake to flood it. So while it was a long, slow process, at the very least it was a safe one.

Azula was talking to the city's governor, who had come out to Lake Laogai after Azula flew back to the Palace on Xin Long's back. Upon hearing the news of their discovery, Tiang had brought his soldiers to the Lake right away, and he was currently assuring Azula that everything they had found would be returned to their rightful owners. Azula had been pleased by his promise, and she had walked towards where Sokka was, near the edge of the Lake. Toph was sitting on a rock, picking her toes again, while Jet and Longshot stood apart from them, talking to one another.

"Tiang will send word to my father to tell him about everything we've discovered" Azula said, smiling at Sokka once she reached him "Which I sure hope will please him. I could use getting back to his good side after I ruined his plans to set me up…"

"Heh" said Sokka, smiling "He should be glad you ruined them. If he had forced you to marry some asshole, we probably wouldn't have joined this Tournament and you would have never discovered the truth about the Dai Li and the Rhinos. So hopefully he'll cut you some slack"

"Hopefully" said Azula, nodding "Though you ought to give yourself some credit, Sokka. If you hadn't pointed me in the right direction, I would've never realized there was a link between the Rhinos and the Dai Li"

"Oh, well" said Sokka, looking at her with a smirk "I guess I did help a bit, but you're the one who figured it all out! So most of the credit ought to stick with you anyways"

"Well, if you refuse to acknowledge your own accomplishments, it's your problem" said Azula, shrugging but smiling at him anyways.

Jet and Longshot were standing not too far from them, discussing something in a low voice. It was mostly Jet who spoke, while Longshot nodded in agreement to what his leader was saying.

"What are you two mumbling over there?" Toph asked Jet and Longshot, pushing herself off the rock. She already knew what they spoke of, having perceived the vibrations of their every word, but she meant for Azula and Sokka to find out what these two were up to.

Jet turned towards them and breathed deeply, his hands on his hips. Longshot stood behind him, his arms crossed.

"We were just trying to figure out what we'd do next" he said "We've lost about seven years of our lives after all, and we hoped to find our friends somehow…"

"Well, there's gotta be a place for you two to start looking for them" said Toph, shrugging "Some of your friends might have gotten away after all. I suppose you should just go back to where you were captured and try to find leads that will lead you to them"

"It'd be good to do that, but…" said Jet, frowning and looking at Azula "Would we be hunted down by the Fire Nation if we simply left right now? I mean… we're supposed to be slaves, aren't we?"

Azula looked at him sternly, studying him carefully. Jet swallowed hard but met her unblinking gaze with his own.

"You were, but your masters can't watch over you two anymore, can they?" said Azula, shrugging "And while I probably should drag you two back to the city and leave you in a slave market, I don't feel like doing that. You're bound to fight back fiercely to the death, because you'd rather die than be someone's slave… and I don't have the time or the patience to deal with rebellious morons right now. Therefore… I suppose you can just go find your friends, if they're actually out there somewhere"

"Huh?" said Sokka, pleasantly surprised "Just like that?"

"Well, what do you want me to do with them?" Azula asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow "I already have enough trying to maintain you, imagine if I decided to take these two as well. It'd be madness"

"I'm not complaining about that, but it's unusual for you to let them off the hook so easily, all things considered…" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, it's not going to be easy" Azula said, turning towards Jet again "Because if I hear so much as a rumor that says you two or your group of friends are causing trouble in the colonies, I'll have no problem flying all the way here to kill you both in the most gruesome manner I can think of. Understood?"

Longshot gulped at that and looked at his leader with worried eyes. Jet seemed surprised by her sudden threat, but he smirked and shrugged, as though Azula's words hardly affected him at all.

"Hell, what did you think we'd do?" he said "Longshot and I aren't up to anything bad, I promise we'll just find our friends"

"You'd better" said Azula, frowning "Will you two be able to survive on your own, then?"

"We did a long time ago" Longshot said "Surely we can do it again"

"Try not to steal to survive, though" said Toph, chuckling "Maybe get a real job or something of the sort"

"It's a possibility" said Jet, smiling "But for now, we're off to find our friends. Once we figure out what happened to everyone we'll settle down someplace, probably. We're not going to attack Fire Nation people anymore… though that doesn't mean I'm happy about what the Fire Nation has been doing during the past few years. But I'll have to figure out a way to fight against it without you finding out, huh, Princess?"

"Oh, well, if you're already confessing you'll use your freedom to fight against the Fire Nation then I suppose I should just lock you up and spare my nation the trouble…" Azula said, shrugging, and Jet grimaced.

"N-no, no, I was just… it was only a joke" he said, and Azula gave him her most unpleasant smile.

"It better be" she said "Well, then, I suppose you two will be taking your leave now?"

"It'd be for the best" said Longshot, nodding.

"Then farewell, and I hope not to hear from either of you ever again" Azula said, smiling with malice. Jet scratched his head at that.

"Such a nice girl, huh?" he said, smiling uncomfortably.

"Hell, she's already being nicer than usual by letting you leave like this" Sokka said, standing up "Anyways, goodbye, Jet. I can't say I'm going to miss you"

"Heh, well, I sure hope to cross paths with you another day, Sokka" said Jet, smirking "I think I owe you a couple of wounds, if my memory doesn't fail me…"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's failing you" said Sokka, an eyebrow twitching.

"Well, I guess I do owe some of them to you" said Jet, turning towards Toph, who smirked on her rock.

"You won't have luck with that any time soon, Tree-house boy" she said "As I told you, I'm the best earthbender in the world"

"And as I said, we could use someone like you" Jet said, smirking "What do you say?"

Toph raised her eyebrows before chuckling and shaking her head.

"Nah. I've got Iroh, and I love beating people up in the ring. So I appreciate the offer, but I'd rather not"

"Well, that's too bad" said Jet, smiling "But if you ever change your mind, I suppose you'll figure out where to find us somehow. I don't know how you do it, but you have some weird skill…"

"Yeah, it's called earthbending" said Toph, snickering as he raised an eyebrow "I may be blind, but with my bending I can see things you'll never even…"

"You… what?" said Jet, frowning "What do you mean, you're blind?"

Toph frowned and lifted her head towards him, a confused frown on her face. She brushed her bangs out of the way, allowing Jet to see her sightless eyes. His eyes widened when he realized she was actually blind.

"You're… you're blind. You're blind!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, what of it? I can still see way better than you half the time" said Toph, dropping her hair again and scowling at Jet.

"I-it's just…" said Jet, still looking at her in disbelief.

"I suppose you're embarrassed that a blind girl beat you to a pulp, then?" Toph asked, smirking now.

"It's not that" said Jet, frowning "I'm just thinking… that if you're blind then you've got no idea just how pretty you are, right?"

Everyone reacted differently upon those words. Longshot struck his forehead with the palm of his hand, completely embarrassed by what Jet had just said. Sokka stared at Jet in utter confusion, wondering why he had felt the urge to say something like that, while Azula raised her eyebrows and looked at Toph with amusement. And, naturally, Toph was blushing wildly.

"W-what the… what the fuck is wrong with you?!" she asked, jumping off her rock and bending the dirt under Jet's feet to push him away from her. Jet chuckled.

"Nothing's wrong with me! I'm just speaking my mind!" he said, but Toph continued to push him away.

"Well, maybe you should shut up about what you think once in a while!" she shouted, growing even more flustered "Now get out of here if you know what's good for you, dammit!"

Jet laughed at that and waved at them one last time as he started his way down the edge of the Lake. Longshot nodded curtly in their direction before following his friend, and soon the pair of them were gone from sight as they made their way to the walls of Ba Sing Se.

Azula placed a hand on Toph's shoulder, noticing the girl still was blushing, although she didn't seem too irritated anymore. Sokka glanced at her as well, an eyebrow raised.

"You alright there?" he asked, and the girl sighed.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, it's just… well, he's a crazy one, is all" she muttered, her blush intensifying.

"Who'd think you'd get so embarrassed" said Sokka, chuckling and earning himself a stomp on his foot "Ow! You crazy…! Ow!"

"You asked for it!" Toph retorted, a punch lifted in Sokka's direction.

"Well, you needn't worry about Jet anymore" Azula said, patting Toph's shoulder "He's gone now"

"Yeah, well, he is…" said Toph, biting her lip "And now that he is, I guess I can ask you, Jewel… does he look half as good as he sounds?"

Sokka's jaw dropped while Azula raised her eyebrows with amusement. She glanced at Sokka to find he seemed to be completely clueless as to what sounded so good about Jet, and with a smirk she replied to Toph's question.

"Well, he seems like a bit of a womanizer to me" Azula confessed "But truth to be told, if I weren't a Princess, you might have some competition over him…"

"What the…?! WHAT?!" Sokka squealed, now even more indignant as Toph laughed.

"Ahahah! I knew he had to be good!" she exclaimed, beaming.

"What the hell?! There's nothing worth competing about!" Sokka exclaimed, looking at Azula with utter disbelief, a tic on his left eye. Azula merely smiled at him, beyond amused by his reaction "He's an idiot! Didn't you hear the things he said?!"

"Well, I'm sorry but she was only asking what he looked like…" Azula said, shrugging "It's not my fault that he's handsome…"

"Handsome…?! You think he's handsome?!" Sokka squeaked, his voice cracking again. The sound caused Azula to start laughing as she started walking towards the soldiers that apparently were almost finished with their task "He's not handsome, he's… common! Lame-looking, even! What's so handsome about him, huh, huh?!"

"Well, I don't know but it doesn't feel like the Jewel's lying, so he must be handsome indeed…" said Toph, beaming.

"Like hell he is! He's plain and shameless and he nearly killed me once!"

"Curiously, the same could be said about you" Azula said, smiling widely "You're plain too, and beyond shameless, really, and you also were close to killing him, so…"

"I-it's not the same thing! For crying out loud, Azula!" he exclaimed, blushing as he tried to figure out what was it exactly about Jet that he just couldn't stand…

Azula smirked, pleased by his reaction. She couldn't deny a certain part of her was quite relieved to find he could be irrationally jealous, all the same as she had been recently. But that single thought reminded her of what had spurred her jealousy several weeks ago, and it made her think of what awaited her now that the Tournament was over.

Granted Sokka would have to stay in Ba Sing Se to heal properly for some time, but they would have to return to the Fire Nation eventually. And while that thought would have pleased Azula to no end under different circumstances, for once she actually didn't feel like coming home…


	80. Chapter 80

Sokka spent the rest of the day grumbling under his breath. He shot pouty glares at Azula once in a while, and she only responded with smirks and raised eyebrows. He averted his gaze at that again, still muttering bitter words about how dislikeable Jet was, and how he didn't understand why Azula couldn't see it. Azula's amusement only increased when she caught wind of what he was saying, and even when he skulked to his room in the Palace after dinner, his hands in his pockets after giving her one last irritable look, the Princess couldn't stop smirking.

"Seems like you hit him where it hurts, huh?" said Toph, raising her eyebrows as she followed Azula down the hall, when dinner was over.

"Indeed" said Azula, smiling "He's too proud for his own good"

"The same could be said about you, though" said Toph, smirking.

"And you" Azula replied, giving her a meaningful look. Toph beamed.

"Yeah, true enough" said Toph "It's weird that the three of us have managed to get along so well the past few days despite our pride, eh?"

"I'd blame it on the stressful situation and on that alone" said Azula "Circumstances of the sort can bring people together in unexpected ways"

"Sounds like you know a lot about that, huh?" said Toph, smirking.

Azula frowned and glared at the girl as they neared Azula's bedroom in this Palace. Whatever Toph was implying, it sure didn't sound good.

"And what do you mean by that, Bandit?" Azula muttered under her breath, and Toph chuckled.

"C'mon, why so grouchy, Spicy?" said Toph, smiling "You know I know all about how you two…"

With a swift movement, Azula covered Toph's mouth before tossing her into the bedroom. The earthbender was stunned by the Princess's bold actions, and she was even more bewildered when Azula shut the door behind them brusquely.

"Woah, what the hell are you trying to pull on me, Jewel? I was just teasing you, no need to react like this!" Toph said, grimacing.

"I wouldn't have reacted like this if only you had enough common sense not to talk at leisure about things you shouldn't" Azula snapped, glaring at Toph "This is Ba Sing Se's Palace, in case you didn't realize it"

"Well, I do realize it but it's not like there are ears on the walls, are there?" said Toph, smirking "If you were worried someone might have heard us, you can relax. I can sense if people are nearby, Jewel, and they're not. So I'm free to tease you all I want about how you and Sokka totally have the hots for one another!"

"You're just…" said Azula, huffing in irritation as Toph smiled.

"Honestly, I don't get why either of you bother denying it. It's so obvious…"

"Oh really? And what gives us away so blatantly, pray tell?" Azula asked, rolling her eyes.

"Well, not everyone would be able to tell, true enough" Toph acknowledged "But I have my ways to pick up on it. People's bodies react differently depending on how they're feeling, Spicy. And I can sense your vibrations no problem, so I can tell there's the smallest change in your body and behavior whenever he's around. Granted, it's not as clear with you as it is with him, but there's a difference all the-…"

"Wait" said Azula, staring at Toph with wide eyes. Toph raised an eyebrow at the interruption and Azula gulped "What do you mean, that it's clearer with him?"

"Well, you've got a great deal of control over your body" Toph said, shrugging "I don't know how you do it, but I only started sensing the differences in your behavior after you and Sokka plummeted through the roof the other day. Before that, it was really subtle"

"But it's not as subtle with him…?" Azula asked. Toph chuckled.

"Yeah, well, he's not exactly a subtle guy overall, is he? The guy's heart races whenever you enter the same room he's in. Pretty much all he ever talks about is you, too. Doesn't hurt either that I found the pair of you in bed together…"

"Oh, for crying out loud…" said Azula, sighing and looking away. She had forgotten about that by now "Don't say it like that"

"Ha, why not?" said Toph, chuckling "Don't like to hear it how it is, Jewel? Because I did find you two in bed, in case you forgot!"

"Just don't say it in that tone" Azula growled, glaring at Toph "It's almost as though you were implying that we were…"

"What, fucking? Oh, nah" said Toph, smiling while Azula grimaced "I know better. If you'd fucked, I probably would've heard some pretty disturbing sounds during the night, and I'd like to think that you two aren't as reckless as to do that while your uncle sleeps in the next room… or are you?"

"Why, no, I'm not" Azula snapped "Because as it turns out, there has been no intercourse between us whatsoever. So do me a favor and stop making it sound as though there had been"

"What? None at all? Jeez, Spicy, that's lame" said Toph, chuckling "No wonder the tension between you is as thick as it is, eh?"

"When I want your opinion on the subject, Dirt Worm, I'll ask for it" Azula growled.

"Dang, no need to be so stingy" said Toph, pouting, but Azula stepped forward, glaring down at her fiercely.

"In fact, it'd seem I have every need to be stingy" she muttered "I already told you to keep your mouth shut about this, but here you are, bringing it up again…"

"Hey, you don't have to threaten me into silence if that's what you planned to do" said Toph, lifting her hands in gesture of surrender "Teasing you sure is lots of fun, and the same goes for teasing your Dog, but that doesn't mean I'll tell anyone about this. That'd be really shitty of me to do, considering everything you two have done for me"

Azula frowned, still unconvinced despite the warm smile on Toph's features. Azula couldn't remember having seen her smile like that before.

"So there's a shred of dignity in you, then?" she asked Toph, raising an eyebrow "Impressive"

"Saying insulting stuff like that might change my mind about this matter, though" said Toph, an eyebrow twitching. Azula's eyes narrowed.

"That would be your undoing and yours alone, Bandit"

"I doubt it, but anyways, I really don't want to ruin your life" said Toph, smiling "Nor his. You two are more fun than I ever expected you to be"

"Is that so?" Azula asked.

"Yeah, I'm not proud to admit I misjudged you two, but yeah" said Toph "Back when we first met, I really didn't get a good impression of either one of you. I thought he was useless and pathetic, and I figured you were a pampered Princess who had no idea what she'd gotten herself into with the Gladiator League. But hearing stuff about your partnership with him kind of started to change my mind about you. When I returned for my next fight after beating Sokka to a pulp, I heard people talking about how you'd carried him out of the Arena… and that was the weirdest thing I'd ever heard, coming from a sponsor. After that, I got a bit more curious about you two… and while sure, the Dog has gotten stronger and he's finally starting to seem like an interesting adversary, the one who always intrigued me more was you"

Azula's unease started to fade as Toph spoke. She stared at the girl with a mild frown on her face, rather confused by what she was confessing.

"You know, Jewel, we're both cut from the same cloth, if you get what I mean" said Toph, chuckling "Both highborn, both tougher than everyone else around us… and both of us are often underestimated and taken to be less than what we are. Which I guess is a given, because this world had never seen two girls as awesome as the two of us before, huh?"

Azula raised an eyebrow at that, but she was slightly amused by Toph's cockiness.

"I suppose not" she said, and Toph beamed.

"Iroh didn't say much about you, he was always talking about Zuko instead" said Toph "But I didn't let his opinion about Zuko become my own. I reached my own conclusions about him when I met him in person, and I decided to do the same with you. Still… I guess I hardly knew you before these few days, huh? I'd always had the feeling you were seriously something… and I was right"

"Well, of course you were" said Azula, matter-of-factly, and Toph chuckled "Though I will say it surprises me that you'd rather reach your own conclusions than stick to what Iroh says"

"It's part of being friends, I think" said Toph, smiling "Even if we don't agree on everything, we respect each other's decisions and opinions. It's a weird thing for me, I'll admit, because Iroh is probably the first friend I ever made… but he really has been a great friend so far"

"And… you two manage to accept one another, just like that?" Azula asked "You don't want to change the other, nor do you fight…?"

"Eh… not really, no" said Toph, shrugging and shaking her head "I guess it's got to be confusing for you, seeing how you and Sokka always have something to argue about, it seems. But you guys are friends too anyways… though probably more than friends, if you ask me"

"Would you stop?" Azula grunted, as Toph smiled widely.

"Fine, fine" she said, chuckling "Still, you and Sokka might be my newest friends now, huh? It sounds weird… but I'd like to think so"

"Are you asking me if we're friends?" Azula muttered, grimacing. She sure wasn't good for this sort of talk.

"Not really, I'm pretty much establishing we are, regardless of your opinion!" said Toph, smirking and patting Azula's shoulder. The Princess's eyebrow twitched but she smiled.

"So this means you'll be accepting both me and Sokka as we are? Hard to believe" said Azula.

"Why would it be hard?" Toph asked "It's real fun bickering with you two! And I really enjoy teasing you, as you already know… but I'll have to come up with new ways to mess with you both. I already switched your figurines, so I should think of something else now"

"Ugh… that" said Azula, glaring at Toph "You do know you shouldn't have done that, don't you?"

"Why so against it?" Toph asked, smiling "It was just a fun thing to do, don't take it to the heart, Spicy!"

"Why, fun it was" Azula said, sarcastically, as she put her hand in her pocket "But it's not so much fun anymore, is it?"

Toph raised an eyebrow as Azula opened her palm in front of Toph to reveal a fistful of dirt.

"What would I be looking at if I could see, Jewel…?" Toph asked, confused.

"What's left of the wolf statue, that's what" Azula replied, frowning "If you hadn't switched them, I wouldn't have pocketed this one as we raced out of the inn, and I wouldn't have crushed it at some point during our fun flights from the Dai Li"

"Oh… woops" said Toph, smiling "Well, turns out I'm just the girl to fix this, Jewel"

Toph lifted her hands and started bending the earth on Azula's hand. Some of the clay had stayed in Azula's pocket, and Toph also pulled it out as she started molding the figure again. Azula's eyes widened as she watched how the blind earthbender rebuilt the wolf statue.

"I'm not sure if this is exactly what it looked like, but it's what it felt like when I touched it" said Toph, handing it over to Azula "Is it good like this?"

"A-actually…" said Azula, surprised "That's pretty close to the original, yes. Thank you, I guess"

"No need to thank me for that" said Toph, smiling "You've done more for me than I could repay. Repairing that thing is just a start"

"Oh, really?" said Azula, amused "So I guess this means you're indebted to me…?"

"Eh, don't take your chances with me, Jewel" said Toph, proudly "I'm not about to repay you by purposefully losing against your Dog or something stupid of the sort, if that's what you expected me to do"

"I wasn't going to ask for that, a victory under those conditions would be meaningless. But I do enjoy knowing I might have the chance to cash out an important favor from you one day"

"Yeah, well, don't get too excited" Toph said, folding her arms in front of her chest as Azula smiled at the wolf in her hands.

But the smile soon waned as she started thinking about what she'd done recently with the favors other people had owed her. She had Zuko pay her by taking Sokka to a fight, and afterwards she had sent Ty Lee on a mission Azula couldn't be more uneasy about. Would the favor she had earned from Toph be something she could truly enjoy for once? She dreaded thinking it probably wouldn't be…

"Very well, then, I'll hold you to those words" said Azula, shrugging and pocketing the wolf again "Perhaps I'll find something awful for you to do for me by the time we're back in the Capital"

"Yeah, about that…" said Toph, biting her lower lip "Iroh and I won't be going back with you two"

"Huh?" Azula said, raising an eyebrow.

"Y-you see…" said Toph, smiling "I'm going to Gaoling. With my parents"

Azula's eyes widened again and she looked at the earthbender with confusion and curiosity. Toph was blushing weakly, but smiling still.

"Are you, now?" Azula asked.

"Yeah. Not forever, though" said Toph "I'll be back in the Capital eventually, but I talked about this to Iroh before dinner, and he thinks it might be nice to go to Gaoling after all. And while I didn't think I'd ever want to return there, I feel differently now…"

"Well, that's…. good, actually" said Azula, smiling as well "Learned to think of your parents differently after all, Bandit?"

"Yeah. You were right about a lot of things, Jewel" said Toph "I was being quite a coward by not facing them. I'm sorry I dragged you and Sokka into this… I never meant for that to happen. But I guess I'm a bit glad about it, after all. Without it, we wouldn't be friends now, would we?"

"Are we?" Azula asked again, raising her eyebrows but smiling teasingly.

"Well, sure! You're my first female friend ever, you know?" Toph declared, trying to punch Azula's shoulder, but the Princess caught the fist in midair. To her surprise, Toph seemed delighted by that "Ha! See, this is exactly why I like you, Jewel!"

Azula laughed at that, and so did Toph, who didn't seem to be about to stop smiling.

"When will you two leave, though?" Azula asked, after letting go of the earthbender's fist.

"In a couple of days, I guess" said Toph "And this way we'll give you and your lover boy a lot of time for yourselves, eh?"

Azula rolled her eyes at that and Toph laughed again. Nevertheless, Azula still smiled as well. It really was hard to believe that things had ended so well between her and the Bandit. Azula had always been rather hostile to her after what she had done to Sokka on their first encounter, but right now she actually felt comfortable around the blind earthbender. And it seemed to be a mutual feeling.

Toph and Iroh's departure happened a week after Toph's conversation with Azula. The Beifongs were ready to take their daughter back home once Iroh's ankle was close to healing fully.

"Make sure you keep using those crutches" Azula told her uncle, as she and Sokka bid farewell to both Iroh and Toph at the Palace's entrance "All your recovery will go to waste if you don't, and you'll have no one to blame for it but yourself"

"I know, Azula, I know" said Iroh, smiling "No need to worry, I will be perfectly fine"

"I'm only saying it for your sake" Azula said, shrugging "It's your foot, not mine"

Iroh laughed at that and patted his niece's shoulder. Azula raised an eyebrow but nodded in his direction. Iroh beamed at her before bowing down, his right fist pressed against his left palm.

"It was my pleasure and honor to have you for a partner this tournament, my niece" he said, before rising again.

"I'm sure it was…" Azula muttered, though she was having a hard time concealing her surprise. Those were probably the nicest words she'd ever heard from her uncle, because, for once, she knew he meant them.

"As for you, make sure to get better soon" said Iroh, patting Sokka's shoulder next. Sokka smiled and dropped a hand on his back as well.

"And you make sure to lose some weight. I might not be able to hold on to you next time we're escaping from an army of earthbenders on the back of a dragon, huh?" said Sokka, and Iroh laughed loudly.

"Well, I hope we won't need to escape from anything else any time soon, huh, Iroh?" Toph said, approaching them with a smile. She had been with her parents, thanking General Tiang for his troubles.

"So long as you don't have anyone else chasing after you, I don't think we'll have to" said Iroh, smiling before limping towards the Governor, leaving Toph to speak with Azula and Sokka.

"It was one hell of a crazy trip, no kidding… but I have to say I liked it" Toph said, smiling "Despite the messed-up things, you two were real fun to hang with"

"Even with all those arguments?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow, and Toph chuckled.

"Precisely because of all those arguments!" she exclaimed, punching his shoulder again. Sokka's eyes widened as her fist came into contact with his arm, and he rubbed the soon-to-be bruised area while glaring at Toph.

"You're never going to stop doing that, are you?" he asked, and she laughed.

"It was fun fighting alongside you, Sokka" she said "The next time we meet in an Arena, we'll probably be enemies… but it's nice to know we were friends for a while, huh?"

"I guess" said Sokka, smiling a little too "Take care of yourself, Toph"

"You too, Dog" she said, before turning to Azula.

Azula stared at her with a raised eyebrow, ready to counter anything the girl might say to tease her about her relationship with Sokka, for she guessed that was what Toph would talk about… but she was greatly surprised when the blind girl smiled warmly and embraced her.

Sokka raised an eyebrow and stared at them with amusement while Azula's face flushed. Her arms were held out awkwardly as Toph hugged her, and she glanced at Sokka with panic-ridden eyes. He couldn't help but laugh at that before Azula patted Toph's back uncomfortably, swallowing hard while trying to make sense out of the earthbender's gesture.

"Thanks for everything" Toph said, as Azula grimaced.

"I… don't think there's anything to thank me for. I didn't want to do half of what I did for you" Azula muttered, and Toph chuckled before pulling away.

"Well, doesn't matter if you wanted to or not, because you did it anyways" said Toph, smiling "So thanks again, you two. I'll see you both again in the Fire Nation, eh?"

"Sure thing" said Sokka, smiling.

"Have a nice trip" Azula muttered, almost insecurely "And try not to drive your parents crazy"

"What, me? It'll be the other way around, Jewel, you'll see!" said Toph, chuckling as she waved goodbye at them and turned towards where Iroh was currently bidding farewell to Tiang.

The Beifongs and Iroh climbed onto a carriage once all goodbyes had been said and done. Tiang and the few people who had come to escort him reentered the Palace, but Sokka and Azula stayed outside, watching the carriage until it was gone from sight. Sokka sighed heavily by then, and Azula looked at him with a crooked eyebrow.

"And there they go, huh?" he said, smiling.

"Finally" Azula said "It's somewhat relieving to watch them go. I can't believe this mess is finally over"

"Yeah, without a doubt this one's going to be one of the weirdest adventures we've had up to date" said Sokka "Can't say it was all bad… but I could use having uneventful trips once in a while"

"I don't think they'll ever be uneventful when they involve you, for better or for worse" Azula said, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms. Sokka chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess so" he said, but when he turned to look at her his smile froze and he soon pouted again. Azula smirked at that before rolling her eyes.

"Still hanging onto that stupid matter, aren't you? Here I was thinking you seemed to have forgotten it at last…"

"I-it's… I'm not hanging onto anything" Sokka mumbled, looking away from her, still pouting "I just don't get it, but whatever. Your problem if you like that guy, even though you barely know him…"

"Ah, it is a problem indeed" Azula said, sighing dramatically "I've only seen him twice in my life, but I'm convinced he's the one, you see. It will take time for my father to accept our union, but I'm certain he'll come around eventually. Our children will be firebenders, but they'll inherit his destructive instincts, so they'll burn the entire world down while the two of us watch them, beaming with pride…"

Sokka's eyebrow twitched as Azula stared dreamily into the horizon.

"What a neat little family…" he said, gritting his teeth. Azula looked at him through narrow eyes.

"Please don't tell me you took that seriously"

"Heh, for all I know, you might have said it seriously!" Sokka squeaked, and Azula laughed.

But to Sokka's surprise, she leaned towards him and appeased his bad mood by pressing her lips to his cheek. Sokka froze in place, and it was his turn to blush now as Azula pulled away.

"You're such an idiot"

She walked away with that, and he was sure he glimpsed a smile on her face. He bit his lower lip and smiled too, despite himself. Maybe he ought to forget that little part of their trip… for all he knew, Azula had only said that to spite him. Her amusement implied as much. But it didn't bother Sokka to be a source of amusement for her at all. She had been so angry at him back when this journey had started that it relieved Sokka to no end to see she was happy around him again. He only hoped she would stay in good spirits by the time they returned to the Fire Nation Capital…

* * *

"… So that officer refused to let us through the river unless we gave him the proper clearance form" said Zuko, sighing "And it turns out we could only get a clearance form through him, but he refused to help us"

"Uh-oh" said Suki, smiling a little "But you needed to get through the river, right?"

"If I wanted to check out the nearby fishing village for the Avatar, then yes, I did" said Zuko, nodding "But without that form, I wasn't going anywhere"

"So what did you do?" Suki asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, it's… a bit of a secret" he said, smiling "You're not going to rat me out, are you?"

"Not likely" she said, chuckling "Who would I possibly rat you out to?"

"Right" said Zuko, laughing too "Well… turns out that I had this blue theater mask, and I figured I could use it to conceal my features. So I dressed up all in black, put on the mask, took my dao swords and snuck into that watch tower at night. I did my best to be careful, and I headed straight to his office. I took a clearance form, brought it back with me to the ship… and the next morning he had no other choice but to let us through"

"Well, damn" said Suki, chuckling "Aren't you a troublemaker"

"Not really" said Zuko, smiling "Yeah, I trespassed and stole a sheet of paper, but that's nothing. It was fun to see the look on that guy's face, though"

"I bet" said Suki.

"My uncle was a bit confused on how I'd gotten the clearance, and so was that guy" said Zuko "I told them I'd sent a message to a nearby town and gotten a form sent to me. It was a pretty stupid story and it really made no sense, but the officer had no way to prove I'd stolen it"

"Sounds like he was really annoying, huh?" said Suki, smiling sympathetically "Well, I'm glad you managed to get the better of him. But, say… you mentioned dao swords?"

"Yeah" said Zuko, nodding "I learned how to use them when I was young"

"That's nice" said Suki "I never learned how to use those. I was only taught how to use katanas"

"And you sure knew how to use them" said Zuko, grinning "When did you start learning how to use them?"

"When I was eight-yeard-old" said Suki "All Kyoshi Warriors started their training at that age"

"Kyoshi Warrior, huh?" said Zuko, raising his single eyebrow "Could you tell me more about that? I-if you want, that is"

Suki smiled and dropped her gaze. There were things she wasn't ready to disclose yet, but her life in Kyoshi Island wasn't one of them.

Almost two months had passed since Ty Lee had found Suki. She had been improving greatly, though some wounds had yet to heal. She actually doubted her broken rib would get any better, but it seemed there was nothing to be done about it. She ate bigger meals now, and she was finally regaining some weight. Being washed on a daily basis also helped Suki feel better, and her mood had improved greatly over time. But other than when she had to take baths, Suki hardly ever climbed off the bed where she currently was lying on. She hadn't left the room since being brought into it: she didn't want to leave her personal haven. She guessed she might one day… but not yet. Not right now. Not when she was talking to Zuko.

He had come to see her every day without fail. He left after a few hours, though it seemed he didn't quite want to go anywhere, but he believed she needed her space. Suki was thankful for his thoughtfulness, but she actually enjoyed her conversations with him far more than she had ever thought she might. She found the stories of what he'd done during his banishment quite fascinating: she didn't care if he had found the Avatar or not, for she enjoyed hearing about every place he had been to. She had spent most her life in Kyoshi Island, and she had come to the Capital to fight as a gladiator some years ago, but she had always dreamt of seeing the world. Zuko's tales spurred her interest in what lay beyond her four walls… though that wasn't enough to bring her out of her room yet. But knowing there were still so many wonders for her to see in this world made Suki feel much better.

She looked at Zuko again, to find he was fidgeting, playing with his thumbs. She smiled at the sight of him before answering his question, to his surprise and delight.

"The Kyoshi Warriors were a group of girls who followed on the teachings and footsteps of Avatar Kyoshi" Suki started "They were amazing. They protected my hometown, and everyone felt safe thanks to them. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to join, and when I was old enough, I did. My gladiator outfit was a tribute to my old Kyoshi Warrior uniform. I learned so much back when I was a Warrior…"

"Including how to use a katana, huh?"

"Yeah. Eventually I was helping teach new girls, too" said Suki, smiling "It was nice to have new recruits… though it all got a bit scary when I was chosen to be their leader"

"Woah. You were their leader?" Zuko asked, his eyes widening.

"Yeah. It was a great honor" said Suki "But… didn't do much good for me to be a leader by the time the Fire Nation's forces arrived"

Zuko swallowed hard and dropped his gaze, biting his lower lip.

"I'm sorry. D-did they…?"

"They only burned some of the town, not all of it" Suki said, with a sigh "Still, it was pretty bad. But there's nothing to be done about it anymore"

"Yeah, I guess not" said Zuko, looking at her guiltily.

"I always did like the training sessions, though" she said, smiling again "I miss my gear, to tell you the truth. I had a set of katanas I'd brought with me from Kyoshi Island… I'm glad I had more than one, seeing how I got one of them cut in half. But well, I… don't have them anymore"

"Yeah, you… you don't" muttered Zuko, thoughtful.

"It's alright, though" said Suki, smiling "I don't feel up to the task of beating people up nowadays. It's better if I just…"

"Don't you think you might need them?" said Zuko "I mean… you're going back to the Gladiator League one day, aren't you?"

"Well, not until next year, I'm not" said Suki "By then I can find new weapons, if I must"

"Right" said Zuko, dropping his gaze.

"Don't worry about me, Zuko" said Suki, stretching towards her nightstand to pick up a glass of water "There's still plenty of time to think about the future"

"There is, I guess, but…" said Zuko, yet he stopped talking when she winced, pained by her ribs. He jumped to his feet as Suki recoiled, a hand on her flank as she grimaced "Are you okay?"

"It's… the usual thing" she said, smiling weakly "Don't worry…"

Zuko sighed heavily and reached for the glass of water she had been trying to take. He handed it to her after refilling it with water from a jug on the night stand. Suki reached out for it, but she flinched again when her fingers brushed against his.

Zuko had been holding the glass with a steady grip, but he almost tilted it over the bed accidentally when she pulled away so brusquely. He blinked a few times before realizing what had happened.

Suki dropped her gaze, her eyes wide as she breathed heavily. She didn't want to recoil from him. She hadn't meant to do that. But her body had moved on its own accord, regardless if she knew Zuko was only handing her a glass of water. It seemed she wasn't feeling as well as she had thought…

Zuko said nothing, though. He only placed the glass at the edge of the nightstand, at arm's length from Suki, so she would be able to reach it without help now.

"I'm sorry…"

"No" he said, shaking his head before sitting down again "Don't be. It's on me"

"N-no, it's…" Suki said, looking at him with dread in her eyes, but Zuko only gave her a sad smile.

"It's fine" he told her "Don't worry. It's not like we broke the glass or anything. If we had then we'd be in trouble, but that didn't happen"

She gulped and nodded, but his words weren't enough to make her feel better. How was she supposed to stop worrying when she couldn't even graze his fingers accidentally without controlling her body's response? And despite what he was saying, she could see the pain in his eyes. As much as nothing bad had happened, her reaction still had hurt him. And she didn't want to hurt him. He was the first real friend she had made in ages. Sure, Mai and Ty Lee also came into her room to talk to her, but they didn't stay with her as long as Zuko did. They didn't make her smile as often either.

Zuko was making great efforts to cheer her up, constantly. And Suki felt like an idiot for not showing him just how much she appreciated that. Without him, she surely wouldn't have progressed as much as she had, so the last thing she ought to do was pull away when they touched accidentally.

As he left her room a short while later, Suki frowned with determination. She would show Zuko how much his influence had helped her. She'd stop recoiling from him, even though she wasn't completely sure she could do that, but she would do her very best anyhow. It was time to leave the past where it belonged, and to start looking for a future beyond the room she had hidden in for far too long.

* * *

Sokka sighed with bliss when he saw the Capital's port looming ahead. They had spent two weeks traveling back to the Fire Nation, after spending a month in Ba Sing Se while he healed from his injuries. He almost felt fine now, though his back still bothered him at times, but he figured he would be back in the ring again in no time.

The ship docked soon enough, and the sailors and guards rushed both above and below deck as they made sure everything was in order. Sokka merely watched them without much interest, standing beside Xin Long as the dragon amused himself by casting blazes into the air.

Azula appeared on deck after a while, walking through the ship with steady footing as she headed towards both Sokka and Xin Long. Sokka lifted a hand in greeting, though it probably was a farewell instead.

"I take it you'll be going to your house now?" Azula asked him, as Xin Long moved towards her, pressing his head to her hand as she stroked his hair.

"Yeah, I think Song ought to have a look at my wounds" said Sokka "I've spent two weeks now without getting them checked, so she probably should have a look at them right away"

"Well, make sure not to overexert yourself on the way home" Azula said, looking at him earnestly "Else you might end up ruining all your progress… in fact, maybe we ought to give you a lift, to avoid any possible mishaps. Xin Long and I will be setting out to the Palace soon, so…"

"No need, no need" said Sokka, smiling "You've got to meet your dad and talk about important stuff, don't you?"

"Well…" said Azula, sighing, and Sokka chuckled.

"Everything will be fine" he said "I'm sure he'll be thrilled about what you discovered. He'll probably have forgotten everything about your birthday feast by now"

"Hopefully" said Azula. Though she, for one, wasn't about to forget that particular day any time soon…

"I suppose I'll see you again tomorrow, huh?" said Sokka, smiling "Sword practice and all…"

"Only if Song gives you her approval for that" said Azula, sternly "As I said, I don't want your wounds getting any worse out of recklessness"

"Come on, Azula, I'll be fine" Sokka said, smiling "Besides, you sure need the training. You must be getting rusty, after all this time without using your sword. You didn't even bring it to the trip!"

"No, I didn't" Azula acknowledged "I probably should have. Cutting up the Dai Li might have been fun…"

"And that's exactly why teaching you how to use swords might have been a bad idea, but never mind" Sokka muttered, before chuckling again "Anyhow, you'll be waiting for me with Wolf's bane by tomorrow, I take it?"

"If you insist" said Azula, though she smiled as well. It was relieving that he'd want to meet her again only on the day after their return home.

"Well, then…" he said, bowing his head towards her "See-…"

"Gladiator!"

Both Azula and Sokka were startled when his farewell was interrupted by the least expected person. Azula raised an eyebrow as Rui Shi trotted towards them, his attention on Sokka.

"Yes?" said Sokka, looking at the guard with confusion.

"I, uh…" started Rui Shi, clearing his throat "If it's alright with you, Princess, I mean to escort the gladiator home"

Azula gaped at Rui Shi in utter disbelief, and Sokka's reaction was quite similar to hers. Only, he also exclaimed:

"What the hell?!"

Rui Shi flushed, but his mask kept both the Princess and Sokka from seeing his red cheeks.

"I only meant to… to ensure he'll arrive safely" he muttered, nervously.

Azula frowned, noticing he was lying right away. Why would Rui Shi lie, though? What could be his actual intent? Surely it wouldn't be anything bad, though… the man was loyal and good-mannered, if anything. He wasn't about to murder Sokka in cold blood as they made their way to his house, was he?

"Why, that's… awfully considerate of you" Azula said, blinking blankly "I suppose you're free to do that, then, if you're really that worried about him. Odd, though, that you don't mean to tail me as usual… but I'd rather you don't, actually. Very well, go with Sokka"

"W-wait, but this is creepy, I don't think I want to go with…" Sokka said, grimacing, as Rui Shi grabbed his shoulder and directed him to the ship's ramp.

"Move, gladiator" Rui Shi commanded, and Sokka stared at Azula with a horror-struck grimace on his face.

"Azula! He's acting weird! Don't send me with him!" he exclaimed, and the Princess merely shrugged innocently, to Sokka's chagrin.

Azula smiled as she watched them leave, and only when she couldn't follow them with her gaze anymore did she turn towards Xin Long again. After patting his snout a couple of times and letting him know she meant to make for the Palace, Azula turned to the staff of the Barge and commanded them to unload the ship and to bring her possessions back home right away. After making sure her orders would be followed, she climbed onto Xin Long's saddle and together they soared their way into the Fire Nation's Royal Palace.

Fire Lord Ozai awaited by the steps that led into the Palace, with Imperial Guards standing beside him as he watched the dragon in the sky with a proud smirk. Xin Long descended on the walkway that led into the Palace, and Azula climbed off the saddle, telling Xin Long to rest in his refuge while she spoke with her father. Xin Long groaned happily and pressed against her one last time before prancing away, his sights set on his refuge, which had been empty for far too long.

Azula turned towards her father now, and relief washed over her when she saw the smile on his face. It wasn't a warm smile – were they ever? – but it was a proud one. And that was a good sign, if anything.

"Welcome home, Princess Azula" he said, eloquently, as Azula climbed the steps to the entrance to meet him.

"It's my pleasure to be back, Father" Azula replied, as Ozai chuckled.

"I'd hope so. I am quite eager to hear about your tale this time around, Azula" he said "It would seem every new trip you take to the Earth Kingdom is more fruitful than the previous one. I received Governor Tiang's message, and I cannot quite convey how pleased I am by your accomplishments, my daughter"

"I'm glad to hear that" Azula said, smiling at him as he ushered her inside "Though I have to admit, most of it happened by strokes of luck this time around"

"Why, I would most enjoy to hear the story all the same" Ozai insisted, and Azula nodded as they headed towards his study.

Azula explained what had happened in Ba Sing Se to her father, while naturally omitting certain parts of the story that she knew her father wouldn't appreciate. Nonetheless, she did her best to explain the entire situation thoroughly to Ozai, who smiled widely by the time she was finished.

"It would seem that, for once, my brother proved to be useful somehow" Ozai concluded.

"I'd say it was more because of his gladiator that we managed to discover what we did, and not so much because of Iroh" Azula said "Nevertheless, hadn't he hired her in the first place, we wouldn't have discovered anything to begin with"

"And what you discovered was truly remarkable, my daughter" said Ozai, smirking "Not only did you find out who the Rough Rhinos' mysterious benefactors were, but in doing so, you thwarted a potential rebellion the Dai Li could have stirred against General Tiang when they were in a comfortable enough position to overthrow him"

"Well, it can't happen anymore now, can it?" she said, smiling "In any case, Tiang said he would restore the stolen goods to their rightful owners as soon as possible, It'll take a while, but it can be done"

"Most likely" said Ozai, surprised to find his daughter cared for something he'd consider a trivial matter, but his smile didn't falter despite Azula's last comment "Ah, Azula…"

"Yes, Father?" she asked, after he fell silent for a moment.

Ozai chuckled and stood up, pacing over the room with a smile on his face. He turned towards her, still beaming proudly.

"Our last encounter didn't end on the best terms" he said "And it is no secret to you that I was displeased by that. Yet with these news, Azula, you proved yourself yet again…"

"I have always been your loyal daughter" Azula said, bowing her head towards him "I know I disappointed you recently, but…"

"Ah, no need to excuse yourself, Azula" he said, smiling "If anything, you've showed me just what you're capable of. You truly are the daughter I raised"

"Indeed I am" she said, with a weak smile. It was good news that her father would be so pleased by what she'd accomplished, but something about his proud smile made her uneasy…

"Alas, with this, I have made my decision" he said suddenly, and Azula frowned before looking at him, confused.

"You've made a decision?" she asked "What exactly are you talking about, if I may inquire?"

"You remember the audiences you witnessed with me, don't you, Azula?" Ozai asked, smiling.

"I do" she said, frowning. The memory of what had happened that day still bothered her. She did her best not to think about it, but whenever her mind strayed towards those thoughts her mood would soon grow sour "What of it?"

"You recall the Head Sage requested me to pick one of his candidates for the Ceremony of the Sun?"

"Yes…?" Azula said, becoming more confused now. What did that have to do with what they were talking about?

"While you were in Ba Sing Se I met each candidate and they were all disappointing" Ozai said, before turning towards her "But it would seem the best option for the performer of the ceremony had been right next to me this whole time, without my awareness…"

Azula was startled when she realized what he meant. She looked at her father in disbelief, and he smiled when he noticed she understood what he was implying.

"Wait… me?" she asked "Father, how…?"

"Now, now, you are the finest firebender this nation has seen in more centuries than we could count" said Ozai "If anyone would be capable of performing the Ceremony adequately, it would be you, my daughter"

"Why, that… might be true" Azula said, accepting his compliment "But would the Head Sage accept this? I've never been taught to perform ceremonial firebending to begin with"

"Will he accept it, you ask?" Ozai repeated, amused "Azula, do you forget who you're speaking to? I am the Fire Lord. No Head Sage would defy his Fire Lord"

"I suppose so," said Azula, frowning.

"Don't fret, Azula. I'm certain you'll do it remarkably" said Ozai, smirking proudly while Azula tried to smile back with the same confidence he was showing her.

"I will do my best to keep to your expectations, Father" she said, but deep down, she wasn't so sure if she would be able to keep her promise. Most the firebending styles she knew were only used for combat. She was a fighter, not a sage. How was she supposed to perform ceremonial bending?

* * *

Arguing voices drifted into the house while Song was dozing off on the living room's couch. She jumped to her feet when she recognized them, and she smiled as she headed towards the door.

"… I mean, if you were coming, at the very least you could've helped me carry my luggage!"

"You kept complaining about how uncomfortable my company made you. If I had carried your bags, you would've been even more uncomfortable"

"Well, isn't that considerate of you, Rui Shi…"

Song opened the door, holding back a chuckle at the silly argument taking place beyond it. Sokka had been about to open the door himself, and he was surprised when it swung inwards. He smiled as well when he caught sight of Song, and he dropped his bags before hugging her as a greeting.

"I'm home now, Song!" he exclaimed.

"I can tell" she said, patting him on the back. Sokka flinched at that, and Song pulled away, frowning "And in what sort of ridiculously dangerous situation did you get yourself into this time?"

"Eh… it wasn't that ridiculous, if you must know" he said, smiling guiltily as he entered the house and sighed in relief "Ah, it sure is good to be back"

"If it wasn't too awful, what happened to your back?" Song asked, raising her eyebrows, and Sokka turned to look at her with an awkward smile again.

"Ah, well, no point in hiding it. I just took a pretty bad fall on the roof of a building, but I'm feeling better now. You ought to give it a look just in case, but still, I don't think it's…"

"You fell on a building's roof?!" Song exclaimed, her eyes widening "How on earth…?"

"Yeah… it's a long story" Sokka said, smiling innocently and rubbing the back of his neck.

"It always is" said Song, grimacing "It looks like you can't take a trip and come back in one piece, can you?"

"That's going too far, I came back just fine after the Scavenger Hunt, didn't I?" said Sokka, chuckling "Anyhow, I'm going to drop my stuff off in my room. Meanwhile, Song, watch out for Rui Shi. He won't say what he followed me for, so keep your guard up around him!"

Song raised an eyebrow and looked at the Captain, who merely sighed and shook his head while Sokka climbed up the stairs, finally returning to his room after what felt like ages.

"I trust you came to make sure he'd arrive safely, right?" said Song, smiling as she closed the door behind Rui Shi. The man removed his mask and hood as he walked towards the living room, with Song following him.

"Not quite" said Rui Shi, turning towards her again "He ought to be capable of looking out for himself, don't you believe?"

"Ah, well" said Song, smiling and sighing "If that were the case, he wouldn't have broken his back after dropping from who knows what heights into a building's roof, right?"

"True enough" said Rui Shi, smiling "But even so, I didn't come here for him"

"T-then…" said Song, blinking blankly "Why are you here?"

Rui Shi turned towards her, trying not to show he was somewhat nervous upon conveying this to her. Yet he smiled, knowing Song would be delighted to hear what he had to say, just as her mother had been.

"I met someone in Ba Sing Se" he started, and Song froze. He frowned upon the look on her face "Song?"

"Uh… well, that's nice" she said, dropping her gaze as she felt somewhat disappointed… "W-why did you feel the need to come all this way to tell me that, though? I mean…"

"Wait" said Rui Shi, grimacing "I didn't mean it like that. I'm not talking about a potential romantic partner, if that's what you thought"

"Oh, uh, w-why would I have thought that was what you meant?!" Song said, trying to save face but failing to do so when her face flushed. It was quite obvious that she had misunderstood what he was trying to say.

To her surprise, Rui Shi laughed. He smiled at her, but his grin only made her blush harder.

"In any case, back to what I was saying… I was talking about a servant, in Ba Sing Se's Palace" Rui Shi continued "A servant who just so happened to make the most amazing roast duck"

Song had been stemming in her embarrassment, but she froze again upon hearing those words. The color faded from her cheeks as she frowned, and she looked at Rui Shi questioningly.

"W-what…?"

Rui Shi smiled kindly again and nodded, and Song's eyes widened.

"It took me some time to figure out who she was, but thanks to what you had told me about yourself and your family, I realized who she was" Rui Shi said "It also helped when she spoke about you, of course. Eventually, that brought me to the conclusion that she had to be…"

"Mom…" said Song, tears on the corner of her eyes as she covered her mouth with her hands "Y-you found… s-she was… in the Palace? She's a servant in the Palace?!"

"She said she has been treated quite well, if that worries you" Rui Shi reassured her "And she was thrilled as well when I told her I knew you. She even…"

Rui Shi didn't get to finish the sentence before Song threw her arms around him. It was his turn to blush as she clung to him, sobbing softly as the relief and joy washed over her. Her mother wasn't gone. She was still alive and well, according to Rui Shi! She had spent so long holding onto feeble hopes, while trying to ignore the looming sense of dread she felt whenever she thought about her mother… but she was alive. She was safe…

Rui Shi smiled and patted Song's back as her tears of joy dropped on his red tunic. Song was clinging onto his clothes tightly, halfway between smiling and crying. She was choked up, to the point that trying to utter a sound was almost useless, but she managed to whisper two words to him, if nothing more:

"T-thank you"

The impact of her gratefulness hit Rui Shi fully. He dropped his head atop hers and surrounded her shoulders with his arms, swallowing hard as he held Song close. Doing this much for her still didn't seem enough to him, for he was certain the pain she held in her heart couldn't be wiped away only through those news. Even if her mother was alive, she had been separated from her, and there was no telling when they would see one another again. Yet only those few words had brought about such a quick reaction from the slave girl. And while Rui Shi would much rather she didn't cry at all, at least the source of her tears was joy.

"No need to thank me" he replied, trying not to get choked up as well, his arms still around her.

Sokka smiled as he watched them from the top of the stairs. He had been meaning to show Song his injuries, but he had stopped on his tracks when he overheard their conversation. Now he knew why that roast chicken had felt so familiar.

He returned to his room, still smiling. He hadn't thought the Captain had followed him to talk to Song, but he was glad he had delivered his discovery to her. Sokka knew just how badly the loss of her parents had affected Song. Even when she wasn't likely to see her mother any time soon, knowing what had happened to her was still better than nothing.

He dropped on his mattress for the first time in months, and he sighed in bliss upon being on his own bed again. It felt like it was ages since he was last here. Surely Song would need some more money, she probably was running out of it by now… but she probably wasn't going to bring up the subject any time soon, not when the Captain surely would have much to tell her about her mother still.

Sokka sighed and closed his eyes, thinking he might have to ask Azula for money by tomorrow. She owed him his share for the Tournament, after all… he smiled upon thinking he now had an even better excuse to find her bright and early in the Palace. Somehow, the idea of returning to their usual, daily routine, was refreshing for him. No more worrying about being chased by earthbenders, no more dodging Toph's verbal jabs, no more of Iroh's snoring… finally he'd be able to relax at home.

Song had checked his wounds late at night, once the Captain had left, and thanks to some of her massages to help his chi flow, Sokka's back had stopped hurting so much. Song advised him not to train too hard, but she found him fit to fight again. Pleased by her assertion, he had fallen asleep, exhausted after such a long day, but he woke again when morning broke. He hoped his eagerness to meet Azula again for their sword training wasn't too obvious… but he guessed it would be when he took off to the Palace only a couple of hours after dawn.

It didn't matter how obvious it was, he reasoned, as he made his way through the city. Surely Azula wouldn't be surprised by seeing him so early today, she should know just how much he enjoyed spending time with her. If he was lucky, she might want to see him too.

With those cheerful thoughts in mind, Sokka walked to the Palace's gates, but his pace slowed when he noticed someone else was arriving to the Palace. It would seem he wasn't the only one here to visit Azula, or so he assumed when he caught sight of Mai climbing off a carriage right before the doors. It had been quite some time since he had last seen her, but he recognized her regardless.

"Hey!" he called out to her, and Mai turned towards him. She raised an eyebrow upon recognizing him as well.

"Oh. It's you" she said, nodding "You're here early"

"So are you" said Sokka, smiling a little "I didn't think noble women got up so early. Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same question" Mai replied, yawning "Though I probably won't be all that interested in your answer"

"I'm just here because Azula and I were supposed to trai-…" he caught himself upon realizing what she had just said "Huh. Alright, then, never mind. But what about you?"

"I just needed to ask Azula a few questions, is all" said Mai, stepping towards the gates. Sokka followed her "I've wanted to do it for a while, but you two were off on some trip…"

"We were in Ba Sing Se's Pairs Tournament" Sokka said, and Mai's eyebrow twitched "Eh… sorry again. Doesn't matter to you, right?"

"Not really. All I care about is that she's here now and she'll give me the answers I want" Mai stated "For one thing, I'd much like to know what to do with the slave living in my house now, and for another…"

"You came to see Azula for slave advice?" Sokka asked, confused "What did you get a slave for if you don't know what to do with him?"

"Her, actually" said Mai "And I didn't get her, Ty Lee did. She fetched the girl at Shu Wo, then brought her to my house and left me to look after her while she just goes off to play with Haru and only comes visit whenever I…"

"Woah… woah" said Sokka, stopping on his tracks and interrupting Mai half-sentence "Wait just a second. She fetched someone at Shu Wo? Who…?"

"I think Ty Lee said you'd fought her" said Mai, having stopped as well. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow "I don't remember what her gladiator name was, but her actual name is…"

"Suki" Sokka said, still staring at Mai in disbelief "W-why…? Wait. She's at your house, you said?"

"Yeah" said Mai, shrugging.

"Is she alright?!" Sokka asked, stepping forward. Mai stepped back, looking at him warily "I mean… she's okay, right? Nothing bad happened to her…"

"Uh… many bad things happened, from the looks of it" said Mai, still confused by Sokka's reaction "But she hasn't talked about it much. She's been healing from her wounds, and she has been eating properly for the past two months or so. Still, I figured I'd ask what I'm supposed to do about her…"

Sokka gritted his teeth upon the mention of wounds. Of course she had been hurt…

"But she's better now, you're saying?" he asked "She's…"

"She's getting better" Mai confirmed, sighing "But if you don't believe me you could just go find out for yourself, you know?"

Sokka froze at that. Seeing Suki might be a good idea indeed, he wanted to make sure she was actually okay, or on her way to be okay eventually. Yet he had meant to come see Azula, and he probably ought to do that in the first place. What mattered most about Suki was that she'd be safe, and far from harm… and it seemed she would be, if she was at Mai's house.

But there were questions he wouldn't mind having answered, and he suspected Suki would have those answers. Questions related to the White Lotus… he frowned at that. Would Suki be willing to talk about this? It probably would be quite harsh for him to show up to see her just because he wanted answers, but she might have more information about the society than anyone else they'd asked up to date. Still…

"Uh… I think I can take your word for it" he said, smiling a little "I'm supposed to meet with Azula, so…"

"You're not getting any training done while I'm here, if you thought so" Mai states "You'll have to wait until I'm done talking to her, so why not go over to see her for yourself in the mean time?"

"It's just…" said Sokka, frowning "I don't really think it's a great idea. Azula's probably expecting me, so…"

"If she is, she'll see you once I'm through with what I have to say" Mai declared, and with that, she restarted her walk towards the Palace's vestibule.

Sokka frowned and watched her go, pondering his options. He could stay put and afterwards tell Azula to come with him and ask Suki about the White Lotus… but that was a very bad idea, most likely. The Princess was hostile towards Suki, and Sokka was well aware of it… still, he was confused beyond reason about why Suki was here now. Why had Ty Lee found her and brought her to the Capital? Those questions could be answered by Suki, or Ty Lee, if anything. And if he wouldn't have a chance to see Azula right away, he might as well make some use of his spare time… Azula probably wasn't expecting him yet, for starters. She probably was sleeping in, resting after their long journey home. He'd come back later, and if he found out anything important about the White Lotus, he'd tell Azula about it by then.

He still felt uneasy as he turned on his heels, leaving the Palace's premises again. He swallowed hard, hoping to be back soon enough…

Azula was already awake. She was eating breakfast when someone knocked on her bedroom's door. Displeased by this early intrusion, Azula had walked away from her meal and opened the door to find Mai outside. Her friend made her way into her room without so much as a word, and Azula could only raise her eyebrows, watching her with utter surprise.

"And why exactly are you here so early, Mai?" Azula asked, wasting no time with greetings "I'm not even dressed yet"

"I can tell" Mai said, raising an eyebrow "But I'm not here for a slumber party, if that's what you hoped for"

"A slumber party in the morning? Has it been that long, Mai, that you don't even remember how slumber parties work?" Azula asked, teasingly, before turning towards the table where her food waited.

"If Yuudai's tantrums at midnight count for something, then maybe it hasn't been that long" Mai said, sighing while Azula smiled a little.

"You should have considered that little detail before having a kid, I guess" she said, and Mai rolled her eyes.

"I did consider it, believe it or not. Anyways, I'm not here to talk about Yuudai" said Mai, frowning "As it turns out, there's a former gladiator living in my house, Azula, and according to Ty Lee, she only found her because you told her to. Care to explain why you sent her to get that girl, and what should I do with her now that you're here?"

Azula froze as she took a bite from a crab cake, and she soon placed her plate on the table again as she wondered how to resply to Mai. Her friend stared at her, an eyebrow raised.

"Well?"

"It's not easy to explain" Azula muttered, before looking at Mai inquisitively "But I don't recall asking you to host her, Mai"

"Ty Lee wasn't ready to take care of her, let alone tend to her wounds" said Mai "So she decided to ask for my help. I provided it, because I was intrigued, but I'm here to find out what you're trying to accomplish through this. Do you want another gladiator?"

"I… no, that's not it" said Azula, frowning "Truth to be told, all I wanted was to get her out of Shu Wo. Whatever happens to her now hardly matters to me. Keep her in your house if you want, as a maid or so. It's really not my business"

"How is this not your business?" Mai asked, her eyes widening. Azula couldn't remember the last time she had seen Mai impassioned about anything "Azula, that girl is there because of you. What did you want Ty Lee to save her from Shu Wo for?"

"What for? Honestly, Mai, do you think every single thing I do is part of some scheme?" she asked, before she could catch herself. She even felt stupid after uttering those words. Most of what she did was part of a scheme indeed… except for most of what related to Sokka. He was the only one who kept driving her to make ridiculous decisions she'd regret later on…

"Not every single thing, but saving a slave from Shu Wo out of the goodness of your heart isn't what I'd expect from you" said Mai, frowning "Do you really want nothing to do with her, then? You just want her to be kept in the Capital?"

"She doesn't even have to be kept anywhere" said Azula, sighing "I don't even know what I want for her at this point. You and Ty Lee are free to decide her fate, and if you don't want to do it, then you can just ask her what she wants instead"

"Why, though?" Mai asked again, and Azula sighed heavily.

"I don't think I need to explain myself" she grunted "Just… do as you wish"

"Huh" said Mai, frowning still "Well, whatever, then. If you really don't want anything to do with her, she can stay in my house until Ty Lee makes the arrangements to have her in her place. She's supposed to be her slave after all, right?"

"Indeed, she is Ty Lee's slave" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "So see? It never really was my business to begin with. You and Ty Lee are the ones who ought to decide what to do"

"Fine, then" said Mai, shrugging "I'd guessed you might want a second gladiator. It was the only reasonable explanation I could think of"

"Well, I don't, not really" said Azula, smiling uncomfortably. If she'd wanted a second gladiator, Kyoshi's Heir would have been the last one she'd choose for the job "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to finish my meal without being interrogated…"

"You'd best be quick about it, though. You'll get interrupted anyways if you're not done with it soon" said Mai, and Azula frowned.

"Interrupted by whom now?" she asked, warily. Something about what Mai was saying was unsettling…

"I ran into your gladiator on the Palace entrance" said Mai, and Azula froze "He wanted to train with you or so, he looked rather eager about it"

Azula kept the color from rushing to her cheeks. Undeniably, it was nice to know he had come to see her so soon, but if Mai had run into him, where was he now?

"And…?" said Azula.

"And what?"

"Where is he? If you ran into him on the entrance…" Azula asked, frowning.

"You wanted him to come see you when you're still in your sleeping gown?" Mai asked, and now Azula couldn't hold back the blush. Mai smirked "Well, aren't you quite shameless, Princess Azula…"

"I didn't say that!" Azula snapped "I'm only asking since, knowing him, he would've barged into my room thoughtlessly along with you. So I'm confused as to why he didn't do that. See?"

"I suppose you know him all too well" said Mai, sighing, and Azula rolled her eyes "So much for my bet indeed. Should I pay Ty Lee already?"

"Where. Is. Sokka?" Azula asked again, desperate to get Mai off the topic. Ty Lee's enthusiasm regarding her closeness with Sokka annoyed her, but Mai's teasing remarks were even worse.

"I don't know, actually" said Mai "I thought he might follow me, even after I told him about the girl at my house. He looked shaken up to hear about it at first, but then he seemed to think he should've…"

"What?" Azula said suddenly, and Mai frowned. Azula's expression had darkened suddenly "Mai, you… you told him what?"

"He asked me what I was doing here so I told him I had come to ask about what you wanted to do with her…" said Mai, confused by Azula's reaction.

All thoughts of finishing her meal disappeared from Azula's mind as she stared at the floor in utter disbelief. So now Sokka knew… and he surely had taken off to reunite with his dear Suki, of course he had…

But part of her mind told her that wasn't really the case. Even if he'd gone to see her, it didn't have to mean anything. It wasn't as though he wanted to pursue a relationship with the girl, did he? Not when the two of them were… well, whatever they were. Right?

"Azula?" Mai asked, as the Princess started pacing through her room "What's the matter with you?"

"I… never mind, Mai" she said, breathing heavily.

"Was I not supposed to say anything to him?" Mai asked, raising an eyebrow "Because I wasn't told this was a matter of utmost secrecy or anything…"

"Well, it's… it's not, of course it's not. Why would it matter anyways? It doesn't!" Azula exclaimed, with a nervous laugh. Mai was even more unsettled by that.

"Azula, are you alright?"

"I'm perfectly fine, Mai" Azula declared, and Mai frowned "Now, if you don't mind, I… I need to change. There's something I need to do"

"And what might that be, if I can inquire?" Mai asked.

Azula turned towards her, giving her a rather cold smile. Mai almost froze at the sight of it, as Azula attempted to speak calmly to mask her rage.

"That, Mai, is none of your business"

* * *

Finding Mai's house was more difficult than Sokka expected. He hadn't been there in so long that he hardly remembered where it was or what it looked like. He knocked on the door when he reached it, and when nobody answered he decided to go inside. Mai had told him he could come, so it wasn't as though he were breaking in…

The door was unlocked, so he walked inside and frowned as he wondered where to go. There was hardly a sound to be heard in the house… but then he caught female voices upstairs. He frowned and guessed at least one of them would belong to Suki. He gulped as he climbed the stairs, unsure if he wanted to meet her even now.

"Are you sure about this? Do you need any help?" Sokka overheard, as he reached the top of the stairs

"I'd like to think I can stand on my own two feet without help, Ty Lee…"

"Still, you had never tried to walk like this before… are you sure you're okay?"

Sokka stepped towards an open door at the end of the hallway, the room from where the voices were coming from, and he looked inside of it warily.

He froze when he caught sight of Suki for the first time in almost a year. She hardly looked like herself as she stood with difficulty next to Ty Lee. The first word that came to his mind as he stared at her insecure stance was 'fragile', but soon he realized that wasn't the right one. 'Broken' was probably a more accurate description of Suki's state.

Suki soon realized she was being watched from the door. Her gaze flickered towards it and her eyes widened when she saw that familiar face. What was he doing here?

"Sokka?" she said, startling him. Ty Lee, who had been standing cautiously beside Suki, as though she expected the girl to fall over herself, turned towards the door to find Azula's gladiator standing on the room's threshold.

"Sokka!" she exclaimed, as he forced a smile.

"Hey" he said to Ty Lee, but his attention soon turned towards Suki "Suki, you… are you alright?"

Suki had wanted to ask him what he was doing here first, but when he stepped towards her she forgot the words she had been about to say to him. Sokka stared at her, concern in his eyes.

"I ran into Mai just a moment ago and she told me you were…" Sokka started, but he soon stopped on his tracks when he realized Suki was stepping back, away from him.

For a moment he wasn't certain why she meant to keep the distance between them like that, but he soon made sense out of it. He had seen far too many female slaves recoiling from human contact back in Hui Yi. From what he knew, Suki's circumstances might have been similar to theirs… he clenched a fist but stepped back again, nodding in her direction.

"Sorry. I'll stay put" he said, giving her an apologetic smile.

"N-no, I probably ought to be the one…" Suki said, gritting her teeth. She had to do something about this. She couldn't keep pulling away from men she knew wouldn't hurt her…

"Still, are you… well, feeling better, at least?" he asked.

"Much better, actually" said Suki, smiling weakly "You should have seen me when I first got here… though I guess it's probably better you didn't. It wasn't exactly a sight to behold"

"She's been feeling better the past few weeks" Ty Lee said, smiling at Suki "I drop by to see her often to make sure she's doing alright. We're good friends now, aren't we, Suki?"

Suki smiled uncomfortably but nodded. It had been a long time since she had a female friend.

"The servants ought to bring up her meal in a while" said Ty Lee, smiling "And Ruon Jian is watching Yuudai, or probably dozing off with him, because they have a knack for falling asleep at the same time…"

Ty Lee's nervous talk made Sokka frown a little. It almost felt like she was trying to protect Suki from a conversation with him… which was probably what Ty Lee was doing, truth to be told. He couldn't quite blame her for it

"Mai was over at… the Palace?" Suki asked, looking at Sokka inquisitively.

"Yeah, I ran into her at the entrance" he said "She told me about you, and that's why I came. I'd heard about what had happened to you, and… how did you get out of there?"

"Ty Lee found me and brought me here" said Suki "It happened a few months ago"

Sokka looked at Ty Lee with confused eyes, and Ty Lee blinked blankly. He turned towards Suki once more, noticing how she seemed to be having trouble balancing her weight, almost as though her body wasn't her own.

"Do you have any bad wounds, though?" he asked "Mai mentioned something about medical care…"

"Ah, yeah, I've been treated quite well by her servants" said Suki, nodding "Except for this one wound in my ribs, most my injuries are healed. It's just taking a while for me to get accustomed to walking again, I was in bed for ages, so…"

"What… happened to your ribs, if I can ask?" Sokka asked, warily. Suki looked down.

"It was a soldier, actually" she said, and Sokka's eyes widened "One of the ones who restrained me and dragged me out of… of my old apartment in the city"

"A soldier" Sokka repeated, bitterly "C-can I ask why they captured you, Suki? I mean… I've heard things, but I'd rather hear the truth of what happened from you. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but…"

"I think I can talk about this, though" said Suki, nodding "At least about that. I guess it's about time to start talking, after all"

Ty Lee stared at Suki with concern as the girl took a deep breath.

"The soldiers barged into the apartment while I was about to go to bed for the night" said Suki "I didn't know what they wanted, and I'd set my weapons aside, so I could only defend myself with my own body. They overpowered me fast, though, and dragged me off once they had seized me. One of them kicked my ribs, and it seems he broke them. It healed wrong, so…"

"Damn" he muttered, sighing. "Still, why did they attack you in your home? I mean, I heard… I really hope it's not true, but I heard that your sponsor was involved with the White Lotus"

Suki's eyes widened at that, and she looked at Sokka with dread. He froze at that.

"W-why did you hear…?" Suki asked, grimacing "Wait, what happened to Oyaji? Where is he? Did the soldiers kill him?"

"If he's a White Lotus agent, then he was probably captured and imprisoned, along with the rest of them" said Sokka.

"The rest of…?" Suki repeated, swallowing hard "What do you mean by that?"

"Maybe she had been sold already when that happened" said Ty Lee, looking at Sokka "It might be that she was too far away to know about what was happening in the Capital"

"I don't think so" said Sokka, looking at Ty Lee briefly "Suki, weren't you taken underground a few days after being captured by soldiers?"

"I… yeah, I was being held with other slaves at the slave market" Suki said, frowning "They dragged us underground, but I wasn't fully conscious at the moment. What was that about?"

"Some White Lotus people infiltrated the Fire Nation Palace" Sokka explained "Since the situation was labeled as an emergency, the entire city was evacuated into the catacombs. The White Lotus members were captured soon afterwards, though"

"So you're saying… that Oyaji was captured? Are you certain?" Suki asked, looking at him with despair.

"If he was one of them, he must have been. But you haven't told me yet if he was or wasn't" Sokka said, sternly "Please, Suki…"

She gritted her teeth before sighing in defeat and nodding. Ty Lee gasped and Sokka frowned deeply.

"He was one of them" Suki said "I… I didn't know why I had been dragged away, but I hoped… I really hoped it had nothing to do with him, or with the White Lotus. But I guess there was little chance for that…"

"What about you, then?" Sokka asked, uneasy "Are you one of them too?"

"What, of the White Lotus?" she replied "No, actually, I'm not. My sponsor was, but I wasn't. I hardly knew anything about the White Lotus, if you want me to be totally honest…"

"Really?" Sokka asked "Why were you working for him if you weren't one of them?"

"Well…" said Suki, growing a little uneasy upon Sokka's interrogation "Oyaji was an old man from my village. I had no idea he had allegiances with the White Lotus back in the day, but after Kyoshi Island was conquered he disappeared for some time. He came back one day to offer me the job as his gladiator, and since I'd known him for so long, I said I'd do it…"

"Huh? You agreed to be a gladiator just because he asked?" Sokka asked, surprised.

"Well… not exactly" Suki admitted, grimacing "Truth to be told, through me, Oyaji was trying to… well, to rebel against the Fire Nation in a simple way, sort of"

"Rebel against the Fire Nation…?" Ty Lee repeated, her eyes wide "How?"

"Through the money" Sokka muttered, and Suki looked at him somewhat apologetically "You guys sent weird bids, Shoji told me and Azula about it. Azula said you guys were into this for the money. So… you were rebelling the by using Fire Nation money to fund the White Lotus?"

Suki swallowed hard and Ty Lee stared at her in horror.

"Well, you can see where that landed both me and Oyaji, so lesson learned, I guess" said Suki, sighing, and Sokka's coldness faded away quickly.

"Uh, sorry if that was too harsh" he said, grimacing "In any case, your sponsor ought to be safe. In jail, yeah, but he's not going to get executed or anything…"

"You seem so sure of that" said Suki, looking at Sokka warily "Why?"

"Uh… b-because I kind of made the Fire Lord promise he wouldn't kill them" said Sokka, with a weak grin. Both Ty Lee and Suki were startled.

"You did WHAT?!" Ty Lee squeaked.

"Are you… are you serious?" Suki said "Why?"

"Well, it just didn't sit right with me" said Sokka, sighing "I know prison isn't a great relief either, but then again, they had it coming…"

"They had it coming?" Suki repeated, somewhat indignant "Really, now?"

"Uh, yeah" said Sokka.

"You're actually saying the Fire Nation had every right to lock them up?" Suki asked.

"As a matter of fact, I believe they did. I guess you may be a supporter of any anti-Fire Nation groups, but when someone wants to abduct and enslave people, he's not exactly a good person, no matter whose side he's on" Sokka grunted, growing colder again.

"What are you talking about?" said Suki, raising an eyebrow.

"A pair of White Lotus guys had every intention to abduct Azula" Sokka muttered, and Ty Lee's hands flew to her mouth "If I hadn't gotten there when I did, they would've gotten away with it. They thought I'd be amused by the idea of treating her as a slave, once she was in their power…"

"R-really?" Suki said, her eyes widening.

"Yep" said Sokka, crossing his arms "So I have a hard time feeling sympathetic towards the White Lotus guys after that. I still told Ozai not to kill them, if that's any relief for you, but that's about it"

"Well, I… I didn't think they'd try to do something like that" said Suki, biting her lip "Which I guess stands as proof that I don't know anything about their group. Abducting the Princess…?"

The idea might not have displeased Suki some time ago, but it actually bothered her now. For reasons she still couldn't fathom, the Princess had saved her. She couldn't wish anything ill upon her after that.

"Anyhow, though, if you don't know much more about the White Lotus, I won't push you for more" said Sokka, with a weak smile "Well, uh… I hope you feel better soon. Sorry for the barrage of questions, you might not have been ready for them…"

"No, it's fine" said Suki, smiling a little "Still, there was something I wanted to…"

"Excuse me" said a servant behind Sokka. He jumped out of the way as the old woman carrying a tray with food approached Suki "Oh, my, it's good to see you on your two feet! Breakfast has arrived now, though, so you might want to sit down again"

"Oh, thanks…" said Suki, smiling and obeying the servant. She walked back to the bed and sat on it as Ty Lee approached her to pat her shoulder.

"We'll leave you to eat and relax now" she said "Enjoy your food"

"Uh…" said Suki, wanting to ask one last thing to Sokka, but deciding against it soon enough. She smiled at Ty Lee and nodded "Alright then. I'll see you later"

"It's good to see you again, Suki" Sokka said, smiling as well "Sorry for the questions, again, and I hope you're fully recovered soon. Thanks for bearing with me"

"Not at all" said Suki "I guess I'll see you around as well, Sokka?"

"Yeah, maybe" he said, as Ty Lee ushered him outside "Bye now!"

The servants stayed in the room, tending to Suki, and Ty Lee closed the door behind her before turning towards Sokka, who had a heavy frown on his face.

"She really doesn't look that good" he muttered "Last time I saw her was ages ago, but she's been through hell, from the looks of it"

"Yeah" said Ty Lee, sighing "She's in a very delicate state. I think she'll get through, but I don't know if she'll ever be the same girl she used to be. Still, I'm sure she's glad you came to see her… were you two close, though? I never gathered you'd kept going out with her or anything…"

"I didn't" said Sokka "But I heard about her condition and I told Azula we had to do something about it. Still, she flat-out refused to do as I asked… so how come is Suki here? Why did you save her?"

"You mean…" said Ty Lee, her eyes widening before she smiled at Sokka "Oh, well, this is unexpected. You told Azula to…? Oh, now everything makes sense!"

"What are you…?" said Sokka, frowning.

"Of course you don't get it" said Ty Lee, giggling "Ah, you two, seriously…"

"How about you explain yourself, Ty Lee?" Sokka asked, an eyebrow twitching as he glared at the girl.

"Well, you see, I only went to find Suki because Azula told me to" said Ty Lee, smiling.

Sokka froze in place, staring at Ty Lee with disbelief.

"W-wha-…? Azula did?"

"I just said so, dummy, yeah!" Ty Lee exclaimed "She said this was what I had to do as payback for helping me get Haru. Remember she said I'd owe her one?"

"Wait, wait… she… this was how you repaid her?" Sokka asked, so shocked Ty Lee's smile waned.

"Uh, Sokka, are you okay?" she asked, gulping.

"Just… are you serious?" he said "She… she actually did this. But why did she…? She said she wouldn't do it, but…"

"Well, I'm pretty sure she did it because you asked" Ty Lee said, shrugging "But if you don't think that's why she did it, I guess you'd better ask her yourself. Mai went to ask her about it too, after all…"

"I… I'll do that, yeah" said Sokka, nodding, a smile on his face now "Still, what's going to happen to Suki now? Will you and Mai keep taking care of her?"

"Well, unless Azula says otherwise, I guess so" said Ty Lee, shrugging "She needs all the help she can get so she can be nursed back to health"

"Of course" said Sokka, nodding "Well, take good care of her, Ty Lee"

"We sure will" said Ty Lee, smiling "Good luck with Azula!"

Sokka waved as a farewell before starting towards the door, his heart racing. He couldn't believe, let alone understand, what Azula had done. Of course it was a good surprise, but he was beyond baffled by it. Why had she done it, even though she had listed plenty of reasons not to? In fact, she might have had even more reasons not to save Suki. So why…?

He entered the Palace, this time for certain, in hopes to have his question answered, but after asking some servants, he heard Azula had jumped on the back of her dragon and flown away only a while ago. Disappointed by his bad timing, Sokka decided to wait in Xin Long's refuge until Azula returned… and he feared he'd have to wait for longer than he originally expected when rain started pouring down. Surely Azula wouldn't fly in the middle of a storm…

But it seemed Sokka had misread his sponsor yet again. Xin Long roared as he arrived to the refuge, water dripping down his scales and saddle. Sokka had been dozing off, lulled by the sound of the rain, when he realized the dragon was about to crush him. He jumped out of the way as Xin Long landed heavily on the spot he had been sitting on just an instant ago.

Azula jumped off the saddle, soaking wet and with a heavy frown on her face. Sokka grimaced as he looked at her.

"Okay, so why were you flying in the rain, exactly?" he said, and Azula jumped. She hadn't noticed he was there.

"Sokka?" she said, surprised. She hadn't expected to see him again, let alone so soon. Not when he was supposed to be basking in his happy reunion with Kyoshi's Heir…

"Yeah, who else?" he said, smiling a little "What were you up to, though? And why did you return when it was still raining? You should've waited until it stopped, you'll get sick again…"

"You can't simply sit back and wait for the rain to stop pouring in the Fire Nation, Sokka" Azula snapped at him "It might stop in ten minutes, it might stop in ten hours. It doesn't matter, though, I'll just go soak in a warm tub now or so…"

"Heh…" said Sokka, gulping while trying not to blush. It sure wasn't easy to keep his brain from providing images of what she might look like in a tub… "Yeah, you do that. Still, uh…"

"I will" said Azula, turning to look at him, and Sokka noticed a hint of deviousness in her eyes. The deviousness that appeared in them whenever she was plotting something "But before I do, I have to ask… did you unpack your bags?"

"Uh… from the trip to Ba Sing Se? Well, yeah" said Sokka, nodding "Why?"

"Ah, it's too bad" Azula said, with a dramatic sigh "It's only because you would have spared yourself the need to pack them again if you hadn't, but I suppose you can do it again without a hitch, can't you?"

"I could, yeah" said Sokka, frowning and looking at Azula with caution "Why should I pack up again, though?"

"Why? Because I was just in the Grand Royal Dome and you've had challenges coming for you from gladiators in Arenas all over the Fire Nation" Azula stated, beaming at him "So we'll be traveling again, if you don't mind"

"Eh… heh?" said Sokka, his eyes widening "We will?"

"Why, yes. You don't have a problem with that, though, do you?" Azula asked, and Sokka didn't miss the dangerous edge to her voice as she whispered those words. Was she challenging him? What for? He blinked a few times before smiling at her, taking Azula by surprise.

"No, not really. I mean, it's a bit sudden, but why not?" he said, and her eyebrow twitched.

"Indeed, why not…" she grumbled, before storming off from the refuge without another word.

Sokka and Xin Long watched her leave, and the gladiator was the more puzzled one of the two. He looked at the dragon and asked, after crossing his arms:

"What's going on with her now, huh, Xin? Care to share?"

To Sokka's surprise, Xin Long bared his fangs to him before head-butting him on the chest and flying upwards into the higher levels of his refuge, leaving Sokka staring after him down below, even more confused now.

"Okay… what the hell is going on here?" he muttered, grimacing.

Obviously, he wasn't about to get a response to that question from the dragon. And he suspected he wouldn't get one from Azula either, at least, not until she felt like explaining herself. Sokka sighed heavily and scratched his head, guessing the training session he had been looking forward to would be unofficially postponed for now…


	81. Chapter 81

Suki stretched and sighed heavily as she got ready to climb off the bed again. There was nobody in the room with her right now, so she decided to try this once more, before Zuko arrived… well, if he came today altogether. She wasn't so sure he would, not after what had happened between them a couple of days ago. But Zuko's absence or presence wouldn't keep her from doing this anyways.

She gripped the edge of the bed tightly with her hands as she swung her legs over the border of the mattress. Once her feet touched the wooden floor she pushed herself up. She started walking through the room, flexing and stretching her limbs while trying to ignore the pain in her ribs. It was growing fainter with every day that passed, and she actually believed the pain might disappear altogether eventually, so long as she didn't put her body through too much strain.

She lifted her hands and balled them into fists before delivering two weak punches into the air. Her flank hurt a little, but it wasn't unbearable. She smiled, thinking that maybe, just maybe, her fighting days wouldn't be over just yet.

She hadn't realized that she had come to appreciate her life as a gladiator until now. Even while in Shu Wo she hadn't been capable of processing that, nowadays, she missed her old job. It was absurd that she would feel this way, but she did nonetheless. Her entire life had revolved around being a gladiator for almost seven years. She had met countless people during her days as a fighter, some of them people she had come to admire and respect. She had walked into that ring every time with her head held high, knowing what to do and how to do it. She'd had no doubts about what her role in the world was supposed to be at the time. She had known her purpose, and she had fought to the bitter end to fulfill it.

As she was now, though, she had no purpose. She had nowhere to go, no idea what to do. Her goals were gone, all the same as everything she had ever believed in. Her old home, Kyoshi Island, was too far for her to return to it anymore. Her hopes that Oyaji had been doing the right thing by supporting the White Lotus were now in shambles after what Sokka had told her. Was the White Lotus any better than the Fire Nation? She wanted to believe as much, but Sokka's visit had made her realize she actually knew nothing of the group, let alone understood anything about them. She had accepted Oyaji's request blindly, never suspecting the White Lotus might not be as noble as she had wanted to believe it was.

She sighed upon wondering what to do next. She had wanted to leave this room, but for what purpose? Where would she go? Her life wasn't in her hands anymore, but in whose hands was it, then? What was she supposed to do?

She felt lost, scared and insecure. Everything around her was uncertainty, a sensation she was completely unfamiliar with. She didn't want to become familiarized with it, though. She just wanted to figure her life out for once and for all…

She sighed just as the door swung open, and she turned towards it brusquely, almost as though she had been doing something out of bounds, which she wasn't. Yet her eyes widened when she saw Zuko standing on the room's threshold, looking at her with surprise.

"S-Suki…" he whispered "You're… you're up!"

"Yeah" she said, smiling a little as he walked towards her, a grin on his face "I figured it was about time I tried to stand on my own"

"Well, this is… it's great, but you're not forcing yourself, are you?" Zuko said, worriedly "If you don't feel up for it yet, then maybe…"

"I don't feel up for a lot of things" she confessed, surprising him "But one of those things is staying locked in this room forever. I just feel like… like leaving this room, if only for a while"

"Well, that would be… that would be great" Zuko said, smiling again "If you want, I can show you Mai's house. Or just this floor, maybe, if you don't feel like going downstairs yet. Or… uh, well, you decide. Never mind me"

Suki chuckled at how he tried to repress his enthusiasm, and she nodded in his direction. Zuko smiled again, blushing a little.

"I'd like to see the house, yes" she said, and his smiled brightened more.

Suki's footing was somewhat uncertain at first, but Zuko stood by her side to let her know he would help her if he needed her. She smiled at him warmly before stepping through the threshold and finally leaving her haven for the first time since being brought into it.

Zuko pointed at each room and told Suki what their purposes were, and the girl surprised him by taking the initiative and looking through the door each time. She wanted to see them for herself, since she was curious about everything in the house. Despite having left her room, the sensation of being in a safe place still lingered. She didn't fear this place. She was convinced that nothing would hurt her here.

Zuko was taken by surprise again when she told him she wanted to go downstairs. He nodded and walked alongside her on the way to the first floor, keeping a wary eye on her. Every step she took made her wince, the movements of her legs hurting her ribs again. Yet she didn't turn back, nor did she reach out to support her weight on Zuko. She kept moving forward, by herself, with her own two feet. The fact that she could still do this on her own filled her with pride.

Mai was in the dining room where Zuko led Suki next. Mai had been holding Yuudai as he played with, or rather, tried to eat a doll, and she jumped to her feet upon realizing Suki was right behind Zuko, glancing around herself in wonder.

"And this is the dining room" Zuko said, smiling and Suki nodded.

"I can tell. It's magnificent" she said, before noticing Mai was here too "Ah… hey, Mai"

"Suki" she said, looking at her in surprise as Yuudai tried to reach for the doll, which had fallen to the floor when his mother had stood up brusquely "You're up?"

"Yeah… finally" said Suki, smiling "So this is Yuudai?"

"Oh, yes" said Mai, nodding and only noticing now that Yuudai was still squirming, trying to reach his doll.

Zuko stepped forward to pick it up, and he handed it to the kid, who smiled at him and hugged his doll tightly. Mai smiled at Zuko as well.

"Thanks for that" she said, before turning towards Suki "Are you feeling better, then? Or is it you needed something and…?"

"If anything, I needed to get out of my room for a while" said Suki, shrugging "You have a beautiful house. It's really magnificent. I'd never seen anywhere like this"

"Then I hope Zuko never takes you to his home, or else mine will start looking like an old shack in your eyes" said Mai, smiling "Is there anything you need right now? I could arrange a proper bath for you now, seeing how you've finally left your room…"

"Maybe later" said Suki. It didn't seem appropriate to take a bath while Zuko was here "I just wanted to look around right now, actually…"

"There's an inner garden in the house" Zuko said "Maybe you'll want to see it. It's quite nice to look at"

"Really?" said Suki, looking at Zuko with interest as he led the way from the dining room and towards the garden.

"Good, then. I'll bring some tea for the two of you" Mai called out, and Zuko smiled and nodded in her direction.

"Thanks, Mai" he said, before sliding open the door towards the garden.

It was a small, but beautiful, enclosure. It was lined by bushes with blossoming flowers, while in the center of the garden stood smaller plants, some of them with small fruits growing on them. Suki stared at the garden in amazement as she sat on the small veranda where Mai and Ruon Jian often sat as well to admire their garden. Zuko smiled at the look in her eyes before taking his seat next to her, keeping proper distance to avoid startling her.

"It's beautiful" said Suki, beaming "If only I'd known it was such a wonderful house I would have left the room sooner"

"Heh, yeah" said Zuko, smiling before sighing "I hadn't really paid much attention to the garden the last time I sat here. It really is nice, huh?"

"Yeah" said Suki, before looking at him in curiosity "When was the last time you sat here, then? I mean, if I may ask…"

"Uh, just this one time I had a talk with Mai about… a few things" said Zuko, grimacing uncomfortably.

"Huh, secretive, are we?" Suki asked, chuckling "Well, if you don't want to talk about it, it's fine. I guess you and Mai are close, huh?"

"Seeing how you thought I was her husband, you must have assumed we are" Zuko said, with a weak grin "Well… if you want to know the truth of it, maybe I could have been her husband"

Suki's eyes widened at that, staring at Zuko in surprise as he looked at the garden. Instead of feeling anger upon saying those words, this time there was a different sensation within Zuko upon speaking about this. He had no idea what it was, but he was relieved to find that, at last, he really felt no bitterness about not having married Mai, or not being Yuudai's father.

"Really?" Suki asked "Then I wasn't that off-base, was I?"

"No, I guess not" said Zuko "Still, you assumed it right away, without even knowing we had been… well, together, sort of, before I was banished"

"You were thirteen back then, weren't you?" Suki asked, with a smile "You must have been cute at the time"

"C-cute?" Zuko asked, blushing "W-well, maybe. I didn't have a scar yet, so I guess I was better looking than I am now"

Suki froze at that, worried about having entered dangerous grounds with their conversation. She bit her lower lip and looked at him guiltily for a moment.

"That… that scar. You've mentioned a few things, but you never really said how it happened. Y-you don't have to tell me, of course, but… was it while you were banished, then? Or shortly before that?"

Zuko gritted his teeth and lowered his gaze. He took pride in not feeling bitter about Mai anymore… but the same couldn't be said about his father, or about what he had done to him. Zuko took a deep breath and released it, his brow contracted as he stared at the garden harder now.

"It was right before I was banished" Zuko muttered "Exactly when… when I fought an Agni Kai with my father, after which he sentenced me to travel the world searching for the Avatar"

Suki's eyes widened. She had heard about Agni Kais… according to some rumors, Combustion Man, the top ranked gladiator of the Superior League, had made his way through life by fighting Agni Kais against powerful firebenders. The duel of fire was considered to be far nobler than gladiator fights, but clearly, Combustion Man hadn't fought them for noble reasons. Why would have Zuko dueled his father, though…?

"I… I didn't think I'd have to fight my father" Zuko admitted, rubbing his temples with his fingertips "As soon as I saw him, I… I just shrunk where I was and refused to fight. He grew angrier every time I told him I was sorry for what I'd done, and that I was his loyal son, that I wouldn't disrespect him ever again. But none of my pleas accomplished anything. He just attacked me and burned me. When he saw that I wouldn't fight back even after that, he stopped fighting. I knew he was ashamed of me… but I didn't think he would be as angry as to cast me out and declare that, to regain my honor, I had to return to the Fire Nation, bringing the Avatar with me. And… I didn't do that. I never found him, as you already know"

"B-but…" Suki said, her eyes wide "Why did he…? Just because you didn't fight back? He thought he had to banish you for that?"

"W-well, I… the whole reason the Agni Kai was taking place was because I'd disrespected him by speaking out of turn in a war meeting…"

"What? You spoke out of turn in a war meeting and because of that he decided to fight and banish you?!" Suki asked, scandalized "Isn't that… too extreme?"

"Maybe, but… I guess not" said Zuko, shrugging "His father was harsh and ruthless to him as well. My uncle often told me that my father cared about me, and that his harshness was the only way my father knew to make me a better Fire Lord when the time came. I always figured that made sense. He has never been so harsh on Azula, always on me. I guess it's probably because he might have held bigger expectations for me, since I was his firstborn"

"I still don't see how it makes sense" said Suki, frowning "But I guess I don't understand Fire Nation traditions, so I might not really know what I'm talking about…"

"Don't beat yourself up over it" Zuko said, smiling a little at her "I hardly understand myself, but… I guess my father has his reasons to do everything he does, no matter if I don't understand them"

"I hope so" said Suki "Still… well, it may not be much use for me to say this, but your scar really doesn't… well…"

"What?" Zuko asked, raising his only eyebrow.

"Y-you seemed to think you would have looked better without it, and I don't know, maybe that's true" Suki said, shrugging "But while I can understand it's a reminder of an awful experience… well, it's also the first thing I noticed about you"

Zuko frowned at that and Suki flexed her legs, crossing her arms atop her knees.

"I'd seen people dressed up in odd getups in the Arena many times, so seeing a guy with a dark hood covering his face wasn't that unique. But when I bumped into you, I saw your face and… and what I saw in you was different than I expected. It wasn't really the scar, but just you… I hardly even realized you had a scar to begin with. But it's the same scar that made me recognize you when you walked into my room for the first time. And… well, it must have hurt, and it might still hurt, but you might want to remember you're more than just a scar, Zuko"

Zuko blinked at her, surprised, as she smiled at him. She moved closer to him, and his eyes widened as her hand reached out towards his face.

Her fingers trembled a little upon touching the damaged skin around his eye. It was only a light touch, a subtle grazing of his face, yet it was almost electric for both of them. It made Zuko's heart beat faster, and it made a smile spread on Suki's face. For she had touched him, despite her fears. She had managed to overcome them, if only shortly.

"See?" she said, before pulling away "It's not cursed or anything. In fact, well… I think it makes you rather handsome, if it's not too bold of me to say so"

"B-bold, well…" Zuko said, blushing more intensely now as Suki laughed "It might be a little bold, y-yes, but… I appreciate it anyways. Nobody had ever touched my scar before, other than me"

"Really?" Suki asked, surprised.

"Well… mostly because I didn't let them" Zuko said, smiling weakly.

"Yet you let me" said Suki, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah" he said, as they both smiled earnestly.

It was then that Suki first realized she wasn't the only one who was trying to move on from a dark past. Zuko carried his own burdens with him, and it seemed that, by helping her overcome hers, he was starting to overcome his own as well.

Yet their gazes broke when a small hand dropped on Zuko's lap, with a happy laugh. He was startled by that but he smiled and looked at Yuudai kindly. Suki grinned at the child as well as Zuko lifted him and placed him on his lap.

"I guess you want me to introduce you" said Zuko, smiling "Yuudai, this is Suki. She has been living in your house for quite a while now and you never knew it. How surprising is that?"

Suki chuckled and Yuudai stared at her with curiosity. She greeted him with a weak wave and Yuudai stared at her for a little while longer before growing bored and deciding to climb off Zuko's lap. He crawled towards his back and pulled hard on his long ponytail. Zuko grimaced and groaned in pain, turning to look at Yuudai accusingly while both Suki and the child laughed.

"What was that for?!" he asked, glaring at Yuudai, but the boy continued to reach out for his hair, despite Zuko's attempts to keep him away.

Mai held a tray of tea in her hands and she watched Yuudai's torture of Zuko with amusement. Yet what amused her most was the brightness on both Zuko and Suki's faces. Zuko had been making efforts to see his life in a better light for quite some time now, and Mai knew it… but he was making no efforts anymore. He wasn't forcing himself to be happy. Now, his joy was natural and true. He was actually enjoying himself, and so was Suki.

"Maybe I ought to make another bet with Ty Lee…" she whispered to herself, smiling as she stepped forward to hand both Zuko and Suki the tea she had brought for them.

* * *

The Royal Barge waited by the docks yet again, and Sokka stared at it with mild confusion as he made his way towards it. He still failed to understand what the point of this new trip was, but at the same time he actually felt good about it. Maybe Azula had been acting a little strange lately, but he was confident this trip would make things better somehow. As they had noted, most their journeys had something crazy about them, but Sokka had also realized they always ended on a good note. Surely this one wouldn't be the exception, right?

He climbed up the ramp to the ship's deck to find sailors and soldiers still walking back and forth hastily, trying to get the Barge ready right away. Clearly, they were in a rush, and Sokka wasn't surprised they were. They had unloaded the Barge only a few days earlier, and now they were restocking it for a long journey… a long journey Sokka didn't know the full details about just yet.

He wandered the deck for a while, waiting for Azula to show up until she finally did, on the back of her dragon. Xin Long descended on deck quite heavily, startling the sailors, as ever. Azula climbed off his saddle and walked up to the Captain, who was in charge of keeping tabs on the ship's situation.

Sokka stared at Azula from the rim of the ship, eyeing her with curiosity and trying to figure out why she seemed so tense. He resolved to talk to her as soon as she was done with her conversation with Rui Shi, but before he could continue analyzing her, Xin Long decided to poke him with his horned head.

"H-hey, what's with you these days?" Sokka asked, as Xin Long prodded him more "C'mon, stop that, there are lots of other people you can mess with, it doesn't have to be me!"

But as Sokka tried to fend Xin Long off, he caught sight of something on the dragon's saddle. He smiled brightly and turned to look at Azula, who had walked up to them once she had finished talking to Rui Shi.

"What's going on here?" she inquired, looking at Xin Long, and Sokka shrugged.

"Ask your pet" he said, earning himself a glare "He's the one who's trying to pick a bone with me or something"

"If you call him 'pet', is it really any surprise he's picking anything with you?" Azula asked, rolling her eyes, and Sokka smiled.

"Maybe not" he said, as Xin Long finally left him alone and instead pressed against Azula. Sokka's eyes were on the saddle again and he pointed at it before turning towards Azula "I see you did bring Wolf's Bane this time. I take it we'll be training again, then?"

"Maybe we will be" Azula said, enigmatically "You did want a sparring session the other day but the weather didn't allow for it, so…"

Sokka frowned. It really hadn't been just because of the weather that they hadn't done it… but he decided to let that slide.

"Well, I figure we'll have plenty of chances to fight one another on this trip, whether with swords or without them" he said, beaming "It's our routine after all"

"Pretty much" Azula admitted, with a weak grin.

"Anyhow, where are we going, exactly?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows "You've been awfully secretive about this trip, so unless we're off on some crazy mission to catch weird brigands again, you might want to tell me what we're up to…"

"We're not up to anything" Azula said, shrugging carelessly "It's only a trip through the Fire Nation's Arenas, no more than that. We'll start at the Black Cliff's, there's an Arena there called the Dragon's Pit. We've never been there, so I figured it was about time we saw it. Then we'll go to the Ember Crater again, after that to the Ring of Ash, and lastly to Yu Dao, to the Golden Eye again. That's it"

"Really?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula glared at him "So no hidden motives for this new journey, Azula? Not even the smallest little thing…?"

"And why would I need a hidden motive for this?" Azula asked, rolling her eyes. She would have to start doing things without hiding her true intentions more often. She was growing sick of being asked the same question by so many people.

"Because it's just so sudden" said Sokka "And it's unlike you to do stuff like this just because you feel like it… unless you wanted a vacation?"

"A vacation? Seriously?" Azula asked again, actually starting to be amused by Sokka's questions.

"Well, maybe you do" said Sokka, shrugging "I mean… after your birthday you might not be getting along so well with your dad, so I figure you might be trying to avoid him. Is that it?"

"That… no, not really" said Azula, though she frowned. The matter of the ceremony was still pending. She had informed her father about this new trip, and he had promised that, by the time she returned to the mainland, the Sages would be ready to brief her about what she'd have to do during the ceremony. Thinking about this matter still left a sour taste in her mouth, though…

"Well, well, you're not being honest, Princess" said Sokka, and Azula scowled.

"As if you could tell whether I'm being honest or not" she grunted.

"Normally it's harder than this" said Sokka, smiling "Come on. Is something wrong with your dad? Wasn't he glad to hear about the Dai Li and Long Feng?"

"No, he actually took that really well" Azula said, crossing her arms over her chest "It's just… well, something else I'll have to deal with when we get back. It's not anything you need to worry about, but something I'll need some time to digest"

"So we're taking off on this trip to give you time to digest it?" Sokka asked, surprised "Well, can't say I mind, if that's all there is to it. Anyhow, though, if what you want is time, then maybe…"

"Maybe what?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow as Sokka tapped his chin with a finger.

"Well… it's such a sudden trip indeed" he said "So I figure you won't mind if I make a sudden request?"

Azula's eyes widened. Her mind quickly was filled with thoughts of what his request might be, and she froze in her spot, wondering if he'd really ask for what she feared he would. Did he actually have the nerve to do such a thing…?

"A sudden request?" she repeated, with raised eyebrows, as her hands went to her hips "And what might that sudden request be, then, if you'd be so kind as to explain?"

"Uh…" said Sokka, grimacing at the hostility he started feeling from Azula "Just a little request, nothing big. I mean, I'd get it if the ship isn't equipped for it, seeing how you must have calculated carefully what we'd need for the trip already…"

"Right" Azula said, trying to remain calm "Maybe it can't be done indeed, but do tell… what exactly is it you wanted, Sokka?"

"Well" he said, biting his lip "I kind of hoped, seeing how we're going to take a long trip all the way to Yu Dao, even, that we'd be able to go to Shu Jing"

Azula had already been composing an elegantly harsh way to refuse Sokka's request in her mind, for she had only expected to hear one thing from him… one thing that had nothing to do with what he had actually requested. She froze again and looked at him in confusion.

"Shu Jing?" she repeated "What for?"

"Eh, well, things have changed a lot since we were last there" Sokka said, sighing "We didn't even know anything about the White Lotus back then, remember? Now we know a little more, though… so I guessed maybe we could figure out more things about Piandao and the White Lotus in Shu Jing now. Maybe there's another secret river hidden underneath the mansion or something of the sort, eh? It could be how Piandao disappeared so suddenly without anyone seeing him. We know that's how they wanted to sneak their agents out of the Capital, so who knows?"

"I doubt that" said Azula, relief and confusion washing over her at once. Sokka's request was far better than she had expected it to be, but it had taken her off-guard completely "What do you hope to find, though? You don't think Piandao will be back, do you?"

"Uh… well, if he were it would be nice" said Sokka "I'd like to have a good talk with him, but I actually doubt he'd be there at all. Still, I think maybe we'll find some things we've overlooked. There have to be more leads and clues about the White Lotus somewhere, and that would be a good place to look, now that we know what we're looking for, right?"

"Maybe that's so…" Azula started, but she caught herself before telling Sokka that the odds were they would find nothing new in Piandao's mansion.

Wasn't this exactly what she wanted, though? Even if she didn't think they'd find anything in Shu Jing, the point of this trip was to keep Sokka away from the Capital for as long as possible. Adding a new stop to the journey meant she would manage to keep proper distance between him and that other slave…

Yet the unavoidable question arose in her head. If Sokka really wanted to be with that girl, why would he be so relaxed about this trip? Why would he have made a request that would only serve to make their journey even longer? Why hadn't he voiced a single complaint about how Azula was deliberately keeping him apart from Kyoshi's Heir if he actually wanted to be with her?

She frowned. He had seen her, according to what Mai had said. But if he reuniting with the girl had been so important for him, why had he been waiting for her at Xin Long's refuge, not even an hour after Azula had spoken with Mai? Why hadn't he taken his sweet time with his reunion? Why had he come back to her so quickly, hoping for a session of sword training?

Something wasn't right about this… and the more she thought about it, the more she felt like an utter fool. She was acting erratically based on whatever she thought she needed to do to keep Sokka by her side for as long as possible, but it was clear she was wrong about something. She wasn't reading the situation properly… or maybe she wasn't reading Sokka properly. She had been making mistake atop mistake by assuming everything would proceed exactly as it had back when Sokka had first encountered Kyoshi's Heir, but many things had changed since then. He wasn't the same person he had been that day… and Azula would have loved to say neither was she, but her actions seemed to say otherwise. All the same as she had kissed him in a desperate attempt to keep him beside her, now she was dragging him across the world to keep him away from Kyoshi's Heir. Her actions were nothing short of embarrassing.

"Still, though, if the ship isn't equipped for it, we could not go anyways" said Sokka, shrugging "There might be nothing after all, and it'd be a waste to go to Shu Jing for nothing"

"It would be" Azula agreed before sighing "But… I suppose it can be done, if you really want to go back there"

"What, really?!" Sokka exclaimed, smiling. Azula shrugged and smiled weakly at him as well.

"It's the least I can do after dragging you on two trips through the world without even asking if you want to go or not" she muttered.

"Heh, most gladiators don't get to have fun trips with their sponsors to begin with, so I'm not complaining" said Sokka, grinning at her.

"Well, if you think the last one was fun…" said Azula, raising her eyebrows.

"On some level it was" said Sokka, smiling guiltily now "But this time it's just the two of us, so I figure it'll be better than heading into Ba Sing Se with your uncle and Toph, huh?"

"Yeah, it should be" Azula muttered, nodding weakly. Guilt was starting to seep through her now, though, despite Sokka's cheerfulness. If he came to understand why she had dragged him away on these two trips, he surely would stop smiling as much as he did now.

Sokka frowned upon the way Azula was acting now. After her prior hostility now she was… coy? Uneasy? He grimaced, wondering why was it so hard to make sense out of the Princess. Every time he thought he had figured her out, the rules of the game changed and he was back in square one. But it didn't matter how many times he had to start all over again, he would reach the finish line eventually, if getting there meant he would make her happy at last.

So he smiled and dropped a hand on her shoulder, startling her.

"Well, thanks for accepting my request. I know it might be useless in the end, but I'm glad you decided to do it despite that"

"No need to thank me, Sokka" Azula muttered, solemnly, and Sokka chuckled before letting go of her shoulder.

"If you say so" he said, smiling kindly at her "Well, I figure I'll just go take a nap now in my cabin. Afterwards we can train for a while on deck, just like old times, eh?"

"Old times indeed, that feels like a hundred years ago" Azula said, and Sokka chuckled.

"Well, then…"

"Wait just a moment, though" Azula said, and Sokka stopped on his tracks.

"What?" he asked, wondering if she had something to say to him. She didn't look so coy anymore, rather, she finally looked like herself again. There was a judgmental look on her eyes, and a smirk threatening to appear on her lips.

"You're not going to take any naps, is all" she said "Or else it'll be the shortest nap you've ever taken"

"Why?" Sokka asked, surprised.

"Well, you see, the Black Cliffs are only a few miles away from the Great Gates of Azulon" Azula said, with a smile now "So getting there is only going to take two hours, at most"

"Really?" Sokka asked, eyes wide.

"Really" replied Azula "Once we're past the Gates, you'll get to see the Black Cliffs looming ahead. I'm sorry I didn't give you any prior warning about having a fight right away, but the point of the trip is for you to fight, after all…"

"Huh, no kidding" said Sokka, grimacing "Who am I going to fight, then? Is it someone higher or lower than me in the ranking?"

"Higher" Azula admitted "A firebender, actually. A female one, too"

"Huh, so a bit like you?" Sokka asked, smiling.

"Most unlikely" Azula said "Nobody is a firebender like I am"

"I've heard that quite a few times… and I know all too well it's true" Sokka said "Well, I sure hope she's not that dangerous. I'm feeling much better nowadays, but it might help if I don't fight anyone too strong anyways"

"Huh, well… I don't know how strong she really is" Azula said, frowning. Again, she acknowledged, if only to herself, that hadn't been thinking straight by accepting challenges at random as she had. She shouldn't have been as reckless as to do that…

The ship started moving then, after the ramp was lifted. Xin Long groaned as the Barge began moving slowly, leaving the dock and sailing through the bay at steady pace while leaving a trail of white foam behind it.

The Great Gates of Azulon appeared before them after a short while, and Sokka stared at them in wonder and curiosity. It looked like a wall of fire loomed before them, and it took Sokka an instant to see it was actually a net, lit up with flames so it would keep any unwelcome visitors from entering the Fire Nation's Capital.

"It's a good defense mechanism, I've got to admit" Sokka said, he detailed the statues where the nets were suspended "Is that your grandfather, then?"

"Well, his statue" Azula said, smirking "He wasn't that tall"

"Aren't you so funny, Princess" said Sokka, and Azula chuckled "Why is it there are dragons there, spewing fire onto the nets? Wasn't he the one who wanted the dragons obliterated?"

"It's a symbol of how he enslaved them, actually" Azula said, crossing her arms over her chest as she frowned. Xin Long, behind her, growled at the statue "By Azulon's command, these lowly dragons are forced to protect our nation, pretty much"

"Weird" said Sokka, frowning "Here I thought your dad had built it like that to make it ironic…"

"My father didn't build it" Azula said "My grandfather did, and he was the one who decided to make the statue to his likeness. Most the Fire Lord statues throughout the Fire Nation were supposed to be of Azulon, including the one you knocked over in Fire Fountain City, but my father changed most of them into his own figure instead. In the Fire Nation we seek to advance and progress through time, so worshipping old Fire Lords, or old deities, is useless, or so my father believes. Therefore, he'd rather the entire Nation reveres and fears him… and that's why Azulon's statue in Fire Fountain City was replaced by that of my father. Azulon's old statue only had him bending through both his hands… my father's statue had three different fire outputs, as though to make it clear who was the better bender"

"So… yours would have to release fire from four different places?" Sokka asked, smiling, and Azula raised an eyebrow "Just asking, since it seems to be a theme that you're all better than your fathers… yours would be one strange statue, though. You'd have to release fire through all your limbs so… you'd be lying on your back? With your legs and arms stretched out above you?"

Azula's eyebrow twitched at Sokka's description of her alleged future statue, and he squirmed as he tried to mimic what the statue would be posed as. He smiled brightly at her while she stared at him, aghast, before shaking her head.

"Why, yes, Fire Lord Azula will be most impressive, lying on her back like a beetle that got turned on itself" she said, rolling her eyes as Sokka chuckled "See, you have no artistic sensibility whatsoever. That's why I'll never let you paint my portrait for the Royal Gallery"

"Oh, come on! I'd do a better job than whoever painted those creepy things you've got there!" Sokka exclaimed, as Azula looked at him with disbelief.

"Really? After what you just said, you think you'd do better than the court painters? Honestly, Sokka?"

"Why, yes I think so!" Sokka stated proudly as Azula shook her head and chuckled under her breath.

"You're crazy, Sokka" she muttered.

The net at Azulon's gates was lowered into the water again, so her barge could pass through the barrier. There was a mild fog before the gates, but as soon as they had passed it, it began to dissipate. After sailing through a few more miles into the ocean, a small island appeared on the horizon.

"Is that it?" Sokka asked, and Azula nodded.

"I hope you're ready" she said "I know it's all quite sudden, but know there's no pressure on you. If you win this fight I'll be pleased, but if you don't, you're free to blame it on me for making this all happen so suddenly"

"I don't really want to blame you for anything" Sokka said, smiling "At least, not yet. Do you think she can beat me, though?"

"Well… quite possibly" said Azula, sighing "She's called the Priestess of the Flames or so. Shoji didn't know much about her"

"How come didn't he know much?" asked Sokka, surprised "He usually knows everything…"

"Turns out we're headed to a very special Arena, Sokka" said Azula, gritting her teeth "According to what Shoji said, this Arena, the Dragon's Pit, might as well be called the Pit of Chaos. The Black Cliffs used to be uninhabited, but now a group of gladiators live there, according to Shoji. It seems they're the ones who run the business, pretty much. I have no idea how that works… but it sounds like trouble"

"It sounds ridiculous" said Sokka, frowning "Gladiators who run the Arena themselves? Why would they want to do that?"

"Well, I suspect they might be similar to Toph" Azula said "They're probably not interested in money or points, just in fighting"

"Right, but what about sponsors? Do they have them? Wouldn't they need sponsors to qualify in the Superior League?" Sokka asked, frowning.

"I'd assume they do" Azula said, shrugging "But I have no idea if they have sponsors to begin with, honestly. I guess we'll figure out how this Arena works by the time we get there"

"Azula… this doesn't sound good" said Sokka, grimacing "How about we forfeit this fight, since you said you didn't care if we won or lost, and move on to the next one, eh?"

"Oh, come now, are you scared?" Azula taunted him and Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"Hell, yes!" he exclaimed "That doesn't sound like a fun Arena, Azula"

"Oh, poor Sokka is so frightened" Azula said mockingly, looking at Xin Long with amusement "I guess we'll have to protect him, then, or else he'll shiver his way into the sand pit, huh, Xin?"

"I doubt I'd shiver my way into anything" Sokka growled "Or that Xin Long would protect me. He's been mean to me lately, Azula! I haven't done anything to him, but he's always picking on me"

Azula froze again. She knew all too well that Xin Long was being harsher on Sokka than usual because of how many times she had been upset because of him in the recent days… only, after giving matters some thought only a short while ago, Azula had started guessing Xin Long's resentment towards Sokka was mainly her fault, and not the gladiator's. She was the one who kept misunderstanding everything, it seemed. She was so used to expecting the worst out of everyone that she hadn't acknowledged that Sokka had been exceeding her expectations constantly as of late. And just as she had failed to read him properly, so had Xin Long, who had decided to support his rider by treating Sokka cruelly, for it seemed she didn't have the courage to do it herself these days.

"Huh… I can have a good conversation with him while you fight, then, so he stops treating you so harshly" Azula said, trying not to sound too guilty as she spoke. Sokka pouted.

"Good, then. You do that and get that silly dragon to stop being mean!" Sokka said, before staring at approaching the island again with an insecure frown "Well… here we go, huh?"

"Just don't get yourself killed and everything will be fine" Azula said, eerily, and Sokka grimaced.

"Y-you think they could kill me in there?"

"I have no idea what happens in there, Sokka" Azula confessed, shrugging "Not even Shoji does. So who knows…?"

With another gulp, Sokka decided to think about this more enthusiastically. It was only another gladiator fight. He'd had his fair share of those, and several of them to the death. Why should this one be any different…?

Once he entered the Dragon's Pit, he was quick to understand what the difference was.

The Barge had been docked at the island's bay, and Azula and Sokka had been the only ones to disembark it. The entrance to the Arena was through the bay itself: a tunnel had been carved into the black, tall rock on the base of the island. Xin Long had been curious about an Arena called the Dragon's Pit at first, but upon seeing he'd have to go through a tunnel to enter it, he decided it wasn't worth it. He wasn't about to immerse himself in darkness willingly.

So Azula and Sokka walked through the bay and into the tunnel together, finding there were few lanterns to lead the way through the island, and almost none of them were lit. It was up to Azula to procure blue blazes of her own so they could walk through the tunnels without tripping on loose roots or rocks.

Several other tunnels started opening up in different directions, but it was hard to get lost when the unmistakable sound of a crowd was looming up ahead. Azula frowned at the sound, though, for it sounded like the most vicious crowd she had ever heard.

"What the hell is that noise?" Sokka asked, grimacing "Azula, don't you think maybe we ended up in the wrong place…?"

"I'm pretty sure we're in the right place… for better or for worse" she replied, gritting her teeth as she continued onwards, with Sokka following her and casting glances over his shoulder once in a while. There were more noises through the other tunnels, noises that made his hair stand on end.

They reached the last stretch of their tunnel, though, and the creepy sounds from the other tunnels were soon forgotten by Sokka as he gazed down at the Dragon's Pit.

His first thought was that he was in an Amateur Arena. His eyebrow twitched as he stared at the rabid crowd, and he grimaced as he watched how five gladiators were currently pounding one another in the sand… well, there wasn't much sand, in fact. Only a few mounds of filthy sand could be seen atop black, uneven rocks. The stands were positioned circularly around the ring, but there was no sponsors' balcony, let alone one for the judges, in sight.

Everything was murky and wild within the Dragon's Pit. The smells were completely repulsive, to the point where Azula was even covering her nose with a hand while frowning in disgust. Whatever this was, it didn't look like an Arena to her… even Hui Yi had been more organized than this. The people in the stands – there had to be around three hundred people or so – even tossed garbage and weapons into the ring, and one of them threw a hammer that struck one of the fighters in the shin. The fighter screamed and grabbed the hammer, waving it angrily over his head.

"Who the fuck threw this?! WHO THE FUCK DID IT?!" he shouted, as some members of the crowd laughed.

"I was doin' ya' a favor! I was aimin' at yer' head so you'd stop embarrassin' yerself, fucker!" retorted another one, and upon that the gladiator in the ring threw the hammer right back at him, but his aim was off, and he hit another man on the leg, one who was sitting on the row right above the hammer's owner.

The hammer's latest victim screamed in outrage before grabbing the hammer's owner by the hair and tossing him down the stands. He threw the hammer again, but it was lost in the mess as an all-out brawl commenced within the very stands. Fire, earth and weapons flew back and forth all over the place, while fighters exchanged loud shouts, both in the ring and outside it.

"O-okay… maybe you're right" Azula said, grimacing "Maybe you should just take a forfeit. This is… what the hell is this?"

"It's not even like the Amateur Arenas" Sokka remarked, staring around himself in horror "Heck… Azula. You said this place was uninhabited save for gladiators?"

"Yes?"

"Then all the people in the stands…?" Sokka asked, frowning.

"Most of them be gladiators, boy, all the same as ye are" said a voice from behind them, startling them both "Gladiators old and new, but also warriors that never joined the League… all came 'ere to look fer a good fight!"

The owner of said voice was a man in his fifties, with thick arms, a large moustache and an even bigger smile. He was thick and burly, but he had quite a big belly too. His head was almost bald save for a few white hairs here or there, and he was dressed in an old armor that seemed too small in many places. Sokka blinked at the sight of him, staring at the number of scars on his face and arms. He looked like a man who had spent his entire life fighting…

"I take it yer the Blue Wolf, boy, aye?" he said, smiling "We'd been expecting ya, but the boys like a good fight even if it ain't one for the books. Just gimme a sec, I'll stop their playin', aye…"

And with that, the man started walking through the stands, separating the fights wherever he went. Sokka and Azula watched him with interest, though they were also partially confused by how the man resorted to knocking the fighters out with his huge fists to stop the brawl amongst the gladiators. Those who noticed he was approaching would cease fighting right away, but those who didn't would soon fall prey to his strength. It was clear he was a figure of authority in the Arena; most likely, the only figure of authority in it altogether.

"Okay, so I guess I've really got to do this, huh?" said Sokka, grimacing "What are you going to do? Is there any place you can sit at without getting in the line of fire?"

"I don't think I want to sit anywhere around here" Azula replied, staring at her surroundings with disgust "And for that matter, I'm pretty sure anywhere within the ring's area would be in the line of fire. This is madness"

"Truly" said Sokka "No Dragon's Pit would be this messy, not even Xin Long's old lair"

"Xin Long's cave was full of animal corpses and it didn't smell as bad as this" Azula grunted, as more waves of revolting scents hit her "Sofor this to be called a Dragon's Pit is actually an insult to dragons…"

"Alright, alright, alright! Come on, ey, Wolf!" the man called out, jumping into the ring and ushering Sokka to join him.

Sokka swallowed hard and looked at Azula with worried eyes. She tried to give him a confident look before patting his shoulder.

"Seeing how things are handled around here, it seems I'll be able to jump in there if you need any help" Azula said, and Sokka smiled a little "But try not to make me do that, will you?"

"I won't" he said, nodding towards her before starting down to the black ring.

He had a hard time passing through the mumbling gladiators at the stands, who were judging him with harsh glares as he passed by them. Most of them looked bigger and stronger than him, though Sokka knew that didn't necessarily mean they were better fighters… but they were rather intimidating, to say the least.

"Hurry, hurry, we don't got all day" said the man, ushering Sokka into the ring as he glanced around the crowded stands, looking for someone. And after a while, he finally found her "Aha! San, quit hiding! Ye've got someone to beat up, remember?!"

To Sokka's surprise, San seemed to be a girl a few years younger than him, with long, dark hair and brown eyes. She had been lying across three seats, staring at the ceiling with interest until she heard her name being called.

"Eh? He's here already?" she asked, surprised, turning to look at the fat man. When she spotted Sokka she seemed somewhat disappointed, but she sighed and stood up regardless "Well, and here I thought this was supposed to be a challenge. If that's what I've got to kill, then I've as good as won by now"

"Kill?" Sokka repeated, glaring at the girl "It's not going to be that easy to finish me off, sorry to say"

"No point wasting your time with bravado, it's not going to work on me" San declared, smirking as she walked towards him "With fists we'll talk better than with words"

Sokka grimaced as the girl jumped elegantly into the ring, a menacing smile on her face. She was looking down on him, much as another dark-haired firebender who had looked down on him immediately upon their first meeting. Back then, Azula had been right to regard him as a weakling… would he be able to take this girl by surprise instead?

"Alright, then, let's get this game going, eh?" said San, smirking and striking a firebending stance just before Sokka jumped back cautiously.

"Wait, wait, wait, just like that?!" he asked "What about the time limit?"

Sokka's face flushed when the entire Arena started laughing at his question. He glared at the fat man, whom he assumed was the leader of the Arena, who was laughing as well.

"No time limits here, boy. Here we've got different rules, aye" he said, smiling at Sokka.

"Just how different, exactly?" Sokka asked, worried.

"Half the people here aren't even registered in the ranking" San said, rolling her eyes at him "And those who are registered usually have sponsors whom we only see like once every hundred days. They send us food here, sure, but they don't stick around here because what happens in the Pit is none of their business. We go fight outside whenever they want us to, but if we don't have to do that, then we stay here and kick each other's asses all day long, no strings attached"

"Wait, but that makes no sense" said Sokka "Why would they sponsor you at all if they're just dropping you guys off here to beat one another up?"

"Ah, that's because some of us threatened them into sponsoring us. We wanted good fights, and there was no better place than this one to find them" San said, smirking before pointing at the fat man "Gang Hong here takes care of all the bureaucratic nonsense, the rest of us get to beat one another up as we see fit. We do as we wish, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's not like we're ever going to get some Superior League jackass snooping around our turf. They know better than to come here to tell us what to do"

"I used to fight in the League too, aye?" said Gang Hong "Then my sponsor passed away one day and I ended up gettin' all his money, so I built this place because I couldn't sponsor meself now, could I? So here we all fight because we want to, not because we've got to, aye?"

"Some of us joined the League long before Gang Hong got this place running" said San "That's why we still have sponsors who come drag us to their fights whenever they want, but not too often or else we'll kill them and get rid of them for good"

"Uh… nice" said Sokka, gulping "But then what's my sponsor supposed to do now, huh? Just stand there while I fight?"

"Eh, she got a problem with that?" asked Gang Hong, gazing up at where Azula stood, at the top of the stands, right next to the tunnel that led to the exit.

"Oh, oh, just a second now" said San, smiling as she looked at the Princess with amusement "You're the Princess, aren't you?!"

"Indeed…" Azula said, glaring at the girl warily.

"Okay, I'd much rather fight her, so you go play sponsor while she and I…" San started telling Sokka, who froze before shaking his head promptly.

"Not a chance" he exclaimed "She's the sponsor, I'm the gladiator, and I'm the one you're going to fight!"

"Whaaaaat?" San whined, glaring at Sokka "Keh. What a party pooper. Well, if that's how it is then you've got no right to complain if I kill you just to get this over with, got it?"

"The hell…?" said Sokka, an eyebrow twitching as Gang Hong laughed loudly.

"As forward as ever, aye, San? Well, then, get this trip rollin' cuz' we don't got all day" he said, turning towards the stands and making his way through them.

Sokka followed him with his gaze but only for a short moment, for soon enough a blazing kick had been delivered in his direction. He had to jump out of the way to evade the attack, but another one soon followed it. Sokka grimaced as he stared at San in horror, and the girl continued casting flames through the most fluid motions, as though she were gliding over the ground while using her fire. There was something quite amazing in the way she handled the blazes, there was no denying it. Her gladiator name, Priestess of the Flames, suited her better than expected.

Sokka couldn't reach for the sword hanging on his back, busy evading her attacks as he was. He couldn't even use his weapons to fight against the fierce firebender. Her fire wasn't extremely powerful, Sokka thought, for Azula's blue flames certainly would cause more damage than these, but the girl simply didn't stop conjuring them. Her fluid style almost reminded Sokka of his sister's waterbending prowess.

Nevertheless, the girl had to stop casting blazes eventually in order to catch her breath. By then, Sokka whipped out his sword and boomerang, and he commenced his own assault. Yet San had recovered quite fast, and she was quick to put distance between her and Sokka by conjuring condensed flames that served to shield her from his weapons.

Sokka grimaced and backed away, the heat making sweat drop from his brow. He had triumphed against every firebender he had faced so far, but he was starting to suspect his record would break today. This girl was an incredibly talented bender.

Azula frowned while watching the fight, partially worried because she was starting to suspect, all the same as Sokka had, that they wouldn't win today… but she was, undeniably, impressed by the girl down below. Her skills and powers were outstanding for a gladiator. Why was she here instead of using her talents for something more meaningful than this? She sighed as she assumed either the girl was similar to Toph, and her main ambitions were to fight and defeat as many people as she could, or that she might have joined the Gladiator Business because joining the Fire Nation's army would have been a waste for her. She would have never made it past the position of Lieutenant, as Azula knew… even when she looked to be a better firebender than many highly-ranked military leaders, she would have never had her own division to command. She would have hardly had anything to gain, and very little to provide for the Fire Nation, had she joined the army.

It was pointless for Azula to ponder such matters right now, though, especially when San was close to setting Sokka on fire. He was running erratically now, trying to evade all her attacks while looking for the right angle from which he could throw his boomerang at her, but the girl was smarter than he expected. She kept him on his toes by predicting where he was more likely to move next, and she shot fire through both her hands towards the two directions he was prone to run to. In short, she kept him trapped, almost effortlessly.

"C'mon, you came all this way just for this?!" the girl laughed "Well, whatever! Once I'm through with you I'll fight your sponsor next!"

"Stop getting ahead of yourself!" Sokka shouted back, dropping flatly to the ground.

Another array of flames flew over him, and Sokka feared it might scorch his hair, but it didn't matter. The girl would soon aim at the ground where he lay, so he had to move fast before she did.

He tossed his boomerang powerfully from below, and it soared under the flames that were now starting to dissipate.

The girl had been getting ready to attack with her right hand when the boomerang struck her shin guards. She broke her stance, gritting her teeth in pain upon the blow just as Sokka darted forward again, swinging Space Sword towards the firebender in an attempt to deliver some real damage. Yet the girl only needed to punch the air before her to conjure a fire blast that would have burned Sokka's face hadn't he ducked in the last moment.

The girl's legs hurt now, but not to the point where she couldn't fight. She delivered a kick towards Sokka and struck him on the jaw. He dropped on the ground, a hand on his face as he reached for his fallen boomerang again. Yet the girl bent down to pick it up first, and she tossed it away into the crowd with a swift movement. Sokka grimaced in horror upon that, fearful of losing his precious weapon amongst the masses.

"No!" he shouted, as the boomerang fell on one of the audience's gladiator's head with a loud  _clunk_.

San smirked, but it took Sokka a moment to realize she wasn't happy over what she had done to his boomerang. Her actual amusement came from the fact that now the people in the crowd had started fighting over the boomerang, and soon the fight would extend into the ring. It seemed she was one who enjoyed the all-out brawls, such as the one that had started when Sokka and Azula had arrived to the Arena.

Azula frowned and glared at the area of the stands where the girl had tossed the boomerang. She wasn't about to let one of her fighter's trademark weapons to end up lost in this lair of misfits. And it surely would get lost at this rate. The entire crowd was now bursting into another massive fight, and she would lose sight of the boomerang if this got any worse than it already was.

Inwardly cursing herself for having accepted this ridiculous challenge, she started towards where Sokka's boomerang had wound up at. The worst of the brawl was taking place there, so she assumed they were struggling to decide the boomerang's new owner now.

The Priestess of the Flames had only stopped focusing on Sokka for an instant, and she had returned to her merciless fighting style, keeping Sokka on his toes until she realized the Princess was no longer standing at the spot from where she had been watching the fight. With a wild smile she gazed around the stands to find Azula was making her way towards the brawl, and with that, San struck a proud fist into the air.

"Hell, yeah! She's joining in!" she exclaimed before pulling away from Sokka, who had almost sliced her hand off when she had gotten distracted.

Yet the one distracted now was Sokka himself, who had failed to notice Azula wasn't where he had last seen her. When he saw she was heading towards where the brawl had started he grimaced but his eyes lit up in hope. She must have gone to get his boomerang, surely…

While he stared at her, San was happily smirking at how the brawl was getting worse. Pairs of struggling fighters had fallen into the ring, punching each other for no reason other than wanting to. And Gang Hong wasn't pleased by this sudden turn of events. It seemed he would tolerate brawls in unofficial fights, but not in those that actually counted in the League.

"Oi, San! The fuck're ya' trying to pull 'ere?! I told ya' this was a serious fight, aye!"

"Oh, come on, don't be such a party pooper, Gang" she said, smirking at the man now "The more, the merrier!"

"Fuck that, this was a real challenge!" Gang Hong exclaimed, standing up and glaring at San, who was now being attacked by Sokka again, who had decided to make the most of the girl's distractions.

"Oh, boo! What're you going to do, eh? I screwed you over, Gang, sure did!" she exclaimed, ducking and using condensed flames to shield herself from Sokka's flurry of attacks. It seemed nothing he did could take her off guard, even though she was scarcely paying attention to him by now "What's so bad about that, 'aye'? I'm not scared of you, big guy!"

Gang Hong had been quite a jovial and cheery man until just now. He gave San such a fierce glare that Sokka stopped fighting against his opponent over astonishment. The Priestess of the Flames didn't seem to care, though, for she smirked again and looked at the Arena's leader with defiant eyes.

"Not scared, aye?!" Gang Hong exclaimed, cracking his knuckles "Alrigh', then, yer gettin' the beatin' you wanted, San! C'mon, let's see if ya last ten minutes today!"

"Let's see if you last more than five!" the girl retorted, and with that, she jumped towards Gang Hong, who climbed down the stands while kicking gladiators out of his way in order to reach the girl.

Sokka was left standing in the ring as more fighters dropped inside of it, all of them invested in their own fights. One of them ran towards him, gripping an old knife in his hand, but Sokka was quick to disarm him and knock him out by striking his temple with the hilt of his sword.

Sokka couldn't quite make sense out of what had happened by now. Without a doubt, this was the weirdest fight he had ever gotten himself into. The Dragon's Pit was utter chaos, no more than that. He had no idea who would be declared the legal winner of his fight, not when his opponent was currently sending a barrage of fire at Gang Hong. How were the results of the fights in this Arena conveyed to the Grand Royal Dome, when chances were all fights would develop as nonsensically as this one? And whether he had won or lost, how was Azula going to either pay or obtain the money from the other sponsor, if said sponsor wasn't even here?

It was all so misleading and confusing that Sokka was just left to scratch his head in confusion and climb out of the ring in hopes to find Azula and help her in her efforts to take back his boomerang. So far she hadn't actually accomplished anything, for she just stood at a certain distance from the brawl, still trying to assess the best way to reclaim the boomerang. Yet just as Sokka made his way towards her, Azula stomped hard on the floor and a wave of blue fire spread upon her movement. It struck several of the struggling gladiators and it managed to make most of them turn their attention towards her.

She lifted a hand coated in fire and glared at them dangerously, ready to fight her way through this matter if she needed to.

"I will have that boomerang back now, if you will" she declared "And if you won't… why, you're going to regret it"

The gladiators would have gladly jumped at her, taking her words as mere bravado, but the threatening voice tone of the Princess actually intimidated most of them. The blue fire she held cast an eerie light over her face, and she needn't be as crude and loud as the gladiators to be far more menacing than them.

"Well?" she asked, with a sideways smirk that made some of the fighters take a step back.

"You want it, you've gotta come get it!" shouted the one holding the boomerang at the moment, who waved it over his head recklessly.

Azula sighed dramatically before letting the blue blaze disappear. With sharp and quick movements, her limbs charged with carefully calculated electric power that she released through her left hand's stretched fingers. The lightning blast caught the man with the boomerang on the chest and struck his hand, sending the boomerang flying upwards in Azula's direction.

The electric bolt wasn't too strong, but it still made the man's hair stand on end as the surge of power coursed through his body. He fell atop another gladiator and the power coursed towards him as well. They both fell to the ground, shivering wildly as the electricity finally got lost through the ground.

Azula stepped forward and picked up the boomerang, which had dropped right in front of her. She stood upright again after taking it, and she smiled at the men watching her with horrified eyes. Never before had they seen anyone bending lightning.

"Anyone else? No?" she asked, raising her eyebrows "Good. Carry on with your nonsense if you wish, then"

She needn't say it twice. As soon as they knew the Princess wouldn't get in their way, the people on the stands started fighting wildly yet again. Azula stared at them in disgust and started inching away by the time Sokka reached her, looking at her in awe.

"You're unharmed, and you got it!" he exclaimed, about to throw himself at her in a hug, but Azula's hand darted out and she grabbed hold of his face, keeping him at arm's length.

"Sorry" she said, as he grimaced, his arms stretched out still as he waited to hug her "But I don't think this is the right time or place for you to do anything like, well, whatever it was you wanted to do"

"Well…" he said, giving up on his efforts to embrace her and staring at her with a subtle pout "Not like anyone was going to notice anyways. As you can see…"

With that, he gestured towards the crowd. Indeed, it seemed nobody would have noticed if Sokka had hugged Azula, let alone done more than that, for a massive fight had erupted yet again. People in the stands fought and fell into the ring, where they started fighting again without a hitch. San and Gang Hong were currently within the ring as well, their fight likely the most violent of them all.

"So your opponent just decided to beat up the Arena's leader and forgot about you, I take it?" Azula asked, and Sokka shrugged.

"Yeah, pretty much" said Sokka "She stopped fighting me and started arguing with that guy because she wanted to fight you… but now she's fighting him? Hell, I don't get this place. At all. It makes no sense"

"Indeed, it doesn't" said Azula, frowning "How do we know who gets the victory for this fight?"

"And how will you get the winnings or pay up if I lost?" Sokka asked her.

"I have absolutely no idea, honestly. If anything, that guy ought to know" Azula said, jerking her head towards Gang Hong "But I don't think he'll be addressing our questions while he's busy beating up the Priestess"

"Unlikely" Sokka muttered, biting his lower lip as the man delivered an uppercut to San's jaw "So I guess we'll wait until they're done?"

Azula nodded and sighed, as Sokka raised an eyebrow to look at her questioningly. She handed him his boomerang and glared at the ring below before muttering:

"We're never coming back here"

"Agreed" he said, with a weak smile.

The brawls seemed never-ending at first, but slowly they started to decrease in number and intensity. Some fighters gave up after a while, but most of them actually passed out cold on the ground after being knocked unconscious by whoever had been fighting them at the moment. Eventually, Sokka and Azula ended up amusing themselves by guessing who would win which fight, and it was all they did until, at long last, Gang Hong punched San so hard in the stomach she had dropped on the ground, out of breath and with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"Learned yer lesson already, San?" he asked, wiping off some blood that was trickling down his chin.

"Do I ever learn it?" she asked, snickering as the man sighed in defeat.

"Are you finished, then?" Azula called out from afar, and the man turned to look apologetically at them.

"Aye, turns out I am" he replied, scratching the back of his head "Apologies, yer Highness, for the mishap, aye? Not what I'd planned, but these maggots' got a way to lose their cool, aye…"

"Clearly" Azula replied, with a sigh "What now, though? Who won my gladiator's fight? And what am I supposed to do next?"

"Er…" said the man, looking down at San, who seemed to have blacked out by now "Well, she's down, aye. I'd say yer the winner?"

"W-what?" Azula said, an eyebrow twitching "What sort of ridiculous criteria…?"

"Ya' want me to send word to say ya' lost? 'Cuz I could do that all the same, no problem…"

"You know… I think the wisest course of action would be to pretend this fight never even happened" said Sokka, gulping "Send word to say it was a mutually forsaken fight in the end. It's only fair, right?"

"To be honest, it seems reasonable" Azula muttered, grimacing "This way we won't have issues with the money either"

"Aye, then that'll do, aye!" said Gang Hong "Needn't worry, yer Highness! Gang Hong will take care of all the official fuckery, aye"

"Uh… good to know" Azula said, with a grimace. That was the weirdest way in which she had ever heard someone refer to paperwork before "Well, that was simple. Unexpectedly simple. We'll be taking our leave now, then, if you don't mind"

"Aye, aye, nice meetin' ya!" exclaimed Gang Hong, waving happily in Azula's direction.

The Princess only nodded curtly before grasping Sokka by the shoulder and leading him back through where they'd come from.

They were back on the Barge by sundown, having spent several hours inside the Dragon's Pit, waiting for the brawl to die down. The Captain and the nearby guards who heard Azula's retelling of what had happened inside the Arena were astonished by the Princess's story, and several were willing to charge inside the Dragon's Pit to bring some order into it, but Sokka was quick to stop them.

"No need for that" he said, standing before the ship's descent ramp to keep the guards from disembarking "That place is crazy and weird and it smells real awful, but those guys… they're in there by choice. I don't know why someone would choose a life like that, but they have, and… well, they're not hurting anyone other than themselves, are they?"

"It may be so, but it isn't appropriate for such shameful acts to take place in the Fire Nation" said Rui Shi.

"Not like anyone knows, though" said Sokka, shrugging "They've been doing this for ages now, it seems, and you're only finding out now. So why bother putting order in chaos when they've got their own order in chaos, if that makes any sense?"

The guards were left looking at Sokka in confusion while he folded his arms in front of his chest. Azula looked at him inquisitively for an instant before smiling and shaking her head.

"Leave them be, the gladiator is right. This is none of our business. They're not threatening my father's rule or anything of the sort, and we have a schedule to keep up with. I'd hate to stray from it just because we've found a group of mad people who like to beat one another up. It's their problem if they murder each other in there, not ours"

"But…" the Captain started before sighing in defeat. If he had learned anything in the past year, it was that he was better off not rebuffing any of Azula's commands "Very well, then. Let's set out again, shall we?"

"That would be ideal, Captain, yes" Azula said, nodding, and the guards scurried off through the deck, still insecure and worried about the situation in the Dragon's Pit, but they wouldn't do anything about it if the Princess told them not to.

Sokka smiled as the ship started moving, setting out into the seas again and leaving behind the Black Cliffs gradually. Azula had walked off towards Xin Long, who was rather curious about why the place she had been at had sported such a weird name. Naturally, his sponsor let him know she hadn't understood it even after going inside it. Xin Long merely concluded humans were weird before curling up at Azula's feet to take a nap.

Sokka approached them with a smile, as Azula stared at her dragon with a small grin.

"We're just never going to have a normal trip, are we?" he asked, at which Azula laughed.

"What would be the fun in that?" she replied "We're not normal, Sokka, so weird things will follow us wherever we go. It's the way it's always been, and how it's bound to be from here onwards"

The sound of those words made Sokka smile. He didn't quite know what 'here onwards' meant for Azula, but he liked to think it meant Azula wanted their partnership to extend for many more years from here on. He wouldn't have wanted it to be any different.

"You've been letting lots of crazy gladiators off the hook lately, though" said Sokka "I'm impressed. I figured the proud girl who nearly lost her cool because of that hobo back in the Capital wouldn't just say these guys, let alone the Iron Rain and the Savage Hook, could be left alone as they are"

"I concede, you're right about that. It's rather clear you've ruined me" Azula said, and Sokka laughed "I wouldn't have done anything like this before meeting you, so no doubt it's your fault"

"Well, can't say I mind being blamed for that" he said, grinning "For once, you're not getting an apology out of me"

"Huh, that's new" Azula said, smirking at him.

Sokka chuckled and so did Azula. She breathed deeply afterwards, though, staring at Sokka with insecurity. He seemed to think of her far more highly than she deserved. Letting a few gladiators to roam free didn't make her a much better person than she had been back when they had found that hobo… let alone than when they had kissed for the first time. But Sokka didn't know that, did he?

Yet she resolved she had to tell him. At this rate, she would be incapable of spending time in the Capital, merely because she was fearful of whatever relationship could spawn between her gladiator and Kyoshi's Heir. And she was tired of feeling as she did. Her unease and jealousy wouldn't die down, apparently, but she could try to ignore them. At least, she could ignore them until she talked matters out properly with Sokka… right?

He looked so relaxed and happy right now, though. The fear of seeing that coldness in his eyes again, the one she had seen during that awful night, forced her to hold her tongue. She still remembered his words, the harshness of everything he had told her. She still remembered every single tear she had been incapable of holding back as she told him lies after lies, as she tried to pretend she was still in control of the situation when she probably hadn't had any control over it in the first place. She didn't want that to happen again. She didn't want Sokka's warm feelings towards her to be replaced by coldness and hatred. She wouldn't be able to take it this time.

But if she said nothing, he might still find out why she had dragged him away from Kyoshi's Heir one day. And when that day came, surely he would react just as she feared he would. So she had to tell him before he misunderstood everything… before he misread her, just as she kept misreading him. She needed to explain everything, even if her explanations weren't bound to be any use on the long run. But at the very least he might understand if she spoke earnestly with him… right?

But she couldn't do it yet. Just… not yet. Not right now. They still had a long voyage ahead of them, and thinking of the worst-case scenarios convinced her that this trip would become unbearable if he were to take her confession badly. So she would do it later… not just yet. Not when she wanted to see that peaceful grin on his face for as long as possible.


	82. Chapter 82

The firebender was ruthless, but his efforts to overpower the Blue Wolf were falling short. The non-bending gladiator was quick on his feet, and his prowess with his weapons was quite impressive and inventive, too. His club's heavy swings attempted to break the firebender's hands and feet whenever he stopped to take a bending stance, and the black sword had already cut through his armor and clothes several times. Shallow gashes graced the man's exposed skin in some of the places where the blade had torn up his garments.

Renzhi watched with interest, rubbing his chin with a thumb. His sponsor, sitting next to him in the crowded stands, seemed intrigued by the Princess's gladiator. They made a point to watch gladiator fights once in a while, with the purpose of selecting the fighters they would challenge next. Renzhi's sponsor, Aonu, would ask for his opinion regarding whom to choose, for he believed his fighter's efforts in the Arena would increase if they worked together in every way they could. Not many sponsors treated their gladiators as he did his, but seeing how successful they had been so far, Aonu saw nothing wrong with acting as though Renzhi weren't a mere slave.

But of course, Renzhi wasn't just a mere slave. Born a powerful firebender in the colonies, Renzhi's abilities had been kept a secret by parents who had supported the Earth Kingdom through the war. Not long after his father's demise in the battlefield, his mother was forced into slavery and so was he. Renzhi almost got himself in trouble once, when he showed his firebending skills to defend himself from an unpleasant man mocking him in Yu Dao's slave market. Aonu had seen his display, and decided to buy him. Renzhi's sole condition was that Aonu had to buy his mother as well, and Aonu complied. Renzhi's mother passed away a few years after they entered Aonu's service in his family's household, a short time after her son had started to fight in the Superior Gladiator League.

"Kid's better than I expected. Didn't look so tough back then…" Renzhi muttered. Aonu frowned.

"Then you're certain this is the guy you met?" he asked.

"Yep. Positive. I told you I remembered his name: Blue Wolf"

"And you had no idea you were talking to the Princess's gladiator back then?"

"He didn't tell me who his sponsor was. The boy had a cut on his face and he looked kinda confused about how anything worked. But he did want a medical check, and mentioned how the Princess had made it so they would be mandatory… I laughed because we didn't have those back then. I just figured he was some newcomer from the Capital, I didn't guess he'd be, well, who he was"

"You might want to pay more attention to the newcomers, then, especially those with important sponsors" said Aonu, as the Water Tribe gladiator evaded another blast of fire and struck his opponent's elbow with his club. The injured man roared in agony, spewing some fire in the Blue Wolf's direction "Common noblemen are prone to choosing ridiculous gladiators because they look strong, but that's not the case for military figures such as Zhao, for instance"

"Eh, I guess so" said Renzhi, frowning. Throughout his years in the Superior Gladiator League, he had lost in fifty-one opportunities. All of them had been against the league's best fighter, the one Admiral Zhao sponsored: Combustion Man.

"When I heard the Princess was joining the League, I knew she wouldn't choose a common gladiator, despite what the rumors said" said Aonu "She chose a gladiator with awful odds and turned him into a fighter that can even triumph in Pairs Tournaments, as he did in Ba Sing Se"

"Well, for all we know, his partner's the one responsible for that. The Blind Bandit's famous too, you know?" said Renzhi.

"You think this one had nothing to do with it, Renzhi? Haven't you been paying attention?" Aonu asked, gesturing at the fight. Again, the Blue Wolf was getting the upper hand against Lang of the Unyielding Flames. He had put away his club and was now attacking his enemy with his boomerang.

"I'm only saying, it might not have been all on him" he said, shrugging.

"Well, I'd say you're wrong" said Aonu, smirking "I haven't seen a non-bender like this before. When was the last time you fought one of those, eh?"

"Meh, I don't really remember" said Renzhi, scratching his head.

"One would think the Millenium Dragon would have better memory than this" said Aonu, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"The Millennium Dragon has fought plenty of times by now. He loses track of when each fight happened. Can't blame him for that, can you?"

"I can, actually" said Aonu "Your last non-bender was the Mad Alchemist. An interesting fight, but not all that important. You defeated him, after all"

"I beat pretty much anyone. 'Cept for Combustion Dude" said Renzhi, with a sigh.

"Then you probably could beat this boy, too" said Aonu, smiling.

"Heh, I might" said Renzhi "But the wolf boy lives in the Capital. He's not going to stay here long enough for me to fight him, and last I knew, you didn't like traveling to the Capital…"

Aonu frowned and nodded. He had come to greatly dislike the Capital over time, mainly due to the unpleasant behavior of some noblemen towards a man of mixed heritage such as himself. He hadn't chosen to be born in the colonies… Aonu had always been a perceptive person, even as a child, and he was quick to identify the meaning of the stares highborn people sent his way. He knew what disdain was. And he wouldn't put himself through it in the Capital if he could avoid it.

"So unless you just shoot a challenge to his sponsor and hope she'll stay over for a couple more days to fight us, I don't see how we're going to fight them" said Renzhi, sighing and stretching.

In the sand pit, the Blue Wolf jumped out of the way of another fire blast that his opponent had casted with his uninjured hand. But the Wolf retaliated by throwing his boomerang expertly through the blazes. The weapon heated up as it soared through the flames, and it caught a startled Lang on the bridge of his nose. The man fell to the ground, unconscious.

The crowd cheered the successful gladiator, and Aonu clapped politely along with them. Renzhi raised his eyebrows and nodded in approval. That final move had been quite unexpected.

"There's another alternative, though" said Aonu, smirking "You can face off against this boy, and not in the Capital. If his sponsor is as proud as she must be, considering it's the Princess, she's not likely to refuse the challenge I have in mind"

He glanced up towards the sponsors' balcony. Princess Azula was smiling approvingly down at the pit. Her gladiator had lost a fight by a small margin in the Ember Crater, but he had triumphed overwhelmingly in the Ring of Ash. His success in Yu Dao's Golden Eye naturally pleased her.

"Wait…" said Renzhi, as Aonu stood up, ready to leave "You mean, the Slate? We're going to challenge them to the Slate?"

Aonu smirked and looked at his gladiator with malice. His shaggy brown hair fell unceremoniously over his bright green eyes, eyes befitting the earthbender he was.

"Indeed, Millenium Dragon" he said "To the Slate"

Renzhi swallowed hard but nodded. He would fight wherever his sponsor decided he should, it wasn't his call. Still, this wasn't bound to end well for that boy: not a single non-bender had survived a fight in the Slate. The Princess's gladiator might be stronger than most non-benders, but that didn't mean he would stand a chance in the Slate. Not if he fought against the second-best gladiator of the ranking.

* * *

"Are you sure about this, then?" Suki asked, biting her lip as she glanced at the scissors on the table "Last chance to back down"

"Should I want to back down?" Zuko asked, trying to mask his insecurity as he took his seat, a cloth covering his body.

"Well, I already told you I've never cut hair before" Suki said, smiling weakly.

"But I do need a haircut" said Zuko, sighing "You're good with swords, so why shouldn't you manage to cut my hair?"

His reasoning seemed unreasonable, even to him. Yet he was right about how much he needed a haircut. Suki had been the one to propose to cut his hair for him, seeing how Yuudai kept yanking at his long ponytail whenever he could get his hands on it. For Zuko's sake, it was better to cut it to keep the child from pulling out his hairs from their roots.

Both Suki and Zuko had taken to watching over Yuudai together ever since Suki started wandering around the house. She hadn't yet left the place, but she was taking things one step at a time. Yesterday she had stood at the front door and gazed at the familiar city from the threshold. She hadn't known just how much she missed seeing the red roofs of the Capital and the intimidating, looming shape of the Palace in the center of the city. She never thought she would feel any relief upon being at the core of the Fire Nation, but to her surprise, she did.

Mai was with Yuudai right now, while Suki and Zuko were back in the girl's room. Yuudai had pulled out seven hairs from Zuko's head quite painfully today, and that had prompted Suki to make her proposal, which Zuko had accepted without a second thought. Suki had found scissors and a cloth that she had wrapped around Zuko's shoulders, and now they were getting ready to start with the process.

Zuko hadn't cut his hair since his banishment. Back in the day he had shaved most of it, save for his ponytail, but he gave in to despair eventually and stopped shaving, and his hair had grown messily. He didn't believe he would find the Avatar, and he had thought he would roam the seas forevermore, for he didn't wish to return home empty-handed… so he had stopped paying attention to his hair altogether. He had let it grow out without a care, and while it hadn't bothered him before, now it certainly did.

Still, it wasn't because of his hair that he wanted Suki to do this. He knew she hadn't picked up anything that could be used as a weapon in a long time, despite she wished to do so. She missed her days as a fighter, but she couldn't quite return to them, and it was, partially, because she didn't trust herself with blades as she was. She feared she might not be up to her usual prowess, or that she might hurt herself or whoever she was with.

Zuko wanted her to cut his hair to show her that, even if she didn't trust herself, he did. He didn't think he'd care about what the result of this operation would be, so long as it helped Suki to feel comfortable with herself again. Of course, he didn't want her to cut his face or anything, but he was willing to risk it if need be. He doubted there would be much of a risk anyways.

Nevertheless, Suki did. Her grip was a bit shaky as she picked up the scissors. What was she supposed to do, really? She didn't know how to cut hair… it shouldn't be harder than gutting koi fish, but she still worried. She sighed deeply and bit her lower lip again, taking Zuko's ponytail in her hand.

"I'll cut off most of it" she told him "But not all. That way you can still tie it up if you want to"

"Sounds good" Zuko said, smiling a little even though she wouldn't see him.

Her hands still trembled as she touched his hair, her knuckles grazing the nape of his neck and his back. She had dared touch him a few times during the last month, ever since she had first reached out for his scar, but the contact between them was still nerve-wrecking for her.

"Okay, then… here goes nothing" she said, gulping and cutting his ponytail at shoulder-length.

The hair she had cut dropped on the floor in a disorderly fashion, and Suki breathed deeply. The first step was over now… but the next ones were the ones that would prove more difficult.

"Well, that's a start" she said, and Zuko nodded weakly, resisting the urge to reach back to touch his hair "Okay, now you ought to stay still, or else I might end up cutting too much… or I might even end up cutting what I shouldn't cut"

"You won't" said Zuko, smiling a little "But if you do, try to make it my burned ear. It's already so bad it won't be much of a loss"

"Huh" said Suki, grimacing "Is it you can't hear properly?"

"No, I can" said Zuko "The damage to my ear was mostly on the outside. My eye, though…"

"You have trouble seeing?" Suki asked next.

"Yeah, with the burned eye" said Zuko "It's not that bad, it's not like I can't see through it at all, but it's always a little blurry. There are times where it dries up too. It can still produce tears, but at times it doesn't happen unless I yawn or cry for real… uh, not that I cry that often"

"No?" said Suki, chuckling a little "I wouldn't think less of you if you did"

Zuko gulped and figured that was a good thing, but he would rather keep her believing he wasn't much of a crier. He remained still, waiting for Suki to continue with her feat, but she didn't. Zuko turned to look at her, and found she stood in place, biting her lower lip while holding the scissor.

"You alright?" he asked, and she smiled and nodded promptly.

"Yeah, yeah, I just… I'll get back to it now" she said, and Zuko turned around again.

"So, uh…" Zuko muttered, hoping that a conversation might help her relax a little. Still, he had no idea what to say "Had a good breakfast?"

The randomness of the topic took Suki by surprise, but she smiled all the same. Her free hand moved up to his hair again and undid his shortened ponytail, allowing his dark hair to fall over his shoulders.

"Yeah… no peaches, though" she said, smiling, and Zuko blushed "I talked a little with Mai, though. She told me more about you two, you know, back when you were younger"

"You seem quite interested in that" said Zuko, raising an eyebrow, and Suki chuckled.

"Can you blame me? It's not every day that you get to hear the childhood stories of a prince, is it?"

"It's not, I suppose" Zuko said, smiling a little.

"I really didn't know you two were that close, though" said Suki, taking a chunk of hair between two fingers. Talking served as little distraction, for her hands still trembled, but she could pretend she was alright while talking, even when she wasn't.

"Well, we weren't close right away" Zuko said, as he heard the sound of the scissors closing on a strand of his hair. He could only hope she knew what she was doing "She was Azula's friend from school, and I didn't enjoy spending time with little girls back when I was a little boy myself. Especially not when I knew my sister would turn me into the target of all her games"

"Really?" Suki asked, as she moved over to the next strand of hair, in hopes to keep it on even length with the one she had only just cut.

"Yeah, Azula wasn't exactly the nicest sister growing up… well, I've already told you she's a pretty difficult person, over all" said Zuko, shrugging, and Suki winced.

"D-don't move" she muttered, and he gulped.

"Sorry. Uh… yeah, anyways, she's not exactly easy to get along with, especially when she realizes you're fun to torment" said Zuko, sighing "But… she's not all bad. Not really. For quite some time I thought so, but she actually isn't"

"I suppose it's harder for a big brother to tell" said Suki, smiling "I never had any siblings, but plenty of girls back in Kyoshi Island did. Some of them were always arguing and fighting with their brothers and sisters, while others just got along with them without a problem"

"Well, Azula and I would be of the first kind" said Zuko "Just, well… I guess we don't really understand each other all that well. And spending ten years without seeing each other didn't help. I thought deep down she was the exact same eleven-year-old I'd left behind ten years earlier, but then… well, she proved otherwise"

"How?" Suki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, by hiring her gladiator" said Zuko, and Suki froze for an instant, recalling Sokka's visit. She hadn't told Zuko about it… she didn't know if she was supposed to, but maybe it would be a good idea to mention it now "Something about their relationship is just… weird, at a lack of a better word. I already told you so, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you mentioned Ty Lee and Mai think she's in love with Sokka" said Suki, frowning "Do you think so too?"

"Well, I don't think they're involved or that they would want to be" Zuko muttered "It's too inconvenient. But even if it's not love, whatever's going on with them is weird. They took off on another trip not long ago, right after arriving from Ba Sing Se. Why would Azula keep traveling, I have no idea. But she took him with her again. They're together all the time, pretty much. So whatever's going on…"

"It's something big, huh?" said Suki, thoughtful, as she continued to cut Zuko's hair. Sokka had been quite defensive of Azula upon their encounter, though. She remembered what he had said about the White Lotus, and about their attempt to kidnap the Princess… "Well, they say she's the one in love, but what if it's him?"

"Well, that wouldn't surprise me either" Zuko said, as Suki moved to cut the messy hair on the sides of his head "He even punched me once over her, so…"

"He punched you?" Suki asked, astounded.

"Yep" said Zuko, with a weak smile "I suppose I sort of needed a blast of reality, but talking with someone helps a lot more than getting punched. Still, he's a 'manly man', so that's just to be expected from him"

"But you said he punched you over your sister?" Suki asked, blinking blankly "What did you do to her?"

"I was saying some pretty stupid things, I guess" said Zuko "Things he didn't agree with. So I ended up with a swollen jaw for a couple of days for my troubles. It's why I would believe he's into her, just… well, at the same time it's hard to believe. But he's quite a strange guy too, so maybe they actually love one another. They're perfectly matched when it comes to tormenting me, so maybe they really are meant to be"

"You're just saying that, aren't you?" said Suki, smiling and moving over to Zuko's other side. He chuckled.

"Yeah, I actually am. I guess I can believe my sister isn't as bad as I always did… but I don't know if she'd love him, or if he'd love her back. It's probably more complicated than that"

"Love is quite complicated, you know" Suki said, smiling a little "So as far as complicated goes, they might as well be in love"

"You just think it's romantic, don't you?" said Zuko, smirking at her and Suki laughed.

"Romantic? I don't know, I don't even know your sister so I shouldn't say anything about her" she said "I still have no idea why she had Ty Lee save me, even after…"

"After what?" Zuko asked, raising an eyebrow as Suki bit her lower lip again and cut another strand of hair.

"Well… I didn't tell you about this, but Sokka came to see me some time ago"

"W-wait… what?" Zuko asked, turning to face her and freezing in place when he found the scissor at level with his good eye. He moved away a little while Suki jerked away instinctively as well.

"I told you not to move for a reason, Zuko" she said, huffing, and he blushed.

"Sorry" he mumbled "B-but… really? When? I didn't even catch a glimpse of Azula, she was in town for two days or less than that…"

"It was about a month ago, I think" said Suki, shrugging, before placing a hand on the top of Zuko's head and forcing him to turn around again "There. That's better. Anyways, there's not much to tell, he showed up for a little while, asked a few questions and then left"

"A few questions?" Zuko asked, as Suki cut the last strand of hair on this side and made sure it looked even "I hope he didn't come to ask you out…"

"You hope?" she asked, smiling as she stood before him now "Why would you hope about that?"

"W-well, he'd just have to be as stupid and insensitive as I think he is to do something like that to you right now…" Zuko muttered, his face flushing once more "Or is it you wanted him to ask you out?"

"Heh, sure" said Suki, her eyes widening as she looked at his bangs, placing them over his face "Well… close your eyes and let's hope I don't mess this up"

Zuko obeyed and Suki started cutting, trying to focus on his hair rather than on his face. She swallowed hard, her hands trembling slightly again now… She frowned upon realizing she had hardly shivered at all as they talked. She had nigh forgotten about how close she was to him, or that she was doing something that could be dangerous if she messed it up. Even now, when Zuko turned around towards her, she hadn't hurt him, not even by accident…

With a smile on her face, she dared reach down to grab his chin in one hand, lifting his face. Zuko gulped, not used to having his face touched. Suki had reached out for his scar not long ago, but this was quite different. Her hand wasn't as insecure this time as it had been when she touched his scar.

"Okay, now, don't move. For real" she said, and Zuko smiled a little.

"I won't" he said, as Suki stopped holding his face and started working on his hair again.

She bit her lip as she cut the hair, smiling a little as Zuko twitched when the shorter hairs fell on his face and tickled him. Nevertheless, he didn't move until she was done.

"I wouldn't have accepted going out with Sokka, considering that I haven't left the house yet" she said, trying to relax again by talking "I hadn't even left my room back then, to begin with. So going out would have been impossible, quite literally. But I guess I wouldn't have wanted to do it anyways. Not when you'd already warned me that there's something weird with him and your sister"

"Then you rejected him?" Zuko whispered, and Suki shook her head, despite he couldn't see her right now.

"No, he never asked, for starters" Suki said "I don't think he's all that into me anyways. He looked like he was during our fight, but afterwards… I don't know. His head was in the clouds during our date, I guess"

"Well, then he's as stupid as I thought" said Zuko, and Suki smiled.

"Because his head was in the clouds?"

"Whose head could be in the clouds while dating you?" he asked, and she laughed.

"You're too sweet"

With that, his cheeks reddened for what felt like the millionth time during this conversation. Suki smiled at that and placed the scissors on the nearby nightstand.

"You can shake off the loose hair now" she said, and Zuko was quick to obey, rubbing his face repeatedly to rid himself of the prickling feeling. Once he was done with that, though, Suki moved close to him again and leaned down, looking at him closely.

Zuko's blush had been fading but it returned when he found himself looking directly into her eyes. She didn't seem to be affected by the closeness, and was pulling on the hair on the sides of his face to make sure it was even.

"Well… I guess it's not that bad" she said, with a guilty smile "But I don't know if that's what you wanted, so you ought to have a look in a mirror. I think there's one here…"

She walked towards a dresser in the room and opened a drawer. After rummaging through the content for a moment, she procured a small mirror and handed it over to Zuko. He gulped before looking at his reflection in the glass and when he saw it he raised his sole eyebrow with interest.

"Huh… not bad" he said, moving his head to the side to see the other angles of his hair "Better than I expected"

"So you expected me to mess it up?" Suki asked, and Zuko chuckled.

"No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying I actually look decent, for once" he said, smiling and handing her the mirror again "Thanks, Suki. Really"

"No problem" she replied, their fingers brushing when she clasped the mirror in her hand.

Zuko almost expected her to drop the mirror and jerk away, but to his surprise, she didn't. The light touch of his hand didn't frighten her this time around. Maybe it wouldn't scare her anymore.

Zuko smiled as she put away the mirror, and he removed the cloth around his body. Together they swept clean the floor from all the loose hairs, and soon enough their entire operation was finished. Zuko tied up his hair again, his bangs falling over his eyes, but he parted them so he could see properly.

"Well, that's done" said Suki, smiling "And I actually did it"

"Good job" Zuko replied, smiling as well "So, uh, as payback…"

"I don't need a haircut myself, if you were going to offer" she said, smiling.

"Not what I had in mind" said Zuko, amused "I just wanted to, uh… well, if you want, or feel like it, we could, uh… wander the city? If you're ready for it now, that is. But just if you want to! If you don't, I get it, it's not always a nice city and really, walking can be a drag, so…"

"I'd like to"

Zuko froze where he was and blinked a couple of times before looking down at Suki with surprise. She chuckled and smiled at him, and he beamed.

"Seems like the one I ended up going out with was you" she said, walking towards the room's door. Zuko followed, still in a daze.

"Hehe… I guess so" he muttered, pleased. He hadn't expected Suki to accept his proposal, let alone when she had just said she would have rejected another guy.

They left to the city without letting Mai know what they would be doing. She was currently in the dining room, holding Yuudai while talking with Ty Lee, who was in utter denial about what Mai had just told her.

"No. I… no" said Ty Lee, shaking her head "Come on, after that traumatic experience you think she's going to get it on with Zuko? When he's the most awkward guy in the history of the Fire Nation?"

"Well, I already said we can bet on it" Mai suggested, smiling "My loss would be your gain, right?"

"You… you wouldn't propose this unless you knew you'll win" said Ty Lee, an eyebrow twitching.

"You know me so well" said Mai, rolling her eyes and smirking.

"Y-you…! Ah, it makes no sense! Granted they are a cute couple, but they're not going to hook up! At least, not yet!" she exclaimed "So I'm taking you on! I'll beat you on this one and on the one about Azula as well! You'll see I'm right!"

"Oh, I sure will" said Mai, pleased with herself. This way she wouldn't have to pay Ty Lee anything. Mai knew she had lost the bet about Azula, but she was certain she would win the one over Zuko.

* * *

The swords rang loudly every time they clashed together. They attempted to reach their rival, but more often than not they sliced the air rather than cloth or skin. Azula took pride in having caught Sokka's armored shoulder once so far, but he still had the upper hand in their combat. Whenever she thought she was close to defeating him, he would turn the tables faster than she could anticipate. Sokka truly had a way with his sword.

They were currently training on the Barge's deck, after weeks of sailing back from Yu Dao. Sokka had enjoyed their bouts more than usual during their last training sessions. Perhaps it was because, despite the single loss he had sustained, his record as of late was positive. He probably had earned close to three thousand points during the last months.

But at times Azula suspected his record wasn't what kept him in high spirits. Still, she wasn't sure if she ought to indulge in the belief that being around her made him happy. Toph may have told her he seemed to have feelings for her, but that wasn't new. The problem was that those feelings could easily turn to something else, if he understood the truth behind their last two trips…

She had been worrying about the matter constantly, never finding a good moment to talk things through with Sokka. The happy smile on his face always made her think it was better to wait… but she had waited through their entire trip now, and given how happy he seemed to be as they sparred, she wasn't bound to open up to him any time soon.

"C'mon, you can do better than that!" he exclaimed, as she lost her balance upon trying to stab him.

His taunts were quite annoying, though. His smile pleased her… his teasing did not.

As soon as she recovered her footing she lifted a leg and kicked blue flames at him. Sokka squealed in quite an unmanly fashion and dropped flat on the ship's deck to avoid being scorched by them.

Now it was Azula's turn to smile. In fact, she started laughing as she aimed her sword towards a frowning Sokka.

"Hey! I've told you you're not allowed to bend!" he exclaimed.

"But you also told me I must make use of all my resources" she said, smirking "So if you want me to do better, I'm free to do that by making you face my fire"

"Well, it's not fair and not right" Sokka grunted, pouting "If you want to train with me, it's with fire or with sword, not with both!"

"I suppose I'll have to go with the first option, then, seeing how much you've always liked my blue fire…" Azula said, with an innocent smile, and Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I just loooove… your blue fire" he said, finishing the sentence quickly. Something on the back of his head had almost made him end that phrase differently…

"And the blue fire loves you back" Azula said, smirking again before blasting flames at Sokka, now through her fists.

"Wait! I'm not ready!" He exclaimed, trying to sweep the fire away with his sword.

"Ah, but a good warrior is always ready!" Azula mocked him, and Sokka ended up breaking into a sprint, fleeing from her and her dangerous flames.

"Quit making fun of me!" he squeaked, and Azula threw another fistful of fire towards him before stopping altogether, too amused by him to bend properly anymore.

Sokka glared at her and stomped towards her, a heavy frown on his face, as Azula laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, how neat is it that you never fail to cheer yourself up at my expenses!" he exclaimed "It's not fair, you know?!"

"Are you honestly going to complain at this point in time?" she asked "I've been doing it for ages. You should just get used to it"

"Not happening" he said, folding his arms across his chest "I will never surrender to wicked princesses who don't play by the rules"

"Well, that's your problem. It only means you're always going to get your butt burned for your resilience" Azula said, shrugging with a teasing smile on her face. Sokka rolled his eyes, which made him glance at the horizon, if only accidentally.

"Hey, there's an island there" he said, stepping towards the rim of the ship "Is this the Fire Nation already?"

"Of course" said Azula, her good mood dampening slightly "We're bound to arrive at the Capital in two or three days, depending on how long our next stop takes"

"You mean Shu Jing?" Sokka asked, turning towards her with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Uh, no" Azula said, looking at him sternly "We're actually going to stop by at Jang Hui first"

"Jang Hui? What's that?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "Do I have another fight?"

"No, you only ate twice as much as everyone else" said Azula, with one of her trademark cold smiles "Our supplies, and even our back-up reserves, which I hoped we wouldn't have to use during the trip, have almost run out and we still have three days left to travel. I don't mean to go without food for that long, mind you, so we're stopping by at Jang Hui to replenish our supplies again"

"Oh… hehe, oops" said Sokka, with a silly smile, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, oops indeed. You should be sorry for this unnecessary delay" Azula said, stubbornly, and Sokka shrugged.

"To be honest, I don't mind. I'm still waiting for something completely crazy to happen during this trip…"

"Waiting for something crazy? Wasn't the Dragon's Pit crazy enough for you?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows and Sokka laughed.

"Ah, but I thought we might get something even crazier next!" he said "Come on, you know this has been the most normal trip we've had to date. If it ends just like this I'll be pretty disappointed"

"So you're saying we haven't had enough changes of plans, or unexpected obstacles, or despair upon being sidetracked to the point where we think we can't accomplish our goals?" Azula asked, crossing her arms over her chest "One would think you'd be relieved by that instead"

"Well, I won't deny it's a relief" said Sokka "I'm just saying it's not normal. We need some ground-breaking things to happen here, you know we do"

"Heh, well… let's wait until we're in actual grounds for that" Azula muttered, frowning "I'd rather the ground breaks than my Barge"

"So you do think something ground-breaking is bound to happen?" Sokka asked, smiling at first, but then he grimaced. No, that actually wasn't good news. Ground-breaking things were quite dangerous when they happened to them.

"Hard to say" Azula whispered, before lifting her sword again "But if they do, they'd better not catch us off-guard, don't you think?"

"True enough" said Sokka, smiling a little and lifting Space Sword as well "Just keep to using the sword this time, alright?"

"And what are you going to do if the ground-breaking things are well-versed in firebending and sword fighting at the same time?" Azula asked, smirking and attacking Sokka, blue blazes dancing around the edge of her blade. Sokka would have demanded she stopped doing that, but he was actually amused by her reasoning.

"Then I'll tell them to fight fair!" he exclaimed, striking Wolf's bane with Space Sword and swatting it away.

Every new clash between their swords brought smiles to their faces. Azula's fire wasn't as deadly as Sokka expected it to be, but Azula didn't resort to it too much. She wanted to defeat him fair and square, so he'd have no room for complaints.

As he parried one of her attacks and made a thrust of his own, Azula twirled away, but she wasn't fast enough. Sokka's sword caught her belt and sliced the cloth accidentally. The belt dropped flatly on the deck while Azula stared at it, taken by surprise. But soon enough she was giving Sokka an irritable frown as he started to sweat nervously.

"Eh… I didn't mean for that to happen!"

"Oh, of course not" Azula growled, picking up the belt and staring at it with irritation "Are you going to fix this, gladiator?"

"Uh, I'd try, but I never learned how to sew" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly as he tried not to process he had stripped the Princess from a clothing item. Nevertheless, it was impossible to fend off the idea once it came to his mind.

"Well, I did, but ages ago" Azula admitted, frowning "I've lost practice over the years"

"Huh? You can sew?" Sokka asked, surprised.

"So impressed, aren't you?" she said, raising her eyebrows "I do, but it's not like I learned because I wanted to. The Royal Academy of Girls is to blame for that"

"Oh, that makes sense" said Sokka, before smiling "Then you can fix it!"

"Well, I'll try" Azula muttered, with a grimace. She hadn't attempted to sew for what felt like ages

They ended up going inside the ship, to look for sewing supplies to fix the belt. Azula found some in her cabin: they looked like they had been placed there decades ago, without any use. Afterwards, they returned to the deck, where Azula did her best to fix the belt… but the results were disappointing. She had spent too many years without using a needle, clearly.

"You know what? Just forget about the belt" said Sokka, as she stared at the poorly sewn belt with a grimace on her face "You wear too many clothes anyways"

Azula raised her eyebrows and glanced at him to find Sokka wide-eyed, realizing too late that he had said that out loud.

"Huh. Alright, then. I suppose I ought to wear less clothes for your delight?" Azula asked, but she was far too amused to be indignant by what he had said. She looked at him with a smile on her face, wondering how he'd defend himself from that.

"I-I-I d-didn't mean it like that" Sokka said, hastily, between gritted teeth "J-just saying it's not that big a deal, right? I mean! It's just a belt! And you said you have spare ones, so… maybe take one of those if you need it. Just saying…"

"So that's what you're saying?" Azula asked, still smirking.

"Well, what else could I be saying?!" Sokka squeaked, his ears redder than the Fire Nation's emblem by now.

"Beats me. I'm just surprised by how bold that comment was" she said, smiling as she dropped the belt on her lap along with the thread and needle "But I guess you're right. This is going to get us…"

She wrinkled her nose suddenly, their last conversation forgotten quickly. Something smelled really bad.

She stood up from where they had been sitting on the deck and glanced over the rim of the ship, a heavy frown on her face. Beside her, Sokka was also confused by the stench as he stood up as well.

Azula's eyes widened when she noticed the Barge was navigating through dark, muddy water. It hardly looked like water at all. She frowned and stared ahead, noticing they had entered Jang Hui's island just a moment ago. The island had an internal river, a river they were going to navigate in order to reach the village. But nobody had warned her about how filthy the waters would be.

"What in the name of…?" Sokka said, staring at the river with as much confusion as Azula was.

As they watched the river, Xin Long descended on the ship. He had been flying on his own accord now that they were close to the Fire Nation, looking for prey. He made his way towards Azula and rubbed his face against her shoulder. She turned to him, patting his head and asking him if he knew what was happening to Jang Hui's river. The dragon replied by saying he didn't understand what had caused it, but the entire area was deserted. There were no animals for him to hunt, neither in the filthy river nor on the grounds. He had seen no humans anywhere, either.

"What's the meaning of this?" Azula muttered, looking at Xin Long in confusion.

"Did he see something?" Sokka asked, assuming the dragon and the Princess were communicating as they usually did.

"No. He says the entire island is deserted" Azula muttered, just as the Barge's progress halted altogether.

The pollution was too dense for the Barge to get through without damaging the engines, or so said the ship's captain, who came on deck to inform the Princess of the situation. They couldn't keep to their itinerary in these conditions.

"I understand" Azula said, still frowning "But what caused this? This isn't a normal phenomenon. Where are the people from the village, and what is the source of all this pollution?"

"I wouldn't know, Princess" the ship's captain said, sighing.

Xin Long took off again, leaving Azula on the ship to wait for him as he had another look around the island. The Barge remained stationary in the mean time, as Azula continued to frown upon the river.

"Princess…" said the ship's captain "We had best carry on with the voyage. If we cannot stop here for supplies as we planned, then we should continue onto Shu Jing right away for the same purpose"

"Just a moment, Captain" Azula said, sternly "You can make use of your patience, can't you?"

"I, well…"

"Until I give the command, you're not getting this Barge out of here" Azula stated, and the man sighed and nodded.

"Yes, Princess"

With that, the ship's captain left her again, and soon enough it was her Royal Guards' Captain who stood beside her on the deck, along with Sokka.

"Princess…" he muttered, as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Captain" she replied "What do you believe might have caused this?"

"Uh, I wouldn't know" Rui Shi said, earnestly "It's a surprise for me as well. Nevertheless, I believe a large factory was stationed someplace in these islands, if I'm not mistaken. I'm not certain on which one it is, exactly… but it might be the source of the pollution"

"Perhaps" Azula said, closing her eyes and seeing through Xin Long's own.

The dragon glided through the skies and glanced down below. There was an abandoned, modern building at the top of the island's hills, the factory Rui Shi had mentioned. Down in the river were wooden structures that looked old and broken. They were abandoned, all the same as the factory.

"There's nothing left but pollution" Azula muttered, between gritted teeth "This is… how did this happen? Why?"

"If there's a factory, chances are they were dumping the waste into the river" Sokka muttered, swallowing hard. It had been a while since Azula had been in a bad mood by now. Was this the ground-breaking event they'd have to face on this trip? It looked more like a depressing event instead… "That might be what…"

"It could be, but this amount of waste is simply beyond reason" said Rui Shi.

"That factory has been in place for over fifteen years" Azula muttered "If they've disposed of all their waste though the river since then, it's really no surprise this is the result. But where are the people? Did they leave, or did they… die?"

Rui Shi clenched his fists at the Princess's question, as she breathed out heavily and shook her head. Sokka looked at her, worried.

"All these factories, and all these advancements… for what?" she grunted "Let us turn the Fire Nation into the greatest of all nations, no matter if we destroy it in the process"

"I'm certain it wasn't your father's intent for this to happen" said Rui Shi, biting his lower lip.

"No, most likely" muttered Azula, bitterly "He wouldn't have wanted the factory to stop operating, no matter the circumstances"

Rui Shi froze at that. Was that defiance? It seemed unnatural, coming from Princess Azula, of all people. She was completely loyal to her father, wasn't she…?

"Tell the ship's captain to get us moving towards Shu Jing, then, Captain" Azula ordered, a heavy frown on her face "This place is revolting"

"Y-yes, Princess" said Rui Shi, uneasy "Uh, but, Princess…"

"What?" she said, and he gulped.

"You're not wearing your belt"

She had forgotten about the matter completely. She patted her waist and nodded, and with that, Rui Shi left towards the inside of the ship. Azula sighed heavily as she waited for the ship to start moving, and she stood silently next to Sokka, who seemed at a loss for what to say to rekindle her spirits.

"Um… Azula" he whispered "Maybe you're worrying too much. Did Xin Long see any corpses?"

"No, not human ones, at least" Azula said. The carcasses of dead fish floated on the river.

"Then chances are they got away" said Sokka, with a weak smile "I mean, even those working at the factory must have stopped because it was impossible to work in this environment. It's probably why it's abandoned now. Well, at least, I think it's a logical explanation for that…"

"Doesn't change much, though" said Azula, frowning "We're sacrificing our people's wellbeing for the sake of progress. We've been doing that for a long time now, it seems. And I'm only realizing what that really means now. Did my father know this factory had been abandoned? Did he know that the people in Jang Hui had to forsake their homes because of the factory? And if he didn't know, which I doubt, would it make any difference for me to bring it to his attention?"

Sokka remained silent again, and Azula shook her head. She felt Xin Long fly off on his own accord, headed towards other islands where he might find something worth eating.

"He has been setting up plans to install a new factory near the Capital" said Azula "And he also refused to shut down a refinery that was polluting another river, and even causing the death of children from farming villages. Why would this one make any difference, if that one didn't matter at all? The answer is… it won't make a difference. Because our greatness is the main priority. Never mind that we'll all end up being dead carcasses in rivers like those fish once our 'greatness' catches up to us"

"Azula…" said Sokka, swallowing hard. Hearing her criticize the Fire Nation relieved him, but at the same time it worried him. He never thought the day would come when Azula would be disgusted by anything related to her nation.

"I'll be back on deck in a moment" she said, sighing "I'll go find another belt"

"Huh, okay" said Sokka, and she walked away with that, after picking up the first belt from the ship's deck.

Sokka watched her walk away, guessing she wanted a moment by herself to think about what she had just seen through Xin Long's eyes. That she would be shaken up by it was understandable… in fact, it was the only way Sokka would have wanted it. The Azula he had met back in the South Pole probably wouldn't have cared for the abandoned village altogether. She might even have complained over why the factory wasn't functional. But she wasn't that girl anymore. And while Sokka didn't want to see her in grief, he was glad she didn't approve of what her father was doing.

Azula remained in her cabin for a while, sitting on her bed after fastening another belt around her waist. She held her face between her hands and tried to breathe calmly. Life had been so much easier when she had accepted her father's beliefs without questioning them, when she had believed in him irrevocably. As she was, she needed to get back to his good side, and she had wanted to accept his request about the ceremony to please him… but how was she supposed to earn his approval when she wasn't sure she wanted it anymore? He surely knew about Jang Hui's condition, and had done nothing about it. Was he as great a Fire Lord as she had always wanted to believe he was? Did she really want to be like him when she became Fire Lord?

She returned to deck by the time the Barge docked in Shu Jing, to find Sokka hadn't moved from where she had left him.

"Ready?" he asked Azula, walking towards her as the soldiers lowered the ramp.

"I ought to be the one asking you that" she said, and Sokka grimaced.

"Yeah, probably" he said, but he smiled weakly "I'll be fine if we don't find Piandao, though. Don't worry about me"

"I'll try not to" said Azula, gesturing at him to climb down the ramp.

She commanded the Royal Guards to head into the town to replenish the Barge's supplies while she and Sokka headed to Piandao's mansion. The two of them made the familiar hike through the island, and Azula didn't miss out on the way Sokka was smiling upon returning to Shu Jing for the first time in almost a year. Azula would have never imagined all the things that would come to pass between their previous visit to Shu Jing and their latest one. They were both returning as changed people. She wondered if Piandao might have something to say about that.

The pair of them walked past the town towards the mansion at the top of a hill on the village's outskirts. Sokka was surprised to notice the estate didn't look too shabby, despite how long it had been since Piandao had left. He soon frowned upon noticing some windows were open… but that didn't have to mean anything. Perhaps, while looking through the mansion for clues of Piandao's whereabouts, Azula's guards had left some windows open. It was a reasonable explanation, right?

"Are you coming?" Azula asked, having already reached the doors while Sokka stood in the middle of the road, staring at the mansion with a frown.

"Uh, yeah, yeah" he said, speeding up towards her and grabbing the knockers once he reached the gates.

"Try not to knock as you did the first time we came here" Azula said, with a subtle smile.

"Hey now, that worked, Princess" said Sokka, smirking at her before simply striking the doors twice.

They stood in place for a few minutes, waiting for someone to come, but it seemed nobody would. Azula sighed and patted Sokka's shoulder.

"It was a long shot after all. We probably should get going" she said, but Sokka frowned again.

"No, just… wait a moment" he said, and Azula stared at him in confusion.

"Wait for what?" she said.

"I… I get the feeling there's someone in there" he said, biting his lower lip "Maybe we ought to go inside and check, just in case stray animals took shelter in the mansion or…"

He fell silent when he heard the large door opening.

Both Sokka and Azula glanced at the gates, and Azula's hand dropped from Sokka's shoulder slowly. They didn't see who was responsible for opening the door until they lowered their gazes, to find a boy standing behind the red door.

He couldn't have been older than ten. His brown hair was disorderly, and he looked like he had been rolling around in dirt. His skin was pale, and he had a few scrapes on his arms and legs. All in all, what a common boy would look like… but a common boy in Piandao's mansion brought forth more questions than the ones Sokka had hoped to find answers to today.

"Uh… huh?" he said, staring at the unknown kid in surprise "Who are you?"

"Me? Who are YOU?" the brat retorted, with a pout "This is my house, I get to ask first!"

Azula's eyebrow twitched as she stared at the child with irritation.

"Well, I'm the Princess of the Fire Nation, so your claim in this conversation is below my own, boy. Who are you and what are you doing in this mansion?"

"The Princess?" said the boy, looking at Azula with a raised eyebrow "Not buying it. Where are your servants and slaves and the whole firebending parade?"

"I… didn't bring any of those things, and what right do you have to question me, brat?" Azula asked, her distaste for the boy increasing immediately "Don't you know what the hairpiece I'm wearing means?"

"Why would it mean anything?" said the boy, stubbornly.

"Well, it means she's a Princess, so it does mean something" said Sokka "I'm her gladiator, Sokka. Nice to meet you, kid. Uh… who are you, then?"

Azula glared at Sokka, wondering why he was playing along the brat's game. He shouldn't have given away who they were when this kid, who could only be a trespasser, had no right to question why they were in this mansion.

The boy wasn't about to comply with Sokka, though. He simply looked at him with the same judgmental stare he had given Azula.

"You're making that up!" he exclaimed, shaking his head "Hairpiece, shmearpiece. It means nothing!"

"You little…" Azula started, clenching her fists, but Sokka stretched a hand before her, stopping her from assaulting the child.

"Now, now, no need for violence!" said Sokka, with an uncomfortable grimace "He's just a kid, okay?"

"Why, yes, and that's exactly why we have a problem" Azula growled "Make him get an adult, or I just might burn down the doors and frighten him enough for him to wet his pants"

"Okay, calm down!" said Sokka, looking at her with surprise "Geez, woman…"

"I don't wet my pants!" said the boy, angrily.

"Heh, we'll see about that" Azula replied.

"Bring it on! I'm way braver than your half-bald minion, you'll see!" said the boy, and now Sokka took offense as well.

"What the…? I'm not half-bald! I shave, I'm not bald!" he exclaimed, and Azula smiled, pleased to see she wasn't the only one losing her patience with the child.

"Whatever you are, you look weird!" the boy exclaimed.

"If we're really going to get started with how weird people look, then maybe you ought to look in the mirror so you…" Azula said, but Sokka gave her a pleading look for her to shut up. She did, reluctantly, and he sighed deeply before turning towards the kid.

"Look. We just want to know if someone called Piandao is here right now, okay? No more than that. You can say yes or no, and that's that" said Sokka.

"Well, no. There's no Piandao" said the boy, solemnly.

"And how do you know the snotty brat isn't lying?" Azula asked Sokka, and the kid was indignant again.

"Snotty?! Well, at least I'm not… some weird lady with a funky hairpiece on her head!"

"Ha, weird lady!" Azula said, amused "For a smart mouth, you're really not that witty, are you?"

"I… I'm witty!" the kid exclaimed, blushing now. Azula smirked. The boy wasn't smart enough to notice he was being played, so she should exploit that weakness to get her way…

But before she could carry on, someone else arrived at the door, swinging it open all the way to reveal it was a slender, middle-aged man. Both Sokka and Azula stared at him in surprise, and he returned their looks in the same fashion.

"Dad!" said the boy, rushing towards him and pulling on the man's rugged vest. His clothes looked as worn-out as the child's, and they shared the same type of messy hair "I don't know who they are but they're weird! Don't let them in!"

But unlike his son, the father understood what that hairpiece meant as soon as he laid eyes upon it. His jaw dropped and he looked at Azula with disbelief before pushing his son behind him.

"P-Princess…" he said, with a hoarse voice "Oh, blazes. Princess Azula"

"Uh, yes" she said, with a dry smile "That'd be me. Make sure to drill the concept into your kid's brain, it seems he doesn't understand what royalty is"

"Hiro…!" the man exclaimed, looking at his son with harsh eyes. The boy pouted a little again and his father turned towards Sokka and Azula, apologetic "I hope he didn't say anything too hurtful, I… I'm sorry, I know this whole situation isn't right. Uh, well, but… if anything, maybe you'd like to come in?"

"Indeed, that would be most reasonable" said Azula, stepping forward before noticing Sokka hadn't moved "Uh, Sokka?"

"C-coming…" he said, biting his lower lip and following his sponsor into the mansion's enclosure.

Some of the gardens had been cared for, Sokka noticed, as they walked towards the main building, but not all of them were as impeccable as they had been when Fat had been here. Weeds grew in many of them, and in others there were large patches of earth in sight, without any grass growing on them. All in all, though, it was the same place… but to Sokka it felt very different. And he wasn't sure he liked different.

The child, Hiro, ran off on his own accord once they entered the main building, and his father led Azula and Sokka towards the kitchen.

"We don't have a dining table, so we eat in the kitchen" he explained, with a weak smile "I hope it's alright with you to sit there, Princess"

"It will do" Azula said, feeling more relaxed now that the boy wasn't around anymore.

"My wife is cooking dinner right now. Smells good, huh? A-anyways, you can wait here" said the man, gesturing at a short stool where Azula took her seat. He pulled out another stool for Sokka, but he didn't take it. He smiled at the man and thanked him for the troubles, but told him it wasn't necessary.

Upon that, the man walked towards the stove area – the kitchen was large enough that Azula couldn't see it in its entirety from where she was. The man's wife was out of sight at the moment, but Azula soon heard gasps and exclamations from a female voice. Surely the man had already told his wife about the unexpected visitor they had…

Sokka walked towards a nearby window, from where he glanced down at the gardens. He stared with interest at the children below, who were playing a game he was unfamiliar with. There had to be six children, at least, but he couldn't keep track when they were chasing one another as they were. He couldn't help but imagine Fat's dismay if he knew kids were running across the gardens he had always treated with utmost delicacy. The bushes of beautiful flowers didn't have a single bud left on them, but Sokka saw quite a few petals spread across the area…

Why, though, was this family here? He had never seen them in Shu Jing before. Where had they come from, and what had prompted them to stay in Piandao's old home?

"Oh, oh… it really is you, Princess" said a female voice, bringing Sokka out of his musings.

Azula merely nodded as a chubby woman dropped on her knees before Azula, her fist against the palm of her right hand, and she bowed down her head towards the Fire Lord's daughter. Her husband only seemed to remember the proper etiquette to address a member of the royalty when his wife performed the salute for the Princess, and he was quick to imitate her.

"Rise" Azula said, and they both stood up quite hastily, the woman smiling awkwardly.

"It is such an honor… t-the biggest honor, really, for you to be here!" she said

"Well, I'd say second biggest" muttered the man "The Fire Lord would be the-… uh, never mind! Of course it is! Yes, yes!"

Azula raised an eyebrow, somewhat amused. These two commoners had never expected to meet a member of the Royal Family in person, clearly.

"In any case, welcome. It is our pleasure to host you" the woman said, smiling.

"Well, I'd hope so" said Azula, nodding.

"Hiro was saying some unkind things to you earlier, wasn't he?" the man asked, grimacing "The boy needs to be taught some manners, we know, but he's a wild thing… never worry, though, we'll make sure he learns to respect royalty"

"Ah, Hiro" said the woman, shaking her head "He's our oldest, and he's a handful. But he's got a good heart. Whatever he said to you, Princess, don't take it too seriously"

"I didn't, no need to worry" said Azula, shaking her head "Still… your oldest? How many children do you have?"

"We're a family of ten, actually" said the man, and Azula's eyes widened "We've had more kids than we should be able to maintain, yes…"

"But we weren't always like this, Princess" said the woman, looking at Azula with pleading eyes now. Azula was taking aback by her sudden shift of behavior. She had noticed both the woman and her husband were shaken up by something, but she had assumed they were just nervous to deal with a Princess. Now it became apparent that their turmoil went deeper than that "My husband had a great income only a year ago, but he was fired from his job, and we were left indebted…"

"Supporting our family became very difficult" said the man, sighing "Eight children were always a handful, but it got worse. We had to sell our house to have enough money to buy food. We used some of that money to travel to Shu Jing, it's one of the cheapest villages in the Nation… and then we came across this mansion. It was empty, and spacious, perfect for our family, and…!"

"And you're living here illegally" Azula finished, and both the man and woman grimaced "No wonder you look so troubled"

"We didn't intend to do this, Princess, I swear…" said the woman, pleadingly again.

"No need to worry, though" said the man, grabbing his wife's hand "I think I'll find a job soon, near the Capital. An aircraft factory is almost finished there, and I was told I could apply for a job there once it was functional. If I do get it, we'll be able to move into a house of our own, legally. B-but for now, Princess… I understand you must have come here to make sure the laws were being followed, but I beg you to make an exception with us, just this once…"

Azula frowned at that. Did this man believe she was a law enforcer? The look on her face made both him and his wife grow paler.

"So you plan on finding a steady income in the Capital" Azula said, crossing her arms over her chest "How long have you been living here?"

"A month, Princess" said the man, and the Princess nodded.

"I see. And so far, you've made a living off the money you used to sell your house?"

"I have also worked in a few places in the village, but they're usually jobs for the day" said the man, biting his lower lip "It's not enough to pay off our debts, or to move into the Capital. So if you'd just be patient… we'll be gone in no time, we just need a chance to get back on our feet"

Azula sighed, staring at him in concern. She couldn't help but think about what she had just seen in Jang Hui, the factory that had destroyed the village… There had been families and homes in Jang Hui, and some people had jobs in that factory as well. Now, though, it was as good as a ghost town, and a ghost factory. The people who had made their living in Jang Hui had fled to who knew where, all the same as the man before her right now. They had lost their homes, their jobs, everything… and they didn't deserve to be treated as obstacles in the way of the Fire Nation's greatness. She couldn't bring herself to look down on them and refuse their request merely because she could. A nation, after all, was only what it was because of the people that comprised it.

"Well, if anything, it's a relief you're striving to find a new job" Azula muttered, biting her lower lip. It'd seem factories were necessary as well, despite how disagreeable she had found them after what she had seen in Jang Hui "And it would be convenient for you to find your own home, yes. Nevertheless, I probably ought to clarify that I didn't come here to evict your family"

The couple's eyes widened and soon both of them had sighed in relief. Azula couldn't help but smile a little.

"Oh, that is… here I thought we would lose this place now" said the man, smiling broadly "Thank you, Princess, thank you! I… wait, but if you didn't come for that, why were you here?"

"This used to be the home of my gladiator's sword master" Azula said, gesturing at Sokka upon mentioning him. Both the man and woman turned to look at him, surprised.

"Your gladiator? Oh, my. I had no idea you had a gladiator" said the woman.

"I've only been around for a year or so" said Sokka, shrugging a little.

"His sword master disappeared some time ago" Azula explained "We were dropping by to see if he had returned. That was all there was to this"

"Really?" said the woman, raising her eyebrows "You say he disappeared?"

"He left, but we don't know where he went" said Sokka.

"So this place belongs to him, then?" asked the man, grimacing "Oh, darn. W-well, never fret, gladiator, Princess! We'll be long gone by the time he returns, I hope"

"Well, we don't know if he's going to return anyways" said Azula, and Sokka stepped towards them, finally leaving the windowsill.

"And this place didn't belong to him" he told the married couple, to everyone's surprises "He found it once, all the same as your family did. He told me as much"

"Really?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "Well, that sounds just like Piandao…"

"Yeah" said Sokka, smiling a little before turning towards the man and woman "S-so, uh… I guess he probably would be happy to know this mansion now hosts a family that needed a place to stay. So… stay as long as you like. Don't worry about it"

Azula frowned and looked at him with confusion. She knew Sokka could be quite selfless, but this was a surprise. On their last visit to Shu Jing he had made them stay through the night in the mansion, desperate to find any signs of Piandao, and he had asked her to come back here today for the same reason… and yet now it seemed he was willing to relinquish the memory of Piandao, and all hopes to meet him here again.

She was surprised again when the man shook his head and smiled at Sokka.

"No, no, this isn't our home. It's a marvelous place, but we know this isn't where we belong"

"Huh, well… if you say so" said Sokka "Still, don't worry about leaving this place right away. He's not bound to return anytime soon, so no pressure"

"Thank you" said the woman, grinning at him "The kids like it here, after all. But we'll leave when we're ready, yes"

"In any case, if you need any assistance finding a job, perhaps I could help in some way" Azula suggested, but the man shook his head again.

"No, no, I wouldn't impose upon you like that. It wouldn't be right" he said "The honorable thing to do would be to find a job through my own efforts"

Azula blinked a few times before nodding, and Sokka smiled a little. Well, Piandao would be happy to know the man staying in his house was an honorable one.

He walked away from the kitchen upon that, as silently as he could, and he headed down the mansion's halls. Azula didn't notice his departure right away.

"Not often do you hear men speaking that way in the Fire Nation nowadays" Azula said "It's a relief there's still honor in our people"

"Naturally" said the man, proudly, as his wife looked at him with doting eyes "In any case, uh, we could offer you something to drink. Or perhaps you'd like to stay for dinner!"

"Ah, well…" said Azula, with a weak smile. She would have welcomed hospitality of the sort from noblemen: she would have demanded it, in fact. But not from as humble a family as this one "It would be my pleasure, and my gladiator's too, his stomach knows no boundaries, but we have a schedule to keep to. We need to be in the Capital in a couple of days"

"Oh, that's too bad" said the woman "But if you want anything, don't hesitate to ask! My husband and I are obliged, seeing how you're not going to evict us…"

"Don't worry" said Azula, shaking her head "Just focus on bringing financial stability to your family. That's what your main priority ought to be, not pleasing me"

"But…" said the man, surprised, but Azula stood up.

"Good luck finding a job, and raising all those children. Seems like you'll need it" she said, with a warmer smile now "We'll see ourselves out, then, so…"

It was then that she noticed Sokka wasn't nearby. She frowned, wondering if he had left on his own.

"He went down that hallway" said the woman, smiling "The stairs are that way… so he might have gone to the roof, perhaps?"

Azula raised an eyebrow, wondering if it was that Sokka headed to roofs whenever he was troubled. It seemed a pattern with him.

"Well, I'll go fetch him, then" she said "Take care of your family, and make sure that boy doesn't get into too much trouble"

"Oh, we will, we will" said the man.

"Thank you so much, Princess" said the woman, smiling gratefully.

"I don't think I did anything" Azula said, raising an eyebrow "So I'm not certain the gratefulness is necessary"

"That's precisely why it is, though" said the woman, still smiling.

Azula nodded, despite being confused, and she gave the woman one last grin before turning towards the hall and to the stairs. It felt wrong for someone to be grateful for nothing, but she understood it, despite herself. Anyone else in a position of power would have evicted these people from the mansion right away. Her father would have never approved of people living without permission in this mansion… surely he hadn't known, just like Azula hadn't, that Piandao wasn't the legal owner of the mansion to begin with.

Azula made her way to the end of the stairs. She found Sokka staring into the sunset, his shoulders squared as he supported his weight with his hands, on the gabled roof. As it had been after his fight against the Stingray, Azula approached him cautiously.

"Are you alright?" she asked, startling him. He hadn't noticed he wasn't alone anymore.

"Oh, yeah, I just… wanted to look at the island from here. It's a nice view" he said, with a weak grin "Might be the last time we come here, so I figured why not enjoy the sunset?"

"Really? That's all?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows as she stood next to him.

"Well, I guess I wanted some time with my thoughts too…" he said, and Azula nodded.

"It's an odd family. Eight kids, no less…" said Azula, glancing down to watch the children in the garden. Their father was chasing after them now, trying to bring them inside for dinner.

"Yeah. Good thing you didn't have to meet them all, huh?" Sokka said, with a smirk. Azula grimaced.

"Indeed. I hate children, and they hate me" she stated, and he chuckled.

"Come on, maybe you just don't get along with them…" he said.

"Put it however you want to, the fact remains that I'm better off away from them" Azula said "Simple as that"

"If you say so…" said Sokka, smiling weakly.

"But you really are okay?" Azula asked him, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I… I guess I just didn't know how to let go of Piandao. Even after the problems we had with the White Lotus, on some level I just never stopped thinking of him as my master. I truly hoped that, upon coming here, I might find a clue I didn't see before, but just by seeing this family I've realized that… that I should just leave the matter alone. I came here looking for answers, and I got one. These people need a new start much more desperately than I need to know Piandao's true allegiances. I suppose I just needed to straighten out my priorities…"

"Sounds like you already have" said Azula, and he sighed.

"Yeah… but it's easier said than done. When I think that I'm really leaving Piandao behind, for good… it's for the best, but it's still hard. And I'm an idiot for feeling like I do. That family needs this place more than I do. To me, it's my past. To them, it's their present. It's bound to be someone's future, too. I can't get in the way of that"

"I guess you shouldn't" said Azula "It's a bit hard not to, though. Emotions just… drive you to make decisions you shouldn't, at times. If anything, it's impressive you're capable of just stepping back and leaving this place to them, despite what it means to you"

"You really think it's impressive?" he said, smiling a little, and Azula nodded before sighing.

"Yeah, well, don't let it go to your head" she muttered, and he chuckled "It's merely that… well, I have done things I'm not proud of, because of allowing myself to succumb to emotions. I've made many selfish decisions out of whims recently… and I've only ended up feeling worse afterwards. So I commend you for not doing the same thing"

"Selfish decisions out of whims?" Sokka repeated, raising an eyebrow, as Azula sighed heavily "Is this what has been eating you lately?"

"Maybe" she muttered, her innards twisting up in unpleasant ways. Her heart told her not to talk, but her mind insisted it was time. And she refused to continue listening to her heart… at least, for the time being.

"Huh…" said Sokka, intrigued "Mind explaining a little better?"

Azula stood silently for a moment, struggling to figure out what to say. Whenever she thought she had a good idea, she failed to find the courage to put it into words. Sokka watched her with curiosity until Azula finally sighed in exasperation and spat out the first thing that came to mind.

"Alright, yes, I've had ulterior motives for pretty much every damn thing I've done as of late. You had every right to suspect I did" she said, gritting her teeth.

"Yeah, I figured as much… what are those motives, though?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrow "And why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"I didn't tell you because I was ashamed, partly" she muttered "But before being ashamed, I guess I was merely angry. I just thought… well, never mind what I thought. It's not of consequence. The point is, I dragged you all the way to Ba Sing Se and through this tour because I… sent Ty Lee to do something for me"

"Oh" said Sokka, smiling. Azula stared at him warily upon his reaction.

"Oh?" she repeated "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, that I know what you sent her to do" he said "She told me, when I went to see Suki"

Azula's blood seemed to slow down in her veins. So he had known all along that Azula had been responsible for bringing the girl back to the Capital… and he really had seen her already. So far she hadn't quite digested that fact, not entirely. Sokka's confirmation that it indeed had happened felt like a stab to her heart.

"Huh… well, no surprises there. It's Ty Lee, after all. Can't keep a secret for over ten minutes or she'll burst" she muttered, trying not to show how shaken up she was.

"Ty Lee wouldn't have had to keep any secrets in the first place, if only you hadn't sent her to do what she did" said Sokka "Why, Azula? You… you said you weren't going to do anything about her. Your motives, while I couldn't quite agree with them, I could bear with them until you found a way to save her and all slaves from their circumstances. I chose to trust you on that. But then you… you sent Ty Lee to find her anyways? Why?"

Azula sighed again, unwilling to meet his insistent gaze with her own.

"I just… thought you'd hate me if I did nothing" she muttered "I thought I understood why it meant so much to you when it came to her. I told myself that she had to be saved just so you wouldn't become as you did during our conflict back when… well, when she first showed up, actually. I wanted to prove to you that I wasn't as heartless as you must have taken me for, after our argument because of her… but then I only proved otherwise, by dragging you through the world just so you wouldn't be near her"

"Huh?" said Sokka, surprised "So that's why…?"

"So in the end, I don't know what the hell was I trying to accomplish" Azula said, breathing heavily and closing her eyes "I just stopped thinking clearly for a very long time. It wasn't until you asked to come to Shu Jing that I snapped out of it, I think"

"Really?"

"I… I just expected your request to be to bring her along" said Azula, shaking her head.

"And that's why you looked ready to bite my head off when I only mentioned I had a request…" Sokka mused "Well, wow. I didn't think of that"

"I've been a mess lately, and I know it" Azula muttered "I just… was afraid, I guess. Whatever we had become before discovering her fate was, well… more than I ever expected us to be. And I thought she was a threat to that. All my life I've nullified every threat that was brought upon me, but I couldn't do that this time or else I'd lose you. But, if I helped her, I… I thought I'd lose you as well. So I had no idea what to do, and in the end I just became erratic and made ridiculous and embarrassing decisions. And all because I… because I didn't want you near another girl. So, are you selfish for feeling uneasy about letting these people stay here? Heh, well, you might need to find someone else to judge you on that. Compared to me, you're the epitome of selflessness"

Sokka frowned and looked at Azula intently, while she kept her gaze upon the mountains up ahead.

"Wait just a moment, though" he said, tapping his chin "You sent Ty Lee to save Suki's life, and then you took me on two trips through the world. One of them was quite a mess, no kidding, but the second one has been pretty nice over all, except for a few hitches. Am I supposed to hold those things against you…?"

"Well… yes!" Azula said, looking at him in disbelief "Didn't you hear what I just said? Everything I did, I did it for my own convenience. I did it for myself. I didn't save that girl's life because it mattered to me, I did it because I thought that maybe this way you wouldn't hate me for refusing to do it at first. And afterwards, I dragged you away, without regarding your wishes, just because I didn't want you near her. I… for my own sake, for my own contentment, I was willing to sacrifice your own. You wanted to see her, and I was doing every damn thing I could to stop you. So… yeah, you're supposed to hold it against me. Any normal person would"

"Maybe, but I'm not all that normal" said Sokka, smiling.

"Sokka, for crying out loud" said Azula, shaking her head "I've been acting like a jealous madwoman when it comes to that girl since ages ago. And I keep thinking I've changed a lot since those days, but I'm still doing everything in my power to keep you apart. So how much have I changed since you first fought her, really?"

"Well, you've changed enough to tell me about it this time, rather than to whisper wicked things in my ear" he said, smiling "Even though you didn't talk right away, you still did. That ought to say something, huh?"

"Heh. You're definitely crazy" she muttered.

"I'm crazy?" he asked, amused "I'm crazy for thinking your jealousy bouts aren't all that bad…? Well, maybe I am. But it's hard to hold it against you when, on your first time being jealous because of her, you gave me one hell of a kiss…"

"So now we're conveniently forgetting everything that happened after that kiss?" Azula asked, looking at him with irritation.

"And on the next ones you took me on two cool trips through the world" said Sokka, ignoring her comment "What more could a guy ask for?"

"Maybe you could ask for a sponsor who doesn't act insane whenever she thinks you might have feelings for someone other than her" she grunted, turning towards the horizon again "You're being ridiculous"

"Well, maybe a little" Sokka admitted "And maybe I ought to say that you shouldn't feel jealous, or that you shouldn't have saved Suki for the wrong reasons… but the thing is, I'm so relieved you saved her that I really don't care why you did it. I was curious about why, but the point is, you did the right thing. For the wrong reasons, maybe, but the right thing after all. I can't fault you for that"

"You're…" she said, shaking her head and looking down at the garden again. The children were gone now. Surely their father had managed to take them to dinner by now. She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest "Well, swell. At the very least one of us is happy with my erratic behavior. Good for you"

"You don't have to be so hard on yourself, Azula" said Sokka, moving closer to her and smiling kindly "Plenty of people do good things for the wrong reasons. It's better than doing bad things for good reasons, don't you think?"

"Not really" Azula said, and Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"Heh… okay then. But at least know that I'm not really that great a guy either" he said, his hands on his hips "I went to see Suki, yeah, and she looked pretty bad. I didn't expect to see her like that, not at all. But then I just started asking her questions I probably shouldn't have, and made her talk about things she mustn't have wanted to talk about…"

"What sort of things?" Azula asked, frowning.

"Well, I asked her about the White Lotus and her sponsor" he said, and Azula's eyes lit up with curiosity with that "But she pretty much told me she knew nothing about it. I guess she might know a little more than she's letting on, but I thought it was better not to push my luck. She had been through enough crap for me to interrogate her further"

"So… y-you met her again and the first thing you did was ask her about the White Lotus?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "Alright. I guess I'm not the only one here who makes no sense…"

"It wasn't the first thing I did" Sokka said, pouting a little "I asked her how she was, too. I actually stepped towards her, just because I figured standing at arms' length was better in a conversation… but she moved away from me to keep me at a distance"

"Really?" Azula asked, surprised.

"I guess what she went through in Shu Wo was bad enough for her not to feel comfortable with having people close to her without her express consent" said Sokka, and Azula grimaced "I have no idea what she went through, but if it turned her into what she is now, it must have been awful. Still, you got her out of that place…"

"Ty Lee did, not me"

"Ty Lee only did it because you told her to. And hey, she said you'd asked her to do it as repayment for your help in buying Haru" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows. Azula closed her eyes, breathing heavily and trying to hold back her growing embarrassment. Ty Lee seriously couldn't keep her mouth shut, could she? "So taking all that into consideration, Azula… you, and Ty Lee as well, saved Suki's life. And I'm pretty sure she'd be quite grateful for it. There are still many slaves that need saving, though… but I won't push you for it anymore. I get it's easier said than done"

"Yeah" said Azula "Not enough people owe me favors so that I can send them to save every slave you might know"

"Probably not" he said, smiling "In any case… I guess you need to know a few things"

"Yeah?" Azula asked, a little ironically.

"I understand why you're so distrustful regarding Suki, but you don't need to be" he said "Not really. I know why you are, but… I'm not really interested in her"

"You're not? Now you're not?" she muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"I get you thought I really was into her because of our fight" said Sokka, grimacing "But truth is, I was just doing that, as I told you in the forest, to stop thinking about you. And clearly, it didn't work"

"So you're saying I shouldn't be jealous or worried in any way?" Azula asked, rolling her eyes upon how stupid her words sounded after they'd come out of her mouth.

"Well, no" said Sokka, smiling again "Suki is a nice girl and all…"

"What's the problem with her, then?" Azula said, begrudgingly.

"Just… that I'm not interested, not really" said Sokka, sighing "Not when…"

"Not even when she's oh, so pretty?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows mockingly.

"Seriously?" said Sokka, staring at Azula with disbelief.

"Well, wasn't that what you'd said?" Azula asked, looking at him with challenging eyes.

"Dang, Azula" said Sokka, sighing "Yeah, maybe I said she's pretty, but you're stunning! So on that matter…!"

He froze and blushed, having talked without thinking for the second time that day. His eyebrows twitched as Azula looked at him with wide eyes. That was something surprising… pleasantly surprising, sure, but it had been quite unexpected.

"Okay, then" she said, allowing her gaze to drift away from him. His blush didn't decrease its intensity just yet, though "Good to know you think so"

"Y-yeah, well" he said "It's true. You should know it"

Azula actually smiled now, surprising herself by how honest that smile was. She hadn't expected Sokka to take this conversation as well as he had, but she didn't think he'd compliment her beauty, on top of it all.

"The point is, though, that… I don't want to get involved with Suki" he said "I haven't wanted that ever since you kissed me. By then I realized that things weren't going to work out between me and any other woman, and true, I screwed up a few times afterwards anyways because I was angry and frustrated… and somewhat erratic as well. And heck, when you're erratic, you take me on crazy, but still fun, trips. When I'm erratic, I ruin our relationship. See why I don't think there's that much harm in what you did this time?"

"Well… it doesn't mean I should've dragged you away as I did" Azula said "You're saying you don't want to get involved with her, but what if you had wanted that? I would have gotten in the way of your happiness, which would have made me unhappy anyways. The fact that I was willing to do that… it speaks louder than anything I've said until now. I kissed you that day to keep you from finding any happiness with that girl, all the same as I dragged you away now… so see? It's just… wrong"

"Well, if you put it that way, you were pretty mean indeed" said Sokka "But I guess that's the part where we're lucky I didn't want to get involved with her. Sorry to disappoint… but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to find my happiness with Suki"

"Disappoint?" Azula repeated, raising her eyebrows skeptically. Sokka chuckled.

"Just saying, since you seemed so convinced of that" he said, looking at her with a kind smile "I'm not going to say you shouldn't feel jealous altogether, Azula, I know it's not something you can control… but there's virtually no reason why I'd want to throw myself at a girl I've only met three times in my life"

"No? What about the fact that… that you could have with her what you can't with me?" Azula asked, looking at him sternly "I mean… it can't happen with us. You know that"

"I know" he said, smiling weakly "But I once made the mistake to think the girl in question didn't matter, when it turned out the girl in question was the one thing that mattered. I'm not going to make that mistake again. I'd much rather stay by your side without becoming anything other than your gladiator than to get involved with someone else just for the sake of it. It's not worth it"

"It's not?" Azula repeated, looking at him in disbelief "Sokka, you…"

"Yeah, I'm crazy" he said, rolling his eyes but smiling at her regardless "But turns out that you're a bit crazy yourself, aren't you? You think I'd choose to pursue a relationship with a girl who probably doesn't want me, whom I barely know, over spending time with a certain Princess I've gotten to know all too well during this year? Really?"

"Y-you should" Azula said, shaking her head "For your sake, you should"

"Well, I don't often do what I should" he said, shrugging "So is it any surprise I won't do what I should, even this time around?"

"Hardly, but this is… Sokka, you deserve to be happy. With someone who can give you everything you deserve. And I can't be that someone" Azula said.

"No, turns out with you I've gotten way more than I ever thought I'd deserve" he said, chuckling "So on those regards, yeah, you're too much for me. I admit it"

"That's not what I…"

"I know" he said, approaching her until he was standing right before her. Azula turned to face him "I know that's not what you meant. But that's the truth. So… really, Azula? No need to worry. Well, you're free to worry, but I'm not going to race to Mai's house just so I can interrogate Suki again once we're back. She's got enough problems to add an annoying gladiator pestering her about secret societies, on top of it all"

"Probably" said Azula, looking up into his eyes.

"Still, there's one thing I really want you to keep in mind" he said, lifting a hand towards her cheek. Azula's breath hitched "There's no reason why I'd choose another girl, any girl, Azula… when the one I'm in love with is you"

Her eyes widened when he said those words. There was no hint of insincerity in them, not in his voice nor in his clear blue eyes, nor in his gentle smile. She felt set ablaze yet again, with more intensity than usual, it seemed to her. Her body started shivering, and she barely noticed it, because all she knew was that he had said those words. The words she thought nobody would ever say to her for real…

"You're just…" she said, looking at him in disbelief, shaking her head weakly.

Sokka smiled more before leaning down to press his lips against hers. Her enthusiastic response shouldn't have surprised him at all, but it was delightful for her to respond to him eagerly. His arms went around her waist and he held her close, as her shivering hands made their way over his body, reaching up to find his face.

He moved his face down to her shoulder once they parted the kiss, and he embraced her tightly for an instant. He could feel her heart drumming furiously in her chest as her arms surrounded him as well.

Azula hadn't thought he could come to love her, not truly, despite everything. Hearing him say the worlds that night in Ember Island had meant a lot to her, but despite it all, she had believed it was just for one night. She had known he liked her, but she didn't feel deserving of his love, not really… yet if he was giving it to her freely, why shouldn't she accept it?

Sokka pulled away from her shoulder, but only so he could kiss her once more. Azula cupped his face in her hands, returning his every kiss while trying to show him that he wasn't the only one in love… she probably ought to say it, too, but she wasn't sure she could. Maybe one day, though… surely, one day. He loved her, so he would wait, wouldn't he?

His passionate kisses convinced her he would. Of course he would.

Locked in a tight embrace with him, while still exchanging kisses, she knew today, more than ever, that he was the one man she wanted to be with. From here onwards, it would be Sokka. No matter if he was a slave or not… for she loved him. And he loved her, too. Her resolve to be with him was true and firm, at long last.

They had lost themselves in the moment… and thus they hadn't noticed that somebody was watching them from the doorway that led to the roof.

He had come to let the Princess know the supplies had been loaded onto the ship already, and that the Barge would depart as soon as she and the gladiator boarded it. But now, as he watched them in the middle of their impassioned exchange, he started doubting they would board any time soon.

The father of the family, who had been enjoying dinner when the guard had knocked on the door, had told him he might find the pair up on the roof. And indeed, he had found them… but he had also found that, as ever, his job was only going to become even more difficult from here on.

Rui Shi sighed and shook his head, not feeling anger or frustration. He only wished he hadn't ended up facing the truth of the Princess and the gladiator's relationship directly. But now he had seen it, all he could do was whisper a single sentence softly, so the pair wouldn't hear him:

"I knew it"


	83. Chapter 83

The hawk's wings flapped gracefully as it rose into the skies, as he set out on his first mission outside the Fire Nation. His owner watched him with a smile on his face, and the girl who had written the message Hawky was about to deliver released a nervous sigh. Sokka patted Song on the back and she smiled at him.

"Well, there goes Hawky" he told her.

"Are you sure he can make it to Ba Sing Se safely?" Song asked, and Sokka chuckled.

"Don't worry about him. He's well trained and smart enough to find his way to your mom" he said, and Song nodded, still beaming.

"It feels surreal" she said, her eyes gleaming "I probably won't really believe she's really okay until I read her reply with my own eyes, even though I already know she is…"

"Let's hope that reply comes soon, then" said Sokka, patting her head now "And let's hope you two can meet again someday, too"

"I do hope so. Just as you'll see your family again one day" said Song, at which Sokka was surprised briefly before giving her a sad smile.

"Yeah. I sure will" he said, and Song would have asked him about why he seemed so disheartened by that idea if only she hadn't sighted another figure in the sky, right behind Sokka.

"But in the mean time…" she said, watching as the serpentine shape flew above them "You have other things to think about"

Sokka frowned for a moment before lifting his gaze and finding what had caught Song's eye. Upon identifying Xin Long, it was Sokka whose eyes gleamed now as he beamed towards the dragon.

The Royal Barge had arrived into the Capital only the previous day, after sailing smoothly through Fire Nation waters once they had left Shu Jing behind them. Being around Azula while the guards were present as well made matters a little more complicated for Sokka, and for some reason, there had always been a guard nearby ever since they left Shu Jing… nevertheless, as he had told Azula before, simply being around her made him happy. He didn't need to push his luck, let alone near guards, when he knew that was only going to get Azula in unwanted trouble. Still, she had come to see him now by herself, and no guards would keep him in check this time. Not when it was just the two of them.

Sokka's blissful smile as he watched Xin Long approach the ground made Song raise an eyebrow. It wasn't unusual for the gladiator to be happy to see his sponsor, but the joy in his features wasn't of the usual kind and Song was quick to notice it. There wasn't much sense in Sokka missing Azula this badly when he had only gone half a day without seeing her… but Song knew better than to pry into this matter. She simply smiled as well and bumped Sokka's arm with her shoulder before turning around to enter the house again. She broke his daze upon crashing against him, and Sokka frowned and looked at her in confusion. Song laughed while walking away from him.

"W-what was that for?!" Sokka exclaimed to no avail, for Song didn't reply.

Nevertheless, he turned again to find Xin Long was already landing not far from where he stood, in the house's yard. His smile returned to his face when he saw Azula sitting on the saddle, a stern look on her face until she lifted her head to find him standing not too far from where Xin Long had landed. As soon as she glanced at him, the expression on her face softened. Sokka's smile broadened as he made his way towards her, and she soon gave him a smile of her own as Xin Long lowered himself to allow Sokka to climb on his back.

"I take it he's not mad at me anymore, is he?" Sokka inquired, and Azula raised her eyebrows and looked away from him, a guilty expression on her face.

"Huh. I suppose not" she whispered, and Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"What's that look supposed to mean, Princess?" he inquired, and she smiled again, still not meeting his gaze.

"It's merely that he's not mad anymore, no" Azula said "He hasn't been since… well, since a couple of days ago, when things got cleared up. That's all"

"That's all?" Sokka repeated, smiling. It seemed Xin Long's attitude had been born out of his wishes to support his rider in her bitterness towards him. He should have guessed as much.

"I just said so, didn't I?" Azula replied pointedly, and Sokka laughed under his breath before hopping onto the saddle, right behind Azula.

She was taken by surprise when he leaned in and kissed her cheek. She glanced back at him, a subtle blush on her cheeks as he smiled gently.

"Good to see you again, Azula"

The way her golden eyes sparkled upon his words didn't go unnoticed by Sokka. He couldn't stop smiling as he took in the way she had angled her head to look at him. It was extraordinary how, after all this time, her beauty didn't fail to mesmerize him.

"You just saw me yesterday" she told him, unable to keep from smiling.

"Well, what can I say? I missed you!" Sokka exclaimed, happily.

"You missed me" Azula repeated, much like he had repeated her own phrase an instant ago, a smirk on her face "Figures"

She laughed under her breath before ushering Xin Long to take into the skies again. The dragon sped his way upwards, soaring above the low, white clouds that hovered above the city. It was only then that Sokka allowed one of his hands to slide over the saddle to find one of Azula's, to her embarrassment and delight at the same time.

"So, what are we up to today?" he asked, placing his chin on her shoulder.

"We're just going to the Grand Royal Dome for the time being" she told him, biting her lower lip "Your schedule is clear at the moment, so we have to decide which of your challenges to accept next"

"Huh, sounds good to me" said Sokka, smiling goofily.

"You know you can't be this comfortable once we're below the clouds again, don't you?" Azula asked. Sokka smiled and turned his head into her neck, even though her armor's collar was covering most of it.

"Well, then, I'll have to make the most of it while it lasts" he whispered, as she intertwined her fingers with his and his other arm surrounded her waist.

She breathed deeply and rested against him just for a moment, merely enjoying the closeness between them. Some time ago they had been flying on Xin Long, just like this, with his head on her shoulder. Back then she had been convinced that their relationship could never become what it was now: being wrong about something had never made Azula so happy. She smiled and tilted her head towards his, as his grip around her tightened.

This felt right in ways nothing else ever had for either one of them. They flew high above the ground, far out of reach of anything that could possibly hold them back or weigh them down. Nothing could stop them as they hovered in the sky.

Sokka lifted his head and leaned in, pressing his forehead against Azula's before she sought out his lips with hers. He grinned before reciprocating the gesture, most unlike what had happened that night when he had fallen asleep on her shoulder. Azula smiled as well, basking in the familiar burning feeling inside her. Everything was different now. Everything felt right now. And she couldn't get enough of how she felt when she was around him. It was as though she would break if she didn't kiss him, as though she would be set on fire whenever he whispered his blunt but affectionate words to her. She felt as though she could do everything she set her mind to… but she really didn't want to. All she wanted was to stay with him, to drift through the heavens by his side.

Xin Long made a brusque jolt before moving downwards, alerting them of the obvious: they were supposed to return to the ground sooner than later. Azula smiled weakly before pecking Sokka's lips one last time and turning forward again, releasing his hand and making him release her from his grip altogether. Granted Sokka was somewhat disappointed that their one private moment in days had been so brief, but he was pleased nonetheless. It didn't matter how brief their time together might be, for every second of it was worth treasuring.

"Any ideas on whom you want to challenge next?" Sokka asked, climbing off the saddle once Xin Long had landed.

"I'm not quite sure, to be honest. I'd like to look at our pending challenges for the time being. If there are none worth accepting amongst them, we can proceed to pick someone out of the ranking" she replied, stroking Xin Long's hair before following Sokka's lead and dropping on solid grounds again "We won't be long, Xin. Stay put for now, and try not to eat anyone, will you?"

Sokka chuckled as Azula spoke to her dragon, who simply shook his head and waved his mane around proudly, and Azula looked at him with amusement. As she stepped towards the Grand Royal Dome she noticed people were approaching Xin Long curiously, all of them awed by the magnificent creature.

"You sure he won't eat anyone?" Sokka asked Azula, as they made their way to the doors.

"Of course he won't. He loves attention, and eating anyone would give him less admirers, so I wouldn't fear for their lives" Azula said, with a smirk. But they both were quick to stop on their footsteps as they heard the sound Xin Long always made when he was about to release a blast of fire.

Both of them turned around immediately. Sokka was worried, but thanks to her connection with her dragon, Azula knew Xin Long wasn't trying to set anyone on fire even before seeing what he was up to with her own eyes. Xin Long was sitting on the street, casting blue blazes into the air through his nose and mouth, while all spectators stared at him in awe, both terrified and amazed by his display.

"Such a show-off" Azula said, smiling and turning towards the Grand Royal Dome again. Sokka laughed weakly before following his sponsor into the building.

There had been someone at Shoji's counter as they approached it, but he moved away soon enough, allowing the young man behind it to notice the Princess and her gladiator were coming towards him. Azula frowned when she saw the look on the boy's face. Was she imagining things, or was he looking at them with dread?

"What's wrong with him?" she asked Sokka, who had also noticed Shoji's unusual behavior.

"Not a clue. Is there something on my face?" Sokka asked Azula, and she panicked for a moment, wondering if perhaps Shoji had noticed any evidence of their exchange back when they were still riding Xin Long. Yet she saw nothing on Sokka's countenance that could give away they had been kissing only a moment earlier.

"Not really" Azula said, frowning before turning towards Shoji again, stepping up to his counter with quick strides.

Shoji's expression remained unaltered as the Princess and her gladiator approached. He gulped and stood up slowly from his seat, almost as though he felt guilty about something. Azula's frown deepened as she and Sokka reached him.

"What is the meaning of that look, Shoji?" she asked, menacingly, and Sokka cleared his throat to earn her attention.

"Maybe you should've greeted him instead of asking that right away, you know. Would have been nicer…" he whispered, and she scowled at him.

"Maybe I would've greeted him, if he didn't look like he's about to tell us we have to drop out of the business or something of the sort. What's the matter, Shoji?"

With that, she turned towards the boy, who hadn't said a word yet. He was fidgeting, and he looked at them with worried eyes before sighing deeply.

"I, uh… well, there's something here for you, is all" he said "A challenge"

"And that's such a worrisome matter because…?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows as Shoji walked towards the drawers where the challenges were stacked.

"You'll see for yourself in a moment" Shoji replied, looking through the folders until he found the right challenge form.

Sokka looked at Azula with confusion, and she merely shrugged in his direction before Shoji walked up to them again, placing the challenge on the counter. The first thing about the paper that drew Azula's eye was that the borders of the challenge were dark red, while normal challenges didn't have their borders highlighted in any way. She frowned at that, but soon enough her eyes widened and her eyebrows rose as she read the name of the gladiator whose sponsor had decided to challenge her.

"Wait. Wait…" she said, as Sokka's jaw dropped when he read the gladiator's name also.

"N-no… you've got to be kidding me" he said, as Shoji swallowed hard again "The Millennium Dragon?!"

"Yeah, the Millennium Dragon" Shoji repeated, nodding.

"This makes no sense" Azula said, shaking her head and looking at the boy with disbelief "Why would the Millennium Dragon, of all people, challenge us? We're not even in the top hundred fighters yet, are we?"

"Nope, not just yet" Shoji admitted.

"Then why in the name of…?" Azula said, as a hand moved up to her mouth and she looked at the challenge in confusion. There were more things about it that brought questions to her mind, but right now, the one thing she could think about was that the second top gladiator of the ranking had sent a challenge their way.

"That's not really all there is to it, though" said Shoji, biting his lower lip and pointing now at the location of the fight with his index finger. Azula nodded.

"The Slate, it says" Azula read aloud "What's that supposed to be? I'd never heard of it before"

"You hadn't?" Shoji said, surprised.

"How was I supposed to hear about it if you'd never mentioned that place to me before?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. Shoji grimaced and nodded.

"Right, right, makes sense" he said, nervously "Well, you see, the Slate is actually a special Arena. Only two fights are allowed to take place in the Slate on a yearly basis…"

"Only two?" Sokka asked, frowning "Why's that?"

"The Slate is located in an island of difficult access, so only a handful of people have the guts and resources to travel there" said Shoji, biting his lower lip "It's in an active volcanic island. People used to live there over a hundred years ago, from what I've heard, but nobody lives there anymore. The conditions of the island aren't favorable for anyone to spend over a week there, so the League has made it so only two fights take place there annually as a safety measure…"

"And why is there an Arena in such an inconvenient location in the first place, if it's such a dangerous place?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Because it serves for extreme, intense fights" said Shoji, biting his lower lip "The Arena in itself is underground, like the ones you must have seen in Gaoling and Omashu. The difference is, this Arena is comprised of solid metal and nothing more. It's a fully metallic enclosure, all the way from the entrance to the fighting ring. Which is not exactly a ring in itself, but rather, a metallic platform suspended by chains. If anything, the platform is more like a cage, to be precise…"

"What the…?" said Sokka, his eyes widening.

"And that's not all" said Shoji, gulping "The stands are positioned well above the cage, to keep them away from the gate that's underneath the cage, which is opened every five minutes through the fight… to reveal boiling lava down below"

"Lava?!" Sokka exclaimed, aghast.

"It's used to raise the temperature of the fight to the extreme" said Shoji "The fights in the Slate are set to last for an entire hour, the sponsors don't get to agree on the time limit there. And as I said earlier, the Slate is only available for two fights a year. Those who win the fights in the Slate get the right to challenge someone six months afterwards, unless the winner surrenders his right to challenge to another fighter"

"So, you're saying I'm being challenged by the last fighter who won in this ring?" Sokka asked, an eyebrow twitching.

"Well, yeah" said Shoji, biting his lower lip "To be fair, the Millennium Dragon has lost more fights in the Slate than he has won. Combustion Man was the first fighter granted the right to battle in the Slate, and he challenged the Millennium Dragon and many others during about five years until his substitute sponsor got bored and gave the right to challenge to another gladiator, Flameheart. But then Flameheart challenged the Millennium Dragon, and the Millennium Dragon defeated him. He has earned the right to challenge ever since, by defeating every opponent he has challenged to the Slate"

"And, out of nowhere, such a fighter decided to challenge Sokka?" Azula said, raising an eyebrow and looking at her gladiator.

"Well, this is the guy I met in Yu Dao all that time ago" said Sokka, frowning "He did tell me he might get his sponsor to challenge us if I got any higher in the ranking, but if he's the second best fighter of the League, it makes no sense for him to challenge us in the Slate right now"

"How is his record?" Azula asked, turning to Shoji again "Has he been on a bad streak lately or so?"

"No, the only fighter he has ever lost against is Combustion Man" said Shoji "And granted that has happened about fifty times by now, they've been clashing ever since the whole business started out, but honestly…"

"Our odds aren't good" Azula finished for Shoji, who gave her a sad smile.

"It's why I was so uneasy about this challenge as soon as I first saw it" he whispered "If you want me to be perfectly honest, it would be for the best if you didn't accept it. Granted it will provide you with lots of money if you win it, a prize the Gladiator League awards to whoever wins at the Slate, and your fighter would also earn three thousand points if he were to win, but when you consider that…"

"Wait. Three thousand?" Azula said, her eyes widening "Did you actually say three-…?"

"Woah, woah, woah! You're not going to say you're considering this, are you?!" Sokka asked, scandalized as he looked at Azula with utter disbelief.

The Princess looked back, a guilty look on her face now. Sokka glared at her, as though she had lost her mind.

"What the hell?! You can't make me fight there just because there's an unlikely chance that I might win three thousand points! Like hell am I going to win this thing, especially if it's against the second best gladiator of the League! Azula, don't even think about it!"

"So now the gladiator tells his sponsor what to do?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows and making Sokka scowl at her "It's not just about the chance that you might win it. This sounds like a truly important fight, of the sorts that no respectable sponsor would decline even if he thought he would lose"

"Well, it's true that the Slate is the most important event of the Superior League" said Shoji, shrugging "And no other gladiator under the top hundred has been challenged to the Slate before. If your fighter is considered good enough to be challenged to the Slate, that alone would bring you more fame and glory than any other event ever could"

"I guessed as much" Azula said, nodding as Sokka looked at Shoji with irritation now.

"Oi, Shoji, weren't you saying I was better off not fighting this thing?! Why are you trying to convince her of accepting now?!"

"I'm not trying to convince her of anything" said Shoji, smiling uncomfortably "But she should know all the pros and cons about this fight. Just… I guess there are more cons to it than pros"

"Really?" Azula asked, frowning "Are there any more 'cons' I should know of?"

"Well, yeah. A pretty nasty one, actually" said Shoji, grimacing "The only fighters who have survived in the Slate are, well, firebenders. Non-benders and earthbenders have been challenged to the Slate, but none of them have survived. Several firebenders have died in the Slate too. So, well… accepting a fight in the Slate is a big risk to take"

Azula lowered her gaze now, and Sokka hoped it meant she wasn't interested in the matter anymore. She wouldn't push him to his death just on the chance of earning three thousand points, not after everything they had been through… or would she?

"It sounds like it is" Azula agreed "Yet this fight would put us in the League's spotlight, if we were to accept it, right?"

"Well, yeah, even more than you already are" said Shoji, nodding "You two have been pretty famous ever since you started out, but after winning in the Pairs Tournament, people have been talking about you more and more. In fact, there are many more challenges pending for you both, if you wanted to accept anything else, but the Slate is… well, it's a really big deal. It's just a seriously dangerous deal, too"

"Too dangerous, if you ask me" Sokka said, frowning and looking at Azula "C'mon. We can just take up another challenge and forget about this one. It's not worth it"

"Eh, I guess on some level that may be the case, but…" said Azula, grimacing and sighing as Sokka looked at her in disbelief.

"You can't seriously want to send me to my death like that, or do you?!"

"Let's not jump to conclusions, shall we?" Azula said "Your pessimism is astounding, truly You really think this fight could only possibly result in your death?"

"If this is as it sounds, I doubt it'd be otherwise" said Sokka, frowning "Seriously, Azula, we're talking about the second best gladiator of the league! I'll be toast!"

"You'd need quite a lot of training to fight him on even terms, granted" said Azula "But you haven't fared that badly against firebenders. It will be very difficult for you to win if the conditions are as extreme Shoji described, but I think there might be a chance for you to…"

"Like hell there would be!" Sokka squealed, and Azula rolled her eyes "No! I'm going to get burned to cinders! This is completely crazy, Azula! You can't have me do this! Three thousand points aren't worth this bother, we can get that same amount through regular fights all the same!"

"Uh, sure, in about a years' efforts or more, perhaps" Azula said, frowning.

"You earned about five hundred points in your last tour…" said Shoji, looking at the ranking, and Sokka nodded vigorously.

"See? Five hundred points, no less! Five more tours like that and we'd get three thousand points indeed, without putting my life at risk!"

"Mind you, I'm pretty certain that, by this point in time, your life is at risk more often than it isn't" Azula stated "You're already in the upper half of the ranking, the competition is only going to become more vicious from now on. You only won twice in this tour, and you were fighting against gladiators near your level, save for the Priestess who was well above you. So if you really think you'll earn three thousand points that quickly, think again"

"And if you really think I'll earn three thousand points when my foe is going to be the Millennium Dragon, you might need to think again too" Sokka said, an eyebrow twitching "You just said it yourself, that Priestess girl could've beaten me if she hadn't lost interest in our fight as she did. Do you really think I could do better when I'll be fighting against the second best firebender in the league?"

"If you train properly, then yes, I think you could" Azula replied, with raised eyebrows before turning towards Shoji "Nevertheless, accepting this challenge without giving it proper consideration isn't wise. When is the fight due?"

"Two months from now, and since it's established by the League, it's not subject to change" said Shoji, pointing at the date on the challenge "You'll have some time to decide whether or not you'll accept this challenge, but make sure to do it within the next month. If you decline, the Millennium Dragon's sponsor will have to look for someone else to fight in the Slate against his gladiator, and the sooner he can do it, the better"

"Then I'll let you know if we'll accept the fight or not later on" said Azula, nodding at Shoji "This is a matter that needs to be discussed at leisure"

"I don't think there should be much discussion given to it, to be honest" Sokka said, but Azula ignored him.

"I'll be awaiting your response, as always" said Shoji, smiling weakly.

After saying their farewells to Shoji, both Sokka and Azula left the Dome and returned to Xin Long, who was still rather busy giving his admirers a display of his fire. Once his performance was finished, Azula and Sokka were on his saddle again and the dragon took off to his refuge in the Palace. And while Xin Long sprawled on the building's floor lazily, his rider and her gladiator were busy arguing over whether or not Sokka should fight in the Slate. Sokka had taken his seat near the central column of the building, while Azula paced in front of him.

"Could you be reasonable, Azula?" Sokka pleaded, looking at her with despair, as the Princess frowned "I'm not strong enough to fight against anyone from the top ten as I am. And there's no way that's going to change in a matter of two months"

"You can say that all you want, but I know you have more potential than you think you do" Azula snapped "It took you less than a month to reach a level high enough to defeat the Spawn of the Volcano, if you need a reminder of that…"

"Which I accomplished because Piandao was teaching me swordsmanship" Sokka said "And he's not around to teach me anything anymore"

"Piandao's absence didn't stop you from becoming strong enough to fight earthbenders, despite you weren't capable of holding your own against them at first" Azula reminded him, and Sokka shook his head.

"True enough, but what I learned after training with Haru isn't going to help here" said Sokka "This is a firebender we're talking about, and while my record against firebenders is much better than against earthbenders, I doubt it's going to make a difference when I'll be fighting in a furnace-like Arena against the Millennium Dragon"

"We can increase your odds, though" said Azula, looking at him "I could train against you, using the full extent of my firebending and that way…"

"If you use the full extent of your firebending you're bound to kill me" Sokka said, simply, and Azula rolled her eyes.

"Well, then, I'll hold back slightly" she said "The Millennium Dragon most likely won't be a better bender than I am. I doubt he has been trained as I have, so it should stand to reason that if we train together regularly to make you stronger, with firebending exclusively, you'll prove capable of standing your ground against him"

"You're giving me too much credit" said Sokka, shaking his head, and Azula frowned "I can't progress like that so fast. I mean, I could, perhaps, grow stronger but I won't be up to the Millennium Dragon's level in a matter of two months. If you really want me to stand up to the guy, I… I don't know, I'd need to have something new. New skills that I could use to defeat a firebender"

"New skills such as what?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "Are you hoping to master something other than swords?"

"Well, not necessarily, but it's a thought" said Sokka, rubbing his forehead with his fingers "Having more skills up my sleeve should help. I've never really excelled in hand-to-hand combat, to say one thing. And heck, maybe I could use two swords instead of one? I don't know, honestly, Azula. It's probably a long shot, just as this whole Slate thing is altogether. Accepting this would be ridiculous"

"But it would give you a remarkable boost" Azula said, biting her lower lip "You defeated the Stingray once before, and he was also a skilled bender who had been in the higher levels of the ranking for a long time. If you prove capable of holding your own against the Millennium Dragon, even if not defeating him, you would earn recognition beyond anything you've had so far. People seem to think your triumph in the Pairs Tournament was mainly Toph's doing, not your own. So by fighting the Millennium Dragon in the Slate and surviving you would prove them wrong, for not many gladiators could accomplish such a feat. Granted it wouldn't be as big as surviving against Combustion Man himself, but…"

"Azula, if you want me to fight this guy, I can do it anywhere else" said Sokka, sighing "But if that Arena is as Shoji described it, no fame or glory is worth it. I can't possibly become strong enough as to beat him in this short time, and…"

"If you don't even try to do it, you're obviously never going to succeed" Azula snapped "Sokka… let's give this matter a month. A month during which we'll train you in new skills and fighting against firebenders, and if you don't make enough progress, we'll decline the challenge. Only if you make real progress will I tell Shoji we accept it, but you must make an effort all the same"

"So… you're not just going to accept this recklessly?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow and feeling a little relieved by her new proposal.

"I just said as much" said Azula, sighing heavily "It would be convenient to go for it, not many gladiators below the top hundred get challenges from fighters of such reputation. But indeed, I don't plan to sacrifice you in an attempt to earn recognition. I can't have you dead"

"Well, that's a relief" said Sokka, sighing and smiling "For a moment I thought you were so eager to do this that you didn't care about the risks…"

"If that had been the case, I would have told Shoji to accept the challenge immediately" said Azula, sighing "I don't want you in deadly peril, but I do want you to do your best to rise to the Millennium Dragon's level. Finding new fighting techniques for you might be tricky, but it could be done. Dual swords could help, even if you mentioned that fleetingly, but maybe I could lend you Wolf's…"

"Princess" said a stern voice from the refuge's entrance, startling both Sokka and Azula.

Both turned to look at the Captain, standing stiff at the gate. Something about his body language was ominous for Azula, despite his mask covered his face to conceal the angry expression on it.

"The Fire Lord requests your presence" he said pointedly, his speech so harsh that now Sokka as well found Rui Shi's behavior weird.

Azula would have questioned Rui Shi over his attitude if only she hadn't been frozen in place by his message. Knowing the Fire Lord demanded to see her reminded her of the pending matter of the ceremony, something she hadn't made up her mind about just yet. Not that it mattered if she had made a decision, though. She would have to perform the ceremony whether she wanted to or not, for her father wanted her to do so.

"Huh. Of course he does" she muttered, and Sokka frowned.

"You haven't reported to your dad yet?" he guessed, looking at her with confusion.

"Not quite, yesterday was quite a busy day" Azula replied "This is probably going to take a while, Sokka. I have matters to discuss with my father. So… try to think of how you'll develop new skills, if you can. Any progress we can make, if only in planning, is better than staying here doing nothing. We have no time to waste if you only have one month to reach the Millennium Dragon's level"

"Huh, yeah" said Sokka, grimacing as Azula moved towards Xin Long, patting him on the head and letting him know she would be taking her leave for now.

The dragon groaned a small goodbye before settling in his napping position again, and Azula walked towards the exit with steady footing, her head held high and her brow slightly creased. The Captain moved out of her way, still stiff, still as though something were amiss. Azula's frown deepened at that, but she paid it no mind. The Captain was the least of her worries if her father was summoning her.

Sokka stood up from where he was and walked towards the exit as well, as Azula passed by Rui Shi quickly. Sokka watched her go for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking at Rui Shi with inquisitive eyes.

"I don't suppose you have any knowledge on techniques to fight extremely powerful firebenders, or do you?"

The Captain didn't reply, though Sokka noticed he was shivering for some reason, but the weather was as warm as it usually was in the Fire Nation. He frowned and stepped towards the man, unsure of what was bothering him.

"Something the matter, Rui-…?"

"Something the matter, you ask, you filthy…?" said Rui Shi, trembling violently now as he turned his head towards Sokka.

Again, as it had happened once, Sokka could see the hatred in the man's golden gaze through his mask. It took him aback, all the same as being called filthy by the man. Despite the harsh treatment he had received many times by the hands of Fire Nation people, not once had he heard Rui Shi speak to him as viciously as he had just now.

"F-filthy? What the hell?" Sokka repeated, stepping back cautiously, but to his chagrin, Rui Shi stomped towards him, closing the distance between them.

"Quit acting innocent, you wretched gladiator" he growled, forcing Sokka to continue walking backwards "I always… I always knew you were up to no good, but I held onto the naïve hopes that perhaps there was a shred of honor or dignity within you. But I was a fool for thinking as much…"

"What?" Sokka said, staring at Rui Shi in confusion and disbelief "What are you even talking about, Captain? And would you move away? This is starting to get really uncomfortable, so maybe just…"

But the Captain continued to walk forward until Sokka had his back against the refuge's threshold. The man's amber glare bore into Sokka's head, as though he believed it would combust if he glared at him hard enough.

"You know all too well what I'm talking about" he snapped "The Princess… you've compromised her integrity, her chastity! And don't pretend it's otherwise, because I saw you both in Shu Jing with my own eyes! And because of that, I now know what I wish I'd never come to know! So don't bother lying, Sokka. I already know the truth of it"

"W-wha…? Wait" said Sokka, raising his hands defensively as his mind raced, his innards twisting in panic as he realized what a precarious situation he was in "Y-you saw us in Shu Jing, you said?"

"Yes, I did! I went to find the Princess, and I was told she was on the roof with you. When I got there, you two were…!" Rui Shi said, stopping cold at the last word as he seemed to be incapable of uttering it, despite it was merely a word "Just…! How dared you, damn it?! Why did you do it, when you knew she wasn't meant for you, or for anyone like you?! She's a Princess! She cannot mingle with the likes of you!"

"Hey, I…!" Sokka started, before realizing he had no idea how to defend himself. All the same, he frowned heavily, unwilling to take Rui Shi's accusations as they came "Yeah, sure I'm not the one she's supposed to be with, but that doesn't mean I've done anything that bad to her! Nor have I done anything she didn't want me to!"

"Oh, really?!" Rui Shi asked, a hand reaching up to Sokka's shirt and pulling him closer as his glare grew more vicious "Are you trying to say her honor remains untarnished, despite what I saw with my very own eyes?!"

"I'm trying to say that I haven't…! I haven't done anything that can't be taken back!" Sokka said, pushing Rui Shi away, and glaring at him "It's not like I took her virginity or anything like that. It's not how it is"

"You haven't…?" Rui Shi asked, raising an eyebrow despite he seemed relieved to hear that bit of information "Huh, hard to believe. I wouldn't have pegged you for the kind of man who waits for the right moment"

"I'm not waiting for…!" Sokka started, before breathing heavily "Look, pal, I know all too well that I'm not the guy she should be with, but you told me about the spark in her eyes! You saw it just as well as I did! And that spark is back now, has been ever since she found Xin Long. And I'll do everything I can to keep it there and to keep it growing stronger. So…!"

"So you'll gladly deflower her if that's what it takes for that spark to linger" Rui Shi asked, sarcastically, and Sokka gritted his teeth and groaned.

"That's not what I'm saying! She… she likes me, okay? For some reason I can't understand, and I know all too well I don't deserve her feelings, but I can't just push her away, you know? I… I'm not strong enough to do that. I'm not a good enough guy to just push her aside because the universe isn't ready to see us together. If she wants to be near me, how the hell am I supposed to say no?"

"By saying it!" Rui Shi snapped, stomping on the ground angrily. The dragon, napping not too far away from where they were, groaned at them to silence the pair, but they ignored him "She is not meant for you, curse it! The Princess can wish for whatever she may, but she cannot have her every heart's desire, especially not if said desire is a common slave like yourself! A life of privileges has its own inconveniences, and this is but one of them. She's supposed to know better than to indulge in meaningless pleasures that will only…"

"Woah, pal, hold up there" Sokka said, frowning "You can think it's meaningless, but it's not to her. It's not to me. I'd put my life in the line for her and you know I would because I already have done it many times. You can insult me all you want, but don't dare say this is meaningless. It's not for her or for me"

"And that makes a difference?" Rui Shi asked, his hands on his hips "That makes it any less dangerous for her, pray tell?! Do you realize what problems you'd bring upon the Princess if you continue with this folly?!"

"Like hell I do!" Sokka said, looking at Rui Shi with disbelief "I may be stupid, but I'm not that stupid! Of course I know she'd get hell brought upon her, that her father would punish her, that you would lose your job and credibility and…"

As he started to list all those reasons, Sokka actually froze where he was. He knew it was a risk, of course he did. But it wasn't just a risk for him and Azula. Whatever happened between them could affect Rui Shi as well as many others, if word of their intimate relationship ever got out.

"And yet whatever pleasure you're achieving through the Princess is more important than any of this" Rui Shi grunted "You're a fool. If you truly have any feelings for her, real feelings, you'll step away. You'll leave her be. You won't put her life and future in danger just because you yearn for her. You'd know your wishes and desires aren't more important than hers"

Sokka gritted his teeth and Rui Shi shook his head before stepping away.

"You may think highly of this relationship, but it's doomed to fail" he said "The happiness you want the Princess to achieve will disappear as soon as everyone knows what bond exists between you two. Feel free to sacrifice your own life for her if you so wish, but don't you dare force her to do the same for you, Sokka"

With that, the man left Sokka in the refuge with the sleeping dragon. Sokka's pleasant feelings from earlier had disappeared completely, both because of the pending matter of the Slate and his conversation with Rui Shi. He sighed heavily, knowing Rui Shi was right about what he had said. But the Captain didn't understand Sokka was balancing himself on the edge of a knife. He knew he couldn't pull through with what he truly wanted, and he couldn't push Azula away either. Not after everything that had happened the first time he had tried to do such a thing. He couldn't bear the thought of making her unhappy. Perhaps that made him selfish, but he couldn't forget about Azula's joy and focus only on her wellbeing. She deserved happiness, no matter in what form or shape it came. But it didn't seem Rui Shi would understand that.

And it scared Sokka to think of what Rui Shi might do in order to end the relationship between him and Azula. He wouldn't dare tell Ozai, would he? Yet even if he didn't give them away to the Fire Lord, he would mean to convince Azula that her relationship with Sokka had no future. And he was right. Sokka knew he was, despite how much it hurt him to admit it. Rui Shi was a practical man, and matters of emotions and feelings wouldn't sway him. He didn't care if Sokka had the best of intentions towards Azula. The Captain had wanted Sokka at proper distance from the Princess, ever since he had first hurt her. And now that he knew for certain that Sokka was in what he would consider an affair with Azula, all sympathy he had ever held for Sokka had fizzled out of existence.

"No chance for him to help me master new fighting styles, huh?" Sokka whispered before leaving the refuge as well, his head hung as he walked down through the Palace's hallways, brushing aside all thoughts of Rui Shi with difficulty in hopes to focus now on what Azula had told him to think about.

How would he master new fighting styles in two months? The mere thought of facing the Millennium Dragon in battle was enough to make him cringe. Thinking about the complicated circumstances in which their face-off would take place only served to worry him further. There was nothing he could do in the span of two months to become capable of fighting evenly against the second best gladiator of the league, simply, nothing. Azula wouldn't accept that, though, and Sokka knew it. She would push him to the last stretch, he knew she would…

He sighed, accepting he would have to make an effort despite already thinking it wouldn't pay off, and he took a corner to find quite an unusual sight in front of him.

Zuko was closing the door to what Sokka guessed was his room, holding flowers in his hand. Sokka stopped on his tracks and raised an eyebrow, for Zuko looked very different now, with his hair neatly cut. Zuko was busy fixing his flowers, making sure they were arranged properly on the bouquet despite he didn't know what made for a proper bouquet arrangement.

"Uh… huh?" Sokka said, and only then did Zuko notice he wasn't alone anymore.

Zuko jumped in quite a comical manner, startled when Sokka spoke to him. He scowled at the gladiator, moving away from him as to protect the flowers.

"W-what are you doing here? Weren't you on some trip with Azula?" Zuko asked.

"We got back yesterday, didn't you hear?" Sokka asked, eyeing the flowers with interest "Well, maybe you didn't hear after all. Looks like you've been busy, huh?"

"I-I wasn't…" Zuko started, not quite knowing what prompted him to hide the truth of what he had been up to the past few days "Quit prying. This doesn't concern you"

"Now, no need to get defensive" said Sokka, smiling "It's great that you have a girl now! Or at least, I'd assume that's what this is about… unless you're those are flowers for something else?"

"I'm not… it's none of your business what I'm doing with these flowers, okay?!" Zuko snapped, and Sokka grimaced.

"Man, aren't you volatile" he said, and Zuko glared at him.

"You know, I'm not always like this" he grunted "But for some reason you always bring out the worst of me. So excuse me, but I'd rather not be at my worst today. I have important things to do"

"Huh, do you?" Sokka asked, as Zuko turned on his heels and attempted to walk away from Sokka "Well, mind if I tag along? I don't have as many things to do… well, no, I actually do, but I don't know how to do it and I won't know until your sister is free again, so…"

"Huh?" Zuko said, looking at Sokka skeptically "Yeah, I do mind if you tag along, very much so. What the hell gives you the idea that I'd want you around? And why would you want to be around me in the first place? The last time you and I met you punched me in the jaw"

"Not true" said Sokka, lifting a finger "That was, uh… the fourth to last? Maybe fifth? In any case, it wasn't the last one"

"Impressive. That's what you focus on" said Zuko, an eyebrow twitching.

"What, you don't expect me to apologize for it now, or do you?" said Sokka, looking at him with challenging eyes.

"You, apologize to me? Yeah, sure" said Zuko "I don't think that's within your capacities, so no, I don't expect you to say sorry for anything. So don't expect me to ever do it to you, either"

"I wasn't about to. What would you be sorry about anyhow?" said Sokka, shrugging "I can't think of anything you'd be sorry for regarding me, personally"

The long hallway winded up on another corner before leading up to the front door. Zuko frowned and glared at Sokka, wondering if he really would continue to pester him for the rest of the day.

"Putting up with you, that's what I'm sorry for" said Zuko "Come on, get lost. Go crawl to Azula's feet as you usually do and leave me alone"

"I would, but she got summoned by your dad" said Sokka, and Zuko stared at him in surprise.

"Really? What for?" Zuko asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

"Beats me" said Sokka, shrugging "She didn't look happy about it, though"

"Odd" said Zuko, frowning "But then, you really would crawl up to Azula…?"

"I was just humoring you, don't take everything literally" said Sokka, smiling a little.

"Yeah, sure, that's all it was" said Zuko, sighing heavily as they both climbed the steps down to the Palace's main walkway "Anyhow, go away. I'm not going to have you clinging onto me all day just because Azula's not around"

"No need to be so harsh, Zuko. In all honesty, I actually have wanted to talk about a few things for a while" said Sokka, at which Zuko frowned more.

"Yeah, I doubt that's going to end well. More than half of the times I've talked to you I've ended up wanting to set you on fire, so…"

"Funny, your sister surely thinks the same way" said Sokka, smiling and Zuko glared at him "Okay, okay, I just wanted to say I was surprised by what you did for her on her birthday. Pleasantly so. Maybe I was too quick to judge you after all. You might not be as bad a person as I'd thought you were that night"

"S-she… she told you about the knife?" Zuko asked, frowning "Why would she do that?"

"Well, why wouldn't she?" said Sokka, blinking blankly and Zuko glared at him.

"Maybe because that knife was something important for both her and me" said Zuko "And you never had anything to do with it. So I don't know why she'd tell you about it"

"W-well, that…" said Sokka, lifting a finger as though he were about to deliver a big explanation for why Azula trusted him, but his mind was completely blank. He couldn't come up with any ways to excuse their closeness to Azula's brother.

"My sister isn't the kind of person who opens up to any random someone" said Zuko, frowning "It's weird she would with you, of all people"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Sokka exclaimed, as they crossed the Palace's gates.

"That you're not the type of person I would've expected Azula to share her secrets with" Zuko stated "But I guess I've misjudged you too. You were right about a few things you said that night: I barely know my sister, let alone do I know what sorts of people she'd want around her. If anything, it makes perfect sense that she'd grow close to the person who pisses me off the most"

"Woah, really?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "Huh. Considering how easy it is to piss you off, I should be flattered that I'm the one who…"

"It wasn't a compliment!"

"You sure it wasn't?" Sokka asked, chuckling a little. Zuko groaned with irritation "Still, I'm glad you did what you did for her"

Zuko's displeasure didn't decrease at that, despite he was somewhat relieved that Sokka approved of what he had done during Azula's birthday. Even if his relationship with his sister didn't seem to have undergone significant changes recently, for she had barely interacted with him at all after that, it was good to know that at least Sokka seemed to think he was on the right track. Azula's opinion was the one that mattered most, but Zuko felt somewhat hopeful after hearing these words from Sokka, despite himself. Maybe his gesture towards his sister wouldn't go to waste after all.

Regardless, it was hard to focus on the good things when he realized Sokka was still walking with him by the time they reached Mai's house. Zuko froze a few steps away from it, a frown on his face, as Sokka continued to ramble.

"In any case, don't feel so bad if she's still aloof and mean" said Sokka, smiling "She doesn't know how to react when people are nice to her for no reason. Which is a bit sad, but understandable considering her position and the way she's always treated most people… anyhow, you did a good thing, and I'm glad you did. Even if we're always fighting, I guess you're a better person than I…"

Sokka stopped walking when he noticed Zuko had stopped as well. He turned around to look at him, noticing he seemed uneasy all of sudden.

It was only then that Sokka paid attention to his surroundings and realized they were on a familiar street… and in front of a familiar house. His gaze flickered towards Zuko's flowers, and his eyes widened as he looked at him in horror.

"Oh… oh, no" he said, and Zuko blushed "Y-you were on your way to Mai's house?"

"W-what's the problem if I was?!" Zuko asked, glaring at him "Get lost, I said! It's none of your business what I'm doing here!"

"Like hell, it's not!" Sokka exclaimed "You know, I was just talking about how nicer a guy you are than I gave you credit for, and yet here you are, bringing flowers to a taken woman!"

"Taken woman?" Zuko repeated, his eyes widening "What the…? Hey, what's with that sudden possessive attitude? She said there was nothing going on between you two!"

"Between me and Mai? Of course not!" Sokka exclaimed, and Zuko's jaw dropped "She's married, for crying out loud! I barely know her! Why would I ever get involved with her?"

"The hell?" Zuko muttered, as Sokka stepped forward and clasped his shoulders.

"Snap out of it, Zuko! She's married, she has a son, she's happy! You can move on and find someone better, stop trying to go after a girl who's out of your reach! It's done, you can't…!"

"I'm not trying to go after someone who's out of my reach!" Zuko exclaimed, frowning "I'm not bringing anything to Mai! Now just go away, okay? You said what you wanted to say, there's no reason for you to stick around anymore!"

Just then, the house's front door swung open, and Zuko gazed at it instinctively before his blush intensified. His grip on the flowers tightened as his golden eyes met a violet gaze.

"Zuko?" said Suki, looking at him in confusion "I heard raised voices, and I thought it was you, but… wait, Sokka?"

Sokka frowned and dropped his hands, looking at Suki in surprise. He glanced back at the Prince for a moment, finding Zuko was very nervous all of sudden.

"Uh… you two know each other?" Sokka asked, looking at Suki again.

"Yeah, we met long ago in the Arena. He's been coming to visit for a while now" said Suki, smiling as she made her way towards them, passing through the gravel pathway that stood between the front door and the gateway that led into the house "What are you two doing together, though? That's quite a rare sight"

"Tell me about it" said Zuko, sighing in irritation "I kept telling him to get lost but he wouldn't listen to me. I think he's just lonely"

"Really?" Suki asked, smiling, and Zuko took a deep breath before extending the flowers towards her. Suki's eyes widened and she grinned at him, a subtle blush on her features "W-what's this for?"

"Well, it is moving day, right?" said Zuko, biting his lower lip "You don't have that much to take with you to Ty Lee's place, so I figured I'd bring something nice for you, well, if you think it's nice, that is…"

"Flowers are nice, clearly" said Suki, beaming and taking them into her hands "Thanks, Zuko. They're wonderful"

The Prince smiled happily at that, and Sokka was left raising an eyebrow as he glanced between them. He still didn't quite understand what was going on, but he could only think Azula might be amused to hear of what was brewing between her brother and the former gladiator.

"Moving to Ty Lee's?" Sokka asked, startling Zuko, who had nigh forgotten Sokka was still there "What's that about?"

"Well, it was Ty Lee who bought me" said Suki "Mai had been looking after me while my wounds healed, but now that I'm better I decided to stay with Ty Lee from now on"

"Uh… is that wise?" Sokka asked, with a crooked smile "I'm pretty sure she's more than comfortable with Haru…"

"Oh, well, it would seem so" said Suki, chuckling "But I've imposed upon Mai enough as it is. She has a son to take care of, too, so it's better if she doesn't have too much to deal with. And since Mai said the Princess didn't need anything from me, which I still can't quite understand, then going to Ty Lee's is the best thing I can do"

"Huh. Well, sounds reasonable enough" said Sokka, nodding, as the three of them walked inside the house.

"Have you packed everything already?" Zuko asked, pointedly ignoring Sokka again as he looked at Suki.

"Yeah. As you said yourself, it's not much, but it's all upstairs. Haru will bring Ty Lee's carriage soon and then we'll take everything to their place" Suki replied. They both moved towards the staircase and left Sokka behind on the vestibule, right after he closed the house's door.

"Weird as hell" he said as he watched them climb the staircase, but he was smiling all the same. He truly had judged Zuko wrongly.

He stood in place, knowing better than to follow them upstairs. But just as he started to think he was better off returning to the Palace, a child came crawling towards him, taking Sokka by surprise. Only an instant afterwards, his mother came rushing through the hallway, as Sokka leaned down to look at Yuudai.

"What're you doing here, little boy?" he asked, as Yuudai beamed at him.

"I should be the one asking that question" Mai said, at which Sokka lifted his head towards her.

"Uh, hey there" he said, with a smile "I was just talking with Zuko as he came here. And, uh, truth to be told I probably should go now…"

"Well, it would be helpful to have another pair of hands to help Suki move" said Mai, raising her eyebrows before smirking "You came just at the right time, gladiator"

Sokka was surprised by that, blinking blankly as he realized Mai meant to use him to haul Suki's possessions without even asking him if he was up for it. But before he could protest, Haru came through the door just as Zuko was bringing down several bags with Suki's goods in them. Haru greeted Sokka enthusiastically, for they hadn't seen each other in a long time, and soon enough all three men were busy loading the carriage with bags.

Sokka found it odd to end up entangled in this matter without having a say upon the matter. It wasn't unpleasant to spend time around all these people, especially since Zuko became far more likeable when he was around Suki, Sokka noticed. Nevertheless, there was a voice in his head nagging him constantly, reminding him he should be trying to think about how to fight the Millennium Dragon rather than helping Suki move out of Mai's house… a voice that sounded very much like Azula's.

* * *

"Then this is how it will be done" said Ozai, smirking, as the High Sage bowed down before him "You will take it upon yourself to teach my daughter the proper firebending routine for the ceremony, and in a matter of two months, she will inaugurate the Festivals with her performance"

"As you command, my Lord" said the man, a fist against his palm.

Azula was sitting at her Father's right, as usual, and she frowned as she looked down at the Sage. She could tell the old man wasn't pleased by Ozai's demands, for there were many other sages who could perform this ceremony properly. Ozai's request for Azula to do it came as a whim, and the sage couldn't bring himself to understand why he needed his daughter, of all people, to do it.

But the daughter knew all too well why her father was being so unreasonable upon this matter: she knew he needed to ascertain she was still his loyal subject. He wanted to make sure she would do everything he demanded while exceeding his expectations, just as she always had. He needed to know she was still his perfect, faithful daughter who would only stand up to him for the Fire Nation's sake. Ozai hadn't voiced any displeasure towards Azula after her birthday feast, but Azula could read her father without difficulties. She knew what he wanted. And she dreaded what would happen if he didn't obtain it.

"Very well, then" said Ozai, as the Head Sage left the Throne Room, that was only illuminated by the flames Ozai had ignited around himself and his daughter "Everything is set for you to perform the ceremony. It shall be the first time a Princess is granted such an honor, Azula. Make the most of this opportunity"

"Don't I ever?" Azula said, looking at him nonchalantly, and Ozai laughed under his breath.

"Oh, indeed you do. It is why I'm certain you can master the routine for the ceremony in a matter of two months" he said, smiling "Most sages require half a year to do so. Surely you can accomplish it faster"

"I would like to think I can, yes" Azula said, despite not feeling half as confident as she sounded.

"Was your latest journey pleasant?" Ozai inquired.

"Well, on most accounts it was" Azula said, frowning "Save for a certain matter I meant to discuss with you"

"Oh?"

"My ship was supposed to restock its supplies in the floating village of Jang Hui" Azula stated "But when we arrived to the island, there was nothing but pollution and animal corpses there. It would seem the factory in the island was responsible for such catastrophe"

"Well, it comes as no surprise" said Ozai, shaking his head "It was your grandfather who set that insecure and old-fashioned factory to be built near Jang Hui"

"Indeed" said Azula "Yet… I merely meant to say, Father, that we should be more careful when it comes to factories of this sort. That peasant attempted to assault you over what was happening with the refinery at Danqian, so you may feel inclined to ignore all about the pollution, but…"

"Ah, the peasant may have assaulted me and been demoted into slavery for it, but that doesn't mean I gave the matter no thought" Ozai stated, taking Azula by surprise "Danqian has been tended to, Azula. Policies on avoiding children's death by pollution have been laid down by now. So you needn't worry: we won't have another Jang Hui for as long as I'm Fire Lord"

"Well, that is a relief" Azula said, nodding "Did you know about Jang Hui's circumstances, though?"

"I had heard of it" said Ozai "But the matter had already been resolved by the time word reached me. The population of the town was evicted from the island and relocated in the Colonies"

"Well, there were no human corpses. I should have guessed as much" said Azula, relieved. It seemed this matter wouldn't escalate into a brand new conflict between her and her father.

"Let it not be said that the Fire Nation doesn't look after its own" said Ozai, smiling proudly and standing up. But just as he was on his feet he seemed to recall something, and he looked at Azula with a grin on his face "And speaking of our own, Azula, an old friend has finally sent word that he will be returning from the frontlines, at long last"

"An old friend?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion until she made the connection and frowned "You don't mean… Zhao?"

"He had been up north far too long" said Ozai, nodding "He has sent word that he will be back in a matter of months. Hopefully he will be on time to watch your ceremony. I'm certain he wouldn't want to miss it"

With that, Ozai turned on his heels and left Azula sitting on her spot. The last information he had given her had felt as though he had dumped a bucket of freezing water over her head.

So Zhao would return, now it was a certainty. And she most definitely didn't look forward to that. Her father had always been close friends with the Admiral, but her respect for the man had dwindled and disappeared long ago. His absence during the last years had made her life more enjoyable, despite it hadn't been that enjoyable all the same. What would Zhao think of all her recent accomplishments? And what would he say once he heard she was sponsoring a gladiator…?

She gritted her teeth and sighed heavily before standing up and taking off to the west wing of the Palace. Thinking about Zhao would only serve to bring her more stress than she was willing to put up with, but, luckily, she knew of one way to take care of that problem.

* * *

"And here's to our very successful moving day!" Ty Lee squealed as she raised her cup of tea. She had wanted to make their toast with a stronger beverage, but nobody else had agreed to that, so tea it was.

Bringing Suki's goods had only taken one trip, and helping her settle down in her new home hadn't been time-consuming either. After that was done, the whole group had gathered in the living room around a round, low table. The room was far more crowded than Sokka had ever seen it before: Ty Lee sat beside Haru, as she always did, with Suki at her other side. Zuko had taken his seat next to her, upon Suki's insistence, and Mai took her place beside the Prince, with Yuudai sitting on her lap. Sokka was next to Mai, closing the circle. Zuko's flowers were placed as the centerpiece of the table. Everyone was talking quite amicably, but Sokka wasn't part of any conversations at the moment, for he couldn't stop his mind from drifting towards Azula constantly. Surely this gathering would be a lot more fun for him if she were here as well.

"Say, why were you helping out today, Sokka?" Ty Lee asked, bringing Sokka out of his daze when she talked to him "Why weren't you off on your usual training with Azula?"

"She was busy" Sokka said, smiling a little "And so I was left with nothing to do… well, in all honesty, I had something to do but no idea how to do it, so yeah…"

"What do you mean by that?" Mai asked, frowning, and Sokka sighed.

"Well, we got a new challenge today" he said "And it wasn't just some common challenge, but one that will require for me to become way stronger if I'm to survive the fight altogether. But I have no idea how to do that. My best bet so far would be to use two swords, maybe, but I doubt that would be enough"

"What challenge was it?" Haru asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at Sokka in confusion.

"It was the Millennium Dragon challenging me to the Slate" Sokka said, curtly, and both Haru and Suki stared at him in disbelief.

"What?!" Suki exclaimed "Y-you got a challenge to the Slate?"

"By the Millennium Dragon, of all people?!" said Haru "You can't go through with that! You'll end up dead!"

"That's what I thought, but Azula said I should spend the next month training and if I'm not strong enough to fight him by then, she'll decline the challenge. If I am, though…" said Sokka, grimacing.

"Wait, wait, I don't understand anything" said Ty Lee, looking at the gladiators in confusion "Who's the Millennium Dragon and what's that Slate?"

"The Millennium Dragon is only the second best fighter of the League" said Haru, frowning.

"And the Slate is a fighting ring where only firebenders have survived" said Suki, biting her lower lip "Combustion Man… he killed many fighters in the Slate. I don't think the Millennium Dragon is as eager to murder as Combustion Man is, but the fact remains that it will be a dangerous fight to get involved into. You would be very lucky to fight there and survive, Sokka"

"Sounds bad" said Mai, caressing Yuudai's hair. The child had fallen asleep on her lap "But not bad enough for Azula to back down, I guess. It seems just like her to pull through with this, despite the unfavorable conditions"

"They're horrid conditions" said Sokka, rubbing his forehead with his fingers "The place is supposed to be made of metal. The whole place will be hotter than an oven, and that'll give him the advantage right away. I don't know how could I possibly hold my own against him in those conditions"

"Well…" said Ty Lee, tapping her chin with a finger "It's not like it's impossible for you to hold your own against a firebender, not really"

"No?" Sokka asked, frowning.

"Yeah. There are some kinds of clothing here in the Fire Nation that are coated with flame-retardant material" said Ty Lee, smiling "They would keep you from being set ablaze and they might also protect you from the awful heat"

"And in order to withstand heat, you should train in conditions of extreme heat" Haru proposed, and Ty Lee looked at him with interest "Maybe you could find a way to emulate the conditions of the Slate, maybe in a volcano or so, and train yourself into being able to fight in those conditions"

"Huh… interesting ideas" said Sokka, blinking a few times "But even if I do that, we're talking about the second best firebender of the League. I don't think flame-retardant clothing and training at high temperatures would suffice for me to survive against him. I should learn new fighting styles, maybe. Something that can be used against benders"

"Oh, oh! I could help you with that!" Ty Lee exclaimed, surprising Sokka.

"You could? How?" he asked, frowning.

"Well, you may not know it but I'm quite skilled in the arts of chi-blocking" said Ty Lee, and Haru choked on his tea next to her before blushing "I could teach you how to chi-block, and that way you could render your opponents helpless in the battlefield!"

"That's easier said than done" Mai stated, just as Sokka's hopes were starting to rise "A firebender can be chi-blocked all the same as a normal person can, but it's not going to be easy to do it in those conditions. Sokka would need to get really close to him in order to block his chi, and getting so close to his opponent might prove lethal in that ring"

"Chi-blocking is also done through hand-to-hand combat" said Haru, thoughtful "So Sokka would have to learn a lot more of that, too, if he's to become an efficient chi-blocker"

"In fact, I was thinking he should develop a method of chi-blocking at a distance" said Mai, her arms folded before her chest "Say, through projectiles"

"Projectiles?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "My only long-range weapon is my boomerang…"

"Well, that could work" said Ty Lee, shrugging "You can chi-block with almost anything, really. So long as you hit the right spot with the proper strength, you'll chi-block your opponent effectively"

Sokka frowned, rubbing the stub of beard on his chin while thinking hard. Azula did want him to develop new skills, and what they were suggesting was starting to sound promising. It made him think perhaps he truly could stand a chance against the Millennium Dragon.

"To be fair, what you're saying sounds good" said Sokka "But are you guys willing to help me? Aren't you all busy with other things?"

"Well, I'm not that busy" said Ty Lee, smiling happily "So at least Haru and I could help you. I have enough free time to teach you the basics of chi-blocking"

"I could help you with aiming, in my spare time" Mai said, shrugging "I don't know how much help you'll need with that, but perhaps I could help you figure out how to chi-block at a distance. Should keep me from utter boredom for a few days, if anything"

"And regarding hand-to-hand combat…" Suki said, surprising everyone "I could help with that. I mean, I should start training as well. I've been getting rusty, so why not?"

Zuko looked at her with concern, and Sokka didn't miss the expression on the Prince's face. He bit his lip yet smiled at Suki, nodding in her direction to acknowledge her offer.

"Well, if you guys really are willing to do this, I'm probably going to impose upon you all for a month or two" he said, with a smirk "But it's all up to Azula. I'll ask her if she approves of this or if she has better ideas, but I doubt we'll come up with anything better than this"

"You could fight Zuko and Azula simultaneously!" Ty Lee blurted, and both Sokka and Zuko stared at her in disbelief "I mean, two firebenders fighting against you would prove a lot stronger than just the Millennium Dragon, right?"

"Yeah, I don't think so" said Zuko, frowning "I didn't say I'd to help him with anything, I really don't want…"

"To be honest, I doubt that'll be necessary, Azula alone already should be way tougher than the Dragon" said Sokka, waving a hand carelessly "No need to involve Zuko if he doesn't want to get involved"

"Well, then the rest of us can work with you" said Haru, smiling at Sokka "I know training with an earthbender might not help much when your fight will be against a firebender, but I'm up for helping you develop your agility more. You'll need it in the Slate"

"Sounds like I will" said Sokka, grinning back "Thanks. Then, uh… I guess we could start tomorrow? The sooner we start, the better"

"Sure! Come here tomorrow with Azula!" Ty Lee exclaimed, happily, and Sokka nodded.

"I will" he said, feeling somewhat relieved by how quickly his predicament had been solved… or, at least, how quickly it seemed it had been solved. Chances were the Millennium Dragon would still be too strong for him to handle, but at least this would improve his odds to survive the battle.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Zuko whispered to Suki, looking at her worriedly "I mean… if you're not up for it, you don't have to bother. You don't owe him anything"

"I actually think I owe him, and your sister, a lot more than I realize" Suki replied, looking at him sideways. Zuko frowned and she smiled, reaching out to clasp his hand under the table.

Zuko's eyes widened and his cheeks reddened as Suki gave his fingers a squeeze.

"Everything will be alright, Zuko. Don't worry about me" she said, and Zuko smiled before nodding, deciding to trust her. But also deciding to come watch the training tomorrow, just to make sure Suki would be fine indeed.

Sokka and Zuko returned to the Palace together, but they went their own ways as soon as they passed the front gates. Sokka headed towards Xin Long's refuge while Zuko went to his room. The gladiator hoped to find Azula with her dragon, but Xin Long was by himself, napping quite unceremoniously on the ground. Sokka decided to continue looking for Azula in the Palace, hoping to find her in her room.

He opened the door and indeed found the Princess pacing within her private chambers. Yet his delight by having found her was replaced by amazement when he detailed her appearance. In one word, she looked radiant. Her hair seemed to be sparkling, and her skin looked smoother than he had seen it before. He blinked a few times, wondering if perhaps he was seeing things differently merely because she was wearing her red-and-gold sleeping robe, but something about her wasn't quite the same as usual.

"Sokka?" she said, raising her eyebrows as she regarded him when she heard the door swing open "Care to knock next time, will you?"

"S-sorry, I just didn't really think I'd find you in here" he said, smiling weakly before stepping forward and closing the door behind him "You settled things with your dad, then?"

"Indeed. It didn't take as long as I expected" Azula said "I had enough time to head down to the spa, I hadn't done that in a while"

"Huh, I see" said Sokka, smiling "Well, I hope it was relaxing, if anything. I've never been there myself, truth to be told…"

"And you won't be going there anytime soon, sorry to say" Azula told him, with a smirk "My father has been permissive regarding you in many ways, but I doubt he'll consent to have a gladiator enjoying himself in the royal spa"

"Oh, bummer. Well, I'll try to live with that" he said, and Azula smiled.

"Good to know you'll make that effort" she said "Any progress regarding our predicament, then?"

"Actually… yeah" said Sokka, taking her by surprise.

"Oh, really?"

"Really" he said, before retelling what had happened in Ty Lee's house. Azula had been quite surprised to hear Sokka had followed Zuko to Mai's house, and afterward's to Ty Lee's, but she wasn't displeased upon discovering her friends were willing to help her gladiator.

"Then chi-blocking?" she said, thoughtful, once Sokka had conveyed everything to her "It should come in handy, it's true, but it may be too wishful. If you're going to be fighting in a metallic cage, it's not bound to be easy for you to chi-block him without being set on fire first"

"She said I could wear some special, flame-retardant clothes, I think" said Sokka "The armor in itself won't catch fire, and having flame-retardant clothes should help me avoid being set on fire even if one of his attacks reached me"

"Interesting" said Azula, nodding "Flame-retardant clothing would be a good idea"

"Still, uh… you may not feel that comfortable with this" said Sokka, smiling weakly "I mean, learning new fighting styles should help me, but, well… one of the people offering to teach me something was Suki. So if you don't want that to happen, I can just…"

"Never mind that, she was a good fighter" Azula acknowledged "If she can teach you something on those regards, she's free to do so. As long as she doesn't get too mushy around you, I won't complain"

"Really?" Sokka said, surprised.

"I'd like to believe I can trust you not to get entangled with other girls while I'm not around" Azula said, matter-of-factly "It wouldn't be too convenient for you to do so in these circumstances. If I suspected there's anything going on with you and that girl, I could simply ask Mai or Ty Lee and they'd tell me all about it"

"Huh, so that's how you'll trust me?" Sokka asked, skeptically, raising an eyebrow, and Azula smirked.

"Well, if you thought there was any reason why I might refuse to let you train with her, perhaps it is" she said, and he sighed before shaking his head.

"Can't say I blame you, but you don't have to worry. It even looks like Suki is… wait. What do you mean with that about not being around?"

Azula's mood darkened upon that, and she grimaced as Sokka looked at her inquisitively.

"You see… I have a few things to take care of myself" she said, before explaining her situation to Sokka, who stared at her in confusion as she told him what her father had decided regarding the ceremony he wanted Azula to perform.

"W-wait, so… this ceremony is supposed to start up some festivals?" Sokka asked, confused.

"Indeed, the Fire Nation's holidays" Azula nodded "There are many events spread through the week, and the first one is the ceremony my father wants me to perform. The streets are lined with vendors during the whole week, there are parades, theater plays, competitions, a ball… all sorts of celebratory matters. You missed it last year because you were still staying at Piandao's. Not to say the holidays aren't celebrated throughout the whole nation, but the main spotlight of the festivals is in the Capital"

"Huh" said Sokka, frowning "And you said you're the first Princess to ever perform this ceremony?"

"According to what the records say, I would be" Azula said, sighing "I'm not too pleased by this, though. Only a rookie would think ceremonial firebending is the same as combat firebending. I'm a master of the latter, not the former"

"But you can do it, right?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "I mean, you're the best firebender in the world, aren't you?"

"Maybe" Azula said, shrugging "But while I might not have as hard time as many to learn ceremonial firebending, it doesn't mean I was the best candidate for this"

"You can't be serious" said Sokka, smiling a little "It's odd to hear you to doubting your abilities, Azula. You know you're better than you're claiming to be right now"

"I know my own capacities well enough" she snapped, glaring at him "But it's not as simple as you think, Sokka. Learning a set of stances isn't all there is to ceremonial bending"

"Okay, okay" he said, grimacing "But then you have to get ready for that? You won't be able to train with me?"

"It's unlikely" said Azula, shrugging "On top of it all, according to the date written on the challenge, our fight in the Slate is supposed to take place two days after the ceremony, too"

"What?!" Sokka exclaimed, looking at her in dismay "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am. Both things have been brought upon us with the worst possible timing, really" said Azula, sighing "I wish it weren't so, but Shoji already said we can't change the date for the Slate. We're stuck with these two dates"

"So it's not like we have a choice" said Sokka, frowning "Either you give up on the ceremony or I give up on the Slate…"

"Give up?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "Sokka… that's not an option. I have to practice for the ceremony, it's that simple. My father wouldn't let me get out of this"

"And how am I going to train for the Slate without you?" Sokka said, frowning "If you have to practice ceremonial bending, which is vastly different from combat bending, then I'll have no firebenders to train with"

"Well, if worst comes to worst I could have one of my guards help you" said Azula, shrugging "Taro might want to, he seems fond of you"

"Uh, yeah, that might work. J-just don't send Rui Shi" said Sokka, grimacing, and Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"Well… he sort of talked with me when you left" Sokka said, looking at her warily "And he wasn't happy"

"Why, exactly?" Azula said, frowning now. Something about the Captain had felt wrong to her, but she hadn't figured out what it was.

"Because it seems he saw us in Shu Jing… on the roof" said Sokka, and Azula closed her eyes before taking a deep breath and rubbing her forehead with her fingers "I tried to calm him down, but things escalated and, well… I don't know what he'll do. I mean, if he was going to report to your father about us, he would've done it already, right?"

"Maybe. But maybe he didn't because he knows there's nothing of serious consequence to report yet" Azula muttered, shaking her head "Blast it all. So now… swell. Well, this just makes everything even better"

"I'm sorry" said Sokka, sighing "We shouldn't be so careless anymore. We've taken many risks as it is"

"More than we should have" said Azula "I have to talk to him. If this matter gets out of hands… well, there's no telling what would happen, truth to be told. It could be catastrophic, for everyone involved"

"It's exactly what we'd wanted to avoid" said Sokka, looking at her guiltily "But… it was just hard to help it"

"Nice as it is to know you couldn't exert the willpower to resist me, this is a serious problem" said Azula, closing her eyes and folding her arms across her chest "And one we'll have to tend to before it escalates any further"

"Sounds about right" said Sokka, nodding.

"I'll see to that one of these days" Azula muttered "In the mean time… well, if this is the situation we're facing, with both our respective trainings to tend to and with the Captain lurking, I think…"

"You think we should…?" Sokka started, looking at her warily.

"We should pull through, both with the Slate and the ceremony" said Azula, sighing "We won't spend as much time around the other if we do, which might help shake the Captain off for a while. I can't back away from the ceremony, there's no point to even wondering if I can. And you should learn new techniques, not just for this fight but for all your future fights. So…"

"B-but…" said Sokka, looking at her with despair.

Azula sighed and shrugged, dropping her hands at either side of her body.

"You can't expect anything better than this" she said "It's only a matter of two months anyways. And it's not as though we won't see one another at all, I'll still drop by whenever I have free time to make sure your training is progressing smoothly. You have a month to improve to the point where you'll be able to survive a fight against the Millennium Dragon, so I'll have to check on you once in a while"

"Still, it feels unfair" said Sokka, his eyes dropping "I suppose I'm being a selfish, needy idiot, but I can't really help it…"

"It's amusing, if you think about it" she said, smirking "Little over a year ago you would have been relieved to get rid of me for that long, and now you're upset about it"

"Well, I'm not the same guy I was back then, and you're not the same girl you were back then, so is it really that surprising?" Sokka asked, smiling a little "It's just… I'm going to miss you"

Azula looked at him sadly and shook her head, at which Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Could you not be so dramatic? It's for both our sakes" she said, looking at him in exasperation "You need to get stronger or you'll get killed in the Slate, I need to perform that ceremony or my father will banish me next, and we need to keep Rui Shi off our trail or risk having him report to my father. It's all a matter of logic, really"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'm not saying we can't do it" said Sokka, sighing "It's just not going to be fun at all. Why can't things ever go our way?"

"Because we're supposed to make them go our way. You can't expect the stars to align, for every sign to be in place for you to finally make up your mind about something" Azula said, matter-of-factly "When you want something, Sokka, you fight for it. I thought you'd know as much by now. If you sit around waiting for destiny to bring you what you want, the likelihood is that you won't ever get it. Life has a way of being harsh like that"

"Yeah, I know that" said Sokka, with a weak smile "And we've gotten through worse circumstances after all. Spending a little time apart won't be the end of the world. But I really am going to miss you"

"Quit saying that" she sighed, shaking her head, and he chuckled "You make it sound like it's forever"

"A little while without you feels like an eternity" he said, stepping towards her "All I could think about for most the day was seeing you again. Which is entirely your fault"

"My fault?" she asked, raising her eyebrows but smiling a little as he nodded.

"Yup, all on you" he said "You said it yourself, I used to get by perfectly fine without you a few years ago. I can't do that anymore… rather, I don't want to"

"Well, neither do I, to be honest" Azula said, as he lifted a hand and caressed her bangs "But I can't think of a better alternative than this one"

"Me neither" said Sokka, sighing "I mean, we could give up on the Slate indeed, but then I'd just be a nuisance for you. You need to focus on your ceremonial bending, and I can't help you with that"

"And you need to become stronger" said Azula "Our ultimate goal is for you to reach the top of the League. If you prove to be capable of standing up to the second-best gladiator, you might be capable of fighting Combustion Man and surviving, too"

"And surviving is the first step, huh?" said Sokka, smiling a little.

"Well, it's not realistic to assume you'll be able to defeat the man on your first encounter with him" said Azula "But if you become much stronger, perhaps you'll give him a run for his money when the time comes. Nevertheless, for now, your goal is to survive against the Millennium Dragon. That's all you need to focus on"

"Yeah. And you on your ceremony" he said, smiling a little.

Azula nodded, her arms folded over her chest as she lowered her face into his hand. Sokka's palm cupped her cheek and lifted her head towards him.

"It's not a big deal, you said as much" he told her, pressing his head against her forehead "You're going to master that ceremonial bending in a matter of days, and then you'll be kicking my butt as you always do"

"Yeah. Hopefully" she said, smiling "But in the mean time…"

She reached upwards, brushing her lips against his in a subtle gesture that Sokka intensified right away. His arms surrounded her, pulling her closer as hers slid around his neck, her coy kiss deepening as he as well enjoyed this moment for as long as it lasted. There was no telling when they would have a chance to kiss like this again.

New challenges had risen for the Princess and the gladiator, challenges that meant to test their relationship in new ways. But both of them were ready to overcome them, no matter what it might take.


	84. Chapter 84

"Okay, so they might not be as good as the ones you had before" Ty Lee said "But I think they'll work for you. I hope so, at least"

With that, Ty Lee slid a long, slender box towards Suki over the dining table. Haru stopped cleaning the dishes they had used during breakfast to glance over his shoulder and watch Suki's reaction as she opened the box.

The girl's eyes widened when she saw the two gold fans, neatly placed within the white box. A smile spread across her face as she took them into her hands, and she shivered as she unfolded one of them, elated to feel the familiar weight of fans in her hands again.

"They're… they're wonderful, Ty Lee" she said, smiling as she detailed the fans. Her former weapons had been of a single color, but these had red clouds drawn over the yellow background, with the word 'virtue' inscribed in the center with black ink. They were made of dark and strong wood "If anything, they're so beautiful I don't think I should use them in battle"

"Really?" said Ty Lee, smiling as Suki laughed.

"Thank you" she said, at which Ty Lee blushed a little and giggled.

"No need to thank me, you'll need them if you're going to train with us, won't you?" she said, and Suki nodded.

"I'll also need them if you'll sponsor me again one day… right?"

"Right" said Ty Lee "But that can't happen for a few more months, so don't fret about it, okay?"

"I won't" said Suki, nodding as someone knocked on the door.

Ty Lee stood up to get the door while Haru returned to his chores. Suki continued to admire her new weapons, fascinated by them until she was distracted by the sound of Ty Lee's voice. She seemed distraught by something. Suki raised an eyebrow and stood up, walking towards the kitchen's doorway, from where she could see the house's entrance.

"Then Azula can't make it?" Ty Lee was asking Sokka, whom she had only just allowed to enter the house. The gladiator didn't look too happy about what he was conveying to Ty Lee.

"Nope, her hands are full with the ceremony" he said, disheartened "I'll have to find another firebender to train with. She said she'd ask one of her guards to do it, but…"

"So the Princess won't be here today?" Suki said suddenly, startling Sokka.

"Oh… hey. Didn't notice you were there" he said, smiling and waving at her "And, uh, no, she won't be. She's got other stuff to deal with. You know, royal duties and whatnot"

"Huh, too bad" said Suki. She had been looking forward to meeting Azula in person.

"In any case, even if you can't train with a firebender today, at least I can start teaching you chi-blocking now, if you're ready" said Ty Lee, smiling "How does that sound?"

"Dangerous and crazy, but I'm ready to get started" said Sokka, smiling and nodding.

"Great!" Ty Lee exclaimed, beaming.

Once Haru was finished with the dishes, the four of them walked out to the house's back door. Suki took her seat in the veranda that led to the garden, watching the other three as they walked into the garden. Sokka stood in place, at a distance from where Ty Lee was appeasing Haru, letting him know she wouldn't be too ruthless today.

"Well, then!" Ty Lee said, turning towards Sokka "Your first chi-blocking lesson will be theoretical, mostly, because it takes a while to get the basics right"

"Alright, then" said Sokka, nodding. Piandao as well had always taught him the theory first.

"Chi flows through everyone's bodies" said Ty Lee "It's our vital energy, it allows our bodies to work the way they do. Everyone has chi within them, every little thing in the world! So, when someone's chi gets obstructed, their bodies stop working properly. See?"

With that, she struck Haru's shoulder with a steadier fist than Sokka realized she could conjure. The earthbender gasped in pain as his arm fell limp on his side. Sokka stared in amazement as Haru gritted his teeth, incapable of moving his arm altogether.

"With that, Haru can't bend because I've disrupted his arm's chi path!" Ty Lee said, proudly, before tapping the man's shoulder playfully "Come on, show him you can't move your arm, Haru"

Haru grimaced and did as she told him, and he couldn't lift his arm at all. Sokka looked at him worriedly, but Haru waved his functional hand carelessly towards him.

"Don't worry. It's not the first time she does this to me" he said, and Ty Lee giggled with malice.

"Oh, it sure isn't. But anyways, that's not the point" she said, turning towards Sokka again "Alright, Sokka, now you see why chi-blocking is a very efficient fighting style. You can render any bender or non-bender helpless by hitting their pressure points and stopping the flow of their chi. Now, you can't be too brusque or you might cause more damage than intended… I mean, you could kill people if you hit someone too hard in attempts to chi-block them"

"Huh" said Sokka, his eyes wide "H-have you killed someone like that?"

"Oh, no, but the man I learned chi-blocking from sure had" said Ty Lee, biting her lower lip before shrugging carelessly. Sokka didn't feel any ease upon hearing this "Anyways, don't worry. I'm not going to kill Haru and neither will you"

"I hope" he said, and Haru grimaced.

"Well, enough with the bleak thoughts, Sokka!" she said, smiling "You're going to need to study up on the human body and chi paths so you know which ones to block. Some of them are less risky to block than others, but that results in blocks that only last for a few minutes, at most. If you want to be efficient about the block, you have to know where to hit your opponent so as to deliver the most damage with less efforts. For instance, I could block Haru's other arm…"

With that, she moved towards Haru's right and hit his shoulder again. The earthbender cried out and looked at Ty Lee accusingly, but she ignored him.

"But he still would have his legs, right? He could still run away from me if he wants to. But there are certain points where you can block someone's chi and render all their limbs useless with just a few movements. See?"

Now she moved towards his back, striking the nape of his neck and the lowest part of his spine with two quick jabs. Haru yelled louder this time and collapsed on the ground, falling face-first in the grass. Sokka gulped as Ty Lee beamed.

"Therefore, as you can see, the ideal thing for you will be to block the Millennium Dragon's chi paths like this! Then he'll be rendered helpless before you"

"Sounds a lot easier said than done, but sure thing…" said Sokka, gulping "What if he's wearing armor, though?"

"Well, that makes it a little more difficult, but I doubt he'd wear one" said Ty Lee, crossing her arms and tapping one of her forearms with a finger as she thought hard "Most firebenders don't wear armors in the ring, or do they?"

"Huh. Not really" Haru replied from the ground, as Sokka leaned down to help him to his feet.

"Oh, woops. Are you okay, dear?" Ty Lee asked the earthbender, who couldn't stand up as he was.

"Heh. I… give me a minute" he said, as Sokka led him towards where Suki was sitting.

"Here. Stay put" he told him, before turning to Ty Lee again as Haru mumbled that he had no choice upon the matter "Well, then, I'll need to know the chi paths in someone's body, and I'll need to know how to strike them, is it?"

"Indeed, and well, chi-blocking doesn't require too much strength" said Ty Lee "If you go too far, you might actually…"

"Kill the person, you said it earlier" said Sokka, with an uncomfortable smile.

"And that's not the plan, so you have to be careful" she said "Stop the chi's flow altogether and you might cause serious damage. The idea is to stop the flow momentarily, making it halt for a brief instant before it resumes, but much slower than before, seeing how its regular flow was interrupted for a moment"

"Got it" said Sokka, smiling a little "So… it's just a matter of striking with the proper force"

"Oh, also, strike a single point in one path, too" said Ty Lee, nodding "Don't try to hit the intersections of the paths either, that might change the flow of chi completely and that's not good. So just picture it as puncturing one of the paths, alright? And by puncturing I mean strike it in the proper, single spot! Got it?"

"Well, I think I did" said Sokka, blinking blankly.

"Huh, well, that'd be odd" said Ty Lee, surprised "Most people need to experience chi-blocking firsthand to actually grasp the concept"

"Uh, yeah, well, I don't think I…"

"Now, now, don't be shy, come here and let me show you for good!" she said, moving towards him. Sokka was quick to turn on his heels and run in the opposite direction.

"I already saw you do it to Haru, you don't have to do it to me too!" Sokka exclaimed, as she gained on him. The girl was faster than he expected her to be.

Convincing Ty Lee not to attack him was a lost cause, though, and he knew it when he felt a stab to his lower back. Sokka yelled as he dropped on the ground: his legs had been rendered unresponsive. The bolt of pain on his spine had been harsh and sudden, and it throbbed now that the initial pain had subsided. He gritted his teeth and glared accusingly at Ty Lee, who simply smiled at him. Clearly, she didn't regret attacking him as she had.

"See? That's what chi-blocking does to a person!" she said.

"No kidding!" he exclaimed, trying to push himself up with his arms, but failing to do so when his spine hurt too much for him to move by himself.

"It's going to be a very handy ability for you in the battlefield, you'll see!" she said, taking one of his arms and throwing it over her shoulders. She dragged him to the veranda, where Haru was currently lounging, with Suki next to him.

"What a great first day of training, really" said Sokka, an eyebrow twitching "I already can't walk and we haven't been at this for over half an hour. Wasn't this supposed to be a theoretical class?"

"It was, but I guess it wasn't in the end, huh?" said Ty Lee, shrugging and smiling at Sokka "Now, don't be so sour, it's all for your own good! The best way to understand a weapon is to know what it feels like to be at the receiving end of it"

"Heh, you might be right about that, but you still shouldn't have done that" said Sokka, grimacing as she placed him on the veranda's steps. Sokka cringed, the pain in his spine still too strong "Damn it! How long does it take for it to wear out?"

"Not that long, look at Haru! He's already feeling his arms again, see?" she said, smiling, and Sokka glanced at his friend to find he was flexing his fingers with difficulty as Suki tried to assist him, albeit not knowing how to do it.

It took little over an hour for Sokka's body to work properly again, and only when he was finally managing to walk again did the last two arrivals show up at the house. Sokka was cringing as he walked back and forth in the veranda, a hand on his back, when Ty Lee exclaimed:

"Mai! You're finally here!"

Mai acknowledged Ty Lee with a nod, but Ty Lee threw her arms around her friend regardless, so Mai patted her back nonchalantly. Zuko watched them with a raised eyebrow, having entered the house right after Mai, and he was quick to scan the place, looking for Suki, but his attention was taken over by Sokka when he found him hunching over himself as he was.

"Why are you walking like an old man?" he asked Sokka, who glared at him.

"L-let Ty Lee chi-block your back before asking me that question…" he muttered.

Zuko smirked a little and continued looking around, and he smiled when he found Suki with his gaze. She waved in his direction, but Zuko frowned as he noticed the absence of someone who hadn't been amongst them on the previous day either.

"How come isn't Azula here?" he asked, and Mai frowned too.

"She's not going to be here for training" said Sokka, forcing himself to stand up straight and supporting his weight with a hand on the house's wall "She's got a lot on her plate right now, so…"

"So she expects everyone else to train you, just like that?" Zuko asked, raising an eyebrow "Really?"

"Well, I told her about what we discussed yesterday" said Sokka "She said I ought to learn new fighting techniques, and I'm sure she'd love watching me get chi-blocked, but she's too busy at the moment to enjoy that"

"What do you mean?" Mai asked "Busy with what?"

"It's… well, I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about it, but I guess I am" said Sokka, shrugging "Some festivals are happening in a couple of months, right?"

"Oh, the holidays" said Ty Lee, clapping "I can't believe I'd nearly forgotten about them!"

"Well, apparently she's going to perform some ceremony there, and she has to get ready for it, so she doesn't have time to train with me" Sokka finished, stretching and finding he would be able to walk without crouching by now.

"The ceremony?" Mai repeated "I thought that was something only Fire Sages would do"

"It seems her dad wants her to do it this time" said Sokka "She wasn't too thrilled about it, but she's going to do it all the same"

"Well, it's Azula. How hard could it be for her?" said Zuko, folding his arms over his chest "If someone can perform that ceremony without breaking a sweat, it would be her"

"She said something about how firebending isn't always the same, though" said Sokka "It sounded like she'd need a lot of practice to get ceremonial bending right"

"It's to be expected" said Mai "She would refuse to give out a mediocre performance. If there's one thing Azula takes more seriously than anything, it's bending"

"True" said Ty Lee, nodding.

"But if this is how it's going to be" said Mai, looking at Sokka "How are you going to train against firebenders? While Ty Lee and I can teach you new fighting techniques, you need to train with a strong firebender. Else you might not make it through the Slate, no matter how many new skills you develop"

"Well, she said she'd send one of her guards" said Sokka, scratching his head "Not that I'm too fond of that, though, she's way stronger than them. Still… I guess we can figure that out later"

"Why, though?" said Suki, suddenly, surprising them "I mean… Zuko is here. Why not him?"

Zuko froze in place as all eyes fell upon him. Ty Lee, Mai and Haru looked at him expectantly, Suki hopefully, and Sokka reluctantly. The expression on Zuko's own face was a grimace.

"Uh… I don't think that's a good idea, Suki" he said, frowning and looking at her "I really don't want to…"

"Yeah, I mean, Zuko really can't be tough enough to compare with the Millennium Dragon" said Sokka, and Zuko flinched "I fought him once already, and he really didn't…"

"Hey!" Zuko exclaimed, glaring at him "That fight was no standard for you to measure my skills with! I was angry and using swords I'd never wielded in my life!"

"Oh, sure, and you were firebending too, but that didn't make a difference" said Sokka, smirking "I still got the better of you"

"No, you didn't! I was winning!"

"YOU were winning? What the hell? How on earth were you winning, Zuko?"

"If Azula hadn't gotten in the way…!"

"If Azula hadn't gotten in the way, you two would have wrecked my house" Mai intervened, at which the two men were silenced "If you want to show Sokka the true extent of your skills Zuko, by all means, start training with him as well. If not, though, spare us all from the stupid arguments. Come, Sokka. You're up with me next"

"Oh… okay" said Sokka, gulping as he followed Mai dutifully out into the garden again.

The others stayed in the veranda, watching them, Haru still regaining the feel in his limbs while Zuko frowned. Should he train with Sokka, if only for a chance to give him a proper beating…?

"I'll make this brief, I can't stay all day because Yuudai is at home with the servants and I won't impose on them so much" said Mai, turning towards Sokka "So just show me what you can do with a projectile, will you?"

"Sure" said Sokka, biting his lip before pulling his boomerang from its sheath "Want me to hit anything specific?"

Mai looked around them, finding a tree not too far from where they stood. She surprised Sokka when she pulled out a knife from her long sleeve, and she surprised him even more when she tossed it with a fast movement. The knife sank deeply into one of the tree's branches.

"Take it down with your boomerang, then" she said.

Sokka narrowed his eyes as he calculated the distance and the strength he'd need to put into throwing his boomerang to achieve her request. He lifted his right arm and tossed his weapon with great force, but instead of hitting the knife and knocking it down, it hit the branch, cutting through it cleanly. The knife fell to the ground, still latched to the broken branch.

"Well, there you go" he said, smiling as he caught his weapon again. Mai raised an eyebrow.

"Creative, I'll give you that, and your aim isn't entirely bad. But it's not so good either" she said, looking at Sokka with judgmental eyes. Sokka gulped "I told you to take down the knife, and you did it in a different way than expected. Surely that's a good thing in some levels, but it's not when you have a very particular objective in mind. If you're going to chi-block with that boomerang, you can't think about hitting another point in hopes it'll yield the same results. It won't. If you're going to disable someone, you need to hit the specific spot that will allow you to do so. There are no ways around it, no clever alternatives for it. You'll need to be efficient in the Slate, first and foremost"

"B-but I did knock down the knife…" Sokka muttered, gulping.

"You did, but this would be equal to cutting off your enemy's arm with your weapon when you trying to block his chi" said Mai, raising her eyebrows "I trust that's not what you're after, or is it?"

"Not entirely" Sokka admitted.

"It would be much harder to cut through a man's arm than a tree branch" Mai said, and Sokka nodded "Blocking his chi would be more efficient in the fighting ring than tossing your boomerang in hopes it'll lodge in your opponent's shoulder. It might not even cut through his skin at all, to begin with"

"Right" said Sokka "Still, my aim isn't that bad, is it?"

"I suppose not. You need a few improvements in that aspect, but we can work on it once Ty Lee has taught you how to chi-block for good"

"Good, then" said Sokka, relieved to hear her acknowledge his skill with his boomerang.

"Then it should be Suki's turn now, if she's up for it" said Mai, looking at the girl.

Suki swallowed before nodding and standing up, making her way towards Sokka. Mai returned to the veranda, where everyone watched Suki warily, especially Zuko. It would be the first time she trained with anyone in a very long time. Her injuries had healed, mostly, despite her ribs still pained her at times. Was she ready to spar with Sokka?

"It's been a while since we last faced off against each other, huh?" she asked him, with a smile. He nodded, with a grin of his own.

"Feels like a thousand years ago" he replied, relieved to be saying that and actually meaning it. Nothing was as it had been when he had first fought Suki.

"Well, you were very skilled with your sword and weapons, but I don't think I saw enough of your hand-to-hand combat skills" she said, sliding her new fans into her sash, for she didn't plan on using them just yet "So how about we start from there?"

"Alright, then" he said, smiling and lifting his fists.

Suki raised an eyebrow at him. She only took a defensive stance when Sokka looked puzzled by her lack of response. She stood still, though, so he assumed she was hoping he would take the lead. Sokka stepped forward and threw a fist in her direction, but not a very powerful one. He wasn't going to start off too strong…

She deflected his movement by pushing down his wrist with the palm of her hand in a single, fluid motion; Sokka started to wonder if perhaps he ought to add more strength to his attacks after that. Suki smiled at him, showing him he wouldn't get anywhere if he went easy on her. He frowned before throwing a stronger fist, but Suki didn't even move, knowing he was only bluffing with that. Sokka withdrew his fist only to punch her for good now, and Suki moved out of the way, pushing his wrist again with her palm and making him stumble forward clumsily.

Suki was under the impression she had heard Zuko laugh, but she paid it no mind as Sokka turned to look at her, irritated.

"Quick as a cat, huh?" he asked her, before moving forward and trying to kick her now.

To his chagrin, Suki ducked under his leg and stretched out one of hers so she could trip his left leg, the one where he was balancing his weight now. Sokka tried not to fall, but her kick had been too strong. He fell on his back, gritting his teeth and feeling like an idiot.

"You're not that bad…" said Suki, at which he glared at her "But you should try to use your opponent's strength against him. It's not that hard, once you get the hang of it"

"Sure thing…" Sokka grumbled, standing up and glaring at her "Alright, then, once more!"

Every new round ended in the same manner, though at times Sokka was face-first on the ground rather than on his back. But he landed no blows on Suki, no matter how hard he tried, and she always found a way to turn his strength against him. By the end of that session, Sokka was rubbing his back again as he dropped on the veranda once more, irritable and frowning.

"See, I said you were better than him" Zuko told Suki proudly, and she simply laughed before rolling her eyes.

"You have to relax and take a different approach against her" said Haru, and Sokka sighed.

"I guess" he muttered "But she's going to have to explain that matter of 'using my opponents' strength against them' better. I can't be expected to do it just because I'm told to"

"Well, if you had asked for an explanation, I would have given you one" she said, smiling, and Sokka glared at her again.

"Oh, joy. Why didn't you say that earlier?"

"How was I supposed to when you just kept coming at me with more strength each time?" said Suki, shrugging and laughing a little.

"Heh, yeah, well… bleh" he said, before turning to glare at Zuko "And mind you, maybe she's better in hand-to-hand combat, but I did beat her in the Arena with weapons. So quit being such a sore loser"

"Sore loser?" Zuko asked "How am I a sore loser when you've proved me right when it came to Suki?"

"I proved you right in one regard, not in…!"

"Ugh, would you two shut up?" Mai said, exasperated.

"Really, though, how about you use all that macho bravado to fight one another? Would be a little more helpful than…" said Ty Lee, sighing.

"You know what…?" said Zuko, raising an eyebrow "I think we'll do just that"

"Huh?! Hey, that's not fair! I just spent most my energies fighting her!" Sokka exclaimed, and Zuko laughed.

"So you're backing down on me now? What happened to the tough, weapons guy, huh? Come on, I didn't bring my swords so I can only fight with firebending. Let's see how strong you really are, gladiator"

"You… you know what? Fine!" Sokka exclaimed, standing up and whipping Space Sword out of its sheath "You want a fight, I'll give you a fight!"

Zuko smirked as he stepped down into the garden, followed by Sokka, who glared at the Prince with irritation. Zuko lifted his fists, Sokka his sword. And with that, the fight began.

Sokka moved away from the blast of fire Zuko sent his way with a punch. He lunged forward, hoping to cut Zuko before his fire could reach him. Yet Zuko delivered a kick now, one that forced Sokka to change his strategy by performing a barrel roll to the side and standing up quickly. Zuko cast more fire towards Sokka, and the gladiator gritted his teeth before swatting the fire away with Space Sword.

Zuko cringed when he saw Sokka defeat his fire so easily, but he didn't give up with that alone. He took one of his best stances and struck the air with his fists. Two long blasts of fire intertwined as they moved towards Sokka, but before they could reach him, the gladiator tossed his boomerang through the flames.

Zuko didn't see the attack coming until it was too close for him to do anything about it. He ducked, bending over backwards to evade the boomerang, but he fell back, dropping on his rear. And before he could rise to his feet again, he found the tip of a blade between his eyes.

"Well? What's the matter, jerkbender?" he mocked him, and Zuko snarled, his previous good mood having disappeared. Sokka was much stronger now than he had been when they had first fought.

"Okay, okay, that's quite enough for now" Suki said, stepping forward and compelling to Sokka lower his sword by placing a hand on his forearm.

"He used his boomerang!" Zuko exclaimed "That's not fair, is it?!"

"Oh, boohoo, so you think I was playing dirty?" Sokka said, amused "You really are something…"

"I only had one weapon and it was, my fire!" Zuko exclaimed, back on his feet "Next time, I'm going to use my swords too. And then we'll see who's laughing, gladiator!"

"Can't wait for it" said Sokka, with a pleased smile.

Ty Lee, Haru and Mai watched from the veranda, worried looks on their faces.

"This might not be such a good idea, you know?" Haru said, and Mai grimaced.

"It's not a good idea at all, actually. Zuko will try to kill Sokka long before that Millennium Dragon does"

"W-well, but at least Sokka will have a firebender to train with, huh?" said Ty Lee "Even if not Azula. And one who surely will do his very best to give Sokka a good challenge…"

"Always trying to look at everything from the most positive point of view…" said Mai, sighing with resignation. With this new vicious rivalry in tow, training Sokka was going to prove a lot harder than it had already promised to be.

* * *

"…Then, you must set the Beacon of Fenghuang ablaze using both your hands. You're free to use whichever stance suits you best for this" said the High Sage, taking a deep breath to demonstrate a firebending move.

The Beacon wasn't in the Temple's ceremonial hall today, seeing how they were only practicing. Azula watched the Sage with a raised eyebrow as the man spread his legs apart, lowered his torso and, after charging his limbs with firepower, unleashed twin blasts of flames into the air.

"And, lastly, you'll perform the Salute to the Phoenix" he said next.

The Sage now moved his right hand above his head, the other one at the level of his shoulder. He took two steps forward, and on the second one he moved his right hand downwards diagonally, a flare of fire bursting from it, and then he leapt, a leg stretched out to create an arch of fire. He landed again amid a circle of fire produced by his hand and feet.

"Do you grasp the concept, then?" the Sage asked, and Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Do you believe me inept, High Sage?" she replied "Of course I do. Do you need me to prove it right away?"

"W-well, I wasn't trying to say you're not capable, I meant that I could perform the routine again if you hadn't…"

Azula rolled her eyes when the sage started rambling, and she stepped away from him before starting to imitate his movements from earlier. She started by holding her hands in front of her, posed as though to make a royal salute. From the fist came blue flames that she bent with her right hand afterwards, taking the embers in her hand and striking them forward with a powerful, steady blast. She withdrew her form, her right leg creating an arc of fire behind her, and she moved backwards, her every careful step creating a new arc of blazes.

She moved her hands in circles next to her, creating two rings of flames rapidly, through which she shot two fireballs with strong fists. Next she flexed her right knee, then stretched her left leg and twirled, making yet another circle, now on the floor. After two spins, she leapt upwards, boosted by her flames. She performed a kick to the ground, and with that, her flames became larger still. Now wherever she stepped, she brought fire along with her. She continued to bend as powerfully, as fluently as she could, moving from one stance to the next both quickly and precisely. No movement was wasted, no flame was uncontrolled. Everything was exactly as it had to be.

Once she had performed all the stances the High Sage had showed her – the entire routine took her almost seven minutes – Azula made the final movement, bringing forth more flames than the Sage had when she landed on the floor. She lifted her gaze to find the old man staring at her with his jaw dropped, never having seen someone memorize the long ceremonial routine right away, let alone perform it so flawlessly on his first attempt.

"How was that, Head Sage?" she asked, with a smirk "Did I forget any stances?"

"N-no, actually… you remembered them all. And you performed them quite well, I must add" he said, his eyes wide "You're a very fast learner, Princess"

"I take pride in that, yes" Azula replied, pleased with herself.

"Nevertheless, though, there's…" said the Sage, and she frowned "I'm not sure what it is, but something doesn't feel quite right, if I may…"

"Oh, really?" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest and staring at the man with skepticism "Something doesn't feel right about my ceremonial bending, yet you, a master of the art, can't tell what it is?"

"Well, perhaps it's merely that I'm not used to your bending" he said "Surely if you performed it with orange fire, like most people do, it wouldn't feel different from the usual ceremonial firebending"

"Orange fire?" said Azula, glaring at the man "Mind you, but blue fire is my personal brand of fire. If you want a ceremony with regular, orange firebending, feel free to ask any other firebender in the region to do it. But if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it with the bending I've mastered and perfected. Understood?"

"U-understood, Princess" said the Sage, apprehensively "Yet… if you could, perhaps, try it with orange firebending. Then we would be certain that is, indeed, what feels wrong to me"

Azula frowned. She hadn't bent orange fire in longer than she cared to remember. She had only ever bent blue fire ever since she developed the skill. She had never found a reason to return to the typical, orange bending when she thought her personal fire was better for all means and purposes.

All the same, she complied with the Sage, if only to humor him… but as soon as she started the sequence again, the fire was blue. She frowned and used her left hand to manipulate the flame, trying to weaken it, and only when the flame was very faint did it become orange.

She attempted to start over, but yet again, she was having a hard time producing orange flames. She cringed and tried again, focusing on decreasing the fire's heat. The flame flared blue when she first conjured it, but soon it turned orange when she willed it. She started with the ritual again, certain she could make it this time, yet when the time came for her to use her feet to create fire arcs behind her, the flames were blue once more.

"Curse it…" she whispered, and the Sage frowned.

"Uh, this is a sacred temple, Princess. Please keep obscenities to…"

"Oh, shut up" she said, rolling her eyes as the Sage's eyebrow twitched "This isn't making a difference, or is it?"

"Well, if anything, your fire seems shaky and unstable now, when it wasn't before… and no, it really isn't an improvement at all" said the Sage, shaking his head, and Azula glared at him.

"Then what would you have me do? If my execution was perfect with the blue flames, and your sole complaint is that there's a subtle, unknown thing that doesn't feel right, then perhaps I should continue doing it as I did at first"

"But it's still… not quite right, Princess" said the Sage, sighing "I don't really know what it is, I'm sorry if I'm being bold, but…"

"If you don't know, then who would know?" Azula asked, staring at the man inquisitively "How am I supposed to fix whatever I'm doing wrong if you don't understand what it is?"

"Well… maybe you ought to read on the Fire Sage's doctrine" the Sage suggested "Perhaps you'll find something there that will illuminate you on what you're not doing right"

"This is ridiculous" said Azula, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Princess" he said "But there is more to ceremonial bending than executing each move with utmost accuracy"

"Oh, really? What more is there to it, then?" she asked.

"I guess… it's the feel of it, Princess" he said, shaking his head "You, as I said, are executing the stances perfectly. But you aren't performing them as a Sage would. You're performing them  _too_ perfectly, you see?"

"Why, as a matter of fact, I don't" said Azula, looking at him in disbelief "How can something be too perfect to be adequate? If anything, perfection should make it work! You realize you're making no sense, don't you?"

"It may sound odd to you, Princess, but you might need to take a different approach to the matter. Perhaps take some time to ponder how your firebending works, and why it is so different to regular firebending. It might help"

"I doubt it" Azula said, cuttingly "My firebending is unique, and thus it should make the ceremony memorable this year. Yet you're asking me to forsake what makes it unique so I can suit your standards?"

"I'm asking you to consider what makes your firebending different, Princess, because it… it feels cold, you see. And fire should be warm…"

"Cold?" Azula repeated, skeptical to the point where she was nearly amused "Cold, you said?"

"Well, not literally cold, but…!"

"My firebending is colored blue precisely because it's hotter than most people's flames. Yet you think it's cold?"

"As I was saying, not literally!" said the man "But it lacks… essence"

"It lacks essence?" Azula repeated, with a sarcastic laugh "You can't be serious"

"Well, Princess…"

"You know what? I think I have learned everything I could from you" Azula interrupted him, rolling her eyes and starting towards the door that would lead her outside the Temple's ceremonial hall "I won't stand for more of your insults towards my fire"

"I'm not insulting your fire, Princess! Pardon me if I offended you, it wasn't my intention to do so. But I am only trying to help you be successful as a ceremonial bender!"

"Or, rather, trying to prevent me from being successful at all" Azula whispered to herself before stopping on her tracks and turning to face the man "Your attempts are well appreciated, but I have already memorized the routine and I doubt I'll need your assistance in any other way if you don't know how to make my fire adequate for the ceremony. I will meet you again once I've tended to the matter in my own time. Farewell for the time being, then, High Sage"

The man watched her go with unease, but Azula didn't turn back to look at the expression on his face. She made her way outside the hall, irritated. There had never been anything wrong with her bending. Nobody had ever dared imply she was inadequate for bending in any way. She couldn't see how it was a problem for her bending to be too perfect. And the Sage had said her fire was too cold… whatever did that mean. She didn't think it meant anything to begin with: the Sage was merely being picky and whiny, that was all there was to it. He was bitter to see her master the ceremony's routine in a matter of a single day when surely it had taken him years…

But Azula knew there was some sense to the Sage's complaints. She had said herself that ceremonial firebending wasn't the same as combat firebending, after all.

Azula had witnessed the Ceremony of the Sun many times now, along with other ritual performances by the Fire Sages. She had never thought their bending was better than her father's, or her own, but she had always noticed there was a quality about it that made it different from her flames. Yet she had expected the High Sage to either overlook that, or for him to explain, clearly, what that quality was so she could add it to her bending. But he had provided no guidance for Azula whatsoever when it came to this.

Or perhaps he had helped a little, by suggesting something that just might help Azula. She frowned and stopped on her tracks, right at the Temple's exit, and once she had made up her mind she turned back inside, towards the Fire Sages' Library.

The Library was dark, for the illumination of the room was supplied by lanterns that the sages would set alight only when they were in the room. Since Azula didn't really know what she was looking for, let alone where she would find it, she lit up all the lanterns. Tall bookshelves lined the walls, old books encased within them. Azula glanced around, making sure the Library would be empty indeed, and she approached the shelves, her eyes raking the spines of the books in order to find a volume that might help her with her predicament. Perhaps one that explained the difference between ceremonial and combat firebending clearly…

None of the books she saw at first helped, but eventually one of the books caught her eye, despite she doubted it might contain the information she required. She pulled out the book and opened it, eyeing it with more interest than she could justify. It was old and dusty, and while the dark, leather cover and binding of the book looked brand new, the pages were tinged yellow with age.

She sat on one of the reading tables and moved the table's lantern close to where she was so she could read the book with ease. The Book of Fire was a title she had often been spoken about, but she hadn't taken her time to read it until today. The ancient manuscripts her culture had spawned from had been left to accumulate dust over the years, no longer obligatory books a child had to read for school. Even the Fire Sages didn't seem too study these old tales as thoroughly as they used to. Yet Azula felt curious about it, for some reason. Perhaps returning to the original tales about firebending would help her find what her fire was lacking…

 _The skies were comprised by shadows until it arrived_ , the book read,  _coated in blazes of every color this world had yet to see. The Phoenix, Feng Huang, arose from the mirk, his fire waking nature and all its creatures from their slumber. His eyes glowed with power. He spread open his immense wings, so he could embrace the entire world, in order to provide warmth and light to it._

_When the Phoenix spread its wings, two feathers fell on the earth. From the feathers were born two creatures, very different from one another albeit their origins were the same: they were the man and the dragon. They were the children of Feng Huang._

_The light of Feng Huang gave life to the world, but the Phoenix's glow was short-lived. As it came, it also faded into nothingness. Its flames were all-powerful, and even Feng Huang couldn't withstand their might forever. Feng Huang collapsed into ashes, and, again, the world was covered in shadows._

_The two children of Feng Huang cowered in the darkness and shivered in the coldness. Nature fell into its slumber yet again. The brightness of the world promised to become only a memory for the man and the dragon. Yet they waited, the man sitting by his long-bodied brother, as they both waited for their Protector to return to them, even though they had seen him perish in his ashes._

_Their hopes were rewarded on the next day, when Feng Huang rose again, more powerful than before, in his coat of feathers and flames of colors on end. The dragon, blessed with the ability to fly, soared through the skies towards the Phoenix. He couldn't reach the flaming bird, though, for the intense heat would reduce him to ashes if he dared come too close. Yet the Phoenix compelled him to speak, even if at a distance:_

" _Why have you risen through the skies, Dragon, and left your brother to fend for himself down below?" the Phoenix asked._

" _I have come for I wanted to be near you, Protector of Life and Flames" the Dragon replied "Your absence filled me and my brother with fear. I ask you not to leave us again"_

" _I cannot grant your wish, Dragon" was Feng Huang's reply "In order to provide life to the world, I must lie in my ashes for as long as I give you and your brother my light. I must die every night to return with mightier force every day"_

" _But how will we get by in the cold darkness?" the Dragon asked, desperate._

" _You are my sons" said the Phoenix "Both you and the man were my feathers. Born in you is the power to light your own fires, Dragon. Use it wisely. For fire can bring forth greatness, but it might also bring devastation. Fire can bring life, yet it might also bring death. It is power I have entrusted to you, Dragon. Use it as you believe is best"_

_The Dragon was filled with pride and strength as Feng Huang spoke his words. With a roar, the flying creature discovered it could breathe fire. It danced and rejoiced, thanking the Phoenix for the gift of life and flames, and he soon returned to the ground to his brother._

_The Dragon taught the man what the Phoenix had shown him. The man lifted his hand, and blazes danced on his palm. Thus, the first firebenders awakened their powers._

Azula raised an eyebrow as she finished reading the first pages of the book. She had heard this tale retold in many ways, but she had never seen the original transcript until today. The man, she knew, was allegedly one of her ancestors, for he was the grandfather of the first Fire Sage, who was granted the title of Fire Lord due to being a direct descendant of the sun. Still, she rather doubted the veracity of the tale. Old stories of this kind couldn't be taken too seriously, no matter how engaging they might be.

Yet this didn't have the answers she needed. Azula skimmed over a few other pages before looking for another book, hoping it might be more direct in its approach to firebending. She scanned a few other volumes, but to her chagrin, she didn't find anything satisfactory in them. She couldn't find anything about ceremonial firebending as opposed to combat firebending.

She returned to the Book of Fire eventually, despite herself, for it was the only book that had engaged her attention. To her surprise, she found it showed, on its more advanced pages, the foundations of the Fire Nation Society, including the festivals Ceremony of the Sun. Perhaps the book could prove more helpful than she had assumed on first glance.

She headed back home, deciding to look for the Book of Fire within the Palace's own Library so she wouldn't have to borrow the one from the Temple. She made her way through the halls, hoping to take a bath to relax before having dinner, but before she could head into her room, she happened upon someone she had wanted to meet since the previous day.

"Ah, Captain" she said, her voice as collected and menacing as ever. The man had been speaking to other soldiers in the hallway, briefing them on their duties for the day. He was startled when he heard the Princess's voice "Just who I needed to see. It's been unusually difficult to find you these days"

"Princess…" he said, his conversation with the other soldiers forgotten as he saw the steel in Azula's eyes.

"I need a word with you, Captain. In private" she said, with a meaningful glare.

Rui Shi swallowed hard, knowing all too well why the Princess required his presence so urgently. He bade farewell to the guards he had been speaking with, and he followed Azula down the Palace's long hallways all the way to her room. The Captain closed the door behind him once they were both inside, and he braced himself to hear what the Princess would say. He had plenty to say to her as well.

"It has been brought to my attention, Captain" she said, as she paced before him "That you've acquired some information I rather wish you hadn't obtained"

"If I may, I wish I hadn't either" Rui Shi said, not caring if he was being insolent "But unless you have found means to wipe my memories…"

"That would be ideal" said Azula, turning towards him with her arms folded across her chest "But regrettably, I can't quite manipulate your memory that way. Therefore…"

"You're going to ask me not to speak of this?" Rui Shi muttered, lowering his gaze "You're going to… to tell me not to get in the way of your relationship with the slave?"

"I'm not going to do such thing, Captain" Azula said, and he frowned before looking at her in confusion "I know all too well what I'm putting at risk with this. I have spent over a year weighing those risks, believe it or not. And while I am being reckless, I won't deny it, I have already made my decision regarding this matter"

"You've… made your decision?" Rui Shi repeated, looking at Azula in disbelief "Then you don't care if this will ruin your life, if this will destroy everything you've ever worked for…!"

"It wouldn't only ruin mine, but his as well" she said "And yours"

Rui Shi froze and looked at her in confusion yet again. Azula's hands dropped to her hips.

"I'm fairly certain my father would hold you responsible for this if he ever hears it from any source but you, Captain" she said "He would expect you to keep me in line, just as he expected from Lo and Li long ago. He would also expect me not to get involved with Sokka, but alas, for once I've proven unable to be the perfect daughter he deserves"

"Indeed you have, Princess" said Rui Shi, shaking his head "And if it were over anything but this, he might forgive you, but…"

"But it is what it is, Captain" she finished "And as much as you may hope to appeal to my reasonable side, it's not going to work. I won't be swayed when it comes to this"

"You're never swayed when it comes to anything" Rui Shi retorted "So don't worry, Princess. I didn't expect to change your mind about this"

"Huh. Good to know" said Azula, pleasantly surprised. Yet Rui Shi sighed deeply.

"But still, Princess…"

"Captain" Azula said, sternly "As I said, I won't ask you to keep your silence. I won't ask you to stand by and tolerate what I'm doing. You're free to do as you wish with the information you've acquired, whether that is to keep it to yourself or to disclose it to my father"

Rui Shi's eyes widened as he stared at Azula in shock. She couldn't mean that, could she?

"Nonetheless" she said, looking at him coldly "Know that you are either with me or against me, Captain. You're free to choose whether to keep to your vows as a guard or to do your job, I won't judge you for either thing…"

"But my job is…"

"Your job, Captain, is to protect the member of the Royal Family you were assigned to" she said "Ponder what that means if you must. As I said, feel free to rat me out to my father or to go to the grave with this secret. In all honesty, it won't make a difference"

"Why wouldn't it…?" said Rui Shi, frowning "I mean… would you lie if I told the Fire Lord about this? Would you…?"

"I will do what I must to protect what I care for, Captain" she said, crossing her arms over her chest "If my relationship with Sokka were endangered, I would figure out the best way to cut my losses where I must. All the same, there would be nothing but your word against mine. I remain a virgin to this day, therefore I haven't quite dishonored myself as you might have thought I had. If anyone were to check, they would find I am still as pure as my father wants me to be"

Rui Shi swallowed hard and Azula raised an eyebrow towards him, wondering if he would say anything to that. He didn't.

"In any case, think carefully of what you'll do, Rui Shi" she said, startling him when she used his name "I could rid myself of your accusations easily, but they would cost you our… friendship, if you will? So tread carefully, and weigh your priorities. You don't want to do something you'll regret"

"You say as much… but you're the one doing something you'll regret" he said, frowning "This can't end well, Princess"

"Good thing I don't mean for it to end, then" Azula said, giving him a mocking smile "You're dismissed, Captain"

Rui Shi stood in place for an instant before nodding and leaving the room without another word. But once he closed the door behind him he removed his hood and rubbed his temples with his fingertips, his mind in disarray. He was being forced to play a very dangerous game, one he hadn't wanted to play to begin with. And, no matter what he did, it seemed the only possible outcome for him would be to lose.

* * *

Over the span of a week, Sokka's training progressed more smoothly than anyone expected it to. After proper lessons on the locations of the chi paths in the human body, Sokka had started testing his hand at chi-blocking against the one person who was always at the receiving end of the technique. Sokka had jabbed Haru many times with too little strength, or in the wrong spot, until he finally managed to block his right arm for the first time. Naturally, everyone but Haru rejoiced over his accomplishment. Ty Lee had taken Sokka out shopping once, and while he hadn't been too sure that was a good idea, he found it was when she took him to the stores that sold clothing with fire-retardant properties.

Mai was implacable, for she was almost as much of a perfectionist as Azula was. Unless Sokka hit the earth dummy Haru had built in the very spot she had marked, she would make him keep tossing his boomerang until he got it right. And even then she wasn't happy, but Sokka assumed she never was.

Once Suki had explained how to use an opponent's strength against him, Sokka had gotten much better at hand-to-hand combat. No longer would she make him fall to the ground, although he still hadn't bested her yet. Whenever he had a chance to defeat her he would hold back, not wanting to hurt her, and that only resulted in Sokka getting hurt instead.

As for Zuko, he was the one who enjoyed his bouts with Sokka the most. Mainly because, with his dao swords, he would often gain the upper hand on the non-bender. Sokka was quite irritable about that; Zuko took pride on it.

"If I had two swords myself I'd get you no problem…" he grumbled, as the group took their mid-afternoon tea break. Mai wasn't amongst them anymore, since she always returned home early to tend to Yuudai.

"Who's the sore loser now?" Zuko asked, smirking, and Sokka rolled his eyes "I don't know why you're complaining, though. You'd have it harder if you were training with my sister, wouldn't you?"

"It'd be more fun, though…" Sokka mumbled under his breath. Being defeated by Azula didn't bother him in the slightest. But when it came to Zuko…

"It is a pity she's not here" said Ty Lee "I'm sure she would be happy to see how you've progressed!"

"Maybe she would be" said Sokka, with a weak smile now.

"Can't she come over to see how you're faring, even if just for one day?" said Ty Lee "Surely she could use a break from preparing for the ceremony, right?"

"I doubt she'd want to take one until she's perfected the whole thing" said Zuko "And who knows what else she's getting ready for, too. The ceremony isn't the only big celebration of the festivals"

"Yeah, but if we're going to the Slate, she'll miss out on a lot of those" said Ty Lee, sighing "But wait, we'll get back in time for the ball!"

"We…?" said Sokka, surprised, before frowning "Huh, she did mention a ball. What exactly is that about?"

"Oh, just a great ball in the Palace at the end of the holiday week" said Ty Lee, with a smile "A lot of highborn people are invited. It's a very fancy event"

"Nice" said Sokka, intrigued "So we'll be back in time for that?"

"Yeah, and… say, do you think slaves will be allowed to attend?" Ty Lee said, her eyes gleaming as she asked Zuko the question. He looked at her in surprise before sipping his tea.

"W-well, I wouldn't know. Sokka was in Azula's feast, by my father's request… so I guess he wouldn't mind having him in the ball again"

"You think?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "Things weren't exactly smooth that day, though not really because of me, but he might not be that comfortable with having me around this time. Why do you ask, though, Ty Lee?"

"Because I want to know if Haru can come!" she said happily, clinging onto one of his arms and nearly making him spill his tea over himself "I wonder if I'd be allowed to bring him with me"

"Eh, that might be weird" said Sokka, with a grimace "I doubt people will be happy to see a gladiator dancing with his sponsor…"

"Oh, come now, I'm sure you'd dance with your sponsor too if you could get away with it" said Ty Lee, and Sokka blushed despite himself.

"I… I don't even know how to dance, how would I even…? Yeah, no. I don't think it'd ever happen, and I don't need it to" he said, trying not to sound too flustered as he spoke.

"Hehe, you're so lying" said Ty Lee, giggling "And I can let you borrow Suki too, Zuko! That way you wouldn't go alone!"

"W-what?" he said, as Suki's eyes widened. She had been silent until her name was spoken, and she looked at Ty Lee in surprise at her suggestion.

"Come on, don't be a proud dummy like Sokka" she said, smiling "You know you want to!"

"D-doesn't really matter if I'd want to, he's right" said Zuko, and Sokka was surprised to hear him say those words "Slaves probably won't be allowed at the ball"

"Oh, boo. You're being pessimistic! Look, Suki wants to go!" she said, and the former gladiator smiled weakly.

"I… don't really need to go" she said "I mean, it sounds a little interesting, but I don't have to get involved in it…"

"Well, aren't you all party poopers" said Ty Lee, pouting "Come on, it'll be fun!"

"The most fun thing probably will be the food…" said Sokka, sighing. He doubted he'd have a proper chance to spend time with Azula during an event such as that one.

"The food, really?" said Ty Lee, huffing "Ugh, whatever. Zuko, find out if slaves can go or not, alright? If your dad thinks they can't, fine, I won't push it. But… I really want to take Haru!"

Zuko sighed heavily and nodded, knowing the girl would insist more if he didn't comply.

Once they were done with the tea, Ty Lee got back to chi-blocking training with Sokka. Given that it was already getting late, and he wasn't bound to train with the gladiator anymore, Zuko decided to head back home for the day… and he was surprised when someone followed him to the front door.

"Uh… Suki?" he said, surprised "I can find my way out by myself"

"I just… well, I figured I could go with you to find out what Ty Lee wanted to know" said Suki, stopping on her tracks "Or is it you weren't going to do that?"

"Uh, yeah, I… sure" he said, smiling. He actually hadn't meant to ask anyone about the matter, but if Suki was tagging along just for that, he just might do it "I take it you want to go to the ball, then?"

"Well, not that much" she said, as he opened the door and they stepped outside "I'm actually just curious about the Palace. And since they're not going to need me here for now, I guessed I could tag along with you. Is that okay?"

"I-if you want to… sure" he said, grinning as they made their way outside the house and through the streets of the city.

The Capital wasn't too large a metropolis, but Ty Lee's house was quite far away from the center, where the Palace stood. Suki found it was exactly as she expected it to be, a daunting, massive structure hid behind sturdy walls, with tall towers and soldiers guarding every inch of the place. She knew she wouldn't have been allowed inside if she hadn't been with Zuko, so she resolved to stay close to him while inside the Palace to avoid trouble.

"Who do you think we should ask about the ball, then?" she told him, once he had toured her through the gardens and some of the halls. If she hadn't brought up the topic, he wouldn't have remembered why she had come with him in the first place.

"Oh, uh… right" he said, biting his lower lip "I don't think my father would be an option, even though he's the one person who would know… but if I asked him about this, he might say slaves aren't allowed to come just to make me miserable"

"Would he?"

"Well, that is, if he even answers my question" he said, shrugging and Suki grimaced.

"Have you tried talking to him recently? Maybe… maybe he's not going to be as harsh to you as you thought he'd be?"

"You don't know him, Suki" said Zuko, sighing as they turned into the main hall of the Palace "He's not a man of second chances, and if there's someone he's not going to give another one to, it's to…"

Zuko suddenly stopped talking and halted, with a surprised expression on his face. Suki raised an eyebrow and looked forward too. She froze as well upon seeing a dark-haired woman, clad in regal crimson clothes, walking in their direction as she analyzed a book and walked simultaneously, her brow furrowed.

"Azula?"

She lifted her gaze, still frowning, and she stopped walking as well when she saw the two people standing before her.

"Zuko?" she said, looking at her brother with confusion "You… got a haircut"

"Uh, yeah" he said, blushing a little "About a month ago, maybe more…"

"Unexpected, but I approve. This style suits you better than the mess you had on your head before" she said, as malicious as ever, and Zuko's eyebrow twitched at that. Yet Azula's attention drifted towards the girl next to her brother by then. A girl she couldn't recognize, and who was looking at her with a mixture of awe and fear in her eyes. Surprisingly, there was more of the former than the latter in her stare "And this is…?"

"You don't know?" Zuko asked, frowning "I thought you were the one who had sent Ty Lee to find her…"

The words hit Azula like a boulder to the head. She stopped for a moment to look at the girl, unable to recognize the fighter she had seen in the Arena so long ago.

"Huh. So it's… you" she said, her voice colder than either Zuko or Suki had expected it to be "And you're… why exactly are you with my brother?"

"Oh, we met in the Arena once" she said, quickly "When Ty Lee brought me back he heard of it, and he's been helping me ever since"

"Really, now?" Azula asked, looking at Zuko with disbelief.

"W-what, you think I can't do good things for other people just because I want to?" he asked, blushing.

"Well, I didn't quite say that…" Azula said, a mischievous smirk on her face before looking at Zuko again "And you're touring her through the Palace? Will that improve her health, I wonder?"

"S-she wanted to see it" said Zuko, bashfully, and Suki nodded.

"Isn't she a curious one, then" said Azula, regarding Suki with judgmental eyes. Her cold eyes made Suki's smile wear off quickly.

Azula wasn't being antagonistic on purpose, despite herself. In fact, she was rather curious too. She had never seen her brother with a girl she hadn't pushed onto him before. She wasn't about to start indulging in the hopes that a relationship of any sort would be born between Zuko and the former gladiator, though. It seemed rather convenient… too convenient to be true.

"I, uh… actually hoped I might find you here, Princess" said Suki, surprising Zuko. She hadn't told him she wanted to see Azula.

"Did you, now? Only a few bold people have the nerve to look for me" said Azula, with a smirk "Few of them find what they expect, though. Why did you want to see me?"

"Well, as Zuko just said, you sent Ty Lee to find me… and I don't know why you did, because Mai said you weren't going to use me in any way" said Suki, raising her eyebrows and looking at Azula, half-expecting her to contradict that last statement "But whether or not there was a purpose in sending Ty Lee to find me, I wanted to thank you for helping me get out of Shu Wo. I truly feel like… like I owe you my life"

Azula raised an eyebrow, taken aback by what Suki had just said. Zuko as well seemed shocked, staring at Suki with concerned eyes. Surely he believed she shouldn't have told Azula what she had…

"You do, then?" Azula said "Well, as Mai said, I truly have no interest in using your life in any way; you ought to worry about what Ty Lee will use you for instead. Nevertheless, you're most welcome"

She gave Suki a proud but fake smile, for she actually felt she wasn't deserving of any gratefulness. But since she still harbored some resentfulness towards the girl in front of her, she refused to be earnest with her.

"Why did you do it, though?" Suki asked, and Azula froze "I mean, it's not like you had to help me in any way… did Sokka ask you to do it?"

"Why should he have asked me to do it?" Azula asked in turn. Suki's eyebrows rose.

"Well, I just… can't think of another reason why you'd even know I exist" said Suki, shrugging.

"You're right about that, of course" said Azula "All the same, you need no explanations. You're free from Shu Wo, you're friends with a Prince, and I'm not demanding any services from you. Shouldn't that suffice?"

"Sure, it suffices, but I just thought…"

"If you're that grateful, maybe show it by not asking questions" said Azula "Let's say it was my 'good deed of the day', and leave it as that"

"W-well… if you say so" said Suki, surprised. As much as Zuko had warned her that his sister wasn't quite the easiest person to get along with, she was quite surprised by how authoritarian she was through the harshness of her words.

"In any case, I suppose you have your tour to resume, while I have a book to finish, therefore…"

"Uh, wait" said Zuko, lifting a hand towards Azula, who raised an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically, as though he couldn't make her wait just because he asked "We actually came because…"

"SPICYYYYYYYYY!"

The shout startled all three of them, and Azula's eyes widened when she recognized who was responsible for it. She turned on her heels slowly towards the hall's opposite end, just in time for a certain short earthbender to throw her arms around her, locking her in a bear-tight embrace.

"D-Dirt Worm…" she muttered under her breath, her arms held out awkwardly as the blind girl hugged her.

"It's been too long!" Toph exclaimed, releasing Azula and showing her a large grin "How's it going? Where's the Dog?"

"What in the name of…?" said Zuko, staring at the two girls in horror. Seeing the pair of them being so friendly was the stuff of nightmares for him.

"Eeeeh, if it's not Cranky Pants!" said Toph, beaming "And wait a sec… you have a girl with you, Zuko? Are you serious?! Damn, a lot has happened since we left, Iroh!"

The old man, most unlike his gladiator, hadn't bolted down the hall at full speed to greet his niece and nephew. He was smiling, as ever, but his eyes widened when he caught sight of the girl standing next to Zuko.

"Oh, my, a lot indeed" he said, turning towards the Prince "It has been far too long, Zuko"

"It has…" he said, smiling a little "Did your trip go alright?"

"It most certainly did. I learned of many Earth Kingdom brews while we traveled to Gaoling" said Iroh, beaming "And it would seem you were busy while I wasn't here to keep you company, eh?"

"D-don't say it that way, it sounds like… well, it's not like that!" said Zuko, blushing, and Toph chuckled.

"Oh, but you sure wish it were, huh, Zuko?" she asked, prodding his ribs with an elbow.

"Shut up! I didn't say that!" Zuko exclaimed, before freezing in his spot. The last thing he wanted was for Suki to see him lose his temper. But to his relief, she only seemed amused by it.

"So… I assume you're the girl Zuko spoke of" said Iroh, smiling "Suki, was it? Kyoshi's Heir?"

"W-well, yes" said Suki, blushing a little. She had no idea Zuko had told his uncle about her "That's me"

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Zuko holds you in very high regards" said Iroh, beaming.

"D-don't… just stop" said Zuko, sighing in defeat and shaking his head. Iroh laughed loudly and patted Azula on the back now, at which she raised an eyebrow.

"Good to see you again as well, Azula! Is everything well?"

"Well enough" she said "Or it had been, until Zuko interrupted me when I was in the middle of reading…"

"Oh, the Book of Fire!" said Iroh, smiling as he saw the book Azula had been holding "It has been a long time since I last read it. How are you finding it?"

"Too metaphorical for my tastes, actually" she said "Why do writers insist on complicating matters just to embellish them, I'll never know"

"Ah, it is but art, Azula. No matter how we try, it is impossible to grasp why it is how it is" said Iroh, smiling.

"Uh, well, you can get back to your book in a moment if you want" said Zuko, staring at Azula and Iroh in surprise. He had never seen them hold such a cordial conversation before "But we were going to ask you, Azula, if slaves will be allowed at the festival's ball. Ty Lee wanted to know, so…"

"Oh. She does, doesn't she?" asked Azula, crooking an eyebrow "Not quite surprising to hear as much, I admit… Well, actually, I don't know if they'll be allowed or not, my father hasn't said anything about it to me as it is, but…"

"Ah, he'll allow gladiators to attend, I'm sure" said Iroh, smiling "After he let Sokka come to your feast, I promised Toph I'd bring her to the next public event to be held in the Palace!"

"Y-you did, but it's not like I need to go that much" said Toph, grimacing "I'm not a fan of fancy nonsense, remember?"

"Well, if anything you can eat and not dance" Azula suggested, with a smile, and Toph raised her eyebrows, actually considering her suggestion.

"Doesn't sound so bad, to be honest…"

"You can bring Sokka too, and then Zuko can bring Suki!" said Iroh, smiling, and Zuko blushed.

"I-I don't think… well, she's really not my glad-… y-you know? I was actually showing her around, so I'll just keep doing that…"

"Do that, then! We'll go talk about the Book of Fire, right, Azula?" said Iroh, smiling at his niece "A nice conversation about old books over a nice cup of hot tea!"

"Huh. I wonder if that'll help" Azula said, but she wasn't reluctant to comply with Iroh. Her uncle usually didn't share his wisdom with her, only ever with Zuko. She wondered if he might have something helpful to say after all.

"Read a book, you said?" said Toph, grimacing "Not my cup of tea, to be honest. I'll catch up with you two later, then, if that's what you'll be up to"

"Feel free to do as you wish, Toph" said Iroh, smiling at his gladiator.

"Well, we'll be going, then" said Zuko, nodding towards Azula, Iroh and Toph "Good to see you're back, Uncle"

"It's good to be back, Prince Zuko" Iroh said, beaming "We have much to talk about"

Zuko merely smiled awkwardly and nodded before starting back through the same hall he had come from, with Suki right behind him. He took a corner at a new hall and led her into a room, lighting up the beacons of it with his firebending quickly before closing the door and sighing.

"Is this your room?" Suki asked, looking around herself, surprised. It was opulent, more than any other bedroom she had ever seen, but it still had an unexpected simplicity to it that made it cozy for her.

"Yeah. Sorry I just dragged you here, but I didn't want my uncle or Toph to continue pestering us" he said, with a sigh "I mean, you know how it is, when you finally bring someone home people just rush to conclusions…"

"You don't have to excuse yourself" said Suki, waving a hand carelessly as she stared pointedly at the wall next to Zuko's bed "I admit I'm a little surprised, though. I didn't think you'd have one of these"

"One of what?" said Zuko, turning towards her now… and only remembering the poster on the wall when he did.

His jaw dropped and his blood seemed to slow down in his body. When he rushed to the wall to take the poster down she started laughing softly, and Zuko blushed violently.

"I-it's nothing, okay! I didn't…! I…!" he stuttered, not knowing how to cover up for what she'd seen.

"Oh, you always seemed too good to be true" she said, chuckling as she sat on his bed, her fit of laughter making her knees weak "You were a fanboy all along and I never knew it!"

"I wasn't! I'm not! I…! I didn't want this poster, okay?!" he said, taking it down harshly and dropping it on his desk "Those fans of yours went crazy when you bumped into me that day, and they were saying all sorts of nonsense because you'd talked to me! They gave me a load of 'Kyoshi's Heir' goods and this poster was amongst them, but it's not like I was really one of them!"

"Uh, sure, but you pinned it to your wall" she said, giggling still "Even if they just gave it randomly to you, why did you do that?"

"W-well, because…!" he said, still blushing "I just… didn't have anything else to remember you by"

"You…?" Suki said again, her amusement subsiding as she looked at him with confusion "You wanted to remember me? Why…?"

"It's hard to explain" said Zuko, scratching the back of his neck.

"Well, I'll try to understand" she said, patting the bed and compelling him to sit next to her.

Zuko gulped before doing as she'd asked. He hung his head, his elbows on his knees as he started talking, avoiding her gaze pointedly.

"I wasn't exactly in the best place in my life before you fought Sokka" he muttered "I had just returned home and everything was the same, but nothing was. Everything I'd looked forward to was a memory long gone. The girl I thought I'd marry was pregnant with someone else's son. My father refused to see me, my sister had a gladiator… everyone moved on, as though my absence hadn't been important for anyone other than me. And I was just miserable. Ty Lee wanted to help, she kept me company at times, but even she was getting tired of me. She was who dragged me to your fight with Sokka, and, well… I actually owe her for doing that. Because when I saw you fight, I had something new to look forward to, just like everyone else did. You were a stranger, someone who didn't know me and probably never would, but you were fighting in the ring, and you were…"

"I was…?" Suki asked, and Zuko gritted his teeth.

"W-well, the most beautiful fighter I'd ever seen" he said, and now she blushed too "You were graceful, talented… and you were someone I hadn't known from before, so I couldn't feel like I'd disappointed you in any way. You were a breath of fresh air, and that was something I really needed. So I just kept coming to see you because you were an escape for me. I didn't care if we'd never talk, I felt that watching you in the Arena was a privilege in itself, so…"

"So then we did talk" said Suki, looking at him gently "And… you were really nice"

"I tried to be" Zuko admitted, gulping "That was when they'd jumped on me, the crazy fan club. I'd seen them around, but I didn't want to be one of them, honestly. They wanted your attention by praising you, and I really didn't need that. I just needed you to be you. That was all"

"Well, that's… actually quite surprising" said Suki, biting her lower lip "I mean, the fan club was crazy but I actually liked them a bit. It was really nice to see my supporters cheering for me as they did. I was going to tell you I didn't mind at all if you were like them, but… now I'm a bit glad you weren't. You kept your distance from them, and that was the main thing that made you stand out in the crowd. Still, I'm surprised you'd pin the poster to your wall"

"I did after we first talked… I was a little, well… stupidly elated, I guess" he muttered "So I put it there. When you disappeared I thought I might take it down but it was the only reminder I had of you. So I left it there… and I never thought the day would come when you'd be in my room, so I never expected you to see it"

Suki chuckled a little, her shoulders moving slightly with the gesture.

"Elated why, though?" she asked "I mean… you helped me feel better, but it's not like I did anything for you, or did I?"

"Heh, it's going to sound stupid to you" said Zuko, sitting upright even though he was still avoiding her gaze "But, well… you'd pretty much called me your friend. I couldn't really remember the last time I'd made a new friend, let alone the last time I was acknowledged by someone I admired, so… I was just happy, I guess. I know it's ridiculous, though…"

"It's not ridiculous" Suki said, extending a hand towards his. He stopped talking, his eyes finally finding hers "I'm actually… surprised, in a good way. I can't believe I meant so much for someone without realizing it. And, well… it wasn't just anyone. It was you, and that makes it even more amazing"

"So you don't think it's… stupid?" asked Zuko, and Suki smiled before shaking her head.

"You should stop thinking so lowly of yourself" she said "There's no reason to be ashamed of… of good feelings"

Zuko froze, his eyes locked with hers. Nobody had ever said such words to him before. The notion of not being ashamed of his better feelings felt foreign to him. All along he had been full of unpleasant emotions, feelings he had wanted to shake off even though he had learned to live with them. Happiness, in itself, was something others might enjoy, but not him.

He had never actually sought happiness in his life, and he only noticed this now. He had been happy once, back when his mother had still been in the Palace. But being happy had never granted him his father's favor. Showing a smile to his grandfather had never made the man nod at him in acknowledgement, he had been little more than a pest to Azulon. Those were the men he was supposed to grow up to be like, though. His father, his grandfather… the Fire Lords. There was no time for him to waste in frivolities. If he was to be Ozai's heir, he had to be like him. And his father wasn't happy. He was a serious, stern man, the finest firebender of his generation. And Zuko had to be like him, there was nothing more to it.

For years he had been chasing after an ideal he hadn't really wanted to chase after. If he thought about it, he couldn't quite think of the moment when he had decided to follow his father's footsteps. He probably had done it because it was what was expected of him. But what did he truly want?

It was the first time he had ever asked himself that question with honesty. He sat where he was, his eyes lost in Suki's violet gaze, as he felt like he was waking up from an extremely long dream. As he felt that, for the first time, he could forget about what others wanted him to be, so he could be himself for real. As though he were free from the chains that had been holding him down and forcing him to conform to others' ideals. The unpleasant feelings he had been enslaved by, his anger, his frustrations, his envy, his sadness… they had been holding him down all along without his awareness. And now, just now, he allowed himself to contemplate a simple idea, a single thought: could he find happiness?

The intensity in his gaze was making Suki nervous. She didn't know what was crossing his mind right now, and that filled her with unease but also with curiosity. Her hand shivered slightly in his, but she didn't let go of it. It felt right to touch him, and she was pleased that it did, for she hadn't thought she would be glad to hold a man's hand ever again. Still, she wondered if perhaps she ought to pull away, no longer out of her need to keep distance, but because maybe Zuko didn't need this right now. Yet she had just told him not to be ashamed of his better feelings… so she should feel no shame for hers either. She didn't want to back off, not at all.

"S-so… I shouldn't be ashamed" he muttered, lowering his head a little "I should just… cherish what makes me happy, you think?"

"Well, it'd only be right… right?" she said, and now he licked his lower lip, his hand tightening around hers.

"Right" he whispered.

She would always hold his last gesture responsible for prompting her to do what she never thought she would.

As she leaned closer to him, Zuko's eyes widened. His heart thumped in his chest, for she had never been at such short distance from him. And yet there she was, her nose brushing lightly against his before her lips touched his.

The lack of response from him could have stopped her, but Suki didn't falter despite it. She wasn't ashamed of what she was doing; if anything, she was proud of it. She couldn't believe her own boldness, but she was glad she had proved capable of kissing him. She had tested her limitations, and discovered she could push further than she had known she could. Her past wouldn't stop herself from seizing happiness, not anymore.

Zuko was shaking almost violently by the time he returned her kiss. His hand was clenched around hers, while the other gripped the sheets, his knuckles turning white. He closed his eyes and his response became more enthusiastic with that. It wasn't the first time he had kissed someone, but it almost felt like it was. He was starting to feel euphoric, ecstatic…

"Woah! Way to go, Cranky Pants! Show her what you're made of!"

The shout from outside the room startled the two of them. They pulled away brusquely and stared at each other in surprise, as though they hadn't been quite aware of what they had been doing just now. Yet Zuko gritted his teeth and glared at the door, his cheeks burning red.

"Shut up, Toph!" he yelled, and they heard the girl's distinctive laughter die down as she walked down the hall.

"H-how did she…?" Suki asked. She knew little of the Blind Bandit, only what Zuko had mentioned of the girl, so her prodigious skills were unknown for her.

"She's got a creepy style of earthbending, she's blind so she can hear everything around her or something… so don't worry. She's always like that" said Zuko, still flustered, a hand on his forehead.

"Well… I'm not worrying" said Suki, with a weak grin.

Zuko raised his eyes and found her smiling, and he breathed out in relief before grinning as well. Even though Toph had interrupted them, it didn't seem Suki regretted what they'd done. Fortunately, neither did he.

* * *

"You two aren't going to believe what I just…" Toph was saying, laughing mischievously as she entered the sitting room where Iroh and Azula were, in the middle of a conversation that she sensed she shouldn't have interrupted "Oh. Woops. You guys are reading that weird book, right"

"We can read it aloud for you if you want" said Iroh, as Toph took her seat on one of the room's cushions.

"Nah, I doubt I need to hear it" she said, waving a hand carelessly "Carry on with your thing, never mind me"

"Well, then" said Iroh, turning towards Azula again "You said you can't quite seem to find the answer you're seeking in the Book of Fire, then? It's a question about firebending, though…"

"Obviously" said the Princess "And reading about the lives of the Sun's children, or the foundations of the first cities, hasn't helped in any way"

"What exactly is it you need, though?" asked Iroh, raising an eyebrow "Why the sudden interest in the philosophies of fire?"

"I have a certain… problem, you could say" Azula replied, rubbing the bridge of her nose with two fingers "My father has requested me to perform the Ceremony of Fire, and while I've learned the ritual in itself already, it seems my fire isn't quite what's needed for ceremonial firebending. Therefore…"

"Oh, my" said Iroh, his eyes widening "Well, that's quite an honor. I never performed it myself, it was always the job of Sages"

"Well, from the looks of it, the Sages don't know how to do their jobs" said Azula, frowning "The High Sage was the one who said my fire didn't suit ceremonial bending, but he couldn't quite explain why. So I started researching on my own, but I've found nothing of use. I have the feeling there might be something in the Book of Fire, though, but it's eluding me. I can't seem to find anything that helps me understand firebending better"

"It might be that the answer itself isn't in the book" said Iroh "Perhaps the book will simply point you in the right direction to find that answer"

"Oh, really? And what direction is that?" Azula asked, looking at Iroh with skepticism.

"Well… the book might be telling you to ponder what fire really is" said Iroh, shrugging "Go back to its origin. Think of what makes fire the element of power"

"You want me to meditate on this, then?" Azula asked "Maybe I ought to fly upwards and speak to the sun so it tells me that the key to firebending is inside of me? From what I gather, that simply means that the key to firebending is breath, something I already know. So truly, how am I supposed to learn anything I don't already know…?"

"You've forgotten a very interesting detail, Princess Azula" said Iroh, smiling "The Phoenix told the Dragon that the key to firebending was within him, but it was not the Phoenix himself who shared the secrets of fire with the man, or was it?"

Azula raised her eyebrows, her fingers intertwining as she placed her elbows on the table, her chin on her hands. She looked at her uncle, now with a subtle frown on her face.

"If that's so, then the book doesn't have the answer… but a dragon does" she muttered.

"If only you could find one of those, eh?" said Iroh, winking and laughing happily before standing up "Ah, I'll go fetch us some tea, then. Want some, Toph?"

"Sure thing" said Toph, who had dropped on her back, her hands behind her head.

"What about you, Azula?"

The Princess only nodded absentmindedly. Her Uncle had only just pointed her in the right direction… or she hoped he had, at least. Fortunately, there was a dragon she could speak to, but did he have any answers she lacked? Did he understand fire better than she did?

Naturally, the only way of finding out was by asking.

Xin Long welcomed her happily into his refuge on the next morning, asking her if she had enjoyed those stories she had been reading about dragons and winged, flame beasts. Azula had smiled and patted his snout, nodding.

"I did, but story time is over" she said "I'm at a loss, Xin Long. And from the looks of it, you're the only one who can help me now"

Xin Long groaned weakly with confusion, tilting his head sideways, but Azula's intense gaze hadn't shifted in the slightest.

"I need you, Xin" she said, stepping forward "I need to understand the true meaning of fire"

The dragon seemed confused, but he didn't back away. He simply looked at his rider with concern, fearing he might not be as helpful as she hoped he'd be.

"So… can I count on you for this?" she asked, looking at him with hopeful eyes.

Xin Long groaned and sighed, smoke puffing out of his mouth and nostrils. He had no idea of how he could assist Azula, but even if he wasn't sure of how to do it, he was determined to help his rider.


	85. Chapter 85

She landed on the ground, the wave of fire around her as powerful and blue as ever. The color of her flames remained as it usually was, for she believed that if she couldn't perform the ceremony with her own bending, it might as well be performed by anyone other than her. The Sages were bound to produce better orange fire than her, anyways.

Azula lifted her gaze expectantly towards her dragon, hoping to get his opinion on what she had just showed him. They were at his refuge, although Azula thought they ought to train elsewhere. She doubted she would set the buildings walls on fire while performing the ceremonial routine, but she only started to dread it might happen once she was already in the middle of the sequence of stances. Fortunately, though, she was never close enough to the walls to damage them throughout her performance.

"Well, then" she asked, standing up straight "What do you think?"

Xin Long blinked blankly, not knowing what to say. Azula noticed just how clueless he was right away. When she frowned he decided to cover up quickly by letting her know her display was truly remarkable! Nobody would stand a chance against her powerful firebending, of course not. All her enemies were sure to fall before her!

Azula sighed and shook her head, surprising Xin Long.

"That's exactly what you're not supposed to think, I'm afraid, but I accept the compliments all the same" she muttered, disheartened.

Xin Long moved closer to her, pressing his snout to her armor and making her sigh as he asked what was bothering her. She slid her hands through his mane, hoping the closeness with the dragon would help her feel slightly better about the situation.

"You see, Xin Long, I've been reading a lot about fire lately. A lot" she said "And the more I read, the less I seem to understand what I must do for this ceremony. I knew ceremonial firebending wouldn't be so simple, but I don't understand what's making it so complicated. I can't find any sense to it, and I'm just… frustrated. Very frustrated"

Xin Long prodded at her shoulder and asked her about the information the books had held for her. Azula patted his head before replying.

"Well, mainly that fire is the element of power. Through fire, the Fire Nation came to be. Through fire, man and dragon exist. Because, apparently, according to the ancient mythology, you and I are kin. How about that?"

Xin Long growled happily and Azula smiled for the first time in days.

"I guessed you might like that" she said "Anyhow, that's more or less what I found. There were a few other things, some allusions to ancient civilizations that eventually morphed into the Fire Nation as we know it now… and fire, naturally, was at the core of those civilizations. One of them was that of the Sun Warriors, long extinct. They used to revere dragons"

Xin Long moved his head cockily and thought that indeed, that was how it should be. Dragons deserved to be revered. Azula laughed weakly at that.

"Indeed, they should be revered. Anyways, the ancient civilizations used fire as means to keep warm, as means to purify their lands and homes… and for a moment I wondered if perhaps the key to ceremonial firebending might be related to this. Still, I'm not sure if it is, truth to be told. I don't know what sort of ceremonial firebending they used to perform, I couldn't find any information about it. The books on the Sun Warriors aren't specific enough about this"

Xin Long placed his head on Azula's shoulder now, his eyebrows contracting slightly as he wondered how he was supposed to help her. If she thought the answer was in an ancient civilization he knew nothing about, a civilization that was already extinct, what part was he to play in her mastery of the Ceremony of the Sun?

"I suspected those Sun Warriors could have some answers, but I didn't think they'd have them all" Azula told him "They were the Sun Warriors, after all. Just by that name, chances are they might have been the first ones to ever perform the Ceremony of the Sun. But seeing how I couldn't find enough information about them, I really doubt I ought to keep spending my time reading. It can be entertaining indeed, but I get the feeling it won't provide the answer I'm looking for. My Uncle suggested that maybe you could help me, seeing how the first dragon taught the first man how to firebend…"

Xin Long frowned and Azula smiled.

"So I'll need for you to show me what you can do. Because I just might find the key to ceremonial firebending through you"

Xin Long failed to understand what he had to do with ceremonial firebending, considering he had never performed any firebending ceremonies in his life. He had always used his fire as unceremoniously as possible, mocking people by trying to set their robes on fire, or roasting bugs… even back in his old cave, he had used his fire to hunt bats and creatures within the labyrinth of tunnels he used to consider his home. Was that actually more ceremonious, more honorable, than the purposes Azula used her fire for?

The dragon's thoughts made Azula frown, but she shook her head and saddled Xin Long, deciding they needed to change locations, as to avoid risking tearing down the refuge under the power of their flames. Xin Long found it odd that she would ignore his logic, but he decided to please her all the same, taking off into the skies through one of the refuge's higher gates once Azula was sitting on his back.

They flew towards the edge of the city, past the crater where the Capital had been built into. Not too far from where they were stood another crater, the one that hosted the Prison Tower. Azula watched it as they descended on the ground, wondering if the White Lotus captives hadn't spoken yet about the spy in the Fire Nation… the spy she had suspected might be Iroh. An uneasy feeling appeared in the pit of her stomach as she remembered that. Her relationship with the old man had improved as of late, but she still couldn't discard this possibility, and she'd best keep that in mind.

Still, trusting him regarding his advice for ceremonial bending surely wasn't a bad decision… right? He couldn't possibly have set Azula on the wrong path with this, something inside her told her as much. And while she wasn't one who would rather obey gut feelings over logic, she was convinced that Xin Long could help her. If someone could do it, it was him.

Once they landed in an arid area, away from the city and far from any towns, Azula coaxed her dragon to show her his best assortment of flames, despite Xin Long didn't see the purpose of it. She had seen his fire many times now, and in fact, his fire had taken after hers once they had bonded. What was she expecting to find through him, Xin Long didn't know…

But all the same, he complied with her wishes and roared, flames shooting out of his jaws in a powerful azure inferno.

And Azula's eyes widened. Xin Long's fire was as blue as hers… but indeed, there was something different about it. The way his fire shifted, how it grew stronger and wilder as he added more power to his roar, and then how it dissipated once he was breathless… something made it different. It was the same kind of fire, yet it was different. Why?

Xin Long lifted a bushy eyebrow as Azula placed her hands on her hips, a deep frown on her face.

"Well… if anything, you ought to perform the ceremony instead of me, huh?" she said, biting her lower lip "It doesn't look like your fire lacks the quality mine does… whatever it is"

Xin Long was very confused by that, and Azula lifted one of her hands, extending her index and middle fingers to conjure a single, dancing blaze. It moved elegantly, slowly… coldly.

She gritted her teeth and dropped her hand, a snarl on her face. Well, at least now she knew the problem really wasn't blue fire in itself. The problem, simply put, was her.

"Brilliant" she muttered, shaking her head, and Xin Long looked at her worriedly "If only I knew what this means, I'd be able to do something about it. But heh, I don't. I don't get it. I've bent fire my entire life, I've been able to do it for as long as I can remember! I had already mastered the firebending basics when I was four-years-old, and yet now…! Now it turns out that I've had it wrong all along? I… I don't get it. I just don't"

She sighed and let herself drop on the ground, her fingertips rubbing her temples circularly as she tried to calm down. Losing her temper and falling prey to despair would only cause her more problems than she already had, and that was plain inconvenient. Xin Long approached, flexing his hind legs as well and settling in front of his rider, feeling how her mind was currently racing as she sought to look at her predicament from another point of view, hoping that might help her find a solution.

"Alright, then" she said, releasing a deep breath and looking at Xin Long again "I don't know if I've been going at firebending wrong my whole life, but just for the time being, I'll operate under the pretense that I have. It actually might help to do so. So, tell me… what do you think fire is?"

Xin Long groaned and tilted his head sideways. Azula shrugged.

"It's only a question. You must have an idea of what fire means to you, right?"

Xin Long didn't have a set idea on what fire meant to him, let alone did he know how to convey his thoughts to his rider. He also didn't understand how this would be any use for Azula, and she sighed again before explaining herself.

"I suspect the source of the problem I'm facing is nothing but my way of bending. You and I both have blue fire, yet yours is different than mine. I need to understand why. I need to bend the way you do, Xin Long. Even if just for the sake of this ceremony"

Xin Long asked her if she wanted to bend through her mouth and she looked at him, skeptical. Xin Long chuckled before closing his eyes and showing Azula the array of sensations he felt when he was bending. The Princess's brow contracted as the dragon's thoughts resounded in her mind, his ideas about fire familiar but foreign at once.

"So, to you, fire is power… which is natural, and logical" she said "But it's also fun. Which… I guess it should be. Bending should be fun. I ought to enjoy it. And not for the sake of showing off what I can do, but because bending, in itself, is fun. Right?"

Xin Long nodded happily, pleased by the first conclusion Azula had arrived to. The Princess would have grinned at him, but another of Xin Long's ideas of fire had made her look at him with unusual tenderness.

"But fire, to you, is also light. Fire was the only source of light you knew in the caves you used to live in. You didn't even need to see the caves anymore, you knew them that well, but you still liked to use your fire, and not just for hunting or fending off threats… but because it gave you warmth in a cold cave. It made you feel alive"

Xin Long blinked a few times, startled as she put his deeper thoughts into words. He nodded slowly and Azula reached out to touch his snout, patting him gently. He reminded her that after some time, he had met her. And once he had, he discovered more colors than he ever expected to, both thanks to her fire and to bonding with her. Thanks to Azula, he had left the darkness and found there was so much for him to do and see outside his dark, hidden cave. He was free thanks to her. And with her, his fire had changed. He liked the way it had changed, because it matched hers. That was an honor he was most proud of bearing.

"You're proud of our fire, then?" Azula asked, with a smile.

Xin Long nodded vigorously now and Azula laughed softly. Xin Long's thoughts were comforting and relieving after a few weeks of feeling nothing but irritation towards herself. After spending her entire life hearing praises on end about her perfect blue fire, about how talented a firebender she was, the latest developments had been a very low blow for her. But knowing that Xin Long appreciated her so much helped her feel better. It wouldn't fix her problem, naturally, but it comforted her regardless.

"I'm proud of our fire as well, Xin Long" she said "And that's why I want it to be the fire I'll use during the ceremony. As much as it might be that orange fire would suit the ceremony better, I don't want to give up on our fire. It's ours, after all. I can't simply cast it away. Rather, I don't want to"

Xin Long was quick to tell her she simply shouldn't do it if she felt so strongly about it, and Azula smiled again.

"I won't. I'll learn how to use blue fire for this ceremony. I still have a month and a half for this, so I'll find a way to do it by then. I don't know how, but I will"

The dragon looked at her inquisitively now, prodding her mentally to tell him about what fire meant to her. He had already explained himself, so she ought to do the same. Azula smiled a little, but the grin waned quickly.

"Well, fire is, indeed, power. I always knew as much. I've been able to bend for as long as I can remember, and… and my fire is part of me. Ever since I was young I was aware of that. And I also knew it made me special, since Zuko didn't start bending until he was five. I remember scaring him with my fire before then… yeah, much like you do with the servants. I remember he was afraid of me, and I admit I found it quite amusing to torment him. But then he started bending too, and he wasn't that scared of my fire anymore. And then he was special, just as I was. I… I guess I felt somewhat disappointed when he started bending as well. Even if only at a subconscious level, I liked the idea of being able to do things others couldn't. So now that he could do it too, it felt like I wasn't that special anymore… but to my father, I still was. And on great measure, it was because of my bending"

She opened one of her hands, and a blue blaze danced on her palm. She stared at it with longing eyes.

"For a long time, bending was my way to earn approval. Even if it didn't work with my mother, it did with my father. When he told me he was proud of me because I had mastered a new stance, or when he would oversee my training just to compliment me on my mastery and control of my flames, I'd… I'd feel elated. He believed in me, I was sure of it… so if he, a powerful firebender, could believe in me, then I couldn't be a common firebender like all others, right?

"I had to learn to control my fire, to use it to my advantage, to master it completely with every new stance I learned, and I even took the liberty to make improvements of my own to some of the techniques. I could command the obedience of my flames, much unlike Zuko, who always struggled to conjure and keep control of his fire. It was always easy for me to use fire as if it were an extension of myself.

"After some time, I started to work towards bending blue fire. Again, my father's faith in my skills helped me develop this new kind of bending. And again, it came from constant practice, constant training, and absolute control over what I was doing. I managed to raise the temperature of my fire, to the point where the flames started to shift in color and quality, and one day, I managed to do it. I could conjure blue fire, and… and it was one of the most exciting moments of my life. Nobody had ever used blue flames before, not that my father nor Lo and Li knew of, and… and I was so happy. I… I really think I'd never been happier while bending than I was that time"

Xin Long looked at her understandingly as she closed her hand, the flame disappearing from her hand.

"Afterwards came lightning bending. It was also a very intense and important experience for me, but not as much of a motive of excitement as blue fire was, mostly because others had already used lightning before me. I wasn't improvising, since the skill didn't quite allow room for it, I wasn't trying to discover something new… I was doing what others had done already. Granted, I did it at a much younger age than anyone else, but even so… I really have to admit I wasn't quite as delighted by it as I was with the blue fire at first. I was pleased with myself, but not really elated this time"

She stood up again, shooting an array of blazes into the sky with a hand. The flames left her hand to dance in the air for a brief moment before dissipating again.

"So now it seems the fire I was so proud of is no good for this ceremony" she said "And I just refuse to accept that, Xin. If my blue fire is inadequate… then doesn't that make me inadequate as well? Your blue fire feels more true to the essence of flames than mine, so, indeed, I'm the one who has a problem. It's not blue fire in itself, but something I'm not getting right. And maybe it's my pride, after all. Or maybe not. But the fact remains that my fire is cold… and it shouldn't be. It can't be. Because fire is warmth, isn't it? Fire is… it's light, as it was for you in the cave. Fire can't be cold, because that's… that's the exact opposite of fire, isn't it?"

Xin Long frowned for a moment at that before standing up, as though startled by what she had said. He moved closer to Azula and rubbed her shoulder with his nose, telling her he had an idea. She raised an eyebrow, looking at him with curiosity as he gave her a reptilian grin.

"You have something to show me? Just now?" she asked.

Xin Long nodded enthusiastically and offered her his back so she could sit on his saddle again. Azula wasn't sure if his idea would help, but at this point, she didn't know if anything would. She felt she was getting somewhere after this short conversation, but she wasn't sure if she would accomplish much by finding the source of her problems. Perhaps stepping away from the matter, if only shortly, could prove helpful.

They flew again, but this time headed southwest from where the Capital city stood. Azula soon understood what Xin Long had in mind, but she was still confused. What purpose was there in flying towards a volcano? How was that going to help her?

Xin Long landed before one of the largest volcanoes in the Fire Nation, and even though Azula was as skeptical about her dragon's endeavor as she could be, Azula felt power burn within her body upon the proximity to the volcano. She held on to Xin Long's reins, the scent of sulfur hanging in the air and making her frown ever so slightly. Xin Long, on the other hand, seemed to revel in the smell.

"Mount Huohe" she said, staring at the volcano with interest "We had to study about it in school, long ago. It was one of the most active volcanoes in the mainland until about five hundred years ago. It's been dormant since then"

Xing Long groaned and climbed towards the tall peak, his long body slithering as he moved, Azula still nestled in his saddle. The dragon kept walking uphill, and only stopped at a ledge, a short distance from the crater. Only then did Azula climb down, and the dragon prodded her shoulder with his snout. The Princess frowned.

"What? What do you want me to…?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as Xin Long moved around her, groaning as though trying to make a speech of his own. The ideas in his head rushed quickly, and Azula had a hard time trying to keep up with the thoughts scrolling through the dragon's mind.

Soon enough, she understood what the dragon was trying to say. She moved down on one knee, her palm touching the ground. Xin Long continued to send his thoughts her way, thoughts she could understand better now, thoughts that compelled her to close her eyes and let herself feel what lay underneath. The dragon told her there was no need to reason through this… just as she often didn't reason through matters when she was with Sokka.

Azula had been about to do as the dragon told her until then. She shot a glare at him and the dragon gave her a proud grin. She shook her head, annoyed over the fact that her heart had started beating a little faster when the image of a smiling Sokka had taken form in her mind.

But once she was able to push away all thoughts of Sokka, she started to feel something that had nothing to do with embarrassment or irritation. She started to feel… fire. It burned within the volcano, deep underground, and she could feel it. The fire resounded with her soul, much like…

"Just like when I found you" she said, frowning, her eyes closed "I… I can feel the fire. It's not my own, but I still can feel it"

Xin Long grinned before letting Azula know that this volcano wasn't sleeping as soundly as many others he had seen as he traveled through the Fire Nation. Azula opened her eyes to look at him with interest, and Xin Long sat down, looking at her enthusiastically as he shared his knowledge of volcanoes with her.

"So you can tell which volcanoes still have magma within their chambers" Azula said, thoughtful "You can sense it. The fire draws you towards them"

Xin Long nodded, and Azula crossed her legs as she took her seat as well, curious about her dragon's thoughts. This probably wouldn't help her with the ceremony, but at this point, she wasn't even thinking about it. She was genuinely intrigued by Xin Long's thoughts.

The dragon continued to explain the volcanoes were the world's very own dragons. The fire waited within them until they released them through their mouths, just like he did with his flames. The volcanoes would spend long time without releasing their fire, but some of them did it when you weren't expecting it. He had once witnessed a volcano erupting in an island far from where they were now, in an island shaped as the moon in the last quarter of its cycle.

"Crescent Island?" Azula asked "Huh, interesting. The Fire Sages in the temple had to evacuate the place a few years ago. Eruptions became more constant and dangerous there than…"

Xin Long frowned and shook his mane, confused by why would anyone not want to live in the island of flowing fire. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Because it's dangerous, simply" she said, matter-of-factly "As much as the Fire Nation people may like fire, Xin, it's not safe to live near volca-…"

Xin Long shushed her with a groan, and Azula would have taken offense if he hadn't pointed out that her home, the Capital, was in the middle of another dormant volcano, so there was no logic in what she was saying. Azula's eyebrow twitched now.

"Indeed, but it's truly dormant. It won't be waking any time soon. I haven't felt fire there as I do here"

Xin Long retorted that perhaps that was because she didn't try to feel the fire there, as she had just now. His logic startled Azula, and she looked at him skeptically.

"Oh, so I can only feel fire foreign to mine when I'm actively trying to feel it? Then pray tell, why did I sense your fire back in the forest? How could I, if I was just asleep? I've fallen asleep in the Capital many times before, and I've never felt a thing"

Xin Long replied by saying she probably did feel it, but didn't rationalize it. There was a reason why she didn't feel at ease anywhere but at the Fire Nation. Even then, there was a reason why anywhere else in the Fire Nation didn't make her as comfortable as the Capital. Perhaps it was because it was her home… but perhaps there was something else, something she sensed on another level, but she didn't think it through. She had felt it for such a long time that she couldn't sense the Capital's inner fire for what it was anymore. She simply took for granted that it was there.

"Well, that would be… odd" said Azula, rubbing her chin with a finger "But you might just be right, after all. You do seem to understand this better than I do"

Xin Long smiled again before also explaining that, given what he saw in her memories, she surely felt his fire when she did because she had been losing sight of her inner fire at the time. Azula frowned, recalling what had happened that day. It wasn't because she had been soaked by the rain, since she had managed to heat herself up right afterwards. She had even managed to hold one of her flames for a while until she was too tired to keep it up. And then she had fallen asleep… right after telling Sokka that she could get used to living in the wilds with him.

Back then it hadn't been a genuinely appealing perspective, though. The idea of running off with Sokka was much more tempting nowadays; back then, she had only wanted to find the Rough Rhinos and bring them to justice. And she had lost all hope to do so by the time they were in the cave. By then, she had thought she wouldn't succeed. She had thought she would be shamed forevermore, because it was the first time she had ever failed at anything so catastrophically. The sensation of hopelessness she had felt in the forest was nearly as bad as what she had felt when the lightning had backfired on her as she fought against the White Lotus infiltrates in the Palace. Only, the one in the forest had lasted much longer. It had made her lose sight of her inner fire, even if she was still capable of using firebending in basic ways afterwards. And once she had lost sight of her own fire, she had been able to sense another flame, one that burned deep within the tunnels, within the mountains…

"Interesting" she said, her hands under her chin "It makes some sense, I'll admit. I didn't think too much about firebenders being able to sense heat in this way, because I actually hadn't heard of such a phenomenon before. I only ever noticed it thanks to you"

Xin Long shrugged and smiled again, saying humans just weren't attentive enough more often than not. Azula raised her eyebrows and smiled, looking at him with amusement.

"We aren't, are we?" she said, looking at the volcano again "Still, as much as this is truly fascinating… we're here because the fire in the volcanoes will help me, you believe?"

Xin Long simply replied by saying that she was a volcano as well, and Azula raised an eyebrow. There was fire inside her, there was fire inside every firebender. And bringing that fire outside was what the volcanoes did. What the dragons did. But Azula had learned to use fire without needing to use her inner flames. She had learned to perform stances, to rely only on the flow of her energy, on the power of breath so she could create flames, whether orange in her childhood or blue in the years afterwards. She had only known to create fire, but never had she been told to think of where fire came from. And only when she understood that would she be capable of bending like a dragon, or like a volcano.

Azula frowned, still confused by Xin Long's idea but listening to him all the same. She stood up and took a deep breath, closing her eyes again and feeling the warmth of the volcano.

"I can sense the volcano's fire, yes" she said "But… as you said, I was taught that firebending comes from the breath. I really don't know how to channel my inner fire outwards. I mean, if it's not in the way I learned to do it, then I really don't understand how it's done, Xin Long"

The dragon told her not to think of the methods through which she had learned firebending, and Azula sighed. He stood next to her, ushering her to feel the fire, not just the volcano's but her own. To sense it… and then release it.

With that, the dragon roared blue flames into the air, charring the black grounds around the volcano. Azula frowned before taking a deep breath and releasing it as a smaller roar of fire of her own. Xin Long hooted in approval, saying he didn't know she could use her breath like he did, and Azula chuckled. Still, her amusement soon dimmed. It didn't feel any different than her usual fire.

"It's still not good enough" she muttered "It's…"

Xin Long grunted, letting her know it wasn't about it being good enough. Fire wasn't supposed to be perfect. Fire was supposed to be wild, untamed, free. It was supposed to be power, and it shouldn't be controlled. Volcanoes didn't control their fire. The lava erupted and rushed down the mountain, burning everything in its path without a care in the world. So Azula had to be like the volcanoes. She had to let her fire run free.

The notion of giving her fire freedom was surprising for the Princess. She hadn't thought that her fire was repressed in any way. But maybe Xin Long was right. If there was one thing she knew she did to her fire, it was keeping it in total control. And while there would be nothing wrong with that in fights, or in wars, it was wrong in ceremonial firebending.

Ceremonial firebending was supposed to be about cherishing fire in its purest, truest form. It was about showing Fenghuang the powers of his children, of making an offering of their fire for him in return for giving them life so long ago. It was an offering of the best flames the Fire Nation could present to their god. And it couldn't be controlled fire, it couldn't be combat fire. It had to be more than that.

Azula closed her eyes, wondering how to produce this pure form of firebending. She breathed deeply, sensing the warmth of the volcano before her, but now sensing Xin Long's fire as well, a smaller flame than the ones that lay in wait deep within the mountain. And right beside the dragon's fire dwelled another flame… a different flame. One she was so familiar with that she barely even registered its presence anymore. It was fire she had grown to take for granted, just as the one below the crater where her home lay.

She lifted a hand, stretching her fingers out and conjuring a ball of fire. Instead of being frustrated by how cold her flames felt, she simply felt. And as the blazes danced on her palm, she felt the volcano underneath. She felt the fire that was truer than hers… a fire she wanted to imitate, even if she didn't know how. But it was the answer, after all. Her fire had to become like the volcano's magma. Her fire had to be wild, free… imperfect.

And fun, Xin Long added, startling Azula. She turned to look at him, and the dragon gave her a mischievous grin. As much as fire wasn't something to be taken lightly, it also wasn't something to be taken that seriously. He loved to use fire for fun, and not for any given purpose. It was, simply, fun. Azula smiled at that.

"When was the last time I used firebending for fun…?" she wondered, but she didn't need to think too far to remember. Chasing Sokka with fire as they trained on the Barge had been rather fun. She had laughed heartily at that. And as she remembered that instance, she thought her fire hadn't felt as cold that day…

She closed her eyes again and simply decided to enjoy the sensation of bending fire. She didn't look, for she feared she might fail to make things work if she was aware of what she was doing. She didn't need to be. All she needed was to bend, and to bend for the sake of bending. The ceremony, her enemies, her father's expectations were forgotten. All that mattered now was her fire. All she had to do was let it out, allow it to cleanse her, to purify her, to bring her the same thrill she had felt back when she had first bent blue flames.

Once she opened her eyes, with a ball of flames in her hands, she found they felt slightly different from what they had been before. It was a start. She smiled and looked at Xin Long with relief, and the dragon let out his gurgling laugh as a response.

They spent hours near the volcano, and Azula continued to bend without taking up stances, or even thinking about the basics of firebending. Everything that had ever restricted her fire was forgotten if only for the time being, and she only continued to bend, even playing with Xin Long by tossing bolts of flames at him so he'd swallow them and release puffs of smoke afterwards. They unleashed blazes together, laughed and allowed themselves the freedom to wield their flames without any reservations.

By the end of the day, they returned to the Palace and Azula headed off to take a long bath, relaxing and cleaning up after a long day. As she lounged in the tub she procured another flame in her hands, a blue, dancing flame. It was less controlled than usual, albeit she was certain she could reel it back into her control if only she wanted to. But for now, her fire had to remain wild. Only this way would she come closer to understanding fire.

She progressed far too slowly for her liking during the next weeks, but at least there was progress to speak of. They always left the Capital, practicing in nearby uninhabited craters so as to not set anything on fire by accident. Xin Long was helpful, always helping her to forget about the ceremony if she thought about it too much. Her frustration over the matter wouldn't help her bend better for the occasion, after all.

"All the same, it's ridiculous" Azula said, throwing a fistful of flames into the air and frowning, just as Xin Long reminded her, for the umpteenth time, that stressing over the ceremony wouldn't help her in any way "Why is it that frustration doesn't allow me to bend well, but rage helps my fire feel warmer?"

Xin Long was confused by that, and Azula dropped her arm before explaining herself.

"Since I was a child, I'd use firebending as an outlet for whenever I was enraged about anything. It was rather helpful, and well… I haven't done it in a long time as it is, but I always felt rage made my fire feel stronger, though it also makes it unreliable. It was because I was too enraged to bend properly, let alone think properly, that the Rough Rhinos got the better of me back when I faced against them on my own"

Xin Long reminded her then that, if she had been bending properly, she might not have found him at all, and Azula smiled.

"Indeed. Emotional firebending has its benefits after all. Still, when it comes to combat, I'm certain it's better to bend the way I always do"

The dragon reminded her that she wasn't supposed to be training for combat at the moment, and Azula nodded.

"I know. And that's why I'm wondering if perhaps emotions might help me produce the proper firebending for the ceremony" she said "I've never wanted to rely on them, not for bending or anything else, but if my fire is cold, it might just be because of that. Perhaps I need to let myself be filled by anger to get this right?"

Xin Long crooked an eyebrow as Azula drew a deep breath and, instead of trying to keep her mind blank, she started to think of everything that had ever fueled her rage in the past. Memories came back to her, although most of them were sources of sadness rather than rage at this point.

Except for one.

She gritted her teeth, recalling an event long gone, from her teenage years. The condescending tone in which he had spoken, that moment when she had realized the only man to ever see her true worth was her father… the first time she had ever thought there was something in the Fire Nation that needed to be changed, direly.

She unleashed an array of flames, her anger fueling them and making them feel wild and powerful. Xin Long watched in amazement, despite he was somewhat intimidated by the anger nestling in his rider's heart right now.

Azula kicked the air and roared, but soon enough she felt drained. Soon enough, there wasn't enough anger to fuel her flames. She fell on her knees, gritting her teeth again. Long ago, the only thing she would have changed about the Fire Nation was the way women were subjected to unfair standards, forced to live lives they might not want to. Now, though… after everything she had seen during her travels, after she started to see her father in a different light, after so many things had changed, she couldn't quite help but feel like her initial purpose had grown fainter over time. She still wanted to become Fire Lord one day, and she still wanted to change what needed to change in the Fire Nation's society… but there was much more wrong about it than just this.

And all in all, growing to hate that man only over one conversation had been slightly childish of her. Perhaps she had seen his true nature that day, but even then, she had no reason to prove anything to him. She didn't have to show him how wrong he had been about her: her actions spoke for themselves already. Everything she had done as of late ought to make him change his mind, and acknowledge Azula for who she was. If her deeds didn't suffice, then nothing ever would. But she would make him swallow his words one day nonetheless, once she became Fire Lord…

"And to think I'll have to deal with him again soon" she muttered, shaking her head and standing up again, turning towards Xin Long "I'm not angry enough to actually make a rage outburst that lasts long enough, so it seems this isn't going to help either"

Xin Long asked if she needed to get angry and Azula smiled but shook her head.

"I really doubt that's going to be the answer, Xin-…"

Because, if that was really what she needed, she should go see Sokka. If someone knew how to irritate her, it was him, right?

Azula blushed when her dragon sent that thought her way. She shook her head, folding her arms across her chest.

"I doubt that's going to work. As much as he may annoy me at times, I… I really don't feel anger towards him anymore. If anything, I feel… the opposite of that"

Xin Long raised an eyebrow and prodded Azula's shoulder. She had wanted to let emotions influence her bending, but maybe rage wasn't the only one she could rely on. She was usually happy with Sokka, and being around him was fun for her. Maybe she would be able to make firebending fun and true if she was with him.

Azula sighed and rolled her eyes but Xin Long insisted. But as his thoughts scrolled through her mind, Azula noticed they were getting close to one month before the set date for the Slate's fight. She had been so focused on the ceremony that she had nearly forgotten she hadn't given Shoji an answer yet… and that she had to assess Sokka's progress in training before she could give him an answer, to begin with.

"Well, maybe it won't be any use for the ceremony" she mused "But I did have to go see him, sooner than later, it's true. I suppose I could do it now, if that makes you so happy"

Xin Long nodded enthusiastically and Azula raised an eyebrow as she moved towards his saddle. She figured she would stop by at the Palace for something to eat first, and afterwards the dragon could take her to see Sokka. He would be at Ty Lee's place, if the information she had was accurate… Xin Long said it didn't matter where he might be, though, for if he wasn't there, they would find him. Azula huffed, climbing on the saddle.

"You're so enthusiastic about this that I'm starting to suspect you just want to get rid of me for the day…" Azula said, raising an eyebrow as Xin Long got ready to take off. The dragon's subtle chuckling made her stare at him in disapproval "And here I thought the only one who could tolerate me no matter what would be you, dragon"

Xin Long began his ascent through the skies as he told his rider that she was wrong to assume he didn't want to be around her. He merely thought she needed a break from their constant practicing. She missed Sokka, and he as well missed flying freely across the skies and chasing after animals on the ground. Surely, if they rested for the day, they would be revitalized by the next one.

"Excuses, excuses" said Azula, shaking her head but smiling despite herself.

The thought of seeing Sokka again was compelling, though. It had been nearly a month since she had last been around him, and whether she liked it or not, his absence as of late was making her days harder to bear. She had grown used to being near him, more than she should have. She didn't know if Xin Long was right to think this would be any use, but if anything, she wanted to see Sokka once again.


	86. Chapter 86

Xin Long dropped Azula off at the Palace briefly, giving her a chance to have lunch before taking her to Ty Lee's house. The Princess ate in her chambers, and before leaving, she caught sight of her sword sitting on the shelf by the wall. She should test Sokka's skills herself, to make sure he would be able to stand his ground against the Millenium Dragon, right?

With Wolf's Bane swung over her back, she made her way towards the refuge. Xin Long was waiting for her, nibbling on charred bones, which were the only remains of the hippo-cow leg he had been brought for lunch. He promptly set aside the bone when his rider appeared, and he offered her his back right away. They took off without further ado, and soon enough, they were already at their destination.

Xin Long descended on the street before Ty Lee's house, walking towards the entrance and stopping a few steps short from reaching it. Azula breathed deeply before getting off the dragon's saddle, sliding a hand through his soft mane.

"Make sure not to eat anyone's cows or chickens, will you?" she said, and Xin Long chuckled, letting Azula know he wouldn't put himself past such recklessness "Oh, don't worry, I wouldn't put you past it either"

Xin Long smiled and groaned, and Azula laughed softly.

"Well, then, I'll let you know when to come fetch me" she said "Good luck with your day off from me"

Xin Long pressed his head against her chest, and Azula hugged him briefly. The dragon chuckled again before moving away from her and taking off to the sky swiftly once again.

Azula watched the figure rise through the air, admiring her partner's elegant flight. She took another deep breath and turned towards the house now, wondering just what she would find inside it.

She knocked on the door and only had to wait a brief moment before someone opened it. Azula's heart sank immediately when she saw who was behind the door.

"Mai…" she muttered, as the girl's eyes widened.

"Azula?" she asked "Now that's a surprise. Why are you here? Weren't you busy with your ceremony?"

"I was, but… I thought I'd come check on Sokka. Well, rather, Xin Long was the one who told me to do it, and indeed, I'd better do it because we had agreed on giving him a month to train before accepting the challenge, and the month is up by now, so…" Azula wasn't quite sure why she was talking as much as she was, but it took her a moment to fall silent. Her gaze didn't meet Mai's until then "Mai, I… I believe you deserve an apology"

"You believe that?" Mai asked, somewhat amused "Really?"

"I wasn't exactly on my right mind when we last met, and I realize I might have gone too far with the way I treated you, and the things I said. So… sorry. I didn't mean to be so irrational, let alone towards you"

Mai raised an eyebrow, looking at Azula somewhat judgmentally before her gaze softened. She smiled a little and shrugged.

"I know you well enough to know you didn't want to be so harsh. Whatever was going through your mind triggered your emotions, which always leads you to outbursts towards whoever is nearest…"

"You really have me figured out, don't you?" Azula asked, an eyebrow twitching as Mai smiled.

"As I said, I know you well enough, Azula" she said, and Azula rolled her eyes, but smiled "It'd be shameful if I couldn't read you by now"

"Well, even so, I am sorry" said Azula, dropping her hands on either side of her body in a gesture of surrender.

"As you should be" said Mai, smiling and ushering Azula inside with a jerk of her head "But I think we can put that behind us by now, can't we?"

"If you'd be that kind…" said Azula, stepping into the house upon Mai's insistence "How has the training gone, then? Has it been any use?"

"Well, you'll be the one to say if it has or hasn't been" said Mai, as they crossed the vestibule and entered the living room, from where they would head out into the garden "I'd say he has progressed, but it's up to you to decide it on the long run"

"He told me you'd be teaching him new fighting techniques" said Azula "Which is fine, but by now he needs to train with firebenders… which I promised I'd do something about, but the matter slipped from my mind completely. So I guess for the next month he'll have to…"

"He has been training with a firebender alright" said Mai, crossing the door into the veranda "You can see it for yourself"

Azula was confused at first, but she soon understood the meaning of her friend's words.

The first thing she saw was an array of fire unleashed through a pair of dao swords. She noticed who was bending such fire soon enough, and she was actually astounded to find her brother's bending was stronger than she had ever seen it before. Perhaps the blades were helping enhance his firebending… but still, Zuko? Sokka hadn't said anything about Zuko helping him, or had he?

Her gaze turned away from her brother now, though, and towards the target of his fire. She raised her eyebrows when she caught sight of Sokka. His clothes underneath his armor were completely different, than anything he'd usually wear. His hands held his two favorite weapons tightly, and his face was contorted in a stern frown as he calculated his movements carefully. He evaded the array of fire, moving with startling agility around the flames and darting forward fast. Zuko swung one of his swords down, producing more fire through the movement, but all Sokka had to do was leap to the side to evade the fire before lunging towards him, attempting to stab his rival.

Zuko parried the attack, and Sokka retaliated by slamming down his boomerang, but now Zuko's other sword swung towards Sokka's neck. He had to bend backwards to avoid being beheaded by the sharp blade, and he was only lucky not to get burned by the blazes coating the metal.

Zuko jumped back, knowing Sokka was at his most dangerous at short range. His sword was a fearsome weapon, and it had given Zuko quite a few cuts during the past weeks. Sokka was struggling to regain his balance, though, and once he did he tossed his boomerang powerfully… but off-target completely. Zuko frowned, for Sokka usually wasn't that careless with his projectile weapon, but assuming it was merely because he had lost his balance. And now that he only had one weapon, Zuko had the advan-…

Before the word could form in his head, the boomerang struck Zuko on the nape of his neck. And a powerful pang of pain burst through his spine, forcing him to drop both his swords at once when his arms became unresponsive.

"Shit!" he said, gritting his teeth as Sokka grinned wildly, leaping forward to take his chance to defeat Zuko. The Prince stumbled back, trying to avoid Sokka's sword and boomerang, which he had caught again just an instant ago.

"Gotcha!" Sokka exclaimed, as Zuko's nervous backwards walking caused him to trip and fall on the ground, one hand falling on a sharp rock and drawing a brand new cut across his palm. Luckily, the chi-blocking kept him from feeling any pain, but he didn't fail to notice he had gotten another injury at Sokka's expenses.

"Sokka!" he shouted, but he could barely move anymore, with his torso immobile as it was.

The gladiator only stopped moving once his sword was pointing at his opponent's forehead. Sokka snickered, an arrogant grin on his face.

"And that's how it's done"

"You… ow!" Zuko groaned, struggling to move "I'm hurt, you idiot!"

"What, now you're going to start whining because I chi-blocked you, huh?" Sokka asked, looking at Zuko with malice and amusement "Again proving how much of a sore loser you are!"

"Fine, I'm sore and I lost! Now how about you stop being an idiot about it and help me out here?!" he exclaimed, as Sokka chuckled.

"Must I, really?" he asked.

"Sokka, please" said Suki, who had been sitting at the veranda, watching the fight unfold attentively. She moved towards Zuko, helping him to a sitting position as Zuko groaned "If you're not going to help, at least give him a break, will you?"

"Quit pampering him, Suki. He's a grown man, he ought to look after his own butt" Sokka said, proudly. Suki rolled her eyes and Zuko glared at Sokka.

"Well?" Mai asked, looking at Azula, who still seemed rather surprised by the way events had unfolded "What's the official verdict?"

Only when Mai spoke did Haru and Ty Lee, who had been sitting at the veranda as well, watching the fight, turned to look at the new arrival. Azula had been about to give Mai an answer Mai's question when Ty Lee, as ever, squealed:

"Azula!"

Sokka's cocky mockery of Zuko stopped abruptly as soon as he heard her name being spoken aloud. He turned towards the veranda, his heart drumming on his chest. Ty Lee would only say the Princess's name like that if she was around, right…?

When their eyes met again after two weeks, time seemed to stand still. Azula's heart quickened its pace as well once she looked upon him, and it dawned on her just how much she had missed him. Just by finding his gaze she could forget about everything that had weighed upon her recently. It was a momentary respite, for certain, but one she had needed more than she had realized.

Sokka's eyes seemed to gleam as he took in his sponsor's figure, and soon enough he started smiling. Beaming, rather. The look of utter joy in his face was such that everyone, Azula included, was surprised by such enthusiastic reaction coming from him.

"Azula…" he said, with a thin voice at first before exclaiming "Azula!"

The Princess's eyes widened as he approached, dropping his weapons as he ran towards her, still with that ridiculously large smile on his face. Azula gulped and stepped back on the veranda, painfully aware of everyone around them… but Sokka wasn't, at all. His surroundings had gone forgotten as soon as she had appeared.

And thus everyone watched in utter disbelief as he slung his arms around her and hugged her tightly. Azula's face flushed, and her wide eyes showed just the extent of her panic. He was crazy. He HAD to let go, this instant! But he kept hugging her tighter, laughing happily as he held her in his arms.

"W-what the…? What do you think you're doing, you brainless hog-monkey?!" Azula exclaimed, shoving him away from her without as much strength as she should have exerted.

"You're here, Azula!" he exclaimed, beaming still even if she had pushed him as she had "I thought you'd never come but you're here! Ahaha, you're here!"

"Why, yes, thank you for stating the obvious, I AM here, but that's no reason for you to…!" she started, her face still flushed as she tried to find a way to belittle his gesture, but none came to mind.

"Of course it is! I've missed you!" he exclaimed, lounging for another hug, but this time she managed to stop him, a hand catching his forehead and keeping him at a distance.

"Quit it!" she commanded, but he continued to wave his arms around quite foolishly.

"I won't! Azulaaaaa!" he said, still smiling no matter if she was rejecting him as openly as she was.

"Okay… this is weird" Haru said, staring at the scene with wide eyes. Ty Lee had reacted just as he had at first, but now she was smiling as well, staring at the couple with amazement.

"Oh, they're adorable, Haru!"

Mai was startled by Sokka's gesture of affection also, but now she was mostly amused. If she still had any doubts regarding why Azula had acted as she had during the last months, they were all dispelled as she witnessed the exchange between gladiator and sponsor.

Naturally, the one who was most startled was Zuko. He still had a hard time understanding the nature of the relationship between his sister and her gladiator, but now he was starting to think he didn't want to understand it at all. This was a terrifying sight to behold.

"Okay, he's got guts, if anything" Suki said, staring at the scene with Zuko's arm slung around her shoulder.

"She… she didn't set him on fire" Zuko muttered "That's not right"

Suki smiled and stood up again, pulling Zuko up with her. By the time they reached the steps that led up to the veranda, Azula seemed to be at the ends of her patience.

"Enough!" she bellowed, and Sokka stopped struggling against her hand, albeit he still had that goofy grin on his face "What the hell is wrong with you?!

"What? You can't blame a guy for missing his sponsor, can you?" he said, smiling.

"Why, I don't blame you indeed, your life must be unbearably bleak without me, but you still had no right to do… that!" she exclaimed, flustered.

"It was just a reunion hug, woman, no need to make such a fuss" he said, looking at her with amusement.

"I don't do reunion hugs, in case you haven't noticed" Azula growled.

"It's true" said Zuko, startling Azula. She knew they weren't alone, but only now did she remember just who comprised their company. And the blood drained her face as she started to calculate whether or not her life would be ruined now that Zuko had seen Sokka hug her… "I came back after ten years at sea and there was no hugging involved whatsoever"

"Oh, so now it turns out you wanted a hug from me?" Azula asked her brother raising an eyebrow and Zuko actually chuckled, surprising her.

"No, thanks. I still appreciate my life, unlike this dumbass" he said, jerking his head towards Sokka as he climbed up to the veranda.

"Oh, sure, I'm a dumbass" Sokka said, pouting and rolling his eyes before focusing on Azula again, and once more he was beaming happily "Still, Azula, you have to see everything I've learned! The past weeks have been boring without you, true…"

"Gee. That's nice to know" said Haru, glaring at Sokka sideways but he was ignored.

"But they've been really helpful regardless" said Sokka, smiling "See, look at this!"

He shed his armor quickly, showing Azula the clothes he was wearing underneath. Clothes that were styled in Fire Nation fashion, more so than anything Azula had ever seen Sokka wear.

"Ty Lee helped me get these" he said "It's flame-retardant clothing! So the Millenium Dragon will have to think twice before trying to set me on fire!"

"Huh. Good to know" said Azula, blinking a few times.

"And she also taught me chi-blocking!" said Sokka "See, Zuko can't move his arms because I chi-blocked him. And Mai has been helping me improve my aim, so now I can chi-block with my boomerang! How cool is that?!"

"Cool, huh…?" Azula said, looking at Sokka warily. She wasn't at all used to seeing him this excited. He was like a child showing off all the toys he had gotten as birthday presents that year.

"And Suki has helped me with hand-to-hand combat, I even beat her the other day!" he said, proudly "As for Zuko, he helps with training against firebenders, which we all know is what I need most. He's not that tough just with the fire, but when he's using his swords too he's a much bigger challenge. I figure I could do better if I had two swords myself or so, but even then, I've done well against him, I think"

"Well, I'd hope so" said Azula, with a smile "If you couldn't make a stand against Zuko, the Millennium Dragon would destroy you"

"No need to worry, then, because I can stand up to him alright" said Sokka, smiling "Anyhow, for how long were you there? Did you watch our fight?"

"Just the last part of it, but it was quite enlightening" said Azula "I didn't expect you to become that efficient in a matter of weeks"

"It's been nearly a month by now, I think" he said, fitting his armor back on "But yeah, I've gotten way better just with this. It's a good thing I'm a quick learner, huh?"

"Yeah, it sure is. But you probably should get back to training, don't you think, Sokka?" Ty Lee interrupted, looking at him questioningly.

"Uh, well, I would but Zuko is kind of useless right now" said Sokka, pointing at his previous opponent, who was currently sitting at the veranda as Suki looked at his hand "So I guessed I could take a break, right? I mean, since Azula is here…"

"I'd rather you don't take a break, actually" said Azula, crossing her arms over her chest "I'd like to see the full extent of your abilities by now, even if just against Haru or so"

"Maybe he could fight against me and Haru at the same time!" Ty Lee suggested, excitedly, surprising Azula.

"Is that right? You think he can take both of you?"

"Well, the Millennium Dragon ought to be stronger than the two of us, right, Haru?" she asked her gladiator, who stood up and cracked his knuckles.

"It would be my pleasure to fight him with you" he said, smiling.

"We'll make sure to give Sokka a real challenge" said Ty Lee, proudly, and Zuko huffed.

"As if I hadn't been one…" he grumbled, and Suki chuckled.

"Oh, well" said Sokka, pouting a little and looking at Azula sideways before smiling "Then keep a keen eye on the fight, Princess! You'll see just how good I am now, mark my words"

"Should I, now?" Azula said, smiling as well.

Sokka chuckled and entered the garden again, with Ty Lee and Haru this time. Azula stood where she was, somewhat relieved nobody had pressed on with the matter of Sokka's hug, as Suki talked quietly to Zuko about his numb hand at the other side of the veranda.

"Well, then, I guess it's time for me to take my leave" Mai said suddenly, and Azula turned back towards her just as Sokka was ready to face Ty Lee and Haru simultaneously.

"You're going?" she asked.

"I always do around this time. It's not right to leave the servants watching over Yuudai all day" she said, smiling "I'll see you again if you decide to drop by once more. If not, then I guess I'll watch you when you perform your ceremony"

Azula nodded uneasily at that, giving her friend a weak smile. Mai grinned back and placed a hand on her shoulder before turning towards Zuko and Suki and saying goodbye to them as well.

Soon enough, the fight between Ty Lee, Haru and Sokka began. It wasn't as fast-paced as the previous one, for it greatly involved Haru pulling up thick earthen shields to protect himself and his sponsor from Sokka's black sword. This frustrated Sokka, naturally, but he didn't run out of patience, despite himself, as he tried to figure an efficient way to defeat them.

"… I should be able to tend to it, but I have to find the first aid kit. I know Ty Lee left it somewhere, but I'm not quite sure where. So just sit tight and wait here, okay?" Azula heard Suki tell Zuko.

"Alright, alright" he said, nodding weakly.

Suki walked into the house again as Sokka dodged a few dangerous jabs by Ty Lee's hand. Azula sensed her leave the veranda, but she didn't pay her much mind. Part of her was still uneasy around the girl, but at the same time she wasn't as hostile towards her as before. Hopefully, she'd learn to grow used to her presence in time.

She had expected to continue watching the combat calmly after that, but she was surprised when her brother called out her name.

"Azula?" Zuko said, somewhat nervously. She looked at him from the corner of her eye, an eyebrow raised. Did he want to pester her about the hug just a moment ago? She sure expected him to. He would be either too foolish or too noble not to "You can sit down, I mean… if you want to"

"I'm well aware of that, thank you" she replied, before looking at Zuko fully now "Your arms are still unresponsive?"

"Yeah" he replied "Which I guess is good because I can barely feel the cut on my hand. But it's not that good because it feels… well, very unpleasant"

"Chi-blocking often does" said Azula "Ty Lee's great idea to demonstrate it to me and Mai when she first learned how to do it was to chi-block both of us. Only when we were limp on the ground did she seem to notice what she'd done"

Zuko chuckled, and Azula sighed at the memory, but smiled anyways.

"Sounds like Ty Lee, alright" he said "Still… well, do as you wish. I was just saying…"

"You're talking a lot to me today, considering what you're usually like around me" Azula said, raising an eyebrow and looking at him curiously "May I inquire as to why?"

"W-why would there have to be a reason?" Zuko asked, flustered, and Azula shrugged weakly.

"Isn't there always one?"

"Well, was there one when I gave you the dagger…?" he muttered under his breath, and Azula frowned. She hadn't spoken with him about that yet.

"I'd like to think there was, in all honesty" she said, startling Zuko "Because if you're going to start doing nice things spontaneously, I'm going to have to be far more wary of you than I've been up to date"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zuko asked, frowning.

"Well, merely that if you do enough things to get to someone's good side, you'll earn yourself a few benefits eventually. You could get the better of someone by doing that" said Azula, shrugging.

"And you really think that's what I'm after?" Zuko asked.

"Well, now you say it, I doubt it" she said, smiling "You're too righteous, in your own way. You don't know how to manipulate people, which I guess is a good thing in itself. We have more than enough manipulative people in our family as it is"

"Really?" Zuko asked, grimacing. From what he knew… the only manipulative one was her. Azula chuckled.

"Why, yes, I'm not the only one who does that, whether you believe it or not" she said, and Zuko blushed at how easily she had read him. He sighed heavily and shook his head.

"If you say so" he said, dropping his head against the wall.

"However… you did bring up the dagger" Azula noted, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Zuko frowned "And whether or not you wanted to get to my good side through that, you still gave it to me for a reason. Or are you going to pretend otherwise?"

"I… well, it's really not a big deal" he said, frowning "I just gave it to you because it was your birthday. Did you question everyone who gave you a present that day? I figure not, so why are you questioning me?"

"Because it is you, Zuko. And it wasn't just any present" Azula said, turning towards him and staring at him with inquisitive eyes "So…?"

Zuko sighed and shook his head, looking unusually bashful. Despite herself, Azula decided to approach him, sitting down beside him, showing she wasn't about to leave today without an answer.

"Fine, then. I'll just wait until you decide to talk" she said, as he kept his mouth shut. Zuko sighed heavily once more. Haru and Ty Lee were currently covered by a dome of earth that Sokka was trying to shatter with his sword, but whenever he cut through some of the earth, more would burst to take its place. One of the blocks actually captured Space Sword's blade, and if Sokka hadn't pulled it out quickly, it would have fallen inside that small dome, rendering Sokka nigh helpless.

"Alright, I… I guess I have a few things I've wanted to talk about for a while, but I hadn't found the right moment to do it" he said "I thought maybe giving you the dagger would be a start, but you just figured I was after something…"

"Didn't I already say you're not the kind of man to try and manipulate others?" said Azula "Whatever you were trying to accomplish with the dagger isn't really what I dreaded it would be"

"No, surely. Because I just wanted to…" he said, but the words failed him. He sighed and shook his head, and Azula raised an eyebrow "Well, really, we're just… we're brother and sister. And we're a mess"

"True. I'd accepted that long ago" Azula said, shrugging "What of it?"

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Zuko retorted "I mean… aren't siblings supposed to get along?"

"Says who?" Azula asked, smirking "Siblings who get along have boring childhoods, I'm sure of it"

"How would you know?" Zuko asked, looking at her in disbelief and she shrugged.

"I have a very active imagination, I suppose" she said, and Zuko grimaced.

"Well, I… I still don't think we should be as we are" he muttered "I just… never really considered that we could be anything but what we are. I'd taken for granted that you'd spend your entire life making me miserable, and that I had to be wary of you because I'd never know what you'd pull on me next. And… well, it took a punch to the jaw for me to start considering that maybe things weren't just the way I was seeing them"

"You're saying… what Sokka did in Ember Island?" Azula asked.

"I didn't get why he'd punched me at first" Zuko said "And I was angry at him. How couldn't he see I was in pain? But… but later I realized you were in pain as well. And you've been in other regards. I mean… you were sick that time when you fought the White Lotus, and yet you fought them, right?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I always thought you were perfect" Zuko said, and Azula froze "I guess what you did against the White Lotus proves otherwise. It's not so much because you're perfect, which I guess you are in many ways, but still… you weren't in your best shape that day, and you still fought with everything you had. You just… you don't know how to stop, I suppose. You're a bit crazy like that. The only reason you succeed and overcome impossible odds constantly is because you take risks, and once you take them, you do everything you can to make things go your way. Right?"

"I guess?" Azula said, her eyes widening as she looked at Zuko worriedly "What exactly are you getting at, though?"

"Well… that I'd always thought you were incapable of emotions, and feelings of any kind, and… and that night, I realized I was wrong. It took me a conversation with Mai to realize what I was overseeing, everything I was taking for granted about you. I… I've envied you for a long time. In many ways, I wanted to be you just so I could be the superior sibling for once. That envy stopped me from seeing you for who you really were… and well, you're my sister. You're mean, dangerous and frightening at times, but you're still my sister. And as much as our history so far is nothing short of awful, I wanted to change that for the better. It's… it's why I gave you the dagger. I thought it could help us build a truce or so, after what happened in Ember Island…"

"So you want to change our relationship" Azula asked, dumbfounded, staring into the horizon now. Haru had created a tunnel just a moment earlier, from where Ty Lee had burst and nearly chi-blocked Sokka, but he managed to evade her "Do you think it's that simple, really? You can just say that you want us to get along now, and with that, everything is left in the past?"

"Well, I'm willing to try" Zuko said, looking at her sideways "Look… I know I haven't been the best older brother. I hate to admit it, but you've scared the hell out of me since we were kids. Eventually I turned that fear to bitterness, and I wanted to change things, so you'd be the one who was scared of me. But heh, that never worked out. You're too darned clever for me"

"You'd do well to remember that" Azula said, looking at Zuko with unease "But I guess I'm not as clever as I thought. Because, for the life of me, I don't know what you're expecting out of me. I'd help you if I could, but… how am I supposed to do that? You want me to stop teasing you, is it? Or do you want me to hug you because I haven't done that since… well, honestly, I can't remember the last time I did. Surely Mother forced me to do it, if anything"

"Surely" said Zuko, chuckling "And I probably kept telling you to get away from me"

"Indeed" said Azula "That's how our relationship has been all along, after all. I'm well used to it by now, though…"

"You might be, but I don't want to be" said Zuko, stern again "Because… I'm tired, Azula. I'm tired of thinking of you as an enemy, as someone who keeps standing in my way to… to what, really? The Throne?"

Azula froze at that. She looked at Zuko warily now.

"We've been fighting over who's our father's heir for longer than I care to remember" Zuko said, shaking his head "And what's the point of doing that now? He's never going to accept me, and you're a thousand times a better heir than me anyways. You can keep to his expectations, while I just keep failing him. And heck, if I stop thinking about this stupid competition we have over the Throne, life starts to be… well, better, really. Once I forget about that crown, I can stop thinking of you as a rival that needs to be crushed so I can get my birthright back. And… by now I just want this to stop for good. I'm… I'm really tired of this, Azula. It's pathetic that I'm at my worst when I'm around you, or when I'm trying to please our father. That's when I want to be at my best, but I'm not. I'm just thinking about how to make him proud, without caring about what I have to do to get there. And I hate it. I mean, Mai asked me if I'd be willing to kill you if that meant earning our father's favor"

Azula's eyes widened at that. She wouldn't fall before her brother, not in a fair combat, but the revelation was surprising all the same. All the more seeing how Ozai had once talked about Zuko's possible death as something he would hardly care for…

"But as I thought about it, the more the idea revolted me. I… I don't want to fight you anymore, Azula" he said, looking at her earnestly "I know you're still bound to keep teasing me, because, I mean, that's you. You love to do that to everyone you know, and I guess I have to live with it. But I don't want to live with the rest of it. I don't want… well, to be your enemy. Father wants nothing to do with me, Mother is gone… of our family, you're the only one I have left. And I'd rather not let that go to waste"

"Well, you still have Iroh, don't you?" Azula asked, and Zuko nodded.

"Still, I meant from our side of the family" he said "I mean, I look back at the old days and… and the four of us were happy once. Maybe it wasn't perfect, but it worked. One day it just stopped working, I guess, but… but I'd like to hold on to the good memories. It's better that way"

"Maybe it is" said Azula, dropping her head against the wall as well "All the same, Zuzu, this is… well, weird, at a lack of a better word. I mean, I'm not quite displeased by your wishes to get along with me, but it's still somewhat easier said than done. You can't just expect me to forget our past… heck, you're the first one who shouldn't forget our past. I've tormented you since we were children and you're going to forgive me for it all of sudden just because…?"

"Because I'm sick of living in the past?" Zuko asked "Yeah, I think I'm willing to forgive you if it means I get to move on. I'm done with feeling like a misfit at home just because the world moved on while I wasn't around. If I don't catch up, chances are I never will. And… well, I think this is the first thing I can do to catch up. I know you think it's weird, and you probably think it's wrong, but…"

"I don't think it's wrong, I think it's idealistic. Too idealistic, perhaps" said Azula, sighing "And how do you hope to accomplish this? What do you want me to do, stop tormenting you?"

"Well, I'd rather you don't torment me anymore, sure" said Zuko, smiling "But that's up to you, I guess. I… I don't know what you want to do. I'm not going to force you to act any differently. Just know that… that I will. Because I'm really not up for this anymore. Every single time you earned honors I couldn't obtain, I just hated myself for it and I hated you for being so perfect. This time, though, when I heard of the ceremony I was surprised, and after a while I just hoped you'd do it well. But I guess that's a given. I mean, it's you, so you'll get it right"

"You'd think it's that simple…" Azula muttered, and Zuko frowned.

"What, it's not? How hard can it be? You just perform some routine and…"

"Naturally, you'd see it that way" Azula said, with a weak smile "Well, it's not quite much more than a routine, sure. But I'm still working on it"

"Really? I thought you were here today because you were done with it" Zuko said, surprised.

"Not quite. Not yet, anyways" said Azula.

"Well… too bad, then" said Zuko, looking at her worriedly "Still, you're going to blow everyone away with that ceremony. You always do"

"Or try to, at least" said Azula, shrugging "But, uh… if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is fire for you, Zuko?"

"Uh… fire?" Zuko asked, surprised.

"It's just a question, nothing more" she said, raising her arms in gesture of innocence.

"Sure" said Zuko, smiling a little "Nothing ever is with you, but…"

"Ah, so it turns out you can give me a dagger and I shouldn't question it, but when I ask you something without any ulterior motives, you think…?"

"Okay, okay, sorry!" Zuko said, laughing a little as Azula glared at him.

"Way to show you want our relationship to improve, Zuzu, really" she said.

"I just don't know what to tell you, I mean, it's the element I bend" he said, shrugging "It gives me strength, even if at times it feels like it doesn't make me strong enough. When I was younger it scared me for a time, until… well, until Father told me I shouldn't fear my own fire. He explained it wasn't going to hurt me unless I let it. So… I guess I've been fighting my own fire, in a sense, for a time. I've tried to get better at bending it, but it gets hard at times. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Azula blinked a few times, staring at Zuko in surprised.

"You fight your fire? Really?" she asked again, and Zuko scowled.

"What of it?" he said, and Azula smiled.

"That you shouldn't do that, is all" she said "Fighting it means you're still afraid of it. All the same as you don't want to be afraid of me, you can't be afraid of your own flames. You need to welcome them. They really aren't going to burn you, not your own flames anyways. You just have to start using fire as less of a weapon that can backfire on you, and more as a part of yourself. It might become easier to bend it that way"

"Y-you think?" Zuko said, startled by her advice. He had never gone to his sister for firebending advice. He hadn't expected her to hand any out to him randomly, either.

"It could help" she said, shrugging "Still, I guess you use your emotions to boost your fire, don't you?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Being angry helps" he said, and Azula nodded "Which is why I can use fire well enough while dealing with your slave. Few people make me as angry as he does"

Azula smiled at that, watching Sokka with a little less anxiety than before. Now that she had spoken with Zuko, she found she wasn't as bothered by what Sokka had done earlier. It was easier to feel at ease about it when she had other things in mind. Ty Lee was attempting to chi-block Sokka while Haru trapped him between walls of earth. Sokka managed to evade the attacks, despite the overwhelming odds. It truly surprised Azula to notice how agile he had become. He had always been fast, but now his movements were much quicker than Azula had ever seen them.

"He's really an idiot" Zuko said, as Sokka made a feint of moving towards Ty Lee, but instead he lounged at Haru "But I think I understand why you chose him as your gladiator by now"

"It speaks well of you that you have" Azula replied "In any case, Zuko... About what you were saying"

"Yeah?"

"I can't say I share your concerns about our relationship" she admitted "We both know I was almost always on the winning end of it, so it never bothered me as much as it might have bothered you. Still... You did get on my nerves more often than not ever since you returned. I could understand your plight, in a sense, but I didn't feel like comforting you in your pain. I... I guess I was somewhat pleased nobody would comfort you anymore. Mother always did, so I thought that if you were left to deal with this on your own you'd find your own path rather than going to anyone else for help or support. So you weren't a great brother, true, but... I'm not a good sister either, and I'm well aware of it. I've relished in it for years, actually. We've both been waiting constantly for the other to fall so we can take all the glory for ourselves... it has never mattered that we're siblings. All along we've fought each other, and in all honesty I find it hard for that to change for the better now"

"So you think I'm just wasting my time?"

"I didn't say that" Azula pointed out "I merely meant that it's hard to put twenty years of resentment behind us. I suppose it can be done, but it will take a while. I just hope you don't expect me to become the nicest sister in the world because that would be unbearably boring..."

"Boredom isn't that bad at times, you know" said Zuko, smirking.

"Right" she said, sarcastically "The point is, Zuko, that I'm not going to become a perfect sister for you, just like you're never going to become the perfect brother for me. If you want our relationship to improve, you need to understand that. We need to accept the other for who he is, without wanting him to change to suit our ideal of what a sibling should be like"

"Huh, I guess so" said Zuko, nodding.

"So what I can do for you is accept you for who you are" Azula said, folding her arms across her chest "Without trying to make you be someone you're not. In return, you ought to do the same. And if that helps us get along somehow, you just might get what you wanted"

"Don't you want it too, though?" Zuko asked, and Azula smiled and shrugged.

"Well, it's too much fun to annoy you, and I'm afraid you really want this just so I stop doing it, but you're not going to get that lucky…"

"It's not just about that" said Zuko, rolling his eyes and Azula smirked.

"Then it is, partly, about that?"

Zuko scowled at her as she laughed. As ever, she was messing with him… but for once, he could stop scowling and smile as well, shaking his head in disbelief.

"No doubt you're never going to change" he said, smiling "But I'll just get used to it…"

"Well, you've had plenty of time to get used to it by now" said Azula, raising her eyebrows.

Zuko would have replied to her, but his eyes left Azula's when Suki returned to the veranda, bringing first aid equipment with her. Azula raised an eyebrow and followed her with her gaze as the girl approached, crouching at Zuko's right as she set down a small box.

"Still feeling numb?" Suki asked, and Zuko grimaced.

"A little, but it's starting to wear off by now. Not pleasant" he said, and Suki smiled.

"Yeah, I noticed yesterday" she said, and Azula looked at her inquisitively.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Oh, when Sokka defeated me yesterday he chi-blocked one of my arms" she said "I'd never been chi-blocked before then, and I sure don't want to be chi-blocked again"

"Ever since Sokka learned how to do it, he's been resorting to it non-stop" said Zuko, rolling his eyes, and Azula turned to watch the fight again, her eyes narrow.

"Really, now?"

Just then, Sokka's boomerang cut through the air and struck Ty Lee's lower back, and her numbed legs gave way under her weight. Haru jumped towards her protectively as soon as he heard her groan in pain, and soon enough he had joined her on the ground, for Sokka had approached him rapidly. He tripped Haru with a swift movement, making him fall hard on his back, and before he could find his bearings there was a sword at his throat. Haru glared at Sokka and groaned in defeat as Ty Lee whined only a few feet away from him. Sokka chuckled and turned towards Azula proudly.

"Hehe! Did you see that?!" he asked, and she smiled "I didn't even break a sweat!"

"Not true, but you did it indeed" Azula said, nodding "Not bad. But now you have to help them, don't you?"

Sokka's enthusiasm froze then as he turned towards Haru and Ty Lee. The earthbender was rubbing his back and struggling to stand up. Once he was on his feet he tried to help Ty Lee.

"Well, what do you know, he can beat those two at once now" said Suki, her eyes wide "That's new"

"Maybe he's just trying way harder than usual to impress Azula" said Zuko, smirking as Suki's attention returned towards cleaning his wound. Despite Zuko's attempt to irritate his sister, Azula kept her composure.

"He should try indeed" she said "Unless he proves he really can stand his ground against a firebender of high caliber, he's not going to the Slate, no matter how hard he trains. If he wants to convince me that he can do it, he'd better show me the full extent of his abilities"

"You should fight him yourself, then" Suki suggested, bandaging the numb hand as Zuko started squirming. He was starting to regain the feeling of his limbs "That ought to… oh, sorry. Is that too tight, Zuko?"

"N-no, it's fine" he said, smiling weakly "I'm just not as numb anymore, is all…"

"Such bad timing, just when I'm in the middle of this" she said, laughing softly "Oh, well. Bear with it, alright?"

"I'll do what I can" said Zuko "But you don't think I can bend like this, do you?"

"Well, not while you're chi-blocked, you can't" said Suki, matter-of-factly "You'll have to find out later on"

"You still have your other hand, though, it's not a matter of urgency" said Azula, and Zuko frowned.

"I have to fight your gladiator, don't I? I can't do it with just one hand"

"Well, if things are as they look, the fighting time should be over by now" said Azula, surprising both Zuko and Suki "He needs a different kind of training, one to help him brave through the conditions of the Slate"

"If you're talking about the extreme heat, Zuko has been trying to do some of that" said Suki "He heats up the ground, scorches it, and Sokka has to keep his footing despite the extremely hot grounds. The metal platform in the Slate will heat up a lot, so this should help…"

"It sounds like it, but it's not all you can do" said Azula "For instance, Haru could create an earth or glass dome, and Sokka sits within it. You'd heat it up from the outside, Zuko. This way, he would start building his temperature endurance for good. Someone could even fight him inside the contraption, if Haru makes it big enough"

"Huh…" said Zuko, raising his one eyebrow.

"You wouldn't need both hands just to heat that up" said Azula, shrugging and Zuko nodded.

"That could work indeed. Still, I hope this wound heals sooner than later" he said, looking at his newly bandaged hand.

"Don't overdo things and it surely will" said Suki, smiling at him before gathering the first aid kit and heading inside the house again to put it away.

Zuko watched her go, a happy grin on his face. And Azula watched her brother in turn, a pleased smirk on hers. Once Zuko noticed the way Azula was watching him he started blushing.

"W-what are you looking at me like that for?!"

"Nothing, nothing. I'm just impressed by the developments, is all" said Azula, shrugging "I do hope things work out well for you, Zuzu. She seems to like you"

"What are you talking a-…?" he started, before freezing in the middle of his denial "Y-you think she likes me? I mean… you do?"

"It's not that hard to tell" said Azula, grinning. It hadn't been hard indeed. When she saw Suki jump to help Zuko, and roll her eyes at Sokka's ridiculous comments, everything she had dreaded about the girl seemed to disappear in thin air. She still didn't quite understand how had things developed this way, but she certainly wasn't going to complain about it "I'm still baffled by how it happened, but if this makes you happy, by all means, enjoy yourself… just, don't do anything stupid, alright?"

"Stupid like what?" Zuko asked, before shaking his head "W-whatever you're talking about anyways, it's not like… like anything can really happen, right? I mean, I'm a Prince, and she's a slave, so…"

"Heh. Indeed you are a Prince" said Azula, trying not to sound too bitter as she spoke "But a Prince with a father who doesn't keep tabs on what his son does. You could knock her up for all he cares and you'd face no hardships, or well, barely any hardships for it"

"Because I'm a Prince, or because Father doesn't give a damn about me?" Zuko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Princes don't need to be chaste and pure so they can get married" Azula said, raising her eyebrows, and Zuko froze. That was true. He'd never heard of pressures of the sort weighing on him… "Just something to think about, I guess. Still, don't do anything you'll regret, Zuzu. If you do like her, you'll know better than to put her in a troublesome situation"

"Well, yeah. Why would I do anything I'd regret…?" he grumbled, blushing weakly.

His question went unanswered, though, for Sokka was done helping Ty Lee and Haru onto the veranda. The girl's legs were regaining their strength faster than Zuko's arms, since Sokka's attack had been less accurate on her body than it had been on Zuko's.

"I get it, I need to keep practicing. The longer the chi's blocked, the better" Sokka was saying, as Ty Lee was letting him know his block on her hadn't been efficient enough "Still, I won and that's what counts, right?"

"It should be" Azula replied, standing up from where she was "But it wouldn't hurt for you to be slightly more precise in what you do, right?"

"Well, I still have one more month to work on that, don't I?" Sokka said, turning towards Azula and smiling brightly at her.

"So… you want to do this?" Azula asked, folding her arms over her chest as she submitted Sokka to a careful scrutiny "You're certain you can fight against the Millennium Dragon?"

"I wouldn't say I'm certain of it, but I think I can survive" he said "Wasn't my fight with these two convincing enough for you, huh?"

Azula smirked at that and shook her head slowly, and Sokka raised an eyebrow before grinning again.

"Not quite. I think she had the right idea" with that, she jerked her head towards Suki, who was returning to Zuko's side now "If I'm to ascertain you've really improved as you must, there's only one way to find out"

"Heh" said Sokka, smirking "If that's how you want it, then I'm all in for it"

"Are you, now? You're not tired after training all day?" Azula asked.

"I've built up a lot of stamina after a month of this routine" he said, proudly "So I'm ready for you, Princess"

Azula smirked at him and nodded, walking into the garden as she drew her sword out of her sheath. Sokka smiled wildly as he followed her with his gaze, and he jumped out of the veranda as well, pulling out his weapons and looking at Azula with excitement.

"I suppose you're not going to pull the 'no firebending' rule on me today, or are you?" she asked, swinging Wolf's Bane a few times as she looked at Sokka inquisitively.

"No point in doing that now, is there?" he said, lifting Space Sword towards Azula.

"Good" she said, a determined smile on her face.

Suki took her seat next to Zuko as she watched the scene in the garden. You didn't hear of gladiators and sponsors training together on any given day, let alone when the sponsor was someone as high-born as Princess Azula. Zuko was watching with interest as well, interested in witnessing his sister's prowess with her sword first-hand, and Ty Lee was giggling excitedly next to Haru, wanting to watch this fight unfold.

Their eyes clashed as they hadn't in a long time, and most of what they hadn't been able to speak about upon their reunion seemed to be exchanged through their gazes. The intensity of Sokka's eyes made something stir pleasantly within Azula. Inadvertently, her smile became warmer only brief moments before she lunged at him, a blast of blue fire in one hand, a slash of white in the other.

Sokka jumped back instinctively, finding the blue flames were more resilient than Zuko's fire. They grazed his armor, but naturally, they didn't set it on fire. Once Sokka was certain he had spared himself from the worst of Azula's attack he jumped forth, Space Sword swinging down on Wolf's Bane.

Azula parried his blow and attacked again, knowing he would block her next strike. Yet she spun quickly, her feet drawing an arch of fire on the ground. Sokka grimaced and jumped back yet again, but Azula didn't let him put distance between them.

She stabbed towards his head, knowing she'd make him lose balance that way. Sokka indeed ended up bending backwards, struggling to keep his footing until he decided it was better to let himself fall just so he could push himself up and attempt to kick the Princess with both his feet. Azula had to jump back now as Sokka's kick nearly reached her. He meant to inch closer to her once he had regained his footing and strike her with chi-blocking now, but before he could lift his hand Azula had blasted another fireball at him, through her sword, no less.

"Damn!" Sokka exclaimed, dropping to his knees to avoid the fire as Azula smirked.

"It seems I'm still too much for you" she said, proudly.

"You've always been" Sokka replied, with a grin of his own.

His response nearly made her blush, but his next attack kept her on edge. He darted forward and swung his sword, trying to keep her at a distance, but Azula simply shrunk on her frame and stomped on the ground, bringing forth a small pillar of fire right beneath Sokka. The gladiator panicked briefly before jumping backwards again, and Azula chuckled. The sight of her smile almost made him swoon, but at the same time it hurt his pride. He was better than this and he knew it.

With a quick motion he whipped out his boomerang and tossed it at Azula. She shot a blast of fire at it, simply to knock it off course, just as Sokka attempted to attack her again. She grinned and lifted a leg, kicking more flames at him, but she had forgotten about Sokka's new agility by then. She frowned once he dodged her attack, and she jumped, now creating another fire blast with her other leg. Sokka evaded it as well before reaching Azula, his sword attempting to cut through her defenses. Yet it didn't work quite that well. Her white sword parried his, twirling Space Sword and granting her a chance to throw another blast of fire at him. Sokka dodged once more, disengaging himself from the twirl and attempting to stab Azula again. She twisted her body to the side now as he lunged forward, and she struck the back of his head with her knuckles as he passed beside her.

Sokka stumbled forward, with a grin on his face as he caught his breath. Azula looked at him warily, but with interest.

"I've definitely gotten better at this" he said "The last time you evaded me like that, you punched my jaw so hard I could barely keep fighting afterwards"

Azula's eyes widened as she recalled what he was talking about. Their very first confrontation had featured a very similar situation indeed… she grinned at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Yet you're still far from delivering any real damage when I'm at my best" she said, and Sokka chuckled.

"One step at a time, Princess" he said "One step at a time"

He jumped towards her again, and Azula smirked as she created a wall of fire after performing a very complex sequence of stances. Sokka froze in place and crouched soon enough, trying to use his armor to shield him from the fierce flames. He caught sight of his boomerang by the time the flames were about to reach him, noticing it was only a few feet from where he was. He jumped towards it and threw it through the fire, but most unlike how it had been with many firebenders he had faced recently, the Flaming Boomerang attack, as he liked to call it in his head, failed. Azula merely ducked and the weapon soared above her head… yet the momentary distraction helped Sokka briefly, for in that speck of a moment, Azula's wall of fire had weakened.

He breached through it, swinging his sword upwards only so it would meet hers again. Azula's free fist was coated with fire and she attempted to strike Sokka with it, but he dodged her, now trying to attack her from her other flank. Azula was left with no other way to defend herself than to twist her body again in order to avoid Space Sword's incredibly sharp edge.

"Not so fast!" she exclaimed, managing to swing Wolf's Bane quickly enough to parry Space Sword's advance.

They stood with their swords pressed against one another, glaring at the other fiercely, but with smirks on their faces.

"So? How good am I, huh?" he asked, trying to force her back, but Azula's footing was steadier than he expected.

"Not good enough" Azula replied, matter-of-factly before roaring with fire.

Sokka's eyes widened before he jumped back, shocked by Azula's latest resource. She laughed at his panicked reaction before jumping forth once more, swinging her sword down on his, blue sparks born each time metal crashed against metal.

"What the heck, woman?!" he exclaimed, as Azula kept laughing.

"You think you're the only one allowed to be creative in the battlefield? Well, think again!" she exclaimed, stabbing forward and creating a vortex of flames to accompany her sword.

"That's not the…!" he started, before his eyes widened and he ducked again, the fire nearly singing his hair "Azula!"

"Oh, come now, is this really too extreme for you?" she asked "Here I thought your training had been some use!"

Sokka groaned, pulling out his club now and Azula chuckled at that.

"Ooooh, are we getting serious now?" she asked mockingly, and the taunt was enough for Sokka to swing down the massive weapon towards her. Azula moved away from the trajectory of the weapon with ease "Are you sure about that, Sokka? Really?"

He swung the club again, and she ducked to avoid it before shooting a weak plum of fire at his face. Sokka grimaced and inched away from it, brief instants before it disappeared in thin air. Azula smiled at his reaction and readied herself to attack him again, but Sokka lifted Space Sword once more. Azula blocked it with Wolf's Bane and Sokka attempted to strike her with the club now, albeit Azula noticed he was doing it halfheartedly. She pushed his sword, making him miss on his attempt to hit her with the club, but he continued to try… which only resulted in the pair of them spinning in circles in what seemed would be a pointless chase.

Azula broke off from their cycle, laughing while Sokka stumbled and he struggled to keep his footing, dizzy after what had just happened. Azula was somewhat lightheaded herself, but she still darted towards Sokka, her sword in tow. He resorted to moving away from her, swinging the club wildly to keep her at a distance. Azula allowed him some room, but just momentarily, for she soon blasted a wheel of fire his way. Sokka gritted his teeth and swept it off with his club in one go, but only then did he realize he was done for.

He lifted Space Sword to defend himself, but it was too late. Wolf's Bane was already at his neck by the time his sword was at Azula's hip.

They stood still now, their chests heaving as they stared at one another intensely for a brief moment. Soon enough, they couldn't help but smile at each other as they lowered their weapons.

"Still not good enough for you, I guess" he said, smiling weakly.

"But much better than I expected, regardless" Azula replied "Much better than our last sparring session"

"Much better than the first one, too" he said, smirking and Azula laughed.

"Well, I'd hope so. After all the training you've been through, you'd better be way past that level by now, gladiator" she told him.

"Oh, well. Maybe in another month I'll manage to stand on even grounds with you" he said, as Ty Lee approached them, beaming.

"That was amazing!" she exclaimed "I'd never seen someone keep up with Azula like that, Sokka!"

"Meh, I still didn't win" he said, shrugging in defeat "So I still have ways to go, I'd say"

"You tied, though. Isn't that a lot of progress by now?" Ty Lee asked, surprised.

"Tied?" Sokka repeated "That wasn't a tie. If it had been a real fight, she would have beheaded me long before I could threaten her with my sword"

"And you'd do best to remember that" Azula stated, proudly, and Sokka pouted.

"You cruel woman" he said, shaking his head as Ty Lee giggled.

"Well, it was still a really amazing fight!" she exclaimed, smiling at both of them "In no time Sokka will be fit for the Slate, don't you think, Azula?"

"He'd better be, if he really wants to fight there" Azula said, and Sokka smirked.

"I think I'll manage, actually. I really feel good about this now"

"So do I" said Ty Lee, giggling. Before Azula could so much as look at her inquisitively, she changed the topic "Still, I figure that's enough training for now, right?"

"Yeah, please" said Sokka, grimacing "I'm spent by now"

"Really? And I was only warming up" Azula said, teasingly, and Sokka smiled.

"Are you going to stay for dinner, Azula?" Ty Lee asked, looking at her friend expectantly "We could make enough food for you, if you'd like. It'd be nice having you around a little longer"

"Huh, well" she said, raising an eyebrow. Xin Long was still enjoying a flight over the clouds, so it would seem he wouldn't return for her any time soon "I suppose I could stay. No harm in that, is there?"

"Nope!" Ty Lee squealed, throwing her arms around Azula's neck and hugging her tightly. Azula patted the girl's back awkwardly, looking at her in confusion.

"What was that for?" she asked, as Ty Lee moved away.

"I hadn't greeted you properly yet, had I?" she said, giggling before turning back towards the house "Alright, then! Haru, Suki, it's time to start dinner!"

Haru smiled and nodded at her before looking at Sokka and giving him an approving grin.

"You did really well today" he told him "You really just might make it in the Slate, at this rate"

"Heh, that's the plan, right?" said Sokka, with an awkward smile as he, Azula and Ty Lee approached the veranda again.

"Here I was hoping you'd scorch him" Zuko told Azula, sighing, his arms already fully mobile by now. His sister raised an eyebrow.

"And here I thought you'd rather get back at Sokka for that wound yourself" Azula said, and Zuko smiled.

"Yeah, actually, that's a good idea"

"As if you could even try" said Sokka, smirking arrogantly.

"You two really make a fearsome combination" said Suki, staring at Sokka and Azula with subtle admiration "You don't see gladiators and sponsors like you two every day"

"Nope, you sure don't" said Sokka, grinning goofily at Azula now. She raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"For better or for worse, I guess that's so" she said, shoving Sokka away just before he tried to surround her shoulders with an arm.

Ty Lee, Haru and Suki took it upon themselves to make dinner, and Zuko, upon the perspective of ending up in the company of both his sister and her gladiator, chose to tag along with them instead. Only time would tell if his conversation with Azula had yielded actual results. The outcome seemed positive so far, but he wasn't about to test his luck by spending time with Azula and Sokka at the same time. Surely they would both enjoy mocking him so much that all his progress with his sister would be forgotten right away.

Azula and Sokka chose to stay outside, both because they knew they wouldn't prove too helpful with cooking and because they really wanted a moment to speak privately. The Princess took her seat at the veranda yet again as Sokka removed his armor and weapons, setting them on the ground and dropping next to Azula, a heavy sigh of relief escaping him once he had taken his seat.

"Damn, I'm beaten" he said, and Azula smirked.

"Why, yes, you were beaten indeed. I'm glad you're willing to acknowledge it"

"I didn't mean it like that" he said, smiling "And you know what? You actually broke my victorious streak. I hadn't lost against anyone for the last three days… and then you took it upon yourself to change that"

"As I must. I can't let your spirits get too high, can I?" Azula asked, and Sokka chuckled "Still, I have to say I'm pleased. It speaks well of you that you're able to defeat Zuko even though he wields two swords and fire against you"

"His dual swords had me in a bit of a disadvantage for a while" Sokka said "I could take him on if it was just with his bending, but with the swords he had a pretty good edge on me. Still, I've gotten the hang of his style by now. He's not beating me ever again if I can avoid it"

"Well, he shouldn't. How shameful would it be for my own gladiator to lose before my brother" Azula said dramatically, and Sokka chuckled "Still, I think you could gain the upper hand against him more easily if you had another sword, perhaps. Dual jian swords aren't as popular as dao swords, but you could learn how to fight this way"

"I probably could" Sokka admitted "I've also thought about a shield, the warriors back in my Tribe used them. It might be helpful to have a shield in the Slate, don't you think?"

"Hmm…" Azula said, frowning and staring at Sokka thoughtfully "I'm not quite sure. A shield might not be a bad idea, but it's bound to slow you down. And depending on the material it's made of, it might prove troublesome during the fight. A metallic shield could heat up to unbearable temperatures, and it might even burn your hand if you hold it for very long…"

"Uh, I hadn't quite thought about that" said Sokka, grimacing "Still, I guess there are other materials for shields… though you're right about a shield slowing me down"

"From what I saw, your agility is better than ever" Azula said, and Sokka smiled proudly "It's an edge you'll need in that fight. You're better at evading than at defending yourself, I think"

"And if worst comes to worst, I can just use my thick skull as defense, right?" said Sokka, and Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, well, if you want the Millenium Dragon to set your head on fire, be my guest" she said, shrugging and Sokka cringed.

"I-it was just a joke…" he said.

"A stupid one" said Azula, smiling "A thick skull isn't going to help you overcome fire, Sokka"

"I'm well aware of that, thank you very much" he said, looking at her with a gentle smile.

"Therefore… I think we'll have to go with the first option" she said, removing Wolf's Bane from her waist and extending it towards Sokka. He blinked blankly a few times before staring at Azula with disbelief.

"Y-you want me to…? Eh?" he said, and she placed the sword on his lap.

"I understand you use your boomerang with your free hand, but two swords just might be better than one in the fight looming ahead of you" she said "I suggest you only pull out the boomerang in occasions when you know using it will yield results. It's a better long-distance weapon than a short-distance one. You won't deliver the same amount of damage with a sword and a boomerang as with two blades"

"Yeah, well… I get that" said Sokka, nodding "But don't you think it's somewhat ominous for the Blue Wolf to fight with a sword called Wolf's Bane?"

"Oh, you can't be serious. Are you really that superstitious?" Azula asked, laughing as Sokka shrugged.

"Well, what am I supposed to think, huh?" he said, with a smile as well "It does seem counterproductive for a wolf to fight using his bane, you know?"

"Maybe the wolf has learned to use his bane to his advantage" she said, smiling and Sokka rubbed his chin, thoughtful "How about that?"

"That's actually pretty clever of you, now that I think of it" he acknowledged, before looking at the sword in detail "Still, Wolf's Bane is a little different than what I'm used to… but I guess a month of training should get me used to wielding it, huh?"

"I'd hope" said Azula.

"Are you sure about this, though?" Sokka asked "The last time you leant me one of your possessions for a gladiator fight you ended up very displeased by what happened…"

Azula grimaced, an eyebrow twitching as she remembered Sokka had stabbed someone with her hairpiece, no less. She took a deep breath after that, and nodded.

"Well, yes, you could say I'm having a leave of my senses by doing this. But this is the only way in which I can help you in your training, since I really can't take part in it as I am" she said "So either take it or leave it. But if you do take it, make sure to take decent care of my sword, alright?"

"I will, I will" he said, nodding.

"So… you're going to continue training for the next month" she said "And then the Slate awaits"

"Yeah. I don't think I can win, in all honesty I don't even want to worry about that" he said "Especially when I'll be up against the second best gladiator in the League. But I'm starting to think I really can make it through this fight. I might be wrong, maybe he'll knock me out five seconds into the fight, but I really hope not"

"I think we all do" said Azula, smiling weakly "Well, then, it's decided. I'll let Shoji know we'll accept the challenge"

"Yeah" said Sokka, taking a deep breath. So far, the Slate had been a distant, looming object in the horizon. Now it was his immediate future. He wasn't ready for it yet, but he would make sure he would be by the time he fought the Millennium Dragon "Uh… you say that lending me your sword is the one thing you can do to have some part in my training? Does that mean you're not here to stay?"

"You thought I was?" Azula asked.

"Well, I hoped, rather…" he said "I wasn't kidding when I told you things are slightly more boring when you're not around"

"Flattering, really" said Azula, as he smiled "But I came just to make sure you were making proper progress, so I could tell Shoji whether we accepted the challenge or not"

"Huh" said Sokka, disheartened "I guess that ceremony is a bigger deal than I realized"

"Indeed" said Azula, frowning "It's been… taxing, really. Overwhelming, in some senses. I already know the movements by heart, but…"

"But?" Sokka asked, when she fell silent for a moment. Azula sighed.

"Something's not right about my fire, apparently" she said, and Sokka looked at her in utter confusion "It's the perfect fire for combat, it seems, but not for ceremonial purposes. It seems I'm missing out on something important when I bend, and, well… I'm still in the process of figuring out what it is"

"That's weird" said Sokka, staring at her worriedly "I'd never heard fire needs to be of different qualities to be used for different purposes"

"I hadn't heard of it myself, but I had noticed it" said Azula "I've seen ceremonies since I was young, so I'd noticed that the performers don't use fire in the same way I do. I guessed there would be a logical reasoning behind that, but apparently there's none. The Head Sage just said that my fire wasn't quite appropriate for the ceremony, despite I mastered the routine in one go, so I've spent the last month trying to figure out how to make my fire suitable for this ceremony. Xin Long has been helping me, and thanks to him I've progressed, but I feel it's not enough just yet. So, even if your life is boring without me, I really can't train with you as I am. I still have to figure this out somehow"

"I see" said Sokka, biting his lip and sighing "Dang, that sounds rough"

"It doesn't sound that rough" said Azula, smiling a little "If you think about it, it's really not something to be so worried about. Or it wouldn't be, if…"

"If what?"

"If only I'd never heard anyone say my fire is inadequate until now" said Azula, shaking her head "I've spent my whole life in the pursuit of perfecting my firebending, but now it seems it was all a waste. Apparently, the fire needed for this ceremony shouldn't be perfect. It's like… like I'm killing my flames' soul when I bend them. And I can't do that, or else I'll be ignoring the ceremony's purpose"

"Which is…?" Sokka asked.

"Offering our fire to the Fire Nation's regent, meaning, the sun" said Azula, lifting her gaze towards the sky "It should be an offering of our finest fire, the fire that resembles the sun's warmth the most, or so. And mine… mine doesn't cut it, it seems"

"Then what are you going to do?" Sokka asked, worried "I mean, if you think you can't do it…"

"Even if I couldn't do it, I'd have to do it" Azula said, matter-of-factly "My father won't stand for anything else. He demanded I did the ceremony, so I must. There's no way around it"

"But… oh, well" said Sokka "You're actually sounding more hopeless than you should be, if you ask me. I mean…"

"Yeah, it's me" said Azula, rolling her eyes "Things always go my way somehow, and I always blow people's minds away with the final result of whatever I'd set my mind to. The thing is, Sokka… I don't think that's going to happen this time. I don't think I can figure my way out of this through wits or good luck. If I can't do it, then I just can't do it. It's that simple"

"It might be, I guess" said Sokka, sighing "Well, for what it's worth, your fire is the most impressive I've ever seen, and that stands true to this day. I'm willing to bet even the Millennium Dragon won't change my mind about that"

"I appreciate that" said Azula, smiling "It does comfort me on some level to think that some people might not sense anything wrong with my fire during the ceremony. I figure only the Sages would find it unfitting, and perhaps my Uncle. I don't think my father will care either way so long as I perform the ceremony as he wants me to"

"Oh, well, if that's so then you don't have much to worry about, right?" he said "A lot of people won't see anything wrong with it"

"Yeah, maybe" said Azula "But I'll know I failed. And even if I were showered in praises and glory, I'd know it's undeserved. That's why… why I feel so lost about this. I don't know what to do. I've read books, I asked the Head Sage and my uncle, then I went to Xin Long… and I feel I'm just taking baby steps. I'm supposed to be a prodigy, a girl who gets things right in one go… and this time I can't get it right, no matter how many times I try. It's… frustrating"

"Now, now" said Sokka, placing a hand on her shoulder "Stop being so hard on yourself, Azula. You're doing everything you can as it is, right?"

"Right" she said.

"Well, then, either it'll work out or it won't, but worrying about it and thinking lowly of yourself isn't going to make it better" he said, and Azula frowned "I mean… people have different affinities, they're good at some things and bad at others. I'm great at eating, but terrible at cooking, which is why these guys won't ever let me help them with dinner…"

"A wise decision, actually" said Azula, with a weak smile.

"So maybe… maybe you're better at combat bending, and ceremonial bending isn't your best front" he said, and her smile disappeared "But that's not something to feel miserable about, you know. I mean… I really don't care whether or not you can perform ceremonial bending. From what you said, your father barely does either because he simply wants you to do it, right?"

"Sure, but that doesn't mean I don't want to do this right" Azula said.

"It doesn't, and I understand that" said Sokka "But… you're not a lesser bender, let alone person, if you can't pull this off as you hoped. You're still amazing, Azula. And heck, you're really miserable about it right now, but maybe by the time the ceremony takes place, you'll have mastered ceremonial bending. You can't say for certain right now, can you?"

"No, I guess not, but… I doubt that" said Azula, shaking her head as Sokka dropped his hand on her lap now, finding hers.

"Well, even if you refuse to believe in yourself, I can do it for you" he said, making her stare at him in confusion "No matter what happens in that ceremony, I'll be there for you"

"You think that's reassuring?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "Sorry, but… that just makes it worse. Because I don't want to disappoint you, of all people"

"Me, of all people?" Sokka asked, smiling, and Azula rolled her eyes.

"I shouldn't have said that…"

"Well, why not?" he asked, chuckling before glancing over his shoulder. Once he made sure the others were in the kitchen, and that the kitchen's window had its drapes drawn over it, he slid his fingers between hers. Azula sighed, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You really like taking unnecessary risks, huh?" she said "It's not bad enough that the Captain is already after us, you just can't wait for these guys to find out about us too"

"They won't find out" said Sokka, smiling "They can't look out that window with the drapes in the way, and if they were coming out to the veranda again we'd hear them long before they could see us. So really, it's not as much of a risk as it could be"

"Not at all" said Azula, sarcastically, and Sokka squeezed her hand.

"Azula…"

"I know, I know" she said, sighing again "I need to stop being so negative and to stop worrying about this. Xin Long keeps telling me the same thing. He thinks I bend better when I'm not thinking about the ceremony, which is probably true. It seems my fire feels warmer when that happens"

"Your fire feels warmer…?" he repeated, confused.

"Well, that's the only thing the Sage was able to tell me" said Azula "That my fire felt 'cold', or so"

"Heh? Your fire is pretty hot, mind you" said Sokka, grimacing "If he thinks otherwise, maybe you ought to burn him and show him just how wrong he is"

"My fire is pretty hot, then?" Azula asked, smirking "Now, I wonder how I should take that…"

"Oh, blast it" said Sokka, as Azula laughed "You can't let a single one of those slide, can you?"

"Not when you say things like those, I can't" she said "Still, I have to say, when I fought you, just now… well, maybe my fire was better by then"

"Huh? Not as cold, you mean?"

"I was enjoying myself a lot" she admitted "Messing with you with my fire never fails to amuse me. And Xin Long seems to think I have to reconnect with the fun side of fire. So maybe I actually did it better just now and I didn't even notice it"

"Maybe you did" said Sokka, smiling "See? No need to be so hopeless about it! I'm sure you can make it through. And hey, even if the final result isn't exactly how the sages want it to be, I'm pretty sure it'll be okay. I mean, your fire by itself is such an impressive sight that… oh, come on, don't misunderstand that too, woman!"

Azula started laughing, and turned her head into his shoulder, trying to suppress the laughter. Sokka rolled his eyes, his arm going around her shoulders now as he smiled, despite himself.

"What does a guy have to do to be taken seriously around here, really?" he said, as her laughter started to subside.

"I'd say I'm sorry, but I really am not" she said, pressed against him "Still… I do appreciate your intent. If anything, whatever I do will satisfy you"

"I don't know better, so yep, whatever you do will work for me" he said, smiling "And maybe that's not enough, but maybe it helps, if only a little bit"

"If anything, it makes me feel less inadequate, on some level" Azula admitted, with a shrug "Not that your standards are too high, but it's good to know that at least you'll be supporting me"

"You know I always will be" he said "And if some stuck-up Sage dares say you're doing it wrong, I'll chi-block his face and he won't be able to talk anymore!"

Azula laughed again, shaking her head. Sokka squeezed her shoulder, looking at her intensely. At least she was smiling again by now.

"I really don't think that will be necessary, but I appreciate it" she said, lifting her head and looking back into his eyes.

"Any time" he said "And hey, if you get bored of practicing for the ceremony, you can always come here with us. We could totally take on the rest of these guys together, you and I, and we'd beat them all!"

"Confident, are we?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling.

"Well, if we pull off the Electric Sword trick, sure thing" he said, and Azula shook her head.

"The Electric Sword trick?"

"It's just a momentary name, nothing definitive" he said, chuckling "I'm considering the Thunder Blast, but it's less about the thunder and more about the lightning, right? So…"

"Must you give it a name?" Azula asked, simply, and Sokka looked at her, as though offended, as he dropped his arm.

"Of course! Skills with names are the ones to be feared! I thought you'd know as much"

"Well, at least try to make it sound less ridiculous, can you?" she said. Sokka scowled.

"Sure thing, Princess" he said "But you're not one to talk, I mean, you named your sword Wolf's Bane…"

"I was trying to mess with you by doing that, in case you've forgotten"

"Oh, I remember all too well" he said "But it's still a lousy name!"

"Not as lousy as Knightmare, mind you" Azula said, and Sokka jumped, looking at her accusingly.

"Hey! That IS a cool name!" he said, as Azula chuckled again.

They sat in silence momentarily after that. Azula breathed deeply and closed her eyes, a strange sensation of calm taking over her body. It was something she only ever felt when she was near Sokka, she knew it by now. Nobody had ever proved more successful than him at cheering her up, no matter which way he went about it. And nobody could make her inner fire flare as it did when she was with him.

She frowned a little, wondering if she had been sensing her inner fire for good whenever she had felt that strange fire she couldn't bend within her body. She had always assumed it was something else, though. Something she hadn't quite put into words just yet, mainly because she wasn't sure she could even utter the sentence… but what if those feelings had something to do with her inner fire indeed? What if…?

The flame shifted and burned within her when Sokka's hand found hers again. She looked at him, to find he was looking at her with a smile on his face.

"I really missed this" he said, and Azula smiled as well.

"What did you miss? The arguments?" she asked "Or the way I end up laughing at your expenses? My criticism of your taste for names?"

"All of them, I guess" he said, chuckling "But what I really missed was you. Every time I succeeded at something in training, the one person I wanted to tell about it was you. I even wondered if maybe I could sneak into the Palace one day just to go see you, but I figured it was better if I didn't bother you. You had stuff to deal with. Still, I wanted to be near you again. Not being around you for this long has been… well, bearable, to some extent. But it's felt like I'm sleepwalking through life, sort of. Just… waiting to see you again so I can wake up and start living properly once more"

"Really?" Azula asked, staring at him in disbelief, her cheeks reddening.

"Would I lie about this?" he asked, smiling at her "I've really missed you, Azula"

She smiled and moved closer to him again, her head on his shoulder once more.

"I missed you as well" she admitted, blushing harder as she spoke the words "But even so, I couldn't just hug you back in front of everyone else. It would have caused us a lot of unnecessary trouble…"

"Ah, I know. It's why I didn't mind that you pushed me off" he said, smiling "I know I got carried away. But I was just… really happy, for the first time in about a month, huh?"

"Good to know" she said, sighing in bliss "For a moment I really thought you were going to do something else, though"

"You thought I was going to do something else, or you wanted me to do something else?" Sokka asked, smirking.

"If we had been alone, I would have wanted it" she said "I guess I did want it, to some extent. Else I wouldn't have let you get that close, to begin with"

"Hehe. I knew it" he said, smiling proudly as Azula laughed under her breath "Still… I seem to notice we are alone now, aren't we? So…"

"Must you continue to toy with your fortune, Sokka?" Azula asked, rolling her eyes "Can't you just enjoy this and stop pushing your luck?"

"Well, if things don't go our way, we won't see each other for another month" he said "So I'm sorry, but I'll gladly push my luck if that'll help me get by yet another month without you"

"You're… an idiot" she said, shaking her head, and Sokka smiled "You really are"

"Yep. No doubt I am" he thought, his hand releasing hers so it could slip around her waist to keep her near him.

One of her hands moved towards his face, angling it towards her so she could kiss him fully. Sokka's eyes rolled closed as he was swept away by the kiss, as it ever happened. Her free hand gripped his clothes, keeping him close to her as well. Their lips moved together, their tongues found each other, their breaths mingled and became one.

And all the while, that flame burned bright in Azula's chest. The wild flame whose nature she still barely understood… but she enjoyed the feeling most thoroughly. She relished in the fire only he could set on her soul. She didn't want that feeling to fade away, not even once they parted for the day, but it was unavoidable for it to be replaced by lingering sadness when the moment came, a few hours after dinner. She would have offered Sokka a ride home on Xin Long, if only to spend more time with him, but she knew how suspicious that would seem for the others.

So she took off, merely giving him a smile as a farewell and telling him to continue trying his hardest with his training. Knowing Sokka was putting his every effort in his growth as a fighter was somehow inspirational now. If he had become so strong by now, surely Azula as well could overcome the obstacles in her way.

But as she started practicing on the next day, she still couldn't quite bend as she was supposed to. Maybe it was because she still wasn't able to bring the proper warmth to her fire… or maybe because her head was filled with thoughts of Sokka. She couldn't bring herself to focus on her task, not when all she wanted was to be around him again. He had lifted her spirits after a month of being frustrated and miserable, and now that he wasn't around she wasn't frustrated anymore: she simply missed him. Being near him made everything better…

Xin Long groaned at her when he noticed she wasn't focusing at all as she performed the ceremonial routine. Her mind usually was set on what she had to do, but today it was nowhere close to that, and he knew it just as well as Azula did.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry" said Azula, sighing deeply "I'm just… distracted, I guess"

Xin Long shook his head disapprovingly and Azula looked at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry, alright? I just… see, you've been telling me to have fun with fire, to enjoy what I'm doing and that's what I did yesterday. Fighting Sokka again was fun. And talking with him… I didn't realize just how much I needed it. You've always told me to forget about the ceremony and just have fun, and for the first time I managed to do it"

Xin Long said that was great, but she had to bring the feeling into their practices as well. If not, was it really any progress? She wasn't going to perform the ceremony with Sokka's help, was she?

"No, of course not" said Azula "But I don't know how to bring that feeling into this. I seriously can't just…"

Azula froze in the middle of the sentence, a frown on her face. She didn't know for certain if she could bring the feeling back, it was true. But she could try, if anything, couldn't she?

She had been embarrassed when Xin Long had brought up Sokka back when they were at the volcano. Now she evoked the image of his face willingly, the sight of his smile, the sound of his laughter, the way his voice cracked whenever he tried to stand up for himself whenever she said something particularly mean. Just with that, the fire she always associated with him came back, not at full strength, but close enough.

And for the first time, she wondered if it really was a fire she couldn't bend. Maybe it was. But she had never actually tried to bend while feeling this way, had she?

She closed her eyes and continued to think of him, to focus on the way she felt when she was around him. The exhilarant sensation when they sparred, how she teased him relentlessly whether about his poems or her blue fire…

Her hands were moving, and she tried to bring out the fire flaring inside of her, to make it one with her motions. But if she thought about that, she stopped thinking about him. She cursed herself inwards and evoked the most powerful thoughts she could manage.

Remembering their first kiss made her fire flare again, but she knew that wasn't the best one. She continued to think of every time he had kissed her, every time she had felt the world could fall apart around her for all she cared, because she was in his arms. Nothing mattered as much as that did. But then he had loved her for one night… and a few months later, he had said he was in love with her for good.

Thinking about that moment seemed to do it, Azula assumed, as her fire became more reckless, more powerful. Maybe it wasn't so much about Sokka, but about what she felt when she was with him. Emotions had a great weight on the power of a firebender, she knew as much, and she also knew anger gave firebending a great boost. A wild boost, just as she needed it to be. But what if she could boost her fire through another emotion? What if her feelings for Sokka, rather than his feelings for her, were what could make her firebending become suitable for the ceremony?

She frowned a little, somewhat unsure of herself, but soon enough growing determined. If something could give her bending the quality it needed… then it just might be love.

The thought solidified in her mind, the fire inside of her growing stronger as she evoked Sokka once more. As she thought of how much she had grown to love that foolish gladiator. For this was love, and she had known it for a very long time. She wouldn't resist it anymore. She wanted to give in completely to it, to allow the feeling to envelop her and set her ablaze completely.

She opened her eyes when she felt the warmth of flames dancing on the palm of her hand.

Her eyes widened, and so did Xin Long's, when they saw how different this new fire was.

"This is…" Azula thought, stunned into silence.

The flames glowed golden, pure gold, and they sparkled wildly as they moved on Azula's hand. Never before had she conjured fire like this… but as soon as the warmth in her heart disappeared to leave room to her astonishment, the flame turned blue once again.

"W-wait, I didn't imagine that, did I?!" she asked, looking at Xin Long in surprise. The dragon shook his head promptly, staring at her hand in utter disbelief "I… I actually produced golden fire?"

Xin Long nodded now, and Azula laughed. She allowed the flame in her hand to disappear and she focused on the feeling once again. She smiled and brought forth the flames only when her inner fire had flared as powerfully as it had before, and there it was again. Golden fire.

"Xin! Look at it!" she said, ecstatic now. Her utmost joy was such that the fire didn't shift back to blue this time "It's… it's another kind of fire. It's…!"

Xin Long groaned and said it was a new type of fire. Fire that felt truer than any other flames he had sensed until now. He didn't quite understand why, but something about it made him feel at ease. It was warm, and it was beautiful.

Azula smiled and looked at the flame once more, her breath hitching.

"It's different because… because I drew it from a different source. For a different purpose" she said, beaming "It's… I can't believe it. It's actually golden, Xin! I never knew naturally produced fire could be of any color other than orange and blue!"

Xin Long laughed as he told her she was the firebender of colors, and Azula joined in his laughter, the flame still holding strong in her hand.

"Who knew… who knew this would be the answer" she said, smiling "It's something the books didn't register, so… so maybe it's not the answer?"

Xin Long raised an eyebrow as Azula shrugged.

"I don't think anyone has ever bent golden flames before" she said, with a smile "So this might not be what they want in the ceremony either"

Xin Long frowned and shook his head vigorously, smoke pouring from his nostrils. Azula was startled by his negative response, and he insisted that she had to use this fire for the ceremony. It didn't matter if this wasn't orange fire, as they probably expected it to be. This was the purest fire he had ever seen. Nothing would befit a ceremony better than this.

Azula smiled and shrugged.

"I'll have to ask the Head Sage if he approves, I suppose" she said, as she closed her fist and the flame disappeared, but Xin Long leapt forward and asked her to do it again. Azula laughed "Again? Come on, now, Xin…"

Xin Long insisted, for she wouldn't master this new skill unless she continued to practice it. Besides, how would she know the full power of her fire if she didn't test it? Azula smiled at his enthusiasm, and she took a deep breath before triggering the power of her inner flames yet again. She had always thought she couldn't bend this fire, but now she knew she could. Something told her this really wasn't the kind of fire that was suitable for warfare, most unlike her blue flames, but it was fascinating all the same.

As she held the golden fire on her hand, she wondered just what might happen if she tried to perform the ceremony with it. It surely wouldn't be easy, but she had to try, at least. She might shift back to blue flames at some point through stances, but so long as she kept returning to her inner flames for power, she knew she would find a way to pull it off.

When Azula thought about golden fire shifting to blue, Xin Long sent a sneaky thought her way. What if she combined both types of fire? Gold and blue flames ought to yield an interesting result, right?

"I don't know if that's how it works" said Azula, smiling "And I don't think I can conjure blue flames and gold at the same time. At least, I can't right now. Maybe once I master this skill I will be able to, but for now…"

Xin Long said she didn't have to master the skill, and he jumped happily before setting himself in position. Azula raised an eyebrow but nodded, and the dragon unleashed a wave of blue fire into the air.

Azula extended her index and middle fingers, commanding the golden fire to move with her hand. She made her golden fire flare, and she pushed onwards, wondering only brief instants before the two flames met if perhaps something dangerous would happen with this…

Both her and Xin Long were stunned again when, on the spot where the flames met, the fire suddenly sparkled with new colors. They both stopped bending and looked at each other in surprise. And with just that look, they knew they had to try again.

This time, Azula sustained the golden flames, and the fire grew stronger as she held it with both hands. Xin Long moved towards her and spat a plum of blue fire into the golden flames, and Azula's eyes widened when, again, more colors burst. Green, red, blue, gold, pink, orange…

"Do it again, Xin" she said, amazed "Once more! Let's see if I can hold it"

The dragon used more firepower now, and the flames in Azula's hand shifted completely. Colors started pouring out of her hands, and she couldn't hold back a laugh of amazement as she watched the spectacle unfold before her.

"This is… Xin, this is amazing!" she exclaimed, and the dragon nodded, watching the flames dance with admiration.

The fire burned warmly, changing and shifting, giving Azula a sense of fulfillment she had never known before. Suddenly she wondered if perhaps it was this sort of fire that had allowed Fenghuang to give birth to the man and the dragon. Blue flames, in essence, were the aggressive aspect of fire. They were ruthless, cold, and they could prove deadly. But the golden flames, on the other hand, were the purifying aspect of it. They were warm, loving, soothing. And together…

"Life" she said, smiling in joy as she stared at the fire in her hands "Fire… Fire is life, Xin Long. True fire… that's what it's about. Fire can be many things at the same time, but so far I had only been encompassing one of them. I'd forgotten fire was life… which is stupid, because that's what the books said, actually. I just didn't realize… that when the book said the fire came from inside the dragon, it was referring to these flames. To these inner flames that dwell in both you and me, Xin. All along, the inner fire I've held inside me… it must be this, Xin. It allows me to feel things the way I do, to love, to hate, to… to bend. And for the first time, I'm seeing it with my own eyes. It's… I can't even believe this, Xin. I really can't"

Xin Long gurgled happily and stared at the colorful flames with delight, as Azula's face bore the most heartfelt smile she had ever showed him. No longer was there any frustration or misery in her heart. She was finally happy, and her fears had been appeased. At long last, she truly understood the essence of fire.


	87. Chapter 87

It was hard to find things to do around the house for Song more often than not. Cleaning constantly through the day was an unnecessary waste of energy, doing it twice a week was more than enough. At times she would fill up her free time in the company of the house's pet, Hawky, but she couldn't do that at the moment. The bird had returned a week ago, with her mother's reply to her letter, and she had given Hawky a few days of rest before sending him to Ba Sing Se with yet another message.

She was more than happy to talk to her mother, but the thrill and excitement of reading her letter was quickly replaced by impatience and eagerness to know more about her mother's life in the Imperial Palace. And sending the hawk away yet again also gave her a sense of loneliness. Sokka was never around nowadays, busy training as he was. And while Song had made several acquaintances in the city by now, namely store clerks or other slaves who were tasked with shopping for their masters, she wasn't quite friends with any of them. There was nobody with whom she could share her time with as of late.

Therefore, she had taken to reading about the Fire Nation's methods of healing. She was impressed by some of their approaches to treating diseases and wounds, for they had a far more sophisticated take on medicine than what she had learned back in her hometown. She had already finished several books, with which she had learned more about the human body and diseases, and she was tearing through a brand new scroll she had bought a few days earlier when she heard a soft knock on the door.

She frowned, unsure of whom it might be. Sokka? Surely not, he wouldn't knock the door on his own house. The Princess? Why would she come if Sokka wasn't around? Or maybe…

When she opened the door she confirmed her suspicions, and she smiled brightly at the man standing at the house's entrance.

"Captain!" she greeted him, smiling. He wasn't wearing his uniform, his getup was far more casual than anything she had ever seen on him before. His face was in plain sight, and there was a very troubled expression across it "What a surprise to see you here!"

"It must be indeed" he said, looking at her insecurely "I apologize for dropping by at such short notice"

"None of that" said Song, still grinning at him "Is something the matter, though?"

"Uh, well…" Rui Shi said "I merely thought… are you busy? If you are, I will not bother you. I can just…"

"I'm not really busy" said Song, smiling "I was only reading a scroll, but I can do that later. I have lots of free time lately, after all. Did you want something? Or were you just dropping by to visit?"

"I, uh… well, perhaps a bit of both" Rui Shi conceded, and Song laughed softly.

"Well, if that's the case then come in" she said, stepping away from the door and allowing him to enter the house.

Rui Shi nodded at her, a grateful look on his face as he walked towards the living room. He took his seat on the large red couch, his back straight at first until he sighed and dropped against the backrest, a hand on his forehead. Song approached, looking at him worriedly.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him, and the man groaned in response. She gulped "Okay, then, uh… how about I get you some tea?"

"That would be very nice" Rui Shi said, and Song smiled weakly before heading towards the kitchen.

She returned after ten minutes, carrying two cups on a tray that she set on the small table in front of the couch. The Captain was still slumped when she reached him, but he sat upright again as she took her seat next to him.

"I hope you enjoy it" she said, with a friendly smile as he took his cup in his hands.

"Thank you" he replied, sipping his drink before sighing again and setting it on the table once more.

"Captain…?" said Song, raising an eyebrow "Why are you here, if I may ask? The Princess isn't here, if you came looking for her…"

"I know she's not" he said, grimacing "But I wasn't looking for her, or the gladiator. I only wanted to talk to someone I can trust… someone who might understand my situation, and someone in whom I can confide without taking a dreadful risk by doing so"

"Is that me?" Song asked, surprised.

"Indeed" said Rui Shi, nodding "You were my best option. None of my fellow guards can hear of what troubles me, so I could only come to you"

"Huh" said Song, slightly pleased to know he trusted her, but worried about whatever was bothering the Captain nonetheless "Well, there's little risk of me telling anyone anything you don't want them to know. I can keep secrets from Sokka, and I wouldn't give away your secrets to the people at the market, so…"

"There's no need to keep secrets from the gladiator, not when he's the one who keeps a secret of his own. Well, if what he's doing can even be deemed as 'keeping a secret', to begin with" he said, rolling his eyes, and Song grimaced.

"W-what is that supposed to mean?"

"What it means is that…" Rui Shi started, looking at her matter-of-factly before freezing in his statement "Well, you… you know, don't you?"

"Know what?" Song asked, grimacing.

"About 'them'" the Captain said, emphasizing the last word, and Song bit her lower lip.

"What exactly about them? Would you be more specific?"

"Specific? Regarding what?" the Captain said, his eyes narrowing "Is it that… that there's more to their relationship than I understood?"

"Uh, I… well, I seriously don't know" said Song, swallowing hard "I mean, I don't know what you might have understood, but I do know that…"

"That…?" Rui Shi said, raising his eyebrows and compelling Song to finish the sentence when she fell silent.

"W-well, that they're somewhat in love, right?" said Song, shrugging "I mean, I've always picked up that vibe coming from him. Even when we had just met, I thought it was weird for him to speak to the Princess so casually, and when she said she'd leave he didn't want her to, so… I always suspected there was something going on with them"

"So, you think something is going on, but you don't know for certain?" Rui Shi asked.

"I haven't caught them doing anything inappropriate, if that's what you thought" said Song "It's just the way they act around one another that made me think of it. Though, well… he also kissed her once, I think"

Rui Shi scowled at that, a vein pulsating dangerously on his temple upon those words. Song grimaced and moved away from him warily.

"I'm not sure if it happened, though, really! It was back when she was sick" she explained "I was going to assist her with a bath, and he had helped her to the bathroom. When I got there he was gone, and she had asked 'did you just kiss me?', which I assume she had meant to ask him, but he had left already so he wasn't about to answer her question… but I don't know for certain if he kissed her, see?"

"Of course he did" said Rui Shi, a snarl on his face, and Song swallowed hard again "He has been doing it for hell knows how long. In fact, it must have been happening since ages ago. I'd just been too stupid to notice it"

"Well, in all fairness…" said Song, biting her lip "Even if their feelings for one another are obvious, it doesn't look like they've ever gotten anywhere with them. I mean, the Princess would usually come here just to spar with Sokka, and they never did anything suspicious while I was around…"

"Surely because you were around. The Princess is reckless indeed, but she wouldn't be that foolish" said the Captain.

"The thing is, I doubt they even remember I'm around when they train together" said Song, shrugging "So maybe I'm just trying to be, uh, positive here? And that's why I want to think they didn't do anything they shouldn't have…"

"In all honesty, I hoped for the same thing" said Rui Shi, sighing "She always treated him differently, but I didn't think she would ever consider getting involved with him romantically. She is the Princess, after all, and she knows her duties well enough. I've thought she lacks common sense in many occasions, but she is loyal to her nation and her father first and foremost. So for her to do this…"

"Why would it have anything to do with her nation, or her father?" Song asked, frowning "Not that she should get involved with Sokka, she probably shouldn't for her own good, but… if two people fall in love, isn't it their problem?"

"It is, so long as one of the people in question isn't a royal" Rui Shi replied "And if the other isn't a slave either"

"So you're saying you wouldn't get involved with a slave…?" Song asked, before thinking about what she was saying.

"Me?" Rui Shi said, frowning "W-well, there's no stopping me from being involved in whatever relationship I want. It isn't advised, though, for Royal Guards to have families and lovers. They must be ready to forsake their very lives for the sake of the member of the Royal Family they guard, so…"

"Right. It's a very rough way to live, though" said Song, looking at him sympathetically.

"It is. Especially when you don't expect to live much longer anyhow" said Rui Shi, sighing and Song's eyes widened.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, worried "Why wouldn't you live much longer?"

"Well, if the Fire Lord finds out about the Princess and the gladiator, not only will he burn the slave to cinders, but he will kill me, too" said Rui Shi, simply "He will hold me responsible for it, for not keeping the Princess protected from a man who could soil her dignity. But that's not all: if I don't inform him about this, and he finds out later on, he will hold me accountable both for not keeping the Princess away from Sokka and for not disclosing the truth to him. So… what am I supposed to do? There's nothing to be done about it, seems like. No matter what I do, I'm not bound to survive this disaster"

"It really does sound bad" said Song, grimacing "B-but surely the Princess wouldn't let things come to this, right…?"

"I wouldn't be so sure" said Rui Shi, frowning "We had a… a discussion, if you will. And she, well… she said I was free to do as I wished with the information I have acquired about her and the gladiator, but that I'd do best to weigh my options properly. Telling the Fire Lord might be no use, even if I did speak, because she hasn't lost her maidenhood to him yet, she says"

"Which is good news, right?" said Song, and Rui Shi shrugged.

"For now. But it's a matter of time" he said "They have gotten along quite well for too long, and from what I can tell, that won't change for the worse anytime soon… and if it doesn't, chances are she will surrender her maidenhood to him eventually. I doubt she can remain chaste forever if she's involved with him"

"I suppose" said Song, sighing "But then, as of now, you can't inform the Fire Lord of what's happening, because you have no evidence of the relationship… but were you going to inform him? Did you really mean to…?"

"I thought it was the right thing to do, according to what my code of honor as a guard establishes" said Rui Shi, sighing "But… I don't want to. I truly don't. I never wanted to, and I will gain nothing from doing so"

"You don't want to, then? That's a relief" said Song, sighing and smiling a little at him "I mean, you should look out for the Princess's best interests, but if you told the Fire Lord about this, well…"

"There's no telling what the consequences will be" said Rui Shi "If there was any proof to back my statement, well, for one thing, the gladiator would be history"

Song gulped at that, looking at Rui Shi with worried eyes. He wouldn't dare do that, would he?

"But the Princess… well, she would fall from grace, no doubt" said Rui Shi, shaking his head "Everything she has worked for, everything she has accomplished, would go forgotten under the weight of this scandal. Her father would never trust her again, and she certainly would never become Fire Lord. And that's only the beginning of it. Who knows what else the Fire Lord would do to punish her? If he fought an Agni Kai with Prince Zuko over a minor offense such as speaking out of turn in a war meeting, what wouldn't he do over something like this?"

"It sounds worse with everything you say" said Song, biting her lower lip "And… well, they know they're taking a big risk, don't they?"

"Of course they do" said Rui Shi "But… I don't know, they don't seem to realize there will be no payoff to this in the end. There's no way for this to end well, and I said as much to the Princess but she didn't listen to me. She's being more reckless than ever… well, if I'm quite honest, she has always been reckless to no end when it comes to Sokka"

"Always?" Song repeated "Ever since she hired him, then?"

"Pretty much" said Rui Shi, sighing "But I honestly thought she would have more sense than this. Even if she fancies him, for reasons beyond my understanding, she shouldn't have let it fester to this point. And she has known so from the start"

"I suppose people stop thinking clearly when they're in love" said Song, sighing, and Rui Shi winced at the word "Even the Princess's judgment grows clouded because of it"

"Even if that's so…" said Rui Shi, gritting his teeth before sighing and shaking his head "Love. Love, really? It's unbelievable… why? Why him, of all people?"

"I can't say I know why, but she usually looks happier when he's around" said Song, shrugging "Same goes for him. He's almost always thinking about her, if she's not around, and when she is he can't get his eyes off her. So I can't say I know why, or how it happened… but if anything, it seems they're happy. And that's quite rare, isn't it?"

"You'd think so, but I doubt it" said Rui Shi, sighing "It's not rare at all for a man to be smitten with the Princess. Any ordinary man would be, especially if he spends that much time in her company"

"Heh, well, she is beautiful" said Song, with a weak smile "But, see… not all love is returned. A lot of people love others without gaining anything from it. Many love from the shadows, afraid that exposing their feelings might hurt them in turn. Others love briefly, and grow bored easily. So for two people to fall in love like this… for the two of them to be so genuinely happy around each other, it's almost a miracle in itself"

"You think so?" Rui Shi asked, raising an eyebrow, and Song smiled.

"Yes. Love is a tricky matter, Captain, and it goes wrong more often than not" she said "One-sided love can be very painful. If one person is more invested in a relationship than the other, well… it's hard to cope with it. So I think they're both really lucky that they found one another. I know you're not fond of the bond between them, and I'm sure I wouldn't be either if I were in your place, but it still amazes me, in a sense"

"Huh" said Rui Shi, raising his eyebrows "If anything, it speaks well of you that you can be amazed by it and not just horrified, like I am. I suppose you're right on some level, but happiness… happiness is fragile, ephemeral. It will disappear eventually. This relationship between them, it might not last at all, considering how rocky it has been up to date. Should I stand out of the way and let the Princess ruin her life over a fleeting instant of joy? Is that the right thing to do?"

"Well, thinking about it on the grand scale of things…" said Song, after sipping her tea "I've been through some difficult times in my life, Captain. My father was taken away, and I was forced into slavery… but precisely because of the hardships I've endured, I can appreciate the happier times before the bad ones as much as I do. I can cherish the time I shared with my family because I was truly happy back then, even if it didn't last as long as I would have wanted it to"

Rui Shi nodded, lowering his gaze. Song smiled at him weakly.

"I do understand your point of view, Captain. But… I think happiness is worth it. Life ends quickly, and it passes us by without our awareness. The next moment might be the last, for all we know. So it may be innocent of me to say so… but what little happiness I can get until that last moment comes, I will cherish it with all my heart"

"I can understand that too, Song" he said "But when finding that happiness might also put it in risk… is it still worth finding it? If the Princess truly loves that gladiator, being with him will most likely bring his demise, unless they actually manage to keep their affair secret somehow. She would end up bringing death to the very man who brings her happiness. Is it still worth it this way, Song?"

"I… well, I don't know" said Song, shrugging "I suppose she must think it is, though, if she's taking the risk for him…"

"It's absurd" said Rui Shi, shaking his head and leaning forward, his elbows on his knees "Protecting the one you love should be a priority, but she's not going to protect him this way"

"No, she won't" said Song, sighing "But the happiness of the one you love is also important. That's the point of love, isn't it? You want the one you hold dear to be happy, no matter what it costs"

"The cost just might be too steep to afford in this situation, though" said Rui Shi, a hand going up to his hair now "So it boils down to whether she cherishes his safety or his happiness the most, doesn't it?"

"Well, it also boils down to whether you cherish her safety or happiness most" Song said, simply, and Rui Shi frowned "I'm not saying you love her, Captain, but… that's what you have to decide at this point, isn't it? You can tell the Fire Lord about your suspicions, maybe tell him the Princess surely remains pure but that Sokka is a threat to her chastity, and you could keep her virtue safe that way. But if you do that… well, you'll get him killed, and along with him, her happiness, I wager"

"And I'd also bring trouble to you, wouldn't I?" said Rui Shi, looking at her sideways. Song shrugged.

"I guess so, but I'm not that big a problem, am I? They could simply send me back to the market, I guess… I don't want that to happen, don't get me wrong, but…"

"That's probably right, I suppose. You shouldn't face such hardships for this" said Rui Shi, sighing "Still, it would be an inconvenience for you too"

"Oh, please" said Song, smiling "Don't worry about me. I'm the least of your concerns"

"Not at all" said Rui Shi "You are a concern too, whether you think so or not. You're yet another potential victim of this disaster. A most willing one, it seems, but you still are"

"I just…" said Song, sighing "I've seen those two for close to a year now, Captain, and… it's amazing how the status of their relationship changes Sokka's mood completely. When they had that fall-out he was the most miserable man I'd ever met, but when they came back from this last trip it was the entire opposite of that. His happiness becomes contagious, even if I don't know for certain what it's about. And… well, it may be stupid of me to think this way, but I really like it when he's happy. His mood improves, he's helpful around the house, and talking to him is fun. And well, friends want their friends to be happy, right?"

"Indeed" said Rui Shi, sighing. He had once told the Princess he would be her friend if she needed him. Since that day, he had acknowledged he thought of the Princess as more than just his charge "So as a friend, I should want the Princess's happiness… but as a guard, I want her to behave as expected from her, without falling in love with foolish men like the gladiator. And I can't make my mind up regarding if I should put my foot down on the matter, or let it slide and forget about the consequences until they catch up with us all"

"It's not an easy decision, no doubt" said Song, looking at him worriedly "But I guess you just have to do what feels right. I won't lie, I'd rather you don't tell the Fire Lord about this, for all our sakes, but if you do, I'll just request that… that you tell the Fire Lord not to kill Sokka. He doesn't deserve to die for this, and… well, it would destroy the Princess if it did. Loving a woman shouldn't be a crime to be murdered for"

"Loving a Princess is, though. Especially when such love is more intimate than it should be" said Rui Shi, sighing "Nevertheless, I do understand your point. And… well, I can't sell them out to the Fire Lord. On some level, I want to… but just imagining myself doing it makes me not want to do it altogether. As much as he may be a fool, I cannot blame Sokka for loving her. As I said, I couldn't blame any man for being smitten with her. But if only that were the extent of it…"

"What will you do about it, then?" said Song, raising an eyebrow "Will you tell him to stop their relationship from reaching a physical level?"

"I could do so, but it will do no good" said Rui Shi, shrugging "It won't stop either of them. If anything, it seems they've resisted the feelings for as long as they could have. And at this point they won't to fight against them anymore. They're tired of dancing in circles to no end"

"It's hard to blame them for that, I'll say" said Song "I mean, if I had such strong attraction towards someone, I probably would succumb to it without putting much of a fight, no matter the situation. The fact that they've had this much willpower still amazes me"

"Indeed" said Rui Shi, sighing "But if this carries on at this rate…"

"Yeah, nothing good will come from it" said Song "Not for the rest of us, at least. They'll have their fun, no doubt about it… but we won't"

"Not at all" said Rui Shi "Still, I don't dare do anything. Not as I am. As much as the Princess may say she doesn't care for what I do, it's clear that our relationship hinges on what I decide to do regarding her situation with Sokka. If I were to tell on them, she would loathe me for it even if she says otherwise. If I don't, I'd remain loyal to her but I betray the Fire Lord. It's…"

"It's not an easy choice at all" said Song, biting her lip "Your honor hinges on this, doesn't it?"

"Indeed" said Rui Shi, squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath "What is more honorable, betraying your charge or betraying your liege lord?"

"It sounds like there's no honor in either thing" said Song, sighing "Well… I'd suggest you don't betray yourself, mainly. Do your duty, or keep her safe… it's up to you"

"Isn't it ridiculous, though?" said Rui Shi, smirking "My duty is to keep her safe, after all. But now the one I must protect her from is her own father, the man to whom I swore my oaths as a Royal Guard. If he found out about this, there's no telling what he would do to her"

"Hopefully it won't be anything that bad…" said Song, but Rui Shi snorted.

"Bad won't even begin to cut it. It will be much worse than that" said Rui Shi, shaking his head "Ugh, this is giving me a headache. Why did she have to fall in love with the gladiator, of all people…?"

"There, there" said Song, patting his shoulder as he dropped his face on his hand "If anything, you don't have to take action in any way just yet. You have time to figure things out, right?"

"I've had nearly two months to figure this out, Song" he said "And the more I ponder it, the less I knew what to do. I came to you hoping that talking about this would help me, and maybe it has. It's already a weight off my shoulders to have someone else I can discuss it with. But I still don't know what to do, and that's what I had hoped you would help me with"

"Oh. Well, drat" she said, guiltily "I'd be glad to help, especially after all you've done for me, but… I really don't know what to say. But if you're sure they're going to sleep together eventually, that it's just a matter of time and that there's no way of stopping it, then I suppose the only thing you can do is try your hardest so the Fire Lord doesn't hear of it. I know it's not at all a honorable course of action, but… but it's the only thing I can think of right now that wouldn't cause anyone's death…"

"Indeed, it's not honorable at all" said Rui Shi "But it might be for the best. If anything, the Princess should have learned by now that if she wants to continue with this relationship, she needs to hide it better. If anyone else came to discover them… well, we've already established it would be dreadful. For all of us"

"It sure would be" said Song "So then, you won't tell on them?"

"There's barely anything to tell at this point" said the Captain, looking at her matter-of-factly and she smiled at him.

"Don't worry, Captain. Everything will work out for the best, I'm sure of it" she said, squeezing his shoulder. Rui Shi sighed.

"I hope so, Song" he muttered "I truly hope so"

He still didn't feel any better about the relationship between the Princess and the gladiator. He doubted he ever would. But even deciding to take no action was a decision in itself, despite it didn't feel like it right now. Surely he would grow used to it… and hopefully the Princess would stop being so hostile towards him once she knew he wouldn't get in her way. It would be much easier for Rui Shi to help her keep the secret if they were on good terms. Of course, he didn't want to keep any secrets from the Fire Lord, but at this point he had no choice. And even if he'd had a choice, he probably would have chosen to keep the secret anyhow. His duty was, first and foremost, to look after the Princess's wellbeing. His vow as a Royal Guard wasn't to inform the Fire Lord regarding his daughter's activities, but to protect her from harm. And if the Fire Lord was the one who could harm her, what was he to do but look out for her?

He sighed, hoping that the words would sound more convincing in his head one day. They sure didn't just yet. Of all people, why the gladiator? He doubted he would ever understand the answer to that question.

* * *

Azula finished the last movement of the routine, her landing light and steady. Plums of golden fire dissipated around her as she took deep breaths, her body stabilizing again after the strenuous display of firebending she had made. If she'd had more time to master the golden fire, using it might have proved less tiring. But the efforts she had put into her new brand of firebending were paying off regardless: the Head Sage's mouth was agape as he stared at the Princess, barely giving his eyes credit for what he had just witnessed.

"Princess, this is…" said the Head Sage, his eyes wide as he failed to find words to convey his thoughts "How did you…? W-what is…?"

"It's… well, orange fire wasn't going to work for me" Azula told him "I was sure I could find a way to firebend as you wanted me without resorting to orange flames, though. And after much training and meditating, I developed this new firebending technique. It doesn't feel quite the same as regular fire does…"

"No, by all means, it feels nothing like it!" said the Sage, shaking his head vigorously.

"Which is why I wanted to show you the results of my training beforehand" said Azula "I know this is not the sort of fire used in these performances, so I'll understand if you think I shouldn't use these golden flames. If that's how you want it, I'll keep to blue fire, which, as I showed you, isn't quite as stiff as it used to be…"

"Oh, the improvements with the blue fire are remarkable too, no doubt" said the man "I was just… so surprised by the gold I didn't pay enough attention to the blue. But you… you really created a new form of firebending, Princess? Single-handedly?"

"In all fairness, a few external factors helped" said Azula, with a weak smile. She wasn't going to explain how she had found the key to golden firebending. Amazing as the skill might be, she wasn't about to disclose the nature of her feelings for Sokka to the Head Sage "My dragon amongst them. Some of the books I read gave me hints as well on how to bend in this way"

"It's… it's truly unbelievable" said the man, blinking blankly "I… how does it work? What sort of properties does it have?"

"I don't know yet what this fire's purpose is, Head Sage" Azula said, raising her hands defensively "I might find out in due time, but…"

"Oh, but we should study it!" exclaimed the Head Sage "This sort of phenomenon… we did it too when you first started to bend blue fire, remember, Princess?"

"Indeed, but the only difference there was the temperature" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "This fire, on the other hand, doesn't feel like combat firebending at all. It's something else"

"That it seems to be, yes" said the Sage "Which is why it would be best to look into its properties, Princess, whenever you have time to spare…"

"Well, I suppose we could do that one day" she said, shrugging "But then… you will approve of me using this fire for the ceremony tomorrow?"

"But of course!" said the Head Sage "You must do it! If anything, it feels like the most suitable fire for a ceremony. I truly can't start explain how amazed I am, Princess. What you've accomplished… it's unprecedented. Of course, you must be used to hearing that by now, but still…!"

"Thank you, Head Sage" Azula said, smirking "It pleases me to hear you think so highly of my fire. Also… regarding how I acted when you first instructed me on how to perform this ceremony. I wasn't quite expecting you to find my fire lacking in any way…"

"Well, it was only because of how it felt, Princess, I had meant no offense…"

"I understand that now" said Azula, interrupting the man "I didn't want to understand back then, but now I do. And I'm grateful. Hadn't you been sincere regarding my blue fire and its inadequacy for the ceremony, I wouldn't have discovered golden firebending. So… thank you"

"W-why, no need, I… I did nothing!" said the Sage, stunned, and Azula smiled "Still, I would very much like to explore the capacities and boundaries of your new firebending style, if you'd be so kind as to let me do that. Surely not today, but one day…"

"One day" said Azula, nodding "For now, I should rest. The ceremony is tomorrow after all"

"It is" said the Sage, beaming "And it will be an extraordinary ceremony, without a doubt"

"I hope so" said Azula, smiling before bowing her head curtly towards the man.

Azula left the Temple with a sense of relief nestling comfortably in her chest. She had partially expected the Sage to say golden firebending wasn't suitable for the ceremony either, seeing how different it was from both blue and orange flames, but she had still hoped he would approve of it. Her worries had been appeased now that she knew the golden flames would work for tomorrow's grand event.

Azula headed towards the dragon refuge before heading off to her room for dinner. Xin Long greeted her with enthusiasm, and, as ever, he pranced around her in joy because of the Sage's approval of her bending. He knew just how distressed Azula had been about the man's opinion of her firebending, but now she was happy again, and so was he.

Azula laughed and hugged the dragon's neck once he stopped hopping at last, and he placed his head on her shoulder, groaning happily.

"I couldn't have gotten this far without you" she said, beaming "Thank you, Xin"

She sat with him for a few hours, going over tomorrow's events in her mind. Azula breathed deeply.

"All in all, the ceremony should go well. Hopefully. So long as I don't trip halfway through, which isn't going to happen to me, nothing should go awry" she said, shrugging.

Xin Long prodded her shoulder with his snout, asking her now about what would happen after the ceremony. Azula was taken by surprise by the question.

"Sokka has his fight in the Slate, that's what" she said, blinking a few times. The gladiator was ever present in her thoughts, but busy as she was preparing for the ceremony, she often forgot he had a major event to attend to shortly after she was done with the ceremony "Damn it. I should have told the Captain to get the Barge ready…"

Xin Long raised an eyebrow and Azula smiled at him.

"Well, maybe I can just pull Sokka aboard your saddle and the three of us can fly to the island, huh? Should spare us the hassle of stocking up a ship…"

Xin Long said he wouldn't mind doing that, though they would have to take breaks once in a while. Flying was fun but also tiresome. Azula chuckled and shook her head, resting against the side of the dragon.

"It was only a jest. I'm not putting you through that. I'll just tell the Captain to prepare the ship before I go to dinner. That is, if I can find him. He has been out of sight for quite a while now. Not that I'm surprised…"

A small seed of guilt had been planted on the back of her head ever since she had spoken to Rui Shi for the last time. Her hostility towards him, born from the need to protect her relationship with Sokka and both their lives, might as well have won her an enemy, which was rather inconvenient at the moment. She had grown used to having the Captain as a reliable ally. The idea of having turned him against her bothered her, but she hadn't known how else to act back then. Perhaps if she talked to him again now she would manage to get him on her side again. If anything could be said for the man, it was that he was loyal beyond belief. That he had remained her guard for this long, without filing a single complaint about her treatment of him for Fire Lord Ozai to see, was an obvious indicator of that.

She sighed in resignation, folding her arms over her chest. Just as some things were finally falling into place, everything she had kept under perfect control before was starting to fall apart now. It seemed the universe was trying to make a point of telling her that, regardless if she was a Princess, she couldn't get away with everything she wanted in life.

Still, she wasn't about to give up without trying. Maybe it would be hard to retain Rui Shi's loyalty by now, but she would do wrong to assume he was an enemy considering he hadn't acted upon his information yet. He'd had over a month to inform the Fire Lord of his daughter's illicit relationship, and seeing how Azula had faced no hardships over the matter, it seemed Rui Shi had chosen not to tell Ozai. If anything, she felt grateful for that.

"But who knows what he'll do if things do get out of hand" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest. Xin Long looked at her, aware of what she was thinking of "Not that I won't do everything I can to avoid that, but I should make things right with him while I can. Still, for now, I should just think of the ceremony. I need to keep myself level-headed in order to bend properly, and worrying about this isn't going to help"

Xin Long nodded and surrounded her with his body, making Azula smile and sigh as she relaxed against him. Despite the circumstances, and the fact that she had practically assumed she would make a mess of the ceremony a month ago, her efforts had paid off for good. The golden fire would make this ceremony a unique one, she knew as much. But just as the Head Sage had wondered earlier, Azula as well was curious regarding the golden fire's capacities. If it wasn't good for combat, what could it be good for? She wasn't planning on testing it out at the moment, but she was convinced the golden fire had qualities she had yet to unveil.

She lifted a hand and brought forth her inner fire in its pure form, and a plum of golden fire danced between her fingers. Merely looking at the fire made her feel at ease, at peace with herself, just as she felt nowadays when she was around Sokka. She wondered just how he would react if he knew he had been the key for her development of a new kind of bending… but just as soon as she let her mind drift in that direction she realized she didn't want him to know that, ever. The golden fire made her rather proud, but she didn't want him to know its true source was love. She actually didn't want anyone to know about that, but mostly him. She had yet to put her feelings for him into words, even if she thought she had shown them with her actions plenty of times by now. Surely he already knew… but she didn't dare say the words yet. Not just yet. One day, maybe. But for now, things felt right as they were. For the first time, Azula felt comfortable with herself, and her life, just as she was.

* * *

It had been a hard month for Sokka, perhaps harder than the previous one. Training with Wolf's Bane had helped greatly: fighting with two swords instead of one had given his abilities in the battleground a meaningful boost. The resistance training with firebending had been rather rough, being locked within a heated earth dome had been nearly unbearable at first. After several days being subjected to the extreme temperatures he had started to get used to it, though. He had taken to doing sit-ups while inside the dome to build his resistance to the temperature, and today he had managed to complete over five hundred of them during the span of the two hours he had spent within the contraption. He took that to mean he would be able to take the strenuous activity in the Slate despite the heat. Of course, the Millennium Dragon was the main problem he needed to worry about, but he had kept his mind in the training and nothing more for the time being. Worrying wasn't going to help him beat the guy, after all.

He had also sparred with everyone today, seeing it was the last day of training, before entering the dome. Despite it had been an exhausting experience, it had been worth it. He felt stronger than he had ever been, and the others seemed to think he would do great in the Slate. Even Zuko had admitted to Sokka's improvement, rather reluctantly, but he had admitted it still. And despite Sokka was somewhat disappointed over not having seen Azula in yet another month, he hoped she would be pleased when she saw how much he had improved over the last thirty days.

Dinner today was meant to be special, Ty Lee had said, since it was the last day of Sokka's training. Everyone was enjoying the meal gladly, except for Mai, who had returned home early, as usual. Sokka had been thinking about how he would show Azula his skills as they traveled to the Slate when he heard Ty Lee mention offhandedly that she only hoped there would be enough seats in the Arena for all of them.

"Wait… you guys are planning on coming to the Slate as well?" he asked, his daze broken when he heard the words.

"Well, of course!" Ty Lee said "I'd think you wouldn't even need to ask"

"After all we've done to get you into shape we deserve to see that fight's result, don't we?" said Zuko, raising his eyebrow and looking at Sokka matter-of-factly.

"I guess, but… wouldn't you guys rather stay here?" said Sokka "Those festivals will start tomorrow after all, and it might be more fun to stay here and enjoy them than to come watch my fight, don't you think?"

"Maybe, but these festivals happen every year" said Ty Lee, shrugging "On the other hand, you fighting in the Slate? That's not going to happen too often, right?

"I doubt it" said Sokka, grimly. Even if he hoped his training would keep him from dying while fighting the Millennium Dragon, he doubted he'd win the fight, and only the winner earned the right to challenge in the Slate. He rather doubted the Millennium Dragon would want to challenge him again to the Slate after defeating him the first time.

"Don't be so negative, maybe you'll do better than you think" Suki said, smiling at Sokka. He gave her a crooked grin and shrugged.

"Well, I might not make a total fool of myself, but I still don't expect to win" he said, earnestly.

"I just hope Azula doesn't hear you being so downcast about it" said Ty Lee "She'll want you to win, I'd think. It's Azula, after all"

"Oh, well…" said Sokka, despite knowing otherwise. Azula had given him a month to train before sending word to Shoji about the Slate because she didn't want him to fight unless he was ready. She didn't need him to win, her main interest was for this fight to provide Sokka more recognition than he already had, which would result in more challenges from worthy opponents. But neither Ty Lee nor the others knew that.

"You think she's all set for tomorrow's ceremony?" Ty Lee asked Zuko.

"Well, we'd only know for certain by watching her" he said, shrugging "But it's Azula, so I doubt there's much to worry about. She's bound to do just fine"

"Huh? Can we watch the ceremony?" Sokka asked, surprised. He tried not to look too eager about the prospect of seeing his sponsor again.

"Well, I'll go see it" said Zuko "Mai will come too, I think she's bringing the rest of her family along"

"And I wish I could watch it too" said Ty Lee, sighing "But I'll be at the port making sure the ferry I rented for the Slate is ready to go. And Haru and Suki will help me with that, right?"

"Yeah" said Haru, smiling weakly "Not like it makes much sense for us to watch the ceremony anyways. We're slaves after all"

Sokka froze at that, wondering if the same applied to him. He had expected Zuko's words to mean that he would be welcome to watch the ceremony too at first, but now…

"Don't be silly, Sokka" said Ty Lee, smiling when she saw the disheartened look on his face "You're probably free to go, aren't you?"

"If my Father didn't mind his presence during Azula's birthday, I doubt he'll care this time around either" said Zuko, shrugging "Fact is, watching this ceremony isn't something restricted to nobility or so. So long as you get there early you should get to see it. And even if the Temple gets too packed, you might get to watch the procession as the beacon is brought outside once the ceremony is over"

"Then I really could go watch?" Sokka asked, no longer disappointed.

"Just be there early" said Zuko, and Sokka smiled.

"Sure thing" he said, smiling.

The thought of watching the ceremony served to cheer Sokka up for the rest of the night. As though he were a child again, excited by his first hunting trip with his father or by his next birthday, he struggled with his sleep, his mind full of thoughts of the Princess. He had missed her more than he could say. He only hoped they could make up for the lost time during the upcoming weeks…

It was odd that he was able to stop worrying over his survival at the Slate by thinking about Azula. When he thought about the fight he had a hard time imagining what would come after it. He had trained too hard for too long with a single goal in mind, and seeing past it wasn't easy… unless he thought about her. He could forget the very fight, his worries and fears because of Azula. Whatever lay in store, he knew he could get through it if he was with her.

But for now, the one who had to overcome a great hurdle was Azula. Sokka wanted to believe she would be able to handle the ceremony, even though she had been so pessimistic about it when they had last met. He wished he could have seen her again before her performance, to make sure she would be okay, but there had been no opportunity for that. She would do a great job, though, he was certain of it. The Sages could say what they wanted about how her fire wouldn't suit the task, it amounted to nothing to Sokka. He believed in her, and he knew she would prove herself before the entire city on the next morning.

He woke up an hour before dawn, still feeling tired but too excited about the ceremony to get another minute of sleep. He bolted out of bed and dressed up, gathering his weapons and bags for the trip to the Slate, for he figured they would take off right away once the ceremony was finished. He had meant to have a quick breakfast, but his appetite prompted him to raid the kitchen and eat to his heart's content, as ever. By the time he was finished Song was already up, which alerted him of how much time he had wasted with food. He said his farewells to Song, who hugged him and wished him the best luck for his fight in the Slate before he left.

"Just be careful with that fight, okay?" she asked him, and he patted her back.

"You can trust me, Song" he said "I'll be fine. And I'll be back soon to eat whatever's left in the kitchen…"

"You mean nothing? You practically cleaned us out" she said, giggling a little as she moved away from him. Sokka chuckled and waved at her, his bags slung on his shoulder.

"See you soon, Song!" he said, and she waved back as he made his way down the streets.

The Temple stood near the Palace, and Sokka made its way towards it while watching the many unusual sights across the city. There were ornaments on every street, people setting up food stands, and stashes of fireworks that were meant to be released through the week. Despite the early hours, Sokka saw more people than usual in the city today, although they weren't just the noblemen that populated the Fire Nation Capital. Instead, the people on the streets were commoners and merchants, hard at work with their preparations for the festival. On some level, Sokka was sorry to miss most of what would take place during the week, but the prospect of getting away from the fuss and spending more time with the Princess made him forget his misgivings right away.

He reached the Temple to find many noblemen and their families were already there, greeting each other at the Temple's entrance. Steps led the way up to the gates in the wall that surrounded the main building. There were several buildings within the Temple, and on its center stood a very tall tower. Torches lined the wall and the steps that led to the Temple, Sokka noticed, as he climbed his way to the front gate.

He asked a Sage for instructions on where the Ceremony would take place, and he followed the firebender's directions into the main hall of the Temple's central tower. He soon found himself in a large, tall chamber, although a rather dark one as well. Sokka was reminded of the Throne Room as he looked around himself, detailing the tall red columns and the polished floor. The place wasn't empty, for there were other Sages within the room, speaking amongst themselves in low voices. Since it didn't seem they cared for his presence, Sokka decided to take his time to detail the ceremonial aisle better. There were curtains drawn across large windows, and a structure shaped as a bird, with its wings spread wide open, stood at the furthest end of the room. Sokka raised an eyebrow as he studied it, noticing the colors of the statue gave the bird's feathers a semblance with fire.

"A phoenix, huh?" he asked, rubbing his chin with interest.

There was something positioned before the phoenix that caught his attention: it was a golden, round platform, suspended by golden chains so it would hover just before the phoenix's beak. On the platform rested what seemed to be tinder for a torch, shaped as a flame. Sokka tilted his head sideways, noticing the tinder seemed to gleam for some reason, and he guessed an accelerant had been poured over it. Why, though?

"So you got here early indeed, didn't you?" said a voice behind him. Sokka tried not to jump before turning to greet Zuko with a smile and a wave.

The Prince was wearing a similar armor to that which Azula always wore, to Sokka's surprise. He had never seen Zuko in such a getup. His hair had been drawn back into a top-knot, and he looked tenser than Sokka had seen him in a very long time.

"Early enough, I think" said Sokka "You alright? You look… fancy"

"Fancy?" Zuko repeated, his eyebrow twitching "I'm… I'm fine. It's just a complicated occasion, is all. My father will be here, and… I just have to keep him from noticing me"

"Oh. Well, no need to worry, he's bound to be watching Azula through the ceremony anyhow" said Sokka, shrugging "You'll go unnoticed if that's what you want"

"Heh, doesn't matter what I want, really" said Zuko, but he smiled a little "How are you feeling? Ready to go to the Slate?"

"I suppose as ready as can be" said Sokka, scratching the back of his head "To be honest, I'd rather just enjoy the ceremony for now rather than freak out over what might happen on my next fight"

"A good call" said Zuko, nodding.

The room grew more crowded as time passed by. The Sages stopped talking amongst themselves and instead were making sure to keep all the audience at proper distance of the ceremonial area. Sokka and Zuko chose to stand to one side of the room, hoping that most people would choose to stand in the center instead.

"Say, what's that platform supposed to be for, Zuko?" Sokka asked, pointing at the contraption.

"Uh, if I recall right, that's the beacon the performer must set alight with his fire" said Zuko.

"Really, now?" said Sokka.

"The tinder has special properties" Zuko explained "So as to make the fire retain the same properties it had when the performer was bending the fire. See, when a firebender stops controlling his fire, it…"

"Oh, it starts behaving like normal fire. I'm aware" said Sokka, smiling weakly. Zuko raised an eyebrow "Your sister has tried to set me on fire quite a few times. She succeeded once, and when she wasn't bending the flames on my clothes they changed from blue to orange"

"Huh. So you know how it is, then" said Zuko, and Sokka smiled uncomfortably.

"Yep. All too well"

"Well, it sure is odd to see the two of you together like this"

Sokka and Zuko turned on their heels to find Mai behind them. Ruon Jian was holding their son, and he greeted them both with a smile and a nod, gestures Mai didn't extend to Zuko and Sokka.

"Hey, Mai" said Sokka, smiling a little.

"Morning" said Zuko, bowing his head courteously towards her and her family. Yuudai waved at him, and Zuko smiled at the boy.

"Good morning to you both" she said "Where's Ty Lee? Didn't she come to watch the Ceremony as well?"

"No, she went to the port to make sure our ferry was good to go" said Zuko.

"Huh" said Mai, surprised "Well, it's good to know she's taking care of that, actually. Getting through the bay will be hellish today. If she's the one to deal with the hassle it'll be much better for the rest of us"

"Wait, you'll be going too?" Sokka asked, surprised, and Ruon Jian nodded, placing a hand on Mai's shoulder.

"We discussed it, and Mai really could use a break from changing diapers" he said, chuckling. Mai nodded, folding her arms over her chest "I'll watch Yuudai for the next few days and she'll go watch you in the Slate"

"She deserves to come see the final result of your training as well, you know" said Zuko, and Sokka smiled.

"I was just asking, is all" he said "I thought she'd rather stay with the kid"

"I'd rather take the kid and Ruon Jian, if I'm quite honest, but…" she started, but she stopped midsentence.

"But what?" asked Sokka, curious, but Mai refused to finish what she had been saying. Sokka would have asked her again about what she wanted to say if a sudden silence hadn't taken over the crowd just then.

Zuko stiffened, knowing who had arrived despite the crowd was already too thick for him to see the man personally. Nevertheless, he could spot the Imperial Guards around him, who gave away the Fire Lord's presence in the room. Sokka swallowed hard as everyone in the room bowed down to the man. He felt the urge to stay on his feet, to rebel against a man whose authority he didn't want to acknowledge… but Zuko, who had already knelt down, struck the back of Sokka's knees with his arm, forcing him to fall on the floor against his will. The gladiator scowled at the Prince, but he didn't move until the Fire Lord allowed the crowd to stand up again.

Before Sokka could so much as comment on how ridiculous it was for him to bow before Ozai, the Head Sage stepped forward into the ceremonial aisle. There was absolute silence in the room as he got ready to speak.

"Since the beginning, there was fire" he said "The spark that has made us the proud, powerful nation we are, glows in the skies above to this day. To the sun we owe our very lives, and we shall now glorify it through an offering of the finest flames the Fire Nation can offer. Let the Ceremony of the Sun commence"

Sokka wondered if he was supposed to clap at that, but as he raised his hands he noticed nobody else was about to celebrate the man's words. He resolved to simply put his hands together, his fingers tapping as he waited eagerly for the next part of the Ceremony.

A door at the left of the ceremonial aisle swung open, and Sokka's breath hitched as Azula stepped out into the aisle. Her hair was held up in a top-knot by her usual hairpiece. The robes she was wearing flowed elegantly down her body: the main piece of her outfit was red, but the sash around her waist and the long sleeves of the robes were black. Sokka swallowed hard as his gaze fell upon her, and he was marveled by the hard look on her face. She was determined to succeed, he could see it in her features. And he believed she would do it. If someone could, it was her.

Azula walked towards the Ceremonial Aisle, her every step calculated and careful. She reached the center of the room and bowed towards the crowd, but mainly, towards her father and the Fire Sages. She noticed her uncle stood next to her father, but while the sight was rather surprising, she chose not to pay it any mind. She wasn't here to question her father's choices on company, she was here to perform a ceremony.

With that, she turned towards Feng Huang's effigy. After performing another reverence towards it, she readied herself. She took five deep breaths before starting, five to make sure she would be calm and steady for what she was about to do. She needed to focus completely.

She lifted her hands and positioned them before her. Her palm was extended, and her fist was pressed against it. One more deep breath…

And with that, she brought forth the first batch of flames from her fist.

Everyone in the room watched in confusion as the Princess made her first moves. Her back was turned against them at the moment, which made it difficult for them to see, but had the fire she produced been golden before turning blue as she manipulated it with her left hand?

Sokka's eyes narrowed as he stared at her more carefully. The flames now switched to the right hand, and they were blue, as always… but then she punched the air before her, and as she made the movement, the flames turned golden again.

A gasp ran through the crowd as Azula started moving backwards, her right foot drawing arcs of blue fire, her left foot doing the same with golden flames. Yet she closed herself to the sounds, to everything outside her bending. She was manipulating her inner fire at will, bringing it out when she needed it, and allowing its influence to diminish whenever she wanted blue fire to emerge instead. Gold and blue danced together, in a fierce exchange of flames.

When the time came to stop walking backwards, she stretched out her arms and drew out circles of blue fire with both her arms, but she shot a plum of gold through the rings of blue. Again, the crowd gasped. Again, Azula ignored the sound. She flexed her right leg and twirled with the left one extended, and the circle she drew on the floor down shifted between blue and gold.

She boosted her jump with blue fire, but as she kicked the floor, the flames became golden. The fire danced around her as she waved her hands from side to side, manipulating her flames into the desired shapes each time. Fire poured out of her with every movement. Her eyes closed as she allowed herself to be carried through the motions, her palms extended as she produced balls of fire, each one of different color. It was nearly a dance with fire, a dance that prompted her to jump, to wave her arms, to twirl in vortexes of flames.

She felt as one with her fire. Both the gold and the blue flames were part of her by now: it seemed as though she was, in essence, blue and gold flames united in a single entity. Her hands and feet unleashed her fire, her every breath fueled her power and gave her strength to shift between both kinds of fire, to bend at will and to enjoy every single new movement she made. Her mind was relaxed despite the intense movements she was subjecting her body to, and her heart was beating furiously, as though by the fire's influence.

She withdrew her arms, charging her firebending so she could release two beams of blue fire that turned golden as she lowered her arms. She supported her weight on a single leg next, and she stretched out her arms as she kicked with her remaining leg. She stretched back her neck, and golden fire that turned blue burst from her every extremity and mouth. The leg on which she was supporting her weight pushed upwards, and with the other leg she created a full-body wheel of fire.

The last movements were next, and she knew just what to do, although it would be the trickiedt part. She opened her eyes for the first time since starting the ceremony, and she took a step back as she aimed at the Beacon of Feng Huang. With another deep breath to fuel her flames, she used both arms to produce a cloud of golden fire, which she sent towards the tinder that waited to be burned. But right after releasing the golden flames she drew back her fists and shot twin blasts of blue fire forward.

Despite she wasn't supposed to do so, she didn't flow into the final set of movements for the ceremony right away. Instead, she waited to see the result of her last movement, hoping the blue fire would find the golden one just when it had to…

The Beacon was set alight with golden flames that soon shifted when the blue ones caught up with them. The combination of the fire set the entire room alight with colors that produced yet another room-wide gasp, and even a few squeals of surprise and amazement. Azula's face changed from eagerness to pure joy, and with that, she stepped forward, her right hand above her head, her left at her shoulder. With the second step she took, she charged her right hand as she moved it diagonally, blue flames pouring from it. She jumped, twirling in midair long enough to land perfectly, her fist producing a blast of blue flames as golden ones burst from her legs.

Her chest heaved by the time she was holding the final position. The crowd was silent now, and Azula wasn't sure if that was either a good or a bad thing. But she lifted her gaze towards the Beacon of Feng Huang, and she beamed with pride as she watched the colored flames burning brightly.

The Head Sage, who had already witnessed most of Azula's prowess, save for the multi-colored fire that now danced on the Beacon, stepped towards the Ceremonial Aisle again and turned towards the crowd, where everyone was staring at the Princess with wide eyes, and quite a few of them with their mouths agape.

"The Beacon is lit! Let the Fire Festivals begin!" he exclaimed.

People started clapping now upon the man's announcement. A few of them even cheered, and a rumor of eager conversation spread across the room as Azula straightened herself, still looking at the Beacon with delight. Her gaze fell upon the Phoenix's effigy next, and she hoped this offering would be suitable for the Fire Nation's god.

"Now, you seemed to have forgotten to mention that last bit when you showed me what you would do for the ceremony, Princess Azula!" the Head Sage told her, as the room was filled with excited chatter. Azula turned towards him, a smile on her face as she shrugged.

"I figured I might keep this part a surprise, there was no fun in giving away all my secrets right away" she said, and the old man laughed.

"You are truly one of a kind, Princess" he said, staring at the Beacon with amazement as well "Never before had I seen this sort of fire…"

"Azula" said the next person who had dared approach the Princess after the ceremony, none other than Fire Lord Ozai. Azula turned towards him, pleased to see his wide eyes and the ecstatic expression on his face "This was… That sort of fire, it was…!"

"New, yes" said Azula, smiling "I trust you enjoyed the Ceremony, Father…"

"It was by far the most extraordinary performance I've ever witnessed in this Temple" said Ozai, a glint on his gaze "What you just did, Azula…"

"There are no records in Fire Nation history of fire bent in this manner…" said Iroh, who had stepped forward as well. Azula continued to smile as she looked at him, but she noticed that Iroh's expression wasn't the same as Ozai's. Was it confusion in his eyes? Disbelief? Fear? Azula didn't quite know why, but she sensed something dark about the man just now "That was… quite the sight to behold, Princess Azula"

"Why, thank you, Uncle" she said, smirking as she usually would, but still uneasy regarding the man's reaction nonetheless "It's what I strived for"

"It's truly a pity the Admiral missed it" said Iroh, and Azula raised an eyebrow "If there's a man who would have marveled at your performance today, it would have been Zhao"

As Iroh said those words, Azula understood why Iroh was next to Ozai today. Had Zhao arrived on time, Ozai would have had his most trusted military leader with him instead of his brother. But it seemed Zhao wasn't at the Capital just yet, and because of that, Iroh had been the one to take the place beside Fire Lord Ozai during the Ceremony.

"You said he'd be here soon, Father" Azula said, looking at Ozai "Is something the matter?"

"A storm at sea delayed him" said Ozai "But he will be here before the week is over"

"Good to know" said Azula, although she wasn't too pleased by the news. Zhao had been the last thought in her mind during the past weeks as she strived to master the golden fire. Chances were she would see him again as she returned from the Slate…

"And he will see the power of your flames all the same, even if he missed the Ceremony" said Ozai, smiling "Head Sage, proceed with the lighting of the torches"

"Right away, my lord" said the man, bowing his head towards Ozai and instructing the other Sages to help him lower the platform where the fire of multiple colors continued to burn brightly.

"In any case, Azula…" said Ozai, looking at her "You did a splendid job, just as I expected of you. No, rather, beyond what was expected. As ever, you don't fail to amaze me"

"Thank you, Father" she said, smiling earnestly "I'm honored to know as much"

"You have a trip to take off to now, don't you?" Ozai asked, and Azula nodded "Very well, then, may fortune be on your side with your gladiator's fight. I'll be waiting for your return"

"I'll be back as soon as possible, Father, you can count on it" she said, and he smiled.

The Sages lowered the platform with difficulty and placed it atop a cart as noblemen and military officers approached Azula to praise her performance. She accepted all compliments with smiles, her head held high. They only backed away from her when the Sages moved the platform through the hall, leading it to the doors and out towards the Temple's wall. All the torches in the Temple would be set alight with the beacon's fire, as it was done traditionally. Through the entire week, the Capital's Temple would be lit by the same fire used for the ceremony.

Many people followed the Sages as they left the ceremonial hall, Ozai and Iroh included, although a few others lagged behind to congratulate Azula for her impressive performance. She only noticed the group by the wall when most people were out of the way already. And despite she recognized all five people with ease, her eyes were drawn towards a single one of them. She smiled and raised her eyebrows as they approached, all of them as amazed as the rest of the crowd had been.

"Alright, now that was just too much, woman! Since when can you bend in many colors, huh?" Sokka asked her once he was close enough. Azula laughed and he beamed, looking at her with admiration.

"Not that long, actually, but long enough" she admitted.

"T-that was unbelievable" Zuko said, his eyes wide "How did you do it? I mean… I'd never seen fire like that before!"

"Neither had I until I bent it" Azula said, smiling and shrugging "It came as the result of a lot of hard work, plenty of meditation and relentless training for a month and a half, or so…"

"That can't be all there is to it!" said Zuko, stunned "Azula, that was…! It just was…!"

"Truly remarkable" Ruon Jian finished, smiling at Azula "I have to say, I'm really honored we had a chance to watch you perform. I never imagined a Ceremony of the Sun could be so amazing, but it really was beyond any other firebending performance I've ever seen"

"You just don't know how to be modest" said Mai, smiling as well "You have to go all out and prove just how talented you are with every chance you get, don't you?"

"Oh, I just did what I had to do" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "Had I been given more time I might have been able to bend the combined blue and gold fire throughout the ceremony, but the odds were against me…"

"Come on, what you did already was absolutely fantastic!" Sokka said, beaming. Azula looked at him sideways, amused by his excitement "I'd told you you'd be able to pull it off, and see, you did! And you blew everyone away at it, too! You really ought to be proud of yourself, girl"

"I'm proud enough, yes" Azula confessed, smiling. If there was something she wasn't short on, it was pride. Still, she wasn't quite as arrogant regarding her new firebending skill as she had been when she had developed blue fire. Back then it had been the result of hard work and lots of training indeed… this time it was the result of embracing everything her father had ever told her to shut away from her life. Yes, she had worked hard, but the true key to gold fire lay within her… within the feelings she shouldn't have developed towards anyone, let alone towards the man she was talking to just now "Still, I'm surprised you came to the ceremony. I didn't expect you to be here"

"Why not?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "You thought I'd want to miss out on this?"

"Not quite, but I expected you to be at the ship by now so we could set out to the Slate right away" said Azula, looking at him skeptically "You have a big fight ahead of you, remember? Or is it my performance made you forget it?"

"No, I didn't forget" said Sokka, smiling a little "But I figured I'd come watch you and then we could take off together, you see?"

"Logical enough, I suppose, but we really need to get going now" she said, sighing "I have no idea if the Barge is ready yet, and we'll need to go at full speed to make it there on time…"

"You don't know if it's ready?" Sokka asked, surprised "Why?"

"I only told the Captain to get it ready yesterday" she said, before giving him a guilty look "The one who forgot about the big fight, as a matter of fact, was me. But never mind, we'll make it somehow…"

"Well, if you guys have trouble getting the Barge ready, you could come with us…" said Zuko, frowning. Azula looked at him in confusion.

"Come with you? And what do you mean by that, exactly?" she asked.

"After all we did to train Sokka, you didn't expect us to just stay in the Capital while he fought in the Slate, did you?" Mai said, raising an eyebrow.

"So you're coming to the Slate too?" Azula asked, surprised "Really?"

"Yeah. It's why Ty Lee missed out on the ceremony" said Zuko "She wanted to come, but she chose to get our ride to the Slate ready just in case anything went wrong"

"The bay is bound to be a mess right now" Mai commented "The Festivals are only starting out, so ships will be coming in at an alarming rate… it's a good thing Ty Lee chose to make sure our ship was ready"

"Then Ty Lee is doing the responsible thing and making sure you can come to the Slate?" Azula inquired, raising her eyebrows "Well, that's rather surprising, coming from her. She must really want to watch Sokka's fight"

"She's been pretty eager about it, yeah" said Sokka, shrugging.

"Oh, well" said Azula, sighing "Let's take off, then. If we're all going to the bay, we should get there as soon as possible"

"Are you going to change out of those robes first?" Sokka asked, and Azula nodded, as the group left the Temple's hall, following the rest of the people out of the building.

"I will indeed. Meet me at the Palace gates, I'll arrange transportation to take us all to the bay. Since we're all going to the same place we might as well take a single carriage" she said, and Zuko nodded.

"Good. Let's do that" said Zuko.

It took them some time to make it through the masses of people who were watching how the torches outside the Temple were being lit. More compliments rained upon Azula as she walked with the group towards the Palace, and she accepted each of them with a proud grin. Sokka watched her with a gentle smile on his face. He couldn't wait to have some alone time with Azula to ask her about her new fire, and to tell him just how amazed he had been by her performance. It was taking him every ounce of his willpower not to reach out for her hand right now, but he proved capable of controlling himself.

As they reached the Palace, Azula headed towards her rooms. She requested the carriage they would need to the nearest servant and she took off the ceremonial robes with some difficulty before changing into another set of robes, less formal and also less battle-ready than her usual style. Her armor was in her luggage, since she had chosen to pack it rather than to wear it during the trip to the Slate. She would put it on for the fight, but for now, she would resort to comfortable clothing instead.

The group was waiting for her at the Palace entrance, just as she had told them to be. By the time she had reached the front gates, Sokka and Zuko had already climbed on the carriage while Mai said goodbye to her family.

As Mai had predicted, the Capital's port was at its most chaotic state by the time they got there. Azula berated herself mentally for not having thought of how complicated it would be to set out to the Slate in these conditions. It was too late to regret having accepted the Millennium Dragon's challenge, though. One way or another, they had to reach the Slate, there was no way around it.

The carriage reached the Barge's docks with difficulty due to the amount of people at port. When at last they reached their destination, Azula climbed down the carriage and walked towards the Barge, followed closely by her three accompaniers. The Princess frowned as she saw her ship's sailors racing back and forth, carrying bags or packages hurriedly. This didn't bode well.

The four of them climbed on deck, and while Mai and Zuko were mostly curious about the ship, since neither of them had ever climbed aboard it, Azula and Sokka were looking around themselves in hopes to find the Barge's captain, for they hoped he would tell them if the ship was in condition to set out. And they happened upon a certain captain indeed, but not the one they had wanted to find.

Sokka tensed immediately when he saw Rui Shi, and he inched away from Azula instinctively as they approached the man. He didn't want more trouble with him regarding the Princess. Azula seemed not to care for their problem for the time being, though. She walked up to the man, who stiffened upon noticing the Princess had already arrived.

"Princess. I hope the ceremony went well" he said, bowing his head towards her as the other three caught up with them.

"Well enough, thank you" she said, nodding "Isn't the ship ready yet?"

"As a matter of fact, the Barge is almost fully stocked by now, but it will take at least another hour of preparations before we can set out. And we're facing another problem: getting out of the port is going to be rather complicated under these conditions. As you can see, there are far too many ships coming into the bay for the Festivals…"

"But we can still make it to the Slate despite the situation, can't we?" Azula asked, frowning. The one thing that would dampen her mood today would be having to forfeit such an important fight for something that was outside her control.

"It won't be easy" said Rui Shi, sighing "But we could make it, perhaps, if everything were in our favor once we're ready to set out. Still… it's unlikely for that to be the case"

"Really, now?" Azula asked, an eyebrow twitching as she gazed over her shoulder. There were too many ships in the port, and she couldn't identify the one Ty Lee had hired for this trip. Was it in better conditions to set out to the Slate than the Barge was?

"What are you looking for, Princess?" Rui Shi asked, and Azula turned towards him again.

"Zuko and Mai informed me they will be going to the Slate as well" said Azula, sighing "They told us they might be able to give us a lift there, if the Barge wasn't ready to go just yet"

"Is that so?" Rui Shi asked, and Mai nodded.

"It's just a matter of taking Azula's luggage to the ship" she said, shrugging "The rest should have been taken care of. It might be easier for a smaller ship to transit the waters right now"

"A smaller ship might not get us there as fast as the Barge, though" Azula said, and Mai raised an eyebrow.

"At this rate, the Barge isn't even going to set out of the bay. Under those circumstances, I think a smaller ship will get you there much faster than the Barge" she said.

Azula sighed and looked at Rui Shi.

"Are you sure the Barge can't be ready any faster?"

"I'm afraid not, Princess" said Rui Shi "The traffic in Fire Nation waters right now is dreadful, it's true. So… I think Lady Mai has the right idea"

Azula's eyes widened, and Sokka's jaw dropped. Rui Shi had to be saying the words most unwillingly, but he had said them all the same. Azula looked at him in disbelief.

"D-did you just say… that Mai had the right idea?" Azula repeated "Captain…"

"I'm going to… to trust your friends" Rui Shi said, curtly, and Azula froze where she was "I'm certain they will see you to the Slate and back safely"

"Well, you could come along too, you know?" said Zuko, shrugging "I mean, if you want to make sure she'll be fine…"

"Surely adding the Princess and the gladiator to Lady Ty Lee's vessel is already more than what your group had calculated" said Rui Shi "So I'd rather not impose. The Princess can defend herself well enough, in any case. I trust it won't be necessary for me to accompany her this time"

Azula stared at Rui Shi with a mild frown, knowing just why he was agreeing to this so easily. Normally he would fight toe and nail whenever she tried to shake him off… but not this time. And there was an obvious reason for it.

Sokka looked at the man guiltily, having guessed the same thing Azula had. The Captain still wanted to protect Azula, no doubt… and the best way to protect her would be through his ignorance. If he didn't come on the ship with them he would know nothing about whatever transpired between Azula and Sokka during the voyage, if anything did – and the Captain was certain something would. Pretending not to know of her illicit relationship with the gladiator was a risky move, but one he was taking all the same, for Azula's sake as well as his own. The less he knew about the circumstances around Azula and Sokka's relationship, the better it would be for everyone.

"I can defend myself indeed" Azula said, frowning but nodding "Well, then. If this is what you think will be best, then we'll go with Ty Lee. You can call off the men stocking up the ship, their work won't be necessary anymore"

"Very well" said Rui Shi, bowing his head down towards Azula.

"I only hope Ty Lee's ship is fast enough to get us there on time" said Azula, rubbing her temples with her fingers as she turned to climb down the ramp "I'll see you when we return, Captain"

"Indeed, Princess" he said, nodding in her direction, as the rest of the group followed.

But before Sokka could join them, Rui Shi clasped his shoulder and forced him to turn towards him.

"I know, I know…" said Sokka, gulping "I'm not planning on doing anything stupid…"

"Doesn't matter if you plan it or not, you'll surely do something stupid regardless" said Rui Shi, and Sokka grimaced.

"W-well, that's probably true, but still…"

"I only wanted to say…" said Rui Shi, taking a deep breath "Do your best in the Slate. Don't get yourself hurt, let alone killed. She won't know how to live with that"

"Ah, I… I'm not planning on having that happen" said Sokka, looking at Rui Shi with surprise "I don't know if I'll win, but I'll do my best to get through that fight as safely as possible"

"Do it, then" said Rui Shi, sighing "For her sake. You matter too much to her for her own good"

Despite himself, Sokka smiled. He clasped the Captain's forearm with a hand and nodded towards him.

"For her sake" he said "You can count on it"


	88. Chapter 88

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: certain... adult-ish situations further into the chapter. If that's not your cup of tea, I think you'll know when to stop reading.

"Wow! Oh, Azula, that's amazing!" Ty Lee exclaimed, staring at the dancing golden flames with wide eyes.

The Princess smirked, pleased with her friend's reaction to the fire that danced in her hands. Ty Lee's slaves were also watching in amazement while Sokka, Mai and Zuko merely smiled at the scene.

It had taken a few hours for their ship to leave the bay, but at long last, they were on their way to the Slate. Nearly every ship was sailing in the opposite direction, but that stopped being a potential problem once they made it past the Great Gates of Azulon. The group had been on deck as the ship made its way through open waters. Once they weren't in risk of collision with other ships, Ty Lee had asked Azula about the ceremony, which had resulted in the Princess's display of her golden fire.

"I'd never seen anything like that before" Suki said, her eyes wide.

"Nor had I. And I've fought lots of firebenders" said Haru, impressed "How did you do it, Princess?"

"Why does everyone ask that?" Azula said, her eyebrow twitching as the flame turned blue and disappeared when she stopped bending.

"W-well, it's just such a rare form of firebending" said Haru, smiling a little "We're simply curious"

"We sure are" said Sokka, stepping forward and beaming at Azula as well "You really should tell us what's the secret, Azula. We're all good people here, none of us will reveal your secrets for awesome firebending to the rest of the world"

"Good to know. But I'm still not saying anything" she said, giving him a dry smile. Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"Well, aren't you stingy, woman" he muttered, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well, whatever the secret is, that was really amazing, Azula!" Ty Lee exclaimed, clapping happily "Oh, I really wish I had seen the ceremony. I shouldn't have missed it…"

"Yeah, you really should have seen the other fire too" said Sokka, smiling again "If you thought the gold one was awesome, you should've seen the colorful one"

"Colorful fire?" Ty Lee asked, her eyes shining bright with amazement "Oh, that sounds amazing! Can you show me, Azula?"

"I can't quite bend that one freely" Azula admitted "So I'd rather not take chances with that while we're on a moving ship. You'll see it when we get back to the Fire Nation, though. All the torches near the Temple have been set alight with it"

"So, you really can't produce that one like the others?" Zuko inquired, curious.

"I might find a way to do it eventually" Azula said "But I could only do so much in two months time"

"And you did really well" Sokka told her, beaming.

Azula nodded, holding back the urge to smile back at him. She didn't want to seem aloof or cruel towards Sokka, but she couldn't act naturally around him while everyone else was there. Being harsher towards him would keep their suspicions and questions at bay, she hoped…

"I suppose I did" she responded, before looking at Ty Lee again "Well, then, which cabin will I get?"

"Oh, you'll take the one I was going to use" said Ty Lee, smiling "It's the last one in the hall below deck, all the way to the end of the ship. You'll have big windows, and a very nice view of the landscape! Your men already brought all your luggage into your room, so you'll be able to tell which one is yours"

"Well, thanks for that" said Azula "You could have given me a smaller room, though. We're already imposing on you, so…"

"Oh, come on, Azula" said Ty Lee, rolling her eyes "You're the Princess, you get the best stuff and that's just how it is. You used to be quite fond of that before, weren't you? Where is this sudden altruistic streak coming from, huh?"

Azula's eyebrow twitched and she gave Ty Lee another sarcastic grin.

"Alright then. I won't say another word about it" she stated "Still, what will you do?"

"No need to worry. I'll just share rooms with Suki, and Sokka has already agreed to share with Haru too" said Ty Lee, smiling. Azula nodded.

"It seems you have everything covered, then. That's good to know" she said, despite already suspecting some of the sleeping arrangements might not be quite as Ty Lee had described them in practice.

Even though she wouldn't be tucking in anytime soon, Azula decided to head to her cabin while the others continued to talk on deck. The ship wasn't particularly large, in fact it was far smaller than what she was accustomed to. It was mostly white, and it lacked the pagoda towers that identified high-class Fire Nation ships. It had a chimney, though, and a superstructure from which the inside of the ship could be accessed. Azula followed Ty Lee's instructions down the ship's hallway and reached the furthermost room, where a far smaller cabin than her quarters in the Barge awaited her. The bed was big enough for her comfort, but it took up most the room with its size. There was a dresser to the left, and there was a soft red carpet covering the floor. Her luggage was occupying most of the available space in the room.

She was busy arranging the room to her liking, something she'd never had to do before while on a ship, when she heard footsteps approaching. She lifted her gaze from the bag where most her clothes were stored and found Mai at the doorway, watching her.

"What is it? Did you want this room for yourself, Mai?" Azula asked, with a small smirk.

"Not really. I don't think the room will make any difference regarding the amount of sleep I'll get" said Mai "Nor will it make any difference for yours, either"

"That sounds eerie" said Azula, and Mai smiled a little.

"Come on. You don't actually believe that Ty Lee will share rooms with Suki, or do you?"

"No, I figured not" said Azula, sighing "You expect Ty Lee and Haru to keep the rest of us up all night, then?"

"Not quite, in fact" said Mai, looking at Azula slightly apologetically "I had prepared for the eventuality already"

Azula smiled in approval when Mai pulled out a pair of ear plugs from her pocket.

"I only brought one pair, though" she said "If I'd known you were coming along, I would have offered you some"

"No need to worry, I'll figure out a way to sleep despite the noise they might make" said Azula "If I managed to sleep while lost in a forest, I should be able to do it this time as well"

"Hopefully" said Mai, smiling a little "We'll be gathering for dinner in a couple of hours, just so you know. Ty Lee hired some great cook she knows from the city, apparently we'll have a feast to celebrate your ceremony"

"Well, that's good to know" said Azula "If there's one thing that could easily ruin any voyages at sea, it's bad food"

"It seems Ty Lee prepared well enough for that" said Mai, and Azula raised an eyebrow.

"I'm really impressed. She has been so thorough and responsible it hardly sounds like her at all" she pointed out, and Mai shrugged.

"I think having two slaves who remind her of things is quite helpful for Ty Lee" said Mai "Normally she's careless about several things, but I think Haru has been happy to remind her of anything she might have overlooked. And I figure whatever Haru doesn't help with, Suki does, so…"

"She has quite a nice team there, it seems" said Azula.

"Yeah, it seems. Ty Lee has always been at her finest when she's part of a group" Mai said, smiling a little.

"Don't we know it" said Azula, nodding "It's rather unusual for you to be nostalgic, Mai. Something the matter?"

"Well, it's hard not to be, at times" said Mai "Life gets a little lonely when the only person you can talk to for most the day can only blurt out random syllables and make spit bubbles"

"Life as a mother isn't too much fun, is it?" said Azula "I'd always guessed that watching over a child must be unbearably boring"

"It could be worse, he's a good boy" said Mai, smiling "Still, it's usually him and me for most the day. By the time Ruon Jian is home either I'm exhausted or he is, so we barely even talk. These last months, though… they have been unexpectedly fun"

"You mean, training Sokka?" Azula asked.

"Yeah. I've never liked being around large groups of people, but surprisingly, it was fun. Possibly because I never spent the whole day with them, but still…"

"Still, you needed the company" said Azula, raising her eyebrows.

"Odd that even I would need someone to talk to, isn't it?" Mai said, raising her eyebrows. Azula chuckled.

"Well, despite what you might try to make people believe, Mai, you're only human" she said "So it's understandable that you enjoyed it. I suppose you'll miss it when we're back home"

"I might not have to miss it, though" said Mai, looking at Azula nonchalantly "See… I've been thinking about how we've stopped meeting as often as we used to, before Yuudai was born. I guess we stopped because of him and because you kept getting busier, both with the Gladiator League and all your responsibilities…"

"Our lives became more complicated over time" said Azula, nodding "We have all changed a lot. We're not the same three girls from school anymore"

"It's true, but… I do have to say my days would be a lot easier to get by if we returned to our weekly meeting regime" said Mai "It's just a suggestion, though. I understand you have much to deal with as you are"

"Well, it's not a bad proposal, actually" said Azula "Usually I spend the day training with Sokka, so maybe we could meet at Ty Lee's place. He could train with Haru instead, while you, Ty Lee and I catch up on whatever we've been up to, as it was in the good old days"

"Huh… that sounds like a good idea" said Mai, smiling "I'd have to bring Yuudai too, of course…"

"Oh, well. Maybe being around a child once a week will warm me up to them, if only a little" said Azula, with a sigh. Mai smirked.

"You, warm up to a child? That'd be a sight to behold"

"Well, if you don't want to take that risk then you'll have to keep him far from me by then" said Azula, smiling as well.

"I'll do what I can to prevent any problems between you two" said Mai, nodding "Thanks for complying with this. It might be nice doing this again"

"Yes, it just might be"

"We do have a lot of catching up to do, after all" said Mai, smirking, and Azula frowned.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"Only that there's much we haven't had a chance to talk about for a very long time, Azula" she said "Such as your dragon, for instance. I've never even met him"

"Oh. You meant Xin Long" said Azula, relaxing a little "Well, he's currently flying well above us. I could call him down to the ship's deck if you want to see him for yourself"

"We could do that indeed" said Mai "And we could also talk about your gladiator…"

"What about him?" Azula said, between gritted teeth. Again she tensed up, and Mai laughed softly.

"You know just what about him" she said, turning on her heels and walking down the hallway again.

"Oh, sure I know…" said Azula, an eyebrow twitching "You're just worried about that stupid bet of yours, aren't you?"

"As a matter of fact, I've managed to resolve that particular problem" Mai replied, surprising Azula "So you don't need to feel bad anymore about making me lose my money to Ty Lee. It's been taken care of"

"Oh, really?" Azula asked, distrustful. Her curiosity got the better of her, and soon she was following Mai down the hall "And how exactly did you accomplish that, if I might ask?"

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you" Mai replied enigmatically, with a pleased smile before climbing on deck again.

The rest of the group remained on the deck, just as they had been before. Upon Azula's request, Xin Long descended on the ship so Mai could finally see him for herself. Xin Long greeted his rider happily, but also leapt at Sokka upon seeing him, which made Sokka laugh and pat the dragon's head. Xin Long was surprised when Zuko wasn't as distant as he usually was with him, and he was more than happy to make many new acquaintances. The only downside for Xin Long was Azula's express command for him to not burn or chase after anyone, but he enjoyed the attention nonetheless.

Xin Long took off again by dinnertime, hoping to find prey either in the water or in nearby islands. The humans, on the other hand, headed inside the ship, and gathered in a brightly lit dining room where all assortments of dishes awaited: salads, beef, pork, komodo chicken and rhino, rice, dumplings, muffins, sweets and more. Naturally, Sokka went for everything meat-related, although he remained quite wary of the komodo rhino even to this day, just as Azula did. The meal was pleasant and cheerful, and everyone seemed to eat to their heart's content. But things couldn't possibly carry on in the same cheerful and lighthearted note, and Azula felt quite foolish for having assumed otherwise. There was no way a trip of at least five days with this group of people would go smoothly.

So when Ty Lee pulled out the bottles of baijiu, all Azula could do was berate herself mentally for not having foreseen this from the start. Clearly, something like this had been bound to happen.

"And now we'll celebrate Azula's success in the ceremony properly!" she exclaimed, as Azula's eyebrow twitched.

"You've got to be kidding me" she said, as she felt Sokka stiffen next to her. Stealing a glance at him told her he was grimacing with concern at the sight of the bottles.

"Ty Lee, what on earth…?" said Mai, looking at her in dismay, as Ty Lee giggled.

"Come on, Mai! It'll be fun! Besides, we need to toast to Sokka's triumph in the Slate too!"

"I don't think we need to toast to anything" Azula snarled "Sokka's odds in the fight are most likely not going to favor him if he has alcohol in his system while he's in the ring, in case you hadn't thought about that"

"Oh, please, he'll just drink today, not every day" said Ty Lee, looking at Azula matter-of-factly "And it's just one tiny drink, nothing more! It's all good fun, you'll see!"

"If it's anything like sake, baijiu should be good" Suki said, shrugging, as Haru smiled at Ty Lee eagerly.

"No wonder she's so happy with you two" Azula said, begrudgingly "But I, for one, will pass. I'm not taking so much as a sip from that bottle's contents"

"Well, you don't have to drink straight from the bottle, you know" Ty Lee giggled, and Azula rolled her eyes.

"That's clearly NOT what I meant, Ty Lee" she growled, as the girl laughed more.

"And she's not the only one who's going to pass" Mai said, grimacing "That's probably the cheapest liquor you could find, isn't it?"

"W-well, maybe, but that doesn't mean it's bad!" Ty Lee squealed, as both Azula and Mai looked at her in disbelief.

"Yeah, well… I'll pass too" Zuko said, surprising everyone.

"You'll pass? Why?!" Ty Lee exclaimed.

"So will I" said Sokka, sighing, and Azula actually looked at him proudly "Alcohol isn't really my strong suit… I'd rather not take any risks with it this time around"

"B-but… oh, you're all such spoilsports!" Ty Lee exclaimed, pouting "A little fun never hurt anyone!"

"Not sure if that's entirely true, especially regarding alcohol" Azula said, and Sokka grimaced before looking at her guiltily "Feel free to drink at will, Ty Lee, but don't expect the rest of us to join in"

"B-but at least just for a toast, Azula, please!" she begged, still pouting.

"No, thank you" Azula said, standing up "You can have my share, I'm sure you'll enjoy that"

"Heh, yes I will!" Ty Lee exclaimed, pouting "And I'll take Mai's too!"

"By all means, go ahead" said Mai, smiling a little and standing up too "Don't make a mess of the ship if you get drunk, will you?"

"When have I ever done anything stupid while being drunk, Mai?" Ty Lee asked, and when Mai opened her mouth she lifted a hand to stop her "You know what? Don't answer that"

"Good call" said Mai, smiling before following Azula out of the dining room.

Sokka turned his head to watch Azula leave, wondering if he ought to follow… he still hadn't gotten a proper chance to talk to her today. It bothered him that he hadn't, but for some reason Mai had always been near Azula ever since they boarded the ship. Still, he could approach Azula before she turned in, couldn't he? It should be a good moment for a private conversation, so long as nobody saw them…

"Now, Zuko, really" Ty Lee said, once Mai and Azula were gone "You can't just say you won't drink! This is a good drink, you'll see!"

"B-but you just said it was cheap" Zuko said, and Sokka snorted.

"And I suppose you're well above cheap drinks, aren't you?" he asked, mockingly. Zuko's eyebrow twitched.

"Here I was, thinking we were getting along far too well lately…" he grumbled, and Suki laughed softly.

"Come on, you both should have a little, at least" she said, taking one of Ty Lee's bottles and the small saucer-like cup that came with it. She filled it and passed it to Zuko, who stared at the liquid as though it were possessed by a wicked spirit "Just take one drink and it'll be enough, Zuko"

"Heh, I… I don't know, Suki" he said, grimacing. Ty Lee, who had been staring at Zuko intently, smiled suddenly at that.

"Just a moment… are you trying to say you've never had any alcohol in your life, Zuko?!" she asked, and Zuko flinched.

"I'm not… I didn't say that!"

"You didn't say it because you don't want to admit it, but surely…!"

"I don't have anything to admit!" Zuko retorted, blushing furiously "I've had drinks before! Anyone has!"

"Well, then, take a little baijiu and I'll believe you" said Ty Lee, beaming "Come on, it's not half as bad as Azula and Mai made it out to be!"

Zuko grimaced and took the cup Suki was offering him reluctantly. Sokka raised an eyebrow, surprised he had complied in the end. Zuko took a deep breath before lifting the cup to his lips, and his eyes widened as the sour taste filled his mouth once he had taken a mouthful of the drink.

It seemed to take him all his willpower to swallow, but he did it in the end, lowering the cup and shaking his head.

"W-what the hell, Ty Lee? That was really… that was a really bad drink" he said, looking at her judgmentally.

"Oh, please. You say that because you're new to it, is all!" said Ty Lee, giggling.

"As if! This is terrible!" Zuko exclaimed, grimacing still over the unpleasant liquor he had just drank.

"Come on, how bad can it be?" Suki asked, taking the bottle and pouring some baijiu for herself as well "They used to make sake in my village long ago. I never had much of it, but I did drink it a few times… I figure it shouldn't be too different from that"

"Oh, then you'll be able to tell Zuko if it's good or not" said Ty Lee, clapping happily.

Suki drank the cup's contents and grimaced a little before looking at Ty Lee apologetically.

"This is… actually pretty lousy" she said, and Ty Lee pouted.

"Oh, well. At least it's alcohol, and that's what matters!" she exclaimed "Doesn't matter how you get wasted so long as you get there, right?"

"Uh… no?" said Zuko, grimacing.

"You probably shouldn't get drunk on a ship, Ty Lee" said Sokka, standing up to leave as well "If the rocking motion doesn't make you sick, that's going to do the trick. You'll be puking into the sea before the night is over"

"Well, luckily it'll be quite a while until it is" said Ty Lee, smiling "Now, come on, don't go, Sokka! You need to have some too!"

"I'd rather not, really" said Sokka, and Ty Lee raised an eyebrow.

"Well, what is it, are you new to drinking like Zuko?"

"I'm not new to drinking!" the Prince exclaimed, blushing.

"Not at all" said Sokka "I've just… had a few bad experiences with drinking, is all. I'd rather not take chances with it this time around"

"Bad experiences how?" Suki asked, and Sokka smiled awkwardly. That she'd be the one asking the question didn't make matters any simpler. She had never known what he had done after their failed date, and he wasn't planning on telling her about it anytime soon.

"Just… bad. I'm highly prone to doing and saying stupid things while under the influence of alcohol"

"But you do like it, don't you?" Ty Lee asked, and Sokka shrugged.

"I guess. I've probably had worse to drink than whatever you've got there. This must be really refined in comparison to what I had while in the Amateur League…"

"You were given drinks back then?" Zuko asked, surprised.

"Once in a while" said Sokka "If the guy who managed the business felt like buying us a 'treat', as he liked to call it. But it only happened if he had gotten more money than expected in the Arena that day"

"Huh" said Haru, looking at Sokka with worried eyes "So you'd rather not remember those times, I guess?"

"Uh, yeah" said Sokka, gulping. In all honesty, he had never done anything as stupid while drinking in the Amateur League as he had during the one time he had gone drinking while already being hired by Azula…

"Oh, but this is bound to be better than whatever you had back then, you just said so yourself!" Ty Lee exclaimed, and Sokka shrugged.

"Probably, but I'd rather not…"

"Come on! You know you want it, Sokka!" Ty Lee said, offering him a bottle and a cup. Sokka's eyebrow twitched as he looked at her.

He could have a little sip. It couldn't hurt, could it? He would simply slip away, to a secluded area, where nobody would approach him. He'd gone a long time without having any liquor, and despite himself, he wouldn't mind having a taste of it again. He had stopped drinking altogether because he associated it with some of the worst decisions he had made in his life, not because he disliked it. Maybe he could just take that bottle… He simply had to be cautious not to go overboard with drinking and everything would turn out fine…

He reached out towards the bottle and sighed as he grabbed it. Ty Lee giggled as he gave in to her requests, and Sokka merely glared at her before turning around and leaving, with the bottle and the cup firmly clasped in his hands. He would only have a few helpings, and that would be it. He wouldn't go overboard, and he would stay as far from everyone else as he could be to avoid potential trouble. That was what he'd do. Nothing other than that.

"If I were you, I'd tuck in early" Mai recommended Azula, as they both paced on deck "I already expected tonight to be quite chaotic, but I didn't foresee the drinking. It's only going to make everyone louder"

"Surely" Azula said, sighing "But I'm not tired enough to go to bed just yet. I'd end up hearing their scandal regardless if I turn in early or not"

"Well, I sure feel bad for not bringing more ear plugs now" said Mai, sighing "Let's hope they drink enough to just fall unconscious, huh?"

"Knowing Ty Lee, that won't be the case" Azula muttered "Her resistance to alcohol is ridiculous. But her drinking buddies for the night might not have the same endurance as she does…"

"Hopefully. Anyhow, I'll be taking off now" Mai said "Beware the drunken party"

"I'll make sure to do so" Azula said. Mai nodded and Azula smiled, and with that, her friend walked inside the ship once again.

But as Mai left, Azula noticed some movement at the back of the deck. She frowned at first, unsure as to why would anyone go there at such late hour. She heard no voices, though, so whoever it was, he would be alone.

Assuming that whoever it was wouldn't pose any threat to her, she decided to have a look. It couldn't hurt to do so, she hoped…

And indeed it didn't. She froze where she was when she noticed who the lurker in the darkness was, and she rested against some heavy wooden crates that had been placed on the back of the ship while she watched Sokka uncork a bottle of baijiu with an amused, yet disapproving look on her face.

"Just the one drink for luck. That's it" he told himself, and she smirked "No need to do anything stupid, Sokka…"

"Just drinking at all seems pretty stupid to me" Azula said, and he squealed and jumped, not having expected any company just then.

He turned to look at her, the color draining from his face at first before it came back at full force, his cheeks flushing.

"W-where did you come from?" he asked, embarrassed. Azula chuckled.

"I was on deck all along, I was just talking to Mai. I noticed there was someone here just now, though, so I figured I'd find out if we had a stowaway or perhaps a nest of rats… but it turns out it was just a gladiator trying to have a shameful drink, it seems"

"It's not… it's not that shameful, I mean, I'm a grown man!" he exclaimed, and Azula raised her eyebrows "I can have a drink if I want it, can't I?"

"Why, you can, but you shouldn't. At least, you should take it easy" she said, her arms crossed over her chest "Fighting the Millennium Dragon is going to be bad enough as it is, imagine going against him while struggling with a hangover, on top of it all"

"Well, good thing I'm not planning on getting a hangover, then" said Sokka, stubbornly, pouring some liquor on his cup "Cheers to you, my sponsor who creeps up on me when I least expect it!"

"It's not my fault you make it easy to sneak up on you while you're doing something you're ashamed of" she said, smiling "But now, are you really going to drink that?"

"Meh, it's not like it's going to kill me, is it?" said Sokka, shrugging and lifting the cup to his lips. He swallowed the baijiu quickly and wiped his mouth with the bandages on his arms "Oh, damn. It's been ages since I last felt that rush"

"It should have been a few more ages yet" Azula said, looking at him disapprovingly "Seriously, Sokka… must you do this?"

"You don't have to worry so much, Azula" said Sokka, smiling at her "I'll be fine, I'm not going to get drunk. I have some self-control, believe it or not"

"You have it when it's convenient, if you ask me…" Azula muttered, and Sokka chuckled.

"I'd disagree with that, but you might be right…" he said, grinning and setting the cup down "Still, if you're so worried I might end up drunk, you can just sit here with me and make sure I don't take too much. How about it, huh?"

Azula frowned and looked at him warily. Undeniably, she wanted to be alone with him for a while… but the presence of alcohol daunted her. The last time he had been under the influence of liquor he had said a few things she had never wanted to hear from him. But they both had changed a lot since that time, hadn't they? Surely he didn't think of her in the way he had back then. There shouldn't be such a great risk of winding up with her heart broken tonight… or at least, she hoped not. And he did need someone to make sure he wouldn't get drunk…

She sighed in resignation and made to sit beside him, to Sokka's surprise and joy. He had expected her to refuse his suggestion right away.

"This is going to be a long night, isn't it?" Azula asked, dropping her head against the crate they were both resting against as Sokka smiled happily at her.

* * *

She was giggling as she stumbled her way through the ship's passageways, but he helped her keep her footing with his arm around her waist. Suki could tell she was in far worse shape than him, for she had drank much more than him, but the effects of the alcohol didn't go unnoticed upon Zuko regardless. There was a goofy smile on his face, and his cheeks were flushed. Suki didn't think she had ever seen him like that before, but she was sure she could grow fond of this new aspect of the Fire Nation Prince.

"Mine was… left to Ty Lee's, was it?" Suki asked, as they looked at the ship's cabins.

"Weren't you sharing with her?" Zuko replied, and Suki frowned.

"I… can't remember. Maybe?" she said, before giggling again "Oh well…"

"You can come to mine until you figure it out…" he said, before realizing how bold he had been to say the words. Suki smiled.

"If you want… b-but do you know which one is yours?"

"I think we can figure it out" he said, smiling a little at her positive response. He had only expected her to reject him.

Zuko was having a hard time figuring out directions, but he found a door that seemed the right choice to him and pushed it open. When he scoured the room and found there was nobody else inside he guessed this was really his cabin. He coaxed Suki into the room and closed the door behind him, and Suki continued to giggle as she entered it.

"So these… are your royal quarters, huh?" she asked, still laughing "Looks plain to me, eh?"

"You're drunk. You can't see… the wonders" he said, dramatically, and Suki laughed more.

"Well, so are you. So for that matter…" she said, walking towards the bed and dropping face-first atop the pillow "Ah… nice. It's… soft"

"Like you" Zuko said, laughing too before he noticed what he'd said.

"Oh? I'm soft? Or are you trying to say I'm bland?" Suki asked, turning on the bed to glare at Zuko judgmentally.

"B-bland? Eh… I didn't… what?" Zuko said nervously, and Suki wound up giggling again.

"Why are you so much fun to tease?" she asked, smirking "Come on, join me, will you? This bed is too big for just me…"

"W-wait, are you…?" he said, as she rolled on her back while spreading her arms. The room was spinning for her, but she rather enjoyed it.

"Am I what?" she asked, and Zuko gulped before sitting next to her, shifting nervously.

"I'm a virgin" he blurted out. Suki sat up and looked at him with amazement.

"Say what?" she asked, and he blushed furiously.

"I-I-I'm just saying, if you wanted me to… t-to, well… y-you know, I mean…"

"I didn't say I wanted that, you dirty-minded Prince" Suki said, smirking and pushing him down on the bed. Zuko fell on his side without mumbling incoherently anymore "Quick to jump to conclusions, aren't you?"

"W-well, I mean… we're alone, and there's a bed…"

"And do you always expect to have sex whenever you're alone with a woman and a bed?" Suki asked, smirking.

"Not really…" Zuko said, frowning "We've been alone with a bed before…"

"We have. And all we did was…"

With that, she leaned in and kissed him, and Zuko froze at first before closing his eyes and responding slightly too enthusiastically to her advance. Suki giggled as he kissed her intensely, as if his life hinged on his performance in this very moment. But soon enough she pulled away, to Zuko's chagrin, a hand on her forehead. He frowned again.

"Are you alright?"

"Uh, it's just… everything spins" she said, smiling a little "And… I got a bit dizzy there"

"Heh. My kiss dazzled you" Zuko said, smirking with pride, and Suki laughed.

"Looks like it" she said, turning her head to look at him.

Zuko felt braver tonight than usual, surely because of all he had drank that night. Never had he expected liquor to have such an effect upon him, but he found he actually liked it. It made him confident enough to draw closer to Suki again, to take another kiss from her lips. And she was happy to give in, surrendering as he surrounded her with his arms, still somewhat bashfully, and kissed her more. She made the exchanges longer and deeper whenever she sensed him hesitate, and they both laughed softly whenever they parted, just before they resumed their previous activities.

She was far more daring than he expected, but he thought it was mainly the drink that made her this way. She had touched his scar once before, and they had kissed before, but never had she caressed his chest as she was doing now. Thrills rushed through his body as her hands continued to move over him, softly at times, roughly at others. He wanted to return the favor, but so far, all he dared do was touch her arms. Suki looked at him through half-closed eyes, as though challenging him to mimic her actions. Shyly, he forced himself to comply… and he gasped when his hand fell upon one of her breasts. Suki smiled.

"You can relax, Zuko… nothing bad is going to happen, you know?"

"I-I just… I'd never done this before, is all" he said, gulping "I meant it when I said I was a virgin…"

"I believe you" said Suki, giggling "Still, hadn't you ever touched a girl before? After all those years at sea… I mean, you are a Prince. Didn't women line up for you?"

"What, looking like this?" he said, pointing at his scar "Not a chance"

"Come now, Zuko… you're a handsome man" said Suki "You know that, don't you?"

"I'm… not so sure" he said, and Suki raised her eyebrows.

"So you think I have bad taste in men, then?"

"I j-just… don't know if I'm your taste, actually" he said, and she kissed him again.

"Would I be here with you if you weren't?"

"I… don't know. See, you're drunk…"

"So are you"

"B-but I'm not the one whose taste is in question, or am I?"

"Maybe you are, though. Why would a Prince lay in bed with a slave such as myself…?" Suki asked, and Zuko stared at her in disbelief.

"W-well, because…. B-because I… I like you" he said, gulping, and Suki smiled.

"And I like you" she said, kissing his nose "So there you have it. Drunk or not, I like you, Zuko"

He smiled and laughed softly as she took his hand into hers. She closed her eyes and rolled on her back, the world spinning around her. Zuko looked at her in amazement, never having expected something like this to happen. When he had heard Mai was married, and that she wouldn't be with him anymore, he had assumed he would be alone for the rest of his life. And despite things had never gone awry with Suki, he had never quite considered that perhaps she was as fond of him as he was of her.

"I'm very lucky you do" he said, smiling "You're… you're a very good kisser"

"Am I?" she said, chuckling "I'm good at other things too, as it happens…"

"Are you really?" Zuko asked, raising his eyebrow. Somehow he wasn't sure if this conversation was taking a turn he was ready for…

"Believe it or not, I am" she said, closing her eyes "If you're wondering, the men from Shu Wo didn't really… well, I'd lain with someone else before that happened. So I wasn't… I wasn't entirely inexperienced by the time that mess happened"

"Oh" said Zuko, nodding "Well, then. That's… good, I suppose?"

"It was a nice memory for a time of darkness" she whispered, and Zuko's eyes widened "He was… a nice man"

"Who… who was it?" he asked, nervously. He had never spoken with Suki about her past romantic relationships: he had assumed that wasn't a topic she wanted to breach. She had asked about him a few times, but he had never dared do the same. Her time in Shu Wo had taken its toll on her, and he doubted she would want to trust him with any stories of the sort. But from the looks of it, she might just be about to do so…

"Another gladiator" she said, and Zuko looked at her in dismay. Suki noticed and laughed at his expression "Not Sokka, in case that's what you thought. I already told you nothing came from that"

"Oh… oh" said Zuko, relieved now "I suppose not. He… he wasn't your taste in men, I take it?"

"I think he could have been" Suki said "If only he hadn't been in love with someone else"

"That again?" Zuko asked, and Suki chuckled.

"Indeed" she said "Seeing how he carries himself around your sister is proof of it. I always wondered why he seemed so distraught during our date, but I think it must have been because of her. I don't really know why, but it makes sense if I think about it that way…"

"Maybe" said Zuko, grimacing "Still… weren't you talking about something else?"

"I was…? Oh. Oh, Kerron" she said, and Zuko raised an eyebrow.

"Was that his name?"

"Yeah. He was an earthbender" she said "Really high up there in the ranking, even though I met him when he was still under the top hundred. We were in a Pairs Tournament together… we lost, but it was fun"

"And that's how you got involved?" Zuko asked, biting his lower lip.

"It's how it started, yeah. It was never anything serious, though" Suki said, her gaze lost on the ceiling "We just met once in a while. Our sponsors were friends, so whenever they wanted to have dinner together we would see each other. It was very casual"

"Sounds like you liked him a lot, though" Zuko said, not realizing he was speaking out loud.

"I guess I did" said Suki, sighing. Her eyes darkened now, and Zuko was afraid of asking his next question.

"W-what… what happened, though? Did you break it off?" he asked, and she snorted.

"Me? No, not at all" she said, shaking her head. The world only spun harder after she did so, and she decided not to move at all "Uh, he… he was the one to do that, actually"

"He did?" Zuko asked, astounded "W-why the hell…?"

"Well, he was… an idiot" said Suki, biting her lower lip.

"Yeah, sounds like it" said Zuko, frowning "Only an idiot would dump you"

"I guess" she said "I mean… if he really thought dumping me was going to make it hurt any less when he died, he really had it wrong"

Zuko's eyes widened and he looked at Suki in horror. She sighed.

"He… he had a fight with someone in the top ten" she said "His sponsor got the challenge, and it would have been dishonorable not to take it. But… but he knew he wasn't strong enough to make it. S-so he… he thought he would do me a favor by breaking it off with me, but it didn't help at all. When I heard he had been blown to smithereens, I just… well, I told myself not to get attached to anyone in the business again. Not for real"

"Suki…" Zuko whispered, taking her hand in his. She smiled at him.

"It was long ago now. I'm… pretty much over it" she said, shrugging, before smiling again "I suppose you must think bad things keep chasing after me, huh? First my village gets taken over by soldiers, then Kerron, then Shu Wo…"

"Heh. Going out on a date with Sokka probably should be in there too" said Zuko, smirking, and Suki chuckled, before biting her lip "What?"

"I just… I'm afraid, I guess" she said, gulping "Kerron didn't fight in the Slate, and… and yet he ended up as he did. I just… I don't want that to happen to Sokka. We tried our best, but… what if he…?"

"Him?" said Zuko, smiling a little "That thick-headed moron won't die that easily. You can trust he'll get through this. Just don't… don't think about that, alright? Relax and forget about it. Really, everything is going to be fine"

"You think so?" she asked, looking at him with hopeful eyes.

"Yeah" he said, surrounding her with his arms and pressing her against his chest.

Suki sighed and hugged him, her legs entwining with his. Zuko closed his eyes and frowned, his grip around her strong and certain. He knew Suki's life had been anything but easy, but this new revelation had taken him by surprise. That a warm and gentle girl like her had seen so much grief sat really badly with him. He wanted to make sure she would be happy, that she would never suffer as she had while mourning for the man she had lost, or while living in hellish conditions as she did in Shu Wo.

"I'll take care of you now" he whispered, and Suki sighed in relief.

"That should be nice" she muttered, and he smiled.

Not only did he want her to be safe, though. He wanted her to be happy. He knew he would be happy too, so long as she could have some joy in her life. He didn't care about what he had to do to make it happen, so long as Suki could have a chance at forgetting her sorrows just as he often did whenever he was with her.

He closed his eyes, noticing he had felt this way long ago towards other people, but it had been a smaller scale compared to what he was feeling towards Suki now. He wasn't sure of what to make of it just yet, because it had been a long time since this had happened to him… but for the time being, it felt right to acknowledge it, to begin with: he was in love with Suki, and he would do everything in his power to help her find the happiness she deserved in her life.

* * *

The sound of the ocean underneath the ship was rather pleasant at night. It was hard to tell the water and the dark skies apart, for the line in the horizon was barely noticeable. If not for the foam the ship left in its wake, it would almost seem as though they were sailing through the very skies… and it would all seem so poetic to Azula if only she didn't keep wrinkling her nose at the very scent of the liquor Sokka was ingesting.

"How can you even drink that?" she asked, as he finished his third cup for the night "Just by the smell alone I gather it must taste like piss…"

"And how would you know that?" said Sokka, smirking "Have you ever drunk…?"

"No, I haven't. Don't be ridiculous" she snapped, and he chuckled "The mere odor makes me think of it"

"Oh, well. I suppose I should've expected the Princess to find common baijiu revolting" said Sokka, smirking "Peasants' liquors are beneath her, aren't they?"

"Why are you talking about me in third person when I'm right here?" she asked, and he froze.

"I… don't know, really" he said, smiling widely "But you are here, eh? It's just you, and me…!"

"And the baijiu. And these crates that also stink, but like rotting fish instead" Azula said, looking around herself in distaste "Why did you choose such a lousy hiding spot, if I may ask?"

"I just wanted to go someplace where nobody would look to find me. Especially not proud Princesses who don't like alcohol and who would usually want me a thousand miles away while I drink…"

"You're doing it again, you know. The third-person thing" she said, looking at him through narrow eyes. He blinked blankly.

"Am I? Well, what do you know!" he said, with a soft laugh.

"You're drunk already, aren't you?"

"Hey, I am not drunk!" he said "Maybe… maybe you're the one who's drunk!"

"How could I possibly be drunk if I haven't had a single drop of that thing?" Azula asked, rolling her eyes.

"Well, you should have some" said Sokka, smiling "It's pretty nice after the first two rounds"

"You mean, once the effects of the alcohol start messing with your organism" Azula said, looking at him matter-of-factly. Sokka shrugged.

"Nah, it's more like… see, there's this unpleasant sensation when you swallow" he said "Which you can only quench by drinking more! And after some time, that unpleasant sensation goes away. It already did for me, see?"

With that, he poured himself another cup and Azula sighed as he drank it.

"You're going to get drunk and I'm not going to take responsibility for it because I've already warned you and you've refused to listen. You'll get yourself killed in the Slate later on, and…"

"I'm not going to get myself killed, Azula" he said "You don't have to worry about me. I've got a great tolerance for alcohol"

"Oh, you do, don't you?" Azula asked, looking at him skeptically.

"Don't believe me? You'll see" he said, smiling "Though you probably can't believe me because you don't know much about alcohol in the first place…"

"I know enough" Azula snapped "I may have never had baijiu, but it doesn't mean I've never had any liquor in my life"

"Oh, really? What have you had, then?" he asked, smirking. Azula glared at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Why do you ask? You don't believe me?"

"Hardly" said Sokka, beaming. Azula rolled her eyes.

"Ever heard of lychee wine?" she asked, and Sokka raised an eyebrow "I figured not. Too refined for your commoner's tastes, isn't it?"

"Well, it sounds pretty pretentious, I won't lie" said Sokka, smiling "Is it any good?"

"To you it'll probably make no difference" Azula said "If you can drink that crap and enjoy it…"

"Oh, come on, it really isn't that bad. Just try it and you'll see" said Sokka, filling the cup again and handing it to Azula, who grimaced and shook her head.

"No, I won't take that. Stop trying to make me drink it, damn you!" she said, inching away from the cup as he insisted on giving it to her.

"Really, woman, it's not like it's going to kill you!" he said, looking at her skeptically "Come on, just this once, you only have to try it and if you hate it you can just have no more of it. Really, what could possibly go wrong?"

"Why, I don't know" said Azula, an eyebrow twitching "How can you even ask that question? You know all too well how many things could go wrong because of alcohol…"

"Yeah, well… you know what?" said Sokka, a smirk spreading over his face dangerously "I think you have no resistance to alcohol and just this one cup is going to get you badly drunk. That's why you don't want to do it, isn't it?"

"Oh, of course that's why" Azula said, rolling her eyes.

"Unless you drink this, I won't stop thinking so" Sokka said, smiling and offering her the cup again "Azula, powerful Princess with the multiple-colored fire, with the ferocious dragon companion and the greatest set of wits anyone has ever had, can't possibly stand her ground when dealing with alcohol. Isn't that incredibly…?"

"Oh, shut your mouth" Azula snapped, ripping the cup off his hands and making Sokka laugh.

"Alright then. Let's see how you fare" he said, amused.

Azula breathed deeply before bringing the cup to her lips. Her nose wrinkled and her eyes widened when the sour taste reached her tongue, and she would have spat and tossed the cup into the ocean if only she hadn't been painfully aware of Sokka's stare upon her. Disgusted by having to swallow what was left of it, she tilted the cup and poured the content in her mouth to be done with it as quickly as possible. She swallowed fast and gasped before handing the cup to Sokka again, her hand going to her mouth.

"Uh… you okay? Hey… Azula?"

"You're… you're the worst, you know that?" she asked him, her eyes dangerously wide as she glared at him.

"Okay, I got it, you hated it. It's alright, it won't happen again" he said, setting the bottle away from the Princess "There, it's not going to bother you anymore!"

"Oh, surely not that disgusting thing, but you sure as hell will" Azula said, grimacing at the unpleasant aftertaste in her mouth "That was revolting…"

"No need to fret, you don't need to take any more of it" he said, smiling uneasily "H-hey, let's change the subject, shall we? Let's talk about anything other than drinks. That'll be nice, right?"

"Heh. Really nice" Azula said, grimacing "I need… to rinse my mouth, right now"

"Uh, can't really help you with that" he said, biting his lower lip "I'd offer to kiss the taste off you, but as you can imagine…"

"You've been drinking the same blasted thing, so it's not like that's going to make a difference" she retorted.

"… I could still kiss you, you know?"

"Not after that, you won't"

"Whaaaat?" Sokka said, looking at her in dismay.

"Oh, please, you have the nerve to act like that's unfair on my part?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

"B-but I just thought…"

"Well, whatever you thought, you were mistaken. Clearly" Azula said, proudly, and Sokka pouted before dropping against the crate behind him.

"You take everything to the heart, don't you?" he said, still pouting "You know, you might feel better if you had more of it…"

"No, thank you" she said, pointedly "Didn't you want to change the subject, though? Might help to get my mind off this wretched thing…"

"Oh, right" said Sokka, blinking a few times before smiling warmly at Azula. Despite she had been rather irritable just a moment ago, the sight of his grin made her blush ever so slightly "You were amazing today at the ceremony, Azula. I'd already said you would be, but you went out of your way to prove it, huh?"

"I suppose I did, on some level" she said, shrugging "But you really couldn't have known I'd do what I did. Not even I knew I'd be able to pull this off…"

"Well, even if I didn't know, I believed in you and see? You succeeded and blew everyone's minds away" said Sokka, beaming "It was a really great ceremony. Not that I have any point of comparison, I'd never watched a firebending ceremony before, but…"

"I appreciate your opinion anyhow" said Azula "Though I do think I could have done better if I'd had more time to practice, but…"

"Meh, you did brilliantly anyhow" he said, patting her shoulder "You should be proud of yourself"

"I am, as I already told you earlier" she said, smiling at him "Are you sure you're not drunk?"

"Of course I'm not" said Sokka, pouting, but he poured himself another cup upon the mention of the drink, and Azula sighed.

"Well, you may not be but you will be if you…"

"Now, I have to drink this one for you!" he said, smiling "Ty Lee said we had to toast over your great success today, so I'm going to do it now. To Azula, the only woman in the world who can ignite colored flames and look absolutely stunning in the process!"

She blushed harder and he smiled mischievously at her before downing the content of the cup. Azula was looking at him skeptically by the time he had drained the cup.

"And I suppose you're going to do that again for your cause now, aren't you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, and Sokka shrugged.

"It's not a bad idea, if you want me to be honest…" he said, smirking at her.

"Well, I'm not going to let you" Azula said, ripping the cup off his hands, to Sokka's dismay.

"Hey! I wasn't really going to… Azula?" he said, his eyes widening when he noticed she was pouring the drink on the cup herself "What are you doing?"

"You said another round should help, and I can't tolerate this disgusting aftertaste, so here goes" she said, sighing "To your survival, and hopeful victory, in the Slate"

And with that, she drained the cup once more. Sokka looked at her with chagrin as she grimaced at the drink's taste once more, but she seemed slightly less disgusted this time, probably because she had already known what to expect.

"Y-you didn't have to do that, Azula…" he said, and she shuddered as she felt the alcohol stinging its way through her body.

"You lied. That second round didn't make it any better" she growled "Still tastes awful"

"I didn't quite lie, though… what I said was that it would get better after the second cup you drank" said Sokka, with a weak grin. When Azula glared at him he raised his palms in a defensive gesture "Just saying…"

"Might be better if you don't say anything at all" she said, placing the cup between them and sighing as she dropped her head against the crate. The alcohol was already burning its way through her body. It was a very strange sensation, not quite like the fire she usually felt inside her.

Sokka looked at her worriedly briefly before shaking his head as his eyesight became somewhat hazy. It would seem the alcohol was affecting him more by now… he was still conscious enough of what he was doing and saying, but that might not last much longer. By the time his body processed all the liquor he'd lose his senses, which was a pity. He was really enjoying this conversation with Azula.

"Say…" he muttered, looking at her through half-closed eyes. Azula frowned at his dazed expression "You just toasted to my hopeful victory"

"I did" Azula said, shrugging "What of it? You don't expect me to go to the Slate thinking you'll simply lose, or do you?"

"Well… I thought you didn't need me to win" he said, smiling a little "Wasn't that what we'd talked about before?"

"It may be so, but I'd still like it if you won. I'm not saying you absolutely must do it…" she said, shrugging "But you did believe in me when even I couldn't believe in myself. And… well, that helped me perform as I did today, believe it or not. So while I don't know if it'll help in any way, I've chosen to believe in you this time around, even when I know the odds are against you"

"Huh" said Sokka, his smile widening as he stretched a hand to grasp hers. Azula rubbed his knuckles with her thumb "That's… well, moving and distressing at the same time. See, now you've put me in the same predicament I had you in before"

"Oh?" said Azula, a small smirk on her lips as well "You don't want to disappoint me, then?"

"I've never wanted to" said Sokka "But I'm just a common guy, after all, trying to play at a level that just might be beyond him, so chances are I'll fail at that…"

"Don't be ridiculous" said Azula, looking at him earnestly "You can go ahead and pretend you're common, you can even try to act the part, but you know damn well you're anything but that"

"Heh. If you say so" he said, grinning at her "I suppose I should believe in what you say, though, because you believe in what I can do, because I believed in what you could do…"

"I suppose?" said Azula, smiling a little, and Sokka chuckled.

"I don't think I'm drunk yet, but that was a bit too confusing for me to process for the time being, and I was the one who said it" he confessed, before looking at her with a silly smile "But alright then. I'll be doing my best to win, even if that might not be enough. But you can trust I won't give up easily with this fight. Just promise you won't be too mad if I lose…"

"So long as you don't lose your limbs, or your life, I won't be mad" she said "So make sure to avoid that, alright?"

"You can't have me dead after all" said Sokka, and Azula nodded.

"It would be most inconvenient" she said, and he laughed.

"And why would that be?" he asked, leaning forward as he looked at her with amusement "Is it just too hard to find a decent gladiator nowadays?"

"It sure is. Look at what I've been stuck with for over a year now" Azula said, smirking "You're way below decent…"

"Am I? Last I knew, I was already in the top two hundred fighters…" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows.

"You are, which doesn't mean you decent anyhow. You walk around your house half-naked, you drink piss alcohol, you've said inappropriate and suggestive things to me ever since this partnership began… care to tell me how that's decent?"

"Now, that's not fair, I was only referring to my fighting prowess…"

"Well, I'm talking about human quality" Azula said, eloquently, and Sokka snorted "Oh? You find it ironic or so, is it?"

"Not at all" he said, leaning against the crate again with a satisfied smile on his face "You just want to think I'm a bad person because that'll make me more attractive to you, that's what I find funny"

"See what I mean? There you are, saying inappropriate and suggestive things…" Azula said, rolling her eyes as Sokka laughed next to her.

"Inappropriate or not, it's the truth, isn't it?" said Sokka, smiling "You don't want to be interested in a guy who's all nice and sweet. For a girl like you that's just plain boring, isn't it?"

"And how do you know what I want?" Azula asked, looking at him expectantly.

Their gazes met as they both fell silent briefly, just before Sokka started chuckling again. Azula continued to look at him with curiosity and defiance.

"Well?"

"I don't know what you want, no" he said, sighing "But if it's anything like what I want…"

"A not-boring relationship, is it?" Azula asked, and Sokka smirked.

"That's not quite what I want, but it's guaranteed anyhow" he said, looking at her with a pleased smile "Considering it's you we're talking about, after all"

Azula blushed a little and looked away, unsure of how to respond to that. Sokka smiled and reached for the baijiu again, pouring himself yet another cup and finishing it in instants. He didn't know for sure why he had taken another one, but it possibly was because he had no idea what to do while Azula remained silent. He looked at her from the corner of his eye to find she seemed happy about what he'd said, but she refused to convey it. He sighed, always having known he couldn't possibly figure out everything this woman held for herself.

"In any case" he said, placing the cup on the floor again "I'll do my best not to get killed out there. It's why I trained as hard as I did, after all. So… I should be fine. Hopefully"

"How did the rest of your training go?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "Did you figure out a way to fight with two swords?"

"Actually, yeah" said Sokka, smiling at her "It's weird because both swords are really different, and so I had to get used to that but… but I can wield them both by now. I think I developed a cool enough style…"

"That's good news, though 'cool' shouldn't be what we're striving for" said Azula, and Sokka smirked.

"I'm pretty sure I'll need to remain 'cool' in that Arena, though"

"Point taken. Still, I'd suggest you don't use both swords all the time" said Azula "You'll need to use long-ranged attacks before trying to get close, I fear. Don't get too confident no matter how skilled you've gotten, you need to be on your guard all the time. A firebender's fire isn't bound to hurt him, but you might still get the better of him by using his moves against him somehow"

"Alright. I'll think of a way to do that, if possible" said Sokka, dropping his head against the crate again and looking at her from the corner of his eye "You were studying up on firebending, right?"

"Yes, I was" said Azula, looking back at him "You want me to give you more advice on how to handle a firebender?"

"Well, that'd be nice of you" said Sokka, smiling "But… I wanted to ask a question, and not for advice. Curiosity is going to get the better of me and I really want to know…"

"What is it?"

"Where did that golden fire come from, huh?"

Azula stiffened at the question as Sokka smiled and looked at her with insistent eyes.

"C'mon. You can tell me, it's not like I'm going to steal your secrets" he said, chuckling "I'm no firebender, I can't pull that off myself, in case you forgot…"

"I didn't forget anything, I'm well aware of that" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "But I just… I don't want to say, is all. Your curiosity will go unsatisfied because I'm not going to…"

"But why, girl?" Sokka asked, pouting "After all we've been through, you still think you can't trust me? I've kept every single secret you've ever asked me to!"

"Well, it's not that simple this time around, is all" said Azula, shrugging and turning her head away from him. The movement was strange… she felt like she had turned far too fast, and that her body was having trouble adjusting to the speed of her movement, for some reason "Uh, not pleasant…"

"Well, no, it's not pleasant at all!" Sokka complained, pouting and crossing his arms. He stretched his legs as well and nearly kicked the bottle of baijiu. The spark of an idea came to him then and he smiled wildly before looking at Azula with mischief in his eyes "Well, alright then! I'm giving you an ultimatum! Either you tell me what's the secret behind your gold fire, or you drink another cup of baijiu!"

He had been hopeful that she would surrender, but he should have known better than to expect that from Azula. Still, he hadn't thought she would make the choice as quickly as she did. His jaw dropped as she reached for the bottle and cup, pouring herself her third round and drinking it quickly. She wrinkled her nose at the taste again, but not for long. She actually smiled by the time she had set the cup down again.

"Well, well. Looks like it really does start to feel less disgusting on the third round" she said, laughing softly "Still not a good drink, though. You… you should try lychee wine, I mean it. After you do, you'll want nothing to do with this…"

"Azula…" Sokka whined, and she smiled at him.

"What?" she asked "Were you expecting something else? Well, poor Sokka. Disappointed by the Princess. I guess that's just something we'll both have to live with"

"Hey, now. You're talking about yourself in third person" he said, smiling a little. Azula froze and frowned.

"Huh. I am" she said, as he started laughing next to her.

Despite herself, she ended up joining him. His laughter was more contagious than it should be, but for some reason, Azula didn't seem to notice or care. She was failing to notice far too many things by now, which should have alerted her of the fact that her body wasn't in its best shape anymore, but she didn't quite realize it.

"I knew you'd break eventually" said Sokka, once his laughter had subsided "Now it's only a matter of time before the gold fire secret is out!"

"Well, why do you want to know so much, huh?" Azula asked, frowning "It's not like you can do anything with the knowledge… or can you?"

"I can, as a matter of fact" Sokka said, smirking and pouring himself another cup of baijiu "It'll be very helpful, yup"

"Helpful how?" Azula asked, as he drank the liquor. Despite her common sense warning her not to, she ripped the cup off his hand when he was finished with it, and poured herself another round. The unpleasant sensations born from the first two drinks were nearly gone as the alcohol stung through her body this time, and while she was still aware of how cheap the alcohol was, it didn't seem so bad all of sudden…

"It'll make me marvel even more about you, that's how" said Sokka, chuckling as he watched her drink the cup's contents "Say… you're really liking that by now, aren't you?"

"You were right. Did get better after a while" Azula confessed, shrugging and setting down the cup. Thrills ran through her body, and she felt warmer than she should be. Everything was fuzzy, and hazy… and for some reason, she felt rather content, free, and careless right now. All her previous reservations had gone forgotten. Every single one of them.

"Good to know" said Sokka, smirking "Well, then, why won't you tell me what's the secret behind the gold fire? Is it something that could destroy the Fire Nation completely if I knew about it?"

"Obviously it's n-… actually, maybe" she said, frowning and looking at the skies with confusion "Maybe. I don't know. Depends on how you look at it, and on the outcome of it all"

"The outcome of what? You already pulled off an epic ceremony, isn't that the outcome?" Sokka asked, and Azula shook her head.

"The outcome of you knowing what's behind the gold fire, I mean"

"Well, I can't see how that'd put the Fire Nation in danger" Sokka said, skeptical "Come on, you're just exaggerating now to make it even more enigmatic. If you're afraid I'll laugh at you, or judge you, you don't have to worry because I won't"

"You might laugh, though. You're drunk. Everything's funny for you now" she said, with a smile on her face quite similar to Sokka's trademark silly grins.

"Hey, now, I'm not drunk" he said, stubbornly "I may have had five… well, six. Okay, probably eight, but… no, alright, I've lost count, but my head still works, okay? I'm not drunk"

"You don't seem to understand what being drunk means" said Azula, smirking "See, when you're drunk, your head works weirdly. Still works, though. If your head stops working altogether, it means you're dead. See? Drunk and dead, not the same"

"Heh, drinking can lead to death, though" he pointed out.

"Ah, it can. Lots of things can" said Azula.

"Like your secret, for instance?" Sokka asked, and she smiled.

"No idea. It might kill you one day, though. I don't know" she said, reaching out to fill the cup again. She nearly knocked the bottle over as she did.

"Well, then, if that's how it is then you're not getting another drop of that thing until you tell me about what endangers my life, Princess!" Sokka said, ripping the bottle from Azula's hands just as she was about to tilt it over the cup.

"Hey! Give the revolting thing back" she said, struggling to take it from him as she reached towards it. Sokka smirked and stretched it away from her, and Azula lunged for it but ended up falling atop his lap as she did "Do it or… or I'll fight you. Blue fire and all. Yeah"

"Uh, you do know using fire while there's alcohol nearby isn't exactly a good idea, don't you?" said Sokka, grimacing.

"Oh, I know" said Azula. She pushed herself up clumsily and her head pressed against his chest. Sokka smiled at that "You have no idea how many taverns have blown up in the Fire Nation and the Colonies because of angry firebenders brawling in the place. No idea, whatsoever"

"I actually didn't" he said, as she struggled to sit up again. He was rather disappointed that she would pull away, but he chose not to say anything about it "But I'm not surprised. You guys are weird and from what I can see now, you get a little too crazy about your drinks"

"Hey, now, that's not my drink" she said, lifting her index finger pointedly "That is yours. And just yours. And I'm helping you with it because… b-because if you drink it all you'll get yourself killed. And we can't have that, can we?"

"Nope, because it's inconvenient" Sokka said, smiling. Azula frowned.

"We… had already said that, hadn't we?"

"We had" he said, chuckling, and she scratched her head.

"Well, something's… something's weird. I think I…"

"You had too much of it?"

"N-no. I mean… I'm not drunk. I don't get drunk. Let alone with peasants' liquor"

"Because that's too lame for you, huh? But as it turns out, you seem to like it just fine now" said Sokka, smiling.

"I don't like it. Not one bit. Still leaves a stupid aftertaste that only disappears if you drink more, and then it comes back again…" she said, grimacing "So hand it over. I've got to…"

"Come on, you don't want more of this, girl" he said "You just want to avoid telling me the truth, and you won't. So come now. Talk"

"Talk?" she said, raising her eyebrows "Okay. Did you know there are over fifty volcanoes in the Fire Nation? Not all of them are active but…"

"Not about geography, Azula" he said, smiling. She was being quite funny just now "'Bout… the gold fire. Really"

"Really?" she said, looking at him with despair "Do I have to?"

"Yes, you do" said Sokka, smirking "If you promise you'll do it, you get another drink. Probably the last one, though. I think we've finished the bottle…"

"What? So quickly? How many did you take?" Azula asked, looking at him accusingly.

"Hey, I…! I've lost count" he admitted again, and Azula snorted before laughing loudly at that, throwing her head back as she did. Not even she knew why she found that so amusing "But I'm a gentleman, so you can have the last one if you promise to tell me about the gold fire, okay?"

"Fine, then" Azula said, still chuckling as she stretched her hand to take the bottle "I'll… I'll do it. But give that now"

"Okay, then" said Sokka, smiling and pouring the last of the liquor before handing the cup to Azula, who smirked before drinking it in one go "Aftertaste gone now?"

"Yeah… for a while" said Azula, swallowing again before setting the cup aside "Ah, well. Promise is a promise, isn't it?"

"Yup, it is" said Sokka, smiling excitedly.

Azula didn't start talking right away, though. He frowned as she stared at the ship's stern pointedly, as though she had lost all track of what they had just been talking about. He had to tap her shoulder for Azula to blink rapidly and look at him, almost as though she had forgotten he was right there next to her.

"Oh. Yeah. You… oh, you wanted to know about… that" she said, sighing heavily and dropping against the crate in defeat. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I did…"

"Well, fine" said Azula, sighing "I… I had no idea what I was doing at first, to be honest it was just a thought that occurred to me… y-you see, I've got this flame inside me, the inner fire… every firebender has it, b-but I'd never paid too much attention until you… well, until you showed up"

"Ah?" said Sokka, surprised "What did I do?"

"What didn't you do?" Azula said, looking at him in defeat "You… you messed me up inside. You did. And I didn't realize how weird it was until I… until I kissed you the first time and I felt that fire growing wilder and wilder inside me. And it always happens with you, you know? If you kiss me, or if you say something stupid and ridiculous and embarrassing…"

"Really?" Sokka asked, surprised. He had no idea he'd had such an effect upon the Princess. He knew she liked him, naturally, he wasn't stupid enough as to remain oblivious to that, but to think that he unleashed fire within her… never in his wildest dreams he could have imagined that.

"Really. And it's… I guessed was just me being emotional" Azula said, shrugging "But then after I went to see you that day to oversee your training, after all those weeks without seeing you, that fire came back and… and I felt happy. Which was what Xin Long told me I should strive for to find the firebending I needed for the ceremony. S-so then, I… I wondered if I could bend out the inner fire you'd made me feel. And at first it didn't work out too easily, b-but… b-but as I thought about how I felt towards you, the inner fire became stronger. And when it was strong enough, I managed to bend it and… and the next thing I knew, I was bending gold fire"

Sokka's eyes widened as he listened to her. Azula was looking at her hands now as she spoke, her brow furrowed lightly.

"Y-you… your feelings, you're saying? Your feelings for me were what…?" he said, staring at Azula in awe.

"Heh. Yeah. See why I didn't want to tell you? Now it's going to get in your head and you're going to be proud and pleased because…"

"N-no, no" said Sokka, looking at Azula with amazement "I… I won't do that, I promise. I'm just… surprised. I didn't think… I just never thought…"

"Heh. You never think? So all along you've been trying to fool me into believing you actually could use that brain of yours?" Azula said, hoping to change the subject, but knowing she would fail. No attempts to insult his intelligence would succeed when he was looking at her in amazement as he was.

"Azula…" he said, smiling a little and reaching out to grasp her hand again "I'm not telling anyone, you can count on it. I'm just… well, surprised, and honored, really. I didn't think I'd had anything to do with it"

"Well, what did you think was the secret, then?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at him skeptically "You thought I can just change the color of what I bend at will? Well, I actually can't. Or maybe I can but I just don't know it yet. If I work hard enough I might discover the secret for more colors. But right now it's just blue and gold, yeah. Just those two…"

"In all honesty, I was just curious" said Sokka, smiling and trying to ignore her rambling "I just thought it'd be something crazy cool, really…"

"Sorry to disappoint" Azula said, shrugging "I wish it were something cool too"

"It is, though" said Sokka, looking at her with awe in his eyes "I… heck, I might start bending gold fire myself now, Azula. My chest hurts, and…"

"That's the drink's fault" said Azula, smirking, and Sokka shook his head.

"Like hell it is" he said, smiling "No wonder you wouldn't tell others about it, though…"

"Yeah…" said Azula "It's not a very good idea to tell people I'm in love with you, is it?"

Sokka's eyes widened again. Azula didn't seem to register she had spoken aloud, though, her gaze on the ship's stern again, as though she hadn't just uttered the words she had always worked hard to keep from Sokka. But he had heard her. And he could barely believe the euphoric thrill that was rushing through his body now.

"Y-you…" he said, his heart racing in his chest as he felt warmth spreading through his body. He suspected it was something unrelated to the drink, but he couldn't say for certain at this point "Azula…"

She turned to look at him to find him smiling in a way she couldn't remember having seen before. The grin would have been contagious if only she hadn't found it suspicious. Had he read her mind? Or had she actually said that aloud…?

"Sokka?" she said, blushing and looking at him with wary eyes.

Her reservations were forgotten when his arms went around her waist and he pulled her closer to him, his lips pressing to hers lovingly. Azula couldn't help but notice the taste of the liquor on him, but after a moment she let the thought go forgotten as she surrounded his neck with her arms. She had been worried for a moment, his sudden shift of attitude surely meant he had realized Azula loved him… but as he kissed her passionately, gently, devotedly, she decided it wasn't a matter of concern. If this was what she got for finally confessing her feelings, if that somehow counted as a confession, then so be it. She was sure she'd enjoy every second of it.

Sokka was surprised when she became more forceful, taking his gentle kiss and turning it into a wild exchange. She opened her lips and sought to force him to do the same, her fingers sliding through the short hairs on the back of his head. Sokka complied with her, despite he hadn't meant for this to be a desperate kiss, but he had no qualms regarding the change of mood. His hands moved over the sides of her body, and he found himself realizing, just now, that the Princess wasn't wearing her armor…

He refrained from doing anything inappropriate, despite he longed to. His hands simply grasped her by her shoulders, pulling her closer to him so he could continue to deepen the kiss. Azula moaned softly, and the sensuality of the sound nearly made him freeze in the middle of his motions. Now he sure had forgotten all his intentions for this to be a soft and tender exchange.

His hands surrounded her again, moving up and down her back as he pulled her to his lap. Azula hummed into their kisses before daring to bite his lower lip and making Sokka gasp at the pain. She smirked and enjoyed the way he returned the favor, devouring her lips wildly. She gasped when his mouth left hers and moved towards her cheek, from where he continued downwards until he found her neck. Azula threw her head back, a pleased smile on her face as he kissed and sucked the skin that wasn't covered by her shirt's tall collar. His hands were starting to roam over her body more daringly, and the Princess was rather pleased that was the case.

She pressed his face to her neck, still arching her head back as she settled on his lap with her legs at either side of his body. Her thighs pressed against his waist, and she moved as close to him as she could get, her chest rubbing against him. Sokka moved his face away from her neck and towards her breasts, kissing them through the clothes and making Azula frown and gasp in surprise. Well, that was new. And also amusing and enjoyable, for some reason.

She was laughing before she understood why she was doing it, her hands roaming through his hair again. She bit her lip and looked down at him guiltily as she undid his ponytail, as though that was the most daring and bold thing she had ever done. His loose hair fell as a curtain around his face and she sighed as she discarded his hair tie and ran her hands through his soft hair. She had wanted to do that ever since she had first seen him with his hair down, and only tonight she had felt daring enough to try it. Sokka didn't seem to mind in the slightest, busy burying his face between her breasts as his hands moved up and down her back, his thumbs running smooth circles on her ribs and making her shudder in pleasure.

She pressed him against the crate again, his head bumping against it due to her forceful push. Her mouth was on his again, craving the feel of their tongues and lips moving together. His hands moved away from her back now, sliding towards her breasts so he could caress them. Azula hummed again, and Sokka groaned before biting her.

"Damn it, Azula…" he whispered, moving away from her lips again and towards her left ear. Azula chuckled.

Her hands started to explore him as well, caressing his well-formed chest and feeling the many marks of scars upon it. Had she been fully conscious, she would have inevitably wondered what was the story behind so many of them… but right now she couldn't quite care. She just wanted to touch him, to feel his skin under her fingers.

She moved her mouth towards his neck now, but unlike how it was for Sokka, there was a lot more territory for Azula to explore due to the clothes he wore. He sighed, his hands still trying to stimulate her chest as she started to kiss and bite his neck. He held back the groans, which resulted in hisses that Azula decided to interpret as a good sign. She continued moving south, finding his collarbone and kissing it softly, but the fabric was getting in the way. She wanted to curse her luck, why on earth was the fool wearing clothes in a moment such as this one? Until, of course, she started to think that maybe she could do something about that…

With a low chuckle, her hands moved down over his abs and lower. He jolted when she caressed his pelvis, surprised by her daring movement. Her hands moved a little higher as she laughed at his reaction, her fingers undoing the knot on his belt so his shirt would come loose. Her hands slid through the fabric, caressing his skin as she had longed to do for the longest time.

Sokka was gasping for breath by now, his rational mind trying to outdo his instincts. It seemed to warn him that this was dangerous, that they had to put a stop to this or else they never would… but her warm hands on his body were eliciting the most pleasant sensations he had ever experienced. He could only close his eyes and give her free reign, biting his lip in hopes to contain his moans and groans.

He soon started to think that she had no right to do what she was doing… not unless she was willing to let him do the same. Was she? Well, he was more than ready to find out.

He pulled her up again, catching her mouth in another kiss, one she surrendered to eagerly as his hands traveled over her body and moved towards her waist, where her belt rested. He pressed the buckle and loosened it too, casting it aside and looking at Azula cockily… only to find that he wouldn't be that lucky. There were still many layers of clothes between him and her bare torso.

Azula laughed again as he started to realize he was getting the short end of this deal. But with a passionate kiss he was easily silenced before he could voice any complaints. Sokka closed his eyes and gave in again, her hands caressing him as he tried to figure out the way her clothes worked and failing to do so. Why did she have to make everything so difficult? He snarled at her upon her next chuckle and cupped her buttocks firmly, at which Azula moaned. The sound made him groan in need and despair, and he kissed her deeply again, bringing about even more erotic sounds from the Princess.

He found the hem of her long shirt, and his hands slid over her thighs slowly as he tried to reach her body directly… but there was still another clothing item in the way. He cursed again and moved to devour her neck once more, his hands now playing with the hem of her pants. Azula frowned at that before smirking. That was quite a brilliant idea on Sokka's part. Maybe she ought to do the same to him…

She caressed his abs again, touching the skin she had burned long ago and moving even lower. Again he shivered when she touched his pelvis, but this time she didn't retreat. This time she slid her hand inside his trousers.

Sokka jumped when her hand started exploring the content of his pants, and he pulled away from her neck to look at her in astonishment. Azula didn't want any of that, though. She closed her eyes and kissed him wildly once more, her fingers sliding through coarse hair until they found what they had been looking for.

"A-Azula…!" Sokka gasped, gritting his teeth as she chuckled.

"Sokka" she said, against his lips "You look… nervous"

He had no answer to those words, and she took that as a good sign, for reasons Sokka couldn't possibly make sense out of. And thus she encircled his shaft with her hand, making him gasp for breath as she kissed him.

There was obvious inexperience in her touch, it didn't seem she had the faintest clue of what to do now. She had only been curious, after all. She had been enjoying herself by exploring the rest of his body to let this opportunity go by without taking full advantage of it. But Azula didn't need to be skilled at what she was doing for him to burst, and Sokka knew it. He had been holding back for too long, and being touched in this way by the one woman he had been longing for was like a gift from a kind god whose existence he was only going to start acknowledging tonight.

But he refused to let her get ahead of him. He wouldn't sit back and allow her to explore him as she wished without doing the same… and so he grasped the border of her pants as well, pulling them down harshly and with difficulty, given how she was sitting atop him. Azula frowned at that and caressed his cock with her fingers, teasing his skin with the lightest touch of her fingertips and the grazing of her nails, and Sokka gritted his teeth before reaching for the one garment that stood between him and his target. He reached for the border of the silk underwear and pulled it down as he had with the pants, and Azula would have been indignant briefly if only she hadn't just decided to pull his manhood out of his pants, hoping that, if she gave it more attention, Sokka would be rendered helpless to her touch…

But she was surprised to find he wouldn't give in now. Not just now. His right hand returned to her groin and, without further ado, his fingers moved in to probe her core. Azula gasped, a practically unknown sensation spreading through her now as Sokka touched her daringly. She gritted her teeth and tried to continue touching his cock as she had intended, but she couldn't quite do so while she was wondering what on earth Sokka was trying to do to her.

He smirked when he felt the wet warmth within her. His fingers explored her, and Azula's gasps and moans became more intense now. She was practically immobile by now, a hand on the back of his neck while her forehead rested against his, her other hand still around his cock. Sokka looked at her intensely, finding her eyes were closed as she breathed heavily. She opened her eyes and gold found blue. Sokka smiled before leaning in to kiss her, and Azula groaned as she opened her legs further, pressing down on his hand.

She started to touch him again, her fingers moving along his length as she tried to stimulate him. Sokka huffed and hissed again, the arousal increasing to unprecedented levels as her subtle touch made him see stars dancing around his head. She was driving him crazy, tonight more than ever, and he knew he wouldn't last much longer. He hated to think he would burst so quickly, especially when getting a taste of the forbidden fruit he had never expected to taste, but his body couldn't take the strain anymore. He had put up with his desire for her for too long, and tonight his lust might be sated, for the very first time.

He gritted his teeth and stopped touching her as his orgasm built, and Azula breathed heavily as she continued to touch him, now taking him into her hand and moving her fingers more confidently. Sokka's breathing hitched and he tried to hold back the urge to groan again, but it proved impossible. He cried out, his head banging against the wooden crate once more as his overheated body found its release, and he shuddered once the peak of pleasure subsided after a few moments.

It had been brief, but it had been worth it. He couldn't care so much about having burst so fast anymore after that enjoyable climax. He looked at Azula, who was staring down at his manhood with a crooked eyebrow, and he bit his lip before his fingers started to caress her daringly again. Azula gasped and looked at him in surprise as he grabbed her by the back of her head with his free hand and pulled her close for another kiss.

Her body jolted away from his hand at times, but despite Sokka suspected she might have wanted him to stop, she never told him to. She grasped his hair again, her breath hitching as new and strange burning sensations started to rush through her body. Whatever this was, it was different from her gold fire and her blue… and it was pleasant, even though it was foreign and terrifying at the same time.

"S-Sokka…" she gasped, gripping his shoulders now, her nails digging into his skin "Sokka!"

"Want me to stop?" he asked "Say the word… and I'll stop. I will"

"S-…" she uttered, pressing her forehead against his. She wasn't sure if she knew what loomed ahead, she wasn't sure if she really wanted this, she wasn't sure of anything right now… but for one thing: she didn't want him to stop "Sokka, please…"

"Please what?" he asked, pecking her lips softly as he continued to touch her. His fingertips found her clit and massaged it circularly, bringing about a cry of passion from the Princess he hadn't expected her to release "Azula?"

"D-damn it, Sokka!" she exclaimed, pressing her body against his, her hips grinding against his hand.

"Just tell me…" he said again, between gritted teeth. His blue eyes were more intense than ever just now, and all the more alluring. Azula's nails dug into his back now, and he didn't flinch "What do you want?"

"I…" she said, as the excitement became more powerful. She breathed with difficulty as one of his fingers slid inside of her, and his thumb stroked her clit. By then, any sound coming out of her was unintelligible.

Sokka kissed her neck and throat, Azula's sounds more urgent by now. His lips sucked her skin and his fingers began moving faster. Azula hissed and moaned, a hand leaving his body to slam the crate with a fisted hand. The pain born from the impact distracted her but briefly from the arousal that continued to grow inside her, the arousal that burned in waves and made her gasp as she tried not to succumb to it. But she had lost all control by now. What was to come would come, and there was no stopping it…

She didn't know if she had screamed as she threw her head back, but the soreness of her throat later on would help her realize that she had. The arousal was unleashed with her cry, and Azula felt her skin couldn't contain the explosion taking place inside her body right now. It was so powerful she couldn't think, she couldn't see, she couldn't hear anything… all she could do was feel it, and bask in the unbelievable pinnacle of pleasure she had accessed for the first time thanks to Sokka.

She had nearly forgotten who she was as the orgasm burned its way through her, but everything came back to her as she breathed heavily, her heart racing in her chest. The man below her was looking at her inquisitively, as though worried… well, he should worry indeed, she thought. She suspected people could die after being submitted to that form of pleasure…

"You… you okay?" he asked, as she continued to breathe heavily.

"I… damn…" she said, a hand going up to her head, which throbbed now. Was it the drink that made it hurt, or was it the way her blood had rushed through her body just now that had made her lightheaded?

Sokka pulled her close, her head dropping on his shoulder as he tried to help her feel stable somehow. His arms surrounded her, and she continued to pant while lying against him.

"Azula…" he whispered, as she caressed his chest with a hand "I… I love you. I do…"

"Sokka…" she muttered, closing her eyes and turning her face into his neck "I… I'm drunk"

The words seemed to hold no impact for Sokka at first. At least, for the first five minutes. Perhaps ten, even. By the time he realized just what it meant, and by the time he processed what they had done, or nearly done, Azula had fallen unconscious atop him.

"Drunk" he repeated, with a weak grimace "Damn it. We're drunk"

She didn't respond, and he was relieved that she didn't. His energies were leaving him as well by now, though. Quick as it had been, his climax had still taken its toll on him. He dropped his head against the crate again, already dreading what the next day would bring as he fell asleep with Azula atop him…


	89. Chapter 89

Azula had suffered from headaches many times before, but she had never experienced one quite like this. Not only did her head hurt, but her stomach seemed to be upset and her surroundings felt unreal, as though she were still unconscious.

She had just woken up, and she couldn't remember falling asleep in the first place. She couldn't remember much of anything, she realized, though she didn't want to make the mental effort to remember either way. She had the suspicion that trying to think would worsen the headache. Yet not trying to think would worsen it too, it seemed, because the pain only increased with each passing moment. Perhaps she ought to figure out where she was, first of all, since, given how uncomfortable her body felt, it didn't seem that she had slept on a bed.

The first attempt to open her eyes failed when the rays of light blinded her, intensifying her headache. She groaned, finding her throat was sore and dry. As her awareness of her surroundings became sharper, she sensed that whatever she was using as a mattress was soft, warm and breathing. So it would seem she had fallen asleep atop someone else. Well, it wouldn't be the first time that had happened.

She let her hands touch whoever was underneath her, and what she found was bare skin with traces of many scars upon it. She frowned, and the gesture only intensified the headache. She cursed the universe internally as she reached the inevitable conclusion regarding who was lying underneath her…

"S-Sokka…?" she whispered, her voice husky, her mouth filled with a taste that made her grimace. This was already the worst morning of her life, and she dreaded to realize it was only bound to get worse.

A low hum was all that came as a reply, but she felt an arm surround her shoulders as the man beneath her moved. Sokka had reacted upon hearing her call his name… at least, she hoped it really was Sokka. The last thing she needed was to discover that she had fallen asleep atop anyone other than him.

"A… Azula?" he said, and while his voice sounded rusty, its tone was all that was needed to give away that it was really him. She sighed in relief, her eyes still closed as she cowered from the daylight by pressing her face to his chest. Hadn't she been feeling as badly as she was, she probably would have pulled away from him altogether, but for the time being she was convinced that staying close to him could help on some level, if only because being this close to him had always been a source of comfort for her.

"What the hell… happened to us last night?" she whispered, the efforts to utter each word unbelievable.

Sokka only groaned again as a response, his hand sliding through her hair as he shifted underneath her. As he moved, Azula noticed her legs' movements were restrained for reasons she couldn't quite understand. Her throbbing head kept her from conjuring an explanation for anything about the weird circumstances they were in right now.

"I don't know…" Sokka replied, gritting his teeth as he braced himself before opening his eyes.

He forced himself to keep them open, even if only a little bit, because he knew he'd grow used to the brightness of daylight if he made himself face it. Through the small openings of his eyes, he managed to notice they were currently splayed on the back of the ship. There were several wooden crates around them, and the sky was covered with a film of white clouds that, despite covering the sun, were bright enough to make Sokka wince when he looked at them.

He lowered his gaze to find Azula atop him, her hair disorderly, her face buried on his chest, her belt cast aside next to his and the empty bottle of baijiu…

He jumped, and Azula groaned in complaint upon his brusque movement as she slid down his body slightly… his uncovered body. Sokka opened his mouth and closed it, his eyes widening despite the pain the brightness still caused him. She had been lying atop him, and his shirt was open, and…

"C-could you not move, damn it…?" Azula whispered, against the top of his abdomen.

"A-A-Azula…" he said, shivering nervously. The tone of his voice worried her.

"What's… what's wrong?" she asked, forcing herself to open her eyes.

It took her a moment to grow adjusted to the light, even if through her eyelashes, but when her eyes came to focus she noticed the panicked look on Sokka's face. Confused, she pulled away from him slightly and dropped her gaze, for staring at him only seemed to make her head hurt more…

And it was then that she saw it.

It was her turn to jump now, pushing herself away from him brusquely. She dropped back on her forearm, the impact against the wood hard enough to make her wince, but her eyes, wide as well now, were set upon just one thing…

Sokka gritted his teeth and looked down to his groin. His cock was protruding through his pants, and Azula was staring at it as though it were the most terrifying sight she had ever laid eyes upon. He was quick to tuck it in place, moving urgently as though hiding it would diminish the impact of the situation on Azula, but while it might make her less uncomfortable, it wouldn't change the look of utter horror on her face.

"A-Azula…" he said, and she tried to move away from him by reflex… to find her pants, which had been dragged down to the level of her knees, were restraining her movements.

Both her and Sokka stared at her legs in disbelief. Her breathing became heavy and difficult, her brain making the connection immediately, regardless of the powerful headache. She couldn't remember what had happened, but she was staring straight at the evidence right now. It was done. What they had been trying to avoid, what they had resisted for two years already… they had done it. She had no idea why it had happened, but she was afraid she didn't want to know anyways. This was bad enough as it was.

She noticed he was staring at her and struggled to pull her pants up again, her eyes darting across the wooden floorboards nervously. How had she let this happen? Why on earth had she? She had kept control on her urges towards Sokka for all this time, and whenever she slipped, it was Sokka himself who would hold them back… but this time neither of them had stopped it. And all it took was one time for everything to be ruined beyond repair…

As her eyes darted around the deck, she noticed something she had overlooked so far. And now she frowned, her headache be damned, when she noticed the empty bottle of baijiu. She gritted her teeth and glared at Sokka, who could only look at her apologetically.

"Azula…"

"N-no, damn it, don't you… d-don't you dare say anything, you… you idiot…" she said, though she felt the actual idiot was herself.

Some of last night was coming back to her now, and she had agreed to sit by the moron while he drank… she shouldn't have done it, curse everything! She had known nothing good could come from keeping him company, and yet because of her stupid feelings, because of her inconvenient and inappropriate infatuation with him, she had decided to stay with him. She cursed herself internally, wondering why hadn't she remembered that nothing good had ever come from being around Sokka while he was drunk. And it could only get worse if she ended up drunk too, for she wouldn't be feeling as badly as she was, and she would probably remember last night's events rather vividly, if she hadn't drank along with him. And she couldn't even remember drinking with him, but given her condition, and the awkward situation they were in, it was pretty clear that indeed, she had gotten drunk as well.

"Now, calm down, this… t-this might not be so bad" he said, grimacing, and Azula snorted and looked at him in disbelief.

"Calm down? You're really asking me to calm down and saying that this isn't as bad as it looks?!" she exclaimed, and Sokka grimaced before inching away, pressing his back to the crate behind him "Are you insane, or did the wretched drink affect your intelligence?!"

"Okay, I'm sorry, it's really bad and I'm aware of it" he said, lifting his hands defensively "B-but… reacting like this isn't going to help anyone, okay? I… I can't remember what happened last night, so I'm just saying, m-maybe we didn't really… maybe we didn't have sex?"

"Oh, because I just chose to push down my pants and underwear out of nowhere, and you pulled your… t-thing out of your pants because that's just something you thrive in!" Azula exclaimed sarcastically, holding her pounding head with a hand "And sure, we didn't do it, hence why we fell asleep together as we did! It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?!"

"I agree it looks bad, Azula but please, calm down" Sokka said, stressing the last two words "If you keep shouting someone's going to hear and this is only going to get worse!"

"Calm down, you say. Calm down…" she said, shaking her head and closing her eyes "We're dead. We're not yet but we will be. This is it. Everything's… everything's ruined. Thanks to that revolting, good-for-nothing drink that I can't even remember drinking…"

"We're not dead yet, Azula" said Sokka, breathing deeply "We can… we can sort this out. We've dealt with worse things before, right?"

"Oh, really?" Azula asked, sarcastically again. Sokka grimaced. He sure didn't like it when she was as acid as she currently was being.

"R-really. I mean, no matter how you look at it, we could be worse off yet. I mean, we were wearing some clothes still, and… wait! Hey, there was no trace of…!"

Footsteps walking towards them silenced Sokka immediately. He froze on his sentence and lifted his head just as Azula did the same to find they weren't alone on the deck anymore.

The blood drained from Azula's face, and she suddenly started contemplating throwing herself overboard. The shame and the embarrassment she had been feeling regarding this situation were already unparalleled, and they had been bad enough as they were without having someone else intrude upon their conversation.

But someone had intruded indeed, and now she stood in place, staring at them with her narrow eyes and her hands on her hips. She raised a judgmental eyebrow as she analyzed the situation carefully, taking notice of Sokka's loose shirt, the empty bottle of liquor and the two belts that had been discarded at some point through the night as well.

"I'm genuinely afraid to ask what the hell happened here" Mai said, and Azula stared at her desperately.

"W-well… then don't ask" she said "M-Mai, please, this isn't… it's not like I genuinely…"

"A-Azula is trying to say this isn't what it looks like…" Sokka said, even though they both knew that lying to Mai would be pointless. Nevertheless, they weren't quite lying. Neither of them could remember what had transpired between them last night, after all.

"So it's not like you two finished that bottle together for some reason beyond my understanding, seeing how you both were against the idea of drinking altogether, and then threw your belts away, and then you, I figure, fell asleep here on the deck" Mai asked, closing her eyes and looking at them inquisitively.

"Uh… y-yeah, well, maybe that's what happened" Sokka said, looking at Azula warily. The Princess stared back at him, her eyes full of worry and disbelief. She suspected that Mai's simple description of the events wasn't accurate in the slightest.

"Maybe?" Mai asked, looking at Azula now "You two don't remember anything, then? Did you end up that drunk?"

"Going by the blasted headache I have right now, I think we did" Azula muttered, gritting her teeth "M-Mai…"

"You really ought to know better than to drink so recklessly, the two of you" Mai said, moving towards Azula and extending her hand towards her. Azula frowned a little before clasping it with her own and allowing Mai to pull her to her feet. The movement was so brusque that she felt as though her brain was bouncing inside her skull "It would seem you only took off your belts this time, but you might do something worse if you do this again. Won't you?"

"M-Mai…" Sokka said, looking at her in confusion as she offered him her hand now.

Once the two of them were standing, she picked up both their belts and handed them to their respective owners. Azula took hers and fastened it around her waist slowly, as though she were a child repenting for an unforgivable misdeed she feared she would be reprimanded for sooner than later. It was weird enough that Mai hadn't taken it upon herself to lecture her for what she'd done, but Azula guessed it would happen eventually anyways. Mai could act ignorant all she wanted, but the evidence of what had taken place through the night spoke for itself. Sokka's neck was covered with red marks, and Azula was sure hers bore its own set to match.

"The other drunkards are down having breakfast" Mai said, and the mere mention of food made Azula want to retch "I figured I'd come find you both, seeing how you were nowhere around…"

"How did you know where to find us?" Sokka asked, frowning.

"I only had to follow the harmonious sounds of a heated argument to come across the pair of you" Mai said, smirking a little. Sokka grimaced "In any case, are you two going to join the rest of us, or…?"

"No, thank you" said Azula, grimacing and moving a hand towards her mouth "I… I don't think I want any food. If anything… I need the exact opposite of that"

"No surprises there" said Mai, sighing and nodding "I'll help you to your room, then. Stay there and rest, it looks like you need it. What about you, Sokka?"

"I… I guess I could get some food" he said, though he figured he was bound to throw it up later anyways.

"Good, then" said Mai, and Sokka frowned as he watched her walk with Azula towards the ship's superstructure.

It wasn't bad for Mai to act ignorant about what she had found… if anything, it was a relief to find that she was acting as an ally for the pair of them. Yet her behavior confused Sokka all the same. She could have mocked them, or she could have berated them… she could have done anything, and yet she chose to do nothing. He feared they would owe Mai a lot if she truly kept her silence regarding what had happened last night.

Azula cast one last glance towards Sokka as she turned around the corner, finding he was frowning and staring at the floorboards with confusion. It was clear that he hadn't meant for this to be the result of their encounter the previous night, but intentions didn't matter either way. If she had lost her virginity to him, then she could kiss her life, her hopes and dreams goodbye. And she probably could kiss him goodbye as well, for the one who would pay the ultimate price for such a crime was Sokka.

She wanted to believe nothing as bad had happened last night, but she was afraid of the truth regardless. Mostly, she was afraid of the consequences of said truth… consequences she wasn't ready to face yet, and she feared she never would be. She wasn't ready to give up everything she had fought for. But mostly, she wasn't ready to give him up.

Still, as she dropped on the bed in her cabin, all she could do was blame him for last night's outcome, regardless if it had been his fault or not. Some of what had happened was coming back to her, and she was certain she had only started drinking because of him…

She groaned into the pillow as the headache intensified. She briefly hoped to wake up to find this entire morning, and most of last night, had been nothing but a delusion… but deep down she knew whatever had happened couldn't be taken back anymore. And she wasn't entirely sure of what that meant to her just yet.

* * *

It relieved Sokka to find that all their traveling companions, except for Mai, seemed to be suffering from hangovers as well. Breakfast was awfully quiet, most unlike dinner last night, since nobody felt like talking while their heads throbbed as they did. Ty Lee was the one in best shape, yet she wasn't as upbeat as her usual self. Haru, on the other hand, looked both exhausted and in pain. He barely ate, despite Ty Lee's insistence that he needed to replenish his energies. Zuko was eating slowly, a somber look on his face given the headache he had, but he was being very attentive with Suki, who held her head with a hand as though keeping it upright was too hard a feat to accomplish. Whenever Zuko offered her any food she smiled a little at him, though, and the somber look on Zuko's eyes would dissipate slowly… before the effects of the hangover returned at full force again.

Had they all been in good shape, chances were they could have heard what went down between Sokka and Azula the previous night, or at least they would have noticed the bite marks on his neck now… but since they had been as drunk as they had, they had remained oblivious to it all. And since Mai didn't seem to be about to reveal it, then maybe their escapade could be kept quiet… the escapade Sokka was still having some trouble remembering. Some things had come back to him, mainly about their conversation, but slowly he seemed to recall a few of the more daring things they'd done…

"Say… is Azula okay?" Ty Lee asked suddenly, and Sokka looked up at her with a start.

"Why do you ask?" Mai said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's just a bit odd for her to miss breakfast… is she seasick or something?" she asked.

"She might be" Mai replied, shrugging "She simply didn't want to eat yet. She might have slept badly last night or so"

"You know…? I think I… I heard something strange last night" Ty Lee said now, and Sokka felt the blood draining his face. He tried to focus on the rice he had been eating, but his heart was racing and he was starting to feel sicker yet.

"Really? Strange how?" Mai asked.

"Well, maybe the drink was messing with me more than I realized" said Ty Lee, playing with a strand of her hair "But when Haru and I were… uh…"

"No need for details, I can fill the blanks" Mai said, raising a hand and Ty Lee giggled softly.

"Right. W-well, thing is, while we were at it, I thought I'd heard… a scream, maybe. And… it sounded a bit like Azula"

Sokka frowned and looked at Ty Lee warily, and with confusion. A scream…?

Only the suggestion of Azula screaming unleashed more memories for Sokka. She was atop him, wasn't she? And she had… she had punched the crate his back was resting against. And yes, she had screamed… but Sokka couldn't bring himself to remember why entirely.

"Are you sure it wasn't the drink?" Mai asked innocently, and Sokka gulped. Ty Lee pouted.

"Not really, but I don't think I was imagining things" she said "Why would I imagine Azula screaming, huh?"

"Perhaps the drink had some properties you weren't aware of" said Mai, shrugging "Inducing hallucinations and the sort…"

"H-hey! I wasn't… hallucinating" she said, getting worked up but her head ached when she raised her voice "Whatever I heard, it was real"

"So you say" said Mai, and Ty Lee scowled.

"Well, what is it? Do you know why Azula was screaming and you're trying to hide it from me, huh?" Ty Lee asked, pouting.

"C-could you not bicker…?" Zuko asked, rubbing his forehead with his fingers, but his petition was ignored.

"How would I know?" Mai asked "I went to bed early, put in my earplugs and forgot all about you six until I woke up. I didn't even know she had screamed at all, to begin with"

"You say that now, but I don't buy it…" said Ty Lee, pouting.

"Might be that… that she was having nightmares"

Ty Lee's eyes widened and she looked at Sokka in surprise. He swallowed under her gaze and shrugged.

"I mean… if she's still sleeping because she didn't rest well last night, maybe she couldn't sleep well because she was having bad dreams. It's just… logical, right?"

He knew the lie was plain obvious on his face, and he was certain that Mai was looking at him with amusement and disbelief. He didn't expect Ty Lee to actually believe him, but he had to do whatever he could to keep the girl off the trail of what had taken p lace last night. No matter if it wouldn't work.

"Huh… you really think so?" said Ty Lee, frowning "It sounds a bit strange. I'd never known Azula would scream over nightmares…"

Sokka could feel the sweat rolling down the side of his face. Surely Ty Lee would ask Azula, on the first chance she got, if she was really having nightmares… his attempt to help probably would backfire on them both in the end.

"But I guess that's the only thing that makes sense, huh?" said Ty Lee, shrugging, and Sokka had to make incredible efforts to keep his jaw from dropping at her naivety "Poor Azula… I wonder what she was dreaming about"

"I wouldn't ask her if I were you" said Mai "It might be something she won't want to think about"

"You're right…"

Sokka blinked blankly and looked at the two girls in disbelief. How had this actually worked, he had no idea… but it was a relief that it had. He got back to his meal, thinking that what had happened last night might actually seem a nightmare for Azula now… though it sure hadn't been one at the time, had it? From what little he could recall, she had been rather eager and enthusiastic about what they were doing. In fact… had she been the one who had started it? He seemed to recall he had kissed her – had he done it for any reason? That seemed to be blocked too – but Azula was the one who had taken things to the next level. And he hadn't had enough willpower to hold back…

The sounds she had uttered through the night started to return to him as well, and he tried to keep himself from blushing but he couldn't. Every single moan that had escalated into that final scream, all because he had been…

He frowned now, suddenly realizing that what Azula had dreaded actually hadn't happened… not fully, at least. If his memories were accurate he had touched her, but he had done nothing more than that. He hadn't been inside her. She was still, technically, a virgin, despite their reckless escapade.

He breathed out in relief and everyone on the table looked at him in confusion. He froze and smiled at them weakly.

"S-sorry. Just… thought I was going to sneeze but I didn't. Hehe"

"The hell?" Zuko said, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Sokka asked "Hasn't that ever happened to you?"

"It has never been a relief to lose a chance to sneeze" said Zuko, rubbing his temples now "It's annoying because you know it's going to happen sooner than later, and you just get this annoying prickle inside your nose…"

Sokka grimaced, knowing Zuko was right. He had been wondering if he could deliver a fake sneeze that was believable enough when suddenly Haru jumped to his feet and raced out of the room, making everyone forget about the previous conversation topic.

"Haru, dear…?" Ty Lee said, as he raced past the door "Oh, boy. He really took the baijiu badly last night…"

"Didn't we all" said Suki, sighing.

Sokka grimaced. Yes, they all had. And some had taken it much worse than others…

He left the dining room once he was finished with his meal, hoping that it would stay put in his stomach and that he wouldn't need to vomit any time soon. He took to pacing through the ship, hoping more memories of last night would return, despite the most important one was already back. So long as they hadn't actually fucked, the situation wasn't entirely hopeless just yet…

He returned to the stern, amongst the wooden crates, and he simply stared at the place where they had woken up, hoping it would trigger more memories. He closed his eyes, trying to recall just why everything had started in the first place… he remembered she had flat-out refused to kiss him at first, angry because he had made her drink… oh, he was an idiot, no doubt. He shouldn't have had so much as a sip of the baijiu, let alone should he have coerced her to do it too. How could he be so thoughtless? Had he really expected things to end differently than they had?

No, of course he hadn't. If anything, he had practically hoped for it, regardless if he admitted it or not. He had been thinking of his sponsor in inappropriate ways for over a year now, and while he wasn't actively pursuing a sexual relationship with her, he knew he wanted it. He wanted it more than he could remember wanting anything else in his life. The temptation to take her into his arms and kiss her became harder to resist with every passing day, and with it, the temptations to do much more than just that…

He didn't want to cause her trouble, though, and so he had held back for as long as he had. It was why he had stopped her from doing something she couldn't take back when they were in Ember Island, and also why she had stopped him that day before her birthday. Reality had always caught up with them eventually, and kept them from doing things they couldn't possibly take back. But this time they had let everything run its course… and while his common sense berated him for it, he couldn't bring himself to feel as ashamed as he should be. He had lusted after Azula for far too long to hate himself altogether for what he had done. He wasn't as strong as he had always wanted to be. His willpower was going to falter eventually, regardless of what that might mean for either of them.

He sighed and walked towards the rim of the deck, supporting his weight on the white banister as he gazed down at the foam the ship left in its wake. He could swear to keep his hands to himself forevermore, to keep proper distance from Azula from now on, but what good would it do? As she often said, his promises and his apologies wouldn't make anything better. They wouldn't change the imminent, they wouldn't stop him from doing what he truly wanted to. At this point, he wasn't sure if anything would.

"You're a terrible liar"

Sokka stiffened and looked from the corner of his eyes to find Mai had approached him. He regarded her with a weak nod and a guilty grimace, as she settled right next to him.

"I'm aware" he said "I don't know if she really bought it…"

"She did, but that doesn't mean you're a good liar" said Mai "You're too obvious. One would think you'd learn from Azula, after spending so much time with her"

"You'd be surprised…" he said, resting his forearms on the banister "She's actually more honest than you'd think"

"Is she?" Mai asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, she is" he said "But so long as none of them could tell I was lying, there's not much to worry about… I think"

"Not now, there's not" said Mai "But how will you come up with a believable excuse next time?"

Sokka closed his eyes and sighed, failing to find the energies to lie yet again and claim there wouldn't be a next time. He already knew there would be.

"You were very lucky I was the one that found you" said Mai "Had it been any of them, the entire ship would know about the pair of you by now. And that wouldn't be a good thing…"

"Well, there's not… not much to know anyways" said Sokka, and Mai frowned.

"Come again?"

"I mean… yeah, things got heated and crazy" he said, nodding "But we actually didn't… we didn't do it"

"You didn't?" Mai asked, surprised.

"No. We couldn't quite remember at first, though" said Sokka "It's why she was panicking as she was, but… but I figured it couldn't have happened for good. I mean, there would have been at least some blood, right?"

"Maybe" said Mai, narrowing her eyes "Well, if anything that's good news, in a way"

"Yeah, we're not off to our deaths just yet" said Sokka, sighing "But…"

"But you will be"

"We will be"

Mai looked at him, finding the picture of resignation in his face. He had stood upright again, his hands gripping the metal banister tightly enough to tremble.

"You don't seem too happy about it, though"

"I… How can I be?" he said, gritting his teeth "I'm going to ruin her life because I'm an idiot who can't keep his impulses on check. If I could just…"

"If you could turn back time, would you stop from doing whatever it is you two did last night?" Mai asked, and Sokka snorted… and shook his head.

"No, I don't think I would. I… I can't take anything back, which shows how much of an idiot I really am. I'm going to ruin her, Mai. I'm going to… and there's no stopping it, not anymore. I know there's no way to stop it, because it doesn't matter what I say or do, as soon as I look at her all I want is… her. She's everything I can think about. I've already tried to fight these feelings before, but I've only hurt her by doing it. And I don't want to hurt her again, never again… but no matter what I do, or don't do, the fact remains that I'm just going to hurt her one way or another! So… there's nothing to be done, you see? I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place… and I just don't know what to do. I wish I could just make up my mind and decide to stay put or to make my move, but I can't"

"The consequences terrify you, don't they?" Mai asked.

"You have no idea" he said, gritting his teeth "If I was the only one to pay the price for it, I might not even care… but this isn't about me. And I…"

"You?" Mai asked, raising her eyebrows when he stopped talking.

"I just… I love her too much to do this, and too much not to do it too" he said, with a sarcastic laugh as he shook his head "I'm a mess, you see. In days like these I feel like I'm just a walking contradiction…"

"You love her" Mai said, and Sokka looked at her warily.

"I… I do" he admitted "I mean, it's pretty damn obvious I do, isn't it? After all…"

"No, it's not that obvious" said Mai, and Sokka frowned "Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to undermine your feelings for her… it's just surprising. I'd never heard anyone claiming to love her before"

"Well, I'm glad to be the first" said Sokka, huffing.

"So you're proud of your feelings?" Mai asked, surprised "You're not ashamed of feeling like this towards a woman you shouldn't love?"

"I'm ashamed of many things, Mai" he said "But loving Azula isn't one of them. No matter everything that has happened in the past between the two of us, I know I love her. And she knows it, too. To be perfectly honest, I feel like I've become a better man since I accepted my feelings for her. By no means am I good enough for her, but that doesn't mean my feelings will change. The thing is… the peasant can love the princess as much as he wants, but the princess isn't supposed to reciprocate. The peasant is lowly, unworthy, beneath her…"

Or underneath her, as it was the previous night… he gritted his teeth and shook his head. That wasn't the point of what he was saying anyhow.

"So she shouldn't even look at him" he continued "She shouldn't… she shouldn't feel anything for him. But what's the peasant supposed to do if she does? What am I supposed to do when I know that she…?"

"That she wants this as much as you do?" Mai asked, and Sokka swallowed hard.

It wasn't only that she wanted him as much as he wanted her, though. After admitting his feelings for Azula to Mai, the last piece of this puzzle had been coming back to him, and only now did it find its proper place in his head…

_"It's not a very good idea to tell people I'm in love with you, is it?"_

He shivered, a smile breaking on his face despite he didn't feel worthy of such feelings at all. That was what had started it all, of course…

"She does" he muttered "If she didn't want me in any way, I'd leave her alone. I swear I would, but… how can I? I just… I don't know how to hold back anymore, even if I'm terrified of the consequences. It's just…"

"It's complicated, I understand" said Mai "But for as clever a guy like you, you don't seem to be all that smart when it comes to this"

"W-what…?" said Sokka, looking at her inquisitively.

"Whatever happens between you and her should be kept between you and her" Mai said, simply "The only risk is for the secret to be given away, isn't it? And so long as her father doesn't hear of it…"

"But what if he does?" said Sokka, and Mai shrugged.

"If he does then you two will be the most careless idiots in the world. But really, do you think you two are the first people to ever get engaged in a secret relationship?" Mai asked, and Sokka blushed "It's not a new concept. Indeed, heads could roll but that's exactly why you're supposed to keep it a secret, isn't it?"

"S-still…" said Sokka, frowning.

"If you can't hold back anymore, then don't do it" said Mai "If she's not going to hold back either then she might as well just let herself go with it. The question to be asked is whether you think the risk will be worth it in the end or not. You only have one life to live, Sokka, and it could end tomorrow for all you know. Literally"

Sokka froze at that. At this point in time he had practically forgotten about the Slate, worried about Azula as he was.

"So it's up to you to decide what you'll do with it" said Mai, simply "Whether you'll take the risk or not, whether you'll do it today or in ten years… it's up to you"

Sokka looked at Mai in astonishment, having expected her advice to be anything but supportive. He had thought she would tell him to hold back, to leave Azula alone, to forget any hopes of having an actual relationship with her… but instead she was nearly encouraging him. At the very least, she was pushing him towards making a decision… a decision he had already made without meaning to.

"Just be careful with whatever you do" said Mai, stepping away from the banister "You may have been able to fool everyone in the room because they had hangovers, but that doesn't mean you'll be able to do it every time. Don't be reckless. Not everyone will be your ally upon discovering whatever you're up to with Azula"

"I know that" said Sokka, as Mai started to walk away "But still… thanks"

Mai had no response for his gratefulness, and she merely made her way into the ship again. Sokka frowned as he stared at the sea once more, his resolve building up yet crumbling down with ease whenever he thought about the potential consequences… but he wanted her, and she wanted him. And he would much rather they gave themselves to one another willingly, and consciously, than for it to happen again while they were drunk. He didn't want her to regret it, because he knew that deep down he wouldn't feel actual remorse for it. He couldn't feel guilty for loving her, for desiring her. It was wrong, surely, but it was happening all the same and he was done fighting against it. He didn't have the willpower to continue resisting the forces that were more powerful than he was.

The sound of a gurgling groan at the other side of the ship surprised him. He frowned and turned around, staring at the prow now to find that he wasn't the only person on deck right now, despite he had thought he was.

He almost felt his insides turning into jelly as he stared at Azula even from a distance. Despite his determination, he wasn't ready to face her yet. Last night's events, now fresh in his mind, had been rather enjoyable while they were taking place… but if Azula had already recalled what had happened, surely she would disagree altogether with that notion.

Unbeknownst to Sokka, Azula had yet to recall the previous night fully. She had rested more, vomited a few times, to her utter revulsion, and she had eaten a very light breakfast just before coming on deck. And all the while, she had been making sure to avoid the rest of the members of the group. She had tried to fix her appearance until she seemed presentable enough, but she was still too shaken up to even try to act natural. But she meant to gather herself once she knew for certain what had happened last night, regardless of how terrible the knowledge might be.

And there was only one way for her to recall the memories her mind kept blocking from her.

"I need your help. Again. Desperately" she said, staring at the dragon before her, who seemed very uneasy as he returned his rider's gaze. He already knew what she was going to ask of him, and Azula took it as a very bad omen to find him so reluctant to share her own memories with her "Xin? Please, you… you have to do this. I can't go on with this uncertainty. I have to know…"

Xin Long groaned and shrugged as he waved his head in circles. No, she didn't have to know, fact was she probably didn't want to know half as much as she thought she did. Even Xin Long was embarrassed by what she'd done, and he would much rather keep her in the dark about it all…

"You… blast it" she said, gritting her teeth and rubbing the bridge of her nose "You said… you're embarrassed? Is it really that bad?"

Xin Long sighed heavily, a puff of smoke pouring out of his nostrils as he nodded. Azula looked at him, aghast.

"Well… if it is, all the more reason I need to know" she said, and Xin Long asked her if she was really sure of that "At this point I can't be sure of anything, but… but for better or for worse, I need to know what happened"

Xin Long shrugged again, his mane shaking with the movement as he settled in place and allowed the memories of what had happened between his rider and her gladiator to return to his mind. And he simply braced himself for the breakdown he was certain the Princess would have once she had remembered it all.

As expected, her eyes widened as the memories unfolded, and she covered her mouth with her hand when she saw herself telling Sokka the truth behind the golden fire. Why the blazes had she said it? And…

"Oh, no… oh, no, please… I didn't. I couldn't have… oh, curse it…" she said, her hand going to her forehead now. She had admitted to being in love with him, for good. It was obvious enough, but she had actually said the words now… no clothes had been shed yet, and the situation was already much worse than she had expected them to be.

Azula paced slowly as the rest of the memories unfolded in her mind. She was sure a prominent blush was coloring her cheeks from the start, and it only got darker as she witnessed the way she had touched him, and how she had been the one in control, the one who had made their exchange much wilder…

Despite the shame she felt, though, there was a small sense of amazement growing within her as well. She had touched his torso and his hair, kissed him fully and even devoured his neck… how wrong was it for her to be amazed about having taken things this far? Surely it was extremely wrong, but she couldn't bring herself to think she shouldn't have done it altogether.

Yet as the exchange became more heated she started to panic slightly. She knew what was coming as Sokka removed her belt, and she was absolutely terrified to watch it unfold. But if it had happened she had to witness it and be done with it…

She shivered as she watched the way his hand had explored her. The sensations were returning to her, and she felt her legs weren't strong enough to support her weight. She had to place a hand on the dragon's back to keep herself standing upright. The sounds she had uttered were absolutely embarrassing, yes, but how could anyone expect her to hold them in when he had touched her as he had?

Her eyes were wide as the memory of the climax came back. That explosion was nothing like anything she had experienced before in her life. She couldn't equate it to anything, not even to the thrill of figuring out new forms of bending… it was terrifying, and she wasn't entirely sure if in a good way or a bad one.

Xin Long prodded her shoulder with his snout and she gave him an ironic smile, her eyes still wide as she stared into space in disbelief.

"Okay. You were right" she said, paralyzed where she stood despite how the dragon nudged her shoulder "Maybe I would have been better off if I hadn't remembered all that. But… wait. Wait a moment. That's it?"

Xin Long raised a bushy eyebrow and nodded. She had told him she was drunk after he admitted his love again, and then she had collapsed. Xin Long hadn't seen anything else happen between them through the night. Azula looked at him in amazement before releasing her breath heavily, again relying on Xin Long's body for support.

"Then we didn't actually do it" she said, staring at the wooden planks on the deck with a small smile, yet the smile waned nearly as quickly as it had appeared on her face "We didn't do it… we didn't"

Xin Long frowned and groaned, startling her out of her daze. How come was she disappointed? If they hadn't done whatever it was she hadn't wanted them to do, then she should be happy instead. Azula's blush intensified and she shook her head.

"I'm not disappointed, Xin Long, I'm relieved. I mean… even if it had happened, I'd much rather have it happen without forgetting about it the next morning. W-well, I don't want it to happen altogether! It wasn't supposed to, so it's great to know that it didn't. It's great, yes. It is"

Xin Long looked at her skeptically before rolling his eyes. Azula slapped him on the shoulder and he huffed.

"Stop it. I'm serious" she snapped "I'm not disappointed about anything at all!"

The dragon smirked and told her to keep telling herself that until she believed it. Azula scowled at him and rolled her eyes, stepping away from him and towards the rim of the ship. Yes, she had told Sokka she loved him, and admitted his part in her discovery of golden fire… but she was still a virgin, technically. What they'd had wasn't what people would consider sex, or was it? Well, perhaps it was… but there was no intercourse! Not really…

She huffed and shook her head, hating to admit that Xin Long was right. She was, on some level, disappointed, even though they had gone further than ever before. It was a relief, undeniably, but… but she wanted more. She was aware of how reckless such wishes were, but she couldn't control them. She hadn't been in full control of anything ever since Sokka had showed up in her life.

And while they hadn't gone the whole way, they had gone far enough for something to change deep within her. It was as though a dam inside her had broken, and with it, the sexual desires she hadn't experienced to the fullest until now. She had thought of Sokka as a potential sexual partner before, of course she had… but not like this. Never like this.

Because this was no longer a simple fantasy. She wasn't thinking about what might happen… no. Now she truly wanted him, and every bit of pleasure he could provide her with. Now she was sure she wouldn't be able to shake off the very idea of making him hers completely until it actually happened. The desire, which had always been somewhat dormant inside her, was potent and wild and it rushed freely through her body now, begging her to find him and finish what they'd started the previous night.

"I really ought to throw myself overboard" she grunted, her head in her hands now as she breathed heavily. What on earth had she been thinking…? Oh, well, she hadn't been thinking altogether. That was all the truth of it.

"I'd much rather you didn't do that…" someone said next to her "Or I'd have to jump right after you and it'd be a hassle to get aboard the ship again"

Azula tried not to act surprised, despite his voice had caught her unawares. She breathed deeply, knowing her luck was such that the very man she didn't want to see would have to show up just now… because maybe she did want to see him. But she would have appreciate having some time to think about what she'd tell him the next time they met, if nothing else.

"It would be a hassle indeed" she muttered, curtly "Did you consider that perhaps the purpose of jumping off the ship would be getting away from it altogether, and that I wouldn't mean to climb aboard it again?"

"So… it's the ship you want to get away from? Or is it me?"

"Both" Azula said, and Sokka smiled sadly before sighing "And things are weird enough as it is for you to jump right after me into the ocean, in case you haven't noticed"

"I just don't think it's a good idea to let a firebender to jump into open waters like that" he said "Can you blame me for worrying?"

"I think I can, considering the only one to be blamed for all this in the first place is you" Azula said, finally daring to look at him in the eye. Sokka's mouth opened, as he was about to retort somehow, but he closed it soon enough as she continued to glare at him.

"Well, I admit I did get you to drink the first cup. But the other six cups you had weren't my fault, now, were they?" he asked, and Azula sighed and shook her head.

"No, I guess not. But I feel so much better about life when I can blame you for my misfortunes…" she said, resting her elbows on the railing and running her hands through her hair.

"How are you feeling?" Sokka asked, after she fell silent for a moment "Any better yet?"

"Somewhat" she whispered "The headache still lingers and the brightness is a bother, though. I really don't know why I let you get away with making me drink… or why I let myself get drunk, to make matters worse. To think I'd been hoping to stop you from taking things too far, and in the end all I managed was to get myself involved in… well, whatever that was"

"Still, if… if it's any consolation" said Sokka, swallowing hard "It appears that we didn't actually… well, we didn't quite…"

"No, we didn't have sex" Azula said, and he blushed "You only stuck your hand inside my underwear and I pretty much did the same to you. That was all"

"Y-yeah, that was…"

"That was all" she repeated, releasing her breath heavily and glaring at Sokka "And that alone is more than enough to condemn both of us, as you might have realized"

"W-well, maybe it would be, but you know? It might just be that…"

"You know, I really don't think I want to hear excuses this time" she said, shaking her head and rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. Sokka grimaced "It's going to make no difference whether you apologize or not, things aren't going to get any better no matter what you say, so…"

"Well, I wasn't going to apologize, so don't worry about…"

"Wait, you weren't going to apologize?" Azula asked, looking at him with a mixture of surprise and indignation. Sokka inched away from her.

"W-well, when has apologizing ever helped me make up for my mistakes when it comes to you, huh?" he said, and Azula raised an eyebrow.

"That's not the point. You're not sorry? You're… are you proud of what happened last night, by any chance?"

"Proud? How the hell could I be proud?" said Sokka, staring at her in disbelief.

"Well, considering you almost deflowered a Princess, you just might be" Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka scowled.

"I could be proud of that if we hadn't been drunk, if anything, but given our situation the last thing I felt was pride, whether you believe it or not" he said, scowling, and Azula froze.

"C-come again? You could be proud of it, you said?"

"You heard me" he said, stubbornly. When her jaw dropped he grimaced "I mean… I know I have no right to do it, but I mean… if we'd really done it, I'd rather it had happened while we were both fully conscious of what was going on"

"Oh, because that would make it all adequate somehow, now, wouldn't it?" Azula asked, sarcastically, and Sokka pouted.

"I didn't think it'd be adequate, I just don't think something like that should happen without our awareness, is all" he said.

"Something like that shouldn't happen, simple as that" Azula snapped before sighing heavily.

"I know, I know" he said "And whether I meant to apologize or not, I really am sorry for getting you to drink. I shouldn't have done that"

"No, you shouldn't have" Azula agreed "But there's nothing to be done about it anymore, now, is there?"

"Not really" said Sokka "Other than swearing we will never ever do this again, but considering how every single one of our vows have gone up to date, I'd rather not even bother…"

"You seem to be the epitome of resignation today, huh?" Azula asked, frowning "So you're not going to be sorry for anything, regardless if it was wrong or right, because there's no point in regretting things that already happened, and no point in trying to prevent anything from happening in the future because you're certain it'll happen either way?"

"Uh… in short, I guess that's about it" Sokka said, shrugging and Azula glared at him "Oh, come on, what else do you want from me?"

"At least you could have the decency to try and fight against this, you know?" she said, raising her eyebrows, and Sokka huffed.

"Oh, sure, so that I end up hurting you again? Because that's the only thing I've ever accomplished when trying to fight my feelings for you. That's just how you want me to deal with this, isn't it?"

"I don't mean you should fight it that way" Azula said, gritting her teeth "Just… don't act so nonchalant about this. It makes me feel like… like you don't give a damn about what happens between us anymore"

"You know that's not true" said Sokka, sighing and leaning on the ship's railing "You know… you know that I actually do care, far too much. But as it happens, I may have reached a conclusion at last. And maybe… maybe you won't like it, but I thought you should know either way that I'm going to…"

"To fight" Azula said, and Sokka frowned "In the Slate. Tomorrow"

His mouth opened a little as he stared at the Princess in utter confusion. She returned the look with determination.

"Yes, that's what you're going to do" Azula said, turning towards him and staring at him defiantly "And you're going to do us both a favor and keep all thoughts of what happened between us last night as far from your mind as possible. Alright?"

"Uh… no? Azula, it was a big deal and not just for you" he said, and Azula rolled her eyes.

"It was, undeniably so, but I don't think we're going to reach any actual conclusions by discussing this right now" she said, stubbornly "Because for some reason I'm getting the feeling that you're going to say everything I don't want to hear you say, so I'd rather spare myself the trouble…"

"Heh, maybe you actually do want to hear it, though" Sokka said, pouting a little, but she ignored him "You won't know unless you do…"

"And just give us both at least the space of two days to think things through" she said "Because it just might be that the alcohol is still affecting you, and you're not thinking properly at the moment. So I'll be postponing this conversation until after your fight is done, got it?"

"B-but…"

"No buts, Sokka" she said, determined "I'm serious. I'm not having you lose your focus and waste away all your training just because of… well, of what happened last night. So you're going to…"

"You're actively trying to avoid this, then?" Sokka asked, and Azula glared at him "You're just… letting it go?"

"I am postponing it, I said" Azula growled "So don't misunderstand things. I'm not leaving this as it is, I'm just… going to need more time to ponder it. And so will you, but you're going to do it after the fight. Alright?"

"Meh. Even if I don't agree it's not like you'll care" Sokka said, pouting again.

"That's right, I won't" Azula said, with a sarcastic smile "So run along, get more rest, overcome your hangover and get ready for the fight. It's all you need to do, and all we came here for anyways. You can't mess this up"

"I won't, I won't" said Sokka, sighing deeply. Having a few days to change his mind wouldn't make a difference, he was certain of it. But perhaps it was Azula who needed the time, after all. Yet he dreaded that this could only result in the Princess deciding something that he wouldn't possibly agree with…

"I'm serious, Sokka" she said "I'm only saying this for your own good. We know you're a mess in the battlefield when your mind is troubled…"

"Cutting me off like this isn't going to make me any less troubled, though" Sokka said, and Azula looked at him skeptically.

"And telling me whatever you have in mind right now will help?" she asked.

"Maybe… maybe not" said Sokka, sighing.

Azula rolled her eyes, completely certain that whatever he told her would only make her all the more uneasy. But she looked at him sternly and waited for him to speak his mind. Upon noticing she would actually let him talk, Sokka swallowed hard and looked at her almost shyly.

"Thing is, I… I don't think I need a couple of days to think things through. If you do need that, I'll leave you to it, but… but I think I've already made up my mind, for better or for worse"

"Oh? Have you really?" Azula asked.

Sokka breathed deeply and looked at her, not a hint of mockery in his clear eyes. Azula's heart began drumming in her chest even before he spoke, and it only quickened its pace once he did.

"I can keep holding back" he said "I know that by now you might think my willpower is no good, and yeah, maybe it's not… but I think I could resist this, despite what happened last night. I could. But… but I don't want to"

"You don't want to?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "You don't… alright, so you just want us to throw ourselves into this, never mind the consequences, because you just don't want to resist anymore?"

"I didn't mean… well, the consequences will always be there" said Sokka, frowning "And they will always be awful, I'm sure of it. But we're getting closer to the edge every day now, and… and I'd be lying if I said I don't want this. If I said I don't want you. The fact is that I do. You know well enough how I feel about you…"

"I do, but that doesn't mean…!" Azula said, scandalized "For crying out loud, Sokka… you're crazy"

"Yeah" said Sokka, smiling a little "In any case, I just wanted you to know this. If you don't want it, I'm not going to blame you for it. I know how much you're already risking with our relationship, but…"

"Our relationship, you're… you're crazy" she repeated, shaking her head "And in case you haven't noticed, you're risking your life with this as well. I'll probably get out of this alive, but you certainly won't"

"Well, can't say I'm a stranger to living with my life on the line" said Sokka, shrugging "I spent two years expecting to die every day. So this isn't anything new for me…"

"Indeed you did, and here I thought you wouldn't want to go back to that situation ever again" Azula said, looking at him skeptically "You're being ridiculous, Sokka"

"Yeah, I guess I am" he said, with a small smile "And you're not going to get any sense into me, in case you were hoping to do that. I'm too far gone to be helped anymore"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Azula growled, and Sokka chuckled.

"You know what it means" he said "You're not the only one whose heart is on fire here"

Azula gritted her teeth, the color rushing to her cheeks as Sokka turned around and walked inside the ship again. She clenched her fists and shook her head, unsure if she was infuriated, amazed, embarrassed or everything at the same time.

"I… I hate him. I swear I hate him" she said, walking back to Xin Long.

She draped her arms around the dragon's neck and buried her face into his hair, wondering how a man could be as reckless and stupid as Sokka was. Now he had given her the last nudge, letting her know that he was open for something she didn't know if she was ready for… but something she knew she wanted all the same. He had left things in her hands: it was up to Azula to make the next move… and she had no idea if she dared. She was terrified of the consequences indeed, but perhaps what she was most afraid of was Sokka himself.

Never before had she felt anything remotely similar to the love she felt for the man. She wasn't sure what these feelings would drive her to do, but now more than ever she understood why her father always had advised her against feelings. Love was wild, uncontrollable and unreliable… and also rather addictive. Her wishes to get away from Sokka were only surpassed by her desire to remain beside him. And she feared that soon enough, the battle between her purity and her lust would end with a victory for the latter.

She wasn't entirely ready for it, she knew it. She couldn't convince herself to forsake the consequences and throw herself at this wholeheartedly. But it was going to happen either way, and there was no stopping it anymore and both of them knew it. They were on a free drop, with nothing to break their descent into nothingness. At this point, the only decision left for her to make was to either despise the thrill of their fall or to enjoy it instead…

* * *

The second day of the trip to the Slate was far calmer than the first. The entire group refused to drink again, much to Ty Lee's disappointment, and by the third day, most the effects of their hangovers were gone for good. Azula had kept her distance from Sokka after their conversation, something that hadn't quite surprised him. He knew that she was still trying to figure out where she stood in their relationship, and he was willing to give her as much space as she might need.

As Azula had asked him, Sokka tried his hardest to focus on the upcoming fight. He spent some of the morning practicing several of his moves on deck by himself, warming up before the fight that would happen in a few hours. When the others came on deck he stopped warming up altogether, and he chatted with them as they waited for the Slate's island to finally come into view.

Azula had taken her time getting ready for today's combat. She had never been particularly good at fixing her own appearance, but she was worse at it than usual this time around due to how nervous she was. She had barely finished when Mai and Ty Lee came to her cabin to tell her they were nearing the Slate already. She swallowed hard and nodded before following them on deck, trying to stop thinking about what Sokka had told her the previous day.

Setting her eyes upon their destination was enough to snap her out of her daze, though. The island was black, and it seemed to flow into the sea, given the ripples in the dark stone that comprised it. It wasn't a particularly large island, but there were two volcanoes that burst from it. They were quite daunting, standing as tall, dark peaks in the middle of the ocean. Azula narrowed her eyes, feeling a pulsating beat coming from them. The magma underground was still potent and powerful. Who had been the genius who came up with the idea of building an Arena in an island with active volcanoes?

"So that's… that's it?" Sokka was asking, looking at the ominous place with a grimace.

"That's it indeed" Azula said, walking behind him and startling him when she spoke "The Slate in all its ironic glory, I suppose. It looks anything but amazing from here"

"It looks creepy" said Ty Lee, gulping "Does anyone live there?"

"Not that I know of" Azula replied "From what I was told, it has been an uninhabited island for well over a century by now. I have no idea who its last residents were, but I sure hope they didn't die under the power of that volcanic eruption"

"It might make the fight more interesting, though, if the Arena happened to be haunted by the spirits of those who were trapped within the lava…" Mai said eerily, and Sokka scowled at her. She smirked.

"I sure hope otherwise" Azula muttered "It's going to be a nasty enough fight as it is without spirits involved in it"

"I really don't like the sound of fighting in a haunted Arena…" Sokka said, gulping.

"Well, it's haunted for sure, even if not by spirits of those who were there a hundred years ago…" Suki said, and Sokka scowled at her next.

"Heh? Say what?"

"You know… all the gladiators that have died there?"

"O-okay, that is quite reassuring…" said Sokka, his eyes widening and Azula sighed.

"I think that's enough tormenting the gladiator before the fight, thank you very much" she said sternly. Suki smiled guiltily at her, but Mai didn't seem to regret her words in the slightest "Go get ready, Sokka. We'll disembark as soon as we reach port"

"Alright" he said, gulping and nodding.

He returned to his cabin, dressing up in his fire-proof outfit and donning his armor. He gathered his weapons quickly, but before leaving the room he stopped to take a few deep breaths. The biggest fight of his career as a gladiator was about to take place now, and he had no idea in which shape he'd return to this cabin, that is, if he returned at all. This might be his last take of fresh air, for all he knew. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes, feeling unexpectedly calm about the ordeal just now. He doubted he'd continue to feel relaxed once he was inside the Slate, but for the time being, he just wanted to breathe in fresh air, to bask in this brief moment of solitude before worst came to worst. The moment ended when the ship stopped moving, and he made his way up to the deck once more.

The island's port was quite small, and only two other ships had been stationed in its docks. The group descended on them once the ship's ramp was lowered, and they were making their way through the dry lava soon enough. The power of the volcano underneath made Azula frown with unease. Things could get really unpleasant if it erupted while the combat was taking place…

"So, where's the Arena?" Zuko asked as he gazed around himself, frowning "Shouldn't it be around here somewhere? I can't see any buildings"

"It's not above ground, actually…" Haru said, and he lifted a hand to point at a metallic door not too far from where they were. Two men dressed in the uniform of most employees of the Gladiator Business were standing next to it. The silver door stood out within the masses of blackness in the island, and it looked as though it would lead nowhere larger than into a storage room. But as Haru had said already, the Arena was underground. The door was simply the way to access the enclosure. From what they could see, the situation was about as unsafe as it could get…

"Welcome to the Slate, Princess Azula!" exclaimed one of the men at the door, as they both bowed before her "We hope your voyage was pleasant"

"Oh, indeed" Azula said, trying not to sound too sarcastic. She didn't want any suspicions to arise regarding what she had experienced during that trip "Thanks for the welcoming committee, I guess. Is the Millennium Dragon here yet?"

"As a matter of fact, he is" said the other man, as they both stood upright "Everyone is waiting within, by which I mean the other staff members and your opponents. We didn't expect you to bring so many people with you…"

"They're only here to cheer for my gladiator" Azula said "There won't be a problem with that, now, will there?"

"Oh, of course not" said the first man, smiling and looking at Sokka "So, I take it this is the Blue Wolf?"

"In the flesh" Azula said, and Sokka grinned awkwardly "Shall we, then?"

"Of course!" said the same man, ushering the group through the door. He swung it open, revealing a very long metal stairway that led downwards.

"Is this place really safe?" Zuko asked, frowning, as the group began making their way through the stairs "It's not too smart to make an Arena in a volcanic island…"

"It's perfectly safe, Prince Zuko" said the second man, looking at him with a huge smile on his face and lagging behind slightly so he could talk with Zuko "We have earthbenders stationed in the Arena. They can open a path through the vestibule's ceiling and towards the ships in case the volcanoes were to erupt. But there's no need to worry, there hasn't been any serious volcanic activity here in a very long time"

"Huh… I hope you're right" he said, before frowning with discomfort now "Uh… why are you smiling at me like that?"

"Oh, it's only that I never thought I'd meet you in person!" he exclaimed, beaming "I already expected the Princess to come, but the Crown Prince…!"

"Oh, that's… that's what, huh?" said Zuko, blushing a little and looking around himself with slight panic. He wasn't entirely used to people reacting positively upon meeting him. Suki, who was walking down the steps in front of him, turned her head to smile brightly at him, as the man continued to rave excitedly about Zuko right beside him.

Meanwhile, the first man, who was leading the group, had taken it upon himself to explain the rules of the combat to Azula and her gladiator.

"Your opponent already knows the rules by heart, his fighter has been in the Slate many times before" he started "So I'll explain things to you now to save some time. First of all, you won't be setting a time limit for this fight. In the Slate there's a specific time limit of one hour for the combat. As ever, these fights are either resolved by knock-outs, or by the judges if the time has run out, or, in the worst cases, when either of the fighters… eh, dies"

"Gets killed, rather" Sokka said, grimacing. Azula's hand grazed his, in a very subtle but reassuring gesture. He couldn't help but gape at her in appreciation for it.

"Well, it might surprise the gladiator to hear that… t-that not all fighters who have died have been actually murdered here" the man said, at which Azula frowned.

"Did they die because of the temperatures?" she asked "Or was it… they didn't fall into the pit of lava, now, did they?"

"Oh, you know about that already?" said the man "Well, good to know you've been warned of the lava pit. You would do good to remember that it opens every five minutes, gladiator. But anyways, yes, a gladiator actually fell in there once…"

"Wait, are you serious about that?" Sokka exclaimed, his eyes widening "How the hell…?"

"It is no easy feat to fight on the Slate's platform" said the man "Another of the rules is that the fighters must remain within the platform at all times. If any attacks from your opponent were to knock you out of the platform, you would automatically lose the fight. And if you were to be knocked out of it while the gate to the lava is open… well, simply put, that's how that particular gladiator was lost. So try not to leave the platform, naturally…"

"Yeah, it should be just that easy to keep from falling, huh?" Sokka said sarcastically, scowling at the guy "But how can people fall anyways? We were told the ring was a cage, not a platform"

"It used to be a cage, but Combustion Man blew up most the bars with his blasts whenever he fought here" said the employee "We decided to keep things more simple for now – it's less expensive – and thus we only have a platform now. It's still suspended by chains, and there's a metal railing that encloses it, but it's not tall enough to prevent falls… so again, I advise the gladiator to be very cautious about that"

"Wrecking the platform in any way would also take away points from his score, wouldn't it?" Azula asked, and the man nodded.

"As it is in most cases with the Arena's furniture. But seeing how your fighter is a non-bender, I gather there's not much of a risk of him breaking things. So long as he can stay on his two feet for the hour that the fight will span out for, he should be fine"

"That sure sounds simple, now, doesn't it?" Azula said to Sokka, who looked at her with desperate eyes.

"You know, I'm really starting to think we don't know what we got ourselves into here…" he said, as they finally reached the vestibule, after the very long descent into the core of the island.

The vestibule was rather small, comprised only of a small room with the archway they had just come through, and another arch at the opposite wall, through which they would access the Arena. It was mostly metallic, as everything else about the structure, except for the rocky ceiling. The place was nowhere near as crowded as that of the Grand Royal Dome, which was visited by hundreds of people on a daily basis. There were, at most, ten people waiting for them when the group finally arrived. Azula failed to recognize any familiar faces, but through their uniforms she could gather that most of them were only employees just like the ones that had welcomed them into the Slate. Yet there were two men who stood out amongst the others, the ones who weren't wearing uniforms. She actually knew one of them, now that she looked at him more carefully: his hair was of a light shade of brown, and his skin was only slightly paler than his hair. His body was massive, and his muscular build was nowhere short of extraordinary. He wasn't wearing armor, nor was he even wearing a shirt. He turned to look at the group as they arrived, and he was quick to smile when he recognized the man he would be fighting soon enough.

"Aha! There you are, kid!" he exclaimed, laughing "Neat to see you again!"

"Eh… hey" Sokka said, smiling a little and waving almost shyly as the man stomped his way towards him, a pleased grin on his face.

"You look way better than when we first met, eh, kid?" he said "I got to watch you in Yu Dao just a couple months back, you're something to behold!"

"Wait, so you've watched me?" Sokka said, his eyes widening "Well, that's not fair. Now you have an advantage over me, don't you?"

"Ah, come now, don't take things so seriously, kid" he said, laughing and clapping Sokka's shoulder "Welcome to the big leagues, though! I'd hoped you'd make it this far, and see, here you are, ready to fight this old bloke right here!"

"Okay… do they know each other?" Suki asked, staring at the two gladiators with wide eyes. Haru, next to her, shrugged.

"Looks that way. He never mentioned that, though, did he?" he asked, and Suki shook her head.

"This fight gets weirder and weirder by the minute" said Zuko, grimacing "I can't wait for this to be over"

"It will be soon enough… for better or for worse" Suki told him, her voice shaking a little as she spoke. Zuko frowned.

"Hey… it's going to be fine" he said, a hand on her shoulder. She blinked and lifted her head to smile at him, but it wasn't hard for Zuko to sense the insincerity in her grin.

"I know. Don't worry about me, Zuko" she said, which, naturally, only served for him to worry even more.

Azula had watched the reencounter between her gladiator and his rival at first, but she had soon turned her attention towards the other distinct man in the room. His brown hair was darker than that of his gladiator, and his skin far paler. He seemed younger than his fighter, but that was quite possibly because he hadn't been forced through the ordeals his slave had undergone. He wasn't much taller than Azula herself, and he looked lanky and thin compared to his burly fighter. He was dressed in black and red clothing, yet, despite the bangs that fell over his eyes, Azula noticed his irises were green. She hardly knew anything about the Millennium Dragon's sponsor, but she hadn't guessed the man would have Earth Kingdom heritage…

"It is quite an honor to meet you at long last, Princess" he said, dryly. It seemed he spoke the words out of obligation rather than because he truly felt them. That was enough for Azula to feel uncomfortable right away "We have heard much of your gladiator's prowess"

"According to what your fighter just said, you witnessed it, even" she said, noticing that the man hadn't bowed towards her, which was uncommon for someone who was addressing her directly for the first time "Unfortunately, my gladiator has never had the pleasure to watch yours in battle before today, whereas I have…"

"Oh, you have indeed" said the man, his brow furrowing "You were there during the inaugural fight in the Capital, were you not, Princess?"

"I was. I remember it vividly" she said, folding her arms over her chest "I find it rather odd that I have heard quite little of you when you sponsor such an important fighter. I don't even know your name…"

"Do excuse me" he said, curtly "My name is Aonu. I am the second-born son of one of Fire Lord's Azulon's most loyal noblemen. He moved into Yu Dao long before your grandfather's demise, to help with the city's economy…"

"And I gather you were born and raised there?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Aonu's frown deepened. Azula wondered just how much lower his eyebrows could move.

"I was indeed. Is that enough knowledge for you, Princess?"

"More than enough, actually" Azula said, nodding. She could see the resentfulness in his eyes, how he glared at her as though she were to blame for his misfortunes, whatever they were. She knew, though, that his spite wasn't personal. He was a man of mixed heritage who surely had suffered much scorn for it by the hands of the Fire Nation's select highborn groups. Most highly-ranked noblemen sought to marry Fire Nation highborn women just as they were, and it seemed unlikely that one of Azulon's noblemen would have chosen an Earth Kingdom woman as his wife. Was this man was a bastard son, then? If so, his resentfulness wasn't hard to make sense of… "Well, then. Are we going to get this over with?"

"By all means. The sooner it's finished, the better for all of us" he said, gesturing towards the arch at the other end of the vestibule.

"Oh, shall we head to the fighting ring, then?" asked the man who had accompanied Azula downstairs "Very well, then. Let's get this battle started! Gladiators, if you would please head to your respective stand-by rooms…"

"Eh, so soon? Meh, fine, fine…" said the Millennium Dragon, sighing in disappointment "Here we were, just catching up and you had to ruin it for us. Alright, then, Blue Wolf, I'll be seeing you in there in just a bit, okay? We should probably catch up some more during the fight, how about it?"

"If that's all you want to do, I take no issue with it" said Sokka, and his opponent laughed.

"You're a funny man, you know that?" he said, patting his back and walking towards the arch "I'm taking the stand-by room to the right, kid!"

"Sure thing" said Sokka, with a small grin.

"Well, then, Princess?" said Aonu, gesturing towards the archway once his fighter had passed through.

"I… I'll be there shortly. Go on ahead" she said, and Aonu didn't need her to say it twice before following the Millennium Dragon. Most the Arena's staff passed through the archway next, and only two men stayed behind in the vestibule: the earthbenders tasked with bringing everyone to safety in case the situation became more dangerous than expected.

The group around Sokka was wishing him luck before his fight now, giving him last minute advice before he charged into battle. Ty Lee had hugged him tightly, and Sokka was smiling awkwardly at that as the others tried to encourage him for his upcoming match.

"You've worked hard enough for today. You know you can handle it" Mai said "Keep your mind clear and you should make it through the fight without a hitch"

"Yeah, you're really strong now, Sokka. Strong enough to take on several of us at the same time" said Haru, beaming "You'll do great! You'll see!"

"I can only hope so" said Sokka, smiling a little but nodding towards him.

"We'll be cheering for you with all our might!" Ty Lee said, letting go of Sokka and smiling.

"Well, not all of us. I'm inclined to cheer for the other guy" Zuko said, smirking.

"No surprises there" said Sokka, rolling his eyes and punching the Prince's shoulder "The next time it should be you fighting the big gladiator while I laugh from the stands. How about it?"

Zuko only laughed and Sokka smirked at him. Despite their clashes, things hadn't been as lousy between them as of late. They weren't anywhere close to being best friends, but if nothing else, Sokka was glad he could get along with the Prince by now.

"Be careful out there, okay?" Suki said, looking at Sokka worriedly "Fighters like… like the Millennium Dragon aren't meant to be taken lightly, as you know. Do your best to make it, regardless if you win or lose"

"No need to say that again" said Sokka, smiling at her before looking at them all "Thanks for everything during the last months, you guys. If I can make a proper stand against the Millennium Dragon, it's because of you all. So thanks. I won't let you down"

"Oh, Sokka!" Ty Lee squealed again, hugging him and making him twitch.

"Okay, okay, that's enough of that, Ty Lee" he said, grimacing and looking around himself in despair. His eyes found his sponsor, who was looking at him nigh sympathetically. She gestured towards the archway. Sokka smiled and nodded before making Ty Lee release him "You guys should go get good seats now, don't you think? The Arena is so crowded you're going to lose the best spots, you know…"

"Very funny" said Ty Lee, giggling as she let go of his arm "Fine, fine, we'll go then. Good luck and kick some butt out there!"

"I'll try to" said Sokka, smiling.

"We believe in you!" said Haru, as the group started to make their way to the same doorway the others had taken.

The archway spread into three different passageways: the one that led forward brought the group to the stands, the one to the right to the stand-by room where the Millennium Dragon awaited, and the left one to the stand-by room that was meant for Sokka. Once the rest of the group had headed towards the stands, Azula led the way through the left passageway, and Sokka followed dutifully, wishing he weren't both nervous and eager to be alone with his sponsor right now.

The stand-by room was a closed, metallic room, just as everything else had been. There was yet another door that would lead Sokka to the platform, Azula guessed. She took a deep breath and turned towards her gladiator, who was fidgeting behind her.

"Well, this is it" she said "How are you feeling? Are you ready for it?"

"Well, the hangover is well behind me now" said Sokka, smiling "But I can't say I feel entirely ready. I don't think I ever will be more ready than now, though, so we might as well get this over with, huh?"

"Such a positive attitude" Azula said, raising her eyebrows, and Sokka looked at her guiltily "If nothing else, at least it's good to know you're not going to vomit in the middle of the battle. Anyways, you have all your weapons, right?"

"Yeah, I'm all stocked up"

"Remember not to lash out with both blades at the first go, okay? Try to test the grounds, to figure out his weak spots if he has them. If he doesn't, then just focus on surviving the battle. He doesn't look like the type of gladiator who will be out for blood, and he wasn't an aggressive fighter when I watched him all those years ago… granted he might have changed his style by now, but if he's still anything like the Millennium Dragon I saw, he shouldn't be that rough on you"

"Well, he's been friendly so far" said Sokka "Hopefully he's not going to have a mood swing as soon as we enter the platform, eh?"

"Hopefully" Azula said, breathing out deeply and looking into his eyes "Just… just be careful, will you?"

"I will be, I promise" he said, and she sighed "Yeah, I know, you're not fond of promises but it's the best thing I can offer you right now. Well, that and…"

"I'm fine with that, no need to say anything corny and stupid you'll end up regretting later" Azula said, grimacing, and Sokka chuckled.

"You really don't want to hear anything I have to say, now, do you?"

"Do you blame me, after what you said yesterday?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "Sokka, you… no. No, we're not discussing this now. Forget it, I'll scold you for it all later"

"Scold me?" Sokka asked, amused "Now that sounds scary"

"Oh, yes. It will be scarier than fighting the Millennium Dragon for an hour while suspended above a lava pit, no doubt" Azula said, smiling dryly.

"Wow, alright then" he said, chuckling as her smile waned.

"Just… survive, okay? Don't you dare die out there, or I'll kill you. I mean it"

"Yep, I bet you do" said Sokka, smiling "I don't plan on dying, even though that threat to scold me kind of makes me think dying here is going to be less painful than whatever you have in store for me…"

"Well, you won't know which one will be more painful unless you survive" Azula said, and he laughed again.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to die. I mean it" he said "Still… well, there's a chance I might, so…"

"Didn't you just say you won't die?" Azula said, an eyebrow twitching.

"Now, I'll do my best to survive" said Sokka, laughing again softly "But if… if I didn't, I just want you to know that I…"

"Hush" Azula said, and Sokka froze "I… I don't want to hear it, alright? If whatever you wanted to say is so important to you, then you can keep it to yourself until after the fight. I don't need to hear it right now, and I'm pretty sure you don't need to say it either. You've already said plenty of stupid things as it is as of late"

"And how do you know this was going to be something stupid, eh?"

"Well, knowing you, it most likely was going to be" Azula said, simply, and Sokka pouted "So I'll just assume as much. In any case… I'll see you once this is over. This is your biggest fight up to date, and you can prove yourself above this challenge. I know you can"

"Good to know one of us does" said Sokka, with a grim smile "But… thanks for trusting me like this. I'll do everything I can not to let you down"

"You'd better" Azula said, sighing.

She looked into his eyes, finding some fear in them regarding this fight. But there was also determination, and a glint of hope. Somehow he looked fragile, but still strong. Still brave enough to head into a battle he didn't believe he could win. For a moment she felt tempted to drag him away, to protect him from a fight that terrified them both… whatever recognition she had expected him to find couldn't possibly be more valuable than keeping him safely with her, so that she could gaze into his eyes as she was doing right now, so that the bond between them would continue to seem the only real thing in the world for her…

She tried to turn to leave, but failed. She couldn't tear her eyes away from his, no matter how hard she tried. And so, her attempt to turn around proved completely useless. She didn't have enough willpower to leave just like this.

Sokka hadn't actually expected anything more from this conversation, despite having wanted to convey his feelings to her one last time. He didn't know if he'd have a chance to do it again. But before he could register she was moving to leave, the Princess had surrounded his neck with her arms and pressed her lips to his. His hands moved instinctively to her waist, and as soon as he understood what was happening he responded to her kiss desperately, holding her close again and letting himself become enveloped by her. She sought his tongue with hers, she caressed his face, she closed her eyes tightly and tried not to think that it could be the last time she ever did this. It wouldn't be. It couldn't be.

"You're going to come back to me. You hear me?" Azula asked, when she drew back after kissing him long and deeply.

"I hear you. I swear I will" he said, pressing his lips to hers again, hoping to keep holding her for a little longer, but after one last peck, she pulled away.

She flicked her thumb over his mouth to wipe away the remnants of her lipstick, the evidence of their forbidden exchange. She nodded at him and tried to give him an encouraging smile, but she knew she had only mustered a sad one instead. With one last caress to his arm, she found enough strength to leave at last, and Sokka remained where he stood, his heart beating wildly.

He wasn't going to let himself drop dead here. He couldn't allow it to happen. He wanted to hear whatever reprimands she meant to give him once this fight was over. He wanted to argue with her, to laugh with her, to love her. And he was going to make sure he'd have a chance to do it. He wasn't going to falter here. He had struck a deal with her long ago, and he had only just promised he would return to her. He had every intention to keep that promise. He wouldn't break her heart, not today, not ever again.

He glared at the door, the familiar rush of pre-battle energy rushing through him. It had been a very long time since he had fought while dreading he might die, and also a very long time since he had faced an opponent who he already knew was a far superior fighter to himself. But the odds had never mattered before. They wouldn't matter now. He had no hopes to win… but he would fight to his best regardless. And he would live.


	90. Chapter 90

She assured herself time over and time again, as she made her way through the metallic hallways, that everything would be fine. That Sokka was stronger than she realized, that the Millennium Dragon wasn't bound to be too vicious a fighter, that the Arena was dangerous but Sokka still could prove himself above the conditions…

Yet she couldn't confer enough optimism to herself through these thoughts. She had to stop halfway to the vestibule and rest against a wall briefly, her chest heaving as she breathed deeply. The truth of what was going to happen next was catching up to her, and as it often happened whenever she led Sokka to fights that had nearly cost him his life, she was starting to regret this completely. No amount of recognition or points could be worth this, could they? But perhaps things would turn out for the best… perhaps they would. She had to wait and see the outcome of it all, there was nothing more she could do at this point.

But the risk of losing him hurt in more ways than she ever expected it to. It was far worse than it had been before, and not only because of what had happened between them on the ship. The fact that he had proved to be the key to unleashing gold firebending still amazed her, and while the potential of creating that fire would always rest within her, it was thanks to him that she had figured out how to use it. He had brought out a side of herself that Azula hadn't known even existed until he showed up. Only thanks to him had she started considering that perhaps she wasn't quite the monster she had feared she was for the longest time…

She couldn't lose him today. No matter if she had to jump headfirst into the lava to save him. The cost would be well worth it, if it would help her keep him with her for a while longer…

She punched the wall and huffed, trying to brush away the morbid thoughts. She simply had to stop thinking. This was getting her nowhere, and she should get to the stands once and for all. The fight wasn't going to start until she got there, and the sooner it began, the sooner it would end.

She made her way to the stairs that would lead her to the viewing area. These stands were the smallest she had seen up to date, as they only occupied a small portion of the Arena's wall. At most, thirty people might fit within them. There was no distinction between the area where the judges and the rest of the crowd would sit, but Azula found that Aonu was on the very center of the stands. She guessed she was meant to take the empty seat beside him.

The cavern where the fight would take place – for it was a cavern, regardless if it was covered with metal or not – was eerie and daunting. Azula frowned as she stared at the wide metallic platform that hung from only four thick chains, each of them attached to one of the corners of the ring. She thought it was a rather unstable structure, and the small railing that lined the fighting area wasn't reassuring in the slightest. It didn't seem like it could provide more protection to either fighter.

The square platform hovered much lower than the stands, at enough distance to keep the crowd away from the line of fire, Azula guessed. And about twenty feet below the platform, at the bottom of the cavern, stood the metallic gate under which stirred the island's magma. She breathed deeply one last time and moved towards her seat, glancing around herself to find that the group that had come cheer Sokka would be sitting on the right side of the stands. She thought she heard Haru whisper about how creepy this place was, a thought she agreed with wholeheartedly, as she sat down next to her fellow sponsor.

"Is your gladiator ready?" he asked, and Azula nodded.

"It seems so" she said "How are the gladiators supposed to reach the fighting pit?"

"There are metal bridges that extend mechanically from the doors at the stand-by rooms" said Aonu "It's not too complicated"

"I disagree" Azula said, frowning and gazing about herself in distaste "This entire place is far more complicated than it should be. In all honesty, I can't see the reasoning behind designing an Arena such as this one"

"It serves many purposes" Aonu said, looking at her with narrow eyes, as though he believed her foolish for saying such words "One of them being that a fight held in this Arena is more prestigious than them all. Only the best will see the Slate and live to tell the tale"

"It seems a waste, though, to spend so much money to build this place instead of using it, and the metal needed for this nonsense, for more important tasks" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "Considering, besides, that this place is only used once every six months"

"While it is true that it is an incredibly expensive Arena, it's worth the price" said Aonu, and Azula frowned.

"Oh, really? Why is that?" Azula asked, looking at him skeptically.

"Because this is the best Arena to set apart the powerful from the weak" said Aonu "Here… here it doesn't matter where you came from or where you're going. Nobody has the courage to judge you when you can triumph in the Slate. It's an Arena for true gladiators, for the ones who deserve to be at the top. And the ones who aren't good enough will be crushed"

"You seem to thrive in the idea of crushing" Azula said, turning to face the platform "Is it you're an earthbender, by any chance?"

Aonu stiffened next to her and her eyes shifted towards him. Somehow that seemed to be a sensitive spot, and she didn't think she'd have much trouble figuring out why that was…

"Do you believe earthbenders are brutish?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly "That their art is lesser than your firebending?"

"Oh, I do" Azula said, bluntly, and the man glared at her angrily "But I mean no offense to you. Most benders' 'arts', as you called them, are far beneath mine, firebenders and earthbenders alike"

"Well, it is good to see you're as confident in your abilities as you are" said Aonu, frowning.

"It's not quite confidence as it is honesty" Azula said, with a subtle smirk. She had never expected trash-talk to be this liberating while feeling as anxious as she was "Just as yours when you speak so fondly of lesser fighters getting crushed"

"I am not as fond of it as you believe" Aonu replied, and while he tried to sound less antagonistic towards her, she still could sense the bitterness in his tone "But I have seen it happen many times, Princess. Only the best can triumph in the Slate"

"Indeed. No wonder Combustion Man defeated your fighter every single time they faced one another in this ring, or any other" Azula said, and Aonu cringed "I suppose some of the truly superior fighters cannot be matched, not even by your Millennium Dragon, can they?"

"That remains to be seen. But even if that were the case…" said Aonu, shifting on his seat as the metal bridges he had told Azula about began to extend towards the platform "I have the suspicion that your fighter, Princess, isn't quite as superior a fighter as you might want to believe he is"

"I have no illusions about his superiority" Azula said, wishing she were actually lying "But I do have trust in his skills. I know just how much potential lies within him. And I know that his specialty happens to be his capacity to outsmart and overwhelm his enemy in the least expected ways. Feel free to look down on him if you wish, but you just might find he's a greater fighter than you give him credit for"

The doors from the stand-by rooms swung open, and the gladiators had the way clear to reach the platform through the bridges. Azula gazed at Sokka, noticing the stern frown on his face. She only hoped his determination would pay off. She didn't want to bite back all the things she had just said to Aonu, but she was prepared to do it… she just needed him to survive. It was the one thing she cared about at this point.

"Oh, well. Speak as you will about your fighter, it hardly matters" said Aonu, relaxing with a deep sigh "We will see his true worth soon enough. And once we do, perhaps you'll understand"

"Understand what, pray tell?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow and glaring at Aonu.

"That perhaps there are some games you shouldn't play" Aonu said, simply "That you may have been misled to believe that the world was yours for the taking. But as it happens, princesses are meant to stay in their golden towers for a reason"

"I don't see why that should be the case. You didn't stay in yours" Azula replied, flatly, and Aonu smiled a little, to her discomfort.

"You'll understand" he repeated, closing his eyes for an instant before opening them to stare at the platform again "And if you don't, then surely you will bring about that man's death sooner than later. And if even after he's dead you still wish to play this game, you will prove, indeed, that you don't belong in the world of gladiators. If you don't understand how it works, you don't deserve to play the game"

"We'll see just who the one who doesn't deserve to play is" Azula muttered, staring at the fighting pit as well. She truly wished it could be her in the fighting ring instead of Sokka, and that the man next to her was the opponent rather than the Millennium Dragon. If only there were an event where sponsors could take the places of their gladiators, she would gladly challenge Aonu to it…

The retractile bridges withdrew once both the fighters had climbed onto the metallic platform. The platform was perfectly polished and flat, Sokka noticed. There were no obstacles of any sort in it, only the metallic railing that was meant to keep the two gladiators within the fighting area. It was as tall as his waist, though, so the Millennium Dragon wouldn't have much trouble pushing him over it if he felt like doing so…

The gate to the magma was closed at the moment, but Sokka already could feel the intense heat seething through the metal. Despite the sunlight couldn't touch them underground, this was the hottest ring Sokka had ever fought in. He breathed slowly, though, having already held his own against heat during his training. He was sure he could bear with this.

The Millennium Dragon stretched as he walked towards the center of the platform, cracking his neck side to side as he readied himself for battle. Sokka stared at his massive chest briefly, wondering if perhaps it wouldn't be more convenient to fight within this heat with fewer clothes, just as his opponent meant to. He started to dread that his flame-retardant clothing might actually end up being a hindrance rather than a helpful resource…

"Here we are, eh, kiddo?" said the Millennium Dragon, with a friendly smile. He stretched his hand towards Sokka, who hesitated briefly before taking it "Good luck. Let's try to make it out alive, eh?"

"Uh, yeah… let's do that" said Sokka, smiling a little as well. The man's words surprised him. Could someone as powerful as the Millennium Dragon truly believe he was at risk of dying in this ring? If the man suspected he might not survive, just how could Sokka hope this fight to end in any way other than in his death?

"My name's Renzhi, by the way, kid. What's yours?" he said, letting go of Sokka's hand.

"I'm Sokka" he replied, with a bit more confidence. That the man would be so friendly and kind gave him a little relief despite his fears. Maybe he wouldn't be out to kill Sokka after all.

"Great then, kid" said Renzhi, and Sokka raised an eyebrow. Odd that he would ask for his name just to keep calling him kid… "Let's see if we can take an hour of this hell, shall we?"

"Yeah" said Sokka, stepping back slowly and looking at Renzhi with determination.

The Millennium Dragon looked at the stands and waved a hand, signaling that they were ready to begin. The gesture surprised Azula. Never before had she seen a combat where gladiators would be the ones to decide when to start fighting. Yet indeed, as he raised his hand, the judges nodded and one of them flipped the hourglass that would time this battle. And thus, the fight began.

Sokka felt his heart thumping in his chest anxiously as he stared at his opponent, whose eyes were set on his. Renzhi's countenance hadn't changed in the slightest even after calling for the beginning of the fight. He simply observed Sokka, as though waiting for him to make the first move.

Would it be wise to attack? Sokka feared that might just trigger his opponent's aggressiveness, and he didn't want to bring the Millennium Dragon's wrath upon him. So he simply gritted his teeth and paced slowly, keeping proper distance between himself and his enemy. Renzhi watched him with curiosity at first, but soon it was amusement. When Sokka stopped moving, his opponent merely started laughing. Sokka cringed.

"What's so funny?" he muttered, and Renzhi smiled at him.

"Now, boy, you don't need to be so afraid of me! I don't bite!" he said.

"Oh, no, but I'm pretty sure you burn" Sokka replied "I'd rather not take chances, mind you"

"Eh, true. Why accept this fight if you knew I'd burn you, then?" said Renzhi.

"Because my sponsor figured I could fight you already" said Sokka, gulping "Might be she was wrong, though…"

"Heh? The Princess was wrong, you reckon?" asked Renzhi "Well, well… shall we test that?"

Sokka clenched his teeth upon Renzhi's threat and he reached up for his boomerang with a quick hand. The man wore no armor, so blocking his chi wouldn't be as hard as Sokka had dreaded it might be. Perhaps with a quick block this early in the battle he might actually gain an edge over his opponent…

He decided to aim big, trying to strike the man's lower spine so as to paralyze his body completely. The blue boomerang soared through the air at great speed, but Renzhi only looked at it with derision. Never before had someone attempted to fight him with such an insignificant weapon.

He didn't even bother conjuring fire to boost the kick he gave the spinning weapon, knocking it off course and towards the edge of the ring. Sokka grimaced, feeling rather foolish. He should have covered for the boomerang's attack, but he had been rather fearful of Renzhi's response to close-quarters combat. He didn't dare pull out Space Sword, for trying to cut down his opponent just might result in his instant defeat.

"Now, now, that's not all you've got, is it?" said Renzhi, raising an eyebrow "You looked tougher than that in Yu Dao. C'mon, where's that cool sword of yours, eh? Let me see it!"

"T-the hell…?" said Sokka, wary. Renzhi laughed at how intimidated Sokka seemed to be.

"You can pick up your silly toy if you want, I don't mind" he said, jerking his head towards the boomerang "But I want you to bring out the real stuff, boy. Don't make me waste my time, now, will you?"

"To be honest, I'd rather just waste it" Sokka confessed "At least, about an hour of it…"

"Heh, you want to be trapped in this platform with me for an hour without doing anything? Want to braid each other's hair too?" Renzhi mocked him, and Sokka grimaced "Or do you want to prove you have every right to be here, boy?"

Sokka frowned and looked at his opponent with thoughtful eyes. Long ago he'd lived by a non-spoken code between gladiators, a code about honoring your opponent by giving him the best fight you could muster. It was a fact that either of the gladiators, if not both, would die in the Amateur League, so why not give one another the best fight of their lives so as to go down proudly? Perhaps he ought to do the same now, then. Perhaps he ought to forget the points, forget his record, and only think about this battle.

Sokka's eyes gleamed with determination again, his resolve steadier now. He moved to pick his boomerang, but instead of sheathing it for good, as Renzhi expected, he pulled out his black sword and held both weapons in his hands.

"That's right, boy" said Renzhi, smiling "Show me what you're made of"

Sokka lounged at his opponent, who finally seemed to get serious now that Sokka had unleashed his better weapon. Sokka had expected Renzhi to evade his attack, and he kept his boomerang in tow, hoping to use it to block the man's chi when the right moment came. He swung Space Sword down on the Millennium Dragon, but to his surprise, Renzhi conjured orange fire through his fist and used it to protect himself from the weapon.

When the sword merely rebounded against the flames, Sokka assumed he had somehow struck the man's fist directly… but there was no evidence of a wound on Renzhi's hand. Sokka leapt back, confused, and his opponent smiled.

"What was…? What did you just do?" Sokka asked.

Above, in the stands, the Princess identified the firebending technique immediately: the Millennium Dragon had condensed his flames. It wasn't an unheard-of ability, most qualified firebenders were capable of condensing their flames. It was the best way to use fire defensively, for condensed flames served as shields against solid objects. Yet condensed flames were not a firebending technique Azula, or most firebenders, favored. It was draining, and it required much stamina to produce condensed fire. More often than not there were more efficient means to battle your foes than by resorting to walls or shields of condensed flames. So either the Millennium Dragon was rather reckless by using such a tiring technique unnecessarily… or perhaps he was showcasing, just by that move, what his true strength as a firebender was.

Azula shuddered in her seat at the thought. The Millennium Dragon was the second best fighter in the ranking, she hadn't forgotten that, but she hadn't expected his high position to have been earned through stamina-based firebending. It would make perfect sense if that were the case, though…

"C'mon, don't be so scared, boy!" said Renzhi, raising a fist "See for yourself, eh?"

He punched the air, and a bright and powerful firebending blast shot straight towards Sokka. The Blue Wolf had to arch his body back to evade it, the speed of the attack taking him by surprise. Renzhi smirked proudly as Sokka struggled to get back on his feet.

Sokka's eyes were wide as glared at his opponent. This wasn't firebending like any he had seen before. It was far too powerful, far too dense… it didn't feel like normal fire, not even like Azula's fire. What on earth was it?

"Never fought a bender who had mastered condensed flames before, then?" Renzhi said "Doesn't your Princess fight with them, eh?"

"No" Sokka said, frowning and allowing his gaze to flicker towards Azula briefly. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and she looked worried. Were condensed flames such a terrible thingg? Judging by the expression on her face, it seemed they were "She has way cooler tricks than this up her sleeve, though"

"Oh? I've heard about it" said Renzhi, nodding "The blue fire, eh? I bet that's got to be amazing fire to condense"

"She has lightning too, you know" said Sokka, smirking "She nearly fried me with it once, but she failed. If I could get through her lightning, I'm pretty sure your funky fire isn't going to stop me"

"Haha! Well, that's a confident guy right there!" said Renzhi, chuckling "Let's see just how great you are, then, boy!"

Sokka only started thinking his bravado might have been a bad idea when his opponent began casting his condensed flames towards him with far more power. Not only were the blasts strong, but they were fast. Sokka felt far less inclined to discarding his flame-retardant clothing now…

Renzhi's fire kept him on his toes, for all he could do was evade them: his boomerang would only rebound against the flames, and even Space Sword couldn't cut through them. Attempting to block the flames would be folly. He couldn't fight against this fire. All he could do was fight his way around it, or at least, try to.

"T-this is… how the hell is he doing that?" Zuko asked, staring at the ring in disbelief.

"What is he doing?" Suki asked, anxious. The sight of Sokka struggling this much only at the start of the battle was starting to unnerve her "What's this about condensed fire?"

"It's not an uncommon technique" Zuko said "But nobody can hold it for so long without getting exhausted. It's… it's ridiculous that he's using it like this. It's usually a defensive fire, but he's using it for offense…"

The small explanation Zuko was giving was quickly interrupted when a loud metallic noise shook the entire Arena. Sokka was confused by it briefly until he saw red lights dancing on the metal walls now… and until he felt the temperature of the room rising even further.

The gate had been opened.

The lava stirred down below, and everyone in the stands watched it with dread in their eyes. Sokka didn't have time to even look over the edge of the platform, though. The Millennium Dragon continued to cast fire blast after fire blast towards him, keeping him too busy to waste any time staring down at the magma below. Sokka gritted his teeth, feeling the sweat slipping down his back. After yet another powerful attack by his opponent, Sokka stumbled while trying to avoid getting scorched. Despite his efforts, the flames caught his shoulder, but his armor kept him from getting burned badly.

He lifted his eyes quickly, wary of the Millennium Dragon's next attack, but he found Renzhi had dropped his hands, and was staring at him with amusement.

"How about that, then?" he said, chuckling a little before walking to the edge of the platform and staring down at the lava pit "Now, would you look at that… it's burning real good down there"

Sokka gritted his teeth and crawled towards the edge of the platform. His eyes widened when he saw the lava down below, and he averted his eyes quickly as an unpleasant sensation of vertigo began meddling with his senses. He had flown many times with Azula and Xin Long, yet never had he done it while thinking of what could happen if he fell off the saddle. He had always thought he would be fine, perhaps because he trusted the dragon carrying his weight… but he sure couldn't trust the platform keeping him suspended above the magma in the same way.

"C'mon, kid, it's no biggie" said Renzhi, seeing the panicked look in his eyes "It's going to close again in five minutes. Forget the lava and get back to the fight"

"Easier said than done, pal" said Sokka, breathing heavily as he forced himself to stand up "If I fall in there…"

"If you fall in there…?" said Renzhi, raising an eyebrow when Sokka fell silent.

I will fail to keep my promise, Sokka thought, gritting his teeth and glaring at his opponent. He was on the losing end of this fight, he had been even before it began… but unless he put his foot down, it would only get worse. Five minutes of the fight had gone by, and he had gotten through them with a single wound that didn't amount to much. So long as he remained on the same track, he would keep his promise indeed. He refused to disappoint her today.

"I'll get a lot of burns, and I've already got enough scars as it is" said Sokka, surprising Renzhi "So yeah… I'd rather not fall at all"

"Oh, and I guess you'd rather not fight at all, too?" Renzhi asked, and Sokka smirked.

"Well, if you'd rather give me the easy way out I wouldn't mind. We could just sit here and catch up, just as you wanted us to…"

"Have a sit on this platform and your ass will be on fire in no time, boy" said Renzhi "Besides, I'm here to fight. It's good to chat while on the job, but the job must be done. I want to see how strong you are, if there's anything for you to show, that is"

"Yeah, I'm afraid I'll disappoint you in that area" Sokka said, with resignation "To be perfectly honest, I'm not that strong. Not as strong as you, by far"

"Oh, well. No non-bender could be" said Renzhi, shrugging carelessly.

"So if strength is what you expected, I'm very sorry" said Sokka "But I haven't won most my battles with strength, as you might know"

"No, that's for certain" said Renzhi, smirking "You're a resourceful brat, that you are… but I've got to say I'm not impressed by your wits yet"

"Maybe because I haven't started using them yet" said Sokka, with a proud smirk. Renzhi raised an eyebrow, at which Sokka realized he had implied not having been thinking at all so far. He grimaced and dropped his gaze "Well, that didn't come out right…"

The same metallic sound from earlier shook the Arena just then, and Renzhi ventured a glance down to the lava pit. The gates were closing yet again.

"Well, there you go" he said "You can stop panicking now, bo-… oi!"

Sokka had leapt forward, his sword tightly clutched in his right hand as he bolted towards his enemy. The Millennium Dragon lifted his fist in front of him, conjuring a wall of condensed fire in hopes to use it as a barrier, but while doing so, his back remained unprotected. And so Sokka took his chance, tossing his boomerang in the perfect angle to strike the man's back…

But the Millennium Dragon noticed Sokka's ploy just in time to move a few inches. The boomerang caught his hip rather than his spine. It was still an effective blow, but it failed to block his chi as Sokka had been hoping it would. The Blue Wolf caught his boomerang in mid air and slid past another of Renzhi's walls of condensed flames. Sokka feinted to the right, but spun around quickly as his opponent moved to strike him, and with his elbow he struck Renzhi's back for good.

The impact of his elbow wasn't strong enough to successfully block the Millennium Dragon's chi, but it was still a better blow than any Sokka had expected to deliver through the fight. Yet the glory of his successful attack was short-lived, for the Millennium Dragon kicked an arch of condensed flames at him, with which he effectively put distance between himself and Sokka. The Blue Wolf leapt back, hoping to take the chance to attack again, but Renzhi kicked a powerful blast with his other foot as Sokka inched forward. It struck him in the chest, tossing him back powerfully against the railing. Fortunately, the attack didn't cast him out of the platform, but he still crashed hard against the metal bars and his head did a backlash.

The attack in itself hardly harmed him, thanks to his armor and clothes that protected him from the fire well enough, but his neck hurt so badly he feared it had snapped. He groaned in pain as Renzhi rubbed his back and stared at Sokka in disbelief yet also admiration.

"You got me good, boy. You really did… I'm impressed" he said, as Sokka gritted his teeth "Got to say I'm surprised you'd resort to waiting 'til I lost focus, but a good fighter makes do with what he's got, right?"

"At least he tries to" said Sokka, grimacing and rubbing his neck with one hand. The Millennium Dragon smiled and nodded towards him.

"Yep, being strong's not all there is to you, boy. I'll give you that, if nothing else"

"Good to know" said Sokka, still rather sore as he pushed himself to his feet, picking up his weapons again.

Despite all his training, he felt weaker than ever before. Striking his enemy just once was a feat that seemed to require all his efforts, and the Millennium Dragon's sturdiness and resistance seemed impossible for Sokka to tear through. He couldn't win. There was no way he could defeat this man.

Sokka's agility was helpful, but only if he was close enough to Renzhi to get set on fire if the Millennium Dragon caught him. Long-range attacks were hardly any use, at this rate his boomerang might rebound against the condensed flames and fall down on the gates of the lava pit, if it didn't fall into the lava once they opened, that was. He couldn't take that risk with his oldest weapon. If it wasn't going to provide him the opening he needed to defeat Renzhi, then he could simply sheathe it and use another one instead…

His hand nearly trembled as he reached for the hilt of the white sword. He wasn't sure if two swords would help in any way, but at least he could try to use both weapons to win somehow. If it seemed Wolf's Bane wasn't helping either, then he would have to resort to something else… even though he doubted the bomb he had brought with him, or his knife, would help in this situation if two swords wouldn't do the trick.

"Well, that's a neat blade" said Renzhi, raising his eyebrows approvingly "Is it new?"

"Actually, it's borrowed" Sokka said, his neck still aching badly.

"Looks pretty cool, though" said Renzhi, approvingly "A black sword and a white one… you've got sense of style, don't you?"

"Why, thank you. I guess I do" Sokka said, smiling despite the pain. He wasn't about to shrink away from such compliments even in these circumstances.

Azula had been watching worriedly as Sokka grimaced by the pain from up in the stands. His last stunt had surprised her, but the final outcome had been just as she had expected it. Sokka was fighting with someone well beyond his league. He was fortunate the man wasn't vicious, though… of course, by the time Sokka thanked Renzhi for his compliment she could only stare at him skeptically. Was he serious? Sometimes she truly wondered what the hell was going through Sokka's head during fights such as this one…

"Truly a clever gladiator, isn't he?" Aonu said sarcastically next to Azula. Despite her growing distaste for the man, Azula couldn't find it in her to defend Sokka.

"Yes, he is that extraordinary…" she muttered in the same tone, and Aonu snorted. She glared at him momentarily before focusing on Sokka again. She breathed heavily, wondering if Wolf's Bane would serve any purpose… she hated thinking that Sokka's preparation and training were falling short to the challenge he had been forced to face. He had managed to deliver a blow to his opponent, but he definitely wasn't on the same level as the Millennium Dragon.

"Let's see if you're any better with the white sword, then" said Renzhi, smiling and dashing forth towards Sokka.

It surprised the Blue Wolf to see his opponent attack him in a physical way now. Sokka lifted his weapons as to defend himself, but he didn't expect to accomplish much by trying to make a stand against his rival. He would have to keep evading his enemy's attacks, and hope to come up with a more efficient form of defending himself in the process…

The Millennium Dragon's assault was powerful, just as Sokka expected. Blows and fire blasts rained on him, and he could hardly evade them. There were no openings, he didn't have a single chance to strike his opponent again. And he couldn't possibly slither away from every single attack even though he still tried to.

The next attack that caught Sokka struck him square in the chest and sent him flying once again. He spun in the air before collapsing gracelessly on the heated metal floor. He gritted his teeth, his chest aching despite the armor had yet again proven its worth by keeping him protected. He clutched both his swords, stabbing the platform with Space Sword to help himself to his feet again… and it was then that the spark of an idea struck him.

Renzhi readied himself for a new attack, but when he reached Sokka he found an unexpected metallic barrier rising from the platform. It was meant to serve as a barricade, and Sokka had managed to create it by cutting the floor's metal in a semi-circular pattern and lifting it up with the help of his swords. Renzhi had meant to toss more condensed fire at his opponent but now was left gaping in surprise at the improvised metallic shield Sokka had procured.

"Huh. You don't see that every day" he said, blinking a few times.

Sokka hid behind the barrier, his breath hitching as he waited warily. His barrier would serve its purpose briefly, he knew, but perhaps it would suffice… if it did, all the negative connotations of what he'd just done wouldn't amount to much. He figured cutting the platform like this would knock twenty points off his record, but considering he hardly ever lost points by breaking furniture, it didn't seem like a great loss to him.

The true problem of this new technique, though, was that he had left a gaping hole in the platform… and through it he could watch as the gate to the lava openedagain. He gulped as the heat rose once more, as he watched the stirring magma down below. Maybe cutting the platform hadn't been such a great idea after all…

When the Millennium Dragon's first fire blast struck the improvised metal shield, Sokka grew more convinced that he had made a mistake. The shield that should have protected him was now turning red hot as his opponent sustained a steady stream of firebending that meant to melt the metal protecting Sokka. As soon as it gave out, Sokka would be done for…

He noticed something as he watched how the fire crashed against the metal, though: this was normal firebending. It wasn't the special fire Renzhi had been using so far… so this was his chance.

He clasped both Space Sword and Wolf's Bane with the same hand before tossing his boomerang as quickly as he could manage. When it tore through the fire with ease he smiled triumphantly, and when the fire stream stopped he guessed his weapon had struck his target as intended… perhaps Renzhi wasn't quite as invulnerable as he thought he was.

Sokka allowed himself to glance out of the metal shield quickly, finding that his boomerang had fallen on the floor, not far from where the Millennium Dragon stood now, clutching his limp left arm. Sokka's eyes flew open in amazement. He had chi-blocked him! For good!

"He… he did it!" Ty Lee squealed in amazement, and for a brief moment, the spirits of the group who had come in Sokka's support were lifted. Despite it all, his training hadn't been that useless. He had managed to hurt his opponent twice now! If he kept up at this rate, then maybe he could put up a fight after all…

Aonu frowned worriedly when he saw his gladiator's reaction to the chi-block. It wasn't an unheard-of skill, but the Blue Wolf hadn't been known for using it. Aonu had looked into Sokka's run as a gladiator thoroughly, and he couldn't recall chi-blocking being part of his skills as a fighter. Yet he had indeed blocked Renzhi's chi…

And with that, to Aonu's delight and everyone else's surprise, he had managed to anger his opponent.

"Well, that's not a nice trick" Renzhi growled, as Sokka dashed out of his hiding spot.

He raced to reach for his boomerang before Renzhi could kick the weapon off the platform, perhaps, for Sokka dreaded he just might do that… but he didn't. He remained where he was, a heavy frown clouding his face now, and upon his unresponsiveness, Sokka figured he should launch himself into a tentative attack, if nothing else.

With his swords in tow, Sokka attempted to hurt his opponent again… and was met by a powerful fist to the face that, yet again, sent him rolling and stumbling back on the platform.

Sokka felt the world tremble around him as he tried to find his bearings. He had dropped his weapons upon the force of the impact. He wasn't entirely sure but he thought he'd felt his brain move within his skull…

It took him a moment to process the punch hadn't even been coated with firebending. He looked at Renzhi to find him struggling to move his immobilized arm, his other hand pressed into a tight fist. The chi-blocking couldn't possibly have stopped him from bending with his other limbs, now, could it…?

As Sokka discovered next, it hadn't. When Renzhi noticed Sokka had found his bearings again he shot a powerful fire blast at him with his functional arm, prompting Sokka to evade his attacks once more. Only then did Sokka notice he was unarmed, his three weapons were lying on the floor not too far from where he was. He reached out to seize them, but another fire blast prevented him from getting to them, and the next attacks managed to separate him from them effectively.

Renzhi's attacks were fiercer now, and Sokka didn't fail to notice the man was no longer amused or enjoying the battle. Now he seemed rather angry, and Sokka wasn't entirely sure why. Hadn't he wanted Sokka to give him a good fight? Why the blazes was he so angry about it now?

"Hey!" Sokka shouted, after evading yet another nigh-scorching fireball "Calm down, will you?! It'll wear off!"

Renzhi only snarled and continued to attack, and all the while he kept trying to move his hand in hopes to regain the feeling in his fingers. When Sokka saw that they were starting to shift he gritted his teeth. This had been his best advantage in the fight so far… he couldn't waste it.

He gritted his teeth before roaring and throwing himself towards the weapons in what seemed to be a suicide attempt. He leapt to the sides to evade the fire blasts when they came, also shrinking in his frame when necessary and leaping as high as he could manage to avoid the fire. He caught the scent of something burning after several of his opponent's attacks, and he gritted his teeth, guessing the clothes hadn't been as resistant to fire as they were supposed to be…

But he continued to reach for his weapons all the same. He had to reach them, or else he would be done for. The Millennium Dragon was finally serious, and unless he was armed and ready to attack him, Sokka probably wouldn't last enough in this fight to see the next time the lava pit opened.

He threw himself in the air to reach for his weapons, and flames caught his leg. He flinched as he soared through the air, and his hands finally found his boomerang and one of the swords, he didn't even know which. He rolled fast on the floor and tossed the first weapon fast, hoping to strike his opponent again…

But so long as the boomerang was in Renzhi's visual range, there was no way it would strike him. The man delivered an uppercut, coated with condensed flames, to strike the boomerang. And up it flew, spinning still, but knocked completely off course…

The weapon landed not far behind Azula, who turned to glance at it briefly before turning to the fight again, worriedly. Sokka had picked up both his swords, and the gate to the lava had closed again by now… but the fight was only going to become harder for him without his one long-range weapon.

Sokka looked up at her, and Azula nodded reassuringly. She saw the relief in his eyes upon knowing his weapon was fine before he pushed himself to his feet, focusing on the firebender again… to find Renzhi could move his limp arm once again.

"Neat trick didn't work out as well as you hoped, now, did it?" said Renzhi, his eyes blazing angrily as he glared at Sokka.

"Come on… you wanted me to fight you properly, so I did" said Sokka, swallowing hard "I get that you're not used to being hit by weaker guys than you, but still…"

"I'm not used to being hit altogether, boy" said Renzhi, and Sokka stared at him in surprise and amazement. He couldn't help but wonder just how long had it been since someone had actually hurt this fighter in battle… knowing now that it wasn't a common occurrence made him feel unexpectedly proud of his accomplishment "Especially not like that. Not pleasant, you know, getting your chi-blocked"

"Oh, believe me, I know" said Sokka, nodding sympathetically. Renzhi's glare earned a more amused quality now, but it remained fierce all the same. He flexed and stretched his arm and fingers, making sure they were fully functional.

"If you know how it is, then you get why it annoys me so much, don't you, boy?" he said, his lips curling into a small smirk.

"Uuuuh… not really?" Sokka said, gulping. This did not sound good.

"By the way… your hair's on fire" he said, and Sokka grimaced. No wonder he had smelled something burning.

He patted his ponytail, trying to smother the burning strands of hair as Renzhi readied himself for another round of flames to pelt Sokka with. Sokka hadn't quite thought that his opponent's capacities were far beyond his understanding until now. Renzhi had only been playing with him, for he had expected Sokka to be easy to defeat, and he had meant for this to be a very simple, easy fight. And while Renzhi still had a better shot than Sokka to achieve victory even now, the man was no longer in a good mood… and he meant to pummel a very confused Sokka, who clasped both swords tightly and tried to jump out of the way of the next attacks his enemy cast towards him.

Renzhi now even charged his fire blasts, making them even stronger than before, and instead of unleashing mere fireballs, now he attacked with powerful streams of flames. And Sokka's agility, which had been his best advantage so far, had suffered from the burn he had caught on his leg. He couldn't be as fast as before while he limped his way around the Millennium Dragon's attacks. And tried as he might, he couldn't evade all the attacks his opponent sent his way.

He took a powerful blast of fire to the forearm, which extended and burned his elbow. Then he took another one to the stomach, which sent him tumbling yet again, but this time the attack didn't stop there. The Millennium Dragon charged another stream of fire and shot it at Sokka, who only had a very brief moment to cut up the platform and push the metal upwards again, creating yet another makeshift shield that barely could resist against the infernal fires.

The attack ceased soon, though, and when Sokka was about to glance out to find if Renzhi would give him a break, he found the man was charging another fire blast as he ran around the metallic shield Sokka had fashioned out of the platform. He was going to shoot that massive attack at him, and Sokka dreaded that, if it caught him, he would be done for…

When Renzhi growled and extended both his arms, twin streams of fire shot towards Sokka. The barrage of flames made the Blue Wolf flinch as he jumped out of the attack's range, but he couldn't get away unscathed yet again. He felt one of the blasts catch his leg again, and it sent him spinning through the air until he crashed against the railing at one of the four corners of the platform.

And as he cringed at the pain, he felt the platform shift in a very strange way. It was as though gravity had suddenly decided to pull harder on the corner of the ring he had fallen on… but no, that made no sense, gravity couldn't just work differently all of sudden like that…

He lifted his gaze to find that the other fire stream, the one that hadn't caught him, had struck one of the chains that suspended the platform instead. And the blast had been powerful enough to melt several of the links in the chain, leaving the platform to tilt dangerously now that it was unbalanced.

"Oh, hell!" Sokka shouted, trying to push himself away from the edge of the ring. The platform was leaning, but maybe he could still stand up and move to the higher end of the ring somehow…

Again the gate down below slid open, and now Sokka cringed as the heat began to warm up the metallic platform. It would burn him at this rate, so he pushed himself up to his feet brusquely…

When he tried to get away from the leaning corner of the ring, another fire blast nigh met him. Sokka gasped and shrunk on his frame once more, but his opponent's barrage of attacks were relentless.

One of Renzhi's fireballs caught him in the chest, hitting him with enough power to send him over the railing.

Everyone in the stands felt their breath catch as Sokka nearly fell to the lava down below, only breaking his fall by stabbing horizontally the leaning platform with Space Sword at the very last second. Azula felt herself paling as she watched him with wide eyes. She had to hold back the urge to jump off her seat and propel herself down there with her bending to snatch him out of that hell-hole… and she sure would have done it if he hadn't managed to remain in the game, despite it all.

"Oh, no… oh, no…" Ty Lee was saying, her hands on her mouth. Even Mai's eyes were wide as she stared at Sokka worriedly.

The gravity of the situation only seemed to hit Zuko now, of all times. He hadn't expected Sokka to win this fight… but he hadn't expected him to fall to his death either. He had thought they had trained him well. He was sure Sokka could handle the fight… and indeed, he could have handled the Slate, but he couldn't handle the Millennium Dragon. The man's skill was beyond Sokka's capacities. He was a truly extraordinary bender.

"He… he's not going to make it" Suki said, shivering next to Zuko "He's… he's…"

Renzhi shot another fire blast at Sokka as he tried to push himself atop the platform again. Sokka flinched and yelled as the fire grazed his hand. It seemed the Millennium Dragon hadn't meant to attack him with the full extent of his power this time. He probably didn't think it would be necessary now that Sokka was dangling at the border of the ring.

Sokka struggled to get atop the ring again, and he was forced to sheathe Wolf's Bane so he could try to clutch at the railings to hoist himself up. But his every attempt was met with more fire. The heat was becoming unbearable, he could feel sweat rolling down from his forehead and through all his body. The flames that waited down below only seemed hotter than the ones that were close to singing his fingers… why, despite everything he'd done to make himself a better fighter, couldn't he do any better than this? Was this the full extent of his abilities?

Azula's nails were digging into her palms as she watched Sokka dangling from the border of the platform, but she could hardly feel the pain she was inflicting to herself. Her stomach was in knots, her heart threatening to burst from her chest and not in the way it usually did whenever it concerned Sokka. This was just as bad as his first fight against Toph, if not worse. And not even half the fight had passed just yet…

"There is a fine line between a common fighter and a gladiator, Princess" Aonu started saying beside her, dragging the syllables of her title as though uttering the mere word was beneath him "And only some sponsors are able to see it when choosing the one who will represent them. It's no shame, really, failing to find the right gladiator for you on the first attempt…"

Sokka's struggle not to fall off the platform seemed to only become worse as Aonu spoke. His opponent began to jump on the platform, making it rise and fall slow but dangerously, threatening to knock Sokka down. He launched more fire towards him, and Sokka continued to sweat and grind his teeth as the platform rocked. His fingers hurt like hell after all his efforts to keep holding onto Space Sword's hilt. And still he couldn't climb atop the platform again…

"But as the moment of truth arrives, you prove your quality as a sponsor by knowing whether to continue holding on to a useless fighter or by letting him go to seek a better one" Aonu said, breathing deeply, as though the entire experience was relaxing for him.

His words passed through Azula's mind but she barely registered them. She stared hard at the platform, as though looking at Sokka would somehow give him the strength he needed to climb up on that platform once again… he had to do it. He just had to.

"Come on, Sokka…" said Haru, gritting his teeth as they all watched him nervously. Ty Lee looked as though she were about to cry, and he surrounded her shoulders with an arm.

Zuko gulped, trying not to be negative about this, but how could Sokka get out of this situation? Even if he climbed atop the platform again, it would only result in more struggles for the non-bender. It was a fact that he couldn't win, but everyone had thought he would at least survive…

He was startled when he noticed movement next to him, and he looked at Suki to find she was trembling violently. She gritted her teeth as she looked at Sokka, and Zuko frowned but reached out to touch her hand, hoping to appease her somehow.

"Hey…" he said, but she shook her head and stood up, darting out of the stands and back to the vestibule quickly, almost kicking Sokka's discarded boomerang in the process.

Zuko glanced at the fight again, finding that the gate to the lava was being closed. Well, now at least Sokka wouldn't be fried alive… with that small relief in mind, he stood up as well and chased after Suki quickly.

She hadn't gone back into the vestibule, but instead followed one of the hallways that led to the standby rooms. Zuko gathered she had done that in order to be alone, but he wasn't sure if that would be a good idea right now. He hadn't seen her act like this ever since encountering her again in Mai's house.

"Suki…" he said, as she shivered. He thought he could see tears shining in her eyes.

"He's not going to make it. He's… he's not going to make it" she started whispering, biting her lower lip and trying not to cry "I knew this wasn't going to work, I knew… he's just going to die, isn't he? Like…"

"No, he's not" Zuko said, frowning and approaching her "He's going to be fine. The gate just closed right after you left, he's not going to fall in there. Sokka is a big idiot, Suki, but he's tougher than he looks and we know it. He's not that easy to kill…"

"Weren't you in there?" Suki asked him, her eyes wide as she looked at him in disbelief "He's… he's dangling at the edge of the platform, defenseless! And… and you think it's not easy? Maybe for us it's not, but the Millennium Dragon… he's going to kill Sokka. He's…"

"No, he won't" Zuko said, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking at her sternly "Suki…"

He had meant to tell her to believe in Sokka, to remember that the fool they'd been training with wasn't the kind to just die in a difficult fight. He'd had plenty of those already and yet he had survived every single one. He would do it again, Zuko was certain…

But the look in Suki's eyes made him fall silent. There was fear in those eyes, actual terror… and Zuko wasn't entirely sure of why. Was it Sokka's fate that horrified her so, or was it perhaps the memory of the other gladiators she had known and cared for, who had died violently in the fighting pit? Or was it the realization that she would be returning to this very life one day…?

Zuko froze as he looked at her, not knowing for certain if which one, if not all, of the previous thoughts had shaken Suki up so badly. He had never given thought to the fact that Suki was, despite all things, a gladiator. Regardless of everything she had undergone, all the pain and trials she had suffered, she was meant to fight for her life again in a fighting pit one day, just as Sokka was fighting right now.

"You're…" he whispered, looking at her with intensity "Suki, you're…"

"I can't watch this" Suki said, shaking her head "It was… it was bad enough with Kerron. I can't take this again. I can't take any of this, Zuko. I… I can't watch him die…"

"You won't" Zuko said, grinding his teeth and nodding with determination "You're not going to do anything you don't want to, Suki, and I'll make sure of it"

"Zuko…" she whispered, and he frowned.

"If you don't want to see this, you don't have to. If you don't want to go back to this life, then you won't have to either. And if Ty Lee tries to make you… then I can just buy you off her and never have you return to the Gladiator League again! I… I'm not going to put you through this hell again, Suki. I won't let that happen"

"I… I'll have to" she said, shaking her head and looking at him in despair "Zuko, I can't just run away from…"

"Yes, yes you can!" Zuko said "Suki, this entire business is… it's plain revolting. The only reason why I ever bothered with it was because of you. And you were always too good for it. You deserve better than to suffer through this bullshit for the rest of your life… you deserve to live. You…"

"Zuko, I…" Suki said, looking at him in surprise and confusion.

The words he was saying weren't quite registering with her as of yet. He was proposing to free her from the burden of being a gladiator? The prospect of a life where she wouldn't have to return to an Arena ever again was somehow mind-blowing. She had never even considered it as a possibility. She had always expected to die a warrior, to fall in the battlefield one way or another… and after being dragged to Shu Wo she had assumed the entire contrary, that she would die a meaningless death, amongst people who wouldn't care whether she lived or died. From hoping for the death of a warrior, she had started to believe she would have the death of a slave… and now Zuko seemed to offer her an alternative she had never thought of. An alternative she wasn't entirely sure of what entailed…

"I will look after you now" he said, earnestly, just as he had two nights prior "Suki, I…"

"Why?" she asked, looking at him in disbelief "Why would you do this…? Zuko, I'm… I'm no one special. Why should you even…?"

"If you're no one special then I'm damn sure neither am I" Zuko said, and Suki froze "You're… you're the most amazing woman I know, Suki! And I want to do this because I…"

The words caught in his chest briefly as he stared at her, his heart drumming wildly in his chest. Suki seemed completely confused, and frankly still scared, but now Zuko wasn't so sure if it was the gladiator fight that terrified her so. It didn't matter, though. He was here to help her. He meant to be by her side. She wouldn't have to bear her burdens alone anymore, and he'd make sure of it.

"Because I love you, Suki" he said, and her eyes widened as her jaw dropped.

He didn't let her respond to his confession, unsure if she would reject him or reciprocate his feelings. But what she felt towards him wasn't what mattered right now. What mattered was that he was offering her his everything, and giving her the chance to finally get away from a life he knew she didn't want to return to. He would give her anything she wanted, so long as it was in his power to give. He was in love with her, truly, faithfully, desperately…

When he kissed her he felt himself burn, and he held her close as he continued to caress her lips with his. Suki didn't respond by doing much more than placing her hands on his chest, her eyes fluttering shut as her mind went blank. His words repeated themselves in her ears, but their meaning was taking ages to sink in. He loved her…?

The sound of loud voices broke their trance, though. Zuko pulled away from her and frowned in confusion, but as soon as he did, Suki stepped towards the passageway that led to the stands once more, his hands dropping from her shoulders because of her motions. And before he could so much as call out for her, she had already darted out of his sight.

Zuko froze, his stomach sinking. Maybe he had come too strong… but her lack of response made him feel like he had swallowed a massive block of ice. But he wasn't unfamiliar with the sensation, not entirely. His head hung as he felt the same sensations he had grown accustomed to during his childhood and teenage years, that feeling of utter inadequacy, of loneliness, of nothingness… the overwhelming weight of rejection.

He stood in the same place for a moment before the sounds that had compelled Suki to return to the stands reached Zuko again, and despite feeling as lowly as he did, he forced his feet to lead him back to where he could see what was unfolding in the fighting ring…

When the two of them left, Sokka had still been struggling to climb atop the platform again. He had dangled off the metal, his fingers aching, his feet kicking desperately at the air… but perhaps there was something he could still do while in this situation. Renzhi had been jumping to tilt the platform up and down, hadn't he? So Sokka could swing his legs together in order to shift the platform back and forth. If the Millennium Dragon wanted to rock the platform, then Sokka would indeed rock the platform.

Most the crowd had stared in utter surprise when he had started to make the platform move. Ty Lee and Haru, who had almost jumped after Suki and Zuko, were now glued to their seats as the platform started to move more violently. Renzhi had been forced to stop attacking, in fear of falling off the ring if he tried to continue bending… and that gave Sokka the chance he had needed.

Still rocking the platform back and forth as though it were a swing, he reached out with his free hand to clasp the red-hot railing above him. His hand burned horribly when he touched it, even through his glove, but he managed to lift himself into the platform at long last anyhow. He was quick to pull Space Sword out of the scab he had made on the platform with it, and he released Wolf's Bane as well, his chest heaving. Holding the swords hurt both his hands by now, but this was still better than dropping on the metallic gates that protected them from the lava, he was sure of it.

Renzhi was actually smiling, and he gave Sokka a pleased grin. The Blue Wolf, exhausted, injured and angry as he was, didn't return it.

"Gotta grant it to you, kid. You are tougher than you look" he said, smirking before getting ready to attack again.

Sokka was in no state to evade the new barrage of flames, though. He frowned before lifting his swords, hoping to meet them head-on.

"You idiot…" Azula whispered, her eyes widening. If he received the attack directly he would be done for, and he knew it.

But Sokka didn't see any purpose to fighting at this rate anymore. If he was going to be blasted out of the platform, so be it. At least the damn fight would finally be over with.

When the condensed fire came swirling towards him he roared, attempting to cut through the fire with his two blades… and he succeeded in doing so.

The powerful sweep of the swords wasn't unlike anything Sokka had done so far, yet somehow, the Millennium Dragon's potent fire faded in thin air as the swords cut through it.

The entire Arena was shaken by a gasp, and Renzhi stopped attacking, stunned cold by what had just happened. Sokka himself was blinking blankly, the burns and bruises in his body still stinging but he hardly felt them. What the hell had he just done?

"What in the name of…?" Aonu said, sitting next to Azula, his eyes wide. The Princess would have basked in the man's reaction hadn't she been just as shocked as he was.

"Sokka?" she whispered, as he stared at the swords in his hands.

Something truly strange and unexpected had happened. He had attempted to attack the Millennium Dragon with Space Sword earlier, yet failed at it… so how come did it work this time? How did he manage to swat the fire away…?

His eyes shifted towards Wolf's Bane instead, and he frowned. Maybe it hadn't been Space Sword. Because maybe…

Renzhi shot out a tentative fireball at Sokka, and he met it with Wolf's Bane alone this time. And the sword slashed through the fire, making it dance along its blade, as though submitting the powerful flames to its will, before making them vanish in thin air.

Sokka glanced up at Azula for an instant, utterly confused. The Princess could only return the same stare, her blade's strange properties a surprise for her as well. She had never used Wolf's Bane to fight against a firebender after all, so she couldn't have known of this…

Yet perhaps it made more sense than she realized. For Wolf's Bane, just like Space Sword, was no ordinary blade. Space Sword had been crafted from a fallen meteorite, and Wolf's Bane material, on the other hand, was rather ordinary… but its forging method, on the other hand, hadn't been quite so ordinary. She had never thought that dragons could imbue special properties upon metals, but that was the only logical explanation she could think of as Sokka held the sword in his hand.

But whatever reason was behind this strange phenomenon, one thing was for certain: Sokka was going to make the most of this discovery.

Renzhi stared at the non-bender in disbelief and confusion as Sokka lashed out to attack him. He shot more fire towards him, but Sokka cut it down with Wolf's Bane with ease. The crowd gasped more loudly this time, echoes of their surprised cries resounding within the Arena. The wild grin on the Blue Wolf's face was nearly more terrifying than the blade he was wielding. Never before had Renzhi faced this sort of fighter, someone who could annul his potent fire as though he weren't doing much more than batting away an annoying fly. While other gladiators had given Renzhi truly difficult fights, and while he had never defeated Combustion Man, at least he had always been able to fend for himself with his fire. This was completely unprecedented…

For the first time ever, the Millennium Dragon was being driven to a corner by a non-bender. Earthbenders had gotten the better of him before, or tried to, and he had fought firebenders stronger than himself… but never had this happened with a non-bender. And while it was rather interesting for this to happen, it was starting to worry Renzhi indeed… there was no way, even now, that this boy would defeat him, was there?

The thought solidified in his head and forced him to put his everything into the fight. As much as he had been mostly interested in finding out what capacities this boy had, this had quickly turned into a real fight without his awareness. And unless he took the Blue Wolf seriously, the outcome of this battle would be the one thing he had never even considered a possibility. He couldn't let himself lose against this boy.

Sokka gritted his teeth when a brand new barrage of flames flew towards him. Renzhi was attacking far more consistently now, with consecutive and strong fireballs that Sokka could hardly defend against, but despite it was no easy feat, he managed to swat them all away. Fortunately, Wolf's Bane was lighter than Space Sword, and waving it through the air proved much easier for Sokka.

When Sokka managed to break through the barriers of flames that his opponent was casting, he tore open a gap through the condensed fire with Wolf's Bane and stabbed through it with Space Sword. Renzhi was forced to jump back and launch another attack, but Sokka felt ready to take anything the firebender tried to throw at him. The rocking platform was a problem for both, though, for it threatened to knock them off their feet if they didn't time their footsteps carefully.

The same routine repeated itself time over and time again, despite Sokka's wounds kept aching and begging him for respite, but he didn't dare take an instant to catch his breath. He was covered with sweat from head to toes, and the pain from each of his burns increased as he moved as quickly as he could around Renzhi's fire. He almost caught the firebender's leg once with Space Sword, and he tore through nearly every defensive barrier the Millennium Dragon lifted around himself.

But there was a particularly powerful blast aimed at his head, and Sokka chose to duck instead of cutting it with Wolf's Bane. And that was all it took for Sokka's luck to change again, and not for the better.

The fire sped towards one of the chains, specifically towards the right next to the chain that had already broken. Renzhi stopped attacking when he saw what was about to happen; he turned on his heels and jumped towards the railing at the other opposite of the platform. Sokka frowned at that, turning in confusion, for he had seen the expression on his opponent's face… and he had turned just as one of the chain's links melted under the fire's strength. And that was all it would take for the horizontal platform to collapse, swinging violently until it was fully vertical now.

Sokka stared in horror at the shattering chain and tried to jump upwards, hoping to hold on to the railing that the Millennium Dragon had intelligently reached out for already, but he was too far away. He wouldn't make it.

He slid down the metallic platform, passing over the creases he had created earlier while trying to defend himself with makeshift metallic shields. He yelled as he clawed at the platform with Space Sword, but this time he had stabbed it with the sword vertically. It did little to break his fall.

His shouts ceased when he fell on the railings at the lower end of the platform. They seemed to sustain his weight, but they were far too hot still, and they were burning Sokka's legs through his clothes again.

"Dammit!" he gasped, gritting his teeth and trying to claw his way upwards with his swords, but Wolf's Bane couldn't cut through the metal like Space Sword could.

He was pressed against the hot platform, and he stared in sheer horror as he watched the gates down below sliding open, again with that loud noise that he feared would haunt him in his dreams for the rest of his life… if he survived long enough to dream again, that was. If he fell into the lava there would be no need to worry about having trouble sleeping, for by then he'd sleep for good.

He cringed at the thought and clawed at the platform with Space Sword. He had to get up to where the Millennium Dragon was to fight him again. He couldn't stay down here or he'd be toast… the heat was already unbearable before, but right now it was infernal. All the water in his body would dry up at this rate…

Yet a fireball struck his hand when he tried to start his climb upwards with Space Sword. He flinched and drew his hand away, gritting his teeth and glaring at the Millennium Dragon. The firebender had climbed to his feet and was balancing his weight on the railing at the top of the platform.

"Sorry, kid!" he called out "But it's either me or you!"

Sokka stared at him in sheer horror. Why did it have to be either one?! Why couldn't they both survive?!

He didn't have a chance to voice his thoughts, though, for another fire blast flew straight towards him. Sokka winced and crawled away towards one of the corners of the platform, pulling Space Sword out of the socket he had carved into the metal. More fire flew at him as he moved. He tried to evade it somehow, but he failed more often than not, cringing whenever it struck him.

The platform was swinging back and forth most dangerously, and it seemed as though it was about to fall in the lava at this rate. Renzhi was preventive about it, though… he was sure that the two remaining chains wouldn't be enough to hold the platform's weight. But he could save himself by holding on to the chains as the platform fell… whereas his rival wouldn't have the same chance. It was a shame, he had to admit, for the kid was no doubt the most intriguing non-bender he had ever fought…

Fire poured on the Blue Wolf, who continued trying to avoid being scorched, but he couldn't evade all blows. They were on the same side of the platform by now, Sokka holding on to the railing at the corner as the lava, hot and threatening, waited for them down below…

"I'm going to soak in a freezing bath when I'm out of here… I swear I will…" Sokka told himself, gulping as he swatted a fire blast with Wolf's Bane. It was a fact that he had lost this fight, he had no doubts left about it anymore… but at the very least he could survive. This was already the fourth time the lava gate opened, so it meant there were only around fifteen minutes left… he could take fifteen minutes more of this, yes he could…

The next blast convinced him otherwise when it struck him in the shoulder, nearly knocking him off the platform altogether hadn't he been holding onto the metal railing with his legs.

Azula jumped to her feet, her entire body trembling at this point. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Sokka with despair. If he fell… no, he couldn't fall. He wouldn't fall. He had promised he'd come back to her…

Renzhi watched Sokka's struggle with sympathetic eyes, despite himself. He glanced at Aonu to find he was staring at the fight with wide eyes, somewhat nervous yet still pleased to see that his fighter had the upper hand in the middle of this potential catastrophe. His eyes met Renzhi's, finding his gladiator was reluctant to finish the fight. But he nodded towards him, and the Millennium Dragon sighed before turning towards Sokka.

"I really am sorry" he said, gulping before readying himself to attack again.

Sokka's eyes widened before outrage took over him. He snarled angrily at the man and pushed himself up with the help of the railing, a frown on his face.

"You fucker… Like hell you're going to get away with that!" he snapped, sheathing Wolf's Bane and clutching Space Sword hard. If he was going down, then he would take the bastard with him.

Renzhi actually stopped himself before releasing the attack he had been preparing for Sokka when he saw him sheathe the white sword. Everyone in the crowd watched in confusion as Sokka roared angrily, extending his right arm before tossing Space Sword powerfully in an arched trajectory… straight towards the chain Renzhi had been holding onto.

By the time Renzhi understood what Sokka had done it was already too late for him to knock the sword off course. It cut cleanly through the chain, and it would have done the same to the remaining chain as it progressed in the trajectory Sokka had devised for it, but since there was but one chain left, the platform began to oscillate dangerously. So the sword flew past the chain, lodging itself into the metallic wall as the platform swayed and swung dangerously from side to side within the cave.

"Sokka!" Azula exclaimed, unable to hold back the cry as she saw him dangling at the very bottom corner of the platform, holding onto the railing with everything he had left.

Aonu as well stood up now, a horrified expression on his face as he watched his gladiator swing in the air, panic-ridden as he clutched the railing. The platform swung, the remaining chain creaked and made the entire contraption spin on itself. Renzhi clutched the railing, the spins so violent he feared he would spill his stomach's contents.

Sokka gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, the spins making him sick as well, but the fire underneath him worried him far more. He couldn't let go of the railing no matter what, and even so, he still might fall into the lava once the last chain gave away…

One of the platform's corners crashed against the wall, the very corner Renzhi had been holding on to. The crash was violent enough to send vibrations throughout his body, and to make him release the railing altogether. He clawed at the metallic wall, trying to find a ledge to hold onto before sliding down to his death in the lava… but fortunately for him, the platform had crashed right above the door that led to one of the stand-by rooms. His hand soon caught the border of the retractile bridge, and he held on to it with every bit of strength he had left, badly injured as he was after that violent crash against the wall.

But Sokka wasn't at either side of the now vertical platform. He was at the very bottom, suffering as the metal contraption swung from side to side, threatening to drop him in the boiling lava as the links of the chain grew weaker and weaker…

"No, no… just hold on" Azula muttered, her breath coming in gasps "Please, Sokka, don't you dare… don't you dare let go…"

There was no escape, though. Regardless of what he did, he was going to fall into the lava pit. He couldn't get away, he couldn't possibly climb up the spinning platform on time before it collapsed. The situation was entirely hopeless.

Being this close to death was no longer a common experience for him. He wasn't used to living with his life on the line anymore… and he certainly didn't look forward to death, as he had during his days as an amateur gladiator, when there had been nothing left for him to lose. He grimaced and tried to glance up at the stands, but everything was a blur because of the spinning platform. He gritted his teeth, having wished to at least look upon her face one last time…

"I'm sorry, Azula…" he whispered, as the chain's links stretched more…

The sound of the closing gate startled him out of his state of resignation, his discarded hope returning to him immediately. The lava was going away! He couldn't see it, dangling off the platform as he was, but he was hearing the distinct sound of the gate closing…!

And indeed, the unbearable heat decreased greatly. The lava was gone for now. Sokka let himself breathe out in relief just before an unknown man's voice called out to him from below:

"Let go!"

"Say what?!" Sokka exclaimed, confused, still clutching the railing hard.

"Let go of the railing now! You're safe from the lava, but the platform's still going to fall! It'll crush you if you don't let go!"

Sokka gritted his teeth and did as he was told, unsure of why he was obeying whoever was talking to him. He released the railing and dropped atop the gate on his back, the blow to his back and the back of his head sending him into yet another world of pain, as black and red spots swum before his eyes.

The lava was heating the gate horribly even though it was sealed, and Sokka gritted his teeth as he felt it seethe through his clothes and burn his body even more. But before he could even think of pushing himself up, he felt hands grasping his body and pulling him up brusquely. He cringed as he was dragged away from the spot he had fallen on, and he was about to ask the people carrying him to be a little kinder when something very large and heavy collapsed on the ground right behind them. Sokka's helpers jumped nervously when the platform fell, but they were less tense once the risk of being smashed by the platform was gone.

Azula still stood staring down at the platform, her eyes wide, her entire body trembling. Her breath was coming in gasps, and her hands were absurdly cold considering how high the temperatures within the Arena were. Next to her, Aonu was shouting as the bridge Renzhi was clutching at extended, allowing him to climb onto it and return to the stand-by room. Azula didn't understand any of what the man was saying, her eyes glued to Sokka, who seemed stunned by everything that had taken place just now as the staff members fussed over him. But he was alive… he was safe. He was fine, or at least he would be eventually…

Azula released a deep breath, blinking blankly as she processed the situation. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. Aonu stopped shouting once his gladiator was well on his way to safety, and everyone around them began chatting in amazement after that intense battle. Azula didn't think she was in any fit state to talk yet, but she was forced out of her shock by the judges, who approached her and Aonu.

"Now that was some battle…" they started, and Azula turned towards them as they spoke, her eyes having a hard time focusing on anything other than Sokka even now.

The three staff members who had helped Sokka were now fussing over his wounds to see how badly he needed medical care, but Sokka wasn't paying them much attention. Now that the world wasn't spinning anymore he could see her, standing high above, truly out of his reach… but still there for his eyes to see, at the very least, and that was all he needed as he was.

She was listening to the judges intently, Sokka found, and he couldn't see her too well from down below, but her body language suggested she was rather tense, just as the Millennium Dragon's sponsor, who stood right next to her. Suddenly her jaw dropped, and the other man hung his head, his eyes wide.

She turned around, searching for him with her eyes and finding he was looking at her. He smiled, delighted to meet her gaze again after having dreaded he would lose her for good… and he found she was smiling as well, ecstatic.

He didn't have much time to study the smile on her face, or to figure out just why she was so happy. He gathered she was relieved he was still alive, but somehow her smile seemed to suggest she was joyous over something else as well. But perhaps the injuries were playing games with him, though, and she wasn't quite grinning as happily as he thought she was…

He lost sight of her as the staff members led him into a passageway, and thus he remained ignorant of what the judges had just told the two sponsors. The rest of the group in the stands had stood up too, walking up to Azula, who was laughing in utter disbelief now.

"That's… it's not logical. They were both about to fall" Aonu said, his eyes wide "It's not right!"

"Regrettably, the rule states that the fighters who fall outside the ring are instantly disqualified" said the judge "As soon as the Millennium Dragon was out of the platform, the victory was to be awarded to the Blue Wolf. I'm sorry, but despite your fighter's superior performance throughout the battle, this is what the rules state…"

"Wait, wait, wait… he won?!" Ty Lee exclaimed, her jaw dropping as Azula turned to look at them with a thrilled grin on her face.

"He… he won" she said again, laughing "He's alive, the asshole, and he… he won!"

"Oh! Oh, he won!" Ty Lee squealed excitedly, as Haru smiled as well, throwing a fist into the air.

"He won!" he exclaimed as well. Ty Lee jumped to hug Azula, and for the first time the Princess hugged back, too shocked by the news to be her usual aloof self towards her friend.

"Hell, that guy has some ridiculous luck…" Mai said, raising her eyebrows but smiling weakly as well.

At the sound of a relieved sigh, Mai turned to see Suki breathing out repeatedly, the news of Sokka's victory serving to appease her stress if just for now. Zuko was also relieved, but when he heard Suki's sigh he frowned a little, his jaw set. Mai's own relief changed into confusion upon Zuko's behavior. What on earth had happened with those two when they had left the stands?

Azula was handed a large silver plate by the judges: the trophy awarded to the winner of the Slate had to be, indeed, a slate. The Princess stared at it in amazement, reading the inscription that had just been written on it… the inscription that confirmed the Blue Wolf as the winner of this fight.

Yet while the trophy was quite welcome, Azula found she didn't care for it half as much as she should. She only wanted to get to Sokka once again, as soon as possible. She handed the trophy to Haru and Ty Lee, who were rather curious about it, and she picked up the boomerang that had fallen behind her on the stands, ready to bring it back to her gladiator.

Sokka was being tended to in a room within the building, and a staff member had to lead Azula to it. The medical staff was in the middle of dealing with Sokka's many burns and bruises, and he cringed and grimaced as they rubbed ointments on his skin. They'd had him remove his armor and most his clothes in order to tend to him properly, and while the idea of being around a half-naked Sokka would naturally embarrass Azula, she could have thrown herself into his arms right then and there had they been alone, regardless of his attire or lack thereof. She smiled at him, with far more tenderness than Sokka was used to seeing on her face, but he rather liked seeing her smile like that.

"Sokka…"

"H-hey there" he said, with a clumsy smile as one of the healers bandaged his bruised cheek "Damn, it's good to see you…"

"You're unbelievable…" Azula said, laughing softly as she looked at him in amazement "I'm willing to bet you didn't plan any of what happened out there, did you?"

"Heh, I'm glad you give me that much credit" Sokka said, pouting before he smiled guiltily "But nope, I didn't plan any of it. I had no idea your sword could do that…"

"If it's any consolation, neither did I" Azula said, smiling and giving him his boomerang. Sokka smiled happily upon clasping his dear weapon tightly in his hand again "Some staff members are working towards retrieving Space Sword. They told me they'd deliver it to me once they could get it out of where it's stuck"

"Heh, good. That's very nice of them" Sokka said, clumsily, as the rest of the group entered the room.

"It's bound to take a while for them to detach it from that wall" said Azula, breathing deeply "But either way, it doesn't matter. You… you did it, Sokka. You actually did it"

"I did, eh? Survived the Slate" he said, smiling clumsily "My hair got burned and all, but still I did it. First non-bender to ever make it, right?"

Azula raised her eyebrows in disbelief at his words before starting to laugh, and Sokka looked at her in confusion.

"What? Wait, is it I'm not the first?"

"Oh, Sokka" she said, still laughing and looking at him gently "You're just not the first non-bender to survive this hell of an Arena: you won"

Sokka blinked a few times at her words, their meaning refusing to register inside his mind. Azula could only keep chuckling at the look of befuddlement he was giving her, and his eyes widened when Ty Lee and Haru came closer, still holding the trophy.

"Look, Sokka! It's got your name on it and everything!" Ty Lee squeaked loudly, making Sokka flinch at the sound.

"Y-yeah? Hehe… he. That's, um, nice, I guess. I… won?" he said, staring at Azula in confusion again "How did I…? N-no, no, that's got to be a mistake. Look at me, I'm a mess…"

"So am I, boy" said a voice at the other side of the room, and only then did they all notice that the Millennium Dragon was being tended to by another group of healers. He was smiling with resignation at Sokka "Getting slammed into that wall probably broke a couple of my ribs"

"Heh… sorry" said Sokka, before frowning and looking at his opponent with irritation "But you were trying to kill me! I… I shouldn't be sorry at all! The hell's the matter with you?!"

Renzhi laughed loudly, though doing so seemed to hurt him quite a lot. While his injuries weren't too severe, they still pained him.

"That's what a gladiator's got to do, Sokka" he said, smiling "And you did it too, so well done. Only one other gladiator had ever beat me before, did you know that?"

"Uh… I think I did…" said Sokka, blinking blankly "B-but let's get technical, I didn't really win, I just…!"

"You won, you silly man, stop trying to make it look like less than it is!" Ty Lee exclaimed, giggling "Oh, I should hug you but you're just so hurt that I don't dare…"

"Smart call" said Azula, raising her eyebrows at her friend, though still smiling.

"How are you feeling, Sokka?" Suki asked, looking at him worriedly, and Sokka shrugged weakly

"Burned, beaten and confused, if you want me to be perfectly honest…" he said, and one of the physicians intervened.

"His wounds aren't so bad, most of them are superficial, except for the ones on his hands. Those will need careful attention. Still, he's in great shape considering he was fighting in the Slate. But he would do best to lie low, with no more difficult fights anytime soon"

"That won't be a problem. No more insane fights for the time being, then" Azula said, smiling and nodding at Sokka, who sighed in relief at the news.

"You did better than we expected, even though it almost seems our training wasn't that helpful" Mai said to Sokka, with a crooked grin "Still, you survived and you even won. And at long last this nonsense is over"

"Right" he said, with a brief nod before frowning "But I… won?"

Azula rolled her eyes and sighed, but she smiled all the same. It seemed it would take quite some time for Sokka to wrap his head around his triumph, but she didn't mind. He was alive and safe, and that was what she cared about the most. She didn't mind if she had to spend the rest of their lives telling him that he had indeed won in the Slate, she would do so gladly if she had to. Her heart was simply ablaze with joy, for he had kept his vow to her. He had returned to her as he had sworn he would.

The trip back to the Capital was, naturally, far less hectic than the one to the Slate. There was no drinking this time, because all thoughts of alcohol had slipped from Ty Lee's mind as she imagined what it might be like for Haru to be the first earthbender to win in the Slate. Naturally, the idea didn't appeal to the gladiator much, but seeing Ty Lee so enthusiastic about the matter at least served to amuse Mai.

"Now, come on, dear!" Ty Lee exclaimed, as Haru gritted his teeth and shook his head promptly. The three of them had remained on deck during the day, watching as the sun traveled through the sky while the ship returned home "You know you could do it! You've beaten Sokka before! They have the right to challenge at the Slate now, so Azula should just challenge us! Sokka can let you beat him and there you have it! Three thousand points for you!"

"I doubt Azula would agree to that" Mai pointed out, and Ty Lee pouted.

"Well, why not?"

"Because she would want those three thousand points for herself, you know…" said Mai, shrugging, as Haru shook his head again.

"I can't fight in there! There's no way I can earthbend when the only thing in that place is metal! Or is it you expect me to bend lava?"

"Well… have you ever tried to bend lava?" Ty Lee asked, smiling broadly at Haru. The skeptical glare the young man gave her was quite a clear response by itself. "Well, come on! If you never try it you'll never know if you can do it!"

"I'd rather not take the chances" Haru replied, stubbornly, and Ty Lee scowled.

"Oh, come on, Haruuuu! It will be fun!" she insisted, and Mai rolled her eyes but smiled. These two were being ridiculous but they were still somewhat entertaining, most unlike another of the pairs on the ship…

Zuko had locked himself up inside his cabin ever since they had climbed aboard again, refusing to talk to anyone. It didn't quite seem like he was angry, and he even congratulated Sokka for his success as they were leaving the Slate. But something was definitely wrong, and Mai had the very bad feeling that it was related to the girl who had been making Zuko rather happy all along until this fight had taken place…

Suki had been knocking on Zuko's door for what felt like hours already. She hoped to talk to him somehow, now that they could speak privately again, but Zuko refused to open the door and listen to her. She had called for him countless times, begging him to talk to her, but the Prince remained stubbornly inside his cabin.

"Please, Zuko…" she whispered, her forehead pressed against the door "I know I should have said something, but I'm trying to say something now… please, can't we just talk? Zuko?"

The Prince sighed, closing his eyes as he lay on his bed, determined not to let her words move him. For he was sure that, if she had really wanted him, she would have said so already. She wouldn't have needed to think, she wouldn't have been so quick to get out of his grasp. He knew he had been rash, that he had been far too forceful… that he had ruined his chances with her altogether by being so stupid. Why had he confessed when he had? It had been a mistake, most obviously, and he didn't think he was ready to face the consequences for it.

He gritted his teeth and berated himself, still hearing her voice calling for him outside. But he couldn't answer her. He wouldn't. He already knew what she would say, and he wasn't ready to be rejected. Not by her, of all people.

"Ow. Ow. Oooow!" Sokka complained, as the wet cloth rubbed against his hand's burn "That hurts. Ow…"

"You could stop whining, you know. This is meant to help you on the long run" Azula said, dipping the cloth in the bucket of cold water again before returning to the wound in question.

Sokka hadn't expected her to take it upon herself to heal him, but he hadn't been that surprised when she had chosen to accompany him to his room and tend to his wounds. He was aware of how pleased she was by the fight's result, and also of how worried she had been about his safety since before he was fighting the Millennium Dragon above a lava pit. That she would take care of him made him feel much better, even if his burns still hurt terribly.

"According to the physicians, you broke some of the blisters you had here, so we need to take extra care with these burns" Azula said, scowling as she looked at his hand carefully "They don't look so bad, but they must hurt a lot… hopefully the ointments the physicians gave us will help for good"

"Come on, I've had worse burns" Sokka said, smiling at her. She raised her eyes before caressing the wound again with the wet cloth "This silly burn to my hand is nothing compared to that one time when a Princess punched me so hard that she broke my armor and burned my… ow! Oooow!"

"Could you try not squirming?" Azula said, withdrawing the cloth and looking at Sokka sternly as he grimaced at the pain.

"W-well, can you try doing it so it doesn't hurt at all?" he asked, blinking tears from his eyes. Azula sighed heavily.

"I really doubt it" she said, taking the ointment now and dubbing it on the cloth "Be still now. I don't want to hurt you even more with this. You know I'm not quite a healer after all…"

"So far you've done just fine, though" said Sokka, smiling as she took his hand in hers "So there's probably no need to… ah! Aaaaah, damn it, that stings!"

"Stay put, I said, or you'll only make it worse" Azula snapped, through gritted teeth. Sokka contained the cries of pain, pressing his eyes tightly shut as Azula continued to rub the ointment on him. When she saw him pout she couldn't hold back a soft laugh "Come on, enough funny faces. Let's bandage it"

"Okay, then…" he said, gulping as she took the bandages and wrapped his hand most carefully. Despite her harsh words and general demeanor, she was being quite gentle when it came to nursing him. The water and the ointments would have hurt regardless of how she applied them, but they surely would have been far worse if she had been unkind about it.

His hand still bothered him by the time it was fully bandaged, for the burns he had sustained with both of them were quite nasty. The blisters on his palms had gotten worse because of how he had fought so eagerly with his swords… the contact between his damaged skin and the leather had harmed him a lot. The rest of his wounds weren't as awful as the ones to his hands. Despite his doubts, the flame-retardant clothes had served their purpose well enough, even though he still had sustained many minor burns throughout his body.

"So… are you planning on tending to everything else too?" Sokka asked, with a mischievous smile. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"You wish I would. You heard the physician, the ones that need careful attention are the burns on your hands. You can probably deal with the others yourself, or Song could deal with them once we're home again"

"Well, that's a pity. You've been a very nice healer" said Sokka, grinning goofily.

"Heh" Azula said, skeptically "What you like aren't my healing skills, to be precise…"

"Oh, and you know what I like?" he asked, smiling suggestively.

"From what I gather, you definitely like pain" she said, smirking at him "Else I figure you wouldn't be asking that question"

"Hey, now, that's not true" Sokka said, with another pout, but he breathed out in relief and closed his eyes, dropping his head back on his bed's pillows "Damn, I can't believe that's over with"

"Me neither" said Azula "It's strange that it's all behind us now. The ceremony, this fight…"

"Well, I guess not everything is behind us entirely…" Sokka said, gulping and looking at Azula apprehensively.

It took her a moment to figure what he was talking about and he noticed her confusion. He cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows.

"I seem to remember you wanted to scold me for something… didn't you?"

The words rang a bell for her, and she looked at Sokka with surprise as he continued to grimace. He was quite certain he wouldn't want to hear whatever she wanted to say about their drunken fiasco…

"Why, I did say I'd scold you, didn't I?" she said, and Sokka gulped and nodded.

"Yep. You were pretty clear about that" he said, and she smiled.

"Right" she muttered.

He waited for a while, guessing she was trying to organize her thoughts, but when he glanced at her he found she was actually smiling and shaking her head.

"Azula?" he said, surprised.

"Why is it that every single time I want to tell you off for doing something idiotic, you get yourself half-killed and I end up forgetting why I was mad at you in the first place?" she asked, and Sokka smiled weakly.

"Hey, it hasn't happened every single time. I think you've told me off for many stupid things as it is…"

"Not for all of them, though" she said, raising her eyebrows "You… you nearly died out there, you know?"

"I know" he said, looking at her apologetically "I… I really didn't want things to come to that, but at the time I didn't see another way out. I'm really sorry for worrying you"

"And I'm sorry for making you fight in there, regardless if you won or not" she said, caressing the back of his bandaged hand "We got an important boost now, but… but I'd rather we don't take such big risks again. It's not worth it"

"It's not worth it, really?" Sokka asked, smiling a little "Well… that's probably one of the sweetest things you've ever said to me"

"Say I'm sweet again and I might start thinking fighting in the Slate is worth it indeed" Azula said, with a cruel smirk, and Sokka froze.

"Uh, okay, fine" he said, with a soft laugh "So, uh… am I not getting scolded, then?"

"You really think you can get away with what you did?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows, and Sokka smiled and shook his head.

"Nope. I'm pretty sure I can't" he said, as she leaned closer to him, smiling.

"Good to know you're aware of it. Then I'll get to scolding you soon. But… I'll do it when the thrill of what happened back there is gone" she said, pressing her forehead lightly against Sokka's. He chuckled.

"Damn, I hope those three thousand points go up to your head for a very long time, then…" he said, as she smiled again and kissed him softly.

He closed his eyes, the sensation of her lips on his refreshing and delightful. This sure was enough to help him forget about the burns.

"You did a great job out there" Azula said, her eyes closed "See, just as… as you believed in me, I believed in you. And everything worked out indeed. What are the chances, huh?"

"Yeah… it's hard to believe still" he said, laughing softly "I won… and my hair got burned, but I won, eh?"

"Yes, you won indeed Just… don't ever scare me like that again, will you?"

"I'll try not to" he whispered, lifting her chin with his bandaged fingers to kiss her again.

Despite the fragility of the kisses they shared, and despite the issues that they had yet to resolve, the two smiled and basked in the glory of their victory. The worst of their ordeals in the Gladiator League so far was finally behind them.


	91. Chapter 91

The bay was more crowded upon their return to the Capital than it had been when they had taken off. Most the group, with the exception of the two royals, had finished packing their belongings and they had gathered on deck as the ship drifted by the shore, all of them ready to enter the city as soon as it was possible for them to do so.

"I can't wait for all this fuss to die down" said Mai, with a sigh "If there's a time of the year I hate, it's this one. The festivals are nothing but a bother"

"Not true, they're real fun!" Ty Lee exclaimed, clinging onto Haru's arm as the ship slowed on its way to one of the few available slots within the port "It's too bad we missed out on most of them because of the Slate…"

"Say, what are these festivals like?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "I was still training in Shu Jing when they happened last year, so I've never seen them myself…"

"Oh, they're a blast!" said Ty Lee, smiling brightly at him "There are plays, parades, firebending displays, and there's the Ball… it's amazing!"

"Though there is a memorial day too. That one isn't as upbeat as everything else Ty Lee is talking about" said Mai, raising her eyebrows.

"A memorial day? Really?" Haru asked, surprised.

"Well, yes. You've been around a while, Haru. Didn't you ever attend the festivals with your old sponsor?" Ty Lee asked, and Haru grimaced.

"Uh, no. He wasn't the festive type, as you might remember. He wouldn't come to the capital unless it was for business, so…"

"Oh, my poor dear, you had such a hard time back then…" said Ty Lee, sighing and dropping her head on his shoulder. The earthbender blushed, despite being used to Ty Lee's random displays of affection by now.

Sokka smiled a little at them while Mai seemed rather uncomfortable. The other person on deck with them didn't seem to be paying much attention to what was going on, though. She had remained silent and unresponsive for the last stretch of the trip, sadness dampening her features.

"How about you, Suki? Did you ever see these festivals before?" Sokka asked Suki, startling her out of her daze.

"Uh, yeah, but I never cared much for them" she said, with an apologetic grin "I was busy training for fights and such…"

"Makes sense. We gladiators have no time for petty festival nonsense!" Sokka stated, folding his arms over his chest and earning himself a reproachful pout from Ty Lee.

"Petty festival nonsense?! As if! You'll be eating your words at the Ball, I'm sure of it"

"Eating my words? Heck, they'd better serve actual food there, I'd rather have something real to eat…" Sokka said, chuckling, and Ty Lee's pout intensified.

"Oh, you funny smart mouth, you. No wonder you get along so well with Azula!" she said, rolling her eyes and folding her arms over her chest as Sokka chuckled.

Suki looked at the Blue Wolf, a weak sigh escaping her lips. Yes, Sokka got along incredibly well with the Princess, especially considering that barely anyone else did. The group had met for dinner during the two days of the return trip to the capital, except for Zuko, who had remained locked in his room. The camaraderie between Azula and her gladiator was out of the ordinary, Suki found, even though she had known they were close since long ago. But it seemed as though Sokka's triumph in the Slate had warmed up the Princess to him even more. Nobody else could make her laugh like he could, and she didn't spend half as much time with anyone as she did with him, be it in public or in private. Suki couldn't help but guess something was genuinely brewing between them… at least, it looked that way. She didn't miss out on the way Sokka's eyes glowed whenever he saw the Princess, nor how Azula's smirks were somehow softer towards the gladiator, with a certain hint of complicity in her eyes, as though the two of them were keepers of a secret that nobody else knew of. If that wasn't love, Suki certainly didn't know what was.

Still she wasn't entirely sure she understood love either way. Not after Zuko's confession, anyhow. She had given up on her efforts to reach him, knowing he would keep his door closed to her for as long as the trip lasted. He was shutting himself out in more ways than just physically, though, and Suki knew it. Suki dreaded it. She wasn't sure of how, but she wanted to stop that from happening somehow. Why couldn't they have what Sokka and Azula had? That complicity, that bond that seemed to surpass that of friends, perhaps even that of lovers…

She knew why they couldn't, though. It was, on great measure, her fault. She had left him hanging, and he had mistakenly assumed her silence for rejection. It wasn't that she didn't want him, but she wasn't entirely sure how to have a relationship with anyone at the moment, especially not with a prince, of all things. She wasn't sure of what she felt, despite how comfortable she was with him. But he had to understand there was a world between them. She couldn't simply agree to becoming his slave over his blooming love for her… he was bound to marry a high-born woman, wasn't he? Liked it or not, he was the Prince. And Suki was nothing but a common slave, regardless how he might want to romanticize her. It was but the truth of it.

"… uh, you okay? Suki? Heeeey, Suki?"

She was startled again out of her contemplations by Sokka. Haru was now asking Ty Lee about her favorite celebrations in the festivals, which had cheered her up again, while Mai merely sighed, whispering that Ty Lee was exaggerating most of what she was talking about. But Sokka wasn't listening to them, but rather, looking at Suki with confusion.

"You alright? You look worried about something. You have for the past few days" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows "Everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah, everything's… everything's fine" she lied, knowing Sokka could see through her dishonesty, but hoping he'd understand that her lie meant she didn't want to discuss the matter "You're the one I should be asking that to, though. How are the wounds? The burns?"

"Getting better" said Sokka, smiling a bit "My hands still hurt a lot, but I'm pretty sure the wounds will be well healed sooner than later. Or at least I hope so"

"Good. That's what's important" said Suki, smiling.

"Still, I'm somewhat worried about my hair…" Sokka said suddenly, and Suki looked at him skeptically.

"You have horrible burns on your hands, a nasty bruise on your face and who knows what else on the rest of your body, and you're worried about your hair?"

"Well, it's just not nice for it to have been burned, you know?!" Sokka squeaked "I'll probably need a bit of a haircut. Granted it was getting kind of long, but still, I'd rather I didn't have to do it because it got burned…"

"Of course" said Suki, smiling sympathetically now "Well, if you need any help… maybe I could cut it for you. I've done it before…"

"Uh…" said Sokka, blinking a few times as his gaze left Suki and instead focused on someone who had just entered the deck, his bags slung on his shoulders.

Zuko looked at them with bitterness, Sokka thought, but there was mostly sadness in his eyes. And Sokka was quick to suspect that his sadness stemmed from overhearing what Suki had just told him. Sokka gulped and looked away from Zuko as the sailors fussed on deck too, rushing onto the docks to tie down the ferry.

"Well, I'd take you up on that but I don't think I'll have to" said Sokka, with a weak grin "Song could do it for me, you know. She's my cook and healer…"

"Oh, that's great then" said Suki, smiling. She had yet to notice Zuko was on deck.

"It's just going to be much easier to ask her to help out with this than crossing the city to Ty Lee's just for a haircut" said Sokka, with a weak grin, as the last person of their group entered the deck as well. Sokka's eyes instantly darted towards her, to find her looking at him skeptically.

"Don't tell me. Are you complaining about your burned hair again for the umpteenth time?" Azula asked, surprising Suki by her sudden intervention in their conversation.

"I… well, I'm just saying I'll get it cut, that's all!" Sokka exclaimed, blushing a little as he lifted his bandaged hand towards his hair. Azula smirked at him and Suki smiled "It's not nice, getting my hair burned…"

"I didn't say it was, but I have to say it's the first time you've kicked such a ruckus about anything of yours getting burned" Azula said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I happen to take pride on my hair, woman" Sokka said, pouting "If you'd ever burned it, I probably would have freaked out just as I have this time around"

"Now that's a thought" said Azula, a hand on her chin "How come have I never burned your hair despite all we've trained together? That's just not right…"

"W-what, are you planning on setting my hair on fire the next time we spar?!" Sokka squeaked, his hands going to his head in panic.

"It sounds like it would be fun… but I'd rather not put up with your whining about it afterwards, so I guess I'm not going to do it after all" Azula said, and Sokka breathed out in relief before glaring childishly at her.

"He should stop complaining once he gets his haircut, though, don't worry about it" said Suki, smiling at Azula reassuringly. The Princess raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, I doubt it, but I have no choice but to hope he'll grow out of it…" Azula said, with a weak grin. Sokka pouted again and folded his arms over his chest, flinching when his hands came into contact with his skin. It was surprisingly easy for him to forget about his wounds whenever Azula was around…

Azula stepped away after that, though, leaving Sokka to stare after her longingly before he could stop himself. The curtain of black hair swaying as she walked had mesmerized him.

She had walked off to give orders to several Palace servants, Sokka noticed, who had been waiting eagerly for the ship to arrive to port. Still keeping his eyes on her, guessing they would be parting ways for now, Sokka sighed and unfolded his arms. He was being greedy and he knew it, but he couldn't help it. Despite they had spent lots of time together on the trip back from the Slate, it wasn't enough. It couldn't be enough. It especially wasn't enough when Azula was in such a good mood. Her happiness made him happy in turn, regardless of his wounds…

To his delight, Azula turned back towards them as the servants climbed aboard after her, but they headed inside the ship instead of staying on deck.

"They'll be taking my luggage back to the Palace" Azula said, simply, as a short explanation "And I'll be off as well now. I probably have a lot to deal with after disappearing for five days right after the ceremony…"

"Surely lots of people still want to congratulate you for it" said Ty Lee, giggling "Well, we can give you a lift to the Palace, I think. We were all going to take a carriage, so…"

"No need, I already have my ride" Azula said, with a smile.

A light shadow above the ship grew darker and smaller as Xin Long descended rather dramatically on deck, to Azula's amusement. The dragon seemed to smirk proudly, just like his rider, as Azula stepped towards him.

"No surprises there" said Sokka, chuckling "Well, I hope you guys have a nice flight"

"We shall" said Azula, with a grin "I hope you have a nice… carriage-ride, I guess. Anyways, thanks for everything you did to train Sokka, all of you. I'll try to figure a way to repay you somehow…"

"No need for that, Azula!" said Ty Lee, smiling "We're friends! We didn't do it so you'd owe us anything!"

"Heh. Well, if that's how it is…" said Azula, with a grin of her own as she climbed on the saddle.

Ty Lee frowned now, though, possibly thinking that she shouldn't have refused Azula's offer to pay back for their help so quickly. Having Azula owe her one, for a change, could have been a good thing… but alas, it was far too late for regrets once the dark dragon took flight.

Sokka watched them go, sighing a little as he regretted having to part ways with Azula. If only he had asked her to give him a lift… but he had to bring his stuff with him, and he didn't want to burden Xin Long with his luggage. He'd have to bunk in the carriage with everyone else.

Or at least, with most of everyone else. As Sokka gazed at the deck he only found the servants who were already bringing back Azula's luggage and the ship's sailors. Zuko was nowhere around. He frowned and searched through the crowded port, wondering if he'd climbed off the ship without them noticing…

Xin Long groaned at Azula, startling her as she clutched at his reins, and he pointed down at the busy port with one of his paws. Azula raised an eyebrow as she noticed what had caught her dragon's eye.

"Well, well. We're more dramatic than ever as of late, aren't we?" she said, ushering Xin Long to descend again.

People scrambled out of the way when they noticed a dragon was about to drop atop them. Zuko noticed them rushing before he saw the dragon's shadow hovering not far above him. He stumbled back, nearly dropping his only bag as he looked at Azula with confusion.

"What are you doing?" Azula asked, and Zuko blinked a few times.

"I think I should be the one asking that" he said, staring at her in confusion "Why… why did you stop to talk to me all of sudden?"

"Maybe because it seems you've decided, all of sudden, to return to the Palace on foot?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "The exercise won't be bad for you, of course, but you're bound to get home by sundown at this rate…"

"You want me to go back and take the carriage with them?" Zuko asked, frowning "Thanks for your concern, but… I'd rather not"

"Well, then fine, don't go with them" said Azula, sighing and shrugging as she sent a thought in Xin Long's way.

Zuko was staring at the gound with sad eyes when he noticed the dragon was leaning towards him, the saddle hovering right in front of Zuko. The Prince was startled and he looked at Azula with confusion as she raised her eyebrows.

"Get on before I get my senses back, Dum-dum" she said, with a grin.

Zuko blinked blankly a few times but he gulped and stepped forward. Azula extended a hand towards him, and Zuko hesitated slightly before taking it. Azula pulled him up and Zuko settled on the secondary seat of the saddle, swallowing hard.

"It's a bit like riding a mongoose dragon, huh?" he said, and Azula smirked as Xin Long took flight.

Zuko clutched at the metal railing of the saddle and looked around himself with wide eyes as the dragon started to put distance between them and the ground. His eyes darted around as he panicked ever so slightly, having never been airborne in his life until this moment.

"As you can see now… it is in fact nothing like riding a mongoose dragon" Azula said, turning to smirk at him as Zuko blushed a little.

"Q-quit that. I've never flown before!" he exclaimed, before the realization sunk in "I… I've never flown before. I'm… I'm flying?!"

"Why, you are indeed" said Azula, smiling "It's quite liberating, feeling the breeze in your face like this…"

Zuko would have agreed, but Xin Long sped up as he flew upwards, and Azula's long hair was flapping against Zuko's face. He inched back to avoid them.

"It sure is…" he said, with a thread of a voice.

At last, Xin Long stopped speeding his way through the sky and merely hovered below the clouds. Zuko gulped: he had never been this high in his life. He had never expected to be, either. He had approached Xin Long a few times, but he had always kept in mind it was his sister's dragon, always sure he would never have a chance to so much as touch him, let alone ride him. That Azula would show him this sort of kindness was somehow strange… but was it?

"Uh… thanks" he said, awkwardly.

"Why, you're welcome" Azula said "It's better than wearing yourself out walking, isn't it?"

"Y-yeah, though… why did you do it?" Zuko asked, frowning a little "I mean…"

"Does there have to be a reason?" Azula asked.

"Well, with you there usually is. N-not saying you can't possibly do something nice out of wanting to, I mean, you could, I just…" Zuko mumbled, the words spilling out of him clumsily.

"If you must believe there was a reason for it, take it to be payback for your little gift back then" Azula said, and Zuko blinked a few times "You did it for no reason back then, apparently, so you should be able to believe I did this for no reason as well"

"Huh… well, if that's how it is, then thanks again" said Zuko, smiling a little.

He gazed down at the city from above, amazed by how small everything looked from a distance. The large crater that hosted the Capital was remarkable, the city was boisterous and beautiful from up here. The Palace rose at the very center of it, and behind it was the Temple, where beacons of multicolored fire were still lit today.

"Though I suppose there might have been a reason, after all…" Azula muttered, startling Zuko.

"There was, then?" Zuko asked, frowning. She wasn't going to make the dragon twirl in midair in order to drop him at this height, now, was she?

"Well, you were only going to make a fool of yourself on the long run" Azula said, and Zuko frowned "See, there's only one way into the city. And naturally, a man on his two feet wouldn't possibly outrun a carriage even if he has a head-start, no matter how crowded the port was. So trying to avoid them wasn't going to work out for you if you walked. Giving you a ride was the only way in which you might succeed to evade them, and since we're both headed towards the same destination…"

"You were trying to help me avoid them?" Zuko asked, astounded. Out of any reasons he had expected Azula to explain, that would have been the very last of them.

"In a sense, I suppose… though I can't say I understand what your problem is" Azula whispered, despite she had her suspicions "But seeing how you're isolating yourself, and how you did everything you could to avoid traveling with them, I figure you're having trouble of some sort with one of them"

"W-well… it's something like that, I guess" said Zuko, his mood dampening again. Even the thrill of flying for the first time wouldn't make him forget his grief completely.

"Oh, well" said Azula, shrugging "This way you don't need to worry about it. Bask in being far above them all and realize just how tiny and petty your problems used to be…"

"They don't look that petty even from up here" said Zuko, with a sigh. Azula rolled her eyes.

"Always sucking the fun out of everything. You need to lighten up, Zuzu"

"It's just…" he started, gritting his teeth "Do you know what it's like to feel that the one thing you thought made you happy is completely beyond your reach? When you… when you put your best out there, and it turns out you just messed up completely without realizing it until it's too late…?"

"Heh. I… suppose I do" Azula muttered, her mood also growing somewhat darker now. Zuko's words brought back unpleasant memories of times she wished she could forget, but that she knew she couldn't leave behind, not even now. Despite how much her relationship with Sokka had progressed, it was impossible to forget its troubled beginnings

"Wait… you do?" Zuko asked, and Azula cringed "Really?"

"Weren't we talking about you, Zuko?" she asked, cuttingly, and Zuko gulped.

"Right. Right…"he muttered, before sighing again "I just feel like nothing I can do will fix this. I just… have to let it go. Don't I?"

"Maybe you do" Azula said "Though if you really care about it so much, I wouldn't recommend that you just give up. You're usually stubborn to no end when it comes to the things you want, aren't you?"

"W-well, maybe…"

"Then perhaps you should just think about how to fix it, if that's what you want to do" said Azula, simply "If you don't want to fix it, of course, then you can just leave it as it is. It's your decision on the long run"

"I guess it is" said Zuko "It's just… it really feels like there's no solution"

"Maybe it feels that way" Azula said "But if something as ridiculous as Sokka defeating the Millennium Dragon in the Slate could happen, maybe your problems can have a solution too. I don't know for certain, it's true… I barely know the girl as it is, so I can't quite read her as well as I'd wish, but…"

"W-wha-, I didn't say it was because of…!" Zuko started spouting, blushing.

"You didn't say it, but it's obvious enough. Sorry to burst your bubble" she said, looking at him over her shoulder with a sly grin "In any case, though… even if you're having any sort of issues with her, Zuko, you shouldn't isolate yourself from absolutely everyone because something went wrong with her"

"I know" said Zuko, gulping "It's just… when stuff like this happens I don't know what else to do. I'm not good company for anyone when I'm like this… a-and don't you say I'm never good company!"

"Well, now, I wasn't the one who said it…" Azula said, with a malicious grin.

"Oh, but you thought it, didn't you?" Zuko asked, scowling, and Azula laughed.

"In any case, Zuzu, I'm never good company for you yet here I am. Listening to your girl problems regardless if you're good or bad company. And as it happens, some other people would be willing to do the same for you, not just me. Mai wouldn't mind talking to you about these matters, I believe"

"She hasn't so far, it's true…" said Zuko, sighing.

"Still, my point is that you shouldn't pull away from everyone and everything just because of whatever's wrong with you and her" Azula said "And you shouldn't try to carry all burdens on your own like that. You will have to learn how to delegate if you hope to become Fire Lord one day. If you isolated yourself whenever something went wrong, you'd send the Fire Nation spiraling into ruin without meaning to"

"W-well, I… I wouldn't do that if I were Fire Lord…" Zuko said, frowning.

"No doubt you shouldn't" said Azula, smiling a little at him "But you should start to break that habit of isolating yourself from now, don't you think?"

"Still… it's not like I can ask someone else to deal with this for me. It's my problem, and mine alone" said Zuko, looking at Azula in confusion.

"True, but you could still ask others for help. It's not going to kill you" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "It didn't kill me to have you guys helping Sokka out, and things worked out quite well, didn't they?"

"Could have been better, I guess" said Zuko, smiling a little "But I guess… I guess you're right"

"Of course I am" Azula said, simply, before smiling back at him as Xin Long started his descent on the Fire Nation Palace.

"Thanks, Azula. For the ride, and… for the talk" Zuko whispered softly.

Azula grinned, not with the same malice as before, but said nothing. Zuko smiled as well, feeling a little better by now. She was right: he had needed to talk, even if he hadn't explained everything to her at leisure. Regardless of how much better their relationship was, he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell his sister about how he had blurted out a love confession at the worst possible moment… there was someone else better suited to hear that story, after all.

Xin Long entered the refuge and descended slowly on the ground without a hitch. Azula and Zuko leapt off Xin Long's back, and afterwards the Princess asked her brother to assist her in relieving the dragon from the saddle. Xin Long groaned once they were setting it down, and Azula recognized the sound as a greeting. She turned quickly to the door to find the Captain walking through the refuge's entrance with quick strides.

"Captain, good to see you again" Azula said, sounding confident despite being slightly nervous upon meeting him once more.

"Likewise, Princess, Prince Zuko" said Rui Shi, making a reverence towards them.

"Hey" Zuko said, awkwardly, nodding at Rui Shi.

"I trust your voyage and your flight were fine" the Captain asked Azula, who nodded.

Their interactions were often stiff, but somehow she felt far more uneasy about them today than ever. Surely because of her last serious conversation with the man… and because, despite his insistence that she would make mistakes she couldn't take back, she had gone and made them anyhow. It was unpleasant to feel so guilty about the things she'd done, but the Captain had the right of it, no matter how hard it might be to acknowledge it.

"Everything was perfectly fine, yes. The fight as well, surprisingly my gladiator even won" Azula said, with a dry grin. Rui Shi nodded again.

"Word of the fight's result reached the Capital yesterday. Remarkable that he would defeat the second best gladiator of the League…" Rui Shi said, and Azula smiled.

"Remarkable indeed. I'm rather pleased, truth be told" she said, as someone else entered the refuge.

"Ah, Azula, you're back!" Iroh exclaimed "Welcome, welcome home!"

"Uh, thanks, Uncle" said Azula, raising her eyebrows as he approached.

"Good for you to be back. Say, when do you think Zuko will return? I have a new brand of tea that…"

The old man's sentence was left unfinished when he noticed Zuko standing a little further behind Azula. Iroh blinked a few times, not used to seeing the two siblings together, let alone like this. Had Azula given Zuko a ride back to the Palace, on her dragon? His eyes widened as it hit him that she really had. That wasn't normal…

"I'm here already, Uncle" said Zuko, with a smile as he made his way towards him "Good to see you too"

"Why, yes, it's good to see you, yes" said Iroh, beaming and clasping Zuko's shoulders with his hands "I, uh, I've just brewed a new brand of tea, I think! I found these plants in the garden and I'd like for you to try it out with me…"

"Are you sure that's a good idea? My father won't like it if you're ripping plants out of his garden, you know…"

"Oh, never mind Ozai! Come on, you need to try it!" Iroh exclaimed, beaming and leading Zuko out of the refuge.

"Fine, fine… I have something to talk to you about anyways" Zuko said, smiling as they both disappeared from sight.

"As ever, Uncle and his tea…" said Azula, as she patted Xin Long's snout.

"Indeed" said Rui Shi, before turning to face Azula "In any case, Princess, the Fire Lord requests your presence. He asked for you to see him as soon as you arrived"

"No surprises there either" Azula said, simply, before whispering a small goodbye to her dark dragon.

The two of them left the refuge through the same door Zuko and Iroh had used. They headed inside the Palace, taking the long hallways towards the Fire Lord's study.

"The voyage was pleasant, then?" Rui Shi asked, with a little hint of accusation in his voice, subtle enough that it wouldn't have meant anything to anyone else. But just the wording of his question seemed intended to make Azula uneasy.

"Pleasant enough" she said, curtly, and Rui Shi hummed with interest "If you must know, the situation hasn't changed. You're not bound to suffer consequences for letting me out of your sight for so long"

"Good to know" said Rui Shi, with actual relief in his voice. Azula gritted her teeth. He had definitely expected her to sleep with Sokka on the trip, and she would have taken offense to that if only it hadn't almost happened…

"I do want you to understand, though, Captain, that I… I don't mean to cause you any more trouble than I already have. You've been a loyal guard, more than most could possibly claim to be. And I understand your concerns, truly…"

"You understand them yet you will not heed my counsel when it comes to this, will you?" he asked, and Azula sighed.

"It's not that simple. I want to, despite you might think otherwise, Captain" she said, looking at him apologetically "But it's not quite as simple as wanting…"

"It isn't?" Rui Shi asked "I was under the impression it actually was"

"You're not fully aware of what's happening then, if that's what you think" said Azula, matter-of-factly.

"I mean no disrespect, Princess…" Rui Shi whispered, afraid he might have stepped over a line with that.

"I know you don't. I understand you're trying to do what you think is best, and I'm the reckless one here, no doubt" said Azula, shaking her head "If it's any consolation… I'll try to be more careful from here on out. I can't promise it will pay off, but…"

"You will make an effort?" Rui Shi asked, surprised "After being so determined… now you mean to resist this? Truly?"

"Here I thought that would make you happy" said Azula, looking at him skeptically "Is there no pleasing you, Captain?"

"It's merely that… why?" he asked, as they reached the hall that led to Ozai's study "Did anything…?"

"Perhaps I had taken a leave of my senses when we last spoke and I'm finally rational once again, Captain. Is that such a farfetched idea for you?" she asked, looking at him sternly.

"Not at all" he said, gulping and nodding "Well, I… I'm pleased now, if nothing else. It's good to know you will try, regardless of what the outcome of your efforts might be"

"The outcome should be obvious enough, Captain. It's me we're talking about" she said, lifting her head and stepping forward.

The two Imperial Guards at the door bowed before her and allowed her inside Ozai's private study without a word. The Princess stopped before the door, though, sensing something strange as she readied herself to enter the room where her father waited. She had felt this before, though, but she couldn't quite place the sensation… so she decided to brush it away for now.

Azula gave Rui Shi one last look, hoping that would continue to reassure him. His body language seemed to say he was relaxed now, and it remained that way as Azula closed the door behind her.

She had been rather convincing, it seemed, enough to soothe the man. His loyalty was truly unquestionable. And it was true that the outcome was obvious already… but it wouldn't be what Rui Shi wanted it to be, regrettably. Azula gritted her teeth, wishing that for once her willpower wouldn't give out on her, but she knew she was only going to succumb to her attraction to Sokka sooner than later. She had always known it, but every day that went by made it clearer still.

That one taste of the forbidden fruit, as it had been with their first kiss, wasn't enough. It couldn't be. The memory of how his hands had explored her burned into Azula's very soul. It had been shocking, thrilling and terrifying at once. And while at the time she had been uncertain of it, by now she could recall the way her body had reacted lustfully upon his touch… and this, in turn, filled her with the urge to feel him once again. It was a raw, potent desire of a different nature than what she was used to. And it was frankly terrifying. Fire burned in her veins as she longed for Sokka desperately, in ways she wasn't sure she was ready to take him just yet… but would she ever be?

"Ah, Azula. At last you return, my daughter"

Ozai's voice startled Azula. She had kept her hand on the doorknob, her eyes fixated on it as her mind drifted into thoughts she should have kept at bay. She couldn't think about her longing for Sokka, not right now, at least. She knew that she needed to be the very picture of perfection before her father, and she would fail to accomplish it with Sokka at the forefront of her thoughts.

"I have indeed, Father" said Azula, turning to face him and smiling confidently.

Ozai grinned back at her, his features brightened by pride. He was clad in a lighter outfit than his usual Fire Lord tunic, sitting at his desk as he looked at his daughter with his blazing golden eyes.

"Word is you also triumphed in your battle, as expected of you" he said, as Azula approached him "Not only did you succeed to perform the most memorable ceremony in Fire Nation history, but you've won in the most iconic gladiator fight of the league, or so I was told"

"Indeed, somehow we won" Azula said, with a weak smile "To be perfectly honest it was mostly on a technicality. I genuinely didn't expect my gladiator to win, his opponent was far superior in battle prowess, but fortune was on our side, it seems"

"All the more reason for you to be pleased with the outcome. Brute strength isn't the only way to win a fight" said Ozai "But it's rather clear you already know so. Else you wouldn't have chosen the gladiator you did, no doubt"

"Naturally" said Azula, nodding. She had chosen Sokka for his cleverness in the fighting pit, it was true. She couldn't recall having ever met such an inventive fighter. Granted not all his improvisations worked out, but it seems they did when it mattered the most.

"But your accomplishment in the Slate, while remarkable, seems to pale next to your ceremony" said Ozai, with a malicious grin "Even the Head Sage, that pompous, witless fool, is at awe before your prowess"

"Yes, even him" said Azula, with a small grin as Ozai chuckled "He was quite amazed when I first showed him what I could do with the gold flames"

"Naturally. He should be. Truth be told, I'm quite amazed myself still" said Ozai, frowning a little "It is a brand new skill, though rather different from your blue flames. Granted that their combination allows an incredible fire to be born, but it does make me wonder, how did you accomplish the gold flames?"

"Why, it was… through a lot of studying, truth be told" said Azula, hoping to imprint as much sincerity as she could to her words "I read old writings, and I found that I ought to unleash my inner fire for this ceremony. We have always firebent without quite unfolding our full potential in this way, Father, so I merely sought a way to release my inner flames. And such was the result"

"Remarkable" said Ozai, nodding "And coming from a child who hasn't spent her entire life studying on these ancient writings… it's the perfect slap across the Head Sage's face. Well done"

"Is that what you hoped I'd accomplish?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "You believed that having me performing the ceremony would be a blow to the Head Sage's ego?"

"Not quite. At first I only wanted to spite him" said Ozai, smirking "But your absolute success has left even him in utter amazement. Even Zhao was astounded when he gazed upon the torches in the Temple…"

"So… he's back now?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "For good?"

"At least for some time, yes" said Ozai "He needed a break direly after spending such a long time at the North Pole. He's not at the Palace today, he's currently handling certain matters regarding his household, but he's certain to be here for the Ball. He rather looks forward to seeing you again, especially after witnessing the flames at the Temple. Needless to say he was quite impressed"

"As everyone was" Azula said, simply, and Ozai chuckled.

"Indeed. Somehow you always manage to prove yourself above everyone's expectations, my daughter. It's remarkable. No longer will anyone speak against your qualifications as future Fire Lord, I'm certain of it"

"Well, I'd hope so" said Azula, her eyes widening a little "With everything I've done so far…"

"Indeed, your track record is spotless" said Ozai "Well, nearly. You still refuse to take a husband, but everything else seems to compensate for it at this point. Your capture of the Rough Rhinos and eventual dismantling of a brewing rebellion in Ba Sing Se, the endangering of your life in order to capture those White Lotus criminals, and now with these two new firebending techniques… and that's without speaking of all the recognition you've earned through the Gladiator Business. You're certainly a rising figure in the Fire Nation, to say the least"

"I suppose I am" Azula said, without being able to hold back a small smile. Regardless if Zhao was here or not, which would usually serve to ruin her mood easily, her father's words were uplifting.

"And if even the Head Sage acknowledges you now, then the most irritating obstacle in your path has been cleared" said Ozai, at which Azula frowned a little.

"Well, he acknowledges my firebending, certainly, but there might still be certain noblemen who would believe I'm not suited for the task of ruling" Such as the Millennium Dragon's sponsor and Kuan, to begin with…

"Their opinion matters little" said Ozai, smirking "Especially when you have the support of most military leaders, the sages and the people. And, mainly, the Fire Lord's favor"

"So noblemen are of no consequence?" Azula asked, and Ozai shook his head.

"The ones who oppose you are. But they are merely old-fashioned fools" said Ozai "Their priority isn't the progress of our nation, but that of their own families and their wealth. But fortunately, they're not strong enough to oppose my will"

"Fortunately indeed" said Azula "But still, even if you do want me to succeed you, Zuko is still around, Father. Are you just going to ignore him?"

"Well, haven't I been doing that splendidly so far?" asked Ozai, smirking and signing a paper on the desk, something he had been working on before Azula's arrival.

"So you're just going to…?" Azula asked, looking at him with unease.

"I am just going to declare you the Fire Nation's official Crown Princess, Azula" Ozai said, his voice somewhat teasing at first, but as he spoke it shifted into nothing but utter pride.

Azula's eyes widened as she heard those words.

She had been waiting to hear this ever since she was a child, when Ozai had first told her she would succeed him as Fire Lord one day. Back then she hadn't even understood how her father would become Fire Lord to begin with, but she had chosen to believe in Ozai's ploys fully. And now he finally meant to make this part of them a reality.

"I… d-do you mean that?" she said, her voice trembling "I will be… Crown Princess? For good this time?"

"For good this time" said Ozai, smirking "No longer will your status as my heir weigh on Zuko's banishment. You have already proven yourself more times than any other prince or princess before you ever had to. Everyone in the Fire Nation will celebrate by now upon knowing you are next in line for the throne"

"Is that what you're… what you're signing there?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Indeed. A document I will have my council sign during our next session, once the festivals end" said Ozai, nodding "Though I mean to have you proclaimed as our new Crown Princess before making it fully official. I'm certain the Ball will prove to be the best occasion to make such an important announcement"

"What… in two days?" Azula asked, her eyes widening more "B-but… that seems rather hasty, Father. Don't you think that maybe it would be convenient to wait at least another week? You should have the signed document first, right…?"

"Not necessarily. Do you think I'm a commoner trying to get a permit to have a farm?" Ozai mocked her, smirking "I'm Fire Lord. I have every right to do this, or anything else I might want to. It's that simple, Azula"

"Still…" said Azula, frowning a little.

Why was it that she wasn't rejoicing to see her biggest wish fulfilled? She should be. She would be the best Fire Lord in history, or at least she meant to be. She had been so disgruntled and tense when Zuko returned, worried about what his reappearance in the Fire Nation would mean for her on the long run. She had treated him as the threat he was, not to her personally, but to her claim to the throne.

She had taken his gesture on her birthday to be misleading, to be a cover for an attempt to win one over her. It hadn't been that, though, not at all. Her subsequent conversations with her brother had led her to see that. The man was too righteous to try to deceive her in any way, after all. But he was quick to anger and frustration… especially when things didn't go his way. And even more so when things didn't go his way because of his sister.

"Is something the matter?" Ozai asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I just… I'm not certain if announcing this during the Ball is a good idea, Father" said Azula, breathing deeply "It's too soon, and the news might not be well-received…"

"Are you worried about your brother, by any chance?" Ozai asked, skeptical "Or about your Uncle, perhaps? That would be most unlike you…"

"I'm sorry, Father" said Azula, with a weak grin "But I do find them to be reasons for concern, and not because of some sort of sentimentality, if that's what you thought…"

"Why, though?" asked Ozai, resting against the backseat of his chair "You're renowned throughout the Fire Nation for heroic deeds, your brother for being banished. Even if he wanted to kick up a ruckus over this matter, I'm certain most everyone would side with your claim rather than his"

"Quite possibly, but wouldn't you rather not have him kick up a ruckus at all?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows "I'm aware you enjoy humiliating him in public, but I'd think you'd rather he doesn't cause a scene in the middle of the Ball. Wouldn't it be better for the Festivals to end without a hitch?"

"And when would you want me to announce you as the Crown Princess then?" Ozai asked, frowning "Regardless of when I do it, your brother will likely react explosively. It's what he does best after all…"

"Then perhaps you should let him know before announcing it publicly" said Azula "I could do it myself, if you're unwilling. Yes, he's still likely to protest this way, but less likely to set the Palace on fire in a blind rage…"

"I suppose you have a point" said Ozai, with a disappointed sigh "Clever of you to think so. Still, he's going to make a fuss regardless of when it happens, and perhaps my brother will join him in the tantrum as well… though he just might sit back and chortle happily while drowning in tea instead. Seeing how he didn't so much as protest when I took the position of Fire Lord for myself…"

"You had Azulon's last testament to support your claim" said Azula "And he was lost to the world for an entire year. By the time he arrived it would have been plain inconvenient to even try to stand up against you"

"Not quite. He could have challenged me to an Agni Kai upon his arrival to the Capital, actually" said Ozai "He would have had the Head Sage's full support, for one thing. But he must have known he had no chance to win. Why fight me when I am and always have been the superior bender between us both?"

"Naturally" said Azula, with a crooked smile. Ozai returned the grin.

"Which is the case as well with you and Zuko, in case you have forgotten" he said "Your brother is incompetent compared to you. He stands little to no chance against you. So if he did throw a temper tantrum…"

"Another Agni Kai for him" said Azula, her eyes on the table "That might not appeal to him much, but it just might be the best thing to do in order to settle this matter without further complications"

"Well, that is, if he has the courage to accept fighting you while aware that he cannot possibly defeat you" said Ozai, his eyes darkening a little as he spoke. Azula gulped at the expression on his face "Though it seems he might have found some courage while at sea, surprisingly. Zhao regaled me with the most amusing tale…"

"Did he?" Azula asked, frowning in confusion "I wasn't aware they had encountered one another while Zuko was banished"

"It seems it happened once. Zhao didn't want to disclose the full details, though" said Ozai, a hint of amusement on his face "After a few taunts by our Admiral, Zuko reacted as he often does. He challenged Zhao to an Agni Kai…"

"Did he really?" Azula asked, astonished.

"And the most amusing part of that tale is that Zuko actually triumphed" said Ozai, chuckling. Azula's jaw dropped.

"How did he…? Against Zhao?" Azula said, aghast "Wasn't Zhao supposed to be some extraordinary firebender?"

"I fear his skills might have dulled a little under the weight of all his promotions" said Ozai, laughing with malice. Azula wasn't surprised at all to hear Ozai taunt his life-long friend in this way, and given how she held few sympathies for the man, she actually laughed softly as well "He must have dropped his guard foolishly. Clearly he takes no pride on what happened, but I didn't allow him to keep the truth from me. Naturally, I mean to tease him for it until he returns to training more seriously. In our younger days he used to be the most dangerous firebender there was. I suppose I'll have to drag him to the training grounds with him again, get him in shape once more…"

"It would be convenient. We can't have one of our most prominent military figures slacking off in his firebending" said Azula, smirking.

"I'll see to that" said Ozai, smiling "Well, then, I shall hold out on announcing you as Crown Princess until your brother poses little to no threat to your claim. Once he's no longer a complicating factor, the entire Fire Nation will know you are my one and true heir, and the future Fire Lord of our rising nation"

"Very well" said Azula, nodding "I shall prepare for the occasion"

"Indeed you should" said Ozai, grinning, as Azula stood up and bowed before her father "This is what we've been working for, my daughter. Rejoice"

"I shall, once everything is finally in place" Azula said, with a satisfied grin "Until then, I need to keep weighing every single step we take, Father"

"At times it feels like you're far wiser than I can ever hope to be" said Ozai, and Azula's smile became more genuine now.

"Why, that sure flatters me, Father" she said, bowing again "I shall see you soon, then. At the Ball, if not sooner"

"For certain" said Ozai, nodding, as Azula turned to leave.

She walked through the Palace, led by necessity towards her room. Only when she closed the door behind her did she allow her mask to crumble. A hand went to her forehead as she shook her head in disbelief. Why now? Why, when she wasn't ready for this title, even though she had been for all her life? It was too much, too fast. She wasn't the kind of person who ever felt like she was in over her head, but right now she was beyond overwhelmed by this brand new predicament her father had forced upon her.

Yes, she wanted to be Crown Princess, there was no questioning that. But it was incredibly unfortunate that her father would finally do this when she was starting to get along better with both her brother and uncle. The two alliances she had forged with them would shatter instantly once they knew of this. And there would be no going back, not anymore. Zuko would surely be outraged… after finally trusting her, opening up to her, he would assume she had been plotting just how to get to his good side in order to strike him when he least expected it. And clearly, her uncle would think the same thing.

She had no doubts she could beat Zuko at an Agni Kai, but at what cost? Just how likely was it for him to fight toe and nail for the throne he had always regarded as his? Quite likely, as a matter of fact. If this matter escalated into a civil war it would hardly come as a surprise. She believed that she was well known and supported throughout the Fire Nation, truly, but she had no doubts that there were many who would only see Zuko as Ozai's true heir, regardless of what he did wrong or what Azula did right, her uncle amongst them.

Azula sighed and continued to shake her head, settling on the chair before her own desk. To make matter worse, becoming the undisputable Crown Princess had been beyond appealing before because she'd had less to lose… but the already horrible consequences of being entangled with a slave would only become worse if she became Crown Princess.

Her father believed he was doing her a great favor, and it should have been that way… but Azula had played more games than she should have for the past year. She had formed new bonds with many people, bonds her father would never approve of. Bonds that were bound to destroy her one way or another if Ozai's plans came to fruition.

Because Zuko just might not need to do anything in order for Azula's credibility to disappear if word of her relationship with Sokka got out. Who would approve of a Fire Lord who trampled around with slaves? And with a Water Tribe slave, to boot…

"Of all the people I had to fall in love with, I just had to pick you, damn it…" she whispered, slumping over the table and striking her head against the wood softly.

She couldn't have expected for this strangely balanced status quo to persist. She should have known something would shatter that balance eventually, whether she liked it or not. The only question left to ask was what was she going to do about it? Would she let her father do as he wanted, or would she find a way to stop him from having his way, as she had during her birthday? It was far too risky to try that move once again, though. It had already been quite unpleasant the first time. Losing her father's good will simply wasn't an option now.

She shook her head, rubbing her forehead with her fingers as a headache started to pound within her skull. It seemed her body was reprimanding her for being far too pessimistic. With some luck, or rather, a lot of luck, this would turn out to be a good thing. Perhaps she could find a way to get everything she wanted without losing everything she cared about in the process…

* * *

He combed his hair back, the wetness of the strands making it even more manageable than usual. Sokka was quite fortunate to have such easy hair to brush, and he was well aware of it. While growing up Katara had expressed jealousy over his hair, for hers would get tangled easily if she didn't brush it often. So Sokka knew to appreciate his hair quite a lot… which was why the burned tips of his wolf's tail had bothered him as they had.

Song had helped him cut his hair once he had arrived home, and Sokka had stressed slightly over if his hair might end up too short to tie up in his proper wolf's tail by now. Fortunately, his concerns had been unnecessary and he found he still could pull his hair up as he liked to.

But despite the good news, he made the decision to keep it loose for tonight's great event. And thus he was combing his hair back with the aid of some water and a comb, hoping to make himself look presentable enough to attend the Ball everyone was so excited about.

He had mostly rested during the last two days, hoping to be in his best state in time for the Ball. But it was impossible to achieve a full recovery in a matter of two days. The bruise on his cheek, which had been dark purple during the trip, was now dark brown instead, so he chose to keep it covered with a bandage anyways, even if it didn't match his attire.

His outfit was styled as a  _changshan_ , as the ones he had worn during his time as Piandao's apprentice. It was comprised by an indigo top and a pair of black pants. It wasn't an extraordinary outfit, but that was no surprise. He was a slave after all. He wasn't about to wear anything scandalous to earn himself unwanted attention.

"Okay… I suppose that's that" he said, looking at himself in the mirror. His hair was perfectly in place, even though there was some risk of it becoming messier as the evening progressed. He took a deep breath and released it as a nervous sigh before standing up from his dresser and getting ready to leave.

"Well, you look pretty handsome" said Song, smiling kindly at Sokka as he reached the first floor. He grinned and laughed a little shyly, scratching the back of his head carelessly, but he stopped doing it upon realizing he was bound to mess up his hairdo if he touched it too much.

"I tried, I tried" he said, blushing a little "Seems it paid off, then, eh?"

"It did, but… are you sure you should go to this Ball?" asked Song, raising her eyebrows "You won't be able to eat that easily with your hands like that…"

"Do you think I'm just going for the food, Song, really?" Sokka asked, looking at her with disbelief and she smiled.

"Well, it's you we're talking about, Sokka" she said, chuckling "Your first priority in life has always been food… or well, by now it might be the second one, maybe. Say hi to the Princess for me, will you?"

Sokka's blush returned at full strength at Song's insinuation. She giggled as he harrumphed and turned to the door, clasping the knob and grimacing painfully as he touched it with his still healing hand. He was wearing his bandages, and Song had been helping him heal, but the pain was still bothersome.

"I'll see you in a few hours, Song" he said, before taking off "I'll bring some food for you!"

"You'd better!" Song exclaimed, as Sokka closed the door behind him.

He started to walk to the Palace, but he chose to call for a carriage once he was in a more transited area, not wanting to spoil his dress clothes with a long stroll. He waited eagerly on his seat as the wheels spun too slowly for his liking. He wasn't sure what to expect from tonight, at all. He doubted he would be the center of attention, but word might have spread about his success in the Slate. Hopefully Azula would be pleased by the recognition they would gain by now…

He was surprised when the carriage stopped altogether, not yet at their destination, and the driver told him this was as far as he could take him. The Palace was still a few blocks away, but the streets were so boisterous and crowded as it was that it would prove impossible for the carriage to make it through the masses. Sokka paid the man and climbed off the vehicle, and with that he started on his way towards the front gates.

Never had he seen the city alight with so many colors, the streets packed with people chatting and laughing into the evening. There were bright lamps everywhere, firebending displays as Ty Lee had described, stands that sold masks and many other fun gadgets, though the stands that caught Sokka's eye, naturally, were those that sold food. All in all, he had never seen the Fire Nation Capital as cheerful as it was today.

"I thought Fire Nation people sucked the fun out of everything…" he said, with a grin. He was glad to have been mistaken about that.

The entrance to the Palace was packed, but mostly by on-lookers who hoped to have a look at some of the prominent noblemen who were entering the Palace at the moment. Sokka managed to slip through the crowd and reached the small line before the gates, noticing that the guests were handing in their invitations for the Ball… he gulped as he arrived to the gates, smiling awkwardly at the guards who had been tasked with checking the new arrivals.

"Invita-… oh, it's the gladiator" said the one who had meant to check Sokka. He jerked his head and Sokka grinned. Well, that had been simple.

The Palace grounds weren't quite as crowded as outside, but many noble families were speaking quite amicably there instead of heading inside, as Sokka was about to. He wondered if they really got along as well as they seemed to, or if it was just a front… things were far less fun and natural within these walls than they had been outside.

Still, he had to admit the Palace was more upbeat today than ever. He smiled at the decorations, finding most of them to be quite pleasant to the eyes. They made the Palace look slightly less grim, Sokka thought.

People didn't seem to notice him, but at times he felt followed by their gazes. He had no idea if they were friendly stares or not, but he wasn't planning on staying on the gardens much longer to find out. He really wanted to see Azula, hoping to spend some time with her this evening, even if at a certain distance. He didn't mean to put her in awkward situations, not tonight.

He made his way through the halls, guided by the sentry's directions towards the main hall of the Palace, where the very core of the Ball would take place. It looked bigger yet than the one where Azula's birthday feast was held, or at least the massive double-doors that led to it suggested as much. Said doors wide open as people came and went inside the great chamber… but Sokka didn't walk inside immediately. His footsteps slowed to a halt when his eyes fell upon a figure standing right before the doors.

Once again, her dress was a  _hanfu_ , as the one she had worn on her birthday. The outer robe was long and sleeveless, of a gentle golden shade. The inner robe was wrapped closely around her body, her cleavage showing the very top of her breasts. This cloth was white, with red and gold flowers that resembled water lilies embroidered into it, and the sash wrapped around her waist had been made from the very same fabric, it seemed. The large sleeves were of a pale red, the cuffs gold. Her hair was up, as it had been during her birthday, but this time adorned with many small adornments that looked like bright red dragons to Sokka. Her usual golden hairpiece was perfectly in place before her top-knot, her trademark bangs framing her face elegantly, as ever.

Sokka stood in place, not even realizing his jaw had dropped as he looked at Azula with utter amazement. She was currently talking to a man Sokka recalled from Azula's feast, Zhen, who was accompanied by his family this time. His wife was a pretty woman, slender but short, her hair dark and held in a top-knot as well. The two of them were flanking a young boy who couldn't have been older than ten. The child was gazing at Azula with curious and bright eyes as the Princess addressed his parents' as politely as was expected of her.

"… Sadly, it was time for me to take the back seat for now. I've been dealing with that deadly silent behemoth long enough as it is" Zhen was saying, chuckling "Let the Admiral take him back already! I'd rather stop worrying about whatever the hell's going on behind that creepy stare of his…"

"I told you many times that agreeing to sponsor the man was not a good idea, but you never listen to me, now, do you?" the wife was saying. Azula's eyebrow twitched ever slightly at their bickering, and Sokka didn't fail to notice it even at a distance.

"Well, woman, you couldn't expect me to just refuse Admiral Zhao, could you?" Zhen retorted.

"They fight like this all the time" the child told Azula, who laughed a little. The parents were startled out of their pointless argument by the voice of their son "It's soooo annoying…"

"It must be quite trying if that's so. I fear you'll have to bear with your parents, though" said Azula, chuckling as Zhen smiled and apologized.

"Now, now, Huiwen, no need to embarrass us in front of the Princess herself…" said Zhen, patting his son's head "You know what? Let's fetch something to eat, yes! Come now, Huiwen, Lan!"

"Excuse us, Princess" said the wife, Lan, smiling kindly at Azula.

"Do enjoy the festivities" Azula said, as the three of them finally moved into the large hall behind the Princess.

She sighed, not allowing the mask of perfection to crumble altogether, but still letting some of her frustration seep through. Greeting people was not her strong suit, and she would much rather not have to deal with it at all. As much as she could have a way with people, she was nothing short of exhausted after greeting the hundredth guest…

But her weariness was swept away quickly when she turned her gaze towards the hallway, finding that someone she knew all too well had been staring at her with his lips parted, his eyes wide and a subtle blush on his face.

"S-Sokka?" she said, blinking a few times and willing herself not to blush under his intense gaze.

"Huh… y-yeah, it's me" he said, with an awkward grin as he stepped forward and tucked his hands into his pants' pockets "Hey there"

"I didn't think you'd arrive so early" Azula said, wishing she wasn't feeling as pointlessly nervous as she was right now. Why would she be nervous at all? It was Sokka, the same goof she had grown used to for the past year. It didn't matter if he had combed his hair back, or that his clothes were fancier than usual… deep down it was still him. So why did she feel like a schoolgirl with a crush? How ridiculous, embarrassing, unbefitting of her status… but it was an unavoidable reaction. Her heart was racing, making her fear that her chest would be shifting upon every palpitation, and that Sokka would notice just how uneasy he was making her…

"I didn't have much else to do" said Sokka, with a grin "So I guessed why not come down here already and… a-and start devouring all the food, eh?"

"I suppose it's the main reason you're here, huh?" said Azula, with a small smile. Sokka swallowed. No, it most certainly wasn't. He might not even care if he returned home with an empty stomach… not after seeing her like this. All thoughts of food were easily forgotten next to her beauty "You fixed your hair, I see?"

"Oh, yeah. Finally, heh?" he said, with a goofy smile "It's a bit shorter than usual…"

"Well, it looks fine to me" Azula said. It was ridiculous how difficult this conversation had been so far… it was as though they had absolutely no clue what to tell one another, despite conversations usually flowed easily between them.

"Y-you… you look more than fine, though" he said, blushing deeper now "You're… you're really beautiful tonight, Azula. Really. And I mean, reeeeeally…"

"No need to emphasize it so much" Azula said, as Sokka smiled clumsily again "But thanks. I'd better look beautiful, considering how long it took me to get ready…"

"Well, mission accomplished" said Sokka, grinning broadly "I'm sure you'll be the prettiest girl in the entire Palace tonight!"

"Oh? Just tonight? Well, thanks for your sincerity…" Azula said, feigning hurt at his words. Sokka grimaced and shook his head as he took back his previous assertion.

"N-no, no, no! Of course not just tonight! I mean, all these girls probably took ages to get ready too but they can't even hold a torch to your beauty! That's what I was saying!" he said, flustered, as Azula chuckled.

"So that's what you meant" she said, smirking "I guess I can accept that… anyways, you should probably go ahead. I'll have to stand here and play the nice hostess for a little while longer"

"We're not bound to spend a lot of time picking on one another today, are we?" Sokka asked, and Azula sighed as she shook her head.

"It's unlikely. But at least treat yourself to the food, if nothing else. Make the night count one way or another" she suggested, smirking. Sokka gulped again. Her devious grin seemed more alluring underneath the make-up enhancing her beauty tonight.

"I'll try to do that, yep…" he said, smiling foolishly as he stepped next to her.

He deliberately brushed his knuckles against her hand, lightly enough so that it would seem a mistake to anyone who might have seen it. But Azula knew better than that. She fought back the urge to smile and she focused on the guests again, trying to brush away all thoughts about her gladiator.

Sokka entered the hall, a delighted grin on his face as he gazed around himself. Lots of people were gathered in here, and there was quite a lot of chatter that made the elegant occasion seem slightly more casual than it was. Sokka suspected it was merely because the Fire Lord was nowhere to be seen just yet. He likely wouldn't show up until the evening was in full swing.

After scouring the area carefully to find where the food might be, he happened upon familiar faces, namely, Mai's family. Mai was dressed in a long-sleeved black dress with no cleavage to speak of, unlike Azula's. She was holding Yuudai, who was dressed in a bright red tunic, whereas his father wore a similar one but of darker color. The child was laughing happily as his hands reached for another person who had his back to Sokka, but even so, the gladiator recognized him easily. Zuko was wearing a  _changshan_  like Sokka's own, but instead of blue it was of dark red and black, with golden highlights. His hair was carefully brushed into a top-knot, a golden hairpiece like Azula's own placed before the hair bun.

"He seems like he's having a good time so far" Zuko was telling Ruon Jian and Mai by the time Sokka approached.

"Let's only hope he remains in good spirits for the rest of the night" said Mai, as Yuudai smiled brightly, knowing they were talking about him.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Sokka said, once he reached the group. He grinned broadly and patted Zuko's back, and was surprised when the Prince smiled back at him "Been such a long time since I last saw you guys, huh?"

"You're so very hilarious…" said Mai, raising her eyebrows as Ruon Jian grinned at Sokka "And so very upbeat, looks like"

"Yeah, well, I'm going to have a fancy meal at the Palace. That's a good enough reason to be upbeat" said Sokka, smirking.

"Thinking with your stomach, that's new" Zuko said sarcastically, and Sokka poked his ribs with a finger, making Zuko squirm out of his reach "Hey!"

"Stop being a spoilsport, let me enjoy my thing and you can enjoy yours… whatever that is" said Sokka, looking at Zuko inquisitively "Now I think of it, what  _is_  your thing?"

Zuko was about to snap at Sokka, to tell him he should stop prying into what didn't concern him. Why did he need to have a 'thing' anyways? But the words got stuck in his throat when he heard a familiar high-pitched voice not far from where they were. He ventured a glance towards the doors and indeed, as he had suspected, Ty Lee had arrived. It would have been impossible to miss her, both because of her loud voice and the extravagant attire she wore: a sleeveless, strapless dress with pink, yellow and white patterns that wrapped around her body so tightly that a lot of nearby noblemen were ogling her quite shamelessly. The girl was in the middle of greeting Azula, and she was flanked by both her slaves. Haru was wearing a  _hanfu_  of his own, though it was of a rather simple design, fashioned out of both light and dark green cloth. As for Suki, she wore a  _qipao_  dress. The top of it was red, with green outlines. The sash was green, and the skirt was red again. A gold, red and green hairpiece crowned her auburn hair.

Zuko felt his heart sink upon the sight of her, and he felt compelled to shrink away before they could approach them. He didn't have a chance to do it, though, for as soon as Ty Lee left Azula alone again, she pranced straight towards their group.

"Oh, great! You're all here already!" she exclaimed, as she hugged Mai as a greeting.

"Didn't expect us to stay at home when we can have Palace food for free, now, did you?" Sokka said, grinning goofily as Haru chuckled.

"Of course not, especially not you" said Ty Lee, giggling "Though I'm surprised you're not gobbling down everything you can already…"

"Well, I just got here myself…" said Sokka, glancing at the sides as he tried to find the buffet table "So I hadn't had a chance to fetch a plate yet. But… aha, there's the food! I'll see you guys in a bit!"

He hurried off cheerfully towards the tables without further ado, leaving the group to stare after him in amusement.

"To think Azula chose that moron for her gladiator…" said Mai, smiling a little.

"Well, he has a point" said Haru, smiling a little "I could use some food myself…"

The conversation, so very casual, did little to deflate the tension between Zuko and Suki. He had averted his eyes from her, despite feeling compelled to admire how pretty she looked, but he could feel her gaze insistently upon him. Azula had been right to tell him not to isolate himself… but even so, he wasn't sure he wanted to talk to Suki just yet.

"I'll just go get some food as well…" Zuko whispered to no one in particular, suspecting none of them had heard him anyways… but someone did.

"Zuko…" Suki called out, but he turned on his heels and walked off without another word.

She watched him leave, her chest aching as he kept putting distance between them. Should she just leave him be, then? Was he going to avoid her forever? It pained her to see him acting like this, and it made her wonder if perhaps it would be best, for both of them, if she actually left him alone…

"But the food's the other way…" said Ruon Jian, innocently, frowning as Zuko disappeared from sight through another door in the room.

"Suki…" Ty Lee said, looking at her worriedly and taking her hand in hers "Don't feel bad, he'll… he'll get over it"

"I doubt it" said Mai, cuttingly, making Suki flinch "Not on his own, he won't"

"You mean…" said Suki, blinking a few times.

"What I mean is, go after him. Set things right" Mai said, looking at Suki with a small smile.

"Yeah… whatever's broken, you two can fix it together" said Haru, smiling gently at Suki "I'm sure of it"

Suki looked at him with amazement before smiling and nodding. Without further encouragement, she set out after Zuko, her determination to settle matters growing stronger with each step she took.

"Let's hope things work out now" said Mai.

"Yeah, let's hope so…" Ty Lee nodded and sighed dreamily… until she frowned and looked at Mai with accusing eyes "Wait a minute… you just want to win our bet, don't you?!"

Mai actually laughed at that, surprising everyone nearby, and as she dealt with Ty Lee's accusations, Suki sped through the Palace's halls, searching for Zuko as she went. At long last she found him, strolling down a solitary passageway, his head hung.

"Zuko!" she called out again, startling him. He turned to look at her, his eyes somewhat wide with panic.

"S-Suki…" he whispered.

She breathed heavily as she reached him, staring at him insistently. Zuko withdrew slightly, his demeanor that of a frightened child. Why was he acting like this? It was nearly as though their roles had reversed from when they had found one another once again, Suki thought, which made no damn sense…

"Stop turning away from me already" she said, gritting her teeth "Do you want to have me chasing after you forever?"

"I didn't… I don't" he said, frowning "I'm not turning away from you. I'm just… sparing you the trouble of bearing with me, is all"

"Could you not be so hard on yourself?" Suki asked, looking at him earnestly "I just want to talk this out. I understand that you thought that I was rejecting you back in the Slate, but I…"

"You heard what I said and just fled when you had a chance" said Zuko, dropping his gaze "If you weren't trying to reject me, you did a poor job at showing it…"

"I was worried about Sokka" she said, frowning "Zuko, you just… did you have to pick that moment to say what you said? It was just not the right time…"

"And when is the right time?" Zuko asked, looking at her sternly "You want me to say it again now? Do you really think that's going to change your response in any way?"

"Zuko…"

"Look, I get it, alright?" he said, sighing and shaking his head "It's fine. It wouldn't be the first time I misunderstand something and it sure won't be the last. So just… forget it. I know it was inconvenient and it was wrong, I shouldn't have said it and I'm sorry"

"You're sorry for saying it?" Suki asked, gulping "Or for feeling the way you feel?"

"Well… if I hadn't said it I'd be able to still think we'd have a chance, even if we won't" said Zuko, his eyes flickering towards her quickly before dropping again "As for how I feel, I don't think I could have avoided it. I… I started loving you from afar, if just for reasons that seem rather shallow now. Even if I'd known back then that nothing would happen between us, which is what I believed anyways, I still would have felt how I did. I can't change that"

Suki sighed, her heart beating faster than ever.

"You just… you have to understand, Zuko" she said, looking at him imploringly "You're a prince. I'm just a common slave, and it doesn't matter if you could help it or not, I'm not someone you should have fallen in love with. You're supposed to marry someone of high birth, right? You're… you're meant to rule a nation one day! I'm nobody next to you, even if your feelings have blinded you to the truth…"

"You're being ridiculous" said Zuko, gritting his teeth and approaching her "You're not nobody. You're… Suki, you've touched thousands of lives through something that should have been gruesome and horrid by bringing out the beauty in it! You're amazing! Don't belittle yourself…!"

"Well, then, don't belittle yourself either, you idiot!" Suki snapped, startling Zuko "Stop acting like you're a burden or a bother for me, because you're neither! I…"

She was the one gritting her teeth now, her hands pressed into fists as she lowered her gaze. Zuko looked at her worriedly.

"You…?"

"I don't… I don't know what I feel" she admitted, closing her eyes "Everything I've ever held dear has been ripped away from me before I knew what was happening. Even little things I didn't know I held dear, like… like the apartment I used to share with Oyaji, like the smell that always came before rain started to pour over Kyoshi Island. So I don't… I don't know if I'm ready to feel this now, Zuko. It's… it's too terrifying to think I might lose you…"

"Suki…"

"But if I do nothing, I'm going to lose you either way" she said, looking at Zuko with sincerity "I… I'm really honored to know you love me, Zuko, and I… I think I would be lying if I said I don't feel the same way. But it's…"

Her words got lost as his sad eyes shifted quickly, growing clearer and brighter all of sudden. The tension in his jaw disappeared as it dropped, as he stared at her in disbelief but also relief.

"It's impossible" Suki finished at last, and she feared he would be upset again, but to her surprise, he looked at her with determination.

"No… no, it isn't" he said, firmly. Suki stared at him silently, unsure of whatever he might say next "I don't… spirits, Suki, I don't care that you're a slave. You could have been a palace servant, a sailor on my ship, I don't care! Because I know I would love you no matter what, as I already told you. Damn the circumstances, the consequences, none of that matters!"

"You can say that now, Zuko, but that's not true and you know it" said Suki, shaking her head "Your father…"

"My father hasn't even looked at me ever since I came home" Zuko snapped "My sister doesn't care, she even told me to go for it so long as I didn't do anything stupid! I just want to be with you, Suki. Screw what everyone else says, I'm pretty damn sure I'm never going to please them no matter what I do. So just… forget it. Forget I'm a prince, forget you're a slave. Just think about you and me, nothing else, and tell me… do you want to be with me too?"

Suki only looked at him for a moment, her mind telling her not to answer that question, her heart begging her to do so. She felt tears burning in her eyes, a knot in her throat as she finally decided to give him the answer he had asked for…

"Of course I want to be with you" she said, the tears rolling down her cheeks "It's the only thing I could want, Zuko, I…!"

He leaned down, his face going to her shoulder as he embraced her tightly. Suki closed her eyes and gripped him tightly, her tears dropping on his tunic now. She thought she felt him laugh against her, and she inched away slightly, hoping to look at him now. Zuko held her face in his hands, tears gleaming in the corner of his eyes as well. Despite herself, Suki smiled. Even now, the consequences were to be feared… but seeing him beam like this erased her doubts. The odds were against them, but she would still take the risk. She wanted to be with him, and he wanted her too. She hadn't been convinced before, but by now she knew that was all that mattered.

She was the one who leaned in to kiss him deeply, her arms going around his neck as Zuko's surrounded her waist. The sounds of the Ball drifted towards them, but they barely heard them, locked in one another's arms as they were, determined not to let anything tear them apart ever again.

* * *

The evening progressed slowly as more guests arrived. The hall soon became boisterous and loud, though the noise died down slightly once the musicians were ready to perform. Sokka was quite interested in hearing their performance, and he even slid away from the buffet table for a little while just to judge the musicians' prowess once they started playing their instruments.

To his disappointment, the music wasn't at all upbeat. He frowned and tilted his head to the side, thinking that wasn't dancing material whatsoever. What sort of ball could take place with such slow, sad and dissonant music?

Apparently, a Fire Nation Ball could. Sokka grimaced as he watched how only one pair would take each dance, and how they never stood anywhere near one another despite being dancing together. The dancers kept their distance, their movements as slow as the music, their gestures as dispassionate as possible. It disappointed Sokka so much that he turned away from the dancing area and returned to the food, to find a certain acquaintance of his in the middle of picking her food, or rather, picking through the food.

"What the… are you tasting every single dish, Toph?!" Sokka asked, aghast.

"I've got to find out which one I want to eat, right?" she said, simply, with a grin. Unlike everyone else, Toph's clothes were completely casual. She wasn't even wearing a dress, surely because she didn't want to "Nice hearing you again, Dog. Been quite some time, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, actually. Since Ba Sing Se" said Sokka "Everything went well with your parents?"

"Well, they're still trying to make me behave as a lady, and I'm still rebelling against them with everything I've got" said Toph, grinning widely before chuckling "So yeah, everything went well. I argued them lots while being back in Gaoling, but we needed that. It was nice going back, surprisingly"

"Good to know" said Sokka, grinning "Now, stop poking every dish, woman. I want to have some of this stuff too and knowing you, you didn't wash your hands before touching the food…"

"When do I ever?" Toph asked, grinning, as Sokka's stomach sank.

"I… I actually was kidding with that. Gross, Toph" he said, shaking his head as she laughed.

"Learn to live life, will you?" she said, as Sokka reached for a dish that didn't seem to have been touched by Toph just yet.

He was gulping down chunks of spicy hippo cow meat when he found, at long last, that something interesting was finally happening. Azula was done greeting guests, for it seemed Iroh had come to relieve her with that particular duty, and now she had entered the hall… only to be busy again, engaged in more conversations with the people within the room. Sokka's spirits dropped again as he glared at the crowd gathered around her in disappointment.

"Aren't they ever going to give her some time to herself…?" he grumbled, and Toph chuckled.

"Jealous much? You've got to learn to share your girl with the world, you know. She's really famous by now, you can't expect her to spend every waking moment with you"

"I'm not expecting her to do that, though I can't say I'd mind if she did…" Sokka whispered, before frowning "And she's not 'my girl', Toph. Don't say stuff like that"

"She's not? Really?" she asked, sucking off her fingers after finishing the muffin she had been eating "Here I thought you two were finally getting it going… she seemed a little happier than usual so I guessed that might be why. Maybe not, then…"

"I'm just saying, she's her own person. I don't own her" said Sokka, pouting.

"But she does own you. In all possible senses" said Toph, smiling "She owns your heart, body, soul, everything about you. It's the sad truth"

"Heh, I guess… in a sense" he said, sighing as he watched Azula speaking to an elderly woman. A waiter passed by her with a tray of small komodo rhino sausages and Azula declined most politely, though she couldn't help but grimace slightly at the sight of komodo rhino products even now.

"There there" said Toph, patting his shoulder "She obviously likes you too, if that's any comfort. I don't even know why she does, but it seems she does. At least that should make you happy, right?"

"It does, but in moments like these I remember that she's completely and utterly out of my reach" said Sokka, sighing again "We're worlds apart…"

"Well, if Prince Quick-Feet can do what he's doing with his slave over there, maybe the distance between you and Spicy isn't that wide after all"

"Huh?" Sokka said, frowning before scanning the rest of the room, tearing his gaze away from Azula for the first time since she reappeared in his eyesight.

There was a couple dancing to the musician's slow beat now, and to Sokka's surprise, it was Zuko and Suki. He gawked at them, confused beyond belief, as many others whispered about who might be the woman dancing with Prince Zuko. Sokka's jaw dropped as he overheard some people whispering that she surely was a noble girl from the colonies…

"They've got no clue what's brewing with old Zuko over there…" said Toph, smirking.

"Can't say I'd get that lucky" said Sokka, huffing "Unlike how it is with Suki, everyone knows who I am"

"Fair point" said Toph "Oh well. At least what happens behind closed doors is nobody's business, eh?"

"Normally" said Sokka "But at times a sneaky earthbender likes to ignore the closed doors and she pokes into what's definitely not her business…"

"Hey now, I did that because we had to get up early or else we wouldn't make it to our fight, Snarky-Pants" she said, crossing her arms over her chest "Not my fault you two wanted to make your little nest of love despite Iroh was snoring in the next room"

"It was no nest of… ah, forget it" said Sokka, rolling his eyes and grabbing a drink from the table, downing it quickly. The fruity taste made him raise an eyebrow with interest. Maybe this was the lychee wine Azula had mentioned…

"No need to be such a sourpuss, you know" said Toph, smiling "Huh, looks like Zuko's round is over, eh?"

Zuko was now smiling at Suki, and she grinned back at him as they stepped away from the center of the Ball. Suki chose to head off towards where Ty Lee was, giggling happily after watching their dance along with an excited Haru. Zuko, on the other hand, walked to the table Sokka and Toph had been watching him from. The smile on his face was like none Sokka had ever seen on it before.

"Someone's happy" said Sokka, when Zuko finally reached them. The Prince's grin became shyer at that.

"He feels happy too" Toph said, nodding as she wiggled her toes. Only then did Sokka realize she was wearing shoes without soles.

"Uh, yeah, well…" said Zuko, awkwardly, as he reached for a glass of water "I guess I am"

"It was about time. You're always in such a bad mood, it's a great change to see you cheer up like this" said Toph, grinning. Zuko's eyebrow twitched.

"Heh. Thanks for your, uh, concern" he said, looking at her with slight irritation "I'm surprised you're here this time, though. I thought you'd be disgusted by a fancy celebration like this one…"

"A fancy celebration where I can eat whatever the hell I want? Not at all" said Toph, grabbing another bowl of food "It's not like I'm expected to act like a flawless little doll here because I'm a Beifong, so it's not as lousy a party as the ones back home…"

"Makes sense" said Sokka, as Zuko frowned in confusion.

"You're expected to what, now?" he said "Who expects that from you?"

"My parents, obviously" said Toph, sighing "One would think they'd already understand that I hate that crap, but none of that…"

"Wait, wait, wait… who the hell would expect you to be a flawless little doll?" said Zuko, frowning "You're not even wearing a dress tonight… why would anyone think you'd act any differently than this?"

"Iroh never told you the truth about me, did he?" said Toph, raising an eyebrow "Here I thought you and the old man were real close. Oh well, as it turns out, Prince Zuko, I'm actually the daughter of a noble family from Gaoling. I don't have a last name by chance, you know?"

"You're… what the hell?" said Zuko, staring at Toph in disbelief "You're not a slave?"

"Uh, nope. Never was one" said Toph, simply, throwing more food into her mouth.

"Are you insane?!"

Toph's relaxed demeanor disappeared in thin air now, and her brow drew into a frown. Had she been able to glare directly at Zuko, she would have.

"What?" she said, simply. The dryness of her tone made Sokka flinch. He'd heard such a tone on another dangerous woman before and he knew it meant nothing good…

"Uh, guys, maybe you should taste this! I think it's lychee wine, or something…" he said, picking up a glass and smiling awkwardly. He was ignored.

"Did you just ask if I'm insane?" Toph said, setting aside the bowl she had been devouring and crossing her arms over her chest "Really?"

"Yeah, I did" Zuko said, without backing down. Sokka gulped. Maybe he should just leave these two to work their differences by arguing and just try to chat with Azula even if she was so busy still… "What the hell's wrong with you? You're not a slave, and yet you're a gladiator…? You… you do it for the fun of it. You actually enjoy it. You… you're mad. You're fighting in a system that tortures people because you think it's fun!"

"Oh, wait a second, are you about to give me a lecture on how dishonorable it is of me to enjoy fighting?" Toph asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm not giving you a lecture, but… why the hell would you enjoy it?" said Zuko, looking at Toph with disbelief "You're a noble girl, for crying out loud, and you go breaking people's bones just because you find amusement in it! I mean, if you were a slave and you had no choice I'd get it, but this is just ridiculous!"

"Oh, yeah, how bad am I?" said Toph, rolling her eyes "Maybe I enjoy it because I simply do, Brainless. I've always liked fighting, it's what I'm good at! My bending is like nobody else's, and I'm damn proud of it! And if big burly guys can join the Gladiator League just to beat up people without having to put up with a prince's hypocritical speech for it, then so can I!"

"Hypocritical?" Zuko repeated, raising an eyebrow "The hell? Where am I being a hypocrite, Toph? I don't go beating people around for fun!"

"It's not because of the fighting" said Toph, gritting her teeth "But because you're acting so high-and-mighty, as though I were some sort of shameful fool, as though you were above me because you'd never do something as dishonorable as what I do! And hell, you're the last person with any right to say anything about honor. You don't even know what the word stands for, pompous moron"

"You… take that back" Zuko said, snarling at her "You have no damn clue of what I've been through! So don't you dare act like…!"

"I have every damn clue of what you've been through, Iroh regaled me of all the marvelous tales of your travels together" said Toph, most ironically "And he also told me about why you ended up at sea for ten years. And you know what I just noticed? That to this day you don't even realize why you got banished. Heck, Iroh probably doesn't understand it either…"

"The hell are you talking about?" Zuko said, with a low voice. Sokka started to fear he just might attack Toph. From being the happiest he had ever seen him, now Zuko looked the angriest instead.

"What else? Your Agni Kai with your father, that's what" said Toph, her brow furrowed.

"You don't know a thing about that" said Zuko, his fists clenched "You have no right to say anything about…!"

"Oh, no, my friend" said Toph, condescendingly "If you have a right to call me insane for enjoying fighting, I have every right to tell you whatever the fuck I want to, especially if you don't want to hear it. So guess what? Your dear daddy? He didn't banish you because you spoke out of turn in some petty meeting. The banishment had nothing to do with that"

"Oh, really? And you know this how?" said Zuko, his heart beating fast in his chest as his anger increased.

"You spoke out of turn against some old General's ideas" said Toph "Or so Iroh said. And you were so willing to deal with the consequences of your actions… it's probably why your dad chose to fight you himself. To find out if you really were as willing to deal with them as you pretended to be. But as soon as you knew he would be your opponent you cowered and shrank, begging him for mercy and refusing to fight him no matter what he said"

Zuko shivered with anger at her words. Clearly Iroh had explained things to her, she couldn't have known the details of the situation if he hadn't… but hearing her say these things made him relive the single worst moment of his life.

"You thought you'd get special treatment because you were his son" said Toph "That he'd be permissive just because of that, that you'd get away with being disrespectful because of your position. Him fighting you regardless of all your begging was supposed to be a wake-up call for you, but you didn't understand that"

"It was my father, you idiot" Zuko snapped, angrily. Sparks seemed to ignite from his nose "I wasn't about to fight him! He knew I wouldn't go against him! It was a bigger disrespect than fighting him!"

"Yeah? Well, there you go. That's why you have no honor" Toph said, simply. Zuko's eyes widened.

"Y-you… you said what?"

"You went on a trip for ten years and you never got it, did you?" said Toph "The fact that you were only willing to fight a fight you knew you could win is what made your father think you were dishonorable, Zuko. When you knew you stood no chance, you dropped all intentions to fight and let him do whatever he wanted just because you were frightened like a cub! But the whole point of that damn Agni Kai was for you to stand your ground and fight for your honor, to prove that despite your mistake during the war meeting, you still had honor in you! That you still respected your father's military leaders and your father himself, even though you'd thought your ideas were more important than theirs! But when faced with a fight you couldn't win, you cowered. You dropped to your knees. And that's what he banished you for. That's why he sent you to accomplish the unthinkable, so you'd go on a long enough trip to realize where you'd gone wrong. But of course, you just thought he really wanted the Avatar and that once you came back with him, he'd restore your honor. Like honor is something someone can give you… I've got news for you: honor is something you either have or don't within you. It's that simple"

"You don't understand anything…" said Zuko, shaking his head and stumbling back "You're…"

"Yeah? Might be I don't understand. But maybe I do. Maybe you should go ask dear daddy what he has to say about what I just told you" said Toph, her raised eyebrows depicting insolence "If I'm so wrong, do come back and correct me. But if I'm not, then shut your trap and stop treating me like I'm some sort of inferior thing for being 'dishonorable', most unlike you. But based on the evidence? Looks like you're as shitty as I am, Prince Zuko. Deal with it"

For a moment Sokka feared Zuko would set the girl on fire. He lifted a fist towards her, and a speck of fire danced on it before he turned away, storming through the hall quickly as he headed towards the exit.

"Toph… what the hell, seriously?!" said Sokka, looking at her in disbelief. Toph huffed, one of the chunks of her disorderly bangs swaying with her breath.

"Screw him. He's not going to act like he's above me. If he's going to treat me like I'm shit, two can play this game"

"But woman, you didn't have to say all that stuff! Heck, you don't know if any of what you said is true!" said Sokka.

"Yeah, well, he deserved it even if it's not true. I'm not letting him drag me through the mud like that, and I like mud" she said, settling against the table, her legs crossed just as her arms. Sokka grimaced. She looked as mad as she had been when she'd had her arguments with Azula back in Ba Sing Se… "Moron thinks he can get away with that, well, fuck him. He had no right"

"Well, neither did you" said Sokka, sighing "That's not a topic you should breach with Zuko"

"Then he'd better learn to shut his mouth about the things he doesn't understand either!" Toph snapped, and Sokka cringed and shook his head.

"Hell, fine, then. You guys are impossible" he said, burying his face on a hand.

He raised his gaze to find that a few of the nearby people had noticed the argument, but not the ones further away. Suki was still chatting amicably with Ty Lee, Mai and Haru. She hadn't noticed a thing, and she looked as lively as ever. Sokka grimaced. Why couldn't Zuko have stayed in the same wonderful mood? It wasn't like Zuko's happiness was Sokka's top priority, but he had really come to appreciate how much nicer things were when the man was in high spirits…

His gaze switched towards Azula again, finding she was alone at last. He felt tempted to approach her, hoping to find a way to stop thinking about what he had just witnessed… but he noticed she was staring at someone who was entering the hall and walking towards her. The first thing that caught Sokka's eye about him was the fact that he was wearing a black-and-red armor instead of dress clothes. The second thing was the ridiculously massive sideburns on either side of his face. The third thing was his confidence, which poured out of his stance, his powerful strides, his smirk and his brown eyes.

Azula took a deep breath as he stopped before her, the complacent smile on his face sending shivers of the bad kind down her spine.

"My, my. It has been quite a while, hasn't it, Princess Azula?"

"Quite indeed…" she replied, with a cold smile of her own "Admiral Zhao"

* * *

The servants indicated him where to find the Fire Lord, though they seemed to have second thoughts about doing so. Whether it was because Ozai wouldn't want to see him, even now, or because the rage in Zuko's features frightened them, it made no matter. Not so long as he could find him now, and settle this for once and for all. So he could find out if he had really misunderstood everything for all these years…

He stopped before the doors that led to the Fire Lord's private chambers, a heavy frown on his face. His fists were shaking slightly as he readied himself to do what he knew he should have done ever since he arrived to the Capital for the first time in ten years.

"I'm going to face you" he muttered to himself, staring at the wooden doors angrily enough that he could have set them on fire just with his glare.

He stepped forward and, without even knocking, he pushed the doors open…


	92. Chapter 92

The doors swung open brusquely, startling the servants within the room. They had only just finished their task of readying their master for his grand entrance to the Ball, and they weren't expecting anyone else to join them. And by the Fire Lord's reaction – a confused frown – it became apparently he hadn't expected any intrusions at the moment either.

The servants turned to the door, stepping away from the Fire Lord, who had been sitting before his opulent red-and-gold dresser as his hair was brushed perfectly, his five-pronged hairpiece in place. His attire was a gold  _hanfu_  that resembled his daughter's, though it was far more opulent and of a slightly darker shade. His sleeves were so wide that they grazed the marble floor even when he was standing up.

Ozai stared hard at the mirror on his dresser, as the unexpected intruder made his way through the Fire Lord's suite, stomping powerfully enough for everyone to hear him. He finally halted at a stop, about ten steps away from where Ozai sat.

The Fire Lord raised an eyebrow as the reflection revealed that this intruder was none other than his son. It was almost a year since Zuko's return to the Capital, Ozai realized, and until then Zuko had stayed clear out of his way. Whenever they were within the same space the brat would merely hang his head in shame, or just slink out of Ozai's way as soon as he found a chance to do so. What could have possibly garnered this sudden change of attitude in him? He seemed enraged, too, but that was unsurprising. His son had never proved able to keep his temper in check. Yet another reason why he would never accept him as his heir…

"Well, well. If it isn't Prince Zuko" Ozai said, his voice dripping disdain "To what do I owe this… honor?"

The sarcasm with which he spoke the last word made Zuko cringe. He couldn't contain a snarl towards his father, one that scared the servants nearby.

"You owe me explanations, Father" he said, spitefully, hoping to emulate Ozai's tone when he had spoken Zuko's title "And you're going to give them now, or else…"

"Or else what, pray tell?" Ozai asked, standing up. His flowing robes dropped down magnificently as he turned to face Zuko "Will you glare me to death? That would be a most heinous crime to answer for, Zuko…"

"Stop patronizing me!" Zuko snapped "You know damn well why I'm here. I should've come here since ages ago, but I didn't dare confront you…"

"I'm curious as to what changed your mind" said Ozai, with a teasing grin "But this is not a conversation I want witnesses of"

He waved his hands and stared down at the servants that remained near him.

"Leave us. Now" he said, and he was obeyed immediately.

Despite himself, Ozai actually looked forward to this conversation. He had been imagining how it might go ever since Iroh's pathetic pleas to return home had been approved of by the council. Over time Ozai had grown convinced that Zuko would never have the guts to approach him, and if he didn't, Ozai clearly wasn't going to seek him out. He refused to face his oldest child by the force of charity. He didn't deem Zuko worthy of so much as standing within the same room where he was, and he was sure he had gotten that point across through his behavior towards Zuko. So whatever had imbued enough courage to face the Fire Lord into his son's feeble mind rather stirred his curiosity…

"Well, then. What is it you want to say, Zuko?" he asked, once the servants had left, closing the doors behind them.

"A lot. Too much" Zuko replied, glaring at Ozai fiercely "But I guess I should start from the beginning. Why did you do it? Why did you banish me?"

"Oh? And here I thought you understood" said Ozai, crossing his arms "What did your behavior mean, then, if not that you had realized you had shamed yourself beyond repair? Were you merely staying out of my way because my brother advised you to?"

"I stayed out of your way because I felt…!" Zuko exclaimed, gritting his teeth as he fell silent, his fists clenched "Because I thought you didn't want to see me. And I wasn't surprised… I had failed to bring you the Avatar. I thought you were shunning me because of that"

"Oh, please" said Ozai, rolling his eyes and looking at Zuko skeptically "You truly were so naïve, Zuko? Here I hoped your time at sea would have hardened you…"

"Well, it hardened me enough!" Zuko asked, looking at Ozai with despair "I was only doing as you asked! I had meant to stay at sea until I found the Avatar, and I would have done as much if Uncle hadn't asked you to allow me to return home!"

"You would have stayed at sea, you mean? Surely you don't mean you would have found the Avatar" said Ozai, rolling his eyes "If you couldn't find him in ten years, Zuko, how were you hoping to find him afterwards? Didn't you roam the seas throughout the world, searching high and low to no avail?"

"I did" said Zuko, gritting his teeth again.

"Then, quite clearly, you weren't going to find him. You can't possibly find him" said Ozai "Your grandfather and I both took on journeys of our own to search for him, but he is gone. The Avatar, Zuko, no longer exists. There is no such entity in our world anymore"

"You say that, but…" said Zuko "You can't know. You don't know. Maybe…"

"Maybe? You still hope to find him, even now?" Ozai asked, raised his eyebrows "Even after seeing for yourself that he cannot be found? How gullible. I always guessed your mother had softened you far too much, but this is ridiculous…"

Zuko listened to him with wide eyes, aghast. He soon shook his head, staring at the floor in confusion and disbelief. His hands were pressed into tight fists as he raised his eyes towards his father again.

"From the start, you… you knew this. You knew I wouldn't find him" said Zuko "You sent me on some pointless mission in order to teach me some lesson, that's all you were doing…!"

"And sadly, you failed to learn it. Have you ever tried not to be a failure, Zuko?" said Ozai, frowning "Surely it cannot be that hard to succeed at least in something small, if nothing else…"

"Stop it!" Zuko yelled, horrified "You did this all just to make me feel worse yet! Like… like burning me wasn't enough?! You made a fool out of me in front of the entire nation, you shamed me before everyone I knew, everyone I cared about, and you have the guts to mock me for it?! You…!"

"Oh, please" said Ozai, rolling his eyes "You, Zuko, made a fool out of yourself without any coaxing. I didn't need to make a fool out of you. You interrupted that war meeting yourself, without any right, you pompous fool. You weren't even meant to attend the meeting to begin with, but my idiotic brother is even worse than you are… and you spoke out of turn, against one of my most respected officers, no less. Regardless of how foolish his strategy was, you had no right to talk. None. And yet you did. And when the consequences arrived, you were too much of a coward to face them…"

"So that's why you did it, then?" Zuko asked, his stomach sinking. It seemed Toph was right "Because I didn't want to fight you, you banished me?"

"You'd think you would have the courage to stand by your decision to speak against my officers" said Ozai "But all that bravery disappeared as soon as you knew you were facing a battle you couldn't win. Had you known from the get-go that it would be me you'd face in the Agni Kai, you would have crawled at my feet and begged for forgiveness in that very Throne Room. Yet you wouldn't apologize to General Buijing, or would you? You made no move to do so. You were proud of your stupid intervention until I stepped forward to deal with you myself"

"So then acknowledging my mistake, as I did, was wrong?" Zuko asked "I shouldn't have acknowledged I'd messed up, according to you?! How the hell is it that I was supposed to have the courage to face against you, my father, my Fire Lord, when I'm also supposed to honor you, to serve you obediently with my life?! How was I supposed to stand against you when I've been born and raised under the belief that I owe absolute fealty to the Fire Lord?! You couldn't ask me to fight you! I couldn't do it! Doing it was only going to amount to betrayal, if nothing else!"

"Betrayal?" said Ozai, amused "For fighting as you were intended to? Of course not, you foolish boy. Surely you would have wound up with an entirely scarred body, rather than only your left eye, but at the very least it would have spared you the banishment…"

"You're…" said Zuko, staring at Ozai with disbelief and taking a step back "You would have… you would have hurt me like that? You… I'm your son! Your son, damn it! All I've ever done in my life has been to please you! Nothing ever worked, nothing was ever enough, and yet I've still done every damn thing I could to please you! And yet all you wanted was…!"

Zuko froze in place, looking at Ozai with disbelief before his brow furrowed slowly. The meaning of his father's words reached him then. Had he been burned to the extent Ozai had described, he surely wouldn't have survived… The corner's of Ozai's lips curled slowly.

"That's right. All I've ever wanted, Zuko… was to get rid of you, one way or another" he said, simply "The banishment, well deserved and justified as it was, truly was but the one way through which I could rid myself of the bother you'd become"

Every little hope Zuko had left regarding this conversation slipped into oblivion by then. His entire body was shivering with anger as he glared at the Fire Lord, at the man whom he had admired in his childhood…the man who held no mercy for him, who only had ever seen him as an inconvenience. As less than a tool. As a pebble in a shoe.

"You're… you're a monster" Zuko said, and Ozai smirked.

"Funny you'd say that" he said, before his eyes gained a slightly emotional quality, just briefly, as he whispered "It would seem your mother's influence shines right through you, Zuko"

"You're a bastard…" Zuko said now, shaking his head "You… you've never so much as seen me as your son, have you?! You've always hated me! Why?! What the hell did I ever do to you?!"

Those questions made Ozai frown. No, that wasn't right. He had seen Zuko as his son, at the start. And for quite some years, too. He hadn't always hated the boy, he wasn't entirely sure if he could so much as define what he felt for him as hatred, to begin with. No, it certainly wasn't hatred. The Fire Lord knew well enough what hatred was, and he knew it required a lot more energies and thoughts than he ever spared for his first child.

As for what had Zuko done to him, though…

"You've done nothing, Zuko" said Ozai, with a sarcastic grin "That is, in fact, the problem"

"Like hell it is" Zuko snarled "So you wanted me to be perfect, like Azula? That's all you ever wanted, then? Because you know what? I'm damn sure that even if I had been, you still would have hated me! You still would see me as nothing but scum!"

"Harsh words, boy" said Ozai, raising his eyebrows.

But Zuko was right. It wasn't only that Zuko had never accomplished anything great, unlike his sister. It was more than that. It was the knowledge, as both his children grew, that the less talented, the less intelligent, the less capable would get everything… while Azula, the one who deserved all the opportunities his older sibling would get, would shrink into nothingness under her brother's shadow. And it wasn't going to be that large a shadow, to boot.

He had been there before. He knew all too well what it meant to be the second child. He knew far too well what it meant to be the first. And after Ursa was gone, after Azulon was dead, he saw for himself as Zuko became closed to Iroh, for the former General treated him as the replacement for his lost child. But it was more than that. Ozai wasn't blind to his brother's ploys, regardless of his seemingly inoffensive exterior…

"You don't give a damn about me, you don't…" said Zuko, shaking his head and glaring at Ozai "Regardless if honor is something I have within me or something I don't have, you never meant to give me a chance to find it. You've never so much as tried to guide me in the way you have with Azula, but… but you don't give a damn about her either. You just use her to your benefit because she's not the chronic failure I am, don't you?!"

"So now you seem to understand me better than I understand myself?" Ozai asked, raising his eyebrows "I don't care for Azula, then? I suppose I must be that heartless a monster…"

"You…" said Zuko, and Ozai laughed softly, smirking.

"You clearly don't have what it takes to become Fire Lord" he said "Worried about who I care for… what sort of world do you live in, you fool? You think our nation runs on emotions, then? That a Fire Lord should be guided by what his heart, rather than his mind, tells him to do?"

"If you have no heart, you have no reason to do what's best for the Fire Nation" Zuko said, glaring at Ozai "You're just trying to win a pointless war, without caring about all the lives you're sacrificing in the process! You're going to destroy the Fire Nation all by yourself, but so long as you can stand at the top of the pile of ashes you'll be content! If I don't have what it takes to be a ruler, you sure don't either!"

"Proving again that you understand nothing about ruling" said Ozai "But that's no surprise. Your incompetence never ceases to amaze me"

"Yeah, I bet it doesn't" Zuko snarled "Your incompetent son, who never realized all you ever wanted was… was for me to be dead. Out of the way. Gone"

Zuko looked at him in disgust, shaking his head. Ozai glared back at him.

"I'm no son of yours" he said, and Ozai raised his eyebrows.

"I'm afraid that's not up to contest" he said "Would it be that we could choose our parentage, the world would be a far better place to live in. But alas, it is impossible. And indeed, I wish as well that I could deny our family bonds, but…"

"You've never been a father to me" said Zuko, gritting his teeth "And all this time I just wanted to be loved by you, I wanted to be just like you… but what for? So that one day I'll… I'll treat my son as you've treated me?! So that I can be as much of a horrible father as you were?!"

Ozai's frown deepened. Without his awareness, his fists were becoming clenched as well. The words were echoes of a past he had renounced of, of memories long gone, of the thoughts of a young Prince Ozai that no longer existed. A Prince who had only confronted his father in the very last moment… that father whom he had grown to loathe in time, for he had realized he treated him as a deficient substitute for his perfect child. A Prince who had come to understand that, in his father's eyes, he was but a disappointment…

"You've hurt me in every damn way you knew how and you take pride in it" said Zuko "You're pleased with yourself for it! You're not sorry, not for a single damn thing! Not when it comes to me, or Azula, or my mother…!"

"Don't speak of what you don't understand" Ozai snapped, and Zuko froze briefly.

"Oh? Huh. Yeah, I really shouldn't, should I?" he said, challengingly "It's true, I don't understand what happened to her. But you do, don't you? You… you're the only one who knows, aren't you?"

For once, Ozai remained silent. His golden eyes gleamed with anger now, but Zuko didn't care. He wanted to hurt his father. He wanted Ozai to feel just as badly as he did now, and if bringing up Ursa in the conversation was the way to do it, so be it.

"What did you do to her, then?" Zuko asked, gritting his teeth "You were standing there, in front of the fountain. The very morning after… after she was gone. The day after Azula told me that you were going to kill me. She… she woke me in the night, and then she was gone. For good. Why? What the hell did you do to my mother?!"

"I did nothing" Ozai retorted, his teeth pressed together "Your mother made her own choices…"

"Liar" said Zuko "Stop trying to trick me with this! You know what happened! You were there too, weren't you?! Did you kill her instead of me? Did you?!"

"You fool" said Ozai, snarling "Of course I didn't kill your mother. Idiotic boy. Your mother did what she had to do to protect your worthless hide! And for what purpose? You're but an embarrassment of a son, nothing more, and even she could see that by now…!"

"Nothing more indeed" said Zuko, nodding "I'm just an idiot you can play around with, aren't I? All you needed was to rid myself from you and her so you could have the life you wanted! So you could have Azula, instead of me, as the next in line for the throne. That's it, isn't it?! That's all you want. The schemes to make everything go your way are the only damn thing you care about!"

"How insightful of you to notice" said Ozai, spitefully "Indeed, that's all I want, brat. To have my way. I am Fire Lord, and eventually I shall rule this entire world! Every nation will bow to me as they were intended to, and you, you miserable, ungrateful weakling, won't stand in my way. I will do as I wish, for I am Fire Lord! And I do not owe you, or anyone else, any answers pertaining what I've done in my past or what I'll do in my future! You are beneath me, and you will always be, you miserable boy!"

"I'm no boy anymore, Father" said Zuko, uttering the last word spitefully again "I'm done being gullible. I'm done believing in the best of you because I know there's nothing good within you at all! You've got some nerve, trying to teach me lessons about honor and respect when you have none of the former and deserve none of the latter…"

"You…" said Ozai, his eyes blazing now. For a moment Zuko feared he would attack him. He didn't flinch, regardless "You dare speak like this to me? You dare…!"

"I dare!" Zuko shouted "I should have dared from the very start, but hell, I'm daring now! Because I'm done being your steppingstone, I'm done being the idiot you look down on as though I were some sort of inferior thing! I'm done being your stupid faithful son! If you don't owe me any explanations, I sure as hell don't owe you anything either!"

"You owe me your very life, you pathetic idiot" said Ozai "You owe me your allegiance, your loyalty, your titles, everything! You would be nothing without me!"

"I'd rather be nothing than your fool" said Zuko "I'm through with this. I…"

"Oh? You're through with this?" Ozai asked, amused within his anger "And what is that supposed to mean, Prince Zuko?"

"What it means is that I'm done with this stupid pretense!" Zuko shouted "I'm not ever going to amount to anything in your eyes, so why even bother at this point? Why keep trying to mean something to you? You're only after getting Azula to follow on your footsteps, and you know what? She won't even do that. Because she's going to be ten times the Fire Lord you could ever be and you know it!"

"Only because I made her what she is…"

"You made her what she is, and you understand nothing of who she is" Zuko growled "You don't see people for who they are, you see them depending on what you can gain from them! And seeing how you're never going to gain a damn thing from me, why not spare us both the trouble?! I should just get lost so you can have everything you've always dreamt of!"

"My, is this supposed to mean you're banishing yourself?" Ozai asked, now smiling "You… you foolish idiot. You're going to abandon your position, then? You'll leave the Fire Nation again? Are you going to find the Avatar now, perhaps, despite having wasted ten years of your life in the same pointless endeavor?"

"I'd rather die of old age trying to find someone who doesn't exist than to stay in this place with you another second" Zuko snarled, and Ozai huffed "I've had enough. You're no father… you're just a monster. You're going to fail, damn you… the world's never going to follow you. When you least expect it, something's going to happen and you're going to pay for every damn thing you've done to all of us! To everyone!"

"Divine retribution?" Ozai asked "Do you truly believe in such petty notion?"

"I'll see to it myself" Zuko growled, and Ozai laughed "You think it's so funny, don't you?!"

"The child of failures, claiming he will succeed at destroying me?" Ozai inquired "Forgive me if I don't tremble in fear. What sort of an idle threat do you think you pose to me?"

Zuko held no answer for that question, despite himself. He spoke spirited words, but he had no way to ascertain they would come to pass. Perhaps they wouldn't. They most likely wouldn't…

"Be gone" Ozai said, frowning as he glared viciously at Zuko "Head into the seas again if you will. Take your old ship once more, gather whatever crew you can muster, and leave this city. I will not suffer the presence of a treacherous, disloyal, disrespectful buffoon within my Palace any further…"

"You won't suffer a damn thing. You can't suffer" Zuko snapped "You've never lost a thing you care about, because caring… that's beyond you. But don't worry, Fire Lord. I'll be gone. For good this time"

"Good riddance, then. If you do find the Avatar, though, make sure to bring him back to me" he said "Though by now, even such an impossible feat would not serve to amend your tainted honor…"

"Like I even care" said Zuko, stepping back and looking at Ozai with contempt "If I find the Avatar, I'd rather help him defeat you than bring him back here"

"You…!"

Zuko gave his father one final glare before turning on his heels and storming off. Ozai watched him depart, his brow furrowed. He felt sorely tempted to send flames rushing after his son, to set him on fire for good this time, so his foul threat wouldn't be able to come to fruition. But common sense stayed his hand. It had been rather convenient for Zuko to confront him during the Ball, when all sorts of noblemen and military leaders would hear the commotion in case things turned violent between them. Surprisingly, his son had made a clever move for once, for Ozai was already subject to enough questioning as it was. He knew nobody spoke words against him aloud, but his quick ascent to the throne, accompanied by the death of his father and the disappearance of his wife, had been rather suspicious. If he dared murder Zuko now, his name most certainly wouldn't go down in history in the way he intended it to.

So instead of succumbing to the urge, Ozai breathed deeply and calmed himself. There were better ways to teach his son a lesson. Fire clearly hadn't done it the last time, or else this entire conversation wouldn't have happened in the first place. But fortunately, he had another idea in mind. One that would teach Zuko that his words had consequences he could not evade, for no apology as the one he'd given him on the Agni Kai grounds could make amends for this. Zuko would realize, for once and for all, that there was no place for him within this Palace, within the royal life he had been born into. He wasn't worthy of it. He never would be.

With another deep breath, Ozai's resolve was solidified. He was ready to deliver the finishing blow to his relationship with the man he would no longer think of as his son.

* * *

He was barely any different than she remembered him. The same thick sideburns, the same smirk, the same dark eyes. His hair was slightly lighter now, Azula noticed, though. Clearly the long Siege of the North had taken its toll on him, for the greying strands on his temples testified how stressful the war against the Northern Water Tribe had become. Nevertheless, it seemed his spirit hadn't been broken while battling fruitlessly the only nation that remained a threat to the Fire Nation to date. He carried himself with the very same confidence that had impressed her so much when she had been younger…

"It really has been far too long" Zhao said, smiling and narrowing his eyes a little "You are definitely no longer the child I remember from before I set out to the North Pole. How you've grown, Princess Azula"

"It would seem you've grown older as well, I must say" Azula replied sharply, raising her eyebrows. Zhao's hand moved instinctively to his temples, and the Princess allowed herself a malicious smirk. Getting the better of the man was nice, even if it was over something as ridiculous as graying hair "No need to be ashamed, if anything, your hair is evidence of your hard work up north. You should feel accomplished, Admiral"

Zhao didn't miss out on the undertone of her voice. He allowed himself a small smirk regardless, even though he could tell she was mocking him. Her praise to his hard work would have been accompanied by irritation had he succeeded in conquering the Northern Water Tribe, yet it was accompanied by malice and amusement instead. It barely surprised Zhao that she would act this way, but he certainly hadn't expected her to be so antagonistic to him right away. She had already been rather clever as a child, but her intellect seemed to have sharpened further over time. It was definitely something to be cautious of.

"I would be if only I had triumphed" said Zhao, sighing "Nevertheless, I'm certain your father will grant me another opportunity to return North, this time with a much larger force to command"

"Oh? Did he promise you that?" Azula inquired, frowning a little and looking at Zhao with curiosity. Ozai had failed to mention this to her in their last encounter…

"He understands that, at our current strength, the fight up North isn't favorable for us" said Zhao "I have no doubts that the Fire Nation, the nation of progress, will be able to produce weapons to aid us in the utter destruction of our enemies"

"Naturally" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest as she frowned a little more.

She didn't miss out on the fact that Zhao was taking in her figure now that they had fallen silent. A crooked smirk danced on his lips and Azula felt the urge to strike him. He had no right…

"You are truly a woman grown, Princess" he said, smiling "The spitting image of your mother, if I may say so…"

"You already have, regardless if you should or shouldn't have. To be honest, the words seemed to have lost all meaning by now, since every single nobleman has made sure to repeat the same phrase thought the night" said Azula, with a dry grin "Quite surprisingly, I cannot remember my mother ever wearing her hair as I have mine tonight, let alone wearing a dress like this one…"

"It suits you quite well, I must say" said Zhao, with a playful smirk. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Thanks, I suppose" she said, not knowing how to reply to his compliment despite having spent the entire night thanking everyone else quite politely when they praised her "I'd like to extend you the same courtesy, but for some reason you chose to wear your armor instead of clothes befitting the occasion…"

"Oh, I would have worn something more adequate, but my return home has been rather hectic" said Zhao "Settling down again has proven more complicated than I anticipated. I had trouble finding proper clothes through everything I owned and everything I brought back from the frontlines. But seeing how I'm a military figure, wearing my armor to these events is perfectly acceptable regardless"

"Of course" said Azula, simply.

"It is quite good to see you, though. I hadn't known if we would cross paths again any time soon" Zhao said, smiling again "Upon my arrival to the Capital you were nowhere around… away on a journey, from what I heard"

"Indeed" said Azula, her heart picking up speed suddenly. She looked at Zhao carefully, the topic of the Gladiator Business being something she was rather wary to approach when it came to him.

"It's a pity I took longer at sea than I planned" he said, changing the subject to Azula's surprise "Else I would have caught you before you took off, and perhaps witnessed your ceremony myself. Your father is most proud of what you accomplished. Flames of multiple colors… it's unprecedented, isn't it?"

"As far as I'm aware of, it is" Azula said, her head held high.

"It mustn't be all that complicated for you, though, a firebending prodigy who already could bend blue flames" said Zhao, chuckling "Surely the rest of the colors came just as easily"

"It doesn't quite work that way, actually" said Azula.

"You'll have to demonstrate it to me one day, then" he said, with his usual smirk on his face.

The time she had spent far from the man had driven her to think that maybe she had exaggerated things when it came to Zhao, that she was making an unnecessary fuss over what she'd overheard… but the tone of his voice was just as she remembered it. Just as demeaning, just as mocking, just as condescending, just as unnerving.

And perhaps it was even worse by now. Back when he had left she had only been a child, it was true, barely thirteen years old. He had looked down on her for that reason as well… but now he saw her differently. He wouldn't treat her as a child anymore, it seemed, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing, despite how direly Azula had wanted to see that change back in her younger years. The fact was that she had been subjected to leers of this kind before… and that it would be Zhao doing it now was more disturbing than she expected it to be.

"No need to look so apprehensive, Princess" said Zhao, amused "You're looking at me as though I were a stranger to you"

"It has been a long time, Admiral" she said, curtly "I'm afraid we're practically strangers at this point in time"

"You could say that, I suppose" said Zhao, smirking "But in truth, I doubt either of us changed as much as you think, Princess"

"You'd say that" she said, reflecting his grin now "But from what I heard, the powerful Admiral Zhao actually lost an Agni Kai against my brother while at sea… the Zhao I remember wouldn't possibly have failed to beat my brother in combat, now, would he?"

Zhao's confidence seemed to freeze for an instant as his grin grew a little stiff. Azula's own, on the contrary, became more sincere upon his reaction.

"I should have expected Ozai to tell you about that" he admitted, as Azula laughed softly "It seems you are as close to your father as ever"

"Closer, if anything" Azula said "Since you were at sea he needed someone else to serve as his confidant…"

"And you earned the role, from what it seems" said Zhao, raising his eyebrows "Why, congratulations, I suppose. Fortunately you can rest from that tiresome role by now, since I'm back…"

"I'm fairly certain my father can have two close advisors, Admiral" said Azula "Or is this some sort of unspoken competition for my father's attention?"

"Of course not" said Zhao, chuckling at that "I only meant that you have been rather busy the past years, from what I've heard… I thought you would be grateful to have one weight lifted off your shoulders"

"It's no weight whatsoever, Admiral" Azula stated "Being trusted by my father is an honor, not a bother"

"I did not say otherwise, Princess" said Zhao, his defensive behavior making Azula smirk slightly "Wouldn't dream of it. But seeing how you were tasked with capturing the Rough Rhinos, performing a firebending ceremony and dismantling a potential conspiracy in Ba Sing Se, you clearly deserve some time for yourself"

"How very thoughtful of you" said Azula, smiling "But that is for my father to decide and not me. I would most certainly put my very life on the line for the Fire Nation if he asked me to…"

"Let us all hope he doesn't demand something so unreasonable from you" said Zhao, smirking "Leave such matters to the lesser soldiers, Princess. A leader of your category shouldn't even consider giving up her life so readily"

"Ah? Shouldn't I?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Again she sensed that hint of condescendence in his voice…

"Of course not. You may think it's noble, but it's foolish" said Zhao, smirking "There is no need for you to put your life on the line as you did during that ridiculous scuffle with the White Lotus…"

"It seems my father put you up to date with everything" Azula said, frowning slightly. Just how much did Zhao know about that occasion? Had her father disclosed who had been the actual hero of that night…?

"I'd hope so" said Zhao, chuckling "If he has missed out on anything I'll have serious trouble keeping up. Clearly nobody in the Fire Nation has been as busy as you, Princess"

"It seems so" said Azula, with a small grin of satisfaction.

"Your father is clearly rather proud of the woman you've become. He has reason to be, of course" said Zhao, nodding "You are remarkable, truly"

"Thank you, Admiral" Azula said, bowing her head towards him as she reminded herself not to take the man's compliments seriously "Welcome home"

"It is my pleasure to be back" he said, smiling at her just as someone cried out his name.

"Ah, Admiral! There you are!" Zhen exclaimed, approaching them through the masses of people assembled in the room. It seemed he had separated from his wife and son for the time being "I wasn't sure that you'd arrived, sir!"

"Well, now you are" Zhao said, turning towards him "And we happen to have certain matters to discuss, Zhen, pertaining the properties you managed during my absence…"

"Oh? Is anything amiss?" Zhen asked, surprised.

"It's precisely what I hoped to find out" said Zhao, with an unpleasant grin. Zhen raised an eyebrow and Azula shrugged towards him.

"Well, since you two seem to have matters to discuss, I shall be taking my leave from you, Admiral" she said, and Zhao nodded.

"May you have a pleasant evening, Princess. Hopefully we'll have more chances to catch up through the night…"

"Don't have high expectations for that, Admiral. These balls tend to unfold in unexpected ways" Azula said, smiling and walking off without another word.

She felt Zhao's gaze upon her as she left, but it didn't matter much. Despite her fears, it hadn't been as bad as she had thought it would be. She had handled the situation well enough as it was… of course, the Admiral's comments and condescending behavior had been as bothersome as ever, and the way he had gazed at her was disturbing, despite she had been looked at in the same way by all sorts of men throughout the night. Yet it was Zhao… it was different altogether just because of this. He wasn't just any ordinary man, for better or for worse.

Though what bothered her the most was the way he had avoided the topic of the Gladiator League altogether. If her father had boasted about everything she had accomplished to date, surely he wouldn't have forgotten to mention her success in the Gladiator League, especially when her participation in it was the very reason she had been away when Zhao arrived. He had avoided it far too carefully for it to be an accident... he surely knew of it. Why didn't he say a word about it, though? It was ominous, to say the least…

She sighed deeply as she approached the food table, hoping that perhaps a bite or two would ease her growing anxiety slightly. Perhaps a drink would help too, but surely not one of the same quality as the one she'd had a few days ago. Even saying there had been any quality to it meant giving it far more credit than it deserved…

She wasn't surprised when she noticed someone in black and blue clothes walking in her direction just as she reached the table. She would have smiled at him, but she didn't feel like it after the conversation she had just had, or rather, the part of the conversation that had gone amiss. It seemed that what she had dreaded, the very reason why she had stopped looking up to Zhao in the first place, was still exactly as it had been since before the man had left to the North Pole…

"Heeey… finally free from all the salutations, are you?" Sokka asked, trying to sound casual and failing to do so. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Probably not entirely, but I'll take a break from it while I can" she told him, with a curt smile as she looked at the dishes with surprise "I'm amazed, I must admit. I'd have expected you to have eaten everything by now, table included and everything…"

"Hey, now, why would I eat the table?" Sokka asked, looking at her in utter confusion as Azula smirked.

"Of course that's what you'd object to, and not to the fact that you're enough of a glutton to finish off all these dishes…" she said, though she frowned now as she detailed the food on the table "… or maybe you actually decided to just stick your fingers into them to sample all the food?"

"W-wait, no! You've got it wrong!"

"Way to prove you're civilized, huh?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows judgmentally as Sokka blushed.

"I didn't poke everything, she did!" he exclaimed, pointing at Toph, who was currently in the process of licking a plate clean. Azula flinched at the sight "So if someone's not civilized, it's Toph, not me!"

"Well, that's an understatement, huh?" said Azula, looking at the girl with disgust "Could you please stop being revolting, Dirt Worm?"

"Quit being stingy, Spicy" Toph retorted, surprising Azula with the harshness in her voice "It's not like you're going to be eating off this plate anyways"

"I don't think anyone else will be, in fact" Azula said, skeptically "I'll have to order the servants to get rid of it after what you've done to it"

"Pfft, quit overreacting. You royals are all the same…" said Toph, and Azula frowned.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" she asked, and that was Sokka's cue to jump between them. He certainly didn't want another crisis to arise because of Toph's bluntness, especially not between the earthbender and Azula.

"Say, who was that guy you were talking to?" he asked Azula, blurting out the first thing he could think of. And he successfully changed the subject, for the Princess froze at the question, to Sokka's surprise.

"Uh, him?" she asked, raising her eyebrows "Well, that… that was Admiral Zhao, as a matter of fact"

Sokka blinked a few times and Azula simply stared back at him as he looked at her blankly.

"Sorry, uh… is that supposed to mean something to me?" he asked and she snorted.

"I never did tell you much about him, now, did I?" she said, sighing.

"Should you have?" he said, raising an eyebrow "I mean, I think I've heard the name before, maybe, but I can't remember when…"

"Well, you're bound to hear it more often from now on" Azula said, staring at the table pointedly as she sought a dish of any kind that had escaped Toph's claws. She spotted the drinks soon enough, though, and that seemed an even better idea now that Sokka was asking these questions.

It seemed ominous that Azula would leave his questions hanging and choose to have a drink instead, especially considering how her last drinking occasion had developed. Sokka raised an eyebrow but he soon smiled when she grabbed the very drink he had enjoyed before Toph's spectacular bout with Zuko only brief moments ago.

"Oh, I had one of those just a while ago" he said, as Azula lifted the drink to her lips and closed her eyes in sheer bliss "It was pretty nice, I'll admit. Has a nice taste to it"

"I'm not surprised to hear you say that" said Azula "As I've discovered, you'll drink just about anything…"

"Hey, now, you had the baijiu as well, I didn't press you other than with the first round" Sokka clarified, but Azula's glare was harsh enough for him to shut up with an awkward smile "B-but I know this is much nicer, yeah… it's the lychee wine you'd mentioned, right?"

"That's right" she said, finishing the drink and sighing as she felt its smooth rush flowing within her. It was alcohol on a completely different league than what they'd had on the ship.

"So… you're just not going to talk about that guy?" Sokka asked, and Azula's eyebrow twitched "I mean, if you don't want to it's fine, I'm just curious… you seemed to spend longer talking to him than everyone else, so I just thought…"

"Uh, hey, guys…" a shy voice interrupted him, making Sokka fall silent immediately as Azula turned to look at whoever had spared her from talking about Zhao just now. To her surprise, it was no one other than Suki "Have you seen Zuko?"

"Not really" Azula admitted "Not since the ball began anyways…"

"Zuko?" Sokka repeated, a knowing grimace spreading over his features. Toph huffed not too far from where they stood.

"Yeah, I thought I'd seen him come here just a while ago" said Suki, smiling a little "Do you know where he went?"

"Ah, where he went? W-well, that's a bit hard to say, you know…?" Sokka said, his eyes widening slightly as he scratched the back of his neck. Both Azula and Suki looked at him in confusion.

"Hard to say why?" Suki asked.

"Do you or do you not know where he went?" Azula asked simply, looking at him skeptically. Sokka gulped.

"Actually I don't, but he was here a while ago, sure thing" he said, gulping "It's just…"

"What happened?" Suki asked, smiling a little. Perhaps there had been a mishap of sorts, she didn't think it was unlikely for Sokka and Zuko to have argued over something foolish even in the middle of such a fancy event.

It was easy to imagine that things could have escalated, that perhaps Sokka had flung a dish at Zuko and the Prince was now in his rooms changing. The thought sent a flush up Suki's cheeks as her imagination went wilder than it should have. She definitely hadn't expected to think of any man in this way again, not after what she'd been through… but Zuko was different from everyone else she had ever known. She wasn't sure she was ready to call this love yet, but so much as thinking about the man was enough to bring a smile to her face. She couldn't wait to have another chance to be with him in private, especially now that things were working out for the best between them…

"Well, truth to be told, things were just fine but then he, uh…"

"He got in an argument with me" Toph declared, surprising both Azula and Suki "And so he stormed off because he can't take it when people bite back, Fartbrain he is…"

"Fart…?" said Suki before shaking her head and frowning a little "Well, where did he go, then? If you two argued then…"

"He left the hall, no idea where he went next because with all these people it's hard to keep track on the vibrations of whoever I'm familiar with" Toph stated "But at least he stormed off towards the door, if that's any use for you"

"I guess it's some use. Thanks, I suppose" said Suki, though she frowned anyways. It seemed strange for Zuko to get into serious arguments right after what had happened between them…

"You're going to fetch him?" Sokka asked, and Suki nodded.

"I'll find out where he ran off to" she said, smiling a little "Thanks anyways. I'll be back in…"

The girl's words were lost in the sudden wave of silence that took over the room, startling the four at the food table. The people within the hall backed away from the door, the musicians stopped playing, and the couple that was dancing stopped on their motions immediately and scrambled out of the way.

"Introducing Fire Lord Ozai, sovereign of our glorious nation, and host to the Royal Ball!" a herald called out, and on cue, everyone within the crowd bowed down, fist in hand, as they performed the respectable reverence for their Lord.

Unsurprisingly, the only one who had enough common sense to bow down just as everyone else had, amongst the three slaves near Azula, was Suki. Toph merely set her licked plate aside and Sokka watched with a raised eyebrow, staring at Ozai and detailing the man's fancy getup before he felt a hand on the back of his neck, pushing him down brusquely.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, glaring at Azula, who returned the glare as she pulled Toph down as well with her free hand "What the hell…?!"

"Just shut up and stay down for like ten seconds, will you?" Azula snapped.

"Dammit, Jewel…" Toph growled, struggling slightly against Azula's grip, but the Princess proved strong enough to keep the earthbender in place.

Sokka pouted, knowing well enough that Azula was forcing him to bow to avoid trouble, but he didn't feel like bowing before Ozai regardless. He took pride in the fact that he had never done such a thing, never being the compliant and obedient slave that could be kept in place by any Fire Nation traditions… so while he understood Azula's reasons, he couldn't help but feel slightly angry. The next time a gathering of the sort happened, he would make sure not to be around when the Fire Lord showed up, if that was what he needed to do to avoid performing reverences he didn't want to do.

"Rise" Ozai declared, and everyone within the room stood straight again. Azula released both Sokka and Toph from her grip and breathed out in relief. At least she had avoided a potential problem from brewing over these two morons…

The Fire Lord progressed through the room and now stood close to the dancing area. Everyone watched him, naturally, expectant of the speech he was bound to deliver now. Sokka folded his arms over his chest and glared in Ozai's direction, an eyebrow raised. Toph huffed and rested against the table again, wondering whether Zuko had talked to his father about what she had told him or not…

Suki was stunned by the sight of the regal man, though. She couldn't help but realize just how much he resembled his son. Perhaps it wasn't until that moment that she acknowledged, fully, that the Prince she had grown so close to was the Fire Lord's firstborn. Yet where Zuko's skin was damaged, Ozai's was flawless. And where Zuko's eyes were often warm, his emotions plain to see, Ozai's own were cold, arrogant and unreadable. He stood amongst his subjects proudly, his head held high, his golden, five-pronged hairpiece before his small bun of hair, his flowing robes opulent and elegant just as his daughter's. But even Azula was humble next to this man, Suki thought, and humble was an adjective nobody should ever describe the Fire Nation Princess with. Ozai's countenance showed superiority, pride… he was terrifying, Suki realized. She was shivering before she knew it, just by looking at the most powerful man in the world, the man that ruled the Fire Nation, the man responsible for the destruction of the Earth Kingdom and the attacks on Suki's very own hometown…

"Welcome, everyone, to this Royal Ball" Ozai said, each word echoing powerfully through the room. The steel in his voice seemed to suggest that he wasn't quite in a welcoming mood, but he carried on with his speech all the same "As it is every year, I am pleased to hold this grand event for the nobility within the very walls of my home, to give closure to our nation's grand festivals. You all honor me with your presence here tonight"

Sokka raised an eyebrow, wondering if anyone in this room would believe those words. Something in Ozai's attitude right now made him think that the man actually just wanted everyone else to disappear from sight as soon as possible…

"It has been a most fruitful week, full of delightful surprises for us all" he said, with a smile that seemed ironic more than anything "Amongst them, the return of our esteemed Admiral Zhao, who has sailed back from the North. He has been relieved in the warfront by General Buijing, who shall take command of the navy up north while the Admiral takes a well-deserved respite from his duties"

A polite round of applause followed Ozai's words, and Zhao, who stood out at the center of the room for now, smirked and bowed his head to the acknowledgement. Azula watched him pointedly, wondering just what did he plan to do with this break he had been granted. It was unlikely that Buijing would succeed where Zhao had failed, but was Zhao really hoping to gather more weapons in order to attack the North? The idea ate at Azula, for she wasn't too sure of what that entailed…

Busy as she was staring at Zhao, she lost track of what her father was talking about briefly, and she was caught completely off guard upon realizing what he was saying now.

"… For outstanding deeds may seem their own reward, but they shall not go ignored as long as I am Fire Lord" he said, smirking "After having served our nation in ways that no other prince in history could have boasted of, after successfully thwarting threats to our powerful nation and after proving capable of bending in ways unrecorded so far in history, it is my utmost honor and pride to call Princess Azula my daughter"

It took Azula every bit of her willpower not to let her confusion show in her face. Just why was he talking about her in this manner? That did not seem right at all. She kept a straight and stern face as she felt people were turning to stare at her. She couldn't afford losing her mask of perfection just now, regardless of how puzzled she was by her father's actions…

Yet that confusion was cleared up for her just brief instants just before Ozai revealed why he was boasting of his daughter just now. The blood drained her face as she remembered their last conversation, as she realized that he wasn't going to keep his word to her…

"Henceforth, I am delighted to announce, before you all, that our beautiful Princess Azula shall no longer be known for said title from this night onwards" Ozai stated, his golden eyes meeting Azula's as understanding showed in her face "For from his day forth, and until the day of my demise, she shall be known as Crown Princess to our glorious nation"

Sokka's eyes widened and he looked at Azula with astonishment, his jaw dropping. Everyone else turned to look at her as well, but only Sokka noticed that she shuddered, as though by goosebumps, just as her father pronounced the words 'Crown Princess'.

It came as no surprise, though, that she would smile now, a satisfied smile to cover up her confusion, her disbelief, her concerns about this premature naming, about this promotion she wasn't certain she should have been granted yet. Nothing else in her behavior betrayed what was going through her mind, and even the shudder could have been perceived as a reaction of pure ecstasy, but Sokka suspected that was not at all what it was…

Another round of applause shook the room, but this time it was far more enthusiastic than before. Sokka glanced about himself, finding many people, familiar or not, smiling joyfully at Azula's new appointment as Crown Princess. The Admiral she had been speaking to was looking at her with raised eyebrows, seemingly with amusement. Sokka gulped at that, unsure of the meaning of the man's stare…

Despite the general enthusiasm by this last announcement, though, some people hadn't taken it quite so well, the two other girls near the food table amongst them. Toph had frozen cold, standing up straight now. Had her words gotten Zuko disowned? No, it couldn't have been that… surely that wasn't it, now, was it?

Suki's reaction was quite similar to hers, but all she could do was frown in confusion. Why Azula…? Why all of sudden? And just now, when Zuko had been the happiest she had seen him… this revelation would destroy him. But where was he? Did he know this would happen? Had someone warned him beforehand…? The thought made her go cold inside, as she realized that Zuko's biggest concern at the time being surely wasn't related to his relationship with a slave…

"In order to celebrate this grand moment in Fire Nation history, I shall be joined by our Crown Princess in a dance. May all of you continue to enjoy this evening" Ozai said, a pleased smirk on his face as people clapped at his words again.

"Azula…" Sokka called out, but the Princess stepped away from him in a heartbeat, striding her way towards her father, who awaited her at the dancing area.

Ozai's smile was full of malice, and Azula was quick to recognize it as the same smirk that had graced his face when he had been granted the very hairpiece that crowned his head tonight. She had smirked at him that fateful day, feeling as though an accomplice to his ploys, regardless of not having a direct hand into landing her father on the throne… tonight she felt less than elated about this, though she smirked still. It felt as though she had been kicked in the stomach, not so much because of being declared Crown Princess, but because Ozai had ignored her request. He had done as he had seen fit, as he always did… her warnings had served no purpose. And in the process he had surely gained her enemies in places where she'd had allies, if only briefly. This title was something she had worked for ever since she was a child, and reaching it was meant to be a joyful occasion… but it wasn't. It couldn't be, at least not right now. Not while she knew that even her most reasonable requests would be overridden by her father's demands if so was his desire.

Ozai nodded in her direction, and Azula breathed deeply as the music began. As she had done during the ceremony, she flowed move to move flawlessly as her father mirrored her slow and careful movements, right in front of her. Repeating the dance routine she had learned as a child in school was almost a second nature by now, and doing so with her father was quite easy too, since she had always been his first dance partner in every Ball ever since he had become Fire Lord. Her exterior, as it was meant to be, remained flawless. The same couldn't be said for the turmoil within her mind, regrettably.

She remained oblivious to everything outside of the dance, ignoring all the smiles, all the whispers, and also the frowns. She wanted to escape, to hide away if just for the night, in order to avoid her brother, her uncle, her father, Admiral Zhao, everyone… she wasn't up for this, not anymore. Not after this announcement…

Thunderous clapping followed the end of their dance, as Azula and Ozai bowed to one another. A plump noblewoman approached the Fire Lord then, and with a smirk he nodded, allowing her to be his next partner. Knowing her part to play in her father's spectacle was over by now, Azula backed away from the dancing area, but she didn't get too far before she was showered with congratulations coming from all directions. Praises, compliments to her accomplishments, her beauty, her well-deserved new status… she smiled and nodded at them all, uttering no words as she felt her mask was threatening to fall. All she wanted right now was a moment to be alone, a moment to compose her thoughts, to reassemble herself before she fell apart in front of everyone…

"Now that was quite a surprise" she heard next, as someone blocked her path, stopping her from making her way through the masses. Azula raised her gaze to find Admiral Zhao again.

The condescending smile on his face was almost the last straw by now. It came as no surprise, but it angered her beyond belief all the same. Until then she had been confused, stunned silent, blown away by her father's actions… but now that Zhao stood before her, all her mixed feelings seemed to gather and morph into nigh uncontrollable rage.

"Ozai had told me he meant to proclaim you Crown Princess, but I did not expect it to happen so soon, let alone in this way" Zhao stated "But naturally, congratulations are in order. It seems you deserved it"

"I appreciate that, Admiral" Azula stated, with a cutting grin "If you'd excuse me, though…"

"I'd actually meant to ask if perhaps we ought to take the next dance" he asked, smiling "I know you accustomed to only dancing with your father, but surely…"

"Truth to be told, I'd rather decline your request, as rude as that might be" Azula said, sighing "It would seem my shoes are not fit for more than one dance…"

"Is that so, truly?" said Zhao, raising his eyebrows "Well, then, perhaps you can don your usual boots, if you still wear those. With as long a dress as you're wearing, nobody will notice, and you shall be free to dance with me next"

"That is very thoughtful of you" Azula said, raising her eyebrows "But…"

"It's merely one dance" said Zhao, looking at her with a grin "Surely the only one we shall have, too. You might be married by next year, after all, and by then you will only be meant to dance with your husband, so…"

The words were as though he had twisted the dagger that her father's announcement had driven through her chest. Her brow drew together slowly, dangerously, to the point where Zhao fell silent, perhaps by instinct, upon noticing that he had probably said the last words Azula wanted to hear.

"Well, that is to say, it's bound to happen" said Zhao, with an insecure grin "No need to look at me that way, Princess. I'm merely…"

"I quite appreciate your kind offer, Admiral. I'm rather ashamed that I've refused you so rudely" she said, through gritted teeth. The steel in her eyes was such that Zhao found himself unwilling to press her on any further "So I'll ask that you forgive me for excusing myself so suddenly, but excuse myself I must. Do continue to enjoy the evening, and seek another dancing partner if you're so eager to test your footing skills"

"Princess, if I've offended you in any manner…"

"Good night, Admiral" Azula said, curtly, bowing her head shortly before turning on her heels and leaving, doing her very best to don a calm façade as she held back from storming down the room.

"Azula… Azula!" she heard a familiar female voice calling her from one side of the hall, Ty Lee, no doubt. She wanted to congratulate Azula as well, surely… but the Princess wasn't up for that right now. She didn't want to deal with most anyone at the moment.

So she made her way through the crowd and outside the room, making a point to evade the spot where she had seen Iroh last. The two people she most certainly did not want to deal with at the time were her brother and her uncle. She had no idea what an encounter with them would result in after this turn of events, so evading them would be for the best. At least until she had a chance to calm down, to talk to her father, to figure things out…

There was only one place in the Palace that might provide some solace to her tonight. Hopefully she would find peace there, even though she doubted she'd find any at all, in her current state of mind.

Zhao had watched Azula leave, taking notice of the girl in pink that had been calling out for her. He seemed to remember she was one of the Princess's friends from many years ago… it was odd that she would earn herself leers from the nearby attendants to the Ball, but perhaps that was due to how she had brought an Earth Kingdom man with her to the event. Was he at least an honorary citizen? Or was he, perhaps, a slave…? That might explain the glares that some people sent towards her…

"Uh, excuse me…"

An unfamiliar voice behind him startled Zhao. He turned to find a dark-skinned man in black and blue clothes, with bright cerulean eyes and a worried expression on his face. Only a glance gave away that he was a Water Tribe man, which made Zhao scowl instantly. There was virtually no reason for a Water Tribe man to be allowed into the Palace, none that Zhao would consider justified… but if everything Ozai had told him about the Princess's endeavors was true, then there wouldn't be much guesswork involved in clarifying this savage's identity.

"Princess Azula was talking to you just now" Sokka said, frowning a little "Could you tell me where she went?"

Zhao's eyes widened as he regarded the slave with utter contempt. Who did he think he was? How dared he speak to him? He scoffed in his direction, making Sokka flinch. It seemed, for a moment, that Zhao was about to tell him to bugger off, or that he had no place in this celebration, or not to speak to him while being such a low-born fool… Sokka expected all three things to happen simultaneously, even, but surprisingly, Zhao said nothing.

The Admiral stared at Sokka with disgust, as though he had some unpleasant contagious disease, before shaking his head and walking off towards the dance floor. Sokka frowned and watched him leave, wondering just how hard could it be for the man to answer a simple question. He had watched from a distance as Azula exchanged words with the Admiral again; he had started to make his way towards her, for he had seen how tense she was and he had hoped to help her somehow… but she had disappeared just as Zuko had, just before he could reach her. What were the odds that they might have gone to the same place? She might have meant to talk to her brother, perhaps, after what Ozai had just declared…

Sokka returned to the buffet table, his appetite uncharacteristically numbed right now. Toph still looked concerned after what had just happened, but not more than Suki did. She bit her lip and looked at Sokka worriedly. He only gave her an insecure grimace.

"I should find him" said Suki, swallowing hard, and Sokka nodded.

"It might be for the best" he told her "Whether he knows what happened or not, he probably could use company right now"

Suki nodded as well as she walked off in Ty Lee and Haru's direction before starting on her quest to find Zuko. Sokka frowned, unsure as to why this entire matter felt so wrong all of sudden. Something wasn't right, he could tell… but he just had no idea why that was.

"I'm thinking Spicy might need company too" said Toph, and Sokka looked at her in confusion "She was doing an awful effort to control her body just now. I don't think she's okay…"

"No, she didn't look like she was" said Sokka, gritting his teeth "But I don't know where she went, so it might be she doesn't want to be found right now…"

"If someone's going to have a chance at helping her feel better, it's you" said Toph "C'mon. It's not that hard to guess where she went"

Sokka raised his eyebrows before frowning with understanding. He nodded at Toph, who folded her arms over her chest again as he took off as well. He left the earthbender wishing she could be as skilled at controlling her emotions as the Princess was, for if she were, the anxiety that was eating at her right now wouldn't bother her so much…

Sokka reached Xin Long's refuge to find one of the ground doors was ajar. He approached cautiously, glancing into the building to make sure he hadn't come to the wrong place, and indeed, he hadn't.

It seemed Azula had set aside all concerns about her dress as she sat on the filthy refuge grounds, her legs crossed and her elbows resting on her knees, as her hands held her forehead. Xin Long was sitting before her, his snout pressing against her fingers to no visible response from his rider.

"A… Azula?" Sokka whispered softly, sliding inside quietly, a frown on his face.

Azula barely reacted at first, although Xin Long looked at him and growled in acknowledgement before turning to Azula again. The Princess sighed and lifted her head, looking at Sokka from below with a frown.

"Is something the matter? If you already ate all the food there's nothing I can do about it at this point…"

"No need to worry about that, Azula" he said, kneeling beside her, frowning still "Are you okay?"

It took Azula a lot of willpower not to respond sarcastically, not to lash out to him undeservingly for his question. As she looked at him with hard eyes she realized that, of all the people in her life, he was likely the only one who wouldn't care whether she was Crown Princess or just a Princess. He wouldn't abandon her or treat her any differently for it, nor would he expect her to be forced to marry some fool to produce heirs. Sokka was someone she could count on, he had proved it enough times by now. Despite all their problems, she found she trusted him now. Even if she wasn't sure she wanted to talk about this yet, his company was the only one she didn't feel like rejecting right away.

"I'm… well, I guess you can gather that just by looking at me, can't you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka bit his lip.

"Yeah, I guess. I just thought… I figured I'd offer you my help, if there's anything I can do to make you feel better. I can't blame you if you're overwhelmed by all this, not at all, so if I can help give you some ease with this, I'd gladly…"

"Would you, now?" Azula asked, rubbing her forehead.

"If you just want me to leave you alone that's fine too" Sokka said, defeated "I'd rather not bug you. I mean…"

"Anyone's bound to bug me just now" Azula said, simply "Surprisingly enough, though, you're not the person I'm most irritated by tonight"

"I guess that's good news for me, eh?" he said, with a weak smile "Still…"

"Still, you're willing to do whatever might make me feel better, right?" Azula asked, and Sokka nodded "No matter just how unreasonable it is?"

"No matter" Sokka said, before doing a double-take "Uh… wait, unreasonable how?"

"Unreasonable as in… I need to get out of here" said Azula, sighing and standing up "I've had just about enough of keeping a straight face in front of all these nobles, of smiling politely no matter how many idiotic comments they send my way…"

"Can't blame you for that… say, how about you head out with Xin Long for a while?" Sokka suggested "It's bound to help a little, if anything. You'd put a lot of distance between yourself and them that way, right?"

"Yeah… my problems sure will look smaller from up there, won't they?" she said, mostly to herself, with a hint of irony. To think she'd given Zuko advice on how to be Fire Lord only two days earlier and yet this was happening now…

"Well, you can also not do that, you don't have to listen to me if I'm being too ridiculous…"

"No, I think I'll do it" Azula said, closing her eyes, and Sokka raised his eyebrows "But I… I don't think I'll want to come back down here until everyone's gone"

"Eh? Well, again, can't blame you for it" said Sokka, sympathetically "Should Xin Long spend such a long time in the air, though? You might catch a cold that way…"

"No need to say that twice" Azula said, bitterly. She had no trouble remembering her last cold, and just how it had been spawned…

"Maybe… well, this is just a thought, but you could come to my place for a while" Sokka suggested "If you want to get away from this, well, it's about as far from the Palace as can be. I promise not to bother you too much if you don't want to be bothered, and Xin Long can bring you back home whenever you feel like it. In the meantime, though, my place would be yours. How about it?"

"Your place is mine indeed, seeing how I'm the one who bought it" Azula said, and Sokka froze upon realizing she was right about that. Surprisingly, she smirked at him after that. Well, if making fun of him would cheer her up, Sokka would allow her to do it gladly…

"Well, you know what I meant" he said, with an uncomfortable grin.

"Truth be told… it's not a bad offer, gladiator" said Azula, looking at him earnestly "Though saying I can come back here whenever I feel like it… I won't feel like it until the Ball ends, and that's bound to be at dawn, knowing how all other Royal Balls usually develop"

"Huh… if you want to stay till dawn then you probably should pack your sleeping gown" said Sokka, chuckling, until he froze upon realizing how inappropriate that might be "Uh, well, I'm just messing with you. If you'd rather not come because it's not convenient, that's fine too, I just figure…"

"If I'd stay until dawn, maybe I should have some sleep at your place after all" Azula said, looking at Sokka with raised eyebrows "So the only question to be asked… is whether I can stay over at your place for the rest of the night or not"

Sokka's eyes widened and he looked at her in confusion. That was definitely not a question he had foreseen.

"Uh… wow. I guess you could, but… are you sure about that? I mean, I'd love to have you, but… don't you think it could cause trouble? If people knew you'd come to stay over with me…"

"Well, then, as long as nobody realizes where I went, I should be fine" said Azula, with a shrug "It's not the first time I've disappeared from a Royal Ball anyways. They'll do just fine without me"

"Oh… well, if that's how it is…" said Sokka, biting his lip before smiling "It's fine if that's what you want to do. As I said, anything I can do to help you, I'll gladly do it"

"Good. I meant to hold you to that" said Azula, nodding.

It didn't take them long to saddle Xin Long and to set out of the refuge through one of the topmost doors, hoping that doing so would serve to camouflage Xin Long in the dark night. Fireworks were being launched through the city, which came as no surprise for Azula, since today was the last day of the Fire Nation festivals. Fireworks during the end of the week usually relieved Azula, since they meant everything would return to normal in the morning… but what was normal at this point? Her life had been changed altogether by now, whether she liked it or not. And if it was a change for better or for worse still remained to be seen…


	93. Chapter 93

The dragon touched down on the garden softly, and Sokka dismounted quickly in order to help Azula off the creature's back. Xin Long groaned and dropped on the ground after the Princess and her gladiator had removed his saddle, leaving him with the freedom to roll on the grass enjoyably. Song's voice drifted through the night, towards them, just as they were about to turn to the house:

"Sokka? Is that you? I thought you'd be at the Ball at least for…" she was saying, carrying a small lantern with her as she glanced out to the garden, and she fell silent immediately when she understood just why she hadn't heard Sokka coming through the door "P-Princess?"

"Evening, Song" Azula said, nodding in her direction. She had forgotten about the girl when she had made her request to Sokka.

"Hey, sorry for surprising you like this" said Sokka, smiling clumsily at Song "And sorry, I didn't get to bring you the food you asked for…"

"Never mind that. W-why are you here, though?" Song asked, confused "It's not that late yet, a-and the Princess…?"

"It's, uh, complicated" said Sokka, gulping "Azula will be staying over with us tonight…"

"She… she what?" Song said, her eyes widening.

"Is it a problem…?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

"N-no, but it's a little so sudden" said Song, gulping "And I mean, you're in that fancy getup and all…"

"You can lend her some of your clothes, right? You did it last time" Sokka asked, as he and Azula climbed the steps up to the house's veranda.

"I guess so" said Song, nodding as Sokka patted Azula's back.

"You could go bath if you want, maybe" he suggested "Could help to get rid of all those funky dragons you've got in your hair…"

Azula raised an eyebrow but she nodded.

"It's not a bad idea" she conceded "I could use cleaning up. Don't you dare peek, though"

"Oh, come on, what sort of guy do you take me for?!" Sokka exclaimed, blushing and pouting. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"You don't want me to answer that question, I'm sure" she said, smirking as Song chuckled a little.

"I'll fetch you some clothes and a towel, then" she said, smiling at Azula, who nodded gratefully.

"Thanks for your hospitality in such short notice" she said, and Song shook her head.

"It's nothing, Princess. We're here to serve you, after all" she said, grinning as she turned back into the house to fetch the items she had mentioned.

Azula walked to the bathroom outside the house, and Sokka headed upstairs to change out of his dress robes and into more comfortable garb, comprised of a plain white shirt and a simple pair of pants. He returned downstairs to find Song in the living room after having delivered her clothes and towel to Azula, and she looked at him inquisitively.

"What's going on, Sokka?" she asked, and he dropped his hands on either side of his body in a gesture of cluelessness.

"I wish I knew" he said, before folding his arms before his chest "Things were about as boring as could be for quite a few hours, but then she ran into this guy, some Admiral, and she got really tense over that. And then her father declared her the Crown Princess…"

"Wait, what?" Song said, her eyes snapping wide again "C-Crown…?"

"You heard me" said Sokka, gulping "I'd have thought it was a good thing, but that only seemed to stress her more. She she left the Ballroom after that, I found her at Xin Long's place, we talked a little and the next thing I knew she was asking if she could stay over with us tonight"

"Wow" said Song, grimacing "I… I don't get it. Not one bit"

"Well, join the club" said Sokka, sighing "I've got no idea what's bothering her so much. I wish I could help her somehow, but…"

"Maybe you can help by talking with her a bit?" said Song, shrugging "At least, it might be some use for her to talk about it"

"No idea" Sokka sighed "She might not be in the mood to share her problems right now"

"Well, if she's not then just don't force her to do it" said Song, with a small smile "But try to be helpful somehow. She'll need your support in whichever way you can give it. In any case… it's getting a bit late and I was already about to go to bed, so good luck with this. And, for all you hold dear, Sokka, don't do anything stupid. She might be vulnerable, but that doesn't mean you should just sweep in and…"

"Oh, come on" said Sokka, looking at her skeptically "I don't think with my penis, mind-blowing as it might be for you to hear that"

"Hey, I'm only warning you" said Song, raising her hands defensively "I know well enough how you feel for her. Don't do anything that might only make her unhappier in the end, okay?"

"Of course" said Sokka, scowling at Song as she smiled a little and walked to the stairs, heading towards her room.

Within the small bathroom hut, Azula lay in the tub, her head resting against its border, her eyes closed. One of the many perks of being a firebender was having the ability to heat water at will, so she was free to soak in the warm water, relaxing for as long as she needed it with no risk of it growing any colder. And she sure needed to relax…

The bathroom wasn't at all of the quality she was used to, having been born and raised in a life of luxury as she had been. But the simplicity of the place, compared to her personal bathroom, wasn't enough to distract her from her troubles entirely. She reached out towards a small table next to the tub, where she had left her dress and accessories. Her fingers wrapped around a small metallic object and she clasped it, staring at it through heavy-lidded eyes once she reeled her arm back into the tub.

Her current hairpiece was the type worn by all princes in the nation, regardless of age or gender. Crown Princes were supposed a custom hairpiece, but Azula doubted she'd have to forsake the hairpiece that she had worn since she was a child, since the Crown Prince's hairpiece had been lost for a long time…

She sighed and sank into the water, using her free hand to firebend into the liquid to warm it more. She would face this matter head-on by tomorrow, with her chin high, ready for whatever consequences might come from her father's hasty appointment of her as his heir. She would deal with Zuko somehow, and with her uncle as well…

The thoughts did little to tranquilize her, but she was free from her burdens for what was left of the night, at least. There would be no need to feel pressures to keep to her father's expectations, no need to remain distrustful of Zhao, no need to face her brother. She knew she would be able to handle it all later, even though she wasn't especially enthusiastic about the idea right now. All she needed was to calm down… and spending time with Sokka just might prove the best way to do that tonight.

Even so, the gap between them had only grown larger after this. It was already bad enough for a princess to be involved with a slave, but a Crown Princess? She would be the stain in the Fire Nation's dynasties for generations on end, and that definitely wasn't the way she wanted to go down I history. She wanted to bring glory to her nation and her family… but the one thing that brought genuine joy to her life would only accomplish the entire opposite of that.

She climbed out of the tub, emptying it and drying herself off while wondering just when her life had become such a string of contradictions and ironies tied one behind the other. She had the suspicion it had begun since her childhood, though. For once, blaming Sokka for this would be slightly unfair…

She clad herself in the clothes Song had brought her, a simple light blue robe with a violet sash. Still drying her hair with her towel, she left the bathroom in hopes to find something to brush her hair with, but instead what she found was Sokka, standing at the veranda. His careful hairdo was gone by now, though he hadn't tied up his hair, Azula noticed. All intentions to relax vanished upon seeing him like this. Unsurprisingly, his messy appearance was even more appealing than his elegant outfit from earlier.

"Done with the bath?" Sokka asked her, as she stopped before him "Are you feeling any better?"

"Getting there, I guess" Azula said, sliding her fingers through her damp hair "I could use something to comb my hair, though. It will become a mess if I don't do it…"

"Oh, wait here" said Sokka, grinning before darting inside to fetch a hairbrush.

When he returned he found Azula sitting at the veranda, staring at Xin Long as he rested in the garden, the damp towel on her lap. Fireworks were going off in the city, their blasts were loud enough to be heard from where they were, but it was impossible to see them from the garden.

"Here" said Sokka, sitting beside her and handing her the brush "I hope you don't mind it's not a comb…"

"It'll have to do, as per usual" Azula said, taking it and sliding it over her hair with some difficulty.

"I hope the bath was good" Sokka said, gulping and looking at her worriedly "I suppose it wasn't as great as a royal bath, but still…"

"It was enough" replied Azula "I had needed to get out of that dress, truth be told. I have to say, though, I'm surprised by all the hair products you have in there. I didn't think Song was that meticulous with her hair… but I can understand it anyways. Dealing with hair can be…"

Azula fell quiet when she noticed Sokka blushing, and she lowered the brush to look at him skeptically before smiling.

"They're not Song's" she said, and he grimaced bashfully "All that hair product is yours, isn't it?"

"N-not all of it! B-but… most of it, I guess" he admitted, gulping, as Azula chuckled "Hey! There's nothing wrong with a man being thorough with his hair!"

"I genuinely thought you just had good hair, but I guess even yours needs to be taken care of" said Azula, still smiling.

"Well, it's never been bad hair" Sokka muttered, sliding his hand through it "But it helps to have proper products to… w-why are we talking about this?!"

"You were asking about how the bath was, weren't you?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows, and Sokka gritted his teeth "You brought it on yourself, Sokka…"

"I did not" he said, scowling as she returned to brushing her hair. He raised an eyebrow as she struggled with a certain knot, pulling her hair a little more violently than she should have "Do you want help with that?"

"I'm not so helpless that I can't even brush my hair" Azula grunted, and Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure the last thing anyone takes you to be is 'helpless', Princess" he said, smirking "Come on, I can take care of that knot myself. It'll be a lot easier…"

Despite her complaints, soon Azula found herself in Sokka's power as he took the brush from her. She sighed, trying not to enjoy the way his fingers slid through her dark locks, his hands grazing the nape of her neck and her back as he undid the small tangles in her hair. His motions were so gentle she had to force herself not to relax and drop against him.

"So…" Sokka said, and Azula was rather relieved he would start a conversation. Focusing on something else might keep her from making a fool of herself right now "Can I ask what this was all about? Or is it a bad idea to talk about it? I mean, I'm more than happy to have you here, but…"

"But you're curious and confused" Azula said, and Sokka smiled a little.

"It just seems somewhat puzzling. I don't understand what's wrong… not entirely, at least" said Sokka "I figure you didn't expect that announcement, but even then… I figured you'd be happier about it. Unless you're just worried about Zuko, which I'd understand, but…"

"It's not just Zuko" Azula sighed, rubbing her forehead "It's my uncle, and whoever might also consider my father's appointment of me as Crown Princess an unfairness. I have proved myself enough times in the eyes of some, but in the eyes of others nothing I do will ever make me worthier of the throne than my brother… merely because he was born first, and because he's a man. The title of Fire Lord always goes to men, after all…"

"I remember you told me that" said Sokka, frowning.

"Every other Crown Princess in history has been relegated to the position of Fire Lady" Azula muttered "While their not-royal husbands became Fire Lords. And… and that will be my fate, unless my father dropped dead randomly soon, but that's not something I want either way"

"So… you don't want to be Crown Princess because of that? Will he be more forceful about you taking a husband by now?" Sokka asked.

"I have no way of knowing if he will be. It's true I've dodged it long enough" said Azula "But my father should still allow our agreement regarding the gladiator battles to stand. The line of suitors is sure to become more crowded by now, but if any of them truly hopes to take me for his wife…"

"They'll have to go through me" said Sokka, pursing his lips "And I'm not letting anyone take you just like that…"

"Good to know" said Azula, smiling a little "If anything, you've proven you can be counted on when it comes to beating my suitors' gladiators"

"Heh, yep. I've got your back" he said, smiling at her.

"And my hair too, seems like" said Azula, turning to look at him "You do realize you've brushed it all over like five times by now?"

"It's not my fault" he said, chuckling "Your hair is more fun than mine…"

"Well, I'm glad it entertains you, but it'll fall off if you keep brushing it all night" she said, raising her eyebrows, and Sokka chuckled.

"Okay, okay, I'll leave it be" he said, setting the brush aside and shifting in his sitting position so he could be right next to her. Azula watched him with a smile, but it soon disappeared when he returned to the previous subject.

"Still, is that all there is to it? Suitors?" Sokka asked, and she shook her head.

"No, not really" she said "As much as this was sudden for you, and for everyone else, my father had already told me of his intentions to declare me Crown Princess. I'd asked him not to do it, mostly because I'd hoped to deal with Zuko and Iroh beforehand. But despite my request, he just… well, he did as he pleased. Which should come as no surprise, he's Fire Lord, but still… I thought he understood my reasons. I don't want this matter to evolve into a civil war, because in the worst case scenario, that's what might happen. I merely wanted to try to smoothen the ground before he pushed me down on it, but it's too late for that now. I'll have to deal with the consequences one way or another…"

"You don't really think it will escalate into a civil war, though, do you?" Sokka asked, frowning "I mean…"

"There's no way of knowing it" said Azula "It could result in an Agni Kai between me and Zuko, I suppose, if he decides to defy my Father's decision, but that doesn't mean it will be over with just that"

"You think the people would refuse to accept a female Fire Lord?" muttered Sokka "Merely over the fact that you're a woman?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time I'm looked down upon for that sole reason" Azula said, shrugging and pulling her knees up, surrounding them with her arms. Sokka bit his lip and lowered his eyes, a pang of guilt making is stomach sink.

"I'm sorry about that. I… I've learned to see things differently, though. You've taught me lots of things, amongst them to never underestimate a woman, so…"

"That's good to know, but I actually wasn't talking about you" Azula said, raising her eyebrows, and Sokka froze.

"No? Then…?" he said, confused, and Azula sighed. The memory of an old conversation between them returned to Sokka's mind then, and he frowned "Wait. You've talked to me about this, haven't you? About your advisors, and how they believed you should be pretty much an ornament… And was it a Captain? A guy you had an argument with?"

Azula smiled curtly and nodded. Sokka had no trouble telling the smile wasn't earnest.

"You had asked about who I was talking to in the Ball, right?" said Azula "Well, as it turns out, Admiral Zhao was only a Captain several years ago … and he's the very man with whom I had that argument"

"W-wha-…?" Sokka blinked blankly, astounded. He would have expected to hear that whoever had been disrespectful to Azula had paid the price for it. Knowing that he in fact had gained further honors and glory after the fact made him feel quite uneasy…

"You see, Admiral Zhao and my father have been close since their teenage years, from what I understand" explained Azula "If we were to say it simply, they've been best friends for a long time. So while growing up, Admiral Zhao was almost as some sort of surrogate uncle for me. Only for me, though, he always treated Zuko in the same way my father did… by which I mean, with distance and disdain. Whereas he also treated me like my father did, by encouraging me to reach my full potential and whatnot. I admit I found it quite flattering when I was younger, that he would take interest in me and not in Zuko. I even looked up to him… he was said to be an extraordinary firebender, so I dreamt of being just as extraordinary as he was. I admired him, not as much as I did my father, but still admired him all the same. You could even say that I…"

"That you what?" Sokka asked, frowning a little as Azula laughed softly and shook her head.

"Well, he humored me once by acting as my alleged suitor while I played at being Fire Lord. It was again, truly flattering…"

"S-so you're saying you… y-you didn't like the guy, did you? He's… old" said Sokka, grimacing and looking at Azula accusingly as she laughed "Come on, woman! Look at those sideburns, they're so thick you could clean ostrich horse's hooves with them!

Azula's soft laughter increased in volume and magnitude now as Sokka looked at her, scandalized.

"Seriously, what's with your taste in men?" he said, shaking his head as she continued to laugh "And since you were a kid? Really, Azula, here I'd thought you were a Princess with standards…"

"Shut up, you're the one who's lowered my standards beyond reason" Azula said, looking at him with raised eyebrows and still some amusement.

"You know, I'd believe you on that if you hadn't told me you had a childhood crush on Admiral Sideburns" said Sokka, and Azula shook her head and laughed more at the nickname "Seriously, are all nobles from the Fire Nation so bad-looking that this was the best you thought you could do?"

"I didn't really care about his looks, mind you" said Azula, finally calming down "And besides, it's not like I was hoping to actually get involved with him. I was a child, I had foolish fantasies just like any other child might, and seeing how I knew no boys my age back then, Zhao was the only idea I had of what men outside my family were like. So…"

"It's still disturbing" said Sokka, shaking his head, and Azula smiled, but the expression soured on her face soon.

"I suppose I soon found it disturbing too, though not quite because of how much older than me he was, or his sideburns" she muttered "But rather, because I realized how wrong I was about him. He really wasn't as wonderful as he seemed, and you already have a pretty good idea as to why"

"I remember you said you argued with the guy" said Sokka, frowning "And that he would conceal underhanded insults through charm and whatnot. Right?"

"Exactly" said Azula, sighing "It happened after a war meeting I'd attended, one of the first ones I had been allowed to be part of. I'd given my input in the discussion, and my father had sided with me, while Zhao disagreed with us. He was firm in his belief that taking down the Northern Water Tribe should be the priority, and that using Sozin's Comet for our benefit in that battle would have been the wisest course of action. I disagreed, for the poles aren't favorable environments for firebenders, while the Earth Kingdom offered lands and resources that we could exploit and benefit from. Granted either thing will sound awful to you right now, but…"

"Heh, from a strategic standpoint, you made the right argument there" said Sokka, with a defeated sigh "So what was his problem, then? He didn't like being wrong, is it?"

"Clearly, he didn't, but it didn't bother him all that much, apparently" said Azula, sighing "When I was leaving the throne room I figured he might have insisted on taking down the North Pole for a reason, so I turned back, meaning to ask him if he had any knowledge of resources in the North Pole that could benefit our nation, perhaps. My father was already gone by then, and only a few other officials were still in the Throne Room with Zhao. I hadn't pushed through the drapes yet when I heard them laughing… they were teasing Zhao over how a thirteen-year-old girl had proved smarter than him, but strangely enough, he laughed also. It confused me that he'd find their insults amusing… but as they continued to talk I realized that he didn't find the entire matter insulting altogether, because as they had said it themselves, I was but a girl. I vividly remember a comment about how I ought to be playing with dolls rather than discussing war with grown men. There was this off-handed insinuation that I was letting my childhood go to waste by getting involved with politics and warfare… after that, I'd heard enough. So I stormed off, unable to understand it. I was sure Zhao was my ally and that, like my father, he hoped to see me triumph. I realized then that this wasn't the case, though. He saw me as a child, a little girl for whom there was no room in the game they were playing…"

"Well, he was damn wrong about you, if he really thought that. He must have realized it later, didn't he?" Sokka asked. Azula snorted.

"I doubt that" said Azula, shrugging "I spoke to him afterwards, caught him in a hallway, and that was when he hid behind his charming attitude, attempting to disarm me and to make me relax by claiming that he had only said such things to humor the others. Apparently, he knew they looked down on me for being a woman, but of course he would never act that way towards me. All the while he was smiling at me… and for the first time I realized just what the meaning behind that grin was"

Azula sighed and stretched back, glaring at the sky as though it were to blame for her sorrows. Sokka gritted his teeth as Azula continued.

"Condescendence is the best word to describe it" she said "All he was spouting in that moment were lies. And surely every damn thing he had ever told me beforehand had been lies also, but I just hadn't been sharp enough to read him properly. I think that was the first time in my life that I felt betrayed. For him, of all people, to look down on me… it was a blow I sure didn't expect. And then I told my old advisors about it, and you know just how well that went…"

"Yep" said Sokka, grimacing, and Azula sighed.

"You see… the thought that kept crossing my mind was that Zuko had been subjected to the utmost humiliation after his untimely intervention in a war meeting" she said "He was burned, banished… it was a scandal that will follow him to the grave, for certain. People were horrified by it, others thought it was the fitting punishment for his mistakes… but I thought, what if I'd been the one to do it? What if I intervened in a war meeting out of turn?"

"You didn't test that out, did you?" Sokka asked, warily, and Azula looked at him with sincerity.

"I did" she said, and his eyes widened "And guess what? Nothing happened. Nothing, whatsoever. I even interrupted Buijing purposefully, and all my father did was chuckle about my comment. Nobody seemed surprised by it, nobody was scandalized. It simply didn't matter. And it didn't because the rest of them thought in the very same way Zhao does. They all believed I didn't belong there. I'm willing to say my father is different, for he clearly does take me seriously, or else he wouldn't have tasked me with the important missions he has given me… and I do know he favors me over Zuko, so it wasn't quite surprising that he wouldn't subject me to the same punishment for the same crime. But it was the rest of their reactions that I wanted to weigh for myself… and the result wasn't surprising in the slightest. Disheartening, for certain, but no surprise"

"Well, I know it's the last thing you want to hear, but I'm glad you weren't forced to fight against your father" said Sokka, grimacing "If he burned Zuko like that…"

"Zuko got burned that way because he didn't fight back at all" said Azula, looking at Sokka matter-of-factly "I don't mean to brag, but I don't think my father couldn't possibly have burned me as he did Zuko. I was practically a firebending master at the time already. I hadn't mastered lightning yet, but I understood its workings well enough. Even if my father had attempted to attack me with it I would have known to strike him before… wait, why am I imagining an Agni Kai with my father, again?"

"No reason" said Sokka, smiling a little "I'm glad you wouldn't end up in such bad shape if you had to fight him, then. Still… isn't it almost a good thing to be looked down upon, when you put it this way? You can get away with things that would be unforgivable for others…"

"Not from where I'm standing, it isn't" said Azula "I'd fight Agni Kais against every member of my father's council if that's what it would take for them to take me seriously, but that's just not going to happen. No prince in history has ever had to accomplish any of what I have in order to gain my title as Crown Princess. It took me a dragon, five captured criminals, a thwarted attack against the Fire Nation, a dismantled conspiracy and a ceremony with three different types of fire for them to respect me for what I'm worth, no less. Meanwhile, all Zuko needed to deserve being considered Crown Prince was being my father's firstborn son"

"It is unfair" said Sokka, sighing "Yet you've made it, haven't you? Even if you might have to deal with a few loose ends, you're Crown Princess now…"

"No, I haven't made it" she said, shaking her head "It's not going to make a damn difference unless he dies before I take a husband. And since that's just not going to happen, nobody expects me to become Fire Lord either way. Just now, when I left the Ballroom, Zhao was telling me he thought he ought to have a dance with me tonight, for by next year I might have taken a husband already…"

"Ugh… he said that? Really?" Sokka asked, grimacing "You know, I wasn't too fond of the guy at all, but I'd figured I'd give him the benefit of doubt… up until this conversation happened"

"Granted he's a good admiral" Azula said "And he's proven effective except for the Siege of the North, but I just can't stop feeling the way I do towards him. I just want to make him regret his every word of mockery towards me. I want him to feel ashamed of how he's acted, to shiver in fear at my feet as I stand above him…"

"Is that the fate you reserve for all your enemies?" Sokka asked, with a smile. Azula smirked.

"For those who don't respect me, it is" she said "And in fact, I hoped to get to that point, if only figuratively. Everything has been laid down so that one day he'll have no choice but to acknowledge me…"

"Really?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "How?"

"There's actually one thing I haven't told you about Zhao yet" she said, somewhat hesitantly "You see… he happens to be Combustion Man's sponsor"

Sokka's jaw dropped and he stared at Azula in utter disbelief as she smiled weakly. He frowned now, lifting a finger as he remembered when he had heard Zhao's name being mentioned.

"You'd said so before, at your birthday, I think" he said "T-that this guy was his sponsor. I'd forgotten all about that…"

"I can't blame you for forgetting, it mustn't have seemed too important at the time" Azula said "Zhao has had Zhen, one of his closest underlings, sponsoring Combustion Man while he was gone… it's curious, though, that Zhen probably has sponsored Combustion Man for longer than Zhao has, seeing how Zhao was up north for at least six years…"

"But he's… damn" said Sokka, his hand going to his forehead before he looked at Azula with a frown again, but this time of realization "So he's Combustion Man's sponsor, you said. So that means he's been sponsoring the top fighter of the League…"

"Indeed" said Azula, nodding and sighing "Combustion Man has been at the top of the ranking ever since the Superior Gladiator League was inaugurated"

"No surprises there, if he's as ruthless as I've heard" said Sokka "But say, if he's the top fighter…"

"You just might have recalled our second encounter… when you asked what my purpose was by having you as my gladiator. I mentioned I had two goals, one of them for you to beat Chan's fighter and…"

"And the second was to become the top gladiator of the Superior League" said Sokka, his eyes widening "Y-you did it because of this? All along, this was why?"

"I guess you'd have expected to hear I had a more noble intention than this" Azula said, with a sad smile "But I'm not that good a person, I'm afraid. All this time, I wanted you to defeat Combustion Man so I could look Zhao in the eye and dare him to undermine me one more time"

Sokka blinked a few times, the information taking some time to register in his head. It wasn't that Azula's motivations were unexpected… but rather, the realization that he hadn't questioned said motivations since ages ago. He had left all doubts behind long ago, following Azula blindly simply because it felt right. Her goal had become his goal, whether or not he understood why she had been pursuing it. He simply wanted to help her accomplish everything she dreamt of, no matter what that might be…

"I know it must sound ridiculous" said Azula, sighing "It's why I never told you. You had been through many hardships I could barely imagine, and talking your ear off about my bubble of royal pains wasn't going to suit you well…"

"Uh, well, I did say that, but…" said Sokka, and Azula laughed.

"Don't try to sugarcoat it. You were right anyways" she said, and he looked at her in surprise "Maybe it's because of everything I've accomplished, or because of how much things have changed ever since you came along… but I guess I've gained a different perspective about the world by now. Those used to be my only problems before… the first thing I wanted to change as soon as I took the throne was the way women are treated in society. And yes, that must change, but… but clearly, my problems aren't the only ones that need to be solved. There are other urgent matters that I should tend to as soon as possible… and it will be up to me to do it. Whether by using whatever future husband my father forces on me as a puppet or by my own hand, there are far too many things I must tend to, and I'll have a better chance at doing so as Crown Princess"

"Well, let's hope you can do it yourself somehow" said Sokka, biting his lower lip "Still, I don't think it's such a petty problem. I guess I would have if you'd told me about it while I was still fresh out of Hui Yi, but after what you've explained…"

"You don't think it's that foolish? Really?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows, and Sokka smiled.

"Of course not. The truth came as a bit of a surprise now, but I guess I hadn't cared about it for a long time" he admitted, with a soft laugh "Honestly, I… I guess I've been enjoying our run together far too much to question your motives anymore. Spending time with you has become its own reward, so becoming the top gladiator… it sounds good, but it's not the single thing on my mind"

"It's… not?" Azula asked him, surprised "Sokka…"

"I know, I know. We struck a deal" he said, smiling "But hey, even if I defeated the Millennium Dragon that doesn't mean I'll be capable of defeating Combustion Man yet. So you'll have to put up with me for a little while longer, like it or not, Princess"

"I had thought the one who wouldn't like it so much would be you" Azula said, raising her eyebrows but smiling. Sokka chuckled.

He had definitely surprised her just now. She was aware of his feelings for her, especially since she reciprocated them whole-heartedly by now… but she hadn't expected him to say he was enjoying their time together so much that returning to his Tribe wasn't at the forefront of his thoughts anymore. His love for his people was something with which she hadn't interfered, ever. She had learned to accept it and respect it. But to think that the extent of his love for her was such that he would forget about his imminent return home…

"I don't know what's there not to like at this point, honestly. You've made my days in the Fire Nation far more fun than I expected them to be" he said, grinning at her, before frowning "Though I guess there's actually one thing I don't like about this place"

"Oh?" Azula looked at him with hesitation, unsure as to why his last comment would make her nervous.

"You…" he said, looking at her with disbelief "You Fire Nation folk don't have a damn clue of what dancing is supposed to be like, do you?"

All of Azula's expectations towards whatever he was going to say disappeared in thin air, and now she was left to stare back at him, baffled.

"What… what the heck?" she said "That's what you don't like about living here? The way we dance?"

"No, no, as it happens, the thing is that you guys just don't dance" said Sokka, lifting a finger again "That weird thing going on in that Ball simply wasn't dancing, no matter how you may look at it. It was practically like watching a pair overdramatic vultures making ridiculous gestures and looming over someone who was about to drop dead. Just, no. That's absolutely wrong!"

"I'll have you know, that's a traditional Fire Nation dance that has been performed for centuries, if not millennia" Azula said, glaring at Sokka, who pouted.

"Then that's how long you people haven't had a damn clue how to dance" he stated, and Azula actually laughed.

"Oh, because your Tribe has such remarkable dancing traditions, I'm sure!" she said sarcasticaly, and Sokka looked at her, affronted.

"Of course it does! You would be shocked to hear…!"

"To hear all about how you guys dance around fire pits, screaming and jumping like hyena-apes with fleas while someone strikes some drums without any understanding of how to keep a beat?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka blushed.

"W-we don't scream! A-and the guy with the drums can keep a beat alright!" he squealed, as Azula smirked "And how the hell do you know what we do for dances?!"

"You see, after bonding with Xin Long I've gained the ability to look into people's memories at will, so I did that with you just now and…"

"Oh, pfft, like I'm going to swallow that! Come on!" Sokka exclaimed, flustered as Azula laughed.

"You know, there are certain magical objects out there" she said, sarcastically "They impart wisdom to all those who seek it… you might have heard of them, actually. They're called 'books', you see…"

"Heh? You Fire Nation people have books on Water Tribe traditions?" Sokka asked, deliberately ignoring her derisive tone.

"Well, obviously. Our education is very complete after all" Azula said, proudly "Our history books always include stories on archaic civilizations, and naturally, the Southern Water Tribe is the best example for that…"

"Oh, shush!" Sokka exclaimed, as Azula laughed again "It's not that bad. You know what? When you take me down there I'll show you, and you'll see the fire pits' dances aren't that bad"

"You'll show me? Are you serious?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows in amusement "Sokka, if I dare put a single toe within reach of your fellow tribesmen they'd try to hack my head off for showing my face around them…"

"Come on, like I'd let them do that" said Sokka "Besides, what's that? Are you scared of a bunch of savages, Princess?"

"Heh, who'd imagine the day would come when you'd acknowledge you're a savage …" Azula pointed out, smirking as Sokka grimaced and hung his head in defeat.

"M-my bad" he muttered, before lifting his head again and shaking it promptly "Well, whatever, you're going to dance Water Tribe dances one day. That's final"

"Fine, then. You should dance Fire Nation dances first, though" said Azula, shrugging innocently "Seeing how you're all about cultural exchange all of sudden…"

"You know, I actually had hoped to get away with dancing with you" he said, and Azula stared at him with skepticism.

"You're joking. You couldn't have expected, realistically, that we would be able to dance, could you?" she asked, and Sokka shrugged.

"Zuko got to dance with Suki for a while" he said "But still, I didn't want to do that vulture dance. I expected your dances to be a little more fun than that"

"Well, sorry for not fulfilling your expectations on that front" said Azula "But we didn't create our traditions to cater to some Water Tribesman's wishes, now, did we?"

"No… but I guess we could create our own dances, whether we abide by traditions or not" he said, smirking at her. Azula's eyes widened warily.

"Say what?"

"Come on!" Sokka said, standing up with a broad grin on his face "It's time to be innovative and come up with an improvement to your vulture dance by adding some Water Tribe spice to it!"

"What in the name of…?" Azula asked, as Sokka offered her his hand "No! I'm not going to…!"

"Come on, woman! It's experimental dancing!" he exclaimed, as Azula looked at him in disbelief "Seriously, it'll be fun!"

"I don't think so" she said, her eyes wide, and Sokka pouted.

"Oh, so you're just afraid I'll come up with such an improved version of that vulture dance that you'll have to eat all your words, aren't you?"

"In fact, I'm afraid you'll make a fool of yourself and I certainly don't want to be a part of that" Azula stated earnestly, with a malicious grin. Sokka's pout intensified as he reached down and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her up "Sokka! Quit being annoying!"

"Like I could possibly do that" he said, once she was on her feet "You know it's engrained in my very nature, Princess"

Azula glared at him as he grinned idiotically and walked into the house, winding up in the living room. He pushed the small table towards the couch in front of it, so that there would be enough room for them to move freely. Azula watched in disbelief, stepping forth as she kept telling herself she wasn't about to join him in this. No, not a chance in hell…

"Alright!" Sokka exclaimed, turning to her with a broad grin "Let's get this going!"

"Aren't we missing the pile of wood I'll be setting on fire?" Azula asked, with a sardonic grin. Sokka's own smile turned upside down at that "Seeing how that's the sort of dancing you're used to…"

"We'll have to make do without that for now" he said, shrugging "Now come here and let's start with this!"

"I don't want to" Azula said curtly, and Sokka pouted, approaching her and clasping her hands in his, careful to avoid having her palms or fingers grazing his bandaged wounds "What are you…?"

"If you're not going to join me willingly, then I'll have to make you dance somehow!" he exclaimed, grinning as he started to bounce circularly around her, still holding her hands. Azula stared at him with utter disbelief as he made her spin in circles "Come on, woman, join in!"

"What the blazes is wrong with you, for crying out loud?" she asked, shaking her head at him as he stopped skipping and instead began to swing their arms randomly.

"You know, this would be a lot more fun if you would put your heart into it" he said, chuckling as he pulled one of her hands towards him while moving the other one away. He alternated the hands, his trademark goofy grin on his face making it so she couldn't help but laugh along with him as they, by his standards, danced.

"You're out of your mind!" she exclaimed, between laughs, as he started to jump around her again, now having released her hands.

"Come on, Azula! If you can do the vulture dance, you can do this too!" he exclaimed, as she was overtaken by the laughter.

Again he clasped her hands, but to his surprise, she actually started to move along with him as he skipped. He grinned broadly, their fingers intertwining as Azula continued to laugh. He wasn't sure if he could see tears blinking in her eyes, even. This surely was the first time he had ever made her laugh this hard…

Still, he had to halt his circular jumping once he started to feel a little sickly. He chuckled as he pulled her close and pushed her away gently repeatedly, the two of them still holding hands.

"See, this is so much more fun than the vulture dance, isn't it?" he asked, laughing as well.

Azula let go of his hands when he pulled her close next, which resulted in her falling straight into his arms. She buried her face in his shoulder, her body shaking with every soft chuckle that left her body. Sokka continued to laugh with her, his arms going around her body as he swayed from side to side, shifting his weight between his legs.

By the time Azula relaxed in his arms he was grinning like a fool and he was painfully aware of it. His head rested atop of hers, holding her close.

"Is this part of your experimental dance too?" she asked, and Sokka shrugged.

"If you want it to be" he said, lifting his head to look at her directly.

Her golden eyes gleamed in the most alluring way after she laughed, he knew that by heart already. The smile that still danced on her lips seemed to disappear as she looked at him intensely, finding his gaze as appealing as he did hers.

His soft swaying stopped to a halt, one of his hands resting on the small of her back, keeping her close, while the other rose to her face. Azula's eyes were narrow now as she inched closer, her hands on his chest.

Their noses brushed together, and Sokka was more than ready to lean down, to cut close the distance between them through a kiss…

… But a barrage of thoughts came to Azula's mind just then, thoughts to warn her of everything that could go wrong if she caved into her desires now. For there would be no stopping it tonight… not since what had happened on the ship, anyways. The explosive pleasure she had achieved, the delight of belonging to him for just an instant… it would be wonderful, no doubt, but that delight would disappear without a trace once everything fell apart. For it would fall apart, one way or another. If anything went wrong between them it would be a far worse blow than losing her respect for Admiral Zhao. For she had only admired the man… whereas she loved Sokka. And things could very well go wrong. They almost had once before, and repairing them had seemed an impossible feat at the time. She didn't think they could amend their relationship if it were to shatter ever again.

And even if it worked out somehow, if their relationship only became better and smoother than ever, it could all be gone with the speed lightning touching down on the ground. For if she was to be Crown Princess from now on, Sokka's crime of involving himself with her would only become worse than it already had been, and the consequences he would face for this would no doubt be fatal…

The power of these thoughts made her do the unthinkable. Despite she ached to join him in a kiss, and whatever might follow, she recoiled. His lips moved forward but caught nothing where he should have found hers. He opened his eyes to notice she was breathing heavily, looking somewhat consternated.

It wasn't hard for Sokka to figure out why she had rejected him wordlessly. It was rather painful, though, to see her looking at him apologetically now, as though her keeping her distance might have insulted him… Sokka smiled reassuringly towards her and nodded, letting go of her.

"Sokka…" she said, her chest aching terribly all of sudden. Oh, just what had she done…?

"You must be tired" he said, with a grin, rubbing her arms softly with his bandaged hands "I know I would be, after such a long and annoying day, heh?"

"Sokka, I…" she said, stepping forward, and he surrounded her with his arms again, to her momentary relief as he embraced her.

"Don't worry" he said, closing his eyes once more "It's fine. We'll be fine"

Somehow she doubted he was being truthful, though. Whether they went through with this or not, the only certainty she had was that they wouldn't be fine. Acting upon their urges would lead to disasters, but not acting at all seemed to be about to destroy her on the inside anyways. And given his reaction, her rejection had hurt him as badly as it had hurt her. His pretense that it hadn't wasn't convincing in the slightest for Azula.

"I'm sorry" she whispered, and he grinned.

"Hey, now, isn't that my line?" he asked, releasing her from his grip and caressing her hair gently "There's nothing to be sorry for, Princess"

"Still…"

"If anything, the one who ought to apologize is me. Your vulture dance doesn't appeal to me, but it's not that bad. I just really wanted to mess with you" he confessed.

"Well, you did that well enough" Azula muttered, and Sokka grinned guiltily.

"And I guess I'm also sorry regarding the bunk you'll have to sleep in tonight" he said, raising his eyebrows "I figure you should take my bed, though I'm sure it won't be as good as your royal sleeping arrangements. You always say that it's better than sleeping on the ground, though, so…"

"I can take your bed?" she repeated, looking at him in confusion "You're not planning on staying there too?"

"Well…" he started, before he smiled and shook his head "It's better this way. Trust me on that. Come on, let's go. I've never showed you my room, have I?"

If he hadn't said so, Azula wouldn't have realized that was the case. He jerked his head towards the staircase and walked towards it, guiding the Princess to the last door of the hallway in the upper floor. Azula followed dutifully as he opened the door, her chest still constraining her painfully.

The room was spacious enough, with only a bed, one small closet and a dresser. There were twin doors that led to a small balcony through which Sokka would have a not-so-great view of the city, for it was located on the end of the house that looked out to the edge of the crater, and that wouldn't be much of a landscape from this point of view. All in all, the room seemed cozy enough. It wasn't the sort of room Azula was used to, but it was the sort of room she would have expected her gladiator to have.

"Song had changed the sheets before I came back from the Slate, but if you want I can get fresher ones…" Sokka said, and Azula shook her head.

"It's fine, no need to bother" she said, and he bit his lip.

"Well, then… there's water on the nightstand" he said "In case you get thirsty overnight. And if you need anything else, I'll be on the couch right downstairs…"

"Sokka…" Azula said, looking at him almost pleadingly "You don't have to do that. We've shared the same bed more than enough times by now, it's fine if you just…"

"I know that, but I don't think it's a good idea" he said, with a sad smile "Hell, I'd love to, but… but I'm afraid I've held my own too long as it is. I can't promise I'll be able to stop myself from doing things I shouldn't this time"

"You're all out of willpower, then?" she asked, and he grinned.

"I think I'm using all I've got left by going to the couch instead" he said, and Azula gritted her teeth "Look, I don't… I don't think I can hold back anymore, I've said that before. But I still don't want to do anything you might not be ready for. So…"

He fell silent, as though waiting for her to say he was wrong, that she was ready, or as ready as she would ever be, if anything. And upon looking into her eyes he had the feeling that said words were threatening to spill out of her, but she was holding them in. She was afraid, one way or another… and he couldn't blame her for it. He was damn terrified as well.

"So just sleep tight" he said, smiling "I'll see you tomorrow"

Azula opened her mouth, as though to tell him not to leave. She wanted to say she needed him with her tonight, regardless of whatever that could result in… she wanted to tell him she loved him, this time for real, without any substances inducing her to tell him the truth about her feelings. She wanted to say so many things… but she couldn't utter them. Surely for wanting to say so much she fell short, and instead said nothing. She swallowed and nodded, her chest aching so badly she was sure she was going to split in two.

Sokka smiled sadly at her, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand gently. Azula's hands reached up to take his bandaged one, her eyes closing as she basked in his light touch. This would have to do for tonight… there was nothing more to it. She couldn't pull through with what her heart truly desired.

"Night" she said. Sokka sighed and drew back his hand, smiling at her before leaving the room without another word.

Azula's hand went to her forehead as she shook her head. She continued to stare at the open door Sokka had left through, in utter and total disbelief.

"I'm an idiot" she whispered to herself "I'm… I'm an idiot"

She continued to shake her head as she walked to the bed, dropping on it headfirst into the pillow. Sighs escaped her body, for somehow they seemed to help her feel better. The chest-splitting pain was still there, but it mitigated slightly with every sigh.

She wanted to tell herself she would be happy about this one day, but it was a lie she'd never buy into. She wouldn't be, no doubt. This was truly destroying her inside. It wasn't an innocent struggle as it might have been before, not ever since lust had joined the fray as well. She desired him desperately, and the battle between her urges and her rational mind was so brutal she was afraid she wouldn't get through it without sacrificing one of them somehow. One side would win eventually… and no matter the outcome of the fight, the only loser would be herself, of course. For the first time in her life she was fighting a battle she couldn't turn to her favor no matter what she did…

And sleeping in Sokka's bed did nothing to help either. It smelled like him… had he lain here thinking about her, just as she often did in her own bed, her mind full of thoughts of him? She cringed and berated herself for thinking of that. She had to control herself already…

Still it was hard to relax in a bed that smelled like him, in a room that was completely his, with a heart in her chest that belonged to him completely and reminded her of it with each and every painful beat. She cursed as she pulled the sheets over her body, trying to stop her thoughts from consuming her, the memories of both good and bad times from tormenting her. That dreadful night kept returning to her, as a reminder of how he could break her heart… but the night on the ship came back as well, along with the pleasure he had provided her even in such a limited situation. Just what would happen if he had free reign over her body…?

She shivered at the thought, and she grabbed the pillow to groan into it… only to find that it also smelled like him, of course. She sighed and shook her head, surrounding it with her arms tightly. Perhaps at this point, her only choice would be to pretend this was Sokka in order to soothe herself to sleep…

Feeling miserable, pathetic and foolish, she told herself that tomorrow would be a better day somehow. It had to be. This pain would be gone… for if it wasn't, she couldn't promise she wouldn't do what they both had been trying to avoid. For once she wasn't sure she could prove strong enough to overcome this challenge…

Maybe she was, though. But she certainly didn't want to be.

* * *

She tore through the crowd desperately, searching for him hopelessly. Neither Mai or Ty Lee had seen him since he had danced with Suki, Ruon Jian and Haru were equally clueless about where Zuko might have ran off to. His disappearance had been a simple thing at first, she hadn't given it too much importance… but after what the Fire Lord had only just declared, she was terrified to her very bone. What did it mean that Azula would become Crown Princess? Had something happened to Zuko? Had he done anything to lose his father's favor irreparably? What on earth was going on?

She barely knew the Palace, the tour Zuko had given her long ago hadn't really helped much, and she feared she was running in circles, given that she couldn't find him anywhere. She barged into his room when she found her bearings, but she failed to find him, and she even dashed through the eerie gallery to no avail. Where was he?

Her feet ached, for she had spent actual hours searching through the Palace to no results. She couldn't wait to get out of these shoes… but first she had to find Zuko. She needed to make sure he was fine…

Either the celebration had died down by then, or Suki had strayed so far from the main Palace hall that she could barely hear the noise anymore. It didn't matter, though, all that mattered was finding Zuko…

Almost on cue, though, she took the next corner to a dark corridor to find him sitting before the gardens. His legs were crossed, and it seemed he held something in his hands, but he had his back towards Suki, so she couldn't see what it was. She didn't care, though. All she wanted was to reach him and berate him, if only a little, for making her worry so much…

"Zuko, finally…" she said, approaching him, but stopping a few steps away. His shoulders were squared, she noticed now, and his head was hung "Zuko?"

Only then did she realize the object in his hands was a small knife, not unlike Mai's. Suki's eyes widened and she looked at him in disbelief. He wasn't going to do what she thought he was going to do, now, was he?

"Zuko…" she said again, her voice deeper now, and she stretched a hand towards him but withdrew it when Zuko clasped the knife in his right hand.

"I… I'm sorry" he said "After all I said, and after things somehow looked like they'd get better for us, suddenly I'm…"

"Zuko, don't you dare…" Suki said, shaking her head, horrified. Zuko sighed and stood up, still staring out at the garden. This would be much easier if he didn't look her in the eye, sadly.

"He's through with me" he said "And I've had enough of him as well. He's… he's only ever seen me as an obstacle in his way. I'm not even a son to him. So I'll give him his wish. I'll…"

"Zuko, for crying out loud, what are you even talking about?" Suki exclaimed, her eyes filling with tears.

"I don't have a choice" he said, gritting his teeth "I'm sorry, Suki. But… I have to go"

"Y-you have to… what?" Suki said, staring into his back. He had to go somewhere? Then he wasn't contemplating suicide…?

"I don't belong here. I won't until I… until I find my honor, until I feel at peace with myself. And I'm not at peace as I am" he said, gulping "You gave me the chance to realize I could be happy, and I owe you more than you know for it. But I can't stay with you as I am, I can't stay here. I'm… I'm leaving the Fire Nation again. I've had enough of this…"

"No. No, Zuko, please…" said Suki, shaking her head.

No, this wasn't as bad as what she'd misunderstood, but regardless, she was going to lose him… she would lose him right after having thought they'd be together for good. Right after accepting him into her life wholeheartedly…

The Prince lifted the knife to the back of his head. He clutched his top knot with his free hand, and he severed his small bun slowly, carefully. Suki's eyes widened as she understood the meaning of his gesture.

Zuko sighed, knowing there was no turning back from this. He had left the Fire Nation the last time by the Fire Lord's decree… this time around he would leave by choice. He was abandoning his people, turning against his father, if not against the Fire Nation as a whole. But he needed to do this…

"Zuko… you… where will you go?" she asked, the tears starting to slip down her face "What are you going to do? You can't just do this without thinking it through!"

"I've thought it through enough" Zuko said, with a sad sigh "I don't belong here any more than you or Sokka or Toph do. It used to be my home… now it feels like my grave. Maybe that will change one day… but I'm afraid it won't while my father remains Fire Lord. Perhaps I'm the one who needs to change my mind, change my ways… it's true that there's too much I don't know, too much I don't understand. I've failed to understand what honor really meant… and I hope to become a honorable man, honorable enough to be worthy of you"

"Y-you fool, you… I don't need you to leave to know you're worthy of me" she said, shaking her head. Zuko's breath caught in his throat "I'm the one who's not worthy of you! And yet you offered me everything despite that…!"

"I offered you things I had no power over, and I only realized that now" he said, gritting his teeth "My feelings for you are as strong as ever, Suki, and… and I won't stop loving you, no matter how long I spend away from you. But I can't offer you a life as I am. All I can offer is my heart, and I know damn well it's not much…"

"It's more than enough, you idiot, I don't need anything else…" Suki said, looking at him in despair "Zuko, please…"

He shook his head slowly, and she bit her lower lip as more tears poured from her eyes.

"I… I won't ask you to wait for me" he said, gulping "I have no right to demand that from you. But… but I promise that I'll return a better man. A worthier man…"

Suki sobbed silently, a hand going to her forehead as she shook her head more. This couldn't be happening. Not when only hours earlier everything had worked out so well…

She leaned forward, pressing her face to his back, knowing his resolve wouldn't break but still hoping to somehow move him, to make him change his mind… but he said no more words. She suspected he might be crying as well, for his shoulders shook slightly once in a while. She rested against him for as long as her heart could take the sorrow before she turned on her heels and left, unable to bear being near Zuko anymore. Not when she knew he would be gone by no fault of hers, just as everything that she had held dear through her whole life. Everything she treasured would disappear, one way or another, and all she could do was watch helplessly as it slipped from her fingers…

Zuko gritted his teeth hard, still clutching both the knife and the severed hair bun. It was the right decision, no matter if it hurt so much that it seemed wrong. One day, perhaps, it would hurt less… but it certainly wouldn't stop hurting if he stayed here. His life would remain in a standstill as it was, and nothing would improve if he didn't leave. He would become an outcast to his own nation once again… and regardless if it hurt, he knew it was the right choice to make. He'd had enough of this. It was time to put an end to this part of his story, to the weirdest year of his life, and to take the reins of his future into his own hands.


	94. Chapter 94

His shoulder was sore when he woke up, finding himself in the living room. He had been sleeping on his side, in a slightly uncomfortable position that could only result in his arm being numb for at least a few minutes once he turned on his side.

Birds were chirping outside, and the light of dawn drifted into the house through the windows in a lazy haze. He lay on his back, blinking blankly as the memories from last night returned to him slowly. He didn't sleep on the couch normally, so it wasn't too difficult to recall the circumstances that had landed him there.

He'd had trouble falling asleep, fidgeting nervously about Azula, for she was just upstairs sleeping in his room, in his bed. How he wanted to join her… there was nothing he would have liked more than to do so. Holding her in his arms was a blessing he still didn't think he deserved, being able to kiss her still filled him with a thrill that he could barely control, that made his heart beat uncontrollably fast. Being with her was everything he could ask for, just being allowed to stand by her side… but despite her reservations, she wanted more. She had given him the chance to reach out for more. And how many times could he hold back until he finally gave in? He didn't know. He was afraid the answer to that question would be a very small number, if it wasn't already zero. Because the next time she looked at him with those golden eyes, and asked him to stay with her, he wouldn't dare refuse…

To think her eyes were so warm towards him now… when they had first met they were unyielding, colder than ice. But now she was warm to him, in ways he had never expected her to be, warmer than she was towards just about anyone else. She made him happier than anything before she came into his life to stay. Who could blame him for feeling the way he did towards her? He never stood a chance. Falling in love with her was just the natural order of things, after everything they'd been through together.

Knowing she was barely a flight of stairs away from where he was compelled him to get up from the couch, his mind set on checking on her. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to do so, for he might just end up joining her in bed… but he wasn't going to do anything stupid while she was unconscious, definitely not! Though there was no telling what would happen if she woke up…

He climbed the stairs slowly, being as careful as he could be not to make a sound. Song wasn't up yet, so hopefully Azula wouldn't be either. He suspected she would be awake soon, but she might still be sleeping…

And once he glanced into his room he found that indeed she was, with her arms wrapped tightly around his pillow.

The sight of her took the breath from him. He looked at her, completely mesmerized, but he soon smiled. Somehow she looked adorable like this, with her loose hair spread over the mattress, her face peaceful as she clutched the pillow tightly. Oh, he really just might prove too weak to resist the urge of at least sit down next to her on the bed as she slept soundly…

But as soon as he took one step forward he heard a strong knock on the door that made him stop on his tracks. He looked down, panic in his eyes. Had someone come for Azula? How had they known she would be here? Furthermore, would she get in trouble for spending the night in his house, regardless if she was still untainted?

He felt sweat rolling down his brow as he sped downstairs, the knocking becoming more urgent now. At this rate it would wake both the girls up, he thought. He opened the door quickly, his heart racing and his stomach sinking… but there was no battalion of Royal Guards outside the house. Instead…

"Sokka! Finally!" Ty Lee exclaimed. Sokka blinked blankly and stepped back, allowing her inside. He found himself beyond confused by why she was here, and why she looked more serious than he'd ever seen her before "Is Azula here?!"

"Uh, y-yeah?" Sokka said, tentatively "What's going on? Is she in trouble?"

"No, no, not her!" Ty Lee denied briskly "She needs to come immediately, something terrible has happened and…!"

"What's going on?"

Ty Lee only seemed to process the fact that she had found Azula in Sokka's home, of all places, when she saw her standing at the top of the stairs, wearing clothes that most definitely didn't belong to her, with her hair disheveled after getting up. Sokka felt his heart catch in his throat as he turned to look at her.

"Azula…" Ty Lee said, a flicker of her curiosity regarding this situation showing in her eyes briefly. But she soon shook her head and returned to her former uncharacteristic seriousness "Azula, it's terrible! It's Zuko!"

"Zuko?" Azula repeated, frowning. This could not be good. Had he acted already upon hearing the news of her new position as Crown Princess? If he had, then what on earth had he done?

"You have to come, fast" Ty Lee said "Nobody else has managed to get any sense into him, so I was hoping maybe you would be able to do it…"

"Wait, what exactly is going on?" Sokka asked, confused "What is he up to?"

"He is… he's going to leave the Fire Nation again" said Ty Lee, swallowing hard.

Azula's eyes widened, her lips parting as she stared at her friend in disbelief. Sokka's confusion only grew at that, and he looked at Azula to find if she found any sense in Ty Lee's revelation. Given the troubled expression on her face, it seemed she did.

"I… I see. I'll get going, then" Azula said, gritting her teeth and climbing downstairs quickly. Ty Lee sighed and nodded.

"We don't know what's gotten into him…" she said "I thought that he wouldn't be happy about you being Crown Princess now, but this was not what I expected him to do. And Suki's so heartbroken…"

"Well, it's not the first time Zuko acts without taking anyone else's feelings into account" Azula muttered, striding towards the garden "I'll gather my things and head back on Xin Long. I'll talk to him as soon as I can"

"Great, thanks Azula! I'll catch up with you in a bit!" Ty Lee exclaimed, sighing in relief as Azula left quickly.

Sokka stared after her hopelessly, aware of how selfish he was being by wishing he could've at least had her for himself through the morning. There were more pressing matters for her to deal with, and now that she was to be Crown Princess, the circumstances were likely to pull her away from him even more often than usual.

"Is Suki alright, though?" Sokka asked, looking at Ty Lee "Things weren't all that great with those two the last thing I knew, but then they were dancing…"

"I don't get it myself, actually" said Ty Lee, shrugging "It looked like they had made up but then this happened… and really, I don't know what happened. Suki has barely managed to say anything, she's so upset…"

"Would it help if I talked to her?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows "If Azula's going to deal with Zuko…"

"Well, you could try" said Ty Lee, with a grimace "But I don't know just how much you could do for her. She's really depressed"

"Well, we won't know if I can help if we don't try, at least" he said, sighing "Can you give me a lift? I figure you didn't come here on foot…"

"No, I've got my carriage right outside. Drove it myself, Haru stayed with her at home…"

"Then we can do that" Sokka said, turning back to his room. Ty Lee looked at him as he went, somewhat surprised. He seemed upset as well, though of course not to the same degree as Suki was. Despite Zuko's departure was the main priority right now, Ty Lee couldn't help but wonder whether she had interrupted something important…

Azula flew home as quickly as possible, unsure as to why Zuko's decision, of all things, had been to leave. Granted it would be the most convenient thing for her on the long run, but it still didn't feel right. Why would he want to run away instead of fighting back? Had Iroh gotten him to do this? Azula clenched the reins of Xin Long's saddle harder, her worries increasing by the minute. She needed to talk to her fool of a brother… but first she needed to change into a better attire than Song's sleeping gown, clearly.

Upon arriving to the Palace she headed straight to her room, doing her best to avoid the servants so they wouldn't see her in such a getup, with her dress and ball accessories tucked under her arm. After arriving to her room she dressed up quickly, fitting her armor and finally feeling like herself again. She breathed out several times, brushing her hair and composing her top knot – an operation that was successful, despite the result was not quite as perfect as it usually was – before leaving to find her brother.

Her stomach grumbled, for she hadn't quite had any dinner to begin with and she'd gone without breakfast so far, but she did her best to ignore it as she headed towards Zuko's room. If he was planning on leaving, surely he'd be here, packing… and indeed he was.

His back was turned towards the door when Azula swung it open as he rummaged through an old bag, filling it with clothes. Azula's brow drew together, having already expected this but not knowing how to proceed now. If she announced herself would he lash out at her? It was likely, but if she didn't do anything she might as well have just not showed up in the first place, right? She took a deep breath and looked at her brother's now short hair pointedly, wondering if the disappearance of his ponytail meant what she was sure it did.

"So it's true?" she asked, startling him "You're leaving again?"

To her surprise, he didn't turn to glare at her accusingly. He didn't attack her for having taken his future away from him. Instead, he only looked at her over his right shoulder, almost with remorse in his gaze.

"Yeah" he said, nodding and turning back to his gear with a sigh.

"Ty Lee told me so" Azula continued, still confused by his lack of reaction "And… I can't say I understand why you're doing this. I have my suspicions, but…"

"If you think I'm just throwing a tantrum because Father has appointed you as his Crown Princess, you're wrong" Zuko said, and Azula frowned "It's not about that"

"If it's not about that, then what is it about?" Azula asked, stepping forward.

"It's about our father, alright" said Zuko, closing the bag and turning to look at Azula "And about how he's always seen me as a problem to get rid of. Well, I'd rather get out of here before he finally finds a way to kill me without everyone suspecting him for it"

"Aren't you…?" Azula started, about to say he was exaggerating matters, but she caught herself before finishing the sentence. As much as she'd hate to admit it, her brother was right. Ozai had already conveyed interest to her in murdering his son before, discarding the idea merely because it would be too suspicious… she shook her head and looked at Zuko sternly "Aren't you merely giving him what he wants if you leave, then? Is this your idea of being a loyal son to him?"

"Like hell it is" said Zuko, scowling "Azula, I… I talked to him last night, for the first time since the Agni Kai. And a lot of things were cleared up in that conversation. He hadn't declared you Crown Princess yet, and still I realized that he wanted you as his sole heir. He wants nothing to do with me, never did, and by now the feeling is mutual. I'm done crawling to his feet begging him to love me. I was an idiot for thinking that was going to get me anywhere"

"Regardless, Zuko… what are you going to do outside of the Fire Nation?" Azula asked, frowning "What exactly do you think this is going to accomplish? You've already been at sea for ten years to no avail, and now you're going to repeat that experience? Pray tell, what is this supposed to lead you to? Did you really think this through?"

"I… I probably didn't" said Zuko, with a weak smile "But at this point I can't find any reason why I should've done things differently. None of the reasons for me to stay outweigh the ones for me to leave"

"Does Iroh know of this?" Azula asked now, sighing.

"He's probably heard of it by now, but I haven't seen him since yesterday" said Zuko "I guess he's going to come talk me out of it just as you will…"

"Or offer to go with you" said Azula, and Zuko frowned.

"Well, he's not joining me this time" he said, to Azula's surprise "I've already contacted my old crew, and they're willing to take me into the sea again. But I don't mean to force them to stick around with me. In all honesty I just need passage to the Earth Kingdom, whatever comes next I'll decide for myself"

"You do realize, though, that if you're going to banish yourself again from the Fire Nation, then going to the Colonies should probably be out of the question for you, right?" Azula asked, and Zuko frowned.

"I… didn't really think of that. Well, I'll figure it out, I said" he grumbled, returning to his bags as Azula sighed and shook her head.

"Zuko, honestly? You've had bad ideas, but this is really amongst the worst you've come up with" she said "I understand you suspect he wants you dead, but he can just as well send a murderer after you while you're here than while you're there. So on that matter…"

"I guess on some level it's also because I just want to get as far away from him as I possibly can" said Zuko, heading to a closet, where he kept his dao swords "I'd think you'd understand… you used to feel restrained back when Mother was here, didn't you? Once she was gone you were free. Well, I can't expect Father to just go away, so…"

"Just go away?" Azula repeated, raising an eyebrow "What do you mean by that? Are you merely saying that, or do you know anything…?"

"I asked Father if he'd killed her" Zuko said, and Azula's eyes widened. He had done what? "The thought seemed to offend him… as though he weren't capable of that. Seeing how he's treated me and you, how far-fetched can it be to think he might have done something to her?"

"I don't… well, I don't know whether he did something to her or not, but damn it, Zuko" said Azula, shaking her head "Do you have a death wish, really? How could you simply blurt that out at him as you did?"

"Putting it simply, I just don't give a damn about how he feels towards me anymore" said Zuko "If I anger him, if I disappoint him, if I make him wish I'd never been born, I couldn't care less. If I could make him feel as worthless as he's made me, I sure as hell would. But I think he's just incapable of feeling that bad about himself, just as he must be incapable of empathy… heh, maybe he actually isn't incapable of that last thing. He sure must imagine how I felt, and that's exactly why he made sure to make it worse for me with every chance he got"

"And so you figured the best way to make him miserable was claiming he had murdered our mother. Figures" said Azula, raising her eyebrows.

"He said he hadn't killed her" Zuko said "But I don't know if I can believe him. If she's not dead then… then where is she? Why did she disappear, and why has she never contacted either one of us?"

"That I don't know" Azula replied "To this day it's a mystery for me too. But if Father has the answers to those questions…"

"It's better not to ask altogether, isn't it?" Zuko said, skeptically "Else you might end up like me. Scarred, dishonored, banished…"

"Wait, he banished you? You didn't choose to do this yourself?"

"Well, it's more of a self-imposed banishment this time, truth to be told, but last time it sure wasn't" said Zuko, clasping the blades and swinging them over his shoulders "He didn't sent me away last night, but he wanted me gone regardless. And I don't mean to come back until…"

"Until he's dead?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "Or is it you hope to find the Avatar and bring him back to prove our father was wrong about you?"

"I'd like to do that, if it'd mean the Avatar will beat him and leave him to ponder his life's choices for however long he might live" Zuko said "But I really have no hopes to find him. I'll just…"

"Just sail through the world and hope the day will come when our father changes his ways?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow sarcastically.

"Or when you take over his duties" Zuko said, and Azula froze "I already told him that you'll make a greater Fire Lord than he ever could hope to be. At least he made the right call by making you Crown Princess"

"Zuko…"

"Come on" said Zuko, looking at her earnestly "It's what everyone expected. I didn't really think it was going to happen so soon but I always knew it. Father wanted you as his heir ever since we were children, and tried as I might to surpass you, I never could. I'm done trying to be better than you at everything, Azula. I've got nothing to gain from it because no matter what I do, I'll never be good enough in his eyes. But you are. You're… you're practically perfect"

"Zuko, I'm not really…"

"You are bound to be a better Fire Lord than anyone realizes you can be" said Zuko "Simply because it's you, and you always overcome anything that stands in your way. So… so good luck. I know you'll do a great job at it. You can change the world for the better, I'm sure"

"That's wishful talk, it's easier said than done" said Azula, frowning "You're just stepping back, then? You could be Fire Lord too, you know? You could even fight me in an Agni Kai to prove you still have a right to claim the throne…"

"What for, if we both know you'll win?" said Zuko, raising his eyebrow.

"Zuko, a lot of people won't want me as Fire Lord" she said.

"A lot of people won't want me as Fire Lord either. I don't think either one of us will be able to make everyone happy" said Zuko, shrugging "Nobody will ever have a fully approved rule, I don't think that's ever happened in the history of Fire Nation anyways…"

"Be that as it may, it doesn't change the fact that both of us needed as much support as we could in order to gain the position of Crown Prince" Azula said "Without approval it was never going to happen. And you still have the approval of many, Uncle included, who surely will be beyond outraged when he finds out about his"

"And what can he do?" said Zuko, looking at Azula with confusion "I mean… who's going to stand up to my Father? Who's going to tell him that he made the wrong decision and that I'm a better choice for an heir? Uncle? Whoever else wants to support me? Just how likely are they to achieve anything by defying him?"

"I'm not going to say they'd succeed at this" Azula admitted "The likelihood is actually rather low. But that doesn't mean they won't try"

"Well, they can't try if I'm gone, can they?" Zuko said, shrugging. Azula looked at him in disbelief.

"Are you serious, Zuko? After all this time, you're just… giving up?"

"I told you I was tired of this rivalry between us" he said "And I'll be better off accepting certain things I can't change. I know I'm not supposed to give up without a fight, but I've fought long enough to realize I have no way of winning this time around. You're better than me for the job, most likely, and there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe I just… maybe I just wasn't cut out to be Fire Lord. If you think about it, neither of us were raised under the belief that we'd get that throne one day. It was meant to belong to cousin Lu Ten, not to either one of us"

"But he's been gone for well over a decade now, Zuko" Azula said "Years during which we both were ready to do whatever it took to make sure that throne and that crown would belong to one of us"

"And look at all the good that made us" said Zuko "If we'd stopped fighting and started working together maybe we'd have been better off. But we never did. So for once I'm going to do the right thing… and not stand in your way. Maybe I could be Fire Lord too, but I'm not fighting you over who's going to carry Father's legacy anymore. I want nothing more to do with his legacy myself anyhow"

"Are you even sure of what you're saying right now, Zuko?" Azula asked, looking at him sternly "If you want us to work together, then maybe with my new authority I could help you somehow. I could…"

"You don't have to do anything for me, Azula" Zuko said, smiling a little "I want to deal with this myself. I needed you to help me with the ship and crew the last time I was banished, but I'd like to think I'm not so helpless anymore. Thanks for your offer, but…"

"Zuko!"

Azula froze upon hearing that voice. She turned instinctively, but Iroh raced past her soon enough, without sparing so much as a glance in her direction.

"Uncle…" said Zuko, gulping. This was going to be harder than he had realized…

"Zuko, is it true? Is it true that you've chosen to leave again?" Iroh asked, aghast, as he placed his hands on Zuko's shoulders.

"I have, Uncle" Zuko said, nodding "I think it's time for me to face the facts and acknowledge my future isn't here. I have to find other options, seek out other paths and…"

"Then I'm coming with you! If you mean to do this then we both shall…!" Iroh exclaimed, and Azula could have sworn she heard a hint of pride, even hope, in the old man's voice. That hint disappeared as soon as Zuko clasped Iroh's hands and removed them from his shoulder.

"No. Not this time, Uncle" he said, sternly.

Iroh remained silent for a moment, his mouth opening and closing as he looked at his nephew in utter confusion. Azula watched him warily, knowing his reaction wouldn't be good.

"What do you mean not this time?" Iroh repeated, frowning heavily. Azula wasn't sure she had ever heard the man speaking so seriously, not even during the crisis they had faced together in Ba Sing Se "Zuko, what are you talking about? If you're leaving…!"

"If I'm leaving, then it's me who's leaving and nobody else" Zuko declared, frowning "Uncle, I'm not a kid anymore. You don't have to look after me"

"I'm not saying this because I think you're a child, I simply won't let you to do this on your own!" Iroh exclaimed "Is it you mean to travel nowhere, with no goals, no purpose?"

"Perhaps I do" said Zuko, frowning "But the first purpose is to get away from here. That's all…"

"You cannot just make these decisions without thinking them through, Zuko!" Iroh said, repeating one of Azula's qualms to Zuko's plans unknowingly "You could die out there and then what would be the point of this journey? Be reasonable, Zuko, and…!"

"I'm being reasonable, Uncle. I'm… I'm seeing things clearly for the first time!" Zuko exclaimed "And that's exactly why I'm not letting you come with me. You already wasted ten years of your life at sea with me, I'm not putting you through that once again"

"You wouldn't be putting me through anything I don't want, Zuko, I could…!"

"Uncle, you have a life here right now, don't you?" Zuko asked "You have a gladiator who needs you to stand by her. Are you just going to abandon her?"

"I could find someone else to sponsor her…"

"What for?" Zuko asked "Uncle… I want to do this on my own. I need to do it on my own, without making anyone else sacrifice their own lives for me! I don't belong in the Fire Nation Palace anymore…"

"Well, I don't belong in it any more than you do! Zuko, I have…!" Iroh started, but he froze mid-sentence and stiffened. His gaze darted towards Azula quickly, his only acknowledgment of her presence throughout his conversation with Zuko.

Azula looked at him with suspicion briefly before allowing her gaze to shift to her brother. Surely this meant Iroh refused to speak any further so long as she was here. She could only wonder why…

"Azula…" Zuko muttered.

"Do whatever you feel is right, Zuko. It's what you'll do anyways" she whispered "Just… don't get yourself killed out there, Zuzu"

Zuko smiled a little at her and nodded, not bothered by that nickname for the very first time.

"I will. Thank you, Azula. For everything" he said, and she looked at him apprehensively. She hardly felt there was anything he ought to be thanking her for. Regardless, she nodded back at him and turned to leave. She would have rather stayed around to hear whatever Iroh had to say to her brother, but it seemed unlikely he would speak freely if she was there…

It wasn't hard to recall her reservations regarding her uncle's link to the White Lotus. She had grown more amicable with the man as of late, but that didn't free him from her suspicions altogether. If anything, his behavior right now made her feel just as uncertain towards him as she always had. She could imagine easily just what sort of ploys could have been in motion if Iroh was working together with the White Lotus, with Zuko as the center of their plans. It would add up, considering how Piandao had accepted him as a pupil despite the irregularity of his training regime…

Unveiling a conspiracy of this category would have amused her in any other circumstances, but this time it wasn't all that enjoyable. If Iroh had been setting Zuko up to become little more than a pawn for the White Lotus, chances were he would have meant to use Zuko to take Ozai down, perhaps. Why Zuko, though? Azula frowned as she stepped out of the room, her thoughts jumbled. If he didn't want Ozai to be Fire Lord, why not act when he still had a chance to take back the throne that had been meant to be his?

Or was she just seeing monsters in shadows where there were none? Maybe she was being paranoid, maybe Iroh was only being the concerned uncle he always was towards his nephew…

Before she could finish reassuring herself, she found someone in the hallway. Someone who looked very guilty, just going by her tense stance and the fact that her head was hung, as opposed to how it usually was. Her long dark bangs covered her face, as usual, so it was hard to pinpoint her emotions at the moment, but Azula had always been skilled at reading people.

"Bandit?" she asked, and the girl jumped. It wasn't like her not to notice Azula's presence, regardless of her blindness.

"H-hey, Spicy…" Toph muttered. Her behavior now was in perfect contrast to her bitterness and pride from last night. She seemed ashamed, and even remorseful. Why?

"Came to see my brother off, or were you hoping to convince him to stay?" Azula asked, and Toph grimaced "Are you alright?"

"I just…" she said, biting her lower lip "I didn't think he'd go this far"

"I don't think any of us did" said Azula, sighing "I tried telling him that leaving wouldn't help, but I know his stubbornness far too well by now. He's not likely to change his mind"

"Iroh is pissed about it, isn't he?" Toph asked "Does… does he know it's my fault?"

"Your fault?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "Why would it be?"

"I kind of… said things to Zuko last night that maybe I shouldn't have. I mean, I don't think I was wrong about most of what I said, but I probably shouldn't have done it anyhow" said Toph, swallowing hard "I just… he said things that bothered me and I returned the favor. And I think that's why…"

"Why he ended up doing this?" Azula asked "You prompted him to talk to our father?"

"I did" Toph confessed, and Azula sighed.

"Well, then, it must be your fault" she said, simply, and Toph grimaced "Though I doubt whatever caused this was really your responsibility. From the way he's acting, it seems like it had been a long time coming. Don't beat yourself up that much for it"

"I wouldn't, but… but he's leaving now, nobody knows where to, and Iroh…"

"Toph…" Azula said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder "If you're sorry for what you did, go apologize. Stop tormenting yourself. If Iroh can't accept his nephew's decisions, that's his problem, not yours"

"But…" Toph said, frowning. She sighed soon and shrugged, nodding weakly "You're probably right"

"I am" Azula said, simply, with a weak smile.

"I didn't peg you for the type who'd compel me to do the right thing, but I guess you're a better person than I am" Toph said, and Azula snorted.

"I'm afraid that speaks quite badly of you, Bandit" she said, with a smirk "I've never held illusions about being a good person, Toph, and I doubt I ever will. I'm only telling you to do whatever will bring you peace. What you do with my advice is beyond my control"

"Yeah. Still… thanks" said Toph. Azula raised an eyebrow. She had been at the receiving end of two expressions of gratitude in less than ten minutes today, coming from very unlikely sources… it was odd, but she found she didn't mind it.

"You're welcome" she said, patting the girl's shoulder just as she saw someone turning around the corner. Her heart sank upon noticing just who it was "Captain…"

"Ah, Princess, finally" he said, breathing out in relief "The servants have been trying to find you throughout the Palace for breakfast, but you were nowhere around…"

Given his behavior, it would seem he wasn't aware of Azula's escapade from the previous night. Or if he was, perhaps he didn't know the full details of it. Had he known she had spent the night in Sokka's house he surely would look a lot less anxious and worried and a lot angrier instead.

"Yes, breakfast… that sounds good" Azula muttered, grimacing with hunger, and she left Toph behind as she headed off with Rui Shi to find the food her system direly required.

The earthbender sensed them as they left, biting her lower lip nervously as she made up her mind to follow her sponsor into Zuko's room. For whatever was worth, she really was sorry. As much as her words had been poised with the intention to hurt the prince, she had never expected them to deliver consequences such as these.

She approached the doorway, finding, to her surprise, that Iroh was speaking insistently to a very confused Zuko. The scarred young man inched away from his uncle, his brow drawn together.

"… It's a safe place, Zuko, trust me. Just northwest from the Swamp, and you'll find…"

"Uncle, what are you talking about?" Zuko asked, looking at Iroh in disbelief "You expect me to find safety in a… a former Earth Kingdom fortress? What is this about?"

"Zuko, I'm begging you to listen. You are heading into nowhere and blatantly refusing to take me with you, so I'm seeking to aid you in the only way I can!" Iroh said, and Zuko shook his head, a movement that alerted him of the fact that they weren't alone anymore.

"Toph?" he said, startling Iroh.

The Blind Bandit stood in place and she swallowed hard. Whatever she had interrupted was clearly important, even though she was slightly confused regarding what it was. Iroh was giving Zuko advice, as per usual, but this time it seemed the prince was reluctant to follow it, for one reason or another. Given the way Iroh's heart was beating, the man was rather desperate.

"Uh… hey, Zuko" she said, for once not coming up with nicknames to insult him "I've heard that… that you're leaving"

"Yeah. That's the idea" he said, nodding "But don't worry. Your sponsor isn't coming with me this time. You won't have to forsake the Gladiator League because of me"

The words stung, mostly because her investment in the League was what had prompted her to argue with Zuko in the first place. Were his words a display of respect towards her, or was it spite? Surprisingly, it didn't sound like the latter, given his voice tone.

"Huh… thanks for that. Really" said Toph "But Zuko, you… you don't have to do this, do you?"

"Here I thought the last person who'd miss me would be you" Zuko said, with a smile.

"I just…" said Toph, insecure. To her embarrassment, but also her relief, Zuko seemed to read her as easily as Toph used to read everyone else.

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault" he said, and Toph tensed.

"It's not? I mean, after… after what I said…"

"You know what?" said Zuko, with a deep breath "I think… I think I needed to hear it. You helped me put a lot of things into perspective. So thanks"

"Thanks? F-for… for messing with you as I did? Are you crazy, or are you just stupid?" Toph asked, and Zuko scowled.

"You could've just accepted it and let it rest, but just you had to insult me, did you?"

"What is this?" Iroh asked, frowning and looking at Toph "Were you…? D-did you say something to Zuko?"

The seriousness of the old man's voice daunted Toph, who wasn't easily daunted to begin with. She had never heard him like this. But before she could come up with a response to his questions, Zuko had placed a hand on Iroh's shoulder.

"It's fine, Uncle. She's not the problem here" he said "My father is. He always has been, I just was too naïve to tell until last night"

"Regardless, Zuko…"

"Uncle" said Zuko, taking a deep breath "I'm grateful for everything you've done for me. You became my father when my own would barely spare a glance towards me, and I owe you a lot more than I realize for it. I'm… I'm really glad you were with me all these years. I'll see you again one day, I'm sure. But this is… it's a trip I have to do by myself this time. So thanks for everything… and I'll see you again one day. I promise"

"Zuko…" Iroh said, as Zuko surprised him with a hug.

The old man returned the gesture slowly, as though he couldn't give credit to what was happening just yet. Zuko released him after what felt like a long time, rubbing the man's back before leaning down to pick up his bags and turning to the door. Toph still stood there, her head ducked, a guilty expression on her face. Zuko placed a hand on her shoulder before passing her by and leaving his room, definitely.

Toph sensed his footsteps moving further and further away, a very unpleasant feeling sinking in her gut. Something told her Zuko's decision to leave was going to change certain things in her life… and not in a good sense.

For she could tell Iroh was displeased, disappointed, upset. He would miss his nephew, no doubt, and he couldn't understand why he was so determined to refuse his company. There was no plausible reason for that, not in his eyes… but there was a reason behind why Zuko was departing. And even if Toph's words didn't comprise the entirety of it, they had been the trigger, if nothing else. And the Blind Bandit suspected Iroh would never forgive her for that.

* * *

Sokka would have been proud of her, Azula thought, if he could see her eating this ravenously. Fortunately, he wasn't likely to barge through her room's door to do so anytime soon, so she felt free to continue eating until she'd had her fill. She had spent well over twelve hours without any food, which just might have affected her body in ways she hadn't realized.

It was likely close to noon when she finally was satisfied, and she informed a servant of it in order to avoid having more food brought to her. As the servant was sliding out of the room, someone else snuck in, and Azula was quick to identify who it was, despite the girl wasn't quite as boisterous as she usually was.

"Hey, Azula" said Ty Lee, with a weak smile.

"Hey" Azula said, as her friend walked towards her, sitting beside her at the dining room adjacent to Azula's sleeping accommodations "Took you a while to catch up. I was starting to think you wouldn't come to the Palace at all"

"Well, Sokka asked if I could drop him off at my place in case he might be able to help out with Suki" Ty Lee said, with a sigh "It wasn't much help, though. She's all withdrawn by now, like a turtle duck in its shell…"

"Can't be helped" said Azula, with a shrug "I figure you found out through her, didn't you?"

"Yeah" said Ty Lee "She was gone for a long time during the Ball, Haru and I were ready to go home and we were trying to find her but she was nowhere around. When we finally found her she was a sobbing mess. We took her home and she didn't explain what had happened until then…"

"And then you came to find me?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I tried to talk to Zuko first. I told him about how upset Suki was, but while I could tell he was sorry to hear of it, he didn't change his mind. He… he just asked me to watch over her. I have to say, it's the first time I've wanted to slap your brother this badly…"

"It's curious, really" Azula said, tapping the table "Because while his decision seems extreme and absurd, he seems so serene about it, determined in a different way than usual. It's not his typical stubborn bouts, it's not a tantrum, it's… it's something else"

"So then you already talked to him?" Ty Lee asked "And I guess you didn't accomplish anything…"

"Well, I didn't change his mind" Azula replied "As much as I tried, it seems he's sure that this is the right thing to do. And surprisingly enough, he doesn't want our Uncle to come along this time around"

"So he wants to do this alone?" Ty Lee asked.

"I think he doesn't want to do it alone, but he doesn't want to make Iroh waste more years of his life following him around hopelessly" said Azula "He's being selfless, looks like, but my Uncle doesn't seem to like that"

"He's worried, is all" said Ty Lee "I know I am. What if he never comes back, Azula? I mean… Mai had been waiting for him, but even she got tired. What if this time it's not ten years? What if it's more?"

"I'm pretty sure he's aware of that" Azula said, sighing "But even though he is, he doesn't seem to care all that much about spending so many years at sea. I guess it just shows how little he wants to be in the Palace at this point…"

"Did he do it… because you're Crown Princess now?" Ty Lee asked, looking at her worriedly "You two have always had problems, but I thought you were figuring things out…"

"Huh. And you figured having me talk things through with him might help, even if you suspected that my sudden promotion had been the source of this mess?" Azula asked, skeptical. Ty Lee shrugged.

"I didn't know what else to do. I thought maybe he'd listen to you. I figured I'd get Mai too, but at this point I doubt even she'd be able to convince him not to do it"

"Knowing her, she might even support him on this" said Azula "In any case, it wasn't because of me, or so he told me"

"Well, I guess that's good news for you" said Ty Lee, biting her lower lip "If it'd been your fault then it'd be even worse…"

"I don't see why, he'd still leave one way or another" said Azula, shrugging. It wasn't really her fault, though, no matter how they looked at it. His father had been the one to give Azula this new title, she hadn't demanded for it herself either way "Still, who knows. Maybe Zuko's decision isn't as bad as it looks right now…"

"You really think so?" Ty Lee said, looking at her sadly "What's he going to do out there at sea anyhow? I mean, he's already been out traveling…"

"I don't know what he's going to do, honestly, but maybe he'll figure something out himself" said Azula, shrugging "We did what we could already, Ty Lee. Maybe what we think is best for him isn't really what's best for him at all. Might be he's better off away"

"If you say so" she said, sighing, before giving Azula a small smile "But, say… setting Zuko aside, what were you doing at Sokka's place this morning?"

"I was fleeing from the noise in the Palace and getting actual sleep someplace quiet" Azula replied, truthfully enough "And yes, I slept soundly up until I heard you knocking on the door"

"Well, he took a while to get the door open, so I thought maybe…" Ty Lee said, her smile turning into a smirk. Azula rolled her eyes.

"You thought wrong. There's absolutely nothing note-worthy to share with you about my stay at his place" said Azula. Not that she would feel inclined to sharing if anything had happened, anyways "Feel free to allow your imagination to run wild, but that's the truth"

"Are you serious? Well, damn… how do you even do it, Azula?" Ty Lee asked, looking at her in disbelief "Having that hunk right there, within your reach, and doing absolutely nothing about it… your self-control is scary"

"I'm glad it is" Azula said, smirking a little. Oh, if only Ty Lee knew… though Azula would make sure her friend would never know of it; she refused to tell her about all the times her self-control had bailed on her. Normally, her ability to restrain herself from acting erratically was commendable, but Sokka had proven himself well above her skills. What was really scary was how easily he could persuade her, how he could melt her into his arms without barely even trying…

"I know I would've had some of that ages ago if he were my gladiator" Ty Lee said, and Azula glared at her.

"Well, you've already had plenty of yours, from what I understand. So don't get any funny ideas about mine" Azula told her, and Ty Lee giggled.

"Come on, I wouldn't mess things up with you and Sokka" she said "I have a bet to win after all. Besides, Haru is wonderful in every sense!"

"Then stick to him" Azula said, curtly, and Ty Lee chuckled.

"I intended to" she said, smiling at Azula "You're awfully territorial about Sokka, though…"

"He's my slave" Azula muttered "So I have every right to be. Lay off"

"Oh, fine…" said Ty Lee, but her smile soon waned and turned into a sigh "I admit you do take great care of your slave, though. He's pretty happy most the time and seems to like you well enough. I guess I've failed to look after mine in the same way…"

"In all fairness, you were doing fine when you only had Haru" Azula said "I'm sorry I forced her onto you like that. And now you'll have to deal with the heartbreak she'll remember Zuko by…"

"It's just so wrong" said Ty Lee, sighing "She loves him, I'm sure of it now! She always had a soft spot for him, always treated him differently, but it's clearly love. And he's… he's turning his back on that, he's hurting her, and even though he cares about her, he's still not giving in. I mean… he's thinking about his uncle's wellbeing, but not about Suki's?"

"Might be he thinks she's better off staying here" said Azula "He has no idea where he's going, after all, or whatever he's doing. She has a better chance for a future here by staying with you"

"What future?" said Ty Lee, frowning "You know it's not like a slave can live a normal life either way… I don't know if she really thinks she has a future of any sort by being my slave. I really doubt she does"

"Well, then, if she has no future with you and he's not going to be swayed regarding his journey, then she really should just go with him" Azula said, simply "She'll be a bother for you if she's crying over him all day long, and if she goes with him they can go be happy in their bubble of lovey-doveyness. So this just might be the perfect solution for everyone"

She was surprised when Ty Lee didn't reply to her statement. Her eyes shifted towards her friend to find she was looking right back at her, eyes wide, her mouth agape. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Ty Lee? Are you okay?"

"She should… go with him?" she repeated, her eyes now alight with hope "She… she could go with him!"

"Uh, yeah. Of course she could" said Azula, looking at Ty Lee matter-of-factly "If you're not going to use her for anything important…"

"Well, of course not! I was just looking after her and making sure she was okay, but now that you've said that…!" Ty Lee exclaimed, jumping to her feet, her hands together as she became her usual cheery self. Azula looked at her skeptically "Oh, it'd be perfect! Why didn't I think of it earlier?! Oh, I must tell her! She has to go with him, it should've been obvious from the start!"

"Probably" said Azula, with a weak smile "Ty Lee…"

"Oh, Azula, you're brilliant!" she exclaimed, before racing out of the room as quickly as her legs could carry her.

"I… don't think that was brilliant" Azula said aloud, to nobody in particular "But I guess a display of logic can look like brilliance when nothing else makes sense…"

Still slightly amused by her friend's reaction, Azula almost felt as though she had nothing to do for once… getting a little more rest would be a good idea, she thought. But that moment's respite was over quickly when someone knocked on her room's open door, announcing his presence with the gesture.

"Well, now that's more like it. You look a lot more like the Azula I remember by now" Zhao said, looking at her armor with his typical smirk. Azula nodded in his direction, in acknowledgment.

"I feel a lot more like myself this way as well" she muttered. She tried to contain all antagonistic thoughts towards the man, all her suspicion that, as ever, he only spoke the words mockingly…

"Then I hope your father's next present sits well with you" said Zhao, to which Azula frowned "You just might be far too used to that armor, though, it could take you a while to get adjusted…"

"His next present?" Azula asked, her eyebrows raised, and Zhao snickered before ushering her to follow him to the Fire Lord's quarters.

* * *

Suki wiped the tears with a cloth Ty Lee had given her, trying to breathe evenly now. She felt as though she'd spent the entire day crying, to her displeasure. She would have been severely dehydrated by now hadn't Haru kept boiling tea for her, aided by Sokka, who looked extremely uneasy about the current situation, mostly because he had no idea how to be of any help to Suki.

They thought she was out of earshot as they spoke in the kitchen, but she could hear them easily enough as they whispered about what to do. The two of them were rather worried, but completely clueless. Suki would have wanted to enlighten them, but she had no idea what could they do for her either. She was grateful for their support, and she truly wished she could respond accordingly to it, but as she was, she couldn't bring herself to show them the gratitude they deserved. The situation looked so hopeless at the moment… and she was feeling hopeless too. She wanted to stop feeling sorry for herself, to stop being miserable about this, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

More than ever she longed for the simpler times when she had been the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, the times when her biggest concerns were to keep misbehaving children far from the dangerous Unagi. When the war had touched down upon her island she had known her life would change for the worst, but she never realized just how badly. When would it stop? How much more misery did she have to put up with? How many times could someone lose what they cared for until they broke permanently? She feared she had reached her limit by now, loathe as she was to admit it. She couldn't take it anymore…

As she buried her face on her flexed knees, crouched in the couch as she was, the door bolted open, startling all three current occupants of the house.

"Ty Lee?" Sokka called out, as Suki turned her head towards the door to find the girl striding quickly towards her, her hair in disarray, as though she had just forced her personal carriage's dragon moose to race his way back home.

"Suki!" she exclaimed, heading towards the slave, who was surprised to the point where her tears stopped at last.

"W-what's going on…?" Suki asked, as Ty Lee clasped her by the shoulders and shouted.

"Go with him!"

Time seemed to stand still as both Sokka and Haru left the kitchen and arrived to the living room, finding both Suki and Ty Lee staring at one another. The slave's eyes were wide with confusion, while her master's brow was drawn together in a determined frown.

"W-what did you just say?" Suki whispered, blinking blankly.

"You heard me!" Ty Lee cried out, as she pulled Suki to her feet "Go with him, Suki! You need to catch up with him quickly, his ship will probably set sail in a few hours. So hurry, gather your stuff right away and I'll take you to the port! We don't have much time!"

"Wait, but… just like that?!" Suki asked, confused.

"Does Zuko want her to come along?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows "I mean, it's great if he does, but…"

"W-well, I don't know if he does, but why wouldn't he?!" Ty Lee asked, exasperated "Come on, are we going to waste our time here thinking about it?! The solution is clear as day! Azula said it so simply I can't believe I didn't think about it sooner!"

"Azula…" Sokka repeated, a small smile forming on his face upon hearing whose idea this had been.

"But Ty Lee, I'm your slave!" Suki exclaimed, her eyes wide "I can't just bail on you and go with him, can I? I mean… it's not that simple, or is it?"

"Come on, Suki, what the hell are you going to do from now on if you stay with me?!" Ty Lee asked, looking at her in disbelief "I already have a fighting gladiator, and I don't think you're eager to return to the fighting pits, so what, are you going to be my maid? You'd be miserable all day long doing chores when you could be with Zuko, being happy and free!"

"Wait, but then are you… are you saying you're setting me free?" Suki asked, her eyes widening in amazement now.

"I am if you want to be, and I know you want to be, so come on, Suki!" Ty Lee exclaimed "Get your things, and I'll take you to him before he can leave! You know it's what you want, and it's the only solution, so let's do this!"

"Let's… let's" said Suki, her eyes brightening now as she looked at the girl in gratefulness "T-Ty Lee, you…"

"You can save all you want to say for the carriage, now go!" Ty Lee said, and Suki nodded before racing past her, headed towards her room.

As she packed up, Haru took care of feeding and watering the dragon moose for the next trip. Ty Lee fidgeted nervously at the vehicle until Suki finally showed up. Her luggage was comprised of only a pair of bags, so it hadn't taken her that long to get ready. And so, with Haru at the wheel, they were ready to set out.

"Good luck, Suki" Sokka said, the only one who wasn't going to watch the reunion at the port. He smiled at the girl warmly, relieved to see her hopeful and no longer in tears.

"Thank you, Sokka. F-for all of this" she said, grinning at him before giving him a powerful hug, which Sokka returned gently.

There was no telling when he'd see her again, Sokka realized, as the girl climbed onto the carriage with a jump. Haru shook the reins of the beast and they set out, with Ty Lee ushering Haru to press the creature on further. Sokka smirked as Suki waved at him from the window.

If Suki thought about it, none of this would be happening if it weren't for the Water Tribe man she was leaving behind now. He seemed genuinely happy for her as he watched the carriage speed its way through the streets, his grin becoming impossible to discern as the dragon moose picked up the pace. Suki sighed, still watching him from a distance. A gladiator fight that, at the time, hadn't been particularly note-worthy, had changed her life in ways she would have never imagined it would. It was hard to believe, but if it hadn't been for that fight with Sokka, she wouldn't be racing her way to Zuko now. She owed him so much more than he realized…

"Come on, faster!" Ty Lee muttered, biting her lower lip. Suki couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her, and she placed a hand on one of Ty Lee's fists.

"Whatever… whatever happens next, Ty Lee, I just want you to know I'm…" she said, smiling warmly "I'm really grateful to you. For saving my life before, and… and for giving me freedom now. I never thought I'd be free again, actually…"

"How could I possibly get in the way of love, though?" said Ty Lee, smiling back "I've liked having you around a lot, Suki, but you should be with him. You want to be with him, don't you?"

"I do" said Suki, laughing softly "I… I do, so badly that…"

"That you don't mind setting out into this crazy adventure, as long as you're with him" said Ty Lee, grinning and Suki nodded.

"Yes. So… thank you. If you weren't you, I surely wouldn't have had this chance…"

"Hehe, well, that's flattering to hear" said Ty Lee, giggling and hugging Suki, who grinned and hugged her back.

"I'll miss you" she said, and Ty Lee looked at her with gentle eyes.

"And I'll miss you. It was fun having another girl at home!" she said, laughing a little "Take good care of yourself, and of that hopeless dork Zuko. You know he's a mess…"

"Oh, I do" said Suki, grinning "And I mean to, Ty Lee. I promise"

"Great!" said Ty Lee, as the carriage started moving uphill. They were getting close to the edge of the crater by now.

It took another half hour for the carriage to reach the port, for the place was still heavily crowded. A lot of people were going home now that the festivals had ended, so there was quite a lot of traffic to get through on their way to the prince's ship. His vessel was on the furthest dock to the right of the port: it was a very outdated model, and definitely not the biggest ship in the premises. But Suki could barely process the fact that she would be riding on this ship for now, that it was bound to become her home for several weeks, if not months… simply because her eyes were glued to the figure on the deck, who was staring at the city's crater solemnly where he stood.

"Zuko… Zuko!" she cried out, throwing the carriage door open harshly and jumping out of the cabin even before the vehicle had stopped.

The Prince frowned upon hearing someone call his name, and it took him but a moment to identify who was calling for him. His eyes widened when he saw the auburn-haired woman racing towards the ship's ramp, which was about to be lifted by the sailors Zuko had called back to service on his ship.

"Wait, let me up!" Suki exclaimed forcefully, to which the men were left to gawk at her in confusion as she rushed on board. Not long afterwards, a girl in pink and a young man in green clothes climbed up the ramp as well, but merely to deposit some bags on the deck. The sailors paid these two no mind, for they were watching the exchange between their prince and this sudden arrival with far too much interest to notice Ty Lee or Haru.

"Suki? What are you doing here?" Zuko exclaimed, looking at her in disbelief. When he caught sight of Haru and Ty Lee leaving the bags on the deck he turned to Suki again in confusion "Suki, are you…?"

"I'm coming with you!" she cried out, a smile spreading over her features as she looked at him in delight. Zuko's jaw dropped as he shook his head in confusion.

"Y-you… why would you want to come with me?!" he said, baffled "I get Uncle, he came along the last time, but you…"

"What do you mean, why?!" Suki asked, in disbelief "Zuko, you said it yourself, you offered me just about anything I could ask for and then took it all away. Well, guess what? I'm taking it all back now! I'm… I'm taking the life you said we could have, right here, right now! I'm choosing to be with you, wherever that may take me, because this is what I truly want!"

"But… Suki, you're Ty Lee's slave!" Zuko exclaimed, and Suki shook her head.

"She wanted me to come too. S-she was the one who told me to, actually" said Suki, with a sad grin "I didn't think it was a possibility, coming with you, but truth is, it's the only thing that makes sense! So, Zuko…!"

"Suki, no!" Zuko said, looking at her in confusion "You're… you're not bound to be safe with me! Hell, I have no idea where I'll end up! You can't expect me to drag you into this as well…"

"You're not dragging me into anything, I'm inserting myself into your plans" Suki said, proudly, and Zuko looked at her in further disbelief.

"B-but… but why?!" he said "You could live comfortably with Ty Lee, she'd treat you well enough! You'll be sure to have good food, a warm bed, no uncertainty in your life…!"

"I'd rather my uncertainties are regarding where we'll find food, or a bed for the both of us, than regarding if I'll ever see you again" Suki said, swallowing hard "Zuko, I'm touched that you're so concerned about my wellbeing, but you know what? I'm doing what I told you to do, that time when we spoke in your room! I'm cherishing what makes me happy, because life is too damn short to waste it wondering what might have been if things had happened differently! I'm not… I'm not losing you, Zuko. Not after everything. I want to be with you. So stop pushing me away for my own good, because looking out for myself has never worked out for the best for me either way. So please…"

"Suki, this is… spirits, you're crazy" he said, looking at her in disbelief as he smiled a little

"Do you still think I shouldn't do this?" Suki asked, stepping towards him, looking at him with gleaming eyes.

"Well, I just… I just don't feel worthy" he said, gulping "You're you, Suki, and I'm…"

"And you're you. And there's nobody I'd rather be with" she said, as she reached him and surrounded his neck with her arms.

Zuko froze in place briefly as she kissed him, his arms responding after a moment to surround her body gently. Suki drew away to smile at him, her hand cupping his cheek, her fingers touching his damaged skin.

"And if you're still wondering why… I'm pretty sure it's because I love you too" she said, with a tender grin.

Pressed as she was against him, she could feel his heart beating wildly against her. His eyes filled with tears as he looked at her, and she found herself reciprocating the gesture, laughing as they both cried with joy. Zuko buried his face in her shoulder, surrounding her body tightly and shaking his head before kissing her again, still in utter disbelief. She was too good for him, he'd always known so, but by now he was absolutely certain of it.

Yet she had chosen to come with him. She wanted to be with him, against all logic and reason, Zuko found. She would rather live at sea than to have a comfortable life as Ty Lee's slave. She was making a choice that Zuko never imagined she could make… and unlike how it was with his Uncle, he actually couldn't find a reason why she shouldn't come along. He would still make the decisions he had to make, he would still travel and learn everything he had meant to learn for himself, but now he'd have her by his side. In itself, that gave this brand new voyage a most wonderful perspective he hadn't imagined it would have until now…

Ty Lee and Haru climbed down from the deck, and the sailors removed the ramp. It took a little time for the ship to begin moving, time that Suki and Zuko spent embracing one another tightly, finally calming down after a most strenuous day for both of them, in a lot of senses.

The two of them waved at Ty Lee and Haru as the ship started making its way through the sea, and they were amused to find that the more emotional of the two was the earthbender, who was even crying as he watched them leave. Ty Lee rolled her eyes at him but smiled, hugging his arm tight as she waved with her free hand. Who knew when these two would be back… but this was for the best, Ty Lee was convinced of it, just as both Suki and Zuko were, for this journey was a brand new beginning for them.

From that day forth, their destinies were joined together definitely. They had chosen to make it so, after all, for they had chosen one another for good. From here onwards, they would be more than ready to face everything fate might bring for them, together.


	95. Chapter 95

The documents had been signed. The council, the military, the servants, the nobles, in short, the entire city, had heard of the Fire Lord's decision, and in general, everyone had accepted it. Some noblemen were begrudging to do so, despite Prince Zuko's quick departure and the fact that, whether they liked it or not, Azula would become Crown Princess for all effects soon enough. She had been recognized by the Head Sage as well: all the competent powers that could have delayed or stopped her from taking up this new role had left the way open for the Princess to rise to the highest position of honor she could reach, second only to the Fire Lord himself.

It was in fact the Head Sage who presided the session taking place now in Ozai's Throne Room. He stood before the Princess, chanting the oaths that she would have to abide by as she became her father's exclusive heir. She was to honor her father, to serve her nation, to protect her people, to preserve her dignity… the very last one made her stomach sink, but she gave no sign of her discomfort as she knelt before the man, her head bent, her fist against her palm. Ozai watched from his throne, a pleased smirk on his face, as his brother sat to his left, with a prominent scowl on his usually jovial features.

Azula and the Sage were at the center of the room, in the area that was often occupied by the world map. Lined at either side stood her father's council, with the latest arrival amongst them. Azula had wondered briefly if her father would have Zhao joining him at his right hand, the position that was now her by rights. He hadn't, though. Zhao stood at the same level as everyone else, even when Azula wasn't meant to use her place beside her father today.

"Do you swear, by the blood that built our nation, by the lives of your father and your forefathers before him, to uphold your nation's honor until your last breath?" the Head Sage said. It was the last oath she had to take.

"I swear" Azula replied, loudly enough to be heard by everyone in the room.

The man nodded and made a gesture towards the doors. Two servants stood there, holding a golden armor in their hands.

It was the present Zhao had told Azula about when he sought her in her room, the day after the Ball. He had led her to Ozai's offices, where she had been measured by the designer Ozai had hired for the task of creating two new sets of armor for himself and his daughter. Given that the Crown Prince's headpiece was amiss, he had decided to present Azula with something with even more grandeur than just a hairpiece. Of course, he decided he required one to match. It seemed it was time, in Ozai's eyes, to renovate the Royal Family's wardrobe. The rest of the military were sure to follow soon enough in the innovation of their armor style.

Azula's current outfit was comprised by a black shirt, with gold cuffs like the armor that would be fitted around her body now. The tunic she wore atop it was deep red, her pants were black and so were her boots. Her hairpiece rested on her half-knot, and with its golden glow, it matched the armor that the servants had finally brought to her.

"Therefore, with this armor and our Fire Lord and his council as a witness, I now declare you, Princess Azula, the Crown Princess of our Nation of Fire" said the Head Sage, as Azula lifted her arms, allowing the servants to slide the armor over her head and attach it to her body by the flanks.

Every eye was upon her when the servants withdrew themselves, and Ozai smirked before saying:

"Rise, my daughter, Crown Princess Azula"

She shifted into a standing position slowly, with the same elegant fluidity she had performed her ceremony with. Her eyes found her father's, who grinned and nodded at her curtly as she turned on her heels, facing the rest of the occupants of the room.

They all bowed down by the waist, even the oldest of them, their fists pressed to their palms. Azula stood in place, her head held high in a proud gesture. It was done now. Despite her fears and all she had dreaded, her father's will had been enforced, as expected. And seeing how Zuko had been at sea for over a week now, no factions of opposition were likely to rise against her new position any time soon. Ozai had dealt with every single obstacle she had seen to her obtaining of this position as effectively as Azula often did with the tasks he appointed to her. There was nothing in her way, at least not at the moment. The world was hers for the taking.

Had it been a Fire Lord coronation, it would have taken place in the Coronation Plaza, but announcements of new Crown Princes didn't take place in public, since they usually weren't a matter of joy. The Crown Prince was always supposed to be the firstborn son of the Fire Lord, and if another of his children took up the position it was usually because said son had perished in battle, which was a national tragedy. Hence, the next heir to the Fire Lord was crowned in a private procedure, and announced to the public afterwards. Azula had been announced already during the Ball, so the private procedure was the only thing to be dealt with.

Hence, here she was now, one week after her father's announcement, with a brand new golden armor and a strange sensation of ease nestling within her. She could barely believe this had gone as smoothly as it had. Fortune had taken her side with this, no doubt, or else instead of celebrating her new title she would have found herself fighting her brother in the Agni Kai Arena.

Zuko's departure had been just as quick as his choice to leave. Word about it had spread throughout the city easily, and along with it, the news about Azula's new status. There had been little to no unrest, though, and Ozai had made a point to let her know she had done a great job at earning recognition throughout their nation as she had. Her fame and glory were the main reasons why there had been no ruckus, no scandals, after her appointment as Crown Princess.

But she couldn't stop here. She had to maintain said fame, said glory, and since her father had no missions for her at the time, the only way for Azula to accomplish that feat was by keeping up with the Gladiator League. She had accepted a challenge recently, one by a fighter on the lower levels of the ranking, a newcomer with a mostly positive record so far. Going against Sokka was bound to give him another loss, though, seeing how he was a non-bender and the Blue Wolf's skills had improved to the point where he had to be one of the best non-benders in the League, if not the absolute best.

Xin Long commented on her new bright scales, as he referred to her new armor, once she found him in his refuge after all the matters regarding the Coronation were through. Azula rolled her eyes at her dragon but smirked as the dragon let out his gurgling laugh. She climbed on his saddle and they flew together to Sokka's home, and Azula tried to soothe her rapidly beating heart as they approached. She'd encountered her gladiator a few times during the course of the last week, but not nearly enough for her liking. She had conveyed the news about his new fight, and she hoped he would be ready to face it. The gladiator she had chosen wasn't supposed to be much trouble, so even if Sokka hadn't recovered fully from his wounds against the Millennium Dragon, he should be able to win regardless.

He was clad in his own black armor, as he sat by the garden, ready for her to carry him to the Arena. Even from a distance Azula could see the large smile on his face as he stood up and picked up his weapons upon sighting the dragon up above. He squinted when he noticed there was something different about her appearance, though, and he soon blinked in astonishment as he realized, once Xin Long had landed, just what had changed in the Princess's usual outfit.

"Woah. That's new" he said, surprised. Azula smirked.

"It is indeed. I only tried it on for the first time a couple of days ago" she said "It's supposed to be my Crown Princess armor"

"You have a new armor instead of a new crown?" Sokka asked, smiling "Then maybe you're the Armor Princess, heh?"

Azula stared at him with a twitching eyebrow, shaking her head as Sokka chuckled at his lousy joke. He climbed on the saddle behind her, nodding approvingly at the golden armor.

"It suits you real well, though" he said, grinning "Though I guess you're not going to do any stealth missions any time soon, with such a shiny armor…"

"I didn't plan to, so I guess that's not likely to be a problem" Azula said, with a shrug. Sokka smiled as a response, as the dragon took off again "Still, I won't be wearing this armor at all times. Today is a special day, I suppose, since I've been acknowledged as Crown Princess legally, but I won't wear it that often…"

"You wouldn't want to dent or stain it, I figure. You have to take good care of it" said Sokka, smiling as he looked at his reflection on the piece of armor protecting her arm. It was a remarkable piece of metalwork, no doubt…

"I intend to" Azula stated, though it wasn't her armor what she was most dedicated to protecting. Her new position, all in all, required as much protection as she could give it. She wasn't going to relinquish it, no matter what.

Their flight was quick, and their entrance into the Grand Royal Dome was followed by a general reverence, for everyone who laid eyes upon the Princess bowed down to her immediately. The Princess strode through the vestibule and halls with her head held high, and unlike how it usually was, Sokka felt forced to walk behind her instead of by her side. This new status Azula had acquired was putting more distance between them, as expected. Sokka only hoped that maybe things would go back to normal when enough time passed by, but for now he would have to bear with the circumstances. There was nothing more to it.

They remained as professional as they could as they reached Shoji's counter, who gaped at Azula before bowing down clumsily, as everyone else had. She had to order him to straighten himself up so he would return to doing his job as he was supposed to, but he was still far more nervous than usual. Azula had to roll her eyes at his behavior, which mostly just amused Sokka as he told Shoji what weapons he would be using for this battle.

His opponent didn't sound like an intimidating foe. His name was Scoundrel, something Azula confessed she found quite ridiculous. She gave Sokka the information she had on the fighter after accompanying him to the stand-by room, as usual, and then she headed to the sponsors' balcony. Nothing she did or said betrayed any interest in showing him any signs of affection, unlike how it had been during the last time she had sent him off to battle. Perhaps it was because his rival wasn't supposed to be too strong… or perhaps it was due to how aware the Princess had become of the risks in their relationship. It had always been dangerous, but she was far more conscious of that right now.

Nevertheless, Sokka managed to give his best in the fight. His opponent was another non-bender who showed promise, but he hadn't been trained as well as Sokka in regards to close-quarter combat. He was a skilled archer, with extraordinary aim, but with little means of defense against Space Sword, or Sokka's boomerang or club.

"Oh, wow, he's seriously amazing!" exclaimed Scoundrel's sponsor, a brown-haired girl a couple of years younger than Azula. The Princess raised an eyebrow and looked at her rival reluctantly. It was quite clear she wasn't talking about her own fighter, not when Sokka had only just struck her gladiator on the back of the head with the hilt of his sword, sending Scoundrel tumbling clumsily on the sand.

"Why, thank you" Azula said, and the girl next to her looked at her with a large and shy smile "Normally my rival sponsors are less willing to admit it than you are"

"Well, most your rival sponsors probably didn't join this League in hopes to have the honor to fight your gladiator one day, Princess" she said, bowing her head towards her "If you hadn't joined, I surely wouldn't have either"

"Were you always interested in the League?" Azula inquired, and the girl shrugged.

"I liked watching the fights, but I never considered joining until I realized that there was no reason why I shouldn't. My gladiator is actually a good friend of mine, you see…"

"So he's not a slave?" Azula asked, and the girl shook her head.

"We made an agreement about joining the Gladiator League as partners, but we didn't know who would be the sponsor and who the gladiator. So we rolled the dice, and he's going to be fighting in there at least until he gets to fifty fights" said the girl, smirking "If his record is negative by then or he's injured and can't go on anymore, we'll switch and it'll be my turn. I'm a firebender so I should have a better chance than him, but he's always been good at nonbending combat… he used to be in line for joining the Yu-Yen Archers and all"

"I'm not surprised to hear that. He has great aim" Azula said, nodding. The girl grinned.

"Yours is the obviously superior fighter, though. I'd seen the Blue Wolf fight before, but it's so much better when you're sponsoring his rival…" she said, her eyes gleaming as Sokka succeeded in disarming Scoundrel from his bow "Ooooh, heck, he's done for!"

"And you're happy about it?" Azula asked, amused.

"Of course!" she exclaimed, as Sokka delivered the finishing blow to the archer's temple, leaving him unconscious effectively "Oooh, yeah. Way to go! That's what I'm talking about, real fighting right there!"

"Well, this was fun, no doubt" Azula said, smiling as she watched Sokka lift a triumphant fist. The crowd cheered him on as the judges declared him the winner and the medical staff rushed inside to pick up Scoundrel "You're quite possibly one of the weirdest sponsors I've met"

The girl was flustered by that, but the words served to reel her back to reality. She gave the Princess the bag of money she owed her and smiled.

"Thank you, Princess" she said, bowing her head again "This was truly amazing. I'm still ecstatic that you'd accept my challenge…"

"It was no problem at all" Azula said, not giving away that she had accepted this fight to make sure Sokka was in fighting conditions again. The wounds in his hands had healed, seemingly, but she had meant to make sure he was ready for the sand pit again through a simpler fight first. The result, naturally, had pleased her.

The other thing she didn't tell this sponsor, though, was that she had taken her challenge upon being told by Shoji, back when she was still selecting Sokka's next fight, that the opposing sponsor was a woman as well. Azula hadn't known there were other female sponsor aside from herself and Ty Lee yet, but this meant that at least there was one more. Hopefully she wasn't the only new one so far, Azula thought, as she made her way through the halls to find Sokka in one of the waiting rooms.

"Hey" he said, smiling at her. Again, all the people present in the room bowed to her upon noticing her presence, and Sokka jumped before doing the same, guessing it would be the only appropriate thing to do. Azula smirked.

"Well, that's new" she said, and Sokka blushed "Rise, all of you. Carry on with what you were doing"

"There's not much for them to do, really" said Sokka, shrugging "I'm fine. That guy didn't land a single blow on me"

"Lucky for you" said Azula, raising her eyebrow "There were quite few arrows that nearly got you"

"Oh, of course not" said Sokka, smirking "I simply moved out of the way last minute so he would shoot them before I'd changed positions. He was clever, but not clever enough!"

"Which is great for us indeed" said Azula, smiling a little "Well, then, if you're done…"

"Yeah, let's go" he said, grinning as he picked up his weapons and headed to the door she had been standing before. Again the physicians bowed, but the Princess paid them no mind this time around "Say, we haven't checked where I'm at in the Ranking, have we?"

"Actually, I have. After the Slate you were in the 142nd slot" Azula said, and Sokka smiled with delight "You're likely to still be there, there were about five hundred points of separation between you and the gladiator below you, so it's unlikely you were surpassed in a matter of a week…"

"Is that so? Hehe" he said, proudly, as they climbed down to the vestibule "And how many points did I get this time? I know they weren't too many, but…"

"Around a hundred and sixty, I think" Azula said, frowning "But that's unlikely to be enough for you to reach the next position, so don't get your hopes too high"

"Well, it's not that big a deal anyways. I must have skipped over a pretty big stretch of the ranking thanks to the Slate, right?" he asked, and Azula nodded.

"The problem is, as I've told you, that rising from now on will prove slightly more difficult. The distance between gladiators is bigger, the fighters are stronger, and…"

She fell silent suddenly, to Sokka's surprise, and he realized that everyone in the vestibule was already bowing down to her even before she reached the last step of the staircase. Yet two people didn't bow… it was rather unsurprising out of one of them, who jumped upon noticing their presence and smiled, but her sponsor's brow had furrowed as soon as his eyes had fallen upon Azula. Unlike how it was with his gladiator, who simply wasn't the type to be respectful, his lack of reverence had an apparent tinge of displeasure to it.

"Spicy! Dog!" Toph exclaimed, waving at them.

Azula did her very best to keep her composure as they walked towards them, knowing all too well that her warm and jolly uncle would be showing a very different side of his personality towards her in this encounter. She had seen him serious a handful of times before, but this was more than just stern behavior… it was anger. And it wasn't only his glare, but through the techniques Azula had learned with her dragon in order to identify inner fire, she could feel his rage as well. But it truly came as no surprise that he would be this unhappy. She hadn't expected less.

"Hey there, Toph" Sokka said, well used to her nicknames by now. He smiled and patted her head, something that she didn't seem to enjoy very much "Nice to see you in a good mood again"

"Quit that" she said, shaking his hand off "Strange, running into you two here. You had a fight?"

"Yep, and I won without letting the opponent land a single blow" Sokka said, proudly, as Azula ushered the people bowing to her to rise with a gesture of her hand "Yet another victory in my record!"

"Huh, congratulations, I guess" said Toph, with a smirk, and Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"What's with the condescendence, huh, Toph?" he asked, looking at her judgmentally as the girl snickered.

"What else? Win all you want, at the Slate if you wish, but it doesn't make you better than me anyhow. I've got every right to be condescending" she claimed, grinning.

"Why, not sorry to rain on your parade, Bandit, but as it happens Sokka is well above you in the Ranking right now" Azula stated, and Toph froze.

"Say what?" she exclaimed, and Shoji, at the counter, gulped and nodded.

"T-The Blue Wolf is around 1500 points ahead of the Blind Bandit, indeed" he said, intervening and making Iroh scowl upon those news "The Slate gave him a boost after all…"

"Heh, well that's not much anyhow" said Toph, shrugging "Give me two months and I'll be the one ahead by the same number"

"As if" said Sokka, an eyebrow twitching "You need a reality check, you know? The Ranking's only going to get tougher for both of us from now on"

"Only for you, Dog" said Toph, smirking "Iroh will make it so I take up several challenges a week. I'll rise high, keep kicking butts of jerks in the top hundred, and soon enough I'll be the very leader of the League, no problem!"

"Not if I get there first" Sokka said, smiling and looking at Azula proudly "Isn't that right?"

Azula didn't reply right away, though, staring at Iroh as she was. The man was somber, looking about as displeased as he had when she was being pronounced Crown Princess by the Head Sage. His glare was cold, much as hers often was when things didn't go according to plan.

"Of course it is" she said eventually, and Sokka beamed.

"If only it could be so" Iroh finally said. Azula was sure she didn't imagine the glint of concern that crossed Toph's face when her sponsor spoke "But I'm afraid it's easier said than done, Blue Wolf"

Sokka frowned, having noticed already that Iroh wasn't in the best of moods, but his intervention right now was nothing short of eerie, if just for his voice tone. Azula raised an eyebrow, refusing to back down despite her common sense advised otherwise. She had no trouble imagining that her uncle blamed her, ultimately, for Zuko's departure. It was Azula who had been declared Crown Princess instead of her brother, after all. She was the reason Ozai would never treat Zuko as his heir. Without Azula, Zuko would still be around…

And while he surely believed Azula was the main reason his nephew was gone, that didn't mean she was the only one he blamed. Toph's tension gave away that not even she felt comfortable around her sponsor right now, which was quite a rarity in itself. The two of them had always seemed to be in perfect synch, understanding one another right off the bat whereas it had taken Azula and Sokka months to finally settle down as the team they were supposed to be. Genuine arguments or disputes between them were unheard of, at least as far as Sokka and Azula knew. But for the first time ever, Toph looked as though she wanted to race straight into the sand pit, not so much because she was eager to fight, but rather, because she wanted to get away from her sponsor.

"It's likely that it won't be as easy as it sounds indeed" Azula said "But that's not true to us alone, Uncle. Regardless of the Bandit's prodigious skills, only the very best reach the top. Her perfect victory streak is unlikely to last much longer"

"As if. I'm the best earthbender in the world, Jewel" said Toph, smiling a little and hoping to deflate the tension with her words "Even if the higher ups are tough, I'll get around them easily. The most challenging fight I've had so far was the one where I had to go to the bathroom, so…"

"It's precisely why your luck is likely to turn itself around eventually" said Azula, shrugging "You're so used to winning that when someone better than you comes along you won't know what to do. But still, let's see if you two can reach the top as you want to. As it is, though, Sokka and I are closer to it than the both of you and you know it"

"Only by a technicality, really" said Toph, waving a hand carelessly "The Slate's the only reason you guys have any advantage over us right now"

"Well, then, maybe we should challenge you to the Slate and see if you can push ahead again" Sokka said, with a teasing smirk. Azula looked at him skeptically "What? Come on, it'd be perfectly legal to challenge an earthbender there!"

"It may be so, but it would be the same as fighting a waterbender inside a volcano. How do you expect the fight to prove your superiority if you're not on even terms?" Azula asked him, and Sokka pouted.

"Here I am, trying to give us the perfect shot to beat Miss Arrogance Incarnate and you shut it down like that…" he said, and Toph snorted.

"Come on, as if! You know, you can challenge me there if you want, I don't mind at all!" she said, proudly "Go ahead, really! Even while stuck in some metal cage I'd be able to beat you no problem, Dog!"

"Oh, really? With no earth for you to bend? I'd really like to see that!" Sokka said, smirking, and Azula rolled her eyes.

"Not happening" she said, staring at Sokka sternly, but a soft chuckle startled her. She looked at her uncle with a sense of foreboding, finding he was smiling now.

"Well, why not? If anything… our gladiators should indeed fight against one another once more. It's been a while since they last did" he said. Azula froze.

"What?" she said, as Sokka looked at Toph warily. The girl had her hands on her waist, a look of interest on her face.

"Your gladiator is above Toph at the moment, it seems… something I cannot quite accept, if I must be honest" said Iroh "I would if only it was well-deserved, but I doubt it is. If you're so certain that your gladiator deserves that position, though, and if you're so convinced he'll reach the top of the ranking, then he should prove himself a better fighter than Toph is…"

"I really don't see why I'd be so interested in making sure Sokka can beat her" Azula said, folding her arms over her chest "But if it's the Slate you want, fine. In six months' time, we can have our gladiators fight one another there if you're so eager to see how they measure up against one another"

"Six months? No, no" said Iroh, shaking his head "I don't want the Slate, I want this fight now. By next week"

"Next week?" Azula repeated, raising her eyebrows "And just why am I supposed to accept these demands, Uncle?"

"Why else? You said it yourself, Toph is likely to run into fighters stronger than her on her way to the top. So is Sokka" said Iroh, shrugging "Toph happens to be one of those fighters who are stronger than him, as you must realize. If he was strong enough to defeat the second best gladiator of the League by now, he should be able to defeat Toph. That is, of course, if Toph isn't superior to the Blue Wolf, as you refuse to accept…"

"Is this some sort of ego clash, Uncle?" Azula asked, looking at him skeptically. The man's amusement dissipated at that "Or are you really trying to challenge me for the first time?"

"I'm challenging you indeed" Iroh said "Now, the question is whether you trust your gladiator enough in the battlegrounds or not…"

"The question isn't whether I trust my gladiator, the question is whether I trust yours" Azula stated, her gaze flickering towards Toph, who folded her arms over her chest by now.

Truth be told, Azula wasn't as distrustful towards Toph as she was trying to appear. She was sure the girl wouldn't attempt to kill Sokka in the way she had during their first confrontation, and she was also sure that Sokka had improved enough to prevent that from happening. But her uncle…

He was defying her in a battle of wills indeed. It was the same game she had played with other sponsors, taking advantage of their confidence, only to knock them off their pedestal when they least expected it. It was what she had done with Chan over a year ago, what she had unwittingly done to Aonu recently as well. Sokka always seemed the underdog, but he found a way to win in the end. But when it came to Toph…

Just how far was Toph likely to go in order to get back to Iroh's good graces? Surely she wouldn't be willing to hurt her friends if he commanded her to, would she? The girl was spirited, straight-forward, blunt to no end. If Iroh ever pressed her to do something she didn't like, she would put her foot down. Azula wanted to trust she would, if nothing else…

But the real question was whether Sokka was ready to defeat Toph or not. Azula had no doubts that Sokka was at his best shape right now, despite the fact that his wounds from the Slate might still pain him once in a while. With every new skill he had acquired, perhaps he could beat her right now. Perhaps…

Was this a risk she was willing to take? It would be quite wonderful to deliver a finishing blow to her uncle's pride, to make him back down and leave her be for once and for all. Yet something told her this couldn't go as smoothly as she thought it would. That was the best case scenario, but what of the worst? Which one was more likely to take place?

"Well, now, Jewel… I'm not about to break Sokka" said Toph, with a smile "I know it's hard to believe after what my first fight against him was like, but he's not that same wimp anymore, is he?"

"No, I'm pretty sure I'll land a lot more than two blows on you this time around" Sokka said, smirking "If anything, the one who should be afraid should be you. I've trained harder than ever as of late, and I've learned lots of skills that you'll never see coming"

"Wow, that's just so very funny, Dog" Toph said, an eyebrow twitching as Sokka grimaced, only realizing the blunder in what he'd said when Toph reacted to it.

"If that's truly so, why not accept this challenge?" Iroh asked, looking at Azula questioningly "He's stronger than ever, it seems. If he cannot weather this challenge, how will you ever defeat Admiral Zhao?"

Azula wasn't surprised to hear Iroh speaking of her goal so blatantly, because she had suspected he understood it from the start. It did surprise Sokka, though, that Iroh would speak so carelessly about the matter. He frowned and looked at him with unease now, as the man's gold and clear eyes proved more unreadable than ever before for the gladiator.

"I will have Sokka fight Admiral Zhao's gladiator eventually, Uncle" Azula said "Once I deem him ready for such a challenge, and not a moment sooner. I'm in no hurries in that regard"

"Fair enough" said Iroh, with a smile "Is that the case with Toph as well? Is Sokka not ready for this yet?"

"He's…" Azula started, frowning. Truth be told, if he wasn't ready now, he probably never would be.

"If that's so I won't press on" said Iroh, nodding "I understand if you're uncertain. Though it is the perfect chance to prove that you two are the superior combination of gladiator and sponsor, is it not?"

"Goading my ego to get a fight, are you, now?" Azula asked, and Iroh chuckled.

"It's not every day that I find my niece shirking away from a challenge. I'm curious as to whether you're simply refusing because you're convinced you have the upper hand, or because you truly are afraid of what the result of this fight might be…"

"I wouldn't use the term 'afraid', Uncle" Azula said, looking at Iroh with irritation "But if you're really that eager to see your gladiator biting the dust, then…"

"You'll do it?" Toph asked, her voice betraying a certain hint of excitement "Really?!"

"In all fairness, you're the underdogs as it is. Even if you won, you wouldn't manage to pass Sokka on the Ranking, so no matter what, he remains the superior fighter" Azula said, with a smirk "And indeed he's far stronger than he used to be, so the risks are definitely not what they used to be. Perhaps it won't be as bad an idea after all"

"Heh, when you look at it that way, they lose no matter what" said Sokka, smirking as Azula nodded, and Toph scowled.

"As if!" she said, as Azula laughed under her breath "You know well enough that no matter the outcome, you two won't come on top. You know it!"

"Right" said Sokka, patting the girl's head again, to her irritation "Get ready to get off your high ostrich horse, because I'll be kicking your butt the next time we meet in battle"

"I do hope you'll prove able to do that" Iroh said, again with that ominous voice tone "One way or another, one victory streak will be broken once we face off against one another"

Sokka frowned in confusion until he realized what that meant. He looked at Azula to find she was staring at her uncle defiantly, a flicker of anger in her eyes. It wasn't Sokka's victorious streak that he spoke of, but rather, Azula's. She had been successful at just about everything she set her mind to as of late, proving capable of developing even new firebending techniques when she was cornered by the circumstances. Sokka had risen above all expectations and triumphed in the Slate, granting her even more glory, and now she was Crown Princess, no less.

And Iroh was more than willing to ruin her streak, it seemed. Rather than willing, he looked forward to it, and Azula was well aware of it, even though Sokka was only realizing it now.

"It might as well be so, Uncle" Azula said "Fortune should favor the better of either one of us, then"

"If it's fortune you've relied on so far, I'm afraid it's likely to betray you before you know it" Iroh said, raising his eyebrows

Sokka frowned and looked at Iroh with irritation, folding his arms over his chest.

"You know damn well fortune's had nothing to do with all she's done" he stated, startling Iroh "Everything she's accomplished, she has because she's capable of those feats and much more. So how about you quit it with that attitude, old man? You should know better than to underestimate Azula"

The Princess did her best to keep her composure, despite her heart ached upon hearing him say those words. She chose to give her uncle a malicious smirk, and he answered it with a short laugh.

"Alright, so be it" he said, turning to Shoji "Schedule a fight between us, then, in a week's time, Princess?"

"Be my guest, a week should be fine" Azula said, nodding "Good luck on your fight, Bandit. Oh, sorry for that. I forgot luck will only betray you, my bad…"

Sokka snickered and followed Azula out of the vestibule, both their heads held high. Iroh scowled as he watched Azula walk away, but he soon turned to Toph once more and ushered her to the waiting rooms, where they'd stay until their next fight.

"That was a nice comeback, Azula, way to go!" Sokka said, as they left the building's premises "Right where it should hurt that uncle of yours!"

"That's right" Azula said, somewhat proudly, as they walked down the steps that led to the street.

"Though what's with him, really?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "Why is he being such an ass to you all of sudden?"

"Well, it's likely because he holds me at least partially responsible for Zuko's departure" Azula said, shrugging, and Sokka looked at her in confusion.

"Say what? Why? You didn't convince him to go, or did you?" he asked, once they were at the sidewalk "Heck, you even asked him not to do it and he didn't listen. How is that your fault?"

"It's not my fault, but that's not worth much in his eyes. I already told you he'd see my appointment as Crown Princess to be undeserved and…" she was saying, but she fell silent upon taking notice that someone had stopped on the sidewalk to bow down to her as she spoke to Sokka. She frowned as she realized that at least ten people nearby were performing reverences, and possibly listening to what they were saying "Oh, for crying out loud. Rise, and keep walking!"

Her bellow was loud enough to startle all the people who were performing reverences, even those across the street, but they were quick to obey her, to her relief. Sokka chuckled a little, smiling at her as she rolled her eyes.

"One would think a position like this would bring about less inconveniences, but alas…" she said, shaking her head.

"It sure doesn't seem to be much fun, does it?" Sokka asked.

"Especially not when you're talking to someone about matters that don't concern their lot" Azula muttered, folding her arms over her chest "But I guess it shows me not to discuss this in front of everyone"

"Well, you could come over to my place, we can talk about it there if you want" Sokka suggested, smiling "Plus we can train too, if you want. That fight just now barely counted for anything, and if I'm going to fight Toph soon…"

"You are, huh?" Azula said, rubbing her forehead. Sokka looked at her with uncertainty "Are we sure this is the right idea? I mean, it's too late to back down now, but…"

"It may not go smoothly, especially not when it comes to her" said Sokka, sighing "But it's true that I'm at my best right now. And heck, I've gotten a lot better against earthbenders ever since I first crossed her. I might be able to pull off a decent fight against her for once"

"You also know her fighting style far better by now" Azula said "Fighting alongside her in Ba Sing Se helped with that. So I guess your chances are better than they've ever been against her, aren't they?"

"They should be, yeah" said Sokka, with a smile "So don't worry. I can't promise I'll win, but I don't think I'll need a lift on your palanquin this time. Nor will I end up useless for two months either"

"You'd better not" said Azula, raising her eyebrows and prompting him to laugh a little.

It wasn't a good moment to get lost in his eyes, but Azula found it unavoidable to do so. His gaze was so clear, so mesmerizing, so sincere… his eyes seemed to light up as he smiled at her, as though he were staring at something so precious that he couldn't help but cherish it with everything he had. And that something was her…

"So, uh… should we go train?" he asked her, looking at her in anticipation "Or would you rather…?"

"I… I'm sorry. Actually, I have someplace to go" Azula said, surprising him.

"Wait, really?" Sokka asked, blinking blankly.

"Yes" Azula stated, crossing her arms over her chest "I'm sorry to blow you off like this. But it might be better if you train with Haru instead, don't you believe? He's an earthbender, and the reason we made sure Ty Lee could buy him in the first place was so you could train with him against other earthbenders…"

"You have a point, but I just thought…" he started, but he shook his head and breathed out heavily "Never mind. You're right, that makes sense. So I guess I'll go to her place, then, see if Haru is done crying about how romantic it is that Suki and Zuko left together"

"Right" said Azula, with a smirk "If I'm done early I might catch up with you there. If not, then…"

"Then you'll catch up with me there tomorrow, I figure?" said Sokka, smiling and shrugging "I should have an intensive of earthbending training for now, after all…"

"You're not wrong" said Azula, nodding "Alright, let's make it so. I'll see you later, then"

"See you, Azula" he said, with another of his gentle smiles before turning on his heels and heading off down the street, towards Ty Lee's house.

Azula breathed out slowly as he called Xin Long to her, wishing her heart would just stop aching by watching Sokka's figure shrinking as he went. She turned to the dragon as he landed, finding he was chuckling at her, and she flicked his nose for his troubles.

"Stop that" she snapped as he started sending her embarrassing thoughts of her and Sokka making dreamy eyes at one another "It's not funny, I said"

Xin Long rolled his eyes and tried to prod her about her faltering sense of humor, but Azula found herself distracted, again, by quite a number of people who were bowing before her once more.

"I'm really starting to grow weary of this" she said, rolling her eyes and climbing onto the dragon's saddle "Get going. They'll stay here forever if we don't leave"

Xin Long chuckled again and pushed himself upwards, allowing the winds to carry him above the city. Azula was pleased to be led away from the crowd, and she watched the people decrease in size as Xin Long flew higher still. She found herself recalling her conversation with Zuko while they both were riding her dragon, remembering how she had told him his problems might seem smaller from above. Now she found that indeed she couldn't expect her problems to shrink away in the same way as the people bowing down to her had. Because she couldn't be airborne forever… and so she couldn't avoid the problems she needed to address.

She hadn't planned on going anywhere after Sokka's fight, and she wondered if he'd noticed she had lied to him about that. Surely not. For better or for worse, Sokka had faith in her. And even if he were to know she had been lying, he probably wouldn't hold it against her. How could they trust themselves to keep their desires in check while they were alone by now? After the Ball Azula had realized this wasn't a game she was playing anymore, rather, it seemed like she was the one getting played by the circumstances instead. How to continue resisting her feelings for Sokka? How to cope with this undying thirst when the only solution for it was as good as sending him to his death?

She barely knew why she gave Xin Long the directions she did, but she tried not to berate herself much for it. If there was someone who would likely help her think properly, with her brain again and no longer with her confused heart, it was her. Still, explaining things to her surely wouldn't prove easy…

Azula climbed off her dragon's saddle in front of the house she would be visiting, letting Xin Long know she would call him when she needed him. The dragon took off quickly, chasing the sparrow hawks that hovered many feet above them.

The Princess took a deep breath and knocked on the door, wishing she didn't feel as uneasy about this as she did. She needed to hear the voice of reason, though, and there was nobody better for that job than Mai.

And it was Mai herself who opened the door, a raised eyebrow that soon turned into a confused frown when she noticed who her visitor was. Her eyes scanned her quickly, noticing, naturally her golden armor.

"Someone has renewed their wardrobe" Mai said, and Azula shrugged.

"Not by my own initiative, truth be told, but I can't say I'm displeased" she said, and Mai nodded.

"It actually rather suits you" she consented, stepping back and allowing Azula inside "But something tells me you're not here to discuss your new fashion choices?"

"Indeed, I'm not" Azula said, nodding in her direction as she crossed the threshold "Are you alone?"

"Not entirely. The servants are around" Mai said, as they crossed the small yard and reached the front door "Do you want me to send them away? Is this conversation that confidential?"

"Quite confidential, actually" Azula admitted, with a grimace "I don't want us overheard at all"

"I'll try to arrange that, then" she said.

They entered the vestibule, where one of Mai's three servants was holding Yuudai. The child was restless, and he reached out for his mother upon seeing her.

"Li Fei, could you please take Yuudai upstairs?" Mai asked, but before she was obeyed, the servant's eyes flew open and she bowed her head to Azula, who rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Rise. Leave. Now" she commanded, curtly, and without further ado, the woman raced to the upper floor as she was told, with Yuudai whining softly as he stretched his arms towards Mai. His mother watched him with longing in her eyes, but she focused on Azula again once Yuudai was out of sight.

"The other two are in the kitchen and will remain in there for at least a couple more hours as they prepare dinner" she said "Do you feel secure enough like this?"

"I guess it should do" said Azula, and Mai nodded before leading her friend towards her house's internal garden.

Azula took her seat on a cushion, allowing her gaze to rake the flowers without paying any of them particular attention. Mai soon took her place beside her, looking at her with curiosity.

"I suppose you must be wondering why I'm here…" Azula said, in a hushed tone. Mai shrugged.

"I am curious about it, but I'm also amused. Not many months ago your brother came to me in this same manner" she said, smiling. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"He did, huh?" she said, and Mai nodded.

"It must be a family trait, thinking I'm the one who has all the answers to your troubles…"

"If someone can be trusted to give reasonable advice, it's you, Mai" Azula said "It's why I came to you, and likely why Zuko came as well"

"You're not wrong about why he came" Mai admitted, nodding "I don't know for certain about the reasonable advice, though"

"You didn't get to say goodbye to him, did you?" Azula asked and Mai shrugged as she shook her head.

"I didn't say goodbye the last time either" she muttered "Back then it was too painful. This time it was different, though… now he has someone who will travel the world with him, after all. It wasn't something I was willing to do"

"You were a child, Mai" said Azula "You couldn't have been expected to give up your life, your education and your family when you were but twelve"

"Of course not" she said, smiling "I'm actually glad I didn't try to go with him back then, and also that I didn't wait… I could have, as you told me to, but I'm glad I didn't regardless. Else I wouldn't have Ruon Jian and Yuudai now, and Zuko wouldn't have found Suki"

"Somehow everything fell into place. Strangely" said Azula, raising an eyebrow. Her breath caught in her throat, though, as she tried to poise her next question "Say, I… I never really understood why you chose Ruon Jian. I'm not saying it was the wrong choice, because by now it's clear it wasn't, but at the time… how did you know it was right?"

"Why, I didn't" said Mai, simply "I guess I was just… selfish. It almost felt like I was cheating on your brother, despite our relationship had barely just started when he was banished, and despite he had been gone for at least seven years by the time Ruon Jian asked me to marry him. I didn't know what to do, at all. I'm sure you remember…"

"I remember well enough, yes" said Azula, nodding "You were troubled, and that's not something I can say I've seen often. Ruon Jian had moved into the Capital, even found a job… all so he could provide for you, were you to accept him into your life"

"You remember what he used to be like" said Mai, with a smile "A conceited, arrogant fool who was certain I would be swooning over him if he just flicked his hair in my direction. But he read me wrong, and for some reason he couldn't understand that at first. He was never a bad person to the core, he was just… used to seeing things going his way. And when I remained unmovable he realized he couldn't get me through the same means he always had used to get the attention of other girls"

"Yet he pressed on" Azula said.

"He did. After a few weeks he contacted me again, through messenger hawk now, asking me what he had to do to gain my favor. I remember he worded it that way, and I rolled my eyes as I read it" said Mai, still smiling fondly "I found it ridiculous, but somehow endearing regardless. I said to him that I wasn't available, romantically, but I could be his friend if he was so desperate to have me in his life. I didn't expect him to latch onto that, but he did indeed"

"And then he started to visit you here" said Azula "I remember he dropped by during the festivals once, didn't he?"

"Yeah" said Mai, sighing "And I didn't really want to admit it, but I enjoyed his company. I really did. When my parents met him I thought they were going to kill me, especially my father. They were sure I would marry Zuko one day, of course, and gain royal status… and yet here I was, leading on some noble boy who obviously wouldn't grant me the privileges I would obtain through your brother. I think it was my father, actually, who made Ruon Jian change his approach towards me… because after a conversation with him, he started to court me seriously, almost as though defying my father. He showed me this wasn't some extended summer romance for him anymore. And I was… scared"

"Because of your parents?"

"Mostly because of what this would mean for my relationship with Zuko" said Mai "As I said, it was barely nothing at the time, but to me it had been important all the same… and how could I turn my back on him? He would return home to find me… to find me in the arms of another man? I didn't know if I could bear that guilt. I actually still felt guilty by the time he returned. I was beyond relieved when I noticed the connection between Zuko and Suki… because it meant he would definitely move on from me. He deserved that"

"Still, you haven't answered my question" said Azula, frowning "He started wooing you for good, this time showing you he was serious about it, and you were even more confused than you were before. It could have been a passing, flirting friendship at first, but this way…"

"He was offering me a life, a future, a family" said Mai "He offered moderate wealth, also, but more importantly… more importantly, he was willing to provide. He wasn't after me because of my superior noble status, he meant to work for the sake of giving us a good life. And even if I rejected him, he would continue to work because he no longer wanted to remain the spoiled child of a nobleman, never achieving anything in his life other than being born to important people"

"Quite an impressive resolve, coming from someone of his background" Azula admitted, and Mai nodded.

"He grew tired of being led on by me, though, and with good reason" she said "Four years spent chasing after a girl with no idea whether she was going to accept or reject him would have been too many years wasted if I turned him down. He asked me one day if I wanted him at all, so he could start getting over me for once and for all if need be. And he… he also thanked me for making a better man of him, even if I decided I didn't want him. I had inspired him to aim higher, it seemed, because he had realized he could never be worthy of a girl like me if he remained the same brat he had been when we first met"

"And I suppose that made you crumble in your determination to wait for Zuko, didn't it?" Azula asked, and Mai smiled and nodded.

"In a way it did… that was when I asked you and Ty Lee for advice. And I understood where both of you were coming from, but I couldn't bring myself to do what either of you asked me to. Ty Lee believed I would be happy with Ruon Jian, and she wasn't wrong… you believed I should have waited for Zuko. My father wanted me to marry your brother also, but at this point my mother seemed to have given up all hopes to see Zuko return, so she thought Ruon was the safe choice. All in all, how was I supposed to make a choice?"

"The votes were even" said Azula, smiling a little.

"I locked myself up in my room, and after a few hours I decided to ask myself the questions that needed to be asked" she said "If it came to it, which was the one I didn't want to live without? Which one of them was I more afraid of hurting? Which one of them did I love best, which one made me happier?"

"I take it Ruon Jian was the answer to all of them?"

"Not quite" said Mai, smiling "I was more afraid of hurting Zuko, truth be told. I already knew Ruon Jian was willing to step back if I told him no. He was aware of my relationship with your brother, so he understood that if I rejected him, it was because I'd choose to wait for Zuko. Zuko, on the other hand, had never known there was another man. He'd arrive as he did, to discover the truth and feel betrayed, likely… and that hurt just to imagine. It hurt a lot when it happened too"

"If that's so, why did you choose Ruon Jian?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "You thought… you thought the risk was worth it? Zuko might have never returned, but if he did, you meant to deal with the consequences even if it might kill you inside to break his heart?"

"It's as I said… I chose to be selfish. I didn't know if I could deal with the consequences when Zuko returned, if he ever did, but… but you see, through the short relationship I had with Zuko, I was constantly trying to impress him, I believe. I was young, yes, I surely wouldn't have done the same afterwards, but at that point I thought I had to be something more in order to appeal to him. That I had to be interesting, unlike all other girls or so… and at the same time, I think he felt pressed to do the same. We were both hoping to impress one another, constantly. But when it came to Ruon Jian, I… I never had to try. He complimented me on my clothing choices, my haircuts, praising me to the point where I had to tell him to shut up because he was annoying me"

"That must have been fun" Azula said, smiling, as Mai grinned as well.

"Whenever we went out, we would play this game, where he put my observation skills to the test. He'd point certain people at me, and ask me for their story, or for what they were talking about. Whether I was right or wrong never really mattered, he was just too amused to hear what I might be able to come up with as a response to his questions. Unlike Zuko, he wasn't trying to match my shadow, nor was I trying to match his. Instead, Ruon… he was a bright light, shining over me. And the brighter the light, the darker the shadow. You can't have one without the other, can you?"

"I suppose not" said Azula.

"So when it comes down to it, I… I chose Ruon because he made me happy with who I was. I loved having him around, whether I realized it right away or not. And maybe the same could have happened with Zuko, I won't deny that" she said "But I was so comfortable with Ruon Jian, at such ease… I loved the way he loved me. And really? I already was living without Zuko in my life. I was proving I could in fact survive without him, and he had been at sea for seven years without me, too. We could be apart. Yet the idea of… of losing Ruon Jian? It hurt me in a very different way. I dreaded what Zuko's return would be like, but giving up a chance to live with Ruon just… just couldn't sit right with me. Not after I'd seen everything he had done in order to use all his potential, to become a better man. It wasn't that I felt I owed him for that or so, but just… that I was fascinated by him, I think. By everything he had proved capable of. I really liked the man he had become.

"So… so I ran to him, and told him I'd be his wife. And every single time my mind led me to think about how miserable Zuko would be when he knew about this, I reminded myself of the joy I felt when I was with Ruon the day I said yes. And also on the day of our wedding… and when Yuudai was born. I could have had all those things with Zuko… but I didn't really want them with him anymore. I had found another man to love… and to this day, I cannot find a reason to regret my choice. Especially not now"

"That's good" said Azula "It's… it's wonderful, actually. You made the right call, even if you call it selfish, but you… you are happy now. You have the family you never knew you wanted, the husband you never expected to love this much…"

"Indeed. Everything fell into place, as you said. But is that why you came, Azula?" Mai asked, raising an eyebrow "To hear about my story with Ruon Jian? Or…"

"Well, it certainly has helped to hear of this, to a degree" Azula muttered "Though it's not really why I came, but…"

"Then why? You've made me ramble enough as it is. Your turn" said Mai, smiling a little at her. Azula sighed.

"I guess… I just needed some guidance, in a sense" she said, a hand going over her hair "You say you love Ruon Jian, but say, how… how exactly does he make you feel?"

"How…? What do you mean with that? If this is a lewd question…"

"No, it's not, don't twist things weirdly like that. You think I'm Ty Lee?" Azula asked, and Mai smirked.

"Well, I started to wonder if she'd rubbed off on you that much, because honestly…"

"Just… focus, Mai" said Azula, through gritted teeth "I mean… did your heart feel as though it was going to break within your chest if you didn't kiss him? Did he make you laugh until you cried, did you feel so safe in his arms that you forgot every other problem that could have plagued you?"

"Uh, well…" said Mai, frowning a little.

"And not just this, but also…" Azula said, her hand on her forehead now as she felt herself failing to find the proper words to describe her thoughts "That he complements you perfectly, you see. He has changed the way you see the world, even the way you see yourself. He has taught you many things, whether intentionally or not, and somehow… somehow your entire existence has become better just because he's in it now. When you go a day without seeing him it feels like a waste, but when you do see him, the only thing you want to do is run to his arms even though you know you can't do something like that… no matter how much time you spend by his side, it's just never enough.

"And he's… spirits, he's the biggest idiot the world has ever seen, but then he can be so intelligent that he understands you better than you understand yourself. And at times you have to remind yourself that meeting him was practically chance, in order to stop your stupid heart from convincing you that it was destiny that brought you together. You just… need him in ways you've never needed someone before. And it's ridiculous, because you don't want this. You… you never asked for it. Who the hell would ask for something like this? Nobody in his right mind would, surely, but you just can't stop it anyhow.

"The fact is, you're… you're in love, and you wish you weren't because you can't be with him and you know it. If you gave in to your feelings, you'll likely sentence both of you to hell. But how can you resist when he's every temptation you're too weak to fight against? How, when he has that damn mesmerizing gaze that you keep getting lost in…"

"And… does he feel the same way?" Mai asked, almost startling Azula out of her monologue. The Princess gulped and nodded, rubbing her eyebrows with her fingertips now.

"He does, looks like" Azula continued, breathing out deeply and trying to return to what she had been speaking of without being too affected by the interruption "He has said as much a few times already, voicing feelings you don't dare put into words yet. He has stood up for you when nobody else ever would, he has put your safety and wellbeing over his own a million times now. And he… he knows he can't have you, but it seems he can't control himself either. He… he says he's at the last of his willpower by now, too. And after… after certain things changed, you know there's no going back anymore. You're afraid because you're certain that the next time things heat up, it's… it's going to happen for good. You're going to cross the last boundary and then there will be no turning back. And once that happens, hell might as well break loose for good…"

"So then… you're asking me if I feel that way towards Ruon Jian? Or what would I do if I were in such situation?" Mai asked, and Azula sighed.

"Both, I guess. I mean…"

"I'm afraid I can't help you with the first question. That's actually… that's a lot" said Mai, smiling a little, and Azula sighed "As much as I love Ruon, there wasn't really some sort of force of attraction between us that we were hopelessly trying to resist… of course there was attraction, but not quite in the way you described. That would have been far too much to bear with, honestly"

"And what about Zuko?" Azula asked "You didn't feel that way towards him either?"

"I was a child with a crush, Azula" said Mai, smiling "And that crush was, potentially, only a fragment of what you described there. I don't know, honestly. If I were in such a situation I'd probably have run away into the wilderness to get away from it…"

"That's not really an option" Azula said, sighing.

"Then what are my options?"

"You can either cave in to your deepest desires or you can resist them. That's it" she said "What will you do?"

"Wait, but… I have been resisting said desires for a very long time as it is, and am convinced that the next time I have a chance to be alone with him, I'll lose my rational mind and give in to the throes of passion, right?"

"Uh… yes, actually"

"And I'll be faced with being alone with him eventually, so I'm most likely to succumb, aren't I?"

"I suppose…"

"Well, I guess… the risk is there, right? We both could die because of this…" Mai said, folding her arms over her chest "Still… if I never do it, I'll never know what all this built-up tension could result in. It'd go to waste. Wouldn't that be a pity?"

"It would be, undeniably, but…" said Azula, sighing and frowning.

To never do it would mean to never give Sokka a chance. It would mean to refuse him, constantly, until she belonged to another man. Then she would grow older, and he would likely be gone from her life eventually… and she would never know indeed. The whirlwind of passion they could unfold if they were together would become but an unattainable illusion, something they could have basked in, but had backed down on, and…

"You'd regret it forever" Mai said, as Azula's hand went to her mouth, her eyes widening.

"S-so… so you're saying I should do it?" she asked, looking at her friend in disbelief "Mai…"

"I'm not telling you to do anything" the girl said "But to be blunt… if I were in that situation, I'd do it. Curse everything, really. As I said, I guess I have a knack of being selfish, but I wouldn't possibly let this disappear without a single taste of it. If we'd be sentenced to death for it, well… I'd make the most of it while I can. And I'd do my best to protect it, in order to enjoy it for as long as I can do so. And I'd do my very best to cheat that death sentence somehow. Why not, really?"

"Spirits…" said Azula, shaking her head "I was so sure you'd… you'd tell me not to do it"

"Again, I'm not telling you what to do or what not to do" said Mai, smiling "It's not my decision"

"Still…" Azula said, burying her face in her hands "I'm not sure I can do this"

"Well, you won't have to do it right away, will you?" said Mai, shrugging "Take your time. Only when you're ready, when you're done waiting for nothing, let yourself go with it. Or, of course, you can do nothing and spend the rest of your life wondering just what it would've been like. But I wager you don't want to do that, do you?"

"I… blast it, I don't even know what I want anymore" Azula lied.

Yes, she knew what she wanted. She knew it all too well. But she was scared, terrified of finally reaching out for it. She had hoped Mai would be the voice of reason indeed… but this wasn't at all what she had expected from her friend. It was the entire opposite of that. Mai had always been the safety net she could fall into when she felt unsure about her footing on her tight rope… but now even that net was gone. She couldn't rely on it to be there anymore. All she could do was keep going, until she reached the goal, and hope she would get there safely…

"In any case, if this is how you meant for us to restart our weekly encounters, I'm afraid we're missing one member of the group" said Mai, hoping to change the subject. It wasn't every day that she saw Azula so emotional or vulnerable.

"There's an obvious reason why that's the case" said the Princess "Just what do you think Ty Lee would have said if she had been here just now?"

"Probably that you need to lock yourself up with Sokka in some room for several hours and make the most of it" Mai said, with a grin, and Azula sighed.

"I came to you alone because I really hoped you'd be the voice of reason. I didn't expect… this"

"Sorry to disappoint" said Mai, with a smile "I suppose it's just bound to happen one way or another, isn't it? You've resisted longer than I expected you to, seeing just how close you are to him…"

"I've done what I needed to do" Azula replied, sighing "But I guess… I guess I should be selfish like you now, huh?"

"I did not say that entirely, but it just might make you feel better about yourself" Mai said, shrugging "Still, speaking of the weekly meetings… should we start again with them next week?"

"I suppose, though we can work out the details later" Azula said, standing up "I'll have a fight in a week's time, so to stay on the safe side it would be better not to have it exactly in one week"

"That's fine. Doing it the day after that would be alright by me" said Mai, nodding and following her example as she stood up as well "Do you want to do it in the Palace, or would you rather come here? Or at Ty Lee's…"

"It was always at the Palace, let's keep it that way" said Azula "Enough things have changed as it is"

"Alright" said Mai, as Azula entered the house again.

Mai followed the Princess to the door. Azula's meditative silence would have put off anyone else, but not Mai. Even when Xin Long appeared at the street she kept her composure, though the same couldn't be said for the troubled Princess.

"Don't force yourself to do anything you're not ready for" Mai said, as Azula climbed on her dragon "Still, despite it's not the greatest piece of advice ever… follow your heart. You just might be making the right decision without knowing it, as I did"

"That's quite hopeful of you" Azula said, raising her eyebrows "But I'll take that into consideration. Thanks, I guess… even though you just might have made everything worse instead of helping me"

"Your sincerity is much appreciated" said Mai, with a smirk "Good luck, though"

"Thanks" said Azula, nodding towards her before Xin Long shot up into the sky.

Luck wasn't reliable, though… she had been told as much a while ago, and she knew it well enough. She couldn't count on luck. She couldn't expect things to simply go her way. She had to play the pieces of the board carefully, strategically, setting them up so they would effectively fall into place… that was what she had done regarding her new position as Crown Princess. But how to do the same when it came to Sokka? There was no way things would fall into place perfectly in the way they had for Mai. The only consequences Azula could imagine would be terrible… and yet, was it worth it? Should she give in? She wasn't the kind of person who ever stopped fighting. Surrender was never an option for Azula. But could she drop her guard just this one time, and cast caution into the wind…?

Fortunately, she didn't have to answer that question right away. The days between Sokka's fight against Scoundrel and his upcoming confrontation with Toph flowed slowly, though for Azula they were nerve-wrecking all the same. The tensions between her and Sokka, and the worries that nestled in her heart over sending her gladiator to a new fight against his biggest rival to date were mixed, leaving her with an anxiety that washed over her time over and time again.

She oversaw his training every afternoon, taking part in it once in a while to press him on further, and without a doubt, Sokka was at his best. He could fight her, albeit he had yet to defeat her, even if Azula was wielding both her sword and her fire. Haru's earthbending constantly fell short against him, and Sokka kept gaining the upper hand in their fights. If seeing Sokka so strong was a relief, at the same time it was cause for concern. Because if this didn't prove to be enough to beat Toph, nothing would be.

The constant training left little room for private encounters between Azula and Sokka, despite they still had chances to talk once in a while. Haru and Ty Lee were constantly with them, and their presence made both Azula and Sokka extremely aware of the distance they needed to keep with one another. And both of them suffered said distance in silence. Every single time they longed to kiss, to hold one another, to so much as graze the other's hand with their fingertips, they repressed all the urges. But Azula knew they couldn't contain everything forever. It was as though their relationship was an overflowing dam, with leaks on the gates that would eventually be shattered once the water finally found its course once more. Their desires would not lie bottled for much longer…

She didn't don her golden armor on the day of Sokka's fight against Toph, deciding against it both to keep the golden one for special occasions, and also in hopes that people wouldn't pay her as much attention if she wore her old attire. It didn't work, though, to her utter disappointment, and as they crossed the vestibule she was again at the receiving end of all sorts of bows and reverences.

"Are you ready for the fight, Princess, Blue Wolf?" Shoji asked them, after lifting his head upon Azula's command.

"As ready as I can be" said Sokka, nodding. He felt more confident in his abilities than ever before, but even so, he refused to underestimate Toph. He had fought many other gladiators by now, but none had left him as broken as she had. He would make sure not to make mistakes that allowed her to give him the same treatment she had during their last fight.

"Indeed he is. Sign us in" Azula said, determined.

If Sokka triumphed today, Iroh would be forced to back down. His attempts to thwart her as she rose through the Ranking would likely diminish, if not disappear altogether. She would finally teach the old man the lesson he had needed to learn since such a long time ago… which was, of course, not to get in Azula's way. She'd had enough of him as it was.

"Alright, then the black sword, the white sword, the club, one bomb and the boomerang. Is that right?" Shoji repeated, as Sokka finished listing his weapons to him.

"That's right" said the gladiator, and Shoji smiled.

"Well, that should be enough" he said "You can go ahead to the stand-by room. Your opponents should be here soon"

"Good. Thank you, Shoji" Azula told him, nodding in his direction as she started towards the stairs.

"See you!" said Sokka, smiling at him before following Azula downstairs.

The Princess looked out at the ring through the golden grid in the stand-by room, knowing this activity would do nothing to appease her anxiety, but unable to help herself regardless. Sokka stood behind her, his arms crossed, his eyes set on her figure as neither spoke, as neither did anything but contemplate the situation before them.

Sokka gritted his teeth, his hands balled into tight fists. He breathed out and finally spoke, looking at her with determination.

"Azula, I…"

"You'd best not mess this one up" Azula interrupted him, making him freeze on his spot "A lot is riding on this fight… and I actually think you might have a chance. I mean, you did beat the Millennium Dragon, so…"

"Yeah, though it was easier with a firebender" said Sokka, frowning "I'm taking Wolf's Bane anyhow, but I doubt it will have some hidden powers against earthbenders now"

"Unlikely" Azula admitted "But you did insist you wanted to use it this time…"

"I feel it's a good advantage. I can handle myself well enough with two swords" he said, smiling "And I promise not to lose your sword like I did with the boomerang the last time I fought Toph"

"You'd better not. Because I'm not running back here to get whatever you might lose in the sand this time" Azula said, looking at Sokka with a small smile. He grinned back.

"Don't worry. If I lose anything, which I hopefully won't, I'll be capable of getting it back myself. At least, I hope so"

"Yeah, try not to get any limbs broken this time, if you would" Azula said. Sokka smiled and nodded.

"I won't"

His words were promises without basis, but Azula wanted to believe in them all the same. She wanted to trust his strength, his growth… he had come a very long way since his last fight against the Blind Bandit, after all. The concerns were still there for the Princess, though. She couldn't help but imagine the worst that could happen, even if she knew Sokka was strong enough to avoid giving such conclusion to this fight…

"Just… do your best" she said, looking at him "You have it in you. If you could take the Millennium Dragon…"

"I'll be fine" Sokka said, smiling at her "You can stop worrying. Plus, Toph isn't going to try to kill me this time, I think. Even if she did beat me…"

"Try not to let her beat you, would you?"

"Well, I'm just saying, on the off case that she did…"

"I'd rather such a case didn't happen, honestly" said Azula, and Sokka pouted "She's been an obstacle in our way long enough. It's time to end that"

"It may be, but as always, I'm not underestimating her. I mean, I might get lucky and she might have had too much tea again…" he said, grinning "But if that doesn't happen, I'll have to give my everything in this fight. And I will do everything I can to win, but…"

"But it might not happen, yes" said Azula, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips "Still… I guess I just wanted you to know that I…"

"That you…?" Sokka said, raising his eyebrows and looking at her eagerly.

She looked at him, realizing that her anxiety was keeping her from saying the words aloud. She felt stupid as he waited for her to finish a sentence she couldn't complete… she felt stupider still for wishing she could just forget all her worries and qualms and throw herself into his arms…

But stupid as that might have been, she found herself doing so. Knowing, as she did, that one more step could send her falling down the cliff before which she stood, she still took it. So she cupped his face in her hands, her lips reaching out to meet his.

Sokka nearly fainted when he realized he was getting another kiss, at long last. Another taste, as ever, of the forbidden fruit he so desired… his arms surrounded the Princess, and he returned the kiss eagerly. Whatever she had wanted to say earlier was better said this way, no doubt.

They kissed until they were breathless, knowing there was no way they could go any further. He had a fight, she had to go upstairs. Knowing the circumstances limited them was helpful, allowing them to have only a small but just dosage of what they had craved for desperately.

"Go out there and… and make me proud, damn you" Azula said, her forehead pressed against his as his gloved hand caressed her face "Or else you're going to get it"

Sokka smiled and nodded, kissing her once more. Azula succumbed briefly, but she pulled away before long, dropping her head on his shoulder and hugging him tightly.

"I'll see you in a bit" he whispered in her ear "You won't have to carry me home today"

"Hopefully not" she said, before pulling away.

Again, as she'd had to do it on The Slate, she wiped his lips clean with her thumb. Sokka smiled at that, and Azula nodded at him before turning on her heels. Perhaps that kiss would serve to cheer Sokka up before the fight… heading out there in good spirits just might be the trick to beating Toph.

Sokka breathed deeply, trying to calm his heart rate after what had just happened. Would the day come when a kiss from her stopped making him this exhilarant? He wasn't sure it would. He couldn't help himself from wanting her, though… from wishing to belong to her in every possible sense of the word.

He remembered her reaction after he defeated Chan's gladiator, how overjoyed she had been. It was the first time he had ever seen her genuinely happy. What would she react like, were he to beat Toph? The idea made him nervous, anxious… and all the more eager to win. Yes, perhaps he had a death wish. Surely he was a fool for wishing he could have Azula to himself in ways in which she shouldn't belong to him, or to any other man, at all. But he wanted her. And if somehow the outcome of this fight would lead to him obtaining that which he desired, then he'd do every damn thing in his power to make it so. He was powerless to resist her at this point.

One way or another, the result of this combat promised to change everything between them for good. It would be up to Sokka to make it sure the change would for the best, or else…


	96. Chapter 96

Azula sat in wait in the balcony for a short time, but it felt longer than it was for the Princess. She breathed deeply repeatedly, hoping to soothe her nerves. Sokka could do this. Of course he could… she believed in him, for better or for worse. He wouldn't let her down this time.

The door swung open loudly, and she did her very best to keep her reaction in check. She couldn't show any weaknesses to her uncle, especially not today. So she sat in her couch, her elbows on the armrests, her fingers intertwined. She kept that position even as she regarded the man, who took his seat beside his niece with a curt nod in her direction.

"You favored your old armor today?" he commented "Curious. I was expecting you to be comfortable in your new role"

"It grows dull to have everyone bowing at me wherever I go. I expected an attire change to help with that, but regrettably, it didn't" she admitted. Iroh chuckled "I suppose it was like this in your days as Crown Prince as well?"

"It was. I must say it was almost convenient for your father to take the throne instead. That way people would stop regarding me so formally. It was quite a nuisance" Iroh said.

"Was it convenient, really?" Azula asked, looking at him skeptically. Iroh shrugged.

"In a few regards" he said, his voice growing darker now "Though I suppose that isn't a very encouraging perspective for you, is it? I spent my entire life expecting to sit at that throne and failed to do so. Even this title is no guarantee of your eventual ascent to the throne"

"Indeed. And you seem so bothered by that fact…" Azula muttered, leering at him from the corner of her eyes.

"I am but warning you, Princess Azula" he said, leaning against the backrest of his seat "If this is truly what you covet, you would do best not to drop your guard. You can lose what you desire without even realizing you did"

"I sure appreciate that warning. Thank you for looking out for my well-being, Uncle" she said, sarcastically "Are you perhaps plotting to make that happen, if I may inquire, or are you merely saying this because you are genuinely, deeply concerned for your niece's fate?"

"Why, are you implying you don't trust me, Princess Azula?" Iroh asked, raising his eyebrows. Azula rolled her eyes.

"I'm implying you were perfectly fine with just about everything up until I became Crown Princess and Zuko left. You're convinced this whole ploy was my idea, aren't you?"

For a moment, Iroh kept his silence, his eyes focusing on the still empty sand pit. Azula glared at him sideways again.

"My father decided this, not me. I told him to wait, he did as he wished. It wasn't my fault"

"Say what you will… you have still done what you could to rob your brother of his birthright. Everything you've done… the ceremony, and even the Dai Li conspiracy we unveiled, you used all of it to you advantage. Did you not?" Iroh asked, frowning heavily.

"It may have all fallen into place, but that doesn't mean I did every little thing with this outcome in mind, Uncle" Azula snapped "You think I planned to find a living dragon to earn people's recognition when you allegedly murdered the last one? You thought I fought back against the White Lotus merely because I wanted my Father to be impressed by my actions?"

The mention of the White Lotus made Iroh tense, as Azula expected it to. More bad signs. Was he really involved in that? It would have been little to no surprise at this point…

"You are a talented, clever young lady. You may not have planned it all, but you still turned it all to your advantage in the end. So now your brother sails the seas, alone, while I sit here battling you to no end with words and gladiators…"

"You're fighting me in my brother's stead? Well, isn't that moving" Azula said, ironically. She rolled her eyes and shook her head "And he's not alone. He took his Kyoshi Island girl with him in the end"

"He what?" Iroh asked, looking at Azula in confusion "He…?"

"So if you're worried that he'll be lonely and sad while he's out facing the world, you're mistaken. He's not that lonely, and surely not that sad" Azula said, crossing her arms over her chest "And if you really must know, I was in his room when you came to talk to him because I, as well, was trying to make him desist on this grand idea of his. It made no sense back then, and still makes none now. But it's his life, for better or for worse. He's an adult, he can make his own choices"

"Are they his choices?" Iroh asked, and Azula frowned "Truly? Or did someone manipulate him into thinking they were?"

"I'd hope you'd know" Azula said, shrugging "You're the greatest manipulating mastermind I know. You tell me"

"Me?" Iroh said, with an amused grin as he shook his head "You truly peg me for many things I am not, Azula"

"I wonder if I do" she said "Why did you choose to challenge me out of the blue, then? Isn't it to pressure me into a corner, to make me realize I cannot have everything in life? The very reason you joined the Gladiator Business, in the first place, was to make sure I wouldn't succeed in my endeavor to reach the top of the ranking. Thus, you took Toph as your gladiator because you saw how ruthless she was, because she pummeled Sokka and nearly left him for dead. Oh, but… I most certainly must be seeing too much into this. You are, surely, but a gentle man who only wants to waste his days away drinking tea"

"You do give me far too much credit, Azula" said Iroh, with a soft chuckle "I am a man who found an entertaining new friend, and an interesting new hobby"

"A hobby that aligns so very perfectly with the pacifist philosophies you've preached ever since you returned from Ba Sing Se, of course" Azula said, raising her eyebrows "No doubt I am giving you more credit than you're due. You're as inoffensive as old men can get"

"Naturally" he replied to her sarcastic remarks. She didn't miss the glint in his eyes. She would have taken it to mean malice, or at least pride… either way, he kept proving she hadn't misread him as badly as she always thought she had.

The man had inner demons, there was no denying that. He had endured pain and sorrow, he had seen and experienced things Azula could only being to imagine. But while all that was true, he hadn't been mellowed as much as he wanted people to believe. There was something eerie about Iroh, always had been. If someone was likely to turn his back on the Fire Nation and aid the White Lotus, it was him. If someone would gladly take it into his own hands to pave the way for his ideal successor to take the throne, it was Iroh. Tragedies or not, he was a man of resources, with the sharp mind of a military strategist. Even if Toph lost today, he would find a way to bring Azula down. He wasn't going to back down, not when he had a very clear goal in mind, and when Azula was one of the main obstacles in his way.

It seemed the one who shouldn't have underestimated her foe today was Azula, and not Sokka.

The staff member came by to ask for the fight's length, and Azula and Iroh decided on fifteen minutes. She dreaded briefly that this would be too long, remembering with ease what Sokka's first battle against this earthbender had been like. Fifteen minutes had been too long back then. Could Sokka withstand them this time around?

"Whatever the result is today, Princess…" Iroh said, once the staff member was gone. The metal grids at the stand-by rooms would rise at any given moment now "I hope you remember that even the best can find themselves outmatched when the circumstances don't favor them"

"Such words are a double-edged sword, Uncle" Azula muttered "It's not my gladiator who boasts of being the absolute best at what he does"

"Yet he represents you, does he not?" Iroh said "The greatest firebender of her age. The fearsome Princess who will brave through every challenge and exceed every expectation anyone had for her. What does she do, then, when she finds a challenge that is utterly beyond her?"

The gates before the stand-by rooms slid upwards now, and the two gladiators were heralded into the sand pit by the megaphone man and the deafening cheers of the crowd. How times had changed… no longer were they two beginners, two gladiators merely making their names in this business. Toph's sponsor wasn't the same as when they first fought, and she as well had changed quite a lot in that period of time. Now she actually thought of Sokka, and Azula as well, as friends. So on this opportunity she stood before Sokka by the stone well and smiled at him.

"Ready for this, Dog?" she asked, and Sokka smirked and nodded.

"Let's see what you've got this time, Bandit" he said, and she laughed a little.

"You're sounding a little too much like your Jewel, you know?" she said "Is she rubbing off you?"

"Not your problem if she were" Sokka said, whipping out Space Sword and his club "We've got a score to settle"

"That we do" said Toph, taking a stance just as the megaphone man informed them of their time limit.

"Whoever is left standing after those fifteen minutes pass shall be the winner of this iconic combat between two royal gladiators!" he exclaimed, and Sokka raised an eyebrow. He hadn't thought about it, but him and Toph were indeed in a different level than every other fighter, if just because of who their sponsors were… it was to be an extraordinary fight, if just on these regards "So hold tight to your seats, everyone, because this is a match for history! Once again, the Blue Wolf confronts the Blind Bandit in our very Grand Royal Dome!"

"Come on, can't he shut up already?" Toph grunted, tapping her foot impatiently. Sokka smiled.

"So without further ado, these two forces will clash in three, two, one, and…! START!"

Unlike how it was the first time they faced off, the Blind Bandit wasted no time chatting. Instead she struck her arms out in fists, creating two solid spikes of earth out of the sand and sending them at full speed towards Sokka. He shattered them with his club and readied himself to take the offensive swifly.

Surprised by his quick response, Toph lifted a barrier between herself and Sokka, but he slammed through it with his club once more, sliding the sword through the opening in an attempt to catch his opponent. Toph was forced to jump back, a frown on her face as she attested to Sokka's progress herself. She had sensed some of his growth before, back in Ba Sing Se, but right now it seemed he was far stronger than she envisioned he would be… could he have improved so much in the time between their partnership and the fight at the Slate?

She wasn't sure she was ready to believe that, though. She wasn't going to let him daunt her easily.

She stomped on the sand, creating a rock pillar right underneath Sokka's feet, a pillar that shot upwards and sent him up a few meters before he knew what was happening. He cringed, twisting in the air so he could roll on the sand, easing his landing as much as he could. He turned quickly, aware that Toph would take advantage of this opportunity if he allowed her to. And of course, that was what she had attempted to do, bending streams of sand so they'd strike Sokka's face.

His response was to shrink in his frame, allowing the sand to pelt him as he sheathed Space Sword and released his boomerang now. He hurled it quickly, attempting to measure the strength of his swing so that he could be certain the attack had struck his foe… when the sand stream stopped he smirked proudly, shaking the sand off as he stood up. Boomerang came hurtling back towards him, and he caught it with ease. Toph was rubbing her forehead, where a small streak of blood was oozing from the wound the projectile had caused her.

"Well, how about that" Azula said, allowing herself to smirk "The first real blow of the fight, isn't it? By my gladiator's hand, and not yours…"

Iroh's eyes were wide, his brow furrowed. Azula frowned as well as she saw his reaction. He hadn't seen this coming, clearly. He didn't realize how much Sokka had trained, how he'd learned from his experiences against so many other fighters. Yet instead of feeling pleasure from seeing her Uncle's expectations grinded into nothingness, Azula actually found herself feeling dread. Toph was already likely in enough trouble with her sponsor regarding the part she'd played in Zuko's departure. If she lost now, just what was he likely to do to her?

It wasn't a thought that should have deterred Azula, she wasn't one to be concerned for the fate of her opponent's gladiators. But in this case she couldn't help but wonder what the ramifications of a potential victory for her and Sokka would be.

"You've gotten damn bold, Dog" said Toph, wiping the blood with her wristbands she wore "I'll give you that"

"Got to be bold to fight boldness, don't I?" said Sokka, smirking and sheathing the boomerang again. He wouldn't lose it this time around.

"No doubt" said Toph, smirking "But we're just starting out, aren't we, Dog?"

"I hoped as much" said Sokka, taking a stance and lifting his club again.

He didn't expect the attack to come from behind him, though, a wave of sand that struck him by the ankles and made the ground underneath him unstable. He tripped and stumbled, falling on his back clumsily, to both his and Azula's chagrin. He struggled to get back on his feet only to realize Toph was busy bending the sand around him to turn it into quicksand, as she had during their first fight.

"Damn it, damn it…!" he cried out, pushing himself away from the void to no avail. The earthbender continued to do as she pleased, making it so the entirety of the sand around him would grow as unstable as possible.

Azula had known it was too early to feel victorious, but despite Sokka's circumstances right now, as he raced around the sand pit, struggling to clutch onto anything, she still felt hopeful. He could get out of this somehow, couldn't he? He'd faced worse conditions by now, no doubt…

His constant movements seemed to be his doom, though, and when his foot was caught within the quicksand he unleashed his boomerang once more. Yet upon sensing what he'd done, Toph created a ball of sand around herself, solidifying it so it would protect her fully from the boomerang's attack. As expected, the projectile rebounded against her shield hopelessly, and while the distraction served to get Sokka out of his predicament, his respite didn't last long.

"You know what's nice about being blind, Dog?" he heard Toph say from within her earth sphere "That fighting from in here is practically the same as fighting from the outside. How about that?"

"Shit" Sokka said, his eyes widening as more sand streams came flowing at him, now from opposite directions. This wasn't good.

"A master of Pai Sho can easily turn the tides of a match, even if he starts out with the weaker hand" Iroh whispered. Azula held her own, despite wanting to retort by telling him that there was no such thing as the weaker hand in Pai Sho, since both players were free to use all tiles from their set whenever they saw fit.

Toph wasn't to be underestimated, clearly, but only a true threat would have led her to resort to this, Azula reasoned. Never had she been forced to the extent where she would shield herself while attacking, simply because she didn't need to do that to succeed in battle. If Sokka had pushed her to this extreme, clearly he was doing something right. He merely had to push on further, find a weak spot and make the most of it when he did.

It would be difficult for Sokka to pull this off, though, to Azula's chagrin. He defended himself as he could from the offensive of the sand streams, but tossing his boomerang would serve no purpose now. His swords weren't likely to help, nor were his bomb and club, at least not in these circumstances. What now? How could this girl constantly leave him with little to no resources so quickly? He doubted they'd been fighting for longer than five minutes, yet the circumstances were already overwhelming him. He cursed internally and wondered why they hadn't just challenged Iroh and Toph to the Slate instead. He'd have defeated her no problem that way…

He ran around hopelessly, trying to escape from the sand to no avail. Wherever he went, another stream would strike him. Quicksand followed him. Despite his great start, he hadn't gained the upper hand at all. Sokka cursed himself as he resorted to the only moderately good idea that had come to his head, climbing atop one of the wooden and rope contraptions in the ring, hoping Toph would care far too much about her points to wreck it. If she did, then this would be his perfect chance to stop and give the battle some more thought…

He leapt up on the closest one, hoping she wouldn't be able to sense what he was doing once he wasn't standing on the ground. She should have a hard time to figure out what he was doing now…

"Are you sure that's a good call, Dog?!" Toph exclaimed, smirking to herself as Sokka began to sense he was moving downwards now… of course she had turned the sand underneath the contraption into quicksand. He cursed again, clutching Space Sword in a desperate whim and hoping the earthbender wasn't standing too close to the walls of her shield…

He threw the sword with all his strength, aiming it towards the top of the sphere. The weapon spun as it soared through the air, and it effectively cut off the top of the sphere once it reached it, taking green fabric with it. Sokka thought that seeing no blood was a good sign, at least, and he threw his boomerang next, as the entire shield collapsed and Toph gritted her teeth, her hand going up to her hair as she wondered what he'd done to her hair ornament.

She shielded herself from the boomerang, but Sokka's chance was finally here. He jumped off the sinking contraption, now with Wolf's Bane and his club in hand, trying to avoid getting tripped by the earth ledges Toph kept lifting… but one of them caught him, along with a smaller, rocky pillar that shot upwards and struck him square in the nose.

Sokka stumbled back, spraying the sand with a splatter of blood as he cried out in pain. He placed the club on the ground briefly as he touched his nose worriedly, grimacing when he sensed it was broken. Of course it was. Damn Toph and her endless resources…

"You okay?" Toph asked, standing up and heading towards where the remnants of her hair's ornament had wound up at.

"You think?! Can't you see I'm…? Uh, I mean, I'm bleeding. Thanks for breaking my nose" Sokka said, cringing. Every facial movement was painful. This felt like a lesser wound than the ones she had delivered during their first fight, but it sure hurt like hell anyways.

"Well, thank you too!" she said, lifting her ripped hair ornament and scowling as she found it was useless now "I'll have to get Iroh to find me a new one of these"

"And I'll have to get Azula to find me a new nose. Do tell me who's worse off" Sokka growled, and Toph smirked.

"It's clear enough" she said, and he froze.

The small wound he had delivered to her amounted to next to nothing in comparison to a broken nose. Just by this point in the fight, he was already on the losing end. He gritted his teeth, knowing he couldn't go on like this. If he was to win he needed to take her by surprise in a more definitive way this time around. He needed to catch a break, so that he could execute the plan he had come up with for this fight…

"So, still want to fight or would you rather get that nose fixed?" Toph asked, smirking.

"As if I had a choice" Sokka growled, whipping out his boomerang and tossing it at her.

"Aren't you going to get tired of that?" Toph asked, lifting now a tall, circular wall around herself, from which the boomerang rebounded.

"Tired enough" Sokka said, racing towards Toph before she could begin her sand stream assault once more.

The earthbender's attacks failed to reach him on time, and he made it to the sand cylinder Toph had crafter as he shield. It seemed it was thicker this time, and Sokka wouldn't be able to hurt her if he tossed his remaining sword at her, seeing how Wolf's Bane wasn't quite as sharp as Space Sword… but that wasn't his plan anyways.

He swung his club down powerfully against the steady rock, breaking it slightly, to Toph's irritation. She sensed Sokka moving quickly, taking something from his waist and trying to slide it through the opening and into her shield, but she closed the gaping hole before his hand could make it inside.

It took her a moment to realize that whatever Sokka had removed from his waist had fallen inside her cylinder without her awareness. She frowned as she tried to identify the object. It didn't feel like a knife, it was smaller than that… but soon she realized what it was, leading her to take down her cylindrical construction quickly, but not quickly enough.

The bomb unleashed its content, overwhelming her nostrils quickly and nearly making her faint with the unpleasant odor that stemmed from it. What the hell was that?! Had he made his bombs extra stinky now? Toph coughed, crawling on the sand as she remained as close to the ground as she could be, attempting to get away from the stench. He had played his advantages extremely well… being blind meant her other senses were heightened, of course, but that didn't refer only to her hearing. Her nose was far more sensitive than most people's, so overwhelming scents affected her more than they did anyone else.

Sokka smirked. He had placed some hopes in this strategy, knowing that his opponent's weaknesses were few and hard to exploit. Hence he had taken his time to build this one bomb differently, focusing in creating stench rather than smoke. He had done his best to add a mixture of unpleasant smells to it, hoping the compressed gas would grow really stale by the time he used it against Toph.

"What was…?" Iroh said, his eyes widening.

Azula's eyebrows raised in approval as she watched Sokka with amazement. That was new. She had no idea he had been experimenting with his bombs, but he must have been… no smoke had poured out of this one, yet Toph was crawling on her knees and elbows, clearly disgusted and indisposed if just for now.

"W-what the hell was that…?!" she shouted, still somewhat breathless "Did you fart?! Because hell…!"

"… Now that's a smell I could've added there" Sokka reflected briefly, as he picked up Space Sword and smirked "But I guess I'll do that next time, eh?"

"You're… you're fucking sick…" Toph said, gritting her teeth and slamming her palm on the sand powerfully.

Sokka had no time to realize what was happening when the sand opened below him. He tried to jump out, but he was sinking deeper and deeper with every passing moment. How the hell was she still able to bend this powerfully?!

The sand came crashing together again, all over Sokka's body, trapping him so that only the top of his torso was sticking out of the sand. The pressure of the sand slamming into him had made his head rebound dangerously, his neck creaking as he fell forward, his body limp.

"You've got issues, Dog, I mean it…" Toph said, pushing herself to her feet and walking towards him. The smells were dissipating at last, to her relief, but she was still quite displeased by what had happened. Would she be forced to repeat what she'd done to him in their first encounter? If he had another bomb on him, she really just might do that…

She stopped dead on her tracks when she realized he wasn't moving, though. She frowned and approached, noticing there was still a liquid dripping on the sand, but he was petrified where she'd left him. Had she broken him?

The megaphone man suddenly began to count, and Toph raised an eyebrow. That couldn't be right, could it?

"Wait, are you for real?" she asked the man, frowning "He's not done for yet, he's probably just playing dead, so quit…!"

As she finished saying that, something struck her from behind. And that something made her lower limbs go unresponsive, making her collapse on the ground hopelessly.

As expected, the man's count ended quickly enough as Sokka dug himself out of the sand with his own hands, shoving the grains out of the way as fast as he could. He needed to make the most out of this. He had succeeded at chi-blocking her! If he was going to beat her, it would have to be now…

But as soon as he was able to heave himself out of the hole, a large rock came flying at him. It came from the well, which Toph had destroyed by bending with her hands alone in order to use its rocks against Sokka. He flinched, knowing these rocks were going to be harder to destroy than the ones Toph could fashion out of the sand.

He had to use both Space Sword and his club to tear them apart, struggling to avoid getting struck by them, but Toph, despite her blindness and her current inability to use her lower body, continued to swing her arms almost erratically, making rocks and stones fly past Sokka in a flurry, some of them hitting him and threatening to knock him off balance.

He shouldn't have let this distract him, he only had this one shot! Her paralysis wouldn't last until the fight ended, though at the moment he was willing to think he really had the upper hand. He had to finish her off before the time limit ended, or risk allowing her to regain mobility in her entire body…

A rock to his lower back made him fall on his face, and soon he was being pelted by smaller stones that left bruises and scratches all over his exposed skin. He struggled to get up, swinging his club to slam the rocks away, but it was as though he were fighting with a cloud of mosquito-wasps. They kept coming back, almost in a vengeful spree, attempting to take him down even if he cut them or smacked them away…

And then suddenly he was enveloped by sand. Everything around him was darkness.

Toph breathed heavily, in a standing position now. Her legs still felt fuzzy, but fortunately the effects of what Sokka had done to her had faded quickly enough. It would seem he hadn't caught her chi point properly…

"Well, that was unexpected…" Iroh admitted, but he seemed more relaxed now that Sokka was trapped underground. Of course, Azula didn't share his feelings.

"She's… she's not going to keep him down there. She can't just…!" she said, and Iroh laughed under his breath next to her. Not for the first time, Azula wished she could be fighting her opposite sponsor in the ring instead of sitting helplessly here. All the progress in her relationship with her uncle had definitely fallen by the wayside by now.

"I'm afraid the rules say nothing of the sort. It would be a pity for him to die smothered, no doubt… but so much for a non-bender battling against a superior fighter. He has done far too well as it is"

"Stop belittling him" Azula snapped "He's done way better than Toph has so far and you know it. He has everything in his favor to win this fight, so…!"

"Alright, ready to surface, you jackass?!" Toph shouted, closing her hands into fists before stomping on the sand.

Azula's eyes widened when Sokka rose from the ground… or rather, the stone block in which Sokka was encased. Only his face was visible as he gasped for breath, his eyes wide.

"You know, I really didn't want to reach these extremes because I thought we were good buddies now, but I think I have no choice anymore" she growled, lifting her hands and moving them forward as though she were shoving the rock with them.

Just that served to catapult the rock through the Arena, straight towards the spikes that had damaged Sokka's shoulder so badly the last time they'd fought. He flinched, knowing what Toph was doing, and Azula's nails dug into the armrests of her seat, staring down at Sokka in anguish as the encased gladiator was slammed against the spikes at full speed.

Most of the rock he had been stuck in shattered once it reached the spikes, but Toph made sure that a good amount of it would remain wrapped around Sokka's body. He cried out once he fell on the ground, likely injured by a spike, but Azula couldn't see where it had caught him.

"Got you good, did I?" she growled, bending the sand that remained around Sokka to slam his head against the wall, between the spikes that remained dangerously close to him.

Sokka cried out, unable to do anything despite the sand was crumbling off his body. His head pounded with every blow, for the earthbender repeated the same sequence for longer than it was safe, no doubt. Not again. She was going to leave him broken down again at this rate…

He gritted his teeth next, glaring at Toph, but he soon cried out again as she began tightening the earth around him. Said move made the sand stick to his legs and torso, most of it sliding into his armor in order to injure him for good.

"You know, I really am sorry…" Toph muttered, inaudibly, but she continued to close her hands…

His arms were free, though, the one mistake Toph hadn't noticed until he released his boomerang once more and tossed it at her. She cringed as she released the earth around him in order to shield herself from his attack, and Sokka took his chance to strike the earth holding him down with his club.

As he ran towards Toph Azula realized his body hadn't been pierced by any of the spikes. There was no blood dripping from his armor or clothes, which had to mean his armor had actually protected him for good. Would he be fine, despite all the blows he had taken to the head just now? She hoped so… if he'd sustained any injuries out of eyesight it could prove all the more troublesome…

But he seemed to be in good shape, even though he was quite battered as it was. His armor had kept him from taking a bad injury indeed, but he found himself lacking stamina and breath regardless. His next attacks would have to decide this fight, and he meant to make sure they would be decided in his favor.

A rock struck him on the stomach now, making him stop in his sprint, but he kept going, despite it was a bad blow. A ledge of sand solidified at his feet again, but this time he managed to jump before tripping over it. He withdrew Space Sword, tossing it at Toph again, who knew he had to be throwing one of his blades by now, so she winced and leapt out of the way, only to find he was again making a tossing movement… the other sword?

This time the blade was caught in a quick rock barrier she managed to muster, a barrier Sokka shattered with his club. He picked up the sword and threw it again, only for Toph to bat it away with defensive bending, and to her surprise now he threw something else. He was out of weapons now, she realized, as she shot herself upwards with earthbending to avoid the soaring club that could have easily broken her legs had she stayed where she was.

But when she landed again she realized Sokka was far too close by now. She wouldn't have enough time to create a rock barrier before he punched her square in the face…

She resorted to catching his fist in her palm, astounded by how strong his direct attack had been. Sokka snarled, lifting his other hand. Just one more blow, strong enough to knock her unconscious and he'd do it! He'd…!

A pillar of stone came hurtling upwards, striking Sokka's jaw and making him stumble back. Toph gulped as he whimpered in pain, but before she could even show some sort of remorse, the Blue Wolf had lifted his fist again…

"The time is up!"

Toph moved sideways, evading his next punch before it could connect. She breathed with difficulty now as Sokka fell to the ground, panting as well.

He turned to look at her, disbelief in his eyes. Yes, he'd done a really great job, all things considered… but the chi-blocking hadn't lasted long enough. He hadn't managed to deliver a powerful enough blow with lasting damage, whereas she had overwhelmed him with her bending many times during the fight. He had hurt her forehead, almost given her a haircut, overwhelmed her nostrils, and chi-blocked her, though… would the judges deem all that enough to give him the victory?

He struggled to stand up, his body aching unpleasantly. All around, he had really done well, but… but although they had been close to evenly matched, he couldn't claim to have had an upper hand through most the fight. Even though he wasn't as terribly wounded as he had been the last time…

"You okay, Dog?" she asked him, extending her hand towards him. Sokka gritted his teeth and took it, nodding.

"Y-yeah… looks like I can still talk" he said, massaging his jaw "Sorry I… I made you smell that bomb" he whispered, and Toph snorted.

"You'd better be, you freak" she snapped "That was damn unpleasant. And heck, what did you do to my legs?"

"That's a new technique I learned recently" said Sokka, with a weak grin "But I didn't do it right, I think. Else you wouldn't have gotten up so quickly"

"Heh, lucky me, I guess. If not, then…" she said, as the realization dawned upon her.

He had nearly gotten her. He might as well be granted the victory, despite everything she managed to do to him. With his strange techniques and inventive ideas he had been damn close to defeating her. If the judges wanted to settle in Azula's good graces they would just claim he was the victor. Despite the fact that she had inflicted more damage, over all, they might decide Sokka had been the superior fighter…

"Not such a wimp anymore, are you?" she whispered, as Sokka breathed out a few times, touching his nose and blinking back tears "I should've gone all out from the get go"

"You… y-you probably should have, though it wouldn't have been convenient for me at all, but you should have" he said, gritting his teeth "D-damn you, really… you had to get my nose, did you?"

"Oh, that. Woops" said Toph, with a guilty smile "Don't worry, the physicians will patch you up good. You'll be fine in…"

"The judges are ready to announce the winner!" said the megaphone man, startling both the gladiators.

Azula stared at the judges with eagerness. She was willing to bet this was one of the worst fights Toph had ever faced. Even though Sokka was in worse shape than her right now, surely the chi-blocking and the strange bomb had served to grant them the better outcome, right?

"It was an extraordinary fight, from both parts" the judge in charge said into the megaphone, and Iroh clutched the armrest of his seat tightly "The Blue Wolf's creative fighting style definitely was something to behold today. But alas, due to the amount of damage delivered and received, and since she overwhelmed her opponent for most the fight… the victory is for the Blind Bandit"

"No… that's not…!" Azula said, her eyes wide as she stared at the judges in disbelief "That can't be right!"

"You may think so, Princess" said Iroh, smiling with delight "But true superiority was demonstrated by my fighter, not yours. It is regrettable, for the Blue Wolf put up a spectacular fight. I acknowledge that fully. But… it would seem he has been found deficient"

The cocky grin on his face enraged Azula further. She glared at him, her fists tight, her long nails digging into her palms. It wasn't fair. It wasn't logical! Not for the first time she felt cheated from a victory that should have belonged to Sokka, regardless of how the judges wanted to measure the damage rates… it was absurd that he wouldn't have taken the victory today. Was he only going to be granted the victory if he knocked Toph out? This was ridiculous…

"Are you hoping to protest the result, then?" Iroh asked, with a condescending smirk as he stood up "I don't think that's appropriate, now, is it? When you join the League you do so under the premise that you will respect the judges' decisions, no matter what. I advise you to do so now. A Princess should know to acknowledge her losses as well as her victories. Just as she should be able to accept there are some challenges that not even she can overcome"

"You're…" Azula growled, glowering at him. Iroh smiled and looked down at her waist, where a small pouch hung.

"I take it that's my winning fee, is it not?" he said, before sighing and shaking his head "Keep it. It's not appropriate for an uncle to take his niece's money, especially after a display like the one we just had, is it?"

Azula felt compelled to throw the bag at the man's face, held back only by the little self-control she had left. She felt herself shiver in anger as Iroh turned on his heels and left the balcony without another word.

She had failed to defeat him… by no fault of Sokka's, for he had done excellently, but simply because those accursed judges had decided to defect the victory to her uncle. Why? She felt compelled to think he had bought them off, but perhaps they merely wanted Toph to be as helpless as Sokka was at several stages of the fight. Even if she was in a worse situation than the ones she usually faced, it still hadn't been something where the only logical solution would be to give her opponent the victory… But the taste of defeat was bitter for Azula. She couldn't accept it, not this time. Not when Sokka was at his best. If they'd had at least five more minutes, he could have reduced Toph properly…

She glanced down at the fighting pit, where Sokka was currently collecting his weapons. The medical staff had rushed in to get the gladiators, but neither had paid them much mind.

"N-no hard feelings, right?" Toph said, her eyebrows raised as Sokka picked up Space Sword and sheathed it "I mean, you… you really did great. I must have been a tough call"

"Don't worry, Toph" he said, flatly "It's fine. If you won it's because you did better. Nothing wrong with that"

"But…"

"Congratulations. Really" he said, with a weak grin, as he finally listened to the physicians that were ushering him into the stand-by room.

Azula sighed as she watched them from afar, his behavior coming as no surprise. He wasn't pleased with the result either way, even though he wasn't going to blame Toph for it. The Princess shook her head and stormed out of the room, feeling cheated and slighted in every possible way. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right.

Everyone knew better than to stand in her way when they saw her in such foul mood. She sat in the waiting room, not even speaking to Sokka as she weighed the reality of the situation. Protesting the result of the fight would be as good as giving her uncle every reason to treat her as a sore loser. She truly wanted to throw the damn money in his face, though… she refused to be treated as a child who had to be given a consolation prize of sorts when she didn't get her way. Because that was exactly what Iroh was treating her as. He looked down on her now, pleased in his position as the superior sponsor… a position Azula was sure he didn't deserve. He had done little for Toph, giving her steady living conditions, but how had he improved her fighting style? How had he helped her grow as a fighter? In no ways, whatsoever. Yet despite she had done everything in her power to improve Sokka's fighting skills, having him learn new abilities and techniques from many other sources, lending him her sword and even her hairpiece that one time, somehow Iroh thought of himself as better at his job than she was. It was laughable, truly…

Her frustrations piled up, but there was nothing much she could do about them anymore. She had to live with them, clearly… and to hope that Sokka could grow a little more as a fighter, so that the next time he fought Toph he would be granted an unquestionable victory…

A knock on the door startled her, and she jumped when she noticed who stood there. Sokka was being held down as his wounds were tended, so he barely noticed there was someone else in the room.

"Impressive performance for a non-bender" Zhao told her. She felt her stomach sink.

"I… I had no idea you had come to watch the combat" she said, standing up and looking at him in dread.

"Your uncle mentioned it in passing. I thought I'd drop by" he said "I must say, few non-benders can reach that fighting level. You must be proud. Only someone like yourself could have built up someone from such origins into a true warrior"

"That… thank you" Azula said, though she didn't think the words had been poised as a compliment to her as much as they were an insult to Sokka, whom she could see was glaring at Zhao's back as the physicians put his nose back into place. He was biting hard on a rag, yet he couldn't help but shout at the burst of pain born from the brusque fixing of his nose.

"In my humble opinion, you could have been granted the victory…" Zhao said, raising his eyebrows as he watched Sokka writhing, disdain in his dark eyes "But the Dragon of the West's gladiator has advantages yours could only possibly dream of, regrettably…"

"She has advantages but weaknesses as well" Azula snapped "The next time we'll be able to do it. She won't be a foil for us for much longer"

"Oh? With this gladiator?" Zhao said, looking at her with interest "Are you sure of that?"

"Well…"

"You have put quite a lot of work into him, no doubt… but you know that this fight was going to end in his ultimate defeat had it dragged on a little longer. He was disarmed already. Another hit to the head and he probably would have been knocked unconscious…"

"You're saying he's unreliable?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm saying… if you want to reach the top, you need the best. It's all I'm saying, Princess" he said, placing a hand on her shoulder and nodding in her direction "You did a good job molding him nonetheless, but I'm afraid you might need to make bigger changes if you truly hope to defeat your uncle one day"

Azula stood in place, wordless, as Zhao stepped outside of the room without another word. It wasn't her uncle who she truly wanted to defeat, it was Zhao himself. Yet…

Sokka wasn't enough, Zhao thought. He was sure of it. The irrational side of Azula's mind snapped, making her frown heavily as she realized Zhao was no eminence in the world of the Gladiator League, try as he might to pretend he was. He had been away for so long, and yet he had the nerve to act as though he understood the business better than Azula did? And even on the off-side that he did…

The entire purpose, from the get-go, had been to find someone who had no odds to win. A man who didn't seem capable of reaching the top, no matter what he did. Nobody would ever expect a non-bender to reach the top of the ranking, of course. And not just any non-bender, but a Water Tribe one… someone who the Fire Nation would never want to respect. But if he proved capable of beating every one of their champions, they would be forced to acknowledge him. Just as she had done everything in her power to force them to acknowledge her as her father's heir.

But even though most the job was done, not all of it was. Not when she had lost here, against her uncle. Not when Sokka surely, even on his level, would prove incapable of defeating Combustion Man…

She dropped Sokka off at his home once his nose had been fixed. Azula had made sure to tell Song about the injuries he had sustained, so she could look after the more urgent ones immediately. She stayed at his place for most the afternoon, despite she did nothing but sit on his couch as he slept in his room by Song's command. Her mind was full of unpleasant thoughts, of realizations she refused to acknowledge. She couldn't just give up this fight now, not when they had come so far…

She had left after a while, realizing that staying here wasn't going to be much use. She had resolved to leave the money she owed her uncle in his room. She was taking no more condescendence from the man. If he wanted to undermine her, he could screw himself. She refused to tolerate his insulting behavior.

For the next days she busied herself with matters that didn't involve the Gladiator League, whether by choice or because the circumstances forced her to. Her father requested to speak to her more often than usual, merely to ensure her appointment as Crown Princess had been received properly, that she had suffered no disrespects or threats for it. Ty Lee and Mai had dropped by at the Palace to resume their weekly meetings the very day after the fight, too, and they had been horrified to hear that all of Sokka's training hadn't paid off when it came to fighting Toph.

Azula was dragged to the royal tailor almost every day, for it seemed her father wanted to gift her with as many new clothes befitting her status as he could. She wore her golden armor again, now that she had made sure people would consistently bow down to her wherever she went, regardless of her garb, but she chose the former black one from time to time, if just because it served as a reminder of simpler times, in some small way.

She dropped by to see Sokka only once in the space of a week, for her schedule allowed nothing else, to find that again he was sleeping his wounds off. Song promised to let him know that she had visited, but Azula had the distinct feeling that something was wrong. Something Song wasn't telling her, probably because it wasn't her place to say anything to begin with. She hadn't pressed on, hoping to have her chance to talk with Sokka properly sooner than later.

Said chance came along when, at long last, she had a free day, a week after the fight against Toph. Azula informed the Captain of where she would be, in case any important messages needed to be delivered to her, and she took off on Xin Long's back, straight to Sokka's house.

Xin Long landed heavily on the garden, and Azula chanced a glance inside to see that Sokka had been standing in the living room, the open doors that led to the veranda allowing their gazes to meet. He didn't look too happy to see her, but neither did Azula. Sokka nodded in acknowledgement as she climbed off Xin Long, removing her sword from her dragon's saddle and letting him know she would call him once she was finished here. With Wolf's Bane on her hip, she finally entered the house.

"Again wearing the old armor?" Sokka asked her, as he settled on the couch.

"I'm alternating them by now" Azula said, staring around her with a frown as she stood in the living room. Sokka's armor and weapons were still lying there, close to the wall, despite his fight had taken place over a week ago. Why? "Doesn't seem like either you or Song are tidying things up lately, are you?"

"Uh, sorry about that. It slipped my mind completely. Told her I'd put them away a few days ago…" said Sokka, catching sight of the weapons and lowering his head bashfully.

"I guess you've been giving a lot of use to that mind of yours, if you can't focus on simpler tasks" she said, raising an eyebrow "How's the nose?"

"Not so painful anymore. I'm much better now" he said, giving her a weak grin. Azula nodded.

"Good"

"I'm sorry I was indisposed the other day" he said "Song told me you came by just as I was napping. You could've woken me, though, if you… if you really wanted to talk to me"

"I figured our talk could wait" Azula replied, shrugging "But I wasn't willing to wait much longer by now. You've had a week to get better, so we should start thinking about what our next move will be. Granted that the fight with the Bandit wounded both our egos, but we can't just… Sokka?"

He had dropped his head altogether, only allowing Azula a brief glimpse of his sorrowful eyes before all she could see was the top and back of his head. A deep frown accentuated Azula's features. Something was wrong, alright.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"It's… it's nothing, I guess. Don't mind me" he said, lifting his head and shaking it promptly before giving her a weak grin that she knew was but a disguise of his true emotions.

"I do mind you, whether you want me to or not" she said, looking at him with irritation "You've been acting odd ever since the fight took place, and I'm still not sure I can buy the whole 'nap' story. What are you hiding, Sokka? Spit it out or I'll make you say it"

"I… you don't have to be that forceful" he said, frowning a little and looking at her apprehensively "I just… I'm just not sure about anything anymore, I guess. Things were… were really great for a while. But then this happened, and now I'm… I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this"

"You're mumbling nonsense and I have absolutely no idea what you're trying to say, Sokka. Be clear, will you?"

"Azula…"

He stopped talking when he noticed movement to his left. Song stood there, with the basket she always took with her to the market. She looked at them both with worried eyes before smiling a little and waving at them.

"I'll be going shopping for a while, if that's okay…"

"Go" Azula said, sighing and glaring at Sokka, who smiled weakly at Song and ushered her to leave too.

The girl slid through the door quickly, and Sokka breathed out slowly after she did. This wasn't going to be easy.

"What has been on your mind, then, gladiator? I don't have all day to play guessing games with you, in case you hoped I did" Azula snapped, coldly.

"The thing is… I heard what he said" Sokka muttered, looking at Azula almost accusingly now "Back in the waiting room, when they were tending to me? I… I heard the things he told you"

"And that's what you're bothered about?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "That Zhao talked to me irks you this much?"

"It's not that he talked to you, it's… it's what he said about me" Sokka muttered, lowering his gaze again "I was annoyed at first, but then… then I realized, that whether I wanted to admit it or not, he was right. He's right"

"About what, pray tell?" Azula asked, her voice gaining a dangerous edge that would have deterred anyone else. Sokka wasn't daunted, either because he was desensitized to it by now or because he didn't care about her menacing tone either way. Azula's frown grew stronger with every passing moment.

"About how you need the best to get to the top" he muttered "And I am not the best, Azula"

An unpleasant shudder rushed over her body as he spoke the words. No doubt this was what had been on his mind the past few days, the reason he had remained in his room despite in normal circumstances he would rush out of his way to see her, to hug her even, in front of people who shouldn't have seen them doing anything that betrayed the slightest intimacy between them. But now he was withdrawn, now he would hide away from her… of course that this had to be why he was acting like this.

"You're not the best" she repeated, as she folded her arms over her chest "We understand one another well enough in that sense, because it's true, you're not. If you were the best, you would've never lost against absolutely anyone. You'd have an unbreakable victorious streak as Toph does. But see? The idea is to make you the best. It always was. So don't give me some pathetic excuse as to why you're feeling inadequate now, of all times, when you were damn close to beating Toph for the first time only a week ago. It's plain idiotic of you, if you must know"

"It's not… it's not because I'm trying to be an idiot…"

"No need to even try, you succeeded already"

"Azula, I'm serious" Sokka said, frowning.

"So am I" she replied, her golden eyes gleaming "I don't want to listen to this"

"You don't now, but just a minute ago you asked me what was wrong with me" Sokka said, looking at her in disbelief "Azula, yeah, I've gotten better and I'm not denying that. The thing is… how much better can I get from this point onwards? How can I get any better? I really can't see it, Azula, I… I wish I could, but I can't. I feel like… like I've reached my full potential as it is. This is probably as good as it gets"

"You're not the one who decides that, you know?" Azula retorted "I'm the one who knows when to stop pushing you, not you. And I'll stop pushing when you really aren't capable of delivering more. You're just being a pessimistic moron because you lost once, but the next time you fight her…!"

"The next time will end the same way this time did, if not more quickly" Sokka said, looking at Azula with despair "She already got angry because of everything I pulled on her, she knows better than to underestimate me by now. She'd pull her very best on me from the start, and I wouldn't stand a chance. I practically got lucky this time around"

"You didn't…! What the hell are you talking about?" Azula exclaimed, pacing on the room briefly before turning to look at Sokka accusingly "Lucky, really? You think what you did out there was luck? That bomb you made, you prepared the damn thing in advance and it was a touch of brilliance of yours, of those that you have once in a blue moon, that could have easily won you the fight if you'd been able to take advantage of the circumstances properly! The next time use two of those bombs, how about that?"

"You don't really expect that to be the answer to this…" Sokka said, rubbing his forehead as Azula's eyes gained a more defiant quality.

"What should be the answer, then, gladiator?" she growled.

"Well… the thing is, I can't do this because I'm just not strong enough" he said, shrugging "The judges think so too, and unless I can knock Toph out with stench I don't see how I'm ever going to earn myself a win over her. She's a fantastic bender and I'm… I'm just me, Azula. I've always been ordinary, as ordinary as can be. I'm… I'm not strong enough. And I don't know if I ever will be"

"For crying out loud" Azula said, shaking her head and looking at him in disbelief "So you're not strong enough… big deal. You think the reason I chose you in Hui Yi was because I thought you were the strongest gladiator I'd find? Like hell that was why! I chose you because you were creative, because you knew how to take advantage of the circumstances, because you're ridiculously ingenious in the battlefield! You had potential to improve in regards of strength, and that you've done well enough by now! But not once did I believe you were going to be the strongest gladiator in the League, Sokka, because your true skills have nothing to do with physical strength"

"So you chose me because I can be clever" said Sokka "But you really think I can smart my way around beating Toph? You think… you think I'll ever be able to do that with Combustion Man? Because honestly, I can't see it happening. I wish I could tell you I can, but… but after this, I really…"

"Sokka, stop falling prey to hopelessness" Azula said, looking at him almost pleadingly "It's not going to do good to either one of us. I've never expected perfection from you, and I don't think I ever will. What I did expect, though, was… was for you to trust me. For you to fight for me, for better or for worse! We're in this together, aren't we?"

"We are…"

"Then why are you doubting yourself this much?" Azula asked, looking at him in confusion "You… didn't you want to go back home? Wasn't that why you agreed to do this? Because this way you'd get what you wanted?"

"I… It's what I wanted" Sokka muttered, the weight of the words slamming down on him more powerfully than the rocks Toph had bent at him "And I… I did want to reach the top, Azula. But…"

"Why are you talking in past tense, if I may inquire?" Azula asked, her aggressiveness returning quickly as she caught notice of the tone of his voice. Sokka gulped and looked at her, his eyes like those of a wounded child.

"Because I don't know… I don't know if I can do this anymore" he said. Azula froze "I want to, and I wouldn't wish for anything more than to be the ideal fighter for you! I… I'd give anything to be a waterbender, for instance, and then I'd freeze all my opponents… I'd win then, for sure, against Combustion Man and Toph and anyone you set me up against. But… but I'm not a waterbender. I'm not any kind of bender, I just… I'm weak, Azula. Truth is, I am. I can't expect to ever measure up to the best. There's a pretty obvious reason why there are no non-benders at the top of the ranking"

"Because you haven't risen high enough, that's why, moron" Azula snapped, glaring at him fiercely "Are you serious right now, Sokka? What the hell are you saying, then? You're… you're telling me to replace you? To find someone else, as Zhao told me? To find the best, because I can't simply make you into the best?"

"I… I don't want you to do that…" Sokka muttered, gritting his teeth and rubbing his forehead with his fingers.

"Then what the hell do you want?" Azula asked, desperate already "For crying out loud…"

"Azula, I don't want that, but…" he said, swallowing hard. She looked at him and saw, to her utter surprise, that there seemed to be tears blinking in the corners of his eyes "But maybe, for the sake of your mission, that… t-that would be the only way to proceed so you can reach the top of the ranking"

The blood seemed to slow inside her body as she looked at him in utter disbelief. Her jaw fell open as he looked at her regretfully, the tears still shining where they were.

"Are you… are you serious right now?" she asked him, her heart racing now as the blood began to be pumped more powerfully now. Her inner flame flared dangerously as anger built inside of her "You want me to replace you? That's… that's what you're asking me to do?"

"I don't want that, I said" Sokka replied "Azula, a year ago I couldn't possibly have imagined myself saying these words, but today I say them proudly: I want to be your gladiator! I… All I want is to be by your side, to belong next to you for as long as I can be with you! But… but you explained to me the reason why you were doing this, and I want you to achieve what you've set your mind to. I want you to beat Zhao! I want him to bite the dust, to learn his lesson, to realize how much of an idiot he is for having treated you as he had! I want you to make Iroh eat his words up too, spirits, I want that so badly as well… and I wish I could give that to you. I really wish I could make your goals become realities. That's why I'm supposed to be here. But…"

"But you can't do it because you're not strong enough" Azula said, her voice trembling, betraying her rage. Sokka swallowed and looked at her warily "Figures"

He had known she would be angry, he had expected it to happen. It was why he hadn't wanted to say anything at first. But she had forced him to, and now he was regretting this completely. It had been a very long time since Azula had looked at him so coldly. He couldn't blame her for that, not entirely… but she had placed expectations he couldn't fulfill on him. He wasn't good enough. He could try as hard as he could, but chances were he'd never defeat Toph, let alone Combustion Man. He couldn't be expected to stand on par with them. He couldn't be expected to be the proper representative for the Princess in the sand pit. He had done his best, he had reached a truly privileged position in the ranking within the year… but he was afraid that gravity was a must even for this. His quick rise would be followed by a hard fall. It was the way the world worked. And this likely was that hard fall he had dreaded… the moment where the Princess, enraged, would decide that, indeed, he wasn't worthy of being her gladiator. And he wouldn't have the courage to say otherwise.

"Not strong enough, despite Piandao's teachings, your training against earthbenders, all you learned at Ty Lee's place, and even though I've even lent you my sword… but you're just not strong enough" Azula said again, looking at him in indignation "Fascinating, truly! So, then, I suppose I've wasted my time incredibly this past year, haven't I? Here I was, expecting you to deliver the results you had promised to work towards, but all along I'd miscalculated, hadn't I? You're just too worthless for me, aren't you?!"

"Azula, I've given it all I had! You can keep me around if you want, I assure you I'll have no qualms with that! But at a distance things looked a lot less impossible than they do now. No matter how hard the hawk tries… he can't carry the turtle forever and you know it. At this point I'm but a burden for your plans. I'm not a gladiator that can reach the top of the ranking. I'm…"

"You're just a common guy with a boomerang and a black sword, that's what you are" Azula said, her hands on her hips now "Isn't that right, turtle?"

The last word she snapped it spitefully, and Sokka looked at her with regret in his eyes. Maybe he shouldn't have brought up that subject.

"Though you're probably truly a master strategist, aren't you? I mean, all things considered, I… I fell straight into it, didn't I? The trap you must have set up from the very beginning… to think you kept accusing me of having underlying intentions, but heh, I guess you were just looking in the mirror, weren't you?"

"What… what are you talking about?" Sokka asked, looking at Azula in confusion now.

"What else?" she said, smiling dangerously at him "You must have… must have planned this from the start. How could it look more impossible now than it did before, really? You gained perspective now? Like hell you did. You know what I'm understanding from this? That from the beginning you knew you couldn't do this, yet you still pressed on because you wanted to take obvious advantage of my position! Because… because you expected me to reward you for your performance, if you did well enough. And hell, you even coerced me into… into having feelings for you, of all things, so that when push came to shove, you could simply give up and beg me to take you home! Then, of course, since I'm hopelessly weak for you…"

"Azula, what the hell are you talking about?!" Sokka asked, looking at her in disbelief "None of that is true! Heck, the only reason I took obvious advantage of your position, as you put it, was because you offered me a life of everything I could ask for if I worked with you! You made me an offer I couldn't damn resist, and you knew that from the start as well! And you think I was scheming to make you feel anything for me?! If I'd been trying to make you like me in any sense I'm sure I would've only ruined all my chances with you in a single try! I couldn't possibly have planned this, Azula, honestly… what sort of evil mastermind do you think I am? I can't plot stuff like this! You know me well enough to be aware of that!"

"I'm not entirely sure I do, savage" she snapped, glaring at him. Sokka looked at her in disbelief. He couldn't remember the last time she had called him that with such coldness. He didn't want to remember it either.

"Azula, I'm not saying this because I want to give up" Sokka said, shaking his head "I didn't mean to make all this look like a waste, it wasn't what I wanted… but I just feel inadequate. You're too amazing, in too many senses! And you… you should have a gladiator who can match that. But I…"

"Is it you can't match it, or that you don't want to match it, pray tell?" Azula snarled. Sokka flinched at the venom in her voice, forgetting what he had meant to say next.

The glare in her eyes was pure steel, so fierce it would have made him cower for good now… if only he didn't know her as well as he did. If only he didn't realize that the steel concealed genuine pain.

"Azula, I want to. I want to with every ounce of my being!" he said, almost pleadingly now "You have no idea how I wish I could be… how I wish I could be the right one for you. But I…"

"You're not the right one, alright" Azula said, the hurt in her voice a lot more apparent now "Because you're… you're not strong enough, right?"

"Azula…"

"It's fine, then, if you think you're not strong. You know, I don't mind, not at all" she said, with again that same dangerous tone of voice. Sokka frowned as he saw her step closer to him…

When she kicked the table at him he was forced to jump over the couch, avoiding getting the wood slammed into his legs. He looked at Azula in disbelief as she stretched the index and middle fingers of her left hand, still with that same terrifying look in her eyes.

"But you know what, savage?" she said, her voice still trembling "It's up to me to decide whether or not you're strong enough!"

"Azula, have you lost your mind?!" Sokka exclaimed. The reply to his question was a plum of blue fire, aimed straight at his face "AZULA!"

"And if you can't be strong enough to accomplish what you've been ordered, then I'll rid myself from you for good!" she growled, startling him "What good is there in a gladiator that refuses to fight anyways?!"

"I'm not refusing to fight, I'm only saying I'm not likely to win! Azula, I'm only telling you this for your own good!" he exclaimed as she shot more fire at him.

The flames darted towards the walls, but Azula extinguished them quickly enough as Sokka rolled on the floor, looking at her in disbelief from next to the door that led to the veranda. This was completely unnecessary…

"So then you're going to kill me now because I'm useless to you?!" he asked, skeptical "Seriously?!"

"If you're truly not strong enough, then I might as well do it!" she replied, unsheathing Wolf's Bane. Sokka instinctively reached for Space Sword, lying not too far from where he was "Fight for your life, then, you utter waste of space and time! Let's see just how useless you really are!"

"Azula, stop… STOP!" he exclaimed, as another blast of fire, this time directed through the white sword, almost set Sokka on fire, catching the curtains by the window this time instead.

Doing this inside wasn't an option, Sokka thought, even though he still didn't understand what they were doing to begin with. He was in no fit state to fight, at least on an emotional level. Especially not to fight her.

"Azula, I don't want to do this" he said, unsheathing Space Sword and pushing himself up to his feet and looking at her with despair "Can't we just…?"

"Talk it out? I thought we already had" Azula snapped, jumping and kicking with both her feet.

The fire blast that erupted from her feet forced Sokka to evade it by leaning back, making him fall into the veranda. It was little to no surprise that Azula would approach, kicking at him with fire as he lay on the floor, forcing him to roll his way off the veranda and into the garden clumsily. Azula only glared at him as he pushed himself up from with his hands, taking a wary fighting stance with Space Sword in his hand.

Reasoning with her would be futile, Sokka realized. There was no point to it, not when she was so angry. She might not want to kill him for real, though, he doubted she did… but she wasn't going to back down, let alone calm down, if he didn't follow her lead. If he didn't clash against her, the full power of their convictions fighting together, then the consequences would be catastrophic either way. He had to do this, liked it or not… and once he managed to make Azula calm down, somehow, he would try to reason with her. He would make her understand…

But she wasn't fighting him in hopes to understand. She shot yet another blast of fire at Sokka with a hand before jumping out into the garden, her sword swinging down on his. Sokka cringed and parried her attack, allowing her to lunge at him, forcing him to twirl to evade her.

No, Azula didn't want to understand. She believed she understood enough. And it was why she was as hurt as she was. A single loss, and he had fallen apart. A single failure and he thought the world was to end… or at the very least, their partnership. Despite how many times he claimed otherwise, something on the back of her head pushed her into thinking he wanted this. That he wished to rid himself of their deal… that he had grown tired of her. That despite everything they had been through together, he was done with her. Just like everyone constantly did, Sokka wanted to leave. She had hoped that at least he would want to stay, regardless if Lu Ten, her mother, her advisors had left while barely putting a fight. She thought the bond between them was that strong. But he wouldn't… he wouldn't. He believed she was better off without him.

How could he possibly think that? How could he ever reach such a ridiculous conclusion? Azula failed to realize why would be possibly believed so, if he truly did. He had said he loved her many times now… was this what he thought love meant, truly? Was he that much of a fool… or had he been lying all along, and she had fallen for it, craving his affection like a hopeless, lost wolf dog pup who thought he'd found a friendly face at long last?

The thoughts only made her attacks more erratic, the flames threatening to scorch Sokka as the swords rang together when they met with every attack. He watched her, his eyes wide, as she looked at him with anger, frustration… with fear. What was she afraid of, though? What did she have to fear? He didn't know, because he wasn't going to hurt her. He never had meant to hurt her at all… but he constantly did because as a matter of fact, he was an idiot. There was no denying it.

All along, her safety, her wellbeing, her happiness had been his priority. The only reason he had spoken out about this now was because he didn't want to be a hindrance to her dreams. Because he felt he was an obstacle by now, instead of a resource she could use in order to succeed where she needed to. Her plans to prove her worth to all those who undermined her would fail… all because she had decided to trust someone like him. Why him, of all people? Hadn't she witnessed his fight against the Dart Slayer, all that time ago, would she have chosen someone else? If that had happened it might have been for the best, on the long run. Then he would have never hurt her as he had, and she would probably sponsor a tougher fighter than he could ever be. He simply wasn't strong enough, but she didn't want to understand that. She refused to. Why was she so stubborn about this? Why couldn't she see that he only said this for her own good? Why couldn't she realize he was only trying to help her?

She didn't want this kind of help, though. She didn't want any help. From her very childhood Azula had taken everything into her own hands, never asking for guidance. She accepted it when it came, but ultimately, she resolved everything on her own. Taking a gladiator, and letting her fate rest in the hands of another, had been a first for her. She'd had no choice at the time, and she had accepted to carry on in this way because it had been effective at first. All the anguish, the struggles they faced in the early days, were eventually compensated with the better times that came afterwards.

She had thought they were a team, and he was backing out. She had thought he believed in her, just as she believed in him. She had thought they would fight to the bitter end if needed. She had never considered… that he might want to give up.

The thought of surrender angered her further. A long past conversation returned to her mind, one regarding her utter refusal to give up fights. She never backed off a fight, whether she knew she could win or not. If she was to lose, she had damned herself by picking the fight in the first place, but she would be damned again if she didn't try her very hardest to win. And she would be damned thrice if she didn't come back after her failure, seeking to even the score. She wasn't a quitter. She didn't surrender.

And he knew she felt that way, of course he did. The conversation prompted by that boarcupine they had encountered in the forest came back to him as well as her thrusts became stronger still, the flames almost engulfing him as she spun and shot them with all her power at him. The inoffensive animal had made her feel threatened… just as Sokka's words had prompted her to reach the wrong conclusion this time. She was sure he wanted to leave her, but that was the last thing he could have wanted! Even if she had listened to him and taken a new gladiator for herself, he would have likely stuck around regardless, just because he knew damn well that he didn't want to be away from her. He didn't want to leave. He never had.

But she failed to understand that. The powerful attacks showed as much, but they also showed she wasn't on her right mind, Sokka realized. There was no trace of the golden fire… but also no trace of lightning. Was it because she knew he could redirect her attack with his sword, or was it because she wasn't thinking clearly enough to bend pure lightning at him? Sokka flinched as Wolf's Bane swung down heavily on Space Sword, and he cried out before jumping back when her kick nearly set him on fire.

She would win one way or another, never caring for how many fights she had to brave through in order to succeed in her endeavors. She didn't care if she lost the battle so long as she could win the war, ultimately. But was this between them a war as well? Was that what it always had been, and Sokka had been too oblivious to it to realize it? His love for her had blinded him in many senses, but he hadn't expected this to be one of them. Had they been fighting all along, then? Even though he thought they had finally reached an understanding on so many levels, were they still at the opposite sides of their own personal war? Were they one another's foes, after all this time?

Water and fire clashing together, seeking to cancel one another out. The royal and the commoner, with their opposed views of the world. The bender and the non-bender. The gladiator and the sponsor. They were always opposites. They were always fighting one another, whether consciously or not.

Their struggle to cave in to their feelings was but another aspect of the war they fought, if not the main one. How had they come to this, he'd never know. How had the two most opposite people taken the wild, primal attraction between them and turned it into something he believed beautiful, he'd never know. It was something worth treasuring, something worth protecting… but after today, what would there be left of it? After this last battle, what would the outcome be, if not the utter destruction of the both of them?

For they were indeed, fire and water, princess and peasant, bender and non-bender, sponsor and gladiator: and none could exist without the other. Who would quench the wild flames that could consume the world? Who would dry the seas that could drown it instead? Who did the princess preside over, if not her people, the peasants, the commoners? Would the world still make any sense if everyone were a bender, if there were no non-benders to exert their creativity in bending-less ways of living? Could a gladiator fight without his sponsor?

Azula gritted her teeth, trying to stop her mind from thinking this way. Latching onto him, depending on him, had caused this in the first place. She should have never lost sight of what she was fighting for… she should have never let herself love him as she did. Because he was right, truly. Maybe she should have chosen someone better in order to succeed, someone stronger indeed…

But she didn't want anyone else. Why didn't he understand that? Why couldn't he tell that indeed, there could be better fighters, but none of them could measure up to him? None of them was suitable for Azula as he was. Their destinies had become entwined, because they had wanted it to be so. Because they had taken a stand, and dared to dream to change the world they lived in.

But how to change such a world? How to do so… if not together?

Azula attempted to attack Sokka again, sweeping her hand towards him, her index and middle fingers stretched out as she conjured flames, but Sokka swatted them away with his sword. Wolf's Bane clashed against Space Sword once, twice, Azula ducked to evade Sokka's stab, and now he was the one backing off as she created an arch of flames with her foot, only to jump out with her sword in tow, ready to cut him.

Sokka parried her attacks, defending himself from them as he continued to study Azula intently. The fight was unveiling everything her cold pretense had meant to hide. She showed her every vulnerability, and instead of striking her down upon seeing them, he accepted them as they came. He knew just how much he mattered to her. He knew she couldn't just give up here… he didn't want her to. He wanted to stay by her side, no matter what. Through thick and thin, whatever she decided, he was her gladiator. He was hers, completely. It wasn't something that was up to question. If she wanted him dead, truly, so be it. Her wish was his command. But if that were so, why couldn't she fight to her best? Why was she leaving openings, why was she so erratic?

He had never meant for things come to this, and neither had Azula. But they had reached this point by now, and there was no turning back anymore… but perhaps there was a way to stop it, Sokka realized. Perhaps…

Her next mistake was with her footing, she took a step too far as she attempted to cut him with her sword. Sokka's eyes steeled now as he found his perfect chance. It was enough. He was through with this. He didn't want to fight her, and he was certain she didn't want to fight him either. It was time to end this.

With a single powerful attack, he struck Azula's sword hard enough to force her to release it due to the powerful vibrations the blow sent through her arm. Snarling, she kicked an array of fire in his direction, but Sokka evaded it and swung his sword towards her.

Standing on a single foot after the kick, Azula failed to keep her footing this time as she avoided being cut by his blade. She fell hard on the ground, her teeth gritted together as she decided on pushing herself up quickly…

She found herself unable to move when the tip of a black sword was pointing at her neck.

Sokka had climbed atop her before she realized it, his breath coming in gasps as he aimed Space Sword at her. His frown was menacing, all the same as hers. And as he threatened her with the sword, he realized her left hand was poised as thought to strike him with fire as well, her two fingers stretched out as usual, touching his lower torso.

Their eyes met, their anger and fire quenched by the sight of the same emotions in the other's eyes. Their enraged snarls shifted slowly, as the fight that should have ended refused to end indeed. She wasn't giving up, and neither was he… not when the fate of so much seemed to ride upon what happened in this very moment.

They didn't speak, merely looking at one another as reality caught up with them slowly. Even though they had been so fierce, even though Azula's words had been as harsh as ever, there was no way she could pull through. There was no way she could bring herself to create the fire blast she needed to send him away, or a lightning bolt… she couldn't. Her strength was failing her now, even though she knew she could win if she just tried. And yet it seemed he wasn't going to swing that sword down. How could he? Why would he? It was impossible for Sokka to do so. He would do anything for her… but he wouldn't deliver a finishing blow, no matter if she was threatening him too. He refused to. He'd rather she set him on fire than damage her for good.

The sword trembled in his hand, and Azula's gaze was distracted by it briefly. It was pointless… this entire fight was pointless. Why were they still fighting anyways? Why… when truly, all Azula wanted was to surrender? Her pride kept getting in the way, amongst other things… but Azula knew they both wanted to back down. It had been enough. Whatever would happen next could simply follow its course. She already knew that, once she gave in, she would be destroyed one way or another. Whatever Sokka's decision was, whether he would surprise her by slicing her throat open once she backed down, or whether he would simply walk away from her life forever… it didn't matter anymore. Not when she had no doubts she would lose him for good, no matter what she did.

So she moved her fingers away, so slowly Sokka didn't notice at first. Her hand dropped to the side, her eyes still on his, but no longer was she looking at him with determination and defiance. The pain was back in her golden orbs, along with the fear… and now they were accompanied by resignation.

His eyes widened as he realized what she had done.

She had backed down.

Azula had surrendered.

He gritted his teeth, his breathing heavy again but now for an entirely different reason. He didn't want this either. He didn't! He never had! His heart, his soul, his everything belonged to her. Fighting her was never part of it. It wasn't supposed to be. They were to cancel each other out… weren't they?

If that was so, then the solution was simple. His next movement was obvious. He did not want a victory that came from Azula's surrender. He refused to take it. The victory he wanted… was victory with her.

The tip of the sword hovered dangerously over her throat briefly before Sokka swung it away powerfully. It soared through the sky, landing vertically so the tip of the blade would sink into the earth.

Azula was the one to look at Sokka in disbelief now… just as he leaned down to press his lips to hers.

Her entire body began shivering as she felt one of his hands going to her face, to hold her in place. She couldn't bring herself to respond to the kiss immediately, emotions threatening to make her burst as she felt two tears slipping out of her eyes. Finally she found the strength to return the kiss, along with a hand that cupped his face while the other surrounded his neck, pulling him closer still.

If this was his decision, then she would stand by it too. If this was what he truly wanted, then so be it. She couldn't have cared less for the goals she had chased relentlessly after anymore. Not while she was in his arms. Not when she refused to hold anything above him, above this, anymore. He belonged with her, and she would make sure he would understand it now, for good.

When she had responded to his kiss he had nearly fainted atop her in relief. But he forced himself to conjure the strength he had denied having throughout the entire day. He forced himself to hold his position, to stay as he was, to keep her with him no matter what. She had refused to let him go, despite of all the reasons he had given her. Despite she had heard what Admiral Zhao had said just as well as he had. She refused to replace him. And the spirits beyond knew just how much joy that knowledge gave the Water Tribe man, regardless of how selfish he thought himself to be for it. He couldn't stop himself as he kissed her passionately, desperately, finding her matching his eagerness with every movement.

They were to join together, for once and for all. From that moment on, and for as long as they lived, they were to belong to one another completely. The war between them was finally over.


	97. Chapter 97

It was overwhelming. It was intoxicating. It was desperate.

But it was their moment, at long last. And they both had decided, without needing to convey it through words, that they wouldn't waste it. Not this time.

The hard ground underneath Azula was easily forgotten, the Princess found, despite in any other circumstances she would have been displeased by the dirt that she knew would get attached to her hair and clothes. But how to pay any mind to it, when she was clinging onto Sokka as she would to dear life, her lips parting as he sought access into her mouth?

He supported his weight with one hand, making sure not to crush her, but it seemed she wanted all his weight on her all the same. Else her legs wouldn't have shifted under him, surrounding his waist in a tight embrace, matching the way her arms had draped around his neck.

No more tears fell from her eyes by now, lost in this passionate exchange as she was. She couldn't stop kissing him, and he refused to stop kissing her as well. They both had given up the battle they hadn't wanted to fight to begin with. He was done with struggling against his feelings for her, and done with clashing against her too. He didn't care anymore who was right or who was wrong, whether this was a good idea or a bad one… all he cared about was feeling her body pressed against his, feeling the outline of her body through her armor, feeling the warmth of her breath, the despair in her kisses.

Her fingers slid over his hair, caressing the short strands of it on the back of his head, and she tightened her legs around his waist. Sokka whimpered, feeling the blood rushing through his body so fast he almost felt dizzy, but she kept him grounded. She made him set apart his confusion from reality… because the only real thing was her. She was all that mattered, as he had known from a long time ago.

The soft moans that left her throat made his heart beat all the faster, prompting him to pull away briefly for breath so he could steal a look at her… but returned to kissing her again only instants afterwards, just as she wanted him to. Just as she needed him to.

And all the same, he wanted her, he needed her, but the circumstances weren't helping in the slightest. The ground was in the way… the world was in the way. It always had been. But for this moment, if only for this moment, none of it mattered. He would forget it, and so would she. They had waited longer than they thought possible, definitely longer than they should have. It was time to put an end to that.

He pulled away from her briefly, his forehead against hers as he breathed with difficulty. Her gasps met his, her eyes were closed, and her cheeks were fully flushed. Just looking at her made Sokka want to kiss her again, as he had before… but they needed a better environment. This wouldn't do.

He sat up, his arms sliding around her body so she would have no choice but to sit along with him. Her hands remained on the sides of his face, and without even opening her eyes to look at him she kissed him anew, threatening to make Sokka stop his endeavors altogether if just to return her affections. But he had to cope for a little longer… this was no way to do this, desperate as he was.

With her legs tight around his waist, Azula clung onto Sokka as he struggled to lift himself into a standing position without losing his balance in the attempt. Carrying her weight along with his made said operation more complicated than expected, but he had accomplished one too many difficult feats before already. Standing up, and bringing her with him, couldn't be all that troublesome…

He had to open his eyes for that, though, and he used a hand to lift himself up, the other surrounding Azula's waist tightly. Her legs were locked powerfully around him, pressing him with her thighs to ensure she wouldn't fall once he was standing. He could only sigh in bliss as he finally managed to stand up as intended, the intimate embrace between them but a glimpse of the pleasant things that would come next.

He stood there briefly once he had managed to hold his footing properly, devouring Azula's lips eagerly as she pressed her body against his. Only the growing pressure in Sokka's groin alerted him that he needed to get moving. And that he did, walking as carefully as he could back into the house, still kissing Azula.

He was careful as he climbed the steps that led up to the veranda, hoping to avoid tripping as his arms and legs threatened to give way, despite Azula wasn't all that heavy. But his body seemed overridden by all the emotions and sensations he was feeling. He was close to collapsing, goosebumps rushing over his body and leaving him with every hair standing on end with her every moan. She was too much for him, he had always known so, but he felt weaker to her than ever before.

He had to find support someway, somehow, and he found it indeed once they reached the house's outer wall. He pressed Azula against it, groaning weakly as he kissed her deeply again. She moaned too, her left hand gripping the fabric of his shirt while the other went to the back of his head. He shivered when she caressed the nape of his neck, gasping briefly only for her to trap his lips in hers an instant after he pulled away. His body was pressed into hers, and she enveloped him, embracing him completely. She didn't realize she was moaning, but had she become aware of it she wouldn't have cared. She didn't care if she seemed too desperate, because he matched her despair with the same enthusiasm, the same drive. Only desire dictated her movements now. Nothing else registered within her mind at this point.

His hands could roam over her body with more ease now, reminding Azula of what he had been like during that first kiss they had shared. He had touched her so intimately, in ways nobody else ever had before… she had craved that so much, constantly, practically on a daily basis. She had wanted him hopelessly, wishing to give herself to him but believing it could never happen… it shouldn't have happened indeed, not for an array of reasons. But the fact remained that it was already too late for her to stop it. She had given him her heart already, whether that went against her better judgment or not. She didn't think he was incapable of hurting her, he had proven capable of it quite a few times by now… but at this point she practically welcomed the pain. No reward was worth the task if there was no risk included in the quest towards earning it…

Sokka groaned and pulled her closer again, feeling somewhat stronger by now as he resumed the walk. He directed himself with difficulty towards the doorway that would lead them back inside by taunting his whereabouts with one hand, the other one surrounding Azula's waist, holding her in place. The metal plates of her armor and her boots dug into his body, but he didn't register any pain. He couldn't feel anything except for every kiss she pressed into his mouth, each one sweeter and more gratifying than the previous one.

He almost despaired as he walked through the living room, failing to find the opposite wall as he walked blindly towards it, his hand stretched out. Azula was making the entire matter more difficult, albeit Sokka wasn't about to ask her to stop so he could find his bearings. No, he'd rather get lost and not reach the stairs at all, if it meant he could continue feeling her like this, if he could keep kissing her like this…

Just as he started to think the couch would have to do, despite the fact that the table Azula had kicked would difficult their access to it, he finally found the wall he had been looking for. Taunting to his left, his foot found the first step of the staircase, and he began climbing slowly. As he moved he made every effort to continue matching her kisses, but it wasn't easy to concentrate on so many things at once, Sokka found. Not when she was biting him, sucking on his lips softly, kissing him deeply and brushing his tongue with hers. If they ended up on the stairs as well it would come as no surprise, uncomfortable as it might be.

Nevertheless, he actually reached the top of the stairs. He allowed himself to feel slightly triumphant about that as he turned towards his room, making out the way with his hand on the wall. One door, it was Song's room, so the next one…

He could have fainted with relief when he finally reached their destination. He pushed the door open and strode inside, walking straight towards the bed. Azula's fingers had slid through his hair and undone his wolf's tail by this point, discarding the hair tie as she ran her fingers over the soft strands.

Sokka placed her on the bed, and she finally stopped clutching at him with her legs, releasing him from his grip as she sat at the edge of the mattress, still holding his face close to hers. He continued to kiss her, his hands caressing her flanks and sending pleasant shivers down her spine. He fumbled until he found the buckles he had been meaning to undo, and once his fingers had worked them, he pulled her armor over her head and tossed it out of the way. It rattled as it fell on the floor, and Sokka finally had free reign to devour her neck.

Azula moaned as she pulled his face closer, basking in the way he was kissing and biting her skin. Her hands roamed over his body as well, caressing his strong back and torso. All that training had made him all the more muscular, his build a thing of wonder for her at this point. Yet she could feel the scars as well as she touched him, whether those she had left on his body or the ones left by his many rivals in the fighting pit. Each and every one of them had stories… several of them had stories she didn't know, that she had never dared ask, but right now she wished she had. She wished to know it all, for there to be no secrets left between them, nowhere for either of them to hide from each other. She wished to belong to him wholly…

Sokka's hands danced down to her belt, a small smile forming on his lips as he recalled how he had cut one of these before. He had told her then that she wore too many clothes… no doubt she did. He really wanted to get through the layers as quickly as he could. He couldn't wait to reach the depths of her, to see her as she was…

He tossed the belt away soon enough, allowing his hands to caress her thighs briefly. The soft cry that left her lips made him shiver against her, breathing heavily as he removed her boots now. Azula's hands reached down to his waist, finding the sash he wore as a belt and undoing it swiftly, allowing his shirt to open up. Her hands caressed his chest and shoulders, pushing his shirt off and making him gasp again, in pure ecstasy upon feeling her touch him in this way. Their lips were linked again as he pulled on his gloves, taking them off swiftly and tossing them aside before undoing the bindings around his forearms. She helped him with that, her hands caressing his strong arms as the bandages fell in a heap to the floor. He found her neck once more, his hands rising over her thighs again, on to her waist, grazing her breasts and making her moan louder yet. He groaned against her, delighting himself in the feel of her body against his, and she clasped his face in her hands, forcing him to lift his head so she could press her lips against his. Sokka replied to every kiss, his hands still caressing her as desperately as she needed them to. Every inch of her body ached for him, and with every touch she only desired him more.

His hands slid down again, finding the hem of her long shirt, and he lifted Azula gently from the mattress in order to remove it swiftly. His heart sped up in anticipation, and underneath this he found… another shirt.

Azula opened her eyes to look at him when she heard him groan in frustration. He kissed her hungrily again, his hands moving over her body more aggressively now. Azula found herself enjoying that all the better. She rather liked to feel just how much he desired her…

Though she didn't expect the extent of his desire to run so deeply. When he gripped the border of her shirt she assumed he was only going to pull it over her head… she didn't realize he was going to rip it in half as he did.

She gasped as he pulled, the rip making it so her bare skin would be revealed slowly, from bottom to top, to Sokka's lustful eyes. He looked her over eagerly, his pupils dilated, his lips parted as he finished splitting the shirt, reaching the neck of it and revealing indeed her pale body, and the bindings that concealed her breasts.

He could have cursed, though this time he would have done it to himself getting so eager. Of course she'd have bindings, it was only logical. He wouldn't see everything he thirsted for so quickly.

He had been right, and now he had verified it, when he had told her she wore too many clothes.

His desperate eagerness seemed to amuse her, Sokka realized, as he heard a soft chuckle escaping her lips. The sound was as erotic as all her moans, if not more so. He kissed her again, his hands finally touching her skin directly as he pushed the shirt off her shoulders. Caressing her torso like this was out of bounds, it was forbidden… oh, but that only made it all the better on the long run for both of them. Her body burned wherever he touched it, giving way to the same sensation he had introduced to her while on their way to the Slate. He moved down from her lips and to her neck, slipping lower still as he kissed her collarbone. Azula gasped repeatedly, dropping back on the mattress with her eyes closed as she felt him brushing her skin with his lips. His hands were on her waist, clasping the hem of her pants and pushing them down, albeit he was incapable of removing them altogether just yet. Still he continued to kiss her, sensing the way her heart raced as his lips moved to her left breast, still covered by the chest bindings she wore.

His hands trembled as he lifted them towards that area, as he attempted to find the way to undo the bindings. He couldn't find the end of them, though. How the hell was he to take them off?

It was up to Azula to lift herself up with her elbows and to reach towards her back with one hand, finding the end of the binding and undoing them herself. They came loose once she finished fumbling with them, and they dropped almost in slow motion for Sokka's eyes.

Azula's breath caught in her throat as she allowed her entire torso to be bare for him. Sokka stared with wide eyes, as though hypnotized, as the bindings came to rest on her ribs. She looked at him expectantly, her chest heaving as he finally moved forth, closing his eyes and pressing his face to her left breast.

Azula sighed in relief, wishing she could have been less nervous about something like this. He was likely as eager as she had been to reveal herself completely to him, he wasn't bound to reject her at this point for any reason…

One of his hands busied with removing the bindings altogether, tossing them aside as he had with every other piece of her attire so far. The other hand was occupied with her right breast, as his mouth explored the left one eagerly, prompting Azula to moan and throw her head back as her nipples hardened while he nipped at the one he had caught in his mouth. Her heart was beating so fast, so fiercely that she feared it would burst out of her chest at this rate. This probably was too much for her already, but she didn't dare tell him not to do this. She didn't dare ask him to stop… she didn't want him to. She wanted to be overwhelmed by him, for him to occupy all her senses, for him to be everything she could feel…

She lifted her hands now, her breathing heavy as she undid her own hair. She removed her hairpiece, which was poking against her scalp as she lay down on the bed. She set it aside, discarding it from the time being. Her fingers then slid into his hair again as his lips moved to the other breast, his free hand cupping the breast he had already aroused fully. Azula's moans were shrill and desperate, despite she bit her lower lip in a hopeless attempt to control herself. His bare chest pressed against her belly, the friction between their bodies as delectable as everything his hands and mouth were doing to her chest.

She caressed his face, her eyes closed as she experienced everything more vividly, the sensations heightened as she let herself feel him and touch him, but he stopped her as she delighted herself by caressing him by moving lower on her body, his lips tracing kisses on the valley between her mounds as he moved lower still, towards her abs. His hands stayed on her breasts for now, toying with the nipples as she moaned, but soon they moved down with him as he kissed her pelvis. Her body shuddered, and she gave an involuntary jolt when she felt his breath against her skin. She glanced down at him, insecure, and he only smiled at her. She could have melted where she was just to see that expression on his face.

His fingers found the hem of her underwear, and again he shivered in anticipation and nervousness as he moved it down slowly. Azula closed her eyes and dropped her head to her side, knowing she was blushing furiously by now. This was too embarrassing, despite she didn't think she had anything to be ashamed of… Her undergarments slid to her ankles, along with her pants, and Sokka removed every remaining item of clothing she was wearing now, without ripping up anything else.

And with that, she lay naked, fully revealed before his eyes for the very first time. There was no way to conceal her vulnerabilities, were they physical or emotional at this point. He saw her for who she was, all of it… and given the soft whimper she heard coming from him, he just might have liked what he'd seen so far.

She felt compelled to oppose some resistance when his hands moved to separate her legs, merely because she wasn't used to this. She already had a good idea of what sorts of things Sokka could do to her, and she had no doubt they would be pleasant, but…

He kissed her inner thigh and her qualms seemed to disappear into nothingness. His hands, calloused and strong, stroked the underside of her legs, making her shiver and moan as more arousal was born by his touch. His lips traced their way over her skin, feeling her tremble more violently as he moved to her center.

"S-Sokka…" she whispered, almost as though begging him not to do this last minute. She wasn't sure she could take it. In fact, she was quite sure she wouldn't last a second if he did what she thought he wanted to… but the words refused to leave her throat. Her more irrational mind refused to let them out. The wild pleasure was all she craved right now.

Sokka breathed deeply once he was facing her very core. When he released said breath into her sensitive, moist skin, Azula moaned again. His fingers slid towards the red nether lips, splitting them open to find what he had been looking for. His touch prompted Azula to close her eyes tightly, a hand going to her mouth as she tried to contain the sounds hopelessly.

The very first lick made her cry out, and Sokka's eyes widened as he tasted her for the first time. He looked at her in amazement before licking again, his tongue tracing its way from her opening to her clit. Azula shuddered violently underneath him, an urgent cry escaping her throat.

"Tell me if it's… if it's no good" he whispered against her wet folds, and Azula felt compelled to kick him. No good? How could he not tell it was the entire opposite of that? She could barely keep up with him and he hadn't done much just yet!

As a response, given that she couldn't seem to form coherent sentences anymore, she trapped his face between her thighs. Sokka grinned and leaned in, his mouth pressing against her clit now and making Azula cry out desperately again, her hands reaching down to pull at his hair…

* * *

Song truly hoped to find Sokka in a better mood by now. She had seen how miserable he had been during the past few days, and she wished the Princess would snap him out of it. That he hadn't even tried to meet her at the Palace was a bad sign, seeing how happy he had been during the last weeks with the perspective of spending just a little time with Azula. But perhaps they would be working things out by now…

Or maybe not. Maybe even the Princess had gotten fed up with him, and instead she would be giving him the beating of a lifetime for being so irritating. Song wasn't too sure she'd do that, but after how the Princess had acted while she was sick, she just might if Sokka displeased her too much…

She reached the house again and pushed the door open with her shoulder, struggling as she carried her basket into the kitchen. She wiped the sweat off her brow once she left the basket on the counter, and she had a look at the living room, where she had left those two only about an hour earlier…

She frowned upon noticing the small table had been pushed into the couch, and not pushed particularly carefully, to begin with. There were dark spots on several walls and curtains, too. Something else was amiss, too… Sokka's weapons and armor were still lying around except for one: where was his sword?

Song stepped towards the garden in confusion when something white caught her eye amid the grass. It was the Princess's sword… and not too far from it was Sokka's, sticking out from the ground. What the hell had happened here? Where were they, and why was everything so confusing? There had to be an explana-…

Her hair stood on end when she heard the distinct sound of a female cry coming from upstairs.

She looked up at the second floor, her eyes wide. That… that had sounded like the Princess, hadn't it?

The next time she heard it there was a more distinct cadence to it… it sounded like a moan. A moan…

Her hands flew to her mouth as she blushed deeply, her eyes wide open. She had to get out of here. She did NOT want to hear this. Oh, no, they really had done it now…

Forgetting all about her basket, she jumped outside again, closing the door carefully and making her way back to the street… only to find someone was in her way, someone who seemed to have only reached the house's front courtyard.

"Ah, Song. Good to see you" said a friendly voice from behind the mask and uniform of a Royal Guard. Song went pale now instead as she felt time come to a stop, seemingly. Oh, this was only getting worse by the minute… "The Princess told me she would come here. I meant to inform her about… Song? Is something wrong?"

"C-Captain, s-she's… uh, well, y-you see, she's actually… busy" she said, gulping and smiling at him. If only she was a good actress, but she wasn't! She was no good for this type of thing…

"Busy? What is that supposed to…?" the Captain said, frowning behind his mask…

When the realization hit him he could have dropped dead where he stood.

"No. No, no, she's… she's not doing this. She can't be… you're mistaken, it has to be a mistake" he said, walking past Song and heading to the door.

"Oh, please, Captain, I beg you, don't go in there or…!" she said, as he swung the door open… and the melodious sounds of his charge's now desperate moans filled his ears.

He shut the door instantly, disregarding the noise he might have made upon doing so. His eyes widened as his jaw dropped. No, no, no… oh, they were done for. Every single one of them was done for, there was no denying it anymore.

"She's going to get me killed, and then fired. And then killed some more" he said, with a sardonic grin Song couldn't see "And… this is it. It's… fuck. Fuck. Fuck…"

"W-well, I suppose that is what they're doing, if we're to get techni-… sorry" Song started, freezing in her words when she felt the weight of his glare upon her "I just… s-sorry. My bad"

"It wasn't your bad, it's theirs. Idiots they are… that's right, I insulted my princess!" Rui Shi exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air and shaking his head "Doesn't matter what I do now anyways because I'm as good as dead! I'm as good… as dead…"

"If you keep shouting about it then you sure will be" said Song, grimacing and looking at him sympathetically "Say… how about we go someplace else? Being here… it's going to be damn uncomfortable and we'll only feel worse. So…"

"Yes, let's go elsewhere. I can't… gods, this is preposterous…" he said, shaking his head and huffing in irritation.

"Now, Rui Shi… everything can be fine. I mean…"

"Song…" he said, looking at her skeptically.

He knew she only wanted to lift his spirits, and he had no right to shut her down. It was merely that he couldn't see a bright side to this all… but maybe putting some distance between them and the cause of his concerns would do them some good. Maybe.

"Rui Shi" she said, breathing deeply before smiling at him "Maybe we should get something to drink"

* * *

The movements of his tongue were relentless, constant, as he tasted her thoroughly and hummed with delight into her wet core. Her taste was addictive, he found, as his hands kept her legs in place over his shoulders, making sure he could continue with this feat at leisure.

Azula's cries had escalated slowly, but surely. He hadn't known she would be so vocal, but how he was thrilled to find she was. Her every sound made him all the more eager to carry on, lost in the warmth between her legs. He lavished her with his tongue, toying with her clit only occasionally in order to make this last as long as he could make it. Whenever he did prod at the small bundle, though, Azula's cries became more urgent, and her body shuddered violently… she could barely take this anymore. She felt as though he was making her melt, or explode, or both things at once. It was a magnitude of pleasure she had never expected to experience.

Her body was burning up. She was drenched in sweat by now, or at least that was what it felt like for her, despite she had barely moved at all ever since they reached the bedroom. But his skillful caresses had made her body temperature rise to unprecedented levels, and she was a firebender, no less! It wasn't only the arousal, though, for her inner fire was flaring incredibly as well, which was unsurprising, but also maddening. The pleasure was too extreme, his delivery of it so impeccable… she could barely keep up.

Her legs shivered as she whispered his name, her toes curled, her fingernails clawing at his scalp. Sokka swallowed and understood just how close she was to her climax… the climax he had sought to deliver to her from the get go. Again he moved to her clit, his lips wrapping around it as he sucked on the small mound, his tongue flicking it in the most sensitive spot he had found…

Azula screamed euphorically now, her hands slamming down on the mattress, her heels digging into his back. Her body trembled all the more violently now, and Sokka groaned as he continued to deliver the same treatment to her clit for as long as he could, extending her orgasm and keeping her at the heights of pleasure for as long as he could do it. He closed his eyes and allowed his right hand to move towards her core as well, sliding his index finger inside her gently to find her walls were smooth, wet and contracting wildly upon the orgasm she had experienced. He groaned again, sliding his finger deeper inside and massaging her walls gently…

Azula expected to black out when another burst of pleasure burned through her, washing against Sokka in waves as her walls trapped his finger in place, rubbing against it as she cried out again, her throat aching by now. Sokka licked and kissed her clit one more time before finally giving her a moment's respite, removing his finger as well as he sat back on the floor, his chest heaving as he looked at her through heavy-lidded eyes.

Azula lay on the bed, shivering helplessly, feeling as though her body was on fire as the aftershocks made themselves known. She had to breathe through her mouth, her head spinning after what Sokka had just done. She had a hard time registering what had happened, inhaling and exhaling repeatedly as she tried to get her body in check, but it wasn't likely to work. Her heart was racing; the spot he had devoured between her legs felt so raw, and yet it was the most pleasant sensation she had ever experienced at the same time.

Sokka breathed out slowly as well, still looking at Azula with lustful eyes. He leaned closer to her again, his face pressed to her left calf. He kissed her leg gently, garnering no response from her this time except for a subtle hum. His hands caressed her thigh as he moved upwards, kissing his way up to her waist as he climbed on the bed, in order to drop next to her…

"W-what are… what are you doing?" she whispered, when she recognized his intentions.

"I just… I thought that was a lot for you already" he said, smiling at her "I thought…"

"Don't you dare…" she said, shaking her head "You're not… you're doing this now, damn you. You have to…"

"Azula…" he replied, caressing her cheek with a hand as she forced herself to move towards him "You don't need to worry about me, I'll be just…"

"Hush" she said, her hands going to his pants and yanking them down with difficulty. Sokka's eyes widened "Enough of this… we're not going to stop now. Not now"

"Azula…"

"Do it, damn you" Azula told him, yanking down his underwear as well "I know you want to. I damn want you to. So… so just do it. Take me. Now"

Sokka looked at her, thinking to protest somehow, to tell her that she didn't have to push herself to make him happy. He had learned the arts of bearing through the most unpleasant wasted erections after spending so much time with her, he could take this one too…

But he didn't have to. For once, he didn't have to. She didn't want him to.

When she kissed him again he shivered, looking at her in disbelief. That had been unexpected. He breathed out and moved so she would roll on her back, and he pressed his forehead against hers. With one more kiss to her lips, he climbed off the bed again, to shake off what was left of his clothes. Azula chanced a glance at him, his bottom catching her eye as soon as it was visible. Yet when he turned to face her she closed her eyes, if just instinctively. She had seen his manhood once before, and she had shirked away from him, horrified… She wasn't sure it was a good idea to see it now. She didn't want to be predisposed to thinking it wouldn't fit inside her or so…

Sokka climbed atop her again, looking at Azula intensely as she spread her legs again. He felt her tremble, and felt himself match her nerves in the same way. He leaned down and kissed her neck, his hands caressing her sides and making her shiver with delight.

He kissed her shoulder as well, and his lips moved to her hand when she lifted it to touch his face. He gave her a meaningful stare, asking her whether she truly was ready for this or not. Azula replied with defiance, her forehead meeting his as she waited for him to finally set aside all his doubts.

With one hand cupping her face, he let the other move downwards, caressing her skin and making her shiver again as he reached down to find her core once more. His fingers made certain that her opening was ready for this before he took his hardened, aching manhood into his hand. He gasped just by placing his tip on her entrance, the contact against the head of his cock sending unbelievable jolts of pleasure through his body. With one more look at her, through which he apologized to her wordlessly, he heaved forward.

The warm walls welcomed him, but only after he had pushed with enough strength to break her hymen. And Azula shouted with his thrust, her nails digging into his back when the blast of pain shot through her.

"It's okay… it's okay" Sokka whispered into her ear, as she clawed at him. He was going to have a brand new set of scars after today, no doubt "That was the bad part…"

Azula breathed with difficulty now, her eyes wide open. The pain was of the blinding kind, as she could have expected it to be, but somehow it seemed her body wasn't registering it fully. Perhaps the previous pleasure had already overwhelmed her nerves to the point where they couldn't quite convey pain as well as they should have…

When she kissed his shoulder he looked at her in surprise. He cupped her face in one hand and looked at her with intensity as she breathed out repeatedly.

"Feeling better?" he asked, and she raised her eyebrows, before pressing her forehead to his.

"Go on…" she said, her eyes closed "I… I think I can take it"

"If you need me to stop…"

"I don't want you to stop"

"I'm just saying, if it hurts too much…"

"Sokka…" she said, looking at him meaningfully before kissing him "Shut up"

He smiled at that and nodded, heaving against her slowly. Azula cringed and he gritted his teeth, withdrawing slightly. The grimace on her face changed into confusion now… Sokka breathed out before sliding into her again, and once more she cringed. He shifted back only a little, and now instead of seeming confused, she seemed to like it. The entry wasn't as good, but the withdrawal after the thrusts were pleasant enough for her, Sokka reflected. He huffed and continued in the same way, his rhythm as slow as possible as his hips swayed in a way that Azula found incredibly sensual despite the lingering pain. She had no idea he could move that way…

Her nails dug into his back whenever he entered too deeply, but her grip on him loosened whenever he slid out again. Soft moans started escaping her as he pulled away after each thrust, and Sokka sighed as he dropped his head on her shoulder, his hands on her hips.

The pain was starting to take the backseat, Azula realized, when even his entrances started to feel just right. She clutched at him, gasping into his ear. Low growls came as responses as he moved, still slowly. Azula looked at Sokka, noticing his face was contorted in a snarl. He was definitely holding back for her sake, but, unbeknownst to Azula, he held back for his own too. He refused to let himself come undone so easily, not just yet. He didn't want to fight against his urges anymore, but he had to do it for the time being. He couldn't let it be over so soon…

He was shivering as he forced his self-control to the max, still moving into her slowly, filling her more with every new thrust. Azula's lips continued to press on his shoulder, her eyes closed shut as he reached deeper and deeper inside of her. Just how much further could he go? She didn't know… and she wanted to. She truly wanted to…

"Deeper…" she whispered, and Sokka's careful self-control threatened to shatter after her request.

"Say… s-say what…?" Sokka muttered, eyes wide as he lifted himself to look at her in disbelief.

"You heard me…" she said, taking his face into her hands "Stop… stop holding back already. I can take it"

"You say so, but…" he said, yet he shook his head and sighed. He couldn't keep doing this. He really couldn't. He was a common man, no more than that… and she was warm and tender around his shaft. The sensation was to die for.

His arms slid around her body, lifting her slightly from the bed as he embraced her tightly, his hips starting to pick up speed as his thrusts became deeper. Azula gritted her teeth, the mix of pain and pleasure hard to keep up with at first. Her nails latched onto his back again, whimpers leaving her throat as her legs surrounded his waist. The pain didn't subside as easily as he filled her more deeply, but she trusted it would, in time…

Sokka groaned, moving his torso away from her, forcing her nails off his back as he almost removed himself from her entirely. Azula threw her head back, the rush of pleasure when his cock's head brushed against her walls a most delightful surprise. Sokka hummed, the sight of her bare torso making him eager to go on… with his legs spread wide, and hers still wrapped around his waist, he lifted her by the hips and began thrusting in a different way now. More used to the sensations by now, it wasn't quite as painful as before for Azula. In fact, in this new position she found she was starting to forget the pain…

Her eyes flew open when she felt him reaching more deeply, no longer as slowly and cautiously as before, his cock rubbing against her walls more pleasantly than before. Her nails caught his skin again, this time that of his forearms, as his tip rubbed against something far too sensitive…

"Sokka, Sokka, you… Oh, hell, do that… do that again… Sokka!" she gasped, her nails digging into him more aggressively. Sokka flinched at that, pleased that the pain she was causing him now helped distract him from how pleasant the sensations were in the joining of their bodies.

He looked at Azula in amazement, still thrusting into her, his hips crashing against hers now as he continued filling her. Her moans were strange now, as though she were utterly confused and aroused simultaneously… he seemed to have found a weak spot, it looked like. He smiled and watched her with delight, carrying on with the same movements as Azula gritted her teeth, doing her very best not to cry out in pleasure. What the blazes was he doing to her…?

He growled now, closing his eyes. The pleasure was starting to become too much to take. His hands, still holding her waist, clutched at her hard, his fingers digging into her skin just as her nails did to his forearms. He jerked upwards and Azula moaned loudly, and Sokka knew he couldn't last any longer at this rate. Neither would she, most likely…

He gasped, moving back and forth in the same manner, stimulating both himself and Azula regardless of how hard she clawed at him with his every thrust. Sweat rolled down his back as he panted, heaving time after time, knowing each thrust was leading them closer to their finish…

"Sokka… Sokka!" she exclaimed, pushing herself up brusquely. His arms surrounded her body as hers went around his neck, her hands balling into fists as he thrust just one more time…

The sensations now were beyond her. Her cry was desperate, loud and long as she felt him move inside her more, as he finished applying the necessary pressure to that very spot…

She shuddered violently, the climax making her light headed once more. Sokka lifted her and pressed her on her back against the bed again, thrusting fully, penetrating her to the hilt as her walls welcomed him eagerly, jolting and contracting around him so pleasantly he could not resist anymore.

"Hell, Azula…!" he groaned, the final rushes of pleasure building up and leading him to the ultimate goal.

His orgasm was all the more violent than hers, shaking through him forcefully and making his entire body weaken atop her. He trembled, groans leaving his throat as he felt his seed depleting him, leaving him to gasp for breath as he thrusted more weakly now, his lips next to her ear as he whimpered weakly. It seemed all his strength had left him now that he had finished…

He felt her hands caressing his midriff, touching him gently. He breathed out through his mouth, looking at her through his now blurry eyesight.

"Azula…" he muttered, almost absentmindedly. He leaned in and kissed her softly once, twice, thrice, pecking at her lips just for the sake of feeling them against his. Just for the sake of feeling her with him.

"D-don't you dare… ever tell me…" she said, her face flushed, her golden eyes heavy lidded as well "Ever tell me to replace you again… you heard me? Not… not ever…"

"I won't… I swear, I won't" Sokka replied, smiling and kissing her more eagerly now. Azula responded to his gesture, one of her hands reaching up to caress his cheek.

His lips caressed hers softly, moving to kiss her cheek, her nose, her forehead, everywhere he could touch. Azula simply closed her eyes, breathing out through her mouth slowly as her heart finally slowed its desperate beating. Her hands went to his back, touching him a lot more kindly now, knowing she probably had left quite a few scratches on his back. He didn't seem to mind, though, kissing her all over as he was. She sighed in bliss as he smiled at her, his eyes gentler than ever before. He felt he could stay forever as they were just now, holding one another just like this…

He shifted ever so slightly, though, and that was when she flinched. He frowned with concern, and his eyes flew open when he realized that, while he was at ease and as comfortable as could be, that sure wasn't the case for her.

"Azula…" he whispered, pulling away slowly as he separated the joining of their bodies.

She moaned weakly, a relaxed expression on her face as she closed her legs, feeling her lower body stiff and numb. But Sokka, kneeling before her as he was, had seen the trickle of red staining his sheets just below her…

"Damn. Damn" he said, gritting his teeth and scrambling off the bed "Azula, come here"

"Huh?" she said, absent-mindedly. She gave him a lazy glance, with which he realized she wasn't going to be too cooperative. He didn't need her to be, though.

"You know what? Never mind" he said, grinning and sliding one hand under her knees, the other on her back.

He lifted her with some difficulty, his body still weak after the activity they'd enjoyed just now. He kissed the side of her head as she slumped against him, too exhausted to move now.

"Where are we going?" she muttered, as he carried her outside of the room, holding her close.

"Just… to the bathroom. We won't be long" Sokka said, glancing outside warily. If Song had returned he sure as hell hadn't noticed… so he'd better make the trip to the bathroom as quickly as he could "We just have to clean you up a little, is all"

"We?" Azula asked, and Sokka smiled as he climbed down the stairs slowly, his ears perked for any other sounds in the house. Judging by the silence, it didn't seem like there was anyone else home yet, fortunately.

"If that's okay with you, of course" he said, kissing her forehead now. Her hand fell lazily on his chest, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Maybe it will be" she whispered softly, and Sokka grinned.

He felt awfully self-aware, walking outside while both of them were fully naked, but fortunately there were no neighbors who could see them. Nevertheless, Sokka sped his way to the bathroom, pushing the door open with his foot as he entered it and settled Azula down carefully.

He filled the wooden tub quickly, thanking the world for the Fire Nation's plumbing innovations. Meanwhile, Azula had taken her seat on a stool and was busy cleansing herself already, dumping a bucket of water on herself after warming it up slightly with her bending. Without so much as asking for permission, she grabbed a cloth and used it to wipe away the blood from her groin and legs. It looked worse than it had felt, she thought, with a small frown…

"Everything okay?" Sokka asked her, and she shrugged.

"As long as you didn't like this linen cloth too much, I think so" she said, and he smiled awkwardly.

"I guess I'll have to ask you to burn it" he said "Same as… as the sheets. I should probably change them…"

"Go ahead" Azula said, shrugging "I'm afraid the mattress is likely stained by now, though"

"Can't be helped…" he said, gulping.

"I can burn that too if you want" she said, with a playful smirk "I guess you wouldn't have anywhere to sleep anymore, but still…"

"Heh" he said, smiling back at her "I'll take that into consideration, if I can afford a new one. I should go deal with the sheets, though. I'll be back in a moment"

"Go ahead" she said, softly, and he smiled again before leaving her to her own devices.

He returned to his room, changing the sheets almost systematically, his mind hardly in the task at hand. As she had guessed, the blood had stained the mattress. He sighed and shook his head, guessing he should have been far more careful… but he hadn't expected this to happen, let alone now. How had it even escalated to this point, he had no idea. Just thinking about it made him stare at the stain in his bed in utter disbelief…

He rolled the sheet to be disposed of into a ball, guessing he'd hand it to Azula for her to burn later, and he returned to the bathroom as quickly as his feet could carry him. He didn't want to be too clingy, he didn't want to annoy her by not giving her enough space… but he could barely stomach being away from her right now. He needed to be around her, if just to make sure she was okay…

"That was quick" she said, as he entered the bathroom again, closing the door behind him.

She was already in the bathtub, which was to the brim with foam; some bubbles floated in midair. It would seem she had gone wild with the bathing salts, something that made Sokka smile. She looked rather adorable, her head sticking out of the wooden tub overflown with bubbles. It was as though she were surrounded by clouds.

"Would you rather I was gone a little longer?" he asked her, with a raised eyebrow. Azula looked at him, as though weighing her answer. Sokka chuckled and sighed "Maybe I should be offended by your hesitation…"

"I should be offended too… by the fact that you came rushing here and you have made no move to join me yet" Azula said, dropping her head back and looking at Sokka skeptically "Didn't you want to bath with me ever since you first came to the Capital, you stinky wolf?"

Sokka laughed louder now, which prompted Azula to smile at him. He filled the water bucket as well, dumping its content on his body before cleaning himself up quickly with soap. After filling and dumping the bucket on himself again to rinse the soap off, he finally turned to the tub, where Azula lay in wait, amid bubbles. Sokka heaved himself inside the tub carefully, feeling the effects of the salts as soon as he dipped his foot inside the water.

"I have to ask" she said, as he slipped into the water completely, making the level rise so that Azula was up to her neck in bubbles now "Even though I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but still… the salts are yours, just like all the hair product, right?"

"Uh… yeah, b-but that doesn't mean Song doesn't ever use them when she wants to. I mean it!" Sokka squeaked as Azula started laughing, a hand going to her forehead.

"You're such an idiot" she said, grinning.

"No doubt" he replied, sighing and looking at her worriedly. He scooted a little closer, though he didn't touch her yet, unsure of himself despite she seemed to be in a pleasant mood right now "How are you feeling, though? Does it… does it hurt much?"

"It doesn't hurt that badly right now" she said "But it's bound to get worse when it's healing, maybe. I really don't know, though. It hurt badly at first, back in your room, but it got better after a while…"

"I'm glad it did" he said, as she looked at him, her eyes soft but her eyebrows drawn together somewhat reproachfully. He gulped "Azula…"

"You really are an idiot, you know" she said, no longer smiling "In as many senses as possible. I really can't understand how could you let all that get to you as it did, Sokka"

"I don't… I don't know, to be honest" he said, resting against the tub, sighing "I just felt helpless, and hopeless. Maybe it's because now I know what you'd been aiming towards all along… I felt like I had to fight for your dream now, for your goal as well as my own. Almost as though I were a protector of it… as though knowing that you had high expectations of me, that you trusted me to help you achieve your objective, would make me invincible. But of course that wasn't the case. The result of the fight already got to me badly enough, and add to that what Admiral Sideburns told you and…"

"Say what you will, you're still an idiot" Azula said, shaking her head, and Sokka nodded.

"Never denied it"

"You just… you do realize that the main reason I'm doing this, that the dream you talk about protecting, is precisely about proving Zhao wrong?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka blinked a few times and frowned "Just what am I going to prove by doing as he told me to, by getting myself some other gladiator because he believes you aren't strong enough?"

"Well, it's not just about whether he believes it or not" said Sokka, looking at Azula meaningfully "It's true that I'm not that strong, Azula…"

"And it's true as well that I don't have you around because of that. It's not why I chose you, and I never expected you to be stronger than damned Combustion Man anyways" she said, staring right back at him with determination "So whatever Zhao says, Sokka, forget it. If I'm out to prove him wrong, you can't falter just because of every small thing you hear him say. Else he wins either way"

"I guess, but… it would be easier, I figured, if you found someone stronger. It's why I said all I said. Sorry if… if it came out wrong" he said, looking at her worriedly.

"Well, I never said I'd picked the easiest way to deal with this" Azula muttered, biting her lower lip "So it could be easier to do that. But I won't rely on anyone other than you if I can avoid it"

"It's… it's great to know you trust me that much" he said, with a small smile that was followed by an intense and earnest stare "I don't want to leave you, Azula, believe me on that. Heck, had you listened to what I said and actually decided to find someone else I would've stayed around anyhow, just because… because, well, I…"

"You?" Azula repeated, her eyebrows raised. Sokka smiled, a weak blush on his cheeks.

"I simply… don't want to live without you" he said, and her eyes widened "Even in the off-case that I could do it, and I'm not sure that I could, I just don't want to. You… you make me so damn happy, and I'm a fool, but I just…"

"Sokka…" she whispered, her hand reaching through the water until she found his fingers and gave them a squeeze. Sokka smiled at her.

"I love you" he said, his blue eyes gleaming "Just being away from you for a few days makes me so damn miserable… spending months without so much as seeing your face was sheer agony. So… going away because I can't finish the job? I… I couldn't even if I tried. Not anymore"

"Well, that's… actually surprising" Azula said, swallowing hard and trying to ignore the burning sensation in her throat "I never imagined that… that your feelings ran as deep as that"

"I guess you couldn't have known. I'd never told you as much" said Sokka, smiling "I just… didn't think I had to. It looked like we'd be partners forever, up until… up until it didn't. Up until I started to think that maybe you would be better off with someone else"

"Would I be better off with someone else?" Azula said, looking at him as she floated closer towards him "It might be, but… but I don't want anyone else. No one else would do. It has to be you, and you know it"

"No doubt I'm the luckiest man alive because that's so" he said, looking at her with his charming smile. She couldn't resist the urge to lean close to kiss him.

He smiled into the kiss, his arms around her as his heart picked up speed again. To this day, and surely forever, every exchange between them would make him feel thrilled, excited… and each and every moment they shared convinced him all over again of the words he had told her, that he was the luckiest man in the world. Even if she was trying to kill him, of course.

"Still… don't you think you were a little extreme back there, by fighting me like that?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Azula snorted and laughed, dropping her head on his shoulder "I mean… you could've just said 'no, I'm not doing that, I won't give the bastard the satisfaction' and I would've shut up, you know…"

"I wasn't entirely sure just why you were saying the things you were saying, you see" she said, caressing his chest "For a moment there I just lost it because…"

"Because I was a wicked mastermind who had plotted this from the start?" he said, smiling at her "Did you really believe that?"

"I don't know. It was the worst case scenario, at the very least" she said, chuckling.

"No doubt, but I can assure you I'm not that good at playing a part" he said, smirking "I wish I could say I am, but you know I'm not"

"Well, your blunt honesty is definitely amongst your best features, believe me or not" she said, pressing against him.

Sokka swallowed, finding his mouth was dry. Just how was he supposed to handle this? What he had dreamt of, what he had always thought would be impossible for him… it was happening right here, right now. The woman he loved, the most fascinating, beautiful, intelligent woman he knew, was hugging him, both of them fully naked in a tub. It would have been too good to be true… but it actually was true. And he could barely give his eyes credit as he held her, wondering if his stupid smile was just as stupid as he thought it was indeed.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that" he said, sighing "At times it feels like my idiotic honesty only serves to cause problems between us more often than not"

"My pathetic insecurities don't help either, in that case" she said, looking at him almost apologetically "I just… I never really expected this to happen. You were a damn unexpected surprise from the very start, you moron. And things… things don't just go that well for me all the time, you see. They do when I scheme to make them so, usually, but not by chance. I'm not used to… to trusting someone in the ways I've learned to trust you. And heck, my personal relationships so far have been failures more often than not… the only man I got along with before meeting you was my father, no less, and my only friends were Mai and Ty Lee. I'm… I'm not used to this. Romance was never my thing. Hence why I'm likely to mess things up between us more often than not"

"You can say that all you want, but I feel most the time it's been me who messed things up. And I'm sorry for that" he said, kissing her left temple "I keep saying stupid things, and I only realize I've hurt you when it's too late to take it back. So I'm… I'm really an idiot after all, aren't I?"

"I'm afraid we both are" Azula said, with a small smile "Might be why… why we've ended up in this mess together, after all"

Sokka grinned, looking into her eyes to find hers were warm and gentle again. He leaned down to kiss her lips, and she responded to the gesture with delight.

His arms went around her, the friction between their submerged bodies smooth and pleasant as he lifted her, placing her on his lap. The pain in her groin made her shift so she could sit comfortably atop him. Once she found a pain-free position, Azula leaned closer to him, pressing her chest against his, and Sokka sighed as he continued kissing her, a hand on the back of her neck now.

They were breathless when the kiss ended, their foreheads pressed together. Sokka suddenly beamed, a soft chuckle escaping him as held her closer, hugging her tight and dropping his head on her shoulder now.

"What's so funny?" Azula asked, her eyes closed as she let her fingers slide into the wet strands of his hair.

"Not funny… just unbelievable, in the best sense of the word" he said, prompting her to smile as well "I'm so happy right now, damn it all…"

"To think you were such a miserable mess when I got here" she said, smirking, and he laughed more.

"See, you brighten my world…"

"Okay, that's about enough of corny sayings, don't you think?" she said, huffing and prompting him to laugh more "Sorry to be blunt, but I'm not into being that mushy, believe it or not"

"Not hard to believe" he said, leaning back again and looking at her, still with the same large smile on his face "But I can't really help myself right now…"

"Do you expect you'll be able to help yourself at some point?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows, and Sokka laughed again before shaking his head "So you're saying I'm going to have to put up with you being sickeningly sweet from now on? Spirits save me…"

"Sorry" he said, chuckling "I'll try to keep it in check, though. I'll only say what I think when I really can't hold it in…"

"Sokka, you never hold anything in. Don't expect me to believe any promises about how you'll learn to hold your tongue" she said, looking at him in skeptical amusement. Sokka kept laughing, his eyes gleaming as he looked into hers.

"Alright, then. Whenever I say something mushy that you can't help but hate, kiss me and then I'll shut up" he said, shrugging. Azula raised her eyebrows but smiled.

"Are you blackmailing me into kissing you? What a piece of work you are, gladiator…" she said, shaking her head and pressing her forehead to his "Shameless to no end"

"Can't help myself when it comes to you" he said, and after rolling her eyes, Azula kissed him, to his amusement "Heh, you did it!"

"I'll have to learn to identify just when you're going to say something stupid, though" she said, smirking "The point is to shut you up midsentence, after all"

"I can't find a reason to be bothered by that, honestly" he said, grinning as he prodded the tip of her nose with his.

"You're the worst" Azula muttered, prompting him to laugh again as she nuzzled his neck.

"And you're the best" he said, smiling with his eyes closed. Azula rolled her eyes.

"I think I'm going to try to blame the bath for your 'bubbly' mood" she said, and Sokka snorted "And speaking of which… we probably shouldn't stay in here that long. We'll start pruning"

"Ah? But… there's nothing wrong with staying here a little longer" Sokka said, pouting as Azula floated off his lap.

"How much longer?" she asked, looking at him with amusement.

"Uh… how about forever, for starters?"

"Yeah, sure" said Azula, smirking and rolling her eyes as she floated towards the edge of the tub.

Sokka smiled at her reaction as she stood up, the water running down her bare body gracefully. He couldn't help but sigh upon the sight of her like this. How he had longed to see her, all of her… and now he had, he thought, as she lifted herself over the edge of the wooden tub. She cringed a little as she moved, pangs of pain bursting between her legs at times, but she did her best to bear with them as she walked towards the bathroom's storage, searching for a towel.

"You can use my towel if you want" he said, standing up as well. There was no point in staying here if she was leaving, he reasoned, as he emptied the tub.

Azula looked at him inquisitively, unsure of which of the two towels hanging on pegs was his. She had to wait until he climbed out of the tub. He approached the storage and reached for the furthest towel, but instead of handing it to the Princess, he spread it open and grinned at her. She raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, drying you is the least I can do" he said, still smiling. Azula chuckled a little and sighed in resignation as he wrapped the towel around her, taking the chance to surround her in his arms once more.

It took a while for both of them to be dry. Azula donned a bathing robe that she found in the storage while Sokka was drying himself, and she couldn't help but laugh at how aghast he was to see her wearing clothes again. His pouts and complaints were quickly forgotten when he lifted her up bridal style again, right after he had wrapped his towel around his waist.

"You do realize I have just proved I can walk on my own, regardless of the pain, right?" Azula said, looking at him skeptically as he carried her out of the bathroom.

"You can, but you don't have to" he told her, smiling once again "It must be uncomfortable for you to move too much right now. Besides, I thought you'd enjoy the pampering…"

"I do, but… I'm not that helpless" she said, and he chuckled.

"Alright, I won't carry you around anymore if you don't want me to" he said, sighing dramatically "After this time, though!"

Azula rolled her eyes but she smiled anyways as she rested against his bare chest, relaxing in his grip. He carried her back to his room, placing her on the bed gently. It should have come as no surprise for her arms to snake around his neck once he had laid her on her back, pulling him down with her in order to take another kiss from him. Sokka indulged her, closing his eyes and letting her explore his mouth as she kissed him deeply.

Again, they only stopped when they were breathless, and again they couldn't help but smile as they looked at each other. Sokka dropped beside her, his eyes glued to her figure, fascinated completely by her. The loving gaze he gave her, in turn, was beyond mesmerizing for Azula.

"I seriously… think I'll explode" Sokka said, chuckling as he caressed her cheek with a hand "You're so beautiful, damn…"

"And you're… an idiot" she whispered, with absolutely no spite in her voice as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the touch of his fingers "Still… you seem to be lacking on a certain department, I have to confess"

Sokka's good mood was quickly replaced by uncertainty and horror upon hearing those words. His jaw fell open as his eyes widened, afraid to ask the question he had to ask, but asking it nonetheless.

"W-what… what do you mean by that, exactly?" he said, pushing himself up and looking at her with dread in his eyes as Azula smirked.

"I think… you have absolutely no idea how to make a bed, is all" she said, smiling and pulling at the sheet. Sokka breathed out in relief, dropping heavily on the bed again as she laughed at his reaction.

"That… that was mean, Azula, seriously!" he said, as she continued to laugh.

"But it's true! There are all sorts of wrinkles underneath me, and see? The sheet already came loose when I pulled it. That's not what it's supposed to do, you know?"

"Well, do excuse me for being hopeless with housekeeping chores" Sokka pouted, to Azula's amusement "But despite all that criticism, I don't think you're any use with them either"

"You're a peasant, you have to learn to deal with these things yourself" said Azula, smirking "It's natural that I wouldn't know how to do it, but you should be capable of it and yet you're not"

"Heh, well then, since you're being mean now I'm not going to help you with your hair this time" Sokka said, dropping on his back, his arms crossed behind his head. Azula raised an eyebrow and looked at him with amusement.

"Really, now?" she asked, as she crept over the mattress towards him, a malicious smirk on her face.

"W-well, I'm open for negotiations, truth be told" he said, prompting her to smile as she leaned down to kiss him again. Sokka's eyes rolled back in bliss as he cupped her cheek with a hand, enjoying the deep kiss thoroughly.

"Want to help me now?" she asked, and he smiled.

"You should manipulate me this way more often, you know. You'd have your way every time" he said, and Azula smirked.

"Don't I already?" she asked, as he chuckled and climbed off the bed, heading towards his dresser.

Azula watched him move, supporting her weight on her elbows as she looked at his back. There were red marks all over it, marks she knew she had left on him…

"Are you okay?" she asked him, and he looked at her with disbelief as he picked up his brush.

"Actually, no, because I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life. Why the question?" he asked, smirking. Azula blushed and shook her head.

"It's just… you've got quite a few scratches down your back. Don't they sting?"

"Uh… heh. I didn't even remember them anymore" Sokka said, blinking blankly before smiling and shrugging "Really, they're no big deal. You've done worse to me… and I sure did worse to you, too"

"I guess" she said, her eye caught now by a sheet rolled into a ball, sitting on the corner "Is that the sheet I need to burn?"

"Oh, yeah. You don't have to do it yet, but make sure not to forget it" said Sokka, returning to the bed and smiling at her "So… you should sit up if you want me to brush your hair, you know?"

Azula didn't respond, though, busy staring at the bundled sheet as she was. Sokka lifted an eyebrow as he realized she was frowning, as her eyes gained a quality he didn't think suited them so much: fear. He gulped and waved a hand in front of her, but she still didn't react.

"Azula?" he called, looking at her worriedly.

"W-we… we had sex" she said, uttering the words with all the weight they carried "Sokka, we… we had sex"

"Yeah, we did" he said, unable to keep from smiling at the thought. Azula glared at him.

"Sokka!" she exclaimed, pushing herself up to a sitting position and flinching at the pang of pain she felt in her groin after her sudden movement "H-hell…"

"You alright?" he asked her, grimacing with concern. His attempt to move closer soon failed, and instead he was inching back as she looked at him in disbelief.

"Alright?! You ask me if I'm alright when we just did what we did?!" she exclaimed. Sokka swallowed hard.

"W-well, you looked like you were in pain just now, so…"

"Oh, this? Ha! This is nothing!" Azula exclaimed, with hysterical laugh as she lifted a hand to her damp hair "Because what my father is going to do to us… heck, this is going to amount to nothing in comparison. That's… that's it. We're doomed. We're… oh, spirits, we're such idiots!"

She dropped heavily on the mattress now, the sheets indeed coming loose now as she covered her face with her hands. Sokka remained sitting beside her, looking at her with concern.

"How could we do this…? After all this time, after knowing so well what was coming, and now it's… gods, we've really done it now" she said, shaking her head. Sokka nodded.

"Yep. We've done it, in every sense of the phrase" he said, unable to contain a small smirk. Azula groaned and glared at him.

"Not the time for you to bask in the fact that you scored, you know?" she said, through gritted teeth. Sokka chuckled.

"Yeah, maybe not" he said, as she pushed herself up to a sitting position, looking at him with irritation "But… hey, don't look at me that way!"

"I'll look at you this way, damn you, because… because you don't even know half of it! I'm getting it worse than Ty Lee now, because I'm… for crying out loud, I'm Crown Princess! I'm… I'm Crown Princess. And I've… been deflowered before my wedding night. I'm so dead. So dead…"

"Uh… worse than Ty Lee?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What else? Why do you think she's free to fuck Haru all over the place without anyone giving a damn?" Azula asked, looking at him skeptically "You never did the math?"

"W-well, nobody ever told me anything, I didn't know there was any math to be made…"

"Ty Lee was caught with some slobby boyfriend of hers back when we were still teenagers" Azula said, huffing "I think she was around sixteen, seventeen, I can't even remember now. The point is, her parents caught them and that was it for her dignity, her honor and everything she had to uphold for her family. Everyone knew, of course, because gossip travels quicker than lightning in this damn city. And so she was disgraced, to the point where she was almost completely disowned. It's why she doesn't live with her parents despite she's not married: they had her move out. They used to help her with money before, no idea if they still do, but they were so displeased about it that they barely wanted to agree to do that. Truth is, she only survived that disaster because of her long-time friendship with me. If that hadn't given her social status all on its own, hell knows where she would be now. Not even her old circus would've taken her anymore, likely"

"Wow" said Sokka, his eyes wide "I never… never really thought about that. I mean, I thought it was odd, but… then your friendship saved her?"

"Spared her the worst of it, really" said Azula, shrugging "Being friends with the Princess always came in handy, but never as much as it did when that happened. My father wasn't particularly pleased about the whole matter, but he didn't care much if I stood by her somehow either way. It wasn't… it wasn't my dignity in jeopardy back then, so it barely mattered to him. But now…"

"Still, though…" he said, scratching the back of his head and looking at Azula with a frown. Azula looked at him skeptically.

"Still what?" she snapped "You think it won't be that bad because everyone thinks highly of me? Well, that's right, it's only going to be a million times worse because of that. Heck, if anything, being killed immediately for our great crime wouldn't be all that bad. Living through the punishment will be far worse…"

"You know, you could stop being such a fatalist" he said, pouting and looking at her skeptically.

"I'm not being a fatalist, I'm being realistic!" she exclaimed "We're… we're done for, Sokka! Simple as that!"

"You're most definitely not being realistic, Azula" said Sokka, folding his arms over his chest "Because if you were, you'd realize one small detail I'm pretty sure you've failed to notice"

"Oh? Pray tell, what is this detail that escaped me?" she growled.

"You said we're dead, with utmost certainty" Sokka said "Well, turns out we would be dead indeed… if your father finds out. But I'm not going to run to the Palace to tell him all about it, and I'm pretty sure neither will you. So just how is he going to find out?"

"How? He… he will find out eventually, like it or not, Sokka!" Azula exclaimed "Once I'm forced to marry someone, for sure! Because unless my future husband were a monumental idiot who won't be able to tell I'm not a virgin, my status will be revealed one way or another anyways! And then my father will indeed kill you, and probably make me watch, before killing me too. How do you feel about that, huh?"

"How do I feel…? I feel like now, more than ever, I'm happy you convinced your dad to have your suitors find gladiators to fight me before being allowed to court you" he said, with a sigh "Because that way I'll make sure things never come to that"

Azula froze, having forgotten about that particular matter altogether. Sokka smiled at her.

"So, all in all… it's not an ideal situation, I know" he said, scooting closer to her, the brush still in hand "But regardless… it's not as bad right now as you might have feared it was. If we're careful, and manage to hide what's happened between us…"

"Oh? Because that sure will be easy…" Azula said, sarcastically, as he crossed his legs and sat next to her, sliding the brush over a strand of her hair slowly.

"I didn't say it'd be easy, but… I don't think we're that obvious" he said, smirking "Else a lot of people would have thought we've been doing it for ages now"

"Well, we weren't doing this, but we weren't exactly innocent either" Azula said, sighing as she relaxed a little with his every brush of her hair "And several people sure noticed. Ty Lee has been pestering me about you ever since she first saw you, Mai knew as well that there was something going on, and while maybe Haru hadn't noticed, and neither had Zuko and his dear Suki, you actually made a fool of yourself and hugged me in front of them. After that, even they would have guessed something was happening anyways"

"Oh, well… I admit I couldn't help myself back then" he said, chuckling "But it was all I could do not to kiss you. Hugging seemed a little less dangerous…"

"Still was damn dangerous" Azula said, and Sokka sighed.

"My bad, my bad. I won't do that anymore. From now on, we're going to be straight arrows in public! You will insult me and be overly passive-aggressive towards me, while I'll be sarcastic, non-compliant and uneducated, as per usual!"

"Overly what, now?" Azula asked, looking at him over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. Sokka grinned.

"See, just like that. Menacing tone, scary look in your eyes… you've got it down perfectly" he said, and earned himself an elbow to the ribs "Ow!"

"Moron" she said, shaking her head but, despite herself, smiling "You are truly an idiot, you know… but…"

"But you like that about me?" Sokka said, wistfully, still clutching his side.

"I wasn't going to say that" Azula muttered, and Sokka pouted "In fact, I was… going to say you could be right about this"

"Huh?"

"About my father, the suitors and about acting as though nothing happened. It's the only way to proceed anyways" she said, sighing "Before, the struggle was to resist, now it's about keeping this a secret. We will never have a normal relationship, will we?"

"I'm afraid not" he said, as she sighed and dropped against him.

"Sorry about your ribs" she said, and he smiled "And your back. And your arms… and for attacking you as I did earlier. I pulled one hell of a number on you today, huh?"

"I already told you, it's nothing" he said, kissing the top of her head "Now, should I get back to the brushing?"

"Please do" she said, sitting upright again as he resumed his task "Still… it's a worrisome matter, Sokka. If my father gains any motive to suspect I've been defiled, at a lack of a better word, we'll face consequences I doubt you really understand. I mean…"

"You'd lose everything you've fought for, wouldn't you?" Sokka muttered, biting his lower lip "All you've accomplished… it'll amount to nothing if it's known you were with me"

"It will. Though I guess that was true to even the smaller things we did before" she said "If my father knew you've so much as kissed me, he'd have your head for that already…"

"Damn, you're held to some fairly ridiculous standards of purity, aren't you?" Sokka said, grimacing "I take it you can't even hold a man's hand?"

"I'm not supposed to, no" she said, with a weak grin. Sokka gulped.

"Well, no doubt I'll pay for this if it's ever known, but as I said, I don't mean to let it be known" he said, setting aside the brush and surrounding her with his arms "I'll keep you to myself forever if I can get away with it"

"Forever is an awfully long time to bear with me, you know?" Azula said, smirking. Sokka chuckled.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't notice if it is a long time or not. Actually, I might feel like it's not enough time if I'm with you" he said, and she sighed.

"I really need to learn to stop you from saying those things" she said, shaking her head as he grinned, kissing her neck "You're unbelievable"

"I just… I can't help it!" he said, chuckling and holding her tighter. Azula smiled "There are so many things I've wanted to tell you for ages, and I never thought I could say them… but now I feel free to do just that! So…"

"Feeling free to say all the nonsense that crosses your mind doesn't mean you have to say it all at once, you know?" Azula said, smirking at him "If you really mean to make it so nobody ever finds out about us, then that means we'll be together like this for the foreseeable future, right?"

"I hope so" said Sokka, with a small voice.

"Then you should have a decent amount of time to spread out all your mushiness without overwhelming me, thank you very much" Azula said, and Sokka laughed.

"I'll try to spread it out, but I can't promise anything" he said, his eyes closed, his hands resting on her abdomen… and so he felt the way her stomach groaned powerfully. He raised an eyebrow and Azula smiled guiltily.

"I suppose you haven't eaten all your food supplies, or have you? Wouldn't surprise me if you had, truth be told, but…" she whispered, and he chuckled, kissing her neck.

"I'll see what I can find. Wait here" he said, reaching to kiss her lips now. She returned the gesture softly before he moved away, unable to help from smiling as he slid out of her grip for the time being.

She rested on the bed, unpleasant thoughts scrolling through her mind slowly as she wondered just what was she supposed to do now. Sokka was right about the way they had to protect their relationship, but it seemed easier said than done to her. She could do her best to act normally, but she feared Sokka was unlikely to succeed upon doing the same. For how long could they keep this secret? Could they keep it at all? A secret relationship had its obvious appeals… but in this case it was more terrifying than anything, if she gave it enough thought. Would it all have been worth the risk, should the worse-case scenario unfold…?

Sokka rushed through the house, only stopping to think Song ought to be home by now once he was at the bottom of the stairs. He gulped and looked around the kitchen, noticing quickly that the shopping basket was there… but she wasn't around, seemed like. Normally she would be in here cooking dinner by now… it was odd that she wasn't. Perhaps she had forgotten to pick up some ingredients… he swallowed hard and realized the first person they had to keep this a secret from was Song. It would prove hard, perhaps even impossible… but in all fairness, who would she tell? Surely Azula would want no loose ends, but Song barely counted as one, right?

After loading a wooden tray with leftovers and snacks, Sokka returned to his room, biting his lower lip as he tried to balance all the food he'd brought with him.

"Uh, I don't think I needed that much, in all honesty…" Azula said, and Sokka smiled goofily.

"Well, whatever you don't want, I'll eat myself" he said, setting down the tray before her. Azula looked at its content with interest before picking whatever dish caught her attention first, and Sokka took his seat beside her, still smiling as he looked at her.

"Are you going to stare at me forever or will you actually start eating?" she asked, with her eyebrows raised as Sokka came back to his senses after she spoke. It was her turn to smile as he picked up a muffin, his cheeks flushed as he grinned.

There was little conversation as they ate, but often they cast furtive glances at one another, glances that ended in embarrassed smiles once the other caught them. Azula soon dropped on the bed, satisfied, but Sokka, as was to be expected, continued filling his stomach happily until the tray was clear.

"Your appetite is a thing of nightmares" she said, smirking at him as he lifted the tray and climbed off the bed, heading towards the dresser in order to place it there.

"No need to be scared, Princess, I won't eat you… not in this sense anyways" he said, winking at her. Azula felt the blood rushing to her face as she shook her head, prompting him to laugh as he set the tray out of the way.

As he was returning to the bed, though, the towel around his waist came loose. Sokka tripped over it as it slid down to his feet, and he stumbled as he fell on the bed again.

"Are you okay?" Azula asked him, with raised eyebrows. Sokka gave her a gawkish smile.

"I'm fine, just a little mishap, but I'm… uh, I should probably cover up again, right?" he said, gulping as he noticed Azula's gaze had gone down to his groin, a prominent blush still coloring her cheeks.

"Y-you… you know, you should, I guess, but…" she said, sighing as he looked at her in confusion.

"What? You like what you see?" Sokka asked, smirking playfully and earning himself a vicious glare.

"It's merely that I… I'm thinking I have to get used to it" she said "Now we've reached this point in our relationship, I think I'll have to see it a lot more and… and being a prude really doesn't suit me, now, does it?"

"It's cute enough if you ask me" Sokka said, chuckling despite knowing that wouldn't make Azula any more comfortable. Again she glared at him "But really, you don't have to force yourself to see anything you don't want to. I can just cover…"

"Don't do it, I said" she growled, reaching out to him and pulling him towards her forcefully. Sokka laughed "I'll get over it better this way"

"Fine, girl, fine…" he said, smiling as he dropped on the bed, smiling as he gazed at her "But then… just saying, shouldn't you be doing the same thing…?"

"I… guess" Azula muttered, gulping as she sighed and pulled at the robe's sash. Sokka pushed himself up and helped take the robe off her shoulders. His breath caught on his throat even if he was only seeing her naked back from where he was.

"Hell, you're…" he said, smiling in amazement "You're so beautiful I could cry, damn it"

"Huh?" Azula said, as Sokka chuckled, discarding the robe. She looked at him in disbelief, still flustered.

"I just can't… hell, I can't handle you" he said, laughing as he flexed his knees, looking at her with a large grin as he crossed his arms over his knees, his face resting atop his forearms "I can't even digest that this really happened, and that… that you're here, after all this time? It's… it's a lot to take, you know?"

"It definitely is" Azula conceded, with a weak grin as she breathed out, trying to relax "I've… never been naked around a man before, you know. So indeed, it's a lot for both of us"

"I… damn, and I'm the one who gets to see you like this" Sokka said, chuckling "Yep, I'm the luckiest man alive. Definitely"

"Come on, after everything I've done to you, everything that has happened to you, and you think you're lucky?" Azula asked, looking at him skeptically as he shrugged and smiled.

"Maybe I wasn't always that lucky, but right now? Right now I'm sure I am" he said, grinning as he dropped on the mattress "You're here, with me… naked, on my bed. I've genuinely thought about this for so long, but I just never thought…"

"How long, exactly?" Azula asked, dropping next to him, and Sokka stopped talking, blinking blankly.

"Huh?"

"I'm just wondering… when did you start thinking about me in this way?" Azula said, turning on her side and looking at him inquisitively "It wasn't from the very start, I hope… though the whole matter of the blue fire actually makes me think it was"

"Ah, yeah, well… not exactly" he said, with a smile "The whole 'blue fire' thing was a stupid comment, I was a little too dazed by the fact that you were the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen…"

"And how about the fact that we were to fight each other? Or is it you don't remember that part anymore?" Azula asked, and Sokka chuckled.

"Yes, that too" he conceded "I was slightly overwhelmed by the circumstances. I mean, you were the first girl I'd met who was close to my age and who wasn't related to me. You have to understand I just had no idea how to proceed…"

"So making some sort of innuendo was your best idea, naturally" said Azula, smirking "I'm still wondering, though… what exactly did you mean with that?"

"Uuuuuh?" Sokka said, his eyes widening with panic. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"You said most people would be too busy looking at my 'blue fire', or something like that… it was pretty clear you didn't mean it literally, but you were standing a little too far for me to know whether you were staring at my chest or something like that…"

"W-well, in all fairness, I had no suspicions about just how perfect your breasts were until now" he said, allowing his gaze to travel to them. Again Azula blushed, but she fought the urge to cover up. She had to get over this nonsense… "All those fabrics in the way, and your armor… I couldn't have possibly imagined just how great they were back then, you know?"

"Well, then, if that wasn't it, what was?" Azula asked, and he gulped.

"Do I really have to say it? Uh…" he groaned, shaking his head "Well, I… I could see your curves anyhow, even if your breasts were so heavily covered, so I was… looking at your waist. And your hips. And even though I couldn't quite see it, I started to think that your… your royal rear was bound to be quite curvy too"

"My… oh, for crying out loud" Azula said, before bursting with laughter. Sokka smiled awkwardly, a hand on his face.

"I'm very sorry for my shamelessness, I am a hopeless idiot, always have been" he said, as she continued to laugh "But as I said, you were gorgeous and I realized it as soon as I saw you! I couldn't keep my mind in check, so I'm sorry for thinking about your butt as I did"

"No wonder… no wonder you touched it as you did when we first kissed" Azula said, chuckling now as Sokka blushed deeply "Was it up to your expectations, then?"

"Pffft. Azula, you are never up to the expectations. You are always so far above them that by now I don't even know why do I ever hold any expectations whenever you're up to something" he said, smirking "So even your perfect butt is absolutely perfect. Nothing about you ever comes short, you know?"

"Well, yours isn't half bad either, I admit…" she said, and Sokka jumped in surprise.

"Ha! You looked at my butt too, didn't you?! I knew I wasn't the only one with a twisted mind around here!" he exclaimed, as Azula laughed once more.

"Still, if the blue fire instance wasn't what did it, according to you, what was?" she asked, and Sokka huffed.

"I could ask you the same thing, you know?" he said, folding his arms over his chest and pouting.

"Well, ask if you want, but answer me first" she said, smirking "Come on, stop resisting. Give it up now"

"I… ugh, you'll probably kill me" he said, and she frowned as he sighed "Y-you know how things were… were different, once Piandao was gone? We… we spent a lot more time together than we used to back then, you'd come to see me here, we'd be around each other more than usual…"

"Yes?" Azula said, raising an eyebrow. She didn't think this was worth killing him over, fortunately… at least not yet. Clearly he hadn't reached the thick of his story.

"W-well, I'd always thought you were beautiful but for starters, back then I was, uh… stupider still" he said, gulping "So while I really liked what I saw, I never expected to do anything about it because I just… didn't know you as well as I do now. I just…"

"You didn't trust me back then, yes. I remember" Azula said, and Sokka sighed.

"S-so because I didn't, I… I didn't really think about you and me as anything but gladiator and sponsor. Until I…"

"Until you what?" Azula asked, looking at him inquisitively after he remained silent for a while. He sighed in resignation.

"Until I had a… a naughty dream about you" he said, with a dry grin. Azula's eyes widened.

"You had a what, now?" she said. That wasn't what she'd expected to hear. Sokka blushed deeply.

"I am NOT proud of it, I assure you of that!" he said, as she looked at him with indignation but also curiosity.

"Well, seeing how shameless you are, I'm not sure I can believe that" she said, smirking "Do tell, then, what were we doing in this… this 'naughty dream' of yours?"

"Ugh, Azula… isn't the knowledge enough?" he asked, looking at her with pleading eyes. She shook her head.

"Talk. Or your dream won't ever become a reality… unless it was something we already did, in which case, then it's never going to happen again"

"Stuck between a rock and a hard place" said Sokka, sighing in resignation and shaking his head "Well, it's never happened, and I actually don't expect it to, so I wasn't holding my breath either way…"

"Just spit it out, Sokka" Azula said, poking his shoulder. Sokka looked at her warily before sighing, his insides twisting as he sought the courage to put the unspeakable dream into words…

"For starters, I… I was naked"

"Wow. Big surprise"

"Oh, come on!" Sokka exclaimed, as Azula chuckled "Yeah, okay, that was obvious enough but see, y-you were… y-you were…"

"I was what?" she asked, looking at him insistently as Sokka closed his eyes and grimaced.

"You were giving me oral sex, is what" he said, and her amusement morphed into distaste as she looked at him in disapproval "Yeah, see?! You didn't want to hear it but you made me say it! Now you think I'm a pervert and you'll be scarred for a lifetime because of what I dreamt…"

"Now, in all fairness, I've thought you're one for a long time now, but the depths of your dirty mind hadn't fazed me until now" Azula said, chuckling as she fell on her back again, Sokka blushing wildly next to her.

"Well I didn't mean for that dream to happen, you know?!" Sokka squealed, looking at her with a pout.

"No doubt, but that doesn't make it any better" said Azula, smirking "Hell, your subconscious mind truly betrayed you if you dreamt something like that"

"It did indeed" he said, grimacing "I'd never really expected it, and I wasn't entirely happy about it, you know? It's why I spent that day acting as I did…"

"What day are we talking about, exactly?" Azula asked, and Sokka gulped.

"You know, when I fought the… Western? No, Eastern Wayfarer. You know, when I first offered to teach you how to use swords? The same day Mai's kid was born…"

"Right… You were acting strange that day" she reflected, with a small frown "And it was because… because you were horny. Well, can't say it doesn't add up, honestly…"

"Come on, give me a break! It's not like I was proud of it" he groaned, as she chuckled.

"Seriously, Sokka… shameless even in your sleep. Me, doing something so foul…?"

"W-what did you…? Hey! I ate you out!" he exclaimed, looking at her indignantly as she laughed and shrugged.

"You did but I can't remember asking you to, or did I?" she said, and Sokka looked at her in sheer horror "Granted I enjoyed it, but it was your idea. I never expected it from you, honestly. And I… can't imagine myself returning the favor. Clearly you have already imagined it well enough, but seriously…?"

"W-well, it's not like I was going to make you do it" he said, rolling on the bed so he was lying on his stomach instead "You're not forced to do anything…"

"So you're not going to appeal to my honor as a Princess to make me return the favor?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "How gallant of you, if that's so…"

"Ah, but I will appeal to your honor as a Princess…" he said, smirking "And now you're going to tell me just when did you start thinking of me in a sexual way, thank you very much!"

"Uh…" said Azula, biting her lower lip and looking at the ceiling "Well… it was quite a while ago"

"I figured" he said, smiling proudly "I saw how you gaped at me that time, back at Piandao's, you know? You were so embarrassed… I've always wondered just what were you thinking as you saw me throwing the water over my head as I did"

"I was thinking you were a shameless moron, if you must know" Azula said, and Sokka laughed.

"Of course, and that's why you were blushing so deeply. Come on, be honest! I already confessed my truth, it's your turn to do the same!"

"Fine, fine" she said, sighing and shaking her head "I suppose it was… a little before that. I didn't really take it too seriously, though, I only started to genuinely think of it as something that could happen after our drunken night on our way to the Slate. But I guess my first time pondering the possibility was… well, Ty Lee's fault, unsurprisingly"

"Huh?" Sokka said, raising an eyebrow and smirking as Azula covered her face with a hand.

"Remember your very first fight? After I returned to the Capital, having succeeded at shaking off Chan's marriage proposal, I ran into Mai and Ty Lee, and I can't even remember why, but Ty Lee suddenly started rambling about how Water Tribe men surely were the best in bed or something like that. And…"

"And that planted the seed of the idea in your head? Wow" said Sokka, chuckling, and Azula huffed.

"Granted I'd thought you were good-looking before that, but…"

"You did?!"

"Oh, shut up, of course I did" she growled, and Sokka laughed happily "But the thing is, I didn't really think about anything happening between us until then. And add to that your ridiculous display when I went to find you, with the bucket of water…"

"Hehe, I knew you had been more affected by that than you were willing to admit" Sokka said, grinning "And see? You were a perv before I was! Ha!"

"I wasn't…! Oh, please" she said, rolling her eyes as Sokka chuckled and rolled onto his side, draping a hand over her waist. Azula glared at him "I had no filthy dreams about you, thank you very much! And even if the idea crossed my mind, I already said I never expected it to happen for real, so knock it off!"

"No need to be so angry" he said, still laughing a little "Though you're cute when you're angry, you know…?"

"I'm all the cuter when I set you on fire, I think" Azula growled, and Sokka laughed more "Quit laughing!"

"I can't! I lo-…" he started, but he was silenced when she grabbed him by the chin and kissed him forcefully, freezing him cold.

"Ha" Azula said, smirking when she pulled away "Enough mushiness, I said"

"B-but I really do l-…" another kiss silenced him, but this time he could only laugh as she pushed him on his back, climbing atop him.

At first she had only meant to quiet him down, but the harsh kiss grew smoother as his hand went to the nape of her neck, the other surrounding her waist. His lips responded, his tongue reaching out for hers. She complied with his wishes soon enough, her eyes fluttering close as she enjoyed the exchange thoroughly.

"Alright… you'd rather I show it than say it, looks like" said Sokka, smiling as they parted. Azula smirked.

"It's a lot more fun that way, don't you think?" she said, as he chuckled and leaned in, kissing her again.

Their bodies were pressed together fully, as in perfect harmony. His hands now danced over her skin, making her sigh as she felt him touch her. There was nothing like being desired by the same person you wanted, she concluded, as she dropped her head on his shoulder, basking in his gentle caresses.

"You okay?" Sokka asked, looking at her gently. Azula only smiled a little.

"To be honest, I'm somewhat… tired" she said, and he grinned back.

"Then we can get some rest. It's been a crazy day for both of us. And naps are good" he said, still smiling broadly as Azula chuckled.

"You're an idiot" she whispered for the umpteenth time that day, and he smirked.

"Your idiot, though"

"That's right"

His smile grew kinder after that as he noticed her eyes were fluttering close. Holding her closely, an arm around her naked body while he pulled the sheet over them with the other, he decided to take a nap of his own as well. He guessed he would be numb once he woke, if she slept atop him like this, but he found he barely cared. Having her in his arms like this was well worth any pain he might experience later on.

He kissed the top of her head, caressing her hair before whispering:

"I love you"

Azula hummed against him, placing her hand on his chest. He closed his eyes too, drifting into a peaceful sleep with a smile on his face.


	98. Chapter 98

Birds chirped outside. Sokka hummed softly as he came to his senses, finding that most of his body felt completely numb. Nevertheless, he woke to find himself happy even though he wasn't entirely sure why at first. He simply smiled by instinct, even before registering that the reason his body felt as it did was because a dark-haired beauty was lying atop him.

Upon opening his eyes and seeing her his smile grew wider. No wonder he had been so blissful: she was here, in his bed, in his arms… it was still a mystery for him that somehow they had come to this. Why, after fighting it for so long, they had both simply gone with their instincts and found themselves giving in to one another completely…

His left arm was still functional, so he lifted it and caressed the dark strands of hair that fell upon her face so gracefully. It had to be a sin for her to be so beautiful, he thought… he knew he was the luckiest man in the world, had known so ever since he realized she had feelings for him too, but holding her like this convinced him of it all the more. It was a true miracle, one he would never stop cherishing.

His light touch seemed to be enough to alert her, to his mild disappointment, for he would have liked to continue holding her a little longer. Her eyebrows twitched as her eyes closed tighter, no longer as relaxed as before. She yawned, and Sokka smiled as she shifted atop him. His grin threatened to disappear once she moved, the numbness changing in nature as Azula's weight no longer pressed against him. Still, despite the unpleasant worming feeling under his skin, he smiled as she opened her eyes lazily, looking at his chest with sleepy eyes.

It worried him for a moment that she might not know what was happening anymore. It had taken him a brief instant to remember who was sharing his bed, but it might be longer than that for Azula. And she just might change her mind about certain things upon waking up now, no longer intoxicated by the pleasant sensations after sex, no longer as likely to fall prey to her overwhelming emotions…

She lifted her head, and he found recognition in her clear eyes. She wasn't upset, looked like. She was… beautiful, as per usual. Relief washed over him as the blood started to flow properly through his numb body again.

"Hey" he said, smiling at her. To his delight, she smiled back.

She leaned close and gave him a gentle kiss. Sokka's hand moved to the back of her head as she sighed. Once she pulled away she found him still grinning.

"Hi" she whispered, softly. Sokka chuckled and pressed his forehead against hers.

"Slept okay?" he asked, and she nodded.

"It was a good nap" she whispered "But I feel sore all over, truth be told… what about you?"

"Me? I'm somewhat numb, but that's okay" he said, smiling as he cupped her cheek. Azula smiled back at him, her eyes half-lidded and unusually kind. Sokka's heart sped up only to see such gentle expression on her face.

"How could it possibly be okay?" she whispered, looking at him skeptically before shifting atop him, making to rest beside him instead, but Sokka's arms surrounded her and kept her where she was, to her surprise.

"Azula, I've never woken up this happily in my entire existence" he stated, making her smile "So any discomfort is next to nothing compared to…"

"That may be so…" she said, leaning in to kiss him softly "But I'd rather your body remains functional, Sokka. So…"

"Ow…" he whined, to her amusement, as she succeeded in rolling on her side "Well, that's not fair. I hoped you'd let me hold you a little longer…"

"You've already spent several hours doing just that, you know" she said "Surely you can spend ten seconds without body contact between us, now, can't you?"

"Uh… nope. You're dead wrong about that, I simply can't" he said, playfully as he embraced her again. Azula laughed as he kissed her cheek and moved down to her neck, his hands caressing her bare skin.

She indulged in his attentions, despite there was a nagging voice on the back of her head warning her that she shouldn't lose herself in him right now. She had done plenty of that already, before taking her nap. It was time to return to reality.

"Sokka…" she whispered, after a long and deep kiss that had left them both breathless "I should… get going"

"You must? So soon…?" he mumbled, with a small pout.

Azula smiled and rolled her eyes at him as she slipped out of his arms. He didn't present genuine opposition to it, but he looked at her with mild disappointment, to Azula's amusement. She sat on the bed, frowning at the discomfort in her pelvic area. She bit her lower lip, steeling herself. She had better get used to that unpleasant sensation…

"You okay?" Sokka asked, sitting up and looking at her worriedly. Despite he couldn't see her face, since she had her back towards him, he could still tell something was amiss.

"I'm fine. Just what was to be expected" she said, standing up and looking at him from over her shoulder "And I'll assume you're enjoying the scenery…"

"Oh, well, there's a lot to enjoy, truly…" he said, smirking as his eyes raked her bottom. Azula rolled her eyes as he chuckled "But really, if you're hurting too much you shouldn't force yourself to walk around like that. It could be better to lay down for a while longer…"

"I don't think I'll feel fully better in a matter of hours. Realistically speaking, it's just unlikely" she said "So I'd better act like I'm fine, or else everyone in the Palace will take notice that something's wrong with me tonight"

"It's true that they might" he said, nodding, as Azula sighed.

"That being said, I really should get going. It's bound to be quite late already, and they'll start wondering where…" she said, to Sokka's chagrin, but she stopped talking as her gaze drifted towards the small balcony in Sokka's room.

The curtains were drawn, so only a single haze of light drifted through the drapes… a haze of light that did not bring the typical orange tinge of sunset with it.

"Sokka…?" she muttered, a worried frown on her face as she stepped towards the balcony carefully.

"What's the matter?" he asked, climbing off the bed too as Azula pulled the curtain slightly…

… To find that the light touching the Capital city was the unmistakable light of dawn.

Her eyes widened and she backed away, shivering violently, all thoughts of pain and bliss forgotten as she processed the facts. She looked at Sokka, horrified, pointing at the balcony.

"S-Sokka… it's dawn. It's… it's morning! It wasn't a damn nap, I slept here the whole night!" she exclaimed, as Sokka's confusion turned into a panicked grimace.

"I… shit, I didn't notice. Hell, we really… okay, okay, you have to go" he said, gulping "I don't want you to, but…"

"Like I had a choice" Azula said, gritting her teeth at the discomfort again when she leaned down to pick up her chest bindings amid the many clothing items scattered on Sokka's bedroom floor "If I get going right away they might not notice I wasn't home for the night. It's still early, so I could make it for breakfast…"

"Won't it still be suspicious, though?" Sokka asked, gulping as he picked up her clothes, handing Azula her underwear almost unwillingly, but doing so anyways "If nobody saw you all afternoon…"

"I'll have to come up with some excuse, I don't know" Azula said, gulping as she reached for her shirts "I might be able to come up with something on the spot, I'm good at… that…"

Her sudden change of voice tone alerted Sokka that something was very wrong now. He had been lifting her armor, in order to set it on his bed, as Azula stared at her red shirt. He looked at her in confusion, but before he could say anything her golden eyes shifted towards him, a dangerous glint in them… as she showed him her shirt, ripped in half.

Sokka's jaw dropped as he was frozen by the realization of what he'd done. Until now he hadn't caught up with all the consequences of his actions, ripped clothes included. Inadvertently he looked at Azula with slight panic as he saw her golden eyes growing clearer, with an emotion that he knew all too well as rage.

"A-Azula…" he said, gulping as she glared at him.

"Do tell, how the blazes am I supposed to return home with a shirt in this status, right after spending the night here?!" she exclaimed, barely paying attention to her temper outburst as Sokka winced.

"I'm sorry! I didn't…! I wasn't thinking properly at the moment, I didn't realize… hey, I could give you a shirt of my own" he said, and Azula gave a bark of laughter.

"Ah, because wearing your shirts will definitely spare us the trouble of having everyone suspecting what's happening between us! Isn't that right?!" she exclaimed, as she paced towards the bed again, tossing the ripped red shirt against the mattress as she continued to look at Sokka with anger.

"Listen!" Sokka said, gritting his teeth "You can go quickly, go to your room while nobody notices, get dressed for real and then you can burn my shirt to get rid of the evidence. I know it's risky, maybe you'll be noticed, but…!"

"Sokka, I will be noticed for certain" Azula snapped, with a twitching eyebrow "There are guards pacing all around the Palace walls, so unless I went underground, there's no way they…! Wait, I could do that…"

"Right! Those tunnels!" Sokka exclaimed, nodding "Get inside the Palace that way, and once you're in there…!"

"It's not bound to be that easy but hell, it'll be worth the shot" she said, shaking her head as she rubbed her temples with her fingertips "Get me that shirt, then, will you?"

"Right away" Sokka said, nodding and jumping towards his drawers, rummaging through their content as he tried to find a suitable shirt for the Princess.

"We really keep making a mess of things, don't we? It's just never complicated enough, it can always get worse…" she grumbled as Sokka handed her his shirt.

But just as she was about to clad herself in it, there was a knocking sound on the door.

Sokka froze cold again as Azula's eyes widened. That was not good. Now they'd really done it.

Upon hearing the sound, Sokka noticed that he didn't remember having closed the door the previous day, for starters. Had it closed on its own while they slept…? As if.

"We're done for" he said, and Azula looked at him in panic as they both heard the doorknob turning.

The Princess threw herself on the bed instantly, drawing the sheet all over her mostly-naked body before the door swung open. Meanwhile, Sokka had rushed his way to the door, jumping into the pants he had discarded the previous day and pulling them up just in time as Song bumped the door open with the push of a hip. Her hands were otherwise occupied with a large tray.

"S-Song? What are you doing?!" Sokka asked, his voice betraying his nervousness as he looked at the girl in dread.

She looked a little tired, but otherwise she didn't seem surprised in the slightest about what she should expect to find inside the room. The tray she was carrying was full to the brim with food, a breakfast that smelled wonderfully to Sokka, but he was too concerned with the predicament he and Azula had gotten themselves into to care for food for once.

"Morning, Sokka" she said, brightly "I just thought I'd bring you breakfast, seeing how you skipped dinner completely yesterday…"

"I didn't quite skip, I just had leftovers… see, didn't even bring the tray down to the kitchen, hehe" he said, pointing at the empty tray he had left on his dresser. Song smirked upon seeing it.

"No wonder I couldn't find that one. Well, I'm glad you're keeping your stomach full. Just make sure to leave some for the Princess too, she needs her fair share of food as well…"

Sokka was petrified again at that, his jaw dropping as he failed to find a response to that. So much for thinking they'd have to keep this a secret from Song, first and foremost… if they'd failed here already, Azula would likely conclude they were completely incapable of keeping up with this relationship. The mere thought made Sokka's heart sink, but he couldn't find it in himself to think otherwise. They'd been way over their heads from the moment the bond between them had deepened as it had.

"Y-you… y-you said…"

"Well, you don't expect to trick me now and pretend it's not her on the bed, do you?" Song said, giggling "No need to worry, Sokka, I won't tell a soul. Your secret is safe with me. Have breakfast and we'll get to talking when you guys are done. I'll see you downstairs"

"H-ha… huh?" Sokka said, a panicked grimace on his face as Song smiled and entrusted the tray to him without another word.

He should have simply dropped the food and rushed out the door… he wasn't entirely sure he could face Azula's promised wrath right now. She would want to skin him alive, most likely.

He turned on his heels slowly, bracing himself for the wild glare he was sure she'd be sending his way. But as he caught sight of her again he found she was still under the sheets, twitching.

"Azula…" he whispered, setting the tray on the foot of the bed as he approached her slowly. He placed a hand on her head before drawing back the sheet, finding her staring at nothing with the most horrified expression he had ever seen on her face. He gulped.

"We are… absolutely dead now. D-done for…" she said, with a thread of a voice. Sokka gritted his teeth, caressing her hair carefully.

"We're… we're not dead still, but we'll have to talk to Song now, yeah" he said, gulping again "Gods, this is a mess…"

"It's only getting worse… it's already breakfast time" Azula said, shaking her head against the mattress "T-the servants will bring me my meal to my room to find… t-to find I'm not there, and that I didn't even sleep in my bed to begin with. Sokka…"

"Shhh, I know it sounds bad but… but we'll think of something" he said, frowning "Come on, we're both too clever for there to be no solution to this. Just… get something to eat now, regain your energies and we'll make sure Song understands just how important it is for her to keep quiet. Then we'll figure what to do about the Palace"

"There's nothing to figure, I'll just… never go back" Azula said, with a hysterical smile. Sokka grimaced "I'll have to pretend I'm dead, change my name and my appearance and hope I'll get by in the wild…"

"You won't have to do that… or at least, let's leave that as the very last resource" Sokka muttered, as he surrounded her with his arms and helped her to a sitting position. She winced at the sensation, and he caressed her womb softly as she settled into the position "You alright?"

"I'm pretty sure that, for the foreseeable future, the answer to that question is most certainly going to be 'no', so spare yourself from asking" she said, and Sokka nodded.

"Yep, I guess that's only logical…" he whispered, as he reached for the tray of food "But still, here. Let's get some food and then we'll be able to think more clearly. We can find a solution"

Azula complied with him, merely because she really didn't have enough energies to argue anymore. The weight of their mistakes dawned on her so powerfully it was almost physically painful. Well, it surely would be physically painful soon enough. Her father would murder her for this, now she was certain of it. She was going to get it…

She didn't make it through half the first dish before shaking her head and standing up, reaching for her clothes and getting dressed in them quickly. Sokka sighed, without much of an appetite of his own, for once. He approached Azula as she slid into his shirt, and he handed her one of his belts, which she tied quickly around her waist as Sokka finished dressing up as well.

"We have no time to waste" she said, shaking her head as she walked to the bedroom door "We're talking to her this instant"

"Yep, sounds about right" Sokka admitted, as he followed her downstairs.

He really thought they needed a moment to think things through, but he wasn't sure that would work out at all. No ideas were coming to mind, despite his insistence that they'd find a way around this. How the blazes had they both slept so long? If only they had woken at midnight or so it would have been perfect, for Xin Long could have flown Azula back into the Palace, and the guards would have failed to see him in the dark. But broad daylight would make that impossible. Servants would be treading up and down the Palace by now, and if bad luck kept coming their way, their whispers about the Princess's disappearance would reach the Fire Lord sooner than later…

Sokka clenched his fists, unable to come up with an alternate scenario. Somehow it seemed they'd set themselves up for an outcome that could only result in what Azula kept saying it would…

Song had only just settled down to start her own breakfast in the kitchen when she heard heavy footsteps on the staircase. She gobbled down her first bite in time to spot the Princess entering the kitchen, her brow drawn together in a dangerous frown. There was an obvious streak of fear in her eyes though, plain for Song to see… it wasn't common for the Princess to be so easy to read. This most definitely had taken her out of her comfort zone, Song concluded, as Sokka as well entered the kitchen.

"You're done so fast with the food?" she asked innocently, and Azula grinded her teeth as she stopped at the table, trying to organize her thoughts. Sokka approached from behind her, looking at her worriedly before taking it upon himself to reply to Song.

"Actually we're not. We just… really need to talk" he said, as Azula breathed out heavily.

"You do realize what's… what's at stake here, don't you?" she said to Song, who blinked and nodded slowly.

"Well, yeah. I'd think you don't need to ask" said Song, smiling "If you're afraid I'll blab, I won't. I'm not a gossip, and even if I were, everyone I know is aware of what's going on between you two. My social circle is pretty tight, you could say… so it's not like I'm dying to tell anyone. It's an important secret, I understand as much. I won't run out there to tell the entire city about it"

"You… do you swear?" Azula asked, looking at her insistently "I'm not trying to say I distrust you, Song, but you need to understand…"

"All our futures ride in this, I know" she said, biting her lower lip and nodding "I'm all in for helping you keep this secret, both for your sake and my own"

"Somehow that thought doesn't seem to bother you all that much" said Azula, frowning "I can't say I know what fate would befall you if this secret were revealed, but it's unlikely to be any better than what you have now. So…"

"Well, that's a given" said Song, with a shrug "In all honesty, I was very lucky to be hired by you two. I can't say I'm entirely happy about being a slave, but I couldn't have found a better home than here. So even for my own selfish reasons, I'll help you both in whichever way I can"

"Heh… I doubt we're allowed to judge you in regards of selfishness" Azula muttered, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips.

"So, all's good now?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows and looking at Azula. The Princess sighed and shrugged.

"Honestly, after all the great things that have come my way thanks to you two, I'd be quite an ungrateful person if I did something to harm you" she said, smiling at them "If anything, I'm actually… happy for the two of you, so to speak"

"Heh, thanks" Sokka said, blushing a little as he smiled back at the girl. Azula breathed out slowly.

"So we're trusting you with this, then" said Azula "Nobody outside of the three of us can know. Not a soul, alright?"

"Uh… well…" said Song, her pleasant smile disappearing briefly. Azula's respite, which had an air of finality to it, dwindled and vanished just as Song's grin did.

"Well what?" she said, looking at Song questioningly. The girl shrunk in her frame, dropping her gaze.

"I just… didn't tell anyone myself, but someone outside of the three of us actually…"

"Wait, someone else knows?! How?!" Azula exclaimed, her eyes widening as she looked at Song with despair. Sokka frowned.

"You said… you said that everyone you're close to already knew" he muttered "But… but you and the Captain are friendly, aren't you? Song, you don't mean…!"

Azula paled when she read Song's guilty expression once Sokka's guess was spot on. An unwanted and unpleasant shiver shook her body as Song bit her lip and jumped off her chair, looking at the pair with concern in her eyes. Sokka had frozen, his mouth agape as his mind, as well as Azula's, raced to the worst possible outcome…

"No, no, no! Don't think of it so badly, he's not going to ruin everything for you two!" she said, waving her hands in front of them "I mean it!"

"Say what?!" Azula exclaimed, looking at Song in utter disbelief. Song gulped "How exactly… considering that the ones who ruined everything to begin with were the two of us, I cannot say I follow your logic. Of all people, Rui Shi… if he knows, he's going to…!"

"No, he's not going to rat you out"! Song said, shaking her head energetically "We'd already talked about this beforehand and he's made up his mind to help you!"

"Curse the world, how could he find out so…?!" Azula exclaimed, a hand going to her forehead before she stopped to look at Song in disbelief and confusion "Say what? You said he's… made up his mind to help us?"

"I know it sounds unbelievable right now, but just… just listen, okay?" she said.

"We're listening" Sokka said, his eyes wide now. Rui Shi hadn't been too antagonistic the last time they met, but he still remembered their last argument. What on earth had changed the man's mind?

"See, I'd already talked to him before" said Song "And in the end he'd accepted that the best thing he could do was help you two with keeping your relationship a secret. So he dropped by yesterday to deliver some message to you, Princess, but after we realized what was going on we left the house for a few hours, had a drink so he could relax a little, and he was obviously very upset about this, but he seemed defeated more than anything at that point…"

"Defeated, yet meaning to help us regardless?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah" said Song, smiling "He actually came up with an excuse he said he'd use just in case the Princess didn't make it home for the night. We both hoped it wouldn't be necessary, but he planned ahead well enough…"

"Wait, an excuse?" Azula asked, her eyes widening "W-what… what sort of excuse?"

"Well, after pondering his ideas for a while, he decided he would claim you dropped by to give Sokka a… well, a big punishment for his failure in the Arena" said Song, smiling awkwardly as Sokka grimaced and Azula looked at her in surprise "The logic is that you didn't come by to deliver the beating sooner because he was still healing, but now he's fine again, so you were going to have him pay for his embarrassing loss against… the Blind Bandit, was it?"

"Y-yeah…" said Sokka, grimacing, and Azula frowned.

"So then the excuse is that I spent the entire day and night beating Sokka to a pulp?" she repeated, and Song shrugged and nodded.

"As far as I'm aware, it is" she said. To Song's surprise, Azula smirked.

"Hell… that's not so bad"

"Not so bad? B-but you never do that sort of stuff!" Sokka exclaimed, surprised, and Azula chuckled.

"There would be no better moment to begin doing it than now, would there?" she said, thoughtfully "As you said, you've fulfilled your potential in regards of strength and that still resulted in a loss against your greatest rival, who is sponsored by my Uncle, no less. You ashamed me in front of him, and in front of Admiral Zhao too, who was enjoying the show… so you deserve to pay dearly for it. It's only logical"

"N-no, it's not" he said, looking at her in disbelief "People will think you're… well, angry and hysterical, won't they?"

"No, they'll think I'm terrifying and not to be crossed, which will make them stay away from me, lowering the likelihood of anyone noticing that my new aggressiveness towards you conceals something else" she said, smirking "Now, of course, I shouldn't act overly aggressive all the time, I'd only do it when you make big mistakes that can ruin my reputation… a reputation I have to protect more now than ever. So if you don't want stories to be spread about how I beat you to a pulp for your mistakes, you'll have to figure a way to avoid losing important fights… and you'll also have to avoid doing stupid things in public. All reckless and ridiculous behavior now will result in…"

"In fake beatings, if anything, right?" Sokka asked, looking at her worriedly. Azula smirked again.

"Only if you don't deserve a real one" she said. Sokka grimaced despite blushing at her smile.

"Well, if worst comes to worst and Sokka needs to look beaten up, I can lend him some makeup" Song suggested, and Azula laughed as Sokka sighed.

"I'd rather get makeup than actually beaten, to be honest" he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest "So then… does this mean we're covered? There's no need for Azula to rush back right away?"

"Well, we may have an alibi, but that doesn't mean I should stick around for much longer" said Azula, frowning "I'll have to take off soon either way…"

"Say… why are you wearing one of Sokka's shirts?" Song asked, raising an eyebrow. The shirt's owner blushed deeply at the question, and Azula's cheeks reddened too as she gritted her teeth before answering the question.

"As it happens… he damaged mine in a very unnecessary way" Azula said, glaring at Sokka, who giggled nervously.

"How exactly…?" Song muttered, confused.

"In short, he ripped it in half" Azula said, with a dry grin. Song blushed too now as she looked at Sokka in disbelief. The gladiator refused to meet her gaze, embarrassed "And I don't think I can go home wearing a ripped shirt, so…"

"Probably not" said Song, tapping her chin with a finger "But I could help you with that. I'd have to see if I have thread of the same color, but I could probably sew it and…"

"Oh? Yeah! You could do that!" Sokka exclaimed, grinning "And once you get home you'd probably have to burn it anyways, Azula, because your servants would notice it was mended…"

"But it wouldn't be noticeable right away" Azula mused "Not when I'm wearing another shirt, and my armor, atop it…"

"How to explain a missing shirt, though?" Sokka asked, and Azula smirked.

"I wouldn't" she said, simply, and Sokka blinked blankly "If a shirt of mine disappeared, chances are the servants would think it was their fault, not mine. They'd likely assume they misplaced it and then turn the entire Palace upside down looking for it if need be, all while I act blissfully unaware of the entire situation. They would likely have to get another shirt as replacement for the lost one, and once they do they'd try their hardest to pretend nothing was ever amiss"

"Heh, that's convenient" said Sokka, smiling a little "So then you can fix the shirt, Song, and after that…"

"After that I'm going home" Azula said, and Sokka's heart sank to hear the words.

"Yep. You have to" he said, nodding. Song smiled at the sight of his disappointment, but she didn't say anything about it.

"So now…" Azula said, taking a deep breath before heading towards the stairs once more, in order to fetch the shirt Song needed to mend.

Sokka was left to watch her leave, the experience still surreal to him. Wearing his shirt rather suited the Princess, in his opinion…

"Despite all the trouble, I assume you're happy" Song told him, with a smile. Sokka grinned and nodded weakly.

"If anything I wish it didn't have to end so fast" he said, with a sigh "But I can't get that greedy, now, can I? It's already more than I ever hoped to have"

"I'm glad it is" said Song, and Sokka blushed as he grinned at her "You two deserve to be happy, after all"

He laughed a little just as Azula reappeared, carrying the ripped red shirt in one hand, the old sheet balled under her free arm.

"Can you fetch the cloth from the bathroom?" she asked Sokka, and he nodded promptly before rushing outside to follow her request.

Song raised a confused eyebrow, unsure as to why the Princess would need a cloth. She could only guess that was Sokka and Azula's business, though, and that she was better off not asking…

"Here" Azula said, handing her the shirt. Song took it and frowned as she tried to figure out what Sokka had done to it, exactly… upon finding the rip she blushed deeply, trying to fight her subconscious' attempt to fill her head with ideas on how the Princess's shirt had ended up like this "So? Can you fix it?"

"Y-yeah, it's nothing major. But indeed, it will be obvious it was ripped to whoever does your laundry…" she said, and Azula nodded.

"We've said already that I'll burn it. Just do what you can to make it seem as normal as possible. The stitches should be concealed by the rest of my clothes"

"Alright then" said Song, smiling "I'll see if I have red thread"

"Thanks" Azula whispered, as Song stood up.

"No problem, Princess. I really…"

"It's a big problem, in all honesty" Azula said, raising her eyebrows "But you're still helping despite this might not end well for you or any of us. So… thank you. And thanks for dealing with the Captain when you did. If not…"

"Well, he wouldn't have done anything that bad, I'm sure" said Song, smiling "He cares too much about you to do anything you'll never recover from, so…"

"He probably shouldn't care so much, truly, for his own good" said Azula, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips "But either way, thanks, Song. This would have been a thousand times worse without your help"

"You're welcome, Princess" she said, grinning as she left the kitchen, crossing paths with Sokka, who returned to Azula with the cloth she requested.

"Alright, what's the plan with all this?" Sokka asked her, once Song was out of earshot.

"We've said plenty of times that I had to burn all the evidence left here, so that's what I'm going to do. Mattress included" Azula said, smirking at him and Sokka pouted.

"Can you at least wait with that one until I get a replacement for it?" he asked.

"I suppose I can. You should probably pretend it's for Song once you go find a new one" Azula said, frowning "If just to keep up appearances. People might buy mattresses every day, but it's better to keep them off track anyhow. Something like this could be potentially suspicious"

"Do you expect someone to follow us so closely to think it's weird for me to get a new mattress now?" Sokka asked, surprised, and Azula shrugged.

"If someone outside of the three of us and the Captain were to gain any reason to suspect of what happened here, they might find more evidence than we realize if we leave a trail of it on our wake. We must eliminate every suspicious factor we can eliminate, simple as that. So… take at least a week or two before you get a new mattress. For the time being, flipping it should help conceal the stain"

"Yeah, got it. I'll do that" said Sokka, nodding "So, how are we going to do this?

Azula jerked her head towards the furnace. Sokka frowned

"… Say what?"

"No, I'm not going to cook it, for crying out loud" she said, rolling her eyes as she ripped the cloth from his hands. Sokka chuckled.

"I didn't think you meant to cook it…"

"There will be a lot of smoke when I burn these" Azula said, dumping the fabrics on the oven "And the best way to make it plain obvious something weird is going on would be by burning them outside or so. If I deal with them like this, it can look like your breakfast was burned, perhaps, for the smoke will pour out through the house's vents as it would if someone was cooking… or maybe it would look like you're making your smoke bombs, however it is that you make them"

"Huh… that should work" said Sokka, nodding.

"So that would be the plan. Now stand back, because it's going to get hot here. I will control the fire, but it's still not likely to be pleasant for you" said Azula, and Sokka smiled.

"Alright. I'll go… fetch your sword" he said, gulping. The more he thought about Azula's upcoming departure, the more he wondered if he was capable of seeing her off. Even if it was just for a couple of hours, or for a few days, he simply didn't want to put any distance between them. If only matters weren't so serious right now he would just take her into his arms once again, damn the consequences… but he surprised himself with his self-restraint.

He did as he told Azula he would, retrieving both their weapons from the garden. He smiled despite himself, hardly believing what their fight the previous day had led them to. He shook his head, trying to bring himself back to normality as he fixed the living room now, placing the small table in its proper spot before taking his seat on the couch, both blades next to him. He glanced towards the kitchen, noticing the house felt slightly hotter now. The destruction of the evidence would take some time, he shouldn't push it…

He headed upstairs again, in order to flip the mattress as Azula had told him to. He did his very best at making the bed afterwards, but he felt he hadn't been all that successful. He sighed, thinking Azula wouldn't share it with him tonight… indeed, he was a selfish, reckless man, but he just wanted more of her now. As it always happened to him when it came to Azula, one taste wasn't enough.

He returned downstairs to find the Princess in the living room, rubbing her hands together as she looked at her white sword, sheathed and placed on the couch. Sokka smiled.

"The mattress is flipped" he announced, and she nodded in approval "And yeah, Wolf's Bane was waiting for you. How did it go with the fire?"

"All reduced to cinders now" Azula declared "Now we just have to wait for Song to be done with the shirt…"

"And then you'll be off" Sokka said, unable to hold back the disappointment in his voice. Azula looked at him with apprehension.

"I really wish it didn't have to be this way, Sokka" she said "But it's all or nothing here. If we want this to work, we have to make sacrifices"

"Yeah, I get that and I agree. Completely" he said, approaching her and smiling "I just… hell, I'm in too deep, I'm afraid. I don't think I can fathom being separated from you anymore, even if it were for a few hours…"

"You went a week without seeing me before this" said Azula, raising an eyebrow, and Sokka chuckled.

"I was just a little busy being ashamed of myself and feeling unworthy of your very presence" he said, smiling "I still am unworthy now, of course, but…"

"Oh, after the things you did yesterday I'm not entirely sure about that" Azula commented, with a smirk and a blush. Sokka raised his eyebrows but laughed a little.

"Wow, you enjoyed it that much, really?" he asked, as she smiled, without meeting his gaze.

"It's safe to say you outdid my expectations" she admitted "If I could have my way, I'd just… well, not leave this fast. But I think we've already had fortune on our side for too long. Pushing our luck will only end badly"

"True" said Sokka "But that won't make me miss you any less"

"Good" said Azula, smiling at him. Sokka sighed, lifting a hand towards her cheek.

"It's just… we spent such a long time dancing around hopelessly, and now I can't help but feel we ought to make up for all the time we wasted" he said, with a chuckle.

"Funny, I thought we'd only danced on the night of the Ball…"

"Heh, aren't you hilarious, Princess" he said, smirking as she looked at him innocently "You know what I'm talking about"

"Hardly" she said, stepping closer to him and dropping her head on his shoulder. Sokka bit his lip, his arms surrounding Azula as she rested against him "Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think it was all a waste. Granted I wish we'd done this sooner, but… but I guess it was all necessary, somehow. Had we started this a lot earlier, things could have been far more catastrophic for the both of us"

"I guess so…" said Sokka, sighing as he dropped his head atop hers "At least we know now that we want the same things, right?"

"Well, if anything we want to avoid the same things" Azula said, with a weak grin "We don't want to end up dead for this, so it's up to us to prevent that"

"Yeah… It is indeed. I just need a little longer to make my peace with the fact that you'll be gone for now" he said, squeezing her as he dropped his head on her shoulder now "When do you think you'll have a chance to come back? Or… should I go see you at the Palace?"

"Come see me? I… I doubt that's a good idea" she said, frowning "I mean, you're allowed to come, if you stop dropping by altogether it might be weird. But for anything to happen between us while we're there would be ill-advised. Too many potential eavesdroppers"

"True" said Sokka, with a defeated sigh as he looked at her "Hell, this is only getting harder by the minute, isn't it? The more I think about it, the more limited we are by the circumstances"

"I'm Crown Princess now, too, so my time is indeed more limited than before" Azula whispered, biting her lip "I'll… I'll try to come every day, as I used to for training, but I might not manage. Once your hawk gets back we can use him to communicate about our encounters. Of course, restrain yourself from sending anything stupid on your notes, because if they were to fall in the wrong hands…"

"I know, I know. I'll leave saying stupid things for when I see you in person" he said, and she smiled.

"That should do" she said, nodding.

"We're still going to be apart for quite a while, though… s-say, can't I come with you now?" he asked, and Azula huffed "I mean, I should probably come! Song already told us what excuse the Captain came up with, but we'll need to confirm it, right? J-just for the sake of keeping all loose ends neatly tied up…"

"Sokka, I could do that on my own" said Azula, smiling "It will be riskier for you to come along, it would be better if…"

"If I stayed, I know" Sokka said, releasing her from his embrace with a sad grimace "I get it. I won't be an inconvenien-…"

"No, no, wait…" said Azula, lifting a hand and looking at him with interest "You really want to come?"

"Uh… I'd like to. Though I don't really want to talk to the Captain, I figure he'll want to kill me on sight" Sokka said, scratching the back of his head "But I'd rather you don't face him by yourself. Plus, I'm just not ready to say goodbye yet…"

"It's not goodbye forever, you know" said Azula, smiling at him, but the edge of her grin grew a little more mischievous once she finished talking. Sokka looked at her with confusion "Still…"

"Still what? Azula, you have that look on your face that says you'll make me very sorry for my last request…" he muttered, raising an eyebrow "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing that bad, just a way to reinforce the story the Captain was supposed to feed everyone" said Azula, smirking "Of course, it'll require for you to accept going through a certain experience that I doubt will be pleasant, but it might make the entire charade more believable… and you won't have to part ways with me that quickly. So it could be a good thing, in the end, for you to come along…"

"A… good thing?" said Sokka, looking at her skeptically "That look on your face suggests otherwise…"

"Now, don't you trust me?" Azula asked, her smirk widening as she approached him surrounding his neck with her arms. Sokka felt the blood rushing to his cheeks for the umpteenth time that day.

"I do, more than I should, clearly enough" he said, gulping "You're a dangerous girl and you know I'm well wrapped around your finger…"

"Ah, well, that is a truly wonderful thing, isn't it? For you to trust me despite knowing you probably shouldn't…" she said, leaning in and kissing him softly. Sokka hummed, his previous concerns almost forgotten completely as he returned the favor.

"You… you're going to keep taking advantage of my weak points from now on, aren't you?" he asked, and Azula chuckled.

"Just how much will it bother you if I do?" she asked, and he snorted.

"It won't bother me at all, but still…!" he said as she laughed more, her forehead pressed against his "You've got too much power over me, and it's starting to worry me a little after what you just said. What are you plotting, girl?"

"You'll find out soon. Once Song is done with her sewing anyways" she said, smiling "How long do you think she'll take with that?"

"Uh… might take a while, I think" said Sokka, shrugging "Why?"

"I just thought… well, you wanted to make up for our wasted time, didn't you?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows. Sokka looked at her in astonishment.

"W-wait, but… huh? Y-you mean…"

"We don't have to go all the way" she said "Might be better to avoid that for now, I'm still somewhat sore, but I figured…"

"Heh… there's other stuff we can do" Sokka said, smiling "I mean, there's no need for clothes to come off… though if they do I won't complain. You look great in my shirt but even better without it, I must say"

"Hush" she said, with an embarrassed smile as he leaned in to kiss her.

The kiss deepened quickly, their hands moving on the other's body with ease as they lost themselves in the moment. All thoughts of everything that could go wrong were easily forgotten again, as they relished in the brush of their lips, in the blissful sensation of each caress…

Lost as they were, they ignored the sounds of footsteps upstairs. Song saw them from the top of the stairs, the mended shirt in her hand, and another prominent blush colored her face.

"P-Prin-…" she whispered, hoping to deliver the shirt, but as Azula pressed her body into Sokka's, Song gulped and decided she did not want to interrupt them "Never mind…"

She returned to her room and busied herself with putting away her knitting gear. The shirt wasn't perfect, but Song thought she had made a decent job of it. She only wanted to make sure it would fit the Princess, but she hadn't quite expected to find the two of them as she had. It was one thing to be aware of the physical relationship between the pair, and yet another one to be a direct witness of it.

Just as she resolved to gather her courage and interrupt them, she heard footsteps climbing the stairs and moving over the hall… towards Sokka's bedroom. She froze and stared at the room with disbelief. Were they serious? Oh, they surely were. The attraction they felt towards one another was really making them reckless, wasn't it?

As she heard them speaking and laughing on the other room, Song decided to head downstairs. Surely there had to be something in the house that could serve as ear plugs.

* * *

The empty breakfast tray had wound up next to the one from the previous day on the dresser after the two of them had finished it. It didn't take long after finishing the food, though, for them to carry on with what they had started downstairs… and despite Sokka's claims that they could remain clothed, they soon ended up lying in bed fully naked one more time, and their attempt to make up for lost time became of a much naughtier nature quickly. Sokka was knocked out almost instantly after they were finished, and Azula soon followed suit as she relaxed beside him.

Said relaxation came to a sudden end when she woke with a start, sitting up on the bed with wide eyes. No, she couldn't have possibly slept that long this time…

She jumped out of the bed and dressed up hastily again, taking his shirt once more and tying it with his belt over her pants. She chanced a glance at Sokka, finding he was still sleeping soundly, his mouth slightly open. He'd start drooling at this rate, she thought, and she shook her head before rushing outside his room. It couldn't be that late, the light didn't seem all that different… at most it would be mid-morning, right?

Azula walked to Song's room nervously, having guessed she would be mending her shirt there. She surely would have heard them if that was the case… they needed to figure a way to resolve this particular problem. It was easy to forget the world existed when passion overwhelmed them, but once she was back on her right mind she'd start regretting their recklessness as she already was… either she had to learn to keep her sounds in check, or they'd have to think of a way not to bother Song. The girl was already being helpful enough as it was, subjecting her to this nuisance was completely undeserved…

She wasn't in her room, Azula saw, so she hoped to find her downstairs. And indeed, there she was, sitting at the kitchen again, attempting to read a book, it seemed. Azula frowned upon seeing there was something orange sticking out of her ears.

"Song?" she whispered, and the girl jumped.

"Oh! Ah, y-you… y-you guys are done now?" she asked, blushing. Azula couldn't help but grimace, embarrassed.

"Sorry. We didn't plan on things to… to escalate like that" she muttered, gulping "What time is it?"

"Still before noon" Song replied, with a weak smile "You lost track of time?"

"I did yesterday, no doubt" Azula muttered, sighing and rubbing an eye with the heel of her hand "Did you finish the shirt?"

"Yeah, it's all done" said Song, smiling and handing it to Azula, who sighed in relief to see the torn fabric back in one piece.

"Thank you" she said, the words heartfelt "Both for this and, well… for putting up with us. I know it can't be fun…"

"Oh, well, I managed to get by" said Song, shrugging and smiling. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"I hope so, or else those tomato-carrot chunks in your ears would really have been a complete waste" she commented. Song jumped and blushed again, her hands reaching up to her ears and removing the improvised earplugs.

"Oh, yeah…" she said, with a weak grin "I didn't have any ear plugs of my own, so I just resorted to chopping up the carrots in hopes the noise might help… didn't help that much so I stuck these bits in my ears, hehe…"

"Doing that wasn't all that handy, though. You've heard every word I've said so far" said Azula, looking at Song skeptically.

"Y-yeah… truly, not that helpful" she confessed, with a defeated shrug "But I figured it was better to put up with it than to run outside to buy earplugs. It would be potentially suspicious too, right?"

"Indeed" said Azula, biting her lower lip.

"And really, it could have been worse" Song said, laughing a little "You were chatting for a while, then got very noisy, but then fell silent…"

"We fell asleep, is what it was" Azula admitted "I guess we were both too relieved that somehow things aren't turning out so badly… but at this rate they just might. I need to get going now"

"Ah, well, make sure to wake him before you go" said Song, smiling "He'll be miserable and annoying if you don't"

"Actually… he's coming with me" Azula said, with a smirk. Song raised an eyebrow.

"He is?"

"That's right" said Azula, chuckling with malice.

Song gulped, somewhat afraid of what that wicked grin would mean. All along, she had thought Sokka and Azula made quite a nice pair… but right now she couldn't help but think Sokka was in over his head with the Princess.

Only half an hour later, the gladiator was thinking the exact same thing.

"AZULA, STOP THIS! LET ME ON THE SADDLE! AZULA, PLEASE!" he shrieked, as Xin Long carried him through the air with his talons. The Princess snickered, proudly.

"Not after your shameful failures, I won't!" she declared proudly. There was no way of knowing if the people down in the city could hear them, but just in case they could, she was willing to put up a proper act for them "Toss him, Xin!"

The dragon gurgled with amusement before gathering his strength and throwing Sokka up into the skies. His screams were desperate as he fell, and the dragon caught him again, several feet lower than they had been before.

It had taken them a while to leave the house. Sokka had been beyond relieved when Azula, fully dressed in her royal garb, had woken him with a kiss and told him to get ready. He had fixed her hair, she had helped him into his clothes, and to his surprise she had borrowed Song's makeup indeed. As she began giving Sokka fake bruises he inquired as to what her plan was, exactly. She only explained it once they were in the garden, as Xin Long dropped in the grass to take his rider back home.

Sokka had protested initially, until Azula had told him that it was either this or he'd stay home without making a fuss. Sokka seemed most unwilling to comply, but he surrendered eventually, even allowing Azula to use her firebending to burn his clothes a little, without damaging his skin, in order to make the entire pretense more believable.

So now he was being held by the dragon's talons, his hair coming loose after all the twirls and flips he'd done every time Xin Long tossed him, and he was afraid he might throw up all the food he had ingested recently. It only made sense that this would be karma for his ridiculous request and their great day yesterday. He really should have known better… but it was too late for regrets now. He had made his bed and laid on it, in all possible senses.

Xin Long seemed amused by what was going on, for it wasn't every day that he got to play like this with Sokka. But it was all the more amusing to tease Azula about how things had turned out with her gladiator. The Princess wasn't entirely thrilled about the dragon's relentless mockery of her behavior the previous day, as the dragon picked out his favorite parts of her passionate 'mating' with Sokka and replayed them to her, but she did her best to bear with him as they progressed towards the Palace.

"Are you still there, Sokka?" Azula asked, almost casually, and received a hysterical groan in response.

"I'M GOING TO VOMIT!" he exclaimed, and Azula grimaced.

"Well, that's revolting…" she muttered and patted Xin Long's neck "No more tossing, then, that's enough"

Xin Long didn't seem to approve of the command, though, and he threw the gladiator in the air one last time, to the man's horror and the rider's surprise.

"Xin!" Azula exclaimed, as the dragon caught Sokka by the foot, chuckling "I told you to stop it!"

Xin Long only continued to laugh as they approached the refuge, and he dove into it a little faster than he should have. Azula didn't miss on all the glances they received from the soldiers and servants within the Palace. She only hoped this ridiculous charade had worked…

Xin Long hovered above the ground for a moment and dropped Sokka before landing swiftly, giving the gladiator a toothy grin. Sokka looked at him in utter contempt before dropping on his back, his breathing heavy, his eyes unfocused.

"You two are going to kill me. I swear…" he whispered, as Azula approached him.

"Sorry if that was too much" she said, crouching next to him "I didn't expect you'd end up nauseous, but…"

"T-try getting tossed around by your dragon one of these days, then it'll come as no surprise to you…" he said, his eyes spiraling as he struggled to find his bearings. Azula smiled and leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead.

"For what it's worth, you might have made our case now, if everything goes as it should have. So thank you"

"Eh… w-welcome…" he said, still out of sorts.

Azula jumped to her feet when she heard footsteps outside. She proceeded to glare judgmentally at Sokka, pushing him lightly with one foot.

"Get up, will you? Stop moping around and get lost. You're an eyesore" she declared, firmly, but Sokka only groaned in denial as several royal guards appeared at the refuge's door.

"Princess!" exclaimed one of them, Sokka figured it was Taro given by the sound of his voice "You've returned! And… you brought the gladiator?"

"Oh, he's not here to stay, he's here to fulfill the last stretch of his punishment for being an utterly useless, spineless fool" she stated, startling the two men that had showed up "Which is of course, to head home from here, on foot, after having been relentlessly tormented by my dragon"

"Why… Rui Shi had said his performance had upset you, but this is…" said the other one, Fei Li, looking at Sokka with concern. The gladiator wasn't capable of holding his gaze.

"He did nothing short of shaming me before my uncle, and Admiral Zhao, no less. If anything, that has convinced me that I've given this slave more freedom than he deserved" Azula growled, as Sokka groaned again, struggling to stand up "So I mean to discipline him in whichever way seems more effective in order to make him behave as the gladiator I require him to be. Am I clear enough, Fei Li?"

"A-absolutely, but…" he said, gulping. Azula raised an eyebrow and he froze "It's nothing, Princess. Do as you wish"

"That's quite what I intended to do, thank you very much…"

"Princess" said a new voice, one that Sokka recognized much faster. His stomach sank only upon hearing it, and he was afraid Azula's had done the same. She did a better job at concealing it, though "We were starting to fear you wouldn't ret-… y-you… you brought the gladiator"

"I did indeed" Azula said, nodding firmly. She couldn't waver, even though she feared Rui Shi was likely to disapprove of this sudden turn of events "He needed to learn one last lesson regarding why he had better not displease me anymore. He is to ponder his very existence as he walks back home after our rather enjoyable dragon ride… right, Sokka?"

"Heh? P-ponder my… my existence?" he repeated, looking at her in dismay. Azula rolled her eyes in exasperation before turning to the royal guard again.

"You had something to talk to me about, didn't you, Captain?" she said, raising an eyebrow. Rui Shi nodded curtly.

"Indeed I did, Princess" he said "But…"

"In private, Captain" she said, before looking at her two other guards "Your concern for my wellbeing is appreciated, but as you can see, I'm safe and sound. No need to stand around worrying about me anymore"

"None indeed" said Fei Li, nodding before performing a low bow towards the Princess "We shall let the other guards know of your return as you two speak"

"Go ahead" Azula said, as both Fei Li and Taro made their way to the door.

Once they were gone Azula sighed, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips.

"That may have been slightly over the top" she admitted, before looking at Sokka worriedly "Can you stand up?"

"I can… try…" he said, grimacing as he attempted to push himself up by flexing his legs, but his attempt to push himself up only served for him to catapult himself back onto the ground.

"Is he really that disorientated or is this part of the act as well?" Rui Shi inquired, raising an eyebrow as Azula leaned down to help Sokka again.

"He is disorientated because of the act, simply put" she replied, as Rui Shi aided her in their attempt to lift Sokka to his feet "Are we free to speak here, though?"

"Not quite" Rui Shi admitted "Many guards were out in the grounds as though expecting to find you somehow by patrolling everywhere. They may be flocking towards the refuge now if they noticed the dragon… which, in all fairness, wasn't hard to do. You were quite noisy and flashy"

"Part of the act as well" Azula said, as Sokka was finally on his feet. She placed a hand on his back to help him keep his balance and he nodded in appreciation.

"S-say, let's come up with a better pretense next time, okay?" he said, as Azula smiled.

"Let's hope there's no next time of this sort, for starters" she replied "Captain, have you secured a safe room someplace?"

"In the basement, through the secret passageway that leads into the South Wing's storage" said Rui Shi, with a sigh "Not many people frequent it, so…"

"It will work. Let's go" Azula said "We… we have a lot to discuss"

"That we do" Rui Shi said, with disappointment and also steel in his voice.

Rui Shi made a good show of shoving and pushing Sokka into the Palace forcefully. The two of them followed Azula towards the hallway where they'd find the passageway Rui Shi had spoken of. Servants and guards alike watched them with utter disbelief, astounded to see the gladiator being treated so harshly all of sudden. It seemed the Princess's last loss in the Royal Dome had truly angered her…

"I wasn't entirely sure that everyone had bought my explanation" Rui Shi said, closing the secret wall once the three of them were already inside the dark passageway. Sokka had to place a hand on Azula's shoulder in order to keep track of his bearings. Both Azula and the Captain were familiar with this secret passageway, but he sure wasn't "So it may have been a good thing for you to have brought the fool along for this absurd display. It was somewhat uncharacteristic of you, but…"

"Let it be said that the Crown Princess has absolutely no tolerance for failures" Azula said, and Rui Shi actually smiled.

"Well, once you put it that way, perhaps they will buy it after all…" he accepted. It should not be so hard to believe that a new position, especially one as important as the one Azula had been granted, would cause a person to act somewhat chaotically at first, as they tried to fit properly in the new role in question.

"Let's hope" said Azula, stopping as she reached a wooden door.

She pushed it open to reveal a thin staircase with only a little illumination that came from small that looked like vents. She led the way downstairs towards the basement, pushing another door open to reveal a rather dusty room, piled with all sorts of vintage furniture and old relics that were no longer in display in the Palace's main halls. It wasn't too filthy, but it was also clear that nobody had cleaned this particular room in quite some time.

"You sure we're safe here?" Sokka asked, looking around with a raised eyebrow as Azula lit the room's lanterns with her bending. His head was still spinning, but he could make sense out of his surroundings by now.

"We should be" she whispered "It's easy enough to hear people approaching this room, and easier yet to hide in the furniture before they come inside, if need be. So it should be the safest place to hold this conversation within the Palace's premises…"

"It should be… though bringing the gladiator along wasn't necessary for this part" said Rui Shi, frowning at Sokka after taking off his hood and mask "It was smart to do so in order to back up the story I fed everyone, but he didn't need to be involved in this conversation"

"Well, it's a matter that concerns all of us. And it's our fault, so… it's only fair for him to be here too" Azula said, shrugging and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Indeed, it is your fault" Rui Shi said, bluntly. Sokka grimaced and Azula sighed.

"It wasn't the idea, Captain, but… but all the same, you're still here, lecturing us" Azula muttered "I'm grateful for that, believe it or not"

"I have no trouble believing you would be. I could have easily gone to the Fire Lord now, Princess… so you should keep in mind indeed that you're both rather lucky I haven't done as much" he said, taking his seat on a dusty couch as he continued to glare at them. Azula gritted her teeth as Sokka looked at her worriedly.

"Indeed, we are. Is there any price to our luck, then?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. Rui Shi sighed.

"There should be. I'm… I'm risking my neck here for you both" Rui Shi growled, shaking his head "Fact is, I have no idea why I'm doing it. All common sense tells me not to. But…"

"Hence why we're grateful. Fact is, you could have simply left things to run their course without putting up a pretense" Azula said "We would have been found and you wouldn't have had to lie about it. But you didn't"

"I didn't. And now I'll have to deal with the consequences" Rui Shi said, dropping against the backrest "It's too late for me to back down now. I already let you two keep this up for a long time. I should have stopped it when I had the chance"

"No offense, but… I'm not certain you could have stopped it" Azula said. Sokka swallowed.

"Still, thanks for… for not killing me, first of all, and for sticking by us, secondly" said Sokka.

"As long as you don't make me regret it more than I already do, I accept your gratefulness" said Rui Shi, sighing "You do realize that from here on, you must keep your secret under wraps for as long as can be? Which means you'll have to avoid marriage all the more, Princess. And you have to stop being this reckless if you truly mean to keep this a secret. So no more sleepovers"

"None" Azula said, nodding "It was an obvious mistake, an accidental one but a mistake all the same"

"I won't be able to provide a cover for every single weird thing you two decide to do. So I beg of you, don't force me into doing so" he stated "It already was overwhelming enough, having to come up with this once. I seriously didn't expect most people to believe it. Fortunately it seems your glory is preceded by a darker reputation than I realized, Princess…"

"I don't think it's my reputation entirely, it's possibly due to the way most people treat slaves" Azula said "I've always been a rarity for not being so harsh to Sokka… but taking all the recent circumstances into account, hopefully it has seemed believable enough"

"Still… I assume those bruises aren't real, or are they? Let alone the burns on his clothes…" Rui Shi said, and Sokka shook his head. Rui Shi sighed "Pity. The next time you wish to pretend to beat this fool up, I will gladly do it for you, Princess"

"Rui Shi…" Azula said, rolling her eyes as Sokka grimaced.

"Do excuse my harshness, I know it isn't appropriate… but then again the entire situation is far from appropriate" the Captain said, raising his eyebrows.

"Agreed, but it is what it is now" said Azula "Something like this was bound to happen sooner than later. In any case, Song claimed you had showed up at the house to deliver some message. I figure that's how you found out…"

"Indeed it is" said Rui Shi, an eyebrow twitching "I did not want to believe it at first. Song was rushing outside, looking redder than I'd ever seen her. She had realized what was going on with you two, of course… and it didn't take me too long to understand what was happening. She led me away afterwards, helped me talk out my frustrations and decide what we'd do next, depending on what the situation would be once she returned home. I wasn't going to demand for her to stop you two from doing what you were doing, the entire situation is uncomfortable enough for all of us, so I wouldn't force her into such an awkward position… so I had to think quickly, and the punishment was the first cover I could come up with"

"Well, what you came up with wasn't as bad an idea as it could have been" Azula said "Though I guess some might be surprised by the thought that I might have spent an entire night torturing Sokka…"

"Given by his shape and the way you dragged him here only to 'punish him further', I'd say you dealt with it rather well" said Rui Shi "But I'll say it again, Princess… avoid this sort of behavior from now on. I can't promise to be able to cover up for you on another occasion"

"We'll be less reckless. Or try to be, at least" said Azula.

"But not to the point where you'd stop seeing one another, right?"

"Captain, the damage is done" the Princess said, sighing in defeat "Even if we broke things off now, I'm still going to be…"

"Deflowered" Rui Shi finished, and Azula blushed.

It was ridiculous, truly, that her accursed virginity would be the source of so much trouble. What she did with her body should be her problem, and hers alone. It shouldn't be something worth getting scolded over by the Captain of her Royal Guard, let alone something worth more than all her accomplishments, or Sokka's very life. She had proven herself time over and time again… why couldn't the world see her worth for that, instead of her purity?

"Well, then, you'll have to come up with your own plans in order to be together if you're hell-bent on it indeed" said Rui Shi, shrugging "It's clear that I cannot stop you. But I won't clean up after your disasters each and every time either"

"I won't ask you to do so" Azula muttered "You've been helpful enough as it is, despite you clearly don't want to be"

"I really wish I could be more supportive of this mess, Princess, but I keep seeing myself beheaded for it" said Rui Shi, giving her a sarcastic grin "I cannot be a nice, encouraging friend and your Captain at the same time. It's as much of a contradiction as a Princess and a slave throwing caution in the wind as you have"

"The world is full of wishful thoughts indeed" Azula said "I'm not going to ask you to like this, Captain, if anything I'm quite astounded by your loyalty as it is. Any other man would have turned us in right away, once he knew he had nothing to lose"

"Well… that is, indeed, the problem" Rui Shi whispered.

He had more to lose than the Princess realized. As much as it was an unpleasant situation for him, he cared for her wellbeing just as much as he cared for her happiness, it seemed. It was why he doubted he would ever feel right about this… but also why he couldn't turn them in. He was harsh to Sokka, naturally, but even so he had a certain appreciation for the man. His influence on the Princess had been positive on many levels… if only there hadn't been a romantic outcome to all of it, he might even consider the gladiator a good friend. Despite he felt the drive to genuinely beat him to a pulp, he didn't quite want him dead, if mostly for the Princess's sake.

"We'll try to be less messy from now on" Sokka said, lowering his gaze "For all our sakes. I'm pretty sure we can be stealthier from now on"

"Stealthier, you say? Then I suppose making out on roofs is ruled out now?" Rui Shi asked, unable to avoid smirking in disbelief. Sokka was the one blushing now as Azula nodded.

"There's no need to take risks like that, not really" she said, sighing "We'll still see each other as we always did before, for training and such…"

"Training? Really?" Rui Shi said, raising an eyebrow. Sokka gulped as Azula shrugged.

"If we've had training sessions almost on a daily basis for close to a year and nobody thought it was suspicious enough to look into, returning to that routine shouldn't be suspicious either" said Azula.

"I suppose. I'll have to drop by at sunset to make sure you do come home for the night, though" Rui Shi said, raising an eyebrow. Azula looked at him in surprise.

"You'd… you'd do that?" she asked.

"I'll probably have to. If you two are busy 'training', you're likely to make fools of yourselves again. If we're to avoid circumstances like these, I have to stay on top of it" he said, shrugging "I'm afraid I don't trust the pair of you to be responsible, especially when you're together"

"It'll probably take a while for us to get our heads on straight" Sokka said, scratching the back of his head as he looked at Azula "But this would work, right? I guess you won't be able to come by every day anymore, since you've got more responsibilities now, but…"

"We'll just meet whenever it's convenient" Azula said, nodding "No point in pushing our luck. Also, we have to train for real as well. Else you're really going to be useless in the Arena"

"You should do that indeed" said Rui Shi, standing up "It would do no good for you to claim you train constantly only for his level on the battlegrounds to decrease"

"You're right about that, Captain. But there's no need to worry, I'll make sure to have him practice with his boomerang properly until he gets the hang of it" Azula stated, and both Sokka and Rui Shi did a double take at that.

"H-his… boomerang?" Rui Shi repeated, as Sokka pouted, indignant.

"Hey, I can use my boomerang well enough and you know it! Stop saying weird stuff!" he exclaimed, flustered. Azula smirked.

"Well, now, I was talking about your weapon as harmlessly as you speak of my blue fire, so why so defensive all of sudden?"

"Y-your… oh, dear" said Rui Shi. He had a good idea of what the boomerang was supposed to be, but he did not want to know what the blue fire stood for.

"Why? Maybe because you keep saying things to mess me up, like how 'I was lacking in a certain department', or did you conveniently forget that one?" Sokka asked, and now the Captain rolled his eyes.

"I most certainly don't need to hear this" he growled as he made to leave, but before he reached the door he stopped and looked at Azula "The message, by the way, was that you're expected to attend a war meeting today in the afternoon, Princess. Make certain to be ready for it"

He closed the door behind him and stepped away quickly, leaving both Azula and Sokka standing where they were, their eyes on the closed door. The Captain's footsteps resounded as he climbed the stairs until he reached the hidden passageway.

"Well, that didn't go so badly until the very end" Azula said, with a guilty grin. Sokka pouted again.

"Agreed. Though I wasn't happy about how you'll have me 'practice with my boomerang', as if I was so bad at it…"

"Now, in all fairness, you failed to strike Toph's actual chi point. Had you done it, she would have been helpless a little longer and you might have had a chance to…"

"Oh, sure, that's what you were talking about" Sokka said, looking at her with a disbelieving grin.

"Well, what did you think I was talking about?" she said, raising her eyebrows "Oh, now, you filthy minded snow savage. Everything is an innuendo with you, isn't it?"

"L-like you didn't say it with that intention!" Sokka exclaimed, and Azula smirked, looking at him with false indignation "You were the one who brought up the blue fire in comparison!"

"Why, that's preposterous. I'm not the type to make innuendos about your rear, believe it or not" she said, with an innocent smile.

"No, but you weren't talking about my rear, or were you?" Sokka asked, stepping towards her and looking down at her with stubbornness. Azula couldn't help but smirk.

"What was I talking about, then?" she asked, her voice rather suggestive.

Sokka opened his mouth to answer but he was left looking at her lips, the words lost before he could so much as think about uttering them. He was in real trouble, no doubt. This mischievous side of Azula was dangerous in ways she didn't realize. Resisting her before had been hard enough, but now she seemed to know exactly how to tempt him into losing himself in her completely.

It came as no surprise that they would be kissing fiercely one second, only for Sokka to lift her and press her into the wall as he continued to devour her eagerly, her legs firmly wrapped around his waist. Their libido was the only thing dictating their actions as they recklessly found themselves in the middle of a desperate tryst once more. The pain Azula still felt upon penetration was quickly replaced by pleasure once more, as he stroked her clit with a thumb while thrusting against her, the brush of his head against her walls made making her moan erotically. He only hoped the room they were in was so isolated that nobody would hear them…

"Be quiet, Azula…" he whispered, before heaving forth again. Azula cried out again "Girl, seriously…"

"I can't help it!" she retorted, and Sokka shook his head before smiling.

"Then I guess I'll have to keep your mouth busy, huh?" he said, leaning in and pressing his lips to hers, his tongue slipping past her lips and brushing against hers. Azula groaned again, a soft whimper leaving her as he began thrusting more rhythmically.

Her fingers had undone his wolf's tail at this point, and she pulled at his hair as he thrusted deeper inside of her, deeper than he had reached the first time. He held her firmly in place with one arm, still using his free hand to tease her and boost her arousal in all the ways he could, doing his best to make the experience all the more enjoyable to her.

His mouth didn't leave hers, and soon he was responding to her moans with some of his own. His legs were threatening to give way beneath him but he wouldn't let them. No, he had to reach the finish line here, there was no questioning it…

Her nails dug into his scalp, making him wince and pull away from her lips briefly, only for her to assault him with more kisses. His thumb drew circles on her clit, his cock sliding in and out of her with astounding ease by now. She was shivering violently against him, failing to find the strength to continue toying with his hair as his tip brushed that spot again…

She practically screamed into his mouth as she came, the contractions of her walls making Sokka roll his eyes back in sheer pleasure. He continued to prod at her clit, helping her ride the orgasm to the end, but knowing that it would mean he would come as well in no time…

His release was as explosive as before, prompting him to drop his head on her shoulder as he thrusted urgently, unleashing himself deep inside her. His hips bumped into hers as his aftershocks ended, and he breathed heavily, feeling lightheaded. Azula sighed, her hands caressing his scalp gently now.

"Did I… hurt you?" she asked, and he chuckled before pressing his lips to what little skin he could find of her neck in that armor.

"You've made me dizzy, that's what you did" he whispered, kissing her at first, but soon sucking on her and making her groan.

"S-Sokka…" she gasped, and he hummed.

"Yeah… putting you down now…" he replied, shifting his hips back to separate their bodies.

Azula groaned again as she let her legs drop from their position around his waist. They trembled somewhat violently as she stood up now, and Sokka's footing wasn't too steady either. She leaned on him, only for the gladiator to stumble back until they reached the couch where Rui Shi had been sitting earlier. Sokka chuckled as he took her into his arms, his fingers sliding over her long, and now messy, hair as she breathed slowly, nestled comfortably on his lap.

"I should get out of here soon, you realize…" she whispered "The Captain did say I'm expected at a war meeting, so I'll have to get ready for it…"

"I suppose you do…" Sokka sighed, burying his face in her hair "How long do you think it'll take?"

"It's going to be in the afternoon, so it will take most my day" Azula said, caressing Sokka's chest "If it weren't for that…"

"I could've waited for you right here until you were done" Sokka said, smiling "Heck, I still could…"

"Too risky" Azula said, shaking her head "Can't break my routine that much by disappearing for no reason two days in a row, it'd be too suspicious"

"We just fucked against the wall, isn't that suspicious?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula snorted.

"We are utterly and hopelessly reckless when we shouldn't be…" she admitted, burying her face in his neck "We'll have to work on that, you realize…"

"Sure thing, but for now… it's kind of hard to hold back" he said, chuckling and smiling as he held her tight "Especially when you make weird innuendos about my 'boomerang'… still think I need to train it?"

"Oh, desperately" Azula said, and Sokka rolled his eyes "You are no use with it, clearly. I'll require you to train your boomerang with me as often as possible…"

"You're going to have to learn to respect Mr. Boomerang eventually, you know?" Sokka said, smirking, as Azula chuckled.

"You'll have to teach me how to respect it, then" she said, pushing herself up a little and smiling defiantly at him before kissing his lips "But for now I do have to go, whether we like it or not"

"Well, I know I don't like it, but that's not in discussion, now, is it?" Sokka asked, with a defeated grin. Azula rolled her eyes.

"You got another round just now" she said, standing up. The soreness of her body, and the pain, seemed muffled by the pleasure she had just experienced "Surely you can function for a couple of hours without me, as you continue to enjoy the thrills of having fucked me against the wall, as you so eloquently put it…"

"You overestimate my ability to live without you, my Princess" he said, grinning and taking her hands in his. Azula smiled and rolled her eyes, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You're the worst" she said, as he pulled her hands to his face, kissing her fingers softly.

"And you're the best" he told her, with a pleased smirk, prompting Azula to laugh as she pulled away from him.

She leaned down to pick up their discarded belts, and Sokka raised an eyebrow as his eyes raked her body. Just how had he wound up with such a beautiful woman, he'd never understand it. He was smiling goofily when she turned around again, and Azula raised an eyebrow as she realized what he was doing.

"You really like the blue fire, don't you?" she asked, tossing the belt at him as Sokka chuckled.

"Sorry, sorry… I can't seem to stop ogling you" he said, grinning guiltily. Azula smiled back.

"I'll find it flattering for the time being, but make sure not to do the same when we're in public, alright?" she said, fastening the belt in place once more. Sokka sighed and nodded.

"Won't be easy to hold back, but I'll try" he said, standing up and surrounding her with his arms from behind.

Azula relaxed into his embrace, though he released her quickly, his hands moving to her hair as he did his best to fix it to nigh perfection once more. The activity against the wall had left it a little messier than she would be able to justify.

"Make sure to stay here for at least ten minutes after I'm gone. Put out the lights, and make sure to listen well for any sounds outside the passageway before getting out. Leave no evidence, alright?"

"Got it" he said, sighing and placing her hairpiece before her half-knot "Will I… see you tomorrow?"

"I don't know. I hope so" Azula said, turning around to face him. His hands moved to rest on her waist.

"Well, hope's something, at the very least" he said, smiling "I'll miss you"

"We've been apart before and you've survived, you know?" Azula said, smirking. Sokka sighed "Don't be so dramatic. I'll see you soon"

"Alrighty" he said, surrounding her with his arms one last time. Holding her close as he was, he whispered softly into her ear: "I love you"

Azula's drive to leave decreased instantly with that. Three simple words and he could bring her to her knees… but how could she fight it? He believed she had him wrapped around her finger, but it was evident to her that it was it was a mutual thing.

She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, closing her eyes and losing herself in his enthusiastic response. Her arms surrounded his neck as her body pressed into his fully…

"We've got to stop… or else we'll start all over again" she said, with a chuckle. Sokka grinned.

"I'd need to wait a while, but I can't say I'd mind that at all…" he said mischievously, and Azula pecked his lips one last time before disentangling from his embrace.

"You're unbelievable" she said, approaching the door and looking at him with a gentle smile "I… I'll see you later. Don't stay here all day, alright?"

"I'll try not to" he said, smiling back at her. The way her eyes gleamed was enough to make him weak on the knees again "Bye, Azula"

"Bye" she whispered, sighing softly before opening the door and sliding through it.

Knowing she would be away from him for longer than a few minutes made Sokka sigh deeply as he dropped on the couch once more1. He knew he couldn't keep Azula away from her important duties, especially when they had to pretend everything between them was completely normal. And he didn't mean to delay her, or to distract her from her responsibilities… but the drive they felt towards one another was far too intense to ignore. It was reckless, it was wrong, but it was unavoidable. He needed to get a grip and he knew it, but when she looked at him as she had just now, all he wanted was to take her into his arms and never let go…

If there was truth to what he'd always been told about love, it was that it would be wonderful and painful simultaneously. He'd thought the pain would refer exclusively to the bad arguments, of which they hadn't lacked… all the conflicts he'd had with Azula had been truly terrible. It was a wonder they had ended up here in spite of them all. Yet he hadn't thought that there would be this much pain in just being separated from her. He wasn't sure he could return to his room, to the bed they had shared, without her. At least, doing so tonight was unfathomable.

He groaned and stood up, picking up his hair tie and busying himself with composing his wolf's tail again. He had to stop acting like a fool, that was all there was to it. He wasn't a child, he could take it when things didn't go his way. So if he had to go one day or more without seeing her, he'd bear with it…!

His chest ached at the thought, and he rolled his eyes at himself. His emotions were going to destroy him at this rate.

As his thoughts scrambled through his mind, the door of a wardrobe creaked open. It stood against the wall, just next to where he had pressed Azula as they recklessly engaged in sex once more. Had they bumped into it and caused it to open somehow? He frowned and moved towards it, trying to close the door but finding it was damaged, and thus, impossible to close properly. No wonder it was in the storage…

The content of the closet made him frown, though, as something red caught his eye. He pulled the door open now and reached into the wardrobe, pulling out some long a set of red robes he had seen many times before… they were Royal Guard robes, along with the set of armor and helmet the uniform required.

He blinked blankly, thoroughly confused. Why was this here? Had some Royal Guard outgrown his outfit and thrown it in here? It was odd, to say the least. He frowned, his mind attempting to connect the dots but failing to do so. Something told him there was a reason why these clothes, in a perfectly fine state, would have been left here… but surely the blood hadn't flowed back to his brain properly still. Thoughts of Azula were the only thing he could compose properly.

And as he thought about her, the Royal Guard outfit in his hand, he found himself raising an eyebrow. A very dangerous idea came to mind, one he knew Azula might kill him for… but he smirked as he realized that perhaps he wouldn't have to wait a whole day before seeing her again.


	99. Chapter 99

Walking through the Palace normally shouldn't have proven as much of a feat to Azula. As per usual, she had to be the figure of utter perfection, an art she had mastered from a young age. Nothing was amiss, of course not… especially not her virginity. Everything was absolutely perfect. There was no reason for anyone to suspect otherwise.

She wasn't sure if she was putting the act up properly by the time she reached her room, or if she'd just made a complete fool of herself. She hadn't noticed anyone looking at her in suspicious ways, most people who had crossed her path had bowed down in her direction, so perhaps she was simply seeing monsters where there were none. Perhaps.

She sent word for a servant to ready a bath for her in her personal bathroom, and busied herself reading a book while the servant finished her job. Her servant left quickly, only meaning to return to complete her chores once the Princess was done with her bath. Azula sighed once the girl had closed the door behind her, and she stripped naked yet again, setting her armor on her dresser before focusing on the rest of her clothes. The thought that Sokka had seen her like this came dancing back into her head, threatening to make her smile at herself like an idiot. She'd had no reason to fear he wouldn't like her body, she knew as much, but after seeing for herself the way he could barely keep his hands off her, she felt far more confident than she had been before. Relying on others' perceptions of herself wasn't the way she operated, normally, for she was fairly certain of her best qualities… but knowing how much he liked her, knowing he loved her, certainly made life brighter for the Princess.

She decided it would be best to burn the shirt inside the bathroom, concealing the smoke, if possible, amid the steam. She also picked out a shirt of the exact same qualities, a perfectly clean one, and tossed it in the basket of her used clothes. The servant was bound to notice the absence of the red shirt, so she would have to resort to a clean one to cover up for that.

She sunk into the tub, heated it up further until it reached her favored temperature. There was a ghostly prickle on her pelvic area, born after what had happened only a short while ago. She snorted in disbelief and shook her head. It was like someone else would take over her body whenever he was around. She would lose all caution, rationality and common sense, and even forget the potential troubles of having lost her virginity as long as he was with her. How could he cause such an effect on her, she didn't know… but she found herself thoroughly fascinated by it. Only thinking about him brought a soft smile to her face, one she didn't want anyone but Sokka to witness.

She washed thoroughly, making certain to rinse away all trace of her last escapades with Sokka. He had left marks on her body; they weren't too noticeable, but they were evidence of what they'd done… she only hoped nobody had seen them. Most the people who crossed her path had bowed down instantly, so perhaps the new bothersome treatment she was bearing with had a few perks to it.

She only burned the shirt once she was done washing. She stood in her bathing gown, in front of the tub, and she incinerated the evidence slowly so the cinders would fall in the water. Once she pulled the plug, one of the last remaining loose ends was resolved. It was far from an ideal procedure, but it was better to lose a shirt than to lose her head, she thought, as she headed back into her room and rummaged through her closet for her Crown Princess attire.

She dressed up quickly, settling in her golden armor and feeling rather unworthy of its weight right now. She swallowed hard and tried to keep all negative thoughts at bay. She had disappointed her father, it was true, but she meant to become the best leader the Fire Nation had seen regardless of that. If she succeeded at making everything go her way, she might keep the truth from Ozai for good…

A knock on the door, as she finished applying the makeup to the only noticeable red mark on her neck, made her frown. She set down the substance and glared at her door, wondering if the war meeting would begin so early. It wasn't likely, so it had to be something else. She composed her hair quickly, struggling to pull up her half-knot, and she placed the hairpiece in front of it as per usual, before walking to the door. The knock hadn't repeated itself, but indeed, there was a servant right outside, waiting for her to come to the door.

"What is it?" Azula asked, and the man flinched. She frowned heavily at him.

"T-the ladies Mai and Ty Lee are here to see you, Princess"

"Wait, you said…?" Azula whispered, her eyes widening. Uh-oh.

It had been a week since they'd last met, she realized. She had forgotten about their weekly encounters, letting herself grow concerned with one too many other matters… to the point where she had promptly lost track of time, and thus, of her newly reinstated weekly encounters with her friends.

"Should I ask them to leave?" the servant asked "If… if it's an inconvenience for you, Princess, I could do as much…"

"No, no, I'll… I'll meet with them" said Azula, after frowning and pondering her options quickly. Sending her friends away for no reason wouldn't be appropriate. She had made an appointment, she had best keep it. The only way to make it seem as though everything was normal was to stick to her schedule as she would on any given day.

With these thoughts in mind, she returned to her room and made certain her appearance was as flawless as could be before meeting Mai and Ty Lee. Putting up a pretense before her friends would not be easy, but she had to try anyways.

Their encounters always had taken place in a living room not far from Azula's own bedroom, and her feet seemingly guided her there on their own accord. She took deep breaths, knowing she had to be the image of perfection once again. She couldn't let Mai and Ty Lee in on this secret now, not after Rui Shi and Song already knew of it. It was bound to be hard enough to keep those two in check… trying to make certain Ty Lee wouldn't blab about this would be close to impossible.

Azula steeled herself before entering the room, striding inside firmly and hoping nothing in her demeanor would give away the latest events. Surely because of the pressure she was imposing upon herself, she was having a hard time acting naturally as it was.

Ty Lee and Mai were chatting inside when the door swung open. Azula couldn't help but remember how, over a year ago, she had walked into the same room, finding the two of them talking about the yet-unborn Yuudai. The mere memory seemed a thousand years away to her. So much had changed since then… she had told the girls of the predicament that ailed her at the time, coming to the conclusion that she had to find a gladiator. Now said gladiator had turned her life upside down so many times she wasn't sure she could make out her bearings anymore. But she found she hardly wanted to…

"Azula!" Ty Lee exclaimed, beaming "Took you a while!"

"Sorry for the delay" she replied "There will be a war meeting later today, so I was preparing for that when I was briefed about your arrival…"

"So, you forgot about our appointment?" asked Mai, raising an eyebrow. Azula frowned "You'd usually be prepared to greet us and to head into the war meeting right on time, wouldn't you?"

"I suppose so" said Azula, shrugging "Things have been a little hectic as of late, but it's nothing to fuss over. I'm here now, aren't I?"

"You are, but…" said Mai, looking at Azula questioningly. The Princess responded with a glare.

"But what?"

"Mai…" said Ty Lee, blinking a few times as she approached the girl. She looked at Azula with wide eyes before pointing at her "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

Azula paled at those words. No, no, she had made certain she was spotless, not a hair out of place! There was nothing Ty Lee could have thought was wrong, was there? But if that was the case, why was she looking at her like that?

"Uh… is Azula what we're seeing?" Mai asked, with a confused grimace. Azula was relieved to hear that response from her friend "If so, then yes…"

"No, no, no! Look harder, Mai!" said Ty Lee, urgently "Just look…!"

"What the blazes am I supposed to be seeing? What is it, you don't like her new outfit or…?"

"Her outfit is fine, that's not it! It's… her aura!"

Azula's eyes widened at that. Oh, hell, she had not foreseen such a ridiculous turn of events.

"Her aura…? Ty Lee, what on earth…?" said Mai, rolling her eyes as Ty Lee grabbed her shoulder and shook her.

"I'm serious, Mai! I've… I've never seen it sparkle like that before!" she said, looking at Azula in amazement "It's like… happy. She's happy. The happiest I've ever seen her! I…"

"She looks virtually the same to me, Ty Lee, honestly. The only rare thing is that she might forget the appointment, but even Azula is human…"

"Fine, be an aura non-believer if you want, but she knows I'm right, doesn't she?" Ty Lee said, approaching Azula "What happened, Azula?"

"What could have happened, for crying out loud?" Azula growled, looking at Ty Lee skeptically. Ty Lee, shook her head slowly.

"You're not tricking me with this. I can tell something's up, Azula, whether you like it or not" she said, squinting as she looked at her friend "Seriously, I've never seen your aura sparkle like that! Though… though now it's got a few darker stains to it, that's not a good sign"

"Why, if I indeed was in a good mood, for whatever reason, naturally I would stop being so happy when you start harassing me about it, don't you think?" said Azula, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at Ty Lee matter-of-factly. The chi-blocker raised an eyebrow.

"So you were happy"

"I didn't say I was, I said that if I had been…!"

"No point denying it, Azula, I can see your aura and it speaks for itself! Plus, Mai, you can feel it too, can't you? It's just something… something different about her. Like she's… missing something she used to have before"

"Oh, really?" Azula said, looking at Ty Lee with disbelief. This was getting preposterous. She didn't believe in auras to begin with, yet Ty Lee somehow could tell she was in a good mood through that. Even Mai had said nothing seemed different about her, so she was putting up a good front, but with this absurd matter of the auras now…

"Yeah, there's something that just isn't there anymore. Mai, come on, help me here!" exclaimed Ty Lee, as she grabbed Azula by the wrist and dragged her towards their other friend.

"Ty Lee, would you knock it off?!" Azula snapped, jerking her hand back and glaring at her. Mai raised an eyebrow as she regarded her, curiosity sparkling in her eyes.

"Well, now that you mention it…" she said, tapping her chin with her index finger "Frustration"

"Huh?" said Azula, looking at her in confusion.

"You lack frustration" said Mai, and Ty Lee nodded energetically.

"I told you, I told you!"

"I don't… hell, if anything I'm growing increasingly frustrated with this conversation" Azula growled "So if there's something I sure don't lack, it's…"

"Azula…" said Mai, looking at her sternly. Azula froze "Is there anything you want to tell us?"

"Like hell there is!" she retorted instantly, and Ty Lee's hands flew to her mouth.

"Too fast, Azula!" she said, giggling a little "You're usually a better liar than that…"

"I'm not lying about anything, it is a fact that I don't want to tell either of you about anything" she grunted, and Mai smiled.

"So you are hiding something, but you simply don't want to tell us…?"

"I don't…! Damn it, you two are a pain in the ass" she snapped, surprising them "You know, the servant had the right idea, I should've just sent you two back home and…"

"Hey, no need to be so stingy, Azula, we're asking because we care about you!" Ty Lee exclaimed, throwing her arms around Azula's neck in a tight hug. Azula grimaced.

"Get off me and leave me alone!" she growled, pushing Ty Lee away brusquely. Far too brusquely for her usual self.

"H-hey… that was mean" said Ty Lee, looking at her with hurt eyes "We're just curious, Azula! What's…?"

She fell quiet when Mai grabbed Ty Lee's right arm, lifting it as though to inspect it properly. Only when she did as much did Azula realize Ty Lee's forearm had brushed a certain part of her neck she had done her best to cover up…

"What's the matter, Mai?" asked Ty Lee, looking at Mai in confusion as Mai inspected the makeup residues on Ty Lee's sleeve.

"This is" she said, as Ty Lee noticed the small stain on her clothes.

"Hey, isn't that…?" she said, raising her eyebrows before looking at Azula with astonishment.

The Princess found herself breathing heavily, her cheeks flushing when she saw her friends' eyes were directed straight to her neck, or rather, to a very red spot on it. Ty Lee's hands flew to her mouth again as she put all the evidence together. Mai's eyes widened, her eyebrows rising on her forehead slowly. Azula gritted her teeth.

"A-Azula, oh my… you did. You guys actually…!" Ty Lee started, blushing as well as she laughed happily.

The joyful laugh was interrupted when Azula's eyes steeled as she glared at Ty Lee. She stomped her way towards the girl and covered her mouth with her hand, stopping her from making further noise.

"Shut. Up" she growled, dangerously. Ty Lee blinked blankly, thoroughly confused.

"B-but Azula…" she mumbled as Azula pulled her hand away, still glaring.

"Do you realize absolutely anyone could be listening to what we're saying? No protesting, Ty Lee!" she snarled, as she shook her head and lifted her hand to her forehead.

So now two more people knew. Brilliant. She had given the secret away again. How was it so hard to get this right? She took pride in her flawless executions of her plans in so many regards, yet when it came to Sokka she couldn't seem to stop messing things up. The lingering bliss of having been with him not long ago seemed to fade as she realized she had to get a grip already. At this rate, her father would be the next to notice what she was hiding…

"Aw, but Azula… it's such a wonderful thing!" Ty Lee said, smiling again "I can't believe it's finally happened, after such a long time…"

"I'd like to think it wasn't my advice that did it, though, was it?" Mai asked, and Azula frowned and shook her head.

"Your advice did little to help or otherwise" Azula growled, as she walked towards a couch and sank in it, her hands on the sides of her head. She groaned in irritation, not knowing what to make of the current situation anymore.

"That's a pity" said Mai, smiling a little as Ty Lee looked at her accusingly.

"Wait just a moment… you went to Mai for advice?!" she exclaimed, looking at Azula in disbelief. Azula groaned.

"Because I was dead certain Mai would convince me not to do anything foolish. Alas, she thoroughly disappointed me" Azula growled, and Mai shrugged.

"You can't fault me for being honest, can you?"

"B-but why just Mai? You should've come to me!" Ty Lee exclaimed, dropping on the couch where Azula had taken her seat. Her comment earned her another glare.

"You? So your advice would relate merely to what positions you'd recommend? Thank you, but no thank you?" Azula said, dryly, and Ty Lee pouted.

"Well, it's a bit late for that now, but I can still give you advice on what to do from here onwards, right?" said Ty Lee, and Azula looked at her skeptically. Ty Lee pouted "Come on, Azula, you know I can help…!"

"You can help by realizing how delicate the situation is, you know?" Azula snapped, and Ty Lee froze "See… maybe I was happy, maybe this is thrilling in a lot of ways, but that's not important when you consider that what we did was…! Well, it will likely cost us our heads. At least it will cost us his, for certain, if we ever were discovered. And that's precisely why the less people knew, the better!"

"But we're your friends" said Ty Lee, pouting "Don't you trust us?"

"I…" said Azula, looking at Ty Lee doubtfully. She soon sighed and dropped her head on her hand.

Trusting people had never been her strong suit. She had done far too much of it during the past year, and perhaps had learned, in the process, that trusting some people might be the only way to achieve certain results in the long run. Yet when it came to this, it wasn't just a matter of trust.

"You know all too well what fate awaits me if this were known, Ty Lee" Azula muttered. Ty Lee stiffened and swallowed, nodding "And if it were known, also, that you two were aware of this, then there's no telling what would happen to you either. This isn't just a matter of trust… it's the fact that I might end up ruining a thousand lives at this rate, all because I…"

She huffed angrily and shook her head. She couldn't bring herself to say it, and it might be for the best if she didn't. There was indeed no telling who might overhear her words right now.

"The point is, this isn't just because I'm some sort of prude who refuses to share details with you two…"

"Aw, we didn't think you were, but…"

"The point is you two were better off not knowing, for your own sake" said Azula, sighing and dropping against the backrest of her seat. Every moment that went by there was something new to worry about, it seemed…

"Granted that might be true, but if worst came to worst, there's no reason for anyone to suspect that either me or Ty Lee knew anything" said Mai, shrugging "We may be your friends, but there are far too many secrets you keep from us. Pretending this is yet another secret we were never told of shouldn't prove that hard, if you're so worried about us"

"Yeah, that's true" said Ty Lee "If it came to that, of course. Because I mean, you've been so cautious so far, from the looks of it…"

Azula grimaced. No, she and Sokka had been anything but cautious. They were slightly overwhelmed by the magnitude of the passion between them. Merely being around each other was enough to get them started again. By now she couldn't help but wonder how they had managed to keep their hands off each other for such a long time. Clearly, they had forgotten how to do that by now.

"You've made sure to destroy all evidence?" asked Mai, and Azula nodded.

"Most of it anyways" she whispered "Some things would be best dispatched in due time. Getting rid of everything that hosted some evidence at once could look suspicious all on its own…"

"Indeed" said Mai, nodding "Well, then, if you have already taken care of most things then I'd say you don't have to worry that much. If you're that concerned over our wellbeing, Ty Lee and I can play dumb quite easily"

"No doubt!" said Ty Lee, proudly, before freezing and looking at Mai scornfully "Hey, was that an insult?"

"Not really. It would have been an insult if I'd said I would play dumb, whereas you won't even have to pretend…" said Mai, with a malicious grin. Ty Lee's cheeks reddened as she glared at her friend.

"Mai, quit being a jerk!" she growled, and Mai chuckled.

Azula watched her friends talk, a soft frown on her face. If this was already irremediable, then she'd best work with it, regardless if she liked it or not. Things wouldn't get better if she merely stuck to berating herself for not proving able to keep this secret as she had intended to.

"I suppose you both understand how important it is to keep your mouths shut, then" she said, and the two girls nodded.

"I'd think you don't even need to ask" said Ty Lee, smiling a little "I know you think I'm a gossip, but I'm not stupid enough to ruin your life like that. I know all too well what it's like…"

"There's no reason to tell anyone about this" Mai said, shrugging "So Ty Lee's right, there's no need to ask. We'll keep quiet and pretend nothing has changed"

"Which means I'll have to keep annoying you about getting things on with him, even though I know you have by now" said Ty Lee, giggling, and Azula rolled her eyes and sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingertips.

"The thing is… I'm starting to think these meetings can't take place like this anymore, if just for safety measures" she whispered "While I'm reluctant to share any information with you two, I realize the topic might come up at some point whether I want it to or not. So…"

"So we're not going to meet anymore?" asked Ty Lee, sadly. Azula bit her lower lip.

"It's either that or changing locations to somewhere more secure for the next one" said Azula "Granted not meeting anymore might be safer, but seeing how we're trying to start this again, I guess you two might think it's a waste…"

"It'd actually be a little strange if we started and then stopped again for no reason" said Mai, raising an eyebrow "I don't think people would look too deeply into it, but it still might seem a little random on your part… I'd say changing the encounter point would be better"

"Where to?" said Ty Lee, blinking blankly as Azula looked at her meaningfully. Ty Lee's eyebrows rose "Wait, my place?"

"You can say you'll keep this quiet all you want, but let's face it: you will tell Haru" said Azula, and Ty Lee blushed.

"I… I wouldn't necessarily do it!" she said, and Azula looked at her skeptically.

"Right. Let's pretend you do keep quiet… for a week, at most"

"You're giving her too much credit" said Mai, smirking, and Ty Lee pouted.

"You two are just… ugh! I could keep quiet, you'll see!" she said. Azula sighed.

"The thing is, you don't have to… but JUST with Haru, understood? And Haru is not to talk of this to a single soul, got it?"

"Oh? He can know?" Ty Lee said, surprised.

"I'm thinking he might notice something's odd if we start meeting at your place suddenly" said Azula, frowning "Since it's just you and him, it will still be risky but at least I figure Haru can keep his silence. He barely talks to begin with, so…"

"Still could be another loose end, though" said Mai, and Azula sighed.

"I'm forced to trust you all despite I don't feel too inclined to do so" she said "Besides, as long as we give nobody else any cause to suspect us, it will be fine. None of you will be interrogated over this so long as Sokka and I keep our act together. If we can, of course"

"Well, Haru will have to know if that's the case" said Mai, nodding "Meeting at Ty Lee's place would be safer than mine anyways. I have too many servants, a baby and a husband. It should be easier to talk elsewhere"

"Then my place it is" said Ty Lee, smiling "You really do think of everything, Azula, right?"

"If I didn't I'd be in a bigger mess than I'm already in" she said, with a sarcastic grin. Mai raised an eyebrow.

"You did, though? Think of everything, I mean…"

"I… believe so" said Azula, frowning "Why the question?"

"So then you also had a contraceptive measure, I take it?"

Azula's eyes widened as her stomach sank. No, that was the one thing she had forgotten completely about.

Suddenly she felt dizzy, as though she were about to be sick. She grew paler as she looked at the floor in horror. No, no, no… there was no way he'd gotten her pregnant. She refused to believe it…

"Uh-oh" said Ty Lee, grimacing, as Azula started breathing more heavily.

"I… forgot. We forgot. Shit. Shit, shit, shit…" she said, her fingers sliding through her hair as she continued to curse. Ty Lee looked at her in surprise, and Mai sighed.

"Don't assume you're pregnant right away" she said folding her arms over her chest "It's not a sure-proof thing…"

"Mai, we…!" she said, looking at Mai desperately before holding her tongue. No, Mai didn't need to hear that they'd already done it a grand total of three times. She didn't need that sort of information. Still, considering how many times it had happened so far, the likelihood of pregnancy increased further… "If I were pregnant, all my efforts to cover up what's happened would be in vain. Who the blazes would believe that I was knocked up magically, with no man's involvement whatsoever?"

"Well… people could blame that sort of stuff on spirits, right?" said Ty Lee, and Azula's groan in response made her grimace "Okay, okay, sorry…"

"No spirit tale would stand if they were to subject me to some physical examination of some sort and they discovered the truth" she said "So all in all, I just had to forget the one thing that mattered the most! It's remarkable of me, isn't it? Hell, I can barely believe…"

"Calm down, Azula" Mai said, as the Princess yanked her hair "If worst comes to worst, there are things that can be done to deal with this particular problem"

Azula swallowed hard and looked at Mai, finding steel in her eyes. She knew what Mai was referring to, though the idea didn't appeal much to Azula. All the same, though, if there were no other way…

"But if worst doesn't come to worst, you won't be carrying a child. Yet" said Mai, and Azula frowned.

"So you're saying it's just a matter of time?"

"If you don't do anything to avoid it, yes" said Mai, before smiling a little "But I can help you with that. You don't think I have garden just for show, do you?"

"Mai makes her own contraceptive tea, Azula" said Ty Lee, smiling too "She often shares it with me, so I'm sure she could give you some as well, right?"

"I wouldn't mind doing so" said Mai, nodding, as Azula finally felt she could breathe again.

"You… you would, then?" she asked, and Mai smirked.

"Yes, I would. That way you two will be free to carry on with your fun, considering it's pretty obvious you needed it" she said, and Azula blushed.

"It's only… you two have already done more than I ever asked of you" Azula muttered "Demanding this now, it feels like…"

"You just don't like relying on other people this much, is it?" asked Mai, and Azula gulped.

"Come on, Azula" said Ty Lee, smiling "We're friends, aren't we? There's no need to be so reserved with us. I know, you want to protect us too, you don't want to be a bother… but you're not one!"

"Ty Lee's right" said Mai, nodding "We are friends. And friends help one another out when they need it"

Ty Lee smiled sadly at those words, and Azula sighed. She had helped Ty Lee once before when she had been in a similar predicament. She had attempted to help Mai when it came to choosing between Ruon Jian and Zuko, and even though Mai hadn't abided by Azula's advice, the Princess had still stood by her friend's decision. In turn, her friends had supported her when she had needed them to, with Ty Lee complying with her unreasonable request to save Suki, with Mai helping her and Sokka after finding them on the deck of the ship after that intense drunken night…

She bit her lower lip, guessing she had brought this upon herself anyways. Had she been more convincing, perhaps it wouldn't have come to this. But all things considered, if she hadn't admitted the truth to her friends, Mai wouldn't have offered the tea that might spare her from ending up pregnant, if she wasn't already with child. Despite her unease, and her usual drive to deal with most matters on her own, perhaps she didn't have to do it this time around. Trusting Mai and Ty Lee had paid off so far. Hopefully it would this time as well.

"Can you bring the tea here later, then, Mai?" Azula asked, looking at Mai with uncertainty "I have a war meeting now, but you can come back and bring it, right?"

"If you can't fetch it yourself, I suppose I could do that" said Mai, nodding.

"The guards shouldn't make a fuss if you come back" said Azula, frowning "Granted they might think it weird, but they won't stop you. Sending an envoy with the tea would be far more suspicious than for you to return… so I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but…"

"It's fine, it's fine" said Mai, nodding "I don't mind. It will be a small bother indeed, but I can do it. I think I can get you supplies for around two months or so… you'll have to drink it every day, though, you realize?"

"Yes, I think I can do that. Some people might find it odd for me to start drinking tea all of sudden, but I don't need to do it in front of them anyways" Azula said "I could simply drink it when I'm alone, or whenever I go to Sokka's place…"

"That could do, then. Just don't forget to drink it" Mai said, and Azula nodded.

"I won't. Thank you" said Azula, looking at her gratefully, and Mai smiled.

"What are friends for?"

Azula finally found it in her to smile. The situation was not the best it could have been, but it was what it was. She would have to keep a proper front from now on, set boundaries with Sokka in order to avoid further problems of the sort. She was being pushed out of her comfort zone completely, for she wasn't used to having to rely on others like this. She had already been forced to trust Song and Rui Shi with keeping this secret, putting them both in perilous situations, and the same went now for Mai and Ty Lee. And indeed, it wasn't only trust involved, but it was also a matter of how much danger she had put both her friends in. She would need to tread far more carefully from here onwards…

"But wait a minute, you and Sokka… oh, yes, yes, yes!" Ty Lee exclaimed, clapping as she looked at Mai with a malicious grin.

"What's the matter now?" Mai asked, raising an eyebrow as Ty Lee pointed a finger at her.

"Hand over my money, Mai! I won our bet, fair and square!" she exclaimed, proudly, as Azula groaned and buried her face in a hand. Mai raised her eyebrows.

"I'm afraid I owe you nothing, Ty Lee" she said, simply, to the girl's surprise.

"You… you do! Of course you do! Don't you dare dodge this, Mai!" Ty Lee exclaimed, pouting, as Mai smirked again.

"I seem to remember we made a second bet not long ago, for the same amount of money. I won that one, remember?"

Ty Lee froze and looked at Mai in disbelief as Azula glanced between both her friends in confusion.

"Another bet? Is that how you resolved this problem?" Azula asked Mai, who nodded.

"Yes, by betting that Zuko and Suki would end up together. It worked wonders" she said "At the end of it, Ty Lee herself was doing everything she could to keep them together, our bet well forgotten…"

"W-well, I'm more interested in love than in money, truth be told, but… but that's not fair!" she exclaimed, glaring at Mai "I was looking forward to cashing this bet…"

"Tough luck betting against me, Ty Lee" said Mai, shrugging as Ty Lee pouted.

"You are just mean, Mai, seriously!"

"You just don't plan ahead, Ty Lee, it's that simple…" said Mai. Azula sighed but smiled a little again, watching the girls argue with some amusement.

Azula didn't give away more information regarding what had led her and Sokka to succumb to their feelings, yet Ty Lee continued to fawn over the fact that she made a wonderful couple with Sokka, and over how happy Azula ought to be due to this turn of events. Mai didn't annoy Azula as much, but she did tease her whenever she found a chance to do so. Despite it all, Azula didn't feel too threatened, regardless if the circle of people who knew about her not-so-secret relationship with Sokka was increasing at a worrisome rate… aside from Rui Shi and Song, only Mai and Ty Lee – and eventually, Haru – could know of this. More than enough people knew as it was, and keeping a secret was certainly only becoming more complicated at this rate. Haru had better not have some long-lost friend he'd tell about this, Azula hoped…

Ty Lee and Mai took their leave eventually, for Azula had to ready herself for the war meeting. Mai had promised to drop by with Azula's package later, and Azula repeated her instructions for her to wait until the meeting was done to hand the parcel directly to her. She couldn't entrust something that important to anyone else.

She returned to her room, reapplying the makeup on her neck that had been rubbed off by Ty Lee's hug, and she proceeded to pull her hair up to a top knot. She pleased herself by succeeding at it without requiring any help, and she took a deep breath as she looked at herself in the mirror. No mistakes now. Nobody in her father's council was likely to notice she was no longer sexually frustrated, as Mai and Ty Lee had. She also hoped none of them could see auras as her friend allegedly could…

She strode her way to the Throne Room when Rui Shi and another guard came by to fetch her. They flanked her until they reached the red curtains and bowed once she dismissed them. With that, she stepped forward, through the gateway, and found a fair number of officials were already within the Throne Room. From what she could guess from the people present, this would be a regular briefing meeting. It shouldn't be too complicated to make it through the meeting without causing unnecessary trouble…

All bowed in her direction as she passed them by, and she nodded curtly towards them. Her father already waited at the far end of the room, sitting behind his screen of flames. Azula couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt upon seeing him. She had been raised by him to be his perfect heir… and yet she had done what she had. She couldn't quite regret it, not when it had felt as right as it had, but she also wasn't ready to face her father's wrath if he ever knew of what she had done.

She stepped up into her position at her father's right hand, bowing deeply towards him. Ozai smirked at her and nodded, allowing her to take her seat.

"Good afternoon, Father" she said, crossing her legs and willing her heart to stop racing. Her father wasn't bound to notice something was amiss. The more she worried about it, the more likely she would be to give herself away like a fool. She needed to keep herself on check.

"Likewise, Princess Azula" he said, breathing out slowly.

"A fine day for a meeting" she told him, gazing at him with curiosity "Is there anything in particular that prompted the occasion, or…?"

"Oh, merely that Admiral Zhao's return should provide us with a proper report on the situation in the North Pole, for one thing" he said "The rest is mostly routine work, as you might have guessed"

"I thought so" said Azula, nodding. She glanced towards the map positioned at the center of the room, noticing Zhao was already sitting at its top left corner, a position of honor on its own right. The closer you sat to the Fire Lord, the more trusted an officer you were "Is my uncle going to join us on time today, or will he be late as usual?"

"You may need to tone down your resentment towards him. At least during this meeting" said Ozai, smiling "I understand you were rather shaken up by that loss you took against him, but you know it makes no matter on the long run. Losing a few battles is unimportant so long as you manage to win the war"

"If only that were so" Azula muttered, her eyes growing colder for a moment before she glanced at her father "You heard, though, about how I…?"

"That you lost against Iroh and were furious with your gladiator about it? Indeed" he said, and Azula nodded slowly "I can't say I'm surprised. Failing to defeat your uncle is shameful, no doubt"

Azula gulped and nodded, her nails digging into her palms. She still didn't think that loss had been fair. Sokka would defeat Toph thoroughly the next time, she would see to it…

"And of course, your gladiator deserved to be at the receiving end of your anger. Nonetheless, I'd recommend you show him some mercy. Subjects need to regard their master as a benevolent ruler in order to fear and obey as they were born to"

"It would seem I have been far too benevolent as it is, though" said Azula, frowning "I have extended more than enough kindnesses to the savage and he repays me with such a failure. The best way to ensure he will not fail again is showing him the dire price he'll have to pay for it if he dares do it one more time, don't you believe?"

"Indeed. A wise decision" said Ozai, smirking "There are limits that must be drawn. Certain shortcomings cannot go unpunished. Nevertheless, don't act as harshly anymore. The punishment has been delivered. Now you had best allow him some relief so as to ensure that his loyalty and obedience will remain unchanged"

"I shall. It is what you would do" Azula said, smiling at Ozai, who nodded.

Her insides twisted as though she had snakes in her stomach. Spouting so many lies to her father's face was far too easy, despite her conscience was screaming at her to stop it. She'd never thought she would have to lie to the man. She had his trust, so for the longest time she had been willing to give him her own. Yet now she was being dishonest as never before, as Ozai encouraged her to give Sokka relief after his harsh punishment. Relief! That she would process his words as a euphemism made Azula grit her teeth. While she deeply despised certain cultural practices of the Fire Nation, especially those that regarded the role of women in society, she couldn't help but feel guilt. She couldn't help but feel unworthy of her father's very words after what she'd done with Sokka…

The meeting commenced soon enough, and as per usual, Iroh only appeared once everyone had taken their seats after the Fire Nation Oath was recited. Azula couldn't help but roll her eyes at his predictable actions. Ozai as well was displeased, but said nothing. If there was one person he couldn't intimidate into behaving in the way he saw fitting, it was his older brother.

"Very well, now that my brother has finally deemed us worthy of his presence, let us begin" said Ozai, as Iroh smiled broadly. It irked Azula to see him so satisfied with himself once more. She rather liked him better when he was in a foul mood instead of pretending to be a dolt "War Minister Qin, if you please"

"Thank you, my Lord" said the aforementioned man, bowing deeply towards Ozai once he stood up. He regarded everyone in the room as he spoke next "The situation at the Former Earth Kingdom remains fairly stable. Our troops in Ba Sing Se have succeeded in keeping the peace after the Dai Li's conspiracy was thwarted. Yu Dao has seen peace for the time being, and so has Garsai. Omashu may still hold potential rebellious outbreaks, but it would seem Governor Ukano has kept the peace as well…"

"I take it the situation is not as smooth in Omashu as it should be" said Ozai, and War Minister Qin shook his head.

"It would seem a more firm hand, like Governor Tiang's, would be convenient here…" he said "But Governor Ukano has succeeded at avoiding dangerous uprisings from rebels as it is. Holding their former king in public imprisonment was a brilliant decision, my Lord"

"Naturally, it was. A man as dangerous as Bumi could not be held otherwise" he said, frowning "Has he attempted to escape again?"

"Not once since he failed during the eclipse" said War Minister Qin.

"He attempted to escape?" Iroh inquired, curious "I had not heard of this…"

"The fool seemed to have assumed the total eclipse would take place in the entire world" said Zhao, smirking "But unfortunately for him, the shadow mostly passed over the mainland…"

"And what little time he thought he had to escape was less than he expected" said Iroh, frowning.

"He will have no such opportunities again" Ozai stated, firmly "Not in his current imprisonment conditions, for certain"

Azula watched her father as he spoke, her mind drifting towards her only visit to Omashu. She could recall how shaken up Sokka had been about King Bumi's situation, how she had shut him down harshly for his complaints. That had definitely not been a good time for them… she frowned, wondering how he felt about all his qualms towards the Fire Nation nowadays. Had their relationship's growth somehow made him feel less strongly about these matters? Or had she merely distracted him from his eagerness to see the Fire Nation change its ways…?

She had to count herself lucky, though, that it was change he wanted by now, rather than total annihilation. He wasn't the same man he had been when they first met, for better or for worse. He had come to change his ways, as Azula had changed hers. He had changed to the point of even falling in love with her… she had to repress the urge to smile when that thought solidified in her mind. It wouldn't do to start swooning over Sokka in the middle of a war meeting. Nonetheless, there was something reassuring about thinking of his feelings for her. He disapproved of many of the Fire Nation's actions, but he knew better than to assume that everything Fire Nation-related was rotten to the core by now. Else his feelings for her wouldn't be what they were.

"So there are no major conflicts in the Colonies at the moment" said Zhao, looking at War Minister Qin "If that's so, would it be advisable to send some of the troops that aren't needed urgently there to the North Pole?"

"I… I must say it might, but I wouldn't recommend that course of action" said Qin, shaking his head slowly "Enforcing the Former Earth Kingdom into obedience has been hard enough. Sending soldiers up north might weaken the peace that has been hard achieved…"

Azula's eyebrow rose. Peace? She wasn't entirely sure that was an accurate term for what the situation was. Perhaps she was mistaken, for she had been born in a world at war, but she thought that, if they were in peaceful circumstances, there would be no reason to fear revolts anywhere. Her father had strived to crush the spirit of the Earth Kingdom people, but given that they would often rise and fight against their nation, it didn't seem he had crushed it completely. The only way the peace Qin spoke of would be achieved would be to obliterate all Earth Kingdom rebels… or for them to be eased into accepting the Fire Nation's authority for good. The first thing didn't sit too well with Azula… and it seemed completely unlikely for the second to take place.

"Is there a desperate need for further troops up north, Admiral?" asked Commander Tsong asked, looking at Zhao in confusion "I was under the impression that most our naval forces were already concentrated there…"

"You exaggerate. It's only a fragment of our navy, in truth" said Zhao, looking at Tsong disdainfully.

"And it should have been enough to defeat the Northern Water Tribe's forces" said Iroh, and Zhao frowned "So why did it prove so complicated, Admiral Zhao?"

"A siege of that magnitude is easier said than done, General" said Zhao, turning towards him now "You should understand as much, seeing how you are knowledgeable on matters of sieges…"

Iroh's eyes grew colder at those words. Mentions of his loss in Ba Sing Se never failed to irritate him, especially when they came from military officers.

"I do understand as much, but what I cannot understand is that mere squads of waterbenders have consistently defeated the best our fleet has to offer" said Iroh. Zhao swallowed hard.

"If only we weren't fighting under such dire circumstances, we would have defeated them in no time" he said "There are far too many waterbenders, and they are more skilled than we realized, especially under the influence of the moon. Their strength has costed us countless ships and resources, and it stopped us from so much as reaching the bay. They have the seas and the very land in which they stand to aid them in battle… and there is simply no way to cut them from their resources. At a certain point through the siege they proved capable of lifting such a thick barrier of ice that it was impossible for a single of our icebreakers to tear through it…"

"Then are you implying the battle in the North cannot be won?" asked Commander Gon, his eyes widening nervously "Because if it is so…"

"I don't believe I claimed as much, now, did I?" said Zhao, raising an eyebrow "No, we can win. We will win. But not with our forces as they are now"

"Even if that's so, adding ships to the assault will make little to no difference, Admiral" said Azula, her arms crossed "If you cannot pass through the ice barriers, and the waterbenders are as skilled as you claim they are, there will be no improvement upon assigning more troops to the scuffle. The lives of the soldiers are likely to be lost in the struggle, all the same as the ships. In short, it would be a waste, because under said circumstances, success won't be guaranteed by a larger force of attack. And as Qin says, we would leave many other fronts unattended in the Colonies. It would be ill-advised to proceed this way"

"Certainly" said Ozai, nodding and stroking his beard "Yet if the situation is as Zhao claims…"

"If it is so, the siege cannot be sustained for very much longer" said Iroh, looking at his brother with his usual unreadable eyes. Ozai frowned.

"Are you hoping we back down from the conflict up north, General Iroh?" he asked, a dangerous hint in his voice betraying that his brother's answer to his question had better not be positive.

"I am hoping you realize certain fights might be hopeless. The North, and the South, too, offer no resources for us to exploit" said Iroh "So turning the poles into colonies…"

"I never claimed to be interested in settling colonies either at the north or south poles" said Ozai, his arms folded before his chest "The reason the Water Tribes were to be vanquished was because they would pose the biggest threat to our rule if left unattended. If the waterbenders are as skilled as the Admiral has informed us, then it is imperative to keep them fighting in their territories. Backing down now will give them the freedom and the chance they are hoping for to attack our nation. I will not allow them that leverage, brother"

"Then what do you propose?" said Iroh, raising an eyebrow "It sounds as though we were outnumbered in all fronts, Fire Lord. How can we find an advantage in a war as hard fought as the one in the North Pole?"

"We may need to change our approach to the conflict. If we haven't been efficient so far, it's surely because we are looking at this matter from a stale perspective" he said "We need to think of new ideas. Cutting their bending resources, for one thing, could be useful but doesn't seem viable…"

"I had meant to test a method in order to achieve that purpose" confessed Zhao, frowning "Regrettably, I needed to reach the very core of their petty Tribe in order to succeed at it, and we never made it past the gates. Their forces are organized quite well for the savages they are famed to be"

"The Northern Water Tribe has always been the more civilized one" said Ozai, with raised eyebrows "It isn't surprising that they would know how to handle themselves in their element, either. In any case, as I said, a new approach is direly needed for the battle against their forces. What are our options?"

"More forces wouldn't be advisable" said Qin, frowning a little "And since that's the case, we are at a standstill…"

"Not necessarily. Not all wars are won by brawn only" said Zhao, smirking and looking at Ozai, the spark of an idea in his eyes "You spoke to me of some aircrafts you were hoping to build? Perhaps an aerial attack would be more suitable for this enterprise…"

"It would be ideal, but it's unlikely" said Ozai, his brow drawing together slowly "The Mechanist has failed to find a solution to his problem with the hot-air balloons. All his prototypes have been failures so far"

"Is that so…? Pity" said Zhao, disappointed "Perhaps he requires a little more persuasion?"

"I'm afraid we have been as persuasive as can be with that man" said Qin, with a sigh "It seems he truly has bumped into a wall with this particular problem"

"Has he, then? And… what of his other technological advancements? Has he developed anything we can use to defeat the waterbenders?" Ozai asked, raising an eyebrow. Qin looked at Ozai in confusion.

"Well, he designed the train-tank indeed" said Qin "But I doubt he can create a version of them that might prove more useful than our ships…"

"Of course not" said Ozai, rubbing his forehead with his fingers.

"And what about sending an actual aerial attack?" asked General Mak, to Ozai's confusion.

"Did you not hear what we just said? The aircrafts aren't functional, General Mak" he snapped, and Mak swallowed hard "Or is it you have an idea as to how to make them work?"

"No, that's not it. I meant… well, there is one dragon in the Fire Nation once more, isn't there?" he said, his eyes shifting towards Azula slightly "Wouldn't it be possible for the Princess to carry out an attack against the Northern Water Tribe?"

"If only it were" said Ozai, as Azula stiffened next to him "But there's no telling if her dragon will prove capable of surviving in the rough conditions in the North Pole. The cold might be far too extreme for a fire beast to handle it"

"Not to mention it would be a ridiculous notion, sending the Princess to the frontlines" said Zhao, looking at Mak with derision "Capable as though she might be, she is still the Fire Lord's sole heir. There's no point in risking losing her up north"

"I don't think I would be that easily lost" Azula said, looking at Zhao with defiant eyes "All the same, I agree. I'm not certain Xin Long would be capable of withstanding the extreme temperatures. If we had a dragon squad the idea would be more appealing, but sending a single dragon, and the last one we know of…? If just as an exercise in caution, it would be best to refrain from doing so"

"Indeed. We would do best to rely on technological advancements" said Ozai "The Mechanist should be capable of providing us with a weapon, perhaps, to make up for his failure with the air balloons"

"A weapon?" Azula repeated "What sort of weapon do you expect him to procure for us?"

"I'm not entirely certain" said Ozai, thoughtful "But perhaps… weapons befitting the Fire Nation, yes. Weapons that would set fire to their ice, even at a distance, weapons they wouldn't be able to stop easily… bombs. Those are the weapons we would need him to create"

"Bombs?" said Zhao, raising an eyebrow in approval "Perhaps it would work. If we are capable of throwing those bombs deep into their defenses, we might even take out some of their leaders…"

"It would make perfect sense…" said Commander Tsong, smiling "Bombs would be the ideal means to improve the siege!"

"Yet… the Mechanist has never provided us with explosives before" said Qin, frowning "In fact, he seems to be rather unreliable when it comes to them. He claimed to having lost his eyebrows after some explosion of sorts. I'm afraid we shouldn't count on him proving capable of crafting bombs successfully…"

"Is that so? Well, what a pitiful inventor, truly" said Ozai, rolling his eyes.

"So are we left with nothing again?" said Zhao, confused "There are more inventors in the world than just the Mechanist, Fire Lord. Perhaps another one can craft the bombs indeed…"

"Perhaps" said Ozai, nodding, as his brow contracted slowly and dangerously. His eyes bore the spark of an idea, as he thought about the last time he had seen bombs in action "Perhaps…"

"I could compile a list of all inventors available, my Lord" said Qin "While it is true that the Mechanist is the more efficient of them, it might be that other inventors are better suited for bombs than…"

"Now, now. No need" said Ozai, smirking "Imagine just how expensive it might prove to pay some farfetched Ba Sing Se graduate to design bombs for us…"

"Well, you could always threaten him into service…" said Zhao, smirking, and Ozai chuckled.

"No need. Not when there is a much cheaper and more viable solution right below our noses" he said, before turning to Azula, who looked back at her father with confused eyes.

"You… believe I should make the bombs?" she asked, and Ozai shook his head, to her momentary relief.

"Not you. Your gladiator"

Azula had to exert all her willpower not to react excessively at her father's suggestion. All the same, she couldn't hold back a gasp of disbelief as she stared at her father with questioning eyes. Her gladiator? He wanted Sokka, of all people, to aid them in the war? There was no way that would happen, he would rather drop dead than agree to help the Fire Nation. Azula had no trouble imagining how a conversation of the sort would unfold between them… he might just end up so mad that all the recent progress of their relationship would disappear in thin air. Not that this was what she should be worrying about right now, though…

"My gladiator" she finally said, looking at her father skeptically "My gladiator?"

"I said so just now, didn't I?" said Ozai, smirking with pride.

"My Lord…" said Zhao, surprising Ozai. The man seemed rather disturbed by the fact that such words had just come from his liege lord's mouth "You hope to put such a delicate mission in the hands of… of a common slave?"

"Ah, but he isn't all that common" said Ozai "My daughter made a wise choice by electing him for her fighter. I witnessed his fighting prowess myself, and…"

"So did I, my Lord, but I don't think we can defeat the Northern Water Tribe with stench bombs" said Zhao, with a sarcastic smile.

"Well, who is to say a lot of unpleasant odors in the Tribesmen's nostrils might not serve our cause?" said Iroh, chuckling "Of course, it wouldn't be the most dignified manner to win, but a victory is a victory all the same, is it not?"

Azula was trying her very hardest not to react to Iroh's provocations and Ozai's strange suggestions, but it seemed she had reached a limit regarding how much she could control her body. Her nails dug into her thigh as she shook her head in utter confusion. For the first time in ages, she found herself agreeing wholeheartedly with Zhao.

"Father, as much as you may believe this is a good solution, it actually might not be. As the Admiral pointed out, my gladiator's skills seem to relate exclusively to smoke or stench bombs. I've never seen him use actual explosives in battle"

"His success with crafting other types of bombs might aid him in creating actual explosives, though" said Ozai, smirking "Your gladiator could be sent to the Northern Air Temple so he cooperates with the Mechanist. He understands the workings of bombs, while the Mechanist has some experience with explosives, if not of the best kind. The Mechanist could do most the work, with your gladiator providing assistance wherever it were due"

"You cannot be serious" said Zhao, shaking his head in disbelief "My Lord, you cannot honestly hope a savage of that quality will prove capable of what the Mechanist hasn't achieved on his own…"

"That man is a lot more reliable than it looks like, Zhao" said Ozai, folding his arms over his chest "And after the punishment he has been delivered recently, he might be all the more willing to comply with our wishes in order to avoid further retribution…"

"Even if that were so, Father, he's more likely to ruin this than anything else" said Azula, looking at Ozai skeptically "I advise you follow suit with checking through War Minister Qin's list of inventors instead. You're more likely to succeed that way"

"I shall if I must" said Ozai, tapping his arm with a finger "But if I mustn't rely on any external sources when it comes to this problem, then I won't do so. Your gladiator already aided our nation in a trying moment, sparing us all from strife when the White Lotus attempted that prison break. And he seems to be quite capable of anything in order to survive… what I saw in the Arena on your birthday was impressive, especially for non-bending slave. He can be quite brutal"

"Even if he is, I doubt we'll be as fortunate as to have the Northern Water Tribesmen opening their mouths just as they should for our soldiers to place bombs in them…" said Azula, and Ozai chuckled.

"That isn't quite what I meant" he said "If he has proven capable of practically murdering a man through one of his bombs, then he can most definitely be lethal. And it's his lethality and drive to survive what we require now. If he refuses to cooperate, all we need to do is press him into a corner, of course… he is but a slave, after all. Threats ought to make him swallow whatever pride he might still have left. If he holds any value for his life, he will agree to my demands"

"And what if he didn't succeed, Father?" Azula asked, still looking at Ozai with disbelief "Perhaps you are right, perhaps he would surpass my low expectations of him… but what if he didn't? As of late he's shown how adept he is at failures. I question that he would prove capable of something not even the Mechanist himself has achieved"

"If he didn't succeed, we might resort to the War Minister's list of inventors" said Ozai, nodding "After the gladiator has been delivered the rightful punishment he'd deserve for his failure, of course. Just how cross would you be if I were to burn your fighter to ashes…?"

"Father…" said Azula, looking at him skeptically as Ozai chuckled.

"I'm a merciful man, I would leave him alive all the same…" he said, with a smirk "Perhaps completely useless for battle, but I would make certain he survives, no doubt"

Azula gritted her teeth. If he were threatening to burn anyone else she wouldn't have been too affected, but Sokka… she was already putting him in a dangerous situation all by herself. Now her father meant to force him to cooperate with the Fire Nation or pay with his life if he either failed or refused? No doubt her latest luck with Sokka was going to run out very soon…

"The inventors shall serve as our backup plan" Ozai declared, stubbornly, to Azula and Zhao's chagrin "The gladiator's knowledge of bombs ought to be sufficient. If it weren't, we will resort to the other inventors. Would you take him to the Northern Air Temple yourself, Azula, or would you rather he's delivered there by one of our ships?"

"I could do it myself" said Azula, nodding slowly, though she was still rather apprehensive about the entire situation "There are no more pressing matters I must tend to at the moment. But Father…"

"Very well, then. Make certain to stress on him the need for haste" said Ozai, as Azula gritted her teeth "It won't do for you to stay abroad for longer than a month or two"

"You have the Gladiator League to worry about as well" Iroh said, softly. Azula held back the urge to scald him with her glare "Take three months and all your progress so far would be lost…"

"If need be, I'd drag him to fight in the nearest Arena available. I am touched by your concern for my sponsoring career" she added, with noticeable spite in her voice "But you needn't concern yourself so much. I'm not a novice at this"

"Very well, very well…" said Iroh, smiling.

"Are there further matters to discuss?" Ozai asked, with an air of finality to his voice.

Azula gritted her teeth as she looked at her father. She would have gladly continued discussing his brand new decision, because for the life of her, she couldn't find this sudden turn of events agreeable no matter what. Sokka's skills with bombs weren't likely to be of the kind Ozai wanted them to be, and he wasn't going to accept helping for the Fire Nation so they'd destroy his sister tribe. There was simply no way this would end well for all the involved…

"It seems not, my Lord. The South has been calm for the last several months" said Qin "The relocation of the troops to Whaletail Island has been successful so far"

"Good. Proper outposts have been placed to keep track on any naval movements by the Southern Water Tribe?" Ozai asked, and Qin nodded.

"None of their ships will navigate their waters without our awareness"

"Perfect" said Ozai, smirking "Very well then, that should do for today. If no emergencies arise, we shall meet once more when we have results regarding the crafting of the bombs. Crown Princess Azula, we count on you"

"I will make every effort not to fail you, Father" she said, though she spoke the words with doubt. It wasn't that she wouldn't do her best to keep Ozai pleased… but she couldn't imagine Sokka accepting this. She simply couldn't. She couldn't fathom the cruelty of forcing this upon him.

The council stood up as the meeting was adjourned. Some members left immediately, others stayed behind to speak amongst themselves in hushed voices. Ozai was amongst those who left, lifting a hand and closing it into a fist to dissipate his flames. He turned towards the backdoor of the room and was gone without further ado; clearly he would accept no further protests against his decision. Azula watched him leave, still beyond perplexed by the meeting's ultimate conclusion. She could barely wrap her head around it…

She breathed deeply and stood up as well, deciding she would think this through overnight. Perhaps she would come up with a way to convince her father that Sokka wasn't up for the task… she could claim he had ended up too battered after her ruthless punishment, perhaps? No, Ozai would even want to meet up with the gladiator to check on his health himself, only to discover that no ruthless punishment had taken place at all. He wouldn't let Azula get away with blatant lies of the sort… what, then? If only their schedule in the Arena had been packed she could have claimed her fighter had previous appointments, but it wasn't. They didn't have a single pending challenge at the time, and even if they had, any demands from the Fire Lord would take precedence. He wouldn't stand for her to put the Gladiator League above his direct orders…

She was about to make her way to the curtains when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She frowned and turned swiftly to find it was Zhao's.

"Princess" he said, with a smile. Azula's eyebrow rose as she shook off Zhao's hand as gently as she could.

"Admiral?" she said, and he smirked.

"I had been hoping to find a good opportunity for us to talk at leisure for the past few days" he said "But until now I hadn't succeeded at finding one. Yet after the latest events, I most definitely need a word with you"

"You mean after my father's… rather strange decision?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, and Zhao nodded.

"There is much about life in the Palace that I don't understand anymore, clearly" said Zhao "Being away for such a long time naturally brings about such consequences. So I hoped to speak to you over dinner in order to keep up with all these changes, if you would be so kind as to join me…"

"Dinner, Admiral? Now?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, if you aren't otherwise engaged…"

"I… have one thing to do, actually" Azula said, recalling the quick appointment she had scheduled with Mai "Though it won't take long. I suppose I could join you indeed…"

"Wonderful" said Zhao, smiling "I shall inform the servants that we will need a dining room, then"

"Please do" said Azula, nodding "I will see you briefly"

She strode her way out of the Throne Room quickly, the thought of Mai's parcel worrying her more than it should. Her friend ought to be back here by now, though she was unsure as to where would she be waiting for her. After asking a few servants, she finally found one who informed her that Mai had arrived around ten minutes earlier, and that she had headed towards Azula's room. The Princess thanked the servant quickly before rushing her way to her quarters.

"It wasn't that long a meeting, was it?" Mai asked, when Azula closed the door behind her.

"There wasn't much to discuss, though what we did discuss was… unexpected, to say the least" said Azula, walking towards her friend "You brought it, then?"

"It's all here" said Mai, handing a metallic box to Azula, who nodded as she clasped it in her hands. She couldn't help but wonder if Mai's gesture would be useless in the long run. After her father's great idea to rely on Sokka for the bombs she wasn't sure her good streak with Sokka would last much longer… "Something the matter?"

"No, it's nothing. Thank you" said Azula "I'll store it safely. I owe you for this…"

"No need to worry" said Mai, smiling "Though if anything comes up I will hold you to that…"

"Alright. I'll keep a wary eye out for any favors you might need" said Azula, smirking as she moved towards her cabinets. It wasn't the safest place to store the tea, but it would have to do for the time being.

"Very well, then, I suppose I'll leave you to the brewing now, you ought to start drinking it right away…"

"Actually, I'll have to leave that for after I'm done with dinner" said Azula, with a grimace "Admiral Zhao wants a chat with me, looks like"

"Oh. Fun" said Mai, looking at Azula sarcastically. Azula rolled her eyes and sighed.

"It sure will be" she said "Thanks again, Mai…"

"See you at Ty Lee's in a week, then?"

"Uh… probably not, actually" said Azula, grimacing "My father just decided he wants me to undertake quite the voyage…"

"Did he, now?" asked Mai, looking at Azula with interest "Where to?"

"The Northern Air Temple, for a visit to the Mechanist" said Azula. At Mai's confused look she smiled "An eccentric inventor my father relies on for technological advancements"

"Oh? And you're supposed to oversee his work, then?" asked Mai, surprised "Sounds… dull, in fact. I suppose such boring duties come along with being Crown Princess, though"

"So it would seem" said Azula, nodding slowly as the two of them left the Princess's room again.

They didn't need to walk too long before Zhao appeared, scanning the Palace with his gaze, in search for something. Azula had no doubts that he was looking for her.

"He's eager to have that chat, huh?" said Mai, smiling slightly "I'll see you when you return from your trip, then, Azula"

"So be it. Thanks again" said Azula, and Mai smiled before speeding up her way through the corridors.

As expected from Mai, she stopped to bow to Zhao and greet him properly. The man returned the greeting, his usual smirk on his face, and Mai left without further ado. Azula approached Zhao slowly as he continued watching Mai's shrinking figure.

"Do you remember her?"

"Oh, of course I do. Ukano's daughter, isn't she?" said Zhao, raising an eyebrow "She was fairly likeable. Your other friend, though… it defies logic that a human being could be as enthusiastic about everything as she was"

"Well, they seem to balance each other out well enough, seeing how Mai is famed for the exact opposite attitude" said Azula, smirking "I guess the conversation you wanted to have wasn't about my friends, though, was it?"

"Not at all" said Zhao, his eyes growing slightly colder now as he recalled the matter that had brought him to make this request to the Princess today: the matter of her gladiator.

He lifted a hand and gestured in the direction of the dining room, and he gave Azula one of his usual smirks.

"Shall we?"


	100. Chapter 100

Following Zhao into a dining room was almost surreal for Azula. Not because of the company, which was rare enough on its own, but because she was well used to taking her meals in her personal rooms nowadays. She did eat elsewhere on special occasions, but she hadn't visited one of these dining rooms since her childhood.

Her family had always eaten together in a dining room much like the one Zhao had led her to… up until her mother disappeared. After that, Ozai had no time to spare gathering his children so they could have dinner together. And even if he did have time for it, it seemed he had no interest in doing so. Azula frowned as she took her seat: memories, both good and bad, were overflowing her. Had she known that the last meal they had shared would be the very last time her immediate family would be together, she might have treasured the moment a little more.

Zhao sat across her, eyeing the meal the servants brought them eagerly. He dug into the first dish without thinking about it twice. When he noticed Azula looking at him with a raised eyebrow, he gave her a somewhat guilty smile.

"Pardon me, Princess. After years of eating tasteless fish, I may seem a little too enthusiastic to have some of our nation's fine courses…"

"It's understandable" said Azula, nodding and smiling slightly as she started her own meal "I found food in the Earth Kingdom to be rather tasteless as well in comparison. I gather whatever you could eat while on the siege must have been far worse than that"

"Indeed. It makes you wonder how those savages manage to survive in such dreadful conditions" said Zhao, with a disbelieving smirk "Somehow they do, though. I would assume it's part of their heritage, if they have such a thing"

"They are sturdy people, I believe. Quick to adapt to new circumstances" said Azula, and Zhao's eyebrow rose as he swallowed the mouthful crab he had been eating.

"I suppose you speak of first-hand observation, then?" he asked, and Azula didn't miss on the disapproving frown on his face. Azula clenched her jaw. Indeed, what Zhao wanted to talk about was exactly what she had expected…

"On the most part, yes. History books seem to back up my understanding of the Water Tribes as well, so…" she said, as she tried to focus on her stew.

"Is this ability to adapt what made you choose that man for your gladiator?" asked Zhao, skeptically "Or is it he has some extraordinary power I fail to comprehend, while both you and your father appreciate it quite clearly?"

"I gather my father's unexpected trust in him sits badly with you, doesn't it?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow. Zhao mirrored her expression.

"I had thought it sat badly with you as well, Princess. Given how opposed you were to have him undertake such important mission…"

"My opposition is mostly related to the fact that I doubt my gladiator will prove capable of fulfilling my Father's demands" Azula said "I dread that my father will be direly disappointed, and I had hoped to avoid that while I could. But since he insisted…"

"He can be rather stubborn when he's set on something" said Zhao, sighing "It's how he has always been, after all"

"It isn't wise to speak of your liege lord that way, Admiral" said Azula, with a smirk. Zhao chuckled.

"It is the way I speak of a friend, no more than that. He would find no harm in it, he says far worse things about me, both at my face and behind my back" he said "He told you about my fight with your brother, after all…"

"I suppose that is true" said Azula, nodding "All the same, I suppose you ought to respect his so-called stubbornness for what it is. My father makes his decisions for his own reasons. We had best accept that"

"Indeed. But I realized I needed to talk with you because, for the life of me, I cannot understand his reasons, try as I might" said Zhao, looking at Azula with confusion "What could lead him to believe that some non-bending savage from the Water Tribe will be a reliable asset, to the point where he would entrust such delicate mission into his hands?"

"So you really don't know?" Azula asked, frowning "I was under the impression my Father had already informed you of everything you'd missed out on…"

"He only spoke of your gladiator quite briefly" said Zhao "Perhaps he knew I wouldn't take kindly to hearing stories about some slave…"

"Yet you're here, asking to hear them all the same" Azula asked, with a small smirk "I suppose it's irrelevant whether you would take kindly to it or not, if that's so…"

"I simply wish to understand, if there's anything to be understood at all" Zhao said "So if you please would humor me, Princess… what is so special about him, if there's anything special at all?"

Azula breathed out slowly. She couldn't tell Zhao all about the things she found special about Sokka, it was out of the question. Attempting to highlight his better qualities could come off as praises, and everyone knew Princess Azula wasn't easily impressed by anyone. Zhao would find that suspicious right away. In order to educate Zhao somewhat, she had best simply speak of facts, keeping her personal opinion about Sokka well concealed…

"There isn't anything particularly special right away, in fact. His attitude can be somewhat amusing at times… my father believes so, at the very least, but other than that, there's not much to him that ought to be deemed 'special'"

"If that's so, why did you take him as your slave?" Zhao asked, frowning, and Azula smiled.

"Why, that's the precise reason why I did, Admiral" she said, and he froze "He's a Water Tribesman, a non-bender, big-mouthed and unabashed like nobody else you'd know. Everything about him is the exact opposite to what any of us would hold as the standard for a good gladiator. Therefore, he was the logical choice"

"I can't see how that's the case" said Zhao, frowning "For starters, I fail to understand why you joined the League. It isn't the sort of business a Princess like yourself should be meddling with"

"Why?" Azula asked, and Zhao snorted.

"Because it is foul, and vile, and lowly" said Zhao, and Azula smirked "There's no logic for you to join this business when you're highborn and in no need to get involved with this revolting affair"

"If you find it so disgusting, Admiral, why are you involved in it?" she asked, curiously, and Zhao sighed.

"Because your father wanted me to be" he said, and Azula frowned "It was to be an important establishment for the nobility and common folk, and he wanted someone he could trust at the very top of it. There's nothing more to it than that"

"Is that so?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "So you take no enjoyment from the task?"

"Hardly" said Zhao, shaking his head as he swallowed more food "Do you, Princess?"

"Well, in all honesty, I can't remember ever having as much fun as I have since I joined the League" Azula said, with a smirk "Perhaps it is a lowly form of entertainment in your eyes, but I find it a lot more interesting than I originally thought it to be"

"Granted you must, or else you wouldn't take part in it" said Zhao, frowning "Is it you're entertained because people often assume your gladiator is an underdog, given his background, and yet he often proves he isn't?"

"On some level, yes. It's also rather rewarding to earn recognition through him for that reason" said Azula, after taking a bite from a sweet bun "See, if I had chosen a firebending gladiator, there would be little worth noting about my participation in the League. I could have had the best fighter indeed, Admiral… but I didn't. And that confuses people more often than not. It confused you as well, clearly…"

"Most definitely" said Zhao, and Azula smirked.

"See, Admiral… there's barely any merit in taking an already powerful gladiator under your wing" she said, and Zhao frowned "How much effort have you had to put into training Combustion Man, if I might inquire?"

"I've… hardly had to put any. Truth be told I have nothing to do with his training regime" he said, and Azula nodded.

"I thought so. He was already a powerful combustion bender all on his own, wasn't he?"

"Of course"

"Meanwhile, my gladiator was a far cry from a decent fighter when I first happened upon him" said Azula, and Zhao looked at her with curiosity.

"Your father told me you found him in the South Pole. Is it true?"

"Indeed" said Azula, nodding "My father had sent me as an emissary to a meeting in the South Pole's settlement. A group of Water Tribe warriors attacked the building, attempting to take us captive. I took action and pursued the leader, who was none other than my gladiator, Sokka. I defeated him easily, despite I was somewhat weakened by the conditions in the Pole, and, following on my father's footsteps, I decided to spare his life only so he could be a slave in the Fire Nation"

"And then you took him as your gladiator?"

"Not immediately. I only did once I was faced with an unwanted betrothal to the former Admiral Chan's son" Azula explained, and Zhao smirked.

"Your father did make some mention of that. You refuse to take a husband, don't you?"

"I'd rather make the most of my time while I can, Admiral" she said "Marriage would suit me ill at the moment, and frankly, all candidates so far have been utterly disappointing. Admiral Chan's son included, of course"

"Well, that is a pity. I do hope you find a proper suitor soon enough" said Zhao, smiling "And that you can rid yourself from all those who aren't worthy of your hand in marriage, too"

"I strive to achieve that, yes" said Azula nodding "I asked my father for permission to prove Chan did not deserve to take me as his wife, and I meant to do so through a gladiator fight, the only thing Chan was allegedly any good at. A proud man like himself would have never passed the chance to humiliate a non-bender who had only just joined the League, so I made certain to send a challenge he wouldn't resist… and when my gladiator defeated his with a knock-out, there was nothing left for him to do other than forsake his claim for my hand in marriage"

"A knock-out?" Zhao asked, surprised "Is that so? Was he so strong already on your very first fight?"

"I took my gladiator for training with Piandao" Azula explained "His skills in combat were greatly refined with his help. Ever since Piandao left, I took it upon myself to train him first-hand…"

"Piandao left?" Zhao asked, raising an eyebrow before shaking his head and looking at Azula skeptically "Though, wait, he chose to train your gladiator? Really?"

"He believed Sokka was one of the best students he'd ever had" Azula said, nodding and Zhao snorted.

"Preposterous. All that talk of worthy students and yet he takes a common slave under his wing?"

"I believe the sword master noticed Sokka's potential from an early start" Azula said "He was Sokka's master for scarcely three months, yet Sokka was already capable of defeating Piandao the last time I watched them spar"

"Then he must have been getting old" said Zhao, and Azula snickered.

"Perhaps he was. Yet Sokka's prowess is still what it is" she said "He may not be the strongest gladiator there is, but he doesn't have to be. He is absurdly inventive, fighting with the bombs my father thinks so highly of, and he has managed to achieve many deeds that were thought to be impossible for a man like himself. He's the only non-bender to survive and win in the Slate, to name one thing"

"Only because he fought that wimp, the Millennium Dragon…"

"You mean that wimp your gladiator has been unable to kill in battle?" Azula asked, with a raised eyebrow "From my understanding, the only loss the Millennium Dragon has ever taken, outside of the ones Combustion Man has given him, was the one my gladiator granted him in the Slate. If he were an actual wimp your gladiator should have proven able to murder him. He has done so to countless others, so why not him?"

"Chance, mostly" said Zhao, smirking "His survival streak shouldn't last very much longer, if my gladiator fights against him soon once more"

"That it lasted this long speaks well enough of him, like it or not, Admiral" Azula said, and Zhao frowned "Hence, my gladiator's feat ought to be regarded for what it was"

"Nonsense" said Zhao, and it was Azula's turn to frown "Your deeds, Princess, are the ones that deserve proper credit, not his. He is but a slave, and only a tool for you. That you have polished him into a decent fighter is something worth recognizing you for, Princess, not him. He would have been as good as nothing without you"

"I suppose that's one way to see it. Yet… the reasons my father trusts him are independent to his performance in the fighting pit" she said, and Zhao's eyebrow rose "Were you informed of the White Lotus's attempt to release certain prisoners from the Prison Tower? It was quite the scandal…"

"Oh, your father mentioned it. It's absurd that they were capable of coming so close to achieving it, too…" said Zhao, frowning "It was bad enough to evacuate the civilians into the tunnels, right?"

"It would seem there's some infiltrate agent of the White Lotus somewhere high up in the Fire Nation's social circles" Azula said "To my displeasure, we haven't located him yet. He hasn't acted ever since that particular fiasco… a fiasco that would have paid off if it weren't for my gladiator's actions"

"Your… your gladiator's?" asked Zhao, frowning.

"I was indisposed at the time, I had a strong cold and attempting to fight the White Lotus off didn't help my condition in the slightest" said Azula "He came in to assist me, though, without being asked to, and he almost took care of the threat single-handedly. His feat garnered him my father's trust, since he saved the Fire Nation through his actions"

"So he saved the city?" Zhao asked, his attempt to smirk mockingly failing him. His eyes betrayed his complete confusion "A common slave…?"

"I would think the fact that he saved it ought to give away he's all not that common" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "Any other slave would have aided the White Lotus instead without giving it a second thought"

"That might be so" said Zhao, frowning "I suppose he did it for a reason, though, did he not?"

Azula froze at that. Zhao was right. Sokka had done it all for a reason. A reason Azula wasn't entirely certain of right now, as she thought about it… but even back then he had looked at her in the kind way he did nowadays. He had taken care of her when she was sick, trying his best to look after her so she would be safe and sound. He had fought the White Lotus so she would stop fretting, so she would lay down and rest. Of course, she hadn't done as much, but still…

She remembered the way he had pressed his forehead against hers as she was lying in bed, and recalled the things he had been whispering, the way tears had seemed to glisten in the corner of his eyes. He had denied those tears immediately, but despite her ill state, she had been certain she had seen them.

So there was a reason indeed… but she wasn't going to tell Zhao that Sokka had likely done everything he had because he was in love with her.

"I don't think he was planning that far ahead. He usually doesn't" Azula admitted "I had been cross at him a few days earlier over some foolishness of his, though, so perhaps he did it to show his loyalty and return to my good side, without expecting that my father would start holding him in high regards as well after that. Not that my father holds him in the highest regards, of course… but he still considers Sokka a reliable asset. A handy tool, as you just said earlier"

Zhao nodded and frowned as he took a sip from his drink. Azula busied herself with eating as Zhao pondered the information she had given him.

"So this would be the reason why your father believes he can be trusted?" he said "Or are there more stories he didn't convey to me completely?"

"Well… there might be a few. He helped me unveil the Dai Li conspiracy in Ba Sing Se" Azula said, raising her eyebrows "He also assisted me in capturing the Rough Rhinos, a mission my father had tasked me with…"

"The Rough Rhinos? What did they do?" asked Zhao, surprised.

"They rebelled, so they had to be crushed" said Azula, smirking "In fact, they were in league with the Dai Li, but it wasn't until later that I noticed both events were connected"

"Curious" said Zhao, surprised "And… did he aid you with finding your dragon as well? Ozai mentioned something of the sort…"

"Oh… he did help with the dragon as well, though I was the one who tamed him, obviously enough" said Azula, and Zhao nodded.

"I have heard much about the dragon" he said "It's quite a mischievous creature, isn't it?"

"He both has a temper and a very playful side to him" said Azula, smiling "I'm most pleased to have found him"

"Of course you are" said Zhao, smiling as well "Is there a chance there might be other dragons to be found…?"

"Perhaps. Xin Long was alone all his life, though, so I can't say for certain that there were others" Azula said "We were chasing the Rough Rhinos when we happened upon him. He was hiding inside a mountain in the Northern Earth Kingdom. My guess was that some dragons might have fled in that direction after Azulon's hunt began, and perhaps one of them laid an egg within that cave. Chances are another dragon could have done the same elsewhere"

"It would be ideal if they had" said Zhao "That way we could return to riding dragons rather than waiting hopelessly for some hot-air balloons to be finished. A pointless charade, Azulon's hunt was. In military regards, it was an unforgivable waste of resources"

"Agreed" said Azula, having already known that both her father and Zhao thought that way about the extinction of the dragons. Their beliefs had greatly influenced her own opinion on the matter.

"Do you expect to find another dragon soon, then?" Zhao asked, and Azula shrugged.

"In all honesty, I'm not certain" she said "My dragon has already scoured most the Fire Nation's lands and found nothing. He hasn't had as many chances to do it in the Earth Kingdom, but so far, none of his exploration trips have yielded any results"

"A pity" said Zhao, with a sigh "No doubt we could use some air power in our army"

"We could, but as we are it would be risky to try it, as we said during the meeting" said Azula, tapping the table with a finger "In any case, is this all you wanted to know? Or is there anything else you're curious about, Admiral?"

"Regarding your gladiator?" Zhao asked "Why, I suppose there are still unanswered questions, but I will have to live with them. I don't think I'll ever comprehend why some common slave, a savage, to boot, is considered so highly, but…"

"Savages have apparently kept you at bay up north for a very long time, Admiral" Azula said, raising her eyebrows "Wouldn't it be wiser to acknowledge their prowess and abilities instead of looking down upon them? Calling them savages and being unable to do anything to overcome them… doesn't it sound terrible for us to deem ourselves the superior nation, yet we fall short when challenged by what we claim are mere savages?"

"Why, you don't mean to imply they are above us on any regards, do you?" Zhao asked, a sardonic smirk on his face. Azula shook her head slowly.

"I said no such thing, Admiral… but if you were to feed a tigerdillo with the same amount and type of food you would give a rabbit-squirrel, it would bite your hand off for your troubles, if it didn't go for your neck right away. If you underestimate the Water Tribes and regard their people as idiotic and weak, when you've seen for yourself they aren't, the one committing a blunder, knowingly, would be you"

"Princess…"

"Do excuse my boldness, Admiral" said Azula, with a small smile "But that sort of attitude is precisely what has allowed my gladiator to succeed when all odds were against him. The sponsors of so-called superior fighters trust their gladiators will be capable of besting a non-bender because they see no reason why they shouldn't get their way. The Blue Wolf ought to be a weakling, a lowly slave… and that makes it all the more amusing to see the horrified looks on their faces when they're beaten by that weak, lowly slave"

"So I must give the Water Tribe credit where it is due, you believe, in order to succeed?" Zhao asked, sarcastically, and Azula's eyebrow rose.

"What I'm saying, Admiral, is that even I learned the hard way not to underestimate an opponent regardless of what they seem to be in appearance. My uncle's gladiator? She looks like nothing more than a foul-mouthed, skinny girl, doesn't she? Yet when she earthbends she's a force to be reckoned. She almost killed my gladiator the first time they fought. So do not assume someone is weak merely because they look the part. They might be hiding skills you cannot begin to imagine"

"Sounds terrifying indeed" said Zhao, smirking. Azula sighed. The Admiral had many flaws, yet his arrogance was by far the worst one. She wouldn't say it to his face, but his sense of entitlement was most likely what had caused him to lose an Agni Kai against Zuko, despite being a quality bender himself.

"It should sound terrifying" Azula said, nodding despite she knew he spoke sarcastically "Amongst many principles one ought to abide by in the battlefield, one that stands out is that you must show your opponent…"

"The respect you expect him to show you in return" Zhao finished, and Azula looked at him curiously "Words my former master used to speak to me quite often. If you fight honorably, you win honorably"

"Sounds like your master was wise" Azula said, and Zhao snorted.

"Jeong Jeong wanted to be wise and failed to do so, or else he wouldn't have turned his back on our nation when he did" said Zhao, smirking "A coward, is what he really was. He was too afraid to take what he should have been able to seize by force. Too scared of what sort of judgment others would pass on him when his crimes of war were weighed. A fool, by all accounts. I tried to abide by his honor code for a short time, and found it pointless. If you have the power to burn your enemy to a crisp and he has none to stand against you, then by all means, you have every right to do as you please"

"It makes enough sense" Azula said "But what do you do when you cannot burn them that easily, Admiral? Do you stop to ponder the situation? Do you acknowledge your miscalculations and seek a new path of action? Or do you merely continue proceeding in the same manner, banging your head against a wall to no avail as you wait for everything to miraculously fall into place?"

Zhao frowned and Azula held his gaze briefly. She knew the answer to that question already, thus why she had asked it. She knew Zhao wasn't the brightest man in her father's council, but she had hoped he might prove he was slightly wiser than she took him for. Finding otherwise, and being able to throw his shortcomings to his face, was both amusing and disappointing simultaneously. To think she had once admired this man as she had…

"Well, then, if there's nothing further you'd like to discuss, Admiral, I shall take my leave now" she said, pushing her empty plate forward and setting her chopsticks across it. Zhao nodded.

"If there were anything else I'd like to ask you about, I'll contact you once you return from your journey to see the Mechanist" said Zhao, standing up as Azula did "I will be busy for the next few days, so we might not meet again until then. There's much of my properties I need to inspect on now that I've returned…"

"Naturally" said Azula, nodding "The best of luck with that task, Admiral"

"You as well. For your sake, let us hope that you are underestimating your gladiator as well, and that he might be capable of fulfilling the Fire Lord's expectations" said Zhao, and Azula smiled and nodded.

"Let us hope indeed" she replied.

But she knew better than to hope for the impossible. Her technical reasons to believe Sokka might fail could be proven wrong, perhaps he understood explosives well enough… the real problem was that he would flat-out refuse to cooperate. She couldn't imagine any reason why he might accept the mission her father had forced on him. What she could definitely imagine was the frown on his face, the dead-cold glare in his eyes, and the blunt words regarding where her father could shove up his intent to have Sokka assist in the destruction of the Northern Water Tribe.

The unpleasant thoughts continued to round her mind as she arrived to her room. She changed out of her armor and daily clothes quickly so she could clad herself in her sleeping gown. She might have gone to bed looking forward to meeting Sokka again soon, under normal circumstances, but right now it was the last thing she wanted to do. What they'd had so far was wonderful, dangerous and intense… and she certainly had wanted more of it. But there would be nothing more to be had anymore. Once she told him about Ozai's ploy, Sokka would become cold and aloof, putting distance between them again… and Azula wouldn't find it in her to hold it against him if he did.

She set down her hairpiece, brushing her hair swiftly and pulling it up in a ponytail, as she often did when she went to bed. She looked at herself in the mirror as she did, finding her reflection was returning her miserable gaze with its own.

She sighed as she made her way towards her bed, climbing up the dais as she rubbed her eyes with her fists. She needed a good night's rest, that was all there was to it. She could deal with all that came next later, but for now, she simply had to sleep.

She turned and dropped on the bed, her back first…

"Ow!"

Azula jumped off the bed, her tiredness disappearing immediately when she noticed there was someone inside the covers. She had dropped on said someone only briefly, causing him to yelp a second after she took notice of his presence. Her eyes widened as she looked at the shape in her bed with utter confusion, and the instinct to firebend at the intruder crossed her mind just as the person threw the covers off… to reveal it was a Royal Guard.

"What in the name of…?" Azula said, utter indignation on her face as she stretched her two fingers, but when the guard started squeaking an answer to her question she froze in mid-movement.

"No! Don't attack, Azula, it's just me!" exclaimed the guard, with a terribly familiar voice…

Azula's jaw dropped as the guard pulled the helmet and hood off with quick movements, revealing it was exactly who she thought it was.

"S-Sokka?!" she exclaimed, before covering her mouth with a hand. She had to keep her voice down, especially at this hour.

The gladiator chuckled and smiled guiltily at her, throwing the blanket off his body to reveal he was fully clad in a Royal Guard's uniform indeed. The disbelief in Azula's face only grew more accentuated.

"Yep. Hehe. Surprise" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly as Azula's hand moved to her forehead.

"What… what the blazes are you doing here? And where did you find a guard's uniform?" she asked, looking at him in confusion. Sokka smiled and shrugged.

"Well, I just came because I wanted to see you again, for starters" he said "As for the guard's uniform, I have no idea why, but it was in the basement! So I grabbed it and dressed up in it, and…"

"And you thought it was the greatest idea ever, of course. Slipping inside my room in a Royal Guard's uniform would make it possible for us to sleep together tonight?" Azula asked, folding her arms over her chest as Sokka scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly.

"I know, it was stupid and reckless, but I just really couldn't go home yet!" he exclaimed, looking at her pleadingly. Azula ran her hand over her hair and shook her head slowly.

"How long have you been in the Palace, Sokka? You're… you're completely crazy" she said, shaking her head as he chuckled.

"Maybe" he admitted, smiling at her. Azula cursed herself mentally for feeling her heart race over the gentle expression on his face.

"Honestly…" she said, smiling weakly as Sokka climbed off the bed "You couldn't have enough after what we did in the basement, you just keep pushing your luck in all the ways you can, huh?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" he said, looking at her with a sad smile "I just couldn't fathom going home and not being around you for who knew how long. Selfish of me, I know, but I just…"

Azula looked at him and swallowed hard. That kindness… the kindness she dreaded would disappear once she explained what her father wanted from him. She gritted her teeth. Well, he was here already. She might as well give him the bad news and start mourning over the brand new backwards step their relationship would be taking because of this…

"Azula?" Sokka called her, as she shook her head promptly.

"Don't worry, I'm just thinking… wait, where did you say you found that uniform?" Azula asked, frowning. Sokka sat on the bed again as he looked at the red robes.

"In a closet in the basement. I kind of snooped around a little, waiting for the right moment to leave as you told me to, but then I saw this and…" he said, chuckling as he looked at Azula with bright eyes "I could totally wear this and pretend I'm your guard whenever I want to come see you! That way I could be with you a lot more often, don't you think?"

"I think…" Azula said, frowning "I think that's how they did it"

"… How who did what?" Sokka repeated, blinking a few times in confusion "Did you hear any of what I just said…?"

"The White Lotus!" she exclaimed, before remembering she wasn't supposed to be talking at this hour, let alone so loudly. She gritted her teeth before looking at the confused gladiator on her bed "There are several ways to enter the tunnel that leads to the secret river, Sokka. One of them is through the Throne Room, but there are others… and one of them passes through that basement! The spy… he snuck his friends into the Palace that way, had uniforms waiting for them there and…! And that's how they infiltrated our ranks. I never gave this much thought until now, but it makes enough sense…"

"Yeah, it does, actually…" said Sokka, frowning and rubbing the stubble on his chin.

"And… I can't just tell my father about it because doing as much would mean explaining how I came upon this knowledge" Azula said, looking at Sokka with a dry smile "Great job, Sokka, and terrible job, both at the same time"

"Typical me, huh?" he said, with a smile. Azula rolled her eyes, smiling a little more earnestly, despite herself "Still, this knowledge doesn't help that much, or does it?"

"Well… it just confirms what we thought. The spy knows the Palace truly well. A lot of guards would know about these tunnels, some servants as well, and they'd have access to the basement and to uniforms that could be used for this purpose, but…"

"But what?" Sokka asked, as Azula took her seat beside him, a frown on her face.

"But somehow I keep thinking it's my uncle, is all" she said, huffing "Of course, I have no evidence and accusing him now would look like I'm having the equivalent of a child's temper tantrum… but all the same, my gut keeps telling me he's the spy. It must be him"

"You're probably right" Sokka agreed, nodding as Azula looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Good to know at least you agree with me" she said, and he smiled. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, a soft laugh escaping her "I can't believe you actually did this. Did you lose your mind, Sokka?"

"Maybe a little bit, but I promise I'll behave" said Sokka, smiling at her "If you tell me to leave, I'll leave without making a fuss. I promise"

"You promise?" Azula repeated, in disbelief. Sokka nodded.

"Of course!" he exclaimed, and Azula chuckled.

"Right. Well, you're not leaving through conventional means anyways" she said, glancing towards the carpeted area of her room "I have a better idea than to have you wandering the Palace dressed in a guard's garb"

"Oh? Well, great! B-but… I don't have to go yet, do I?" he asked, looking at Azula with inquisitive eyes "I mean, you just got here, and I thought…"

"You thought you'd take your chance to fuck me on my own bed, is it?" she asked, with amusement, and Sokka chuckled.

"Hey, we don't have to go that far…"

"Need I remind you of what happened the last time we said that same line?"

"… Well, this time I mean it" he said, as Azula snorted and laughed "Come on, but at the very least we can be together and be happy to be together, right?"

With that he surrounded her waist with his arms, leaning close as he smiled at her. Azula looked into his eyes, letting the blue of his gaze sway her briefly… but before he could kiss her she inched away slowly.

"Wait. Wait" she said, lifting a finger as she looked at him warily. Sokka blinked in confusion, his lips still ready to kiss her even though she had just stopped him.

"What's the matter?" he asked, as he released her from her grip and Azula stood up.

"Sokka… we are reckless. We have been too reckless" she said, looking at him with meaningful eyes as she walked towards her cabinets. Sokka followed her with his gaze, confused "So much we didn't realize what we were actually risking when we did what we did the past two days"

"Uh, I thought we'd talked that over already, hadn't we?" said Sokka, frowning as he looked at what she was rummaging through her cabinets for.

"Not about all the risks we were taking, actually" Azula said, as she prepared to brew the tea Mai had brought her for the first time. She only hoped she wouldn't make a mess of it, she had gone many years without practicing this fickle and, frankly, boring art "See… from a biological standpoint, what is the purpose of sex?"

"Um… reproduction, I guess. But it's not like we're… oh. Oh… oh, no" Sokka said, his eyes widening as the situation sank in slowly. Azula turned to watch him as the realization dawned upon him. It was relieving, to a degree, to see how taken aback he was by the idea "Azula, we…!"

"Calm down" Azula said, looking at him sternly as Sokka started trembling, looking at her with helplessness "It's not a guaranteed thing. While I might be pregnant, I also might not be. So…"

"B-but we did it so many times and we didn't realize…!" Sokka blurted, his hands going to his hair as he shook his head "I… I'm such an idiot. I really… how could I never think about something so basic? Hell, it's obvious enough! Why didn't I realize sex could lead to babies?!"

"Because you weren't thinking about that?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows "You weren't thinking, period, and neither was I. And speaking of periods, that seems to be the best way to make sure I'm not pregnant. I think I'm around a week away from it, so by logic I'm not at the most fertile point of my cycle… and I figure I shouldn't be talking to a man about this, should I?"

"Uh, considering this is the man who might have knocked you up, I am absolutely willing to hear all this" said Sokka, gulping "So you think the odds are that… that you didn't conceive a kid after all?"

"There's no way of knowing for certain, but with luck…" she said, shrugging and returning to her task. Sokka frowned as he watched her, noticing now what she was up to.

"Hey, are you… brewing tea? Seriously?" he asked, confused, and Azula sighed and nodded "How come? Do you know how to do it, for starters?"

"Amongst my many pointless classes in the Royal Academy, I had to take a whole year in learning each and every stage of tea brewing" Azula said, with a sardonic grin "So very entertaining, truly. Yet I never killed anyone with my tea, so I probably wasn't doing it that badly, right?"

"If that's the standard tea-brewing is measured by, sure" said Sokka, smiling despite his worries "Still, I didn't realize you'd drink tea before bed…"

"I don't, of course" said Azula, as she heated the liquid quickly through firebending "But I will be drinking it from now on so we stop tempting fate whenever we're together. It's supposed to prevent me from getting pregnant"

"Oh. Oooh…" said Sokka, a sigh of relief leaving his body before he tensed up again "But wait, if you were already pregnant…"

"If I already were, the tea would be useless indeed" she conceded "But just in case I'm not, we're better off preventing trouble on all fronts, right?"

"True enough" said Sokka, nodding, as Azula sat beside him on the bed again, the cup of steaming tea in her hands "So from now on you'll be drinking this"

"If we want to keep this up, then yes, I have no choice but to do it. I just hope it doesn't taste that bad" she said, grimacing as she lifted the cup to her mouth…

Sokka wasn't surprised at all to see the grimace on her face as she gulped down the cup's content.

"That bad?" he asked, as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, a displeased scowl on her face.

"Why must most tea taste like liquid wood?" she growled, and Sokka smiled.

"Well, infusions come from leaves, so maybe that's why" he said, and Azula sighed.

"The things I have to do so we can be together…" she said, shaking her head. Sokka bit his lip.

"Is there something I can do, maybe? I mean, if it's this lousy, it might be better if I'm the one taking the countermeasure" said Sokka, looking at Azula inquisitively.

Azula raised an eyebrow and Sokka smiled a little.

"It's touching that you'd like to spare me the bother, but if there were something for you to do, I know nothing about it. I suppose I'll ask Mai or Ty Lee, though, they might know"

Sokka blinked a few times as Azula drained what was left of the cup, frowning still at the unpleasant taste. She rolled her eyes and told herself to rejoice, since today's dose was done now… and that was when she noticed the dumbfounded look on her lover's face.

"Y-you'll ask… Mai and Ty Lee? Y-you mean, you'll tell them it's for, uh, a friend? Another friend they know nothing about?" he asked, worriedly.

"What friend is that?" Azula asked, snorting "Rui Shi, perhaps? It's not very likely that he'd need it, is it…?"

"A-Azula, you can't just go to them and talk to them about male contraceptive measures out of the blue…" he said, looking at her in utter confusion.

"I know as much, but as it happens…" Azula said, sighing deeply and looking at Sokka apologetically "Turns out they coaxed the truth out of me today. I tried to keep it from them, but Ty Lee had the great idea to hug me, her arm rubbed against the makeup I'd put on my neck right over one of the souvenirs you gave me, and… well, I just couldn't make up a believable lie at that point. So… yes. We're just the best at keeping secrets, aren't we?"

"They know? They…? Oh, damn it. They had to notice" he said, striking his forehead with his palm "They've known you for ages, after all, they should've seen something was different…"

"Ty Lee claimed my aura was so very bright, and from there it snowballed into the unwilling reveal" said Azula, standing up to set aside the teacup "Mai also noticed that I no longer seemed to be frustrated, so I guess I'll have to work on looking frustrated again, huh?"

"Heh, you might have to. Thought if we keep going at it at this rate, it's not going to be easy" he said, smirking. Azula rolled her eyes, smiling regardless "Still… is it safe for them to know?"

"I don't think it's ever going to be safe for anyone to know, to be perfectly honest, but it looks like they'll do their best not to cause trouble. They're helping with the contraceptive methods, well, Mai is anyways" said Azula, sitting down on the bed again "She brought me the tea, told me to have it regularly, and so I shall. No other choice, considering we're quite prone to doing things we shouldn't, whenever and wherever we have a chance…"

"I guess we are too reckless" Sokka whispered, looking at Azula apologetically "It's just a little hard to resist, I have to say. You're just… heck, you're you, Azula, and… and I've been dreaming about being with you for such a long time. This situation is just… well, a dream come true, no doubt. I'm allowed to love you, in all the ways I can, and…"

"Well, I wouldn't say you're allowed" said Azula, smiling a little "We've just disregarded every single rule and done whatever we wished to…"

"True" said Sokka, smiling back "But as long as you'll have me, I'm all yours. Nah, actually, I'll be yours long after you're bored of me…"

"Bored of you? You expect me to grow bored of you?" Azula asked, startled, and Sokka chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I'm a very simple guy after all. I'm not on your level, everyone knows that" he said, smiling at her "So if you did grow bored…"

"You know, some people think lowly of you, it's true… but I get the feeling the one who thinks the worst about you is none other than yourself" Azula said, with a raised eyebrow. Sokka looked at her blankly.

"Heh. I thought I was just being realistic" he said, and Azula smiled as she stroked his cheek with a hand.

"You're being foolish, is what" she said, leaning closer "You're not as bad as you think you are, you know. You've just… spent such a long time telling yourself you are that you've ended up buying your own pretense"

Sokka froze for a moment as Azula smiled at him. He chuckled a little as he confirmed, just by looking into her eyes that she was indeed paraphrasing words he had once told her.

"Is that so?" he asked, as she pressed her forehead to his.

"Well, it looks that way, I think. Someone will have to educate you into appreciating yourself a little more" she said, and Sokka grinned.

"Any ideas as to who might be able to do that?" he asked, and Azula shrugged.

"None, actually. I'm afraid we'll have to go looking for someone to help you" she said, and he chuckled more.

"Here I was hoping you might offer to do it yourself" he said, looking into her eyes as he cupped her face with his hand. Azula smiled.

"Me, of all people?" she said, as Sokka's lips finally found hers.

He kissed her softly, his hand moving to the back of her neck now. His eyes fluttered close and he sighed into the contact of their lips, feeling as though he could breathe properly again now that he'd kissed her…

"You, of all people" he said, still smiling once they parted "If I stay around you long enough, you might rub off on me and I might actually succeed one day in becoming a man worthier of being with you… not to say I absolutely will, I might fail anyways, but I'm still willing to give it a shot…"

"You… you're an idiot" Azula said, kissing him again. In her eyes, he hadn't failed at all. But conveying those sorts of feelings through words just was no easy feat for her…

His hands caressed her flanks, the touch of his fingers making her shiver pleasantly. He would be happy, no doubt, since she was wearing less clothes than usual right now… whereas he was likely wearing more than ever. She pulled away briefly, his lips moving to kiss her cheek.

"I hope nobody saw you come in here, or did they?" she asked softly, and Sokka chuckled "And how come was your best idea to hide in my bed…?"

"I made sure to be stealthy, no worries. And as for that… I wanted to surprise you" he said, smiling "I had meant to push off the covers when you arrived, and say something ridiculous so you'd laugh… but I dozed off after a while and didn't notice you'd arrived until you dropped atop me, hehe. Your bed's amazing, you know? How do you ever get up in the mornings? It's so comfortable…"

"I have a busy life, I can't just stay in bed all day" said Azula, smirking as Sokka chuckled.

"Well, I'm glad you can be that responsible because I can't say I would be if I were in your position" he said, kissing her neck now. Azula hummed, her hand going to the shaved sides of his head "Heck, back in… back in my tribe, the only way my family could get me out of my sleeping bag in cold mornings was to offer me food"

"Seeing how it's you we're talking about, I'm hardly shocked" Azula said, smirking as Sokka laughed more "Still…"

"Yeah, I know, I can't stay in your bed forever" he said, sighing "I'd love to, but it can't be helped, huh?"

"That's not what I was going to say, it's… it's something else" she whispered, pulling away from him, to Sokka's surprise. The mention of his life back in his tribe had served to bring her back to reality, despite she would have gladly indulged in Sokka's attentions for a little while longer.

"Something wrong?" Sokka asked, looking at her worriedly "Do you want me to leave now, or…?"

"No, not just yet" Azula muttered, placing a hand on his thigh as she steeled herself. The sooner he knew, the better. Delaying this would only make things worse "We just… need to talk about something"

"We… huh? Wait, we need to talk?!" Sokka squeaked, horrified "It's not the kind of talk that would result in you dumping me, or is it…?"

"Uh… in fact I wonder if it won't be the other way around" Azula said, her eyes widening as she lifted a hand to her forehead, her jaw set as she tried to find the words to convey this. Sokka frowned and snorted in disbelief.

"Me, dump you? Like I could be that stupid" he said, smiling now "What is it, Azula?"

"Well…" she said, swallowing hard and looking at him. She crossed her legs in a lotus position and placed her elbows on her knees "You know the Captain told me I had to attend a war meeting, right?"

"Right" said Sokka, nodding slowly.

"I went right after seeing Mai and Ty Lee today" Azula explained "And everything seemed to be perfectly fine, until a certain topic was breached…"

And with those words alone, she saw the shift in his kind gaze. He frowned, his blue eyes growing colder as his entire demeanor changed. Just what she had dreaded…

"What topic?" he asked, looking at Azula warily "Is your father going to attack the South Pole, despite he swore he wouldn't?"

"No, no, not about that" said Azula, and Sokka sighed in relief "In fact, it seems the relocation of the troops from the settlement is almost finished. There will be outposts to keep watch just in case the Water Tribe makes any naval movements, but it seems my father has actually forsaken the little territory we had taken from you. So your home remains safe, as you bargained for it to be"

Sokka breathed out deeply, the coldness in his gaze disappearing as he smiled at Azula.

"That's… one of the best news you could have given me" he said "Thanks. For a moment I really thought he was going back on his word or something…"

"So long as he finds no need to go back on it, he won't do it" said Azula "But that's… that's not what I needed to talk about with you. You see…"

"Yes?" said Sokka, as Azula remained silent for a moment, a troubled grimace on her face.

"Well, my father seems to believe the Fire Nation's forces need technological assets to succeed in the few fronts of war we're still battling at" she said "And his brightest idea was… that we should use bombs to fight against the Northern Water Tribe's army"

Sokka's frown returned to his face, though he didn't seem as personally invested upon hearing these news as he had been with his prior wild assumption. Azula swallowed hard.

"So you were warning me of this because… you want me to know about what your father's forces are up to?" he asked, and Azula shook her head slowly "If that's not it, then…? Wait, were you… were you chosen to lead this mission or something?"

"Not entirely. And not me" she said, sighing heavily "See… there's an inventor my father often relies on for new technologies. He had hoped this man might provide the bombs, but apparently, explosives aren't his strongest suit in regards of his inventions…"

"So he might fail to pull this off altogether because he's no good with bombs?" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows. Azula nodded.

"He would fail if he's left to do this all on his own, likely" she said "The thing is… that my father wants to avoid said failure. He wants the Mechanist to build these bombs, but he thinks the Mechanist needs… an assistant, so to speak. Someone with knowledge of how to build bombs, someone who might prove capable of helping the Mechanist to make these weapons a reality. And that someone… is you"

Sokka's jaw dropped and he looked at Azula with incredulity. She swallowed hard again.

"Me? Your… your father wants to use my knowledge of bombs so I can help you guys destroy the Northern Water Tribe?" he asked, looking at Azula with a disbelieving and dangerous smirk.

"I spoke against his idea, and so did Zhao, but my father refused to listen" Azula said, sighing "He's dead-certain that you're the best person for the job, and I naturally couldn't just tell him outright that you were more likely to sprout wings and fly than to help us with something like this. It's… as though he were convinced that your help back with the White Lotus's skirmish meant that you're completely dedicated and devoted to the Fire Nation, regardless of the fact that you're a slave"

"Well, I am dedicated and devoted to the Princess of the Fire Nation. Can't say I'm as dedicated to the Fire Nation in itself, let alone to the Fire Nation's knack for blowing up entire cultures unnecessarily…" he growled, and Azula nodded.

"That's what I thought. Still…"

"Still what?" Sokka asked, and Azula looked at him helplessly.

"Sokka, it doesn't look like he wants to give you a choice on the matter" she said "It's not as it was when it came to my pursuit of the Rough Rhinos, where he actually gave me a choice… he's set on this, and since you're a slave, your thoughts on the matter are next to nothing for him. I wish I could have swayed him, at least bought us a chance to just mull it over, but he's not going to take no for an answer, no matter what"

"You've already told him 'no' before, after all" said Sokka, glaring at the floor with irritation "He wasn't happy about what you did during your birthday"

"Not in the slightest"

"And considering you're Crown Princess now, refusing a direct command from the Fire Lord wouldn't go well for you, would it?" he said, raising an eyebrow. Azula shook her head.

"I doubt it, but… but we'll find a way to shake this off, Sokka" she said, placing a hand on his shoulder "I know it looks dreadful right now, but so did things back when I ended up sleeping over at your place, and yes, perhaps we've failed to keep things between us a complete secret, but at the very least we've made it to the second night without either of us dying. I think that's a feat all on its own"

"Yeah, it is" he said, smiling at her. Azula was relieved to see him grin. She had genuinely expected him to grow cold towards her upon her delivery of these news… it was startling, yet delightful, that he hadn't reacted as she had anticipated he would.

"So if we've managed to achieve this, we can deal with my father's demands somehow" said Azula "I don't know how yet, perhaps you'd have to be indisposed in some way, unable to travel, I don't know…"

Sokka closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingertips, deep in thought. Azula fell silent upon seeing him like this, figuring she shouldn't interrupt him right now. If he was to come up with a solution, it might be better to give him some time to ponder it. Though knowing Sokka, if he did come up with something it was bound to be quite ridicu-…

"I'll do it"

Azula's thoughts froze and she looked at Sokka in utter confusion. She saw the steel in his eyes, noticed the coldness to them… yet he was saying he'd do it?

"Come again?" she said, and Sokka looked at her in defeat.

"Come on, Azula" he said "How am I supposed to say no to your father anyways? You told me he's set on this idea, so if I said I won't do it, he'd likely gather a battalion so they can drag me to wherever that inventor lives. Then he'd keep me under constant surveillance every day because he would want to make certain I'll work as he wanted me to. If I do it willingly, he'll be less of a bother, right?"

"But you're… what the hell, Sokka?" Azula said, utterly confused "You're… you're going to help my father in his attempt to take down the Northern Water Tribe? Are you… are you out of your mind? What's the matter with you?"

"Well…" said Sokka, gulping.

He bit his lower lip and looked at Azula furtively as she stood up, pacing around the room in utter confusion. He had no trouble suspecting just how angry she would be if he explained the actual reason why he had decided that agreeing with Ozai's demands would be the best course of action… so he figured it might be best if he said nothing at all.

"Sokka, did you listen to what I said?" she said, turning to look at him sternly "Do you actually understand what's at stake here?"

"I think I do" he said, nodding "Your father's trust on you, for one thing… your dedication to the Fire Nation, for another. If there's a chance I can build those bombs, and you don't pressure me to the ultimate extreme so I can succeed at it, you'll be thought of as weak. Your father will be disappointed and he will believe you're not holding the Fire Nation as your absolute top priority, as he has always wanted you to"

"Sokka, I don't know if there's any chance you might succeed at this. In fact, I question it" she said, looking at him with worried eyes "Even if you did put your everything into it, do you know how to build explosives?"

"Eh, I have basic knowledge of it, yeah" he said, shrugging, and Azula frowned.

"All the same, even if you do… Sokka, my father will mean to punish you for real if we return empty-handed" she said, looking at him in disbelief "No, there will be no chance to mislead people this time into believing that I punished you when in fact we were doing the entire opposite of that. He will deal with you himself if you fail him. So if just for common sense, for your sake, accepting to do this is just not a good idea, alright?"

"It's not, granted, but I think I've pulled you into a dangerous enough situation to cause you even more trouble now" said Sokka, sighing "I can tune out my conscience if need be, Azula. I became pretty good at that back in the Amateur League"

Azula froze where she stood, her eyes growing kinder as his words cut deeply into her heart. The pain he had suffered back then had damaged him badly, even if he managed to conceal most his scars in the recent times. He clung onto his new life, doing his best to forget the old one. And to think he was willing to do this, despite what it would mean in the long run, because he didn't want to be a bigger problem yet for her… he was willing to betray himself for her sake, wasn't he?

Yet that didn't sit well with her. It couldn't. She still remembered the words Piandao had told her once, and she had no trouble recalling what Sokka was like when he was most broken. She refused to see him like that again, regardless if he was doing it for her.

"Sokka, I might find another way" she said, approaching him again and sitting by his side once more "I can't promise I will, but… at least I can try"

"Azula" he said, smiling at her and taking her hand in his "It's fine. Look… it's better if I do it than to leave some Fire Nation creepy genius to come up with some brutal weapon to wipe out the entire world. I'll see what I can do, and heck, if there's nothing I can do I'll just take your father's punishment and be done with it…"

"You don't mean that" she said, looking at him sternly "You are aware of the fact that he's the one who gave Zuko his scar, aren't you? And that was his son. Just imagine what he would do if he were angry at you"

"Well, if he tries to set me on fire then I'll have to ask you to let me borrow Wolf's Bane for a while" he said, smiling "Might help avoid the nastier burns, right?"

"Sokka…" she said, studying his eyes intently…

… To notice that, due to her disbelief, she had missed out on something she wouldn't have ignored under any other circumstances.

"Sokka? What are you hiding?" she said, and he froze.

"Hiding? W-what would I be…?"

"You have that same look you had during my birthday" she said, and Sokka gulped "There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?"

"Like what?" he said, snorting in derision as though her suggestion were utterly ridiculous.

"Like the fact that you have some sort of ulterior motive to make this decision?" she asked, and the look on Sokka's face gave away that she was spot-on "Well, well. Why am I not surprised?"

"H-hey, it's not something that bad" Sokka pouted, looking at her with unease "I mean… is it really that bad that I'm thinking this is a great opportunity for us?"

"A great opportunity in regards of what, exa-…? Oh, wait a moment now…" said Azula, looking at Sokka with wide eyes "A great opportunity for us to get laid without fearing my father will be onto us? THAT's what's on your mind?!"

"Well, what do you want me to say?!" Sokka pouted, and Azula struck her forehead with the palm of her hand.

"Sokka, you need to stop thinking with your penis for ten minutes, okay?" she said, and he blushed, still pouting "Or with your stomach, that one's ruled out too! This is something serious!"

"Well, I'm serious too! I'll have to do it either way, since your wonderful dad won't take no for an answer, so it's better if I go with you so we can have at least a little fun, despite of the horrible occasion!" Sokka exclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I… I can't believe you're actually saying this" Azula said, shaking her head "Sokka… we're talking about the very thing you despise about the Fire Nation, the reason you thought we were all rotten and disgusting, and now you're just going to help because… because now you get to have sex with me? That's all that matters to you now?"

"It's not all that matters" said Sokka, dropping his gaze "But… being with you does matter more than you seem to realize"

"It's no excuse, Sokka, you can't be…" she said, looking at him with disbelieving eyes.

Until she realized that his gaze wasn't that of a defeated man. Until she realized that this revelation, the fact that he wanted to spend proper time with her, was only concealing yet another larger motive for Sokka to help… a motive that likely meant he wasn't going to help at all.

As she studied him she started to wonder if he'd already planned out his every move, despite knowing so little of the situation at hand. It wasn't chance that he'd be so ready to take Ozai's punishment if he were to fail. Because he was expecting to fail, clearly.

Sokka meant to sabotage the development of the bombs from within.

Sokka looked up at her, finding she was awfully quiet all of sudden. Her eyes had a strange quality to them now, perhaps realization…

"Azula?" he said, and she shook her head promptly, looking at him with unease.

"You…" she muttered, biting her lower lip as she looked into his eyes "You really care that much about me? You're willing to set the world on fire if it means we get to be together?"

Sokka gulped. The question was clear enough, but the intent wasn't. He would have gladly shouted an affirmative response just to give her what she wanted to hear, but he wasn't sure that was the right thing to do at the moment.

Because there were many things he was willing to set on fire if need be, for Azula's sake. He could give up on seeing his family again, despite missing them as badly as he did, if it meant he could stay by the Princess's side forever. He was fine with living in the Fire Nation for the rest of his life along with her. He could even become a vegetarian if she demanded that of him…! Though he sure hoped she would never ask him to be a vegetarian, but he would make that sacrifice if need be for her.

Yet the idea of sending his sister tribe to its ultimate destruction couldn't sit well with him. Despite what he'd just told her, that he could shut down his conscience, which he could do indeed, he couldn't simply join forces with the Fire Nation so they would destroy everything in their path. He valued his relationship with Azula with all his heart, but he couldn't allow this to run its course without putting up a fight on some level. It was merely a matter of doing the right thing, even though he hadn't done that too often as of late.

But in order to cause Azula as little trouble as possible, he had to take the full brunt of Ozai's rage when he failed eventually. And agreeing to do this was the only way to achieve that. Azula needed to keep her credibility, her father's trust… Ozai needed to blame Sokka, and Sokka alone, for failing to create those bombs. And there was no other way to achieve that than this.

Whatever punishment Ozai meant to deliver would mean a world of pain for Sokka, but for this cause he would take whatever strife he had to deal with. He believed Azula could make this world a better place, he trusted she would… but until then, he had to resist from the shadows. He had to do the right thing, even if doing as much would require lying to Azula about his true intentions.

So he sighed and caressed her cheek softly, noticing just how tense she was as she looked back at him.

"For your sake, Azula… I'd go to hell and back again" he whispered. That was the absolute truth. But he refused to drag the Northern Water Tribe down to hell along with him.

Azula could tell she hadn't made a mistake in her assumption. No, she had read him perfectly. She frowned a little upon his answer, wondering just what was it he meant to do. If she acted ignorant, pretending she was completely unaware of his intent, she might figure out how he meant to sabotage the process, and how exactly did he mean to go to hell for her if need be. He kept concealing the truth, yet the answer he had just given her question had been earnest, even if nothing else was.

What he was doing, though, would amount to treason in Ozai's eyes if it were discovered. If he failed because he had no choice, he would be punished. But if he failed deliberately then he was but a traitor, and there was only one fate reserved for traitors. Azula gritted her teeth at the thought… and at the realization that, if she kept quiet about Sokka's sabotaging, she was as good as a traitor herself. To be loyal to her nation would mean she had to turn him in, to reveal him, but…

But the mere thought was unfathomable. There was no way she could do something like that to him. She trembled a little, holding his gaze insecurely.

"You really mean that?" she asked, and Sokka smiled.

"I love you" he said, taking her hand in his "I love you in ways I've never loved anyone else in my entire life, Azula. So… if this is the best way I can keep you out of trouble with your war-thirsty dad, well, I have no choice. As I said, I've caused you enough problems as it is. You've had a hard enough time getting back to your dad's good side, so I'm not going to make it worse. It's time I sacrifice myself a little bit for your sake, don't you think?"

"Don't you constantly do that?" she asked, looking at him apprehensively "You went without food in the forest, you always protect me from taking bad wounds when we fall off of stuff… you're constantly sacrificing yourself for me, whether you notice it or not"

"Well, maybe I feel the need to do it again now that we've slept together, because this could be a bigger problem for the both of us than anything we've faced so far…" said Sokka, smiling guiltily "I won't act like a spoiled brat anymore. So I won't get in your way with this. I can swallow my pride when it comes to this, believe it or not…"

"You know, you do act like a spoiled brat when you show up in my room at night for no logical reason" she said, raising her eyebrows and Sokka chuckled "That sort of fickle behavior isn't proper of a man your age, or is it?"

"Oh, please, I'm not that old" he said, smiling at her "Well, maybe I act like a spoiled brat in a few regards still, but hey, you can't blame me for wanting to be with you, can you? I mean…"

"You're in love with me, yes, I know" said Azula, rolling her eyes and dropping on the bed "And the power of love has turned you into a Fire Nation loyalist all of sudden. It sure has some terrifying qualities, love…"

"A Fire Nation loyalist?" Sokka asked, amused "So that's what I am? Do all Fire Nation loyalists claim to be in love with you?"

"No, they actually swear complete loyalty to me while they cower in fear, but you're on a different league from them, looks like" she said, as he leaned down, hovering above her with a smirk on his face "You're sure about this, Sokka? Are you really willing to do this?"

She had to play dumb, of course she did. She could call him out on his intent right now, but what would that accomplish? It would only cause a big spat between them, first of all, and if word reached Ozai that Sokka meant to sabotage the mission, he would be killed for it on the spot. Feigning ignorance was the safest course of action she could think of at the moment, both for Sokka and herself.

In a sense, she couldn't blame Sokka for hoping to pull what he wanted to. Not entirely. For if the situation were reversed, and it was the Water Tribe that meant to destroy the Fire Nation, through Azula's help, she would proceed as Sokka had decided to. The only difference was that she made a much better liar than he did. Chances were that nobody would have noticed she had been sabotaging the mission until a long time after it was finished, if anyone ever did.

So since she was a better liar, she could pretend she hadn't seen through his scheme. She could turn a blind eye to what her father would deem as treason, pretend it wasn't happening whatsoever. Whatever the reason behind Sokka's failure, she simply had to act ignorant and he would… well, he would survive, at the very least, but he wouldn't be safe from her father altogether. Not for certain…

She had never felt such drive to protect somebody. It wasn't something entirely new, for she had always hated watching Sokka getting hurt, whether to save her or because he couldn't avoid it… but right now she had a chance to keep him from getting hurt. She could keep him safe from her father. She had to, for his sake and her own, even. She could barely fathom the idea of a life without him. Yet how to spare him from the world of pain Ozai would mean to unleash upon him if he failed, as Sokka intended to…?

"As you said… I don't really have a choice" he told her, sighing as he looked at her "Either I comply or I'll be dragged there and forced to cooperate anyhow, so choosing the easier course of action is just logical… By the way, where exactly is it we're headed? You said I'd have to work with this guy, but is he in the Capital somewhere?"

"Why, because if he were you'd stop being so willing to agree with this?" Azula asked, smirking, and Sokka bit his lip.

"Well, you know, the only upside there was to this mission was having a little more freedom to be with you" he said, smiling "If the guy lives next door then there's no upside at all"

"Idiot" said Azula, caressing his cheek. Sokka laughed softly "He took office overseas, in the Northern Air Temple. It's where we'd be headed… well, where we'll be headed, I guess…"

"Northern Air Temple, then?" Sokka said, raising his eyebrows "Huh. I'd always been curious about the temples, I admit… do you think we'll be allowed to look around the place, or will we have to stay working all day without exploring anything?"

"I probably will be allowed to look around, seeing how I'm the Princess and nobody in their Temple would be able to stop me from doing as I wish…" she said, raising an eyebrow "As for you, though, you're supposed to work, so I doubt you'll have any fun whatsoever"

"Heh? But hey… at least I'll get to sneak into your room at night, right?" he asked, smiling and Azula rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, is that the one thing on your mind?" she asked, smirking as he dropped atop her, laughing softly.

"You are the one thing on my mind, rather" he said, sighing as he held her "I can't help it. You've got too much power over me and I don't want you to stop having it, at all"

"So I'll have to deal with a sneaky slave, slipping into my quarters no matter if we're in the mainland or in the Colonies or at sea…"

"Oh, I could sneak into your cabin in your Barge too!" Sokka said, grinning "I don't think I've seen your cabin from the inside, you know?"

Azula rolled her eyes but surrounded Sokka's neck with her arms.

"This is a very dangerous game to play, Sokka" she said, and he smiled guiltily.

"I know, I know. I'll try to hold back and not do it every single night" he said, but Azula smiled too.

"Please do. Though I admit… there's nobody I'd like to play this game with but you"

Sokka blinked as he looked at Azula, a slow smile spreading over his face upon hearing such kind words from her. Azula blushed a little, having given voice to her feelings with more ease than she usually did. When Sokka responded to her confession with a kiss she closed her eyes and sighed in sheer pleasure.

She had thought this would be over, had expected Sokka to react explosively to the bad news… but whenever Sokka wasn't unhinged, he would seek to take a more tactical approach to things. Never mind that he had failed to keep the truth from her, that she had unveiled it quite easily without even asking, but he had still done it all so he would be the one to take the brunt for everything. This way he would help the Northern Water Tribe and spare Azula from her father's wrath. He was willing to carry the weight for all that on his shoulders… and Azula wasn't entirely sure she could agree with that.

"Sokka…" she whispered, between kisses. He hummed.

"Do you have another important thing to tell me now, Azula…?" he whispered, looking at her warily.

Azula pondered revealing she had realized what he was up to, while still reassuring him that she couldn't blame him entirely for choosing said course of action… while telling him she didn't want him to end up hurt because of this.

She had to find a way to protect Sokka somehow, if need be. While her father would be furious if Sokka failed, chances were she could appease him, perhaps by distracting him with something else. Perhaps by giving him something he would be rather pleased by, so pleased he might forget about Sokka's failures…

They would be heading to the north of the Earth Kingdom, after all. The same general area where she had found Xin Long.

Zhao had told her only moments earlier that dragons would be a better solution to their predicaments than airships. The idea made enough sense, Azula reasoned. She could work with this. She might be able to spare Sokka from his punishment just as he wanted to spare her from her father's wrath. This way she would procure something important for her nation, too, so she wouldn't feel as though she were becoming a traitor if she achieved this new goal…

She smiled and caressed Sokka's face, determination building inside her to protect him with everything she had.

"Just that… we'd best be really quiet this time" she finally answered. Sokka chuckled and leaned in to kiss her deeply, his hands undoing her robe quickly as she surrounded him with her arms.

Things were coming together far too dangerously, she thought, as they dropped together on her mattress. Her feelings for him conflicted with her loyalty to her father and her nation, and she had no doubts he was going through the same thing: his love for her contradicted every belief he'd held throughout his life. What was she supposed to do? How could she choose between the nation that had built her into the woman she was today, and the one man who had given her all the love she had never dreamt she would experience…? It was an unkind contest, a dilemma she wasn't sure she could find an answer to. Would she be forced to sacrifice Sokka or the Fire Nation before long? And if she was, how was she supposed to make up her mind to choose either thing? Of all predicaments she had faced in her life, this particular crossroad seemed impossible to sort out…

They both believed there was no time to be wasted anymore, but despite they coupled again and held one another through the night, exhaustion got the better of them before long, despite their muffled laughter and countless kisses. His arms surrounded her from behind as they fell asleep, and it was in this position that Azula woke up with a start hours later, noticing it would be dawn soon.

"Sokka. Sokka…" she said, turning in his arms and shaking him softly. When that didn't pay off she pushed him on his back and kissed him deeply, prompting him to groan in confusion as he woke up, but soon he was smiling as he responded. Once he was awake enough to return the kiss, Azula pulled away "Time for you to go"

"W-what…? Oh, damn…" he said, grimacing in disappointment. She was right, of course, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

All the same, he managed to get off the bed and put on all his clothes again, with the Royal Guard uniform atop it all. Despite she thought it wasn't such a brilliant idea, Azula had concluded it wouldn't be so bad if Sokka kept it. It might come in handy in eventual occasions.

"I do have to say, red suits you better than you realize" she told him as he finished fitting the armor. She smirked and crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes raking his figure with interest. Sokka chuckled.

"Blue suited you just fine yesterday as well, Princess" he said, smiling as well.

Azula would have gladly replied to that with another kiss, but it was growing increasingly late and Sokka had to go home as quickly as possible. So she put on her sleeping gown again, fetching one of her emergency lanterns and lighting it with a quick firebending move before handing it to Sokka. He raised an eyebrow and watched her with interest as she knelt to lift a section of the room's carpet… to reveal a trapdoor not unlike those he had seen during the White Lotus crisis.

"Hey, is that…?" he asked, as she bent into a small opening. The trapdoor swung inwards, triggered open by the fire.

"It is. The passageway into the catacombs underneath the city" said Azula, nodding as she stood up "They should be empty right now, or at least they'd better be. They'll be very dark, though, so you would need a light…"

"Well, problem solved" said Sokka, smiling and lifting the lantern. Azula nodded as she searched through her cabinets for something else now… Sokka watched with curiosity as she pulled out a set of maps, drawing small lines over them that should serve to guide Sokka through the catacombs.

"I hope you know how to read maps" she said, with a smirk, as she handed the papers to him "It should take you home as long as you follow the instructions"

"I will" said Sokka, smiling and nodding "Thanks… and sorry for the bother"

"Eh, at the very least you made the night worthwhile. I can't complain" she said, as he stepped inside the trapdoor, climbing down the small steps it had until he was up to his waist in the tunnel. Azula knelt down before him, cupping his face with a hand "Be careful. I'll probably see you in a day or two at the port, we'll be setting out to the Northern Air Temple in no time"

"Got it" he said, closing his eyes and turning his face into her hand, kissing her palm softly "I don't suppose I'll be allowed to sneak in to see you anytime soon, will I…?"

"No, you're not" said Azula, firmly, and Sokka pouted "Seriously, Sokka…"

"I get it, I get it, but it's too bad, you know? Life's better when we're together" he said, smiling guiltily. Azula rolled her eyes and leaned in to kiss him.

"Then we should do what we can to spend time together without risking everything in the process. We could ruin all our chances to be together by being reckless" she said, and Sokka pouted again "Stop being so silly. I'll be with you again in no time"

"Yeah… can't wait for it and we're not even apart yet" he said, smiling gently before kissing her lips for the last time "I love you, Azula"

Azula smiled too and nodded, pressing a kiss to his brow now before pulling away.

"Go, Sokka. Quick" she said, and he sighed as he climbed down into the tunnel, shutting the trapdoor behind him.

Azula placed the carpet back into place before dropping on the bed heavily. She closed her eyes and felt sleep engulf her again. Sokka was a completely reckless idiot, no doubt, but playing along with his recklessness proved to be its own reward. They had to get a grip, but she wasn't sure she was ready to get it yet. Perhaps she was far too sleepy still, but somehow she was starting to think Sokka was right to look forward to this brand new trip as a chance for them to be together… with a small grin, she turned towards the side of the bed where he'd been sleeping, her consciousness slipping away from her slowly, her thoughts filled of images of a certain dark-skinned, blue eyed man…

The reencounter between the Princess and her gladiator took place two days later, on the Royal Barge, once preparations for the long voyage had been finished. Sokka had arrived early, and he waited on deck as the sailors finished stocking the ship. As he stood by the rim of the ship, watching the water washing into the bay with slow waves, he heard a familiar roar behind him.

Sokka turned quickly, finding that Xin Long and his rider were in the process of landing on the ship. Sokka tried not to betray how glad he was to see Azula again, but he was afraid he might have failed to act apprehensively. How could he, when she had smiled at him ever so slightly when their eyes had met…?

As was to be expected, Azula seemed to have no time for him, busy ensuring all preparations were in place. Sokka returned to his contemplations, hoping that his silent behavior would mask his eagerness to talk to Azula. It was ridiculous, perhaps, that he would have missed her as much as he had after only two days apart… but sleeping alone had been a very trying experience after those two blissful nights spent with Azula.

It was Xin Long who approached him instead of his rider, prodding Sokka's elbow with his snout. Sokka smiled as he regarded the creature, mostly because he was wearing the armor Sokka had crafted for him.

"You look quite regal, buddy. Nice armor" he said, and Xin Long chuckled proudly "You're not going to toss me all over the place today, are you?"

Another chuckle from the dragon made Sokka grimace, but his unease was soon replaced by surprise when he caught sight of a strange sight in the docks: a palanquin.

Just as Sokka was eyeing it with confusion, noticing it looked a little different from what he remembered Azula's palanquin to be like, Azula caught sight of the contraption as well. Her eyes widened as she finished hearing the ship captain's report on the Barge's conditions, for she knew a lot better than Sokka whose palanquin this was.

Ozai stepped out of the palanquin and onto the Barge, once his bearers had placed the palanquin on deck. Xin Long eyed the man with confusion, the ship captain fell silent and dropped on his knees in a reverence right away, just as all the guards on deck did the same. Azula bowed her head respectfully, and even Sokka felt compelled to make a bow… but no. Not to him, he wouldn't. He couldn't. He had always been a disrespectful moron to the Fire Lord because his pride compelled him towards it. Acting properly around Ozai now would most certainly make his behavior suspicious…

"Rise, my daughter" said Ozai, smirking as Azula obeyed him. The Fire Lord's gaze raked over the ship with curiosity.

"Is there anything you forgot to convey to me in our last encounter, Father?" Azula inquired, confused "There was no need to come down here to see me off if that wasn't the case…"

"Am I not allowed to watch my Crown Princess set sail, then?" Ozai asked, smirking. Azula lowered her eyes and shook her head.

"I didn't mean that… you just didn't have to take your time to come here" she said, smiling a little at him "I am honored you would do so, though. Thank you, Father"

"No need to thank me. I merely hoped to ascertain the situation will develop as it's supposed to" he said, his eyes shifting towards Sokka, who stood by the edge of the ship still, his elbows on the railing, his brow furrowed as he pouted slightly "It would seem our great asset isn't fond of the developments, is he?"

"I'm afraid not. He kicked up quite the ruckus when he heard of what you wanted from him" said Azula, glaring at Sokka, who didn't hold her gaze "Though it was rather amusing to watch him comply after I told him of what awaited him if he were to fail in this enterprise…"

"I'm pleased you did so. Knowing what would await him should he fail is bound to be a powerful force of motivation" said Ozai, smirking.

"He seems terrified enough regarding the consequences" said Azula, nodding "You needn't worry, Father. I'll keep a vigilant eye on him and see to the success of this mission, I guarantee it. When my Barge returns, the Fire Nation will have acquired further assets that will make our enemies cower in fear"

"That better be so" said Ozai, smirking "Very well, then, everything seems to be in order. I do hope you have a pleasant voyage"

"Thank you, Father" said Azula, keeping herself from reacting at Ozai's use of that particular word…

"Don't be afraid of giving that fool of a gladiator what he deserves if he rebels against your authority in any way" said Ozai, nodding towards Azula "And do return with good news, Princess. I would loathe to see your first mission as Crown Princess turning into your first prominent failure…"

"It won't be so, Father. I will see to it" Azula said, and Ozai smirked.

"That had best be the case" he said, turning to the palanquin once again, closing the drape behind himself once he was sitting within it.

The palanquin climbed down the ramp again, and the ship was ready to set sail by then. They began moving slowly, and Azula confirmed that everything went according to plan in the engine room before returning to the deck, where Xin Long still stood by Sokka's side, poking at him with his nose.

"Cut it out, you weirdo, why do you like to torment me so…?! Oh, hey, we're moving!" Sokka exclaimed, struggling to keep Xin Long's snout at bay as he noticed the ship was drifting through the water already.

"The sooner we took off, the better" Azula said, firmly, making Sokka jump and turn to face her, that same apprehensive expression on his face… but when he noticed they were alone on the deck he relaxed "We've been moving for a while now, actually"

"Ehehe, yeah, I just didn't notice. Your dragon's annoying, you know?" Sokka said, pointing his index finger at Xin Long, who spat a ring of smoke to surround Sokka's hand.

"Well, so are you, actually" said Azula, smirking "Might be you two should use all your energies to annoy one another and that way the rest of us will be spared from the annoyingness, huh?"

"Aren't you clever, Princess…" said Sokka, smiling. He glanced back at the docks, watching as the bay shrunk slowly. He could still make out the palanquin as it transited slowly through the roads that led to the city "What was your dad doing here, huh? Didn't he get to say goodbye to you in the Palace?"

"I think he wanted to make sure you were on board with this, both literally and figuratively" said Azula, crossing her arms over her chest "And he wished me a, uh, 'pleasant' voyage"

"Pfft" Sokka chuckled, smirking deviously at Azula, who couldn't help but blush "Well, that's very nice of him, isn't it?"

"Terribly so" said Azula, as Sokka placed his hands next to his mouth, making to allegedly amplify his voice through them.

"Don't you worry, Fire Lord, our journey will be so very pleasant!" he said, in a hushed voice despite his mummery "Oh, and just so you know, I've been sleeping with your daughter…!"

His last comment earned him a smack over the head, despite nobody else was within earshot. Sokka chuckled as Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head, looking at him reproachfully.

"You do realize you can't do funny things like those, don't you?" she asked him, and Sokka grinned guiltily "There's no telling when such fun behavior might give us away, so…"

"I know, I know. I was mostly messing with you" he said, smiling at her. Azula rolled her eyes again, smiling a little as well "Though it's true that every little thing can be a risk, so… how are we going to operate during this trip? Granted your dad won't be nearby, so that's one less thing to worry about, but…"

"There are still more than enough things to worry about" said Azula, her hands on her hips "So indeed, anything we dare do would be a risk. Even talking like this right now is a risk"

Sokka pouted, looking at Azula with longing eyes. Yet he blinked blankly when he noticed the smirk on her lips. She ought to stop looking at him that way, her golden eyes gleaming, her pupils dilated… her entire body language made Sokka shiver in anticipation. Anticipation for what? Going by what she'd said just now, for nothing. But going by that smirk, the Princess had her own ideas regarding what risks she wanted them to take…

"Be as quiet as you can be tonight" she said "I'll wait for you in my room once my guards go to sleep. Sailors are bound to patrol the deck in pairs, so keep in mind to avoid them. Got it?"

Sokka's breath hitched, and he smiled happily at that. Azula smirked again as she turned on her heels, satisfied by the conversation.

"Try not to act too cheerful, by the way" she told him, over her shoulder "Remember we're on a rough patch as of late, gladiator"

"Oh, we sure are. We sure are" he said, smiling kindly as he watched her leave.

Her words were somewhat ominous for him, though. One misstep and he might ruin the wonderful relationship between them… and going by the fact that he was attempting to deceive her father, that he would try to sabotage the mission that had been imposed on him, that he was lying to her, he was quite likely to make more than enough mistakes that could break the spell between them. He grimaced and swallowed hard, guessing his expression now did seem to suit the rough patch they were allegedly on.

He didn't want to hurt her, the last thing he wanted was to disappoint her. So he had to figure out how to do the right thing, even if it had to be done in the shadows, through lies and deceit. It would be for the best for everyone involved after all. He would take the worst of Ozai's rage, keeping Azula and the Northern Water Tribe safe…

He sighed and turned to look at the water again, his face a mask of determination. He was playing a terribly dangerous game by tampering with Ozai's plans like this… in fact, he was playing several dangerous games at once. He rather preferred the one he played with Azula under the sheets, though…

The thought made him smile, despite his worries. She would be safe, he told himself, and he would take all the pain as his own. She might not like it, but he was determined to do this. He had a chance to protect what mattered the most to him, even if it might mean his undoing. But he would gladly take the fall, if it would mean the Fire Nation wouldn't destroy anything else… if it would mean Azula would have a chance to steer said nation in a better direction one day. He believed in her potential as future Fire Lord. He meant to sacrifice anything and everything for the purpose of helping her reach the throne, so she could put an end to pointless slaughter for once and for all.

Dancing on the edge of a knife like this one was a dangerous gamble, no doubt, but Sokka had a chance to make a real difference in the world this time. He wouldn't waste it.


	101. Chapter 101

The weather was cool, the skies were white with a thick layer of clouds, and it would have been the perfect day for penguin sledding, Aang thought, if only they weren't busy fishing instead. Surely he should have been doing something more productive, like practicing his waterbending forms with Katara, who became more skilled at the arts every day… but for the time being, fishing it was. He couldn't help but think of his waterbending instructor, almost hearing Toki's reprimanding him for loafing around instead of working hard to polish his skills. The middle-aged waterbender's heavy frown could be a little scary whenever he told Aang he had to remember his role in the world instead of playing around so much…

The Avatar had no trouble imagining what Toki might say if he could see him now, sitting around a small fire with two other people, a few feet away from a crack in the ice that had been carved for the purpose of fishing. He smiled, knowing Toki wouldn't approve. This sort of reckless behavior wasn't advisable, especially the part that included bonding with a Fire Nation enemy, but there was no way to obtain information from their ally if not through these fishing trips.

It wasn't the first time they had taken Kino out for a fishing trip, for they'd spent several months doing it now, but it was the first time in over two weeks that they had a chance for it. The Fire Nation soldier had been elated about it, as he always was, yet after sitting for hours hopelessly, failing to ensnare a single fish, he always grew a lot less enthusiastic.

"… Fishing with fishhooks is actually just a very boring exercise in patience, huh?" Kino growled, with a small pout.

"I warned you about it plenty of times before" replied Katara, simply, staring into their small fire with displeasure "But you kept insisting this was what you wanted to do, didn't you?"

"Well, come on, I have every right to try and eat something decent for once while I'm in this wasteland of yours!" Kino complained, earning himself a glare from Katara that Aang quickly identified as a very bad omen.

"Uh, say, Kino, did you get more information for us today or not?" he asked, with a weak grin, and the Fire Nation soldier pouted.

"Maybe I did, but until I catch a fish, you're not going to hear…!"

"Ugh, quit being an idiot or I'll freeze you for it!" Katara snapped, and Kino gulped "Either you talk now or we'll just call it quits and…!"

"No, no, no! Jeez, no need to be so drastic!" Kino squeaked, gulping "I can tell you, then, but… ah, I just really want to catch one! At least for once!"

Katara rolled her eyes and looked at him skeptically. Kino sighed and nodded, setting down the fishing rod as he realized he wasn't going to get his way. Protesting further wouldn't be too helpful, it wasn't wise to anger this particular waterbender, after all…

"I'm sure you'll get one eventually" Katara said "But in case you forgot, the deal was that we'd take you fishing for information. Whether you would fish successfully or not wasn't part of the deal at all"

"I know, I know. Jeez, you're cranky today" he whispered, and Aang cleared his throat.

"So?" he said, and Kino nodded.

"Well, I went to our new headquarters in Whaletale Island, which is actually our old headquarters but it's new for our squad because we'll be positioned there starting tomorrow…"

"Tomorrow already?" said Aang, raising his eyebrows "Time flew, huh? Then you really will be transferred?"

"Yeah, it's happening at last. But anyways, I got sidetracked here!" said Kino, lifting a finger and frowning for a moment "We reached the island, and there we were and that was cool, but as usual they didn't pay any attention to me and didn't give me any tasks, so I had a chance to sneak out to the Southern Coliseum!"

"The Southern what, now?" Aang asked, confused, and Kino smiled.

"It's the professional Gladiator Arena in the island" he said, proudly. Katara stiffened.

"Wait, so you… did you finally confirm my brother is actually a gladiator?!" she asked, and Kino gulped and shrugged.

"I confirmed the Princess's gladiator is in fact from the Water Tribe" he said, with a dry grin "But they don't have enough information about him in the Coliseum. It seems the Princess has never taken him to fight there. They might one day, though, it seems the Princess travels for fights often…"

"But then… this is as good as nothing!" said Katara, and Kino pouted.

"Hey, it's not as good as nothing!" he said, folding his arms over his chest "I can list you the weapons he has used in battle! I was granted that much information, thank you very much!"

"His weapons, then?" Aang asked, surprised "Well, then, let's hear it!"

"Uh, there's a sword" said Kino, frowning as he counted with his fingers "A black  _jian_. Ring any bells?"

"Not at all" said Katara, raising an eyebrow. Kino grimaced.

"I think there was another sword, yeah" he whispered, softly "One he's only used in one fight so far, a white…"

"My brother didn't fight with swords" she growled "We don't have  _jian_  swords in the Water Tribe"

"W-well, there was, uh, a… a club?" he said, and Katara frowned "Also a, uh, what's the name of those thingies? Those things that you throw and they come back and you…?"

"Karma?" Aang asked, smiling and earning himself a pout from Kino as well.

"Hey, you're the one who's supposed to be nice, remember?" he grumbled as Aang laughed. Katara frowned, though.

"A boomerang, you mean?"

"Oh, yes! That!" Kino shouted, nodding affirmatively. Katara gritted her teeth "That, and I think a knife too. And, uh… bombs. I think"

"What kind of…? Oh, never mind, it's got to be him, or if anything it's someone who took his weapons" said Katara, flexing her legs and surrounding her knees with her arms. Aang looked at her worriedly.

"You think so because of that boomerang?" he asked, and she nodded.

"It was one of his favorite weapons. Granted other Water Tribe slaves might have boomerangs too, but how many of them would there be? I mean… it's likely him. It's him, and he's… he's sponsored by the Princess. Of all horrible things that could have happened to him…"

"Now, now, he can't be that badly off" said Kino, lifting a finger "She may not have the nicest reputation, but if anything she has made a pretty great fighter out of him. He's one of the best non-benders in the League, you know? That's not something any random someone could achieve, Katara!"

"Oh, nonsense. There should be no such League and he shouldn't be fighting in it at all!" she growled, punching the ice with anger "Yet you said that… that the Princess might come to Whaletale Island? Really?"

"Uh, maybe. I don't know" said Kino, insecure "If she ever schedules a fight there I might be able to give you guys a heads-up about it. You probably should see the gladiator yourselves to know if it's your brother or not, right?"

"Right. And if it is, we're going to take him with us" Katara declared, and Kino's jaw dropped as Aang looked at Katara in confusion.

"Woah… do you think it'd be that easy?" he asked, blinking blankly, as Katara shrugged.

"Why not? If we snatch him up in the middle of a fight and take him home on Appa, she won't be able to do anything…"

"I'm not so sure about that" said Kino, biting his lower lip "Word is she has tamed a dragon, you know. So even if that weird shaggy beast of yours could lift him, she would catch up to you and set you all on fire if she wants the gladiator back…"

"Well, why would she want him back that badly? He may have done well, or whatever, on the League, but I'm sure she could find someone better than my brother if she just tries" Katara grunted, lowering her legs again.

"Huh, maybe, but she is a Princess. She might not like it when people take away what she thinks is hers…" said Kino, and Katara scowled.

"Hers, like he could belong to her! He's his own person, and she's reduced him to a slave! Hell, she's likely tortured him in unimaginable ways and we're all here, just… sitting and waiting for fish to bike a hook. This is a waste of time!"

"And going into the Fire Nation to rescue Sokka might only be trouble, on the other hand" Aang whispered, gritting his teeth "We should help him, but your first plan is likely the best so far. We should wait until she brings him to fight in the Southern Coliseum, and once she does we'll take him away as soon as we have a chance"

"And what if she never does?" Katara asked, looking at Aang skeptically. He sighed.

"Then we'll have to think of something else. Maybe an Arena in the Earth Kingdom would be a little more secure, but we'd need a back-up plan…"

"You guys are serious?" said Kino, looking at them in disbelief "You really want to take away the Princess's gladiator? I mean… really?"

"What's the problem? We could take her on, Aang and I" said Katara, proudly "We're both waterbenders, and everyone knows water bests fire, so…"

"Uh, yeah, but she's only the best firebender alive… if the rumors are true, anyways" said Kino, and Aang's eyebrows rose.

"Is that for real? The best firebender alive?"

"She makes fire of different colors and all" said Kino, raising his eyebrows and nodding "… Or at least that's what the rumors say"

"Well, Kattan and Haka did say she fought with blue fire, but that makes no difference either way" said Katara, rolling her eyes "I don't care how strong she is, not even she would hold her own against two of us. So yeah, we really think we can take her"

"Heh, fine then. If you die then that's too bad" said Kino, shrugging carelessly before actually looking sad at the thought "Eh, it actually will be. You two are as good as my only friends, so… would be a pity to lose you"

"We're… your friends?" Katara asked, surprised. Kino blushed a little and laughed.

"Well, why not?" he said, grinning "You don't ignore me, you take me on fishing trips and you are very eager to hear what I might have to say! So yeah, I think we're friends after all, right?"

"Right" said Aang, smiling too. Katara didn't imitate them. The idea of being friends with a Fire Nation soldier didn't sit too well with her, despite their frequent encounters and the fact that she doubted Kino meant to harm them in any way. Her prejudices against his nation seemed to run a little too deeply.

"So yeah, I'd rather you don't die in some crazy suicide mission" he said, focusing on his fishing rod again. He was busy attaching new bait on it "I wouldn't be able to stop you if you tried, but don't you think it'd be a waste? You're the last waterbenders down here, so if just for your Tribe's sake you should just stay safe and out of… oh, hey! I only noticed that now, no wonder you two are together! Did you get set up for marriage or something?"

"Wait, wait, what?!" said Katara, her eyes widening as Aang blushed deeply.

"Well, it's something they always do in the Fire Nation!" said Kino, smiling "Often people set up marriages between people of powerful lineages or something, in hopes an even more powerful firebender will be born…!"

"Does that ever work?" Aang asked, puzzled, and Kino shrugged.

"I dunno. Maybe?" he said, smiling awkwardly "I've heard rumors of some marriages that were made to produce powerful firebenders… though then they had non-benders and their lives fell apart. Sad stuff, of course. But I mean, the odds are that having a strong bender as your parent would have something to do with inheriting the skills, right?"

"You think bending is inherited?" Katara asked, confused "Did… did any Fire Nation studies prove that?"

"Uh, not that I know" said Kino, shrugging "But maybe it's more likely for benders to have bending children than for them to have non-benders, right?"

"I'd agree, but… there were no benders in my family before me" said Katara, frowning.

"The Air Nomads were all airbenders…" Aang said, but a sharp glare from Katara silenced him as he noticed his mistake. Fortunately, Kino was too busy with his fishhook to pay them enough attention "Or at least, that's what I've heard, haha. Yeah. They were, uh, very spiritual, apparently…"

"Heh, really?" said Kino, looking up in surprise "If's a matter of spirituality, then the Fire Sages should be airbenders too…"

"What sort of logic is that?" said Katara, grimacing "If they're Fire Sages, they should be firebenders…"

"Exactly!" said Kino, grinning "People are born with the ability to bend, and the element they bend depends on what their heritage is. You can't just become an airbender because you start praying a lot…"

"Uh, airbenders would meditate" Aang said, and Kino looked at him in surprise. Aang gulped "I… I think as much, anyways"

"Oh, well, whatever it is they did, you can't just be an airbender out of nowhere just because you feel like it" he said, smiling "Else anyone could become, I don't know, Avatars just because they want to. And that's not possible, is it?"

"No. Not a chance there's an Avatar anywhere, whatsoever!" Aang said, nodding. Katara rolled her eyes before giving him a significant, disapproving glare. Aang shrugged and grimaced.

"I know, right? It's almost sad, really" said Kino, with a sigh, as he moved towards the fishing hole in the ice, placing the fish hook inside and sitting to wait patiently, the rod in his gloved hands "The idea of some super entity that keeps balance is kind of neat, isn't it?"

"Uh, aren't you Fire Nation? Don't you people want the Avatar dead?" Katara asked, and Kino blinked blankly.

"Well, we are ordered, as soldiers, to capture the Avatar on sight, but it's kind of hard to do that when there's been no sign of the Avatar for ages, right?" he said, shrugging "I'm just saying, it would be pretty interesting to meet someone who can bend every element. I can't even bend a single one myself, so benders always have been really impressive for me…"

"Is that why you think so highly of that Princess?" Katara asked spitefully, and Kino smiled.

"Well, that and many other things. She sounds terrifying, but at the same time there are so many cool rumors about her… I mean, as I told you just now, they say she has tamed a dragon, no less!"

"I admit that's pretty unusual" Aang said, smiling with interest "I remember that… uh, that in old books, dragons were said to be pretty hard to tame"

"I don't even know how it's done" said Kino, with a weak grin "But it's awesome because nobody had seen dragons for, I don't know, over thirty years. I thought they were extinct or so, I'd heard as much, but I guess not!"

"Are you sure she tamed him?" Katara asked, raising an eyebrow "Maybe she beat him up and tied him down so he would become her slave…"

"Hey…" said Kino, looking at Katara doubtfully "I don't know anything for certain, but I'm pretty sure…! Oh… uh, ah, hey? I think… I think I got a bite!"

"Wait, you did what?!" Katara asked and Aang grimaced.

"Oh, I did, I did!" he exclaimed, beaming wildly until the fishing rod jolted him violently towards the crack in the ice "Ah, hey! Quit that!"

"Kino, let it go!" Aang said, standing up and staring at the Fire Nation soldier warily.

He had never told Kino as much, but he had been responsible for the lack of fish biting the young man's fishhook during all this time. While Kino got distracted he would bend the water inconspicuously, redirecting any fish that might be approaching his hook. The idea of fishing didn't really sit well with him, and he didn't want to see these creatures suffer because this was Kino's idea of fun…

"What, let it go? Right now?! It's the first time I get one of these!" he cried out, pouting "Not a chance, Aang! Help me here!"

"Kino, please…!"

But Kino didn't listen. He clutched his rod with all his might, standing up and leaning back… and with a loud cracking noise, a tiger seal tore through the ice and hovered above them briefly, clutching the fishhook tightly between its jaws.

Kino's eyes flew open in the brief moments as the tiger seal came flying towards him. He had expected an actual fish, not a tiger seal! He let go of the rod and screamed, covering his face with his hands as gravity did its job to make the angry creature fall atop him…

But the tiger seal didn't come crashing on Kino. The soldier continued to scream and shrink in his frame, terrified of what the creature would do to him… until he noticed that, by all logic, the tiger seal should have already done its worst after a couple of seconds. Why hadn't it?

He blinked blankly before turning to see the creature was suspended in mid-air for no plausible reason, still biting on the fishhook. When its eyes met Kino's it attempted to attack him, identifying him as the fisherman who had tricked it into taking his bait. Kino flinched and dropped back, afraid the claws might reach him, but the tiger seal started to hover away against its will, looked like.

Kino glanced behind him when he noticed one of his companions was moving behind him. Aang's arms were performing circular motions as the tiger seal hovered in the air.

"Sorry about that!" he shouted to the creature, using a little gust of air to remove the fishhook from the creature's jaws, but allowing it to keep the bait as a treat "We won't bother you anymore!"

The tiger seal growled as a response, but once Aang had lowered it into the water it simply swum away. Aang sighed and looked at Kino with irritation as the Fire Nation soldier gulped guiltily.

"I told you to just let it go, didn't I?" Aang snapped, and Kino smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but it was my first catch! You couldn't just expect me to…!"

"Aang…"

Aang frowned upon hearing Katara call him hoarsely. Her eyes were wide as she looked at him in disbelief. Had he not noticed what he'd done just now?

"I have to say I'm surprised you could bend the water in the air like that, though" said Kino, startling them. It was only then that Aang realized his mistake "I'd never heard of something like that!"

The color drained from Aang's face as Kino looked at him with curiosity and confusion. Was he really too thick to realize Aang had just used his airbending? Aang turned to Katara, his eyes wide and apologetic. She responded with a ruthless stare. There was nothing to be done by now. Even if Kino was too naïve to understand things, he might tell his fellow guards of what he'd seen. And if the Fire Nation heard that the Avatar was hiding in the South Pole, all commands to evacuate the settlement would disappear as suddenly as they had appeared. They would come after Aang immediately, and there would be no place to hide…

"K-Kino…" said Aang, looking at him warily. Maybe they could convince him that what he had seen wasn't at all what he had thought it was…

"I've heard there's water in the air before but this was kind of strange anyways. I guess you're that good a waterbender, huh?" he said, but it was then that he noticed the expressions on his friends' faces "Uh, guys? What's the matter?"

"We can't just… we have to do something, Aang" said Katara, looking at Aang meaningfully. Aang gritted his teeth and looked at her sternly.

"Like what? Katara…"

"Aang, this is serious!" she exclaimed "This is precisely what we should have known would happen if we kept doing this, and…!"

"Katara, I'm sorry! It just… came out of me by instinct, I didn't mean to" said Aang, and Katara huffed.

"You're not the problem, Aang, the problem is…" she said, looking at Kino warily…

… To find realization was dawning in his eyes now. As his gaze shifted back and forth between Aang and Katara, Kino started to frown and to step backwards warily.

"Y-you… you weren't bending the water in the air, were you?" he asked. Aang's stomach sank.

"Kino…"

"You're… a vegetarian, right? And you have weird name that doesn't sound Water Tribe at all… y-you're… oh, spirits, you're…" he said, as he reached a hand out towards his spear, the weapon he had been assigned for his rounds in the settlement. Katara glared at him.

"Don't you dare!" she shouted, unleashing a water whip towards Kino and slapping his hand hard. Kino flinched and whimpered, gritting his teeth at the pain, yet he still looked at Aang and Katara in confusion and terror.

"Stay back!" he shouted, trembling as he pulled out a pocket knife now. Katara's glare only grew fiercer.

"Katara, calm down! Just… let's talk this through!" Aang said, pleadingly, before turning to Kino "Kino, please, this isn't what…"

"This isn't what it looks like?! S-so you're not an airbender, then?!" he asked, holding the knife at the level of his shoulders "You're not… the Avatar?!"

Aang gritted his teeth. So much for hoping to salvage the situation. Granted he and Katara weren't the best liars, but if only she hadn't reacted as she had, maybe they could have still misled Kino. As it was, though, the situation was hopeless. The Fire Nation soldier was well aware of who he was now, and he seemed beyond horrified by the discovery.

"Makes… makes perfect sense now that you'd know so much about Air Nomads" he said, swallowing hard "And that creature, the one you jumped down from when we were attacking your Tribe… it was some airbender creature, wasn't it?!"

"Kino, please, you have to listen!" Aang exclaimed "We're not your enemies, you don't have to…!"

"You're not my enemies?! Heck, that's what you've always been!" said Kino, gritting his teeth "And even then I figured we could be friends, but… but you're the Avatar!"

"Aang, this is useless! We have to restrain him or he'll run back to his people and give you away to them! We can't just sit around a fire and try to settle things by talking!" Katara snapped, pulling forth another stream of water out of the piled snow near them. Aang's eyes widened.

"Katara, no!"

Kino jumped back as the water lunged towards him. He had no idea how to avoid it, knowing all too well that the waterbender had an advantage over him in this situation. Katara was in her element, and even if Aang didn't want to fight along with her, she alone would achieve more than enough on her own against a single, nigh disarmed soldier.

Things only got worse for Kino when, in his attempt to evade Katara's attacks, he stumbled into the hole in which he had been fishing. He cringed as he fell into the freezing water, and to no surprise, Katara used the opportunity to freeze him and keep him place. Kino screamed, the ice seeming to burn into his skin.

"Katara, stop it!" Aang shouted, desperate, as Katara pulled Kino towards them, a fierce snarl on her face.

"Let me go!" Kino growled, grimacing as he squirmed "It hurts!"

"Katara!" Aang looked at the waterbender in despair, making her resolve weaken for a moment.

"Aang, we can't let him go now! Things were fine as long as he didn't realize who you were, but now…!"

"Then because he realized who I am you're going to freeze him to death?!" Aang exclaimed, and Katara gritted her teeth before letting the ice melt around Kino. He fell on the ice, shivering violently as he rubbed his arms while he struggled to regain his warmth.

"Aang, please, stop thinking with your heart for a minute and use your head!" Katara snapped "If he gets away you might be killed! The entire Tribe might end up dead! We knew we were taking a risk with this, and now it paid off we have to do something about it! I can't just…!"

"You can't just hurt him and expect him to cooperate with us! You can't take him captive for no reason and think the Fire Nation will take that well!" said Aang "You might doom your Tribe all the same if you take one of their soldiers captive for no apparent reason! So Katara, just…!"

"Aang, I'm doing this for your own good!"

"Well, you're not going to hurt him just because of me!" Aang replied, as Kino gritted his teeth and stood up.

"Oh, so then you're going to fight me because I'm trying to…!" Katara started, but she fell quiet when she noticed Kino had turned on his heels and was now stumbling his way down the ice plain "Damn it, you're not getting away!"

"Katara, cut it out!" Aang shouted, but the waterbender had already began to bend the nearby snow, using it to catapult herself forward fast enough to reach Kino, who was shuddering as he tried to run away.

Kino heard her coming, knowing she would not let him go now. Knowing she might really freeze him alive this time around. There was no escape from his discovery, no way he would get away from this without retribution. He should have known. All along he had been growing too friendly towards the enemy, long before understanding which enemy he was dealing with, exactly.

The Fire Lord needed the Avatar to be caught. Kino knew that was the mission that was given to the banished Prince so he could regain his honor. He wanted the Avatar behind bars, or even dead, to prevent him from getting in the way of the Fire Nation's expansion. And Kino was obligated, by his loyalty to his people and the vows he had sworn, to deliver the Avatar to the Fire Lord if he were to find him.

He gritted his teeth and turned his head, knowing that sort of thing would be folly. Not only was Aang too powerful for him to capture, but there was Katara as well, who wouldn't stand for it…

Aang and Katara. The very two people he had just referred to as his only friends barely instants later.

And one of those two people seemed to be about to kill him.

"Katara, stop!" Aang shouted again, as Kino turned with a panicked look on his face.

Katara was coming towards him, propelled by the avalanche-like wave of snow she had built to reach him. One of her hands reached out to him just as Kino turned around, his knife held tight on his right hand still…

It was Katara who screamed now as the blade cut the palm of her hand sharply. The wave of snow crumbled behind her, but not before it could bury Kino waist-deep inside of it. Katara collapsed only a few feet ahead of him, droplets of red staining the pristine snow.

"Katara…?" Aang said, his eyes wide as Kino dropped the knife, seeming horrified by the thin line of blood that trickled on it "KATARA!"

He rushed towards them as Kino dug himself out of the snow, his eyes still wide with panic. He wasn't even sure of what he'd done to her, but he could still see the blood that was dripping on the snow.

"K-Katara? Are you…?" he asked, reaching out to her as he finally got out of the snow, but his attempt to reach a hand towards her was slapped away.

But not by Katara. By the Avatar.

"Stay away from her!" Aang roared now, angrily, as he surrounded Katara with an arm and pulled her closer to him, his eyes wide in fear "Are okay? Katara…"

"I-I'm fine. I'm fine" she said, breathing heavily as the pain stung her palm. She gritted her teeth as she removed her cut mitten with difficulty, and finding a deep gash in her hand.

Aang cringed when he saw the wound. He turned to Kino, who jumped back with fear and looked at Aang apologetically.

"I didn't mean to hurt…! I wasn't trying to harm her!" he exclaimed, but Aang's fierce scowl was enough to make him pull back.

"Kino, just…!" he said, breathing in slowly and shaking his head before glaring at him "Just stay away from us!"

"Aang…" he said, but the Avatar didn't look at him anymore. Katara shivered as he held her, and he grimaced as she tried to cleanse the wound with loose snow "… I'm sorry"

Kino turned away and started back to the settlement, almost hoping now that one of the two benders would come after him, yet knowing neither would. Aang was no killer, yet the anger in his eyes just now had been far more terrifying than Katara's previous attacks at Kino. He gulped as he ran to the settlement, shivering violently and wondering how had he wound up in such a mess. He had found the Avatar… and he had lost his only friends ever in the process.

* * *

"Katara, I'm sorry, I'm really…" Aang said, as she cringed and cleansed the wound.

"Don't… you have nothing to be sorry for" she said, as she pressed some snow to her palm "This wound is my fault. I should have… shouldn't have acted so erratically. I know I can end up hurting myself for being so reckless, but I got carried away…"

"But I… I'm the reason he even had a chance to do this to you" said Aang, grimacing "If I hadn't forced him to meet us, and if I had just understood…"

"Understood what?" Katara asked, as Aang lowered his head.

"That… that you were probably right about the Fire Nation. I… I thought maybe Kino wouldn't want to deliver me to the Fire Lord, but you saw how he acted. It's probably the only on his mind now. And then he hurt you, and…! I can't believe I let him do this to you. I'm so sorry, Katara…"

"Stop feeling so bad about it, I kind of brought it upon myself" said Katara, grinding her teeth as the water seeped into the wound "I lashed out at him. He only hurt me by mistake, which, well, is pretty sad if you think abo-…"

Katara stopped midsentence when a strange glow came from her hands. Aang as well frowned and looked at her in confusion as Katara felt a strange, tingling sensation in her palm…

"What on earth…?" she said, as the glow disappeared and she pulled her hand back.

There was no wound anymore. Her hand was back in perfect shape.

"How did I…?" she whispered, looking at Aang in confusion. There seemed to be some recognition in his eyes, to her surprise.

"I… I'd heard of the northern waterbenders' healing skills" he said, taking Katara's hand in his "But I never heard of anyone having such skills in the South Pole. I mean… it has to be that, right?"

"I have no idea" said Katara, looking at Aang with confusion "I've never healed myself like this… or anyone else, for that matter. Have you ever…?"

"Healed? No. I'd heard of it, but… I never managed to do it" he said, as they stood up with a little difficulty.

"We should probably go after him, Aang" said Katara, gulping "And talk things through, as you wanted us to. Maybe if we're not as rash as I was, he won't tell his people about you. Or do you think…?"

"I… I don't know what to think anymore" said Aang, sighing "Maybe it's time they find out what they're dealing with after all. But if they do, I… I'll have to leave the South Pole. I can't put your Tribe in danger"

"Well, then, if you go I'm coming with you" Katara said, with determination "I don't care where, but you're not going alone. And if we're going to save my brother one day, then…"

"We'll have to fight the Fire Nation one way or another anyhow" he said, gulping "Even if I don't like it, we have no choice. Kino might… he might still not betray us. But he does see us as the enemy either way. We can't keep sitting around doing nothing"

"It's what I've always told you" said Katara, frowning "It's time we do something. We can't stand by forever and wait for a signal from the spirits or so. Unless we take a stand, nothing will change. And…"

"And who's better to make things change than me" said Aang, nodding weakly.

Katara could see the hesitation in his eyes. He was scared, and rightfully so. If Kino informed his fellow soldiers that the Avatar was alive, there was no telling what sort of havoc would be wreaked down here. Was Aang powerful enough to keep the Fire Nation's forces at bay? He was a prodigious bender in both the elements he could wield, but Katara wasn't sure if that would be enough. Granted the environment would be favorable for him, but even the Avatar might be outmatched if the Fire Nation navy brought all their forces to find him.

"Shouldn't we try to stop Kino anyways?" asked Katara, as Aang gazed in the direction their friend had left.

"I shouldn't have let him go. I'm sorry, I kind of lost it when he hurt you" he said, his jaw clenched as he saw the white clouds above had darkened suddenly "But going after him now isn't a good idea. It looks like a storm is coming"

Katara had to concede Aang was right. The grey clouds were shifting dangerously. A snow storm would be upon them in no time.

"You think he'll be in his settlement before the storm hits?"

"For his sake, let's hope so" said Aang. Katara swallowed hard as a dark thought materialized in her mind: for their sake, and for Aang's sake… maybe it would be better if the storm stopped Kino from returning to his people "We should go too"

"Yes" said Katara, nodding "Let's go home"

* * *

Hakoda frowned as he saw the clouds swirling in the distance. It was the omen of a snow storm, as he knew too well, and while everyone in the Tribe was already safely tucked inside their homes, two people were still outside the village. One of them, of course, his own daughter.

As a last desperate resort, he climbed the village's watch tower in hopes to spot them in the horizon somewhere. It wasn't easy to find them in the dark, though, the thick clouds made it hard to find the two young adults who had taken up the duty of watching the settlement today.

They should have known better than to keep watch when the weather was this bleak, Hakoda thought, as he scanned the landscape with difficulty… but there. Two figures approaching the tribe's walls. It had to be them.

He rushed to meet them, hoping to usher them inside right away, but he didn't miss the troubled looks on their faces as they entered the town. Katara's right hand was uncovered, too, for some reason…

"Are you both alright?" he asked "You should've seen there was a storm coming from a long time ago! Keeping watch in those conditions is not advised"

"We were just…" said Katara, as Hakoda looked at them questioningly "Dad, I think… we need to talk"

"Do we?" he said, frowning. The look of dread on their faces brought a thousand potential explanations to his mind, yet he hoped none of the strange scenarios he was imagining would turn out to be true "What happened to your mitten, Katara?"

"It's part of what we need to talk about" she said, looking at Aang guiltily as he swallowed hard and nodded.

"This sounds worse by the minute. Let's get inside quickly" said Hakoda, glancing up at the sky "It's already starting to snow"

An hour later, Hakoda's questions had been answered as they shared dinner in the Tribe's chief's igloo. Yet now that everything made sense, Hakoda found he would much rather have remained in complete ignorance to the folly Katara and Aang had committed.

"So you… you were gaining information from a Fire Nation soldier" said Hakoda, frowning as Aang and Katara finished their tale "Meeting him in secret, knowing in how much danger you were getting yourselves into…?"

"We made a mistake. I made a mistake" said Aang, swallowing hard and lowering his head "I thought Kino could be trusted… he seemed a good person, but even good people can be Fire Nation soldiers. I thought he wouldn't hurt Katara, but…"

"But he's an enemy" said Hakoda, sternly "And as good a person as he may have seemed, he has a job to do, and he swears loyalty to the Fire Lord. If he didn't kill you on sight, it's merely because he knew he wouldn't prove capable of overpowering you on his own. The next thing we know, there will be a battalion of Fire Nation forces ready to take our Tribe by storm, and that will only grow worse once the Fire Lord hears of where you're hiding!"

"I know. I know" said Aang, nodding "And I'm sorry. I never meant to put your people in danger, let alone Katara. I know what I must do now, though, and I…"

"It's not only about my people and Katara, Aang" said Hakoda, looking at him a little more softly now "You've been with us for a year now, shared our home, our meals, our lifestyle… I speak out of concern for your wellbeing as well as that of everyone else. You're the world's only hope against the Fire Nation, it's true, but I never wanted to sacrifice you in some poorly executed military attempt to dethrone the Fire Lord. You are as good as part of our Tribe now. And I had meant to protect all of my Tribe"

"So did I" said Aang, looking at Hakoda remorsefully "But my decisions… they led to Katara being hurt, and…"

"I'm fine now, Aang" she said, her eyes sad as she tried to focus on her meal "You don't have to worry about me"

"Even so, Katara…" said Aang, glancing at her hand worriedly.

"Healing abilities aren't too common amongst waterbenders, especially in the South Pole" said Hakoda, but Kanna smiled.

"They are far more common in the North Pole, Hakoda" she said, reaching out to touch Katara's hand with one of hers "It seems your healing skills must have been passed down from my side of the family somehow"

Katara found it in her to smile at her grandmother, despite herself. She squeezed her hand before looking at her father doubtfully.

"I know you're mad about this, and you have every right to be" she said "But Kino actually gave us important information, Dad. He told us that they had stopped attacking the settlement under the Fire Lord's orders, though they had no idea why he gave that order. And not just this, but…"

Katara choked for a moment as she steeled herself to say the next words. Hakoda frowned, looking at his daughter with confusion.

"But what, Katara?"

"I… I asked him about Sokka" she said, and Hakoda's eyes widened "He had no information about him at first, but he asked in the settlement afterwards, and he told us that the Princess didn't kill him. That she… she took him to the Fire Nation, to make him a slave"

"A… Katara, this is… is this why you two kept meeting this soldier?!" he asked, his eyes wide "Katara, for all you know he was lying about all this! He could have simply been feeding you false information to distract you both while the rest of his squad readied themselves to attack our Tribe!"

"But… that never happened. There were no attacks" said Aang, and Hakoda glared at him.

"For all you knew, there could have been" he said, and Aang shook his head.

"Kino isn't like that at all, Hakoda, he's…!" he started, but he fell silent again as he remembered, once more, that the soldier was likely to have sold him out to the Fire Lord by now.

"Dad, he wasn't half as clever or capable of cruel things as we could have thought" said Katara, swallowing hard "We have no evidence that his information on Sokka is real, that's true, but he's a lot less dangerous than you think he…"

"You say this after he harmed you?"

"It was a mistake! I… I lashed out precisely because I kept acting the way you are right now!" Katara exclaimed "I was angry, and I kept attacking him, and all he wanted was to get away from me because he was scared of what I might do to him! When he hurt me, it was, well, some sort of wake-up call. He didn't want to hurt me, Dad. And… he might not want to hurt Aang either. He'd told us we were his only friends just minutes before, and…"

"And you truly believe everything this soldier told you?" Hakoda asked, skeptical.

"If you knew him, you'd understand" said Aang "He's not the lying type. At least, he doesn't look to be"

"If he's not a liar, what guarantees that those he asked about Sokka weren't lying too? How do you know if…?" he said, breathing out and shaking his head "You can't believe this sort of mad talk blindly Katara. It doesn't matter how much you want your brother to be alive…!"

"Is it so bad to hope he might still be alive, Dad?" she asked, looking at him in disbelief "Or is it just so much easier to think he's not because that way you don't have to feel bad over having left him in the clutches of that Fire Nation bitch for three years?!"

"Katara…!"

"Dad, he might have been lying, but what if it's true?" she asked, looking at him intensely "What if Sokka is still out there? Should we just sit here forever and hope he'll come back to us miraculously instead of taking his fate into our own hands?!"

"Katara, if he's still alive, he wouldn't want you putting yourself in the line of fire in an attempt to steal him away from some Fire Nation Princess! That would likely only result in both of you dying!" Hakoda bellowed.

"Dad, I know you're afraid of losing me, but you can't just…!"

"If Sokka were alive, Katara…" said Hakoda, gritting his teeth "If he's still alive after all this time, then maybe he really will return to us one day. If he has endured this slavery it could only be with one purpose in mind. But if he's dead, you'll throw yourself at the Fire Nation chasing a ghost. You'll achieve the same as I would have if I'd attempted to take revenge against the bastard that killed your mother as I wanted to at first!"

"It's different, Dad" said Katara, lowering her gaze "Because… you couldn't get mom back no matter what. But if there's a chance Sokka is still alive, shouldn't we try to do something? At least to communicate with him somehow?"

"How, then?" said Hakoda, looking at Katara questioningly "What's your best idea, Katara?"

"I'm the best idea we've got" said Aang, and Hakoda sighed.

"Not this again…"

"Hakoda, if the Fire Nation finds out I'm here, I have to leave to keep you all safe" said Aang "I won't have their forces storming your Tribe because I made a stupid mistake. So… I'll leave, and if I can find a way to send a message to him, from his family, then I will"

"Or perhaps you'll be caught and enslaved just as he was" said Hakoda "That is, if they don't want you dead. Aang, this is…"

"Yes, it's not ideal, but it's the only way to keep you all safe by now" said Aang, swallowing hard "And it's the only way to find out if Kino told us the truth about Sokka"

Hakoda's brow was deeply furrowed as he considered the airbender's words. He shook his head and ran a hand over his hair, fearing this entire situation had rendered his hair much greyer in a matter of minutes.

"We'll know if the Fire Nation means to attack our village when the storm lets down" said Hakoda, standing up from the table "If they do attack, you will leave, Aang. If they don't… we'll have to build our defenses further if just as a precaution. But as long as that soldier knows who you are, Aang, chances are Fire Nation troops will storm our Tribe whenever they see fit to do so. You need to learn from this. You can't trust everyone blindly just because you think they might be good people. Appearances are deceiving… and you can't forget we're still at war"

Aang swallowed and nodded, relieved that at least he might be able to stay a little longer. Granted he had the feeling he needed to leave, because he wasn't achieving much by staying in the South Pole… but at the same time, there was stability here. He felt welcome. He knew he wouldn't find that same stability easily anywhere else.

Hakoda retired to his room, and Kanna soon followed his lead. The two benders remained seating at the table, though. Katara reached for Aang's hand and rubbed his knuckles gently, giving him a determined look.

"If you're leaving, I'm going with you" she said.

Aang took a deep breath and nodded, knowing he wouldn't be able to dissuade her about that. And knowing, also, that Hakoda would never approve of this. Yet he had said so himself, as long as Kino knew the truth, Aang was putting everyone in jeopardy. And in order to keep everyone safe from the Fire Nation…

* * *

"Stupid storm. It had to start snowing just as we're about to leave" the settlement's squad captain growled, rolling his eyes as he stepped away from the window "And so we have to waste one more day in this freezing hell. Just our luck"

Kino ate dinner quietly in the boisterous dining room within the settlement. Normally he was eager to start conversations with anyone, hoping to catch someone's eye for long enough for them to at least learn his name, if nothing else. But not today. Today he was buried deep in his own thoughts as he debated internally between what he should do and what he wanted to do.

"It's not going to stop today, Cap" said one of the lieutenants, sighing "We've been here long enough to see how the weather sucks in this wretched place"

"We have, but even so…! Agh, whatever, I guess you're right. If we set out in the middle of the storm we're probably just going to die" he said, throwing his hands in the air and storming off to the quarters he had vacated earlier "Get some sleep, everyone. We're setting out as soon as the storm is through, and if you're not ready by then you're staying in this hellhole!"

Kino sighed and nodded as the others replied affirmatively to the captain's orders. They would sleep for a few hours, and then wake as soon as the Captain shouted at them to get up. It was how it had been throughout Kino's time as a soldier in the settlement. He had overslept a few times and found himself out of breakfast for it, but this time, the price for oversleeping would be much steeper…

The thought of staying all alone in the cold settlement made Kino shiver unpleasantly. He didn't want to be alone… yet, he had been alone anyhow. Ever since he had been sent here he had been lonely. Always ignored by the rest of his comrades, never seen, never heard… he had gotten used to it, undeniably, but he had started to feel much better about himself after Katara and Aang had entered his life.

And now they thought he would sell them out.

It was what he had to do, no doubt. It was what everyone expected of a soldier who discovered where the Avatar had been hiding for so long. Yet his entire body rejected the notion of giving his friend away to his death. Because no doubt that was what would await him if Fire Lord Ozai knew he was alive. If Fire Lord Ozai ever had the Avatar in his clutches.

He had nothing to gain from it but glory for himself. He didn't even have a family to share that glory with, having been raised in an orphanage. He wouldn't help anyone by doing what was expected of him. Because it's not like Aang was hurting anyone, was he? He had been trying to stop Katara from hurting Kino, even, and he had only reacted against him when he had cut Katara by mistake. Aang was so gentle-mannered, the nicest guy he knew. How could he possibly cause him this much strife…?

But he had no choice. If he didn't reveal the truth to the Fire Lord, he was as good as a traitor. And if he was a traitor, it would be his head at stake…

If only, though. Kino frowned, watching how everyone filed into their sleeping bunks, leaving him behind in the dining room. They didn't notice him. He was as good as a ghost. Could a ghost be a traitor? Could an invisible man be executed for withholding information? He snorted at the thought.

"The Avatar is alive" he whispered. Nobody heard him, of course. He cleared his throat and now exclaimed "The Avatar is alive!"

No reaction again. He took a deep breath and yelled as loudly as he could.

"THE AVATAR IS ALIVE!"

"SHUT UP, YOU IDIOT, WE'RE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!"

Kino gulped and lowered his head. That was the first time in a few weeks someone had talked to him directly, and he had only been told to be quiet. Nobody cared for what he had to say. It was beyond absurd to expect the Fire Lord to stop and listen to his claim that he had met and befriended the Avatar, wasn't it? If not even his fellow soldiers cared for what he had to say, why would Ozai?

He wondered indeed as he tucked in, sighing as he rested in the lower bed in his bunk. He had claimed the top bed on his first day here, but another soldier had knocked his bag off, and by the time Kino returned he found his fellow soldier fast asleep in the bed that should have been his. His complaints were ignored, and the captain, the only one who listened to him once in a while, told him to get over it and stick to the lower bunk, that it made no difference either way.

He slipped under the covers, his eyes wide open. He was a nobody amongst his peers, and the only way to become somebody was to turn in the very people who had made him feel worth something for the first time in years. The very people who had become his friends…

Hours later, the captain shouted at everyone to wake up and get their gear immediately. The storm had settled down, and it was time to move out. Whaletale Island's station awaited, and none of the soldiers wanted to spend another second in the South Pole.

"Is everyone aboard?" the captain called out, and he made a headcount as the soldiers settled on the ship. He nodded when he finished counting, satisfied, and turned to the ship's captain "Get us moving, then! It's about time we left this blasted wasteland!"

And with that, the Fire Nation relinquished the settlement they had fought many battles for. The settlement where the Water Tribe's Chief's son had been dragged away from his home, where soldiers and warriors had died in a struggle to defend what each culture believed as rightfully theirs…

* * *

"They're… gone. That's their last ship, Dad. They… they really left"

Hakoda couldn't believe his eyes as him, Aang, Katara, Haka and Kattan watched the ship drifting away through white mist. Aang swallowed hard, uncertain if the sight was a good omen or if it only meant that the Fire Nation would leave the Pole in order to bring proper reinforcements…

"Your source told you that they would be leaving today?" Hakoda asked, and Katara nodded.

"He mentioned… that they meant to make for the Whaletale Island outpost. I guess we forgot about that, though" she whispered, looking at Aang, who frowned.

"Might be they want reinforcements, this time for certain. Well, that is, unless Kino didn't tell them anything" he said, and Katara bit her lip.

"Maybe we should check the settlement" suggested Haka "Back when Sokka led us we learned the place's layout well enough. We should check in case that soldier left any messages for you two or something, right?"

"Do you think he would have had a chance to do that without raising any suspicions?" Hakoda asked, and Katara snorted.

"Actually, yes. If someone could do that without being noticed, it's Kino" she said, as the group moved out, headed towards the settlement.

"Is he that stealthy?" Kattan asked, looking at Aang in surprise "Your contact sounds pretty intimidating…"

"Oh, that's the last thing he was" said Aang, smiling "If you'd known him… well, he was actually not stealthy at all. It's just that… for some reason his fellow soldiers didn't take him into account often. At least that's what he told us"

"That most likely changed when he told them he'd found you, though" said Hakoda, frowning heavily. Talk of this soldier only served to make his hair stand on end. He had a very hard time imagining the innocent soldier his daughter had described as anything but a fake persona.

They arrived at the settlement's outer gates, finding them closed but not locked. Haka and Kattan filed inside first, warily, with their boomerangs held firmly in their hands, just in case they found something dangerous within the building.

"You don't think they would have left dynamite to blow this place up or something, do you?" Katara asked Aang, looking around herself warily as well. Aang bit his lip.

"I wish I could say, but I don't think so…"

"Hey! Hey, who goes there?!" Kattan shouted suddenly, alerting everyone else as he lifted his boomerang and threw it at the central building's door.

"Wait, don't hurt me!" a familiar voice squeaked as the door closed again promptly, causing the boomerang to rebound against the metal "I mean no harm! Seriously!"

"What…?" said Katara, her eyes widening.

"Kino?!" Aang exclaimed, and the door opened a little again.

"Aang?" said a weak voice now. A head with black hair and large brown eyes appeared at the ajar door "Is it really…? Hey, It's you, Aang! Katara!"

"Kino, how…?" Katara said, as the soldier fell clumsily past the door and into the snow.

He grimaced at the cold before rushing his way towards the Water Tribe group, a relieved smile on his face until he remembered the events from the previous day. He slowed down as he approached, looking at Katara warily and apologetically.

"Is your hand okay? I didn't mean to hurt you, but…!"

"I'm fine, Kino. Actually fine" she said, smiling "There's nothing to worry about"

"Huh, really?" he said, sighing with relief… before noticing there were three other people in this group, complete strangers that were regarding him with dangerous glowers "U-uh, ummm… hey, Water Tribesmen! H-how's it going?"

"Is this the informant, Katara?" Hakoda asked, regarding Kino with a frown as he looked him up and down "He… doesn't look like soldier material"

"He's not soldier material, it's true, but still…"

"Hey!" Kino said, pouting a little, but Aang stepped towards him, a worried look on his face.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, Kino" he said "I… got a little emotional back then, but… Kino, did you say anything to your people about me? Did they leave for reinforcements or something?"

"Uh, no, they left because they were scheduled to, as I told you guys" he said, with a smile "And, truth is, so was I, but…"

"But you stayed for no reason?" Katara asked "All alone in this dreadful place?"

"Eh, I always felt alone here, so it didn't make much of a difference" he said, smiling at her "I… actually hoped to go to your Tribe, and tell you I was sorry for hurting you, and for worrying you both. I didn't mean to mess things up like that…"

"We're the ones who messed up, I think" said Katara, swallowing hard.

"You weren't in an easy position" said Aang, gritting his teeth "But you stayed behind just to say you were sorry? Moreover, Kino, did you tell them about me?"

"Oh, that you're the Avatar?" said Kino, with a weak smile "Not really. I mean, I did say that the Avatar was alive at random just to see if any of them reacted, but you know just how often they pay attention to me…"

"Wait, what?!" said Haka, his eyes wide "You tried to sell Aang out…?!"

"Hey, I was only testing if they'd listen to me or not!" said Kino, inching away from the aggressive warrior "And of course, they didn't listen at all. They never do… and heck, Aang and Katara always did. It just… wasn't right to do this. I couldn't do it. If someone had actually listened to me this one time, I would have likely told them I was just joking around"

"Really?" said Haka, glaring at Kino, who grimaced.

"This one doesn't like me" he said, as Aang smiled.

"Well, maybe he doesn't, but I… I'm really grateful, Kino" he said, placing a hand on his shoulder "If you'd actually done everything in your power to report on me, well… things would have gotten really ugly"

"It's fine, Aang. I didn't want to report on you anyways" he said, grinning "You and Katara are my friends! And I'd already hurt you enough yesterday, so… I just didn't want to do it. It was wrong, and I wouldn't have succeeded at it anyways. So…"

"Heh. I don't buy it" said Haka, as Kattan chuckled.

"Yeah, this guy's kind of weird" he said, and Kino pouted.

"Well, what do you propose we do if we can't trust him?" Katara asked, amused, as she looked at Haka. The younger warrior scratched the back of his head.

"We should, uh… take him prisoner" he said, nodding "And keep him under surveillance! That way we'll make sure he won't betray Aang to the Fire Nation"

"Heh? Wait, does that mean you'll take me to your Tribe?!" Kino asked, smiling "Hey, that should be cool! I've heard you have ice and snow buildings but they're all warm and cozy! I want to see them!"

"Oh, dear" said Katara, chuckling before turning to her father "Do you think he can stay? I mean… this situation made you really uneasy when we told you about it, after all. Is it okay, then, if he…?"

"Huh…" said Hakoda, raising an eyebrow and eyeing Kino judgmentally "He seems awfully harmless, can't be denied, but he knows too much. So… we can either kill him or take him with us, I suppose"

"Kill him?!" Aang said, horrified, and the blood drained from Kino's face. When Hakoda laughed they both breathed out in relief.

"Perhaps not, then. But we can't leave him here for enough reasons. He does know too much, and it's better to keep him on check. Also, if he stays alone in this freezing settlement he's likely to die all by himself. So… I suppose he will be our captive. A willing one, looks like…"

"I'll behave myself, sir, I promise!" Kino exclaimed, grinning "I'll help around the town, feed the babies, play with them, build fires… anything you need, I'd gladly help!"

"And he's overly enthusiastic about it too, clearly" said Hakoda, smiling a little "Well, it looks like I was wrong about this soldier. Maybe you two really knew him better than I realized"

"See, Dad, you can trust my judgment once in a while" said Katara, smiling, and Hakoda grinned at her as Kino gaped at them.

"Woah… this is your dad?"

"And Tribal Chief as well, mind you" said Hakoda, proudly, and Kino's jaw dropped.

"O-okay. That's… that's cool" he said, as Katara and Aang chuckled.

"There's nobody else in this settlement, then?" Hakoda asked, and Kino shook his head. Haka pouted.

"I think we should check anyhow. Just in case he's lying" he said, and Hakoda shrugged.

"Be my guest. I only hope the place isn't booby trapped" he said, and Kino shook his head.

"They didn't bother setting anything up, the place is as good as new" he said "But feel free to check if you must"

For Haka's peace of mind, they did check the entire building thoroughly, proving that there was nothing left behind other than Kino. Aang and Katara stayed with him as Hakoda checked the building with the others.

"Why did you stay behind, though?" asked Katara "You could have just left. You don't like it here, so…"

"Heh, I've gotten used to it, sort of" said Kino, smiling "And… I just didn't think it was right to leave in bad terms with you two. As I'd said, you were my only friends and it didn't sit right with me to do that. And well, since you're my friends… making up my mind to stay behind instead of following the rest of the soldiers wasn't that hard. I'm pretty sure they didn't even notice I stayed in bed when the captain told us to get up"

"Don't you think they might notice and come find you, though?" Aang asked, and Kino snorted.

"Right. The captain told us that if we didn't get up, we'd be left behind" he said "He's not going to come back here if he can help it, let alone for a soldier he barely ever took notice of, so… yeah. Despite it all, I think things didn't turn out that badly, right?"

"In fact, they turned out way better than expected" said Aang, smiling "I guess I won't have to make a run for it to lead the Fire Nation away just yet, huh?"

"You already sent most of them away" said Kino, shrugging "The Fire Lord wanted us to leave, so we've left. You've had your way, Avatar!"

"Looks like it" said Aang, patting Kino's shoulder "Thanks, Kino. Truly"

"No need. Thanks for the fishing trips" he said, grinning goofily. Katara chuckled.

After the revision of the settlement was done, and they had proved there was indeed nothing else left inside the metal building, they readied themselves to return to the Tribe. And as they started on their way home, Kino pelted Aang with endless questions about his airbending skills, his traditions, how he'd ended up in the South Pole when he clearly wasn't from around here and many more.

Katara found herself smiling as Aang struggled to reply, and she sighed in relief to know a potential catastrophe had been averted. Kino was an idiot, clearly, but he meant well. He was Fire Nation indeed… but as she watched him smiling expectantly while Aang told him about his glider, Katara surprised herself by accepting that, despite it all, not all Fire Nation people were inherently bad, after all.


	102. Chapter 102

The ocean was dark and quiet at night, a pure reflection of the sky above it. The only sound to be heard was that of the Barge breaking the waves as it progressed through the open sea, towards the Northern Earth Kingdom.

The Princess gazed out from the window of her quarters, the cool breeze brushing against her bare shoulders softly. The sheet she held wrapped around her body didn't do much to keep her warm, but she had thought to see for herself if they had made proper progress through the night. Depending on how close they were to port, either she would have to send her gladiator back to his cabin right away or they might still enjoy each other's company for a little longer, so long as their destination was still several miles away.

He lay in bed, breathing out slowly now that the excitement had cooled down. His dark brown hair was ruffled and messy after the Princess's hands had slipped between his tresses in the midst of their passionate exchanges. His skin had a few marks she had left on it, but he had made certain to leave quite a few on her as well. His back, as usual, stung a little after she had scratched him with her long nails, but he was growing accustomed to the pain by now. He practically relished in it.

"Well?" he asked, looking at her questioningly as she rested against the windowsill, squinting through the pavilion tower's large windows.

"It's the middle of the night, I really can't tell if we're close to the northern shores or not" she replied, shrugging "But we're probably not there just yet. We're still going too fast to be near our destination"

"Good, then" he said, beaming "If that's how it is, you should just come back to bed and stop worrying"

"I would if I could" said the Princess, smiling at him "But as per usual, our fun times will come at a steep price if we're not careful. So it's better to be cautious, Sokka"

"Granted it is, but it's also good to make the most of the opportunities we have to be together, right?" he said, smirking and sliding his hands to the back of his head.

Azula rolled her eyes and looked at her opportunist lover with skepticism. He grinned mischievously at her, his dark-skinned body fully exposed to her as he lay stretched on her bed.

"Besides, aren't you cold standing over there like that?" he said "The temperatures are quite low around here, after all, and I'm not sure you can handle it, tropical girl…"

"Oh, you think I can't take a little cold?" Azula asked, as he smirked mischievously "It would seem after all this time you really don't know me so well, snow savage"

"Or maybe I'm just that eager to have you in my arms again?" he suggested. Azula rolled her eyes once more but smiled now. To his delight, she moved away from the window and approached the bed, removing the sheet around her body and dropping it atop Sokka's.

"Or maybe the one who was cold was you" she said, smirking as she sat on the bed again. Sokka chuckled.

"Well, if you wanted to warm me up I'd much rather have you atop me than a sheet… it's a lot more effective to heat up through bodily warmth, as you might have noticed by now" he said, smirking as he caressed her waist with a hand. Azula smiled and dropped beside him, pulling the sheet over her body as well and settling against Sokka.

"Wouldn't you like that, savage" she whispered, kissing his shoulder softly "I seem to remember you were very interested in warming up at the expenses of my naked body once before… it looks like you have a knack for it, don't you?"

"Huh? When did I try that?" he asked, and Azula smirked before looking at him teasingly.

"You're going to forget your daring suggestion back when we were lost in the forest, by any chance?" she asked "After we were soaked by the rain and the river, you were most eager to take off your clothes…"

Sokka started laughing as he finally recalled that occasion and Azula's smirk widened. With a judgmental stare directed straight into his eyes, she propped herself up with her elbows as Sokka smiled guiltily at her.

"I think you said back then that… was it over your dead body? Or 'not in this life'? I can't remember anymore" he said, chuckling. Azula shrugged.

"Either way, I'm not dead, let alone have I reincarnated, so you'll gain no warmth at my expenses, gladiator" she said, proudly, and Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Are you certain I won't, Princess?" he asked, and Azula shivered. To this day, the way he uttered her title was enough to throw her over the edge. Add to that the shameless smirk he gave her, and she felt completely helpless against him. She was growing much fonder of being helpless against him than she had ever meant to be… "I promise I'll make it fun for you too, you know…"

"I am a woman of my word, gladiator. What will it look like if I take back my promises just because you believe you can please me?" she said, as he surrounded her waist with an arm and licked his lips.

"It will look like you've given matters some thought and concluded that taking back your promise…" he said, reaching up to kiss her lips softly before finishing his sentence "… is worth it"

Azula rolled her eyes but she dropped atop him anyways, a delighted smile on her face. She could hear his heartbeat, feel his hands caressing her lovingly, his lips pressing to the top of her head occasionally. There was something unbelievably comfortable about lying in bed with him like this, their bodies pressed together intimately. Azula had never been too given to physical contact, or so she had thought… but when it came to Sokka, she craved it. It really proved difficult to keep proper distance between them whenever they met outside her room. All she wanted was to feel him with her in this way, and given how desperate he was to keep her close to him, the feeling had to be mutual.

"It's been getting colder indeed, though" she said "Not as bad as in your Pole, granted, but it's still not comfortable"

"That's because living in a tropical island has rendered you unappreciative of the cycle of the seasons" said Sokka, smirking.

"Yeah, like living in a frozen pole gave you a better grasp of the seasons than what I had" Azula snorted, and Sokka chuckled.

"Alright, granted we only had two periods, but still…" he said, smiling "You guys have it worse. It's like… summer and hotter summer. That's not good for anyone's health, you know?"

"We deal with it just fine, thank you very much" said Azula, smiling "It's better than freezing your toes off all year, if anything"

"I beg to differ" said Sokka "You can dress up thickly if you want to fight the cold, you can stay in your igloo, you can build a fire… there's nothing you can do to fight the extreme heat, on the other hand"

"Of course there is" said Azula, smirking "When you're cold, you put on more clothes. When you're hot, you take them off. Since when do you think it's better to wear more clothes than less clothes, I wonder? I was under the impression you liked it the other way around…"

Sokka laughed and shook his head, as Azula smiled proudly.

"Okay, okay, you got me there. The less clothes you wear, you specifically, Azula, the happier I will be. Your tropical hell wins"

"Tropical hell, give me a break" said Azula, looking at him skeptically "You've gotten used to it well enough, haven't you?"

"I suppose, but I did miss feeling chilly at night" he said, smiling. Azula smirked.

"If that's so, then fine. I'll take the sheets for myself, since you clearly won't need them" she stated, rolling off him and into the sheets before Sokka could protest against her decision.

"Hey! That's not what I…! Azula!" he pouted, as she surrounded herself again in the warm fabric, a mischievous grin in her face.

"Come on, you missed feeling chilly, didn't you…?" she said mockingly, as Sokka looked at her with playful determination.

"You're not getting away with this, Princess!" he declared, pushing himself up before lunging at her, struggling to unwrap the covers from around her as she attempted to shove him off her, between laughs.

They rolled on the bed for a while, the sheets wrinkling as they fought over them in a spirited struggle. Azula rolled atop him again, her legs straddling his hips as she held him down forcefully, her fingers laced with his as she pushed him against the mattress.

"Azula…!" Sokka said, readying himself to slip his legs between hers and swap their positions again… but that was when she leaned down to kiss him deeply, and with that alone his fight for the sheet was forgotten as he hummed in approval. He definitely liked this better than fighting.

Once it was clear Sokka wouldn't struggle against her anymore, his hands now slipping out of hers gently so he could wrap his arms around her waist, Azula smirked and pulled away, looking at him mischievously once more.

"Looks like I got away with it alright" she whispered, and he sighed in defeat.

"You'd think I'd learn the first time, huh?" he said, as she laughed, her forehead pressed against his before she kissed him again.

"For such a quick learner, you don't seem to learn your ways around me all that easily" she said, dropping atop him once again, as his fingers slid through her smooth dark hair.

"Funny how you couldn't say the same thing ten minutes ago, Princess" he said, smirking "I've learned my way around your body no problem, haven't I?"

"It looks like that doesn't make you any less weak against me, though" she whispered, kissing his cheek now. Sokka chuckled and looked at her gently.

"You know you're too much for me, Azula. All I can do is accept it and love you more with every day that passes us by…" he said, smirking as she groaned and rolled her eyes once he said words he knew would embarrass her.

"Can you try not to be sickeningly sweet for one night, damn it?" she asked, as he laughed again "Things were just fine and then you had to start with the mushiness"

"I'm afraid that's my only weapon against you, Azula" he said, nuzzling her neck "I have to wield it whenever you're getting the better of me"

"So then, until I get used to the mushiness to the point that it doesn't affect me, you'll continue to use it to your benefit whenever you see fit to do so?" she asked, looking at him questioningly and Sokka grinned goofily.

"And even when it doesn't affect you I'm going to keep doing it. Because I need to tell you all those things or I'll explode, as you already know" he said, chuckling and turning on the bed again, so that she would lie below him now. She was rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time when he finished moving, and he couldn't help but laugh as he kissed her neck, prompting her to groan a little.

"You're the worst, damn it" she whispered.

"And you're the best, of course" he replied, his lips pressing against her soft and pleasantly.

"We… we shouldn't get started again, it'll be dawn soon and you'll have to go to your cabin before then" she whispered, and Sokka groaned.

"You know, I think I've spent so much time in yours on this trip that I'm starting to have trouble thinking of my alleged quarters as mine" he said, and Azula smiled "I've ended up in here every night, after all…"

"And there's nothing wrong with that, now, is there?" she whispered, and he grinned as well.

"Not a single thing" he whispered "Well, aside from the fact that it makes it increasingly difficult to spend time without you… All I've done these weeks is wait for it to be nighttime so I can be with you again, you know?"

"I'm impressed. To think that what you look forward to the most is being with me instead of breakfast, or lunch, or dinner, or a midnight snack… you really must love me" Azula said, sarcastically, and Sokka was the one rolling his eyes now.

"Like you didn't know I do" he said, kissing her jawline now. She closed her eyes and breathed out slowly.

"Still… I feel obligated to warn you that we might have to change our procedure once we reach land" she said, a hand sliding over his back in a gentle caress "Granted this has been amazing, but there's no way of knowing what things will be like in the Northern Air Temple. Chances are that sneaking around undetected won't be too easy in a new environment"

"No chance they'll let us share rooms, then?" said Sokka, teasingly, before sighing in defeat "We'll figure something out anyways. They can't keep us apart forever, can they?"

"Well, not forever, but if things get difficult we shouldn't push our luck" Azula said, looking at Sokka meaningfully "So no sneaking into my room in a guard's uniform for the time being, okay?"

"Heh? Are you sure you don't want me to?" Sokka asked, smiling "At least I can try that after we've assessed the situation properly, can't I?"

"I'll think about it" Azula said, pointedly, and Sokka sighed.

"I suppose you're not giving in that easily, huh?" he said, moving lower and kissing her collarbone now "Still, what are things supposed to be like over there? Is this guy living as a recluse in the Temple? Because if that's how it is…"

"He isn't, from my understanding. I think the Temple has become some sort of unofficial colony" said Azula "So it's not going to be just us and the guards, for certain. He's also, uh… apparently quite quirky. I can't say I know much about the man, but what little has been discussed about him during war meetings has implied as much… so be aware that you'll have a rather strange partner this time around"

"I doubt he'll be that bad" said Sokka, smiling as he traced circles on Azula's abdomen with his fingers "What will you be up to while I'm working, though?"

Azula nearly snorted. She had no illusions regarding how hard he'd be working, but it seemed Sokka hadn't noticed that just yet. Either she was truly that much harder to read than he was, or he was no good at reading others at all.

"I'm… not entirely sure" she lied "I thought I might spend some time with Xin Long, likely. He's thrilled about exploring the Earth Kingdom for a month, so I might join him in his travels if I'm too bored"

"Oh?" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows "Will you look for other dragons?"

"We might, but it's not a sure thing that we'll find any" Azula said, dismissively.

"I guess not, but… you won't take a long trip, though? I mean, you won't be gone overnight…" said Sokka, and Azula laughed.

"I just told you not to expect us to keep up with this, and here you are, worrying that I might not spend the night with you" she said, looking at him in disbelief. He smiled guiltily.

"What can I say? I'll have to spend time with some weird quirky guy and that I probably won't see you often because you'll be traveling with Xin Long… I need to know if I'll have a chance to at least kiss you once in a while, Azula"

"Why? You can't function if I don't kiss you on a daily basis?" she asked, smirking, and he nodded enthusiastically, prompting her to laugh softly "Oh, you're an idiot"

"I'm in love with you, is what I am" he said, grinning and hugging her tightly. Azula sighed against him, her eyes closed as she relaxed in his arms. Sokka dropped on his side, pulling her closer to him as she smiled in his embrace.

"There's another thing you need to keep in mind, by the way. Something you're not likely to take well, actually…" she said, gulping and looking at him worriedly. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"What's that?"

"Well… you see, the Air Temples are located in some very steep mountains, right?"

"Yes?"

"Which means farming is, uh, complicated, to say the least" said Azula, and Sokka started frowning.

"Uh-huh…?"

"Therefore, it's unlikely that they'll have a lot of meat on their tables…" she finished, and his eyes widened in horror.

"N-no meat? No meat?!" he exclaimed, and Azula shrugged.

"I'm not sure if there will be none altogether, but the Air Nomads never really cared to make their homes suitable for cattle. They were vegetarians, as you might know…"

"V-vegetarians? Hell, why would anyone choose to be a vegetarian when meat tastes so good?" he said, grimacing "The Air Nomads were crazy. What did they eat if not meat?"

"From my understanding, mostly foods based on fruits. Perhaps a few vegetables" said Azula, and Sokka's jaw dropped.

"How am I supposed to… to eat enough if it's just fruit?! That's never going to fill my stomach!"

"Sokka, I'm afraid NOTHING will ever fill your stomach. Whether it's meat or fruit is irrelevant" said Azula, smirking, as Sokka dropped on the bed, his face contorted in horror as he ran a hand over his hair. It seemed as though Azula had just informed him of the most disturbing news imaginable.

"G-got to make bombs for the Fire Lord and then turns out I can't even eat meat… if I can't meet up with you at night either I might as well just have signed up for the most horrible trip ever" he groaned, as Azula chuckled softly and curled against him.

"You're being ridiculous" she whispered "Which isn't all that rare coming from you, granted, but still…"

"Azula…" he whined, pouting at her as she caressed his chest.

"Just bear with it, and it'll be over before you know it" she told him "We'll be back here in no time, and then back home, and you'll be fighting in the Arena again…"

"That last part's not so encouraging" he said, with a raised eyebrow as Azula chuckled.

"I guess not" she said, kissing his cheek "But just deal with it all one thing at a time. Right now your most pressing problem is that you should go to your cabin and stop frolicking with me for a couple of hours, so resolve that first and worry about meat or lack thereof later, will you?"

"Meh" said Sokka, pouting "If this is the last chance I'll have to be with you for around a month, for all I know, then I want to take my time to enjoy the moment properly!"

"Why did I know you were going to say something ridiculous like that?"

"Because you know me so well?" said Sokka, smiling now. Azula smiled and nodded, kissing his shoulder softly.

"Perhaps I shouldn't know you all that well, actually" she said, as Sokka chuckled and hugged her with one arm.

"We just like to live life dangerously, looks like"

"Oh, not 'we', you do. I was perfectly fine living life comfortably. And then you showed up and made a mess of everything without barely even trying" Azula growled, and Sokka chuckled.

"You've enjoyed most of it, though, whether you want to admit it or not"

"And you've enjoyed yourself well enough too, so you'll have to make the sacrifice to stop eating meat for a month or so" said Azula, smiling "If you manage to endure the vegetarian diet without whining too much, I might try and sneak into your room for a change… well, if it proves any easier than for you to sneak into mine, of course"

"But you'll likely get the better room" said Sokka "You're the Princess after all, so your bed should be nicer than mine. Your room is always better for escapades!"

Azula rolled her eyes as Sokka grinned. She placed her head on the hollow of his shoulder, an arm surrounding his chest as he played with her hair. She breathed slowly against him, basking in the closeness between them before kissing his cheek once more.

"You really should go by now" she whispered, and Sokka sighed.

"Must I?" he pouted, and she nodded.

"Get some rest, you know you'll get none if you stay here" she said, smiling "I need it too, having bags under my eyes wouldn't befit me. Especially if those bags are caused by spending the night with some shameless savage who keeps doing as he pleases with me…"

"Hey, you're doing as you please with me too" he pointed out, smiling "Or is it I need to let you lead once in a while so things can be more balanced between us?"

"Let me lead?" Azula said, raising an eyebrow "I beg to differ but I will not have you 'letting' me do anything, I will take what is mine by my own hand, gladiator. Remember, I call the shots here, and I always will"

"Heh, you do in many regards, but…" he said, smirking mischievously.

"Oh, so you call the shots in the bedroom, then?" she asked "My, my. Someone is getting a little cocky all of sudden, isn't he?"

"I don't think… pfft. Please tell me that pun was not intentional" he said, chuckling. Azula raised her eyebrows and smirked.

"What if it was?"

He roared with laughter now, and Azula couldn't help but chuckle too, dropping on his chest and kissing him softly as he stopped laughing, wiping tears off his eyes with the back of his hand.

"I swear, you are too amazing for me. I don't know how you do it, but…" he said, chuckling a little all the same.

"I learned how to coax all the reactions I love out of you, that's all" she said, grinning. Sokka froze at those words, raising an eyebrow slowly.

"You said you… what, now? You love… my reactions?"

"No, I didn't" said Azula, paling a little. Had she really just said that? What on earth had gotten into her?

"You… you said that, girl!" he exclaimed, grinning and looking at her enthusiastically "Hey, come on, why are you denying it? If you love my reactions then that means you…!"

"It means I hate you. I do. Completely. Now get lost, you have accomplished what was required of you" said Azula, blushing deeply now as she rolled off Sokka's body. She waved her hand towards the door, trying to lift up her walls again before she said something stupid once more.

"B-but Azula…!" said Sokka, laughing as she turned her back on him. He chuckled and shook his head, pressing against her back and kissing the nape of her neck "Fine, fine. You hate me, then"

"Good to know you get it" she stated, proudly, and Sokka chuckled.

"Well, even if you hate me, I love you" he said, pushing himself up and making Azula roll on her back so he could kiss her lips now.

Azula felt the blood still rushing through her body, concentrating on her face despite she willed it not to. She kissed Sokka back despite her embarrassment, but she could barely believe she had let such a phrase slip out so carelessly. It wasn't something to say lightly, without thinking it through. Granted she hadn't flat-out claimed to love him, but still… that word meant too much for her as it was. Throwing it around at random didn't make any sense… but then again, Sokka was quite an expert at messing with her mind by making her feel at ease. He knew just how to shatter her defenses, and he genuinely accepted her for everything she was once she was fully bare before him. It wasn't all that weird that she would let herself go with the moment as she had… but she needed to be more careful. Especially around that topic.

"You okay?" he asked her, and she hummed softly. He smiled and pressed his forehead against hers "Alright, alright. I'm going now, I'm going. But keep in mind that I really don't want to, 'kay?"

Azula actually smiled a little, but she rolled her eyes all the same. Sokka grinned and kissed her lips again before climbing off the bed, taking care to cover her with the sheet afterwards.

Azula sighed as she wrapped the fabric around herself, watching as Sokka gathered his clothes and the guard uniform he had worn in order to slip less suspiciously into her room. Yet before dressing up he grabbed the thick blanket they had kicked off the bed in the midst of their tryst, and just as he had with the sheet, he covered Azula with it.

"Can't let my Princess go cold, now, can I?" he asked, smiling and kissing the top of her head. Azula smiled a little, but her cheeks remained flushed as she watched Sokka getting dressed.

He gazed out the windows to notice the skies were growing a little lighter already. So he finished buckling the guard uniform and leaned on Azula to kiss her one last time. To his relief, she cupped his face and returned his affections fully.

"I'll see you later" he whispered, choosing to keep their farewell at a minimum without repeating the word that had caused her to shut down on him just now. She would likely appreciate it if he didn't make her more uncomfortable than she already was. She nodded gently and kissed him softly again before he pulled away.

"Bye" she said, as he smiled happily at her, waving almost shyly when he reached the door.

He left her room stealthily, knowing her eyes would be on him until he was gone. He kept smiling as he made his way to his cabin, moving slowly as to make sure to evade anyone who might be awake at the moment. He never passed anywhere near the engine room, knowing that people were working hard there all day, but the rest of the ship was usually deserted at the early hours of the morning. Sneaking back into his cabin had never proved complicated, despite he had feared it would be.

As he closed the door behind him, his mind was full of thoughts of Azula, as had been the norm for well over a year now. Yet he couldn't help but think of what she had let slip this time around. She had closed down immediately afterwards as a defensive mechanism, he knew that was all there was to it, but still… that she had genuinely uttered the word 'love' towards him, while being at complete leisure with herself, was already as thrilling as it could be. He didn't feel deserving of it, he doubted he ever would, but that was probably the very reason why it meant so much to him in the first place.

He finished folding the guard uniform and tucking it into his pack safely, along with the helmet. He did the same thing systematically every night, hoping to avoid any trouble if any random someone walked into his cabin to find a guard's uniform lying around for no reason. They took enough risks as it was, so once his head was clear, which only happened whenever he wasn't around Azula, he did everything he could to cover his tracks.

He dropped on the bed, aching to feel her with him, but comforted by the memory of what they'd enjoyed just now. His elated smile widened as he remembered what she'd said. She had never told him she loved him, not once, albeit she had admitted to being in love with him already. Though she had done that under the influence of alcohol, it was true…

It would be wonderful to hear her say the words for real one day, it was undeniable, but Sokka wasn't about to push her to do it. Her actions spoke loud enough regarding what her feelings for him were. Even if she hadn't put it into words, he already knew the truth of how she felt. He would wait as long as necessary until she was at ease again, until confessing her feelings didn't bother her as much as it had this time around.

Still… if everything went according to plan, and Ozai took his rage out on him when he failed on this mission, he had no idea if he'd survive long enough to hear such words from Azula. If things didn't go his way, though, and she somehow discovered what he was up to… well, no doubt she would change her mind about him altogether. She wouldn't trust him anymore, that was for sure, and if she couldn't trust him, no doubt her feelings towards him would change drastically. And of course, he would still face his potential death at Ozai's hands. That was certain to happen whether she understood his intent or not.

The grim thoughts made him swallow hard and drop a hand on his face. Maybe he ought to think of better things instead of worrying about the future. They would arrive to the edge of the Earth Kingdom's northern mountains by tomorrow, and by the time they reached the Temple he would have to worry about everything else… but for now, he would do best to sleep and think of the woman to whom he had given his heart, hoping she might be thinking of him as well.

* * *

Sokka was woken abruptly after sleeping for what felt like instants by loud knocking on his door, along with a voice that announced that breakfast was ready. He groaned as he got dressed before fetching his food, hoping he wouldn't look too tired after the night he had spent with Azula. Yet he sped up on his way to the dining room in the ship when he remembered Azula's warning that there would be no meat in the Air Temple. He had to make the most out of this last breakfast on the ship, there was no other choice.

He went too far and stuffed himself after coming to that conclusion, to no one's surprise. The guards and sailors on the ship were well used to his eating antics by now. After he finished his meal, he wound up rubbing his belly as he paced the deck, a bright smile on his face as he looked at the mountains on the ship's right flank. The port should be close enough by now, he reasoned…

He stiffened, though, when he noticed a guard coming his way once he'd reached the ship's railing. He swallowed hard, guessing who it was since before noticing the golden trimmings of his outfit.

"Gladiator" said Rui Shi, and Sokka smiled weakly.

"Captain" he whispered, knowing the man was glaring at him through his mask.

"I commend you for going undetected so far. Truth be told, I'm quite impressed you've managed to do as you please for the past two weeks" he said, with a raised eyebrow "But I advise you not to push your luck once…"

"Yeah, yeah, Azula warned me of the same thing" said Sokka, nodding "Assess the situation first of all, we'll be in different circumstances, so I can't be rash and thoughtless. Or at least, I shouldn't be"

"You'd better not be" said Rui Shi, glaring at him. Sokka looked at him warily.

"I'm grateful for your silence, you know… really grateful" he said "But you don't have to threaten me each time you see me, you know? That attitude coming from you might look suspicious too if you're not careful"

"Suspicious how?" said Rui Shi, snorting "Would people assume you're… well, doing you know what, because of how I'm acting? I question it"

"Not exactly that, but they might misunderstand your intent, perhaps" said Sokka, stroking his stubble thoughtfully "I mean, I've always been a little closer to Azula than I should be, by all accounts, so if you suddenly get sniffy about it, it can either look like something's different, despite we've tried our best to make things seem normal, or it can look like you're, I don't know, jealous of me all of sudden for no reason!"

Rui Shi only glared at Sokka for that last comment, and Sokka smiled clumsily at him before shrinking in his frame.

"Man, I'm only kidding, no need to get angry like that…" he grumbled, and Rui Shi smacked him on the back of the head "Hey!"

"I wouldn't dream of being in the situation you're in right now, gladiator" said Rui Shi "Because, unlike you, I still hold some appreciation for my life. So get those stupid ideas out of your head"

"I didn't really think you were jealous, I'm only saying people might think you are because of the way you're acting around us lately" said Sokka, looking at him insecurely "I guess they could come up with other ideas as to what's wrong with you, but still… I'd say you should pretend everything's the same as it was, too. It's the best way to keep things inconspicuous"

"You'd think" said Rui Shi, rolling his eyes "If only you hadn't made it so I feel the need to keep watch on you both constantly, perhaps I wouldn't bother. But if you try to do anything weird while we're on our way to the Northern Air Temple, I will gladly kick you off the train-tank"

"How many times must I-… uh, the train tank?" said Sokka, blinking blankly as he looked at Rui Shi in surprise "We're going to take the train-tank?"

"Of course we are. Didn't you ever hear the Air Temples are located in mountains, slave?"

Sokka struggled not to smile at the sound of Azula's voice behind them. He turned slowly, looking at her insecurely as his role dictated he should. The Princess stood in her golden armor, caressing her dark dragon's snout gently with a hand as she looked at him with derision.

"I did know that" he said, gulping and pouting a little "I just had no idea we'd need to take the train-tank again…"

"Why so gloomy? Afraid you'll be stuck in the animal wagon again?" Azula asked, with a smirk. Sokka gritted his teeth.

"I… I won't be, though, will I? I mean, come on, Azula…" he said, looking at her pleadingly "I know things aren't all that great, you're still mad I messed up against Toph, but come on…!"

Azula looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he continued to stare at her insistently. Rui Shi stood at one side, his eyes shifting as he noticed other guards on deck were glancing at their exchange… yet none gave any signs of suspicion. If anything, they seemed amused to watch the gladiator begging the Princess for mercy.

Mercy she didn't intend to grant him, it looked like.

"I'm afraid we don't see eye to eye when it comes to your failures, Sokka" she said, with a curt grin. His pleading shifted to indignation as she said: "Therefore, it will be the mongoose dragon wagon for you"

"B-but…! Oh, seriously, what the hell do I have to do to get you to stop being so mean?!" he growled, as she walked off to the prow, her chuckling dragon beside her.

"If it ever stopped being so much fun I just might get bored of it" she called out as she walked away, and Sokka fumed as she left, folding his arms over his chest angrily.

"Completely unfair, I mean, come on…" he grumbled to himself, shaking his head as Rui Shi rolled his eyes "What? You think I deserve being stuck with animals again?!"

"I think you're an idiot" said Rui Shi, sighing as Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"Clearly that is the popular opinion, but that doesn't mean I should be stuck with animals while the rest of you are happy and cozy in a proper wagon, fit for humans!"

"Well, you won't be" said Rui Shi, looking at Sokka matter-of-factly "Because there are no animals this time, gladiator. It's just the Princess, her guards, and you. So no, you won't be stuck in the animal wagon. She only said that, clearly, to make you rage like the fool you are"

"O-oh… oh" said Sokka, blinking a few times before smiling awkwardly "I just thought that, ehehe, well… good to know she was just messing with me!"

"I wish she weren't, honestly" Rui Shi whispered under his breath, and Sokka froze as the man walked away, shaking his head slowly as he approached the Princess.

She stood at the front of the ship, watching the horizon eagerly: the port they were headed towards was finally on sight. The Northern Air Temple wasn't too far from this particular port, but it would be quite complicated for the train-tank to climb through the mountains into their destination. Azula couldn't say she looked forward to riding the train-tank again, but it did seem appropriate to arrive at the Mechanist's doorstep in the machine of own design.

"Are all preparations for the train-tank finished, Captain?" she asked Rui Shi as he arrived at her side, and he nodded.

"Tai Wei is ready to drive it" he said "It's been a while since we last used it, but hopefully his expertise remains as it was back when we came to the Earth Kingdom around a year ago"

"It better" said Azula, frowning a little before chancing a glance behind her. Sokka stood with his back against the ship's railing… his eyes set on her. She smirked and raised an eyebrow in his direction, and only then did he realize he had been staring at her. Flustered, he gulped and crossed his arms over his chest hastily, trying not to make a fool of himself again.

"You two need to keep yourselves in check, Princess" said Rui Shi, an eyebrow twitching "I am to assume you kept meeting in secret through our travels…"

"If you are to assume things, then I take it we actually succeeded at keeping it a secret" said Azula, smirking "But please, Captain, don't talk about this at leisure while others might be within earshot. Wait until we can speak privately if you have anything important to say"

"Well, I didn't mean to say anything you didn't know already" said Rui Shi, frowning "But seeing how meeting with you in private these days has proved quite complicated, I thought I'd speak to you right now while you weren't, uh, otherwise engaged"

"If your best idea was to talk to me at midnight, no doubt I would be otherwise engaged, whether sleeping or doing anything else" Azula said, skeptically, and Rui Shi gritted his teeth "All the same, Captain, you needn't worry. I know to keep my distance from him"

"If only I could indeed stop worrying…" Rui Shi muttered to himself, as the ship began slowing in its approach to port.

An hour later, as the ship was secured in the military dock and the train-tank was brought out from within the Barge, the Princess, her gladiator and her guards were ready to set out to the Northern Air Temple. Two of Azula's guards had been tasked with learning how to operate the machine for their previous trip through the Earth Kingdom, and once again they sat at the train-tank's control room, ready to maneuver their way through the mountains skillfully once more. The rest of them were cooped up in the passenger wagon, which, in Sokka's opinion, was a little too small for his liking.

He had to sit at the far end of the wagon, separated from the Princess by all her guards, to his utter disappointment. He knew he needed to get a grip, but a simple conversation would be harmless, right? But going by the glare Rui Shi gave him when he noticed Sokka glancing towards Azula, maybe it wouldn't be harmless after all. He sighed and pouted, crossing his arms and staring at the ceiling as the machine began moving, picking up speed as it progressed through the mountains.

"Is there at least some food in here?" he yelled through the train's rattling, and Taro snorted at his suggestion.

"If you try to eat anything in this bumpy ride you're just likely to puke all over yourself!" he told him, and Sokka grimaced.

"Okay, point taken!" So no food, and no Azula. If this was an omen of what would come in the Northern Air Temple, this month would be quite miserable for him.

He still allowed himself to glance at Azula once in a while, if just to appreciate her from a distance. She often looked at her nails, her brow furrowed as she was deep in thought… he couldn't help but notice again that small crease between her eyebrows that she got whenever she was frowning. He held back the urge to smile and simply sighed, closing his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest. He rested on his seat against the back wall, recalling Azula's smiles during their time together that very morning, the way she had wrestled against him for the sheet and kissed him to deliver him an absolute defeat… It was hard to hold back from grinning at that particular memory.

He was afraid he'd have to continue recurring to good memories to bear with the upcoming month. He had no idea how he'd sabotage the bomb manufacturing just yet, but he guessed he'd find a way once he spent enough time studying his environment and his future colleague. For the time being, he had to hold on to the good times, and hope they wouldn't end as drastically as he dreaded they would.

The trip took quite some time, as the train-tank had to skirt through dangerous uphill roads. There were no windows through which they could see where they were going, so the passengers were being dragged blindly to their destination, their fates in the hands of the two operator guards. But at long last, the train-tank slowed down, its loud, rattling noise finally disappearing as they came to a halt.

"Wow, I can hear my own thoughts again" said Fei Li, sighing in relief.

"Have we arrived?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. Rui Shi, sitting beside her, shrugged.

"Perhaps we've…" he started, but the train moved again, muffling his attempt to speak when the noise silenced him.

Yet it stopped once more only a brief moment afterwards, and the two guards who operated the train opened the gate of the passenger wagon, ushering the group to get off.

Naturally, Azula was the first one to step down from the train, and her guards followed soon afterwards. She raised an eyebrow as she regarded the area with confusion: they were inside a large room, presumably inside the mountain. The room itself was full of tools and all sorts of mechanical devices, including several vehicles at the opposite end of the room. She glanced back towards where they had come from, finding there was a mechanical gate closing behind them, keeping them safely inside what had to be the Mechanist's workshop.

"It's been a while since I last saw this one" said a buff man, looking at the train-tank with admiration. Sokka raised an eyebrow, climbing off the train-tank and staring at the man intently "Welcome home, buddy!"

"Welcome home?" he repeated, looking at Taro, who had climbed right before him "Is he talking to the train-tank?"

"He is. I told you once before, didn't I? The Mechanist was who designed this machine in the first place" Taro said, and Sokka blinked in realization.

"Hey… that's right" he said, turning to regard the train once more.

So he would be working with the man who had created this vehicle. Sokka gulped and wondered just how dangerous a man it could be. Azula had mentioned he was quirky, but the thought of the man who would design this deadly machine, with spikes and grappling hooks… it sent shivers down his spine.

"Come on, gladiator. Don't lag behind" Taro told him, and Sokka nodded before bolting after him, allowing the buff man to assess the conditions of the train-tank.

"That guy's not the Mechanist, is he?" he asked Taro, who shrugged.

"I don't think so, but I've never met the man before. I couldn't say" he admitted "He's likely to have a team of experts working with him, though. I figure this man is just an assistant of some sort"

"Likely" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows with interest before stopping when the rest of the group halted.

They stood before a platform that another man had led them to, one who was talking to Azula and explaining the procedure to lift them to the Temple above them. Sokka gulped as he watched her, trying to pay proper attention to what the man was saying and not just to Azula's interested face.

"… So once you step on, you pull this rope here and the bell upstairs will ring" the man explained "And soon after you will be lifted into the Mechanist's study. He should be there to greet you. Do enjoy your stay in the Northern Air Temple!"

"Let's hope we will" said Azula, nodding in his direction before stepping on the platform.

"Uh, shouldn't one of us try that first, Princess?" asked Fei Li, biting his lower lip and looking at Azula uncertainly. Azula raised an eyebrow and looked at him with her trademark unreadable stares, of the kind that could make a grown man like Fei Li shrink in his spot.

"Probably" she conceded, with a smirk, before reaching for the rope the instructor had mentioned, ringing the bell as he had told her to.

It took but an instant for the platform where she stood to be lifted, and soon enough the Princess was out of sight, leaving behind a plethora of guards and a gladiator who stared after her with wide eyes.

Azula watched with interest as she was lifted through the air, a small frown on her face as she raised her head towards the small square of light up above. Once she passed through the opening she found herself in what looked to be a study. The platform slowed as it reached the surface, allowing her to step into the room comfortably.

It was an organized room, not too spacious but still with enough room to move around despite the tall stands full of scrolls and books. There were blueprints on a nearby desk, a strange set of candles and several contraptions Azula couldn't identify, let alone could she guess what their functions were. Yet she did spot a wheel engraved to the floor, with a rope set up in a pulley system of some sort… and before the ropes she saw a young man, sitting on a wheeled chair, his legs bandaged, his brown hair messy, and a sprouting beard on his cheeks. He had goggles resting on the top of his head, and his dark eyes were bright and friendly. Azula blinked a few times as he waved at her before pulling on the rope and making it so the platform would return to the room underneath them once again.

"Greetings! I take it you're the Fire Nation Princess?" he said, and Azula nodded with uncertainty.

"That I am… are you the Mechanist?" she asked, and the young man laughed before shaking his head.

"That would be my dad" he said "I'm Teo, and I'm here to help lift you guys because dad's a little busy. The heating system he built for the bathhouse got busted and he's rushing all over that right now, but he should be here any moment…"

"Huh. Such lousy timing…"

"I'm sorry he couldn't be here, I thought he'd be done by now but…" said Teo, grimacing a little "He'd been nervous about your arrival ever since we got word that you were coming, so he's probably a mess right now because he couldn't be here right on time. I do hope you'll forgive him"

"I suppose there's not much harm done, you're here to lift us anyways" Azula agreed "Besides, at these heights you're bound to need that heat system rather urgently"

"Yeah, the temperatures here are not very friendly" said Teo, smiling again as the bell rang. He pulled the other rope now and he waited briefly for the next arrival "When the wind blows it can get very cold, but you get used to it after a while"

"Let's hope" said Azula, as Rui Shi emerged from the platform now. She nodded towards him and Rui Shi stepped into the floor, and he glanced at Teo in confusion and surprise.

"And where's the Mechanist?" he asked the Princess.

"His son says he'll be here soon, hopefully" said Azula, and Rui Shi nodded.

"Greetings, sir!" said Teo, smiling at Rui Shi as he lowered the platform once again.

The process continued for a while, and soon the room was far too crowded, as men in red filed out of the platform one by one. Teo made certain to greet them all as they came in, though he took a little longer to greet the one person who seemed out of place in this assortment of Royal Guards.

"Oh. You've got to be the gladiator, huh?" he said, smiling as he looked at Sokka with interest.

The Water Tribe man maneuvered his way off the platform amongst the guards. Only after he looked around himself in confusion he noticed Teo, figuring he was the person who had just talked, and he nodded as an answer to his question.

"And you would be…?" he said, and Teo smiled.

"The Mechanist's son, Teo" said Teo "He should be here any moment now…"

"Hopefully not that soon" said a guard, Xiaobo, grimacing as the group struggled to keep some space between them.

"Is there anyone else left down there?" Teo asked, and Sokka nodded.

"Just one more, Taro" said Sokka, as he passed through the guards in an attempt to make room for the last arrival.

Azula's curiosity had gotten the better of her, so she was scanning the blueprints on the table when Sokka not-so-accidentally wound up beside her. She held back from smiling as she sensed him near her. Sokka rested against the table as discreetly as possible, pretending he only stood that close to her because the crowded space didn't allow anyone proper personal space.

Yet he found Azula's hand brushed against his knuckles softly, perhaps just testing the waters for now. The guards were right there, yet everyone was pressed together to a point where physical contact between most of them was practically unavoidable. None would have a clear sight of the way Sokka's fingers slid between Azula's, his thumb stroking the back of her hand. Azula glanced at him from the corner of her eye, giving his hand a soft squeeze before releasing it. He smiled at her ever so slightly, and she couldn't help but smile back briefly.

"Welcome, sir!" Teo exclaimed as the last man was finally brought into the office. Taro had a hard time noticing the young man amid the rest of his fellow guards.

"Alright, so what now?" said Fei Li.

"We should probably relocate to somewhere more spacious, this is too cramped to…" said Azula, but before she could finish her sentence, the door swung open brusquely and slammed against the leg of one guard.

"OW!" the guard exclaimed, rubbing his calf. Everyone turned to the door to find a man in his late forties standing on the room's threshold. The top of his head was bald, yet plenty of hair grew on the sides and back of his head, and it all stood on end, defying gravity in an incomprehensible way. His beard was a lot more conventional than his hairstyle, and there was a monocle before his left eye.

"Oh! I am so very sorry, I had hoped you might not be here yet, but alas…!" he said, slapping his forehead with a hand as he moved towards the man he had struck with the door "Are you alright?"

"I will be, as long as no more doors slam against my leg…" said the guard, grimacing.

"Truly, I am sorry for the blow, and also for my tardiness!" he said, looking now at the group with panicked eyes "I had hoped to be here by the time of your arrival, Prin-… uh, is the Princess here?"

"Back here" said Azula, sliding through her guards as they squeezed together to make room for her to pass.

"Oh! Welcome, welcome!" said the Mechanist, smiling and moving towards her. He stretched a hand in her direction, but he soon withdrew it and chose to bow instead. Azula's eyebrow rose slowly as she watched him fall to his knees and stretch out his arms in her direction "It is an honor to have the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation amongst us!"

"Indeed it should be, though I must say that you needn't press your face to the floor to pay your respects to me" Azula commented, folding her arms over her chest as she continued to watch the Mechanist with confusion but also some amusement "Clearly you're not educated in Fire Nation etiquette…"

"N-no, I'm afraid not" said the Mechanist, smiling awkwardly and standing up again, making curt bows in Azula's direction "Do pardon me for my ignorance, I'm afraid things have been a little stressful lately, and that makes me act, uh…"

"Erratically?" Azula suggested.

"Clumsily, probably" said the Mechanist, looking at the guards now. Azula didn't miss out on the fear in the man's dark brown eyes. His nervousness had deeper roots than he wanted to let on, clearly "I do hope your trip was pleasant! O-oh, do pardon me, I should have introduced myself, I'm…!"

"They must have guessed already who you are, dad" said Teo, chuckling as his father blushed a little.

"I supposed they must have, huh? W-well, thank you for visiting! I do expect you'll have a good month amongst us. I have made fully certain that the hot water will be running perfectly in the bathhouse, but if any problems arise, let me know!"

"We certainly shall" said Azula, watching the man with interest. It seemed he was now at a loss for what to say. His son sighed and maneuvered his way towards him on his wheelchair, careful not to bump into the guards in the process.

"I think we should give them a tour of the Temple, dad" he suggested, and the Mechanist brightened immediately by the idea.

"Yes! That would be appropriate, of course" he said, turning to the Princess again and smiling "You should grow acquainted with the place as quickly as possible, after all. Follow me!"

Azula smirked and did as the Mechanist told her, filing out of the room right after him and Teo. Her guards followed, and amid them walked Sokka as well. Everyone was relieved to leave the reduced space in the study they'd arrived into.

"I do expect our proper entrance platform will be finished by next year" the Mechanist told Azula "But for the time being, I'm afraid this is the best we have…"

"I suppose the Air Nomads weren't too eager to have people entering their Temple on foot" said Azula, and the Mechanist nodded.

"They left quite a lot of interesting things behind, I must say!" he said, raising his uneven eyebrows as he smiled "But no proper entrances for us non-flying folk. Still, we have figured our way through inhabiting the Temple despite not being airbenders…"

"It's good that you have" said Azula "It wouldn't be the first place I'd have considered to install a colony, but it is quite an impressive location, I'll admit"

She spoke the words as the group reached an open courtyard, finding that the landscape offered the sight of a massive mountain range contrasted against a white, cloudy sky. From this place it was easy to see the structure of the Northern Air Temple: towers seemed to sprout from the mountain, Azula noticed, making it so the Temple would seem to be a palace rather than a Temple. The walls were of faded white, the roofs of green bricks, the windows large enough for the airbenders of old to fly their way into wherever they wanted to go.

The guards spread through the courtyard, some curious by the architecture of the place, others interested in the flight of birds that hovered around the mountains. Teo joined them, leaving Azula to listen to the Mechanist's explanations about the Temple while Sokka stood not too far from where they were.

"It is quite remarkable, how the air flows so easily through the structures" said the Mechanist, before gesturing at several pipes crisscrossing through the building. Azula was quick to guess those tubes hadn't been there a hundred years ago "It's what allowed me to come up with a system of quick traveling through the Temple by using hot air! It propels the platforms, like the one you used earlier today, and thus we can reach places faster than by walking. We don't fly like they did, of course, but it's still something, isn't it?"

"It sure is, I must say" Azula whispered, before noticing that a certain man dressed in blue was staring at the pipes with interest.

"So you powered these pipes with hot air yourself?" he asked, looking at the Mechanist with interest "And then you can give people lifts through the building, just like that? No need for stairs?"

"Why, no need for them at all" said the Mechanist, and Sokka whistled in approval "Are you…?"

"He's the gladiator. The very person who's supposed to work with you this month" Azula said, and the Mechanist stroked his beard.

"You know, you should spread this system through the world. It would come in handy for a lot of people" said Sokka, chuckling "You could call it, I don't know… ah, yes, lifters! Because the platforms lift you to the next level, right?"

"They should also prove able to take you lower levels, so they're not just for lifting" Azula said, curtly, and Sokka froze.

"W-well, but lifter sounds cool, doesn't it?" he asked, and Azula looked at him skeptically.

"I think I haven't stressed enough times that you are no good at naming things, so please just stop trying altogether will you?" she said, as Sokka huffed.

"I do come up with good… uh, names" said Sokka, getting sidetracked upon noticing the Mechanist was approaching him, an intense look in his eyes "Can I help you?"

"Why, I sure hope you can!" said the Mechanist, smiling "You are the one who will be serving as my personal assistant for a month, then. Well, you seem to be rather…"

"Smart?" Sokka said, raising an eyebrow when the Mechanist fell silent in his scrutiny.

"Well, I do hope you are smart, but I was actually thinking you're quite tall" said the Mechanist. Sokka blinked a few times, remembering Azula had mentioned the man was quirky.

"Eh, thanks, I guess?" said Sokka, smiling and shrugging "Water Tribe people tend to be taller than most, huh?"

"Oh! You're from the Water Tribe, then?" asked the Mechanist, his small eyes wide "Well, that is impressive! I had never met a Water Tribesman before! Do you hail from the North Pole?"

"The South Pole, actually" Sokka said, and the Mechanist nodded.

"No wonder you are strong and tall if that's so! Well, then, what experience do you have in regards of inventions, if I may ask?"

"Not that much, though I do craft my own smoke bombs" said Sokka, biting his lower lip "Also, I made a dragon armor, if that counts for something"

"Dragon…?" said the Mechanist, before smiling and nodding "It would seem you shall be a fine assistant, I'm certain!"

Sokka smiled at the man, finding he wasn't half as unpleasant as he had dreaded him to be. Granted his uneven eyebrows were strange, and he had a bad feeling about the wooden contraption strapped to the man's left hand, but he already had the feeling that the Mechanist was a decent man. A strange one, no doubt, but decent all the same.

"Very well, then, if you'd like to see the rest of the Temple…" said the Mechanist, only noticing then that they had gotten sidetracked. Azula's guards were still gazing at the landscape "… Or perhaps you'd rather watch the gliders instead, like the rest of your group?"

"Gliders?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow, and the Mechanist nodded.

"I came up with many ideas to compensate for our lack of airbending while living here" he said, as the three of them approached the group at the far end of the courtyard "There were a few gliding devices left behind by the previous occupants of the temple, so when I saw them I naturally tried to recreate them! Only, of course we probably can't use the gliders as well as the airbenders used to, but it has become quite the popular means of transportation around here"

"It looks nifty, if you ask me" said Sokka, nodding approvingly "You're really one for cool inventions, huh?"

"As long as I have proper inspiration, I suppose I am" said the Mechanist, smiling. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"What was the inspiration for this, I wonder?" she asked, and the Mechanist looked at his son, who was currently talking to Rui Shi as he pointed at one of the people gliding over the white clouds.

"When my son lost the ability to walk… I thought I had to find a cure at first, but that never worked out" he explained "Eventually, when we got here, I thought that perhaps I couldn't help my son walk again, but he might just be able to fly instead. I designed the gliders to fit his chair, first of all. Only when that was successful did I start crafting gliders for everyone else. And to this day, Teo is the best in the whole colony when it comes to soaring through the clouds!"

"You must be very proud" said Sokka, smiling as well. The Mechanist grinned.

Defying all expectations, Sokka soon concluded that this experience in the Northern Air Temple would not be quite as dreadful as he imagined. While the Mechanist was indeed quirky, as he continued to prove while the group visited the installments throughout their colony, he was definitely a good man at heart. Knowing how much he cared about his son, and how hard he was working for his sake, had been enough to make Sokka warm up to the man quickly.

The tour through the Temple continued soon after the quick stop to watch the gliders, and the Princess, her guards and the gladiator were intrigued by everything the Northern Air Temple had to offer. Despite the obvious destruction that had been necessary for the Mechanist to install equipment and create new buildings, most of what they had believed important to the Air Nomad culture had been preserved in a single room. There were many scrolls stored inside it, and Azula couldn't help but feel curious about their content. She didn't attempt to sneak a peek, though. She should have plenty of time to spare for reading through the month.

The bathhouse was wide, and of course, for public use. Azula wasn't too pleased to discover that, but the Mechanist assured her that the place could be vacated for her comfort whenever she demanded for it. There were several other courtyards throughout the Temple, and to the surprise of the visitors, there was a marketplace as well. Upon seeing meat being sold in one of the stands Sokka nearly broke down in tears of joy.

"How did you acquire the meat, though?" Azula asked, as the Mechanist led them to the dining room in the main building "From my understanding this isn't the finest place for cattle"

"Oh, it isn't" said the Mechanist "The family that keeps that store actually travels on a weekly basis to buy it in the nearest Earth Kingdom town. Which is why we don't have a lot of it, but we make do with what we have regardless"

"Well, it's better than nothing!" Sokka declared, happily, and Azula glared at him.

"And you'd better not eat all of it, got it?" she said curtly, and he smiled guiltily.

"I'll try not to…" he said, scratching the back of his head.

"An avid meat-eater, is he?" said the Mechanist, smiling "Hopefully what we have will be enough for you, then. Though I admit I do feel like we're desecrating this Temple whenever we eat meat, but…"

"Did you read on airbender traditions?" Azula asked the Mechanist, who shook his head.

"Not me, I admit. I actually had little knowledge of them, but Teo and the others took their time to read several scrolls" said the Mechanist "Of course, if I had read them earlier I would have avoided a few dangerous places, like that volatile gas reserve below the Temple…"

Azula and Sokka looked at the Mechanist in disbelief as he swallowed hard before pointing at his eyebrows.

"I could have sworn they wouldn't grow back after I went down there with a torch, but fortunately I was wrong!"

"Volatile gas? Underneath our very feet?" Azula asked, and the Mechanist nodded.

"I do believe it's harmless, so long as you take care not to use fire down there" he said "So don't fret, I'm certain we'll be fine! Now, shall we head to dinner?"

Azula watched the Mechanist speed ahead, her eyes still wide in disbelief. Sokka swallowed hard and patted her shoulder as innocently as he could.

"He's been here for a while, if nothing critical has happened to them then it might not happen to us either… right?" said Sokka, and Azula swallowed hard.

"I might be a little paranoid after that… but I do hope this month ends quickly" she said as they followed the Mechanist.

Dinner helped appease Azula's concerns, despite herself, but mostly because she had a reason to be dissatisfied again: the food's quality was, as expected, far below her standards. Whoever was in charge of cooking had taken no consideration of who he would be cooking for, and thus the dishes weren't particularly extraordinary, let alone tasteful. Unwilling to make a scene, though, Azula didn't complain, but the distaste was plain in her face as she nibbled on boiled cabbage.

Sokka's palate wasn't quite as sophisticated as that of his sponsor, and neither were those of most the guards, yet several of them, like Rui Shi, didn't seem too fond of the meal courses either. It was easy for them to ignore the tastelessness, though, for they were quite invested in their conversation with the Mechanist's son, who accompanied them at their table. The Mechanist had picked up his plate and ran off, presumably to his office or perhaps to patch up anything else that might have been malfunctioning as of late.

"So you can teach us how to glide? Really?" Fei Li asked, his eyes bright with enthusiasm as Teo chuckled.

"It wouldn't be that hard" he said "I'm sure you guys will get it down in no time"

"That would be really cool!" Sokka exclaimed, beaming as he reached for a bowl of rice. Azula's pointed glare made him flinch "W-what?"

"They can glide all they want, I have nothing against it" she said, gesturing at her guards with her head "But you, gladiator, have work to do. You're not about to learn how to glide unless you finish your job earlier than expected"

"B-but…! Oh, meh, always the party pooper" said Sokka, rolling his eyes before continuing with his meal with a prominent scowl.

"You're welcome to join us, though, Princess" said Teo, smiling at Azula.

"I'll consider it, I suppose" said Azula, surprised by his offer "But I'm not all that desperate to fly, I must say…"

"Why's that? Are you uncomfortable with heights?" Teo asked, and several guards, and Sokka as well, snorted at the notion.

"On the contrary, the Princess flies a lot more often than anyone else in our nation had in… well, around thirty years or so" said Rui Shi.

"Oh? That sounds cool! How do you do it, though?" Teo asked, excitedly. Azula smirked.

"If I do join you once you teach my guards, you'll find out for yourself" she said.

"Well, now I'm very curious" said Teo, chuckling "I do wonder what that means!"

"But say, Princess…" muttered Fei Li, biting his lower lip "If we're going to learn this, uh… do you think we can, perhaps, loosen up with the etiquette a little bit? I mean… it's probably not going to be comfortable to glide in our uniforms, so…"

Azula raised an eyebrow and regarded the soldier with her piercing stare. Fei Li swallowed hard, unsure if he had stepped into dangerous territories with that innocent request…

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't harm anyone if you don't wear your uniforms for once" said Azula, shrugging, and Fei Li sighed in relief "We will be staying here for a while, so I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if we made ourselves comfortable"

Her approval surprised the guards in a good way, despite it was over a trivial matter. Azula returned to her meal, seemingly impervious to the smiles on her guards' faces. But Sokka didn't miss out on it. He smiled too, albeit knowing he wouldn't have a chance to join the others in the gliding experience they looked forward to. The guards had expected Azula to refuse the request, since she had been withdrawn and seemingly not in her best mood during the journey to the Northern Air Temple. Finding otherwise was quite encouraging for them.

It wasn't infrequent for Azula to show certain kindness to her subjects, Sokka thought, but she only did it in small doses, so long as what they wanted seemed reasonable enough to her. It was likely that her reputation would cause people to see her as a lot more ruthless than she truly was, though. She was successful at practically all her endeavors, and known for keeping her distance from most people… the only one who ever got closer to her than most people was Sokka. For some reason she had felt compelled to open up to him, perhaps because their bond as gladiator and sponsor required it… Sokka knew how lucky he was for it. He could barely conceive the idea of being as intimidated and scared of Azula as everyone else seemed to be…

Though that didn't mean he had no fears regarding the Princess, though. Still, he wasn't afraid of her. He was far more afraid of hurting her than anything else, for he had done so in the past. That she had taken the risk to get involved with him in spite of that amazed him. She was far from a forgiving person, yet she had given him a chance he wasn't certain he deserved. Not when he dreaded things might go downhill between them yet again when this month ran out…

The Princess pushed away her plate before standing up. Some of her guards made to stand as well, but she lifted a hand to stop them.

"No need for that, especially if you're still eating" she said, looking at a certain guard who had dumped some food on himself when he attempted to stand up hastily.

"You'll be heading to bed now?" Rui Shi inquired, and Azula nodded.

"I will see you all again tomorrow… well, most of you, for certain" she said, her eyes turning to Sokka, who was nibbling on a fruit pie as she looked at him "I expect you'll be quite busy by then, won't you?"

The malicious smirk that accompanied her words made the guards shrink, though it didn't deter Sokka. He frowned and looked at her defiantly as she raised an eyebrow.

"I will be, but I'm still free to eat for now, right?" he asked, and she shrugged.

"As long as you don't steal food from everyone else's plates, I suppose you are" she said, nodding "Do enjoy yourself for now. You won't have much time for it later"

Sokka gulped as Azula walked away. He leered at her back as she left, trying not to make it too obvious that he was actually enjoying the view instead of glaring resentfully at her. Some guards seemed sympathetic towards him, so Sokka assumed the pretense had worked out well enough as he kept eating.

He finished most the available dishes himself as people started to leave the dining room's long tables to head to bed. Some residents of the Temple approached him once he was done enjoying his meal, and they took the plates in order to wash them in the next room.

Sokka wandered through the halls, trying to remember where he'd been told his room was. To his surprise, the hallways were mostly empty. It seemed people would turn in early around here, though that made enough sense if he gave it some thought. As it grew darker, the temperatures in the area would drop, and while the Temple wasn't freezing thanks to the hot-air system, it was still noticeably colder than it had been at broad daylight.

He finally found his room and decided to take his time settling in it. He had been given a room for himself, fortunately enough, for some of the guards had to bunk together. They didn't seem to mind, but Sokka wouldn't have been too thrilled to share rooms with any of them. He had no problem with the soldiers, albeit he only interacted with a few of them, but he would rather none of them took notice of his secret nightly escapades, and sharing a room would surely make that a lot harder for him.

He frowned as he thought about that, once he had filled the meager closet with what clothes he'd brought with him. His stolen guard uniform remained in the depths of his pack, and he wondered what to do with it. Perhaps there were loose floorboards under which he could hide it? Still, stomping on the floor to find out if there was wasn't advisable, at least not while everyone else was already sleeping. Either he'd have to hide it later… or he could, perhaps, wear it now.

A small smirk appeared on his face as he told himself he'd just do surveillance for tonight. He would figure out the easiest way into Azula's quarters, and only if the Temple was truly deserted would he consider paying her a visit…

Upon finding that, indeed, the passageways were all practically empty, Sokka snuck as quietly and inconspicuously as he could towards Azula's room. He cleared his throat as he stopped at her doorstep, looking around himself warily in case there was anyone nearby. It didn't seem there was, though. Given Azula's status, she had been granted the most comfortable accommodations in the tallest tower of the Temple, and she had the entire floor for herself.

She was tying up her hair into its nightly ponytail when she heard the soft knock on the door. Her eyebrow raised slowly as her heartrate picked up speed. Could it be him, or was it something a lot less welcome at this untimely hour?

"Yes?" she called out, expectantly. Again she heard the sound of a clearing throat behind the door.

"I, uh, came to make certain everything was all right, Princess" said a well-known voice, in a deeper register than usual. Azula snorted. He was wearing the damn uniform again, no doubt, or else he wouldn't talk as he just had, as though attempting to sound like her guards usually did.

"Why, your concern is rather touching" she said again, turning to look at the door with a smirk on her face "But rest assured, guard of mine, I'm perfectly fine"

"Really? Because I thought that, perhaps, I ought to inspect the room. Y-you know, for leaks and such? This is an old building, and I wouldn't want my Princess to sleep in quarters below her station!"

"Leaks?" she repeated, smiling "And what would you do about leaks if you found them, if I might inquire?"

"Everything within my power to repair them, of course!" said the falsely deepened voice at the other side of the door. Azula rolled her eyes.

"Do you have the next bit of knowledge as to how to fix a roof, I wonder?" she asked, approaching the door. She could sense Sokka hesitating at the other side.

"W-well, we'll only know if I try, now, won't we?" he said, the false deepening of his voice fading away quickly. Azula laughed.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" she said, with hushed voice. Sokka chuckled as well "Nobody saw you on your way here?"

"Not at all. The halls are so empty it's almost spooky" he said, smiling.

"Really now? Here I thought you were a little braver than that" said Azula, smirking.

"I'm brave enough to sneak my way up here through those spooky halls, aren't I?" said Sokka "Are you going to let me in, Princess?"

"I… I'll think about it" she said, smirking with malice.

"Really, now?" he said "Come on, Azula…"

"I seem to remember I told you we had to be more cautious here" she said, and Sokka pressed his head to the door.

"And as I said, I was cautious and made sure nobody saw me…" he mumbled, and Azula laughed softly before opening the door.

"That's not all there is to caution, you know?"

Sokka nearly stumbled when the door supporting his weight gave way, and Azula watched him regain his balance with amusement. She didn't miss out on the way his blue eyes brightened when he saw her.

"I told you that we shouldn't just do this as freely and yet here you are, trying to…" she started, but Sokka crossed the threshold, closed the door quick and silently, and threw his arms around her. She forgot the rest of the sentence she had been uttering as she felt him laugh happily upon having her in his arms once more "Sokka…"

"Hello" he said, grinning before removing the mask and hood of his uniform. Azula smiled.

"Hi. You shouldn't be here" she told him, and he chuckled again.

"Nope, I shouldn't" he agreed, as he loosened the guard's uniform quickly.

"So you should probably head back to your room as quickly as possible…" she said, smiling as he shrugged off the red robes.

"Yeah, I probably should" he agreed, before reaching for the back of her neck with a hand, pulling her close for a deep kiss.

Azula sighed in bliss, wondering if she was really smiling as stupidly as she thought she was. Her arms moved around his neck, pulling him closer as his hands began caressing her over her sleeping gown.

"Did I ever mention… that you look amazing with that ponytail?" he asked, with a hushed voice. Azula laughed against his lips.

"You might have, actually, but there's nothing wrong with saying it again" she said, as he surrounded her waist with his arms and lifted her.

"Well, you look amazing with that ponytail" he said, carrying her towards the bed, where he laid her gently, his lips still moving against hers.

"I really don't know how you've gotten away with everything, damn you…" said Azula, her fingers sliding through the short hairs at either side of his head "You get to eat meat, to work with an alright collaborator, and now this…"

"Not so hard to figure it out, Princess" said Sokka, smirking "When there's a will, there's a way"

Azula rolled her eyes and kissed him hard, silencing him effectively. There were better things for them to do than talking right now, after all, and she couldn't wait to get started with them. Whether she had showed it or not, she had rather ached to have him with her like this through the day. Despite how reckless it was, she couldn't bring herself to sacrifice the opportunities they had to be together, because no matter how many they had, they just never seemed to be enough…

She succumbed to his touch as easily as ever, and it took no time for them to join together as one. They were fast asleep right afterwards, in a jumble of limbs, sheets and blankets, their bodies pressed together as they shared their warmth in a cold night that didn't feel all that chilly for the two of them.


	103. Chapter 103

Rui Shi took a deep breath as he reached the closed door in the top story of the main tower. He wasn't certain of what he'd find within the room, and he dreaded what would happen if he found his assumptions had been off-mark… but he doubted that. He had stopped by at the gladiator's room to find it empty, and unless Sokka was sleepwalking now, there was no other place he'd be but here.

So he knocked on the door. Hard. And he knocked again after a brief moment without an answer.

"Princess?" he said, breathing slowly, trying to keep himself together.

Inside the room, Sokka sat up with a start and looked at the door in dread until he heard the Captain's voice. He sighed in relief, his loose hair falling as curtains framing his face, and he rubbed his eyes, still somewhat drowsy.

His companion wasn't in better shape. In fact, she had only reacted to the knocking with a frown and an annoyed groan. She turned on the bed, burying her face on the foot of the mattress, at a lack for pillows, since they were where they belonged: at the other end of the bed.

Sokka smiled, only noticing now that they'd wound up upside down through the night. It was little surprise that he would have lost all sense of his surroundings while he was with her.

All the same, he stretched towards the pillows with difficulty, sitting on the bed as he was, and slid them under Azula's head. She had seemed uncomfortable, and the pillows proved enough to stop her from groaning and fidgeting.

"I think I've got to go now" he said, leaning down and whispering into her ear. Azula groaned again and shook her head.

"Y-you just got here…" she muttered sleepily, and Sokka smiled before kissing her cheek.

"I think I've already spent most the night here, in fact" he said "So I think I should probably go before…"

"Princess?" said Rui Shi's voice through the door again. Sokka huffed "Can I come in?"

"Why?" Azula growled, and Sokka looked at her in disbelief.

"Shouldn't you have told him 'no'? I mean, if he comes in right now…" he said, gesturing at their naked bodies. Azula blinked a few times before speaking a little more clearly now.

"No… no, you can't, Captain" she said, her eyes opening briefly as she turned in bed and angled her body towards Sokka "What time is it, damn it?"

"I think it's still a little before dawn breaks" said Sokka, gazing at the window. Azula huffed.

"I should kill him for waking me" she grunted "But… sleep first…"

"I think he came by to make sure I went to my room on time" said Sokka, gulping "He must have suspected we would do this…"

"I doubt he needed much guesswork to come to that conclusion" she sighed, closing her eyes again "You always go to your room on time anyways, he didn't have to come…"

"He probably thought it was better to be safe than sorry" Sokka reasoned, sighing and leaning down to kiss her again "I should get going"

"I suppose…" she mumbled now, but one of her hands found his forearm and held him in place for a moment. Sokka smiled.

"You don't want me to leave?" he asked, softly, and she groaned.

"It's… it's cold. It'd be warmer if you were still lying down here" she muttered, and Sokka took her hand into his to kiss her knuckles.

"Just stay under the covers and you'll be okay" said Sokka, fixing the sheets and blankets to cover her naked body properly "I'll see you for breakfast?"

"Probably. And then tonight" she whispered, and Sokka smiled "Work hard today, alright?"

"I'll… do my best" he said, swallowing hard but nodding.

She held his face in place as they kissed as passionately as they could while she was still so sleepy. The exchange was nearly enough to convince Sokka to stay instead of dressing up and leaving as he had intended, but Azula pulled away once she was breathless and pushed him off the bed.

"Get going" she said, sighing "Or I won't let you go at all"

Sokka smiled as he gathered his clothes and dressed up again. He only took his time to detail the room now, and he couldn't help but blush as he recalled it was the home to Air Nomads many years ago. No doubt these installations hadn't been built for what had transpired between them last night… or had they? Well, he didn't want to know either way.

He kissed Azula's head before setting the uniform's hood and mask back in place. She had shrunk within the warm covers, in hopes to retain some heat now that her sleeping companion was gone. It was easier to notice how low the temperatures were when he wasn't near her…

"You still there, Rui Shi?" Sokka huffed as he grabbed the doorknob. When he heard a low, exasperated groan at the other side he had his answer "You can go back to your room already, I'm leaving now"

"Fine" Rui Shi growled, against the door "But you'd better not stay in there despite you're saying otherwise. I've already done more than enough for you two reckless fools"

Sokka grimaced, wondering if Rui Shi truly meant that. He wasn't surprised, let alone affected, upon hearing someone refer to him as a reckless fool, but for Azula to be included in the same lot…?

Sokka only left the room when Rui Shi's footsteps disappeared down the hallway. It would be best if he didn't show the Captain his disguise for sneaking undetected into Azula's room at night. Knowing Rui Shi, he'd wrestle the uniform right off him to prevent Sokka from incriminating him or his fellow guards in the crimes he continued to perpetrate with Azula. Still, wearing the uniform from now on wouldn't be wise, Sokka reasoned. Azula had given her guards permission not to wear it during their stay in the Temple, after all… hopefully their escapades wouldn't be put at risk because of that.

The mattress in his room was cold and lacking quality in comparison to Azula's. Maybe it wasn't that bad, but it was impossible for him to give the bed the credit it was due when his lover wasn't with him. He sunk into the mattress, thinking of her, as per usual, and he let himself doze off…

… To wake up several hours later, when the sun was high enough to shine through his window. He groaned and cringed, unwilling to get out of bed until he remembered he wasn't home, let alone was he in the Barge. He was in the Northern Air Temple… and today was the fateful day when he'd begin working on Fire Lord Ozai's bombs.

That thought alone was so discouraging he didn't want to climb off his bed and get ready for the day at all. Yet his stomach was rumbling, and the thought of food was powerful enough to make him move. He groaned with annoyance as he sat on the bed, his hands sliding through his loose hair. The first day here had been quite wonderful, but he was afraid the rest of the month wouldn't be all that amazing.

He dressed up more warmly than usual, wearing a long-sleeved shirt underneath his regular outfit, and left to fetch breakfast hastily. To his relief, he found there was still enough food left for him, though he was surprised, and undeniably disappointed, to find Azula wasn't in the room. He took his seat at the table, frowning a little as he wondered where she might be… she wasn't the only one absent, though. Only half the guards seemed to be eating at the moment. Were they sleeping in, or had he actually slept in?

"Ready for today?" Taro asked him, and Sokka gulped down a mouthful of rice before nodding weakly.

"As ready as I'll be, I guess" he answered, earnestly "Say, where's… everyone?"

"The Princess chose to take a morning bath before her breakfast" Taro said "And many guards were done with breakfast by now. You ought to hurry up with that, by the way. The Mechanist was asking for you a couple of minutes ago. He should be waiting for you in his study"

"Huh, alright" said Sokka, nodding and eating a little faster, yet not too fast. The more he delayed this, the better it would be for everyone on the long run.

Still, his plate was empty eventually and his hunger sated for the time being. By then there was no putting things off. He would have waited to at least see Azula before heading to the Mechanist's study, but he suspected she would berate him for being late if she found him dawdling. He bid farewell to Taro and made his way out of the dining hall, a very unpleasant, sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.

He didn't notice he was going in the wrong direction right away, confused by this different and new environment. It took him a moment to figure out his bearings again, but once he had, he finally set out on his way again to the Mechanist's study…

But he stopped on his tracks when he caught sight of Azula at the other end of the hallway, her fingers sliding through her damp hair as she returned from the bathhouse. She had been staring through the large windows as she walked, but she stopped as well when she caught sight of Sokka. She held back a smile, but he didn't do the same.

"Hey" he said, and she nodded in his direction.

"Morning, Sokka" she said, curtly.

Her eyes flicked left to right quickly as she assessed their surroundings: the only people around weren't likely to notice the exchange between gladiator and Princess, busy with their own matters as they were. All the same, acting too warmly to Sokka in broad daylight wasn't advisable, despite of how she had ached to feel his lips on hers as soon as she saw him.

"Was the bathhouse any good?" he asked, and Azula shrugged.

"To be perfectly honest, the heat system isn't much of a novelty for me" she answered "I can heat up water just fine through my bending"

"Makes sense that it wouldn't surprise you" said Sokka, with a small and uncertain smile "Still, I'll make sure to enjoy it when I try it out"

"No doubt you shall" said Azula, as Sokka grinned more broadly now.

Azula bit her lower lip as her eyes strayed towards a closed door next to her. The passersby were gone now, and the hallway was as good as empty…

"Anyways, you've got to fetch your breakfast, so have a good meal" said Sokka. Azula nodded and stepped towards the door. Sokka raised an eyebrow "Uh… Azula? That's not the dining room…"

"It could be a shortcut to the dining room, though" she said, shrugging innocently as she opened the door ever so slightly "Old buildings like these can hold all sorts of secret passageways, you know…"

"Uh, right, but I don't think this would be one" said Sokka, blinking blankly as Azula entered the room. He grimaced and approached her, stepping into the room cautiously "Azula, you should be careful not to get yourself into trouble by snooping aro-…"

The Princess closed the door so very gently before grabbing the gladiator's shirt and pushing him to the wall. To her delight, his arms were around her waist in no time, and their lips crashed together pleasantly as they greeted one another in that cold morning. Her hands moved to his face, keeping him in place as she deepened the kiss, her tongue seeking his daringly. He responded in kind, his eyes closed in sheer bliss as his hands caressed her over her clothes.

"Morning…" she gasped, parting from him to give him a mischievous smirk. Sokka chuckled.

"Morning to you too, my Princess" he said, pressing his forehead to hers and beaming "You should've told me you were going to bathe early in the morning. I would have gladly joined you…"

"And everyone would have thought our simultaneous absence was too suspicious. That's why I didn't" she said, smiling and Sokka chuckled "Though granted it would have been a lot more enjoyable if you'd been there with me. Did you get enough sleep?"

"I'm not sure, but I hope so" said Sokka, with a weak grin "What about you?"

"Not much, but it's not that important if I slept properly or not. I'm not the one who has work today" she said, looking at him meaningfully "And speaking of which, you should get going. The Mechanist must be expecting you"

"Well, he was late to greet us yesterday so I'm sure he can wait like… ten minutes? Maybe twenty?" said Sokka, with an eager smile. Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"None of that right now. You need to go" she said, leaning in to kiss him again "I'll see you again tonight"

"Fine, fine" said Sokka, sighing in defeat, but he cupped her cheek and kissed her deeply once more, unwilling to part with her that quickly. She moaned softly by the time they parted after this latest exchange "Tonight, for sure"

"As long as it's not risky" she said, smiling and nodding "Good luck today"

"You too, with whatever it is that you do" said Sokka, grinning and pecking her lips once more before pulling away from her and straightening his clothes. His hand reached out to open the door, and with that, their charade began again "Seriously, this weird room, a secret passageway? You know, you need to lay off the conspiracy theories once in a while, Princess. It's not good for anyone to suspect even rooms of being stuff they're not, you know?"

"Stop being ridiculous, I was merely exploring the place" Azula said, looking at him sternly as she closed the door behind them "It's only natural for old and large buildings like this one to have hidden passageways"

"If you say so" Sokka said, looking at her skeptically. Azula rolled her eyes.

"How about you get to work already, gladiator? You have no time to waste looking into what I'm up to. The sooner you finish your mission, the better for all of us" she said, curtly, before taking off towards the dining room.

Sokka gazed after her with a small smile before steeling himself. He had to find the Mechanist and start with this for once and for all.

He made his way to the Mechanist's office without further distractions. He took a deep breath before opening the door, and just as he grabbed the doorknob he heard the unmistakable rattling of things collapsing on the floor messily.

His eyes widened as he saw the Mechanist grimacing, scrolls and books scattered around him. The man's small eyes shifted towards the door, embarrassment emblazoned on his face.

"W-welcome" he said, and Sokka raised an eyebrow before stepping into the room, stretching a hand out to help the Mechanist back on his feet.

"What's going on?" he asked, looking at the scrolls on the floor with confusion as the Mechanist rubbed the sore spots where the books had hit him.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. I was merely looking for something I'd misplaced… last week's lunch" the Mechanist explained, with a weak smile. Sokka's jaw dropped "I thought I'd left it near this shelf but…"

"Y-you misplaced last week's lunch?! H-how on earth…?" said Sokka, with a grimace.

"I often forget to eat, you see" said the Mechanist, smiling with resignation now "My work just seems to consume me and I can't take breaks for food or rest… so I forgot to eat my lunch a few days ago and I remembered to clean it up just now"

"Wasting good food like that…" said Sokka, looking at the Mechanist in disbelief "That should be a crime, you know?"

"Then I'm glad it isn't one just yet" said the Mechanist, as he scratched his bald spot "Ah, if only it were like that one time with the eggs… that lousy smell made it very easy to locate the food plate. But not this time, it seems…"

"Maybe someone took it while you weren't watching" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "Else the whole place would reek of whatever food you forgot to eat for a week, don't you think?"

"Probably, probably" said the Mechanist, nodding in agreement and stroking his beard "Ah, well, if that's so then I won't worry. Anyhow, could you please help me rearrange the scrolls? Excuse me for the bother, but…"

"It's fine, it's fine…" said Sokka, leaning down to pick them up just as the spark of an idea reached the inventor.

"Oh, wait" he said, biting his lower lip "Actually… don't put them all away just yet"

"I shouldn't?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow as he picked up a few scrolls in his hands.

"No, in fact… we'll start working together for some time, won't we?" said the Mechanist, smiling "Then I'm thinking it would be helpful if you familiarized yourself with all the projects I've made through my career!"

"Uh… what?" said Sokka, blinking blankly as the Mechanist took a scroll and opened it, showing Sokka its contents: a design of the heating machine in the bathhouse, along with all sorts of notes scribbled through the page, including mathematical calculations that made Sokka's eyes widen. He'd never seen anything like that.

"I think it's convenient that we both know how the other works before we undertake this difficult mission" said the Mechanist, smiling "So, if you agree, you can look through the scrolls and see what sort of projects I've undertaken in the past. Perhaps if you see the way I work it will be easier to fulfill the Fire Lord's expectations. Don't you think?"

Sokka frowned as he looked at the scroll the Mechanist was still holding open. While, granted, he might need some help when it came to understanding the more complex equations, he wasn't sure that the Mechanist's idea would be all that helpful. How would his understanding of a water heater design help them design bombs?

Yet… if this was what his current boss was asking of him, he shouldn't refuse. It wasn't bound to be a dreadful task to fulfill, if anything it promised to be rather educational, and more importantly, it would help Sokka achieve his goal of stalling the bomb development. And if he wasted their valuable time by reading scrolls instead of working hard because the Mechanist wanted him to, then it might not seem as though he was sabotaging the situation for good. It was too convenient a chance to let it slide.

"I… actually? Yeah" said Sokka, smiling a little "Truth be told, it looks like you have a different way of doing things than what I'm used to. I've never seen calculations like that…"

"Ah, don't worry, I'll explain all of it as carefully and thoroughly as I can!" said the Mechanist, beaming as he led Sokka to the office's desk.

Sokka smirked to himself as he followed the Mechanist. His first day and he was already on the right track. Or perhaps it was the wrong one. At least, it was likely to be wrong in the eyes of a few, such as Princess Azula…

* * *

"Do I need to take a guess as to what you're going to say?" said Rui Shi, sighing as they came to a halt in the highest courtyard of the Northern Air Temple, next to the tower where Azula's quarters were located.

Azula sighed, folding her arms over her chest as Rui Shi rested on his elbows against a railing in the empty courtyard. It was apparent that the railing was new, and not at all of Air Nomad confection, both because the Air Nomads would not need it, and because the materials it was fashioned from seemed too modern compared to the rest of the buildings. A light breeze blew through the Princess's hair as she approached her guard, an uncertain frown on her face.

"I need to stop acting like there's something going on" Rui Shi said, with an almost sing-song voice "If I go to your room in the middle of the night for no apparent reason, people will be all the more suspicious…"

"I wasn't going to say that" Azula grunted, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingertips "If anything, you might have saved us. I know I was in a foul mood about it, but little else can be expected when you wake someone at four in the morning…"

"I was only trying to watch out for you" said Rui Shi, curtly "I had no guarantees that you two could be responsible on your own. And if you think I saved you, then I guess I wasn't that mistaken"

"It's true that we were fast asleep" Azula muttered "And we were both a little more exhausted than usual. So maybe your intervention did help this time"

"However, you would rather I don't intervene, wouldn't you?" Rui Shi asked, with a raised eyebrow. Azula grimaced "I'm afraid I can't promise I won't. I…"

"I know why you do it, and in all honesty I don't blame you for it" said Azula "But it is true that if we keep acting differently, it will be easier for others to notice there's something out of place"

"Then stop meeting up like that and I might not have to show up at your doorstep as I did" said Rui Shi, shrugging, and Azula huffed.

"You do realize that it won't make a difference, don't you?" she asked "The damage is well done, and it will stay that way until the day I die. There's nothing else to it anymore"

"I'm aware, but if you two keep meeting up like this, then word of what's happened is at further risk of getting out" said Rui Shi "In all honesty… I thought you'd be less reckless. But then again, you've never had much common sense where he's involved…"

"It's not that simple" said Azula, gritting her teeth. Rui Shi looked at her skeptically.

"No? Why is that? Does he make you that happy?" he asked, only regretting his words after he'd finished uttering them.

Azula's nails clawed into the railing as her entire body tensed up. Rui Shi's words had a simple, talkative intent to them and she knew it. But even so, her heart sank upon hearing them. Indeed, Sokka made her happy… and indeed, she was clinging onto that happiness as she would to dear life: in fact, she was setting that happiness as the highest priority around, instead of keeping her head level as she had been taught to.

Her father had told her, from a young age, that most emotions were unreliable and pointless. Love was something for fools to long for, not for a Princess of her caliber. She was meant to be perfect, to obey his every order, to live an exemplary and royal life. All that had gone down the drain ever since Sokka had showed up. And he had done his very best to convince her that feelings weren't a waste… that those feelings she had buried deep inside of her weren't wrong. A long time had passed before she started to agree with that concept: in fact, it had taken the discovery of a new kind of fire for her to accept Sokka's ideas. But upon accepting them, she had lost sight of everything else…

"You needn't be so upset, I was merely asking… never mind" said Rui Shi, grimacing as Azula took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Captain" she whispered, startling him "It's true that I've put you through too much with my selfish urges. Perhaps I ought to make amends for it"

"I said it didn't matter, Princess, I understand that… well, I understand that I don't understand, to be perfectly honest" he said, frowning.

"You don't have to understand. In fact, in your line of work, it would be best if you never did" said Azula sighing "And considering all the services you've provided, I guess the best thing I should do, after having tormented you as I have with my selfishness, is to find a way to spare your life if worst comes to worst"

"What… what do you mean?" said Rui Shi, looking at Azula with uncertainty.

"I could recommend you for a promotion" Azula said, tapping the railing "Have you become one of my father's Imperial Guards instead. If things between me and Sokka were ever discovered, which I hope they aren't, then you can feign ignorance and I can pretend it happened after you were promoted into superior service. This way…"

"B-but… no" said Rui Shi, his eyes widening. Azula frowned and looked at him skeptically.

"No?" she said again "What do you mean, no? Captain, this is the only way I can think of to keep you alive despite the circumstances. You'd be a fool not to…"

"But I don't wish to stop guarding you" said Rui Shi, and Azula huffed.

"Is there just no pleasing you, Captain?" she asked, burying her face in her hands "The only other way in which you'll get away unscathed is if I become Fire Lord, since, if I do, I'll have my way no matter what I do. But considering the circumstances, I'm not going to become Fire Lord until my father dies, so it means I'll have to wait until I'm… I don't know, around fifty or sixty-years-old? Sounds reasonable enough to keep a secret for that long, huh?"

"W-well, that is, unless…" said Rui Shi, frowning. Azula's eyes darted towards him with a glare.

"Don't even say it" she said "I'll hear nothing about assassination attempts on my father. I'd never have any part in something like that"

"I didn't think you would" said Rui Shi "But it's either keeping your father satisfied or finding your happiness with your slave. You can't have both things, Princess"

Azula frowned, and Rui Shi swallowed hard. Was that the mask of determination, or was it mere frustration over not having her way with this matter? He knew first-hand that the Princess wasn't used to being denied whatever she set her mind to, and one way or another she'd find a way to obtain whatever she sought for. She wasn't a quitter. Still, could she figure a safe way to keep the gladiator by her side while remaining loyal to her father? Rui Shi feared it would be impossible.

"I guess I can't" she muttered, with a deep sigh. Yet Rui Shi didn't think this was genuine resignation. She was merely thinking, hard, of a solution. Of a way to keep what made her happy despite it might get them all killed.

"Don't misunderstand my intentions, Princess" he said, lowering his eyes "Despite it all, I… I guess I am glad that you've found happiness despite I'm not that pleased about who you found it with. It's only…"

"That's not as important as safety" Azula mused "Your job is to keep me safe and sound, and not to keep me happy"

"Well, that's why the gladiator is doing the second thing and not me" said Rui Shi, and with a harsh glare from Azula he swallowed hard again "I guess that was slightly out of line, wasn't it?"

"I guess this entire conversation is out of line, technically" said Azula, matter-of-factly before huffing and shaking her head "I'll figure out ways to reduce the potential casualties, Captain. If someone should take the fall for what I've done, it's me and me alone"

"You alone?" said Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow "But the gladiator…"

"I will not have him die either, in case you thought I would" said Azula, rolling her eyes. Rui Shi nodded.

"I didn't think you wanted him to die, but I'm afraid that avoiding that fate won't be easy for him" said Rui Shi "Both because of his line of work and because of what you two are up to. I'd think he's aware of it, isn't he? That… that he just might have to die for you, so to speak, because of this"

"Of course he is" said Azula, sighing.

"I suppose he cares enough about you to not be deterred by death, even" said Rui Shi "But that's still foolish of him either way…"

"It would be, but fortunately for him, I care enough not to let him die" said Azula, curtly "One way or another, I'll find a solution, Captain. Until then, please continue to fulfill your duties in the ways you believe necessary, and keep in mind to avoid detection if you come wake us again. Understood?"

"Understood. Still, Princess…" said Rui Shi, looking at Azula apprehensively "I'm sorry if I said anything I shouldn't have. I know… I know you cherish this a lot more than I can understand, and I will learn to accept it in time. It's a little difficult at times, but…"

"You needn't force yourself to accept, let alone to like, what's happening. If I were in your position, Captain, I can't say I would have been as patient and loyal as you've been" Azula whispered.

"I beg to differ" said Rui Shi "You have always been loyal to your Father to no end. Had you been a Royal Guard, surely that loyalty would have been as mine is towards you"

"Really?" said Azula, looking at Rui Shi with a skeptical smile "You seem to hold me in far too high regards, Captain, considering I might be the death of you…"

Rui Shi started to smile as well, but before he could answer Azula's words, a loud cry echoed through the air:

"INCOMIIIIING!"

Both Azula and Rui Shi jumped back when a glider came flying straight towards the courtyard. The man manipulating it wasn't a stranger, though: Fei Li seemed to be having the time of his life thanks to this new flying contraption, despite he took a rough landing and fell over himself, the glider spiraling out of control and crashing against a tree.

Azula and Rui Shi blinked blankly as they watched him struggle to make sense out of his surroundings, a goofy smile on his face. Rui Shi naturally stepped towards him to help him find his bearings, and another flying contraption landed in the courtyard just as he reached Fei Li. Azula raised an eyebrow as the Mechanist's son handled his wheelchair's controls skillfully, making for a proper landing as he skidded to a halt.

"Sorry about that, Princess!" Teo exclaimed, removing his orange goggles and smiling at her apologetically "We were practicing down below but he got a little adventurous…"

"No surprises there, not when it comes from Fei Li of all people" said Azula, with a weak smirk "You seem to be as good at gliding as well as your father said you were, Teo"

"O-oh, he… he said something about my gliding skills?" said Teo, his eyes brightening. Azula nodded.

"He claimed that you were the best glider around, in fact" Azula said "If the other refugees do it as poorly as Fei Li does, then no wonder he boasts of your skills at the craft…"

"Oh, not at all, the others are pretty good too" said Teo, smiling "It takes a while to get used to it, but once you get the hang of gliding, you can fly like a bird no problem!"

"The Princess doesn't need gliding for that, pal" said Fei Li, stumbling as he stood up with Rui Shi's help. His smile still hadn't waned "She flies just fine by herself, you know?"

"Hey, it's true that you said something like that yesterday" said Teo, raising his eyebrows and looking at Azula inquisitively "What exactly does he mean with that? How do you fly?"

Azula raised an eyebrow, wondering if it would be adequate to put on this show right now. She had meant to go scouting the mountains with Xin Long as soon as she had finished talking with Rui Shi, but there was no urgency to their scouting trip after all, was there? Considering how delighted her dragon was by chasing small critters at the base of the mountain, it didn't seem there was.

"Well, I did say I would do it…" she said, shrugging and taking a few steps back. Teo raised an eyebrow "You shouldn't stay there, by the way. For your own safety, keep some distance from me when I'm about to fly, Teo"

"O-okay, then" said Teo, nodding and wheeling himself away, followed by Fei Li and Rui Shi, who seemed rather perplexed by Azula's demonstration.

Azula took a deep breath but smiled a little all the same. She alerted Xin Long that she'd need him soon, just before bringing her hands to her chest and breathing slowly… easing herself into complete calm before taking one step forward, stretching out her arms and unleashing an inferno of blue flames that catapulted her into the open sky.

"Woah!" Teo exclaimed, amazed as he inched further away from the flames. Even Fei Li and Rui Shi had wide eyes as they watched the Princess's silhouette fly away behind a trail of blue blazes.

Azula smirked to herself as she sped up, watching the gliders that flew around the mountain as they maneuvered away from her. Some of them were her own guards, well aware of the fact that blue flames were their princess's trademark firebending style, others were refugees, confused and surprised as to how there was a firebender flying through the skies powered by nothing other than her bending skills.

She scoured the skies, hovering well above the other gliders as she kept her arms stretched out firmly. Firepower continued to pour through her extremities, adding speed to her flight. She passed near the other towers of the Air Temple, leaving only blue fire in her wake, but that alone was enough to catch the eye of a certain Water Tribe man. He lifted his gaze from the desk he was sitting at upon noticing the haze of blue through one of the windows in the Mechanist's office.

A smile spread over his features when the figure flew past the window again, now at further distance from the tower. Naturally, it could only be Azula.

"Showing them what flying looks like, huh?" he asked softly, still grinning despite he could only see the lingering flames she had left behind after herself.

"Did you say something?" the Mechanist asked, startling Sokka.

"N-no, no, I was just thinking aloud" Sokka said, smiling awkwardly at the man.

"Oh, that's helpful, alright. If you need any help deciphering my handwriting, let me know!" said the Mechanist, and Sokka nodded as he returned to the scroll he had been reading, the one that detailed the design of the finger-safe knife sharpener.

Azula continued to fly until her limbs started to feel weak. Wasting all her power in a mere flight demonstration wasn't that wise, so to everyone's surprise, she stopped boosting herself through her bending and allowed gravity to reclaim her. Naturally, all the people with gliders and the ones in the courtyard were aghast upon seeing her plummeting…

Rui Shi breathed out in relief when a dark, serpentine shape came flying from below at full speed, flying straight towards Azula so she would land on the dragon saddle. The landing on the saddle wasn't all that comfortable, but Azula smiled and patted Xin Long's hair gratefully as he flew with pride back to the same courtyard Azula had set out from.

"Great job, Xin" Azula told him, as they slowed upon descending in the open area.

To no surprise, Teo's eyes were wide open and so was his mouth. Not only was he already astonished by the sight of the flying Princess, but he was in complete awe now before the majestic dark dragon she was riding.

"T-that was… that was amazing!" he exclaimed, his eyes still wide as he stared at the dragon in disbelief "It's a dragon? An actual dragon?!"

"You can see him for yourself, can't you?" Azula said, smiling.

"I would like to ask you not to be so dramatic in your flight displays, Princess" said Rui Shi, a grimace on his face "For a moment there…"

"You had thought I would drop to my death?" Azula asked, with a weak smirk "You're not getting rid of me that easily, I'm afraid"

"B-but that was seriously fantastic, Princess!" Teo exclaimed, still overexcited as Xin Long approached him, intrigued by his wheelchair "I had no idea there were still dragons around, but…"

"I guess gossip doesn't travel that fast outside the Fire Nation, huh?" said Fei Li.

"She has had a dragon for around a year now" Rui Shi said, and Azula nodded "She tamed the only one we've seen in around thirty years or so"

"Seriously?" said Teo, looking at Azula, awestruck "So you're a dragon rider. Just… woah"

"And now you know why I know my ways around flying as well as I do" said Azula, nodding "It's both thanks to my bending technique and Xin Long"

"Awesome" said Teo, grinning, and Fei Li stepped forward.

"But it wouldn't hurt to learn one more way of flying, would it, Princess?" Fei Li said, grinning as he gestured at his glider. Azula raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Well… it might not be such a bad idea, actually" said Azula, with a smirk.

It didn't take long for the Princess to learn her way through gliding, albeit she found this system far too slow for her liking. It made for enjoyable flights and sight-seeing from above, yet the gliders weren't as easy to control as her own fire or her dragon. Drafts of any kind could make the glider lose its way through the air, prompting Azula to conclude that, while not an entirely bad system, she would rather stick to the ones she was used to.

Her guards, on the other hand, were enjoying themselves fully with this new activity. Even Rui Shi was convinced eventually into taking one of the gliders and trying his luck with it. The only guard who was forced to stay in solid grounds, after a failed attempt at gliding, was Taro, who found himself short of breath far too easily in these heights. He was left to watch the others, sometimes accompanied by Xin Long and sometimes by himself, if the dragon decided to torment the gliding people.

Most the day passed them by, and busy as they were flying, they barely registered it until the skies began to darken. To their benefit, though, nighttime came a lot faster in these regions during fall and winter, as Teo promptly explained. Most the guards, and the Princess as well, were slightly put off by the drastic differences between their home and this environment. Not only was it colder, but it was dry and far too elevated. It would take some time for them to adjust to the circumstances, for certain.

"Some people got used to it faster than others" Teo explained over lunch, with his usual friendly smile "Hong Ji, for instance, had to take like two years to adapt to the new environment. But most of us were faster than that, so it might be you guys will get used to it for this month too"

"Perhaps we will" a guard answered, Tai Wei "We did adjust to being the Princess's guards quickly enough, after all"

"Yeah, that was such a challenge that this will be easy as pie in comparison" Fei Li said, with a smirk. Teo raised an eyebrow.

"Why's that?" he asked, looking at the Princess. Again she sat at the far end of the table, and a smirk spread over her face as she ate her tomato-carrot and cabbage salad.

"The Princess tested us all in many ways before we could become her guards" said Rui Shi, and Teo looked at him with curiosity.

"So you guys weren't just assigned to her?" he asked, and the guards shook their heads.

"Members of the Royal Family are allowed to hand-pick their Royal Guards once they're seventeen-years-old" Azula explained "I naturally decided to assemble my guards as soon as possible, but not just anyone would do. So I had a few tests for them to pass in order to prove they deserved to be my guards"

"Wow" said Teo, his eyes wide "What sort of tests?"

"First of all, there was the mandatory firebending test" Azula said "I would have no guards below average in that area, naturally. But then there were other tests…"

"Individual tests" Rui Shi added, with a small grimace. Next to him, Taro smiled awkwardly.

"The Princess needed to know if we were trustworthy, see" he said "And so she gave us a lot of… well, unexpected commands"

"She ordered me to sing the Fire Nation's Anthem to the Fire Lord every single time I caught sight of him" said Fei Li, his eyes widening at the memory "She didn't tell the Fire Lord what was happening, though, s-so he thought I was mocking him and I damn near paid an awful price for that"

"I was to deliver a very insulting speech she had written for the Ember Island Players" said Taro, gulping "I was to memorize it and speak it when their group was invited for the Festivals Week, they had a performance… I was nearly run down by angry actors and playwrights, and she had forbidden me from explaining who I was, let alone who had sent me to deliver the speech in the first place"

"Now, now, Taro, I needed to make certain you could survive an angry mob…" Azula said, a devious smirk on her face. Taro actually smiled and shook his head.

"Fortunately I did, though I still don't know how" he confessed.

"My test was to learn how to operate every system of her Barge" said Tai Wei "With a time limit of two days, and only so she'd test me on what I'd learned on the very next day. I had never studied anything as desperately as I did that time…"

More guards shared their stories, and each and every one brought a brighter smirk to Azula's face. It seemed the memories of her first days with her guards were rather amusing to recall. Some men had failed her tests, of course, and thus they weren't here today… the ones that were had managed to obey her every order, no matter how reckless or dangerous it was. She had needed to know she could rely on them, after all.

"And what about you?" Teo asked Rui Shi, still chuckling after the last story, from a guard who had been forced to communicate through nothing but animal noises for an entire week.

"Me?" said Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow "Well… since I was deemed the best firebender after the first test, the Princess figured I ought to be the Captain of her guards, but prowess alone wouldn't get me the role. So… she gave me an array of commands, including finding out if that rumored manuscript by Fire Lord Sozin existed and, if it did, bringing it to her. I had to test her food for poison before she had it, and that was just…"

"It wasn't half as bad as you say it was, Captain" said Azula, rolling her eyes as Rui Shi looked at her skeptically.

"It was so spicy I could have bent through my mouth without meaning to" he explained, as the other guards chuckled and Azula smirked "It was but a small bite and I could barely take it. That much spice ought to be poison on its own, but apparently it wasn't for her…"

"You exaggerate, Captain, honestly" said Azula, as Teo laughed as well.

"And of course she tested my common sense by giving me commands I should not follow, only to see whether I gave more importance to loyalty than standing my ground…"

"And I guess you did as she expected you to, didn't you?" Teo said.

"Well, I protested when the command was far too illogical, no doubt… but if she insisted, I would have to do it regardless" said Rui Shi, shrugging "We swear our vows to the Fire Lord, but our loyalty belongs to the Family member we're serving. We must be ready to sacrifice everything for them, even our very lives"

"W-well, but the Princess wouldn't have you do that, would she?" said Teo, with an insecure smile. Rui Shi raised his eyebrows.

"Perhaps not" he said, his gaze shifting towards Azula, who was frowning a little "But even then, I would be ready to give my life if need be"

"And so are the rest of us" said Tai Wei, sitting beside him "As we're meant to be, of course. Else we wouldn't have passed her tests, right?"

Azula smiled a little upon hearing that, though Rui Shi's intervention was slightly off-putting. It was true that he was meant to give his life for her if need be, but surely he had always imagined himself dying for her in a battlefield, or saving her life from assassins… dying because of Azula's clandestine relationship surely was the most shameful and least honorable possibility of all. Despite her insistence to keep her relationship with Sokka, she could acknowledge how bad a prospect that was.

"Heh, you guys must be far more intimidating than you look like, then" Teo said, with a grin "I guess I've just seen you all in your more casual behavior"

"Indeed, and be relieved that's the case, Teo" said Azula, nodding, as she felt a small pang of pain on her lower abdomen. A certain kind of pain she knew quite well, and that was unrelated to the guilt she felt for causing trouble for her loyal Captain.

She kept a straight face, despite the unpleasant sensation, before making to stand up. Her guards moved to stand too but she commanded them to remain seated through a hand gesture.

"I will take my leave now, there are some Air Nomad scrolls I'm curious about" she said, before looking at Teo "Though I will request your assistance in vacating the bathhouse for my use again, if you would be so kind…"

"O-oh, yes, sure" said Teo, surprised. Nobody ever took two baths in a single day in the Northern Air Temple, but the Princess came from a very different culture and lifestyle, after all "I'll get to it right away"

Azula breathed out slowly as she followed Teo outside, ignoring the stares of her guards, especially that of Rui Shi, which was clouded with concern. But if her suspicions regarding the origin of the pain in her abdomen were accurate, then it meant the Captain of her Guards would not be facing deadly peril for his performance as her protector just yet.

* * *

Sokka was worn out by the time he finally asked the Mechanist for a break at night. His eyes were dry, his fingers itchy after having touched so many dusty scrolls and scrapbooks. His stomach had been growling so loudly the Mechanist could hear it, and when his vision became hazy he forced himself to ask his current boss if he was allowed to stop for the time being. The Mechanist answered positively right away, and Sokka scrambled out of the office immediately, desperate to have a bite of whatever food he could find.

He was too late to catch up with the others at dinner, so he ate by himself, helping himself to whatever food he could still find in the kitchen. He thought the Mechanist might join him, but the man was a workaholic. It didn't seem he left his office unless it was for the purpose of working in further projects outside. Sokka didn't miss the man's company that much, though. Spending an entire day cooped up in an office, reading technical papers non-stop and needing the man's help to understand most of them, had been far more taxing than he had expected. The one he did miss, though, was the Princess. Meeting Azula again was certain to brighten his spirits after such a draining day.

He washed up quickly in the bathhouse, but he would have enjoyed the soak in the hot water a lot more if he hadn't been thinking of the water heater's design, which he had analyzed earlier that day. Numbers and equations kept rushing through his mind, so a moment that should have relaxed him didn't take away any of his stress.

The temple was deserted, even more than the previous night, by the time he left the bath house. He pondered his options briefly, unsure if Azula would be waiting for him indeed. She might be sleeping already… so he resolved to stop at her room, and if she didn't answer he'd leave. He was tired as well, but spending some time with her was certain to help him forget all about the endless string of formulas scrolling through his mind.

He took a deep breath and stopped at her door, knocking softly but loudly enough for her to hear in case she was awake.

"Hey, Azula?" he whispered, biting his lower lip. There was no answer. His heart sank "Are you awake or…? I guess not"

He sighed and pressed his head to the door, a grimace on his face. Perhaps he'd had it coming, since he'd spent every night without fail by her side during the past weeks. His luck had never lasted this long before, and he had known his good streak would end sooner than…

The door swung open and he nearly fell as he lost balance. Azula jumped back, startled by his clumsy stumble, and she looked at him with wide eyes as he regained his footing.

"Are you alright?" she asked him tentatively, as he stared right back into her eyes. For a moment Azula feared he'd start crying, given the expression on his face… so she wasn't all that surprised when his arms surrounded her in a tight embrace, a sigh of relief leaving his lips.

"Hell, I missed you" he said, smiling as he held her close. Azula rolled her eyes but smiled as well, patting his back and nodding.

"It sure looks like you did" she said, pushing him away briefly just so she could close the door "Was it that bad?"

"It was… taxing" Sokka answered truthfully, with a grimace "I think my brain is about to explode after all the information I could barely process. But I'm with you now and that makes everything so much better…"

His smile became a lot more heartfelt and innocent now, and Azula had a hard time holding back a smile of her own as he leaned down to kiss her softly.

"I really needed to come see you" he said "Things just make more sense when you're around…"

"I suppose, but…" said Azula, swallowing hard. Sokka frowned and looked at her insecurely.

"But…? D-did I wake you?" he asked, flinching. Azula shook her head and he sighed in relief again.

"That's not it" she muttered "It's only that… you might not get what you were looking for tonight"

"Uh… huh?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "What exactly…?"

"Let's just say I confirmed a few hours ago that I'm not pregnant" said Azula, with a curt grin.

Sokka blinked a few times, staring at her in confusion until the facts clicked in his head. He lifted a finger and opened his mouth, still looking at her warily.

"D-does that mean you're… uh, not feeling very well right now?" he asked, with an insecure grimace "I figure the way you confirmed it was through, well… blood?"

"Yep" said Azula, nodding "I suppose I should praise Mai's tea once we return. It's a remarkable brew, considering we've been quite persistent with sex the past few weeks…"

"It's kind of hard not to be, though" said Sokka, with a small smile, but he shook his head and looked at her with worry in his eyes "Still, though, if you're in your days then… do you need anything in particular? Should I leave you be? I know it can be a tricky thing to deal with the nasty time of the month, so if you'd rather I leave you alone…"

"You know it's tricky?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "How do you know that?"

"Eh… grew up with a sister in a very small igloo" said Sokka, with a small smile "When you live in such cramped spaces it's hard to keep secrets from one another, and Katara wasn't that secretive about her periods…"

"Oh. Well, that does explain it, surprisingly" said Azula, with a smirk. Sokka smiled as well.

"She had a knack for being a little more aggressive than usual those days" he confessed "And I learned the hard way not to comment about it because she'd freeze me for being an inconsiderate jerk… and in the meantime, Gran Gran would just sit in the corner whispering to herself about how glad she was for menopause"

Azula couldn't help but snort at that, laughing softly as Sokka smiled. He was glad his strange recollections of his time in the Water Tribe served to amuse her.

"So anyhow, I get that you might want to be alone for tonight" he said, with a weak grin "We'll do whatever makes you more comfortable"

"That's awfully considerate coming from an inconsiderate jerk" said Azula, smiling at him "Though… would you want to stay? I mean, we really shouldn't have sex in these circumstances, so…"

"W-well… that's not all there is to this, you know?" said Sokka, placing his hands on her shoulders "Sex with you is the most extraordinary experience ever and it makes me feel alive and elated, no doubt, but what really matters when we're together is that I'm with you, you know?"

Azula raised her eyebrows, blushing slightly, and Sokka smiled, stretching a hand to caress her cheek.

"Any time I can spend with you is precious, even if we're just sitting around talking" he said "If you thought that all there was to this was sex… well, I'm afraid you're wrong. As I said, it's mind-blowing and I seriously love it… yep, seriously. I mean, it's just amazing…"

"I'm glad to hear that" said Azula, with a crooked grin. Sokka chuckled.

"But if that's not a possibility, then I'd gladly do anything else" he said "If you want me gone, I'll go, but if you want me to help you somehow, I gladly will"

"That's quite generous of you. Still, I think you should do what you want to" she said. Sokka smiled "Ultimately it's up to you whether you want to stick around or not"

"Up to me? Then I'll definitely stay in your room" he said, grinning "Forever. And I'll never go back to work. Yep, that's exactly what I want"

"What in the name of…?" said Azula, as Sokka's smile waned and turned to a grimace of despair. He walked towards a chair in the room and sank in it, rubbing his face with his hands "Alright, was it that bad?"

"The guy's crazy" said Sokka, sighing "He barely seems human if you ask me. He's so obsessed with his work that he barely can be bothered to eat, and I'm positive he doesn't ever sleep either. I… I seriously don't know how he does it. The real problem is, though, that it looks like he expects me to be as tireless as he is! And since he never takes breaks, I never take breaks, and since he never ate then I didn't get to have lunch… it's been a very long, tiresome day and I really wish I didn't have to return to that office any time soon…"

"Deprived of food. Your worst nightmare, no doubt" said Azula, smiling as she walked towards the mattress, settling on it as she stared at Sokka "Did you make any progress, though?"

"Uh, no" said Sokka, and Azula was surprised he even looked guilty as he confessed the truth "Not in regards of building bombs, at least. I mean, I learned a lot of things… I think. I mean, I'm not sure if I'll remember most of it tomorrow, because there was too much going on. Y-you see, he had the great idea to make me read up about every project he's developed, so that I'd learn about his style and the way he works… he had to explain most of the projects thoroughly, because a lot of stuff was completely new to me, and the more questions I asked, the more confusing everything was! In the end I just… feel like I need a few days to digest all the information. It was educational for sure, but… but yeah, in regards of the bombs, there was really no progress. Sorry about that"

"Well, it's only the first day. Perhaps he expected all his work to inspire you somehow" said Azula, with a skeptical smirk "Still, I figure you've made up for the lack of food…"

"I got some dinner scrapes, yeah. I cleaned up too because my entire body was prickling after I grabbed all those dusty scrolls" said Sokka, shaking his head "Not a fun day, at all"

"That's a pity" said Azula "But it does make some sense. You can't start working with a serious project like this if you have no grasp on the theories to sustain it, and no idea how to make a project design. So perhaps this drag of a day won't be so bad in the long run"

"Perhaps" said Sokka, nodding and sighing as he slumped on his chair. He raised an eyebrow and looked at her "Did you have a more entertaining day, or the monthly visitor ruined it for you?"

"It wasn't that bad" Azula admitted "I tried out the gliders, flew with bending and with Xin Long…"

"Oh? Tried the g-gliders?" said Sokka, his eyebrows twitching. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Did you read the gliders' design project too?" she asked, and Sokka shook his head.

"Not yet… so I'll probably run into it tomorrow" he said, hanging his head now. Azula looked at him questioningly.

"Are you going to keep doing this forever?" she asked "I mean… does he plan on ever getting to the actual bomb work or will he have you reading all his scrolls until it's time for us to leave?"

"I don't know, honestly" said Sokka, gulping. The idea was both horrifying and helpful, since it would be a great way to sabotage the mission… but reading more of those scrolls would make his brain collapse of information overload "I'd expect him not to, but for now that's all he's tasked me with"

"Hmm…" said Azula, but she shrugged "Perhaps it was only because you were starting today. Surely by tomorrow he'll have enough sense to give you real work"

"Yeah, maybe" said Sokka, nodding. Azula sighed and dropped on the mattress. Sokka looked at her before standing up and approaching her on the bed, a hand stretching towards her cheek "So don't worry. I'll probably have real stuff to report to you from tomorrow onwards"

"You'd better" said Azula, looking at him with a raised eyebrow "So… are you just going to stand there?"

"Not if you want me to do anything else" said Sokka, grinning and sitting at the mattress.

Azula groaned and shifted towards him, settling her head on his lap and closing her eyes. Sokka's fingers started lacing through her smooth hair and she hummed in approval. Yet he took notice of a small detail as she rested on his legs: there was a small crease between her eyebrows, caused by a soft frown.

"What's on your mind?" he asked, softly. Azula groaned "Uh, is it the pain? Bothering you too much?"

"Not that much" she whispered "That's not that I'm thinking about, though"

"Care to share?" Sokka said, his knuckles caressing her cheek. Azula sighed and turned on his lap, looking up at him now.

"I think today was the first time in ages that I spent most the day around my guards" she muttered. Sokka raised an eyebrow "And after being at the receiving end of Rui Shi's endless, and well-founded, reservations, it was hard to keep from worrying about whether or not I'll cause their deaths simply because I wanted to be with you"

Sokka frowned as well now and Azula sighed once more.

"Do you ever feel like a completely selfish prick?" she asked him, with an ironic smile "Because somehow I had a hard time not feeling that way today"

"I guess I know the feeling" Sokka confessed, gritting his teeth "Things wouldn't be all that bad if we were the only ones to face consequences for it, huh?"

"I'd rather you didn't have to face any either" Azula whispered, and Sokka smiled "But apparently the only way to avoid that would be for my father to die suddenly. If I succeed him as Fire Lord I could see to it that you remain safe and sound…"

"Fire Lord?" Sokka asked "Does that mean we'd be allowed to, uh, I don't know, even get married just because you're Fire Lord and you call the shots when it comes to everything?"

"Don't get your hopes high" Azula said, giving a significant look at Sokka and making him smile guiltily "That sort of thing isn't going to happen, I won't have my father die. So for us to get-… wait a minute. Did you just… say we could get married?"

"I was just talking nonsense, it's all" said Sokka, with an insecure smile "I know I'm getting ahead of myself and daydreaming too much, so don't take me that seriously"

"Right" said Azula, looking at him skeptically.

"So you really don't think that sort of thing can happen" he said, with a sigh "Your father will rule for many more years, and while he does, we'll be putting everyone else in mortal peril by doing what we're doing"

"Exactly" said Azula "And while I don't want us to stop this, I just keep thinking I should protect them somehow. If someone should take the fall for this, it should be me"

"There's no way you're taking it all on your own" said Sokka, caressing her cheek "We're in this together and you know it. I'm not going to turn my back on you just because you think you can take on everything on your own"

"That's quite gallant, truly" said Azula, smiling a little at him "But I'd still rather we avoid that sort of thing, both for our sakes and for my guards. They're good men. They don't deserve to die because of us"

"Nobody deserves to die because two people start a relationship, but this isn't a normal situation, huh?" said Sokka, sighing "Is there anything you can do to protect them?"

"I suggested granting the Captain a promotion, if possible, but he doesn't seem fond of the idea" Azula said. At Sokka's questioning stare she explained: "A promotion into my father's Imperial Guards, so he wouldn't have to face consequences if we're ever discovered"

"And the others?" Sokka asked, and Azula shrugged.

"Truth be told, their ignorance of our relationship will only enrage my father further. He'd take them for unreliable and useless guards, since they couldn't protect me from you…" Azula mused "I guess the best thing I could do, for their sakes, would be to dissemble my guard in its entirety. I could make a case, perhaps, that I won't need them because I have a dragon now and because I'm one of the most skilled firebenders in the world…"

"Would your father accept that?" Sokka asked, and Azula shrugged.

"He might still demand that I take guards with me for long trips, probably, but this way they won't be responsible for my personal safety and protection under all circumstances" she said "It's the best idea I have at the moment"

"I'm glad you've thought of something already" said Sokka "But you don't have to make your ideas a reality just yet, fortunately. You're not pregnant, so that's one less thing that could give us away. If things start looking too dangerous in the future you can dissemble your guards, or if you come up with a better solution we can do that instead. I figure you wouldn't want to lose them…"

"No, I wouldn't. But it's slightly nerve-wrecking to carry out a secret relationship when you have a dozen bodyguards watching your every move" said Azula, with a sarcastic smirk. Sokka chuckled "Still, you're right. There's one less factor of risk now that we know I didn't conceive anything. It may keep us from having sex for around a week, but despite that, it's a true relief that I'm not pregnant…"

"I guess it is" said Sokka, with a sad smile. Azula raised an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically.

"You guess?" she repeated, and Sokka gulped "What's that supposed to mean?"

"W-well, I just had thought about a few things… again, I know I daydream too much" he said, with an awkward laugh.

Azula pushed herself up and looked at him skeptically, prompting Sokka to blush a little.

"What exactly were you daydreaming about now?" she asked "Please tell me it's not about oral sex again…"

"N-no, of course not!" Sokka exclaimed, blushing more. Azula smirked.

"Then what was it now?" she asked, and Sokka scratched the back of his neck.

"Well… when we were still on the ship, I'd spend the days thinking about the hardships we might have to deal with if worst came to worst. So I thought… that if you had been pregnant despite it all, maybe we could have orchestrated a plan to make sure the child could be born safely, without your father's awareness of what was going on"

"Okay… how?" said Azula, looking at Sokka with confusion but with genuine curiosity as well. Sokka breathed deeply.

"First off, you'd have to find an excuse of some sort to relocate to some distant place in the Colonies" said Sokka "Something that allows you to be far from the public eye and from your father, so he won't know what's happening for good. You'd take me with you, Song should come too because she has midwife experience, and I had thought Rui Shi ought to be around for the sake of security too. He already knows about us, so it wouldn't surprise him that much to hear that, well…"

"That I would be carrying some hypothetical baby" said Azula, raising an eyebrow. Sokka smiled and nodded.

"Exactly" he said "So the plan would be for your excuse to last for like… a year or two, perhaps. That way the kid would grow big enough to stop needing you around all the time, and by then we'd be able to return to the Fire Nation"

"And once we returned, how would we explain this sudden kid that showed up with us?" said Azula, with a raised eyebrow. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"I thought we could pretend we had found him during our travels somehow, perhaps claim his parents abandoned it. If the baby were a firebender, you could even have it as a protégé of yours. I don't know how it works exactly, but maybe you could have had a room set up for the baby in the Palace… And if it were a non-bender then I could pretend to adopt it, despite it's truly my child, and that way we get to keep our kid around anyhow"

"Well, a fake adoption sounds better than pretending you fathered some illegitimate kid while we were gone" said Azula, with a curt grin. Sokka shuddered and pouted.

"Uh, yeah, fake adoption all the way" he said, as Azula chuckled.

"Still, the kid might look like either of us" she said "Wouldn't that be suspicious?"

"Likely, but we could just pass it off as a coincidence. Maybe" said Sokka, with a half-smile. Azula shook her head but smiled as well.

"So I'd have to be isolated for nine months or so…?" she said.

"Not really, only when you start showing" said Sokka, reassuringly "Some women in my tribe announced they were pregnant and it would be months before you could actually notice for yourself. So you wouldn't have to be in hiding for that long"

"Still, it would be well over three months…" Azula said, with a raised eyebrow. But Sokka caught her meaning immediately.

"No need to worry, you could write an authorization letter for either Rui Shi or Song to sponsor me in whatever fights I might have" said Sokka "It'd be better if Rui Shi did it, since he's not a slave…"

"So you really thought of everything, huh?" Azula asked, with a small smile. Sokka chuckled guiltily "I'm not sure if I should be amazed or if I should tease you for having so much leisure time"

"Well, I did have a lot of it on the ship" said Sokka "It's been a little hard to indulge in weird fantasies today, sadly"

"You're really something else, you know" Azula whispered, stretching a hand towards his. Sokka blinked, staring at her in confusion "You're probably the only person in the world who can create an actual fantasy out of a very risky and unwanted situation such as a child out of wedlock. It never even crossed my mind that any of these were possibilities… granted, far-fetched possibilities, perhaps too unlikely to be realized, but despite it all, it doesn't sound so bad"

"I'm glad it doesn't" said Sokka, grinning as he rubbed her knuckles with a thumb "I know there are other, final ways to deal with accidental pregnancies, but…"

"But you'd like to be a father… wouldn't you?" Azula asked. Sokka sighed and shrugged.

"It's not like it's my ultimate life goal, of course" he said "But well… ever since I was a kid I just imagined myself as my father's successor as chief of the Water Tribe. And because I wanted to be like him, then I imagined myself as a father too"

Azula gritted her teeth as Sokka smiled weakly at her. He stretched back, lying on the bed now, still holding her hand.

"It was a stupid dream, though. I just wanted to be like him, there was nothing else to it" Sokka whispered.

"So you don't want children, or do you?" Azula asked, leaning down on the bed as well and resting next to him "Is it an optional thing, perhaps?"

"It's… it's really not that important anymore" said Sokka, smiling at her "I was a silly kid back then, and I had no idea what I was dreaming of. I mean, I never even thought about what sort of responsibilities came with being a father and I didn't even care what my wife would be like. All I knew was that I'd be a father and tell my son all about my adventures as I brought the Fire Nation down all by myself. I didn't understand back then what I do now"

"And what is that?" Azula asked, and Sokka turned on the bed, rubbing her cold arms with his hands.

"That I'd love to have a family, but that starts with you" he said, grinning "I didn't understand what being in love was, let alone what a relationship would be like, so I simplified everything in my mind, assuming that being a fun father would be the best thing ever. But now I think that, if we can't have kids because our circumstances won't allow it, that's fine. I don't need that sort of thing. You're my top priority, and you always will be"

"But…" said Azula, looking at him in confusion "That's not fair to you, is it? I mean… you must have dreamt of a good life with a normal family, a normal wife, normal children…"

"And you think that'd be better than what we have?" said Sokka, with a smile "Maybe I used to think that it would be better to have a normal, boring life, but now…"

"Boring?" Azula asked, with a chuckle. Sokka snickered.

"Yeah, boring" he said "I mean, look at you. You're extraordinary in every way, and I didn't ever think my future wife would be anything like that…"

"Don't tell me" said Azula, with a raised eyebrow "As long as she could cook, do chores, and deliver children, anything was good"

"Hey, that was five-year-old Sokka's train of thought, I'm no longer that simplistic" said Sokka, and Azula snorted.

"Right. I seem to remember you claimed to be a simple man who ended up getting caught in complicated things…" she said, looking at him skeptically "The simple man doesn't mind the complications anymore?"

"Heh, in fact, the simple man has been won over by the complications" said Sokka, grinning "You think it's remotely possible for me to just go back to a normal, stable, simple life after all we've been through?"

"I suppose not" Azula relented, with a smile. Sokka pressed his forehead against hers.

"I love you, Azula" he whispered, causing her chest to burn with that pleasant fire once more "That's the one certainty in my life as I am now. Would I like to be a father one day? Sure, but if it's not with you then I don't need it. I didn't realize, when I was a kid, that the one thing that matters is who you build your family with. But I do understand that now"

"So, if I felt guilty and broke things off between us so you could go start a family with someone else…" Azula started.

"It would be the biggest waste because I already said I don't want it if it's not with you" said Sokka, and Azula chuckled "Is that so hard to believe, huh?"

"Actually? Yes" she said, with a crooked grin "You keep saying you don't want it if it's not with me, but even if it could be… Sokka, I'd make the worst mother you can imagine. I'm terrible with children"

"Meh, you're awesome at everything you do" said Sokka, smiling at her "I'm sure you would do great as a mom as well"

"Well, I am certain you're wrong but do indulge in that belief if you want to" said Azula, smiling a little "You give me more credit than I'm due"

"Not true. You deserve it all" said Sokka, surrounding her with his arms and holding her close as he smiled happily.

"I just figure that…well, I had a very bad relationship with my mother" Azula whispered "If that's any precedent, then chances are I would be no good with a kid of my own"

"You think that has any relation with how you'll deal with your own kids?" Sokka asked.

"Possibly. Who knows?" Azula said, shrugging. Sokka rubbed her back gently.

"Well, if anything, you know just what sort of things not to do with your own kids" said Sokka "Considering what little I know about your mother…"

"You're biased by what I've said, no doubt" said Azula, smiling weakly "Perhaps she wasn't that bad and it was me who…"

"You were not the problem, Azula" Sokka said, kissing her forehead. Azula gritted her teeth "I'm dead certain of that"

"Well, you trust me too much, if that's the case" she whispered, but she scooted closer to him, breathing him in and surrounding his waist with her arms "And most people would advise you not to make that mistake. I'm not a good person, never have been"

"You seem perfectly fine to me, though" said Sokka, with a gentle smile "So either I'm right and you have a warped perception of yourself, or you're right and I don't see it because I'm as bad as you are, which would explain why we get along so well. Don't you think?"

His hypothesis prompted Azula to laugh against his chest, to Sokka's satisfaction. He grinned and sighed, his fingers sliding through her dark tresses once more.

"Then if we're that bad, we really shouldn't make a family" she said, with a weak smile. Sokka snorted.

"No, no, none of that" said Sokka "Our children will be the spawn of our wicked plans, and together, all seven of us will take over the world and…"

"Wait a minute, seven?" Azula repeated, looking at him skeptically. Sokka chuckled.

"Hilarious how that's the part that bugs you and not the world domination…" he said, grinning mischievously at her. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Do you have the slightest clue of how painful it must be to give birth?" she asked, and after smiling innocently, Sokka shrugged.

"I can't really imagine it, but I have heard a lot of painful stories about it" he admitted. Azula looked at him matter-of-factly.

"Then you should know I'm not going to put myself through that process seven times. Not a chance" she said, and Sokka chuckled.

"No, no, it's only five! See, we'll be a seven-member family!" he exclaimed, and Azula covered her face with her hands as he continued to laugh "It's not that bad, see?"

"You need to stop being ridiculous" said Azula, smiling and shaking her head "One kid would be more than enough already. And heck, it's not like we can even…! I mean, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but…"

"I know, we can't" Sokka said, nodding and smiling regardless "But heck, talking about it won't hurt anyone, will it? Having an imagination is a healthy thing, Princess"

"It might hurt in the end, though" said Azula, looking at him warily "If you keep saying things like these you might even get me on board with the idea…"

"Wait, what? Even though you don't like children?" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows. Azula smiled.

"I do like the idea of dominating the world, though" she declared, and Sokka rolled his eyes as he laughed, rolling onto his back once more.

"I should've known" he said, and Azula grinned before inching closer to him to kiss his cheek.

"You're a true hazard in more ways than I realized" she whispered "First you seduce me, now you're almost making me wish we could have children…"

"Seduce you? That's what I did?" Sokka asked, with amusement. Azula shrugged.

"Can't think of a better word to describe it" she said, wrapping an arm around his chest. Yes, she could think of a better word, but she chose to keep herself in check this time. It was a good conversation, love confessions could spoil it altogether "Well, then, since you've planned it all so neatly, did you even pick out names for our five brats?"

"Names?" Sokka asked, and Azula raised an eyebrow "Actually, I did not"

"Oh, really?" Azula asked, surprised. Sokka blushed.

"… I just knew you'd reject all my ideas, so I figured it was better if I didn't try to think of names" he confessed "You've always said I have a horrible sense for naming, so I thought it would be wiser not to set myself up for failure for once"

"How thoughtful of you" said Azula, with a weak smile. She caressed his chest gently "Still, you won't be banned altogether from the naming of our fictional children. You can still give your opinion"

"But not give ideas, now, can I?" Sokka asked, and Azula smirked mischievously. He rolled his eyes but chuckled "Yep, I figured as much"

"At best, you'd name our son Sokka Jr." said Azula, chuckling "At worst… well, I don't even want to imagine it"

"A son?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "What about a daughter instead, Azula Jr., huh? Heck… a little Azula. You know, this really starts to sound like a wonderful idea…!"

"A wonderful, impossible idea" Azula added, but Sokka's delighted smile didn't fade from his face.

"Can you imagine that, though?" he said, looking at her enthusiastically "For our daughter to be just like you, but of course, tiny-sized. With your beautiful hair and eyes…"

"And with a knack for making fun of her father?" Azula asked, with a smirk. Sokka chuckled.

"That part of her personality might have kicked in once she was a little older. Hopefully" he said. Azula smiled.

"I can't believe you're actually saying all this and… and as good as falling in love with the idea of our children" she said, amused. Sokka chuckled.

"It's just… wouldn't it be great for us to have a family? Obviously, not just yet" he said, reassuringly "But the idea of having that sort of life with you is beautiful to me. I guess I just…"

He bit his lower lip and fell silent for a moment. Azula looked at him insecurely, analyzing his expression briefly in order to guess why he hadn't finished that last sentence.

"You miss your family?" she asked, softly. Sokka was startled out of his daze by her words.

"Well… yeah, I do" he confessed "The past years have been crazy, and I'm obviously thrilled by where we are now, but my old lifestyle wasn't as bad as I used to think it was"

"You thought it was bad?" Azula asked, frowning "I was under the impression you loved everything about your hometown…"

"Eh, I love my hometown, but that doesn't mean I loved everything about it" said Sokka, grinning weakly "I just… had a very different life back then, and I really wasn't happy about it. Probably because all I wanted was for my life to actually get started already. I felt like I had spent twenty-one years of my life cooped up in a tiny space, isolated from the world, when I should have been out there fighting for the causes I believed in. So I loved my family, and my friends, but I was still… frustrated. I wanted to give purpose to my life. The idea of… of dying there, whether of old age or anything else, without having achieved a damn thing, bothered me a lot during some nights. Of course, by the time I was spending the nights in the Amateur Arena's barracks instead, I started to wish I had actually stayed in the Tribe forever, or that I might actually die on the next day and be done with it…"

Azula tensed up next to him, and Sokka gulped, noticing only now that his flow of conscience had gone down a very dark path at that last part.

"But heck… see how much better things have gotten?" he said, with a smile "I don't wish for those things anymore. It's been a very long time since I last felt so hopeless"

"Glad to hear it" said Azula, surrounding his chest with an arm and snuggling closer to him. Sokka hugged her too, kissing her brow "And… I know it means next to nothing at this point, especially since I had no remorse to spare back then, but… I'm really sorry for what you went through. I wish I hadn't made you a slave as I did"

"But if you hadn't, then you would have killed me" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "Those were your two choices at the time. And if you hadn't chosen what you did, we wouldn't have met again…"

"You really don't hold it against me?" Azula asked, looking at him skeptically "Are you that well-natured, or are you just that in love with me that you've been rendered blind to my mistakes?"

"I'm not blind to anything… I think" said Sokka, smiling "I don't hold any appreciation for the Amateur League, but in a way, if that was what I had to do in order to achieve what I have…"

"I do hope that's not just in regards of bedding me" said Azula, with a smirk. Sokka chuckled and shook his head.

"I mean it also because of the people we've helped" he said "The lives we've saved. The chance I had to keep your father from attacking my tribe… if I hadn't gone through the hell I did, none of that could have happened. My family might be dead by now, along with the rest of my Tribe. So… yeah, I hated my time there, but by now I've learned to accept it and leave it in the past"

"A very wise idea, though I guess it can't be that easy" said Azula. Sokka smiled and cupped her cheek.

"You've made it a little easier than it should have been, to be perfectly honest" he said, pressing his forehead to hers "Thanks to you I've… I've remembered what it feels like to wake up looking forward to what the new day will bring. I used to be like that when I was younger, but as I got older everything became bleak and overwhelming. The only thing that kept me going was the idea of destroying the Fire Nation… and now you've given me back my will to live while teaching me to stop despising the Fire Nation. So I owe you a lot more than you realize"

"I really… had no idea things were that way for you" said Azula, frowning "I seriously thought that all you wanted was to go back home. I never thought you'd felt that way while you were there"

"Those were just the frustrations of a foolish boy who had no idea what he was asking for" said Sokka, with a smile "I did feel like I had barely lived at all, though. Like I was wasting time. If I think about it now, I had several great experiences in my Tribe that I still treasure today. I love and miss my family, yeah… but honestly? I'd never felt more alive than I have since you took me as your gladiator. Even when we were at our worst…"

"You still felt more alive than ever back then?" Azula asked, astounded. Sokka chuckled.

"I had something to live for, believe it or not. I made it my life's mission, at the time, to make up for how I'd hurt you" he said "Of course, I probably haven't managed to make up for it all just yet, but indeed, it's a life mission. I'll spend the rest of my days trying to fix what I broke, if that's how long it'll take"

"You really think that after everything that's happened between us, you still haven't made amends for all that?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka shrugged.

"Well, you did say back then that you couldn't forgive me…" he said, with a weak smile.

"No, I actually said I could but I would rather not" Azula said, looking at him earnestly. Sokka returned her gaze skeptically.

"Doesn't that mean that I hurt you so badly that you couldn't heal that easily?"

"You don't seem to have understood much of what I said that night" said Azula, with a weak grin "The real problem wasn't whether I could forgive you or not. The problem was that I was terrified of winding up with a broken heart once again. I didn't want to take the risk of being with you only for it to backfire in the worst possible way. The idea of our relationship failing was too terrifying"

Sokka looked at Azula in confusion as she smiled a little, caressing his face with her fingertips.

"At this point, you've been forgiven for so long I often forget you hurt me in the first place" said Azula "Granted that it doesn't sound like me, I've spent my entire life protecting myself from everything that might hurt me, but you made it impossible for me to keep my distance no matter how hard I tried. Else we wouldn't be lying together here right now, don't you think?"

"Heh, I guess so" said Sokka, with a gentle smile that grew sour quickly "But I still regret it. When you sent me to become a slave we were enemies. When I did that to you we were already allies, so it's still…"

"You're too used to hating yourself for your mistakes" Azula whispered, dropping her head on his chest and caressing his arm "The real problem now isn't for me to forgive you, but for you to forgive yourself"

"So you think I should just get over it?" said Sokka, with a weak smile.

"I think that, just as you can put your time in the Amateur Arena in the past, you can do the same with this" said Azula, looking at him gently. Sokka's breath hitched as he lost himself in her golden gaze "At the very least you can try to. If you can forgive me for the wrong I've done to you, then it's time you learn to forgive yourself too. We've both made mistakes, whether to hurt ourselves, each other or others around us. Obsessing about fixing every single one of those mistakes, though, might not help at all"

"I guess so" said Sokka, nodding. Azula leaned closer and kissed his lips softly. He hummed into the gentle pressure of her mouth on his.

"So stop thinking about grim things and keep dreaming about our nameless children" said Azula, smiling "That might make you feel better"

Sokka smiled back and cupped her face in a hand, kissing her more deeply now. His arms slipped around her, holding her close as they pressed together on the bed. Only the occasional pain in Azula's womb kept her from taking their exchanges further. Their conversation had stirred feelings within her that she wished she could convey to him through their bodies… feelings that she knew to associate to her golden fire now.

Sokka pulled away briefly, smiling gently at her as he tucked some strands of her hair behind her ear. Azula smiled back, pressing their foreheads together.

"I didn't get to say it before, and I had meant to…" Sokka whispered, and Azula looked at him questioningly "But even though it might sound weird, even if you probably will think I'm crazy… I can't help but feel like my life really began when I met you"

Her eyes widened when he finished his sentence, her lips slightly parted. She was still holding him close, and he was still smiling at her warmly, but she was frozen where she lay in his arms. Sokka laughed softly and pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth before hugging her tightly. Soon she was clutching at his clothes, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Y-you idiot…" she whispered, swallowing hard. Sokka kissed the top of her head as Azula pulled as close as she could to him "Who the hell says stuff like that, you…?"

"I guess I do" said Sokka, with a guilty smile "You okay?"

"I… like hell I am" she said, breathing heavily "I never even… I never imagined anyone could feel that way about me. It's… it's overwhelming, alright…?"

"Sorry about that" said Sokka, with an awkward smile as he rubbed Azula's back gently "I guess I should've held my tongue after all. I just… really wanted you to know that. But we can get back to talking about Azula Jr. as you wanted us to…"

"Weren't you going to hold back from choosing their names?" Azula asked, smiling despite herself. Sokka chuckled.

"Well, that's your only suggestion so far, so I'm keeping it until you come up with something better" he said, and Azula smiled as she lifted her head towards him.

Sokka's eyes widened when he noticed the tears blinking in Azula's eyes. Before he could say anything, though, she cut the small distance between their lips, kissing him deeply but slowly. Sokka frowned but dove into the kiss all the same, his hands slipping to her face to keep her close. The impact of his words was far stronger than he'd expected, but there was no surprise there. He knew better than anyone that Azula hadn't been at the receiving end of love as often as she should have been. She often acted as proudly as a Princess of her station should, but she harbored too many insecurities deep inside of her. He was certain he didn't know nearly enough about Azula's worst fears and anxieties, despite he had come to know her as well as he had.

"Azula…" he whispered, when she pulled away. She swallowed hard and smiled at him, blinking the tears away successfully.

"You are an idiot indeed" she said, cupping his face and caressing his cheek with her thumb "But…"

"But I'm your idiot" Sokka finished, with a smile. Azula laughed and nodded, pressing her forehead to his.

"Mine indeed" she said, hugging him once more and burying her face in his shoulder "As… as I am yours"

Sokka's eyes widened again but now his face broke into a full smile as he hugged her tighter. He hadn't expected this response to his words, let alone to hear Azula say something like this. She seemed at ease with showing her feelings physically, but putting them in words was a challenge to her more often than not. He knew as much, so he hadn't expected her to say what she just had…

"And I'm the luckiest man in the world for that" he whispered in her ear, kissing it as she laughed softly, seeking his hand with hers and intertwining their fingers.

They spoke more through the night, mostly about the children they never expected to have, their worries nearly forgotten as they lay together in bed, their bodies pressed intimately together, their hands still linked. It seemed like only a few minutes had passed after they fell asleep that a knock sounded on the door.

Sokka sighed, knowing it was his cue to leave. Azula was still sleeping, unfazed by the sound at the door. He smiled and brushed her hair with his free hand, but her grip only tightened around his other hand when he tried to pull way. He chuckled.

"Come on, Azula. I've got to go" he said, smiling and leaning in to kiss her forehead. She growled a sleepy refusal and threw an arm around his waist, and Sokka sighed "Rui Shi will be mad if I don't go"

"Stay… a little longer?" Azula whispered, and Sokka was about to answer when he heard the door swinging open, startling him as he lay next to Azula in bed.

He glanced at Rui Shi guiltily, finding the guard was breathing out in relief.

"Here I dreaded I'd find you both naked" he grumbled "It's time to go, Gladiator. You don't have time to waste"

"Azula…" Sokka whispered in her ear, and she groaned again but released his hand regardless. He smiled and kissed her forehead "Thanks. I'll be back here before you know it"

"You'd better" she said, regaining some of her consciousness as he sat up on the bed.

Azula pushed herself up with an elbow and cupped Sokka's face in her hands. Rui Shi grimaced and blushed before turning around promptly, thoroughly embarrassed despite knowing all too well that a kiss was nothing in comparison to all Sokka and Azula had shared already. It was still awkward for him, though, and Sokka seemed to be aware of it, unlike his drowsy Princess.

"Azula, we've got company" he whispered, and Azula groaned before glancing to the side, finding Rui Shi's back turned towards them. She gulped.

"Oh. Oops. Sorry, Captain"

"It makes no matter, let's just go" said Rui Shi, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingertips.

Sokka smiled kindly at Azula and kissed her brow one last time before standing up from the bed. He didn't miss out on how she rolled into the side of the bed he'd been lying on. A smile graced Sokka's face as he followed Rui Shi to the door, and he gave Azula one last glance before leaving the room.

She hadn't fallen asleep again yet, her eyes fixed on Sokka's figure until he closed the door. She smiled despite he had left, thrilled by everything they had shared through the night. No doubt she was being selfish again for feeling so pleased by yesterday's outcome, considering Sokka had done nothing for the mission her father had given him – nor did he have any intentions to do anything, as she already knew –, but the bond between them had never felt as real as it had tonight. She couldn't help but be fascinated by that.

She let herself drift off to sleep again, smiling. Her inner fire continued to flare warmly within her chest, in the way it always did because of Sokka…


	104. Chapter 104

The old man was cackling as he placed his steaming tea cup atop his tiles on the Pai Sho board. Azula scowled as her uncle smiled, with a glint of malice in his eyes he wouldn't dare show in public…

"You have been beaten" he declared, proudly "Again"

"I have not been beaten at anything, you plump, pompous fool!" Azula exclaimed, but Iroh only laughed, the sound resounding through the dark room.

"You are now a tea-drinker! You have a cup every day, my brother told me so!"

Azula's eyes widened. Her father had told her uncle…? Wait, how did her father find out in the first place? This was wrong, it was completely wrong…

"Y-you don't understand, I'm doing it because…!" she started, but her hands flew to her mouth. No, she shouldn't talk. She couldn't talk! There was no telling what would happen if her uncle knew she drank the tea to prevent herself from conceiving a child…

But it was no use. The tea was no good, she realized, when she gazed down at herself to find she was sporting quite a large belly. She was with child, despite all the precautions they had taken… but there was nothing to be done about it now. She had to hide the pregnancy somehow, or at least pretend it wasn't Sokka's…

"I'm holding it for a friend" she said to no one in particular as she stood in the middle of the Palace courtyard, with turtle-ducks around her, flying on gliders. How could she be holding the baby for a friend? The creatures glared at her judgmentally. It was ridiculous. The next time she tried to come up with an excuse for her escapades with a Water Tribe boy, she had to do better than that…

With the blink of an eye, though, the child was there! What a relief, Azula thought, that there had been no labor – at least, not that she could recall – and so she held the bundle of blankets close to her chest… but when she pulled one of the blankets away from the baby's face, in order to gaze upon her newborn, she realized that hiding the child's true father would prove far more difficult than she had anticipated before.

"It has a wolf's tail?!" she exclaimed, horrified. There it was, a baby with a mostly-shaved head, with only enough hair on the top of his head to tie it up in the same way Sokka did.

There was no mistaking it, Ozai would know it was Sokka's son right away upon seeing the red, crying baby, and once he discovered the truth he would find Sokka and kill him, or dismember him, or set him on fire, or all at once. The flashes of Sokka's eventual fate passed through her mind, and then it was Ozai charging towards her, Wolf's Bane in his hand, ready to slay his treasonous daughter for disappointing him as she had…!

Azula woke with a start, breathing heavily as she sat up on the bed, her eyes wide in panic as the nightmare's influence upon her started to fade away. Reality came back slowly, and Azula sighed with relief as it did. All thoughts of gliding turtle-ducks would soon disappear as she regained her grasp on her surroundings in her room in the Air Temple's tower. She brought a hand to her forehead as she calmed down slowly, the ridiculous dream too vivid to forget it so easily.

"A baby with a wolf's tail…" she said, shaking her head "Sokka would have a kick out of that"

No doubt he would have found it hilarious, and she would have gladly told him about it, but Sokka wasn't here yet. Azula frowned and gazed out the window next to her bed to find it was already deep into the night. Sokka's visits came at a later hour every day now, and he was far too exhausted to do much other than have a brief conversation and hold Azula as they both slept. It wasn't like Azula had meant for them to do anything else, for she had made certain to keep the physicality of their relationship to a minimum during the last week… but by now she suspected they could return to their previous romps without a hitch. She had been drinking the tea dutifully, as Mai had told her to, and had even expected Sokka eagerly tonight, thinking he would be very happy to hear the news that she was ready to resume their activities…

But he had yet to show up, and the damn tea had probably been the cause of the absurd nightmares that had startled her out of her sleep just now. She shook her head and slid her fingers through her hair, trying to stop worrying about the weird messages her subconscious was sending her way. She wasn't pregnant, that was a certainty by now, so why on earth would she dream otherwise? It was unsettling, no doubt, especially when the image of a baby with Sokka's hairstyle was stuck in her head.

She snorted at the thought and shook her head again before dropping on the mattress, her eyes on the ceiling. She had no idea what time it was, so perhaps Sokka wasn't all that late after all. The nights were far lengthier than days in these mountains, especially during this time of the year. Azula gritted her teeth and wrapped her blanket around herself a little tighter, as she allowed her inner fire to flare enough to keep her warm. She could bear with the low temperatures, but after a week of nothing but low temperatures, she found she missed the Fire Nation's heat much more than she had expected to.

Her week hadn't been particularly eventful. The first two days in the Northern Air Temple had seemed quite hectic, but the next ones weren't much to speak of. She had spent most of those days in her room, reading some Air Nomad scrolls Teo had leant her. It was rather curious to read about their take on the world, despite it was outdated by over a hundred years. Their way of living proved surprisingly interesting for Azula, surely because she had grown rather fond of flying after finding Xin Long. The scrolls with airbending forms stirred her curiosity, and once she wasn't in any real pain she actually tried her hand at incorporating the _katas_ to her own bending. The result wasn't outstanding, but if anything, it served to amuse Azula for a couple of hours.

She had fallen asleep while reading scrolls of what she could only describe as lousy poetry by some self-absorbed guru. Perhaps her absurd dream was the poetry's fault and not the tea's… or perhaps she ought to blame it on the combination of both things. She sighed and picked up the scroll she had been looking at, rolled her eyes at the words scribbled on it and set it aside on her nightstand. She would return the reading material that didn't interest her to Teo tomorrow, and she was most certainly giving this one back to him as soon as possible.

She glanced out the window, finding the skies were overcast with dark clouds. Normally, the clouds were below the Air Temple's level, especially below her tower. She wondered briefly if they heralded a storm… perhaps a snow storm. She had never seen snowfall before in her life. Even during her brief visit to the South Pole she had seen no snow, despite the cold temperatures.

Her thoughts served to distract her from her disturbing dream for while, but it came back to her again and prompted her to grimace. Her uncle's words at the start, his declaration of triumphing over Azula… it was only a dream, but it was enough to make her blood boil again. She couldn't let him win against her ever again, whether at Pai Sho or in the battles between her gladiators, or when it came to tea. She'd had more than enough of the old man as it was. She wouldn't let him hear of her new habit if she could avoid it.

Just as she decided to rest for a little longer, guessing she'd wake up whenever Sokka knocked on her door, the welcome sound of knuckles striking wood startled her. She smiled and climbed off her bed, the chilly air enveloping her body as she stretched a hand towards the doorknob.

"It was about time you got here, I was starting to lose my mind after…" Azula started, but as she swung the door open she found she wasn't quite facing the person she had been expecting.

"You were starting to lose your mind?" Rui Shi repeated, a raised eyebrow "Was the gladiator bothering you so much you wanted me to remove him from your presence?"

Azula blinked blankly a few times as she stared at Rui Shi in complete confusion. He mirrored her expression with his own stare.

"W-why are you here so early?" Azula asked, and Rui Shi tilted his head sideways slightly.

"It's not early at all, Princess" he said, crossing his arms over his chest "It's the same as always. A few hours before dawn. Is something…? Wait, did he not show up?"

"He… didn't" Azula whispered, frowning. She had thought she hadn't slept that long. No wonder she had enough time to dream up such nonsense "I dozed off for a while, I didn't realize how late it was"

"I was certain he'd be here" Rui Shi said, though he didn't seem disappointed in the slightest about it "I checked his room first, as always, but he wasn't there"

"He wasn't there?" Azula repeated, frowning slightly.

Rui Shi watched her carefully as realization dawned upon his Princess slowly. Her brow drew together in an irritable frown, and suddenly Rui Shi wished he hadn't come up here at all.

"Y-you don't think he was up to something stupid, do you?" Rui Shi asked, and Azula shook her head.

"No, it's not his fault. It's the Mechanist" Azula whispered "The man has no concept of human needs, seems like. Sokka has told me about it before, the man doesn't seem to remember Sokka needs food or sleep whenever they're working. So chances are that he's made Sokka pull an all-nighter"

"Really?" said Rui Shi, frowning "Then the Fire Lord's request must be well on its way to completion, right?"

"I would not be so certain of that" said Azula, crossing her arms as well "Sokka hasn't reported any progress on that front. If anything, the Mechanist is making Sokka waste his time with this all-nighter, most likely"

"Why, though?" said Rui Shi, and Azula shrugged.

"He's probably fickle, that's bound to be it" she said, as she grabbed the doorknob again to close the door. Rui Shi raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't you going to do something about your father's fickle associate, then?" Rui Shi asked, and Azula nodded.

"I will. By morning" she said "It would be slightly odd for the two of us to knock on the Mechanist's door before dawn. We should be asleep, not uncovering conspiracies we caught wind of because Sokka didn't visit me tonight"

"True" said Rui Shi, nodding as well "I suppose we'll deal with it by daytime"

"Indeed. Good night, Captain" said Azula, closing the door and sighing deeply once she did.

She hadn't expected this new factor to present itself, but she knew she should have predicted it from before. Her only question was whether Sokka and the Mechanist had chosen to ally themselves against the Fire Lord's wishes, or if they were both working with their own agendas…

The inventor acted aloof and distracted, as though all he cared for was his work. But Azula had heard him speak fondly of his son. She had seen most of the man's inventions to improve life for his family and friends in the Northern Air Temple. He was relied upon, an unlikely leader who probably didn't know how to handle the responsibility of taking care of so many people. He wasn't a trueborn leader… he was far more nervous and fragile than Azula had expected him to be. He would shatter under pressure, undoubtedly. But while there was no pressure upon him, he would seek to rebel in subtle ways, without anyone's awareness.

But he wasn't as subtle as he believed himself to be. Azula's suspicions had been on the rise ever since Sokka had first told her of the task the Mechanist had given him. After at least two days of hearing that he was still learning basics with the inventor, the Princess's suspicions were as good as confirmed. She hadn't expected the Mechanist's techniques to be this refined, though. Tiring Sokka out so he wouldn't prove able to work to the best of his ability was quite an underhanded technique, but it would be effective all the same.

The same frown Sokka always teased her about was present on Azula's face as she slid under the covers once more. Her eyes gleamed with determination even as she lay in bed. She had understood Sokka's intentions from the start, but she knew she couldn't turn a blind eye to it all anymore. She was committing treason on enough fronts to cover for the Mechanist's crimes as well.

* * *

The guards ate breakfast silently in the dining room, an unequivocal sign that something wasn't right this morning. Teo wheeled his way to his spot amongst them, as ever. He smiled at Fei Li, who had become his favorite guard quite easily due to the man's easygoing behavior and contagious enthusiasm.

"Everything okay?" he asked the firebender, who only gave him a guilty look as a response.

"I'm not entirely sure. Heck, I think… well, the Princess is not happy, is all" said Fei Li, biting his lip before returning to his bowl of rice. Teo raised an eyebrow.

"That does sound scary, but… what's she up to? Where's the Captain?" he asked, glancing around himself to confirm that the raven-haired leader of the guards was nowhere to be seen, the same as the Princess.

"Y-you see, to put it simply, I'm not sure but… well, the fact of the matter is…" Fei Li said, grimacing and avoiding Teo's stare hopelessly. Fei Li had no idea what the Princess would do to the Mechanist for whatever slight he had committed against her, and, frankly, he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. And he most certainly didn't want to be the one to break the news to Teo that his father had gotten into deep trouble with Azula.

"What is it?" Teo asked again, frowning, but his question was left up in the air when a new arrival stumbled his way into the dining room.

Sokka's footsteps were unstable, his legs giving way underneath him as he stretched his way towards the nearest dining table, the one where the guards sat. He crawled towards it, his eyes set on the prize: food. The guards looked at him with unease when the gladiator slid between two of them, ready to stuff himself with whatever was within his reach, no longer making any distinction between vegetables and meat. All that mattered was to fill his stomach as quickly as possible.

"Gladiator…?" said Tai Wei, his eyes wide.

Sokka didn't answer, devouring a bowl of noodles desperately as he was. The bags under his eyes made the guards and Teo wonder if he had slept at all during the past days.

"Are you alright?" Taro asked Sokka. The gladiator only answered after finishing the bowl.

"I… will be. Hehe" he said, smiling. His brain was finally starting to feel less foggy "I just need some more food and I'll be… I'll be perfect"

Upon seeing Sokka's sorry state, Teo's questions were answered. He looked at the gladiator guiltily, but also worriedly. No doubt the Princess was giving his father the scolding of the century for this, but just how far would she go with the punishments she would certainly deliver to the Mechanist? The thought made Teo shudder. She had been quite amicable, at least compared to what Teo had expected from her. While she kept her distance from people and wasn't quite friendly, it was possible to hold conversations with her. She was interested in hearing what Teo had to say, and she was quite an inquisitive soul. Teo frankly had grown to like her, despite she had a reputation of being unapproachable. But depending on his father's condition after this, Teo would know whether Princess Azula's reputation had any foundations in truth…

"What happened?" Tai Wei asked, once Sokka had eaten enough to answer questions.

"Uh, well..." Sokka said, gulping down the last of a dumpling "It's a little complicated. But she's not in a good mood, I can guarantee that"

"Well, we had already guessed as much" said Tai Wei "What is this about, though?"

"Eh, she's not very happy about our lack of progress" said Sokka, reaching for a bowl of rice now "So she's, eh... Giving the old man a piece of her mind"

"Yikes" said Fei Li, grimacing.

"And you got away unscathed? Really?" Taro asked, surprised. It was Sokka's turn to grimace, dread plain in his blue eyes.

"S-she said she'd deal with me later" Sokka muttered, and the guards looked at him sympathetically. It was no secret that there had been tensions between the Princess and her slave as of late. No doubt he wouldn't be able to escape the Princess's bad mood "She ordered me to eat as much as I could and get some rest today, but she warned me that I wouldn't get away with this..."

"With what?" Taro asked, and Sokka sighed.

"With not doing what I was tasked to" he muttered under his breath, Azula's ominous words playing back through his head along with her angry glare.

Sokka had been dozing off while reading about the design of the time candles when the door of the Mechanist's office had swung open violently. He had woken up abruptly as Azula and Rui Shi entered the room, and when the Mechanist had failed to deliver a report that would satisfy Azula, Sokka knew his days of reading were at an end. It would be a relief, in a sense, for he was tired of the endless complicated papers that he had been reading through the week. Yet it meant, as he knew, that he wouldn't get away with the lack of results anymore. The knowledge was enough to make him shudder in dread. Crossing Azula never was a wise course of action...

He hadn't known for certain whether Azula was putting up an act with her display of cold anger towards him or not. He had been at the receiving end of her rage plenty of times, but while this felt different on some level, Azula had given no signs of complicity towards him upon her arrival to the office. Not a wink while the Mechanist wasn't looking, nor a smile, let alone the soft grazing of her fingers against his. He wanted to trust her, to believe she was truly that great an actress, but he couldn't avoid the unease brought upon by his insecurities mixed with his guilt. He knew he would be at the opposite end of the Princess's wrath eventually, but it was happening much sooner than he'd expected.

He obeyed her orders, though, and he ate until he'd had his fill. He bid good night to the guards, despite it wasn't even noon, and he left to his quarters. He had the feeling he would sleep all day after the night he had.

But as he undressed and settled into bed he heard a soft knock on his door. He thought to himself that he shouldn't get his hopes up, but he wanted it to be Azula, despite what that might mean for him in the long run.

"Yes?" he said, with a thread of a voice as he sat up. The door swung open after his reply.

What he wished for and dreaded simultaneously came to fruition as the Princess stole into his room stealthily, glancing around her carefully to make certain she hadn't been seen. Sokka was relieved by that, to some degree.

"Hey" he said, smiling awkwardly at her. Azula nodded in his direction as she closed the door quietly.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, and Sokka's unease decreased upon that. She didn't look angry, despite she didn't look too happy either. Perhaps it had just been an act after all.

"Better now. The food helped" he said, smiling comfortably now.

"You should get rest too, though" Azula said, stepping towards Sokka "We both know you're no good unless you've tended to your bodily needs properly"

"True enough" he said, with a crooked grin "Thanks for saving me from the Mechanist's office, by the way. I was starting to think I'd die in there"

"It did seem he had meant to starve you to death" said Azula, taking her seat at the edge of the bed "And I can't have you dying just like that, can I?"

Sokka smiled as Azula stretched a hand to touch his cheek. He reached up to take it in one of his own.

"Sorry I wasn't with you last night" Sokka whispered, frowning and turning his face into her hand.

"Considering you were being tortured and famished by the Mechanist, I can't say I'm that angry about it" said Azula, and Sokka smiled a little "You should've tried to get out of it somehow. The man claimed that if you'd expressed directly that you wanted to eat or sleep he would have let you go"

"I suppose he would have, but I wanted to be done with all that reading as soon as possible" said Sokka, sighing "I think I'll have a headache for three weeks after this…"

"Well, fortunately you won't be doing that anymore" Azula said "I've ordered the Mechanist to start working on the project immediately, and to remember both his and your physiological needs once in a while. He seems to suffer as well from the lack of sleep and food, but he doesn't pay any mind to it, for some reason beyond my understanding…"

"Really? He didn't show any signs of being affected by it" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. Azula smiled weakly.

"I suppose you don't know what signs to look for, then. Or you were too hungry to think straight" she said, leaning close and kissing his forehead "Get some rest now, alright? I need to give you another proper beating tomorrow, looks like…"

"Is it going to be a beating like the last one you gave me?" he asked, with a crooked smirk. Azula gave him a meaningful look.

"Not likely" she said "Unless you're talking about the part where Xin Long was tossing you around? I'm willing to repeat that if needed…"

"Do you have to do it at all, though?" Sokka asked, with a grimace "I mean… this isn't really my fault, or is it?"

"It's your fault for not putting your foot down and stopping the situation before it got carried away" Azula said, with a sarcastic grin. Sokka groaned "Face it, Sokka, you could have gotten food or rest if you'd tried. That man's anything but scary, yet for some reason you decided standing up to him wasn't worth it… so yes, you need to be punished, whether you like it or not"

"Well, I sure don't like it" said Sokka, pouting.

The Princess smiled and leaned in to kiss his brow again. Sokka reached up, though, and caught her lips with his. His arms surrounded her as he fell back on the bed, bringing her with him as he sought to make up for the lack of kissing between them for the last two days. But to Sokka's disappointment, Azula pushed off him as soon as he was lying on the bed again.

"I need to go now, and you need to sleep" she said. Again Sokka groaned.

"I need to sleep, but maybe I need you too…" he whined, and Azula rolled her eyes.

"Not right now" she said "I can't just vanish coincidentally on the very same day when you're supposed to be resting. And I do mean to have you rest. I've kept you up for enough nights as it is"

"Doesn't feel like enough of them for me…" said Sokka, with an innocent smile. Azula shook her head and he sighed in resignation.

"Maybe tonight, if you're fit for it already. But right now, you're sleeping" she said, brushing a few loose strands of hair away from his face "Got it?"

"Fine. But can't you stay a little longer…?" Sokka asked, taking her hand in his and looking at her pleadingly. Azula snorted.

"Do you want me to tuck you in and sing you a lullaby too?" she asked, and when Sokka smiled mischievously she could only roll her eyes and laugh for good "You're unbelievable"

"You say it like it's a bad thing" he said, and she gave him an earnest grin before lifting his hand to her lips, kissing his fingers before moving to the door again. Sokka's arm fell over the side of the bed, another sigh escaping his lips as he watched her go.

"Sleep. We can spend more time together later" she said, with a small smile "If you're feeling any better by night I'll even tell you about my freakish dream and everything…"

"Your freakish what?" said Sokka, his eyes widening as Azula laughed.

"Go to sleep. I'll explain later" she said. Sokka smiled and nodded, slipping under the covers again, his eyes still on Azula's back.

She stood by the door, waiting for the footsteps she could hear out in the hallway to disappear. She was quite aware of Sokka's stare on her, though, and she gave him a meaningful look.

"Sleep, Sokka" she said, and he refused with a shake of his head, a smirk on his face.

"Can't sleep when I can be looking at the most beautiful girl in the world instead" he said, and Azula rolled her eyes but smiled, her cheeks reddening ever so slightly.

"Then it's a good thing that the most beautiful girl in the world will leave you to your own devices now" she said, as the last set of footsteps couldn't be heard anymore "See you later, Sokka"

"I love you" he said, smiling "Thanks for saving me today… or, well, for saving me all the time, really"

"Right" said Azula, smiling as she opened the door and stepped outside "Bye"

"Bye…" Sokka whispered, as the door closed slowly behind Azula, leaving the gladiator with the task of recovering his energies through his sleep.

Azula made her way through the Temple, a frown on her face as she strode towards one of the open courtyards. It came as no surprise that people would look at her with unease now, considering she had given the unofficial leader of this Colony the reprimand of a lifetime. She had no time to worry about their feelings, though. At the rate things were going, Sokka would blow his cover and reveal his true intentions of sabotaging Ozai's operation any day now. And if she was going to prevent his premature death through her own schemes, she had better get started with them as soon as possible.

She met up with Xin Long in one of the courtyards, and together they flew into the Earth Kingdom, only explaining their intentions to Rui Shi and the other guards, who watched them take off into the overcast skies. There was a deep frown on the Princess's face, but it was no longer caused by anger. It was determination that fueled her actions now, despite she wasn't sure if this would pay off at all. But she had to try if she wanted to have at least a small chance at success.

Xin Long didn't dart away into the mountains immediately, though, for he was sensing warmth within the Temple itself. As he communicated his thoughts to Azula, she took a deep breath and focused on the fire as Xin Long had taught her to. Yet what she could feel under the Temple wasn't actual fire, as Xin Long had noticed. It was spread out too far, and not powerful enough to be actual combustion.

"It's the gas" she said, and Xin Long groaned in confusion "The Mechanist mentioned there was some volatile gas under the Temple when we arrived. I doubt it'll give us what we're looking for, though. Dragons don't produce this kind of gas, or is this some strange ability of yours that you never explained to me?"

Xin Long chuckled and Azula smiled, but they were on their way once more, knowing they'd likely find what they were looking for further away from here.

The dragon remembered which places he had already scouted through during his previous travels in the Earth Kingdom, so he made certain to head through different territories this time. The Princess allowed him to lead the way, trying to sense fire down below as she sat on Xin Long's saddle. The search wasn't yielding results, though, for every spark of fire Azula felt couldn't belong to powerful dragons. Some of the fire she sensed could only be another firebender's inner fire, or even small fireplaces in cabins and houses down below.

"No wonder my nation is in the land of fire" Azula whispered to herself as they continued to travel through the skies "I can barely sense any fire underground here. It's likely so deep down that I can't quite feel it, if there's any at all"

Xin Long nodded in agreement. He suspected that they had found one another as they had because of the Earth Kingdom's characteristics. Their inner fire had resonated against each other with ease because there was no fire within the land itself to interfere in their communication.

"Do you think it's likely that dragons might choose warmer places for a living?" Azula asked "Because, in all honesty, I'm not sure we'll find any around here. We ought to consider that maybe other dragons weren't confined to living underground like you believed to be"

Xin Long didn't seem to agree with Azula's notion entirely, though. For if other dragons were free to travel the world, wouldn't people have spotted them? Wouldn't there at least have been rumours of remaining dragons in the Earth Kingdom?

Azula had to admit Xin Long was right. Maybe this was as much of a goose chase as Zuko's search for the Avatar. The difference was, of course, that she had imposed this one on herself…

Azula stretched a hand to caress Xin Long's neck, noticing the pang of loneliness the dragon felt upon sensing Azula's hopelessness. She gritted her teeth.

"We won't stop looking, Xin" she said "Perhaps they're underground somewhere, just as you were. Or maybe we haven't searched the right places. But even if it's the search of a lifetime, we'll find the rest of your kin. If they're out there somewhere, we'll definitely find them"

Xin Long cheered up a little thanks to his rider's thoughts, despite he kept in mind that it was better not to get his hopes up. He would never stop searching for more dragons, but he had best keep a realistic approach to that matter. Hope was only worth holding onto when it paid off, despite that defeated the purpose of hope in the first place…

Their trip carried on until the sun started to descend into the horizon. Xin Long flew them back to the Temple; both him and his rider were quite tired and not in very high spirits after a fruitless journey. At the very least, they knew of more places where they wouldn't find any dragons. The dragon headed off to find food, lost in his own thoughts, and Azula followed his lead by heading into the dining room, still frowning.

"I take it the search yielded no results" said Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow when Azula took her seat at the end of the table. Her guards regarded her warily, but respectfully.

"None" Azula replied curtly. She had a plate full of food before her, but she didn't have much of an appetite right now. The thoughts coursing through her mind were becoming more distressing with every moment that passed her by.

She hadn't cared for the acts of the Fire Nation in the past, finding more than enough reasons justify the destruction of the Air Nomads, or to justify the War in itself. Any word against either thing fell on deaf ears, for she didn't care about who the Fire Nation leaders had hurt in order to achieve their ends. The Fire Nation's growth, and the spreading of their 'greatness' through the world were goals she had found honourable once.

She had thought Sokka was to blame for her change of mind, but on great measure, it was Xin Long's doing instead. Sokka had certainly planted the seed of doubt in her mind, but it hadn't germinated until she had bonded with her dragon. His sorrows were her own. His loneliness affected her as well. She had known loneliness, though of a very different nature. In Azula's case, she had a very difficult time bonding with people for real until she and Sokka had connected as deeply as they had. More often than not she had felt alone despite she had a dozen guards, two good friends, and the admiration from all sorts of people who met and feared her.

If she had felt alone while having company, it was only natural that Xin Long's pain would outdo hers by miles. With every failed attempt to find his kin, it became more likely for him to be the only dragon left in the world. And the only ones to blame for the disappearance of the dragons were those noblemen who had slaughtered them by Fire Lord Azulon's decree. Glory and honor were the motivating factors behind it all. But Azula had never seen the glory or the honor in the act, thanks to her father's influence. He believed the slaughter of the dragons was a waste of resources… and that was why Azula had also disliked it at first. By now, though, she had a different take on the matter. Xin Long's pain was indeed her own. She truly wanted to find more dragons, in a desperate hope to fix what her ancestors had broken… but it was a dream beyond her reach, most likely. How could she make amends for such deplorable acts?

The massacre of the dragons had driven her to a brand new understanding of the world around her. By now she was well aware of the wrongdoings of the Fire Nation. So while she had once excused the military strategy to destroy the Air Nomads, by now she couldn't help but think of the dragon's massacre while pondering the deaths of the airbenders. The Hundred Year War had been, in truth, quite a waste of resources. The Fire Nation had lost as much as it had gained, if it hadn't lost much more still. Countless lives had been wasted in a political squabble to obtain more power…

But there had been more to Sozin's decision to destroy the Air Nomads than that, Azula recalled. The manuscript Rui Shi had searched for high-and-low while trying to earn his place as her guard had demonstrated it. Azula had always wondered why Fire Lord Sozin had chosen to utilize the power of the comet for the destruction of the Air Nomads first of all. Granted they would have made dangerous foes if given the chance, but clearly, the same could be said for the Water Tribes. The Fire Nation was barely utilizing the lands of the Air Nomads, just as they hardly would have done anything with the Water Tribes if they had been the ones conquered instead. So why the Air Nomads for starters…?

The manuscript had cleared it up. Reading about Sozin and Avatar Roku's bond was strange for Azula, to say the least. Yet it had explained how Sozin's war had begun, along with how he had left Avatar Roku to his death… in the cycle of the elements, air followed fire. The next Avatar would have been an Air Nomad, and that was a threat that the Fire Lord had to nullify right away. There were many legends about how Avatars could be defeated definitively: one of them said that killing the Avatar while in the Avatar State would put an end to the reincarnation cycle, so the Avatar would cease to exist. Another legend said that the Avatar needed to learn and master each element in his lifetime, or else his ability to bend all four elements would disappear altogether. Given that neither thing had happened before, Azula wondered where such legends had spawned from. Regardless of said legends, though, Azula guessed the reason Sozin had struck the Air Nomads first of all was because he knew the Avatar would have been reborn there. Roku had failed to stop Sozin, but another Avatar might not show the same mercy or the same carelessness. Had Roku been slightly more concerned with the political situation of his nation, he might have known how to steer his good friend away from the warpath. But thinking of what could have been wouldn't yield any results in the long run, Azula knew so.

She had never expected to grow so cynical about the war, and about her forefathers' struggle to grant further greatness to their nation. Yet it was too late to do anything about her change of mind now: she could see the Fire Lords had done all the damage they could, and there seemed to be no way to repair it. The dragons were gone, so were the airbenders, and if Sokka and the Mechanist succeeded in their mission, the Northern Water Tribe would join the list soon enough…

The knife's edge Azula was currently balancing herself on was terribly stressful. She wasn't sure what was the wisest course of action anymore She couldn't simply tell her father that she believed the war was pointless… she couldn't let her father's war trump everything else either, though. Enough massacres had taken place as it was. The Fire Nation had spilled enough blood, both of their enemies and of their own people. But how to fix what was broken when, even as Crown Princess, she didn't have enough power to make a real difference without causing an uproar? How to remain loyal to her Nation and to her new beliefs at the same time? Was it even possible to do both things?

Rui Shi had already warned her about it a few days earlier. She had to make a choice eventually, one way or another. It was either placing the Fire Nation above everything else, as her father had told her to, or finding a different path… a path to help others who had suffered by the hands of her own people. But how to choose between two sides of herself? How to hold one thing above the other? It was why she'd had no choice but to terrify the Mechanist into no longer sabotaging of the mission… but if she made certain that their mission was accomplished, she would become a direct accomplice to a brand new massacre. She wasn't sure she would be able to live with the weight of such actions hanging over her head. She had to prevent this somehow, and finding the dragons had been her safest bet… but if she failed, as it seemed she would, how would she spare the Northern Water Tribe from utter destruction? And how would she save Sokka from her father's wrath?

She didn't eat as much as she should have, for her thoughts were bothering her enough to make her lose her appetite. She was on her way back to her room, hoping a good night's sleep – or, at a lack thereof, a visit from Sokka – would help ease her worries, when she heard a voice behind her.

"Princess…?"

"Teo?" Azula said, as she turned around to face the man. He didn't look half as cheerful as he always did "Do you need something from me?"

"I just… wanted to know if my father is alright" he said. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"If you fear I hurt him in some way, you can go to his office and see for yourself that he's perfectly fine" she stated "There's no need to be so paranoid…"

"I don't mean physically" said Teo, frowning "I mean… is he in trouble with the Fire Lord because of whatever he did?"

"Why… not yet, I suppose" said Azula, looking at him inquisitively "I haven't reported this to my father, and frankly I'd rather not have to do it. But that depends on your father, not on me"

She had been strict and unyielding when she spoke to the Mechanist, handling the scolding of a rebellious man with utmost perfection. She had gone through the motions, though, saying many things she hadn't quite meant, simply in order to prove her loyalty to her father. The Fire Lord needed to remain unchallenged, and all his subjects had better know so… so they couldn't know the Crown Princess was having second thoughts about the mission her father had sent her on.

"I guess" said Teo, lowering his gaze. Azula's frown deepened. She had seen the expression on Teo's face many times, in countless other people.

"You have no love for the Fire Nation, do you?" she asked, and the young man flinched "Did… did the Fire Nation destroy your village, by any chance?"

"N-no, it wasn't the Fire Nation" said Teo, with a weak smile "It was a flood. It's why we're here now"

"I see" said Azula, surprised to hear a story that didn't feature her nation as the villains for once.

"I lost my ability to walk while we struggled to survive the flood. My mother died there, too" said Teo. Azula tensed.

"I'm sorry to hear that" she said, and Teo looked at her with worried eyes.

"My father has worked for the Fire Nation for many years now. He's done everything he can… all so I can have a good life here with everyone else. So please… don't take him away"

"Take him away?" Azula repeated, and Teo gritted his teeth.

"People who rebel against the authority become slaves, don't they? Isn't… isn't that what you did with your gladiator?"

"Not quite" Azula confessed "He attempted to kidnap me, I fought back. It's not quite as simple as it might look"

"O-oh. Well, I didn't know that" said Teo, smiling awkwardly "Still, I just…"

"You've lost enough" Azula said, and Teo nodded "So you can't lose the one thing you have left"

"This place has become a home to me, and it's all thanks to him. He's always tried to protect me from harm, so… so now I'm asking you not to hurt him even if he fails you. I know it's hard to believe, but he really does put his everything into his work"

Azula looked at Teo with uncertainty. He stared back at her through his bushy hair, waiting for a response that would either relieve him or make him miserable.

"I'll take your needs into consideration, then" Azula said, nodding "Sometimes parents need their children to look out for them, huh?"

"W-well, yes. Actually, yes" said Teo, smiling and blushing a little as relief washed over him. He had dreaded the Princess would lash out at him for his bold words "I know it's true for my father, at the very least"

"Indeed. In any case, I'll try to trust your judgment" said Azula "And hope that he indeed puts his everything into his work. In the meantime, though, I really could use some rest. I'll see you later"

"Certainly. Thank you, Princess" said Teo, smiling as Azula turned to leave.

The Princess arrived to her room while indulging in the hopes that her secret lover might already be here, waiting for her. He'd had the entire day to rest, after all, so he might have enough energies to join her by now. Her hopes went up in smoke, though, for her room was empty. She sighed and berated herself internally. Sokka's touch wouldn't help her resolve any of her predicaments. If anything, being around him only served to confuse her further. She didn't know how to stay away from him, undeniably… but that didn't mean she had to seek him out on every opportunity that presented itself. Perhaps he was still resting right now, after all. She would do best not to bother him.

So Azula sighed and dropped in bed, burying her face in the pillow and hoping a solution, any solution, would present itself eventually. But if everything carried on at this rate, their return to the Fire Nation would be a thing to dread rather than to look forward to…

* * *

It was still dinner time when Sokka woke up from his long day of resting. There was too much activity in the Temple to risk sneaking into Azula's room just yet, so he figured having some dinner would be fine for now. He could take his time while eating and visit her afterwards.

He arrived to the dining room to find out that Azula had retired moments earlier. Their bad timing almost made him sigh in disappointment, but he held it back. He was supposed to be dreading his next encounter with the Princess, not looking forward to it.

There was a nagging thought on the back of his head, though… one that he could easily associate with guilt. While Azula meant to punish him somehow for not standing his ground while dealing with the Mechanist, he knew she wouldn't be as harsh on him as she had been to the inventor. Her visit to ensure he was fine had implied as much. Yet the Mechanist had received the full brunt of Azula's displeasure… and Sokka knew just how uncomfortable it was to be on Azula's bad side.

Since he still had time to burn while he waited for the Temple to empty at night, he decided to pay the man a short visit. Perhaps if he apologized for the trouble and gave the Mechanist his support, he would help the man feel better about himself after Azula's scolding. If the Mechanist was anything like Sokka, he would definitely need some uplifting right now.

He had no trouble figuring out where to find the man. Sokka pushed the Mechanist's office door open to find him mumbling as he worked on a small contraption that sat on his desk.

"Uh… hey?" Sokka said. The Mechanist was startled by his voice, and he nearly dropped the utensils he'd been using as he recognized Sokka at his door.

"Oh, it's… it's you. Are you feeling better yet?" he asked, uneasy. Sokka smiled and nodded.

"I'm fine now, don't worry. I just wanted to make sure you're fine too" said Sokka, stepping inside the room "I know Azula has a way with words, she can destroy a man without even trying just by saying the right things…"

"Oh, no, none of that" said the Mechanist "She wasn't half as bad as War Minister Qin. At the very least she didn't threaten to… w-well, never mind that. I'm perfectly fine right now, Sokka. You can head back to rest if you need it, I'll be fine…"

"I've rested plenty as it is, don't fret" said Sokka, smiling "I'm glad she wasn't that harsh, then. Still, you should probably come out and eat something too, or get some rest… either thing is good. Sometimes you need to pull away from your projects for a little while to find the solution you need for them"

"Oh, I wish I could, but… but I'm afraid I can't be distracted just yet" said the Mechanist, grimacing "You needn't worry, Teo came by to deliver some dinner for me a while ago…"

"And you haven't eaten it yet?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. The Mechanist's guilty expression was all he needed to know what the answer to that question was "Eat now before you leave your food lying around for weeks again, alright?"

"Fine, fine…" said the Mechanist, sighing and taking a basket that had been sitting under the desk.

Sokka approached the desk with curiosity, looking at the model the Mechanist had been working on. It was a large sphere, with an open space in its lower area. It was linked to a small basket with delicate ropes, and there was a candle at its center. Sokka raised an eyebrow as he regarded it.

"Is this another experiment with hot air?" he asked, and the Mechanist nodded as he gobbled the muffins his son had brought him.

"It is indeed! But… it hasn't been successful so far, I'm afraid" said the Mechanist, with a sigh "It was the project I had been working on before the Fire Lord's notice arrived…"

"What is it supposed to be?" Sokka asked, as he took the contraption in his hands.

"A hot-air balloon, if you must know" said the Mechanist, smiling a little "I have struggled with designing it, though. Every new model I've tried has been yet another failure, including this one, of course"

"Why?" Sokka asked, and the Mechanist set his food aside briefly to demonstrate what he had just told the gladiator.

"You see, it's complicated because the balloon hovers successfully at first" he said, lighting the candle in the basket. After a few instants, the gas exuded by the flame had filled the balloon, and the entire contraption began ascending, as the Mechanist had said it would "But as you can see…"

The balloon kept floating upwards, but upon reaching the ceiling it was engulfed in flames, causing it to collapse on the floor. The Mechanist rushed to put out the fire, and he gave Sokka a disappointed look.

"And this has been happening constantly for years now" he said "I'm afraid I don't know what to do to stop it from going upwards, or to prevent the combustion…"

"Huh" said Sokka, frowning "Have you tried using more resistant material? Maybe something non-flammable?"

"I have, but that only presents further problems, since the balloon still flies out of my reach and the ropes and basket will burn regardless, so the entire model becomes useless all the same" said the Mechanist "And I fear that anything heavier than what I've used would still be a hindrance in the balloon's system as well. I've done everything I could think of, but the solution still eludes me…"

Sokka frowned as he studied the balloon closely. The real problem wasn't the material, which achieved it's purpose of enclosing the hot air just fine. The real problem was…

"It's because of the fire, isn't it?" he said "If you could regulate the flames somehow, keep them at the steady rhythm that the balloon needs so it can hover at a manageable level…"

"Perhaps the model is too small?" the Mechanist asked. Sokka shrugged.

"Maybe. Your idea was to make a bigger version of the balloon, then?"

"Well, yes. The plan is to make it into a vehicle, so it helps people travel with further ease through the world" said the Mechanist, smiling.

"I see…" said Sokka, rubbing his chin in deep thought "And you need to get it right while it's a small model first of all, because you can't afford to make a full-scale balloon unless you know for certain that it can work"

"Precisely" said the Mechanist, nodding "It would be a waste of resources"

"Makes sense" said Sokka "So you just need to figure out a solution… I do think regulating the fire is the best way to keep things less dangerous, but maybe there's something else that can be done. Maybe something to release some of the hot air while the balloon is flying?"

"What… release it? But wouldn't it collapse if we just release the hot air?" said the Mechanist, confused. Sokka nodded.

"Yeah, but only if you released all of it" he said, smiling "I think… maybe something like a lid. You could just lift the lid through a system of ropes while you're inside the balloon. You can release some air, and that way you can prevent the heat from going overboard while controlling the altitude of the flight. Right?"

"Right… right" said the Mechanist, stroking his beard "Granted it would require some sort of method to measure the system's heat, so you know when to open the lid…"

"But it would work, right?" said Sokka, smiling. The Mechanist smiled back.

"Perhaps. We need to try it first, though!" he said.

It was no surprise that the man would set his food aside and dive headfirst into work once more. But Sokka didn't scold him for it this time, for he had become as interested in this project as the Mechanist was. Figuring out the solution for this problem was suddenly a very appealing challenge for Sokka.

They had to build another balloon, for the first one had caught fire and was no longer usable. The building didn't take that long, for the Mechanist clearly had made enough failed models to create new ones without needing to give the matter much thought. Sokka merely helped whenever the Mechanist requested it, but even that didn't happen all that often. Sokka's real role in the creation of this new airship was related to designing and crafting the lid's system, along with the ropes that would hold it.

A few hours later, the inventor and his new assistant were ready to try the new hot-air balloon model. Sokka swallowed hard as the Mechanist lit the candle in the small basket. Sokka was in charge of dealing with the ropes once the balloon was afloat.

"Be careful not to lift it too much, or too soon…" the Mechanist told him, and Sokka nodded.

Time seemed to slow down for them both as they waited for the balloon to hover higher, close to the height it always reached before catching fire. The Mechanist gritted his teeth as he watched the balloon with unease.

"Now, Sokka!" he exclaimed, and Sokka obeyed, pulling the rope weakly so as to not let all of the hot air out immediately.

The balloon became unstable for a brief moment as the lid fell in place again, but it returned to its flight as soon as it did. Sokka followed it through the room warily, pulling the lid whenever he feared the balloon wouldn't be able to take any more heat… and when he heard the Mechanist laughing in amazement behind him, Sokka realized his idea had been, surprisingly, successful.

"You are a genius, young man!" the Mechanist exclaimed, and Sokka smiled as he pulled on the lid again "A true genius!"

"Now, now, you're just saying that…" said Sokka, smiling goofily as the Mechanist blew out the candle in the balloon.

"I have been working on this project for years, Sokka!" he exclaimed "And now, finally… ah, today is a day to remember!"

"Well, I sure won't forget it" said Sokka, grinning. It was hard to believe that the very first solution he'd proposed for this problem had actually paid off.

"We shall toast to it!" the Mechanist exclaimed, jumping towards a storage room at the far end of his office. Sokka winced "I'm certain I have a good bottle of rice wine in here somewhere…"

"U-uh, well, sure, but just one drink, alright?" he said, grimacing. His last two experiences with alcohol had been too chaotic, and he knew better than to tempt fate by going on another drunken spree.

He kept checking the balloon's system with interest, a smile on his face. There was a pleasant feeling nestling within him, over having helped the Mechanist and also for having finished the design that had been bothering the man for so long. Surely a full-scale version of the hot-air balloon would work differently, though. A single candle wouldn't provide enough hot air to lift a larger and heavier version of this model.

"What's your idea for the real balloon, though?" Sokka asked "You'll need actual fire for that, not just a small candle…"

The Mechanist didn't answer, but Sokka figured he was still busy trying to find the bottle he had mentioned. He figured he'd ask again when the inventor returned. A system with oil might work, Sokka reasoned. If it were necessary, the lid would help keep the balloon at the proper temperature.

"Still… the landing's a bit of a worrisome thing" he thought, scratching his head. He still remembered Xin Long's catastrophic first landings, and he most certainly didn't want the same to happen to whoever would operate the hot-air balloon. Lifting the lid completely or turning off the flame fueling the hot air might result in a troublesome landing…

More questions arose in Sokka's mind, but the main one he had after ten minutes of waiting was whether the Mechanist had run out on him or if he simply couldn't find the bottle he'd been looking for. Sokka frowned and glanced into the storage room warily.

"Sir, is everything…?" he started, but he fell quiet as soon as he spotted the Mechanist.

The man was lying on the floor with the closed bottle in his hands. For a moment Sokka feared something had happened to him, that perhaps he'd hurt himself in some way… but upon closer observation, he realized the Mechanist was finally doing the one thing he'd deprived himself from by working as hard as he did: sleeping.

"You've got to be kidding me" said Sokka, with a weak smile "So you only ever sleep when your projects have favourable results, huh?"

The Mechanist didn't reply, but Sokka didn't need nor expect him to. He took the bottle from the man's hands and set it aside before lifting the Mechanist with ease. He carried him to the one couch in the office, and he placed a cushion behind his head so he could sleep more comfortably.

"There. Good night" said Sokka, smiling. The Mechanist didn't seem to have noticed Sokka's words, nor that he had been carried to the couch. Sokka guessed his exhaustion would prevent him from waking up for at least half a day.

This gave him the perfect chance to head to Azula's room, he thought, with a smile… but when he glanced at the spark candles the Mechanist had invented, he noticed it was already three in the morning. He was awake, for certain… but he rather doubted Azula would be waiting for him by now. She needed her rest as well, and showing up at this hour wasn't wise. He'd likely just bother her.

"Darn it" he said, sighing and sitting on a free chair. Meeting up with her to tell her all about his success with the hot-air balloon would have been ideal, but he doubted she would welcome any sort of news unrelated to the bomb building as it was.

Still, perhaps if he gave her the news by morning she would be pleased. Azula wanted results, and this way Sokka would prove that he could help deliver them… even if the hot-air balloons weren't bound to interest her in the slightest. But despite that, she would be happy to know he had actually helped the Mechanist with something. At least he wasn't a complete failure of an assistant, right?

Nevertheless, he still didn't want to build those bombs. The more he stalled that process, the better for everyone. Perhaps if he pretended to have grown too involved with the hot-air balloon project, Azula wouldn't notice he was wasting time once more… he groaned in irritation, wondering if that would work. At the very least, he had better try to stay on Azula's good side for as long as possible. His upcoming sabotaging plans would have to be refined later.

But for now, he could try to do something to make amends for his absence during the last two nights… chances were Azula wouldn't care for any gestures he made towards her, but it was still worth a shot, just in case.

* * *

The Princess rolled awake in her bed after a dreamless night, to her relief. It was still a few hours before dawn, but she had woken up nonetheless. It seemed her body had grown conditioned to waking up whenever Rui Shi came knocking on her door. She glanced at the empty side of her bed and wondered if Sokka was so worn out he hadn't gotten up yet, despite he'd been sleeping since the morning of the previous day.

She stared at the ceiling, her thoughts no longer as jumbled as they had been when she fell asleep. But surely if she started thinking about her troubles, her mind would become a mess again. She groaned to herself and sighed, running her hands over her face. Today would be yet another day of searching for dragons, there was nothing more to it…

The sound of something brushing against the tower's walls startled Azula. She frowned and glanced towards the window where she had heard the sound, and her eyes widened when she noticed something had been crashing against her windowsill.

"What in the name of…?" she whispered, sitting up as she watched the strange balloon sliding inside the room with difficulty.

Azula climbed off the bed, the cold tile floor of her room making her flinch as she approached the model hot-air balloon. She caught notice of two small papers inside the basket: one said 'pull me', the other one was rolled and held together neatly with a ribbon.

She frowned as she clasped one of the balloon's loose ropes, pulling at it as the message had indicated. The balloon nearly collapsed when the hot air escaped, so she maneuvered to catch it before it could fall, blowing on the candle to prevent the contraption from being set ablaze in the midst of the strange struggle.

"What on earth?" she said, staring at the hot-air balloon in confusion. Only then did she notice that there was yet another rope tied to the balloon. One end of this rope that was linked to the basket, the other end was out of sight for her, since the rest of this rope was dangling out the window. Someone had been steering the strange object from outside her room…

Azula started to suspect the identity of whoever had sent the balloon brief instants before glancing through window. Her suspicions, unsurprisingly, were spot-on.

Sokka stood in the closest courtyard to Azula's tower, glancing up at her room hopefully as he stood amid trees and wild flora. Even at a distance, Azula saw how his eyes lit up upon seeing her with the balloon in her hands.

She gestured at him, trying to ask wordlessly what this was about. Sokka grinned and gestured at the basket. Azula raised an eyebrow before pulling out the small scroll in order to read it. She set aside the balloon for a moment, pulling the scroll open swiftly to find a surprising sight within it.

_The turtle crafted_

_His means to fly with the hawk_

_I hope you slept well._

Azula read the small haiku with confusion, but despite herself, she soon started to smile. Sokka could still see her from below, so he beamed at her positive reaction. She glanced down at him again, gesturing for him to wait where he was. Sokka nodded, determined to do as she wished. It was rather cold outside right now, but he could brave through it while he waited for the Princess down below.

She showed up brief minutes later, fully clad in her daily clothes and armor, and she sped her way towards him, her arms crossed as she braced against the cold morning breeze. The courtyard in which they stood seemed to have been built for the exclusive use of the higher ranked Air Nomads, for it was secluded, but rather beautiful regardless of its unkempt state. Given that Azula was the only current occupant of the highest tower, their meeting in this garden shouldn't be spied upon by prying eyes.

All the same, Azula chose to exert caution, standing at some distance from Sokka. Despite he longed to take her in his arms as usual, he understood her body language quite easily and didn't push his luck this time around.

"What on earth…? What are you up to, you crazy gladiator?" Azula asked, looking at him in disbelief. Sokka chuckled and smiled gently at her.

"I just wanted you to be the first person to see it" he said "See, I… I wanted to meet with you last night, but I thought I'd pay the Mechanist a visit first to make sure everything was okay. He was working on this old project of his and I decided to help… and before I knew it, it was too late to go see you. So I thought I'd show you why I wasn't around all night…"

"By sending some flying object into my room?" Azula asked, smirking skeptically. Sokka chuckled.

"You were pretty annoyed because of how much time we had been wasting, the Mechanist and I" said Sokka "So I thought, since we've finished an old project of his, that this might make you feel a little less nervous about this whole endeavor"

"So is it meant to be a token of good faith or so?" Azula asked "An attempt to show me you can get the job done?"

"Well, maybe we can't get the job done for certain, but it's proof we'll try, if nothing else" said Sokka, smiling a little "Sorry about this first week, really. I'm sure the rest of our time here won't be that messy. The Mechanist seems to have become a human being again, surprisingly. He actually fell asleep when we got the first model to work properly, believe it or not"

"So he does sleep? Fancy that" said Azula, and Sokka laughed again.

"It's quite a surprise, huh?"

"And then you decided to write a poem and send the model to my room?" Azula asked, and Sokka shook his head.

"In fact, I decided to write the poem, and then took my time creating a second model so he doesn't freak out when the first one goes missing. This one's just for you" said Sokka, grinning "I built it from scratch"

"Well, aren't you a dedicated man" said Azula, smiling earnestly.

"I hoped you'd like it" said Sokka, grinning "Though, granted, now I've been up all night and I need some rest again, but…"

"Your body's schedule is upside down now, it seems" said Azula, looking at him sympathetically. Sokka shrugged.

"Well, it wouldn't be such a bad thing if I put those night hours to good use, huh?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way" she said "You're here to work, whether it's under broad daylight or at night makes no matter. So I suggest you stop getting funny ideas about what you want to do during the night hours…"

"I'd love to, but the ideas just keep coming no matter what I do" said Sokka, shaking his head and prompting Azula to laugh.

"You're just…" she said, smiling and looking at him gently.

"Just what?" he asked, looking at her eagerly. Azula shrugged.

"Ridiculous, probably" she said, and Sokka pouted.

"Here I thought you'd say something like 'handsome', or 'clever', or 'brilliant' instead" he mumbled. Azula looked at him skeptically again.

"You did prove how brilliant you are with that haiku, I must say" she said, and Sokka blushed now, tapping his fingers together awkwardly.

"I know it wasn't that great, but I kind of ran out of things to say after finishing the second verse" he said. Azula laughed.

"You don't say" she said, grinning "The change of topic was far too abrupt not to notice"

"I know, I know. But poetry is harder than it looks like" said Sokka, smiling a little "I do hope it wasn't so bad that you burned it or something…"

"Oh, I wouldn't possibly dare. I need to keep your poems around to blackmail you if it ever proves necessary" said Azula, smirking. Sokka laughed.

"Let's see if that works out for you, Princess" he said, smiling.

The urge to kiss him burst within Azula anew, but she repressed it, despite herself. It didn't prove so difficult to do so when something else caught her eye: something small and white that fell on Sokka's hair.

Azula lifted her head and glanced at the clouds with curiosity. Sokka followed her lead, and both of them caught sight of the small snowflakes dropping from above. Sokka smiled fondly as he stretched a hand and caught a snowflake on his glove.

"Heh. It's been a while since I last saw snow" he said, grinning. Azula raised an eyebrow as she continued to watch the snowflakes falling around them.

"I'd never actually seen snowfall until now" she whispered. Sokka smiled.

"Can't say that surprises me, considering where you hail from" he said.

"Did you miss it?" Azula asked, and Sokka shrugged.

"Kind of, but it's not quite like the snow that falls on the South Pole. This one's more… subtle, I guess" he said, lifting his head again "Though with those clouds I guess it's only likely to get worse as the day goes by. No wonder it was so cold…"

Azula nodded in agreement. She was starting to shiver by now, and Sokka frowned as he noticed it. He made to take off his coat so she could wear it, but she lifted a hand to stop him.

"No need. I'll be fine" she said, and Sokka bit his lip.

"We can keep talking elsewhere if you like… unless you'd rather we go our own ways, since it's nearly dawn by now" said Sokka. Azula gave him a sad look.

"I'm afraid we can't take chances. It's better if we go back to our rooms for the time being. But… thanks, Sokka"

"For the balloon?" he asked, blushing a little as he smiled.

"And for trying as hard as you do. You just might succeed at impressing me one day if you keep this up" said Azula, smirking at him "I'll see you later. Get more rest, alright?"

"Your wish is my command, Princess" he said, bowing in her direction.

Azula smiled at him as she walked away, hugging herself as she fled from the snow and the cold inside the building. Her accommodations had some undeniable perks, but she had the suspicion that the tower that allowed the cold to seep in most easily was this one.

She closed the door to her room, dropping her head against it as her hands balled into fists. She had refused to let herself think of the consequences of Sokka's actions right away, for maybe she was only making a bigger deal than necessary out of it… but those hot-air balloons were meant to be used by the Fire Nation as war balloons. Sokka didn't realize that, of course… the Mechanist surely hadn't explained that it was yet another task the Fire Lord had given him, a task he had failed to fulfill until just now.

Unless she got in the way of the final design of the war balloons somehow, taking it into her own hands to sabotage the mission, the Fire Nation was likely to acquire weapons deadlier than the bombs the Fire Lord had requested. The war balloons could prove to be the very advantage the Fire Nation had needed to win this war. Unbeknownst to Sokka, he had as good as provided the Fire Lord with absolute victory after what he'd done. How could he be so blind to his own actions…?

"I never did tell him about that project, did I?" Azula grunted to herself. Truth be told, Sokka couldn't have known better. The Mechanist relied on countless hot-air systems to make life in the Northern Air Temple easier for himself and his fellow refugees. The hot-air balloons could simply be means of traveling for the Mechanist and his people, from Sokka's point of view.

With a single blow, they had as good as condemned another nation to utter annihilation. If the hot-air balloon designs reached the Fire Lord, the Northern Water Tribe's fate would undoubtedly be the same of the Air Nomads, and of the dragons. They would become nothing but new stepping stones for the Fire Lords on their quest for more power.

At this point there was but one thing Azula could do to prevent the destruction she had started to dread…


	105. Chapter 105

"So this is it?" Azula asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow as she studied the hot-air balloon carefully.

The workshop at the base of the mountain had been at the peak of its activity during the past few days. The Mechanist had decided that the building of the full-scale hot-air balloon had better be done as quickly as possible. His usual helpers had assisted in assembling most of the structure of the first balloon, but there were extra hands involved in the process this time around: Azula's guards, and naturally, Sokka himself, had joined the crafting session. Sokka was particularly eager to see the finished version of the hot-air balloon, hoping his input for the project would pay off indeed.

Currently, Sokka and the rest were taking a lunch break. Azula had already eaten, and she had stopped by at the workshop as the Mechanist busied himself with tweaking the smaller details of his latest creation. He kept checking and double-checking everything, ensuring all was in place his balloon's eventual first flight test – the weather had impeded them from testing it right away.

"Why, it is indeed" said the Mechanist, looking at the hot-air balloon with eagerness "We have taken care of adding a proper steering system, in hopes the balloon won't simply drift in the currents…"

"I fear that's still likely to be a problem. If air currents can affect my dragon's flight, they definitely can bother this contraption" said Azula, circling the balloon with a mild frown.

"You're right, of course, no doubt" said the Mechanist "But those details will be unavoidable risks all the same, I suppose. It's the same as with ships at sea…"

"Indeed. It's a factor of traveling through these means, no doubt" said Azula, looking at the mechanism within the balloon with a raised eyebrow "Is this combustive system what you and my gladiator had been developing as of late?"

"Ah, yes. I already had basic principles for it, Sokka gave me a hand with perfecting them" said the Mechanist, smiling.

"I see" said Azula, nodding "Did the crafting of this motor provide any ideas for the bombs my father requested, by any chance?"

"W-why…" said the Mechanist, his eyes widening "Well, no, but… was it meant to? I mean, do pardon my foolishness, Princess, but…"

"But what?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow and regarding the Mechanist with a cold stare.

"I don't mean to… to upset you, or say anything wrong, but… won't this suffice? I mean, these hot-air balloons… they will enable your armies to travel through the air. Isn't that better than bombs?"

"I'd say it is, if only your design weren't as… well, fragile, I suppose" said Azula, frowning as she regarded the balloon with derision. The Mechanist looked at her warily.

"Fragile? But we haven't even test-…"

"Indeed, under the current weather conditions there's no way to confirm whether your grand creation works or not" said Azula, folding her arms across her chest "But my qualms are related to something else entirely. You see, I can't quite imagine how many of these contraptions would be necessary to carry a single battalion of Fire Nation soldiers"

"Oh, you believe them to be too small?"

"Not only that, they're also not as solid as they should be" said Azula, looking at the balloon with a raised eyebrow "You use fabric for the containment of the gas, a very logical idea, even a cheap one, but do tell, how strong can this fabric be? Not only could it rip at random if it weren't in perfect conditions… by which I mean, some fabric can rip on its own after excessive, straining use. But also…if waterbenders, for instance, attacked the balloon's fabric with ice spikes, it would collapse and likely kill the two or three soldiers riding on it. And alas, that would be it for our great advantage over the Water Tribe. These balloons might look like salvation briefly, only to come off as a weakness in the long run. We could even lose the war on the North over this, you realize…"

"B-but… you mean if I deliver this to the Fire Lord, he'd…?"

"He might end up blaming you if the war were lost, perhaps" said Azula, shrugging "Not that I expect it to be lost right away, though. As long as I inform my father of the evident risks, we could avoid massive damage to our forces… but the point is, this won't give us the advantage we seek. At least, not with a balloon of this kind. Unless you were to upgrade them in some way, so they become fit for war, they won't be much help in the battlefield"

The Mechanist looked at Azula insecurely. She returned the stare, not unkindly, yet she could see fear in the Mechanist's eyes regardless. The way his orbs shifted side to side nervously gave away that, perhaps, it wasn't Azula herself that he feared…

"Is something the matter?" Azula asked, bringing him back from his daze.

"O-oh, no, there's nothing… you're right, of course" said the Mechanist, smiling now "I mean, of course… I made a mistake. A miscalculation…"

"It's a lot more than that. I'd say this is a prototype of what could become an airborne warship in the future, but it might take a lot of work to design something of that magnitude. So while this is quite the breakthrough, I recommend you return to the task my father assigned to you. The bombs ought to suit our purposes far better"

"I… of course. Of course" said the Mechanist, swallowing hard "But, say… if I were to redesign the airships, and make them suitable for your purposes, what exactly do you think it should be made of? Just… just so I can know once I make a new design later"

"A new design? Well, for one thing it should be able to accommodate more than just two or three people" said Azula, with raised eyebrows "Perhaps wrap the fabric around something sturdy enough to protect it, like metal. It might be that some sort of metallic, massive version of the hot-air balloons would be advised instead of this"

"Massive? And with metal? I… I can't say I'll be able to build that easily" said the Mechanist. Azula shrugged.

"Frankly, that's of no matter right now. Focus on the bombs again" she said "You've done a grand job as it is, this is a remarkable system all things considered, but keep it as a side-project. Providing for the Fire Lord should be your main priority"

Azula could see there was something akin to defiance in the Mechanist's eyes. She raised an eyebrow slowly, waiting for the words she knew he wanted to say. He kept quiet, though, until he nodded in agreement.

"Very well. I shall do as you ask, Princess"

"Don't take this the wrong way, Mechanist" said Azula, looking at him sternly "I'm not saying your work with this is worthless. I'm only saying that riding into battle on this hot-air balloon would be akin to taking rafts into the Northern Water Tribe instead of warships. It's surely a fine way to travel, and it could even be widespread through the world in the future for common use… but it isn't what we need for the war. You can understand this, right?"

"I do, Princess. Don't worry" said the Mechanist, nodding and sliding his fingers through his hair "I, uh, ought to head to my office, then. I should get back to the bombs' project, as you say"

"That would be ideal" said Azula, as the two of them walked to the trapdoor. One of the Mechanist's assistants was waiting above to pull the pair of them up to the man's office.

The Mechanist headed directly to his desk after dismissing his assistant. Azula was ready to leave, but she frowned upon noticing the Mechanist was making no move to follow.

"You'll keep working?" she asked. The Mechanist blinked, looking at her warily.

"Well… am I not supposed to?" he asked, shrugging "I merely thought that, well… you wanted me to start with the bombs, right?"

"You could still take a break, though. You've been working on the balloon for days now" said Azula. The Mechanist waved a hand carelessly.

"You needn't fret, Princess. I can handle myself" he said, smiling.

"Alright, then. I suppose I'll send Sokka down here if that's…"

"O-oh, please, don't. He can take a break today, no need to worry" said the Mechanist, smiling. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"So he can take breaks but you can't" she said, and the Mechanist shrugged.

"Well, you did want him to have free time to eat and rest… he can have that for now, certainly. I will simply work on the bombs as long as the exhaustion doesn't get to me, Princess"

"Right" said Azula, eyeing the Mechanist with uncertainty. He was well accustomed to work on his own, she realized, but she had the distinct feeling that there was something else he wasn't telling her. Should she press the man on further? Or had she done plenty of that as it was?

She took a deep breath and nodded in his direction. The Mechanist looked relieved when Azula turned on her heels and left him to his own devices, making the decision to trust the man. Surely he knew better than to put himself in a dangerous position with the Fire Lord or his daughter…

The Mechanist released a deep breath once Azula left, looking at the door she had closed behind her with unease. What a fool he was… No, the hot-air balloon wouldn't suffice, as she had said herself. If his creation backfired on the Fire Nation in the battlefield, it would be the Mechanist himself, and his loved ones, who would pay the ultimate price for it. He couldn't allow that to happen. But he had damn near caused it himself, by sending that message to War Minister Qin once the hot-air balloon designs were complete…

"I'm a fool" he whispered, taking a new scroll and spreading it over his desk "A fool, a fool…"

He readied himself to craft a new design now, one that would address the Princess's criticisms to his original version of the hot-air balloons. There was no room for error now, and he had to work as quickly as he could. His life, and that of his son and friends, depended on it.

* * *

The dining room was crowded, although barely anyone was eating anymore. The room was the most centric area for people to gather, whether they wanted to eat or not. And since the latest days had been dampened by the weather, the current occupants of the Northern Air Temple often reunited in this place if just to entertain themselves through small talk.

Azula guessed this would be where she would find her guards and Sokka, and thus it was where she had filed towards. In this weather she would have no luck flying with Xin Long, who had taken office within one of the Temple's towers while the blizzard died down. Fortunately for the dragon, the Temple's halls were spacious enough to allow him passage through them without a hitch.

Her guards sat around the long table, most of them talking at ease amongst themselves and with Teo. Sokka, unsurprisingly, was gobbling down some vegetable snack – the only kind of snack he had found in the Temple, to his utter disappointment. Rui Shi seemed to be dozing off when Azula sank into a seat beside him.

"Oh, you're back" said Sokka, lifting his gaze towards Azula slightly nervously. She raised an eyebrow in his direction "What did you think of the balloon?"

"Uh, I suppose it's fine, even if it's not perfect. It should serve to ferry people around indeed" she said. Sokka smiled.

"Well, that's good to hear" he said. Azula eyed him warily.

"You'd better not let that go up to your head, though"

"Heh, that it's simply fine? That's not something that would go up to my head" he said "If you'd called it a geniality, or said it was brilliant…"

"Sokka, you came up with a minimal part of the balloon's structure. The Mechanist devised most of it" said Azula, with a sardonic grin.

"Well, now, he said he'd been stuck with that project for a long time" said Sokka, lifting his index finger and looking at Azula with a raised eyebrow "I gave him a good solution and he was ecstatic about it. So it's a lot more important than just a minimal part, alright?"

"Sure thing. Say whatever you need in order to feel good about yourself if you must" said Azula, smirking. Sokka pouted.

"Feel good about myself, really, as if that were all of it…" he grumbled "Why isn't he here, though? Is he dealing with something else? Please tell me the water heater didn't break again…"

"No, he… he's in his office. I mentioned he ought to focus on the bombs' project now that this one was as good as done, because we'll be here for only a couple more weeks. It's time he works on what he's supposed to, don't you think?"

"Eh, sure…" said Sokka, swallowing hard and sighing "I guess that means I ought to…"

"He actually said you could take a break, but if you want to go work with him, go ahead" said Azula, shrugging "I didn't demand that he worked on it yet, but you know what he's like. A workaholic if I've ever seen one. And I've definitely seen some workaholics before"

"I do hope you're not implying I'm obsessed with my job…" said Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow and glancing at Azula furtively. She mustered her most ironic innocent façade.

"Why, it wasn't me who said it…" she whispered. Sokka chuckled and Rui Shi smiled, despite himself.

Sokka and Azula hadn't been as much trouble for him as of late. Since Sokka was working hard constantly, his sleep schedule made little to no sense anymore. Often he'd work with the Mechanist through the night and sleep in broad daylight, and Azula would leave him to his rest. Whenever Rui Shi had checked on either of them, he'd find they weren't doing anything inadequate with one another, which meant they were being so stealthy they avoided his detection or that they finally had stopped with the recklessness. He hoped it was the latter, but he was still grateful if it was the former. He would keep an eye on them constantly all the same, but it was a relief that they were keeping to their better behavior these days.

"So then I can just stay here instead of freezing down in his office, right?" said Sokka, smiling with relief.

"Yeah. Feel free to freeze here instead, it should be a great improvement" said Azula, frowning as she glanced through the window in the room. The snow was still falling outside, slowly but certainly. She frowned and sighed at the sight "For how long can an accursed snowfall last, seriously?"

"It has stopped a few times, but mostly at night" said Sokka "But it looks like it might stop again soon. The winds aren't so strong anymore, and it's falling way lighter than before"

"I suppose if there's something you'll know far better than us, it's snow" said Rui Shi.

"Likely" said Sokka, smiling a little "There were some seriously dreadful storms in my tribe… we nearly had to dig each other out after they were finished. Fortunately, we had good homes to protect us… well, most of us. Some of the warriors just had tents, so they had to crash at someone else's place meanwhile…"

"Must have been harsh" said Rui Shi, frowning "And despite coming from that environment you adapted to the Fire Nation… well, with relative ease"

"Well, I did miss the cold a lot. Especially at first" said Sokka, frowning a little. Azula stiffened "Dirt and sand were poor replacements. But then again, you don't have to worry about hunting for food when a blizzard is about to come, or count everyone to make sure nobody's outside in the middle of the storm… it's an improvement in some ways. And not needing to wear a parka day in and day out is a pretty nice thing, believe it or not. I honestly don't know how you guys wear those long-sleeved outfits in the Fire Nation's heat" he said, looking at Azula and Rui Shi with amusement.

"We know our way around the heat just as you know yours around the cold" said Azula. Sokka chuckled.

A loud snort of laughter further down the table startled them out of their conversation. Teo was chuckling as Fei Li cackled loudly, and other guards smiled in disbelief at whatever Teo had said. Sokka raised his eyebrows and poked Taro on the shoulder, the one sitting nearest to him. Taro put down his cup of tea before turning towards them.

"It's nothing" he said, smiling at them "Teo's only sharing some ghost stories they've come up with about the Northern Air Temple"

"Oh? Ghost stories?" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows. He remembered one or two from his Tribe… though they weren't all that scary.

"It's just something we do for fun when the weather's like this and we can't glide" said Teo, chuckling "We try to come up with the spookiest story possible, and whoever gets the best can sit closest to the bonfire once we can get it going…"

"Bonfire?" Sokka repeated "You guys… do that?"

"Sometimes, when the snow stops falling for good" said Teo, nodding "It's a good way to warm up after the storms"

"Yeah, it is" said Sokka, smiling. He hadn't thought of bonfires in a long time, let alone been around one "What was the story, though? Care to share?"

"It's just some nonsense about Air Nomads coming to stalk the living, since they took their rightful home" said Fei Li, smiling. Teo chuckled.

"Hey, now, who knows if they'd want to do that? Spirits are real, so maybe the Air Nomads just… became spirits somehow. They might try to pull something on us, you never know"

"I do wonder if they'd be that vengeful" said Azula, frowning a little "But then again, if they haven't come to haunt you people yet, they probably won't do it at all"

"Frankly, I doubt it would be possible" said Rui Shi, shrugging "If the spirits of Air Nomads were out for revenge, they would have destroyed the Fire Nation's armies a century ago"

"I suppose, as long as they act rationally. But spirits aren't said to be too rational" said Fei Li. Sokka sighed and shook his head.

"Honestly, spirits. If they're really out there, as everyone says they are, they clearly care about their business and theirs alone"

"So that's actually pretty close to the way Air Nomads acted, from what I can gather" said Azula, smiling a little. Sokka rubbed his chin after that.

"Huh. Well, then, that means that whether they're dead or alive, they wouldn't come chase after you guys" he said, waving a hand carelessly. Fei Li chuckled.

"Yeah, we already guessed as much. Air Nomads blowing gusts of wind to lift people's skirts seemed a pretty far-fetched idea to me too" he said.

Azula was smiling at her guard's intervention, but she noticed then that Teo had frowned after what Sokka had said. She looked at him intently.

"Is something wrong, Teo?" she asked. He jumped "Is it you want the Air Nomads to come chase you off this place?"

"N-no, that's not it at all. It's cold up here, but I like it anyways" said Teo, smiling "It's just that thing about… dead or alive. Do you think there's any chance that…? I mean, never mind. I know there isn't, but it's still pretty strange that…"

"What's pretty strange?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow when he fell silent mid-sentence. Teo bit his lip.

"W-well… I hadn't really thought of this much at first, but then we started doing all those Air Nomad horror stories and, well… see, this place was empty when we got here"

"Right. We knew that" said Fei Li, looking at Teo with confusion "All the airbenders were dead, have been for a hundred years…"

"But that's the thing, though. When we got here, all we found was an old structure, unkempt and uncared for… but nothing else"

"No bodies" said Azula, frowning "No skeletons"

Teo shook his head. Some of the guards flinched at that.

"Heh… that's a good one, Princess. You're probably the best there is at horror stories, huh?" said Tai Wei, smiling awkwardly. Azula raised an eyebrow in his direction, silencing him effectively.

"You say the structure was unkempt, then? Was there any sign of burnt walls, perhaps?" Azula inquired. Teo bit his lip and shook his head.

"Most of the damage to the walls and structures has been done by my dad" he said, awkwardly.

"So there was nothing else there. No signs whatsoever of a struggle" said Azula, intertwining her fingers as she placed her elbows on the table. Teo shook his head.

"Not that I noticed, anyhow. It was just abandoned. Like they'd… disappeared in thin air"

"Well, wouldn't that be amusing" said Azula, smiling "The ultimate airbender skill: disappearing in thin air. That's one they forgot to add to their scrolls"

"Alright, but… I mean, this place was empty for a reason" said Fei Li, frowning "If the airbenders weren't killed, then where are they?"

"Didn't you hear? In thin air" said Rui Shi, simply. Fei Li shuddered "They're all around us"

"Is he joking? Please tell me he's joking" said Fei Li.

"I don't think the Captain ever jokes, Fei Li" said Taro. Fei Li looked at Rui Shi wih panic-ridden eyes as Rui Shi did his best to feign innocence, toying with a small plum of fire in his hands.

Azula smiled at the exchanges between her guards, amused to see Rui Shi willing to play this strange game with the others. It was definitely true he wasn't given to that kind of behavior. Tai Wei had been mistaken, Azula realized: the one best suited for ghost stories around here was the very Captain of her guards.

She took her leave from the gathering in the dining room eventually, though, stopping in a balcony to gaze down on the Temple. The information Teo had provided was slightly bothersome, despite she had managed to play it as though she were merely frightening her guards with it. Something didn't sit right with her about the Air Temple, especially now that she knew the Mechanist and his group had found no sign of dead bodies around these parts.

"What's eating you, Princess?"

Azula didn't hold back a smile when she heard Sokka approaching her. The bad weather had kept most people huddled indoors during the past few days, so the two of them weren't in the same risk of being sighted together in hallways anymore. Nonetheless, they kept their distance, Azula with her forearms on the banister, Sokka resting with his back against it.

"What Teo said. It's… unsettling" she whispered. Sokka chuckled.

"I figure it's not spirit stuff that scares you, though, right?" he said, raising an eyebrow "You're too smart to freak out over that nonsense, aren't you?"

"No, it's not that I expect some spiritual crisis to fall upon us" said Azula "That indeed doesn't seem likely, else it should've happened already. But even so… well, I suppose I ought to explain from the start"

"You probably should" Sokka agreed, nodding.

"I started to attend war meetings at the age of thirteen" said Azula. Sokka smiled. He had started sneaking into war meetings as a child, but hadn't been allowed into a real meeting held by his father until he was seventeen "And I knew better than to speak my mind in the way my brother had. I wasn't about to bring an Agni Kai upon myself foolishly that way. So I kept my silence, even when War Minister Qin intervened to tell my father that he had finally pinpointed the location of the Northern Air Temple"

"He had what, now?" said Sokka, frowning. Azula nodded.

"A couple meetings later he revealed to us that a valuable asset had taken office in there, an asset who just might be capable of providing technological advancements beyond our imagination if we took him into our system. Said asset is, as you must have guessed, the Mechanist"

"Right" said Sokka.

"The thing is… A hundred years prior, Sozin was supposed to have destroyed the Air Nomads completely" said Azula, frowning "I've always been confused by whatever his procedure was, because I've found little next to nothing to explain how the Fire Lord split his army into at least five factions in order to take out his enemies. I say five because he surely didn't leave the Fire Nation unprotected. So the four remaining factions would have had to travel through the world, reaching each Temple and as good as razing them to the ground in order to destroy every airbender within. Right?"

"I… suppose" said Sokka.

"But despite the Air Nomads had a policy of no-violence, they should have put up a fight against the Fire Nation army. Yes, Sozin's soldiers were powered by the comet, and I know indeed that the comet provides a mind-boggling boost to any firebender's abilities… but these airbenders had some terrifying skills, if what I've read is actually true"

"Terrifying? Weren't they pacifists?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"We were fortunate they were" said Azula "Had they been the ones trying to colonize the rest of the world, the other nations would've lasted three years at most. These people… they bend air, Sokka. They could simply cut someone's air supply if they wished to. It wouldn't have been a big effort for them. There are thousands of things they could have done to fight back… which is why it baffles me that it seems as though they didn't. In fact, it seems as though… as though this place, the Northern Air Temple, wasn't a battlefield altogether"

"Can you be sure of that?" said Sokka "Isn't there any chance that Sozin just got the Air Nomads killed and tossed down the mountain?"

"Without a single sign of firebending in scorched floors or walls?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "Were the Air Nomads such pacifists they didn't fight back against the Fire Nation armies at all?"

"It does seem unlikely that they'd be so compliant to die, huh?" said Sokka, grimacing "Not a lot of people would be"

"But there's also the fact that Sozin wouldn't have written down the location of this temple if he'd found it" said Azula "We know where the Southern Air Temple is located, along with the Western Air Temple and the Eastern Air Temple. They're of easier access than the others, really, and can be sighted even at a distance. But the Northern Air Temple… the Fire Nation armies only found it nine years ago to find it occupied already, Sokka. There are no records to indicate otherwise. The port we arrived in is fairly new, built after we'd pinpointed this location. Qin had been searching for this place… though I do wonder what he expected to achieve by coming here in the first place"

"Perhaps confirmation that Sozin did kill everyone here? Heck, if there had been airbenders hiding in here I would've been pretty pissed, if I were your dad" said Sokka, folding his arms over his chest. Azula frowned.

"Maybe it was the gliders. They might have caught people's eyes, and rumors about them started to spread…" she whispered. Sokka raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Might have been. But he never mentioned that to you?"

"I was mostly in training at the time, my father informed me of many things but not of everything" said Azula, frowning "I suppose that ought to change now that I'm his official Crown Princess, but back then he still kept certain things to himself. I don't doubt he keeps a lot more secrets from me than I realize he does. I mean… he probably knows about whatever happened to my mother. And about my grandfather's demise. But he's never meant to share that with me, and I won't force him to do so"

"You're too faithful to him, always on your dad's good side" said Sokka, smiling "If I were you I probably would've asked him about it ages ago"

"Which is why it's great that you aren't me" said Azula, smirking "I know where to step in order to stay in his good graces. It's not that hard to figure out that whatever happened that night isn't something he's willing to disclose to me. The less I know about it, the better… which I guess is what Sozin must have thought when it came to the Northern Air Temple"

"You think?" said Sokka "There's no chronicles, any journals by soldiers that came up here?"

"The events of Sozin's Comet's first appearance are a blur" said Azula "Most the retelling's I've found of them are mixed and confused, contradictory and illogical. Some history book once credited Azulon alone for the butchery of dragons, skipping over Fire Lord Hizuo's involvement in that particular enterprise altogether. And those are facts with more available and verified information than whatever happened during Sozin's Comet first appearance"

"So then you have no way of knowing what happened in any of the Temples" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "For all we know, there's still airbenders hiding out there…"

"I doubt that. They would have been sighted somehow, I believe" said Azula "Chances are they wouldn't have been able to hide for too long if they had survived"

"So what do you think happened?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "Did the Air Nomads know you guys would attack, and the people residing in the Northern Air Temple flew down to the other three temples to help fight off Sozin's armies?"

"I… suppose that's plausible. At least it would explain why there was nobody here even though there's no sign of dead airbenders anywhere" said Azula, shrugging. Sokka sighed.

"You worry too much about history, Azula" he said, smiling "You should probably stop fretting about things you can't do anything to change"

"Granted, but I do want to discover the truth nonetheless" said Azula "It's true that my father keeps secrets from me, but this is a different matter altogether. If these northern Air Nomads could have been a risk, it would have been beyond irresponsible of Sozin to claim he killed them all without at least leaving a secret message to the next Fire Lords with the truth. Right?"

"Well, I can't say I mind if he didn't get these airbenders killed" said Sokka, tapping his arm with a finger "I know you guys would rather assimilate everything under the Fire Nation's banners, and perhaps you thought the Air Nomads were too dangerous to be left alive. But if they were alive… well, their nation would still stand a chance, so to say. Balance might still have a chance"

"Balance" said Azula, looking at Sokka inquisitively. He shrugged "You do love bringing that up, huh?"

"I guess it's because of how I was raised. Lots of stories about the Avatar, balance, a world with four nations…" said Sokka. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"All four? No vengeful wishes to take out the Fire Nation?" she asked. Sokka shook his head.

"Not the way Gran Gran told them anyways" he said, smiling at her. Azula nodded, thoughtful "So, umm… it's snowing, and it's cold. And everyone else is likely to stay cooped up in that room, so… what do you say if you stop worrying about these things, and we sneak into some…?"

"Actually, it's stopped" said Azula, surprising Sokka. He blinked a few times, confused by her statement before realizing what she was talking about: the snowfall appeared to be at an end.

"Hey, it did. The clouds look way less menacing, Azula, maybe we can…!" said Sokka, his eyes brightening as a patch of blue skies peeked out through the white clouds.

"Test the war balloon" she finished. Sokka swallowed hard and looked at her warily "Well, the sooner that distraction is out of the way, the better for my father's project. Let's test it indeed, shall we?"

Sokka beamed at her positive response and made to hug her but held back just in time. Azula raised an eyebrow in his direction and he nodded.

"All in its due time. I know that" he said, nodding. Azula laughed softly.

"Go fetch the Mechanist. I'll tell the others" she said, brushing his forearm softly with her fingertips. Sokka smiled and nodded, darting off to do as she had told him.

He stopped to knock on the Mechanist's door before pushing it open, finding the man fumbling with some papers on his desk. He gave Sokka a guilty look, but Sokka knew by now that the Mechanist was an inherently nervous man. Surely there was no reason to worry about it.

"Hey! The snow's stopped so we were going to test the balloon while we can" said Sokka, stepping forward. The Mechanist raised his eyebrows with interest.

"Oh, is that so? Wonderful!" he said, smiling "You can go ahead and test it, then. I will be with you shortly, I just need to finish working with something…"

"Huh? Can't it wait?" asked Sokka, raising an eyebrow. He frowned as realization dawned upon him "Oh, wait. You're working on the bombs"

"W-why… yes. Well, I'm only working out the basics so far" said the Mechanist, nervously. Sokka grimaced "It's of no matter, Sokka, I can handle this myself. Go test the wa-… the hot-air balloon"

"You sure? I mean, I could stay here and try to figure out the bombs while you test it. Technically, that's your project and this is my responsibility" said Sokka, grimacing. The Mechanist shook his head.

"No, you… you should go. I give you the reins for the last part of the hot-air balloon project, Sokka. Go out there and make it float!"

"I… I guess I will, then" said Sokka, frowning but nodding.

"It's in your hands now" said the Mechanist. Sokka smiled at him.

"I'll do my best not to disappoint. Come have a look when you're free, though. You shouldn't overwork yourself with that"

"I… I won't. I won't" said the Mechanist, smiling as Sokka turned on his heels and left.

He released a deep breath and shook his head. He was no good at lying, and no good at crafting bombs. His last experiences with explosive material had cost him part of his bushy eyebrows, after all. But he'd have to start with the project while Sokka was out testing the balloon. He couldn't reveal to the warrior that he was creating an advanced design of the hot-air balloon, or else he'd know this was a far more dangerous invention than the Mechanist was willing to disclose…

Because the Mechanist wasn't entirely sure of where Sokka's allegiances lay. Despite they had worked together for some time now, the Mechanist had trouble figuring out the Water Tribe man. When the message heralding the Princess's visit had arrived to the Temple, the Mechanist had dreaded he'd have to work either with some brutish slave – he was spoken of as 'the gladiator', and nothing more – or some broken man, of the sort that seem to be dead in life. And Sokka had been neither.

It didn't look like the Fire Nation had broken his spirits. He even got along with his sponsor, his slaver: the daughter of the Fire Lord, of all people. He was outspoken, easygoing, even kind. Had he taken so well to the Fire Nation, or was he far more complex than the Mechanist understood him to be? Was he part of a bigger plan than the Mechanist understood, a plan that might have required for someone like him to slip between the Fire Nation's forces, unnoticed and underestimated by the Fire Lord and his people…?

The gladiator wasn't a foe for the Mechanist, but was he his ally? Was he under the same conditions as the Mechanist? Did he do this to protect his own…? If so, it made no sense that he would accept to destroy the Northern Water Tribe. Unless he had no care for it, only focusing on keeping his own Tribe safe…

Regardless of where Sokka's loyalties lay, though, the Mechanist had no choice but to pull through with this. He didn't dare pay the price for disobedience. His fear ran too deep to rebel against the hand tightly wrapped around his throat.

"He's not coming? Really?" said Teo, looking at Sokka in disbelief. Sokka grimaced and shrugged.

"I'm sorry. I told him to drop by when he was free, but he asked me to handle this myself" he explained "I don't know why he's skipping over something so important"

"Yeah, well… it happens sometimes" said Teo, sighing. He smiled at Sokka "No worries. I'm sure he's just busy"

"Likely" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow as Teo sighed again and wheeled away towards the hot-air balloon.

The guards and some of the Mechanist's assistants, directed by Azula, had dealt with bringing the hot-air balloon out into the lowest courtyard of the Temple. Teo had been as excited as anyone for the hot-air balloon's test run, but now that Sokka had informed him of this, it seemed the test run wasn't all that fun in his eyes anymore.

"Doesn't look like he's fine with it, huh?" Sokka whispered to Azula, the person he'd directed his announcement about the Mechanist to in the first place.

"Not at all" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "But he swallows his disappointment and acts like it doesn't matter. His father is everything for him, it's clear enough, but…"

"But they barely spend any time together" said Sokka "He's always busy"

"Even when he doesn't have to be" said Azula, sighing and looking at Sokka "Well, then, if he's not going to do this and he left it all in your questionable leadership, by all means, go ahead and take charge, gladiator"

Sokka's jaw dropped. He gave Azula an affronted glare, to find she would only smirk with malice in return.

"M-my leadership isn't… Y-you know what? You'll see for yourself right now!" he exclaimed, his voice cracking as he blushed deeply. Azula's amusement increased, Sokka became more flustered as he stormed towards the hot-air balloon, a prominent scowl on his face.

Azula laughed softly under her breath as she followed Sokka towards the balloon, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. The cool breeze was uncomfortable, but she would brave through it as they dealt with the last stretch of this particular project.

"Alright, so I'm in charge of testing the hot-air balloon" Sokka declared, taking a deep breath and looking at the guards and assistants with unease "So, umm, I guess that means I'm going on the first test flight. I'll need a firebender with me, though, for convenience… so who wants to come?"

Several guards gazed at one another before shrugging. Some of them lifted their hands, others simply voiced they were available. Sokka cleared his throat, studying them closely. He got along with one guard, specifically, so…

"Alright, then, Taro?" he said, but before Taro could so much as smile in approval, Azula intervened.

"Not Taro" she declared, giving Sokka a meaningful look "With his breathing ailment you're not taking him anywhere on that thing. He's had a hard time as it is to adjust to the thin air around here, so don't push his luck"

Taro seemed disappointed, but he smiled and nodded anyways. The Princess was right to look out for him under those conditions. Sokka swallowed hard and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Eh, well then, I guess…" he said, gazing at the remaining guards with uncertainty.

"I'll do it, I'll do it" said Fei Li, stepping forward proudly "I've got all the firepower this balloon could need, gladiator"

"Oh. Alright, then, it'll be you" said Sokka, smiling and shrugging.

Azula's eyebrow twitched as she looked at the gladiator and her most reckless guard. Next to her, Rui Shi seemed just as nervous about this test flight as Azula was.

"They could end up ruining the balloon by mistake, couldn't they?" Rui Shi said. Azula sighed.

"I'd expect them to. Someone else needs to keep them in check…" she said, glancing at Rui Shi innocently. The man grimaced.

"Must I?" he asked. Azula smiled.

"Who knew the day would come when you'd protest my reasonable commands like this" she said. Rui Shi sighed.

"I simply don't feel like babysitting the gladiator or Fei Li, let alone both at once, so…"

"I can do it instead, Captain" said Tai Wei, stepping forward "If you want else to help, Princess…"

"Huh. It's true that you've dealt with your fair share of the Mechanist's creations" said Azula, nodding "Very well, let's give Rui Shi a break for today. Go on ahead"

Tai Wei nodded and approached the hot-air balloon. Sokka and Fei Li had already climbed onto the basket, oblivious to the fact that they'd have someone else with them on the hot-air balloon. They let Tai Wei in without a hitch, though, and Fei Li started with the slow and steady task of starting the fire that would power the balloon's engine.

"The question is… can that balloon lift three grown men like them?" said Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow. Azula shrugged.

"I guess we're about to find out" she said, watching with interest as Tai Wei joined Fei Li with his own firebending.

Sokka watched them uneasily, his gaze moving from the two firebenders to the top of the balloon constantly. It should be moving in a little while, he just had to be patient. They hadn't done all this work to no avail, but… what if the balloon was too small to lift the basket? What if they were too heavy? All things considered, he wasn't entirely sure that this would work out as well as they thought it would. Maybe, despite all the calculations, something would go inevitably wrong…

* * *

Dusk was approaching rapidly as the Mechanist finally devised the proper structure for his upgraded project. Weariness was making itself known on him, but he was determined to ignore it for as long as he could. He had to finish this piece, and send it to War Minister Qin as soon as he did. There was no time to be wasted with…

His door slammed open brusquely, startling him out of his careful focus on his work. He lifted his gaze to find Sokka breathing heavily at the door, his hair disorderly, his eyes wide open.

"Something's wrong" he said. The Mechanist froze.

"W-with… with the balloon?" he said. His eyes widened. As if he didn't have enough bad things to deal with…

"You have to come, now!" Sokka exclaimed. The Mechanist swallowed hard and nodded, setting out after Sokka with heavy strides.

"What was it? The suspension system? Or was it the size of the balloon? I did fear it wouldn't be enough to lift the basket…" said the Mechanist, grimacing as Sokka led the way to the courtyard.

"I don't know for certain what it was, I think it's in the engine" said Sokka, walking faster. The Mechanist had trouble keeping up with him.

"The engine? But we went over the design at least ten times, there was nothing wrong with the engine!" he said, grimacing.

"It's not propelling the hot air the way we need it to, I don't know why, but it's just messing things up" said Sokka, swallowing hard as they took a left on the hallway and climbed on one of the Mechanist's lifter systems.

"Oh, no. Oh, no, just no…" said the Mechanist, shaking his head in sheer horror. If this design was already faulty, then his preemptive message to War Minister Qin would cause him even more trouble than he'd anticipated…

Sokka nearly ran through the halls, with the Mechanist chasing after him desperately. He could hear sounds out in the nearest courtyard, and he dreaded the voices speaking would be worrying over the malfunctioning hot-air balloon…

And then he heard a familiar voice, cheering.

When the courtyard finally came into sight, the Mechanist's eyes widened. His hot-air balloon wasn't malfunctioning at all: it was airborne. And his bushy-haired son was riding on it.

Sokka chuckled and looked at the Mechanist guiltily. The man couldn't take his eyes off his son, who had just spotted him down on the ground. He waved at him.

"Look, dad! It works!" he exclaimed "It really works!"

The Mechanist seemed unable to believe his eyes, but soon his face broke into a delighted smile.

"It was all a ruse. You wanted me to… to see it myself" said the Mechanist, looking at Sokka in surprise. Sokka shrugged.

"It didn't seem fair for you to miss out on the whole thing, and we didn't know how else to get you out of that office, so… sorry?" he said, but given the Mechanist's smile, Sokka guessed he wouldn't be blamed for his actions.

"It works… it works perfectly" he said. Sokka nodded.

"It's great!" he said "It can lift up to three people, at the very least. Teo is up there with Rui Shi, he wanted to try it quite badly. You should go next, with them"

"W-what, me? Oh, I…" said the Mechanist, surprised. Sokka chuckled and grabbed him by the shoulder, leading him to the landing site of the hot-air balloon.

Soon, it was the Mechanist floating in the wind along with his proud son. The man deserved to enjoy his invention fully, even though he seemed quite unsure as to how to do that. Nonetheless, Teo's cheerful attitude was infectious, and soon the Mechanist was delighted to be airborne.

Sokka could only wonder how long had it been since they'd spent time together like that. A sigh rushed through him at the thought, but he shook his head quickly to prevent himself from thinking of Hakoda. He had been far too nostalgic of his home in the last few days. The environment kept bringing back memories he had once used to soothe himself to sleep in Hui Yi, memories he hadn't needed to resort to ever since Azula had found him anew.

She had joined her guards in the building of a bonfire in the courtyard, the bonfire Teo had told them about earlier. The snow had stopped, but the temperatures only kept dropping. The Princess had sent her men to gather the wood, and they were ready to set it on fire as soon as the hot-air balloon landed definitively, in order to avoid unwanted accidents.

Sokka's memories only kept coming back once the fire was lit. The current occupants of the temple came by to warm up around it, and in no time the typical storytelling sessions began around the flames. He could only smile as he watched them, trying not to glance at Azula too often. She caught sight of him eventually, though, and frowned in his direction. It wasn't like him to keep his distance from this sort of situation. She gave him a meaningful look, and Sokka smiled. Maybe he ought to tell the next story, if just to placate any potential concerns she might have had…

… By the time he was finishing his story, though, the Princess seemed to regret having coerced him into doing so.

"And they knew the blade of Wing Fung was haunted!" Sokka exclaimed, in his eeriest voice. But instead of finding terrified expressions on everyone else's faces, he only found confusion and distaste in them, regardless if they were refugees or firebenders "Uh… nothing? Really? Was it that lousy?"

"Sokka, it was obvious the blade was haunted since the story started" said Azula, looking at him in disbelief "If you meant for that to be the punchline of the story, you should've saved it for the end"

"H-hey, that's the way they tell it in my tribe!" Sokka exclaimed, blushing and crossing his arms over his chest. Azula snorted.

"Well, they have poor taste for stories in your tribe, I'm afraid" she said, with a curt grin. Sokka pouted "Keeping an open ending only works when you actually have a plotline, which you evidently lacked…"

"It would be best if you leave the spooky stories to us, gladiator" said one of the refugees. Sokka shook his head, so flustered his ears were reddening too.

The night had arrived quickly, and along with it, a chilling breeze that made most of them shiver even though the bonfire still burned powerfully.

"That tower will be unbearable tonight" said Azula, shaking her head as she glanced at her bedroom from where they were "I can't fathom how those Air Nomads could live here without freezing to death"

"Oh, I'm sorry it's such a cold tower" said the Mechanist, grimacing by the fire "It's the one place where we hadn't installed hot-air pipes. They usually help heat the buildings so it's not as cold… perhaps we can find warmer accommodations for you, Princess"

"Huh. So that's how you guys did it" said Azula, frowning. There had to be a disadvantage to the privacy she had, naturally "No need to worry about it. I'm already installed, after all"

"Well, if you change your mind, I'll see to it that you have a better room. I'm sorry for that mistake. We should have thought it through" said the Mechanist. Azula shrugged.

"You have enough to worry about as it is, so leave it be"

Her words sounded ominous even to Azula's ears. The Mechanist flinched, but he nodded in agreement. Azula took a deep breath and released it before making up her mind to head to her room already. The sooner she got there, the faster she could get started with heating the room up somehow.

The Mechanist watched Azula go, a sinking feeling of unease in the pit of his stomach. He had wasted valuable hours today by heading off to see the hot-air balloon. He should have been working on the newer model. Whenever he had a chance to continue perfecting this project, as the Princess had demanded, he had to seize it. Especially if the gladiator wouldn't be around to figure out what the Mechanist was up to.

"I should probably take my leave too" he said, smiling awkwardly and giving his son a proper good night for once. Teo seemed happy enough about that, which warmed the Mechanist's heart.

He had to achieve what he was tasked to, there was no other choice for him. For Teo's sake, for all those who lived in the Northern Air Temple… the Mechanist had to give the Fire Lord what he wanted, whether he liked it or not.

The rest of the group remained gathered around the fireplace for a little while longer before heading to bed, snuffing out the fire quickly. Sokka slipped into his room and glanced towards Azula's tower from his window. He could see sparks of blue glinting in Azula's room. What sort of makeshift heat system had she come up with? He smiled as he waited as patiently as he could for an hour to tick by, and once it had, he snuck towards Azula's room as quietly as he could.

Upon his arrival he found she had lined the room with lamps. He smiled weakly as he slipped into the room, spotting Azula fixing one of the lights near her bed. She had evidently heard the door open behind her: her lack of reaction towards it meant that she knew it was Sokka. She was finished attaching the lamp to the wall when his arms slid around her waist. She smiled and glanced over her shoulder at him.

"Taking risks again, are we?" she asked. Sokka sighed, his grip tightening around her.

"I missed you" he whispered. Azula closed her eyes and dropped against him, sliding her hands over his.

"I missed you too" she said, smiling weakly "But you had enough on your plate as it was. Your work takes precedence over our nonsense, whether you're working on what you're supposed to or not…"

"I guess so, huh?" said Sokka, swallowing hard. Azula sighed.

"You need to start doing what we came here for. And to stop thinking so much with your stomach or your penis" she said, smiling as she reached to cup his member through his pants. Sokka jumped and laughed.

"Hey now, it gets hard not to think with it when you do that kind of thing" he said, grinning.

"Seriously, though… the test run for the balloon is done. It's time for you to focus on the real reason we're here, right?"

"I… guess so" said Sokka, swallowing and dropping his head on her shoulder "No more distractions allowed starting tomorrow, huh?"

"At least not until you make decent progress, alright?" said Azula. Sokka grimaced and nodded.

"Your word is my command" he sighed, kissing her cheek. Azula closed her eyes, pressing into his body and biting her lower lip.

"Are you staying tonight?" she whispered, wishing she didn't sound too eager as she said the words. Sokka grinned.

"Well, I didn't come just to get scolded, now, did I?" he said. Azula raised an eyebrow "I can't let you go cold, Princess"

"The lamps might help with that, if my warmth was what you were worried about" said Azula, shrugging and smirking. Sokka looked at her skeptically.

"Oh really? So you were actually setting those up to warm you up, and not to make this the most romantic setting for us…?"

"The most what, now?" said Azula, looking at him in amusement "Well, that's something that didn't cross my mind…"

"As if. I know better than that, Princess Azula always thinks of everything" Sokka teased. Azula turned in his arms to face him, a smile in her face. Sokka's arms remained locked around her.

"She tries to, but there happens to be a crazy gladiator comes up with the least likely interpretation for her actions, and his nonsense isn't easy to anticipate…" she whispered, surrounding his neck with her arms.

Sokka chuckled and leaned in to kiss her deeply. Azula took him in fully, showing how much she had longed to be with him again. He led her to the bed, somewhat clumsily, for he could barely see where he was going, but soon they fell on the mattress. He certainly meant to provide her with all the warmth she would require in this freezing cold night.

* * *

The news had been rewarding, a weight off his chest when the long-awaited messenger hawk arrived with the blueprints. The Fire Lord would be most pleased with these developments.

War Minister Qin requested a meeting with Fire Lord Ozai as soon as possible, bringing the scrolls the Mechanist had sent him. The guards had let him pass without a hitch, and Ozai sat behind the curtain of fire, his golden eyes as unyielding as ever. Dark shadows were cast over his features through the effects of the flames.

"My Lord, I bring great tidings. I have received word from the Mechanist" said the War Minister, once he finished performing the proper greetings to the Fire Lord.

"Is that so?" said Ozai, raising an eyebrow "Have the bombs been completed?"

"No. Better" said the War Minister, smiling.

He needn't say more for Ozai to understand the meaning of those words. A smirk spread over his face. After almost a century, the Fire Nation would gain airpower once again.

* * *

The explosion was so weak Azula could barely believe her eyes. Sokka grimaced at the look on her face, knowing he was about to get it.

"Y-you're kidding me. You have to be kidding me" she said "It's been a week since you started working on the bombs, and this is the best you can do?!"

Sokka swallowed hard as the Mechanist tried to hide behind Sokka's broad back. It wasn't advisable to stand in the line of fire when the Princess was angry, a fact everyone was well aware of. Even Sokka was aware of it, but he was, for some reason, always in the line of fire either way.

The joy of success with the hot-air balloon hadn't lasted as long as Sokka had wished it would. He was forced to join the Mechanist in his study to design the bombs, and to his surprise, Azula had decided to oversee them on occasion, to ensure they would indeed focus on the project at hand. Given her interventions, it was only natural that they'd have a prototype to test already, which they had just tested indeed in the Mechanist's workshop… to dissatisfying results.

"H-hey, I'd warned you that I only knew how to handle small explosives" said Sokka, swallowing hard "That's all I ever learned! S-so… see? We designed an efficient container for it, at least, so…!"

"It's basically the same thing you use with your smoke bombs, Sokka, this is nothing new!" Azula growled, looking at him in disbelief before shaking her head in frustration.

"We're sorry, Princess" said the Mechanist, grimacing "We could craft a design that might work with more explosive powder, but we can't test something like that. We don't have the resources here…"

"So you want to give my father some untested design, that might actually not work?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka scratched the back of his head as the Mechanist bit his lower lip.

"I… perhaps he won't mind so much that it's not tested, Prin-…"

"Oh, of course he won't. Who do you take him for?" said Azula, shaking her head. She frowned before looking at the Mechanist "We need stronger bombs than this. Something that would actually deliver more damage than a rookie firebender in his first lesson"

"I understand, Princess, but…"

"I wasn't finished" said Azula, curtly. The Mechanist fell silent immediately "You said there's some sort of volatile gas under this very Temple, didn't you?"

Sokka's eyes widened. The Mechanist as well seemed astounded by Azula's question.

"Y-you want us to…? To add volatile gas to the bombs?" he said, swallowing hard.

Azula studied both their reactions, noticing Sokka's easy-going behavior had disappeared for the time being. She stiffened but tried to act as normally as she could in spite of that.

"It's a thought" she said, shrugging "If you don't have enough explosive material on your hands, that might do the trick"

"It could, but… I don't know if it's safe" said the Mechanist, frowning "The volatile gas was awfully dangerous when I first came across it. I'm not certain it's wise to resort to it like this, not to mention I'm not entirely sure how we'd harness it…"

"I think we'll have to ponder this some more" said Sokka, folding his arms over his chest "We shouldn't deal with the volatile gas if it's not safe, so… we'd have to think of how to make it safe. Unless we don't do this at all, of course…"

"Do you have any better ideas than this?" Azula asked. Sokka grimaced and shrugged.

"Not right now, but I'd rather not blow my arm off while trying to harness some crazy volatile gas, right?" he said "Imagine what that could do to your troops if it were activated in the wrong moment…"

Azula frowned. Safety was a matter of concern indeed, but was it that likely for the Fire Nation soldiers to put themselves in danger with those bombs? As long as the gas was properly contained there should be no problem… but then again, did she want those bombs to be built? Considering the problem she had narrowly averted by stopping the war balloons before they could become a real menace, she probably didn't. But considering she had yet to find any dragons, and that her father would be furious if he received no good news after her trip ended…

"I would have to consider how to find a safe way to deal with the gas" said the Mechanist, sighing "And perhaps a safer design would be in order"

"There's no other choice, huh?" said Sokka, sighing and shaking his head.

"You can take a break, we've been working very hard as it is" said the Mechanist smiling at Sokka "Come back to me in the morning, maybe we'll have ideas by then"

"Yeah, maybe" said Sokka, smiling too "You should take a break as well, though. Seriously, you can go on the balloon again with Teo. You two seemed to enjoy that"

"Oh, maybe later" said the Mechanist, smiling weakly "For now, I'll ponder what the Princess suggested. Perhaps I can come up with a safe way to use the gas…"

The Mechanist smiled at them as he walked towards the trapdoor. Azula and Sokka shared a glance, knowing that some unwanted tension was starting to build between them with this. Nonetheless, Sokka didn't dare speak his mind until they were making their way through the Temple's halls, Azula a few steps ahead of Sokka.

She could sense his unease as they reached a hallway that should be far enough from prying eyes. She wasn't surprised when his hand reached to clasp her shoulder, stopping her in mid-step.

"Azula…" he said, as she turned to look at him. She was already frowning.

"What?" she said. Her voice was soft, unlike how it usually was when she was upset. Sokka swallowed hard "Confused as to why I'm pressuring you so much now?"

"Not entirely, but…" said Sokka, gritting his teeth "You do realize that making bombs with a bigger power output would be… well, exactly what your father wants, yes, but…"

"But you don't want to make such bombs, do you?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow. Sokka sighed "Why, color me surprised…"

"I didn't think you wanted that either, though" said Sokka, stepping towards her "I mean, when you told me about this, you seemed even more hesitant than I was. You… you don't like this any better than I do, or do you? And yet you're ushering us into doing this, and trying to make those bombs deadlier still… doesn't the cost of it bother you? As much as I get you're trying to keep your father appeased…"

"Keeping my father appeased…" said Azula, shaking her head and giving Sokka a stern look "If you really think that's the main reason I'm pressuring you, think again. Maybe you don't understand me as well as you think you do"

Sokka froze at that. The hurt in her eyes was evident, even though she kept her emotions steeled all the same. He gritted his teeth.

"You can't save me and damn an entire nation in the process" he said, shaking his head "That's not the way it should work"

"There's a lot of things that shouldn't work the way they have" Azula whispered "And yet here we are in spite of that. The world isn't ideal, Sokka, nor will it ever be. We can't have everything we want"

"And how do we choose what we'll have, then? How do we decide what's worth fighting for and what isn't?" he asked. When Azula didn't seem to have an answer for that he sighed "I'm trying my best, whether you believe it or not, but…"

"But you're an idiot" said Azula, glaring at him. Sokka frowned.

"I…"

"An idiot who always forgets to add his life to his list of priorities" she finished. His eyes widened "And you've been that way ever since our partnership began. Do excuse me if I get in the way of your sacrificial tendencies, Sokka. But I won't have you die on me"

He held her gaze, uncertainty filling him now. He had drawn out his own plans long ago, hoping to trick Azula… but it didn't seem he had fooled her at all. He was the fool for only realizing now that his sharp sponsor probably wasn't fazed by his inexpert performance not even for a second. He gritted his teeth.

"You can't hold my life above that of everyone else, Azula" he whispered. She sighed and shook her head.

"Perhaps I shouldn't. But there are countless things that shouldn't have happened and yet they have. And we have to face the consequences for them"

Sokka frowned when Azula turned on her heels and restarted the way down the hall. Her footsteps echoed against the walls, ringing in Sokka's ears until she was gone.

His hands balled into fists as he frowned heavily. If she had understood what he had been doing, why hadn't she called him out on it sooner? Why had she acted as though she knew nothing about Sokka's plans? It was confusing… but then again, there was an evident answer to that question. She had said it enough times as it was, saved his life on many occasions and often worried for his wellbeing. She had even looked after him when their alliance had only just started, when Toph had given him that first taste of defeat, along with the tastes of sand and blood too. Now that said alliance had turned into a dalliance instead, it only made sense for her to look out for him more…

But he couldn't accept being safe and sound when so many others would face unimaginable pain if he didn't do something about it. He had the power… but he'd never had the means to make it happen. At least, not while Azula kept a sharp eye on him as she had. Had he been too deliberate in his sabotaging, she would have reeled him back into control without a hitch. Still, now that they had as good as revealed their truths to one another, he wondered where this left him in regards of Ozai's mission. She knew he would rebel against it. He knew she wouldn't stand for it. What came next? The unavoidable fallout he had been dreading from the start? He gritted his teeth.

Whatever happened next, though, he had to stop the bomb production somehow. He wouldn't let the Mechanist devise a way to make Azula's idea come true. She wasn't likely to forgive him for his intervention, but he couldn't stand idly by anymore. Not while he still had a say upon the matter.

* * *

"Is everything alright, Princess?" Rui Shi asked, upon finding Azula sitting before her dragon in one of the courtyards.

Her eyes were closed as she meditated, Xin Long lying upside down in front of her, his paws dangling clumsily in the air. She sighed and opened an eye, looking at the Captain with unease.

"I'm not sure whether to answer earnestly or to just leave it to your imagination…" she whispered.

"Did you have a spat with… the gladiator?" Rui Shi asked. Azula sighed.

"I'm not sure it can be called that" she whispered "Let's only say it's a difference of opinion, shall we?"

"I'm afraid of asking in what regards…"

"Your assumptions are slightly disturbing, Captain" said Azula, glaring at Rui Shi "Not everything that happens between him and me has to be about… that"

"Well, then, I do hope you resolve it in due time regardless" said Rui Shi, swallowing hard "It isn't my place to inquire about private matters of that sort. I frankly don't want to know either way"

"Then spare yourself the worries and stop overanalyzing everything" said Azula, with a dry smile. Rui Shi sighed.

"I only wanted to speak to you…" he said, frowning "About what Teo said the other day. In regards of the Air Nomads not being found here. I know I shouldn't question facts, and it is a fact that their kind was eradicated, but…"

"But it wasn't likely to be eradicated in the way we were told it was. I've concluded the same" said Azula, pushing herself up to her feet. Rui Shi frowned.

"What do you believe did it, then? If it wasn't the Fire Nation…"

"I'm not entirely sure" said Azula, crossing her arms over her chest "Sokka says maybe they headed down to the other Temples, the ones we knew the locations of. Perhaps they went there to reinforce their fellow airbenders, assuming they would be able to help keep our armies at bay, but…"

"Doesn't it make more sense for them to send their people here, though?" said Rui Shi, frowning "As you said, we knew of the locations of the Eastern, Western and Southern Air Temples. Sending a group here to avoid a potential catastrophe would have been ideal"

"It doesn't seem the Air Nomads were that clever, from a strategical standpoint" said Azula "I've seen no evidence of there being an Air Nomad army… all their teachings are related to pacifism. Which is fortunate, since they could have easily killed even Sozin if they had organized their forces properly"

"You were reading about them, weren't you?" said Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow. Azula nodded.

"Doing as much has made me question a lot of what we understood about the Air Nomads, or as our records hold it, the Air Nation. I'm not sure how they could be considered Nomads when they lived in very specific places…"

"That's something worth questioning" said Rui Shi.

"But then again, they did switch between the four locations quite often" said Azula "Still, I've seen nothing to suggest that this Temple would ever be left empty for long periods of time under normal circumstances. The Northern and Southern Temples were for male airbenders, the Eastern and Western for female ones…"

"An odd way to organize themselves" said Rui Shi, frowning. Azula shrugged.

"We can't expect to fully understand another culture, especially when we eradicated it. They must have had their reasons for it. But all the same, I can't see anything that suggests they had a political structure similar to ours in any sense. So calling them Nomads, or a Nation… both things strike me as weird"

"What if they did return to their nomadic origins, though?" asked Rui Shi "What if… they just left this place?"

"Why would they have done that, though?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "This would have been the safest place for them in the last hundred years"

"I guess so" said Rui Shi, sighing "But… doesn't it bother you that we have been lied to for all our lives? If this really isn't what it looks like, it means Fire Lord Sozin…"

"I'm not entirely sure what it means, but even amid our own people there's been criticism about how much of our history books is real and how much of it is propaganda" whispered Azula, frowning "Of course, not many dare say this out loud, but it happens all the same. Their claims might be founded in something more solid than we realized, after all"

"So you don't believe in what Fire Lord Sozin's records say?" said Rui Shi. Azula shrugged "Then…"

"There are far too many mysteries in this land for me to have a proper theory on everything that's happening, Captain" said Azula "That gas down at the base of the mountain keeps coming back to the forefront of my mind because… I'd never felt anything of the sort. This volatile gas is unusual, and it gives me a very bad feeling for some reason. As if…"

"As if it were some darker secret than the Mechanist believes it to be?" said Rui Shi. Azula nodded.

"I've asked him to make use of it, but there's no telling if he will manage or not. Perhaps if he inserted a pipeline from above it somehow, but that might be a lot of work…" said Azula, sighing "Still, he had better do something about it. It's a hazard to live right above a gas reserve. He needs to understand that"

"But they have nowhere else to go" said Rui Shi "This is confusing too, though… why would the Air Nomads build this sanctuary, hidden and isolated as it was, right above some volatile gas reserve? They knew gases better than anyone, going by what their art was… so why would they set themselves up for something so dangerous?"

"Beats me" said Azula, frowning "But you're right regardless. The Mechanist had better make all the use he can out of this gas before it wrecks this mountain. There's no telling what the damage would be if that reserve blows up somehow"

"What are you hoping he'll use the gas for?" asked Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow "For the bombs…?"

"It was my best idea" said Azula, shrugging "I told him about it already, but he claimed he needed to think of how to harness the gas safely. A pipeline really might do the trick, but regardless if he uses this for bombs or not, he should start using it"

"You ought to warn him, then. Whatever happened in this place…" said Rui Shi, frowning and gazing around him "I have the feeling it was nothing good. Whether the Fire Nation was responsible for it or not, this place doesn't feel right. It feels like… an empty carcass. Filled by something that doesn't belong in it"

Azula frowned at Rui Shi's words. A carcass… the words struck a chord inside her mind, with a disturbing thought that she wasn't entirely sure where it had come from. Gas enclosed underneath the mountain, airbenders that vanished for no understandable cause…

And an empty carcass…

* * *

Sokka swallowed hard, knowing he'd tread on dangerous grounds if he really did this. He had no choice, he told himself. He didn't want to hurt or anger Azula, but people's lives were on the line. Yes, she was right to say he had no sense of self-preservation. He had left that back in the South Pole, after all.

With a deep breath, he pushed the door to the Mechanist's office open, treading inside with heavy footing.

"Hey, I…"

"Ah!"

Sokka frowned upon noticing the Mechanist was by the window. The sound of rustling feathers surprised and confused Sokka, for he couldn't see anything that could have caused that noise…

"What's the matter?" he asked, looking at the Mechanist warily "Is everything o-…?"

Sokka's eyes were drawn to the window again when he noticed a bird flapping its way up through the air. A brown bird, with a small cylindrical container attached to its back…

His eyes widened.

"What is…?" Sokka asked, stomping towards the window as the bird disappeared from sight. "Hey, what was that bird doing here? That's a Fire Nation messenger hawk! What was…?"

The Mechanist looked more nervous than Sokka had ever seen him, and that was saying a lot. His eyes shifted around himself, his hands shivering as he seemed to struggle to find somewhere to hide. There was nothing to do, though. His secret was as good as revealed now.

"Why are you receiving a bird, what's going on? Is it the Fire Lord? Did he send some…?" Sokka started, but he caught sight of a set of blueprints on the desk. Blueprints he couldn't remember having seen ever before. And he had no doubt he had seen the vast majority of the Mechanist's blueprints already…

"P-please, I… I had no choice…" said the Mechanist, avoiding Sokka's gaze. Sokka frowned as he looked at the blueprints with further attention, focusing on the one that seemed to hold the full design of whatever the Mechanist had created now.

The design looked awfully familiar, but distant as well. Yet his doubts were cleared when he noticed the air container and what should serve as a basket for an air-balloon… only, it wasn't a basket anymore. It was a cabin, and a rather large one at that. The motor seemed terribly complex in comparison to that which Sokka and the Mechanist and designed earlier, including chimneys and a large tail. But that which caught Sokka's sight was the massive figure drawn on the very center of the airship: the Fire Nation's banner.

He raised his eyes accusingly, looking at the Mechanist in disbelief.

"What… what the hell is this?" he asked.

"Y-you don't understand, Sokka…" said the Mechanist, as Sokka's heavy frown grew more accentuated.

"Well, then, help me understand" he snapped, his hands balled into tight fists "What the hell is this design? What on earth have you sent them with that bird?!"

"Please, Sokka, I… I've never had a choice. Never…"

Sokka snarled, glaring at the Mechanist fiercely. He wasn't leaving without a solid answer, and the Mechanist seemed to know so. The fear in his eyes was nigh palpable. Sokka breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down, but his rage was far more fearsome once he had made it colder. The Mechanist flinched away from Sokka's ice-cold eyes as the gladiator voiced another question he didn't want to answer:

"What have you done?"


	106. Chapter 106

The Mechanist swallowed hard, shivering under the power of that cold glare. Sokka stepped forward, his frown the deepest and most menacing he had mustered in a long time. The man before him just buried his face in his hands, shaking his head repeatedly.

"I didn't do it because I wanted to…" he whispered. Sokka's fists tightened "You need to understand, I… I had no choice…"

"Why do you keep saying that? What do you mean, you had no choice?!" Sokka exclaimed "You had built a perfectly simple aircraft and all of sudden it's a war vessel?! How were you forced to do that?!"

"Y-you don't understand…" said the Mechanist, lifting his gaze "This… is what it was always meant to be, Sokka"

"You mean… all along, the hot-air balloon was…?" Sokka asked, his eyes widening.

"Its official name is war balloon" said the Mechanist, swallowing hard "I… I didn't mean to trick you, I have tried to stall this process it for as long as I could, but…!"

"Stall it? You were stalling it?" Sokka repeated, his eyes wide "Y-you…"

"The Fire Lord made this request a long time ago!" The Mechanist exclaimed, nervously "Before… before the war was won in the Earth Kingdom. I panicked when his soldiers and his War Minister stormed in here and… and threatened to destroy our new home. I… I had no idea what to do to protect my own other than to offer my abilities and services. I… I didn't want to! But they had strength we lacked, and if I had dared rebel, there's no telling what they would have done. And Teo… he has been through enough. He has lost his mother, his ability to walk! I… I couldn't put him through more. I had to do this. For my son's sake…"

"For your son's sake you became the architect of all these inventions, then?" Sokka asked, his eyes widening "The tanks, the drill that wrecked Ba Sing Se's walls, and now this…?"

"I know, it's horrible!" exclaimed the Mechanist, shaking his head and stumbling away "But what would you have me do? How could I protect him otherwise?!"

"I… I don't know!" said Sokka, looking at the Mechanist with frustration "You're the smartest man I know, you could've used your own inventions against them! You could have stood your ground, fought them off…!"

"If it had been that simple, I would have…!"

"Oh, but it probably was, you just… you're too scared to take things into your own hands, aren't you?!" Sokka exclaimed, frowning "You'd rather just let them walk all over you, when you could just…!"

"You can accuse me of being a push-over if you please, but aren't you the same as me?" asked the Mechanist, looking at Sokka with distrust. Sokka gritted his teeth "You as well were sucked into their systems, and now look at you! You were sent to assist me in building these bombs, haven't you?!"

"Damn right I was, but I meant to sabotage the whole thing, not do the Fire Lord's bidding just because I was too scared to face the consequences for rebellion!" Sokka shouted "If he wanted to kill me for it, so be it! It'd be better than dooming thousands, millions, to continue dying in this damned war!"

"And how would you make sure that those under your care would remain protected if you die?!" the Mechanist exclaimed. Sokka's nails dug harder into his gloved palm "If your death brought no further consequences, then by all means, go ahead and die for what you believe in! I would commend you for your bravery! But I… I have a family. I have a son! And he's all I have, just as I am all he has! I can't turn my back on him when he needs me most!"

"I have no problem with you wanting to protect your son, in fact, go ahead and do it! I'm glad you've done all you can for his sake!" Sokka said "It's great! Protect those you love, and sure, don't die if you don't have to! But… but this isn't just about your family, damn it. You're condemning the Northern Water Tribe to annihilation because saving your own is more important than saving them?!"

"And how am I supposed to save them at all?!" the Mechanist retaliated "How do I help others when I can barely help myself?! When I can barely help my own?!"

"I… at the very least, by trying to do it" said Sokka, swallowing hard "By not helping the Fire Nation as you have!"

"And how could I avoid helping them when I'm under their threats?! How, Sokka? Y-you demand for me to do the right thing, but sometimes the right thing by some is wrong by others. I cannot make the choice that will keep everyone satisfied, it's impossible!"

"I… I get that you can't just save everyone in one fell sweep, but you're as good as condemning them!" said Sokka, his eyes wide "Doesn't that sit wrong with you? Can you just do that and… and still make it through the day without feeling like garbage for what you did?"

"Why… why do you think I work as much as I do?" The Mechanist whispered. Sokka frowned "Why do you think I never leave my office, why I only work all the time…?"

Sokka swallowed hard as the man raised his eyes towards him. The despair in his gaze was palpable.

"Whenever I stop, Sokka… I know I'm guilty. I know I'm to blame for…f-for the Earth Kingdom's loss, for the deaths of thousands, f-for… for everything I've done to keep my son safe. I… I can barely live with myself as it is. I… I don't expect you to understand, but I've done what I could to… t-to keep him safe. But I am cowardly, and I'm sorry for it in was you can't imagine… but we can't all be heroes, Sokka. I… I don't have what it takes. I can't fight the Fire Nation on my own"

Sokka swallowed hard, his hard glare softening as he heard the man's plights. His empathy for him was only equaled by his chagrin over the circumstances. Yet he had always known this was how things were for the Mechanist… he had seen the designs of all those machines, aware of what they had been used for. This wasn't news. But that had been history, so to speak. What the Mechanist was doing now could have been averted, it could have been stopped… and yet the bird was well on its way now, carrying a copy of the designs for the advanced balloons. The power of those airships could prove to be enough to beat the Northern Water Tribe…

"Maybe… maybe you didn't have to do it on your own" said Sokka, gritting his teeth "Maybe you could have tried to find help elsewhere, there are other people out there who don't like the Fire Nation any better than you do. They wouldn't have threatened you into their service like this… you could have just left this place and found a new home, somewhere far from that sick War Minister…"

"And then spend the rest of our lives fleeing from him?" asked the Mechanist, swallowing hard. "I have no doubts he would have found us eventually, and what then? He would have chained me into service for the Fire Lord one way or another. If I didn't cooperate…"

"You would have had it worse" Sokka said, his fists tightening. It was the same logic by which he had accepted this mission in the first place "And you would have had to do the Fire Lord's bidding anyhow"

"I… I know it sounds unbelievable, but I did try to slow this down" said the Mechanist "Why do you think I had you reading all my work? Why do you think I deflected the matter of the bombs as I have…?"

"Yeah, you… you wanted to sabotage it too" Sokka reflected, gritting his teeth and looking at the Mechanist with regret. The Mechanist sighed.

"I did. I didn't realize that was your plan as well… So I'm sorry I couldn't hold my end of it. I'm… I'm so sorry" he said "I am not as strong as I wish I could be. I… I am selfish, and cowardly, and I couldn't fathom losing anything else that was precious to me. I'm sorry, Sokka…"

Sokka swallowed hard, his hands tightening into fists. The man's apologies sat as badly with him as what he'd done. All along they had been on the same team, so to speak, yet Sokka hadn't once considered working with the man in order to keep the technological advancements from reaching the Fire Nation. Had he offered his help, tried to understand the Mechanist's predicament…

He hadn't thought of the Mechanist as an actual player of the game, but rather, as only another of many pieces tied to the Fire Lord. In his struggle to keep his intentions secret from Azula – which, as he already knew, had backfired completely – he hadn't considered the Mechanist's predicaments. He hadn't thought he could find an ally in him… but it was too late now to think of how he should have changed his tactics. The damage was done.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you what the airships were meant for" said the Mechanist, swallowing hard "I shouldn't have kept that to myself, but I… I was terrified, Sokka. War Minister Qin's threats were becoming worse, he said the Fire Lord was impatient… and I couldn't make the airships work. I thought that if… that if I didn't succeed, he would do something awful to us all. I didn't wish to make them, or the bombs, but…"

"But you were backed into a corner" growled Sokka, gritting his teeth "If there's one thing the Fire Lord's any good at, it's that"

"I couldn't possibly make a choice without terrible consequences" said the Mechanist, shaking his head "I had to… I had to, Sokka…"

Sokka swallowed hard and held his stance, glaring at the blueprints on the desk. The nervous man who had drawn them was, quite possibly, the most broken man he had ever known.

His actions were awfully reminiscent of Sokka's own while in the Amateur Arena.

The realization hit him hard and low. He dropped his gaze, snarling and shaking his head. The Mechanist eyed him with sadness.

"I… I don't expect you to forgive me…"

"You? You think you're the problem here?" Sokka asked, with a frown "You're being blackmailed, used as they please, just because you don't dare turn against the Fire Nation. I… how could I blame you for that, when so many others…? When even I am…?"

"You?" the Mechanist asked, looking at Sokka with unease.

"I… I've tried to help" said Sokka, shaking "I've done what I could, but… but maybe it amounts to nothing in the end. I… I won't make amends for the lives I've taken. I can't. I was a tool of their system. Just like you"

"You were, too…?"

Sokka laughed dryly and shook his head, his shoulders shivering as he dropped his head.

"So who… who the hell am I to judge you? To think you should've just let them kill you so you could spare the rest of the world? I've… I've never had the guts to let them kill me. I was terrified. I… I chose to be a slave, and I chose to kill others in a sand pit over being the one dying. So you've fought for your own… I fought for my skin and hide and nothing more. I…"

He gritted his teeth and shook his head. He had lost his sights, let himself fall in too deep in the illusions of a better life… and only now did reality come crashing on him again. He had refused to listen to its call before, pulled back and comforted by Azula's presence… but she wasn't here to shield him from his demons right now. Not when they were staring him in the face, shaped as a helpless man who was desperate to protect his own.

"I'm the one who's sorry. I…" said Sokka, gritting his teeth before making for the door. The Mechanist's eyes widened.

"Sokka? Are you alright? Sokka!" he called, but Sokka walked away slowly, hunched over and with a hand over his eyes, as though blinded by some bright light.

He stumbled his way through the Temple, not knowing where he was going, not caring about his destination either way. Flashes of every experience he had subconsciously blocked out during the past year had returned to his mind at full force: that one man who had begged for his life before he swung his club at his head, the one who had fought like a wild beast and tried to keep going even though Sokka had already maimed his legs and kicked his teeth off his mouth…

The ones who had fought eagerly to the last moment, only to give him that hopeful look once he struck them down. The eyes of so many dying men had been engraved into his very soul, tearing him apart from the inside as he struggled to endure his new life. For he hadn't had the courage to face death. He had even envied those men, with those eyes, knowing their fates would take them somewhere far more peaceful, at long last. They would be done with this hell. But he would remain in that filthy sand ring, trying to forget the very meaning of what he was doing as he fought new opponents…

He could see the tears of desperate women in the darkness, hear them cry as they wished they could return home. But they had nowhere to go, and nobody to take them there. They were as lost as Sokka. They were as envious of the dead as Sokka was. They suffered in ways he didn't understand, just as his suffering was beyond their understanding too.

The powerful fist, coated with blue flames, that had sealed his fate and branded him forever. The fight that he had coveted, the plan that had backfired on him… the first soldier he killed. His father's silent resignation as he refused to listen to reason, as Sokka did as he wished without expecting the consequences to be as they were.

The crying of a young boy, trapped behind walls of ice. Sokka's own tears burned in his eyes as he hopelessly sought help to save his friend from certain doom. And the bleak blue eyes of the boy, as Sokka bid him goodbye, staring after him as he set sail into open waters…

Black snow. Small specks of darkness tainting the pure white, interrupting an innocent game and destroying his childhood, and his sister's, in the process. Being held back by Bato, who refused to let Sokka see what had happened inside his home. Katara screamed and cried, her eyes wide. She would have no recollection of what she had seen within the igloo afterwards. Her mind had blocked the memory of their mother's remains, as she lay dead after the Fire Nation soldier was through with her…

He gasped as he reached the bathhouse, pushing the door open thoughtlessly and moving towards the showers' area immediately. The water dispensers were another of the Mechanist's innovations, a mechanism through which the cleansing of bodies could be achieved with further ease.

Sokka didn't bother stripping naked as he reached one of the showerheads. He pushed the key open and allowed the water to wash over him. At first it was cold, but it warmed up eventually. The feeling of the pellets crashing against his body had been meant to distract him away from the depths of his darkness. But there was too much he had repressed, and all of it had been threatening to pour out of him in the past few days. Every aching memory of his home, every single time he had recalled something he had lost… they had been wake-up calls, warnings. He had refused to listen to them, basking in everything he appreciated about his life now… he had damn near forgotten his origins. And he had damn near forgotten his purpose in life, if he still had any.

He struck the wall with a fist and he dropped on the floor. The only sound in the bathhouse was that of the running water that couldn't cleanse his sins away.

* * *

The Mechanist had watched Sokka get away from his office's hallway, uncertain of what to do after what had happened between them. He shivered after the gladiator disappeared from sight, his familiar, foreboding guilt sinking in his stomach. Should he go after him? He had the feeling Sokka would rather be alone right now, though… or was his cowardice getting the better of him, as usual?

"Ah, I thought you'd be working in the bombs' design. You're taking a break at last? That's fortunate for me, then. I have something to ask you…"

The Mechanist nearly jumped out of his skin upon hearing the Princess's voice. Her tone, which had been quite calm, had sounded menacing to his ears. He turned to face her, his eyes wide. Azula frowned.

"I didn't mean to, I… I'm afraid I got distracted" he said, nervously. Azula's frown deepened.

"Distracted with what?" said Azula.

When the Mechanist failed to answer, Azula gave him a menacing glare and stepped into his office. She walked towards his desk upon sighting the blueprints at a distance, and the Mechanist was surprised to find she wasn't reacting to his designs as favorably as he would have expected from her. Her eyes widened as she reached to touch the blueprint, uncertainty in her gaze.

"Y-you did… you came up with a new design. In a matter of days you've…" said Azula, looking at the Mechanist in disbelief "Why? I told you to… I told you to focus on the bombs. I didn't mean you had to redesign the war balloon, I'm sure I told you to forget it. Why did you…?"

The Mechanist groaned and yanked at his hair. This day was only getting worse by the minute.

As the Mechanist explained his predicament desperately, Azula's eyes widened. If all this was true, the situation was far direr than she had anticipated.

"You sent a copy of this design to War Minister Qin, without showing me what you were working on in the first place?" Azula asked. The Mechanist gritted his teeth.

"I had already sent him the first design before you gave me your full review, Princess. I… I knew that if things backfired on the Fire Nation army with the first war balloon, the only one to blame for it would be me. I only tried to amend my mistake, and so I went behind your back… and I'm sorry. I know it was wrong, but… I…"

"You were terrified" Azula finished, sighing "You did what you thought you had to do"

"It's what I tried to tell Sokka, but I don't think he understands…"

"Sokka?" Azula repeated, looking at the Mechanist in confusion "You told Sokka about this?"

"He came in here when I was sending the bird to the Fire Nation with the new design" said the Mechanist, swallowing hard "H-he… he left just a moment ago. I don't know where he went. But he knows it all now. I'm afraid he won't ever forgive me… and I don't blame him. I can't forgive myself either…"

The Mechanist's words resounded in Azula's mind. Her eyes widened as she looked at the man in disbelief. How many times had she heard Sokka utter the same thing? She breathed out slowly and shook her head, trying not to make much of her sudden realization.

"I need to find him. Which way did he go?" Azula asked. The Mechanist answered.

Azula sped her way through the Temple, a heavy frown on her face. She had no idea what Sokka would do under these circumstances. Surely he understood that the messenger hawk was already too far gone to be stopped anymore, right? But even then, someone as stubborn and thick-headed as Sokka might still try to take the bird down if he had a chance. And while Azula couldn't blame him entirely if he tried to get in the way of the missive, she wasn't sure what would be more harmful: letting that bird fly or stopping it. If the Mechanist had been as foolish as to send those designs to someone as eager to please as War Minister Qin, who wasn't likely to take the flaws of the project into consideration, this could only end catastrophically for the Fire Nation and, in the long run, for all those involved in designing it. Sokka, and even herself, included.

She looked for Sokka in the topmost towers, dreading he might have rushed there to throw some projectile at the bird, but there was no sign of him. She also headed to the chamber where the Mechanist kept the messenger hawks, thinking Sokka might have written a fake letter in order to render the last one null… but he wasn't there either.

His room, as well, yielded no results. Azula frowned. Had he found some way to leave the Temple? It seemed unlikely. She sent a message to Xin Long regardless, asking him to scout outside in case he caught Sokka doing something as ineffective as riding a glider after the bird. Xin Long obeyed promptly, but he didn't spot anything either.

Her search carried on as she tried to cover all her bases, but nobody she asked had seen Sokka. He had as good as disappeared in the middle of another snowy day. Azula clenched her fists, confused as to how he had given her the slip so effectively. Had he given up, perhaps? Had he concluded this fight wasn't worth it anymore?

Azula frowned. Despite this hadn't crossed her mind initially, maybe that was exactly what Sokka had done. He would often fight to his very best, it was true… but he was also prone to falling apart under the weight of his shortcomings whenever he dealt with failure. Where would he be sulking, though? Was there something he was likely to do when he was feeling inadequate…? She couldn't think of anything right away. He had run off to the Royal Dome's rooftop back when he had defeated the Notorious Stingray, but she couldn't find him in the towers before. Where, if not there or in his room?

She gritted her teeth as she paced the halls in the direction the Mechanist had told her Sokka had left through. Her arms shivered against the cold: the mantle of the night had spread rather quickly, and the temperature had dropped drastically already. If that fool had left the Temple he might freeze to death out there… she tried not to imagine that. He wasn't that stupid, or was he?

A bubbling sound startled her as she passed by a large machine. She frowned upon realizing it was the Mechanist's water heating system. Why would it gurgle that way? Was it defective again? She eyed it with confusion, staring intently at the spinning needle that measured the water's heat. From what she could understand of the machine, the temperature was at its lowest. Had someone turned off the system? It didn't seem likely, if it was making noises. Was it lacking water? If so, why?

"Because… someone has spent it" she reasoned out loud, frowning heavily.

No one on their right mind would take a bath or a shower at this hour, let alone in these cold days. And they especially wouldn't waste all the heated water in one go. When it came to winter, the faster you were back in your clothes after cleaning up, the better for you. Azula had learned that much, at least.

But something told her that the person responsible for this wasn't on his right mind at all. She gritted her teeth. No wonder nobody had seen him for hours.

"Damn it, Sokka…!" she growled under her breath as she picked up her speed, racing towards the bathhouse's doors.

She heard the trickle of water as she pushed the door open briskly, and soon found what she had been looking for: he was resting against the wall, shivering violently, fully clothed. She shook her head and sped her way towards him, her chest heaving.

Sokka's mind wouldn't stop tormenting him with images he had wanted to forget. He didn't register the cold or the water anymore. He didn't realize his body was shaking. But despite he had let everything fade into the background, he was startled out of his zoning out when he heard the showerhead's tap was spinning shut. The water stopped, and he became more aware of the fact that he was freezing. And also of the fact that he was no longer alone.

"What the blazes is the matter with you?!"

The familiar voice rang in his ears. He coughed as he felt harsh hands pulling at his clothes brusquely. He gritted his teeth, closing his eyes, his clothing items falling off his body one by one. Warm hands touched his face, and he breathed out in relief upon feeling them.

"Sokka, are you listening to me? Are you alright?" Azula asked. She had meant to scold him for his foolishness, but the lack of response on his part was frightening. His body was too cold. She gritted her teeth and conjured flames in her hands, to grant him whatever heat she could as she panicked "Sokka, answer me, damn it!"

"I… A-Azula…?" he whispered. She sighed and shook her head again.

"You fool. You fool" she said, moving her hands around his body in a hopeless attempt to warm him up. Sokka only seemed to shiver more violently around the heat, albeit he relished in it "What was the big idea, to freeze to death in here? Is that what you wanted?"

"I just… I…" he could barely remember why he had wound up here in the first place. His mind was a jumble, all his thoughts in disarray. Azula huffed and shook her head.

"You were just proving me right, weren't you? You're damn hopeless" she snarled, pulling away from him and glancing around the room. She was certain there had to be some sort of bathrobe in here somewhere.

Sokka opened his eyes when she pulled away. She was here. The one person he could hold on to when all else failed. The only one with whom he could be more than a murderer, than a coward…

"Azula…"

"Give me a minute, alright?!" Azula snapped, having found a towel and a robe already. She was in the process of warming them up with her bending, hoping their effect on Sokka would be stronger this way.

Her response nearly made him smile. Azula. From the very start, it had been her. The only one who had given him strength to keep enduring trials after trials, even during the years he had spent resenting her. She had been his reason to carry on, since the one thing he had let himself dream of was coming face to face with her again. But when that had happened, he hadn't found the rematch he had dreamt of… he had found something beyond his imagination. She had become his ally, his partner, his sponsor, his friend, his support, his inspiration, his lover, his purpose. She had nurtured his soul, appeased his spirit, given his heart something to beat for, at long last. At first, it had been for an eventual return to his tribe… but now it would beat for something else entirely. It would beat for the one who had given him a reason to live on in the first place.

The soft fabric of the towel was warm, and it burned on his cold skin. He flinched and gritted his teeth. Azula crouched before him, drying him quickly. Sokka shivered as he pushed himself off the cold, wet floor. Azula breathed out in relief upon Sokka's sensible decision to stand up, for it made her work a lot easier. She was as fast as she could with the towel, leaving it over his feet as she clad him with the bathrobe. Sokka breathed out heavily, his unfocused blue eyes set on her.

"Azula…" he whispered, lifting a hand to touch her face. Azula clasped his wrist, forcing him to slide his arm through the robe's sleeve.

"What the hell did you think you were doing, you idiot?" she asked him, through gritted teeth "Were you just going to stay there, freezing your balls off and waiting to die in the water or something? Had I gotten here any later you could've…!"

"I… I'm…"

"Don't you dare say it!" Azula snapped, her golden eyes gleaming "I am not going to hear any apologies, not when you damn near could have been…!"

Her rant was interrupted when she found herself trapped in his arms. Her eyes widened as he embraced her tightly, still shivering.

"Y-you're… so warm…" he whispered.

"And you're cold as an icicle" she retorted, rubbing his back with her hands "You fool. You…"

Sokka reached to touch her cheek with his freezing fingertips. His breath was foggy and white as he looked at Azula hopelessly. The dead gaze in those eyes stunned her. She had seen that expression in Sokka's eyes before, but she had hoped she would never have to see it again. She could barely move as she looked at him, her arms still locked tight around him. Slowly, to her relief, Sokka's spirit started to return to his eyes in the form of their usual glow. But he didn't smile. He didn't seem relieved, as she had felt for a brief moment. If anything, his eyes were but more evidence of how troubled he felt inside. He gritted his teeth, staring into Azula's eyes as though he couldn't tear his gaze away from hers.

"What… what's going on?" she asked, no longer with any frustration or rage in her voice. All her anger had gone forgotten by the sheer shock of seeing him like this.

She thought for a moment that he wouldn't answer her question. It wouldn't have surprised her in the slightest if he hadn't. But his jaw clenched as he finally tore his gaze away from Azula's, his eyelids shutting tight.

"I… I can't wash them away" he whispered. Her eyes widened "I… I tried to ignore them but I can't anymore. I can't… pretend. The things I've done won't go away, and I've… and now I've… I've as good as killed them all. I… I came up with the solution, Azula, I… I've killed the Northern Water Tribe. I…"

"No. No, you haven't. Sokka…" said Azula, frowning as he gritted his teeth, his shoulders shivering violently now but by the force of his contained sobs.

He couldn't utter another word. His arms went around his body now, as he shrunk in his frame, dropping on his knees once more. His shoulders continued to tremble, his eyes trying to contain the tears he wasn't able to hold back.

Azula dropped to her knees and surrounded him with her arms, holding him close as he cried, gasping ever so softly. Her eyes widened as she held him. She had seen glimpses of this side of Sokka before, but never like this. He always held it in, sidelining his emotions and struggles so he could focus on his fights, on his work, or on Azula's own problems. He was never the priority. Even now, when he couldn't take the pressure anymore, he had held back. He had concealed himself, avoiding all contact, never turning to Azula in hopes she might help him somehow. He cried silently too, just as he suffered silently. It never crossed his mind to burden her, or anyone else, with his problems.

Azula gritted her teeth, clutching at him through the cloth covering his body. He was still freezing cold, contrasting against Azula's natural warmth. She closed her eyes and relied on her firebending, on her inner fire, to exude further warmth still, so she could thaw Sokka's sorrows somehow. Her hand slid up to his slick hair, hoping to hold him close and relieve him by showing him that he wasn't alone. That she wasn't going to leave him, just as he hadn't left her when her own demons had caught up with her.

She didn't say another word as he continued to shudder in her arms. All she could do was hold him, his head resting on her shoulder, his wet hair framing and hiding his face. When his breathing started to become more even she sighed. Her hands still moved over his body, seeking to give him the warmth he lacked.

"Azula…" he muttered, with a dry and husky voice. She stroked his hair again.

"Are you feeling any warmer yet?" she asked. Sokka nodded weakly "Good"

"I just…"

"Don't start with the apologies" Azula said, lowering her head so her lips would be by his ear "They don't suit you as well as you think they do"

"I… wasn't going to apologize" Sokka said. She smiled a little.

"Great" she said, pressing closer to him "We should get out of here, Sokka. Your room must be warmer than this. It's not too far, so…"

"W-why are you…?" he said, lifting his gaze at last to look at her. His eyes were clearer now. Azula raised an eyebrow. He swallowed hard "I mean… you didn't have to…"

"You don't seem to understand what my role in your life is, or do you?" said Azula, brushing some of his hair away from his face. Upon Sokka's clueless stare she sighed "I guessed so"

"I just… Azula…"

"Stop overthinking" she said, softly "Stop worrying, stop losing your mind about everything. Things aren't nearly as awful as you believe they are. Just calm down, and we'll head to your room. I'll explain everything there, and maybe you'll stop being so suicidal once I do. Alright?"

"W-well…"

"Yes, I know, your suicidal tendencies won't go away no matter what I do. I didn't have much hopes in those regards by now" she said, sighing "Can you stand up again?"

He swallowed hard and nodded. She surrounded his waist with an arm and pulled him up. Sokka's chest heaved as he breathed slowly, as if he had to force his body to make every inhalation. Azula gathered his wet clothes, holding them under one arm as she surrounded Sokka with the other.

"C-can we…? Won't everyone see…?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"I doubt it. You've been hiding for hours, in case you didn't notice" said Azula "It's already nighttime. Everyone will be seeking the warmth of their rooms, not pacing the Temple after hours"

"Right…" said Sokka. Azula ushered him to move.

"We'll be cautious anyways. Just in case someone is as crazy as you and decides to take a bath in the middle of a winter night"

Sokka swallowed hard. Azula sighed. She had expected him to smile at that, as he often did when she poked fun at him. But there was no sign of amusement in his face, only of conflict. All the same, she held him tightly, leading him towards the door steadily. He still trembled, but he didn't complain about it. All he did was surround Azula's waist with his own arm, his eyes still downcast.

The halls were empty, as Azula had predicted. The night was dark, and it wasn't easy for them to make their way through the few torch-lit passages of the Temple. The cold breeze didn't help Sokka's condition, but Azula ushered him to brave through it as they reached his room.

She led him to his bed, where he lay shaking and breathing with difficulty. Azula returned to his door, locking it firmly and even planting a small chair in front of it. She wouldn't have anyone barging in here tonight.

Sokka watched her with uncertainty, and she raised her eyebrows in his direction.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight anymore after this, you know" she said. He swallowed hard.

"I didn't mean to worry you so much" he said, as Azula approached him again, sitting at the edge of his bed.

"You never do. It's like you're under this absurd impression that I won't care about what happens to you, no matter what it is" said Azula, raising her eyebrows and cupping his face "Well, you're dead wrong. If anything, I care too much"

Sokka gritted his teeth, his eyes gleaming with remorse. Azula frowned as she gazed at him.

"Sokka…"

"I shouldn't have lied to you. I… I'm an idiot for sure" he whispered "From the very start, when you explained this mission, I… I decided to do all this behind your back. I tried… I tried to get in the way of it, and I tried to deceive you… and in the end it all amounted to nothing. I… I failed. Those airships are going to…"

"Hush" said Azula, leaning close, pressing her forehead to his "There's a lot about this that you don't seem to understand, Sokka. For one thing… you didn't deceive me for a second. I knew what you were planning back when I told you of this mission…"

"Why didn't you stop me, then? Why…?" Sokka whispered. Azula swallowed hard.

"Why… that's complicated to answer, isn't it?" she said. Sokka frowned.

"Azula…"

She was silent briefly, moving her hands over his body slowly, gifting him with what warmth she could give without burning him. After taking a deep breath, she finally readied herself to talk.

"There's something heroic about the notion of a nation that can hold its own during a hundred years of war. It sounds glorious, and it certainly serves the purpose of upholding ourselves as superior over all other nations… but in the end, who can be truly victorious after a century of warfare?"

Sokka raised his eyebrows. Azula sighed.

"When the war began, the Fire Nation was overpopulated. One of the reasons why Sozin wanted to expand the nation, despite it's not often disclosed, was the fact that we didn't have enough lands or resources to house and feed the thousands of citizens living in our main towns and cities. He settled the first colonies in the Earth Kingdom in an attempt to resolve this… but soon enough, the war dealt with the overpopulation problem all by itself"

"The Fire Nation's death toll…" said Sokka, frowning.

"Our numbers, compared to what they were by the beginning of the war, have been cut by half in this unending conflict" said Azula "We regained population through the Honorary Fire Nation Citizenship system, it's true, but not only isn't it enough, it's also not the same thing in the slightest"

Sokka nodded. Azula's hands moved to his shoulders, rubbing them slowly.

"In regards of resources, also, it's a bigger problem than it seems. Just think of the amount of food required to sate the Fire Nation's armies… and the weapons and armor, too. Wars are costly, in all fronts. Sometimes I just wonder… whether we've gained or lost more through the decades we've spent waging this one. I used to think the former was the obvious answer, but for the last year I've been led to think it's probably the latter"

"You've gained the Earth Kingdom's lands, though" said Sokka "They offer quite a lot of resources, don't they?"

"Indeed. But while our own people could have populated and worked those lands a hundred years ago, it's not quite possible to do the same anymore. There are colonies where the vast majority of the population is of Earth Kingdom descent. Outside of the governors, I think the vast majority of the Fire Nation citizens that currently occupy Omashu are soldiers. The rest are the same Earth Kingdom people who had always lived there"

"That's true" Sokka said, frowning.

"The thing is… you're not wrong. We've gained lands, and also resources we were lacking dearly" Azula continued "But what sort of resources would we obtain by decimating the Water Tribes? What do the Poles have to benefit the Fire Nation? I… I have thought this way for quite some time…"

"I remember" Sokka whispered "You told me long ago that… that you wouldn't waste your time trying to take over the South Pole"

"It's true for the North as well"

"Why, though?" said Sokka, looking at her in confusion "Don't get me wrong, this is amazing to hear, but… aren't the waterbenders the worst threat you guys might face? Isn't that why you went after them?"

"It is. My grandfather, Azulon, actively sought to imprison all the waterbenders he could" Azula admitted "It's the reason behind all those raids to the South Pole. It was of easier access for us, and not as thickly defended as the North, after all…"

"So you were always out to take the waterbenders" Sokka muttered "No wonder… I thought they had been murdered, not that they had been taken as prisoners. Are any of them still…?"

"Alive…?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka sighed at the troubled expression of her face.

"Never mind" he said "I just thought that, if there was some small chance, maybe…"

"I'm afraid not. He… he wasn't very kind to them" said Azula, swallowing hard. She didn't know much of the waterbenders' imprisonment conditions, but what she did know would likely send Sokka into a fit of rage rather than depression "But you're not wrong. Waterbenders are the main reason why this war is still ongoing. My father has stated as much already. He didn't seem comfortable with the idea of leaving the potential threat in the north unchecked… but even so, these airships aren't likely to be as much of a solution as he might hope"

"No?" Sokka asked, looking at Azula with wide eyes "Y-you think…?"

"They're great means of transportation, surely" said Azula "But they have no incorporated weapons, for one thing… which means our soldiers would have to get out of the cabin to attack from midair. And as talented firebenders as they may be, without Sozin's Comet's influence, they probably won't be able to deliver much damage unless the airship lands, and that would mean discarding the advantage of being airborne in the first place. If they didn't land, they'd have to maneuver their way around fighting while airborne, in one of the coldest places of the world. It's… it's too inconvenient"

"S-so… you really think this might not be…?" Sokka asked, trembling again. Azula cupped his cheek.

"Yes, I do. I had been quite uncertain at first, I won't lie" she said, with a small smile "I did think that air power might be all we needed to take down the Northern Water Tribe, but… but what if they were to knock down one of the airships and take it for themselves? They'd be the ones to acquire an advantage we couldn't exploit properly, and then they might use it to vanquish us. It's not too far-fetched to imagine they'd want vengeance for the past century, is it? So… don't you think the risks outweigh the possible advantages by far?"

"They might indeed" said Sokka, swallowing hard "So you'll say all this to your father? Y-you'll… you can convince him to desist on this?"

"I can't promise anything. I don't want you to have insanely high expectations" Azula said, closing her eyes "I will try, but my father has been rather stubborn about this matter for many years now. Fortunately, though, I'll have at least a year or two, maybe more, to convince him that this isn't as great an idea as he might have thought"

"Production might take some time…" Sokka reasoned.

"Something of that scale would indeed take time to craft. My father already had built a factory for the production of the airships, but even with that head-start, this isn't likely to be a quick process. We may have the Former Earth Kingdom's resources at our disposal, but crafting the Drill, the tanks and the train-tank was already quite taxing and expensive. And there's also the matter of preparing crews to handle each airship… simply put, there are so many variables, and this much hard work shouldn't be wasted on a mission where we're more likely to fail than to succeed"

"So you will try to prevent this" said Sokka, swallowing hard. Azula nodded.

"I know it's too idyllic a thought, and there's a good chance I might fail and fall from my father's graces altogether if I simply ask him to stop… but perhaps if I bide my time he'll understand. I wouldn't expect there to be peace between both factions right away, but perhaps a truce can be arranged. It's been too long a siege and to no results. It might be better this way, for all the involved"

"Yes… yes, it might" said Sokka, smiling a little as he clasped Azula's hand with his. She smiled too.

"Now, are you going to calm down and stop trying to drown or freeze yourself to death?" she asked, brushing his hair off his face with her fingers.

"I… I won't do that again. I'm sorry," he said, sighing and closing his eyes "I just…"

"You thought you'd sent the Northern Water Tribe to its destruction" said Azula, but she was surprised when he shook his head "That's not why you did it?"

"Not… not really" Sokka admitted, gritting his teeth "Not entirely"

"Then what's the whole story?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows. Sokka sighed "You know, I do enjoy playing at figuring out each other's secrets, but after today's mess I'd think you would rather stop holding back and be honest with me. This game is getting tiresome"

"I know it is. And I'm sorry it got this bad" he said "I… I was an idiot. I thought if I hid this from you, you'd be better off. I thought that if I complied, you wouldn't get in trouble with your father. So I just… I tried to keep you as safe as I could, while doing my best to hinder the mission in the process"

"Ironic how I decided to play the fool to your little scheme for the same reason" said Azula, sighing "I… I wanted to find some way to keep my father appeased once you came through with your evident failure with the bombs. I thought maybe finding a few more dragons might work, but…"

"You've found nothing so far" said Sokka. Azula nodded.

"The prospect is starting to look quite bleak" she whispered "But I'm still willing to try. Maybe eventually…"

"Still… we're hopeless, aren't we?" said Sokka, with a small smile "In the end…"

"If we had talked things over, we would have realized we both wanted the same things, basically" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "But I guess we were too busy fucking to do what most people in relationships do, huh?"

"Talk? Or… trust each other?" Sokka muttered, biting his lip "I mean, we both trusted the other to behave in some particular way, but…"

"But that didn't pay of, did it?" said Azula, sighing "I didn't expect the war balloons. You didn't expect that I'd discover your little ploy from the very start"

"So… I didn't trick you at all"

"Not for a second" said Azula, smiling as she continued to stroke Sokka's hair.

"If only I could be surprised by that" said Sokka, looking at her with uncertainty "You didn't mind, though… that I had lied to you"

"If you lied over anything else, I'd likely be far more unsettled about it" Azula confessed "But this? If anything, your faked compliance bothered me a lot at first. Things made more sense when I realized what you were up to"

"And you weren't mad at all… that I'd hold the Water Tribe's safety over following your father's commands?" Sokka asked. Azula snorted.

"How would I be mad about that? That's exactly who you are, Sokka" said Azula, with a weak grin "You've done everything in your power to act rebellious ever since our partnership began. This is nothing new. If you had actually wanted to help my father… well, that would have been worrisome. But this? This is precisely what I would expect from you"

"And that's a great thing for me, no doubt… but I'm surprised you don't seem upset about it in the slightest" said Sokka, frowning "I mean… this is a relationship. We're not supposed to hide things from one another…"

"No, we're not. Especially not this kind of thing. But I'd hope we've learned something from this mess" said Azula sighing "Fortunately for you, you're too honest a man and I'm quick to see through you. It's also fortunate that you are a good man, which is why I can't be mad by what you were lying about. When you lie, you do it with agreeable intentions, so to speak, so… I can't be that angry"

"I'd rather not lie to you anymore, though" Sokka said, earnestly "Not only is it useless, but it makes me feel… in short, like scum. You're the last person in the world I want to lie to"

"I'm glad to hear that. From what I understand, relationships need proper honesty in order to work" she replied.

"I felt bad about this, believe it or not. I just… didn't know what else to do. I wanted to keep you away from your father's rage…"

"And you meant to take it all on yourself" said Azula, sighing as Sokka nodded.

"Because I couldn't just sit by and watch this develop without trying to put a stop to it. The Earth Kingdom already fell, and I could do nothing about it… I had hoped maybe I could make a difference this time"

"It may be a surprise to hear that you have" said Azula "The bombs probably would have been more dangerous…"

"I thought so too" said Sokka, sighing "I'm relieved you understand, though… and that you agree with me. That you didn't want to do this any more than I did. I tried to trick you because… because I thought you would be mad that I was holding the Water Tribe's safety over your own needs. And if you didn't know, you would be protected from your father's wrath. You wouldn't be an ally to my scheme, so your father would have no reason to punish you…"

"You really thought I'd be mad that you cared for the Water Tribe this much?" Azula asked. Sokka shrugged.

"I love you, Azula" he said, looking at her sadly "But… that I love you doesn't mean I can throw everything else away. I can't just turn a blind eye to the damage the Fire Nation has done, and I can't be an accomplice to the damage it wants to deliver in the future. Yeah, maybe I disregard my life too much, which annoys you beyond belief. But I… I don't have a family to provide for. I'm not the leader of a group of people, I haven't been for years now. If… if someone needs to make a sacrifice for the sake of the world, it should be someone like me…"

"Oh, because you have nothing to lose? Nothing else you can do is of consequence?" Azula asked, looking at him in disbelief "There's nobody else out there who needs you, is there? The world can just go on spinning if you run off and die, because you're just not important?"

"I didn't mean it that way…" said Sokka, shifting and seeking to sit up. Azula's reproachful glare made him swallow hard. "I mean… I was in the bathhouse because of this. B-because I'd… I'd been angry to discover the Mechanist wasn't willing to make the same sacrifices I am. He's got a family to help, people who count on him and need him. He keeps this place alive, after all… what would they do without him? And even then, I… I lashed out at him as if he were responsible for everything that the Fire Nation used his inventions for. As if… as if he'd really had a choice. Had he died, what would have happened to Teo, to his people?"

"So you realized you were being unfair… how does that result in a cold shower in the middle of winter?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It was when I realized how different he is from me, even though we're the same, too. We're different because he's choosing to care for his own, though. He has sacrificed his soul for their sake. And I did the same… but for myself. I… I faced all those fights in the Amateur Arena, Azula, and… and every single time I had to kill one of them, I knew I didn't deserve to survive. I had no right. I… I wasn't better than them, not really. So many of them must have had children, a family waiting for them and…"

"Don't you have one of your own too, though? Sokka, the very foundation of our initial agreement was that…"

"There's something… I've never told you before" Sokka interrupted her. Azula frowned.

"What is it?" she asked. Sokka shivered, avoiding her eyes. His teeth were rattling.

"Remember when we first met?" he asked. Azula nodded "I… I had been planning that attack for a week or so. When I got the information I needed to make it happen, I took the opportunity… but not without knowing the risks I was taking. And not without knowing that it might all backfire on me because I was being too rash and daring with this"

"So you always knew something might go out of hand?" Azula asked. Sokka shook his head.

"Actually, I… I thought I had planned things well enough. My smoke bomb was going to be so thick that anyone in that room would have been unable to hold their own against it. It wasn't a weapon I expected anyone to overcome while indoors. But you… well, I didn't expect you. Not for a second. I didn't hear anything about the Fire Nation Princess coming to the settlement. So I… I was confident. I was sure I couldn't lose. So I thought… I thought that I'd prove myself with this. I thought… that my father would see for himself, at last, that I was a strong and capable warrior on my own right. That while he was too nimble, while he refused to fight back the invaders, I was willing to do what needed to be done to keep our lands safe"

Azula frowned. She only realized now that Sokka had seldom spoken about his father before. The look on his face right now was that of a chastised child. Was his father that rough a person?

"When I told him of my plan, he… he didn't take it very well" Sokka said "He thought I was going to put myself in unnecessary danger, that I wouldn't gain anything from this. He realized I was being reckless to impress him, I guess, while hiding behind my idealistic beliefs. I wanted to drive the Fire Nation away from my home, yes, but… but I also wanted my father to acknowledge me as a man for good. I wanted him to realize I could be a leader like him. I wanted to come home after succeeding in my self-imposed mission, to tell him proudly that he'd been wrong. And to see… to see the pride in his eyes when I succeeded where he had failed"

Azula's eyes widened. Sokka dropped his head in his hands, swallowing hard as he held back the urge to cry again.

"But I… I was a fool all along, and I only realized it when it was too late to take back my mistake. I knew I couldn't win when we fought… and I knew I'd failed him. How could I… go back home and face him after this fiasco? How could I…?"

He pulled at his hair, and Azula could only sit where she was, dumbfounded. She didn't dare touch him, not when she was as shocked as she was by his revelation.

"I just… tried to save the rest of them" Sokka whispered, swallowing hard "I didn't even know if it had worked or not until you found me again two years later. That was all I could do, though, because…"

"Because I'd… ruined all your plans" said Azula, a hand moving to her face.

Sokka lifted his gaze to find her covering her mouth, horror-struck. He shook his head, taking her hand in hers.

"No. No. You… you did what you had to do, just as I was doing what I thought I had to do" he said "We were enemies, remember? And if… if I'd taken you captive, I really don't know what would have happened to you. So don't… don't even think about feeling bad about it. I was a fool. An arrogant, incompetent, selfish fool. I… I had it coming…"

"You had it coming?" Azula asked, her eyes widening "Sokka, you can't tell me that after all this time, you've… you've thought it was retribution for failure. Being a slave… you really think that was your fate? That it was what you deserved? All because you… because you didn't listen to your father?"

"I… I don't know about fate" said Sokka, swallowing hard "But I do know that… that all actions have consequences. You were already too merciful by allowing me to live, all things considered. Anyone else would have killed me, so…"

"And that was a true kindness I did to you, wasn't it?" Azula asked, frowning "You really think you deserved this? Everything you endured in the Amateur Arena…?"

"I don't know if I deserved it or not, Azula, but I…" he said, gritting his teeth "But the truth is, I didn't feel worthy of going home. I… I still don't. Now, of all times, I feel even less worthy of it. B-because… how can I face my father? He must have thought I died to spare my men… it's an honorable death, right? But no, I… I survived. And I've ended up right here, with you, of all people… and yet I've just settled into this life, under the premise of going home one day, but… but truth is, I don't want to. I… I'm not brave enough to face him and tell him the truth. He… he already must have been so ashamed of me, and knowing I survived would only make it worse…"

"Sokka, you've… you've really thought this way from the very start?" Azula asked, her eyes widening "If so, why did you ask me to take you home?"

"Because… what else did I know but the damn Amateur Arena?" he said, swallowing hard "I hated the Fire Nation, and even if it was just my pride speaking, I wanted nothing more to do with it after two years stuck there. But… but after everything I've seen and lived by your side, I… I can't think the same way. When you took me out of the Amateur Arena, Azula, I started to see the side of the Fire Nation I never knew existed. So I became complacent. And… and I'm still a coward. I always have been one. I can't face my father…"

"But Sokka…" said Azula, her eyes wide. He breathed out and looked at her remorsefully.

"Why did you think I never tried to run away?" he whispered "From the Amateur Arena, or from Shu Jing, once you took me to Piandao's…"

"I… I just thought you were trying to abide by your vow to me" said Azula "I guessed it was a matter of honor, if anything…"

"Well… now you know it really wasn't" said Sokka, sadly "Now you know the truth. I'm as spineless as it can get. I… I don't fight for a family that would be disappointed in me. They'd think I was better off dead than as your gladiator… I don't have a son to provide for like the Mechanist does, or people to look after. I'm just… this. A pathetic man who never even had the courage to end his miserable existence back when he had the guts to murder others. I… I'm the worst kind of scum, aren't I?"

"You're out of your mind if you truly think so" said Azula, reaching to touch his face. Sokka gritted his teeth "After everything you've done, you really think so lowly of yourself? Sokka, you saved your people. You took the chance to ask anything from my father, and used it to save your tribe. No, they mustn't know it, but… do you really think your death would have been better than that? Do you think they'd think so, if they ever knew what you did?"

"I… I don't know. I mean…" he said, swallowing hard "I've done things they'd never forgive me for. I've…"

"Like what?" Azula asked, looking at him with raised eyebrows "They'd never forgive you for your bond with me? For not murdering the Fire Lord on sight? If they really would rather you were dead… then they don't deserve you"

"I'm not sure if it's them who don't deserve me, or if I'm the one who doesn't deserve them"

Azula's eyes widened as she looked at him. His blue eyes were becoming bleak, empty, once again.

"You really think that you don't deserve to go home?" Azula asked. Sokka gritted his teeth.

"Thing is, I…" he said, looking at her. His eyes were alight once more. She frowned in confusion "I probably don't deserve it because… b-because as I am now, given what my life has become… I can't think of my tribe as my home anymore. At least not as the only one"

Sokka sighed as Azula remained silent. He bit his lip, afraid he might have stepped too far with what he'd said. But he had said it already. It was too late to take it back, especially because it was the truth.

"I feel like I don't deserve to go back because I do… I do feel like I've turned my back on them during this last year. When our journey began, I wanted to go back because I didn't trust you, because I hated the Fire Nation and facing my family's disappointment was preferable than this. But by now? I… I'm so comfortable with you. I can't even… I can't even imagine going to the South Pole for good. I just can't. And if they knew that, they… they wouldn't understand. And they'd wish I'd died for good. I'm as good as a traitor to them, just like the Stingray and those White Lotus people said…"

"You're… you're not, Sokka, you're…" said Azula, breathing heavily as she cupped his face in her hands. He gulped as he clasped her hands with his.

"I'm a mess" he finished, with a sad smile "A hopeless one at that"

"Well… maybe" Azula relented. Sokka's smile became a little more earnest upon her reply "But that doesn't mean that they should think of you as lowly as you expect them to"

"I guess not" Sokka agreed, swallowing hard "It's just not easy to imagine otherwise…"

"It's not likely to be… just as you couldn't speak for my mother, I can't speak for your people" said Azula, her fingers intertwining with his "So I can't say if they'll be kinder than you think. Maybe… maybe they really would rather you were dead than involved with me, of all people. But Sokka…"

Her eyes were blazing with emotion, to Sokka's amazement. She seemed desperate, and determined as well.

"I don't know what it is you need to stop thinking you should be able to discard your life easily" she said "I… I don't know what you need so you can understand your existence matters. But if everything you've affected in the world ever since we joined forces can't convince you…"

"Azula, it's not that I think it was all worthless…"

"Then the love you pledge to me might be what will do the trick" she said, not caring for his interruption. Sokka's eyes widened "Because… I need you. I… I don't care if you think you can be replaced, you can't be. You never could be. I need you, Sokka… and not just so you can fight my battles for me. You're my partner. You're…"

She fell silent when his forehead touched hers. It was still cold, and his hair was damp. She dared glance at him, finding his eyes were closed as he listened to her, their hands still linked.

"Sokka…" she whispered, gritting her teeth "I'm sorry that everything is so complicated. I wish… I wish it could be much simpler. But these are the lives we have to live, whether we want it to be this way or not. And yes, maybe… maybe it doesn't matter that I just say I need you, it won't make you feel any better about yourself, but…"

"You know, it actually does help" Sokka confessed, surprising her.

"Huh… that's good" she said, with relief.

He opened his eyes, finding hers and discovering hope in them. She still seemed desperate. He smiled too before leaning closer still.

It was distressing for Azula to sense how cold his lips were. Yet it only compelled her to kiss him more fervently, deepening their exchange quickly and helping him find the warmth he direly needed.

"I need you too" he whispered, once they parted "I… I don't know what I'd be without you. And I honestly don't want to know either"

"Even if it'd mean you wouldn't face the turmoil you're dealing with right now?" Azula asked. Sokka smiled.

"You realize that you're the only person who can make me carry on, despite everything that's happened? I guess you don't. You keep saving me from my own darkness…"

"You've saved me from mine, too" said Azula. Sokka kissed her again.

"Aren't we a hopeless pair… always needing one another" he said, smiling "But aren't we also lucky that we have each other indeed"

"We are. So… so don't split the team, Sokka. Don't tear apart the hopeless pair" Azula whispered, reaching up to fist his hair "I need you. I can't let you throw your life away. I don't know what I'd do…"

"You won't have to worry about that" Sokka said. Azula shook her head.

"I'm afraid I'll always worry about you, Sokka" she whispered "You'll have to learn to live with that"

He kissed her brow and surrounded her with his arms. Azula clutched at him, her face pressed against his neck.

"I really do need you" she said.

"And I need you, too. I'd be lost without you"

"Tell me you won't do this again" she whispered "Please…"

"Throwing myself in a cold shower…?"

"Discarding your life like a fool. In a cold shower or elsewhere" said Azula, pulling away to look at him sternly. Sokka smiled and nodded.

"I won't. I can't. Not while you need me" he said, grinning "I… I actually hadn't done anything like this since…"

"Since your first fight with Toph" said Azula, frowning "You… you were ready to die, weren't you?"

"I…" said Sokka, swallowing hard "It was the first time I was that overwhelmed by an opponent. I couldn't win. So I thought…"

"You thought you could only die. And yet you… you weren't sad about it. If anything you were… relieved" said Azula, reflecting upon that moment "You really wanted her to give you the final blow, didn't you?"

"I…maybe I did then" he said, looking down shamefully at first, but he raised his eyes to meet hers again "But then I gained a reason to live. Someone who helped me forget why I'd lost my will to live in the first place. Someone worth fighting for… inside the Arena, and outside it too"

Azula gritted her teeth as Sokka leaned forward again, linking their foreheads once more.

"It's true that we were around each other already by the time I fought Toph, but… but things changed after that. And they continued to change ever since" he said, smiling at her "Not always for the best, but in the long run, it was for the best indeed. We've overcome so much together. We've done things I never thought possible…"

"Things nobody ever thought possible, too" she said, opening one of her hands and conjuring a small dancing plum of golden fire in it. Sokka smiled.

"It's so warm" he said, closing his eyes and basking in the comfortable sensation.

Azula looked at him, as he rested against her. He seemed at peace again, surprisingly… yet she still felt unsettled. She still felt uneasy. There was too much that still needed to be said. Her chest ached, and she knew why it did. She couldn't hold back this feeling anymore. She couldn't settle with letting him understand it, with showing it through actions, or gestures… it had been enough dawdling on her part.

She had nearly lost him. She couldn't let him feel hopeless enough to do something so reckless again. He needed to understand how much he meant to her.

"It's only warm because of you" she whispered. Sokka swallowed hard as she looked down at the fire "Because I love you"

Sokka frowned for a moment, looking at her with hesitation. The golden fire was reflected by her unusually emotional eyes. In the tears that blinked at their corners. He had to hold back tears of his own as he caressed her cheek, an earnest, full smile on his lips now.

"Y-you're not about to say anything?" Azula asked, looking at him with hesitation. He laughed softly, surprising her.

"I'm trying not to react as I really want to… because you'll decide you'll never say it again if I do" he confessed.

To Azula's surprise, his laughter was somewhat infectious. She found herself smiling too, laughing under her breath before reaching up to kiss him. His arms were no longer surrounding her half-heartedly. They were as strong as she remembered them, as strong as they always were when he made her his. His lips had warmed up slowly thanks to hers, and the conversation they had been holding. As he kissed her eagerly, repeatedly, she noticed he had failed in his attempt not to react earnestly to her confession.

"I need you…" she whispered again, through their kisses "I do, Sokka, I… I don't care for a life without you either. So please…"

"Never again" he said, nodding "I'm always a fool, and I wish I weren't, but I won't let you down like this again. I promise…"

"You'd better not" said Azula, with a fragile smile before kissing him deeply once more.

He held her closely, shivering against her smaller frame. The plates of her armor dug into his skin, and as she noticed this, Azula moved to take it off. Sokka kissed her lips as he removed her hands from the buckles, taking it upon himself to perform the task carefully. His fingers were still cold after he discarded her armor, and Azula was quick to lift them to her face so she could kiss them. Sokka leaned closer to her, pressing his lips gently to brow, to her cheek, to her jawline.

She released his fingers and gave him the opportunity to tug at her clothes. She pushed his bath robe down too, exposing his still cold body to her. She would see to it that he wouldn't be cold anymore.

It wasn't every night that Azula was so forward, so intense. Sokka dropped on his back as she kissed his face desperately, moving to his neck and collarbone. Sokka helped her out of her two shirts, fumbling with her chest bindings as she leaned down, sharing her body heat with him. Sokka groaned, his eyes closed. Sensations burst through his skin, as though his very nerves were waking again after shutting down massively along with his sudden crisis. His body felt real again, and breathing was no longer as difficult as it had been before. Now each breath came smoothly, just as smoothly as her touch.

"Azula…" he gasped, breathing out through his mouth as she kissed his throat.

His hands had slipped past her clothes, touching her bare skin as her bindings came off. His touch made her shiver, no doubt because of the still noticeable difference of their temperatures. Yet she didn't recoil from his touch. She welcomed it fully, even though Sokka's hands weren't touching her urgently. It wasn't a tryst like the ones they had experienced so far. His caresses slid over her body without the same arousing intent as always. The touch was gentle, just as every kiss he could press to Azula's face. He cupped her cheeks and kissed her deeply, closing his eyes and letting their lips and breaths mingle together.

He sought to make out her essence, the very core of her being, and Azula was more than willing to reveal herself to him fully. She no longer had it in her to fear the consequences of voicing her love for him. Not when he was as fragile as he was, when he could shatter under the weight of his sins if she wasn't there to help him carry them.

As his sponsor, as his partner, it was her job to keep him safe. It was her responsibility to make sure Sokka would be able to face the challenges she set for him. Only Azula could put him back together once he had fallen apart. She had done it before… and she would do it again as many times as it might be needed. She didn't think she could heal all his wounds on her own… but that didn't mean she wouldn't try to help him in whatever way she could. He was the man she loved, after all. He fought for her, lived for her, stood by her side no matter what. She couldn't lose him. The mere thought was so painful she couldn't care less about protecting herself anymore. Her love for him could backfire, everything could go wrong in the least expected moment… but none of that would hurt more than losing him irreparably.

They were partners. They were lovers. They were two elements balancing around one another, so similar in shape and form, so opposite when it came to their very natures. They understood each other in ways nobody else did. Their souls resounded together, with a bond too powerful to be broken.

As the remaining clothes were scattered on the bedroom floor, she straddled his hips and brought him inside her. His gasp was both from surprise and pleasure. Every sensation so far had been calling him back from his lowest point… but this moment, as they joined together on the deepest level yet, was the final awakening.

"Sokka…" she gasped, leaning down to kiss him. Her body trembled, and so did her lips as they pressed to his.

Sokka closed his eyes, surrounding her with his arms tightly. Their intimacy had long surpassed lust, becoming something less instinctive, something more passionate, something more deep and meaningful.

Azula buried her face in his shoulder, and Sokka sat up while holding her still. Their bodies remained linked, pressed together in full contact. His hands rested on her back, his breath hitching, his mind clearing.

"Azula… hell, Azula…" he gasped, kissing her exposed shoulder and neck as she lifted her head.

She gazed at him, caressing his face. She breathed heavily, her eyes brightening with recognition. He was no longer as cold as before, their temperatures roughly even now. He leaned closer, pressing his forehead to hers.

"I'm…" he started, but she kissed him rashly, silencing him effectively.

"Don't apologize" she whispered, when their lips parted "Please, Sokka…"

"I didn't mean to lose my mind like this" he said, dropping his gaze "And with everything I just said…"

"You couldn't take it anymore. You've… you've held too much inside for too long" she said, shaking her head "It's not your fault that your demons caught with you. You never expected or demanded an apology from me when I went through the same…"

"You didn't put yourself under freezing, running water when it did, though" said Sokka, swallowing hard.

"If anything, that only means you're far more tormented than I ever realized. On a deeper level than you should be" said Azula, gritting her teeth "I'm sorry I snapped at you when I found you. I didn't know…"

"I'm sorry you had to find me like that, too" he said, hugging her tightly "We shouldn't have let this go so far…"

"We won't. Not again" said Azula, kissing his neck "We're not keeping important things from each other anymore. It's been bad enough already… it's time we learn this stupid lesson for once and for all"

"I agree" said Sokka, squeezing her tighter before seeking out her lips with his.

They kissed eagerly, as though the act itself was enough to convey everything their words could only fall short with. They could as good as taste the despair in each other's lips, as they held onto one another with their very souls. Fingers slid over skin, the gentle caresses making out the outlines of the other's body. Azula's hands touched Sokka's scars, grazing them kindly with her fingertips.

He broke from their kiss, breathing heavily, and he gasped when she shifted atop him. She sighed, the sensation of his manhood inside her as pleasant as ever. But she didn't seek pleasure from him for once. She sought to relieve him from his nightmares, to soothe him and give him solid grounds on which to stand. He wouldn't fight his demons alone anymore. She would see to it.

Her rocking motions were eventually met by Sokka's light thrusts too, yet they remained in that same sitting position. She continued to caress him, falling into a steady rhythm slowly as she reclaimed his lips once more with hers. He held her by surrounding her waist with his arms, regaling in her every caress and gesture as he felt his chest aching.

"I love you…" he whispered against her lips, as though speaking the words alone would give him peace and soothe the pain in his chest. It didn't do away with the pain entirely, but it certainly helped when she kissed him again.

The mixed emotions were far too overwhelming for both of them, enveloped in a whirlwind of love as they were. Regardless of the pain, of the pleasure, of the joy and the tears, there was one certainty they both held: they refused to let anything else come between them. Their lives were fully intertwined just as their bodies were. They needed one another desperately. There was no Azula without Sokka anymore. There was no Sokka without Azula.

A droplet of sweat rolled down Sokka's brow as Azula continued to move against him. She leaned closer to him, hugging him as she sighed in bliss. He wasn't cold anymore. His body had returned to normal at last…

"Sokka…" she whispered, kissing his neck as he groaned.

"I love you… Azula" he replied, for the umpteenth time that night. He had thrown his head back, his lips parted.

His arms held her strongly, albeit his body was shivering with arousal now. She had enveloped him completely, as she continued to kiss passionately. The sensations were escalating steadily, exponentially, and she knew she wouldn't last much longer…

"And I… you, Sokka…!" she moaned, doing her very best to keep her voice down to muffle her cries of passion.

Sokka kissed her when her orgasm finally shook her entire body, and her every sound poured directly into him. It was no surprise that he would burst inside her too right afterwards, gasping and moaning as well in the contact between their lips. His hips shifted despite he didn't have much room to maneuver, but he unleashed everything regardless, just as Azula had wanted him to do.

He moved down to kiss her neck as she continued to breathe heavily, their bodies still pressed together. The heat between them was comforting.

"Feeling… better yet?" she asked, caressing the back of his neck with a hand. Sokka nodded and kissed her shoulder.

"I guess I'm myself again…" he said earnestly, smiling a little before kissing her lips "Thank you. Thank you…"

Azula smiled and nodded too, leaning close to kiss him again. Sokka sighed, closing his eyes and pressing fully against her. She was a true blessing, one he doubted he'd ever feel worthy of. But here she was, caring for him in ways he had never experienced before. She was a bright light, showing him that the darkness he had fled from for years wasn't as all-consuming as he had feared. She was here with him, and that was what mattered the most. She inspired him to become a better man. She made his life worthwhile.

He remained locked around her, kissing her lips, her neck, her collarbone, her shoulders, everywhere he could reach. She returned the favor in kind, her legs wrapped around him as they dropped on the mattress. His struggles were far from over, Sokka knew… but he knew better than to give up hope by now. Even if his father might want him dead, if his tribe would never accept him amongst them again… even then, Azula needed him. And that was all he needed, in turn, to face life with his head held high.


	107. Chapter 107

Azula lay on her back, her gaze lost on the ceiling. Her fingers slid through Sokka's still humid locks of hair. His lips pressed against her body as he cherished her slowly with his hands and mouth. Her legs were still spread open, with him nestled between them. His weight atop her was comfortable for Azula. The pressure on her body was grounding, and along with the soft caresses he was gifting her with, she felt safe for some reason. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he was still right there, with her…

What he had done had angered her at first, but the depths of his despair had helped her understand everything. It was mortifying to realize that the one man she had come to love so completely was as broken as he was. It was nearly more mortifying to realize that a lot of his strife could be pinned on her, even though Sokka refused to acknowledge it.

He had calmed down, though, and that was the Princess's main priority. He wasn't shivering violently anymore, and he was his caring, tender self once again. Feeling his body against hers was an utmost delight, especially after all the unexpected revelations he had made tonight.

Sokka sighed and buried his face between her breasts. Azula smiled a little, assuming his most mischievous side was back too… it took her a moment to realize he had closed his eyes, his ear pressed to her left breast.

"Are you okay?" she whispered. He nodded.

"You have a wonderful heartbeat" he said, kissing her skin just where the palpitations could be felt most powerfully "Like everything about you, I guess"

"Wasn't my heart made of ice?" Azula asked, with a small smirk. Sokka raised an eyebrow "Do ice hearts beat, I wonder?"

"Well, the one who said that was the moron who never expected you to thaw his own frozen heart" he said "You shouldn't take his insults to heart, Princess. That guy's kind of an asshole"

"Really, now?" Azula asked, smiling and surrounding his neck with her arms "And what am I to make of his love confessions, since his insults can't be taken seriously?"

"You should make sure of their veracity" he suggested, grinning as he pushed himself up to kiss her lips "If he loves you, he'll endure every challenge you might set up for him"

"Ah, I've played that game before, though not with him" Azula said, smirking "My guards had to deal with my most outrageous requests a long time ago. I wonder if this so-called asshole can put up with them too"

"In his behalf, I can say he'll try" said Sokka, with a crooked smile.

Azula pulled him closer and kissed him. Sokka sighed and deepened the kiss, his hands caressing her body once again. His mouth moved over her face, until he reached her jawline and he dropped his head on her shoulder, breathing slowly.

"I really am the luckiest man in the world" he whispered. Azula bit her lower lip.

"I'm afraid that's debatable" she whispered.

"I doubt it is. I'm the one who gets to be with you" said Sokka "And believe it or not, I'll endure everything it takes…"

"Everything, really?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka looked back at her "You do realize what that entails? For real? Because… well, it's not just our lives in peril. There's so more than that in play here. It has always been"

"I know. I know" said Sokka, swallowing hard "Which is why we resisted for as long as we did. We both have our own obligations with our people, with each other, with ourselves…"

"Then you really understand that? And do you trust that I understand it too?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. Sokka frowned.

"Well… yes" he said "You're so loyal to the Fire Nation it's uncanny. It's not something that has ever been up to debate…"

"So it doesn't bother you that I will fight for my nation until my last breath if I must?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "Even if I love you, I have other duties and sometimes… well, often, rather, my obligations and my concern for you will conflict. And you're fine with that?"

"Well… I never expected otherwise, frankly" said Sokka, shrugging "You're the Fire Nation Princess. If someone's going to dedicate herself to the Fire Nation, it's you. You've proven as much already. I've never expected you to hold me above your people. What I've had with you is already much more than I ever hoped to, so…"

"If that's so… why did you think I wouldn't understand your interest in your people's wellbeing?" Azula asked. Sokka's eyes widened.

"I didn't think… I just figured… well, I am your gladiator, aren't I?" said Sokka, frowning "I'm sworn to you in body, heart and soul, so my loyalty should be yours. But… even so, I can't renounce to my nation. It doesn't matter how much I've adapted to the Fire Nation, or even if I'm so uneasy about returning home, I just… I'll never really be Fire Nation. I can't just sit idly by and do nothing if I hear your father has plans to destroy another nation, especially when he wants to use me to make his plans work. I just can't stand at the sidelines and play deaf to it all… but the thing is, you are his daughter, and you are my sponsor. So isn't standing up to him an affront against you, too?"

"It's an affront to the Fire Nation, sure. But then again, isn't attacking and destroying the Water Tribe an affront against your people as well?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows as she rolled onto her side. Sokka turned too, so he as well could rest on his side while facing her "I've never seen my father morally conflicted over who he's damaging with his decisions, to be perfectly honest"

"Can't say I'm surprised to hear that" said Sokka, sighing.

"I know you used to dream of taking down the Fire Nation" said Azula "And the fact that you don't anymore is already quite a relief for me. But I won't force you to love my nation, or my people, or to feel like you belong there. You probably never will feel fully comfortable in the Fire Nation"

"You might underestimate how much I love you, then" said Sokka, smiling at her "Despite I'd never dream of becoming a Fire Nation citizen, I still feel some sort of belonging there… though it's all probably because of you"

"Flattering to know" said Azula, with a grin of her own "But all the same, you're a Water Tribe man through and through"

"Just as you're a Fire Nation Princess to your very core" said Sokka. Azula nodded.

"And our loyalties are things we had better not try to change about one another" she whispered "Because… it's just not right. You wouldn't be who you are if you discard where you came from. You would stop being strong in the ways you are if I… if anyone were to force you to change"

Sokka squared his jaw as he looked at Azula. She sighed.

"Piandao did warn me about that ages ago, though he mostly said it in regards of your strengths as a gladiator…"

"Wait, what?" said Sokka "Piandao told you… what?"

"In short, that I shouldn't try to fill your mind with ideas that would change your perception of the world" said Azula "I guess he was hoping you'd be the only one to exert some influence on me, perhaps. Still… whatever his intentions, he wasn't wrong. And I learned the lesson after we had that falling out not long afterwards, so…"

"When did he say that to you?" Sokka asked, confused.

"The day some shameless fool decided to dump a water bucket all over himself while I was watching" said Azula, teasingly, leaning closer and prodding his nose with hers "I sure liked that shower better than the one you took today"

"Sorry again about that" said Sokka, sighing, but he raised an eyebrow "Why didn't you tell me this about Piandao before, though?"

"Because it never came up, I guess" said Azula, smiling "I only thought about it again when we were chasing the Rhinos. It made sense to me then. I… I don't want to see you like that again, you know? I don't want you to feel that way, either. But it's not easy to avoid it, after all. You've got quite a few secrets I can't control, don't you?"

Sokka sighed and shrugged.

"If it makes you feel any better, I wish I didn't have them" he confessed "I don't want you to worry about me as much as you do, but…"

"It's my job as your sponsor to worry about you, you know" said Azula "Training you, keeping you well-fed, making sure you get rest, ensuring your mind's not in complete chaos… it's all part of this contract, believe it or not. I can't have you die, for very obvious reasons, and the best way to prevent that is by keeping you in your best shape. And once you add the emotional attachment I've developed for you, on top of it all, I'm all the more unwilling to see you at the verge of death. Your job may be to fight for me, but mine is to protect you, Sokka"

Sokka sighed as he looked at her tenderly. He cupped her cheek with a hand, and she closed her eyes.

"So I take it you want us to reach an understanding, then. We'll love each other, but we'll accept that we both have our different set of priorities" said Sokka. Azula nodded and he smiled "I think it's not that hard an agreement to reach. As I said, I've always known the Fire Nation is vital for you. I'd never try to take that from you"

"Good" said Azula, with a weak smile. Sokka bit his lip.

"There's something a little messy about this, though… because it's fine if we want to respect each other's loyalties, but can we love each other and our respective nations, too?" he whispered, looking at Azula with unease "My tribe, they'd… well, I know they would certainly not be happy if they heard I'm involved with you. And you, well…"

"My father would kill you if he knew about us. And, at best, disown me even if he'd be left with no heirs" said Azula "So in a sense, that we love each other… it amounts to treason in anyone else's eyes, doesn't it?"

"I'm afraid so" muttered Sokka, swallowing hard "It doesn't matter what we do, or how much we may accomplish for our people… our bond would render everything null and void for them"

"It really would" said Azula, sighing and pressing her forehead to his "All the more reason we need to protect our relationship. There's a lot at stake"

"So much that… that sometimes I wonder why you took a chance on me" said Sokka, looking at her in confusion "I mean… you're the strongest person I know. Even though we've been through a lot, I thought…"

"You thought I'd be able to resist the forces of attraction between us?" said Azula, smiling a little "I'm afraid I'm not that strong, then. Maybe I could have been, if only… well, if you didn't mean as much to me as you do. If you hadn't said you loved me, and been the very first person to say that to me… I know, my father would be revolted if he heard that I was moved by that, but it's not something I could help. Besides… if it were that bad, why did my feelings for you help me find a new way of firebending?"

"You know, you don't need to make excuses for this with me" said Sokka, grinning "I'm still elated to know that's why you could use gold fire, and… and I'm still blown away because you said you loved me. It's… it's the greatest feeling. So if someone's certainly never going to tell you it's a bad thing, it's me"

"Good. Because this is all your fault after all, so you'd better like it as it is, gladiator" said Azula, raising her chin "You had no right to be irresistible for me"

"Look who's talking" said Sokka, smiling and leaning closer to kiss her lips. Azula sighed as she responded in kind "But I'm afraid this still doesn't solve our problem, does it?"

"I guess not" she replied, stroking his cheek gently.

"How can we balance both things without losing ourselves in the process?" said Sokka "Can we avoid having one thing pull us harder than the other…? It sounds a little difficult, doesn't it?"

"Difficult, probably… but it doesn't have to be impossible" said Azula, stroking Sokka's chin now, his small beard brushing against her fingers "I think you just gave us the answer, after all"

"I did?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. Azula sighed.

"The fact that I'm about to say this should be enough evidence of how much you've messed with my head" she said, trapping the tip of his nose between her index and middle finger and giving it a little squeeze. Sokka smiled as Azula sat up on the bed.

"What do you mean?" said Sokka, pushing himself up with his forearm.

Azula glanced at him, taking in the brightness of his gaze. She reached out to touch his chest gently, her fingers brushing gracefully against his skin.

"Balance" she whispered.

Sokka's eyes widened as Azula bit her lip. She hadn't been wrong: that was genuinely the last thing he would have expected to hear from her.

"Balance?" he repeated, and Azula nodded.

"But not exactly the kind of concept we used to hold for balance" she whispered "We're already way past that stage, after all…"

"Then what kind of balance are we talking about?" Sokka asked "I mean, I was at a loss about what you meant anyways, so… what exactly do you mean, Azula?"

"Well… I wasn't an advocate of balance, as you well know" said Azula "I frankly didn't get why the Avatars were tasked with keeping balance between the nations, since the nation division had never been entirely fair. Not to mention, as I'd said, that there used to be all sorts of other benders and they disappeared in time with no Avatar to defend them. Only four elements remained a century ago, and now it's only three. How was balance essential if, despite the groups that were exterminated, our world continues existing? Then again… I guess it isn't absolutely essential. The world won't explode, nor will everything in it die spontaneously, if the balance between the elements has been broken. So why did the Avatars protect it so zealously? Why was that their task?"

"Because balance helped keep the nations in harmony" said Sokka "It was better for the remaining races, the remaining nations, to stop fighting amongst themselves as they always had. Balance was the best answer, the best way to put an end to thousands of years of pointless wars"

"And yet… what kind of balance was it?" said Azula, frowning "Certainly, the wars and conflicts decreased on some level once the Avatar's figure came into play, but what was the Avatar's way to keep balance? Do you know?"

"Uh, they learned all four kinds of bending" said Sokka, scratching his head "That's what I know they did, at the very least"

"It's not all they did" Azula said "They were also meant to keep balance between the human and spirit worlds. So they had quite a few duties to handle"

"Right" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow and nodding "What's wrong with the balance the way they kept it, though?"

"Well, to put it bluntly, I'm what's wrong with it" Azula stated, to Sokka's surprise "Me, the Fire Nation… and I suppose this extends to all those who want to vanquish the Fire Nation now"

"What…?"

"What are we, but products of a system that failed to teach us why balance mattered?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows. Sokka blinked blankly "It's not that I'm blaming the Avatars for the war my ancestors began. But Sozin started a war for his own purposes: he wanted to gain lands and resources that had been granted to the Earth Kingdom alone. He found no reason to stop and ask for permission, for he felt no need to respect the lands of another nation. They had what he wanted, and he had the power to take it. Why hold back under the belief that balance was necessary? Necessary for whom? Why was it so important?"

Sokka frowned. Azula slid her hand through her hair.

"I'm not saying that what he did was right, Sokka… I'm saying he had no reason to care whether it was right or wrong"

"And the Avatar was meant to give him a class on why you shouldn't be a shitty human being?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows. Azula smiled.

"No. The Avatar was meant to stop and ponder the meaning of the balance he was fighting for" said Azula. Sokka raised an eyebrow and sat up beside her "Because maybe the type of balance the Avatars were so adamant about wasn't exactly the balance they should have been advocating for"

"Come again?" he asked, and Azula breathed out.

"Well, this won't be easy" she said, swallowing hard "Let's pretend that Sozin didn't do what he did. Say he sent a missive to the Earth King at the time, requesting for trades and exchanges of goods so he could feed his excessive population. And also requesting some lands, so some Fire Nation people could live there, in order to resolve the problem of overpopulation. What answer do you think the Earth King would have given him?"

"I… suppose he wouldn't have approved of that" said Sokka, frowning.

"No, he wouldn't have. I can't say this for certain, but I think that's one of the reasons why Sozin didn't bother asking for permission and simply set up the first colonies as he pleased" said Azula. She looked at him now, grinding her teeth "As for your own tribe… did you guys ever endure periods of shortages, perhaps? No food to be found, few resources to keep you warm…"

"Well… we did. Sometimes" said Sokka, frowning. His eyes grew darker again "I guess the worst of it was when I was a teenager, when my father took the warriors to fight in the war. The only ones who ever went hunting or fishing were me, my sister and a few young women. Providing for the Tribe wasn't easy during those years…"

"I can imagine it wasn't" said Azula "And there was no help from any external sources, was there? It was just you and your own"

"Yeah. Naturally" said Sokka, shrugging. Azula sighed.

"And there it is, again, the reason why I disagree with the meaning of worldly balance as it has been generally understood during the past millennia" she said. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"What other option was there, though?" Sokka asked "What do you think is better than balance?"

"Why, actual balance, maybe" said Azula, with a sarcastic smile. Sokka looked at her in confusion "Trading, Sokka. Exchange between different cultures for the sake of their enrichment. How much easier would you have had it if, I don't know, Kyoshi Island had sent your tribe some of the fish they usually hauled in exchange for pelts or furs, for instance?"

Sokka blinked blankly again, though he seemed curious about what Azula was saying. She took that as a good sign.

"If the Earth Kingdom had been willing to grant concessions to either of our nations, we probably would live in a very different world. To put it bluntly, it's unfair that both Tribes are forced to live in poles. The living conditions there are simply too harsh. I understand that the Poles are the best places for waterbenders to use their skills, but what about the non-benders that comprise the majority of any population? How is living in a Pole better for you than living in ripe lands like those of the Earth Kingdom? Why is it that those lands belong to them, and only to them, despite most of them weren't utilized to the fullest? How is it right that you'd have spent your teenage years freezing, starving, without a chance to have a decent meal… when someone like me must have been eating to her heart's content around the same time, in the Fire Nation Palace?"

"Well… I guess the abysmal difference is because that's how the nations were established. They were divided depending on people's affinities towards their elements" said Sokka "You can't deny it, can you? Each land is fitting for each nation. The Fire Nation is the best place for firebenders to live, the poles suit the waterbenders, the Earth Kingdom continent would suit earthbenders. And the mountains were adequate for Air Nomads, too…"

"Yet you can make a fire anywhere. There's air in every place you mentioned. Nobody can live without water, or without earth under their feet… though I guess the Water Tribes don't really have earth under their feet, but you know what I mean" she said. Sokka bit his lip "You had fire and air back home, didn't you?"

"Yeah" he said, shrugging matter-of-factly. Azula nodded.

"The elements can be found anywhere, it's a fact. Yet, going by the concept of balance we've had for the longest time, we should have stayed in our specific lands, never setting a single foot past the frontiers between the nations, simply because we had more affinity towards them?" Azula asked. Sokka scratched his head.

"Well… I didn't really mean it that way"

"Yet that's what happened, isn't it?" said Azula. Sokka dropped his hand and looked at her in confusion "We were isolated from one another completely. All nations were to keep to themselves, and never to mingle with the others. The only person who would travel through the nations was the Avatar"

"I guess… but I mean, were there really such specific limits? Was it actually impossible for a Fire Nation citizen to travel to an Air Temple, for instance?"

"I don't think it was impossible. I do think it didn't cross people's minds to do it, though" said Azula, shrugging "How many Earth Kingdom visitors did you have in your tribe?"

"Eh… none. But in war times you can't really expect…"

"Alright, so were you ever told of stories of better times, when the Southern Water Tribe would mingle with other nations?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka pondered her question briefly before nodding.

"Well, there used to be a festival… but it was just for the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, actually" he said, shrugging "It stopped when the war began, I think. Other than that, I can't remember anything…"

"Did you ever meet anyone from the Northern Water Tribe? Well, other than that waterbender from the White Lotus, and the Stingray…"

"No, but… well, a kid I used to know was taken there when I was young" said Sokka, frowning "It was… well, he was taken there after an accident. His parents hoped to heal him there"

"Did you ever see them again?" Azula asked. Sokka shook his head.

"No" he answered, curtly "As for other visitors to the Water Tribe, my father and the warriors stopped by there during the war. And they saw a lot of the Earth Kingdom, too… but they weren't there to stay anyways. And they didn't bring anyone from the Earth Kingdom with them when they returned, either"

"Of course not" said Azula, sighing "These ideals of people having specific places where they belong… they've been engraved into our cultures, and despite it all, they make enough sense. I always feel out of my element, quite literally, when I leave the Fire Nation. Nothing is ever as comfortable as my nation. And I'm sure that's how many others feel, but… what about those who don't feel that way? What about those Fire Nation people who traveled to the Earth Kingdom and found new homes there? What if… what if someone born to the Earth Kingdom discovered the Water Tribe's lifestyle was more appealing for them?"

"It's a bit unlikely, though, isn't it?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "I mean… I've adapted to the Fire Nation, it's true, but that doesn't mean I should give up my roots…"

"You don't have to give them up" Azula said "But you should have had the right to search for better conditions to live, don't you think? Even if just to survive a lousy winter…"

"Maybe" said Sokka, frowning and sliding his fingers through his hair "It's just… what do you really think the Avatars should have done, then? You mentioned stablishing trade routes? I mean… that wasn't really up to them, is it?"

"It isn't. But the Avatar used to be the most powerful entity in our world. A keeper of the peace" said Azula "How many nation's leaders were intimidated by that powerful figure, I wonder?"

"Probably a lot. Might be what he was good for, to keep them all in line" said Sokka, shrugging.

"So if they were afraid of Avatar retribution, how were they supposed to consider that maybe creating trade routes and establishing cultural exchanges was a possibility?" said Azula, intertwining her fingers and setting her hands under her chin, her elbows on her knees "Any attempts to step out of each nation's boundaries could be taken as a dangerous move to wreck the stability and harmony of the Avatar's brew of balance… which is why, in my opinion, it wasn't actual balance at all. Why should something so important depend on a single person? A single person who would live a normal lifespan, die and reincarnate in a new body, then spend his first twenty years in training before he's ready to bring balance to the world again. How reliable is this agent of balance when he needs to take approximately twenty years off at a time, twenty years during which any nation could destroy the other if they gather their courage… as the Fire Nation did, when it wiped out the Air Nomads?"

Sokka frowned. Azula looked at him with uncertainty.

"It isn't that balance was wrong. It isn't that the Avatar shouldn't have seen to keep harmony between nations, and between the humans and spirits… but rather, that maybe the Avatar's work would have been less difficult if he hadn't relied on his own power, and nothing else, in order to keep balance. If maybe the Avatar had stopped to consider that, in order to achieve a stable kind of balance, his duty should have been to teach each nation, or at the very least, their leaders, how to coexist genuinely in the same world. If he had taught them to accept and respect their differences, real progress could have been achieved in a world that was, well… united, basically"

Sokka's eyes widened as Azula spoke. She didn't meet his gaze anymore.

"I don't think the Avatars understood their roles all that well. Take Avatar Kyoshi for instance… instead of attempting to placate the threat represented by Chin the Conqueror from the start, she simply withdrew to her corner of the Earth Kingdom, and when he came to claim it, she split off the earth and created Kyoshi Island. I mean… that was the solution, really? She actually chose to split off a piece of the continent over trying to find a productive solution for the war wreaking havoc through the Earth Kingdom. Separation was her immediate preference. The Earth Kingdom had been in chaos during several years, from my understanding… and yet she let it spiral out of control, not doing anything until her village was threatened. Why wasn't she advising the Earth King from beforehand? Why wasn't she working for the unity of her very nation? How did the creation of Kyoshi Island aid in keeping balance in the world? If anything, it just served to separate the Earth Kingdom further, to set up more barriers between people"

"I don't know, actually. She must have thought it was the only choice left" said Sokka, frowning and swallowing hard. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Making such a choice might not have been necessary at all if the Avatars before her, and Kyoshi herself, had actively worked towards teaching their leaders, or the people, the meaning of balance" said Azula "Instead of perceiving balance as limits and boundaries, they could have tried to make it about conciliating each nation's differences. I don't deny that maybe setting specific limits would have been helpful at first, but when the Avatar's understanding of balance became a matter of keeping everyone secluded, separated from each other… how much use was that in the long run?

"Look at what the Fire Nation has done… we defied the concept of balance that had been established through ages, believing it didn't matter anymore, because there was nobody to enlighten any of our leaders about why it still mattered. And in our race for progress, we've wound up destroying even our own people and our own lands. That town in Jang Hui… I haven't forgotten what we saw there. It was gruesome. And it was evidence that indeed, the Fire Nation's progress has caused a lot of damage. It's not like I had needed much more evidence at that point, but… it was yet more proof that we are destroying ourselves, too. And it's all in a hopeless struggle to gain more than we can benefit from as we are. We've lost so much. And it's all because Sozin, and all those who followed, thought balance was unnecessary. Because they didn't have a reason to respect other nations, since they believed the superiority of the Fire Nation was what mattered the most.

"Sometimes I wonder if they were actually afraid that another nation would come to the same conclusions they had, that someone else would choose to question the concept of balance, and that they would decide to trample over the Fire Nation with the power of their mighty armies. I guess if it hadn't been us, it could have been anyone else. The premise of sharing our greatness with the world… well, it was but an irony indeed. But you know what? We… we should share our greatness with the world for real. We all should have, from the very start. And yet we never considered it, because the idea of harmony based on mutual, cultural respect instead of boundaries was just that farfetched for everyone…"

"You really think that's possible, though?" Sokka asked, frowning "Can the Fire Nation simply accept another culture? Because… the last I knew, the Fire Nation had destroyed two cultures, and from my understanding, your father's sights are set on doing the same to the Northern Water Tribe next. It sounds…well, too idealistic, if you ask me"

"Well… try not to storm off on me when I say this" said Azula, with a weak grin "But the Earth Kingdom culture wasn't entirely destroyed. It was assimilated, even if with the wrong purposes in mind. My father didn't do it for the sake of cultural exchange, no doubt… but we've traveled through these lands, haven't we? And we've seen families, and marriages, like the Morishitas, like Tiang and his wife… they're Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation at once, aren't they?"

Sokka frowned again. Azula sighed.

"I know the war has caused damage we cannot repair even if we try" she said "I know too many lives have been lost. But… is it that unforgivable for me to think that maybe a few good things came from it all?"

"Unforgivable? No, it isn't… especially considering the examples you're using" said Sokka, smiling a little "If you were telling me the good thing the war brought was slavery I would have been appalled, likely, but… but you're right in that sense, I guess. Tiang could only find his wife because he took Ba Sing Se, and that's… it's the same as you and me, isn't it? We had a pretty bad first encounter, but without it, and without the good and bad things that followed, we wouldn't have what we have now"

"I do wish most of the pain hadn't been necessary…" said Azula, reaching to touch his hand "But if you think about it… if Sozin hadn't wrought this war, do you think we would have even met? Is it even likely…? There used to be no cooperation between nations before the war, not from what I've seen in books anyways. Each nation kept to itself. By now, the Fire Nation has assimilated Earth Kindom citizens, and forced a rather massive number of them into slavery. And ours was never a nation of slavers… but yet it's what it became now. It's yet another thing we ought to change…"

"You really think so?" Sokka asked, his eyes widening "You'd… you'd abolish slavery?"

"I think I would, if I could" said Azula "But I can't yet. Not as I am. It's something my father would refuse to accept coming from me…"

"But it's still something you'd want to do, once you become Fire Lord" said Sokka. Azula nodded. He smiled.

"I can try to have certain slavery practices are reconsidered, and even terminated…" said Azula, thoughtful "Such as the Amateur Arenas. Even if they weren't abolished altogether, I'd try to have their system changed so the fighters have more humane treatment. I suppose it wouldn't be easy to get my father to think about these things, but setting standards on the treatment of slaves just might be the one solution he won't refuse to accept immediately"

"That's… that would be amazing" said Sokka, clasping her hand in his "It really would be, Azula…"

"And even then it's still not the best thing that could be done, but it's the best I can do" she whispered "So indeed, I would want to change slavery, since I can't to stop it altogether, but… but at the same time, the Fire Nation's conquest over the rest of the world has, quite ironically, given people a chance to live in different places, to meet people they never would have under normal circumstances. Some, like you, have even learned from these experiences… you're as good as a master swordsman now, after Piandao trained you, and with everything you learned for your fight at the Slate, you're stronger than ever"

"That is true" said Sokka, nodding.

"It's not right that you learned all this only because slavery happened, though" said Azula "You, and everyone else who's gained something from bonding with those of another nation, shouldn't have had to sacrifice your freedom to do it. I didn't need to make such compromises to obtain benefits from you, and neither do most Fire Nation people who bond with those of other nations. It's just… not right"

"No, it isn't" said Sokka, smiling "Still… you wish slavery hadn't happened, but that we would have known each other anyways? That the bonds we've built with those of different cultures could still exist…?"

"The thing is, if the world were to remain as it was before the war, Sokka… then how could you and I be together?" Azula asked, looking at him regretfully. Sokka's eyes widened "There were no mixed families or relationships until the Fire Nation's conquest began. I know it may sound like I'm excusing or glossing over the damage the conquest has done, but…"

"I know what you mean, though. I do" said Sokka, frowning "It's actually true… my grandmother, she came from the Northern Water Tribe"

"Oh?"

"She told me and my sister about how she fled from the north to avoid marriage" said Sokka, with a small smile "When she arrived South she was welcomed, but she always stood out because of her origins. She married my grandfather, and then had my father… and while he wasn't treated poorly, he was thought not to be good enough for my mother, who was the daughter of the Chief. It took him quite a long courtship, and a lot of efforts, to win her heart and to convince the Tribe that he could take up the role of Chief once my other grandfather passed away. It wasn't easy, though…"

"I suppose there was interest in preserving the South's cultural values or so" said Azula, frowning "Still, they didn't have it easy, despite coming from their sister tribe, no less. Imagine how a Fire Nation citizen would fare in the South Pole…"

"They'd probably never consider having one in their midst" said Sokka "I doubt they'd be that hard on someone from the Earth Kingdom, but they wouldn't be too kind either way"

"Which is precisely what I mean. I really think balance has been misunderstood for being boundaries, limits between people. And… and I know it may sound corny of me to say so, but don't you ever think about how lucky we are?"

"Well, I did just say I was the luckiest man in the world" said Sokka, grinning. Azula smiled too.

"I mean because… if circumstances had been different, maybe we wouldn't have had a chance to be together at all" said Azula "If there had been no war, a lot of lives would have been saved… and yet we'd still be isolated from one another, most likely. We wouldn't even know the other exists"

"That's like the worst case scenario, though, isn't it? I mean, as son of the Chief, and with you as a Princess…"

"I wouldn't have been in the main branch of the family if there had been no war" Azula pointed out. Sokka blinked "My uncle wouldn't have lost his son, so it stands to reason to imagine he wouldn't have turned his back on his nation and that he would have taken his father's throne when his time came. So if you think some sort of political meeting could have been held between our nations, and that by chance we might have met there… well, the chances are you would have met my cousin and not me. As for some arranged marriage, if that's what you were hoping for? Again, unlikely. I've never heard of anyone in the Royal Family marrying outside Fire Nation nobility"

"Huh… so that's the part where your complaints about balance hit us in the gut, huh?" said Sokka, sighing.

"It's stupid, though, that the ideal of balance was that we had to live apart and at such distance from one another… because look at us" said Azula, meeting his gaze "I've never known someone who can make me feel the things you do. Normally I pulled away from most people, keeping distance from them, but with you I… I can't help but to want to get closer. It's been that way for the longest time…"

"I feel the same way" said Sokka, smiling "I mean… you make me feel that life is worthwhile. That in itself is the most amazing gift I've been given. And it's something I can only connect to you… because you're the one who keeps giving me reasons not to give up. So… where would I be without you?"

"I guess you'd still be in your tribe…"

"Or probably dead after your father sent his troops to annihilate me for taking his lackeys as captives" said Sokka, with a grimace. Azula sighed.

"Yeah… that's likely, to be honest" she whispered.

"I know that a lot of things have gone awry" said Sokka, reaching to caress Azula's face with the back of his hand "And I know that maybe if anything had gone differently, we might not have this, so… it's why, despite it all, I cherish what we have as much as I do. The mere thought of a life without you… well, I simply imagine I'd spend my years bored, lonely, waiting for a miracle to happen. And if a miracle were to happen in some form other than yours, I think I'd still feel dissatisfied even though I wouldn't know why. Because as it is… well, I can't imagine a life without you. I don't want to"

"I don't want to imagine one without you either" said Azula, kissing his hand "Don't you ever wonder how many people like us have existed? People who could have found a wonderful partner at the other end of the world… and yet settled for someone they didn't love fully, or perhaps they spent their lives alone, simply because these boundaries existed?"

"I guess it's not just you and me, is it? It's Tiang and his wife, Yu Dao's mayor… it's also Zuko and Suki. And Ty Lee and Haru…" said Sokka, frowning "Maybe for the rest of the world, sacrificing these relationships would be a small price to pay for peace and harmony, but…"

"It's no peace, Sokka. It's not harmony, not for real. Not when it's as stable as trying to balance a building on a spinning wheel" said Azula, shaking her head "What we used to have was separation, definitions, boxes with labels where you could throw each person depending on what they were. And you and me? We don't share any of those boxes, do we? We're opposites in practically every regard. Yet why is it that nobody else who shares my boxes has resounded with me in the way you do?"

"We've had our clashes, it's true" he whispered "We really didn't start off well. But… I guess that comes with balance too, doesn't it? We were too different to understand each other right away, but in time…"

"We found a rhythm. A way to coexist without destroying each other" said Azula, smiling "Despite it all… fire and water might not need to snuff the other out of existence"

"Both our elements are flowing, you know?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "So I guess we've just found a way to flow around one another. Don't you think?"

Azula laughed softly and pressed her forehead to his. She held his face in place, and his lips found hers.

"We did go a long time fighting each other, fighting our feelings… and yet nothing has been more gratifying than stopping that struggle and just giving in" said Sokka, kissing her forehead "Maybe the world needs to learn from us, huh? To just quit fighting and… and accept one another. Even if it sounds idealistic"

"Maybe it is, but we can still try to make it happen" said Azula, dropping her head on his shoulder "We can't depend blindly on someone else, expecting them to swing in and fix our problems magically. The Avatar has been gone for over a hundred years, and for all we know, there might be no more Avatars anymore… maybe it means it's time for the world to learn what balance is and why we need it, instead of waiting for some enforcer to make us behave as he believes proper. An enforcer who would keep us all apart in his attempt to create balance"

"Then… does this start with us?" Sokka asked. Azula smiled and cupped his face, her eyes meeting his.

"It already started before us, Sokka" she whispered "Maybe not in the smoothest way, but it has begun indeed. I guess our role would be to make it smoother…"

"So we're going to change the world?" Sokka asked, smiling "Into a world where… where the two of us can be together, maybe?"

"Well, the world where we are together already exists" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "The problem is convincing everyone that this isn't as bad an idea as they'll assume it is. But frankly…"

"Making this a world where we can be together is the hardest part. I get it" said Sokka. Azula smiled sympathetically.

"We can still try. If nothing else, once I'm Fire Lord nobody will be able to stop me from being with you if that's what I want" said Azula "Only, since my father is in good health and I doubt he has any plans to step down from the throne, I suppose we will be free to be together when we're, uh… around seventy, perhaps. Can you wait that long?"

Sokka snorted with laughter, surrounding Azula's waist with his arms as she smiled. He kissed the tip of her nose, still beaming.

"I'd wait forever and you know it. No matter how old and wrinkly we are" he said. Azula laughed too.

"That's a relief. Though I do hope the Royal Spa will prevent me from getting too many wrinkles…" she reasoned. Sokka laughed again.

"Damn, I love you" he said, hugging her tight and dropping on the bed with her in his arms. Now it was Azula who lay atop him "You'll be the greatest Fire Lord there's ever been"

"And you'll make a fine Fire Lady, when the time comes"

"A fine what, now?" said Sokka, prompting Azula to laugh again "Hey, I'm no lady!"

"You needn't say that twice" said Azula, still chuckling "But I rather enjoy teasing you, my manly man"

"Heh. I am manly. Yep" he said, smiling proudly.

Azula sighed with relief, celebrating internally the return of Sokka's goofier side. She leaned down on him, kissing him softly, still smiling as she held his face in her hand.

"But, say… I am a fan of everything you've just said, and I'm glad you want to end slavery, but there's a lot of stuff that could happen when you do that. Some people might not like it" said Sokka, biting his lip "And also, there's other problems out there, too… you won't give the Earth Kingdom's autonomy back, or would you?"

"As things are now?" said Azula, frowning "I don't know if that would be a good idea. King Kuei wasn't a good ruler, and Ba Sing Se is thriving in Tiang's charge. I don't know if that's the case for all of the Earth Kingdom, but I question that withdrawing our control over their lands would be much help. Granted it might be the right thing to do, from a moral point of view, but…"

"It's complicated, I know" said Sokka, sighing "Still, it's something else we have to think about. People deserve the right to keep their cultures, even under Fire Nation rule. Then again, going by what you've said, you don't mean to trample over the Earth Kingdom culture altogether, do you?"

"No, that's not my intent. Not at this point anyways, regardless if I didn't always care for that" she whispered "I'm aware there are a lot of problems that will need tending to, Sokka. I know it's not just about the things that concern us personally…"

"I figured. I just thought I'd make sure" said Sokka, smiling a little "There's a lot of people enduring bad things, like the Mechanist, and they don't deserve that. He doesn't deserve that"

"What do you mean, exactly?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows. Sokka bit his lip.

"He told me that the War Minister has been threatening him ever since the Fire Nation army found this place. He offered his services in a desperate plea to protect his people. It's why he's been helping the Fire Nation as he has"

Azula frowned and remained silent for a moment, in deep thought. Sokka looked at her uneasily.

"How did he threaten him? Do you know?" Azula asked. Sokka shrugged.

"I'm not sure. He mentioned something about destroying their home, I think" he said "You can ask him for details tomorrow if you need to hear the whole story. All the same, it's just… it's really not fair. He's had to decide between protecting his own and being loyal to his nation. With either decision he's had to sacrifice something he cared for. And he doesn't deserve that any more than we do. It's affected him in ways I can only begin to imagine. It's why he spends so long locked in his office, why he's always working… he can barely bear the guilt anymore"

"I'm not surprised to hear that. It's my father's personal brand of manipulation, you see" said Azula, sighing "He's a master at cornering people through threats: they can give him what he wants, regardless if they don't want to do it, or they will be facing a living hell. Naturally, most people choose the first option. The Mechanist did, too"

"It's the same he did with this mission, isn't it?" said Sokka "I didn't have a choice regarding whether I wanted to assist the Mechanist. The only choice to be made was whether I'd do it willingly or not… and of course, resisting would have only been futile, right?"

"Right. It would have made this entire situation much worse" said Azula, biting her lip. Sokka sighed.

"You will try to fix this too, though, won't you?" Sokka asked, looking at her eagerly "Even if you might only have the power to do it when we're seventy…"

Azula smiled and kissed him. Sokka caressed her cheek as she returned his gaze.

"I'll do everything in my power to right my nation's wrongs. A lot of things we did were less than ideal, but I will do my best to turn things around without throwing away the good changes we've made to the world. Because… because we do need balance. The Fire Nation has damaged itself by disrupting balance, whether we want to accept that or not… and now look at us. We're assimilating other cultures, relying on people like the Mechanist to accomplish things we can't do ourselves. And after growing so close to you, I can only be horrified by everything I put you through back when we first met… and Xin Long? He's… he's desperate to meet more dragons, and if he never did, it'd be because of what the Fire Nation has done to his kind. There would be nobody else to blame for it"

"Azula…" whispered Sokka, as she sighed.

"I will do my best to change the ways of the world. Even if I don't know how I'll do it yet, but… I do have around fifty years to plan it, don't I?" she said, smiling. Sokka grinned back.

"If someone can do this, it's you. I'm sure of it" he said, pressing his forehead to hers.

"Not on my own, though…" she whispered. He raised an eyebrow as their gazes met again.

"Well, you won't be on your own. I can promise you that" he said, smiling sweetly.

Azula swallowed hard and dropped her gaze briefly before looking at him again. Sokka intertwined her hand with his.

"Sokka… about the things you said earlier, regarding your Tribe" Azula started. Sokka swallowed.

"Yeah?"

"I understand you being nervous about going home, especially because of what's happening between us. They won't take kindly to hear about our bond, even if you don't explain it fully… at least, I can imagine they won't"

"They won't like it, no" said Sokka "I don't know if I'll manage to make them understand, honestly, but… but I'll try to, at least"

"Good" said Azula, nodding "So then you still mean to go see them"

Sokka took a deep breath and nodded too.

"I guess I just figured I would, once I'd completed our goal. It's what we've settled on, after all" he muttered.

"And we will complete it. For certain" she said, with determination. Sokka smiled weakly "But seeing how uneasy you are about this, I thought maybe things won't have to be exactly as we originally planned. Too much has changed since we first struck our deal, after all, so…"

"So?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"So, I was thinking… I can take you to your Tribe, when all is said and done" she said "But… you won't have to stay there forever if you don't want to. Whether they accept you as you are now or not… I'll wait for you at the coast, if you still want to go back to the Fire Nation with me. And if you do, then we can…"

"We can stay together" said Sokka, smiling brightly. His eyes had lit up, blazing brighter than Azula had ever seen them before "The two of us, together, no matter what…"

"And we'd keep true to our original promise, despite it all" said Azula, smiling "I would take you home as planned. We're just… altering what comes afterwards, I guess. As long as you want this, of course…"

"What do you mean, as long as I want it?" he said, laughing happily "There's nothing I'd want more, nothing…!"

Azula laughed as he kissed her eagerly, repeatedly, surrounding her tightly with his arms. She returned each kiss, caressing his arms when he buried his face in her shoulder.

"You're the best part of my life, hands down" he said, smiling still "Staying with you would be… it'd be so perfect, Azula…"

"I'm glad to hear it" she said, kissing the side of his head "I… I really did fear what might come once we defeated Zhao's gladiator. I thought that maybe… that we would part ways forever. And the mere idea was just…"

"Even if we hadn't reached this point, Azula" said Sokka, pulling away and stroking her hair "Even if we weren't together like this, I wouldn't know how to part ways with you. Being away from you for a month already took me more willpower than I knew I had, I can't even imagine saying goodbye forever. I… I won't have it. I'll do whatever it takes to stay by your side for as long as we can be together"

"And I'll do whatever it takes to keep you with me. And to keep you safe, too" she said, kissing the palm of his hand "Which is awfully contradictory, considering what your line of work is, but still…"

"I'm a fortunate gladiator, really. For my sponsor to be so eager to keep me safe, warm, well-fed and happy…" he said, caressing her face "It's more than I ever dreamt I would have, if I were sponsored"

"Did you ever think it was possible?" Azula asked. Sokka shook his head.

"I figured I'd be long dead before anyone thought to glance my way. I wasn't anything special back then, you know that" said Sokka, with a weak grin.

"You were, in different regards than in physical prowess" said Azula "And yet now you're special in all regards, seems like…"

"Yeah? I thought I was mostly an idiot, though"

"You are one, but you can put that head of yours to good use when you feel like it" said Azula, smirking and kissing him "And considering I love you, perhaps I am a bit of an idiot myself…"

"No way you're actually saying that, girl" said Sokka, with wide, horrified eyes. Azula chuckled "You? An idiot?"

"It's your fault. I didn't even know this side of myself existed" she said, sighing and dropping atop him "And yet I'm grateful you've brought it out of me. You've made me the happiest I've ever been. So…"

"So I'll stay with you, in hopes to keep making you the happiest you've ever been" said Sokka his embrace tightening as Azula pulled the sheets and blankets over them with difficulty.

"Good. Though that was not what I was going to say" she whispered.

"What was?" Sokka asked, and Azula leaned down to kiss him.

"That I'll do my best to make you as much of a happy idiot as I am when I'm around you" she whispered. Sokka grinned.

"You don't even need to try, Princess. I'm a happy idiot simply because you exist" he said kissing her shoulder as they rolled on their sides "The fact that you've looked my way and thought me worthy of you is still beyond my understanding. Loving you, though, is the best thing I've ever done"

Azula smile warmly and kissed him again, pressing her body against his. Sokka's arms were around her, to hold her close to him through the night.

"Thank you, for saving my life all the time" he whispered "You keep doing that even if you don't realize it. You did it again today, though I guess this time you could tell…"

"You don't need to thank me. I'm actually doing it for selfish reasons" said Azula, hiding her face in his neck "I can't fathom surviving in this world without you. It's you and me for good, we've already agreed on that, right? No more wasted time, no more nonsense…"

"No more dishonesty" Sokka said, nodding "If this is going to last, we need to work for it and give it our all"

"I'm willing to" Azula whispered. He smiled.

"So am I"

Azula sighed in relief and lifted her gaze to find his. They joined together in another intimate kiss, their bodies pressed together, their warmth combining. The night slipped away from them slowly, and soon they both relaxed fully in their close embrace.

Despite herself, Azula didn't fall asleep even though her eyelids fluttered closed at times. She continued to caress Sokka's humid hair as she watched him sleep, eased by the sight of his heaving chest, by feeling his heart beating at regular rhythm. She pressed her lips to his forehead at times, to his cheek, to his own lips, and even if he was unconscious, he responded at times, pecking at her blindly and making her smile. Despite she was exhausted, especially on an emotional level, she couldn't fathom leaving yet. At least not until the night had passed, and she knew she had nothing more to fear. She would remain beside him until light and brightness returned, bringing in a new day to mend what had been broken before. A new day, in which she might not need to dread what the shadows would do to Sokka's heart. She meant to help him fight them in whichever way she could, that was a certainty… at least, until she knew he was strong enough to fight them on his own. She hoped the day would come when she could face her own demons in the same way.

Her inner fire flared with a familiar sensation: dawn was nearing. She breathed deeply, knowing she had better leave before Rui Shi caught her naked in Sokka's bed. She kissed him again, stroking his face with her fingers.

"I love you" she whispered. It was so much easier to say the words earnestly when he was asleep.

Yet he took her by surprise by humming and kissing her back fully now, his grip on her waist growing stronger.

"And I love you…" he said, opening his eyes lazily. Azula smiled.

"Good. But I need to go now, okay?" she said, pressing her forehead to his. Sokka swallowed.

"Right. Rui Shi…" he said, before covering his mouth as the urge to yawn hit him. Azula kissed the back of his hand and climbed off the small bed with some difficulty.

She started gathering her clothes, and was taken by surprise when Sokka climbed off the bed behind her. He clasped her shoulders and kissed the back of her head before joining her in fetching her clothing items. Soon he was helping her clad herself in them, indulging in occasional kisses and embraces.

Soon she was in full garb, armored as per usual, while Sokka remained fully naked. She insisted on remediating that, regardless of Sokka's reassurances that it wasn't necessary.

"I just prevented you from freezing to death down there. You're not going to stay naked just so you can get sick despite my efforts" she said, as she finished tying his belt. Sokka sighed.

"You'll be looking after me constantly after my little stunt, won't you?"

"Until you prove you can take good care of yourself, yes" said Azula, smirking. He smiled.

"Well, it does feel good to be cared for so much" he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers "You're too kind"

"Only to you, and only once in a blue moon. So make the most of it" said Azula, cupping his face and kissing him softly.

He leaned down to hug her tight, and Azula returned the embrace most gladly. She kissed his shoulder, caressing his back.

"I'll see you in a few hours. Don't do anything stupid in the meantime, okay?" she whispered. He smiled.

"I won't" he said, nodding "What sort of stupid thing can I do while I sleep?"

"I don't know. Dream about me giving you oral sex, maybe…"

"Come on, Azula, it was a one-time thing…" he said. Azula smirked.

"I know, but one time is all it takes for me to never let it go" she said, kissing him again "Alright. I'm off, then…"

"Wait" he said, softly.

He cupped her face and kissed her once again, slowly and kindly. Azula closed her eyes and leaned into his body, returning every kiss sincerely. Sokka pressed his forehead to hers once the kiss was over, a small smile on his face.

"I love you" he said, kissing her forehead "Watch your step in those halls, okay?"

"I will. I'll see you shortly" she said, smiling as she caressed his cheek. After one last peck at his lips, she found the strength to pull away and moved to the door "And I love you, too…"

Sokka smiled affectionately at that, and Azula laughed softly under her breath before opening the door slowly, readying herself to take off to her tower. Sokka watched her leave, wishing he could help himself from feeling lonely so quickly when she was gone. He smiled to himself, though, for she had saved him again. He had never expected to become the man he was now, but he was grateful she was by his side in his worst trials. The shadows could catch up with him, but he knew he could count on Azula to keep him grounded. Despite their differences, they accepted each other completely. And they would always seek to understand one another, no matter how hard it could be at times.

Maybe it wasn't an ideal relationship on many fronts, he reasoned, as he returned to bed. But it could be the strongest relationship if they fought for it as they meant to. If they worked on their bond, on building the trust between them as they had tonight, no force in the world would ever get in their way. At least, he hoped as much.

He slipped under the covers, drifting into an uneasy sleep, perhaps because Azula's comforting presence was gone now. Yet he closed his eyes with the firm belief that dawn would bring a better day, and all the days afterwards would be better yet. He would face his fears, accept his shortcomings… and he would strive to find ways to better the world, by Azula's side.

* * *

"I'm sorry. I should've thought twice about what you were going through instead of lashing out at you as I did. Especially when you and I are on the same boat, pretty much"

The Mechanist's small eyes widened as Sokka looked at him earnestly across his desk. The Water Tribe man had paid his office an unexpected visit, now with a very different attitude than that of the previous day. The Mechanist could sense something had changed deep within Sokka, although he wasn't entirely sure of what it was. Yet something about his firm stance and steady eyes told him he wasn't as broken and hopeless as he had been yesterday.

"W-well… I actually didn't expect otherwise. Not when you discovered the truth" said the Mechanist, shrugging "I've done unforgivable things, Sokka…"

"So have I. I think we all have" he whispered, closing his eyes "It's why I'm sorry. I often talk without thinking, you know, and… and eventually I realize how many things I've misunderstood. How many assumptions I'd made"

"You have nothing to apologize for, Sokka" said the Mechanist, sighing "If only I had dared trust you…"

"I didn't trust you either, for that matter" said Sokka, with a weak smile "We didn't know what we were fighting for, or who we were fighting against"

"And we know now?" The Mechanist asked, looking at Sokka with confusion. To his surprise, Sokka nodded and smiled.

"Yes. We both know what we're fighting for" he said "And as long as we remember what we need to protect, we won't lose our way"

"But… Sokka, I've caused my own nation's destruction" the Mechanist said. Sokka shook his head.

"No, you didn't. You were threatened into service. You, my friend, aren't the problem" he said, firmly "It's not you who needs to change"

"Then who does? The Fire Lord? War Minister Qin?" the Mechanist asked. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"I think we'll see in time, won't we?" he said, standing up again "You won't have to worry, alright? Go back to your son, and stop drowning in work. You've done it all for him, after all, so you should spend proper time with him. It's time you take real breaks, and it's time for you to stop tormenting yourself. You don't need atonement for sins that aren't yours"

"Still… what about the bombs?" the Mechanist asked, looking at Sokka with uncertainty "Won't we still have to work on them? I… I actually tried to think of how to make the Princess's idea work, and maybe it can be done…"

"Huh? Really?" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows. The Mechanist bit his lip.

"I won't send word to the War Minister about it this time, I promise" he whispered. Sokka nodded.

"Good call" he said. The Mechanist swallowed hard.

"I haven't done anything yet, though. I don't really want to, but if the Fire Lord demands it…"

"It's fine" said Sokka, lifting a hand as to appease the worried man "I won't rage on you for it this time around. But I'll see if we can dodge this problem, though. Maybe we can just…"

The sound of the creaking door startled them both. They turned to look at it, and Sokka's eyes visibly brightened upon seeing Azula standing in the doorway. The Mechanist, on the other hand, was daunted and uneasy by her sudden apparition.

"Morning, to the both of you" she said, curtly. She shot Sokka a glare, which he understood immediately. He had better stop looking at her like the moron in love he was… "I have just received a message from my father"

"Y-your…?" said the Mechanist, paling. Sokka as well grew tense as Azula stepped into the room.

"He had sent it long before you mailed the new designs you've crafted" said Azula "And he seems to believe the airships will satisfy his purposes, despite I don't quite agree with that notion. Regardless… he wants us to return home now"

She addressed the last part to Sokka specifically. He grinded his teeth and nodded, while the Mechanist sighed in relief behind the desk.

"Truly, then? I won't have to build the bombs anymore? I had already started to come up with a strategy to use the gas, but if you won't need it…"

"It would seem we won't, at least not for the foreseeable future" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "I thank you for your services, and… well, if they were ever required again, I do hope you won't have to provide them as you did this time. I'm under the impression you've been enduring harsh treatment by War Minister Qin during the past years?"

"W-why… well, yes, Princess" said the Mechanist, nervously "But it's not…"

"It's not proper that a man of your talent would be treated this way" said Azula. The Mechanist's eyes widened "Especially when the threats yielded no results. You succeeded in designing these aircrafts once you had Sokka's assistance. The War Minister achieved nothing by terrorizing you, so I will make certain my father has a few words with him about his inefficient methods to obtain results"

"Y-you would? Wait… what?" said the Mechanist, his eyes widening again. Azula nodded.

"I know it's hard to believe, but I mean what I say" she declared "I'll see to this myself. If he ever threatens you again into working in projects you're struggling with, send word and I'll put an end to this problem on a more permanent manner. I won't have important Fire Nation allies mistreated at the hands of inept officials"

Sokka couldn't help but smile as Azula spoke, with her characteristic cold tone. He smiled, though, because he was seeing the hope of freedom being born in the Mechanist's eyes. The knowledge that he would no longer be terrified into service and submission seemed to be too much to take, for tears started to blink in the corners of his eyes.

"So you won't have to bear with this anymore. I mean to straighten matters out with War Minister Qin" Azula repeated "You've provided the Fire Nation with grand advancements, and threats are no way to show you the gratefulness you deserve"

"I… t-thank you, Princess. Oh, this is just…!" he said, laughing happily as he brought his hands together, a blissful smile on his face. Azula held back a smile of her own. She had a reputation to maintain "You really mean this? Oh, it means… it means so much more than I can say! Can I hug…? N-no, of course I can't hug you"

"Yes, please refrain from doing that" said Azula, inching away from the man slowly.

To her mild amusement, the Mechanist laughed and hugged Sokka instead, who was startled at first but smiled soon enough, looking at Azula with confusion. She couldn't hold back her own smile this time as the Mechanist cheered, squeezing Sokka tightly.

"Finally! We'll be free to live here as we please! Oh, you two must come visit whenever you pass nearby!" he said, beaming at them both "You surely travel often to Ba Sing Se, don't you?"

"Not that often, but… maybe we could come again?" Sokka asked, looking at Azula with raised eyebrows. She shrugged.

"Maybe one day, though I doubt we'll stay this long" she said "Still, before we take our leave… which I guess will be tomorrow, since we'll have to pack first, I have something to ask, if you don't mind"

The Mechanist raised his messy eyebrows, uncertain of what Azula was talking about, but perfectly willing to hear what she had to say. If she would indeed change his life and give him back the freedom he had once enjoyed while in the Temple, he was more than willing to answer her questions.

"You said you had an accident down there, wherever the volatile gas is?" Azula asked. He nodded.

"I did, I just walked in there with a torch and… well, it was a pretty bad experience, yes. Why?"

"Did you have a chance to see any of what's down there? If there's anything at all, of course…"

"Why, not really, no. All I can say is that there was a door, which I reinforced afterwards so the gas wouldn't leak. But I didn't see anything, the room is so dark… I did create a lantern that would prevent me from catching fire again, but I have never used it to get inside the room. I'm not sure if I should let myself breathe that volatile gas too long. So I never investigated thoroughly. Why do you want to know, though?"

"It's… nothing. Just musings and strange theories I enjoy concocting" said Azula, shrugging innocently "Then you've just never ventured further to discover what might be down there"

"Why, no, but… what could there be down there other than that gas?" the Mechanist asked. Azula bit her lip.

"Answers, maybe. Never mind, though. I was merely asking out of curiosity" said Azula "Anyways, I'll thank you again for your efforts. I do hope you can use your new aircrafts for your own purposes too: perhaps you can travel to Ba Sing Se and acquire a few goods you can't find around here. Make the most of them, though, and good luck in your future endeavors"

"Thank you, Princess… truly, thank you" the Mechanist said, smiling at her. Azula nodded in his direction and he bowed "I am forever in your debt"

"And in debt you shall remain for as long as I can afford it" said Azula, nodding towards him once more. The Mechanist stared at her in confusion as she turned to Sokka "Pack your things early, alright? We'll be leaving first thing tomorrow as soon as the sun rises"

"Sure thing" said Sokka, nodding firmly as Azula turned to leave the office.

Sokka sighed happily as she left and turned to the Mechanist. He patted the man's shoulder, but he noticed he remained confused still.

"What… what did she mean with that?" he asked Sokka "She'll keep me in debt…?"

"I think it means she hopes she'll never need to make you return the favor" said Sokka, smiling "She doesn't want to keep demanding war inventions from you"

The Mechanist's eyes gleamed again. He had to clutch his desk as the surprise shook him fully. Yes, he couldn't take back the damage he had already done… but maybe he wouldn't need to damage anyone else anymore. It was over…

Sokka was surprised when he heard the man sobbing softly. He grimaced and surrounded his shoulders with an arm, as the Mechanist's overflowing emotions poured out between hiccups and soft whispers of gratefulness. Sokka smiled as he rubbed the man's shoulder, knowing what Azula's kindness truly meant to him.

The two of them had decided that they would change the world's state, that they would fight to see it become a better place. But Sokka glanced at the door through which Azula left open behind her. A simple realization materialized in his mind, prompting him to smile: they had started to change the world long before they decided to do so. The Mechanist was hardly the first person Azula had shown veiled kindness to, and Sokka knew he wouldn't be the last.

"She'll make a pretty great Fire Lord one day, don't you think?" he said. The Mechanist sniffed and nodded most eagerly.

"Oh, that's for certain…" he said, smiling through his tears.

The day was hectic, as the Princess, her gladiator and her guards took care to pack up once again. The Mechanist's other assistants took care to ensure the train-tank would be ready to take off in the morning. Dinner was almost a grand celebration, as most of the Temple's inhabitants wished them all good fortune on their trip. Teo in particular was sad to watch his new friends go, but Fei Li assured him they'd keep in touch whenever he had a chance to write to him.

The night was quite busy, so Sokka and Azula refrained from indulging in their usual clandestine encounters, holding out for that until they were back in the Barge. They said their farewells to the Mechanist again in the morning, just before climbing on the train-tank, and with Tai Wei at the wheel, the train-tank was well on its way down the mountain.

The journey back to the port was slow, but most of the train-tank's passengers were too drowsy to notice. Even the loud rattling of the train wasn't enough to bother them, exhausted as they were after their restless night of preparation for their imminent return home.

It was already noon when they finally reached the port, and it was almost dusk again when Azula's Barge began to drift through the ocean, with the course set back to the Fire Nation. The Royal Guards had yet to return to protocol, Azula noticed: they had dressed in their uniforms again but were still acting far more leisurely than usual. Surely it was due to their exhaustion, though…

The ship's deck was empty after barely half an hour into sailing, for Azula's guards had all headed to get proper rest. She wasn't well-rested either – in fact, she hadn't slept much in the past two days –, but she remained on deck with Xin Long, who was disheartened after their unsuccessful trip. Azula sighed as she slid her hands through his hair, his large head resting on her lap.

"Maybe they're hiding elsewhere" she whispered "The world is big enough to hide more than just you, Xin. And if there's a chance that some Air Nomads didn't die by the hands of the Fire Nation's armies, despite that was what we were all told, then maybe there will be dragons out there too"

Xin Long growled, reminding her that she didn't really expect there to be Air Nomads out there. Not after the theory she had concocted, linking the disappeared Air Nomads and the inexplicable gas reserve under the Air Temple…

"It's only a theory. I might be wrong about that. There's no reason the Air Nomads would all die in the same place, and that their bodies would just… decay and turn into some volatile gas that easily" she whispered, gritting her teeth.

"Hell, that's your creepy theory?"

Azula froze upon hearing Sokka's voice behind her. She turned her head slowly, looking at him over her shoulder. He smiled awkwardly at her, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Terrified by my spooky imagination now, are you?" Azula asked. Sokka chuckled "I thought you'd be resting by now, though. You probably should get some sleep…"

"I should get some rest, but so should you, Princess" he said, sitting beside her and smiling warmly "I saw you dozing off in the train-tank earlier. You shouldn't be out here in the cold, especially when you're so tired…"

"So now the roles have switched?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows inquisitively. Sokka chuckled.

"Just for the time being. You can get back to nagging me for being reckless once you've rested"

"Oh, so I nag you, now? That's what I do?"

"W-well…"

He was left to do nothing but laugh when he failed to come up with an answer for her question. She smacked him on the back of his head before ushering Xin Long to let her stand up. The dragon seemed amused by the way Sokka smiled guiltily, rubbing the back of his head where she had hit him.

Sokka was surprised, though, when Azula offered her hand to him without saying a word. He looked up at her, finding she was looking at him more kindly than she would permit herself in normal circumstances. He smiled before clasping her hand and pushing himself up to his feet.

"You need to go to bed too, you know" she said.

"Alright, alright, but I'll need someone to cuddle with. Cold nights, you know…" he said, looking at her innocently. Azula smiled sarcastically.

"Why, you can curl up with Xin Long if you'd like. He rather enjoyed squeezing Rui Shi to sleep once before… or maybe you can go to Rui Shi, actually. He'd probably be happy to cuddle with you if it means you won't be with me…"

Sokka snorted and laughed as Azula smirked at him. She bumped her shoulder gently against him before whispering.

"Give it five minutes and be wary. I don't think there's anyone standing guard, but you can never be too careful"

"Gotcha" he said, smiling as Azula slipped past him.

"Good night, Xin. Good night, snow savage"

He chuckled as she walked away, watching the way her hips swayed in the most elegant manner. He knew he was staring, and Xin Long headbutted him from behind for it, but he didn't really care. He was already using up all his willpower not to go after her immediately.

But Sokka joined Azula in her room eventually, as intended. She welcomed him eagerly, kissing him breathlessly as if to make up for all the hours they had spent keeping proper distance from one another.

They fell in the bed, curled around each other, pressed together tightly. Their first journey as more than gladiator and sponsor was at its end, and while it hadn't been perfectly smooth, they felt closer to each other than ever before. And although they knew better than to anticipate the future with the highest hopes, they both felt rather thrilled about it: their ultimate challenge, changing the world for the better, had only just begun.


	108. Chapter 108

"So you truly believe this will be a hindrance to our purposes, in the long run?"

"I dread as much, Father. Our forces are already spread too thin, so we can't afford losing soldiers pointlessly in the North. Sending them there with the airships under these circumstances is only likely to result in the loss of said resources, at best, and at worst, they might even be used against us in the future"

Zhao huffed in disapproval at Azula's words. She ignored him, choosing to focus on her father instead. Ozai frowned, giving her intervention more thought than usual.

"How do you propose we conquer the North, Princess, if not through airpower or through the advanced weapons your father had sent you to design?" Zhao asked, folding his arms over his chest. He looked at Azula with derision.

"Since you asked… I propose we reconsider our approach to our siege to the north. Considering how fruitless your campaign was while you were there, I find myself in the difficult position of questioning if taking over the Pole will be worth it in the end" Azula said, returning the man's glare "How many ships were sunk under your command? How many soldiers killed? How many resources squandered and wasted?"

"The resources, ships and soldiers that had to be sacrificed for us to develop a more efficient strategy" said Zhao. Azula nearly snorted.

"Really? So you're implying it wasn't apparent, after the first year of fruitless battling, that your tactics were failing? What tipped you off, if I might inquire?"

"Enough, both of you" said Ozai, sighing as he sank in his crimson velvet armchair "There's no point in bickering over wasted years of siege. We've done all we could to keep those savages in their blasted casket, where they must remain. As for how to defeat them in their element… Azula just might be right, and we should to rethink our alternative plans. Perhaps the airships won't do"

"But…" Zhao said, his eyes widening. Azula held back a smile "Please, Ozai. Do you realize what could be accomplished with those airships? Having the high ground is recommended in every battle, that is a basic tactic taught to every new private in the army…"

"Alas, the high ground is one thing. Being airborne is quite different" said Azula, looking at Zhao with raised eyebrows "You'll have nothing solid to stand on once you're in midair. If any of those waterbenders figured out a way to destabilize our airships, all our men will plummet to the ground from thousands of feet in the air. Do tell how much good they'll do to our cause when they're dead among airship debris"

"And what if the waterbenders fail to bring down our ships? We could build that second version of the project, the one the monocle fool sent a few weeks ago" said Zhao, looking at Ozai almost with despair now "The metal should prove sturdy enough to prevent them from destroying the airships. Isn't that right?"

"I guess it might" said Ozai "But then comes the other problem the Princess presented… these airships aren't weaponized. How are our firebenders supposed to attack significantly from such heights? Should we toss stones at them from above, as if we were earthbenders? It would be unfitting, pathetic…"

"Perhaps burning rocks, I don't know" said Zhao, desperate "But we cannot discard this possibility, Ozai. Those airships are the key to our victory"

"Why?" Azula asked, looking at him in confusion "What is your plan, Admiral? What do you expect to achieve by hovering above the Northern Water Tribe?"

Her question silenced Zhao, though Azula had the distinct feeling that it wasn't because he lacked an answer: he was concealing it. He didn't want to disclose whatever goal he had in mind to defeat the Water Tribe.

"Do tell, is this the same plan you've had for the last seven years…?" Azula asked, most sarcastically. Zhao scowled.

"It's a plan that is certain to work" he growled "There's… there's a way to remove the threat of the waterbenders. And with the airships…"

"Do you plan on taking the Northern Water Tribe Princess captive?" Ozai asked, raising an eyebrow "It just might serve to stop them from attacking you, but…"

"I question they would leave such an important figure unprotected" said Azula. Ozai chuckled.

"Indeed. Unless she's as daring as you are, which I doubt, she would be guarded by their better waterbenders at all times" he conceded "What is this plan you have in mind, then, Zhao?"

"I… I would rather make certain it's feasible before filling your minds with false hopes" Zhao said, with unusual uncertainty. Azula eyed him warily.

"Admiral…"

"I know you don't want me to be the cause of yet another failure like your uncle's in Ba Sing Se" Zhao said, looking back at Azula "I won't be. I only ask… for a chance. The next time I take my place in the frontlines I will achieve my goal for certain"

"And if you don't?" Ozai asked. Zhao swallowed hard.

"Then perhaps… perhaps you should send her in my stead. She has had a spotless record so far, hasn't she?" said Zhao, jerking his head towards Azula. She raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps Azula could indeed bring the Water Tribe to their knees" said Ozai, smirking "If all fails in your second opportunity, Admiral, she will take your place. Let's hope it won't come to that"

"Let's" said Zhao, swallowing hard. Azula supposed he had coveted the glory of conquering the North for far too long to hand it down to anyone else so easily.

"I will have the airships built" Ozai said, turning to Azula. Her previous relief almost went up in smoke with that "But given your recommendations, I will reconsider their purposes. Perhaps they can be used to transport our troops more easily through the world, if nothing else"

"They should serve that purpose, surely" Azula conceded, her relief returning, although more moderately. If the airships would exist, they might be used for nefarious purposes in the end, despite what her father was saying right now. But then again, she had expected the airships to be crafted regardless. Ozai hadn't built an airship factory merely for show.

"All the same, I will ponder our possibilities. If nothing else can be done to placate the threat the North represents, the airships will have to do" he said "Yet I am open to suggestions, if either of you can think of anything better. In the mean time, the airships will be built, and General Bujing shall continue to hold the siege until Admiral Zhao is ready to spearhead the operation once more"

Azula nodded. Zhao seemed less satisfied with the results of this meeting than her, despite Azula wasn't all that pleased either. His brow was heavily furrowed, as though Azula's case against the airships had thrown a massive wrench in his careful plans. Plans for what? Azula had no idea. But if he hadn't succeeded at enacting said plan for the past years, she doubted it would be that reliable a strategy.

Ozai dismissed them, but despite Zhao left the Fire Lord's office with only a curt farewell nod, Azula lingered in place. Ozai eyed her with curiosity as she looked at him with slight unease.

"Also, about the Mechanist… War Minister Qin had threatened him into service, from my understanding?"

"Ah. I suppose so, yes" said Ozai, shrugging "What of it?"

"The man is a bundle of nerves" Azula said "Threatening him into working is counterproductive for obvious reasons. He can't work well under excessive pressure. While my gladiator assisted him he was at ease, which might be why he was able to finish the airship's designs after years of fruitless efforts. I recommend that some pressure is lifted from him, in order to keep him as a reliable and effective asset, were we to need him again"

Ozai stroked his long beard with a hand before nodding.

"That would do, I suppose. Not all people do their best work under pressure, it's a sad truth. Speaking of such people, you mentioned you have your first gladiator fight since your return today. Is he prepared for it?"

"Well, I would hope so" said Azula "I have seen to his training ever since we returned from the Northern Air Temple"

"I do hope he won't disappoint you anew" said Ozai, sighing before gesturing to the door "Off you go, then. Good luck with your battle"

"Thank you, Father" said Azula, smiling and bowing towards him, with her fist pressed to her palm.

She left the Fire Lord's offices with a steady stride, heading to the dragon's refuge. Her meeting with her father had been surprisingly fruitful, though she hadn't managed to fulfill all her expectations. She knew her goals couldn't be achieved that quickly, though. She had prepared herself for it. Yet seeing Zhao's rejection of her objections to the airships as war vessels had concerned her ever so slightly. She had dreaded her father would choose to side with him definitively, seeing how he remained adamant about waging the Siege of the North… it wouldn't be easy to sway him, she knew it. She had to play her cards carefully. Excessive eagerness could be her undoing. Circumstances like these called for patience.

She continued to ponder the matter as Xin Long flew her to Sokka's house, and it remained on the forefront of her mind after she climbed off his saddle. The dragon took rolling on the grass happily, and Azula watched him with a smile before turning to enter the house through the backdoor.

"Ah, Princess" Song said, smiling when she spotted Azula. She held a broom in her hand, for she had been busy sweeping before Azula entered the house "Good to see you"

"Likewise" said Azula, minding her step cautiously as she registered the girl was doing her chores. Song smiled at her.

"You can proceed upstairs, if you want to" she said "Sokka must be getting ready. Unless you'd rather wait down here?"

"I'd rather not be a bother to you when you're in the midst of cleaning, so I guess upstairs it is" said Azula. Song smiled and nodded.

"I thought so"

The Princess climbed the stairs quickly and knocked on Sokka's door before pushing it open. She wasn't fazed upon finding he wasn't quite ready yet, his armor sitting on the bed, his weapons on his small dresser. He jumped when he heard the knock, and smiled when he saw who it was.

"Morning" said Azula, closing the door behind her. Sokka chuckled before closing the distance between them with an enthusiastic embrace. Azula returned the hug and rubbed his back gently with her hands "Yes, yes, I missed you too"

"What, you diiiid…?" Sokka asked, teasingly. To no surprise, he received a weak punch in the stomach as a response. He pulled away chuckling, shielding his abdomen from further attacks. Azula smirked at him.

"Quit being foolish and finish getting dressed. We don't want to be late. It's our first fight in forever, you know?"

"Not true, you and I fight on a daily basis, pretty much" said Sokka, winking at her before tightening his belt and reaching for his armor. Azula looked at him skeptically.

"Is there any reason why you're being extra-ridiculous today?" she asked. Sokka snorted as he buckled the armor.

"Perhaps I'm just happy to see you again, Princess. Did you consider that?" he asked, caressing her face before leaning down to kiss her softly.

Azula sighed into the exchange, cupping Sokka's face. She surrounded his neck with her arms, bringing him closer so she could return the kiss most comfortably. He responded by slipping his arms around her waist, lifting her with unexpected ease and surprising her as he laughed and kissed her again. She was smiling at him soon, finding his enthusiastic behavior awfully contagious.

They took their seat on the edge of the bed, as Azula helped him slip his armguards into place. It was often difficult to fit them properly with one hand, so Sokka welcomed her help gladly.

"So, I trust you rested well for today's fight?" she asked. Sokka nodded promptly.

"Far too well. This whole thing of not spending the night with you is boring and lonely… but I guess I do get some rest after all" he confessed, with a crooked grin. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"I'm afraid you'll have to put up with boring loneliness, then. We need you perfectly fit for your fights" she said, before brushing a strand of his hair that had come loose from his wolf's tail. Sokka raised an eyebrow before tending to it. Azula smiled.

"How about you? Had a good night?" he asked. Azula shrugged.

"It was boring and lonely and very restful" she said, sarcastically. Sokka chuckled and she grinned "Still, I had a busy morning…"

"Oh, that meeting with your dad" said Sokka, grimacing "How did that go?"

"I'm not sure, not in the long run" said Azula, biting her lip as she fixed Sokka's second armguard "I guess we've achieved a small victory for now, but the future might not be so bright in the end…"

"What small victory?" Sokka asked. Azula smiled a little.

"He's agreed with me on not using the airships to attack the Northern Water Tribe. It doesn't mean he's given up on that fight completely, though, but…"

"But you did it. You… you managed to stop him from using the airships!" Sokka exclaimed, his eyes brightening. Azula smiled.

"I really don't know if they would have been more of a problem for the Fire Nation than for the Water Tribe, you know…"

"Either way, it's better not to risk it, for either nation" said Sokka, smiling "This is… this is great, Azula. It's a good start, if nothing else…"

"I'm glad you're being so positive about it" said Azula "I think the threat is still dangling over our heads as we are, though. We need to be cautious about what comes next, if we're to keep the Water Tribe protected"

"Well, you know how to handle your father, that's clear" said Sokka, beaming "I have full trust in your abilities to deal with him, and with this war. Anything I can do to help you, I'll do for sure"

"I figured you would" she said, stroking the stubble on his chin, to his delight "But for now there's nothing for you to do, so you'll have to stand by. Patience is important"

"Gotcha" said Sokka, as Azula pulled her hand away.

"I also may have dealt with the Mechanist's problem, but only time will tell how effective this was…" said Azula "My father seems to acknowledge pressure isn't the best way to handle him. Though he didn't promise he'd talk to the War Minister, but…"

"Let's hope that pays off too" said Sokka, laughing softly before hugging her. Azula sighed and caressed the back of his head.

"I guess you're happy" she whispered. He nodded weakly before cupping her face and kissing her.

"Even if nothing is effective as of yet, you've put things in motion" he told her, with a gleeful smile "It's a step forward, and a big one!"

"Of course, but nothing's set in stone yet" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "I'm glad you're enthusiastic, but you might need to tone it down a little. If things don't go exactly according to plan…"

"You may be a little too driven, you know?" said Sokka, smiling gently at her "Maybe this isn't absolute success yet, but wars are comprised of battles and small victories. We'll get there step by step. So cheer up! You've already done great"

He patted her shoulders and grinned at her. Azula smiled a little, allowing him to surround her waist with his arms, pulling her to his lap and kissing her to convey his heartfelt glee upon the news she had brought him.

Azula responded at first, but soon she realized his hands weren't only keeping her in place anymore. She knew that kind of touch… she especially knew where it was going to take them, at this rate. For when Sokka's hands were guided with desire they would seek to caress her intimately, and his skilled lips would become incredibly mesmerizing…

"Sokka…" she whispered against his mouth. He only groaned as a response, assaulting her with more enthusiastic kisses immediately "We can't do this right now. You have a fight…"

"It can wait a couple of minutes, can't it?" he asked, smirking before deepening their kiss.

Azula moaned softly and cupped his face, responding despite she knew she couldn't get carried away with this. Sokka seemed to have no notion of their priorities just then, though. He was kissing her at his very best, his hands raking her flanks and making her shiver.

"S-Sokka, damn it…" Azula gasped, as he moved to kiss what little was exposed of her neck "I'm not… I'm not about to be late over this. You can't just…"

"We won't be late. We'll be… thorough and quick" he said, before sucking on her skin.

Azula shivered and yanked his wolf's tail, her teeth bared with a hiss. Sokka only groaned weakly over the mild discomfort by having his hair pulled, but he carried on with his endeavor, switching to light kisses to avoid leaving any visible marks on her body. Yet his daring hands were moving under her armor plates, and Azula gritted her teeth hard as he kneaded her breasts, a mischievous smirk on his face.

"This… this is your way to celebrate my success in the meeting? Really?" she asked, breathlessly. He chuckled.

"I guess. Is it that bad?" he asked. Azula groaned in exasperation.

"Bad? Give me a break…" she grunted, glaring at him before kissing him eagerly. Sokka chuckled, guessing she had given in after all.

She became unexpectedly wild as she kissed him, but Sokka had never been one to reject Azula's more aggressive sides, especially in these situations. She was trying to touch him under his armor too, but since his upper body was rather well covered, she went to the ultimate goal directly…

"A-Azula, wait, woah…!" Sokka exclaimed, upon feeling her hand cupping his manhood through his clothes.

To no surprise of his, Azula smirked before kissing him again. He returned the kisses, reaching to cup her bottom and pull her closer, hoping to hinder her reckless touch…

But she stood her ground, massaging him in the best way she knew how, and Sokka grimaced as his system started responding, the blood flowing unequivocally to his lower body at an alarming speed. Her furious kisses didn't stop, and she pushed him down on the bed as she claimed full dominance over him. Sokka could only moan, finding the situation wasn't quite what he had originally expected it to be… but of course he liked it as it was, too. He most definitely did, as Azula confirmed once she pulled his belt loose, her hand slipping into his pants so she could touch him directly.

"A-Ah… Azula, let me…" he growled, trying to take over, but Azula kept him pinned to the bed, exerting all her weight on him as she stroked his length. Sokka shivered violently, his excitement building exponentially "Azula, I'm serious… I won't last that long if you keep… ah! Azula!"

"You won't last much longer?" Azula asked, her forehead pressed to his. Sokka gulped as a response "Are you sure? Can't take a little more?"

"It's your… your turn…" he groaned. Azula chuckled.

"Right. It's my turn to get what I want…" she whispered. Sokka's racing heart sped up further upon hearing her speak in such seductive tone. His cheeks were visibly tinged as his breath started to come in gasps…

And then she sat up without further ado. Her hand was out of his pants, and soon it was tying his belt again. Sokka blinked a few times, unsure of what to expect for a moment until he registered what she was doing.

"Azula…?" he said, looking at her with horror as she stood up, approaching his dresser to confirm her appearance was near spotless. She grunted as she studied her smudged make-up… "Azula, what are you…?"

"I am getting what I want" she said, smirking before turning to face him "Which means, of course, that we'll be on our way to the fight, as intended, in a few minutes. Finish gathering your weapons, clean the kiss marks off your face and meet me downstairs once you look presentable, alright?"

"W-what do you mean…? Presentable?!" Sokka asked, looking at her in disbelief. Azula smiled innocently.

"Naturally" she answered, as his irritation increased exponentially. To no surprise of hers, he pointed at the noticeable erection between his legs.

"How the blazes am I going to look presentable when I'm like this?!" he asked, an eyebrow twitching. Azula looked at him in fake surprise.

"Why, I wouldn't know. I suppose you could pretend you got it after riding Xin Long, perhaps. I mean, it happened once before, so…"

"What the hell?!" Sokka exclaimed, jumping to his feet and looking at her in indignation. Azula only smirked as she made to the door.

"I'll need to fix my make-up now, if you don't mind. Hurry up. We don't want to be late" she said, slipping past the doorway quickly and laughing softly once she closed the door behind herself. Ah, that had been wicked, but damn if it hadn't been enjoyable…

Sokka sat back on the mattress, his eyes wide in disbelief. She had played him. She had actually played him ridiculously easily, and he had fallen straight into that trap… because he had been the one setting it up in the first place. She had said they would be late, and Sokka knew Azula hated being late… he had actually done something remarkably idiotic. He had set himself up for failure.

But even so, he hadn't expected Azula to act like this. She had been far too kind for the past months, though… he should have known he couldn't be that fortunate forever. He had pushed his luck and now he reaped what he sowed…

A hint of pain in his groin made him cringe and snarl. Yeah, maybe he had asked for it, but that didn't mean he would put up with it without complaint.

Azula was downstairs, touching up her make-up with a hand mirror Song had leant to her. She had already grown used to carrying make-up with her wherever she went, to make amends for any potential evidence of her impromptu exchanges with Sokka. She had finished painting her lips to perfection when the gladiator appeared at the top of the stairs, looking unsurprisingly angry, and he proceeded to walk down the steps unsurprisingly clumsily.

"Ah, finally. I was starting to wonder what had kept you" Azula said, with a malicious smile. Sokka huffed, looking at her with irritation.

"Azula…!" he said, swallowing hard and lifting a finger to speak his mind, but Azula stopped him by showing him her palm.

"There's no time for chit-chat" she said, handing the mirror back to Song, who looked back and forth between them in confusion "Thank you, Song. We'll be back soon"

"Sure… good luck?" said Song, grimacing as she watched Azula take off to the garden again. She glanced at Sokka and found him to be in a very unusual state of squeamish anger "What's going on?"

"S-she just…! How could she…?! Agh, you don't want to know, Song, believe me…" he growled, storming off towards the garden too, but walking with his legs spread in a very strange way. Song raised an eyebrow as she watched him go.

"Yeah… you know what? I don't want to know" she convened, swallowing before returning to her chores.

Sokka stomped his way towards Xin Long, a comical mix of pout and frown on his face. Azula had already climbed on the dragon's saddle, and she smirked with malice as she met his glare.

"Hurry, now. Time is of the essence" she said, with an innocent smile. Sokka groaned before hoisting himself up on the saddle.

"Yeah, sure it is…" he grumbled under his breath as Xin Long prepared to take off.

The breeze on their faces would usually be enjoyable in mid-flight, and Sokka would never fail to take his chances to hug her once they were hidden above the clouds… well, hug her and do more than that, too. But this time he remained stiff on his seat, his arms crossed, his face reddening as he felt his arousal dimming into pain. His unresolved erection promised to give him a hard time if he didn't deal with it soon.

"Someone is unusually quiet this fine morning…" Azula said, glancing over her shoulder with an impish smirk.

"You think?!" Sokka exclaimed, looking at her with utmost indignation "Azula, this is just…!"

"Cruel? I suppose, but it's also somewhat amusing…" she said, biting her lower lip. Sokka growled.

"It's not amusing, it hurts and it's mean! I… I know, you're teaching me a lesson, and I have to stop thinking with my penis, you say that all the time…!"

"But when it's not with the penis you proceed to thinking with your stomach, I'm aware…" Azula said innocently, as Xin Long started to descend near the Royal Dome.

"But this is…! How the heck do you expect me to fight like this, huh?!" Sokka exclaimed. Azula shrugged.

"I don't know. I suppose you can redirect all that barely contained rage for myself towards your rival, right?"

"I… I'm not raging at you" Sokka grumbled. Azula looked at him inquisitively "I'm just… horny"

To no surprise of his, she laughed at his admission, which only made him blush deeper. She shook her head, smirking broadly.

"Well, please don't redirect that towards your foe, that would be… well, a gruesome spectacle to put out in the Arena, frankly"

"Oh, come on!" Sokka blared, prompting her to laugh again.

"Now, really, where's your sense of humor, my handsome stud?" she asked, teasingly. He gritted his teeth as his erection gave him a new pang of pain.

"I think you stole it, just as you stole my good mood when you left my room" he growled.

"Stole it? I am no thief, you know. I am merely a sponsor who's rather eager to see her gladiator shine in the battlefield today…"

"How the hell am I supposed to shine when I'm…?!" Sokka started, but he gritted his teeth and silenced himself as he realized his voice might be heard by now. Azula chuckled.

"You'll have to be reasonable and not make it apparent that you have a bit of a problem with your boomerang" Azula said. Xin Long was approaching the grounds now "I know it can't be easy, but you've dealt with worse ones, haven't you?"

"Actually? No" Sokka growled, as Xin Long landed "You went a bit further than you should have"

"Aw. I suppose I should do something about it" she sighed, looking at him hopelessly "But I think I'll save that for after the fight, if you don't mind"

She jumped off Xin Long's saddle and petted the creature's head. The dragon seemed to chuckle, apparently amused by the same thing his rider was laughing about. Sokka glared at them from his seat.

"Well? Are you going to move, gladiator?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

Sokka hissed as he hoisted himself, using his arms to lift his weight over the saddle. He dropped hard on the ground, falling with his legs separated, his knees bent. Azula raised an eyebrow as he stood up straight, looking at her with piercing and angry blue eyes.

"I'm moving. Happy?" he grunted with a low voice. Azula swallowed hard and made towards the Royal Dome's gates, trying not to get flustered. Why on earth had his angry glare seemed so beckoning to her? The horny one was supposed to be him, not her, and yet…

People bowed at them as they entered the vestibule, though some of them looked at Sokka with surprise. The Princess's gladiator wasn't one who would be in such foul mood often, his fists clenched, his brow drawn together. The sight of him like that was enough to chase away the few eager admirers who would have normally tried to approach him when he entered the vestibule with his sponsor.

Azula tried to keep calm, but a smirk kept playing on her lips as she approached Shoji's counter. The young man beamed at her but when he saw Sokka's angry stance he recoiled ever so slightly.

"U-uh…"

"Sign us in, Shoji" Azula declared, her chin held high. Sokka leered at her from the corner of his eyes. Shoji gulped and nodded.

"R-right away, right away. Your opponent isn't here yet, but the previous fight is already over, so you can proceed to the balcony when you're ready, Princess" he said, writing down the pertinent information about the Princess and her gladiator on a sheet of paper "And what will the weapons be…?"

"Well?" Azula said, crossing her arms and looking at Sokka inquisitively. He scoffed, arching his back a little before straightening his stance once more.

"My sword. My club. My boomerang" he grunted, glaring at Azula "And two bombs"

Azula had to bite her lower lip not to laugh this time. Shoji didn't notice, busy scribbling as he was.

"Very well, then… good luck!" he exclaimed, as Azula led Sokka down to the stand-by room, as usual.

Each step brought forth a new sting, which caused Sokka's scowl to grow more prominent. He followed Azula diligently, but it was becoming harder to walk. By the time he finally reached the stand-by room he supported his weight against the wall with a hand, taking deep breaths as sweat drops rolled down his forehead.

"How are you faring?" Azula asked, looking at him somewhat guiltily now. Sokka huffed.

"How do you think?" He retorted, his voice cracking slightly. Azula sighed.

"Okay, okay… I probably shouldn't have taken it this far. But you have to admit, if we had gone through with it, we probably would have been very late"

"N-not necessarily… but okay, yeah, it would have been likely" he groaned, resting with his back against the wall now "Still, damn… maybe if you had been stern about it I would've stopped…"

"You seem to think the only one who was enjoying it was you" said Azula, with a weak grin "It took me more willpower than you realize to pull that stunt on you. One of us needed to be responsible, you know"

"It's more fun when neither of us is, though" Sokka said, smiling a little as well. Azula sighed.

"You think you can fight like this, though? Your opponent isn't supposed to be that strong, but if this is hindering you too much…"

"If it's hindering too much…?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows when Azula fell silent "You don't plan to do something about it here, or do you?"

"Oh, no. That's not very wise" she said, with a grimace "Oh, well. I hope you can fight regardless. You've succeeded under worse odds, I think"

"Anything about my opponent worth exploiting?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula shrugged.

"When I accepted the challenge Shoji mentioned he enjoys using fire daggers. This technique, see?" said Azula, stretching her index and middle fingers to conjure a sharp blade of blue fire. Sokka nodded.

"Doesn't look that nasty…" he said, huffing and cringing on the wake of more pain "I'll… try to beat him"

"You're far stronger than he is for certain. You can do this" said Azula, and Sokka sighed.

"As long as the boomerang relents…" he whispered. Azula bit her lip and looked at him with uncertainty.

"We'll deal with that after the fight. I promise" she said. Sokka whimpered a little but nodded. Azula took a deep breath "In fact… you might need some extra motivation in order to pull this off, right?"

"Do I?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe. So… I have a proposition to make" she said. Sokka looked at her warily "If you deal with this fight quickly and effectively, taking the win as you're meant to… I'll make your dream come true"

"My dream?" Sokka repeated, confused "Which one do you…? Oh. Wait, huh?! Y-you don't mean… that dream?!"

Azula looked at him with mischief blinking in his eyes as he looked at her in chagrin and disbelief. She laughed softly and shrugged.

"Is that motivation enough? Hopefully it is…"

"Azula, you're not serious. Y-you can't be…!" he exclaimed, his cheeks burning with the force of his blush.

"I'd think I owe it to you after making you put up with this, don't I?" she said, shrugging "Anyways, I'd kiss you good luck but the make-up is still too fresh, so you'll have to settle for a handshake"

"A-ah… Azula?" Sokka asked, looking at her in panic as she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. His eyes were wide.

"Good luck, and see to it that you succeed, will you?" said Azula "I'll see you in a bit, gladiator"

"I-I… oh, spirits" he said, as she released his hand and made to leave the stand-by room "You're going to be the death of me!"

Azula couldn't help but chuckle softly as she left him, knowing her bold suggestion might not have been as great an idea as she had initially thought. Surely that mental image in Sokka's mind right now would torture him through the fight, and it might make him lose focus, even… Oh, well. If worst came to worst, she'd help Song nurse Sokka back to health if necessary.

She made sure not to smile as she climbed the steps to the sponsors' balcony, but when she was only climbing to the first floor she found there was an unexpected surprise at the top…

"… I'm sorry I made you lose money. I should've been faster with that move, but…"

"Oh, shush, you cutie. I didn't lose that much money, so it's fine. You just need more training! Maybe I can talk to Azula one of these days so you can train with Sokka again, I think they're already back home, so…"

Haru blinked blankly as Ty Lee clung to his arm, his eyes finding Azula's. He poked Ty Lee with his elbow and pointed to the Princess, who had stopped climbing the stairs when she saw them.

"Oh my, what are the chances! It's Azula!" Ty Lee exclaimed, beaming "You really are back!"

"I… yes" said Azula, as her friend released Haru and jumped to hug her. Azula grimaced "I am back indeed"

"It's so good to see you!" Ty Lee exclaimed, pulling away from Azula "How was your trip? You had a fight today? I can't believe this coincidence!"

"Yeah, it is remarkable…" said Azula, with a weak smile "And yes, Sokka will be fighting shortly, so I have to go upstairs now, if you don't mind…"

"Aw, but it's been months since we last saw each other!" Ty Lee complained "Oh, well. Maybe we can talk after the fight is over?"

"I… am not sure I'll have much time to chat, actually" said Azula, grimacing. Sokka would kill her if they dawdled just over a talk with Ty Lee, after the condition she had left him in.

"Oh, really? That's not fair…" said Ty Lee, pouting "Oh, well. We can still watch your fight, can't we?"

"I guess, there's nothing wrong with that" said Azula, shrugging as she restarted her way up the stairs, accompanied by Ty Lee and Haru now.

But as they reached the top of the stairs they found an unusual surprise at the arch that led to the stands. Azula raised an eyebrow as she eyed the people standing in line outside the viewing area, patiently waiting to find a place within the Royal Dome's seats.

"What on earth…?" she asked, startling some of the people who were trying to make it inside.

They turned upon the sound of her voice, and they immediately bowed down to her. Azula frowned and ordered them to rise, as Ty Lee and Haru as well bowed, having forgotten to do so earlier.

"I think you guys have a very big crowd" said Ty Lee, chuckling "A lot of people have wanted to see Sokka fight again. He did great against the Blind Bandit, from what I heard…"

"So there's actually no way you'll fit in there" said Azula, raising an eyebrow. Ty Lee dropped a hand on her shoulder, the spark of an idea in her eyes.

"Maybe… maybe we can go to the sponsors' balcony with you? I mean, there's enough room for us there, right?" she asked. Azula looked at her skeptically.

"I question that's allowed. Though my Uncle did sneak into the sponsors' balcony once before, but still…"

"Oh, come on, Azula, we'll be so quiet you won't even know we're there!" Ty Lee insisted, grinning. Azula huffed and shrugged before making her way to the next flight of stairs.

"If you really must…" she said in defeat, and Ty Lee clapped happily as she followed her friend, with Haru close behind them.

"It's so wonderful that you're back, though! I was sure I wouldn't meet up with you just yet, but I guess I got lucky! Well, only in regards of running into you, of course. Haru didn't win today…"

"Losing is a part of this business, I'm afraid" said Azula.

"Ah, I guess, but Haru has lost his last four fights as it is" said Ty Lee, grimacing as they approached the balcony "So you know, since our meetings with Mai will happen at my place from now on, how about if you bring Sokka too so he and Haru can train together again? I feel like Haru always does better when he trains regularly with Sokka…"

"I suppose I can do it, but don't you ever train with him?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "You're a capable fighter yourself, aren't you?"

"Of course, but…" said Ty Lee, as the three of them entered the empty balcony "But you know how it is with these gladiators, don't you? I mean… you surely know what I mean by now, don't you?"

Azula raised an eyebrow as Ty Lee giggled and closed the door behind them. She turned to Haru, an excited grin on her face.

"Keep all your senses focused on that door, Haru!" she ordered him "I have important things to ask Azula about…"

"Yeah, sure, important" said Azula, as Ty Lee approached her again with a delighted smile.

"Come ooooon, you guys were gone for months! How was your trip? Were you happy? Did things go well? What sort of stuff did you try? Have you kept drinking the tea?!"

"I… for crying out loud, Ty Lee, keep your voice down!" Azula snapped, glaring at her "And what on earth made you think I'd answer you? When have I ever answered your questions when they're these sorts of questions?!"

"Well, never, but I hoped maybe you would today!" she said, giggling "Come on, at least answer one! I'm just curious about how things went for you!"

"Answer one? Why yes, I drank the tea as I was told to" Azula growled "Happy?"

Ty Lee giggled, clapping again and prompting Azula to drop her head on her hand.

"Yes I am! It means you guys have been busy, ehehe…" she said. Azula looked at her skeptically.

"Did you seriously expect us not to? We were away from normal civilization for over two months" she said. Ty Lee shrugged.

"I guess I just wanted to make sure things were going well for you, really" she said, giggling again "You two love to bicker and argue, so I just thought I'd ask in case things hadn't gone so well"

"Well, they didn't go badly. That's all you need to know" said Azula. Ty Lee giggled again and hugged her, to her friend's irritation "Can you cut that out already?"

"Of course not! I'm so happy for you, you can't even begin to imagine it! You have to tell me everything, Azula, what sort of things have you guys tried so far? Do you want any advice on anything? Are you doing fine when it comes to…?"

"Someone's coming" Haru said, and Azula promptly glared at Ty Lee to make her shut up. The girl looked disappointed but smiled again as she resumed the conversation through other topics.

"So you really think our gladiators can train together again from now on? It would be wonderful, you know. I can't wait to see how much stronger Sokka has gotten…" said Ty Lee. Azula sighed.

"I don't think he'll put on much of a show today, I'm afraid…" she was saying, as the door swung open "He might be slightly out of shape after all this time without fighting properly"

"Aw, that's a pity…" said Ty Lee, as Azula turned to look at the young man at the door. He couldn't have been over three years older than her.

"Ah, I… Good day, Princess! And, uh…" he asked, looking at Ty Lee with uncertainty "Good day to you too?"

"Hello!" Ty Lee exclaimed, waving at him. The young man swallowed hard before performing a correct bow in Azula's direction.

"Rise" Azula said, and the man smiled eagerly at her.

"It is quite a pleasure to meet you, Princess. I have looked forward to this fight, I brought my gladiator as quickly as possible" he said "Although, I didn't know others were allowed into the sponsors' balcony in the Royal Dome…."

"They usually aren't but my friend is awfully clingy" Azula said, with a curt grin. Ty Lee pouted with indignation, and the new arrival chuckled.

"I see, so it's like in the Green Gates after all" he said "I'm not actually from the Earth Kingdom, but I have been studying in Ba Sing Se University for a few years now. Though, well, maybe it should be Na Sing Se by now, right?"

He laughed at his weak joke and Azula raised a skeptical eyebrow, a derisive smirk on her face.

"I do hope that's not really the new name we'll give the city" she said "Considering it's currently under Fire Nation control, it had better not be a 'penetrable' city, right?"

"O-oh, of course! Of course…" said the man, only realizing his blunder a little too late. He was quick to stop laughing. Azula smirked.

"Shall we, then?" she asked, gesturing towards the seats.

Ty Lee and Haru were left to stand behind them, and they refused to move even though the staff member who came to consult the sponsors looked at them with confusion. Ty Lee waved at him too, as Azula and her opposing sponsor settled on the fight's time limit. Once the staff member was gone, Azula's talkative opponent carried on chatting at leisure, despite she wasn't paying him much attention. She kept glancing down at the sand pit, worrying over what her reckless actions in Sokka's room might unfold in now. She wasn't one to fall for trash talk, but the man sitting beside her seemed awfully confident of his gladiator's skills…

"… a top notch firebender, I assure you. He has been trained by many powerful masters" he said, smiling "I actually took care to choose a good fighter, because you see, I didn't only enter the Gladiator Business for the sake of gaining some money, if that's what you thought"

"Is that so?" Azula mused with a bored tone, raising an eyebrow.

"Indeed, I actually… well, I had hoped you might accept other challenges before mine, but when you accepted mine I thought my time had come. My gladiator is strong, so… perhaps he can beat yours"

Azula frowned and looked at him from the corner of her eyes. She didn't miss the blush on his features.

"And why would you be so eager to see my gladiator defeated?" she asked. The man swallowed hard.

"Well, you see, Princess… I had hoped, perhaps, that you might allow me to court you if I defeated your gladiator. That's the requirement for it, isn't it?"

Azula's eyes drifted away from him as she felt her stomach sink and twist. That definitely had not been part of her plan.

Behind her, Ty Lee covered her mouth with her hands and looked at Haru with panic. He grimaced and shrugged, as the sponsor smiled shyly at Azula.

"Why didn't you convey this intent of yours earlier, if I may inquire?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm. The sponsor shrugged.

"I didn't think I had to. Did I?" he asked. Azula huffed.

"I would have liked to know that before accepting your challenge, actually" she said, her body tensing up.

This was not good. It was definitely not good.

This guy wanted to marry her. And Sokka was going to make a mess of the fight because she had turned him on and left his arousal unresolved. She had as good as set up her own funerary pyre.

The other sponsor continued to ramble beside her as Azula tried her best not to react to his words. He was a bit of a pompous fool, not completely disgusting like others she had met, but still far too snobby in his own way for her taste. The problem was that her taste had a name now, and she doubted any other man would seem becoming to her in comparison. She couldn't let herself slip out of Sokka's arms and into someone else's. Sokka had to win today, or else…

"Welcome all, to today's highly anticipated fight!" the megaphone man shouted, and his words were cheered loudly by the crowd "It is the Blue Wolf's return after a narrow loss against the best of the best, the Blind Bandit. Today, the Princess's gladiator fights anew to prove to us all that he is still one of the toughest non-benders in the League! And in the other corner we have the powerful, up and rising firebender who dares challenge the Princess's champion: Scorching Blades!"

The metal grids of the Arena had drawn upwards, and the two fighters had stepped out into the sand. Azula grimaced as he took note of Sokka's slow and clumsy pace as he walked. She really had done it. This wasn't going to end well for sure.

Sokka focused on breathing, on the rise of his chest within his armor and on releasing his breath slowly each time. He hadn't reached for his weapons, as he did at times before starting the fight, and he raised his eyes to find a burly, balding firebender holding up his fists and huffing menacingly, releasing a few sparks of fire through his mouth. Sokka could only look at him with contempt, despite his irritation wasn't really directed to the man in front of him.

"You're gonna get it, you. I'm gonna crack you open like a nut!" Scorching Blades declared, as Sokka swallowed hard.

"And without further ado…!" the megaphone man was exclaiming on the background.

"A nut. Funny" Sokka muttered. His opponent ignored him.

"Get ready, you wuss, 'cuz I'm not backing down just 'cuz the Princess might cry if I break you in half!" he declared. Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Let the fight begin in three…!"

"Good. You'll let her retrieve my two halves, though, right?" Sokka said sarcastically, startling his opponent "She'll want to send me for repairs after the fight…"

"One…!"

"The fuck are you talking about…?" said the firebender, looking at Sokka in confusion.

"GO!"

Sokka smirked before darting forward without any warning. One second he was standing at a fair distance from his foe, the next he had shrunk in his frame and slid close enough to Scorching Fire to punch his jaw hard, making the firebender bite his tongue by accident to the point of drawing blood.

Scorching Fire screamed at the burst of pain, lifting his hands as though to fight back. But his attempt was to no avail when Sokka struck the side of his head with a strong, swift blow.

With that, Scorching Fire collapsed on the sand.

The crowd fell unusually silent as Sokka's opponent passed out. All gazes were on him as he breathed out slowly, watching his opponent twitching on the ground.

"Did I overdo it…?" he muttered, but he found he wasn't too sorry about it. His body was in no shape to sustain a prolonged fight.

Azula's eyes were wide in disbelief. Her fellow sponsor, sitting next to her, was gaping at Sokka with his mouth open. Even Ty Lee and Haru seemed unable to give their eyes credit.

"D-did he just…?" the sponsor said with a thin voice, as the seconds of the knock-out countdown slipped away rhythmically.

Azula covered her mouth with a hand when the countdown ended, masking her incredulous smile. This sort of quick conclusion to a fight was unprecedented, as far as Sokka was concerned…

"T-the winner is the Blue Wolf!" the megaphone man declared, and a deafening cheering was heard through the stands.

Sokka waved weakly before turning back to his stand-by room, unwilling to spend more time in the Arena than the strictly necessary. Staff members poured into the fighting pit to fetch the unconscious gladiator Sokka had left behind.

"Well… it would seem the time limit was unnecessary after all" Azula mused now, looking at the other sponsor "Thank you for agreeing to this fight, regardless of the result"

"I… y-yes, yes. It was a good decision, of course…" the man stated, swallowing hard as he handed over the due money to the Princess "Now, uh, if you'll excuse me, I must go see my gladiator…"

Azula nodded and the other sponsor proceeded to leave the room. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of the dangerous projectile Sokka had just helped her dodge. Yet the realization of what would come now was starting to dawn upon her…

"I've done it now" she muttered, shaking her head. Ty Lee and Haru seemed to be still too surprised by Sokka's performance to process Azula was talking to herself "I really have"

* * *

Sokka skipped over the medical check, mandatory as it was, in order to prevent a physician from noticing he had a painful erection bulging in his pants. He had scrambled down to the vestibule quickly, hoping Azula might already be there… but she wasn't. And she remained nowhere in sight as seconds ticked by. Of course, she probably wasn't taking so long, but Sokka was slightly desperate at this point in time. Every moment seemed an eternity when he was in that sort of pain.

"Where are you…?" he grumbled, after having confirmed with Shoji that his sponsor had yet to leave the Royal Dome. Had she run off to the roof and asked Xin Long to fetch her there, all to avoid fulfilling her promise? He cringed and shook his head. She wouldn't do that, would she?

He tapped his foot nervously, his teeth gritted, his arms tight around his chest. People passed him by to congratulate him for his success, and he nodded in acknowledgement. Children pointed at him, women smiled in a daze, men made gestures of triumph. Sokka would have probably felt more awkward about their attention, or he might have thanked some of them… but he was in no place to act polite today. Definitely not today.

He was starting to consider heading upstairs to look for Azula when at last she appeared at the top of the staircase, with Ty Lee and Haru. He gestured at her in disbelief as he looked at her two companions. Was this why she had taken so long?

"Sokka! It's been forever! That was such an amazing thing you did in the fighting pit, just wow!" Ty Lee exclaimed, clapping as she reached him "You've probably set up a new record in the fastest gladiator fight ever, you know?"

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to risk it extending unnecessarily" he said, his piercing blue eyes fixed on Azula "Good to see you both, Ty Lee, Haru… and I think we have to go now, right, Azula?"

"I suppose, though I figured I'd…" she said, glancing at Shoji's counter through the corner of her eyes only for Sokka to hiss. She smirked "Alright, perhaps not today. I can find out if you've risen in the ranking later"

"Thank you. Thank you" Sokka gasped, breathing out in relief. Azula nodded at Ty Lee and Haru.

"I suppose we shall be seeing each other when we have our next meeting. I might actually bring Sokka as you want me to. But for now, farewell it is" she said, and Ty Lee jumped to hug her.

Haru chuckled and smiled at Sokka. Sokka tried to be equally courteous, but it was difficult to act normal when his entire body was a miserable mess.

"It's good to see you again" said Haru, clapping Sokka's back with a hand. Sokka gulped and returned the favor unusually weakly.

"Same" he whispered softly, before Azula pushed Ty Lee away and finally started the way through the vestibule. Sokka kept up with her, a slightly deranged look on his face, and most the people who sighted the Princess dropped into the traditional bow as she passed them by.

At last they reached Xin Long, who, to Sokka's relief, had been waiting right outside. He climbed on a little too eagerly, earning himself a skeptical look from Azula as she climbed in front of him and ushered Xin Long to take off.

"W-why did you take so long?" Sokka whispered, as the dragon rose through the air "I beat the guy just as you told me to, y-you should've been waiting…"

"Did I really take that long?" Azula replied, raising an eyebrow. Sokka groaned.

"It felt that way, at least…"

"Well, what matters is that I'm here now, and we're on our way to your place, as intended. No need to panic anymore, right?"

"I guess, but… I think I'm going to pass out at this rate" said Sokka, rubbing his temples with his fingers as he gritted his teeth. Azula smiled weakly.

"For what it's worth, what you did in the sandpit was… well, mind-blowing. I can barely believe you didn't even need to use your weapons"

"I had to be quick and unexpected" Sokka mumbled "He didn't think I'd be that tough with my bare hands, no doubt, so… I thought it'd be my best shot"

"Sometimes your fighting strategies amaze me, I won't lie" said Azula, smirking "You're awfully clever and resourceful in the battlefield, especially under pressure as you were today"

"Y-yeah, well… I hope that doesn't mean you'll do this to me again, or will you?" Sokka asked, panicking ever so slightly. Azula chuckled.

"I doubt it. It's too risky" she said, looking at him over her shoulder "I'm relieved it didn't end as badly as it could have. We'll tend to your issue shortly, I promise"

"Thank you…" he said, with a thread of a voice, as he hung his head and waited for their trip back to end. The pain was becoming overwhelming.

Xin Long landed in the garden and Sokka leapt out of the saddle again, though far more clumsily this time as his vision grew clouded. Azula gave Xin Long leave to do as he pleased for a few hours before returning to Sokka, placing a hand on his back to help him walk inside the house.

"Don't worry, we're almost there" she told him, and Sokka gulped as they entered the living room.

Song had been reading on the couch by then. She jumped to her feet upon realizing Sokka was walking with difficulty.

"Oh, dear, what happened now?" Song asked, but Azula grimaced.

"It's… nothing you can help with. Leave it to me" she whispered. Song blinked blankly. Sokka waved a hand towards her.

"I'm fine, or… I will be, Song" he said, with an awkward smile as he started to walk up the stairs.

"O…kay, then" said Song, swallowing hard. She had already decided she didn't want to know what these two were up to earlier, but it had been hard to keep her curiosity from stirring. Nonetheless, she had a pretty good idea of what they'd be doing just now "I'll just, uh… go watch a puppet theater play. I think there's one in town, yeah… see you two in a few hours"

"Have fun" Sokka said as he reached the top of the stairs, with Azula still guiding him. Song gulped before scrambling to the door quickly.

Sokka sighed in relief as they finally reached his bedroom. He sat on the bed and kicked off his boots.

"You know, never mind what you told me in the stand-by room" he said, huffing as he tried to take off his left boot, which was inconveniently stuck right now "Let's just do what we always do, I don't need any…"

"Huh… well, I'm afraid I can't quite do that" said Azula, swallowing hard as she stood in front of him. Sokka finished removing his boot and looked at her in confusion.

"Can't quite do what, exactly?" he asked. Azula bit her lip.

"Go back on my word. Do you take a Princess's honor so lightly, gladiator?"

His jaw dropped. Azula's cheeks flushed.

"B-but… Azula, you really don't have to" he said, swallowing hard as his throat went dry "You only said that to give me extra motivation, not that I really needed it, but…"

"I was saying it for that reason, no doubt" said Azula, shrugging and smiling "But that doesn't mean I had no intentions to keep my promise"

"Y-you… oh, spirits. You're serious" he groaned as he looked at her in disbelief. Azula chuckled as she approached him, leaning down to undo his belt.

"Lie back. It should be easier that way" she recommended, as she made to pull down his pants.

Sokka started cursing under his breath, unable to process what was happening. He was sure she had only been playing with him, that she was mostly messing with him so his erection would get worse, so he'd be all the quicker with the fight at hand. Despite her promise, he had never really expected her to do this. It was beyond his understanding.

"Azula…" he whispered, as he felt her releasing his erection from his underwear.

He swallowed again, the exhilarant situation driving him mad already despite she had barely touched him with her hand just now. He had already known he wouldn't last long, but he suspected he'd be done for in a matter of seconds.

Azula breathed out slowly, facing her current task with uncertainty.

"Alright, so… I think it's glaringly obvious that I've never done this before" she whispered, looking at Sokka from between his legs. He gulped as he met her gaze "I recall Mai and Ty Lee once said it was a little more difficult than expected, so… if you'll be so kind, can you guide me through it?"

"Guide you?" Sokka asked, with a thread of a voice "Just, hell… do you really want to do this? Azula, we can really just…"

"I do. Come on" she said, looking at him earnestly "Trust me. Just… tell me about your dream. What did I do there?"

"W-well… you met my gaze just like this at certain points, yeah" said Sokka, swallowing hard "But, uh, I started out in darkness. I couldn't see anything, but just feel it…"

"Alright. Close your eyes, then" said Azula. Sokka bit his lip and did as much "What did you feel?"

"Your tongue, mostly. Mainly" said Sokka, biting harder

Azula took a deep breath and leaned closer, only brushing his tip with her breath… and he jolted. She grimaced and looked at him with confusion, finding he was blushing deeply and gritting his teeth.

"But I haven't even…" she whispered. Sokka gulped.

"I'm sorry. I'm… t-too turned on as it is" he said. She bit her lip and smiled.

"Well, that just might make my job easier" she whispered, finally gathering her courage to touch him with the tip of her tongue.

Sokka groaned and threw his head back, the pain intensifying first before starting to give way to arousal once more. Azula was tentative, uncertain, nervous… nevertheless, she was succeeding at her task and she surely realized that. Hisses, moans and groans poured out of Sokka's throat as he clutched the bedding hard enough for his knuckles to turn white. She pulled away and smiled as she processed the sight.

"I suppose… I'm not doing it so badly" she whispered, brushing his length with her lips.

"Y-you're doing amazing. Jeez, I can't even… okay, it doesn't hurt anymore. Pain's all gone and now I'm just really… really ready to explode" said Sokka, smiling for once.

"Are you? Is this all your dream featured?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka gulped.

"N-not really, but…"

"Come on, Sokka" said Azula, smirking "Tell me the rest"

"You really… ah, okay, okay. I just hope it's not as bad for you as it might be" he said, gulping again "Well, by then you'd… get it in your mouth"

"Oh… this way?" she asked, before proceeding to do just what Sokka had described. He genuinely yelped.

"Oh, curses, Azula!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide. She had to hold back the urge to laugh "A-ah, and then you… k-keep licking while it's in there, and… Oh, damn…"

Azula obeyed promptly, though with difficulty. She had never done anything remotely similar to this before. Being guided by Sokka through the process, though, was unexpectedly exciting all on its own.

He glanced down at her now, his teeth gritted, and she met his eyes with hers. Sokka actually smiled as he looked at her. He remembered how shocked he had been during his dream, for it had been the first time he had genuinely imagined Azula in that sort of scenario, but he found reality to be a vast improvement over his dream. Especially since none of his reservations of over a year ago nestled within him anymore. Here she was, and he was hers, fully. His arousal answered only to her.

Only, it seemed to be about to answer quite fast, despite he wanted this moment to last a little longer than that. He bit his lip and hissed, reaching down to caress her hair softly.

"Okay, you really can stop now, I won't last another second if you… Oh, shit! Fuck!"

When she began bobbing her head back and forth he knew he couldn't possibly stop himself anymore. He was far too excited to control his body. There was no holding back by now. He had tried to warn her to stop, but she had ignored him every time. Well, then… there was nothing he could do anymore, if that was how it would be.

He hissed more as he felt the pinnacle of excitement approaching, and despite he feared he might regret this, he held Azula's head in place. She frowned and glanced up at him, noticing his chest heaving as he panted and gasped. He was close, she realized…

Only, she didn't realize how close he was until his groans intensified and his manhood twitched in a way she was already familiar with.

Sokka's hips started thrusting towards her, but even that was fine until she felt something on the back of her throat…

She made a very disgruntled face as Sokka finished, his head thrown back as he kept her in place. He only remembered he had kept her engulfing his cock a little later than he should have, and he released her to give her a guilty look.

Azula stumbled back to her feet, a grimace on her face as she covered her mouth. Before Sokka could say anything, she had swallowed most unwillingly, releasing a displeased moan as she did.

"Hell, that was…" she said, looking at Sokka in disbelief. He jumped to his bedside table and collected his glass and a jar of water.

"I'm sorry. I did try to warn you before it was too late, but you wouldn't stop…" he said, as he stood up, his legs wobbly still, but to his delight, he was no longer in pain "Here. Sorry…"

"How do you do that all the time if it's so…?" she asked, grimacing even after draining half the glass. Sokka smiled.

"I suppose you taste better than I do" he whispered. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Or you love me more than you should. Doing that sort of thing willingly, I swear…" she said, rolling her eyes and shaking his head. Sokka chuckled.

"Sorry I held you in place, I know I shouldn't have, I just…"

"You'd been building that orgasm for hours, you couldn't take it anymore" said Azula, sighing "Which I suppose is good for me. I doubt I did so well, but seeing how overexcited you already were…"

"I actually almost wish I hadn't been that aroused" he said, smiling awkwardly at her "It felt amazing even if it was just for… I don't know, half a minute?"

"Must be another new record for you today. Oops" said Azula, smiling too and raising her eyebrows. Sokka chuckled and hugged her.

"Don't worry. You won't have to do this again if you don't want to" he said "But please… please don't ever turn me on again right before a fight just to give me extra motivation, okay? It was hellish while it lasted…"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Azula said, chuckling "It seemed the best way to make use of that opening you gave me when you said it was my turn… I know it was cruel. But you know, also, that we would have been late otherwise…"

"Yeah, yeah. The next time I'll know better than to put your precious punctuality in danger" he said, sighing and rolling his eyes. Azula jabbed his ribs and made him laugh as he sat on the bed once more "Alright, so… I guess I ought to make this up to you, shouldn't I? We have all afternoon, don't we…?"

"Huh, eager for more already? That's surprising" said Azula, eyeing Sokka with uncertainty as she began unbuckling her armor. Sokka gawked at her, mesmerized by the sight of Azula stripping her clothes off "You don't really owe me anything. In fact, I might be more in debt with you than you realize…"

"Why's that?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula snorted.

"Well, surprise surprise…" she said, sitting on Sokka's bare lap before making to remove his armor too "The sponsor of your rival suddenly revealed to me, just as the fight was about to begin, that he was interested in being eligible to court me"

Sokka's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Azula could feel his surge of anger building.

"What the…?!" he exclaimed, and she laughed.

"The fact that you could beat his fighter in a matter of a few seconds may have been a clear enough message about his eligibility" she said, pulling the armor off Sokka's shoulders as his eyebrow twitched.

"Damn it, if I'd known beforehand, I would've…!"

"You would have what, thrown a bomb inside his mouth? I think that's a one-time-trick" she said, smirking before kissing his lips "You did well, Sokka. Brilliantly, even. So see? You got yet another suitor off my back and you didn't realize it. How would you be the one in debt with me after you unknowingly taught that guy a lesson he won't forget?"

Sokka's concerns were starting to dissipate slowly as Azula talked in a soothing tone, her forehead pressed to his, her lips teasing him as her breath brushed his skin. It was easy to be overwhelmed by the flurry of delightful sensations only she could provide him with. Sokka smiled again now and kissed her softly.

"Alright, seeing how I beat his gladiator that effectively, no harm was done" he said, grinning "Still… you know I can't go again just yet. So, debt or no debt, you're up now, my Princess"

"Oh, am I?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows as Sokka smirked, taking her in his arms and rolling in bed with her.

Given he had no pressing urgency anymore, Sokka took his chance to explore Azula at leisure, something he rather enjoyed doing. He would caress every new exposed area of her body as he relieved her from her clothes, kissing her slowly and tenderly wherever he went. Azula found herself beaming as he teased her nape, for Sokka knew she liked being touched there. His hands were probing her, basking in every single detail of her body. She rolled her eyes back in sheer bliss, trusting him with full freedom to do as he wished. Her trust went well rewarded, for soon she was shaking under powerful orgasms, gifted to her by his return of her earlier favor.

By the time her wild pleasure had subsided, he was set to go again. So Azula surrounded his waist with her legs as he plunged inside her, his every inch thrusting ever so deeply, ever so slowly… though by the time the arousal had increased enough, the rhythm broke as they thrusted rather erratically at each other, Azula's nails clawing at Sokka's back as they moaned and gasped together.

Their afternoon drifted by slowly, and they spent most of it in bed whether chatting, or kissing, or enjoying the other's company in the best ways they knew how. They had a short break when Sokka fetched food, but that small interruption didn't hinder their time together at all.

"So wait a minute…" Sokka was saying, long after they were done eating "That was your theory? That's what you think happened?"

"I know it sounds disturbing" Azula conceded, lying across the bed as Sokka rested between her legs, his head level with her abdomen "You'll probably think I'm out of my mind for thinking of such dark things…"

"It's only disturbing if it's true, actually" said Sokka, gulping "You're just trying to make sense out of what happened in the Air Temple. But… why do you think all the Air Nomads would go hiding inside the tunnels of the mountain and just drop dead there? If you're right and the volatile gas came from their corpses somehow…"

"I've read that corpses can release unpleasant odors and gases, I'm not making it up" Azula clarified "I don't know if the sort of gas they release is volatile, though. But if it were…"

"With heaps of people dead, it could result in that much gas contained in a single place" Sokka reasoned, frowning "It'd explain why there were no skeletons lying around in plain sight when the Mechanist and his people arrived. And why there were no Air Nomads left there, too, even though the Fire Nation had never found the Temple. But even so… why? Why would they all just die down there?"

"That's the part I don't understand" said Azula "Unless someone just moved them there? I don't know…"

"It really is creepy" said Sokka, gulping and looking at her with unease "I suppose we could confirm your theory if we ever go back, though"

"Well, hopefully we won't have to go back by my father's command any time soon. Perhaps if we ever fight in Ba Sing Se again…" she said, shrugging.

"We could go down there and see it for ourselves. Well, if there's some way of lighting our way down there without fire, of course…"

"Knowing the Mechanist, he probably has developed some technology of the sort" said Azula, smirking "Oh, well. There's no point in worrying about that right now. So, who do you want to fight next?"

"Some other weakling I can beat in two seconds, please" said Sokka, smirking. Azula chuckled.

"If only. I wonder how many times will you be able to pull that off" she whispered "If nothing else, this new accomplishment of yours should be spoken of for years to come…"

"Hopefully it serves to keep more hopeful suitors at bay" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows "None shall get to you if I can help it"

"Even if I like any of them?" Azula asked, teasingly. Sokka stiffened.

"D-did you like this one?"

"Well, honestly he wasn't half as bad as…"

"Really?!" Sokka squeaked, pushing himself up to look at Azula with wide eyes. She roared with laughter as he looked at her accusingly.

"Why is it so easy to tease you, you dork?" she said, smiling and hugging him. Sokka pouted.

"Because I love you, I bet" he grumbled, kissing her skin softly as he moved up to her face "You don't really like any of those guys, do you?"

"How insecure of you" she said, biting her lip "Frankly, Sokka, you have nothing to worry about. Just imagine how much work it would be for me to get to know another man, to learn to trust him, and for him to trust me too… it's too much hassle. I'll just settle with you, since that's all said and done between us already"

"Azula…" he whined, as Azula smiled and rolled her eyes.

"You really want me to get all serious and intense? Yes, I love you, dummy. And I will have you defeat every single man who attempts to be my suitor. And in the mean time, I will mess with you as often as I can because, like it or not, I enjoy it more than I should"

"I just make it too easy, I guess" said Sokka, smiling again now "But I like that answer better than the teasing, yes I do"

"Of course you do…" said Azula, shaking her head before kissing him.

Sokka closed his eyes and kissed her back in sheer bliss. His hands caressed her arms, her hips, her flanks, and on would they have gone… if a sudden hard knock on the door hadn't startled them.

"What the…?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow and glancing back at the closed door.

His confusion dissipated when they heard an all-too familiar voice at the other side of the door:

"I take it you're in there, Princess?"

Both Azula and Sokka huffed in irritation. They had thought Rui Shi might cut them some slack once they returned home, but clearly, that was not to be the case.

"It's not even sundown yet" Sokka growled "You can spare a few more hours here, can't you?"

"Probably" said Azula, huffing "But maybe something's wrong. Or maybe he has some reason to do this? I don't know…"

"He's such a party pooper" Sokka sighed, kissing Azula's neck "But if he's here…"

"We'd better just avoid his wrath" Azula muttered "Whether we want to or not"

"Oh, well" groaned Sokka in resignation, as Azula kissed him one more time.

"I'll be outside in a moment, Captain!" she called out, sitting up on the bed, with Sokka still holding her body close. Rui Shi grunted in acknowledgement, and they heard his footsteps walking away from the room as he returned to the house's first floor.

Sokka helped Azula get dressed, quite unwillingly as usual, but he helped her all the same. They often dawdled over playful kisses and relentless teasing, but regardless, Azula reapplied her make-up and Sokka helped her put her usual hairdo together again, placing her hairpiece before her top knot and kissing the side of her head after he was done.

"Why are you so beautiful?" he whispered in her ear. Azula smirked.

"I wish I knew" she replied cockily, looking at him with defiance. Sokka chuckled before kissing her. Azula returned the kiss, though she groaned afterwards "I think I'll just paint my lips after we separate, this is ridiculously counterproductive"

"Ah, such a wise call" he said, smirking too.

"Pleased, aren't you?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. Sokka shrugged, prompting her to laugh "You're hopeless"

"Hopelessly in love, you mean?" he asked, pulling her up to her feet. Azula kissed him again.

"Hopelessly shameless, rather" she said, before reaching for his clothes as well, so he could join her downstairs.

He kept his shirt open, only taking care to put his pants on properly. His hair was down, since he had felt no need to tie it up again just then. They shared another passionate kiss before heading downstairs, and Azula took care to wipe the remnants of her lipstick from Sokka's face before they reached Rui Shi.

Her guard was sitting on the couch, his arms folded, but despite he seemed tense he also seemed, unexpectedly, happy. When Song appeared, bringing him tea with a bright smile on her face, it became apparent why the Captain wasn't so stressed just then.

"We should totally set those two up one day, you know" Sokka whispered to Azula, who raised an inquisitive eyebrow "He might not get in our way so much if he's distracted with her"

"Such mischievous idea…" said Azula, smirking now as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh. It was about time" said Rui Shi, regarding them a little more coldly than he had Song.

"Do you plan on drinking that on our way back to the Palace?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "I don't recommend it. Drinking something while riding Xin Long is not advisable…"

"Xin…?" Rui Shi repeated "You mean you'd bring me to the Palace on your dragon?"

"What, you expected otherwise?" Azula asked "I do that for Sokka all the time. Even Song has ridden Xin Long before…"

The girl blushed a little and shrugged as Rui Shi glanced at her.

"Well, that was an extreme situation, Princess…" said Song. Azula shrugged.

"It was extreme and out of the ordinary because it was Sokka who sat on the front seat and not me, true" said Azula, nodding "But as long as I'm there, I don't see why it would be a problem for Xin Long and I to give anyone a lift. Especially someone who's watching over me…"

"Why, thank you, Princess, but…" Rui Shi started, but Azula interrupted him

"Still… why are you here, and why so early?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "You hadn't done this since we were in the Northern Air Temple"

"And Azula has been coming over through the week, but you hadn't showed up like this before" said Sokka, looking a Rui Shi inquisitively also. Rui Shi cleared his throat.

"As it happens, you're not supposed to be training too long today since he had a fight earlier. If you stay here all afternoon it will seem fishy" he said, sipping his tea. Azula sighed and looked at Sokka in defeat. He was pouting.

"I suppose he has a point" said Azula "Oh, well. If I must go then I will, but are you coming or not?"

"I… will stay here. To make sure the gladiator doesn't go after you somehow once you leave" said Rui Shi, firmly "You can take the dragon. I'll see you in the Palace"

Azula shrugged.

"As you wish" she whispered, moving to the garden. When Sokka followed her, Rui Shi glared at him.

"What? I'm just going to say goodbye" Sokka pouted "It's not like I plan on going anywhere looking like this, you know?"

"You'd better not" said Rui Shi, lifting the cup to his lips again. Sokka rolled his eyes and followed Azula outside regardless.

Xin Long had arrived after enjoying a nap in a sunlit meadow. He greeted Azula happily, and she looked at him inquisitively as she noticed the flower petals on his scales. Xin Long seemed not to be bothered by them at all, so Azula merely smiled and climbed on his saddle.

"I have a flowery dragon now, no less" she said, smirking as Sokka stopped right next to her.

"Have a safe flight" he said, patting the dragon's neck "And you'll be back tomorrow, right? For training?"

"For actual training, at least at first" Azula said, raising her eyebrows. Sokka smirked mischievously.

"Sure. For the first few minutes, I suppose. Whatever comes later…"

"Here I thought you'd have learned about being too eager to hit the sack…" said Azula, smirking too. Sokka shrugged.

"I'm a fast-learner but I've got a thick skull. When I don't want to learn something, I just don't learn at all" he said. Azula laughed.

"You're a lost case, Sokka" she said, shaking her head "You're lucky you've ended up with me, of all people"

"Because you're unexpectedly patient with my thick skull?"

"No…. because I have the most fun at the expenses of your thick skull, rather" said Azula, smirking and leaning down to cup his face with a hand. Sokka was pouting slightly at her.

"You're so mean… and then again, for some reason I like it when you are, so feel free to keep being mean" he said, smiling again. Azula caressed his beard gently and kissed his lips.

"I shall keep that in mind, then. See you tomorrow. Feel free to give Rui Shi a hard time with his attempts to court Song" said Azula, smirking. Sokka laughed.

"Oh, damn, he's got enough trouble doing that without me getting involved, believe me" he said, smiling. Azula chuckled and pressed her forehead to his.

"Fine. Goodbye for now anyways" she whispered "I love you"

"And I love you, Princess. Hopelessly, shamelessly so" he said, smiling dreamily before kissing her once more.

Azula held the kiss, beaming into the contact between them. The thrill she felt when they kissed was still one of the greatest sensations ever. Nothing seemed to beat it. She had never felt as safe, despite knowing they were at great risk. She had never been so overjoyed, despite knowing that happiness could be taken from them in a heartbeat. She had never felt so loved: and that was something she meant to protect with all her might.

Sokka smiled as Xin Long flew off, his eyes set on Azula as her frame shrank in the distance. Even though they had only just parted, he could barely wait to see her once more. As he turned to enter the house he reasoned he rather enjoyed this new day-by-day. He sure hoped they could make it last for many years to come.


	109. Chapter 109

The morning breeze at sea was always enjoyable. The smells, the sounds, the sunlight… she welcomed all of it gladly with a bright smile, her eyes half-lidded, her hair dancing in the wind.

It had always been a secret pleasure of hers, running off to the beach as a child just before sunrise, so she could watch the light spread and touch every wave gradually, coloring the world and making it bright again. It was even better if she caught glimpses of the Unagi, or the Elephant Kois.

She could hardly believe she was experiencing those sensations again now. It was especially hard to believe she felt as pleased with herself, as satisfied, and at such peace… the last years had been harsh and very unkind to her, it was no secret. But as of late her luck had changed for the best, to the point where she could look at the future without the awful sense of impending doom that she had endured during the past eight years. She didn't know for sure, but she was positive the worst was behind her. Because her past had been decidedly horrible, but her present, on the other hand…

A pair of strong arms surrounded her from behind and lifted her suddenly, making Suki yelp in surprise. She heard Zuko's now-familiar chuckle as he swept her off her feet quite literally, twirling her in place before setting her down, allowing her turn to look at him. The smile on his face matched hers.

"Good morning" he said, beaming. She laughed and threw her arms around his neck.

"Good morning to you too, Zuko" she said, kissing his lips and hugging him tight.

He held her and buried his face in her hair, and Suki sighed in bliss. It was early, so most men would still be abed. It was why Zuko would dare surprise her as he just had, since he usually would be uneasy about public displays of affection. Suki accepted that he'd rather keep their exchanges private, but she still found a bit of mischievous enjoyment in kissing his cheek in front of his men. He'd blush so deeply, and everyone would laugh…

"Was it a good sunrise?" Zuko asked. Suki nodded promptly.

"You should join me in watching them one of these days" she said. Zuko smiled awkwardly.

"The only reason I don't is because I'm usually too tired in the mornings" he said, with a crooked grin. Suki bit her lip "And I'm sure you know just why"

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about…" she said, looking up at him with her best pretense of innocence. Zuko only laughed.

"You sure don't" he said, beaming and pressing his forehead to hers.

He took the initiative to kiss her deeply this time around, and naturally, Suki responded in kind. Only, lost in their exchange as they were, they only realized they weren't alone on deck a little too late for Zuko to save face…

"Eeeeh, show him who's boss, Suki!" shouted one of the most shameless sailors, as others hooted.

Zuko broke off the kiss with the deepest blush yet as Suki laughed, her cheeks reddening as well. She couldn't get enough of his awkwardness, and clearly, neither could the rest of the crew. Lieutenant Jee approached Zuko and clapped him on the shoulder in a congratulatory gesture, and the exiled prince only hid his face in his hand. Suki couldn't hold back her laughter, sliding her hand into his so she could lead him to breakfast before the rest of the men beat them there.

The days at sea had been unexpectedly enjoyable. Suki hadn't thought she would like to travel on a Fire Nation vessel amid so many soldiers, for obvious reasons, but she was finding it far more interesting than she ever thought it could be. Zuko's men had been somewhat distant at first, but after the first few weeks they had grown a lot more spirited, and they often told Suki about what Zuko had been like during their first trip to find the Avatar. She loved the stories, though her lover clearly was embarrassed by most of them. He had been quite an angry young man, from what Suki could gather, and whenever Zuko reacted unfavorably to their recollections it was easy to see glimpses of his more temperamental self. Nevertheless, his men mostly laughed his reactions off by now, since they liked to tease Zuko over his brand new relationship to coax those outbursts from him. And since Suki found his blushes rather endearing, Zuko stopped taking much offense to their teasing after some time.

Yet life on the ship could get boring, too, since nobody seemed to know where they were headed. All they did was sail, as if waiting for a sign from the heavens to tell them where to go. But Zuko, despite what the rest of the men believed, had his plans drawn from the get-go. The only reason he hadn't explained anything was because Suki's joining them had changed his plans rather drastically… but Zuko had never been as happy to have his plans thwarted than he had been this time.

As the sailors spent hours on end playing Pai Sho, or singing and dancing, or eating, even sparring to pass the time, Zuko spent most hours behind closed doors with Suki. He had been rather nervous about taking their relationship to new levels at first, but after Suki had taken her time and efforts to make him feel at ease, he had finally given her his all in an exciting yet quick tryst he had wished had lasted longer. Fortunately for him, Suki had been elated about the act itself, so much that she hadn't cared about how long it had lasted.

His initial reservations had been for obvious reasons, but soon he realized that she had needed to sleep with him precisely to take another step forward in her own recovery. Once he understood that, he dedicated to her body fully, always making sure to give her joy and pleasure even if he still was learning the ropes. He would keep doing his best to perform to the top of his game in order to keep her pleased, and she was certain to thank him for it with the sweetest kisses Zuko had ever tasted.

They were almost constantly together, only apart for short amounts of time whenever Suki decided to help with the chores on the ship. Zuko had told her she didn't need to do that, but she had insisted. Her helpfulness surely had a hand at making the rest of the men warm up to her, and so their trip had grown surprisingly pleasant for both the crew and their two passengers.

Zuko's wrecked plans had taken new shape by now, though. He had been at a loss for what to do during their first weeks, but after a few pillow talks, he had settled on where he wanted to go with Suki. He had requested his ship captain to change course towards the south, and so they had spent many days traveling in that direction by now, stopping by in a few ports to replenish their resources before setting out anew.

The food was running out again, though, as was apparent when they sat for breakfast to find bowls of rice with scarce side dishes. Most of the men eating were already complaining about their food shortage, but they didn't complain that much: they would be docking at Whaletail Island today, and they would be free to buy as much food as they pleased – or rather, as much as they could spend on – once they got there.

"We'll have a few hours to enjoy Whaletail Island, won't we?" Lieutenant Jee asked Zuko, who nodded.

"We can spend the night in the city. I thought the crew might like that" Zuko said.

"Oh, why… I think we would indeed" Jee said, raising his eyebrows approvingly. The other crew members present hooted in delight.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" exclaimed one of the sailors, grinning broadly.

Suki smiled as she watched them rejoice, and she reached for the rice bowl to offer a second serving to Zuko. He smiled and accepted it gratefully. Zuko twitched when he sensed Jee's gaze upon him, a smirk on the Lieutenant's face.

"What?" he growled. Jee chuckled.

"Who knew all it took to make you nicer to your crew was bringing your girl on board for the trip" he said, winking at Suki. Suki laughed softly as Zuko blushed deeply.

"I-if you don't like it then I can just go back to how I used to treat you, then!" he exclaimed, trying to sound menacing, but Jee only laughed more.

"Dear heavens, no! Please, stay happy and blissful with your beloved, we don't want the old angry Prince back" said Jee, laughing as he focused on his food again.

"Don't feel bad, Zuko" said Suki, smiling and stroking his forearm as he got started on his second serving "They're just happy you're happy"

"Or they're just happy they have something to tease me about" Zuko muttered.

Yet looking at her smiling face was the best way to soothe his embarrassment, he had found. He smiled a little as well before focusing fully on his plate, ignoring the conversations between the others. He wasn't one given to public displays of affection with Suki indeed, nor did he like to discuss their relationship in front of the others…

But that didn't mean he was any less passionate when they were by themselves, as he proved to her only a half-hour later. His breath brushed against her neck as he pressed her to the wall, her fingers sliding through his hair, weak gasps slipping through her lips. He raked her skin with his mouth, his hands exploring the body he had already grown fully acquainted with, his inner fire flaring with love and lust at once. He wanted her, and that desire was equally matched by his desire to please her. And those forces that pulled at him always resulted in the most enjoyable experiences for his lover.

Zuko's cabin wasn't too far from where he had succumbed to his desires for her. Too often he failed to understand why she had chosen him, why she had wanted him… he had, in his honest opinion, a long way to go before he could finally start putting his life together. But she had accepted that and embraced him fully, both physically and figuratively, just as he was. She took in his flaws, his virtues, his passion. She knew when to encourage him, and she knew just when to make him stop, too. Zuko trusted her judgment far more than he could trust his own.

And as they were, she was only going to encourage him further. There was no way she would stop him when her legs were already trembling, when her hands were fumbling with his clothes as she sought to touch him, too.

"Your room…" Suki gasped. Zuko groaned in response.

"Yeah… my room" he repeated, before kissing her deeply.

He lifted her, so her legs would surround his waist, and carried her off without further ado. Suki reached out to shut the door behind them once they were inside, and she didn't focus on anything but Zuko as he delighted her with his touch and kisses, with his shortness of breath once he was inside her, with his gasping of her name with every thrust.

They lay on the cot together afterwards, gazing at the other. His fingers dragged over her exposed body, with gentle caresses.

"Are we really going to do this, Zuko?" she whispered, their foreheads pressed together. He smiled a little.

"You think it won't pay off?"

"No, it's just… well, they could probably take us all the way there, right? We don't need to take the emergency ship on our own. The waters can be treacherous down here"

"I'm aware, I've sailed here before. I actually passed by Kyoshi Island long ago, but I only sent my men to search the town for the Avatar…"

"Wait, that was you?" Suki exclaimed, her eyes wide. Zuko blinked a few times.

"You were still there back then, huh? Well, I can't say I'm surprised" he said, smiling weakly "My men came running back to the ship saying nobody had word from the Avatar there, but that they couldn't stay to search because a group of girls had forced them to flee. I bet I know just who was leading them…"

"Yes, you do" said Suki, laughing softly as she surrounded his neck with her arms "We were still pretty strong back then. But the next raid by Fire Nation forces we had…"

Zuko swallowed had but Suki smiled and kissed his nose. He sighed and hugged her tight.

"I'm sorry you went through something like that…" he whispered.

"I'm sorry you had a nasty past yourself, Zuko" she replied, caressing his face gently, her fingers grazing his scar. Few people were allowed to touch his damaged tissue, but nobody had ever done it as often as Suki did "But we're here now, right? That's what matters most"

"Yeah. That's true. And we'll be in Kyoshi Island in no time" he said, grinning. Suki sighed.

"It feels surreal, though… I can't believe I'm actually coming back" she said. Zuko smiled, but his grin waned when he noticed she wasn't as cheerful about it as he would have expected.

"Why not? Is there something wrong?" he asked "I mean, I guess this isn't the way you envisioned you'd go back home, but…"

"It's not so much because of you, Zuko" she said, smiling again "If anything, I'm looking forward to showing you my hometown. But it's just… I hoped the war would be over when I returned. And, well… I also hoped the Fire Nation wouldn't be the one to win it"

"I can't blame you for feeling that way. In a sense, I kind of wish that weren't the case too" said Zuko, tightening his jaws "Are you afraid of what we'll find there?"

"Not as much as I could be" said Suki "Despite the Fire Nation came into the Island, they didn't damage it so much. When I left with Oyaji it wasn't as beautiful as it once had been, but it hadn't been destroyed or so. So I have hopes that it won't be so bad…"

"You can make a home there again, I'm sure" he said, smiling gently at her.

"We can make a home there. The two of us" she said, grinning back. Zuko chuckled.

"It's still amazing to me that someone wants to share their life with me. And for that someone to be you…"

"You'd better start getting used to it. I'm not going anywhere, Zuko. At least, not without you" she said, kissing him softly.

Whaletail Island was a land named rather appropriately, since it was shaped exactly as a whale's tail. Zuko and his crew had stopped at this port long ago, back when the banished prince had been scouting the southern lands and seas in his hopeless search for the Avatar. He had searched Whaletail Island as thoroughly as he could, but it had yielded nothing, just as every other search. Nevertheless, he hadn't given up hope on his last visit to this port. Hope was something that had slipped out of his fingers slowly, gradually, until all of it had disappeared by the time his uncle told him they were free to return home.

He returned a different man, many years later, with the same ship and the same crew, but without his uncle and with an unexpected companion in his arms. They had lain together after the ship docked, waiting an hour or so until the ship was as good as empty. Only a few sailors would remain in the ship, but they wouldn't keep tabs on what their Prince meant to do.

"So we're still sure about this?" Suki asked, after she finished getting dressed. Zuko, still shirtless, was composing a letter at his bedroom's table.

"We are. This is for the best" he said "Just give me a moment and we'll go"

Suki sighed and nodded as Zuko finished his letter. She helped him dress up, just after he had set the paper on his desk. They left his room, and Zuko surprised Suki by taking her hand in his and leading her out onto the deck. Suki raised an eyebrow.

"I thought we were going to…" she started, but he shook his head.

"First you have to see the town" he said, smiling "You'd always wanted to see all sorts of new places, right?"

"Well, that's awfully romantic of you" she conceded, with a sweet grin "I could use a little sight-seeing"

"Then let's go" he said, intertwining their fingers as they reached the ship's ramp and walked into the port.

Suki had visited several cities, like Fire Fountain City, Ba Sing Se and Yu Dao, during her years as a gladiator. Yet for some reason she had never come to Whaletail Island for a fight, despite there was a Gladiator Arena in town too. She was somewhat curious as to what it might look like, but as Zuko led her into the gravel streets she found she didn't care enough to ask him to take her there. She was starting a new life beside him, and she was happy to leave her days as a slave far behind.

Zuko knew his way around the island, though he seemed put off by the amount of Fire Nation soldiers stationed in the town his time. He whispered to Suki that it hadn't always been this way, and he wondered why it suddenly was now.

"Maybe this is a good place to station troops?" Suki said. Zuko shrugged.

"Seems weird, though. My father has no troops to spare, and Whaletail Island isn't a problematic place with potential rebels or so. It's all Fire Nation now… it used to be an Air Nomad sanctuary, I think, but because of the war it became ours"

"So I heard…" said Suki, slowing down and bringing a hand up to her face. Zuko stopped and looked at her worriedly.

"Something wrong?" he asked. She shook her head initially, but then she nodded.

"It's nothing, just… do you mind if we stop for a moment?" she asked. Zuko bit his lip.

"Maybe we can stop at a restaurant" he said, his gaze drifting to a nearby one "Does food seem like a good idea?"

"Eh… well, sure" she said, awkwardly. Zuko smiled happily.

"We'll look like a pretty normal couple, won't we? Having dinner out like this…" he said, chuckling softly as he led her toward the establishment.

"Is it something you'd wanted to do?" Suki asked. Zuko shrugged.

"To be honest I hadn't thought about it too much, but now that we're doing it I guess I did" he said. She smiled.

"Happy to make your wishes come true, dear" she said, leaning close and kissing his cheek.

The restaurant was somewhat crowded, but they found a table regardless. Suki excused herself shortly and left Zuko to choose the menu, seeing how he had the money and knew just what they could spend on this quick stop. He had crooked an eyebrow, confused over why she had excused herself at all, but he merely smiled and watched her head to the back of the restaurant before pondering what to eat from the menu.

There was a restroom in the restaurant, as one of the waiters told Suki. She found it and stumbled her way to the sump, noticing a little too late that she had grown too fond of Fire Nation plumbing in the last years. Their innovations on those regards hadn't been spread through the world as much as they should have.

She wiped her mouth after she was done, her unsettled stomach doing nothing to appease her nerves after she had released its content into the hole on the ground. This couldn't be good. It made no sense, how was she sick after getting off the ship when she had no bouts of seasickness while she was on board? Maybe she had gotten too used to sailing, that had to be it.

Unless… unless that wasn't it. Maybe there was something else that could explain why she was feeling sickly, although she smiled and shook her head at the thought. No, that was ridiculous. It was absolutely ridiculous. Granted she and Zuko had been rather constant in bed these days, but that didn't mean anything. It couldn't mean anything, right? Not when she had the suspicion she was likely infertile. The men from Shu Wo had given her some strange herbs back in the day: they had tasted awful, but they would prevent her from getting with child. She had heard them comment that using them too often might leave her barren… but frankly, she had nothing solid to base that belief on other than the word of two unforgivable scumbags. What if that wasn't the case? What if her body was still working fully, unaffected by those herbs and by what those assholes had done to her?

The idea that she might be carrying Zuko's child made her eyes widen. That was something she hadn't considered before… something she wasn't entirely sure she was ready for. She hadn't gotten involved with Zuko while looking at the bigger picture. She didn't think there would be a bigger picture, for starters. It wasn't reasonable for a prince to have a genuine future with a slave, or was it? Yet seeing how things were now, how Zuko was willing to start fresh in Kyoshi Island, with her…

"Maybe he won't hate this, huh?" she whispered, biting her nail briefly before shaking her head. She would find out how he felt about the idea of a child first, and only if he wasn't completely against it, she would tell him of her suspicions. So far, for all she knew, the morning's gruel had simply sat badly with her. That was likely all it was…

Zuko greeted her again and she smiled at him as she took her seat across him. He looked at her with concern as he stretched a hand to caress hers.

"Everything alright?"

"U-uh, yeah. I just… think I got too used to the ship. So my stomach is acting weird now that things are so stable, looks like" she said, chuckling. Zuko smiled.

"Well, I ordered some noodles, if you'd like some" he said "Unless you're not up for it?"

The idea of noodles sounded incredibly appealing, Suki realized, more so than usual. It made no sense, considering she had thrown up a moment ago, but she really wanted to eat some noodles. So she actually smiled and nodded.

"Noodles sound amazing. Good idea" she said. Zuko smiled and pulled back again, their brief contact ending, to no surprise of Suki's. She was still amazed that he'd held her hand through their walk, undeterred by the idea of being spotted in public while being openly romantic with her.

"Glad you think so" he said, beaming. Suki bit her lip and glanced at him. Clearly, there wasn't much for them to talk about, so perhaps it was the proper time to ask the question she had in mind.

"Uh, say, um… you'd always gotten along well with Yuudai, right?" she started. Zuko blinked a few times and shrugged.

"Well enough, yeah. Though he wasn't too happy after my haircut, he enjoyed pulling my ponytail" he said, grinning "Why'd you ask?"

"It's just… uh, well, I was just curious" she said, smiling "You like children?"

"Eh, I guess to a degree" he said "You know I'm not the most patient guy there is, so I suppose I'm not the best person to keep around kids. Still, Mai didn't seem to mind my short temper and liked to have me looking after her son… though well, I always suspected she did it in hopes it'd cheer me up. And I admit, to my surprise, that it helped"

"You two had a thing, you told me?" said Suki, raising her eyebrows as a waiter brought two bowls of noodles to their table. She smiled and thanked the man before he walked away.

"Uh, yeah, but we were two silly kids, really" said Zuko, shrugging "I hadn't even been banished yet. It was ages ago and it made perfect sense for her to move on. Though I didn't take it that well when I found out, but I got over it…"

"So you may have been silly kids, but you took it pretty seriously, huh?"

"Well, I tend to take things seriously. It's a flaw, I hear" he said. Suki chuckled.

"I think it's endearing, but to each their own, I suppose" she whispered, starting with her noodles. She sighed happily "Ah, I hadn't had noodles in ages. They're amazing"

"Glad you're enjoying them" said Zuko, grinning and picking up his own chopsticks.

They ate silently for a moment, both of them elated by tasting real food for the first time in ages. But Suki soon lifted her gaze towards him, thinking again about what she had come to suspect in the restroom. She gulped down a mouthful of noodles, watching as Zuko dealt with his. Should she share her concerns with him? They were a couple, that was the natural thing to do, wasn't it?

She had to gather her courage, then. It would be better if they faced this together.

"Uh, Zuko?" Suki whispered shyly, glancing up at him as he attempted to eat his noodles as carefully as possible. His eyes rose to meet hers.

"Hmmm?" replied Zuko. She swallowed hard, although she had no food in her mouth at the time.

"I, uh, was wondering if..." she started. He kept quiet, looking at her with those golden eyes she loved losing herself in.

For a man who had seen the strife Zuko had, he was awfully adorable when he wanted to be. He had been quite innocent in matters of love, and Suki had loved to discover that sweet side of his that he often covered up for. But there was a big difference between teaching Zuko certain practices he was unfamiliar with, and telling him he just might become a father. In the first case, she could teach him many things he had yet to learn: but she was at a loss when it came to parenthood, and Zuko probably would be too, if she was judging things correctly.

Could she steal what was left of his innocence by throwing him into early parenthood? Granted they weren't that young, they were well in marriage age by now, but their relationship wasn't as mature as it should be. Could they have a child? Were they ready for such a future?

Then again, what did she expect them to have if not a future? Zuko had left his past life behind, and from the sound of it, he had no intentions of getting it back any time soon. Suki dreaded that her hometown would dissatisfy him, that he'd want to go home once he saw it. But what if he didn't? What if he chose to stay with her, what if he liked Kyoshi Island?

For a moment she felt lightheaded, insecure, as if she were drifting between wind currents that were battering her all at once. Could she give name to her suspicions? Should she? Wouldn't that ruin the wonderful time they'd had together? The joys of love were far more fragile than they should be. So, if just for the sake of basking in them for a little longer…

"If these are special Fire Nation noodles, maybe" she finished, smiling shyly "They're made differently in Kyoshi Island, so I was wondering..."

"Oh, I think it's the local cook's specialty, rather" said Zuko, raising his eyebrows as he eyed the bowl "But there must be regional differences regarding noodle cooking, I guess, right?"

"Yeah… You guys love to spice things up a lot" said Suki, chuckling "I used to go to this noodle restaurant in the Capital, Dong's Noodle Store…"

"Oh, I remember it" said Zuko nodding.

"He always had this super spicy bowl in his menu, I never had the guts to try it" she said, with a soft laugh.

"Of course" he said, smiling "I wouldn't have dared either. Saying it in the Fire Nation is as good as making a death wish, but I'm not that fond of spices myself"

They laughed and carried on chatting about their favorite meals, Suki's stomach sinking with every moment gone by in which she kept her suspicions to herself. She knew she'd have to tell him the truth eventually, but she had to wait for the opportune moment. And as she was, keeping Zuko's smile in place was the most important thing.

* * *

"So… we ready to go?" Lieutenant Jee asked when he arrived to the machine room.

He wasn't surprised to find the ship captain had been dozing off, bored beyond belief. A few sailors had stayed with him, and they were busy playing Pai Sho to pass the time.

"Do we have to go already?" the drowsy captain asked, rubbing his eyes.

"It's almost morning. We tend to take off with dawn, remember?" said Jee.

"Well, great but I don't think we can do it this time" he replied, crossing his arms "We have no directions right now, Lieutenant. Prince Zuko neglected to hand them over, busy with his lady friend as he was…"

"Love-struck men can be unreliable like that" said Jee, smirking.

"You like the girl, huh?" said the captain. Jee shrugged.

"What matters most is that he likes her. He's been pretty nice so far in this trip. I only hope he won't go back to being a grump if they ever have an argument… anyways, I'll go knock on his door. Maybe he'll give me the directions and we'll figure out where it is we're going already"

"Please do. But if he's sleeping then let me sleep too, alright?" said the ship captain, sighing and closing his eyes again as he dozed off on his seat. Jee chuckled.

"Fine, fine. As you wish" he said, making his way to Zuko's cabin with a pleased grin.

Whatever he might see there right now would be pretty funny, he was sure. Catching the Prince and his lover in the midst of their exchanges was always a blast, since his blushing face afterwards would never cease to amuse Jee. Still, seeing them together also brought a sting to it: Jee missed his own girlfriend, a lady he had grown well acquainted with ever since he returned to the Capital. He had answered Zuko's call to return to sea, but he had regretted leaving her behind regardless. Watching Zuko with Suki only made him long for her more.

He shook his thoughts away, though, and carried on towards the Prince's cabin. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door, and it surprised him when it swung open after he hit it. That was uncommon. Zuko would always keep his door properly closed at night, lest he risk having annoying crewmen poking their noses into his business. Why hadn't he done it today?

"Uh, Zuko? Prince Zuko? Is everything alright…?" Jee asked, an unpleasant feeling springing up in the pit of his stomach.

Upon the lack of response, he pushed the door open, and his eyes widened when he looked inside the room. He wasn't all that acquainted with Zuko's cabin, but in the few glimpses he'd had of it he'd never seen it so neat and tidy. The bed was made, there were no clothes in sight: in fact, there was no sign of the Prince, let alone of the girl he'd brought with him on this trip.

Jee frowned and gazed around until he noticed there was a sheet of paper on the Prince's meditation table. Well, there was one sign, if anything. But where was Zuko? Did the paper hold the answer to that question?

His eyes widened when he picked it up and read it. His jaw dropped. The Prince had done what…?

* * *

"You think they'll be okay with this?" Suki asked, biting her lip as she gazed at Zuko "When they find out what we've done…"

"I doubt they'll mind" he replied, smiling "If anything, the only one they'll miss is you. They're probably going to be happy to be rid of me"

"You don't mean that" said Suki, raising her eyebrows "I know you didn't get along all that well with your crewmen, but surely they liked you better than you think"

"Still, I've taken ten years out of their lives already, I'm not taking a day more. It's been enough" said Zuko, maneuvering with the machines to keep the smaller ship on course.

It had taken him some time to decide that taking an emergency ship would be their best choice. This way his crew wouldn't know where he'd gone exactly, so if his father ever tried to find him he'd be out of luck. And this way, his crew wouldn't spend too much time at the misty southern sea: they'd be free to return home and stay there without worrying about having to look after Prince Zuko anymore.

He had conveyed that last thought to his crew on the letter he had left behind for them. He hoped they wouldn't hold it against him for taking one of the emergency ships, but it was better than dragging them through the world again to no avail. This was, in Zuko's opinion, the best course of action for anyone involved in his travels. And he could spend time with Suki without worrying over who would pry into their business, too. The only thing he guessed Suki regretted was…

"You're worried because you didn't get to say goodbye, aren't you?"

Suki sighed and shrugged. Zuko smiled.

"You're too kind, you know?" he said. She looked at him with uncertainty.

"You think it's a bad thing?" she asked. He bit his lip.

"If you'd asked me ten years ago, I would have thought so. After everything I've seen, though, I'm a little more appreciative of kindness than I used to be" he said "And to think a kind girl fell in love with me, of all people, well… I still don't know how that happened"

"And you'd better believe it did" she said, grinning at him "Though, this sweet talk aside… you know how to steer this ship, right?"

"Of course I do. I'm not that lost in terms of sailing" he said, chuckling "I was at sea for ten years, remember?"

"I do, but you weren't the one leading the ship, were you?" she asked, smiling "I'm just wondering…"

"Don't worry, Suki. We'll be fine" he promised her, stepping towards her as the small ship coursed through the waves softly "I've learned a lot about how to do this. We'll be in Kyoshi Island in no time, for certain"

He took his seat beside her and clasped her hand in his. She smiled as he looked at her kindly, and she responded to his kiss with enthusiasm at first, but she recoiled from him when she felt her stomach churning again. She broke off from Zuko, surprising him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking at her with concern. She smiled and waved a hand carelessly.

"Just… feeling a little sick. I guess the noodles might have sat badly with me, but it's nothing serious, surely" she said. Zuko frowned.

"Really? We can turn back right now, find a doctor if you need one…"

"No, no. We'll find one in Kyoshi Island, if need be. I might feel better by the time we get there, even" she said, smiling. Zuko bit his lip.

"If you say so… but if you feel ill, let me know. Maybe I can help somehow, I don't know" he said. Suki smiled and caressed his cheek.

"You're too sweet. I'll make sure to call you if I need you. For now, though… all I need is a blanket. You packed one, right?"

"Yeah" he said, smiling "It's getting colder over here, isn't it?"

"We're far south, it's no surprise… and we've been in the Fire Nation too long" said Suki, chuckling "We've gotten used to the heat, don't you think?"

"I'm afraid we have" he said. He blushed a little before saying "Though I guess we can still warm up, if it gets too cold…"

"Eh? And what exactly are you implying, Prince Zuko?" Suki asked, smiling at him. He chuckled.

"I'm implying I'm a firebender, that's all" he said. She hummed.

"Well, here I thought you meant something a little different from that…"

He laughed and shook his head, and Suki smirked as she folded her arms over her chest. The more he gazed at her, the more beautiful she seemed. He wasn't sure what their time in Kyoshi Island would be like, but he was happy that she had wanted to become his one companion in this brand new adventure.

… Or at least, that was what he thought until her illness kicked in fully, several hours later.

"This damn boat, it's… it's too small. It's making me sick, I know that's it…" she groaned, covering her mouth after having emptied the content of her stomach into the sea for the third time since they took off.

Zuko eyed her with horror, a hand on her shoulder as he started to rethink every single choice he had made to bring them this far. He was an idiot, he knew it. He had messed up for real, and really badly, by doing this. She had been perfectly fine while they were on the larger vessel, but right now she could barely move, seasick as she was. She only clutched at his shirt, a hand on her mouth as she sat by the rim of the small ship, the unpleasant lurches of her stomach making her flinch every now and then.

"What have I done to you, Suki…?" he whispered, with a grimace. She shook her head.

"It's not your fault, you didn't…" well, actually it just might be, she reasoned as she spoke. If her suspicions were correct, and they probably were, the ship wasn't the reason she felt so sickly. It might have had a hand in making her feel as bad as she did right now, but it wasn't the actual reason why she was sick…

"We should head back. Or maybe go forward until we find another island" he said, releasing her and making to check his map "We can't be that far from Kyoshi Island, see? It's right up ahead!"

"It… it doesn't make any sense, Zuko…" she said, grimacing "If Kyoshi Island is so close by, we should've… we should've gotten there already"

He froze and looked at her with unease. She'd said what?

"We… we should have. But maybe the current isn't as strong as we thought, maybe…"

"Or maybe the current is stronger than we thought, but it's not taking us in the right direction, Zuko" said Suki, frowning. He shook his head.

"Impossible. We can't be off-course, that's…!" he exclaimed, looking at the charts with more attention now.

He hadn't seen any signs of the islands below Whaletail Island, so surely they weren't heading south, were they? But there was a thick mist, he realized… the air was dense around these parts. What if they were coming closer to those islands without realizing it? They had been cold, and the temperature had only decreased the more they advanced…

It was almost nighttime when he spotted the mountains drifting beside them. He cringed. They were off-course and he hadn't noticed it, busy as he had been looking after Suki to pay proper attention to steering. Suki would kill him for this, once she felt up to the task.

She lay in the small available bunk, looking uncomfortable and displeased, and yet not to the point where she'd stop eating, despite she vomited most of it anyhow. Zuko dreaded it would be a complicated stomach illness, since he had no idea how to tend to that. Maybe he should turn the ship around, sail all the way back to Whaletail Island and fetch someone who could help…

"Suki" he whispered, caressing her cheek gently and waking her as she dozed off "I think we really are off-course. I think…"

"We're going west again?" she asked, grimacing. He shook his head.

"I think we went south. I'll… I'll try to get us back on track, I promise" he said "But do you want to go back to Whaletail Island so you can be cured there? Or would you rather we head to Kyoshi Island right away?"

The idea of a cure made her frown. Was there a cure for pregnancy? She guessed there might be but the idea appalled her. No, none of that. She wasn't going to a Fire Nation doctor, not when they might confirm her pregnancy, and then rumors of Prince Zuko's bastard child would start to spread throughout the world…

"Kyoshi Island. I can take a little longer on this ship" she said, smiling weakly. Zuko sighed and nodded.

"I'll try to fix this. I promise" he whispered, kissing her brow and heading to the steering wheel again.

But despite his best intentions, and his firebending to fuel the ship's small engine, he soon understood why they had drifted away as they had: just as Suki had told him, the currents were dragging them away. The ship was far too small to fight against them, it wasn't meant for long journeys. And truly, he hadn't planned for it to be a long one: Kyoshi Island was right next to Whaletail Island. A small ship should've made it there easily, but surely he had misread the map somehow. The currents had done their work afterwards, ferrying them off southwards. He cringed as he struggled to steer the ship through the night, realizing his hard work was to no avail. Surely there was a way to fight against the currents, but he was exhausted, he could barely firebend already, and he couldn't figure out a solution right now. All he could do was drift at sea with Suki, hoping their food would last until they reached populated lands again.

They were adrift for three days amid mountains and small islands. There was only mist around them by the time the currents stopped acting as powerfully upon the ship. They weren't in the best of moods, shivering cold under the south's relentless weather, but they found a little comfort in being together, despite the hardships…

"I'm pretty sure that there are some other islands to the east" said Suki, grimacing as her stomach pained her "Once we get there, we should be able to course those currents upwards. Should be, I think…"

"Did you ever sail down these parts?" Zuko asked. Suki shook her head.

"We barely ever left our island for anything but fishing. But I remember that my sponsor talked about the currents before, with the ship captain who took us to the Fire Nation. He said they were hard to course with small ships, and that the safer way to reach Kyoshi Island was by accessing it through the east"

"He might be right…" Zuko sighed, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hands "But we can't go there yet. I think we need to replenish our supplies"

"Okay, but how? Where? We're drifting through uninhabited islands, aren't we?" Suki asked. Zuko shook his head.

"Not anymore, we're not. We're in calm waters now" he said, gritting his teeth "Calm, southern waters"

"What do you mean, Zuko?" she asked, frowning.

He stood up from the cabin's floor and gazed through the window. Suki joined him soon, and she gasped when she spotted the tall spikes of ice peeking through the water further ahead.

"We're… we're in the South Pole?!" she asked, aghast. He shook his head.

"These are just icebergs so far" he said, moving to the steering wheel "But we will be there soon"

"Wait, but what do you mean?! We're going to replenish our supplies there?" she asked, her eyes wide. Zuko nodded.

"There's a Fire Nation settlement there" he explained, surprising her "We'll stop by, the soldiers can assist us, and after that…"

"Are you sure of that, Zuko?" she asked, her eyes widening "Would soldiers want to help us? I thought you were…"

"Banished? I guess, but that doesn't mean I'm considered a legitimate traitor to the crown. They won't try to harm us, so they might actually help us instead" said Zuko "Don't worry, Suki. We'll figure this out"

"I hope so" she said, grimacing and taking his hand in hers. He smiled gently at her as she cringed at the pain and ran to the rim of the ship quickly, emptying her stomach once again, to Zuko's concern. Hopefully there would be a physician in the settlement, too.

The icy shore was still a few ways away, and Suki braced herself against the cold breeze as she waited for Zuko to steer their ship into the right direction, or at least what he thought would be the right direction. To her relief, though, he was able to shift the ship effectively, unlike how it had been when the currents took hold of them. She wasn't sure whether she wanted Zuko to find that settlement or not: wasn't it risky for him to be seen by soldiers? Wasn't he as good as a fugitive, to some degree? Wouldn't these men want to capture him? She had the suspicion they might.

Regardless of what might await them, Suki had a bad feeling about this unexpected turn for their excursion. Their detour could cost them dearly, or at least that was what she had dreaded upon arriving to the South Pole, for some reason. It wasn't a bad place – at least, it shouldn't be –, but she couldn't stop feeling uneasy. Something was wrong.

"There. I can see it" Zuko said. Suki's sense of dread increased.

"Are you sure we should do this, Zuko?" she whispered. He nodded.

"I think you could use less swaying on a boat and more stability. It could help you feel better" he said, as he steered his ship to a halt in the port the Fire Nation soldiers had built.

Worried as he was about Suki, he didn't think much of the fact that there were no ships docked nearby. He didn't really care. All he wanted was to lead her into the ice, to help her out of the unstable ship. Suki seemed reticent to step out into the ice, but she allowed him to take her hand and lead her to the frozen plains ahead of them.

Again, her stomach's irritation increased when she had her feet firmly planted on the ground, as it had happened when they had arrived to Whaletail Island. She cringed and covered her mouth. He clasped her shoulders with his own hands, frowning.

"Suki, listen… we're right there. It's barely a walk away. We'll get there, we'll stop to rest, and we'll be on our way home in no time. I promise. Just try to relax…"

"I-it's cold, and I feel so…" she muttered, grimacing. Zuko bit his lip before conjuring a plum of fire.

"Come here" he said, surrounding her shoulders and holding the small plum near her "We'll be there in a moment. Things will get better, for sure. I mean it, Suki"

"Right… right" she whispered, nodding.

Going by her track record, though, as soon as she got used to a certain routine, as soon as she adjusted to a new life, something awful would happen to take her out of her element and set her life upside down again. She didn't look forward to seeing that happen again, and she had no doubts her sense of foreboding surely came from her dread that this sequence of events would repeat itself if they kept walking.

But they kept walking indeed, and the looming shape of the metallic settlement became larger as they came closer. Even Zuko grew a little concerned by now, as he finally noticed of how still and quiet everything was. The Fire Nation had very organized troops, but they weren't stealthy enough to be this silent. He frowned, wondering if something had changed. The settlement looked firm and steady, but perhaps the number of soldiers guarding it had been cut, in order to send them to other military operations that direly needed larger numbers.

That didn't explain why there wasn't anyone keeping watch in the settlement's walls, though. Even if there were only a handful of soldiers left, at least one of them should be pacing the Fire Nation's encampment. But there was no one. Nothing Zuko could see. Why?

"Zuko…" said Suki, grimacing as they stopped at the gates. He clenched his teeth.

"Something's weird" he acknowledged at last "But… but we'd better get to safety first. We can figure out what happened later"

Suki grimaced but nodded, and Zuko helped her through the walls, and soon through the doors that led inside the settlement's only building. They paced the empty hallways with uncertainty, expecting something, anything, to pop out of nowhere and give them a fright. But nothing did.

"I don't know what's going on, but I think we can stay here…" said Zuko, helping Suki into a room with a large table and seats. She clutched at a chair and dropped on it, sighing in relief.

"I don't either, but I… I feel too sick to move anymore" she said, grimacing. Zuko looked at her worriedly.

"Has this ever happened to you before?" he asked. She shook her head "Well, stomachaches can be dealt with. I had quite a few in the past, and my uncle always would brew this special tea for me…"

"I, uh… don't think tea will be enough to cure me" said Suki. Zuko shrugged.

"It could help, you never know. But yeah, maybe it won't cure you that easily…" he said, sighing "Still, this place looks… well, empty"

"I fear it is" said Suki, biting her lip "I don't think we'll find a physician here"

Zuko grimaced and nodded.

"No, we won't. But maybe there's food stacked somewhere, I don't know" he said "It could help us make the trip back to Whaletail, or directly to Kyoshi, if we can"

"Wherever we go will be better than here. Zuko, I… I have a bad feeling about this place" she said. Zuko looked at her with unease.

"I'm confused by what's going on too, but nothing bad has to happen. We'll be okay, we'll just wait here and take off again when you're feeling better…"

"I don't think I'll feel better any time soon, Zuko. You see…" she said, avoiding his gaze. Zuko frowned and knelt before her, forcing her to look at him.

"What's going on, Suki?" he asked. She breathed deeply.

"J-just… promise you won't panic when I say this, okay? I know it'll sound like madness, but it's as weird for me as it will be for you, if not more, so…"

"So?" said Zuko, raising his eyebrows "Can you say it already?"

She breathed out slowly, biting her lower lip. She had to do it. She had better do it already. Keeping it to herself wasn't going to help anyone, so she might as well put it out there for once and for all.

"You see…"

A loud metallic noise prompted her to shut up.

Zuko frowned and got back on his feet, the sound startling him. He jumped to the open door of their room. He glanced outside, his brow heavily contracted, and he could see the shadows of people out by the building's doors. People. Maybe it was the soldiers…

"You sure they came here?" he heard one of them ask.

"They had to! They couldn't have gone anywhere else"

"Well, they're not going anywhere else for now, for sure. Especially not if they're Fire Nation"

The voices made Zuko's stomach sink. So whoever was out there wasn't an army member, and from the sound of it, they weren't going to show mercy to anyone who was Fire Nation. Were they responsible for the apparent abandonment of the settlement? Was this situation their doing?

It probably was. It wouldn't surprise Zuko in the slightest to discover as much. He tensed even more as he reasoned that the men outside weren't going to be friendly, and they wouldn't be inclined to find a cure for Suki, or to help them restock for their journey to Kyoshi Island.

Because if they were here, and they were open enemies of the Fire Nation, there was only one thing they could be, and if Zuko's suspicions were correct, things could not bode well for him and Suki. If his relationship with Sokka had been anything to go on, he had the bad feeling he wouldn't get along too well with his fellow Southern Water Tribesmen…


	110. Chapter 110

"You're kidding me. You really think this is warm weather?!" Kino exclaimed, his jaw dropping as Katara removed her parka and folded it over her lap.

"Yeah, it's too warm for me to wear this indoors" she said, smiling "What, Fire Nation boys can't handle a little cold?"

"A-as if, of course we can!" he retorted. Aang chuckled beside him as he bit on a kale cookie "But it's still not warm, okay? You don't know what warmth is. If you'd ever been to Ember Island, oh boy, you'd have a heat stroke!"

"Uh-huh. Sure I would" said Katara, smiling "Just like you'll have a cold stroke if you go out fishing today, since you think it's oh, so cold…"

"Not true! I can fish and I will fish. Aang will make sure I don't freeze, right?" said Kino, grinning at his friend. Aang chuckled.

"And that you don't kill fish unnecessarily too" he added, standing up and clasping the fishing rod. He glanced down at Kino "Ready to go?"

"Sure am!" Kino exclaimed, lifting his hands with difficulty to make an approving gesture. The thick Water Tribe clothes he was wearing restrained his movements quite a bit.

Katara chuckled as she followed them out of the igloo. The weather was indeed colder outside of her home, but not enough for her to put her parka back on for the time being. The sun was shining and while it wasn't too hot, it still marked a vast difference between light and dark periods, where temperatures would drop drastically, lower than what was needed to freeze water.

"Good luck out there today. Stay warm, Kino!" Katara called out, as the two young men started to make their way out of the village. Aang smiled and waved at her before leading Kino away. The Fire Nation soldier walked awkwardly, his movements limited by all his clothes. Katara couldn't help but snicker as she watched him.

"They've become good friends, haven't they?" said Haka, looking at Katara inquisitively. She shrugged but smiled.

"It's pretty rare, but Kino… he's not a common guy. I think he's probably an oddity in the Fire Nation" she said, folding her arms over her chest, her parka hanging over her forearms "So, any news?"

"Yuro just took off to check on the settlement about half an hour ago, he'll be back soon" said Haka. Katara's eyebrow rose.

"Wasn't he supposed to go a couple of hours ago?"

"Yeah, but he was busy building his igloo, I think" said Haka, smiling "He's all grown up, our Yuro-boy!"

"He sure is. Sokka… Sokka would be proud" Katara commented. Haka gulped.

"Is it true he's probably alive?" he asked. Katara shrugged.

"I really don't want to get my hopes up, Haka, but… but if everything Kino told us is true, he might be"

"Do you guys have a plan to go rescue him yet?" he asked. Katara shrugged.

"Nothing's set in stone for now, but Aang and I have a few ideas. Though we haven't discussed them with my father, of course. He won't want us to jump into this without the assurance that we'll survive, and we don't have it yet"

"I guess you don't, huh?" said Haka, with a sad grimace.

"I've been trying to be as patient as I can about this. I think we'll be able to do something in due time" she said "Once we've got a solid plan, we'll set it in motion right away"

"I just feel like… like we've got this great asset, we have the Avatar, and yet we're just protecting him instead of having him do what he's supposed to. Why?"

"Well, he's not just the Avatar, Haka. Aang is a living, breathing person just like you and me" said Katara, looking at him compassionately "If we have to sacrifice our lives for our cause, we'll do it, but… but we can't demand for others to do it for us. It wouldn't be fair. So sending Aang to the Fire Lord…"

"It wouldn't have to end in his death" said Haka. Katara raised an eyebrow.

"Haka, he's not done learning all four elements. He actually only knows two, and so far we don't have anyone to teach him earth or firebending…"

"Well, who needs those? We can stick to the ones he already knows" said Haka, proudly. Katara sighed and looked at him skeptically. He swallowed hard "Or maybe not?"

She smiled and patted his shoulder. Haka raised his eyebrows. It wasn't like Katara to make affectionate gestures, or at least, it hadn't been like her ever since her brother had disappeared.

"Who knows? Maybe we could settle with two elements instead of four" she said "You know, just now…"

"What?" said Haka. Katara smiled.

"You kind of reminded me of Sokka with that comment. That's all" she said. Haka gritted his teeth but smiled a little.

"Well, that's the nicest thing you've said to me in a very long time" he said. She chuckled.

"Don't take it to heart, though, you know that resembling Sokka also means being a goof who gets chased by tiger-seals and-…"

"Katara! Hakoda! Anybody!"

The shouts made Katara stop in the middle of her sentence. Both her and Haka turned immediately towards the entrance of the village, finding Yuro was there, panting heavily, his eyes wide.

"Yuro? Oh no, what's wrong?!" Haka exclaimed, as they both ran towards him. Yuro shook his head.

"I don't know, I… I don't know!" he said "But I saw this small Fire Nation ship at the bay! It was coming closer and I think they stopped at the settle-… the settlement…"

Katara and Haka helped Yuro sit down. The young man's breathlessness betrayed how quickly he had run back home to convey the terrifying news.

"I don't know who got off or why or…!" he said, shaking his head "But they're here and probably at the settlement, so…!"

"They might just be checking to make sure we haven't torn it down" said Haka, frowning and looking at Katara doubtfully. She shrugged, but Yuro shook his head.

"I-I don't know… the ship looked nothing like anything I'd seen before…" he said "I came to tell you all, just in case it was… it was some guy who might have taken Kino seriously after all…"

Katara's eyes widened. That would be the worst case scenario indeed. What if some soldier had come back to fetch Kino? What if they wanted to make sure he'd meant it when he claimed he'd found the Avatar? Her heart started racing as she processed the news. This could not be good.

Hakoda was alerted immediately. He had been enjoying a mid-morning nap when Katara barged into his room and told him about what was happening. In no time a group of warriors had assembled, and after Yuro had recovered enough to join them again, they had set out once more in the settlement's direction. Despite Katara had no doubts Kino was a good man, his fellow soldiers weren't like him. She couldn't let any of them hurt Aang, or anyone else from the tribe.

The hike to the settlement took them some time, but when they arrived the breathless Yuro pointed at the bay, and indeed, amid the mist, stood a small ship, too small compared with every other vessel that used to be docked in these waters.

"Who would try to sail down here in that raft?" Kattan said, raising an eyebrow "If a storm had hit them they'd be goners"

"Would have been easier for us if that had happened" said Katara, frowning. Haka gulped: she had regressed into the vicious, deadly fighter who would do everything in her power to protect her people and avenge her brother "What should we do, Dad?"

"I'm thinking they must have gone into the settlement, right, Yuro?" said Hakoda. The young man shrugged.

"Hopefully" he said, still breathing heavily "I thought it looked like they'd go there, but I can't say for certain. I didn't stay to watch who got off that boat"

"It could be an envoy" said another warrior, Narok "Like, a decoy or something to mislead us, and then the big ships would arrive carrying heaps of soldiers…"

"Well, if that's not what's going on then I don't know what is" said Haka "Because that tiny thing couldn't have carried more than three men all the way here"

"There are no ships in the horizon" said Katara "If there were, I'd be able to stop them. I think you guys should go inside the settlement, find out who's in there and deal with them. I'll go freeze their tiny ship and make sure they're trapped here. I'll keep a look-out in case any ships show up unannounced"

"Are you sure about this?" Hakoda asked. Katara nodded.

"It's our safest bet. If anything happens I'll give you guys a call. If not..."

"Shouldn't we have waited for Aang before doing this?" Kattan whispered, looking at Hakoda with uncertainty.

"I think it's better that we didn't" Katara answered in his stead "Aang is too kind-hearted. He wouldn't want us to do anything rash, and that's exactly what we're going to do by attacking these people before they can do us any harm. Kino may be trustworthy, but I doubt such a suspicious Fire Nation envoy would be as reliable as him"

"I guess" sighed Kattan. Hakoda nodded.

"Then let's go"

They sped their way to the settlement, and Katara carried on towards the ship docked by the shore. She was panting when she arrived, but she was quick to begin bending and freezing the water around the vessel. She took care not to damage it, thinking it might come in handy in the future: if they traveled to the Fire Nation it would be best to do it in a ship of their own making, odd as this one was.

She finished her deed soon enough and frowned as she squinted towards the horizon. She couldn't see any other ships coming their way, but she couldn't assume they weren't hiding behind the mist. She took a deep breath and started moving her hands and arms in slow, circular motions. The water in the air shifted under her command, and the view became clearer as she gradually moved the mist into the icy waters.

She raised an eyebrow once her job was done. There were no larger ships nearby, now she could say that for certain. Where were the reinforcements? Were there any, to begin with?

"Or are they actually alone...?" she reasoned, frowning.

Loud noises in the settlement alerted her. She turned and frowned, unsure of what to do. Should she help her father or keep watch?

She made her decision quickly enough.

* * *

"You sure they came here?" Haka asked.

"They had to! They couldn't have gone anywhere else" Yuro exclaimed, clutching his boomerang with unease.

The group of men were entering the building cautiously, their weapons at the ready, their blue eyes scanning their surroundings.

"Well, they're not going anywhere else for now, that's for sure. Especially if they're Fire Nation" Haka replied.

"Easy, Haka" said Hakoda, frowning "This place has seen dreadful things. Don't be too eager to jump into battle, alright?"

"Fine, fine…" he said, biting his lip and looking at the doors that lined the hallway. Their pole's new visitors had to be hiding behind one of those, surely…

It took them no time to discover behind which one. Hakoda lifted a fist and the rest of the group stopped. His heavy frown was enough to keep them silent as he pointed at the ajar door on the left, further down the hall.

The warriors tensed up and waited for their leader's command. He crept slowly towards the door, fearing their chatting may have alerted the new arrivals of their presence…

His suspicions were confirmed when a powerful plum of fire burst from the door, headed in their direction.

"Get down!" Hakoda yelled.

His men obeyed, getting out of the way just as a man jumped out of the room, snarling fiercely as he shot more fire through his limbs. Hakoda fought the flames away with sweeps of his hatchet and he squinted through the fire to get a look at his attacker. It was a young man, with dark hair, and not wearing a soldier's uniform. Wasn't he a soldier? He frowned and decided to worry about that later. He had to fight first, he'd find answers to his questions in due time… that is, if this firebender survived to answer them at all.

Haka and Kattan tossed their boomerangs at once, taking their attacker by surprise, but he didn't lose focus. He threw a fistful of flames as the projectiles approached, calculating their trajectory with such ease it took the warriors by surprise. Nobody could anticipate to a boomerang's flight that easily the first time…

Zuko cringed as he readied himself to attack once more. There were at least six of them, and there was only one of him. He was outnumbered, and facing serious disadvantages: the sun might be shining, but the cold environment still weakened him considerably. He couldn't surrender, though. It wasn't only his life on the line here, and he was prepared to fight to his very last breath for Suki's sake if he had to.

Suki glanced out the door just as Zuko lashed out with a fire tower. It spun powerfully towards the warriors, who jumped against the walls to avoid getting injured. Again Zuko struck forward, now with a kick, but he was painfully aware that the oldest, and surely most experienced of his enemies, was getting closer and skirting around the flames with renowned expertise. Zuko couldn't be the first firebender the man had fought.

Suki gritted her teeth. She was sick, possibly pregnant, but not helpless. And she wasn't about to let Zuko fight these men on his own.

Zuko's jaw dropped when he saw an auburn-haired shape dashing past him, connecting a careful fist to the shoulder of the oldest warrior. The man's eyes widened as he felt his arm growing limp all of sudden. What had just happened? He only noticed the girl instants after he jumped back, his gaze unfocused, his frown heavy with confusion.

But he didn't have much time to ponder what was happening. Kattan and Haka dashed past him, and Narok and Yuro threw their boomerangs as well. To their surprise, their new enemy dealt with the boomerangs expertly as well. Who were these people? How could they handle fighting against boomerangs so easily? Nevertheless, the warriors didn't stop. Their clubs and knives came out next, and the two enemies would be unable to fend off these weapons easily…

"Go back into the room, Suki!" Zuko roared. She cringed.

"I'm not leaving you alone to…!"

"I've got an idea and I need you safe!" Zuko said, as he kicked and punched further fire towards their enemies "Stay behind the walls!"

Suki grimaced, her head swimming already after this much action. She hadn't been in a real fight in ages. This felt surreal. Yet she complied with Zuko, jumping into the room again. Before the Water Tribe warriors could say or do anything about her momentary escape, Zuko had dropped on the floor: he spun on himself, his legs stretched out and conjuring all the fire he could muster. The barrier of fire he brought up was enough to send the warriors back, fearful of being burned. Now all he had to do was use this chance to strike them…

But that was when his form broke, and not because he'd made a mistake. Something caught his foot, making his mastered spinning wheel of fire shatter halfway through its completion. And not only did something catch his foot… but that something was soaking his boot. And in this weather, the sensation was as displeasing as could be.

He groaned and pulled away with difficulty, breaking off from the water whip that had caught him. He cringed when he realized it was a water wip indeed: he could deal with Water Tribe warriors, they were considerably weaker than Sokka, but he had never fought a waterbender before. And he had the feeling he didn't want to fight one now.

But did he have a choice?

He lifted his gaze to find a woman standing amid the warriors, her arms raised, her blue glare piercing through him. The sight of her reminded him too much of Sokka's angry stare that night, when he had yelled at Zuko at Ember Island… her rage felt of a similar nature, even if the circumstances were vastly different.

He clenched his teeth and dashed forth, knowing he'd have to get through this girl if he wanted to have a chance to escape. Their situation was only growing worse with every moment that went by, but what was he supposed to do? He couldn't give up, he was a man who fought with his everything to the bitter end…

But when he lifted another fire-coated fist, the waterbender attacked anew and the stream of water she unleashed this time was far worse than the first one: it froze Zuko's wrist against the metal wall.

He yelled, and the sound was enough to prompt Suki to come out of hiding anew. Her eyes widened as she saw Zuko struggling to thaw his way off the ice through his bending, but his merciless enemy only brought forth more water: each of his limbs was frozen in seconds, and all he could do was yelp in pain.

"STOP IT!" Suki screamed, her wide eyes tearful as the waterbender readied to attack again.

"Why should I?!" she exclaimed, glaring at them both "You were supposed to leave this settlement and yet…!"

But as Katara spoke, she realized what her father had understood earlier: these two weren't soldiers. And the girl, in particular, wasn't even Fire Nation. Katara frowned. Who was she? And why on earth was she with this firebender?

"You're hurting him! Let him go! Please!" Suki begged. Katara gritted her teeth.

To everyone's surprise, she yielded. Zuko collapsed, breathing heavily as his cold limbs refused to respond briefly. Yet he didn't have much time to feel relief, or to antagonize his foes once again, because the same ice that had been keeping him in place had turned into water, and the bender had masterfully shifted it to strike him in the face.

Zuko fell back, but the water remained in place around his head. He had no time to take a deep breath, he was going to drown in a bubble of water…

"STOP IT! STOP!" Suki yelled, jumping at Katara in an attempt to tackle her, but one of the warriors caught her and pinned her to the wall. Katara only frowned, her gaze flicking towards Suki briefly before she turned to one of her warriors.

"Bind his hands!" she shouted, before finally bending the water away from Zuko's face.

He gasped and coughed, desperate for air. His mind was in disarray, all thoughts jumbled, his body still struggling to keep up with the horrible sensations of ice around his limbs and the icy water drenching him in this cold environment…

He couldn't respond to being tied up, busy as he was trying to refill his lungs with air. He could hear Suki shouting but he couldn't understand any of what she was saying.

"We're not here to harm you!" Suki yelled at Katara and Hakoda, as she tried to wrestle the other warriors off "We were barely passing through, you can't treat us this way! Leave us be and we'll go away, just leave him alone!"

"As if" said Katara, frowning. Suki kneed one of the warriors in the stomach and tried to make her way towards the waterbender, but she unleashed another water whip and caught her wrist, holding the newcomer at distance.

"You were the ones who attacked first!" Narok yelled at Suki "If you're not here to harm us then why did you?!"

"L-let… let go of her!" Zuko exclaimed, struggling to stand up. His bindings were so tight he could feel his limbs freezing again. He probably wasn't the first firebender these people had tied up like this.

"Touching" said Kattan, grimacing "You know, if you cooperated maybe we wouldn't be hurting either one of you!"

"Really?!" Suki cried out sarcastically, cringing as her stomach churned again. It was not the time for this, damn it… "You have no right, let us go!"

"You're trespassing into our lands, barging into a building that's been abandoned for months!" Katara bellowed "We have every damn right to figure out who you are and to defend our Pole from you lot, like it or not!"

"We're not here to…!" Suki started, but she stopped short when she felt dizzy again.

Katara flinched when she noticed the girl's instability. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting ill all of sudden?

"Help us…"

She frowned when she heard the firebender whispering those words. He looked at her with unfocused eyes.

"Help us!" he exclaimed "She's… she's sick. We came here thinking there would be a physician, but there's nobody… she needs help. Please…"

Katara's eyes widened. She eyed her father with uncertainty, as he looked at Suki and assessed that she didn't seem to be faking her illness. The warriors who had pinned her to the wall were standing near her now, unsure of what to do.

"You're joking, right?" said Katara "She's sick and you came to the South Pole for a cure? That doesn't make any…!"

Her dismissal of his pleads ended when Suki bent over and vomited. All the warriors looked at her in astonishment, but soon in disgust also. Well, that was not something that could be faked easily, was it? Katara gritted her teeth.

"Damn it" she growled. She knew nothing about these people, but the girl wasn't Fire Nation, at the very least. Punishing her for being associated to this strange, scarred firebender didn't feel right.

"We should take them to the village" said Hakoda, sighing "My mother might be able to help her"

"And we should question this guy in the mean time. Figure out why he's really here" said Haka, looking at the Tribe Chief. Katara sighed and nodded.

"Fine. Let's do that" she whispered "Help her move. We're going to the village"

"N-no, you don't have to take us there…" said Suki "Just leave us be, let us go…!"

"Your ship's not functional anymore, sorry to say. And you're not going anywhere until we decide you two are harmless. So for the time being, you're stuck here whether you like it or not" Katara stated "You might as well stick around so you can make sure we won't hurt your… well, whatever he is to you. Let's go"

"But…!"

"Suki…" Zuko gasped, as two of the warriors pulled him up "Please, just… let them help you. Please…"

"But they… they can't help" she whispered softly. The men standing by her coaxed her to move too, albeit they were far kinder than the ones who'd grabbed Zuko.

"Someone's going to have to clean this up later" said one of the warriors, grimacing. Another one snorted.

"Don't look at me!"

It seemed strange to Suki that they'd speak so casually when the situation had been so terribly tense instants ago. Especially when they'd just taken two strangers captives. Was it all Water Tribe men had the same social awareness Sokka did? She frowned and allowed them to lead her away, guessing they might hurt Zuko again if she resisted more. She had to keep calm and figure a way out of this…

Zuko shivered as they walked out of the enclosure, the wind buffeting his wet face and limbs and making him feel fainter still. Katara huffed but drained the water that still clung onto him, to avoid having him freeze, albeit he'd still be rather cold. She expected a little gratefulness, at least, but the firebender said nothing. She rolled her eyes.

"Where are we… where are we going?" Zuko asked, gritting his teeth.

"Didn't you hear? We're on our way to our village" said Kattan, pushing him. Zuko cringed.

"How far is it?" he asked.

"Far enough. It'll take a while" said Kattan "Unless you want to run there and make it faster for us, but I don't think you want that, do you?"

"I just want her… I want her to be okay. Do you have healers?" he asked. Kattan bit his lip.

"Eh, something like that. What's with her, though? Why's she…?" he asked, turning to look at the auburn-haired girl. But he stopped on his tracks when he noticed the warriors leading her had stopped as she bent over yet again.

"S-Suki…!" Zuko exclaimed, his eyes widening. Katara stopped and looked back, spotting the girl hunched over, barely supported by the two warriors at either side of her.

Suki breathed heavily, black spots swimming before her eyes. This wasn't good. She really was in no fit state to come up with an escape plan as she was. She was losing consciousness too, she realized, and the world was suddenly turning around, despite she was trying to control her body. But she couldn't keep herself in check…

"Dad!" Katara said, her eyes widening

"I'll carry her" Hakoda had said, after having picked Suki up with difficulty, holding her across his arms "Let's keep moving. Whatever she's suffering from looks pretty bad. So we have to hurry"

Zuko would have been angry to see the man lifting Suki so carelessly, but he was too grateful to hear one of those Water Tribe people being reasonable to consider protesting. He nodded and carried on, following the fearsome waterbender, with two warriors flanking either of his sides, and behind them walked the rest of the men, including the Tribe's Chief, carrying Suki.

Zuko was as good as moving by inertia, his feet responding to impulses he wasn't conscious of. He was freezing, he was tired, he was miserable and he was worried sick about Suki. It wasn't until they were approaching a large ice wall that he realized he'd been brought to the Water Tribe's village indeed, and that he wasn't here in quality of a visitor: he was their prisoner, despite he had meant them no harm whatsoever. He clenched his teeth and kept walking, thinking he had to get out of this mess somehow, although he was out of plans as he was. Him and Suki would go to Kyoshi Island, as they had intended to, as he had promised her…

"Where are you taking her? Where are you…?" he asked, as the man carrying Suki sped past the rest of them, his feet steady and firm.

"She needs care, doesn't she?" was his reply, and Zuko was left looking at his broad back with nothing more but hopelessness in his eyes.

The villagers were stepping out of their tents and igloos, for they had noticed something strange was happening. Zuko wasn't impervious to their stares of unease, let alone those of disgust and the ones of rage, too. No, he had never expected the Water Tribe to greet him kindly, but he didn't think they'd hate him so much when he was already captured, helpless and weakened. They didn't even know who he was! The thought made him frown again. If they treated him like this already, they were going to execute him or freeze him alive as soon as they discovered he was the Fire Lord's son.

The village didn't seem to be too large, Zuko realized. There couldn't be over a hundred people living here. Was this all that was left of the Water Tribe, or was this only a small village amongst many? He wasn't sure, and he dreaded the answer to that question…

He was tossed on the snow right in front of a large pile of charred wood. It took him a moment to realize it was a fireplace. He cringed as he felt his captors dragging him towards a large pole, to which he was bound with the same fabric they had tied his hands with previously. He lifted his head, finding the warriors were talking to the onlookers, trying to appease them, except for the waterbender. She was glaring at him, her arms folded as she watched him quietly. It took him a moment to realize why she hadn't fetched the pitchforks and torches just yet.

She only tore her glare off Zuko when the Tribe's Chief reappeared. She glanced at him and he nodded.

"Your grandmother is looking after her now. There's four of our men in there too, just in case she suddenly feels better and decides to numb my mother's limbs too" he muttered. Katara nodded.

"She's dangerous" she said. Hakoda looked at Zuko.

"So is he. If you hadn't showed up when you did, who knows what he might have done"

"I wouldn't have killed you" Zuko said, glaring at them too "I'm not a murderer"

"A lot of people aren't until they're threatened, sure. But then again, you're Fire Nation" Katara reasoned "And Fire Nation people seem to relish in murder, from what we've seen"

"Not… not all Fire Nation people" said Zuko. Katara snorted.

"A weak defense if I've heard one" said Hakoda "It doesn't erase the crimes of your own"

"Nor does it make me their perpetrator!" he exclaimed "I… I didn't come here because I wanted to, okay?! Suki and I, we were heading for Kyoshi Island. She got sick, the tides took hold of our ship, the next thing I knew I couldn't change direction and we had no choice but to let the water bring us here! We were planning on stopping at the settlement to get a medic to look at her, but when we got there…!"

"There was nobody inside. What a surprise for you, only, I don't know how you were surprised at all" said Katara, frowning "The Fire Lord himself wanted the settlement vacated. Unless the Fire Lord's decisions aren't disclosed to his people, I have no idea why you wouldn't know this"

Zuko frowned. He certainly would have heard about that had been made public information. Surely Sokka would have rejoiced to hear his Tribe would be rid from the invaders, and Zuko would have noticed the change in his demeanor, right?

"It wasn't made public. If the Fire Lord decided this, he told nobody…" said Zuko, through gritted teeth "When did this happen? How long has it been empty?"

"I don't know, a few months, but does that even matter?" Katara asked, raising her eyebrows "Besides, you're not here to ask us questions, we're the ones who'll do that"

"And now we ask why you were headed to Kyoshi Island" said Hakoda, his arms folded. Katara looked at him questioningly and Hakoda shrugged. They needed to make sure this man's story held up before believing him.

"Because that's where Suki is from" said Zuko, looking at Hakoda defiantly "I was taking her home"

"Home?" said Katara. Both her and Hakoda drew the same conclusion quickly "She was your slave"

"No, not mine!" Zuko said, grimacing. Oh, dear, this would be impossible to explain to these people… "No, it's not as bad as you think! She's not a slave anymore anyways, that's why I wanted her to go home!"

"If she's not yours then you stole her from some Fire Nation nobleman?" Katara asked. Hakoda snorted.

"Then maybe he's not such a bad guy after all" he said. Katara looked at him skeptically, but Zuko looked at him hopefully. Maybe, just maybe, this would pay off if he was honest with this man.

"I'm not sure what would make him worse, to be a slaver or a thief" said Katara, rolling her eyes "How do we know that's true? How do we know you're not some soldier who came to the settlement again to…?"

"To do what, to die there with a sickly girl?" Zuko asked, skeptically "That place looked empty, with no food or anything useful to speak of, and you expect me to want to go there willingly? What reason would I have to do that?"

"I don't know. But maybe…" said Katara, gritting her teeth. How to imply that he was here to kill Aang, without expressly telling him that the Avatar was alive and amid their Tribe?

"Look, I know this sounds ridiculous to you, but I'm not some Fire Nation monster like you think I am" he said, almost begging at Hakoda with his eyes by now "I only came here by mistake. You have to let us go… or at least help Suki, if you won't let us go. She's felt awful for days and…"

"It seems odd for you to be so concerned about her, to the point where you'd even travel so far to take her to her island" said Hakoda, frowning "Who is she exactly? And who are you?"

Zuko swallowed hard. He wasn't sure he should disclose his identity. He didn't want to, rather. The idea of letting this man know he was the Fire Lord's son terrified him…

His silence was enough to make both Katara and Hakoda second-guess him again. Katara frowned.

"He's not talking. Bad sign, isn't it?" she said. Hakoda grunted in agreement. Zuko cringed.

"It's not important who I am or who she is!" he exclaimed "We just want to go to Kyoshi Island! As soon as that's over with…!"

"As soon as that's over with, you might have a chance to sell information about our Tribe to your people. That's why we're not so sure we can trust you, boy" said Hakoda, raising an eyebrow.

His eyes studied the young man intently, from his bushy dark hair to his piercing golden eyes… and especially the scar on the left side of his face, encompassing his left ear, too. The more he looked at that hideous wound, the more Hakoda felt like he knew something about this man's identity. He had the feeling he wasn't as much of a common, innocent man as he wanted to claim he was.

"I'm pretty sure we can't trust him, Dad" said Katara, frowning "He doesn't even dare tell us his name, imagine how bad it must be that…"

"I'm Zuko, alright?!" he exclaimed, exasperated. What were the odds that these people would know the names of the Fire Lord's children anyways? "Happy now?"

Hakoda frowned, although Katara only sighed. The name meant nothing to her.

"Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?" she said "So now that's out of the way, where did you come from, and why were you on your way to Kyoshi Island with someone's slave?"

"Suki and I, we… we're involved" he said, lowering his gaze. Katara raised her eyebrows.

"You two are what, now?"

"Yes, we're together! I love her, she loves me!" Zuko bellowed "Can't believe someone would love a guy with a scarred face?"

"N-no, that's…" said Katara, looking at him with unease before frowning "What I can't believe is that someone from Kyoshi Island would fall in love with someone from the Fire Nation"

"It's… it's not just anyone from the Fire Nation" Hakoda said, his eyes widening. Zuko looked at him and he felt his stomach sink. Oh, no. So maybe this one had heard his name after all.

"What do you mean, Dad?" said Katara, surprised.

"I've heard of you" said Hakoda, lifting a hand and pointing his index finger at Zuko's scar "When I was at sea, in the middle of the war, rumors reached me. A boy who had been banished and burned by his father..."

Zuko gritted his teeth and lowered his gaze. He could have tried to deny it, but what good would it do? Maybe the Tribal Chief didn't know the whole story...

"Why did you hear of something like that?" Katara asked, confused. She hardly thought that family conflicts would be relevant information in the middle of a war.

"Because his father is the Fire Lord" Hakoda finished, frowning so heavily his eyes were shadowed by his brow.

Zuko closed his eyes and allowed himself one more thought of Suki before everything came crashing around him. At any moment now the waterbender would behead him, and if she didn't do it, the nearby warriors would slay him with their spears or their knives.

But the attack didn't come after at least thirty seconds. Zuko frowned. What were they waiting for? Why had everyone fallen quiet?

Unsurprisingly, the waterbender was the first one to speak. Her voice trembled with contained rage when she did.

"Are you… are you sure of that?" she asked her father "Is he really…?"

Hakoda clenched his fists.

"His name is Zuko. It rang a bell, and with that scar… he has to be Prince Zuko" said Hakoda. Katara's eyes widened with rage.

"Is it true?!" she exclaimed, glaring at Zuko. He flinched under her threatening leer "Tell me now! Are you the Fire Nation's prince or not?!"

"I… I'm not anymore!" Zuko replied. Katara's face contorted with a mix of confusion and contempt.

"You're not anymore? What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"It means my father wants nothing more to do with me!" Zuko exclaimed "He hates me, thinks I'm a shameful failure and wanted me gone! So I left, and I wanted to make a new life for myself elsewhere, but things didn't go the way I planned! So yeah, that's who I am, the Fire Lord's banished son! Happy now?!"

Katara seemed about to kill him indeed. Her blue eyes were glacial, far angrier than Sokka's had been that one time. Zuko shivered and swallowed hard, shrinking under her rage.

"The Fire Lord's son. Dad, this bastard here is…!" Katara exclaimed, pointing at him. Zuko flinched, fearing she would bend at him.

"I know, Katara, I know. Keep calm. Getting emotional is not going to help us" said Hakoda, frowning and taking a step forward, a hand stretched in front of Katara to keep her from attacking the Prince "Don't lose your center, Katara. We're not going to let this get to us…"

"How can you say that?!" Katara shouted "His damn family is the reason we're suffering so much! He's not some common guy, he's the Prince! He's…!"

"I know! And instead of plotting to kill him, we can use him" said Hakoda, his eyes glacial too as he looked at Katara sternly "This boy here is the Fire Lord's son indeed. And now… he's our prisoner"

"N-no, no! You don't have anything to gain from keeping me here!" Zuko bellowed, but Katara's rage was suddenly appeased by hearing her father's words.

"You're… you're saying we should trade him for…?" she said. Hakoda breathed deeply.

"It's a thought. The Fire Lord would do it, surely, if… if it means to get his son back, right?"

"What the hell are you talking about? My father wants nothing to do with me, what part of that didn't you hear?!" Zuko shouted. Katara glared at him.

"If you're a failure in his eyes he'll love to lock you up somewhere instead of letting you roam the seas. He'd likely want you back despite what you say" she growled "You'll make a pretty good bargaining chip, Prince Zuko…"

"Bargaining for what?!" Zuko exclaimed "What the hell do you want, to end the war? He's not going to do it over me, he'd likely just tell you to kill me yourselves and spare him the bother!"

"He's got to be bluffing, right?" said Haka, from behind them. Hakoda frowned.

"Maybe. Or not?" he said, looking at Zuko again "He was banished indeed, and that burn… I heard his own father gave it to him. Is this really what happened?"

"It… it is. But it's not your damn business" Zuko snarled "I don't care if you believe me or not, send word to him if you want then! When you get no answer because he doesn't give a damn about me altogether you'll see just how good it'll do you to keep me here!"

"We're not going to ask him to end the war" Katara said, her heart lurching with unease as she tried to digest what her father had suggested. Her brother could be back if this happened… if Zuko was indeed bluffing, as he probably was, then Sokka might come home "But your father will likely agree to trade you for someone else he's keeping captive. Someone who belongs with us"

"What?" said Zuko, frowning "What are you…?"

"Someone who was dragged away from our home, from what we know!" Katara shouted, breathing heavily "Taken by… your sister, I suppose? That damn bitch…"

Zuko would have retorted at that, hearing someone insulting his sister like that wasn't exactly fun… but as Katara spoke he came to realize what he hadn't just yet. He knew a few things about Sokka's past, including how he had been taken away from his home, but he didn't know enough about his life before that event. Still, he remembered hearing him say he had a sister too. Could it be…?

"You want Sokka" he said. The entire village fell silent as he spoke those words.

Katara's eyes widened, her anger frozen in her face. Hakoda as well was wide-eyed, speechless. Nobody had uttered Sokka's name with such ease in a very long time around these parts… with the force someone would put into speaking the name of a living, breathing person. There was no hesitation, no doubt in his golden eyes. The firebender knew who they were talking about: he had met Hakoda's son.

"What do you…? Y-you know Sokka?" Hakoda asked, stepping forward. Zuko nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I met him. I… I've sparred with him. Trained with him" he said. Katara's hands flew to her mouth, tears blinking on the corners of her eyes.

"He's alive?" Hakoda asked, dropping to his knees in front of a now surprised Zuko "Is he…? He's still…?"

"He's very much alive, at least he was when I last saw him a few months ago" said Zuko, swallowing hard "And I don't think there's much risk of him dying anytime soon, so…"

"Sokka, oh spirits, Sokka!" Katara cried out hysterically, tears spilling down her cheeks as she laughed and wept at once. She couldn't believe it. That Zuko would have known his name without hearing it, that he would realize it was him they spoke of… it meant that Kino's information was real. He was alive…

And if that was so, and if this prince knew him, then it also meant Sokka was, most likely, the Princess's gladiator.

The realization made her laughter fade instantly. No, heavens no. The very woman who had dragged him away from home, that unforgivable Princess…

"How do you know him?" she asked. Zuko looked at her with unease, surprised by all the emotions she had seemingly underwent in a matter of instants "Tell me! How did you meet him?! Why did you train with him?!"

"B-because he's my sister's fighter!" Zuko exclaimed, inching away from her "Please, calm down!"

Katara's joy fell with those words. She had soared for an instant, only to be shut down with a blow stronger than a hammer's right afterwards. She couldn't believe it. No, not Sokka… not suffering at the hands of his captor. Why had this happened to him…?

"Your sister's fighter?" Hakoda asked. Zuko nodded.

"Her gladiator. It's… a weird system for entertainment that the Fire Nation has developed" Zuko explained "I actually hated it, only started to pay attention to it when Suki was fighting as a gladiator too. She… she had to stop, for a time, but…"

"Never mind your story with that gladiator nonsense, what about Sokka?!" Katara exclaimed, looking at him with wide eyes "He has to fight to the death in some stupid entertainment show for your sick sister's pleasure?!"

"That's not exactly how it is" said Zuko, grimacing "It's not to the death, though it's true they can be at risk of death. But… look, I don't really know why she's doing it. All I know is that Sokka and her are… well, as good as partners when it comes to this, I guess"

"They're WHAT?!" Katara exclaimed, indignant. Zuko gritted his teeth.

"Look, I'm only telling you what I know, and I don't know too much!" he exclaimed "She needed him as her fighter because, well, I don't know why! And he agreed to do it because he has some sort of deal with her, and he… he wanted something from her too. Wait, I think… I think the deal is for him to come home after he's done whatever she wants him to achieve. That's what he told me once, at least…"

"He… he's trying to come back?" Katara asked, no longer enraged. Hakoda as well was stunned cold, his mouth open.

"My sister isn't easy to deal with, and she's not someone who's willing to cooperate with others easily" said Zuko "But Sokka seems to have struck a deal that will keep them on even footing, so yeah, it's not as bad as it might sound to you. Heck, it's not really that bad for him at all, if you ask me…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katara asked.

"He lives like a nobleman, pretty much" said Zuko, shrugging "My sister pays for all his living expenses, he has his own house, he's been trained by the very best swordsman in our nation and he's strong enough to beat seriously skilled firebenders without losing limbs in the process, so yeah, he's doing fine. He's making the most of his situation, and he's planning on returning here by his own power one day. So I say you let him do that instead of making fools of yourselves by trying to trade me for him. Fact is, my father wouldn't trade me for Sokka. He seems to like him better than he likes me, even…"

"What?!" Katara exclaimed. Zuko sighed.

"Yeah, I know it sounds awful to you, but yeah, Sokka has gotten to my father in some weird way too" he said "I know that he helped in saving the Fire Nation from terrorists once, somehow. And he was thanked for his services and credited for his deeds… so maybe that's why my father took a liking to him. Sorry if it horrifies you, but that's just how it is"

"He saved the Fire Nation from…?" Katara started, but she frowned "Wait. Maybe… maybe he's doing this deliberately. He's… he's trying to get to their good side and then he'll destroy them from the inside! That has to be what he's doing!"

"Awfully clever and wise on his part" said Hakoda, frowning too "For the boy he used to be, who would run into battle head-first…"

"He's been hardened by what he's been through, I'm sure. But he's a smart man" Katara said "He could have planned this…!"

"Uh…" said Zuko. Katara glared at him.

"What? You think that's not what this is?"

"I… don't know, is all. If he's planned it he's one hell of an actor because that's never what I gathered from his actions. Just saying" said Zuko, looking at them with uncertainty "I… I don't know what he wants, or how, but he probably does want the war to end. Still… maybe I just don't give him enough credit. It might be he's smart enough to fool us all…"

"That's got to be it, Dad. That's got to be it" said Katara, looking at Hakoda desperately. Her father stared at Zuko, his brow drawn.

"It might be. It… it might" he whispered "But I'm not sure yet. I need to hear more. Zuko…"

"I'll tell you everything you want to know, but please… how is she?" he asked "Can you please check on her? Please…"

Katara breathed out slowly but she shrugged. She walked off towards the igloo as Hakoda continued to scrutinize Zuko carefully. He was following Katara with his worried gaze, biding how to play his cards next. Sokka could be, surprisingly, his one ticket to keeping his life and his physical integrity. He never thought the day would come when he'd rely on his sister's gladiator to save him, but it had come indeed…

"You say he was taught to fight by some swordsman?" Hakoda asked. Zuko nodded.

"I was taught by him too in my childhood. His name is Piandao…"

"I've heard of him" said Hakoda, frowning "He was something of a legendary Fire Nation captain, daunting enough to be renowned even after his retirement"

"Sokka trained with him, and uses this crazy black sword to fight" said Zuko "Along with a boomerang, a club, a knife… he makes bombs, too. And he used my sister's sword once as well, she leant it to him…"

"She what?" said Hakoda, raising his eyebrows. Zuko froze. That might have been a mistake "She would lend him her belongings? Really?"

"I-I think it was a one-time-thing" said Zuko, looking at Hakoda insecurely. The Tribe Chief looked at him harshly before huffing and shaking his head.

"But then, a boomerang, and his club…" he said, a small smile on the corner of his lips.

"And a very bad sense of humor" Zuko added. Hakoda chuckled.

"It's my son. It's…" he said, a hand on his forehead as he smiled, tears on his eyes. Zuko sighed.

"I hope this much information means you won't want my head on a stick anymore, or will you?" said Zuko, looking at Hakoda questioningly. Hakoda wiped the tears with the back of his hand and eyed Zuko insecurely.

"You expect that this will be enough to appease our concerns?"

"I actually don't understand your concerns to begin with" said Zuko, earnestly "You guys were afraid we were here to do what, exactly? A banished prince and an ill woman, what threat do we pose to…?"

"Hakoda? What's…?"

The new voice came from a young man that was approaching from Zuko's right, dressed in blue garb and with a mat of black hair growing wildly on the top of his head. His onyx eyes startled Zuko, along with the paleness of his skin. Amid so many dark-skinned and blue-eyed tribespeople, this man stood out as a koala-sheep would in a herd of wolf-dogs.

The same could be said about the man that accompanied him, Zuko realized. He was just as pale as the first one, with dark hair as well, but his eyes were brown instead. And his clothes, albeit blue like everyone else's, also had a few hints of red here and there. Zuko frowned.

"Aang. You're… you're back" said Hakoda, his eyes widening as he stood up again. He had hoped they would have finished dealing with Zuko before these two returned.

"Who's that?" Aang asked, his eyes widening as he looked at the man sitting on the snow, tied to the pole.

"We had a bit of a… of a situation" Hakoda said.

Zuko looked at Aang from the corner of his eye, taking notice of a shade of blue on his forehead, hiding under his bangs. The more he looked at that man, the more out-of-place he seemed. Aang was, in no way, a Water Tribe name.

"Who is he?" Kino asked now, approaching Hakoda as he gazed upon the stranger in surprise. His clothes, his appearance… he was Fire Nation, that was evident.

But Kino didn't expect that a full view of this newcomer's face would be enough to reveal who he was. Everyone in the Fire Nation had heard of Prince Zuko's scar, even if they had never seen it before. Kino hadn't seen it himself, but it took him no time to realize he was facing royalty.

"O-oh!" he gasped, his gloved hands flying to his mouth "Oh, no. Oh, no, you can't tie him up! He's the Prince!"

"The Prince?" Aang exclaimed. Kino nodded and Aang smiled awkwardly "You mean, the Fire Nation Prince? Come on, Kino, that can't be-…"

"It's him alright" said Hakoda. Aang fell silent, his eyes widening again.

"He's what? The Fire Nation Prince…?" he repeated, gazing upon the damaged tissue on the man's face. He cringed as he wondered how he'd gotten such a dreadful wound.

"We caught him and a girl in the settlement" Hakoda explained "It happened barely a few minutes after you two took off…"

"W-well, that may be, but… why is did he go there?" said Aang. Hakoda shook his head.

"It seems he came south by mistake, he wasn't headed here. At least that's what he claims"

"Then you shouldn't have tied him up like that" Aang said, frowning. Hakoda looked at him in confusion.

"What? Aang, this man here is…!" he started, but he held back from finishing the sentence. Zuko didn't realize why he was a threat, and he was better off not explaining why in front of the man himself.

"He's a Fire Nation man, he must be freezing" said Aang, grimacing and stepping towards him.

"Aang!" Hakoda exclaimed, as Aang knelt behind Zuko and released him from the pole "Don't let his hands come loose, damn it!"

"Geez, calm down!" said Aang. To everyone's surprise, Zuko remained docile as Aang tied his hands behind his back again, now without the pole in the way.

"I'm not about to go anywhere, nor will I hurt you guys" said Zuko, frowning "Not while you have her in your custody. Can I go see her?"

"I don't know" said Hakoda, gritting his teeth as Aang helped Zuko up.

This was like a scene straight out of his nightmares: the Avatar being helpful to the man who might be his destruction eventually. It certainly seemed Zuko didn't understand who Aang was, but this show of kindness, and this much concern from Aang, might just set up all sorts of red flags for him. Was Aang a fool, or was he just too kind-hearted for his own good?

"He's freezing. We need to get him inside" said Aang, looking at Hakoda defiantly "He may be Fire Nation but he deserves to be treated kindly. Just like Kino was"

"Aang, do you realize the risk…?" Hakoda asked, his patience decreasing as he glared at the Avatar. Aang nodded.

"I do, but the risk isn't worth mistreating someone else like this. Not if he's not here to harm us" he stated firmly, leading Zuko towards the main igloo, with Kino treading behind them.

Hakoda huffed and followed them, his brow drawn heavily. How would Aang know if Zuko was here to harm them or not? Hakoda himself was leaning towards thinking he wasn't, it was true, but he couldn't be sure of it. Not yet anyways. And there was no telling how bad things could get if Zuko realized Aang was the Avatar…

Zuko was surprised by how much warmer the igloo was, but not more than he was surprised by the new arrival's kindness. He stared at him in confusion as he helped him take a seat before the weak fire. Yet his attention was drawn away from the young man when he realized Suki was nowhere in sight.

"Where is…?" he started.

"In another room" Hakoda finished curtly, as a star-struck Kino dropped by the Prince's side, his eyes wide.

"Why did you come here, Prince Zuko? Of all places you could be…!" he said, his hands trembling as he made to touch him, but he recoiled again whenever he got too close. Zuko frowned.

"And why are you here, whoever you are?" he asked "You're Fire Nation, aren't you? The two of you, maybe?"

Aang gulped and nodded. Kino grimaced.

"W-we were soldiers from the settlement who learned to get along with the people here" Aang explained "When the settlement was emptied we decided to stay behind"

"Why was it emptied at all?" Zuko asked. Kino shrugged.

"Fire Lord's orders. We never got a bigger explanation than that, but…" he said, staring at Zuko again "But how did you end up here, Prince Zuko?"

"The tides made a mess of his trip, if what he's saying is true" said Hakoda, stepping forward and looking at Zuko "But you can hear explanations about who he is or what he's doing here later. There's more he needs to tell us now"

"Like what?" said Zuko, raising an eyebrow "I already told you everything I could think of, you know I was talking about Sokka. You knew since the start, didn't you? I couldn't have known his name if I hadn't met him…"

Aang's eyes widened, and he shared a look with Kino. So everything Kino had dug up was true! Sokka was alive, and quite possibly, working with the Prince's own sister…

"That's not what's bothering me. What does bother me is that you seemed to doubt that he'd be doing what he's doing because he has a clever plan up his sleeve" said Hakoda. Zuko stiffened "You said he'd have to be one hell of an actor, and I know my son well enough to know he's not one. At least, he didn't use to be. So tell me: why do you doubt that he's plotting to take the Fire Nation down from within?"

Zuko swallowed hard. He didn't want to answer that question. He was sure Hakoda didn't want him to answer it. But honesty might be his only way out of this particular problem, and he was better off giving him everything he could about his son…

"It's because of their relationship" he whispered. Hakoda tensed "I… I don't really understand it, but they seem to have moved long past their conflict about how she took your son away from home. At least, on the surface it looks like that. Now, I don't… I don't want to claim anything without any basis, but Sokka did worry about Azula when she was sick once, I remember stopping by to see her and he was visiting her too. He… he actually hugged her once, Suki can confirm that. My sister shoved him off but he seemed pretty happy regardless. And well, me and my sister, we never got along too well so there was this one time when I said some thoughtless things about her and… and he punched me in the jaw for it. Took a few weeks to heal"

Hakoda's eyes widened. Zuko swallowed hard.

"I-I'm not saying he's in love with her or anything…"

"I wasn't thinking he was. Why did you clarify that?" Hakoda said, his surprise turning into sheer horror at Zuko's suggestion. The Prince blushed.

"J-just because… well, a friend of my sister's kept rambling about that, saying they were in love but I'm sure she was just rambling. It couldn't be true" said Zuko, looking at Hakoda worriedly. Hakoda frowned.

"Because my son wouldn't lose sight of reality to that point, or would he?" Hakoda asked. Zuko grimaced.

"I guess I thought he wouldn't fall for her because she's not someone that easy to love, and with how they started I wouldn't expect them to go to the exact opposite spectrum of a relationship in what, three years? It's not reasonable"

"But you say he hugged your sister. And it bothered her" said Hakoda. Zuko shrugged.

"Nobody is stupid enough to hug my sister like that but him. Seriously, nobody would do that, ever" said Zuko "But I think maybe that's why he did it? To irritate her?"

"And yet you bring it up as something that makes you think my son is awfully attached to his slaver" said Hakoda, raising his eyebrows.

"It was odd. It's odd behavior for a slave, but Sokka has never been a normal slave" Zuko said "Until the last I saw of him, he acted more like an associate of my sister's rather than a slave. They… they kind of went at things evenly, I think. At least as evenly as can be with a slave and a Princess"

Hakoda frowned as he stared at Zuko with judgmental eyes. Zuko swallowed hard. Something told him that his honesty wouldn't go as rewarded as he had hoped.

"You say your girl knows them too?" he asked "Your sister and my son?"

"Yeah" said Zuko. Hakoda nodded.

"Then I'll be questioning her about this too before you can see her. And if anything doesn't add up, you won't be shown any more kindness. Aang, Kino… if either of you tries anything stupid like releasing him while I'm gone, I'll have Katara throw both of you into the freezing sea right after him. Am I clear?"

"No need for that…" said Aang, grimacing. Kino nodded.

"We'll behave" he said, softly.

Zuko frowned as Hakoda left for another room inside the igloo. Was it that irrelevant for the man, hearing confirmation that his son was alive and seeking a way back home? Or was he just too broken through the years of war that he refused to believe Zuko that easily? Though what truly seemed to bother him was the idea of his son being close to his captor. Zuko couldn't blame him entirely for his reticence, but he was still bothered by the Chief's behavior. And what bothered him the most was being kept away from Suki, regardless of everything he had just told them…

"Sorry that they're so harsh" said Aang, looking at Zuko apologetically "They can be a little unreasonable with new people…"

"Yeah, they weren't happy about me when I first came to stay with them, but I proved myself" said Kino, beaming enthusiastically. Zuko raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm not here to stay, unlike you" he said, studying Kino with his gaze. The man certainly looked to be Fire Nation, and his revering attitude suited a soldier's… but the other one had forced the Tribe Chief to treat him more kindly. The other one had a name that didn't sound Fire Nation at all… "Why did you choose to stay?"

"U-uh, just… to keep an eye on the Tribe" said Kino, smiling.

"That doesn't make sense. If you wanted to keep an eye on the Tribe you could have stayed in the settlement instead of moving here" Zuko replied. Kino froze "You didn't have to come here, don their clothes and basically join their tribe. Not if you didn't want to"

"W-well… we're just different, I guess. We liked it here" said Kino. Zuko huffed.

"Can't say I share the sentiment" he grumbled.

"I know they're ruthless right now, but things will work out in the end. If you want to leave we'll make sure you can, and safely" said Aang "I'll make sure of it"

"You?" said Zuko, raising his eyebrow "And how would you be able to do that?"

"I-I just… they listen to me" said Aang, gulping.

"I noticed" said Zuko "But I don't understand why. If you're Fire Nation, which you don't seem to be, with that name, why would they hold your opinion as important at all?"

"Don't look too much into it, Aang is just smart like that" said Kino, laughing awkwardly "He's a clever man, knows better than everyone else out here, and the tribespeople know it!"

"That still makes no sense, though" said Zuko, eyeing Aang with unease "Are you two captives too? Are you the reason why the settlement was emptied?"

"N-not exactly, and no…" said Aang. Zuko didn't believe him.

"Really, don't worry about it" said Kino, grimacing as he looked at the Prince "Aang is harmless, I am harmless, and the rest of these people will be harmless too so long as you don't annoy them. You'll be on your way home soon…"

"I don't think I will be" said Zuko, glaring at Aang. Aang swallowed hard. The prince he'd vouched for was starting to make him feel very uneasy…

Kattan and Yuro were wide-eyed as Suki answered Hakoda's questions to the best of her ability. She had been given some strange broth to drink, and the waterbender had touched her belly, her hands coated with water, in some odd attempt to find out what she was sick with. But before Katara or Kanna could confirm or deny their suspicions, Hakoda had entered the room. And as Suki spoke he frowned more deeply, while the others were stunned cold.

"That's got to be a lie" Katara said, shaking her head "My brother wouldn't have learned to get along with the same woman who dragged him away from here. That's so ridiculous it's not even funny…"

"It's the same thing the other one said, and they had no chance to settle on what misinformation to give us, did they? If they're both saying it…" muttered Hakoda. Katara shook her head again.

"Ridiculous. You can't possibly think…!"

"But we have Kino here" said Yuro, surprising them "I mean… he's amongst us, and we've welcomed him. He was Fire Nation, or well, still is. And we're fine with him. Maybe… maybe Sokka has gone through something similar?"

"That would make sense if only it weren't Sokka we're talking about" said Katara, snarling.

"I'm only telling you what little I know about him" said Suki "Sokka… he's always been a strange, one-of-a-kind man, ever since I first met him. But he's become a strong man, and a good man too. Why would it be so bad if he's learned to live around the Princess? She's… she's not that bad herself, okay? Maybe it's because of Sokka's influence, I don't know because I only met her a few months ago, but I went through something awful and she was the one who saved me. So even if I didn't know her too well, I always felt… that she wasn't half as bad as everyone thinks"

"Just like your boyfriend out there isn't half as bad as everyone thinks?" Katara asked, raising her eyebrows. Suki frowned and nodded.

"Zuko has been through a lot" she said "He had to spend ten years at sea because his father banished him for some minor transgression, alright? He lost his mother when he was young, too, lost his birth right because his father has passed him over… he's lost too much. All he and I wanted was to get away from all the awful memories, to find peace elsewhere! And that was what we were heading to Kyoshi Island for. So if you want to take revenge for what his sister did by taking Sokka away from you, you'll have to go through me first. He's a good man, whether you want to believe it or not"

"Yeah. And that's precisely what I fear Sokka would say if he were here" Hakoda said, looking at Katara, who stiffened at his words.

"He wouldn't…"

"We don't know anything about these new royals" said Hakoda "Only that the Princess took Sokka captive, which, as you might recall, was what he had planned on doing to her and everyone in that meeting in the first place. We're at war. We tend to do awful things to one another"

"But you really think Sokka…?!" said Katara, her eyes wide "Are we really supposed to believe all this? That he's ended up becoming like her now?"

With that, Katara pointed at Suki. The violet-eyed woman regarded her with irritation. What was so wrong with Sokka being similar to her? What was the problem if he was a good influence over Azula just like she was over Zuko?

"Well, he can't be completely like this girl, for sure" said Kanna, intervening for the first time "It would be impossible, physically…"

"Well, aside from the obvious difference between him being a man and her a woman?" said Kattan, but Kanna shook her head.

"That obvious difference is why this girl is pregnant. So I'm certain Sokka can't be quite as she is, regardless of how he feels about the Fire Nation nowadays"

Suki's eyes widened after the old woman spoke.

So it was true. So she really was pregnant… she grimaced and dropped her head in her hand, mixed feelings crashing through her. So what Akira and Yong had said was a lie: she hadn't been rendered sterile. She was carrying a baby, she was going to become a mother…

A certain part of her was still as uncertain about it as she had been a few days ago, when she had started to have her suspicions. But at the same time something else was being born inside her, perhaps a small speck of joy over realizing she was carrying their baby: it was hers and Zuko's. They would have a family… well, so long as they got out of this mess, they would.

She hadn't really thought she wanted a family, and the idea was still rather terrifying. But her sense of responsibility was also kicking in: she had to look after her child no matter what.

"Are you two married?" Hakoda asked, despite he was aware of the answer to his question before asking it. Suki shook her head and he sighed.

"It's hardly the first time a woman is pregnant out of wedlock" said Suki, looking at him somewhat reproachfully.

"It's something that doesn't tend to happen in our Tribe" said Katara, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingers "But I really don't see how that's our problem. Whatever she does with that guy is her business and hers alone. What I want to know is what we're going to do about Sokka now. What we'd been planning…"

"We're not going to set anything in motion until we've figured out what to do with these two" said Hakoda "Aang and Kino are back, by the way. They made me drag Zuko in here, and are keeping him under watch in the living room…"

"Kino is trying to do something serious for once?" Katara asked, skeptical "So they're in here?"

"Yeah. I figure she'll have to give the father-to-be the good news" said Hakoda, shrugging. Katara sighed.

"I'll help her there" she said "This is really not our business, though…"

"The faster they're gone, the better for all of us" said Hakoda, shaking his head. Katara's eyes widened.

"You want them gone, altogether?" she asked. Hakoda shrugged.

"It's better than to risk anything we can't afford" he said, looking at her meaningfully "I don't think they're here for what we thought they were"

"Can we be sure?" Katara asked. Hakoda shrugged.

"It's the Prince, not some former soldier from the settlement. He couldn't have heard Kino" he whispered. Katara nodded.

"Heard who say what?" said Suki, raising an eyebrow "Why are you two being so enigmatic?"

"Do you want to go to your island and be happy there with your not-husband?" Katara asked "Or would you rather figure out secrets you shouldn't discover?"

"One thing cancels the other?" Suki asked.

"Pretty much. Come on, you need to talk to your Prince, right?" said Katara, with irritation. She helped Suki sit up and then she pulled her on her feet before they made to leave the room. Hakoda, Kanna and the two warriors lagged behind, most of them looking at Hakoda with uncertainty.

But while this conversation was unfolding on the closed room in the igloo, the three young men in the living room were still holding their own. And despite Aang had vouched for Zuko and helped him while he'd been tied to the pole outside the igloo, he was starting to wonder if maybe he would have been better off not doing that at all…

"Your name is Aang" Zuko repeated. Aang gritted his teeth "That's not Water Tribe. That's not Fire Nation. Everything about you is… is screaming something that makes no sense to me. But… but if you weren't that, then what else would you be?"

"Prince, you're just overthinking everything!" Kino exclaimed. A glare from Zuko silenced him effectively.

"If you have any respect for me, then tell me who he is. Now" he commanded.

Kino stared back at him, shivering. No, he couldn't do that. He couldn't betray his friend, not Aang. He was without a doubt the best friend he had ever made, and he knew that Prince Zuko's punishment, in his banishment, had been to find the Avatar…

"I can't" he said. Zuko snarled.

"So you'll disobey your Prince's orders?"

"Hey, stop treating him that way" Aang said, angrily. Zuko scoffed.

"Again, why do you think you can get away with commanding others around?" he asked "Why are you so very important, huh? A real Fire Nation soldier would act like him, but you… you didn't even react when you saw my burn other than with disgust. He knew who I was immediately, you didn't. You're no Fire Nation soldier. And you know what? You're not Earth Kingdom either, before you try to sell me that story. No, not with that name or those eyes. You're…"

"Stop it" said Aang, grimacing "Stop asking questions! Just calm down, I'll get Hakoda to send you away as you want it, and you can forget this ever happened…!"

"No, I won't" said Zuko, his eyes gleaming "You're… you're an Air Nomad. You have to be! Even if it doesn't make any sense, you are one. I've studied everything I could on Air Nomads for years, learned all I could about their culture… you're one of them. You're… your forehead. That blue mark on your forehead. You're… you're even an airbending master!"

"I…!" Aang started, as Zuko's jaw dropped.

He stared at the man in confusion. What was this airbender doing here? No wonder he was treated with such importance, if he was possibly the last airbender alive. Surely they kept him around in hopes he'd teach the next Avatar the airbending art, which might be lost without him…

But all things considered, an airbending master probably wouldn't be able to be tattooed in the tradition of Air Nomads down here. It didn't seem like this village had the items to do that, poor and crumbling as it was, nor would they be able to provide the full initiation ceremony. But the Temples were empty. They were, he had seen them for himself! This man, who was he? Why did it feel like he was a man out of his time…?

"You're an airbender" he said, gritting his teeth "You're the only one left, aren't you? Answer me!"

Aang didn't obey. Zuko struggled with his bindings, trying to make them come loose, but he failed. Kino didn't help him, instead jumping in front of Aang as if to defend him from the angry prince.

"Stop it!" he exclaimed "Don't try to hurt him! He's done nothing to you!"

"No, but he's going to!" Zuko bellowed "You're keeping him here so he teaches the next Avatar, aren't you?! Well, good! If the next Avatar is indeed here, and the cycle isn't broken as I thought…!"

That discovery could mean everything.

Zuko's eyes widened as he realized the magnitude of what was happening. If he found the Avatar now, he would return to the Fire Nation as a hero. It would mean proving his father wrong about him all along, it would mean succeeding where Ozai himself had failed. And it would mean regaining his birth right, his honor, everything his father had denied him for over ten years.

It would mean no more uncertainties for him and Suki. He would have a chance to give her a life of luxuries to no end, of relaxation and joy, after all the struggles they'd both had to face. She'd be happy, he would see to it, and he'd provide to her with everything she could have ever wanted…

"You… damn it, I knew it!"

Zuko flinched when he realized the waterbender was back, though it surprised him to see Suki stood beside her, eyes wide as she took in the two black-haired strangers. Yet Zuko's attention returned to Katara when she conjured a whip of water again, glaring at him menacingly as she held the water at the ready.

"I knew he couldn't be trusted, I knew he was here for Aang!" she shouted, jumping towards her friends and standing beside Kino, whose eyes widened with horror. Zuko frowned.

"You thought I was here for…?" he started. Katara snarled.

"You know who he is!" she shouted "You just said it, didn't you?"

"I only said… that he was an airbender" said Zuko, but Katara's defensiveness, and the confusing situation, came together just as he saw the look of chagrin in both Kino and Aang's faces. Katara as well was shocked, realizing now that she had made a huge mistake. Had she given out Aang…?

"Zuko, please listen to me" said Suki, moving towards them with difficulty, her hand on her womb "They'll let us go if you just listen and stop prying into whatever…"

But Zuko shook his head, inching away from Katara, Kino and Aang as his eyes widened. His gaze was set upon the black-haired young man with the blue tattoo on his forehead, the one who had clenched his fists by now, terror and uncertainty etched in his face. If Katara's protectiveness meant anything…

"You're not just an airbender, aren't you?" he said "You're… you're the Avatar!"

Time seemed to stand still as Hakoda, Yuro and Kattan appeared at the threshold, having heard the ruckus of their argument. Zuko's words were enough to render null all of Hakoda's plans in regards of these foreigners. So he knew… curse it all. Here he had hoped the Prince wouldn't find out…

Suki's thoughts of the baby faded briefly to give way to her disbelief. Who was the Avatar? That guy who stood behind the other two? Given how guilty and worried he looked, it had to be him. But how…? Shouldn't the Avatar be an old man, especially if it was an airbender?

Yet… the Avatar. Her wide eyes gained a hint of hope, of glee. She had never thought she'd come to see or meet the Avatar in her lifetime. This was the reincarnation of Kyoshi, no less… he was still alive. Her timeless soul lived on.

"The Avatar…?" she asked "Really?"

"Don't you even think about touching him, you hear me?" said Katara, with an angry snarl. Zuko didn't seem to hear her, though.

"It's you… it's you. You were here all along, for all this time and I…!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide. He should have found him years ago. He should have dragged him to the Fire Nation. He should have made his father acknowledge him once more…

"And he's going to stay here for as damn long as he wants, and if you don't like it then I might as well finish you off here and now…!" Katara roared, but Suki jumped in, holding out a hand to stop her.

"Please, calm down!" she said, before turning to Zuko "Zuko, dear, can you listen to…?"

"Suki, it's him!" Zuko exclaimed, looking at her with despair. She flinched when she noticed his eyes were twitching, his hands trembling "The Avatar, I… I've been searching for him all my life!"

"I know that, Zuko, but you… you had given up, remember?" she said, frowning "I get that this is a big shock, but I have to say something to tell you…"

"I had given up, but I never should have!" Zuko shouted. Suki's eyes widened again "I… I should have found him. I should have taken him home, and shown my father…!"

He only snapped out of his thoughtless state when she inched away from him, a look of disbelief in her face. He stared back at her.

"Suki…"

"I can't believe you're saying this. I can't" she said, shaking her head "Zuko, I thought…! I thought this was already behind us! I thought you realized this was pointless, that your father had done this to ruin your life…!"

"He had, and if I achieve what he wanted he will have no choice but to take everything back, Suki!" Zuko retorted "Don't you understand what this could mean to us?! We could go back, we could live lives worth living instead of just settling with whatever we can hold onto! This is…!"

"You're out of your mind. You're not thinking clearly, Zuko!" Suki exclaimed "You can't expect anything will really get better if you take the Avatar back to the Fire Nation! You're… you're willing to sacrifice a man's life for the sake of proving your bastard of a father wrong?!"

Zuko froze at Suki's words. She looked at him as though she didn't know him, as though this wasn't the same man she had been so happy around barely a week prior. The very man who had helped her overcome the worst time of her life. Zuko could only look at her in confusion, just as everyone else in the room did.

For the others had been ready to jump in to defend Aang, but the last thing they had expected was for the newcomer, the Prince's own companion, to be as affronted as she was by his words. Was she on their side after all, even though she was with him? Even though she didn't hate the Fire Nation?

"Suki…" Zuko said, looking at her unsurely.

"I won't stand for it!" she yelled, looking at him fiercely "And if you were on your right mind you'd understand why! But you're not, and until you are I'll keep doing everything I can to get some sense through to you!"

"But don't you see?!" Zuko exclaimed, desperate "Everything I'd ever wanted…!"

"Yes, you'd get everything you wanted, back when you were thirteen!" Suki exclaimed "But do you still want the same things you did when you were a boy? Are you still that same boy, Zuko?"

"I'm not, Suki, but…! You know life could be so much easier, so much better, if we have a chance to go back home" he said "And this could change everything, Suki! I could… I could get it all back…!"

"I thought we were going home" said Suki, looking at him reproachfully. Zuko's eyes widened "And I also thought you'd know now just what matters to you in life, but I guess I was wrong! So here I was, begging them not to hurt you because you're a good man, and yet you want to take the Avatar to your father?!"

"I… I don't want to do it, don't get me wrong" said Zuko "But what choice do I have?! This is…! I'm supposed to…!"

"You're supposed to take him to your father, but you do have a choice about whether to do so or not!" Suki exclaimed "And you had better make that choice soon, because if you choose to go through with this, you're doing it on your own. We're not… we're not going with you"

"We? Who's we?" Zuko asked, looking at Suki in confusion.

Her hand moved to her womb, and she gave Zuko a meaningful stare. It took him a moment to catch it's understanding, and his jaw dropped again.

"Y-you mean… that's the reason you were sick?" he asked, trembling. Suki nodded, tears blinking in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm not going to stop you if you really care more about a life of luxury, about a throne, about a crown, than you do about me. Than you do about us" she said, closing her eyes "But know that if you try to take the Avatar, I won't be by your side. I won't let you do this to yourself anymore. Your father's task was wrong ten years ago, and it's wrong now! His rule… he's the reason I've had to fight as a gladiator, why those two bastards took everything they could from me! He's the reason slaves exist! All he wants from the Avatar is his death! And I've damn suffered enough at the hands of his regime to let you kill the only hope the world has ever had at stopping him! So by all means, you do have a choice! But keep in mind that I won't take it quietly if you stop being the man I've known you can be, the amazing man you'd become, just to please your wretched father!"

Zuko was rendered speechless now, staring at Suki in disbelief. How could it be…? He was going to be a father? He hadn't imagined that something like that could happen for real, at least not until now. He had said countless times Yuudai should have been his son, but he hadn't really meant it. And he certainly didn't mean he was desperate to be a father by that.

Still… if he was going to be a father, it should be of Suki's children. He had no doubts about it. Yet she was giving him the opportunity to be a father just as she was ripping it off his fingers: he had to choose between doing his father's bidding and her. Between betraying Suki's trust, or betraying his father's expectations.

Then again, did his father have any expectations still? He was positive he didn't. He had wanted him gone. He had harmed him and thought he had every right to do so. Suki had asked if he still wanted what he had when he'd been thirteen… but while he had just felt the urge to take the Avatar to his father, he did it now with a very different goal in mind. Back when he had been thirteen he had only feared his father, he had wanted to please him and show him he was his faithful son. As he was now, all he wanted to do was throw the Avatar before him to make a statement: he was better than Ozai. He was stronger, smarter, more effective, more efficient. He had triumphed where Ozai had failed. He was better than his father…

But was he?

How was he proving he was any better if he meant to dump the Avatar at his feet, just as his father wanted him to? Just as his grandfather had wanted Ozai to do it before him?

Zuko lowered his gaze, his face contorted by an angry snarl as his desires, his needs, his duties and his beliefs crashed against one another in a frenzy, making his head, his chest, his every limb hurt. This was too much. How on earth had so many things happened in such a short time span? It seemed like barely a moment ago he had been with Suki at sea, and now he had found the Avatar, was about to become a father, and was being threatened by Sokka's very dangerous waterbending sister. How had things come to this…?

"I…" he started. Everyone watched him carefully "I wish… I really wish we had never come here…"

Suki's glare softened at that. Zuko's head was hung now. She gritted her teeth and knelt before him, noticing there were tears in his eyes too.

"We should have reached Kyoshi Island" he said "And then we could… we could have raised our kid and never known what these people were hiding. We would be… we would be happy"

"We can still be happy, Zuko" said Suki, caressing his cheek. "We can if you stop feeling you have an obligation towards that man. You owe him nothing. You've been waiting so long to be treated by him as family, but… but see? You have a chance to make your own family and forget him for once and for all. Let go of him. Let his influence disappear and be happy, Zuko…"

He gritted his teeth, and Suki balled her hands into fists. He wasn't going to choose her. He wasn't going to choose…

"Then… can I be happy?" he asked. Suki's eyes widened "I really don't owe him anything? Do I have any right to be happy…?"

"You do!" she said "Of course you do, Zuko, please! You have every right to choose what you want, you're free from him. You can find your own way, without being weighed by who you used to be…"

"And if I do that… you'll be with me?" he asked, raising his hopeful eyes to meet hers "If I leave my father behind, if I leave the Avatar alone… I get to be by your side?"

"Yes" she answered, without a second thought "Spirits, yes. Forever if you want to be!" she said, brushing his bangs away from his eyes as he started to cry.

"Suki…" he gasped, leaning in and dropping his head on her shoulder.

She hugged him tightly and breathed out in relief. He couldn't surround her with his own arms, tied behind his back as they were, but he closed his eyes and buried his face in her neck, his shoulders shaking with every sob. Suki rubbed his back, her hands moving up to his hair as she held him close.

The two had seemingly forgotten they weren't alone, but it was hard for the others to make a single sound as they watched the strange pair before them. How had they gone from looking after each other so devotedly, to arguing so harshly, only for them to hold one another so intimately now?

Nevertheless, it looked like they didn't mean to do anything harmful anymore, right? The Prince had said he would leave the Avatar alone…

Katara lowered her arms, the water she had been bending was drawn back into the poach she carried around her waist. If they made a single dangerous move, she'd have a weapon at the ready to stop them. But if not… if not, what came next? That question was far more terrifying than she expected it to be. She thought she could deal with the Fire Nation Prince as an enemy, but could she deal with him as something other than that…?

Aang swallowed hard and she glanced at him. She reached a hand out to his as she noticed how worried he looked. The Prince had been talked out of his mad endeavour, at which he would have failed catastrophically, for Katara would have had his head before letting him anywhere near Aang. But he had discovered the Avatar all the same. He knew who Aang was.

Clearly, the same confusing questions coursed through Aang's mind as they did Katara's: what were they supposed to do about Zuko now?


	111. Chapter 111

He opened his eyes to unknown surroundings, in an unknown bed, with no clue as to how he had gotten there. Yet he found solace when his eyes finally gazed upon someone familiar: her head was hung as she dozed off, her forearms on her flexed knees as she sat next to his bed.

"Suki…?" he whispered, pushing himself up with difficulty.

She was startled awake by his calling her name. She smiled when she gazed upon him, lowering her knees and lunging forward to embrace him tightly. Zuko sighed and closed his eyes again, surrounding her with his arms.

"You're awake. Finally…" she said. Zuko caressed her back gently.

"For how long was I out?" he asked.

"Two days now, no less. You fell unconscious after we had our argument" she said, pulling away and looking at him apologetically "You remember that, right?"

It was only when she mentioned the argument that Zuko finally recalled what had happened. He swallowed hard as the revelations from that chaotic day came back to him. He shook his head and looked at Suki in confusion and disbelief.

"Tell me it was all a bad dream. It's really not the Avatar, or is it…?" he asked. Suki sighed.

"I'm afraid it is him. He showed me" she whispered "He bends both air and water. It seems he hasn't learned anything else yet, though"

"Spirits save me" said Zuko, shaking his head "Here I thought he was gone for good and it turns out he was here all along…"

"From what they told me, Katara found him stuck in some iceberg. It seems he spent about a hundred years suspended inside it, nobody knows how" said Suki. Zuko looked at her in disbelief.

"That sounds absurd" he said. She shrugged.

"I thought so too, but it seems to be what happened" she whispered. He sighed.

"It'd mean he was a man out of his time. Which means… he's been around since Sozin's time? Really?"

"He was born before the war, yes. That's what little I know" said Suki. Zuko sighed.

"Have they treated you right while I was out of it?" he asked "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing fine, and yeah, they were actually quite nice after I talked you out of doing something stupid" said Suki, smiling "Though well, I guess it'd be more accurate to say I yelled you out of it instead. Sorry that I got so emotional and intense, I just… for a moment I thought I'd lose you forever. If you'd become the man your father wanted you to be…"

"It would have meant becoming like him. And that's one thing I won't do" said Zuko, breathing deeply "I wasn't thinking straight, Suki. But I am now. I… I know I made the right choice. Don't worry about how upset you were, you had every right to be. Especially seeing how we're going to be…"

He swallowed hard as he looked at her still flat abdomen. Suki smiled and reached for one of his hands, guiding it to her womb.

"It's still too small to feel it" she said "But it's in there, alright. I've had a few more bouts of sickness, but I've been doing okay, for the most part"

Zuko sighed and pressed his forehead to hers. Suki looked at him insecurely.

"Would you like to eat something?" she asked "You probably should…"

"I should" he said, nodding as he caressed her womb "I just… I can't stop thinking about everything. Maybe I should think of everything calmly, but I… I don't know how"

"You should stop worrying, yes" said Suki, caressing his forearm "The more you mull things over, the more they'll eat at you. Relax, Zuko. We can get through this. We'll… we'll figure things out. Our child will grow safely, we'll see to it"

"Our child, huh? Ours…" Zuko whispered, and to Suki's relief, he smiled a little as he stroked her belly "Is this what you had wanted to tell me at the settlement?"

"It wasn't the best timing, I know. And I also know it's very inconvenient, all things considered…" Suki whispered. Zuko shrugged.

"It might be out of our plans, but I… I can't say I mind too much" he told her "If anything, I even like the idea. If I'm to have children, it should be with you, right?"

"You're too sweet" said Suki, smiling. Zuko chuckled.

"I guess we'll have to get married now, huh?" he said. Suki froze. He raised an eyebrow "What? You didn't think we'd do that?"

"W-well, I… I didn't expect you to propose just like that, I guess. If that's a proposal, of course…" said Suki, her eyes wide. Zuko nodded.

"It was one. I mean, what else are we going to do? We should get married" he said. Suki smiled.

"Yeah. We should. I guess I just… expected you to be a little more romantic when you asked, if you asked at all" she said. Zuko grimaced.

"U-uh, well, if you want me to…"

"No need, the moment's gone" she said, chuckling "But I guess the Tribe will be happy to hear we'll wed. They seemed somewhat shaken to realize we were involved without being married"

"How is it any of their business?" Zuko growled "It's not their problem if we'll be married or not, to begin with. We'll be gone before they know it, and if we get married or not won't affect them in any…"

"Uh, about that…" said Suki, looking at Zuko with uncertainty. He frowned.

"What about it?" he asked. She swallowed hard.

"Things might not turn out to be quite as simple as that, Zuko" she said.

Zuko's frown deepened. He should have known this couldn't proceed so smoothly. Nothing in his life was ever simple, after all.

Suki led him into the igloo's common room, the same place where he had come to realize he was facing the Avatar. He swallowed hard as he noticed it was early, and breakfast had been served: the dishes he could see were either based on fish or seaweed. The low table was crowded by the people he had met upon his arrival to the Tribe, save for one old lady he hadn't seen until then. Was she, by any chance, Sokka's grandmother?

"He's awake!" exclaimed the Fire Nation soldier, Kino, upon sighting Zuko.

Everyone's attention went to the threshold where Suki and Zuko stood. He stared at them apprehensively, noticing the antagonism in Katara's glare immediately. To his surprise, the Avatar, who sat beside her, didn't seem quite as hostile. Zuko looked at him almost remorsefully before glancing at the Tribe Chief, Sokka's father, who sat at the head of the table with his arms crossed, eyeing him warily.

"Here, here!" said Kino, making room beside him so both Suki and Zuko could sit by him. Zuko didn't move, though. Not until he knew what his status amongst the Tribe was by now.

"You can have a seat" Hakoda said, surprising him "It's good to know you're awake. For a moment we thought you had died on us somehow. Do you black out like this often?

"N-not often" Zuko muttered, frowning. Suki grabbed his hand, leading him to his seat by Kino's side "Are you sure about this?"

"Well, we're not going to starve you to death, are we?" said Hakoda. Zuko thought he'd seen a hint of disappointment in Katara's eyes upon hearing those words, but he hoped he had imagined it "Have some food. Don't eat too fast, you've been out cold for a while and your stomach might have trouble keeping food down"

"Why are you being so kind all of sudden?" Zuko asked, frowning "I mean, I'm glad but…"

"Because as it happens, you've discovered something you were never supposed to discover" said Hakoda "And as a result, you'll have to bear with life in our Tribe until we decide you're trustworthy enough to let you go"

"Wait, what?!" Zuko exclaimed, his eyes wide "So I'm as good as your prisoner? We are?!"

"Not both of you. Just you" said Katara, after swallowing a mouthful of pickled fish "We're not half as worried about her, but she can't leave the Tribe either because she can't risk traveling in her condition"

"She can't? Why, because she's pregnant? But we came all the way down here…"

"And if you want her to be able to go all the way elsewhere, I think you'll have to accept she'll stay here for at least nine months" said Katara, simply. Zuko gritted his teeth.

"Besides, we can't go anywhere" said Suki "She froze our ship, so we're really stuck here until they feel like letting us go"

"Then we are prisoners. We are!" Zuko exclaimed, though he became lightheaded quickly after his outburst. Kanna handed him a plate.

"Eat, young man. You need it" she said. He grimaced but accepted the plate, realizing he needed sustenance more direly than he wanted to admit.

He took a deep breath and started with his food, and he grimaced upon the foreign and unlikeable taste it had. To his surprise, Suki seemed to be perfectly comfortable with the food, and even seemed to enjoy it. He had to remind himself that she had been raised in a fishing village, unlike him…

"I know it sounds awful" said Aang, surprising Zuko "Even though I guess you mean no harm, not anymore… right?"

"At this point? I just want to… to forget all this ever happened" Zuko snapped.

"Wouldn't it be great if we could do that" said Katara, with a sigh.

"Is it so hard to ask you to trust me?" Zuko asked. Hakoda raised an eyebrow.

"You show up unexpectedly at our Pole, with a pregnant lady, refusing to tell us who you are" he said "The next thing we know, you're the Fire Lord's son and your life's quest has been to find and capture the Avatar, a quest you were more than willing to put into effect until Suki stopped you. I suppose I may be hard on you, and I should probably cut you slack since you've been through a lot… but is it so hard to understand why we won't trust you that easily?"

Zuko grimaced. It wasn't so hard to see Hakoda's point, but it was hard to bear with the idea of staying in this Tribe for as long as they deemed it necessary. He wanted nothing to do with them, let alone did he want to stay here for months. For the millionth time, he cursed the currents that had dragged them off course. If only they had arrived at Kyoshi Island they would still be happily oblivious to Aang's existence…

"How can I make you people trust me? I get that I'll have to earn it, but… there's got to be something I can do to prove you I mean no harm. Not anymore" said Zuko. Hakoda shrugged and glanced at his daughter, who had her arms crossed over her chest.

"Well, if there's any more information you can give us, on Sokka, or your father, or your sister, or how to get my brother back…" she said. Zuko sighed.

"I'm pretty sure that's easier said than done" said Suki, looking at Katara pleadingly "Zuko has always been distant with his father and his sister. They've never had a good relationship. Which of course means he wasn't that close with his sister's gladiator…"

"You knew Sokka too, though, right?" said Katara "You said so earlier. Have anything else you might be able to add?"

"Well… not sure, I mean, we didn't talk too much, not in our only date nor afterwards, but… but I remember that he told me he used his position so the Fire Lord wouldn't kill my sponsor" said Suki, with a sigh "Somehow he struck a deal so that the White Lotus people who had attacked the Fire Nation would remain unharmed. He achieved some unexpected things, thanks to his closeness to the Princess"

"Really?" said Katara, frowning and tensing up. The more they talked about Sokka's relationship with Azula, the more uneasy she became.

"Is there any chance he might have been the cause for the Fire Lord's withdrawal of the troops from the South Pole?" Hakoda asked. Suki and Zuko shared a look before shrugging.

"I wouldn't know" said Zuko "But… maybe it really was him?"

"Or maybe you're just saying it could have been him to make us feel better" said Katara. Zuko huffed.

"Honestly, we don't know details of a lot of things. Whatever's going on in the height of the Fire Nation's politics, well…" said Suki.

"We're completely out of it, that's what" said Zuko "I haven't been allowed to join my father's council in sessions since… since I was thirteen. I have no idea what he's plotting now or what his actions are leading up to. So if you wanted any inside information… well, the best I can give you is that the Fire Nation forces are more oriented towards fighting the Northern Water Tribe than you people, as we are. That's seriously all I know"

"So you have nothing to give us on your sister, my brother, your father, the Fire Nation…" said Katara, staring at him with wide eyes.

"I'd think Sokka did have something to do with this, though. At least it would add up with his actions up until now" said Hakoda "Whether his closeness with his slaver conceals the intent of stopping the war or not, it doesn't change the fact that he'd be stopping it indeed if he uses her to get to her father…"

"I really don't know if that's what he's up to, but… maybe he wants to do that, while also being genuinely interested in the Princess" said Suki "That's the only thing that makes sense to me, at least going from his actions"

"But why would he…?" said Katara, shaking her head "I mean, curses, Haka and Kattan did say he said stupid things to her, that maybe he was impressed by her beauty, but it's ridiculous to think Sokka would be blinded to her crimes just because she's pretty. I can't fathom it"

"I don't think he would have been blinded. At least, I'd hope not" said Hakoda, before glancing at Suki and Zuko "But going by what they're saying, and by the fact that Sokka has never been an accomplished liar, I fear he's not quite as antagonistic towards his captor as the rest of us are, Katara"

"Why, though?" said Katara, shaking her head.

"As I've told you before, she saved my life when I was in a very bad situation" said Suki, biting her lip "She may seem a demon in your eyes, in the eyes of many, but… but without her I'd be dead by now. I'm sure of it"

Zuko gritted his teeth and clasped Suki's hand in his. She squeezed his fingers gently.

"Are there any reasons why you suspect they're really close?" Hakoda asked "Other than that hug you mentioned, Prince…"

"Well, we watched them spar once, when we were training with him for this event" said Suki "It's also when he hugged her. And well, when they fought… she beat him by a slim margin, but they just had this playful banter going on, and there was this… camaraderie with them that he didn't have with anyone else. He really seemed genuinely happy to see her, and…"

"And so was she" said Zuko "Fact is, my sister… she had always been a rather cruel person, someone I never approached for my own sake. She mocked me, fought with me, laughed at my pain, she… she did a lot of vicious things when we were children, and yet she also was the only person to help me when I needed it the most, once my father banished me the first time"

"And…?" said Katara.

"And the thing is, I went ten years without seeing her, and upon meeting her again she was mostly unchanged. But as more time went by, I realized a lot of things about her and grew to understand her a little better. And one of the things I noticed was… well, your brother and his fierce loyalty to my sister seem to have made her a kinder person than she used to be. Yes, she still enjoyed mocking me, but she also was willing to try to improve our relationship. She saved Suki's life, too, and achieved things I never thought possible. She can bend fire of multiple colors, she has a dragon, she's…"

"Fire of multiple colors?" said Hakoda, his eyes wide.

"Haka and Kattan said she used blue fire when she fought Sokka" Katara said.

"Well, now she can use gold fire too" said Zuko "And when she puts the blue and gold together, she gets… well, some unbelievable kind of fire I'd never seen before"

"And it's true that she has a dragon?" Kino asked, his eyes wide with excitement "Really?"

"Yeah. She even let me ride him once" said Zuko, with a small smile "Which isn't something I could imagine her doing when she was younger. If she had one when she was eleven she absolutely wouldn't have let me ride her dragon, I'm sure of it. But she did now, and… and I don't know if I'm right or wrong, but I have the feeling she has become kinder because of Sokka's influence on her. Somehow"

"Well… this sounds wonderful" said Katara, standing up as she shook her head. Hakoda glanced at her.

"Katara…"

"I don't know what it is you're getting from this, Dad" she said, looking at him with exasperation "But the more they talk about this wonderful bond between them, the sicker I feel! Because the more it sounds like they're implying Sokka has… has feelings for her, to say the least! Best case scenario, he's just manipulating her cleverly, which we've already said is unlike, but in the worst case, he's…!"

"It might not be as bad as you think" said Aang, looking up at her. Katara huffed and looked at Zuko and Suki.

"Is my brother in love with Princess Azula?" she asked, pointedly. When the two of them remained unresponsive, Zuko with his mouth open as he tried to come up with an answer, and Suki glancing at the table with unease, a soft blush on her face, Katara gave out a bark of laughter "This is the sickest, most twisted thing I've heard in my entire life!"

"I don't know if they're…!" Zuko started "At least I don't think that's how it is, I mean, it'd make no sense!"

"Why not?" said Suki, raising an eyebrow. Zuko stiffened.

"Not because they can't end up in love, really" he told her "But because… because it's not convenient for her. My sister has been my father's favorite child forever, and she's not allowed, or at least, not supposed to get involved with anyone until marriage. She's held to standards of purity…"

"As it works in our tribe, too" said Hakoda.

"Well, the Fire Nation it's particularly strict about it with highborn girls" said Zuko "And none of them is as highborn as my sister. If she were to get involved with a slave, a slave of all things, she'd lose everything she's worked for. All her glory, all her achievements, gone up in smoke. Our father would treat her as horribly as he has treated me for the last few years, if not worse. Because… because he never expected anything from me, but he expects everything from her, and she delivers. Now, if she stops delivering? There's no telling what the punishment will be. And if he were to discover her in some sort of affair with Sokka, the punishment could only be a thousand times worse. So I'd think my clever, strategic sister isn't going to let her heart get the better of her if she really has feelings for him. She's Crown Princess now, as she always wanted to be. I can't imagine her putting that in jeopardy just for a chance of… well…"

"Of fucking my brother?" Katara asked, with a sarcastic smirk. Zuko swallowed hard "You know… I hope you're right. I really hope your sister is just as goal-oriented and determined to succeed your father as you say she is. Because if she isn't, and she's gotten with Sokka…!"

"We'll be in trouble" said Hakoda, sighing. Katara froze before glaring at him.

"What?"

"If Sokka has feelings for this girl, and his influence is making her a better person, perhaps even a better future ruler for the Fire Nation, of the kind who might stop the war altogether, then… then maybe we'd only damage the world if we try to rescue him" said Hakoda, frowning. Katara huffed.

"You're… you're joking, right?"

"We'll have to think everything over, of course" said Hakoda "But now I'm even wondering if he'll want us to save him at all. What if he really is enjoying his time there? What if he… what if he has feelings for the Princess?"

"That's ridiculous, and he wouldn't be that stupid!" Katara exclaimed "There's absolutely no way that Sokka would have feelings for her, no way! I mean… it's just ridiculous! All of this is! He would never so much as touch her, let alone do more than that! He has to hate her! After everything she did to him, everything she's done to us all, there's just no way Sokka would have some twisted affair with Princess Azula!"

* * *

Her fingers gripped the back of his head, her nails clawing at him with every deeper thrust. She gasped, his hands moving over her body and caressing her daringly, intimately, urgently. She was taking him in as deeply as she could, her legs fully spread as she sat atop him, her back against his chest. His lips were attached to her neck, sucking wildly while he boosted her arousal in the best ways he knew how. And all she could do was moan and cry out in utmost pleasure with every movement of his hips.

"Don't stop! D-don't stop!" Azula panted, and Sokka groaned as his hands cupped her breasts, brushing her sweaty skin with his breath and lips. He had no intentions of stopping, that was for sure…

One of his hands slid down from her chest to her groin, and to Azula's delight he started teasing her clit as he pushed deeply inside her in short and fast motions. At first she had been the one taking care of the thrusting, but she had been overwhelmed by his touch and kisses as she bared herself to him as she had. She had no defenses against him as she was, and it felt so good to be under his full control. She often promised him she'd turn things around one day, that she'd be the one overwhelming him with pleasure… yet every single time she had tried to do as much she had wound up helpless, and the jerk had taken over as soon as he found the chance to do so.

So even now, as she sat atop him, he would carry on thrusting from below her as her legs shook violently, her lips parted as she struggled for breath. He groaned in pleasure, the low sound so erotic to Azula's ears that she could hardly take it. She was going to explode again in no time, that was for certain…

She had arrived to Sokka's house after having breakfast at the Palace, meaning to spend some time with him before taking him to Ty Lee's house for his training with Haru. They had done so twice already, leaving the gladiators to spar while Azula, Mai and Ty Lee chatted as they watched them. It was the third week in a row that their reinstated reunion arrangement would take place, a brand new record, Azula thought…

But at this rate she wasn't sure the streak would last. Sokka had been in bed when she arrived, and when she woke him as gently as she could he had surprised her by surrounding her waist with an arm, pulling her into the bed before yanking off every garment she was wearing. She had been shivering, splayed over the sheets with a ridiculous smile on her face, about ten minutes later, her hair in complete disarray as a fully awake Sokka lay beside her, thanking her for dropping by with effusive kisses.

After her body had calmed down again she had accompanied him as he ate, and afterwards had insisted they needed to clean up, since it would not be appropriate for them to head to Ty Lee's place without doing so. Ironically, this had only resulted in yet another tryst in the bathroom, though at least they had been able to clean up after that one, as Azula had intended.

Their drive was such that they couldn't stop even then. Playful banter in Sokka's room had shifted into heated kisses, and all of sudden Azula had been trying her hardest to tease Sokka while topping him. He had been delighted about it, but despite it all, he had needed his release most direly. So he had started thrusting into her as eagerly as he could, and Azula had succumbed to his touch, to the friction between their bodies, letting him do as he pleased with her, their appointment forgotten completely by now.

His movements had started slow and sensual, making Azula's excitement rise exponentially, but by now he could hardly hold back at all. He hissed into her ear, his hands still exploring her body as she threw her head back, her curtain of black hair smooth against his bare shoulder. Her hand had left his hair to clasp his, and she as good as guided his hands so he would touch her wherever she needed it more direly. Sokka's urgency only increased with that, despite he couldn't possibly want something more desperately than to make this delectable encounter last for much longer. He had already burst inside her twice that day, his next load was ready yet again, and he felt the familiar urge to finish… but just a little longer. Just a little longer…

He had no choice but to come when Azula's climax triggered his own. He sucked on her shoulder, not too hard, all so he could avoid being too vocal about how pleasant this was. His thrusting was erratic now as he emptied himself inside her, with groans and gasps as the delightful peak of the experience came and went too fast for his liking.

Azula was still panting heavily, her fingers intertwined with his as she rested against him. She glanced at him just before he groaned and dropped on his back, his head falling on the pillow as he sank in the mattress. She fell along with him, smiling with a hand on his chest, feeling his racing heartbeat as he breathed heavily. Her breathing was accelerated too, her eyes closed as her body relaxed again. Curses, that had been amazing. She recalled her appointment with her friends, but surely they wouldn't mind if they were late, right? Or maybe they were already so late that she was better off not going altogether, and instead she should just spend the day tumbling in the sheets with her prodigious gladiator…

"You're… you're so good at this, damn you…" she gasped. Sokka smiled as he gazed at her.

"You're better yet, you know…" he replied, kissing the top of her head as she rested on his chest, all her weight on him.

"Not true… absolutely not true" said Azula, shaking her head. Sokka laughed.

"I'm only as good as my partner, Azula" he said. She chuckled too as she turned so they would be face-to-face, moving to kiss his lips.

His hands caressed her body again, and he felt her wildly beating heart as he touched her chest. He loved knowing he had been the one to make her feel so thrilled, so excited she could barely stop shivering even now. His arms went around her and he held her close, as Azula breathed out slowly, her head on his shoulder as she waited for the dark spots swimming before her eyes to finally disappear.

"We've lost all common sense, haven't we?" she asked. Sokka smiled.

"Looks like it" he said.

"It's all your fault, you know" she said "I had no such impure intentions when I came here today…"

"Not my fault that you're so beckoning, Princess" he told her, stroking her hair "If you had the slightest clue of how beautiful and sensual you are, you wouldn't be blaming me for acting upon my urges…"

"All I know is that we're very lucky I've been drinking that tea everyday" said Azula, chuckling "Else after the insane action we had today I surely would have ended up with child"

"Yeah, I guess we're a bit reckless, eh?" said Sokka, with an awkward smile.

"Not we, it's all on you" she said, kissing his neck and cheek. Sokka chuckled "Jerk. The things you did today… t-the way you were thrusting, damn it, I thought I was going to faint. How on earth did you learn to do that kind of thing?"

Sokka laughed and kissed her forehead, closing his eyes and relaxing with her in his arms. But he tensed up again when she gave him a curious look, propping herself on her elbows, her brow slightly furrowed.

"Really, though. How did you come up with that?" she asked.

Sokka frowned, looking at her warily. Was she seriously asking him that question?

"W-what do you mean, exactly?" he asked.

"You know, what you just did. Took control as soon as I lowered my guard, and despite I was on top you just knew how to keep going" she said. Sokka's eyes widened "It's not that you haven't stolen control from me before, you do it all the time, but… this time it was different"

"Different how?" said Sokka, looking at her warily "It's not the first time I do something like that…"

"No, but when you steal control you usually just make us roll on the bed and get on top" she said, with a smile "This was new"

"Heh, well. If you liked it you should just enjoy it and not ask about where it came from" he said, with a weak grin.

He thought he'd dodged the bullet, given she was smiling at him… but he realized a little too late that he had said the worst thing he could have said. Because now she frowned more heavily, no longer with curiosity but rather with irritation.

"Oh? So then it wasn't just some spontaneous thing you came up with in the midst of passion?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka paled "Do tell, then. How did you learn it?"

"I… it totally was that, yeah! Actually, I had never done this before, it's a brand new position for me, so…!"

"Oh, really?" she said, propping herself up with a scowl "Why do I have a hard time believing that?"

"B-because you're just thinking too much into it, I just didn't want to answer such a weird question!"

"Why wouldn't you have wanted too, if that's apparently the answer?" she asked, through gritted teeth.

Sokka stared at her with fear. Her golden eyes were gleaming in an all-too familiar way, with distrust and annoyance. He had messed up, messed up big time. He had to fix this somehow, but how? Maybe another round? No, he was actually pretty sure Azula had already had her fill of him as it was… so what was he supposed to do? Answer her questions earnestly? That wasn't a good idea, or was it?

"I… okay, okay, it was just a bit of advice I heard once, and…"

"As if" she snapped. Sokka cringed "The truth. Now"

"Spirits, Azula…" he said, sighing and dropping his head back "If I tell you the truth you'll just get mad and won't talk to me for a year, so how about we spare ourselves the hassle and…?"

"Oh, so that's how it is?" Azula asked, looking at him with indignation as she climbed off him altogether. Sokka pouted and waved his hands towards her, making to take her in his arms again, but she was already out of reach "Marvelous! So as it turns out, my awfully experienced lover has a few stories he refuses to disclose! That's just fascinating, isn't it?"

"Azula, must we really talk about this? Just after we had such great sex…" he whined, but her glare answered his question all on its own.

"Yes, we must" she growled, picking up her clothes and glaring at him "Talk. Answer my question now, Sokka"

"Damn it, why should I?" he groaned, sitting up on the bed "Can't you believe me when I say that you just don't want to know?"

"Hard to believe it when I'm literally saying I do" said Azula. Sokka sighed and buried his face in his hands "Well? Do tell, was it her?"

"Her who?"

"You know who. The bounty-hunter" Azula uttered the word with contempt, through tightly gritted teeth. Sokka's lack of response made her frown "What…? It wasn't her?"

"W-wait, wait, wait, please…" said Sokka, moving towards Azula and looking at her pleadingly "It… it happened a long time ago, way before that thing with June, okay?"

"Oh, really?" Azula asked, her eyes wide "Then where? In Shu Jing? I think you conveniently forgot to mention you had gotten involved with someone while there, if that's the case…"

"No, not Shu Jing either…" said Sokka, dropping his gaze. Azula's frown deepened.

"If it wasn't Shu Jing, then…"

"It was… i-in Hui Yi. Now, please…"

"What?" said Azula, her eyes widening "Hui Yi? Are you… are you kidding me? You couldn't possibly have had a chance to get involved with someone while there, or did you?"

"I… not quite, no. I wouldn't say it counted as 'being involved with someone'…" said Sokka, swallowing hard "Seriously, Azula, the mere memory is bad enough, maybe we can just go to Ty Lee's and…"

"No" she said, pointedly "We're going nowhere. What did you mean with that?"

"Blast it, you're never going to let this go, are you?" he asked, sighing "Azula, honestly, don't press on with this. It's not worth it, not worth putting all we've achieved at risk over…"

"Why would it put everything at risk, mind you?" Azula asked, after fixing the bandages around her chest and putting on her first shirt "If what happened with you and the bounty-hunter wasn't bad enough to make me think you were utterly unforgivable, why would this be? How much worse could it be? I mean…"

"Azula, if it had been something normal you'd still be mad for days" said Sokka, shaking his head "And since it isn't you'll probably want to gut me for it, castrate me for daring touch you and all that…"

"Huh. So that's how it'll be?" said Azula, her eyes wide "Job well done, Sokka. Now I'm really worried"

"Azula, life in Hui Yi was a mess" Sokka said, his head in his hands "The things that happened there, I… I don't like any of them. Whenever any memory of it comes to my mind I just wish I had never lived through any of that, and now, more than ever, I regret… I regret a lot of things that happened while I was there, alright?"

"I think I get that, what I don't see is how it relates to what we were talking about in the first place" said Azula, her arms across her chest "Sokka, were you… raped?"

"What? No! I mean… I guess not?"

"So you did it willingly?" Azula raised her eyebrows. Sokka swallowed hard.

"I also guess not. I mean, not entirely, but… but they didn't want to do it either, if that's any help"

"They?" said Azula, her eyes widening "W-what on earth are you talking about?"

Sokka's stomach sank as he looked at her. Given the horrified look on her face, it was apparent she was envisioning something horrible that, Sokka hoped, was far worse than the truth. But he still didn't feel too comfortable disclosing his experiences anyways…

"Okay, okay, fine. I'll… put your mind at ease, and you can stop freaking out imagining things that didn't happen" he said, with a sigh "There were times when… when Huang Li would make a decent amount of money. So every… what, two, three months? He'd just arrange a… a bit of an awful event or so. He'd pretend that it was all to congratulate us survivors, but really, it was…"

"What horrifying event?" Azula asked, speaking slowly, her voice fluctuating with nervousness regardless. Sokka sighed.

"He'd contact the guy who ran the local brothel. So… so he'd get a group of girls to go to the barracks and, according to him, 'lift our spirits' before we went to the Arena again on the next day…" Sokka finally said, unable to hold Azula's gaze as he spoke.

He swallowed hard, still not meeting her eyes as he feared the explosion he knew was building in her. He gritted his teeth as Azula said nothing, but he didn't bother hoping she'd be fine… he knew her silence could mean nothing good, and when he finally dared look at her, he confirmed everything he dreaded.

Her eyes were wide, but her brow was furrowed. She looked at him as though he had morphed into something she didn't understand, a complete stranger, only with a single confession. He cringed.

"Azula, please, it's not as bad as you…"

"Not as bad?" she said. Sokka sensed how her voice shook, regardless of how softly she was speaking "Not as bad? You were with…? You were with…?"

"Honestly, it really isn't at all as you're imagining it, I wasn't into…!"

"Are you out of your mind?!" Azula finally snapped, her fists shaking "How could you ever…?! Oh, for crying out loud, you were with prostitutes. Of all things… now I wish it'd been the damn bounty-hunter!"

"N-no! I mean, sure, wish whatever you want but…!"

"Oh, am I really free to do that? Because as I am, the only thing I wish for is to get out of here before I set you on fire in a fit of rage!" Azula bellowed "Curse it, how could you…?!"

"Oh, come on, Azula, it's not like I could've known what was going to happen between us!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Ah, so I get it! You would have stayed clean and pure if you'd known you'd end up falling in love with the Fire Lord's daughter, but since you didn't, you decided to bed as many prostitutes as you could, along with that bounty-hunter, because who cares? It's not like you'd ever find someone you really cared about eventually, right? Someone who was…!"

Azula gritted her teeth and shook her head before grabbing the rest of her clothes. She put them on brusquely as she carried on shaking her head, her jaw squared still.

"Someone who was what, exactly?" Sokka asked, frowning.

"Someone who loved you, too!" Azula snapped "I mean… isn't it mere decency not to do this sort of thing? Or were you just that eager to… to discover whether all talk about Water Tribe men is true?"

"What?" said Sokka, looking at her in confusion "What talk is that?"

"What else? Ty Lee kept rambling about how Water Tribe men are known to be oh so good at sex" Azula snapped, pushing her feet into her boots with difficulty.

"We're what now?" said Sokka, before shaking his head and looking at her earnestly "No, no, come on Azula! Look, it's not half as bad as you imagine, let alone was it any fun at all! I assure you, every single time it happened, all I wanted was for it to be over!"

"Is that so? I suppose it must have been really unpleasant, fucking some prostitute just as you fucked… as you… as you fucked me"

"Azula, don't…! Don't even think about comparing both things, because they're nothing alike!" Sokka exclaimed. Azula barked with fake laughter.

"For certain!" she said "I mean, all things considered, surely she had more experience than I… oh, wait, THEY had more experience than I ever could hope to have, so surely it was a lot better with them!"

"What the…?! No! Azula, for crying out loud, listen to me for once in your life before going crazy over nothing!"

"Oh, so now it's nothing?" Azula asked, standing up and looking at him in disbelief "So all of sudden, sex is nothing to you?"

"If it's not with you, yes!" Sokka exclaimed, jumping out of the bed too and looking at her pleadingly "Come on, just listen to me for ten minutes and I swear I…!"

"Well, isn't it funny? You think it's nothing if it's not with me, but what I think is that it means a whole lot to me that you were with… with them, as many of them as there were!" she exclaimed, waving an arm angrily as Sokka pulled his pants up, cursing under his breath "And indeed, now that I mention it, how many were the 'they' you were talking about, huh? How many?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Azula, are you really that much of a masochist?! I'm trying to tell you things that might show you just how awful the entire mess was, trying to help you calm down, but every new question you ask is worse than the one before!"

"Do excuse me for worrying about how many women must have been blown away by your impressive prowess!" Azula said, rolling her eyes as she buckled her belt and moved to the dresser to arrange her hair to the best of her ability. She was determined not to ask Sokka to help her, for once.

"Well, it's not important how many there were! And if you say it's important to you…!"

"What if I do?"

"Then you're out of your mind because it's only going to anger you!" Sokka exclaimed. Azula gritted her teeth and glared at him.

"Okay, so… let me think" she said, after tying up her half-knot "You said every two or three months, right? So at the very worst, you saw what, twelve of these disgusting events? Meaning you were with twelve girls?"

"Not twelve, I was with…!" Sokka exclaimed "Curses, why must you…?"

"Because I'm sickeningly curious. I need to know just how bad it is to figure out if I can cope with this at all!" she retorted. He huffed.

"Fine! It was… seven" he grunted. Azula closed her eyes, a grimace of disgust in her face regardless "It wasn't as bad as you…!"

"It's bad enough, blast it!" Azula shouted "I mean, anything would be bad, but…! Spirits, I can't deal with this right now"

"What the…? Wait, where are you going?!" Sokka exclaimed, as Azula stormed out of the room, shaking her head still.

He cursed again before throwing his shirt, tightening his belt around it quickly before bolting out of the room. Azula was pacing in the living room, her hands on her temples as she did what Sokka dreaded and knew she'd do with the knowledge she'd acquired: overthink everything.

"You do realize I've put my neck out for you in the most unreasonable manner countless times?!" Azula exclaimed, as Sokka reached the bottom of the stairs "That every single time I come to you, that we do what we do, I'm putting everything at risk?! And yet all along you've kept this from me and…!"

"And what?" Sokka asked, stomping his way towards her "What does this change, mind you? Does it make you think I don't love you, maybe? Do you really think that's how this works?"

"What I think is that…!" said Azula, gritting her teeth. Sokka scowled.

"Uh-huh. What's the real reason you're so worried?" he growled "What is it, you think I had a blast with them? That they got diseases on me and now I passed them on to you? What is it?!"

Azula grimaced and recoiled from him. Sokka gritted his teeth.

"Azula, just stay put for ten seconds and let me tell the whole truth, every bit of it, and maybe that way you won't judge me as badly as you…"

"You know, it's… it's funny?" she said "But despite I wanted the truth earlier, I find I really don't care for it right now. Hilarious, right?"

"Oh, come on!" Sokka exclaimed. Azula merely shook her head and made her way to the house's backyard "Azula, get back here! I have to explain it all to…!"

"For what? So I can learn all about how your miraculous skills came to be?" she asked, as Xin Long descended on the grass "Sorry to disappoint, but as I am, I don't feel like hearing it!"

"But if I don't tell you the whole story…!" Sokka started, as he made his way to the yard too.

"What the hell could your story have to make me feel less revolted, less disappointed, less… angry?!" she bellowed, as she climbed on Xin Long's saddle.

"Curses, but… you can't just leave like this! We have to talk this through! That's what we're supposed to do!" Sokka exclaimed. Azula shook her head.

"I'm in no place to talk calmly right now. So goodbye" she growled, ushering Xin Long to take off, to Sokka's chagrin. He snarled as he watched the dragon soar into the sky, a heavy frown on his face.

"Well, fine!" he shouted "Go on then, run away with your tail between your legs and carry on imagining all sorts of awful nonsense that never happened because it didn't! That was seriously the worst time in my life, but you're oh so sure I had a blast, right?! Well, I didn't! Never! But who cares, right? Guys love sex, there's no way he was just waiting for it to be over and feeling like scum afterwards…!"

He realized he was yelling at nothing, since Azula was long gone, but he had found it hard to stop as he dropped on his knees on the grass. What on earth had just happened? How had they gone from getting along perfectly on every single level… only for them to have such a massive fall-out ten minutes later? He gritted his teeth and shook his head. This was preposterous.

He had known she would react just as she had, which was one reason why he had never brought up the matter of his past. The other reason was that the mere memories were simply too painful. He gritted his teeth, his fists tightened as flashes of what he'd endured in Hui Yi crossed his mind. Azula knew he'd suffered, knew he'd been through harsh times while in the accursed town, and yet now she surely was imagining he'd had the time of his life because of Huang Li's accursed stunt. Did she consider he hadn't expected to survive Hui Yi in the first place? Let alone did he expect to fall in love with anyone afterwards, especially not with her. She had blown the matter of the women out of proportion in ghastly ways, refusing to hear any of Sokka's explanations about the matter… for there were explanations, and he hoped that, if she heard them, she might not resent him as much as she did right now.

But what good were explanations when she was already gone? He groaned and headed inside again, fuming, guessing the next time they met wouldn't be quite as enjoyable as this one had been…

* * *

"Woah. We thought you weren't coming at all!" Ty Lee exclaimed as she rushed into her house's backyard. Azula jumped off the dragon's saddle, a heavy frown on her face "Uh… where's Sokka?"

When Azula's eyebrow twitched upon the mention of his name, Ty Lee recoiled. Mai, sitting on the veranda next to Haru, stared at them with curiosity as Yuudai played with her hair.

"He didn't come. Or, rather, I chose not to bring him" Azula grunted. Ty Lee swallowed hard.

"U-uh, okay then. Odd that you'd be so late, though" she said. Azula glared at her before walking towards the veranda.

"I… guess we're not going to be training today?" Haru asked her. Azula shook her head "Oh…"

"I need… to talk" said Azula, looking at Mai pointedly. Mai's eyebrow rose.

"Is that so?" she asked "What about?"

"Things I'd rather not say in front of him" said Azula, looking at Haru. He swallowed hard before smiling at Mai.

"Uh, I'll take Yuudai to play upstairs. Don't worry about a thing. You three can talk as you please" he said. Mai nodded and handed the child to him.

"Take good care of him" she said.

Ty Lee approached warily as an exasperated Azula sank in the place Haru had just vacated, dropping her head in her hands as her elbows rested on her knees. Ty Lee and Mai exchanged a worried look, both unsure if they had the courage to ask Azula about whatever had delayed her.

"Are you okay?" Ty Lee asked. Azula huffed.

"I'm brilliant. Never been better" she growled. Mai sighed.

"What did he do?" she asked. Ty Lee smiled a little, having known just as well as Mai did that whatever Azula was mad about could only relate to Sokka.

"Well, really…" said Azula, gritting her teeth as she slid a hand through her hair "I guess that's precisely the question, isn't it?"

"Uh, it is?" said Ty Lee, looking at Azula with concern. Azula sighed and looked at Mai.

"When you and Ruon Jian got married, was he…?" she asked. Mai only raised a confused eyebrow, and Azula had the distinct feeling that Mai knew what she was talking about, but would force her to blurt it out anyways. She sighed "A virgin"

Ty Lee's hands flew to her mouth as Mai raised her eyebrows. To Azula's astonishment, she merely shrugged.

"I don't know. I never asked" she said. Azula snorted.

"You're smarter than me, then. By far" she grunted. Mai smirked.

"It only took you around fifteen years to admit it…"

"Azula, why are you asking that? Did he…? Did he cheat on you?" Ty Lee asked. Azula shook her head.

"No, that's not… no. That's not the point" she said, gritting her teeth "I mean, I get that to you it'll sound like something stupid to be hung up on, but I…! I was one, as you know, so… so I guess I just…"

"You hoped the guy you'd be with for the first time would be just as new to it as you are?" said Mai. Ty Lee grimaced.

"That's… easier said than done" she said "Even a guy like Haru had a few experiences before I got him. I'm not saying all guys are womanizers or anything, but… especially in noble houses and such you'll find that too often we're held to standards of purity that guys just don't need to worry about"

"Which is utterly stupid. Either it should be important for everyone or for no one at all" Azula growled "But the thing is, I… I knew I wasn't his first. Of course I knew. But I… I didn't think I'd be his…"

"Uh-oh" said Mai.

"His ninth?" Azula said, her eyes wide as she shook her head in horror "And what's worse is that the ones before me were…! Curses, I can't even say it. I… I can't stomach it still. It's so disturbing, and so illogical, and I just…! I never expected this, alright? I thought… I mean, fine, I was a naïve idiot, but… but I just thought that he'd have common sense, right? That he wouldn't jump into bed with any random someone who threw herself at him. But now I'm just not so sure. Why would he do it if he didn't want to do it, huh?"

"Well… I'm getting a bad feeling about this" said Mai, with a grimace "When did this happen? Before you knew each other or…?"

"No. Well, somewhat" said Azula, dropping her head in a hand "Apparently it happened while he was in Hui Yi. So, basically, when all he wanted to do to me was gut me with a knife. And basically, I'm the reason he did all that in the first place. If I hadn't dumped him there at all, if I had just… I don't know, kept him! Then…"

"Why would you have done that back then? You had no way of knowing he'd be of some use to you afterwards" said Mai. Azula sighed.

"I know. I know, but I still wish I hadn't done it. For enough reasons" she grunted "But the problem is I just… I sent him there anyways, so whether I like it or not, I'm responsible for it too. And the fact that he just… that he'd do that sort of thing despite apparently not wanting to? I mean, if he didn't want to do it, as he said a few times, why on earth did he?"

"Maybe there's a reason" said Mai. Azula huffed.

"Maybe. But I left too fast to hear about it"

"So you went to see him?" said Ty Lee. Azula groaned "And then you ended up arguing about his past and that's why you didn't bring him at all?"

"Exactly" said Azula.

"Huh. Well… I really don't know what to tell you, Azula" said Ty Lee, grimacing "I mean…"

"I know, I know. If I didn't judge you for frolicking around with guys, why would I judge him?" said Azula.

"Because you're in love with him?" said Ty Lee "I mean, that is at the core of the problem. You gave yourself to him in all your untainted purity and he couldn't do the same…"

"And perhaps you're slightly territorial, too" said Mai "The thought of him having been with other women, no matter who they were, makes you feel like you're just one more for him. Maybe"

"I… I don't think I am. Not really. But if I am as special as I'm supposed to be?" she said, sarcastically "Then I guess I have a reason to be angry indeed"

"Still, all things considered…" said Mai "While you have a point, and he probably shouldn't have been involved with someone if he had no feelings for them, not all sex is about love, is it?"

"No, I guess, but… I know, I know, I sound like a prude or a naïve teenager who's totally hung up on the absolute purity of love" said Azula, rolling her eyes "But even though I don't want to act that way, I still feel…"

"Betrayed, to an extent?" said Mai "Still, as you said, all he wanted with you back then was to kill you for what you'd done to him"

"He could have never imagined he'd end up with you later. He probably never thought he'd see you again" said Ty Lee "Let alone would he think he'd fall for you"

"So that makes it logical that he'd just… get it on with all those girls?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "I mean… it's not to me. It makes me think that…"

"That he might do it again?" asked Mai.

"He said I was getting worked up over nothing. Like… like it doesn't matter to him at all" said Azula "Or maybe he just wanted to dodge the subject? I don't know…"

"Well…" said Ty Lee, swallowing hard. Azula looked up at her.

"Well what?" she asked. Ty Lee sighed.

"Maybe it's because I'm as bad as him, I don't know…" she said "But I have my stories, my scars, my problems. I've fallen in and out of love many times, and… well, you'd always said that didn't change who I was or what you thought of me. Mai said the same, too…"

"So you think I should just take this lightly, without making a huge fuss over how many people he's slept with?" Azula asked "I mean… I get it. I knew that you'd sympathize with his side of the story, and I've always thought that this isn't something worth judging someone else over, but this time I can't…! I just can't help it. I really can't"

"Are you really afraid he might do it again?" Ty Lee asked.

"No… maybe? I don't know" said Azula, shaking her head "I mean, I doubt he would but… but what if he did? I don't have much of a right to complain about it since we weren't together, but as we are now…? What if he has one of those 'meaningless' encounters again? What on earth would I be expected to do?"

"Well… you'd be expected to trust him not to do that, in the first place" said Mai. Azula winced "If you can't be bothered to trust him, then you'll spend the rest of your life panicking over how many women he might be seeing behind your back, until eventually it becomes clear that there were no other women, that he was only interested in you, but by then he might be so tired of your distrust he might move on to someone else…"

Azula's eyes widened as Mai spoke. Even Ty Lee grimaced, but Mai didn't stop yet.

"So the matter is simply whether you care enough about him to accept his murky past, or if his murky past really kills everything about your relationship with him, to the degree in which you cannot forgive him for what he did before you two were even together" said Mai.

"If you word it that way, it just sounds like I'm being an unreasonable asshole" said Azula, sighing "And maybe I am? I just… the mere thought of him doing things like those with someone else makes me…"

"It makes you die inside a little bit?" said Ty Lee, sighing "It's got to be hard to take. But as he is now, he only does those things with you, right? So even if he had all those other girls to choose from, he wanted you and you alone. You're fully committed to each other, aren't you?"

"You are committed, in many levels" said Mai "He's not just your lover, he's your partner in a lot of ways. And this crisis of trust could damage what you two have built over time if you don't deal with it. In the end I guess it comes down to what matters most to you: having been with him despite he has such a questionable past, or being with him altogether. Because really, if you decide this is too much for you… you'd let him go, right?"

Azula frowned at the thought. She hadn't really considered ending things with Sokka over this, despite she was indisputably furious about it. The idea of cutting their relationship short now was simply unthinkable. She didn't want to do that, despite hearing about his past, as little as she had heard anyways, had made her want to put as much distance between them as she could get away with… but it wasn't something permanent, she realized. No, she would go back to him eventually. They would talk things through. There was no way she'd sacrifice this relationship over whatever he'd done before they struck their deal, right?

Because regardless of his past, Sokka had helped her achieve things she had never thought possible. She had even found the secret to gold fire because of her love for him. And she would have never felt that love if he hadn't loved her too in the first place.

He had sacrificed his wellbeing for her many times, put her priorities before his own on countless occasions. He had chosen her, as he had promised, above everything else every single time. He even had been elated when she had suggested to alter their deal, so that he could visit his Tribe and yet still stay with her afterwards…

She swallowed hard as she rubbed her forehead with her fingers. No, she wouldn't let him go. But what would she do? What would this set-back mean for their relationship on the long run?

"I don't think I'll end things" said Azula "But I… I don't know what to do. Just imagining hearing him talk about it, tell me all the awful details of whatever it is he did with those women…"

"How about you… you put yourself in his place, for a change?" said Ty Lee. Azula frowned.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, imagine how he must be feeling right now" said Ty Lee "He was probably not proud of what he did, right?"

"He tried his hardest not to tell me but I forced him to" said Azula "He knew I'd… I'd react as I did"

"So I guess he's crushed about all this, isn't he?" said Ty Lee. Azula shrugged.

"I guess?" she said, sighing "I mean, he'd always said he's not worthy of me, but only now do I wonder if this is the real reason why he said it. It's true that I knew about one girl before me, but… but I didn't expect this. I really didn't"

"I'd think there's more than enough reasons for him to feel unworthy of you" said Mai "And yet you jumped into his bed all the same, paying no heed to any of the warning signs because that's how much you loved him. You've put your entire life, everything you've worked for, at risk for Sokka. Is this so bad that you wish you could take it all back?"

"As I said, I… what I'd take back is sending him there altogether" said Azula "I don't know what our relationship would be if I hadn't, it'd probably be a nightmare, in fact, but… well, at least he wouldn't have done that. And he wouldn't have had it as hard as he did while he was there"

"The Amateur League was awful" said Ty Lee, biting her lip "So maybe… maybe being with those women was somehow a way to soothe his pain while he was there? I'm just suggesting something, I guess I must be wrong, but…"

"You meant that they were the only good things he had going for him back then?" said Azula, raising a questioning eyebrow "I mean, everything else was bad enough, granted but… the way he talked about it, whether it was because he was ashamed or because the memory hurt too much to evoke it, it didn't sound like they were that good either"

"So then it was all awful" said Mai "And now with you he's happy as a clam. Is it any wonder he wanted to keep his past a secret from you, both to make sure you wouldn't be disgusted by him and to bask in his current stability and happiness?"

Azula sighed and shook her head.

"I've never asked Ruon Jian about whether or not he had anything serious with other girls before me because I seriously don't care" said Mai "If I knew about it, I'd probably have a bout of jealousy like yours, I suppose… but it's in his past, and he left them behind to make me his present and his future. So whatever he might have experienced before, with however many women there were, isn't something I'm overly concerned about"

"You're awfully mature compared to me if that's the case" said Azula, slipping her fingers through her hair again. Mai smirked.

"You've been complimenting me quite a lot today, Azula, that's not like you…"

"Shut up" Azula grunted. Mai chuckled.

"In any case, Mai's right, Azula" said Ty Lee "Whatever Sokka had with other women doesn't change that he's chosen you now. You're the one he wants, because he's fully committed to you, right?"

"I guess, I mean… I'd suppose he is" said Azula, swallowing hard.

"So you should just talk things through with him" said Ty Lee, smiling "Whether to hear the full extent of what he has to say, or hear none of it if you think you're better off not knowing… either thing should work, right?"

"I hope so" said Azula.

"Or, if that's not enough to make you feel better… you can go find eight other guys and get even?"

"What the…?! Ty Lee!" Azula shouted, as Ty Lee giggled.

"It was a joke, it was a joke!" she exclaimed, as Azula rolled her eyes.

The conversation with her friends had helped her level her head, to a degree, but it wasn't enough to appease her completely just yet. Not when she knew she still lacked a lot of answers only Sokka could give her. In truth, she could only settle this matter by talking to him, and that was what she intended to do, on the next day.

* * *

"So she stormed out on you? Really?"

"Really! And she left without hearing what I had to say! I didn't even want to start talking about anything at first, but she forced me, and then she just left! I mean, curse it all, how is it fair?!"

"I guess it's not" said Song, with a sad grimace.

Sokka huffed and shook his head, pacing the living room as he yanked his hair. He still had a hard time understanding how things had gone southwards so suddenly, and unsurprisingly, he deeply regretted having told Azula the truth. Why couldn't he be a more convincing liar? If only he had managed to feed her a believable story… but he was no good at coming up with that kind of thing, that was Azula's area of expertise.

He groaned and shook his head again, an unpleasant tingle at the bottom of his stomach tormenting him with every new thought that solidified in his head. Would they get over this? Could Azula simply accept his past and understand he didn't want anyone other than her? He doubted it. From now on she'd be doubting him every single time a girl spoke to him, surely, and he'd spend his entire life trying to prove to her that he was only ever hers. That his heart, battered and weak and mostly quite broken, only answered to her.

He had always known he was unworthy of her, had said so millions of times: what had she understood when he'd claimed as much? Did she think he only said it because of the vast distance between them, on a social standpoint? Did she think it was because of the times he'd hurt her, which she had forgiven him for by now? No, he'd said it because it was true: because he could still hurt her in the future and he was terrified to his core of doing so. He didn't want to do it ever again. The sole thought of making her cry was enough to make him feel unworthy of being her partner in any sense altogether.

She had discovered more of his scars in the Northern Air Temple, but she would have been wrong to assume that was the full extent of what Sokka hid. There were enough things about his childhood that he hadn't disclosed, things he hadn't come to terms with even now, including his mother's death, his father's absence during some of the harshest years of Sokka's life in the Water Tribe, and then the discovery of certain truths about an old friend of his that he wished he'd never known of… he had kept all that from Azula, too. And he supposed she kept several matters of her past to herself too, unwilling to disclose them to him whether because she didn't know how to share them with him or because she would rather be at a better place, mentally, to speak about it. It was why he'd kept things to himself so far, after all.

And keeping his experiences in the Amateur League to himself had also been an exercise at allowing himself a chance to breathe. He had been through enough during those two years, and Azula had found him and granted him a life he had never dared dream of. He had clung to it desperately, allowing it to envelop him so tightly that he had forced himself to forget about the Amateur League until he met his former Hui Yi acquaintance in the Royal Dome. The unpleasant memories had returned then, and Azula again had helped him cope with it all…

But this she wouldn't forgive him for. Sokka gritted his teeth and paced more, stopping at the wall and striking his head against it. Was it worse that he'd done what he had with those women than what he'd done to all the other gladiators? In Azula's eyes, no doubt it was. Sokka also had no doubts as to why she was so affronted and indignant: had he been with well-groomed women, from good backgrounds, she wouldn't have been that disgusted. But of all things, prostitutes… the idea surely made her want to retch. Sokka couldn't blame her for being overwhelmed, since it had been a lot of information to digest so fast…

But he could be indignant too by her reaction, and that he was. She had stormed out before he could tell her the full truth, and surely now she would be stemming in her anger, making up her mind not to ever speak to Sokka again. He guessed it was for the best to keep some distance right now, since he'd probably only say stupid things if he could see her now, irate as he was, but he dreaded that staying away from Azula for too long would only result in this particular rift growing larger, to the point where it could sever their relationship altogether.

He hissed, knowing that was the last thing he wanted. But could he avoid it? Could he make Azula listen to him for once?

When he heard a knock on the door he turned with terrified but also hopeful eyes. Had she returned? Was she trying not to overthink things, and instead had realized they could only resolve this together…?

"I'll get it" said Song, standing up from the couch.

Song had left the house as soon as the Princess had arrived in the morning, fully certain that she didn't want to be around for whatever she and Sokka got up to. When she returned, though, fully ready to fetch her ear plugs, she found Sokka grumbling and walking in circles on the living room, his lover nowhere to be found. She had been confused, but Sokka had proceeded to explain they'd fought, to no surprise of Song's. She thought they made a good couple, no doubt, but she was also quite aware of the fact that they were insanely conflictive. They hadn't fought at all since returning from the Northern Air Temple, at least not aside from whatever had happened since Sokka's last gladiator fight, but she knew their cordiality couldn't last forever.

Sokka hadn't explained what the fight had been about, but it was apparent it was something big, Song thought. Normally he'd be a miserable weeping mess, depressed over having done something stupid she'd never forgive him for, but this time around he was mad, even. He was angry enough that he couldn't stop pacing or grumbling under his breath about how she hadn't given him a chance to explain himself. So if the new arrival really was the Princess, Song had half a mind to slip out of the door right after she came inside…

But truth be told, Song doubted it'd be her. Azula would always arrive on her dragon's back these days, and she seldom used the front door. So could this possibly be her…?

She opened the door to find a Royal Guard. Clearly, her doubts had been spot-on.

Sokka's eyes fell as Rui Shi entered the house, smiling and nodding as Song welcomed him inside. Rui Shi removed his helmet, showing Song his grin, but when he glanced at the living room he found Sokka wasn't quite as happy to see him as Song was.

The very sight of the gladiator, dressed and grouchy, standing in the living room, was an unexpected surprise for Rui Shi. He raised an eyebrow as Sokka swallowed hard.

"Now that's odd. What's the matter with you?" he asked "Where's the Princess?"

"As a matter of fact, we don't know" said Song "We thought she'd be back in the Palace by now. See, she and Sokka had a bit of a fight and…"

Sokka had never felt such a mighty urge to punch a wall as when he saw Rui Shi positively beaming upon the news. He looked at Song with amazement, to Sokka's irritation.

"Is that so?" he asked "My, my. Now that's a surprise"

"You know, you could pretend to be bothered by it, at least" said Sokka "Azula was rather upset when she stormed out, doesn't that worry you in the slightest?"

"Oh, surely, if it means this relationship has reached its timely demise then I suppose she'll be upset indeed…" said Rui Shi, smiling "Granted it'll take some time for her to be over it, but still…"

"Y-you know?! That's awfully cruel coming from you!" Sokka snapped, blushing as he looked at Rui Shi with indignation "That we might break up doesn't mean any of what we already did can be taken back!"

"Which is a pity" said Rui Shi, sighing "If only that could be the case. But never fret, I'll simply see to it that the Princess weds a man too foolish or too drunk to tell she's been soiled by you"

"What the…?! Soiled?! Are you kidding me…?!" Sokka grunted, gritting his teeth.

Yet for all he knew, that was exactly what Azula would be thinking of their relationship by now. After what he had confessed today that was exactly how she'd feel: soiled. He gritted his teeth. Whatever he said wouldn't matter, let alone would it matter that his encounters with women had happened long ago, when they barely knew each other, when she had as good as forgotten he existed while all he did every night was dream of defeating her. The entire situation felt a thousand years away to Sokka, but to Azula it had been as good as a stab on the back, despite that hadn't been his intent at all. Had he been supposed to share all about his intimate encounters with her before they became intimate too? Probably. But if he had, she probably would have been just as indignant as she was now, if not more so, and she would have never given him a chance to be with her at all.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized he should have spoken earlier indeed. Maybe if he had, and he had sacrificed his last chance with her, she would have been so mad that their possibilities would have gone up in smoke indeed. He would have avoided leading her into making a mistake that would change her life forever. He could have spared Rui Shi's life too, along with that of the rest of Azula's guards, and none of them would live with an impending doom dangling over their heads if someone ever discovered Azula had been with him.

The more he thought of this, the more selfish he felt, and the more disgusted he grew with himself. He had never been meant to reach her and he'd always known it. He shouldn't have defied destiny as he had, let alone should he have convinced her that it was a good idea to do so. For with every new discovery she made about him, the more she realized how broken and messed-up he really was. How was he worthy of her? In what world was he fit for the Princess?

And the way Rui Shi had spoken of their spat, as though it were something final… he clenched his fists as he wondered if it was. Would Azula ever forgive him? Unlikely. Would she take him back, and then proceed to monitor his life as closely as possible, to make sure he wouldn't betray her, as though he couldn't control his urges? The thoughts made him sick to the stomach. So there probably was no going back from this. At least, not that he could see.

But he knew well enough that he owed her the full truth. If this was going to end their wonderful run as lovers, she might as well understand the circumstances under which he'd endured what he had. His first two years in the Fire Nation had been a living hell, and he had the feeling she didn't understand just how bad they really had been…

He shook his head and stormed upstairs. Rui Shi followed him with his gaze, wondering if perhaps he'd gone too far with his teasing. He hadn't expected the gladiator to be this susceptible.

"Alright, so was it really that bad a fight?" he asked, raising his eyebrow "I thought it'd be one of the usual kind…"

"Eh? I don't really know" said Song, shrugging "Sokka's usually not this worked up about their fights, but this one seemed kind of serious, for once? I mean, I don't really know, they were all done fighting when I came home, but…"

"Did he tell you why they argued?"

"Nope, not at all" said Song "But I do wonder what it was about that could send the Princess into such a frenzy…"

"That's not so hard to achieve, at least not for him" said Rui Shi "He gets under her skin with more ease than most people. She can be level-headed with everyone else, take control of every situation, but somehow it seldom happens when she's dealing with him. I hate to admit it but… he's the only person she regards or treats as an equal"

Song swallowed hard and looked at Rui Shi warily. Was he really saying that, or was he messing with her now, as he had with Sokka brief moments ago? She bit her lip, approaching the staircase.

"Well, since you know she's not here I guess you can go home and talk to her, maybe?" she said "I'll take care of Sokka and see that…"

"That he doesn't do anything stupid?" said Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow "Uh, well, I'd… I'd rather not"

"Not what?" said Song "Not talk to her? Not have me watch Sokka…?"

"If the Princess is as indignant as Sokka, it's probably safest not to cross her path for now" he said "So I'll, uh, stay here with you and make sure Sokka doesn't get the crazy idea to run to the Palace in the middle of the night or so. It's a good idea, isn't it?"

"U-uh… sure?" said Song, blushing a little. She wasn't stupid, she knew well enough that Rui Shi had been taking advantages of most opportunities he'd found to spend more time than necessary at Sokka's house. And she had a pretty good idea as to why, despite she wasn't about to admit it aloud "But I'm still going to check on Sokka quickly, if you don't mind. Sit down, I'll be back shortly!"

Rui Shi nodded and smiled before making his way to the couch. Song climbed the stairs and pushed Sokka's door open.

"Hey, Sok-…" she started, just as she heard Sokka's unequivocal yelp of panic.

She blinked a few times and looked inside, finding he was standing awkwardly next to his bed, his eyes wide, his entire body clad in a uniform not unlike Rui Shi's, a mask sitting on the mattress. Song's eyes widened.

"Sokka?" she asked, as he shushed her with a finger over his mouth.

"Close the door. Get in here fast" he said, ushering her to approach him with a wave of his hand.

Song gulped and did as she was told, still regarding Sokka rather warily. He looked at her with determination.

"I've got to figure out if there's still a relationship to be mad about, or if I'm already supposed to be at the grieving stage" he growled "So I'm going to the Palace and…"

"But you can't do that!" said Song "Rui Shi is saying he'll stay here to make sure you don't do anything dumb like what you're saying you're going to do!"

"Uuuuh… okay, that's a problem" said Sokka, grimacing "No chance you can make him leave?"

"I doubt it!" Song exclaimed "I really don't think this is a good idea, Sokka. How about you call it a day and…?"

"Nope. Can't do that" he said, shaking his head "I have to do this now, before the wound festers beyond helping. If I expect to save this relationship I need to do it now. So… I'll climb out the window and slip through the back, and then make a run for the street while being careful so that Rui Shi doesn't spot me!"

"What the…?! Sokka!" said Song, blushing and frowning "And what on earth am I supposed to do in the mean time? What if he realizes you're gone and…?"

"Well, that's what you'll be doing indeed" said Sokka "You'll keep him distracted, and let's be honest here, you can absolutely do that! Have him help you cook, I don't know, do something fun and he'll probably forget why he was here altogether!"

"But if you don't make a single sound for hours and… and if you don't come down to eat, too?! He'll see something's wrong!"

"You can say I'm too depressed to leave my room" said Sokka "Carry a tray to my room with food for me, and tell him I refuse to go downstairs. It's not that hard!"

"Maybe not, but… oh, spirits, Sokka, why must you do this to me?" she said, blushing deeply "This is going to be so awkward!"

"It can work! Come on, Song, do this and I'll, uh, I'll…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you'll buy me something wonderful with the winnings from your next fight. Sure" said Song, rolling her eyes "It better be something really wonderful, you hear me? Like a whole house of my own where I won't have to worry about you and your crazy fluctuating love life!"

"Yeah, it is pretty unstable, isn't it?" said Sokka, gulping "Oh, well! I'll try to do something like that, alright? But for now…!"

"Wait, I wasn't serious, I was just trying to… oh, damn it Sokka, please reconsider" she said, as he put the helmet on his head.

"I'll try to be back before midnight. I will be, likely, if the worst case scenario unfolds…"

"Eh, the worst case scenario is that she kills you and then you won't be coming back at all" said Song. Sokka smiled.

"A risk I'm willing to take. Good luck with Rui Shi!" he exclaimed, making his way to the window.

Song gritted her teeth as she watched him climb out of it with difficulty and attempted stealth. How did he hope to keep Rui Shi from noticing him? She didn't know and wasn't sure she wanted to. The Captain of Azula's guards would catch him, and then it wouldn't be Azula who would kill Sokka, but rather, it'd be Rui Shi…

Regardless, she went downstairs and asked Rui Shi to help her prepare dinner, hoping their conversation would allow Sokka to run off to the Palace as planned. She had no way of making sure it'd work, but she did her best regardless.

In due time, Sokka was making his way through the city, after having jumped as stealthily as he could out of the window and into his house's backyard. He kept his pace steady and his head held high, as determination burned in his eyes. He wasn't going down without a fight, even if he meant to respect whatever resulted from this new conflict. But he would see to it that Azula would hear the full truth, so that she would judge by her own hand whether their relationship was fated to last or not.


	112. Chapter 112

She had tried to relax over a long bath, but it hadn't helped much in the end. The longer she spent alone with her thoughts, her poisonous, misgiving thoughts, the worse she felt about this argument with Sokka. She huffed and shook her head, fruitlessly waiting for the water to rinse away her worries. She wanted reconciliation, no doubt, and wanted to stop feeling as bad as she did… but she was afraid it wouldn't be easy when she wasn't sure she could stomach Sokka's explanations, whatever they were, whenever he provided them.

She sighed as she dried herself and clad her body in her usual sleeping gown. She'd had dinner with Mai and Ty Lee, and had only arrived home around twenty minutes earlier. She had been surprised to find Rui Shi was nowhere around, and briefly wondered if he'd gone to fetch her at Sokka's place… but if he had, wouldn't he be back after discovering she wasn't there? She decided not to worry about it, though. The Captain of her Guards was a competent man, independent enough to do as he pleased, and if he was finally giving her more space then so be it.

She brushed her hair, hating how much she'd rather have it brushed by Sokka instead. It couldn't be denied, he had a talent for grooming hair, both in terms of his technique and his results. She thoroughly enjoyed it when he massaged her head with the tips of his fingers, making her close her eyes in sheer delight as she relaxed in his arms. Would she get to enjoy that again in the near future? Only if she compromised her pride for his sake somehow. But she didn't know if she could do that. She had held her love for him above all of her priorities many times before: could she do it again when it came to something like this? Were her feelings, and her longing to feel loved by him, worth so much that she would overlook this new revelation of Sokka's past?

She didn't know yet. Maybe by morning she'd have made up her mind, decided what mattered most… as it was, she only knew she had to speak with him. The trouble was, she wasn't sure if she felt up for it yet. But maybe that, as well, was something she could decide by morning.

She sat on the bed, her head between her hands, her mind still racing. Would she be able to fall asleep at all? She couldn't say. Perhaps she should find a book, try her luck at reading something to distract her…

A knock on the door paralyzed her just as she stood up to make for her bookshelf. She frowned. Maybe it was Rui Shi, checking in on her at last. Perhaps her father wanted a word with her about something important he had forgotten to mention until now? Or even Zhao, hoping to find more answers for his countless questions…?

She opened the red door warily, and her heart sank when she saw a Royal Guard standing outside. A Royal Guard who did not bow down to her upon seeing her, one who held her gaze through the mask he wore. One who just so happened to be the exact height and girth of someone Azula didn't feel ready to see right now…

His silence and firm stance were unexpected, she found. Was he disappointed in her, too? Or was he simply not speaking in case anyone nearby overheard him? Could they notice who he was despite he was wearing a guard's uniform?

Azula breathed out slowly and stepped away from the door, allowing him to enter her room. She closed the door, still taking deep and slow breaths as though to still herself, while Sokka removed the helmet and hood from the uniform. Azula glanced at him, finding he seemed determined, yet distraught. She had seen him like this before, countless times… yet never under circumstances quite like these. Azula was supposed to be the one who was upset, right? Yet why did it seem like he was, too?

"I'm sorry I showed up so suddenly" he said, with a grave voice "I guess you probably were going to bed already, but…"

"I couldn't sleep" she said. She hadn't tried, to begin with, but she had no doubt she wouldn't have managed to fall unconscious easily tonight.

"I guess I should be sorry about that, too" said Sokka, glancing at her.

Azula sighed and walked towards him, her arms firmly wrapped around her body.

"You're here to say whatever it is I didn't let you earlier?" she asked. Sokka frowned, squaring his jaw.

"In truth, I thought maybe it'd make no difference" he said "That you'd just hate me for what I've done no matter why I did it, but… but I thought I should give this a shot anyways. At least if I explain you won't end up imagining things that didn't happen, to say one thing"

"Afraid I'll assume you had them all at once again?" she asked. Sokka's eyes widened.

"Please tell me you weren't assuming that…"

"No, I wasn't" she said, with a weak smile "But seeing how it went the last time I assumed anything about your previous partners, it seemed the thing to ask right now"

"Well, I'll put your mind at ease and let you know that no, I didn't have any girls simultaneously" said Sokka, sighing again as Azula walked towards her bed "If that helps at all"

"It helps slightly. But it's not enough to appease me just yet" said Azula, taking her seat at the border of the bed. Sokka sighed.

"I get it if you decide that I'm just not worth the risk after this" he said, gritting his teeth as he felt his heart churn upon the mere thought of their relationship ending "It's… it's fine if you do. You have every right to. There's always been too much at stake, and I wasn't completely honest about many things I should have told you about ages ago. So I won't hold it against you"

"But you still want to explain it all in case it'll change my mind, if that were what I had in mind to begin with" said Azula, raising an eyebrow. Sokka nodded.

"It might be no use in the end, but you deserve the full truth" he said "So… if you'll let me, I'll tell you now. Before things get any worse"

Azula sighed and nodded in resignation, against her better judgment. She honestly didn't think she wanted to hear this, it'd probably only make her feel worse… but he wasn't wrong to think that her overactive imagination might make her picture things that had never happened. His bad times in the Amateur League had scarred him deeply, she knew as much, and this particular matter seemed to bring him no joy either. Maybe, despite what she dreaded, his past experiences hadn't been blissful at all…

"Alright, so… for starters, there's a reason there were only seven instead of the twelve you assumed there would have been" said Sokka. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"You were with some of them more than once?" she asked, the bite of her own words making her chest ache as she considered the possibility.

"No. Well, somewhat, but it wasn't like that with her" said Sokka, closing his eyes. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, are you going to tell me you fell in love with any of them, by any chance, or…?"

"No, no, none of that" said Sokka, sitting next to her on the mattress "That's not what I meant. But the thing is… the first time one of these events happened, I was at a loss as for what was going on. I simply shrank in the darkness, somewhat appalled upon understanding those women were prostitutes, and upon realizing that they were supposed to be here to please us gladiators. I hoped not to catch the eye of any of them, but…"

"You caught one indeed" Azula finished. Sokka sighed.

"She jumped on me, and I barely had time to register what was happening. Still, eventually I pushed her away and asked her what on earth was she doing. I hadn't even looked at her, had no idea who she was, what her name was… so how did she expect us to just do something without even knowing one another? Granted at the time I wasn't exactly aware of how these encounters worked, so she explained… yet I realized she had tears in her eyes as she spoke"

"She did?" Azula asked, frowning "She didn't want you?"

"Actually, no" said Sokka "And from the looks of it, none of them ever did. They didn't want me nor any of the other guys. Because you see… despite what you might have thought, these women weren't having sex for money because they thought it would be fun. They were having sex because they were forced to: as it turns out, they weren't actually prostitutes, they were slaves. Huang Li had bought their services for a night so they would amuse his gladiators and cheer them up, all so he could see to it that the one who had the most fun, according to his standards, would be forced to fight relentlessly the next day, five fights in a row even, if he were to survive the first ones. So as you might imagine, the arrival of these women was… well, often heralding doom for whoever figured they'd enjoy the night to their best"

Azula's eyes were wide now, to no surprise of Sokka's. He breathed deeply, wondering how she'd feel when he got to the worse parts of his story.

"So, about this woman… she told me she had to be with a guy no matter what, because that was the only way her slaver would leave her be. If she were to return untouched to the brothel he'd be furious, and there was no telling what he'd do to her. But before she tried again I told her she didn't have to do anything she didn't want to. That we could just lie down, stay in silence if she wanted, or even chat, if she'd rather do that…"

"Are you serious?" Azula asked, looking at him in disbelief. Sokka nodded.

"I can't lie about having felt curious for a moment. I mean, I figure most people would, in their first exchange of this nature with someone from the opposite sex" he said, shrugging "So far the only girl my age I knew was my sister. And, well, I did meet you before that, but we didn't really know each other…"

"I understand" said Azula, frowning "I mean… it is true. It's hard to help wondering what it would be like"

"It's almost about figuring out what's the fuss about love, if anything" said Sokka, with a small smile "To find out if it's just as wonderful as many people depict it. But evidently, that wasn't what was going on there. Yes, I was curious, but not to the point where I wanted to force myself on a woman who had already stated she didn't want me. So she accepted my offer, and as we laid down she actually told me why she didn't want me: she had a family, had been married, but upon the birth of slavery, her, her husband and children had all been bought and sold in different places, into different kinds of servitude. As a grown woman, she had been forced into the sex trade, and sold off in Hui Yi. She had to bear with this lifestyle, feeling like she barely deserved to live for betraying her husband with every new customer the brothel's owner sent her way. Of course, I told her she wouldn't have to worry about that whenever she came here. She would just have to come find me each time, and I'd see to it that she'd be able to stay loyal to her husband if just for one day, as she meant to be. She was very grateful for that"

"I assume, since she had children, that she must have been older than you?" said Azula. Sokka nodded.

"She had to be in her forties or so. I never bothered asking" he said. Azula nodded.

"So you kept your promise? Or did you…?"

"I did. For four of her visits. She was always relieved to find out that I had survived through those months of frequent fights to the death. She could hardly believe I had, and frankly, neither could I. We kept to our arrangement each time she was brought to the Barracks, and I was surprised to see she even seemed happy when we last met, as she told me all about her children and how they had been learning to read and write before the Fire Nation's army had attacked their city"

Azula swallowed hard, lowering her gaze as Sokka breathed deeply again. She knew the Fire Nation army had damaged a lot of people and lives, but hearing it like this was more devastating than she expected it to be. When Sokka had mentioned a brothel before she had imagined the workers to be women who were constantly craving sex, eager for new partners and new experiences… she hadn't expected slaves who had hated having to do what they did in order to have food and shelter, if they had those things at all.

"By the fifth time this event took place, though, she was nowhere around" said Sokka. Azula looked at him with unease "I climbed out of my usual hole in the shadows, fearing some other gladiator had gotten to her before she could reach me, but I saw her nowhere. When I stood there, one of the other girls noticed me and just as the first time, she threw herself at me. She was a bit younger this time, granted, but anyways… I told her I was looking for someone. When I described the woman I was talking about, she made a face and everything I'd dreaded came to life by then. Granted, I had feared she'd be dead, but that wasn't it…"

"What happened?" Azula asked.

"Apparently, Huang Li must have noticed that she and I did nothing at all, and he told on us to the brothel's owner" said Sokka, gritting his teeth "The bastard decided to punish her by giving her a harsh beating first, and afterwards torturing her to the point of crippling her: took one of her hands, from what this girl told me"

Azula's mouth fell open as she gazed at him in horror and disbelief. Sokka was only glaring at the carpeted floor before him, his glacial eyes and clenched fists evidence of how hard it was on him to recall hearing those words.

"All because I thought I'd do the right thing" he said "All because I wanted to give her a chance to feel less appalled by herself and by what they were forcing her to do. She wasn't able to go back to the Barracks again after that, simply because Huang Li paid for full women, you see… he didn't want a cripple. From what this girl told me, now she would be forced to receive the guests who were unable to pay for the full packages, since she wasn't a full package herself either way"

"That's just…"

"The most disgusting, horrifying thing? Possibly" said Sokka, gritting his teeth "If I thought I had it hard, I changed my mind after meeting them. Granted that they didn't have to flirt with death every time they were forced to do their 'jobs', but even so they had to endure things I couldn't begin to imagine. You weren't wrong, if you feared they'd have diseases. I think a few of them had some, although given I've never noticed anything weird on me, I guess I wasn't infected with anything after all. But they put their lives at risk in different, more demeaning ways yet. I had always wanted to be a warrior, and being an amateur gladiator was, if anything, the lowest version of a warrior someone could be. But them? Who of them ever dreamt of being stuck in a whorehouse, with impending threats of dismemberments and torture if they ever dared step out of line? None, I'm sure.

"But if… but if I didn't do what I was supposed to do with them, the same thing would happen again. If I didn't take this girl, her fate would be the same as the one before her. So…"

"So you did it" said Azula, swallowing hard "And you did it every time ever since"

"Despite what you might have thought, it wasn't fun" said Sokka "Truth is, sex had never been fun, or enjoyable, until I had it with you. Before then it was just a peak of arousal, followed by all sorts of self-deprecating thoughts…"

"Even with… with the bounty hunter?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka nodded.

"Even with her. I apologized to her, even" he said "Because, well… you'll want to kill me for this too, of course, and saying this won't help my case at all"

"But?" Azula asked, as Sokka rubbed his forehead.

"But when I was with June I was only thinking about you. And by that I mean I literally forgot who I was with because the only thought in my mind was you. I probably even… called your name, I think. She didn't give a damn either way, but I get the feeling I did it" he whispered.

Azula wasn't sure whether if that last revelation was meant to be more flattering or insulting. She still hated the fact that he'd been with June as he had, and the memory of that time still stung, even if the pain had mitigated slightly over time. But to think he had forgotten who he was with, even, because of her…?

"Anyhow, I guess the only real detail worth giving you is… well, the answer to your question earlier" said Sokka, burying his face in his hand "It was the second to last girl I was with, before you came to save me. She seemed a lot less experienced than the others, and there was a point where she couldn't seem to move anymore, so I had to do it instead. I think she didn't enjoy it half as much as you did, if that's any comfort"

"Huh…" said Azula, looking at Sokka with uncertainty. He sighed.

"I doubt you want or need to hear anything other than that, but there you go. That's my story. It does nothing to change what I've done, I'm aware, but… but now you get why I was 'so experienced'. Truth be told, I would have rather not been experienced at all… then again, if I hadn't been, our first time would have been a disaster, but… but it might have been worth all the more to learn all about this together, huh? And yet…"

"Stop saying that sort of thing" said Azula, sighing "It's not your fault. I understand now"

"I still wish I just hadn't done all that, though…" he grunted.

"I can't blame you" said Azula "I… I did, I guess, because I was too outraged to listen. I… I was a fool. I'm sorry"

"It's not your fault. I would have been outraged too if I were you" he said, shrugging.

"You might have been, but you're wrong" said Azula, glaring at the floor "It is my fault"

"Azula, you were only mad because you care, that's…"

"That's not what I meant" said Azula, looking at him intently "I meant… that it's literally my fault that you had to endure that. You're awfully blinded by your feelings for me, that has been obvious for a while, but it was, by all means, my fault that you ended up there. That you had to suffer for two years as you did"

Sokka gritted his teeth as Azula sighed, burying her face in her hands, her fingers slipping through her hair. He looked at her, uncertain if he was allowed to touch her at all, in an attempt to comfort her. She didn't seem angry, but he didn't dare assume anything as it was.

"Love me all you want now, it doesn't change the fact that you hated me back then" said Azula "And for good reason. And I… what right do I have to be mad when this was all my fault? When I've…? Every single time this has happened it's because I've thrown you into the arms of other women, knowingly or not. Because even when it came to the bounty hunter…"

"Don't blame yourself for that too, Azula, please" said Sokka "I mean, if you want me to acknowledge things as they are, and to say that my time in the Amateur Arena was your fault, then you have to do the same for me and acknowledge that I was fully conscious of my actions too. I wasn't knocked out cold and done with as they saw fit. That I was disgusted with myself doesn't change what I did"

"It helps that you were, though. Believe it or not" said Azula, sighing "You always hated what you'd done, but it took over two years for me to start repenting for what I'd done to you, so… so who's the worse one out of the two of us?"

"I'd rather not answer that question" said Sokka, with a weak grin "I'm afraid nothing you say can change my answer…"

"We know you're awfully biased in my favor" said Azula. Sokka looked at her, finding she gazed at him wistfully "So you'll always say it's you. But really…"

"Azula, I didn't tell you all this so you'd start despising yourself for it" said Sokka "I… I told you because I thought it was the only thing I could do if I really hoped not to lose you. Because for a moment there, I thought…"

"You thought I was through with you" said Azula "That this would be enough to freak me out and dump you for good"

"I… I didn't know what to think. Rui Shi just started saying things and…"

"Rui Shi?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows.

"He showed up to make sure you went home, as always. When he saw you weren't there, and Song told him we'd had a fight he was quite elated" said Sokka, his eyebrow twitching "And he seemed delighted by the idea of you finally giving up on me. So…"

"What else can you expect from the man, really?" said Azula, sighing and shaking her head.

"Yeah, I guess, but… but he said something about how he'd see to it that you'd marry an idiot who couldn't tell I had soiled you. And when he used that word, well… I started to wonder if this was really over. If we were really over"

"You know… I do need to work on my temper, perhaps?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "And you need to open up to me about things I need to know so we don't have such mishaps. But if we're going to assume we're over with every single fight we have, Sokka… well, I have the feeling we'll be on and off consistently for however long this lasts between us. We're too different, too proud, too conflictive. We'll fight all the time, that's a given because we've been fighting since we first met. So…"

"So you think I can't just assume things are lost beyond repair every single time?" Sokka asked.

"Well… when have they been?" Azula asked "If they ever had been, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now, would we?"

Sokka looked at her from the corner of his eye, smiling weakly. To his relief and surprise, one of her hands reached for his. She clasped his fingers in her hand, squeezing them gently.

"But even so, I still think… I still think I don't quite enjoy these fights as much as I enjoy the less serious ones" she whispered "Even if we're likely to keep clashing because that's what we always do, I… I'd rather we don't do it about stuff like this anymore. And by that I mean…"

"I've had nothing with any other women, I can swear" said Sokka "Seriously, unless having a crush on one woman from my Tribe when I was like… what, three? Unless that counts for something, I assure you…"

"Oh. Well, good to know I wasn't the only one with childhood crushes" said Azula, with a small grin. Sokka snorted.

"Well, she didn't have sideburns…"

"What's your problem with sideburns, really?" Azula asked, as he laughed softly.

"I don't know, I don't know. I guess if I knew the guy any better I'd be able to use anything else as his defining feature, but so far what stands out the most are the sideburns" he said, smiling at her. Azula smiled too, despite herself, and shook her head.

"Well, it's still good to know about your childhood crushes too. That way there's really not much you can surprise me with, or is there?"

"Not that I can think of" said Sokka "And in the end, the only woman I've really wanted to be with is you. I know that doesn't do much to appease your concerns, but…"

"Well, my concerns are of a different nature by now, I have to admit" said Azula, looking at Sokka with uncertainty before turning towards him, angling her body so she'd face him "You've kept quiet about your past for a long time, from your early years in your Tribe to the hell you endured in the Amateur League. I… I had no idea how bad you had it, and despite I kept trying to imagine it, after what you've just explained I can't help but think I still know nothing about your life back then. So… so this time I won't force you to talk. I'd be a fool to do that to you again, considering I forced you to talk about this earlier. But… but whenever you're ready, whenever you think it's time, I want you to tell me about your two years in there. I… I think I need to hear it"

"You do?" said Sokka, swallowing hard "Why would you?"

"Because I've obsessed over the pain you've caused me while conveniently forgetting the one I caused you. It's… it's been a long time coming" she said "I've been looking at all your scars up close these days, never asking how they came to be because I was too scared of the truth. Too scared to face the strife I caused you. So... it's time I acknowledge and deal with this as I should have done from the start"

"You really…?" said Sokka, looking at her in disbelief.

Azula lifted his hand, holding it between hers. It was covered with a glove, but she knew the marks his palm and fingers bore, most of them of unknown origins for Azula. The more acquainted she had grown with his body, the more she had wondered and worried over the countless wounds he had been inflicted over time. She couldn't put off asking him any longer.

Sokka breathed in, clasping her hands in his. He wasn't sure he was ready for this, to unveil the countless memories he had buried in his past. He closed his eyes, thinking it'd be for the best somehow. Maybe talking to her would ease his sorrows one way or another…

"Alright. Alright" he said, breathing deeply "I guess I should start from the beginning"

Azula gritted her teeth, bracing herself, still holding his hand.

* * *

She hadn't expected Rui Shi to be so cooperative during the afternoon: he had seemed more remorseful than expected after teasing of Sokka earlier. He had been a helpful assistant at the kitchen, and to Song's surprise she had soon forgotten all about Sokka's current predicaments as she laughed while teaching Rui Shi how to prepare certain meals. He was a diligent student, an impressionable one too, and he worked hard to ensure things would be just as Song wanted them.

She found him endearing, with his sleeves rolled back and his brow furrowed as he focused on chopping vegetables as thinly as possible. Sometimes he bit his lip, another gesture of concentration, and he always smiled when she showed approval of his efforts.

It was hard to ignore how much fun it was to cook with a friend, Song thought, as they were finishing dinner. She prepared the dinner courses, setting up a meal for Sokka, knowing the food would go to waste because he wasn't in his room. Yet Rui Shi wasn't aware of that…

"I think I'll take the tray up to him" Rui Shi said, as Song finished preparing Sokka's food. She grimaced.

"U-uh, best not. He's, uh…"

"Mad at me for what I said? I thought he would be, it's why I wanted to do it" said Rui Shi "I figured I'd talk to him to make amends for what I said earlier, or try to, at the very least"

"W-well, I think it's safer if you give him some space. I'll just take the tray to him, and then the two of us will eat down here…"

"Why can't he come down to eat too?" Rui Shi asked "Maybe… ask if he'd like to?"

"Oh, well, I… I might?" said Song, swallowing hard "I will! I'll try. But don't take it personally if he wants to stay upstairs crying over the Princess, haha. He does that all the time even when they're in good terms, just because he misses her even if he saw her ten minutes earlier, so it's no big deal, really. He's fine. He'll be fine"

"I hope so" said Rui Shi, nodding as Song walked away with the tray.

She climbed the way to Sokka's room and set down the tray on his dresser, a grimace on her face as she listened worriedly for Rui Shi's footsteps. He hadn't decided to follow her up here, had he? It seemed not.

She sighed, wondering how long she'd have to wait in here to make sure Rui Shi would believe her pretense. She didn't like the idea of leaving all this good food up here, letting it go to waste seemed so wrong… but it was all in order to keep Sokka's alibi alive. She swallowed hard, imagined what the conversation might go like if Sokka were really there, and she convinced herself that it wouldn't last too long… so she left the room and returned downstairs, where Rui Shi waited at the kitchen table.

"He's still brooding. As I figured he would be" said Song, smiling a little "But it's not your fault, not at all. It's all because of whatever problems he's having with the Princess, I'm sure of it"

Rui Shi sighed and nodded, but he smiled as he readied himself to eat. Song beamed as he took the first mouthful of stew only to nod approvingly.

"It's good?" she asked.

"You're a wonderful cook" he said, smiling too as he dug in. Song laughed a little.

"Well, you were a great assistant today" she said "Maybe we should cook together more often. Y-you know, maybe the meals would taste their best that way, right?"

"Maybe" Rui Shi answered, with a somewhat shy grin as he ate more.

Song blushed and bit her lip before returning to reality. She had to eat too, yes she did. Staring at Rui Shi like a moron would only make him uncomfortable.

"O-oh… this is good. It's really good!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening "We really should do this more often! Rui Shi, you're a natural!"

"Really? I doubt it" he said, chuckling "I remember trying my hand at cooking a few times as a young boy… it was a catastrophe"

"You did?" said Song, smiling. He shrugged.

"I did not understand how anything worked, my parents weren't quite pleased with the wreckage I left in my wake. The servants spent all afternoon cleaning flour and broken eggs scattered on the floor, and of course I had to be disciplined" he sighed. Song grimaced.

"Disciplined how?" she asked. He smiled.

"It wasn't that bad. My father was in the military as well, so he mostly just made me exercise until I was fully spent. I'm pretty sure he did that so I'd be too tired to try any other stunts for the rest of the day"

"So you were a troublemaker as a child?" said Song, smiling a little "That's unexpected"

"I guess I wasn't that much trouble" said Rui Shi, with a small smile "But I wasn't always as I am now. A lot of things change once you join the military"

"I guess they must" Song asked "Did they treat you well there, or…?"

"It was harsh, but that's how it's supposed to be. They were far more determined to discipline their recruits than my father was when I was a child" he said, smiling "I was somewhat used to the exercises, though, so I knew how to deal with most of them"

"You were one of the best recruits?"

"I had to be. Else I wouldn't have been eligible to be part of the Royal Guards" he said. Song bit her lip and nodded.

"Since when were you training in the military, though? How old were you when you joined?"

"I think… fourteen" Rui Shi said. Song's eyes widened.

"Wow, you were young" she said. Rui Shi smiled.

"It's best to start early. Disciplining the mind and body becomes more complicated once you're older" he said "Sometimes it was hard, but… I enjoyed it. I've always found it's easier to live life when you have a goal to strive for. At first I wanted to follow on my father's footsteps, then I decided I could go further still and strive for becoming a Royal Guard. After that, my goal was to protect the Fire Nation Royal Family no matter what, and to protect the Princess, once I became the Captain of her personal guards…"

"You're a very determined and loyal man" said Song, smiling "I'm sure she's more than happy to have you as her Captain"

"Oh, well. I suppose she would be" he said, raising his eyebrows "Although I couldn't stop her from getting involved with Sokka, and now I must keep their secret, for better or for worse… I wonder if another man might have been able to avoid this particular problem I couldn't put a stop to"

"Heh, I doubt it" said Song, smiling awkwardly "Sorry but… they were going to do whatever they wanted, one way or another. If the thought of the Fire Lord's rage didn't stop them, nothing would"

"You're probably right" said Rui Shi, sighing. Song smiled.

"Don't think poorly of yourself, Rui Shi. You're a great man. Your parents must be very proud" she said. Rui Shi bit his lip and nodded.

"I'd hope so. Though, well… they've passed away by now" he said. Song froze "Only a few years apart. At least my mother got to see me become a Royal Guard before she died…"

"That's… I'm so sorry" said Song. Rui Shi smiled.

"It's fine. I've made my peace with it, and I honor their memories every year" he said.

"Is that why… why you don't have much to be attached to?" Song asked "You mentioned you had to be ready to give your life up for the Princess if need be, and that this was why tight family bonds and friendships weren't advised for you…"

"In a sense, yes. It's my duty too, so even if they lived they would understand if I kept some distance" he said "It isn't an easy life, especially not when your charge has the tendency to make your job harder with every new decision she makes… but I think it's worth it, despite it all"

"You care a lot about her" said Song, smiling "As you should, if you're to do your job right"

"I suppose" said Rui Shi, nodding "Though…"

"Yes?" said Song, as he fell silent. He smiled a little before focusing on the food again.

"It's only that… that despite what's advised in terms of emotional attachment, I find I've skipped that rule just as the Princess has skipped hers" he said. Song smiled.

"If it'll make you a better guard, I'd say it's fine to skip a few rules" she said, taking another mouthful of stew.

Rui Shi gazed at her, guessing he had to be a little more direct if he wanted her to understand his meaning. Yes, he cared about the Princess, but his riskier emotional attachment these days wasn't with Azula. And indeed, it wasn't wise to be invested in his friendship with Song to this degree, let alone was it wise to wonder if they could have something more than friendship, but perhaps he had become more daring and reckless after seeing how reckless Azula and Sokka could be.

Still… he wasn't reckless enough to act upon his feelings. Not as it was. He would have to ask her if she was interested in him in the same way, and considering the hard feelings she used to have for soldiers, he wouldn't be surprised if she outright rejected him. It was one thing to accept Fire Nation soldiers weren't all monsters, but it was another one to be romantically interested in one, right?

He decided to keep eating, as Song glanced at him with curiosity. Discovering a few more things about Rui Shi's past had been quite a surprise, since he seldom spoke about himself. She couldn't help but wonder what his younger years had been like, what ordeals he had endured during his time in the military academy, what his first assignments had been like… if he had any family members left, too. The thought that he'd have none was saddening, even if it seemed Rui Shi had indeed made his peace with his solitude.

They finished eating, and Rui Shi offered to wash the dishes for her. Song blushed as she told him not to worry, but he insisted. Song smiled, but the grin waned when he asked a dreaded question:

"What about the gladiator's plates?"

"W-what…?" said Song, blinking blankly.

"I should go upstairs to collect them, is all…" he said. Song shook her head.

"N-no, no, he's… he's probably taking his time to eat. I'll take care of those in the morning" she said, smiling uncomfortably. Rui Shi raised an eyebrow.

"I won't make matters worse, you know. You don't have to protect him from me like that. I won't say anything stupid…"

"N-no, I mean, it's not that. It's just… I know Sokka. He's not fun company right now" she said, still with an uncomfortable smile "He'll be better later, surely. Tomorrow, maybe. I… hope"

"Huh" said Rui Shi, shrugging as he started with the dishes "Well, he'd better be. It won't do for him to mope forever, he'll have to deal with whatever problem they have sooner than later"

"Oh, he knows that" said Song "He's just… going to take the night to think things through. Yup"

"Right" said Rui Shi. Song sighed in relief once he stopped asking questions.

She ended up helping him dry the plates, and again the activity was far more fun than always. She laughed as Rui Shi proved to be a perfectionist even in the art of dishwashing, ensuring to clean up every last stain on each plate, regardless of how small it seemed. He blushed but smiled over her amusement, and he carried on cleaning all dishes thoroughly.

"Well… now what?" said Song, as they left the kitchen for the first time in hours. Rui Shi sighed as he looked at the stairs, his gaze flickering towards the closed door he knew was Sokka's room.

"I really think I ought to talk to him" he insisted. Song flinched.

"W-why, though? It's not… you really don't have to do that" she said. Rui Shi sighed.

"I just feel like… like it's the right thing to do" he said, turning to look at her "Besides, he's been awfully quiet all this time… isn't it odd?"

"W-well, he was fine when I last went upstairs, so there's no need to worry about him" Song lied. Rui Shi raised an eyebrow.

"I'd rather talk to him anyways, though. You don't have to be so afraid, Song, I won't do anything we'll regret" he said, smiling. Song grimaced as he made for the stairs.

"N-no! I mean, what if it's not you who does something stupid but him?!" she cried out, racing up a few steps and standing between Rui Shi and the upper floor "I really don't want today to be any trouble, not after we had such a… a wonderful evening. Right?"

"Well, that's exactly why I want to talk to him. I want to make sure there's no trouble to be had" said Rui Shi, frowning "Why are you so keen on keeping me downstairs? Or on keeping him upstairs? Is it you really think we're going to have an awful conflict, or is it something else…?"

"W-what else could it be?" she asked, blushing deeply. She had to think fast. She had started lying to Rui Shi already, she couldn't let him discover the truth now, no matter what happened…

"Well, I wouldn't know, but…" said Rui Shi, blushing too "Is it you… you wanted to be alone with me?"

Song's eyes widened. Rui Shi grimaced at her reaction.

"N-never mind! Sorry, I understand that was inappropriate, uncalled for, I… I was being a fool. I'm sorry, I…" he said, lowering his gaze and stepping down from the staircase altogether.

"R-Rui Shi…?" said Song. He avoided looking at her, even bowing his head slightly.

"Do forgive my indiscretion. It was uncalled for" he said.

Song swallowed hard. Was it? Did Rui Shi understand she had grown to like him that much over time? Perhaps he did. And given his bashful response… did he feel the same way?

Her cheeks reddened as one last, desperate idea to keep Rui Shi ignorant of the truth came to her mind. But it was one last desperate idea that might just ensure he'd stop apologizing, and that might reassure him that he hadn't misread Song quite as badly as he had thought…

"I… I don't think it was an… an indiscretion" she whispered. Rui Shi frowned and looked at her with uncertainty.

"You don't?" he asked "I… I mean…"

"R-Rui Shi, I…!" she said, taking a step forward on the stairs.

But focused as he was on him, that only resulted in her missing the next step, and requiring him to catch her in midair as she fell clumsily. His arms were around her waist, and he lifted her up to a standing position, worry in his eyes.

"Song, are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?" he asked, glancing down at her legs to make sure she'd be fine…

But just as he lowered his face, Song threw all caution and common sense into the wind. She pushed herself upwards, and her lips met his.

Rui Shi's blush grew stronger still as he held her, uncertain of what was happening altogether. Was she really kissing him? She pulled away after a moment, upon noticing he hadn't returned the kiss at all. Her cheeks were just as red as his.

"R-Rui Shi, I…" she whispered, looking into his confused eyes.

Well, now she had done it. She'd have to apologize and confess the truth now, there was nothing else to it. What on earth had gotten into her? Why had she thought kissing him was a good idea? He couldn't possibly like her that way: his bashfulness's source had simply been his mistake about his earlier guess. It had never meant that he liked her too.

"Are you alright?" he asked again, breathlessly. Song gritted her teeth and nodded.

"I just… tripped. I'm fine" she said, as he released her carefully, her feet firmly planted on the floor.

She felt beyond stupid, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, her throat burning too. She was going to kill Sokka when he came back, everything be damned. To think she had kissed Rui Shi to keep Sokka's escapade a secret… though she had wanted to do it, no denying it, but she had done it for Sokka's sake too. Why was she this nice? She shouldn't be! She had to stop doing him favors, that was obvious, because every time she tried…!

Her internal rant ended when she felt his gloved hand brushing a strand of her hair away from her face. She blinked, looking up at him in surprise. He no longer looked as confused, although he looked anxious regardless.

"Are you… sure?" he asked. Song swallowed hard again, her throat rather dry all of sudden. Why was he asking that? Why was he touching her hair? Why did it seem he was leaning closer to her…?

"R-Rui Shi…" she whispered, but he cut her off before she could say anything else.

Her eyes closed by instinct as he surrounded her with his arms, kissing her fully now, no longer paralyzed or hesitating as he had been before. Her urge to cry disappeared just as fast as it had showed up, and she slid her hands up his chest as she kissed him back.

Perhaps Sokka had wanted her to distract Rui Shi, but she had gotten a rather pleasant surprise out of it, too. Maybe she didn't have to be mad at the gladiator after all…

* * *

"Okay, so… the days on your Barge were a blur. Probably because I was in pain, too much of it to even notice if I was being fed, or given anything to drink, let alone did I know if my wounds were treated at all. I guess I was treated, though, or else I probably would have died on the ship. I kept passing in and out of consciousness for days, I figure, but to me it felt like hours between being in the South Pole and suddenly being dragged by two guards into Hui Yi. They led me to this camp, and I guess they just left me there? I honestly don't remember enough of what was happening, whether they sold me or just gave me away to any slave merchant… still, things were less blurry there. Probably because it was less dark than whatever room I'd been thrown into in your Barge…"

"You… you weren't in a room. It was the ship's prison cell" Azula whispered, through gritted teeth "Hence the lack of light"

"Huh" said Sokka, grimacing "I do suppose I was fed, though, right?"

"I told two of my guards to see to it that you survived until we arrived to the mainland" Azula muttered "I didn't check into make sure they'd done their jobs, though. Still, it was a two-week journey. If you'd gone without food, water or medical care for that long you couldn't have survived, so…"

"No, I probably couldn't have" said Sokka, nodding "Well, then, I guess I was treated better in your ship's prison than in Hui Yi altogether. Though that's somewhat a given, considering you're the Princess, but anyways… I don't remember much of my time in the camp, or market, whatever the hell it was, only that eventually Huang Li came by and he decided to buy me as soon as he saw me. I had been allowed to keep my weapons, it was only logical that I'd be a gladiator. So… I was dragged by Huang Li's hired men into his barracks, not knowing I'd be staying there for the next two years. I didn't really understand what was going to happen, for starters. All I saw were men who looked battered, some wounded, some malnourished, all of them filthy. I didn't know where I was or what I was supposed to do there, and I wasn't going to discover it for a few more weeks.

"Huang Li had one of his men tend to me until I was fit for battle. I didn't know for sure that I would be sent to fight, but I had a feeling that was what would happen, seeing how I still had my weapons. I didn't understand what the gladiator business was until my first fight. Huang Li explained to me what I was supposed to do: I was to fight someone and put on a show so I could prove I'd been worth the money he had blown on me. I was still confused when I was tossed into the arena.

"I… I realized I wasn't supposed to win from the start. People laughed when I tripped and fell face-first in the sand, and they cheered when my rival appeared. I tried to reason with him, but he had attacked me immediately. I could see in his eyes that he wasn't happy to do it, that he didn't want to kill me… but he had no choice. And neither did I"

Azula gritted her teeth as Sokka let out a deep breath. He fiddled with his thumbs briefly, his elbows on his knees, before shaking his head.

"I didn't want to die, obviously. So I avoided him, fought back even though I barely knew what I was doing. He was much bigger than me, far stronger… so all I could do was outsmart him. But then after outsmarting him, I… I hurt him. I cut into his stomach with my knife. He collapsed face-up, staring at the sky as I stood there, horrified by what I had done. I'd… I'd already killed a soldier in the settlement, and I reminded myself of it, but it only made me feel worse about myself. I just stood there, staring at him, until Huang Li started shouting at me, telling me to finish him off. I refused… and then Huang Li had Tai Rong intervene"

"Tai Rong?" Azula asked.

"One of his hired men. He fought as a gladiator too from time to time, but he wasn't like the rest of us" said Sokka "The Barracks had a handful of guards and he served as one of them, but all of them well fed, strong, trained in battle, firebenders capable of killing or knocking out opponents without a hitch. So he came into the Arena, and I thought he was going to kill me… but no. He just grabbed me, the hand with which I was holding my club and… and he made me slam it into my opponent's skull"

Sokka swallowed, closing his eyes. The scene was still vivid in his mind, so vivid it almost felt like it had happened the day before. He breathed out, sensing Azula twitch beside him.

"The crowd cheered. Just the spectacle they'd wanted to watch" he grunted, spitefully "I was dragged back into the Barracks by Tai Rong, told to wash the filth and blood off by the water pump. I did it frantically, trying not to cry as I did but… but I could barely hold it in. I told myself to stop it, that I'd become a laughingstock to all these men who were sitting around, watching… but they didn't laugh. None of them did. They didn't show any kindness either, but they didn't judge me, didn't care. It took a few more weeks for me to realize why: a pair of new gladiators arrived, a younger and older one. I… I had the feeling they knew each other from earlier, probably from their days in the Earth Kingdom or wherever it was they'd come from. And…"

"And because of their closeness, Huang Li made them fight each other" Azula guessed. Sokka nodded.

"He did it to me, too" he whispered. Azula's eyes widened "It wasn't that bad, but it happened once when… when another gladiator didn't want any more of the lousy food we were fed. He gave me half his dinner. I thanked him… and I guess Tai Rong, or any other of the guard-gladiators, noticed. They told Huang Li about it, and guess who I was fighting on the next day, under scorching midday sunlight?"

Azula took a deep breath as she buried her face in a hand. She remembered he had mentioned that ages ago, but she hadn't paid it much attention. Sokka breathed out slowly.

"Same story repeated itself non-stop for two years" he said "I didn't always fight, but the days I did I… I often wished I would just face off against one of the special gladiators, like Tai Rong, and just be killed already. But that never happened. I think Huang Li hated me, hated most of us, but he probably made enough profit off me not to need me dead altogether. He only sent Tai Rong and the likes to kill gladiators who were too much trouble, like the ones who tried to escape…"

"Someone did?" Azula asked. Sokka nodded.

"A few of them. They were caught, burned, beaten. Then killed on the Arena on the next day. Nobody I knew ever escaped" he said "The knowledge of what might happen if I tried scared me, too. At times I toyed with the idea, thought I could just do that and rid myself of my miserable existence, but… but I was afraid. So I kept fighting to the end every single time, regardless of how I hated myself for every death I delivered. At times I thought I wouldn't be able to survive, that this would be it for me, but I couldn't give up. I… I was too scared of the blackness. I didn't expect to find anything else in my future but certain death, and I felt like…like I couldn't let my life end like that without having achieved a damn thing with it, you know? But that didn't give me the right to kill others and I still did it, every single time I had to. In the end I guess… I guess it must have been well over seventy people I killed back then"

"It's… it's gruesome. It's illogical" Azula said, shaking her head. Sokka sighed.

"I thought so too. Buying a slave only to have him die? It's… it's a waste, isn't it?"

"It sounds like it" said Azula "Unless he made heaps of money, which I question, considering Hui Yi isn't that big a town, there's no logic in that sort of business. It's… it's sick. I thought I knew just how sick it was, but I guess I never really did"

"It's fine if you didn't" said Sokka, shrugging "You only watched… what, one fight?"

"Yes" said Azula "Your fight against the Dart Slayer. I… I forced myself to watch it to the end, Ty Lee and Mai closed their eyes. I'll say though, that… I was mostly registering the fact that it had to be you. The same slave I'd dragged all the way to the Fire Nation. It had to be"

"And it was" said Sokka, sighing "Only, a more miserable, battered and shameful version of him. But it was me alright"

"I… I'm sorry" said Azula, gritting her teeth and looking at him guiltily "I guess it's not worth anything, saying it now, after having left you with those awful memories for so long, never asking about it, never…"

"It's fine, Azula" he said, with a small smile.

"No, it's not" she said, sighing "It never has been. I've held you to impossible standards and you've… you've done everything you could to reach them. And whenever you failed, I'd be disappointed, frustrated, and you'd feel worthless again, as you did when you were there…"

"If it's any relief, you never made me feel quite as bad as I did there" said Sokka "Not to say I didn't regret harming you, but… but I wanted to make it up to you, rather than to die for it. Unlike how it was in the Amateur League"

"Did you really think you couldn't have a future?" Azula asked "That… that there'd be no chance you'd ever get out of there?"

"How was I supposed to expect otherwise?" said Sokka, shrugging "Death was the only option, from what I could see. So… to answer your earlier question, no, I never stopped to think that maybe one day I'd fall in love with someone, and that I'd regret my encounters with those women by then. I had plenty of reasons not to like what we ended up doing, but I… I never expected to have a future other than death. I didn't think I'd ever have something real with someone. I didn't think… I didn't think the day would come when death wouldn't be waiting for me around the next corner. I had no future. I lived each day, and if I was lucky I'd get to live into the next one. That's how it was for all of us who survived… and well, it wasn't a lot of us that did"

"How many did?" Azula asked. Sokka frowned.

"I guess… around eleven. Me included" he said "Only four of them had been there before my arrival. Hell knows how many of them are left by now…"

Azula shook her head. Sokka sighed as he looked at her. He wasn't sure if that had been too much information for one night, but it certainly looked that way. He hadn't wanted to burden her with his past, but she had wanted to hear it. She had better know of all of it before further misunderstandings ensued.

"In other regards… Huang Li's twisted events weren't only those with the women" he said "Twice, while I was there, he surprised us with liquor. I knew better than to drink too much, expecting him to be up to something sick with this… and of course he was. Whoever had the worst hangovers…"

"Off to fight and die" said Azula. Sokka nodded.

"Same as with the women" he said.

"Did he make you fight five times in a row?" she asked "You mentioned that, but…"

"Well… he did once" said Sokka "The day after the last time I saw that first woman. I thought he'd assumed I'd had the most fun… it wasn't until later that I realized it was my own punishment for cheating his system. I still won each time, though. He seemed enraged that day… he probably just hoped I'd die that day"

"Of course he did" said Azula, grimacing "He always did strike me for a monumental asshole, seeing how the first thing he did was insult me when I addressed him, but with all you've said… I'm tempted to send someone to throw him in jail. Though I guess I have no valid charges as it is, but…"

"Yeah, I guess there's not many laws on how Amateur Gladiator Leagues should be run, right?" said Sokka. Azula shook her head.

"It's not the most respectable business there is, so my father and his administrators keep little to no tabs on it. It's… it's like with Shu Wo. Whatever happens in nests of criminality or dark dealings isn't something the nobles or royals will get involved with, so long as it all remains confined to those limits. Setting laws and rules to restrict it… it'd probably end in illegal fighting rings being established, most likely"

"That might be, but… isn't there a way to change things?" Sokka asked "To make the Amateur Arenas less chaotic? As you said it yourself, as a business it's as good as a failure. There's no way Huang Li made that much profit of it, especially not when he blew his budget constantly by buying new slaves, buying services from the brothel and occasionally alcohol too…"

"Maybe he made more than we think, but it's still a pointless business" said Azula "Amateur Arenas should be oriented towards grooming gladiators into being eligible for the Superior League, not towards earning little profit through murder and psychological torture. It's pointless"

"Very true" he said.

"Maybe I can see to it that something's done" said Azula, shaking her head "Even if setting up rules and boundaries won't make people like Huang Li happy… well, I am Crown Princess. I might be able to make things change somehow"

"Hopefully" said Sokka, looking at her with wistful eyes. Azula sighed, clasping his hand in hers again.

"So you only had to fight five times in a row once, then?" she asked. To her surprise, he shook his head.

"I mean, just five, yeah. But I also had to fight six times once. For standing up to him when he was yelling at some sixteen-year-old new slave he'd gotten. That happened a few days before you showed up, actually. Maybe a week. He tried to have me die, through with me as he was, but I still didn't fall. The sun set, people left, he was enraged. He left me alone until the Dart Slayer fight after that. I'm pretty sure he'd gotten him in hopes to have him kill me in the sand pit, but it didn't pay off. If you hadn't found me… well, I might have died mysteriously by the hands of his gladiator-guards a short time later. Probably"

Azula shook her head and leaned closer to him, pressing her forehead to his shoulder. Sokka sighed, surrounding her shoulders with an arm.

"If you say you're sorry now I'll probably take it badly, you know" he said, with a playful smile "Please don't be sorry you showed up when you did…"

"I'm only sorry I didn't do it sooner" she whispered "That I didn't… that I didn't stop it from happening from the very start"

"You had no reason to. Just like I had no reason to give a damn about you back then" said Sokka "I mean… nowadays I can barely believe how I kept daydreaming of fighting you again and taking my revenge. But that's…"

"That's all you did. I know, and I never blamed you for it. Even now I… I actually don't know how you've ended up falling for me despite all this" said Azula, frowning "I mean…"

"Maybe because I don't hold you accountable for all of it?" Sokka said. Azula snorted.

"You should" she said "As I've said endless times before. You could have… you could have been spared all this if only I had made a different call. If I'd…"

"If you'd decided to keep me around for no reason?" Sokka asked, smiling "Or if… if you'd let me go in the South? I can't imagine any reason why you would have felt compelled to do something like that"

"Right, but…" said Azula, looking at him hopelessly "You didn't deserve that. None of it. None of these scars…"

"I guess not…" whispered Sokka, gritting his teeth as Azula's hand moved to his forearm "But… I did deserve them, in a sense. At least the ones I got in the Amateur Arena are. They're just… reminders. Of what I've done and why I can't just chicken out and give up, or run home with my tail between my legs. It's true that I'm not changing the world greatly as I am, and it's true that we only get a few chances, once in a while, to make things better… but the ones we get, we make the most of. And that… that often makes me feel like maybe I did have a right to live on after all"

"Of course you did" said Azula "The rest of them did, too. It's not fair that they had to go as they did, but… but you can make the world a better place to honor their memories somehow. It may not be much consolation but… it's the only thing I can suggest"

"It's not enough to make up for it all but… might make me feel like I have a mission in the world or so" said Sokka, with a small smile "And that's encouraging in its own way. Despite all the scars"

Azula caressed his face. Sokka sighed as he straightened up, no longer slumping as he had been.

"I guess it may sound like I've obsessed over this, but… I still remember how I got most of them" he said. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Do you want to talk about that too?" she asked. Sokka smiled.

"Well… there's some on my back. They're pretty thin, but might be noticeable anyhow. They came from this girl who likes to scratch my back when we're…"

"Ah. Isn't she rude" said Azula, snorting softly as Sokka smiled at her.

"I like to think she's passionate" he said. She smiled too, despite herself.

"She gave you a few on your neck too, didn't she?" she said, lowering the neck of his stolen uniform. The lines on his neck were small, having healed long ago, but still noticeable if you paid attention.

Sokka chuckled and nodded, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes.

"You did always have a thing for my neck, I'm sure of that" he said, smirking. Azula smiled.

"I'm afraid I have a thing for all of you as it is" she said, leaning closer and embracing him. Sokka sighed, his arm sliding around her waist.

"Baffles me how, even now" he said. She huffed.

"If anything, you shouldn't wonder anymore" she said, caressing the short hairs on the back of his head "If you could go through all that because of me, whether you want to accept that or not, and regardless you fell in love with me later on… I think it speaks all on its own about what sort of a man you are"

"A man who's always been thinking about you, whether fondly or not?" he said, smiling awkwardly "I mean… I didn't always love you. But curses, woman… you made it unexpectedly easy to fall for you after we met again"

"I think you're slightly out of your mind" said Azula, chuckling softly "I'm somewhat sure I was a pain in the ass to you at first, at least mostly…"

"Oh, please" said Sokka, kissing her temples "You were harsh and cold and all that, but you were also the most intriguing woman in the universe. And the more I discovered about you, the harder it was to resist how crazily attracted to you I was"

"Still sounds like you're crazy" she said, relaxing against him and caressing his chest. She could feel some of his scars through his clothes, though by now she remembered most of them by heart.

Sokka raised an eyebrow as she touched a prominent one on his shoulder. One that had hurt for an awfully long time, and been quite the bother to heal…

"It stings sometimes still" Sokka confessed. Azula grimaced "Guess it's what I get for getting my shoulder impaled on a spike"

"Well, that's one whose story I witnessed myself" she whispered, kissing it gently over his clothes "Along with others I remember over here"

Her hands moved down to his legs, caressing his strong thighs and trailing the long scars from his first fight with Jet. Sokka nodded.

"I've gotten less scars these days, now I think of it" he said, smiling at her "Though, well, I have heaps of them, so it's probably for the best…"

"You have one over here" Azula said, sliding her hand over his hair and caressing a small slit on his scalp. Sokka nodded.

"Took a rock to the head once in the Amateur Arena" he said "Thought it'd end me, and so did my opponent. Guess he didn't know head wounds bleed a lot"

"Did you?"

"Eh, all I knew was that I wasn't dead yet" he said, smiling.

"Fortunately" said Azula. Sokka chuckled "There's one I've been curious about, now I think of it…"

"Oh?" said Sokka as Azula moved away and clasped his hand, yanking off his glove.

She caressed his hand, touching several scars that she suspected had been caused by knives or swords. They weren't major, but there was one she had sensed since some time ago, whenever he cupped her face with his right hand…

"This one" said Azula, pointing at his thumb "I can imagine how most of them happened, but this… how did you get this one on your thumb like this? I can't imagine a knife would manage a scar like that, so…"

Of all things, she didn't expect Sokka to grimace and blush before laughing and shaking his head. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… huh?"

"Y-yeah, well, it's a funny story" he said, biting his lip "That one wasn't from Hui Yi. It was from back at the South Pole, and… oh, spirits, I was stupid. Thing is, I had to go fishing, was on my boat, getting the fishhook ready, but as I was watching the water I, uh… made a bit of a blunder with the bait"

"What kind of blunder?" said Azula, eyeing him warily. Sokka smiled.

"The blunder of mistaking your thumb for the bait?"

"Oh, Sokka!" said Azula, a hand on her face as he chuckled and shook his head.

"My sister freaked out, dragged me back home, all the while yelling at me for being so thoughtless. She tried to get it out but I said it hurt too much, so she just ran to get Gran Gran, who happened to be napping and she always took a while to get up whenever she fell asleep. And, well… I was a bit desperate, it hurt too much, so I… I thought I could take care of it myself. But my approach to doing so was, uh… unorthodox, I guess. See, if you ever get a fishhook stuck in your thumb, I advise you to not try to get it out by using another fishhook"

"You did what?" Azula asked, gawking at him in disbelief. Sokka laughed and covered his face with his hands.

"Of course, Katara never stopped rubbing that in my face. If I ever claimed to be smarter than her she'd remind me of that and make me shut up about it" he said, smiling as Azula started chuckling too.

"So I suppose this means you've just always made questionable decisions, come up with ridiculous ideas…?" she asked, smiling. Sokka laughed.

"Yeah, like wearing a Royal Guard uniform to visit you" he said.

"Or using my hairpiece for your nefarious ends in the Scavenger Hunt" said Azula, raising her eyebrows. Sokka lifted a finger.

"Hey, that paid off well enough, didn't it?" he said, smiling. Azula snorted.

"You stabbed someone with my hairpiece, remember? Paid off or not, that's still something I'm never letting slip from my memory"

"Well, that and basically every dumb thing I've ever done?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

"Indeed. There's plenty of other noteworthy things too" said Azula, smiling "Like bringing me flowers while I was sick, or claiming I wear too many clothes…"

"Eh, that last one's still true, you know" he said, smirking. Azula laughed and leaned closer to him, resting her head against his shoulder "Except for when you're in your sleeping wear, but that's not what you wear all the time, so…"

"You're hopeless" she whispered, surrounding him with her arms as she rested against him.

Sokka swallowed hard and gazed at her, noticing she was relaxing as she held him. He had feared the result from today's argument wouldn't be this agreeable… but was it? Were they back on track already? She had listened to him, been patient and understanding, yet he wanted to make sure she would accept him all the same, broken and hopeless as he was indeed.

"S-so… are we good now?" he asked "Can we live with this? With… all I've done?"

"Do we have a choice?" Azula whispered "I would take a lot of things back, if I could, and that way you wouldn't have had to endure half of what you did. But… but sadly I'm not a timebender. So… either we learn to live with all this, or we let it consume and destroy us. What choice do we have but to accept it?"

"I guess none, all things considered" said Sokka, biting his lip as he caressed her arm "I just… I really hoped you'd listen, but I wasn't sure what would come next. I thought that maybe…"

"That I'd listen and decide you're too far gone for me as it is?" she said, glancing up at him in surprise "That I wouldn't accept you anymore, despite I've already been intimate with you too many times to keep count… which is saying something, considering it's been only about four months of this. And yet I can't keep track anymore"

"Really?" said Sokka, smiling a bit "I'm sure we could count them all if we give it a shot…"

"Maybe" said Azula, smiling too "But there's no need for that, is there? My point is… I didn't know of this before, and I jumped into this relationship regardless of our past or our future. Now that I know about your past… well, I'm afraid it doesn't make the current you any different. If anything, I feel like… like you should be cut more slack. I was probably far harder on you than I…"

"I didn't say all this so you'd feel awful and guilty, you know?" said Sokka, looking at her with unease "I just wanted you to know that… well, if you really thought I'd knocked myself out and had the time of my life, I really hadn't. And if you had any doubts still… no, I never loved any of them. I'd never loved a woman for real, not like this, until you came along and made me feel things I never had"

"I… I know. I know that" said Azula, sighing and hugging him tighter "I mean, you are reckless, but if you didn't love me… you wouldn't be here. You wouldn't have tried as hard as you have for me. You wouldn't have sacrificed all you have. Anyone else would have been easier, and you wouldn't risk certain death if you'd chosen anyone but me. But…"

"But I don't want anyone else" said Sokka, caressing her face "I never have, and I swear I never will. And I… I guess you know now that I had plenty of reasons to say I was unworthy of you, even if I didn't tell you about them all from the start. But whether you decided this was the last straw, or whether you still wanted to be with me even now… it wouldn't change how I feel about you. Love… you don't give and withdraw it that easily. It's not about getting a reward for your feelings, it's about doing everything in your power to make the one you love happy. And whatever is needed for your happiness, Azula… whatever it is, I'm willing to do it. Even if it's stopping this, or if it's carrying on… just let me know what it is you want, and I'll do my best to make it happen"

"How diligent of you" said Azula, with a gentle smile. She pulled away, caressing his cheek with her knuckles "But you do realize that's not true for you alone, don't you?"

"What do you mean?" he whispered. She sighed.

"You speak of your love, how you can't give it and withdraw it easily. How nothing changes how you feel about me. How you want me happy. Can't you see… that I feel the same way about you?" she said, leaning closer, her forehead against him "Granted I'm… I'm a mess in my own ways, and I raged at you today, not knowing the full extent of your circumstances… but for whatever it's worth, I was merely… well, upset over the whim of wishing I were the only one you were this intimate with, just as you are mine. I knew otherwise already, but…"

"In matters of sex, you should have been. But in matters of love, Azula… you are. You are" Sokka muttered, gritting his teeth and hugging her tightly now "I'm sorry that it's… that it might be hard to believe. But truly…"

"I know, Sokka. I know" said Azula, dropping her forehead on his shoulder, her arms around his waist "I mean… you surely should have been my one and only everything too, but…"

"But…?" said Sokka, frowning slightly and pulling away "Uh… is there something you didn't tell me, too?"

"Well, nothing to that degree, I guess. It's probably hardly worth mentioning" said Azula, with a small smile "Simply that… well, you weren't my first kiss. Indeed, it's probably not much, but since we're sharing all this now…"

"O-okay. Huh. I didn't know that, but… but it makes sense" said Sokka, swallowing hard "I did think it was weird that the most beautiful woman in the world had never had anything with anyone before me…"

"No need to worry, the whole thing lasted a good ten seconds before I blew it" said Azula, smiling weakly. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"How?" he asked. Azula sighed.

"Well, I… liked the guy, got Ty Lee's advice on how to get somewhere with him, I followed it and managed to get a kiss out of it. But then I spooked him out by saying… saying we could be the strongest couple in the world and dominate the earth. He looked at me with utter cluelessness and snuck away before I could think about how to… oh, come on, it's not that funny!"

Sokka chuckled, his hand on his mouth as he hunched over, and Azula blushed as she smiled at him, shaking her head.

"Oh, heck, I didn't see that one coming" he said, still laughing "But damn, how is it scary to be the strongest couple in the world with you, huh? That sounds like a blast!"

"Ah, well. Not everyone shares my ambitious interests" Azula said, dramatically. Sokka chuckled.

"Well, I do hope you don't want to dominate the earth that badly anymore" he said, with a smile "Though then again, once you inherit the throne from your father you basically will…"

"Rest assured, I'm not as pleased by it as I was before. All your fault that I'm not, by the way" she said, shaking her head "How you've corrupted me, snow savage…"

Sokka's smile widened as he looked at her. Azula's own smile grew gentle before she dropped on the bed. He followed, resting against his flexed forearm.

"I'm sorry, Sokka" she whispered, and he sighed and shook his head.

"Don't torture yourself over all this, Azula. You've done amazing things for me, taken risks and made sacrifices..."

"Just as you have for me" Azula said, caressing his face "You're even willing to stay with me instead of being with your family once we finish our quest..."

"You make it sound like it's unthinkable that I'd want to do that" said Sokka, smiling kindly.

"After all this? Yes, I think it is pretty unthinkable that you'd choose to be with me like that" Azula said. Sokka dropped on the mattress, gazing at her sweetly.

"You clearly have no idea how easy it is to love you" he said, smiling. She snorted.

"Easy? Honestly?" she asked, disbelieving. Sokka leaned closer, kissing her brow.

"It was for me" he said "Taking care of our relationship, now, that is pretty complicated. But loving you is no challenge. You're wonderful that way"

She sighed and shook her head before leaning closer, presing against his body. Sokka breathed out slowly as she caressed his chest gently.

"You'll… you'll stay the night?" Azula whispered. Sokka glanced at her.

"If you want" he said "To be honest, I thought you wouldn't want me to. We did go at it like rabaroos today, and with all this…"

"You thought I'd want you to go back home?" she said. He smiled a little.

"Do you?"

"Do I ever?" she said, surrounding his waist with an arm. Sokka kissed the top of her head "You're right about the rabaroos, though. We need to learn self-control for good by now"

"Did you visit Mai and Ty Lee after all? The Captain said you hadn't come back here when he showed up at my place…"

"I did go see them, I stayed for dinner. You'll just come along next week" she said, smiling "Was Rui Shi much trouble, though? You said he was elated over our spat…"

"That he was" said Sokka "And yeah, he tried to be trouble. He said he'd stay late to make sure I wouldn't run to you in the middle of the night or so…."

"Is that so? Why, a job brilliantly done" Azula observed, with a smirk. Sokka smiled

"I tricked him into thinking I was sulking in my room, asked Song to keep him distracted, then snuck out" he confessed.

"Oh, dear. Recklessness at its finest" said Azula, her head on his chest now "We really should stop acting like sneaking teenagers one day. It's not befitting of us, you know…"

"Here I thought you enjoyed it" said Sokka, smiling. Azula sighed and grinned too.

"I'm afraid I do. That's the problem" she whispered, kissing his chest softly "But then you left Song with Rui Shi? Really?"

"I did. Not very nice of me to do, I guess, but…" said Sokka, Azula snorted.

"It's absolutely awful of you to do, in fact" she said "Imagine what will happen if he discovers she was only a smokescreen enabling you to come see me…"

Sokka grimaced. Azula shook her head.

"All our hopes to get Rui Shi off our backs by setting them up together would go up in smoke…"

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Sokka asked, looking at her hopelessly. Azula shrugged.

"Knocked him out with two punches? You seem to have grown proficient at that…" she said, jokingly. Sokka snorted "Still, now we'll have to devise another wicked idea to have him relax and stop pestering us so much…"

"What a waste" said Sokka, sighing "But maybe she managed to distract him properly, eh? You never know…"

"I guess you don't" said Azula, closing her eyes. Sokka smiled.

"I guess it's time to sleep, huh?"

"We were too active today, as you just admitted yourself" said Azula, smiling "And our stupid fights always leave me somewhat tired. So…"

Sokka smiled, pulling the covers of the bed so he could wrap them around Azula. The two of them stretched properly across the bed, still embracing one another.

"This is odd, really. Us sharing a bed while still wearing clothes" Azula said, caressing his forearm. Sokka chuckled.

"It's how we used to do it before, remember?" he said "All those ages ago, when we were still resisting each other…"

"It wasn't that long ago, you know" said Azula, smirking "Despite how comfortable you've grown with our current circumstances, we haven't been doing this for even half a year yet"

"Well, we will be doing it for half a year eventually. Right?" he said, looking at her with raised eyebrows. Azula opened her eyes and smiled.

"I'd hope more than that. No need to set the bar so low" she said, pushing herself up and pressing her lips to his.

He cupped her face, kissing her back gently, despite how heartfelt the gesture was. Azula's eyes fluttered closed again as she caressed his hand with hers, as her lips moved against his. She could feel his relief, sense his gratefulness… she could tell he felt a weight had been relieved from his shoulders after all he had shared with her tonight. His kiss was proof of it, and so was his gentle gaze once he pulled way to smile at her.

"I love you" he whispered. She smiled and pressed her forehead against his.

"And I you. So sleep now. I'll wake you and toss you down into the tunnels by morning"

Sokka chuckled and nodded, closing his eyes and relaxing as she gazed at him. She felt tempted again to stay awake through the night, keeping an eye on him to make sure he wouldn't fade away if she let go of him for a brief moment. But tonight she decided she wouldn't do that. She would trust him. She knew he had started on his road to forgiving himself for his past actions, a road he might spend the rest of his life walking. But for better or for worse, she found she had to walk the very same path with him. She as well needed to accept and endure the decisions she had made, to learn to live with them and to stop them from destroying her on the inside.

So she closed her eyes as well and slept, curled around him, legs entwined, fingers intertwined, much like how it was on that first night they had shared in Ember Island. Much as they had when she had showed him her own demons. And much as it would be in as many nights as they could spend in one another's embrace.

Sokka didn't expect Song to be awake by the time he returned home. She had gotten started with breakfast already, judging by the apron she was wearing when she came to the door. He smiled guiltily at her.

"Hey. I'm back" he said. After last night's recount of his story to Azula, it almost felt like it had been weeks since he'd last seen Song.

"I can see that" she said, smiling a little "Is everything okay? Or…?"

"Surprisingly, yeah. She doesn't seem to think I'm that much of a lost case yet, apparently" said Sokka, biting his lip and grinning "But how did things go for you? Did Rui Shi… did he figure it out?"

Song blushed involuntarily, swallowing hard at the mention of the Captain's name. She had guessed Sokka would ask about him, but regardless, she had hoped he might not do it…

"H-he didn't. For a moment I thought he had, but… no" she said, smiling "The secret's safe"

"Well… that's good news" said Sokka, smiling too "I do owe you something huge, though. I'll just drag you out to the city and buy you anything you want later today…"

"You don't have to do that, Sokka" said Song. Sokka bit his lip.

"Well, I want to, and I can do it, so I will" he said "But for now… I just really need to sleep more. If you don't mind…"

"Sure" said Song, nodding as Sokka climbed the stairs, patting her shoulder as he went.

Song sighed, her gaze on the staircase, her cheeks still burning as she remembered her foolishness last night. As she remembered how Rui Shi had unexpectedly returned her kisses, how he had asked her if it was alright to do so, how they had wound up sitting on the couch, their hands linked, his lips still pressing against hers, until he had heard cat-owls hooting and realized it was already quite late. He had bid her farewell with one last kiss, and she had been left blushing and giggling to herself all night, falling asleep with the goofiest smile on her face.

But after she heard Sokka's question, regarding whether Rui Shi had understood her original intent or not, she felt her enthusiasm growing fainter. He didn't know, but she had to tell him, didn't she? He deserved to understand what had happened last night. But if she told him, this strange and new relationship between them would die before it had even begun, wouldn't it…?

She sighed and figured she'd return to cooking to keep her depressing thoughts at bay, but Sokka's voice, coming from his room, stopped her before she could enter the kitchen.

"Uh, Song? What's with all this food in…? Eh, you know what? Never mind! I'm starving anyways…"

Song froze and glanced at Sokka's room, having forgotten all about his cold dinner. Yet despite her reservations, she found herself smiling as she remembered the previous night with less unease and more fondness. Even if Rui Shi might not forgive her for once if he knew the truth, it had been wonderful while it lasted…


	113. Chapter 113

The crowd was cheering long before the loud announcement echoed through the stands:

"And the winner is the Blue Wolf!"

Sokka breathed out in relief as his behemoth of an opponent lay slumped on the sand, his arms and legs still outstretched and covered in the sand he had been using to attack him. Beating earthbenders had become slightly easier these days, but defeating The Wall was a rather remarkable feat in itself: the man had held a victorious streak for almost four years, and Sokka had been the one to shatter it with a knock-out.

He couldn't help but feel a pleasing sense of pride inside him as he took off for his medical check. Naturally, he had taken a few hits but it was nothing he couldn't cope with. To his relief, even the worst bruise he'd gotten on his right calf wasn't likely as bad a blow as he had feared at first.

"Well, well. Now you've become a streak-breaker" Azula said, with a proud smirk, as she entered the waiting room just as his medical check ended. Sokka smiled back.

"I had to give it my all, though" he said, as the physicians packed their utensils "The guy was damn strong. Not the worst I've faced by far, but still…"

"Strong or not, what matters is that you did just fine" she said.

Upon hearing the door closing behind the last physician, she glanced over her shoulder to ensure they were alone before making to kiss him. He leaned down to meet her lips, beaming with joy.

"We're recovering just fine after all the time we were away" Sokka said, proudly, his arms around her waist "I must have risen in the ranking by now, right?"

"Eh… I wouldn't bet on it" said Azula, with a sad smile. Sokka pouted.

"Really?"

"The distance between gladiators grows wider now" she explained, wiping his lips with her thumb as she always did when they kissed furtively in the Arena "I think I'd said so before, but you seem to need a reminder. And sadly, breaking someone's life-long victory streak doesn't award extra points…"

"Well, it should when it's with a knock-out…" Sokka pouted. Azula smiled.

"Come on. Let's go find out where you are in that ranking" she said, sliding her hand into his briefly.

She released his hand before they left the room, but the gesture mattered to the both of them all the same. They walked down the corridors and stairs together, and as ever, people bowed as the Princess, in her golden armor, passed through them. Sokka walked only one step behind her, far more conscious of the social boundaries between them than he used to be. He definitely liked it better to walk by her side, but as she had become Crown Princess, he thought it best to give her space in public situations like this one.

Shoji beamed at them as they reached his counter. Both Azula and Sokka nodded in acknowledgement as he bowed his head in the Princess's direction.

"Congratulations on another victory!" he said "What you accomplished today was quite remarkable, Blue Wolf"

"So I hear" he said, smirking happily. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"It's gotten to your head already? Truly?" she asked. Sokka snickered and Shoji smiled.

"Well, you have made up for all the time you spent away from the Arena with your last fights. That, I think, should be worth celebrating…" he said. Azula huffed.

"Don't encourage him, please. I'm the one who has to deal with his boosted arrogance later" she said. Sokka snorted.

"Come on, like I'm that bad" he said, smiling before looking at Shoji "So? Where am I in the ranking?"

"Eh…" said Shoji, biting his lip "Well, as it is, with the new points you got from this fight, you'd be… 141st. It seems"

"What? Really?" Sokka asked, with a grimace "So I only got one more position than my previous highest?"

"Don't complain. All things considered, it's a surprise you've actually managed to get back into the rhythm of rising through the ranking at this stage" said Azula.

"If you're worried about rising too slowly through the ranking, I'll have to say you really shouldn't be" said Shoji, smiling "I guess you don't know, but most people who have forty fights under their belt haven't even reached the top three hundred fighters. I really don't think many other gladiators have been able to achieve this sort of success…"

"You say not many have, but I guess that only means some have done it, right?" Azula asked. Shoji smiled and shrugged.

"Yeah, well… the Blind Bandit is ahead of you again" he admitted "She's fought a few more times than you guys did, but she's still got almost a thousand points over you…"

"That little wretch" Azula sighed, shaking her head "Well, whatever. We'll catch up with her in due time"

"I hope so" said Sokka, with a sigh "But it'll take at least three fights or four for us to get anywhere close to her position, right?"

"Probably. But never mind" said Azula, waving a hand carelessly "We'll worry about catching up to the Blind Bandit later. We need to focus on accepting new challenges and getting back into our rhythm in the League"

"Well, there's many challenges waiting for you" said Shoji, with a weak grin "You've gotten piles of them after your fight at the Slate…"

"Is that so?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

Shoji stood up and moved to open a cabinet behind his counter. To both Azula and Sokka's surprise, he pulled out at least fifty challenge forms and set them down on his table.

"It sure is so" he said, chuckling "Crazy, huh? Most of them have already expired, but if you're interested in fighting anyone, we can send new challenges right back to them"

"I'm aware, I'm aware" said Azula, breathing deeply.

"Well, we should get to finding the highest ranked challenger" said Sokka, smiling "That way we can get way more points than usual. Right?"

"Wrong" said Azula, looking at him with disbelief "Why would you want to risk fight someone too strong? It's unnecessary. Taking up many fights against people on your level is a better idea"

"Eh, well. You're the boss" said Sokka, with a crooked grin "Or maybe we could just go after someone else with a lifetime victory streak and ruin theirs too, eh?"

"Aren't you a jerk" Azula said, smirking. He chuckled. Something told him that, had they been alone, his suggestion would have been met with even more enthusiasm and pride "I really think I've ruined you, gladiator. Look at you, wanting to bring misery to people…"

"Eh, if there's an eternally victorious firebender in here somewhere I could totally give him a good beating" said Sokka, smirking still "You'd just have to let me use Wolf's Bane and…"

"That might be fun" Azula conceded, as she eyed the challenges "So… should we look for firebenders?"

"Sure" Sokka said, happily "I'll help you sort them!"

"Me too" said Shoji, grinning as they each took a small pile of challenges and devoted themselves to separating them in each category "You know, you have a pretty great streak against firebenders, Blue Wolf…"

"He's just been lucky" Azula said, with a smirk. Sokka snorted.

"As if" he said, setting down an earthbender's challenge in the discard pile "I've worked damn hard to become this strong through the past year"

"True, but you were still pretty strong in your first fight against a firebender" said Shoji, smiling "From what I heard he dunked the Spawn's head into the sand, didn't he?"

"Ah, yes. That's more or less what he did" Azula said, smiling "He was awfully efficient in that fight. If anything, he should try to be just as efficient these days, tire his opponents out and then deliver the finishing blow…"

"It would be great, but it's not a good idea to resort to the same strategy all the time" said Shoji "He could become a predictable fighter, and that way it might be easier for his rivals to take him out…"

"True, true" Azula conceded "I guess that's one thing Sokka has in his favor. Despite it all, he is utterly unpredictable in battle"

"Like that one time he threw that smoke bomb inside Blast of Death's mouth" said Shoji, swallowing hard.

"Or how he tricked the Blind Bandit in the Scavenger Hunt. Drew quite a clever plan… despite he did cause my father's statue to topple over" Azula said, with a grimace. Shoji chuckled.

"That was quite the scandal" he said, smiling "But he doesn't do that sort of thing anymore, so there's no need to worry about the Fire Lord getting mad at him, right?"

Azula tried not to stiffen at Shoji's words, but she feared it wasn't going to pay off. There were plenty of reasons why the Fire Lord might get mad at Sokka, but they were none of Shoji's business…

Still, she only noticed Sokka's silence just now, after Shoji spoke. He had been unexpectedly quiet as she and Shoji reminisced about his previous fights, and it wasn't like him to let them do that without giving his input about it. She turned to look at him, and she noticed he was staring at a challenge with a confused frown. He hadn't continued sorting out his pile of challenges, absorbed by the one he was holding. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw his grip trembling ever so slightly.

"Sokka?" she called him, startling him "What's wrong?"

"I-I…" he hesitated, looking at her in surprise before frowning and setting down the challenge he'd been holding. He raised his eyes to find Shoji's "What… what do you know about this fighter?"

"What? Which one?" Shoji asked, leaning forward to read the challenge. Sokka uttered the name before Shoji could read it, though.

"Kinslayer"

Azula raised an eyebrow, confused before leaning over to read the challenge herself.

"Well, that doesn't sound ominous in the slightest, I must say…" she commented sarcastically, taking in the details from the challenge "It's expired by now, isn't it?"

"Eh, that one is, but… he keeps sending them" said Shoji, biting his lip and showing them another challenge from the same gladiator "He has been sending them for the last months. I think he's really eager to fight you…"

"Is he?" Azula said, taking the other challenge and frowning "And who exactly is this gladiator?"

"I actually don't know him that well" Shoji confessed "He's never come to the Grand Royal Dome. His resident Arena is the Ring of Ash, as you can see in his challenges…"

Azula read as much, and she nodded before raising her eyes towards Shoji.

"Who's his sponsor? A highborn, or a military figure?"

"Neither. I think it's an Honorary Citizen" said Shoji. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"How is he doing in the ranking?"

"He's… the 400th, actually" Shoji answered, after scanning the ranking quickly. Azula's eyes widened.

"What? So he's new, then?" she asked. Shoji nodded "And he expects us to accept a challenge from him when he can only provide us as good as a hundred points?"

"I don't know. He reminds me of the Stingray a bit" Shoji confessed, frowning "He sent relentless challenges to you as well, although this guy is a non-bender and not a waterbender. But still…"

"Is he Water Tribe?" Sokka asked, looking a Shoji sternly "Do you know anything about his heritage?"

"I don't, sorry" said Shoji, gulping "That sort of stuff isn't specified in the forms, and since I've never met him…"

Sokka frowned and nodded, still gripping the challenge tightly in his hand. He read the gladiator's name again and again, a sickening, sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Well, I frankly don't see any reason to accept such a challenge. I mean… if anything he sounds like an obsessive harasser of sorts" said Azula "Why would someone send so many challenges, so desperately?"

"There… there might be a reason" Sokka muttered, swallowing hard. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Do you know this guy, by any chance?" she asked. Was it someone from Hui Yi?

"I… I might. I can't be sure, though. Not if Shoji knows nothing about the guy, but it's… suspicious" Sokka said "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

"Uh… that there's really no reason to fight him" said Shoji, grimacing "I really advise you not to. He has a perfect victory streak, not unlike The Wall, and if you really wanted to break another one of those streaks then he's a good candidate for it…"

"That's not so common, is it?" Azula said "Perfect victory streaks…"

"Not really, though in those low levels of the ranking it's not so rare. But the thing is…" said Shoji, looking at them "That I know of, he's killed around six of his opponents"

Both Azula and Sokka stared at Shoji in surprise. The young man swallowed hard.

"And that, actually, isn't so common" he muttered "There's always been murderous gladiators, especially in the upper levels of the ranking, but when someone new comes in with that attitude, it's… it's quite terrifying. That someone has only fought thirteen times, yet killed six gladiators…"

The frown on Sokka's face only accentuated with that. He set down the challenge, appalled. Azula stared at him with concern and confusion, guessing that there was a closer connection between Sokka and this murderous gladiator than she had originally expected. They had already faced a very similar foe, who had tried to challenge them in the same way Kinslayer did now… was it Sokka dreaded that this fight would mirror his confrontation with the Stingray? Something told her that wasn't really it, though. He suspected he knew this fighter, so surely that was what shook him up so much…

"Well, all things considered, I'm not compelled to accept this challenge" Azula said, noticing Sokka's eyes flickered towards her with uncertainty as she spoke "But it seems to me it's something I'll have to discuss thoroughly with my gladiator first. For now, I guess we'll take another challenge, alright?"

Sokka nodded, smiling a little at her as Azula continued sorting through the firebender's challenges. She settled for a female firebender, Flaming Slash, and the fight was due the next week. Both of them said their goodbyes to Shoji before taking off, climbing on Xin Long's saddle and heading to Sokka's house right away. Sokka remained quiet but tense as he looked at Azula from where he sat, his arms folded. She had noticed he didn't want to speak about certain matters while they were in front of Shoji, but surely she knew he'd explain everything now, right…?

She didn't talk through the trip either, though, lost in her own thoughts. She climbed off the dragon's saddle and patted his head, urging him to head back home before an impending storm arrived. The stubborn dragon refused, though, insisting he'd be fine under the rain before bolting off into the sky happily.

"If he catches a dragon cold I'm not going to nurse him back to health" Azula declared "Because, for starters I have no idea how to treat a dragon's cold…"

"Maybe it's the same way as with human colds?" Sokka suggested. Azula shrugged.

"Either way, let's go inside. I don't want to risk us getting sick either" she said, as water droplets started pouring over the grass. Sokka bit his lip.

"Is it safe for you to be here today, though?" he asked. Azula raised an eyebrow as they climbed the steps up to the house's veranda "I mean, that you'd stay here when it's raining… you usually spend the day here under the guise of training, right?"

"A guise we ought to make reality once in a while, you realize" Azula said, looking at him judgmentally. Sokka smiled guiltily "Training is very important… but you're too incorrigible to care"

"Oh, so it's just my fault?" he asked, smirking "Should I remind you that you somehow always show up when I'm still sleeping, and then you always wake me very nicely with…?"

"Maybe I wouldn't wake you like that if you knew how to get up at decent hours" she said, crossing her arms as she turned to look at him "You sleep well into midmorning, you realize. It's practically impossible for me to arrive when you're awake"

"Not true. You could, you know, arrive at noon or something…"

"Ah, that's how you want it? Fine then, that's what I'll be doing starting tomorrow…"

"N-no! I didn't mean you should do that, I just…!" Sokka exclaimed, jumping towards her with a grimace. Azula smirked "I-I'm just saying, if you wanted me to be awake…!"

"I don't, actually" she admitted "It is fun waking you. But I still think we need to train more often. If we did, chances are you'd do even better against your enemies than you already do"

"Huh. So there I go, breaking a gladiator's undefeated streak, and you still want me to do better…" Sokka complained, pouting slightly. Azula snorted.

"If there's something you should have learned about me since day one, and that you really should have understood by now…" she said, approaching him and pinching his nose "I always strive to be the best I can be. Which means I'll push you into being the best fighter you can be, too. It's simply how it works"

"Well, I submit a formal protest against your system" Sokka pouted, his hands on his waist "Since I've been fighting successfully these days, I demand that you allow us to have fun times, whether in bed or elsewhere, and with great meals, and a lot of sleep… and training should be the smallest share of our daily schedule. Yup, yup"

"Oh? Let me see if I got this right" Azula said, biting her lip "You want more fun in bed, great meals, a lot of sleep. I'm wondering, do you believe sleeping is fun…?"

"What? Oh, come on…" Sokka said. Azula shrugged.

"I mean, if you sleep and have fun in bed by sleeping, it frees up all those hours we've been investing in our erotic encounters…" she said, with a smirk "And that way we'll still have a lot of time for more training. See, your modifications to my system work in my favor in the end. I just somehow keep getting my way with you, don't I?"

"You need to stop being so clever, you know" he said, poking her shoulder before leaning in to kiss her. Azula laughed softly.

"And you need to stop being so lazy" she said, dropping her head on his shoulder and hugging him.

"I did get up on time for today's fight though…" Sokka whispered. Azula grinned.

"You did, you did. Miraculously so" she conceded, pulling away from him "And you're not wrong, we're getting no training done indoors, despite I've proven capable of bending in here somehow…"

"Yeah, let's avoid smashing furniture today" said Sokka, smiling weakly "Fixing the living room afterwards won't be fun"

"I suppose not. Still, that I'm here despite we're not training shouldn't be so troublesome. The rain started just as I dropped you off, and it's falling quite hard now. It makes enough sense that I'd stay here until it stops" said Azula, glancing behind herself towards the kitchen "Is Song home? She was here when I came to fetch you…"

"I guess she isn't" Sokka said, shrugging "Might be she wanted to go somewhere today"

"Might be" Azula said "Oh, well. If she's not here I guess I'll just brew the tea on my own…"

"Tea? You mean, that tea?" Sokka asked. She nodded.

"I didn't have today's round in the morning. I brought it with me, though, so I figured I'd drink it now" she said.

"Damn. So I really can't get inappropriate with you for the time being…" Sokka sighed, shaking his head. Azula smirked.

"Just hold out for a few hours and we'll be fine" she said. Sokka smirked "But I have to brew it first, so…"

"I'll help you with it, if you'd like" he said, as they both headed to the kitchen.

"Fetch me the pot then" she said "And two cups, if you'd like some. Might be it'll have double the effect if we both drink it"

"You really think so?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow as he reached up in the cupboards for what she'd requested "I mean, if that's how it works…"

"Honestly, I doubt it works that way, but it wouldn't be very polite to leave you thirsty while I drink mine, right?" said Azula, smirking. Sokka chuckled.

"All you want is for someone to drink it with you because you don't like how it tastes" he said. Azula gave him her guiltiest smile.

"Well, what a predicament. I've been caught red-handed…" she said, as he handed her the pot.

"You're unbelievable" he said, chuckling. She filled the pot with water.

"If I were any different you'd likely be bored, so be grateful for it" she said, smirking proudly as she began her process to prepare her tea. Sokka smiled.

"Yeah, can't deny that" he said, his arms folded as he rested against the kitchen's counter.

Azula's eyes darted towards him. He was still wearing his armor: he probably had forgotten to take it off altogether, distracted by their banter. Or perhaps he'd been distracted by their banter and by something else, too.

"So…" she said, finally. The tone of her voice betrayed the fun back-and-forth had ended now "Who's this Kinslayer?"

Sokka bit his lip and looked down at her. She raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, you implied you knew him, or knew someone who might be him, so…" she said "Is it someone from Hui Yi? The bastard who forced you to kill your first gladiator, or…?"

"No. It's… it wouldn't be anyone from Hui Yi" said Sokka. Azula looked at him in surprise.

"Oh? Then where did you meet this suspected Kinslayer of yours?" she asked. Sokka sighed.

"Back in the Water Tribe…" he said, startling her "I've mentioned him before, actually. Just… never really got into explaining everything about him. I actually didn't want to believe the stories I'd heard about what he'd done, but if this Kinslayer is really him then…"

Azula looked at him with confusion and Sokka smiled. He patted her shoulder.

"I'll explain everything, don't worry. Seems like I keep having creepy stories to share with you these days, huh?"

"Seems like it indeed" said Azula, looking at him in confusion "When did you mention him?"

"When you asked about the state of relations between the Southern and Northern Water Tribes" Sokka said. Azula frowned and looked at him in confusion.

"You only mentioned that your father and his warriors went North" she said "And that… there was a kid you knew who went there too. You don't actually mean, though, that this kid…?"

Sokka's silence spoke for itself. Azula's eyes widened.

"The kid? Really?"

"It's a very weird story. To this day I… I don't know if I can believe it at all" he said "But… well, I guess I should start from the beginning, right?"

Azula swallowed hard. It sounded like this tale would be yet another factor in Sokka's past that had wrought emotional scars across his rather battered heart.

"The thing with Rhone was… well, we were the only kids of the same age back then, so even if we weren't that similar in all ways, we became friends anyhow" Sokka started "He was always bigger than me, always kinder, probably smarter too… got into little trouble, polite with everyone, not reckless…"

"All I'm gathering from that is that he was a thousand times more boring than you" Azula said, smirking. Sokka smiled.

"You're one of a kind, you know" he said "Glad you find me more appealing than him, but… most people didn't. I mean, I was the Tribe Chief's son, so they would treat me with respect, but I always felt they saw me as a brat while they saw him as… well, the good boy, so to say. But anyways, the two of us were close for as long as I could remember. And as two six-year-olds, we rather enjoyed playing and, well… disregarding safety, from time to time. I guess it was mostly me who did that, though, he was more of a goody-two-shoes. One day we decided to explore the lands near the village, snuck off when our parents weren't paying attention, and we… we found an ice cave. And as the adventurous boy I was, I thought we had to look closer into it"

Azula grimaced as she watched Sokka with a wary eye. His voice tone betrayed this particular story could only have an unhappy ending.

"He followed me inside, saying it was unsafe. I told him he was just being a baby. With that, he got pretty stubborn and proud as he did his best to prove the baby was me. So we had a bit of a game going, and we kept stepping further forward in the dark cave to prove who was braver, who'd go further in… and then a growl from inside the cave startled me. I was scared easily, something I knew he'd taunt me for, but I didn't care as I ran back to the mouth of the cave. I heard his footsteps behind me, though, so he was fleeing just as I was… but when I reached the exit I realized I hadn't heard his footsteps for at least some time. I turned back and called his name… then I went back inside. Turns out that part of the cave had been blocked by snow that had collapsed in it, probably because of our childish screams and loud footsteps"

"It collapsed atop him?" Azula asked, her eyes wide. Sokka nodded.

"Could have gotten us both, but it only got him. It was a snow-in, though, so… it wasn't as bad as it could have been if it had been solid rock or ice. But whatever had made that sound inside that cave sounded like a dangerous creature. And if Rhone hadn't been crushed by the snow, he might have to face the beast instead. And he was only six, so… so as any six-year-old with a shred of common sense would, I ran as fast as I could back to the Tribe and told the adults of what had happened. My parents, his parents and many others ran to his rescue. It took them a while to make it, and as my sister was barely four and had only just given her first signs of being a bender, there was no way she'd be able to help with bending the snow away.

"It was the next night when they finally pulled him out. He was unscathed, for the most part, or at least it's what my grandmother said, once she had a good look at him. But… but something changed in him after that day. Something snapped, something broke, I have no idea what. He was bedridden for days, eating little, talking less. I tried to get through to him but he wouldn't respond no matter what I did. So…"

"So that's why he was taken to the Northern Water Tribe?" Azula asked. Sokka nodded.

"My grandmother said the Northern Water Tribe held knowledge for some healing arts we didn't have down south. So with that in mind, hoping they'd have a cure, his parents took him there. I never saw him again"

Azula frowned as Sokka's story reached what felt like its organic conclusion. The tea had already boiled, helped by her firebending, and she poured it on the two cups before handing one to Sokka.

"That's… very tragic, for certain" she said, as he sipped the drink "But, if you don't mind me saying it, I don't see how this ties in with the Kinslayer. Unless your story isn't over yet"

"No, the story isn't over, but this is all I ever saw of him" said Sokka "I just… heard things I had a hard time believing later on. I still have a hard time believing them"

"Huh" Azula muttered, looking at him with a mild frown. Sokka sighed.

"Years later, after Sozin's Comet, my father returned home with all the men who survived the war. He came home defeated, distraught by the death of his best friend… his time in the war was harsh, especially the last months. In any case, after a few days, when he was retelling his voyage, he mentioned the warriors' visit to the North Pole. He explained they got there, his wounded were healed by the waterbenders, and a few northern warriors joined them for their next ventures into Earth Kingdom waters. But during his time there he asked about a family he'd known back in the day… the family of this young boy, of course. The answer wasn't at all what he expected it to be, and it's something I've spent all this time believing to be wrong. I just… I can't see the sense in it. Even after all the horrors I've seen, I…"

"What was it?" Azula asked, cautiously. Sokka swallowed hard.

"It seems whatever illness had taken over Rhone's mind had only grown worse in the Northern Water Tribe. His unresponsive state had remained unchanged, as if his emotions had frozen cold back in that cave. Still, as bad as all that was… it doesn't explain how a mere twelve-year-old would murder his own family"

Azula's eyes widened. Sokka huffed and shook his head.

"My dad said it was what he'd been told, but my sister and me refused to believe it. Our friend was no murderer, let alone would he kill his own parents. Dad agreed, and told us it had to be a misunderstanding somehow. That even if he'd confessed his guilt, and had been found standing over their corpses, something simply didn't feel right. He told us Rhone had been banished from the Northern Water Tribe for his alleged crime of kinslaying, and thus, he never got to see him, not even in his travels"

"So he thinks he was framed somehow?" Azula asked. Sokka shrugged.

"It seemed likely" he said "I mean, he was a child. A mere boy. How could he possibly do something like that? He wasn't executed for it precisely because he was a child, so the elders of the Northern Water Tribe knew, to some degree, that he couldn't be that responsible. Someone else might have done it, threatened his life, forced him to take the fall… it's what I've told myself all this time"

"It might be" said Azula. Sokka snarled.

"The problem is, if this gladiator were him? If he… if he took up the name Kinslayer proudly, if he gets through the ranking by murdering his opponents? Then… would it make it all true?"

"What if this isn't him, though?" Azula asked "What if it's whoever framed him, taunting you…?"

"Why would they want to taunt me directly, though?" he asked "How would they know I used to know him?"

"That is a very good question" Azula conceded "To be perfectly honest, this whole story is rather disturbing and strange, Sokka…"

"I know it is. I'd spent a few years beating myself up over how absurd it was, and… well, thinking that if it were true, it'd mean that I…"

"No. Oh, come on, Sokka, it's no fault of yours" said Azula, looking at him sternly. Sokka grimaced.

"I know you'd think so, but technically, he wouldn't have gone to the North Pole if I hadn't made him go inside that blasted cave" he said "So…"

"If you refuse to hold me responsible for all you suffered in the Amateur Arena, when you wouldn't have wound up there at all if it weren't for my actions, then the same applies to this" Azula stated, stubbornly "You didn't force him to do anything, nor was his state caused by you. I doubt it, at least. The snow could have easily collapsed and trapped the both of you, and then who would have saved you at all? Yes, he should have gotten out before it collapsed, just as you did, but that he didn't wasn't your fault. You got help for him, so he owed you his life, if anything"

Sokka frowned and looked at Azula with surprise. She raised her eyebrows and drank her tea, as Sokka smiled a little.

"Somehow you have an answer for everything, don't you?" he said. She smirked "In any case, this is why I was… why I was so wary of Xin Long's cave, all those ages ago. I'm pretty sure I told you some of it, when you asked what was it with me that day. I guess you know the whole story now, huh?"

"I guess I do" said Azula, nodding "I could understand it, though. We would have stayed stuck in there for who knows how long if it weren't because I bonded with Xin"

"There was no such luck for Rhone" said Sokka. Azula sighed.

"Well, then… the main question still stands now" she said "Do you want to fight him? Or would you rather we decline again? For all we know, it's not even him, but…"

"But if it is, and his desperate challenges were because he's trying to reach out for me to help him somehow…" Sokka muttered. Azula frowned "I mean, what if his sponsor a nutjob like Toph's first sponsor? The guy wanted me dead, didn't he?"

"He told her to kill you. Before the fight, and during the fight as well" Azula said, frowning at the memory of the man with the greasy black hair and monkey face "You think that's what's happening here? That he's being manipulated by someone who wants him to murder people everywhere he goes?"

"Maybe" said Sokka, sighing and shaking his head "But if he's strong enough to kill people, why not kill his sponsor if he's the evil mastermind in question?"

"Maybe his sponsor is stronger than him" said Azula "He's a non-bender like you, isn't he?"

"And as strong as I've become, my sponsor is still stronger than me" Sokka whispered "Is that it, then?"

"Well… we won't know unless we accept his challenge, will we?" said Azula. Sokka grimaced.

"Should we, then?" he asked "If he's a gladiator killer, do you think he'd want to kill me too?"

"He might try. But others have tried to kill you and failed so far, right?" said Azula "I mean, it's a big risk to take regardless, but… but he's a non-bender like you. I'd like to think you're strong enough to stand your ground against someone who is limited to five weapons, like yourself. You dealt with the second strongest gladiator in the League and survived with just a few minor scorch marks, didn't you?"

"True, true" said Sokka, breathing deeply "I'm just nervous, I guess, but… but you know what? You're right. Even if he were Rhone, and even if he's not, I've fought against some serious monsters before and survived. I mean, I went up against the Stingray, no less, so…"

"You should be able to hold your own against him" said Azula "Whether you win or lose won't matter so much, he's only worth a hundred points after all. But if you want to make sure he's your friend or not, well… this is the best way to find out, isn't it?"

Sokka swallowed hard and nodded. Azula placed a hand on his arm, rubbing it gently. Sokka smiled at her.

"Heh, for once we managed to resolve a complicated problem without things getting blown out of proportion. Must be a first, huh?" he asked, teasingly. Azula smirked.

"Seems like we're finally getting the hang of that mysterious trick of 'communication', are we?" she asked, finishing her tea. Sokka chuckled and lifted his own cup to his lips.

"Now, truth be told, this thing's not so bad" Sokka said, after tasting the drink again. Azula snorted.

"Your taste buds have absolutely no sense of refinement, do they?"

"You keep saying that when you know it's not true" Sokka replied, between chuckles "But I know you just don't like tea, so that's why you think it sucks"

"I can drink certain kinds of tea. A select few, truth be told" she said "But this one's simply in the bad-tea group, for certain"

"You should add something to improve it's taste. Like sweetening it, somehow" said Sokka, chuckling.

"Wouldn't that ruin its purpose?" Azula asked. Sokka shrugged.

"Might be. We could ask Song, she knows both about cooking and about medicinal things, so… we can ask when she comes back"

"She's been unusually elusive these days" Azula commented "She's still outside when I take off to the Palace in the afternoons… is she alright?"

"Uh, we haven't talked about it much" Sokka admitted "But I think she's uneasy about Rui Shi these days… she said things were okay after that stunt I pulled on them, but I think she's distressed over it for some reason. I wonder if she did something she shouldn't have…"

"Her? You think Rui Shi wouldn't be the one taking the initiative?" Azula asked. Sokka chuckled.

"I wouldn't know, honestly. I mean, they like each other, that's clear, but what would it take for them to act on their feelings?"

"Maybe pressure, maybe time. Might be that either of them acted on it, the other wasn't sure of what to make of it and…"

"That'd be sad, but it wouldn't be far-fetched" said Sokka, with a weak grin "They'll need communication, right? We'll have to give them pep talks so they understand that"

"I think the last people with any right to talk about communication to resolve problems is us, considering we're only doing it now while we've been struggling with it since… since I fetched you in Hui Yi, I guess?"

"Well, you did keep a few things from me back then, but we got worse with communication later" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly "Oh, well. Maybe they'll find a way to resolve their problems, just as we found how to resolve ours"

"They're less messy than us. It shouldn't take them that long" said Azula, setting down her cup and leaning closer to him.

Sokka smiled as he finished his tea. Her arms went around his waist, while he clasped her shoulders with his free arm.

"So… what do we do while we wait for the tea to weave its effect upon you?" he asked, rubbing her shoulder gently with his thumb.

"As you must know, I'd say we should train, but the rain won't allow it" she whispered, glancing through the window. The storm was relentless "So… I guess all I can suggest is that we keep ourselves entertained without actual intercourse until the time for the tea to work has finally passed"

"And how exactly would we entertain ourselves, I wonder…?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, we'll be all alone in this house until the rain cedes, at least" said Azula, smirking "I'd assume your creative mind could, I don't know, come up with something fun to do in this unique opportunity…?"

Sokka started laughing before she had finished her sentence. Azula smiled as she noticed his cheeks reddening. Just what sort of ideas would be coursing through his mind to make him blush that way…?

"You… you make a fine proposal, that's for sure" he said, smiling "I guess it's time we get a little more adventurous, isn't it?"

"I'd think we've taken too long to do it, actually" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "So…?"

Sokka set down the cup and took her into his arms. She laughed delightfully into their kiss, curious still about what Sokka planned on doing with her just now. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to descend at full speed into their spiral of passion, knowing she'd regret none of it.

Several hours later, the rain was still falling as she lay atop him on the couch – while Sokka dozed off, exhausted after their crazed afternoon. Azula caressed his chest and frowned as she thought again about all he had told her earlier. She pondered their possibilities, every single outcome she could envision to the fight she'd be accepting at Shoji's counter on the next day. She figured they could handle anything that happened, so long as Sokka's faith in his friend was well-deserved. But what if it wasn't? What if the boy he had once known had grown to become every bit the monster he had heard he was?

If that happened, she knew Sokka wouldn't take it well. She gritted her teeth and surrounded him tightly with her arms. Whatever the fight in the Ring of Ash brought for them, she would make sure to stand by Sokka through the worst of it, no matter what it turned out to be.

* * *

Sailing to Fire Fountain City shouldn't have been necessary, since Xin Long could easily carry them across that distance with ease. Yet Azula wasn't sure that it would be seen with good eyes if she simply showed up on her dragon with her gladiator, while having no actual reason not to bring in the usual Procession along with them. If they were to keep suspicions at their lowest, they had to act as they used to when their relationship had yet to reach a physical level.

It was a week after Sokka's triumph against Flaming Slash, and his spirits had been high over it as well. Yet his looming fight against Kinslayer had grounded him again quickly, instead of allowing his success to make him overconfident. He stood stern and firm at the prow of the Barge as it loomed ever closer to Fire Fountain City's harbor, wishing he could push his looming worries out of his mind.

"How are you feeling?"

Azula had asked him this same question countless times for such a short voyage. Sokka smiled and turned to face her, as she stood next to him on the ship's rim.

"Anxious, uneasy, worried… but at least we still have another night before the fight, right?" said Sokka.

"We do" Azula agreed "The tides were unexpectedly cooperative with us on this journey. I had planned for us to arrive tomorrow morning, not today in the afternoon"

"We'll be staying on the Barge for the night, though, won't we?" Sokka asked "You didn't make arrangements for anything else, so…"

"I didn't, and it was likely better that I didn't" she said "All things considered, while I should be cultivating good relations with noble people, I'm not entirely sure we'd be welcome someplace like the Mayor's home. Not after we destroyed his son's chances to court me altogether"

"Huh. I forgot he was Kuan's dad" said Sokka, smirking "Yeah, best to avoid him"

"As for booking an inn… it feels inappropriate" said Azula grimacing. Sokka laughed.

"It's not like you'd order one room for us both, though" he said, winking at her. Azula rolled her eyes "Though booking a whole inn for us and your guards would be a bother. We can sleep soundly on a rocking ship, it's no problem"

"None" said Azula, nodding "Though, if you'd want to speak about problems… Rui Shi has been acting weird the last few days"

The Captain of the Royal Guards was on the ship's deck as well, but he simply sat by the prow looking unusually defeated, at a fair distance from them both. Despite not knowing if his behavior was their fault in any way, both Sokka and Azula felt a pang of guilt upon seeing him like that.

"What's up with him?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"He's hardly keeping tabs on me these days" she said "No more grumbling over our relationship, too. He's just… always in deep thought and not very attentive. At first he seemed happy, though. Now he's… strange"

"I wonder if it has something to do with Song" Sokka said, crossing his arms over his chest "She's been acting weird too these days, you know. Stays out late, I hardly see her at all. She cooks everything for the day and then just leaves. I mean, if I didn't know better, I'd think she's… avoiding him?"

"Maybe. But why?" Azula asked "Did something go poorly between them?"

"Or maybe something went so well they don't know what to make of it?" Sokka said. Azula shrugged.

"Either way, it's strange. I wouldn't worry, normally, but… with all they've done for us, I can't help but feel responsible somehow. Especially seeing how this began after the night you snuck away to see me"

"Should we talk with him, then? Because if that's the case…"

"Uh, I'd rather we don't" said Azula, grimacing "Because if this isn't our fault, hearing us apologize about that night might just make it worse. So…"

"Fair enough" said Sokka, sighing as the sailors started their usual process to dock the Barge in the port that was hardly a few meters away.

Azula supervised the arrival of the ship, as always, leaving Sokka to watch the harbor with interest. It wasn't the first time he'd been to Fire Fountain City, it was actually his third visit to the city, but he found Ozai's tall and ridiculous statue more embarrassing each time. After it toppled over when he climbed it during the Scavenger Hunt, it had been rebuilt with even more opulence, making it larger yet, and bathed in gold. Somehow it had felt less ridiculous when it had been black, Sokka thought with a smirk, as he watched it at a distance…

His eyes returned to the port, though, and he noticed a familiar face standing there. He frowned and scrutinized the man, wondering if it truly was who he thought it was…

"Uh, Azula?" Sokka said, approaching the Princess, who approved of the sailors' job at fastening the ship's mooring ropes at the dock "I'm not sure, but I… I think the Mayor is at the port. I mean, I don't know if it's him because I hardly recall his face, but it seemed familiar, and if it is…"

Azula frowned and made her way to the edge of the ship again. She confirmed with wide eyes that Mayor Kuan was approaching down the dock, a smile on his face, his hands rubbing together.

"Mayor!" she called out, once he was within earshot "What a surprise to see you in the port"

"Oh, Princess! I was told you would be arriving early today!" he said, beaming "I heard you would fight here tomorrow, and I looked forward to seeing you beforehand!"

A sailor lowered the ship's ramp, allowing the Princess to speak with the man directly. She thanked him with a nod before climbing her way to the wooden dock, with Sokka frowning uneasily on the ship's deck still.

"We were ahead of schedule today, yes" Azula told the Mayor "But it's of no consequence, truly. We'll spend the night here and take off tomorrow…"

"Oh, but… surely you'd rather spend the night on solid grounds, wouldn't you?" he said "I had a room prepared for you! Well, one for you and another for your gladiator. You should get proper rest before a fight, shouldn't you?"

"Why…" said Azula, grimacing and turning to look at Sokka. He looked quite uneasy, and she couldn't blame him.

The idea of spending the night at the Mayor's home didn't sound appealing, especially when it came to bringing Sokka with her. Surely the man wouldn't touch so much as a hair on her head, but she wasn't sure she could trust him to do the same for Sokka. Sokka had indeed ruined young Kuan's chances at becoming Royalty, and if his father felt like taking revenge on him for it now, he would gladly do so…

"It's quite alright, Princess. We will make certain to give you the best food we have!" he said "We'll be doing everything in our power to keep you as satisfied as you would be aboard your Barge, I'm sure"

"Well, that is… I wouldn't like to impose upon you. You had quite a lot of children to take care of, if I recall correctly?" said Azula. The Mayor laughed.

"There's no need to worry about that, Princess. We have been waiting eagerly for you" he said. Azula smiled.

"Well, I'll… let the Captain of my Guards know. Perhaps he'll have a say upon the matter, as he's in charge of my security…"

"Oh! We can procure a room for him too, if you need us to" said the Mayor. Azula waved a hand and climbed the ramp again.

"I'll let you know briefly" she said.

Sokka frowned and approached her when she stood on the deck again. She widened her eyes as he reached her.

"So… the Mayor would like for us to stay at his house after all. Funny, huh?"

"What the…? Hell, no! We can't do that!" said Sokka, grimacing "We just talked about it and…!"

"I know, I know. It's suspicious" Azula muttered "He's being awfully insistent about it, but if you think about it…"

"If I think about it, what?" Sokka said.

"I do need to keep some noblemen on my side" she said, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips "And if I can try to make amends for the chaos from my birthday…"

"What?!" Sokka squealed. Azula sighed.

"It's a political move, nothing more…"

"He'll try to kill us, though! Or at least me!" Sokka exclaimed. Azula grimaced.

"I'd hope not. If he dared he'd be in real trouble" she said "But as it is…"

"What's going on?"

At last, Rui Shi had been brought out of his strange state, and he had approached them with folded arms. Sokka grimaced as Azula turned to him.

"Mayor Kuan is offering us to stay at his home. The three of us, at any rate" she said "That is, if you're interested in coming along. I'm sure Sokka will like it best if you do, seeing how he thinks Kuan is trying to kill him"

"Why would he? Because of his son?" Rui Shi asked, frowning "Do you want to go, Princess?"

"It would be polite to accept" she said, shrugging "But I can't lie, it worries me to a degree. I don't think they could outright attack us if they feel like it, we could handle ourselves. But if they were to, I don't know, poison Sokka's food…"

"Eat in a restaurant" said Rui Shi, shrugging too "If you really distrust them so much, that's always a possibility"

"Huh. Should we?" Sokka said. Azula sighed.

"So we'll politely accept his invitation and impolitely decline his offer of food" she said "Sounds reasonable. Well, then, are you coming, Rui Shi?"

"I… I don't know" he said, frowning "I suppose I could, but… I'd rather just stay here"

"Are you serious?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Rui Shi shrugged.

"You two can take care of yourselves, you have done it before, right?" he said "If worst comes to worst, and they discover your funny secret you'll just have to silence them permanently, and I'd rather not be there to deal with that…"

"No one is going to discover anything" said Azula, an eyebrow twitching "So you're just going to stay? Despite the offer?"

"I'll just keep an eye on the ship. Make sure not to waste much time tomorrow, the sooner we return to the Capital the better" he said, waving a hand towards them "I'll have some guards bring your luggage to the Mayor's house"

Sokka frowned as Azula studied Rui Shi's back. He walked away without another word to them.

"Either he's mad at us for that stunt indeed… or something's really wrong with him that we can't fathom" said Azula. Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"We'll have to talk to him eventually, won't we?"

"I'm afraid so" she said, sighing "Maybe it's just that he hoped that our relationship really would be over by now, and he's disappointed that it's not"

"Heh. That wouldn't surprise me, coming from him" said Sokka, as he and Azula walked towards the ramp again "Still… are you sure about this? Cultivating good relations with noblemen can help, but…"

"But we won't get to enjoy tonight as you'd like to, I know" she said "We must be cautious after all. It won't be much of a sacrifice in the long run, I hope"

"Sacrificing our nights together is already a very sad thing to do, though" Sokka sighed. Azula chuckled.

Mayor Kuan smiled and greeted Sokka enthusiastically as well, despite Sokka was wary and uneasy as the man shook his hand. Azula studied Kuan's attitude, surprised to feel next to no hostility from him. Was he that good an actor, or was it he truly had no secret ill intentions hidden behind that happy smile?

"It's great that you've wanted to join us" he said "Showing the Princess some courtesy is the least we can do, after the Fire Lord's statue fell…"

"I do hope that wasn't much trouble for you" said Azula, giving Sokka a meaningful glare that he deflected with an awkward smile.

"It was for a time, but no matter, no matter!" said Kuan "It looks far better now, doesn't it?"

Sokka swallowed the urge to disagree, as the three of them walked through the dock and towards the street outside the port. A carriage awaited there, and Kuan led them to it, opening the door for the Princess.

"Please, take your seats" he said. Azula swallowed hard and climbed onto the cabin, only to notice later that it wasn't empty.

She realized she had seen the woman inside the carriage before, but it was Sokka who identified her: he had been the one running side by side with her during the Scavenger Hunt, after all.

"Hey, I… I know you" he said, pointing at her rather rudely. Azula scowled at him "You were in the Scavenger Hunt!"

"Ah, this is my gladiator" said Mayor Kuan, beaming as he took his seat beside the woman, just as Sokka had taken his own next to Azula "She's Ya Wen, or as she's best known in the Gladiator Business, Blazing Strike"

"I remember" said Sokka "We were both fleeing from the crazy desperate gladiators, and then…"

"And then that irksome earthbender ruined my run" Blazing Strike finished, with a sigh "Though you managed to get the better of her somehow"

"A little scheming that fortunately paid off" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly. Blazing Strike nodded.

"Why did you bring her with you to fetch us at the port, though?" Azula asked, as the carriage began moving. Kuan beamed.

"I happen to take Ya Wen with me most everywhere" he said "She's my most trusted companion, aren't you?"

Ya Wen only smiled a little. She seemed uncomfortable, at least in Sokka and Azula's eyes. The Princess studied Kuan quickly, assessing what his relationship with the gladiator might be, given the girl's reaction to his words.

"She's a firebender, I bought her several years ago. The slave business had only just begun" said Kuan "I didn't enroll her as a gladiator right away, but she has been quite a remarkable fighter and a grand investment for my family in the Arena. My daughters are rather fond of her"

"A powerful firebender can be quite admirable indeed" Azula said, with a smile "It's good to hear that your relationship isn't conflictive, unlike those between many other gladiators and sponsors"

"I've heard, and seen, that you two are even more harmonious than we are" said Kuan. Azula's eyes widened and so did Sokka's "Your reputation spreads even in the most unlikely places, Princess! It is said that the two of you are the ultimate combination of gladiator and sponsor: you will both find success if you carry on in this path"

"I do hope so" said Azula, nodding in his direction. Sokka only swallowed hard and smiled awkwardly as the trip continued.

The Mayor's house was large, as it had to be in order host his wife, his gladiator and his four daughters. The oldest was near Azula's age, the youngest couldn't be older than ten. All of them greeted Azula with perfect reverences, along with their mother, a slender mature woman. Azula ushered them to rise, and they entered the house without further ado.

"I do so hope you enjoy your stay with us, Princess" the wife said, smiling as they sat in the living room "I'd wanted to meet and speak to you for the longest time, so I'm happy this opportunity came up…"

"Did you, really?" Azula asked, as all the girls joined the mother inside the room. Sokka followed too, but the Mayor and his gladiator didn't do the same, leaving Azula to meet the rest of the family without them.

"I had wanted to apologize for my son's behavior" said the woman, sighing "He had meant to court you for a long time, as you might have suspected…"

"I did suspect as much, yes" Azula admitted.

"But for him to do it as he did was… oh, utterly shameful" she finished, shaking her head "That he wouldn't respect the gladiator you had picked for yourself was terrible. Although he made a very beautiful gift to you, that is true…"

"Ah. The comb. I recall" said Azula. The woman beamed.

"I'm certain it would befit your new Crown Princess armor, wouldn't it?" she said. Azula smiled.

"I actually haven't tried that combination. I'm supposed to wear my hairpiece, after all" she said. The woman's wish seemed to go up in smoke upon that slap of reality.

"O-oh, of course. It's only that, such a beautiful comb… it would be quite the waste, wouldn't it? For nobody to ever wear it…"

"I could give it back, perhaps he can gift it to one of his sisters instead" said Azula, and the young girls gasped "But if I were to wear it, it would seem as though I'd accepted his proposal which, as is known, I didn't. So…"

"Of course, of course" said the woman, smiling nervously "Please, forget I said anything…"

"No need to be so bashful, Mrs. Kuan" said Azula, with a mild smirk "I took no offense"

Sokka smirked too from where he stood at the living room's door. The intentions of the Mayor and his wife became more apparent with every passing moment, but he knew Azula would deftly evade their every attempt to restore their chances of joining the Royal Family.

The guards Rui Shi sent arrived not long after, giving Sokka and Azula an excuse to leave the strangely artificial atmosphere amid Mayor Kuan's wife and his unusually well-behaved daughters. The entire situation felt rehearsed, in a sense. Azula had no trouble imagining both Kuan and his wife writing out lists of all the arguments they could come up with to convince her to reconsider having their son as a husband…

It was Kuan who led them upstairs to the rooms furnished for their stay, accompanied by his gladiator. After Sokka and Azula settled down in contiguous rooms, Azula happened to mention her intentions to have dinner out in the city. Unsurprisingly, Kuan didn't take that idea with his usual enthusiasm.

"B-but we will be preparing a great meal in your honor, Princess!" he said "You should stay, I assure you, it will be…!"

"I have visited this city several times now" Azula said "And I've heard all sorts of great recommendations of restaurants. Despite we went sight-seeing once before, we haven't really eaten outside so… I'm afraid we'll have to turn down the offer for dinner"

"B-but…" Kuan said, with a grimace. Azula raised an eyebrow and he sighed in defeat. The Princess was used to getting her way, and Kuan wasn't about to antagonize her by forcing anything she didn't want on her "V-very well, then. But the next time you spend a night here…!"

"I'll be most grateful to join you for a meal, yes" said Azula, with a smirk. She gestured at Sokka to follow her, and together they headed for the house's main door.

Hardly twenty minutes later, the pair sank in chairs at a finely decorated restaurant a few blocks away from the Mayor's home. Sokka rubbed his hands at the prospect of a fine meal, as Azula frowned in deep thought. When he noticed she was in a daze he waved a hand to catch her attention.

"You okay?" he asked, once she blinked back into reality.

"Yes, yes, it's only…" she said.

"They want you to reconsider their dear son as your potential husband. Yep" said Sokka, with wide eyes. Azula smirked.

"Well, if it will help me keep their support for my claim as heir to the throne, I'll have to bear with it" she said "Though I will avoid sharing dinner with them if I can get away with it. Hearing them flaunt Governor Kuan's alleged good traits to convince me he's a good marriage prospect will only give me indigestion. But that's not really what bothers me the most. Truth be told… it's a far more complicated family than it seems on first sight"

"All daughters, except for the jerk of an older brother, huh?" said Sokka. Azula nodded "The girls seemed so inoffensive in comparison, though"

"Surely they are" said Azula "But what worried me was… well, Mayor Kuan, actually. And his gladiator"

"Huh?"

"Seeing how you have knowledge in that area, you should be able to notice a secret relationship when you see one" Azula said, looking at him skeptically. Sokka gawked at her.

"W-wait, what? He's… with his gladiator? But he's married!"

"What a shocker, that a married man would take a lover" Azula said, sarcastically. Sokka blushed.

"I-It's just… I mean, why would he get involved with her?" he said "He has a family, and Blazing Strike's like… I don't know, twenty years younger than him?"

"That's exactly why, you know?" said Azula, twirling her bangs between her fingers "This is no happy family, nor a happy marriage. The Kuans… they're ambitious in their own ways. They all seem to want things that they shouldn't have, just as their older son wanted to marry me"

"You think the wife knows, though?"

"Of course" said Azula "She's no fool. But… I wager she doesn't care enough to make him stop. Maybe she has a younger lover of her own hidden somewhere else?"

"That's just… weird" said Sokka, grimacing "We're staying in one hell of a weird house, aren't we?"

"I say we enjoy it while we can" said Azula, smirking "It's not every day that we get to see sponsors and gladiators with relationships even more complicated than our own"

"You think she likes it, though? The whole affair…?" Sokka asked "From where I'm standing, I can't see why a woman would want anything with a guy like that"

"I'd think… she's just in it for the sponsorship" said Azula "Unlike you, and many others, there's some gladiators who genuinely enjoy the thrill of fighting in the Arena. I guess that, as long as she gets to fight, she won't protest against whatever he demands of her. A rather depressing condition to live in, of course, but…"

"But it's not our place to poke our noses into it, huh? Besides, we… we should be worrying about tomorrow's fight, if anything" said Sokka, frowning.

"Still, I think it's apparent now that they have no interest in murdering either one of us" said Azula "They want to win me over, and giving you indigestion or outright killing you with poison is not the way to achieve that"

"So we can have breakfast safely tomorrow?"

"I'd hope so. We'll probably be gone before lunch, so there will be no need to worry about any other courses of food afterwards"

"Even so, you wanted to make sure we'd eat outside" said Sokka, smiling a little "Was it just so we'd talk at leisure?"

"Actually, yes" said Azula "The real bother of staying over at their place is that… it's too crowded for my comfort. I really just want to see you off into big fights as I always do, and as long as we're staying in their house, I fear it won't be possible"

"Well, it's true that you provide a lot of motivation for me to be triumphant in fights" said Sokka, smirking "Maybe you'll have to do the same this time, somehow. Like… promising that you'll reward me for my efforts after the fight, or something like that"

"Wouldn't you like that, savage" Azula said, with feigned spite. Sokka laughed.

"Can't take a joke, now, can you, Princess?"

Both knew that Sokka hadn't been joking, but her response had alerted him of the fact that there were open ears all around the restaurant. Even if most the other customers were chatting, and the waiters were busy, it was better if they kept the confidential information to a minimum.

Dinner was pleasant, though Azula naturally looked on with disapproval as Sokka ate ravenously and with next to no manners, as per always. She wasn't sure if he did it to get a rise out of her, or if he really couldn't eat with decorum altogether, but she was somewhat surprised to realize that she was actually growing used to his lack of table manners. She couldn't possibly find them endearing – as much as she might love him, she couldn't possibly grow fond of all his weird quirks –, but she was no longer as affected by it as she had been in the past. The thought made her smile. A relationship like theirs required a lot of things, and adapting to one another had definitely played a large part on it.

They returned to the Kuan house to find that only the Mayor was awake by then, and he bid them a good night after leading them to their rooms. Sokka was tempted to climb out the window and lurk his way into Azula's room, but doing as much would be extremely unsafe. He simply dropped on his mattress with a disappointed sigh, wishing that building up Azula's political relationships didn't demand for them to compromise their intimacy like this. They did take a lot of risks under all circumstances, but he didn't dare do it here, and he knew neither would she. It was one thing to act in known grounds and territories, with a set plan about what they'd do, and a whole different one to act rashly in an unknown house, where they couldn't lower their guard around any members of the family that hosted them.

So he simply lay in bed, missing the feeling of his Princess in his arms and her lips on his. And in the very next room, Azula lay in bed hopelessly longing for the same thing.

* * *

The sound of arguing voices woke Azula. She had never been a heavy sleeper, and she found she was more prone to waking up suddenly if Sokka wasn't with her. Since he wasn't right now, the soft grumble of two voices was enough to stir her awake.

She frowned and glanced out the window to find the skies were already of a light blue, despite the sun had yet to rise. There wasn't much point in sleeping any longer. She took a deep breath and readied herself for the day, donning her golden armor and fixing her hair as perfectly as she could manage.

She noticed someone standing by the stairs when she walked out into the hall. Wishfully, she wondered if it would be him… a closer look revealed it was in fact Blazing Strike. She frowned and made her way towards her, and the gladiator jumped upon the sound of Azula's footsteps.

"Did they wake you?" she asked. Azula shrugged.

"I would have woken up soon either way" she said "What's happening?"

"I… I suppose a Princess like yourself shouldn't hear it" said Blazing Strike, grimacing "It's just…"

"Did she confront him about you?" Azula asked. Blazing Strike lowered her eyes guiltily "Or is she scolding him because we bailed on dinner last night?"

"Both things, I guess" said Blazing Strike "The first is no surprise, though. It's been happening even before anything had happened. She… she saw the way he looked at me. Assumed he was using me even when he wasn't"

"It sounds like trouble" said Azula. Blazing Strike shrugged.

"I guess I could do worse" she said "At least he's kind with me. Only…"

"You have no feelings whatsoever for him, do you?" said Azula. Blazing Strike shook her head.

"He's not utterly disgusting, but he disappoints me more often than not, in many ways" said Blazing Strike "Still… I shouldn't discuss these matters with a Princess"

"On the contrary, you should" said Azula "I'd like to know just what subjects I could expect to have once I become Fire Lord. This has been enlightening, in a sense"

"Is it? I wouldn't think it's that weird for a sponsor to get involved with his gladiator" said Blazing Strike, shrugging "I've heard of some Capital girl who has this earthbending gladiator… she makes no efforts to hide that she's doing him, you know?"

Azula smiled awkwardly. She knew all too well.

"Scandalous, truly" said Azula, sighing. Blazing Strike frowned.

"On another note, though… your fight is today, isn't it?"

"That's right" said Azula, nodding "You're a local fighter, now I think of it… have you ever seen the Kinslayer?"

"Not personally, no" said Blazing Strike "I've heard enough tales about him to make me wish not to, though"

"Is he truly as vicious as I heard?" Azula asked "He truly has killed six gladiators?"

"That's what I heard. I knew a few of them"

Azula's eyes widened. Blazing Strike swallowed hard.

"I suppose someone who won in the Slate shouldn't have an issue beating him" said Blazing Strike "But… he's a madman. If your gladiator hesitates at all, he'll cut him down without a second thought"

"I guess so" said Azula, frowning "Do you know anything else about him? Where he's from?"

"No, not really" said Blazing Strike "I guess if I'd seen him, but… I've just heard about him. And people are too freaked out about murderous gladiators to take in any details other than the fact that they're murderers"

"I see" said Azula, sighing "Well, that really isn't much more information than what we already had. But, perhaps, with luck we'll be able to defeat him…"

"My sponsor and I will be there to watch" said Blazing Strike "He intends to take you to the Arena on the family carriage, too"

"I do hope he doesn't take the whole family" said Azula "Not only because of the conflicts between them, but I doubt his young daughters would be read to see the violence of a Gladiator Arena"

"They'll have to learn one day" said Blazing Strike, shrugging "The world isn't a kind place, not really"

"You're not wrong about that" Azula concurred, as footsteps made their way up the stairs. Footsteps that belonged to a nervous Mayor Kuan.

"You were awake!" he exclaimed, looking at Azula "May I interest you in breakfast now, Princess?"

She could see that whatever he had been discussing with his wife was still fresh on his mind, and that he was making great, but vain, efforts to hide it. All she did, though, was smirk and nod in his direction.

"If you'd be so kind, Mayor Kuan"

She hoped that, in her presence, the married couple would stop arguing. It seemed that at least Blazing Strike would thank her for it.

Sokka only woke up when Azula was done with her breakfast. By then the table was already fully crowded, and as he ate with a little more decency than he had the night before, Azula noticed a few of the girls staring at him with curious and perhaps even smitten eyes. She couldn't help but wonder if excessive exposure to the world of nobility would make highborn women like herself oddly susceptible to the charms of men like Sokka… The mere thought made her smirk to herself as she sipped on the juice she had been drinking as she waited for Sokka to finish stuffing himself as ever.

Despite his clumsy ways during the meal, though, Sokka left his easy-going attitude behind once he returned to his room to furnish himself with his armor. He breathed deeply, staring at it and his weapons, wondering if he'd take up arms against an old friend today, or just a new foe, or both things in one. The disquieting thoughts he had brushed away as lies, as conspiracies, as nonsense, came back to haunt him now: what if it was all true? What if the boy he had once known had disappeared completely?

Yet… Sokka wasn't the same young boy he had been once either. If it really was his friend, would he recognize in this fully-grown Sokka the careless troublemaking child he had been long ago? Though he hadn't lost much of his carelessness, or his tendency for getting into trouble. He smiled, guessing he had actually retained those qualities, or regained them once again after joining forces with Azula. Perhaps there were a few traits within himself that could remain untouched, that could identify him for who he was. Could the same apply for Rhone?

"You've taken a while with that" he heard Azula's voice behind him. The creak of the door closing after her, along with the click of the lock, made him smile "Are you alright?"

"Just thinking" he said, turning around and looking at her "Just wondering… well, how things will turn out today. I'm afraid I'm… heh, I guess I'm just afraid. Any possibility is terrifying, for its own reasons, so…"

"I know. I know" said Azula, approaching him and placing a hand on his chest "But we said this was what we'd do, right?"

"We did, we did" Sokka admitted, as Azula reached for his armor and made to fit it around him.

"So torturing yourself about what might be and what could be will be unnecessary. In less than an hour we'll find out the truth already" she said, fastening his forearm guards too. Sokka smiled.

"And regardless of whatever happens out there, I still have you" he said. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Here I thought that went without saying" she said, with a slight smirk. Sokka chuckled as he picked up his weapons, fitting them in place. As he turned his back on her to pick up his bombs, Azula leaned closer and hugged him from behind.

"It was a pretty lonely night, huh?" he muttered. She smiled.

"We need to stop sneaking around so often to sleep with one another. It renders us incapable of sleeping by ourselves when we have to" she whispered, hoping nobody would hear her even if they pressed their ears to the door. She could hear voices in the living room still, and the sounds of footsteps on the creaking wooden floors would have been noticeable if anyone had approached Sokka's room.

"It's a bit too hard having self-control, though" he said, smiling and turning in her arms.

He cupped her face and kissed her gently, his eyes closed as he relished in the way she responded eagerly to his advance. She still held him close, her arms locked around his armor, her head tilted upwards as he leaned down to fully brush her lips with his own. He pulled away and smiled sweetly at her.

"Seeing how there's no stand-by room in the Ring of Ash…" said Sokka, smirking "We had to take our chances now, right?"

"Right" said Azula, sighing before looking at him more sternly "You can handle this, can't you? You've been preparing yourself for a while now, so…"

"I can. I just need to know you'll be there, and with that, I'm not going to be so afraid anymore" he said "We've been through worse than whatever we'll face now, right?"

"I'd think" said Azula, smiling as she wiped his lips clean "I mean, all things considered, being chased by the Dai Li, or being stranded in a forest for a week, or fighting a guy with insane waterbending skills… it's bound to be far more complicated than this, right?"

"I only hope so" said Sokka, sighing "Though if you really want to bring up my most fearsome opponent ever, you happened to forget the one I'm holding in my arms right now…"

"Huh" said Azula, smirking and pressing her forehead against his "Well, what a fool am I to forget, aren't I?"

Sokka chuckled. She pulled away, smiling, and looked him up and down. He was the perfect image of her gladiator, as he had to be. So she gestured at the door, and he nodded. They climbed downstairs, finding the Mayor and his gladiator were already waiting for them, and in no time the four of them were riding the carriage that would lead them to the Ring of Ash.

"If the fight were to overwhelm you at any point, I recommend jumping out of the ring" Mayor Kuan said. Azula raised her eyebrows "N-not that your opponent should overwhelm you in any way, of course, he's certainly not as strong as the Blue Wolf…"

"He shouldn't be" Azula agreed "Still, thanks for the advice"

Kuan smiled uneasily, as Blazing Strike looked at Sokka with uncertainty. As she had never known or seen the Kinslayer, she wasn't sure if there was cause for concern at all… yet she was concerned regardless. She knew first-hand that the Blue Wolf had the tendency to hide tricks under his sleeve, but she couldn't help but wonder if hiding any this time around would do him any good. It took a lot more than tricks to defeat murderous gladiators.

The Ring of Ash was crowded, as Arenas frequently would be when the Princess's gladiator fought abroad. Room was left for her and her fellow sponsor at the center of the stands, and the Mayor struggled to find empty spots nearby for himself and Blazing Strike. Azula didn't take her seat yet, though, upon noticing their rivals weren't there yet. She signed Sokka in at the counter by the stands, and she gestured at Sokka in order to speak with him away from the crowd.

"You know I'm not a fan of you losing, but what the Mayor suggested is a good strategy here" said Azula, looking at Sokka "You'd lose the fight automatically if you get out of the ring. If the he tries to kill you that's always an option to stop him"

"Yeah, I'd do that if I have to" said Sokka, breathing deeply "Though I wonder if he'd stop at all if I did that"

"If he doesn't, the one killing a gladiator today will likely be me instead of him" said Azula, frowning dangerously "Just stay safe, Sokka. As it was in the Slate, as it has been in all your fights… what matters most is that you survive. Alright?"

He nodded and smiled. She breathed deeply and ushered him to head to the ring of dark ash, while she took her seat in the front row of the stands. The other sponsor's space was still empty, while the rest of the front row was occupied by the match's judges. Azula breathed deeply, as Sokka walked into the dark ring, his head somewhat tilted while he withdrew his sword from its scabbard, swinging it in careless but masterful circular motions.

He cleared his mind with every step he took as he paced slowly. For some reason, doing so was awfully easy despite all the anxiety he had felt before arriving to the Ring of Ash. Thoughts of who his rival might be had hit a standstill, and all he could do now was wait. Soon enough he would arrive, and once he did…

The sound of footsteps on the ash alerted him. He was not alone anymore. He swallowed hard and stopped swinging his sword. It was time.

He turned slowly, feeling the bones in his chest squeezing his organs and leaving him out of air, slowing the blood that coursed his body as his eyes met the cold blue in his opponent's own…


	114. Chapter 114

A long time ago he'd sat atop a mound of snow in the South Pole, frowning angrily into the horizon at the unfairness of it all. He had been forced to stay with the women and children for years, thinking, and hoping, that his father would return victorious from his quest to the outside world. Yet when his father had returned he had brought the worst tidings possible: the Fire Nation had as good as taken over the whole world, the man who had virtually been Sokka's uncle had died in battle, and his only childhood friend, someone he had remembered fondly despite the sad terms of his departure to the Northern Water Tribe, had apparently become a monster.

He didn't want to accept any of it. He had buried his face in his forearms and forced himself not to give in to the weakness of crying over how messed up the world was, but it just wasn't fair. It wasn't right. He had stayed here, he had done nothing, while the world fell apart around him. He could have helped his father, he was sure. He could have saved Rhone, too…

"It's not your fault"

His father's voice made him cringe. The knot in his throat grew tighter as he felt his heavy hand on his shoulder.

Hakoda took his seat beside him, and gazed into the horizon as well with sad eyes. Sokka swallowed hard. He was frustrated for not getting involved, but his father had been out in the war, fighting to his utmost, and the result had been to no avail: he hadn't changed the war's outcome and he had lost his best friend. The same that was true for Sokka was true for his father. The same grief tormented the both of them.

"It wasn't yours that… t-that he died, either" Sokka whispered, with a hoarse voice that hardly wanted to come out of his throat.

"Well, that one's hard to say" whispered Hakoda "But he made his choice when he fought to let us get away. I guess I have to learn to live with it"

"I don't know how to learn to live with whatever Rhone did, though, Dad" said Sokka, frowning "What he did, it's just… I can't understand it. It's so horrible, and nobody on his right mind would…"

"No, nobody would" said Hakoda, his hand on the back of Sokka's neck now "Either something in Rhone has… has changed beyond recognition, or this wasn't his doing. I really don't think the boy we knew would have committed such crimes"

"Well, good. Because there's no way he would have" said Sokka, stubbornly.

"No, of course not" said Hakoda, sighing.

He had proceeded to tell Sokka that they had to move past it, regardless of the truth. Sokka had nodded, but he was relieved to know his father agreed with him. What had happened in the North Pole, whatever it was, couldn't possibly have been done by a kid like Rhone. It made no sense, and surely he was innocent. All odds said as much, didn't they?

At least, that's what he had wanted to believe. That was how he had managed to get by without worrying too much about the matter. But it had been seventeen years since he had seen those eyes, and just meeting that blue gaze with his own gave him the answers he had been fearing to obtain:

Rhone was the Kinslayer.

And Rhone was also a far cry from the child Sokka had immortalized in his memory.

He had always been taller than Sokka, and that hadn't changed even now. Sokka had grown even taller than his father in his late teenage years: Rhone had outdone him, though, standing at least half a head higher than he did. His hair was just as dark as ever, such deep brown it was almost black, and his skin was darker than Sokka's… darker and smoother, though. Sokka stared in confusion, for there were no scars in sight in Rhone's body. Granted, he wasn't naked or so… but his arms were mostly bare, and where Sokka's bore all sorts of injuries by his previous opponents across his own arms, there were no such scars on Rhone's.

But what stuck the most with Sokka was that glare. It was so cold, so vicious… it was unlike anything he had ever associated with his old friend. He would have never thought it was him if the color of his eyes, lighter than Sokka's, hadn't betrayed his identity with ease.

But it had to be him. Even if so much time had passed, his features remained more or less the same. His nose was still as sharp, his lips thin. And there was recognition in that glare, too. It wasn't the rage of someone like the Stingray, who had hated Sokka viscerally despite not knowing him at all. This was a reencounter, despite it was nothing like how Sokka imagined it would be, if it happened at all.

He was speechless, unable to articulate a single word under his rival's scrutiny. It didn't seem Rhone wanted to speak either.

It took Sokka all his willpower to lower his head slowly, his brow drawing together as he acknowledged that, whatever he had endured during the last seventeen years, Rhone was the picture of hostility right now. Whatever his reasons might be to glare at Sokka that way, if there were any reasons to begin with, this would be far from an emotive and happy reunion between two good friends.

"Rhone" he finally whispered, his voice almost failing him. He hadn't wanted to sound weak, but his conflicted emotions were making him an anxious mess as it was. He could hardly think properly, let alone could he speak clearly, without any hesitation…

It didn't seem the man would take kindly to hear his name again, though. The glare on his face was accentuated with an angry scowl, as he took further steps forward in the ring of ash.

"Sokka"

The voice was deep, but not of the soothing kind. It was nothing like how Sokka recalled Rhone's voice but, then again, he probably would have been more disturbed if a six-year-old's voice had come out of that behemoth's throat. Creepy as this voice was, at least it matched his appearance well enough.

"I didn't want to believe it" Sokka said, gritting his teeth "I really had hoped it wouldn't be you"

"If you suspected it to begin with, it means you… you know of what I did" said Rhone, raising his eyebrows slowly. His voice seemed to tremble as he spoke. Sokka grimaced.

"I heard things, yeah, but… but you're here to tell me they weren't true, right? That you were framed, that someone else…" Sokka said, stepping towards him until Rhone's dry smirk made him freeze on the spot.

His words got lost as soon as he saw that expression on the face of someone he had once thought of as a friend. His body felt cold, almost numb, as his rational mind processed what it meant, but his emotional mind, the one linked with his heart, refused to accept it.

"Just like you were tricked, I guess?" Rhone said "Just like you were brainwashed into doing the Fire Nation's bidding? That's what you think happened?"

Another figurative stab straight into his chest, unlikely to be the last during this match. Sokka's eyes widened. So… so that was what this was all about. All the challenges, this obsessive chase by the Kinslayer to find the Blue Wolf…

The horror in Sokka's face contorted into anger. So that was how it was.

"U-uh, the fight has been arranged to last fifteen minutes!" one of the staff members shouted, once the two men stopped talking. There was no megaphone, or anything of the sort, in the Ring of Ash "So… are you ready? Well then, ready and… start!"

His words were but a formality, but as the sand started pouring down in the hourglass, neither of the men made a move. They were still glaring at one another, but now with further rage than before, from either side.

"I've heard stories. Thousands of them, each more misleading and confusing than the next" Rhone growled "I've heard rumors, dark rumors, that speak of you growing… complacent. That you've become another of their puppets. That you've let the Fire Lord's daughter do as she pleases with you, as if you were merely her plaything, her…"

"Shut your mouth" Sokka snapped, his voice deepening too as his own eyes turned glacial. He could stand it if Rhone rubbed in his face the shortcomings he was well aware of, the flaws in his actions, the mistakes he had made that, in Sokka's eyes, weren't mistakes at all.

But if he dared speak against Azula he would make him pay. He had no doubt other friendships had shattered over less.

"Oh. So that's how it works? She's your weak spot now? Then I guess all of it was true, wasn't it?" Rhone asked, snarling "You really have been brainwashed?"

"You don't know a damn thing of what you're talking about" Sokka said "So do us both a favor and quit speaking of my life like it's any of your business. Like… like a man who murders his own family has any right to speak of me like I'm scum. Like a man who commits that sort of crime and then bears his sins proudly can act high and mighty towards me"

"Funny thing is, you don't know a damn thing of what you're talking about" Rhone repeated, with a subtle mocking tone. Sokka's anger only increased with that "But of course you'd think everything you'd heard is exactly as it sounds. You would assume I'm insane, that I killed them for no reason, that I merely…"

"You're seriously sick if you truly think that there's anything in the world that would excuse what you did" Sokka said, shaking his head "If you truly are responsible for that atrocity, you…"

"Oh? So I'm sick, and you're a blood traitor. The South Pole's next generation of leaders, comprised by two scumbags like us" said Rhone, with a sardonic smile "Maybe the world does deserve to end, then. If we're really that screwed up, maybe the Fire Nation has always been in the right, huh? Maybe they really should kill us all, slaughter our people, burn our lands to the ground, take away everything we ever cared for…"

"They might not need to bother, seeing how Kinslayers are doing the job for them as it is" Sokka snapped. Rhone flinched, the impact of Sokka's words surprising them both. But Sokka was far from done as it was "You really… you're just shielding behind your belief that the Fire Nation's crimes are worse than your own"

"If you dare say they're not…"

"Who the hell cares what's worse? Your sin should be bad enough to stop you from judging everyone else and acting like you're so much better" Sokka snapped "It was bad enough that that freak, the damn Stingray, thought he'd lecture me about betraying my people when I've done things for them that nobody would ever begin to imagine. But you, after what you've done, you seriously think you have the right to talk to me like this? That you can stand up on some moral high ground and look down on me because I'm sponsored by the Princess? Because I've grown used to my new life?"

"You call it a life? You really do?" Rhone asked "Doing her bidding, fighting like a savage in some gruesome slave league… that's a life for you? Killing other gladiators is your new life?"

"Not killing them anymore is my new life" Sokka growled, narrowing his eyes "I had to do it at first. Never again"

"And then you claim I'm the one lecturing others about moral high grounds" said Rhone, shaking his head "But you think you're so much better than me because you won't kill your enemies? Well, rest assured, I don't kill all of them. Only the firebenders"

Sokka shuddered, disbelief reflected in his eyes. Rhone seemed to have become the embodiment of everything Sokka had avoided becoming during the last years: he had helped Azula see truths she had denied, and they had promised to make the world a better place together… and Rhone would gladly kill her if he had the chance, regardless of her hopes to change the Fire Nation's misguided ways, all because she was a firebender. Sokka had been like Rhone once, too… but he took genuine pride in having grown out of it.

"You really are as sick and twisted as I always told myself you couldn't be" Sokka muttered "I didn't dare believe it, but… but you're nothing like the boy I knew. Nothing"

"The boy I knew would have gladly died after killing the Fire Lord with his own hands" said Rhone "But… I guess he's too much of a coward to act on his beliefs by now, is he? A pity. Your reckless bravery was always your better feature. That is, until you showed your true colors and left me in that cave to rot…"

Sokka's eyes widened. Rhone lifted a hand towards a large hilt on his back, and Sokka watched aghast as Rhone withdrew his dadao sword from his hilt. No, they weren't here to talk after all. They were here so… so Rhone would take his revenge on him, it seemed? Sokka cringed. He didn't want to make excuses for himself, for the things he had done… but he hadn't left Rhone to rot in that cave. The cave-in had been an accident, utterly unforeseen, and it hadn't been his fault that his friend had lagged behind. And as Azula had told him, if he hadn't found help, Rhone would have certainly died…

As he took in the sight of the furious man before him, with his sword in tow, he realized that it had been too late: he hadn't saved the six-year-old Rhone after all.

The boy he had known as Rhone had died in that cave, leaving only this murderous wretch in his place.

"Maybe I really shouldn't have gotten anyone to help you" he growled, his eyes darkening as he reached for his sword as well. The cruelty with which he uttered those words was just as sharp as his blade, but he was far past the point of caring about Rhone's feelings by then "To think I had them save your life just to condemn everyone else in your stead… maybe letting you die would have been the wiser choice"

"So much for lifelong friends" said Rhone, a mix between contempt and a smirk in his face "I suppose it's better that way, though. Who needs a traitor as a friend anyway?"

"That should be my line, you bastard" Sokka growled. Rhone actually barked out with laughter once.

"You'd wish it were, Blue Wolf. You'd wish!"

That his enemy would be so fast startled Sokka. It seemed agility wouldn't be the way to beat Rhone, for he was ridiculously quick for such a large man. Sokka cringed and swung his sword forward, parrying the opponent's attack with difficulty as Rhone put his entire weight behind the blow.

Rhone slid the blade down to Space Sword's hilt, in an attempt to unbalance Sokka, but the Blue Wolf used the opportunity to twirl their swords down and readied himself to kick Rhone…

A stab of pain on his leg made him lose his footing. Rhone had kicked first.

Sokka jumped back, and the large dadao whistled as it swung vertically, just where Sokka's head had been brief moments earlier. He knew Rhone wouldn't give him any respite, the man's aggressiveness had established that, but even so, he hadn't expected him to be so fast, so ruthless… he had to keep up somehow. He had no choice but to do so. His very life hinged on it.

And unlike how it had been in his early days as a gladiator, he wasn't going to face Rhone hoping he'd deliver the death he was certain he deserved. To this day he wasn't sure if he deserved to live, though he was still sure he didn't deserve to do so at the expenses of the lives he had taken. But he was alive, alright. He was alive, and he had to fight wars bigger than this scuffle with Rhone. He had a reason to live, and someone who expected him to survive. Someone who wanted him by her side, no matter what.

He refused to let her down.

When Rhone lashed forth again, Sokka feinted another step backwards. His opponent swung his sword back, expecting to have enough time to add power to his new attack, but he didn't foresee Sokka jumping forward barely an instant after stepping back. Rhone was forced to spin to evade Sokka's stab, but in doing so he swung his sword down on Sokka either way. His armor took the blow, a powerful vibration making Sokka's entire body tremble as he scrambled out of the way.

He breathed heavily as he prepared himself for more fighting, knowing he couldn't let Rhone have another chance to reach him with his attacks. The man was ruthless, and Sokka had been saved by luck. Had he been any slower, the sword could have cut cleanly through his neck and…

… He shook his head as he eyed Rhone with disbelief. The man snarled at him, his sword tightly gripped. How had it come to this? Of all the things he had ever expected, of every possible reunion he could have imagined…

"Having second thoughts about fighting me all of sudden?" Rhone asked, reading through Sokka easily "Scared because you know I'll kill you?"

"Aghast because I realize you really would" said Sokka, shaking his head "You really would, even though… even though we were friends once. But if you could murder your parents, I guess killing an old friend is barely a warmup for you"

"We were brats" Rhone said, lifting his sword again "I thought I understood you, that we believed the same things, and yet…!"

"I thought the same, damn it!" Sokka shouted "I thought…! I thought you were anything but what you've become! And yet you can't see that just as you have your reasons to be disappointed in me, I have mine to be disappointed in you?!"

"You understand nothing! Nothing of what I've been through, nothing of what I've had to do!" Rhone bellowed "You've just gone and taken the easy way out, clung onto someone who could give you the easy life and turned your back on everything you once believed in! What right would you have to be disappointed after all that?!"

"Funny thing is, I'm a coward, going by how you see it" Sokka said, with a bark of disbelieving laughter "Maybe that's what I am! But you? You're a bloody madman who thinks he had every right to commit the crimes he did, and now you act like my cowardice has cost the lives even your madness didn't? Like I'm worse than you?!"

"I may have killed them. My parents, the firebenders, all of them" Rhone snapped "But you've sold out the Tribes! You've…!"

"I've saved them, you thick-skulled, loud-mouthed psycho!" Sokka yelled "But I guess for someone like you there's just no difference between both things, right?! You probably think you did best by your parents by killing them, after all, so…!"

"I did best to kill them by you!" Rhone shouted. Sokka froze "I did it… I did it for your family! For our Tribe! For your loss! But then the next thing I knew, oh, the next thing I knew… my friend, my good friend, whom I was willing to forgive after what happened in that cave, was now sleazing around behind that pretentious bitch, feeding off her hand, playing her games and…!"

The flash of blue was so fast Rhone hardly had time to parry the boomerang with his sword. Before he knew it Sokka had dashed forth, his sword in tow, his eyes sharpened by wrath. Rhone braced himself, slightly aghast to find Sokka reacting so explosively upon hearing him speak of his sponsor as he had. She really had taken over his friend, hadn't she…?

The rage fueling Sokka now was beyond control, it seemed, for he swung Space sword at full speed, aiming at Rhone's hilt. With all the power he could use to back his attack, he swept down on the weapon… and as it had happened with others before it, the metal gave way under the sharp edge of Sokka's sword. Rhone lost his blade.

Rhone lifted his free hand to his waist, reaching for a Water Tribe makeshift knife, but it was too late for him to evade Sokka's stab this time. The black sword slid cleanly through his thigh, a shot of pain bursting in his skin as blood coated Space Sword.

Rhone slammed the shattered hilt of his broken dadao blade into Sokka's face, forcing him to fall back as the blunt blow struck him on the cheekbone. Sokka stumbled back, gripping Space Sword tightly still, his free hand reaching to touch the promised bruise that would sprout over his face. Well, he sure would look dashing now…

Yet he knew he had delivered more damage to Rhone. He knew it, for Space Sword had sunk deep inside his opponent's leg, and there was no way he could recover from that without…

Sokka's eyes widened as he watched Rhone roar angrily and step forward, regardless of the pain.

The man was mental. There were no doubts left in Sokka's mind as Rhone steeled himself, gathering his strength as he stood his ground. Was he seriously going to keep moving and fighting despite his muscle had been pierced? What on earth was he doing as he roared as he did?

After groaning with anger one last time he lifted his gaze again. The blue eyes, cold as they had been, now looked darker than before. His snarl grew less pronounced, and Sokka noticed he made efforts to breathe evenly… was he trying to regulate his body into functioning despite the wound? That couldn't possibly work, could it?

When he leapt at Sokka again while hardly wincing under the pain of the wound, Sokka's convictions about Rhone shook again. No doubt the man was insane, but… how was he doing this? Was it the rush of fighting that kept him going? Did his injuries make him stronger somehow? Whatever it was, it was terrifying to watch him rush at him in blind rage, bleeding out through his leg as he was.

Sokka parried the knife's attack, but Rhone pulled out another knife, now of Earth Kingdom making, and made to stab Sokka's forearm. The Blue Wolf's quick movement avoided an injury, but he couldn't foresee the kick that struck him in the stomach next, distracted by the blades as he had been.

He swung Space Sword clumsily towards Rhone's outstretched leg, but naturally, Rhone pulled back and dashed forth again as soon as the threat was gone. Sokka shrunk on his frame, barrel-rolling towards Rhone's legs, but to his disbelief, Rhone leapt over him despite his wound. What was it with that man? Was he even human? How could he still move, jump, run, attack with such a deep wound in his leg?

Sokka decided to stop pondering the question. Whether it made sense or not, it was happening anyways. He had met people with unbelievable skills in the Arena before, this wasn't all that strange…

Besides, with that wound in mind, he had to be winning. There was no way the judges would give Rhone the victory if Sokka kept up like this.

His barrel-roll landed him right next to his boomerang. He tossed it at Rhone again, hoping to strike a chi point, but Rhone heard the weapon whistling in the wind. He ducked and evaded it, stretching out both his knives as he readied himself both for Sokka and for the return of the boomerang. Sokka gritted his teeth and jumped forward.

The boomerang rebounded on Rhone's knife, and Sokka caught it in mid-air before slamming his sword down on Rhone's other weapon. The Kinslayer sought to stab Sokka, and he parried the attack with his boomerang now. Another attempt, now by pushing Space Sword back, and another stab at Sokka's chest… Sokka blocked it with difficulty, hesitating to cut through Rhone's arm as he had with his leg. He couldn't do it. He couldn't maim his friend irreparably as he had with previous opponents, regardless of everything he'd said and done…

It wasn't that he didn't deserve it, or that Sokka cared too much about him still to damage him so badly… but maybe he did care enough to think that this couldn't be the way to resolve this. Rhone resented him over what had happened in the cave, he'd said. He believed Sokka had left him to rot, that Sokka was a coward…

But he had claimed he had murdered his parents for Sokka's sake. Either Rhone was digressing and making associations that made no sense whatsoever, or Sokka lacked information that Rhone hadn't deemed worth sharing with him. How had the death of his parents had anything to do with Sokka? What had his parents possibly done to convince Rhone that, to help him, the only option was to kill them?

There was no sense in any of it. As Rhone's knives crashed against Sokka's weapons repeatedly, he could only stare into the glare of his opponent and struggle hopelessly to discover the truth behind all the truths he refused to reveal. There was nothing Rhone could do or say to change Sokka's opinion about his murders, but there was an even more disturbing element in them if Rhone had claimed to commit them for Sokka's sake somehow.

Rhone attempted to knock Sokka off his feet again, but the Blue Wolf remained steady where he stood. He pushed Rhone mightily, but his opponent's large frame made it hard for Sokka to push him further than a single step back. He cringed as he readied himself for Rhone's upcoming assault, turning his sword slightly so that it would slide through Rhone's knife cleanly.

Rhone's reflexes were extraordinary. Any other man would have fallen face-first into Space Sword's sharp edge, but once the knife was cut he moved away quickly to avoid another injury by the sword. Only this time, instead of slamming the hilt of his broken blade into Sokka's face, he stabbed him with the remnants of the metal, in the inner side of his elbow.

Sokka shouted before kicking Rhone away unsuccessfully. The blade remained lodged where it was, and Rhone attempted to make it sink lower still. Sokka had to drop Space Sword, most regretfully, for his arm hurt too much to keep it held as he had it. He roared and, instead of pulling away as he had at first, he jumped forth and slammed his head against Rhone's face. It was what it took to make him stop twisting that damned knife into his open wound.

Sokka pulled out the knife's remnants, the blood trickling down his arm. He huffed and breathed heavily, staring at the weapon in sheer horror. He only hoped it hadn't been laced with poison of any kind, or else he was certain to have a very unpleasant death in no time. His right arm was as good as useless right now.

Rhone jumped to his feet, ready to defend himself. The headbutt had taken him off-base, but he should have known better. Sokka was far more disciplined and powerful than he remembered him – time had changed his former friend in far too many ways –, but he was still as unpredictable as he had been in his childhood. There was nothing for Rhone to do but to try to prepare for him, albeit he knew that Sokka was certain to take him by surprise whenever he found a chance to do so. He simply needed to avoid giving him that chance.

Despite his attempt to nullify the pain in his leg, Rhone's movements had been slowed. It was hard for him not to realize what this fight would result in if it were up to Sokka and his ridiculously sharp sword. His old friend had developed power and skills beyond Rhone's expectations, despite he had prepared for this all the same. He had no doubt he was superior to Sokka in terms of physical strength, but that wretched sword… as long as Sokka kept using it, Rhone was in danger of losing the weapons he had left. He couldn't let that happen, or this challenge would go sideways completely. He had a mission to finish.

Sokka gasped and put away his boomerang for the time being. He couldn't possibly use his two weapons in the sorry state his right arm was in right now. He had to resort to his left arm only, and fortunately he could use it after all. He frowned as he studied Rhone carefully. He'd jump to attack him at any given moment, for certain. But he'd want to attempt a feint, in order to reach Sokka more effectively once he'd fallen or the ruse. Yet he couldn't possibly feint to his left, with his leg torn open as it was. As soon as Rhone tried to feint, it'd be Sokka's chance to strike him.

His prediction came true soon enough, and the snarling man came rushing at him, but now with an unexpected weapon in his hands. Sokka's eyes widened as he laid eyes on what could only be a metal boomerang. Could that thing soar through the air as intended? When Rhone cast it with a powerful toss, he realized it could. Sokka dodged the boomerang's first lap, knowing the second would come soon, but also knowing Rhone was going to attack him before it reached him. He braced himself, lifting Space Sword with his left hand while calculating the boomerang's trajectory in his mind. If he jumped to the right he'd avoid it, for certain.

He parried another projectile Rhone tossed at him, the remnants of his broken sword, and he jumped as intended to evade the boomerang. Rhone caught it, rushing out to slam it into Sokka's sword, but Sokka dodged him. If he wasn't going to feint attack at all, then it'd be up to Sokka to finish Rhone off now.

He lunged forward, ready to stab through Rhone's other leg, the one he'd need to support his weight on…

The leg shifted. Sokka's eyes widened. Rhone had changed his weight, supporting himself on his wounded leg instead…?

He only had a brief moment to understand what had happened before blazing, blinding pain sprung on his back.

He shouted as he collapsed, the pain rendering his legs useless. What on earth had happened? What had Rhone done to him? How had he hurt him so badly, how had he changed his leg's weight when he wasn't supposed to be able to do that…?

Whatever Rhone had done was still hurting him, though… He reached back with his functional hand, releasing his sword in the process, to find the metal boomerang had been lodged into his lower back, right next to his spine, hardly above his waist bone. He cringed as he removed it, and he tossed it back just as he heard Rhone approaching. He could see from over his shoulder that Rhone had to duck after the projectile flew faster at him than he had anticipated.

The metal boomerang soared and fell right outside the ring, the throw too lousy for it to return to the man who had cast it. Rhone didn't seem to mind, though. He approached Sokka menacingly, the remnants of his dadao in his hand still. Sokka's eyes widened.

His only good hand was his only hope. There was only one thing he could do at this point, pitiful as it was, but with useless legs and a wounded arm he was never going to win either way. He had done well in the fight, until now. He still couldn't feel his legs, and he cringed and berated himself for his failure to fend off the enemy as he started crawling with difficulty. His arm's muscles tensed up as he used it to push his entire body away from Rhone, away from that broken sword that would no doubt cut through his back again, his head, his neck, anywhere Rhone could reach if he could get away with it. He couldn't give him that chance. Cowardly as it might be, shameful as it was, he couldn't let Rhone kill him. He simply couldn't…

"Well, that's a sight. You, writhing on the ground like this…" he heard Rhone saying "I never thought the day would come, and yet here it is… and I mean to bask in it, if you don't mind"

"Y-you're… y-you're insane…" Sokka groaned, clutching at the ashes and pushing himself more desperately. Rhone let out a low laugh.

"And you're dead" he said, as Sokka continued to crawl, clasping a fistful of grass and using it to push himself further "This is as far as you'll get, Blue Wolf"

Sokka didn't care for his words. He'd made it. He was there by now. He had done as he'd been told, and he was already out of the ash, so…

"The fight is over!"

The judge's declaration almost made him smile, but when he let himself glance over his shoulder again he found, to his horror, that Rhone hadn't heard the man. Or if he had, he simply did not care. He stood hardly a few feet away from Sokka, and he raised his dadao, his blue eyes gleaming with coldness.

The fight was over. It was over. He couldn't just… he couldn't. There was no way he'd do it, he'd already won, he'd…

Rhone hadn't come here to play by the rules, though. Sokka's mouth contorted into a snarl. The bastard would kill him, regardless of what it might cost him in the long run. He would kill Sokka, and surely he would sleep like a baby afterwards, that is, if he survived long enough to sleep again. He would kill Sokka, whether with a broken blade, his bare fists, or with kicks, or with any possible means he could find to do it.

And the only word that repeated itself in Sokka's mind was why. Why had it come to this? Why had his friend become what he had? Why was Rhone taking out all his rage on him? Why had everything become so twisted, so sickening, so…

He cringed as Rhone held up the broken sword, and Sokka closed his eyes just before feeling an unexpected brush of heat near him.

Rhone jumped back, and Sokka opened his eyes again to find blue blazes dancing between him and his opponent. Blue blazes that disappeared eventually, only to be replaced by the only person who could bend them.

Azula stood before Sokka, her fingers stretched out after casting a fire blast to keep the murderous gladiator away from Sokka. It had worked, for Rhone had put distance between her and him as soon as he realized someone else had joined them in the ring.

Sokka's eyes widened as he looked at her in terror. She shouldn't be there. She had to get back to the stands, away from Rhone, out of his sight. The bastard would kill her too if he had the chance, and even if Azula scorched the skin off his bones he would still keep rushing forward, relentlessly forward, in his attempt to destroy her, just as he had with Sokka…

"A-Azula, n-no…" Sokka gasped, but the Princess didn't hear him.

Her eyes glowered with fury, the coldness in them matching Rhone's, but unlike him, she wasn't confused and surprised. There was something lethal in her eyes, something Rhone could recognize easily: it was the same cruel steel he bore in his own.

"Lift that sorry blade of yours one more time, and it's the last thing you'll ever do" she vowed, her voice soft yet threatening all the same.

She defied him with her gaze, but Rhone was still frozen in place, staring at her and Sokka with confusion.

"T-the fight has ended…" said someone else, from the stands. Rhone's eyes darted towards them, realizing it was his sponsor who spoke "It's over. He's… he's out of the ring. We've won"

Rhone snarled with irritation. He glared at Sokka, feeling a powerful urge to spit at him, to throw his hilt at him, to show just how worthless he truly was in his eyes.

"You'd rather roll out of the ring like a coward than fight to the death" he said "I guess the Fire Nation has rubbed off on you after all, huh?"

He glared at Azula as he finished his sentence. Azula's own scowl grew sharper. If he gave her one more reason, she would do it. She didn't give a damn if Sokka would never forgive her, but she would finish that rotten scumbag off if he kept provoking her. She was already at her limit – in fact, her limit was long broken by now –, but he didn't seem to lay off yet. He stared at her with insolence, and she couldn't help but wonder if all Southern Water Tribesmen were defiant like that. But where she could find it endearing with Sokka more often than not, despite how irritating it could be at times, with Rhone she felt her most vicious instincts clawing at her, begging her to fight him now that her gladiator was unable to. Begging her to finish him off, because there was no way a man like that should be allowed to live…

Yet Rhone shook his head, walking backwards, but towards his sponsor all the same. He didn't take his eyes off Azula, enraged by her interruption and wary of what she'd do if he turned his back on her. He hadn't expected her to do it, but the fact that she had come to Sokka's rescue only fueled his wrath further. Why was she saving her puppet slave anyways? Was it too bothersome to find a new one, by any chance? She held his glare with hers, though, her fingers still threatening to bend in his direction if he made the slightest misstep towards Sokka again. But he didn't. All he did was glare at them with contempt, as his sponsor, already holding the money he'd earned from the fight, ushered him to leave the Arena with him.

Azula didn't lower her hand until Rhone finally turned his back on them, already outside the Ring of Ash's premises. By then she turned too, kneeling beside Sokka, who was gasping with difficulty as staff members rushed to him, along with Governor Kuan and Blazing Strike.

"It's not that deep a wound, it seems!" said the woman who led the team of physicians from the Arena, after inspecting Sokka's lower back "But we need to tend to him elsewhere, someplace better than…"

"My house!" Governor Kuan suggested "It's not far, I have a carriage, you can start tending to him there…"

"You'll be alright, Sokka" Azula whispered, trying not to sound as uncertain as she felt. The injury to his back had made her anxious as soon as Rhone's hit had landed there, and the physician's initial report hadn't appeased her too much just yet "Come on, can you stand?"

"I… I don't think so …" he groaned, his free hand reaching out for her "A-are you…? Y-you're… you're okay, right…? H-he didn't…?"

"I'm not the one we should be worrying about right now, Sokka. He's gone" said Azula, leaning down to help him up. He cringed "Please, Sokka…"

Blazing Strike leaned down to help too, but it wasn't until the physicians showed up with a stretcher that they were able to move him at all. They lifted him quickly, headed for Kuan's carriage right away. Only two physicians followed them, and Kuan assured Azula he would call his most trustworthy medics to help tend to her gladiator. Azula could only thank him for it with a nod, her face pale as she watched the two physicians trying to slow down Sokka's bleeding.

She had watched the fight with unease from the start, feeling an urge to intervene that she hadn't since Sokka's first fights. The urge had been stronger than ever, in fact. Sokka hadn't done a poor job, but he had fought as he always did, and a madman like Rhone had demanded a lot more force to be stopped.

Despite Sokka's ruthlessness once Rhone had provoked him enough, Azula knew he had never considered killing his former friend, or maiming him in the way he had with the Stingray. If he had, perhaps he could have dealt enough significant damage to slow down his enemy… but whatever softness Sokka still felt for the man had stayed his hand, she had no doubts about it. He could have won, but only through murder… and she knew Sokka didn't want to kill anyone else, ever again. Even in circumstances as ruthless as today's, he couldn't do it. He refused to. And all Azula could gather from this was that his refusal could easily signify his death if anything like this happened again…

She felt the urge to touch him, as she watched him languishing on his stomach at the opposite end of the carriage. To clasp his hand, to feel him with her. She had intervened just in time, and only upon realizing that Rhone wouldn't stop until Sokka was dead. She had broken no rules, and he had survived… but his wounds worried her beyond belief. It was clear he was in a world of pain, even if not as bad as after his first fight with Toph, but… but even if he had taken only two dangerous wounds and a few bruises, they had been far more painful and damaging than most he had received until now.

Sokka was carried into the house immediately, and it took no time for Kuan's doctors to arrive. Sokka was carried to the nearest available room and the physicians got to work with him immediately, to stop the blood loss as quickly as possible. All the while Azula stayed in the room, cringing with each of Sokka's cries of pain as they treated him. And all the while she mentally cursed Rhone in every way she could, loathing him for all the damage he had wrought upon Sokka, in all the senses he had damaged him. She cursed herself, too… for she had told Sokka to do this. She had suggested they try it, thinking Sokka couldn't possibly be beaten by a newcomer even if he was a known murderer.

All things considered, Sokka had done his job the way it was expected of him. Combat-wise he was talented beyond reproach, in ways Rhone surely could only envy him for. Sokka's weapons outdid those of his opponent, too. But Rhone… the more Azula thought of it, the less sense she could make of the man. He had kept fighting, despite sustaining a hideous injury to his thigh. An injury like that would have hindered any normal person, yet it had hardly damaged him initially, and, if anything, it had only fueled the man's bloodlust. His fighting style wasn't that extraordinary indeed, despite he was a powerful fighter: but he was driven to the point of being self-destructive. He had attacked Sokka relentlessly, delivered damage despite having received awful wounds of his own, and he hadn't stopped fighting until she had threatened him as she had. She had genuinely expected him not to stop at all even then.

She raised her eyes, watching as the medics stitched Sokka's wounds carefully. Her heart lurched at the sight, but she did her best to withhold her emotions. She couldn't let them pour out of her right now. It wasn't the end of the world, it was just… it was just another fight. Just two more scars. Just more reasons for Sokka's spirit to shatter…

She gritted her teeth at the last thoughts. It hadn't been just a fight for Sokka, and because it hadn't been just a fight for him, it hadn't been just one for her. She knew she had to stand by him after this, whatever that meant. It was his job to fight for her, and her job to keep him together despite the horrors they had faced. It'd be no different this time around either, surely, regardless of the emotional component involved in today's crisis… right?

"He will be fine, as long as someone tends to him frequently" the lead medic told Azula, once they had finished the treatment, about half an hour later "The damage to his back wasn't quite as dangerous as it might have seemed. It will take around a month for him to make a full recovery, though, and only if he's properly cared of. The recommendation would be…"

"No fights in the foreseeable future. But he'll still be able to fight eventually, right?" Azula asked "He'll walk again?"

"Yes, of course" said the physician "It will take some time, but he's not in any danger of losing the mobility of his limbs. He moved them at times as we tended to him, so…"

"Good" said Azula, nodding.

"He will be fine in due time, Princess" said the man, bowing down to Azula. She swallowed hard and nodded again.

"Thank you. Your hard work is quite appreciated" she said.

The physicians took their leave, as Azula knew she and Sokka would have to in due time. She had no intentions to stay in Fire Fountain City much longer. She knew Sokka had been looked after properly, his wounds cleansed and bandaged, but she still felt a lot more reassured when Song, or the Palace's physicians, tended to her gladiator. She would see to it that they'd be on her Barge by tonight, on their way back to the Capital.

"Is everything alright?" Kuan asked, as he and Blazing Strike entered the room when the physicians left. Azula breathed out and nodded softly, glancing at Sokka's limp figure on the bed.

"He's resting now" she whispered "They say he'll be alright if he's given proper care, so…"

"You'll be heading off soon" Blazing Strike finished. Azula nodded again.

"I'll let him rest for now, I think, but only until my guards come back to help me bring him to the Barge" she said. Kuan nodded.

"I'll send a servant to fetch them" he said "In the meantime, if you'd like, there's tea downstairs… if you'd like, of course. I know that it might not be the best moment for it, but sometimes it can be soothing…"

Azula breathed out again. She bit her lip, uncertain if she wanted to drink any tea whatsoever… but perhaps a hot beverage would help her feel less cold and anguished. So she nodded.

"I'll be downstairs soon. I just want to… stay here for a few minutes, if that's alright" she whispered. Kuan smiled and nodded.

"Of course, Princess. Come down when you wish to" he said.

The unpleasant sensation of being preyed upon by Kuan and his family had disappeared by now. Azula didn't know if it was actually gone, or if she had become less perceptive of it, despairing over Sokka's wellbeing as she was, but she didn't feel quite as uneasy around them right now as she had the previous day. The man was, if nothing else, kind-hearted and generous. Most unlike his son, she noted, as Kuan and Blazing Strike left the room, closing the door behind them and leaving Azula and Sokka to themselves.

She hesitated briefly, just in case anyone entered the room again. Once she heard all footsteps fading away she breathed deeply and approached the bed where Sokka lay, face-down, his upper body exposed and bandaged, just like his right arm.

Azula pulled up a nearby chair, taking her seat beside him. Sokka's eyes were closed, his hair had fallen out of its usual ponytail, despite the hair tie was still dangling on a few of his hair strands. She moved a hand towards it slowly, caressing the back of his neck before removing it, freeing his hair completely. He sighed, his tense face seemingly relaxing under her touch.

"How bad is it?" he asked. Azula bit her lip.

"Could be worse" she said "They say you should be able to recover fully in due time. So… we're back to the irksome recoveries you hate so much"

"Two new scars, huh?" he whispered "Here I was hoping I'd avoid getting more of those, but I guess not…"

"Just think of how manly they make you look and stop worrying" she said, with a small smile. Sokka crooked an eyebrow.

"Heh, really?" he said "Here I thought there'd be nothing handsome about a guy who looks like he's been patched together too many times to keep track…"

"Well, you thought wrong" said Azula, stretching a hand to stroke his cheek gently, careful not to touch his bruise "It's going to take more than a thousand scars to make you any less handsome, from the looks of it"

To her relief, he actually smiled at that. His eyes softened as he looked at her, and he seemed to relish in the touch of her hand.

"He… h-he didn't get you at all, did he?" he asked. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"If you're wondering if he so much as tried to touch me, no, he didn't" she said "If he had, I… I would have likely done something you'd never forgive me for, but frankly, I was far too enraged to control myself at the time. I… I really…"

"Can't blame you" said Sokka, sighing "I wasted chances. So many of them. I just… I couldn't do it. I couldn't do what I did to the Stingray, even though I did have the opportunity for it…"

"He was your friend once. We all have weaknesses" Azula said. Sokka snorted.

"He doesn't, apparently. The freak" he said, huffing and shaking his head "I can't believe he's really that mental. It's… it's beyond my understanding"

"I'm sorry" Azula said, sighing and lowering her head "It was probably better for you to never discover this side of him, but I… I told you we ought to do this, and this was the result. I…"

"It's not your fault, Azula. I agreed with you, remember?" he said "I wanted to know the truth. I did, I just… was blinded by my foolish hopefulness. The story was so unbelievable that I was sure it couldn't be real. I still… I still don't understand how it is, but somehow I just don't want to know either way. I just… I want to stay away from him for as long as I can. I don't want anything else to do with this…"

"You won't" said Azula, stroking his hair now "We'll be back in the Barge, and off to the Capital, by evening. And we'll never accept any other of his wretched challenges either way"

"Good" said Sokka, sighing "I… I really panicked when you jumped in, you know? You weren't supposed to do that…"

"The fight was officially over" said Azula "And I'd be damned if I'd let that bastard touch so much as another hair from your head. I broke no rules by intervening when I did, so if that's what you're worried about…"

"I was worried he'd… he'd do something to you" Sokka said. Azula raised an eyebrow "Not saying you're not stronger than him, you are, it's just… you saw how he was barely affected after getting his damn thigh torn open. He's a madman"

"You thought that if I electrocuted him he'd still walk later?" Azula asked. Sokka shrugged "Well, I was prepared to find out if he hadn't desisted. Fortunately, he decided to listen to his sponsor, despite I was starting to dread he wouldn't"

"Did the sponsor seem to be… anyone of note?" Sokka asked "I mean, I know now that he didn't really get manipulated into this or anything, but… I'd rather make sure we can disprove all our theories, you know"

"He seemed positively ordinary" said Azula "Like many sponsors of madmen, he seemed scared of his own fighter. He wasn't polite at all, and if anything, I thought it looked like… like Rhone is the one who's commanding him, so to say. The sponsor felt like more of a slave than the gladiator"

"Not that weird" said Sokka "He could just be some poor soul Rhone forced into becoming his sponsor. All so he could… take me out, I guess? I wonder if… if he'll keep trying"

"Well, he's not going to succeed, that's for certain" said Azula "We'll be out of here before he knows it, and you'll be fully healthy long before he can secure passage to the Capital. He won't have a chance to hurt you, in the ring or outside it. And the spirits may witness me, if he so much as dares try while you're outside the ring…"

Sokka smiled, despite he knew all too well what Azula was trying very hard not to say. She glared sideways at the door, as if Rhone was standing there and she could murder him with her eyes and nothing more. With some difficulty, he moved his hand towards her, and took Azula by surprise when his fingers wrapped around hers, regardless of the bandages limiting his movements.

"I never thought I'd feel at ease upon hearing you swear you'll kill my first friend, but somehow life can take some pretty funny spins, huh?" he said "It's absurd, but… he was my friend, someone who I never expected to have as my enemy, and yet here he was, trying to murder me while the woman who embodies everything I once claimed to hate defends me ferociously. It's… it's ironic, weird, but… but I have to say I'm not really sorry for it. If anything, I'm proud I'm no longer like him. I'm…"

"You're a better man than he could ever hope to be" Azula whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to the side of his face.

"If you say so, but… but he really hates you" Sokka said, frowning. Azula snorted.

"What a shocker that is, isn't it?"

"It's not a surprise, it's just… whenever he said a single word against you I just wanted to run him through with Space Sword, chop his head off, anything to stop him from so much as laying eyes on you" said Sokka "The way he spoke, I… I knew he meant to hurt you if he got the chance to do it. What I mean is, he's not just after me. He's…"

"He's a big ball of burning hatred and revenge, seems like" said Azula "He probably wanted to be left to die in that cave indeed, I suppose, so now he takes revenge on you for that. And since I corrupted you as I did, despite he apparently hates you for other reasons, he wants my head too. But… but we both know that's never going to happen, don't we?"

"That he'll get your head? Like hell he will" said Sokka, with a smile "We'll make sure of it"

"I meant that he's never going to get to either one of us, not just me" said Azula, smiling too and rubbing his fingers with her thumb "We are the greatest combination of gladiator and sponsor, aren't we?"

"And we will fight for each other to the very end" said Sokka, closing his eyes "He'll end up with worse than a hole running through his leg if he ever tries anything on you"

"Or worse than a lightning blast to the head if he tries anything on you" she said "He'd better stay away from us if he knows what's good for him"

"Yeah. He should be smart enough to know that" said Sokka, sighing as Azula leaned close, kissing the corner of his mouth gently.

"Rest now. We'll take you to the Barge as soon as my guards get here" she said. Sokka hummed.

"Will you lie down with me until then?" he asked, with a goofy grin. She smiled.

"I wish I could. I'll sneak into your cabin on our way home, though. I promise" she said, kissing the top of his head now. Sokka chuckled.

"I understand if you can't. Not like I'll make good company tonight, will I?" he said. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"You think a few wounds would deter me at all?" she asked, teasingly "I'll do whatever I want to you, gladiator, whether you're in shape for it or not"

"Ouch. That sounds dangerous" said Sokka, and Azula smiled.

"Just sleep, silly" she said "We'll figure this out later. And… you'll still be good company, even if all I can do is tickle your left armpit"

"Damn, please don't do that…" he said, with amusement "I can't return the favor, so…"

"Well, now, that's precisely why I'd want to do it" said Azula, smirking. She brushed his hair with her fingers before pressing another kiss to his face, now to his eyebrow "Sleep. I love you. I'll see you again in a minute, alright?"

"Alright…" said Sokka, breathing out slowly but smiling anyways "I love you too. Thanks… thanks for interfering earlier. You keep saving my life, hehe…"

"I'll do it as often as I need to. Whether the rules allow me to do so or not" she said, as he lifted his head towards her with difficulty.

He kissed her weakly, but they both had needed to do it quite direly. It was uplifting to share a moment of tenderness, despite how fragile Sokka was right now. Azula smiled sweetly at him, stroking his hand one last time before standing up.

She extended her gratitude to Kuan's family once she went downstairs to drink tea with them. To her relief, they were worried enough about her gladiator's condition to set aside their own agenda. They let her know she was free to stay for as long as she pleased, but Azula didn't feel safe despite their best efforts. Even if they meant her no harm, and she guessed they didn't, she refused to risk keeping Sokka within the same city as that lunatic for longer than strictly necessary.

It was already afternoon by the time the guards arrived in a large enough carriage to fit Sokka on his stretcher. Azula was sure she heard Sokka apologize for the trouble as they carried him off, but the carriage door was shut before she could hear properly. Rui Shi had remained behind with her, and he placed a hand on her shoulder as she watched the rest of her guards taking Sokka away.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her. Azula sighed.

"I'm trying to keep my head level, but it's not easy. It never has been, there's no denying it, whenever he got hurt I'd always…" she said, biting her lip before shaking her head "He'll be fine. I just… have to get him to Song. He's going to be fine"

"He will be. He's taken worse than this, hasn't he?" Rui Shi said. Azula shrugged.

"All things considered, he certainly has. But… I just wish he didn't have to take any worse altogether. Still, I have no right to complain, do I? I'm the one who threw him into this, so I reap what I sow. I have to accept it, take responsibility, see to it that he heals… and send him off again into the next fight, whenever that may be"

"And you're okay with that?" Rui Shi asked "Things aren't the way they used to be, Princess. And…"

"And they're supposed to be" Azula stated "I can't stop now, even if every wound he takes makes me wish it were me in the fighting pit instead of him. As I am, all I can do is keep helping him become stronger, in hopes that he'll take less wounds with every new fight. That's all I can do as I am"

Rui Shi sighed, dropping his hand as he watched his charge with worried eyes. He knew Sokka's wellbeing always affected Azula's, for she never took well to the damage he might receive in the fighting pit. But now that they were together it seemed it would be worse yet for Azula, and despite his concerns, he had no idea how to help her with this.

So he did nothing more than stand by her side, and watch over her as she watched over her gladiator. The journey back to the Capital carried an unusual sense of defeat to it, for never before had the Princess returned from a trip with such discouraging results. Nevertheless, she would bear with it. She kept her head held high, and she seemed to relax slightly once they were far enough from Fire Fountain City. Her anxiety was appeased just by leaving Rhone behind in that island.

The guards helped her carry Sokka to his house the next day. They arrived by morning, and they surprised Song when she heard knocking on the door. Her nervousness upon seeing Rui Shi changed quickly into chagrin once she noticed they were carrying Sokka face-down on a stretcher.

"What on earth…?" she asked, as Azula entered the house behind them. She gave Song an apologetic look.

"Things didn't go so well" she whispered "You'll have to look at him to make sure he's healing well… I was told his injuries weren't too serious, but I'd rather you confirm it as soon as possible"

"He lost, then?" Song asked, grimacing "How is he feeling?"

"Not as bad as I feared. He made a few jokes on his way here" said Azula, as she and Song climbed the stairs after her guards "But the injury is on his lower back, and it hinders his mobility a lot. So far I've made sure he makes no attempts to stand up, despite he's complaining about being bored of lying on his stomach, but…"

"Typical Sokka" said Song, smiling as they entered his room. The guards were struggling to unload him on his bed, and Sokka groaned and cringed whenever there was any pressure on his wounds.

It didn't take them long to set him down on the bed, but for Sokka it felt like ages. He couldn't stand being so helpless, especially like this. His legs felt like they were permanently chi-blocked, and he found there were few sensations as unpleasant as that…

"Thank you" said Azula, nodding at the guards, and they bowed at her. Song breathed deeply.

"I'll get my gear. I should look at him immediately" she said, dashing away to her room quickly.

"Should we wait for you downstairs, Princess?" Taro asked her. Azula shook her head.

"Feel free to head home. My dragon can carry me back later" she said. The men bowed at her one more time before filing out into the hallway.

Rui Shi stopped by Song's door, despite himself. A powerful urge compelled him to talk to her and settle whatever complications had arisen between them in the past weeks, complications he wasn't sure he understood to begin with, but he refrained from doing so. The gladiator needed tending to, after all… and he wasn't quite ready to be fully rejected by the first girl he'd grown romantically interested in.

For her distance could only imply that, couldn't it? Despite they'd had a great day together, she had withdrawn and avoided him constantly ever since. It could mean she had remembered her aversion towards Fire Nation soldiers, or that she didn't want a relationship right now, or that she simply wasn't interested in him…

Or that there was a reason beyond his understanding why she didn't feel they should start a relationship. He frowned as he pondered the events of that night again, as he walked down the stairs. Azula and Sokka had fought terribly that day, from what he'd heard, but they were back to normal only on the next one, as attached as ever, as though nothing had happened at all. The more he thought of it, the more uncomfortable he felt…

Song expected the guards to stay in Sokka's room, or at least, for Rui Shi to do so. When she found otherwise she felt her heart sink, for she had guessed they would finally talk today. It seemed it wasn't going to happen, though: only the Princess remained in the room, helping Sokka shed his shirt so Song could look at the wounds concealed by his bandages.

"Oh…" said Song, swallowing hard as Azula undid the fabrics and pulled them off Sokka's body. Sokka huffed, holding his body up with his good arm before collapsing again on the mattress.

"It's a bad injury, but… not that bad, right?" Azula asked, looking at Song almost pleadingly. Until she agreed with that, Azula's anxiety wouldn't be appeased.

Song approached, studying the stitched wound more closely.

"It's a great stitching job, that's for sure" she said, breathing out in relief "He'll hardly have a scar from it, just a thin line"

"Heh. Good to hear" said Sokka, sighing.

"You can't move your legs, though?" Song asked, worried. Sokka shrugged.

"I've tried not to, Azula said I shouldn't risk doing it while the wound was still healing. I don't know if I might be able to stand up by now… should I try?"

"Maybe later" said Song, frowning "The best thing you can do with a wound like that is rest a lot, at least for the first days. It's already been treated well, from what I can see, so…"

"So he just has to lie down?" Azula asked, as Song busied herself with changing the old bandages for new ones.

"He can try flexing his legs to make sure nothing's wrong with his mobility. That's the best I can suggest at the moment" said Song, as she worked, looking at the Princess hopelessly "He will need to rest a lot, as I said…"

"So no training? Bummer, huh?" Sokka said, smirking a little at Azula. She raised her eyebrows.

"That's right. No boomerang training for you" she said. Sokka yelped.

"N-no, I can still use my boomerang while lying face-down, I'm sure…"

Azula actually smiled earnestly after that. Sokka's pout prompted her to sit by his bed, caressing his head gently.

"You have an excuse to be lazy at last, you know? You'd better use it while you can" she said. Sokka smiled a bit now.

"It's ironic that I want to be lazy when I have things to do, but when I don't, all I want is to get going again…"

"That's you alright. Contradictory like nobody else" said Azula. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"More than you?" he asked, playfully. Azula frowned.

"My… that's a good question. I do wonder which of us is worse" she said, smirking as he laughed softly.

Song smiled as she put away the spare bandages, after taking care of Sokka's arm too. She stood up as they basked in their banter, closing the door behind them as she left them by themselves. It seemed they would enjoy their time together regardless of whether Sokka was confined to lying face-down on his bed or not. Song knew the most complicated part of any of Sokka's recoveries was keeping him in high spirits, but she had no doubts the Princess would achieve that with ease if she stayed by his side. He was always his happiest whenever he was near her, after all.

Azula glanced over her shoulder, noticing Song had left them by themselves indeed. She looked at Sokka again, stroking a strand of his hair that had slipped out of his wolf's tail.

"So… are you mentally prepared for another recovery period?" she asked "Or do you need further cheering up somehow?"

"I need to be cheered up, that's for sure" said Sokka, smiling "I mean… it's not that big a bed, I know that, but you can fit right here beside me, can't you?"

"Don't I always?" Azula asked, grinning as well before shedding her boots and armor. Sokka smiled as he watched her.

"Thanks, really. You… you take such good care of me" he said, chuckling as he buried his face in his pillow. Azula smiled and stretched across the bed, right beside him.

"You need someone to keep tabs on you, after all" she said, slipping her arms around his neck and bringing him closer, so his head would rest on her chest "And for now, you have to sleep"

"Hmm… I'll try" he said "It's hard to sleep when a beautiful woman holds you and you wish you could do a very different variation on 'sleeping', if you know what I mean…"

"I know all too well" said Azula, caressing his face "But I know I'd rather have that variation by the time you can actually do something, you know?"

"That's quite a valid point…" Sokka said, chuckling and lifting his head "Thanks again, though. You're… you're too good for me"

"You're being ridiculous" she said, kissing his forehead before moving down to his lips "So sleep, silly. I'll be right here beside you through it all"

"You always are" Sokka said, closing his eyes and dropping his head against her chest.

He had no idea how he would have gotten through that fateful fight without her… well, to begin with, he was certain he wouldn't have survived it, seeing how Rhone would have sliced his head off if he'd had a chance. But she had saved him, and she surely would carry on saving him every single time he needed it. He felt real, safe, happy with her. When he was with Azula, he was home.

"I love you" he whispered, pressing his lips against her collarbone in a subtle kiss. Azula caressed his hair.

"And I you" she said, closing her eyes as well.

His recovery was sure to take time, but it relieved Azula to see that he wasn't as disheartened and miserable as she had feared he'd be. His mind hadn't broken quite as badly as it had in previous occasions, and she hoped it meant he had strengthened it too, just as he had strengthened his body. And maybe it also meant that, regardless of their frequent clashes, he was appeased by knowing that, even if he'd lost his old friend, he'd never lose her.


	115. Chapter 115

"Well… it doesn't look all that hideous, does it?" Sokka asked, eyeing his back in the mirror with uncertainty.

The thin line of the scar ran diagonally over the small of his back, starting near his hipbone and ending dangerously close to his spine. He felt chills whenever he remembered his mobility could have been in serious jeopardy if Rhone's metal boomerang had hit him just an inch more to the right…

"As I said, you should just focus on how manly you look" Azula said, approaching him and surrounding his naked torso with her arms "Stop worrying about it"

"I seem just a bit too vain, don't I?" said Sokka, chuckling softly. Azula smirked.

"Well, now, you're the one who said it…" she whispered mischievously in his ear. Sokka snorted as she kissed his cheek, containing her laughter.

"You're too much trouble, Princess, seriously" he said, smirking as well as he turned his head again towards her "It hasn't hurt for a few days now, and my arm is working just fine again. So…"

"So we're ready to send out another challenge?" Azula asked, with an ironic smile. Sokka snorted.

"Okay, well, maybe that too" he said, taking her face into his hands and kissing her gently "I really do need to train, though. I should make sure I'm in shape for a fight first of all…"

"You'll fight someone easy this time around, I promise. Another firebender you can mess over with Wolf's Bane" said Azula, caressing his bare chest.

"That'd be good. And I promise I have no other creepy childhood friends who might want to kill either one of us" said Sokka, pressing his forehead to hers "Truth be told, I think… I think I've got no more secrets to share, or at least, none I can remember. That's not fair…"

"How is it not?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "You practically know all my secrets by now, if anything it's only fair…"

"What, I do? Are you serious?" Sokka asked, his eyes widening "Well, now, I was sure you were still hiding things because you're all mysterious that way, but if that's not the case…"

"I can't think of anything I've not told you, honestly. You even know about my first kiss now, so I'd say you know all that needs to be known…" said Azula, shrugging.

"Uh, well, I know what happened but I still don't know who it was, now I think of it" said Sokka, tapping his chin and eyeing Azula with curiosity "Anyone I knew, by any chance?"

"Eh… no" said Azula, with a grimace "But you know of him. It was… the same jerk I was supposed to marry ages ago"

"Wait, what?!" Sokka asked, his eyes widening as Azula sighed.

"Okay, so now you do know all there was to know about that" she said, with a smirk, as she approached the dresser and closet where Sokka kept his armor and weapons "It's time to get ready for training, Sokka"

"B-but then… that's why you didn't want to marry him, isn't it?" Sokka asked, blinking blankly "The prick wouldn't dominate the world with you, so…"

"Yes, yes, well, that's neither here nor there" said Azula, approaching him with one of his blue shirts in her hand "Come on. Get dressed"

"I'm very sorry you kissed that guy" said Sokka, as she threw the shirt over his shoulders "You certainly deserved better"

"Oh, I know that. It's why I've been holding out to marry someone who actually will agree to dominating the world with me…" she said, playfully, as he slid his arms through the sleeves. He froze upon those words.

"Wait… huh?"

"You know how it works with me. It's all I can possibly dream of" she said, smirking as she fastened his belt around his waist. Sokka pouted.

"W-well, depending on how you want to achieve that global domination I could join you with it, so long as it's different from what the Fire Nation has been doing in the last hundred years…"

Azula smiled and looked at him in disbelief. Sokka pouted still as she dropped her head on his shoulder.

"Well, I know that's a lie, but it's nice that you're trying to be an eligible suitor all the same" she said, hugging him "Who knew the day would come when a man would genuinely want to marry me"

"Well, I'd like to" said Sokka, dropping his head atop hers "Though you're not wrong that dominating the world makes me uneasy. Don't you think it'd be way too much work?"

"And you'd much rather spend your time doing all sorts of other less taxing activities, wouldn't you?" said Azula, smirking "Like eating, and sleeping…"

"And sleeping with you" said Sokka, biting his lip and looking at her suggestively "You know, if I'm strong enough to train again…"

"I was wondering if you'd say that at some point. I thought it was odd that you hadn't yet" she said, chuckling before pulling away "Come on, then. Take your weapons, and let's do this"

"Hear, hear!" Sokka exclaimed, reaching to grab them before following Azula downstairs.

She had thought they'd start easy, and she even allowed Sokka to wield both her sword and his own during this training round, but just as she was about to warn him not to go crazy, Sokka lashed out with both swords, releasing one of his typical silly war cries as he ran towards her. Azula's eyes widened and she bent fire to keep him at bay. Sokka jumped back, swinging Wolf's Bane to sweep the fire out of the way.

"What do you think you're doing, exactly?" Azula asked. Sokka smiled guiltily.

"Training. That's what we're supposed to do, isn't it?" he said "Brace yourself, Princess!"

"But…!" she cried out as he lunged at her again.

She huffed in irritation and shot fire at him, keeping him at bay with difficulty. Sokka swung her sword to bat away the fire, and Space Sword to allegedly stab at her. Azula couldn't help but acknowledge he made quite the fearsome opponent like this, but she wasn't sure he should be one yet. He had to take it easy, he was only just testing his body again after a recovery period of a month.

"Damn it, Sokka, quit being reckless!" she shouted, before jumping over him, boosted by her fire and striking him on the top of the head with her knuckles.

Sokka chuckled and turned to look at her apologetically. Azula's eyebrow twitched as she looked at him with disapproval.

"What's the big idea?" she asked. Sokka shrugged and smiled guiltily again.

"I know, I need to take it easy" he said "I'm just happy to be back in the training grounds, you know?"

"Hardly" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "You're usually as unhappy as can be about it, after all"

"Well, I did miss having my sword back in my hand" he said, grinning "And I missed sparring with you, too. Because we both know what happens after the sparring, don't we…?"

"Stop getting ahead of yourself, gladiator" said Azula, smirking as she stretched her middle and index fingers towards him "I might not feel all that generous if you keep acting up, you know?"

"Come on, you know you like it best when I'm rebellious!" said Sokka, laughing before attacking again.

The training proceeded as intended, though with Azula constantly reminding Sokka to stop pushing himself too far. But other than a burst of pain after angling his arm too much, he felt perfectly fine as they sparred between hollow threats and teasing laughter.

Though the laughter and threats ended sooner than later. Sokka had used Wolf's Bane to bend Azula's fire right back at her, and her attempt to evade the flames was successful, but not completely. She had lost balance and missed her landing, dropping on her hand and winding up with a sprained wrist.

"What a fool" she said, shaking her head as he bandaged her wrist carefully, once they were sitting on the living room couch, the weapons lying on the small table "I should've just bent it right back at you"

"It's not your fault" said Sokka, grimacing as he handled her wrist with care "Is it too tight?"

"It's fine" said Azula, shaking her free hand dismissively "I'll have forgotten it hurts soon enough"

"I do hope so" said Sokka, biting his lip before leaning down to kiss her wrist. Azula smiled.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"My mom would always do that when I got hurt. Which happened ridiculously often, as you might imagine" he said, with a crooked grin "I've never had anyone to do it for until now, though. It's not every day you get hurt"

"No, I certainly don't" Azula conceded.

Sokka caressed her hand and kissed a scar in it, one he had tended to quite some time ago. Azula raised an eyebrow with interest over his gentle touch to her old wound.

"This is your only scar" he noted. Azula nodded.

"It's not that bad, is it?" she asked. Sokka smiled and shook his head.

"It's hardly noticeable" he said, pressing his lips to it "But it still deserves to be kissed, even if over a year later!"

"Had you tried to kiss it when I got it I would have likely beaten you to a pulp" said Azula, smirking.

"Always so fierce. It's not fair, Princess" he said, setting down her hand and leaning close to her "I'd rather you don't get wounded at all, that's for sure, but if this relationship is going to work, I get to kiss the wounds you do get. It's a non-negotiable relationship practice"

"It is?" Azula asked, as Sokka chuckled and kissed her cheek now "Well, that's new. I guess it means I get to kiss all your new and old wounds, don't I?"

"U-uh, well, I mean, it can be mutual if you'd like, though I didn't really think you'd…" Sokka started, but Azula lowered her head and pressed her face to his neck.

He smiled and closed his eyes as her lips grazed the marks she had left on it. Her good hand caressed his chest as she kissed every healed gash slowly and tenderly, prompting him to hum in bliss at the sweet sensations. Azula smiled.

"I guess this isn't such a bad idea, after all" she conceded, looking at him furtively. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"I have a whole collection of those, though, I'll say…" he said. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"I suppose I'll just have to take my time getting to them, won't I?"

"You could, I guess" said Sokka, chuckling "But I'm afraid you'll probably be here till midnight if you plan on kissing all my old scars"

"And how's that a problem?" Azula asked, smirking slowly. Sokka laughed as she leaned in, kissing his lips happily.

He held her closely, and Azula climbed on his lap. Their bodies were in full contact, and much as it had been the first time Azula had been atop him like this, Sokka smiled and allowed his hands to travel down to her bottom. She smiled and pulled away from his lips to give him a questioning look as he squeezed gently.

"Always hung up on the blue fire, aren't we?" she asked, prodding his nose with hers. Sokka chuckled.

"I was actually thinking… if you do want to kiss everything as you said you wanted to, maybe we should go somewhere more comfortable" he said, stroking her hair gently "Unless you'd rather not…"

"Why… a Princess stays true to her word, doesn't she?" she said, smiling as Sokka grinned and hugged her tighter, standing up while she hugged him fully with arms and legs alike "Though you do realize that a sprain on my wrist doesn't render me unable to walk, don't you?"

"It doesn't? Really, now?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows "I'm pretty sure that's not the case, Princess. Come on, come on, sprained wrists definitely affect your walking! I know what I'm talking about!"

"You're so ridiculous" said Azula, laughing as he smirked proudly and carried her upstairs.

"I may be mistaken, but from the looks of it, you just might like that about me" he said into her ear before kissing her cheek.

They lay on his bed hours later, and Sokka smiled blissfully as Azula climbed atop his exposed back, kissing his every wound there. She had given proper attention to every mark, but the fresh scratches on his back might need extra care, from the looks of it.

"It's ridiculous how I ended up wounding you further after all that…" she said, caressing his back gently "That wasn't the point, was it?"

"Hey, I like it when you scratch me" he said, grinning "No need to be sorry for it"

"Why, I didn't say I was, did I?" said Azula, smirking sneakily before kissing Sokka's cheek as he laughed.

"How's your wrist by now, though?" he asked, glancing over at her. Azula raised an eyebrow and lifted her hand, moving it without much issue.

"It doesn't hurt as much anymore" she said "Though I'll probably have Song look at it before I go home"

"Your dad will kill me for getting you injured, won't he?"

"Why, I doubt it" said Azula, smiling "If anything he'd be disappointed in me for dropping my guard like that. Besides, with this sort of wound there's some evidence that we do spar once in a while instead of staying in bed all day, right?"

"Right" said Sokka, smiling as Azula dropped next to him. His hand reached up to caress her cheek "So… have I passed all tests? Am I healthy enough to fight now?"

"I'd say you are" said Azula, looking at him carefully "The question is whether you're ready for it or not, of course. Do you want to go back already, or would you rather wait a little longer?"

"I think I'd rather get back to it now" said Sokka, turning so he could embrace her more easily "It's better than to let other sponsors assume I'm an easy mark as I am, huh? Losing against what they'll perceive as just a low-ranked non-bender might make me look… well, weak"

"Let them assume that all they want" said Azula "It's better for you if they underestimate you. That way you can surprise them by winning when they least expect it. That is, if you are up for that sort of thing…"

"You're really worried about me, huh?" he asked. Azula swallowed hard.

"I just don't know if you feel like fighting or not, no matter what you say" she said "It was a big shock for you, what happened in the Ring of Ash…"

"It may have been, but it's over now" said Sokka, kissing her brow "The next time I meet Rhone, if I ever do, I won't be as foolish as to do it while hoping he'll have some humanity left in him. And if he tries to kill me again…"

Azula eyed him as he frowned. She caressed his hand, intertwining their fingers as Sokka sighed.

"I really just don't want to kill anyone again, you know" he said, gritting his teeth "Being free from that burden through your sponsorship was quite possibly one of the first things that made me warm up to you"

"Which only speaks of how much you hate it" said Azula, sighing "For a man who's seen the horrors you have, you're still too kindhearted. Meanwhile, I don't even know if I'd regret it if I shocked that bastard to death…"

"Heh" said Sokka, with a crooked grin "And yet you've never killed anyone"

"Might be why I don't think of it the way you do. Perhaps I'd change my mind if I ever did it" said Azula "But if you don't think you can finish him off, or if you just don't want to, well… maybe I'll have to finish him for you"

"I don't think I'll let you" said Sokka, smiling and pressing his forehead to hers "You really shouldn't taint your hands that way, you know?"

"Neither should you" said Azula "But sometimes…"

"Sometimes it's kill or die" said Sokka "And he's the one who's made it so. Which means… that when either of us kill him he'll have no right to protest, right?"

"Right" said Azula, nodding.

"But all Rhone-related matters aside, I do think I'm ready to go back" he said "It's better that I do already, isn't it?"

"Certainly, for your record's sake" said Azula "Then… I'll send your next challenge tomorrow"

"Can I go pick it out with you?" Sokka asked. Azula smiled.

"Yeah, I suppose that'd be fine" she said. He beamed and hugged her tighter.

"Alright, I'll just have to hold onto you until then" he said. Azula snorted.

"What, you're not going to let me go home?"

"Damn right I won't!"

"Sokka…"

Laughter and teasing words were exchanged through the rest of the day, now that the dreary subjects of conversation were long behind them. Sokka had made quite a good recovery in most ways, Azula found, and even in an emotional level he was far more calm than she had thought he'd be. She didn't dare take credit for it, but he had given it to her all the same. Having her with him in this way made everything easier. Where there had been walls between them before, where she had been wary of the distance they needed to keep, they could share their every thought and worry fully now, all walls and distance forgotten. It made everything different, everything better.

This enabled Sokka to return to the ring a week later, and he was fighting to his best as he clashed with a firebender, Flaming Hawk, who attacked in a panicked frenzy as Sokka deflected every attack with ease through Wolf's Bane's natural qualities. The firebender had hopes to snatch the victory when the fight began, as the Blue Wolf had yet to unleash his second sword, but once he started batting away his attacks like it was child's play, Flaming Hawk had lost all hopes to win.

"Come on, is that all you've got?" Sokka taunted, smirking. The more he tired out his opponent, the faster he would finish this fight.

The Hawk yelled and kept attacking, but every blast of fire was weaker than the next. Sokka readied himself to strike now, tossing his boomerang through the fire and hitting the man square in the shoulder. The firebender shouted as the blow made him lose his balance. He fell on his back, and since he was clutching his arm Sokka figured he had successfully blocked his chi.

"Stay away! D-don't get any closer!" the man screamed desperately, kicking fire at Sokka as the gladiator swatted it away as he would a bothersome fly.

"How do you want me to knock you out if I can't get any closer, huh?" he asked, catching his boomerang with his left hand while continuing to fend off the fire with the right "Come on, I'll knock you out quickly, you won't even feel it. Stop struggling like… hey!"

A powerful, charged fire blast from Flaming Hawk's feet almost struck Sokka, forcing him to jump out of the way. He frowned and dashed forth right afterwards, though. If the Hawk wouldn't play nice, then neither would he…

The Hawk seemed all out of firepower, for his next kick wasn't lined with flames… but it still hurt Sokka beyond compare as it caught him in the groin.

A gasp of horror shook the Arena, though nobody was quite as horrified as Azula. She held back the extent of her reaction by closing her eyes, her hand balling into a fist momentarily as Sokka cursed with every profanity that crossed his mind. Well, that was certain to end the Blue Wolf's patience, but was he going to recover from this new wound as well as he had with the last one?

Azula guessed she'd find out soon, for once Sokka was capable of attacking again he clasped the Hawk's kicking leg with a hand and twisted it, making the man scream in agony before he lifted him by the nape of his neck and striking his head with the hilt of his sword, knocking him out cold as promised.

Oh, but how it hurt… Sokka cringed and dropped on the sand, wondering why on earth didn't he wear armor there. Such a fool he was, he needed to design some form of protection for his private area as soon as possible. He shook his head as the judges declared him the winner, in virtue of the fact that he remained conscious while his opponent was slumped on the sand. The medical staff poured in quickly, to tend both to him and the Flaming Hawk, and they had to help him stand and walk to the waiting room, his entire body weakened after the injury he had sustained.

Azula found him in a waiting room five minutes later, once she had collected the money from the fight, as a physician offered a bag of ice to Sokka. The gladiator seemed confused as to how they had procured ice at all, and he winced before pressing it to his groin, but he sighed in relief when the pain was soothed with the ice's action.

"I'd ask how you're feeling, but I'm very much afraid of hearing the answer" said Azula, with a crooked grin. Sokka looked at her with a pout.

"T-that was awful. I hadn't been kicked like that since I was a kid" he complained "My sister would do it, you know, but… but I thought it'd never happen again and you know what? I did not miss it, in the slightest"

"How unexpected that you wouldn't" she said, smiling and sitting beside him. Sokka still looked at the bag in his hands with confusion.

"How did this happen, though? This… ice. Where did it come from?" Sokka asked.

"It's an old technology that's being used for new purposes lately" said Azula, as the physicians took their leave "Back in the day it was used to cool down firebenders in this prison we have in a small island, the Boiling Rock. It was a method of torture, of course, but it resulted in water icing inside it at times… so at some point someone thought to use the technology to produce ice instead of just freezing people. A typical story of Fire Nation advancements starting out for the wrong purposes and turning out to be quite helpful in unexpected ways"

"Heh. Well, I'm sorry for the tortured guys, but it is helpful now" said Sokka, sighing "Mr. Boomerang would be all swollen for days if it weren't for this, huh?"

Azula laughed softly and shook her head, gazing over her shoulder to confirm the door was closed and that they were alone in the room. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"And what's so funny, huh?" he asked, pouting "You shouldn't laugh, you know! After all the fun you've had with my Boomerang and now you think it's funny that it got hurt?"

"It's not that I think it's funny" said Azula, smiling "It's just… I'm wondering if I'll even need to drink the tea anymore, just saying"

"What the…?! Hey!" he complained, as she started laughing again "Of course you will! Don't even think about stopping or else the risk will be too great! You don't really know what the damage was, so… c-could you just stop laughing?!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Azula said, leaning on his shoulder and surrounding his arm with hers "I know it's not funny, I do, I just… I don't really know why I can't stop laughing. But either way, you did… you did good. So be proud of yourself, alright? We're back on track with this"

"The only thing that worries me is that no more firebenders will want to fight me now" said Sokka, grimacing as he shifted the ice "Since I'm pretty unstoppable with your sword…"

"Lucky for you that most the fighters at the top of the ranking are firebenders" said Azula "If they decline your challenges over cowardice it will certainly make them look quite bad, you know…"

"You think I can fight Combustion Man like this, then?" Sokka asked. Azula frowned.

"Oh, no. Not yet anyways" she said "He's not just a firebender, Sokka, he can blow things up through some strange technique, you know? Wolf's Bane can bend fire, but I can't say if it would be able to bend an explosion"

"How are we going to find out if it can do that or not?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"I have no idea" she said, tucking a loose strand of his hair behind his ear "But for the time being I'm not risking sending you to fight Combustion Man. Imagine if he blows up my sword, what would we do then?"

"Yeah, fair enough" said Sokka, smiling "We wouldn't want your sword blown up. Though I'd think you should also worry about my safety, but that's okay, that's fine…"

"I am worried about you too, don't be silly" said Azula "Combustion Man has metal prosthetic limbs, so I hope you never give him a chance to kick you like the Flaming Hawk did, alright?"

"M-metal?" said Sokka, his eyes wide. His grip around the ice tightened. Azula smirked before kissing his cheek.

"No need to worry about that yet, alright? We're still nowhere close to Combustion Man's level as it is, so…"

"Would it matter if I chi-block a guy like that?" Sokka asked, frowning "I mean, if his limbs aren't his actual limbs…"

"There might be a way to chi-block him, maybe a non-conventional one, but we're not going to worry about that now, are we?" Azula said, caressing his arm "Come on, can you walk? We should head back home and keep looking after your Boomerang there"

"We should?" Sokka asked, blinking blankly "So are you going to, uh…?"

"To what?" she said, as he bit his lip with a mischievous smile.

"W-well, you know… we did decide to kiss each other's wounds better, right?"

His hopes for that ended as soon as Azula burst out laughing again. No doubt the sound of her laughter was lovely indeed, but her rejection of his idea made him blush and pout.

"No fair. It's a non-negotiable practice, Azula!" he whined, as she stood up while wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"You're on fire today, I swear" she said. Sokka snorted.

"That'd be the last straw" he said, sarcastically "I get kicked in the nuts and then I'm on fire too? The spirits have it out for me today, huh?"

He sighed and stood up as Azula's laughter spree diminished, but it only started over again when he pulled away the ice from his injury to reveal a dark spot of water all over his groin. His eyebrow twitched as the Princess hid her face in her hand, trying to contain her laughter.

"Just grow uuup!" he complained, poking her side and prompting her to laugh more.

"I'm sorry, I really am, but curse it, Sokka…!" she exclaimed, as he surrounded her with an arm and kissed her face.

"Enough laughing at my misfortunes, you wicked woman" he said, as she continued to chuckle "I need love and nurturing now, Princess"

"Laughter can be part of all that, you know?" she replied, smirking as he pressed his forehead to hers.

"You're so mean" he said, pouting still. She kissed him softly.

"And yet you like it" she said. He smiled.

"So that makes me a masochist" he declared "No wonder I get hurt so much, huh?"

Azula prodded his nose with hers and nodded. She clasped the ice again and placed it in front of his groin, smirking as he looked at her questioningly.

"Not only will it help, but this way people shouldn't misunderstand why your pants are wet" she said, as Sokka gulped.

"I can't seem to ever stop embarrassing myself, huh?"

"Embrace it" said Azula, cleaning her lipstick marks from his face "You always do. Walk out there with your head held high, and your ice in place, like the shameless Blue Wolf you are"

Sokka actually snorted at that and Azula beamed, their foreheads pressed together. After a moment of tenderness, she pulled away and ushered him to follow her to the hallway. Sokka did so with a sigh, still clutching the ice and hoping not to catch too many people's attention…

But the sound of voices outside their waiting room alerted them that there was something waiting for them past that door. Azula froze. Had they heard the things they'd said? Going by the loudness of the voices outside, it didn't seem like they would have… it also seemed like there was a lot of people, too. She frowned and held out a hand in front of Sokka, keeping him from opening the door.

"What's that?" he asked. Azula shrugged.

"No clue" she said "But I guess they only got here just now. The hallway was as good as empty when I arrived"

"Y-you don't think they…"

"Heard us?" Azula said "With all the noise they're making, I doubt it. It's not impossible, but…"

"Maybe they wouldn't have understood what we were talking about even if they did spy on us…" said Sokka, gulping. Azula frowned.

"If they were spying indeed, well… not only are they the worst spies ever, since we've already noticed they're there, but I think my hands will get stained sooner than we expected them to" she said, stepping towards the door. Sokka swallowed hard again.

"Be careful…" he said, as Azula breathed deeply and placed her hand on the doorknob.

The most prominent voice was that of a man. Azula couldn't quite make out what he was saying, but by the muted sounds she guessed it was a man in his late twenties at most. He seemed enthusiastic, and she couldn't help but wonder why he would be.

She frowned with determination before pulling the door open. The noise outside died almost instantly, though the man who had been the loudest kept talking, his back turned towards Azula, so all she could see of him was that he was of average height and build, and that his brown hair was unkempt and spiky.

"So as soon as we see him we'll give him all our best wishes and…!"

"Y-Yang. Yang!" said another man, a dark-skinned one who slapped the other one's arm and gestured at the door behind him.

Yang froze, turning around slowly with uncertainty. He jumped upon noticing that the one by the door was none other than Princess Azula herself.

The entire group fell into reverence towards her, though Yang's bow was imperfect and sloppy. Azula frowned as Sokka lurked over her shoulder, curious and confused, just like Azula, over why this odd crowd of around thirty people would be gathered in front of their waiting room.

Yet soon enough they noticed there was a common theme to them: they wore blue clothes, some of them with gray hats. The combination of colors made Azula scowl, more so upon noticing that some of them were carrying what seemed to be weapon props and headbands wrapped around their heads.

She looked at Sokka, who looked back at her. Both had little to no doubt about who these people were now, and about what they were doing here.

"F-for how long are we supposed to…?" Yang whispered at the previous guy, who only shushed him for his troubles. Azula breathed out.

"Rise" she declared, almost remorsefully.

Once they stood up she closed her eyes and lifted a hand to her forehead. A brief glimpse of the boomerangs emblazoned over their clothes was enough to prove her suspicions correct. This group of people could only be one thing…

"G-greetings, Crown Princess Azula!" Yang said, with a nervous smile "It is with great honor that we…! O-oh. Oh, dear, that's him! He's right…! Ah, damn it, I… Hello there, Mr. Blue Wolf!"

"Uh… hi?" said Sokka, blinking blankly "You don't have to call me Mister, though…"

"Ah, really? W-well, either way!" said Yang, smiling proudly before bowing before them again "We are the Blue Den, the Blue Wolf's most devoted admirers!"

"Fancy way of calling yourself a fanboy" said Azula, raising an unimpressed eyebrow. Yang flinched and smiled at her uneasily.

"The Blue Den?" Sokka asked, surprised "Really?"

"Yes! It's a name we picked hoping it would please you" said Yang "I am the President, and everyone here is a member! We've all followed you for a long time, but we only arranged ourselves as the Official Blue Wolf Fan Club recently"

"I'm confused, though" said Sokka, stroking the stubble on his chin "Shouldn't you be the Blue Pack instead of the Blue Den? I mean, the Den is where the Pack lives, but if you're supposed to be fellow wolves then…"

"Oh. He… he has a point!" said one of the club members, aghast "We will have to vote on it!"

"Why vote? The Blue Wolf has spoken, we must change the name immediately!" exclaimed a girl, clenching her fists "It's only right, after all!"

"It's very true, very true. Well, then, never mind about the Den! We are a Pack now!" exclaimed Yang, and the others clapped happily. Sokka smiled awkwardly before looking at Azula, who still seemed to be having a hard time digesting what was happening.

"We thought we would come by to introduce ourselves, since you've had rough fights lately" said the same girl, looking at Sokka with doting eyes "We wanted to congratulate you for your success on this one, and see if you were… alright"

Her eyes, along with everyone else's, traveled down to his groin. Sokka blushed as he clutched the ice bag, his lips pressed in a tight line.

"I-I'm okay. Or I will be, at any rate" he said, swallowing hard.

"We sure hope so!" said Yang, smiling brightly "But even if that's so, we have a gift for you! We thought it might cheer you up!"

"A gift?" Sokka said, his eyes widening with interest as Yang reached amongst the crowd to find a young girl.

She was blushing when Yang pulled her up front, her eyes on the floor as she stood before Sokka and Azula. Her arms were surrounding a pack of papers, and Yang kept ushering her to give the gladiator the gift he had mentioned.

"Come now, come on" he said "He'll be thrilled to see it!"

"I… I hope so" she said, swallowing hard before raising her eyes towards the Blue Wolf.

Sokka smiled encouragingly as the girl bit her lip and pulled out one of the papers in her arms. Given that Sokka's hands were wet after the ice had condensed around them, Azula was the one to take it, which only made the girl more nervous.

"I-it's just a drawing…" she said, but Sokka whistled with amazement as he gazed upon it.

"Damn, that's me?!" he asked, smiling "Do I seriously look that cool when I fight?"

"She's definitely made you look more graceful than you really are" said Azula, with a smirk. Sokka pouted.

"Pirin also drew one of you, Princess!" said Yang, but Pirin shook her head as Yang looked at her "Well, come on, it's a good one too!"

"I-it's no good!" she exclaimed "She wouldn't like it!"

"She thinks the other one is graceful, she'll like this one too!" Yang exclaimed. Pirin sighed and looked at Azula apprehensively. Sokka smiled encouragingly.

"I'd like to see it" he said. Azula looked at him with unease as he grinned at her, too.

Pirin sighed and shook her head before pulling out the drawing in question. Azula took it again, and she frowned as she stared at it. Just that made Pirin flinch and hide her face in Yang's shoulder.

"See, she doesn't like it, I knew she wouldn't like it!"

"What exactly is…?" said Azula, looking at the drawing with confusion.

"Why, it's the sponsors' balcony from where we sit!" said Yang "See, see, that's you, or… your hairpiece, I guess"

"The tip of the hairpiece, you'll mean" said Sokka, scratching his head. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"I can't lie, she certainly has some skill when it comes to drawing architecture" she said, tilting her head to appreciate the drawing's perspective.

"Doesn't she?! We always tell her she's great, she's our club's official artist!" said Yang, beaming.

"Do you have more ranks like that?" Sokka asked, curious. His interest in the club's structure seemed to elate Yang beyond belief.

"O-oh, yes we do, yes we do! Would you like for us all to introduce ourselves?" Yang asked, beaming "We can absolutely do that, yes we can!"

"Why, that certainly sounds like fun, but I don't think I'll stick around to hear it" said Azula, rolling Sokka's drawing together before making to leave "I'll set up your next fight, meet me downstairs when you're done with this"

"Uh, you sure you don't want me there to…?" Sokka started, but as Azula walked through the crowd he was pelted with questions and introductions, leaving him little opportunity to follow her.

It took him some time to finally make his way to Azula again, since he was stuck hearing all sorts of stories about his Blue Pack. Hina, the girl who had been staring at him, somewhat lovestruck, was a nobleman's daughter and she provided most the funding for the Blue Pack. A young man called Aisen was their tailor, the one who had crafted the shirts they wore, with the boomerangs emblazoned across them. The one who had shushed Yang earlier was Chen, and he was the Treasurer. A group of three, Guowei, Min and Yihan, were apparently in charge for leading the howling to celebrate Sokka's entrance into the ring, or for the cheering whenever he landed a good blow.

It was overwhelming, Sokka concluded, despite he was also moved to know he had brought all these people together like this. It seemed weird that they would assemble to support him, but it brought a smile to his face nonetheless.

He smiled as he approached Azula at Shoji's counter, followed still by the crowd of cheerful people who were eager to have their hero learn their names, too. He excused himself from them briefly, though, since Azula's body language gave away that something was not quite right.

"Uh, hey. I'm back now" he said, smiling at her nervously. Azula raised an eyebrow, her face marked by irritation.

"Good to know" she said. Sokka chuckled.

"They're such a crazy bunch, but they seem like good people, really. They may be a little hyperactive, but hey, did you know they've actually put on reenactments of my performances later in some local theater? It's crazy!"

"For sure" said Azula. He grimaced, realizing she was in no mood to hear about the way his fans celebrated his successes.

"Uh… what's wrong?" he asked, only looking at Shoji now to realize he had his head hung, and looked far more nervous than usual.

"This is what's wrong" Azula said, grabbing a challenge and showing it to Sokka.

"It's… blank?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "What's the point, exactly…?"

"This is a challenge we're supposed to send out, not one we just received" Azula snarled "Care to look at where the fight is supposed to take place?"

"That's… wait, what?!" Sokka exclaimed, his eyes widening "The Slate?! Again?!"

"It's been five months since your fight there" said Shoji "I… I was told recently that you had to send out a Slate challenge immediately, since you hadn't yet, and…"

"Woah, woah!" said Sokka, lifting his hands "Just a second, now, I seem to remember Combustion Man gave up his right to challenge, so by all logic…!"

"Apparently we could only give up the right to challenge in the three months right after our fight, and nobody bothered telling me" Azula growled. Sokka's jaw dropped.

"I'm so sorry, Princess!" said Shoji, grimacing "I never thought you might want to surrender the right to challenge, but I should have said something anyways…"

"Yes, you truly should have" Azula said, and Shoji flinched. She huffed "Either way, we have to choose someone for you to fight there in one month, whether we like it or not. At this point there's just no other choice"

"Well, then, no firebenders even if I have Wolf's Bane. Hell no" said Sokka, grimacing "Maybe I should pick an earthbender and…"

"Don't be ridiculous, that'd be plain stupid" said Azula "We're not as weak or desperate as to challenge someone whom we know can't even fight in the Slate"

"I know, I know" said Sokka, sighing "It'd damage our image a lot, wouldn't it?"

"Yes. Though here I thought you'd be all moralistic and say it wouldn't be right to do it" said Azula, smirking "I'm glad you're seeing things eye to eye with me, then"

"W-well, it wouldn't be right, but you know, victory wouldn't be a matter of life and death if I fight an earthbender, right?" said Sokka, grimacing again at her assessment.

"It shouldn't be either if we choose another non-bender" said Azula "Which would allow you to fight in equal circumstances with your opponent and still have a good chance at winning, going by your prior training. So… we'll have to pick a non-bender, someone who seems mostly inoffensive, and that way we'll head into the Slate without the same impending sense of dread from last time"

"Well, the Blue Wolf did beat the Millennium Dragon in the previous fight in the Slate" said Shoji, smiling "If you could defeat the Millennium Dragon, you could defeat anyone!"

Sokka's eyebrow twitched. Evidence suggested otherwise, he thought bitterly, as his mind drifted towards Toph and Rhone. He had increased his fighting abilities beyond belief after training for the Slate, and even so he had failed to defeat two fighters afterwards. He only hoped not to find other rivals he couldn't beat, like those two.

"That remains to be seen" said Azula, frowning as she stretched out her hand "Can I look at the Ranking, Shoji?"

"Of course!" Shoji said, swallowing hard and handing the long list to the Princess "Take all the time you need"

"I intended to" Azula said, scanning the names on the ranking quickly.

She skipped down the top fifty fighters without a second thought. This would definitely be the lowest ranked fight to take place in the Slate, seeing how Sokka hadn't breached the top hundred fighters yet, and Azula wouldn't have him fight anyone else around those levels either. It would likely be scoffed upon for them to hold a low-ranked fight in the Slate, but after the clash with Rhone, Azula was past the point of caring. She would worry about their reputation in the Gladiator League whenever they could uphold it without putting Sokka's life in danger.

Most the non-benders near Sokka's level were people they had already fought: the Amazoness and the Feathered Snake caught Azula's eye again, but she didn't think it'd be wise to challenge either of them once more. Someone else might be better, someone who might not sound like a nutjob as Rhone had… though after seeing names like Man's Butcher and the Fiery Nightmare, along with Queen of Pain, she started to wonder if everyone was indeed as crazy as Rhone.

"Any ideas yet?" Sokka asked. Azula sighed.

"Everyone has a stupid name" she said. He smiled.

"You never like anyone's names, Princess. That's not very nice" he said. Azula huffed.

"Come on! Would you like to fight the Clown? How about Pixie?" she growled "If that's not it, then how about Man's Butcher? Queen of Pain? Seriously, Sokka, if it's not a strangely cutesy name that would make more sense in a circus than in an Arena, it's a creepy name about on par with Kinslayer. This is just…"

"Who are your options so far?" Shoji asked, looking at her apprehensively "Maybe I can help…"

"Why, I don't really know" said Azula, frowning "So far everyone sounds… ridiculous"

"Well, Man's Butcher is a killer, so maybe stay clear off that one" said Shoji. Azula sighed.

"With that name, I didn't expect otherwise"

"As for Queen of Pain, she's actually pretty good, great hand-to-hand fighter, uses a wooden sword…"

"A what?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "Why would someone…?"

"Beats me, but she's pretty awesome" said Shoji, smiling "If I have to recommend a fighter, it'd be…"

"U-uh, excuse me…"

Azula's eyebrow twitched when she heard Yang's voice again. She turned her head slowly, finding the man was beaming as he looked at Sokka.

"I was just wondering if you could sign some of Pirin's drawings?" he said. Azula huffed as Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"Maybe later?" he said "We're kind of in the middle of something here, so…"

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I… curses, I'm a fool" said Yang, his hand on his forehead "Never mind! We won't pester you!"

"Well, you're not really pestering me, that's going too far…" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly.

"You sure are enjoying the attention, aren't you?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at Sokka judgmentally. He blushed.

"H-hey, I…! I didn't think I'd ever have a fan club, it's not such a bad thing for me to like it, is it?"

"What?" said Yang, his eyes widening "Y-you… you like having a fan club?!"

"The Blue Wolf gives us his approval!" shouted one of the members, and the entire group broke into celebration.

Azula buried her face in her hands as Sokka stood petrified next to her, watching his fans clapping, cheering, jumping in glee because of his words. That was not quite what he thought would happen… maybe this fan club matter was more dangerous than he'd expected it to be.

"Ugh, never mind them, Shoji, what were you saying?" she said. Shoji swallowed hard.

"U-uh, just… Queen of Pain may not be such a good idea after all, never mind" he said. Azula frowned.

"Wait, what? Why's that?" she asked "That's not what you were saying before…"

"N-no important reason, did you have anyone else you wanted to ask about? The Clown? Pixie? The Red Jester? Oh, maybe Firefly? Twist of Shadow?"

"I wasn't asking about those, we were talking about that Pain girl" said Azula, frowning "What's with you all of sudden…?"

Her words were interrupted again when Sokka flinched and nearly wound up sitting on the counter, looking at his admirers with uncertainty, still clutching the bag of ice against his privates.

"Woah, woah, woah, hold up!" Sokka was saying. The group of overexcited fans approached him, all with papers for him to sign despite Yang had told them to wait until later "I don't even have a brush, I can't…!"

"Uh, here…" said Shoji, gulping as he offered his ink and brush to the gladiator. Maybe that would help keep them calm, wouldn't it?"

Azula rolled her eyes as Sokka sighed and started signing papers, holding the ice still with his free hand. Yang had indeed tried to hold back the others, but by now he seemed to have desisted on it. By now he was busy talking excitedly to someone else in the group, and he surely would fetch an autograph of his own as soon as the coast cleared up enough.

"Can you focus now, Shoji?" Azula asked, tapping the table uneasily. Shoji swallowed hard.

"I-I just don't think you'll want to fight that non-bender, Princess. Take it from me, she's…"

"You said just a moment ago that she's not a killer and she's a good fighter. Why is she not so good all of sudden?"

"W-well, she's just too good! See, she's only lost seventeen times…" said Shoji, gulping "She could steal the right to challenge, and that's not what you… wait, that is what you want, isn't it?"

"I'd rather Sokka wins this fight, thank you very much" said Azula, frowning "But if he loses and we lose the right to challenge I won't mind either. So that's simply no reason not to"

"W-well, maybe that isn't, but you see, she's actually…"

"What now?" said Azula, looking at Shoji in confusion until her attention was stolen by something else before the young man could explain anything.

"… Um, you know, there's others waiting, could you…?" Sokka was saying, and Azula was alerted upon realizing the girl from earlier was standing a little too close to her gladiator, holding her signed picture behind her back.

"See, I was just wondering what you'd be doing later, since you just had this big fight and all… you probably should relax a bit, right?"

"I don't really think that's, uh…" said Sokka, his eyes shifting towards Azula. Her eyebrow was twitching as she wordlessly asked him if he was capable of dealing with the girl on his own or if he'd rather she stepped in "I'm not going to do that, nah, I have to get back to training… can't let my guard down, you know?"

"What? But you just won, you need to…"

"He doesn't need to do anything some fangirl thinks he does" Azula growled, making Hina freeze where she was "My gladiator has a schedule and a routine, and he's not about to break it to spare your feelings for him"

"M-my…?" Hina said, her eyes widening. Sokka swallowed hard. It was rather obvious that the girl was interested in him, trying to cover up for it now wouldn't work well for her.

"Besides, the part of his body you're most interested in isn't functional right now" said Azula, smirking now. Hina's cheeks reddened and she gasped, while Sokka stared at Azula indignantly, his lips forming a small pout "So there's no point to taking him anywhere… not that I'd allow him to go even if there was, of course. One would think a highborn girl like yourself would set her sights on a nobleman, not a slave… but perhaps your taste in men isn't quite so refined, is it?"

Sokka's eyebrow twitched. Of course he knew Azula's words were spoken for the purpose of scaring this girl off, but she was the most refined woman in the entire nation and she was interested in him, too!

Still, he refrained from commenting despite he ached to do so. She was saying what she had to say, there was nothing more to it…

"I… I'm sorry. I should know my place…" Hina muttered, though Sokka noticed reluctance and displeasure in her demeanor now. Azula probably had gone too far, but he had the feeling it wasn't far enough to scare the girl away completely… which wasn't great news at all. He honestly hoped he wouldn't have to deal with a stalker fangirl from now on…

Hina walked away, clutching her autograph and frowning deeply. Sokka swallowed hard before turning to Azula, whose attention had returned to the ranking and the young man sitting behind the counter. Azula's eyes shifted towards Sokka when she noticed he was looking at her with irritation.

"You know, she… she wouldn't be the first highborn to think I'm somewhat handsome" he said, folding his arms over his chest. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Oh? Who else is visually impaired, then?" She asked, unable to hold back a smirk. Sokka clutched his chest, as though she had just stabbed him.

"You're just too cruel today, you know?" he said "And hey, Ty Lee thought I was cute, didn't she?"

"Oh, please, Ty Lee would think any guy with less than average looks is cute" said Azula "That's about the weakest defense you could latch onto. And besides, can we focus here? We can carry on dealing blows to your ego later, if that's how you like it…"

"I don't like it!" said Sokka, pouting again before frowning as he looked at the Ranking "Have you decided on someone yet, then?"

"Why, I was trying to, but Shoji thinks that challenging this not-killer non-bending gladiator isn't a good idea, for some reason" said Azula, pointing at Queen of Pain. Sokka frowned.

"You sure she's a good idea, though? You just said this one was an eerie name"

"But she's not a killer" said Azula "And as long as she isn't one, she's a good choice"

"Would she give us a serious fight?" Sokka asked. Shoji shrugged.

"I… guess so?" he said. Sokka huffed.

"Well then, what's the drawback?"

"I just… y-you know, maybe it's not a drawback at all" Shoji muttered, biting his lip "It might be… that it's just me thinking too much. So never mind, eh? Y-you sure, then?"

"Ah, Mr. Blue Wolf!" Yang called again, and Sokka grimaced. Shoji swallowed hard "I have a painting for you to sign! It's one of my favorites by Pirin, I want to hang it in my living room!"

"Huh, really?" said Sokka, looking at Yang with uncertainty as the man showed him a painting of Sokka lifting his sword towards a sunset, or maybe a sunrise…?

"My wife will love it!" he said. Sokka had a very hard time believing his words.

"Eh… sure?" he replied, taking the paper and signing it.

Azula huffed, shaking her head and looking at Shoji again.

"Yes, we're sure about the challenge. Just send it and let us be out of here now, will you?" said Azula. This matter of the fan club, while somewhat curious at first, had grown tiresome for her quite quickly.

"Alright, alright…" said Shoji, swallowing hard and starting to fill the Slate's challenge.

"So, it's done? We're going back to the Slate?" Sokka said, sighing. Azula shrugged.

"It's not like we had a choice" she said "It'll be fine. Your opponent only fights hand-on-hand or with a wooden sword, from what Shoji said, so…"

"Eh?" Yang said, as he took the drawing Sokka had only just finished signing "A fighter who only… has a wooden sword?"

"Yes, it's not likely to be the most spectacular fight the Slate has ever seen, but it will have to do" said Azula, sighing "Wooden sword or no, your opponent has a very positive record as it is, so as per usual…"

"I mustn't underestimate her, I know" said Sokka.

Yang's eyebrow twitched. His hand trembled as he lifted it, uncertain if to tap Sokka's shoulder to ask him who exactly was this gladiator they spoke of… but the signs were there, weren't they? There were no other fighters of those qualities in the Superior League, that he knew of… so it couldn't be anyone else, could it?

"Y-you don't mean, though, that… that you're challenging the Queen of Pain?" he said.

Sokka and Azula both looked at him with confusion. His enthusiasm had somehow transformed into uncertainty and, perhaps, anxiety.

"What? Do you have a reason why we shouldn't challenge her too?" Azula asked, frowning.

"Maybe he's going to be like Shoji and he just won't say it, heh" said Sokka. Azula frowned.

"What's it to you that we'd challenge Queen of Pain anyways?"

"J-j-just a moment, now…" said Yang, swallowing hard and looking at them with wide eyes "You've challenged Queen of Pain… to the Slate?!"

The rest of the group fell silent too after their leader shouted as he had. He looked like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. What on earth was it with him?

"What's so bad about that?" said Sokka, looking at him in confusion "Seriously, what's the deal with the two of you and…?"

He was turning to look at Shoji, just as the young man finished writing the details into the challenge. Yet instead of turning to the drawers behind him to put the challenge away, Shoji breathed deeply and stood up. Both Azula and Sokka stared at him in confusion.

"What are you doing? Shoji, what…?" said Sokka, as Shoji stretched a hand between the two of them.

It was only then that Azula's mind started to put together why Shoji would suddenly grow reluctant to let them challenge Queen of Pain. It hadn't been until he had seen Yang that he stopped presenting her as a good choice, after all… and that Yang would recognize her just by her fighting style, that he would worry so much about seeing Queen of Pain challenged to the Slate…

"We're supposed to hand challenges to sponsors as soon as we see them" said Shoji, lowering his gaze "S-so…"

Sokka's jaw dropped. Azula lifted a hand to her forehead, cursing inwardly.

The President of Sokka's Fan Club clasped the challenge with shivering fingers, staring at the paper as though it was heaven-sent. There were genuine tears in his eyes as he took it with utmost delicacy, as though he expected it to come undone if he held it too tightly.

"I… I've been challenged by the Princess…" he said, covering his mouth with a hand as the rest of the fan club looked at him in amazement "I've been challenged by the Princess!"

The group started clapping and cheering, all of them congratulating Yang enthusiastically as Sokka and Azula stood where they were, stone-cold, disbelieving still. The guy was a sponsor? He was leading the fan club of a completely different gladiator, and yet he was a sponsor?!

"I'm sorry…" said Shoji, swallowing hard. He braced himself, expecting both Sokka and Azula to glare at him angrily enough to set him on fire.

Yet first of all they stared at each other in chagrin, having realized that the fighter had not been the problem, at all. Shoji's reservations were over just one thing, and it was no longer a mystery what it was.

Still, they looked at him pleadingly now, to find him grimacing apologetically.

"C-can't we change our minds now?" Sokka said. Shoji sighed.

"I'm sorry" he said again, having no other words to offer them by now.

Sokka sighed as Azula groaned with despair. Despite it all, the Slate somehow never ceased being a problem.

* * *

"This is absurd. He should have said something! Why the hell didn't he say it?!"

"Maybe because Yang was standing right there?" said Sokka, sighing. Azula huffed.

"It's no excuse. He could have at least gestured at us, implied the problem was the sponsor! And… and how on earth is he someone's sponsor when he's obsessed with you? Let alone a successful sponsor!"

"Maybe his fighter does all the work" said Sokka, shrugging "Also… my ice is all melted now. It's just a bag of water, heh…"

"Are you feeling any better yet?" Azula asked, looking at him with uncertainty as he placed the bag on the living room table.

"Eh, been better but also worse" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly "My clothes are all wet now, though"

"Well, change out of them" said Azula, shrugging. Sokka gulped.

"You won't want to help me with that…?"

"Eh, can't say I'm in the mood with all this nonsense on my mind" said Azula, sighing and dropping on the couch beside him.

They had slipped through Sokka's Blue Pack without as much trouble as they had expected, for they were all too busy fawning over their leader's new Slate challenge to notice them leaving. Xin Long had carried them to Sokka's house, though the gladiator had not enjoyed the trip at all, his injured groin paining him as he sat on the saddle. He had sunk on the couch as his sponsor paced back and forth, her eyes wide, gesticulating with exasperation the more she pondered the situation they had gotten themselves into.

"Shoji really had been too nice not to make any mistakes ever, eh?" Sokka said, looking at her sideways. Azula shook her head.

"I was far too shocked to react at the time, but when I see him again I'm going to…" said Azula, her eyes narrowing. Sokka chuckled.

"Okay, okay, no need to threaten him" he said "All things considered… it'll be alright. I mean, the guy's crazy, that's for sure, but we won't see him at all until the fight, right?"

"Oh, sure, only on every single fight we have in the Royal Dome" said Azula, looking at him skeptically "He's going to be there every time, you know? And this sort of thing with you signing a thousand autographs will start happening far too often for my taste"

"Well, then, we just have to escape through the roof!" said Sokka, smiling "Tell Xin Long to pick us up there and we can avoid them. See? Problem solved"

"I guess it's a thought" said Azula, sighing and rubbing her temples. Sokka pouted as he watched her.

"On another note, though, I guess your taste in men is not refined at all, is it…?" he asked, smirking slightly. Azula huffed.

"She was two seconds away from melting into a puddle just by looking at you" said Azula "I mean, you could tell too, couldn't you?"

"Sure but… damn, you were ruthless" he said, chuckling "She's probably going to cry herself to sleep tonight because you not-very-subtly called her a slut"

"It's far from the worst I've said to someone, and really, I wasn't in the mood to watch some girl asking you out" Azula grunted "Do excuse me for being too territorial, if that's what I was, but…"

"Hey, I can't say I wouldn't act the same way if it were the other way around" said Sokka, smiling "Though now you've said your tastes aren't refined either, by those standards you spoke of…"

"Well, maybe they aren't" said Azula. Sokka winced.

"B-but… hey!" he said, as she smiled "You're supposed to say they totally are, and that I'm actually a great catch! Azula…!"

"You'll have to pry such words from my corpse or so, because I won't ever say them aloud…" she said, smirking. Sokka pouted.

"You're about to swallow those words, Princess! You'll see!" he said, lunging at her. Azula snorted as he tackled her on the couch, his hands reaching to tickle her.

"Oh, come on!" she said, as the prickle of laughter started bursting from her "We were talking about serious things, stop…! S-stop that!"

"This is very serious, yes, I am very handsome and you know it! You've said it before!" Sokka pouted, chuckling too when Azula couldn't hold back the laughter anymore.

They wound up lying across the couch, her back against his chest, his arms now surrounding her waist as he kissed her jaw line softly. Her armor was in the way, but she had been too frantic over their situation with the Blue Pack to even consider removing it.

"Your pants are still wet, you know" she said. Sokka shrugged.

"Well, you weren't in the mood for fun stuff so there's no need for me to take them off" he taunted her, smirking. Azula snorted.

"You'll catch a cold like that" she said, looking at him from the corner of her eyes.

"What, just because of this? I'm way tougher than that!" he said, smirking proudly. Azula's skeptical smile made him sigh "Well, okay, maybe not, but you'll look after me if I do catch a cold, right?"

"You'll make me nurse you to health?" she said "That's stuff for Song to do, not me…"

"Hey, I nursed you when you were sick" he complained, poking her cheek with his nose "Meanie"

"You didn't quite nurse me" said Azula, smiling "I mean… you served as my pillow, helped Song a bit, no doubt, but… you ended up capturing rebels and fighting battles and riding my dragon, right? The ones nursing me in the end were the physicians and Song. You mostly just… sat there beside me until I felt better. Ah, and you kissed me. Because you did kiss me, didn't you?"

"What, you mean at Ty Lee's, or…?"

"No, when you carried me to the bathroom" said Azula "You just set me down, kissed my forehead, and I only registered what you'd done when you were already gone"

"Ah, that one. Yeah, I did" said Sokka. Azula smirked.

"I knew it. I was sick, but I wasn't imagining nonsense" she said. Sokka laughed.

"I spent all those days holding back from kissing you for real, you know" he said "There were so many times I wanted to… heck, that was when I finally admitted to myself how I felt about you. But…"

"But you thought you'd get sick too if you kissed me?" Azula asked, smiling a little. Sokka scoffed.

"Like that'd stop me. You know I'm not one to take care of myself unless reminded to" he said, kissing her cheek "I just thought you'd be really mad if I tried to kiss you again, is all. I didn't want to be a bother…"

"Well… in case you don't remember, I did kiss you back when you kissed me at Ty Lee's" said Azula, her hand sliding towards his "I really didn't get angry until later because… heh, because I couldn't process what had happened until then. So if you'd kissed me while I was sick, the same would have happened, likely"

"Huh. That's a surprise" said Sokka, smiling "So you would have wanted me to kiss you?"

"Don't I always?" said Azula, sighing and dropping against him, turning her head to look at him "You think I'd let you do it as often if I didn't like it?"

"Hehe, well, I know you do, but it's still nice to get you to say it…" said Sokka, with a happy blush. Azula smiled and shook her head.

"You're such an idiot" she said, turning around in his arms.

Despite her previous negative, she was starting to feel compelled to take this upstairs now, and not just so Sokka wouldn't catch a cold. He smiled as they kissed, his hands traveling over her back and flanks, sliding under her armor.

"You really understood what you felt for me when I was sick, though…?" Azula asked, as he kissed her face now. Sokka smiled.

"As you might recall, the crazy circumstances made me fear for your safety quite badly. I guess that sort of thing can be an eye-opener. I'd known I had feelings for you for a long time by then, but that was when I accepted fully that I loved you. It was a big relief to admit it, honestly"

Azula smiled and sighed. Sokka raised an eyebrow at her reaction.

"What is it?" he said.

"Just… I wasn't all that relieved when I knew I was in love with you" she said, hugging him close "I accepted it just after we decided we weren't going to act upon our attraction, pretty much. Funny, huh?"

"You… really?" said Sokka, his eyes widening "But…"

"I thought the feelings would go away in time" said Azula with a weak smile "But after what happened in Ember Island I realized that wasn't going to happen at all. I was too far gone to be helped anymore. And it's all your fault, you jerk…"

"Mine? Well, what did I do?" said Sokka, smiling "You're the one with unrefined tastes in men, apparently…"

Azula smiled too at that, rolling her eyes before kissing him fully. Sokka kissed her passionately, though he noticed she inched away from the wet stains of his clothes. He chuckled at the contorted position of her body, and she raised her eyebrows as she pulled away.

"You need to get out of those pants. Right now" she said, smiling.

"You really think Mr. Boomerang is up for testing, then?" he asked. She shrugged.

"We can find out now, don't you…?"

A knock on the door made them both sit up and fall silent instantly.

"What the…?" said Sokka, his eyes widening as the knock sounded again. Azula grabbed him by the chin, wiping his lips again, as always.

"Run upstairs, change, be back here immediately and at least make it look like we were going to train. We have no idea who that is" she said, frowning. Sokka nodded "Go!"

He scrambled upstairs, flinching as he leapt the steps two by two, realizing that his groin was still not quite healed as it was. Still downstairs, Azula stood up and straightened her clothes and hair. Her sword was resting on a corner, where she would leave it before they got any training done. She swallowed hard, approaching the door warily as another knock struck the wood.

Her eyes widened when she saw Rui Shi standing outside… next to someone who had to be the tallest woman she had ever seen. Azula blinked blankly.

"What in the name of…?" she said, looking at her guard questioningly. Rui Shi bowed subtly.

"Here I thought you weren't here, it took you long enough" he said, just as Azula registered movement behind the tall woman…

Her face went from confusion to aversion when a head with spiky brown hair popped out from behind the woman, spiky brown hair that belonged to someone she absolutely didn't want to see right now.

"This is it, really? The Blue Wolf's home?" Yang asked, his eyes wide in amazement.

"What the…?! What is he doing here?! Captain, why did you…?!" she asked, looking at him in chagrin. Rui Shi cleared his throat.

"They seem to have something to say to you" he said. Azula's eyebrow twitched.

"Oh, really, now? And you just guide everyone who asks to speak to me right to my threshold? What if they wanted to kill me, huh?!"

"What? We would not!" said Yang, horrified by the sole idea. Azula's eyebrow was still twitching.

"Why, first of all, you'd surely be able to kill them first" said Rui Shi, shrugging "Second, they showed me something that made me think you'd actually want to talk to them… you sent a challenge to them, didn't you?"

"I…" said Azula, her eyes growing wider as she looked at Yang with irritation. Was this his ploy? He had used the challenge to get himself to Sokka's house somehow…? Was the man capable of such plans in the first place?

"I apologize, Princess…" said the woman, suddenly "Yang may have given you a bad impression, for which I'm not surprised at all, but we do have some things we need to speak about regarding the challenge you've sent. Things are… well, not as simple as you might have thought…"

"W-woah!" Sokka shouted from behind Azula, as he returned to the first floor to find Yang standing outside his house "What the heck?!"

"It's him! Look, look, Haiyan, it's him!" he exclaimed, grabbing the woman's elbow and pointing at Sokka. Haiyan sighed.

"I can see that, Yang" she whispered. Azula frowned as the woman looked at her again "May we come inside so we can discuss this matter more easily?"

The woman's politeness made Azula a little less uncomfortable… but Yang's excited behavior was quite a motivator to keep the conversation outside. Still, for the sake of not being too rude…

"Fine" she said. Sokka gasped.

"Wait, wait, what's going on here?" he said, looking at Azula with chagrin as the woman lowered her head and entered the house, followed by her enthusiastic companion.

"There's something about the challenge they want to talk about" said Azula, through gritted teeth "Though… I have no idea who she is, or why they could only do it here, but the Captain brought them and…"

"And now the Captain is taking his leave. I'll see you later" said Rui Shi, smiling and bowing again. Azula snarled at him as he closed the door after him.

"You know, it's times like these that I think he's just…" said Azula. Sokka swallowed.

"Taking revenge?" he said. Azula huffed.

"Yes. Exactly" she grunted.

"It's quite a lovely house you have" the woman said. She gazed about herself with interest once she could stand upright, after passing the threshold into the living room. Next to her, Yang seemed to be on the verge of losing his mind.

"Uh, thanks" said Sokka, scratching the back of his head. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"It's not his doing that it's lovely, though. Someone else takes care of that" she said. Sokka pouted.

"Can't let me look good not even for ten seconds, can you?" he mumbled.

"Either way, pleasantries aside…" said Azula, rubbing her forehead before pointing at the woman "Who might you be and why do you want to discuss the challenge? I was under the impression he was elated enough to cry about it only about an hour ago, wasn't he?"

"I was, for sure" said Yang, smiling nervously before glancing at the woman "But anyways, for starters, Haiyan is my wife!"

"This is your…?" said Sokka, his eyes widening as he looked at Haiyan. He had been surprised to hear Yang was married at all, but the wife in question was the last kind of person he would have envisioned as Yang's significant other.

"It's my pleasure to meet you both" said Haiyan, bowing down to Sokka and Azula again "Yang… speaks very often about you"

"I can't say I'm surprised to hear that" said Azula, looking at Yang judgmentally. The man smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"The thing is, though, we… haven't accepted the challenge yet" said Haiyan "Things are a little complicated right now, and accepting it would have been irresponsible of us"

"Why's that?" said Sokka, blinking blankly.

"Well, as it happens, we're not in the best situation, economically speaking" said Haiyan, lowering her gaze.

"I don't really have a steady job, the only income I can offer is through being a sponsor" said Yang, sighing "And that's not steady at all either… most people reject the challenges I send when I set the bid too high. It's unfair, I guess, but…"

"Don't you have an actual career?" Azula asked "Or are you just a sponsor and a fanboy for a living?"

"Well, the one who earns most the money we live off is actually Haiyan" said Yang, looking at the woman with wistful eyes "As for my career, well…"

"He's a writer" said Haiyan. Azula and Sokka stared at him in surprise "Which is why he's not making lots of money…"

"People have this unfair idea that your works won't be worth publishing until you're dead" said Yang, an eyebrow twitching "Every single time I try to sell what I wrote I'm rejected because I must be dead to be a good writer. It's absurd, isn't it?"

"Not the best profession to choose if you're struggling with money, that's for sure" said Azula, frowning.

"As for me, I do construction work" said Haiyan, sighing "I'm built enough for it, though some contractors have rejected me at times because I'm a woman. Still, it's the best we have…"

"And the point of this all is, we can't really afford hiring a ship to take us to the Slate" said Yang, lowering his gaze "I mean, maybe we could, if we stop buying food for the next month, but…"

"Woah, are you really so badly off?" Sokka asked, his eyes widening.

"Construction work doesn't pay too well" Azula muttered "And you say you can't make a lot of money through fights, yet your gladiator has mostly won. Isn't that enough to keep you afloat?"

"It's helped in the course of the last three years, yes" said Yang "Sometimes it has bailed us out of serious trouble, but as I said, we don't tend to get paid a lot for fights…"

"Maybe the Queen of Pain needs to become a bigger name in the League" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow and looking at Azula now "Wouldn't that help?"

"Likely" said Azula, nodding.

"Which is why you really could use fighting in the Slate" said Sokka, thoughtful "That's a sure way to put your gladiator in the spotlight"

"And it's certainly a great opportunity for us, but unless we can afford it…" said Haiyan, scratching the back of her neck.

"Well, don't you think there's a chance you could hire a small boat for passage just for two?" said Sokka "You can stay in the Capital, doing your construction work, while he takes your gladiator and…"

"Huh?" said Haiyan and Yang simultaneously, looking at Sokka as though he had said utter nonsense.

"W-well, I mean, passage for just two would be cheaper, right?" he said "It's nice that you two are so tight and all, but you don't need to go together to the Slate, do you?"

"But we do have to go together, there's no point if we don't" said Yang, crooking his head sideways ever so slightly. Azula grimaced.

"And that's because you're… you're the gladiator" she said, pointing at Haiyan. Sokka froze.

"Of course" said Haiyan, looking at Yang now "Didn't you tell them from the start?"

"I may have forgotten, but I didn't say it wasn't you…" said Yang, shrugging. Haiyan smiled warmly.

"Well, it really does make sense that she'd be the Queen of Pain, truth be told" said Sokka, his eyes wide again. The woman suited perfectly the image of the gladiator he had built on his mind.

"I did think it would be strange for you to have a slave if you were struggling with your money like this" said Azula, rubbing the bridge of her nose "But I guess you just don't have one after all, huh?"

"Nope, not quite" said Yang, smiling awkwardly "She's always been very strong, so she suggested she could fight occasionally, see if we could make extra money that way…"

"Alright, so you really are in a pickle" said Sokka, grimacing "You can't fight anyone too strong, or else you might get injured, and then you won't be able to work in construction…"

"Basically" said Haiyan, sighing again.

"So… you're here to say we should send this challenge to someone else?" Azula asked. Sokka jumped and looked at her in surprise.

"W-well… it's either that or, just… well, if you'd be so kind to help us get there…" said Yang, swallowing hard.

"We don't want to impose, though. If that's not a possibility, then you should definitely send a challenge to someone else" said Haiyan. Yang sighed "We'll accept any decision you make, and we encourage you to choose whatever is more comfortable for you, Princess"

Azula raised an eyebrow. Procuring passage for them would mean either hiring a ship for them or taking them to the Slate on her Barge… if they were to do the latter she had the feeling she might end up tossing Yang overboard in the middle of the trip. The man was far too excitable for her liking, despite he seemed to be mostly calm right now… the way his eyes gleamed betrayed he was anxious, though.

All things considered, this wasn't their problem. If anything it sounded like challenging this pair of gladiator and sponsor, wife and husband, would be more troublesome for Yang and Haiyan in the long run. If they had so much trouble dealing with their living expenses, then they should worry about that instead of fighting dangerous battles in risky Arenas…

Yet she noticed the way Sokka was looking at her, and she twitched under his stare. Oh, she knew it, he was moved by their story. Typical Sokka. He would want to help these two however they could, and it was true that they would likely have far more gladiator challenges than ever if they fought at the Slate, which could result in more money for them…

She glared at him from the corner of her eyes, grimacing as he challenged her with his own stare. They both knew exactly what was on the other's mind, and they would likely spend hours on end arguing about this matter unless they were decisive about it now.

So Azula sighed and rolled her eyes. Sokka looked at her in surprise.

"You two are going to carry on with your lives as always" she said, looking at Haiyan and Yang with a subtle frown "You'll keep working in construction and fighting, you'll keep writing or sponsoring her, whatever it is you do that brings you money. You'll eat properly, pay for rent if you have to, and if you have enough money to hire a ship to take you to the Slate, then that's how you'll do it. If you can't save up enough money for it… then I guess we'll have to take you"

"W-wha…? Would you really?" Yang asked, his eyes gleaming with hope now. Azula huffed.

"You don't seem to be one of those nutjob fighters, and that's exactly what we were hoping for" she said, looking at Haiyan "I'd rather not risk switching opponents and wind up challenging some murderous madman in the Slate"

"Oh, why…! There's nothing to worry about, I assure you Haiyan won't try to kill you!" said Yang, beaming at Sokka "I… I…! Oh, dear, this is actually going to happen!"

Haiyan had to clasp his shoulder and smile as her husband started giggling and smiling, clutching her hand before looking at her in amazement. It was still confusing to Azula and Sokka, but it seemed these two actually understood one another when it came to Yang's enthusiasm over the Blue Wolf.

"Oh, we're so grateful to you! I'd… oh, I just would hug you but it's so inappropriate I'm not going to…!" he said, smiling still. Sokka snorted.

"Yeah, please refrain from doing that" he said "Hug your wife instead, maybe"

"I will!" said Yang, laughing and jumping at Haiyan, slinging his arms around her neck as she lifted him "We're going to fight the Blue Wolf! We will, we will!"

"Seems like it, huh?" said Haiyan, smiling gratefully at Azula from over Yang's shoulder "You're… you're very kind to accept our request. We owe you lots!"

"Well, so long as you don't try to kill my gladiator I'll be satisfied" said Azula, with a curt smile "Now… was that all? Because if it was, you go tell Shoji you accept the challenge now"

"Yes! We must!" said Yang. Haiyan beamed.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" she said, setting Yang down again. It looked like she hadn't even broken a sweat lifting him "Thank you very much, Princess…"

"It means the world to us, truly!" said Yang, bowing again "Thank you, and… and see you in one month!"

"Yeah…" said Azula, gulping as Sokka moved to the door, to let the two surprise guests take off again "In one month it is"

Sokka closed the door behind Haiyan and Yang, smiling to himself before turning to face Azula. She had buried her face in her hands, and he chuckled as he approached her.

"This is all your fault" she muttered. Sokka chuckled "All of it, you jerk, staring at me like that…"

"Oh, come on, you knew it was the right thing to do!" said Sokka "They're struggling, and they needed help, and we could give it to them. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"Yes, there is" said Azula, as Sokka surrounded her waist with his arms "You keep saying you love me, and heck, you say you fell in love with me back when I was sick? Why, turns out that I was no paragon of human goodness at the time, so that means you should stop trying to make me a good person, or I'll stop being the Azula you fell in love with. I'm not good, and it's better not to be either way"

"You keep saying silly things like that" said Sokka, chuckling and kissing her brow "But you know you're better than you want to admit you are. There's a lot of great things you've done without my direct involvement, you're just blaming me on this one to feel better about yourself"

"I'm blaming you because it's your fault!" said Azula. Sokka laughed.

"Well, actually I'd blame Shoji first of all, the little rascal should've warned us about Yang sponsoring Queen of Pain" said Sokka "But you know, crazy as he may seem, I'm pretty sure he's not all that bad, you know?"

"Yeah, sure" said Azula, looking at Sokka skeptically "You just like the attention, as I said…"

"I like your attention better than anything" he said, smirking and leaning closer. Azula huffed.

"Of course you do, but I'm not exactly happy right now because you are becoming more of a manipulative mastermind than I ever dreamt of being. You prick, making me altruistic like this…"

"Well, I'll let you be selfish now if you want" said Sokka, winking before lifting her in his arms. Azula groaned as he carried her off to the stairs.

"You'd better let me, because I've surpassed my capacity to be nice today as it is" she said. Sokka laughed again, climbing the stairs now, still holding her closely.

"You were nice? Really? You mean just with them, right? Because in case you forgot, you were laughing very spiritedly over my atrocious injury…"

"It was not that bad or else you wouldn't be up to this now, stop being so whiny" Azula said. Sokka laughed again.

"Well, we're about to see how bad it really was, huh?" he said, leaning to kiss her.

Azula smirked as he kicked the door closed behind them. She had the feeling his atrocious injury wouldn't hinder him too much, but she wouldn't complain much if it did. Either way, their routine would have to change drastically from tomorrow: they were going back to the Slate indeed, and this time she would be training Sokka herself to make sure he was fit for the battle ahead.


	116. Chapter 116

A deep breath, her eyes closed, her inner fire flaring. She had the endurance needed to sustain constant bending for a long time, despite it had been around three hours as it was.

It had been taxing the first time she'd done it, but by now she was as good as growing used to it. Her only qualm was that she didn't enjoy sitting out the action, busy as she was recreating the conditions of the volcano where Sokka would have to fight, in only four days.

Haru had crafted the contraption with his earthbending, just as he had back during the first time Sokka had trained for the Slate, and he made sure to keep it strong and steady despite the fighting that was taking place inside it. Azula had no choice but to fire up the dome with her blue flames, bringing it to extreme temperatures. Sokka was inside, busy fighting Mai and Ty Lee simultaneously, for they were the only available fighters while the two benders took care of keeping the earth and fire dome standing.

The dome was sealed with a glass door, one that Haru had crafted so that they could see what was happening inside the fighting pit. Whenever any of the fighters needed to catch their breath they would step through the crystal door to take a break. Mai and Ty Lee would often need time to rest, which left Sokka to simply practice his endurance to heat by himself inside the dome. He would drink as good as a gallon of water afterwards, but he did his best to withstand the heat for as long as he could manage.

He hadn't taken a break for hours now, and since he didn't take breaks, neither did his sponsor as she strived to build the heat of the dome evenly. Fighting cries often escaped the dome, and sometimes something crashed against its wall – often weapons, sometimes bodies. But as Azula forced herself to endure further, despite she had been bending continuously for hours, the glass door swung open and Ty Lee collapsed outside.

"That's…! That's it, I'm done…!" she cried out, lying flat on the ground. Haru gasped and rushed to her side, looking at her in concern.

Azula sighed, somewhat relieved she could take a break too. Bending continuously certainly took a toll on anyone, even a prodigious bender like herself. Mai came out of the earth dome next, trying to wipe the sweat off her brow with a hand but failing to do so, her cheeks flushed. Unlike Ty Lee, she did manage to walk all the way to the veranda, where her husband and son were pleased to see her in one piece, despite her obvious exhaustion.

"You did it! Mommy's back, Yuudai" said Ruon Jian, beaming at his son, who rested on his lap.

He offered Mai a towel, and she wiped her face with it before reaching for a glass of water, amongst the many glasses Ruon Jian had readied for the exhausted fighters. She took her seat beside him, clasping his forearm with a wordless thank you as she closed her eyes and basked in the fresher temperatures outside the dome.

Sokka climbed out last, drenched in sweat and looking somewhat weakened, but in spite of all that he seemed to be able to stand upright and at least give Azula a thumbs up, a smile on his face.

Azula nodded and made her way towards him as Haru carried the overwhelmed Ty Lee to the veranda. Sokka huffed and kept smiling at the Princess, his breathing heavy.

"You seem to be holding up well" said Azula, raising her eyebrows.

"You're a lot more efficient than Zuko, building the heat for that thing. It really feels like the Slate all over again" said Sokka, breathing deeply and stretching with difficulty "Though I'll say I had to go easy on Mai and Ty Lee…"

"Did you really? My, my. We've gotten arrogant" said Azula, smirking as they walked to the veranda. Sokka chuckled.

"You can ask them if you don't believe me" he said, as he reached to take a glass of water too.

Mai was gracelessly slumped on Ruon Jian's shoulder, an unusual sight to behold, while Ty Lee sighed as Haru gave her water. They always served as Sokka's opponents within the earth dome, a training resource they'd resorted to at least once a week. They would usually only step in for around ten minutes at a time, but this time they had pushed their boundaries and stayed for twenty instead. The result of it was just as they could see now.

"I'm so happy his fight's just around the corner…" said Ty Lee, breathing heavily.

"How can you even stand up…?" Mai asked, looking at Sokka in disbelief. Sokka smiled and shrugged, running a hand through his damp hair.

"I'm supposed to, if I'll be able to get through the Slate again" he said. He huffed, noticing his hand was covered in sweat when he brought it back "Though I could really use a bath"

"Couldn't we all" said Mai. Ruon Jian laughed next to her.

"Well, for what it's worth, you still look beautiful when you're disheveled" he said, kissing her forehead. Mai only groaned.

"Aw, do I look pretty too…?" Ty Lee asked Haru, but before he could say anything she froze and grimaced "Oh, damn it, black spots in my eyes, black spots…"

"O-oh, we have to get you something to eat right away!" Haru said, lifting her again carefully and rushing to the kitchen.

Ruon Jian had joined them a few times during their training sessions, keeping watch over Yuudai while Mai fought Sokka. He didn't do it every time, but he had managed to take time off work so Mai wouldn't have to leave Yuudai with their servants. Despite Mai's concerns that she might be imposing on her husband, Ruon Jian was actually elated to be part of things for once. Never had Azula seen him more enthusiastic, as he held Yuudai on his lap and surrounded Mai's shoulders with an arm.

Mai glanced at Sokka as he drank his water, and she smirked slightly while he reached for another glass immediately after finishing the first.

"And what about him? Doesn't he look beautiful as well…?" she asked, teasingly. Azula cringed.

"No kidding" she said, with her best sarcastic voice. Sokka smirked too.

"Well, whatever you think is irrelevant, Princess. I feel beautiful, that's all that matters!" he declared proudly. Azula looked at him in disbelief.

"You look like a soaked turtle-duck, but then again, I've never liked those animals. Maybe that's why you look utterly ridiculous to me" she said, with a smirk. Sokka huffed.

"Utterly ridiculous, as if" he said, taking a seat at the veranda "You just can't stand all the manliness pouring out of me right now!"

"If the stench is what you call manliness, yes, I absolutely can't stand it" said Azula, smirking. Sokka cringed.

"Is it that bad?" he asked.

"You should probably ask Ty Lee to let you borrow her tub… although, given the sort of things she's bound to do with Haru there, I don't recommend that anyone else uses it" said Azula, sighing and shaking her head.

Sokka grimaced but drank his water as the Princess climbed up the stairs to head inside the house. She passed by Sokka on her way inside, letting her knuckles graze the side of his head. He bit back a smile, knowing Ruon Jian might notice him beaming out of nowhere, and he couldn't possibly act more suspiciously than that. Most people in the house knew of his relationship with Azula, but so far Mai had kept Ruon Jian in the dark about it, and it would be best to keep it that way. More than enough people knew about them as it was.

"Are you alright?" Azula asked, finding Ty Lee nibbling on some sweets in the kitchen while Haru watched her.

"I'll be fine, I'll be fine…" she said, her eyes somewhat out of orbit "I'm just exhausted, is all…"

"Well, if it pleases you, I think that will be enough for the day" said Azula "So thank you, as always, for all the help with this sort of training. With any luck we won't need to do it ever again"

"Yeah, I hope so" said Ty Lee, grimacing "This was worse than last time. Sokka's got some ridiculous heat endurance now, and he's only gotten stronger, you know? It's not a fair fight for me and Mai…"

"He should have grown stronger indeed. It's the whole point of what we're doing" said Azula "All the same, we won't bother you guys with this sort of training anymore after this. We're giving up the right to challenge, after all…"

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Haru asked "With all the points the Slate provides…"

"It provides more risks than it does points" said Azula "Even though we would be fighting on our own terms in the Slate, since we get to choose who we want to challenge, I probably should remind you that Sokka was truly lucky to survive the last fight as he did. I'd rather not have him take such risks again. We'll take all the points we can this time around, and surrender the right to challenge to someone else"

"Not to us, please" said Ty Lee, grimacing "Haru would be hopeless in there…"

"Yeah, choose another firebender, or a non-bender" said Haru, gulping "Unless you don't get to pick?"

"I think I do. The guy from the counter, Shoji, said we'd have to choose someone to take up the right to challenge" said Azula, shrugging "No worries, though. I won't force this bother upon you unless you give me a reason to do so"

Ty Lee pouted as Azula smirked slightly. As Haru headed off to prepare a bath for Ty Lee, Azula glanced over her shoulder, finding Sokka was chatting with Ruon Jian and Mai. Yuudai had crawled towards him, eager to play with the new adult who had joined him and his parents, but Sokka ushered him away.

"I'm all filthy, kid, it's better if you don't… woah! Hey, you shouldn't sit on my lap, I'm serious here…"

"He seems as awkward with children as you are, huh?" said Ty Lee, smiling sneakily. Azula huffed.

"I don't think anyone can be, despite he's trying pretty hard to beat me at it" she said "Then again, he's not being much of a figure of authority for him, is he? If he can't command respect, there's no way a kid will listen to him…"

"So that means your kids could play with him, and later you can scare them off by being the authority figure! See, that's just perfect" said Ty Lee, giggling and earning herself a glare from Azula "Okay, okay, no need for that, you know I'm just joking…"

"Hard to say coming from you" said Azula, raising her eyebrows. Ty Lee sighed.

"It's kind of sad, though… this would be such a fun triple date if only you and Sokka could just be open about it. But you have to cover up… it's just not fair. How has Mai managed to keep it quiet from Ruon Jian anyways?"

"She's simply not the type of person who can't keep a secret for more than ten minutes without blowing up" said Azula, smirking. Ty Lee pouted.

"I kept it for like… an hour. It's true" she said. Azula shook her head.

"Makes no matter in the long run, you still blabbed to Haru"

"Because you told me I could!"

"Because I knew you would even if I told you not to"

"You're just being mean, Azula" said Ty Lee, pouting again. Azula's smirk widened "Still, it's too bad you two can't be all cutesy and sweet. I bet you'd be so happy if you could just…"

"Yeah, sure. You really think I'd just let loose around all of you if Ruon Jian knew? Do you know me at all?" Azula asked. Ty Lee chuckled.

"Come on, you'd do it if you thought you'd piss someone off with displays of affection. I mean, you always liked annoying Zuko! Imagine how he'd react if you got all mushy with Sokka in front of him…"

"Heh, well, Zuko isn't here, so there'd be nobody to piss off either way" said Azula "The only one who'd be happy would be you, since you'd get to see us being… well, closer than you usually see us, and for some twisted reason you're eager to see that…"

"Hey, it's nothing twisted! I just think you two make a cute couple" said Ty Lee, smiling. Azula looked at her in disbelief.

"Yeah, sure. You know, you have your beloved Haru, you should just invest all your energies for romantic matters in that relationship and stop poking your nose into everyone else's"

"Aw, and where would be the fun in that?" Ty Lee asked, pouting.

"The fun in what?" Sokka asked, surprising Azula by showing up behind her without any warning.

"Got Yuudai off you?" Azula asked. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"It was harder than I thought it'd be, but when his mother called him he as good as forgot I existed. Can't say I mind…" he said. Azula couldn't help but smile.

"Ow, Yuudai is a cute kid, don't be so mean" said Ty Lee, pouting.

"Either way, I really think I'm getting smelly…" said Sokka.

"That you are" said Azula, raising her eyebrows matter-of-factly.

"… And I can't say I enjoy being all sweaty either" said Sokka, looking at her meaningfully "So I suppose we should go now, before the stench gets any worse"

"Bummer" said Ty Lee, sighing "I hoped we'd all get to have dinner together tonight"

"You can have us over when we get back from the Slate" said Azula "I'm sure we'll be able to drop by, this fight shouldn't be as bad this time around"

"If his opponent is lower than him in the Ranking, even, it really shouldn't be" said Ty Lee, scratching her head "Well, good luck, then. It'd be great if we could go, but we have a fight the day after yours…"

"And Mai's not going to put herself through that again" said Azula, smiling "Don't worry about it, Sokka won't need that much moral support to succeed. At least, I'd like to think so"

"Well, for all we know the opposite sponsor might be cheering for me too" said Sokka, with a raised eyebrow "Quite a weird guy he is, after all"

"If he starts cheering for you when his wife is fighting you, I'll finance their divorce myself" said Azula, shaking her head "Anyways, Ty Lee, we'll be back eventually. Hopefully in one piece…"

"Hey, what'd you mean, hopefully?" said Sokka, frowning "She has a wooden sword, there's no way…"

"Nothing's impossible for you in an Arena, including being cut up with a wooden blade, so don't jinx it by saying it's never going to happen, alright?" said Azula. Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"If anything I'd just get a splinter, but heck, sure, whatever you say…" he said, rolling his eyes. Azula bumped her shoulder against him as she made for the backyard again.

"Let's get going before you end my patience, Stinky Wolf" she said. Sokka smirked.

"Heh, what does that remind me of…?"

"Nothing you're going to talk about now, if you appreciate your life" Azula said, with a smirk of her own. Nobody around here would understand their reference to Sokka's very first shameless comment towards Azula, and they certainly didn't want to explain it either way.

Sokka chuckled as they walked out to the garden again, or what was left of it after all the massive changes it had to undergo, on a constant basis, for all of Sokka and Haru's training sessions. Little of the garden could be considered a garden in anything but in name by now.

Xin Long fetched them as they bickered in front of the earth dome, and while the back-and-forth continued between them as they returned home, it became a lot less hostile and far more playful once they knew they'd be alone. Song would likely be inside, but they weren't headed into the house just yet: Sokka definitely needed to clean up first of all, and Azula was more than happy to supervise him in the bathroom right away.

Their adventures in the bathroom had always been quite the source of enjoyment for them both, and they thoroughly helped each other cleanse off all the dirt and sweat as they caressed intimately. They were both quite tired, though, so it was relaxing to simply lie together on the tub, with Azula sitting on his lap, her back against his chest, her eyes closed as he held her, beaming amid the bubbles and cleansing salts.

"This is probably the best way to end this insane training spree" Sokka said, with a happy grin. Azula smiled.

"Relaxing tends to be good for you, especially when you have an important fight up ahead" she said "I'm glad I could see to your training myself this time"

"So am I" said Sokka, smiling "Sparring with you is better than with Zuko, by miles. And this sort of thing is just what I need to end my day, it certainly is"

"This alone?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "Here I expected you might want something more…"

"I figured you'd go home now" he said, confused "That's not the plan? Because if not, what is?"

"Who knows?" she answered, enigmatically before turning around on his lap, surrounding his neck with her arms "You do remember that there's a pretty awful chance we might have to let two other people aboard my Barge tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, I'm aware" said Sokka, caressing her back.

"So, planning ahead for the worst case scenario, which is that you might not be able to run off to my room during the trip because your biggest fan wants to throw a slumber party with you…" Azula said, poking his chest with a finger "I was thinking about making the most of tonight and see to it that we get all we need off our system before you go to your big fight"

"Wait… what?" said Sokka, blinking blankly "I mean, great! But… what?"

Azula laughed and shook her head, letting it rest on his shoulder as he remained utterly puzzled, his arms around her waist.

"I mean, you don't usually spend the night or anything because it's risky, right? If you skip dinner it'll be suspicious and…"

"It won't be because they think I'll have dinner at Ty Lee's, since I told them I would" said Azula "Nobody will be monitoring my activities at all until morning, most likely"

"So you really can stick around for a while longer, then? Have dinner with us?" Sokka asked, smiling "Will Xin take you home later?"

"I thought it might be better if I simply take the tunnels, the way you do whenever you're being a reckless fool" she said "Indeed, it's risky, but I can't imagine us having much time for ourselves with your dear friend Yang on the loose"

"He's not my friend" said Sokka, smiling "At least not yet. I barely know him…"

"But he surely knows all about you" said Azula, with a smirk "At least, all he could know. And what he doesn't know yet he'll try to find out during this trip. I don't suppose I'll have to tell you not to blab about certain things regarding our relationship, but I'll warn you not to either way"

"I'm not that careless, you know?" said Sokka, smiling "Not when we really know nothing about them. As much as he might be a fan of mine, he'll probably forget all about that if he expects a big reward in cash for giving our relationship away to your dad…"

"I wonder if my father would actually reward him" Azula said. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Wouldn't he want to?" he asked "I suppose he's not exactly the image of generosity, but…"

"No, it's just… I imagine he might be so outraged he might actually kill Yang right then and there for telling him I'm sleeping with my gladiator" she said, with a weak smile "All things considered, it wouldn't be a wise move from him"

"But either way, we have no idea if we can trust them" said Sokka, sighing "So we have to keep our mouths shut and our behavior must remain as spotless as can be, right?"

"Exactly" said Azula "Which means… one late night of recklessness is important for our mental health, yes"

"I can't believe you're actually suggesting and vouching for this…" said Sokka, chuckling. Azula smirked as she lifted herself up to kiss him.

"You won't have me all night, but we can make the most of it while you do" she said, her forehead against his. Sokka smiled.

"Your improper proposals are the worst, you know?" he said "I should try to speak sense into you, be the responsible one for a change, but I can't even try to be, you know? I'm no good at that! So of course, you'll have your way, because when don't you anyways?"

"Ah, so you're admitting I do get my way even in bed now? You always denied it…" she said. Sokka chuckled.

"I honestly don't know who loves the things we do the most, me or you" he said, before kissing her deeply. Azula smirked as she gave in fully to the passionate exchange.

It wasn't that she feared for Sokka's safety this time, at least not on the same measure as she had six months ago. But she didn't want to waste any time, and she knew she would be forced to accept they wouldn't see nearly as much of each other as they liked to during the trip to the Slate. She didn't stay through the whole night, choosing to rush through the tunnels right after Sokka fell asleep in her arms, but the brief time she spent with him was enough to appease her anxieties ever so slightly. She wished she didn't feel this way, but she wasn't sure she could see him off to big fights anymore without taking her time to appreciate being with him beforehand.

She arrived into her room as quickly as possible, finding no complications in the tunnels or outside them. Her bags were packed in her room, everything was ready. And yet she dropped on the mattress with a displeased groan, despite the bed was as comfortable as ever and her body was as relaxed as could be. No matter what awaited them tomorrow, she really hoped that guy and his wife would prove to be more agreeable company than she'd anticipated they would be.

* * *

Sokka smiled when Azula descended on the Barge on Xin Long's back. He greeted her with a hand, holding back the urge to run up to kiss her. She nodded in his direction, acknowledging him as dryly as she could as she climbed off the dragon. Most unlike his rider, though, Xin Long rushed up to Sokka and dove in to lick his face with his serpentine tongue, to Sokka's surprise and confusion.

"Wha…?! What the heck are you doing?!" he squealed, as Xin Long wagged his tail excitedly "Get off! Xin! What's the matter with you?!"

Azula snorted and shook her head. The dragon certainly loved to mess with people, but what he was doing to Sokka was quite deliberately to annoy her. Since Xin Long knew that they would likely be forced to hold back today, he was actually messing with Azula by kissing Sokka while she couldn't. So she rolled her eyes and smiled before heading inside the ship's tower, hoping to confirm that everything was ready for the journey.

"Seriously, what the heck is wrong with you?!" Sokka gasped, trying to shove the dragon off. Xin only gurgled with malice and settled against him, his head crushing Sokka's chest. The gladiator's eyebrow twitched "Are you doing what I think you're doing?"

Xin only answered with another reptilian laugh and Sokka's scowled. So he was being ridiculed by a dragon, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. This was why it wasn't much good for his lover to have such a tight connection with her dragon, it gave the creature an excuse to do mischievous things like these to annoy them both…

"You've got to get off, Xin, seriously. I need to keep an eye out for those two!" Sokka groaned, wrestling to shove the dragon off, but it didn't seem he was about to shift a single inch. Sokka sighed "Azulaaa, help me…"

He was sure she could hear him somehow through the dragon, but there was no point in asking for help when she surely had other things to take care of right now. He'd have to stay lying over the deck, crushed by the large creature's weight…

A shadow appeared over him suddenly, blocking the sunlight. Sokka had closed his eyes in despair, but he opened them to realize it was a Royal Guard, scrutinizing him through his mask.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself" Rui Shi commented. Sokka sighed.

"I'd ask you to help but he might bite your foot or something if you try" he said. Rui Shi smiled, even if Sokka couldn't see it.

"There's truly nothing I can do. Speaking from experience, you'll have to figure out how to get him off you, because I… huh"

"You what?" Sokka said, raising an eyebrow. Rui Shi lifted a finger, pointing at the dock that Sokka couldn't quite see from where he was.

"Your opponents are here, I believe" said Rui Shi. Sokka flinched.

"Oh damn. Xin, seriously now, get off…"

The dragon groaned with disapproval, but to Sokka's surprise he budged, sitting up and scratching the back of his head with his hind leg. Sokka jumped up to his feet again, breathing deeply now he wasn't been squeezed by a dragon, and he turned to look at the dock: he recognized Yang and Haiyan easily at the front of the group, but they were leading a crowd that was all too familiar as well by now, the Blue Pack. He swallowed hard, wondering if they'd seen him crushed by Xin Long and realized he wasn't half as dignified and noble as they might have misunderstood him for. Though he wouldn't mind if they had, not entirely.

"Uh… hey?" he said, stepping down towards them "Did you guys manage to make enough money?"

"We almost did" Haiyan replied, showing him a bag she was carrying. Yang looked at Sokka uneasily "We've asked around the port, though, and we still need around a thousand more to hire a ship…"

Sokka sighed and shrugged, giving them a dry grin.

"Well, if that's how it is, I guess there's only one solution, right?" he said. Yang's hand flew to his forehead.

"I… I seriously can't believe this" he said, a wild grin breaking over his face.

"Don't get too excited" said Sokka, chuckling "The Princess might be annoyed if you're too happy about it"

"O-oh, I'll do my best to hold back!" Yang exclaimed, nodding before bowing his head to Sokka "Thank you so much for your generosity! We owe you so much!"

"No need for that, not at all" said Sokka, smiling "I guess you should climb aboard now, then…"

Haiyan smiled gratefully and climbed the ramp indeed, but Yang turned to the crowd behind him with a bright smile. They congratulated him on this great honor and gave him good wishes, some of them even hugging him, and others asking for souvenirs from the Slate. Sokka smirked, wondering if they'd be satisfied with bits of volcanic rocks, if Yang could get any of it…

"Thank you, everyone! I'll see you in five days!" Yang said, laughing as he finally got on the ramp "Goodbye!"

Sokka smiled as he stared at the waving crowd. But he noticed someone wasn't amongst them: the girl Azula had insulted somewhat boldly, Hina, hadn't come to see Yang and Haiyan off, not even for another chance to be near Sokka. Her absence made Sokka frown, not because he wanted her there, but because something about it gave him a bad feeling, for some reason.

"Oh, it's so big and clean and… Ah! Oh no, oh no! It's him, isn't it?! Oh, Haiyan, it's the dragon!" Yang exclaimed, clinging to his wife's arm as he stared at the curious Xin Long, who smirked as though pondering just how he would mess around with these new acquaintances of his rider "I can't believe it! I can't…!"

"It's not the first time you see him, though" said Haiyan, amused "You've told me you've seen him at times at the Dome, haven't you?"

"B-b-but he's right there!" Yang squeaked, covering his face with his hands and shaking his head "Oh, this is too much for me…"

"If it is then you might have to consider bailing out of the fight altogether" said a voice that made Yang jump, for he recognized it immediately "But I don't think you can risk that, can you?"

Azula smirked at the Barge's Tower entrance, as the spiky-haired man turned to look at her. He shook his head first, but then he bowed deeply at her. He shook his head again as he held his body doubled over at almost perfect ninety degrees.

"It's the greatest honor to join you in this journey, Princess!" he said, still bent over "I'll do my best not to be a nuisance!"

"Heh. I wonder how that will go for you" she said, as Haiyan performed a far classier bow than her husband had "Feel free to rise whenever you please. Captain, we're ready to take off"

"Very well, Princess" said Rui Shi before walking away from them, giving out orders for the ramp to be lifted.

The sailors worked fast as they readied the ship to set out again. The engines began working, smoke pouring from the Barge's chimneys. Xin Long darted off into the sky, always enjoying watching the ship from above far more than lounging on the deck. Yang carried on waving at his friends, rushing to the stern of the ship so he could say goodbye even as the ship took off. Azula and Sokka watched him, the former with confusion, the latter with amusement.

"I warned him not to get too excited but I guess he didn't listen" said Sokka, smiling at Azula. She sighed.

"You see, you're used to all this, Sokka" she said "The luxuries, being ferried back and forth on the Princess's ship… but this doesn't happen frequently to common people. So it's not like he'll be able to help it. He probably won't even manage to fall asleep tonight…"

"I do hope he does" said Haiyan, smiling a little "I'd like to think his overexcitement will just make him burn out energies and fall asleep easily tonight"

"That's another possibility" Azula admitted, nodding "And you seem awfully calm through it all, unlike him…"

"Well, don't take it the wrong way, I'm amazed as well that we're here at all" she said, gazing around herself with a bright smile "But I haven't forgotten we're on our way to what might be the most important fight of my gladiator career, so I'm trying to stay focused on that"

"I'm glad you're doing your best to focus" said Azula "But I guess your husband isn't, huh?"

Yang had finally stopped waving, for the others were already so small and lost in the distance that he couldn't quite discern them anymore. He giggled and turned to find everyone was watching him, and he gulped and lowered his head awkwardly while smiling at the three of them.

"They were just happy to see us off" he said, walking towards them, trying his best to appear calm now, although it didn't look like he'd calm down anytime soon "And… and we're just happy to be here! We're… oh, Princess, we're so grateful…"

"They made some money, but it wasn't enough to pay the trip on another ship" Sokka mentioned to Azula. She sighed and shrugged.

"They didn't have the best chances to save up enough money, but we'd already anticipated this could happen. It's of no matter. You two can go freshen up in your cabin if you…"

"Our… cabin?" Yang asked, his eyes wide "W-what do you mean…?"

"Well, where did you expect you'd sleep tonight?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "There's enough cabins in my Barge to fit you two, even if you won't take one of the best rooms in the Tower…"

"I actually thought…" said Yang, blinking blankly "W-well, I mean, I was fine sleeping even on the deck! We really didn't want to impose…"

"Please. It's a little late for that, isn't it?" said Azula, raising her eyebrow "Your cabin is next to Sokka's. He can show you where it is whenever you want to go"

"Why, t-thank you! Thank you, Princess!" said Yang, tears blinking in his eyes now "The kindness you've extended to us will never go forgotten…"

"Yeah, that's what I feared" said Azula, sighing. She'd certainly rather forget it and put all this behind her once it was over, though. She still wasn't sure why she'd chosen to do this, to begin with…

"It's truly kind of you, Princess" said Haiyan, smiling politely and bowing her head towards her "This means very much to us both"

"I promise I won't pester your gladiator much" said Yang, smiling at Sokka "I'll actually try to… to act normally. No weird questions, none of that! I don't want to bother any of you, so…"

"Heh? Well, if you don't want to ask anything maybe I will" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows "I've been thinking for a while now, and after you were seen off by your friends at the port, I'm even more confused: why didn't you ask that girl, Hina, to help you pay for transport?"

"Wha-…? Hina?" Yang repeated. Sokka nodded. Azula's eyebrow twitched, guessing who Sokka meant…

"She claimed she was the one who funded your club, right?" said Sokka "She was pretty eager to tell me she was the daughter of a nobleman, back when you guys first introduced yourselves. If she had money to spare like that…"

"Well, Hina's a bit of a complicated fellow" said Yang, scratching the back of his head "I mean, I know I shouldn't be one to judge, and I shouldn't be saying this stuff about her… but she's not exactly the nicest kind of person, you know?"

"Who'd have thought?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow and smirking at Azula. Azula snorted.

"What makes you say that, though?" she asked Yang "Is there anything off about her?"

"One thing, many things…" said Yang, grimacing "Since she funds the Blue Pack she likes to act like she's entitled to… well, anything. And well, she's a bit obsessed with the Blue Wolf…"

The judgmental and skeptical looks both Azula and Sokka gave Yang made him flinch and blush.

"N-no, I mean, not like I am!" he said, blushing "She actually always told us we had to go introduce ourselves, and I had to hold her back because I didn't think it'd be proper… what mattered was that we supported you, not to get recognition for our support. We only did it after your last fight because we'd heard you hadn't fared well against the Kinslayer, and with that blow you took, we hoped you'd be encouraged to know there were lots of people who thought you're a remarkable fighter…"

"So she's just in it just because she wants recognition somehow?" said Azula. Yang gulped.

"From the Blue Wolf, yes. Y-you see, she keeps… asking Pirin to paint weird things" he said "I'd rather not elaborate, it wouldn't be proper…"

The blood drained Sokka's face as countless, horrifying ideas came to his mind. Azula didn't seem to be in better shape next to him, having closed her eyes as she tried to force herself not to imagine what it was that Yang didn't want to tell them.

"And well, after what the Princess said to her, she… she seemed to grow offended to the point that we haven't heard from her since" said Yang, scratching the top of his head "I don't really think we'll miss her much, nobody really liked her…"

"She's always been the least likeable member of the Den… I mean, Pack. That's the name now" said Haiyan "I know most of them, the others are mostly very nice even if they are crazy in their own ways. Hina was somehow… obnoxious, I guess. She seemed to have the idea that the group wouldn't exist altogether if it weren't for her"

"Really? It wouldn't have?" Sokka asked. Yang shrugged but shook his head.

"Actually, we would have. We would have had less material, maybe, but we would have still held together" said Yang "A group of us founded the club some time ago, when we all started to run into each other constantly in your fights. We realized we could start a club, and that's how it all began.

"Hina wasn't really there at first, though. She showed up a little later" said Yang, scratching the back of his head again "And she did help by giving us money to make props and such, but outside of that…"

"So you would simply bear with her because you felt obliged, after she paid for all the weird props" Azula concluded. Yang sighed "And what about now? How will you carry on with your club if she's so affronted by what I said that she's avoiding the Pack altogether?"

"That's… a good question" said Yang, grimacing and shrugging "But what matters is that we support the Blue Wolf, so even if we have no money, our main purpose is to cheer him on in his fights whenever we can"

"A noble purpose, I suppose" said Azula, raising an eyebrow as Sokka smiled.

"I'm grateful to hear that, really" he said "I don't really know why anyone would support me like that, but…"

"What do you mean you don't know?" Yang asked, his eyes wide "Are you… are you truly not aware of how extraordinary you are?"

"Well, I mean, I'm not exactly the greatest gladiator out there…" said Sokka, gulping. Yang yelped.

"Oh boy, here we go" said Haiyan, with an amused grin. Azula frowned.

"What do you mean…?"

"You truly don't understand?!" Yang exclaimed, aghast "B-but after all you've achieved! After having proven to have the most unbelievable gladiator-and-sponsor partnership of all…!"

Azula was instantly on edge upon hearing that. She wasn't unaware of how people often praised her bond with Sokka, but something about the way Yang was wording his particular praise made her wonder just how much had he analyzed about their relationship…

"The very first time I saw you two was when I watched your first combat against the Blind Bandit" said Yang. Sokka flinched just by remembering the occasion "And it was awful! It was the most cringe-worthy, painful fight I'd ever witnessed! I seriously just wanted it to be over because I could scarcely bear seeing more of that…!"

"Yeah, well, we all wanted it to be over, that was a pretty general feeling that day" Sokka said, swallowing hard.

"But when I was getting ready to leave… there you were" he said, looking at the Princess. Azula froze, fearing a blush might creep over her features as Yang spoke "You were carrying him, all by yourself, Princess, and it was…! It was mind-boggling for everyone. Everyone froze as they watched you, nobody dared interrupt because what they were seeing was unprecedented! A sponsor carrying her battered gladiator, through thick and thin… what a moving sight it was!"

"Seriously? Moving?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrow. She had reflected later on her actions, dreading that people would actually be revolted by them, but instead she had discovered her decision to carry Sokka had warmed her up to them instead. It seemed Yang was one of them.

"From that day forth I decided to attend your fights whenever I had a chance" said Yang, his eyes bright "The Blue Wolf, so strong and creative in battle, yet hiding it behind his appearances, and the Princess, his sponsor who would even stain her hands with blood to help him… you guys just make such a perfect team. It's not chance that people often say you're the greatest combination of gladiator and sponsor!"

"Well, I didn't think it was chance, but I see now" said Sokka, smiling and shrugging "So it's really not just about me, then? You think what makes me great is that I have a great sponsor?"

"Why… I think you're a brilliant fighter all on your own, no doubt" said Yang "And that alone made me interested even while you were fighting against the Blind Bandit – you were unlucky that your schemes didn't work, but if they had you would have beaten her and it would have been amazing! Still… what really blew my mind was that a gladiator and a sponsor could have that sort of honorable bond, truly. And with all the other stories that we've heard, of how you found the beautiful and magnificent dragon! And how you took down the Dai Li conspiracy, and the Rough Rhinos, and that group of terrorists…"

"You've heard of all that, huh?" said Azula, sighing.

"I can only imagine how it must have been, the two of you fighting side by side to defeat your enemies, leaving all sorts of tales of glory, courage and loyalty behind, for centuries to come…" Yang carried on, his smile bright and dreamy "I've always imagined that you took down the Rough Rhinos together, with the Blue Wolf rushing forth as a magnificent champion, saving all the helpless people from Yu Dao…!"

"Well, you heard that one wrong" said Sokka, with an awkward smile "We were late to what they did in Yu Dao, so we didn't take them down there…"

"And considering what shape we were in, neither of us looked particularly magnificent" Azula commented, grimacing.

"Oh?" said Yang, his eyes widening "And… what about the dragon? I've always thought that you might have found it in some old, isolated ruins of an ancient firebending civilization, where lingered the last specimens of the dragons of old times!"

Sokka and Azula blinked before looking at each other and at Yang again, utterly puzzled.

"It's safe to say you have a very active imagination, don't you?" said Azula, with a sarcastic smile.

"That's not how it was, then…?" he asked, biting his lip. Sokka laughed.

"You know what?" he said "We've got two days of journey up ahead, right? So…"

"So you're going to spend them by setting right all the weird stories he's come up with?" Azula asked, anticipating herself to what Sokka was about to say.

He smiled and shrugged at her before winking quickly. The others wouldn't see his gesture, given that the angle of his head only allowed Azula to see it. She had warned him not to be as mindless as to let certain parts of the story slip, but he was sure he could still retell many of their stories while concealing the mutual feelings between him and the Princess.

"Got any better ideas?" he said. Azula huffed, guessing she would trust him on this after all. She'd make him pay for it if this backfired on them somehow.

"Not really. But I'm not exactly interested in revisiting our past adventures right now, so I'll leave that to you both" she said waving a hand carelessly "Though promise me you're not going to twist anything out of proportion to make yourself look more heroic…"

"Hey, that hadn't crossed my mind until now, but you know what? I really could do that…" said Sokka, smirking. Azula huffed and gave him another glare, and Sokka snickered "I won't, I won't. It'll be okay, Princess, I've got this"

"Yeah. I'm reassured" said Azula, sarcastically, as Sokka threw an arm around Yang's shoulders.

"Come along then! This will take a while" he said, as Yang held back the urge to squeal over being half-embraced by his hero.

Azula and Haiyan watched them go, the former with a wary frown, the other with a fond smile. Azula took a deep breath, unsure if she ought to ask the question she couldn't help but keep pondering… but when Haiyan glanced at her she knew she'd have no choice but to speak her mind.

"I hope it's alright with you that your gladiator shares your story… Yang is so very invested in everything about you two" said Haiyan, smiling. Azula shrugged.

"I don't really mind, but… I'm honestly just wondering one thing, which might just be too rude to ask, but… why exactly are you married to him?"

To her relief, Haiyan only snorted and laughed with genuine amusement. Azula had expected a completely different reaction, so she suspected Haiyan wasn't facing this question for the first time.

"I mean, all things considered, he's obsessed with Sokka, and perhaps with me too, even if not in the disturbing way that other girl is" said Azula, her eyes wide "Unless you don't think it's an obsession…"

"Oh, it is. I will call things by their actual name" said Haiyan, with an awkward smile "I'd say this is a problem, but surprisingly, it was also a solution. He hit a terrible writer's block some years back, couldn't get anything out, but when he returned home after watching the Blue Wolf's fight that one time he suddenly started writing again. Now he mostly writes narrations of the fights in the Arena, but if it gets him to write, I'm happy for it"

"Does he do it with your fights too?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. Haiyan smiled.

"He does. I remember the first time he did it, I'd lost that fight and would have to rest for a few days, so we weren't in the best situation at the time" she said "As you know, my job is what usually reels money in, whether as a gladiator or as a construction worker… so whenever I have to be bedridden we know things will get tough. But he spent the night writing by our bed while I rested, and then I woke to read his version of what happened… it actually made me feel a little better, even if I was sorry I'd disappointed him with a loss. He's actually a very good writer, I believe…"

"Huh. I wonder if he really is" Azula commented, with a smirk "It feels like you might not be an impartial source about that…"

"Oh, well… I do love my husband" said Haiyan, laughing softly "But I suppose I haven't answered your first question yet, have I?"

"Not really" said Azula, as the two of them walked towards the Barge's railing. Haiyan rested against it with her back turned to the water, unlike Azula who was supporting her weight on the railing with her forearms.

"Well… there's probably yet another weird story about me and Yang that you probably won't expect" said Haiyan "Not only am I his wife and gladiator, but… I was never a slave"

"I actually suspected as much" said Azula, frowning "You don't act or really strike me as an Earth Kingdom person, and your manners are far too good for a slave's. But now I think of it…"

"He does?" Haiyan asked "With his green eyes and brown hair…"

"True" said Azula, glancing at Yang, over at the Barge's prow, with confusion. To her mild embarrassment, Sokka was literally enacting whatever event he was telling the man about, putting on a ridiculous show that would make him eligible to join the Ember Island Players "So then… was he a slave instead of you?"

"Exactly" said Haiyan, with a weak grin. Azula grimaced.

"You two are more confusing than I expected" she said. Haiyan laughed softly.

"Well, the truth is, he was bought by my father back when slavery was just beginning" said Haiyan "I was a teenager, and he was a little younger than me. He wasn't in the best shape and hadn't really been educated back in the Earth Kingdom. As it turned out, he was somewhat useless with household chores, so my father ended up looking after him as though he were an adoptive son instead of a slave. He taught him how to read and write, history, geography, leant him books… so in a few years Yang was well-fed, full of knowledge and actually quite happy, even if he also learned how to do his chores by then.

"I started encountering little poems in my room when I was around fifteen. I didn't expect them, I thought my sister had misplaced some letter by a suitor, but it was addressed to me. It didn't take me long to realize who was responsible for them, but I didn't say anything. I enjoyed coming home from school to find little gifts for me in my room, so I just awaited his poems eagerly. Eventually, one of them actually breached a point that I… well, I really didn't expect it to, even if I'd let myself wonder if maybe this meant he was in love with me. And when he said as much in one of the poems I just… ran to his room before I knew what I was doing. He was actually writing the next one, and I thought it was adorable that he actually thought he was so clever and mysterious… he was surprised I'd figured him out, but he admitted the truth right then and there, so… so that's where it began"

"Huh" said Azula, smiling a little "So he won you over with poetry. No wonder you believe he's a good writer"

"I suppose it's a cliché, but it was wonderful" said Haiyan, laughing softly. Azula bit her lip.

"But given what you've said about your economic condition… things didn't go smooth for the two of you after that, did they?" she asked. Haiyan sighed.

"My father found out about us when I… well, when I confessed it all, after he told me he would try setting me up for an arranged marriage" she said "He told me I had to break it off immediately, I refused… so we ran off. Yang wasn't exactly happy to disappoint my father after all he'd done for him, but I told him I wasn't having any of that about arranged marriages. We left, and… and I haven't been home since"

"So you've sacrificed a comfortable life for this?" Azula asked, frowning "You chose him above everything else, even if the cost was that steep?"

"It must sound completely unreasonable to you, I'm sure" said Haiyan, smiling awkwardly "It does to most everyone. But we chose happiness and so far we haven't regretted it, no matter how hard things have gotten at times. We have each other, and that's enough"

"You still managed to get married, though?" Azula asked. Haiyan nodded.

"A Sage did it with a quick ceremony" she said, laughing softly "He was pressed for time, did it the fastest he could, gave us the documents we needed for it to be legal, and that was that. That was when Yang knew there was no turning back anymore for us, so we both gave it our best to grow stable in our new lives… I've always been quite strong, so I've gotten jobs that are physical, but Yang can't really work most anywhere. Most people in the Capital have slaves for cleaning as it is, so even if he's good at it he's never been hired for that. As you also heard, writing is no good either…"

"A pity" Azula said, biting her lip "And that's why you didn't just reject the Slate's challenge, right? You thought maybe this will bring more attention to you two, and with that you'll have lots of new challenges…"

"Hopefully lots that pay better" said Haiyan, chuckling. Azula sighed.

"Still… does he keep writing poetry to you, or is he just stuck writing or imagining insane scenarios about me and my gladiator?" she asked. Haiyan smiled.

"He does both, really. But by now I know better than to hope to be his only writing muse" she said "Writers seem to need new things to work on from time to time, so I'm not going to be unreasonable and demand he only writes about or for me. As long as he doesn't write love poems for your gladiator I won't have anything to complain about"

Azula smiled, and so did Haiyan. The gladiator swallowed hard and shook her head, though, suddenly a little more aware of herself than she'd been before.

"Sorry, though, about rambling like this about a corny love story. You've heard one, you've heard them all, right?" she said. Azula shook her head.

"I did ask, didn't I?" said Azula "I was genuinely curious, don't worry about it. You've proven to be far more mysterious than expected, for two people as straight-forward as you are…"

"Oh, we're hardly mysterious" said Haiyan, laughing softly "We're just… an odd match, I suppose. But if it's worked so far, I'd like to think it will keep working in the future"

"I do hope so, for your sake" said Azula, straightening herself "Well, then, I guess my curiosity is sated by now. I'll be heading inside, to make sure everything's still going well. I suppose you can join those two if you'd like, clearly Sokka would love to have more public"

"Oh, well, I just might do it" said Haiyan, smiling "Thank you, Princess"

"For the trip? Why… you're welcome" she said, nodding towards her "I hope this fight brings good changes to your lives, regardless of the result"

"Thank you, truly" said Haiyan, bowing her head now. Azula nodded and turned to the Tower, her mind on overdrive now, after hearing Haiyan's story.

The Princess kept herself busy with supervising matters for a few hours before heading to her cabin and resting briefly there. She didn't want to have much free time as it was, but what else could she expect when she still had a day and a half ahead of their journey? If only she could head down to the deck and firebend until it was dinnertime she would, but she didn't think it would be wise to do it around Yang. Surely the guy would have a seizure if he ever had the chance to watch her bending, or training with Sokka.

She busied herself reading, ate when dinner was brought to her cabin, and was ready for bed earlier than usual, since she had no reason to stay up through the night. She actually wondered when was the last time she got proper rest during a trip anywhere, but she actually hadn't missed it much. If anything, she'd miss Sokka's company far more than a good night's sleep.

But before she could actually get the latter, when she had almost dozed off completely, she heard the door of her cabin creak open and she sat up with a start.

"Are you… are you serious?!" Azula snapped, without bothering to greet him as Sokka closed the door behind him. He brought a finger to his lips.

"Shh! Nobody saw me, relax!" he said. Azula looked at him in disbelief.

"Didn't we agree that this wouldn't be possible because your biggest fan just might realize you went someplace?"

"Not with the way he's snoring he won't" said Sokka, grimacing "Heck, they both were, to make things worse. I can't really sleep, it reminds me of our last time in Ba Sing Se…"

"Oh, really?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow. Sokka smiled.

"They were pretty tired, Azula. I don't think they'll be looking into where I am anytime soon" he said, sighing and taking his seat on her bed.

"So you say" she said "But if you stay here all the way into morning…"

"I won't" said Sokka, smiling "We're as good as trained to take off before dawn, aren't we? Nothing to worry about, Princess. I really just wanted a chance to talk with you, that's all"

"Huh, good to know" she grunted. Sokka chuckled "Well? Did you tell Yang all about how you fell desperately in love with me to the point of fighting against all sorts of obstacles in your struggle to become my perfect gladiator and lover...?"

"Oh, sure. I also gave him a full briefing of all the positions we've ever tried, just so he doesn't imagine anything too farfetched, like that crazy story he came up with for Xin Long" said Sokka, smirking "You know me, I just can't shut my mouth"

"If you seriously let anything slip…" Azula said, lifting a finger. Sokka laughed and shook his head.

"I didn't, you don't have to worry" he said "I just talked about our best action moments, and not even all of them. I didn't talk about the White Lotus mess because I doubted you wanted him to know you were sick…"

"Wise. Surprisingly wise" she admitted, sighing and stretching across the bed "Though truth be told, even if they found out about us, I doubt they'd ever tell anyone"

"What? Why do you say that?" Sokka asked, following her lead and relaxing on the mattress.

She told him everything Haiyan had explained earlier, along with a few guesses and assumptions of her own. Her gaze was stuck on the ceiling as Sokka stared at her, his brow slightly furrowed.

"So… okay, what I'm gathering from this is that…"

"They were in a similar place to where we are now" Azula whispered. Sokka swallowed hard "And they gave up everything for each other in the end. Which is noble in its own way, no doubt, but they've been struggling for years. It's not what you'd call a welcoming fate…"

"Ours would be worse, too, wouldn't it?" said Sokka. Azula nodded.

"I think Haiyan's father mustn't have been highborn or anything of the sort. A nobleman could have easily hired someone to track his daughter down and forced her back home, if he had wanted to, and he would have certainly had the slave killed for defiling his daughter…"

"So a lot of it is different from us" said Sokka, dropping his head on the pillow "They knew each other since they were younger, too"

"Still, he wrote poetry for her. Just as someone wrote embarrassing haiku about me" she said, smirking down at Sokka. He snorted.

"You'll never let that go, will you?" he asked. She laughed.

"Not in this life" she declared "If anything, I'm even jealous now. Haiyan surely gets at least a poem a week or so, and I haven't gotten anything new from you since you first wrote them, over a year ago. How is that right?"

"Wait, but I thought you found them embarrassing! Laughable!" Sokka said, blushing. Azula laughed again, as though confirming his claims.

"They were, but that didn't make them less endearing" she said "Why do you think I've kept them despite everything, huh?"

"Because… you have bad taste for poetry?" Sokka asked. Azula glared at him skeptically "Come on, I'm messing with you, no need to give me that look…"

"You're an idiot" she said, sighing and throwing an arm around his chest. Sokka smiled.

"An idiot who writes bad poetry. But hey… if you really want I can try again. I mean, you've rejected my singing voice and my offers to paint you, but if you really want more poetry…"

"Oh, what the blazes have I asked for?" Azula sighed, shaking her head as Sokka laughed, surrounding her with his arms and kissing her forehead softly.

"You know… we won't have to go through what they did" he said, rubbing her arm with a hand. Azula only rested against him, her head on his shoulder "Let alone through something worse. We've covered our tracks well enough so far, from the looks of it. Nothing suggests that your dad has any clue about us. So if you're thinking what I'm pretty sure you're thinking…"

"It's not that I'm wondering if it'll happen or not" said Azula "It's just… I'm wondering what we'd be able to do if it did. Can running off be an option for us as it was for them?"

Sokka felt tempted to say yes, but the look on Azula's eyes said otherwise. No, she couldn't simply turn her back on everything she'd worked for. She couldn't abandon her nation and her people just to elope with him. He had sabotaged the bomb development in the Air Temple, knowing it could have caused a rift between them, because his beliefs had compelled him to do so. Because he had thought it was the right thing to do. And just so, abandoning her nation wasn't something Azula could perceive as the right thing to do. They had already spoken about this, and they had decided that their love for one another wasn't going to get in the way of everything else they held dear… but if it did, what sacrifice would they choose to make? Would it be their nations, or their love?

He shook his head, though, and kissed her forehead again. Azula sighed.

"We're not running anywhere. And we're not going to betray ourselves, or our people, over each other" said Sokka "The true challenge in this relationship is keeping it quiet for as long as it may be possible, isn't it? Well, we'll stay quiet forever if that's how it has to be. We won't have to cross that line, Azula. We can see to it"

"I hope so" Azula replied, clutching at him "I really hope so"

He kissed her lips softly, and she rewarded him with a gentle smile. His arms tightened around her as she sighed and closed her eyes, her mind still filled with concerns despite Sokka's reassurances.

Sokka returned to his cabin after sleeping with Azula in his arms until dawn. Even by then his two neighbors carried on snoring, so he was left to stare at the ceiling while hoping to get more rest during the next day. He couldn't help but smile, guessing that Yang and Haiyan were indeed quite suitable for each other: if they could sleep with that much noise, they were definitely meant to be. But if he was going to defeat her on the next day, he'd have to get proper sleep in the course of that last day of traveling to the Slate.

Therefore, Sokka slept during most the afternoon while Azula watched with amusement, from the windows of her cabin in the Barge's tower, as Haiyan practiced her moves with her wooden sword with Yang's help, on the deck. Yang was utterly hopeless with a weapon, it was made clear immediately, but his wife's dexterity was something to be reckoned with. As she watched her swing her sword powerfully, Azula had no problem understanding how she had gotten as far as she had without using a weapon fit for murder. She couldn't help but think a woman like that could have had a great military career, if she'd ever be interested in one, that was.

They arrived into the Slate on the next day, and Yang was standing in awe of the volcanic island by the time Azula and Sokka were on deck and ready to disembark. Haiyan was all set, wearing her armor and carrying her weapons, and she waved at them as her husband stood in an apparent trance where he was.

"Dear? Are you alright…?" said Haiyan. Yang swallowed hard and nodded.

"Yes, yes, I'm perfectly fine..." he said, before pulling several sheets of crumpled paper from his pockets and scribbling on them hastily. Haiyan smiled awkwardly as the Princess and her gladiator approached them.

"Is something the matter?" Azula asked. Haiyan shook her head.

"He's inspired, is all" she said, smiling at Azula "Feel free to lead the way, Princess"

Azula glanced at Sokka, who shrugged but smiled as the two of them stepped down the ramp and made for the Slate's metal door. As it had been the first time, staff members stood in place to welcome the arriving sponsors and gladiators.

"Princess! Welcome back to the Slate" said the first of the two men, the same who had welcomed them six months earlier "We are ecstatic to have you here again"

"Why, thank you" said Azula, with an ironic smile "I certainly am quite ecstatic too. I take it the fight will begin shortly?"

"Why, once your opponents arrive…" said the man. Azula pointed at Haiyan and Yang, who had lagged behind a little, with the writer gazing around himself in wonder and scribbling on his papers while Haiyan dragged him to the door.

"That would be them. We gave them a ride" she explained. The staff members blinked blankly.

"O-oh, well then! Follow us inside, if that's so!" said the other member, ushering the group to head downstairs with them.

While they weren't half as tense as they had been the first time Sokka fought here, Azula's sense of dread started to make its way through her as she spoke with the staff members within the Arena's vestibule. She hoped Sokka wouldn't make any mistakes today, but there was little she could do to calm her nerves regardless. His last victory here had been rather lucky, everyone knew as much. She hoped fortune would be on his side today, at least enough to prevent him from falling off the platform into the sizzling lava…

The mere idea gave her shivers of the wrong kind. She swallowed hard and smiled as convincingly as she could while she and Yang – who was still slightly distracted by apparently recording everything that caught his interest – were asked to enroll their gladiators properly. Once all the trivialities were finished, though, it was time for the fight to begin.

As always, Azula followed Sokka to the stand-by room. Azula wasn't too surprised to notice that Yang would do the same with Haiyan at the other stand-by room. She only hoped he'd be able to focus enough to get to the stands once Haiyan wasn't there to drag him around.

"Oh, I did not miss you, Slate" said Sokka, breathing out slowly as he stared out at a platform he hadn't wanted to encounter ever again.

Azula approached him, placing her head against the back of his shoulder and surrounding his waist with her arms. Sokka sighed and found her hands with his.

"It's less risky than last time, for sure" said Azula "But as fun as these two may have been, you can't hesitate. You mustn't. She's a stronger fighter than most…"

"That much is apparent, I get the feeling she could lift me with a finger and not break a sweat" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly. Azula snorted.

"Chances are she could" she said, as Sokka turned in her arms "But what I mean is that she's very fast, and very strong. No doubt you could chop her sword in two with your own, but that's unlikely to stop her"

"I really would rather not hurt her much, can't lie" said Sokka, swallowing hard "But if anything, I'll go for a knock-out as soon as I get a chance. It'll be for the best, right?"

"I'm afraid that's the same thing she'll be thinking" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "And while you'll hesitate to deliver real damage with as sharp a sword as yours, she has no such cause for concern with her wooden ones. So…"

"So what do you think I should do?" Sokka asked, frowning.

Azula bit her lip before conveying her thoughts. Sokka snorted and smiled.

"Oh, this is going to be a bizarre fight for sure" he said, smirking and reaching for his sword "You sure about that?"

"It's likely to be the best way, at least that I can think of" said Azula, shrugging as Sokka held Space Sword close, a frown on his face as he pondered how to achieve what his sponsor was proposing "It'll be the best way for you both to fight evenly, if it counts as being even indeed. But truly, she's a formidable swordswoman. I'd say she's probably closer to your level than many we've encountered…"

"Really? You don't think she was trained by Piandao too, or do you?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows. Azula shrugged.

"Truth be told… she might have been" she said. Sokka frowned.

"How do you know just how good she is? When did you see her…?"

"While you slept all afternoon yesterday, that's when" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "She was practicing on deck with Yang, and he's useless with a sword, but she's… she's something else. So you'll have to be careful"

"Well, I was sure I'd have to be" said Sokka, pulling one of his arm bandages off, wrapping it around the junction between the hilt and blade of Space Sword "All things considered, this is a two-on-one fight both for me and her. The Arena is another enemy, one you can't defeat to begin with"

"I'm afraid so" said Azula, swallowing and nodding before approaching him "So… do your best to defeat the one you can defeat, and once that's done you won't have to worry about the other one. Alright?"

"Alright" said Sokka, smiling and sheathing Space Sword fully again, placing it on his back as always. He lifted a hand to cup Azula's face, as she stared at him with slight anxiety "I'll be okay. I've actually faced worse odds, this time it's true"

"I know" said Azula, smiling back "Just come back to me in one piece, if you will. Patching you up is always a bother"

"Heh, you meanie. Do I have to remind you again that I took care of you while you were…"

"Do I have to remind you, again, that you were hardly a nurse at all?" Azula asked, her smile widening. Sokka pouted "Come now, really, just focus. Keep your mind clear, and fight to your best. You can win this time, and hopefully without getting your boomerang damaged in the process"

"Heh, yeah, let's hope so" he said, grimacing. Azula laughed and hugged him.

"I love you" she whispered. His grimace shifted into a gentle smile as he held her tight as well.

"I love you, too" he said, kissing the side of her head "To think you wouldn't let me say it the last time we were here, eh?"

"Well, now you get to say it indeed" she whispered, before reaching up to kiss him softly "Good luck, Sokka"

"I'll be back with you before you know it" he said, grinning and pressing his forehead to hers while she wiped the lipstick off his lips, as always.

He watched as she left, smiling when she glanced one more time over her shoulder to give him a reassuring grin. He breathed deeply a few times to calm himself as he turned to face the Arena again. His brow furrowed slowly as he cracked his knuckles, knowing that this fight, regardless of the outcome, would be his last in the Slate. He would make sure to give out a good fight indeed.

Azula was passing through the hallway that led to the stands when she came across Yang as he did the same. She frowned at the lost look on his face. Was he still dazzled by the place they were in, or was it he had finally understood the risk his wife was taking?

"Yang?" she called him. His green eyes rose and he found Azula's. He swallowed hard.

"H-he won't… he won't hurt her, will he?"

She froze where she stood, finding herself and Sokka mirrored once again by Yang and Haiyan. Too often she had feared for Sokka's life in the Arena, but she didn't tend to realize that their opponents might dread her gladiator's strength as much as she dreaded theirs.

She swallowed hard and gestured at the stands.

"They'll fight the way they're meant to. If they're lucky they both might make it out unscathed" she whispered "But there's no point delaying it anymore. The sooner we start, the sooner it'll be over. Come now, they await us"

Yang gulped and nodded, following Azula upstairs and into the sponsor's seats. The stands weren't quite as crowded as they had been the last time Sokka fought here, for only Azula, Yang and the staff were there.

The retractile bridges allowed Sokka and Haiyan to head into the fighting area. The platform was quite similar to the one Sokka had fought in before, but this time it was suspended by twice as many chains. He supposed they'd had no choice but to strengthen the platform like this after the catastrophic conclusion of the last combat in this Arena.

Haiyan certainly looked nervous, but she didn't seem deterred in the slightest. She nodded at Sokka, withdrawing one wooden sword from a large sheath on her back, and Sokka frowned as he realized there were more swords there. Was it all her weapons were the same? All of them were wooden blades?

Sokka sighed and looked at the stands. The judges glanced amongst themselves before turning the hourglass around. The time began ticking, and the nervousness of both fighters only increased, along with that of the sponsors on the stands.

She clearly had underestimated Yang's love for his wife, Azula realized, for he looked far more anxious than she did. Perhaps being Sokka's fan, and knowing the Blue Wolf's reputation as well as he did, made him far more susceptible to realizing that Sokka often had the wildest, craziest ideas, and that quite often they worked, too. Perhaps he had more reason to fear than they did, this time around…

"Well?" Haiyan asked, lifting her sword and looking at Sokka with unease "I'd much rather not attack someone who's not wielding any weapons, if you don't mind…"

"Oh, of course" said Sokka, smiling and clasping Space Sword's hilt.

Haiyan and Yang's eyes widened, and a gasp shook the Arena as Sokka held Space Sword, still sheathed, in an attacking position. Haiyan's eyebrow twitched.

"Y-you do realize… that it's sheathed?" she asked, looking at him with uncertainty. Sokka smiled.

"You do realize you have a wooden sword, right?" he said. She frowned "This is the best way for me to fight you without holding back, see?"

Haiyan's confusion lingered briefly, but she soon snorted and shook her head. Her husband's idolized gladiator was truly unpredictable, there was no denying it.

"Very well" she said, smiling "So be it"

Sokka's gaze darted towards Azula one more time, and he flashed her a quick grin of complicity before bracing himself to receive Haiyan's attack. This fight would certainly become a memorable one for both gladiators and sponsors alike…


	117. Chapter 117

Despite his measure to keep the sword perfectly lodged inside its sheath so he could fight more freely, Sokka found fighting Haiyan would not prove an easy feat. The powerful and fast swings of her wooden sword sent vibrations through his arms whenever he parried their blows, the sheath shaking against the blade.

He didn't hold back, though, and his swings were just as powerful, if not quite as fast. The weight of her sword allowed her to attack faster than him, even though her larger frame hindered her movements, making it so she would be slow to evade attacks whenever Space Sword was close to striking her.

The heat within the fighting ring was already considerable, and the gates to the lava hadn't yet opened the first time. Sokka cringed as he parried more of Haiyan's attacks, anxiously glancing down at the gates from time to time as sweat rolled down his brow. She seemed to be even more overwhelmed by the heat than he was, though.

"You holding up okay?!" he asked, after slamming his sword against hers and readying himself to parry her counterattack.

"It's… it's fine!" Haiyan replied "You're really good, aren't you?!"

"Had to be if I wanted to survive this Arena the first time!" he said, smiling weakly.

She was certainly one of the most solid sword fighters he'd faced so far in an Arena, though. Sokka couldn't help but remember his complicated sparring sessions with Piandao as she sought to take him down whenever she saw an opening, but unlike his former master, she left a few openings of her own. That's not to say that she didn't cover for them, though, for she struck fast and strong before pulling back into an impeccable defense right away. Whoever had taught her how to fight had been a master much like Sokka's own, there was no doubt about it, though her style felt rather different from Piandao's. Unless she had developed a different kind of swordsmanship after learning with him, her master surely had been someone else.

The sparring was forced to a halt, though, when the sound Sokka hadn't wanted to hear roared through the ring: the gates were opening. Haiyan froze, holding her sword firmly so as to prevent any openings, but she walked slowly to the border of the platform to look down. Sokka did the same, backing away from her and breathing deeply upon realizing the lava was slightly more restless today than it had been on his first fight in the Slate. Sparks of flames traveled over the liquid rock, and mixes of gases were released by the scorching heat down below…

"That's a little scary, huh?" said Sokka, with a weak grin. Haiyan panted and nodded.

"More than a little, I'd say" she said, wiping the sweat off her brow "How did you manage to fight the second best gladiator of the League in here and survive?"

"I tend to ask myself that whenever I remember this place exists, if you must know" said Sokka, smiling. Haiyan gave out a bark of laughter.

"Well, let's try to survive today too, shall we?" she said, before lifting her sword in his direction once more.

Yang tensed up as Haiyan took the offensive, the chains suspending the fighting ring rattling as the two fighters clashed together once more. The papers he had scribbled on nervously were crumpled in his fist, something Azula noticed with a flicker of her eyes. She gritted her teeth. She only remembered another sponsor who was as anxious as Yang was right now, the Crimson Wonder's father. Only, Yang's nervousness wasn't going to end quickly as it had for the Crimson Wonder and his dad: Haiyan was determined to fight to her best, and unless Sokka managed to knock her out, Yang's agony would be prolonged for another fifty-five minutes.

"You're ruining your papers" Azula whispered. Yang flinched and looked at her in surprise before swallowing and lowering his hands, straightening out the papers.

"I… I'm just nervous" he said, gulping and grimacing as Sokka's next attack nearly caught Haiyan in the shoulder. It was Azula who frowned when the swordwoman's wooden blade struck Sokka right afterwards, stabbing his armored torso and forcing him to pull back.

"I guess you're not the only one who should be" Azula whispered, crossing her arms and legs.

Yang chanced a glance at her, not entirely surprised to see she wasn't comfortably by the first blow Haiyan had landed. Nevertheless, it was quite breathtaking to see the partnership he'd admired in action. He had scarcely seen the Princess's side of the team before, since she was always up in her balcony, out of sight, while Sokka was the only one he could see. Yet she was acting exactly as he would have expected her to. He allowed himself a brief smile, having confirmed that his beliefs about the Blue Wolf and the Princess hadn't been misplaced, before turning to watch the fight again, his eyes gleaming with determination now.

Sokka forced himself to focus, his limbs heavy under the strain of the relentless heat. The sound of the gates closing would be welcome, but while Haiyan was strong, it seemed she wasn't as prepared to face the heat as he was… her movements were slowing down, so at any moment now he'd have a chance to deliver real damage. Any moment…

A misstep, and he darted forward. Before Haiyan knew it, her wooden sword was soaring through the air, falling in a perfect arch down to the lava.

Sokka made to stab her, but Haiyan wasn't defenseless for long. She whipped out her next wooden sword with a quick move that allowed her to strike Sokka hard on the head, just as he caught her left flank.

They both recoiled after that, Haiyan winding up at the rim of the platform, clutching her aching ribs, while Sokka rubbed his head while hissing in pain. Curses… he drew his hand back to find blood on his hand. Well, that was another miscalculation on his part. His opponent was far too resourceful for that strategy to work.

Azula brought a hand to her face, staring at Sokka with wide eyes. She could see the dark stain on his glove even at a distance, and she was doing everything she could not to make a fuss about it. He couldn't be that careless again or else he'd risk losing altogether…

A hissing sound tore through the Arena suddenly, and everyone frowned. Even Sokka, rubbing his head as he'd been stopped worrying about his wound and stared about himself in confusion…

The source of the sound was revealed soon, though, for Haiyan had to jump back as a projectile soared upwards, dangerously close to the edge of the ring. Her eyes were wide as she stared at her wooden sword, spinning and creating a wheel of fire as it made to fall right at the center of the ring, its tip on fire.

Both Sokka and Haiyan stared at it in confusion, wondering how had it shot upwards as it had after falling into the lava, but Haiyan soon smiled and reached down to take the flaming wooden sword, holding up both her weapons proudly. Sokka grimaced.

"Hey, hey, you do realize that sword's on fire, don't you?" he said.

"Well, I guess you'll have to think of me as a firebender with swords for now!" she replied, dashing forth and causing Sokka to flinch away from her attack.

It was apparent that this wouldn't end well unless he dealt with it fast and turned the tides completely. He had already sustained considerable damage, so it was only logical for him to attack Haiyan overwhelmingly from now on, all caution be damned. He was fond both of her and her husband, but he would be damned if he sustained a dreadful loss in as dangerous a place as the Slate.

Not to mention that he was very skilled at fighting firebenders with swords, too. He highly doubted Haiyan's wooden blades and unbent fire would be more dangerous than Azula's.

His free hand moved to his belt, and before Haiyan could get to him Sokka had tossed a small sphere at her. She tried to swat it away with her sword, but the swing missed and the bomb's content was dispelled around her, stopping her on her tracks as she coughed amid the smelly smoke.

"Oh, no…" Yang gasped, grimacing before standing up "Haiyan, careful! Remember what I said…!"

If she had heard him, there was no way to confirm that she had. A single area of brightness gleamed from within the smoke: the sword that had bounced back to its owner after falling down into the lava pit, where the gate was finally closing. But with the smoke compromising all her senses, Haiyan knew she was in deep trouble…

A swift, cutting sound next to her alarmed her, as the lit-up sword she was holding suddenly was chopped in half. She flinched and pulled back, amid coughs, as Sokka snuffed out the fire on the wood while keeping a hand over his nose and mouth. One less threat to worry about.

The smoke was beyond unpleasant, and Haiyan wasn't sure how to cope with it. Dropping on the platform to find clearer air would only result in her body being burned by the heated metal. The Blue Wolf's tactics were far too good to be outdone, it seemed.

She made her way to the furthest extreme of the platform, gasping and coughing, hopelessly trying to swat away the smoke. She couldn't see, couldn't breathe, couldn't… wait, she could hear. She had a chance to listen, and if she did that she might sense him coming even if she couldn't see him…

Quick footsteps rushed up to her suddenly, and she lifted the weapon in her hand to receive the attack. The sheathed sword slammed down on hers, and she frowned as she realized he had released it earlier to cut her other blade. If he was going to use his sharp black sword, he might as well do it all along instead of giving her quarter on occasion…

"Not going to cut my other sword?!" she asked, pushing him back before coughing.

Sokka huffed, holding back from replying. He knew better than to open his mouth and inhale too much of his own smoke. Haiyan might already be too intoxicated by the gas and she could have been trying to goad him into winding up in the same state she was in, but he would try to avoid it if possible…

He had released and sheathed Space Sword with difficulty, since the bandage he had wrapped around it to keep it fixed inside the scabbard made it hard to unleash his weapon. He certainly hoped he wouldn't have to use the sharp blade again, but if she started overcoming him again he might need to cut through all her wooden swords one by one… and having to release Space Sword from its tight encasement might prove too complicated to achieve without pulling out his next bomb. So unless he had no other choice…

Haiyan attacked fiercely, but despite she could hold her own without seeing, she wasn't able to parry all of Sokka's blows. One landed on her flank, another on her shoulder. None of the hits were quite as bad as the one he had received, but by the time the smoke had dispelled enough she was down on her knees, coughing and gasping for breath. The natural sulfur of the volcanic enclosure wasn't helping either…

She forced herself to stand, now that she could see Sokka. A trail of blood had dropped down his forehead, parting on his nose and streaming down his cheeks. His blue eyes gleamed with determination.

"You're not backing down, are you…?" she asked, huffing and coughing still. Sokka swallowed hard and lifted his sheathed sword again "This is no good…"

Sokka held his position as Haiyan coughed and supported herself with the sword she was still holding. When she rose to her feet again she lifted a hand to the weapons she carried on her back, releasing yet another wooden sword. Sokka breathed slowly. Maybe the time to release Space Sword for good would come before he knew it…

Haiyan roared and attacked, her stance unsteady. Sokka flinched, guessing she had been more affected by the smoke than he had anticipated. He parried her attacks, but it was harder to do so when he was using two swords instead of one. Strangely enough, she didn't take all her chances to strike him, for she had plenty of them. Sokka frowned but carried on fighting, stabbing her in her armored stomach at a certain opportunity and forcing her to recoil, but she jumped forth again right away, swinging the swords wildly.

She wasn't in control anymore, which should have been good news for Sokka, but slamming his sword against her arms or legs was the only way to deliver some genuine damage and he seldom had chances to do that. He made the most of his agility, though, pushing Haiyan back to the edge of the ring. She looked somewhat desperate, but Sokka also sensed she was up to something in particular. What exactly was making her act so erratically? Was this some sort of strange strategy that was backfiring on her, or…?

The questions ended when one of the swords swung straight at his hand, slamming against him with enough force just as he was busy parrying the other one. He was forced to release his weapon, crying out in pain… and meanwhile Haiyan twirled Space Sword in her own wooden swords, as though juggling it, before tossing it powerfully at the stands.

Sokka cringed as his hand throbbed, lifting his gaze a little too late to realize what had happened to his sword. He panicked immediately, following the weapon as it soared through the air, and he was filled with relief when Azula caught it. The rest of the people on the stands had recoiled warily from the weapon's trajectory. Well, at least his sword had survived… even if he wouldn't be able to use it anymore.

He scowled at Haiyan, who smiled apologetically at him and shrugged.

"Hey, this is bad enough as it is. I can't let it go on like this, can I?" she asked, lifting her swords again.

"Well, then, if that's how you want it…" Sokka grumbled, his eyebrow twitching as he lifted his two hands to his back.

His right hand still ached, but it didn't matter. He pulled out his boomerang with it, his club in his left. Haiyan's eyes widened, but she braced herself for the Blue Wolf's attack all the same.

The boomerang came first, and as Yang had warned her, Haiyan evaded it on the first half of its trajectory while keeping in mind that it would come hurtling back any moment. But she couldn't lose sight of her opponent either, for he would come rushing up to attack while she was distracted by the boomerang. If she paid too much attention to him, the weapon would strike her, if she didn't then he would be the one hitting her with the club…

So, since she had no way of knowing where the boomerang would go exactly, she picked an unexpected course of action: a barrel roll.

Sokka's eyes widened as he jumped over the woman's large frame, catching his boomerang in midair before turning to find her on her feet again. He huffed and threw the boomerang again, and Haiyan prepared repeat her previous actions…

She failed, though, for Sokka kept his club down as he jumped, and it crashed against her arm now. Haiyan cried out in pain, clutching her shoulder while Sokka clasped the boomerang again. He hated how guilty he felt this time around whenever he harmed Haiyan, despite knowing he should only treat her as he did any other fighter. He didn't like hurting her, but this wasn't something he could help. She had hurt him, too, so hesitating by now was pointless.

"Well, you're seriously something, Blue Wolf" she whispered, as the unpleasant sound of the gates opening screeched through the Arena. Sokka swallowed hard.

"Sorry about that" he said, gesturing at her shoulder with his boomerang. She scoffed and smiled.

"Sorry about your broken head, too" she said. Sokka smiled awkwardly "And about your sword. But hey, you broke mine, I had a right to take away one of your weapons, didn't I?"

"I'm out of two weapons now, though" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows "You only lost one. So if it's a matter of fairness…"

"Oh. Huh, I hadn't thought about that" said Haiyan, with an apologetic smile "Should I toss all my weapons away then?"

"What? If you did I'd have to do it too!" Sokka said, his eyes wide "I'm not going to fight you with weapons if you don't have any of your own…"

"Ah, well. In that case maybe we should just resolve this hand-to-hand and stop worrying about weapons, shouldn't we?" she asked, smiling. Sokka frowned.

"But that way you'd… you'd overpower me in a heartbeat" he reasoned. Haiyan laughed.

"Exactly!" she exclaimed, before rushing up to him, her swords in tow.

Sokka snorted and smirked before parrying each wooden sword with his own weapons. This woman was quite possibly just as crazy as her husband was. No wonder they were in love.

The fight prolonged as the weapons clashed together, with Sokka using his boomerang to push the wooden swords out of his way so he could attack his opponent with the club. Haiyan resorted to evading and pulling away from him, waiting for a chance once Sokka's perfect defense failed and allowed her the opportunity to attack him. The gate closed, though, and Sokka had yet to give her a chance to attack at all: despite her best attempts to reach him by now, Sokka was practically invulnerable while attacking her.

His boomerang, sharp as it was, reached her arms more than once, etching a cut across the back of her left hand in one opportunity, another over her exposed right arm. He was holding back with his club, Haiyan realized, but to her chagrin, his holding back was what gave him that perfect defense. It seemed there was nothing she could do to get through him now.

The gates kept closing and opening, letting the gladiators know how much time was left for their fight. By the time the gates closed for a fifth time there was nothing to be done but give it their all: there were only ten minutes left.

Sokka's chest heaved under his armor, his entire body drenched in sweat. His body felt weakened and he would die for a drink of water right then and there. But while he still had one bomb he could use to finish off the fight, he wasn't sure he should use it yet. His opponent had been at her worst when dealing with the curtain of smoke, so he would do best to hold that as his very last resource: he had kept her on the losing end for the majority of the fight, despite the injuries he had sustained. He could hold up like this if only…

"Okay…" he heard her say, just as he was bracing himself for another of her assaults "Okay"

"What's… what's the matter?" he asked, short of breath. Haiyan wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She shook her head and clenched her swords firmly.

"Well… I'm losing, aren't I?" she asked, with a weak grin.

Sokka swallowed hard. He was afraid Haiyan and Yang couldn't afford to lose, let alone could they afford any serious injuries Haiyan might sustain: that was one of the reasons why he had held back through the combat. But just as he didn't want them to lose, he didn't want to lose either. Maybe they both ought to dive out of the platform at the same time while the gates were closed, and the fight would turn out to be a tie…

"Don't suffer, Blue Wolf" said Haiyan, smiling a little more earnestly now "You're a gladiator. You're here to do your best, aren't you?"

"I guess I am" he whispered.

"Yang keeps talking about your partnership with the Princess, how you represent her in the ring…" Haiyan said, raising her eyebrows "You can't half-ass this, even if you want to. You owe it to her, don't you?"

Sokka gulped and nodded. He owed far too much to his sponsor, more than Haiyan knew about. Putting forth his everything to seize a victory for them was his objective on a constant basis, there was nothing else he wanted quite as much as to give Azula the satisfaction she deserved. Making her proud, helping her stand up, high above everyone else's expectations… it was her goal just as it was his. Fighting for her had become everything he strived for.

But wasn't it the same for Haiyan and Yang?

Sokka breathed deeply, lowering his eyes before moving his hand upwards. Haiyan took a defensive stance warily, but she frowned as she realized he was sheathing his boomerang. And his club.

"What are you…?" she asked, before Sokka smiled at her.

"Come on. You said you wanted to do it hand-to-hand, didn't you?" he said.

Haiyan's eyes widened, as did everyone else's. Yet Azula smiled. She had known Sokka wouldn't fight Haiyan the way he always did, and she was pleased about it despite herself. She had never been quite as worried about any of their opponents as she had been so far.

"W-wait, what?" said Haiyan, blinking blankly. Sokka smirked.

"Come on now, we can do it this way just fine too. Give it your best, Haiyan!" he exclaimed, lifting his fists.

Haiyan's eyes strayed towards the stands, where her husband sat with his mouth wide open. She caught sight of the Princess too, who was smiling approvingly at her own gladiator. Haiyan swallowed, wondering if this was just another display of the Blue Wolf's unpredictability. Yang had warned her of it before, but she hadn't known how far the man was willing to go. Would it be fair at all, fighting him with no weapons, in their current state? Haiyan doubted it, but… but it didn't look like he was going to take his weapons out again. And if he wouldn't…

Yang stood up, staring down at the fighting ring with disbelief. The battle would be resolved through physical prowess, and that alone, it seemed. Whatever happened now would decide the ultimate winner, regardless of who had dominated the fight at first or who had done it for the last forty minutes…

But regardless of how conflicted everyone, even Haiyan, had expected him to be, Yang had his priorities more straightened out than they believed he did. So with a deep intake of breath, and his fists clenched, he readied himself to follow his hero's lead, and do the unexpected:

"GO! HAIYAN, GO BEAT HIM!"

Her eyes widened, her cheeks flushing as she stared at her husband. Sokka's smile broadened, as he stood with his hands in fists, and Haiyan snorted and laughed before nodding and abiding by Yang's command. She turned to Sokka, her eyes filled with determination, and she sheathed her weapons as well.

"Well then…" she said, with a soft laugh "What are we waiting for?"

Sokka lunged forth, his mind set on blocking Haiyan's chi, but he made a feint to the left just before he reached her. Haiyan read through him perfectly, though, and with a muscular fist she caught Sokka's armored forearm and sent him jumping away from her again. He huffed, looking at her in disbelief as she moved forth, punching with her right and left fist in immediate succession.

Sokka tried to defend himself from the barrage of fists raining on him, but it was no easy feat. He actually laughed as he struggled to evade her, and he caught her left fist with his right hand at a certain point, but that only served for Haiyan to kick him in the chest and send him rolling on the platform until he crashed against the railing.

"Woah, woah… okay, you're good at that" he said, breathing out slowly and standing up. Haiyan smiled, brushing a strand of hair that had slipped into her vision.

"And I'm not even at my best, heh?" she said.

Sokka smiled as he rushed in to attack again. His agility allowed him to dodge her without too much trouble, but her overwhelming offense doubled as a perfect defense, much as his defense before had been invulnerable earlier. He huffed but didn't stop trying, though. He would find a way to reach her, a chance, any chance…

He ducked after one punch directed to his face, but that only resulted in her knee burying into his face. Those at the stands gasped, but despite the pain, Sokka stood his ground, his hands clasping Haiyan's thigh and pulling at it brusquely.

Haiyan gasped as she lost her balance. Sokka clasped her wrist with a hand, twisting it behind her back before pushing her down to her knees. He hesitated, though, unwilling to press her to the heated metal platform just as the gate underneath slid open for the last time.

Haiyan took his hesitation to twist in his hold and kick his chest. Sokka flinched and released her, but just as she jumped to her feet to attack him once more, he tackled her and knocked her down once again. There was no real technique to what he was doing, and it was apparent to Haiyan as well, for he heard her laugh in disbelief as she struggled to make her bearings again. Still, Sokka wasn't sure technique would win this fight: she had bested him by far in terms of hand-to-hand combat, and being utterly reckless was likely his better alternative right now.

So he bolted to his feet, dashed forth to attack her again, but Haiyan held her ground this time and shoved him away. Sokka huffed and wiped something off his face… there was blood on his glove when he pulled it back. So she'd given him a nosebleed when she'd kneed him that way. He huffed as Haiyan lunged towards him, packing a powerful fist to strike him down.

He jumped to evade her, but it was a very short jump, one that didn't put him out of danger completely. But reckless as he was, he didn't care. This was his chance.

His punch flew upwards and struck Haiyan's jaw from below powerfully. He knew firsthand just how bad such wounds were, and he certainly hoped she hadn't bitten her tongue by accident with that, but if he didn't attack upon finding that opportunity, he'd be damned into losing just as he almost did in his fight against the Red-Striped Hornet. As much as he didn't like having to fight Haiyan, she wasn't pulling her punches. Neither could he.

Haiyan stumbled and clutched her jaw, her eyes closed as she put distance between herself and Sokka, an arm stretched out just in case he came any closer. Sokka breathed out slowly, wiping his still dripping nose with the back of his hand.

Haiyan huffed and attacked again, but she seemed more disoriented by now. Sokka parried the attacks, finding them less steady than before. The heat was getting to her again, and so was her own exhaustion. He still had a bomb in his belt, but he didn't dare use it. He couldn't do it. He was tired, thirsty and he certainly could use some treatment for his wounds, but she was struggling to keep standing upright by now. She was losing balance, the last blow she had received had overwhelmed her. One more and she might be out cold…

"Hey" he called, lifting his fists again as she stood away from him, breathing heavily "It's almost over now, don't worry. We'll be out of here before you know it"

"I know, I… I know" she said, smiling weakly "It's just too hot in here…"

"Yeah, but we'll be able to soak in cold water later if we need it. Promised thing" said Sokka, smiling. Haiyan laughed.

"Fine, I'll… I'll need a pretty nice water bucket. And a long bath" she said.

"I'd hope my sponsor can arrange that on the way home" he said, smiling "Come now, it won't be long before it's over. You can do this"

"Yeah. Yeah…" said Haiyan, nodding and standing upright with difficulty, her eyesight blurry "Let's do this…"

She threw a few more punches in his direction, and Sokka defended himself perfectly, albeit he didn't dare attack. Knocking out his foe was usually a priority on his mind, but after an hour of fighting non-stop in that hellish ring, he didn't feel it was right to knock Haiyan out despite he had several chances to do so. He didn't want to do it. He'd feel a lot better about everything if they reached the very end of the fight fully conscious, after battling so hard for so long.

But even so, Haiyan collapsed despite Sokka's best efforts to prevent it. She fell on her knees, breathing with difficulty, a soft wheezing sound accompanying every rise and fall of her chest. Sokka swallowed, despite his mouth was too dry for him to actually swallow anything, and he knelt before her.

"Hey… you're still there, right?" he asked. Haiyan nodded weakly "Good. Just… stay with me. It's just a little longer and we're finished…"

"You must've… won, huh?" Haiyan said, with a husky voice "Yang should be… should be happy either way. Though I… I really don't want to give up…"

"Then don't" said Sokka, smiling "Come now… one more punch. You can do it! Try to do it, you know you…! Woah! Hey, I thought you'd wait until I was done talking!"

"It was the best way to take you by surprise…" said Haiyan, laughing softly as she stretched her powerful fists a few more times "There. I tried… now… do I get a drink?"

"You…" said Sokka, as he caught her punches in his hands. He smiled as he heard a metallic noise below them "Yes. Yes you do"

He lifted his gaze to the stands, looking for his sponsor as ever. She nodded at him, and he grinned while helping Haiyan up to her feet. Haiyan frowned, though she didn't try to attack him anymore.

"Is it… over?" she asked, as Sokka struggled to lift her.

"Yep!" he said, smiling over at the stands "We're done for the day, Haiyan… at last, eh?"

"I'm never fighting here again" she said, shaking her head as she slumped on Sokka's shoulder. The two of them had to stay where they were for a little longer, waiting for the staff members to extend the retractile bridges.

"Well! That was a truly impressive spectacle" said the head of the judges in the Slate "And one of the few fights that actually took a whole hour!"

"Yes, yes, it was quite the combat to behold" said another one, smiling at the sponsors.

"Who won, though?" Yang asked, looking at them with uncertainty. The judges glanced amongst themselves before readying to answer.

"Well… as it happens, it's a very tough call. But given her state by the end of the fight, and the higher effectiveness of the Blue Wolf, well…"

"We are leaning towards awarding the victory to the Princess's gladiator" finished the head judge.

Azula clenched her jaw and looked at Yang. He didn't seem too happy, but he smiled nonetheless and nodded.

"I understand. Either way, they are both winners! They survived the Slate!" he said, smiling at Azula. She smiled back, despite it all.

"That they did. It's certainly something worth celebrating, isn't it?" she said. Yang laughed.

"And it was a wonderful fight! Ah, I must write it down right as soon as I check on Haiyan…"

"Write it down?" asked one of the judges. Yang froze on his spot.

"O-oh, well, I, uh… I have a tendency to write down my version of the fights after watching them, hehe" said Yang, with a nervous smile as he stood up "Now, if you'll excuse me!"

He rushed off to see his wife without further ado. Azula was about to follow him out of the stands, but she found Yang's crumpled papers had been left behind. She picked them up, catching the eye of the curious judge from before.

"The man happens to be a writer" she mentioned to him "I have no idea how good he is, though"

"May I have a look at that, if it please you, Princess?" the judge asked. She shrugged.

"I don't think he even remembers he wrote this, busy with the fight as he was" she admitted, handing it over "Do return it to him later, if you'd be so kind"

"Of course, Princess" said the judge, smiling.

She took off to check on Sokka as well, trying not to be too hasty, but even though she would have gladly thrown her arms around his neck and kissed him with utmost joy, she was forced to hold back since he was being tended to by physicians once she reached him. They had quite a lot of water for him, which he drank gratefully, pouring some of it over his overheated body.

"Ah… hey there" he said, groggily, smiling at Azula "I did it! One whole hour, and I'm still standing! Though I… I'd love to just lie down not do anything for days, you know…"

"No kidding" said Azula, smiling back "I just might let you take a few days off indeed, for once. We've won again, seems like…"

"Heh? Well, that's nice to hear" he said, smiling "Despite all the blood she drew from me, eh? Looks like I break too easily…"

"Considering you were still standing upright at the end, you're not quite that easy to break" said Azula, as Sokka was forced to sit down so the staff members could treat his visible wounds "Also… I think I'll be holding onto this for the time being. You really need to stop losing your sword in this dreadful place, you know?"

Sokka snorted and smiled guiltily as Azula held up Space Sword for him to see.

"Thanks. Whatever I'd do without… my sword, eh?" he said, chuckling. Azula crooked an eyebrow, sensing his hesitation even if it didn't seem the staff members had noticed it. He was certainly going to say something else, but fortunately he had caught himself before compromising the pair of them.

He was regaining his strength through hydration, although he was undeniably appealed by the prospect of just sleeping for hours on end after the overwhelming fight. But as he was, all he could do was stare at his sponsor, at the pleased smile on his face, at her gentle eyes. The urge to celebrate their success properly was hard to ignore, but fortunately he wasn't strong enough to hug her as tightly as he would have wanted to. He'd have to save it for later…

"But if we won, then… they won't get a bunch of money from this fight, huh?" Sokka asked, looking at Azula. Changing the subject to Haiyan and Yang might help him resist the temptations the Princess posed to him "That's too bad…"

"I could hand it over to them, if you don't care for it" Azula suggested, shrugging "I don't think I'll be needing it too urgently…"

"Heh, it's always nice when you get charitable that way" said Sokka. Azula's eyebrow twitched.

"I'm not charitable. Shut your mouth" she grunted. He snickered.

After his head was properly bandaged and his bruises dealt with, they moved to the vestibule, where Azula would be granted their trophy, acknowledging their success at the most dangerous Arena of the League for the second time in a row, and for the last, too. But as they approached the vestibule, where Haiyan stood by Yang's side, a hand on his shoulder for support, Azula found the judge from earlier was holding Yang's crumpled paper and speaking to him earnestly. The young man's jaw had dropped, and his hands trembled while listening to the judge.

"What's up with them?" Sokka asked, looking at Azula. She shrugged.

"All I know is that the paper is whatever he'd been writing before the fight, but…"

There was nothing for them to do but watch from afar as Yang froze on his spot, and Haiyan made sure to hold him upright before he collapsed from the shock. He seemed to snap out of it soon enough, though, and he turned to look at her with wide eyes, a smile extending over his face.

"I'm… I'm going to have a job now?" he said, as Haiyan smiled despite of how weak she felt "A job, Haiyan! You won't have to work so hard anymore!"

"Wait, what?" Azula said, surprised "What job… what's going on?"

"Well, you see, Princess" said the judge who had Yang's papers in his hands, smiling at her "We have been planning on testing new methods to publicize the League, and with this young man's initiative to record the fights he witnesses, I believe we could use what he writes to spread the word about the League. And naturally, we'd pay him for it…"

"Woah… really now?" said Sokka, smiling as well as he looked at Yang and Haiyan, who were hugging happily.

"A job! A real job! A writing job!" Yang exclaimed, as Haiyan laughed "This is wonderful!"

"Doesn't feel like we lost at all, huh?" said Haiyan, smiling. Yang's bright grin only gleamed more.

"It certainly doesn't" he said, giggling before hugging her again.

Azula raised her eyebrows and looked at Sokka, who snorted and laughed before shrugging in her direction.

"Look at that, eh? We helped them anyways, even without giving them charity" he said, grinning. Azula smiled.

"Looks like we did" she agreed, as the judges readied themselves to grant her and Sokka their awards for their triumph. Despite everything, challenging those two to the Slate had paid off for them all.

Yang and Haiyan were elated by the unexpected job offer, but the gladiator was certainly too tired to bask in it just yet. She hardly left their cabin on their way home, and Sokka did the same, for they were too exhausted and affected by the extreme fighting conditions to recover too easily. But both Yang and Azula were rather proud of them, and they gave them all the respite they needed. And even though the victors had been the Blue Wolf and the Princess, Haiyan and Yang didn't seem to be bitter by the fight's result in the slightest.

The four of them headed to the Grand Royal Dome as soon as they arrived into the capital, taking a carriage to the location. Yang had to settle down the arrangement for his job, as he was carrying a recommendation letter that the judges had granted him. He was smiling brightly as they arrived to the vestibule, clutching the paper to his chest.

"I… I really can't believe this is happening" he said. Haiyan placed a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Everything will go just right, Yang" she replied, smiling fondly "Come on, then, dear. It's the third floor, right?"

"Right" he said, before turning to Azula and Sokka "We… we certainly owe you so much, Princess, Blue Wolf. I'm forever grateful…"

"Oh, don't worry about it" said Sokka, smiling and waving a hand carelessly "We're happy to have helped you guys, right, Princess?"

Azula raised an inquisitive eyebrow in his direction, and he smiled widely at her. She huffed and shook her head, but she looked at Yang now.

"Do your best with this job" she said "I'll be looking forward to reading whatever fight reviews you'll be writing. Good luck, both of you"

"Thank you very much, Princess" said Haiyan, bowing her head and smiling kindly "We are forever indebted to you"

"As long as you make the most of it, there will be no reason to worry about debts or anything of the sort" said Azula, nodding in her direction. Yang sniffed, his eyes tearful.

"Oh, I'd hug you but it's just so inappropriate…" he said, lowering his head. Azula smirked.

"Certainly, but… I suppose you're allowed to hug my gladiator, if you really must hug someone" she said. Sokka's eyes widened.

"He is?" he asked. Azula smirked as Yang laughed nervously before throwing his arms around Sokka "O-okay, he is… dang, you're crushing me, Yang!"

"Sorry, sorry!" said Yang, laughing happily "Well, we're off then! We won't miss your next fights, Blue Wolf! Thanks for everything!"

"Yes, we figured as much. Now run along, run along. The job offer won't wait forever" Azula said, urging them to head upstairs.

Yang and Haiyan waved at them as they approached the stairs, and they kept doing so until they were out of sight. Azula breathed out in relief, and Sokka smiled next to her.

"Doing the right thing is nice, huh?"

"If you must know, I was just pleased it's over" she lied. Sokka smirked.

"As if" he said, shaking his head "You like helping your people, it's clear as day. And I like helping you help them, too. It just convinces me further that you'll be the best Fire Lord to be seen in ages"

"Heh. Such flattering words" said Azula, smirking slightly "Well, then, we happen to be here for a reason other than to see those two off, in case you forgot…"

"Ah, I didn't forget. Let's get this over with" said Sokka, grimacing as the two of them approached Shoji's counter, with the intent to put the Slate behind them for good.

Only, they couldn't do it as easily just yet.

"And… who are you giving up the right to challenge to?" Shoji asked them, smiling awkwardly.

Azula's eyebrow twitched and Sokka huffed. They'd forgotten to discuss that.

"Do we have to choose immediately if we want to give up the right to challenge?" Sokka asked "Or can it wait?"

"Well, it could wait, but the sooner you choose, the better" said Shoji, biting his lip "I think it's okay if you give it to someone in the upper half of the ranking…"

"We could give it right back to the Millennium Dragon" said Sokka "He's a cool guy, and he's strong enough to survive there, so…"

"He seemed to be a good man, but his sponsor certainly isn't" Azula declared "For all we know, he'd use the right to challenge for a rematch. I'm not taking that risk"

"Okay, okay, gotcha" said Sokka, gulping "Then whoever's third? The Light Bearer, was it…?"

"Eh, Spicy!" exclaimed someone right behind them.

Azula stiffened immediately upon hearing a familiar voice she hadn't heard for months. Despite living in the same space, it wasn't frequent for her to run into Toph or her sponsor in the Fire Nation Palace. No doubt it was also due to her constant travels, and to the fact that she was seldom home since she spent most her free time at Sokka's place… but she certainly hadn't been desperate to see Toph again, despite the earthbender looked quite enthusiastic about their reencounter.

"Been forever, hasn't it? How've you been, Spicy, Wolf?"

"Wolf?" Sokka repeated, raising his eyebrow "I've suddenly been promoted back to wolf, huh? Not a dog anymore?"

"Oh, gee, sorry about that. My mistake, Dog, I forgot your actual rank…"

"Yep, too good to be true, wasn't it?" he said, with a slight smirk. Toph snickered in his direction.

She turned towards Azula, an unexpectedly hopeful smile on her face. It seemed she might have been waiting to meet them again to know if their relationship had been damaged beyond repair by her latest victory against Sokka. The Princess only regarded her with a raised eyebrow, holding her silence briefly until she finally spoke.

"Glad you haven't forgotten my nickname, Dirt Worm" she said, just as Toph had started to dread having lost all the progress she'd made with the Princess. She snorted upon hearing that response, though.

"And you didn't forget mine, eh? Oh, I heard you were off at the Slate again, by the way! How did that go?" she asked, excitedly. Sokka blinked blankly.

"Why, we won. Didn't think you'd be so eager to hear that…" he said, with a crooked grin. Toph shrugged.

"It's something I've never experienced, you know? The Slate" she said "I'm just curious about it, is all! Who did you fight this time?"

"It was a non-bender, wasn't it?"

Iroh's voice wasn't quite as welcome as Toph's, especially because it came accompanied by a tone that didn't bode anything good. Azula's eyes narrowed as she turned to look at him, finding he was smiling as he approached Toph… it wasn't his usual, joyful smile, though. That hint of intelligence in his golden eyes meant he had something in mind. Azula had little trouble guessing what it might be.

"Indeed" she said, curtly "A strong one, but we were triumphant regardless"

"Why, no doubt" said Iroh "I certainly imagined that you would choose an opponent you knew you could defeat. After the Blue Wolf's less than stellar performances lately, you must have known to pick your battles carefully"

Azula's glare met Iroh's, leaving Sokka to panic about their family feud as he always did. He glanced at Toph, who seemed every bit as uneasy as he did.

"S-so, what about you? What exactly are you guys here for, huh?" Sokka asked.

"Got a fight right now. Someone from the top hundred, actually" Toph said, smirking proudly.

"Top hundred? So is it like the ninety-ninth gladiator?" Sokka asked, smirking too. Toph gave out a bark of laughter.

"Yeah, sure, you really are a riot, Dog!" she said, punching his arm "And what about you two, though? You were off in the Slate just a while ago, do you have another fight right now?"

"Uh, no, we just were here to…" said Sokka, looking at Azula with unease. Her sharp gaze met his now, as they both guessed Iroh might become even more unpleasant if he knew why they were in the Dome today… yet the man guessed the reason behind their visit before either the Princess or her gladiator decided to speak out about it or not.

"To give up the right to challenge in the Slate?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Sokka cringed, and Toph's eyes widened.

"What, really? Why the heck would you do that?" she asked, her fists on her waist "It sounds like the coolest place to fight in, you shouldn't do that!"

"I suppose we have different standards for what 'cool' means, Bandit" Azula grunted "It's none of your business why we're doing it, we just are. Go ahead and sign in for your fight, we'll finish what we were doing when you're through with that"

"Why, thank you, Princess Azula. How thoughtful" said Iroh, smiling, yet making no move to do as Azula had told him to "I suppose that thoughtfulness is becoming one of your defining traits, eh? No doubt you're surrendering the right to challenge out of fear of any potential injuries, perhaps even death, to your gladiator… or am I mistaken?"

Azula remained silent, her brow furrowing further, but instead of taking that silence as an unspoken warning of her wrath, Iroh only carried on talking, pouring all the salt he could into the open wound.

"I've heard of what happened with that Kinslayer" he said. Sokka clenched his jaw "A newcomer, isn't it? And yet the Blue Wolf lost… you had to intervene to keep his opponent from delivering a finishing blow, yes. Not a lot of sponsors would dare do such a thing, but then again, not a lot of sponsors would need to, especially not those of the better fighters. I suppose the Blue Wolf's surrender of this challenge might just mean he's not cut out to withstand the pressures of being one of the top fighters in the Superior League, or am I mistaken?"

She knew what he was doing. She knew he was playing her, just as he had when he had made her chase after the Rough Rhinos, while trying to force her to give up her progress in the Gladiator League. And she hated proving him right, her pride ushered her to show him his every word was unfounded…

But he was dead wrong if he thought she would risk Sokka's life just to play into Iroh's hand.

She turned to Shoji, who seemed quite daunted by the scene taking place before his counter, and he was even more daunted yet under the Princess's heavy frown.

"I give up the right to challenge…" she started, and Sokka's eyes widened upon understanding what she'd do "… To the Blind Bandit"

Toph gasped in surprise, and even Iroh froze where he stood. He had tried to back Azula into a corner, forgetting that he hadn't covered all his bases. Forgetting that just as he was willing to force her into an unwanted situation, she was perfectly willing to do the same to him.

"A-are you sure, Princess…?" Shoji asked. Azula's heavy frown only grew more dangerous.

"Did I stutter?" she snapped. Shoji shook his head, finishing the form to allow Azula to give up the right to challenge, now that every field required had been filled as needed. Once he was finished, she nodded curtly "Good day, Shoji"

She didn't bother saying another word to Iroh or Toph, choosing to storm off between them, her eyes set on the doors. Sokka lagged behind, staring at her in disbelief. What on earth had she done? She was certainly going to regret it, if she wasn't regretting it already… oh, she really was regretting it already and Sokka knew her well enough to be aware of that. She had been too reckless, and she should have thought it through… but Iroh had pushed her buttons for the last time, or at least that was what she was likely telling herself by now. She wouldn't stand for being mocked by him for a moment longer.

He glanced at Toph in concern, finding she seemed shocked, but not entirely disturbed by the idea. Knowing the reckless earthbender, she had no notion of the dangers the Slate posed for someone like her. Sokka grimaced, shaking his head before dashing off after Azula. She really hadn't thought this through, not at all…

"Hey, hey!" he called her, as she stopped to wait for Xin Long, who was descending slowly upon the street.

Her head was uncharacteristically bowed down, her hands balled into fists, her back slightly hunched. Sokka clenched his teeth as he climbed down the steps that separated them.

"Azula…"

"I know, I know, I… I shouldn't have done that" she said, bringing a hand to her face and snarling "I wasn't thinking, and now she's the one who's going to face the consequences for it, but I just…!"

She fell silent when she felt his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him warily, warning him not to dare do anything else, but she didn't need to. He wasn't looking at her with disappointment, or indignation, but with concern instead. He understood what was on her mind, and why she had acted so rashly… and strangely enough, he wasn't judging her harshly for it.

"I get it" he muttered, frowning "But we should… we should do something. Anything! Maybe tell Toph to convince Iroh to challenge us there, I don't know, but… but you know she doesn't stand a chance in the Slate. There's no way an earthbender can fight there and survive"

"I… I know. But maybe she'd be able to survive, even if she loses. She's stronger than the rest of them, isn't she? The best earthbender in the world…" said Azula, frowning. Sokka gritted his teeth.

"I don't know for sure if she's really that good" he said "But even if she were, it's still a risk. But if we go back there to fight her…"

"There's no way that's going to happen" said Azula, burying her face in her hand "Iroh would never challenge us if he thinks there's a chance you might defeat Toph. Which is… partly why I knew it was the best move for us to make"

"Azula…" said Sokka, as she huffed and shook her head, climbing onto her dragon's saddle once he landed before her.

He followed her lead, looking at her with concern as she ushered Xin Long to fly them to Sokka's house. The dragon took off, and Sokka reached to clasp her hand with his own.

"I get what you did, believe me. But we need to do something about it" he muttered "There's no way we can just let her go down like this, no matter if she's unbeatable for me. It's just… not right"

"I know that" said Azula, sighing "And I didn't do it to damage her, but… curses, I can't stand him. I… I thought he'd get over this eventually, but no, he's just… he keeps trying to play us, to push me to prove myself somehow, like I haven't been doing it for ages? I mean, what is he after, really? Is it he's suspecting our relationship or something…?"

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked, frowning.

"The way he was demeaning your latest performances, acting like… like our strategies are failing us, like you're weak when you've never been stronger. Like the ranking position of your opponents are the only indicators of their strength" Azula grunted, her fists clenched "He was pushing me to not rescind the right to challenge, you saw it as well as I did. He wanted me to succumb to the urge to prove him wrong, and to put you in mortal danger again in the process. And why? Because… because he's been trying to ruin my run in this business ever since he first heard of it. And this is just another of his ploys to achieve that goal"

Sokka gulped, holding his silence. He had held his own opinion of Iroh at bay for a while, albeit he was clearly influenced by Azula's, but he had a hard time giving him the benefit of the doubt ever since he challenged them for that last fight against Toph. His attitude just now hadn't been reassuring in the slightest either, not when it really just might mean he would gladly see Sokka die just to teach his niece some lesson she didn't need to learn.

"Well, it's either a ploy to achieve that, or it's his attempt to uncover our relationship" she finished. Sokka frowned.

"How? Did he expect you to become a sobbing mess over the mere idea of seeing me in the Slate again or something?" he said "How would that have helped him figure us out? And how could he suspect us at all, too…?"

"That I don't know" Azula admitted "But he might have been testing how far I'm willing to go to protect you. I made it so he's the worried over his gladiator and deflected his attention from us completely… so I don't think I've revealed us or given him further cause to suspect us. But if he really did suspect…"

Xin Long touched down on the backyard of Sokka's house, and Azula sighed before shaking her head. Sokka gritted his teeth.

"I should head home" she said suddenly. His eyes widened.

"Wait, but…" he started, though he didn't know what to say. Reminding her that they hadn't had any chances to be together privately since four days ago wouldn't likely do much to convince her to stay, not when she was conflicted and troubled as she was.

"I have to report to my father, let him know I've arrived home safely" she said, glancing at Sokka over her shoulder "I'm sorry, I figure you would have wanted to talk more about this… but the entire matter is bleak enough as it is, isn't it? I mean… there's nothing to be done about it anymore. I've sentenced Toph to… to something I really didn't mean to, all because of Iroh. All because he wanted to teach me a lesson, and I thought it'd be best if I taught him one instead…"

"Hey, don't beat yourself up over it" said Sokka, frowning and hugging her tight. Azula sighed and shook her head "For all we know, we're worrying over nothing. She might end up bending the lava or something and we'll all be laughing about it later on…"

"Heh. That'd certainly be convenient" she said, relaxing in his arms before reaching back to press her lips to his softly "But I should go see my father now, if you don't mind…"

"Okay, okay… I got it" said Sokka, sighing "Got to act normal, and that's what you normally do after a trip…"

She smiled a little as he jumped off the saddle, and he turned to her with a smile as well.

"Though I do have to say I'm slightly impatient by now" he said, smirking a little "So don't be too surprised if you find a Royal Guard mysteriously standing before your royal bedchamber tonight, Princess…"

He made a ceremonious bow, though it was actually quite graceless in his bold movements. Azula smiled and shook her head.

"You're so incorrigible…" she said, as he chuckled "I'll see you, then"

"Bye…" he whispered, watching Xin Long lift himself to his hind legs before shooting off into the sky with the force of his thighs.

Azula's conscience had been tormenting her for years now, namely ever since Sokka had entered her life to stay, but it was far worse right now than it had been in a very long time. She clenched her teeth and clutched at Xin Long's reins unnecessarily, as he steered his way towards the Palace. She had to stop worrying about Toph – surely she'd find a way to fight successfully in the Slate, the girl was resourceful enough to achieve the unthinkable – and she had to stop allowing Iroh's manipulation webs to affect her as they did. She truly hoped that what she'd done would make him rethink his actions and reconsider his recklessness: she wasn't someone to be trifled with, and he certainly didn't want to anger her more than he already had. Azula wasn't entirely sure just how far she would be willing to go to defeat her uncle definitively, and she certainly didn't want to discover those limits, or lack thereof, if she could avoid it.

She would have continued to ponder the situation, but the sight of fire in the Palace gardens made her frown. That was unusual. Was something wrong? Had someone snuck inside, and the guards were stopping them, maybe?

The closer they got, the better she could see what was happening. And her eyes widened when she finally identified the two shirtless men bending at each other not too far from the turtle-duck pond.

"What the…?" she whispered, as Xin Long dropped down at a fair distance of the men, eyeing them with curiosity and uncertainty. Azula's eyes were wide, as she was rendered as good as speechless.

Ozai's superiority in bending was notorious, his skill had been renowned since his youth and he hadn't slacked off during his adult years either. Zhao was a potent firebender, crafting immense formations of fire that any common bender would have failed to produce, but it wasn't much for the Lord of the Fire Nation. He would bend Zhao's fire right back at him, a technique he had passed down to his daughter, and force him to evade the attack or to defend against it, both of which left Zhao highly vulnerable.

Ozai's fire blasts were too powerful to counter, even for a talented bender like Zhao. Azula's eyes widened as she watched him knock the Admiral down with the power of a punch, and he lifted both his hands right afterwards while standing over Zhao… with a plum of charged and highly volatile fire waiting on the palm of his hand.

Zhao's eyes were lined with fear just by looking at the threat Ozai was wielding. Even Azula froze where she stood, knowing that her father's strongest in bending was with charged attacks of the sort. She never had a shred of a doubt that, when he charged an attack, he would be the uncontested winner of any battle…

And just as he was capable of charging a plum of fire with ease, he was just as capable of making it vanish as soon as Zhao said the words:

"I give up"

Ozai's face broke into a proud grin as the fire dissipated. Zhao huffed and dropped his head on the ground while Ozai turned to where he had seen Azula's dragon descending. He smiled and bowed his head towards her.

"You arrived just in time to see the grand finale. Welcome home, Azula" he said, smirking. Zhao huffed.

"Is that why you got so much rougher suddenly? You were showing off before your daughter?" he asked, pushing himself up with difficulty. Ozai laughed and extended a hand towards him, which Zhao clasped to get back on his feet.

"Certainly it is, Zhao. It's been a long time since I last impressed Azula with my bending, and going by how strong she has become, chances are I didn't impress her at all even now. Or did I?"

Azula couldn't help but smile as she climbed off Xin Long's saddle. Zhao eyed the dragon with curiosity, having only seen him at a distance so far, but Xin Long seemed a little too preoccupied by his rider's current concerns to pay anyone else much attention. He only watched as Azula moved towards the two men, her eyebrows raised.

"It was quite a remarkable display of firebending mastery, as ever, Father" she said "Though I am rather curious as to why you were displaying it at all. Did you two have an argument, by any chance, and decided to settle it through sparring?"

"Why, of course not. Who do you take us for, truly? Such uncivilized practice…" said Ozai, smirking and looking at Zhao with amusement. His friend huffed and shook his head.

"We did have an argument, unsurprisingly" said Zhao "But this was supposed to be training, Princess. Fire Lord Ozai decided I needed to polish my skills so that…"

"So that you won't be beaten by Zuko or anyone else who challenges you to an Agni Kai?" Azula asked, amused. Zhao sighed.

"As I can see, you two seem to have very similar thought patterns" he said, as father and daughter laughed at unison. It was a sight not many people could witness, and it would certainly scare most people, but not Zhao. He had known Ozai for a long time, and Azula ever since she was a child. Finding himself at the butt of their jokes wasn't an entirely new experience for him.

"It would seem our Admiral has grown complacent" said Ozai "Too many years spent at the top of the chain of command has led him to neglect his firebending. So I expected to remediate that, despite he was most unwilling to comply"

"Why would I have wanted to set myself up for such promised embarrassment?" said Zhao, shaking his head "Even in our youth I could never beat you, Ozai…"

"Perhaps that is so, but I'd rather not see one of my highest ranked officers shamed by treasonous princes" said Ozai, proudly "So from now on, whenever you're available, we shall train to ensure you won't lose against weaklings again"

Zhao sighed and shook his head, looking at Ozai with apprehension. Azula only smiled awkwardly as she eyed the two of them, not expecting her father to turn to her suddenly, the glint of an idea in his pleased smirk.

"Though I suppose there's someone else who should prove a greater challenge for you to fight, greater than I could ever be…"

Azula's eyes widened, and Zhao's did the same. He looked at the Princess warily as Ozai folded his arms over his chest, as good as beaming at his daughter.

"T-that's… should I, really?" she asked, raising her eyebrows "I've never crossed blows with the Admiral before, whether in training or otherwise…"

"Well, no better moment to begin, is there?" said Ozai, spreading an arm and gesturing at Zhao "Do show him what a truly masterful firebender looks like, my child"

She didn't want to feel proud of hearing him say those words, she truly didn't, but there wasn't much she could do to stop the emotion from surging within her chest. Her fire flared, and she ached to prove herself to Zhao: how long had she been waiting for such a priceless opportunity? Why was she hesitating now, when she could finally make him respect her for who she was…?

"Well, we don't really have a choice, do we?" she told Zhao, who sighed "The Fire Lord commands it, after all"

"The Fire Lord shall be my undoing at this rate" said Zhao, shaking his head but taking a few steps back, taking a position to defend himself from the Princess "Very well, then. Do your worst"

Azula bit her lip and shrugged before lifting her right hand. Ozai stepped away, watching them intently.

Zhao expected to be unable to attack the Princess effectively, but he still had hopes that he would be able to defend himself from her fire once she unleashed the blue inferno upon him. As strong as she was, he was quite a capable bender, too.

Only, Azula suddenly waved her arms in circular motions, sparks of electricity dancing around her limbs before she outstretched her left hand, casting a blast of lighting right towards the Admiral.

Zhao yelped and dropped on his back. He had never mastered lightning, failing to temper his emotions enough to do so. No doubt Ozai had told the Princess as much at some point, and she would use his weakness to her advantage…

He pushed himself up to his feet, casting two powerful blasts of fire as a defense, but the orange fire turned blue with ease as Azula bent her way through it. Zhao clenched his teeth, throwing out a fist of fire, but she ducked underneath it and performed a pinwheel kick that caught Zhao in the chest.

He was sent rolling down on the ground, his vision swimming, his breath lost. Azula landed flawlessly, her arms stretched out to retain her balance as she looked at her opponent. His exposed chest was heaving, but he seemed mostly unharmed despite the damage he had just received.

"You were lucky, Zhao!" Ozai called, laughing as he stepped towards his daughter, placing a hand on her shoulder proudly "You forgot to firebend with that last kick, Azula"

"Oh, I didn't. I just didn't think it'd be appropriate to set the Admiral on fire" said Azula, prompting Ozai to laugh louder yet.

Zhao groaned and pushed himself up to find Azula smiling somewhat apologetically at him. He sighed and shook his head.

"Well, this is certainly all I expected from this combat" he said, getting back on his feet and rubbing his chest with a hand "You're certainly something to behold in action, Princess… though I'd rather just behold it indeed rather than cross you again. Chances are you might even beat your own father if you tried…"

"I… what?" said Azula, her eyes widening "Well, Admiral, surely you realize…"

"That you'd never fight me?" Ozai asked, smirking "Certainly, you are far too loyal to genuinely fight me, but truth be told, you must have surpassed me in terms of bending prowess by now… then again, if you have, we have yet to confirm it, don't we?"

Azula looked at Ozai in disbelief. Was he serious? Did he truly want to train with her now? Fighting Zhao had been amusing, to a degree… but fighting her father daunted her, regardless of her likely superiority in terms of bending. Could she really do it at all?

"Come now, Princess" said Ozai, chuckling "It has been a very long time since I tasted the bitterness of defeat. I wonder if it will taste bitter at all, if it's coming from my very own daughter…"

Azula bit her lip as Ozai took Zhao's previous position. The Admiral looked utterly elated to have a chance to sit down and stop worrying about training for potential, yet unlikely Agni Kais. But there was no denying that he was curious, too. He knew Azula and Ozai had trained together in the past, for Ozai had been responsible for teaching his daughter some of the most advanced firebending techniques. Azula's talent was beyond compare, but her reluctance to fight her father was understandable as well: she was a pupil who still had far too much respect for her master to defy him.

Yet she didn't hesitate to bend Ozai's fire when he first cast it towards her. It was a more complicated feat with the Fire Lord's flames, since they were more potent than Zhao's, but Azula had little trouble sliding through the fire and reaching her father, her fingers outstretched, a blast of blue waiting for the right moment to be unleashed.

Her fight with Ozai brought back memories of the days after her mother was gone, for Ozai finally had nobody to keep him from teaching her his techniques as he pleased. He had aided her in her discovery of the ability to bend blue fire, and coached her through her mastery of lightningbending, certain she could achieve the technique in due time, given the endless talent she possessed. She had not disappointed him. She seldom did.

And she certainly didn't that day either. While their fight lasted far longer than Azula's combat with Zhao, Ozai eventually found himself gasping for breath, laughing as he knelt before his daughter, her two deadly fingers stretched towards him, albeit with no fire coating them.

"You yield, I take it?" Azula asked, with a smile. She was breathing a little heavily as well, but she found she wasn't quite as overwhelmed as her father was. It seemed training as often as she did with Sokka had benefitted her in more ways than she had expected it to.

"You're… you're unstoppable" said Ozai, lifting his gaze to smile back at her "Well done, Azula"

She laughed and outstretched all her fingers, helping her father to stand upright again. Zhao clapped, having watched their fight sitting at a nearby rock.

"Thank you, Princess, for granting me such welcome sight!" he exclaimed, smirking at Ozai "Not every day do I see Fire Lord Ozai defeated with no contest…"

"Ah, and you certainly won't see be defeated that way by you, my friend" said Ozai, smirking back "Bask in your joy all you want, but I taught her everything she knows, remember?"

Zhao chuckled, and Azula smiled. It was an odd feeling, being around the two men again in this way. It wasn't something new, not at all, but it was different from how it had been in the past. She was no longer a child, hoping to obtain their approval and respect: she already had them, and she had other goals in life than to please her father or impress his best friend. She had changed, even if they didn't know it. It was better that they didn't, too.

Yet she found that having changed didn't make her enjoy the training with the two firebenders any less than she did. Her differences with Zhao and Ozai hadn't soured the experience at all, if anything it had been a welcome distraction from her promised mental self-flagellation over what she'd done to Toph. It had been so welcome that she had ended up sharing her dinner with the two men in Ozai's private dining hall, though she mostly held her silence while listening to them bicker over old times, over Ozai's enjoyment of tormenting Zhao and everything else that might be brought up during their conversation.

"… Truly, though, after all the promotions I've granted you, you should be fully aware of the repercussions that come with it all" Ozai said, smirking before bringing up a bit of fried duck to his lips. Zhao snorted.

"The repercussions, as in, becoming your favorite laughingstock?" he asked. Ozai shrugged.

"Well, I can't see a better candidate for that around, can you?" he said. Zhao rolled his eyes and laughed.

"What are friends for, eh?" he said, taking a gulp from his wine.

Ozai smiled proudly before his gaze fell on Azula. Invested as he had been in his friendly feud with Zhao, he had forgotten to ask her about her trip.

"Did you win in the Slate, by the way?" he asked Azula. She raised her eyebrows and nodded. Zhao frowned.

"It was the Slate?" he said, surprised "This is your second victory there, then?"

"Indeed, and the last" Azula said "We've… surrendered the right to challenge to my uncle and her gladiator, actually"

The pang of guilt she felt upon uttering those words intensified when she heard Ozai laugh. Zhao as well seemed amused.

"An earthbender? In the Slate? Well, that's a clever move to rid yourself of that competition" said Zhao, chuckling "The last earthbender to step into that ring was obliterated"

"Your cleverness never ceases to amaze me, Azula" he said "Iroh has been a sore thumb for far too long. Perhaps this should remind him to return to the humility he keeps preaching about, shouldn't it?"

"Well, that only depends on the result, of course" said Azula "Knowing his gladiator, she might end up bending lava or something impossible of the sort…"

"That is quite ridiculous. Only an Avatar should be capable of such a feat, and I doubt that skinny little angry thing could be the Avatar" said Ozai "But… speaking of rare bending skills, Azula, the Head Sage came by only a few days ago, looking for you"

"What? Why?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He wanted to ask you to help him in his research of your golden fire's special qualities, it seems" said Ozai, smirking "It's an opportunity you mustn't miss. Staying on that man's good side will be good for you"

"He's never been overly fond of you, has he, Ozai?" Zhao asked. Ozai grunted "He took a liking to the Princess due to her bending skills, then?"

"I suppose so. It seemed that way" Ozai said, looking at Azula "I recommend that you go to the Temple on occasion, Azula. The man doesn't have quite as much power as he likes to think he does, but he'll make a valuable ally if you manage to stay on his good side. If he perceives you, instead of your foolish brother, as the rightful heir, the odds for rebellions or civil wars upon your ascent to the throne would decrease greatly"

"I've thought as much" said Azula, nodding "I'll heed your advice, Father. He should also be less of a concern to you this way, shouldn't he?"

"Indeed. His approval of you was the last thing I needed to proclaim you Crown Princess, remember?" said Ozai, smirking "We must cultivate his interest in your bending, and ensure his support to your claim for the throne, too"

Azula nodded, breathing out slowly. So now she had something else to worry about… but at the very least keeping an amicable relationship with the Head Sage wasn't something worrisome to do. She certainly hoped she'd be able to do it without many complications.

She bid the two men good night once she finished her food, heading to her room in hopes to get proper rest tonight. It seemed quite a lot of things had happened in a short time span, so she could use some time to herself to digest everything…

Yet she couldn't help but smile in disbelief upon finding a Royal Guard in his uniform, casually standing near her door. Yeah, he had warned her of it, but she had partially expected his warning to be unfounded.

"Princess" he said, in a fake, deepened voice, probably in a poor imitation of Rui Shi. Azula bit her lip to avoid laughing.

She pushed the door of her room open, but Sokka didn't follow right away, as a group of servants were passing by just then and there. He kept his position while trying not to seem too tense, but he bolted inside Azula's room as soon as he was out of their eyesight.

"You shouldn't be here, Sokka…" she said, once he closed the door behind him. He smiled and turned to look at her, but he was taken by surprise when she removed his mask and helmet immediately to press a kiss to his lips.

He wasn't going to protest against that, naturally, so he surrounded her with his arms and kissed her back gratefully. Azula sighed as they parted, letting her head rest on his shoulder.

"But I suppose I'm still glad that you are" she said. He chuckled.

"Glad to hear it" he said, caressing her hair "Are you feeling any better yet?"

"About what I did to Toph? Not particularly, no" she said, shrugging "Though training with my father and Zhao certainly helped me forget about it, however brief it was…"

"Wait, what?" Sokka asked, looking at her in surprise as she smiled "You… woah, you trained with them? Just like that?"

"My father asked me to join them" said Azula, shrugging "It was quite an impromptu matter, really. But…"

"You beat them. Both of them" said Sokka, with a wild smile. Azula only laughed as a response and Sokka surrounded her waist with his arms and spun her in circles "Woo! Look at you, teaching Sideburns a lesson and showing your dad you're better than him, too! Damn, you're on fire!"

"I'd certainly hope I'm not on fire, but I'll be able to put it out if I were…" she replied, smirking. Sokka snorted and laughed out loud. Only he would find such silly wordplay as amusing as Azula did.

She told him about the entire experience as he sat by the foot of the bed. She changed out of her dinner gown into her sleeping robe instead, and he gawked with a goofy smile and blushing cheeks as she did. There was no denying that she enjoyed the attention, of course.

"… Ah, and it seems the Head Sage wants to investigate my golden fire, heh" she said, smiling dryly before sitting next to Sokka, now fully dressed in her night garb "No idea if he wants to figure out how I did it, or if he's wondering if it has other possible uses…"

"Might be both things?" said Sokka "But obviously, if it is, you'll never tell him how you've unlocked it, will you?"

"Clearly, no" said Azula, snorting "There's no way I'll explain that, not a chance"

"Thought so" said Sokka, smiling "Do you expect there's any other use for it, though, other than ceremonial bending?"

"No clue" said Azula, making to tie up her hair in a high ponytail. Sokka took the ribbon from her hand, though, and she smiled as he took care of that himself "If there is, it would be good to find out. If not, then it'll just mean I'll be spending time with the Head Sage and trying to convince him that I am indeed a worthy Fire Lord-to-be…"

"You should pull it off without a hitch. I'm sure you're more than worthy" said Sokka, smiling. Azula sighed, turning towards him.

"Despite all my mistakes?" she said, stretching back across the bed "I'm still trying to think of how we'll help the Bandit after what I did. I mean… I guess I'll have to offer to help her train, if nothing else. We could teach her how to fight hand-to-hand, maybe, so that she doesn't have to rely on her bending and nothing more. It's a thought, right?"

"I guess" said Sokka, smiling reassuringly "We'll find a way to help her out. You'll see"

Azula sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingertips.

"I suppose the only thing that bugs me is that we'll be playing my Uncle's game, is all… but it's not like we have a choice" she said, as he leaned down next to her "Unless he steps up and does his damnedest to help her beat the conditions in the Slate, it would be up to us to do it. And seeing how Iroh and Toph aren't exactly known for preparing for fights…"

"You think we'll have to get involved one way or another, huh?" said Sokka "You're probably right, too…"

"I'm surprised, though, that you're so calm through all this. Who knew you'd be so patient with my madness" said Azula, sighing. Sokka smiled.

"He pushed you, knowingly. You retaliated. He should've known better, right?" he said. Azula sighed and shrugged.

"I should have known better too, likely. This matter should be between me and him. Maybe after this is over I'll make sure he knows that" she said. Sokka nodded "I'm done putting you at risk over his petty, unspoken squabble with me. Nobody else needs to get involved"

"Well, I am involved already, to a degree" said Sokka "So I'll be standing by you no matter how you resolve it. You can be sure of that"

"Heh, I'm not surprised to hear that" said Azula, smiling weakly "It's you after all. You always…"

A soft sound outside her door alerted her, making her sit up on the bed with a frown on her face. Sokka didn't hear it, raising his eyebrows with confusion.

"What's…?" he said. Azula put a hand on his mouth, gesturing at him to hide over at her private dining room. Sokka gulped, his heart racing upon realizing just why Azula was acting like this…

He fit the helmet and hood on his head again, and he hid behind the arch that led to the dining area as Azula approached the door silently. He glanced out to watch her, wary of whatever had alerted her as it had…

Azula opened the door slowly, staring through the torch-lit corridor with a mild frown. No shadows out of place. No doors open. Nothing seemed amiss, and yet… She clenched her teeth and slammed the door shut.

"Everything okay…?" Sokka asked. She huffed.

"You should go" she said, shaking her head "As much as I was looking forward to your visit, something's off. And if… if it's Iroh, Sokka, and he…"

"Shh" said Sokka, approaching her and placing a finger over her lips "Don't say anything incriminating then, if you think someone's onto us. I'm not here, never was"

Azula swallowed hard and nodded as she reached to open the secret trapdoor under her carpet. He climbed down the steps, gritting his teeth as he saw the chagrin on her face. He sighed, reaching up to kiss her softly, before whispering.

"I'll see you tomorrow. We'll finish this by then" he said, with as little noise as he could. Azula nodded.

"I… I'll wait for that" she said, choosing to abide by his advice. If they were being spied on somehow, they were better off keeping any incriminating information to themselves, especially regarding the love they professed to each other.

Azula shut down the trapdoor behind him, a heavy frown on her face. She stood up and made for the door, knowing she wouldn't possibly find any eavesdroppers right now. Her previous attempt to catch them surely had sent them scurrying away, and it would be no use trying to catch them.

Nevertheless, she pushed the door open again and wandered the corridor briefly, pushing doors open to find only empty rooms. She huffed and shook her head, wondering if she was imagining things. She might have sent Sokka home for no reason, and that was a true waste indeed…

Yet even as she turned back to her room, she was certain she had heard the distinct sound of bare feet slapping against the marble floor.

* * *

Being shaken by a hand woke Sokka from his sleep abruptly. The one person who would wake him in mornings was Azula, so even though he had been deprived of a few hours of sleep, he smiled widely even before opening his eyes.

"Azula…?" he whispered. But the response made him frown, and his smile fell quickly.

"Nope. Just plain old Song" said his friend, prompting him to rub his eyes as his groggy brain struggled to come back to full functions "I'm sorry for waking you like this, but someone was asking for you. Not the Princess, obviously, since she would have come here immediately if she wanted to see you…"

"Who, then?" Sokka asked, sitting up and looking at Song with only one eye open, one eyebrow raised.

"I don't know them, actually" said Song, standing upright and looking at him with confusion "She's short, black hair, green-and-yellow clothes and… well, I'm not really sure, but she seems to be blind even though she walks without a problem…"

Sokka's stomach sank, and his drowsiness fled him instantly. Curse it, he wasn't sure he was prepared to deal with Toph this early in the morning. Not after what had happened over the Slate's challenge, anyways.

Song left while he dressed up, the gears in his mind finally set in motion again as he made to leave the room. Whatever Toph wanted, he would find a way to ask her if she knew if Iroh had been snooping around Azula's bedroom. The sooner they knew for sure if the old man knew about them, the sooner they'd be able to act on it…

"Ah, Dog! Morning!" Toph said, smiling as Sokka climbed down the stairs, nodding in her direction.

"Hey there. It's sort of early for a visit, don't you think?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck before frowning as he stood before her "And on top of that, how do you know where I live? Did you ask Rui Shi for the address or something?"

Over at the kitchen, Song flinched just hearing the Captain's name. Her face flushed, and she decided she'd do best to leave to the library early today. If they would talk about him she wouldn't be able to do anything but stress about their budding, but now possibly decaying, relationship…

"Rui Shi?" Toph repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"You know, the Captain of Azula's guards?"

"Oh, no. I didn't ask him, of course not" she said, as Song walked out into the living room again, smiling as calmly as she could.

"I've left your breakfast in the kitchen, Sokka" she said "I'll be off to the library now…"

"Huh, sure" said Sokka, nodding at her. Song had been rather busy these days, studying Fire Nation medicine very diligently.

"No guard told me about this place, Dog" Toph repeated, once Song was gone "I just found it"

"How?" Sokka asked again, frowning. Toph shrugged.

"Earthbending"

"What? Earthbending? But this is a wooden house, and you can't see all that well through wood. I remember as much" he said, pointing a finger at her "What's this, Toph? How did you get here at all?"

"You're seriously questioning my methods, Dog?" Toph asked, smirking "Come on, I'm not lying. Earthbending got me here, whether you like it or not"

"But that's still just…!" Sokka said, but he fell silent upon noticing movement in the backyard. Azula was here.

Ah, what he would have given for a morning of privacy with her. They hadn't had a proper chance to be alone together since he had snuck into her cabin in the Barge. But it seemed none of their plans to spend quality time with each other would pay off these days.

Azula frowned, but smiled with amusement upon sighting Sokka inside. She climbed off Xin Long's back, patting his head gently before heading inside.

"You're awake so early? That's rare…" she started, but the look Sokka gave her made her slow down on her footsteps.

He wasn't alone, that was what the grimace and gesture at the couch meant. Azula froze. She raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Why… you have a visitor? That's unexpected" she said, heading inside.

"I'm the reason he had to get up early" Toph said, snickering. Azula froze momentarily as she looked at the blind girl "Sorry, Jewel. I didn't mean to steal the privilege of waking him up from you"

"That's not… not quite a privilege, I'll say" said Azula, stepping towards Sokka and looking at the earthbender with confusion "Why are you here?"

"Oh, just came to make a little request" said Toph, smiling and putting her hands behind her head. Azula frowned.

"If you want me to withdraw the Slate's challenge, I fear I…"

"What? Why would I want you to do that?" Toph asked. Her genuine surprise at that question only startled both the Princess and her gladiator.

"Well… don't you care about the earthbenders' track record in the Slate?" Sokka asked. She huffed, waving a hand carelessly.

"As if. I don't care how many have died there, I know I won't" she said, proudly.

"You really are reckless, aren't you?" said Azula, frowning "That sort of record is extremely ominous. Do you disregard your own safety that much?"

"I could ask you both the very same thing, though, couldn't I?"

Silence settled in the living room as both Azula and Sokka eyed Toph with a mix of wariness and confusion. The earthbender smirked, relaxing against the backrest of the couch.

"I do appreciate your concern for my safety in the Slate, I'll say" she said, leaning back and stretching her neck "And heck, if you guys want to teach me hand-to-hand combat as you said you would, I won't mind. But really… you should probably hide your little secret a bit better if you don't want earthbenders with seismic sense to discover you. Just saying"

Sokka opened his mouth, thinking to say something, but no words came out. He was petrified where he stood, feeling cold sweat on his brow suddenly. He glanced at Azula, terrified. She would be outraged, she would forbid him to ever set foot in the Palace again, or maybe she would punch Toph as hard as she could in an attempt to damage her memory and force her to forget what she had discovered.

The golden glare she was giving the earthbender was truly one of the deadliest Sokka had ever seen in Azula's eyes. It seemed she was capable of anything and everything to defend their secret right now, and the blind girl seemed to lack even the minimum amount of self-awareness needed to understand just in what dangers she had landed herself in with her unexpected confession…


	118. Chapter 118

Her instinctive reaction was to deny it. Her second reaction was to set the smirking girl on fire. Her next reaction was to only threaten to set her on fire, and the last was to defy her statement just to pinpoint what she knew exactly. But none of it would work, she realized. Not if she wanted to keep Toph's mouth shut. Yet something else just might serve her cause, if only to ascertain the gravity of whatever Toph might have discovered…

"Just what secret should we be hiding better, exactly?" Azula asked, her dangerous glare fixed upon the earthbender.

Toph snorted and Sokka looked at Azula uneasily. Would that work? Playing dumb might not pay off if the earthbender had sensed them inside Azula's room last night, despite they didn't do anything particularly compromising.

But now he thought about it, they hadn't been half as intimate as they intended to be last night. Maybe that meant they could fend off Toph indeed. If they were lucky-…

"Well, the fact that you make out with your Dog in your room at night isn't something I'd expect you to want everyone else to find out" said Toph, sliding a hand through her hair. Azula gritted her teeth and Sokka's hopes to fend off Toph were gone as quickly as that.

"And how would anyone hear of such blasphemy, I wonder?" she asked, her fist clenched "Are you planning on defaming me through whatever you think you witnessed, Dirt Worm? Because if that's the case…"

"Woah, woah, woah! No need for the threatening tone" said Toph, extending her arms, showing Azula her palms "I'm not planning on telling anyone about it, I'm just saying…!"

"You have nothing to tell anyone" Azula growled, stepping towards her "Not the slightest thing. And if you ever dared, I'd make your life such a living hell that…!"

"Azula, stop!" Sokka said, lunging forth and standing between them. Azula's enraged eyes turned to him now "This sort of attitude isn't going to resolve anything, alright? We have to…!"

"You have to listen to me, maybe?" Toph said, with a grimace, but she went unheard this time as well as Azula retorted.

"To what, pray tell?! This is the last straw, for crying out loud! Do you really want me to stand here and do nothing while she threatens us, blackmails us, ruins our lives just because she sees fit to do it?! Just because she's doing Iroh's bidding, knowingly or…?"

She fell silent suddenly, her anger freezing as it changed into dread. Sokka swallowed hard.

"Azula…"

"Iroh. Shit. Shit…" she said clenching her teeth and pressing a fist to her forehead "Blast it all!"

She waved her hand away with that, an uncontrolled spark of blue following her movement as she paced the room angrily. Toph swallowed hard where she sat, as Sokka looked at the earthbender with narrow eyes.

"You didn't say anything to him, did you?" he asked, his voice colder than Toph had ever heard it before "Whatever you think you sensed, you didn't…"

"Hell no! Obviously I haven't said anything to anyone, damn it! What's with you two, seriously?" she said, huffing and shaking her head "Don't you think that, if I'd spilled the beans on anything, you'd already be dead or about to be? And the Jewel would be… well, if things are anything like how they were with the Earth Kingdom nobility, they'd have already checked to see just how badly her purity has been damaged. So yeah, that would be happening right now but it's not, so why do you guys think that is?"

Azula's boiling anger and frustrations seemed to reach a halt as she glared at Toph from the corner of her eyes. Yes, that was undeniably true. If Toph had sensed them kissing at any point and told anyone, Azula still would be checked thoroughly for any signs of impurity. Which would be easy to find indeed, seeing how she had been very much impure by noble standards for several months now. And as for Sokka… yes, he'd certainly be on his way to his deathbed, regardless of whether Toph was making up her claims or not. Any suspicion that their relationship had reached a physical level would immediately lead her father to put an end to Sokka's life at haste, regardless of whether those rumors were true or false.

But so far he had given no signs of knowing the true nature of her feelings for Sokka, or vice versa. He seemed fond of Sokka to a degree, and he would have certainly given Azula warnings if he suspected she harbored any form of desire for her gladiator. Her father remained oblivious to it all, and his top advisors did, too. Amongst those advisors was Iroh, despite Ozai himself wished his brother weren't part of his council: if Toph had talked, Iroh surely would have run to Ozai with the tale in a matter of seconds. Azula had no doubts that Iroh would jump at the chance of ruining Azula's image and reputation if said chance had presented itself.

So by all means, Toph hadn't talked. For some weird reason she had caught them in potentially incriminating circumstances, yet she would tell them about it instead of making the most of this situation? Azula only had a single guess as for why that was the case.

"What do you want?" she asked, breathing out slowly. Toph bit her lip and looked at her uneasily.

"Nothing that harmful" she said, shrugging "You know, I honestly didn't come here to be that much of a blackmailing asshole. I get what's going on, I really do. I know you guys are somehow crazy about each other, I've known for ages! It's not even new for me, I mean, didn't I catch you two in the same bed back then? What I sensed last night wasn't…"

"Wasn't worse than that, no" muttered Azula, clenching her fists.

"Well then, if I didn't run to Iroh with the tale back then, why would you think I'd do it now?" she asked.

Sokka sighed. She had a point, no doubt, but it didn't put his mind at ease either way. The sinking sensation in his gut wasn't going away any time soon, that was for certain, for last night's escapade, along with most nightly escapades, had been his idea. If only he had held back, if he hadn't snuck in last night just for a chance to spend more time with Azula than they could afford… he was a fool, no doubt. His great ideas clearly were more harmful than anything at this point.

"Why were you even there to begin with?" Sokka asked, frowning "You had no reason to stand around Azula's room…"

"I just wanted to ask her about the Slate" Toph said, sighing "I was about to turn back when I sensed you two were kissing, but then you started talking about the Slate anyways so I figured I'd listen in! But that was when you guys noticed me and I had to scram…"

"And you followed me home somehow?" he asked "You'd never been here before, is that how you found this place?"

Toph nodded and bit her lip.

"I thought I'd talk to you about it, tell you not to worry, but then I thought it'd be better if I faced you two together. So, since Spicy always comes here for training, from what I hear, I thought I'd come by to talk…"

"Talk?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "You said you had a request. And you said you didn't come here to be 'that much of a blackmailing asshole'. Which means you are here to be one, either way. What is this request of yours? Why are you making one at all, if you're so nice you wouldn't possibly spill the beans about us to anyone who'd listen?"

"Hey, I really won't tell anyone!" Toph growled "You know I wouldn't! I know you don't want to trust me and all that, but… I don't want to hurt you guys. You helped me when I needed you the most, so I have no reason to betray you like that!"

Azula's glare softened ever so slightly. She let her eyes drift towards Sokka, and he looked back at her with unease. It was clear they couldn't afford anyone else knowing of their secret, far too many people did as it was. Toph was by far the riskiest of them all, too, due to her closeness with Iroh. If it was hard to trust others, it was harder yet to trust her. But she certainly sounded earnest right now. Did she mean to keep the secret for real? Would she manage to do it?

"Sorry if we're too harsh, Toph, but… simply put, this is something you were better off not knowing" said Sokka, squaring his jaw "Really, though, what do you know, anyways? It's not like…"

"Like I sensed that she was changing in front of you and you didn't even bat an eyelash?" Toph asked, raising an eyebrow. Both Azula and Sokka grimaced "Yep. That's what I thought"

"This is brilliant. Just… brilliant" said Azula, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. Sokka sighed.

"So yeah, I get it, I'm a risk for you guys, and one you'd rather nullify as soon as possible, and I know nobody thinks I'm trustworthy these days, but…" said Toph, her sightless eyes dropping as she spoke "But I really won't talk. I promise…"

Azula frowned. She had never seen the earthbender as vulnerable as she was right now, and that was saying something. Even in their encounter right before Zuko left she hadn't looked quite as downcast as she did right now.

"What's that supposed to mean? Nobody thinks you're trustworthy?" Azula asked, folding her arms over her chest. Toph lowered her head "Why's that?"

"Well… Iroh's not exactly happy with me these days. Can't say I'm surprised about it" she whispered "He knows I had something to do with why Zuko left, even if he doesn't know for sure what I did. So he's… distant. All he ever does these days is write letters to the Earth Kingdom and keep to himself. I don't know how to be around him anymore, and I think it's because… because he probably doesn't want me around either way. He's disappointed in me, and that's not surprising, but… but it's still upsetting, you know?"

"No doubt it is" said Azula, her frown deepening "And yet you won't use this to get his attention back? It wouldn't be odd for you to see this as a good chance to earn some sort of twisted forgiveness from him…"

"How, by ruining your life? By getting Sokka killed?" Toph asked "I'd get his forgiveness and then spend the rest of my life not forgiving myself for destroying you both? Sounds like a riot, Jewel. I don't want to do that, not for his attention or for anything else. Besides, he's so busy with his letters that even if I told him he wouldn't listen. For all we know, you two could go on ahead and make out on his desk while he's working and he'd just tell you to bugger off and let him write…"

"Why, I certainly am not going to test out your theory, so I guess we'll never know if he'll react or not" said Azula, her eyes wide as she paced again, shaking her head.

"Either way, I'm not going to betray you two. I know we've had our clashes, but… but I still think of the two of you as my friends. As some of the only ones I have" said Toph, swallowing hard "I don't want to lose you. So I'm not going to blab, ever"

"If that's so, then what's with that request?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "If you're so unwilling to harm us…"

"I didn't think you'd believe I'd stay quiet for real" said Toph "And see? It's clear you don't. So I thought I could make a request, and once it's been fulfilled you might actually believe I'll keep my mouth shut, eh?"

"Hard to say if I would" said Azula, her hands on her hips now "What is it you want, then? Out with it already, Bandit"

"It's nothing that mind-boggling, Spicy" said Toph, smiling a little "I just want to fight you"

Sokka and Azula frowned, their gazes flickering at each other again in their confusion.

"You mean… fight me in the Slate?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "Well, we've thought it's a good idea but that depends on-…"

"What, you? No!" said Toph, grimacing "I don't want to fight you, Dog. You were annoying enough the last time, with your stench bombs and chi-blocking… you're a pain in the ass, you know?"

"Heh, thanks. Nicest thing you've said about me" said Sokka, with a sarcastic grin. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"But if you don't mean him, then you mean…" she started, and Toph finished her sentence.

"You, Princess. You and you alone" said Toph, huffing "I've always wanted to fight you! And we've never had a chance for it, so I thought there was no better time for it than now! But… of course, that depends on you. Once we do this, I won't have anything else to ask of either of you, so maybe you'll feel a little more compelled to trust me. At least, I hope so…"

"Uh… really?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow "How does one thing correlate to the other at all?"

"Yeah, well, maybe there's not much logic to it" said Toph, pouting "But hey, at least that way she gets to vent all her frustrations by trying to kill me, right?"

"She wouldn't possibly…" said Sokka, but he froze upon noticing Azula was raising a curious eyebrow, a hand on her chin "Azula?!"

"Well, honestly, I wouldn't mind having an outlet to my hardly contained rage right now" she said, with a shrug "It could help me think more clearly afterwards"

"What the…? That's insane!" Sokka said, as Toph jumped to her feet, a blissful smile on her face.

"You really want to do it, then, Jewel?! Truly?!" she asked. Azula huffed.

"I've wanted to fight you too for some time, truth to be told" she said "At first, to take revenge for the beating you gave Sokka. Later, mostly out of curiosity. But right now I just really want to beat you to a pulp"

"Heh, well, good luck doing that because I'm not that easy to beat, I'll say" Toph declared, with a proud smirk. Azula scoffed.

"Right" she said, before turning her head to Sokka, who was looking at her in disbelief "What? You have any better ideas?"

"Anything's better than that!" he said "You two might even destroy the city if you start fighting willy-nilly"

"In case you don't realize it, the damage is already done and we can't take it back" she told him, sounding slightly more level-headed than she had earlier "So unless you want to cut the Dirt Worm's tongue…"

"What?!" Toph exclaimed, horrified. Azula ignored her.

"… Or maybe kill her to ensure she won't tell anyone, what exactly do you propose we do to make sure she won't possibly expose our secret?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. At Sokka's silence she nodded "That's right. There's nothing else to be done"

"Well… we'll have to stop taking risks, that much is clear" said Sokka, lowering his gaze. Azula sighed.

"Everything is a risk, Sokka. Even if we parted ways and planned to never meet again after this, the risks will still be there because of what we've already done"

"What I meant is I won't go to the Palace like that anymore" he said "My days personifying Royal Guards are over for good after this"

"Huh, so that's how you did it… no wonder nobody thought it was out of place for you to be in the Palace so late at night" Toph reasoned, tapping her chin with a finger. Since she couldn't see, she had only sensed Sokka's presence the way she always did.

"I'm afraid they should be over, yes" said Azula, sighing again "But outside of that, what other course of action could we possibly take now? We can't do anything to ensure her permanent silence, so what choice do we have but to trust her blindly and hope my uncle is truly too self-involved to notice what's happening between us?"

"Well, I wouldn't say self-involved, but… he's never said to suspect anything about you two, not before Zuko left, nor afterwards" said Toph, shrugging "He could have hidden it from me alright, but I think… I think he doesn't expect you to do anything so dangerous"

"Of course he doesn't. That's the only leverage we have" said Azula, sighing "He must be certain that all I care about is getting the throne, and he believes I'd never indulge in any sorts of distractions…"

"That's what I am? A distraction?" said Sokka. Azula shrugged.

"In his eyes you would be" she said "He doesn't expect me to form any bonds with people unless I have an underlying purpose for doing it and… well, he wouldn't be wrong to assume as much. All this began because I was using you, there's no point in lying about that"

"I was using you too, for that matter. It's not like you're the only person who does that sort of thing" said Sokka, looking at her skeptically.

"What's worse is he's just as bad as us" said Azula, with a curt grin "He's just as capable of using people for his own… ends"

Azula had as good as forgotten that Toph was in the same place as them as she spoke. She froze as she looked at her, noticing Toph didn't seem particularly pleased to hear those words, but it wasn't because she disagreed with Azula. Rather, she seemed sad.

"You think that's what he did with me?" she asked "He just… wanted to use me?"

"Well, now…" said Sokka, swallowing hard "We've just said it, didn't we? We started out our partnership under that same idea. We just wanted to gain certain things from our alliance, that was all there was to it. And that didn't stop us from becoming… well, friends, eventually"

"And then something a lot crazier than friends" said Toph, smiling weakly "But I guess it is true. And I would be lying if I said I wasn't using him, too. Needing each other is a good way to start a partnership, isn't it?"

"Evidence suggests as much" said Azula, crossing her arms over her chest. Toph sighed.

"Well, whatever. It doesn't matter right now if Iroh just wants to use me or if he truly is my friend" she said "We've got to fight, Spicy! You can blow off all the steam, and feel better about life after you've tried to set me on fire a couple of times…"

"And what if I do succeed at setting you on fire?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "You won't run to Iroh to tell him all about Sokka and me because you're a sore loser, or would you?"

"Well, wow, that's some quality trash talk there" Toph said, smirking a little "You really think it'd be that easy to beat me? Well, whatever. If you need to be put at ease, I promise I'll accept the outcome, no matter what it may be"

"Good. So shall I" said Azula, breathing out slowly before looking at Sokka with uncertainty.

He still didn't look comfortable with the situation, but she could see the resignation in his eyes. How was he supposed to stop two of the most ruthless benders he'd ever know from having it out if they felt like it? Yet it didn't mean he had to like it. He certainly didn't.

"I know this wasn't what we intended to do today, but…" said Azula. Sokka grimaced and shrugged.

"Eh. We were lucky that our plans have worked out relatively well lately, it couldn't last forever" he said, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips "At the very least, tell me you won't fight here. Explaining why you're decking it out with her for no reason in the Capital could cause us more trouble than we can handle"

"That's perfectly fine, I'd say. As long as the Bandit is so eager to fight me that she'd agree to a little flight, we won't do it here" said Azula, looking at Toph with raised eyebrows. The excited semblance of the girl shifted quickly into unease.

"Uh… what? Flight? Wait a minute…" she muttered, as she made the connection most unwillingly "Oh, no…"

"There's empty terrains in the mainland" Azula said "There's a barren one right between two volcanoes. It's the best place for this battle, unless you'd rather forsake your request altogether?"

"I… eh" said Toph, sighing "I'm not going to forsake anything. But just… make sure I won't fall off your dragon, okay?"

"That's up to you, naturally. One would think earthbenders would be masters at keeping their balance" said Azula, smirking as she glanced at Xin Long. The dragon hadn't left, worried about the troubles that plagued Azula. Now he only waited for his rider's next move "Shall we, then?"

Toph groaned as she made her way to Xin Long. Azula lagged behind, and so did Sokka. She sighed, approaching him and clasping his hands with hers.

"What's worrying you now?" she asked. He huffed.

"It'd be easier to answer what isn't" he said, looking at her with uncertainty "I'm just not sure how many more things we'll have to give up until we're really safe. We've taken for granted that we're doing things right, but… what if it had been someone else and not Toph? What if it was your dad, Sideburns, or even an actual guard?"

"It wasn't" said Azula, sighing again "And we should be grateful for that. In all fairness, nobody else has Toph's talents. The girl could be a master spy if only she could put up the proper act, I'd say. My father couldn't have sensed what we were doing inside my room, no matter what it was, because he doesn't have her abilities"

"But we still can't risk anyone else discovering this. It's been too many of them as it is" said Sokka. Azula nodded.

"You've said it, no more Palace incursions" she said "I know you won't be at ease for a while, and I don't blame you. But beating ourselves up for our mistakes won't help, will it?"

"I guess not" he said, sighing. Azula caressed his hand with her thumb gently.

"Are you coming, then?" she asked "Xin probably can carry the three of us… it was my uncle who was a bit too much back in Ba Sing Se"

"How could I not go?" said Sokka, with a weak grin "I don't think I can trust the two of you fighting without tearing the world apart if you're left to your own devices"

"Well, if you do know that, please keep in mind to stay at a fair distance. Don't get caught in the crossfire… or the crossrocks, either way" she said, shrugging as she pulled him towards the garden. Despite his worries, Sokka couldn't help but snort at her pun.

"I'll try not to. And you try not to get hurt or to hurt her too badly" he said. Azula shrugged innocently.

"I can certainly pull off the former, the latter is debatable" she said, smirking as they stopped before Xin Long. Toph had yet to climb him, an uneasy grimace on her face "Well? Are we doing this or not, Bandit?"

"Yeah, yeah, we are…" said Toph, gulping and climbing aboard right behind Azula "It'll be worth the ride, I hope…"

Sokka followed her on the saddle, watching with amusement through the trip as she clutched at the railings on the saddle anxiously. Xin Long flew easily, and he wasn't doing any of his reckless loops in midair, but he didn't need to do it for the young woman to be as tense as she was.

It took them around half an hour of flight to reach the place Azula had referred to. They had soared over towns and villages, a few small cities too. At a certain point Sokka thought he recognized one of the villages, and his heart sank as he wondered if it was Hui Yi. He closed his eyes and forced himself to stop thinking about it. There were certain wounds that would never be fully healed.

The terrain Azula had proposed for the combat was completely barren, devoid of any fauna or vegetation. It seemed not a single plant had grown back after several volcanic eruptions had taken place. Xin Long set down between the two volcanoes and Azula climbed off to assess the grounds in question. Toph followed her, dropping on the warm ground and lying down across it, a smile on her face.

"It's solid ground, again…" she said, beaming. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"It certainly sounds like you were well out of your comfort zone just now, weren't you, Dirt Worm?" she asked. Toph snickered before bolting to her feet.

"That's the idea! You know, you're probably the most challenging opponent I could possibly have. I want to be out of my comfort zone! All those weaklings in the Gladiator League are just boring these days…"

"So that's why you wanted to do this so suddenly, is it?" Azula asked, as Toph climbed down the valley between the two volcanoes with a spring in her step.

"Eh, I've always wanted to do it! I just had an excuse to ask for it, at last!" she replied, beaming.

Azula shook her head as she watched her go, turning her gaze towards Sokka now. Him and Xin Long both seemed uncertain about the situation and they looked at her apprehensively as she stretched her fingers carefully.

"Stay out of reach, the two of you. In fact, stay on Xin's saddle, Sokka. If anything gets out of control he can fly you both to safety" she said. Sokka, who had only just climbed off, looked at her in chagrin.

"Woah… just how crazy do you expect this fight to get?" he asked "Azula…"

"I'm not holding back, Sokka. I don't think I'll have to" said Azula, with a mild smirk "But I certainly won't have you or Xin Long hurt, so please stay out of reach"

"Azula… if she proves not to be up to the challenge, please ease up" he said, swallowing hard "I know we've had our clashes with her, but…"

"She's our friend, yes. At the very least, she has behaved as one so far" she admitted "So no, I won't kill her, Sokka. I'd think you'd know as much by now"

"I just don't want you to go overboard" said Sokka, scratching the back of his head "Or her, for that matter. But while we don't know for sure if she's the best earthbender in the world, I'm pretty sure you are the best firebender, so…"

"Hey, I am the best earthbender in the world!" Toph bellowed from afar. Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"Could you stop eavesdropping on everyone else's conversations for once, Toph?!" he shouted. Her response was the careless wave of a hand in his direction.

"Just kiss her good luck already and let us get going, can you?!" she replied. Sokka pursed his lips, wishing he wouldn't blush at Toph's words. He wasn't the only one with a red face after that, though. Azula rolled her eyes and looked at him skeptically.

"You're not going to do that, are you?" she said. Sokka huffed.

"I would if this weren't awkward enough as it is" he muttered, shaking his head "Just… be careful. If anything happens I'm jumping in and pushing you two apart, consequences be damned"

"You'll do what, now?" said Azula, as Sokka pouted "You'll be facing my wrath like never before if you do, Sokka"

"I don't care" he said, pouting still "Your safety matters more to me than my own"

Azula huffed and shook her head, pushing Sokka towards Xin Long. The dragon looked at them with uncertainty as Azula pressed Sokka against Xin's saddle.

"Do as I say, and stop being ridiculous. I have this under control" she said. Sokka sighed.

"Fine, fine" he said, climbing on the saddle again "Good luck, Azula. I…"

"You're going to obey my every command, yes you will" Azula cut him off, having known exactly what he was going to say. She didn't want Toph to hear Sokka say those three words to her.

"Yeah, yeah, sure thing…" he said, shaking his head but smiling a little as Xin Long took off, ferrying Sokka towards the very cusp of one of the volcanoes.

The view allowed them to watch as Azula moved towards Toph's ground level. The earthbender smiled brightly when the Princess reached her, and she continued to stretch while Azula watched her warily.

"I can barely believe we're doing this, you know?" said Toph, excitedly "I've always wondered which one of us is stronger"

"Why, I've never really had a doubt I am, but I suppose you're not familiar with the feeling of being second-best to anyone" said Azula, smirking "But you'll learn it for sure today, as you'll see in due time…"

"You're really cocky, you know?" said Toph, laughing "Never met anyone who's more sure of herself than I am! But that's alright. I always make the most of it when people underestimate me"

"Oh, no, Bandit. I've estimated you just as I had to" said Azula, smirking as she took a stance. Toph didn't hesitate before striking her own "And I know I'm perfectly entitled to believe myself the stronger of the two of us"

Toph would have responded again, but she sensed Azula making her move. She was familiar with firebending stances, having learned about them after facing so many firebenders in the ring, but she immediately realized Azula's way of fighting was vastly different from that of everyone else she'd fought to date. The blast of fire she sent Toph's way was the testimony of it, for it was larger, hotter and more dangerous than anything she had defended herself against so far.

The earthbender pulled up a shield, but it wasn't as effective as they often were, even though she was bending her preferred solid earth instead of sand. The power of the Princess's fire was truly unprecedented, capable of shattering through Toph's firm defenses with a single blow…

Toph knew she had to rebuild her defenses, and to do it fast. A thicker wall of earth met the next of Azula's attacks and Toph struck out her hands, hoping to shift the earth underneath the Princess's very feet… without expecting to discover that Azula wasn't standing where she had been anymore. She couldn't sense Azula anywhere, yet she could hear the swishing sound of fire…

The Princess knew her advantages well. Toph was a powerful earthbender, but with her condition she had weak spots that could be exploited, such as attacks thrown at her from midair. Azula had boosted herself upwards just after Toph executed her improved defense, and she had spun forward to cast a flaming kick, right over the earthbender's shield. But Toph extended the shield right away, as soon as she realized just what Azula meant to do.

The shield Toph bent over her head shattered easily, and forced her to rush out running before the second wave of flames could reach her. Azula made sure to use her momentum to shoot a few more fire punches after her opponent, but Toph seemed to hear the fire even if she couldn't feel just where Azula was. She wove more defensive walls against every fire blast, and Azula had no choice but to smirk approvingly as she finally landed again, one leg flexed, the other stretched out, her hands in position to help her keep her balance. Her eyes remained firmly set on where the earthbender was lurking underneath a half-torn rock, breathing heavily.

"Regretting this request yet, Dirt Worm?" Azula asked, standing upright and raising an eyebrow as she waited for her to react. Naturally, Toph responded with a bark of laughter. Azula smirked. Toph wasn't going to back down, clearly, and that was the way she hoped it would be.

"You're insane!" Toph said, tearing down the earth walls around her and beaming "This is the best fight ever and it's only just started!"

"I hoped you'd say that" said Azula, smirking again.

It was Toph who attacked now, though, creating a potent and fast stream of earth, comprised by small but consequent blocks of earth that shifted towards Azula. But she couldn't catch her. The Princess leapt, landing briefly on one of the blocks and boosting herself upwards again. Toph cringed and formed an arch of earth right above herself to counter the potent kick of fire Azula conjured. But when the shield was gone, Azula found Toph was gone from sight.

"Underground?" she guessed immediately, smirking. Well, that made perfect sense. If she would take advantage of her ability to be airborne, Toph would do the exact opposite.

But that only prompted Azula to use both her hands and boost herself upwards with a more potent burst of fire than before. She looked down, careful for any sign of the earthbender's hiding place…

Azula carried on hovering above ground, angling her body so she could fly with further ease. She made circular rounds, to ensure her fire wouldn't block her eyesight and prevent her from seeing the small earthbender if she finally came out of hiding.

It became clear that she wouldn't do that until Azula touched the ground again, though. Azula snorted. What would Toph's plan be, she wondered? What did she mean to do once Azula was forced to land? Sink her underground too? That was quite possibly Toph's plan, yes. But Azula wasn't going to let that happen so easily.

Sokka gritted his teeth, clutching at Xin Long's reins impatiently. The dragon seemed to be just as nervous as he was, shifting underneath him occasionally and groaning whenever Azula attacked Toph. So far the Princess had the upper hand in the fight, indisputably, but this wasn't a regular fight. There were no real rules to what they were doing, and that was a lot more frightening than it should be, Sokka reasoned.

When he saw Azula dropping altitude his eyes widened, and his grip on Xin Long's reins was so much stronger the leather started to hurt his palms. What was she doing, taunting Toph? What was her plan?

She was lowering herself to the ground, still releasing a barrage of fire through her limbs, but it grew weaker as she reached the ground. She stared down at the earth with amusement, placing her foot delicately just to sense the earth crumbling right beneath it immediately. She bolted upwards, but an unexpected burst of earth caught her by the ankle, threatening to drag her down if she didn't fight back effectively. Oh, but she planned to.

She was nowhere near the expertise level that her father had for this sort of thing, but she stopped bending for a brief moment only to overcharge a small fire blast and shoot it right towards the earth that was trying to claim her body. The explosion was so strong it sent her flying off. She heard Sokka's voice screaming her name, and she grimaced as she thought they were switching roles today. For once it wouldn't be her suffering on the sidelines while he battled against insanely dangerous enemies… yet right now the insanely dangerous fighter seemed to be Azula, and not her rival.

She tried to slow her landing with fire, but it didn't prevent her from rolling on the ground after the impact of the explosion. She breathed out slowly as she pushed herself up, swatting dirt and cinders off her armor as she glanced at the site of the explosion. She couldn't see Toph anywhere. Was she there at all? Or had she…?

The thought that her explosion might have damaged the young earthbender more than she had meant to worried Azula to an unexpected degree. She couldn't have hurt her, or worse, killed he, could she?

She swallowed hard, her throat dry as she returned to the fighting area they'd chosen. Toph had to survive, there was no way she would be finished with just-…

She couldn't finish formulating that thought before sinking waist-deep into an unexpected area of quicksand she had stepped into. Her concerns disappeared right away. So this was how she wanted to play it, was it? She remembered just what Toph had done to Sokka after sinking him into quicksand the first time, and she refused to let the same thing happen to her.

Taking off into the air through her bending propulsion wasn't quite as easy this time, for Toph started solidifying the earth just as Azula tried to release herself from the sand trap. The solid earth failed to hold Azula back, though. She shot out of the trap at full speed soon enough, catapulting herself into the air. She frowned as she stopped bending, studying the fighting area carefully. Toph could easily stay underground for the rest of the fight if she felt like it, no matter how cowardly that might be. What was the best way to get her out of her hiding spot? How could she force Toph's hand…?

She propelled herself again, all the way to the volcano opposite to where Sokka and Xin Long were resting. She nodded and waved at them, yet she was too far to hear whatever Sokka replied. She could sense Xin Long's relief that she was safe, but also his unease by this strange fight she'd gotten herself into. That strange mole-like girl had strange powers, powers that could shape the ground underneath her and even create mazes of tunnels if she pleased, just as the ones Xin Long had been living in until Azula found him…

The thought made Azula smirk. Yes, that was the answer. Toph could create those tunnels indeed, but if she meant to catch Azula, she'd be forced to make her move while the Princess waited next to a volcano, full of lava that, Azula believed, Toph couldn't possibly bend to her advantage.

"That's how she's going to smoke her out, huh?" Sokka asked, gulping as he read Azula's actions. Well, that wasn't the worst idea Azula could have had, but it would become a fight of patience at this rate. If Toph refused to leave her safety within her element and Azula kept the high ground, neither would make another move until something changed.

Azula huffed, shaking her head. Toph wasn't stupid or reckless enough to follow her up here, it was clear. So, what now? Taunting her again would only mean falling into more of her traps. The earthbender wasn't going to get out of where she was unless she had a good reason to do it. And what sort of reason could there be for her to do it?

Azula sighed and stood upright again. Whatever. She had to get Toph out of there, that was all there was to it. This wasn't the sort of fight she'd expected to have with her, but if that was what the Bandit had chosen, Azula would respond with the necessary force.

She breathed deeply before moving her arms circularly. She saw Sokka and Xin Long recoil from the corner of her eyes, but they didn't faze her concentration as she shot the charged bolt right to the ground, where she suspected Toph would be hiding. The thunder roared powerfully, and there was a crevice left after the electricity hit the ground too powerfully, but it wasn't enough. Or at least, that area of the grounds might have been too solid. Surely there were weaker ones not too far from there…

More lightning blasts followed, each and every one striking the area where she had last seen Toph. At this point, some portions of the earth were crumbling to reveal large gaps in the ground, no doubt the tunnels Toph had created to hide from Azula. Yet the earthbender remained nowhere to be seen. Azula smirked. She had a pretty good idea where Toph would attack from next…

She spun in a circle and kicked the massive boulder Toph had shot at her from all the way at the other side of the volcano. Indeed, when she had realized Azula meant to tear down the unstable parts of her tunnels, Toph had no choice but to flee. She had a perfect chance to strike while Azula busy with her lightning, if the Princess failed to see the attack coming… but she had seen it coming, again. There was very little that her current rival wouldn't be prepared for, Toph realized.

"At long last you stopped hiding, have you?" Azula asked. Toph snorted.

"You were the one who started hiding in the first place, Spicy!" she replied, covering her sensitive nose with her forearm. The smell of sulfur made her cringe. Azula laughed.

"And you're the one who thought challenging a firebender who can fly to an all-out bending battle was a good idea" said Azula "So do tell, what did you expect me to do other than what I did?"

"Uh… lose, I guess?" said Toph, with a smirk before launching another rock at Azula.

The Princess dodged the projectile and slid down the volcano with ease. Toph came hurtling behind her soon enough, tossing rocks at Azula left and right as she finally had the chance to take a more aggressive approach to the fight. Yet the Princess was just as elusive, if not more so, as her gladiator. Still, Toph wasn't known for lacking resourcefulness.

She bent a small ditch of earth just where Azula was sliding towards. The Princess jumped to avoid it, but fell right into a new one that Toph tore up brief moments later. Her foot was caught in it, and she fell over, but to Toph's utter disbelief, Azula's arms moved circularly again and a potent and terrifying lightning blast was shot straight over Toph's head seconds later. The pressure of the earth surrounding Azula's ankle disappeared when Toph had to cover from the lightning, and it gave Azula a chance to push herself up with her hands and carry on heading downhill with further ease now.

Her hair was a mess after all these mishaps, that was for certain. She scoffed as she ran her hand through it, finding soot and dirt in it. She'd need a visit to the royal spa as soon as she returned home.

She landed again by the base of the volcano, and Toph showed up brief moments later, sweat coursing down her face as her chest heaved. Azula looked at her defiantly, taking a stance again as Toph stopped before her.

"Lightning should be off the table…" she said, wiping the underside of her nose with her wristband. Azula smirked.

"Here I thought we were going all out on each other. Am I going to have to hold back, then? A pity…" she said. Toph snickered.

"Not a chance. You're giving it your all, Spicy" she said, lifting her fists "And so will I!"

Azula had always noticed Toph's bending style was widely different from that of other earthbenders. Not only was she faster than them, but she seemed to command the earth in a way nobody else did. She pulled forth large blocks of earth by only moving her hands in calculated, firm movements, her feet planted fully on the ground. She was efficient, that was for sure. But so was Azula.

Every rock was met with deft fire punches that destroyed them in midair, creating a cloud of dust around them that made it hard for Azula to see just what Toph was going to do next. She clenched her teeth, knowing the visual interference would only affect her. Toph carried on bending, her moves faster with every new rock she launched at Azula…

The Princess had no choice but to respond through a technique she didn't quite enjoy using. It would be taxing, but it had to be done if she was going to stop being on the defensive right now.

Toph frowned when she sensed heat exuding from where Azula stood. The way the Princess had woven her arms around herself could only mean she was performing a different attack than before, but the power of it was different from everything she'd done before…

Sokka gasped when he saw the full shield of blue fire Azula had crafted around herself. Toph's rocks rebounded against it, as though it were made of something solid rather than flames…

"Condensed fire" Sokka whispered. It was the exact same technique the Millennium Dragon had used against him. He hadn't known Azula could use it as well, but then again, he wasn't too surprised by this discovery. There were no limits to Azula's firebending talents.

Toph cringed, feeling the heat growing stronger. It was getting closer. She had to get out of range before that accursed thing reached her. She catapulted herself away from Azula with her bending, which allowed the Princess to drop her perfect fire shield as she tried to find out where her enemy had landed. Her breathing was heavier than before: condensing flames certainly took a toll on anyone, but it had been the best way to deal with Toph's barrage of rocks. Nevertheless, Azula still had it in her to keep fighting. This wasn't going to faze her.

"Done yet?!" she called out to Toph, as the girl landed around four-hundred feet away from her.

The earthbender's response was to lift her hands and create a massive crack under Azula's feet. The Princess's eyes widened as she lost her footing, but she outstretched her fists and hovered with her fire again before taking more damage than she could risk. She glared at Toph, who was busy now creating and launching spikes of earth into the air. Her accuracy wasn't the best, but it was good enough to force Azula to dodge with difficulty as the spikes soared dangerously close to her. Well, it seemed Toph was upping the game for good by now. Any missteps would be one too many for Azula like this. She had to fight to her very best if she meant to defeat the Blind Bandit.

She spun in midair, casting a powerful fire kick towards Toph's spikes. Destroying a set of them wasn't enough for Toph to let down her barrage of attacks, but she knew to craft a powerful defense. Azula clenched her jaw as she regarded the sturdy spiky shield Toph had set up around herself. She clearly sought to be as invulnerable as she could be, forcing Azula to bide her time and wait patiently until she could strike at the earthbender. But Azula wasn't one to play her enemy's game.

Again, Azula took a page out of her father's book, crafting a charged attack with one hand as she dropped altitude, only holding herself airborne with the fire pouring out of her other hand. She cast the attack straight at the spiked shield, and the explosion was strong enough to send them both soaring away, tumbling down on the ground.

Toph got back on her feet soon enough, though, stretching her hands out and waving her fingers carefully as she wove stream atop stream of earth where she felt Azula was. The Princess punched one, kicked the next, crafted a pinwheel of fire to rid herself of the third one, but it wasn't enough. A glance at Toph revealed she had a bloody nose, along with a couple of bruises, and she didn't seem inclined towards being merciful at the moment. She was going all out, hands and legs commanding the earth in the way only a true master could.

And Azula had to commend her for that, despite she was having trouble evading her attacks. She cringed and shot herself upwards, but one of the streams caught her leg and another struck her in the chin just as she turned to break the first one. She heard Sokka crying out her name again and she grimaced, wishing she had finished the fight a little faster than this. Making Sokka worry hadn't been part of the plan…

She let herself fall, no longer resisting gravity. She had a good guess as for what Toph was planning, and she simply closed her eyes, breathed deeply and sunk directly into the quicksand that awaited below her.

"Ha!" Toph exclaimed, a wild smile on her face as she wiped her nose with her forearm.

Azula had sunk all in, a fact that was both worrisome and a matter of pride for the earthbender. Was she alright? Had she given up the fight, maybe? Well, if she had then there was nothing more to do than for Toph to proclaim her victory…

But this couldn't possibly be that simple, and indeed, a wave of heat started to radiate from where the sand was. Toph gulped, noticing Azula was burning the earth most powerfully… and suddenly she had shot out into the sky again, at such speed and with such power that Toph was forced to craft a ball of earth to protect herself from the pouring flames fueling Azula's flight.

The Princess filled her lungs with air again. She lowered her gaze to see the earth shield, knowing just what to do with it. Toph couldn't know where she was, not after this last flight Azula had shot out in. There were too many flames scattered all over the mountainside, and Toph had shielded herself fully for good reason: she had no idea where the next attack would come from.

Azula launched herself downwards, spinning in the air to charge an attack at her feet. When she turned around and blasted it out towards the shield it was a barrage of fire so powerful that Toph's shield melted into lava where the fire touched it. Azula wasn't surprised to find the earthbender crawling away from it through the portion of rocks that hadn't been melted, the only area she could still bend.

"You're insane!" Toph shouted. Azula laughed as she landed, having used her propelling fire to ease her descent.

"Oh, now, here I thought you were having fun" Azula said, brushing her loosening hair with a hand.

"Sure I'm having a blast, but you're still insane!" said Toph, with a bark of laughter. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"If that's the case… maybe you are, too" she said, with a smirk. Toph huffed, resting with her hands on her knees.

"This is the craziest fight I've ever been in. You're way too strong, Spicy" she said, chuckling.

"What's that, are you ready to give up yet?" Azula asked. Toph huffed.

"Not a chance, Jewel" she said, breathing out slowly "You'll have to drag my corpse home before I ever give up, you hear me?"

"Huh, you'd certainly complain a lot less about a dragon flight if you were a corpse…" Azula reasoned. Toph snorted and cackled.

"Not happening today, Spicy. Not today" she said, stretching down her arms.

Azula watched with a confused frown as rocks started to climb over Toph's body as though by their free will. They set themselves around her, though, in a thick protective film of earth… Azula scoffed, looking at Toph in disbelief as the girl basically shifted into a golem, only leaving a small space within her earth armor's helmet so she could breathe.

"What the hell is that…?" Sokka asked, his eyes wide, his jaw dropping. Xin Long restlessly groaned underneath him, as though replying to his question somehow.

"Alright, so you've literally become the earth now, Dirt Worm?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Toph snickered "Well, then… might as well follow your lead, huh?"

Twin streams of fire shot out around Azula's arms, shifting into whips that she slammed down on Toph's armor, but the earthbender managed to keep the rocks firmly fitted around her body while bending other rocks in Azula's direction. The massive chunks of earth she was tossing Azula's way were dangerous, or would be if they hit her, but the Princess dodged them or shattered them systematically, while always turning to strike the armored earthbender whenever she had a chance. This had to be Toph's best trick yet, one she likely had rehearsed plenty of times so she could still bend while being properly protected. A charged attack at this proximity would damage them both, and it could hurt Toph much more badly than Azula intended. So how to shatter that rocky armor off her opponent's body?

Well, there was no easy way to do this, clearly. But Azula hadn't come as far as she had in life by choosing the easy way out of everything. Efficiency was the key to success, not simplicity.

With her fists coated in fire, she lunged forward and struck Toph with a powerful punch to the chest. The rocks cracked, some of them even crumbled, but Toph managed to hold most of her armor to herself while recovering from the blow. She clenched her teeth and bent a tower of earth from under Azula's feet, but the Princess jumped sideways and avoided being launched into the air by her foe. Another tower, and Azula slid around it to punch Toph's rock helmet now.

As much as the earth armor was protecting her, there were disadvantages to it: Toph was taking worse wounds than she had anticipated whenever the rocks shattered against her skin. Fact was, she hadn't expected Azula to take this approach at fighting. Was this the hand-to-hand combat she had talked about teaching her with Sokka's help? If so, she certainly could use learning it. But right now she could use a plan to get Azula off her. At this rate, Toph would be finished.

A hard stomp on the ground created another fissure in the earth beneath them, and Azula jolted upwards, still able to boost herself with fire despite her body was growing weaker, sweat spilling down her brow. Toph sank into the fissure, though, letting the earth claim her briefly before shooting out again, launched into the air with her bending after having thickened and strengthened the armor around her body. Azula grimaced, twirling in the air to change her flying direction. Toph ended up soaring through the flames Azula left in her wake, and she tossed an array of thin but deadly spikes in the direction she suspected Azula had moved towards.

Again, the Princess was forced to change her flight's direction to evade her foe's attack. Her arms were trembling as she struggled to remain airborne. As much as she had built a lot of stamina through Sokka's training, she hadn't faced a fight like this ever before. Flying with fire already took a lot more efforts than many bending techniques, doing so as frequently as this was impossible to sustain, especially when she had resorted to condensed flames through the fight, too. And maybe Toph had realized as much, since she would know bending was no effortless task.

Azula almost crash-landed on the mountainside of the volcano. She turned around and weaved another spherical shield of flames around herself, both to ease her crash and to defend from the rocks that Toph had sent chasing after her. She held up the shield of condensed fire for a moment too long, doing so until the threat of Toph's spikes was over for good measure. As soon Toph's earth had shattered against her fire, Azula took down the flames only to wave her arms circularly and shoot a blast of lightning in Toph's direction.

The armored earthbender was shaken by the electric charge, yet it caught the earth attached to Toph and flowed right back into the ground, without delivering nearly as much damage as it could have. Toph huffed and launched herself forward, cutting some of the distance between them as she reached the bottom of the volcano, right below where Azula was, breathing heavily, staring at her from above.

"Didn't work out so well, eh? Your lightning!" Toph cried out. Azula snorted.

"Worked well enough. Your armor's crumbling, Bandit" the Princess replied.

To Toph's chagrin, it was indeed the case. Whether because of some side effect of the electric charge, or simply because the earthbender had loosened her command of the rocks around her body, they were dropping around her, her near-invulnerable defense was gone now.

Toph was covered in dirt from head to toes, something she rather enjoyed, but she was sporting more bruises and cuts than she had received from any other fights up to date. Her chest was heaving too, and it became apparent that the two of them were rather tired as it was. The relentless sun above had weakened, and the sky was tinged with an orange glow. The fight had dragged on far too long, and the two of them were rightfully exhausted.

"You can save us up the bother… and just give up already" said Azula, at which Toph snorted.

"Maybe you're the one who ought to do that, Spicy" she said, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. The dry blood that clung to it, and to her upper lip, was getting slightly uncomfortable.

"By all means, you're in worse shape than I am" said Azula, raising her eyebrows. Toph snorted.

"You're way more worn out than I am! So for that matter, you're the one who should give in!"

Azula couldn't help but laugh at that, and Toph joined her with her own laughter, as the two of them struggling to keep their footing and strength while not lowering their guards in the slightest.

"Either way, we can't hold this forever" Azula said, raising her eyebrows. Toph sighed.

"Guess not, eh?" she said "Well, get down here then. Let's settle this, without you flying or me going underground, okay? Whoever lands the stronger blow next takes it all…"

"I suppose that should be better than fighting until we pass out" said Azula. Toph snickered.

The Princess boosted herself with fire again as she made her way to Toph's level. She landed and immediately took a bending stance, as firm as she could allow herself to be. She was worn out, but she was sure she was in better shape than Toph even now. At the very least she hadn't sustained any noteworthy injuries…

"Your boys are getting all fussy up there, you know?" said Toph, smirking. Azula's gaze flickered towards where Xin Long and Sokka waited, staring down at them anxiously.

"Seems like it" she said, with a weak smile "I suppose it was about time he learned what I feel like when he's fighting"

"So wait, you're saying you're the underdog with next to no chances for victory?" Toph asked, chuckling "Because I thought that's what would make you anxious when watching him fight…"

"You certainly misunderstand, Dirt Worm" said Azula, breathing out slowly through her mouth "One would think that after all the damage you've taken you'd know better than to think I'm the underdog…"

Toph swallowed hard, but she smiled regardless. She lifted her hands and strengthened her stance.

"Fight's not over until it's over, Jewel" she said "So let's see who's really the underdog around here, shall we?"

Azula breathed deeply again and stared as Toph stood firmly in place. With this, the fight would be over. She couldn't risk failing right now, not after all she'd already accomplished. She breathed again, allowing the air to rinse her lungs, to fill her with power. Toph's stance remained unchanged. It would be up to Azula to attack, clearly.

So she did.

As soon as her feet left the ground, Toph conjured another of her earth streams, the strongest one yet. But instead of launching herself into the air for good, Azula had kept her word and commanded her blue fire to rise in a stream of potent fire of her own, launched through her feet.

The two powerful bending blasts crashed together in a cloud of smoke and dust, making it impossible for Sokka and Xin Long to see what was happening. But the two girls didn't wait around for the smoke and dust to clear away: Toph crafted a powerful, large glove of earth around her hand and launched herself towards Azula with help of her earthbending. The Princess heard the sound, hardly making out Toph's outline through the cloud surrounding them, but she lifted a fist covered in condensed fire regardless…

The two fists collided in another explosion, and all visibility was blurred completely. The chaotic mountainsides finally settled into calm and serenity, no fire or earthbending to disturb its usual peace…

But a loud cry tore through the silence as a dragon dashed downhill as quickly as possible.

"Azula! AZULA!" Sokka shouted, clutching Xin Long's reins desperately as they tore through the cloud of dust and smoke…

They found both girls lying on the ground, clutching their hands and groaning in pain. Sokka jumped off the saddle, rushing up to Azula while waving away the smoke and dust with difficulty.

"Azula!" he cried out. She coughed and smiled weakly, almost apologetically.

"I… won" she said. Toph scoffed next to her.

"You WHAT?!" she cried out, before cringing "Y-you burned me alright, but you didn't win!"

"I… I hit you way more often than you hit me. A sprained wrist doesn't… doesn't change that" said Azula, clasping her hand against her chest. Sokka looked at her in worry, reaching to touch her injury.

"Azula… is it really a sprain? It could be worse than that, let me have a look…" he said. Toph groaned.

"Yeah, I'm fine too, thanks for asking, Dog" she snorted, sitting up and flinching. The skin on her forearm was bright red.

"You should've brought your own dog if you wanted someone to worry about you" said Azula, with a malicious smirk as Sokka helped her sit up. Toph actually laughed.

"Not the worst idea, but I don't really have one…" she said, breathing slowly. Her wound was very raw and painful.

"This could be worse than a sprain, but I can't be sure" Sokka muttered, biting his lip as he examined Azula's wrist carefully "We should head back right away. Song should have a look at you…"

"She won't be home for hours" said Azula, sighing "I'd have more luck with the Palace physicians… well, we both would, but then we'd have to explain what happened…"

"I can start tending to you both even if Song's not there" said Sokka, swallowing hard "So come on. Let's get out of here"

"Alright, alright…" said Azula, as he helped her to her feet.

Sokka helped Azula climb Xin Long, and afterwards did the same for Toph. Xin glanced at Azula worriedly, and she patted his head with her uninjured hand.

"I'm fine, Xin… I'm fine" she said. The dragon genuinely whimpered as he twisted his head around to press his nose to her forehead.

The flight was faster than before, since Xin Long felt quite pressured to help bring Azula to safety and full recovery. The Princess, on the other hand, was a little more relaxed than she thought she'd be despite how badly her wrist ached. Hadn't Toph been seating between them, she would have gladly relaxed against Sokka's body and drifted into a short nap right then and there. Oddly enough, Toph's unexpected request for a fight had indeed been more helpful than Azula had thought it could be. Sure, the earthbender knew about their relationship, but after the most intense fight she'd had in a very long time, Azula somehow felt better about life than she had for days.

Sokka rushed to get Song's medicine kit while Azula and Toph sat on the couch, still arguing over who had won and who had lost. He ended up rolling his eyes about it as he sat on the small table before the couch to take care of their injuries. He applied the healing ointment for burns that Song often used on him on Toph's wound, for at least he knew how to treat that. It was Azula's sprain that worried him the most, if it was a sprain at all.

"I mean, you punched a solid rock" Sokka said, as he held her wrist again in his hands, while Toph relaxed on her side of the couch "It's hard to assess the damage you took…"

"Well, the bone isn't protruding through my skin, so it's not that much worse, likely" said Azula, sighing "It's not that bad, Sokka, honestly…"

"You might need splints or something… though I guess the bone doesn't seem to be broken or out of place" he said, after carefully touching her bruising wrist "Damn, I'm no good at this…"

"I'll heal itself in due time" said Azula "Leave it be…"

"At the very least I should bandage it" he said, reaching for bandages in the medicine kit "Not the first time I do that for your hand, huh?"

"Weird how I always end up with injured hands, all things considered" Azula whispered "I wonder if I'll ever hurt another part of my body, eh…?"

"I hope you never do, personally" said Sokka, an eyebrow twitching "Your fight just now was completely unnecessary, in case you forgot, and now you're even injured…"

"Ah, but it did help me feel better about life somehow" said Azula, with a slow smirk "Beating an earthbender to a pulp can do that to you…"

"You did not!" Toph retorted, as Azula laughed under her breath "I broke your wrist, I won!"

"You didn't break anything, Bandit. Quit being ridiculous" said Azula, relaxing against the backrest of the couch while Sokka bandaged her injured wrist.

"Well, I sure broke him either way" said Toph, smirking. Sokka glared at her "Seems like no matter which one of you I fight, the one who ends up freaking out and in worse shape is always you, eh, Dog?"

"Way to thank me for tending to your wound, you know?" he said, shaking his head "Really, so ungrateful…"

"So rude, too" said Azula, glancing at Toph "But that's just what she's always been like, isn't that right?"

"Yep!" said Toph, proudly. Sokka sighed and shook his head, but he smiled a little.

"Well, whatever. At least I hope we've put your urges to beat each other up in the past after this" he said, looking at them both meaningfully "Or have we?"

"I suppose, for a brief time" said Azula, shrugging "For all I know, we might just end up beating each other up again in a couple of weeks…"

"Hehe, that'd be fun" said Toph, beaming. Sokka sighed.

"You two are unstoppable, aren't you?" he asked. Toph snickered.

"So are you, in the sense that you can't seem to stop worrying" said Azula, smiling at him "Relax, Sokka. It's over now"

"I would if you two stopped making me worry" he said, pouting. Azula laughed softly.

"You're hopeless" she said. Sokka smiled a little, despite his concerns.

"So are you, if you really think about it, Princess" he said. His thumb stroked her bandaged wrist gently "Because, honestly, how is anything better than it was before you two fought like that?"

"It's fairly simple, Sokka" said Azula "Now she knows for sure that I can blow her head up with lightning whenever I please, so she won't reveal us anytime soon…"

"Ha! I'd encase you in solid rock long before you could even start waving your arms around…!"

"Like you'd have a chance to do that if I'm airborne…"

"This is how all conversations will go between you two from now on, isn't it?" Sokka asked, with a small smile. Azula shrugged and Toph laughed.

"Might be. Don't be such a killjoy, Dog…" she said, waving a hand carelessly. Sokka smiled and shook his head "And I know you guys don't trust me yet, but that's okay. I know I won't betray you guys, so maybe you'll see that too eventually…"

"It's probably not a matter of trust" said Sokka "At least, not just about that. Thing is that if you keep quiet, and we ever go down…"

"Then you'll drag me down with you?" Toph asked. Azula shook her head.

"You'd stay safe if nobody discovers you knew, I suppose" she said "But it's still a risk if someone realizes you were aware of it and kept quiet. You would have been better off being able to deny all knowledge believably than lying about it, but since you know about us now, that's not possible anymore"

"I guess… but still, it won't come to that" said Toph, shrugging "You said you're going to be less reckless, and even if you kept being reckless I doubt you'd be in that much trouble. I mean, how long have you been up to this? How many times has he snuck into your room and I only noticed now, eh?"

"A few, I suppose" said Azula, nodding. Toph smiled.

"Nobody else in that Palace is like me, and you kept me in the dark for who knows how long… though I'll say I did always know you'd end up like this. I was onto you two ages ago, hehe…"

"Yeah, yeah, very funny" said Sokka, with a dry grin. Azula sighed.

"And you're sure Iroh never suspected anything? He seriously said nothing about us?" she asked. Toph shook her head.

"Not a thing. If he ever thought you two were too close or whatever, he never told me" she said. Azula frowned.

"We can't assume he doesn't suspect it, though" she said "So we'll have to make sure he can't confirm any potential suspicions…"

"How are you expecting to explain Toph's state, though?" Sokka asked, frowning. Azula raised an eyebrow "She's never been banged up like this before…"

"Lying is a fine art, but the most important part of it is knowing when to lie and when not to" said Azula "Toph has wanted to fight me for ages, all she needs to do is claim I finally relented. She can even say it was a rare display of kindness on my part by helping her start training for the Slate…"

"I guess he wouldn't think that's so weird" said Toph, nodding "He knows I like you guys, so if he asks at all, I don't need to do anything other than not mention what I know about your relationship. As you said, Dog, there's not much correlation between both things, is there? I can say I dropped by to see Spicy last night, and you agreed to fight with me at those volcanoes so I'd start getting used to the environment of the Slate!"

"That's a thought" said Azula "A good way to lie about this is by not giving it any importance. Try to feel as though it's an afterthought, something you can forget just as easily as you'd forget what your breakfast was four days ago"

"Heh, I actually forgot that already" said Toph, snickering "I get you, I get you. The less I think about it, the less likely I am to give anything away. Also, I did catch you two in bed ages ago and never told Iroh about it, so if that never came up, why would this?"

"True… say why didn't you assume we were already together by then, though?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You were telling the truth when you told me you hadn't gotten too far with her" said Toph, smiling. Azula's gaze flickered towards Sokka, who blushed "I could tell that whatever was going on back then was just… unstable or uncertain, either way, it wasn't what it was yesterday. It's still obvious you can't wait to tear each other's clothes off, like always, but now it just feels different, you know? Like you're way more relaxed and less desperate about it…"

"You can stop elaborating on it, Bandit" said Azula, her eyebrow twitching. Toph giggled "It's bad enough that you realized it for you to make it worse by saying that sort of stuff"

"No need to worry, Spicy, as I said, I want no murky details" she said, waving a hand carelessly "Whatever insane stuff you get up to with each other would likely make me sick. So save it"

"Save it? I wasn't going to say a single word about it, to begin with" said Azula. Toph chuckled "But I'll admit I'm relieved you don't want to hear it, for starters"

"In any case, I'm sure you remember I owed you big time for Ba Sing Se, so this is clearly how I repay you both" said Toph, stretching "I'd have no right to call myself your friend if I didn't keep my silence. Especially when it feels like you're the only friends I have left, to boot…"

"You mean because of how Iroh's been acting?" Sokka asked, frowning "Is it really that bad?"

"Heh… I don't know, honestly" said Toph, sighing "Thing is… you two have been fighting ever since you first laid eyes on each other, haven't you?"

Azula's eyes met Sokka's, and they smiled weakly in agreement. The lack of a negative response told Toph all she needed to know, despite not having witnessed the non-verbal exchange between them.

"Thought so" said Toph. The pair beside her laughed softly "I used to think that made your partnership way more unstable than mine with Iroh… but I guess I was wrong"

"What do you mean?" Azula asked. Toph sighed.

"I just… don't really know how to be around him anymore" she said, biting her lip "Whether he blames me fully or not, he's shut away from me. And I'm not that surprised, but it still hurts and… and I still don't know how to approach him. I mean, the Gladiator League was never something he took half as seriously as I did, so I'm just wondering if it even matters at all to him anymore. He was ready to leave me behind and run off with Zuko, so… so I guess the Gladiator League really is an afterthought for him. And I may have ruined our friendship because of what I said to Zuko, but by now I'm wondering… if we were really friends at all. What if it's true, what you said earlier? What if all along he just wanted to use me?"

Azula frowned, squaring her jaw. Again she glanced at Sokka, who looked as troubled as she was.

"I can't speak for my Uncle, Toph, but… I'd think you can't have the partnership you two had if there's nothing solid in the bond between the two of you" said Azula "As much as it may not be a perfect relationship, you trusted him with your life and your secrets. And he… well, he cared enough about you to fight the Dai Li back then, didn't he?"

"Maybe, but so much has changed since then" Toph muttered "We'd never had a single fight back then, we always seemed to agree on everything, until now. It could be that whatever we used to be, we're not anymore. Whatever his goal was by sponsoring me, it doesn't seem to matter to him by now. And while you two are always working together to overcome your new challenges, and you manage to make it through all your arguments somehow, he… well, he hardly spoke to me about the Slate yesterday. He just told me we'd discuss it later, and the next thing I knew he'd already turned in for the night. So…"

"Might be he doesn't know how to handle it yet" said Sokka, frowning "The Slate is pretty complicated, mind you… he might want to think of a strategy for your fight there"

"Shouldn't we figure out that sort of strategy together, though?" said Toph "If he just talked to me… if he really cared, we could be ready to face my first real challenge as a gladiator in no time. I have six months to prepare for it, and it sounds like a lot, but I'll be fighting in a lava and metal pit, won't I? It's going to be insane, and I… I need all his support. I need to learn new fighting styles, I need to know who we'll be fighting, too… but I'm not sure he takes it as seriously as I do. And… and that's unfair, you know? I mean… we used to understand each other so well before this, but now he's like a stranger even though I know him as well as I do. It's stuff like this why… why people think you two make a better sponsor and gladiator combination than we do"

"You mean because Azula and I have the same goals?" Sokka asked. Toph shook her head.

"You two have learned to understand each other somehow. You started out badly, but you've always been on the rise. Me and Iroh, though… we had it easy all along because I was as good as unbeatable and he had to make no efforts to sponsor me. But now I'll face the first serious challenge of my gladiator career, and I just keep thinking he's going to ditch me at any given moment. He might think that wasting his time with the Gladiator League is what drove Zuko away from him…"

"If my uncle can't accept my brother's decisions for what they are, he certainly needs to open his eyes to reality" said Azula "Zuko always kept waiting for everyone to tell him what to do because whenever he decided anything by himself, it wouldn't pay off. At long damn last he's being independent and trying to find his own path, but since it's not the one Iroh wanted him to find, my uncle can't accept it. He just tells himself Zuko was manipulated by me, or my father, or anyone who had something to gain from him leaving. I don't think he'll have any cause to blame the Gladiator League for it"

"But either way, if Iroh can't hold his own and carry on sponsoring you as he should, then you'd deserve a better sponsor, Toph" said Sokka, crossing his arms over his chest "Maybe Iroh did join the League without knowing what he really was getting into"

"Oh, I'm sure he knew" said Azula, sighing "But he refused to take it seriously. Still… if he messes up now, and refuses to help you train for the Slate, let us know. Regardless of who you choose as your opponent, the arena is practically another enemy to train against. You have to prepare to fight in those circumstances"

"Sounds scary" said Toph, with a weak smile "But… thanks, guys. I was pretty surprised you'd be talking about me yesterday, too. I know I shouldn't have eavesdropped, it's a pretty bad habit I guess… but I didn't expect you two to be worried about how I'd fare in the Slate. Whether Iroh wants to ditch me or not, I'm glad I have you two"

"And you always will" said Sokka, with a grin.

"Well, so long as you manage to keep your mouth shut, of course" said Azula, with a smirk of her own. Toph smiled.

"I'll do my best, I promise" she said, just as the front door swung open.

Song blinked in confusion once she caught sight of the three people in the living room. Not only was it strange to see the Princess injured, but it was stranger yet to see her covered in filth… the girl beside her was in worse shape yet, and the weirdest part was that Sokka was the only one who seemed to be completely unharmed. That was a first.

"Uh… what happened here?" she asked. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"Well… it's a long story" he said. Song only smiled back.

She inspected Sokka's work on the two girls' injuries, and she confirmed Azula's suspicions that her bone wasn't broken at all – which naturally made her sneer at Sokka, who blushed and told her he had been worried about her. In due time, both Azula and Toph should make full recoveries from their wounds. But as it was, dusk was already falling on the Capital and it was time for the two benders to return to the Palace.

"I'm only taking your offer to go with you on your dragon because I'm seriously that tired, Spicy" said Toph, walking with difficulty to the porch. Xin Long awaited there, eyeing them with less anxiety and uncertainty than before.

Azula made to follow, but she stopped by the threshold that led outside and glanced at Sokka. He moved towards her, swallowing hard, and Toph snorted when she realized Azula hadn't joined her in the garden.

"Don't worry, it's fine if you want to have your lovey-dovey kiss goodnight or whatever it is you weirdos do! I can wait out here all night if I must!" she said. Azula rolled her eyes.

"The sarcasm is well appreciated, but I'm afraid it's getting ignored" she said. Toph chuckled "Lay off. I'll be there in a moment"

"Are they always like this, eh?" Toph asked Xin Long. The dragon huffed and waved his head up and down enthusiastically. She laughed "I feel bad for you, really. Putting up with them all the time…"

Sokka was the one who rolled his eyes now as he supported himself on the threshold with his forearm. He looked at Azula afterwards, though, all thoughts of Xin Long and Toph slipping his mind.

"Sorry about today" Azula said, sighing "It's not the way I expected the day to go, but…"

"Could have been worse, could have been better" Sokka said, smiling and shrugging "At the very least it seems we've handled yet another hazard to our relationship, huh?"

"I do hope it's the last one, but I won't hold my breath" said Azula, swallowing hard "I suppose it was a wake-up call so we start being truly cautious"

"Yeah. We can do that" said Sokka, with a gentle smile. He lifted a hand to caress her cheek "We know I won't go bother you at the Palace anymore, so that's one less risk to worry about…"

"I guess… though I'd be lying if I said I won't miss it" said Azula, with a sad smile "I know just how reckless it is, but…"

"We can adapt to the situation" said Sokka, leaning close, his forehead against hers "And we will. This isn't the end, or anywhere near the end. We can handle this. As she said, if it took her like… what, five months to catch us? Then clearly we're not doing our job that badly, are we?"

"That's one way to look at it, but we can't get complacent" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "Nobody else must find us by now. We just need to resist the temptation to be utterly ridiculous in dangerous circumstances, right?"

"Right" said Sokka, laughing "I know it's not going to be easy…"

"Especially not for you" Azula pointed out. He only laughed harder.

"Indeed" he agreed, hugging her close "But we'll get through. We always do, don't we?"

"Yeah. Against all odds, and sense, and logic…" she said, with a smirk "Somehow, we always get through everything that gets in our way. Who knew we could be this persistent, huh?"

"We really are" said Sokka, kissing the top of her head "And I can't say I'd want us to be any less persistent, Princess. I'm quite happy as we are"

"So am I" Azula said, pulling away only slightly so she could kiss him.

It was remarkable that the simple touch between their lips was enough to make everything better. The pain on her wrist seemed to disappear, and all her worries were dispelled if only briefly. For him as well, all thoughts of being discovered dissolved in thin air. He had missed the feel of her lips on his, even though they hadn't gone that long without kissing. But spending an entire day around her and not having any chances to do this certainly felt like a waste. Fortunately, they were making amends for it now, as she leaned into his body to kiss him deeply.

"It's going to take forever, isn't it, dragon?" Toph asked, sighing dramatically.

Xin Long laughed, informing Azula through their bond that her friend was growing impatient. Azula groaned.

"You've got to go" said Sokka, smiling a little as they parted "Will you come over tomorrow, or…?"

"I have to see the Head Sage at some point" Azula said, sighing "I can't say I'm looking forward to it, but…"

"But you have to do it, Crown Princess" said Sokka, his smile growing sadder "Got it. I hope that goes well…"

"So do I" said Azula "As soon as I'm through with that I'll come here right away. I promise"

"Hooray" Sokka said, with a playful laugh before hugging her again "Don't rush it for me, though. You can leave me waiting if you must. Can't make me your top priority or it'll look weird, remember?"

"But I don't want to leave you waiting" said Azula, burying her face in his shoulder before sighing one last time "Oh, well. I'll try to deal with it quickly enough. I'll see you tomorrow for sure"

"I love you" said Sokka, still hugging her close. Azula's cheeks flushed and she patted his cheek.

"Yes, yes you do. Very well, then, good night" she said, pulling away. Sokka blinked blankly, left standing where he was with his arms spread and his face contorted in a confused grimace.

"What the heck…?" he said, having expected the usual answer from Azula, but when he heard Toph snort and laugh he realized why the Princess hadn't given it, to begin with.

"You're brutal, Spicy! You left your poor Dog hanging, that's not very nice" she teased Azula, who merely flicked Toph's forehead.

"Sure thing you don't want to eavesdrop on others anymore, huh?" she said, through gritted teeth "Bad habit my ass, you love doing it"

"Bad habits die hard!" said Toph, chuckling as Xin lowered his body to let them climb on him.

Azula glanced back at Sokka, who was smiling again but looking at her with a crooked eyebrow. An apologetic smile from her made his expression soften, and she nodded in his direction just before Xin Long took off.

Sokka watched them leave, and he remained where he stood even after they were gone. Sokka heard Song's footsteps approaching and turned to look at her, grinning weakly as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asked. He sighed.

"I'd like to say I am…" he said "But I'm feeling slightly desperate right now. Say… how good are the chances for me to impersonate a Fire Nation highborn nobleman so I can marry her?"

"Uh… pretty bad, actually" said Song, grimacing. Sokka snorted and smiled weakly.

"Thought so" he said "Had to ask either way…"

"You want to marry her, then?" Song asked, with a tender smile "You're way too crazy about her, aren't you?"

"Beyond my control, I guess" said Sokka, smiling too "All I want is to be with her without fearing we'll step face-first into a trap with every corner we take. But I did fall for the one woman who could never have a normal relationship with a guy like me, didn't I?"

Song sighed and shrugged, dropping her hand. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"Sorry, shouldn't vent to you like that. I know I shouldn't be such miserable company…" he said. Song smiled again.

"You just need food, is all" she said. Sokka's eyes widened with interest.

"Actually… that's a pretty good idea" he conceded. Song laughed and ushered him to follow her into the kitchen. Maybe having food in his stomach would help him push aside his frustrations for the time being…

* * *

Toph and Azula parted ways when the Princess headed to the royal spa, hoping to clean up thoroughly. Clearly, the earthbender wouldn't follow her lead. She only washed her face, cleaning up the trickle of blood that had leaked down her face, and she figured she would go to bed… but she bit her lip and thought it might be best to check in on Iroh first. She always did, even nowadays. If she was going to pretend nothing had changed whatsoever, she had to act as she always would. If Iroh asked about her appearance she could easily tell him what she had already concocted earlier at Sokka's house…

She hesitated before his room, thinking this might be too risky, but she dreaded it would be riskier yet to break her routine. She took a deep breath, shook her head and pushed the door to Iroh's room open, smiling instinctively as she stepped forward into the room.

"Hey, Iroh. Sorry I didn't stop by earlier… did you make tea?" she asked, walking towards the teapot at the center of the room. She touched it, finding it was cold. Lifting it revealed it was empty. She grimaced "I guess not, eh? Were you waiting for me, or…?"

She had sensed the old man by a desk he kept in his room, but she didn't detail him until she got no responses from him. Even nowadays he would tell her he needed quiet if she barged in too noisily, or at least greet her back if just out of force of habit. What was with his hunched over position, and the way he was trembling…?

"Iroh?" Toph asked, frowning. Well, there was no way he had followed her or something of the sort… he couldn't possibly have discovered what she was up to, could he?

She jumped as he slammed a fist on the table. This wasn't good, whatever it was. She couldn't waver, though. She couldn't hesitate. If he had any suspicion about Sokka and Azula, or if he was feeling betrayed because she had run off with them for one day…

"He's missing"

Toph froze. No… this didn't have anything to do with her, or Azula or Sokka. There was only one thing on Iroh's mind these days, or rather, one person…

"Y-you mean… Zuko?" she asked. Iroh snarled and slammed his fist on the table again.

"He's gone!" he shouted "There's been no sign of him for weeks! Zuko is…! Zuko is…"

Toph grimaced and approached him as she heard the unequivocal sound of sobs from him. Uncertain of how to proceed now, uncertain of what this meant for her on the long run, she knelt beside Iroh and placed a hand on his. He asked no questions about how filthy she was, or that injury on her forearm. All he did was sob in rage, his hands balled into fists, his eyes closed as tears spilled down his face.

Wherever Zuko was, Toph hoped he would send word one way or another, and not just for Iroh's sake. Right now her sponsor was sad and broken, and she meant to be there for him while his misery consumed him… but what came next? What would he do once he was done sulking? Would he abandon everything and run off to find Zuko… or would he take his anger out for this on those he held responsible for Zuko's departure?


	119. Chapter 119

"It's beyond remarkable, truly" the Head Sage remarked, his eyes wide as he gazed at the golden fire dancing on Azula's uninjured hand "I had never seen anything quite like it"

"Neither had I, but I'm relieved I discovered it regardless" said Azula, with a weak smile "What sort of uses do you think such fire could have, though? My father said you wanted to study the possibility of finding other purposes for it outside of ceremonial bending"

"Why, I don't really know" admitted the Head Sage, with a soft laugh "It might be there's no other use for it, but such a rare sort of fire, with such unexpected behavior… it's nothing like regular fire, is it?"

"It feels quite different from it, yes" said Azula. The Head Sage stroked his beard with interest.

"How do you conjure it, if I may inquire?" he asked. Azula's heart sank. That was the one question regarding her fire that she refused to answer.

She had visited the Temple in the morning, knowing the Fire Sages were ready to work before sunrise. The Head Sage had invited her to a meditation chamber where they sat on plump cushions, inspecting Azula's gold fire.

"Well, that's… difficult to explain, I'll say" said Azula, with raised eyebrows "It simply feels like an instinctive ability that I hadn't realized I had. Something just… clicked, I suppose. Does that make any sense?"

"Oh, perhaps not" said the Head Sage, laughing and shaking his head "But I can't say I blame you, Princess. Explaining fire is certainly difficult. I only knew one man who seemed to grasp fire's concept and capacities perfectly, though… well, he can't help us right now. He might have, if only he were still here, but we will have to unlock the abilities of gold fire on our own"

"Is he dead?" Azula asked. The Head Sage shrugged.

"Perhaps he is" he said "I can't be sure. But if he were, we should not mourn him. Not after he turned against Fire Lord Azulon…"

"What?" said Azula. The Head Sage sighed "He turned against my grandfather? Are you talking about…?"

"The Deserter, yes" said the Head Sage, nodding "Admiral Jeong Jeong"

"Here I expected you to be talking about a philosopher, perhaps" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "A military officer understood fire's nature better than you do? Isn't that… odd?"

"I suppose it is, yes" said the Head Sage, laughing "But Jeong Jeong, much like yourself, Princess, was a prodigy. His mind, body and soul were in perfect harmony and he was the most powerful bender I knew until I met you, of course. He developed his very own training techniques, he even had a teaching method of his creation that greatly influenced other firebending schools… he handled fire in a way few others can. You included, naturally"

"Yet he betrayed the Fire Nation" said Azula, raising an eyebrow. The Head Sage sighed again and nodded.

"I cannot say I understand why. The last time I spoke with him, he seemed to… to abhor fire, which I found so utterly confusing. How could a bender hate their own element? And yet… yet he said fire was merely corruption and destruction, an element only fit for the lowest of the human acts…"

"Are you serious?" said Azula, confused "Why did you think that someone who sees fire that way would have any understanding of fire at all?"

"Why, I'd like to believe he was merely losing his mind at that point, but all evidence suggests that he was a genius in regards of firebending" said the Head Sage "So… unless he truly had lost his mind, I don't know if to think his assessment of fire's capacities was accurate at all…"

"I assure you, it's not" said Azula, shaking her head "No doubt fire can destroy, if there's something this Hundred Year war has taught us it's that. But fire is the only element that depends fully on the bender. Its very existence hinges on us, and it's us, as its benders, who decide what we use fire for. Perhaps spending too long in the frontlines took a toll on his sanity, but if this was the full extent of his wisdom, I'm not certain that he was that wise at all"

"You're probably right" the Head Sage agreed "He may have needed some time to see other sides of fire outside of the battlefield to appreciate it for the element it is, perhaps. Surely if he saw the wonders of your gold fire he would change his mind, don't you believe?"

"Well, it's a possibility, but not one we'll be testing any time soon" said Azula, lowering her hand and extinguishing the flame "Jeong Jeong did betray our nation, but even if I ignored that, he has been missing for years, hasn't he?"

"Decades, in fact" said the Head Sage "He was never seen again after deserting his fleet. Admiral Zhao was his Lieutenant at the time, surely he could elaborate more on that matter, if you're interested in hearing it. Also… I believe he learned firebending under Jeong Jeong, too. Perhaps he has more stories about the man, if you'd like to hear them"

"Perhaps later" said Azula, with a weak smile "For now… shall we put my fire to the test?"

Exploring gold fire's capacities proved an interesting experiment. Using the fire to burn a small paper proved different than doing so with orange or blue fire: it took longer for gold fire to do it, albeit it seemed to spread faster over the material. Yet it didn't destroy it and turn it to cinders as it went: the damage was gradual and slow, and both Azula and the Head Sage were puzzled by the fire's effect.

Another test proved that wielding it as a shield was surprisingly effective. Azula was surprised, and somewhat annoyed, to find that conjuring condensed gold flames proved a lot less taxing than blue ones. If only she had known this beforehand she could have used this on her fight against Toph…

In the end, the regards in which gold fire differed from regular fire were rather puzzling, yet they couldn't quite conclude anything solid regarding its special properties. The Head Sage was most eager to schedule another appointment for them the next week, and he bowed deeply as Azula left the meditation chamber in the Temple and returned to the Palace.

She would be able to report success for the time being to her father, both regarding inspecting her fire's abilities and in staying in the Fire Sage's good side, but she decided to leave that for later. Her father would likely be otherwise engaged right now, and she was desperate to spend time with Sokka again, hopefully with no interruptions for the first time in what felt like an eternity…

Yet she came across another unforeseen interruption as she was treading through the Palace grounds, on her way to her dragon's refuge:

"Princess Azula. I hope you're doing well today" said Zhao, bowing his head towards her.

"Thank you, Admiral. Likewise" said Azula, with a dry smile.

Zhao had been briefing soldiers in one of the open hallways, and Azula could have easily carried on to her destination without further ado, but she stopped on her tracks and turned to look at him as he spoke to the men. She hesitated for a moment, pondering if the Head Sage's idea of asking Zhao about Jeong Jeong's fire wisdom would be any good…

"Is something the matter, Princess?" Zhao asked, upon catching from the corner of his eye that Azula had stopped walking.

She huffed, thinking she'd do best to tell him everything was fine, but her curiosity got the better of her. So she smiled, and took a step forward.

"I was only… wondering if we could have a short conversation. I'm sure I won't keep you from your men for too long" she said.

"Ah, well, we were very much finished by now" said Zhao, nodding as the men bowed to him "I can certainly indulge you, Princess"

The soldiers took off, and Zhao climbed down the steps to the garden, where Azula stood, staring at him apprehensively. Her reservations towards the man may have been well-founded, but perhaps she had to learn to put them aside unless they became an issue again.

"Is something the matter?" Zhao asked, as Azula resumed her walk to the refuge, albeit a little slower now.

"I had my meeting with the Head Sage, you may recall my father mentioned that…"

"Oh, yes" said Zhao, nodding "What came from it, if I may inquire?"

"Well, the tests on my fire have only just begun, but there have been some promising results so far" said Azula "It has proven gold fire may have some value in the battlefield after all"

"Is that so? Why, as if you needed any more fighting abilities…" said Zhao, snorting. Azula smiled a little.

"Indeed. But that's not what I intended to ask…" she said, glancing at him from the corner of her eyes "As we spoke, the Head Sage happened to mention some man who, according to him, was one of the wisest firebenders he knew…"

"Oh?" said Zhao, raising his eyebrows until he frowned heavily with understanding "Wait, you don't mean Jeong Jeong, do you?"

"Why, yes, that's who he meant indeed. He told me he was your firebending master…" said Azula, but she fell silent when she heard Zhao chuckling.

"Oh, that he was, Princess. My strict, unyielding firebending master" said Zhao, with a smirk "He would have me striking an impractically wide stance, doing nothing but breathing deeply for over four hours a day. If I dared say I was tired of doing nothing but breathing he would ask me if I wanted to die, since I was tired of breathing. It took me some weeks to realize it wasn't a threat but… well, his idea of a joke, I guess. It was quite impossible to tell that he was joking, though. He was always so stern and serious…"

"You seem to remember him well, then" Azula commented. Zhao shrugged.

"Being his pupil certainly did its number on me, if mostly because I did my very best to be nothing like him" said Zhao, with a smirk again "He had some… controversial beliefs about fire. Perhaps the Head Sage told you as much"

"He did" said Azula "He even abhorred his own fire, or at least that's what the Head Sage understood from the last time he saw Jeong Jeong…"

"Unsurprising, really. Ozai told me about Jeong Jeong's interventions in war meetings" said Zhao, shaking his head "The older he got, the more senile he would be. He as good as told Fire Lord Azulon, on the very last meeting he attended, that the war could not go on…"

"How was he not executed on the spot for such bold demand?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. She had never known anyone to say anything like that to her unforgiving grandfather.

"By virtue of being one of Azulon's very favorite officers, of course" said Zhao "Azulon gave him a pass on such matters, surely thinking it didn't matter what Jeong Jeong believed so long as he would be loyal to him. Of course, he was enraged when Jeong Jeong betrayed him. He abandoned his post as leader of the navy, causing a major catastrophe with the fleet he led when an Earth Kingdom fleet attacked when they were still regrouping. Without Jeong Jeong's leadership, an easily won battle resulted in a disaster of absurd proportions"

"I remember hearing of that" said Azula "He forsook his own people, much like my uncle did in Ba Sing Se, regardless of whatever bonds he might have forged with them…"

"Oh, Jeong Jeong didn't forge bonds with people" said Zhao "He never treated anyone as an equal, so don't bother worrying about the friends he might have left behind"

"Huh, I see" said Azula, frowning. If the man was as aloof as Zhao made him sound, and as careless regarding those under his command, then chances were he wouldn't understand the different properties of the gold fire she had discovered any more than she did.

"He was certainly a powerful bender, no doubt. Perhaps the most powerful firebender outside the Royal Family" said Zhao "Hadn't I eased on my training, I might have bested him in time, but as he was the last time I saw him, he was still a brilliant bender. Though, after your display a couple of days ago, I find he wasn't half as impressive as you are. Though then again, he stopped being so impressive ever since I first saw your father's abilities…"

"I take it that even in his younger years he was remarkable" said Azula, with a small smile. Zhao nodded.

"Your uncle was too, of course… but whereas much like me, the Dragon of the West took to a military life, your father polished his firebending until neither of us could hold a torch to him. You certainly inherited his talent, there's no question about it"

"I've always hoped that was the case" said Azula, still smiling.

"Either way, did you want to know anything specific about Jeong Jeong?" Zhao asked, as they stopped by the refuge's gates.

"I guess it was nothing but curiosity, Admiral" said Azula, shrugging "What you've told me makes me think he would have no better understanding of my fire than I do. Which, of course, is only logical… but the Head Sage seemed to think Jeong Jeong might know more about fire than even he did"

"If you wanted endless rambling, scolding and pointless metaphors, perhaps he would give you just what you need, Princess" said Zhao, with a smirk "But honestly, one like yourself would have nothing to learn from Jeong Jeong. If anything, he should be the one humbly asking for your teachings and not the other way around"

"Bold words. I'm flattered, Admiral" said Azula, nodding "Thanks for indulging me, then. I suppose there's not much to be said for a man who betrays his nation the way he did, after all…"

"Surely not" said Zhao "If anything he'd likely be jealous of your talents, wouldn't he?"

"Huh, well, that would certainly be ridiculous for a fully-grown man" said Azula, with a chuckle "Well, then, I'll see you around, Admiral. Thanks again"

"It was my pleasure, Princess" he said, bowing his head towards her as Azula entered the refuge.

Well, that one-on-one with Zhao hadn't ended poorly. Azula breathed out in relief, guessing Zhao's opinion on his old master wasn't bound to be unbiased… but there was likely some truth to it, too. Jeong Jeong indeed was a man who had turned against his own people, and she remembered hearing of the catastrophic loss sustained by his leaderless fleet after he abandoned his post. It wasn't farfetched for a man of the sort to hate his own element or to discard his own men as he had. She snorted, thinking that, for someone who surely despised the Fire Nation, Jeong Jeong had acted much like General Bujing, who often favored strategies that hinged on using a faction of soldiers as living bait for the enemy. It was certainly ironic that in his rebellion against the Fire Nation regime, Jeong Jeong had behaved much like Fire Nation leaders did.

Xin Long welcomed Azula into his refuge with a happy dragon grin, as he lay on the ground upside down, wagging his legs in the air for no reason. Azula laughed as she approached him, crouching beside his head as he greeted her.

"And what exactly are we doing?" Azula asked, looking at him inquisitively. Xin Long wagged his tail and looked through the ceiling, which he had opened with the levers so he could gaze at the sky freely "Ah, so you're gazing at the clouds from here? Aren't there better places to do that?"

Xin Long replied that he couldn't do it anywhere better until after he had ferried her off to her daily meeting with her beloved. Azula snorted and shook her head, standing upright as Xin Long laughed and turned around, waiting for her to buckle the saddle around him.

He asked her questions about her gold fire as they flew, and as Azula answered them he started trying to conjure gold fire too, unleashing plums of blue flames into the sky as they flew. Azula only laughed while trying to convince Xin that it was unnecessary for him to do so, but the dragon didn't relent.

"Come on, Xin, stop it!" Azula said, clutching his hair as he moved his head side to side while trying to focus on his love for fresh meat to bring about gold fire "I'm pretty sure that's not the way it works, you hopeless dragon"

Xin Long growled that if she could do it just by loving Sokka, his love for food ought to do it too. His reasoning only brought more chuckles from his rider, who shook her head.

"It's moments like these that make me think you should be best friends with him, actually. Same exact logic I'd expect him to use if he were a firebender, especially since he loves meat too" she said, smiling as Xin descended on the house's backyard.

Azula leapt off the saddle as Xin eyed the house with curiosity. Smoke was pouring out of the house's vents, which made Azula crook an eyebrow. Did Song burn their lunch, maybe? Or was Sokka up to anything strange…?

"I think I should be fine now, Xin. I don't see any troublemaking earthbenders nearby" she said, patting his snout "You can go watch clouds or play with them, whatever makes you happiest"

Xin bumped her shoulder with his head, prompting her to surround him with an arm before he took off. She smiled as she watched him fly before heading inside the house, still perplexed by the sight of the smoke.

The natural place to check if there was something burning was the kitchen, so she headed there immediately. She frowned once she was inside, finding the culprit for the smoke working with absolute concentration on a small sphere on his hand. She raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Sokka jumped.

"Azula!" he said, smiling broadly and looking at her with delight "J-just a moment, okay? I'm just finishing this one and I'm done for now…"

"You're building your bombs?" Azula asked, sitting on the table Sokka was working on as she eyed his work with interest. Sokka bit his lower lip and nodded.

"Just gotta fit this right inside… it's not so complicated" he said, fitting some mineral Azula had never seen before inside the sphere. She frowned with interest, her chin on her uninjured hand while her elbow rested on her flexed knee.

"What's the idea, exactly?" she asked "How does it work?"

"Well… this thing here's the fuel, so to say" he said, pointing at the material he had been fitting inside the sphere "I have small bits of spark stones attached to the end of it: when I pull out the trigger, the spark stones set the fuel on fire, but instead of burning properly, it releases lots of smoke. If I add other components, too, it can become a stench bomb, like the ones I used with Toph. Or I can even make the smoke in different colors…"

"I remember" said Azula, with a small smile "What's the material you burn?"

"You guys call it smoke salt or something" he said, smiling too "We didn't really have a name for it down south. Some men found a cave where there was a lot of it, and nobody knew what to use it for, until my dad started using it for bombs… so whenever I was bored, months after the warriors were already off fighting in the war, I tested some of it and tried to make bombs with it"

"You mean actual bombs?" Azula asked. Sokka sighed.

"Yep. Dad managed to pull it off, so I tried to do it too. You can imagine how amused my sister was with my every failure" he said, with a crooked smirk "Well, that is, unless I tested the experimental bombs indoors and filled the igloo with smoke. Then she'd scold me all day for it"

"Sounds like you had a hard time with that, being scolded so often" said Azula, smiling fondly "No wonder you bear with me as easily as you do"

"Heh, well, you'd have to try a little harder to scold me as often as she did" he admitted, with a chuckle as he closed the sphere carefully.

He set the small sphere on a large pile of them, and Azula raised her eyebrows with interest as she regarded them. Sokka smiled at her.

"I usually take a morning or two to make all the bombs I can, once every several months" he said, pushing himself up from his seating position "I was running out by now, so I thought it was time…"

"Were you testing variations on the process?" Azula asked "I mean, since there was so much smoke pouring out of the vents…"

"Ah, well, that was my bad" said Sokka, with a guilty grin "Set off one of the bombs by mistake, unleashed smoke everywhere. Typical me, huh?"

"Indeed, typical you" said Azula, smiling too as he approached and surrounded her with his arms.

He leaned down to kiss her, and Azula moaned in bliss as he did. At long last, they had one day of nothing but relaxation for them. They could let loose, forget all about their reservations from the past few days and enjoy each other fully…

Sokka chuckled as she pulled him down, lying across the table while surrounding his neck with her arms. She wasn't about to take it easy, that was clear, and he didn't mind it one bit. He kissed her back gladly, supporting his weight on the table as to not crush her.

"Say, I love your enthusiasm…" he said, smiling "But this might not be the best place for this. There's a window right in front of us, wide open and all…"

Azula sighed and looked at said window with irritation. Sokka chuckled and nuzzled her neck.

"Does it really matter? Nobody ever walks around these parts…" she said. He shrugged.

"Maybe they don't, but here I thought we'd resolved to be a little less reckless nowadays…" he said, looking at her with amusement. Azula's eyebrow twitched.

"Well, I can't say I like this of you being the more responsible one of the two of us, not at all" she said. He laughed and she smirked, kissing his ear "It's been too long, damn it…"

"That it has" he agreed, smiling and standing upright again, bringing her up to a sitting position once more. Her arms remained linked around his neck "How's your wrist? Any better yet?"

"Not any worse, if that's any consolation. I've managed not to draw too much attention to it" she said "I don't think anyone noticed I was injured at all"

"Which means you didn't get the physicians to check on it?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged innocently "Yeah, it's great that you trust Song that much, but you really should have had them look at it too, you know?"

"What for? Such a waste of time" she said, sighing and hugging him tighter "Would you rather I left to ask for a medical check than to have me here right now…?"

"Hey, I said you should have done it. It's too late to change the past now" he said, smirking and eyeing her suggestively. Azula smiled.

"I knew you'd say something like that" she said, leaning close and prodding his nose with hers. Sokka chuckled.

"How did that meeting with the Sage go, though?" he asked "Did you go see him after all?"

"Yeah, though it wasn't as productive as it might have been if only I hadn't acted clueless regarding what the source of gold fire is…" she said, with an ironic smile. Sokka gulped.

"Good to know you kept that to yourself" he said "Did you achieve anything regardless of that, though?"

"Hardly" said Azula, shrugging "Though we did seem to discover that gold fire is easier to condense than blue or orange fire. How about that?"

"Huh, really now?" said Sokka, surprised "Then maybe… maybe that's what the Millennium Dragon did? Might be his fire was somewhat gold and we never noticed?"

"I don't think so" said Azula, with a smile "He just has ridiculous stamina, that one. I'm sure everyone would have noticed if his fire hadn't been of the usual kind"

"Yeah, you'd already bent gold fire by then, too" said Sokka, nodding "Wouldn't have been so hard to notice it if he was doing something similar, right?"

"Surely" said Azula, shifting on the table so she would be closer yet to him, her legs spread around him "Very well, then, now that we're fully briefed about what we've been up to, can we stop dillydallying and get to it before something else gets in our way?"

"Huh, who knew the Princess could get this eager?" Sokka teased her, stroking her cheek with a hand "I thought I was the desperate one…"

"You are, you're just keeping your cool right now to carry on with the pretense that our roles have somehow flipped these days" said Azula, smirking "But no, Sokka, I'm afraid they haven't. Yes, you watched me fight and not the other way around, yes, I'm being reckless to no end… but that doesn't mean anything"

"No? And here I thought I was reading all those signs right, Princess" he said, smirking and surrounding her waist with his arms "Can't ever beat you at something, can I?"

"I'm afraid I can't allow that" she said, smirking before kissing him again.

She was being so passionate it was taking all of Sokka's self-control to keep from finishing this on that very same table. How he relished in the feel of her body pressed against him in this way, her every motion stealing his breath and making him lose his senses in her arms…

"C'mon…" he whispered, embracing her waist and lifting her into his strong arms "We should take this somewhere else, if you don't mind…"

"I don't mind that much, I'll say…" Azula smirked as she kept kissing him.

He beamed, walking carefully through the kitchen and heading to the stairs. The situation reminded him of their first time, although the mood was beyond different this time around. Still, he meant to pull off the feat of climbing the stairs with Azula wrapped around him once again, there was no question about it…

Or at least, there wasn't until they heard a knock on the front door.

Sokka froze and groaned, halfway up the stairs. Azula as well stopped kissing him if just for a moment, a confused and irritated look on her face.

"What the hell is it now?" she muttered, as Sokka set her down most unwillingly.

"Beats me, but if it's not something serious I'm going to kick the ass of whoever's out there" Sokka grumbled, shaking his head and heading down again.

Azula rushed after him, grabbing him by his sash and pulling him towards her briskly before he could get the door. As ever, she cleaned his lips with her thumb, and Sokka smiled gratefully at her before reaching for the doorknob.

His irritation did not decrease, albeit his confusion certainly increased, upon finding the same visitor from the previous day standing behind the door.

"Toph?!" he said "What the…? What are you doing here, again?"

"Hey, Dog. Can I… come in?" she asked, swallowing hard. Her tone was a lot more serious than it usually was. Sokka scratched the back of his head as Azula approached the door too.

"Well, what's this? You don't want a rematch today, or do you?" she asked, as Sokka closed the door behind Toph. She snickered.

"Yeah, that burn's still stinging and I'm sore all over, so no thanks. Not yet, anyways" she said, swallowing hard and lowering her head "I'm sorry I'm barging in right now, I'm pretty sure you were… well, you know just what you were up to or what you wanted to be up to, so no point in me elaborating on it like…"

"What's going on this time, Toph?" Sokka said, sighing heavily and looking at her sternly "You didn't talk, or did you?"

"Of course not" said Toph "But… Iroh's not happy"

"Because you spent the day with us yesterday?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Toph shook her head promptly.

"He doesn't know I did. Didn't even ask" she said, breathing deeply before clearing up the mystery for the pair before her "He got a letter, no idea from who, but… it said Zuko was missing"

Azula's brow drew together heavily as Sokka's jaw dropped. He closed his mouth soon enough, looking at Azula in concern before turning towards Toph again.

"Really? Zuko is missing?" he asked again. Toph shrugged.

"I don't know, Dog. I can't read, so I have no idea what the letter said. Just… Iroh was so angry, and when I was starting to suspect he was mad because of something about you two, he told me Zuko was missing. I don't know who told him that, if they're pulling his hair, if he misunderstood… but that's what he told me"

"Zuko… he can't be missing" said Azula, shaking her head "I mean, he has an entire crew with him, doesn't he? And he has his girlfriend too…"

"There's no way he would have been captured and taken from them, is there?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"I doubt it" she said "He wasn't that much of a wimp anymore, or was he?"

"Well, he was nowhere close to your level of skill" said Sokka, shrugging "But he could hold his own either way. If someone had attacked him…"

"Who'd want to do that, though?" Toph asked "I mean…"

Azula swallowed hard, her mind going to her father immediately. She tried to hold those thoughts in check, knowing that she had no evidence even if she knew Ozai wouldn't shed a single tear if his son died. Still… what benefit would it bring him to kill Zuko at this point? Wasn't it a waste? Azula was already the Crown Princess, fully acknowledged and with no risk of losing said position to her brother. Why would Ozai feel the need to plan something like this, let alone without telling her…?

Well, he certainly did a lot of things without telling Azula, but she doubted he would have kept to himself that he wanted to send an assassin after Zuko. Something about this didn't add up.

"I don't think Zuko has a shortage of enemies, but I also doubt they'd gain enough by killing him to bother doing something like that" said Azula, shaking her head "If he were dead, the letter wouldn't have said he was missing. If he were captured, the letter would have likely been a ransom for his release. If it says he's missing, then… maybe he just got lost somewhere, I guess"

"Sounds like Zuko, being able to get lost even if he's stuck in a metal ship with no place to run" said Sokka, snorting. Despite herself, Azula smiled.

"Might be he jumped overboard for a swim and the ship captain failed to notice and carried on, full speed ahead…" she said, before sighing "I guess it's rather cruel of me not to sob and mourn for my brother's alleged disappearance, but it may not be as big a deal as Iroh thinks it is. From what he told me, all he wanted was passage into the Earth Kingdom, and he planned to improvise from there, basically. Which is, of course, a plan worthy of Zuko…"

"So you think he might have shaken everyone else off and just gone hiking through the Earth Kingdom?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows "Well, that's also very much like him. Though I do hope he took Suki with him. What a bummer would it be for her if he gave her the slip too"

"Well, that is, if she really didn't regret going with him in the first place" said Azula, with a malicious smirk. Sokka chuckled.

"You're so mean, and for some reason I just love it" he said. Toph sighed, bringing them to pay her attention again "B-but anyways, yeah. You can tell Iroh what Zuko told Azula, maybe he'll realize that going missing was Zuko's plan all along"

"That's not what worries me, though" said Toph, crossing her arms over her chest "I want to think Zuko can look after himself, but we all know Iroh doesn't want to think the same. He wanted to be there with Zuko, and wants to keep an eye on him all the time. So now that he can't get any reports on Zuko's movements…"

"You think he's going to go find him?" Sokka asked. Toph shrugged.

"I don't really know, I think he wants to but he's not doing it yet. I thought he'd buckle up to do it right away, but he hasn't so far. I checked on him this morning and he was just writing letters again, a tad bit more frantically than before, but still…"

"Then what are you scared of, retribution?" Azula asked "You think he'll come after either of us because of his fantasy where I convinced Zuko of leaving, and because he knows you played some part in making him go?"

"I… I'm not worried if he unleashes his rage at me, really" said Toph, lowering her head "If anything, I'd probably deserve it. But I am worried about you two. What if he… if he starts keeping more careful tabs on you? If he tries to screw you over in some attempt to take revenge for Zuko leaving and disappearing? Maybe… Maybe if Zuko can't be Fire Lord, Iroh would want to do his best to make sure you can't be either…"

"Well, now you're certainly thinking like me. You might have spent too long in my company" said Azula, sighing and rubbing her forehead with her fingertips "I don't know just how vengeful my uncle may be, but it is a risk. If he tried to dig up dirt on me… well, he'd have plenty to use to tear me apart"

"But he won't have a chance to do that" said Sokka, frowning "I mean, Toph won't say anything, right? If he doesn't even know she was with us, then he has no idea she's gotten any closer to us than before…"

"So he shouldn't try to coax any information about you guys out of me" said Toph, nodding "I'll do my best not to mention either of you at all, too. I don't want to give him cause to think I know anything I shouldn't…"

"But that doesn't settle the problem completely" said Azula, tapping her arm with a finger "Even if Toph keeps quiet, he might still try other means…"

"Like who, Rui Shi?" Sokka asked "Or… your friends?"

"I don't know" said Azula, biting her lip "Following us around without our awareness? He's an accomplished military man, he would know how to spy on someone if he feels the need to do it…"

"Well, he hasn't started spying yet, has he?" Sokka asked. Toph shook her head.

"He's been writing letters, as I said…"

"Then… we should probably plan ahead just in case he does start" said Sokka, looking at Azula with uncertainty "I don't know if he'd really be that bitter, but as you said, it's a risk. Maybe we should… I don't know, stay out of the way just in case he does decide to destroy you in that sort of crazy plight for revenge?"

"Stay out of the way? You mean… we should go traveling again?" Azula asked, with a mild grimace. Sokka shrugged.

"It's a thought" he said. Azula huffed.

"Well, wouldn't be the first or the last time we go on trips so close together, I'm sure" she said "Where to?"

"You could do another of your Earth Kingdom tours, maybe" said Toph, shrugging "You just won in the Slate again, you can go show off however you please, right?"

"It does make enough sense. Plus he's not wounded, so we can probably go ahead and do that" said Azula, nodding "A somewhat extreme attempt to keep Iroh off our trail, maybe, but…"

"It's better than risking him finding us" said Sokka, his hands on his hips. Azula bit her lip again.

"I suppose it is" she said, before turning to Toph "Thanks for letting us know. It might be we're overreacting, but in the off-case we aren't… you really might be saving our lives"

Toph smiled at last and nodded.

"What are friends for, eh?" she said "I want to help you guys. I'll make sure to do my best in keeping your secret. And if I ever think Iroh might suspect you guys, I'll let you know immediately"

"That's good to know" said Azula, with a smile of her own "It might be good that you know about us, if this is how it'll be. You're a good spy to have on Iroh"

"Eh, I'm not a spy… not really" said Toph, chuckling "If I were, you'd have to pay me!"

"I pay you by not murdering you for what you know" said Azula, with an ironic smirk. Toph snorted and laughed "Now, really, make sure to keep tabs on Iroh. Try not to let him out of your… earthbending range, I guess, for too long. The more helpful you are regarding finding Zuko again, the more likely he is to start trusting you again. And once he trusts you, you'll be able to know what he's really after these days…"

"I'll try, anyways" said Toph, shrugging "I honestly doubt he'll ever trust me as much as he used to… but I'll try. And I'm not going to spill all his secrets either, eh? I'm your friend, Spicy, but…"

"But you're his gladiator and friend too, huh?" said Sokka, nodding "Well, we don't need all his secrets, or do we?"

"The more of them we know, the better" Azula disagreed, smirking at Sokka. He snorted.

"You need to be less greedy, you know?" he said, smiling at her "Still, Toph, all we really worry about is him not knowing about us. As long as he stays in the dark about it, we'll be fine. And if you ever grow suspicious about him wanting to do anything to harm Azula, too…"

"Yeah, I'll let you know" said Toph, nodding "In the meantime, I should probably go make sure he's still writing those letters, eh? I'll keep you guys posted if I can. Might be a little hard to tell you what he's up to when you're traveling, since I can't really write, but…"

"That's the real problem about her being our spy" said Azula, with a smirk of uncertainty "Well, you could always come here, find Song and have her write anything you may want to report to us…"

"Song? His cook?" she asked, jerking her head towards Sokka "Am I allowed to do that? I hardly know her… and well, I figure she would know about you two, if anyone else does. I doubt you've been so considerate as to cover your tracks so she wouldn't catch you, huh?"

"It's not really something you need to hear about, Toph" said Sokka, with a twitching eyebrow. She laughed.

"Alright, alright. Warn her that I might drop by to ask her to write messages, then" said Toph, turning on her heels "In the meantime, lay low, stay away from Iroh and make sure you don't do anything too stupid, alright?"

"Same goes for you. Only, stay close to Iroh instead" said Azula, with a curt smile. Toph laughed.

"Sure thing. Have a fun trip!" she said, as she helped herself out of the house without further ado.

Sokka and Azula stared at the door for longer than they usually would, concern crossing both their faces. At last they finally looked at each other, knowing that, for the umpteenth time, their dry spell would not break.

"We have to stop by at the Royal Dome now, huh?" said Sokka. Azula sighed.

"We don't have any pending fights, actually, so… it only makes sense that we would" she said, patting his arm and leaning close to rest against him.

"We're not catching a break anytime soon, are we?" he asked now. Azula chuckled.

"The universe tests our resolve" she said "But we've overcome worse challenges before, haven't we? Surely a few more hours without ripping each other's clothes off will be bearable"

"What about if we go to the Dome after having ripped them off…?" Sokka pouted. Azula shook her head.

"If we do that first we'll never go. You know that as well as I do" she said, chuckling and clasping his hand with hers "Come on. Let's get this over with"

Since Xin Long was too far to ask him for a flight, Sokka and Azula made their way to the Royal Dome on foot. Shoji looked slightly apprehensive, even though he smiled when they reached his desk. It seemed his previous mistakes had prompted him to be uneasy around the sponsor and gladiator pair, but as they were acting quite naturally, it seemed there was nothing to fear.

"So you'd like to travel again?" he asked, as Azula explained what she had in mind. She nodded "Where to? Ba Sing Se?"

"Eh… no" said Azula, grimacing. Sokka raised his eyebrows "We've yet to have a single uneventful visit to Ba Sing Se, after all. Maybe we have better luck in another city"

"Like what?" Sokka asked "Yu Dao? Gaoling?"

"Not Gaoling. No way" said Azula. Sokka froze before nodding.

"Yeah. We're better off avoiding that Kuan…" he agreed.

"Yu Dao doesn't sound bad" Azula said, breathing deeply "Do we have any pending challenges from anyone in Yu Dao?"

"Oh, a fair few, yes" said Shoji, nodding "You can choose whichever one you like!"

"It'd certainly be an improvement over picking gladiators at random like we did when we first went to Yu Dao" said Azula, raising her eyebrows. Shoji chuckled.

"Yeah… you won't have to do that this time"

"We'd stay in Yu Dao only, then?" Sokka asked, looking at Azula inquisitively as Shoji moved to the cabinets behind him, to gather the Yu Dao-specific challenges for the Blue Wolf. Azula shrugged at Sokka's question.

"It would be less of a bother, wouldn't it?" she asked "We've only just traveled to the Slate, after all. I'd rather we stay put in one place instead of making too much unnecessary use of my Barge"

"And we'd stay with the Mayor again?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula shrugged once more.

"Why not?" she said "They were kind enough the last time. Unless, of course, you'd rather we don't because it brings back sorrowful memories…"

Sokka gave her a crooked grin as she smirked at him. He chuckled and shook his head.

"To be honest, it might. Like all the glares for my lack of table manners" he said.

"Ah, you deserved them. Eating so grossly in front of highly ranked government officials, really…" she replied, shaking her head. Sokka could only keep laughing.

"I'll do my best not to eat like that again, I promise" he said "No food between my teeth either, if I can avoid it…"

"Please try to avoid it" said Azula, biting her lip "I won't have you embarrass us in front of their entire family. Not to mention in front of their daughter, who seemed to think so highly of me…"

"Speaking of which, didn't you tell that girl to get a gladiator?" Sokka asked. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Why, I did… but I don't know if she did it or not" she said, shrugging "I think I told her to challenge us once her fighter was within fifty positions of you, didn't I?"

"Something like that, yeah" Sokka agreed, nodding "I guess I've made too much progress for her to be that close to us, though"

"It would still be nice to know if she's sponsoring someone…" Azula reasoned.

"Alright, here we go! All of the challenges you've received from the Golden Eye" said Shoji, returning to them with around thirty challenge sheets. Azula eyed him with a glint of curiosity in her eyes.

"Can you answer me something beforehand, though?" she asked. Shoji blinked a few times before nodding promptly.

"Of course, Princess! Well, so long as it's within my range of knowledge…" he said, his voice growing smaller as he spoke. Azula huffed softly.

"If it's not within yours, it's certainly not within anyone else's. I wanted to know if Kori Morishita has joined the Superior League with a gladiator of her own" Azula said. Shoji's uncertainty vanished immediately.

"Oh! Certainly, Princess!" said Shoji, smiling "A hawk arrived, say… six months ago? And it brought the new fighters enrolling from the Golden Eye. One of them was hers!"

"Is that so?" said Azula, smiling too "Who might her fighter be?"

"His name is… uh, well, he's a bear. Not sure what comes after, though. I haven't kept an eye on him" Shoji confessed, smiling nervously as he pulled up the ranking and scanned through it quickly "Bear… aha! Bear-axe, it says. Enrolled seven months ago, to be precise… a non-bending fighter!"

"A non-bender?" Sokka repeated. Azula snorted.

"And a bear, too. I wonder where she got her inspiration" she said, eyeing Sokka with a mocking smirk. Sokka blushed.

"W-wait, if that were the case she should've made him the Red Bear or something like that" he said "Or the Green Bear? Maybe the Brown Bear? Gray B-…"

"No need to list all the colors you know, Sokka. I get it" said Azula, shaking her head before turning to Shoji "How has he fared in the ranking? Is he any good?"

"Well, he still has a perfect winning streak after twenty fights, so I'd say he is" said Shoji. Azula raised her eyebrows with interest.

"Now that's a surprise" she said, crossing her arms and tapping her elbow with curiosity "He seems talented, then. Better than Sokka, I'd say"

"What?! Hey, my first twenty fights were insane!" Sokka exclaimed, pouting. Azula scoffed "No way this one could've fought anyone on Toph's level, you know?"

"Why, I have no idea about that" said Azula, smirking "Maybe he did and we just don't know it"

Sokka's eyebrow twitched while Azula continued to smirk in his direction. Shoji chuckled softly and placed the ranking before them on the counter.

"Well, the Bear-Axe must be strong, but he hasn't risen through the ranking half as quickly as the Blue Wolf did, for sure" he said, pointing at the 336th slot, where the gladiator's name was scribbled "See?"

"It's no surprise, what we did is a rarity, from what you've said" said Azula. Shoji nodded.

"Your fame and glory were renowned long before you were in the top half of the ranking" he said "And now that you've won twice in the Slate you're even more famous!"

"Are we? Here I thought people wouldn't talk about it much on the second occasion" said Azula, eyeing the ranking with interest as she moved to the higher positions.

"Oh, but they have!" said Shoji, beaming "The Blue Wolf has survived twice in the Slate, and taken six thousand points in total after those great performances! On the last ranking update, he was already in the…"

"In the 128th slot" Azula said, raising her eyebrows with interest as she found Sokka's gladiator name on the paper "And you're ahead of the Dirt Worm again, actually"

"Heh, great!" said Sokka, smiling proudly "We should keep that up then! If I carry on fighting I should stay ahead of her…"

"You mean, if you carry on fighting and winning" Azula clarified, with a skeptical look. Sokka huffed.

"I've won more than I've lost. See? Only ten losses so far" he said, pouting.

"That's ten too many for my taste" said Azula, smirking again. Sokka gasped with indignation as she chuckled "Very well, then… we shall challenge several Yu Dao gladiators. And, perhaps… depending on how strong Morishita's fighter really is, we could arrange for a fight between you two once we're there"

"Yeah, the Golden Eye's staff should be able to do that" said Shoji, smiling encouragingly "Choose away, Princess! And I sure hope you enjoy your trip to Yu Dao!"

"We should, so long as we don't challenge the Millennium Dragon…" said Azula, with an amused smile as she looked through the challenges intently.

There were several interesting fighters amongst their challengers, and Shoji knew about most of them, so he could advise them accordingly. Azula and Sokka ended up selecting three fighters for the time being, giving Sokka a week to rest between each of the fights. Depending on what news Toph sent, they would challenge more gladiators while at Yu Dao and extend their stay in the city until Iroh felt less threatening.

The chosen fighters were The Twilight-Drilled Bamboo Bear, who had caught Azula's eye almost two years ago by his ridiculous fighter name: according to Shoji it was a very strong earthbender, overweight and apparently somewhat prone to nervousness, but he handled earth like only the best gladiators could. The next one they chose was DragonClaw, the fighter who had injured Blast of Death out of the ranking long before Sokka crossed paths with him. The last one was another firebender, The Torch, who Azula hoped wouldn't prove much of a challenge to Sokka.

They bid farewell to Shoji and headed home again, discussing their upcoming fights on the way. They debated on what weapons Sokka should use, and theorized on what sort of fights would await them in Yu Dao, along with discussing that Azula would have to cancel her appointment with the Head Sage so they could take upon their trip.

It was already sunset by the time they reached the house. Sokka only sighed in disappointment as they crossed the door, but Azula clasped his hand, pushed him down on the couch and dropped atop him as comfortably as she could. He was smiling again soon after that.

"I guess we'll have to settle for this by now, as per usual" said Sokka, caressing her hair.

"We can't do anything else" said Azula, smiling weakly "If we're in the middle of our shenanigans when Xin arrives he'll be mad and ditch me, so…"

"So wait, if he did then you'd spend the night here? Why, where's the downside to that?" Sokka asked, smirking. Azula snorted.

"Says the guy who was so proud of being the responsible one out of the two of us earlier today…" she said, looking at him with amusement as she rested with her chin on her hands, which were on his chest.

"I lose the urge of being responsible pretty quickly, I think" said Sokka, winking at her. Azula laughed and shook her head, leaning close to kiss him softly.

"You're so silly, really…" she said, curling up against him, her face against his neck. Sokka sighed in bliss.

"You think we'll be able to sneak around in your ship, though? Once we go to Yu Dao…" he whispered. She shrugged.

"You've somehow managed to avoid all detection while doing it so far, no idea how" she said "I don't recommend you do it every single night, but… it might not hurt, on occasion"

"Great!" said Sokka, beaming and hugging her tightly. Azula smiled.

"I'm actually more worried about when we get to the Morishita home" she whispered. Sokka froze "I mean… you do realize that would be just as impossible as it was in Fire Fountain City, right?"

"Yeah… plus I probably will have to share rooms with her gladiator" Sokka reasoned "They didn't have rooms to spare for you guards, remember?"

"Oh, I do" said Azula, sighing "I'll have to tell them to send word so they can book rooms in the inn again, or maybe they can stay in the Barge…"

"Yu Dao does have a few issues, huh?" said Sokka, sighing. Azula smiled.

"It's not important, really. All that matters is that we'll avoid Iroh, and that we'll carry on boosting you through the ranking" she said, caressing his face gently "Even if it means a few things won't be ideal, we'll be protecting what needs to be protected. Right?"

"Right" said Sokka, smiling "Whatever sacrifices are needed, we'll make them"

"Even if it means sacrificing sex. Right?" said Azula, a mischievous smirk on her face. Sokka sighed.

"Only if we can cuddle once in a while, though" he said, with a crooked grin "Cuddling is great fun too!"

"Oh, sure it is…" she said, looking at him defiantly as he chuckled and kissed her deeply.

They would take off to Yu Dao in less than a week. They had in mind to make sure Iroh would stay off their trail until then, which meant their escapades would indeed have to decrease to their lowest rates so far. As long as they didn't act in any way Iroh found suspicious, he would have no luck in catching them doing anything they shouldn't: though he might not prove dangerous at all if his concern and misery over Zuko were so potent that he wouldn't even care for acting against Azula.

Unbeknownst to them, the dangers posed by Iroh were almost meaningless compared to the perils that lay ahead for them, lurking in the shadows of the Earth Kingdom lands…


	120. Chapter 120

Their last visit to Yu Dao had been quick, merely so Sokka would fight Lang of the Unyielding Flames. There had been no opportunity for them to stop to greet the Morishita family, albeit in true honesty, the idea hadn't even crossed Azula's mind when she first planned that trip. She hadn't been in her best shape at the time, and her thoughts had been too jumbled to consider paying the Mayor's family a visit.

It didn't stop the Morishita's from greeting her most polite and graciously once Azula's Procession stopped at the house once more. The Morishita's were beaming, as ever, their plump faces bright with kindness.

"Welcome back to Yu Dao, Princess!" they said, bowing to Azula. The Princess nodded and waved her hand.

"Rise" she commanded them. Mayor Morishita truly looked delighted as he gazed upon her.

"We are so pleased you had another chance to visit our city! We heard you were here several months ago, but there was no opportunity for us to meet…"

"No, I'm afraid that visit was meant to be a quick stop at the Arena and nothing more" said Azula, nodding "Still, I shall likely impose on the two of you for quite some time, as long as you're agreeable with that. Though you did say you were on your letter, but still…"

"Oh, Princess, make yourself at home for as long as you wish" said Mrs. Morishita, smiling kindly "Kori isn't here just yet, but she'll be delighted to find you've already arrived once she comes back from the Golden Eye"

"Did she have a fight today?" Azula inquired. Mrs. Morishita nodded enthusiastically.

"Indeed. Hopefully it will be another victory for our daughter" she said "You may come in, of course! It would be more comfortable to hold this conversation inside, won't it?"

"Certainly" said Azula, with a small smile before turning to her guards, but before she could say anything, Mayor Morishita stepped in.

"Ah, and regarding where your guards will be hosted, the building next door won't be occupied for the next months!" he said "The family that lived there moved to Garsai for business, so they left us in charge of the place. Your men can stay there and that way they won't have to spend money staying at a nearby inn"

"Why, that's certainly far more convenient than our last stay here" said Azula, with approval "Thank you, Mayor"

"Thank you for coming to our home, Princess" said Morishita, smiling politely "We hope to make your stay worthwhile"

The guards helped bring Azula's luggage to the same room she had stayed in the first time, and Mayor Morishita led her to the living room, where she was free to relax as Mrs. Morishita prepared some tea. Drinking more tea than needed didn't please Azula in the slightest, but it was better if her hosts didn't know of her distaste for tea, let alone of her habits for drinking a cup of a special brew of it every night. Even though she would be forced to halt her private encounters with Sokka for some time, she was certain she still had to drink the blasted thing…

Sokka had followed some of the guards upstairs too, heading to the room he had stayed in before. There were two beds in it now, and he guessed his would be the perfectly neat and orderly one, contrasting with the messy sheets, closet and nightstand on the other one. He smiled, guessing Bear-Axe had made himself at home after all.

Sounds downstairs prompted him to leave his pack beside the orderly bed before making his way to Azula's side again. Oddly enough, the house didn't feel like a bitter reminder of their spat from the last time they'd been here. He smiled a little, thinking of how much had changed ever since. Back when they had first stayed in the Morishita household, he had been certain Azula would force him out of her life as soon as she had a chance… yet it was over a year since that had happened and they were still together. They were far closer than they'd ever been, much more than he expected them to be at all…

It was surely wrong for him to be pleased with the outcome of it all, considering how dangerous the game they were playing was. But he hadn't been strong enough to resist the pull of attraction between them, especially when it had solidified as something much stronger than mere attraction. Once they gave in fully to loving each other, the bond between them had become as good as unbreakable. And if just by the vast difference in Azula's behavior compared to that of her first visit to Yu Dao, he was grateful for the changes they'd been through. He treasured them, just as he treasured her.

He had meant to go to Azula immediately, but he paused at the living room's threshold when he understood what the sounds he'd heard earlier were: Kori Morishita was back, and with her, her gladiator.

The young woman was just as Sokka remembered her, but the fighter standing behind her wasn't what Sokka had imagined he'd be like. He was plump, much like Kori's parents, and only a few inches shorter than Sokka. His straight brown hair reached his shoulders, and only a portion of it was held up in a small knot. A sturdy armor covered his body, topped by a wine-colored cape that only draped the upper portion of his body. Two large axes hung on his back, along with a few other weapons on his belt. Yet what struck Sokka the most from his appearance were his sharp, cutting, hostile eyes, which he turned on him as soon as he heard Sokka approaching.

"I was so happy to hear you'd be visiting us again, Princess!" Kori was saying inside the room, while Sokka held Bear-Axe's gaze with his own "So many things have happened since you last came, and…!"

"Indeed, I can see they have" said Azula, smiling and looking at the armored gladiator "I heard you have succeeded at finding a fighter of your own"

Bear-Axe's attention was diverted from Sokka as he glanced at Azula now. Sokka carried on staring at Bear-Axe, though. The fierce glare etched into the man was familiar, even though the man himself wasn't. It didn't take Sokka long to figure out why he was sure he had seen such eyes before…

"Yeah! I did just as you told me, gathered my courage and went to an Amateur Arena not far from Yu Dao" said Kori, smiling "I found him there, and something just told me he was the right fighter to sponsor! Was it… was it like that for you too?"

It was clear Azula was uncertain as to how to answer Kori's question, but Sokka missed on the answer as he looked at Bear-Axe again. He swallowed hard, finding his suspicions had been spot-on. The rage, the bitterness, the coldness in Bear-Axe's glare was no different than his own had been before Azula had found him. No different from those of the other gladiators in the Amateur Arena…

Bear-Axe's eye twitched as he found Sokka was staring at him again. Sokka grimaced before clearing his throat clumsily.

"Uh, hey, I…" he started, but Bear-Axe closed his eyes and walked away without letting Sokka speak. The Blue Wolf was left watching him leave, still grimacing, while Bear-Axe climbed the stairs to his room, presumably.

"Oh, no. Was he rude?" Kori asked, surprising Sokka.

"Nah, maybe I was. You know, stared too much?" he said, smiling awkwardly and scratching the back of his neck. Kori was puzzled.

"I'd be surprised if your gladiator could be any ruder than mine. Don't fret about it" said Azula, smiling at Kori "He doesn't have the look of a ruthless fighter, but from what I've been told, he still holds a perfect record, doesn't he?"

"Oh, yeah, but I think it might be because we haven't fought anyone too strong" said Kori "I thought it would be for the best if we avoided anyone from the upper half of the ranking, though a few of them have already challenged us…"

"Why, interesting" said Azula "Are they local fighters?"

"Yeah, from Yu Dao too" Kori nodded "They've heard I joined the Gladiator Business, I guess they want to see how good we are…"

Sokka smiled and lowered his gaze. It seemed the two girls were rather focused on their conversation, so he headed upstairs again. Maybe he could have a proper conversation with Bear-Axe if the sponsors were out of earshot.

The gladiator had been removing his armor when Sokka reached the room. He glanced over his shoulder at Sokka and frowned. Sokka bit his lip and stepped inside.

"We'll be sharing, from what I guessed… right?" he said. Bear-Axe shrugged.

"As long as you don't bother me much, I don't care" he said, setting his armor down.

"Heh. Well, I'll try not to bother you" said Sokka, scratching the back of his head "Say, your sponsor… she said you're from an Amateur Arena too, didn't she?"

"What of it?" Bear-Axe asked.

"Well, I mean, I was in one too…"

"Big shocker" said Bear-Axe. Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. Bear-Axe sighed and looked at him skeptically.

"Do you really think it's chance? That she spends all day talking about your sponsor, rambling about how great she is, how she admires her, how she dreams she'll be as good a sponsor as her one day? Do you think it's chance that I'm a nobody, a common non-bending gladiator sponsored by the highest ranked noblewoman in the city?"

"I… I guess it's not" said Sokka, frowning "You're saying she's imitating the Princess, then?"

"Obviously" said Bear-Axe, sinking into the bed and glaring at the ceiling now "I'm just a tool for her. A toy through which she can accomplish her stupid noble girl's fantasies"

"And thus, you hate her" Sokka muttered. Bear-Axe's eyes moved towards him.

"You're going to tell me I shouldn't?" he asked "You can't understand my position because you'd never hate your perfect sponsor?"

"Heh, you'd be surprised" said Sokka, with a crooked smile as he took his seat on his bed "I spent two years hating her with everything I had"

"Two years, exactly?" said Bear-Axe, raising an eyebrow "Why not longer?"

"Because that's when I became her gladiator, and hating the hand that pulled you out of the Amateur Arena was a little harder for me than it seems to be for you" said Sokka, resting with his back against the wall "Unless… it is hard, but you're forcing yourself to do it anyways"

"What? Why would it be hard?" Bear-Axe snapped, sitting up and looking at Sokka in surprise. Sokka shrugged.

"Well, if you're right, and your sponsor is trying to imitate mine, then much like mine, she should have offered you the reward you've always dreamt of if you joined her in her quest to take the Gladiator League by storm…"

"Heh, well, clearly I didn't have the same luck you did" Bear-Axe grunted "She didn't promise me anything. Didn't offer anything either. It's like she thought getting me out of one hell to push me into another one was enough of a reward…"

"So she just bought you and that was that?" Sokka asked. Bear-Axe sighed "Gee. Maybe she didn't know how A… the Princess did it"

"Maybe she did and just didn't care" said Bear-Axe, dropping on the mattress again "She's Fire Nation and proud, after all. They're not exactly sensitive or nice people, are they?"

"Some might surprise you" said Sokka, softly "But you're not wrong, some of them are… pretty awful"

"Some? I'd say the rarities are the nice ones" said Bear-Axe, scowling at Sokka "Did spending too much time with the Princess brainwash you or something?"

"If anything, it opened my mind to many things I hadn't known before" said Sokka, looking at Bear-Axe sternly "It didn't blind me to the Fire Nation's wrongdoings, nor did it stop me from trying to slow them down, but… but I'm sorry. I can't stop the war just by telling my sponsor to do so"

"I'm not blaming it on you" said Bear-Axe, huffing and shaking his head "I… I just hate the Fire Nation. They killed my family, killed my friends, forced me into slavery…"

"You were another casualty of the Fire Nation raids in the Earth Kingdom?" Sokka asked, grinding his teeth "I've met a few people who've been victims of that…"

"It wasn't just the raids" said Bear-Axe, clenching his fists "It was… I had a group of friends, refugees from the war, like myself. We made our own home in Gaipan's forest, and we… we tried to resist the Fire Nation from there. But after we destroyed a colonized village, they… they came after us"

Sokka frowned, eyeing Bear-Axe with confusion.

"The soldiers?" he asked. Bear-Axe nodded "Say… what's your name?"

"My name?" he asked "What does it even matter? I'm Bear-Axe now, don't you know?"

"Come on, man. Just tell me" said Sokka, an eyebrow twitching. Bear-Axe sighed.

"I've taken many names. But before being Bear-Axe, I was… I was Sneers"

Sokka grimaced. If Azula thought his sense for naming was bad, she had to hear this one. But his eyes narrowed, for he had heard this story once before: and he had heard them from people with weird names, too.

"You say you lost your friends" Sokka muttered "Some of them died, some of them were captured?"

"Y-yeah. Most captured, but The Duke and Pipsqueak…"

Sokka gulped as Bear-Axe snarled in pain. But maybe, just maybe, he'd be appeased if Sokka was right in his suspicions. He probably was, all things considered…

"And the captured ones were Jet and Longshot?"

Sneers' small eyes widened when Sokka uttered those words.

"Did you just…?" Sneers asked, sitting up and looking at Sokka in disbelief "Y-you… you know them?!"

"I met them, yeah, I…" Sokka started, but Sneers' frantic reaction made him flinch as the large man almost threw himself at Sokka.

"When?! How?! Where are they now?! How did you… How did you know they were my friends?!"

"I-I only guessed, I heard their story, it was similar to yours…!" Sokka explained, pulling away from Sneers with difficulty as the man clung to him.

"They told you this…?!" Sneers exclaimed "How?! When?! Where did it happen…?!"

"Dude, you've asked like fifty questions in three seconds, how am I supposed to answer any of them?!" Sokka squealed, but Sneers didn't seem to be about to stop, not even as Sokka inched away from him and towards the door.

"Tell me everything you know about them! If Jet's still out there, if Longshot is…!" he was crying out while Sokka stumbled out into the corridor.

"Y-yes, they're out there, but damn it, if you let me talk…!"

"What's… what's going on here?"

Sneers' questioning ended abruptly as his eyes widened again. He pulled away from Sokka and looked down the corridor, finding the Princess and his own sponsor looking at their respective gladiators with confusion.

"Sneers?" Kori asked, stepping towards him "What were you…?"

"I-it's nothing" he said, his previous excitement shifting immediately into chagrin and apprehension "I…"

Kori didn't look appeased by his reply, though. Her brow drew together slightly and she breathed deeply before staring at him sternly.

"Come downstairs with me, Sneers. Please" she commanded Sneers, and he gritted his teeth. Clearly he didn't want to obey, but he moved to the stairs regardless "Sorry about this, Princess. I suppose you still remember your room just fine, after all…"

"It's not a problem. I'll see you later" said Azula, nodding. Kori gave her a weak grin before following her gladiator through the flight of stairs, her shoulders square with previously absent tension.

Azula watched as she disappeared down the stairs before turning to Sokka with a confused expression. He sighed and shrugged.

"I was just trying to get to know the guy, I didn't expect to figure out that he was one of Jet's old gang…"

"He was what?!" Azula said, her eyes widening "Are you serious?"

Sokka gulped and nodded as Azula's jaw dropped.

"I didn't see it coming, but he told me the exact same story those two did. I thought it'd be weird if it had happened to two different kid gangs, so I asked if maybe his friend was called Jet, and…"

"And he reacted explosively upon hearing news of his friend for the first time in who knows how long" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "It must be over eight years since they destroyed Gaipan's village, if I recall right…"

"If they haven't seen each other since, well, it'd be too long without hearing from his friends" said Sokka "It only makes sense that he'd react the way he did, but he did catch me unawares regardless…"

"I guess Jet hasn't been in Yu Dao yet, then" said Azula, biting her lip "Else he would have found his friend by now. Still, what are the chances? For Kori Morishita, of all people, to start sponsoring one of Jet's gang members…"

"It's pretty crazy" said Sokka, his hands on his hips "I wonder how many others of them are out there. Seems like two of them died, from what Sneers said, but…"

"Sneers?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrow "Is that really his name? Here I thought Kori was mocking him…"

"He said it was" said Sokka, shrugging "I doubt it's his real one, though. Doesn't sound like his parents would come up with such a weird name, huh?"

"Surely not" Azula agreed "Unless, of course, his parents had your ability for naming things, that is…"

"W-wha…?!" Sokka gasped, blushing in indignation while Azula smirked "Hey, I've never suggested any names as weird as that one! And for the record…!"

His rampage was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps again. They turned towards it instinctively, wary of being caught alone together despite they weren't doing anything compromising, but it proved to be unnecessary when they found it was Rui Shi who had come to check in on them.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, moving towards Azula "The Morishita's daughter seems to be giving her gladiator quite a lecture. What did he do?"

"Nothing much" said Azula, shaking her head "Though perhaps she thought I'd find it offensive. I suppose I'll clear everything up later. Thanks for your concern, Captain, but everything is quite alright. Have you all settled in yet?"

"We're in the process of it, yes" said Rui Shi, nodding "In all seriousness, I just wanted to make sure that the two of you…"

"Wouldn't do anything stupid, yes" said Azula, nodding too "Who do you take us for, truly…?"

Her sarcastic question was met by a stern scowl. She only smirked in his direction.

"I know, I know. We haven't done anything you should worry about. Sokka is just making enemies wherever he goes, as per usual…"

"What? He wasn't my enemy, he was just…! Frantic, I guess. It's hard to blame him, too" said Sokka, pouting "I was a lot like that too until you told me you hadn't wiped out my tribe after our first encounter, you know?"

"Huh… I guess that is true" said Azula, eyeing Sokka with interest "You think he'll, uh, sneer a little less because of what you told him, then?"

"Who knows?" said Sokka, shrugging "I'm just hoping your new best friend doesn't scold him too much, though. I'm pretty sure he just needs answers…"

"He probably does, and not because we get along does it automatically make her my best friend" said Azula, looking at Sokka sardonically. He smirked.

"Sure, sure" he said. Rui Shi sighed.

"Well, so long as everything is going well, I suppose I'll stop worrying so much…" he muttered. Azula eyed him with curiosity as he turned around.

"Say, Captain…" she called him. He glanced at her over his shoulder "We'll be in this city for quite some time. Feel free to unwind a little if you'd like. I don't think I'll need very strict protection measures, so…"

"Why, thank you, Princess" said Rui Shi, nodding "I guess you are right. I'm afraid the biggest hazard to your safety is standing right beside you"

Azula froze as Sokka pouted. They were sure they heard Rui Shi chuckle before heading downstairs again, meaning to go back to the guards' current headquarters. Azula rolled her eyes and looked at Sokka in defeat.

"He's not entirely wrong, actually, but still…" she said. Sokka chuckled softly.

"Never mind, Azula. He's just grouchy as usual"

"He's not, though" said Azula "He was mostly teasing us right now, even if it's hard to tell with him…"

"You think?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow.

"I also think he's not exactly himself these days… I wonder if a trip through the Earth Kingdom will help him the way it helped us ages ago" said Azula, shrugging. Sokka bit his lip.

"You don't think it's still whatever happened with him and Song, do you?"

"Has she acted any differently yet?" Azula asked. Sokka shook his head and crossed his arms "Well, then, it just might be, after all"

"Huh. If it is… I wouldn't suggest this normally, but it feels like it's dragging on too much. We might need to offer some help" said Sokka, tapping his forearm with a finger "Even if we have no useful advice, it might still help him if we show we're worried about him, right?"

"Maybe" Azula conceded, shrugging "Though I don't expect he'll take kindly to any advice from us, of all people… he surely would claim it'll only make everything worse"

"I guess that's not impossible" Sokka agreed, with a crooked smirk "So… how should we handle our current situation, Princess? Should we give it a couple of days of testing the waters, and then act on any opportunities we might find…?"

"You just never stop looking for them, do you? Opportunities" Azula said, with a weak grin "You didn't sneak into my cabin enough for your tastes, clearly"

"Do you really think it could ever be enough, Princess?" he asked, chuckling. Her smile widened.

"We're not going to be reckless" she said "Or at least, we'll try not to be on the most part. We'll surely be out of here before you know it, dummy, so stop thinking about sneaking around, alright?"

"I'll try…" Sokka said, sighing as she inched closer and pressed her head against his chest gently.

"You know they can't catch us doing anything compromising either, so unless we really happen to have a perfect chance, let's just take it easy" she said, clasping his hand "Now, shall we go back downstairs? Dinner should be ready sometime soon…"

"Eh, I could use some food" Sokka said, smiling in approval. Azula chuckled.

"I figured as much" she said, leading him to the stairs.

She released his hand soon enough and filed towards the same living room where she'd had her tea earlier, but she found Kori wasn't back there, and neither were her parents. She frowned and turned, spotting Sokka had frozen near a door, his eyebrows raised. Azula looked at him questioningly as Sokka swallowed hard.

"… I already told you, I got it, I shouldn't have acted like that!" he heard Sneers say, interrupting Kori as she spoke "I won't ask him anything again, okay? That's going to make you happy?"

"I… Sneers, that's not the point! I just… I want to make sure they're comfortable and happy here. The Princess is such an important guest, and her gladiator is, too, so…!"

"So I can't mess it up for you. Got it"

"Sneers…"

"What? Do you want anything else?"

Kori sighed. Sokka grimaced and tiptoed towards Azula, unsure if the arguing pair would come out of the room soon.

"Not sure if it's Rui Shi and Song who'll be needing relationship advice from us, if you know what I mean…" he muttered to Azula through the corner of his mouth.

Her eyebrow twitched as she watched Sneers push the door open, a stern scowl on his face as he made his way upstairs again. Kori watched him go, sighing softly and shaking her head before putting on her brightest smile again, and making to lead both Azula and Sokka to the dining room.

Sneers was absent through the meal. Kori explained he wasn't hungry, though Azula took note of how troubled she looked when her parents asked about him. It surely meant Sneers would usually eat at the same table as his sponsor, much like how Sokka had when they had first visited this household… The Princess gave Sokka a meaningful look as the Morishita's chatted amicably, and he nodded as he gobbled down some roast duck. Even though they hadn't spoken directly, they both had the same thoughts in regards of the gladiator missing from the dinner table. If the less experienced pair of gladiator and sponsor needed guidance on how to have a successful partnership, it might help if Sokka took the initiative regarding Sneers, first of all.

He returned to the bedroom to find Sneers curled up in a ball on his bed, his back towards the door. The Blue Wolf breathed deeply before sitting on his own mattress, looking at Sneers carefully.

"You should probably get something to eat" he said "You must be hungry"

Sneers only shifted a little, a weak shrug that was hard to understand when he was but a dark shape in a moonlit room.

"Sorry she scolded you" said Sokka "I know how that is. Heck, my sponsor lectured me quite a lot when we stayed here the first time. Odd coincidence, huh?"

Sneers didn't respond at all this time. Sokka bit his lip. Sneers had promised Kori he wouldn't ask Sokka about anything else… but that didn't mean Sokka couldn't answer the questions Sneer had already asked earlier.

"Jet was one of my first opponents in the Superior League" he said. Again, Sneers shifted, but this time it was more of a nervous reaction than anything else "The… tenth, I believe, actually. I wasn't in my right mind, so I was all over the place as I fought, but I forced myself to focus or I'd lose badly against him. He left a nasty set of scars all over me, some have healed better than others. But in the end, I beat him"

"You did?" Sneers asked softly "D-did you…?"

"Kill him? No" said Sokka "I haven't killed anyone since I was in the Amateur League. I refuse to do it again if I can avoid it, and I refused that day, too. We were both in awful shape, and I hadn't even recovered yet from my fight with him when I first came to Yu Dao. He's one deadly fighter, one of the strongest non-benders I've ever fought"

"He always was" Sneers whispered "He was our leader, after all…"

"I didn't see him again until my second visit to Ba Sing Se" Sokka continued "It's a pretty long story, so I won't bore you with all the details, but in any case, we uncovered a conspiracy between the Rough Rhinos and the Dai Li, and most of them were taken into custody for it. And the Dai Li, well… they were the ones who took you guys after the Fire Nation caught you, from what Jet told us. They probably sold you off somewhere, and whatever other companions you guys had, and they kept Jet and Longshot for their purposes. Their leader, Long Feng, sponsored Jet in the Superior League. Some other member of the Dai Li sponsored Longshot. I came across them both in a Pairs Tournament, and me and my partner defeated them.

"I'd always found their behavior weird, though. Jet was… well, nothing but savage killer instinct. His friend seemed to have a little more restraint than him, yet there was something off about them both. It wasn't until after that fight that we had the chance to discover what the problem really was: the Dai Li had hypnotized them"

"What? Hypnotized?" Sneers asked, turning on the bed and looking at Sokka in surprise "How…?"

"I have no idea how they did it, but they were brainwashed on a regular basis into fighting mindlessly and fiercely in the ring" said Sokka, sighing "Still, after we knocked them out, the effects of the hypnosis were gone. We took them both to the Imperial Palace, where we'd been staying, and Jet and Longshot told us their story. With their help we were able to find the Dai Li's hideout, where they kept everything the Rough Rhinos had stolen as they pillaged cities and villages through the continent. The Princess tasked Ba Sing Se's governor with returning all stolen goods, and everything was right in the world once again, pretty much"

"That's good to hear, but… what about them?" said Sneers "Did they get sent to Amateur Arenas, or locked up with the Dai Li…?"

"Actually, neither thing" said Sokka, with a weak grin "They said they'd take off to find their friends, and the Princess didn't stop them. She only threatened them not to cause any trouble in the colonies or else they would get chased after again. But I haven't heard her mention anything about them, so I imagine they've kept a low profile and aren't public enemies anymore…"

"They mustn't have come to Yu Dao yet" said Sneers, sighing "But… but they're okay. They're alive"

"Yeah" said Sokka, smiling.

"I'm surprised they're not trying to tear down the Fire Nation anymore, though. Especially Jet" said Sneers, eyeing Sokka with confusion "Jet was determined to destroy it before, but…"

"From what he told us, after the cruelty he faced by Long Feng's hand, he came to understand that there was evil everywhere in the world" said Sokka "So even though it didn't mean he had forgiven the Fire Nation for anything, it also meant his vision of the world had changed. I think he was at the point where all he could worry about was finding his friends. Maybe he wants to go back to resisting against the Fire Nation afterwards, but for the time being he would likely keep a low profile while searching for you"

Sneers sighed and dropped on the bed again, his eyes on the ceiling.

"As far as I know, there were only four of us left" he whispered "I should just be grateful that Jet and Longshot are still alive, and still together. Maybe… maybe they'll find me one day"

"Maybe" said Sokka, nodding "Would you go out looking for them? I mean…"

"You ask since I hate being here?" Sneers whispered "Well… if you have no idea where they're at, I'd be stumbling in the dark. It would be easier if I stayed here so they could find me. I just wish I could put out a message to them, but… but they should come eventually. They should. And once they do…"

"You'll leave?" Sokka asked. Sneers gritted his teeth.

"Not like it matters much if I do or don't. She'll just replace me with the next lowlife she can find" he muttered.

"Sometimes things aren't as simple as they seem, you know" said Sokka "Sometimes gladiators aren't as expendable for sponsors as it looks"

"Maybe you aren't. But me…"

"You have a perfect record so far, from what we were told" said Sokka "You must be stronger than you admit. Of course, I'm not saying you should stay here with your sponsor forever if you don't want to. Still… try to make your decisions by thinking clearly. I know better than anyone that letting your rage and frustrations guide you can lead you to making mistakes you may not be able to take back later…"

"What do you mean?" said Sneers. Sokka swallowed hard.

"Well… I wouldn't have become a slave in the first place if I'd stopped to think properly about what I was doing. And later I made mistakes I couldn't take back in my partnership with the Princess, too. So…"

"What sort of mistakes?" Sneers asked "How could they be mistakes, really? I mean… she's your master, and she uses you. That's how it works. If you had the chance to leave and get back everything you'd lost…"

"I'd lose something in turn, too" said Sokka. Sneers frowned "You can't begin to imagine all I've achieved by being her gladiator. You don't know how many lives we've changed: well, for starters, Jet and Longshot probably wouldn't be roaming free if someone other than Azula had found them. And if it weren't because of our partnership, maybe they would still be hypnotized by the Dai Li. Without what we did, so many people through the Earth Kingdom would have never regained everything that was stolen from them. And I've also managed to keep my Tribe safe…"

"Did you, really?" said Sneers, frowning "And you think all of that was worth your freedom?"

"Well… all things considered, I don't think I lost as much of it as many others did" said Sokka "I know it may seem weird, but…"

"No, I know how it is" said Sneers, sighing "Kori keeps raving and rambling about how amazing a combination you two are. It's weird, yeah, but I think I get it… and, well, maybe Kori wants to do the same with me. She keeps trying to imitate the Princess, after all… so surely she wants us to have the same partnership as you two do. But I…"

"You refuse to be a part of it" said Sokka "For which I can hardly blame you, of course. Still… maybe Kori isn't quite as cruel or selfish, as you might think she is. I discovered Azula wasn't, so maybe Kori has a few surprises for you, too"

"I… I know she's not" Sneers muttered. Sokka raised his eyebrows "But she lives in a world very different from mine. She's a Fire Nation woman, she's happy with her family, she gets to be a bender and to be friends with the Princess if she wants to. Me? I'm just a slave. And that's all I'll ever amount to in her eyes"

"Maybe" said Sokka, sighing and dropping on his mattress too.

"Still… thank you" Sneers said. Sokka raised his eyebrows "I… I'm glad they're okay, or that they were, at least, when you last saw them"

"It was around eight months ago, I think" said Sokka "Hopefully they'll have stayed safe since then"

"Hopefully" said Sneers, curling up on his side again, his back to Sokka once more. Sokka breathed deeply.

"Good night" he whispered.

"Night" Sneers replied. Sokka sighed.

Not every gladiator and sponsor could be like him and Azula, that was obvious, but Sokka found this conversation to be a bitter reminder of some of the worst harm caused by slavery. Even if the Superior League was by no means as hideous as the Amateur one, Sneers had every reason to despise it and to despise being forced to fight as he had been. Sokka had taken some time to put behind his reservations about Azula, and it stood to reason that Sneers wouldn't be able to do the same so easily, especially when his sponsor hadn't offered him any sort of reward for joining her in the Gladiator League…

He sighed again and rolled in the bed, cherishing the way his relationship with Azula had developed more than ever before. He could have been like Sneers indeed if only he had held onto his anger, but he had allowed himself to see Azula through unclouded eyes in the end. And he didn't regret doing so in the slightest.

* * *

Sokka's fights in Yu Dao were successful. His first bout against an earthbender was the most difficult one, but despite the Twilight-Drilled Bamboo Bear was surprisingly powerful, Sokka dodged everything the fighter could throw at him. Azula had allowed him to use Wolf's Bane in this fight too, and with the combined power of two swords he had slashed his way into victory while tearing apart boulders, rocks and earth streams.

His next fights against two firebenders were even easier than the first, since Wolf's Bane had provided him with the greatest advantage of all against such opponents. DragonClaw had faltered easily under the power of a non-bender who overcame his barrages of flames. The Torch set all of the Arena's furniture on fire in a poor attempt to suffocate Sokka with smoke, but he had been able to douse most the flames with Wolf's Bane while stabbing the Torch in the wrist with Space Sword, rendering him unable to keep bending with it. With a quick punch to knock him out, the Torch had been knocked out, just as every other fighter Sokka had faced in this new visit to Yu Dao.

"He's unbelievable…" Kori whispered in amazement, her eyes wide as she gazed down at Sokka, who had, surprisingly, taken to putting out all of the burning furniture while the staff members picked up The Torch.

Azula smiled and shook her head as she watched Sokka's clumsy attempts to save the furniture. A few of the staff members stared at him in confusion, and some of them even told him to stop worrying about the fire, since they could take care of it. Sokka only smiled and waved them off, saying he could help either way while smacking the flames with Wolf's Bane.

"That he is, I must say. Unpredictable even when the fight ends" Azula said, as Kori looked at her. The Mayor's daughter had been allowed to join the Princess in the sponsors' balcony, an opportunity she had been happy to make the most out of. She gazed at Azula with admiration.

"I remember what he was like when he first fought here… you've really done a wonderful job training him" said Kori, as they both stood up while Azula pocketed the money from the fight.

"It hasn't been easy, but fortunately it has paid off" she said "And I can't lie, fortune certainly has been on our side on many accounts. But as long as he keeps up with this winning streak I'll have no cause for complaints whatsoever"

"That white sword, though… it's amazing! I'd never seen anything like it!" said Kori. Azula chuckled as the two of them left the sponsors' balcony.

"No, of course not. It's quite a rarity, I believe" she said "Forging a blade with dragon fire proved to have unexpected consequences on the metal, and well… now it's become the perfect weapon for him to fight against firebenders"

"Wow!" said Kori, her eyes bright with amazement "Well, that's incredible! His black sword forged from a meteorite, and a white one with dragon fire?"

"The white one is actually mine" Azula clarified "But after lending it to him for his fight against the Millennium Dragon we discovered its strange qualities, so I've leant it to him in battle whenever we've deemed it necessary"

"Oh, well… that's even more surprising" said Kori, her eyes wide "To think you'd share your possessions with him like that…"

Azula felt her stomach sink, but she didn't allow it to show on her face. Her closeness with Sokka had been out of the ordinary long before their relationship had stabilized: she had leant Wolf's Bane to him long before he had taken her virginity. There was no need to make this a complicating factor that might lead Kori to suspect their closeness.

"Sokka is my gladiator, and that means I take responsibility for his actions both inside and outside of the ring. In a sense, it means I must be ready to do anything to help him achieve victory" said Azula "I understand that sharing this weapon with him may seem strange, but then again, he's the one who taught me how to use swords…"

"Did he?" Kori asked, surprised. Azula nodded.

"He was trained by Piandao, and afterwards he taught me what he knew about swordsmanship so that I would be able to spar with him. He needed a sparring partner to keep him in shape, and he had been less than impressed with all the sword masters he'd met, so…"

"So you learned how to use swords and took upon training with him yourself" said Kori, smiling in amazement "And of course, you already must have been the best kind of partner for training against firebenders, too"

"We also found an earthbender for him to spar with, a gladiator sponsored by a friend of mine" Azula added "The more fronts we can cover so he's in his best shape against all sorts of fighters, the better"

"I probably should do the same" said Kori, thoughtful "I've tried to train with Sneers too, but… well, it's a little tricky, I guess. He's not very fond of me, so that makes things more complicated…"

"I've noticed you don't have the smoothest of partnerships" Azula mentioned. Kori sighed "I happen to have quite some experience with unruly gladiators myself, so… perhaps I could help you find your way with yours"

"That would be wonderful, really, but… I don't know if it would work" said Kori "Sneers isn't a lot like Sokka. He…"

"Oh, going by what I know, he's more like Sokka than you might think" Azula interrupted her. Kori froze.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"The Fire Nation took everything he loved and cared for, as it happened with most slaves" she said "It's true for Sokka, too. His mother died because of a Fire Nation raid to his tribe, a very long time ago. His father spent years away, fighting in the war effort but failing to change the outcome of the conflict in any way. Many of his tribesmen died during the years of the war, and Sokka was most desperate to drive out the Fire Nation invaders from the South Pole…"

"So he… he hated the Fire Nation a lot, too?" Kori asked. Azula smiled.

"He positively loathed me. I turned him into a slave in the first place" she said. Kori's jaw dropped "And indeed, I failed to realize how badly that had damaged him until a short time ago. It didn't faze me until I realized I needed him for my own ends. And by then, well… you'd think he had every reason to despise me. Still, I gave him a reason to need me. And eventually I did everything in my power to build his strength on all fronts, seeing to his recoveries each time he was wounded, and provided whatever he might have wished for. Now, if you'd think I bought my way out of his hatred… perhaps I did. But I'd like to say that… even if I tried to tell myself he was a savage, a peasant or a slave, I could hardly look down on him. He was indeed so unruly that… that I had no choice but to treat him like an equal instead"

"Well, that's crazy" said Kori, her eyes wide "I mean, you're the Princess…"

"And he's crazy, yes" said Azula, smiling "But as it is, we've improved our partnership as much as we could, accepting our faults against the other and building our strength in all regards. I can't lie and claim it's been easy, of course it wasn't. And of course, I could have never envisioned that almost two years after finding him, he'd be strong enough to fight me almost evenly. I never envisioned he would help me in my role as my father's heir, either"

"I've always heard that you have the greatest partnership" said Kori, smiling weakly "I really wanted to have a gladiator so I could have a similar partner, but… well, it's not easy, as you said. Sneers really seems to hate me"

"Maybe you should think of what he might want to achieve, what his goals might be" Azula suggested "If perhaps you can offer him certain things he has dreamt of, but believed impossible, if perhaps you can make his life less miserable than it always was, he might surprise you by becoming loyal to you by his own free will. Of course, that might also not happen… he might still choose to run off if he thought he'd find his old friends again. But maybe if he realizes he can count on you, he'll stop being so aloof and angry all the time"

"Maybe" said Kori, smiling and nodding "Thank you, Princess. I'll try to make those things happen, if possible, but… well, it's hard to say where to start, huh? I guess I might come up with an idea after his fight tomorrow…"

"Hopefully you will" said Azula "If I recall right, Sokka and I started getting along a little better after our first sparring session…"

"Well, that hasn't helped me with Sneers so far" said Kori, crossing her arms over her chest "But… wait. Maybe it's because it's been too simple. Maybe he needs… something more than just me. You think he's similar to your gladiator, don't you?"

"Well, on some regards, yes…"

"Then maybe…" said Kori, her eyes alight with an idea. Azula raised her eyebrows, and a curious glint appeared in her gaze too as Kori conveyed her thoughts to her.

* * *

"Uh, wait just a second. We're all sparring together? The four of us?" Sokka asked, looking at Azula in confusion as they stood in the Morishita's house's backyard.

"Why, I guess so. I have no idea if it will be an all-out brawl, but Kori seems to think it could be interesting" said Azula, smirking "I do look forward to humiliating you in front of them"

"What? Humiliating me?!" Sokka exclaimed, affronted as Azula beamed in his direction "As if! You know I'm tougher than that! By the end of the day you'll be eating your words, you know as much!"

Kori smiled as she watched them bicker, amused by their easy banter. Not far from her, Sneers was fitting his gear while eyeing both his sponsor and the other pair quite warily. The Blue Wolf had only just returned from his fight, yet both Kori and the Princess had decided that this training session between the four of them had to happen right now. It seemed the Southern Water Tribesman had been as surprised by this turn of events as Sneers had been.

"I hope it's okay for us to do this" said Kori, smiling at Sneers now "I know it's sudden, but I hoped this could make our training sessions a little more interesting, if anything"

"Huh" said Sneers, raising an eyebrow "And they agreed to it, just like that?"

"Well, they always spar with each other for training. It's just that now we're all going to be sparring together" said Kori, shrugging. Sneers nodded.

"Though I imagine it won't be an all-out battle, will it?" he said "We'd have to take them on simultaneously, take them by surprise, if we want to get a blow in. At least, if they're as strong as you say they are"

"W-wait, you think we should fight as a team?" Kori asked, her eyes wide.

"What? Team fights?" Sokka repeated. His banter with Azula had ceased momentarily, and they had overheard Kori's words. Azula smirked.

"What, you two against us?" she asked "Why not sponsors against gladiators? That should be more fun…"

"Well, don't sweat it, Princess" said Sokka, smirking too "Even if we're on the same team, I'll make sure to fight against you right after we're through with the opposition"

"What? Why would you…?" she asked, looking at him in surprise. Sokka smiled mischievously.

"Let's say habits die hard, you know? It's always us fighting each other, even if we're on the same team that can't stop, right?" he said. Azula snorted and shook her head.

"Whenever I think you can't get more ridiculous you just make it your life's purpose to prove me wrong, don't you?"

"I've found few things are quite as fun as proving you wrong, yes, that would be correct…" said Sokka, smirking. Azula couldn't help but smile too.

"Uh… anyways, you go for the gladiator" Sneers muttered. Kori frowned.

"What? Why?" she asked "The Princess is the more dangerous one…"

"They'll expect me to fight Sokka" said Sneers "And for you to fight the Princess since you're both benders. So the best way to catch them off base…"

"Huh… I see" said Kori, biting her lip "Alright, then. We'll trust you on this one"

Sneers swallowed hard and set himself in position. Oddly enough, the Princess and the gladiator only kept chatting, but it seemed the tides of the conversation had eventually been swayed to Azula's favor.

"Please, I've been right before! Stop acting like…! Oh. Uh, Azula? I think they're ready" said Sokka. Azula chuckled and nodded, stretching her arms and eyeing their opponents with curiosity.

"It's weird that I've found myself fighting so many earthbenders lately, huh?" she said, as Sokka raised his hands to his swords, imitating Sneers who was already clutching his axes.

"Eh, I find myself fighting lots of them because of you, so I'm getting used to it" he said. Azula snorted.

"Enough nonsense. Focus" she commanded. He snickered.

"Right, right…"

Before Sokka could do much more than agree with Azula, a stream of earth rose from the ground and rushed towards them. Both Azula and Sokka jumped out of the way, and were surprised when they were attacked by the exact opposite rival they had expected to come after them.

Sneers swung his axe towards Azula, but she swept him away with a powerful blast of blue fire. Sneers was forced to recoil, realizing that the Princess truly wasn't to be trifled with, but it was too late now. He had to fight and try to win, or else…

Sokka wasn't having much trouble with Kori either, cutting through each boulder she sent his way and jumping out of the way when he sensed earth rumbling underneath his feet. He was quick, he was efficient and he was patient. He knew to wait for the right moment to strike her.

Yet Kori gave him said moment a little easier than expected when she saw Sneers bending over backwards, losing his footing when the Princess attacked him with a jab directed to his face. Kori grimaced before launching a rock attack at Azula, who leapt and kicked it out of the way with some difficulty.

Kori tried to keep both Sokka and Azula busy, but it was clear she wouldn't succeed at it for long. Sneers jumped upright again, though, and he tossed one of his axes at the Princess…

Only for it to be slashed in half after the blur of black that was Sokka's sword. Azula smirked.

"Thanks" she said, while defending him from Kori's next attack.

"Switch again?" Sokka asked. Azula nodded.

Sokka leapt around Azula while Sneers reached for his next axe, and the Princess's face was a mask of determination as she bolted towards the non-bender, aided by her fire. Sneers' eyes widened as she spun in the air, building up a kick that could easily end him right then and there, but he got out of the way right before it could reach him. Still, he couldn't stop the next fire blast that struck him in the stomach and sent him rolling on the ground.

"Sneers!" Kori shouted, making to bend at Azula to keep her away from her gladiator, but suddenly her right arm was unresponsive, and so was most her torso.

Her eyes widened as she glanced at her side, finding the Blue Wolf shrugging almost apologetically as she collapsed on the ground, unable to move properly after her chi had been blocked. And just a few feet away, Sneers lay on the grass too, grimacing as Azula aimed her index and middle fingers at his face.

"Well, I guess that's that" she said, smiling "See, teaming up as gladiators and sponsors might have made the fight more… HEY!"

Azula's brief victory speech was interrupted when she heard footsteps approaching her. A glance at her left revealed Sokka was coming her way, his sword at the ready.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she exclaimed, after bending a powerful array of blue fire to keep him at bay.

Sokka laughed as he pulled Wolf's Bane from its sheath, waving it to shield himself from the attack of fire. He lashed out against Azula once more, taking in the indignant yet slightly amused expression on her face.

"You know, last one standing is the real winner and all!" he said, beaming as Azula cast more fire at him. Sokka was able to deflect it without much trouble "You know it's more fun this way!"

"You're the biggest idiot in the entire planet, I'll have you know!" Azula bellowed, launching an attack through her feet. Sokka dodged it and carried on laughing and trying to reach her with the swords, failing in each opportunity.

Sneers swallowed hard as he watched them before moving towards Kori. She had managed to sit up, although her arm and upper body still felt numb, too numb to notice the hand on her back that helped support her weight.

"Are you okay? What did he do to you?" he asked, surprising Kori. She swallowed.

"I think that was chi-blocking" she said "Took me by surprise. I guess our strategy didn't work out so well, huh?"

"Well, maybe they'll wear each other out so badly that we'll beat them in round two, huh?" Sneers said. Kori smiled and giggled in agreement.

Sokka kept saying foolish things, and the Princess snapped back at him most the time, yet in some unexpected moments both Kori and Sneers had the distinct feeling that her blue fire had shifted into gold. It wasn't until she actually bent a large, condensed barrier of gold that the two of them were able to take it in properly.

"T-that's gold fire?" Sneers asked. Kori nodded.

"I'd heard she could do that but… wow" she said, as Sokka struggled to brush away the sturdier fire barrier.

Azula didn't waste time, though. She jumped over the barrier with a spinning kick of fire that forced Sokka to fall back. A blast of fire to his chest, shot through her foot, made him fall on the ground, his arms outstretched. And before he knew it, he was groaning in pain while he felt heavy pressures on both his wrists. He gritted his teeth before raising his gaze, finding Azula's shape was blocking the sunlight, as she stood with one foot on either of his wrists.

"Let go of the swords and give up or you're really going to get it" she said, with a pleased smile. Sokka sighed and opened his hands, the hilts sliding out of his palms easily.

"No fair. I wanted to beat you" he pouted. Azula scoffed and clasped Wolf's Bane, jerking its scabbard off Sokka's back as soon as he'd sat up again.

"You're not going to get that lucky while I can help it, snow savage" she declared proudly, but with a playful smirk. Sokka chuckled.

"Sure I won't. We'll see who's going to be luckier the next time, Princess" he said, pushing himself to his feet "Round two, then?"

The training session lasted well into dusk. It was growing colder by then, and everyone was tired enough to want a break from so much action. They took their turns cleaning up, and then had dinner together. Afterwards they sat by a fireplace in a comfortable living room, furnished with soft couches, while still chatting. Kori was surprised by how Sneers was behaving right now, speaking politely both with the Princess and her gladiator, and even being kind to her despite he usually was as dry and grouchy as he could be. Something about today's training session, which had seen them fighting against the Princess and her gladiator countless times, had changed something in Sneers. Kori guessed it had something to do with feeling like a genuine part of something again, for the first time in years, presumably.

On the other hand, the Princess and Sokka seemed determined to bicker endlessly today, but their banter only amused both Kori and Sneers. There was something so easy about it, so comfortable, that gave them a good sense of how stable and strong their partnership had become.

"I would have done better against you if I hadn't been tired from my fight earlier" Sokka said, sitting on the floor while resting with his back against the couch Azula sat on.

"You wouldn't have, not to mention you shouldn't have tried to fight me at all" Azula retorted while sipping her special tea. Sokka chuckled.

"How am I supposed to help it if we've been fighting each other forever? I'm a man of habit, you know"

"Have you guys really bickered this much from the start? Just like this?" Kori asked. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no. Sometimes it's more serious, when he's being more of an idiot than he usually is" she said, smirking at him. Sokka stuck his tongue out at her "Yes, I know it's hard to believe he can get worse, but he really can…"

Kori chuckled and shook her head. Sneers, sitting next to her on a couch for two, couldn't help but wonder if his own relationship with Kori could ever grow as smooth as theirs felt like.

"I'm afraid of asking what you mean" she said. Azula smirked.

"Well, for example… he almost cost us his second fight because he decided not to fight when he realized, halfway through the battle, that his opponent was a girl" she said. Kori's eyes widened and Sneers eyed Sokka with confusion while the Blue Wolf grimaced and blushed "That's just one of many ridiculous stories. There's a ton more, like the time he stabbed someone with my hairpiece…"

"Your hairpiece?" said Kori, aghast "That's insane!"

Sneers bit his lip. The first story had caught his attention a lot more than the second.

"How come did he only realize it was a girl halfway through the fight?" he asked, as Kori covered her mouth in sheer horror over the hairpiece anecdote.

"It wasn't my fault. My sponsor didn't think to tell me, in the first place" said Sokka, lifting a finger as he spoke. Azula rolled her eyes "But she didn't really look like a girl at all, okay? Bushy brown hair, big eyes, rude and rowdy…"

"What…?"

The three of them glanced at Sneers in surprise when he spoke. He had been the least talkative of the group through the day, but his voice tone had changed completely just now, as his voice trembled with just one word.

"Did you just say…?" Sneers said, leaning forward "D-did she have… some stripes over her cheeks?"

"Uh, yeah…" said Sokka, his eyes wide too "Her gladiator name was the Red-Striped Hornet, I figured it was because of those marks…"

"Hornet?" Sneers repeated, his eyes gleaming "D-did you… did you ask her real name, by any chance?"

"I did, it was… it was a weird name, too" said Sokka, scratching his head "I think she said it was something like Stinkbee?"

"Smellerbee?!" Sneers asked, jumping to his feet.

"That, that! Smellerbee!" Sokka said, smiling before freezing "Woah, wait a minute…"

"Don't tell me. She was another of your friends, was she?" Azula asked, looking at Sneers with curiosity. Sneers had his hands on his face, a wild smile breaking across it while tears glinted in the corner of his eyes.

"She's… she's alive. They're all alive, and they're…"

"Sneers…" Kori said, reaching to touch his shoulder. He froze and looked at her, his smile waning "Are you alright? Is that… another of your friends, really?"

"She… she was. Yes" Sneers said, nodding and sniffing, clenching his jaws to avoid crying for real "She's a gladiator, then? Just like the rest of us…"

"Her sponsor didn't seem to be a bad man" Azula commented, hoping that would give Sneers peace of mind "A jolly, large man. I think he was a merchant of some sort, living in the Capital. He was graceful even in his loss, despite he had every right and reason to protest the judges' decision"

"So you think she must be okay with him?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"She might be" she said "I've met a lot of unpleasant sponsors, and hers never struck me as one of them"

"That's good news, isn't it…?" Kori asked, looking at Sneers with a soft smile. Sneers stared back at her before nodding weakly.

"It's… it's not bad news, at least" he whispered.

The ones who hadn't been killed upon capture were still alive. Everyone who could still survive had done it, and Sneers knew it now. His hands shook as he felt the emotions tight in his chest, his mind full of memories, of thoughts and ideas that he wasn't sure what to make of. All he knew, though, was that he couldn't unleash his relief and joy over the news here. Not only did he feel uncomfortable by it, but he was sure Kori would be horrified if he embarrassed himself, and her, by extension, in front of the Princess.

"Thank you. I… I should go to bed now" he said. His words took the others by surprise.

"Oh, well, cool" said Sokka, smiling a little "You alright, though?"

"I'm fine. I… I have a fight tomorrow, right?" he said, looking at Kori and swallowing hard "I should be ready for it"

"Oh, that's right" said Kori, biting her lip. Sneers bowed his head curtly towards her, Azula and Sokka.

"Good night. Thanks again for… for everything" he said, directly to the other two. Azula nodded.

"Anytime!" Sokka called out, as Sneers turned and left the room.

Kori watched him go, compelled to follow and ask him if he really was alright, but she wasn't sure Sneers would take that well. She sighed, staring at the fire while Sokka and Azula eyed her instead.

"It might be good for you to go to bed, too. Sponsors should be at the top of their game as well, even if they're not the ones fighting in the ring" said Azula. Kori blinked.

"I…" she said, looking at Azula in surprise. The Princess's intelligent eyes betrayed that she understood exactly what Kori had wanted to do right now. The girl smiled gratefully "Thanks. I… I'll do that then. Good night, Princess, Sokka"

"Rest well!" Sokka said, smiling too.

Kori left almost in a rush, and Azula couldn't help but grin as she watched her go. She hoped Kori would reach Sneers before he was already in his room.

"Do you really think the crazy training from today helped?" Sokka asked. Azula's eyes shifted towards him "He didn't seem as angry as he always does, but…"

"Only time will tell. Nothing was ever definitive when it came to us" she said, her hand sliding over the armrest of the couch so she could slip her fingers through his hair. He smiled.

"So, uh… we're alone for the first time in ages, feels like" he said, wiggling his eyebrows "Everyone's asleep…"

"Heh, unless Kori fell unconscious as she climbed the stairs and Sneers blacked out similarly, I doubt that" said Azula. Sokka chuckled.

"Okay, well, we're still alone and maybe everyone else will be asleep soon" he said, stretching his head back to look at her "Dare we tempt fate, or will we settle with just talking innocently by the fireplace after having spent all day arguing like idiots?"

"Well, in your case, you really are one" said Azula, smirking and massaging his head gently. Sokka snorted "I did have to pretend, of course, but…"

"You're really not going to stop picking fights with me even when they're not around to see it, are you?" he asked. Azula laughed softly.

"It's hard to help it. You've given me room for it every time, haven't you?" she said, her hand slipping down amongst the short hairs on the back of his head and to his neck. Sokka shivered "I don't think we should risk it… but you did say cuddling was just fine, didn't you?"

"Cuddling might not help alleviate all this building tension, though" said Sokka, with a soft chuckle "It's the cost of bickering all day. I'm just a little bit desperate for you right now…"

Azula sighed and leaned forward, her hands moving over his shoulders so her fingertips would press his muscles gently. Sokka's eyes widened, but he smiled.

"Well, I didn't mean tension in such a literal sense, but that's nice…"

"I figured as much" Azula admitted, caressing him gently "But I thought I might as well make the most of this opportunity, for as long as we might have it…"

Sokka chuckled and lifted his head towards her. Azula smirked proudly before leaning close to kiss his lips. They had scarcely had a chance to kiss at all ever since their arrival in Yu Dao, only stealing such opportunities when they were alone in the stand-by rooms right before Sokka's fights. Kori was somehow always near Azula, so she made it next to impossible for the pair to enjoy any sort of intimacy. This was the very first opportunity they'd had for it in the Morishita's home.

"Hell, I missed you" Sokka whispered, caressing her cheek with his fingertips "How could I miss you this much when I'm always around you? It makes no sense, but…"

"I guess there's no logic to it, but I missed you too" Azula confessed, smiling "Come here"

Sokka didn't need to be told twice. He turned and made to stand up, not expecting Azula would clasp his forearms with her hands and bring him closer with a quick pull that made him lose his footing and fall atop her. He chuckled as she embraced him, kissing his lips more comfortably while caressing his strong body.

"Wouldn't you rather we flip over so I don't crush you?" he asked, kissing her cheek and jawline, breathing her fragrant scent deeply.

"If we did, I wouldn't be able to do this…" she whispered, biting her lip with a mischievous smile before sliding her hands lower over his body to clasp his bottom. Sokka snorted and pressed his face to her shoulder, trying not to laugh too loudly.

"Here I thought I was a pervert for liking your blue fire too much…" he said. Azula smiled proudly.

"That you are, of course. But I, a Princess, am entitled to grope you as I please without being deemed a pervert" she declared.

"I'd complain about double standards, but I'm a little too happy that you want to grope me" Sokka whispered, beaming and relaxing as she chuckled underneath him "It is my duty as your gladiator to ensure you get everything you want, isn't it?"

"I thought your duty was fighting for me in the ring, actually" Azula reasoned. Sokka waved a hand carelessly.

"That's the least of it, Princess. This is more important" he declared. She laughed again, hugging him closely.

"We'll have to go to bed eventually, but… can we stay like this for a little longer?" Azula asked, caressing his cheek. Sokka nodded.

"We can stay as you wish, for as long as you like" he said, smiling warmly and leaning close to kiss her lips again. Azula sighed in bliss, her legs surrounding his waist to keep him in place.

She dozed off after relaxing peacefully with him in her arms, and Sokka took to carrying her to her room, walking as silent and carefully as he could. He laid her on the mattress, caressing her bangs before pressing a kiss to her brow.

"I love you" he muttered softly. Azula hummed, inching closer to where she heard his voice.

"Love you too…" she replied, making him smile with delight. It had been too long since he'd had a chance to say it, but he hadn't thought she'd speak the words right back to him when she was half-asleep.

With another kiss to her lips, he covered her with the blanket and headed to his room. Sneers was already curled up as he always was, but his breathing wasn't easy and regular, as it would be for anyone who was unconscious.

Sokka frowned, sitting on the bed and watching Sneers before swallowing hard and stretching across the mattress. He thought that Sneers would find peace of mind, maybe, by knowing his friends were fine, just as Sokka had been upon hearing his Tribe hadn't been vanquished after Azula took him away from them… but it might be the gladiator across the room wasn't quite as similar to him as he had initially believed.

* * *

"General unrest. Sparks flying together. Two months since the nest emptied. No course of action yet?"

Sokka read the letter aloud with a raised eyebrow and he looked at Azula in confusion. She smirked.

"It seems the Bandit believed it was necessary to send her message in a code" she said "From what I can gather, Iroh remains restless… and if sparks are flying 'together', she most likely is implying that Zuko took Suki with him after all"

"And Iroh hasn't done anything noteworthy about it yet" said Sokka, biting his lip "That's got to be the weirdest code I've seen"

"Well, it's news at last, so the code is the least important thing about it" said Azula, as Sokka smiled while ruffling Hawky's feathers. The messenger hawk was perched on his forearm, staring around himself with curiosity "I guess it means we might need to stay in the city for a little longer than this, though. If Iroh hasn't taken a course of action yet, it's hard to say if it's convenient for us to be near him yet"

"That's just fine, isn't it, Hawky?" said Sokka, smiling and talking to his hawk with a sing-song voice "Who's a pretty hawkyyyy…?"

"He should chomp your finger off for talking to him like that" said Azula, with a smirk "I'll reply to the Bandit when we return from the Arena. Unless you'd rather stay to pet your hawk and miss out on Sneers' fight?"

"Oh, come on" said Sokka, smiling at her "You can lighten up, I'm just happy to see him again!"

Azula smiled as well as she watched Sokka place Hawky on a perch. They were in the guards' building right now, where Hakwy had arrived around half an hour earlier. Fortunately the building had a room perfectly accommodated for the hosting of messenger hawks. Sokka made sure to get food and water for his bird before following Azula out to the street: a carriage already awaited, to lead them to the Golden Eye.

Azula didn't join Kori in the sponsors' balcony as the girl had for Sokka's fights: since Sokka was here too, she chose to head to the stands with him instead. All people nearby stared at her in amazement, and her eyebrow twitched at the usual, irritating bowing. Sokka merely chuckled with amusement by her side, as they waited for the fight to begin.

But while the two of them were doing quite well, the same couldn't be said for Kori in the sponsors' balcony and Sneers waiting in the stand-by room. Kori had spoken with Sneers only briefly the previous night in his room, and she had been surprised to find that Sneers' usual hostility had been nowhere to be found as he bade her good night, but she could tell he was anxious, nervous, not himself. And as the grid rose to let him into the fighting pit, Sneers swallowed hard and stepped forward, his eyes unfocused.

He couldn't stop thinking about them. His friends were always on his mind, but never like this. A sense of urgency nestled inside him, eating at him, tormenting him: what if Jet and Longshot were closer than he thought? What if Smellerbee was waiting for a sign, just as he had, that the others were still alive and hoping to find her? What if any of them were in danger, in trouble, and the only one with a chance to bail them out of it was him…?

His eyes snapped wide open when he heard the megaphone man signal the start of the fight. And the large, fearsome Beacon of Ruin lunged at him, two maces in each of his hands, a war cry leaving his throat as he attacked Sneers fiercely.

Sneers was forced to dodge, failing to find any weak spots yet. It was one of his talents, finding just the opening needed through which he would slip unnoticed and defeat his opponent easily… but right now he couldn't see any. The world was unsteady, his hands were trembling, his mind was lost in thought. His legs were moving by instinct, but even that wasn't enough to avoid getting his arm slammed by one of the maces after falling for the opponent's feint.

"He's not fighting at his best…" Sokka muttered, frowning. He was no expert in Sneers' fighting style, but what he had shown them the previous day wasn't at all like what they were seeing right now.

Azula frowned, her eyes flickering towards Sokka. Somehow, this fight was eerily resembling Sokka's first in the Golden Eye…

Sneers flinched away from the next blows, rushing through the Arena to avoid the heavy maces. His left arm might have been broken after that, going by the hideous pain he was experiencing. He couldn't let that mace hit him again, or else…

… Or else he'd be the one who wouldn't see his friends again.

After all those years of hoping, he finally had cause to come back to life. His endless anguish was finally over, and he could dream of finding his friends again. He was weak with respite, with longing, with memories of what had been and illusions of what could be if he ran off in the dark of the night to find them. If he just turned his back on this blasted nightmare of being a gladiator, of being a slave…

His thoughts were his undoing again as the mace slammed into his stomach now, sending him rolling over the sand as he lost his breath. A general gasp could be heard through the Arena: his public was used to seeing him win easily. This turn of events was a surprise, and not a pleasant one, especially for one person…

Sneers breathed heavily, coughing a little blood and dreading to know the magnitude of the injury he had sustained to his torso. Well, that was about enough of that. He couldn't go on like this, or he would really die. One more blow and…

He didn't let his mind finish the thought as his eyes traveled a little higher than his opponent, who was already gearing up for one more attack.

Kori's eyes were wide, and she clutched the railing of the balcony as she stared down at him. Her face wasn't contorted with rage, though, because he was embarrassing her in the Arena. The expression on it wasn't disappointment, either. She was anxious: she was worried about him.

The realization hit him harder than the maces could have. For the first time, the walls he had built to protect himself from his sponsor shattered, and he let himself consider that maybe, just maybe, the Mayor's daughter had seen him as something more than just another slave: as a partner, perhaps. As a friend, maybe.

Sneers snarled and lowered his head before dashing forward with unexpected speed. Beacon of Ruin had already lifted his maces, but the shift of position of his enemy had made it impossible for him to handle the heavy weapons properly. He couldn't redirect them to strike Sneers once the gladiator was barely a breath away from him, and by then he failed to protect himself from a potent headbutt to the throat.

The loss of balance made Beacon of Ruin vulnerable. His maces were powerful, but not versatile, and they couldn't help him when Sneers lifted his uninjured hand to slam a powerful fist into his face.

Beacon of Ruin wasn't knocked out right away, so Sneers had no choice but to sit atop him and keep punching him, while enduring Beacon of Ruin's attempts to resist him. When the man hardly made efforts to push him off anymore, Sneers stood upright and stumbled away from him, his armor coated with his opponent's blood. Beacon of Ruin didn't shift much anymore, his face covered in the blood that had spilled from his broken nose.

It had been a quick fight, but violent. Sneers clutched his injured hand and breathed heavily before gazing up at Kori. The worry in her eyes was still there. It wasn't just because of his performance, he understood. She really wanted him to be okay.

He gritted his teeth and lowered his head, ashamed and distraught. Everything he had taken for granted had been challenged during the last weeks, but especially through this fight. One way or another, nothing would be the same after today.

* * *

Kori watched with concern as Sneers was wrapped in bandages. He could walk, but the physicians recommended that he rested briefly before heading home for a proper recovery. The bone in his arm had broken, and they had set it back into place quite painfully. His arm would be in a splint for some time.

"How are you feeling?" Kori asked, once the physicians filed out of the room. Sneers sighed.

"Bad" he whispered, earnestly "Everything hurts. I should've… I should've focused more"

"It's nothing to worry about. We all have bad days" she said, biting her lip and taking her seat next to him on the couch. Sneers avoided her gaze.

"I didn't mean to give you one in front of your hero, though. I know you… you wanted to impress her"

"Sure I did, but that doesn't matter anymore" said Kori, looking at him worriedly "Your safety matters more than my ego, alright? If the Princess thinks I'm not up to her level, well, it's true that I'm not. So it's fine, Sneers. I just… it's the first time you're ever wounded like this. I'm glad you won, but…"

"But I might not have it easy on my next fights" Sneers mumbled. Kori sighed.

"I hadn't even thought of that" she admitted "Well, if anything, the one who shouldn't worry about your next fights is you. We won't fight again until you're feeling well"

"That's… I'm sorry to inconvenience you" said Sneers, gritting his teeth "I…"

"It's okay" said Kori, placing a hand on his shoulder "We can't expect you to always win without any complications, so…"

"No, I… I could've done better. I could have" said Sneers, shaking his head "But I was thinking about… I was thinking about them"

Kori didn't have to ask who Sneers was referring to. She froze, the contact between them almost painful as a heavy silence hung between them.

"Your friends…" she muttered. Sneers nodded and she swallowed hard "I guess it's hard to focus after finding out they're all alive"

"I wasn't just thinking about them, I…" Sneers whispered, lowering his head "I'm sorry, Kori. I… I haven't been able to help it but I… I've thought of running away. I've thought of going to find them, but…"

Kori withdrew her hand, and Sneers shut his eyes tightly.

"I know I shouldn't have. I'm… I'm your gladiator, and I should fight for you as expected of me, but…"

"You want to know where they are, and how they've been" Kori muttered. Sneers glanced at her.

She didn't look disappointed, or enraged, even now. Her gaze was compassionate instead: understanding. His mouth fell agape as she sighed.

"I'm sorry, Sneers" she whispered "I should have asked you since a long time ago about your life, about your friends, about… about what you might have wanted to achieve by becoming my gladiator. Even the Princess did that for Sokka, and I…"

"You weren't supposed to… no slave master does that" said Sneers, frowning "At least, none I've heard of…"

"It doesn't mean I shouldn't have done it" said Kori "I'm sorry, Sneers. I was… I was so busy trying to be just like her that I failed to follow her example where it mattered most. And you know what? Maybe… maybe I shouldn't try to be like her anymore. All things considered, I can't be just like her no matter how hard I try, so… so I should stop following on her footsteps so blindly. If I hadn't tried to do that, maybe I would have been a better master…"

"No" said Sneers, swallowing hard "I… I was hostile, I was angry all the time, I resented you just because you're Fire Nation, because you could buy me like you'd buy a loaf of bread. But that doesn't mean you were bad. If anything, you were… you were always kind. I was just too bitter to see it"

"Or maybe I had to try a little harder" said Kori, with a sincere but sad smile "And… and I will now. You don't have to run away, Sneers. I… I won't get in your way if you decide to go find them"

Sneers' eyes widened. Kori dropped her gaze.

"I'll give you food for the journey, if you'd like. I can get you an ostrich horse too, so you can cover more ground. I could maybe secure passage for you to the Fire Nation, one of them is there, right?"

"I guess, but…"

"Of course, I'm not saying you have to go" she said, biting her lip "I mean… I would like it if you stayed. You're a great gladiator, and… well, I felt like we were finally getting somewhere with our partnership. But you're free to go, if you want…"

"Are you sure about that?" Sneers asked, apprehensively. Kori sighed.

"Yeah. I mean… I could throw a tantrum, say you can't do it, but… what good would it be?" she said, smiling "I'd rather help you if it's in my hands to do so. You've already been through so much, and I wasn't the best sponsor I could be. So…"

"So can't you just… take me to the Capital?" Sneers asked. Kori blinked blankly before looking at him in confusion.

"What? Take you?" she asked. Sneers swallowed, blushing a little.

"I mean… if you sent a challenge to Smellerbee's sponsor, I'd be able to see her. We could meet in the ring, and you could see what her sponsor is like, so you could tell me if it really is a good person…"

Kori's eyes widened as she looked at him, her lips parted. Sneers looked at her insecurely.

"I… I hadn't had a home for a very long time" he whispered "An actual house. A family to live with. I hadn't known stability like this since… since my family was murdered back in the war's heyday. And I didn't appreciate it until lately because… because as I said, I was bitter and angry and frustrated. But… I think you were right. We were making progress"

"We… we were" Kori agreed, looking at him in disbelief "And you really don't have to stay just to spare my feelings, Sneers, you could…"

"I could go and do what?" Sneers asked "I have no idea where Jet and Longshot are. Finding Smellerbee won't do me much good if I have nowhere to go with her later. Maybe I should find my friends and make sure they're okay… but maybe the best way I can do that is with your help. If… if you're willing, of course"

Kori remained speechless for a moment before smiling warmly. Sneers smiled a little too.

"Are you serious?" she asked "You really want to… to stay?"

"I… I feel like it's the right thing to do, for some reason" he said "Maybe it's their fault, after all. The Princess and her gladiator…"

"W-well, I won't try to make us be like them anymore, I promise" said Kori "We'll find our own rhythm, our own pace, and…"

"We will" Sneers agreed "And maybe the next time we meet them, we'll be able to stand our ground in battle against them"

Kori chuckled and nodded. Sneers' smile widened.

"So… you're sure?" she asked. Sneers nodded.

"As long as you'll have me" he said. Kori beamed.

"Thank you, Sneers" she said "We'll do our best to find your friends"

"The grateful one should be me" he whispered, looking at her earnestly "Thanks for everything. Without you… I'd never have a shot at finding them. I'd never know they're even alive. And I wouldn't have remembered what a stable life feels like, either. So… thanks, Kori"

Tears blinked in her eyes as she laughed again. Sneers smiled shyly still, his repressed rage nothing but a memory by now. It seemed the Blue Wolf had been right: he had been trying very hard to hate Kori, by turning her into a proxy of everything he'd ever hated about the Fire Nation. But she wasn't responsible for any of the horrors he had witnessed, and even if she was involved in the Gladiator Business, she did so honorably, and cared for his life as she would for a friend. He had been unfair to her, but he meant to make amends for that from now on, for as long as he might continue to serve as her gladiator.

* * *

"So it looks like things are a little better by now for those two, huh?" Sokka asked Azula, after the four of them had arrived to the Morishita house again.

Kori had helped Sneers inside, taking care not to brush against any of his wounds. The gladiator might need to be checked by another physician, just in case the ones from the Golden Eye hadn't treated all his wounds properly. Mayor Morishita had already rushed to find one, while Kori and her mom helped Sneers lie down on a comfortable couch.

"Oddly enough" Azula said, eyeing them with interest from the living room's threshold "It looks like he's found some sort of peace of mind now, actually. He's even smiling at her. That's nothing like who he was when we first saw him"

"Well, I'm glad" said Sokka, smiling too "I have no idea why it's happening, but it's nice to see that they might have worked out their differences. It's especially nice that they might have done it without any catastrophic fights, much unlike the two of us…"

"Catastrophic fights indeed" said Azula, raising her eyebrows as Sokka smiled guiltily "It's been a while since our last one, actually. I kind of miss it. Wouldn't you have something stupid to say so I can get really mad at you and…?"

"Oh, come on!" said Sokka, as she chuckled "You should be ecstatic that we've been on a good roll for so long. Don't jinx it by saying stuff like that because the next thing we know…"

"Princess…?! Princess!"

The voice of one of her guards startled Azula out of her amusement and made her turn to the house's front door immediately. Fei Li stood there, looking at her anxiously.

"What is it?" she asked, stepping towards him. Sokka raised an eyebrow and followed her, keeping a short distance from the Princess as Fei Li swallowed hard.

"I… I don't really understand the full gist of it" he admitted "But a messenger arrived just about five seconds ago, bearing this message"

He extended the scroll towards Azula, who clasped it with a frown on her face. Sokka stared at Fei Li questioningly while Azula read the writing on the parchment.

"What…?" she said, her frown growing heavier.

"What's going on?" Sokka asked, holding back from reading over her shoulder, knowing from experience that she didn't approve of that.

"All available troops are being summoned to Pohuai Stronghold at haste" she said, eyeing Fei Li with uncertainty before looking at Sokka "The Deserter has been sighted"


	121. Chapter 121

"The Deserter?" Sokka repeated, an eyebrow raised "And… who's that?"

Azula stared at him skeptically for a moment before realizing she had forgotten to mention him to Sokka, even after her conversation with Zhao. She hadn't thought the topic would be important enough to bring it up again. It was an odd coincidence that the man would be spotted nearby around a month after she had talked about him with the Admiral.

"A man who abandoned the Fire Nation's armed forces over a decade ago" said Azula "A remarkable firebender, a great military leader, and yet with a mind troubled by all his years in the battlefield. He abandoned his troops one day, never to be heard of again. He's the most wanted traitor to the Fire Nation, I believe…"

"Huh" said Sokka, frowning "I'd never heard of him before…"

"And I'd never heard that he'd let himself be seen before" said Azula, turning to Fei Li "What exactly was the situation? How did this happen?"

"I don't know the full details, Princess, I just came to alert you as quickly as I could" Fei Li explained "The messenger arrived only minutes ago, looking for Mayor Morishita, but the Mayor wasn't home so he came to us. He came with a message that said to bring as many troops as he could to Pohuai Stronghold, and I suppose he also needed to tell the Mayor his city will be unprotected briefly…"

"That's unacceptable" Azula snapped "We can't leave Yu Dao unprotected just because the Deserter has been sighted. Capturing him is important, but Colonel Shinu has the Yu-Yan archers at his disposition. Aren't they amongst the top elite troops the Fire Nation has to offer?"

"Indeed, but… I don't know the situation, Princess" said Fei Li, grimacing "Maybe you should speak to the messenger yourself"

"Maybe I will" Azula growled, stepping to the door. Sokka bit his lip before deciding to follow her and Fei Li to the guards' current headquarters.

The messenger was a forty-year-old soldier, breathing heavily as he recovered from what no doubt was a strenuous race to get to Yu Dao. The Royal Guards around him looked wary and uncertain of how to act, and Rui Shi seemed relieved when he noticed Azula was here.

"Princess…" said Rui Shi, nodding towards her. The messenger bolted upright and turned to her, bowing deeply.

"Crown Princess Azula! It's… it's a relief you're here! No doubt you'll be able to help in this time of danger in the Colonies…"

"What has happened? Why would Shinu need reinforcements so urgently to capture the Deserter?" Azula asked, looking at the messenger with a stern frown "From my understanding, Pohuai Stronghold is one of the sturdiest military bases we hold, and it's manned by all sorts of perfectly trained soldiers, including the best archers this world has seen. Why aren't they enough?"

"Because… Because our forces have already fallen against them" said the messenger. Azula's frown deepened.

"What do you mean by that? How?" she said, demandingly.

"A week ago, groups of scouts were sent to the forests north to the base as protocol. Only one man came back from the first one" said the messenger "He said the Deserter had ambushed them. The second squad was sent afterwards, and this time only two soldiers returned, badly wounded. We've already lost many of our best men, and we don't understand how! The survivors, they said… they said the Deserter is not alone. He has amassed some sort of following, and they're strong and well trained, too…!"

"And they surely know those forests better than your fellow soldiers" Azula reasoned, frowning.

"The second squad we sent caught up with them closer to our base" said the messenger "We believe… that they intend to attack the Stronghold"

"And you're two squads short to take them on comfortably. I see" said Azula, breathing deeply "Well, just as they might have the advantage in the forests, Colonel Shin should have the advantage if the enemy does move in to attack the Stronghold. You can arm yourselves fully there, and lay waste to the whole lot of them as long as you have enough men to fight…"

"But we've lost archers after those raids, Princess, and we don't have enough firebenders…" said the messenger, swallowing hard "I was sent to Yu Dao for reinforcements at haste, though I'm afraid we might not make it back on time even if I do find any…"

"Well, surely you won't if you all go to the Stronghold on ostrich horses" Azula reasoned "But there are faster means of transportation. More efficient ones, too"

"What… what do you mean?" asked the messenger.

Azula breathed deeply before looking at her men.

"You're amongst the greatest firebenders in my father's armed forces. It's the main reason any of you were eligible to serve as my guards in the first place" she said, her eyes scouring them "I don't know if it's a coincidence that we would be here just as the Deserter reappears, but whether it is or isn't, our course of action is clear: get the train-tank from the Barge, and make your way to Pohuai Stronghold immediately"

"Yes, Princess" said Rui Shi, diligently. The rest of them bowed and got ready to take off, as commanded.

"What…? Your guards?" the messenger said, his eyes wide with hope. Azula looked at him sternly.

"I'm not doing this just because I want to help capture the Deserter: I'm doing it because even under this situation, or precisely because of this situation, this city cannot be left unguarded. For all you know, the Deserter is sending a group to Pohuai as a decoy when his actual goal is to attack this city. You may ask for any available units to help as well, but you aren't taking all of Yu Dao's soldiers to the Stronghold"

"Oh… of course, Princess" he said, nodding.

"You have around an hour until my men bring the train-tank here. Make haste gathering any available solders, and take the train-tank to the Stronghold" said Azula "That way, if the situation is as dire as you said, we'll certainly make it there on time"

"Yes, yes, Princess, we… wait, we?" he said, looking at her in surprise. Azula nodded.

"You don't expect me to send my men to fight and yet sit here in Yu Dao, counting the minutes until they return, do you?" Azula asked "In fact, I'll be taking off first. I want to ask Colonel Shinu for a complete briefing of what's happening and what he means to do about it"

"You'll be taking off first? What do you…?" said the messenger, as Azula turned and walked out to the street.

Sokka followed silently, standing beside Azula as she frowned, in deep thought. The messenger lurked behind them, and Sokka eyed him with uncertainty before the man bowed to the Princess and rushed to round up whatever soldiers he could find. Once he was gone, the gladiator turned to Azula.

"I'm guessing you're waiting for a lift to Pohuai?" Sokka muttered. Azula nodded "And I'm guessing that you also know I'm not planning on staying here, counting the minutes until you return, right?"

"Indeed, I don't expect as much" said Azula, looking at him skeptically "Though I do hope you'll know not to get too involved in whatever happens. You're coming because I know there's no stopping you, but this is likely to be dangerous. You're staying by my side at all times, and causing no trouble, alright?"

"Well, the first condition was a given. I'll do my best with the second" said Sokka, with a weak smile.

Xin Long had traveled with them to the Earth Kingdom lands, and he had spent the last weeks searching for any signs of other dragons as he often did. Fortunately, he wasn't far at the time, and he returned by Azula's call as quickly as he could, clad in his armor – Azula had forced him to wear it so he wouldn't get as filthy as he often did on long trips. Rui Shi had stayed by the house, supervising the guards' preparation for heading to Pohuai, and he nodded as Azula climbed on the dragon.

"Make haste, Captain" she commanded, as Sokka climbed behind her "If the Deserter has amassed a force as dangerous as it sounds, we have to arrive there before he does. Pohuai needs to be defended"

"Yes, Princess. We'll be there as fast as possible" said Rui Shi, bowing his head down to her "Don't get started without us, if you can help it"

"Well, I can't promise anything, but I'll certainly try" said Azula, with a weak smirk before ushering Xin Long to take off.

Sokka clutched at the saddle's railings, wishing he could embrace Azula instead, but knowing it wasn't safe to do so right now. Until Yu Dao was far behind them he couldn't dare do anything as bold as that.

"Okay, so… what's the story with this Deserter guy?" he asked, trying his best to be heard through the wind that buffeted against them.

"Jeong Jeong was one of the most powerful firebenders to be seen in the Fire Nation during Fire Lord Azulon's time" Azula explained "From what I've heard, he grew unstable and even started loathing the element which he bent, leading him to abandoning his post in the navy when he was needed most direly. I believe he hadn't been seen since"

"Huh… so he deserted when your grandfather was in charge?" Sokka asked. Azula nodded "Your dad must have liked the guy, then, if he screwed his dad over…"

"Not really, Jeong Jeong is as much a public enemy to my father as he was to my grandfather" said Azula "And it's strange that he would pop up out of nowhere right now, just after…"

"Just after what?" Sokka asked, leaning closer as she dropped her voice tone slightly.

"I didn't mention it because I didn't think it was important, but when I had my meeting with the Head Sage, he mentioned Jeong Jeong" said Azula, glancing at Sokka. He frowned "He said the Deserter was one of the men who understood fire the best, which I questioned since I doubted a man who hates fire could possibly understand it… and then I also asked Zhao about him, since Jeong Jeong was his firebending master…"

"Woah, really?" Sokka asked, his eyes wide "Sideburns learned from some sort of prodigy, then?"

"He did, but from what he said, he lost all respect for Jeong Jeong after a while" said Azula, biting her lip "What I find odd is… why would Jeong Jeong show up for the first time in over a decade right after I talked about him with them? I mean…"

"You don't think either of them has any connections with the guy, do you?" Sokka asked, looking at her in confusion. Azula swallowed.

"Not Zhao, that's for sure. The Head Sage…? Oh, I doubt it, really" she said, shaking her head "Maybe all of this was only just a coincidence after all, and I'm thinking too much of it"

"Maybe" said Sokka, biting his lip and reaching for her hand while frowning "But… well, I don't want to feed your paranoia or anything, but we should keep in mind, whether the Head Sage had anything to do with this or not, that… that this could be more than what meets the eye"

"A trap?" Azula asked. Sokka clenched his teeth.

"It's ridiculously convenient for it to happen when we've spent around a month in Yu Dao, isn't it?" he whispered.

"Yes, it is" said Azula, nodding "But even so, we're going to handle this problem as we have with countless others. Trap or no trap, we're doing our damnedest to capture the Deserter and bring him back home. And who knows? Maybe I'll get to ask him what he thinks of gold fire if we do capture him"

"Surely you will" said Sokka, smiling "I mean, we've handled many nasty situations so far, this isn't our first crisis. The Dai Li set up a nasty net for us, and we still got out of it and captured them, instead. We can do it again now for sure"

"I hope so" said Azula, sighing and dropping against him, her forehead against his neck "Just make sure not to do anything stupid, okay? You're to stay by my side at all times unless I command otherwise. I'm sure my guards are stronger than the men Shinu had at his disposition, so hopefully they'll be able to handle everything without our involvement…"

There was a groan underneath them, as Xin Long turned his head to look at Azula. She smiled at him, and Sokka blinked as she stroked the dragon's hair.

"Indeed, we have Xin Long too" she said "And he's all ready to fight, with his neat armor and everything…"

"Heh, you think he'll join the fray?" Sokka asked "If so, it's great you made him wear it. It'll finally come in handy for its actual purpose!"

"He might serve to scare them off if need be" said Azula "All things considered, Pohuai is as good as impenetrable. The defenses are top-notch, it's one of the strongest bases we've ever established. Attacking it… well, it's quite a stupid move, all in all. They're probably terrified of doing it, to begin with, and having a dragon against them, on top of it all, would only continue to damage whatever convictions they might have"

"But indeed, it's… it's not the wisest thing to attack the Stronghold" Sokka reasoned, resting with his chin on her shoulder "If that guy's such a great strategist, would he do something so pointless if he knew how bad his chances are for winning?"

"Either he has a reason to believe he's unbeatable…" said Azula "Or, as we suspect, this is a trap or a misdirection. I suspect he's after something else other than attacking the Stronghold. I mean, what could he possibly gain from taking it, if that's even possible? Even if he has amassed followers, they can't be enough or better trained than the armies my father would send to take back the Stronghold, if Jeong Jeong succeeds at taking over it"

"So you don't think he could have an army of his own?" Sokka asked. Azula frowned.

"Where would he find one, and how would he organize and train it without anyone noticing?" she asked "It's weird, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is" said Sokka, breathing out slowly "Weird and dangerous, from the sound of it. I get the feeling he's not quite as easy to predict as Long Feng was"

"So he might be the worst threat we've had to face" said Azula, glancing at him "Well, I guess we didn't have some sort of ground-breaking argument this time, but we're still caught up in an insane adventure together, as usual. It'd been a while since our last, actually"

"Yeah" said Sokka, smiling gently and surrounding her with his arms "And I sure don't want to be on insane adventures with anyone else. We've made a good team sorting them out so far, haven't we?"

"I guess" said Azula, looking at him with a gentle grin of her own "But we really are missing the usual strife between us for once. Whatever shall we do now that we're getting along so well? Something's missing, Sokka, we really can't set out to deal with Jeong Jeong without some conflict that's threatening to drive us apart…"

Sokka chuckled against her shoulder as Azula smiled warmly. He knew he shouldn't do so, not when they would be arriving in the Stronghold sooner than later, but he leaned in to kiss Azula's lips without any restraints. Her hand reached up to caress his face, keeping him in place as she returned the kiss fully.

They felt more stable than ever, which was a novelty for them both. Their partnership had scarcely been shaken up lately. If they were to face off against dangerous, intelligent enemies whose goals, allegiances and beliefs were mysteries to be unveiled, they certainly couldn't do it in a better moment than this. They were both fit to face whatever challenge would come their way, and they were determined to overcome them as the strong team they'd become.

They spent most the trip kissing, desperately at times, for they had no idea what the future would bring, but there was an undeniable enthusiasm to it too, a camaraderie they'd never shared with anyone but each other. Even if this upcoming incursion was so uncertain, they didn't feel as anxious about it because they knew they'd face it together.

She had to make sure to wipe his lips clean as usual, once Pohuai was within sight in the horizon. Sokka continued to hold her as she reapplied the paint on her lips carefully, and until she warned him to release her, his reassuring embrace kept her calm and encouraged. He obeyed immediately upon her command, although her reckless side made her wish he had kept holding her for a little longer.

The Stronghold was bustling with activity: even at a distance it was apparent they were preparing for battle. Azula led Xin Long to the Stronghold's northern walls, where the most soldiers were gathered. As expected, Colonel Shinu was amongst them.

The man had been giving orders to a group of Yu-Yan archers when Xin Long roared to make his presence known. The soldiers were startled, some of them even yelped, and Shinu's eyes widened as Xin Long descended. Only when he remembered who was the rider of the only known dragon of the last decades did he understand why the creature would appear so suddenly, in such timely fashion.

"Nobody attack, you fools!" Shinu shouted, noticing some of the archers had instinctively nocked arrows to their bows "It's the Princess!"

A gasp of surprise was heard through the compound, and Xin Long landed gracefully before Shinu. Azula was quick to climb off his saddle and step towards the bowing Colonel.

"Princess Azula! It's an honor, and… and a surprise, too!" the Colonel confessed, standing upright to look at her.

Even at his full height, Colonel Shinu's top-knot was only level with Azula's nose. His short height had always been the subject of countless jokes amongst military officers, but nobody dared make them in front of the fearsome man. He was one of her father's most reliable military leaders, and he took his job very seriously.

"I imagine it must be. Your messenger showed up in Yu Dao, requesting back-up. The reinforcements are on their way. You will need to send a battleship to fetch the train-tank, if it's not much bother, but it's the fastest way to bring the troops you requested" Azula said, as she scanned the nearby soldiers with a keen eye "You don't seem to be as lacking in numbers as he implied…"

"He might have exaggerated matters, that fool, Peng" said Shinu, shaking his head "I requested reinforcements because I lost almost two full squads, but I didn't need…!"

"You didn't need me?" Azula finished, when Shinu fell silent. He squared his jaw.

"This is going to become a battleground, Princess. I would rather you were somewhere safe" he said.

"Considering this is the greatest of the Fire Nation strongholds in the Colonies, I'd like to think _this_ is somewhere safe" said Azula, raising her eyebrows defiantly "Or are you implying Pohuai can fall to the Deserter's forces, whatever they may be?"

"I… I certainly doubt it will, Princess" said Shinu, his fists clenched "But the situation is delicate. And I'd be far more comfortable if… if I could guarantee your safety for good"

Shinu's eyes shifted towards Sokka, who had climbed off Xin Long's back after Azula. The Colonel raised an eyebrow before gesturing at him.

"And this is…?"

"My gladiator. He's here to serve as my last line of defense in case anything were to happen to the rest of my guards" said Azula "They will be here shortly, they've come on the Mechanist's train-tank. They'll be bringing the reinforcements you requested from Yu Dao, and by my command, they shall also lend their help in this delicate situation, as you put it"

"Well… I'm grateful, Princess. But still…" said Shinu, shaking his head before turning to one of the Yu-Yan archers "Finish the briefing. I'll be back shortly"

The archer bowed his head, and Shinu ushered Azula to follow him inside one of the compound's watch towers. Xin Long eyed her with uncertainty but she nodded in his direction to appease him before following Shinu. Sokka kept up with her, his shoulders square. He hadn't been involved in a genuine war conflict since his first encounter with Azula.

"Princess, I understand you would very much like to help us defeat the Deserter" said Shinu, once they were inside a metallic room, furnished with only a table and a few bookshelves "But you have put me in a complicated position now. If anything happened to you, your father would unleash his rage on all of us. I cannot focus on defeating the Deserter and ensuring your safety simultaneously"

"So I'm just a liability in your eyes?" Azula asked, skeptical "I came here to offer my support and assistance, Colonel. I am not some weak, misled child who wandered into your compound. I have already been involved in a fair share of battles for the Fire Nation before, so perhaps you should consider I'm not quite as defenseless as you might expect me to be"

"It isn't that I believe you defenseless, Princess, but…! Oh, you don't understand" said Shinu, shaking his head. Azula rolled her eyes.

"I won't get involved in the battle itself, my guards will be the ones to do as much" she stated "I will remain safe, with my gladiator to stand guard over me if need be. Even if you believe this might have been a move of recklessness…"

"It was! You should have stayed in Yu Dao" said Shinu, shaking his head "If you had, we wouldn't be in this predicament. I wouldn't have to wonder how to handle this situation, if only…"

"If I had stayed in Yu Dao, which will have decreased security because you sent word for reinforcements? Sounds absolutely reasonable" said Azula, looking at Shinu skeptically. The man gritted his teeth "In fact, if it had been up to your messenger, the city would have been left completely defenseless. I intervened to ensure otherwise, and offered my men so that the city and people of Yu Dao could remain safe. So as much as you might think my recklessness might cost us direly, yours would have likely done the same thing without your awareness. What if this attack is merely a misdirection, Colonel? What if the Deserter's real goal was to strike Yu Dao while you're too busy battling his lesser minions here?"

Shinu lowered his head. Azula could tell he had pondered this possibility, but he hadn't taken that potential threat as seriously as he should have. She scoffed.

"If you're done protesting my decisions, I advise you return to your men. You may have to hold a siege soon, and the better prepared you are, the sooner it will end" she said. Shinu sighed.

"I'm sorry to be so abrasive, Princess. It may be you're right that this is the safest place for you… but I'm afraid I'm not comfortable with it regardless" he said "The Deserter is a hazard. He wouldn't be attacking us if he didn't believe he has a chance to win, and that's what truly daunts me"

"Unless, as I said, this is all a misdirection" said Azula. Shinu clenched his teeth.

"I have no idea what would be worse. Do you truly think Yu Dao might be in danger?" he asked. Azula sighed.

"Hopefully not in as much danger as it could have been if it were left completely unprotected" she said "Go on, Colonel. You're needed by your men"

Shinu sighed and nodded, bowing his head towards Azula before filing out of the room. Sokka watched him go before turning to look at Azula. He couldn't remember seeing such a strange mix of coldness and frustration in his lover's face before now.

"That didn't go so well, huh?" Sokka whispered. Azula shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"It's unbelievable. I should have stayed in Yu Dao, he says" she grunted "Did he expect me to send my men and sit around chatting with the Morishita's, without a care in the world?"

"I think he didn't expect you here altogether, that's what" said Sokka "Maybe he hadn't heard you were in the city, or if he had, he didn't think you'd want to have a say in what's happening here"

"Either way, he's lost his mind if he believes I'd do nothing when a known enemy of the Fire Nation is lurking around" Azula snapped "Shinu's likely just expecting me to get in his way, that's probably what truly bothers him"

"Would you get in his way?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula smiled at him.

"Only if he messes up so badly that I can't stand to watch anymore" she said. Sokka chuckled as she made to leave the room in the tower, and he followed her "Fortunately, Shinu isn't the most incompetent of my father's men. He's usually effective enough, but I can't say he's very creative. He doesn't tend to think outside his box, and hardly ever tries to adapt to the circumstances…"

"So you're an unforeseen complication to him" said Sokka. Azula shrugged.

"It's quite amusing if you think about it, considering I'm bound to be the strongest firebender on our side, but to him I'm just a bother" she muttered, through gritted teeth "Oh, well. Perhaps the Deserter will give me a chance to prove myself to him, much like you did down South…"

"Heh, I had no idea I was giving you one" said Sokka, with a weak smile. Azula allowed her hand to graze his softly "But as much as I do love seeing you shut down jerks who don't take you seriously, I hope it won't be necessary this time. That Deserter guy sounds like a lot of trouble"

"Hopefully old age has gotten to him" said Azula, as the two of them climbed down to the middle wall of the Stronghold.

The compound was comprised by one tall tower at its very center, and the tower was surrounded by three walls of sturdy, impenetrable metal. There were watch towers on every vertex of the walls, and they were tall enough to allow them to look past the Stronghold's barriers. Arid territory spread in front of the fortress, which led to a small forest. Two wide streams hugged the terrains where the Stronghold stood, and they joined together south of it to become a massive river: north to the Stronghold stood mountains. It was behind those tall peaks that the Deserter's forces had appeared and attacked for the very first time…

The train-tank took a few more hours to arrive, and the sky was already darkening by then. Azula's guards joined the fortress's soldiers right away, and they were ready to partake in battle whenever the Deserter's forces appeared. The wait before the fight was quite stressful for everyone, though. The archers positioned on the walls and towers watched the mountains impatiently, and the soldiers on the ground paced with unease. Azula stood inside the central tower now, watching through one of the windows as Xin Long lay in wait as well, perched behind the inner wall, in hopes to stay hidden until the enemy appeared.

"How many men do you have?" Azula asked Shinu, who was watching the mountains anxiously next to her.

"Thirty archers. A hundred and fifty spearmen, a hundred swordsmen. Forty firebenders" he said, his eyes shifting towards her.

"And a dragon, too" said Azula, breathing slowly "It's not a lot. But then again, he shouldn't have a large force either. At any rate, the Yu-Yan archers should be able to cut their numbers by half before they even climb off those mountains…"

"I would hope so. As long as… as everything goes according to our plan" said Shinu, tensing up. Azula glanced at him.

"How many people do you think he has?" she asked "Did the survivors from your scouting squads have any idea of what their numbers were?"

"No, just… dozens, too many to count properly when fleeing from them" said Shinu, shaking his head "They don't know. They were overwhelmed"

"Just climbing those mountains ought to overwhelm them this time around" Azula muttered, sighing and turning her back on the window.

Sokka and Rui Shi were in the room as well. As promised, the gladiator had stayed by Azula's side and done nothing regrettable so far, while the Captain of the Guards stood nearby to ensure the Princess's absolute safety.

Yet when Azula set eyes upon Sokka she couldn't help but frown, mirroring his own expression. He was in deep thought, and in these situations, he wouldn't usually be as withdrawn and quiet unless he had an idea of some sort. Those ideas tended to be spot-on, too, whenever he started analyzing things coldly from a distance, just as he had when he figured out the Rough Rhinos' mode of operation, and when he discovered the link between that same group of brigands and the Dai Li. So Azula huffed, looking at him skeptically.

"What is it now?"

Sokka jumped and looked at her in surprise. Shinu and Rui Shi turned as well, as surprised by Azula's question as Sokka was. But she kept a questioning glare on her face, her arms crossed over her chest.

"W-what do you mean…?"

"I know that look, and I know you're thinking a little too hard for your standards, gladiator" she grunted. Sokka grimaced "What's going on? What did you figure out?"

"I didn't figure… well, I don't think I figured anything out" Sokka said, shrugging "I was only trying to understand why the heck would a guy like that Deserter try to attack a Stronghold as well defended as this one. I really doubt he'd gain anything from it…"

"So?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows. Sokka sighed and looked at her almost apologetically.

"You said it was a weird coincidence that you'd talk about this guy to the Head Sage and Zhao only a month ago" he said "And yeah, it's weird, but that might just have been a coincidence after all. But… maybe what isn't a coincidence is that the Deserter would act out just after you've spent a month in the Colonies. It's the first time you've been in a single city abroad for so long, and…"

"And you think that might be connected to why the Deserter is conveniently popping up now?" Azula asked, her glare growing apprehensive as Sokka's ideas finally sank in "You think he's… after me?"

Sokka gritted his teeth as Rui Shi clenched his fists. Shinu's eyes widened too.

"I don't know for sure, maybe I'm making a big deal out of this, but…"

"If the Deserter is after the Princess, then she cannot stay here!" Shinu said, stepping towards them. Azula huffed.

"You don't have to talk like I'm not in the same room as you, Colonel" she grunted "By all means, maybe you think this was only a trap just to lure me into the Stronghold, but I doubt that. If anything, it was a trap to lure all guards and soldiers away from Yu Dao. Jeong Jeong probably expected me to stay there, away from the frontlines…"

"So this really could be a diversion?" Rui Shi asked "Or…"

"Or he knew you'd come rushing to the Stronghold after he goaded you, and he's strong enough to tear our defenses apart just to get to you!" said Shinu, looking at Azula reproachfully "Princess, I must insist. Your life is more valuable than that of anyone else here, and we cannot risk you being hurt, let alone captured by them!"

"Ah, and where do you propose I go, then?" Azula asked, staring at Shinu defiantly "We don't know for certain if they were hoping to find me in Yu Dao, or if they were only going to attack the Stronghold. Going back to the city right now would be pointless: I might just head straight into a trap if I do"

"Then… not to Yu Dao. Maybe over the eastern river instead" said Rui Shi, frowning "They may not expect you to head away from the conflict areas, so that just might be what you should do…"

"Oh, so you agree then?" Azula asked, looking at Rui Shi in surprise "You think I should leave you all to fight a battle against the most mysterious and quite possibly most dangerous foe we've faced, while I run off in the opposite direction like a coward?"

"It's not a matter of cowardice… it's a matter of keeping you safe" said Rui Shi, breathing out heavily.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but I do not share it" Azula snapped "I'm not leaving while all my guards stay here to fight. I can't do it"

"Well, then, let Captain Rui Shi go with you too" said Shinu. Azula looked at him in disbelief "Take him and your gladiator and stay away from all danger. It's best that way"

"Really, now?" Azula asked, affronted "I wonder if anyone ever told that to my Uncle back when he was fighting in the war. He was a highly ranked military officer, higher than you, even, involved in bigger operations than this, and yet nobody batted an eyelash about it. Why is it so different when I do it, if I may inquire?"

"It's different because he was Fire Lord Azulon's son!" Shinu exclaimed "And you… you are Fire Lord Ozai's daughter"

The weight of Shinu's words struck Azula more heavily than a pile of rocks. Her gold eyes grew colder as her hands trembled with rage that refused to be contained…

"Fire Lord Azulon was reckless" said Rui Shi, cutting in, with hopes to salvage the discussion "Sending his heir to such dangerous battles was never wise. General Iroh lost his son that way…"

"I don't expect to die today, mind you" Azula growled, glaring at Rui Shi "My cousin may have been a remarkable firebender, but as it is…"

"You're probably better, yes" said Rui Shi, sighing "All the more reason to keep you safe, Princess. I'm sorry, but…"

"This is ridiculous" she said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes "It's utterly ridiculous. But truth be told? If you really believe the Stronghold isn't safe, that Jeong Jeong can just as easily seize it with whatever group of misfits he's brought with him, then maybe we don't deserve to hold this blasted bastion in the first place"

"Princess…" said Rui Shi, but Azula shook her head and stormed off.

Shinu seemed unmovable, with almost satisfaction drawn on his face upon seeing Azula give up her fight against him. Sokka scowled at the Colonel, and he looked at Rui Shi with unease before the Captain turned to him, too.

"We'll be going with her wherever it is she goes, right?" Rui Shi asked. Sokka nodded and sighed.

"I probably shouldn't have talked, huh?" he said. Rui Shi shook his head.

"It might be better to do this. She doesn't see it right now because of how upset she is, but…"

"This is no child's play" said Shinu, frowning "The Deserter is a real threat. We cannot expect him to behave like an ordinary soldier would: he knows the Fire Nation because he was with us before, unlike most our other enemies. If someone would know how to tear through our defenses, it's him"

"Well, that is, if you only resort to the same defensive strategies you've used for over ten years" said Sokka skeptically. Shinu turned his scowl to him "No offense, Colonel, but Princess Azula has already overcome every expectation to be placed upon her. She's no ordinary royal, never has been. If someone just might be able to concoct a plan that this Deserter guy can't begin to imagine, it's her. He may have known the Fire Nation back in the times of Azulon and Iroh, but he has never faced the likes of Princess Azula"

Shinu stared at Sokka with a mix of confusion, affront and disbelief, but before he could decide what to say, Sokka had already made to follow the Princess. Rui Shi was behind Sokka as well, leaving behind a Colonel who only huffed and returned to the window, his eyebrows drawn together heavily.

"And he never will" Shinu whispered, his glare again on the mountains that stood ahead of the Stronghold. He would do his damnedest to keep the Princess away from the battlefield tonight.

Though given how resigned Azula already was, it didn't seem Shinu would need to try much harder than that. The Princess had stormed into a storage room in the tower, angrily searching for provisions to take with her on this pointless new road trip she'd be forced to take. The more she pondered the circumstances, the more they angered her, but there was nothing she could do other than stem in her rage for the time being.

It wasn't hard for Sokka and Rui Shi to find her, both because she didn't go too far and because her anger was noisy enough, too. She kept pushing closets open, searching for bags to carry whatever she'd have to take with her, but she didn't succeed until she finally reached the second to last compartment.

"Princess…" said Rui Shi, as Sokka rushed in to help her. Azula grunted to acknowledge them, and she handed the Captain one of the bags.

"Fetch whatever provisions we'll need" she grunted "I've already wandered blindly through this blasted continent once before, with hardly any supplies to survive, and I'm certainly not doing it again. Get a map, too"

"Yes, Princess" said Rui Shi, nodding and leaving quickly to obey her commands.

Sokka stayed to help her load two large packs with all the food and utensils she could find in this storage room. An emergency healing kit went into the pack as well, along with a handful of hygiene products. All the while, Azula kept frowning as her gold eyes flickered from side to side with annoyance, blazing with fury.

"Azula…" Sokka whispered, once he couldn't take the tense silence anymore.

He knew she'd launch into a promised rampage, which was why he'd thought to call her name in the first place. So he only bit his lip and lowered his head as the Princess snarled and closed the second pack somewhat savagely.

"I'm Fire Lord Ozai's daughter, he says. Like that should mean I'm some sheltered fool who cannot fend for herself!" she growled, rolling her eyes and glaring at the wall. Sokka grimaced "This is absolutely ridiculous. I should be allowed to stay as my men charge into battle, no commander would be deprived from that right! I should be…!"

"Yeah, you probably should be" said Sokka. Azula huffed.

"It's unbelievable, isn't it? I have gotten involved to help him, and I made sure to keep Yu Dao safe, stopping Shinu's messenger from taking away all the guards, and yet I'm forced to leave, told I can't even watch as my men fight? I…!"

"You've done a lot, yeah" said Sokka "It's not fair, but…"

"But what?" Azula asked, looking at him in disbelief "Do you think there's any truth in any of that? Do you think that because I'm my father's daughter I have no business involved in these matters?!"

"Hey, hey, hey… are you seriously asking me that?" Sokka asked, placing his hands on her shoulders. Azula's anger seemed to be tempered as she realized who she was talking to "I saw you tame a dragon, remember? I watched as you took down that blasted Colonel Mongke ages ago, I helped defeat your enemies in the Capital, and I joined in to help you beat the Dai Li in Ba Sing Se, too. Do you honestly think I'd believe you have no right to get involved in combat?"

"I… sorry. I just… I know you're the last person I should react like this towards" she said, lowering her eyes and shaking her head "I'm just tired of this. Of being told how great I am, of being praised for being so strong and told of the wonders I'll achieve… yet when every opportunity arises, I'm told to step back, to stay away, to never take action. All because I'm my father's heir and I must be protected… I know using my uncle or my cousin as examples is quite counterproductive given what happened to Lu Ten, but even before them, countless Crown Princes fought as often as it was needed. And yet I'm not allowed to do the same?"

"You are allowed, Azula. You are" said Sokka, his hands rubbing her arms now "But I'm afraid some people may not see it. And in this case… well, I do want you to be safe, and I admit I don't know what's more dangerous, if staying or leaving. But I understand why you're so frustrated. I mean… I felt the same way a long time ago"

"You did?" said Azula, looking at him in surprise. Sokka smiled.

"Many years ago, a very reckless Water Tribe warrior went out seeking battles he wasn't ready to fight" he said "Battles he shouldn't have picked, likely, but he picked them anyways. And he lost like a fool, against none other than the most incredible woman he'd ever know"

"So you're saying I shouldn't pick this fight because I'll lose like a fool too…?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka smiled and shook his head.

"I'm saying I got ahead of myself, and went out looking for a destiny that entailed lots of things I didn't understand at the time" he said "Things have turned out a lot better for me than expected. I'm pretty sure I just got lucky… but anyways, the point is, you really are as strong and extraordinary as everyone says. I know it for a fact, Azula. No one is anywhere near as amazing, in any sense, as you are"

"Well, great. But it doesn't seem that makes me good enough to fight for my people" Azula muttered.

"Maybe not in some people's eyes. They're looking out for your safety, mostly, though probably for their own sakes more than anything" said Sokka, sighing "Pretty sure this Shinu guy is mostly scared of what your dad will do to him if you're hurt here"

"I wouldn't be hurt" Azula muttered stubbornly.

"I'm sure you wouldn't be, too" said Sokka, with a smile "But this… this isn't the last chance you're going to get, Azula. This isn't the last battle, I'm sure of it. One day you'll ride out into a major fight, riding Xin Long and soaring through the air, flames all around you…"

"Sounds like quite the scene, huh?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow but smiling a little. Sokka chuckled.

"Sure it would be" he said "But I want you to keep this in mind, alright? Not because you didn't fight today does it mean you won't be able to fight tomorrow. You'll have your chance to prove your worth to this guy and to any other bastard who dares think you are any less than what you really are"

"I hope you're right. I really do" said Azula, looking at him with uncertainty "It makes no sense for me to have all this power and do nothing with it"

"You'll do great things with it. But you'll have to delegate to Colonel Thickest-Sideburns-Yet for today" said Sokka, with a weak smirk. Azula chuckled "Really, though. I thought Zhao had them thick, but…"

"Shinu takes that to a whole new level" she agreed, smiling weakly.

They finished setting up the packs, balancing their weight so they wouldn't be uneven, but Sokka frowned upon noticing a detail he hadn't paid attention to until now.

"Say…" said Sokka, biting his lip "All things considered, if we're going to try to go unnoticed, maybe we should try to alter our appearances a bit so people don't recognize us?"

"What… you mean you want to shave?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. Sokka chuckled.

"No, I mean… at least you need to pocket your hairpiece" he said, removing it gently from her hair.

"My armor is another dead give-away" Azula admitted, staring down at it with irritation "So I suppose I ought to leave that here"

"Yeah, uh… please don't take off anything else or I might not be able to control myself, Princess" he said, biting his lip as she undid the clasps of her black armor. Azula smirked.

"It's why I won't ask for your help, gladiator. How shameful of you, lusting after your sponsor like this…" she said, as he helped her anyways while she pushed it over her head. Sokka smiled guiltily.

"It's a good thing you were wearing this one instead of the gold one, huh?" Sokka asked, setting the armor down as Azula pocketed her hairpiece, as advised "What with it being new and everything… or at least, newer than this one"

"Indeed" said Azula, sighing "I'll have Shinu's head if this one gets so much as a scrape on it, though. I don't need more reasons to be cross with the man, but I have the bad feeling he'll keep giving them to me in the near future…"

"Can't you just tell your dad about what a jerk he was?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"I really just might…" she said, enigmatically. Sokka snickered "Who knows? Maybe that way he'll realize that keeping me alive is a priority on the same level as letting me get my way…"

"You do always get your way somehow" said Sokka, smiling "I wonder what you'll pull off this time"

"Frankly, so do I" said Azula, raising her eyebrows with uncertainty.

Sokka leaned close and kissed her cheek softly. She stared at him in surprise, but his gentle eyes made her uncertainty fade away soon enough.

"You'll figure this out, Azula. You always do" he said. Her smile grew more earnest now as she nodded in his direction.

"With your help, more often than not" she admitted "Let's hope this isn't going to be the first time the circumstances overcome us, shall we?"

"Heh, we're the best gladiator and sponsor combination! What do we have to fear?" Sokka said, proudly. She laughed and shook her head as she led him out of the room.

Xin Long was waiting for them right outside the tower, his gold eyes gleaming with unease. He had paid attention to what had happened between Azula and Shinu, and not only was he concerned for his rider's state of mind, but also for what part he had to play in this matter now that Azula had unwillingly accepted to leave the compound.

Sokka watched as Azula sighed and placed a hand on the dragon's armored snout, communicating with him wordlessly in that strange, telepathic way Sokka didn't quite understand. Xin Long only looked more disappointed after Azula dropped her hand, though.

"What's…?" Sokka asked, as she looked at him with resignation.

"He should stay here" she said. Sokka's eyes widened "If we're trying to escape from the Deserter because we fear he might be after me, then taking off on Xin Long will be a dead giveaway that I'm not in the Stronghold anymore. If anything, Xin Long's presence in the Stronghold should convince them I'm here. If they actually expected to find me in Yu Dao at all, they'll be drawn to the Stronghold after seeing that…"

"Damn" said Sokka, sighing and looking at Xin Long in defeat. The dragon mirrored the expression in his own eyes "It's the smart thing to do, sure, but it's somewhat harsh…"

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" said Azula, rolling her eyes "I'd much rather stay in this accursed place, for starters, but the Colonel has been so very hospitable…"

"So this really will be a lot like our first trip through the Earth Kingdom, huh?" said Sokka, gulping "What with us walking around like that…"

"This time, though, we have provisions" she said, pointing at the bags Sokka was carrying "We'll have a map too, once Rui Shi returns… and all things considered, we can just return here once the danger is gone, right? We probably won't have to go too far"

"Yeah, hopefully this will be sorted out within a single night" said Sokka, with an encouraging smile "You two won't be apart for long, I'm sure"

"It's what I'm hoping, yes" said Azula. Xin Long groaned and pressed his head to her shoulder, so she would hug him gently "You will look out for yourself, alright? The men you might be fighting are new, unknown enemies. You can't risk being injured, captured, let alone killed by them. So just… take care, alright? And don't drop your guard for a second, got it?"

Xin Long gurgled and nodded against her. Azula smiled and pulled away.

"Go, then. Defeat our enemies, for the both of us" she whispered.

Xin nodded again and rose into his full height, his golden eyes blazing with determination before he took off, flying towards the top of the tower so he could have a good view of the mountain range where the enemy hid. Azula watched him from below, her face a mask of apprehension as she wondered if her dragon would be safe. Maybe she was a fool to think Xin Long should stay, but at least if he did she'd know what was happening in the Stronghold, if only through the bond between them.

"Hey… he'll be okay. For sure"

Azula blinked blankly and turned to Sokka. He was eyeing her with uncertainty, surely sharing her concern, but also filled with a lot of it for the Princess, too.

"I hope so" she said. She longed to clasp his hand, if just to feel a little more reassured that way, but she didn't dare do it here or now. She had the feeling he wanted to touch her just as badly, but he held back, too.

So they were left staring into each other's eyes for the time being, both of them filled with confusion and uncertainties. They'd been on enough unwanted adventures together to know that they couldn't drop their guard any less than Xin Long could.

"I have the map…" said Rui Shi, startling them out of their momentary daze as he appeared in the building's threshold "I also have some food and several water bottles, too. Will we need anything else?"

"Hopefully not" said Azula, sighing as she eyed Rui Shi's pack "I suppose we'll be waiting until they attack, then?"

"But we shouldn't wait inside the Stronghold, though" said Rui Shi, swallowing hard "If they notice any gates opening in the middle of an attack they might be quick to understand what we're doing"

"In fact, if they're fast enough they might even slip inside the Stronghold" said Azula, sighing "Very well, then. We'll need a boat too, right?"

"I'll make sure to find one" said Rui Shi, nodding towards her and taking the lead to head outside the metallic compound.

Colonel Shinu had been pacing the walls, now on the southern wing of the compound, before spotting the Captain, the Princess and her gladiator heading towards him. He climbed down from his high position, aware of the Princess's glare upon him. His own sharp eyes settled on the insolent gladiator instead though, scowling still over what he had said earlier. Sokka held his gaze without a shred of shame.

"My men will lead you out" said Shinu, as the two soldiers flanking the gates bowed their heads towards Azula.

"We will need a boat, and we'll probably dispose of it if we're to make sure they won't notice someone left this Stronghold" said Azula, staring at Shinu defiantly "Is that alright with you, Colonel?"

"Whatever it takes to make sure you're safe, Princess" said Shinu, nodding "Make haste now. Be on your guard and…"

"We will be. But we're only taking the boat across the river once they start attacking" said Azula, folding her arms across her chest.

"We'll stay hidden within the southern forest" said Rui Shi "They aren't likely to notice us there, and they may not notice a boat leaving in the dead of night if they're engaged in battle with our forces, and with a dragon, too"

"A… you mean to leave it here?" Shinu asked. Azula nodded.

"Not only is he a force to be reckoned with, but that way I'll know all of what's happening in the Stronghold without being here" she said "Or were you hoping to send him away too, by any chance?"

"It's dangerous to…"

"If it gets too dangerous, he'll scorch them all into carcasses" Azula stated "And if it were so dangerous that he can't possibly do that, he'll fly away and leave you to figure out this predicament for yourself, I suppose. But if he stays we'll be able to deceive them into believing I am in the Stronghold despite I won't be, so…"

"Oh, well" said Shinu, groaning and shrugging "I will do my best to handle the situation, Princess, but your dragon had best behave itself and not get in the way…"

"I advise you not to get in his" said Azula, with a sarcastic, dry grin.

The Colonel could say nothing more, so he sighed and spread an arm towards the gate. The soldiers standing guard next to the large metal doors took care to open them, and the three stepped outside the compound with uncertainty.

"Be on the lookout for any danger. Do not allow any harm to befall the Princess, Captain Rui Shi" said Shinu, sternly, from inside the Stronghold. Rui Shi nodded.

"I will see to her safety" he said. Shinu grinded his teeth.

"That better be the case"

The gates closed in front of the man, moving slowly until he was fully blocked from sight. Rui Shi huffed and turned to his protégé and her secret lover, who both had expressions of clear distaste across their faces.

"Uh… I also found these" said Rui Shi, setting down his pack and opening it to reveal three dark cloaks with hoods. He extended one to each of them "I would hope they'll help conceal who we are, if anything"

"From what I know, black cloaks don't always help with secrecy…" Azula muttered, but she took the cloth either way "But in the middle of the night it's likely to be a different story. Good thinking, Captain"

"Thank you, Princess" he said, showing her a weak grin after removing his mask "I'll find the boat, then. Wait on the edge of the forest for me. We'll prepare to take off as soon as we need to"

Azula and Sokka made their way to the southern forest, settling amongst bushes and sitting down to watch the mountain anxiously. Sokka struggled to do so in the darkening night, but Azula could use Xin Long's consciousness to see what he was seeing. So far, nothing had happened.

"Are all sieges like this?" Sokka wondered. Azula raised an eyebrow "This endless wait when you know the enemy is closing in, but the fight doesn't start yet…"

"Maybe" she said, eyeing him worriedly "Do you really think of them as the enemy, though? I mean…"

Sokka blinked and turned to her. Her golden eyes reflected uncertainty, wariness. He didn't have much trouble figuring out why.

"The guy's a man who decided he didn't like the Fire Nation anymore, so I should probably think he's got the right idea, huh?" said Sokka. Azula shrugged.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did" she said. Sokka sighed.

"I can't say I'm disappointed to find that some people have turned against your forefathers" he admitted "If you ask me, they had it coming. But… I also wonder just how much has this man achieved for his people by running off as he did. Unless he actually fought and lost against the Fire Nation during the last days of the war in the Earth Kingdom, then his betrayal to your grandfather doesn't amount to much. It sounds like more of a tantrum than anything"

"And what would you have expected him to do?" Azula asked, intrigued. Sokka shrugged.

"Maybe he should have traveled through the colonies, sharing the hard truths about the Fire Nation whenever he could to all those who were misguided by all the propaganda. He probably could have amassed great support that way, maybe gathering enough people to help the Earth Kingdom fight back against the Fire Nation. Heck, if he organized his supporters properly they might have ended to the war, once your father or grandfather realized the Deserter was leading forces too powerful to be stopped anymore"

"Sounds slightly wishful to me" said Azula, with a weak grin "But… who knows? Maybe that's what he's been doing all along. It might be the process was slower than you'd expect"

"Maybe" said Sokka, sighing "But if he does have that sort of army with him, a group of people who disagree with the Fire Nation like that, why use them to attack this place? Why, of all places…? I'd think he'd want to free Ba Sing Se, for instance, or Omashu, where people looked the most miserable. Doing so might yield even more supporters and help him weave a powerful campaign where he could take back the Earth Kingdom's land for their people, but…"

"But what?" Azula asked. Sokka lowered his head.

"Maybe he's just not interested in giving anything back to the Earth Kingdom" he reasoned. Azula frowned.

"And what do you think he wants, then?" she asked "Revenge on the Fire Nation, maybe? And he targeted me to get to my father, much like… well, like everyone seems to do?"

"It's possible" said Sokka, sighing "But you don't have to worry. He won't get to you. We'll make sure of that"

"We've already gone to such lengths to avoid it that I certainly hope so" said Azula, sighing and reaching for his hand. He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze.

Rui Shi returned around ten minutes later by the riverbank, rowing the small boat towards their hiding spot. After he sighted them, he tied the boat to the nearest tree and joined them behind the bushes for their vigil of the mountain.

"Everything remains unchanged so far" said Azula. Rui Shi nodded "I only hope this isn't a complete waste of time…"

"Hopefully they won't have anticipated our actions" said Rui Shi "For all we know, they might not even be aware that you were abroad right now"

"If that were the case, our little flight is completely pointless" Azula said. Rui Shi grimaced.

"Indeed. I don't know if it would be worse for it to be pointless or the entire opposite of that" he whispered "But either way, we'll take off to the east now. It seems there's an Herbalist Institute nearby, according to the map I brought…"

"A Fire Nation Institute?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Rui Shi shook his head.

"Originally it was Earth Kingdom, but the men have told me that the woman who works there has been known for not holding hard feelings for Fire Nation people. Her cat, apparently, isn't quite as easygoing…"

"Her cat?" Sokka repeated, blinking blankly. Rui Shi shrugged.

"You have to wonder just how much trouble a cat can be, but that's what they told me" he said. Azula snorted.

"This gets more ridiculous by the minute…" she whispered, shaking her head in disbelief as she stared at the mountains again.

It was almost impossible to see anything at such a distance, so she relied on Xin Long again for a better look at the peaks. She frowned, though, sensing a sudden surge of aggressiveness in the dragon. Were they finally under attack?

They weren't yet, Azula realized, as Xing Long eyed the mountain with his sharp eyes. There were dark shapes moving over it, though, which had prompted the dragon to start groaning threateningly.

"It's starting" Azula whispered. Both Sokka and Rui Shi jumped at either side of her.

Barely instants after Azula said the words, they heard the swishing sounds of strung bows releasing their arrows. Azula gritted her teeth as she watched, through Xin Long's eyes, how the Yu-Yan archers attacked resiliently, with the precision they were known for. But it didn't seem the attackers were slowed by that: more came rushing down the mountains, countless dark shapes, carrying rudimentary spears and wearing thick armors made of fur and hide.

"Who the blazes are these people…?" Azula said, frowning in confusion. Had Jeong Jeong gathered a tribal gang of the Earth Kingdom, by any chance? This made no sense… how could the Deserter expect such forces to defeat the soldiers on this Stronghold?

"What's going on?" Sokka asked, looking at Azula with uncertainty.

"The men Jeong Jeong has allied himself with look like… well, like an Earth Kingdom tribe or something of the sort" she said, shrugging "Either he's using them as cannon fodder, and they're so suicidal they're fine with that, or they're truly just a distraction. They might not have realized they'd likely die on this pointless operation…"

"How many do you think there are?" Sokka asked. Azula bit her lip.

"It's hard to say. They're pouring down from the mountains consistently, though. Maybe hundreds?"

"It's not too many to defeat… but if they have any strategies to climb those walls they might be more trouble than we thought" said Rui Shi, gritting his teeth before shaking his head "We should go now, though. If they're attacking…"

"Right… Let's avoid drawing attention to ourselves, alright?" said Azula, sighing as Rui Shi rushed to the boat as stealthily as possible, his dark cloak rustling behind him.

Azula took off after him, with Sokka not far behind her. Rui Shi undid the rope that kept the boat in place, and as soon as Sokka had taken his seat at the prow he gestured at one of the rows.

"Take that one. I'll use the other" he said, pushing them into the stream with his leg.

The boat was unstable, even though Sokka and Rui Shi tried to time their rowing in order to be as efficient with this short trip as possible. The bumbling movements of the small vessel were but another cause of concern for the Princess, who sat at the center of the boat, clutching the wooden rims of it while hoping the two men would be able to fight the strong current on their way to the opposite riverbank.

She glanced over her shoulder at the Stronghold again, though, noticing that the Yu-Yan archers were using fire in their arrows by now. Small sparks of orange cut through the darkness, but it surprised Azula to notice that the small flames were moving in both directions: the Deserter's forces were starting to fight back, with burning arrows of their own.

She couldn't help but wonder where Jeong Jeong was, though. It wasn't uncommon for a military leader to remain hidden while his men fought, but the irregular situation was bothersome: this wasn't part of a normal armed conflict between nations, it was something else entirely. Was Jeong Jeong there at all? Was he truly leading these men? Was his legend a mere smokescreen for them to hide behind? As she was, she had no way of knowing the answer to any of those questions.

And soon enough she stopped caring for those answers: a plum of blue fire suddenly shot out from the Stronghold, making her gasp and startle her two companions.

She allowed her link to Xin Long to surface again, and she found that he had been saving an archer from a deadly arrow; he had scared off the man who had shot it, his blue fire making him shriek and run for cover. Most the men standing at the mountains seemed perplexed, from what Xin Long could see, and a few were certainly scared of discovering they had to fight a dragon, too. But they weren't scared enough to stop attacking, so Xin Long had to keep buffeting their attacks with the blue inferno from his jaws.

"What's going on?" Sokka asked, softly, but with concern. Azula gritted her teeth.

"Xin is joining the battle. So far he's scared them somewhat, from the looks of it, but… but they're not stopping just with that. They're still attacking"

"Do they really think they can overcome a dragon?" Rui Shi asked, frowning while rowing as fast but as stealthily as possible. Sokka's prior experience in boats and helped him to be swift with his rowing, whereas Rui Shi had to make a more conscious effort to do so.

"They might, but they'd be wrong, I hope…" said Azula, breathing deeply. Her eyes remained glued to the battle, blazes of blue shooting out towards the mountain. As long as the blue fire remained strong and steady, she would know Xin Long was still fighting to his best.

They had expected to be anxious about reaching the other bank as fast as possible, but strangely, rowing away from danger was what bothered the three of them the most. When the boat touched the other end of the river it was an unexpected and unwelcome reality blow.

"Princess…" Rui Shi called, gritting his teeth "We must go"

Her entire body burned with the urge to rip that row off his hands and return to where they'd come from. It was a massive battle, one that their enemies weren't willing to surrender, and yet she was stuck as far from the fighter's front as possible, left to do nothing but to watch from a distance how her dragon and her men battled against Jeong Jeong's people, whoever they were…

She shook her head and stood up, climbing off the boat against her will and hating herself for doing so. Rui Shi followed, but Sokka stayed behind to stab the hull of the boat with Space Sword. It slid through the wood with ease, as it always did thanks to its sharp edges. After he climbed off the vessel he kicked it into the river, leaving it to sink in the cold waters down below.

The three of them stared at the battle at this distance now, the rumor of the war cries reaching them only weakly, screams and shouts and the whooshes of Xin Long's fire blasts cutting through the air. The river's stirring water was far louder, almost deafeningly so, for those who longed to hear what was taking place at its other side.

"We have to take cover" said Rui Shi, the first to snap out of the daze. He threw the hood of the cloak over his face "Follow me. I should be able to find the Herbalist Institute from here"

"Right" said Sokka, nodding and imitating him. After hooding himself he turned to Azula, finding her still hypnotized by the battle, surely connecting with Xin Long to see through his dragon's eyes "Azula… we have to move"

"Yes, we… we do" she agreed, her fists clenched, her brow drawn together in a heavy frown.

He reached for her hand, his fingers sliding through hers as he coaxed her to follow him. She looked at him with apprehension, her face barely lit by the starlight above.

"Stay in touch with Xin Long" said Sokka "I'll guide you through the forest while you keep your… inner eye, or whatever it is, on the battle. Alright?"

"That… that's a good idea" said Azula, nodding. She clasped his hand a little harder and he smiled a little.

"Great. Come on, then" he said, jerking his head towards where Rui Shi was already hiking.

Azula followed Sokka half-mindedly, most of her focus on Xin Long. He was resting briefly now, hanging onto the tower while watching the battle unfold. So far there had been no casualties on their side, but they didn't know for sure if there had been any on Jeong Jeong's group either. The mountains were too dark, and the dark shapes were still lurking around them, shooting arrows and sometimes tossing spears too. There was no sign yet of any major weapons, though. How did they expect to tear through those walls?

"Even if they had earthbenders, the Stronghold is made of pure metal," Azula whispered, as Sokka led her through a rut in the terrain and over a fallen log "They can't possibly dig their way inside…"

"Which is good news, right?" said Sokka. Azula sighed.

"Not for us" she said "The more I think of it, the more I grow convinced that we should have stayed in the Stronghold too"

"We might have a chance to fly back there after tonight" said Rui Shi, as he pushed a low branch out of the way and finally reached a dirt road "But we should decide what we'll do once we're somewhere safe"

They followed the road for around ten minutes until they finally reached a set of long stairs. It took them just about the same amount of time to climb them, and they were panting once they reached the top, crossing a large archway to arrive to the Institute. It was comprised by a large building and many smaller pavilions spread over the mountain plain. It was already nighttime, so the absence of any lights in the large building led them to suspect that the place was empty.

"When was the last time they saw that old woman you mentioned, Captain?" Azula asked, looking at him with uncertainty. Rui Shi frowned.

"I wasn't told, so I assumed it wasn't long ago. This place looks…"

"Maybe she's just in bed. I mean, if she's old it's not weird that she'd go to sleep early" Sokka suggested, shrugging "We can look around, and hope we'll find someone if we…"

"Meow?"

The three of them were startled when the cat's voice cut across their conversation. Sokka turned around, finding the source of it to be a fluffy white cat, staring up at them with curiosity. They blinked before the cat meowed again.

"Hello there…?" Sokka said to the cat. Azula snorted.

"Maybe this is the cat you mentioned, Rui Shi" she said "Though I can't see how it would be a troublesome one…"

"If the cat is here, maybe the owner won't be too far" said Rui Shi, frowning and looking around.

As though understanding Rui Shi's words, the cat lifted its puffy tail and took off to the nearest pavilion. Azula raised an eyebrow and made to follow it, releasing Sokka's hand briefly: they would do best to keep their relationship hidden from the herbalist, if that was who the cat wanted to bring them to.

The pavilion was mostly dark too, but there was a single candle flickering on a table at its center. An old woman, with long white hair and surprisingly elegant clothes was busy mixing the contents of a bowl with a wooden spoon. The white cat hurried towards her, startling her with another meow.

"Oh, Miyuki!" said the woman, smiling at her cat "I told you dinner wasn't ready yet, you need to be more… oh? Well, who are these new friends of yours, Miyuki?"

The cat meowed again as Sokka smiled awkwardly and waved almost shyly at the herbalist. Rui Shi stared at Azula, guessing it would be best if he took the lead with this. It would be better if they kept their identities secret – they couldn't know who was in league with Jeong Jeong, so Azula would have to refrain from acting like the strong-willed Princess everyone knew her to be if they were to keep suspicions at bay.

"Good evening" said Rui Shi, stepping forward "We're sorry to intrude like this…"

"Oh, don't worry, young man, Fire Nation soldiers have been coming and going for a long time now" she said, waving a hand "Miyuki and I are fine by ourselves, of course, but we don't reject company"

"If that's the case, would it be alright for us to stay for the night?" Rui Shi asked "We have money, so if you'd like to be paid…"

"Oh, why, I won't refuse that offer, of course!" she said, with a happy smile "You and your wife will be just fine here, good sir!"

Everyone's eyes widened, but nobody was as shocked, or as irritated, as Sokka. Azula glared at him as a warning, while Rui Shi only bowed his head gratefully at the woman.

"Thank you very much" he said. The herbalist laughed.

"Your serving boy should be fine too, it looks like Miyuki is fond of him" she said, smiling as Miyuki brushed against Sokka's leg. His eyebrow twitched, but he forced out a weak smile too.

"She's very nice, Miyuki…" he said, half-heartedly. The herbalist's assumption about Rui Shi and Azula would not stop stinging for at least a few hours.

"I'll arrange one of the empty pavilions for you all. You must be tired!" she said, smiling "Or would you rather have some dinner first? I can certainly offer that too!"

"Uh… maybe dinner?" Sokka said, biting his lip. Azula sighed at the predictability of his decision.

"We're grateful for your kindness" she said, nodding towards the woman "We'll make sure to repay you for it, though… do you really live here by yourself?"

"Indeed, young lady. If only I had an errand boy like yours I'd have him gather all supplies I need to repair the main building! It's full of leaks" she said, laughing "Though if I had an errand boy, I'd make him repair more than just the leaks. The place is as good as falling apart!"

"Sounds inconvenient. Maybe I'll let you borrow our serving boy if we stay longer than expected" said Azula, smirking slightly. Sokka flinched and looked at her in surprise. The herbalist beamed.

"Miyuki certainly wouldn't mind!" she said, cackling as she started pacing through the pavilion, searching for the fruits and plants she meant to use for their dinner.

Azula bit back a smile and looked at Sokka furtively. His eyebrow was still twitching, but he leaned down to caress Miyuki's head gently.

"There, there. Good kitty. Go help your owner with the food, okay?" he said. Miyuki meowed once more and glided her way towards the herbalist, who was scratching her head while wondering what food to use.

Azula breathed out slowly and stared out through the pavilion door. She returned to its threshold, watching from afar as a few more blasts of blue fire, smaller than before, could be seen at a distance. The Institute was high enough to allow them to see the Stronghold, but it was near impossible to discern what was happening at such distance. Azula had to reconnect with Xin Long as she stepped out into the open again, her heart in her fist as she tried to find out what was happening.

She heard a few footsteps behind her, and only then did she notice just how far she had walked from the pavilion. A familiar hand slid inside hers.

"What's going on now?" he asked. Azula swallowed hard.

"Xin Long is growing weary of the battle" she whispered "He keeps fighting, but the situation remains unchanged. Xin says there are earthbenders amongst them… They only came out to fight a few minutes ago"

"Really?" Sokka asked, worriedly. Azula nodded "So… is this some sort of Earth Kingdom resistance you didn't know about?"

"I can't help but wonder, though, why a group of people bonded together by some patriotic sentiment would join forces under a former Fire Nation admiral" Azula asked "Unless he's not their actual leader? It doesn't seem to make much sense…"

"Maybe they're smarter than it seems, and they knew it was convenient to have that guy on their side" said Sokka, sighing.

"Maybe. But earthbenders won't be enough to take down the Stronghold" said Azula "If that's all they have under their sleeves, our forces can't fail. Well, that is, so long as the Stronghold is the real objective and not Yu Dao…"

"I've been wondering if we should go there" said Sokka, frowning. Azula froze "I mean… I know it would be crazy to cover that much distance between the Stronghold and the city on foot, but I'm worried I might have been wrong… that they really would have targeted Yu Dao, and not you. What if it really was the coincidence we thought it was?"

"Then Jeong Jeong would be a terrible strategist" said Azula, sighing "But then again, he might have just wanted to lure us away from the city. And indeed, heading back to Yu Dao now would take us a long time. At the very least two or three days, if not more, and Xin Long can't come for us if the fight at the Stronghold continues…"

"Maybe if it ends you ought to tell him to go there and see for himself if the city is in any danger" said Sokka.

"They probably will have synchronized their attacks, though" said Azula "It would be ridiculous to have decoys distracting the forces in the Stronghold yet putting off the attack to Yu Dao for a few days, if that was their goal at all. If they're going to attack Yu Dao, it's happening now"

"I guess you're right…" said Sokka, sighing. Azula glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You probably shouldn't hold the hand of your master's wife, by the way" she said, teasingly. Sokka grimaced and looked at her in disbelief as she laughed softly.

"How could that be the first thing she assumed?" he asked "Why couldn't she think that he's your, I don't know, your brother? Or maybe he's the servant and I'm the husband?"

"Sokka, you can't pass as Fire Nation regardless of how hard you may try. Granted Fire Nation clothes look just fine on you, but you can't pretend to be one of us" she said, smiling. Sokka pouted "And as we said…"

"Mixed marriages and whatnot aren't all that common, even now" he finished, sighing "So naturally, she assumed if one of us was with you, it was him, but… dang it, I can't help myself. I wish they'd mistake me for your husband instead"

Azula snorted. Sokka pouted, a light blush tinging his cheeks as she smiled at him.

"I would have thought you'd rather be my husband, instead of being mistaken for it, but I suppose we're talking about things that are truly possible in this day and age, right…?" she said, looking at him somewhat regretfully. Sokka opened his mouth, but it took him a moment to finally say something.

"Well… yes, I'd rather be your husband for real, but I'd settle for being mistaken for it for now. Maybe that way I'd get to kiss you in public without fearing someone will hack my head off for it…"

"Heh, Rui Shi might still hack your head off if you kiss me in front of him" Azula smirked, placing her head on his shoulder. Sokka gulped "Don't worry, I highly doubt anyone will suspect anything. This alleged marriage is a good cover story, and it might serve to mislead people who don't recognize us, which is bound to be most people, truth be told. The giveaways of my identity are my hairpiece and armor…"

"Though having a firebender and a Water Tribe slave following you around might still raise red flags for anyone who's observant and has heard about your exploits as a sponsor" said Sokka, frowning and glancing at her sideways "In fact… if you don't want people to notice who you are, you'll have to act like a peasant!"

Azula's eyebrow twitched and she looked at him in disbelief. Sokka smiled broadly before she shoved him away with her elbow, to his amusement.

"I have no idea how to do that, and I'm not about to start" she said. Sokka chuckled.

"It's not that hard, it's just… lose the perfect posture, eat a little less neatly, don't be too authoritarian, that kind of thing" he said, smiling. Azula raised a doubtful eyebrow.

"Not happening. Let them think I'm some noble girl if they want, but I'm not about to be undignified just to pretend I'm on your level" she said, stubbornly. Sokka chuckled.

"Well, if we do get caught because you stuck out your pinky while drinking tea, you can't blame it on me" he said, smirking. Azula rolled her eyes and looked at him skeptically.

"You're beyond ridiculous" she said. Sokka chuckled before feeling something brushing against his leg again "Huh, Miyuki's back. She really seems fond of you. Maybe the Blue Wolf was a cat in his past life"

"Miyuki just knows who's going to pet her, doesn't she?" said Sokka, beaming and reaching down to stroke the hairs between her ears. The cat raised her head into his hand, basking in his touch. Azula smiled while watching him.

"Or maybe she just came to let us know dinner is ready?" Azula said, glancing at the pavilion once more.

Her idea didn't seem farfetched, so they returned to the pavilion, with Miyuki walking happily next to Sokka. The herbalist was saying something to Rui Shi, who was blushing as she laughed, quite possibly at his expenses.

"Ah, thank you, Miyuki!" she said, as Sokka and Azula stopped at the table, where bowls of salad awaited them "Now we can all have dinner – no, no, not you, Miyuki, you already ate, don't be so gluttonous! –, and you three can rest and relax after your long voyage"

Azula smirked, knowing Sokka wouldn't be appealed by eating a vegetarian meal, but they were lucky they were being offered any food at all. He couldn't let it go to waste.

"I sure hope you enjoy the meal!" said the old woman, beaming as she dug in as well.

Azula started eating, her mind drifting towards Xin Long's again as soon as she wasn't distracted by Sokka or the herbalist anymore. The fight was still ongoing, and her dragon had been dodging projectiles in midair: the earthbenders were targeting him, and trying to nullify him as a factor in this battle. But the harder they tried to knock him off the skies, the more opportunities the Yu-Yan archers had to shoot the earthbenders. The fight remained as one-sided as it always had been. Azula only hoped it would stay that way.

She felt a hand on her knee, under the table. She contained her reaction, but she glanced at Sokka all the same, somewhat gratefully. His nonverbal support, and his very presence, ensured she wouldn't lose her mind to the most stressful situation she had been thrown into recently.

* * *

"So they took off to fight some Deserter guy?" Sneers asked, frowning. Kori shrugged, sitting by his bedside.

"That's what I heard, it seems to have happened in a whirlwind" she said "But they did it to keep our city safe, at least. Hopefully it will pay off"

"How bad is that guy? Do you know?" Sneers asked. Kori shook her head.

"I don't know much about him, no. But he must be dangerous if the Princess thought she had to go deal with it personally" she said.

"Maybe they'll be back before we know it" said Sneers, after a short pause "And it'll have turned out to be nothing important"

"I hope so" said Kori, before smiling at him "But in other subjects, I'm thinking about that challenge we'll send to the Red-Striped Hornet. I know it's not the best way to meet your friend again, but I don't know how else to do it, so…"

"Yeah, don't worry" said Sneers, with a weak smile "I'm grateful you're letting me meet her at all"

"You can also choose not to fight, just so you know" said Kori "I don't care if your perfect record gets marred. Sokka has lost around ten times, and it hasn't destroyed his career, so I'm sure a loss over a forfeit or something is fine. As long as you get to see your friend again…"

"Are you sure, though?" said Sneers, surprised "You're already willing to do this much for me? You don't mind if our record gets damaged?"

"I'm still relieved and glad you didn't choose to leave" said Kori, smiling and shrugging "So I can't act like such a brat, can I? I understand this is important to you, and you have every right to…"

A creaking sound made Sneers flinch. His small eyes narrowed towards where he heard the sound, and when it sounded for a second time, Kori understood what had put her gladiator on alert. She froze.

"What is…?" she asked, staring at the window.

There was a shape there. A dark shape, almost impossible to discern in the middle of the night.

She didn't stop to think twice about bending a large chunk of the floor at the window, slamming it into the lurker's stomach just as they realized they'd been caught. But the trespasser wasn't alone: a second man in all black jumped inside the room just as Kori was lowering her guard, not suspecting that there would be another intruder.

"Kori!" Sneers shouted, reaching and clasping one of his axes with his uninjured hand.

He tossed the weapon with as much power as he could muster, and it would have lodged into the enemy's skull if only he hadn't dodged just in time. The dark shape used earthbending against Kori too, stopping a portion of the floor that the girl had bent at him. He threw it right back, making her lose balance as she evaded the attack, and in that small window, while Sneers reached for his other axe and failed to clasp it on time, while Kori stumbled and readied herself to attack again, the dark shape took in everything the room had to offer. Two young adults of Earth Kingdom descent, two beds, one blue pack lying next to the empty one, no weapons in sight other than those axes…

Kori roared and threw a slice of the wall at the enemy now. His analysis was cut short, but it didn't matter. He had done his duty.

The intruder rushed out the window again, bringing up some earth to soften his fall. Kori wasn't far behind him though, to her gladiator's chagrin.

"Kori, no!" Sneers roared, reaching out with his uninjured hand, in a hopeless attempt to stop her.

But Kori didn't listen. She meant to capture this trespasser, whoever it was. They would not escape if she could help it.

The few people who were still out in the streets at this hour were taken aback by the sight of the Mayor's daughter chasing someone in all black. But what Kori kept hoping for was backup, and fortunately, a group of soldiers appeared eventually to help her catch the fugitive.

"Get him! Get him!" Kori shouted, but the earthbender was fast, and unbeknownst to her, he wasn't alone either.

By the time they reached the borders of the city, a group of others in the same black apparel were waiting. Fire Nation soldiers lay nearby, either knocked-out or dead. Kori's eyes widened as she slowed to a halt, fear taking over her as the possible lethality of these intruders crossed her mind. The soldiers kept rushing in regardless, but the earthbenders in black crafted a tall wall between themselves and their foes. When Kori managed to break the wall open with her own bending, the enemies were gone.

The soldiers rushed to take care of their fallen comrades, and Kori stood in place, glaring through the hole in the wall, shivering violently in fear, rage and impotence. Who were those people? Why did they try to sneak inside her house…?

Her mind supplied her an instinctive answer that made her stomach sink in dread: had they come for the Princess?


	122. Chapter 122

To provide her guests with some privacy, the herbalist decided to adequate another pavilion for their private use. The three of them helped her with the endeavor, and by the end of it, the herbalist was merely directing them so they could furnish the pavilion with everything the three of them might need through the night. The older woman bade them farewell once she had given them all they might need, and Miyuki brushed against Sokka's calf again before following her owner to their own pavilion.

Azula stared at the old, thin futons with uncertainty, trying to find some relief, as usual, by reminding herself that she'd done a lot worse while she had been stuck in the forest with Sokka. As much as the futons looked old and uncomfortable, she could conciliate her sleep there, if she was lucky. The two men with her, naturally, had no reservations over the sleeping arrangements.

"Well, we have a roof over our heads. It's a good start" said Rui Shi, setting down their luggage close to the futons and standing upright to analyze the pavilion "It will be odd to sleep amid plants, but you two aren't strangers to that, are you?"

"Not entirely" Azula admitted, sighing. Rui Shi looked at her with uncertainty.

"How's the battle?" he asked. She stopped worrying about herself right away.

"Earthbenders joined the fray, but everything seems to be unchanged" Azula told him "There's not a lot of news, no casualties from our side so far. Not sure if there's any on their side either, no idea if the ones who got shot were either killed or injured…"

"It sounds like a very counterproductive fight for both sides" said Rui Shi, gritting his teeth.

"At this rate who knows how long this will drag on" Sokka said, crossing his arms in deep thought "Do you think we'll be able to return tomorrow?"

"To the Stronghold? I doubt it" said Azula "We have to decide what we'll do, though. Staying here isn't wise. This woman didn't seem to be dishonest, but I don't think it'd be wise to trust strangers so blindly. Staying anywhere for over one day isn't a good idea, especially when we're attempting to disguise ourselves…"

"I suppose we'll continue to pretend we're married?" Rui Shi asked. Azula nodded and he sighed before looking at Sokka apologetically "You'll forgive me one day, I hope"

"Eh, it's not your fault…" said Sokka, waving a hand as to not give the matter importance, but the scowl on his face said enough about how displeased he was about it.

"At any rate, we do need to choose a course of action as fast as possible" said Azula, frowning "Do we want to do as Shinu demanded, and stay as far from this conflict as possible…?"

"Truth be told, Princess…" said Rui Shi, breathing deeply and lowering his head "It will be your decision"

Azula raised her eyebrows, staring at him in confusion. Even Sokka was surprised by this display of submission from the Captain.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. Rui Shi swallowed hard.

"I certainly agreed with the Colonel over holding your safety as a priority, but it may not have been the best decision after all. Truth is, with Jeong Jeong on the loose like this, we're all quite panicked and acting rashly. We might need your insight and strategic mind now more than ever"

Sokka raised his eyebrows and smiled approvingly. Azula was wide-eyed, staring at a blushing Rui Shi with disbelief now.

"So you're saying you're… you're going to do whatever I believe is best, regardless if it's a good idea or not?" she asked. Rui Shi nodded "So if I decide I'll elope with Sokka, live with him in some Earth Kingdom village and forget about Jeong Jeong and all my responsibilities, you'll gladly encourage us to do so?"

"I… please don't do that" said Rui Shi, his eyes widening in horror. Azula smirked and laughed softly.

"I merely tease, Captain. You should know I'd never dare do that" she said "Forgetting about Jeong Jeong, that is. The eloping part, on the other hand…"

"Oh, if you do it at least do me the courtesy of not telling me about it. I'm better off not knowing" said Rui Shi, sighing and shaking his head while Sokka beamed in joy. Azula chuckled.

"You won't find out, then. Promised thing" she said "But if you truly think I'm somehow wiser than Shinu, and you are willing to trust that I'll make the right decision… can I see that map?"

Rui Shi nodded and handed it to her. Azula opened it and remained silent briefly: the two men kept their eyes on her as she pondered the situation, her brow furrowed. The anticipation over her decision only grew as she took a deep breath before speaking her mind.

"Returning to the Stronghold is ruled out, since chances are that their attack against it was just a decoy. We'll only get in the way, and we'll be no more help in there than out here. Staying here is the wrong idea, too. From our current position, our movements are a lot more limited than they would be if only we had Xin Long with us… but as we don't, and as we destroyed the boat that got us here, our only choice to get out somehow is by taking one of the ferries down at the crossing in Harbor Town…"

"Where would we go after we cross, though?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows "Yu Dao?"

Azula bit her lower lip and looked at them both. Rui Shi sighed and Sokka nodded in understanding.

"If your suspicions about Yu Dao are correct, they might have already delivered all the damage they intended to" said Rui Shi.

"Hopefully not. The men there were aware of the dangers, so their people shouldn't be rendered completely helpless" said Azula "I mostly want to make sure the city is safe. Knowing as much might appease my worries, at the very least. Aside from that, if Sokka's theory is right and they're after me, we shouldn't stay put in a single place, right? It would allow them to catch up to us far more easily. If we keep changing locations unpredictably, any attempts to capture me will likely fail"

"But… what if they have been searching Yu Dao for you already?" asked Rui Shi "Would it be wise to go back there now?"

"Why not? If they're looking for me in Yu Dao right now, they're likely to assume, quite wrongly, that I left the city with no intentions to return" she said "When you're looking for something, you don't tend to look twice in the same place. And if they decide to look twice after we return, we'll be ready for them with a perfect ambush"

"Hopefully" said Rui Shi, breathing deeply "So Yu Dao, then?"

"We could be of more use there than anywhere else" said Azula "It won't be a short trip, I'm aware, but it's the best place to go right now, I feel. We'll use known roads, stop at villages wherever we can… so it won't be quite as bad as the last hiking trip we took in this continent"

"Sounds like it might even be fun" said Sokka, smiling at her "Though I guess we'll need more than just a fake backstory to keep people from recognizing us, won't we?"

"We should come up with fake names, too" said Rui Shi "Your names are well known through the world, you can't expect to hide behind them when we're traveling incognito"

"And we might have to ask the herbalist for any clothes she might have to spare" said Azula "It won't be easy to blend in as Earth Kingdom people, but we need to try, at the very least"

"Agreed" said Rui Shi, sighing "I'll do that by morning, then"

"Hopefully she'll find something we can wear" said Sokka, biting his lip before moving to the pavilion door "In the meantime, I think I'll take the first shift and…"

"First shift?" Azula asked, looking at him questioningly. Sokka froze on the threshold.

"W-well, I figured… yeah, the herbalist seemed fine, and her cat's very nice, but someone should be on the lookout in case anyone less friendly approaches" said Sokka "On top of that, we should keep an eye on what's happening in the Stronghold, even at a distance… if anything strange seemed to happen we could alert you so you can connect with Xin Long and tell us what's going on, right?"

"Right, but… for that matter, I should be the one on a shift" said Azula "I'm the one who can actually see what's happening there…"

"You're also the most important member of our group, though, and the one who should be better rested" said Sokka, smiling and approaching her "I know it may not be much consolation to leave me watching instead of doing it yourself, but you need to sleep"

"So do you" said Azula, looking at him doubtfully.

"He'll get his rest" said Rui Shi, sighing "He's not taking that first shift. I am"

"Woah, wait, what?" Sokka's eyes widened as he looked at Rui Shi. The man nodded in his direction.

"As a Royal Guard I'm well trained to be effective and efficient even with as little as two hours of sleep in the course of three days. I'll take the first shift, you can take over when I decide to rest"

"But you don't have to…" said Sokka, looking at him with disbelief.

"I beg to differ" he said, with a dramatic sigh. Sokka raised an eyebrow "As the man of honor I am, it would seem unbefitting for me to allow this affair between my wife and servant to continue. But seeing how she seems to crave you, for no reason I can understand…"

"What the…?! Rui Shi!" Sokka said, blushing and glancing at Azula, who smirked at Rui Shi's unexpected reasoning. The guard released a melodramatic sigh and looked at the gladiator judgmentally.

"Don't go overboard, of course. If you get too obvious about your affair I might give you a beating, servant. But I'll give you some privacy in the meantime. Just for now, though" said Rui Shi, lifting a menacing finger in Sokka's direction before turning to the pavilion's threshold.

"Are you kidding me?" Sokka said, a disbelieving smile spreading over his face. Rui Shi smiled weakly and left with nothing more to say. The fabric covering the doorway fell back into place after he slid through it "Did Rui Shi seriously just joke around with us? I mean… did he really?"

"Seems like it. Maybe becoming a husband gave birth to his sense of humor" said Azula, chuckling as Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Well, putting aside all matters of him being your fake husband, it was very nice of him to give us some time alone, I'll say" he said, stepping closer to her and smiling gently "I'm surprised he did it at all"

"So am I, but I'm not complaining" said Azula, embracing his waist and pressing her face to his chest "It feels like ages ago since we last spent a night together, doesn't it?"

"Yeah… I miss that" Sokka whispered, kissing her temples and squeezing her tight too "Though… I guess, if just for his sake, we should settle with just resting, right?"

"This place is horribly quiet" said Azula, as she separated from Sokka and leaned down to push her futon closer to his "I have the unpleasant feeling that the weakest moan either of us utters will be heard all the way to the Stronghold…"

"It's not impossible" said Sokka, chuckling "If Miyuki hears it she might try to check on us, huh?"

"Oh, that poor cat would be devastated to find her beloved Sokka already belongs with someone else" said Azula, smirking and clasping his hand before dropping on their respective futons.

The thin mattresses were as close together as they could be, enabling them to sleep comfortably wrapped around each other. With the covers overlapping on top of them both, Azula had wormed her way to Sokka's side, making him laugh as she surrounded him with arms and legs.

"There. Now you're not escaping, servant…" she hissed in his ear. Sokka shuddered and smirked at her.

"You know, if you start saying stuff like that I may end up making you moan pretty loudly, and last thing I knew, you didn't want to do that…" he said. Azula snorted.

"Why would I be the one moaning? You might be the embarrassingly loud one this time, for all you know" she said, smirking playfully. Sokka laughed, pressing his forehead to hers once he had turned to face her.

"Either way, your Captain of the Guards might commit suicide out of dishonor and disgust after hearing us, I'm afraid" said Sokka, with a weak smirk. Azula snorted.

"Disgust? Why, he'd have very poor taste if that's how he'd feel. We're surely the most attractive pair ever to walk this world" she said, proudly. Sokka laughed, his easy smile as infectious as ever.

"His disgust would be over the unspeakable things we do to each other, silly, not about how hot we are" he said, smirking "If attractiveness were the problem, there'd be no problem. Unless, of course, the problem is that we're too hot for him to wrap his mind around it?"

"I'm afraid that's likely the case" said Azula, laughing and kissing him softly "But alas, he did let us go to sleep together, knowing full well that we're likely to be anything but innocent… I guess we can cut that hopeless husband of mine some slack, huh?"

"He sure cares about you, letting you sleep with me just to make sure you're happy" said Sokka, poking her nose with his. Azula snorted.

"Still playing around, or do you really mean that?" she asked. Sokka shrugged.

"It's not really just a joke, but it works for the joke too, right? Our reality is a little weird and jumbled right now, isn't it?" he said.

"Indeed, so weird we even need to come up with new names for ourselves" said Azula, biting her lip and eyeing Sokka with uncertainty "Have any laughable ideas yet?"

"Why would they be laughable?" Sokka asked, affronted. Azula couldn't hold back the chuckles and he pouted "Unbelievable. I haven't even said anything and you're already laughing!"

"See, that's how laughable they are" said Azula, pressing against him and smiling. Sokka rolled his eyes, caressing her hair gently.

"Well, then, if you're so much better at this than I am, do tell, Princess… do you have a fake name for yourself yet?"

"I guess I haven't really pondered it but… I suppose one like Jing could work. It's not mundane, but it's also clearly not related to Fire Nation royalty. It should serve me well"

"Jing, then? Princess Jing?" Sokka asked, smirking teasingly.

"You can't call me Princess anymore, Sokka" she said, staring at him matter-of-factly "It's just Jing, at least until we get back to Yu Dao"

"That's going to take forever, though. I'll miss saying your real name" he said, biting his lip and smiling while tracing her jawline with his fingertips. Azula smiled.

"How about you, then? No ideas yet?"

"Uh, well… if you think we should go for something classy, but not too Fire Nation-y, then how about… ummm, Wentai!"

"Wentai?" Azula repeated, raising an eyebrow. Sokka beamed.

"Sounds like the name of a great warrior" he said. Azula frowned.

"Sounds slightly royal to me. Maybe there was an Earth Kingdom monarch called Wentai…?" she said, raising an eyebrow "Oh, well, I can't remember. Still, are you sure? It's not the most…"

"The most servant-y name?" Sokka asked, pouting. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Must you add that weird suffix to everything?" she asked, smirking. Sokka beamed and nodded.

"I guess you're too Princess-y to approve of my speech pattern, but you're not supposed to be a royal anymore, remember?" he said, wiggling his eyebrows and smirking widely. Azula laughed and pressed her head to his chest.

"Why are you so ridiculous, damn it?" she said, smiling and huddling closer to him "Stop making me laugh so easily. It's not fair…"

"Why isn't it? Don't like being happy, Princess?" Sokka asked, stroking her hair.

"Not when I don't know if my Nation's in danger, truth be told…" she said, losing her smile quickly as she clutched his clothes a little tighter.

Sokka was startled by the sudden mood swing of the conversation, but he only continued to caress her hair while staring at her with concern. She had abandoned herself to the easy joy he always gave her, forgetting briefly about the confusing and mysterious circumstances that had brought them here in the first place.

"Do you think Yu Dao will be okay?" she asked "I made sure most the soldiers positioned there would stay in the city, but… I don't know, I don't feel comfortable about what's happening. Maybe it's because of what Rui Shi said, and it's just that Jeong Jeong gets everyone on edge…"

"He's another firebending prodigy, and a military genius too, was it?" Sokka whispered, sighing "But so are you, you know. Our crazy, unpredictable movements may get him off our trail if he's after you…"

"We do keep making weird decisions he may have trouble anticipating" said Azula, caressing his chest "But what if he's really after Yu Dao? What if… what if we're too late?"

"There's no point in thinking that way" said Sokka, kissing the top of her head "Trust your soldiers, Azula. Trust the men who were trained to keep their people safe. You can't win every battle single-handedly, but you might win them all if you choose the right people to fight them with you"

"Huh. I guess that's true" said Azula, smiling and lifting her gaze to find his "And not just for the battlefield, huh?"

Sokka beamed and nodded, his forehead against hers again. Her fingertips trailed his face gently before she pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

"I did choose the right gladiator, no doubt" she said "And the right Royal Guards, too. So… hopefully the men my father chose to take care of Yu Dao's security will have done their jobs properly. Hopefully…"

"Yeah" said Sokka, with another kiss to her brow "They'll do their best, I'm sure. And if the crisis is still ongoing once we get there, we'll show them how unstoppable we are together. What do you say?"

"What do I say?" said Azula, smirking "I'd gladly fight by your side, dummy. If anything, we should do that more often instead of fighting each other all the time. But you're so used to fighting against me that you can't seem to stop, huh?"

"Ah, I can stop, I just didn't want to before" said Sokka, chuckling "I promise I will stop trying to fight you until this mess is over. After that, though…"

"Oh? So I should expect absolute obedience from you for the time being?" Azula asked, amused. Sokka smiled guiltily "Why, I certainly wonder how that's going to work out for you, rebellious servant Wentai…"

"We should find out soon enough, Lady Jing" he said, smirking and kissing her again.

Their lips continued to seek the other's until they finally fell asleep. Even then, their faces were scarcely inches apart, and their arms remained tightly locked around the other through the night. It was why she stirred as well when Sokka felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently to let him know that his shift was up now.

"I'm going, I'm going…" Sokka told Rui Shi, struggling a little under Azula's tight grip. He smiled and kissed her brow, upon which Rui Shi returned to the pavilion's entrance, guessing he should give them a little more privacy briefly "Uh, Azula? You won't let me go?"

She groaned but relented, though it seemed she did it very unwillingly. Sokka smiled as she settled on the futon again, lying on her side with a small frown on her face. He caressed a strand of hair that fell over her forehead, tucking it behind her ear.

"See you in a bit" he whispered, before standing up and making his way to where Rui Shi stood.

"She's clingier than I expected" said Rui Shi "Figured the one who didn't know how to let go of her for ten seconds was you, not her"

"I don't know how, though, make no mistake" said Sokka, smiling at him.

"I won't need much sleep, I think" said Rui Shi "But at any rate, not a lot has happened so far out there. The blue fire blasts I saw were still coming from the same direction, so the dragon has stayed with the Stronghold all along. They've been fighting for most the night, looks like, but there's been no noticeable changes"

"Alright then" said Sokka, nodding and patting Rui Shi's shoulder "Go sleep, pal. I've got this"

Rui Shi nodded and made his way to the free futon: Azula was hogging up the two mattresses she and Sokka had used. The sight of her sleeping made the gladiator smile again before he stepped out into the night, walking as silently as he could and sitting down near the long flights of stairs, from where he could watch the Stronghold easily.

Sokka sat cross-legged at the Institute's entrance, crossing his arms too to retain his warmth. A mild but cold breeze was blowing through the mountain, and although it was already spring, it still chilled him to the bone. He believed they had packed some thicker outerwear than the black cloak he had wrapped around his body, but he decided not to fetch it. He didn't want to take his eyes off the Stronghold for a second, even if the battle wasn't too eventful right now.

The sky grew lighter slowly and birds chirped as the sun rose behind him. Staring down at the Stronghold became easier now, but Sokka found there wasn't much to report even with enhanced lighting. He could see shapes on the mountains still, and flaming arrows flew from side to side now and again, but earthbenders protected the men in the hills just as the metal walls and Xin Long did it for those in the Stronghold.

A soft meow surprised him when the sun's warm rays finally reached him. Sokka smiled down at Miyuki, who brushed against his thigh, her tail upright.

"Hey there. Slept okay, Miyuki?" he asked, scratching the top of her head. She pressed her head to his palm, her soft hairs pleasant to the touch "Good to know. Want to keep watch with me?"

The cat stayed next to Sokka as the morning went by, until she decided to climb on his lap instead. She kept purring, and Sokka smiled as he kept stroking her fur.

"Don't you think you and your owner should try to, I dunno, repopulate this place? Get new herbalists to work here?" he asked "Looks like too cool a place to let it die down. Maybe I should tell A-… Jing to do something about it. Who knows? Maybe new people interested in herbs could come join you all. Then you'll have lots of new friends who can pet you, huh? How does that sound?"

Miyuki meowed again and Sokka smiled fondly. He could get used to the cat, although he knew he wasn't going to. They would be gone today, off to Yu Dao, if the Stronghold's condition didn't change in the next few hours. He still hoped Miyuki would find new friends sometime soon, though. It seemed both her and the herbalist were rather lonely in this mountain on their own.

The sound of footsteps behind him alerted him, but their rhythm, the way they moved… he smiled as the sounds came closer, and his grin only widened when he felt two familiar arms wrapping around his chest.

"Morning, Jing" he said, teasingly.

"You're up too early for your standards, Wentai" she replied, kissing his cheek softly. Sokka sighed in bliss "I'd rather have woken up next to you, truth be told…"

"It was my shift" said Sokka, sighing "Couldn't give Rui Shi the slip when he worked so hard, now, could I?"

"Of course not" said Azula, tightening her grip around him "But you could've woken me so I could join you from the start. It's not fun sleeping without you when you're not that far away…"

"Haven't we been doing that for the last month or so, Princess?" he whispered. She sighed.

"We have. It's a waste to do it for longer, though, isn't it?" she asked, caressing his arm gently. She frowned when she caught sight of the puffy white tail moving lazily on Sokka's lap "Well, I'll be damned. I have serious competition, now, don't I?"

"Now, Miyuki just wants friends" said Sokka, chuckling "Besides, you're married to Rui Shi! Isn't my competition a lot harder to beat than yours?"

"Not true. She's a fluffy cat, you're clearly taken with her as she is with you" she said, smiling and stroking Miyuki's back gently "Whereas Rui Shi is, uh, an 'emotionally unavailable' husband…?"

"You're looking too hard for excuses not to love him, Jing" Sokka said, teasingly. Azula chuckled.

"Is it that obvious?"

"He's a better husband than you give him credit for, really. He lets you sleep around with the likes of me, doesn't he…?" said Sokka, looking at her furtively. Azula smirked.

"Aren't I lucky he's so understanding of my needs and desires" she said, closing her eyes and relaxing against Sokka. He beamed and kissed her brow.

"We both are, I think" he said, their foreheads pressed together "Shouldn't you sleep a little longer? It's pretty early…"

"I can't really rest more, I'm already too active" she said, sighing "Nothing's happened, though. I've seen through Xin Long, and he's tired…"

"Yeah, he went to rest on the other end of the fortress" Sokka said, pointing at him "it wasn't that easy to spot him until dawn broke, but now it's clear he's there…"

"Those useless minions of Jeong Jeong's…" Azula grunted "If we ignored them we'd achieve the same results. Shinu prepared for a major assault for nothing"

"It'd be too risky to send Xin Long to scout the terrains behind the mountains, wouldn't it?" Sokka said. Azula nodded.

"If they've developed any traps for him, they'd catch him easily if he leaves the safety of the Stronghold. I don't want to risk that" she said "So… the situation really remains unchanged"

"Looks like it" said Sokka, sighing too "So we're still going to Yu Dao on foot?"

"We're still going to Yu Dao on foot" said Azula, caressing his chest and kissing the side of his neck. Sokka shivered in pleasure, having missed the feel of her lips over his body like that "We'd best prepare ourselves mentally for that, right?"

"I guess so" he replied, with a weak grin.

Azula leaned closer, pressing a gentle kiss on his lips. Sokka crooked his head back, angling himself to kiss her properly without disturbing the cat on his lap, but he found it hard to focus on petting her when his entire attention was taken by the Princess behind him. His free hand reached up to cup her face as he intensified the kiss, finally tearing his eyes off the battlefield just to dedicate himself to her. She rewarded him for it, caressing the back of his neck gently, her other hand on his strong chest.

He didn't want to let her pull away, but she did anyways, smiling as she pressed her forehead to his. Sokka smiled at her.

"Now it really is a good morning" he said. Her smile widened and she kissed him one more time before standing up again, releasing him from her grip "And now it's bad again. Where are you going…?"

His pout and insistent stare made her chuckle softly. She mussed his hair, most the strands coming out of his wolf's tail as she did.

"I have the feeling the herbalist will wake soon. I doubt she sleeps in a lot, some plants might need early morning care" said Azula. Sokka sighed "So I'd rather she doesn't catch us like that, don't you think?"

"Well, here I thought you'd realize Miyuki has already seen us" said Sokka, pouting still "How'd you know she won't tell the herbalist, huh?"

"… You're kidding me, aren't you?" said Azula, an eyebrow twitching. Sokka smiled mischievously.

"Hey, if she has some crazy epic bond with her cat like you do with your dragon, she might just find out through her" he said, pointing at Miyuki on his lap. The cat's green eyes were on Azula now, though given her expression she merely wanted the Princess to pet her too.

"Right. Because the herbalist offered her herbs to the cat and that's how she bonded with her, right?" Azula asked. Sokka nodded "Do you ever consider not being ridiculous for a day or two? Just for a change?"

"That'd be too boring, Princess, and you know it" he said, smirking. She smiled and shook her head.

"You're unbelievable" she said, focusing on the Stronghold again as the breeze picked up, playing with the dark strands of her hair.

She bit her lip when she noticed Sokka's gaze still lingered on her. She stared back at him and he smiled goofily, as he often did.

"What?" she said. He beamed.

"You're beautiful"

The statement wasn't what surprised her, but rather, the ease and happy earnestness with which he spoke it. She felt the blood rushing to her face, her heart racing as she looked at the man who was as taken with her as she was with him.

"That's… true, but still" she said, stubbornly. Sokka chuckled "Probably hold back from saying that while we travel, alright?"

"It's fine if only Miyuki hears, though, isn't it?" said Sokka "She can't possibly have a mental bond with her owner like yours and Xin's, right…?"

"Stop messing with me, gladiator" said Azula, with a smirk. Sokka chuckled as Miyuki meowed, lifting her head towards him.

"Yes, yes, you're beautiful too, no need to be jealous…" he said, stroking her fur gently again, to the cat's satisfaction.

Azula smiled as she watched him with the cat, but she turned her eyes to the Stronghold again. She could see Xin Long down there, and sense his uneasy sleep through her bond with him. He had sustained no injuries so far, protected by his armor and the thickness of his scales. He hadn't paid much attention to the orders the soldiers had shouted back and forth, so he had no knowledge of the current circumstances, but Jeong Jeong's men didn't seem prepared to attack the Stronghold with more power so far. Keeping them in check there was necessary, though, albeit a dangerous gamble: were the Stronghold's soldiers needed elsewhere? It was what Azula meant to discover once they reached Yu Dao. The trip shouldn't take over five days, if her calculations were correct. She only hoped to come across no setbacks along the way so they could reach their destination as soon as possible.

The herbalist fetched them for breakfast around midmorning, and only then did Miyuki climb off Sokka's lap. Rui Shi had already entered the herbalist's pavilion, and despite he hadn't gotten a lot of rest he didn't look tired. His soldier training had been as effective in building up his resistance as he had claimed it was.

"You mean to leave today? Well, that's quick" the herbalist asked, though she didn't seem either too disappointed or too eager to see them leave. If anything, it was apparent she was used to seeing people coming and going all the time.

"We won't impose on you much longer" said Rui Shi, bowing his head towards her "Thank you for your generosity. Name your price and we shall pay as much as you wish"

"Well, well, we'll talk business after the meal or else you'll have trouble digesting it" said the herbalist, chuckling. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"But… digestion happens after you eat, so shouldn't it cause more trouble to talk business afterwards…?"

"Oh, don't be so nit-picky, boy" said the herbalist, waving a hand in Sokka's direction. His eyebrow twitched as Azula smiled.

"We do have some last minute requests to make, though" said Rui Shi "Do you happen to have any clothes to spare? As much as we're well packed, we may not have enough clothes for the journey ahead of us…"

"Oh. You'll need more, then?" said the herbalist, looking at him with uncertainty "Why, I don't know if there's much I can offer, but Miyuki can look around and see if she finds anything. Right, Miyuki?"

The cat meowed as a response but she continued to focus on her food. Rui Shi smiled a little and nodded gratefully.

"We'll take whatever you can spare, don't sacrifice yourself for our sakes. It's fine if you can't find anything, too. We might have better luck on our next stop"

"Ah, it's good to be that enthusiastic. Keeping a positive mind is the way to make sure you'll live long!" said the herbalist, beaming as she poured some tea on four mugs. The sight of it made Azula flinch "Now, is that all you needed?"

"Yes, we…"

"No" sad Azula suddenly. Both Sokka and Rui Shi stared at her in surprise "I, uh… have a request of my own"

"Fire away, dear!" said the herbalist, beaming as she set down the teapot.

"I, uh, drink a very particular brew of tea" Azula started, grimacing as she spoke "An infusion with wild carrot seeds, and roots of…"

"Of the perennial apian plant?" the herbalist asked. Azula froze and nodded, feeling the blood rushing up to her face. No doubt the herbalist knew her trade thoroughly "Well, is it you have a taste for it? Or are you and your husband not ready for a family yet?"

"T-the latter" she said. Naturally, the woman knew just what the tea's purpose was "We would rather not conceive on the road"

"Ah, it's understandable, understandable! Children cannot be conceived in a campsite, or else they tend to grow up to become nomads who neglect their family. Terrible thing, I tell you, it's terrible…"

Azula could hardly contain the bewilderment, but she did her best to mask it with an awkward grin. Whatever the woman was talking about, it was surely better to go along with it without making a fuss.

"Yeah, of course" she said "So, uh… if you don't mind, can I have a bag of those herbs? My supplies have run out, and, uh…"

"You still want to make use of your marital rights?" asked the herbalist, smirking. Azula blushed, along with Rui Shi, who stared at Sokka warily. The gladiator, unsurprisingly, looked as though someone had kicked him in the shin "Well, I don't advise that either! It's said that spirits will punish those who are too lustful, or too greedy. Pleasure-seekers are easy targets for spirits that prey on humans…"

"Uh… great" said Sokka, with a crooked grin. Azula was befuddled by now, though "Then I guess you two won't be causing me any trouble through the journey, huh?"

"Well, I… I beg to differ" said Rui Shi, clearing his throat "I mean, we are married after all. We merely seek ways to, uh, adapt to each other so that we shall be as efficient as possible when we're ready for children. It's not like something as bad as, I don't know, extra-marital affairs?"

Both Sokka and Azula cringed at that as Rui Shi stared at the herbalist with interest, looking forward for what she might have to say about this topic. He almost smirked when he felt the charged glares the other two were shooting his way.

"That's even worse, of course!" the herbalist declared, predictably. Sokka's eyebrow twitched as Azula's hand balled into a fist over the table "It is said that when two unmarried people engage in illicit relations, the spirit of a bull-lion will come to them just as they commit the crime and…!"

"That's all very interesting, sure it is" Azula cut in, as the herbalist froze in the middle of her ominous prediction "But it would be great if you could fix the tea so we can get ready to resume our voyage, if you don't mind…"

"Oh, sure" said the herbalist, smiling "Though the bull-lion will bellow and roar until the pair disengage, and then it will chase one of the lovers away until they're too far to be reunited with ease! Also, they're surely too afraid of the bull-lion too to do it again, I believe"

"No kidding" said Sokka, swallowing hard warily before glancing at Azula. The Princess certainly looked displeased by the herbalist's spirit story.

"Alright, then, the tea it is!" she said, clapping and making off to fetch the ingredients.

As soon as the woman was too far to see them, looking for the plants she needed for the tea, Azula turned a narrow-eyed glare on Rui Shi, who snorted and nearly choked on his drink as he was overtaken by a fit of laughter rather uncharacteristic of him. If only the circumstances had been different, both Azula and Sokka would have cherished his laughter a little more.

"That was hilarious. Truly, just, hilarious" Azula growled. Rui Shi couldn't seem to stop laughing regardless of how menacing her tone was.

"All things considered, though, do you need that brew at all?" he asked, when his laughter fit subsided "Are you two planning on…?"

"It doesn't matter if we are or aren't, I'm supposed to drink that every day, or at least that's what Mai said" Azula sighed, glancing around herself as the herbalist moved from plant to plant, searching for the right ones "I don't know what the consequences might be if I stop"

"Huh. I see" said Rui Shi, nodding.

"But I will say, after that stunt with the bull-lion spirit I feel a little less inclined to be considerate towards you…" Azula muttered. Rui Shi smirked.

"Not afraid the bull-lion will come drive you apart?"

"I'd shoot it full of lightning if he so much as dares" Azula grunted "And if you keep annoying me I might shoot you too"

"Fair enough, fair enough" said Rui Shi, although his smile didn't wane that easily.

The herbalist prepared a cup of the special tea for Azula, and she offered her a bag of the selection of herbs for the infusion. Azula was grateful for it, although the tea's taste still was as displeasing as ever. After breakfast was finished, the herbalist followed Miyuki through the pavilions while Azula, Sokka and Rui Shi gathered their things again. The herbalist returned to them around half an hour later, carrying sets of green and yellow clothes with her.

"Well, this is all Miyuki could narrow down" she said, offering a dark green tunic to Rui Shi, along with green trousers and a yellow belt "I hope they fit!"

"Thank you" said Rui Shi, bowing his head towards her gratefully as she handed a bright yellow dress and a thick green sash, along with deep green shoes to Azula now. The Princess grimaced at the vivacious color but didn't complain.

The last clothing items went to Sokka, but as he held up the green tunic and belt he frowned with confusion.

"Um… do I not have any bottoms?" he asked, looking at the herbalist. She shook her head.

"I'm afraid that's all we could find, and I thought I had to give the only pants I found to your master!" she said "I thought that would be better, isn't it?"

"Uh… I guess?" said Sokka, with a grimace and a sigh. The herbalist smiled.

"Well, then, change into your clean clothes and me and Miyuki will bid you farewell later. It was our pleasure to host you!"

"Thank you for your hospitality, truly" said Rui Shi, bowing his head again.

The woman walked out of the pavilion, leaving Sokka and Rui Shi to change in the same one they had slept in while Azula wandered off to another one. She would have gladly taken the chance to strip naked around Sokka again for the first time in ages, but not while Rui Shi was lurking about.

"Okay, this isn't nice. The breeze is all up my business…" Sokka complained, swallowing hard and yanking his robe as low as he could.

"You can wear your old pants, then" said Rui Shi. Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"They're blue. It won't make sense and it won't look like an Earth Kingdom attire for real" he said. Rui Shi shrugged.

"Then you'll have to bear with the breeze" said Rui Shi "At least until we get to the nearest village where we can buy better clothes for you"

"Heh. I'll appreciate that" said Sokka, sighing and fitting the belt in place.

The two of them stepped out of the pavilion, Rui Shi already carrying his large rucksack while Sokka fixed his own to make sure it was suitable for carrying long distances. His weapons protruded a little from it, and he wanted to hide them better. His black sword wasn't easy to recognize when it was in its sheath, but his other weapons were of apparent Water Tribe makeshift. Giving their identities away through his weapons would be quite a waste, considering how hard they were working to disguise their true identities.

"Maybe you should let your hair down too" Rui Shi said suddenly. Sokka raised an eyebrow "I'm just saying, your hairstyle is… somewhat characteristic of yours as well. It might be less of a giveaway"

Sokka sighed and shrugged, taking off his hair tie and letting his dark locks frame his face. His eyesight was slightly limited this way, but he doubted it would be a real problem.

"Better?" said Sokka. Rui Shi nodded.

"You should be better off like that, yes" he said, his eyes shifting towards the approaching woman clad in yellow "Ah, you're done?"

"I… guess"

Azula's voice behind Sokka alerted him of her return. He turned swiftly, grimacing bashfully because of his attire, but his jaw dropped as he took in hers: she was blushing crimson in the simple yellow dress, uncomfortable by the thick sash around her belly. She had worn sashes before but not like this one. She didn't seem to like it, and she also didn't like the way her sleeveless dress cut right above her knees. She couldn't help but think that this was something someone like Ty Lee would wear, which inherently meant it was something she'd never wear if only she had a better alternative…

"A-A…" Sokka gasped, his eyes wide. Azula's blush grew more intense once she knew he was gawking at her. How was it embarrassing for him to see her wearing something like this when he had already seen her naked countless times…?

"If I was going to wear such a revealing attire I might as well wear my nightgown" she grunted "It actually covers me better than this thing…"

Sokka didn't seem to stop gazing at her as though hypnotized, while Rui Shi only looked at her somewhat uneasily. He had to push Sokka a little to make him snap out of his daze.

"I-I mean… well, your nightgown is a bit longer than that, haha…" said Sokka, scratching the back of his head and smiling awkwardly.

"It's much longer than yours, that's for sure" said Azula, eyeing Sokka's green tunic "But alas, I guess this way you can show off your legs, huh?"

"So should you" said Sokka, smiling brightly. Rui Shi sighed next to him, sensing the conversation was likely to head into a direction he didn't care for.

"I'll go pay the herbalist. Get ready to leave" he said "Ah, and Princess… perhaps you should change your hairstyle, just to continue hiding who you are"

"Ah. Good idea" said Azula, sighing and looking at Sokka fleetingly as she quickly undid her top-knot and shifted her hairstyle into a ponytail "You changed your hair too, huh?"

"Yeah, he said it'd be better if I kept my hair down. I hope that's alright…" said Sokka, smiling. Azula nodded weakly.

"Yeah, it… it looks good that way. It's good" she whispered.

He bit his lip, taking notice of how she kept an arm over her sash once she was done fixing her hair. He crooked an eyebrow.

"Are you alright? That sash not working for you?"

"I… I don't know" she said, frowning as she stared at it "It's too long, too thick… doesn't it look bad to you? Like I'm…"

"Like you're what?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow as Azula grimaced.

"Slightly overweight?" she muttered. Sokka's jaw dropped.

"What the…?! How could you think you look overweight at all, Azula?" he exclaimed, eyeing her in disbelief "The sash would have to be like fifty times as thick as it is to make that sort of effect on your body!"

"But this just… ugh, I don't know, maybe it's because it's Earth Kingdom clothing, but it doesn't suit me right" she stated, stubbornly. Sokka shook his head.

"You look gorgeous" he said, outright. She stared at him in surprise "That's the truth of it. And yeah, it's way less clothes than you usually wear, but it's going to be okay. Rui Shi said we can buy more clothes when we reach a village, so you can change into something more comfortable if you need to. No biggy!"

"… But you do think I'm gorgeous like this? Really?" she asked, questioningly. Sokka snorted.

"I'm growing convinced there's no type of clothing in the world that wouldn't look good on someone as beautiful as you. That's what I really think" he said. She gulped and nodded.

"Well… good. That's… that's good to hear" she said, before gesturing at Rui Shi "But we've got to go now, yes, so… so let's go, shall we?"

Sokka smiled fondly after her as she walked with uncertainty towards Rui Shi. Despite they were supposed to be comfortable, the flat shoes she wore were too soft and bland, and they scarcely protected her otherwise uncovered legs.

The herbalist had been astounded by the amount of money Rui Shi had handed her. As they took their leave they heard her telling Miyuki all about the countless things they would be able to afford with all this money. Sokka smiled to himself as he heard the woman's voice, guessing they had helped someone else in their travels again. Her hospitality, albeit awkward at times, and deeply flawed in regards of the strictly vegetarian meals, had been rather welcome in their current situation. The three of them were very grateful for her help.

Nature's sounds welcomed them as they climbed down the stairs carefully. Azula outstretched their map once they reached the road again, and she led the way south. The two men flanked her, each bearing with the weight of their packs as they followed the Princess. There wasn't a lot of chatter, especially since Azula zoned out frequently to connect to Xin Long. The battle had stopped for the time being, but after soaring high in the sky to have a proper look at the mountain range, Xin saw there was still a rather large group of outlaws hiding behind the tall hills… and despite the dragon was staring from afar, it looked as though the enemies were furnished with explosives.

"Bombs wouldn't wreak much havoc in the Stronghold, right?" Azula asked after telling them about what Xin Long had seen. Both Sokka and Rui Shi frowned.

"Hopefully not" said Sokka "I remember Xin ate an explosive once… maybe he can do the same with these?"

"Maybe" said Azula, frowning.

Why didn't Jeong Jeong use those explosives yet, though? What was he waiting for…? Regardless of what it might be, it was apparent Xin Long couldn't leave the Stronghold for the time being. His job there was far from finished.

They spent all day hiking over the cliffs next to the river, and they didn't reach any villages yet. Since the skies were starting to darken, they had no choice but to make camp at an abandoned city that sent chills down Sokka's spine. The structures had been eroded by long past battles and by the passage of time: despite that, was apparent this had been a city of some sort in its prime.

"What's this place?" he asked, after they had settled within one of the old buildings.

Rui Shi had been warming up their dinner around the makeshift fire they had built while Sokka wandered the area, taking in the sight of the vines tangled around the collapsed columns of the old building. Vegetation had grown wildly all over the former city, merging with the formerly magnificent architecture.

"It's an old trading city, Taku" said Azula "It was one of the first places Fire Lord Sozin targeted when he began his conquest of the world. It was a crucial economic center for the Earth Kingdom, so…"

"So, strategically speaking, destroying it was the right way to start a war…" said Sokka, with a disgruntled frown. Azula shrugged.

"He was the one who started the Fire Nation's quest for the world, you know. He wasn't going to pull his punches" she said, her chin resting on her hand as she waited for the food to be ready. Sokka sighed and approached her.

"I know, I know. It's still unsettling, though" he whispered, sitting down next to her. Rui Shi eyed them with curiosity, prompting Sokka to raise an eyebrow "What?"

"Just… surprised this didn't escalate into an all-out verbal battle" he said, shrugging. Sokka smiled and Azula stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Indeed, we've lacked major arguments lately… and it is getting kind of boring. Go on, Sokka, press me on and keep badgering me about all the hideous things the Fire Nation did, please…"

Despite himself, Sokka laughed. The Princess smirked at him.

"I'd rather not. It was bad enough the first time I dared" he said, with wide eyes "And I like having a nice record of no serious fights lately. Wouldn't you rather it stays that way, Azula?"

"Seeing what our last fight was like… yes, you're probably right" she said, nodding.

Rui Shi took care to separate the food equally for them all, but Azula's words continued to roam his mind as they ate. He frowned, wondering if that last fight she'd mentioned was the last one he'd noticed. The one that had happened on that very night Song had kissed him…

He had been holding back from thinking about it, doing his best to focus on work and not let himself be affected by it, but just remembering it made his spirits sink again. He still didn't understand what had gone wrong, where he'd made a mistake. He'd analyzed the situation from as many angles as he could, and he still didn't know why Song kept avoiding him… but he did have some suspicions about it, despite it all. Suspicions that the pair sitting across him might be able to clarify, in case he had guessed correctly.

"Princess…?" he whispered. Azula frowned.

"Uh… we didn't talk much about it yet, but we did settle on that 'fake name' policy, didn't we?" said Azula. Rui Shi froze "So don't call me Princess while we're on the road. My fake name is Jing"

"And mine's Wentai" said Sokka, smiling "Did you settle on one yet?"

"U-uh, not really. But… maybe something like Roshi will do" he said, shrugging. Both Azula and Sokka stared at him in surprise.

"Roshi? It's very close to your actual name…?" Azula asked.

"It should be fairly easy to remember. But that's not really what I wanted to ask, P-… Jing" he corrected himself, his eyebrow twitching.

"Well, what was?" Azula said, finishing the last bits of bread she had left.

Rui Shi was silent for a moment as he gathered his courage. He raised his eyes, fearful, but knowing he couldn't hold this off any longer. He needed to know the truth.

"What happened that night? T-the night when… when the two of you had that huge fight that made you storm out of his house" he clarified, jerking his head towards Sokka when he spoke about him. Now the pair froze with unease, not having expected to be questioned about that so long after the fact.

"That night?" Azula asked, looking at Sokka "Well… what exactly do you need to know?"

"I just need to know if… if Song was supposed to distract me while you ran off to see the Princess" said Rui Shi, staring at Sokka.

Had Sokka learned anything from Azula in regards of lying, he would have been able to deflect Rui Shi's question a little more effectively… but he hadn't. So he only froze and grimaced, his wide eyes perfectly betraying his guilt.

"A-ah, well, that is… uh…" he said, glancing at Azula hopelessly "W-well, maybe…?"

Rui Shi sighed and shook his head. Sokka and Azula's hearts sank upon seeing him like that.

"Why are you asking that, though?" Azula asked, testing the waters somewhat recklessly "Did something happen that night that we should know about?"

"I… well, not that you need to know, but…" said Rui Shi, sighing. He wasn't one to share his feelings, but despite his better judgment, he had trouble holding back now that he had started talking "I thought I had been too rude after the gladiator stormed up to his room, so I kept trying to talk to him, but she always said it was better if I didn't. When I tried to do it after dinner, she… she interfered again by, well…"

"By what…?" Sokka asked, looking at him uneasily, but Azula frowned knowingly.

"She kissed you"

"She what?!" Sokka exclaimed, looking at Azula in surprise as Rui Shi blushed a little "How did you know that?"

"You shouldn't underestimate Song's cleverness" she said, with a weak smile "And well, I, uh… I may know a thing or two about kissing people for the wrong reasons"

Sokka bit his lip and blushed as well. It was somewhat comforting to imagine it was only the effect of the fire, but all three of them had flushed cheeks by now.

"It was wrong, though. All of it" said Rui Shi, sighing "She just… did it to keep me away from your room, that's all. She didn't really…"

"Wait, wait, wait…" said Sokka, lifting a hand "Don't be hasty, Captain. U-uh, I mean, Roshi. As much as she may have kissed you rashly, I'm sure Song didn't kiss you just to save my butt. She actually likes you, has for a long time! She always teased me about A-… about Jing, and I'd tease her about you…"

"You did?" Rui Shi asked, surprised. Sokka nodded enthusiastically.

"So if you think she didn't care and just was… I don't know, emotionally manipulating you, I'm completely sure you're wrong. She's not like that" said Sokka, his arms folded over his chest.

"I agree" said Azula, nodding "And I should know, I am a lot more proficient at emotional manipulation than anyone else here, so…"

"Eh, you're not that bad" said Sokka. Azula smirked.

"Right" she said, rolling her eyes but focusing on Rui Shi again "She's been avoiding you since, though. That's what made you question why she'd done it, isn't it?"

"Well… I found her behavior strange all along, but yes. That certainly did it" said Rui Shi, nodding.

"Why do you think she avoids you? Because you were a bad kisser?" Azula asked. Rui Shi blushed.

"How would I know?" he said. Azula laughed softly.

"Well, since it seems you really don't know, I'll tell you my hypothesis: she feels guilty. She knew you'd be disappointed, that you'd feel betrayed, once you knew what the main motivation behind her actions was" said Azula "And I believe it's only fair to call it the main motivation because she could have easily done something else to distract you, or merely told you to go home for the day and to come back the next day to make amends for your rudeness. But she kissed you instead: why's that?"

"Because… she did like me" said Rui Shi, biting his lip "But now she thinks…"

"Now she thinks she blew it because she ruined your first kiss" said Azula, sighing. Rui Shi groaned and rubbed his forehead with his fingertips "And I guess the question is whether you think this is so important you can't forgive her for it, or if you'll keep an open mind and still go forward with her…"

"Go forward?" Rui Shi scoffed, looking at her in disbelief "I can't… I don't think I can do that regardless of the truth, Princess. As much as I may appreciate Song, I am your guard first and foremost, and…"

"And you called me Princess again. I should flick you for that" said Azula. Rui Shi cringed.

"Sorry"

"You know, it's kind of ridiculous" said Azula, staring at Sokka with interest "Here I am, entangled with a slave of all people…"

"A good-looking slave, though, aren't I?" said Sokka, smirking. Azula pushed him gently, making him laugh.

"I fell headfirst into this relationship despite knowing it would likely drag you, and countless others, down a hellish path if the two of us are ever discovered" said Azula, looking at Rui Shi earnestly "All because I decided to give in to all my urges and to try to find happiness with this dork"

"Indeed…" said Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow "What's so ridiculous, though?"

"That you've seen me doing something so selfish, and yet you refuse to consider the possibility of finding your own kind of happiness just because of your loyalty to me" said Azula "You do know you're not forbidden from finding a significant other, don't you?"

"I know, I know" said Rui Shi, sighing "It's just… I don't think it's responsible. I have a dangerous job, what with you jumping headfirst into as many dangerous situations as you can. If I were to be with her, and something happened to me, she'd…"

"She'd be upset whether you're involved with her or not" said Sokka, sipping his water "She cares about you regardless of your relationship status, I'm sure of it"

"I guess so, but…"

"Alright… Roshi" said Azula, holding up a hand. Rui Shi froze "You don't need to make excuses to us for why you think you shouldn't be with her. We understand"

"We do?" said Sokka, blinking blankly. Azula rolled her eyes.

"We spent forever trying to stop ourselves from falling in too deep until it was too late, remember?" Azula told him "And Roshi here… well, he's not like us. If he has better willpower, then good for him. You can be with Song if you want to, I certainly won't get in the way of it. I also won't force you to be with her if you'd rather not go down that path. There are as many reasons to do it as there are reasons not to. So… do as you will. But I do suggest you talk with her and set things straight either way. It would be a pity if you two lost your friendship merely because you're scared of talking things through"

"I… I guess so" said Rui Shi, staring at Azula in surprise "Then… you don't approve or disapprove?"

"The only thing I disapprove of is you two avoiding each other as you have" said Azula, smiling a little "Not that I'm exactly an expert on how to handle a relationship crisis, but if I've learned something after almost two years of having this fool in my life, it's that talking things openly can save you a lot of anguish in the long run. So don't let this wound fester. The longer you drag out the resolution, the worse it'll be for the two of you"

"Huh. I understand" said Rui Shi, nodding and smiling a little at her "Thank you, P-… Jing. I guess talking does help a little…"

"Well, what else did you expect from your road trip wife other than great advice?" said Azula, smiling teasingly. Sokka huffed and Rui Shi chuckled.

Rui Shi's road trip wife slept holding Sokka's hand, though, tucked in her sleeping bag while Sokka took the first shift and kept guard on their campsite. Rui Shi laid down at the other side of the fire, his back towards them, but his heavy chest somehow felt lighter than before after talking with Azula. He didn't know what he'd decide to do about his relationship with Song yet, but he had time to think about it until they returned home. By then he was sure he would have made up his mind about what to do.

They woke at early dawn and resumed their journey, passing through the ruins of the city and reaching a very high point in the shore's cliffs around midday: a walkway had been carved to allow them to climb down to Harbor Town, from where they could take a ferry across the river. They stopped to replenish their supplies and to improve their attires, too. Sokka found the pants he had been longing for, along with forearm covers that fit perfectly where he usually had his bandages. Azula wasn't as lucky as he was, but she found shorts that would cover her legs somewhat, along with a better pair of shoes than the ones she'd been wearing so far. The blisters on her feet were grateful for the change.

They had lunch before taking off on the ferry. The trip across the river was calm and it gave Sokka the opportunity to make up for the sleep he hadn't gotten through the night. From what Azula had seen so far in Xin Long's mind, the enemies of the Stronghold had yet to use their explosives, but they had injured one of the Yu-Yan archers when an earthbender threw a rock to the man's shoulder. How much longer could this nightmare persist? Azula didn't know, but it was starting to drive her mad. Maybe the way to end the pointless siege would be to find a larger armed force and attack Jeong Jeong's group from behind somehow…?

She resolved to consider that in case nothing was wrong in Yu Dao by the time they got there. If the battle at the Stronghold continued to drag on she would need to take the pertinent measures to end it as quickly as possible.

They arrived at the other side of the river in the afternoon, but as the sun was still shining they kept walking, hoping to find a village ahead where they could stop for the night. There had been only a few houses in the other side of the ferry landing, so they resolved to keep looking for a village to rest unless the night's mantle spread out before they could reach one.

"You know, I can carry the pack for a while if you need me to" Azula told Sokka. They were making their way through a forest's path, headed west "You must be worn out…"

"Eh? I'm fine, I'm fine" said Sokka, smiling "You're our navigator, so just keep navigating us. We'll get to a town soon, you said?"

"I… don't really know" said Azula, spreading the map open and frowning "There's something marked down on the map not far ahead, but I'm not sure what it is. It doesn't look like a town to me"

"Maybe it's not" Sokka said, lurking over her shoulder "So… should we keep going? Or should we make camp here?"

"We should keep going" Rui Shi said, ahead of them "We'll cover as much ground as we can until we find somewhere safe to rest or until the night's upon us, as we agreed"

"Still, it's risky to stay out in the open so late, isn't it?" said Sokka, frowning as Rui Shi stopped to wait for them.

Azula walked ahead, holding the map still as her brow furrowed. Sokka and Rui Shi continued to discuss the matter at hand, but she had an unpleasant feeling sinking in her stomach. The hairs on the back of her neck seemed to stand on end, and she had a mighty urge to turn around, but not now. Not yet. If there was someone there, she needed to know where they were exactly…

She kept walking, occasionally lifting her gaze and staring about herself as though trying to make sure they were on the right path. Sokka and Rui Shi noticed her odd behavior, but they didn't seem aware of the perils Azula had noticed.

"Something the matter?" Sokka asked.

"Not sure, Wentai" she said "I just… I don't know if we're on the right road. Didn't you see a fork back there?"

"A fork?" he said, frowning "Uh… no? Was there a fork?"

"I didn't see one either" said Rui Shi. Azula huffed.

"Well, then, you're both extremely inattentive. Are you really just following me blindly instead of taking in your surroundings?"

"We… we were. Sorry" said Sokka, frowning. He stared at Azula questioningly, and she raised an eyebrow.

The wordless exchange between them alerted Rui Shi, as he as well started to have the unpleasant sensation of being followed. He sighed and turned around, as though to stare down the road they'd been walking, but he was trying to spot the possible stalkers just as Azula was.

"Men. Always spacing out when it matters, and always lurking about when nobody needs them to" said Azula, breathing deeply and rolling her eyes as she folded the map and slipped it inside Sokka's pack as inconspicuously as possible.

"Not a fan of lurkers?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Not in the slightest" she said, smirking.

A twig snapped on the tree on their left.

Sokka and Rui Shi dropped their packs, ready to join battle and defend their Princess, but she didn't need much help at the time, clearly: in less time than it had taken them to let those bags drop, she had charged an electric attack and shot it straight at the branch she'd heard snapping.

Two dark shapes fell from the tree, one of them contorting in stunned pain while the other panicked. He clasped his friend's arm, lifting a knife to defend himself from the fire daggers the male firebender had lifted, or the black sword in the hands of the dark-skinned man…

But before either of them could attack him, or before Azula herself could deliver a new blow, something huge crashed through the trees and startled both the travelers and their stalkers. A massive, four-legged creature with no eyes and a star-shaped snout, along with rows of sharp and deadly teeth, and a ridiculously long tongue that struck the back of the man with the knife.

The assailant dropped his knife, losing control of his limbs and body immediately. He collapsed on the ground without the chance to register all that had happened in a matter of seconds. But he wasn't the only one shocked by the sudden turn of events: Azula, Sokka and Rui Shi were staring at the beast in complete confusion, at least until the Princess and her gladiator realized they had seen it before…

The blood seemed to slow in Azula's body when she recognized the shirshu. And the coldness threatened to shift into a burst of rage when she took in that the shirshu had a saddle… and that someone she had hoped to never meet again in her life happened to be sitting on that saddle.

Her leather clothes were as black as her dark hair, and her lips were still colored with the darkest shade of paint she could have found on sale. She was yanking the reins on her beast, pulling them back so the shirshu would stay still now that it had delivered the necessary blow with its poisoned tongue.

The sight of that snake tattoo on the woman's shoulder made Sokka want to dig a hole in this very road and bury himself in it for a century or two. His grip on Space Sword weakened, his chest suddenly constrained and painful. He didn't dare look to his right, where Azula stood, knowing all too well that her reaction upon seeing June could not be any better than his own…

The bounty hunter stared at them from her place on the shirshu's saddle, raising her eyebrows with interest. At first sight she didn't realize two of the three people were familiar, but after scanning them carefully for a second time she realized the ones to the right looked an awful lot like two people she had come across some time ago, in Ba Sing Se's outskirts rather than Yu Dao's…

She couldn't help but smirk at the irony of such a coincidence. She patted her shirshu's neck gently.

"Well, well, Nyla. Looks like we found some old friends"


	123. Chapter 123

Rui Shi frowned, puzzled. He was positive he had never seen this woman before… but one glance at Sokka and Azula revealed that maybe that 'old friends' comment hadn't been directed towards him. Had these two met this woman without his awareness? When? And for starters, who was she?

"I'm surprised you're still together, actually. Good to hear your relationship's so much stronger than you'd feared" June said, smirking at Sokka "Looks like you got what you wanted despite expecting otherwise, huh, Sokka?"

"W-what are you… what are you doing?" Sokka gasped, struggling to find his voice as June climbed off the shirshu's saddle "Why are you here? Were you… were you following us?!"

"You guys? Why would I want to do that?" she asked.

"You were… you were following them" Azula said, her voice low and cold, trembling ever so slightly as she pointed at their two pursuers, lying limply on the side of the road. Sokka cringed next to Azula at the tone of her voice. June raised her eyebrows and smiled approvingly.

"Sharper than the last time we met, I see. Good to hear. Yes, I was after these two, and now I have them, so…"

"Don't you dare lay a single finger on them!" Azula snapped, lifting a menacing hand in June's direction just as the bounty hunter stretched an arm to pick up the first one.

June stared at Azula in confusion, but withdrew her hand despite her skepticism.

"Ah… why am I not supposed to lay a finger on them, again?" she asked "Don't you understand how my line of work goes, Princess? I catch them, drag them to the nearest authorities, get paid…?"

"Why, the nearest authority is standing right in front of you" Azula snapped "You're not going to take those two anywhere. Not until I've had a few words with them, at any rate. Why were you after them, for starters?"

"Well, you haven't changed that much, still as pushy as ever" said June, with a dramatic sigh "There's a bounty on their heads, I found some tarnished cloak that belonged to one of them, Nyla brought me to them. That's the story"

"Really?" Azula asked, her golden glare glacially cold "So you just found an old cloak lying about, and it led you to them? There's a bounty on their heads?"

"Will you repeat everything I say or is this your idea of sarcasm? Because it's not really working, Princess…"

"What I think, bounty hunter, is that you weren't trying to track those two down: you were tracking down Jeong Jeong" said Azula, stepping towards June. The woman's eyes darkened: Azula's guess was spot on. "And you're willing to take anything back to Yu Dao to earn your dues, but you know just as well as I do that they're never going to fetch you half as valuable a reward as Jeong Jeong would. That is, if you get paid for them altogether…"

"Huh. So you're a lot more aware of what's going on than I gave you credit for…" June conceded, staring at Azula with unease.

June's implied confirmation made the blood chill in Azula's veins again as she stared at the two men lying on the ground. The paralyzed one seemed to be the only conscious one: the one hit by lighting was out cold, although not dead going by the rising and dropping of his chest with every breath he took.

They were Jeong Jeong's people, then. June had found that cloth: she had hoped that it might lead her to the real deal, but it hadn't belonged to the man she had been looking for. But knowing this much was already bad enough news for her and her two companions: this as good as confirmed that what was happening in the Stronghold was only a decoy attack. They had jumped directly into Jeong Jeong's trap, it seemed. Had he been counting on Azula being sent away from the Stronghold, then? Had he known to predict how Shinu would act…?

It made Azula cringe when she realized Jeong Jeong had probably prepared for anything and everything. They weren't a step ahead of him, they couldn't be: for how long had he been planning this, setting up trap after trap as sophisticatedly as possible, to make sure Azula would fall into them one way or another? Her fists balled, her nails digging into her palms so violently she probably had drawn blood. These new discoveries, along with the bounty hunter's presence, had obliterated the pleasant mood she'd had during most the day.

"Then you… you're after Jeong Jeong?" Sokka asked, his eyes wide. June shrugged and showed him an old black fabric, the cloak she had mentioned earlier.

"I was. But this was my only lead. I heard he was out there again, he would've been a great asset for my history as a bounty hunter, you know? The most notorious Fire Nation traitor, worth so much I could even buy myself a mansion in Ba Sing Se's Upper Ring with the reward, if I felt like it. Not like I do, though, people there are no fun…"

"Then I suppose your quest was a waste. What a pity" said Azula, with a forced smile "Go on your merry way and maybe you'll find another piece of cloth that will lead you to some other dead end, and…"

"Ah, and leave these two in your hands? Not a chance" said June "I can still turn them in at Yu Dao, and if they decided to cooperate, they could help me find Jeong Jeong, so…"

"Why, finding him happens to be exactly why I need them too, what are the odds?" said Azula, rolling her eyes. June snorted.

"Wait a minute. You're after him too? Well, damn. Did the gladiator fights get so boring that you're trying to entertain yourself by taking my job?" June asked, grabbing the paralyzed guy by the hair and yanking him towards Nyla. Azula scowled.

"I'm not doing it for entertainment, and you're not going to take these men anywhere, understood?" Azula exclaimed. June raised her eyebrows defiantly as she flung the guy on the saddle with next to no efforts.

"And why should I do as you say?" she asked "Do you have anything better to offer me than Yu Dao does?"

"Considering you're working on the wishful chance of making half a coin out of turning in the both of them, I'm pretty sure anything I offer you will be better than Yu Dao" Azula said. June raised her eyebrows with amusement.

"Wait a minute. Are we talking business again, Princess? Well, what a pleasant surprise this is. Ready to sell me your hairpiece this time, then? Though you're not wearing it, curiously. Why's that?"

"None of your business. And I'm not selling you anything of mine" Azula snarled. June looked at her skeptically.

"Then how exactly are you offering me something better than Yu Dao?"

"Because you know just as well as I do that you might as well turn in a half-beaten dog to the authorities than these two if it's money you want. They're no ones. The soldiers in Yu Dao might think you're yanking their hair by handing them over, for all you know. Meanwhile, I need to know why they were following me, what their leader is up to, and how to defeat his forces… It's obvious I need them more than you do"

"Ah, I see. Then, you're saying I should find someone willing to pay me better for my efforts, someone who understands the magnitude of this delicate situation with Jeong Jeong" said June, smirking slowly.

"Is money seriously all you can think about?" Azula groaned, rolling her eyes and glaring at June pointedly. June shrugged.

"Money makes the world go 'round, doesn't it?" she said "Besides, all I'm saying is that I will find the best buyer for these two. And if that best buyer just so happens to be standing right in front of me, as you eloquently put it before…"

Azula's frown deepened. June stared at her with dead seriousness now.

"You want to question them? You want to know what they're up to? That's just fine by me, but you're not doing it if you don't pay the price to question my guy. Because yes, I'm the one who got this one, remember?" said June, pointing at the paralyzed man she had dumped over her shirshu.

Azula's scowl grew stronger as June smiled at her. Clearly, letting her go with the only conscious one was a bad idea. She had no clue when the other one would wake again, if he ever did.

"Azula…" she heard Sokka beside her. She only gave him a harsh glare, prompting him to recoil a little.

"What's going on?" said Rui Shi, at her other side. Azula huffed and groaned, shaking her head as June rested against Nyla, eyeing Rui Shi with curiosity.

"Well, he's certainly new" she asked "Who's this, your second boyfriend?"

Sokka's irritation regarding their cover story only seemed to grow larger by the minute. Now even someone like June assumed Rui Shi was involved with Azula… or at least, she was saying it to rile the Princess up. But the one June had managed to displease now was the gladiator instead of the sponsor.

"I'm…!" Rui Shi started, but Azula lifted a hand to silence him. She wasn't sure how to handle introducing June to the Captain, and she certainly didn't mean to ponder it now.

"You want my money, you say?" she asked. June nodded promptly "How much of it?"

"I don't know. How much is the information worth?" June asked, smirking.

"Two yuans" Azula retorted sarcastically. June snorted.

"That's a lot of trouble you're giving me for just that bit of money, you know? Have the yuans on you, or is it true that Princesses don't carry cash on them?"

"It is, so you'll have to wait until I get to our destination for me to pay you" said Azula, smiling sarcastically "The price will depend on the quality of the information they give me, of course. I'm sure you understand…"

"Uh, I don't know if I do" said June, sighing "So basically, if they refuse to say anything you won't pay me?"

"I doubt they'll be that resilient" said Azula, glaring at the stunned one on the ground "If they are, though, my interrogation methods may grow slightly more violent than I originally intended…"

The one lying across the shirshu's back grimaced. The Princess's fatal glare was upon him now, and he almost wished for death right away. He wouldn't speak, but whatever tortures were crossing the Princess's mind surely would threaten to break his silence…

But he wasn't the only one horrified by Azula's words.

"Azula, what the hell?!" Sokka exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock "You can't just…! Are you seriously planning on torturing them?"

"Only if they don't talk otherwise" said Azula, with a dry grin before turning to June "Do we have a deal, then?"

"Oh, well, I guess we do. You're still likely to pay me more than those soldiers in Yu Dao anyways" said the bounty hunter, shrugging and leaning down to pick up the other outlaw "I'll have Nyla carry them to the bar, we can finish tweaking all the details of our little deal there"

"Bar?" Azula repeated. June nodded, slinging the second man on top of the first. The latter groaned in pain.

"It's not far. You and your boyfriends can rest there just fine, relax with something to drink…" said June, smirking as she climbed on the saddle too, twisting back to tie up the men's limbs with thick ropes, just in case the effects of the paralysis disappeared sooner than expected "That is, as long as they can hold in the liquor. I'm sure one of them can, though"

The comment slashed through both Sokka and Azula as a sword would. The Princess closed her eyes, willing her rage to calm down before turning to the two men, her face a mask of determination and fury.

"Pick up those bags again and get moving. We're following her" she snapped at them.

Rui Shi blinked blankly, obeying her soundly as Sokka did the same, but reproachfully. The crestfallen look on his face was familiar: Rui Shi had seen him show it before, although it was mixed with a lot of other emotions right now. Disappointment and disbelief were amongst them.

"Alright, then, come along…" said June, sighing and ushering Nyla to start on her way to the bar again, followed by the three travelers.

Azula walked closer to the beast, shooting deadly glares at Jeong Jeong's followers and at June. The bounty hunter surely was aware of it, but she didn't worry about sparing a single glance at the Princess as she treaded her way through the dirt road, leading Nyla expertly as ever.

Meanwhile, Sokka and Rui Shi trailed behind them, not too distant but not too close to the beast either. Sokka's insides were churning with a mix of unpleasant emotions, and he had the awful feeling that his great non-conflictive streak with Azula had just been driven to a brusque end. Why June, of all people? Were there no other bounty hunters out there they could have come across? It just had to be her…

"Can I ask…?" Rui Shi whispered next to him, but Sokka's pained grimace made him recoil "Uh, I guess I shouldn't? But… who is she? Where did you two meet her?"

"Too complicated. Too… messy" Sokka muttered in response, shaking his head "Long story short, there's bad blood, unpleasant history, and I can't believe Azula is seriously willing to torture those two just to coax information out of them…"

"That's what bothers you the most?" Rui Shi asked. Sokka sighed.

"What bothers me the most is that she probably wouldn't want to be so ruthless and unforgiving if we hadn't run into June…" he admitted. Rui Shi stared at him in confusion.

"The more you say, the less I understand…" he said. Sokka shook his head.

"She's a bounty hunter, that's all you really need to know right now"

"But… why doesn't the Princess like her?"

"Eh, use your imagination. I'm sure you'll come up with something" said Sokka, sighing. Rui Shi raised a doubtful eyebrow.

"You're ashamed of it. You don't like the woman any more than the Princess does, but it's likely because you're afraid of the Princess's wrath… well, I think I can come to my own conclusions, yes" said Rui Shi, sighing. Maybe knowing the full truth wasn't as good an idea as he had originally thought.

It was almost fully dark by the time they reached the bar, and it was the only building in the small clearing where it stood. There was a swamp behind the three-story building, which provided the already inhospitable place with an unpleasant scent. The only lights aside from the weak glow of the stars and the crescent moon came from inside the building, pouring out through windows that were poorly blocked with wooden planks.

"This is it?" Azula asked, frowning. It reminded her of the outlaw town where she had first met June. It seemed the woman had a thing for places like these.

"Oh, yeah. My domains, if you will" said June, smirking as she climbed off Nyla and rubbing the shirshu's side before unloading the two men from the saddle "Get some rest, girl"

Azula watched June with unease as she threw each man over her shoulders. The woman raised her eyebrows defiantly at the Princess before making her way to the Bar's entrance. Azula sighed and shook her head disapprovingly. She followed her, her innards churning painfully, as the two last members of their group followed her inside as well.

The pub was populated by all sorts of men and women with menacing appearances, some with masks over their faces, others with eyepatches, and a fair number of them with headbands and bandanas. One in particular stood out, with his imposing physique that would have easily enabled him to be a gladiator: his muscles were massive, his brown hair defied gravity, an effect seemingly achieved by the red headband he wore, and his tall, burly body was covered with white clothes fit for a fighter. He was the first to react when he noticed June entering the building, smirking at the sight of her with two men over her shoulders.

"Looks like you had a productive day, June!" he snorted.

She only smiled and made her way to one of the tables near the windows, dropping her cargo there as Azula, Sokka and Rui Shi remained close to her. The three of them were drawing stares from everyone in the building, not only because they were strangers, but because they had arrived with June, of all people.

"Have a seat, then" said June, tightening the ropes she had bound down Jeong Jeong's men with. Azula frowned as she watched her, unwilling to do as she was told.

"We're just going to… stay here?" Rui Shi asked, eyeing the surroundings with discomfort. He usually wasn't as snobbish as the Princess, but that didn't mean he enjoyed the idea of spending the night in a place populated by unpleasant-looking people such as the crowd of this bar.

"Would you rather stay wandering in the dark instead? Not my problem if you do, but these two stay here for the night" said June, patting the tightly-bound captives on the head as she placed each of them on their respective chairs "If you guys are going to torture… I mean, question them, you might as well get ready to do it here. Maybe book an available room upstairs if you can find one. Talk to the bar's owner about that"

Rui Shi eyed Azula, waiting for confirmation on those orders. The Princess nodded, though it seemed she did so reluctantly. Rui Shi breathed out and made his way to the other side of the room, where a smirking bartender was pouring drinks for men on stools.

"And now we unwind and have a bit of fun" said June, smiling and stretching her arms before looking at Sokka furtively "Though I do recommend you don't drink too heavily, of course. Your mistress may not approve of that"

Sokka's eyebrow twitched as he glared at her. His reaction pleased her, and Azula's didn't surprise her in the slightest.

"Sokka…" Azula said, menacingly. He grimaced "Keep an eye on those two"

"Them?" Sokka confirmed, pointing at the tied men. The stunned one seemed to be returning to consciousness at last, and he blinked groggily as he stared at his surroundings.

"What other two could I mean?" Azula snapped "The bounty hunter and I need to have a private chat"

"Oh, really? What's this, you're not lending your first boyfriend to me again?" June asked, smirking "No need to be so territorial, I know his heart and soul are all yours and nobody else's…"

"Now" Azula said, her eyes widening as her tone grew more threatening. June stared at her doubtfully.

"I suppose that urge to assert your authority will always be part of our professional relationship, won't it?" June said, sighing before turning to Sokka "Do keep an eye on them. If this is just some trick to piss me off, you're the next ones who'll know what shirshu paralysis feels like"

Sokka frowned and stared at Azula in confusion. Was he supposed to do what June didn't want them to? Was Azula dragging her away just to give him an opening to run off with the two men? Or was this something else? Given the fact that Azula had conveyed no orders, not even underhandedly, and that she had sent Rui Shi to book a room, Sokka guessed she didn't want him to do anything other than watch them, but he couldn't know for sure…

The Princess only rolled her eyes as June led her away. Sokka watched them go fearfully, wondering if either of them would try to hurt the other during this private conversation. He dreaded what Azula had in mind to say, especially since she had been ferociously angry for the first time in ages. It wasn't too surprising that she'd be so upset upon coming across June again, but Sokka hadn't expected her to be as menacing as she had been towards the two captured men as a byproduct of her rage.

June had led Azula through the crowds of drinking customers, all the way to a storage room in the second floor. She sighed as she closed the door behind them, expecting a vicious, jealous rant right away…

"You know, I'm really not going to try to steal any of your boyfriends if that's what you thought" June said "I have a lot on my plate, and I really could use the money from capturing rebels, so as much as it may be hard to believe…"

"You're not trying to piss me off" Azula finished, turning to look at her with her arms crossed over her chest… and with a lot less rage in her eyes, suddenly. June frowned.

"Not deliberately, although it's certainly fun since you make it too easy" she conceded.

"As much as you may want to continue having fun at my expenses, that's not what I meant to talk about with you" Azula stated "I certainly have countless reservations about you, and I don't feel quite as pleased about doing this as you might think… but you can be of use to me. And I can be far more helpful to you than you seem to have realized so far"

"Uh… huh?" said June, crooking an eyebrow "How does that work, Princess? What am I supposed to do for you?"

"You're supposed to find Jeong Jeong" said Azula, her eyes cold but now with a clever, calculating glint to them. June blinked.

"How?"

"I doubt you could have known as much, but maybe you've already guessed that those two men were chasing after me" Azula said "I'd been in Yu Dao for over a month when Jeong Jeong started attacking the soldiers from Pohuai Stronghold. We had suspicions that he was trying to capture me, and after we found those two tailing us, all evidence points to the same conclusion: Jeong Jeong's real goal all along was about finding or capturing me"

"Woah, that's… why would he want to do that?" June asked, raising an eyebrow "I mean, you are the Fire Lord's daughter and everything, but that's stupid. You could electrocute him, right?"

"And I'd gladly do so if he tries to lay a hand on me, but he won't manage. Not if you find him first" said Azula, staring at her sternly.

"How do you propose I do that, though?" June asked "Nyla can only track down the scent of whoever owns or spends too much time around certain objects, and I doubt those guys have anything on them that belonged to Jeong Jeong. They're just common goons, nobodies. There's no way I can get to him with Nyla…"

"Oh, yes there is" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "Those two down there? They think I'll torture them for information. They're sure I'm going to show them a world of pain just to force them to betray Jeong Jeong, and as faithful and loyal as they may be to him, nobody on their right mind would sit tight and wait for that sort of hideous interrogation if they find a way to escape…"

"Woah, wait a minute, you want me to let them go?" June asked. Azula shook her head.

"I want you to play dumb, rather. I want us to cause a distraction that will enable them to run off right back to their master. You still have that cloth that led you to them in the first place, right? You'll use it to track them down with Nyla again, and that way you'll arrive to wherever it is that Jeong Jeong is currently hiding. If you play your cards right, and get your beast to move in furtively and get him when has dropped his guard, you'll have caught the biggest bounty in recent Fire Nation history… well, aside from the Avatar, that is"

June frowned, eyeing her with uncertainty. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"What?"

"Why do you… why do you want to help me catch him?" she asked "I know he's after you, or well, you think he is, but why would you want me to do it instead of trusting your nation's soldiers to do it?"

"Because my nation's soldiers have a duty to our people, one I want them to uphold, since I have no idea how many goons Jeong Jeong has out there" said Azula "I need them in their stations, and I think you're a lot more reliable at finding people than they'd be, any rate"

"Huh. And how about the part where you have all those reservations I'm aware of?" she asked "You were making a pretty great show of how much you despise me as soon as you laid eyes upon me again…"

"Why, yes, I couldn't possibly think lower of you if I tried" said Azula, with a sarcastic smile "But I'm past the point of worrying about that by now, believe it or not. There's something bigger at stake here than whatever short-lived history you had with Sokka"

"Short-lived?" she said, smiling "Well, it was, I can't deny it. But here I thought it meant a lot more to you two than it did to me. At least, going by how you reacted when you found out that day…"

"It's been long enough since then for me to make my peace with his foolish mistakes" said Azula, cuttingly. June snorted.

"Here I thought you were being too nice. I guess the resentment really won't go away so easily" she said "But anyways, you're really offering me a way to capture Jeong Jeong, no strings attached? Or do you happen to want something from me, seeing how you're kindly offering me this strange deal?"

Azula felt sorely tempted to make the request of never showing her face before her again, but she suppressed the impulsive urge quickly. She breathed out slowly and tapped her elbow with a finger.

"I don't want you to turn him in to Yu Dao's authorities right away" said Azula "You're to bring him to me instead"

"Ah? You're going to be the one who'll pay me in full for capturing him, then?" June asked.

"No, you'll take him there anyways, later on" said Azula "But I have a few questions to ask him first. It shouldn't take too long, but still…"

"Well, that's not so bad" said June, shrugging "Where do you reckon you'll be once I have him?"

"How long do you reckon it'll take you to find him?" Azula asked. June smirked.

"Nyla can cover the Northwestern Earth Kingdom in a single day. If he's hiding anywhere nearby, it won't take me over two days to get back to you"

"Huh. Then I'll have to give you something of mine for you to track us back with" said Azula "If it takes you longer than that, heading to Yu Dao should suffice. We should be there before the week ends"

"Good. We've got ourselves a deal, then?" June asked. Azula sighed and nodded.

"Don't make me regret it" she said. June smirked.

"I really expected you to threaten me away from either of your boyfriends, you know. I'm surprised"

"Can you stop calling them that?" Azula snapped "Rui Shi is one of my guards, not a boyfriend by any means"

"Really? Sokka looked so dismayed I was sure you were tormenting him by hooking up with another guy" said June, chuckling "So then he's not your boyfriend, but Sokka is?"

"No, he's not" Azula snapped. She wasn't about to label Sokka with such a ridiculous title, never had and never would "And as you so cleverly concluded, yes, everyone must have assumed that I dragged you here to threaten you more. I'm sure Sokka and Rui Shi thought so, that is, if Rui Shi has made any sense out of what's going on yet, and that's the way we need it to be for now. So, when we step out of here, we're going to continue being fully hostile and give no indication of what we're really up to, alright?"

"And just when are they going to find out about the schemes you've been plotting behind their backs?" June asked.

"I'll tell them later, but right now we need to rely on their performances as well as ours if we're going to convince our captives that we're too busy with our personal squabbles to remember they exist" said Azula. June smirked and nodded.

"You're a lot smarter than I gave you credit for, if you planned all this as quickly as it seems you did. I suppose the rumors about you are true after all" she said. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"What rumors, exactly?"

"That you're going to be the first Fire Lord with a brain in over a hundred years" said June. Her words stung Azula, for she certainly didn't take kindly to hearing the bounty hunter insult her father that way, even if she was actually complimenting her "Alright then. Let's keep up our act, continue snapping at each other… I guess improvising our way with it won't be so hard, now, will it?"

"It shouldn't be, I hope" said Azula, sighing and looking at June sternly "We're in agreement, then. This is how we'll handle this situation"

"Well, I see no downsides to it" said June, smiling "I'm getting a shitload of money out of it, from the sound of it. Those two pipsqueaks probably weren't worth half a coin, as you said yourself"

Despite herself, Azula smiled and nodded. She breathed deeply and moved to the door, placing her hand on the handle.

"Very well, then. Let's do this" she said. June nodded before huffing loudly when Azula opened the door "You're unbelievable. You really are"

"Oh, please, you still want me to apologize over this? Can't you grow up, Princess? Don't you understand how the world works, even now?" June retorted, rolling her eyes as she left the room and headed downstairs, followed by Azula.

"Says you, the most indecent, shameless, disgusting slut I've ever met" Azula snapped. June snorted and turned to look at her as she climbed down the stairs.

"Woah, you called me a slut. Doesn't your prissy tongue burn by using such crude language, Princess?" June taunted her.

"You might be surprised to find even princesses like me have a lot less patience and a lot more curse words at the ready than people think we do" Azula growled. June laughed.

"You know, you want me to take you seriously, you really do…" she said, as they approached the table. Sokka still sat there, with the two tied men, as Rui Shi stood beside them. Sokka's eyes widened in uncertainty when he watched them return "But honestly? I just see a little girl who's too far away from home and who doesn't know anything about the real world…"

"And I just see a brat whose entire bounty hunting career is built on the fact that her dear daddy handed her down a sickening creature that does all the hard work" Azula said, glaring at June menacingly. The bounty hunter laughed.

"Whatever. You're just salty because I tapped that ass before you could so much as blush in his direction" she said, pointing at Sokka, who paled and stared at June in sheer horror. Azula's eyebrow rose slowly, but dangerously.

"You're really asking for it now, you know?" she growled. June beamed.

"Bring it on, then, if you have the guts" she said, making her way to where the bartender was, pouring sake to all those who approached his bar.

Azula huffed and shook her head, glaring daggers in the woman's direction. Pretending to have only been arguing with her was a lot easier than she'd expected, especially when June knew what to say to anger her. Not that her last remark had been all that accurate, for Azula certainly had blushed over Sokka on countless occasions before June even met him, but still…

"A-Azula…" Sokka said, as she made her way to the seat next to him.

"I've met my fair share of assholes, but so far she's the worst of them all" she stated, turning her gaze to Rui Shi "Get me something to drink. Now"

"Woah! Wait, Azula…" said Sokka, his eyes wide. Rui Shi frowned.

"Aren't we supposed to be using fake names…?" he whispered. Azula snorted.

"What's the point? Those two weren't fooled by that, were they?" she asked, gesturing at them. They looked at her in fear, but they still held their tongue and kept completely silent.

They were fully clad in black, their faces uncovered although there were hoods on their outfits. They were in their mid-twenties at most, with dark skin and darker hair. Nothing about them stood out, Azula noticed, other than their unkempt hairstyles.

"So why waste our time? That bitch won't stop calling us by our names, to begin with. If she hears us using fake names she'll probably laugh it off and make sure everyone in this building knows who we really are"

"I guess that's true" said Rui Shi, sighing and looking at Azula uneasily "You're sure about that drink, though?"

"Dead sure. Do it now, Rui Shi" she snapped. He nodded and moved to where June was drinking, his shoulders square with tension.

Sokka gritted his teeth and looked at Azula with uncertainty. She didn't look back, her gaze on one of the barred windows as she stemmed in her poorly contained rage.

"Azula… what did you two talk about?" he whispered. Azula snorted in irritation.

"Like you don't know" she grunted. Sokka stared at her apprehensively.

"I thought… I thought we were through with that. I mean, I know seeing her is a bad thing either way, and we don't need her in our lives, but… do you have to be this mad even now?"

"Why, yes, I do" Azula retorted, staring at him menacingly "Maybe you don't get it, because as you said, it means nothing to you, but it did mean something to me. So no, I can't let it go. I won't stop resenting her, and you'd best make your peace with that. Better for me to say it outright than for me to lie and pretend I'm all over it when it's clear as day that I'm not"

"But… ugh, well, fine then" said Sokka, huffing and shaking his head "But what about these two?"

"What about them?" Azula grunted.

"You just so happened to say you were going to torture them?" Sokka reminded her. Azula shrugged.

"I need an outlet for my rage, don't I?"

"A-… Azula!" Sokka said, staring at her in surprise. She stared at him with unyielding eyes.

"What? Got a better idea?" she asked as coldly as she could. Sokka stared at her in disbelief.

"I can't understand why you're…" he whispered, but just then he realized that something didn't feel right.

It was too much. She was mad, justifiably, but she was going too far overboard. Even when they had first encountered June Azula had only burned him: she even hadn't tried to hurt him again afterwards. Azula's impulses didn't lead her to hurt people physically: she threatened them. Was that what she was doing? Did she think those threats would make those two confess whatever she wanted to know about Jeong Jeong?

But if that was the case, he couldn't ruin her method now. He had to keep making it look like he believed her, against his better judgment. So he scoffed and shook his head, as Rui Shi arrived with a sake bottle and three cups.

"N-none for us…?" one of the men said, before he could help himself. The other one shot a glare at him.

"What, you want some?" Azula asked, with a sardonic smirk "Alright. Where's Jeong Jeong's base?"

The two men stayed silent after that. Azula tapped her chin.

"How large are his forces?"

Again, silence. Rui Shi and Sokka exchanged a worried glance.

"What is his ultimate purpose?"

As the men remained silent again, Azula shrugged and grabbed the bottle, leaning it gently over the first cup.

"Have it your way, then" she said, before downing the drink.

As it was the first time she tasted it, she regretted drinking it right away. The taste was foul for her, and she damn near spat it out back into the cup. But she held it in against her body's indications, and she swallowed hard before pouring herself another cup and handing the bottle to Sokka.

"Azula…" he said, looking at her worriedly. Whatever she was up to, he knew she wasn't the best at holding her own against a bottle of sake. He highly questioned that this would end well for her.

"What?!" she snapped at him, her golden eyes gleaming fiercely. Sokka gulped and shook his head, reaching for a cup of his own.

"Never mind…" he muttered, pouring himself some sake too. Maybe drinking would help him bear with the situation, too.

Rui Shi watched them but didn't join in, despite having a cup of his own waiting for him. He glanced back at June, who was currently chatting with the burly guy who had greeted her. He seemed to be challenging her, but it wasn't until Azula and Sokka had downed more than half the bottle – though it was mostly Azula's doing, to be fair – that Rui Shi finally saw what the challenge entailed.

A table in the center of the establishment was cleared, and most the people around gathered to watch as the smaller woman arm-wrestled the large man. Azula's eyes darted towards the scene as she frowned, her face resting on her fist as she eagerly hoped that the large man would beat June…

But to her utter disappointment, it didn't happen. If they hadn't seen June carrying fully grown men on her shoulders as though they were as light as sacks of herbs, they probably would have been more surprised to see her defeating the large man. Deafening celebration sounds poured from all the crowd enjoying their showdown. June laughed proudly and offered to buy everyone drinks with the money she'd just earned, but before she could think of enjoying any more drinks, someone stood up from a table and marched towards her, golden eyes blazing with determination.

"Azula? Azula!" Sokka shouted, jumping to his feet and following her.

Rui Shi felt the impulse to chase after them too, but he didn't obey it. Someone had to stay close to the captives or they'd risk their likely escape attempts. So he grimaced and hoped Sokka would somehow manage to keep control of the situation… but he didn't have a lot of hopes, truth be told. The Princess was in those kinds of moods where nothing nobody said or did would appease her.

June was laughing with some of the men when Azula dropped in the chair the large man had vacated, rubbing his aching hand as he paced through the bar. June raised an eyebrow as she regarded Azula, a slow smirk spreading on her face.

"Well, well. We have a new challenger" she said. Azula scoffed.

"Let's see how good you really are" she growled, placing her elbow on the table.

June smirked and did the same, clasping Azula's hand with hers. A man was ready next to the table to give them the indication to begin, but June wasn't done taunting the Princess yet.

"So, what's our wager? Whoever wins sleeps with your first boyfriend?" June asked. Unsurprisingly, Azula's grip tightened around her hand after that. She chuckled "Sounds fair to me, right?"

"Sounds like you're asking for a beating to me" Azula growled back. June sighed.

"As you'd have it. Now, you're to keep your other hand off the table at all times, you can't move your elbow…"

"I'm aware of the rules. Let's get started" Azula grunted. June smirked.

"Alright, then. Shall we?" she said, glancing at their improvised referee.

The guy held a hand between their faces and their grips tightened further, as though to break the other's hand.

"Ready? Start!" the man exclaimed, and Azula attacked with as much power as she could.

June was genuinely startled by finding herself in an uncomfortable position so quickly in the game. She tensed her muscles and reeled her arm back into the neutral level, right after Azula had pushed her almost halfway down to the table. The Princess snarled, exerting all her strength to fight back against June's own fearsome power. Yet June was backed not only by far more experience than Azula had, but also by an amount of power that overcame Azula's own. It wasn't that the Princess was weak, by any means… but June was inhumanely strong.

She pushed harder, and Azula struggled to remain in the fight, but it wasn't going to work as easily as that. June's strength was overwhelming, and although Azula fought back to the last minute, her knuckles were slammed down on the table before long and again, cheers and celebration broke through the bar as June crowned herself as the victor for the second time in a row.

"Woops. Looks like I beat you" said June, smirking proudly amongst her supporters' cheering.

Azula huffed and stood up, disappointed and slightly dizzy. She had to balance herself by clasping the table, and she realized she'd had nothing to eat while having too much sake to drink. She cursed her recklessness: no act was worth this much trouble.

"So, I guess I get to bang your boyfriend again?" June asked, crossing her legs and eyeing Azula with amusement, determined to get a rise out of her again "Here I thought you'd fight harder to keep him to yourself…"

"You can… go fuck yourself" Azula snapped, and June laughed.

"Well, I could but I rather enjoy fucking others for a change" she said, smirking.

"I'm pretty sure you can go fuck any other moron in this room if you please" Azula snapped "Or is it you've tried out all of them already and you know they're no good for you?"

"Oh, low blow. Calling me a slut again? Sore loser" said June, smirking "And yet the slut gets to bed your man just because you weren't tough enough…"

"You don't get to bed anyone, you blasted whore, you…" Azula snarled, lifting a fist dangerously, but a hand on her shoulder yanked her away from June before anything could get worse.

"Azula, stop! This is getting out of control!" Sokka told her, but she shrugged his hand off and turned to the smirking June again.

"Oh, well. At least lend me your other boyfriend, he's kind of good-looking" said June, smirking in Rui Shi's direction. Azula huffed.

"How're you still alive, huh?" she asked, slurring her words uncharacteristically. Sokka grimaced.

"Azula, you… you've had too much to drink, get back here" he said, grabbing her by the wrist, but Azula kept snarling at June.

"Because really, if you just ride every damn penis you see, you should be festering with diseases by now!" Azula shouted. June let out a bark of laughter.

"If that's how it is, I guess I passed them on to your boy right there, didn't I?" she exclaimed.

And that seemed to do it.

"Alright, you know what?! You know what?!" Azula roared, blue fire spilling from her throat and surprising the other clients of the bar "I'm just done with you! I've had enough! You're just gonna…!"

"Azula, stop it!" Sokka shouted, surrounding her by the waist with his arms and carrying her away "You drank too much, you're losing control! Calm down!"

"Shut the hell up! I'm not going to calm down until I burn her to the bone, you hear me?! Let me down! Let me go!" she shouted as she swung her arms and legs recklessly, fire occasionally pouring out of them.

"Not doing either thing, we're going upstairs and you're staying there until you calm down!" Sokka declared, climbing the stairs clumsily as she tried to wrestle her way out of his arms.

"Stop it! I've got something to finish with that 'ore, that… that bitch, that…" she said, swaying her arms somewhat clumsily now that she had lost sight of June. The ringing laughter of June's friends, drifting to them from the first floor, didn't make her feel much better "Where the hell's she? I've gotta… gotta…"

"You've got to sleep it off, eat something, I don't know, but you're not going back there" said Sokka, huffing as he made his way to the upper floor.

Azula continued to struggle, sometimes slapping Sokka's arm in a hopeless attempt to make him stop, but her hits were so weak he couldn't help but wonder if she'd unleashed all her energy by arm-wrestling June. Still, she was as defiant and angry as ever, going by her ongoing rant as he pushed open the second door to the right in the third floor. Rui Shi had told him earlier that it was the room he'd been able to book, back when Azula and June had left for their private chat.

"She's going to get it, she's… she's the most vile, disgusting thing I've ever met, I'm gonna…" Azula kept rambling, as Sokka pushed the door open.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pretty sure you've met worse people, but sure" he said, closing the door with a kick before setting Azula down.

It surprised him right away that Azula would shut up so suddenly. He frowned and stared at her, noticing her angry snarl had disappeared, replaced by an expression of dizzy displeasure.

"I may really have had too much to drink. I feel like… like there's fireworks in my stomach and not of the good kind" she said. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… okay?" he said "Azula, are you…? Are you okay?"

"I… I'm somewhat drunk, I guess" she said, shrugging "Nothing new for us, is it?"

"N-no, but… what happened with the attitude?" Sokka asked, staring at her in confusion "Where's all the bravado and the 'I'm going to kill June' stuff…?"

"Ah. That" said Azula, clasping his forearm to balance herself better.

Sokka's eyes widened when she suddenly lifted her gaze to give him an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry I worried you so much. Truth is, acting can be rather tiresome…" she said, sighing and walking towards one of the two beds in the room "Only two beds? How come?"

"There's two because that's all they'd let Rui Shi rent, but… what do you mean, Azula?" Sokka exclaimed, rushing to help her sit on the nearest bunk. The Princess groaned and sat next to him on the mattress, sighing in relief when the spinning world seemed to settle down briefly.

"What I mean is… I had to keep that performance going until the very end so that June can go find Jeong Jeong and bring him back to us" she said, with an awkward smile "Sounds crazy, I know, but… I had a plan. A good one. Just… wait a minute. I'm trying to… ah! Yeah, yeah, we're going to… we're going to do something very smart, yeah. We will"

"That's… great" said Sokka, raising a doubtful eyebrow "But how come does that involve you shouting death threats and slurs at June…?"

"Ah, that's to avoid breaking character… and to keep spooking out the two losers we captured" said Azula, dropping her head on his shoulder "They'll try to escape as soon as they have a chance, they'll be frightened because they'll think I'm a sadist with anger management issues, and with the impending threat of torture for information… they'll want out as soon as possible, right?"

"Right, and that's good for us how?" Sokka asked.

"It's good because when they run, they'll go straight to Jeong Jeong to tell him they found us" said Azula "And June will track them down using the cloth she already tracked them with… so she's going to track them again and when she does, she'll also find Jeong Jeong. See?"

Sokka's eyes widened as he stared at the girl lying on his shoulder. So indeed, all the talk about torture had been a trick. How about the fights with June, though? Had they just been tricks too?

"I see… I think" said Sokka, frowning "And what if they don't go to Jeong Jeong?"

"That… they're going to go to him one way or another" said Azula, sighing "They'll be carrying a message about us, so even if they don't deliver it directly, someone else has to. June just needs to follow every messenger until she reaches the big guy…"

"And that's what you two were talking about privately?"

"Yeah. Told her Rui Shi wasn't my boyfriend too but she's a twat" said Azula, cringing as her head kept spinning. Her hand found his "We just had to keep the act going or else… or else it'd be too suspicious, don't you think?"

"Yeah, surely, but… you could've warned me" said Sokka, smiling a little.

"Couldn't do it… sorry, but I was counting on your performance, too" she said, with a guilty grin again "I couldn't make it work believably if you knew it wasn't serious all along…"

"Heh. Well, that's just nice, really" he said, scoffing but grinning "You're right, though. I'd have ruined your charade if I'd known all along…"

"Well, not all of it was an act, truth be told" Azula admitted. Sokka groaned and looked at her uneasily.

"The torturing prisoners part was, though, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Then… all the bickering with June wasn't?"

"Not all of it. She really has an unparalleled skill at destroying my patience" said Azula, toying with Sokka's fingers as she pressed her head to his shoulder. His gaze's nature shifted into concern now.

"So… not all of it was feigned?"

"No, though most of it was exaggerated for sure" said Azula "Had to be a convincing jealous madwoman, didn't I? Fooled you, so… so I didn't do so poorly"

"You did a great job" said Sokka, sighing "I'm just… hell, I can't believe we came across June of all people, damn it. Just when we were on such a good roll, too…"

"My response to seeing her again wasn't a completely feigned reaction, I'll admit" whispered Azula "It took me a moment to come up with this plan, but… but I really didn't want to believe it was her again. What were the chances…?"

"Yeah" said Sokka, surrounding her with an arm and bringing her closer "I wish it hadn't happened either. But I guess if your plan works we won't be so sorry in the end"

"Hopefully" Azula conceded, closing her eyes and resting against him "May the anguish and irritation be worth it, huh?"

Sokka sighed and turned on the bed, surrounding her fully with his arms. She nestled perfectly in them, her face on the crook of his neck as he rubbed her arm gently with a hand.

"I'll try to keep myself in check…" she whispered "But something irrational just always seems to take hold of me when it comes to… to other women you've been involved with. I wish I could control myself, and I try, but… but it's harder than it should be"

"It's okay, I understand. I've been spending the whole trip telling myself to stop wanting to punch Rui Shi every single time someone assumes you two have some sort of relationship" said Sokka, sighing "I know it's stupid, it's just a cover story, and it works wonders, but…"

"Just thinking I could be someone else's makes you see red" Azula mused. Sokka sighed "Well, good. Then we might understand each other better than I expected…"

"I know it's not fair, though. Rui Shi's done nothing wrong, but what happened with us and June is… well, saying it's complicated doesn't even begin to cut it" he whispered. Azula groaned in agreement "You have better cause to be apprehensive than I do"

"But it was long ago. You were different, and so was I" she said "You won't go around making those sorts of mistakes anymore, right?"

"Never" said Sokka, hugging her tighter. She allowed herself a small smile.

"And I won't kiss you to taunt you into acting like a fool" she whispered, caressing his back "At least not the way I did that day…"

"You still kiss me whenever you want something from me, though…" he said, smiling too "Or you do worse things yet, like turning me on and then making me wait forever until you can finish me off, huh?"

"Ah, that. I've been pretty merciless, haven't I?" Azula whispered, hugging him tightly. Sokka grinned.

"And somehow I just love it. Aren't we a perfect match" he said, but to his surprise, she sighed and clutched his green tunic hard "Azula?"

"It's just…" she whispered. Sokka gritted his teeth as she failed to find the words to convey her feelings.

"Despite everything, you can't get over it?" he asked, pressure constraining his chest. He wouldn't blame her for that, if that were the case.

"Not… not for the reason you think" Azula said. Sokka frowned.

"Then why?"

"It's not because… because of whatever you did with her. It's not that I think you want to go back to her… because you don't, right?"

"How would I?" said Sokka, caressing her cheek "I could hardly bear looking at her, still can't, because of how bad it makes me feel just being near her. Same thing has happened with every other woman but you, Azula…"

She smiled a little but the grin waned quickly as she sighed again. She rubbed her head harder against his shoulder, and Sokka held her carefully despite that.

"That's the problem, see…" she whispered. Sokka grimaced.

"That you're the only woman I love? How's that a problem? I mean, other than in the obvious ways in which it's a problem because of who you are, and who I am, and…" he rambled nervously, as her arms encircled his neck.

"I should be able… should be able to control myself. Should be able to stop hating her and every other partner you've had for no other reason than because they got to you before I did" she said, with a thread of a voice "It's stupid for me to be so childish, isn't it? I know it is, but I… I can't help it either way…"

"It's not something I blame you for, Azula" Sokka whispered, caressing her hair "It's nothing I'll hold against you…"

"But I hold it against myself" Azula whispered, her head dropping on his chest now, right above her hand "You're… you're too patient and understanding. You're too kind. And I… I tricked you today. I had to do it for my own ends, but… but aren't you hurt for it? Don't you… don't you hold that against me either?"

"How could I?" said Sokka, smiling a little "If you wanted me to be indignant about it you should have done it the other way around: pretend everything's okay, keep calm, and then when I least expect it reveal your true intent was to torture those guys instead of the opposite…"

"So that's what worries you the most?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "How come…?"

"How? I've never approved of torturing prisoners, or have I?" Sokka said. Azula smiled.

"True. But here I thought you'd be more worried about me trying to set June on fire. Doesn't that bother you at all?"

"I certainly wouldn't like that either, but I'd feel a lot less willing to challenge you over it…" Sokka admitted, biting his lower lip with uncertainty. Azula snorted.

"Ah, the day has come when Sokka finally confesses he fears me… what horror" she said, teasingly, as she raised her head to look at him. He smiled.

"I had hoped you wouldn't be so mad, though" he whispered "We'd talked about this already, and… well, you were angrier than I imagined you'd be, but I wanted to trust you wouldn't lose control completely. Though it looked like you did when you arm-wrestled her…"

"I'm just realizing now, though, I should've burned her hand…" Azula mused. Sokka stared at her disapprovingly and she smiled innocently "Oops. Thinking to myself…"

"You said that out loud, silly" said Sokka, smiling and shaking his head "What am I going to do with you…?"

"Hopefully… you're going to decide that despite how unhinged I can become in seconds, I'm still worth keeping around…"

"What the…? Hey, aren't I the one who's being kept around?" Sokka asked, staring at her in confusion "Azula… you're the one who makes the decisions here, remember? You call the shots. I'm the gladiator, you're the sponsor, you're the authority and…"

"And I don't know what I'd do if… if you ever realize you've idealized me too much" Azula muttered, her gaze dropping again to where her hand clutched his shirt "I never said it but… but I'm still afraid. I'm still not sure if… if I'm good enough for you"

Sokka's jaw dropped. She didn't look him in the eye as she spoke, and that already said enough about how deeply she felt the words she was uttering, and how ashamed she was of them, too.

"A better woman wouldn't be so greedy… wouldn't be so selfish" she said, gripping his shirt tightly "You've already given me more than I… than I ever even dreamt of, so why should it still sting, what you had with her for one night? It… it doesn't make any sense, does it?"

"It does" Sokka said. She gritted her teeth "And I don't think it's fair for you to… to expect yourself to be over it as easily as that. Azula, we both know that was a bad wound. It… it amounted to betrayal in your eyes, didn't it?"

"Why did it, though? I mean… we weren't anything back then" Azula said, shaking her head "We weren't even friends yet…"

"We were partners already. And… the two of us were starting to have feelings for one another, right?" Sokka whispered. Azula sighed "And I said awful things to you, too. The fact remains that… that you've somehow found it in you to love me despite it all. Don't you think the one who should be afraid of not being good enough is me?"

Azula smiled a little and looked at him with disbelief. Sokka cupped her face, keeping her as close as he could.

"I think I'd like to be better than I am, though" Azula said "I… I want to stop feeling so self-conscious just by looking at her. I want her stupid smirks to stop affecting me. I know she's taunting me, because… because that's what she always does, and I'd like to stop caring for it because I know she doesn't mean half of it. Because, even if she did, I know that… that you'd never go back to her…"

"Yeah, that's all true" said Sokka, brushing loose strands from her hair away from her face. Azula's fist tightened around his cloth.

"So… so why do I still doubt? Why does it still sting? Why does it still matter?" she whispered, pressing her forehead to his "I don't want to… I don't think it's fair anymore. It's been so long, you've done so much for me, you've… you've proven that you love me in all possible ways. I trust you with my very life, so why does this still bug me so much, damn it? Why…?"

"Because…" Sokka said, shifting on the mattress and sitting more comfortably "Because this matters to you, Azula. Because you can't help it, just as I can't when anyone assumes you're with Rui Shi and not with me. I know it'd never happen, I know I'm being a fool for taking that sort of thing to heart, and I also know it's not really comparable… but what I mean is that it's not a reaction I can control. Neither is yours"

"So it's just… a stupid impulse? It's not something we can avoid?" Azula whispered. Sokka smiled.

"Doesn't look like it, no" he said, stroking her leg gently with his other hand "I guess… it's just human nature"

"Human nature? Really?" Azula whispered, looking at him with unease. Sokka frowned and stared deep into her eyes.

"Yeah. It's not something as unforgivable, or as out of the ordinary, as you might have thought. So stop assuming it means something awful, don't even dare consider it does. Because if you're thinking what I think you are? Then…"

"Oh, you know what I'm thinking?" she asked, with a crooked smile "Isn't it bad enough that I can't get you out of my head, you're also using that as an advantage to read my thoughts?"

"Seems like I am" said Sokka, smiling and kissing her lips softly "Life would be so much easier for us if we didn't feel the way we do when it comes to these matters, but so far I haven't found a solution for that problem. I'm an insecure idiot who's dead sure he doesn't deserve you…"

"Well, for that matter, so am I" said Azula, raising her eyebrows. Sokka snorted "And I guess the real problem is… I shouldn't be, should I? I mean, I'm… I'm a Princess. I'm not supposed to feel insecure around a damned bounty hunter, of all things…"

"See, that's where the real problem lies, as usual" said Sokka, sighing. Azula stared at him apprehensively "You think you're not allowed to feel the way you feel because of your titles and your position. Because your father would scoff if he knew you're questioning your self-worth at all. Because it should have never mattered to you in the first place that I got entangled with June. It should have never mattered what I did with my life, and I should have never become yours in all the ways I have…"

Azula sighed and dropped her head on his shoulder, unable to say another word. Sokka surrounded her with his arms and held her closely, rubbing her back gently.

"Well… this is complicated, eh?" said Sokka, sighing too as he released her from his hold briefly.

He shifted to settle down more comfortably on the bed while sitting against the bed's headrest. He spread his arms and Azula as good as jumped into them, nestling closely against him and burying her face in his chest. It was as though she was trying to find cover from the rest of the world by staying close to him like this.

They were in silence briefly, as Sokka pondered a million ways to continue their conversation, but it was Azula who broke it and not him. Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke:

"You once… you once said a monster wouldn't care, right?" she said. Sokka gulped "You did, didn't you…?"

"And I still think so" said Sokka.

"Then being a monster might cause less trouble, huh?" said Azula, with a small laugh. Sokka smiled and shook his head.

"Maybe it'd be less trouble, sure, but while you'd lose the unpleasant feelings, you'd also lose the pleasant ones"

"Really? So monsters don't know pleasure?" Azula asked, taunting him. Sokka chuckled.

"You know what I mean, dang it. I'm talking about a less physical, more emotional kind of pleasure. Not feeling any jealousy, any uncertainties, any doubts… you'd have to be way too strong or just not human, you know?"

"Would be easier in some ways" Azula sighed "Don't you wish you could just… stop feeling unworthy of this? Of our happiness? Because the better it gets, the more I hear that stupid, nagging voice on the back of my head that says I don't deserve it. That I've put my urges ahead of everything else, that I can't keep you to myself, that maybe when the time comes, you'll choose staying with your Tribe… and how could I fault you for that, when I can't even fathom leaving the Fire Nation? It's… it's just not fair. I'm not fair to you, or to anyone else, and…"

"You sure aren't being fair to me, no. I did say I wanted to stay with you, didn't I?" Sokka said, pouting a little. Azula's breath caught as she stared at him doubtfully.

"But what if you…? What if you change your mind when you see them, what if…?"

"Azula, I know it's hard to believe" said Sokka, smiling as he lifted her chin and stared into her half-lidded eyes "But I really meant it forever ago when I said I wasn't going to choose anyone over you. The more time we spend together, the more I refuse to do that. You've… you've made me the happiest I've ever been. I love you so damn much it hurts, even. And yes, I want to see my family again, but I'm sure I won't be able to do it if it's at the expense of losing you. I can't do that, alright? You just… you don't really understand it, do you?"

"Understand what?" she whispered with a soft voice. Sokka laughed softly and pressed his forehead to hers.

"The best thing I've ever done in my life is loving you, I already told you so" he said "And I'll continue to do it for as long as I live. Doesn't matter what happens to us, doesn't matter how far away we may be, doesn't matter how much time goes by…"

"Sokka, damn you…" Azula said, shaking her head before kissing him gently "Why are you so…?"

"What?" Sokka whispered, smiling and caressing her hair.

"I don't even know" she said, dropping her head on his shoulder again "Too good to be true? Too good for me? I… I don't know…"

"Heh. You know, I'm only the man I am nowadays because of you" he said, smirking "I've got no doubts about it. So, if that were true? If somehow I'm too good for you or too good to be true? It's because of you! So there you go. I owe you more than you understand or begin to realize. And the fact that you've let me love you like this… I can't stop treasuring it, you know? Even after all this time…"

"Neither can I" said Azula, closing her eyes as she squeezed him tighter "Even though… even though we shouldn't have. Even though it's so risky, but I just… I can't pull away. I don't want to. I… I just can't do it"

"And I can't either" said Sokka, sighing "And maybe… maybe you're right. We're selfish, and we're jerks to everyone else for choosing our love above everything, but I can't fathom living in any other way. Not anymore. Because really, life without you is no life at all, Azula. You make everything worthwhile"

"Even though… even though we can't just settle down like normal people would? Even though we can't even dream of having a normal relationship…?"

"I thought we'd already discussed that" said Sokka, with a gentle grin "I don't need that, not at all. Loving you is its own reward. Everything else would be an added bonus. A welcome one, granted, but still…"

"It's something else that I guess isn't fair to you" she muttered "I can't let you go, but I can't give you a family either, so…"

"Then we don't worry about making a family. I'll leave it to my sister, if my dad really wants grandchildren" said Sokka, smiling mischievously. Azula snorted "Honestly, though, I'll tell you as much as many times as you need to hear it, but my answer will never change, you know? It's you I want, nothing more. If I can't do anything but hold your hand and smile your way, so be it. I'm too lucky already if I can get away with that"

"And after saying all this, you still think I shouldn't feel unworthy of you and your blasted unconditional love" said Azula, shaking her head "How am I supposed to think I deserve your selflessness, Sokka…?"

"You're worthy of every damn good thing in this world, Azula" he said, burying his face in her hair "And I know, your dad always told you to discard all feelings, and your mother… well, let's not even go there. But you found a new kind of fire through your feelings for me, didn't you? Love led you to that breakthrough. How could it possibly be a bad thing if your fire responds to it the way it did? How could they be right about repressing your feelings, about anything they've ever believed about you, when they have no idea what you've achieved because you've opened your heart to love?"

"I guess your point is that… they're wrong?" Azula whispered. Sokka smiled and prodded her nose with his.

"My point is… you have every right to be happy, Azula. And you have every right to feel nervous, anxious, uncertain, when you feel that happiness is endangered. Everyone does"

"Do I have a right to it at all, though?" Azula whispered "Do I really…?"

"Why wouldn't you?" Sokka whispered "Because you're royal? Because you can't be happy and be a great Fire Lord at the same time?"

"I… I don't know. Can I?" Azula said. Sokka smiled and shook his head.

"I can't believe you underestimate your abilities this much" he said, pulling away and smiling gently at her "Yes, yes you can. And you will, alright? I'm going to be with you every step of the way, pissing you off with my antics, earning myself every scolding rant you send my way…"

"You just plan on annoying me, then?" Azula asked, smiling "Because… I can't say I'd mind. As long as you're serious once in a while, too…"

"Just when I really have to be" Sokka said, smiling mischievously. She laughed and shook her head, hugging him tighter.

"I'm sorry I worried you today. I don't like tricking you, believe it or not…" she whispered. He caressed her back.

"I'm glad you worried me over nothing" he said, smiling "And I'm glad I was some use for your wicked purposes, too. Hopefully those two will run off soon… well, that is, if Rui Shi stops watching them too carefully"

"Maybe you'll have to go downstairs to tell him he has to let them escape…" Azula whispered. Sokka hummed.

"Maybe I will" he said, but her grip around him tightened "I can do it later, I guess?"

"You're only going to do it later. You're staying here for now" she said, nestling comfortably on his chest. Sokka laughed softly and kissed the top of her head.

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be"

She sighed, but now it felt as though she was releasing all her tension and relaxing for real in his arms. She still felt her head was spinning somewhat, but she felt safer in his arms than she had felt in a very long time. For once, alcohol had lowered her inhibitions the right way. She had been able to share many of her innermost thoughts, her concerns, with him. And he hadn't disappointed her yet again: he had listened to all of it, and appeased the violent storms raging inside her heart. Dizziness wasn't important when she felt more inner peace than she had in quite some time.

"I'm glad…" she whispered, surprising him. He had thought she was about to fall asleep by now "I'm glad you think loving me is the best decision you've made. I'm still shocked that you do, but…"

"That I think so, or that I love you?"

"Both" she answered truthfully. Sokka snickered.

"You're still being silly" he said, kissing the top of her head again "And yes, I love you. Silly as you may be, half-drunk, insecure… however you may feel, I'll love you no matter what"

"Even if I make ridiculous decisions?"

"I'll try to talk you out of those if they're too ridiculous, but basically, yes" said Sokka, smiling a little. Azula snorted.

"As if you could even tell they're too ridiculous… half of what you do and say is ridiculous already" she whispered. He laughed.

"Hey, you're the one who said you'd make ridiculous decisions in the first place…" he said, stroking her hair gently again before she lifted her face.

Her eyes were still half-lidded, and he had the suspicion her vision was somewhat blurry, but it didn't stop her from lunging forward for a kiss. He held her as the contact between their lips deepened completely. Their hearts ached with the usual burn that took hold of them whenever they were overwhelmed by their feelings for one another, and they basked in the feeling until their long and deep kiss ended.

"Thank you…" Azula gasped against his lips when they parted. Sokka swallowed, holding her face in his hands "For trusting me. For… for believing in me. For loving me"

"It's been my privilege, no need to thank me. I'll always trust you, believe in you and love you. You can count on it" Sokka promised, with a gentle grin. She responded with one of her own, pressing her forehead to his.

"So will I" she said "I… I love you, too. I love you, I… I just love you…"

"I know" said Sokka, smiling kindly and kissing her softly again

She repeated the words over and over: it seemed conveying them once wouldn't be enough, so she said them again and again. He responded with kisses, and with his own love confessions too, his smile ever present on his face.

* * *

Rui Shi stood by the door with unease, half an hour after Sokka had carried Azula off. He was afraid of what he might find up here: either he'd find his traveling companions engaged in a full-blown argument, or maybe engaged in angry sex, and he wasn't sure which one would be worse to walk into. But after standing outside for a moment, and failing to hear any sounds whatsoever, he bit his lip and pushed the door open warily.

A blush crept up his face when he laid eyes upon them. Sokka sat with his back against the bed's headrest, caressing Azula's hair gently while she nestled in his arms, between his legs. Her eyes were closed as her chest heaved a little with every breath she took. They were both fully clothed still, so Rui Shi didn't panic about that… yet finding them like this was as shocking as walking in on them naked. The sense of intimacy surrounding them made him want to walk out the door again right away, for he knew he wasn't supposed to intrude… but he couldn't do that. Not right now, anyways.

"Sokka?" he called him. The gladiator raised his gaze slowly and placed a finger over his lips "She fell asleep?"

Sokka smiled and nodded, and Rui Shi closed the door behind himself. The noise drifting from downstairs was muffled by his action.

"I really just wanted to check on you two, but I should go back downstairs quickly" said Rui Shi, frowning "The two captives… I told the bounty hunter to keep an eye on them but I have the bad feeling that she's not going to. I think a brawl was about to start…"

"Heh. Nice. All the more reason to stay up here" said Sokka, his grip tightening around Azula "Also, don't worry about the captives. Azula wants them to get away"

"She… what?" Rui Shi asked, his eyes wide "What's that supposed to mean? Sokka…"

"She came up with a plan in… seconds, I guess? She's really something else" said Sokka, chuckling as he caressed her hair "She wanted to scare them, that's why she talked about torture and whatnot. They'll run away, June will track them down again, and Azula expects them to lead June straight to Jeong Jeong…"

"Isn't it too dangerous?" Rui Shi asked. Sokka shrugged.

"With that beast of hers, as long as she's cautious she should be able to paralyze him and his followers rather easily. I think, anyways" said Sokka, sighing "It may be risky, but I guess June's willing to go with it despite that"

"She doesn't seem to be easily daunted" Rui Shi admitted, sitting on his own bed and relaxing a little "Well… I'm surprised. It was an act, all along?"

"Somewhat" Sokka whispered "Azula said she'd just blown things out of proportion to cause more impact…"

"But she still hates the bounty hunter, and from the sound of it, it's your fault somehow" said Rui Shi. Sokka's guilty grimace made him snort "Women make no sense to me. Not only does the Princess fall in love with you, but the bounty hunter fancied you too? Why?"

"Don't ask me" said Sokka, sighing and shaking his head "I'm as baffled as you are. Though I doubt June thought much of me, to be perfectly honest. She just… eh, well, let's not go into details, shall we?"

"I'm afraid they'll only disturb me if we do" said Rui Shi, sighing and staring at Azula "I don't remember seeing her quite as angry as that since… probably since the first time we all traveled to the Former Earth Kingdom, actually"

"Yeah, well…" Sokka said, his voice fluctuating in a way that told Rui Shi more than Sokka had wanted to give away. The guard frowned.

"What? Was it… for the same reason? Was June why you two had that spat?" he asked. Sokka groaned and dropped his head against the bed's headrest.

"Didn't you say you wanted no more details?" he whispered.

"I didn't, but now I can't help but be curious" Rui Shi admitted, with a weak smile "I still don't understand how you two met her at all without me being around…"

"Azula didn't meet her until just before we got lost in the forest" Sokka said "I met her by myself some time before that, in the Capital"

"I see now" said Rui Shi, sighing "I think I can fill the blanks on my own, though the more I ponder it, the more it surprises me that you two could bounce back from whatever that was…"

"It surprises me too" said Sokka, staring down at Azula's placid sleeping figure "I'm grateful for it, but I don't know if I'll ever stop being amazed that she still let me be part of her life again"

"I guess she just loves you that much" said Rui Shi, sighing and dropping on his bed, his gaze on the wooden ceiling.

"And yet she dares doubt she's good enough for me" Sokka said, snorting and shaking his head before hugging her tighter "I don't get it, never will…"

"Because you love her that much" said Rui Shi, with a sarcastic grin. Sokka smiled too, his forehead on the top of her head "Well… if you two could survive this, I suppose it means my situation with Song isn't hopeless, right?"

"Right" said Sokka, nodding "It's not over until one or both of you stop fighting for it"

"I'll keep that in mind, then" said Rui Shi, biting his lip.

"You really do like her, don't you?" Sokka asked. Even in the dimly lit room, Rui Shi's blush was apparent "Good. She should be with someone who's as crazy about her as she is about him"

"I guess that's why you two are set, huh?" Rui Shi asked, glancing at Azula again "Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever witness the Princess being affectionate with anybody, but… I guess you're different"

"I guess" said Sokka, stroking her hair again.

"I'm sorry everyone thinks I'm her husband and not you" said Rui Shi "But as it has been so far, I'll continue to be the most distant, least affectionate and most permissive husband you've heard of"

"So you'll let me get away with holding your alleged wife like this?" Sokka asked, with a raised eyebrow. Rui Shi snorted.

"You've gotten away with much worse. At least she's just resting right now" said Rui Shi. Sokka smiled and nodded.

"Thanks, though… I don't think you really know how much she appreciates and trusts you" Sokka whispered "Of course, she won't say it outright, but she's glad to have an ally and friend in you, Rui Shi"

"I'm glad to be her ally and friend, too" he said "And I hold her in high esteem as well, regardless of my disapproval of your relationship… if only she weren't a Princess I'd have less qualms, of course. Truth is, you're well matched regardless of your tendency to clash over nonsense…"

Sokka smiled and looked at him with disbelief. Rui Shi smiled a little.

"Thank you, truly" said Sokka "For… for everything you've done and continue to do for us. Words really aren't enough…"

"It's fine, Sokka" said Rui Shi, sighing and standing up again "Hear that, though?"

"Hear what?" Sokka muttered, frowning a little as he tried to listen more intently.

Voices were growing more aggressive downstairs, it seemed. Sokka blinked blankly as Rui Shi approached the door again, the floorboards creaking under his weight.

"I'll wager the brawl is in full swing now" he said "I'll go check on them… see if the two prisoners are still there or if they've already taken off"

"Alright then" said Sokka, nodding "We'll be here, just as you left us"

"I figure" said Rui Shi, smiling and pushing the door open to leave the room.

He climbed down to the second floor, from where he could gaze down to the first one: his eyes widened as he watched June lifting the tall, muscular guy over herself and dunking him hard over a table without breaking a sweat. Her inhuman strength was somehow terrifying. If this was her in the middle of a common brawl, he didn't want to imagine what she'd do in a serious fight. Being enemies with June would be quite scary.

Rui Shi took another glance in the direction where he'd left the prisoners. Clearly, June hadn't kept an eye on them at all, and they were already gone. Rui Shi only hoped they wouldn't reach Jeong Jeong too quickly, or else their plan would backfire. It was apparent that June did not intend to pursue them anytime soon, not while she was busy tossing men back and forth, while managing to down a few more drinks in the process.

Rui Shi sighed, clutching the railing that surrounded the second floor's corridor as he continued to watch the brawl down below. The Princess's plan should work wonders, as long as June was as competent as she seemed to be. He was slightly worried, but if it paid off, it would resolve this entire matter in one fell sweep: taking down Jeong Jeong would leave his forces just as lost and confused as the Fire Nation battalion he had abandoned during the war. Princess Azula would strike down the Fire Nation's enemies again, and she would preserve the security and peace in the Fire Nation Colonies once more…


	124. Chapter 124

"They didn't steal any ostrich horses or any other mounts" June said, inspecting the few beasts of burden that belonged to her friends from the Bar "All of them are here, as they should be. It means they'll be on foot"

"Or they found some other means of transportation not far from here" Sokka theorized. June shook her head.

"Not much of a chance for that" she said "It's barely dawn, they couldn't have reached a village or a town yet. They won't find any mounts until they do"

Sokka nodded and turned to stare at Nyla now. The shirshu seemed to be well rested, and she was munching on a large slab of meat. Her saddle was well strapped by now, and June had already loaded all provisions she might need onto her.

The sun hadn't even risen yet, but June had determined to take off now. She wasn't going to waste much time in pursuit of the two agents of Jeong Jeong's, knowing that their leader could be hiding anywhere nearby… though they all hoped he wouldn't be too close. Nevertheless, she had prepared to take off after a short sleep of only a few hours. She seemed to be as used to getting little sleep as Rui Shi was.

"Alright, I guess I should be going once my girl's finished her breakfast" she said, patting Nyla's head and turning to the three travelers "Everyone agrees with that?"

Rui Shi nodded, but Sokka was focusing on Azula again now as she yawned and cringed, standing upright next to him. His hand was on her back, holding her in place.

"Azula?" he called her. She groaned.

"Too much to drink, Princess?" June asked, smirking "That's a pity. I like you better when you have enough snark to match mine"

"Hopefully I will when we meet again" said Azula, sighing. June raised an eyebrow.

"Not going to happen if you don't give me the memento you promised me" she said "You know, the one I'll track you down with?"

"Oh, right" said Azula, rubbing her aching forehead with her fingertips "Uh… Sokka, there should be something in your bags, maybe? Anything that's mine will work…"

"You sure?" said Sokka, grimacing as Rui Shi rummaged through the bag Sokka had on his back. The first thing he pulled out was Azula's orange belt

"Are you alright with handing her your belt?" Rui Shi asked.

"Yeah, yeah…" said Azula, waving a hand carelessly. June took it with an amused smirk.

"I wonder how much money people would blow on a belt with the Crown Princess's sigil on it…" she said, detailing the golden buckle with interest. Azula grunted "Ah. I knew you weren't that hungover"

"You're beyond annoying" said Azula, sighing and shaking her head "Don't make me regret this. Prove your bounty hunting talents and catch Jeong Jeong as soon as possible"

"No need to say it twice. Better have the money ready for me, I'll be back before you know it" said June, smirking and climbing atop her shirshu.

Nyla was instantly alert as June stretched over the beast's neck, to allow her to sniff the black cloth to track down the two escapees. Nyla twitched nervously briefly, seeking out the scent while snarling. Her body tensed up, and she soon took off with June riding on her back expertly. Rui Shi stared after them with a frown, noticing they were running down the road that had led them here in the first place.

"So Jeong Jeong's behind us?" Sokka asked. Rui Shi shrugged.

"It's better if that's the case. Less chance for us to run into him when we head to Yu Dao" he said, turning to look at Azula "Well, whenever it is we go, of course. Are you ready to leave, Princess?"

She groaned and clutched Sokka's shoulder to remain upright. Her stomach was as fickle as a spoiled child, it seemed, twisting and churning and making her nauseous. Merely getting up had been torture, and she had been helped by Sokka all along. He kept an arm around her most times to make sure she wouldn't topple over, and she was grateful for his physical support.

"Azula…?" Sokka said, cupping her face with a hand. She only sighed and nodded.

"Let's go. We… we need to go" she said, softly. He frowned.

"You're not going to walk all day in that status" he said. She looked at him through half-lidded eyes.

"What choice do I have? We need to get to Yu Dao, don't we? I… I can't be a burden…"

"Well, I wouldn't call you a burden" said Sokka, smiling "But I was thinking, if you're feeling so sick, I should carry you anyhow"

"You… you would?" Azula asked, looking at him in surprise.

Sokka smiled and shrugged off his pack, only to strap it back up on the front of his body this time. He lowered himself before her, offering her to climb on his back. She blinked blankly.

"Are you sure…?" she asked "Won't you be carrying too much weight?"

"Pffft, you're light as a feather" said Sokka, smirking "I'm sure I can handle it"

Rui Shi smirked and shook his head, but Azula stepped towards Sokka anyways, smiling a little at his offer. She placed her arms around his neck, letting him clasp her legs with his arms and lift her up in one smooth movement.

"Let me know if you need me to carry more of the bags" Rui Shi said. Sokka smiled and nodded.

"No problem, Rui Shi. Let's go, then, shall we?" he said, smiling at Azula now. She sighed in grateful relief and dropped her head on his shoulder.

The road carried on for miles again, and on and on they walked through the long trail without finding any signs of human settlements. They would have expected to come across more of them, but it seemed June had been right to say that Jeong Jeong's men couldn't find any means of transportation anywhere nearby: the road was completely deserted.

Azula closed her eyes and focused on Xin Long again, despite her throbbing head complained for it. The dragon was flying, and his movements did nothing to soothe her discomfort, but he seemed to communicate to her that their side was winning: less attacks came from the mountain now, and although the explosives were there, they didn't seem to be so keen on using them anymore. Shinu was considering sending a troop to the mountain by now, to root out all the supporters of Jeong Jeong that might still be there. Azula would have reacted better to the news if only she hadn't been as queasy as she was: she was definitely not suited for handling peasants' alcohol.

The definitive proof of it came by mid-morning, when she had to shove herself off Sokka's back and rush to a nearby bush to vomit. Both Sokka and Rui Shi had stopped, watching her worriedly until she stood upright again. Despite she looked disgusted, her reaction was already an improvement compared to the unresponsiveness she'd displayed for most of the morning: her color was returning to her face, too.

"Water…" she gasped. Sokka produced one of the water bags from his bags, and he handed it to her. Azula accepted it gratefully and rinsed her mouth as efficiently as possible with its contents.

"Feeling better?" Sokka asked. She sighed and nodded.

"Drastically so. I need to avoid drinking sake, clearly" she said, shaking her head. Sokka smiled.

"You won't have to do it again. Don't worry about it" he said "Need me to keep on carrying you? Because I can do it all day…"

"I figure" said Azula, smiling a little too "But I think I can walk now"

"Ow, that's boring" he said, pouting. She laughed and smiled warmly at him.

Rui Shi grimaced and sighed at the sight of them. It was only then that they seemed to recall he was there.

"Uh… sorry, Rui Shi" said Sokka, with a weak grin. He shrugged the bags off and placed them on his back again.

"Now, now, he did say he'd turn a blind eye on us, didn't he?" Azula asked, clasping Sokka's hand with hers.

"Really, wife… can't you at least wait until I turn around before cheating on me?" Rui Shi asked, rolling his eyes and resuming the walk.

Azula and Sokka exchanged a mischievous smile before he leaned close to kiss her lips. She smiled into the contact, her fingers intertwining with his while Rui Shi's grimace intensified, knowing full well what those two had to be doing if they weren't talking…

"Are you two coming or what?" he asked loudly, after not hearing their footsteps following his.

"Sorry, sorry. But since you had kindly turned around to give us some privacy…" Azula said sarcastically, smirking before leading Sokka to follow her. Rui Shi rolled his eyes but smiled anyways.

The pair lagged behind Rui Shi a little, though not only because they were basking in holding the other's hand. Azula glanced at Sokka uneasily, remembering a little more of her drunken rambling this time than of what she had been able to recall the last time she'd had sake. And despite Sokka had been very gentle to her through the night, she still felt awfully insecure about what had transpired between them…

"Sokka, about the things I said last night…" she whispered. He raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah?"

"Just… thanks for listening even if it must have been difficult at times" Azula said "I'm somewhat sorry that I unleashed all of that on you as I did. I just… wasn't really myself at the time"

"Or you were more yourself than usual" Sokka said. She blushed "I mean… you did say once that alcohol was a good recipe to make someone as honest as they can be. You know, inhibitions disappear and all that…"

"Dignity disappears too, from what I recall…" Azula said, bitterly. Sokka chuckled.

"Maybe sometimes, but… the things you said last night weren't anything to be ashamed of" he said, squeezing her hand gently "I know you didn't mean to say those things at all, but… I probably needed to hear them"

"Why? It wasn't that much help for me to talk about that, now, was it?" Azula said, looking at him hopelessly "Not a lot has changed because of what I said…"

"Maybe not, but I think I may understand you a little better now" said Sokka, truthfully "And that's always a good thing, isn't it?"

Azula smiled slowly, and Sokka pressed his forehead to hers somewhat clumsily as they continued to walk.

"You don't need to feel ashamed about what you feel, okay?" he said, lifting his face to kiss her forehead. She sighed and nodded, inching closer to him.

"Not when I'm with you, I guess" she whispered. He grinned.

"That's right"

Their progress through the forests and shores of the Earth Kingdom was slowed by the landscapes complexities. They came across a few people as they walked, and stopped at a riverbank for lunch. A green fish kept jumping out of the water, its head reared to look at them. Sokka's eyebrow twitched as he stared at it, feeling an irrational urge to hunt it, but he held back, as they had enough food for the rest of the journey.

"You know, there's no actual reason to think that fish was taunting us" Azula told him as they resumed their journey. His reaction to the creature had not gone unnoticed, and it had naturally become a conversation topic.

"But it so was! When did you last see a fish smirking at you, huh?!" Sokka asked. Azula snorted.

"Since when can fish smirk, to begin with?" she asked, looking at him in disbelief "I'm pretty sure that's physically impossible"

"Then how was he doing it, eh? Because he was!" Sokka pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. Azula laughed at his stubbornness.

"He wasn't, and you're just crazy" she declared. Sokka groaned.

"You just love to discredit me, that's what's going on here" he said, shaking his head "I'd have speared that fish so quickly if I just had a spear…"

"Ah, is that how you did it back in your Tribe? Here I thought you'd fish with rods or nets, as civilized people do…" Azula teased him. Sokka scowled at her "See? Now that's taunting"

"Yeah, well, he did it without talking! It's worse!" he grunted "And mind you, fishing with a rod takes longer, and doing it with nets was kind of pointless if you don't have an actual fish bank to ensnare. I was better off spearing them, and I was pretty good at it, believe it or not"

"Well, I'll give you a little credit and assume you weren't that bad at it, if that'll make you happy" said Azula, smirking. Sokka huffed and nodded, lifting his head proudly.

"I'll show you one day. I'll fashion myself a spear and you'll see just how good I am!"

"As long as you don't try to prove it by spearing the royal catfishes in my father's pond, that's alright with me" said Azula, shrugging.

Sokka smirked confidently and Azula smiled at the sight of him. Rui Shi, as ever a few steps ahead of them, glanced back briefly. They'd had quite a few silly arguments all through the trip, but they had a tendency to be lined with tenderness somehow. How could two people argue that way, he didn't know, but he certainly liked it better than the earth-shattering arguments they usually had.

Upon turning back to stare at the road, Rui Shi's eyes widened in surprise and relief: at last, a small but beautiful town stood between them and an imposing volcano. Its entrance had an arch, much like the Herbalist's institute, but this one was flanked by Fire Nation soldiers. The buildings in the town were of clear Earth Kingdom architecture, though. It didn't seem the Fire Nation's forces had damaged the town during the war or influenced it afterwards, much as it had happened with Gaoling.

"Well, this would be…" said Azula, pulling the map out of her sash and spreading it open "The map says it's Makapu Village, going by the volcano behind it. Yu Dao isn't far from here"

"There's a lot of mountains ahead, though" said Rui Shi "It won't be easy to navigate them"

"I think there should be a few more villages between Makapu and Yu Dao, though. They're marked here" said Azula, pointing at the map "We could make stops there if need be…"

"I suggest we get a carriage here or something, though" said Sokka "Don't you think it might make the journey a little faster? Maybe we can get something like that in Makapu"

"Huh. That's actually a good idea" Azula admitted.

"Maybe we could rest here today, too" Rui Shi suggested "We didn't rest a lot last night…"

"You can say that again" Azula sighed "If we do get a carriage we might be able to reach Yu Dao in a single morning, too. Spending the night here should be fine"

They filed towards the town's entrance, and they were scrutinized by the soldiers as they approached. Sokka scowled at one who caressed a spear he was holding.

"Who are you? State your business!" the soldier exclaimed, striking the ground with the spear's bottom as menacingly as he could.

Azula's eyebrow twitched as she stared at the man. Were the Fire Nation soldiers this impolite to travelers? No wonder so many people still disliked the Fire Nation as much as they did. She felt like ripping the spear off his hands and striking him over the head with it for his disrespectfulness.

"We're only travelers, passing by on our way to Yu Dao" Rui Shi explained "I'm Roshi, this is my wife Jing and our servant Wentai…"

"Where'd you hail from?" said the man, eyeing them with uncertainty.

"We are colonials, we were living in Omashu but we are moving to Yu Dao" said Rui Shi "We mean no harm"

"Hmmm…" said the soldier, scowling at them "I guess you wouldn't. You're a firebender?"

"U-uh, yes" said Rui Shi, nodding. The soldier sighed.

"Fine, then. Go ahead" he said, gesturing carelessly. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Why's it okay just because he's a firebender?" he asked, unable to hold his tongue. The soldier's eyebrow twitched.

"Because the ones we need to be wary about are earthbenders, slave. Get moving" he said. Rui Shi frowned.

"May I inquire why, though?" he said. The soldier snarled.

"Just move on and stop asking questions, will you? Weren't you going to Yu Dao?"

All three travelers stared at him reproachfully, but they entered the town all the same. There weren't a lot of people out in the stone streets, but those that were wore rather classy clothes. Azula couldn't help but wonder where they might have a chance to buy some of the sort: they'd be a great upgrade for the lousy outfits they were currently sporting.

But before she could convey her thoughts to her companions, a rather strange man in a black version of those classy robes approached them. The three travelers were apprehensive right away.

"What…? Do you need something?" Rui Shi asked him, inching away from him.

The man's hair was white, yet he didn't look old. His cheekbones were prominent, his eyes were sharp, and he sported no facial hair. His voice was deep when he spoke to them.

"Aunt Wu has been expecting you"

Azula tensed up right away, as Sokka cocked a confused eyebrow while Rui Shi blinked blankly.

"Aunt Who?" Sokka said. Azula scowled.

"Well, aren't we suspicious. Someone's expecting us? Why's that?" she asked the man, unable to sit back and watch while Rui Shi handled the situation. The white-haired man stared at her, surprised by her boldness.

"She's the town's fortuneteller" he explained "Has been for many years. She could foresee your arrival"

"Really, now? How convenient" Azula said, frowning "Did she get tipped off about our arrival by some spirit, maybe? Or was it someone else dressed in all black, much like yourself…?"

"Well, in all fairness, those guys wore rags rather than fine clothes like his" Sokka said. Azula looked at him skeptically.

"How do you know what they wore underneath them, at any rate?" she said "Yeah, sure, he's not either of those two assholes, but he could turn out to be one of the group anyhow, and…"

"Could you two… stop it?"

Azula and Sokka froze. They turned to find Rui Shi somewhat flustered, staring at the white-haired man apprehensively.

"Stop it? Stop what, exactly?" Azula asked. Rui Shi blushed harder now.

"Maybe it is a real fortuneteller" he said, simply. Azula's eyes widened.

"Oh, really, now? How do you know she is one?" she asked. Rui Shi shrugged.

"Fortunetellers have the ability to know things that are hidden to normal people" he said, folding his arms over his chest "It's not so unreasonable that a real fortuneteller would be able to know we're here…"

"Uh… did you get hit on the head, by any chance?" Azula asked. Rui Shi grimaced "Have you forgotten our circumstances? Forgotten that the people we're dealing with could easily have allies anywhere? What do you think is more likely, that they knew about us because of their connections or because some bird came fluttering by and sang it to them?"

Rui Shi's silence made Azula's jaw drop. The white-haired man stared at them inquisitively, waiting to know what decision they'd make. Aunt Wu had not warned him about this.

"I don't know what's more likely, I just… I think if they're allied with our pursuers we should find out, right?" said Rui Shi, looking at Sokka for support. Despite he was mostly inclined to side with Azula, Sokka raised an eyebrow and considered that possibility now.

"Well… they might have information worth exploiting if that's the case" said Sokka, shrugging "Heck, if they caught us here we could even hold this guy and his aunt as hostages, eh?"

"That's…" Azula said, staring at Sokka with a thoughtful frown now. Sokka shrugged.

"I also won't say no to carrying on if you'd rather we do that, though" he said. Azula sighed and stared at Rui Shi.

"How do you propose we figure out if the fortuneteller is for real or not?" she asked. Rui Shi shrugged.

"The last time I went to a fortuneteller, they knew things about myself that nobody else did. They managed to predict my entire week spot-on, too…"

"Huh…" said Sokka, doubtful "Don't you have a pretty regular routine, though?"

"That… they predicted things outside it, and that's not the point" said Rui Shi, averting his gaze. Azula sighed.

"You seriously believe in this nonsense, don't you?" she asked.

"I… I might. And all things considered, Jing, you are my wife s-so… we shall do as I say" Rui Shi declared, his voice trembling: he knew he was stepping into dangerous territory, but the damage was done. If the Princess decided to slay him for it, he'd certainly deserve it.

But Azula was actually so dumbfounded that she could only shake her head in disbelief. Rui Shi followed the white-haired guy through a circular doorway that led inside a tall, white building. Sokka and Azula followed them in turn.

"I don't understand. Since when is Rui Shi… superstitious?" Azula said, as they stepped through the doorway.

"No clue. But I guess to each their own, eh?" said Sokka, smirking a little "Who knows, this might actually end up being fun. This guy doesn't look dangerous, and his weird Aunt probably isn't either…"

"I don't care what they look like, I care if they're informants…" Azula grumbled as the white-haired man gestured at some cushions lying on the floor.

"Have a seat. Aunt Wu shall be with you shortly" he said, before returning to the door. Azula watched him go, raising an eyebrow.

"You know, maybe we've been scammed" she theorized as the three of them took their seats "Maybe he just says the same phrase to every single newcomer that shows up, and this is all just a ruse by a fake fortuneteller to make money off unguarded tourists…"

"Uh… Aunt Wu doesn't charge. And she's not a scammer"

The voice came from a girl in her late teens, who stood across the room, before two sliding doors. Her clothes were pink and purple, her eyes large and her hair tied in two frizzy braids.

"And… you are?" Azula asked, looking at her with a raised eyebrow "Niece Wen?"

Her joke made Sokka lash out in laughter even if he tried to cover his mouth with a hand to muffle his loudness. Despite herself, Azula smirked a little by his reaction, but naturally, the girl before them wasn't as amused as they were.

"My name is Meng, I'm Aunt Wu's assistant!" she exclaimed "And it's rude to laugh at people you've only just met! And rude to make jokes about them, too!"

"Now, now, no need to be so worked up" said Azula, raising a hand and staring at her pointedly "That white-haired doorman, he claimed Aunt Wu was expecting us. How's that possible?"

"It's possible because Aunt Wu knows everything" said Meng, smiling proudly "She has the gift of foresight, and she can always predict when new people will arrive to town"

"And what exactly did she say about us, the newest arrivals?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

"W-well, she told him, not me, so… I don't know what she saw" Meng admitted. Azula scoffed.

"So it really might just be bait after all, and we fell into it like fools" she said, looking at Rui Shi judgmentally. He grimaced, hunching over a little on his cushion "Well, we might as well make the most of it while we're here, I guess. There's not much else to do but… oh, damn it, are you still laughing?"

"S-sorry, sorry…" said Sokka, chuckling and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand "That was a good one, I should've come up with it myself, damn…"

Meng glared at him with irritation, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest. Her irritation was only appeased when a young woman, with a growing belly bump, came out through the sliding doors, beaming brightly.

"Oh, Meng! It will be a boy!" she exclaimed, walking up to the fortuneteller's assistant and clasping her hands with hers "Just what I wanted, I'm so glad…!"

"That's wonderful news!" Meng said, beaming as her friend hugged her "Ah, I'm so jealous… you've had such a perfect love story!"

"Ah, there's no need to worry, you'll have yours too! Aunt Wu predicted as much, didn't she?"

"I guess…" said Meng, with a weak smile.

Her eyes shifted towards Rui Shi, who was still stemming in his awkwardness after butting heads directly with Azula's skepticism. Azula stared at Meng, though, and the girl blushed and shook her head before guiding her friend to the door.

"This is a weird place" said Azula, frowning a little as Meng's friend left the building "I'm still torn between thinking that woman knows everything about us, or that she knows nothing at all…"

Sokka would have answered her, but the words froze before he uttered them when he saw a new person coming into scene. She was an aging woman with graying hair, wearing a long yellow robe. She had come through the sliding doors, with a gentle smile on her face.

"Well, I may not know everything about you all yet, but I will endeavor to find out as much as you'll allow me to" she said "It is my pleasure to meet you… though I'm aware that the names you'll give me won't be your real ones. You're being followed?"

Azula's eyebrow twitched. Sokka grimaced and so did Rui Shi.

"Did your doorman guess as much and told you about it, or did the spirits enlighten you into discovering that?" she asked. Aunt Wu smiled.

"I could see it. Dark shapes tailed three travelers as they journeyed to Yu Dao. You seem to have shaken them off for the time being, though" she said "I'll be glad to offer you hospitality, of course. I always extend a hand to weary travelers such as yourselves"

"That's so very kind of you, but I'm afraid I don't understand such altruism" said Azula, staring at her defiantly "How do we know you're not allied with those who followed us?"

"Ah, a well-founded fear" said Aunt Wu "This must be more complicated than I realized. Well, if you worry as much as you do, you can resume your journey whenever you please. I will certainly not get in your way"

"That's awfully kind of you" said Azula, with a sarcastic smirk.

"But I will say as well that I have nothing to hide, no undesirable connections to speak of" said Aunt Wu, with a gentle smile "If you would like to ascertain my honesty while I offer you readings of your future, I will gladly allow it"

Azula raised an eyebrow slowly and exchanged a look with Sokka. He stroked his stubble with interest.

"Well … it wouldn't hurt to stick around and make sure she really isn't hiding anything, right?" he said. Azula sighed.

"I'm afraid we have no choice. Either she really has no connections with them, or she's so good at hiding them that she's dead certain we won't discover anything" Azula said. Aunt Wu chuckled.

"Ask any questions you please, search my house if you need to. I will not offer resistance" she promised.

"Well, then, if that's how it'll be…" said Azula, as Sokka made to stand up. Wu frowned.

"I'll go first, then" Sokka said. Azula nodded "I'm skeptical enough not to buy everything she says, so…"

"Uh, but… I'm afraid that would be an awfully short session" said Aunt Wu, looking at Sokka almost apologetically. He regarded her with confusion.

"What? How come?"

"Well… I won't have much work to do with you" she said "Your future will be full of struggle and anguish, most of it self-inflicted"

Sokka's eyes widened at first, but he frowned with disapproval and raised his hands defiantly. Behind Aunt Wu, Meng chuckled.

"What the…? But you didn't read my palms or anything!" he exclaimed "How could you know something like that without any foretelling mumbo-jumbo, huh?"

"I didn't need to do anything to know as much. It's written all over your face" said Aunt Wu, matter-of-factly. Sokka was petrified.

"I… huh?" he said.

To his chagrin, Azula snorted. She was joined in laughter by Rui Shi, who seemed even more amused by the prediction than the Princess. Sokka blushed and glared at them.

"W-what are you two laughing at?! It's not funny! It's not true!" he exclaimed, stubbornly. The more he claimed as much, the harder Azula laughed "Quit laughing already!"

"Okay, if just for the laughs this might be worth it" said Azula, still chuckling. Rui Shi stood up now, smiling at Aunt Wu.

"Do I have the same obvious fate?" he asked. Aunt Wu smiled gently at him.

"You may be trickier to read, young man. Very well, then, you'll come in first" she said.

Rui Shi followed the fortuneteller diligently through the sliding doors, and Meng closed them again before glancing at the remaining travelers. The girl was still laughing while the guy glared at her indignantly.

"Why do you find it that funny, huh?! It's not funny at all! You know my life will be calm, and happy, and joyful!" Sokka growled, grabbing one of the cushions and smacking Azula on the thigh with it. She only laughed and shoved him away.

"Come on! You're stuck with me, your life cannot be any of those things, no matter how many times you tell yourself as much!" Azula said, laughing still. Sokka groaned and lunged forth, tackling her into the cushions. She chuckled and tried to shove him off.

"It will be, and you know it! Yes, precisely because I'm stuck with you it will be!"

"As if! Your life will be calm, seriously?" she asked, looking at him with amusement "Do tell, when did we last have a lingering period of peace in our lives, huh?"

"It… didn't happen that long ago!" Sokka pouted, rolling off her so he could lie amongst the pillows next to her.

"Now, will you be happy? You are a masochist, so you're happy when you're struggling and in anguish. Ergo, you can be happy while your life is full of anguish and struggle" Azula said, smirking. Sokka's eyebrow twitched and he grunted lowly "As for the joyful part, it's just a synonym for happiness, so the same applies for that one. And there you go. Basically, the fortuneteller may just be the real deal, huh?"

"She isn't! She absolutely isn't and you…!" Sokka started, shifting on the cushions to glare at Azula from above, but he froze upon remembering they weren't alone.

He turned to look at Meng, who had sat down to watch them inquisitively. Azula blinked as well and looked at her.

"U-uh… sorry. I shouldn't stare, it's just…" said Meng, smiling awkwardly "Can you answer me a question?"

Azula noticed the girl was directing the question to her. She sat up, frowning.

"Sure?" she said "Well, depends on the question, really. If it's something too personal I may just answer…"

"It kind of is, but… still, I have to know. I can't tell because of their haircuts, so…" Meng said. Azula blinked blankly.

"What can't you tell because of whose haircuts?" Sokka asked, confused.

"Well…" Meng said, breathing deeply and looking at Sokka "Who has the bigger ears between you and the guy who just went in there with Aunt Wu?"

The question took both Azula and Sokka by surprise. Azula cocked her head to the side ever so slightly while Sokka looked at Meng dumbfoundedly.

"This place is the weirdest we've ever been to" he concluded, as the girl with the braids beamed at them.

"What do you need to know that for?" Azula asked. Meng blushed.

"It's just… it's nothing, really" she said, shyly, as Sokka huffed.

"Yeah, nothing. I bet Aunt Wu told her she'd marry a guy with some kind of special ears or something" he said, smirking at Azula. She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Is that so?" she asked Meng, who scowled at Sokka.

"S-she might have! And she's always right, so I believe her!" she exclaimed "Oh, I hope you have tiny ears…"

Sokka chuckled while Azula eyed him with uncertainty. She reached to lift the hair framing his face, to get a good look at his ears.

"Well, they are pretty big" she said, smirking. Sokka pouted "But I need a frame of reference. Roshi's may just be around the same size"

"Really?!" Meng asked, beaming "That handsome guy? Then you think…?"

"Do I think you're going to marry my husband?" Azula asked, looking at her matter-of-factly. Meng froze "No, I really don't think so"

"O-oh. Sorry" said Meng, blushing and dropping her gaze.

Azula released Sokka's hair, still staring judgmentally at Meng before turning to Sokka. He seemed to be enjoying their current closeness, but as she stared at him Azula smirked.

"You… haven't shaved much lately, huh?"

"O-oh? Yeah, I kinda neglected it" he said, swallowing hard "Does it look bad?"

"It doesn't look awful, but I'd think your stubble is fine without company" said Azula, shrugging. Sokka smiled and bit his lip.

"Well, alright, if you say so. Is there a bathroom, Meng?"

"Second door to the right, down this hall" said Meng, looking a Sokka with resignation.

He stood up after pocketing his whalebone knife, taking off through the corridor of the sliding doors. The Princess looked at Meng again once Sokka was out of sight.

"You know… that Roshi isn't the man you'll marry doesn't mean you'll be marrying Wentai" Azula declared. Meng sighed in relief.

"Oh, I hope so. Believers and non-believers don't make good pairs" she said "Which… is weird. Your husband is a believer, isn't he? But you aren't…"

Azula smiled awkwardly and shrugged. She wasn't entirely sure how Meng hadn't seen through their poor cover immediately, but she had little doubts that someone in this house would see the truth about it in due time. If the Fortuneteller was half as sharp as she pretended to be, the ruse about her marriage to Rui Shi would not last much longer.

Sokka made sure to shave adequately in the bathroom, smiling proudly at the mirror as he finished his work. Azula didn't always compliment him on his facial hair or otherwise, but he knew she enjoyed stroking his stubble absentmindedly at times. It was why he made sure to keep it as well-groomed as he could.

As he walked back to the sitting area he overheard the sound of the fortuneteller's voice in the room to his right. He frowned and slowed down, mischievously attempting to overhear Rui Shi's prediction.

"… As it were, you must take action to prove your love to the object of your affections. Doing nothing might lead you to lose her forever" said Aunt Wu. Sokka grimaced.

"I… I suppose so. I mean to act, though. As soon as we return home" Rui Shi replied.

"Won't that be too late already? You wife… she seems to be quite taken with your other companion as it is"

"U-uh, yes. That… I guess so" Rui Shi answered awkwardly.

Sokka pressed his fist to his mouth and chuckled before returning to the sitting room. Curiously, the Fortuneteller had believed the lies about Azula and Rui Shi being married… but she had noticed that he was involved with Azula, for a change. Maybe it was too immature of Sokka to be excited about that, since they should be covering up their relationship… but he was relieved anyways. At last, someone hadn't assumed right away that Azula could only be involved with a guy like Rui Shi.

"Unless…" Aunt Wu continued, once Sokka couldn't hear her voice anymore "The woman you're thinking of isn't your wife?"

"Well, that is…" said Rui Shi, his cheeks reddening. Aunt Wu laughed.

"It did seem strange that a man would travel with his wife and her lover that way" she said "I thought maybe you weren't aware of it, but it would seem you are too smart to be oblivious to it"

"Figuring it out didn't take a lot of brains, though" Rui Shi said "Walking in on them kissing was enlightening enough"

"She isn't your wife, though, is she? You just told me as much, but… I can't see how that could be the case" she said "Or is your marriage a sham?"

"Our marriage is… a story, I suppose" Rui Shi admitted, shrugging "People think we are less suspicious that way, I believe"

"Of course" said Aunt Wu "You three must be involved with some complicated matters, to be sure. I haven't had as fascinating reading subjects as you three for a very long time"

"Even though Wentai is quite obviously only ever going to make himself miserable?" Rui Shi asked, with a weak smile. Aunt Wu laughed.

"Oh, he would have never believed anything I said to him. He resists the idea of anything that logic can't explain, I'm sure. Your other companion seems to be a lot like that, though…"

"It's quite ironic, I'll say. Their relationship defies all logic all the time and I don't see them complaining" said Rui Shi. Aunt Wu laughed again.

"You are a smart man, yes. And quite handsome, too. The woman you do love will certainly be very lucky to be with you" she said "Well, then… are we done now?"

"I guess" said Rui Shi, smiling and bowing his head towards her.

They left and returned to the sitting room. Azula, Sokka and Meng were talking, but the fortuneteller's assistant jumped when she noticed her boss was back with the handsome stranger.

"Ah. You're finished now?" Azula asked, looking at Rui Shi inquisitively "What's your verdict?"

"I believe her" said Rui Shi. Azula huffed and shook her head.

"Of course you do" she said, standing up.

"You'd rather test my skills for yourself, naturally?" said Aunt Wu, smiling warmly "Well, I can see this will take a while. Meng, offer some food to our guests. Tell Yu there will be no more travelers today so he can start working on dinner, too"

"Yes, Aunt Wu" said Meng, bowing her head as Rui Shi returned to the cushions.

Azula stared at Aunt Wu defiantly, but she glanced at Sokka one last time before taking off. He only smirked proudly at her, sure that the Princess would be a lot more skeptical about fortunetelling than Rui Shi was.

"Wish me luck…" Azula said sarcastically. Sokka chuckled as she followed Aunt Wu into the next room.

Aunt Wu pushed open the sliding door to reveal a chamber with candles and a small fireplace at the center. There were cushions, there was a teapot, vases, books, paintings, all assortment of things that would have felt like completely normal decoration if they were anywhere other than in a fortuneteller's house. Azula raised an eyebrow as she sank in a red cushion spontaneously. Aunt Wu smiled.

"So… Roshi, Wentai and Jing" she said. Azula frowned "They are good fake names, suitable for each of you. If only it weren't clear that you and Roshi are Fire Nation, people would be fooled far more easily"

"We are colonials" said Azula. Wu raised her eyebrows.

"You are noble" she stated, without a hint of a doubt "The way you carry yourself, your authority, your defiance? You are a noble woman. Roshi isn't of your same standing, of course. Let alone is Wentai…"

"Did you figure out all this through Roshi?" Azula asked, crossing her arms over her chest "I'd have expected him to need more than that simple assessment to believe you"

"Oh, he did" said Aunt Wu, laughing softly "Insight into secrets of his past sufficed long before I shared his future. He had never shared them with anyone, it seems…"

"And yet you knew about them? What sort of secrets were they?" Azula asked, smirking.

"I'm afraid it's up to him to share them, not me. I should likely make a reading of your life rather than his in order to convince you, right?"

"Heh. Do your best" said Azula, staring at Aunt Wu defiantly as the woman smiled at her.

"Well… you certainly come from a very conflictive family" she said. Azula crooked an eyebrow.

"As do most people" she said.

"Not all people fear their parents may have been murderers"

Azula froze. She had no answer to that. Aunt Wu sighed.

"You believe they might have… killed a relative. Your grandfather, yes?" she said "Though you don't understand how they would have done it…"

"Well, since the spirits are enlightening you about it already, maybe you can ask them about how they pulled it off" Azula asked, sarcastically. Aunt Wu chuckled.

"Perhaps I ought to. It would seem… that they were doing it with both selfish and selfless motivations in mind. To save you? No… to save your sibling? Your brother?"

Azula's gaze grew colder and colder. Aunt Wu seemed to notice, so she coughed and looked at her apprehensively.

"Perhaps that is too much about your past" she said "Your future should be less bleak than that, I am sure"

"Hard to say" Azula muttered, truthfully "Well, then, what do you plan on doing first? Reading my palms? You'll make me shake sticks in a bowl? You'll read my future through my birthday and the help of the stars…?"

"Ah, we can do anything you wish. Palmistry is a good place to start" said Aunt Wu, smiling "Shall we?"

Azula sighed and offered Aunt Wu her left hand. The woman smiled right away.

"Fire hands" she said. Azula raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"It's only logical" she muttered.

"You're a bender, aren't you? A firebender. And oh my, what a powerful one you are!" said Aunt Wu, as she read her lines more carefully.

"Astounding, isn't it?" Azula said, with a dry smile "Though it's hardly something you wouldn't know if you were in touch with the people I mentioned earlier…"

"Ah, is that so?" Aunt Wu asked "And the matters of your family… are they of public knowledge, too?"

Azula frowned. No, of course they weren't. Even if scarce rumors could have been spread about Ozai or Ursa murdering Azulon, scarcely anyone knew that Zuko's life had been endangered that night. In fact, Azula had thought only a handful of members of the Royal Family knew about it…

"Well, I hope that keeps me safe from your bending's wrath until I can finish convincing you of my innocence" said Aunt Wu, smiling. Her eyes focused on Azula's hand again "Oh dear. What a Sun line you have! You're… you really must be some high-profile noblewoman of the Fire Nation, to have such fame and wealth thanks to your family…"

"Did a line on my hand really tell you as much?" Azula asked. Aunt Wu smiled.

"It certainly did. I have barely just begun and you're already one of my most impressive subjects!" she exclaimed "Alright, your Children Line…"

Azula tensed up. Despite herself, she found herself uncertain now. She had mean to be as skeptical as possible with this reading, but it was difficult to be when it came to such a complicated topic…

"Well, that's interesting" said Aunt Wu, smiling "There are girls in your future, and perhaps one boy, if I'm reading this correctly!"

"I… what?!" Azula asked, her eyes wide "Y-you can't be serious. That has to be a mistake, I'm not likely to ever…"

"Well, that's what your hand says, dear" said Aunt Wu, smiling still "In due time you'll know if it was right or not, right?"

"I… guess?" said Azula, grimacing in confusion. Her, becoming a mother? It was about as likely as it was for the Spirit and Human worlds to merge into a single one…

"Your Marriage line… well, color me surprised" said Aunt Wu, smirking. Azula's thoughts about her potential children disappeared again, and her heart raced by knowing which line Aunt Wu was analyzing now "It says one of your marriages will end in separation. Then again, Roshi doesn't love you, so…"

"What? One of my… marriages?" Azula said, her eyes wide.

"Ah, but the other marriage looks rather promising, yes" Aunt Wu replied, beaming "See how short this first line was? Passionless, unfulfilling. The second, on the other hand, is very passionate and overflowing with joy"

"Heh. Good for me" Azula said, staring at her hand warily.

"Though it is quite contradictory, I'll say" said Aunt Wu "Your successful marriage… it has many islands at its beginning and the middle. Many twists and turns in this love affair, it seems…"

"But… it's successful?" Azula asked, her eyes wide "Y-you just said it was. That… that it would be joyful?"

"I suppose all the trouble will be worth it in the end" said Aunt Wu, beaming.

Azula snorted in disbelief, but also in slight amazement. Fortunetelling was still utter nonsense, for she had no intentions to marry twice… but that successful line had to mean Sokka. Well, that is, if fortunetelling had some basis after all. She doubted that it did, but in the odd case where it did…

"Your Fate line only confirms what I already said, you will have a very wealthy and successful life" said Aunt Wu "Your Head line is long, so you are a very capable young woman, though you are prone to overthinking matters. But… it's also doubled! Why, that's rare. Your mental ability is strong. Your character is very decisive, although it also denotes flexibility…?"

"So, I have a good mind?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. Aunt Wu beamed.

"Seems like it. Your Money line, as expected, only suggests you'll do well with your wealth in life. And as you have an M-shaped pattern on your hand, you certainly will have that much wealth before being forty years old"

"Why, yes, I suppose so" said Azula, with a weak grin. Again, Aunt Wu was only stating the obvious.

"Your Health line is… uh, mostly good, but…" she said, frowning. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"But what?"

"Just… it hints at some troubles in your mind, I'm afraid" she said, biting her lip.

"Didn't you just say my mind was fine?" Azula asked, confused and skeptical again.

"Your mental capacity, yes. Your mental health, though, it… it may be a little fragile" she said, swallowing hard. Azula huffed.

"Well, that's very promising. Wealthy and mental, no less" Azula said. Aunt Wu smiled.

"Diseases can be treated, Jing, even those of the mind. They won't destroy your life if you don't allow them to" she said "Now, your Life Line… why, it says you're strong, full of vitality! What good news, isn't it?"

"I guess it would be so if only I didn't know as much, but thanks" said Azula. Aunt Wu smiled.

"You should be grateful. I see very few health hazards ahead. Though… there may be conflicts you'll face in life. I can't tell what kind of conflicts, but there's several of them. Still, since your line is so steady, I'm assuming it means you will be able to sort them out"

"Why, I hope so" said Azula, with a dry grin.

"And lastly, your Heart line…" said Aunt Wu. Again Azula's heart sped up with this one. Why did she feel so reluctant to believe Aunt Wu in any regards, except for those related to love…? "Well… it seems to agree with the Marriage line. This gap means your first marriage is going to fail, but the second is likely to be successful, yes!"

"Uh-huh…" said Azula, grimacing.

"On top of that, you have small islands here, too" said Aunt Wu "But… they mostly relate to the first marriage. After that, all seems smooth!"

"Wonderful news" said Azula. Aunt Wu chuckled.

"You are very devoted. You would sacrifice everything for genuine love, it seems!" she said. Azula couldn't hold down a blush "Your lover is certainly a lucky one"

"I guess he must be" said Azula, sighing and shrugging.

"I… also can see something else" said Aunt Wu "Not entirely related to your Marriage or Heart lines, but still related to them…"

"Something like what?" Azula asked "Where do you see it?"

"Why, it's in your future" said Aunt Wu, smiling "You will have a new line on your palm one day"

"A… new line?" Azula asked "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You don't know? Here I thought, since Wentai is a Water Tribe man, you would have heard of it…" said Aunt Wu, surprised "Have you never heard of the blood ritual of Water Tribes for weddings?"

"The what?" Azula asked, her eyes wide.

"It's not quite as bad as you may think" said Aunt Wu, smiling "The bride and groom carve small cuts on their palms, and they are joined in blood forevermore. Perhaps it sounds gruesome for one raised in Fire Nation customs, but it has been done in the Water Tribes for millennia"

"Heh. And then he says they're not savages" Azula said, grimacing. But the magnitude of Aunt Wu's prediction only hit her then "Wait… you're saying I'll be part of a Water Tribe wedding ceremony, then? For… for good?"

"I would expect Wentai to be elated by the news" said Aunt Wu, chuckling. Azula smiled but the grin waned quickly.

"Well… neither him nor I believe in these matters fully, but even so, I'm…"

"You're married to Roshi right now, but your heart longs for Wentai" said Aunt Wu. Azula's blush came back at full force "For clear reasons, a noble Fire Nation girl cannot expect to marry a Water Tribe man… so I'd assume it means you and Roshi will split and, who knows? Maybe one day reservations about such mixed marriages in nobility will disappear. At least, your hand's lines seem to suggest as much"

"It seems quite wishful, though" said Azula, raising her eyebrows in disbelief "I will say, you know just how to tell someone all they want to hear, but I am not entirely sure I can believe all of it yet. Or believe that you're indeed seeing my future…"

"Ah, well then, I suppose more techniques are in order!" said Aunt Wu, beaming. Azula snorted.

"Why are you so excited to try other things?" Azula asked.

"Oh, because there is nothing quite as entertaining as reading the future of a non-believer. I wonder if you'll resist to the very end!" Aunt Wu exclaimed, standing up and gathering tools she'd need for the rest of her predictions.

Despite she remained skeptical, Azula was enjoying herself. Aunt Wu had tried to predict her fortune by using the sticks Azula had mentioned earlier. The Princess had asked a question, shaken a bamboo container with the sticks, and Aunt Wu had interpreted the message. According to the message, Azula would see more warfare in her life. The answer wasn't shocking, but it was likely to be true. The reading of cards had followed, but the results had mostly made Azula laugh: many of them had directly contradicted the previous fortunes.

"Oh, well, card reading was never my strongest suit" Aunt Wu confessed, between laughs.

"What is, then?" Azula inquired.

"Cloud reading, mainly. But the better method I have for personal fortunetelling is the reading of the bones" said Aunt Wu "If I may, I have never made a mistake with the reading of the bones. It's by far the most spiritually charged of all my practices"

"Huh. So this one's serious?" Azula asked, smirking. Aunt Wu nodded and gestured at a vase between them. It was full of bones of different shapes and sizes.

"Pick a bone, and I will toss it into the fire. I will read the cracks after the fire has acted on it" she said. Azula shrugged and rummaged through the clean bones, picking out what looked like a small creature's femur.

"Where do you get these things?" she asked. Aunt Wu laughed as she took the bone and casted it into the fire.

"I don't think I should disclose that sort of information to a client" she said. Azula smirked over the elusive answer.

The process took a while, but not too long. Aunt Wu seemed ready to wait patiently for a while longer by the time the bone began to crack. Her eyes widened.

"Ah. That was quick" she said "I think it should be best if I keep it in the fire for a little longer, though…"

Azula nodded, watching the burning bone with curiosity. Again it cracked, but roundly this time. Aunt Wu stared at it nervously, and she gasped when the next crack made it shatter in half.

"Maybe I… picked a very long one" said Azula, matter-of-factly. Aunt Wu swallowed hard.

"You were free to pick whichever one you pleased, but… this was very violent, very…" she said, biting her lip and staring at the bones in chagrin "If they don't break again in five minutes, I shall give you your full reading as it is…"

The two of them remained silent for a while, and Aunt Wu was startled once more when one more small crack appeared on the bone. But there was nothing else after that. Azula stared at Aunt Wu in confusion as she withdrew the charred bone from the fire, her eyes wide as she inspected the cracks warily.

"Well… oh, dear" she said, gritting her teeth. Azula frowned.

"What?" Azula asked "Am I going to die tomorrow or something?"

"N-no, you… you won't, it seems, but… oh, this is dark" said Aunt Wu, sighing and looking at her apologetically "I'm afraid your life will be headed for worse struggles than most I've seen. You… you won't have an easy future, not at all. Things will be difficult for you"

"Things? Could you be any more ambiguous?" Azula asked, sarcastically "What things? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, dear. I guess I should just say it" said Aunt Wu, closing her eyes "The bones say… that you're fated to lose everything"

Azula's eyes widened. Aunt Wu swallowed hard again.

"You will be… you will be submerged, lost, in deep darkness" she said "Only if you find a light within it, and hold onto it, will you have any hope of resurfacing. Your destiny can be great, it has the potential to… to change the world, even! But… but only if you can find your way through that darkness. Only if you can endure the losses that are fated to find you"

Azula's chest was filled with an unpleasant sense of coldness. She had been amused by most the predictions, especially those that stated what she already knew… but this one wasn't amusing in the slightest. What was worse, though, was that she could see Aunt Wu was not exaggerating what she'd read on the bones. She was being truthful…

Or at least, she believed she was telling the truth. If fortunetelling was merely a big hoax, there was no need to worry about any dark predictions. She didn't have to buy this, not at all. She had been more than reluctant to believe she'd have children, she was even more reluctant to believe she'd lose everything now. There was no way she could, now, was there?

But there were ways, countless ways, for that to happen. Her chest tightened as she thought of it: if she and Sokka were ever discovered, she would lose him and everything she had ever fought for. Were the bones telling her that their relationship was doomed? Was that it…?

The fear that filled her was so strong it nearly made her dizzy. No, the bones couldn't be right. They couldn't be right. They couldn't…

"But… ah, well, ultimately destiny isn't set in stone" said Aunt Wu, noticing the look on Azula's face. She tried to smile warmly "Not only is there hope that you may recover from whatever the bones said, but… but you don't even believe in fortunetelling, do you?"

The fact that the woman would now encourage Azula not to believe her prediction only was another sign of how disturbing the news were. She was trying to smile kindly at the Princess, but Azula could tell she was shaken up, too.

"Had you never… read any bones that said anything like that?" Azula asked.

"Well, all things considered, people like you are hard to come by. None of my readings for you have resembled any I have done for anyone else" she admitted.

"Heh, well… it's fortunate I don't believe in fortunetelling either way" said Azula, with a weak smile "Bad omens aren't a concern as long as I keep my life together"

"That's right" said Aunt Wu.

"Not to mention, the readings all seem to contradict each other" said Azula, as they both stood up "My life will be successful and yet I'll lose everything? The palmistry said I'd have three children, the sticks said I'd have none… nothing makes sense"

"It may have been my mistake" Aunt Wu said "I may need to reanalyze your results, but indeed, your destiny is not decided by what spirits may say through me. Of course not"

Azula nodded as they left the room side by side. Aunt Wu's guilt betrayed how distraught she really was by the prediction she had voiced. Azula didn't want to put much weight on the matter, but the fortuneteller's behavior was somewhat disturbing.

Her heavy heart was appeased right away when she laid eyes on Sokka again, though. He had been measuring his ear and comparing it with Rui Shi's, apparently. Meng was missing out on their show, though, busy working on dinner as she was.

"I think my ears are bigger" Sokka said, with a grimace.

"Then go marry the fortuneteller's assistant" Rui Shi replied.

"I'm not going to!"

Azula chuckled by their dialogue, and Sokka turned to look at her immediately. He smiled warmly.

"You were in there for a while. We even finished our bean curd puffs" he said, pointing at a bowl "Meng offered them to us. Well, she really offered them to Rui Shi only, but he agreed to share"

Azula raised an eyebrow upon noticing that the bowl wasn't empty, despite Sokka's words indicated otherwise.

"There's still some left, though. Doesn't look like you finished them" she said, confused.

"Well, we finished our shares of puffs. These are for you, of course" said Sokka, beaming and handing the bowl to her.

Azula's eyes widened, but she couldn't hold back a grateful smile. She dropped on her knees on one of the cushions and took the bowl into her hands.

"Well, this is mind-blowing" said Azula, staring at him with amazement "To think you actually held back from eating them all…"

"What can I say? I'm that thoughtful" Sokka declared, proudly. Azula rolled her eyes and shoved him gently. Sokka only chuckled "So? What's your verdict on the fortuneteller? Roshi says she's absolutely right about everything ever, and he believes in all she told him, but you…?"

Azula glanced at the fortuneteller, who had been on her way to the kitchen. Aunt Wu looked back at Azula and smiled before crossing another sliding door. Azula sighed.

"Well… I don't believe her predictions" she stated. Sokka smirked, Rui Shi scowled "At least, they were too ambiguous and shaky to be believable. Some fortunes contradicted each other, even…"

"So it's a hoax. I knew it" Sokka declared.

"But… I also don't think she's working for Jeong Jeong" Azula whispered "She was beyond excited to prove her gift was true because she genuinely believes it is. I still think she's mostly perceptive, observant… but I don't think she has a very clear understanding of who we are, even if she knows I'm of noble birth"

"Heh. So she really just had the guy at the door welcoming every single stranger that comes into town?" Sokka asked. Azula nodded.

"I suspect as much" she said "There's no reason to believe otherwise"

"So you don't think she's a real fortuneteller?" Rui Shi said, somewhat reproachfully. Azula smirked.

"My disbelief doesn't mean her predictions can't come true" she said. Rui Shi blinked blankly "So if she told you that you and Song will have ten babies…"

"S-she only mentioned twin girls…" said Rui Shi, blushing.

"Well, then, who knows? You just might have them after all" said Azula "But it won't be merely because Aunt Wu claimed as much, of course…"

"She did warn me that… that I had to act if I meant to make that happen" said Rui Shi "She knew about you two, knew that the woman I had feelings for wasn't you…"

"She did, yes. She predicted our marriage would fail" said Azula, smiling. Rui Shi snorted while Sokka smirked "Hard for it to work when it's not even happening, isn't it?"

"Yes" said Rui Shi, raising his eyebrows with amusement.

"So at any rate… she was right about a few things that were obvious for us" said Azula "What she's said isn't conclusive enough to believe she really has some gift of foresight, nor is it suspicious enough to believe she's linked to Jeong Jeong"

"It's all good news, then" said Sokka, smiling as Azula started to eat the puffs "So… we'll be staying the night? It's already dark out, so…"

"I believe so" said Azula, nodding "We can take off tomorrow"

"I was hoping to ask some soldiers about the situation in Yu Dao first off, though" said Rui Shi "To make sure we won't step into an all-out battle or anything…"

"That's wise. You can do that first thing in the morning, then" said Azula, nodding "The sooner we get to Yu Dao, the better. If the city is safe, then Colonel Shinu will get his wish and I'll be out of danger, as he intended"

Rui Shi nodded. The three of them remained where they were, chatting about their next movements, the fortunes they had received and teasing Sokka over his own fortune. He kept denying any interest in it, saying he didn't need Aunt Wu to read his palm, but with each new thing Rui Shi said about his apparent destiny, it was more clear that Sokka wanted a reading of his own if just out of morbid curiosity.

Meng came to fetch them for dinner, and all six occupants of the house ate together as dusk settled in. Aunt Wu had been generous with the meal she offered, and Sokka was quick to devour as much of it as he could, to Azula's disbelief and disapproval. But the unexpected happened just as she had started to scold him for his lack of manners.

"So… I'm eating like a pig?" he asked her, leaning slightly towards her. Azula narrowed her eyes.

"As usual, yes" she said "Can't you try to behave yourself instead of…?"

"Well, now, you do remember… that we're all peasants here, don't you?" he said, a slow and malicious smirk spreading over his lips. Azula's eyes widened with fear "That's right. This time you're the one who needs to lose her manners"

"No, I'm…! I can't do that" she said, glaring at him. Sokka chuckled.

"Food tastes better that way, though" he said, winking at her before digging into the next turkey-duck leg on his plate.

Azula grimaced as she watched him, taking note of his sloppiness and his lack of posture. He was hunched over the table, trying not to spill the food in the most graceless possible way… Was she really supposed to do that?

She turned to her own plate and smirked before giving it a try. She clasped her own turkey-duck leg and leaned forward, biting into it brusquely.

Sokka beamed next to her, watching her struggle while tearing the meat off the bone with her teeth. She looked as though she were in an all-out battle… and as Sokka knew very well, she rather enjoyed fights when she was the victor.

When she finally was finished ravaging the food she glanced at Sokka, and he smiled proudly at her. She couldn't help but snort and laugh, her elbows on the table as she hunched over a little, much like Sokka's own position. Naturally, the gladiator was absolutely elated by what he had just witnessed.

The meal was pleasant all around, and Meng led them to their rooms later. By Aunt Wu's command, and to her utmost confusion, she'd had to set up three rooms instead of preparing one for the married couple and one for their servant… but this suggested that their marriage wasn't particularly smooth. It gave Meng hopes that maybe the handsome dark-haired man would be her promised husband after all. So she had worked diligently, and she had waved somewhat flirtatiously at Rui Shi before taking off to her own room for the night.

"Get as much rest as you can" Rui Shi recommended "We'll be taking off to Yu Dao as soon as we know of the city's status"

"Understood" said Sokka, yawning and covering his mouth with a hand "Sleep tight, Rui Shi…"

Rui Shi nodded at him and Azula before taking off to his room. He was gone through the sliding door soon enough, and Sokka smiled warmly at Azula once they were alone.

"You sleep tight too, alright?" he said, caressing her cheek gently and leaning close to kiss her forehead "I'll see you in the morning"

"Yeah" said Azula, smiling back at him.

With one more charming smile, he was gone behind his own sliding door, and Azula was left to do the same with hers. She found another futon here, although a much thicker and comfortable one than that of the Herbalist Institute.

She changed into a set of sleeping clothes Meng had left for her, and she sighed in joyful relief upon feeling the soft silk on her skin. She missed these sorts of clothes more than she had realized. That small dress had grown tiresome rather quickly.

She slid into bed comfortably, closing her eyes and waiting to fall asleep, but her mind was restless. Being alone with her thoughts wasn't a good thing, not when she had so much on her mind…

She didn't believe in fortunetelling, of course she didn't, but if Aunt Wu was right about anything in Azula's future, she had a lot to worry about. According to the Fortuneteller, she would marry someone before Sokka, and the knowledge left a sour taste in her mouth. Would Sokka lose against someone's gladiator? She didn't want to believe that could happen. Would her father force her to take a husband, making her relinquish the test she had appointed for her suitors? Why would she ever take a husband that wasn't Sokka…?

She certainly hoped the children wouldn't be of that first husband, though. Aunt Wu had not given any real information about them, but what if they were? What if they weren't Sokka's? The unpleasant sensation inside her grew stronger. She grimaced and turned on her side, berating herself for not falling asleep, but it was hard to get any rest with those concerns in mind. She would marry Sokka, though… she would. Aunt Wu said something about some Water Tribe tradition… she should ask him about it. If it really involved bleeding on each other she should likely brace herself for it.

She smiled at the thought, wondering if they really could get married. What if the children prediction was nonsense, anyways? Another prediction had contradicted it later. Maybe there would be no children at all, and she would just be happy with Sokka…

_You will lose everything._

Her eyes flew wide open. The coldness spread across her body again, and she swallowed hard as she clutched her robe over her chest. She shuddered and shook her head. No, fortunetelling was nonsense. There was no way that would happen. There was no way that would happen. There was no way…

Aunt Wu had taken that prediction far more seriously than the rest, though. She had been genuinely scared of what it meant. Even if Azula didn't believe in fortunetelling, it was hard to take that lightly when Aunt Wu had been so reluctant to share what he had seen.

She sat up and huffed: she was losing her mind. Maybe this was the damn mental health problem she had: she couldn't stop overthinking. Even when she knew she was being ridiculous, that she was making a big deal out of nonsense, she couldn't stop. But there was a way to stop it, she knew. There was one very fail-proof method that always put her restless mind at ease. He had given her peace countless times before, she was sure he could do it again.

The house was completely silent when she pushed the sliding door open slowly. It didn't make a sound, and neither did she as she walked to Sokka's room. She bit her lip, feeling foolish… but he wouldn't judge her for this, of course not. Though maybe she needed some judgment after all. If he told her how ridiculous she was being, she might snap out of her foolishness.

So she pushed the door open and snuck inside. She laid eyes on him after closing it perfectly again, and she smiled fondly as she saw him lying clumsily across his futon, his mouth open, his hair falling gracefully over his face.

She already felt better once she knelt beside him. She reached to caress his cheek gently, and that was enough to alert him, or to make him a bumbling mess, at least.

"Ugh, five more minutes…" he muttered. She smiled.

"You can have more than five. It's not time to get up yet" she replied. Sokka raised his eyebrows absent-mindedly as he forced himself to open his eyes.

"A-Azula…?" he said, looking at her in surprise. She sighed.

"Indeed" she replied, still stroking his cheek gently.

"You okay?" he asked, pushing himself up a little by resting on his forearm. As the covers rolled off him Azula noticed he was shirtless, just the way he liked to sleep. The sight of his bare chest was also rather uplifting, in its own way… "Something the matter?"

"No, I just…" she started lying, but she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. She needed him to snap her out of her foolishness, after all "Alright, yes, something's wrong. I'm… I'm being stupid"

"That's impossible" said Sokka, looking at her in disbelief through squinted eyes "If you're stupid, what does that make the rest of us?"

"Stupider?" she asked, proudly. Sokka smiled "I'm serious, though, I'm being a fool. I just… couldn't sleep"

"How so?" Sokka asked "Too excited about going back to Yu Dao tomorrow?"

"No, it's not that" she said "It's about… about the predictions, damn it. The things Aunt Wu said…"

Sokka frowned. She blinked in surprise, noticing he was taking her far more seriously than she had imagined he would.

"What predictions?" he asked "Was it something bad?"

"A few bad things, actually" said Azula, gritting her teeth "But the one that bothers me is… the last one she said. She casted a bone into the fire, one I chose, and… and she said that I was going to lose myself in darkness. That only if I found a light within that darkness would I resurface, and… and she said I'd lose everything"

Sokka's frown only grew heavier. It looked as though he was considering storming up to Aunt Wu's room right now to give her a piece of his mind.

"But that's ridiculous, isn't it? I mean… fortunetelling is ridiculous" Azula said, swallowing hard "Right?"

"Right" said Sokka, nodding "That's not possible, Azula. None of it"

"Yeah, I… I told myself the same thing. It's impossible" she said, with a weak grin.

"Damn right it is" said Sokka, pushing himself up to a sitting position "Losing everything, really? You can't possibly lose everything…"

"I thought so too" said Azula, nodding "I mean, maybe it wasn't meant to be a literal loss, but…"

"Either way, there's a lot you won't lose. You've achieved great things and none of those things will go away no matter what you do now" said Sokka, stubbornly "Your father has made you his official heir, how could you possibly lose that prestige?"

"I… I don't know" said Azula.

"You are going to be the greatest Fire Lord that's ever lived" said Sokka, proudly "And she can wave burning bones around all she wants, your destiny isn't written in them. You're the one who's going to make things happen, and you'll do it because you're amazing, Azula. You have so much potential, you're going to change the world…! And you will make great things happen, I know you will. So… forget that nonsense prediction. You're not losing anything unless you believe you will"

"Well… I hope so, yeah" said Azula, nodding "I have no reason to believe in it for starters, do I?"

"Of course not" said Sokka, smiling "Fortunetelling is nonsense. And, you know? Even if it wasn't always nonsense, that prediction's just impossible"

"Oh? How come?" Azula asked. He reached to clasp her hand in hers.

"Why… because no matter what happens to us, I'll never stop loving you" he said "That's something you cannot possibly lose, regardless of whatever the future holds for us. So see? If you'll always have my love, you can't lose everything! You'd still have one thing, and that thing alone would make the prediction impossible! Which is why I doubt you'll lose anything at all, heh. How about it?"

He smiled brightly at her. Azula stared at him in amazement, her own lips curving slowly as her eyes softened. Yes, there it was. Exactly what she had needed to hear from him.

"I… I think I like the sound of that, yes" she said, feeling tears of joy burning in the corners of her eyes.

Sokka chuckled and pulled her close to embrace her. Azula sighed in bliss, hugging him back tightly. So tightly he even laughed and compelled her to ease up her grip a little.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just…" she said, laughing and pressing her forehead to his "Thank you, Sokka"

"Eh? Nothing to thank me for" he said, beaming "It's my pleasure loving you, after all"

"Spirits, you're crazy" she said, chuckling and leaning in to kiss him once, twice, thrice. Sokka responded each time with tenderness, holding her closely.

His embrace was firm and strong, filling her with the sense of stability she had missed direly. The kisses he gave her were warm, loving, and they reassured her of his words: she wouldn't possibly lose everything. Not while she had him. She had to believe it, and she knew he wouldn't leave her, he didn't want to. He loved her so much he would stay with her even after their original deal had been completed…

Her hands raked his skin, and his sought to do the same to her too in no time. Her silk robe and sash were gone quickly, as were his sleeping bottoms. There was a non-stop exchange of kisses, even as she straddled him and guided his erect shaft inside her. Their movements were slow, scarcely focused on their release as they sought something deeper, something permanent, something that would endure long after the orgasm had subsided.

By the time they were lying beside each other, chests heaving and beads of sweat pearling their skin, they couldn't stop smiling at each other. Azula's eyes closed placidly, and in his arms, no nightmares plagued her anymore.

* * *

The two men had led her into the thick of the forest, through places of difficult access for her shirshu. The chase was long and slow, and for no fault of Nyla's: June was forced to hold back her partner whenever they caught up with the two fugitives, and she only managed to keep Nyla distracted by offering her slabs of meat. She would wait half an hour after that, and she would show Nyla the cloth again to continue chasing the men.

She had crossed these forests and their uneven terrains before, but it was complicated all the same. The deeper they went, the thicker the vegetation got. It was apparent that these areas didn't see humans crossing them often.

But eventually they came across more humans, and June was forced to offer Nyla another slab of meat to distract her as they neared the massive encampment the two fugitives had entered.

June had never seen a fully organized army before, but as she lurked behind the hills that surrounded the campsite, she couldn't help but feel she was in front of one now. There were hundreds of people, if not thousands, in a massive enclosure of a camp within the very forest. On the far end there was a river, June could see it from her hill, and between the river and her hill stood countless tents. Men and women wandered the area, some of them wearing what seemed to be tribal clothes, but most of them were in black rags, much like the two she had been chasing down. Blood chilled in her body as she realized this operation would be far more delicate than she had originally envisioned. If this was where Jeong Jeong was, taking him out would be the most complicated feat she had ever accomplished.

She offered Nyla another sniff of the cloth, and the shirshu guided her to the east of the encampment. June had climbed off her saddle, a sign Nyla knew meant that her owner wanted them to be stealthy. So she controlled her instincts to a fault, guiding June towards the place their two escapees had taken off to.

June smiled: they were in luck. It seemed their destination was a hut, set up far from the tents. It wasn't a sturdy hut, and she figured it hadn't been built long ago. Jeong Jeong was likely somewhere nearby, probably inside it…

She brought a finger to her lips, gesturing at Nyla to be quiet. She crept closer to the hut, and she overhead voices within it.

"… s-said she'd torture us for information. We left as soon as we had a chance!" sounded one nervous voice. No doubt, one of the runaways.

"She's crazy! She's as bad as her father, as her grandfather, as…!" the other one was saying, but a deep, authoritarian voice interrupted them.

"Enough, you two. That's not important"

June guessed right away it would be Jeong Jeong: not only did his voice betray he was used to being in command, but he was obeyed promptly by the anxious pair.

"You believe they are coming after you? Are you certain?" the same stern voice asked.

"T-they must be. They wanted to question us when they caught us, but… I don't know for sure. We weren't followed" said the first anxious man.

"Where did you last see them?" a new male voice spoke.

"We left them behind at some pub, earlier today. The one down the road? In the middle of nowhere?" said the second voice.

"Send a group to scout the terrains from there. We mustn't lose them" said Jeong Jeong.

"Yes, sir" said the newest male voice. The flap of a curtain revealed that he had taken off to do his duty.

"As for you two… are you certain it was them? Did she firebend?"

"No, but she did lightningbend at us. She almost killed him" said the second voice.

"Hm. Indeed, it can only be the Princess…"

"The Water Tribe one had a black sword, sir. I think… I think there's no way around it. They really were trying to give us the slip somehow"

"And they're about to get away with it, from the looks of it. Unless they're stupid, all those threats about torture must have been empty. They wouldn't risk following you into our encampment unless they truly were fools"

June raised a careful eyebrow, guessing she was being insulted. She shook her head, though. It meant she had the element of surprise on her side, at the very least. Jeong Jeong wasn't expecting any trouble in his campsite.

"What did you gather about the slave?" Jeong Jeong asked.

"Well… not a lot. He seemed to want to stand up to the Princess when she talked about torturing us, but… he didn't do much"

"Naturally" said Jeong Jeong, with a huff of displeasure "Just as I anticipated… though I will need to see him for myself to know if he's that useless after all. Let's hope the Princess really is as foolish as her forefathers, and that she may bring our objective to us without further ado…"

June's brow was furrowed now with confusion and concern. This… this didn't sound good. Not one bit.

Jeong Jeong was after Azula, that was what the Princess had said. His goal was to capture the Princess, so what did he want from Sokka? What could he possibly…?

Reality hit June like a log snapping in two over her head.

They'd had it all wrong.

But before she could reconsider her course of action, before she could so much as glance at Nyla, the true catastrophe began.

The shirshu suddenly snorted, snarling as it always did. June stiffened and turned to look at the beast.

"Nyla? Nyla, what's…?" she whispered softly, inching closer.

The beast roared. June's heart sank.

She knew the reasons why Nyla would roar: she did it sometimes when she found their goal, or whenever she bested someone in battle, be it another creature or humans. She also did it when showing her bravado, quite often, or when she caught the scent of blood. But the shirshu was fighting no battles, June hadn't offered her the scent of the two they had been chasing anymore, so she couldn't be celebrating over finding them… and that only left one option, and it was the worst option of all.

The shirshu had smelled the scent that could override all of her senses: blood.

"No, no, Nyla, come here!" June jumped towards her, but the beast dashed inside the encampment before June could even pull out her whip.

Her eyes widened in horror as her companion raced through the tents, tearing some of them down, mauling some of the people as she went. There was a boat arriving on the riverbank, and as June raced up the hill to get a better view of Nyla, she caught sight of it: injured, bleeding men on the boat. Nyla had caught their scent, and she was out of control because of that. Her instincts had taken over, and she wanted nothing but to murder whatever wasn't dead yet…

Jeong Jeong's renegades were shocked to see that sort of beast tearing through their encampment, and most of them pulled out weapons to attack the shirshu. June snarled and lashed forth, guessing she had no way to get through this but to fight to her best and hope Nyla would snap out of her madness soon. Until the shirshu stopped seeing red figuratively, though, there was nothing she could do but try to defend her from the enemies…

But she didn't expect those enemies to be as quick to find a way to bind down Nyla. They as good as confectioned a makeshift net, all of them working together with what looked like leather ropes that held down Nyla before she could hurt anyone else permanently…

The damage had been done, though. June was in the middle of an enemy encampment, surrounded by hostiles all around, and her only way out was with Nyla. With her whip and her physical strength, she had overpowered several enemies before Nyla was held down, but by now everyone's attention was on her… including that of the most dangerous of all the outlaws.

"Is this the bounty hunter you mentioned?" a man with shaggy white hair and a thin moustache asked the two men who had escaped from her hold.

June glared at them as they nodded. She cracked her whip.

"So… you're Jeong Jeong? Thought you'd look scarier, grandpa" she said, smirking a little even if she had the bad suspicion that this was not going to end well for her.

Jeong Jeong's glare was glacial: he did not need to respond to June's taunts with anything but his power. He lifted a hand, coated with burning fire, and June lashed out with her whip, ready to fight to the bitter end…


	125. Chapter 125

Being woken by a kiss to the side of her neck was beyond pleasant. More kisses trailed that one, some over her shoulder, others over her jawline. She couldn't help but sigh in absolute bliss.

"What are you doing…?" she whispered. His soft chuckle made her smile.

"What do you think?" he asked, as his hand caressed her naked abdomen gently. She groaned, shifting against his body ever so slightly so she could press her back to his chest more comfortably.

They had changed positions through the night, but his arms had held her regardless. Now, as he hugged her from behind like this, Azula felt somewhat vulnerable towards him, but she didn't mind it. She wasn't afraid of being vulnerable with him.

Her legs slid around his, and his hands searched under the covers for hers. With fingers intertwined, Sokka hummed in delight as he continued to kiss her skin. She had stretched her neck, leaving it bare and giving him full freedom to devour it as he pleased. He kissed her non-stop, at times sucking on her skin gently, but he didn't release her hand until she let go of his, to slide her fingers through his long, disheveled hair. He kissed her cheek next, his hand tucking her bangs behind her ear. She turned her face, longing to catch his adventurous lips with hers, but he smiled playfully and lowered his face, kissing his way down her back now.

"Sokka…" she whispered, with a smile.

He chuckled, his hands caressed her body gently all around. He cupped and fondled her breasts, prompting her to moan heartily, and he slid one of his legs between hers. His thigh rubbed against her core, and she gasped at the burst of pleasure. He snickered.

"You're… you're a troublemaker, damn you…" she gasped, as she felt him climbing back up the bed so he could hold her properly from behind.

"Not a bad kind of trouble, now, is it…?" he asked, licking his lips and kneading her breasts more. Azula moaned and shrunk in her frame, struggling to keep the sounds to herself.

Sokka smiled and leaned over her arched figure, making it so both bodies would be perfectly pressed together. But as he was busy with his hands and lips, he didn't anticipate to Azula spreading her legs and reaching down between them to find his stiff manhood. He hissed as her hand encircled it, fingertips tracing the outline of his length.

"Two can play this game, right?" she asked, throwing her head back. Sokka chuckled.

"Seems so, Princess" he whispered.

He kissed the corner of her mouth now, but when she sought to kiss him again he pulled away again, teasingly. Azula laughed, shaking her head at his playfulness. His hands slid lower now, imitating hers by caressing her core intimately.

The moans she released were desperate, intense. Sokka's eagerness only increased with every sound. His resistance to kissing her had been to mess around with her, but right now it felt like he had fallen into his own trap: he could barely contain his own urge to devour her lips with his own.

His fingers touched her insistently, sparks of pleasure born to the touch, and her hand imitated his own just as Sokka surrendered to his impulses. Azula kissed him passionately when he finally brought their lips together: she moaned into his mouth and urged him to fill her already. Her hand was leading his shaft to her opening, placing his manhood's head on it. But Sokka thrusted while still outside her, making it so his cock would brush against all her folds and even stroke her clit. Azula's moan was louder now, and he stopped what he was doing to shush her.

"You're going to wake everyone" he said, laughing and pressing his forehead to hers. Azula moaned softer now.

"That's all your fault, not mine…" she said "You started it"

"True enough, but I'm being really quiet" Sokka said, teasingly. She chuckled.

"That's because I'm not done with you yet…" she said.

She shifted her hips away, and Sokka was confused by her movement until she reeled back and pressed her ass to his manhood. He almost yelped, and the hand he had placed on her waist clutched her tighter now. Azula chuckled proudly, rubbing against him deviously.

"What willpower you have, still so quiet…" she whispered, arching her head back to kiss his cheek. Sokka groaned and shifted away from her "Ah, is it too much to take, snow savage?"

"If you don't want me to become a real savage, yes, it was too much" he said, smirking and placing himself on her opening. Azula laughed.

"I wouldn't mind seeing that, truth be told – ah… ah, yes" she moaned, closing her eyes as his cock's head finally entered her.

"Maybe when we go home you'll see it" Sokka said, stroking her breasts "Or if we're ever alone in this journey with no risks of being caught…"

"I like the sound of that, I'll say…" she admitted, biting her lip as he went deeper yet.

He lifted her leg, allowing himself better access as he thrusted inside her. Azula's moans were frantic, and she gasped while turning her head towards him. Sokka hummed, enveloped by utmost pleasure, driven by his urges to give her just as much bliss as she was gifting him with. She sighed, she whimpered, and her hand sought his once more. With intertwined fingers, they continued their slow and steady thrusting, with Sokka moving smoothly behind her, his lips by her ear whispering her name longingly.

Soft sounds and moans continued to be exchanged as the world woke around them, too. The sun had barely risen, and only the earliest rising birds were chirping. Everything stirred, everything came to life, and so did the two lovers as their tryst continued, as their lips met on occasion, with quick kisses that were interrupted whenever either of them thrusted too strongly. There was next to no urgency to their exchange at first, the two of them merely delighted to wake up in each other's company like this, but as it continued, their arousal increased slowly but surely. They picked up speed, their kisses became wilder, and muffling the moans was more difficult for Azula. As Sokka panted by her ear she felt her body clench up, releasing the building excitement against him. He couldn't hold back for long either, gasping and groaning while unleashing himself inside her again.

It had been a wonderful night, the perfect way to break their dry spell. The rooms in the house seemed to have relatively thick walls, but they had been as quiet as possible regardless. Even now, as they breathed heavily together, they did it as silently as they could, bodies fully pressed into each other.

"Good morning…" he muttered, kissing her cheek. Azula laughed and turned in his arms to kiss him fully.

"Oh, good's an understatement" she said. Sokka chuckled too.

"Here I thought you'd be annoyed that I woke you so early" he said, as she smiled at him.

"I suppose I could be… but you made it worthwhile, Wentai" she said, prodding his nose with hers. He smirked "Slept well?"

"Better than I had for a while" he said "Might have something to do with holding a naked beauty through the night…"

"Well, now, you've held me over the past few days… just, not naked, but still" she said, smirking. Sokka laughed.

"We both needed this, Princess. You know it just as well as I do" he said. She smiled and kissed him softly.

"Fine. I concede" she said, sighing and caressing his face "I'm still somewhat sorry for showing up as I did, though. I mean…"

"Yeah, yeah, you didn't want to bother me, didn't want to be a burden with your problems…" said Sokka, smiling "You're always worrying about that, but you know? I'd rather you tell me what's going on than for you to cover it up because you don't want to worry me. Because if you do that, I'll worry more, and it'd be counterproductive and I'd get extra-annoying and…!"

"Yes, you made your point" Azula said, chuckling as she pressed a finger to his lips. Sokka smiled.

"How are you feeling, though?" he asked, kissing her finger "Still worried about it, or…?"

"It's all nonsense" said Azula, smiling and relaxing in his arms "Every last bit of it must be. The good, the bad, the in-between…"

"Was there anything good? Other than that you're going to be rich for the rest of your life…" said Sokka. Azula shrugged.

"Well… Aunt Wu seemed to think I'll be married twice" she said. Sokka tensed up "But she assumed the first one was my marriage to Rui Shi. And then she… well, she didn't say it outright but she very much implied I'd marry you by talking about some Water Tribe wedding I'd be part of…"

Sokka blinked blankly before a wide smile spread over his face. He laughed and hugged her, and Azula snorted.

"Sokka? Didn't you think that fortunetelling's nonsense…?" she asked, smirking at him "How's it nonsense when it says bad things, but not nonsense when it says good ones?"

"Because the good ones are desirable and the bad ones aren't, naturally" said Sokka, beaming proudly "We shall avoid the bad ones and make the good ones come true!"

"Uh-huh" said Azula, shaking her head "You're ridiculous"

"And you know I'm right" said Sokka, smirking "Any other good ones?"

"Well, by your standards… maybe one" she said, shrugging "Given that she used plural when talking about girls… according to her, we may have around three children?"

"Three? Are you serious…? Oh, spirits, that's just…!" Sokka exclaimed, his eyes wide as Azula laughed and covered his mouth with a hand.

"Or… maybe we'll have none" she said, smiling dryly at him "Two of her fortunes contradicted themselves on that front, so I wouldn't put a lot of faith in it"

"Aw, well, three or none, I don't mind either way" said Sokka, smiling regardless "Three, though… would you put yourself through birthing babies thrice?"

"Not intentionally, I wouldn't" said Azula, raising her eyebrows skeptically "Which is why I should make sure to drink my tea dose of the day soon…"

"I don't have a kettle in here, though… you'd need to find one in the kitchen" said Sokka. Azula smiled.

"I'll take care of it by breakfast" she said, sighing and cuddling up to him "She also said my mind is powerful but frail. It's funny, huh?"

"Frail? Frail how?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"Some sort of mental disease, I guess? That's what she implied, but… if the other thing isn't to be taken seriously, why should we take this one seriously at all?"

"Fair enough" said Sokka, nodding "Still… I'd say we should try to make all three babies, and to get married too. That's the only important stuff she said, and the only stuff worth heeding…"

"Oh, sure. As long as you carry the babies, I'll be in complete agreement with that" Azula said, smirking. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"I'll carry them after they're born, sure…"

"That's not the part I meant, silly"

"I know, but still…" he whispered, smiling and poking her nose with his "But marriage, huh? We… we should get married, you know? Maybe as Jing and Wentai…"

"That wouldn't be much use, now, would it?" said Azula "It'd be as though Azula and Sokka aren't married, even if Jing and Wentai are…"

"I guess…" said Sokka, pouting "But I still want to marry you"

"And you're still silly, fickle and annoying" said Azula, smiling and kissing the tip of his nose "And I love you… but it's getting late and I should probably go to my room now"

"What? Nooo…" Sokka pouted, holding onto her stubbornly. Azula laughed.

"We'll be together again before you know it. Now let go, or else Aunt Wu's prediction about a baby may come true when we absolutely can't afford to have it happen…"

"Bummer…" Sokka groaned, as Azula sat up on the futon "I don't like letting you go"

"It's not going to be forever" she said, as he sat with her, his arms around her shoulders "You've endured worse challenges, haven't you?"

"Than being away from you? Never" he declared. Azula laughed as she reached for her clothes.

"If that's so, no wonder Aunt Wu predicted you'd be miserable all your life" she said "We can't be together at every waking moment and you know it, right?"

"Well, maybe not now, but when we get married like her prediction said…" Sokka said, with a mischievous smile.

"So you mean in around fifty years? Sure" said Azula. Sokka snorted.

"We'll get married before that, I hope…" he said. Azula shrugged.

"The odds for it aren't too good, I've told you so before" she said, putting her undergarments on first with Sokka's help.

"We could get married in secret…" he mused. Azula looked at him in disbelief.

"Assuming that we could, which… I suppose isn't impossible, it still wouldn't allow us to spend every waking moment together. You won't move into the Palace, nor will I move into your house, so we'll still be separated by our standings in life even if we're secretly married…"

"Huh. So, if I accept that you won't be able to live with me, you'd be open to marrying me in secret?" Sokka asked. Azula froze.

"I… didn't say that"

"You also didn't say the opposite of that"

She looked at him apprehensively as he smiled goofily. She couldn't hold back her laughter soon enough, and she pushed him down on the bed again while throwing her sleeping robe on.

"Damn gladiator, putting words in my mouth…" she said. Sokka chuckled and sat up again, clasping her sash, a thinner and more elegant one, and he fastened it around her hips.

"I'm just messing with you, no need to make a fuss about it" he said, smiling as he finished the sash's bow "There. You're all perfect, ready to go! Though… your hair's a bit messy"

"Heh. Let's just call that bed hair" said Azula, shrugging and turning towards him "Sokka…"

"What?" he asked, smiling warmly at her. She returned the smile with a kiss.

"Thanks for last night. And this morning, too…"

"You don't have to thank me for anything, really" he said, caressing her face "I just want to be sure you're okay. If you're happy, I'm happy. If you're sad, I'll fight off what makes you sad. It's how my mind works, you know?"

"Your mind works in very ridiculous ways" said Azula, pressing her forehead to his "I'm lucky it does"

"I'm lucky you like the ridiculousness" he said, kissing her again "I love you, Azula. I really do…"

"I believe you" she said, smiling as his kisses grew more insistent.

"You just don't even begin to imagine how much!" Sokka said, beaming and hugging her tightly one more time "Alright… alright. I'll let go, but you are well aware that I don't want to. Right?"

"I know, you never do" said Azula, her eyes closed blissfully "I love you too, Sokka. Thanks again"

Sokka responded with another kiss, and only then did Azula pull away from him, lurking towards the door. As she heard no sounds out in the corridor, she pushed the door open and waved one last time at Sokka before disappearing through the door.

He sighed in bliss and dropped on the bed, closing his eyes and hoping to get some more sleep. He'd certainly need it after all the energy he had spent in the last few hours…

* * *

By midmorning, Azula was busy brewing her tea after eating her breakfast when she heard someone entering the kitchen in the fortuneteller's house. She stiffened, but she didn't turn to look at whoever had arrived.

"I take it Meng showed you your way around the kitchen" Aunt Wu said. Azula nodded.

"She told me I was free to use this kettle. I hope you don't mind" she said, gesturing at it. Aunt Wu laughed and waved a hand carelessly.

"Of course I don't" she said, sitting at the kitchen table where her breakfast waited. The fortuneteller took in the only other untouched plate on the table "I take it Wentai isn't awake yet?"

"Well, he hasn't gotten up, at least" said Azula "He might just be loafing about, lying in bed…"

"I suppose" said Aunt Wu, smiling "I hope you enjoyed a restful night, Jing"

"It was. Probably the best night's sleep I've had ever since our journey began" she commented.

"Yu mentioned Roshi took off early this morning" Wu commented "Was something the matter?"

"Oh, no. He merely wanted to speak to the Fire Nation soldiers" said Azula "We are headed for Yu Dao, so he wants to make sure the city is safe…"

"Ah, I see" said Aunt Wu "I do hope they are helpful, then. They certainly don't tend to be very nice…"

"The soldiers?" Azula asked "Can't say I'm surprised. Have they been unpleasant to you?"

"Only once in a while. They seem as skeptical of my gift as you are" she said, smiling "I tend to travel once a year, to deliver predictions and fortunes to the northern villages. They should be used to that by now, but they always treat me as though I were a hazard when I come back. It's almost insulting, seeing how I've lived in this town for over forty years…"

"They haven't been stationed here for long, or have they?" Azula inquired. Wu shook her head.

"They arrived some time after the war ended. Makapu wasn't occupied by Fire Nation forces for a very long time. Even now we barely have six or seven officers…"

"It seems a rather calm town. The Fire Nation doesn't seem to have a lot to worry about here" said Azula.

"They don't, for sure" said Aunt Wu "But it wouldn't hurt for the soldiers to try to integrate into our society. I'm sure they would be much happier if they did"

"Surely" said Azula, smiling and pouring her finished tea on a cup "But I suppose soldiers don't have happiness in mind when doing their job"

"A pity, really. Life is too short to spend it doing things that make you miserable" said Aunt Wu, pointedly before sipping her glass of juice.

Familiar footsteps made Azula react instinctively as they approached the small room. She couldn't hold back a small smile for Sokka when he showed up at the kitchens' threshold, brushing his disheveled hair with his fingers.

"Uh… morning" he said. Aunt Wu smiled.

"Morning. Your breakfast awaits" she said. Sokka smiled gladly and took his seat to enjoy the meal. He didn't wait at all before digging in, to Aunt Wu's amusement.

They were all silent as Azula drank the tea, and Aunt Wu and Sokka ate. It wasn't until the fortuneteller was finished that another conversation began.

"So… what do you plan on doing while you wait for Roshi? I certainly hope you won't repeat what you did last night…"

Sokka choked on his food while Azula froze, the cup by her lips. They both blushed and stared at Aunt Wu with a mix of embarrassment, guilt and irritation.

"I'm not judging, of course, I'm only saying it is the middle of the day" she said, smiling "Most people save such activities for later in the night"

"I think it's up to us to decide when we'll do whatever we do" Azula muttered, grimacing "Did you hear us, or is it you predicted we'd…?"

"Ah, I knew it was likely" said Aunt Wu "It's why I told Meng to set up three rooms. It would have been terribly awkward for Roshi to know, right?"

"That's thoughtful of you" said Sokka, lowering his gaze guiltily. Aunt Wu chuckled.

"I'm sure he doesn't hold it against you two" she said "His heart is with another, after all. But it still is natural for some people to feel awkward about other people's relationships"

"We've done what we could to spare him" Sokka said "Though… I guess sometimes we fail at doing so"

"You two really love each other, clearly" said Aunt Wu, smiling. Sokka's blush grew deeper "It's wonderful. There are many joyful lovers in this town. Just yesterday I was visited by a young woman who will soon have her firstborn… her husband used to be shy, but after I convinced him to bring her a panda lily from Mount Makapu, he finally had the courage to confess his feelings"

"So you're not just a fortuneteller, you're a matchmaker" Azula said, with a smirk. Aunt Wu laughed.

"I happen to know my way with romantic compatibility, yes. I might need to look in depth at yours, though, but from what I can see, you two must have a high rate of it. You may be conflictive, but you'd be rather bored otherwise, wouldn't you?"

"True" said Azula, smirking. Sokka chuckled.

"I'm sure you two will be very happy together" said Aunt Wu, beaming "Though a little help is never unwelcome, of course…"

"A little help?" Azula asked, as Aunt Wu stood up from the table "What do you mean?"

"Well, the panda lily I mentioned is one of the sincerest gestures of true love" said Aunt Wu, smiling "I often advise suitors to bring those flowers to their ladies, if their love is true and pure. Most of them don't climb the volcano, for they believe it's too difficult a feat, but those who have done it can have everlasting love in their lives… at least, that's how it has been so far"

"Huh" said Sokka, blinking blankly. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Just food for thought" said Aunt Wu, smiling "I should get back to work, then. I shall see you three off when Roshi returns"

"Sure" said Sokka, nodding in her direction as Aunt Wu left the kitchen. He turned towards Azula now, his eyes gleaming with illusion "So… everlasting love?"

"Oh, please. Didn't you say that you don't believe any of what she says?" Azula asked "You're too contradictory, Sokka, really…"

"Hey, I'm just thinking about what the flower represents rather than whatever weird predictions she makes about them" Sokka stated, pouting "Besides, climbing a volcano could be fun. Didn't you and Toph fight around a bunch of them just a few months ago?"

"We did, but I saw no flowers growing on them" said Azula, with a skeptical laugh. Sokka beamed anyways.

"Come on, though. We can go, make the trip quickly before Rui Shi's back, and at least we'll get to see a neat volcano, right?"

Azula sighed and looked at him hopelessly. Sokka smiled at her, begging her with his eyes to say yes. She laughed and shook her head.

"We have to be really quick about it, though" she said, and he jumped in celebration.

"Yeah! We will be!" he promised her, smiling happily.

Despite Azula didn't miss her small dress, it was the better suited attire she had for hiking. She changed into it again somewhat regretfully, and she took off with Sokka to the tall volcano behind the town.

They didn't spot Rui Shi talking with any of the guards outside the town, something they found odd, but Azula reasoned he might have headed to an office to talk with those who were off-duty. Together, the pair climbed the tall mountain, helping each other through the complicated ridges that had been formed by the cold lava that had ran down the volcano's sides in the past. After around an hour, they finally reached the summit.

"Well, that was fun" Azula admitted, breathing heavily as she stared down through the volcano's crater.

There was no sign of any lava, but she guessed it was buried too low to see. She closed her eyes, though, and her inner fire resounded with heat underneath the mountain. She smiled, about to tell Sokka of what she had sensed, but when she turned she found he had paid the crater and lava next to no attention. He was staring at the panda lilies growing on the crater's rim with a frown, as though deciding which one to pick. Azula smiled as she watched him, and eventually he picked out one, beaming approvingly.

"Here you go!" he said, extending the flower towards her "Now we're going to be together forever, according to the fortuneteller!"

"I suppose we are" said Azula, smiling as she took the flower in her hand "This is really ridiculous, huh?"

"I guess it is" Sokka agreed, chuckling "But I had to give it a shot, eh? If the fortuneteller thinks this makes our love everlasting, then by her standards, we're rendering her nasty prediction completely wrong"

"The one about me losing everything?" Azula asked "I thought you were already sure that it couldn't happen…"

"Oh, I am. I'm just playing the game by her rules" he said, smirking "She can say I'll be miserable all she wants, but I'm pretty happy by ruining her predictions this way"

Azula laughed and looked at him tenderly. Sokka beamed proudly, but the boyish joy in his features faded as it grew a little more serious, a little less playful.

"Say…" he whispered, stepping closer to her "There are other ways to ruin her predictions, just saying…"

"Oh? What do you have in mind?" Azula asked. Sokka blushed "What is it?"

"Just… well, she said you'd marry someone else but how could you possibly do that if… if you were already married to me?"

Azula's eyes widened, as he smiled somewhat nervously at her. She looked at him in confusion now.

"Would you…? I mean, I know… I know we can't really do it, I know chances are we won't be able to until hell freezes over and whatnot, but…" Sokka said, biting his lip until he took a deep breath "But if things weren't the way they are, if things were… easier, I guess, if there weren't as many obstacles, would you… would you want to marry me?"

Azula gasped. This wasn't the first time they talked about marriage, but it was the first time he seemed to do it so seriously. What was it with him? Why here, why now…?

"What…? Oh, Sokka" she said, looking at him in disbelief. Sokka chuckled and lowered his gaze.

"It's just… I love it, you know? Waking up beside you, traveling with you, just… being with you. I know I can't always have those things, and I wish I could, but… but I still love it whenever any of them happen, and I just can't get enough of you. I keep daydreaming, thinking about a future where… where we won't have to worry about anything, where we'd be free to just love each other as we want…"

"A future with three annoying brats running about?" she asked, with a skeptical smile. Sokka chuckled.

"Three brats, none at all, that's up to you" he said, smiling "I just love you, Azula. I don't care if we can never make it official, if we can't really get married the right way, but I just want to spend the rest of my life with you…"

"And… if we can't get married the right way, which one would be the wrong way?" Azula asked "Just swearing eternal love to each other the way we would in a wedding?"

"I… guess?" said Sokka, with a crooked grin. Azula chuckled.

"You're hopeless" she said, stepping towards him so she'd lean into his body. She surrounded him with her arms, as Sokka held her too "I would, gladly, marry you. In any way we can, but…"

"But…?" Sokka said, with a sad smile.

"It's just… we already swear eternal love all the time, don't we?" Azula said, pulling away and smiling too "Don't you think that, for that matter, we kind of already would be married?"

"Well, this would be different. It'd have a bit of a… a ritual feeling to it, you know?" Sokka said, smiling a little hopelessly. Azula sighed "You know, that is what all weddings are, so don't tell me now that rituals are for savages or something…"

"Oh, they are, of course they are" Azula said, smiling. Sokka pouted "But according to the fortuneteller, I'll join in on your ritual one day, so… I guess I'll be a savage by marriage eventually, huh?"

Sokka smiled broadly now, though Azula's own grin grew a little sadder.

"Still, I don't know if I can say yes to your original proposal…" she said "I mean, it feels irresponsible, to a fault. I understand how you feel, because I feel the same way. I want to be with you, to the end of time… but saying yes when we can't make it happen properly would be wrong, somehow"

"Well, that's fine. As long as you still plan on being with me forever" said Sokka, with a mischievous grin. Azula laughed and hugged him tightly. Sokka embraced her tightly too.

"Ask again when we really can do it" she said, kissing his cheek "Then I'll say yes, for sure. I promise"

"And what if we never can?" Sokka pouted.

"Even if we never can make it official, we would have spent our whole lives together anyways" Azula said, smiling "So, by all effects, we would have succeeded at our endeavor, right?"

"Huh. That's one way to look at it" Sokka conceded, nodding.

Azula raised her head and kissed him fully. Sokka held her in place, returning the kiss fervently as they stood at the top of the volcano, the world spreading around them, seemingly coming together in that tall peak to allow them to kiss. She smiled still as she pulled away, looking at him more lovingly than ever. Sokka's chest tightened at the sight.

"Don't worry" she said "We'll make it happen. We'll fight all the omens as we always have. We've already come this far… we can go further, I'm sure"

"We can" said Sokka, smiling and caressing her bangs "Just… I'm an annoying guy by nature, you know? I'll probably keep asking you just because I can't wait for you to change your answer, hehe…"

"Oh, dear. That's going to be a bother" she said, smirking as she pulled away.

"I won't ask in bad moments, I promise!" Sokka replied, beaming while Azula took his hand and urged him to climb down the volcano again.

"I highly doubt that. You're likely to ask every single time you see me" Azula said, smiling back at him.

"Oh, don't tempt me…" he said, smirking.

"Now, that was just a joke, Sokka…"

"Will you marry me?"

"No"

"Now?"

"No!"

"How about now?"

She couldn't hold back the urge to laugh before glaring at him. He chuckled and intertwined their fingers, his eyes filled with love too. She hadn't given him the best of all answers, but he knew her blunt denials were meant to annoy him just as much as his questions were posed to annoy her. She looked too happy even now as she rebuffed him, and he beamed at the sight of her. That was the very smile he wanted to see on her face forever…

They arrived back in Aunt Wu's house to find Rui Shi there, standing next to a rudimentary carriage pulled by a single ostrich horse. He was talking to the fortuneteller just then, and he took notice of their return once she pointed them out to him.

"Finally" he said, as Azula smiled apologetically at him.

"We didn't mean to take so long" she said "Did you talk to the soldiers?"

"I did" Rui Shi confirmed, with a frown "They told me why they were unwilling to let earthbenders through. It seems a group of earthbending renegades attacked Yu Dao a few days ago…"

"What?" Azula asked, her eyes wide. Rui Shi nodded.

"They were in all black" he confirmed "They didn't deliver much damage, only trespassed into a building and escaped. Their soldiers have tried to pursue them, but they failed to find them. Nobody knows where they are"

"Should we still go to Yu Dao, then?" Sokka asked, frowning "What if they're just lying in wait somewhere, waiting for us to get there?"

"Well… I was talking to Aunt Wu and, from what she can see, the dangers that pursue us may just chase us no matter where we go" said Rui Shi, frowning "I realize it may be risky, but I…"

"You'd rather not endanger this town by staying here" said Azula, crossing her arms over her chest. Rui Shi nodded.

"It's risky to leave, but if we make good time we might arrive to Yu Dao safely. The forces there could repeal the attack once before, they should be able to do it again if need be, now that they're already alert and know what to expect…"

"Indeed" said Azula, breathing deeply "So be it. We should take off, then"

"Make haste" said Aunt Wu, looking at her with a concerned frown "The dark shapes that chased you… they've grown somehow. The sooner you reach somewhere safe, the better. May Yu Dao offer the protection you all need"

"Thank you" said Rui Shi, nodding towards her.

"We'll try to outrun those dark shapes, then" said Sokka, as Rui Shi climbed at the driver's position, taking the ostrich horse's reins.

After seeing the Captain taking the reins by his own initiative, Sokka decided to sit on the back of the carriage. It wasn't the finest of all carriages, but it did have a proper compartment, with a door and curtains that covered its roof to offer shade for the passengers. He slid inside and waited for Azula to follow, but she was having a last word with Aunt Wu.

"If those, uh, dark shapes show up and ask you questions about us, lie" Azula said "Don't tell them anything about us. We were never here"

"I understand" said Aunt Wu, looking at her worriedly "You are mixed up in some very dangerous matters, aren't you?"

"I'm afraid so" said Azula, frowning "I still don't know how, but I am. We all are. In any case…"

"Uh, Jing…" said Aunt Wu, lifting a hand as though to stop her, but she didn't touch Azula. The Princess looked at her quizzically "Just… your fate is not set in stone, as I said. Don't let those predictions disturb you. You are a clever, capable woman. I'm sure the bones must have been wrong about someone, for the first time"

"Huh. I do hope so" she said, with a small smile "Thanks for the hospitality, and the predictions. I still am skeptical, but I certainly was amused"

"I'm glad to hear it" said Aunt Wu, smiling warmly as Azula climbed into the carriage and sat next to Sokka.

Rui Shi waved at Aunt Wu before shaking the ostrich horse's reins. The carriage rolled up the street, and it was soon out of sight for the fortuneteller. Aunt Wu sighed.

"What is it you fear?" Yu asked her. Her nephew had been standing by the door, watching as the group took off. Aunt Wu turned to him and sighed.

"Something's coming for them. I don't know what it is, but… but it fills my heart with dread" she said "I would have told them to stay here if I thought that would help, but… whatever is tracking them down feels unstoppable. I don't know how to help them, Yu"

"You did all you could. They've been warned" said Yu, sighing "Let us hope that we have done enough"

Aunt Wu turned to look at Mount Makapu, her region's sacred and natural protector. She breathed deeply as she prayed for the spirits to look after those travelers, and to keep them from any harm that might befall them.

* * *

The carriage sped up their progress notoriously, even if it was led by a single ostrich horse. It was a great relief for the three travelers not having to walk insanely long distances, too, especially in such steep roads through the mountains. They only stopped a few hours after noon, to feed and water the ostrich horse and to enjoy a quick lunch as well.

They passed by several villages, but none of them had the dignified beauty of Makapu. It looked as though there weren't many Fire Nation soldiers in those villages either. At risk of being found by their enemies in poorly protected territories, they chose to carry on instead of taking breaks in the villages.

"We're doing well" Azula said, as she looked at the map in the light of an orange afternoon. "We're only two villages away from Yu Dao. We should get there tonight"

"We won't stop until we do, then" said Rui Shi, from the front seat "I suppose that means you two will have enough time to get cozy back there, huh?"

"Well, if you don't mind…" said Azula, smiling and looking at Sokka furtively.

Rui Shi huffed and decided to focus on the ostrich horse again. He turned and pulled down the curtain he had lifted to speak with them about the route. Both Sokka and Azula laughed softly as she slid closer to him, her head on his shoulder.

"You didn't get a lot of sleep last night, did you?" Sokka asked Azula. She hummed.

"That's your fault, you know…" she said. He chuckled.

"You should have gotten up at midmorning like I did" he said, caressing her hair "So… how's the big battle going? I hadn't asked you today…"

"Well, Xin Long didn't alert me of anything, so I imagine not a lot happened" she said, closing her eyes and reaching for her connection with the dragon. Only the first glance into his mind told her he was bored, and she smiled "Seems like it's no longer as eventful as before. The explosives haven't been used, the attacks from the mountain have ceased. I guess the Stronghold has won"

"Heh. That's good news" said Sokka, smiling "Then you'll see your whimsical dragon again soon, huh?"

"Yeah… I'll let him know to fly back to us once we reach Yu Dao" said Azula, nodding as she settled in Sokka's arms "For now, though… I'm going to sleep, if you don't mind"

"And if I did mind?" Sokka asked, teasingly.

"I'd still sleep on you anyways"

"Of course you would" he said, smirking "Hey, Azula…"

"What?"

"Marry me?"

"Not now"

"Damn" he said, shaking his head with disappointment. Azula laughed and lifted her head only to kiss him briefly.

"Quit being so sweet or you'll make me gag" she said, nuzzling his neck. Sokka chuckled and held her, smiling happily and closing his eyes too, deciding to get some more rest as well.

The first village came and went, and by then it was close to dusk. Rui Shi rushed the ostrich horse, an unsettling feeling nestling in his stomach. He knew his anxiety would disappear once they reached Yu Dao. They just needed to hurry, the ostrich horse would have all the rest and food it wanted once they were in the city…

As they started to make progress in a road on the height of a small valley, surrounded by thick trees, Rui Shi's dread increased. Had he picked the wrong road? The sky only grew darker, and he wasn't sure he'd find his way through forest roads with only the stars and moon to guide him. Despite it was ill-advised, they might have to make camp, or stop at the next village…

That was when he saw the black shape, standing on the center of the road, a yard ahead of him. Rui Shi's eyes widened as he tried to discern it, but it was hooded, and the road was too dark for Rui Shi to detail the person properly…

He noticed another shape by the trees to his left. More shapes by the right. Some were on the ground, others at the tree tops. His stomach spun around as fear took hold of him. They had caught up with them. They were waiting for them. They hadn't been able to reach Yu Dao on time.

But he had noticed them indeed, and he wasn't about to continue rolling towards where the enemy lurked. He pulled the reins of the ostrich horse violently, making it stop… and that was the sign he didn't know the shapes were waiting for.

Without further ado, they attacked.

Sokka and Azula, relaxed as they were inside the carriage, only reacted upon the vehicle's abrupt stop. They were confused right away, but when they heard footsteps outside, along with Rui Shi's shouts, they realized what was happening.

"Shit. Shit!" Sokka shouted, kicking the carriage door open and jumping out of it with Azula right before the carriage was set on fire.

They collapsed on a muddy road, and unknown, unwanted hands were on them immediately. Sokka didn't have his weapons, having left them within the carriage with the rest of his luggage, but Azula didn't need any weaponry: she lashed out with blue fire and threatening roars. The enemies all jumped back, away from her and Sokka in fear of her deadly abilities.

"It's her!" one shouted to Azula's far left. She shot a fistful of flames in his general direction before focusing on the closer enemies.

Rui Shi took care of muffling the fire on the carriage, just enough to pull out their luggage. His main intent, though, was to help Sokka get his weapons. The Blue Wolf jumped to his aid, thanking him as he unleashed his black sword and his club. He stood back to back with Rui Shi briefly before the two took to attacking their foes.

Some were earthbenders, others weren't. Some wore the fully black attires, others wore tribal-looking clothes. It didn't matter what they looked like or what their abilities were, though, Azula, Sokka and Rui Shi tore through them as powerfully as they could. And as they burned clothes, cracked bones and cut off limbs, the three of them seemed to be on the winning side of this scuffle, leaving screaming enemies lying about in their wake…

But they didn't have the upper hand for long.

Jeong Jeong's men seemed to regroup and rethink their attack strategy. A group of scattered, quick non-benders surrounded Azula and Rui Shi, but earthbenders lifted a wall between them and Sokka. Azula was quick to notice that they had isolated Sokka from them, so she kicked the wall down powerfully, but she would have much more trouble doing something about the surge of foes that sought to overpower her gladiator. She shot fire at them, getting a few off his back, but it wasn't enough. It looked as though most the enemies had resolved to attack him…

They were herding him away from her, she noticed, and she refused to let that happen. She snarled, shooting fire more eagerly, against the hands that tried to pull her back as well as those around Sokka… but she only heard him scream as the group around him managed to push him down the valley's slope. Most of them seemed to fall with him.

"SOKKA!" she shouted with blue fire, desperate. She had fallen with him down a similar slope before, but not quite like this…

She roared in rage again and calmed herself quickly before charging her limbs with electricity. Rui Shi was still fending off opponents behind her when Azula discharged the first bolt towards the nearby foes. They screamed and collapsed, maybe unconscious, maybe dead. In such darkness it was hard to tell.

But just as Azula was about to rush down to help Sokka, they heard an unpleasant, inhuman growl thundering through the forest. Azula and Rui Shi turned towards it, and their eyes widened when they saw what it was:

The creature making the awful noise was Nyla, but it wasn't June on her saddle.

Azula's mind went blank briefly before an array of questions started to scroll through her mind. Where was June? What on earth had happened to her? Why was her animal companion in other people's hands…?

The meaning of Nyla's presence, and apparent control by Jeong Jeong's forces, sank in a little too late. Azula decided to attack, and so did Rui Shi, but their fire blasts missed, both because Nyla was remarkably agile and because the two firebenders were shaken up by her apparition in this form. Azula turned to attack once more, but as she prepared to charge her limbs with electricity again, she felt something strike her neck, and her entire body went numb. She collapsed, hearing Rui Shi shout her name just before he started attacking Nyla and her current rider. He managed to get a few blows in, but charring Nyla's fur wasn't enough to prevent the sting of her tongue. He fell as well, stiff, numb, unable to move just as Azula was.

Azula snarled, struggling against the paralyzing toxins that kept her immobile. Hell only knew what these bastards were planning on doing, and they had dragged Sokka away. She needed to move, to get to him before they finished her off…

… Yet the hooded figures didn't continue to attack her or Rui Shi: they took to the forests once again. Even the one who was riding Nyla directed her down the slope through which Sokka had fallen. One by one, they disappeared. Azula's eyes widened. What was the meaning of this? Why had they left? Wasn't this what they were after? Didn't they mean to take her captive, or to do something worse yet…?

Her stomach sank, her eyes widened, her brain grew dizzy as she reached a painful, catastrophic conclusion. A conclusion that filled her with a powerful, paralyzing fear she had never felt before, far stronger than the toxins that had infiltrated her system:

It had never been about her.

Jeong Jeong was after Sokka.

* * *

He rolled down a mountainside for the second time in his life, clutching his weapons as hard as he could so as to not lose them, but the blow against the solid ground made his hands release them by sheer instinct. He groaned, and the groan turned into a pained shout when hands yanked him by the hair, others clasped his arms, others forced him down to a kneeling position. He struggled to break free, but their grip was strong, too strong. He heard the unmistakable sound of weapons unsheathed, and he saw the glint of metal under his neck. A threat. Why? Why not kill him already and be done with it?

He grimaced as he realized they were close to the very heart of the valley. The river was a few ways away… and someone was climbing off a boat just then, stepping towards him with slow but steady footing.

His hair was white and bushy, his skin seemed dark, going by the light that the fire in his hand shed over his face. And he looked angry. Coldly angry.

Sokka snarled at him, still struggling to break free. The knife under his neck pressed to his throat.

"Let… let go of me" he grunted, as threateningly as he could.

"You're not going anywhere, traitor!" growled one of the men holding him down. Sokka's snarl intensified.

The white-haired man finally arrived, as ceremoniously as before, and he stopped a few steps away from Sokka. Sokka scowled at him.

"Don't you dare touch her" he growled "You're him, aren't you? You're Jeong Jeong…"

"Touch whom?" Jeong Jeong asked, raising an eyebrow slowly "The bounty hunter? The Princess? Who are you talking about, gladiator…?"

"The bounty…?" Sokka repeated. Just on cue, Nyla appeared not too far from where they were. Sokka's eyes widened "What…? Where is she?!"

"You are a bold oaf, to be certain" said Jeong Jeong "You're outnumbered, outmatched, with a knife to your throat, and you still think you have the right to make demands and ask questions…"

Sokka gritted his teeth, hard. Jeong Jeong seemed to be studying him intently, though Sokka wasn't entirely sure what did he expect to find only by staring at him.

"You won't… you won't get away with this" Sokka grunted "You know he's going to set the world on fire if it means getting his daughter back…"

"Fortunately, those threats are less worrisome when you don't mean to take the Fire Lord's daughter anywhere" said Jeong Jeong, raising his eyebrows. Sokka frowned.

"What…?"

"Did she tell you we could only possibly be after her?" Jeong Jeong asked "Did you ever wonder to what avail? Do you think we wanted to capture her so her father destroys the world, as you said? What would we gain from such folly?"

"You… you'd take out an important enemy" said Sokka, grimacing "She's… she's the strongest firebender, she's a leader and she's…"

"She's every bit as bad as her father is" Jeong Jeong said, cuttingly. Sokka froze "I want nothing from her. I need nothing from her. She is but proof of how rotten the Fire Nation is at its very core, and I have never been a fool to hope she would be any different from the rest of her family. The only one who ever held out such baseless hopes was Piandao, but alas… I am here to prove him wrong"

"Pian-…?" Sokka repeated, his eyes wide "W-what do you mean?! You know him?!"

"That's none of your concern" Jeong Jeong snapped. Sokka felt the blood slow in his body.

"You're… you're White Lotus. All of you, you're…" he said, glancing about himself in panic. Why hadn't he thought of it? Why didn't he anticipate to this…?

"Clever, are we?" Jeong Jeong asked "Indeed, we are White Lotus. And someone led us to believe you would be a grand addition to our ranks… someone told us you would change her, turn her into the ruler the Fire Nation needs so that balance can be restored. But you have proven otherwise, haven't you?"

"I… what the hell? What are you talking about…?" Sokka asked, glaring at him.

"You were supposed to influence the Princess" Jeong Jeong said "So far, I have no reason to believe you have. If anything, I have every reason to believe the opposite happened instead: you have been corrupted by the already corrupt Fire Nation. Am I right?"

"What the…? No!" Sokka shouted.

"Then what about our comrades?!" one of the men shouted back.

"Yeah! You doomed them! You're the reason their mission failed!" shouted another voice.

"Their mission?!" Sokka yelled, shooting glares in the general direction of the voices "Their mission to take Princess Azula captive, to make her pay for everything wrong the Fire Nation has done?!"

"The mission was to release prisoners" Jeong Jeong snapped. Sokka glared at him.

"That's not what your 'comrades' said when I came across them" Sokka grunted.

"Fools they were. I did not trust that useless scheme, truth be told. Neither did any of the other Grand Lotuses present when…" Jeong Jeong said, but he shook his head. Sokka frowned "It's of no matter now. You sentenced them to imprisonment in the Fire Nation, did you not? Why did you do that, Sokka of the Water Tribe? Answer me!"

"I…! She said they were going to escape, I just shut down the door!" Sokka answered, somewhat nervously "I didn't want to harm them, but I had no idea who the hell they were! What was I supposed to do?! They were attacking the Palace, infiltrating it, and I didn't know anything about them! Maybe if Piandao had explained something I would have acted differently, but as it is…!"

"Excuses" said Jeong Jeong, huffing "So you don't regret it. You caused them this much grief, and you merely bask in your life of excesses, of luxuries as the Princess's pet…"

"I saved their lives!" Sokka shouted. A general mutter of disbelief and anger rang through the clearing. Sokka snarled "The Fire Lord told me he would do whatever I asked in return for my services, and I asked him to spare them! I asked him not to kill them, not to torture them! Your friends may be in prison, but they aren't harmed! They haven't been, they're…!"

"And how, pray tell, do you know Fire Lord Ozai kept true to his word?" Jeong Jeong asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly "Do you know at all, Sokka of the Water Tribe? Or is it you think the Fire Lord's lies are all that believable…?"

"Lies?" Sokka asked, his eyes wide "He… he said he owed me the safety of his daughter, of his nation. He may be an asshole in many ways, but… I don't think he was lying about this. He couldn't have…"

"You are rather gullible, aren't you?" Jeong Jeong asked, shaking his head "Do you honestly believe Ozai or his daughter can feel anything? That they care for anything but power? Fire Lord Ozai is a madman, just like his father before him, and his father before him! Every last one of them, driven insane with lust for power and glory they don't deserve! They soil fire with their very bending, with their very existence! That accursed lineage is…!"

"You're wrong! Maybe not about them, but you are about her!" Sokka shouted "She's not like her father, she couldn't be more different…!"

"She meant to torture my associates for information!" Jeong Jeong snapped.

"She told them that to make them run as soon as they had a chance! She planned the whole thing!" Sokka shouted. Jeong Jeong huffed softly.

"Well, I did suspect as much" he said. Sokka frowned in confusion "It didn't seem likely for her to let them escape so easily. When the bounty hunter showed up I grew more convinced of it…"

"She's not her father. She's miles from that!" Sokka shouted "You don't have the slightest idea of how much she's done for people, for Earth Kingdom people who…!"

"Earth Kingdom? Pretty sure they're the Fire Nation Colonies, aren't they?!" shouted one of the men. Jeong Jeong lifted his free hand to silence him.

"She's helped people" Sokka growled "She saved them from the Rough Rhinos! She even got back everything they had lost because she discovered the Dai Li's conspiracy…!"

"A conspiracy meant to overthrow an illegitimate Fire Nation government established in an Earth Kingdom city" said Jeong Jeong. Sokka clenched his teeth "The Rough Rhinos… was that by any chance her own initiative? Or did her father send her to do so in order to protect the Fire Nation's image before the foreigners…?"

"He… I don't know why he sent her, but still…!"

"All along you've been played like a fool" said Jeong Jeong, shaking his head "You put your trust in the wrong people, you help them, and you don't see the wrong in your actions. You have lost all perspective, haven't you? Did you forget how you suffered in the Water Tribe because of them? Because of the settlement that cost you your freedom? Because of your mother's death?!"

Sokka's eyes widened. Had Piandao shared everything about him with this man? He felt betrayed. Utterly betrayed. Where was Piandao, for starters? Why had he shared so many details about Sokka's life with a man such as Jeong Jeong…?

"Tell me, then, Sokka of the Water Tribe?" Jeong Jeong asked, his brow furrowed "To whom do you owe your allegiance?"

Sokka's eyes were wide still, as he stared at Jeong Jeong in utmost disbelief. Was this why he had chased them down for days, to discover where his loyalties lay? The idea made him laugh, which brought the men around him to scowl at him. Others talked amongst themselves, one even yelled at him to quit laughing. Jeong Jeong's fury only increased.

"You're… you're crazy" Sokka said at last. The offense hit Jeong Jeong hard, a flash of irritation crossed his face "You're absolutely crazy. You don't know half of what you're talking about and yet you think you've figured out the world…"

"Is that your answer?" Jeong Jeong asked. Sokka huffed.

"No. My answer is a lot longer, very long, in fact" he said "I just hope you have it in you to bear with it to the very end without shooting fire out of every end of your body in sheer frustration"

"You truly are a disgusting, vile thing…" Jeong Jeong said. Sokka laughed.

"Maybe I am. You know what? I have nothing to say for myself" he said "I don't have excuses. You think I'm going to say that I hate it, living the way I do now? I don't! Want to know what I do hate? That I can't help all the other slaves, that I can't give them a chance to live the way I do! You think I'm going to tell you I loathe the Princess with all my heart, that I can't wait to be rid of her? I don't! I will fight for her for the rest of my life if need be, because she is nothing of what you claim she is! You know nothing about her! You've never even met her!

"I've spent enough time with her to know who she really is, and who she has the potential to become! You want me to claim I influenced her greatly, that I transformed her?! I didn't! She has chosen for herself when to listen to me and when not to! She learns whatever she can from me, and I learn from her, too! She's made me the man I am today, and I'm not sorry for it, not one bit! I am beyond grateful to her! I am a lucky bastard, the luckiest there is, to be by her side as I am!

"But you know what else I find funny? In fact, what I find the funniest of all? What the blazes have you done for this world, Deserter? Tell me! What have you done so far, as a Fire Nation renegade? How many lives have you changed for the better?!"

Jeong Jeong frowned. His gaze shifted towards his followers, who were staring at him and Sokka with disbelief.

"Ah, them?" Sokka asked, smiling "You saved them and turned them into bandits, then? Into runaways? Into human bait that you send to fight pointless battles at Strongholds that you know you cannot win?! Is that it?!"

The words stung Jeong Jeong considerably now. Sokka snarled.

"These people follow you blindly, mindlessly, just as any Fire Nation commoner believes in Ozai as they'd believe in a god! And I say to both of you, you're fools! You're assholes! You're just as human as anyone else is, regardless of how great your bending may be! You're bastards who love to be set above everyone, who want to command, to lead others with your so-called wisdom!

"And yet you want to look down upon Princess Azula?! The Princess, who has traveled the Earth Kingdom as a commoner for days now, who has helped people throughout this entire continent?! The Princess, who was the first sponsor in the world who treated her gladiator as a human, as an equal?! When I first got injured in battle, she loaded me into her palanquin so I could be taken to a medical facility as quickly as possible! Whenever I fight deadly opponents I see her standing in the sponsors' balcony, worrying about my fate! She even stepped into a fight when my rival was trying to kill me, and she stopped him! And you dare say she's rotten, corrupt, as bad as her father?! You dare claim as much when you know nothing about her?!"

"You're blinded by your foolishness, boy" said Jeong Jeong, snarling "By your idealization of the Princess, by whatever pathetic feelings you have developed for her…"

"Say what you will, but your words would mean more if you actually changed lives for the better instead of making them join your religious cult" Sokka growled "Help the people of the Earth Kingdom, of the Water Tribes, of the Fire Nation, half as much as she has done it, and then I'll crawl to your feet and admit how wrong I was. But so far? All I see is that your cult project, this army you've created, has yet to do anything meaningful for anyone but yourself. Did Azula go after the Rhinos because her father commanded it? Yes, she did. And she helped countless people by succeeding in that endeavor. Did she destroy a conspiracy to overthrow the Fire Nation government in Ba Sing Se? She did, and she also took down the potential tyrant, Long Feng, who wanted to take the throne for his own sake and no one else's!

"So, do tell… why should I want to be loyal to anyone else? Why should I want to join the Order of the White Lotus when I don't have a clue of who the hell you are and why you're doing everything you're doing?! Why should I want to help any of you instead of carrying on as I have?! I've kept my people safe, I made Ozai empty that settlement in the South! I sabotaged his bomb-building process to destroy the Northern Water Tribe! The Princess even managed to convince him not to use his new aircrafts to attack it! What have you done for the North?! What have you done for the South?! Because I was in the South for twenty-one damn years, bearing with raids since I was a child, and I never saw a single White Lotus agent trying to help our people! Where were you all along?! What allegiance could I owe you bastards when you have never done anything to earn it?!"

Jeong Jeong stared down at Sokka after he finished yelling, his chest heaving. It took a moment for him to answer that question.

"The man who taught you what to do with that weapon?" Jeong Jeong said, pointing at Space Sword, lying on the ground "He vouched for you. He said you were our new hope. Our only hope, since Prince Zuko was only ever doomed to be blocked out by his father. He said he believed in the man you were. In the man he thought you could become"

Sokka's heaving chest continued to rise and fall as his angry glare fell upon Jeong Jeong. The firebender sighed.

"I see now that he was wrong. He hoped you would change the world, make it a better, rightful place through your connection with the Princess…" he said "And yet here you are, pretending to hold us accountable for not putting an end the Fire Nation's horrors…"

"You know, I wouldn't hold every member of your Order accountable for them… but actually, you and Piandao? You're more responsible for those horrors than Azula herself" he said, glaring at him "The two of you fought in that army, she didn't. And instead of fighting the Fire Nation in small but effective ways, instead of genuinely helping the people who needed you… you chose to go into hiding. Both of you have! He left without saying a damn thing to me! He left while leaving nothing but that damn lotus tile! How was I supposed to know what he wanted from me?! How was I supposed to read his mind, pray tell?! And he's just gone, as though he'd vanished in thin air… what has he done since? Did he help you build your army of renegades? To what end?! This world has seen so much war already… and you mean to bring more violence to it?! You mean to keep slaughtering your enemies while they slaughter your friends?! Who the hell wins, then?! Who can win when everyone's dead?!"

"The winner is whoever's not foolish enough to step down to fight in the first place" said Jeong Jeong. Sokka's eyes widened.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean…?" he said, almost feeling nauseous now. Jeong Jeong breathed deeply.

"Yet the person who won't fight certainly won't be me. And going by what you've said, it won't be you either" he said, glaring at Sokka "I suppose this is your answer, then. You reject the White Lotus"

"Like you'd even offered me a chance to join you people in the first place" Sokka grunted, struggling against the hold of his enemies "You came here to prove Piandao wrong about me, you said so yourself. Even if I had writhed and begged for mercy, you would have stomped on me. So why should I lower myself for you, when I never have had to do it for her?"

The words stung Jeong Jeong again. He understood well enough what the gladiator was saying, with his angry snarl and his wide blue eyes. The gladiator saw more of the Hundred Year War's Fire Lords in Jeong Jeong than he saw in Azula…

"A very dignified man you are" said Jeong Jeong "Never backing down, never surrendering… it's almost touching. You needn't fret, then. You won't have to beg for mercy to anyone, not tonight, not ever again…"

"You're…?" Sokka asked, fear rushing through his body.

"You are a waste, gladiator" said Jeong Jeong "And soon enough you will be as rotten as the Fire Nation's nobility if given a chance. You've been groomed far too well by her. It's time for you to pay the price of your disloyalty to your own people…"

"My disloyalty to…? Didn't you hear me?! I made Ozai withdraw his troops-…!"

"You are everything I am not" said Jeong Jeong "When shown the glories, the luxuries of the Fire Nation, you were swayed…"

"What?! That's not how it worked, I was trying to-…!"

"When you were offered everything you could have asked for, the temptation was too great to refuse" Jeong Jeong continued "You never tried to turn away. You never considered it. You were granted so many wonders, and you were too greedy to reject them. I know how it is, gladiator: I was part of the same world! And I saw it for what it is: hollow, empty, nothing but false glories and pretenses of fame that mean nothing! All of it at the expenses of a world that's being torn apart by the Fire Nation's leaders! And yet you fell into it, you were drawn like a moth into the fire, because your mind and resolve were weak! Because you could not know better, and even when you're told to face your shortcomings you refuse to! You only see and hear what you want to see and hear! You are a disgrace to your own, a disgrace to all of us who resist the Fire Nation's steel hold…!"

"Ha, well, maybe I wouldn't be if you and your fun people had decided to recruit me back when I was still in my Tribe!" Sokka exclaimed "Because you know what? I would have joined you. I would have joined you in a heartbeat back then! But I know better now. I know that you are a madman if you think the Fire Nation is inherently rotten! If you think so you must know nothing about their people, about their lives, about who they really are! They've been lied to, they believe in this war because they've been forced to! But once they're shown the world for what it is…!"

"They will change their ways? Don't make me laugh!"

"Ah, but it happened to you, didn't it?" Sokka said, raising his eyebrows. Jeong Jeong froze "Why do you think the others would be any different? You think you're the only one allowed to redeem himself? After everything you did during the war, too? If that's how it is, you're not only a madman, but you're an arrogant one, too…"

"And you're an insolent oaf" Jeong Jeong snapped "An insolent, foolish brat who understands nothing of what he's talking about…!"

"Oh, now, that was what I said about you. Repeating each other's arguments now, are we?" Sokka asked, glaring at Jeong Jeong defiantly.

The one down on his knees, restrained and with a knife threatening to slit his throat was Sokka… but why did Jeong Jeong feel cornered? How? He clenched his fists and shook his head. He would not let the brat change his mind. He had already proven he was too lost to be saved. He had resolved to put an end to Piandao's infamous plan tonight, and that was what he planned on doing.

"I see, then. You truly are beyond saving" he said. Sokka snorted.

"For you to save, sure" said Sokka "But there's no need to worry: Azula already saved me long ago"

Jeong Jeong's rage only increased as he stepped away from Sokka, and towards the boat in the river. With a gesture, his men began to scatter. Sokka frowned, watching them leave.

"If that's how it is, I only wonder how will she save you now" Jeong Jeong responded from afar, his glare on Sokka even as he climbed on his boat. A few of the men climbed with him "Farewell, Sokka of the Water Tribe"

The only people left by then were the ones restraining Sokka, and the one controlling Nyla. She was struggling, trying to shake off her rider, it seemed to Sokka, but it was hard to tell with such an inherently wild animal.

But he couldn't continue trying to study her behavior once he received a very hard punch to the stomach. It made him topple over while gasping for breath. A hand grabbed a fistful of his hair, lifting his head just enough to draw a deep cut across his left cheek with a sharp knife. Sokka collapsed again after that, and he heard the men scramble away as he struggled in his plight for air.

Why had they left him alive? They had left, all of them, without doing any harm other than cutting him that way… Sokka lifted his gaze, finding the boat was gone. The men who had been holding him were gone too… and so was the one that had been riding Nyla.

Nyla was snarling, though, as though she had sensed something she needed to chase down. Sokka stared at her in confusion as he held himself up in all fours.

"Hey, easy now, we'll… we'll find June, we just have to…" he started, but the shirshu suddenly roared at him, very threateningly. Only then did he understand what she had sensed:

His blood.

The shirshu was coming for him. That was the fate Jeong Jeong had gifted him with.

"Oh, no… I'm not in the mood for this…" he said, grimacing and reaching for his club.

He found the handle just as Nyla turned towards him. Droplets of saliva slipped down her snarling jaws, through the thick rows of teeth.

The beast had always been menacing, but never like this. Sokka had held a natural fear of her, but he was downright terrified right now. She was going to attack him. She wanted to kill him.

Nyla roared again and rushed towards him. Sokka gritted his teeth, rushing forth too with whatever strength he had left, as good as dragging his club behind him.

The beast approached, and he knew he only had one shot, so he put all his power behind the swing.

The thickest end of his club struck the shirshu's chin from below.

And large, black claws left deep gashes across human flesh.


	126. Chapter 126

She needed to move.

She needed to move.

She couldn't linger where was, lying on the ground, waiting for the effects of the toxins to recede while madness took place too far from her eyes to see. She groaned, almost shrieked in blind rage, but she couldn't seem to shift in any way: only her face, her head, still had some mobility to them. Everything else was paralyzed, completely rigid, and her body felt as solid, heavy and unyielding as a rock deeply encased in the ground.

She could hear their voices, though… she could hear echoes, rumors, through the trees. She knew they were still there. He was down there with them: she hadn't heard any piercing screams in Sokka's voice, cutting across the night after being harmed somehow by the enemy's forces, so she wanted to hope, to think, that they hadn't hurt him… but what if they were trying to drag him away? What if the one who was to become a captive this time was him?

The idea made her stomach twist so painfully her mind started to spin. She couldn't fathom it: Sokka couldn't be taken from her side. They belonged together, they would stay together forever… wouldn't they? Wasn't that what they had promised each other just that very same day, at the top of that volcano?

Rage, despair and anxiety built up and boiled within her… and somehow it seemed those emotions were what gave some strength to the fingertips of her left hand. She cried out as tingling feelings started to surge through her limb: the toxins were losing their power over her arm. She knew it was a good sign. If her arm was waking, the rest of her body would follow. She only hoped it wouldn't be too late to help Sokka by then…

The voices in the forest seemed to dwindle. She flinched, the tingling shifting from uncomfortable to painful now, even though she was able to move her arm ever so slightly now…

"P-Princess…" she heard Rui Shi call her, several feet away from where she lay. Unlike her, he had fallen face-up, and he was watching her move through the corner of his eyes "Princess…"

She didn't answer him, only spared him a quick glance to make sure he wasn't injured in any worse ways than the obvious one. His body looked unharmed, no blood anywhere. His clothes were somewhat torn, but other than that, it seemed the paralysis was the only problem he had. She could come back to him once she had helped Sokka…

So, with all the pain rushing up and down her arm, Azula stretched out her hand and dragged herself over the road with difficulty. Her arm still hurt, the rest of her body was starting to feel the unpleasant worming now too, but she couldn't stop. She needed to get to him. He needed her. She had to reach him… she had to protect him. It didn't matter the cost, she had to do it…

She screamed again as the worming in her body stabbed at her as small, multiple knives would. Tears built up on her eyes but she held them back, snarling and ushering herself to carry on. Her fingertips dug into dirt, small rocks caught between the nails and the flesh, and she cringed at this new source of pain, but she carried on despite it all. The small stones on the road were another problematic obstacle, but she had to drag herself over them. They might scratch her skin and clothes, but she needed to bear with them. She had no other choice.

By the time, she reached the slope she could already move her knees to an extent. But just as she was using them to push herself harder, faster, she heard that deafening, savage roar she had heard just moments earlier.

Nyla.

"No…" she said, her eyes wide "No, Sokka…!"

She hadn't needed the last bit of motivation the roar had given her, for she had been determined to throw herself down that slope before hearing it. Horror pooled in her stomach too, but if those toxins hadn't paralyzed her for long, neither would the fear. This somehow only encouraged her to push herself harder yet.

She rolled down the slope painfully, over loose roots, rocks, even upright trees and vegetation. She took more blows than she expected, as she crashed against all the obstacles in her path, until at last she reached horizontal grounds again.

She took a moment to figure out her bearings, faint and confused as she was. She pushed herself up with some difficulty, her right arm still numb…

And that was when she saw them.

Nyla was groaning in pain, lying to the side, her long tongue out of her mouth, her only movement was that of her breathing. She was so large it was hard to notice Sokka at first, for her shape seemed to blend into his, and the moonlight mostly reflected off her body.

It was that very moonlight what betrayed that the massive talons on her front right paw were covered in a dark substance that could only be blood.

Blood.

Azula felt her entire body growing cold as she finally took in his limp figure, lying not too far from where Nyla was. He was coughing, shaking, his body shuddering with each desperate breath he took. There was something pooling beneath him, and it only grew larger as Azula watched him in chagrin.

Blood.

It was his blood.

Nyla's claws had torn through his abdomen, and he was bleeding to death.

Azula shuddered and shook her head, dragging herself with difficulty towards him. She didn't register that her lips were moving on their own accord, that she was whispering a word with a thread of a voice:

"No… no, no… no…" she gasped, as she dragged herself closer to him, her right arm still numb.

Sokka coughed and turned his head ever so slightly. His blue eyes, as beautiful as they always had been, were unfocused, and it was clear he could barely see her. Azula stopped right next to him, breathing heavily as tears started to pour down her cheeks.

"No… no, Sokka, what…?" she said, her knees drenched now with his blood. He coughed again and, to her chagrin, he smiled.

"Eh… y-you're okay…" he said, with the weakest voice she had ever heard from him.

Her breath seemed to fail her, even though she was inhaling lots of air desperately, hyperventilating at the sight of him in such dreadful shape.

"Sokka, no, please…" she said, her hands going to his torn abdomen shakily, the sight of his bleeding injuries sending her into a panicked frenzy "No, no, why…?! Why did this…?!"

"J-Jeong Jeong…" Sokka grunted, coughing after finishing his name "B-bastard, he… he was after me…"

"I know, I… I realized it, but it was too late, and I…" Azula gasped, looking at his face now. Blood trickled down his cheek too. He groaned "What am I…? What do I do? Sokka…"

"I… I don't know, heh… is it as bad as it feels? Because… it really doesn't feel like anything, heh…" he said, with a small cough again "Don't feel m'legs…"

"Sokka, you… you should stop talking. You have to save your strength, you have to…!"

She dared touch the deep gashes, but he flinched. She jerked her hands away immediately, unwilling to cause him further harm.

"I need… I need to stop the bleeding, Sokka…" she said. He grimaced.

"Not sure… how to do that" he said "Didn't she… split me in half?"

"No, no, you're…! You're going to be fine" Azula started saying, mindlessly. She didn't know if he would be, but she needed him to be. She just needed him to be "You've… you've faced worse odds, haven't you? I mean…"

"Have… have I?" Sokka asked, with a weak but disbelieving smile "I… I can't remember anything this bad…"

"Y-you'll get through this, you…" she said, inching closer to him.

Her hand touched his cheek, but she jerked it away when she realized she was spreading more blood over his face. Enough of it was already leaking down his left cheek. Sokka smiled, though, and his eyes finally seemed to find her.

"Hey… you're… you're beautiful…" he whispered. Azula gritted her teeth.

"Beautiful, really?" she asked "You're… you're seeing things, because right now I must look…"

"Beautiful" Sokka said, swallowing hard though his throat was dry "Beautiful… but sad. You… you know, I always hate it when you cry…"

"Ah, s-so what, am I not supposed to?!" Azula asked, looking at him in disbelief "Sokka, you're…!"

She could not utter the last word, and more tears flooded her eyes. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Sokka wasn't dying. He wasn't dying, he wasn't…

But the blood leaking through those cuts spoke loud enough for itself. The injuries said everything that needed to be said about his condition, and although Sokka couldn't see them, couldn't feel them, he knew what the numbing of his body meant. He knew what Azula's tears meant, too. He knew it just as well as she did.

Azula shook her head, refusing to believe it even as she saw it, as she tried to close the gashes with her trembling hands. Sokka cringed again but she didn't pull away this time. She couldn't let him die… she couldn't. She had been talking about a future with him just hours ago, on that blasted volcano. She had heard him say one night ago that she would always have his love… she couldn't let him die. She couldn't. What about the three children they were supposed to have? What about their wedding? What about every hope she had about growing old by his side, of living with him for the rest of her life…?

She couldn't live on without him. There was no doubt about it. She couldn't let him die here, not tonight. But how was she supposed to avoid it? How was she supposed to stop it…?

"It's… a clear night…" Sokka said, biting his lip "Kinda… cold though… really cold"

"It's… it's okay. I can…" Azula said, swallowing hard and lifting one of her hands. Despite her best efforts, she was achieving nothing by trying to force his wounds to close.

A small, shaky plum of blue fire danced on her hand. Sokka huffed in mild relief, maybe by the warmth, maybe by the light. At least he could still perceive them. But for how long would he? When would he lose his consciousness to the point of failing to sense warmth, or feel her right there next to him, crying violently as she stared at his limp form in panic?

"Thanks… that's… that's nice" he said, smiling "I… I did always like your blue fire…"

"Y-you did. You do, right…?" Azula said. Sokka chuckled.

"It's… the best fire there is…" he whispered "Always was so beautiful…"

"Sokka…" Azula gasped, her lips trembling as she spoke: the fire flickered under the intensity of her tears, weakened by her lack of control. She was losing him. She was losing him…

"H-hey…" he said, swallowing dryly again "I… I love you. You know that, right?"

"Of course I do. Of course I…" she said, her lower lip trembling harder now "I love you too, Sokka. I… I love you. I…"

"Y-you do…?" he said, smiling a little "G-good… then… marry me?"

Azula shook with the strongest sob so far. Sokka was smiling sadly, his eyes closed now. What did he ask that damn question for? Why, when he knew…?

He knew he was dying. He just wanted to hear her say yes once, at least once, before he could never hear her voice again.

The realization was as painful as it was persuasive. There was only one answer she could utter right now:

"Yes" she sobbed, her voice cracking as his often did when he was shaken up "I… I'll marry you. I'll marry you a million times over, a million times again! I…!"

"You… you will?" Sokka asked, his smile growing as genuine as it could under the circumstances "You… you said yes. You said… heh. T-then we… we have to get married in the Water Tribe, okay? M-my dad, he… he'll want to see it, I'm sure, and…"

"Yes. We can do that, of course" said Azula, smiling through her tears despite it all "We can… we can do whatever you want, cut our hands open, what your people do…"

"T-that's nice… then… we'll have three kids?" Sokka asked.

"I'll give you a thousand… if you want them" she said, sniffing. She could barely see him through the film thick of tears on her eyes right now "I'll give you… every single one you want…"

"And… what about a pet?" he said "Xin Long's not a pet, says you, so… w-we need something like a… a tiger-seal, right?"

"Huh? D-didn't one of those… eat your pants or something?" Azula asked, with a soft, nervous laugh. Sokka chuckled softly, the sound a mere puff in his voice.

"That… that will make the kids laugh, don't you think?"

She laughed again, and the light around them shifted in color.

The fire, weak as it had been, grew stronger when fueled by a very different emotion… an emotion that made it glow gold. An emotion that made it sparkle powerfully.

One of those sparks jumped out of her hand, falling on his abdomen. And despite he had been lying there with eyes closed, Sokka suddenly gasped for breath, his eyes wide. Azula jumped.

"I'm sorry!" she said, the fire turning blue again "I-I'm sorry, Sokka, you…!"

She looked at the spot where the spark had fallen. It was on the lightest of the gashes… and the skin it had landed between somehow seemed to shift: it wasn't fully mended, but it had burned him just enough to slow some of the blood's leaking. Azula's eyes widened with the power of the obvious, only idea she'd had so far.

"S-Sokka…" she said, her lips still trembling as she looked at him with uncertainty "Sokka, please, j-just…"

"W-what…?" he asked, swallowing again.

"Stay… stay put" she said, gritting her teeth "This will hurt. B-but… I have to try"

"T-try…?" Sokka asked "Azula…"

"I'm sorry" she said, closing her eyes tightly "I… I can't let you die, n-not like this, n-not now. We… we have so much to do. Sokka…"

"You're… you're amazing, Azula. You can… you can still do all those things even if I… if I'm not there…" Sokka muttered, clenching his teeth.

"Maybe…" she said, looking at him regretfully "But I won't want to"

"Az-…" he gasped, as she breathed deeply to steel herself.

"I love you" she said "I love you so much, damn it all, I…"

She was still crying as the flame in her hand shifted from blue to gold. Determination and despair gleamed in equal parts in her eyes…

And she pressed the fire to his skin.

Sokka screamed.

Azula didn't stop, though, even if her heart begged her not to put him through further pain. He probably couldn't handle the pain, he would still be too weak no matter what she did, he had lost too much blood, and the fire might fail to cauterize those wounds properly… but she couldn't let him die without fighting back at all. She'd never forgive herself if she failed… but she'd never forgive herself if she didn't do anything, either.

So she held her ground, burning his wounds closed through her fire, even as Sokka writhed violently beneath her. He was too weak to pull away, but not weak enough not to feel anything, despite what he had said before. His body was no doubt overloaded with the worst possible sensations… but he was unable to stop it. The fire, the bleeding, the agony was constant either way and he couldn't do anything about it other than wait for Azula to stop…

And she did, at last.

She withdrew her hands, and to her disbelief, she had succeeded at closing every gash. His skin was red and hot where she had touched him with the gold flames, but the bleeding had ceased… at least, on the outside. But Azula was still terrified regarding what could be happening within his body…

She looked at him fearfully, and Sokka breathed heavily, as though he had just surfaced in deep waters to fill his lungs with clear air once more. He opened his eyes, but his gaze resembled Toph's: it was lost, as though he couldn't discern any shapes whatsoever…

"Sokka, I'm here, I… I closed the wounds "Azula said, moving closer to him and holding his face between her bloody hands "Sokka… please…"

"T-that hurt…" he said, cringing. She allowed a couple more tears to fall from her eyes, dropping on his face.

"I know, but… but the alternative was worse, I think. I hope. I… I don't know anything anymore, Sokka, I…" she said, shaking with every sob.

What now? What was she supposed to do? Could she move him? She had to. She needed help. For once in her life, she had no choice, no alternatives, but to admit that she needed help. She couldn't handle this by herself.

"S-Sokka, I…" she repeated, swallowing hard and steeling herself to speak clearly… but fortunately, she didn't need to make more efforts to find help, for it came to her willingly.

"Princess! Princess!"

Rui Shi's paralysis was over. She turned, desperate, wiping her eyes with her forearm hastily to see him approach. She didn't miss the way the concern in his face shifted into utter horror as well as he looked at the blood all over her hands and clothes, and at Sokka lying down before her, breathing with difficulty.

"H-help… help me, Rui Shi…" she said, the fear in her voice and eyes clear for him to see too.

He shook his head to snap himself out of his shock before kneeling next to her. The burns on Sokka's stomach, along with the charred, torn clothes were confusing, but they somewhat explained wordlessly where all the blood had come from…

"Sokka, we're going to lift you now" Rui Shi said. Sokka grimaced "We need to get you somewhere safe. Please, just… hold on, alright?"

"I… I'll try…" he gasped, and he cringed when Rui Shi lifted his shoulders a little.

"I'll need you to lift his legs, Princess" said Rui Shi, looking at her imploringly "I found a less complicated path that led me here, it's only a little further away, we can get back to the road and… and the village can't be far. We'll…"

"W-we'll get the town doctor. We need to, he needs…" Azula said, shaking even as she obeyed Rui Shi. Rui Shi nodded.

"We'll do that when we get there" he agreed, and together they lifted Sokka with some difficulty.

The gladiator gasped and groaned: the burns on his stomach grew more painful by the minute. He was no longer losing blood, but his body finally seemed to be reacting again to the intense pain. Every step Azula and Rui Shi took with him in their arms was sheer agony for him: he didn't want them to move anymore. He wanted to stay put, because each movement just made the pain explode in wild bursts again…

"You'll be fine, Sokka, you… j-just wait, you'll…" Azula said, gritting her teeth as they climbed up to the road again. Her footing almost receded, but she caught herself.

"It hurts…" he said, before coughing again, his face contorted with agony.

"You'll make it, you… you have to. You're always saying you're not that easy to kill, right? T-that… that we won't get rid of you that easily?" Azula asked. Sokka coughed and groaned "Just stay with us, please…"

Her pleading made Rui Shi grimace. He had never heard her speak this way, never seen her as emotionally drained and destroyed, despite he had found her once, crying, because of the very same man they were carrying away now… he made a mental note to scold Sokka once he was better: he couldn't keep making the Princess cry this way, especially not now that they were involved.

The walk to the village seemed to take an eternity, with Sokka gasping and cringing all the time. But in due time, lights were in sight. Azula almost cried out in relief, but instead of wasting her breath that way, she used it to shout for a better cause:

"HELP! HELP!"

Rui Shi joined in with her soon, and the few people still awake in the village glanced out their windows to find out what the ruckus was. Even the ones who were going to bed had jolted out of their mattresses, confused by the uncharacteristic shouting in their usually peaceful village.

"We need a doctor!" Rui Shi shouted "A physician?! Anyone!"

It wasn't long before a middle-aged woman gave them the directions them towards a small but cozy house. The physician had been roused by their shouts too, and Azula and Rui Shi entered the house as soon as he opened the door.

"What…? What is this?" the man asked. He was a few years older than the woman who had directed them to him. His hair was already whitening.

"He was attacked" Azula explained, breathing heavily and trembling as she spoke "H-he lost blood, a lot of it, he was… i-it was a beast, a shirshu, it… it had these claws, I cauterized the wounds with fire b-but I don't know if… I-I don't know if that's enough, I…"

"It's alright, young lady. We'll take care of him now" said the doctor, frowning as his wife showed up too at the house's staircase, wearing her sleeping clothes.

The doctor asked Azula and Rui Shi to carry Sokka into an available room in his house, but after that he ordered them to leave him with Sokka and with his wife, who seemed to be a healer in her own right. Azula was unwilling to do so, clasping Sokka's hand somewhat desperately before Rui Shi led her away.

"W-what's he going to…? What's going to happen? I… I should be there, I…" she said, as Rui Shi surrounded her shoulders with an arm and guided her to the small house's sitting room.

"You did your best. You… you probably saved his life, so now you can only wait patiently for them to do their part" said Rui Shi, releasing her and hoping she might take a seat in the room's couch, but the idea didn't seem to even cross her mind as she continued to stand tensely in front of him "He'll… he'll make it. I'm sure he will. He has to…"

"H-he does, doesn't he?" Azula said, with a nervous, almost hysterical smile "H-he… he promised things and… and he has to make them happen, right? He… he can't just…"

She felt the tears building up again, and she instinctively raised a hand to wipe her eyes… a hand covered in Sokka's blood.

She found herself staring at her hands in disbelief, the tears streaming freely down her face as she lost whatever strength she'd had left. Rui Shi grimaced but approached her, surrounding her in his arms and allowing her to cry on his chest as she stood there, in a deeper shock than she could process as she was. She couldn't stop staring at her hands, staring at the blood, the image of his body bleeding out deeply engraved into her very soul.

"H-he… he was dying. He was…" she gasped, through the sobs "I can't… I can't let him, he… h-he's supposed to… him and me, we're supposed to…"

"Yeah…" said Rui Shi, gritting his teeth and holding her close "Yes, you are. The two of you, you're… you're going to be together. And you'll keep pissing me off, for sure. Y-you'll kiss in front of me, behind me, however you want, I know it. You'll… you'll never be apart. Not again. Don't worry…"

"I… I almost lost him…" she cried, clutching at Rui Shi's clothes now "R-Rui Shi, I… I almost…"

Rui Shi wanted to encourage her, remind her that she had a life outside of him, responsibilities, a future and a destiny to achieve, that she was stronger than anyone he knew and that she could get through this no matter what… but he realized, naturally, that those weren't the words she needed to hear now. She was shaken, she was distraught… she was broken. The sight of the one man she had given her heart to, bleeding to his apparent death, had hurt her in ways he could hardly fathom. All he could do was hold her, feeling her tears drenching his shirt, and pray to every spirit and god that might exist for Sokka's recovery. Rui Shi didn't want to lose a friend, but most importantly, he didn't want the Princess to lose the love of her life.

So he held her, letting her release her grief even if he knew his support wouldn't suffice. This matter was going to haunt the Princess for a long time, regardless of whether Sokka lived or died.

He managed to convince her to sit down after around ten minutes of crying. She did as she was told, but she couldn't stop shaking. Rui Shi's arm was still around her shoulders, and whenever she stopped crying for brief moments she took no time to break down again. Rui Shi could barely fathom looking at her, and soon enough he had the suspicion that the sight of her blood-drenched hands was what kept triggering her crying bouts.

"Princess… come" he resolved, at last "Come, we have to… we have to clean you up"

He led her outside, where they found a water pump. He took care to wash her hands in the middle of the night, and the coldness of the liquid made her trembling grow more intense. Red faded away from her hands and forearms, though it continued to stain her clothes. Hopefully the doctor, or anyone else in town, would be able to offer a change of clothes for the Princess…

Rui Shi's initiative helped to keep Azula's crying to a minimum, but even though he sank in his chair again, feeling himself defeated by exhaustion after a while, the same couldn't be said for her. Her heart was racing and she couldn't stop breathing agitatedly. Her eyes were wide, and she didn't even dare close them. Her body probably was sending her signs, to let her know she needed to rest, but she didn't listen. She couldn't feel anything but despair, her mind in disarray as all the worst ideas crossed her mind, filling her with worries and fears she didn't know how to fight against.

Rui Shi wasn't the only one who could see Azula's grief quite clearly: Xin Long felt it more closely, far more intimately, than the guard could. And as the battle and chaos in the Stronghold had stopped since at least half a day earlier, the dragon had naturally turned to see what was happening with his rider.

It took Azula's entire willpower to tell Xin Long not to come find them yet, and to wait for her to give him a sign. She didn't think Jeong Jeong would still be watching, but she couldn't be sure. She couldn't be sure of anything. If his men followed her dragon to this village, and discovered that Sokka was still fighting for his life…

She couldn't fathom it. She couldn't let it happen. Even if it was a risk to stay here for too long as well, it was worse to guide Jeong Jeong right back to their position. So although Xin Long was clearly worried, and wanted to help, she had to ask him to wait. She would have to call him when the time was right.

It was almost two in the morning when the doctor and his wife returned. Azula jumped out of her seat, her racing heart seemingly speeding up further as they approached her. Rui Shi woke with a start and stood up as well, looking at Azula worriedly.

"Is he…?" she asked, swallowing hard "Please, did you…?"

"Truth is… there wasn't a lot for us to do" said the doctor. Azula's heart sank "We sought to treat the burns on his abdomen, but there's no immediate cure for that…"

"B-but he was… the cuts, they were deep, were they…? D-did he bleed internally or anything like that? Was the cauterization done right…?"

"Actually… well, there were no signs of internal bleeding" said the doctor. Azula's wide eyes were filled with relief upon hearing it "And cauterization, well… it's a risky gamble, normally. But truth is, however you did it… it even seems to have mended his tissues to a degree, and not just blended the cuts together. I don't understand how that happened, but there wasn't much we could do other than tend superficially to his burns, and to the cut on his face"

"He's very, very weak though" said the doctor's wife, looking at Azula with concern "How much blood did he lose? Because…"

"A lot" Azula said, through gritted teeth "B-but… he's going to make it, right? H-he's going to…"

"I would hope so" said the doctor "We did everything we could, all of us. He needs to rest now, though. He's already fallen asleep, so we shouldn't bother him in the meantime…"

"C-can I…?" Azula said "I just… I-I won't wake him, I just…"

"You'd like to see him" said the wife, smiling at her "Well… that would be fine, I'm sure. Right?"

"Right" said the doctor, sighing "I just… need a bit of rest now, too. Call me if he wakes up, or if you notice anything's not right, okay?"

Azula nodded and followed the doctor's wife through the corridor. She allowed her into the same room as earlier. The room was mostly occupied by the bed, and tall shelves furnished with an assortment of medical goods, but Azula didn't take in the rest of the scenery, for her eyes went straight to Sokka's shape as he lay on a bed, his eyes closed, his mouth slightly open. The clothes of the top of his body had been discarded, but his abdomen was covered by bandages. The cut across his cheek had been treated as well, with a thick bandage of its own.

Azula trembled as she approached, making her way to his bedside and touching his face with her fingertips. She had seen him unconscious and wounded before, a very long time ago, and she had sat beside him as well, waiting for him to wake up… she had been shaken up back then and she had barely known him. She had cried, too, and at the time she hadn't understood why. Years had passed, but seeing him unconscious had only become a stronger torment than it already was. She couldn't stand the sight of him like this, his chest hardly rising as he breathed, as though he were almost…

"Here…" said the doctor's wife, offering Azula a chair. The Princess looked at her gratefully once she processed the gesture "I'll find you clean clothes, if you'd like…"

"Thanks. I'll… I'll take you up on that" Azula said, swallowing hard as she sat beside Sokka.

She stretched a nervous hand over his body, setting it down on the left side of his chest.

The soft thumping under his skin soothed her concerns slightly: his heart was still beating. He was still drawing breath. He was weak, but he was still alive…

She breathed out slowly in relief, her racing heart finally slowing a little now that she knew what his state was. Her hostess left a set of clothes for Azula on another chair, and left without saying much else. Azula merely stayed where she was, her hand on Sokka's chest to feel his heart beating.

The night went by, and morning came. The doctor and his wife were resting, as was Rui Shi, but Azula remained vigilant, sitting by Sokka's bedside, her head aching horribly, but she resisted the pain all the same. She needed to stay with him, and she couldn't let herself lose consciousness for a second…

After dawn had broken, a hand dropped on her shoulder. Azula flinched.

"Princess…" Rui Shi said, but he gritted his teeth and regretted his choice of word right away. Maybe they should keep their titles and names secret again, especially when Azula was behaving this way around Sokka.

"I know. I… I should rest, but I…" she said, swallowing hard.

"You should, but you should probably change out of those clothes, too" he said, moving towards the available change of clothes to hand them to Azula "I'll stay here with him until you come back. I promise"

Azula sighed and nodded, muttering a small thank you. Rui Shi watched her leave, shaken up by how slow her movements were, how apprehensive she seemed.

She wasn't gone for long, but for her it was too long indeed. She rushed back to the room almost in a frenzy, as though expecting Sokka to be awake just when she had stepped out, but it hadn't happened. He still lay dormant, breathing weakly, with Rui Shi beside him.

"No changes" said Rui Shi. Azula sighed and nodded, returning to her seat "But I have to say, I… I don't know if it's wise, it probably isn't, but… the beast, the shirshu, was it… dead?"

"I don't think so" said Azula, swallowing hard "I think I saw she was breathing, but… why did she do it? How…?"

"I don't believe she did it as willingly as you might fear" said Rui Shi, biting his lip "But I just… I thought I'd go find her so she can help me find her owner, in turn. I know you probably don't care much for the bounty hunter either, but…"

Azula's head turned towards him slowly, and she looked at him with uncertainty. Rui Shi was apprehensive at the confusing look on her face.

"I have no idea where she is, or what they might have done to her…" she said, with a thin voice "H-hopefully they didn't…"

"Kill her?" Rui Shi finished "It's what worries me, too. I thought I'd find her by using the shirshu, though. The saddle must have something of June's on it, I think. It could help me locate her, if the shirshu is willing…"

"Find a slab of meat or something" said Azula "It's how June kept her in check, looks like. Be careful, Rui Shi. T-that shirshu is capable of… of great harm without her rider"

"If she's in bad hands, I'm sure" said Rui Shi, sighing "I think the people here are trustworthy, but…"

"They must be. Jeong Jeong must think Sokka's dead after leaving him alone with a raging shirshu. His lot probably won't keep chasing us to make sure that he is" she whispered "These people don't look to be his associates in any way, so… so we should be fine"

"I won't take long, I hope" said Rui Shi, looking at her apologetically "Get some rest in the meantime, please. You'll need it"

"I… I'll try" Azula said, shrugging.

Rui Shi patted her back and made to leave. One last glance over his shoulder revealed that the Princess had reached out to clasp Sokka's hand with hers, her fingers stroking his lovingly, as though hoping for an instinctive response from him, at least. None came.

The Captain of Azula's Guards gritted his teeth and left the room, unable to watch more. He never enjoyed the displays of affection between his charge and her lover, of course he didn't… but this wasn't uncomfortable: it was painful. He had never seen Azula as broken and devastated as she was now.

He told the doctor and his wife that he would be leaving shortly, just as they were making their way to check on Sokka. They told him not to worry, to come back safely, and Rui Shi took off right away, stopping by a marketplace first to buy some meat as Azula had recommended.

Rui Shi stop by the wreckage of their old carriage to pick up Sokka's weapons, along with the luggage that hadn't been burned or broken in the middle of last night's violent scuffle. It seemed not many other travelers had been through this path once it was dark, as was natural, so nothing important had been stolen, from what Rui Shi could see.

After he was done gathering everything, he headed down to the clearing to find the wounded shirshu. He found Nyla half-awake, still lying down not far from where they had found Sokka, and she seemed to be in pain. He picked up Sokka's sword and club here, as he wondered what would be the appropriate way to tend to the beast's wounds. He hoped that, if June was safe and sound, she would know how to do it. But until they found her, he'd have to cross his fingers and hope Nyla would cooperate for the better.

Strangely, she seemed too defeated to react aggressively at him when he approached her. He made his way to her saddle as silently as possible, looking through it with uncertainty and hoping to find something that was undoubtedly June's… He frowned as he poked one of the saddle's pockets, finding a pair of worn fingerless leather gloves, probably a spare set the bounty hunter kept around in case she needed them. He pulled them out and made his way to Nyla's snout, and he waved the glove in front of her nose.

Nyla groaned harder now, the scent of her owner making her react immediately. Despite the pain in her jaw, Nyla forced herself to stand up with difficulty, and Rui Shi thanked her weakly before climbing on her saddle, bringing all the luggage and weapons with him. They made their way into the forest somewhat slowly, but Nyla was still moving with all the strength she had left, hoping to find her owner safe and sound somewhere in the depths of the Earth Kingdom forests.

* * *

The doctor's name was Wang, his wife was Mei Liang. They had offered her some food, dry muffins and some cheese, and she had scarcely touched them. She had also been told that there were other free beds in other rooms, in case she wanted to sleep, but she still didn't move from his bedside.

Even so, exhaustion defeated her despite she was doing her very best to stand against it. By midmorning, she had dropped her head on an empty space of the mattress, her hand still holding his.

Tired as she was, though, she was still alert. His hand twitched against hers and she heard a soft groan: she jumped immediately, sitting up to look at him. Sokka's brow was slightly furrowed, and his breathing was uneven. His mouth had opened, as he was trying to say something…

"A… Azula…?" he whispered. She gritted her teeth: he had yet to open his eyes, but had he recognized the touch of her hand?

"Sokka, I'm here, I…!" she exclaimed, inching closer. To her surprise, his breathing seemed to grow more even.

"Y-you're… y-you're alright…?" he asked. She had to hold back the urge to cry again as he asked her such a question.

"I am, but you're not" she said, standing up and looking at him with uncertainty "J-just… stay awake, okay? I'll be back in a moment, with the doctor, I promise…"

"Uh-huh… I'm… k-kinda thirsty…" he said. She nodded.

"We'll do something about it. I'll be right back" she said again, kissing his fingers softly. Sokka sighed.

"Okay…" he said, as she reluctantly let go of his hand and rushed to find the doctor.

Wang and Mei Liang came quickly to have a look at Sokka, and they asked him many questions. The physician tested him a little, hoping to find out if Sokka was in any shape to drink or eat anything. As he couldn't see any signs of internal bleeding, he decided to take his chances and had him drink some water. Not long after he was done ingesting all of it, Sokka fell asleep again. Azula sighed.

"He's very weak" Mei Liang said "He needs to rest to regain his energies, but it will be a long recovery regardless…"

"As long as he makes it, I don't care how long it takes" Azula said, sighing. Wang patted her back gently.

"We will make lunch soon. Your other companion seems to be out for the day, though. Should we wait for him?"

"I don't think he'll be back yet" said Azula, shaking her head "You'll do best to eat now, yes"

"Very well, then. We will bring some more food for you" said Mei Liang, knowing Azula was unlikely to touch the food this time around, too. Still, Azula nodded gratefully.

"I appreciate it" she said. She took her seat next to Sokka, her hand on his slowly beating heart again.

She scarcely ate any of the lunch she was offered, her stomach seemed too tight and tense to accept any food at the time. She rested with her head on the mattress again, waiting as patiently as she could until he reacted.

It happened a lot sooner this time, as she felt a hand caressing her cheek. She almost jumped this time too, but she managed to keep herself in check, merely looking at him nervously.

His eyes were open this time, and he was smiling a little. The sight of him, conscious and smiling, brought desperation tears to her eyes.

"Sokka, you're…" she said. His grin grew a little crooked.

"Banged up pretty badly, aren't I…?" he asked, grimacing as he shifted slightly on the mattress "How're you?"

"Why do you keep asking that when you're the one who…?" she asked, looking at him in disbelief. He chuckled softly, his face contorted with pain.

"Just… I hope you have a better answer than I do" he said "Damn, I think I can't laugh as it is…"

"You shouldn't" Azula agreed "I'll get the physician, he should…"

"H-hey… hey" he said, reaching out somewhat clumsily for her hand.

"What?" she asked, taking it between hers.

"Thanks" he whispered. The tears did slip from her eyes now as she inched closer, pressing her face gently to his.

"Just… feel better. Recover" she whispered, moving a hand to his cheek "That's all I care about right now, okay…?"

"Hmm-hm" Sokka said, nodding weakly "I'll try…"

"I need to get the doctor now, alright?" she said. Sokka smiled weakly "Maybe you can have more water, or even food, or… anything. I need to ask him, though…"

"Alright" he said, with a soft sigh as he closed his eyes again "I… I love you"

"And I you" she said, kissing his forehead as softly as she could. His smile softened, no longer as hindered by the pain as before.

She was gone briefly, and she returned with Wang and a glass of water he had authorized Sokka to drink. Azula sat by the bed somewhat impatiently, as the man checked Sokka's body again to ensure his condition was stable. He undid the bandages around his stomach, revealing the still tender burns that had rejoined his skin, and Sokka glanced down at them with a small frown.

"I see no signs of trouble" Wang said, smiling at Sokka "You're also not feverish anymore, so I guess you prevented an infection somehow. Remarkable, really, if you were indeed injured by a beast and saved through cauterization…"

"Sometimes I have good luck…" Sokka said, with a weak grin. Wang laughed.

"That you do, but these burns still need to be treated" he said, taking the ointment he would apply on them "They are not too severe, but I'm afraid they will sting for quite a while"

"That's okay" said Sokka, sighing "I've had burns before…"

In fact, the burn that had lasted the longest had been another one on his stomach, delivered by the very same person who had saved him this time. He frowned, gazing down at the wounds again: the mark she had left upon him on their first encounter, that fist to his stomach, was gone. The cauterization had as good as written over the previous wound, and it had even somehow smoothened his roughened skin.

He flinched a few times as Wang applied the ointments, offering explanations to Azula so she would do it the next time. He left after letting her know that he would bring some broth for Sokka later, hoping he would be able to process something more substantial than water the next time around.

"Here… drink a little" Azula said, bringing the cup to Sokka's lips. He hummed gratefully and sipped the water, swallowing with some difficulty.

"I'm real helpless, huh?" he asked, looking at her with uncertainty once she pulled the water away.

"For now, maybe. But we'll take care of you" she said, looking at him hopefully "How are you feeling?"

"Weird" he admitted, closing his eyes "Weak. I… I don't know if I can be as annoying as I always am when I get hurt. Even if I forced my body to do things, I feel like… like it won't obey"

"You lost too much blood" Azula said, looking at him worriedly. The image of him lying in that pool of red came to her mind again as she spoke "It's only natural that you'd feel this way. But… how? What happened…? W-well, that is, if you want to say. Maybe you need more rest instead of…"

"N-nah, I… I'd rather talk" Sokka said, looking at her through scarcely open eyes "Nyla was… out of control. I think that… maybe it was my blood? They… they cut my cheek for no reason, I thought, but… maybe it was to make her attack me"

"And you knocked her out somehow? I think your club was lying there…"

"Yeah, I… I think I got her. It's all blurry, though" he said "I guess she hit me after I swung my club, then I was lying on the ground and I couldn't move… and then you found me"

Azula sighed, clasping his hand in hers. Sokka looked at her hopelessly.

"You saved my life" he said "For the millionth time, of course…"

"I wish I'd thought of it sooner, of… c-cauterizing your wound with gold fire, I'm such a fool" she said, shaking her head "If I had, you would have made it out in better shape, surely. You wouldn't have bled out so much…"

"You still saved me, you know?" he asked, smiling "I'm alive, aren't I?"

"I know you are, I… I'm so relieved that you are, Sokka, but I…" she said, gritting her teeth "I should've protected you better, I should've known…"

"You couldn't have known they were White Lotus…" Sokka whispered. Her eyes widened.

"They… White Lotus?" she repeated "All along… that scumbag, Jeong Jeong, he was White Lotus all along?!"

"I didn't figure it out either until he said it…" Sokka said "I didn't realize they were after me either, but… I'm glad"

"You're… glad?" Azula repeated, raising her eyebrows in confusion. Sokka smiled weakly.

"If they just wanted me, then it meant they weren't going to try to hurt you or kidnap you. It was… my only relief. My only hope" he said.

Azula gritted her teeth, tears burning in her eyes again. Her hand around his tightened, and she lifted his fingers to her lips, pressing a trembling kiss to them. He smiled sweetly.

"But you're okay… y-you're…" he said, stretching out his fingers a little and touching her face as her shoulders shook weakly with her sobs.

"I was so… I was… I saw you there and I couldn't…" she gasped, her elbows on the mattress now as she clutched his hand, as if it were the only thing that could anchor her to reality "I'm supposed to protect you, I should have been able to…! I just…!"

"Shhh… there's no need to cry" Sokka whispered, with a weak smile "D-didn't the physician say I'd be okay…?"

"You just… you will be. You have to be" she said, breathing deeply and trying to calm down. His fingers intertwined with hers.

"Then the worst is behind us, okay?" he said, still smiling "Don't feel responsible, Azula, you… you didn't do anything wrong. It's not your fault"

"I'm pretty sure that's not the case, but…" she said, releasing his hand and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She breathed deeply and looked at him, through her still blurry eyesight "I'll just… pretend you're right, and focus on what matters. I shouldn't be so irrational, I…"

"I'm not telling you to keep your feelings to yourself either" he said "You can be irrational…"

"I need to focus on you" she said, shaking her head and looking at him "Do you think they might come back for you somehow? What did they want? What… why were they after you?"

Sokka's light smile faded as he frowned, thinking back on his encounter with Jeong Jeong. He focused on the feeling of Azula's hand on his and he smiled a little again, if only briefly.

"Well… they shouldn't come back. They must think I'm dead" he said "As for what they wanted… Jeong Jeong wanted to find out whether I was some sort of eligible asset for the White Lotus or not"

"He wanted to…? T-to turn you into one of them? And this is how he went about it?" Azula asked, her misery almost fully overwhelmed by her indignation now. Sokka waved his other hand around.

"I don't know if he really planned to turn me, honestly, but I… I may have pissed him off a bit too much and that might be why he decided to kill me" he said "But… it's funny. He didn't bother doing it himself, won't get his hands soiled with blood, just gives out the commands and tricks Nyla into doing it, huh? He's… he's so full of it, that jackass…"

"Why did you anger him?" Azula asked. Sokka huffed.

"Because he… heh, he says Piandao wanted me to influence you" he said, looking at her nonchalantly. Azula froze "He says… that that was the plan all along, pretty much. But he was a skeptic, he thought I'd been corrupted by the luxuries and life I'd lived in the Fire Nation. It seems he saw the opposite of himself in me. He figured I'd betrayed everything I ever believed in, my people, everyone I cared about… and I realized nothing I said would make him think differently. So I… just said what I really thought. He didn't like it"

"Sokka…" Azula said, swallowing hard. He smiled.

"I don't know what else did he expect, really" Sokka whispered "Even if I'd groveled to his feet begging for mercy he would have only stomped on my head. He was only there to prove himself right, but at least I kicked his ego a bit in the process…"

"You're such a troublemaker" she said, shaking her head and caressing his hair gently. Sokka closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation "So that was it? He wanted to know if… if you were corrupt?"

"Well… I think he also wanted revenge for what I did back in the Capital" said Sokka "He didn't say it outright, but he didn't need to. All he really wanted was to know if I'd be loyal to them or to you, I guess, and… my answer was so blunt it's probably is what left me in this shape, huh?"

"You rejected him" Azula whispered "You chose…"

"I'll always choose you, Azula. Always" he said, smiling gently at her. She sighed "It's not like he was offering much in the first place. As I said, he just wanted to blow his own horn and prove Piandao wrong about me. But Piandao wasn't there, so I imagine… I imagine Jeong Jeong must have run back to him to tell Piandao that I'm just as rotten as he believed I was…"

"What did Piandao want from you anyways?" Azula asked, snarling "To influence me how? And… was he really only ever using you?"

"I don't know, I'd have to ask Piandao himself, likely" Sokka said, grimacing "But… I guess Jeong Jeong was sure you'd only be like your father. Piandao's plan to make me influence you… it probably was based on the hopes that you could step out from under his legacy. Jeong Jeong refused to believe that was possible…"

"And because he refused to believe it, he decided to kill you? So he could make completely sure it would be impossible?" Azula asked "Because… curse it, if he had succeeded I'd…"

"You'd be running through those forests trying to take revenge?" Sokka asked, with a weak smile "You're lovely"

"I can't promise I won't try to murder the bastard if I ever do meet him, truly" Azula said, gritting her teeth "Revenge for what you did in the Capital, too… for keeping his friends and allies alive despite my father would have gladly slaughtered them? Really? This is how he repays you?"

"Looks like it" Sokka said, sighing "I didn't do it for his sake, though. I knew it was the right thing to do… so I did it. I know those guys… t-the White Lotus, they're very similar to who I used to be. They hate the Fire Nation and think they're right to do so… but they haven't seen what I've seen. They haven't lived what I've lived… they may have forgotten fire is part of balance too. They don't seem to realize that… that harmony can be achieved if you just try hard enough"

Azula looked at him hopefully, and he smiled warmly at her.

"I mean… look at us" he said "Took us a while, but… we're balanced now, aren't we?"

She smiled a little and nodded. Sokka sighed in relief, and she leaned close, a hand moving to his cheek as she kissed him softly. Her lips were still trembling, and he noticed it easily.

"We are" she said, as firmly as she could "More than ever"

"Good…" said Sokka, smiling "Means we'll do just fine when we do get married, huh?"

Azula's eyes widened and Sokka chuckled, though laughing certainly was painful. He smiled awkwardly afterwards.

"You remember that I…?" she asked. Sokka smiled.

"How could I forget?" he asked "It's a bit blurry, but… you did say yes, didn't you?"

Azula's smile grew more genuine, although it was still sad. She kissed him again, fingers lacing through his soft locks.

"I did" she confirmed. Sokka's smile widened "And… I might do it again if you ask once more"

"Oh?" he said, raising his eyebrows "Will you marry me?"

"Yes"

He laughed and it hurt again, but he barely felt it as she kissed him, having answered him as earnestly as she could have. His heart soared, despite he was weak and hurt, for he could tell she had no doubts, no hesitations anymore. She spoke as truthfully as possible, with more determination than that of any strong-willed hero of old stories. And her truth was setting his heart ablaze, much like hers was with feelings of love for him.

"You saved me…" he whispered, as she kissed his face all over, softly "You… used your gold fire and you…"

"I'm sorry it hurt as much as it did, but I had no choice" she said, cupping his face "I wasn't about to face a life without you, damn it all. We were supposed to…"

She fell unexpectedly silent, and Sokka frowned. He raised his eyebrow slowly.

"Supposed to what…?" he asked. She swallowed hard.

"Y-you… you were dying" she said. He nodded "When I found you, I… I lost it. I was a wreck, I couldn't… couldn't think properly, couldn't figure out what to do, I was at a complete loss. All I knew was that every second spent doing nothing was another second closer to losing you. And the things you said, the way you still tried to make me smile, it… it made me bend gold fire. And then I cauterized your wounds"

"Yeah… that's how it was" Sokka said, nodding weakly. Azula swallowed.

"The gold fire… the light" she muttered. Sokka frowned "And that feeling of emptiness, of despair, of hopelessness… I was falling into darkness. I… I was about to…"

She brought a hand to her mouth, looking at Sokka in chagrin. He stared back at her, in mild disbelief but also in amazement.

"But… but if you think that's what the fortune meant…" Sokka muttered "What about losing everything? I mean…"

"Sokka, you fool…" she said, swallowing hard and leaning closer to him "Don't you get it? Losing you… it would have meant losing everything that truly mattered"

His eyes widened, and she pressed her eyes tightly shut as she felt the tears about to escape again.

"I couldn't let it happen. Not now, not like this…" she said, shaking her head "I couldn't let you go, not when… when we still have so much more to live together, right?"

"Right" he said, releasing the breath he didn't know he was holding in "Oh, Azula…"

"I know what you're thinking" she said, as he looked at her apprehensively "I know, I know… I can't give up so easily. We have so much to do, so much work ahead of us, an entire world to fix and… and you don't want me to give it up if something were to happen to you"

"Yeah… it wouldn't be fair" he said, sighing "You're so talented, so capable… You could lead the Fire Nation into a right path…"

"But I… I want you there, leading it with me" she said, her voice trembling "I need you there, because that world we're going to fix… it's supposed to allow us to be together, remember? It's supposed… it's supposed to give us freedom. I can't do it without you"

"You can…"

"Well, then, I choose not to" she said, determinedly. Sokka chuckled again, groaning a little with pain "Is that clear enough for you?"

"You're beautiful" he said, sighing "You're wonderful. I sure as hell don't deserve a girl like you…"

"Says the man who refused to say simple words of submission to a madman who wanted to kill him, just to remain faithful and loyal to me for good" Azula said. Sokka smiled a little.

"You're the love of my life" he said "I'd die for you if I had to…"

"You would, I can tell" she said, looking at him sternly "But I can't let you throw your life away that easily, damn it. I… I need you. I have a path ahead of me, you just said so, and I… I want to walk it with you. Can't do that if you die on me, can I?"

"Azula…"

"Just… I get it, and I'm amazed that you're so loving, that you'd do anything for me… but the next time? Maybe lie" she said, gritting her teeth "I'll understand. I won't care as long as it means you'll… as long as it means you'll survive"

"I…" Sokka said, staring at her in disbelief as she brought his hand to her face.

"You're stubborn, too stubborn" she said, sighing "And you're reckless to no end. I'm amazed you can love me as much as you do, Sokka… but maybe love me a little less if it means you'll be less ready to throw your life away, okay?"

"Oh, Azula…" he said, reaching out to touch her face. She sighed and pressed her cheek against his palm, kissing his hand softly.

"If you won't do it for yourself, do it for me" she said, swallowing hard "Live on, because you know I can't go on if you don't, at the very least…"

"I'm not… I'm not as ready to die as that, Azula" he said, with a weak smile "Especially not ever since you found me again. Didn't I tell you? You… you gave me reasons to keep on living. You always have. And ever since we got together for good, I… I've been unable to keep from imagining a future for us. I… I hadn't thought about the future in that way since I was a kid in my Tribe, you know? All I could see when you found me was the day I'd return, but… now I can see so much more thanks to you…"

"Like… three kids?" Azula asked, smiling a little. Sokka smiled back.

"Only if you want them too" he said. She chuckled.

"Tough luck, then…" she whispered. He laughed as well, feeling the urge to sit up and kiss her, but with such a weak body, it wasn't meant to be.

Wang returned then, bringing a bowl with broth as promised. It stung Azula that Sokka wouldn't complain about the lacking meal he was being provided with, for he would surely do so in any other circumstances. He merely smiled weakly at the physician, who instructed Azula to feed it to Sokka very slowly, and to inform him right away if anything went wrong.

"We need to make sure your body is working properly" said the doctor, patting Sokka's shoulder gently "So take it easy. If this goes well you can have more later, alright?"

"Sure…" said Sokka.

"Don't worry, soup is a sign of progress in these circumstances" he reassured him, smiling "You're getting better. Your wife here is looking after you to make sure you do recover, and I bet you don't want to disappoint her"

Sokka's eyes widened a little and he looked at Wang with surprise. The man excused himself and Azula was left to smile fondly at Sokka's reaction.

"I guess that marks two people who got it right" she said. Sokka smiled now.

"Well… you probably haven't even thought to disguise our relationship through all of this" he said, as she sat next to him on the mattress, the bowl between her hands "I guess he'd have to be blind not to see that you care a little too much about me…"

"And you care a little too much about me, too" she said, brushing his hair away from his face gently "Now… shall we?"

It was strange to be helped to eat by Azula, but Sokka's hands were unstable and only trembled constantly, making it impossible for him to use them for specific movements. At least his hands weren't dead weight, though: his legs were still dormant, and he had the feeling his blood loss had meant that less of it would flow south. He snorted weakly at the thought, which made Azula raise an eyebrow once she put the now empty bowl away on the nightstand.

"What is it?" she asked. He looked at her somewhat apologetically.

"To think we'd just broken our dry spell and this happens… the universe loves to mess with us, huh?"

"Looks like it" she admitted, smiling weakly, still sitting on the mattress "But as much fun as it may be, you do realize that that's…"

"Not as important as my full recovery and survival? Yeah, yeah, I know…" he said, sighing. She leaned closer, still smiling.

"You're so thick-headed" she whispered "And you really do need to get your mind out of the gutter. You've just crossed paths with the number one enemy of the Fire Nation and what frustrates you the most is that we won't have sex until you're all better?"

"Uh… yeah. Isn't that how my mind always works?" he asked, smiling a little more. She laughed softly and kissed his forehead and lips.

"Well… that broth certainly has helped. You're really sounding like yourself again" she said, cupping his face. He inched his head to the side, kissing her palm softly.

"Climb up here…"

"What?" Azula whispered. He smiled.

"It's a big enough bed for the both of us" he said "Can't you…?"

Azula bit her lip but smiled. Indeed, there was enough room at the other side of the bed, so she decided to abide by his wishes and rest by his left, climbing on the mattress as he requested.

He was smiling, his head turned towards her as she lay on her side, staring at him in wonder. Her hand stretched out, finding his bare chest, but specifically, his heart once again. It wasn't a big difference, but she could have sworn the beats felt a little stronger now. Maybe it was her wishful thinking, or maybe Sokka was indeed recovering… but it would take a long time for him to be back in shape, she knew so. It would be a long road, though it was not the road she had expected to be walking with him after his proposal from the day before. Nothing could have prepared her for this cruel reality blow, for the sight of him as broken and weak as he was now.

The panda-lily he had given her at the volcano had been in her pack. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, hoping Rui Shi would have found their luggage before anyone else did… or else they would have lost a lot of extremely valuable things, including all of Sokka's weapons. She sighed, trying to stop worrying about those things. She merely cuddled closer to Sokka, kissing the top of his head as she embraced him gently.

"Do you want to take another nap?" she asked. He grunted, which she guessed was a yes.

"I think I'm… sleeping with you, a bit" he said, smiling somewhat mischievously. She actually laughed, kissing his forehead.

"I think you are all better now. I bet this is just an act to make me worry" she teased him. He smiled "Filthy-minded gladiator…"

"Overly-classy, beautiful princess…" he said, sighing.

His trembling hand managed to find hers over his chest. She pressed her head to his temple as he closed his eyes, and she caressed his hair gently with her other hand, to appease him into another round of rest. He dozed off quickly, and Azula took it as a good sign. He could have responded badly to the broth, but he had finished all of it and there was still no nefarious reaction. Maybe in a few hours he'd be able to drink something more consistent. At least, she hoped so.

He would get better, she knew as much. He had undergone terrible trials, though she doubted he had ever been in as bad shape as he was right now. He had lost blood after his fight with Jet, but he could still move: the wounds were mostly superficial, and they never reached anything lethal. The entire opposite had happened this time. His life had been at the worst risk it had ever faced, far worse than dangling on an unstable chain above a pit of molten lava, worse than what Toph had done to him on their first fight, worse than his fight against Rhone.

She shuddered as she watched him sleep, deep fears dawning inside her. He looked peaceful, but she certainly couldn't share the feeling right now. She had never been as scared in her entire life, never felt as powerless, even though she'd had the power to save him in the end. She had never wanted so badly to be in his place instead, to take all the pain, to take the brunt of Jeong Jeong's rage instead of Sokka… she would have taken all of it without a second thought if she'd had the choice.

It was her own fault, though, that he so often ended up in bad shape. She had dragged him out of a life of ever-lethal violence, but she had given him a life that was still lethal, even if not at all times. He still was at frequent risk of death as her gladiator. He still was badly injured too often for her peace of mind. Jeong Jeong had done all this because Sokka kept choosing her above everything else. He had wanted to murder the gladiator because of his bond with her: every single time he had wound up in bad shape it had been because of her somehow…

The thought made her clench her teeth and close her eyes, feeling tears coming again. She didn't want to cry anymore, but it was hard to help it after what had happened. The attack had been a cruel blow, one that had reminded her of the true fragility of life, and of the consequences of her decisions, too. At this rate, she truly would get Sokka killed one day and she would have nobody to blame for it but herself.

The fortuneteller's warning came to mind again, and so did her initial understanding of it: if their relationship were discovered, Sokka would certainly be put to death. He would die, and if he did, she might as well die too. She couldn't let that happen. She would never let that happen. Their relationship had gone too far as it was, and there was no backtracking anymore… and because of that, she needed to protect it now more than ever. She couldn't make more mistakes. She couldn't put him at risk anymore. She had to take this seriously, or else…

The memory of his body on that pool of blood chilled her to the bone. It came back to her mind so vividly, as though she were seeing it again right in front of her eyes. She felt a sob shaking her, and only then did she realize her tears had actually dropped down her face.

She inched closer to his sleeping figure, dropping her head on his shoulder as she cried silently, trying not to disturb him. Her hand went back to that spot right above his heart: it was still beating. It was still beating.

He had to keep on living. There was no way around it. They had made too many promises, too many vows. He had to stick around to make sure she would fulfill their goals, that was the deal. That was how it had to be. He had to see his family again, didn't he? He had so much to do, so much to live for…

She sighed, her entire body shaking as she curled against him. Her voice was weak, a bare whisper, as she spoke without needing to be heard, doing so only to relieve the grief in her heart if just a little:

"Don't leave me…"

Despite what she had thought, uttering the words only seemed to make her fears more real than they had been before. She sighed and held onto him tighter, knowing her sorrow would not be chased away easily. Knowing he would need her through this recovery process, but also knowing that her mind would be tormented by the image of his broken, dying body for many years, if not the rest of her life.

Still, it served to build her resolve to never let him come to harm again. It didn't matter what she had to do, she wouldn't allow it. He had protected her countless times: she was determined to do the same for him.


	127. Chapter 127

It was midday when Nyla grew anxious and started to run faster. Rui Shi didn't resist, only holding on tight and making sure not to drop any of the load that he was carrying with him. He hoped the beast's sudden boost in speed meant they were close to finding her owner, and he wasn't disappointed when, at long last, they came across a hunched figure, who walked with an unbalanced stride through the forest's trees.

She raised her head immediately when she heard the unexpected noises of claws digging into the ground, along with the shirshu's heavy breathing. Upon identifying her long-time companion and only truly loyal friend, June actually allowed herself to smile.

"Nyla? Fuck, it's good to see you…" she said, speaking absolutely earnestly as Nyla rushed to her owner's side.

Rui Shi yanked back the reins to keep Nyla from trampling her owner, but June didn't seem to mind, embracing Nyla with a single arm and pressing her face into her shirshu's fur.

"There, there, girl. I'm happy to see you too" she said, with a few sighs.

Rui Shi frowned as he stared at June's right shoulder. She hadn't moved her right arm whatsoever so far, and he could see that, aside from her snake tattoo, there were nasty bruises in her shoulder. His eyes widened.

"What happened to you?" he asked. It seemed that it was only then that June only noticed he was there.

"Huh? W-what are you doing there?" she asked, frowning a little "You're… you're the Princess's second boyfriend, aren't you?"

"Uh… I'm not her boyfriend but I was her other traveling companion, yes" said Rui Shi, with a grimace as he jumped off Nyla's saddle.

June had been the picture of dark and dangerous perfection, deadliness encased in beauty, but right now she wasn't even the shadow of her usual image: her hair was a mess, tangled and filthy, her clothes were torn in many places, her skin was colored with bruises and her makeup was long gone. The nail polish in her left hand was gone too, replaced by dirt and dry blood. She didn't have any other apparent injuries other than the likely joint dislocation on her shoulder, but her usual calm and cool façade was long gone. Rui Shi could swear he was seeing fear in her eyes right now.

"What happened to them? Where are they, why are you with Nyl-…? Ugh" she asked, but an instinctive attempt to raise her right arm silenced her as a blast of pain shot through her. Rui Shi grimaced and approached her.

"What happened to you, first of all?" he asked, swallowing hard as he considered how to set her shoulder "Jeong Jeong's men caught you?"

"They… they did. Caught Nyla first, got me when I tried to set her free" June explained. Despite she didn't usually welcome anyone's touch when she was as vulnerable as she was now, she couldn't recoil when Rui Shi touched her shoulder. He did it so very gently, without causing other bursts of pain "I fought the bastard, but… he had too many cronies, they were too strong together. Next thing I knew they'd thrown me in some damn pit in the ground and left me for dead, I guess, so I… climbed my way out of it"

"You did? How?" Rui Shi asked "Your right shoulder's joint is dislocated…"

"No kidding" said June, widening her eyes "That happened in the fight. It was how they stopped me from fighting back. I think I took out around seven of them before they could hold me down… I thought they'd broken my arm but I understood what they did later"

"I should set it back" Rui Shi said. June's eyes widened.

"Do you know how?" she asked. Rui Shi nodded.

"I went to military academy. It's not the first dislocated joint I see or treat" he said, matter-of-factly. Despite Rui Shi's words were reassuring, June's unease grew.

"Y-you think you should set it here? Now? It's…" she said. Rui Shi frowned.

"At this rate it will only get worse" he said "I'm sorry, but… it must be done"

June wasn't a coward, naturally, but she certainly didn't feel like welcoming the promised world of pain that this procedure would bring. She accepted despite her reservations, though, and they got ready to begin the setting process, sitting down a few trees away from where Nyla was. June bit hard on the leather gloves Rui Shi had found in her saddle as he took her arm carefully and began to set the bone again. Tears of pain blinked in June's eyes, though her groans sounded more threatening than distressed. Rui Shi was as quick and efficient about the job as he could be, though, and before she knew it, her bone was no longer protruding unpleasantly underneath her skin. June spat out the gloves and breathed heavily, rubbing her shoulder with her uninjured hand and staring at Rui Shi in unspoken gratefulness.

The Captain of Guards froze, though, when he felt the snout of June's beast prodding his shoulder. He looked at Nyla uneasily, afraid she would be angry he had made her owner scream, but to his surprise the shirshu had no ill intent. She approached June almost shyly, and June caressed her head with her left hand.

"Now, now, I'm fine. Or, well, I will be" she said, smiling "Thanks, Second Boyfriend. You're very resourceful"

"I have a name" Rui Shi grunted. June smiled "It's Rui Shi"

"Fine, Rui Shi" she said, pushing herself up and studying Nyla warily "She's… she's not okay. Someone hurt her badly"

"It must have been Sokka" Rui Shi said. June's eyebrow twitched.

"Come again?"

"In his defense… I think your shirshu damn near killed him"

June's eyes widened. Rui Shi swallowed hard and gestured towards the shirshu.

"I'll tell you the story on the road, if you don't mind. You probably could use an inspection by the physician from the village we're staying in"

"That would be agreeable" she said, sighing.

Rui Shi helped her climb atop Nyla's saddle and he climbed behind her. He clutched the luggage firmly again and they made their way to the village, while the two of them explained to each other what predicaments had landed them in their current circumstances.

It didn't take them too long to arrive to the village, although Nyla was exhausted by then. June took care to feed her when they finally stopped, asking Rui Shi to fetch water for her at the pump in the physician's house, too. Eating and drinking had become difficult activities for the shirshu, due to the bad wound on her lower jaw. Yet now that June knew what had happened, she wasn't sure if she still had any right to feel angry over it. She glanced at the physician's home, hoping Sokka had survived despite everything.

Rui Shi entered the building before long, finding the doctor and letting him know there was another patient for him to inspect outside. He rushed to Sokka's room afterwards, though, his stomach twisted with unease…

The Princess was lying on the bed beside him, her eyes open, dark bags under them. Her hand was perched over his heart as Sokka slept easily, his lips parted. His chest rose and fell with each breath, so Rui Shi sighed in relief at confirming he was alive. The sound alerted Azula, who sat up somewhat nervously.

"R-Rui Shi?" she asked "What… did you find her? Is everything…?"

"Everything is fine" said Rui Shi, smiling a little as he set down the two bags of luggage "I picked up everything we dropped… well, I think it's everything. It didn't look like anyone had stolen anything. I found June, yes, and I brought her back. Her shoulder was disjointed, I tried to help her set it but the physician should still see her just in case…"

"What happened to her?" Azula asked, despair in her gaze. It was hard to believe that a woman as strong and unyielding as June could have been defeated in battle, but Nyla's very presence in their fight on the roads had already spoken darkly of June's fate.

"I think you should ask her yourself, really" said Rui Shi, approaching her and patting her shoulder gently "He will be fine while you're gone, I'm sure"

Azula swallowed hard and glanced down at Sokka's sleeping face. He looked peaceful, his breathing slow and even. Stepping away just for a moment terrified her, but the sooner she met with June, the sooner she would be back at his side.

"Has he progressed at all?" Rui Shi asked. Azula nodded weakly.

"He woke up twice so far" she said "He's been sleeping for a few hours now. I guess he's not likely to wake up so fast again, but…"

"You don't want him to wake up alone?" Rui Shi ventured his guess. Azula sighed "I'll let the doctor or his wife know, then. I reckon you should talk to June, hear what she has to say about Jeong Jeong so we can figure out what he was up to…"

"Oh, I know what he was after now" Azula said, frowning and climbing off the bed "Sokka told me the last time he woke up. But still… I should talk to her"

Rui Shi grimaced and eyed her warily. What June had said had bothered him, but if Sokka had already told Azula what Jeong Jeong's true purpose always had been, June probably wouldn't have a lot of interest to reveal to Azula.

Rui Shi fetched the doctor's wife while Azula stood by Sokka's side. She caressed his hair gently, leaning down to kiss his uninjured cheek and touching his chest again to ensure his heart still was beating. His breathing should have told her as much, but Azula's mind was treacherous. She couldn't help but be paranoid, even when the physician's wife came back and assured her Sokka would be in good hands. She still spared one last glance at him as she left the room, feeling torn by leaving his side this way.

Outside, Nyla was munching very slowly on a slab of meat that June had offered her. It surprised Azula to see June's right arm was being bandaged and immobilized by the doctor. He was still finishing the procedure when the bounty-hunter spotted the Princess.

Instead of one of her usual snarky remarks, June actually looked at Azula in chagrin, nearly apologetically. The expression on her face took Azula aback.

"Been a while" Azula said, hoping to break the ice. June swallowed hard.

"You… look like hell" she said. Azula snorted.

"Likewise" she said. June offered her a small smile, surprisingly "What happened to your arm?"

"Dislodged joint" June explained "Rui Shi helped put it back into place. Doctor here's just making sure I don't move it a lot in the next few days"

"I can already tell you're not the kind of patient who listens to orders, though" said the man, sighing. June's smile grew stronger.

Azula glanced at Nyla again, and she surprised herself by not feeling any resentment for the beast despite the damage it had caused Sokka. She hadn't thought she'd be sympathetic towards it, but it was apparent that she was in pain. The doctor moved on to the creature after finishing his work with June. He was touching Nyla's jaw gently, and she growled and snapped at him whenever he touched her sore wound.

"Well, the bone is somewhat fractured" said Wang, pulling away before Nyla's patience yielded "It doesn't seem to be a major wound, it should heal itself in due time, but it will hurt for sure. I guess there are some medicines you can try to give her to ease the pain…"

"Great" said June, sighing and looking at Nyla worriedly "I only hope she agrees to swallow them, though"

"It's for her own good. I truly hope she will cooperate" Wang said, smiling "Either way, I expect a strong creature like this will be able to heal quickly"

"Let's hope so" said June. The doctor smiled at her and headed inside again, leaving the two women and Rui Shi by themselves.

June caressed Nyla's head with her uninjured hand, the beast sighing before relaxing next to her owner. Azula stepped towards her and swallowed hard.

"Care to share what happened to you?" she asked. Her voice wasn't demanding, if anything it was slightly uncertain. June looked at her with unease, too.

"Well… let's just say I messed up" she muttered "I didn't consider there could be bleeding men in Jeong Jeong's campsite. The scent of blood makes Nyla lose her senses…"

"And she attacks to kill whatever's bleeding?" Azula asked. June nodded "Well, we suspected as much already, but that clarifies it…"

"Clarifies what?"

"They cut Sokka's cheek" Azula muttered "It was to rely on the smell of blood to make your shirshu attack him…"

"Rui Shi said that he's not dead, though, right?" June asked. Azula shook her head promptly. June released the breath she didn't realize she was holding "I'm glad. And… I'm sorry. If I had been more careful I could've captured the bastard before he could act. What's worse is I gave him the perfect weapon for him to find you. I know apologies won't mean a lot to you, but…"

"Don't overthink it" Azula said, waving a hand gently. June raised an eyebrow "I know you weren't planning on things ending up this way. You had nothing to gain from that"

"I didn't plan forward enough, truth to be told" said June, sighing "I should have known Jeong Jeong couldn't be underestimated…"

"I should have known that too, for that matter" said Azula "I sent you after him, we agreed on it without thinking of the risks. If you think you were a fool for doing it, I was a fool for telling you to do it, too. But anyways, I take it they took Nyla from you?"

"They muzzled her, forced her to work with them" June said "Offering her the scent of your belt was enough to get her going. They just threw me in a hole they thought I wouldn't be able to get out of, especially with a dislodged joint, but they underestimated me, too…"

"You climbed out with one arm only?" Azula asked. June smiled weakly "You're something, bounty-hunter. I guess you've always been freakishly strong, but still…"

"Not strong enough when it mattered, I'm afraid" June whispered "I should've been able to resist them, but I was beyond outnumbered. It never crossed my mind that it could go so badly"

"How many people were there?" Azula asked "Do you have at least some idea?"

"Well over hundreds" June answered "I can't say thousands because I didn't have a proper view of the entire campsite, but it could have been. He's gathered quite a following"

"I don't know if it's all his, I'll say" Azula muttered "It seems a fair share could be White Lotus members who simply joined him on this operation. Or maybe…"

"White Lotus?" both Rui Shi and June said. Azula gritted her teeth.

"It's what Sokka said when he woke up a while back" she said. June huffed.

"He woke up, then? And he even told you what happened?" she asked. Azula nodded "You could have said that sooner, I thought he was unresponsive…"

"I'm sorry I didn't. You merely asked if he was alive, so… anyways, you can't really talk to him right now. He's asleep again…" Azula admitted, sighing.

"Truth was that they were after him all along" June said, frowning "Before Nyla was driven to madness, I overheard Jeong Jeong asking the two idiots I followed about Sokka. I didn't understand why they'd be so worried about him… I only put it together brief moments before Nyla lost control. I was only just considering turning back and finding you guys to warn you, but I had no choice when Nyla reacted as she did…"

"We didn't understand what Jeong Jeong's allegiances were" Azula whispered "Had I known he was White Lotus I might have considered Sokka could be his real goal, but without that information we couldn't even have ventured a guess about it. None of us thought they'd be after him"

"But why him?" Rui Shi asked "The White Lotus should have wanted you, too. They're the biggest rebels against the Fire Lord, aren't they?"

"They are, but their goal wasn't to hurt my father's rule directly" said Azula "It was… well, to find out if Sokka's loyalties were with me or with them, somehow"

"What? Why would he have been loyal to them?" Rui Shi asked. Azula shrugged.

"Sokka was just as puzzled by that notion as you are. I guess that because his old sword master was a member, and gave him that White Lotus tile, they assumed he was… well, initiated in their weird cult just with that. But Sokka never even knew what that tile meant, so how was he supposed to even feel like one of them?"

"They're pretty stupid" said June, with a grimace. Azula snorted.

"Yes, I'll say they are" she said "In any case, he… he chose to be loyal to me, they took that to mean he was better off dead, so they used Nyla to finish the job…"

"You know, I don't tend to care one way or another about politics of any kind…" June confessed "But right now I'm tempted to start chasing those White Lotus bastards for everything they've pulled in the last two days"

"I can't blame you, but if I were you I'd put as much distance as possible between yourself and those bastards" said Azula "They're going so far for their ideals it's hard to say if they're a bigger hazard to the world than my nation…"

"I'd say you're exaggerating if I hadn't seen how many of them there are" said June, swallowing hard "It's like every possible dissenter of your father's regime joined them"

"It makes me wonder if they've lost all touch with what their group used to mean, though" Azula muttered "Maybe the White Lotus wasn't completely deplorable from the get-go, but what they're doing nowadays couldn't be further from their alleged set of beliefs…"

"Well, I don't know anything about their beliefs, but I'm still unwilling to forgive them for dislodging my shoulder and, most of all, for using Nyla for their schemes" said June, and she glanced at Azula with unease "I'm glad you managed to save Sokka on time. For a while there I… I really feared the worst"

"He'll be touched to know you worried so much about his wellbeing" Azula said, with a subtle hint of sarcasm. June smiled, despite herself.

"You know, you three grew on me" she said "It only happened recently, I'll admit, but you still did. I was looking forward to handing Jeong Jeong over to you. I hate that I failed to do it"

"It's not your blunder alone" Azula sighed "It was my reckless idea, don't beat yourself up for it. We're lucky you survived at all, or that any of us did. If anything had gone slightly differently, chances are that…"

She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. Her breath caught in her chest, and she had to shut her eyes tightly to hide the tears that were threatening to spill from them. She needed to stop thinking about Sokka's close call every ten seconds…

"I know, I know" said June, sighing and standing up. Nyla groaned softly, moving her head wistfully towards her "But I'm still irritated about it. I've almost never failed to finish a job, you know? I don't like this stain in my bounty-hunting history"

Azula smiled weakly as June moved to make sure Nyla's saddle was well in place. The Princess raised an eyebrow.

"You're planning on leaving already?"

"Well, I don't have a lot to do here" June said "I should go someplace else to find the herbs I'll need to force Nyla to swallow, and the sooner we find those, the better"

"There's an herbalist across the river to the east…" Azula said. June nodded.

"I'm aware, I've been there a few times. I guess Miyuki will be happy to know she's in no danger of being devoured by Nyla today" she said, smiling a little.

"Good, then. Also, did you blow all your money at the pub?" Azula asked. June raised an eyebrow.

"Not all of it, just a fair share" she admitted "Why?"

"Well…" said Azula, sighing and approaching the packs that Rui Shi had recovered.

They didn't have a lot of money left, but Azula separated it into two unequal piles before handing June the most of them. The bounty hunter was perplexed.

"Wait a minute, I'm not taking your pity money" she said, frowning. Azula huffed.

"Pity? Really? This is my idea of compensation for a mission gone wrong that I should be responsible for" she said "So take it or leave it, bounty hunter, but this isn't about pity. It's because… well, my gladiator nearly killed your beast"

"My beast nearly killed your gladiator. One would think that would make us even" said June. Azula shrugged.

"Indeed, one would. But I don't. I dragged you into a mess that you didn't have to be involved in, so I'm compensating you for it unless you decide to be a very virtuous woman who won't take money that's being offered to her freely" Azula said, raising an eyebrow.

Despite herself, June sighed and took the bag. She smiled a little at Azula.

"That's… too generous of you. Royals aren't supposed to be all that generous, you know?"

"Take it as a bribe, then" Azula said "The next time I need someone found, I expect you to give me a discount on your services"

"Do I really need to? Such a bother…" June said, teasingly, before climbing on Nyla's saddle.

She watched the two firebenders from atop Nyla's saddle, her semblance remorseful. Rui Shi nodded in her direction, and June looked at the still consternated Azula with worried eyes.

"Tell him I apologize in Nyla's behalf" she said, startling Azula "When he's awake again, of course"

"Right" said Azula, nodding.

"And… I'm really sorry things went so sour" she said. Azula looked at her somewhat hopelessly "But I'm glad you could help him when you did. If anything can be said for certain, it's that he's lucky to have you"

Azula's eyes widened, and she trembled a little as she processed those words. June smiled weakly.

"Take care. And I mean it, you look like you haven't gotten a proper hour of sleep in years" she said, with a raised eyebrow.

"I feel like I haven't gotten a proper hour of sleep in years" Azula answered, matter-of-factly. June chuckled.

"I can lend you my eyeshadow, then. You can color your lashes so they match the bags under your eyes…" she suggested, teasingly. Azula snorted.

"And then I'll look like an otter-racoon. Sounds like a plan" she said, sarcastically. June chuckled again.

"Of course" she said, before ushering Nyla to move, unexpectedly gently. The beast groaned and stood up somewhat clumsily.

June focused on Nyla as the shirshu started walking, and once she did, June turned to wave curtly at Azula and Rui Shi. Nyla took off through the same road where the chaos had unfolded earlier, and Azula and Rui Shi were left to watch them leave. Once June was out of view, the Captain placed a hand on his charge's shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. Azula swallowed and shrugged.

"Still… still afraid, I guess" she admitted. She wasn't sure how she was able to say the words so easily when she had been raised to show no weaknesses, no fear, in the face of anything.

"Let's go back inside, then" said Rui Shi "You might feel better by his side"

"Probably" Azula admitted, as they turned back to the house.

"Did he say anything else about the encounter?" he asked "Aside from them being White Lotus…?"

"Nothing as important as that, no" said Azula, clenching her fists "I feel so… so foolish for not even thinking of it. It was true that I could make no sense out of Jeong Jeong's motivations, but once you factor in that he was White Lotus everything becomes so clear"

"It does" said Rui Shi, sighing. He patted Azula's back "But he's gone now. He must be sure that Nyla killed Sokka, so I doubt we have any cause for concern…"

"I'm not that sure" said Azula, swallowing hard "But if he dares come back to finish the job I'll probably murder him in cold blood"

"I'll fend off the rest of his followers so you can have a clear shot" Rui Shi said. Azula smiled a little, pleased by Rui Shi's complicity.

They entered Sokka's room again to find the doctor's wife, Mei Liang, chuckling at something he'd said. Azula's eyes widened, and Rui Shi saw her tense shoulders loosen up slightly when she saw Sokka was awake and talking to the woman. Sokka was weaker than Rui Shi had ever seen him, but he seemed to have his wits about him already if he had been saying something amusing.

"Ah, look, they're back now" said Mei Liang. Sokka glanced to his side and smiled when he saw Azula "I told you your other friend was here now, too"

"Hey there" he said, moving his hand a little in a failed attempt to wave at them "Uh, I guess I'm not so strong as to say hi yet…"

"Don't force yourself" Azula said, walking up to his bedside quickly and taking his hand in hers "How are you now?"

"A little hungry" Sokka admitted. Azula smiled weakly.

"Aren't you always?" she asked, reaching out to stroke his hair gently before looking at the Mei Liang "Can he have more soup?"

"I suppose, he hasn't reacted poorly to it so far" said the woman "It's a miracle, truly, that he'd be so well when his injury was so bad. The cauterization you performed was… well, miraculous, really. It's almost like it restored his tissues, maybe…"

"Miraculous indeed" said Azula, biting her lip "I suppose we'll never understand how it happened"

"He's a very lucky guy, to be sure" said Rui Shi, moving to Sokka's side too and smirking at him.

"Don't know how I got this lucky, honestly" said Sokka, smiling weakly as Azula stroked his hand gently.

"Well, lucky boy, I shall fetch your soup now" said the Mei Liang, smiling "If you keep responding well to it we might give you something better later, alright?"

"Bring it on…" said Sokka, trying to sound very enthusiastic but lacking the strength to do so.

As the doctor's wife left, Azula sat on the edge of the mattress while Rui Shi grabbed a chair. Sokka eyed them with uncertainty.

"She said you were talking with someone outside…" he said.

"June" Azula said. Sokka bit his lip "She was relieved that you made it out alive. She found out you were the White Lotus's target just before they got to her and Nyla"

"Crap" said Sokka, sighing "Did they hurt her…?"

"A dislodged joint only" said Rui Shi "And… well, she was thrown in a hole too, so she wouldn't be able to follow them easily"

"They're insane" Sokka said, sighing and shaking his head "Did you get her out of there, Rui Shi?"

"No, she got herself out" said Rui Shi "Also… it may sound slightly paranoid, but we probably should stick to our fake names for as long as we stay here"

"You're right" Sokka said, closing his eyes "It's good to know she was okay, though…"

"Yeah" said Azula "She was worried about you, too. Said she apologized on Nyla's behalf. I guess she was more attached to you than she let on"

Sokka snorted at the suggestion, and Azula smiled a little. He shook his head weakly.

"I doubt that" he said. She squeezed his hand.

"All the same, I'm glad you're awake again" she said "Did you remember anything else worth mentioning?"

"Uh… can't think of anything right now" Sokka said, biting his lip "I guess the asshole held back from saying genuinely incriminating stuff… but he did say he didn't agree with their rescue operation in the Capital. You know, when they first showed up…"

"Is that so?" Azula said, raising an eyebrow "Why? Did he think it was too dangerous or…? Oh, never mind. Surely he didn't care for the lives of his comrades enough to want to help them"

"It's likely. I did tell him he was as bad as any Fire Lord for sending his people to die in the Stronghold just over a scheme to have a few words with me…" said Sokka "He didn't like that, of course"

"You have no sense of self-restraint, do you?" Rui Shi asked. Sokka smiled weakly and shrugged almost imperceptibly.

"He also implied there were… Great Lotuses? Grand Lotuses? So… leaders, I guess. Probably like him" Sokka said "No idea if Piandao might be one, too. But I imagine there's a fair share of them…"

"It's a more complicated group, and likely a bigger threat, than we thought" Azula said "Who knows how far their influence reaches, how many people they've assembled through the years…"

"June said she wouldn't be surprised if there were thousands of them" Rui Shi said. Sokka grimaced.

"And she surely didn't see all of them" he said "If each Great Lotus has around the same number of followers, and there's at least two more of them…"

"It's an army" Azula concluded, rubbing her temples with her fingertips "A blasted, massive army with more power than we thought. It's been born right underneath my father's nose and we never even suspected it…"

"Underneath your grandfather's, rather, if not before that, too" said Sokka "Jeong Jeong ran off while Azulon was still in power"

"And the attempt on General Iroh's life was also perpetrated by them while Azulon ruled" said Rui Shi, nodding "They've had a long time to build up their strength, to gather their army, and they've done it so well no one even suspected them…"

"Indeed, and now that we do know, I don't know what to do about it" Azula whispered, shaking her head "How would we uncover this conspiracy when we don't know where to begin? What little we know about them is worth nothing…"

"It's true…" Sokka conceded "But maybe you should stop thinking about it while we're as cut off from our resources as we are now. It won't be much use for you to worry so much if we can't do anything…"

"He's not wrong" Rui Shi said, nodding "But your words actually extend to you too, Sokka. The less stressed you are about everything, the easier your recovery should be"

"The mind has a crucial part to play in healing the body" Azula muttered.

"I guess" said Sokka, with a weak grin "I'll try to relax, then. If I remember anything else, though…"

"You can tell us in that case, but until then, you can stop worrying" Azula said, reaching to touch his hand gently "You know now that June and Nyla made it out alive too. Chances are the unforgivable bastard won't come to check if you really are dead, either…"

"And I got back everything we had to leave behind on the road" said Rui Shi, proudly, before leaning down to pull out Sokka's boomerang from a pack "See?"

"Eh, my old friend. I'm glad to see it" said Sokka, smiling weakly "Thanks, Rui Shi. It's great that you could get everything back"

"Indeed it is" said Rui Shi "Though… the Princess's belt is missing now"

"It's not the first one I lose" Azula said, before giving Sokka a meaningful look "Someone once sliced one of them cleanly during training…"

"I… that was a mistake" said Sokka, and Azula smiled gently "And then you tried to sew it back together…"

"And that way I remembered why I hated school's crafts' class as much as I did" said Azula, shaking her head. Sokka smiled.

"Were all lessons in the Royal Academy for Girls like that?" he asked. Azula shrugged.

"Most of them were. We studied all sorts of tea ceremonies, I was bored beyond belief by them" she recounted "But history and geography classes were enjoyable, and depending on the work we were studying, literature as well…"

Rui Shi listened to Azula, knowing full well, as did everyone else in the room, that the change of topic wasn't only welcome, but necessary. On normal occasions Azula wouldn't care to share her memories from her school days, but right now she spoke of them with such ease it felt natural, but oddly out of place at the same time. She needed to stop thinking about Sokka's wound, about the image of him lying on his own blood, and she was taking advantage of every possible distraction to do so.

She took to helping Sokka to eat once the doctor's wife returned, and she helped him eat more through the day whenever he said he was hungry. The doctor recommended that he started trying to regain the strength of his limbs, starting with his hands, but Sokka's trembling grew more violent whenever he moved them. As ever, he was disappointed with himself, but Azula kept reassuring him and telling him not to push himself too far.

It wasn't until Sokka fell asleep again, by nightfall, that Rui Shi stopped by Azula's side and placed a hand on her shoulder. The sitting Princess raised her head towards him, a hand still on Sokka's chest.

"The… the Stronghold?" he asked "Has your dragon sent any information?"

Azula nodded. Xin Long had been rather bored in the last day, anxiously waiting for her to call him back to her side.

"The attacks ceased since yesterday around midday. They expected it to mean they were getting ready for the full assault, but…"

"But it didn't happen" Rui Shi finished.

"No. They'd already caught June, likely. They knew just how to find us, that we weren't in the Stronghold. They didn't need the decoy attack anymore" said Azula.

"I'm surprised by how well they planned it all. Well, how well he planned it all" muttered Rui Shi "The initial attack was meant to draw you out to the Stronghold?"

"Or leave us relatively defenseless in Yu Dao while all the soldiers rallied to defend the outpost" said Azula "They had the explosives just in case we went to the Stronghold, which we did. They probably wanted to know for sure that we were in there before using them, though…"

"So, chances are that Jeong Jeong sent a group to search Yu Dao, to make sure we really had left the city" said Rui Shi, frowning "He might have thought you'd sent Xin Long alone…"

"But once he knew we weren't in Yu Dao, he had to make sure we were in the Stronghold before risking an all-out attack. He probably had lots of his men to patrolling all over the area, and the two bastards we caught were the ones who had the lucky hit"

"Yes. That must be it" said Rui Shi, sighing.

"He had resources, had everything planned" said Azula, shaking her head.

"And yet we only fell in his trap because he got lucky that Nyla was driven mad by the scent of blood" said Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow. Azula frowned "Truth be told, his plans weren't paying off. Not until that happened"

"Which really means my blasted, greedy scheme is what caused this" Azula said, shaking her head and rubbing her eyes with her free hand. Rui Shi swallowed hard "I just… I was in over my head and didn't suspect it. I thought I'd have it under control because even in the worst cases in the past, I've always found a way to be triumphant. I got the Rhinos, I dealt with the Dai Li, even the first time I crossed the White Lotus it didn't end badly thanks to… thanks to Sokka. So I was immersed in this false sense of security, and I thought… I thought I could do it again. I was sure of it, but…"

"You almost did, though. I know it's hard to accept it right now, but… you almost did" said Rui Shi, his head low. Azula sighed and shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. Almost isn't good enough" she muttered "Almost nearly got him killed"

"You saved him, though"

"I could have spared him the brush with death if I'd considered something could go wrong" Azula said "Where Jeong Jeong planned for multiple scenarios, we mostly just made up our movements as we went. He had quite the advantage over us, he knew these lands better than we could, but he had enough time to plan his every move. And we fell into his spider's web because I couldn't even fathom what he was up to…"

"None of us could. There was no way we could have suspected it with what little information we had" said Rui Shi "We did too well considering the circumstances, if you ask me. We almost reached our goal, even… if we'd been faster maybe we would have done it, but sadly…"

"Truth be told, I can only wonder what sort of disaster would have occurred if they'd caught up with us either at this village or in Yu Dao" said Azula, grimacing "There were too many of them. Chances are they could have reduced the city's defenses in a heartbeat, and…"

"Things would have ended up worse yet" said Rui Shi, clenching his fists.

"Maybe the one thing we can agree on is that this could have been much worse" said Azula, swallowing hard.

Sokka's slow breathing was one of the main things that could have been worse. The safety of the most important of the Fire Nation colonies could have easily been compromised, too. With as many followers as Jeong Jeong likely had, chances were he could have held the city at least for over a month or two before Ozai could retaliate effectively…

"Indeed. And beating yourself up over what did go wrong won't help at this point" said Rui Shi. Azula gritted her teeth, feeling like a scolded child "Now we need to see to his recovery, and get back to Yu Dao as soon as possible. If Xin Long says the Stronghold is safe, then…"

"I'm not having him come fetch us here and now, mind you" Azula muttered. Rui Shi frowned "Not only do we not know whether Jeong Jeong's followers might notice him flying here, which would likely alert them that maybe Nyla didn't finish the job… but also, we can't let these people know who we are. Especially not after what they've seen of the relationship between…"

"Between you two. Yes, I understand" said Rui Shi, sighing "But it's the best way to travel…"

"On normal circumstances, yes. But these aren't normal circumstances" Azula replied "I don't think Sokka can ride a dragon as he is, or any animals, for that matter…"

"We'll need another carriage" said Rui Shi, swallowing hard. Azula nodded.

"If anything, we can have Xin Long surveilling the area from above once we're traveling back to Yu Dao. But I won't risk letting these people see him" she said "I doubt they have any suspicions regarding who we are, and I would rather it stays that way"

"Understood" said Rui Shi, nodding.

"Which means… you shouldn't act all stiff and obedient, Roshi" she said, with a weak smile "What do you think I am, a Princess?"

Rui Shi smiled and shook his head. Azula sighed, her hand still on Sokka's beating heart. Rui Shi bit his lip, holding back from asking her if she was touching her lover that way just to make sure he was still alive. He didn't needed to ask at all, though. Her actions spoke for themselves.

"So… when do you expect we'll take off?" Rui Shi asked. Azula shrugged.

"Once he's better. He's not going on another trip if he's still too weak for it, however short it may be" she said "So when he's ready, we'll leave"

"Very well" said Rui Shi, nodding and standing up "I guess I'll go sleep out in their living room, then. You'll…? Oh, well, why should I even ask?"

Azula gave him a sympathetic, somewhat apologetic smile, but Rui Shi only smiled back at her.

"He'll be fine. Truth be told, he'll start healing magically just by having you near him, I'm sure. So go on ahead and join him" said Rui Shi, with a dramatic sigh "That way we might take off a little sooner"

"As long as you're right about his healing rate, that is" said Azula, but she nodded in his direction "Thanks, Rui-… Roshi"

"Hmm. Don't mention it, Jing" he said, with a crooked grin before leaving her and Sokka by themselves.

Once more she climbed on the bed beside him when they were alone, and she slept with a hand on his chest, her head nestling on his shoulder. As soon as she was comfortable, she felt his head gently dropping against hers, as though he were subconsciously drifting towards her warmth.

She closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep with a little more ease than earlier that day. Still, she wasn't in luck. She kept waking with starts through the night, her heart racing, her nightmares still chasing her. The only way to make sure her dreams were only dreams was through Sokka's breathing and heartbeat. She cursed herself for her inner weaknesses, but it did nothing to put an end to them. By the time morning arrived, she had scarcely rested at all. And despite he was in a worse physical state than her, Sokka seemed to notice her lack of rest.

"Hey…" he whispered. Her eyes were open, but she was startled when she heard his voice.

"Sokka?" she asked "Did I…?"

"You what?" Sokka asked, blinking a few times, trying to shake off his lingering drowsiness.

"Wake you?" she finished, looking at him somewhat guiltily as she loosened her grip on his shirt. Sokka smiled.

"Not really, no" he said "What's wrong? Were you uncomfortable…?"

"I… no, no. I'm fine" she said, shaking her head and pressing to him "I just had some trouble sleeping for no reason. It's nothing"

"You should try to get more sleep, then" Sokka suggested, but Azula shook her head.

"You're awake now, so I should see to getting you something to eat, right?" she said, sitting up. Sokka smiled a little.

"I am a bit hungry, hehe" he admitted. Azula smiled.

"I'll see what I can do" she said.

"H-hey…" he said, his shaking hand grazing her gently when she was about to climb off the bed.

"Yes?" she said, and Sokka bit his lip.

"Just… I wanted to kiss you" he said. Azula's smile grew a little more heartfelt with that.

"Did you, now?" she asked, leaning close and complying with his wishes. Sokka sighed happily as her lips brushed his lovingly "There you go"

"You're the best…" he said, with a happy grin. Azula chuckled before jumping off the bed.

The rest of the day wasn't too different from the previous one: Sokka mostly laid down, eating whenever he was hungry, talking whenever his two companions struck a conversation, sleeping when he was drowsy again. His stability was good news, though, and there were no secondary effects to be found for anything the physician had done to treat him.

By the third day, though, he had regained more strength, and his stomach begged for food a lot more often. He tried to eat without help, but his trembling was still too violent to hold a bowl or chopsticks properly. Nevertheless, Rui Shi offered to help him get back into the custom of using his hands and arms, and he started to do so by arm wrestling him somewhat playfully. It never ceased to make Sokka smirk in disbelief.

"Come on, then. Show me what you're made of" Rui Shi grunted, menacingly, and Sokka snorted. His grip on Rui Shi's hand was shaky, but he tried to strengthen his hand by putting some strength into pushing Rui Shi's "Too weak. Too weak…"

"Damn you, wait till I'm all good and I'll… I'll show you just how strong I can be" Sokka said, with a chuckle. Rui Shi smirked.

"Big talk for a wimp like you" he teased Sokka, but despite his best efforts, Sokka only laughed and gave up, and Rui Shi sighed "Here I thought trash talking would help inspire you…"

"Almost did, but it was too ridiculous to work" Sokka admitted, smiling "Thanks, though, for doing this. It might be I'll beat you at it again in a couple of months…"

"I'd think you should hope to do so in a few weeks instead" said Rui Shi, raising his eyebrows "She'd be much happier that way"

Sokka swallowed hard and nodded. Azula had left to take a proper bath for the first time in what felt like ages, trusting that Sokka would be fine with Rui Shi, and that his condition would only continue to improve. The two men had been working on getting his strength back for around ten minutes now, but clearly there was a lot worth addressing regarding the Princess's wellbeing.

"I'd love to be back on my feet so she can stop worrying" said Sokka "I mean, I understand… this is the worst that's happened to me ever since we became partners. Heck, it's worse than anything that happened before that, too. But… it's too hard to see her this way. Hell, I'm sure I'm getting better sleep than her and I tend to wake up over the burn's pains all the time. And she just…"

"Keeps putting her hand over your heart" said Rui Shi "To make sure you're still…"

"Yeah" said Sokka, gritting his teeth "I don't mind to be touched by her, obviously, but… I'm just worried about her, too. I'm the one who almost got cut in half, but she's the one who's most shaken up by the whole thing. Then again, I guess… if our roles had been reversed, I'd be just as mortified by it"

"It can't be easy to fear the one person you love is about to die" said Rui Shi. Sokka swallowed hard "Then again, I thought… well, maybe I was a fool to think so, but you've been in mortal peril so many times before that…"

"You thought she'd be used to it?" said Sokka. Rui Shi sighed.

"I guess this was worse than ever before, though, as you said…"

"It was" Sokka repeated "And I can't blame her entirely for being so shaken up by it. I'm pretty sure I'll have nightmares about this for the rest of my life. But still, I just…"

"What?" Rui Shi asked.

"I wish I could cheer her up for real, you know?" said Sokka "Make her forget about what she saw. Forget about how close I was to dying. But I guess it's easier said than done…"

"Must be" said Rui Shi "And no solution for that comes to mind right now, frankly. I guess… the best way for you to help her is by getting better, isn't it?"

Sokka frowned with determination. Rui Shi was right, though Sokka knew that forcing his recovery wasn't going to help either… but he needed to be better. He needed to get better, mainly for Azula's sake.

"Well… if that's the case, how about another round?" he asked, lifting his hand with some difficulty. Rui Shi raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure you want to get pummeled again?" he asked. Sokka smirked.

"Bring it on!"

By the time Azula returned, Sokka was struggling but besting a weak Rui Shi, who mostly laughed as he allowed Sokka to get the better of him this time. Sokka knew his rival wasn't putting up a fight, but he still did his best and pushed Rui Shi's hand down on the mattress effectively.

"Woo! I win!" Sokka exclaimed, trying to celebrate by throwing a fist in the air, but he flinched when his abdomen stung upon his fast movement "Uh… okay, I'll celebrate in a couple of weeks"

"Good. This way you can't rub your victory in my face" Rui Shi said, smirking and releasing Sokka's hand.

"Well, well. Beaten by a convalescing man?" Azula asked him, smiling. Rui Shi shrugged.

"What can I say? At this point I'm sure he's only faking the pain so you'll coddle him all day" he said, with his best innocent façade. Sokka snorted and Azula smiled at her gladiator now.

"I'd be in equal parts angry and relieved if that were the case" she said "How are you feeling, then? Ecstatic over your victory?"

"I have never been more proud of myself" Sokka said, smiling at her "How about you? Was the bath good?"

"Indeed, and you'll be needing one of those sooner than later" she said, raising her eyebrows "Not to offend you, but…"

"You stink" Rui Shi finished, with a happy grin. Sokka's eyebrow twitched and he attempted to kick Rui Shi gently for that… but his leg didn't respond with enough power yet.

"Well, then, find a bottle of perfume and I might stink less, Roshi" he grunted "Or am I going to get washed on this bed somehow?"

"If only there were a way to do it, I wouldn't mind" said Azula "But as it is, you need to be able to move and at least sit up if you want to clean up at all…"

Sokka bit his lip and nodded, and Azula breathed deeply as she moved to support him in case he'd need it. With her help, and a little of Rui Shi's, Sokka managed to push himself up and sit on the mattress, his numb body paining him with every movement.

"Damn, I'm rusty" he grunted, stretching his fingers and sighing in disappointment before looking at Azula with a raised eyebrow "But… I guess I did sit up, didn't I?"

"Yeah. You did" she said, with a relieved smile.

He grinned too as she surrounded his shoulders with her arms, and he decided to stay upright for a little longer. If it'd make Azula happy, he would gladly sit up for the rest of the day, regardless of the more frequent stings of pain that burst on his burns because of this position.

He worked harder through that day, eating more solid food than before and even trying to walk a little, although his legs gave away easily if he didn't have anyone helping him support his weight. Nevertheless, by the next day he tried again, determined to get better results this time.

He longed to leave this room, and he especially wanted to reach Yu Dao as soon as it was possible. His only hope to appease his troubled lover was returning to the Fire Nation with her. Settling into their routine again might finally serve to soothe Azula for good. She was mostly in a better mood, and she napped once in a while, but he had noticed just how frequently she woke from them with a start, her breath hitching, her eyes wide in terror. He had no doubts about what nightmares were plaguing her, what fears kept corroding her mind. It killed him inside not knowing what to do about it.

He thought maybe his recovery would appease her, and he focused fully on that. But on the next day, as he stood up with his own strength, taking a few steps with uncertainty while holding onto the bed, Azula came inside his room again after having left to eat breakfast. She gasped indignantly.

"What are you…? Sokka!" she berated him immediately. He grimaced and sat on the bed guiltily, avoiding her gaze and fiddling with his thumbs. The burns on his abdomen stung, as though berating him too.

"I was just checking if I could walk a bit…" he muttered. Azula frowned as she stood in front of him.

"Well, the next time you can check that with supervision" she determined, stubbornly "Get back up there"

"Okay, okay…" said Sokka, sighing and pushing himself back into the mattress fully. Azula walked around until she stood at the foot of the bed, where she clasped his ankles with each of her hands "I wasn't going to push myself that hard, you know…"

"I was just thinking you'd been way too obedient through this recovery" Azula grunted "I guess it was about time you acted up"

"I just want to be better, nothing wrong with that, right?" he asked, looking at her apprehensively. Azula sighed.

"Not with wanting to be better, but there's something wrong with forcing your recovery if your body can't take it yet" she said "Haven't you considered forcing it could make things worse for you?"

"I guess not" Sokka sighed, staring at the ceiling as Azula moved his feet gently, as to help the circulation of the blood through his veins "I'd been thinking a lot about other things instead of that…"

"Other things?" she said, looking at him with uncertainty "Do I want to hear this?"

"Eh, it's complicated. Part of you will want to, another part won't…" Sokka admitted. Azula sighed.

"Out with it" she said, her curiosity yielding quickly enough. Sokka smiled a little.

"It's just… don't you think it's a little convenient, how Jeong Jeong could plan everything through to the last detail? Do you really think he knew how to predict Shinu's behavior, or do you think…?"

"Do I think what?" Azula asked, sighing and looking at Sokka with uncertainty as she guessed at what he was getting at "Do I think that he's working with Jeong Jeong? That this madman has actually turned highly-ranked members of my father's army against our nation?"

Sokka bit his lip and Azula sighed. She shook her head.

"I want to think the explosives they had in store for the Stronghold indicate otherwise" she said "If they thought they'd need something so extreme to catch us in case we were in there, it probably means they didn't have any inside support. Else they… they could have entered the Stronghold somehow, likely. I don't really know how, but…"

"So you'd thought about it?" Sokka asked. Azula sighed.

"You're not the only one who's been thinking too much, about too many things, over the course of the last two days" she muttered "I'm probably overthinking most things, truth be told, but… I've thought about it. I know there's at least one highly ranked White Lotus spy in my father's closer circles, but I doubt it's someone like Shinu. He would have an alibi for what happened during the attack to the capital, and he couldn't have supplied his friends with the uniforms the way we've discovered they did…"

"So, it's not him, or…"

"Or there are two spies. Or more than two" Azula said, gritting her teeth and shaking her head before lifting Sokka's legs gently. He grimaced as she made him flex them "Slowly now…"

"More than two…?" he repeated "S-so no one's safe from suspicion?"

"Who could be? At this point… at this point I'm only willing to trust you, my father and my guards" Azula confessed, shaking her head "There's too many of them, Sokka. June said… thousands, maybe. And they're a mix of all nations, from the looks of it. The two bastards we fought in the Palace were water and earthbenders, Jeong Jeong is a firebender, and just like Piandao, he's from the Fire Nation…"

"So they're… a group seeking balance somehow" Sokka mused, frowning "Funny how poorly that's going for them, huh?"

"You don't think that's real balance, do you?" Azula asked. Sokka shook his head.

"Not at all. Jeong Jeong… heh, one of the things that annoyed him the most was that I said he couldn't be so arrogant as to think he was the only Fire Nation person who could learn better" Sokka said "He doesn't seem to have a shred of love for his nation left in him, says it's corrupt and whatnot… but hey, he did confirm what you suspected"

"What I suspected about what?" Azula asked, still helping Sokka flex and stretch his legs.

"He said that I was Piandao's only hope to change the Fire Nation through you" Sokka whispered. Azula's eyes widened "I guess they wanted me to influence you somehow. He also said Zuko was only going to be blocked by your father. So I guess it means that… that Zuko was their first plan. We were the second one"

"So you're saying Piandao just… no" Azula said, shaking her head "He couldn't have taken you as an apprentice just for this, could he?"

"I doubt it" Sokka said, biting his lip "Though I don't know for sure, but… well, I did have some talent, didn't I?"

"Of course you do" Azula said, setting Sokka's legs down at last. He breathed out in relief "But what I mean is that… he saw a chance to fulfill his plans through us. He might have manipulated me through you somehow? Are we both… pawns of the White Lotus without our awareness?"

"Uh… yeah, I think not" said Sokka, shaking his head "Else Jeong Jeong wouldn't have tried to kill me, now, would he?"

"I guess not" said Azula, sighing "But to think Piandao did mean to do this… why? Did he really just see us as…?"

"Truth is, I know I shouldn't think of him fondly after knowing he's in cahoots with that bastard, Jeong Jeong" said Sokka, breathing deeply "But I'm wondering if this is really what he was going for. Maybe Piandao suspected that the two of us would become… well, what we have. Maybe he stopped meddling between us because he didn't think he had to do it. Maybe he also never explained what the White Lotus was because he doubted I'd need to know…"

"That's possible, too" said Azula, frowning "Piandao's past was sketchy for sure, but… he never did anything bad to you, did he? He didn't try to force any weird White Lotus teachings on you…"

"Unless his training itself was a White Lotus teaching somehow, no, he didn't" said Sokka, sighing "He was a great master. It's why it bothers me that… that he'd be with them"

"Well… who knows? Maybe they're like the Fire Nation" Azula said, shrugging. Sokka raised an eyebrow "You know, the entirety of the Fire Nation isn't as rotten as Jeong Jeong believes, right? So… maybe they're not quite as bad as we think they are. At least a handful of them, like Piandao, might not be such terrible people…"

"I hope so" said Sokka, sighing as Azula's therapy session on his legs seemed to come to an end.

"How are you feeling now?" she asked. He smiled.

"Ready to go out jogging" he said playfully. Azula snorted and shook her head.

"You're really getting better, aren't you?" she said, her eyes growing fond as she looked at him. He smiled, flexing his legs on his own accord now and relaxing in a new position.

"Whether you want to believe it or not" he said "Soon enough I'll be training with you again, and you'll be annoyed by how easily I can beat you…"

"Oh, aren't we confident" said Azula, smiling. Sokka grinned proudly "We'll see about that then. But for now, rest. And eat"

"Okay…" Sokka said, sighing in defeat. Azula caressed his thigh gently before climbing off the bed.

She helped him with those exercises at least twice a day, and they were helping him in many ways. The combination of all factors allowed him to walk better on the next day. And as he managed to leave his room for the first time since their arrival, both Azula and Rui Shi came to a non-verbal agreement: it was time to leave.

Wang gave them some more instructions regarding what Sokka's diet should be from now on, and also offered them some food and water for the short road ahead until they reached Yu Dao. Rui Shi had to dig through their bags to find whatever money they had left: it wasn't much, but what he offered them seemed to be a lot for the couple, since they reacted with absolute delight.

Azula focused on making sure Sokka could endure the journey. She had helped him to the living room and Sokka had taken his seat at the couch. It was the same couch where, almost a week earlier, Azula had waited with Rui Shi while the doctor and his wife treated Sokka. He looked a little too eager to go, and Azula smiled as she held his hand to appease him. It wasn't trembling so violently anymore.

Rui Shi had managed to find another carriage, a far more rudimentary one this time. He helped Azula guide Sokka towards it, standing behind them as the Princess surrounded Sokka's waist with an arm to keep him well supported. Sokka's steps were slow, but he was strong enough to reach the vehicle. He managed to climb the few steps up to the cabin, and he breathed out in relief when he took his seat. He waved at Wang and Mei Liang from where he was.

"The best of luck on the road!" said Mei Liang, smiling warmly at him "Take care!"

"You too. Thanks for everything!" Sokka called out, smiling back.

Rui Shi climbed aboard, on the driver's seat once more, and they waited for Azula to finish thanking their hosts for everything.

"I know you think you didn't do a lot since… since that cauterization was somewhat miraculous, but still, you were too generous by accepting us into your home as you did" Azula said "I won't forget this"

"Neither will we. I hope Wentai will be better soon" said Wang, smiling at Azula "Take care of yourself too, though. You need to be in good shape to look after your husband, after all"

"I guess I do" Azula admitted, with a weak smile.

"Have a good trip to Yu Dao, Jing" said Mei Liang, and Azula bowed her head respectfully towards them.

"Thank you for everything" she whispered "Truly"

Wang and Mei Liang waved at them as the carriage pulled out of their street, and Azula kept smiling and glancing at them until they were out of sight. By then she sighed and slumped on her seat next to Sokka, sending word to Xin Long to let him know they were on the move. He had been lurking not too far from the village for a few days now, waiting for Azula's signal.

He caught up with them once they were well into the next road. The three travelers were rather paranoid, staring warily around themselves and being startled by nearly every shadow they saw. When Xin Long, clad in his armor, finally landed before them, Azula sprung from the halted carriage and rushed to greet her animal companion. Xin Long surrounded her with his long body, his face sterner than Sokka remembered seeing it before. He wondered if the dragon felt guilty for not having helped his rider when she needed it…

"We're okay… we're okay" Azula said, patting Xin Long's armored neck. She smiled at him, actually feeling calmer now with the dragon's presence. She turned towards Rui Shi and Sokka "Well, I think it's time we do prepare for heading into Yu Dao"

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked, blinking blankly. Xin Long groaned somewhat sweetly in his direction, and Sokka smiled "Hey, buddy. Missed you, too"

"Are you saying we can't show up in Yu Dao looking so… peasant-like?" Rui Shi asked. Azula sighed.

"It may sound shallow of me to say so, but no, we shouldn't" she said "Can you dress in your guard's tunic now?"

"I think so" Rui Shi said, reaching back for one of the packs to find his outerwear "What will you do?"

"I guess the same thing" said Azula, sighing as she climbed on the carriage again to search through the bags for her own clothes. Xin Long took the chance to press his head against Sokka's side, prompting him to laugh and slide his hands through his hair.

Xin Long contorted in quite a funny way to form a screen around Azula, keeping either Sokka or Rui Shi from seeing her as she changed into her usual clothes. Rui Shi was noticeably uncomfortable by this, but he focused on dressing up too, putting his usual uniform on top of his current clothes.

"Say, he didn't have to hide you from me" Sokka told Azula, teasingly, once she was back in her royal outfit. She rolled her eyes.

"People could have showed up from anywhere in the road. Xin Long had to be efficient" she declared, proudly. Sokka chuckled "As for you… I guess all we can do is tie your hair again, huh?"

"I don't get to dress up nicely, then?" Sokka asked, pouting. Azula shook her head promptly, searching for his hair tie and approaching him to take care of the matter herself.

"You get to rest and relax and not put your body through any strain you can't handle" she stated, brushing his hair with her fingers before tying it up. Sokka hummed happily.

"You should do that more often. Feels good" he said, with a goofy grin. Azula huffed and looked at him skeptically.

"Morale-wise, you're definitely back to yourself. A complete recovery, to be sure" she said. Sokka beamed proudly "Xin Long and I will surveil your progress from above. Get going again, Rui Shi. Yu Dao won't be far"

"Yes, Princess" said Rui Shi, back to his usual self now that he was in full uniform again. Sokka wasn't all that happy by Azula's decision to surveil instead of accompany them, though.

"Do you have to do that, though?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"Well… it's safer this way. If anything bad were to happen, Xin Long and I would handle it. I'm sure you won't miss me that much" she said, smiling a little. Sokka pouted.

"You underestimate my ability to miss you!" he declared. Azula actually laughed, shaking her head and climbing off the carriage.

Sokka sighed as Azula and Xin Long took off, but he smiled as he watched how they remained airborne above the road. He wouldn't feel too anxious if she stayed nearby like this.

"You two are incorrigible, aren't you?" Rui Shi asked with a little amusement, after having ushered the ostrich-horse to continue walking now "She can't seem to stop worrying about you, to the point where she can't sleep… and you can't stand spending ten seconds away from her"

"We are a little hopeless, I guess" Sokka admitted, smiling weakly "But we're worse these days, truly. The latest events did shake us up badly"

Rui Shi swallowed hard and nodded. He had been impressed by how well Sokka had been handling it so far. Maybe his reluctance to be separated from his savior was but another consequence of his survived murder attempt. Unsurprisingly, Sokka felt safer when Azula was nearby. Being without her might unleash the fears her sole presence could keep at bay.

"For what it's worth, though… you're getting better" Rui Shi said "I'm glad she was so driven to find you. I'm glad she could save you"

"Nyla struck you two, was it?" Sokka said, frowning "I think you only mentioned it in passing…"

"She did, but the Princess fought the toxins quite powerfully. Through sheer willpower she crawled towards where you'd fallen, dragging her body with a single arm at first" Rui Shi said. Sokka's eyes widened "And when the doctors were finally looking at you, she was…"

"Upset, I imagine" Sokka mused. Rui Shi sighed.

"That's a very light word for what it was" he whispered "She loves you, Sokka, probably too much for her own good. I had never seen her quite as miserable as she was when she thought you were on the verge of death"

"I guess" Sokka said, gritting his teeth "She… she told me that maybe I should love her a little less. That the next time some freak threatens to kill me if I stay loyal to her, I should lie and say I'm not. But heh… she doesn't seem to realize that she's just as bad as I am. She has said she can't go on without me, but… but she has to. She needs to. This world needs her a lot more than it could ever need me"

"Well, I don't know about the world, but she does seem to need you" Rui Shi said "And maybe her advice is spot-on. If you think she can't be so quick to discard her life, you shouldn't be, either"

Sokka sighed, glancing down at his bandaged abdomen. The burns still stung, even if the pain decreased every day.

"I guess you mean I should worry more about myself, but… at this point I want to recover more for her sake than my own" Sokka admitted, with a guilty smile.

"Not so surprising, since she's a mess in her own right" Rui Shi whispered "But once you're better, protect your life a little more. Maybe not for yourself, but just to spare her the sorrow"

"I'll do my best. But, say… if something did happen to me…"

"Didn't you just agree to…?"

"I did, I did" Sokka interrupted Rui Shi, who glanced over his shoulder to look at him accusingly "But I can't know what the future will bring. I have no idea. So… if anything did happen to me, can you promise me you'd make sure she goes on? Can you promise me you'll see her through her time as Crown Princess and then as Fire Lord, when the time comes? That you'll remind her of everything she still has to achieve? Can you promise that you'll try to… to encourage her to find happiness again somehow?"

Rui Shi froze. Saying yes to those words wouldn't be so hard, but the prospect of agreeing to do that was terrifying. He had seen what Azula had been like when fearing for Sokka's life. He had the feeling she'd act as little more than a carcass if he died for real.

But even so, he understood where Sokka was coming from. He knew there was no one else Sokka could ask this of, either. So he nodded, and Sokka released his breath in relief.

"I promise" Rui Shi whispered "But… don't make me fulfill those promises if you can avoid it. I'd rather see you fulfilling them yourself"

"You'd…?" Sokka started, but he smiled as Rui Shi turned to the road again "Heh. Thanks, Rui Shi"

Azula couldn't stop looking down, her eyes firmly set on the carriage below them. Xin Long groaned gently at her, trying to cheer her up and ease her anxiety. She only responded by patting his neck and thinking she'd only feel better once they reached the city.

After a few twists and turns in the road, and after coming across a few human settlements in Yu Dao's outskirts, at last they reached the city walls. Azula breathed out in relief, directing Xin Long to fly a little closer to the ground now. She watched as the guards on the walls jumped in surprise, both upon seeing the Royal Guard leading such an undignified carriage, and upon noticing the airborne dragon.

"Sir! Do you need help, sir?" a soldier by the gate asked. Rui Shi shook his head and waved at them.

"I'm merely heading to the Mayor's home. I'll get there just fine by myself" he said "Keep up the good work"

The soldiers stared at him as he passed through the gate, their eyes drifting towards the wounded Sokka on the carriage. He smiled awkwardly and lifted a hand in polite salutation.

People on the streets turned to look at them, some pointed up at the sky, too. Azula kept following Rui Shi and Sokka's carriage through every street, Xin Long's flight barely a few feet away from the tallest buildings in the city. Reaching the Mayor's house seemed to take forever, and they only garnered more attention with every spin of the carriage's wheels. It wouldn't too different from arriving to the city in normal circumstances, if only this trip hadn't left them broken and defeated.

Rui Shi yanked the ostrich horse's reins to a halt before the Mayor's house. The sight of it, along with the building next door, was unexpectedly relieving. Their journey hadn't even taken two weeks, but it had felt like a lifetime.

Xin Long landed brief moments after Rui Shi stopped the carriage, and Azula didn't waste time in jumping off the saddle and walking up to Sokka. Rui Shi climbed off the carriage and headed to the door.

"How are you feeling?" Azula asked Sokka, making to step on the carriage, but he lifted a hand. Her eyes widened.

"You… shouldn't" Sokka said, gritting his teeth "We're not using fake identities anymore, remember?"

Azula froze and lowered her head a little. Had she grown so used to the life they had settled into through the last few days? Even now, dressed in her royal garb as she was, Sokka had to stop her from doing anything foolish. She used to be perfectly able to differentiate between their double-lives, keeping Sokka in check rather than the other way around. Was this slip-up momentary, or was she really losing her grip to this degree…?

"Well, what did you think I was going to do?" she grumbled as believably as she could, rolling her eyes and looking at him skeptically. Sokka blinked blankly before smiling with unease.

"Oops. I just thought… never mind" he said, waving his hand carelessly again. Azula sighed.

"How are you feeling, then?"

"Eh, the trip was okay. A few bumps on the way, but I was alright" said Sokka, smiling "I could use some water and food, though…"

"Well, you can have some now" Azula said, pulling out some of the supplies they had been carrying and handing a water skin to Sokka. He drank it eagerly just as Mrs. Morishita came to the door.

Rui Shi took off his helmet and bowed his head towards the woman. She was startled by his presence, more so when she noticed the Princess and her gladiator behind the Captain.

"Oh, my…!" she gasped, taking in the uncharacteristically miserable appearance they all had.

Azula and Sokka glanced at her as well, just as Rui Shi muttered:

"We're back"

* * *

Sokka's room, in the second floor, was impossible for him to access in his current state. He ended up taking up residence in the living room, a place he found agreeable enough to nap in once he was resting on one of the couches. Rui Shi had rushed to the next building, where the rest of their group waited: they had arrived days ago, after it became clear the Stronghold would not be attacked anymore. All of Azula's Royal Guards ended up filing into the Morishita house shortly, every last one of them desperate to see their Princess and hear the full story from her and Rui Shi in the house's backyard.

Azula hadn't started explaining yet when Kori and Sneers rushed into the backyard, having just arrived home to hear the Princess was back. They joined the explanation on time, though, and listened intently, with just as much horror as the guards did. Still, as Azula was wrapping the story, Kori was snarling, her hands balled into fists.

"We should've known…" she said, shaking her head "I mean, it was so suspicious, but still!"

"Kori…" Sneers whispered. Azula's gaze shifted towards them.

"Known what?" she asked the Mayor's daughter. Kori looked at her almost guiltily.

"The very night when you left to deal with this?" she started, swallowing hard "Someone in all black snuck inside Sneers' room. There was two of them at first, actually. When I started chasing them I noticed there were more, and they even escaped…"

"They were earthbenders, weren't they?" Rui Shi asked. Kori nodded "It's the attack we heard of at Makapu Village, Princess…"

"Makes sense" said Azula, huffing "They were trying to find out if we were still in the city, likely. Or, well, trying to find out if Sokka was, at any rate"

"I did think that they were after you" Kori admitted "But…"

"They only looked around my room" Sneers finished "Maybe checking that Sokka wasn't there was enough, or… I don't know. Maybe it's because his weapons were gone. That might have been how they knew he wasn't in the house"

"It's likely" said Azula, sighing and shaking her head.

"Even so, everyone survived. They didn't get what they wanted" said Tai Wei, his arms folded over his chest "It may not feel as a victory as it is, but it's not a loss either. The gladiator survived"

"Not just survived, he made those White Lotus bastards choke on their doctrines, from the sound of it" said Fei Li, smirking "I'm going to commend him for that, if anything"

"It's not just that, though" said Taro, his hands in his pockets "He's made himself an enemy of the White Lotus by staying loyal to the Princess, and the Princess alone, even in the face of death. That's not something any slave would be willing to do"

"It sure isn't" said Fei Li, smiling "That man's something serious, huh?"

"I guess…" said Azula, sighing somewhat dramatically "Just don't say that to his face, or his ego will get boosted beyond proportion"

The guards laughed, but Rui Shi stared at Azula with uncertainty. She was playing her part well enough again, but her performance wasn't covering completely for how shaken up she had been by last week's events. Still, she continued talking before anyone could point out that she wasn't being completely herself right now.

"In any case, Jeong Jeong will hear we're in Yu Dao in no time" she said "And if he's still determined to have Sokka dead, well, he might try to attack again. Therefore, if we'd like to avoid giving him the chance…"

"We'll have to head back home as soon as possible" said Rui Shi. Azula nodded.

"We can't risk staying here any longer. There should be next to no means for him to harm Sokka in the Fire Nation, so it's the safest place to go now" she said "Get the crew, have them prepare for setting out at haste. The sooner we leave, the better"

The guards nodded, and Rui Shi divided the group in half, so that a fair number of skilled firebenders would remain in the house, in case word of Sokka's survival reached Jeong Jeong faster than expected. The others took off to oversee the preparations for the next trip.

It was around dusk when the ship was finally ready. Sokka had woken, eaten a rather good meal, and he'd even had a chance to talk with Sneers and Kori, who updated him on their progress in locating Smellerbee. They had set up a challenge with her sponsor in a couple of months, which would give them time for Sneers to recover from his last fight and for them to travel to the Capital properly. Sokka smiled as they talked, surprised by how distant that particular matter felt for him right now. He barely remembered how Azula and him had ended up in Yu Dao in the first place…

The time to part ways arrived in due time, though, and Sokka was taken to the port on a classier carriage this time, accompanied by the Morishita's and Azula. Xin Long flew above the vehicle again, keeping an eye on it while the Royal Guards followed on their own carriages.

"Good luck with your recovery" Sneers told Sokka once they were at the dock. Sokka smiled and nodded, clutching onto Taro's arm for support.

"Thanks. Good luck finding your friends. They'll be happy to see you" he said, bowing his head towards Sneers before Taro led him up the ramp slowly, towards the main deck of the Barge.

The Princess watched him go, relieved that Sokka had enough sense not to drag out his farewells. He shouldn't overexert himself, not when his recovery was still halfway in progress.

"I'm sorry things ended so badly" Kori said, bringing Azula out of her daze "I hope the next time doesn't go like this. Well, if you ever come again, that is…"

"If traveling to Yu Dao feels safe again, I might" Azula said, breathing out slowly "In any case, good luck with your sponsoring career. I'm sure you two will get far"

"Yeah, well, we'll try. If we get to be half as good as you two, we'll count ourselves lucky" said Kori, smiling at Azula "But still, if I ever think Sneers is that good, we might send a challenge to you guys…"

The prospect made Azula freeze where she stood. Gladiator fights. She would have to send Sokka into battle again, as it always happened. Why on earth had she forgotten about that too until just now…?

"Heh, well, I look forward to that as well" Azula whispered, with a weak smile "Good luck, Kori"

"I… thank you, Princess. For everything" said Kori, with an earnest smile and a deep bow. Azula sighed and ordered her to rise before making her way up the ramp, too.

It wasn't long after everyone was aboard that the Barge took off. Azula had already headed inside her room by then, though, rolling in the silk sheets she had missed direly. She sighed again, finding she couldn't quite stop doing so as of late. Even now, as everything was back into place, after Tai Wei had spoken encouraging words, she couldn't quite feel as anything but a failure after what had happened. How would she explain all this to her father? He would be utterly displeased, disappointed, to know his reliable daughter had allowed the greatest threat to the Fire Nation to slip between her fingers. He wouldn't forgive her for it.

And yet… the idea wasn't all that horrifying. Disappointing her father had been her greatest fear for as long she could remember, but by now it paled compared to the horror she had experienced in those woods, watching Sokka speaking with a thread of a voice, blood everywhere…

She cringed, hating herself again for letting the image return to her mind. But she couldn't stop it. She couldn't help it. It didn't matter what she did, her mind would bring the image back again, as potent as ever, afflicting her in ways nothing else could.

The barge set sail into the night, the mantle of darkness spreading across the horizon. Azula ate her dinner and lingered on her bed, her eyes unfocused, her mind slowing down as she felt herself relaxing. She closed her eyes in due time, finding a comfortable position. Her breathing was timed, calm, and the rhythmic repetitions were perfectly appeasing.

Night, darkness, in the middle of nowhere. No lights in the sky. No sign of anything, until a dark red moon finally started to shine above, its glow matching the blood, the blood, the streams of it that scurried over the ground to where she was, and its source was no other than…

Azula jumped, her heart racing, her breathing agitated again. She couldn't help but clench her fists as she sat on the bed, snarling as she punched the bed in sheer frustration. What was wrong with her? She needed to stop this already. It was pathetic. It had been a big shock, no doubt, but it was over. He was fine. Sokka was fine. He was…

Fear took hold of her again, so powerfully she felt she was losing her balance even if she was sitting down. The sensation was that of vertigo, something she had seldom experienced before. She was shivering before she knew it. She briefly wondered if her body and mind were conspiring to kill her. At this point, it was hard to suspect otherwise.

She couldn't find any peace of mind. It didn't matter how hard she tried, it was impossible. She drew her knees up, yanked her bangs with her trembling fingers, cursed at herself for the umpteenth time. It was enough. It had to be. She couldn't go on like this…

But what was she supposed to do to stop it? How could she be victorious in this fight, if the enemy was none other than herself?

She spent hours sitting on that bed, her face buried between her arms as she kept them crossed over her knees. The images in her mind lost their power at times, and regained them by the next moment. The fear of losing Sokka kept returning to her, making her feel as though the very earth was splitting beneath her, filling her with helplessness as she fell into an impossible void. She gritted her teeth, ashamed, but she couldn't take this anymore. She couldn't bear with it. She only knew of one solution to this predicament, and it was either that or spending the rest of the night tossing and turning.

Her heart was racing as she made her way through the ship in the middle of the darkness. Her footsteps were as silent as could be, and they didn't alert the two guards pacing through the ship, or the sailors who were working on the night shift. She didn't have to cross their path, though: all she needed to do was go downstairs, and find Sokka's cabin.

The vertiginous feeling returned as she was getting closer. She gritted her teeth, trying to battle against the accursed, repetitive images in her head, against that soft voice, nagging at her, telling her that when she opened the door to his room he would not be breathing, that his heart would not be beating…

She finally reached the right door, and she opened it delicately, carefully. She slid through a small opening, closing it slowly behind her as she looked at Sokka.

He hadn't woken up, but his bare chest, and bandaged abdomen, were in plain sight. His chest rose and fell with each breath. Just that, and the ground below her feet was reinstated. The vertigo was gone. The world wasn't crumbling around her anymore.

She sighed, gritting her teeth and feeling stupid again. This was going too far. What was wrong with her? Why was she so weak now, when she had spent all her life fighting to be strong?

She stepped towards him, her fingers reaching to touch his chest. There it was: his heartbeat. It was rhythmic, calm… until it wasn't.

Her eyes widened as she noticed he was waking up. She drew her hand back, wishing for some reason that she could run, hide someplace, so he wouldn't know what she had been doing… but her feet refused to answer. She was left standing where she was, and he opened his eyes drowsily.

"Azula…?" he whispered. She gritted her teeth.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you" she said, avoiding his gaze. Sokka blinked a few times.

"You okay…?" he asked, rubbing his eyes with his hands. She swallowed hard.

"Yeah, I just… couldn't sleep" she said, simply. He didn't need to know why that was.

"Huh" he said, as she sat at the edge of his bed. He smiled "Want me to sing you a lullaby?"

The proposal was as ridiculous as it was unexpected. Azula's dour mood was dispelled if only briefly as she stared at him in disbelief. He smiled innocently.

"I promise I will do my best" he said. She snorted and laughed, shaking her head.

"Right. Songs about pebbles of stone sure will lull me into sleep, no doubt" she said. Sokka chuckled.

"I know a few others" he said "There's one about a mom cooking a stew, but the kids won't eat it and she gets mad…"

"Okay?" Azula said, smiling in disbelief. Sokka chuckled.

"I'll have to think of others, but that one came to mind" he said, smiling and reaching out to touch her hand with his own "I missed you"

"We were apart for half a day only. We're going to have to bear with worse than that when we're home" Azula said.

Instead of speaking matter-of-factly, though, as she usually did, she spoke the words sadly. She wasn't lecturing him, nor was she skeptical about his ability to get by for a few hours, or days, without her. If anything, being away from him was terrifying. She had no idea if Sokka would be kidding if he claimed again that he couldn't stand being apart from her: she could barely take being separated from him right now, too.

"We should just stay at sea forever then. That way you can keep sneaking in here, or I'll sneak up to your room when…" Sokka started.

"You're in no shape for that" Azula interrupted him, sighing.

"When I get better, I was going to say" Sokka said, smiling a little "But for now, you can come here instead. There's not a lot of room, but I think you can fit in this bed too…"

She was still rational enough to know that it wasn't a good idea. She needed to be upstairs in her room before sunrise, and at this rate she wouldn't get a lot of sleep either way. Still… he was here. It was him, and having him next to her would serve to dispel her nightmares, her fears. She wasn't going to get much sleep until dawn no matter what, but it would be better than nothing.

"I'll have to go by sunrise, though" she whispered "If I don't wake up on time, you'll have to make me go, okay?"

"I'll have a hard time making up my mind to do that" Sokka said, with a weak grin "But okay. Better to have you for a couple of hours than not at all, right?"

Azula smiled, guessing he had similar thought patterns to her own. Despite she still felt weak, foolish, for caving in to her desperation, his warm welcome helped appease her a little. She climbed on the small bunk, stretching out on her side right next to Sokka. He would have gladly turned and held her properly, but the burns stung if he laid in any position that wasn't face-up. He had to settle for reaching for her hand, and turning his face towards her to smile gently at her.

"Sure about refusing my lullaby, then?" he asked. Azula smiled and nodded.

"Don't make me go through your singing again, please" she said. Sokka pouted.

"Then you sing one. How about that?"

"You're not tricking me into singing for you, Sokka"

"Oh well. Then I'll do it…!"

"Shut up" Azula laughed, pressing closer to him and silencing him by placing her hand over his mouth.

He laughed too at first, but soon began to kiss her hand softly. She only withdrew it to replace it with her lips, her hand moving now to hold his face, to trace his neck and collarbone gently. He closed his eyes, at ease in her arms, by kissing her like this…

"I'm glad you're here…" he whispered. She swallowed hard.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"It's harder to sleep when you're not with me" Sokka explained, smiling a little "I'd gone the whole night waking up constantly. Wasn't much fun. But now you're here, and… I'm sure it'll be better"

"I do hope so" Azula whispered, kissing him again and pressing her forehead to his.

They needed each other, then. She wasn't the only one who was desperate, affected so badly by the circumstances that she couldn't get over two hours of sleep each night. He slept better if she was with him, so how could she deprive him from that? She needed him just as badly, so it was the perfect arrangement… wasn't it?

"We'll be okay" Sokka said. Azula stiffened, his left hand sliding into her right and intertwining their fingers "We'll be… just fine…"

His words were reassuring, even though Azula had a hard time believing them completely just yet. Still, she nodded, kissing him softly before curling up to his side. One hand held his, the other fell atop his chest again. In the end, the lullaby he sang for her was that of his rhythmically beating heart, easing her into sleep at long last.


	128. Chapter 128

"You're joking. You have to be"

"Does it look like I'm joking, Prince Zuko?"

His jaw dropped. The Tribe Chief raised an eyebrow slowly, daring him to show defiance. And Zuko dared indeed, despite he realized the matter had been settled without him saying a word to make it so:

"Are you out of your mind?!" he exclaimed, standing up brusquely. Fortunately, this room in Hakoda's igloo was tall enough to prevent him from clashing with the ceiling if he stood to his full height.

"That's not a very nice thing to say to your host…" said Hakoda, folding his arms over his chest.

"My host or my captor? Every moment that goes by I feel more and more like a prisoner! Now you want me to build my own cell? Are you serious here?!"

"Did you hit your head when you fainted the other day, by any chance?" Hakoda asked "Or are you really expecting us to let you live with us without abiding by our rules and laws just because you're 'not from around here'?"

"Well… yes! I mean, I know nothing about your culture, your way of life!" Zuko said, his eyes wide "I never meant to be part of your community, so there's no sense in you trying to force me into it, especially when we both know you don't want me here either!"

"True, to a fault" said Hakoda, sighing "But you're not entirely right: now that you know Aang is the Avatar, and that he's here, I need you someplace where I can keep an eye on you. So, I do want you here, in our community, whether you're here willingly or not"

"How could someone be part of a community unwillingly to begin with…?" Zuko grumbled, his brow furrowed as he glared at Hakoda "I won't do this. You can't make me. You can't force us apart!"

"I am not forcing you apart in any way, I'm in fact doing the entire opposite of that" said Hakoda "You were reckless, and you got Suki with child. She deserves a man who proves he's not only capable of making a baby but of raising one in a healthy home. Are you saying that you refuse to be that sort of man?"

"I… no!" Zuko exclaimed, his eyes wide "Of course I want to be that man! The problem is I don't want to be that man here! This is not our home, it's not where we should raise our baby, it's…!"

"It's too challenging, I take it? Too complicated?" Hakoda asked, studying Zuko carefully with his gaze "Does it mean working harder than you ever have, maybe, and that scares you?"

"It… you know nothing about how much I've worked through my entire life" Zuko said, glaring at Hakoda "Stop pretending you understand me, because you don't"

"Well, I certainly don't" said Hakoda, nodding "You and your girlfriend are stuck in our tribe for the foreseeable future, until we can believe that you won't run your mouth and spread word of the Avatar's location as soon as you have a chance. The two of you had indeed agreed to marry, and in our tribe, couples can't be married until the man has built an adequate home for them. Until you build that igloo, you will be staying elsewhere while your future wife stays in my house, where she will be taken care of by my daughter and mother, who have wide expertise in regards of pregnancies and childbirth. Yet, knowing all this, you just protest and waste your breath telling me you plan on disregarding our customs because you don't know anything about our culture…"

"I don't!"

"And yet you're here, and not in the Fire Nation. If the Fire Nation would allow you to father an illegitimate child with Suki, you should have probably stayed there and had the baby in your old home. But you are in my Tribe now, and you will do as I say. There is no way around it"

"But I…!"

"If you won't build the igloo, you aren't worthy of marrying her. You won't live with her, you won't raise your child with her, you will be left on the sidelines watching what you could have had but won't have because you chose to protest against our customs rather than at least giving them a try" said Hakoda, his hands on his thighs. Zuko gritted his teeth, fists clenched "Not to mention, you don't really have a home as you are. You have a torn boat, a dream of reaching Kyoshi Island and nothing more. Why would it be so far-fetched to build one here?"

"Because we don't belong here. We stick out like sore thumbs!" Zuko exclaimed "This is not our nation, not hers, not mine…!"

"And it's not Kino's, or Aang's. They're still here"

"Well, did you make them build igloos so they could stay, too?"

"They didn't get any girls with child out of wedlock" said Hakoda, shrugging "Had they done such a thing, I wouldn't hesitate before pressing them to build an igloo just as you must. So, are we clear yet or do you plan on wasting more time arguing with me? The sooner you start working, the better"

"I don't…! Ugh!" Zuko grunted, storming out of the room and pushing aside a pelt that served as a doorway for Hakoda's room.

Katara, Kanna and Suki sat in the center of the igloo. Kanna was dozing off, Katara was sewing some clothes and pretending to be uninterested in Zuko's apparition, but it was clear she had been overhearing the conversation between her father and the prince. Suki looked at Zuko anxiously, for she as well had heard every word spoken between them.

"So… he won't change his mind?" she asked him. Zuko huffed and shook his head.

"I think he just enjoys making things unnecessarily hard for me, is all" he said, filing towards the front door. Suki didn't hesitate to follow, not caring for the judgmental blue gaze that followed her as she left the igloo.

The tribe was bustling with activity in the morning, if this was what counted as a morning, of course. As he was, Zuko had lost all notion of day or night after arriving to this place. Sometimes it grew a little darker, but the sun hardly hid in the horizon at all. Despite that, Zuko was always cold when he left the warmth of the igloos and braced against the icy weather in the pole. He had no idea how these people could endure these conditions, and he knew that once the next half of the year began, the cold would only get worse.

Still, the resilient and stubborn tribespeople were as devoted to their lives in the ice as ever: groups of hunters and fishermen left in what could be considered the morning, while other men busied themselves with working on crafting weapons or fixing rundown houses and tents. Women were frequently seen chasing after reckless children, others were seen sewing or knitting by the central fireplace of the village. Everyone had a task, everyone had something to busy themselves with. But that still didn't stop several, if not most of them, from staring at Zuko with threatening glares or fearful glances. He wasn't sure whether they feared or hated him more.

He stood outside Hakoda's igloo, frowning heavily as he heard Suki's muffled footsteps coming to a halt beside him. Her hand moved to find his own.

"It can't take that long, can it?" Zuko grunted "Building a blasted igloo…"

"I don't know. I hope not" said Suki, grimacing "But… he really won't let you stay in his house anymore? Isn't that a little, I don't know, drastic?"

"Does it look like these people don't want to be drastic?" Zuko asked "I mean, yeah, I'm not exactly blameless myself, but they've been as hostile to us as they could be even if we've done nothing to them. They've ruined our plans and yet we're supposed to be grateful for it…"

"We just have to bear with it for a little while, Zuko" said Suki, sighing and dropping her head on his shoulder "This will all be in the past before we know it, I'm sure…"

"I can't wait for that to happen, honestly" said Zuko, shaking his head and surrounding her shoulders with an arm "They make no sense, you know? How is it we can't get married when they know you're already pregnant, just because of a damn igloo? And what's worse, why is it any of their business if we're married or not? It's… frustrating"

"Well, they're trying to make us do things the right way, according to them" said Suki, as she led Zuko through the village "I think that's all there is to it"

They had been loaned some spare Water Tribe clothes to cover themselves with, but Zuko felt rather displeased by the attires. The furs were heavy, and the coats were colored blue. It didn't seem the right color for him to wear, not at all. It certainly suited Suki nicely, though, but Zuko had yet to find any outfits that didn't suit her.

They drew stares wherever they went, something that threatened to drain what little patience Zuko had left. If it weren't because he was hand in hand with Suki, the temptation to ask what they were looking at would have overcome him.

"Where should we have our igloo, though?" Suki asked, smiling encouragingly to him "Maybe somewhere close to the wall? I doubt you want to be all that near the center…"

"Yeah, we should be by the entrance. That way we'll be closer to the exit so we can leave whenever we want" Zuko grunted. Suki giggled softly as they walked that way.

"Not like we can go far as of yet, but sure" she said, intertwining their fingers.

The sound of her laughter appeased his raging heart, Zuko found, even when he was as irritated as he had been all day. He smiled a little, caressing her hand as they walked together, and he dreaded the moment when they would have to part for the day. He wasn't sure he'd be able to endure the trials Hakoda was forcing on him without her loving support.

"You know, I wonder if this isn't some sort of revenge because my sister's alleged corruption of their dear Sokka" Zuko mused. Suki sighed "I mean, it would explain why they're being so awful, right?"

"I certainly hope not. They would be very cruel if that were the case. Whatever happens with them is hardly your fault" she said, as they stopped at a rather clear space near the opening of the tall wall "How about here? Do you like it?"

Zuko sighed and shrugged. It was far enough from the other igloos and tents, so it was good enough for him.

"Come on, Zuko" said Suki, looking at him pleadingly "We can do this together. We'll get by, even if it's hard right now…"

"No, I don't think we're allowed to do it together" said Zuko, lowering his gaze "I wouldn't mind having your help, but… you're pregnant. You shouldn't put yourself through this much strain"

"What? That's ridiculous, Zuko. I can help, you can't expect to build an entire igloo out of nothing all on your own" said Suki. Zuko grimaced.

"How much do you know about building igloos?" he asked. Suki froze "Not a lot, then?"

"I… never had to build one, but that doesn't matter. We could figure it out together" she said. Zuko shook his head.

"Hakoda probably would kick me out and lock me in the freezing settlement for making you work. He thinks this is some kind of initiation, from the sound of it… Some rite of passage where I'll prove I'm man enough to marry someone"

"That sounds stupid" said Suki, grimacing "I'm just as capable of working hard and providing for our household as you are…"

"Sure, but… it's better if you don't do it when you're pregnant, at least" said Zuko, breathing slowly "I'm sorry if I sound like a jerk, but I just…"

"You don't want me putting myself in danger, I get it" said Suki, shaking her head "But I want to help you somehow either way, Zuko. I can't just leave you here working while I ask Katara to braid my hair, can I?"

"Well, your hair would look nice braided, but I don't think asking her for that sort of help will be good for you" said Zuko, raising his eyebrow "She's… not exactly fond of me"

"She's nicer to me than she is to you" Suki said, with a small shrug "I suppose she's the one who feels more strongly against the Fire Nation here…"

"Yet she gets along with the soldier just fine" said Zuko, shaking his head "She just hates me because I'm the Fire Lord's son and my sister's brother. She probably thinks you're too good for me, and…"

"And?" said Suki, raising her eyebrows. Zuko lowered his head.

"And unless I can do this, they won't ever believe otherwise" he whispered. Suki froze "Maybe I won't believe otherwise either"

"Oh, come on, Zuko" she said, approaching him and taking both his hands into hers "I love you, you know I do. You've always showed up in my life when I was at my worst, and… and you always make things better even if you don't know how. So don't think of yourself as unworthy of me or anything like that, okay?"

"I'll try" said Zuko, looking at her apprehensively "But you do realize you're a catch, right?"

"Please…"

"I mean it. All these guys keep looking at you and they are completely smitten" said Zuko, frowning sternly "And they have no idea just how talented a warrior you are…"

"Well, maybe I ought to show them" said Suki "They are so old-fashioned with their weird male and female tasks that they might stop liking me so much if the see how I subvert their expectations"

Zuko actually smiled at that, and Suki imitated him. He leaned close and kissed her lips softly.

"Okay, okay. I'll do this, then" he said "If you'd like to help, well… maybe ask around for how I should do this. You'll probably be more successful in gathering advice than me"

"Huh. I can do that" said Suki, smiling and nodding "We have a deal, then"

She leaned close and kissed him again, longer and more tenderly now. Zuko sighed in bliss, feeling a lot lighter thanks to her gesture of affection. He wasn't happy about the circumstances at all, but he felt stronger knowing that Suki would stand by him through all of it.

"I'll be back soon" said Suki, squeezing his hand before turning and taking off through the snow, her auburn hair flowing behind her as she walked.

Zuko watched her go, dazed and relaxed. His circumstances still sucked, but Suki gave him all the motivation he needed to see this through to the end. For now, they just needed a home so their child could be born safely. They would leave the South Pole sooner than later, but while they were stuck here they had to try to live in the best conditions possible.

He noticed gazes on him once Suki was almost out of sight, though. He frowned, noticing the many tribespeople sending uneasy and disapproving glares at him. Were they annoyed because he was kissing Suki publicly without having married her? Or was it just because it was him? He shot a few glares at them too before turning around pointedly and staring at the clear ice in front of him. All he needed to do was focus on building a house for himself and Suki. How hard could it be, truly?

But the more he stared at the ice, the less he knew what he had to do. Was he supposed to go out and gather ice elsewhere? There were steps into Hakoda's igloo: it seemed as though the igloo was somehow encased in the ice, so he'd have to dig a hole first and then build the whole thing? He was slowly but surely growing confused. He had no tools for this, to begin with, and he doubted his firebending would do much good right now…

Though at least it would be helpful in clearing the initial hole he needed to dig into the ice, he realized. He raised his eyebrow and pondered the idea before deciding to do that if just as a test. He breathed deeply, gathering his power before casting one fire blast at the ground.

Unsurprisingly, the people who saw him doing as much ran off, terrified of whatever he might be doing. He didn't pay them any mind, choosing to focus in producing fire instead. He shot several other blasts, making the hole grow wider and wider…

Only, the mighty hole he had created was full of water now. All the ice had melted, for sure, but it was still there, now in liquid form. His eyebrow twitched and he scratched his head. Alright, maybe that wasn't the way to go, but with no tools he had no other choice…

"What's going on?! What are you doing?!"

Zuko stiffened and turned to glare at the source of the accusing voice. He felt the blood slowing in his body as the Avatar came rushing towards him, followed by that Fire Nation soldier Zuko still was confused by. The two of them seemed worried, and Zuko realized rather quickly that the people nearby had likely alerted them of what he was doing. They clearly didn't understand what was going on…

"I'm just trying to do what Hakoda told me to. It's not your problem, Avatar" Zuko snapped, before turning to his hole of water again.

Aang and Kino reached his side only to find themselves absolutely confused by the hole full of water in front of them. Kino blinked blankly.

"Did… Hakoda ask you to build some hot springs?" he asked. Zuko blushed in embarrassment and shot him an angry glare.

"That would be so weird" said Aang, his eyes wide "Hot springs in the South Pole? I mean it sounds fun, but…"

"That's not what I'm doing!" Zuko bellowed "I'm trying to build an igloo here! He said I can't marry Suki until I do that, and I don't see any sense in it, but if that's how it is, I'll play by his rules! So I…! What? Why are you looking at me like that? Stop it!"

The Avatar's face was a mix of disbelief, sympathy and confusion. Zuko's irritation only grew as he glared at him until Aang actually broke out in laughter. And that prompted him to huff and shake his head in frustration.

"Stop laughing! This is serious!" he exclaimed.

"It is, but… that's not going to help you make an igloo" said Aang, smiling awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah? And you know so much more about how to make one than I do?" Zuko asked, glaring at Aang.

"Well, yeah. I have been living in the South Pole for, uh… around a hundred and eight years, give or take?" Aang answered, teasingly. Zuko looked at him in disbelief "I've seen people do it before, and you can't do it by melting the ice. That's just… completely counterproductive"

With a quick and elegant stance, his hands stretched out in direction of the water, Aang began to bend. It took bare instants for the water to become solid ice once more, to Zuko's disappointment and irritation.

"You just have to dig out the ice, see?" said Aang, smiling "You use the same blocks you dig out to build the walls and ceiling. The top is the hardest part, but if you're smart and careful you can do it properly…"

"I have no tools for this sort of thing" Zuko grunted, and to his surprise, Kino jumped before offering him a long knife.

"Here!" he said. Zuko blinked blankly "I-it might not be perfect for the task, but it's the weapon they gave me, and um, I'd be honored if you used it, Prince Zuko!"

Zuko stared at Kino in confusion before clasping the Water Tribe makeshift weapon. Kino gasped in excitement, thrilled that the Prince would have taken his offering after all.

"Would this do?" Zuko asked Aang, looking at him skeptically. Aang smiled and nodded "Wait, though… why are you helping me?"

"Why?" Aang repeated "Well, the rest of the tribe is actually a little, uh, apprehensive of you, you could say. I figured I'd stay near you so they'll be reassured that you're not doing anything you shouldn't…"

"They seem to trust you a lot, huh?" said Zuko, skeptically "Perks of being the Avatar. You're not going to get shunned by the Water Tribe and you don't need to build a damn igloo for that…"

"Well, the whole igloo thing isn't really necessary for me…" said Aang, smiling awkwardly. Zuko shrugged as Kino looked at Aang in confusion.

"It's not?" Kino asked "Isn't it like a rite of passage to prove you are ready to take a wife?"

"Uh, yeah" said Aang, blinking blankly.

"Huh. So that's why you haven't asked Katara to marry you, you're not ready!" Kino exclaimed, beaming as he came to such extraordinary revelation.

Aang's eyes widened as his cheeks flushed, and Zuko almost stumbled over the snow before turning to look at the Avatar, puzzled. Aang's embarrassment shifted into defensiveness now, as he scowled at Kino.

"W-what are you talking about?! That's not…! I'm not…! Don't say that sort of thing so easily, Kino!"

"But isn't it true?" Kino said, cocking his head a little to the side "You did always like her…"

"That's neither here nor there!"

"You… like her?" Zuko asked, staring at Aang in confusion "Can I ask… why?"

"What? Why?" Aang said, his eyebrow twitching. Zuko's face betrayed his genuine confusion regarding the concept of someone, anyone, liking Katara. The Avatar's jaw dropped "Y-you really don't see it?!"

"See what? She's bitter, full of grudges, angrier than me and that's saying something. She's not exactly a nice person, is she?" said Zuko, looking at Kino for backup. To his surprise, Kino straightened up once he noticed the Prince's eyes were on him.

"U-uh, she's really bitter, yes! And really angry too!" Kino agreed, nodding approvingly. Aang huffed, his face turning redder but no longer over embarrassment "But she's… not a bad person, though I guess you couldn't know that since you've only met her bitter and angry side, haha!"

"So there really is supposed to be more to her? You're sure of that?" Zuko asked, just before Aang stormed up to him, poking his chest with a finger.

"Don't talk about Katara that way! She's been through a lot, and she has lost so much, and she has been more considerate and compassionate towards you two than I ever thought she could be because of how much she used to hate the Fire Nation!"

"Huh, so she was worse?" Zuko asked, almost amused now. Aang's irritation grew, and his hair seemed to stand on end with that.

"Stop saying that!" he exclaimed "You don't know her like I do!"

"But you don't know her as well as you'd like either, since you haven't built an igloo and haven't married her" said Kino, beaming teasingly. Aang gritted his teeth and scowled at him again before shaking his head and turning around.

"I'll show you…" he grunted, stepping away from where Zuko and Kino stood.

The two Fire Nation men watched as Aang pulled up his sleeves and started to bend the ice in another nearby empty space of the tribe's enclosure. He cracked the ice with his movements, shattering it quickly before mixing water and airbending to move the blocks out of their spot.

Zuko was left to gawk at him, his mouth open, as Aang fit every single block of ice in place perfectly, with next to no efforts. His arms were as good as flowing in the air, every stance so smooth it was nearly flawless. Zuko could barely contain his amazement: this was the Avatar. He was bending water and air at the same time. And he was, without a doubt, one of the most talented benders he'd ever seen.

But his amazement was easily replaced by bitterness and irritation when Aang's construction was finished within brief moments: it was an igloo, it was perfect and the Avatar had built it in a matter of instants. It was everything Zuko needed, and what he couldn't possibly achieve no matter how hard he tried.

"Y-you did it! You actually did it!" Kino exclaimed, his jaw dropping as he gawked at the building in disbelief. Aang huffed, puffing up his chest.

"And now I am a man who can take a bride" he declared, beaming.

"Alright, I'll tell Katara!" Kino said, turning to the Chief's igloo but Aang grimaced and seized the hood of his friend's parka.

"W-what do you mean you'll tell Katara?! There's nothing to tell!"

"But you just built this thing because you wanted to…" Kino started, frowning in confusion as Aang blushed and shook his head.

"I'm not going to run to ask her to marry me just like that, though!" Aang exclaimed. Zuko snorted and shook his head.

"Well, we're set, huh?" he said "The guy who can make an igloo doesn't have it in him to ask the girl he likes to marry him. And the guy who even has a baby on the way can't even figure out what to do with the ice…"

"But you just saw how I did it, right?" Aang said "That's how you'd do it! Just, slower, of course, but it can be done! I can help…!"

"You're not going to help any more than you already have. No one will" said Zuko, turning to his building site again "Thanks, though, for the lesson on how to make an igloo. It was enlightening, at least"

"But…" Aang said, grimacing. He bit his lip "S-say, uh, maybe you're just an honorable guy and that's why you want to do it on your own…"

Zuko was startled by that. He glanced over his shoulder at Aang, who was scratching the back of his head nervously.

"So how about, uh, I help you and you help me? That way it sounds fair, right?"

"Help you?" Zuko asked, frowning "Help you with what, exactly? You want advice on how to woo your psycho waterbender? I'm not the best guy to ask, I still have no idea what Suki sees in me…"

"That's not…! No, that's not it" said Aang, grimacing "I meant… well, y-you're a firebender, huh?"

"Yeah?" said Zuko, turning to face Aang, his arms folded across his chest "What of it?"

"Well… I'm the Avatar, but I've only gotten close to mastering two elements so far" said Aang, smiling awkwardly "So I was wondering if you could, you know, maybe…"

"Teach you firebending?" Zuko finished, his eyes widening. Aang looked at him hopefully.

"I promise I won't impose a lot! Just, maybe one hour, maybe two a day? Less than that? And I'll help more with the igloo, I promise, I…"

"Forget it"

Aang froze, noticing Zuko's face wasn't that of confusion anymore. He seemed disbelieving, along with outraged.

"But… why?" Aang asked, somewhat hurt by Zuko's immediate refusal "Why not? I'm not going to be a problem, I just wanted to…"

"Don't you think it's utterly ridiculous for a guy who's been chasing after you for half his life to end up teaching you how to firebend?" Zuko asked, raising his eyebrow "It's not even ironic, it's just…!"

"Actually, it is ironic…" Kino mused behind Aang, but Zuko didn't listen.

"I can't help you. I'm sorry, but this is just… I can't do it" he said, shaking his head and turning to his igloo spot again. Aang frowned heavily.

"You just can't do it, then? Why?" Aang asked. Zuko huffed.

"Because as I said, I'm not supposed to be teaching you how to fight" he grunted.

"How do you know what your destiny is?" Aang asked "Why would you be so sure of it, huh? You might just be wrong, you know!"

"I doubt it" said Zuko, shaking his head "I'm sorry I can't be of any use, but I won't do it. Besides, you're supposed to learn earthbending before firebending, aren't you?"

"I… yes, but there are no earthbenders around so I thought…"

"You can't skip the cycle order" Zuko said. Aang huffed.

"Even when we're in the middle of a war? Even when skipping it might mean I'll save lives someday, somehow?"

Zuko fell silent. Aang shook his head and glared at his back.

"Well, fine then" he said "Have it your way. I'll just… get to furnishing my igloo, huh?"

"Oh, oh, oh, can I live with you, Aang?!" Kino asked, his eyes bright "Two bachelors, living the life! Wouldn't it be nice?"

Aang's frustration receded briefly as he looked at his friend. He glanced one more time at Zuko, who kept his back towards them. The Prince refused to say another word, and it didn't seem he'd be sorry to watch Aang go. The Avatar turned to Kino and smiled weakly.

"Well, fine. I don't mind" he said, and Kino hooted.

"Yeah! I'll gather my things and move in right away!"

Zuko gritted his teeth and glanced over his shoulder as the two of them disappeared, surely on their way to Hakoda's igloo. He sighed, wondering if he was only being a proud fool by rejecting Aang's offer. But it wouldn't be right: he had to build this place from scratch. He couldn't ask the Avatar to help him with it, or else it would be Aang's second igloo rather than Zuko's own. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it the right way.

So he held out Kino's knife and he got to work. The sooner he started, the better.

* * *

Suki had promised she'd ask people for advice on how to build igloos, but she found herself facing a natural predicament: she wasn't sure how to approach anyone. Most men looked at her with interest, but she felt awfully self-conscious about that. Women weren't impolite, but they were busy and she didn't want to bother them. She guessed men would know more about building igloos, but she didn't dare ask them, dreading that any of them might ask the question that she knew all of them were wondering: what was she doing with the Fire Nation prince, of all people?

So she chose to go back to Hakoda's home, despite she hadn't originally planned on doing that. She sighed, wishing Zuko could finish building that igloo soon. They hadn't spent any nights together ever since they had reached the South Pole, as Hakoda had kept Zuko confined to Sokka's old room until he delivered today's ultimatum. Aang and Kino slept by the fireplace, wrapped in sleeping bags. Suki had been left to bunk with Katara. The other free rooms in the house were Hakoda and Kanna's. All in all, Hakoda's home was privileged, for it was the largest igloo in the entire village.

As Suki returned, hoping to find the ever-helpful Kanna sitting by the fire, she found the igloo's larger room empty. One peek into Kanna's room revealed Katara was helping her grandmother to bed for a nap. Suki was out of luck, then. Kanna had been Suki's best hope for fulfilling the task Zuko had given her, so maybe she'd just wait until the nap was over…

"Suki?"

She stiffened when Katara called her name. The waterbender raised her eyebrows as she left her grandmother's bedside, closing the drapes into the room behind her as Suki stood in place nervously.

"What's going on?" Katara asked "You'd left with Zuko, I figured you wouldn't be back soon…"

"Well, he's determined to build the igloo on his own but he has no idea how" said Suki, with a guilty smile "I said I'd help him by asking people about how to build them"

"Huh" said Katara, raising an eyebrow "That's not building it on his own, though, is it?"

"What…?" Suki said, frowning as Katara moved to rekindle the fire "How exactly is he supposed to know how to do it if he wasn't born here or knows anything about your culture? It's one thing to expect someone born and raised in the Water Tribe to know, but that Zuko doesn't isn't his fault. There's no ice or snow in the Fire Nation"

"But here is down here so… he'll have to make do" said Katara. Suki frowned and folded her arms over her chest.

"That's really unfair, you know?" she said, as Katara settled on pillows on the bamboo floor. Suki sat across her, staring at her with disapproval "I've been as patient and understanding with you guys as I could be, but at this point I can't stand it anymore. Zuko is trying, he's accepting your conditions, he's not doing anything wrong anymore! What else could you possibly ask of him?"

Katara frowned, avoiding Suki's gaze. She wasn't sure how to answer that question. Was she truly being unfair? Maybe she wasn't supposed to make the Fire Nation Prince pay the price for his father's wrongdoings, but it was hard to help thinking this way. He wasn't only the son of the warmonger who had destroyed most chances of peace and balance in the world, but he was the sibling of the woman who had ripped her brother away from home. Foolish as it might have sounded, she felt entitled to take out her frustrations by mistreating Zuko.

"I don't really know" Katara said, truthfully "Maybe… okay, maybe we did go overboard but you do understand, right? I mean… the Fire Nation attacked your island too, didn't they?"

"They occupied it. We fought back at first until our own people begged us to stop" Suki admitted, lowering her head "Our village's leader decided to capitulate, choosing that course of action over risking the lives of his fellow villagers…"

"That was very noble of him" said Katara.

"It wasn't as bad as what you guys have endured, I understand that" said Suki, raising a hand "But I swear, Zuko has had nothing to do with any of what happened to you guys. He's a good man, far too good considering who his father is"

Katara looked at Suki with uncertainty. The former gladiator sighed in despair and Katara grimaced.

"Listen, I want to believe you, okay? Fact is, the only reason we didn't outright do anything worse to Zuko is because… because you're swearing constantly that he's a good man. So it's not like we don't believe you" she said "The thing is, I have a hard time wrapping my head around living alongside a man who's related to the Fire Lord who… who commanded the raid that killed my mother. It's devastating"

Despite herself, Suki lowered her gaze too. She wanted to make them warm up to Zuko, but she understood their plight all too well. The Fire Lords had caused too much damage, and unfair as it would be, the new generations were paying for it. The cycle of hatred and violence seemed never-ending.

"I get it. I mean… I wouldn't be that forgiving of people who caused me so much pain either. I mean, I've… I've been through many bad things myself, and I can't imagine I'd be too forgiving if I ever encountered… w-well, some awful people from my past. But Zuko isn't directly responsible for anything you've been through, Katara…"

"I know that, but… frankly, I don't know how to be forgiving the way you are" Katara said, shaking her head "I mean, I have no idea what you went through exactly, what you claimed the Princess saved you from? But maybe it wasn't as bad as…"

"Uh, seriously?" Suki said, raising her eyebrows. Katara blinked with uncertainty "You think getting thrown in a slave market and being sold to a pair of scumbags without a single bone of goodness in their body, to be used as their sex slave, was so much nicer than what you've endured? Really?"

Katara's eyes were wide now as she looked at Suki in disbelief. The former slave swallowed hard. She hadn't explained her circumstances before this, but she wasn't going to endure more of Katara's entitled behavior.

"Y-you mean… you were…? Was that what you were saved from?" Katara asked. Suki nodded.

"What the Princess saved me from" she said "Yes, the men who tormented me were Fire Nation, but so was she. So was the friend she tasked with finding me. So is Zuko, who helped me recover after all that happened. I have every reason to hold a grudge and assume the Fire Nation at large can't be forgiven, but I have every reason to believe there's still good people there. They've helped me, they've saved me…"

"But that person who saved you doomed my brother" Katara said, gritting her teeth "It's almost like we're talking about two different people"

"Maybe they are" said Suki "Maybe she has changed more than you think, thanks to him. I know it's hard to believe, but it's not impossible. I don't think I could have forgiven someone who ripped me away from home unfairly, but I also didn't think I'd ever fall in love with a Fire Nation Prince, or that he'd be one of the kindest men I'd known…"

"Well, he's not kind enough to teach me firebending, that's for sure"

Aang's voice broke through their conversation as he sank into a seat next to Katara. His face was contorted in a frustrated grimace, his eyebrow twitching. Kino followed, looking troubled by his friend's uncharacteristic bad mood.

"You… you asked him to do what?!" Katara shouted, all thoughts of Suki's previous explanations about Zuko forgotten quickly. Suki grimaced.

"Come on, I've got to learn the last two elements at some point" said Aang, pouting "And I thought if I helped him build his igloo by showing him how it's done, he'd want to teach me! But no, he thinks it's just ironic in a bad way or something and just refuses to…"

"Heh, well, oddly enough I agree with him for once" said Katara, frowning at Aang "I have no doubts you can take care of yourself, Aang, but how can you trust him so quickly to teach you how to firebend?"

"Hey, he's been here for like two weeks" said Aang, raising an eyebrow "It only took you one day to accept my offer to teach you waterbending"

"That's…! That's neither here nor there" said Katara, crossing her arms over her chest "You are the Avatar, how would I have not trusted you…?"

"Well, I just want to know why he wouldn't trust me!" said Aang, pouting and looking at Suki "Do you think you can convince him to teach me…?"

"I… don't know. I mean, I can try, but I can't guarantee anything" said Suki, sighing "All this is taking a toll on him. He never expected any of this to happen"

"I know, but he could still teach me to firebend…"

"Isn't earth the next element you should learn?" Katara asked, looking at Aang pointedly "You can't skip…"

"Well, we're in the middle of a war and there's no possible earthbending teacher around, as far as I can see" said Aang, raising his eyebrows "Unless Suki is an earthbender and forgot to tell us, then I can't learn earthbending for the time being. But finally there's a firebender around, one who's not going to betray us…"

"Only because we scared him away from it…" Katara muttered.

"And yet he refuses!" Aang exclaimed, ignoring his friend "I mean… why? I don't get it!"

"Give it time" said Suki, biting her lip "Maybe… maybe in due time he'll see that he loses nothing from doing this"

"I hope you're right" said Aang, sighing and shaking his head. Kino patted his back.

"Come on, come on, cheer up! We should start thinking about how to furnish our igloo, right?"

"I… guess?" said Aang, still pouting. Katara jumped.

"Wait, what? Your… igloo?" she asked. Aang smiled a little.

"I showed Zuko how it's done by building one myself, but there's nothing in it, of course" he admitted "We'll have to find sleeping bags first of all, right?"

"Maybe Katara will let us take the ones we've been using here…?" Kino asked, with an innocent smile. Katara huffed and shrugged.

"I don't mind. You can ask my dad, but do keep in mind that he's not going to let you borrow everything we have over here. You'll have to make many things from scratch yourselves" she said. Aang and Kino looked at her in chagrin.

"U-uh… but you'll help us figure out how to make those things, right?" Aang asked, smiling weakly. Katara shrugged and the Avatar pouted again "Katara…"

Suki frowned, deep in thought. Kino and Aang had their igloo, but nothing to put in it… surely this was the part where she would be able to help Zuko. She smiled, realizing she wouldn't be left doing nothing through the next months after all. It didn't matter how long Zuko took to build that igloo, she would slowly but surely craft everything they'd need to live properly in there. From sleeping bags to kitchenware, there was much she could do for her future family's sake. Their story was only just beginning, and while she knew Zuko was in no mood to enjoy it, she wasn't quite as disheartened as he was.

* * *

The Prince's hard work wasn't paying off as he had wished. He had spent hours trying to follow Aang's lead, but the work with the ice blocks was trickier than he had thought. How was he supposed to make the entrance? Where? Did he have to cut out blocks of ice to make steps for access? What about a ramp instead…?

"The kid would fall through it when it starts walking, though…" he reasoned, sighing as he sat cross-legged before the chosen spot for his igloo.

Muffled footsteps in the snow alerted him. He wasn't alone anymore.

But when he turned to glance at his visitor, he was startled upon seeing a larger weapon dropped next to him. A sharp, long weapon that might just prove perfect for his endeavor with the ice blocks. Zuko stared at it in confusion, and Hakoda's voice nearly sounded foreign now as the man spoke to him.

"The first few ice blocks are always the hardest ones. You'll find it gets much easier in time"

Zuko frowned as he glanced up at Hakoda. The Tribe's Chief remained stoic.

"According to Aang, the top is the hardest part" said Zuko, raising his eyebrows "Besides, I… I think it's too small, the way I'm doing it. Or the way I meant to do it, anyhow…"

"You're used to bigger accommodations?" Hakoda asked. Zuko shrugged.

"I just want her to be comfortable. I don't want us cramped in a tiny space where she can barely move" he admitted, with a sigh "But I really don't know what I'm doing…"

"You've started trying. That's already a good sign" said Hakoda "You just need better tools for it. Also… here"

Zuko was surprised when the chief handed him a fur blanket. He looked at it in bewilderment before lifting his gaze towards Hakoda again.

"This is so I can sleep comfortably out here?" Zuko asked. Hakoda shrugged.

"If you can sleep at all, of course" he said "I'd suggest asking someone to take you in for the night, but…"

"How about you?" Zuko asked, with a sarcastic smile. Hakoda smirked and shook his head.

"Your bride is staying in my house. You can't do the same or else we'd risk, well, misbehavior on your part"

"Misbe-…? Oh. Uh, well, I don't think that'd happen" said Zuko, blushing. Hakoda snorted.

"As far as I can see, it already did. She's not pregnant by the magical will of some spirits, now, is she?"

"N-no, I mean, we wouldn't be so risky and do it in the middle of your house…" Zuko explained. Hakoda laughed.

"Well, I certainly hope so" he said "But it's still not right. You cannot share a house with her…"

"But nobody else would take me in for the night" Zuko said "I'll have to… set up a tent or something"

"That's a thought. Some people do it" said Hakoda "Those whose igloos have crumbled and who need to start from scratch, those who never managed to piece their igloos together, tend to resort to tents and huts instead"

"Huh. I guess I know where I belong now" said Zuko, with a dry grin. Hakoda shook his head.

"Not if you want to marry your girl, you don't" he said "Though of course, I could take you in at my house if I send Suki elsewhere. Perhaps with Yuro, he was fascinated by how pretty she is…"

Zuko's eyebrow twitched and he glared at Hakoda threateningly. Hakoda smirked.

"She'll be better off sharing rooms with my daughter, I'm sure you agree" he said "Have a good night"

"Good what? It's still broad daylight!" Zuko exclaimed, as Hakoda walked away.

"It may seem so to you, but if you keep wait for dusk to take a break you'll spend weeks without getting any rest" Hakoda said. Zuko grimaced as he watched the man returning to his own igloo.

Zuko sighed, placing the folded blanket on his thighs. Maybe later he'd be able to get some sleep, but for now, regardless of how worn out his body was after all this fruitless struggling against the ice, he had to try again…

But another attempt to pull out ice, now with the tool provided by Hakoda, proved ineffective. Zuko cut, Zuko pulled, Zuko struggled, but the chunks of ice he managed to procure were thin, soft, they came undone so easily he wanted to scream. What was he doing wrong?

He heard less voices by now, and he noticed that people were heading indoors. However the blazes did they measure day and night in a place where you only had one of either for as good as six months? He grimaced and shook his head, trying to focus on his endeavor again and hoping that sleeping out in the open wouldn't make it so he caught a cold…

It was around half an hour later that Kino and Aang started to bring over their few belongings to their brand new igloo. They were chatting through the chore, talking about what sorts of things they would furnish it with, and Kino headed inside to arrange everything when Aang noticed Zuko was still out in the cold, sitting before the cracks and blocks of ice.

He approached silently, glancing down at him furtively to find he was dozing off. Aang raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms behind his chest. Zuko's breathing was even, but his body was shivering ever so slightly. The blanket on his lap might have helped him brace against the cold if he had just wrapped it around himself, but Aang knew that wouldn't be enough.

"Hey… it's not a good idea to sleep out here"

Zuko jumped to his feet, startled by Aang's voice. He brushed the underside of his nose hastily and forced himself to his feet.

"I wasn't trying to sleep, it just… happened" he said, shaking his head "I'm fine. I won't go to bed yet, I still have to…"

"You should stop working for today. You need a break" said Aang, sighing "And although I'm still not happy that you refuse to be my teacher… you could still come into my igloo, with Kino and me. We can fetch the sleeping bag you were borrowing at Hakoda's place, if you'd like"

Zuko frowned. Aang looked at him with frustration.

"Seriously, I'm suggesting this for your own good. You're not going to build that igloo any faster if you're exhausted" he said "This isn't about me doing you more favors to make you teach me firebending, okay?"

"Right" said Zuko, sighing and shrugging "Well… thanks. I could use a better place to sleep"

Aang froze as Zuko rubbed his eyes with the hell of his hand. Had he just agreed to it? Was the cold weather really so bad that it had frozen Zuko's pride? Well, if that was the case he'd make the most of it while it lasted. He smiled and shrugged.

"Not a problem. I hope you get plenty of rest in my igloo!" he said, ushering Zuko to follow him into it.

Aang raced to get Zuko's sleeping bag while Kino settled the sleeping arrangements. Zuko was frowning as he eyed the empty igloo with confusion.

"You have nothing to burn? We can't get a fire going?" he asked. Kino grimaced and shook his head.

"I don't think so. We don't have a fireplace yet" he said "I'm so sorry about that, Prince Zuko…"

"You know, you don't have to be so… uh, formal?" Zuko said, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips "I'm not much of a prince anymore, in case you didn't hear"

"Well, now, you can't not be a prince! You're the Fire Lord's son, so you're a prince" said Kino, matter-of-factly. Zuko grimaced.

"The Fire Lord would rather I weren't his son. I wish it were the case, too" said Zuko, his eyebrow twitching.

"But… you can't do anything about it. You're related by blood! That's not something you can discard even if you… u-uh, are you mad? Should I stop talking?" Kino asked, after seeing how Zuko's demeanor had changed into irritation quickly.

"Yeah. Maybe you should" he determined, just as Aang returned with Zuko's sleeping bag and a bright smile.

"It's been a long time since I had a sleepover like this, hehe" said Aang, smiling as he handed over Zuko's bag "How about you guys?"

"Uh… if you count my time in the settlement, I guess I had one relatively recently, but that wasn't much of a sleepover" said Kino, smiling sadly "It was like being a stowaway on a sleepover, rather…"

"Why?" Zuko asked, raising his eyebrow. Kino grinned and shrugged.

"I guess because they just always pretended I didn't exist? Or… they didn't realize I did? I don't know for sure" he said, as he slid inside his sleeping bag. Zuko's eyebrow twitched.

"Does the army always act that way?" he asked "It's messed up. Why would they treat their fellow soldier like he doesn't exist?"

"I guess because they found me annoying. That's what Katara says anyhow" said Kino. Zuko grimaced.

"No surprises there. I guess she'd excuse anyone who hurts anyone else from the Fire Nation…"

"She's endured a lot" said Aang, swallowing hard "And she's very bitter for everything that's happened. But in enough time she'll come around. Suki was trying to get her to warm up to you today, so maybe someday…"

"Heh. I'm not holding my breath" Zuko said, opening his sleeping bag and sinking inside it. It was warm, just like the igloo. Even though there was no fire, it wasn't as cold as the outside.

"And what about you, then, Prince Zuko?" Kino asked "When was your last sleepover?"

"Hmm. About two weeks ago on a ship, with a pregnant girl who got up to vomit and made me panic about her worsening illness" Zuko confessed. Kino grimaced and Aang sighed.

"Before that?" Aang inquired.

"Before that, with said pregnant girl on a larger ship when she still wasn't sick, I guess" he said, and he allowed himself a little smirk. Kino and Aang blushed.

"Y-you're really smooth, I bet" said Kino. Aang jumped "I-I mean! Since he got a girl to fall in love with him and all…"

"Smoother than us, for sure" said Aang "Though it's not hard to be"

"Smooth?" Zuko repeated, raising an eyebrow "I'm… not. At all. Fact of the matter is, I have no idea why she likes me"

"But she does!" Kino exclaimed "Likes you enough to… t-to sleep with you, right?"

"I guess. I still don't understand why, since she could do a lot better, but… I'm happy" said Zuko, with his most earnest smile since he'd arrived into the South Pole. Kino and Aang exchanged glances.

"And, uh… any sleepovers without Suki?" Aang asked "Just with your friends, maybe?"

"What friends?"

"Well, I mean, you were a prince, you must have had lots of friends… right?" Aang asked. Zuko's smile waned.

"Uh, no. Actually… no. Most my friends were, well… my sister's friends. And since they were girls, slumber parties with them would have been very inappropriate"

"So, not even with Sokka?" Aang asked. Zuko sighed.

"You know, I've already said everything I could to illustrate what our relationship was like. Does it sound personal to you at all?" he asked. Aang shook his head and shrugged.

"It's just… I'm sure you have more stories than you've told. You two trained together, right?"

"Right, for a time" said Zuko. Aang bit his lip.

"And even then he was never your, well, your friend?"

"I… don't know. Was he?" said Zuko, raising an eyebrow "All we were ever good at was bickering and arguing. Is that enough to consider someone a friend?"

"What did you argue about?" Aang asked, his eyes brightening. Zuko sighed.

"I don't know. Anything and everything" he said, rolling on the sleeping bag "Usually about my sister, or about how he thought I was an inept because she told him so… heh, we had a pretty bad fight the second time we met. Damn near tore up Mai's house…"

"Who's Mai?" Kino asked. Zuko bit his lip.

"She was a, uh, friend. Another of my sister's"

"What's with the hesitation?" Aang asked, smirking knowingly "Don't tell me you've had more than one girlfriend…"

"I-I…!" Zuko started, blushing. Kino gasped, his hands to his mouth.

"You really are that smooth!"

"Oh, please…" said Zuko, and to his own surprise, he laughed "Smooth? In what world…!"

"Hey, I'm the Avatar and no girls fall for me, you have a gift, Zuko!" Aang declared, laughing as Kino looked at Zuko in admiration.

"You have a very weird perception of what that means…" said Zuko, smiling and shaking his head "Go to bed already. My love life isn't as fun as it sounds"

"Well, it's way more fun than mine" said Kino "Last girl who talked to me said she'd sew my boots together if I kept annoying her"

"Katara has no sense of moderation, does she?" Zuko asked, knowingly. Kino smiled guiltily as Aang sighed.

"I do wonder what she thinks of me, though…" he said, surprising both Kino and Zuko.

"Other than 'oh, wow, he's the Avatar, he's the coolest guy in the world'?" Kino asked. Aang blushed.

"W-well… am I just the Avatar for her? Does she just see me as my title, or does she see me as, well… me?"

"Hm. Good question. You should ask her" Zuko said, teasingly. Aang jumped.

"I could never!"

"Then I'll ask for you!" Kino exclaimed, giving Aang the thumbs up. Aang shook his head and looked at him accusingly.

"Don't you dare!"

The three men continued to chat for a while, until finally Kino and Aang fell asleep. Zuko was the one who spoke the least, but he found himself watching as Aang dozed off quietly, as Kino drooled on his pillow: when was the last time he had made any friends of his own? He didn't remember it. Even though he had found Suki by himself, and their bond had been unique, the attraction between them had always been romantic. Their initial friendship, thus, was marked by something different than what was brewing here and now.

Why didn't Aang hate him? Why did he offer him this much kindness in exchange for nothing? Everything had made more sense when he had wanted Zuko to teach him to firebend. But even though he knew Zuko refused to teach him, he still offered him his igloo. He still talked with him, and was intrigued by him. Kino, as well, was quite interested in him. He couldn't remember having conversations like these with any other men before. Even during his travels, the crew had always been its own thing. They were people who worked for him, who were loyal to him… but they weren't his friends. Were Aang and Kino his friends, then? Were they going to be?

Strangely, the idea wasn't all that disagreeable. Maybe he could use new friends, despite it all.

* * *

"It's weird that Sokka's room is empty again" Katara mused, as she and Suki lay on opposite ends of her bedroom, both safely tucked in their sleeping bags "But I guess the birds leave the nest at some point, huh?"

"Isn't that what mothers say?" Suki asked, smiling a little "Are you mothering those two, by any chance? Because I doubt you're sad about Zuko being elsewhere…"

"Heh, well, I don't mother them…" she said, softly. Suki chuckled.

"Maybe you do it without noticing it" she said "Though I guess you're not trying to mother Aang, are you?"

The question brought blood to flush Katara's cheeks. She glanced out the window from where she lay, trying to avoid Suki's question.

"What's the story with you two? Other than, you know, that you broke him out of the iceberg and all that…" Suki said. Katara sighed.

"I… guess he's been my waterbending teacher. And a good friend, too" she said "He's the first person to ever show me some of what's outside the South Pole. We went to his old home, in the Southern Air Temple…"

"Oh? You did?" Suki asked, surprised "That sounds like quite a fun trip… Zuko has visited the Air Temples too, actually. You know, when he was…"

"Trying to find Aang, I guess" said Katara "The Southern Air Temple is a long way from your home, right? From Kyoshi Island"

"Well, the Fire Nation is certainly further away" said Suki, sighing "But who knows? Maybe I can get Zuko to show me around it before we go to Kyoshi Island. It could be fun, right?"

"As long as you don't look at all the skeletons, sure" said Katara, sighing. Suki's enthusiasm waned immediately.

"Oh… that's awful" she said. Katara nodded.

"Aang didn't take it well, but… but he's such a good man. Even when the Fire Nation did so much harm, he still could believe they were completely lost even when I kept telling him that. I can't imagine what it would be like to be in his place sometimes, you know? To be… out of your time, in the same world but a hundred years later. For all your friends and family to be gone, for your culture to have been vanquished… and yet he holds onto hope so tightly, so sure that nothing is lost for good. I just wish… I wish I could be like him"

"He looks and sounds like a wonderful man" said Suki, smiling a little "No wonder you like him"

"Though I guess at times I wonder if… well, if it's just me being wishful" said Katara, with a weak grin "He cares about me, but maybe it's just because I was the one who found him. Or because I'm a waterbender and he's my teacher? I just…"

"You have no idea if he feels the same way about you" said Suki. Katara sighed.

"What would he see in a girl like me?" she asked "I'm so bitter, so unforgiving… I don't think he likes that about me. It's landed us in enough trouble as it is. I guess I'm just… not that good for him. Am I?"

"I think you're better than you think you are" said Suki, smiling "I had doubts too, believe it or not. Why would the Fire Nation Prince take an interest in me? In fact, for a time I thought he would just enjoy anything romantic that happened between us, or the sex, and that when the time came he'd take another wife and I'd be a long-gone memory. I never thought that… well, that he'd be building an igloo so he can take me as his wife. It's a future I didn't expect at all"

"You must be happy for it, though" said Katara. Suki's smile brightened as she closed her eyes.

"He's the best thing that has happened to me since I left my island" she said "I doubted that he'd be so interested in me, but… turns out I wasn't all that wrong when I read those signs the way I did. He loves me. And… well, I can't say for sure, but maybe Aang could love you too and you just don't know it yet"

"Hmm. Wouldn't that be lucky" said Katara, sighing but smiling "You know, you're a lot like Aang. For someone who's been through so much, you really can believe in the best of everyone, huh?"

"I guess" said Suki, shrugging "I suppose that after some time, you realize the world isn't as simple and black and white as you were raised to think it was. In Kyoshi Island we hated the Fire Nation, even though the war hadn't touched us. By the time I went there, a lot of what I used to think changed. There are so many evil practices there, there's no denying it… but there are good people, too.

"I had a neighbor, she was so sweet… she often watched me in the Arena, cheering me on and sometimes she even made dinner for me to celebrate when I'd fought well. She was Fire Nation, though. So is Zuko. So were Mai, Ty Lee, Princess Azula… and in their own ways, all of them showed me kindness. No doubt they make mistakes, but who doesn't? I guess… in the end, I'd rather judge a person by their character and their beliefs than by where they were born. It's not like they had a say in that, right?"

"I guess" said Katara, sighing "So I suppose you judge me an extremist of sorts?"

"I didn't say that…" Suki said, with a weak grin. Katara smiled too.

"You know… maybe that's what happened to my brother" she mused. Suki raised an eyebrow "Maybe he learned the same things you did. And maybe that's why… why you and Zuko think he doesn't hate the Princess, despite it all"

"Yes. That's probably the case" said Suki, smiling.

"Though I still refuse to believe he fell in love with her. That's too much" Katara said. Suki laughed.

"Fine, fine. We don't know for sure either way" she conceded. Katara sighed and turned on her side.

"Good night, Suki"

"Night, Katara"

The waterbender didn't fall asleep right away, merely staring off through the window again briefly as she pondered what she'd just concluded about her brother. He had always been outspoken about hating the Fire Nation, but maybe his experiences had changed him the way they had changed Suki. Maybe the Sokka she remembered was gone… but she only hoped he was because he had chosen to change. If he had been broken, brainwashed… she wouldn't stand for it. She never would.

She was only starting to doze off when she heard a whimper. She frowned, noticing it was more than just a whimper. Words, a string of words, incoherent ones. She sat up, glancing at Suki as she recognized her voice. She was shaking, from the looks of it…

"Suki? Hey, Suki…" she called her, crawling out of her sleeping bag towards her.

"N-no, no, don't touch me, don't touch me…" she gasped, frantically. Katara's eyes widened, and she stretched a hand towards her.

"Suki…?"

"Go away, go away, go away…"

"Hey, you're having a nightmare, you're…" Katara said, clasping her shoulder, not expecting Suki to attack. Her hand struck her forearm so hard Katara gasped and pulled away "Suki!"

"Get off me, go away! L-leave me alone, don't touch me…!" she was saying now, her voice louder by the minute. Katara grimaced and pulled away.

Suki's eyes were still closed as she rolled on the sleeping bag, seemingly fighting with the covers, with her memories, with everything around her. Katara had never seen anything quite like it, and she was growing fearful with every one of Suki's mumbles. She had to get help. Someone had to wake Suki up…

She was racing out of the igloo soon, carried by despair and impulses rather than rational thought. She had no idea how to deal with his… but maybe someone did.

"Zuko! Zuko!" she cried out, as she made her way towards his igloo building site. She found Aang's igloo and slid inside it. It was dark, and she had trouble figuring out which one of the three shapes would be the prince "Zuko! Wake up!"

"Woah, woah, what's going on…?" she heard Kino say.

"Katara…?" Aang said next. The last one to speak was Zuko, sitting up on his sleeping bag.

"What's this…? Why're you calling me?" he asked, confused. Katara gritted her teeth.

"Something's wrong with Suki. She's, well, having some nightmare, I guess? She hit me, she's mumbling, she's…!"

Katara didn't need to say another word before Zuko jumped out of the sleeping bag and headed into the open again. He didn't hesitate, didn't ask more questions. Katara had the feeling it wasn't the first time this happened. Her only relief, though, was that Zuko's immediate response probably meant he knew what to do.

She followed him, not answering any of Aang or Kino's questions, and the two of them rushed towards Hakoda's igloo. She only hoped Suki's voice hadn't risen much more than it had, or else her father and grandmother would be woken by her…

Zuko made his way to Katara's room without any hesitation, dropping to his knees beside the restless Suki. She was still gasping, now begging for it to stop, whatever it was…

"It's over. Suki, it's over. You're not there anymore" Zuko said, his voice firm and steady "You're not there, Suki. You're not there"

An attempt to touch her shoulders received another aggressive response, but Zuko clasped her wrists and held her in place before she could reject him any further.

"You're not there! It's over! They're gone! Nobody will hurt you anymore!" he said, louder now "I'm here, Suki! It's me, Zuko! I'm here…!"

As the words finally reached her, her restlessness started to drop until her eyes opened with a start. She looked up at Zuko, at first fearfully, but her eyes grew gentler as she noticed it was him. Zuko's hold on her hands weakened, as he stared at her in concern.

"Suki?" he said, softly now. She gritted her teeth, tears blinking in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I… d-did I hurt…?" she asked. Zuko shook his head, releasing her wrists altogether and cupping her face.

"You didn't hurt me. You didn't hurt anyone" he said "You're okay, dear. You're okay. They're gone, and you have nothing to be sorry about. Bad dreams aren't your fault…"

"B-but I… I'm still sorry, Zuko…" she whispered.

"I'm sorry you have them, too" he said, lying down beside her and cradling her in his arms "But it's gone now. You're safe, Suki. You're safe"

She cried softly, holding onto him tightly. Katara was left to stand by the doorway, watching them with wide eyes. Their relationship was far more complex than she realized… Suki needed Zuko. The darkness of her past still chased her, and Zuko was helping her keep the nightmares at bay. Even though Suki wouldn't begrudge Fire Nation people anymore, her worst sorrows were probably ever-present. It was lucky that she had found a man who knew how to help her deal with them.

Katara swallowed hard and, for the time being, she sat on her sleeping bag, watching those two. Maybe she wasn't supposed to, but she would allow Zuko to sleep by Suki's side if that was the only way to help her calm down and sleep soundly.

* * *

"So… apparently what I have to do is crack the ice and use the pieces I break to create the igloo" Zuko explained to Suki by the next morning, gesturing at his chosen building site "Only… now I think it should be a bit larger than I'd planned"

"If you say so" she said, smiling fondly at him "But… won't that be more work?"

"Probably" Zuko conceded, with a guilty smile "But I'm sure it will be worth it"

They stood together in the snow, his arm wrapped tight around her shoulders. He had spent the night with her after all, holding her to make sure her nightmares would no longer plague her. He proved to be the perfect remedy for her woes, although he wasn't sure Katara approved of that. She had fallen silent after Zuko had appeased Suki, and spoken no words to either of them after that.

By morning Zuko was forced to rush to Aang and Kino's igloo again, so Hakoda wouldn't catch him where he wasn't supposed to be. Nevertheless, the three men still returned to Hakoda's igloo for breakfast later. Once the meal was done, Zuko had wanted some private time with Suki to make sure she was okay. Their walk had led them back here, where Zuko was sharing his ideas for their future home with his future wife.

"I mean, think about it. A small igloo would mean that we would have to sleep in the same space as our daughter, and don't you think that'd be a little inappropriate?"

"Inappropriate? That's how a lot of people do it here, from what I understand" said Suki, smiling "Also… daughter? Really?"

"I just have a feeling it will be a girl" said Zuko, smiling and shrugging. Suki raised her eyebrows.

"Well, that's very nice, but… what if it's a boy?" she asked, amused.

"It will be a girl. I know it" said Zuko, proudly. She laughed and hugged him, burying her face in his neck.

"Whatever you say. I hope you have your way, then" she said, caressing his chest. Zuko smiled "Say… Aang was, uh, complaining yesterday about how you wouldn't teach him firebending. Is it true?"

"U-uh… yeah. Why do you ask?" Zuko asked. Suki shrugged.

"I'm just curious. Why didn't you want to teach him?" she asked "I think it'd be good for you to have a firebending training partner. I mean, I guess firebending will be harder down here than in the Fire Nation, but it might be good training anyways. You shouldn't let your skills dull with time, right?"

"Uh, huh" said Zuko, grimacing "I'm not sure, Suki. I mean…"

"You think it's too ridiculous for you to teach Aang when you'd been chasing him all your life?" she asked. Zuko shrugged but then shook his head.

"Truth be told, I just… I don't think I'm worthy of teaching an Avatar" Zuko said. Suki raised her eyebrows "Shouldn't an actual firebending master teach someone like that? Someone who knows for sure what he's doing…"

"Someone like you, then" said Suki. Zuko frowned.

"Suki…"

"Darling, we both know you've been through a lot, which makes you look down on yourself and second-guess your skills" said Suki, stroking his chest "As you kept comparing yourself to your sister, you always thought you weren't good enough. But I say you should try, Zuko. It won't hurt you, or anyone else, for you to try to help the Avatar. If anything, getting him started with firebending is quite a noble purpose, don't you think?"

"Noble?" Zuko repeated, swallowing hard "Oh, Suki, I don't know…"

"Just think about it. He's not going to find a better firebending master, I think" she said, placing her head on his shoulder "Besides, it should be good practice for you to prepare yourself for our firebending daughter, huh?"

"Oh?" said Zuko, biting his lip and smiling "I guess… she would be a firebender, huh?"

"I hope our predictions won't bite us back later" said Suki, giggling and looking at him warmly "You can make your own destiny, love. If you're afraid this will turn you into an irredeemable enemy to your father, well…"

"It's not like I'm not one already, huh?" Zuko said "I guess you're right. I should stop being so fearful. Maybe… maybe I can teach him the basics, and some intermediate forms. At least that's something I should be able to do…"

"You will be. I know it" said Suki "Aang will be so pleased to hear it, I'm sure…"

"Yeah. Hopefully he'll be an easygoing student. I don't know how to be a teacher, after all" Zuko said, with a weak smile. Suki smiled too.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he won't be imposing at all. Just look at him…"

Zuko turned his head and found Kino and Aang were standing in front of their igloo with Katara, holding out long fabrics and pondering if they would work for what they needed in their igloo. Suki smiled.

"They let you stay with them last night, right?"

"I didn't spend much time there, though" said Zuko "Still, it was weird. Felt like… like I was their friend, somehow. It's a weird feeling. I guess they're just too nice, huh?"

"It's a good thing, making new friends" she said, caressing his arm now "I'm sure they'll be happy about this. And you will be happy too, eventually"

"Well, for that I just need you to be happy" he said, prodding her nose with his and kissing her lips softly "Everything else is an added bonus"

"That's sweet" she replied, cupping his face before taking his hand in hers "So, shall we tell them of your new decision?"

"I… guess" said Zuko, with an awkward smile.

As they approached they overheard Kino complaining about how blue everything was in the Water Tribe, and how he wanted their house's adornments to be of multiple colors. Aang seemed to be fine with the notion while Katara huffed in irritation. She only held back from scolding them for their fickle request when she noticed Zuko and Suki were next to them.

"Feeling better after that walk?" Katara asked. Suki smiled and nodded.

"Thanks for getting Zuko last night, really. And for not protesting against, uh, well… us breaking the rules" she said, with a guilty grin. Katara shrugged.

"I'm just glad it worked" she said, with a weak smile of her own "You deserved to get proper rest, regardless of rules"

"Well, then… since we're breaking rules we might as well continue doing so in other regards too, right?" Suki said, looking at Zuko. He swallowed hard and looked at Aang before Katara could ask, confused as she was, about what Suki had meant.

"I've… thought about it. I still think there's other people who'd be better for the job, and it's still true you should have learned earthbending first, but…" he said, biting his lip "But if you really want me to teach you firebending, I'll do my best"

Aang's eyes widened before his face broke into a full smile. His celebratory exclamation saw him shooting around ten feet in the air, after airbending in delight. His friends watched him go, most of them with smiles on their faces. Katara seemed to remain apprehensive over the idea, but she looked at Zuko and remembered what had happened last night. She remembered how gentle he had been, how he had proven, just then and there, that Suki's insistence on what a good a man he was had been true after all.

"Yes! Yeah! Oh, you're not going to regret this, Zuko, I promise!" Aang said, beaming "I'll be the best student…!"

"Yeah, well, as long as he doesn't get distracted by penguin sledding he will be" said Katara, smirking a little and looking at Zuko "You'll have to drag him to practice before you know it. I know I've had to do the same"

"Oh, really? A difficult student, then?" Zuko asked, regarding Aang with interest. He expected the Avatar to retort to his friend's assessment, but instead he was smiling brightly "Something on your mind?"

"Yes! Katara, that's a great idea! We should all go penguin sledding!" he exclaimed.

"We should!" Kino agreed, beaming "I mean, it has nothing to do with you learning firebending, but we should!"

"Oh, don't get carried away…" said Katara, as Aang whipped up his air scooter and beamed.

"First one there gets a head start!" he exclaimed, before dashing off on his ball of air. Kino gasped, indignant.

"Hey! You're cheating with that air scooter!" he exclaimed, chasing after Aang stubbornly as they left the Tribe's walled territory and headed towards the west.

Katara chuckled and shook her head, before looking at Zuko and Suki. They still seemed confused by the very concept of penguin sledding.

"It's a tribal tradition, or a game for children, really" she explained "The otter-penguins are friendly enough to let us ride them, if we bribe them properly with fish, that is"

"Sounds weird" Suki said, amused. Zuko bit his lip.

"You probably shouldn't do that, though. I imagine people have had accidents, right?"

"Oh, sometimes" Katara admitted "It is better that a pregnant woman doesn't penguin sled, yes"

"Well, then I can go watch" Suki said, smiling "That way I'll know what to do to ride one after I give birth, right?"

"I'll stay with you" said Zuko, his arm still tight around her shoulders "We'll join the fun after the baby is here, together"

"Sounds like a plan" said Suki, smiling brighter yet and placing her head on his shoulder.

Katara sighed but smiled. In a sense, she envied them. They were a young couple, and despite the hardships they'd endured, they truly loved each other. She still had a few reservations left towards Zuko, but they were disappearing slowly and surely as she saw he was a better man than she had given him credit for.

Life had often proven her wrong, she realized. First, she had believed all hope was lost, and that was when she found Aang. Afterwards, she had assumed all Fire Nation people were corrupted beyond salvation, but Kino and now Zuko proved otherwise.

As she guided Zuko and Katara towards the otter-penguins' mountain, she found herself hoping that the world would continue to prove her assumptions wrong this way. Maybe the future wouldn't be as grim a destination as she had thought it was. Maybe balance was still possible.


	129. Chapter 129

His face contorted with displeasure, with chagrin. The next chance would be it, he would get it right, he would defeat his enemies. This wasn't the end, it couldn't be, no matter that the others had played their hands much better than he had. His strategy wasn't that bad, he could do this…

And then there it was. The golden chance, gifted to him by the one who could have been his undoing.

"Mahjong! Ha! I win!" Sokka exclaimed, proudly, as he took the tile Tai Wei had just discarded.

Fei Li and Taro looked at him in surprise as he declared his victory, while Tai Wei's hand shook, his finger hovering where the tile had been. He finally lowered his head in shameful defeat.

"Oh, not again! You just won the previous round!" Fei Li groaned, pouting "And I had a good hand this time, too…"

"Mahjong is a game of strategy, Fei Li" said Sokka, smirking proudly "When you notice a certain tile hasn't been discarded, you probably shouldn't let it go so easily, if just to avoid giving your opponent exactly what he's looking for…"

"A lesson hard learned, but I'll keep it in mind" said Tai Wei, nodding "You shuffle again, Taro?"

"He shouldn't, I'm better at shuffling!" said Fei Li, as the older guard took upon the duty of flipping the tiles again for their next distribution.

Mahjong was a frequent distraction for bored sailors, so naturally, Azula's Barge had a set of the game tucked away safely in one of the storages. Fei Li had found it by chance, and he had been thrilled to rally up three more people to play with. Sokka had been in the dining area of the ship, enjoying his breakfast, when Fei Li came rushing in, asking for willing opponents to play the game. Sokka offered himself when others refused to, in virtue of Fei Li's known streak of taking games too seriously and souring the pleasant mood for everyone. Thus, only the least competitive guards, Tai Wei and Taro, had joined in, and Sokka became the fourth member of the game, mainly out of curiosity.

They had explained the rules to him as they played, expecting a beginner to be too unexperienced to be a real threat, but Sokka had gotten the hang of the game in a matter of five rounds. His strategies were hard for the others to predict, as he remained adaptable, hoping to keep his gameplay efficient, most of all. The three Royal Guards were certainly astounded by his ability to analyze the game so thoroughly in such short time.

The Princess was, as ever, pleased to watch her gladiator overcoming impossible odds, even when it came to something as simple as a mahjong game. As she stood by the rim of the deck, watching them play a few feet away, she could only sigh in bliss and appreciate the sight before her. He was recovering well, as he often did. He had enough energies to sit there, under the morning sun, playing games and keeping his mind sharp to achieve success. It was a relief that he would be so close to his usual self, but she knew he still struggled when moving. He was prone to seeing dark spots dancing in his vision, to suffer from vertigo, to feel his body weakened even though he was scarcely putting it through any strain. Those symptoms had decreased with each passing day of their voyage, but it didn't stop happening completely. And even if they had, Azula wouldn't have dropped her guard.

She eyed him as he played Mahjong excitedly, taking notice of how much color he had regained. He still didn't dare move too much, and sometimes he made that expression of displeasure over the pain stinging his abdomen. But he was recovering. He was. She just needed to hold on to that.

"We're arriving ahead of schedule" Rui Shi commented, resting on the railing beside her. Azula nodded, as she watched the Great Gates of Azulon shrink behind them. They were almost home by now.

"I noticed" she said, nodding "It's better this way. I suspect his recovery rate may improve once he's home instead of on a rocking ship"

"He's already a lot better" said Rui Shi "Not completely better yet, but…"

"But I won't risk him hiking his way to his house as he always does after these trips" Azula said. Rui Shi raised an eyebrow.

"Will you take him home?" he asked. Azula gritted her teeth, but shook her head.

"I don't think I should" she muttered "I'd want to, but… I think I can't afford it. My father will need to hear of what happened, and if he finds out I was too busy looking after Sokka to report to him…"

"Things could get bad" Rui Shi acknowledged. Azula nodded.

"I need Sokka home safely, but if my father hears I arrived and didn't head to the Palace right away, he's not likely to take it well. He… he's supposed to be my top priority" Azula said, with a dry grin and a shrug "I can't give him any reasons to think otherwise, or else, as you said, things could get bad. Really bad. So…"

"What's your plan?" Rui Shi asked. She looked at him somewhat apprehensively.

"I trust you" she said. Rui Shi froze, blushing a little. As his helmet was removed during the journey, just as the other guards', his expression was in plain sight for the Princess "And that's the reason why I'm going to do something I didn't think I ever would. But if I want to be sure Sokka is safely home, even if I'm not there directly, well… there's a way to do it"

"You mean…?"

"I want you to take Xin Long, lead him to Sokka's house, and I want you to keep Sokka safe so he makes it through the flight without a hitch" said Azula "Once Song is tending to him, you can feel free to leave. But until then, you're… you're to watch over him and make sure he's alright"

"Princess… d-did you just…?" he asked, his voice trembling. Azula eyed him with uncertainty "I… I don't think I can do this. I'm not someone who can… I really just…!"

"Captain, this is not a request. This is an order. As usual" she said, frowning "As much as you may not like handling my unreasonable demands, I need you to do this. You might hold me in such high esteem that you'd never fly on my dragon, let alone without me on the saddle too, but I hold you in such high esteem that I'm extending you this honor. You get to be Xin Long's temporary rider"

Rui Shi opened his mouth and closed it repeatedly, lowering his gaze nervously. Azula sighed as she watched him fidget.

"Are you going to refuse again, Captain?" she asked "Because if you won't do it, I'll just ask someone else…"

"Fine, fine, I… I can do it" he said, swallowing hard "Only, what about you? Will you need the palanquin?"

"No, once Xin Long drops you two off, he'll come back to fetch me" said Azula "Simple and straightforward enough"

"Then… you're only deciding not to take him yourself to keep up appearances?" Rui Shi asked. Azula sighed "If it's the case, I understand, but… won't it still be suspicious if people see your dragon flying back and forth?"

"It's not entirely about what they see, it's about how little willpower I'd have if I were with him at his house" she said "I'd fail to take off again until I know for sure that he's fine, and, well, who knows how long it would take for me to leave at all. So, I'm handing over this task to you"

"I… I understand, I think" said Rui Shi, frowning a little "Very well, then, Princess. It shall be done"

"Thank you" she said, sighing and shifting away from the railing "But if we're going to do this, you two should probably take off now"

"It's a good thing Tai Wei helped him bring his luggage on deck earlier" said Rui Shi. As they had known they'd arrive today, Tai Wei had already given Sokka a hand so he wouldn't have to struggle with fetching his bags later.

The Captain and Princes turned to study Sokka as he twitched before the Mahjong game, waiting for the right tile to create the appropriate combination. After a while, Azula approached and stood behind Sokka, eyeing his tiles with curiosity. His eyebrow twitched as he glanced up at her, guessing she was assessing his playing decisions.

"You're collecting the wrong tiles" she said. Sokka grimaced.

"Of course not!" he retorted.

"Your chances to get all four of those aren't so good" she said, with a smirk.

The others leapt upon hearing that. They smirked too while Sokka looked at Azula in chagrin, for she had revealed Sokka had been after the rarest tiles…

… Only, she hadn't. Before four rounds, Sokka had collected all the perfectly common tiles he needed for another Mahjong, and he was cheering while Azula laughed at the dumbfounded expressions on her guards' faces.

"That was a bluff?! A bluff?!" Fei Li exclaimed, horrified "Princess, that's not fair!"

"Now, you're listening to what an outsider to the game says. Joke's on you for not considering that I might have been messing with your game rather than his" she said, shrugging. Sokka smiled proudly at her.

"If we'd been betting here, I'd have cleaned them out of all their money, hehe" he said. Azula smiled back.

"Good for you, but I'm afraid that your triumphant streak ends now" she said. Sokka's smile waned.

"Eh? It does? How come?" he asked.

"Xin Long's taking you home. Rui Shi will see you there. This way you won't have to walk, or take a carriage through bumpy roads" she explained. Sokka pouted but shrugged.

"Well, fair enough" he said "But these guys need another player… you should join them if I'm taking off with Rui Shi"

"Ah, should I, now?" Azula asked, smirking at her guards "We'll see about that"

Sokka chuckled as he pushed himself up. Azula almost made to help him, but Rui Shi lunged forward first, extending his hand for Sokka to take it. He eyed Azula almost remorsefully, but she nodded in gratefulness. Too often she needed to keep her instinctive protectiveness towards Sokka in check, and Rui Shi seemed to have known how to recognize those occasions better than Azula herself.

Xin Long was lounging on the ship's prow, lying upside down, when Azula, Rui Shi and Sokka approached. He was aware of what they needed from him, and he rolled over immediately. Azula smiled a little.

"As ever, entertained by the clouds" she said "Alright, you three, get going. Be quick, but be… gentle, alright, Xin Long?"

Xin Long shook his head proudly, as though refusing to do so. Azula narrowed her gaze and the dragon chuckled softly. She smirked and caressed his hair gently.

"Troublemaker" she whispered.

Rui Shi lifted Sokka's bags onto the saddle, and then he waited until Sokka had settled in the back seat before sitting at the front. The idea of riding the Princess's dragon filled him with a strange mix of euphoria and foreboding. He swallowed hard and breathed slowly. Azula looked at Sokka with worried and tender eyes.

"Tell Song what happened, she might know just how to treat you" she said "Don't go overboard with anything you do, don't even think about starting to train yet. Get rest, eat…"

"I'll do all those things, don't fret" said Sokka, with an encouraging smile "And you… go beat those guys at Mahjong. They're actually pretty fun to defeat, heh"

"Of course they are" said Azula, with a smirk "Take care, then. I'll drop by to see you when I have a chance"

"I'll look forward to it" he said, smiling too. Rui Shi nodded at Azula and she returned the gesture.

Xin Long took off easily, and he picked up speed as subtly as possible. Azula watched him go, having known her dragon wouldn't want to displease her when the situation was as serious as it was. Even though Xin Long always wanted to toy with Rui Shi and Sokka, he knew better than to do it this time around. The Captain held the reins awkwardly, but he didn't use them at all as the dragon progressed through the sky, headed towards Sokka's home. All the while, the gladiator's head was turned back, watching his Princess shrink in the ship while feeling that their roles were unfairly reversed this time around.

"Turtle shouldn't fly while the hawk stays down below…" he muttered. Rui Shi frowned.

"You said something?"

"N-no, never mind" said Sokka, with a weak smile.

Azula's eyes were fixed upon the dragon's figure as it grew smaller. She could still glimpse it in the horizon, but most of all, she could sense what her dragon was telling her through their bond. As long as Xin Long was with them, she had nothing to fear. Sokka would be safe. Nothing bad would happen to him, nothing could…

"Say, uh, Princess?" Fei Li called her. Azula frowned and turned.

"Yes?" she said, looking at them as Taro shuffled the tiles again.

"Were you going to play with us?" he asked, smiling innocently.

"Play?" Azula repeated "Oh, I don't mean to play with you. I mean to crush you"

A slow smirk spread over her face as her three guards welcomed her arrogant remark with amusement and some wariness. She took her seat where Sokka had been before, readying herself to play a few rounds, if just to keep herself from worrying over Sokka's journey home.

* * *

The last month had been rather leisurely for Song. She had taken to acquiring many books from the Capital's best bookstores, and she was proud of having finished filling the first bookshelf in the house. She had yet to read every book, but she had made good progress with most of them.

Life without Sokka, the Princess or Rui Shi would often be boring for her. She had nobody to talk to, although she seldom talked thoroughly with Azula and her relationship with Rui Shi had grown strained in the past few months, too. Nevertheless, she felt lonely… though loneliness of this kind wasn't quite as bad as the one she had experienced when she had just been forced into slavery. Being surrounded by people at all times, but knowing she was alone, knowing that nobody could help her, had been the most hopeless situation she had ever endured. This was a breeze in comparison.

Hawky had returned with a letter from her mother just a few days before, though, and Song was giving the bird a chance to rest before sending him out again. She did talk to him, despite the creature couldn't talk back, and she enjoyed stroking his feathers while reading one of her new books.

Hawky was comfortable on his perch, though, when the familiar thump of Xin Long's landing reached Song's ears. She jumped from the couch, setting down the book and smiling in amazement. She had no idea they'd be home today.

"Sokka?" she called, moving towards the backyard, where the large dragon was currently resting at.

But to her surprise and confusion, the dragon's rider was not Azula. Rui Shi climbed off the saddle first, and while Song would have been apprehensive over seeing him, all her reservations went forgotten when she realized Rui Shi was aiding Sokka in climbing off Xin Long's back. And Sokka's face was contorted with pain.

"Sokka?" she repeated, her voice worried now.

Both the new arrivals looked at Song with uncertainty, as Rui Shi kept Sokka standing up, with a firm hand on the gladiator's back. Sokka smiled awkwardly, perhaps somewhat guiltily.

"Hey, Song" he whispered "I'm home"

"You're…?" she repeated, looking at him with disbelief before she grimaced and asked the question she always found herself asking him "What on earth happened to you now?"

Sokka let out a laugh, as Rui Shi helped him inside the house. Song moved to Sokka's free side, aiding him too. Sokka's eyes lit up when he spotted Hawky on his perch.

"Heeey, it's my favorite bird!" he said, beaming. Hawky squeaked back. The pair helping Sokka didn't react to his exchange with the hawk, though.

"Given his situation, he probably needs some food" Rui Shi said. Song glanced at him in confusion.

"What do you mean, exactly?" she asked.

"Oh, that's because… I lost a lot of blood" said Sokka, grimacing "I have felt better lately, it's true, but I need some, uh, blood-recovery diet, if you know of something like that"

"Well, I do know some things" said Song, biting her lip as they led Sokka to the kitchen "Yes, I could arrange it, but what on earth brought this on, Sokka…?"

"Oh, it's a very long story" he said, as he finally reached a chair. He settled on it and sighed "Damn, I feel like I'm ninety years-old…"

"We came across a lot of trouble in the Earth Kingdom" said Rui Shi, stepping away and towards the kitchen door again "More than we ever bargained for"

"Wait, where are you going?" Song asked. Rui Shi froze, pointing at the door they'd just come in through.

"Just… to make sure the dragon takes off" he explained. Song blushed a little "I'll be back here shortly"

"U-uh. Oh. That's okay then, sorry about that" she said, with a weak grin before turning to Sokka while Rui Shi moved to the backyard "Okay, so, what sort of trouble did you find this time, then?"

"Umm, the White Lotus, in short?" Sokka said, as Song started gathering the ingredients to make a decent meal for Sokka. Her eyes widened as she turned to look at him, holding a bowl in her hands.

"The White Lotus?" she repeated "You mean, the same people who attacked the Capital when the Princess was sick and…?"

"Yeah. They wanted to avenge their captured brethren, or something of the sort" said Sokka, huffing "And they wanted to find out if I was going to play double-agent for them or so, which of course I wouldn't do… but I guess I should start at the beginning, shouldn't I?"

It took some time for Sokka to finish retelling the story, and when Rui Shi returned he interjected on occasion to clarify any details Sokka had forgotten. Song worked hard and diligently in the kitchen, making meals for the two of them. By the time she had set down the plates before the two men, the story was as good as finished.

"So… all this because you wouldn't be their pawn in a plot you knew nothing about?" Song asked, confused, as they ate "Because you wouldn't manipulate the Princess into being someone else?"

"Well, not deliberately" said Rui Shi. Sokka pouted "You've changed her in many ways, there's no denying that. Only, they expected you to do that by plotting to do so. I suppose they wanted you to turn her against her father…"

"Heh, tough luck. Like she would ever turn against him" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows "The harm caused by the Fire Lords can't be undone easily, but they're generally revered in the Fire Nation, aren't they?"

"Uh, yeah, so far" said Rui Shi, nodding.

"Who would have a better shot for the throne, a Princess who defies her father or a Princess who's completely faithful to him?" Sokka inquired "Who would support her if she defied him openly, for starters?"

"I suppose only the slaves" said Song "But they wouldn't be able to show their support to begin with. She'd be fighting on her own, if she ever tried to oppose him"

"Indeed, she would be, because the White Lotus are dead certain she's unforgivable" said Sokka "So even if she did what they don't have the guts to do, and rebelled against Ozai, they'd never back her up. If this is how they plan on to going about taking down the Fire Lord they're doing a mighty fine job at it. Their best plans so far have been attempts to kill princes or kidnap princesses, and yet they're thinking they're not part of the problem…"

"And they thought killing you would help, I mean… how awful could they be?" Song asked, grimacing and shaking her head. Sokka sighed.

"I want to believe it's just Jeong Jeong's faction, though" he said "He implied he didn't agree with the operation in the Capital, after all. Piandao wouldn't have agreed with taking me down, even Jeong Jeong said it… there's disruption, disagreements, in their group. They're not of one mind, and I'm not surprised that's the case. From the looks of it, everyone who hates the Fire Nation and who managed to elude slavery has joined the White Lotus, so… they've likely lost all sight of what their group's real objective is"

"You may be giving them too much credit" said Rui Shi. Sokka shrugged.

"I'd rather think they're not worse than the Fire Nation, to a fault" said Sokka "I'd like to think that it's just pain that has driven them to these extremes, and that they will rethink what they're doing eventually…"

"Isn't it the same as hoping the Fire Lord will see the error in his ways?" Song asked, raising an eyebrow with uncertainty. Sokka shrugged.

"Hey, if he did it'd be better than if he keeps going as he has, right?" he said "Imagine Ozai realizing the war is pointless and giving up on it. Wouldn't fix all he wrecked, but at least he wouldn't destroy anything else, right?"

"I guess, but… it's wishful" said Song, shrugging. Sokka smiled as he set down his chopsticks, the plate empty before him.

"A lot of things are. Doesn't mean they're outright impossible" he said, stretching and sighing "Anyways, I'm getting tired. Guess all those Mahjong games did take a toll on me, huh?"

"I'll help you upstairs" said Rui Shi, bolting to his feet. Sokka smiled gratefully.

Song sighed and busied herself with cleaning the dishes, worrisome thoughts coursing her mind. The White Lotus had been in the Fire Nation before, who was to say they wouldn't stage another attempt on Sokka's life while he was here? Could they assume he'd be safe just because he was in the Capital? She doubted it.

Maybe she would ask Rui Shi if Sokka ought to have guards assigned to him until he was feeling better… though the idea of talking to him by herself worried her. They still had a lot to address, although, in face of recent events, she felt foolish for worrying about those things right now. Sokka's life could be in danger and she was still twiddling her thumbs about having kissed Rui Shi for the wrong reasons…

Once she heard footsteps headed downstairs, Song dropped the rug with which she had been drying some plates. She turned around just as Rui Shi stood at the kitchen threshold, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes.

"He's settled in bed now. He may stop saying as many controversial things once he's rested" he said. Song smiled and shook her head.

"It's Sokka, he'll be controversial either way. That has nothing to do with how well he's rested" she said, swallowing hard after she finished talking "I'm sorry things were so hard in your journey, though. Truly, I can't begin to imagine how horrifying it must have been to be in your place…"

"Yes, well" said Rui Shi, with a grimace "Nobody thought it would come to that. I honestly… I really thought we'd make it out without trouble. Things were far more complicated than they should have been"

"It sounds like you three did everything you could, though. That Deserter, he planned everything at length…" said Song.

"I guess he did" Rui Shi said "It's safe to say we had never come across a worse foe. The White Lotus is certainly something to beware"

Song looked at him remorsefully. Rui Shi gritted his teeth.

"When… when it happened, I was left to just fight off my paralysis while the Princess did her damnedest to reach Sokka. I don't know if I took a worse blow from the shirshu, or if it was just her willpower, but she got to him before I could do anything to follow. And when I was finally able to get there, she had already…"

"Cauterized his wounds" Song finished.

"I had never seen such desperation in her face, though" said Rui Shi "I… I can't forget it. I can't forget how fragile she was that night. I never thought I'd see her like that"

Song swallowed hard. She knew Rui Shi cared about Azula, and she wasn't surprised he was so shaken up by the traumatic experience. But something told her he wasn't recounting this merely to vent about his sorrows. She bit her lip as he fell silent, wondering if he'd say something more…

"She has always been so strong, and yet the thought of losing him demolished every last one of her walls and rendered her defenseless" said Rui Shi "She couldn't help but cry. She could barely sleep afterwards, even when we knew he was stable. And nowadays, even though she's trying to keep up appearances, there's still a glint of that fear in her eyes, the same fear from that night. What she went through… it may as well have broken her"

"It's so horrible" said Song, shaking her head. Rui Shi sighed, dropping his head against the wall.

"For all this time, I kept treating them as one would treat foolish teenagers with a reckless relationship. Maybe they behaved like it, so I… thought it was warranted, pretty much" he said "I grew to understand them better after that journey, but… I think I never expected to be so heartbroken by extension because of Sokka's fate. Before I knew it, I was hoping he'd be fine, not only because I was worried about him, but because… because she wouldn't have been able to recover otherwise. If anything worse had happened, she would've… I don't even want to imagine what she would have done"

Song lowered her gaze. Despite her uncertainties, she stepped towards Rui Shi, hoping to offer a little more consolation than her silence, if just by standing closer to him. He swallowed hard.

"I underestimated their bond, no doubt. I underestimated how much love really matters. I thought… I really thought they could have made a choice, they could have held back, they could have spared us the concerns about the future. But after that, I… I can't even begrudge them for doing otherwise anymore. His life really is constantly at risk, and… well, I'd thought losing the one you love was the worst possible thing, but losing them without having been able to love them properly…? I guess… I guess that would have been much worse, wouldn't it?"

"Actually, yes" said Song, smiling a little "I'd think so, anyways. Though I'd rather she never loses him at all, but still…"

"Yet, if it happens… it would still be better if she doesn't spend the rest of her life wondering what might have been" said Rui Shi "Truth be told, when situations like these happen, you… you rethink your priorities entirely. You realize things that used to be so important maybe really aren't as essential as you though. We didn't even disguise their relationship in the village we found help in, and it wasn't until a while later that I realized that we hadn't. It was clear, though, that for the Princess it barely mattered anymore if others knew about their relationship, not when she was crying at the sight of his blood on her hands. His very life was at stake, and everything else became secondary. Everything else could be dealt with later. But he couldn't disappear. If he did, then all those secondary things would grow even more meaningless…"

"Of course they would" said Song, sighing.

"It's safe to say, witnessing this opened my eyes to many things" Rui Shi whispered "Not only regarding their relationship, but… ours"

Song froze. So that was where he was taking this conversation after all.

"U-uh, Rui Shi, before you say anything, I should probably explain…"

"You were ashamed of having kissed me for the wrong reasons" Rui Shi said. She blushed, staring at him with wide eyes "That's… what the Princess figured, anyways"

"Wait, you… you told her?" she asked. Rui Shi smiled weakly and shrugged.

"It came up. I just… figured you had been covering for them that night" he said. Song lowered her gaze, bashful and ashamed.

"I'm so sorry. I really am, I just…" she said, gritting her teeth and closing her eyes. Rui Shi smiled.

"You don't owe me any explanations" he said, surprising her "I enjoyed kissing you, really, for whatever reason it was. Your reluctance to see me, though, and your constant avoiding me… that was what worried me"

"I'm sorry for that, too" she said "I just… didn't think I should have done what I did, and I somehow punished myself for it that way…"

"Huh. Well, Song…" he said, turning so he would face her directly "I understand if you're reluctant. I won't force anything on you that you won't want. The only question I want answered, though, is… if you are interested in me in this way at all. If you say you aren't, it's the last you'll hear of this matter. I won't bother you anymore with it, and we may remain as we used to be…"

"But…" said Song, looking at him in confusion.

"Truthfully, I just want you to be happy" he said, with a weak smile "If you're not sure you'll find your happiness with me, I will relent without a problem. I promise"

"But wait, I don't think that's…" she said, looking at him with uncertainty "Rui Shi, I… I don't know what to say. I mean, I wronged you, I misled you, I…"

"You did all those things, but honestly?" said Rui Shi "After seeing firsthand what it means to lose the one you love, I have trouble finding your apparent crimes as harmful as you do. You did what you thought you had to, and there's nothing wrong with that. Truthfully, it was your evading of me that worried me more, but…"

"I shouldn't have done that either, I'm so sorry…" she said, covering her face with her hands. To her surprise, Rui Shi took them in his own, so he could continue to look upon her.

"If it's forgiveness you want, you can have it" he said "Frankly, I don't think you acted all that harmfully in the first place. All that I really want to know, Song… as I said, all ask for is an answer. If you want to be with me, then…"

"Then what?" she asked, swallowing hard "What would… happen with us?"

"Well, I… I'd certainly be very happy" said Rui Shi, with a shy smile "We could do whatever you'd like. As for me, I will have all I need just by knowing that you liked me at all…"

"I… I do" she said. Rui Shi's eyes widened this time "I like you a lot, actually. I… oh, spirits, I can't believe I'm saying it, but… I am, huh? Oh dear…"

Rui Shi's smile grew more sincere. She bit her lip and smiled bashfully at him, her cheeks flushed.

"If you're not ready for a relationship, that's fine too" he said "I know I come with baggage, and trouble. I am a Captain of the Royal Guards, after all… I'm far from the best catch"

"You don't know what you're talking about" said Song, with a weak grin. Rui Shi blushed "You're… oh, I don't know if I'm ready for a relationship, but if I am, I… I'd want it to be with you, for sure. It's just… are you sure about this? About… me? A common slave who, well… lied to you? Avoided you? Hurt you…?"

Rui Shi smiled and moved a hand to caress her hair. Song gazed into his eyes, barely noticing how close they were to each other.

"After all this time, Song, after all this distance, after everything I've seen and lived through, I've come to understand that our decisions define us. And I have decided that you matter more to me than whatever mistakes you might have made. We can work our way out of that obstacle, if we both want to. Truth is, I like you more than I've ever liked anyone else… and after what I saw happen between those two, I understood how fragile life really is. I understood that experiencing love, genuine, wholehearted love, is not only worth the risks and hard work, but heh, it also can save your life when you least expect it"

"Maybe" she whispered, biting her lip "But… I don't know if I'm good enough for you"

"I know you're better than good enough" he said, smiling "I guess I need to help you see it, too"

"Oh, Rui Shi…" she said, with a smile and a blush of her own "Are you sure, then? You… you choose me?"

"I do" he whispered "Though I'm not the only one who has to make a decision. As I said, if you'd rather not do this, I'll never bother you with this again. I promise I'm not going to…"

His words were cut off when she surrounded him in a tight embrace. His own face flushed now, as he slowly embraced her, too.

"I'm so sorry, Rui Shi. F-for wasting time, for hurting you, for…"

"It's of no matter" he said, smiling "You don't have to feel bad about it, Song…"

"I… I do want this" she said, looking up at him "It's not even a question, I do…"

"But…?" Rui Shi asked, Song smiled awkwardly.

"But what?"

"Uh, I just… thought you were going to give me a reason not to go for it" he said, smiling a little "You weren't?"

"A reason not to be together?" she whispered "We already know all the reasons. Why would I need to repeat them? Why, when we've… when we've established the risks are worth it?"

Rui Shi's smile widened, and Song giggled as he pressed his forehead to hers. It took another awkward moment of hesitation until Rui Shi finally dared kiss her. Song's heart drummed in her chest, her hands trembling on his chest.

They gazed at each other once the kiss ended, and their smiles couldn't have been brighter. It seemed to Rui Shi that he would be staying here for a little longer than originally envisioned, for Song took his hand and led him to sit at the couch with her. They still had many more things to talk about.

* * *

Ozai's brow had seldom been as furrowed. Zhao had paced through the room as the conversation flowed, but by now he had taken his seat by the vacant chair before Ozai's desk, a hand covering his mouth as his brown eyes glowed with outrage. Azula occupied the other seat, and she breathed out slowly as she finished recounting her tale.

She had arrived as quickly as she could to the Palace, hoping no rumors of Xin Long's strange flight pattern would reach Ozai before she did. Her father had not been as overjoyed as he usually was upon seeing her: he had heard the news of Jeong Jeong's reappearance, and he had been desperate to hear the full story.

By now, he had heard it indeed. Azula merely stayed as she was, her eyes set on the mahogany desk. She had spoken automatically, retelling her experiences in the Earth Kingdom while skipping over what neither Ozai nor Zhao needed to know. Her explanation of the attack on Sokka left them both speechless for at least a solid minute, until Ozai finally cleared his throat and shook his head.

"White Lotus" he muttered, his golden eyes cold and ruthless. His fist tightened "Again, White Lotus. And again, they target you"

"Well… my gladiator. And it was linked to the previous attack, so I suppose it's not that surprising" she said. Ozai huffed.

"Yet, the worst of our criminals, a traitor and deserter, aiding the White Lotus" he said "Leading them, from what you saw! And he's on the loose, for no one can even come close to capturing him?"

"I believe it's time we hunt him down properly as we always should have" said Zhao, frowning and looking at Ozai "He was a traitor already, but this changes everything, Ozai. If he's leading a rebel faction…"

"From what he said to my gladiator, he mustn't be the only leader. He implied the leadership may be fractured" Azula said "He spoke of not approving of the attempt to rescue the men we had captured, and also spoke of whatever plans Piandao had that he disagreed with…"

"Piandao too, the bastard" said Ozai, shaking his head "I used to hold some respect for the man, despite knowing he had no love for royals, but for him to plot using that boy to manipulate you into becoming their tool…?"

"I don't see how it would have worked at all" said Zhao "If the gladiator was not connected to the White Lotus through anyone but him, how could they have trusted he would influence the Princess after Piandao was gone? A foolish plan, if I've ever heard one"

"They don't seem to think a lot of matters thoroughly" Azula said "But they're dangerous, to be sure. It feels like every possible dissenter of the Fire Nation regime might be joining their ranks. We can't sit idly by while Jeong Jeong and Piandao are gathering an army, for all we know…"

"They need to be found" said Ozai "Immediately"

"Create a task force" Zhao suggested "A special operations group that will apply reconnaissance tactics to find them. It won't be long before we find leads that could bring us to their hiding place…"

"It could be a solution, if only we had the forces to assemble into this task force you speak of" Azula said "Most soldiers are stationed in different colonies, and those who aren't there are at sea. Our army is always spread too thin"

"But this cannot go unpunished" said Zhao, looking at her sternly before realization dawned upon him "Unless… do you mean to find them yourself?"

Azula's eyes flickered towards him, betraying some guilt. She could barely contain her urge to do as Zhao had said, but she would only proceed if he father allowed it… yet unsurprisingly, his answer was not what Azula wished it would be.

"Absolutely not" Ozai said. Azula frowned.

"I understand they're more dangerous than anything I've faced, but I won't be as reckless as I…" she started, until Ozai's stern frown silenced her.

"I will find my own way to handle this complication" he said, his voice charged with authority "You will not concern yourself with it any further"

"But I…" she said, looking at him in confusion "I've been targeted by them, my gladiator was nearly killed, and I'm supposed to stand by and wait while some task force handles the White Lotus? Do you really trust a task force will be enough to succeed? As I said before, can you even start one?"

"If we gather all the soldiers who aren't on duty right now, or perhaps set up a stricter mode of conscription…" said Zhao. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"The White Lotus could have an army" she said "If they're to be hunted down, it needs to be done by an effective leader, not by brand new recruits…"

"And as effective as you may be, Princess, you can't hope to defeat this potential army with ten Royal Guards, one gladiator and a dragon" said Zhao "Not to mention, you are Fire Lord Ozai's heir. You should be avoiding risks, not jumping headfirst into them. Your cousin did not fare well after doing the opposite, did he?"

"I'm aware of that, but I don't like the idea of sitting idly by while I could be working to put a stop to them, too" said Azula, gritting her teeth.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Princess, but I'm afraid you will have no choice but to…"

"Silence, both of you" said Ozai, closing his eyes "I will not discuss the course of action any further. The White Lotus will be stopped, but I will be the one to decide how to defeat them"

"Of course" said Azula, bowing her head towards Ozai, despite she was still disappointed.

Even though facing the bulk of the White Lotus was an apprehensive idea, the rage she felt towards them infused her with such power she felt like Sozin's Comet had returned all over again. Somehow, she felt as though she could defeat them with just that rage… but she also knew, just as the two men in the room knew it, that such thoughts were merely motivated by a reckless thirst for revenge. Reality surely would prove to be less than ideal, compared to her illusions to dismantle them by her own hand.

"I recommend that you spend the next days relaxing, Princess Azula" said Ozai. Azula raised an eyebrow "See to it that you visit the Royal spa. You have bags under your eyes"

"I…" she said, flushing ever so slightly. She had thought she had covered the marks well enough with makeup, but if that had been the case, Ozai wouldn't have noticed them "I shall, Father"

"Also, visit the Head Sage. Let him know gold fire served to heal that deadly wound" he said "He should rejoice upon discovering that there was a purpose to it, after all"

"Oh, of course" said Azula, nodding.

"But in the meantime, you are not to worry about the White Lotus anymore" said Ozai, looking at her sternly "You are too close to this as you are. You are not thinking clearly, and you need distance to perceive their hazard for what it is. Whether you were right about most your theories, even if Iroh turns out to be the spy as you feared, I want you to stay away from this matter from now on. I will deal with it myself"

"But… how?" Azula asked "I'm not asking because I doubt you, I just…"

"If I told you, you would not be keeping your distance from it" said Ozai, with a small smile. Azula sighed and lowered her head in defeat.

"Of course. I understand. Do what you believe is right" she said, knowing Ozai would do just that, regardless of her opinion.

"Do I have to keep my distance as well?" Zhao asked "I haven't come across the White Lotus so far, so I'd think…"

"You have just heard your former master, whom you resented, is one of their leaders" said Ozai "You have your own reason to be too close to this matter, even if it may not trouble you as much as it does Azula. I won't have you involved either"

"Well, that is simply marvelous" said Zhao, looking at Ozai with disapproval. The Fire Lord raised his eyebrows "First, removed from the Siege to the North. Now forbidden from joining your plans to uproot this rebellion. Did you bring me to the Fire Nation so I could be a wallflower, Ozai?"

"Is this defiance I hear?" he asked "Truly, Zhao? Will we have to settle this with an Agni Kai…?"

"Why do you like settling all matters with Agni Kais? Is it because you know you'll always win?" Zhao asked. Ozai smirked.

"Indeed. Against anyone but Azula, I suppose" he said. Zhao snorted and shook his head.

"Like father, like daughter" he said, before growing serious again "I'd very much rather be involved in this, Ozai. I can help. The Princess was not wrong, leadership will be needed and…"

"Only if we proceed with your recommended strategies, but I have made no promises to do that" said Ozai. Zhao grimaced, confused "Busy yourself with your own matters, Zhao. Prepare for your eventual return to the north, maybe"

"You'll be returning soon?" Azula asked. Zhao shrugged.

"Whenever your father commands it. I am, clearly, ever at his beck and call" he said "I suppose that's what friends are for, but being friends with the Fire Lord is more trouble than expected"

"Don't be so melodramatic, Zhao" said Ozai, smirking.

"Melodramatic, really?" said Zhao "Well, then, I'll merely think about the north indeed. There's actually a new resource regarding the Northern Water Tribe that I should likely check on, all the way in the Earth Kingdom…"

"Oh? Why is it the first time I hear of this?" Ozai asked.

"Because I heard it myself this morning" said Zhao, with a dry smile "I won't be that long, I hope. If it's worth it, I'll introduce you to this resource directly"

"Ah? So you won't tell me what it is yet? Playing mysterious now?"

"Aren't you doing the same?" said Zhao, smirking. Ozai barked with laughter.

"You vile, clever soldier. As you'd have it. I suppose the only one amongst us who's not trying to be dark and mysterious is Azula" he said, smiling at her. His daughter smiled back somewhat uncomfortably. Everyone had secrets in this room, that was clear, but no one had a worse one than her. The longer Ozai went without knowing that, the better.

"She's wise not to join in on this nonsense, truth be told" Zhao said, standing up "But very well then, Ozai, as ever you shall have your way. If you need my assistance in this matter somehow, please let me know. If not, I'll simply take off to check on that resource I mentioned"

"I shall do as much. Good luck with your mystery quest, Admiral Zhao" said Ozai, nodding. Zhao smiled proudly at him, and with that, exited the room.

Azula swallowed, breathed deeply and made to follow Zhao's lead. The admiral had left the door open behind him.

"I'll take my leave as well, then" she said, once she was standing up "May your plans bear fruit, Father. I truly hope that you'll succeed where I failed"

"Is that what your behavior is about?" Ozai asked. Azula froze "Do you think you failed me, Azula?"

She stood where she was, her eyes gleaming with fear and uncertainty. She knew what worried her most wasn't entirely about her failure towards her father, but on a larger scale about her failure to protect Sokka. Nevertheless, Ozai wasn't wrong about her behavior being related to failure indeed. She swallowed hard, and lowered her head.

"I'd hoped I could outmaneuver him" she said "I thought I'd read him correctly. I simply…"

"You did the best anyone could have done, under your conditions, with what little knowledge and resources you had available" said Ozai, standing up "If anything, it's a wonder that you almost made it back to Yu Dao safely"

"If we had only been quicker…" she whispered.

"It is what it is, Azula" said Ozai "I know you're not used to the feeling of failure, efficient as you always have been, but this was no mission. This was a chaotic situation that arose when you were scarcely prepared to handle it. You did far too well, considering the circumstances. Though I still would like to have a word with Shinu after this…"

"Do you believe we would have been better off in the Stronghold, after all?" Azula asked.

"He cast you out into the wilderness, in the middle of the night, expecting you to fend for yourself so he wouldn't be held responsible for your safety" said Ozai "A cowardly act, is what it was. Accursed fool. If I had anyone in mind to replace him, I'd do it in a heartbeat"

"That certainly lifts my spirits somewhat" said Azula, with a weak smile.

"Well, that's good. Off you go to the Temple, then" said Ozai, nodding in her direction "Keeping the Head Sage's support is…"

"My job, yes" said Azula, nodding "I will go, then. I'll do my best to abide by your wishes, Father"

"Good. You always do" said Ozai, with an encouraging smirk.

Azula bowed her head towards him and turned to leave the room, and Ozai followed her to the door. He breathed deeply and waited for a few minutes to pass before taking off, set on reaching the highest level of the Palace's main wing.

The high tower was seldom visited by anyone but him. No doubt Azula had explored it in her younger years, but she had never found what lurked within the shadows of the Palace's peak. Secrets of many sorts were concealed here, along with artifacts of old age that had been set aside, their meaning often forgotten. To anyone, this would be as good as a common storage. For Ozai, it was a much nicer place than for most. He seldom left this place without finding answers for the questions he arrived with.

He opened the doors with the proper keys. He cleared his throat, pacing through the dark room slowly, knowing he was being heard:

"The situation is more complex than I anticipated" he spoke "We cannot delay obtaining crucial information anymore. I have abided by that promise for far too long. I cannot do so after this"

He stepped to the right, where the darkest corner of the room stood. His eyes gleamed with determination as the space in front of him seemed to twirl, to change, until it finally developed a shape. A humanoid shape.

"Question them through your methods" Ozai continued. The shape seemed to listen intently "Find the truth, drive them mad if you must to achieve it, but find it. Once you have acquired as much information as possible, return to me. It is time we put an end to this farce"

The creature shifted in the dark, moving towards the open window in the room. The hood that was heavy on his head shifted ever so slightly, so he could look at Ozai from underneath the cloth.

"It shall be as you request, my Lord" spoke a broken, raspy voice. It was a contradictory blend of a deep and shrill voice in one.

"Then be on your way. We have time, but not forever" said Ozai "This is your most delicate mission up to date. Do not fail me"

"I'd sooner die, my Lord"

"Then off you go, Seethus" Ozai commanded.

The dark shape made to jump out through the window, a plum of blackness bursting under his foot. But in a brief instant, that one humanoid figure was nowhere to be seen. Ozai stepped towards the window glanced down to the Capital, wondering if he would find any sign of the morbid, dead-like man as he made his way through the air, relying on his myriad of dark skills to remain airborne. There was none. He was, as ever, untraceable.

Ozai smirked.

The only problem with fulfilling her father's order was that it would mean retelling the story of what happened in the Earth Kingdom for the umpteenth time, Azula realized. She knew she would be free from this burden eventually, but it couldn't be helped for now. She tried to be mechanical, systematic, without saying anything compromising or distressing, but as much as she tried, she failed at keeping the images from bursting in her mind again. Blood, blood, on her hands, on her clothes, spilled around his limp body, and his blue eyes, beautiful and clear but clouded by the darkness that had threatened to yank him away from her…

Her fists were clenched on her lap as she finished the story. The Head Sage's reaction was nothing like her father's, for his jaw had dropped and his hands were covering his mouth. She had never expected him to be so emotionally invested in her struggles.

"That is… oh, Princess, that must have been terrifying. I'm so relieved you made it out safely" he said, shaking his head "To think I had looked up to the man once! As good as revered him! And he would demean and treat you and your gladiator this way, when you are so wise and talented that you have achieved firebending styles he could only ever dream of! What a fool!"

"Fool is too light a word for what I'd call him" Azula confessed, her voice steady despite her emotions were threatening to spill out if she wasn't careful "As much as I've found this strange use for gold fire, it's far from the way I would have wanted to discover it…"

"Cauterization of wounds is a complex matter, Princess" said the Head Sage "It's a common enough practice, but no firebender should attempt it, usually. It has a tendency to worsen the damage… but you used the gold fire and it worked. You were certainly fortunate that was the case"

"Indeed" said Azula, nodding. The Head Sage sighed and shook his head.

"And to think we even spoke about the Deserter the last time we met…" he said "A most unhappy coincidence, is it not?"

It was… or was it?

Azula frowned, as the Head Sage stood up from his desk, searching for papers where he would write down the properties of gold fire. The Princess stared at him intently, a sense of foreboding rising within her. She was wrong. She had to be. She'd better be.

"I'm still quite amazed that it worked at all" said the Head Sage "But I'm sure the gladiator must be relieved that it did, right?"

"Indeed. He's back to eating like a wild beast and making ridiculous jokes" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "In no time I'm sure he'll be himself again"

"Great news indeed" he said "Truth is, I've never quite met him, have I? Perhaps for your next birthday… it's coming up soon, isn't it?"

"It is, but I won't allow my gladiator to attend it" said Azula, determinedly. The Head Sage gazed at her in surprise.

"To avoid another crisis like the one from last year?" he asked "With Governor Kuan?"

"Rather, to make sure he heals properly through the rest of his recovery" said Azula, breathing deeply and making to stand up.

"Oh? You're leaving already?" the Head Sage asked "I thought, well, that we could test your gold fire a little more… that is, of course, if you're in the mood. If you're not…"

"I have just returned home from what may have been my most catastrophic journey yet. I certainly would rather get some rest for the time being" she said. The Head Sage nodded, understanding.

"Of course, of course. You can come back when you've recovered from this shocking experience" he said, smiling gently at her.

"I shall do that, then. I do hope you'll excuse me" Azula said, trying to soften her harshness now as she bowed her head gently in the man's direction. He bowed with his entire torso.

"Go ahead, Princess" he said, and she took that as a sign that she was free to leave his study.

She left the Sage's office, walked through the whole temple, made her way to the Palace again, and all the while, her heart was racing. She was definitely imagining things. She was thinking too much of it. Her mind was playing tricks on her, like the fortuneteller had told her it would… But the idea was already deeply ingrained in her mind, just as it had been when she had first suspected her uncle.

Her father had ordered her to relax and forget the White Lotus, but she couldn't do it. Part of her was apprehensive, perhaps even slightly scared, of what they were capable of. The other part, the reckless, proud side of her mind, was begging her to ask her father to let her lead the attack on the White Lotus, once they were found. She wanted to face Jeong Jeong herself and make him pay for it all. She wanted him to suffer through all the pain he had forced on Sokka, tenfold.

She had never thought she could hate someone quite as ferociously as she did now, but nobody had ever been this close to tearing Sokka away from her for good. For so long she had feared, dreaded that someone, something, would lure him away. That he'd change his mind, that he'd decide she truly was a monster, that he'd suddenly fall for someone else, that he'd choose his Tribe above her. She had failed to consider that he could be ripped away from her unwillingly, even though the threat of his death was looming, ever-present, because of the nature of their partnership and their relationship. His entire life revolved around circumstances that could easily lead to his death. He had fallen for her, for Azula, the one woman whose purity would certainly cost Sokka his life, and his line of work was in the fighting ring, where he had already faced murderous gladiators who'd been determined to kill him.

But he had always come out triumphant. Even at his worst, he had still endured every trial. And he certainly had endured them this time, too… but the panic that had festered in her heart had yet to fade away. Every moment without him seemed to reopen the poorly mended wounds across it. Every single time she saw him sleeping she had to pay attention to the rise and fall of his chest to make sure he was still breathing. This had never happened before.

Her room was a welcome haven, and her servants were as diligent as ever. They drew a bath for her, and she soaked in it while still battling the demons lurking in her mind. She sighed, her face between her hands, her hair framing and even hiding her eyes from the rest of the world. Her overwhelming misery and anxiety were easily masked before her father as fear of failure, but she needed to find a solution for them at haste. Her father would not stand for her to mope about this matter for long. She needed to get over it. Her birthday was coming again, that was right, she had to be in better shape for that…

But as she donned her sleeping robe and dropped on her bed heavily, she realized chances were she wouldn't feel better anytime soon. She could put up a front, pretend she was fine, smile even if she constantly felt like there was an ice-cold metal hand clasping and squeezing her heart. But she would need to find a solution for this problem sooner than later. Maybe she could fool her father, the nobility, the soldiers, perhaps even her friends… but there was someone who she couldn't fool, who she wouldn't even consider trying to fool at this point, not when it came to this. And just by looking upon him she would constantly remember his bleeding, broken figure in that clearing…

The image blinked in her head again and she shook her head. She forced her eyes open, glared at the wall for a moment, but there it was again, in her mind's eye, and she cringed and huffed. Why? How? For how long would she have to endure this until she finally could forget it, or was it going to continue until she lost her mind for good?

There was only one solution for this problem, at least only one she knew of. She had put it into effect every night on her barge, since she'd had the chance to do so, but right now she wouldn't be able to do the same so easily. She couldn't see him until tomorrow. She couldn't believably go to his house and expect nobody to notice…

Only, her attempt at a nap had backfired for all the afternoon, and even a visit to the royal spa to abide by her father's order had done nothing for her nerves. The masseuse had been aghast by the knots on her shoulders, and despite the older woman's best efforts were appreciated, Azula's stress didn't go anywhere. No number of royal hair combing sessions or manicures could change that, either. They were mindless activities. Her thoughts were back to square one before long.

Dinner as well was simple, lonely and quiet. She had never been one to dislike being alone, not in general, but she hated being alone right now. And it wasn't that any kind of company would suffice. She didn't want a distraction, didn't want a simple conversation: she just needed to know, for the thousandth time, if Sokka was alright.

Inviting sheets were now foreboding, arid, no longer providing the comfort they should. There would be no rest to be found on her bed, not for now. There would be no peace found in a life, in a love like this. Not when the heavy weight of death was dragging her down to her knees, leading her to beg the spirits, the universe, whatever powers there would be, for Sokka's heart to keep beating.

The images grew worse later at night. They were too vivid, too shocking, even if she should have been used to them by now. Her entire body shivered in the middle of a warm night. She couldn't take it. She couldn't stand it. She needed to see him now. She needed to be by his side. Her reckless urge to destroy the White Lotus could go unfulfilled, but the reckless urge to see Sokka was unstoppable.

She pushed herself up to a sitting position, as good as possessed by the idea now. She needed him. He would be fine, he had to be, nothing wrong could have happened, but she needed to see him to be sure of that. She needed to pull up the carpet, and fire up the entrance to the tunnels. She needed to hold him, feel the slow and steady rise of his chest. She needed to run as fast as her legs could carry her, the tunnels well memorized. She needed to see him, to touch him, to know he was real. To know he wasn't going to disappear through her fingers, as water from a stream cupped between weak hands.

She needed him.

* * *

Silence ruled in the two-story house. Only the sound of wind rattling the leaves of the trees outside seemed to echo within the wooden walls. The world slept. The world wasn't watching. They wouldn't see her even as she pushed doors open quietly, sliding through the walls with as little noise as she could.

The floorboards creaked ever so slightly. She hoped it wouldn't wake him, though. She didn't want him to wake, she just wanted to be by his side, to see that he was fine, that her foolish worries were baseless. Laying her eyes upon him, even as he slept, usually was enough to drive the nightmarish images out of her mind.

But a sound finally reached her ears just as she pushed his bedroom door open. The sound of a leaf of paper, rustling softly.

Her eyes widened and met his, finding his expression was just as dumbfounded as hers. As ever, she immediately felt stupid for worrying so much.

He looked perfectly fine. He was sitting on the bed, his back against the pillows, relaxing against the headrest of the bed. He had a book between his crossed legs, and a bowl of what looked like sizzle-crisps next to him. Azula blinked blankly, and Sokka cocked his head to the side a little.

"Azula?" he said "What… did something happen? Why are you here all of…?"

"I… I just lost it, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have… wait, why are you standing up? No! Stay put!"

"Shh! Song's asleep!" said Sokka, as Azula rushed to his side to make sure he wouldn't climb off the bed.

She dropped her hands on his shoulders and pushed him so he wouldn't climb off the mattress. Sokka pouted, setting aside the book somewhat clumsily and looking at her inquisitively from his sitting position.

"Are you crazy, really?" Azula asked, looking at him disapprovingly "You're supposed to be resting. Why are you even awake?"

"Why are you? It's the middle of the night. Also… I've been sleeping almost all day, so I've gotten a fair share of rest" said Sokka, looking at her in confusion "What happened, Azula? Are you okay? You look…"

"I'm… I'm fine. I just…" she said, sitting by the edge of the mattress and averting her gaze from his. Sokka frowned slightly.

"You couldn't sleep" he concluded. She snorted and shrugged.

"I suppose you'll wonder how is it I can't seem to sleep even though my body clearly demands for it, huh?" she whispered. Sokka smiled a little, lifting a hand to cup her face.

"Not really. We're both insomniac, seems like" he said "Did you guess I'd be awake, or…?"

"No, I didn't expect you to be. I just… wanted to make sure you were fine" she whispered, shaking her head "I know, I know, it's a ridiculous reason for me to show up here in the middle of the night, but…"

"Hey…" he said, his free hand reaching out to clasp hers "You can come find me whenever you need to. And I'm sure it'll never be ridiculous"

"Huh. That's a lot of blind confidence in me, isn't it?" she said, with a weak smile "What if I decide I need to see you just to ask whether you like eggs better fried or boiled?"

Sokka chuckled and looked at her in disbelief as she closed her eyes and turned her face into his hand. She pressed a soft kiss to his palm, breathing deeply as her anxiety was soothed slowly but surely through Sokka's presence.

"If that happens, I'll ask if you're serious because that sounds very surreal to me, mind you" he said, smiling "But heck, whatever the result, it'll probably be entertaining if you want to cook eggs"

"Your standards for entertainment are worrisome" Azula said. Sokka laughed and shrugged.

"I'm making do while being basically bed-ridden" he said, gesturing at his book "Been reading on cultural practices, according to some ancient Fire Nation philosopher, I guess? He talks about some really strange stuff I never even knew about…"

"And you have snacks too?" Azula asked. Sokka grimaced and shrugged.

"They're, uh, soy sizzle-crisps" he grunted. Azula blinked blankly.

"Wait, really?" she asked "Sizzle-crisps can be made out of soy?"

"According to Song, yes" said Sokka, sighing "She says soy is one of the best foods for me to replenish my strength and rebuild my blood content… though she said liver was even better. I told her that if she's planning on giving me any, to at least not make it komodo rhino…"

"Huh. A wise decision" said Azula. Sokka bit his lip and smiled.

"Want to join in with reading? Could be fun. Unless you actually have something to talk about, that is… is that why you came? Did your dad react badly over what happened?"

"No, he… he didn't" Azula said, shaking her head. Sokka hummed "Though he doesn't want me involved in any attempts to pursue the White Lotus. I guess he thinks I'm not fit for the challenge as I am"

"Well, you do need more sleep before you can chase anyone" said Sokka, with a weak smile. Azula snorted.

"He as well said something similar. Funny" she said, dropping on the bed beside him. Sokka smiled and pressed his forehead to hers.

"Seems like the only thing he and I ever agree on is that you need to look after yourself when you're not feeling well" said Sokka "I'd say since we're the most important people in your life, you should listen to us"

"Oh, you are, huh?" Azula asked, smiling a little "So cocky, boasting about it that way…"

"What, am I not supposed to?" he asked, smirking "I'm sorry if you'd rather I lied about this, but I'm pretty pleased that you love me, Princess"

"Sure you are" she said, shaking her head and leaning closer to him.

His lips met hers, and more of her anxiety and grief seemed to fade as the kiss's touch appeased her. She sighed and closed her eyes, pressing her lips to his constantly, but lovingly, slowly. It wasn't like her usual wild kisses, it was clear, for it was far too tender in comparison. It felt as though she were treasuring the very fact that she could do this, that she could still lie beside him and claim his lips with her own. And Sokka was happy to let her do it as many times as she pleased, responding to her every kiss.

"I missed you" he whispered. She hummed and leaned closer to him, draping her arm around his chest, where he had no bandages or burns she needed to worry about.

"I missed you too" she said, keeping her forehead against his. He smiled weakly.

"Surprising of you to say it so easily, though" he said "You usually remind me that we were together like, uh, less than a day ago, or so…"

"I guess?" she said, sighing and stroking his chest gently "Maybe it felt like we really spent an eternity apart this time"

"Must be because we didn't kiss before parting ways" he said, pouting. She smiled "It was bugging me all day, you know? I really had wanted to kiss you…"

"Don't you always" she whispered, her fingers trailing his collarbone and neck.

Her fingertips continued to rise, sliding over his stubble, stroking the hair on his chin ever so softly. She reached his lips, tracing their outline, and smiling whenever he kissed her fingers for what she was doing.

"You don't make it easy for me, you know, Princess" he said, his voice deeper than usual. Her heart seemed to skip a beat "Maybe stop being so beautiful for a little while and I'll stop being so smitten"

"Oh? It's just my beauty, then?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"All your beauty, yes" he said, smiling "Your body's, your mind's, your soul's…"

"That's beyond corny" she said, and he laughed.

"Well, maybe I am that corny" he said, kissing the tip of her nose "Besides, you asked for it. That was a trap and no way I'd jump into it defenseless"

"Of course" she said, smiling weakly and closing her eyes.

Her fingers continued to trace him, slowly roaming his scars as they often did. Her caresses compelled him to relax, and to try to return the favor. His own hand rose to her cheek, knuckles grazing it softly.

"Nothing bad happened with your dad, then?" he asked "Or was it something else bothered you…?"

"Uh, well, it might have been something else" Azula admitted, shrugging. She bit her lip lightly before sighing, her brow drawn together "I'm just wondering if maybe I misjudged the situation, cast my vote too soon, something like that…"

"What do you mean?" Sokka inquired "What situation?"

"The White Lotus" Azula said "I'm going against what my father commanded, he said I was to rest and forget everything about them, but I couldn't. I can't. He thought it was a good idea for me to distract myself by visiting the Head Sage and telling him about the wonderful use of gold fire…"

"Huh. And how did that go?" Sokka asked. He frowned when she tensed around him.

"Maybe I'm losing my mind" she whispered. His eyes widened "Or maybe… maybe I am onto something by thinking he could be the reason this all happened in the first place"

"Woah. Wait a minute, what?" said Sokka, his eyes wide. Azula sighed and dropped her head on his shoulder.

"He was the one who talked about Jeong Jeong in the first place. He was his friend once. He admired him. Now he says he doesn't anymore, but what if that's a lie? What if…?"

"What if he was the spy all along, and not Iroh?" Sokka finished. Azula sighed.

"It seems extreme, but… it's not impossible, is it?"

"But… isn't that crazy?" said Sokka, swallowing hard "A Sage? I mean, you mentioned your father doesn't get along with him, but…"

"Do you remember how the White Lotus people escaped from prison that day?" Azula asked. Sokka frowned.

"Their friends were disguised as guards, pretended they'd been ordered to move the prisoners… right?" said Sokka. Azula nodded.

"The reason they had a chance to do it was because the man in charge, Captain Kuo, wasn't in the prison's premises at the time" said Azula "He wasn't there because my father was meditating in the Temple, and Kuo had wanted to inform him of what had happened with the men he'd captured. The Head Sage didn't let him speak to my father, though. The Head Sage… if Kuo he hadn't wasted all that time, he might have intercepted the White Lotus men as they were breaking out the White Lotus agents if not sooner. So, if you think about it, how do we know he's not the one who helped them?"

Sokka's eyes were wide, his heart beating a little faster than it should these days. He huffed and blinked blankly, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips while Azula looked at him somewhat desperately.

"I'm not going mad, am I? Whenever something happens involving the White Lotus, he's always connected, even if indirectly" she said "What if he told Jeong Jeong we would travel to Yu Dao, once he heard of it? What if…?"

"So you think all his approval of you is a farce?" Sokka asked "Because Jeong Jeong… the way he spoke of you, it didn't sound like he had a favorable opinion of you at all"

"Of course he doesn't" said Azula "Why would he? And why would the Head Sage, if you think about it?"

"You're a talented firebender. If what he cared about is fire, rather than politics…" said Sokka. Azula snorted.

"That's far too wishful. He's been involved in politics since long before I was born, and I'm quite sure he's still as interested in games of power as ever"

"But then what about Iroh?" said Sokka "He was suspicious as well, very suspicious. What of his link to the White Lotus? What about how he acted around me after what happened? The way he questioned me…"

"The way he's been behaving all along" said Azula, sighing "He's suspicious, always has been. He could have easily tipped off Jeong Jeong as well, especially since he has been writing all those letters as of late. According to Toph, anyways…"

"Heck, that's a very valid point" Sokka said, his eyes widening "He could have done it, and he has a motive to take revenge, to a degree. If you made it so Zuko can't be Fire Lord anymore, according to him…"

"Then he'd make me lose you, since you're on great measure the reason why I've risen as much as I have in the last years" she said, hiding her face in the crook of his neck "Revenge on relatively equal terms?"

"Sounds like it. Do you really think he'd be that petty?" Sokka whispered. She shrugged.

"I don't know what to think about any of this" she said "The more I ponder it, the more I worry about a potential secret alliance between Iroh and the Head Sage. I've never understood why they never joined forces to depose my father when Iroh returned home…"

"You expected them too?" he asked. She shrugged.

"I did. My father did. Everyone did" she said "My father had prepared for the day, for the Agni Kai he knew he would have to fight… but Iroh didn't demand for the return of his birthright. He just… remained complacent. If he was White Lotus, trying to put an end to the war, to the Fire Nation's regime, why didn't he act? I've never understood it"

"And I guess it's so confusing it literally keeps you up at night, huh?" he whispered, surrounding her shoulders with an arm. She groaned.

"It's just a little trouble sleeping. It's nothing serious" she lied.

"You'll have more trouble yet if you keep thinking about this" Sokka said.

"Like I can help it. If I don't think about this…" she started, but she stopped short of finishing her sentence. She couldn't tell him what was bothering her the most. She couldn't tell him her constant mulling over what the White Lotus had done was more than just a whim, more than just a pursuit for revenge: it was one of the only ways to keep the image of his broken, bloodied body away from the forefront of her mind.

"What, you think no one will?" Sokka guessed, trying to finish her sentence "Azula… you need to relax. To stop worrying about there being two spies instead of one. We should just rejoice that we made it back home alright, shouldn't we?"

"Did we, really?" she muttered, but she sighed and shrugged "If you say so…"

"Here, entertain yourself with this" he said, showing her the book he'd been reading. Azula frowned "A long study by some old Fire Nation crook, about traditions of other nations!"

"Huh. Where did you get that?" Azula asked, reaching to take the book in her hands.

"Song found it on sale, seems like nobody wanted it" said Sokka "And it's pretty damn old, too. Must be like a hundred-and-fifty years-old, if not older"

"Looks like" said Azula, stroking the brown cover with confusion before opening it "Are you sure you should be handling this sort of material when you're convalescing?"

"Well, why not?" he asked, pouting "Song changed my bandages earlier today, the wounds are well protected from the dust. I'll be fine"

"Heh, well. If you end up sick, don't say I didn't warn you" she said, turning the pages over with curiosity "Why this book?"

"Because it's great to see what the world used to be like" said Sokka "You know, when you become Fire Lord, some of these traditions can come back, like the ones from the Earth Kingdom. I know it won't happen right away, but heh, there used to be so many different things! The Southern Water Tribe, for instance… it's quite amazing"

"What about it?" Azula asked, turning over the pages to find whatever he was referring to.

"There used to be more than one tribe down there" Sokka said "There were multiple ones, but they merged into a single one during the war, so we'd be able to join forces against the constant attacks from the Fire Nation. It happened during my grandfather's time, I think. But according to this guy, they used to have yearly competitions of so many different kinds, measuring which tribe had spawned the strongest members of their newest generation. Also, he talks a little about southern waterbending, heh. Whenever I go home, I'll have to tell my sister all about it"

"You said she was the last, didn't you?" Azula asked "There was no master for her, right?"

"No, she learned all she did by herself" said Sokka, with a fond smile until his eyebrow twitched "And she tormented me with all of it, too"

"And I bet you let her get away with all of it, didn't you?" Azula asked, smiling a little. Sokka snorted and shrugged.

"Heck, she was my sister. I snapped at her, she snapped at me, but in the end, I knew she'd always get the upper hand somehow" he said. Azula smiled at him and shook her head.

"You shouldn't be so gallant" she said, sighing and setting the book down "Well, I can't find the Water Tribe's section. Most is about the Earth Kingdom…"

"Oh, it's further back" said Sokka, taking the book and scrolling through it.

By the time he opened it fully, blue pictures were indeed drawn on it… but one glance told Azula he had gotten the wrong section after all. Large symbols for the north were on the pages, decorating the section that described what looked like important rites of passage.

"Ah, well, that's the north" Sokka said, shrugging as he eyed the traditions that Azula was intrigued by "But we do that too, though not quite like that…"

"Which one do you mean?" she asked. Sokka gestured at the depiction of an ice house.

"This, building your house to prove you're fit to raise a family. We'd do it with igloos in the South, though" he said. Azula bit her lip.

"Did you ever do it?" she asked "Build one of them, I mean…"

"Uh, no" said Sokka, chuckling "Didn't need to. Had nobody to make a family with"

Azula's heart seemed to race upon hearing those words. What fool she was to wish he'd say he would gladly build one of those igloos now that he'd found her…

"These guys seem to do it with waterbending mostly. Like, their buildings are all crafts of waterbending" said Sokka "So I guess there were more waterbenders than warriors up north, eh?"

"Possibly" said Azula, passing the page.

"The South is somewhere close by, yeah…" said Sokka, but Azula froze on the very next page. Sokka bit his lip and smiled "And yep, that's the wedding rite, hehe. See, they do the ritual by cutting their palms, too…"

"I see" said Azula, smiling a little "The one I'm supposed to do with you?"

"Just if you want to…" he said, smiling suggestively "Unless you changed your mind about marrying me now, eh?"

"I haven't changed my mind, though I still fear it's impossible to achieve, realistically…" Azula whispered, pressing her lips softly to his shoulder as she passed the page. A drawing on the next one caught her attention "And how about this? Is this betrothal necklace the same for you, too?"

"The what?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows "Heh, I probably missed this page, I didn't… woah. Wait, wait, what?!"

Azula blinked blankly and looked at him. His eyes were wide, fixed upon the drawing.

"I take from your surprise that this is new for you?" she said. Sokka nodded at first, but then shook his head.

"N-not as new as you'd think" he said "We… in the Southern Water Tribe, we don't do this. As soon as a guy finishes his igloo, he's proven himself capable of raising a family and taking a wife. Until then, he doesn't get to ask a woman to marry him at all, so I guess that's different, but I… I had seen a necklace like this before"

"Oh? Maybe it's a relic from times gone by?" Azula inquired "It might be this tradition used to exist in the South Pole too and you didn't know it"

"Oh, no, it's not that simple" said Sokka, shaking his head "It was no relic: I'd seen it before, on someone from the South. On my sister"

"Wait, your sister?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "Is she engaged to someone, then?"

"Not at all, she got it as inheritance from my mother" said Sokka, swallowing hard. At Azula's confused stare he shook his head "Mother got it from my grandmother, the original owner of the necklace, who, I guess, told my dad to… to give it to his bride"

"Huh. That's confusing" said Azula, biting her lip "But wait a minute, didn't you say that your grandmother…?"

"Was from the Northern Water Tribe?" Sokka finished. Azula's eyes widened with understanding "Yeah, and I said she ran away to avoid marriage, too. Which means… she gave away the necklace her old betrothed must have made for her. She had my father give it to my mom, and mom to Katara, and they have no idea what it used to mean…"

"Heh. It's somewhat… cruel, I must say" said Azula, with a weak smile "She took that necklace and gave it a whole different meaning, didn't she?"

"And what's worse is my sister and mother probably had no idea" said Sokka, chuckling "She never explained what the necklace was! I had no idea it was a symbol of betrothal! If Katara ever went up north they'd assume she's married or engaged to someone because of it, imagine that"

"Sounds awkward" said Azula, smiling and closing her eyes "Did your grandmother ever explain why she left? What was so wrong about the man she was supposed to marry?"

"Heh, I don't know" said Sokka, shrugging "Maybe she just didn't love him?"

Azula smiled, leaning close and kissing his cheek softly. Sokka glanced at her, a small smile on his face too.

"And the South gave her the right man instead. Why am I not surprised?" she whispered by his ear. Sokka chuckled.

"You'd have a few things in common, heh?" he said, smiling sweetly at her. Azula stroked his cheek, tracing the still healing wound across it before letting her fingers slide to the back of his head. Sokka hummed "You think I'll have a scar on my cheek now…?"

"I don't know" Azula admitted "Wouldn't look bad if it did, but maybe it wasn't deep enough for one…"

"I'd rather stop collecting scars, really, but if you don't mind it so much, I won't worry" he said, smiling.

Azula's fingers trailed his scalp, brushing his short hairs gently, sliding up to his wolf's tail and undoing it. His hair fell as graciously as ever over his face, and she took to sliding her fingers through the tresses, basking in the soft touch of his straight hair.

"So, you'd get along with Gran-Gran, likely" said Sokka, smiling "I wonder what will be the look on my sister's face when I tell her what that necklace means…"

"She might not believe it… your grandmother will have quite a story to explain, huh?" said Azula, closing her eyes and letting her head fall on his shoulder again.

"It should be a funny one, though" said Sokka, kissing the top of her head "Getting sleepy now?"

"I guess…" Azula whispered. Sokka smiled.

"Then sleep. It's okay" he whispered.

It surprised her that he would clasp her hand in his, guiding her fingers towards his torso. She gritted her teeth, realizing what he was doing.

She had snuck into his cabin every night ever since they had started traveling on their way back to the Fire Nation. She had left her hand on his chest each of those times, feeling his soft heartbeat under her chest. Most the times she had held back from doing it until he was asleep, but it seemed he hadn't been all that unconscious after all. He had understood what she wanted, why she needed to touch his chest, to feel his heart against her hand.

She sighed, pressing closer to him. Sokka kissed the top of her head once more, hoping she would know now that he understood what this was really about. Hoping that she wouldn't be scared anymore, that she'd know he wasn't judging her in any way. But he had no doubts appeasing Azula would be a lot harder than this.

"I love you" she whispered, breathlessly. His fingers squeezed hers, and his heart continued to beat underneath them.

"I love you more" he said, somewhat teasingly. Azula snorted and shook her head.

"Not possible" she whispered. He smiled and prodded her face with his nose.

"Try me"

Azula knew he was coaxing her to raise her head, but she didn't quite want to comply at first. She didn't want him to see her tearful eyes, so she didn't. She kept her eyes closed, and moved up to kiss him, not expecting her nose to crash with his chin before their lips could find each other.

"Ow, what're you headbutting me for?" Sokka asked, chuckling. Azula groaned, rubbing her nose with her fingers at first before laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation "That's not how you prove you love me, you know?"

"Shut up…" she said, between laughs. She did open her eyes now, not afraid of showing her tears anymore even though they were still there.

Again, he passed no judgment. He smiled and moved closer to her, kissing her lips gently. Her free hand cupped his face, driving him to linger, to suspend and help this moment last for as long as it could.

Azula's lips stopped responding soon enough, and Sokka smiled gently. He pressed one last kiss to her brow and sighed while closing his own eyes. Indeed, they both would rest better if they were in the comfort of each other's arms.

His fingers intertwined with hers, both hands still resting atop his beating heart.


	130. Chapter 130

"Hey… hey. Azula…"

It took her a moment to realize she was being shaken gently, and that a voice called her softly, but with urgency. When she finally registered it, though, she jumped so violently she scared Sokka too.

"Hey! It's okay, it's just me" he said, looking at her with surprise "Azula? You alright?"

"I… sorry, sorry" she said, her heart racing wildly now. Sokka swallowed hard.

"I'm the one who's sorry, you were sleeping so soundly… but it's starting to get brighter outside" he said, his jaw square as he looked out the window. Azula huffed.

"Of course it is. What a fool" she said, climbing off the bed hastily. Sokka sighed.

"I hope you got some rest after all…" he said, but when he made to climb off the bed she forced him back to it "What? Azula…"

"You're not going anywhere. I can get back to the Palace just fine by myself" Azula assured him, pushing him down on the bed. Sokka pouted and she cupped his face between her hands "I love you. Stay put. I'll see you again later"

"You will?" Sokka asked, with a weak smile "I'll be waiting then. As always"

Azula's hands caressed his face gently. She kissed his lips one last time before parting ways. He lengthened the contact between them, holding her close by the nape of her neck. Azula sighed, unwilling to leave, but knowing she had no choice. She had been reckless enough with this escapade as it was.

She took off without another word, and Sokka merely watched her go, the gentle smile on his face shifting into concern once Azula was out of sight. Some things escaped his observation skills at times, but he knew last night had happened for a reason. Azula had been lurking, sneaking into his room constantly ever since they had left Yu Dao, but Sokka had expected that to end once they returned home. It hadn't.

It wasn't, of course, that he didn't want her around. He couldn't possibly be happier about waking up by her side, and if it were up to him, he would continue to do it for the rest of their lives. But this wasn't normal: Azula usually was eager to be by his side, no doubt, but this wasn't merely for the sake of it. Something deeper, more complicated, was at play here and he had known as much for a long time. What they had lived through in the Earth Kingdom had come back to bite them, and it had hurt Azula in more ways than it had hurt Sokka, it seemed.

Still, he didn't blame her. He couldn't. Not when he realized that, had the situation been reversed, he would be the paranoid one, unable to let her out of his sight for longer than five minutes. He understood why she kept placing her hand on his chest, right above his heart. He didn't mind it, personally. He loved to be touched by her, no matter the intent of said touch… but he did mind that Azula was as troubled as she was. He had to do something. This situation couldn't carry on as it had.

But what to do? How to speak to her about this, when he knew she would withdraw even more than she usually did? She still struggled when talking things out with him more often than not, and the fact was that they had spent weeks together at sea, yet she had never spoken about the anguish that had brought her to visit him in the middle of the night, not even once. Tonight had been worse than before, even. She was struggling with her feelings, and he knew her well enough to understand why she wouldn't open up to him: she thought he already had enough matters to worry about to burden him with her troubles, too.

He sighed, sinking in the bed and rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingertips. There had to be something he could do. Anything to put her mind at ease once more…

She had rushed back to her room, closed the trapdoor, rolled the carpet back in place. She had cleaned up the sweat that clung to her after she'd ran home, and she had jumped between the sheets again, trying her very hardest to conceal her nocturnal absence. She sighed, hoping she might get a few more hours of sleep, but it wasn't to be. After barely one more hour, the servants were in her room, to ready her for the day. She gave out a good performance, without breaking the illusion of being the perfect princess, not even for an instant. Nobody seemed to notice anything was amiss with her.

But although her servants weren't too observant, she wouldn't be able to drop her ground so fast. Her morning wouldn't end as quickly as she had hoped it would: a visit from her father, and his invitation to walk with him through the Palace's gardens, had distracted her from her preparations to head back to Sokka's house immediately.

"I merely wanted to see to it that you're adapting well to your return home" Ozai explained, as they paced together through the roofed hallways. Imperial Guards paced not too far from where they were, keeping with the Fire Lord's rhythm while watching their surroundings warily.

Azula raised an inquisitive eyebrow towards her father, whose eyes challenged her to speak her mind. She didn't fail to rise to said challenge.

"It's the first time you're so concerned about something like that" she said "Are you sure that's what this is about?"

"Well, what else could it possibly be?" Ozai asked, his arms behind his back. Azula snorted.

"You're making sure I'm not trying to insert myself into the White Lotus investigation" she said. Ozai sighed and shrugged "I'm afraid I know you too well"

"And I'm quite sorry for my distrust, child" he said "But you must understand it's for your own good. Those mad rebels have given you enough sorrows for a lifetime. You ought to concern yourself with less stressful matters: for instance, I've already arranged your birthday feast of this year. I'm sure you were so busy you forgot it was barely a few weeks away…"

"Huh. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Father" she said, smiling a little. Her birthday… it truly felt like such banal, meaningless celebration in the face of the current events "It's fortunate I came home on time for it"

"Indeed. And as you can see, there are things you could be focusing on rather than worrying about this tiresome matter. I will not see you waste away consumed by concern over the White Lotus" said Ozai. Azula smiled, looking at him in mild disbelief.

"Is this your way to look out for me, then?" she asked "Making me worry about feasts while you take care of the real problems?"

"You've had far more tastes of real problems than I did until I was around fifteen years older than you, Azula" said Ozai, raising his eyebrows "I believe you need a break, even if a short one. You have already done much for the Fire Nation"

"So sitting this one out isn't that grave an offense" said Azula.

"It's not an offense at all, to begin with" Ozai stated "My father used to send his firstborn and grandson into danger without thinking twice of it, and that wasn't the wisest idea, now, was it? I'm no such fool, so I will see to your safety, without limiting your possibilities if I can avoid it"

"I appreciate that very much, Father" Azula said, nodding towards him. Ozai looked at her, his chin raised.

"Let it be known I see to the Crown Princess's wellbeing" he said "But at any rate, I don't want you to stress about your feast either way. I have already prepared for it…"

"And you've arranged for all my suitors to come sway me with ridiculously expensive gifts that won't impress me?" Azula asked. Ozai smiled.

"They had to be invited" he said "Though, of course you won't be impressed. It's in your blood"

"Indeed. I was born and raised in a Palace, of all places" said Azula, looking at Ozai somewhat skeptically. But the look in his eyes gave her pause "Or… did you mean something else?"

"I…" Ozai said, startled out of a momentary daze by his daughter's question. He swallowed hard and looked away "I was merely thinking your mother wasn't easily impressed by jewelry either. But of course, for vastly different reasons"

Azula's breath caught in her throat. Her father, willingly speaking about her mother? For the first time, someone had drawn a comparison between Azula and her mother, and it hadn't bothered the Princess. If anything, it had shocked her to hear her father acknowledge her mother in front of her for once after such a long time.

"Either way, I'm sure your suitors will be happy to congratulate you for your twenty-third birthday. And I'm sure you will reject every last one of them, as you usually do" Ozai continued, hoping to change the subject quickly "I no longer hold hopes to see your wedding happen anytime soon, truth be told. I only hope you're sensible enough to marry before you're no longer fit to carry children"

"I suppose" said Azula, with a weak grin "Would be a waste if our ever-powerful bloodline died with me, right?"

"Indeed. And since your brother inherited all the worst and none of the best of our family, there is no point in hoping that his potential descendants will be of any use" said Ozai "That is, of course, if any woman can bear with him long enough to procreate…"

Azula snorted, despite herself. Regardless of her current opinion on Zuko, she found it amusing to hear her father speak of his potential grandchildren and his son's love life this casually.

"Well, you surely don't know it, but he took a girl with him when he left" Azula said. At Ozai's disgusted but inquisitive stare, she specified: "A slave"

"Huh. Well, then, she surely bears with him because she has no choice. I pity her" he said. Azula bit her lip and looked at him with disbelieving amusement.

"I don't imagine he has a lot of luck in love but you may be underestimating him" she said "He did get my friend Mai to fall for him, for whatever reason…"

"Ah, a suitable match she was" said Ozai, sighing "But Zuko's erratic life certainly had no room for a wife, let alone one like her. Her relationship with her husband has been good, I take it?"

"So far, yes" said Azula, nodding "Their son is a good child, too, and that's saying something. Not a lot of children are tolerable…"

"I suppose you haven't seen her in some time" said Ozai "What with being away for almost two months… perhaps you ought to visit her. It would be appropriate"

"I suppose…" said Azula, looking at him with curiosity "I guess having Zhao back has reminded you of the value of keeping in touch with your friends?"

"Perhaps" said Ozai, smirking "Though I do hope you won't try to train as harshly with your non-bender friends the way I do with Zhao"

"I won't" said Azula, nodding "Well… I suppose it's a thought, then. I'll be out for the day, if you don't need me for anything else"

"As you well know now, I'd rather you spend your time elsewhere, instead of worrying here" he said "And since you can't distract yourself by training with your gladiator while he's convalescing, this is quite possibly the only way to entertain you for the time being"

"Oh, of course" said Azula, swallowing hard and smiling weakly "You're right"

"Hopefully he will recover soon enough" said Ozai "In the meantime, you can even train with your guards, perhaps. You shouldn't be complacent about your skills, but I don't need to tell you that, of course"

"I've always strived to follow your example. Even when it comes to constant training" said Azula, smiling a little "Very well, then, I won't get in your way and I'll put your mind at ease. Thank you for the conversation, Father"

"There's no need to thank me" he said, smiling and waving his hand "Off you go, then"

Azula smiled too, and did as she was told. She paced almost absent-mindedly towards the dragon refuge, where Xin Long awaited patiently. He bumped her shoulder with his head, offering her some sorely needed physical contact, and she surrounded his neck with an arm.

"Hi. I missed you too" she said, stroking his hair gently. Xin Long groaned happily "Care to go for a flight? We could spend some time airborne together, if you like. I'm in no real hurry to go anywhere…"

Xin Long seemed puzzled by that, asking Azula why wouldn't she want to rush to see Sokka all of sudden, especially after she'd done it the previous night. Azula's chest stung with the reminder of her actions, and she sighed and looked away from her dragon's golden gaze.

"I shouldn't go see him right away. I'll… probably drop by at Mai's house today instead. My father would rather I spend the day with my friends" said Azula, with a dry smile. Xin Long groaned in confusion. Azula sighed "I don't know how closely he'll watch my movements. I'm better off doing as he says, at least at first. I can stop by to check on Sokka later today"

Xin Long accepted his rider's decision, but by now he was growing unsure about whatever might have caused Ozai to act this way. Azula patted his neck, reassuring him as she climbed on the saddle.

"I don't know, he's clearly hiding something. But we should take off now, shouldn't we?" she said, rustling her dragon's mane a little. Xin Long puffed, shaking his head and darting out to the sky through one of the windows on the upper levels of the refuge.

They rose high, and only then did Azula dare speak to her dragon freely. She sighed, relaxing over his neck while frowning heavily.

"If he had any suspicions about me and Sokka, he wouldn't be acting so casually" she said "He would have already punished me, already would have…"

She didn't finish the sentence, as her chest constrained by the mere reminder of what Ozai could do to Sokka if he knew the truth. She swallowed hard, shaking her head and clutching the saddle harder.

"He's too calm. He's trying to get me to relax, and that's not what he'd do if he knew… unless he's trying to set me up?" Azula said "But I doubt it. Not when he's clearly as outraged by the White Lotus as I am. I'm sure he's up to something weird, he just doesn't want me involved. It can't be about Sokka and me, not for real…"

Xin Long added that, if that were the case, she could just as easily spend the day with him instead of visiting her friends. Azula shook her head.

"I don't want to lie to my father more than necessary. If he wants me out of the way, he'll probably watch me for now to make sure I do as he said. And if he noticed I'm heading to Sokka's place when he's indisposed, well… that'd be the best way to make him suspect us, wouldn't it?"

Xin Long seemed to sigh, but he understood Azula's point. She stroked his mane reassuringly as he landed before Mai's doorstep.

"I'll call you again in the afternoon, I suppose" Azula said, as she climbed off his saddle "Have a fun day chasing squirrel rats or wolf-bats, whatever you like best… but claws off the livestock, okay?"

Xin Long huffed, rolling his eyes. Azula smiled as he turned on his heels and left her before the door. She breathed deeply and made her way to the doorway, knocking on the wood lightly.

Mai herself answered the door, and to Azula's surprise, her friend's eyes widened upon meeting hers. It wasn't like Mai at all to show that much emotion: it was especially strange for her to reach out her hand to touch Azula's shoulder.

"You're back. You're… you're okay" she said, frowning in concern. Azula gulped and nodded.

"Somehow, yeah" she said "I take it you've heard stories about what happened?"

"Hideous stories. You wouldn't believe how bad" she said, shaking her head "Goodness, Ty Lee has been hysterical… you haven't seen her yet, have you?"

"No, your house was closer, so I came here instead" said Azula, shrugging. Mai sighed.

"Well, I can set up a carriage, we can go see her. It's such a relief to see you in one piece" said Mai "I mean, I knew there was no way anything too awful had happened, it's you after all, but…"

"Truth be told, it was bad enough as it was" said Azula, looking at her matter-of-factly "And actually, yes, we should go to Ty Lee's place. I'd rather just tell the story once instead of repeating myself for the thousandth time when she asks…"

"Agreed" said Mai, breathing deeply and dropping her hand at last. Azula smiled weakly "It's good to see you, truly. I don't think you'd ever worried us as much as you did this time"

"I don't think I ever gave you as much cause for it, truth be told" she said, as the two of them entered the house: Mai would take Yuudai with them, as she always did "Even when I was stuck in a forest for a week, nobody heard of it until I was safe again. I suppose it's harder to keep rumors in check when it comes to madmen hunting us down…"

"'Us'?" Mai repeated, raising her eyebrows "It wasn't… about you specifically?"

Azula sighed and shook her head. Mai's narrow eyes were wide again.

"I'll explain when we get to Ty Lee's" Azula said. Mai gulped and nodded.

Yuudai was curious about seeing Azula again. He was blurting out random strings of words, some coherent, others not so much, and he was capable of standing up and walking by now. He spent the whole carriage trip rambling nonsense to his mother, who had no opportunities to talk to Azula because of him, but the two women didn't mind it so much. Questions were best saved for once they reached their destination.

Haru answered the door at Ty Lee's house, and he gasped in relief as well upon seeing Azula. The Princess grimaced as she entered the house, wondering if the rumors were actually worse than what she had experienced, if that was possible. Did people assume she had died? Did they think Sokka had? She cringed upon thinking that the second thing had not been too far from the truth.

"Ty Lee!" Haru called, rushing through the house and glancing upstairs "The Princess is here!"

"What?!" they heard Ty Lee exclaim right back. Azula raised an eyebrow and glanced at Haru questioningly.

"Were you two, by any chance…?" she asked. Haru blushed and shook his head.

"She's just a late sleeper, I went to wake her a while ago but she said she wanted to sleep in a little longer" he said, shrugging "But this should be enough to get her out of bed right away"

Almost on cue, Ty Lee showed up at the top of the stairs, her hair a mess, looking as though she had changed into her clothes in a matter of seconds, which she probably had. Her eyes, much like everyone else's, took in Azula's presence but, unlike everyone else, they were filled with tears within a moment's notice.

"Azula!" she exclaimed, bolting through the stairs in an acrobatic way that only she could have pulled off. She managed to rush down without tripping, despite she was skipping over multiple steps at a time to reach her friend.

It wasn't every day that Azula accepted Ty Lee's forceful hugs, but she wasn't in the mood to push her off. She gritted her teeth and patted her friend's back, as Ty Lee clutched her in disbelief, tears running down her face.

"You're okay? You are?" she asked, before pulling away and looking at Azula "Goodness, what on earth happened to you? We heard rumors, so many of them, but…"

"The fact that you're not just worried, but reluctant to believe in rumors, speaks very loudly about how bad they were" said Azula, with a weak smile.

"You were attacked in Yu Dao?" Mai asked. Azula shook her head.

"Not exactly. It's a little more complicated than that" she said. Ty Lee gulped and nodded.

"I'll… make us some tea" she whispered. She could tell this would become a long conversation.

Haru took to distracting Yuudai, something he was remarkably good at as he juggled for the child with his earthbending skills. Yuudai kept laughing, trying to grab the glass balls Haru was bending, but Haru would always make sure they stayed out of his reach. Meanwhile, the three girls sat by the living room's table, with Azula staring out at the garden Sokka and Haru had always trained at. The last time they had been here came to mind. She breathed deeply, trying to keep her focus on the conversation they were supposed to hold instead of getting distracted by thoughts of him, as usual.

"The story of the attack in Yu Dao is real, but I wasn't there when it happened" Azula started. Mai and Ty Lee stared at her apprehensively "We had left the city, hoping to aid Pohuai Stronghold, which was being threatened by a Fire Nation traitor, Jeong Jeong, also known as the Deserter. He was behind everything that happened, of course. He had set up the attack to the Stronghold to leave Yu Dao defenseless once reinforcements were sent to the military base. All of it so he could find… so he could find Sokka in the city, that is, if Sokka had stayed there in the first place"

"Sokka?" Ty Lee exclaimed, her eyes wide. Mai swallowed hard, setting down her cup. Azula's words from earlier took a different meaning now "Why… why Sokka? What exactly…?"

"Huh. So you didn't hear of what happened to him?" Azula said "I guess rumors travel a lot more clumsily than I gave them credit for…"

"What do you mean? Is he… is he okay?" Ty Lee asked.

"Not quite" Azula admitted, lowering her eyes "The whole mess happened because Jeong Jeong is a White Lotus leader. He was after him"

"Oh, no. Oh, heavens no…" said Ty Lee, her eyes wide.

"What did he want? Revenge?" Mai asked. Azula shrugged.

"Something like that" said Azula "On some level, yes. On another, he wanted to prove himself right and prove to the rest of the White Lotus that Sokka was a fool that got corrupted by the Fire Nation's evil ways, and that he'd never influence me towards being a better leader than my father…"

"What? You mean… they wanted to use him?" Mai asked. Azula nodded.

"They saw him as a pawn in a game he had no idea he was playing. Turns out he has a lot more agency than they ever expected him to" said Azula "So, since the Deserter couldn't wrap his head around the idea that someone might think the Fire Nation isn't completely rotten, he decided Sokka had to die for it"

"What?!" Ty Lee exclaimed "Please tell me he didn't…!"

"No, he didn't kill him" Azula muttered, closing her eyes "But not for a lack of trying. I… I almost failed at saving him. If I'd wasted another moment, he could have…"

"Oh, hell… Oh, Azula" said Ty Lee, shaking her head and burying her face in her hands. Mai breathed deeply and looked at Azula sternly.

"How is he? How bad was the damage?"

"He's recovering" Azula said "He was bed-ridden for a time, but he's too weak to move too much, even now. The wound was… well, it was a set of large cuts to his abdomen. It was done by a creature, a shirshu. Jeong Jeong used it so he wouldn't have to finish the job himself, pretty much…"

"Sokka is lucky that he chose to do that" said Mai. Azula frowned "From what I know, the Deserter is one of the most powerful firebenders there's ever been. Sokka might not have survived at all if…"

"True enough" said Azula, shrugging and shaking her head "But it was bad enough as it was either way. Jeong Jeong damn near got away with it"

"But… how? I don't understand any of this, weren't you guys in the Stronghold?" Ty Lee asked, grimacing "How did he find you, how did he even have a chance to do this?"

Azula breathed deeply, and retold the rest of the details for her friends. By the time she was explaining the attack to their carriage, her chest was constrained with fear and anxiety once more.

"After I was paralyzed by the beast, I managed to move even if just by crawling" Azula said "I found him alone, after the creature struck him. He was bleeding, a lot. Too much. I wasted a lot of time panicking, not even thinking for a moment, fool I am, that… that I could have helped him with my fire"

"Wait, by… by cauterizing?" said Mai "But cauterization isn't done through direct fire… you'd have needed to heat up metal, or…"

"Turns out gold fire has strange properties" said Azula. Both Mai and Ty Lee stared at her in surprise now "I didn't think of it right away, but Sokka said he was cold, I conjured fire, when it became gold, a spark fell on his wound. It seemed to help somehow. And since I had no idea what else to do, I used the gold fire as it came and cauterized the wounds that way. Not the healthiest idea, for sure, and I've left him covered in burns again… but he's alive. He made it, somehow"

"That's… that's such good news, but so scary too" said Ty Lee, sniffing and biting back tears "And you say he's recovering? He'll be better soon, right?"

"I hope" said Azula, shrugging "It'll be a while before he is, though. He has never taken this much damage, not even when the Blind Bandit pummeled him back in the day…"

"As long as he doesn't do anything crazy, he should be fine in due time" said Mai, sighing "For now, though, I guess he'll be anemic. That sort of blood loss is hard to make up for"

"Indeed. And even though he's mostly back to eating the way he used to, it's not enough to make up for everything he lost" said Azula, shaking her head "Anyways, what exactly were the rumors you heard? You were so worried…"

"The story was that they'd attacked Yu Dao and taken you" said Mai, frowning. Azula huffed "Well, one of them, at any rate. There was another story that said you'd taken off to chase after them once they attacked…"

"Some people said you were captured, others said you were dead… it was awful" said Ty Lee, grimacing "I'd never been so afraid for you before…"

"Well, I guess we were all afraid. For very different reasons" said Azula, sighing "But I'm fine, as you can see. I'm just…"

"Shaken up" said Mai "And you have every right to be. Anyone in your position would be"

"But he'll be fine. He's already recovering so… everything will be back to normal soon" Ty Lee said. Azula nodded.

"Not soon enough, I guess, but yes" she said "And I'd be with him now, but…"

"But?" Mai asked.

"My father has very cleverly pointed out that I can't train with Sokka as he is right now" said Azula, with a sarcastic smile "So he said I should likely spend my day doing other things, to distract myself from the very stressful matter of discovering what the White Lotus is up to, who they really are, and… well, anything about them"

"That spy you'd mentioned ages ago" said Mai "You still haven't found him?"

"No. And what's worse, now I have two suspects" said Azula, her sarcastic smile widening as she shook her head and sighed "It's a pain. We know we have at least one White Lotus agent under our very noses, and who knows how many more members are infiltrating this city, probably masquerading as Honorary Fire Nation citizens. It's not that farfetched that I'd… that I'd worry about what any of them might dare do to Sokka if they find out he's back, and badly wounded, right?"

"No, not at all" said Ty Lee, swallowing hard.

"You should assign one of your guards to keep watch over him" Mai suggested "I know you'd rather do it yourself, but if your father will be keeping a closer eye on you nowadays, you'll have to find another way to protect him"

Azula sighed, but nodded. It was a good plan, the best strategy so far. She'd considered it earlier, although it wasn't until this morning that she had been blasted by her father's reality blow. There was no other choice at this point if she wanted to be sure Sokka would be safe.

"Indeed, I'll have to do that" she whispered "He's become friends with some of my guards after all. I'm sure some might be fine with checking on him frequently…"

"I'm so sorry all this happened, Azula" said Ty Lee, swallowing hard and looking at her remorsefully "If you need anything from us, anything at all…"

"Well, I may have to drop by to bother you more often than usual, if just to soothe my father's concerns" said Azula "But other than that, I don't know what else you could do"

Ty Lee and Mai looked at their friend in concern. Never before had they seen her as defeated, as miserable, as she was right now. Her concern for Sokka was palpable, and there was no doubt she was resisting the reckless urges to rush to see him right away. But she couldn't do it, not yet. Later, and just briefly, too, so her father's suspicions would be kept at bay. Maybe she would sneak in at night again, if the coast seemed clear… but for now, she couldn't be so reckless in broad daylight.

"How about you train with us, for a change?" said Ty Lee, smiling a little and hoping her idea wouldn't backfire. Azula's brow furrowed a little "I know it's been forever since we last did, but maybe… maybe that could help you?"

Azula didn't seem to be convinced, not at all… so Ty Lee lowered her head. But to her surprise, the Princess took her teacup and drained it quickly.

"Should help pass the time, at least" she whispered, as a response. Both Mai and Ty Lee looked at her with interest after her unexpected answer "But I get to bend now. You're not getting away with more of those 'no bending' rules as you used to"

"Well, you're way too strong with your bending!" Ty Lee exclaimed. Mai smiled.

"And way too strong without it, too. Pick your poison" she said.

To Azula's surprise, Mai's comment actually made her smile. She set down her cup, and pushed herself to her feet. Her two friends followed. Despite her initial reservations, this just might turn out to be a good idea.

She couldn't remember the last time the three of them sparred together like this. She did remember the first times, though: they were but children back then. Ty Lee had learned basics of chi-blocking in a self-defense class, and after successfully blocking Azula's right arm, the Princess had been frightened and outraged, and responded with an onslaught of firebending with her other limbs. Safe to say, the chi-blocking rookie had fled from her friend's attacks, screaming in panic. Mai had been caught in the crossfire too, and in the end Ursa had scolded her limp-armed daughter while her friends made sure their clothes hadn't been charred by the flames.

Mai had developed a penchant for knives when she was a teenager. She frequently conjured them to threaten Azula away from her if she noticed the Princess was mischievously scheming to drag her into another all-out-fight between the three of them. Ty Lee's chi-blocking had improved too in time, and she had lost some of the fear she used to have for Azula's abilities, though not completely. So, even though Mai always complained, the three girls would find themselves sparring quite frequently ever since Azula's father had become Fire Lord. It had pleased Ozai back then that Azula would have allies she could count on to continue exploring her potential as a fighter.

Time had changed many things, and as Azula continued on the path to becoming a powerful leader, honing her skills and constantly training, her friends had moved on to other practices. Mai's relationship with Ruon Jian and their family had taken over most her time, while Ty Lee had been very busy with her circus at first, and then had just shrunken into a low profile until the Gladiator Business caught her interest. Only after Azula had needed their help with training Sokka had the two girls tested their fighting aptitudes again, and even then, everyone's focus was always on Sokka. Their time of sparring, thus, had seemed a thing of the past until it was revived just now.

Knives flew through the air, bursts of fire rejected them, and efficient stabs to chi-points abounded that afternoon. Ty Lee mostly snuck away, and Azula and Mai tried their best not to turn their backs on her, but she was rather quick and nimble even after all those years. Mai's agility, surprisingly, had barely changed even after she had spent so long focusing mostly on being a mother: she still could cast knives with expertise, managing to pin Azula to a tree, and cutting Ty Lee's shirt at one point, at which she complained about having to buy a new one.

But much as it had been in the past, Azula remained the more physically able of the three. Even after a bout where she had promised not to firebend, and she had abided by that promise indeed, she had proven she could hold her own just fine against them, even managing to defeat Ty Lee by using one of Mai's knives to stick the girl's braid to one of the walls of her house.

Training and working out had always been a good outlet for Azula, and she was pleased to find it still was, even now. Although she didn't dare put her gratefulness into words as earnestly as she should, she was thankful for what Mai and Ty Lee had done for her today.

"We can do this again whenever you like! Though, don't attack my hair again, that wasn't nice" Ty Lee pouted after the sparring was done, as Haru brushed her locks gently by the house's veranda.

Azula smiled and shrugged as innocently as she could. Mai only smirked as she held her napping son in her arms.

"If you give me an opening, I'm not about to waste it. It's how it always has been" the Princess said.

"Yeah, like when you pushed me for cartwheeling better than you?"

"Indeed. How much better were you, if a simple push would knock you down so easily?" Azula said, smirking with malice. Mai actually snorted, looking at her friend in disbelief. Ty Lee huffed and shook her head, but she smiled soon enough.

"Your competitiveness is impossible, Azula, really…" she said, with a defeated sigh.

Still, she couldn't be all that mad, as Mai pointed out later. Azula took off on her dragon around mid-afternoon, leaving her two friends behind to ponder the events of the day.

"It's a surprise she could fight so well when burdened with that sort of grief" said Mai. Ty Lee nodded.

"It's why I don't mind if she's being mean. At least not right now" she said, smiling a little "She's been through a lot since we last saw her. I'd… I'd never seen her so sad before"

"Neither had I" Mai whispered "Let's hope this is the saddest we'll ever see her"

Ty Lee nodded. There was little they could do at this point other than hope, and wish that her friend's future would have no more anguish of this manner, ever again.

Her heart hadn't been troubled for as long as she had been distracted by that sparring session. It seemed her father had been right after all, and she needed to relax and unwind.

But it wasn't long before the training session ended that she'd had the urge, again, to see Sokka and ascertain he was fine. She had taken her leave, still as calmly as possible, but as she rode Xin Long on her way to his house, images of what had happened in the Earth Kingdom started to appear in her mind again. She gritted her teeth, ushering Xin Long to fly faster, and jumping off his saddle even before he was done landing.

She rushed through the living room, climbed the stairs, hasted past Song's room. His door was there, and she opened it almost brusquely…

And there he was, lying face-up on the bed, sleeping soundly. His bare chest, with the bandages on his lower torso, was in plain sight. And she could see it rise and fall with each intake and release of breath. As ever, she sighed in relief and headed inside the room, regardless of his unconsciousness.

She sat beside him, caressing his hair gently and brushing it away from his face. He didn't wake up at first, so she continued to do it, but he suddenly jolted up, blinking blankly and staring at her with unfocused eyes.

"A… Azula?" he whispered

"Hey" she said, cupping his face "Sorry I woke you"

"Don't worry. Though why… why didn't you come earlier?" Sokka asked, frowning and rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands "You usually spend the day here, but since you hadn't, I figured you weren't coming at all…"

"When I can, yes" said Azula "But as it happens, my father… he seemed to think I had no business visiting you as I usually do. He thinks I use you for training, after all, so if I was to keep him off our trail I couldn't drop by right away"

"Oh. That makes sense" said Sokka, with a weak smile "And here I thought you were bored of me. But I suppose that's impossible, huh? I am too much fun for you…"

"Huh. I see you've woken full of confidence" said Azula, smiling "Good to know"

Sokka smiled mischievously and looked at her gently. The Princess's hand found his, linking their fingers.

"It's always great to wake up to see your face, though" he said, breathing deeply as he pushed himself up. Azula jumped.

"No need to move, Sokka, you should just…" she started. Sokka smiled and shook his head.

"I wasn't all that comfortable. Don't worry, though, I'm not so weak anymore. I can sit up without much trouble" he said, squeezing her fingers "How have you been? Had a good day?"

"I guess. It could have been far worse" Azula admitted, shrugging "I actually went training with Mai and Ty Lee for the first time in ages. Going there was my father's idea, though… since I didn't want him keeping an eye on what I did, I figured I'd spend most the day with them"

"Huh, I hope you had fun with that, then" said Sokka, smiling and lifting her hand to kiss her fingers. Azula sighed and moved closer to him "Though I'll admit, this business with your dad isn't reassuring… why is he keeping such close tabs on what you do all of sudden?"

"I don't know for sure" Azula admitted "From the looks of it, he just doesn't want me worrying about the White Lotus anymore. He even brought up my birthday feast as a distraction…"

"Woah! It's… it's true. Your birthday is coming" Sokka said, grimacing. Azula smiled.

"That's not really something to worry about, is it?" she said, caressing his hair "And if you so much as dare consider building something as insane as Xin Long's armor this time around, I'll strap you down to this bed myself to make sure you can't"

"Oh, we're tying each other up now? Sounds like fun" he said, smiling furtively "Do I get to tie you up too?"

"Absolutely not" said Azula smiling. Sokka pouted.

"So stingy" he said, shaking his head before sighing "So, he just wants you distracted. But he thinks I'm no good as a distraction…?"

"I guess?" Azula said "He thinks all we do is train, and if we're to keep him thinking that…"

"Then you probably can't come to see me as often as you'd like" said Sokka, frowning "Should you really be here right now, for starters?"

"I… I guess not. But I won't here long" she said "As far as he knows, I'm only checking on you, right? To make sure you got home safely…"

"Right. He'd never know you snuck in here yesterday at night anyways" said Sokka, with a crooked grin. Azula nodded.

"Doing that too often may be a risk, but… maybe it's the only way we'll spend time together at all at this point. So I guess I can go now, but tonight…"

"Wait… what?" said Sokka, frowning a little "Azula…"

"What is it?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow at his troubled expression.

"I certainly enjoy the company, how wouldn't I? But… didn't you just say it's risky to do this often?" he asked "What if you're needed, for whatever reason, and they don't find you in your room? What if a servant goes inside, too… and they notice you're not there?"

"I… I guess it's not impossible. I have to say, that sort of thing seldom happens…" said Azula. Sokka gulped.

"I'd say you can sneak around once in a while, but doing it every night would be…"

"So you… you think I shouldn't come see you?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "You think I should just abide by my father's wishes, leave you be until you've healed fully…?"

"It's not about what I may want or not" Sokka muttered "I just want you safe, and out of trouble. You've already risked a lot, and I don't want you to risk more if just…"

"You're the one who always takes the worst risks" Azula replied, shaking her head "You just… I get it, alright? I do. I know I shouldn't do this. I've been able to withstand months without seeing you before, why not this time? But…"

Sokka swallowed hard, watching her tense up. Her eyes averted his.

"Azula…"

"I'm a mess, yes. I… I understand" she said, gritting her teeth "I'm putting us both at stake with my recklessness, and I… I shouldn't have. You're right. You're right. I need to get a hold of myself, and…"

"No, no, no! Wait a moment!" Sokka said, clasping her wrist and making sure she wouldn't leave, especially so she wouldn't leave as distraught as she was. Azula still avoided his gaze "That's not what I mean. Azula, you're…"

"I'm fine. I will be, I'm fine, I just need…"

"You need to talk to me about what's troubling you" Sokka finally blurted out, frowning "I… I know you're not alright. I know what alright is for you, and this isn't it. It hasn't been since…"

"I'm sorry, okay? I wish I wasn't acting as I am, I really do" Azula said, as good as snarling now "If I could stop it, I swear to you I would in a heartbeat, but…"

"But?" Sokka said. Azula swallowed and shook her head.

"This is stupid. It's ridiculous. Why the blazes would I burden you with my pathetic problems when you're…?"

"When I'm what?" Sokka asked, looking at her sternly. Azula still didn't dare look at him "When I'm the one who almost got killed, is it?"

Azula swallowed hard again. He could feel her trying to inch away, to avoid this conversation. He wouldn't let her. He breathed deeply.

"We do need to talk about this, Azula. Whenever you're ready, yes, but… we need to" he said "I'm not saying you're forbidden from coming at night anymore, and I don't… I don't like being away from you anymore than you do. Truth is, I want to help you…"

"I should be the one helping you, not the other way around" Azula snapped, huffing.

"Maybe if I help you, you'll be helping me by letting me help you?" Sokka said, with a weak smile. Azula frowned "No? Really?"

"That's… strange" she said, looking at him at last. His blue eyes were as beautiful, as inviting as ever "But I just… I don't think it makes sense. I don't think I should…"

"Look, whatever you need to do, I'm here for you" Sokka said "If it turns out that… that you can't sleep unless I'm with you, then drop by and I'll be here waiting happily. But, uh, lock up your room properly so nobody can go inside and find you're not there, eh?"

"Heh. I guess that's one way to solve that problem" said Azula, shrugging.

"Maybe… do that tonight" Sokka said. Azula stiffened "If you don't want to talk things over right now, because you should run back to appease your dad, then we can talk tonight instead. And once we do, we can decide on a course of action from now on. We'll find a way to deal with all these obstacles, Azula. We always do"

"I guess" she whispered, lowering her eyes again "Are you sure I should come, though? You had a point, earlier…"

"Locking all accesses to your room should be fine for one night" said Sokka, with a gentle smile "If it's not, you can come up with a false story, maybe? Tell them you went on a midnight trip with Xin Long and it dragged on a little longer than intended? I don't know…"

"Hopefully I'll think of something more consistent than that" Azula said, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. Sokka pouted.

"It's something, though" he mumbled. She smiled and looked at him with uncertainty.

"So, we're… going to talk things through?" she asked. Sokka nodded.

"It's only right, isn't it?" he whispered "It's what we keep saying we need to do in these sorts of situations, too. And I get it if you're not comfortable talking about it yet, but… I'd hope you know that I'm not going to be bothered by anything you share with me. Else I would have freaked out about other things you've told me, right?"

"Heh. Maybe I can still scare you off" Azula said, with a slightly defiant smile.

Sokka smiled back, leaning closer to her and kissing her lips softly. Azula sighed, kissing him back gratefully. He was right, of course. He could be trusted. She could tell him anything, she always did… so she could talk about this. Even though it would sound ridiculous, no doubt, to tell him about the image that plagued her mind constantly when he had lived through that nightmare himself… but she would do it. She would do it that night. Voicing it might be what she needed to convince herself of how foolish she was being…

"Seriously, Princess…?" he said, cupping her face "I don't think anything you do or say will ever tear me from your side. And yes, that's probably a bad idea, all things considered, but it's still true!"

"Is this unconditional love, then?" Azula asked, with a weak smile "Doesn't matter what I dare say or do…?"

"Yeah. I'm sure you can upset me, and I certainly won't like it if you do some things just to piss me off" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows "But alas, what's done is done. My heart has been yours for a very long time now, Azula. No arguments or disagreements will change that"

"I sure hope so" she said, sighing and hugging him gently.

He smiled and buried his face in her neck. Her fingers played with his hair, her lips kissing his ear softly as she stayed close to him. Still, every second spent embracing was one more second at risk of being caught doing what she wasn't supposed to: her father, hopefully, hadn't noticed she was here, but if she didn't want him to find out, she should leave soon.

"Alright… I should go. I really should" Azula whispered, pulling away gently. Sokka sighed, but he smiled reassuringly.

"I'll wait for you tonight, then" he said. She nodded.

"Rest more for now, alright? I don't want you losing sleep, especially when you need your rest as much as you do" she said, cupping his face. Sokka shrugged.

"I'll do what I can. Not so hard to get me to sleep, now, is it?" he said, chuckling and dropping on the mattress. Azula smiled.

"Not usually, no. Just relax" she said, standing up and moving to the door again "I'll be back before you know it"

"I do hope so" said Sokka, smiling still "See you in a bit, Azula"

She smiled over her shoulder and nodded before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her. She sighed deeply, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips as she headed downstairs. Would this be a good idea at all? She was getting far too used to talking to Sokka about everything that burdened her, she realized. It wasn't a bad thing, but it also wasn't good to depend on him to this degree. He loved her, no doubt… but her attachment to him was what triggered the onslaught of nightmares and traumatic images ever-present in her mind right now. Loving someone seemed to be both a blessing and a curse, in very different ways.

As she pondered this, she heard two voices in the kitchen. She frowned, wondering who might be keeping Song company today…

A glance inside the room answered the question right away. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped ever so slightly as she watched Rui Shi smiling and holding Song's hand as she talked to him animatedly…

As the trained soldier he was, though, Rui Shi sensed they were being watched and he froze cold when he realized Azula was there. At first, he paled, but soon enough he was blushing.

"P-Prin-…" he stuttered. Song blinked and raised her gaze: her face reddened just as much as Rui Shi's did as a slow smile spread over Azula's face.

"Huh. Well, I suppose you resolved your problem for the better, didn't you?" she said. Rui Shi swallowed hard.

"I-I know you may worry that I will neglect my duties, Princess, but I promise…!"

"Actually, I'm sure you won't. You have a new task that I'm sure you'll be happy to fulfill" she said, looking at him somewhat sternly. Rui Shi stiffened.

"Yes?"

"My father has strongly suggested that I have no cause to visit my gladiator while he's recovering from his wounds" she said "Defying him in this matter… it's certainly ill-advised, especially when I stand to lose a lot from doing so. But I still need someone to keep an eye on Sokka, to make sure he's recovering properly… and since you have a personal reason to stop by at his house, too, I'm sure you won't mind taking up this mission, or would you?"

Rui Shi blinked blankly. Azula stared at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"I-I… yes. I think I can do this, yes" he said, nodding "Um, but then, you're… you don't mind this?"

Song as well looked at Azula, somewhat nervously. The Princess actually smiled skeptically.

"After everything Sokka and I have put you both through, do you really think I'd be that much of a hypocrite?" she said "Carry on, have your fun. You deserve it"

She waved and walked off to the backyard, leaving the blushing new couple to stare after her. Song smiled, though, and she squeezed Rui Shi's fingers softly.

"Well… we have her approval, right? You did worry about that, but there you go!" she said, beaming. Rui Shi chuckled and nodded, watching as Azula climbed on her dragon's saddle and took off.

"I guess she has a point. They did torment you a lot, didn't they?" he asked, looking at Song. She shook her head.

"I didn't really give them the chance to" she said, with a shrug "As soon as she arrived I'd run out of the house to avoid, uh, overhearing anything I didn't want to"

"Still much worse than anything they did to me" said Rui Shi, smiling and pressing his forehead to hers "You really are too kind, Song"

"Am I?" she asked, laughing and lunging to kiss him softly.

Their tender moment was interrupted, though, by an unexpected sound. Footsteps rushing down the stairs.

"Uh-oh" said Song. Rui Shi frowned, letting go of her hand and moving to the kitchen's entrance just as Sokka showed up at the foot of the stairs at the living room, his eyes wide.

"Her birthday" he said, looking at the guard. Rui Shi froze.

"Yes? It's… in a few weeks?" he said.

"I know! That's why I…! I need to do something…!"

"Sokka, you're in no shape for this nonsense" said Rui Shi. Sokka huffed and shook his head.

"Not true!" he declared "I'm not building something huge this time, I promise I'll keep it small. But I do have something in mind, something I really want to do for her and… and I need your help, again, hehe! How surprising, huh?"

"What now? Do you want to build an armor for her this time?" Song asked, crossing her arms over her chest and grimacing. Sokka shook his head.

"She already has enough armors, no way I'd make a better one than those" he said "No, what I want is… oh, you just have to buy a few things for me, that's all I need. After that's done, I'll take care of the rest. I promise it won't be anything too tiring for me"

Song and Rui Shi looked at each other in confusion before looking back at Sokka. He gulped.

"Please?"

"Do we really have to?" Rui Shi asked. Sokka bit his lip.

"You can go to the market tomorrow, if you don't want to go today" he said "But just… I won't ask for anything else. I just need…"

"Okay, okay" said Song sighing and shrugging "We need to restock on food after all. It won't hurt to buy what you need"

Sokka's anxious grimace morphed into an ecstatic smile. Song smiled too, while Rui Shi raised an eyebrow.

"And what exactly is it you need us to buy?"

Sokka rubbed his hands together, his smile becoming a smirk. If he had surprised her last year, he was aiming for blowing her mind this time around…

There was no sign of Ozai in the Palace when Azula arrived. She frowned, wondering if she could have spent more time at Sokka's place instead of rushing home as she had. Maybe Ozai wasn't keeping watch on her at all. Maybe what she did with her time didn't worry him as much as she had thought it did.

She didn't dare drop her guard completely, though. She'd have to find something else to occupy herself with for at least another week or two, and visit Sokka infrequently, if at all. She had to deal with her birthday celebration, too, so she might as well supervise the preparations for it, if that would give her father some peace of mind…

She pondered all this as she walked to her room, not expecting to find someone standing next to the door. Her eyes widened, taking in the small, seemingly defeated shape of the Blind Bandit.

"Toph?" she called. The earthbender raised her head quickly.

"I heard you were home. I… thought we could talk?" she said. Azula shrugged and nodded, stepping towards the red door.

"We can, of course. It's odd to hear you asking so nervously" she said, opening the door and letting Toph inside.

"You really think it is?" Toph said, grimacing in confusion as the princess closed the door behind them "You don't think that… well, that whatever you went through in Yu Dao was my fault?"

"Uh… no, I didn't quite think that" said Azula, frowning. Toph swallowed hard.

"I told you that Iroh was snooping around, thinking my warning would help keep you guys safe, but instead…"

Azula closed her eyes. Toph's guilt made more sense than she thought. Had Iroh used her to convince Azula to leave? Had he predicted the situation, sent word to his White Lotus ally, Jeong Jeong…?

It wasn't impossible, no doubt. But it was improbable.

"As much as I'm touched to see you're as affected by our misfortunes as you are, I think you're going too far" said Azula "Too many people made mistakes, not just you. There are many others to pin the blame on, and each of us think we're the real reason it happened, so…"

"What, you blame yourself too?" Toph asked, stunned. Azula shrugged.

"Why wouldn't I?" she said, stepping towards her dresser "My decisions landed us in Jeong Jeong's trap eventually, even if we avoided said trap for a fairly long time. If I'd been more careful, maybe things could have ended differently, too"

"I guess" said Toph, sighing.

"So don't beat yourself up over it, unless… unless you actually did it consciously?" Azula said, smirking and turning to look at Toph "Did Iroh tell you to convince us of leaving…?"

"Of course not! If he had I wouldn't have done it!" Toph exclaimed. Azula chuckled "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It's not that I trust you, Bandit… it's that I trust your inability and unwillingness to lie" she said "If you were manipulated by Iroh at all you would have never known it. I know you were trying to help us"

"I did a pretty damn shitty job at that, though" she said, huffing and shaking her head "I'll try not to cause more trouble, I promise. Next time I'll think things through…"

"I would hope you do, but truly, the risk of being discovered by my uncle is still…" said Azula, breathing deeply and shaking her head "Never mind. Anyways, did anything change since we were here? Has he said or done anything out of the ordinary?"

"Not really. Still with his letters" said Toph "But he implied Zuko's crew is coming home soon. I think he's planning to question them when they do"

"I see" said Azula "So he's still not making any significant moves"

"Literally, nothing" said Toph, shaking her head.

Iroh's patience was suspicious on its own right. If only she hadn't thought the Head Sage was another fair candidate of being the spy for the White Lotus, the way Iroh had behaved would have set off all the red flags possible by now. He had a motive. All he cared about at this point in his life was his nephew: Azula had ripped him from his side, or at least, that was what Iroh thought. With Zuko potentially lost forever, why wouldn't Iroh want Azula to lose her means to continue proving herself to the world?

No doubt Iroh knew Sokka was what mattered most to Azula, but as long as he didn't suspect of the affair between them, he'd think Sokka mattered only because he was her means of advancement. Iroh thought her to be ambitious and lustful for power and glory: he didn't have to know about their relationship to figure out how to destroy Azula just as Iroh had been destroyed when Zuko left.

Therefore, it wasn't unthinkable: Iroh could have been behind Jeong Jeong's attack. Azula sighed as she felt a headache coming up. Toph rested against one of the posts of Azula's bed, her arms crossed.

"How is he, though?" the earthbender asked "And how are you? Did anything… well, really bad happen?"

"Nobody's dead" Azula said, bluntly "So naturally, it could have been worse. Still, he's not in the best shape, so if you want to stop by his house to apologize, feel free to do it but don't expect him to be too hospitable, I guess"

"I won't mind. Still, don't bother offering me a ride on your dragon so I can apologize, I'll go on foot. I'd rather not fly if I can help it" said Toph, smiling. Azula scoffed.

"Who said anything about giving you a ride?" she said "Besides, I… probably won't be visiting him often anyways. So if you do go, send my regards to him"

"Your regards, all your love and care and whatnot" Toph said. Azula smirked.

"Here I thought you weren't being yourself. Made sense that you'd go back to the mockery in no time" she said "At any rate, stop worrying and blaming yourself for what happened. Many others are far guiltier than you, starting by Jeong Jeong himself. Don't beat yourself up over it"

"Heh. I won't if you say so, then" said Toph, with a weak smile "Thanks for not holding anything against me. I hope the next time I try to help you is a lot less chaotic than this"

"You and me both, Bandit" said Azula. Toph smiled and nodded towards her.

"Well then, I'll be off. I'll visit your Dog once in a while, maybe let you know if he's feeling any better…"

"That'll be very appreciated. Have a good night" said Azula.

Toph smiled again, though the unease in her stance betrayed she still felt conflicted about everything. She wasn't the only one who did, though. Azula wasn't about to stop feeling guilty either, regardless of what anyone else told her.

Azula ate alone, while trying to ease her mind as the servants hurried around her, carrying food and trays and fixing her room to the best of their ability. She only bathed after eating, and then clad herself in her sleeping gown to get some rest. At least, that was what she pretended to do.

She lay awake in bed for around an hour and a half. By then, she got up and locked the door from the inside before repeating her actions from the previous day. She wasn't led by her frantic despair this time, though. She was calmer today for some reason, but she knew it wasn't a permanent change. Her mind was ever in disarray: she had no way of predicting when her subconscious would choose to torment her again.

She would have to return before dawn, and she hoped not to do it so clumsily this time around. She breathed deeply before opening the secret trapdoor, and she plunged into the darkness with a quick jump.

She didn't rush through the corridors this time. She was grateful for the lack of vigilance in the underground tunnels, but it worried her, too. Anyone with ill-intentions and firebending ability could easily access them and wreak havoc through the Capital… She grimaced, hoping her suspicions would be wrong. Hoping that the White Lotus wouldn't try to attack again through the underground tunnels…

It took her around twenty minutes to reach his trapdoor. She opened it carefully, and she moved to his house quietly. There was no one nearby. It was late, and the distant street was as lonely as ever.

She breathed deeply after she was safely inside the house, and she climbed to the second floor right away. Floorboards creaked under her weight on the stairs, but she ignored the sound and approached Sokka's room, hesitating slightly. While she had been eager to see him, what was she going to say? How would she explain herself reasonably, without sounding as foolish as she knew she would…?

Her doubts were pointless, she knew. She shook her head and opened the door, hoping this would end well. As of late, these conversations with Sokka usually did.

Sokka was lying on the bed, his eyes open, his limbs splayed somewhat lazily over the mattress. A lonely candle burned on his shelf, giving the room a hazy glow. Azula's eyes found his right away, and she relaxed when he smiled warmly at her.

"Well, well. What's a beautiful Princess like you doing in a place like this?" he asked, teasingly. She shook her head and closed the door behind her before walking to his bedside.

"Who knows. Maybe she has lost her way" she replied, enigmatically "Will you send her home safely?"

"I guess I will, eventually. First I should make sure the Princess isn't all that disoriented after getting lost, though" he said. Azula sat on the bed, taking Sokka's hand in hers.

"How do you plan on doing that?" she asked "Any ideas?"

"Well… lying down might help you" he said, smiling and patting the space next to him "There's plenty of room"

Azula smiled and complied, settling against his body, to his left. Her hand went to his heart by instinct, although she wavered a little. Sokka simply kissed her brow softly.

"How are you feeling by now?" Azula asked, her hand moving towards the border of Sokka's bandages now. He hummed and shrugged.

"Song helped change the bandages after dinner. The balm is pretty helpful, I'll admit" he said. Azula sighed "Now, really, Azula. You burned me much worse the first time you did it. This is easy-peasy in comparison"

"Oh, really?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows. Sokka smiled.

"Yep. Seriously, though, I'm feeling better" he said "Her special diet is truly helping. Though…"

"What?" she whispered. Sokka bit his lip and looked at her furtively.

"I know I made promises yesterday, but I… hell, I have to say this, even if… if you'll think so poorly of me once you find out" he said, sighing "You'll be so betrayed, horrified by my crime…"

"What?" Azula said, raising an eyebrow as she recognized his overdramatic tone "You committed a crime regarding her special diet? What did you do, fry your messenger hawk?"

"What?! No! I'd never do that, poor Hawky!" Sokka pouted. Azula laughed and smiled at him.

"Well then, out with it. What is this mysterious, terrifying betrayal of yours?" she asked, her eyes commanding him to be honest. Sokka bit his lip and sighed.

"Well, according to Song, one of the best foods for regaining my strength happens to be… oh, goodness, you'll never forgive me" he said, shaking his head. Azula snorted.

"Honestly, Sokka, what could be so bad that you'd think I…?" she started, but an idea came to her mind now. Her eyes widened, realization dawning on her face "Oh, no. You did not…"

"Aaah, I knew you'd be horrified!" Sokka cried out, covering his face with his hands as Azula sat up.

"Goodness, you ate komodo rhino?! Really?!" she asked, her attempt at indignation shifting into laughter soon enough as Sokka groaned in despair.

"And it tasted good! That's the worst part! I'm ashamed…!" he exclaimed, as Azula's laughter brought her to lie down beside him again, her whole body shivering with the force of her laughs.

"Oh, I knew this would happen. You're such a carnivore that it couldn't be that long before you ate it again…" she finally said, still smiling "Though I do suppose it must have been a lot better now that it was cooked by someone who knew what she was doing"

"I think that's the trick, really" said Sokka "I wasn't kidding at all back when I told you I couldn't cook to save anyone's life"

"A lie, since you saved ours" said Azula, with a weak smile "Though I admit I'm not sure how, since you really are a terrible cook. It's a true wonder we survived that mess of a forest"

"We've really been through a lot, huh?" Sokka whispered "And after all those learned lessons… I still ended up having komodo rhino liver for dinner again. Though hey, the way Song makes it is actually such an improvement…!"

"Sokka, you may have gotten over the gag reflex upon the mere thought of komodo rhino meat, but I haven't" said Azula, with a sarcastic grin "Please don't talk about that liver…"

"Hey, it wasn't you who ate it…"

"I watched you eat it. Believe me, it was disturbing"

Sokka snorted and laughed. Azula sighed and shook her head, embracing his chest.

"I haven't touched any rhino meat myself ever since. I seriously doubt I'll do it again" said Azula. Sokka smiled and shrugged.

"Hey, if you don't have to, there's nothing wrong with that" he said "But hey, if you ever need to eat it, ask Song to cook it"

"Alright. I'll keep that in mind" said Azula, kissing his shoulder softly.

Sokka's arm extended around her shoulders, enabling him to caress her hair while she relaxed against him. They were quiet for a short time, until Azula broke the silence with a seemingly simple question:

"Have you had nightmares?"

Sokka closed his eyes. The previous conversation had been a nice ice-breaker, but this was the real reason she was here. The time for amusing anecdotes was over.

"I've had some from time to time, but they've increased recently" he admitted. Azula swallowed hard "How about you? Have you had any?"

"Any, many…" Azula whispered, pressing her face to his shoulder "Though it's not just nightmares. I… I guess there's something wrong with me, after all. It doesn't matter what I do, that image is always chasing me. Asleep, awake, it happens either way…"

Sokka gritted his teeth, his caresses of her hair growing gentler despite his tension. His fingertips massaged her scalp, hoping to soothe her a little this way.

"What image, exactly?" he whispered, even though he already could guess the answer. Azula sighed.

"Just… the clearing. You, lying there… I just can't get rid of it" she said, closing her eyes "The only way to keep the thoughts at bay, and even then it doesn't always shut them down, is being near you. By making sure you're…"

"Making sure I'm still alive and kicking. I get it" said Sokka, biting his lip. Azula sighed again.

"I know I shouldn't be like this, I'm being reckless and causing trouble, and…"

"Now, now. None of that" said Sokka "I know what all that really means: you think that, since you weren't the one who got her stomach slashed by Nyla, you aren't allowed to suffer about it and you should just busy yourself with taking care of me. Right?"

"Something like that, yes" said Azula, with a grimace "And as predictable as I am, I suppose you'll say I shouldn't feel that way at all…"

"Well, if you already know it there's not much point in me saying it" said Sokka, with a weak smile "But… I do want you to know that, if the situation were reversed, I wouldn't be handling it much better than you are"

Azula frowned and looked at him. His eyes were lost in the distance now, staring into space, perhaps imagining the situation that he'd just mentioned. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply again before speaking.

"At this point, though… I think all we can do is accept that it happened the way it did. It happened, and damn, did it suck, but it's over now, Azula. I don't think this is the absolute solution for your problem, but you probably should stop thinking of what could have been, what should have been, or how much worse it might have been…"

"I can't really help it, though" said Azula "I made mistakes, so many of them, and…"

"And they nearly cost my life? But they didn't" said Sokka, pressing his forehead to hers "We won't let things come to this again, Azula. I know it's hard to make promises like this, especially since we're in this relationship, but…"

"It didn't happen because of our relationship. Not directly, anyhow" said Azula, looking at him almost remorsefully "But it was a consequence of your actions from over a year ago. Actions you took because…"

"Because I chose you instead of them" said Sokka, swallowing hard "But it's still not because of our relationship. As far as they're concerned, I did it because I felt like it, not because I love you or because of how many times we've tumbled under the sheets…"

"I do hope so" said Azula, grimacing "If they suspected we're together, and they reported that to their spy…"

"Oh. Uh-oh" said Sokka, his eyes wide "That would be chaotic, but… I don't think I said anything too compromising"

Azula smiled, her hand moving slowly over his chest to stroke his stubble. Sokka bit his lip.

"Anyways, I just want you to know I understand" he said "I wouldn't be much better than you right now, if you'd been their target instead or something. Your father would have to drag me away from your side with around seven guards if he really wanted to keep us apart…"

"It's almost sweet to hear that" said Azula, smiling more warmly now. Sokka gave her a full grin "Well… thank you for understanding. You always do, after all. But I just wish that… that I could find a solution for this. A way to stop it for good"

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that easily" said Sokka, kissing her brow "Back when… well, when we first met, I had nightmares too. Lots of them on the ship. They only stopped when reality became more horrifying than my dreams. Or maybe they didn't stop at all, but dreaming of you and of taking revenge turned into a welcome thing instead…"

"Considering I caused you that much grief, I think that's a reasonable guess" said Azula. Sokka shrugged.

"Your face was still the most beautiful one I'd seen, regardless of how angry I was. It was nicer than I'd ever admit, recreating it in my mind, instead of watching the way gladiators were forced to kill each other…"

"Huh. I'm surprised to hear that" Azula whispered. Sokka smiled skeptically.

"Surprised, really? Haven't I told you how beautiful you are enough times yet? I mean, I really haven't, but still…"

"I mean, that I'd provide any form of comfort or relief for you. Even if just because you wanted to kill me" she said "But I'm glad I did, for whatever reason it was"

"Now, now, you shouldn't be. I was quite an angry and bitter guy back when you found me again…"

"Indeed, you were, only because of what I did to you"

"Ah, nonsense" said Sokka. Azula smiled "You still spared me first, then saved me from Hui Yi. You saved me this time, too. Sure, you make mistakes, mistakes that maybe can't be taken back easily. But you still fix them, knowingly or not. You still save me every time, and I know you're relieved that you have"

"Of course I am" Azula admitted "But it's… complicated. I just wish I hadn't put you in the circumstances where you'd be hurt, to begin with"

"Azula, the past is in the past" Sokka whispered, kissing her brow again "As I said, we'd do best to stop fretting about what we could have done better and accept what we have now. I know it won't be easy, but it probably will let you sleep a lot better once you manage to do it"

"I really can't keep relying on you to keep all my nightmares at bay, can I?" said Azula, sighing "I do love sleeping beside you, but it's inconvenient for the both of us…"

"I wish we could get away with it" said Sokka "If things were any different, I'd gladly cuddle you every night while you keep your hand over my heart if you need to. It's just…"

"Too many risks" said Azula, nodding "It's worked so far, but maybe it is time I stop it. I'd never even needed to hug toys in bed as a child, so this is ridiculous…"

"Huh? You didn't use anything to soothe yourself to sleep as a kid?" Sokka asked "Not even a doll?"

"A doll?" Azula said, with a snort "The last one I got was… heh, a gift from my Uncle, actually. I set it on fire"

"You WHAT?!" Sokka asked, his jaw dropping as Azula laughed "Wait, was it because it was a doll or because it was from him?"

"I suppose it was both?" said Azula, smirking "What's it to you, anyways?"

"It's just… dolls can be fun, you know" Sokka said, blushing and looking away as Azula snorted and pressed her head to his shoulder, overtaken by laughter again "What's so funny?!"

"You'd play with dolls? Seriously?" she asked, looking at him in amazement. He only grew more flustered, but he sighed and shook his head in defeat.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want but I was six! I didn't have a lot to do to entertain myself while shut inside the igloo during a blizzard!"

"And you just played with dolls. I get it" said Azula, still chuckling. Sokka pouted.

"I started to learn how to brush hair with dolls, you know? If you have any appreciation for the way I brush yours, you should be grateful to them for it!"

His comment only served to make Azula laugh harder yet, unable to articulate more words. Despite his embarrassment, he joined in on her laughter soon enough, as he held her close and smiled warmly at her. He probably was a fool indeed, but he didn't mind feeling foolish if it would make her laugh like this.

"Ah, goodness, all this concern and all this suffering for your fate…" she finally said, smiling "And now you're going to dump me for setting your beloved dolls on fire. Seems appropriate"

"Pfft, who said anything about dumping you? Don't be ridiculous" said Sokka, smiling "You'll have to do a lot worse than that if you want me to dump you"

"Oh? How much worse?" Azula asked. Sokka bit his lip and shrugged.

"Honestly, I can't even imagine anything" he said, smiling. Azula sighed and shifted closer to him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"I told you to stop loving me that much, didn't I?" she said "And yet nowadays you keep talking about unconditional love, of all things…"

"Heh, you're to blame for that, Princess" he said, smiling at her "Stop being so loveable and I might do as you ask"

"Stop being…? How am I loveable, for starters?" Azula said, looking at him with disbelief as he snickered "Truly, Sokka, some people think I'm crazy but you…"

"What, I'm crazier still?" he said, before leaning in to peck her lips "Maybe. Crazy about you, to be sure"

"That couldn't be cornier if you tried, you know" she said. He chuckled.

"You just can't cut me any slack, can you?"

"Of course I can't, but you should be fine with that. You said you'd love me no matter what, remember?" Azula teased him. Sokka chuckled and kissed her brow.

"That's right, you troublemaker" he said, slipping an arm around her shoulders and embracing her tightly "And I always will"

Azula swallowed, glancing up at him as he closed his eyes. He held her tightly, with what strength he could muster. She couldn't keep from wondering if maybe he had needed her these days just as badly as she had needed him.

"I'll always love you, too" she said, kissing his lips softly. He responded soon enough "No matter what. But…"

"But we need to part ways for a bit?" he said, looking at her sadly now "I know, I know…"

"You know I'd rather stay, but…" said Azula, sighing and looking at him hopelessly. Sokka smiled.

"That's okay" he said "I'm sorry we couldn't give your nightmare problem a more final solution, but…"

"But talking about it helped, yes" Azula said, nodding. Sokka smiled.

"I'm glad" he whispered "Still… you say your mind frequently gives you these unwanted thoughts, right? At any point in time?"

"Uh, yes…"

"And of course, you won't be able to fend them away every time by coming to see me" said Sokka, looking at her thoughtfully. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Your point?"

"Just wait a moment" he said, smiling and sitting up.

Azula watched him as he stretched an arm over her body, reaching to his nightstand and opening its cabinet. He rummaged through it for a moment until he finally found what he was looking for.

"I can't really stay beside you at all times, as much as I'd love to" said Sokka, offering what he'd found to Azula "So… even if it's not much consolation, I'm thinking you can take this with you. Whenever your thoughts go astray, you can keep this close by to remember I'm fine, and safe, thanks to you"

Azula took the bone necklace into her hand, recognizing it quickly: she hadn't seen Sokka wear it in a very long time. She looked at him in surprise.

"Isn't this… one of your last remnants from home?" Azula asked "Along with your weapons? I hadn't seen you wearing it for a while, I wasn't sure if you'd lost it or…"

"Nah, if anything I kept it closer and safer than before" Sokka explained "I used to wear it all the time in the Amateur League, because I never knew which fight would be my last. Ever since you found me again, I've thought it's best to keep it safe. As you said, it's one of my last reminders of home, but… some wise corny person once said that home was where the heart is, right?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Azula asked, with a skeptical smile. Sokka beamed and kissed her lips softly.

"You gave me a reason to believe I still had a home to return to, for starters" he said "Yet my heart has belonged to you for very long now, so I guess that means you're my new home. And thus, giving you the necklace means I'm bringing my old and new homes together, huh? Sounds crazy, yes, but I hoped it might help you a little…"

"Huh" said Azula, biting her lip "So you're giving me this because I'm your home? Really?"

"Really. Like it or not" said Sokka, smiling and dropping beside her again "Is it that farfetched?"

"No, it's just… well, we were talking about your Tribe's strange engagement rituals just last night" said Azula, with a weak smile "Is this some sort of symbol of…?"

"What? No!" Sokka exclaimed immediately, before blushing at Azula's questioning stare "It… wouldn't work like that. This is a bone necklace, it's not a proper betrothal necklace. Those need to have a pendant on them… besides, I'd be expected to make it myself. I shouldn't give you a necklace my grandmother made for me as a symbol of our engagement"

"Well, if you did it wouldn't be all that far-fetched. You did say your grandmother's engagement necklace was handed down to your sister, even, so maybe your family is reinventing the way these necklaces work" said Azula, with a weak grin.

"Yeah, well, I'd rather do things properly, my insidious Princess" said Sokka, kissing her temples "Will you keep it, then? Or am I indeed being too nonsensical for you?"

"Oh, you are. No doubt" said Azula, smirking and pressing closer to him "But I'll take it even so, if you don't mind. I don't really follow your reasoning… but I do understand it's valuable to you. I won't let any harm come to it"

"Why, thank you" said Sokka, smiling in relief "I was starting to think you were going to throw it back at my face"

"Well, you underestimated the extent of my greed" Azula said, smirking before kissing his lips softly "Honestly, though… thank you"

"I have no idea if it'll work, but hopefully it'll keep your worst thoughts at bay" he said "Just use it to remember this moment, to remember all the silly things you've laughed about tonight. Remember there's still much to live for, and no time to waste mulling over the past and wishing we had done things differently"

"I'll try, I'll try" she said, pressing her forehead to his "I love you. I really do…"

"And I love you even more!" Sokka exclaimed, beaming. Azula laughed and shook her head, kissing his lips again.

"I don't think that's possible" she said, caressing his face gently.

She stared at him, her heart ablaze as usual, as she studied every detail on him. His blue, dazzling eyes, his straight and strong nose, his soft lips, his jawline, the stubble on his chin. His cheekbones, his ears, the graceful way his straight hair fell on his face… and the marks, most of them faded, most of them imperceptible, of the wounds he had received in the past. All the scars were faded, except for that cut across his cheek, which was still healing even though it'd no doubt be all better soon.

"Stay safe. Keep healing" she whispered "I'll check on you whenever I can"

"I look forward to it" he said, kissing her lips softly once more "I'll recover so fast we won't even have time to miss each other… or I'll try to do it that way, at least"

"You're adorable and ridiculous at once" said Azula, smiling. Sokka pouted.

"Adorable? Really? I'm a manly man, manly men aren't adorable"

"You might just not be a manly man, then" she said, smirking. Sokka gasped, offended "Or you're the single manly exception to that rule? The world may never know…"

"How dare you, Princess…?" he said, shaking his head in outrage. Azula laughed and kissed him again.

"Goodbye, silly" she said "Thanks for tonight"

"Heh. You're welcome, but I'm still manly even if you deny it" he said. Azula beamed.

"Like you really need to prove it at all, Sokka" she said "Silly man indeed, insecure after mere teasing…"

"It comes from you, I can't let it slide so easily! Your opinion of me matters, a lot" he said, pouting. Azula sighed, pushing herself up on the bed but positioning her hands on either side of his head. Sokka looked at her wistfully "Yes…?"

"My opinion on you is that you're silly, adorable, for sure a little foolish… but then you're smart, handsome, strong, clever and who knows what else, too. What I truly think is… it's not fair for you to be all these things, Sokka. If only you were any different, I might have resisted the temptation you posed…"

"I… tempted you? Wait, you still didn't say I was manly…" he said. Azula chuckled and kissed him.

"You're manly, and adorable. Live with it" she said "I love you. I'll see you later, then. Whenever I can"

"Okay, okay. I love you too" he said, smiling "I hope I'll be able to conciliate my manliness and cuteness the next time we meet, if that's possible"

Azula laughed again and climbed off the bed. Sokka watched her with longing eyes, but he smiled back encouragingly as she moved to the door, his bone necklace in her hand.

"Goodbye. Sleep well" she whispered, stepping through the threshold. Sokka waved weakly.

"You too. I love you" he called out again. Azula's warm smile was enough answer for his words.

As she left, Sokka slumped on the mattress and sighed, feeling a little emptier without her. The sensation was familiar, for he felt it whenever they had to part ways. He knew it was the right way to proceed, but it still hurt.

He sat up and climbed off the bed, though, not quite sleepy yet. He moved to his dresser, opening one of the cabinets to find carving utensils, a thin, black and soft fabric, and a set of small, round stones. Only one of the stones was blue, and it was still untouched. He wanted to practice as much as he could before working on the real thing.

There was a reason why he hadn't allowed Azula to think his necklace represented a betrothal one, and he was staring at said reason right now. There weren't many solutions for the predicament they were facing: the only idea Sokka had, at this point, was moving forward towards the future. Maybe once they made new memories, Azula would be able to overcome the recent, darker ones that still plagued her nightmares.

So he picked up one of the gray stones, sat on his dresser's stool, and began carving the shape of fire into the rock. A smile of anticipation graced his face, as he hoped she would enjoy the next necklace he planned on giving her.


	131. Chapter 131

He released a trembling breath and contemplated the smooth, round blue stone in his hand. The carvings had left white marks across its surface, marks that swirled in small spirals that composed the shape of fire. He gazed at the pendant, wishing it could somehow irradiate light, as her fire did…

"Wouldn't that be neat" he said, with a lop-sided smile.

He held out the stone, studying it at a distance before chuckling and working to attach it to the necklace. The task didn't take long, and he had secured the stone in its ideal spot after just a bit of tinkering. He bit his lower lip and chuckled again, excitement rushing through him. He had the feeling Azula would like this much better than his bone necklace.

"So… I guess it's done!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in celebration before rushing downstairs.

Song and Rui Shi were chatting over tea in the living room when Sokka sped his way there. By Azula's command, Rui Shi had been supervising Sokka's recovery over the course of the last two weeks, and it was clear he enjoyed this task far more than he ever had: Song's company seemed to be the sure-proof way to put a smile on the Royal Guard's face. Sokka had never seen him this happy, although that relaxed grin faded away when Rui Shi noticed him approaching.

"Is something wrong?" Rui Shi asked. Sokka beamed and shook his head.

"No, the entire opposite! I'm finished!" Sokka exclaimed, showing them the necklace.

Song and Rui Shi were surprised by Sokka's revelation. What he held was surely a gift for the Princess: only as they looked at it did they understand why Sokka had asked them to buy such specific goods not long ago.

"A necklace?" Song asked. Rui Shi raised an eyebrow.

"I assume you plan on gifting it to the Princess?" he inquired "Is this the birthday present you said you wouldn't strain yourself over?"

"Yeah, something like that" said Sokka, with a weak smile before sighing "How did her feast go, though? You weren't here yesterday because you were there, right?"

"Indeed" said Rui Shi "She seemed perfectly fine, truth be told. She may not be feeling so well, but she knows how to put up the adequate pretense to trick the nobility. If any suitors approached her, none must have caused genuine trouble or I would have heard of it"

"Well, good" said Sokka, pouting a little at the mention of suitors "So everything went smoothly. I'm glad, though I do wish I'd been there. Oh well! No point dwelling on it. I'll just celebrate with her one or two days late, she shouldn't mind…"

"Do you think she'll be coming today?" Song asked Rui Shi "I could set the table for four if she did…"

"It's hard to say" Rui Shi said. Sokka bit his lip.

"Is her father still keeping watch over her? Or has he relaxed yet?"

"I don't know, I spend most my time here after all" said Rui Shi "But I imagine the Princess will come by sometime soon. Knowing her, she misses you just as much as you miss her"

Sokka smiled sadly. He had advised Azula not to come to his house too frequently: while he knew it was the right thing to do, his fickle heart resented him for it. He knew it was necessary for Azula to keep suspicions at a minimum, but it meant he had to endure a desperate, uncontrollable urge to see her again this time. And chances were she would be enduring just the same urges he was.

"Anyways, uh…" said Rui Shi, swallowing hard "Did you come rushing down here to ask our opinion on the necklace? Or maybe you wanted Song to try it on to check if it works or something?"

"What? No, I think Azula should be the first to wear it" said Sokka, with an awkward smile as Rui Shi brought his teacup to his lips "If Song ever tries out a betrothal necklace, it should be the one you make for her"

Song gasped and jumped, blushing; Rui Shi spewed out all his tea, his eyes wide, and his cheeks reddened too before he looked at Sokka both accusingly and with slight horror. Sokka blinked blankly and smiled.

"What?"

"Y-you… did you just say that's a betrothal necklace?!" Rui Shi exclaimed, looking at him in disbelief "How can you expect the Princess to wear something with that sort of meaning if…?!"

"I honestly doubt she'll wear it often" said Sokka, with a sad smile "Maybe in a few eons, if our lives go as planned… but if not, then I guess she's going to just keep it safely tucked somewhere"

"If you say so" said Rui Shi, looking at Sokka with uncertainty.

"But how exactly do you plan on giving her a betrothal necklace when you two…?" Song asked, frowning "It's not like you can be married legally"

"Well, it's a way of showing we're completely committed to each other" said Sokka, smiling "Serious commitment doesn't need to be legally acknowledged to be real, at least I think so. I know this sounds insane to you guys, but… in a way I'm also sharing my culture with her"

"You are?" Rui Shi asked, blinking blankly "So Water Tribe people exchange betrothal necklaces…?"

"Well, not necessarily. Seems like it's mostly a northern tradition" said Sokka, with a shrug "But I saw it in this book Song bought, and my sister had a betrothal necklace herself, so…"

"Wait, your sister was married?" Song asked "You never said that…"

"I didn't because she wasn't" Sokka said, with a lop-sided grin "She simply inherited my mom's necklace, which she got from our dad, who got it from his mom, who was from the north!"

"That's convoluted" said Rui Shi, frowning "So… your northern grandparents went to the south and started their family there?"

"Uh, no" said Sokka, scratching the back of his head "It's more like my grandmother ran away from her betrothed from the north and ended up marrying my grandfather, who was from the South…?"

Rui Shi's jaw dropped. Song chuckled, amused by his reactions to Sokka's explanations.

"Are all love stories in your family this complicated, or is it just you and your grandmother?" Rui Shi asked. Sokka raised an eyebrow, thinking hard, apparently.

"Well…" he said, rubbing his stubble with his thumb "My dad was born to a north-and-south mixed couple, and fell in love with the chief's daughter. He was supposed to never be good enough for her, but…!"

"Huh. So, you decided your father's story was worth replicating. I understand now" said Rui Shi, with a smirk. Sokka blushed.

"Heh, maybe it does run in the family but… what can I say?" Sokka shrugged "Not my fault Azula is as amazing as she is. I'm an idiot, no doubt, but I'd be stupider still if I hadn't fallen in love with her"

"And I'm sure his father must have said the exact same thing about his mother" Song told Rui Shi. Both Rui Shi and Sokka smiled as Song stood up and looked at the gladiator "So, how are you feeling? You've been standing properly without support for a while now…"

"I'm managing" said Sokka, smiling weakly "I think it probably won't be much longer before I can spar again, right?"

"I'm starting to suspect you just want to be better so you can beg the Princess to visit you again" said Song, smiling "But well, at least you're motivated to recover. I'm sure the Princess will think the necklace is lovely, too. You did a fine job, busying yourself with that rather than moping as you usually do in your recoveries"

"Moping, yeah, well… I don't mope" Sokka pouted, as Song chuckled and headed to the kitchen "At least not that often, or do I?"

"You have an inaccurate perception of yourself if you think you don't, Sokka" said Song, smirking and giggling as she started setting the table in the kitchen.

Sokka huffed and shook his head, but smiled as he held the necklace in his hands. The stone was more angular than Katara's necklace, allowing this one to suit the shape of fire much better. He bit his lip and smiled excitedly, wondering if Azula would like it as much as he did.

"What do you plan on doing with that, though?" Rui Shi asked "Will you propose to her in some sort of romantic getaway?"

"What? Well, yes and no. I do want to take her someplace, but truth is, she already said she'd marry me, if the universe complied. So I'm thinking she'll likely say yes again when I give it to her" said Sokka, beaming. Rui Shi was astounded by how casually Sokka had revealed that information, but he smiled awkwardly and nodded.

"Good. Though that means neither of you are expecting it to happen while her father has a say upon the matter…"

"Eh, we're not" said Sokka, sighing and shrugging "Though it would be nice if he decided he likes me enough to let me marry her, don't you think?"

"Nice for you, no doubt" said Rui Shi, smiling weakly "But I'm afraid the Fire Lord isn't likely to let his daughter marry an outsider, even one as renowned as you"

"And I'm a slave, to boot" said Sokka, sighing "I know all that, and I know that makes the whole idea of proposing look pretty pointless, but still…"

His ears weren't peeled for the sound of Xin Long's talons descending on the house's backyard, yet he heard it anyways. He gasped, turning his head, eyes wide.

Yes, it was the dark dragon. Yes, his rider had an outfit of red, black and gold, the most beautiful raven hair, and a golden hairpiece on her head.

And here he was, holding his surprise for her in his hand, in plain sight.

He grimaced and looked at Rui Shi with panicked eyes before racing upstairs in a rush. Rui Shi gasped, watching him go with concern. When Sokka didn't double over and faint in the middle of the stairs, Rui Shi guessed the adrenaline had really kicked in. No doubt Sokka would have wanted the Princess not to see the necklace yet, but had it been necessary for him to run that way?

Rui Shi sighed and turned to look at the backyard, a small smile on his face. The Princess walked across the grass and climbed the steps that led into the house, looking slightly anxious, with her gaze lost in the horizon.

"Good day, Princess" Rui Shi said. His words seemed to startle her.

"Oh, Rui Shi" she said, smiling back "Good to see you here. Clearly you've been doing your job the way I asked"

"Yeah, well…" he said, smiling a little "Your gladiator is a handful, but I've done what I could. And, uh, I haven't been too distracted, if you were nervous about that"

"Huh. Thanks for clarifying that" said Azula, with a slow smirk. Rui Shi blushed.

"I-I… it isn't like that!" he said. She actually laughed.

"Yes, yes, I know you're holding back the urge to say that not everyone is as irresponsible and impulsive as me and Sokka" she said, smirking still.

"W-well… I didn't say that, but it's still true" he said, averting his gaze from her. Azula shook her head in disapproval.

"How dare you, insulting your protegee in such a manner…" she teased, as Song glanced out of the kitchen, surprised to hear the Princess's voice "Ah, good to see you too, Song"

"Princess!" she exclaimed, smiling "Sokka was… well, he was here just now, so u-uh, he should be upstairs?"

"Oh, now, is he hiding from me?" Azula asked, glancing at Sokka's room.

"He's likely just pretending he's not feeling well" Rui Shi said, hoping to cover up for Sokka's real reason to flee "Just so you will go pamper him while he plays the helpless, convalescing victim…"

"Fat chance for that, if he's really just messing around…" said Azula, smirking just as Sokka came out of the room.

"You know, I heard all that" he said, glaring at Rui Shi despite he was smiling a little "If making me look bad was a sport, you'd have won a medal for it by now"

"Wow, and with such harsh competition from so many sources, too" said Rui Shi, beaming proudly "I feel accomplished"

The conversation was derailed quickly, though, for Sokka's eyes had found Azula's. His lips curled into a genuine smile as his eyebrows relaxed, and the Princess's smirk softened as well. He was alright, standing by his own power…

"You returned at last, huh?" he said, chuckling "Last time you came by, you were a year younger!"

"Oh, please" she said, smirking as he laughed as well and moved to the stairs "Wait, I could just…"

"Wait for what? I can climb downstairs no problem now" Sokka said, smiling even though he balanced his weight by keeping a hand on the stairs' railing.

Azula sighed and shook her head before moving to the foot of the stairs. Rui Shi looked away pointedly, but Song decided to spare him the awkwardness of playing third wheel by taking him with her to the kitchen.

By the time Sokka got to the bottom of the stairs, his arms engulfed Azula in a stronger hug than any he had given her as of late. She buried her face in his neck, surrounding his waist with her arms as well and sighing in relief. She took in his scent, listening to his every breath, her body reacting immediately upon being touched by him.

"I missed you" she whispered. He chuckled.

"I missed you more! Especially yesterday, I couldn't stop thinking I was missing out on your big day…" he said, sighing "I was feeling so much better, too, but Song said it'd be for the best…"

"It was" said Azula. He felt her lips forming a smile against his skin "Seeing how things are between us by now, you probably would have caused a disaster as soon as you noticed any suitors were talking to me…"

"A disaster? What, intimidating them away from you, or getting into a fistfight with them would be a disaster? I'm afraid I don't follow this logic of yours, Princess" he asked, smirking. She laughed and looked at him in disbelief, pulling away ever so slightly to do it.

"Recovered all your ridiculousness, I see" she said, cupping his face with a hand. Sokka chuckled and gave in to the temptation of kissing her, beaming brightly as he did. She returned the gesture gladly, holding his face with both hands now.

He didn't break the contact for a while, only doing so when he felt himself growing a bit dizzy again once he was breathless. He pulled away and kissed her forehead, smiling sweetly while holding her in his arms.

"How are you doing, then?" he asked "Had a nice enough day yesterday?"

"It was bearable" said Azula, with a weak smile "Being stuck in a dress for the day has never been too enjoyable for me…"

"Yet you look so pretty in them" Sokka said, beaming as they moved to the couch together "Still… you look your prettiest out of them, hehe"

"I am not about to test your ability to bear with me in bed yet, so stop trying to tempt me with perverted one-liners" said Azula, smirking as they sat together on the couch. Sokka laughed and pressed his forehead to hers.

"Oh, come on, not even for the fun of it?" he teased her. Azula looked at him judgmentally and he chuckled again "Fine, fine, but we can't go forever without trying, you know…?"

"We're not about to put your recovery at risk over that" Azula said. Sokka smiled and shrugged.

"I seriously think I'm better though. I only got dizzy now because I forgot to breathe while kissing you, but that always happens when we do that, so…" he said, shrugging. Azula grimaced.

"Why would you forget to…? Ah, never mind, you're just hopeless" she said, shaking her head and scooting closer to him, her head on his shoulder.

"I had wanted to see you for too long, it's why I'm as hopeless as I am" Sokka explained, with a weak grin "Say… do you think you'll be busy in the next few days?"

"Not particularly" said Azula "There are no pressing matters for me to tend to right now. Why are you asking, though?"

"Well, I have half a mind to give you a whole different birthday experience" he said, smirking with pride. Azula looked at him in confusion.

"Huh. So different that it's going to happen outside my birthday?" she asked, with amusement. Sokka huffed.

"Hey, I would have done it on your actual birthday if your dad had allowed it" he said "But since you're very important and you need to keep the Fire Nation pleased, I am settling for celebrating your aging on a different day. What do you say?"

"I… don't know. What do you have in mind?" Azula asked. Sokka smirked.

"Just a small trip to a special spot in the Fire Nation. You'll be sure to love it" he declared, with a wide smile. Azula frowned.

"You're thinking you're in a good enough state to travel, really?" she asked. Sokka nodded.

"As long as we go with Xin Long, we'll be fine. Besides, my plans are actually going to favor my health lots! You would approve completely if you knew what I have in store for us…"

He wiggled his eyebrows and looked at her with a devilish smirk. Azula had nothing to do but sigh and roll her eyes.

"Something tells me you're lying, or at least, partly lying. But I suppose I'm too bored these days not to indulge you" she said, smiling and dropping her head on his shoulder again "What exactly do you want me to do, and when?"

"Hmm… Be here with Xin Long, in two days" said Sokka, biting his lip in anticipation and stroking her hair "He'll be taking us to a very fun place. I think he'll enjoy it, too"

"What sort of fun place?" Azula asked "Another city? Or a town?"

"Not telling! You'll have to wait and see!" Sokka said, grinning proudly. Azula scoffed and looked at him in disbelief.

"I'll figure out what you mean eventually, Sokka, it's only a matter of time" she said, smirking. He nodded.

"Yes, you'll figure it out in two days, of course. Meanwhile, go on and make all your guesses. I won't answer any of them" he said, smirking at her defiantly.

"Ugh, fine" she said, rolling her eyes as he kissed her brow.

"Meanwhile, you should tell me all about your birthday" he said, taking her hand in his and intertwining their fingers "Were there lots of people there, like… Sideburns?"

"No, he's not around right now" said Azula "He's up to something, in the Earth Kingdom to be precise. But truth be told, it looks like everyone is up to something other than me these days. I hadn't been this bored in years…"

"But… have you slept better?" Sokka asked. Azula blinked "I mean, did the necklace help somehow?"

"Well, it has taken a while for it to pay off, but yes" Azula admitted, and to Sokka's surprise, she pulled it out of a pocket in her pants "It's handy to keep it around in case any… any nightmarish images strike me again. It's still happening, but less often, at least"

"I'm glad, then" said Sokka, smiling and nuzzling her neck. Azula smiled "I've been dreaming of many things, myself…"

"Ah, of more blowjobs? Still hung up on that?" Azula teased. Sokka snorted and shook his head. She smirked.

"No, damn. You really do think my mind's always in the gutter, don't you?" he asked, kissing her lips softly. She laughed.

"Give me a reason not to think so, and I might stop assuming as much" she whispered. He smirked.

"Well, I can't give you a reason not to think what you think… but I can give you a reason not to voice out your judgments" he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Azula looked at him with interest.

"Ah, is that so?" she said.

He chuckled before lunging forth for a longer, deeper kiss. Azula was quickly swept by his lips, enough that she was lying on the couch before long, but she broke the kiss as she registered that Sokka was looming over her dangerously.

"Are you sure you should be doing that?" she asked "Aren't you in pain, or…?"

"I'm handling it fine" he said, his arms at either side of her head "Truth be told, maybe I could start training lightly again. I know it may sound rushed, but doing small things would work, I reckon. Warm-up exercises, mainly?"

"Hmm. It's a thought" she mused, stroking his face gently with a hand "It would give me an excuse to come by again, at least…"

"True enough. Is your dad still keeping tabs on you, though?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"I honestly doubt it. He's being… secretive about something. I don't know what he's plotting for the White Lotus, but I think he's so immersed in it that he's too busy to pay me much mind. I haven't been reckless regarding visiting you, but I really doubt he's worried anymore"

"Heh. Strange" said Sokka "So he merely wanted to make sure you wouldn't meddle in his plans for the White Lotus?"

"I guess so" said Azula, frowning "But I can't understand why he'd keep it a secret from me, or from Zhao, even…"

"From Zhao too?" Sokka asked, as Azula made to sit up, so he wouldn't hover above her anymore.

"I don't know what he's after. I really don't. I'd love not to worry about it, but it's easier said than done" she said "I don't understand why he doesn't want me involved. Is it he thinks it's too dangerous?"

"Maybe" said Sokka "Or maybe he's doing something nasty he doesn't want you to know about. Not trying to be a jerk here, but sometimes rulers have to do some pretty awful stuff to achieve their goals… politics, really"

"I guess, but I'd rather know the truth instead of guessing blindly" she said, sighing and looking at him skeptically "But for now I'll settle for figuring out what you've planned for a few days from today. Should be more fun to unravel that mystery…"

"Heh! My lips are sealed!" Sokka exclaimed. Azula smirked.

"I wonder what I'll have to do to loosen them up" she said, leaning closer as though to kiss him, but she stopped inches away from his lips "I suppose teasing you might suffice?"

"You suppose wrong" he said, smirking too and closing the distance between them briskly. Azula smiled and embraced his neck, accepting this defeat gracefully. Her strategy to coax him into telling the truth hadn't been the finest, but it was delightful to kiss him like this again.

She let his enthusiastic, powerful kisses overwhelm her, to the point where she nearly forgot completely about his wound, or how he needed to take it easy, until after around two minutes of heavy kissing, lying across the couch as they were. She looked at him with disbelieving, but amazed eyes, and his smirk grew more confident.

"See? I am feeling better" he said, giving her a happy grin. She laughed, embracing him tightly as he dropped beside her, his back against the couch's backrest "Not completely, sure, but I can steal kisses from you all over again"

"And what should be a suitable punishment for such an unforgivable crime?" she asked, stroking his chin. Sokka bit his lip and smirked.

"Well, sometimes revenge is the fairest kind of justice…" he said. Azula laughed and pressed her forehead to his.

"How smooth and sneaky. Always getting your way, somehow… I think I've been a really bad influence on you, haven't I?"

"Heh, I'm the one who's been a bad influence on you" he said, chuckling. Azula shook her head and kissed him deeply.

"I love you" she whispered, softly. His proud smirk softened, and his kiss was gentler this time.

"I love you more" he replied, before flashing her a mischievous smile. Azula shook her head and hugged him.

"You can't possibly do that" she declared. He laughed.

"But it's true!"

This time, the day seemed to go by too fast. After weeks comprised by days that had seemed never-ending, they had been taken by surprise today when the sun's glow, filtering through the windows, started to turn orange. Azula hadn't been planning on staying the whole day, but it was hard to resist the temptation to do that when she was certain that her father wouldn't be keeping too tight a leash on her anymore.

"So, I can expect you here again in two days?" Sokka said once she was about to leave, smiling mischievously. Azula sighed and looked at him skeptically.

"If this is just some sort of silly stunt to prove you're all better…"

"Then you'll agree to it just so I can prove it indeed, right?" he said, smirking "You're very eager to see me recovered, after all…"

"Stop trying to manipulate me. That's supposed to be my forte, not yours" Azula said, smirking too and walking towards Xin Long in the house's backyard.

Xin Long greeted Sokka happily, poking his chest with his nose as his whiskers danced in the air circularly. Sokka chuckled, patting his snout.

"Been a while, big guy. I missed you too" he said. Xin Long answered with a soft groan.

Azula lifted herself onto Xin Long's saddle, and she smiled at Sokka before her dragon got up to his full height. By then, she was hoisted a few feet above him.

"Behave yourself for these two days, and you'll get what you want. But honestly, if this is just a trick…"

"It's a trick you'll enjoy, I promise" Sokka said, beaming. Azula chuckled and shook her head.

"You're ever incorrigible, aren't you?" she said, leaning down and kissing him softly "I'll see you in two days"

"I'll be counting every second until then" he whispered, with a gentle smile of his own.

Xin Long took off, and Azula kept glancing back at Sokka as they sped through the sky. The gladiator smiled and waved until she was too far to discern anymore, and by then he sighed happily, his entire body rejoicing upon knowing they wouldn't be apart for long this time.

He entered the house once more, filing towards the kitchen. Rui Shi and Song were inside, chatting, as ever, hands intertwined until they noticed Sokka. He didn't mind their gestures of affection, but they still separated their hands immediately.

"So… everything's settled. I have an entire day so I can set up the happiest trip with Azula yet" he said "But I need your help, again"

"I'm not surprised to hear that" said Song, with a curt grin "What do you need now?"

"I want… to cook"

The pair froze where they stood, petrified and completely confused by what he'd just said.

"You… want to cook?" Song repeated "You mean… you want to make a romantic meal for her?"

"Cooking? You?" Rui Shi repeated "An armor for the dragon and a betrothal necklace were less surreal than that"

"I've cooked before!" Sokka pouted, blushing "Just… I wasn't very good at it, but that's why I need help! If Song guides me through it, I'll be able to make edible stuff. And I want to make it myself so that it's special, so… will you help me? Please?"

Song grimaced but shrugged, and Rui Shi snorted as Sokka squealed in joy.

"The things a man does when he's in love" Rui Shi said. Song looked at him pointedly "I'm just saying, I never thought the day would come when he'd want to cook anything himself"

"Neither did I… but who knows? Maybe he's got more talent for this than we thought" said Song, looking at Sokka with interest "So, what's your plan for the meal?"

Sokka's eyes brightened by Song's approving reaction, and his smile grew determined. Once this was out of the way, he would have fully prepared to give Azula the perfect day she deserved to enjoy…

* * *

The anticipation for whatever Sokka was plotting certainly lifted Azula's spirits. Strangely, looking forward to something had served to decrease the frequent burst of nightmarish images in her mind. The bone necklace still helped soothe her whenever they came up, so she was, in some way, feeling less uncertain about the demons hiding in her mind these days.

It helped that Ozai was genuinely not interested in whatever his daughter was up to. Azula stopped by on the day before her trip to speak with him, and found him cooped up in his study, a heavy frown on his face. It merely softened a little upon seeing her.

"Is everything alright?" Azula asked. Ozai sighed and shrugged.

"If it were or weren't, I refuse to burden you with it. What is it?"

"I only came to let you know my gladiator's condition is improving by now" she said "He'll be fit for training again soon, if he isn't already. I'll keep supervising his recovery for the next few days, testing to see if he's ready to fight yet…"

"Good. Once he's fully healthy, I'll need to have a word with him" Ozai said. Azula blinked blankly, holding down the nervousness that pooled in her stomach.

"You will? About what happened in the Earth Kingdom, I take it?" Azula said.

"Any details he forgot to rely to you, every little thing, is going to be essential to destroying them" said Ozai "I will question him myself once the opportunity arises. When do you believe he'll be fit for this?"

"I suppose maybe within a week or two" Azula said, her voice firm despite how uneasy she felt. Ozai nodded.

"If he's in good shape before that, bring him to me at haste. I need answers"

"I know you don't want me prying, Father, but what exactly are you…?"

"You're better off not knowing, child. I mean it" Ozai declared. Azula frowned.

"As you wish" she said, obedient as ever. Her chest burned, though, and not with a pleasant feeling this time.

Maybe he did it to protect her. Maybe it was simply about that. But while her father had kept secrets from her before, he was usually less overt about them than he was now. Being left out, sidelined, for whatever his reasons, felt like punishment to her. Was it because she had failed to capture them? Was it her father was disappointed in her? Wouldn't he trust her anymore?

As much as she used to claim trusting people was pointless, following fit with her father's beliefs, she hadn't expected him to stop trusting her. For a very long time she had been sure it was the two of them against the world: her and her father, defying countless expectations, proving they were born to rule, regardless of their condition of second-born children. And even though she had grown to question some of her father's decisions, as Sokka's influence had led her to do as much, she still had expected to stay his trustworthy right hand for good.

Things had changed and it stung her, even if Ozai seemed far past the point of caring about whatever his daughter was up to. Yes, his distrust and aloofness was convenient for her immediate purposes, but it wasn't going to be as useful in the long run. She didn't want to be left behind. Not by him, even after all this time.

"Let me know when your gladiator is ready for questioning, then" Ozai said. Azula nodded.

"I shall" she said, bowing down her head respectfully in his direction.

She would warn Sokka to tread carefully with whatever he revealed: she still didn't think Ozai had noticed any changes in their relationship, but if Sokka let his tongue slip at all, Ozai wouldn't hesitate to slay him instantly. Chances were Sokka would know to hold back information properly, but Azula wouldn't risk him heading into such an interview with Ozai without preparation.

Ozai's distance, and coldness, continued to plague her thoughts for the rest of the day. The thought of seeing Sokka again on the next morning helped her at night, and she held the necklace he had given her to soothe her worst thoughts. Still, her mind drifted to her father again.

"Maybe I deserve it, being cut off from him" she mused. Alone as she was, under the bed's sheets in her room, she still received a response in her mind, a disapproving groan from Xin Long.

Yet, regardless of the dragon's opinion, why wouldn't she deserve it? How could Azula expect her father to trust her, when she was hiding such a dangerous secret from him, too? It wasn't fair to expect to be his confidante when, as Ozai would see it if he ever knew of it, she was betraying him through her relationship with Sokka.

"It's not like I'm all that innocent myself" she sighed, rolling in the bed she had shared several times with her lover. Their treasonous trysts had even happened under her father's roof, no less "It is what it is. I doubt he'd be sorry for cutting me off, if he knew what I've become…"

She sighed again but shrugged. It would bother her for a long time, likely, but losing her father's confidence could be for the best. If she didn't pry into his business, maybe he wouldn't pry into hers. And the longer Ozai went without trying to reveal his daughter's secrets, the better for everyone.

She woke with unease, after spending the night clasping the necklace tighter every time a nightmare came up. She was growing used to them by now, scarcely startled when the same scenes played in her mind. She would wake herself up with each one, sigh and shake her head while holding the necklace close to her chest.

But nighttime was gone now, and daylight filtered through the windows. She climbed off her bed, trying to contain the enthusiasm she felt upon knowing she would see Sokka again. And upon knowing he had a surprise in store for her, too.

She performed her usual morning routine as ever, even spending an hour warming up and training with her bending in the Palace's courtyards. By the time she was finished, it was midmorning and thus, an appropriate time to visit Sokka. Hopefully he'd be awake by then.

Xin Long was happy to give her a ride this time, especially since he knew he was going to be part of today's trip. He took off immediately once Azula hopped onto his saddle, and he raced through the skies quickly.

Sokka was waiting by the steps that led to the house, where he sat with a large bag beside him. He raised his eyes as soon as he felt the wind buffeting him, caused by Xin Long's rapid descent on the ground. His face brightened immediately, blue eyes meeting gold.

"It was about time!" he said, chuckling and jumping to his feet.

Xin Long groaned in agreement, as Sokka walked to the dragon's flank. Azula's smile was gentle and warm, delighted to see him outside of the house, for a change.

"I missed you" Sokka said, beaming as he stopped beside her. Azula laughed and leaned down as always, kissing his lips softly.

"I did too, but now we can correct that, can't we?" she said, pushing herself to an upright position again "What's that? You're carrying my surprise in that bag?"

"Maybe" said Sokka, chuckling as he returned to the steps to pick it up "It's part of your surprise, if anything"

"Huh? As long as it's not another set of armor for this mischievous dragon…" said Azula, stroking Xin Long's hair. The dragon huffed, letting her know he should have several suits of armor, just like she did.

"It's not" said Sokka, carrying the bag without much difficulty "It's less durable than armor, I'm afraid, but I made most of it myself, too!"

"You didn't overwhelm yourself again, or did you?" Azula asked, as Sokka climbed on Xin Long's saddle, behind her, with his bag settled between them "Because the last time you worked too hard for my birthday gift, you had some dangerous cramps in the middle of a dangerous situation…"

"Ah, in the middle of a sparring session with you, yes. Nothing is quite as dangerous" he said, smirking and kissing her cheek "Though I guess the most dangerous part was when you massaged my leg as you did"

"Heh. Even though I was doing it to the wrong one" said Azula, with a dry grin. Sokka laughed.

"Hey, I didn't mind. Besides, we both know you can't get your hands off me" he said, resting his chin on her shoulder as Azula rolled her eyes at his cocky assertion "Alrighty, so, are we going to take off or are we just going to spend the day in the backyard?"

"I'd gladly leave, if I knew where we're going" Azula answered, looking at him skeptically "Where to, Sokka?"

"Ah, I guess I do need to tell you where we're headed, huh?" Sokka said, smiling and sighing "Alright, alright. I traced a map for it, so here you go. I found those indications in one of Song's books… will this help steer Xin Long in the right direction?"

"It should work, if you made a decent map" Azula said, smirking as Sokka rummaged his back, searching for the paper.

The map he offered her had a few random scribbles on the borders, and it took her a moment to realize they were drawings, though not very good ones. She smirked at them before focusing on the important part of the map instead. Her eyebrows rose soon enough, as Sokka fidgeted behind her.

"We just need to go south, I guess…?" he said. Azula smirked and looked back at him, disbelief in her eyes.

"This is the Jiare Hu mountain" she said "As much as your rudimentary art skills aren't all that good, that's what you've marked as the destination, isn't it?"

"Yes?" said Sokka, swallowing hard "I read that it's a wonderful place, very removed from the towns and cities… they said the trip there wasn't worth it because of all the obstacles there are in climbing the mountain. But I thought, if we have Xin Long, then we could get there without much trouble and…"

"And I suppose you also hoped that the miraculous hot springs in this mountain will be as healing as the legends claim they are?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. Sokka smiled.

"Honestly, I just want to try them" he said "I don't know about any healing, but who knows? Might be fun to pretend they're real, if just for a little while"

"Well, if somehow fire saved you before, who's to say water can't be miraculous?" Azula said, still skeptical, but amused "Alright, then. Hot springs it is"

"Yeah!" Sokka exclaimed, beaming over her approval of his grand idea.

Azula patted Xin Long's neck, and the long dragon took off upon command. His body snaked through the skies, drifting in the direction Azula had indicated. As they sped through the clouds, Sokka let one of his hands slide over Azula's thigh, reaching for hers. She caught his fingers between her own, sighing in bliss.

"It's been a while since you last flew anywhere, huh?" she asked. Sokka sighed.

"And the last time I did it wasn't even with you. For shame" he said. Azula smiled.

"Let's make it so you won't have to fly without me ever again, then" she said. Sokka chuckled and nodded.

"I'd love that"

The flight was longer than their usual, but it wasn't hard on Xin Long. He was enjoying himself through it all, soaring with delight as he felt his rider's fingers occasionally stroking his hair. The scenery below them was remarkable, with bursts and contrasts of color between the houses of small towns and the vegetation surrounding them. Sokka was left gawking in amazement, smiling and asking Azula about every village they spotted, just to smirk proudly when she proved she could identify each one.

"You're going to be such a great Fire Lord" he said, happily sighing as they approached uneven, black grounds that led up to a mountain "You know these islands back and forth"

"Well, most of them I know only in theory" said Azula "I could use visiting them more often. I would use you as an excuse for that, but most these places are too small to host Superior League Arenas, so…"

"Hmm. So, I'm a convenient excuse for you to do some quality tourism, then?" Sokka asked. Azula smiled.

"Sometimes you are. Yet most times we leave too soon, or we spend too long in some places…" she mused. Sokka chuckled.

"We'll have to organize a proper vacation schedule one day, then. So that we can actually do quality tourism, how's that?"

"Sounds good. Maybe we could do that on your birthday, for a change" said Azula, raising her eyebrows. Sokka blinked blankly.

"My birthday…?"

"You know, it's pretty ridiculous you haven't told me yet when it is" she said. Sokka chuckled "Am I supposed to guess it?"

"I just don't want you going out of your way for it, I know you're going to think you're honor-bound to…" he said. Azula snorted.

"If you don't want me going out of my way for yours, you should probably stop doing the same with mine" she said "Silly gladiator"

"But I love you!" he exclaimed. She laughed and looked back at him with skepticism.

"And I love you too, so for that matter, I should get to do whatever I want for your birthday"

The mountains loomed closer as they argued, and they fell silent once they noticed Xin Long had begun descending towards them. They could see two mounds, and it was apparent that the climb through the first one, a tall and deadly hill, would have been very dangerous, since it was almost fully vertical at some points. Behind it stood a smaller one, connected to the first through a natural, rocky bridge that was full of obstacles, hindering all access to it. Their destination was in the small mountain, where a film of steam was rising from crystalline pools of water…

"What do you know, there it is" Azula said. Sokka whistled in approval.

"You think it really will be of suitable temperature for us?" he asked "I don't want to get scalded in there… though I bet you won't be, of course. Lucky firebender you are…"

"Ah, so being a firebender is a lucky thing now? Here I thought you'd never believe as much, proud Southern non-bender that you are" said Azula, smirking while Xin Long touched down on the ground. Sokka bit his lip.

"Well, let's just say being a firebender's got its perks, regardless of all the bad stuff that comes with being one. Such as the accidental burning of your clothes, or giving yourself a fever if you get so mad that your body temperature starts rising, or…"

"What on earth are you talking about?" Azula asked, staring at him in confusion. Sokka smiled.

"Just listing off some stuff I never understood about you firebenders" he said, chuckling and climbing off Xin Long's saddle, carrying his bag with him "How do you avoid those things, huh?"

"It comes naturally. A firebender's own fire shouldn't hurt him" said Azula, climbing off as well and patting Xin Long's snout before undoing the clasps on his saddle. Sokka watched her with confusion.

"Wait, what are you doing? Is Xin Long going to…?"

"Well, of course. You didn't bring him all this way so he wouldn't bathe in these waters, did you?" Azula asked, with a skeptical smirk as the last clasp was undone, and the saddle fell over sideways.

Without further ado, Xin Long leapt into the water, spraying the surroundings with small droplets as he dove in fully. Azula smiled and watched him go, pleased by her dragon's happy reaction to the water.

"Well, that's certainly a first. This filthy dragon never likes to clean up" she said "Either way, Sokka, firebenders learn control quickly enough, as long as they have the discipline to. Once they do, they won't cause themselves any struggles like those you just mentioned"

"Hmm, point taken. And there are also many perks of being a firebender, huh?" Sokka asked. Azula raised an eyebrow and looked at him with curiosity.

"Such as?"

"Well, from my experience, there's this one firebender I know awfully well…" he said, leaning close "And as a firebender, she can't help but be smoking hot in every way. Hotter than these hot springs, for sure"

"Ah, is she now?" Azula asked, trying not to blush "Then I guess these waters will be rather dull for her, won't they?"

"It's likely, since she can heat up her surroundings real nicely if she feels like it" said Sokka, his arms enveloping her waist "She's so hot she literally evaporated rainwater from her body and clothes once, you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it…"

Azula chuckled as he smiled at her. She looked at him in disbelief soon enough.

"How long have you been wanting to comment on how my control of my body temperature means I'm 'smoking hot'?"

"Too long, Princess. Too long" he said, chuckling and kissing the side of her head "Now come on, come on, we don't have all day! We must try out the healing powers of the springs, right?"

"Well, that is what you intended…" Azula conceded, but she looked around herself warily "Still, it's just… somewhat uncomfortable"

"What is?" Sokka asked. Azula looked at him in disbelief.

"If you had told me what your plan was beforehand, I could have brought a swimsuit, maybe" she said, grimacing "But knowing you, you just want us to be naked in there…"

"I… figured that's how it works" said Sokka, blinking blankly and scratching his neck "I've never been to any hot springs before, so I might be wrong… but honestly, this place is so secluded and of difficult access, Azula, that I don't think we're in much danger"

"I know, I know" she said, sighing "I'm still wary, though. You never know if some random person has been living within this mountain range and is spying on us now…"

"Hm. I guess it's not impossible" said Sokka, grimacing.

But upon understanding their conversation, Xin Long groaned and flew out of the water. Azula frowned as the dragon communicated his intentions to her, and she swallowed hard, eyeing him gratefully, as her dragon took off to make his new promise a reality. Sokka watched him fly upwards, confused.

"What just happened?"

"He's… going to keep watch" said Azula, with a small smile "Such a helpful dragon, huh? Enabling our most reckless escapades…"

"A silent, noble guardian" said Sokka, beaming at him "I salute you, great dragon Xin Long! I thank you, deeply, for your kind service and…!"

"Stop being so pompous" said Azula, shaking her head but still smiling "Weren't you eager and ready to try out the water?"

Sokka smiled at her now before starting to shed his clothes. Azula swallowed hard as she watched him do so, her gaze fixed on the bandages on his abdomen. Even after he was standing only on his smallclothes, he was still wearing them. He swallowed hard as he started undoing them.

"Won't be much good to hope for healing if I keep the wounds covered, huh?" he said, smiling at Azula.

It stung to see his body like this, even though his spirit was mostly back to normal. His collarbone still stood out, and while his muscles weren't completely gone, they weren't as toned as before. He had lost much strength, and the road to regaining all of it was still ongoing. Azula sighed but smiled back at him, her arms folded as he finished undoing the bandages.

Her eyes widened, though, upon seeing that the burns on his body were no longer as intense. The skin's uneven patterns betrayed that he had undergone serious damage, but on the most part, it looked fine. And as expected, the first burn she had ever given him was completely gone.

"Well? Am I still appealing to you or do I need to get into proper shape before you start feeling attracted to me again?" Sokka asked, smirking. Azula snorted.

"If I would stop being attracted to you because of that, I probably would have told you to lose your fitness when we first became partners. I really didn't want to like you as much as I did back then, you know…"

"Heh, I'm glad you never thought of doing that, then" said Sokka, winking at her before shrugging off his underwear.

Azula sighed again as he was finished, and watched him as he leaned over the border warily, touching the water with his hand first before daring slide a leg inside the natural pool. Once he found the water was quite agreeable, he smiled and hoisted himself inside of it.

"You'll probably like this, you know. Slightly warmer than your usual bathing temperature, but knowing you, you'll be fine with that" he said, smirking. Azula looked around herself warily.

"Well… I have never shirked away from a challenge. Even if it means stripping naked out in the open, huh?" she said, still clearly nervous. Sokka smiled as he watched her, an arm swung over the border of the pond, his hand supporting his cheek.

"You can keep your clothes on and dry them again later, too" he said, chuckling "We both know you can do that. But if you'd rather be reckless like me…"

"Ah, damn you. Damn you and your funny ideas" said Azula, blushing and removing her armor. Sokka bit his lip.

"Hey, I'm giving you a more comfortable possibility here, you know?" he said, with a weak grin "I realize why you'd rather not do this, so… wait, you really will take everything off?!"

"Well, truly, I've been too long without doing anything reckless. Two weeks, is it? I needed my fill of adrenaline" she said, biting her lip as she relinquished her belt and outerwear "Now, stop being so nervous too, it's only making me even more self-aware…"

"Self-aware, why?" Sokka asked, smirking "Nervous about letting me see you naked, after all this time, Princess?"

"About letting the world see me naked, instead" she said, with a curt grin "This is hardly Princess-appropriate behavior, you know…"

"Heh, a lot of things you've been doing over the last two years have been inappropriate for a fine lady of your standing" he said, with a teasing voice "You're about the most inappropriate Princess there is"

"And you're certainly the most inappropriate gladiator" Azula said, as she finally reached her underwear. Sokka watched her remove them with interest, beaming as the bandages on her chest dropped to her ankles "See? You're ogling me more eagerly than you would ogle a steak…"

"Now, now, I can think of a way or two to devour you just the same…" he said, winking at her. Her mild blush only intensified as she looked at him questioningly.

"Seriously?" she asked, and he smirked proudly "You're just… goodness, your shamelessness runs deeper than the ocean"

"And I'm not supposed to be proud of that, according to you?" he said sarcastically, biting his lip as Azula approached the water and dipped a finger in it. She found the temperature perfectly agreeable, just as Sokka said she would.

"No, you're not" she said, looking at him defiantly. Sokka's smirk proved her accusations to be spot-on "Reckless, rebellious, stubborn gladiator…"

"Do excuse me for being such a terrible person, Princess" he said, as her hand moved to his hair, sliding slowly to the tie that kept his wolf's tail in place "And such a terrible person has brought you to behave in such an inconceivable manner…"

"You really should be ashamed. I used to be the picture of royal perfection until you came along" she said, shaking her head and letting his hair fall gracefully around his face. Sokka chuckled.

"And how have I influenced you into damaging your royal perfection, if I may inquire?"

"You know just what you did to me, gladiator. You're not allowed to play dumb" she said, cupping his chin in a hand so his face would be tilted upwards.

"Hmm? And when it's such a fun game to play, Princess…" he whispered. She laughed and pressed her forehead to his.

"Yes, yes you are a terrible influence" she whispered "I used to burn down houses of people who offended me back in the day. Perfectly normal behavior, right? And now I'm about to swim naked with you, out in the open, just because you felt like it, and because I have no common sense when I'm around you anymore"

"Well, if you'd like to make a display of your common sense, I suggest you get into the water already, Princess, instead of sitting outside it" he said, gesturing at the space beside him "All this teasing is going to drive me crazy"

"Of course it will. Says the one who's always teasing me" she said, smirking before leaning close and kissing his lips softly.

Sokka's hand darted up to the nape of her neck, making sure the kiss would linger for a little longer than she originally planned. His lips moved softly against hers, and it seemed to be enough to dispel her uncertainties and nervousness, if just for a short time. When they parted, she finally dared enter the water, and Sokka beamed joyfully as he welcomed her into his open arms.

"Well, hello there" he said, smiling somewhat goofily "How are you liking the water so far?"

"It's perfect, actually" Azula said, smirking "But you mustn't be taking it that well…"

"Eh, it's really just like a bath with you" he said, prodding her nose with his "Even if you never heat up the water this much, your own body's hotness more than makes up for the difference"

He said those words while bringing her closer to him, smirking as her arms locked behind his neck. Her lips found his once more, and they fell silent now, as they focused only on the deep, eager kiss they were exchanging.

The steam rose as mist around them, and it served as a cover from the outside, while also blinding them to everything around them. The heat between them kept rising, and their exchanges grew more restless than they had been as of late. His fingers trailed her curves, while hers traveled under his locks of hair, that were humid now thanks to the steam. He kept groaning pleasantly, and he even seemed to giggle in delight when he settled in a sitting position, resting on a ledge on the wall, and brought Azula to sit on his lap too. She beamed, pulling away breathlessly, her cheeks flushed with the intense heat.

"You're so beautiful…" he whispered, his eyes gleaming as he looked at her. She smiled.

"You're not half-bad yourself, with your hair down like that" she said, stroking his locks. Sokka smirked.

"You always have had a thing for it when it's down, huh?" he said, teasingly. Azula chuckled "Still, I'll say this is a little too hot for having my hair down…"

"Heh, fair enough" said Azula, smiling and climbing off his lap so she could pick up his hair tie by the pool's border. After handing it to him, she took to undoing her own half-knot to make it a topknot instead. Sokka whistled at the sight.

"You want your hair up too, then?" he asked. She shrugged.

"I used to wear it like this more often before, you know" she said, as her bangs slid down, out of her top knot, just as she was tying it "I suppose having most my hair down felt more elegant, somehow, but back in my early teenage years I always kept it in a top knot…"

"It looks cute" he said, smiling as he tied his hair as well. Some stray hairs slid out of his wolf's tail, giving his appearance a rugged aspect that Azula smiled approvingly at.

"And you're rather cute too, if you must know" she said, knowing he would flinch and glare at her with that reply. She wasn't disappointed.

"Seriously, now? You just can't handle hearing you're cute, huh?" he asked, inching closer in a playfully threatening way. Azula wasn't deterred in the slightest, smirking at him.

"I don't know where you get that notion. The one who's upset about being cute is you, not me" she said, smiling proudly. Sokka snorted and shook his head.

"You're so sneaky" he said, pecking her lips "Always have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" she asked, prodding his nose with hers "I'm afraid I can't see the drawbacks…"

"Well, sure you can't, it means you don't lose any arguments" said Sokka, with a lop-sided smile. Azula beamed brightly.

"See? No drawbacks"

He laughed and left his head fall on her shoulder. Azula smiled as her hands traveled his back slowly. She sighed in bliss, touching him as his arms embraced her too. Her lips pressed to his shoulder as well, and to the side of his neck.

"How are you feeling?" she whispered "How's your burn?"

"Oh, that…" said Sokka, frowning and letting one of his hands move to his abdomen. The skin that usually burned upon any pressure gave him a mild, hazy discomfort instead. He wasn't fully better, no doubt, but there was, somehow, no real pain… "Heh, what do you know. Maybe this place does have healing properties"

"Is it that much better?" she asked, pulling away and glancing down at his abdomen over the water. Sokka smiled.

"Well, either it is or I'm just too happy to be with you to register any pain" he said, chuckling and kissing her again. Azula sighed.

"Flattering, but that's not how it should be" she said, placing a hand on his chest "I hope it really is healing you and that being naked with me isn't all there is to your happy mood"

"Hey, nothing is better in this entire world than being naked with you" he said, smiling "And I'm including food in that list, alright? Of course it makes me happy to be with you like this"

"Good" she said, relaxing against him "But I want you to heal either way"

"Eh, don't we all. Especially since being naked with you certainly brings some fun ideas to mind…"

"Why am I not surprised?" Azula asked, with a growing smirk.

"Hey, I'm only human" he said, kissing her cheek "You couldn't expect me not to want further intimacy, not after making me fall in love with you like you have…"

"Oh, I made you fall for me? How is it any fault of mine that you would be so easily swayed?" she asked, smiling and pressing her forehead to his. Sokka chuckled.

"It's your fault, whether you like it or not" he said, hugging her tightly "You're the most amazing person I've ever known. I'm a lucky idiot, really, since I get to be with you like this…"

"I'd say I'm the lucky one instead" Azula whispered, surrounding his neck with her arms and dropping her head on his shoulder.

She was relaxing in that comfortable embrace when she felt his arms tighten around her waist. What she had expected to be simply a close hug shifted in nature suddenly as he lifted her, so she would be brought to sit on the border of the hot springs. Her eyes were wide as she looked at him in disbelief, his face level with her chest. He smiled, eyes locked with hers.

"What are you doing…?" Azula asked. Sokka chuckled.

"What do you think?" he asked, leaning closer and pressing his face to her neck. Azula swallowed hard, his lips soft on her humid skin.

"Sokka… we can't. You can't. You're in no shape to-…" she started, but he silenced her with a kiss.

"I'm in perfect shape to give you one more gift" he said, beaming "And as it is a gift, I expect nothing in return. So, relax and enjoy…"

"Relax?" Azula repeated, her eyes wide as Sokka snickered guiltily "Sokka, you… this wouldn't be right, you can't simple please me and not…"

"Hey now, stop overthinking it" said Sokka, with a gentle smile, cupping her face "This isn't about what's fair or anything of the sort. I want to do it, and I want to do it this way. If you don't want me to, just say the word and I'll stop"

"Say the word…? Heh. Like… like you seriously expect me to make you stop?" she asked, looking at him in disbelief. His smile widened "I can't do that, but… goodness, Sokka, I just… it won't feel right like this"

"Don't think about it that way" he said, kissing her collarbone now. Azula shivered pleasantly "Stop thinking so hard about it, actually. There's nothing to worry about, I'm not doing anything I've never done before…"

"But…" she muttered before gasping, her entire body melting, seemingly, when his hands found her breasts "Sokka…"

"I don't need to be taken care of" he said, smiling gently "This is about your birthday, after all…"

"Goodness, Sokka…" she groaned, between gritted teeth. Her lover leaned closer, identifying the arousal in her voice tone.

"You'll let me please you?" he asked, shifting to kiss the side of her neck "Azula…"

"Does it look like… like I'm trying to stop you anymore?" she asked, fingers sliding through his hair. Sokka smiled.

"I'll make it worthwhile. I promise" he whispered, sucking her neck softly and moving lower. A moan escaped her lips.

He cupped her breasts, kissing them devotedly after having spent so long without doing as much. He couldn't stop smiling as he basked in the feeling of those mounds against his face, of her heart racing underneath her hot, wet skin.

His breath brushed against her, cooling her only momentarily, as his hands kneaded her breasts slowly, his thumbs pressing the nipples. His mouth sought the left one, and naturally, she moaned and sighed in pleasure while he gratified her through his lips and tongue's every motion.

She gasped his name, and he groaned softly in response, shifting between breasts and breathing out slowly through his mouth. His breath was warm, inviting, and he didn't stop taking her nipples into his mouth until her chest was heaving. He smiled at her and pushed himself up just enough to kiss her lips again.

"Sokka…" she whispered, her hands mildly shaking as she held his face between them.

"I love you" he spoke, his lips kissing yet another trail down her face and to her collarbone, and lower to her sternum next…

Her pelvis jolted when his lips reached it. Her hands wouldn't stop holding him close, in an impulsive gesture that she couldn't quite explain. The weak voice of her rationality told her to put an end to this, for Sokka would get excited regardless of what happened, and his recovery could easily be damaged by this…. But how to listen to it, when all she could do was spread her legs as his hands massaged her legs, compelling her to reveal her core to him?

Sokka kissed her inner thighs, and Azula breathed heavily as she dropped back, letting her weight rest on her forearm. Her still free hand was on his hair, and she moved his head lower, closer to the opening that craved his attention direly.

His slow kisses were both torture and gratification. She hadn't noticed how badly she had needed this until now, having shut off all wishes or even thoughts of engaging in sexual activities with Sokka for the time being. Even when he joked about it, she didn't think of it as a possibility at all. Her body seemed to be waking from a long, unaware slumber, and it came alive as with bursts of explosive flames, stimulated by his lips and fingers.

"S-Sokka…!" she gasped, gritting her teeth and looking at him through narrow eyes.

Her gold met pure, calm blue. He stared at her lovingly, his lips already working on her warm center. Her body shivered violently, and her heart was racing inside her chest. The increasing excitement was slow but steady, guided by his soft kisses. At times he broke off the eye contact to close his eyes, in clear delight of what he was doing, and Azula felt herself melting around him.

It felt like waking up from a bad dream that had lasted weeks. The clouds in her mind were cleared away, the storm swatted and undone by his every touch. He was here, he was with her, and he was finally filling her mind with new thoughts, thoughts that had nothing to do with the worries that had plagued her for days.

Her body arched as the pleasure increased, her head thrown back as moans poured from her throat. It would have been too hard to hold it in, so she didn't bother trying. She allowed every sound to leave her, and with them, a lot of her anxiety seemed to disappear too. And as those lips and tongue worked on her steadily, fingers slipping inside her opening slowly, she felt real, awake, alive.

Her legs were fully spread, but that wasn't enough for her just yet. She chose to surround his neck with them, locking him in a tight embrace as she dropped on her back once more, the rushes of arousal increasing in waves. He slowed down at times, in a strategic switch between constant, powerful ministrations and soft, slow ones instead. Azula couldn't decide which of the two modes was more exciting.

His right hand was helping his mouth, but his left traveled over her body and caressed her softly. His hands, usually calloused by the constant use of his sword, were softer than usual because he hadn't wielded weapons as of late. It cupped her breasts again, to tease her nipples, until one of her own hands found his, and intertwined their fingers. By then, her hips would slowly thrust against his face.

Her other hand still clutched at his hair, and her legs kept his face buried in her center. He was wilder by the minute, shooting glances at his lover to ensure she was responding as he hoped she would. As she moaned and hissed, her body trembling and bucking against him, he guessed she wasn't far from her climax.

"S-Sokka…!" she gasped, her voice soft and high. Sokka groaned at the sound, and he gave it his everything now, his fingers and mouth faster and more intense than before.

Her walls squeezed his fingers, her body trashed against him wildly, and he remained latched to her core as he was, his eyes closed. He was dedicated and thorough, sucking on her small nub persistently while the moans leaving her throat became more urgent and savage. His scalp hurt a bit, when she pulled his hair a little harder than she should have.

The rushes of fulfilled arousal came and went, leaving her lying on the ground breathing heavily through her mouth. She slumped and let her arms and legs relax, the latter still resting on his shoulders, but no longer wrapped around his head. Sokka pulled away from her core and smiled as he watched her, feeling rather pleased with himself.

"I guess my job here is done" he said, snickering. Azula scoffed.

"You're just… you're so… goodness, I hate you…" she said, her voice sultry despite her best efforts to sound angry. Sokka chuckled, and to her surprise, he climbed out of the pool too.

"I love you too" he said, beaming and leaning close to press a kiss to her belly. Azula sighed.

"You're supposed to be… in the water" she said. Sokka flinched and looked at her in surprise.

"I guess so" he said, frowning "But… heck, I don't really feel the pain anymore"

"Heh. That's just because you're distracted" said Azula, with a lazy smile "If you weren't… you wouldn't have forgotten it"

Sokka chuckled and sat up, touching his abdomen gently. Yes, there was some echo of pain again, but it was so faint he barely felt it. He looked at her in amazement.

"We should definitely come here more often" he said "I don't know what's up with this water, but I feel really good about my recovery right now"

"Sure. It's the water and not the fact that you reduced me to a puddle of aroused helplessness" she replied, smirking as Sokka smiled proudly.

"Hey, now, Princess, if making you this happy is what really healed me, I could stand to do it more often" he said, as Azula laughed, pushing herself up so she could kiss him gratefully.

"You're the worst" she said, shaking her head as he beamed at her "You do feel alright, then? Or are you…?"

"What, aroused?" Sokka asked, smirking "Yeah, I am, but I'll survive. It's better that we hold back a little, isn't it?"

"Yeah, definitely" said Azula, sighing and throwing her arms around his neck "What a foolish gladiator you are…"

"Yet you seem to like that about me" he said, beaming as they slipped into the water again, sighing and relaxing together in the hot springs "Or am I reading all the signs wrong, Princess?"

"Oh, of course you are" said Azula, wrapping her legs around his, still comfortably embracing his neck while pressing kisses to his face "Because clearly, I'd behave this way around someone I don't like at all, wouldn't I?"

"You wouldn't behave this way around anyone, whether you like them or not, generally speaking" said Sokka, chuckling and pressing his forehead to hers "I'm a lucky bastard, it's simple as that…"

"And as I said before, the lucky one is actually me" she whispered, smiling. Sokka snorted.

"Yeah, sure…" he said, as she laughed too.

"Fine, fine. Let's just say we're both rather lucky that life has turned out the way it did" she said, before freezing upon rethinking her own words.

"What?" said Sokka, as Azula's confusion was replaced by a soft smile.

"Nothing. Just… I guess, in a way, all our decisions up until now have brought us here" she said "Even though there's been many things I wish hadn't happened… who knows? Maybe we wouldn't be where we are now without them. Right?"

"Life is complicated that way, yes" said Sokka, caressing her hair gently "And there's nothing wrong with treasuring what we have now, as you must already know"

"I suppose not" said Azula, smiling and kissing his lips softly.

As the day passed them by, Sokka finally revealed what he had brought in the bag they'd brought with them. Azula watched warily from the water as Sokka sat on the border of the pool, pulling out packages of food and smiling enthusiastically at her.

"So… you cooked this" she said, with an awkward grin as he revealed what looked like an accumulation of dust within one of the packages "Or tried to, at any rate. What on earth is this?"

"These are… overcooked fire flakes" Sokka admitted. Azula laughed louder than usual "Hey! They're still good, I tried them!"

"Sure. Next time you want to cook fire flakes, just let me know and I'll set them on fire for you, they'll be just as good as these" she said, winking at him teasingly. Sokka pouted.

"Come on, look here! This looks good, right?"

Azula raised an eyebrow, surprised by a group of sweet buns Sokka had just revealed. He smirked proudly as Azula readied herself to ask one question…:

"How much involvement did you have in the making of those?"

"I… that's not important, what matters is that I was part of it and…!"

"Song did most the work, didn't she?" Azula said, smirking "You just assisted her"

"Well, maybe, but…! Oh, come now, I am no good at cooking and you know it" he pouted. Azula laughed and floated towards him, setting a hand on his thigh.

"It's not that I don't appreciate the effort, but it's still too amusing to tease you over the results" she said, taking a handful of fire flakes and smirking at the smoky taste of them "Well, it's an interesting new flavor for them, I won't lie"

"Ha! So you do like them!" Sokka exclaimed, proudly. Azula laughed and splashed him, bringing him to laugh as well.

They continued to share Sokka's food, or at least, the most edible dishes in it. The ones that were mainly made by him weren't too enjoyable, such as a strange salad with next to no dressing, which amounted to a crime in Azula's eyes. There were also riceballs, which fell apart so easily in Azula's hands that it was up to Xin Long to devour them off the ground instead. Yet the two of them laughed about it all, and to his relief, Azula was quite grateful for the meal by the end of it.

As the dragon had done such a fine job at keeping watch over them, Sokka and Azula climbed out of the hot spring eventually and gave him a chance to splash around in the water, while they rested together against a rock. As Azula had picked up Sokka's shirt and covered up her upper body with it, Sokka followed her example and did the same with hers, though he didn't think her long, sleeveless black shirt looked too good on him.

"Nonsense. It suits you just fine, especially since you're wearing nothing else below it" said Azula, smirking and kissing his cheek. Sokka smiled.

They were watching Xin Long together, enjoying the sight of the reptile's joyful swimming. He splashed, floated and even used his fire to produce more steam for the fun of it.

"Such a hopelessly silly dragon" Azula whispered, relaxing against Sokka's side, a hand on his no longer sore stomach.

He kissed her brow, and Azula sighed, letting her fingers intertwine with his. Sokka beamed down at her, lifting his free hand to caress her still wet hair.

"How have you enjoyed your day, then, Princess?" he asked. She smiled.

"It has been memorable, to say the least. It's a true pity we couldn't do it on my actual birthday. It beats a feast by miles" she said, kissing his shoulder. Sokka smirked.

"To be fair, I did feast quite a bit" he said, biting his lip mischievously. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you certainly did. With overcooked food, burnt Fire Flakes and whatnot…" she said, smirking as well. Sokka snorted.

"You know that's not what I meant" he said, prodding her face with his nose "Speaking of how I feasted at your expenses, though…"

"At my expenses? You make it sound like you were the only one who enjoyed it" said Azula, with a disbelieving smile.

"Well, now, of course that wasn't the case" said Sokka, smiling as well and rubbing her hand circularly with his thumb "Thing is, I… there's something I've wanted to ask for a long time now, but I guess it's somewhat awkward to bring up…"

"Oh, goodness. I'm worried now" she said. Sokka laughed.

"It's not that bad, I promise… well, I think anyways" he said, looking at her nervously "It's just… your bond with Xin Long, it enables you two to be connected at all times, right?"

"Sure" said Azula, nodding.

"It's a weird… mind connection, isn't it? I remember you saw his memories?" Sokka said. Azula shrugged.

"I can see them, but I haven't bothered gazing through all of them, if that's what you're wondering" she said. Sokka hummed.

"Huh. So, if that's the case, you two can block the connection or just not pay much attention to what the other one's doing, then?" he said. Azula nodded "That's… good, yep. Really good"

"Why?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow "What exactly were you worried about, Sokka?"

"J-just… uh, see, for a long time now I've worried that he can actually, um… see how you feel when we're together, you know?" said Sokka, with an awkward smile. Azula raised both eyebrows "I mean, you can understand why I've worried about it, I mean… it can't be comfortable for him to see what we get up to. But hey, if he can close down the connection between you two whenever he feels like it, problem solved! No need to worry!"

"Heh. You give him too much credit" Azula said, with a sigh. Sokka froze, and his eyes turned towards her slowly and warily.

"Say what?"

"You really think a dragon who's known for being such a troublemaker would pass on the chance of teasing me over how utterly embarrassing I can be when I'm with you?" Azula said. Sokka grimaced "So yes, you're right, he could close down the connection and I try, quite often, to keep him alienated from what we do, but it's easier said than done with a nosey dragon like mine"

"Oh, goodness. Well, that's neat" said Sokka, with a dry grin. But the smile became more genuine in time, as it shifted into a smirk "But, well… this means he knows how good a lover I've been for you? Because hey, you've never left my side without being satisfied…"

"So full of yourself, aren't you?" said Azula, giving Sokka a judgmental stare "Well, yes. He does know how skilled you can be in those regards"

Sokka smiled somewhat proudly briefly. The idea of Xin Long peeking into their business wasn't all that comfortable still, but at least he hadn't made a fool of himself…

"And of course, the downside for you is that he also knows when I'm faking it and when I'm not" Azula added, with no warning.

Sokka stiffened, eyes wide, and he whipped his head to the side quickly as he looked at the Princess with indignation. His reaction didn't take long to make her laugh the loudest he had heard her today, and before long he was pinning her to the ground, in a ferocious tickle fight as punishment for what she'd said.

"Take that back! You've never faked anything! You're not that good a liar!" Sokka pouted, his fingers dancing over her body in a teasing fashion. Azula continued to laugh, tears on the corners of her eyes.

"That's what… what being a good liar is about! Stop it!" she laughed, making to kick him off, but he held down her legs with his own and growled at her.

"You're lying about lying! Yes, yes you are!" he declared, as he pinned her arms down with his hands, finally giving her body a little respite.

"How can you tell which are lies and which aren't?" she asked, smirking.

"Because I know you better than I should" Sokka stated, pouting "So… tell the truth now, Princess, or you'll have to face another tickle attack!"

"Frankly, I'm impressed by your stamina today. I guess you really are fit for training as it is…"

"Don't change the subject!" he hissed, releasing her hands to tickle her again. Azula tried to shake him off but it was quite difficult, and truly, she didn't want him off her that badly. She certainly was enjoying the closeness between them.

"Fine, fine!" she said when the tickling was too intense. Sokka halted briefly, eyeing her warily "I don't fake my orgasms… not too often, at least"

"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed, as she laughed loudly once again.

He guessed he would have to settle for that answer, but he didn't pull away before sneaking a few kisses from her. It was enough for Azula to lower her guard, though, and as she cupped his face she whispered.

"You really are too much fun to tease"

"Hmm? So, it was just teasing, then?" Sokka asked, hopeful. Azula chuckled and nodded, kissing him again.

"Do you really think I'd be such a conformist that I'd let you get away without pleasing me properly?" she said "Still, if I ever did decide I'll fake it…"

"Yes, yes, your dragon would know" said Sokka, sighing in defeat, but smirking "Do not despair, though. I've got my mind set on never letting you go unquenched"

"What a fortunate woman I am for that" she replied, smiling and locking him in another deep kiss.

The color of the sky was changing, and the bright glow of the sun had a reddish tinge. Sokka and Azula sat up again to watch as the sun sank behind the far-off volcanoes, but as the lights grew weaker, Sokka bit his lip and made up his mind. The time had come.

"Say… do you want to watch the sunset from a better point of view?" he asked, throwing an arm over her shoulders and kissing her cheek "It could be fun"

"Hmm… what do you have in mind?" Azula asked. Sokka smirked.

Xin Long didn't take long to dry up and be suited up with his saddle once Sokka and Azula were properly dressed too. They took off into the skies on the dragon's back, and with Sokka still holding Azula tightly, they rushed towards the tallest, nearest volcano so they could witness the sunset from a very privileged location.

The volcano they chose felt restless to Azula even at a distance, for her inner fire resounded against its underground flames as soon as they were near it. She gazed at it with curiosity once they were hovering above it, sensing the fire was weak still. It wasn't too close to erupting, not yet.

"Hey, hey. Are we here to inspect mountains?" Sokka asked in her ear, with a smirk "Or did you want to watch the marvelous sight before us?"

Azula, busy as she had been glancing down at the volcano, had to raise her head to stare at the extending ocean before them. The sight of it was breathtaking, with gleaming lights shining brightly in the water, in a dance of orange and gold, not unlike fire.

Xin Long touched down near the top of the volcano, and as soon as Sokka and Azula climbed off his back and onto a ledge of the volcano, he took off to fly around the mountain, far more delighted by the feeling of the burning fire within the tall peaks than he was by the sunset. The Princess, on the other hand, was stunned by the bright orb that was slowly traveling down the horizon. The feeling of gold fire was taking hold of her again, she realized, in that warm way that she hadn't felt for quite some time now. At least, not in the same purity, not with the same sense of peace that was filling her right now.

"It's beautiful" she whispered, smiling "The ocean… it almost looks like fire"

"Just as your blue fire was cold and all that, eh?" said Sokka, surrounding her waist from behind her. Azula relaxed in his embrace "I do love these reminders of how our elements aren't all that different from each other"

"I could deny it just to tease you again… but for once, I won't" she said, smiling "I like the sense of balance it brings, too"

"I know you do" said Sokka, chuckling and kissing her cheek "You're more beautiful than any sunset, though"

"And you are the biggest flatterer I've ever met" Azula replied. He snorted and released her from his embrace, to her surprise.

She turned her head briefly, almost questioningly, but she turned to look at the sky again before long. Sokka smiled warmly at her the whole time, and his heart started racing as he rummaged the content of his near empty bag now. He set it down once he found what he was looking for.

"So, uh… you really do like the mix between our elements and nations?" Sokka asked, with a weak smile "Just… how much do you like it?"

"Clearly, enough to spend every moment I can with you" she said, with a smirk "We make a good combination in just about every way, I believe"

"Is that so?" Sokka said, smiling "Then… maybe you'll want to wear this after all"

Azula blinked and turned to look at him, a confused look on her face. Sokka looked at her with an unusually shy smile, his right hand holding something tightly.

"I guess it could have used some more work, heh, but I did want to give it to you as quickly as possible… but hey, if you don't like it, I can make a better one that you'll approve of, and…"

"What are you…? What are you holding there, Sokka?" Azula asked, staring at him inquisitively. Sokka blushed, his smile still bright and earnest.

"Well… you'll get to see it if you answer my question again" he said, with a mischievous chuckle.

"Again?" Azula asked. Sokka bit his lip, as the deviousness in his eyes faded.

"If the universe ever decides to give us a break, if the stars align and give us the opportunity to not be so star-crossed for a while and all that… would you, Princess Azula, take me as your husband?"

The realization of what he was about to do dawned on her quickly, as the sun continued to disappear behind her. His tightly closed hand, the sweet insecurities she could read across his face…

"Oh, you didn't" she said, with a smile "You… oh, goodness, Sokka…"

"Hey, now, it's not polite to leave a guy waiting on an answer for that sort of question" he said, chuckling and moving closer to her. Azula smiled skeptically at him.

"Here I thought I'd said yes enough times to get the message across" she said "I guess I haven't. Yes, Sokka. Yes, I'd… I'd marry you, without a second thought"

Sokka's smile broadened and he laughed. He breathed out and let the euphoria cool off before focusing on showing her his final surprise.

"Well, then… if this is how it is, I can give you the gift I really did prepare for you today" he said "Everything else was… I guess, some sort of prelude to this. And I know, it's small, it's probably inconvenient for many reasons, but… hey, at least I didn't overexert myself with it, huh? This way you won't be mad because of that, as you were last year…"

"Sokka…" Azula said, with a growing smile. His nervousness was utterly endearing to her. He chuckled and breathed deeply.

"Well… here you go. It's yours… if you'll take it"

The fabric of the choker necklace was smooth, black velvet. Azula's eyes widened, gazing upon the polished and bright blue stone. It was shaped as an oval, and the ridges in it were white: he had taken care to smoothen those ridges as much as he could.

Naturally, the shape drawn at the center of the stone was fire. Blue fire, across a tradition of the Water Tribe. A necklace of one culture, spreading its reach to another one. And it was the symbol of her agreement, of their shared, undying love.

The burst of gold fire within her chest burned brighter yet as she reached out her hands to the necklace. She hadn't really processed what this meant. The commitment they had for each other had felt so natural, so right, that she had easily forgotten what her life had been like before he had been a part of it.

Back then the idea of love was not only fleeting, but something she had ruled out as impossible for her. It bothered her to see her friends finding love, whether in stable partners or casual ones, while she was left with nothing. She didn't want to let it sting, but she had indeed spent years on end thinking she was unworthy of love. Thinking that, as her mother had put it so eloquently, she had been well on her way to becoming a monster. And only a monster could be quite as unlovable as she was…

And yet he came. He had entered her life in the least flattering of ways, tossing smoke bombs at her, trying to capture her, fighting her and losing bitterly against her in a territory that was the absolute opposite to this one. The man who should have hated her the most, who had cause to despise her and to never agree to the deal she offered him later, had been the one to subvert everything she had believed of herself.

Here he was now, so long after that fateful day, offering her what she had never expected anyone to offer her out of love. The gesture he had made through that necklace was more than just a proposal to her: it was a promise made by the one man who genuinely wanted to be with her. The only man who had ever come to love her for who she was…

She gazed up at him, her smile shaking a little as tears started to stream down her face. Sokka looked at her with a soft grin of his own, his eyebrows raised.

"Azula…" he whispered, and she nodded once, twice, thrice as she laughed without being able to help herself.

"Of course I… of course I take it. Of course I take you" she said, her eyesight blurry by now as she tried to wipe her tears with the heels of her hands.

Sokka chuckled and leaned close, and before she knew it, his hands were behind her neck, maneuvering to fasten the necklace safely around her neck. Azula sniffed, smiling brightly still as he finished fitting the necklace.

"Too tight?" he asked. She shook her head "Great! Well… heh, I know nothing else you're wearing is blue so I guess it doesn't match your clothes, but if you ask me, it suits you!"

Azula laughed and lunged in for a tight hug. Sokka returned the embrace just as gladly, kissing the top of her head as he rocked her gently in his arms. Her fingers clutched at his clothes, and he let her relax as she was in his arms, as the color of the sky darkened to a pinker shade by now.

"I love you" he whispered. Her smile only widened.

"I love you more" she declared "And I'm dead sure of it"

"Oh, you sure underestimate me, Princess" Sokka said, smirking mischievously and lifting her up in his arms.

Azula laughed as Sokka twirled her on the volcano's ledge. She wasted no time and kissed him willfully soon, at which he stopped spinning and held her close instead, kissing her just as gladly. And as such, they remained locked, sharing countless kisses and teasing each other wordlessly, as the necklace around her neck filled Azula with joy unparalleled.

It wasn't until Xin Long flew up to them again that they registered the violet color of the sky. Their day together had gone by in a blur, and it was far too late by now to keep dawdling. Sokka beamed brightly and pressed his forehead to Azula's just before she climbed on Xin Long's saddle, and he followed suit, wasting no time to embrace her and kiss her again when she turned her head around to catch his lips with her.

"See… sometimes poor Xin Long can't block our shamelessness even if he tries" said Azula, smiling and relaxing against Sokka's chest as they took off through the Fire Nation again. Sokka smiled and patted the dragon's scales.

"Thanks for putting up with us, buddy" he said. Xin Long groaned as a response, shaking his head with feigned exasperation. Azula rolled her eyes while Sokka smiled apologetically.

"Don't pay him any mind. He loves using all this to tease me" said Azula, reaching back to even kiss Sokka's neck.

"Well, teasing you is just so much fun" said Sokka, chuckling and kissing her brow "Goodness, but it does look great on you. Maybe blue really is your color"

"And maybe red is yours" said Azula smirking "It's beautiful, by the way. I don't want you to change anything about it"

"Oh, so no requests for improved versions? I'm surprised" said Sokka, chuckling.

"Though… being realistic, I don't think I'll be able to wear it often" said Azula "In fact…"

"Yeah, I know, it's even risky for you to have it in the Palace" said Sokka "Especially if there's people like Sideburns around. He spent a long time attacking the Northern Water Tribe, maybe he knows a thing or two about their customs…"

"So, while I would gladly wear it forever… can you keep it safe for the time being?" Azula asked. Sokka sighed "I can wear it whenever we're alone at your house, if you'd like"

"Heh. Now that sounds promising" he said, smirking mischievously. Azula sighed and looked at him reproachfully, though she was still amused.

"Yes, yes, I can indulge you by wearing nothing other than the necklace. Pervert" she said. Sokka laughed and hugged her tighter.

"You're too kind, Princess, too kind" he said, kissing her cheek again.

It was dusk by the time Xin Long landed at Sokka's house. Azula begrudgingly removed the necklace, giving it one more look filled with joy, before handing it to Sokka. He smiled and kissed her lips softly.

"That promise about wearing nothing else still stands, I hope?" he said. She rolled her eyes.

"You're such a troublemaker" she said, as he laughed while climbing off the saddle "Is that really all you can think of?"

"You can't blame me, I spent all day naked with you and I can't wait to do it again, and again, and again…"

"Well, then… maybe I'll drop by tomorrow too, perhaps two days of having me to yourself will be enough to please you" said Azula, smirking. Sokka's eyes lit up.

"Oh, two days never would be enough, but sure, let's give it a shot!" he said, chuckling "I would gladly test that, and if two days in a row aren't enough, then maybe three, or a whole week! Even a month…!"

Azula laughed and shook her head, leaning down and taking his face in her hand. She kissed him willfully, and Sokka answered with overwhelming enthusiasm.

"I'll be back tomorrow, for sure. Whether we'll train or not is debatable, but I'll be here" said Azula. Sokka beamed.

"And I'll wait patiently" he said "Or as patiently as I can, anyways. You know how it is, I'm pretty damn hopeless when it comes to you. I always miss you as soon as you're gone"

"Odd, the same happens to me with you" she said, prodding his nose with hers "I love you"

"I love you more!" Sokka said, beaming. Azula kissed him again, and he loved feeling the smile that lingered on her lips as they shared the slow and tender exchange.

Xin Long groaned and stood up, and Azula sighed as she looked at Sokka. He waved at her as the dragon took off, and he was happy to see that she kept looking at him from over her shoulder again. He sighed in bliss, still holding her necklace in one hand, hoping their time to be together for good would arrive sooner than expected.

Song smiled from the house's threshold, watching Sokka fondly. As he turned towards her, he beamed brightly too.

"I take it you had a good day?" she asked. He chuckled.

"She liked it. She… she accepted it!" he exclaimed, overflown by joy all over again.

Song laughed, still watching as Sokka's face bore the happiest smile she had seen on it in a long time. He gazed up at the sky again, breathing deeply and feeling wholesome, and with a revamped sense of purpose growing stronger within him.

* * *

She dropped in bed, with the bone necklace in hand. She smiled to herself, wishing she could be holding her proper necklace instead, but thinking it was interesting, in a way, that they would have each other's necklaces. One day he'd wear this one again, and she'd wear her betrothal necklace too…

She sighed and let her eyes close, just before realizing that most of her fatalist thoughts had been nowhere around today. She frowned just a little, but smiled, and held the necklace tighter.

Tress, grass, dirt. She rolled down, and it hurt, and there he was, in that clearing…

She frowned, instantly feeling the urge to open her eyes and snap out of the nightmare… but for once, she resisted it. For once, she let herself witness the rest of the dream, as she felt herself float out of her body, somehow. The nightmare's Azula dragged herself to the bleeding Sokka's side, all while the semi-conscious princess hovered above them.

Everything looked the same, and watching him like that was as painful as ever… but after the desperate minutes of words, of blood leaking out, of watching the color fade from his face, she had done it. The gold fire had sealed and cleansed his wound. And while he had been in deep pain, he was breathing, he was alive…

Her surroundings cleared, and the dream seemed to dissolve. He stood before her now, his hair loose, his eyes blue and gentle. He spoke no words, but the smile on his lips spoke for itself. He was grateful. He was glad he could still be by her side.

Tears burned in the corners of her eyes, and a smile spread over her face too. The future was full of uncertainties, and she would be a fool if she pretended everything would turn out well by the universe's design… but she would fight tooth and nail to make that happen. She would give her everything to protect him, knowing that he'd do the same for her. Knowing that their souls were bonded forevermore, as they had reaffirmed through their promise…

Enveloped by the night's darkness, Azula smiled. The nightmares probably would not disappear completely, even after today, but she wouldn't run from them any longer. The past was as it was, and denying or fearing it was an exercise in futility: as she was, she planned on setting her sights on the future, instead.


	132. Chapter 132

Sweat rolled down the bridge of his nose as he pushed himself up and down with the power of his arms. His muscles were tensed, and still not as toned as they used to be, but he wasn't dissatisfied by them. He had a lot more strength than what he'd had a month ago.

Sometimes Sokka wondered if, whenever he got beaten up by someone, he would become more resistant than ever before. Song was impressed by how quickly he was recovering ever since he had started working out again, but while she seemed to have no theories on how he achieved such quick recoveries, Sokka had come up with a few of his own.

His favorite theory, though, wasn't that one, no matter if it was likely very wishful and based on his own convenience. Yet, if proven true, it would justify him spending lots of time with Azula, after all, since his theory was that her very company was healing for him.

She had frequented his house more often these days, something he was stoked about. She would coach him through his recovery with mild exercises at first, with the occasional teasing menace of how much rougher she'd become if he got lazy; of course, they both knew she was bluffing. Most their exercise sessions ended in the two of them relaxing together on the couch, sipping juice to cool off after working out for most the day. And for each of her visits, Sokka would always have her necklace ready for her to wear. The sight of it decorating her neck always seemed to take his breath away.

Azula wasn't here yet today, but Sokka was dedicated to working on his body all the same. He knew she'd arrive eventually, so he was busy with the usual exercises Azula recommended all the same.

His strength was returning, though, to the point where he could pick up his sword and practice some stances in the backyard if he wanted to. So, after finishing his pushups, he took Space Sword and began working on his swordsmanship.

He was in the middle of shifting between stances, droplets of sweat rolling down his bare chest, when a large shadow appeared overhead. Sokka lifted his gaze and smiled brightly as he watched Xin Long descending on the backyard. On his back, Azula smirked and raised her eyebrows approvingly.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" she asked "Are you going to dump a bucket of water over yourself again, by any chance?"

"Heh, I get the feeling you'd like that" Sokka said, winking at her as he approached her. Azula jumped off the saddle and smiled at him.

He stepped closer but held back from full contact even as he leaned down to kiss her. The Princess was wearing her golden armor today, the mark of an important occasion, and Sokka had the feeling she would rather not have her immaculate appearance marred by his sweat stains…

Yet it was Azula who pulled him closer, kissing him deeply and letting her hands caress his chest and back. She hummed approvingly.

"I guess the training really is paying off" she said, with a mischievous smirk. Sokka laughed.

"I'm glad you seem pleased" he said, caressing her face "Here I thought you wouldn't want to deal with a smelly, sweaty guy when you're looking so beautiful and neat…"

"Well, I certainly didn't expect to find you like this" Azula confessed, her hands traveling over his arms now "But I'm not one to complain over such pleasant surprises. Though I really shouldn't get much of your sweat on me…"

"Really, now?" Sokka asked, stroking her hair now "Is it just because you're trying to tease me for being a yucky, smelly guy?"

"As fun as it could be to tease you about that, I'm afraid there is a reason why I can't be unkempt today" said Azula, with an awkward smile "My father wants to talk to you"

"Your… father?" Sokka said, and with those words, the hypnotic situation as their bodies swayed so close to each other ended abruptly "What for?"

"He wants to talk about what you saw, what you heard… everything you can give him on the White Lotus" Azula said, sighing and shrugging "And, uh, clearly you can't expect to show up in the Palace looking like this, can you?"

"Oh, why's that? Will everyone be jealous because they're not as handsome and fit as I am?" said Sokka, smirking and curling up an arm. The muscles tensed on it, and he smiled wildly "Hey! I actually was just going for a bad joke, but I guess I really can do that properly now…"

"Of course you can" said Azula, smiling fondly at him too "And while I doubt they'll be jealous, they should be. You are quite a sight to behold like this, I'll say"

"Hey, now, Princess, if you keep saying that sort of stuff I'm going to end up postponing this meeting with your father" Sokka said, biting his lip "The two of us have some private, pressing matters to tend to, and I'd prioritize those above your father's…"

"Tempting, but we really don't" said Azula, smiling "Nothing is as urgent as what the Fire Lord wants. So you're going to clean up, and then we'll take off. We'll have quite the hectic day ahead of us"

"We will? Do you think the conversation will drag on?" Sokka asked, as the two of them filed together towards the house's external bathroom.

"I can't be sure, but that's not the only thing in our schedule" said Azula, with a curt smile "Turns out the aircraft factory is finally operational. My father means to officially inaugurate it today, right after he's done with questioning you"

"Oh, goodness" said Sokka, gulping "And… are we expected to go?"

"As a matter of fact, yes" said Azula "He thinks you deserve it, after your displays of courage and loyalty, and after playing such vital role in the development of the aircrafts. Consider this my father's special brand of rewards for his favorite subjects…"

"Wait, I'm his what, now?" Sokka asked, as they stopped at the bathroom's threshold "You're kidding, aren't you?"

"I was, but… actually, maybe he does like you a lot better than expected" Azula mused, raising her eyebrows. Sokka gulped, but soon smiled.

"If that's the case… do you think he'll let me marry you?"

"Not a chance"

"Damn it!" he exclaimed, as Azula closed the door behind them.

A few minutes later, a frowning Rui Shi was glancing out at the backyard. Xin Long stared right back at him, his glowing eyes bright with mischief as he wondered what to do to the Captain this time around. Rui Shi cringed and stepped back inside, making his way to Song's side again in hopes to avoid Xin Long.

The amount of time Rui Shi was spending with Song increased every day. He would arrive early in the morning, and leave late at night, if he had no other responsibilities. Their relationship remained chaste and happy as it was, and spending time with her was the perfect way to feel peaceful and weightless for the royal firebender.

Song had been upstairs, making Sokka's messy bed. She smiled at Rui Shi as he asked if she needed help, but she rejected his offer and finished fixing the bedroom as much as she could.

"He's quite sloppy" Rui Shi commented, as Song picked up a dirty shirt and dumped it in Sokka's laundry basket.

"Oh, well. It could be worse" said Song, with a small smile.

"Do you plan on doing laundry?" Rui Shi asked "I could help you with that, if you need me to…"

"You don't have to busy yourself with this nonsense" said Song chuckling "Laundry is not a couple's thing to do"

"Why not?" he asked, with a lop-sided smile, as Song stepped out of Sokka's bedroom, closing the door "I do my own laundry. I could help…"

"You're a Royal Guard" she said, with a soft laugh "I won't have you washing Sokka's smelly shirts if I can help it. O-or my underwear, for that matter… that'd be inappropriate, huh?"

"I guess so" said Rui Shi, gulping and blushing "It's not the worst thing, though. I mean… I can understand why you'd be apprehensive, but it's just clothes, right?"

"Of course" said Song, biting her lip and smiling. Rui Shi looked away.

"I understand if you're not comfortable with it, though. We can't all be like… uh, like those two"

"Who, the Princess and Sokka?" Song asked "You mean we can't all leave our laundry for others to wash? Why, yes, that's true. If you think about it, Sokka definitely has that part of being a royal down to an art, huh?"

"Somehow" said Rui Shi, with a soft chuckle "He doesn't put on airs or anything, but he certainly needs someone to look after him. He's lucky he fell in love with a Princess, despite it all"

"In those regards, yes" said Song, as they walked down the stairs together "If everything paid off for them, he'd live without a care in the world with all those servants working for them"

Once they reached the first floor, Song glanced out through the back door to find Xin Long lying on the grass, setting a few blades on fire just for the fun of it. He greeted her with a groan, and she blinked blankly.

"Wait, where is Sokka?" Song asked, blinking and looking at Rui Shi, confused.

"My guess?" he asked.

With that, he pointed at the closed door to the bathroom. Song blushed, noticing there was steam flowing out of the wooden windows.

"Hmm. I guess someone's feeling that good already, huh?" she said, with an awkward grimace.

"Maybe we should go out" said Rui Shi, biting his lip and looking at Song with interest "I'm sure there are many things in the city you haven't seen yet, and… well, it's better than overhearing those two, even if they're not being loud"

"Well, even if they're not being loud, they're probably being lewd" said Song, chuckling "Ah, I guess it's not the worst idea. I really don't know what there is to see. I mainly frequent the markets, and the bookstores…"

"There are many things you can do other than purchase goods" said Rui Shi, with a soft smile "There's a fishing pond, actually. If you have any skill at fishing…"

"Um, I really don't" she confessed, with a sad smile. Rui Shi chuckled.

"That's fine. There are other things, such as restaurants, or even museums… we have some exhibits on Fire Nation art, if you'd like to see. Many of them are from before the war, too, so you may enjoy them all the better…"

"That does sound nice" Song reasoned, smiling at Rui Shi.

"Also… theater" Rui Shi said, clearing his throat "Are you interested in it at all? There's a very good company, the Royal Actors, and they put on some remarkable performances of very interesting stories. That is, if you like theater, of course. I know it doesn't really appeal to everyone…"

"Oh, I like it. I just don't like being the performer" she said, giggling "Back when I was a kid we'd have these puppet plays in town. The children took turns in putting them on, usually, and I was so eager for my turn… but when I had to perform mine, oh, goodness. I had no idea what I was doing. It was so confusing, so difficult to carry out a storyline… I kept mixing up the puppets and dialogues, and in the end everyone was laughing, despite I wanted to make it a dramatic story"

"That's too bad" said Rui Shi, looking at her sympathetically "Well, you won't have to worry about that this time. We'll be watching professional actors, after all…"

"Can we do this, though?" Song asked, looking at him a little nervously "I mean, it sounds wonderful, but I was just wondering, well… if it's alright for us to do that sort of thing?"

"What do you mean?" Rui Shi asked "If we're together, well… isn't that what people do when they're in a relationship? Um, excepting those two that is. But they're hardly a frame of reference for normal relationships…"

"Of course they're not" said Song, chuckling, but she looked at Rui Shi apprehensively again "The thing is, we could be judged because of who I am, and because of who you are. Won't people give you a hard time for being with me? I mean, I figure a lot of Fire Nation people have gotten entangled with slaves, but I doubt they're open about it…"

"Hmm. Some are, though. Then again… not people with the best reputation" Rui Shi reflected. Yet he sighed afterwards and shook his head "Let them say what they will. Only the Princess has the authority to do anything about my position in life, and my reputation hinges more on her than it does on my personal life. Therefore… I'm not scared. You matter more than anything others might believe"

"Rui Shi…" said Song, smiling warmly as her cheeks reddened. The Royal Guard was flustered too, but proud enough to hold her gaze regardless.

"So… if you'd like to do this, I'd gladly accompany you" he said "Besides, it wouldn't be the first time we're out together. Surely you remember that when these two started out…"

"Oh, yes. It would have been a better evening if you hadn't been as upset as you were" said Song "It's a true miracle, isn't it? That things somehow are still working for them…"

"It certainly is. Those two are very fortunate, all things considered" said Rui Shi "But as we don't need as much good fortune because the destiny of a nation doesn't hinge on our love life, I'd say we can try to have, uh, a normal date, if you're willing"

"Well, if you really don't mind the consequences, I guess we can do it" she said, beaming "We can even go fishing if you want to"

"Oh, I honestly don't" Rui Shi confessed "I merely brought it up in case you might like that, but I have no genuine interest in it"

They laughed together, and Song's smile widened as she moved closer to Rui Shi. She dropped her head on his chest, and he embraced her gently. The warmth he radiated had comforted her ever since he had first held her, when he had told her of her mother's fate. In moments like these, she couldn't be more grateful for his gentleness and companionship. He wasn't like this with everyone, Song knew as much, which made her appreciate their relationship more. Her life had become much brighter thanks to him.

But she frowned slightly as she noticed that, unlike how it usually was, she couldn't hear any sounds out of the ordinary from those two. Were they using the bathroom for its actual purposes, by any chance…?

"It's strange that they're not as loud as you'd expect, though" Song whispered. Rui Shi raised an eyebrow "I wonder if they're actually… well, it's unlikely, but maybe they're not as reckless as we think, right? Maybe they're not going overboard…"

"They're still, most likely, naked together. Staying within the house's premises while that happens isn't wise" said Rui Shi, with a small smile. Song chuckled.

"Very well, you're right. We're better off not knowing anything about whatever they're up to"

Rui Shi cupped her face and kissed her brow softly, but Song pushed herself up so she could kiss his lips instead. She stood on her toes to do so, and Rui Shi smiled as he held her close, leaning a little so she wouldn't have to make much efforts…

The door of the bathroom rolled open, and they were startled by its sound. Both Rui Shi and Song jumped and glanced outside, finding Sokka was filing out of the bathroom wearing a towel around his waist. Unlike him, Azula was fully dressed, still wearing her armor. Rui Shi frowned upon detailing that she wore the gold one today.

"… You'd better pick a decent outfit, then. Don't make me go up there and tear up your closet to find something good" Azula was saying. Sokka chuckled, passing a hand over his wet hair.

"I'll manage. You can trust my fashion sense, Azula!" he said, grinning as they entered the house again. He froze, though, upon noticing Rui Shi and Song were staring intently at him "U-uh… I'll go dress up, yep"

"Good call" said Azula, smiling at him before looking at Song and Rui Shi. The guard's stern stare wasn't too surprising: he could guess what her golden armor meant "Did we interrupt something?"

"N-no, no, you really didn't…" Song said, smiling politely. Azula smiled.

"If we ever do, you can feel free to ignore us" she said "You two deserve as much"

"What's the occasion?" Rui Shi asked, finally. Azula breathed out.

"My father would like to see him, that's all" she said.

"I assume you're not trying to introduce him as your fiancé, or are you?" Rui Shi asked.

"Of course not" said Azula, looking at Rui Shi skeptically "My father has wanted to have a word with him for some time now. And, also… there's another thing. In fact, I'll need you for it"

"What?" Rui Shi said, disheartened. Azula blinked blankly.

"Rui Shi?"

"J-just… what sort of thing?" he asked, trying to hold back his disappointment. The Princess raised an eyebrow.

"My father intends to inaugurate a factory today, he needs me there, and as this is such a pompous occasion, he wants the palanquins and the full Royal Procession. I realize it's an unnecessary exaggeration, but I cannot say that to his face, can I?"

"Of course not" said Rui Shi, lowering his gaze.

"You'll be back here before you know it" said Azula "I'll even give you a day off in exchange, if you're that displeased by it. We both know you never take your mandatory leaves as it is, I owe you quite a lot of vacation time"

"Uh, true" said Rui Shi, frowning a little but nodding "I guess you do. Well, I'll go back to the Palace on foot. I don't think your dragon would lift the three of us"

"I suppose. You also don't need to rush there yet" said Azula "My father's meeting with Sokka may take some time"

"I'll be there when you need me to be. As always" said Rui Shi, bowing his head towards Azula just as Sokka showed up in his bedroom's threshold, wiping his hair with the towel.

His choice in clothes had been a simple, dark changshan, with highlights of gold. While Sokka always favored blue clothes, it wasn't the most popular color for sale in Fire Nation clothes stores.

"Ready?" Azula called out. Sokka nodded as he finished drying his hair to the best of his ability, while walking down the stairs.

Song took the towel from him, smiling as he tied up his hair in its usual wolf's tail. He looked far more formal than she expected him to.

"Have a good, uh, interview" said Song, with a small smile.

"Heh, I'll try" said Sokka, shrugging and smiling back "We'll be back soon"

The Princess and gladiator made their way to Xin Long again, leaving behind a disappointed pair. As the dragon took off, Rui Shi and Song sighed.

"You hadn't been called into duty like this until now" Song said, with a small smile "We had been too lucky so far"

"Indeed" said Rui Shi, looking at her apologetically "Maybe tomorrow, then? I definitely can take up the Princess's offer for a day off…"

"I'd like that" said Song, smiling warmly and kissing him again.

They indulged in their privacy and intimacy for a bit longer, knowing Rui Shi would have to leave sooner than later. But they would make the most of it while they could, for as long as it might last.

* * *

The flight was as comfortable as ever, and Sokka got away with embracing Azula happily as they progressed through the skies. Xin Long could be at their destination much faster, but he didn't seem to have any sense of urgency. He enjoyed flying with his rider plenty, and he gave the obnoxious pair on his back the opportunity to sneak a few last-minute caresses and words before they had to shift back to keeping appearances, as usual.

"Ready to behave yourself?" Azula asked Sokka, after a long kiss. Sokka sighed and pouted.

"Do I have to?"

"Absolutely" she said, smiling "Be a good gladiator now and…"

"Nah, me? A good gladiator? Who do you take me for?" Sokka teased her. Azula chuckled as she turned her face forward, hoping her makeup would not have been too damaged after so many kisses.

They landed in the Palace's courtyard, right outside of Xin Long's refuge. As Azula was rightfully worried about her makeup, they rushed to her room quickly, and Sokka begrudgingly agreed to wait outside until she had fixed her appearance completely. He stood by the door, thinking about whatever would happen once he was under Ozai's scrutiny… he didn't mean to break in any way, or say anything incriminating, but it was hard to stay calm while knowing he'd be alone with a man who could have him executed for the well-known state crime of defiling a certain Princess's purity.

"There. All finished" said Azula, smiling as she opened the door a few minutes later. Indeed, she looked spotless now. Sokka smiled "I'm a little disappointed, though"

"Why?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow as she closed the door behind her "Is your makeup not of the same quality as usual or something?"

"No, I just really hoped to find you confessing your love to my door again, is all" said Azula, smirking "Your affair has certainly been very hard to carry out…"

"I… oh, blast it" said Sokka, as Azula laughed "You know full well I had no intentions to make any love confessions, especially not to doors!"

"I don't know, Sokka, I really don't know" she said, as they restarted their way to her father's study. Sokka followed her diligently "You kept saying you thought it was beautiful, and that you wanted it to be happy… wasn't that it? Now, you certainly won't take it all back, will you? My poor door has been pining over you for so long, you'd break its heart…"

Sokka snorted and laughed too, no long knowing how to answer to her. Azula smirked proudly, bumping gently against his side and letting their hands touch briefly. Sokka smiled warmly at her and continued to follow her as they paced through the long and dark corridors of Azula's home.

"Are you ready, then?" she asked. Sokka gulped.

"Is anyone ever ready to face your father?" he asked, shrugging "I know what not to say, if anything…"

"It's the best I can hope for, as we are" she sighed "Just be as truthful as you can. Your story shouldn't contradict mine as long as you do that"

"There's no lying to Fire Lord Ozai, is there?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula gave him a shifty stare.

"Of course not. Here I thought you'd know that" she said, simply. Sokka smirked.

"Right" he said "You know, I have to say I missed this place. I haven't been here in quite some time, huh?"

"Indeed" Azula said "Though I never thought you'd miss it. Your first times visiting the Palace weren't very pleasant, were they?"

"Uh, well, the first one was fine. I ate so much the kitchen staff looked genuinely worried about running out of food" Sokka said, chuckling mischievously "And I won an argument against you for the first time, too. Stinky wolves have some wit about themselves, don't they?"

"So it seems" said Azula, smirking as they turned around the corner that would lead to Ozai's office…

But the passageway wasn't empty. Azula's eyes widened when she spotted two men standing a few feet away from the door, speaking to each other. One of them was Admiral Zhao.

"He's back?" Azula whispered. Sokka blinked and stared at the two men in surprise as well. He had seldom seen Zhao, but as ever, the large sideburns were enough for Sokka to recognize him.

"Side-… Zhao?" he said. Azula gave him a quick glare.

"Please refrain from calling him that in his presence, if you will. It's only likely to boast his ego and make him feel manlier" she said, smirking dryly as they approached Zhao.

The man he spoke with was a stranger, though. As they approached, his appearance became even more inexplicable. He was clad in Fire Nation clothes, but even before noticing the blue of his eyes, Azula had the feeling he was a foreigner. His chin was unusually wide, and his nose was well defined, yet somewhat crooked. He wore his hair parted at the center, and most of it was held up in a half-knot.

A sense of unease struck both Azula and Sokka as they contemplated the unknown man. He looked very tense, while Admiral Zhao smirked. But it wasn't long before Zhao noticed the footsteps and realized they weren't alone anymore.

"Ah, Princess… and the gladiator, is it?" Zhao said, smiling "I believe Ozai was expecting you, yes. It's good to see you again, Princess"

"I'm surprised you're back so soon. I thought your trip to find your, uh, resource would take longer" Azula said, raising her eyebrows "Did something go wrong?"

"Oh, not at all. I was actually only collecting a package, you could say" said Zhao "It was your birthday not long ago, wasn't it? Quite the shame that I missed it, unforgivable of me, I dare say… perhaps I should make amends by offering you a gift you may enjoy"

"A gift?" Azula said. Zhao smirked and gestured at the man he was speaking with. The stranger jumped.

"As you have already proven to be a competent sponsor who can raise up a Southern Water Tribesman into a remarkable fighter, I decided to gift you one from the North now. Here, now you can have two Water Tribe gladiators"

"What?" Azula's eyes widened. Sokka flinched too, and the stranger was certainly the most appalled of the three of them.

"Did you just…?! That's not what we agreed on!" he exclaimed, with a demanding voice. Zhao's laughter boomed through the corridor.

"Ah, truly, you need to stop taking jokes so seriously" he said, smirking before turning to Azula "Princess, this man here is the very resource I collected"

The Princess's confusion certainly wasn't dispelled by that, nor was the indignation of Zhao's so-called resource. Yet Zhao might reveal more about his new friend in time, if she asked the right questions.

"A northerner, then. No wonder I had the feeling he wasn't from around here" said Azula.

"Your father would not meet with him yet, though" said Zhao "He seems quite set on speaking with your gladiator instead, so I haven't introduced him"

"Technically you haven't even introduced him to me" said Azula, smirking. Zhao grimaced.

"Oh, where are my manners? Princess Azula, this is Hahn, from the Northern Water Tribe" he said, gesturing at Hahn.

At last, the man's mouth curled into a smile. An unpleasant one that brought the three others in the corridor to look at him with discomfort.

"It's my pleasure to meet you, Princess Azula" he said, and to Azula's surprise, he made to reach for her hand. She jerked away just in time to avoid his fingers to graze her skin.

"What are you doing?" Zhao asked, looking at Hahn in confusion.

"Well, in the Water Tribe we tend to greet each other by clasping our forearms" he said, smiling "It's tradition"

"Is it? You didn't do that with me" Zhao said. Azula grimaced and inched away from Hahn just as Sokka's unease started to increase exponentially. Hahn laughed.

"I can't be blamed for it, Admiral. I am sorry to disappoint you, but the Princess is being far less hostile than you were when we first met. Is it so bad that I'd feel a, uh, connection with her because of that?"

"Yes, it is" said Azula, an eyebrow twitching "You may need to learn to mind your boundaries in the Fire Nation, Hahn… that is, if you didn't have to mind them back in your Tribe"

"Yeah, you wouldn't be all that reckless and touch the Water Tribe Princess that way, would you?" Sokka blurted out, joining the conversation impulsively "Makes no sense that you'd try to do it here…"

"Uh, well…" said Hahn, with a smirk "I guess you mean Princess Yue, as there are no other princesses in the Water Tribe. I suppose you'd be surprised to find I've actually touched her as I've pleased"

"Y-you… huh?!" Sokka said, his face contorting into a confused scowl "Are they that liberal up there…?"

"No, they aren't" said Zhao, looking at Sokka almost apologetically "He just likes being enigmatic. The man you see in front of you happens to be the Princess's husband"

"Wait, what?!" Sokka exclaimed. Azula looked at Hahn in surprise, as the man crossed his arms over his chest and smirked proudly.

"You… did he get captured?" Azula asked Zhao. Hahn chuckled.

"He did not" said Zhao, a nonchalant look on his face "He decided to give himself up, basically. I had heard he was captured, but as it turns out…"

"It was a difficult decision, but one I made for the right reasons" said Hahn, nodding.

"The right reasons?" Sokka repeated, looking at Hahn in disbelief "You abandoned your home and wife willingly to turn yourself in to the Fire Nation? How would there be right reasons to do such a thing?"

"A real headscratcher, isn't he?" Zhao asked, with a disapproving smirk. Hahn's conceited attitude dwindled quickly at that.

"N-no, I mean, I… you don't understand. Besides, you're here too, why are you allowed to be here while I'm not?" Hahn asked, raising his chin and looking at Sokka disdainfully. Sokka scoffed.

"I gave up my freedom to give my warriors a chance to flee" Sokka growled "I'm lucky enough that my life has brought me to where I am now, but believe me, I didn't abandon a wife or anything similar…"

"Probably because you didn't have one. If you did, you surely would have done the same…" said Hahn. Sokka's irritation only increased.

"Did you just…?" he said, his face reddening with anger. Azula stretched an arm in front of him.

"Many marriages end in separation, gladiator" explained Zhao "And sometimes it'll be for the better. If anything, I trust Princess Yue will be much happier without him"

"Exactly, I-… what?!" Hahn exclaimed, his voice high pitched. Azula actually smirked, as Sokka's irritation decreased over the Admiral's last comment.

"Oh, truly, you just can't take jokes" said Zhao, smirking. Hahn's irritation softened just in time for Zhao to say "And you also can't tell apart jokes from actual jabs…"

"I…! What exactly did I do so poorly, Admiral, that you keep doing this to me?!" Hahn exclaimed, as Zhao laughed.

Just then, the door to Ozai's office opened. Hahn gasped, his face paling instantly upon spotting the regally dressed Fire Lord, with that golden hairpiece on his head. He didn't look too pleased.

"Here I was wondering what this racket was" he said, but he smiled at Azula "Ah, you brought him. Thank you, Azula. This won't take long. Gladiator, if you would…"

"Sure…" said Sokka, eyeing Azula with unease. Couldn't she come in with him? But the Princess merely answered him with the jerk of her head. Sokka bit his lip and followed Ozai inside before Hahn could conjure a single word.

The three who remained in the hallway stared at the closed door a few moments after it had closed behind Sokka. Hahn sighed in defeat, but smiled at the Princess again.

"Uh, well, either way, I am quite honored to be here in the Palace" he said "I frankly did not expect that Admiral Zhao would bring me to its premises yet… we arrived today, no less"

"Ah, fresh off the boat?" Azula asked. Zhao nodded "I take it you wanted to be here for the aircraft factory inauguration, then"

"Indeed. I figured Hahn would enjoy it, too" said Zhao, smirking "It's why I brought him, instead of locking him up somewhere safe and sound, where he'd be in no risk of behaving inappropriately. Well, that and that he has it in his head to speak with the Fire Lord directly…"

"Bold of a man who's only just arrived" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "Not many obtain hearings with my father on demand just like that…"

"Well, in my defense, others wouldn't have the amounts of information I can offer" said Hahn, smirking "I'm confident the Fire Lord will understand how vital my information can be for his purposes, once we finally speak…"

"Do you doubt that the Fire Lord understands the value of the information you may have to offer?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Hahn tensed up "Hmm, curious. For a man who turned himself in, no doubt upon realizing that there's no way your nation would defeat ours, you seem to underestimate my father quite a bit…"

"I… n-no, I'm not underestimating anything!" Hahn said, grimacing and trying to save face "I'm only saying…"

He was interrupted when Azula started laughing. Zhao smirked approvingly.

"It's even easier to mess with him than with my gladiator, imagine that" said Azula, looking at Zhao.

"Indeed, and you haven't even heard the best story yet" said Zhao, eyeing Hahn with mischief "Curiously, my first encounter with Hahn wasn't all that different from the story you told me about you and your gladiator…"

"Is that so?" Azula asked, surprised "Did he want to abduct you too?"

"Oh, no, he was out to kill me" said Zhao, beaming "An assassination attempt. He infiltrated my ship, came rushing in to take me down… I merely stepped aside and shoved him overboard. For all these years I've been quite impressed, he fell in freezing water and found his way back to shore without losing limbs to frostbite. If I will say something in his favor, it's that his resistance is remarkable"

"Endurance certainly seems to be a Water Tribesmen trait" said Azula. Hahn nodded.

"Indeed, which is why I won't rest until I have had my chance to speak with the Fire Lord" he said "I'm sure that, before we take off to that factory…"

"I highly doubt he'll want further setbacks. You may need to be more patient" said Zhao, raising his eyebrows "Besides, we should tell the Princess all about our war stories, shouldn't we?"

"Uh, why should we…?" Hahn asked, his eyebrow twitching, but it was too late.

The Princess smiled widely as Zhao proudly began recounting the many embarrassing instances where Hahn's warrior squad had been crushed thoroughly. The Water Tribesman frowned, confused as to whatever brought his two current companions to behave this way.

He didn't know that, while Azula and Zhao had many differences, there was one thing they could not quite tolerate, and Hahn seemed to be the proud embodiment of it. A man who willingly turned his back on his people, whose loyalties were not reliable, wasn't going to earn their trust as quickly as he hoped. And it was clear, too, that Ozai's reasoning would be the same as his daughter's and his best friend's. It would take some time for any of them to decide Hahn was a worthy ally.

Meanwhile, Ozai held next to no reservations regarding the man sitting across him in his study right now. Sokka was trying his best not to betray how nervous he felt, but he couldn't control the twitching, tickling feeling in his stomach, reminding him that every bit of trust Ozai had given him could be taken away in a heartbeat… still, he recounted his tale to the best of his ability, forcing himself to remember the words exchanged between him and the Deserter.

"Then after having the beast attack you, they simply melted into the shadows and disappeared?" Ozai said, frowning "Have you had any suspicions of them following you afterwards, perhaps?"

"Strangely, no. I did think they might do it, but for some reason they haven't struck again" said Sokka "Maybe the rest of the White Lotus leaders told Jeong Jeong to leave us be. I doubt he had their approval for this operation, in the first place. Going by what he said, he didn't"

"Yet he was capable of bringing together such an army" said Ozai, frowning "How?"

"I don't know, but I do suspect the people working with him are the radical ones. The rebels who don't care for what the White Lotus's organization really stands for. All they want is to use them as a tool to defeat the Fire Nation"

"Huh. Rebels, then" said Ozai, raising his eyebrows now "Men and women from the colonies, who defy my rule?"

"I suppose so" said Sokka "People who probably suffered a lot during the worst years of the war, and who refuse to relinquish their pride. I guess they think fighting for revenge can help them regain what they've lost, somehow…"

"Yet it seems counterproductive to take revenge on the Fire Nation by killing a Water Tribesman" said Ozai, raising an eyebrow "Will they butcher every last person who decided to live by accepting my rule, I wonder? Easier said than done…"

"They took it personal on me because I've helped the Fire Nation before" said Sokka "I doubt they'd be the same with others. Slaves or honorary citizens who are willing to turn on the Fire Nation won't be targets of the White Lotus"

"And why, if I may ask, is it you won't do what they want you to?" Ozai asked. Sokka tensed up "Pardon my curiosity, but it truly gnaws at my mind ever since you first showed your loyalties. When they first attacked, you said you disagreed with taking down the Fire Nation as they wished, but do you truly believe the White Lotus is utterly misled? If that's the case, as a man who doesn't necessarily support the Fire Nation completely, have you sought to find another way to change my nation? Are you planning on avenging the fallen in a more astute way, perhaps…?"

"I… I'm not" said Sokka, blinking blankly. Ozai raised his eyebrows "I get that it may be hard to believe, but I honestly am just tired of the war, and the fighting. I've killed enough people with my own hands as it is… all I want is for it to stop already"

"Yet you know that cannot be, don't you? My father's actions, and those of his forefathers, have condemned the Fire Nation to wage this battle to the bitter end" said Ozai "Even if I were to agree with you, and put a stop to the senseless war, rebels like the White Lotus would still assemble for revenge. The Northern Water Tribe might seek to attack us as well. If I don't do what I'm doing, gladiator, the cost would be far worse for my nation"

"I suppose you wouldn't be open to compromising in any way" said Sokka, frowning and shaking his head "Well, I figure you didn't want me here for political advice, did you?"

"No, certainly not" said Ozai "But any information you may have on the White Lotus, anything else, is crucial. Perhaps anything you discovered before this incident? Anything regarding Piandao, perhaps?"

"Uh, Piandao?" Sokka repeated, frowning "It feels like that was ten years ago, truth be told… but anyways, uh, I guess all his mansion was covered in White Lotus symbols. He even engraved it into my sword's pommel, and I had no idea what it meant. I remember the Captain of the Princess's guards suggested asking your brother if the White Lotus tile Piandao left for me had any secret meanings, but the Princess refused to do it…"

"Unsurprising. She holds no love for her uncle" Ozai said. Sokka nodded.

"Other than that? Uh, well, maybe… you know that one of the captives you took from the attack to the Capital was a sponsor in the Gladiator League, right? He was doing it to fund their rebellion through the profit he obtained through fights… so clearly, they're finding their resources wherever they can. They're probably not in a good place, economically speaking"

"I see" said Ozai, frowning "They will seek funding wherever it's available, then. Perhaps some of the Earth Kingdom nobility who still have power could be helping them. Who knows, perhaps they even hide in their estates…"

"If you want to search for them that way, go about it subtly" said Sokka, biting his lip "Don't send full battalions to storm every estate of Earth Kingdom lords. If word reaches the White Lotus about it, and they were hiding someplace of the sort, they'd leave immediately"

"True" said Ozai, stroking his beard "It is a matter worth pondering. Do you believe they may have infiltrated the Fire Nation any further than they already have?"

"Other than that spy hiding in your highest circles?" Sokka asked "I can't say for sure. But I suspect the majority of the group would be in Earth Kingdom lands. That's what they'll want to take back, to begin with"

"Very well, then. I'll keep all this in mind" said Ozai, breathing deeply "We don't have much to go on, but it should do"

"Will you keep your daughter on the sidelines in this matter?" Sokka asked. Ozai nodded.

"Haven't you seen her?" said Ozai "As strong as her wish to take revenge may be, she is in no condition for it. I won't risk losing her to those bastards if I can help it"

"Keeping your heir safe, then" said Sokka, smiling "Well, that's a good thing. I do hope she never has to worry about them again, though. They've caused her enough anguish as it is"

"Very true" said Ozai, standing up "At any rate, I appreciate your cooperation, gladiator. A man like you could have easily chosen to side with the enemy, but you haven't. Your loyalty to my daughter is well prized by all of us"

"That… I'm glad to hear it" said Sokka, with an awkward grin. Ozai walked around the desk as the gladiator stood up too.

"Continue recovering, if you will. The Gladiator League surely misses having you in it" he said. Sokka chuckled.

"Yeah, without me it's bound to be oh, so boring" he said, smirking sarcastically "Not enough chopped off limbs or stink bombs for the crowds to be pleased.

"Indeed, how would any fights be worth watching without such factors?" Ozai replied, smirking as well as he opened the door.

Azula and Zhao seemed to be laughing again as Hahn reacted with irritation at whatever they'd said. Clearly, he held back from reacting too explosively, knowing he could not displease either of them if he wanted a chance to speak to the Fire Lord. But it was apparent he was nearing the ends of his patience.

"Ah, Father. It took some time" said Azula, smiling at Ozai before letting her eyes shift to Sokka. Hahn tensed up again, looking at the Fire Lord "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, he was as helpful as he could be" said Ozai, nodding "Now, we must be off to see the factory. Your Procession should be waiting at the front gates by now, Princess. Shall we?"

Azula nodded, and the group took off. Ozai walked at the front, with Azula at his right hand and Zhao at his left. The two men from the respective Water Tribes were behind them, and one of them was fuming as he stared at the Fire Lord's back.

"Do you know him well?" Hahn asked suddenly. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because he'd meet with you but he hasn't even spared a glance at me. Is he always like that?"

"I can't say I know, but truth be told, he's got little reason to behave any differently" said Sokka, shrugging "You're a new guy, a foreigner, who has yet to prove his worth to him. You don't think he was always eager to talk to me, or do you? The only reason he paid me any mind was because he was curious about his daughter's gladiator"

"So what, am I supposed to prove I'm worthy of his attention by fighting in a filthy sand pit?" Hahn scoffed "Pointless. I don't understand, he should be groveling at my feet, begging to hear what I have to say, but instead he's keeping me at bay like this? It's insulting!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what they're trying to do. Insult you, that is" said Sokka. Hahn huffed.

"Yet they treat you like you're some sort of glorious hero? You're even a slave!" Hahn retorted "How do they have more respect for a gladiator than for the husband of the Northern Water Tribe Princess…?"

"That may be because you no longer count as her husband" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows "You left, willingly. While you hold information, your position and privilege in your tribe must have been erased, as you're just going to sell out their information as you please. Unless the North is actually so forgiving that they'd want you back regardless of your betrayal?"

"Does the South want you back, considering you're the Fire Lord's favorite slave?" Hahn asked. Sokka frowned "Yeah, I figured"

"Either way, you can't really boast about being a princess's husband anymore" said Sokka "You closed that door on your own"

"You aren't any princess's husband either. I don't see why you get better treatment than I do" said Hahn.

"I've saved Princess Azula a few times. Perhaps that's more important to them than having a good social position in a Water Tribe"

"You seem to think absurdly highly of Fire Nation people if that's the case" said Hahn, scoffing "Do you really think they care about any one person? They're people vying for power, always have been. You'd be a fool to forget it"

Sokka snorted, letting his eyes travel to Azula's straightened back. Her hairpiece glowed on her topknot, and she moved with her head held high. He smiled as he looked away.

"Whatever you say" he whispered evasively. Hahn huffed.

The royal palanquins awaited at the front of the Palace. Sokka couldn't help but notice Ozai's was larger than Azula's. He crooked an eyebrow but said nothing, taking in the opulent adornments decorating Ozai's vehicle as a sign of his higher standing.

"We shall take carriages" said Zhao, nodding at Ozai "We'll meet you there"

"You'll likely arrive sooner than we will, then" said Ozai, chuckling "Until later, Zhao"

Azula spared one more glance at Sokka, who gave her a small smile, before climbing on her palanquin. Her bearers were in position, and Sokka spotted Rui Shi, in his full uniform again, organizing the rest of the guards. The gladiator bit his lip, hoping Song wouldn't be too upset that Rui Shi hadn't been able to stay with her today.

"Very well, then, we should take off as well. I'm sure the other nobles who will take this tour with us are already waiting" Zhao commented to Sokka and Hahn "Come along, then…"

"As you wish" said Hahn, with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

They walked outside of the Palace, to where a small carriage awaited. The soldier sitting at the front was young, and nervous. He greeted Zhao with a strict, precise bow, regardless of his anxiety. Zhao nodded towards him and turned to Sokka and Hahn.

"I'm afraid there's not enough room for three in my carriage, though" he said "I'd gladly give you both a lift… but I suppose it's not to be"

Sokka stiffened, looking at Zhao with uncertainty. He wouldn't mind finding another carriage for himself, if he had to, but he had no idea where to go. Still, considering how lowly the Admiral was bound to think of him, he might want to keep Sokka from reaching the factory on time…

"Well, that's a true shame, isn't it?" said Hahn, smirking and walking to the carriage door. He opened it and sat on one of the two seats, crossing his arms quite proudly.

Zhao watched him go, skepticism in his eyes. He glanced at the carriage driver, who stiffened.

"Just to confirm, you know where we're headed, don't you, cadet?"

"Yes, of course, Admiral" the soldier said. Zhao smiled.

"Very well, then"

Hahn relaxed on his seat, closing his eyes proudly. He heard the door closing, and the carriage began moving, leaving behind the Palace.

"A shame your carriage wasn't large enough for three, but who needs that sorry slave anyways, right Admi-…?"

As he opened his eyes, Hahn froze upon realizing he was talking to himself. There was no one in the seat across his own. He yelped.

"Admiral?!"

Zhao smirked as he stood on the sidewalk, watching the carriage go. Sokka gaped at him in confusion until the Admiral finally turned to him and chuckled.

"Serves him right for being so forward, doesn't it?" he said, before lifting a hand to call for a common carriage to rent. Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"Y-you didn't have to, though, you could've gone with him…" he said.

"And bear with his airs of self-importance and the boasting of having betrayed his own people? I'd rather not, mind you" said Zhao, as a carriage finally stopped "I would have a word with you in private instead"

Sokka gulped, unsure if he was supposed to find that as ominous as he did. Nevertheless, he climbed on the carriage, and Zhao followed him once he had told the driver where to go.

"Ah, it feels so good to be rid of him for the first time in weeks" said Zhao, rubbing the bridge of his nose and shaking his head "Never had I expected the Water Tribe to produce a man like that. Aren't your people supposed to be community-oriented, faithful to your own, humble and whatnot…?"

"Mine, maybe. I doubt a Princess's husband would know much about humility, though" said Sokka, shrugging "Honestly, I have no idea how the North operates these days. Most of what I know about them is from books I've read here"

"I suppose it's impossible to maintain relations between the tribes in the middle of the war" Zhao said, crossing his arms over his chest "Still, it's odd how you have set such an unfair standard regarding what Water Tribe people would be like. The story the Princess told me of how you first met at least painted you in the light of a competent fighter, and what I saw in the Arena evidenced as much… despite you lost, of course"

"I don't recall you saying the same that day, though" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "You told Azula to – I mean, the Princess, to replace me…"

Zhao chuckled and shook his head. Sokka grimaced.

"No need to worry, I won't tell on you" he said "Ozai has been a friend of mine for very long, I as well tend to forget I should use his title when I speak of him"

"Huh, well… anyways, my point still stands" said Sokka, pouting a little. Zhao smiled.

"I did say it, though. I told the Princess not many non-benders can reach the fighting level you've acquired. I merely warned her, though, that if she means to defeat enemies such as the Blind Bandit and even my own gladiator, another gladiator would have better odds. Then again, you never seem to cease surprising people, do you? You defeated the Millennium Dragon, a feat only Combustion Man had achieved before…"

"It wasn't as magnificent as you might be thinking" Sokka said "Truth be told I didn't win in the most ideal of ways…"

"Do you need more than that?" Zhao asked, amused "If you broke no rules, which you obviously didn't, or else the judges would have disqualified you, then you won fairly. Whatever the manner of the victory, it is still victory. You should be proud"

"Uh, thanks" said Sokka, gulping and raising an eyebrow "I'm surprised, though. I mean… I thought you didn't care for me, and it made sense that you wouldn't, so… why are you holding a casual conversation with me now?"

"What, is there a reason why I shouldn't?" Zhao asked "If Ozai and Princess Azula do it, why is it so strange that I might do it too?"

"I don't know" said Sokka, shrugging "The Fire Lord didn't think much of me when he first met me. He probably just thought I was an insolent smart-mouth until I helped with the White Lotus for the first time…"

"Do you ask these questions whenever any man of high standing speaks to you?" Zhao asked. Sokka snorted.

"No, because in general, they don't unless they're part of the royal family" he said "Last year in the Princess's birthday I offended a few people for daring speak to the Fire Lord directly. The Princess even told me to keep quiet the whole time to avoid trouble… and as you're a highly ranked military officer, I figured you might be like those noblemen. Aren't you?"

"Not as much as you may think" said Zhao, with a small smile "I have more humble origins than you might have expected. There's an obvious reason I'm a military man instead of a noble one"

"There is?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Zhao nodded.

"I wasn't highborn. I was the son of firebenders: my father was a captain of the Fire Lord's army" said Zhao "My family had relocated to one of the newer colonies, in the Earth Kingdom. I was but a boy when an Earth Kingdom raid rushed in to reclaim the territories that had been taken from them. The fight that ensued was gruesome, and many died. A lot of strong soldiers, and many civilians. Neither of my parents survived"

Sokka looked at Zhao apprehensively. The man closed his eyes.

"It was quite a shock for me, to the point where I did nothing to get to safety after it happened. When Fire Nation soldiers found me, though… I should have never done what I did. I realized the gravity of my actions after the deed was done, but driven by rage and fear, I… I struck them down"

"You what?" Sokka asked, his eyes wide now "How? You were just a kid, weren't you?"

"I was, and I barely knew how to control my bending" said Zhao, staring at his right hand. He opened and closed a fist a few times "So I didn't. My emotions carried away with me, and… the barrage I unleashed was terrible. I was restrained by other soldiers, and dragged to await justice as granted by Fire Lord Azulon"

"Did he consider that it could have been an accident?" Sokka asked. Zhao shook his head.

"He did not. He would have had me executed, and I was ready for it. But… Prince Ozai intervened"

Sokka frowned. Zhao smiled.

"He asked for Fire Lord Azulon to give me an opportunity to prove my worth. He said I could prove useful if I learned to control my bending properly" Zhao whispered "He took a chance on me, one that could have cost him dearly, but I suppose Fire Lord Azulon either wanted an excuse to punish his son once this backfired, or he really did see the potential in me. Either way, he relented. Ozai had his way. And I was packed off to the military academy, where everyone else in my class was terrified of me for the awful things I'd done. It's been a long time since then…"

"He had his father spare you? Because he thought you'd be useful somehow?" Sokka asked "That's… well, not too different from what happened to me"

"Is that so?" Zhao asked. Sokka shrugged.

"The Princess spared me to turn me into a slave, not a military man, but still… I had expected to die, and yet I was granted mercy" he said "At the time, it certainly didn't feel like mercy. But maybe I had to put up with those two years in the Amateur League to achieve what I have, after all…"

"I won't lie to you, gladiator, I truly had no trust or faith in you until recent events" said Zhao "But knowing my old master targeted you for your loyalty to the Fire Nation… it certainly made me rethink my opinion of you. If you're loyal enough to rile up Jeong Jeong, you're more intriguing than I expected. And, perhaps, a better ally to the Fire Nation than I assumed. But, more importantly…"

Zhao sighed with exasperation and shook his head. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Meeting and enduring Hahn all through our voyage, and knowing I'll be responsible for him while he stays in the Fire Nation, has shed a lot of light regarding why you're well-liked by the Princess and Ozai. I definitely would rather have had you as an informant, rather than this fool…"

"Did he truly abandon his wife?" Sokka asked. Zhao snorted and nodded.

"Baffles the mind, doesn't it? He should have been living in great conditions, even while under siege… and yet he seems convinced the Water Tribe stands no chance against the Fire Nation. Why, I asked? He wouldn't say. He merely hinted at a weapon we may be able to obtain if he tells us where to look, apparently…"

"Odd" said Sokka, frowning "Why don't they use this weapon against you guys instead?"

"Perhaps it only works against the Water Tribe" Zhao said, shrugging "I have… a few ideas on what he'll say. If he delivers information I already have, I'll simply offer him as a gift for the northerners to butcher once I return to the siege. I doubt your culture takes too well to traitors, regardless of which tribe they hail from"

"No, we certainly don't" said Sokka, nodding.

"Suffice to say, I am far from fond of this man. He makes me uneasy, in all the wrong ways" said Zhao.

"So, you mean to use him until you've obtained all you need from him?" Sokka asked. Zhao shrugged.

"I mean to discover whether he's any use for the Fire Nation, to begin with. I have no doubt he's planning on reaching our highest circles, and… well, you saw just as I did how he leered at the Princess. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to court her"

"It'll never work" Sokka blurted out. Zhao nodded.

"Ozai would never allow it. Regardless of how useful he may prove, I doubt the Fire Lord would agree to such a marriage" said Zhao. Sokka's heart sank, despite having known as much already "As far as I know, it has never happened in the history of their dynasty"

"Well, mixed marriages are a pretty recent thing, aren't they?" said Sokka, with a weak smile "Of course it wouldn't have happened before…"

"Which is why I doubt it'd happen now, regardless of what some of her suitors might hope for" said Zhao, glancing out the window. They were already outside the crater, close to the industrial area of the bay. The factory wouldn't be far "There's no shortage of men who might set their sights on the Princess for social advancement…"

"Do you know any of them?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Zhao sighed.

"He hasn't made his move yet…" Zhao commented "But that leech, Aonu, isn't unlikely to do it once he has the opportunity. No doubt you defeated his gladiator, but if he does think it was by sheer luck, he might try to take revenge and seek an engagement with her, while he's at it…"

"Woah, the Millennium Dragon's sponsor?" Sokka asked, his eyes wide. Zhao frowned.

"He was born the bastard of a highly ranked noble of Azulon's time. Aonu was acknowledged by his father but still frowned upon because he's an earthbender, not a firebender. His mother was of Earth Kingdom descent, and his father agreed to raise him regardless. But while his older brother is widely respected and acknowledged as his father's heir, Aonu has struggled for a long time to earn any respect at all. His bitterness about the situation is, on great measure, what makes people drift away from him…"

"I didn't see much of him" Sokka reflected. Zhao smirked.

"Well, I didn't meet him many times, but I saw enough when I did. I only sponsored Combustion Man personally for a year before being sent to siege the north indefinitely, and in that year he challenged me about ten times. He was crushed on every single opportunity. His anger only increased with every defeat. Lieutenant Zhen told me he has not changed much since"

"Well, his gladiator isn't unpleasant, at least" said Sokka, biting his lip. Zhao shrugged.

"His gladiator isn't likely to be a large accumulation of pent-up frustrations" he said "But whether he's nice or not, I wouldn't know. My gladiator isn't one for socializing…"

"Huh… I know next to nothing about Combustion Man, actually" Sokka reflected, raising an eyebrow "Just that he kills his opponents sometimes? I think Azula said something about him blowing things up, which suits his name…"

"You've never heard of combustion bending, then" said Zhao "It's a dangerous, deadly technique. Not befitting the assassin my gladiator used to be, I'll say. He's a hazard for anyone around him, and he's far from stealthy. It's why he was quick to agree when I offered him this job…"

"An assassin?" Sokka repeated "Does he kill so many gladiators because of that? Is he used to it?"

"Well, sometimes it's because he's used to it. Sometimes it's because it's necessary for him to kill" said Zhao.

"Because if not, he'll be the one killed?"

"No, because the sponsor of the gladiator in question has done something or other to displease the Fire Lord, actually" said Zhao, with a shrug. Sokka's eyes widened "The Gladiator Business has many complex layers. It's not merely about the fighting of powerful combatants, but about the subtle, less apparent fighting between sponsors…"

"Well, yeah, the Princess does that sometimes, with some sponsors… but she's never done it for her father's sake" said Sokka, frowning.

"Because she's not in the league to keep Ozai's authority unchallenged" said Zhao "She has no need to do Ozai's dirty work. Meanwhile, Zhen and I have had to do it for quite some time now"

"Sounds like a drag" said Sokka "But I take it Combustion Man won't just kill the gladiators with troublesome sponsors, or does he?"

"Not really" Zhao said, shaking his head "He's a loose cannon when he wants to be. I don't hold him back, but he gets carried away by fights sometimes. In a sense, he's much like myself"

"Have you returned to sponsoring him yet?" Sokka asked. Zhao raised an eyebrow.

"Well, not quite. I'll ask Zhen about his schedule. Perhaps I'll be able to return sometime soon, once I can shake off Hahn, that is" he said, sighing.

"I hope you'll be rid of him soon, then" said Sokka, smiling weakly.

"How about you?" Zhao asked "When will you return to the fighting ring? You're not close to the drop-out time limit, are you?"

Sokka frowned and stopped to ponder Zhao's question. The man eyed him with curiosity.

"I think I have a month to go, give or take. I fought briefly before the mess at the Stronghold began" Sokka explained "There's still some time…"

But Zhao had asked an important question. When were they going to find another fight, schedule a new challenge? Was it ever going to happen? The mere idea of asking Azula about this made Sokka's heart sink. She wouldn't want to hear of it, she wasn't ready to see him off into the gladiator sands, not even now. She was feeling much better, it was clear, and the bags under her eyes were disappearing… but would she go back to square one once he brought up this matter?

The carriage didn't take much longer to arrive to their destination. Zhao climbed off first, paying the driver quickly, and Sokka followed him. The gladiator eyed the people gathered at the location, noticing their opulent clothing and pompous demeanor. Behind them stood a tall building, dark and industrial, where he knew the airships were being built. Sokka breathed deeply.

"It's somewhat menacing, isn't it?" Zhao asked Sokka, as a carriage pulled up beside them. The admiral smirked once he noticed it "Oh, I suppose our lonely friend had lagged behind us"

Sokka bit his lip and glanced at the arriving carriage just as Hahn pushed the door open and glared at Zhao furiously. The admiral couldn't seem more pleased with himself.

"What was… what was that for?!" Hahn asked, his eyes wide and jumpy. Zhao laughed.

"For getting ahead of yourself, naturally" he said "If you had waited until we reached a compromise, perhaps I wouldn't have done what I did. You gave me the perfect opportunity for it, though. Still, you're here now. What are you so upset about?"

"Y-you abandoned me! I was alone in there and…!" Hahn exclaimed.

"And the very important northerner is incapable of being all by himself for thirty minutes!" Sokka said, smirking. Zhao laughed again as Hahn glared at the gladiator.

"You be careful with how you address me, you…!"

"Admiral!"

Hahn's words were lost when both Sokka and Zhao turned to look at Zhen. The Lieutenant rushed towards them, beaming.

"I had no idea you'd be back in time for today's tour, it's wonderful that you are! And… the Princess's gladiator?" he asked, looking at Sokka with bright eyes "Good to see you again!"

"Uh, likewise" said Sokka, with a small smile.

"I'd heard you were in quite some trouble" said Zhen "Many rumors were spread, but oh, I knew you were a tough one! I figured you wouldn't fall that easily, if your fabled swordsmanship skills are so remarkable!"

"How remarkable could they be…?" Hahn growled, glaring at Sokka. Only then did Zhen notice him.

"Oh? You found a new slave, Admiral?" Zhen asked. Hahn's face contorted with outrage as Zhao laughed.

"A slave?! A…?!" Hahn said, gritting his teeth, but his anger would be interrupted by the voice of one of the nobles behind them.

"The Fire Lord arrives!"

Sokka forgot Hahn's outrage as he glanced at the palanquins approaching down the road. The presence of Ozai's imposing palanquin had served to silence Hahn, and the smaller palanquin behind it had lifted Sokka's spirits instantly. There she was…

Ozai stepped out of his palanquin once it was carefully set down on the ground. The bearers were in synch, therefore, father and daughter stepped out almost at the same time. This enabled Sokka to bow clumsily, but in Azula's direction rather than Ozai's, most unlike all other noblemen. Hahn was left looking around himself in unease, trying to imitate Zhao and Zhen with uncertainty, but only managing to fidget through the bow until Ozai finally commanded everyone to rise.

"I am pleased you were able to come at such short notice" Ozai said, smirking "Shall we enter the establishment, then? I understand there's much for us to see, and our time is short"

The nobles mostly spoke in agreement, and they flocked quickly towards the Fire Lord. Azula lingered back with her procession, stopping to talk to Rui Shi briefly, as Sokka was distracted by another of her guards.

"Yo, Sokka!" Fei Li called him, smiling under his mask "Feeling up for another Mahjong match sometime soon?"

"I'm ready when you are" Sokka said, smirking.

"Stay here, keep an eye on everything" Azula told Rui Shi, who nodded "Hopefully this won't take too long"

"We'll be here, Princess" he said. Azula nodded too before turning to Sokka.

"Let's go then, gladiator" she said, looking at Sokka and jerking her head towards the building "We don't want to lag behind"

"Wouldn't dream of it" Sokka said, smiling happily.

The two rushed to follow the nobles, who had already entered the building, following Ozai's command. Fortunately, the entrance was wide enough for them not to be cramped, but Sokka and Azula were left at the end of the group.

"Did he really need these many nobles to do this?" Sokka asked Azula.

"If he wants to keep them pleased, yes" she said "Politics work that way. This is what you would call my father's closest circle in high society"

"Oh dear. So, these guys… are the ones who want to marry you? Or who want their sons to marry you?" Sokka asked, pouting a little. Azula smiled.

"Some of them, yes. How did it go with Zhao, though? Seems to me you had to bear with him through the trip…?"

"I have to say, for a highly ranked military man who seemed to think so poorly of me, he acted surprisingly smoothly" Sokka said. Azula scoffed.

"It's Zhao. That's what he does best. Plays at being friendly only to stab you in the back later" she said. Sokka grimaced.

"You're sure? I mean, I know it happened to you regarding what he said, but… did you consider that what he said after the war meeting may have just been to appease those other men?"

"He's still a fool for not defying their precepts instead of accommodating to them" said Azula "Whatever the explanation, he'll have to work harder if he hopes to get back to my good side"

"Even though you two were having so much fun at Hahn's expenses?"

"That's different" said Azula, sighing "This northerner… he's bad news. You can tell, can't you?"

"Do you think he's here as a spy?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged as the group in front of them came to a halt. There was a man, dressed up in a soldier's uniform, standing in front of them.

"Maybe. It's hard to say just yet. Either he's a spy, or he's really that deplorable a man, huh?" said Azula, crossing her arms as they stopped to listen to their factory guide's speech.

"It's our greatest honor to host so many admirable guests today!" he exclaimed "My Lord, I am pleased to have the privilege of directing this factory and introducing these wonderful inventions for our nation's use…"

"Huh… he's military?" Sokka asked, staring at the man's outfit with curiosity. Azula nodded.

"Many of our technological facilities are managed by military personnel" said Azula "It's part of a policy established since Azulon's times"

"Do they know anything about the science and engineering involved in these factories?" Sokka asked. Azula smirked.

"Usually? No"

"Thought so"

The military officer continued to talk, and many nobles praised his aptitude for the job. Ozai asked questions, Hahn yawned, and it took them around five more minutes until the trip finally resumed. By then, Sokka was growing very curious over the finished products: had the hot-air balloons been built the same way they had designed them? Had they been altered them somehow?

"Shall we move on, then?" Ozai finally asked. The officer nodded promptly.

"Just say the word, my Lord, and…! Oh, well, you already have… follow me!"

Sokka raised an eyebrow at the man's awkwardness. He didn't seem nearly as disciplined as Rui Shi and Azula's other guards.

"He rambles a lot, but he is a bit funny" said Sokka, smiling and looking at Azula as the group resumed the walk through the factory's corridors, with their guide often explaining anything his eager crowd asked about. But Sokka noticed the Princess was unusually silent right now "You're okay?"

"I'm just wondering… well, hoping, rather, that this factory won't end up like the one we saw in Yang Hui river" she said "I'm not sure how the waste could be handled for the better, but… there has to be a way to avoid damaging our people over technological advancement. Right?"

Sokka smiled and nodded. His hand brushed hers lightly again.

"Right" he said "I'm sure you can ask your dad about that. He should consider investigating new ways to…"

"Ah, so you did come!"

Both Azula and Sokka stopped on their tracks before turning on their heels to look at whoever had called out to them. Azula's eyes widened as she looked at him, his arms full of blueprints, his clothes dirty with dust and grease. Sokka struggled to recognize him, having forgotten where he had met him before.

"Do you remember me? Maybe not, you've been very busy after all, but when we heard the Princess would come to the factory today, I…" said the man. Azula smiled.

"We have been busy, but I do remember you" she said, cutting him off. "Has your oldest son learned to respect royalty yet?"

"Oh, he's going to school and everything! Though, uh, he's not that respectful still, but I have hopes that quality education will fix that" the man said, laughing "It's wonderful to see you again!"

"Likewise" said Azula, surprised by how genuinely pleased she was indeed "You've moved out of Shu Jing, then?"

"Yes, yes" said the man "As I'd told you, jobs were opening for this factory and I was lucky enough to secure one. My family is finally getting back on its feet"

"And you needed no charity to make that happen. I'm pleased" said Azula, smiling "I hope your family stays well. Good luck with your job"

"Thank you, Princess, thank you!" said the man, beaming "Ah, if you excuse me, the head of development wanted to inspect these… have a good tour through the factory!"

"Thanks" said Sokka, as the former resident of Piandao's home rushed through a different corridor from the one the tour had taken.

Sokka and Azula watched him go, but soon enough the gladiator turned his gaze towards his lover. The smile on her face made him grin too.

"Didn't think you'd be that happy to see a commoner" he said teasingly, startling her. They resumed their walk, heading down a flight of stairs "What's next? Will you hug that hobo we met during our hike, all those ages ago?"

"Oh, sure, you're hilarious" said Azula, rolling her eyes as he chuckled "I'm just glad he's survived, truth be told. I didn't remember he had talked about this factory until just now…"

"Seems he's getting by quite well" said Sokka "The factory is being inaugurated officially today, but it has been working for some time, hasn't it?"

"Yes, around five or six months. They had to start working before the Fire Lord graced them with his visit, so they'd have something to show him" Azula explained "This place was being built over a year ago, they were merely waiting for the Mechanist to finish his designs. Once that was done, they just needed to gather enough workers to start production"

"Heh, I see" said Sokka. Azula sighed.

"I keep thinking of what happened in Jang Hui, but at the same time, I'm glad this factory offers some people the chance to get by. Though, if we think about it… you're the one to thank for his job, all things considered"

"What?" Sokka said, smiling a little. Azula smiled back.

"You're the one who worked with the Mechanist to finish the aircrafts. Without that, this man's family might still be in trouble today… so yes, on some level he owes his job to you. What a helpful man you are, huh?"

"You really mean that?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"What do you think?" she whispered enigmatically.

They had been distracted by the factory worker for long enough to lose sight of everyone else. As they talked, they walked through the paths that the others had likely taken, but they weren't entirely sure of which direction they had picked after all. As they found themselves in one of the lowest floors, amid working steam machines that left the air around them thick with white fog, they came to the obvious conclusion…

"We went the wrong way, didn't we?" Azula said, with a dry grin before sighing "They probably didn't even take that first staircase back there. Such hopelessly clumsy pair we make, huh, gladiator?"

Sokka only gave her a gentle smile. Azula raised her eyebrows, recognizing his expression quickly.

"Sokka?"

His hands reached to bring her closer to him. Azula was instantly alarmed, terrified of what could happen if anyone intruded on them just now, but the hissing sounds of the steam machines reminded her that they wouldn't be that easy to spot…

She allowed him to steal the kiss as he pleased, melting into his embrace as he held her close, one hand resting on her neck, the other by the small of her back. She closed her eyes and felt the heat rising around them, but also inside her. His bold move, doing something so suspicious at such an inconvenient moment, was both appealing and horrifying at the same time.

Her heart raced, her body trembled, and yet she couldn't pull away. Not from his lips, not from his hands, not from the man who had doused and destroyed all shreds of common sense she had ever wielded. Why was he so irresistible to her, she'd never understand it. Reasoning with it had never worked. But even after all this time, after their relationship had been physical for many months by now, a wild, genuine kiss was enough to set her heart ablaze, just as his old haiku had once said…

He gave himself the freedom of trailing kisses down her neck. She felt pearls of sweat threatening to develop on her skin, and could feel him growing hotter and wilder too. But this was all they could risk, and he knew that. One moment of recklessness would have to do.

He pecked her lips one last time before pulling away, smiling proudly and apologetically simultaneously.

"I… I know I shouldn't have" he said, his hands on her shoulders now. She laughed and shook her head.

"You incorrigible, cruel man" she said, smiling and swiping his lips clean with her thumb. He grinned "Whatever shall I do with you…?"

"Honestly? Whatever you want, Princess" he said, beaming "I'm yours to command"

"Lies" she said, smirking "You only obey when it suits you"

"Heck, I said I was yours to command, I didn't say I'd always listen" he said, smirking.

She laughed again as she pulled out her hand mirror to check on her makeup… to find it wouldn't work in the steamy room. She sighed.

"We should stop frequenting places full of steam" she said "Let's go back. We should find the rest of the group"

"Yeah, but say, if we don't find them we can just come back here…" Sokka said, smirking "Looks like no one's working around these parts"

"One mad escapade is enough for one day, thank you" she said, smiling and yanking him by the wrist towards the stairs "Let's go"

She fixed her appearance quickly once they were back upstairs, before they rushed through another corridor. In due time, they reached the assembly line, where the factory's director was doing his best to explain the workings of the multiple production lines to the Fire Lord and his companions.

As they were coming up late, Azula and Sokka nonverbally agreed to separate: he flocked to one side of the group while she moved to the other. This way, if anyone had noticed their absence, they might not suspect they had been together.

"… Most the machinery produced here will be part of the armored airships. The last production line of this hall is for the hot-air balloons, which need less mechanisms" the director explained, as Ozai nodded. Zhao was by his side now, with Zhen behind them. Hahn kept trying to inch closer to them, but the group of nobles was rather tight near the Fire Lord.

"You haven't started producing the airships yet, have you?" Ozai asked. The director shook his head somewhat cautiously, scared of saying anything that would displease the Fire Lord.

"We plan on beginning soon. As it is, we are holding test runs to ensure the factory can produce the airships, first of all…"

"I assume those test runs are moving along smoothly as I commanded, then" said Ozai, raising his eyebrows. The director grimaced.

"Of course they are, my Lord"

"Good to know…" said Ozai, but his eyes were lost on someone who had approached the only functional line, the one dedicated to the hot-air balloons.

Sokka had moved there out of his own accord, curious about how the production line was assembling the hot-air balloon's engines. A few men were working there, and Sokka stayed clear out of their way as they composed the engines, not knowing that he had drawn the tour's full attention to himself. Azula grimaced as she eyed Sokka, and she stepped through the group of nobles and towards her father. As it was the Princess, they stepped out of the way instinctively.

"Does everything look right, gladiator?" Ozai called out. Sokka flinched and turned with an awkward smile. He didn't expect to find so many eyes upon him. His stomach twisted.

"I'm just surprised by how efficient this process is" he said "These engines look a lot nicer than the one we built in the Air Temple…"

"As they should" said Ozai "There's no room for failure here"

Sokka nodded. The blueprints he had designed with the Mechanist had been followed to perfection. He couldn't find any flaws in these products.

Not far from where Azula stood, she heard Hahn letting out a tsk sound. She glanced at him: his outrage at being ignored by Ozai, and seeing Sokka favored constantly over him, was sitting very poorly with him.

"Well, then, if you approve…" said Ozai to Sokka, smirking "I had ordered something for you, gladiator. Perhaps we should move this along to the hangar, director?"

"Oh yes! Right away, your request was finished on time, yes" said the director, and they resumed their tour.

Ozai ushered Sokka to walk closer to him, and Sokka glanced over at Azula, panicking slightly. He looked at her questioningly, but Azula only smiled. Did she know what her father was up to?

The hangar was immense. It opened to the outside, and there were only half a dozen completed hot-air balloons within its walls. The balloons were static but already full of hot air, the balloons composed by deep red fabric, with the Fire Nation's symbol emblazoned over it. Ozai treaded towards them, following the director, who stopped at one of the hot-air balloons.

"This is it" he said. Ozai glanced at Sokka.

"Do you see anything wrong with it?" he asked. Sokka frowned, wondering if it was a test of some sort.

"Huh. I guess I should inspect it more closely" he said. Ozai nodded.

"Go ahead"

Sokka climbed aboard the hot air balloon, looking at it carefully. The engine seemed fine, the balloon was well sewn, the directional flaps were in place as was the lid. He moved to check on it, pulling it to the different settings he had developed for it. It worked for each one, as did the flaps. He smiled.

"Well, seems to be responding right" he said "It should fly well"

"Have you conducted test flights yet?" Ozai asked the director, who nodded nervously.

"Of course, sir"

"In that case, you can take it home with you whenever you please, gladiator" said Ozai "It's yours"

Sokka stood where he was, the lid's rope still in his hands. He pulled it a few more times, just to try to snap himself out of his confused daze as a gasp of surprise coursed through the nobles behind Ozai.

Had the Fire Lord just given him a gift?

"I… mine?" Sokka asked. Ozai smirked.

"Loyalty deserves its reward" he said "I was quite pleased that you survived your dangerous encounter, and that you didn't turn your back on the Fire Nation, even at the cost of your own life. Allies like yourself are hard to come by, but important to preserve. Take this as a token of my gratitude"

Sokka swallowed hard and looked at Azula. She smiled proudly, with a hint of malice that he had no doubt she was putting on for show. Many of the nobles were glancing between her, Ozai and Sokka as it was. Sokka swallowed and smiled too.

"I… don't know what to say" he finally spoke "But, uh, it should be pretty useful, yes. Uh, thank you. It's… I never expected this"

"It was only right" said Ozai, smirking "You helped create these aircrafts, and you proved your worth. I would say you have earned your dues"

Sokka swallowed hard and smiled, looking at his balloon in surprised appreciation. He had no idea if he'd ever use it – he would have gladly chosen a different balloon design if he'd had a choice, but he'd do best to not be picky. Regardless, he was pleasantly surprised. No wonder Ozai had wanted Azula to bring him to the Palace and the factory today.

Yet he was using him not only as an example of loyalty in front of his usual subjects, but in front of Hahn too. As everyone clapped politely and nodded approvingly, Hahn was the image of despair. Sokka was in the exact position he had wanted to acquire upon arriving to the Fire Nation.

"Well then… I guess I'll just take it home today and be done with it" said Sokka, with a weak smile "But I should try it out again now, to make sure it'll fly well…"

"Do go on ahead" said Ozai, nodding "It's fitting for our visit to end with a demonstration"

"Good to know" said Sokka, smiling "If anyone wants to come along…"

"Can we?" Zhen asked, beaming and stepping forward with bright eyes "I've always wanted to know what flying feels like!"

"Sure" said Sokka, with an awkward smile. He had hoped for someone else to step forward, but he wouldn't back down on his offer now "Anyone else wants to come?"

"It's best if only two people fly" the director recommended "The balloons are safer with a crew of two"

"Alright, then!" Zhen exclaimed, jumping inside the hot-air balloon's basket "Lead on, good sir!"

Sokka smiled and readied himself for the flight. He stirred the engine, and Zhen watched the process with amazement, as did the rest of the public. Sokka closed the lid quickly, and as soon as he did, the basket began to hover. The balloon was floating soon enough, as the gladiator maneuvered to steer the vehicle. Zhen was ecstatic, laughing as the two of them flew out of the hangar.

"It's amazing! It's truly amazing!" he exclaimed, gazing about himself in wonder. Sokka chuckled.

"Yeah, it is" he said "You should get one of these for yourself. You'd travel faster everywhere, you know…"

"No doubt!" said Zhen, beaming "Honestly, though, you have it all, don't you, gladiator? Accomplished swordsman, inventor, what can't you do…?"

"A lot more things than you imagine" Sokka confessed, laughing "And I wasn't that much of an inventor, the Mechanist did most the work here…"

"You're still pretty impressive, though" said Zhen, chuckling as the wind buffeted against them "Ah, this is so surreal and wonderful… I really do want one of these. My son would love a ride in one"

"Yeah, no doubt a kid would love it" said Sokka, chuckling "I always wanted to ride with my dad on the boats back in my Tribe, I learned all about sailing with him… uh, well, I doubt you want to hear about that"

"Now, why wouldn't I?" Zhen asked, beaming "It sounds like you had a nice dad. I hoped to be one too for my Huiwen, but I'm afraid I can't teach him everything he asks"

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Zhen sighed.

"He really has a thing for swords… I can't really help him with that kind of combat. I'm a firebender, he's a non-bender, so it's tricky…"

"Huh, I get it" said Sokka, smiling sympathetically. Zhen's eyes lit up as he looked at him.

"You know… you could, maybe, give me some advice for him" he said "I'm sure he'd appreciate that. He's seen you fight, I bet he'd love some pointers from you"

"Oh, well, I could give him some advice if you want" said Sokka, smiling a little "Does he have a basic knowledge of fighting, at least?"

"Absolutely not!" said Zhen, beaming. Sokka's eyebrow twitched "He's a kid, he hasn't had any formal training. I thought it'd be best if he had a happy childhood, but now he's older and he decided he wants to join the army like his dad… a sweet thing, isn't it? But I don't know how to help him, not entirely"

"You should hire a swordsman to train him then" said Sokka, shrugging as he maneuvered with the air balloon "It'd be better for him, likely. Advice won't do much good without actual instruction"

"Really? Uh, but the best master was Piandao…" muttered Zhen, pouting. But the glow of an idea reappeared in his eyes soon enough "Wait… weren't you taught by him?"

"I was, yes. For three months" Sokka said. Zhen's smile widened.

"Then you should teach him!"

Sokka froze, with the ropes in his hands again. He raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Me?" he said "Uh, I'm not sure I have the time for it. I should be getting back in shape for the Arena, you see…"

"Oh, I won't take too much of your time! It can be just one day of the week, and you won't have to worry too much! If you're too busy we can cancel the sessions so we won't inconvenience you" said Zhen, looking at him with expectation "I'd even pay you!"

"That… oh, goodness. I think you'd have to talk to my sponsor about that" said Sokka, with an awkward smile.

"Well, then, I shall!" said Zhen, smiling "But, say, if she agrees to it, would you want to do it?"

"I… will do whatever she tells me to do" Sokka said, gulping. He hoped Zhen wouldn't read too much into that statement.

"Still evasive, but I'm not hearing a 'no'" Zhen said, grinning. Sokka sighed and smiled weakly, continuing to handle the hot-air balloon as his companion enjoyed the scenery.

Sokka flew with Zhen for some time, but once the sun started to set he landed again. There wasn't much left to see in the factory, and the rest of the nobles spent their time eyeing the other airships in the hangar with delight. Ozai was speaking with a few nobles, and Zhao stepped up with a smirk as the aeronauts landed.

"I hope you enjoyed your flight, Zhen" Zhao said "Still eager to pilot these things, then?"

"Very much!" Zhen exclaimed, as he and Sokka stepped out of the now static air balloon "The trip even convinced me further!"

"I guess the experience outdid the expectations" said Zhao, with a chuckle "Fair enough, I'll offer you as a candidate for the Air Forces"

"Yes! Thank you, sir!" Zhen exclaimed before turning to Sokka "Thanks for that trip, gladiator! Shall I ask the Princess about my request now, then? Seriously, if you think it's too much of a nuisance I won't do it…"

"Request?" Zhao asked, looking at Zhen in confusion.

As Zhen explained, Sokka allowed his gaze to drift towards the Princess. She was speaking with a few nobles too, unaware of this conversation. Perhaps she would tell him not to be so foolish and to not spend more time with children than strictly necessary. Or perhaps she would say that he ought to do it, for she had to establish steady, stable social connections with military officials to strengthen her claim to the throne. Zhen perhaps wasn't too highly ranked yet, but he was ranked highly enough to be here right now, wasn't he?

Sokka gulped, but he smiled at Zhen in the end. All be it for her sake…

"I'd be fine with it, as long as she approves"

"You would?! Yes!" Zhen exclaimed, throwing a punch in the air in celebration. A puff of fire burst from it, too small to be dangerous "I'll ask her right away!"

Sokka sighed as Zhen rushed away, leaving him with Zhao. The admiral glanced at the crowd, taking in the sight of Hahn, standing away from the group and no longer trying to reach Ozai. He smirked.

"Well, the lesson has been learned, from the looks of it" he said "You were rather helpful today, gladiator"

"Does the Fire Lord know about how fickle Hahn's loyalties might be?" Sokka asked.

"Why do you think he's ignored him all along?" said Zhao, smirking and looking at Sokka "I told him about Hahn through a letter, he knew better than to trust him blindly. The Fire Lord made an example of you today, even if he truly is grateful for your loyalty. He hopes Hahn, and the rest of the nobles, will understand that true loyalty can come from anywhere, and that they had better not take their places in the world for granted. You've come very far since the Princess found you. You may yet go further"

"How much further can there be?" said Sokka with an awkward smile. Zhao chuckled.

"Only time will tell, I suppose" he said, nodding in his direction.

Sokka watched Zhao move towards Ozai, who clearly was ready to leave by now. Sokka stood where he was, beside his recently landed hot-air balloon, glancing at the two men. Loyalty, they'd said. Ozai had been grateful, Zhao had been curious. Both of them had a concept of Sokka that would disappear so easily if only they knew…

But what did Sokka think of them by now? While he certainly didn't like Zhao thanks to Azula's conditioning, something told him he had to hold back before passing judgment on the man. And Ozai today had spoken of many things that had surprised him: his concern for his daughter's safety, paired with their conversation regarding the war, had led Sokka to wonder if maybe Ozai was tired of it, too. One hundred and nine years were far too many for the waging of a war, weren't they?

Perhaps Zhao and Ozai were masters of deception and suggestion. Perhaps they had known exactly how to get to him. Sokka had no intention of dropping his guard around them, but if there were any chances they might change their minds about the war, Sokka would gladly make the most of them.

As he reflected on those things, a frowning, confused Princess approached him. Sokka jumped upon noticing her.

"H-hey, what's up?" he asked. She huffed.

"You agreed to teach Zhen's son? You seriously did?" she asked. Sokka gulped.

"I said I'd do it if you allowed it, but I figured you needed some good relations with the people you may rule over, so… I thought why not? I mean, I'm not going to start training a lot yet, or am I?"

"Not quite yet" Azula admitted "But I didn't think you'd choose to kill time by training a child… still, you're not wrong. It could be useful"

"Is it too inconvenient?" Sokka asked, looking at her in concern. She sighed and smiled a little.

"Only in the ways you know it is" she said. Sokka bit his lip "Zhen means to bring the brat as early as tomorrow morning. We'll have to be ready for them"

"Woah, that's fast" said Sokka, eyes wide.

"Indeed it is" said Azula "But you brought it on yourself, huh?"

"I guess so" said Sokka, with a weak smile "Um, say… do you want a ride? At least over the building and to your palanquin? Or even to the Palace, the Procession could return at their own pace this way…"

"I'd rather not risk it" said Azula, with a small smile "I can try flying with you eventually, I suppose. Not tonight, though"

"Alright, alright" Sokka said, defeated. Azula's smile widened.

"Don't be so downcast and focus on your fearsome fight of tomorrow instead. You'll face a deadly eleven-year-old, after all" she said. Sokka sighed.

"Yeah, what a terrible fight that will be" Sokka admitted, with a weak grin. Azula chuckled

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, then. By dawn" she said "Don't sleep in"

"I'll try not to" he said, smiling warmly at her.

The nobles and military members were leaving, and Azula made sure to join them, but not before glancing at Sokka once last time. He waved at her and sighed, climbing on his new air balloon and taking flight on his own.

He floated in the sky for a while, gazing out at the stars and thinking of everything that had happened today. But inevitably, the challenge tomorrow posed for him could not go ignored: he hadn't tried teaching anything to any children in a long time. Would this be a catastrophe? It certainly had the potential for it.

He chuckled and shook his head. It didn't matter. Whatever the kid was like, he'd bear with him. All be it for Azula's sake.


	133. Chapter 133

The sun was barely rising when she entered the dragon refuge. Xin Long groaned in complaint, his tail sweeping towards her to keep her at bay. Azula snorted and looked at him with judgmental eyes.

"You're unreasonably lazy, dragon" she said, sorting through his tail's movements as Xin Long groaned "Come now, you've slept for almost twelve hours. The sun is rising"

Only the last phrase brought Xin Long to stop resisting and squirming. He would sleep in a little more, usually, but he rather loved to bask in the first rays of sunlight that touched the earth, and Azula knew it. She smirked as he turned around, yawning and scratching his mane clumsily.

"Do you have another stick in there?" she asked, teasingly. Her dragon shrugged "What a mess you are, dragon. No wonder you're bonded to me…"

Xin Long snickered and scurried around the refuge, fetching the saddle so she could put it on him safely. She did it quickly and settled on his back, stroking his hair as he took off. There were no twigs in it, but it wasn't perfectly clean either.

The sun was shining so brightly it was almost blinding, but for the two airborne firebenders it was refreshing. Azula breathed deeply, as the cool morning air seemed to cleanse her body. Xin Long purred in his usual reptilian way, before doing a few loops for the sake of it. Azula smirked, allowing him to do it without complaint. She held on tightly, throwing her head back to enjoy the air's current, as it made her hair dance in the wind.

The city was only just waking, and businesses were opening here and there. There wasn't much movement in the streets, but Azula could see some people from high above ground as she was. She smiled down upon them and stroked Xin Long's hair.

"Let's go" she said. Xin Long groaned and obeyed, diving towards Sokka's house.

The dragon rolled on the grass after Azula climbed off, despite the saddle hindered his movements. Azula looked at him questioningly for a moment before smiling and shaking her head.

"You can go back to the refuge, get something to eat. I'll call you if I need you" she said, waving a hand towards Xin Long. The dragon hooted, obeying her right away: he did want his fill of meat for breakfast.

Azula made her way upstairs as quietly as she could. She opened the door to Sokka's room just before Song opened her own, heading downstairs to start working on their meals for the day. She was rubbing her eyes, and the Princess didn't notice her, just as Song failed to see Azula.

The Princess smiled as she gazed upon Sokka's lazy sleeping figure. He was spread over the bed, his mouth open, a small trail of drool down his cheek. She shook her head.

"How graceful" she commented "One would think you'd try to look more dignified in your sleep…"

Azula stepped towards the bed, sitting by his side and gazing at him. She stroked his hair gently, and his chest continued to rise and fall peacefully. She sighed, pleased that the sight of his breathing, while comforting, was no longer something she was frantic to see every time. He truly had helped her in many ways, guiding her towards the right path to appease her worst trauma yet. Still, she wasn't here to think about that…

"Wake up, lazy man" she said "I know it's way too early for your standards, but seriously, get up. Zhen can arrive at any moment and you'll give a terrible impression if you're in bed when he does"

He didn't respond at all. Azula raised an eyebrow, wondering if he had fallen asleep at a late hour. It was rare for him to be so deeply asleep.

"Hey, Sokka?" she said, tapping his shoulder "Up with you. Seriously. If you get up, you'll get a kiss. No? Really? Then you get no kisses whatsoever today, how does that sit with you? Huh, you won't wake up even with that? I guess you're hibernating? Is this something savages do, perhaps?"

She bit her lip. None of her provocations were paying off. She smirked, though, thinking of something new now.

"Alright… so we'll do this the hard way" she said, shifting closer and hovering with her lips right above his ear "The crime you committed was unforgivable. You have disgraced yourself, and everyone you love… and now, your punishment? You will spend six years… eating an exclusively vegetarian diet!"

She raised her eyebrows and looked at him expectantly… and at last, he moved. He groaned and shifted on the bed, grabbing his pillow and burying his face in it.

"N-no veggies… they stink…"

She blinked blankly and huffed. She gazed at him, shaking her head. There had to be a way to wake him up.

"Honestly, you have a sleeping problem" she said, placing a hand on his bare shoulder and shaking him gently "You're so lazy, so hopeless… get up, gladiator! Time to fight!"

Nothing seemed to work, not insulting him, not scaring him, nothing. She was tempted to shake him more violently, but the wounds he still sported on his body worried her even now. She didn't want to be too aggressive, but something had to work…

"Ah, I know" she said, smirking "Well, if this is how it is… you know, Princess Azula is really a terrible, terrible person. She's actually a subpar bender, not smart at all, all talk, no action, there's really nothing to her…"

Sokka stirred, but she didn't stop yet. She needed to keep going until he was truly awake.

"Seriously, what a failure of an heir for our Fire Lord, she's going to be pathetic once she takes the throne. I only hope she marries a great husband who can be efficient at things, most unlike her" she continued to ramble "And worse yet, she's just hideous, physically hideous. Who'd ever think…?"

"What are you doing?"

Azula blinked and looked down at him. Sokka rubbed his eyes drowsily, an irritated grimace on his face.

"Ah. Finally" she said "I was running out of bad things to say about myself"

"You shouldn't have had any to begin with" he grunted, pushing himself up and leering at her "Troublemaking, lying Princess…"

"Lying? Come now, I was only…"

"Lies, lies, lies!" Sokka exclaimed, hugging her and bringing her down on the bed with him. She laughed as he did "You're amazing and you're not going to make me think otherwise! And if you marry someone, it'll be me, and I won't be that efficient compared to you anyways, so everything you said was a lie!"

"Sokka, I was trying to get you to wake up, that's all" she said, laughing "Don't take it that seriously…"

"And you're the most beautiful woman to ever walk this world. Don't forget it" he pouted before kissing her lips softly "Hi"

"Hey" she said, smiling "You wouldn't wake up any other way"

"Yeah, well, I was having a nightmare about vegetables…" Sokka said, grimacing and shuddering. Azula smirked.

"Yeah, maybe that was my fault…"

"Huh?"

"Or maybe it's a coincidence? Who knows" she said, shrugging "At any rate, good morning"

"Morning to you too" said Sokka, smiling and kissing her again "We should just get back to bed… it's so early, damn…"

"There's a reason why I'm here at this hour, remember?" she said, raising her eyebrows as she sat up on the mattress. Sokka sat too, his arms wrapped around her waist "The kid you're supposed to train could be here any moment now"

"Ugh, right" said Sokka, grimacing "Here I thought you were just visiting for other reasons…"

"As fun as our escapade in the hot springs was, I'm still not risking taking our encounters as far as we'd like to" she said, kissing him "But soon, I suspect"

"Very soon. I'm sure you won't resist me for much longer" Sokka said, with a proud smirk. Azula smiled.

"How cocky" she said, taking his hand and jerking her head towards his closet "Stop wasting time and I'll even help you dress up"

"You should help me undress, instead" Sokka teased, smiling, but he closed his eyes lazily right afterwards and fell completely silent. Azula watched him briefly before snorting.

"Alright, and then I'll do all sorts of unspeakable things to your sleeping body. Sounds like fun" she said. It took him a moment to register what she'd said, and he blinked himself awake before scratching his head.

"Yeah, okay, would be more fun if I'm awake for it" he said, with an apologetic smile. Azula smirked and moved to the closet.

"I'd be willing to test it, though, mind you. I could even tie you down, you said you were interested in trying that…" she said, pulling out clothes for him. Sokka chuckled and looked at her with amusement.

"I thought I was the eager one, but going by what you're saying, it really isn't just me…" he commented, watching her with amusement as she pondered the combination of clothes. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"What could ever make you think that it's just you, huh?" she said, handing him a long, blue, sleeveless changshan. Sokka smiled approvingly "This ought to look nice on you. Might actually help you look like a respectable master and everything"

"Heh, that's flattering" he said, smirking as she offered it to him while gathering the rest of his clothes "Still… I guess this is not going to be so easy, is it? Will this kid train with me once a week at this unreasonable hour? Please say no…"

"I have no idea" Azula said, smiling at him "But alas, you told Zhen you'd do it…"

"I did it for your sake" Sokka pouted. Azula nodded.

"Which is all the motivation you should need to get up early once in a while, right?" she said, smirking with malice. Sokka's pout now was accompanied by a frown.

"Sure, but do tell, then, what shall be my reward for helping you out in this way?" Sokka asked.

Azula sighed, handing him the rest of his clothes. She stood in place for a moment, eyeing him with uncertainty as he climbed off the bed, pushing down his sleeping pants and putting on fresh ones. She shrugged soon enough.

"I don't know, truly. What do you want from me, gladiator?" she asked "That is within my ability to offer you, of course…"

"Oh, so I get to choose?" he asked, smirking as he pulled up the pants and fastened the belt around them. Azula picked up the changshan again "Well, let's just say that the one who gets tied up isn't me…"

"Ah, sure thing" she said, skeptically. She had thrown the changshan around his shoulders before he could elaborate further "I will not lower my dignity to such embarrassing levels for your sake, gladiator. Absolutely not"

He smirked, sensing her voice tone was far from serious. He knew by heart how to tell apart whenever she was messing around and whenever she wasn't. As she smirked back at him, it was clear which case this was.

"Really, now? So turns out there's nothing I wouldn't do for you, but you do have limits for what you'd do for me?" he said, as she fastened his changshan while caressing his strong chest as much as she could in the process. She raised her eyebrows.

"Well, do excuse me for having standards…" she said, looking at him playfully. Sokka laughed.

"Standards? No, what this really means is that I've always been right when I say that I love you more. Ha!"

Azula certainly did not expect the conversation to take such an unexpected twist. She looked at him indignantly for a moment, as he savored his triumph happily.

"You dare make such false claims…" she said, leering at him "You deserve to be punished, you shameful savage"

"Oh, now, I'm a convalescing poor man who needs his rest and his… hey!" he exclaimed, laughing as she pushed him down on the bed and climbed atop him, towering over him on all fours. He snickered "Seriously, how competitive. Is it that hard to accept the truth, Princess?"

"The truth? You are twisting facts into whatever is most convenient to you, and yet you claim you speak the truth?" she said, clasping his wrists to hold him down and poking his nose with hers. He chuckled.

"If it's not the truth, you should prove it" he said, smirking.

Azula sighed and looked at him skeptically. They both knew what this was really about, and truthfully, she could use indulging in his company in the best way they could for now. If the kid hadn't arrived yet, maybe his father hadn't meant to bring him over so early. Maybe they'd gotten lost, maybe they'd slept in…

Whether her hopes were founded on reality or not, she still succumbed and kissed him gladly. Sokka sighed and responded joyfully. His stomach scarcely hurt even when she was pressing a little on it, and all he wanted was for her to stay close to him. He smiled in bliss, his tongue brushing against hers in teasing, swirling motions that she corresponded with her own. Her hands left their place on his wrists just to intertwine their fingers, and she kept kissing his lips until they were both breathless.

Their chests heaved together, and they couldn't seem to stop smiling at each other. Azula sighed and rolled on her side, caressing his cheek as she held his gaze with hers. His lazy, leisurely aspect only made her wish they could truly stay inside his room all day, doing all the things that would still be irresponsible to do…

"You need to tie up your hair" Azula whispered. Sokka raised his eyebrows.

"Here I thought you liked it best when it's down" he smirked. She shrugged.

"I do, but for reasons unknown you always tie it" she said. Sokka chuckled.

"Well, the wolf's tail is a cultural thing. But it's not just that…" he said, with a malicious grin now "I'd rather not have you embarrass yourself by swooning over my good looks in front of my student"

"Ah, because I have no self-control, do I?" Azula asked, looking at him defiantly. Sokka laughed.

"Not when faced with my manly handsomeness, you don't" he said.

Azula laughed and playfully pushed him down again, climbing atop him and kissing him, not only because she enjoyed doing so, but because this way she'd keep him from teasing her more. He had definitely woken up with a lot more sass than usual, and that was saying quite a lot.

Song overheard the laughter and voices in Sokka's room as she was busy preparing breakfast. She left the counter and made her way to the stairs, from where she glanced at the second floor with uncertainty. Sokka's door was open. If the sounds and sights were any indication, it seemed the Princess was here, after all…

"Very early" she said, before shrugging and returning to her work.

Guessing Azula had yet to eat, Song was about to decide to prepare extra food when she heard a knock on the door. She rubbed her eyes again before making her way to open it, hoping it wouldn't be someone looking for the princess or her gladiator…

To her surprise, it was Rui Shi. But it was the most casually dressed Rui Shi she had ever seen in her life. Her eyes widened, taking in his simple clothes and the lack of uniform: she had never seen him out of it before.

"Rui Shi?" she said. He blushed and gulped.

"I hope I'm not too early" he said "I just… well, the Princess did offer to give me a day off. I figured maybe it's a good idea to use my vacation time now, to make up for yesterday's disappointment, right?"

"Well, of course!" said Song, smiling and welcoming him inside. Rui Shi smiled warmly at her and entered the house.

"If you haven't eaten yet, I thought we could go to a restaurant I know" he said "We can eat there before we go to the museum, or the lake, or…"

"Woah, wait, do you mean to have us see the entire city in one day?" Song asked, laughing. Rui Shi blushed and grinned too.

"Well, maybe not all of it, but the worthwhile places in it, yes" he said, nodding "Is it too much?"

"It's too sweet" she said, sighing and hugging him. Rui Shi smiled and rubbed her back gently "Thank you. You're sure you're free to do this today?"

"Well, I'd better be" he said, pouting "The Princess did interrupt us yesterday…"

"So she does owe you, is it?" Song asked, amused. Rui Shi chuckled.

"In a manner of speaking" he said, shrugging.

"Well, if you didn't tell her that you'd be taking a break today, you can do it now" said Song, smiling "She's here, seems like"

"Wait, what? She is?" Rui Shi said, frowning. Song shrugged.

"I heard voices upstairs, so I figured she was. Unless Sokka is talking to himself, which would be rare, especially at such early hours… though, maybe he's talking in his sleep?" she reasoned. Rui Shi snorted.

"Would he?" he asked, glancing towards the door to Sokka's room. He sighed, having the feeling Song was right. Something told him the Princess was there "Well, if she's here then maybe I'll take you out for breakfast at another time. But I'm definitely taking you away for the rest of the day"

"Wonderful" said Song, smiling and kissing his cheek "Want to help me out with the food?"

"Don't I always" he said, smiling back and taking her hand as she directed him into the kitchen.

Sokka and Azula had around half an hour of leisure time before breakfast was ready. By the time Song called them, their situation had reversed somewhat, as Sokka was the one atop Azula, kissing her devotedly, her fingers tangled in his still loose hair.

"I think… Song's calling" Azula mumbled against his lips. He grunted and kissed her again.

"And here I was having so much fun making up for yesterday…" he sighed, and kissed her one more time before sitting up.

Azula did the same and smiled somewhat groggily, ever overwhelmed by Sokka's passionate ways. While she sure enjoyed being in charge of most things, letting Sokka do as he pleased with her in bed was one of the truest pleasures she had discovered in life. She liked being dominant with him, but it was far too enjoyable to lose herself in his delectable kisses and strong arms.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you?" Sokka asked, leaning close and pressing his face to her neck. Azula smirked.

"No, I hadn't. And if you keep doing that sort of thing we'll never get to the kitchen, you know?"

"I'm just making the most of the fact that the kid isn't here yet" he said "We'll have to be boring and professional when he arrives, won't we?"

"Pfft, you, boring and professional? Especially professional. Don't make me laugh" she said, smirking and standing up. His jaw dropped with indignation.

"Hey!" he squeaked, as she laughed her way to the stairs. He didn't hesitate to follow.

Finding Rui Shi in the kitchen was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one, even though his casual apparel startled them. Still, after having traveled with him while disguised, they were considerably less surprised than Song had been.

"So, did you fall off your bed?" Rui Shi asked, smirking at Sokka "First time I ever see you up so early"

"More like Azula shoved me off it" said Sokka, chuckling. She rolled her eyes.

"You know, maybe I really should do that the next time I drop by to find you're still asleep" she said, looking at him menacingly. Sokka cringed as she smirked "Your reaction probably will be priceless"

"Meanie" he said, pouting.

The four of them sat at the kitchen table to eat together, enjoying what Song had prepared with Rui Shi's help. By now, they were almost used to eating this way, as it had been happening more often these days.

"So, given your attire, I take it you're taking up my offer for a day off, Rui Shi?" Azula asked before taking a bite of crab. Rui Shi blushed and nodded.

"We were hoping to see more sights in the city" said Rui Shi "Song has been here for so long but hasn't seen most of what the Capital offers. So we figured it might be a good way to spend the day"

"Huh, you should go see all the good restaurants. Then you can recommend the best ones to me" said Sokka, beaming.

"You'll only want to go to the ones that exclusively serve meat, that is" said Song, smirking. Sokka chuckled before gobbling down more food.

"Why are you here so early, though?" Rui Shi asked Azula "It's not like you to arrive at this hour. Isn't it suspicious…?"

"It's not when a Lieutenant decided Sokka would make a fine sword master for his son and promised to bring the kid over bright and early" said Azula, sighing "I meant to be here because, as my gladiator's actions reflect on my own, it's quite inconvenient for him to make a mess of this and I wanted to make sure he wouldn't…"

"So you're just here to keep an eye on me? Really?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, that and I had to get here early to make sure you'd be awake when the kid arrives" said Azula, shrugging "As we both know, you weren't exactly willing to get out of bed. I even had to induce your nightmares and it still didn't work…"

"You what?" Song asked. Azula smirked as even Sokka looked at her inquisitively.

"I really did hope it'd be enough to wake him up, but saying he'd be punished for six years by eating nothing but vegetables only gave him nightmares about them instead" said Azula, chuckling.

Sokka yelped in indignation as Song laughed and Rui Shi smiled a little. The Princess seemed very satisfied with herself even as Sokka ranted about his terrible nightmare, which included being eaten by the vegetables on his plate, amongst other things. His explanations only brought everyone to laugh more, as he pouted and ate with irritation, scowling at Azula all the while.

Rui Shi and Song took off briefly after breakfast, bidding goodbye and good luck to them with their training of the boy. Sokka and Azula watched them go from the door, Sokka's resentment over the vegetable incident already forgotten.

"Must be nice, going out on dates like that, huh?" he said, raising his eyebrows. Azula looked at him with unease.

"I know, but… you know we've gotten away with too much as it is" she whispered. Sokka chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess we have" he said "Still, maybe we could do it someday. Pretend to be completely ordinary people, just head into some town we've never been to, and have… a date"

"I have the feeling you'll just want to find a bed for most of it, though" Azula teased him, smiling. Sokka chuckled.

"Heck, I always do when I'm around you. Date or no date" he said, winking at her.

"Honestly, I'm just glad they can have something somewhat normal, even if we can't" said Azula, shrugging "In the world we live in, it's a true miracle a slave and a Royal Guard could be together as they are"

"It's a miracle that a gladiator and his sponsor can, too. Especially when the gladiator is a slave, and the sponsor is a princess" said Sokka, stroking her hair. Azula sighed.

"Especially when we had all the bad blood we did, too. How did we ever get over all that, huh?" she asked, smiling at him as she led him away from the door, which he closed behind them.

"Oh, through unhealthy doses of reality mixed with loads of pining, a pinch of lust, then all of it got mashed together with trust and…" Sokka started listing off, and Azula smiled at him with amusement.

"That's one simplistic way of looking at it" she said. Sokka smiled guiltily and shrugged.

"You really didn't want me to recount all of it again, did you?" he asked, chuckling and leaning close to her.

"Maybe I did" she whispered "That way, once you reached the parts where we were at our worst, we'd stop wanting to kiss and touch and we'd be as aloof towards one another as we could be once the kid arrives"

"Oh, come now, nothing can make me stop wanting to kiss or touch you" he said, chuckling and leaning close to steal a kiss indeed from her. Azula sighed "It's true"

"And in truth, we'd best make the most of it while we can. I doubt we'll get away with this for much longer" she whispered, locking her arms around his neck and pulling him down with her as she sat on their usual red couch.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, as she laughed and smiled at him.

"Will you make every moment count, my dashing Water Tribe warrior?" she asked, with a teasing, sarcastic smirk. Sokka huffed but smiled back, kissing her fiercely.

"Of course I will, you'll see!" he exclaimed as she laughed "And there was no need for sarcasm, I am dashing! And a warrior! And from the Water Tribe! And yours!"

Azula smiled as they fell sideways on the couch. Sokka hovered above her as usual, looking at her defiantly. Her hand moved to his chest.

"True enough, you really are" she said, smiling before leaning in to kiss him "Mine, that is"

"And everything else too!" Sokka squeaked. She laughed and kissed him deeper.

They didn't stay cuddled together for long, even if they would have gladly done as much. Time kept ticking by, and the child surely would show up sooner than later. They would do best to avoid getting caught in a compromising position.

"He's really got a weird concept of bright and early, doesn't he?" Sokka said, sighing as he lounged across the couch. Azula had been sitting on his lap, but she had climbed off to fix her make-up to perfection. She shrugged.

"Might be Zhen was busy with something. It's not impossible" she said, glancing at the door.

"Maybe he's not coming at all" said Sokka, smirking "Maybe we'll have the whole house to ourselves, the whole day…"

"And of course we'll make the most of it if that's the case, won't we?" Azula asked, looking at him skeptically. Sokka bit his lip and laughed mischievously.

"I can't see any reason not to" he said. Azula snorted "Really, though!"

"Of course you can't" she said, rolling her eyes "I suppose you've worked out and regained your strength. Maybe going for it isn't the worst idea…"

Sokka's eyes lit up and a smile broke out over his face, but Azula raised her chin proudly.

"But I'll make sure you have more endurance before doing it" she said, and his smile fell "I wouldn't want you fainting after finishing while I'm still unsatisfied, now, would I?"

"You're just making excuses" Sokka pouted. Azula laughed.

"Yes, yes I am" she admitted, walking towards him and cupping his face. Sokka sighed and dropped his head on her womb, his arms around her legs "Is it that hard to believe that I don't want you blacking out because of too much excitement?"

"You'll think it was a waste to wait so long when we get back to it" Sokka said "I guarantee it, Princess…"

"Better to waste time than to push you beyond your limits" she said, encircling his neck with her arms and holding him close. Sokka groaned and buried his face in her belly.

"As you'd have it…" he mumbled.

They were still holding each other when a knock sounded on the door. Azula pulled away from Sokka, who let her move while pouting in disappointment. Yet he stood up and breathed deeply, gathering himself so he could play the sword master at his finest…

"Well? You're not expecting me to open the door, are you?" Azula asked. Sokka blinked blankly and smiled awkwardly.

"Right. Right. Oh, damn, here we go" he said, wiping his lips cautiously one last time before moving to the door.

Zhen was indeed at the door this time, with an apologetic smile. In front of him stood the child Sokka had seen with him in the Ball the year before, a boy with curly hair and large, brown eyes. He looked to be around eleven-years-old, and his eyes betrayed an innocence Sokka hadn't expected to find in him. He smiled warmly at the child, hoping to be encouraging.

"I'm so sorry we're so late, and after I said we'd be early, too!" Zhen exclaimed, looking at the Princess remorsefully. Sokka smiled and shrugged.

"Oh, well, it happens to some people…"

"You really should have been on time" Azula said. Sokka's eyebrow twitched, and he glanced at her doubtfully "What kept you, Lieutenant?"

"Uh, well, I actually have to run to get my paperwork in order right now" Zhen explained "The Admiral has decided to give me a recommendation letter so I can be one of the head officials in the Aerial Forces, but there's so much to do and I got caught up with all that… but don't worry! I'll sort everything out and return to fetch him by sundown! Before sundown! Promised thing!"

"I do hope so, Lieutenant" said Azula, smiling a little and nodding "Very well, do go on. I'll oversee the training session between them, take care of your business as you must"

"Thank you, Princess!" Zhen said, smiling "I'll be back before you know it, Huiwen, just you wait!"

"I'll be a swordsman when you're back, dad, you'll see!" Huiwen replied, excitedly. Zhen chuckled and messed with his hair gently.

"That's what I like to hear" he said, before smiling at Sokka and nodding "Good luck"

"Likewise" said Sokka, smiling too as Zhen walked out the door again, rushing to the carriage that awaited him.

Huiwen stayed at the threshold of the house, waving at him. Zhen smiled and waved back through the window as the carriage rolled away.

Sokka cleared his throat, and Huiwen jumped. He turned to look at Sokka with uncertainty, as the gladiator stood before him. His arms were folded across his chest.

"So, Huiwen" said Sokka, smiling a little "You want to be a swordsman, is it?"

"Yeah!" Huiwen exclaimed, smiling too. It seemed Sokka's full height and menacing position didn't daunt him "I've seen you fight in the Arena before, too, some time ago! The bad guy, uh, kicked you in your goodies down there"

Sokka blushed and grimaced as Azula snorted behind him. Yes, they both remembered that occasion quite well…

"Uh, that was far from my most graceful fight, I'll admit…"

"You also beat that other bad guy in one punch!" Huiwen said, beaming "And you fought the Blind Bandit but you didn't win…"

"So, you've really been in the crowd for many of his fights" Azula said, raising an eyebrow "Are you a fan of his, by any chance? You could join the Blue Pack, in that case…"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's too young for crazy fanclubs" said Sokka, shaking his head. Huiwen still looked at him with a wide smile.

"I've always looked up to the strongest non-benders, even when they lose" he said "I always lose when I fight in school, so…"

"Oh? You get into fist fights?" Sokka asked. Huiwen shrugged.

"Yeah, I start them" he said. Sokka's jaw dropped "I've won a few times! But never against Chen Mei, she always beats me…"

"She?" Sokka asked. Huiwen pouted.

"She's a bender and she's really strong!" Huiwen exclaimed. Sokka chuckled.

"Must be like the Princess over there, then" he said, smiling at Azula. She raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't get into fistfights in school" she said, pointedly, before lifting a hand and calling forth a plum of dancing blue fire "Doing this would have been enough to scare away any challengers, though I still got none anyways. Exclusively female schools tend to be quite strict when it comes to these things"

"I go to a mixed school, Dad thinks it's for the best" said Huiwen, smiling "Though he said I might find a wife sooner like this, but I don't want one!"

"Oh, of course not. Girls are weird, aren't they?" Sokka said, beaming. Huiwen nodded.

"Yes! Very!"

Azula rolled her eyes and gave Sokka a sharp glare. He snickered as he moved to pat Huiwen's shoulder.

"Alright, alright, young man" he said "I get the feeling you'll be quite a receptive student. Yep, it's always better to start once you're a little older…"

"Have you taught other kids before?" Huiwen asked, as Sokka led him to the backyard.

"Uh, well, I did teach kids, but not swordsmanship" Sokka said "I taught the Princess how to use swords, though…"

"Stop boasting about it" Azula said, as Sokka snickered.

"She's quite talented, though, so I don't think you'll be training with her yet" said Sokka, taking a chance to glance back at Azula and wink at her. She huffed.

"Then I'll just train with you?" Huiwen asked, stopping in the middle of the backyard, his eyes wide as he took in the surroundings "What are we going to do?"

Sokka frowned, a sudden realization hitting him now. While he had done quite a bit of emotional and psychological preparation for this, he had neglected one detail…

"Uh, well, first off… you have to start by stretching" he said, with a smile "Can you do that, or do you want me to tell you how?"

"I can do it myself!" Huiwen said, nodding proudly.

As the kid warmed up, though, Sokka walked slowly towards where Azula stood, at the steps that led inside the house. She raised an eyebrow as he looked at her uneasily.

"What are you doing?" she asked. He gulped.

"Um, I was thinking we'll need training gear, you know, wooden swords and the lot…"

"Of course, so?"

"So, I may have realized I have nothing of the sort in the house…?"

Azula's jaw dropped as she looked at him in disbelief. Sokka swallowed, feeling an embarrassed blush coming up on his face.

"I've always used my actual weapons when we train, remember?" he said, gulping. Azula huffed and sighed.

"So I suppose you come to me because you want me to fix your little mishap, isn't it?" she said. Sokka smiled guiltily "Oh, you're impossible"

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed "I really didn't think about this, but I mean, he could've brought a wooden sword and he didn't, so neither of us were prepared!"

"Yeah, because the kid should've brought a wooden sword so you could slice it in two with a single swing of Space Sword" Azula said, rolling her eyes "Oh, whatever. There's bound to be wooden swords in the guards' armory at the Palace… you should've said something about this sooner, though. Careless gladiator"

"You're too nice" Sokka said, sighing and bowing his head gratefully at her "Whatever would I do without you…"

"You'd be even more hopeless than you already are, that's for sure" she said, with a small smirk "Keep the kid busy while I'm gone, and the next time you need me to bring something for you, give me a heads-up beforehand, maybe?"

"Thanks, Azula, really" he said, sighing as she moved to the backyard too.

Huiwen was performing the usual stretching exercises, moving his body in repetitive motions, but his eyes were glued to Azula's back as she stood amid the grass. She could feel his gaze upon her, and it drove her to grimace a little. She never did enjoy being stared at so insistently, unless it was by a certain someone…

"Focus on your exercises" Azula called out. She heard the kid gasp, and she smiled a little. The uncomfortable sensation disappeared quickly.

But even though he had wanted to obey her command, Huiwen couldn't keep his head clear when a large, dark shape appeared overhead. He gave out a little shriek, and Azula didn't know if it was out of fear or admiration. Sokka made his way to where Huiwen stood, to keep him calm no matter if the boy was scared or thrilled.

Azula raised an eyebrow as Xin Long landed before her. The child's eyes were wide as Xin Long looked at him, his reptilian gaze stern, and deep…

"As much fun as you may have by scaring children, we do have an errand to run" Azula said, stroking Xin Long's hair. He groaned and his serious façade disappeared instantly, replaced by his usual lively nature "Don't worry, you can scare him more later"

"It's… it's her dragon!" Huiwen exclaimed, a huge smile breaking out on his face "It is, and it's so big! I…! I can't believe this! I can't wait to tell everyone in school that…!"

"You saw the big scary dragon, yes you did" said Sokka, smiling as Azula climbed on the saddle.

She would have taken off without further ado, but Xin Long took his chance to chuckle at Huiwen and allow a stream of smoke to pour out of his nostrils. Huiwen gasped again as Xin Long laughed and took off. The little boy gazed up at him in amazement while Sokka smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Say… a swordsman shouldn't get distracted so easily. Or for that long" he said. Huiwen jumped.

"O-oh, I won't!" Huiwen exclaimed, blushing and returning to his exercises.

Sokka snickered as he watched the kid work, but soon enough he had finished stretching and Azula wasn't back yet. Sokka was forced to improvise, first sending Huiwen to run laps around the house, but when the young boy couldn't keep going he had to think of other alternatives.

"When do we start to train with swords, sir…?" Huiwen asked, grimacing, as he sat on the living room floor with a glass of juice in his hand. Sokka huffed and shook his head.

"You will learn that, as a swordsman, the most important lesson you need to learn is patience. Yes, patience!" he declared. Huiwen gazed at him with curiosity "I know it sounds awful and truth be told I'm not all that patient myself, but that doesn't mean it's not true. So, young man… first of all, we'll hold a few exercises for you, so that I can know whether or not you're cut for being a swordsman"

"Like what?" Huiwen asked, cocking his head sideways. Sokka gulped.

"Like…"

He left the child hanging for a moment before returning to him, with a long sheet of paper and a tray with ink. He dragged Huiwen to the sitting room's table, and placed the paper and ink before him.

"Alright, this is something my master taught me" said Sokka "You're supposed to mark your identity on the paper, you see…"

"How do I do that?" Huiwen asked. Sokka shrugged.

"That's up to you" he said. Huiwen frowned.

"Am I supposed to write my name? Is this like calligraphy class?" he asked. Sokka chuckled.

"You don't need to do that if you have any better ideas" he said. Huiwen's frown deepened.

"Better ideas than writing my name? Such as?"

"Uh, that's really up to you and your creativity" said Sokka, with a shrug. Huiwen blinked blankly.

"That's… vague" he said, looking at the paper with confusion. What was he supposed to do, then?

He picked up the brush and remained in deep thought briefly, but his eyes lit up with an idea soon enough. Sokka smiled when he saw the boy's creativity was flowing, and decided to find more possibilities for Huiwen's training. He didn't have any Pai Sho boards, practically as a form of respect for Azula, so that part of Piandao's training wasn't going to happen. He couldn't take the kid fishing either, the proper fishing pond of the Capital was at the other end of the city. Garden rearranging would be possible if only there as anything in his garden to begin with…

But just as he was trying to think up new methods for training, the wind rose and he gazed outside with relief. There it was, the dark dragon, and the beautiful princess carrying quite a large bag with her.

"Oh, goodness you're back" said Sokka, smiling and rushing to help her with her bag "I was running out of ideas on how to keep Huiwen busy…"

"Well, considering it's lunch time by now, you can distract him with something else" Azula said, entrusting the bag to Sokka. His eyes widened when he caught the scent of food "Song and Rui Shi took off quite fast, I don't think she prepared anything preemptively for us. So I fetched some lunch at the Palace… and that's hardly something to cry over, is it?"

"Y-you…" Sokka pouted, sniffing "You are so thoughtful. Thank you, Azula…"

"You can thank me properly after Zhen fetches him, if you're that grateful" she said, smirking and heading inside "The wooden swords are in there too, before you assume everything in the bag is edible…"

"I won't eat those, I promise" Sokka said, smiling proudly.

He made his way to the kitchen with the large bag, beaming with satisfaction. Song's food was great, but the Palace's meals were lavish and delicious just the same. They were going to enjoy quite the banquet.

But as he made up his mind to tell Huiwen he could take a break, he found the child was quite busy working on his sheet of paper, while Azula watched from behind him.

"What… did you tell him to do?" she asked, looking at Sokka with confusion "You told him to express his dreams or so?"

"U-uh, no, his identity…" said Sokka, looking at the paper with uncertainty and being blown away by what Huiwen had done with it.

Huiwen had neatly folded the paper into a sword shape. It wasn't too big, but it was large enough for him to write his name on one side of the blade, and the name of his presumed sword on the other.

"'Steel Nightmare'?" Sokka read aloud, as Huiwen smiled at him "That's the name you'd give it?"

"Isn't it cool?!" Huiwen exclaimed, laughing before being paralyzed while looking at Sokka's confused face "I-is it a bad name? Did I do this wrong?! Am I not cut out to be a swordsman after all?!"

"I… didn't say that" said Sokka, chuckling "I'm surprised, that's all. You do have quite a lot of determination, though. You'll stop at nothing to be a swordsman, right?"

"Yeah!" Huiwen said, his eyes bright again. Sokka smiled approvingly.

"Well, then, if that's the case you should know there's something else you need before we can start training for real" he said. Huiwen gulped.

"I'm ready for any challenge" he said. Sokka smirked.

"Are you now?"

"I am!"

"You're completely sure of that?!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Then… let's have lunch!"

"Yes…! Sir?"

Huiwen was left blinking blankly as Sokka chuckled. He patted Huiwen's head.

"You'll be too weak to hold your sword if you don't eat. It's lunchtime, Huiwen!"

The boy blinked again, but he smiled and shrugged. His appetite sat well with Sokka, who led the way into the kitchen. Soon enough, the three of them were eating together, while Huiwen recounted the many gladiator fights he'd seen and asked Sokka about the techniques he could teach him. Sokka mostly shrugged enigmatically but smiled approvingly at Huiwen. If something was clear, it was that the boy's enthusiasm translated into great attention to detail. His retelling of every fight was so thorough that it was somewhat uncomfortable to eat to the stories of guts spilled, flesh burned and extremities slashed off their bodies.

"Is the kid really suitable for a swordsmanship apprentice?" Azula asked, as Huiwen returned to the backyard, to meditate as Sokka had commanded after he was finished eating.

Sokka was busy cleaning the dishes, something he wasn't too experienced at, but he was doing his best. Azula would have offered to help, but if someone was even less experienced with chores than Sokka was, it was her.

"You ask because of how giddy he was about fighting and blood?" Sokka asked, with a weak smile "I know it may sound like he's violence-happy, but truth be told, he's a kid. A lot of kids think the life of a warrior is a lot more glorious than what it really entails. I mean… I was like that too, back in the day. I kept wanting to join battle rashly, even though I wasn't supposed to…"

"Well, that's not really the same as glorifying carnage, as far as I can see" said Azula, with a lop-sided smirk, before sighing "Though I won't deny I didn't bat an eyelash over blood or violence when I was younger. I even…"

"What?" Sokka said when she fell silent. Azula grimaced.

"I wasn't all that… bothered when my father burned my brother, is all" she said, looking away "As far as I could see, my father was teaching him a lesson. If Zuko wasn't going to fight back then he had to lose the Agni Kai the proper way. You're not allowed to quit a fire duel, after all. The winner is the one that burns the loser, that's how it works, and he wasn't going to get off easy…"

"Plus, your father really wanted to punish him" said Sokka. Azula bit her lip and nodded.

"He would have gone easier on him if he had fought back… well, that's what I thought" she said "But truth be told maybe he wouldn't have gone easier at all. Nevertheless, my uncle stopped watching while I couldn't tear my eyes away. I was eleven, too"

"Your society is also rather violent, so I'm not all that surprised" said Sokka, sighing "I've seen even smaller kids than this one in the Arena's stands, after all. When you're led to think violence is how the world works, you don't really question it"

"Not to mention I always did want to be stronger than everyone else" Azula said "Most girls in my academy were horrified at the sight of blood, something I took as weakness. I refused to be daunted so easily. But… I suppose it was all bravado in the end, considering all the nightmares I had over the last few weeks"

Sokka looked at her with uncertainty. Azula smiled a little at him.

"I've barely had any lately" she said "So you don't have to worry too much"

Sokka sighed and focused on the final plates. His frown didn't recede, though.

"I'm glad to hear it, but… there's something we haven't talked about yet that we should discuss" he muttered. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"What's that?"

"I've been building up my strength, I've worked out, I've been getting back into shape" Sokka said "But the thing is… we haven't said anything about going back to the League yet. And the sooner we do, the better, right?"

Azula lowered her gaze. Sokka glanced at her sideways.

"I know it's not something you want to think about, but…"

"You'll be fighting a weakling" Azula determined. Sokka's eyes widened "And we'll take a few more weeks to make sure you actually can fight. If you lose I won't be happy, you know…"

"Heh, of course not" he said, smiling a little "You're okay with me returning to the ring, then? Really?"

"I can't say I'm fully comfortable with it" said Azula, folding her arms over her chest "The risk is always there and I'll never feel fully comfortable about it… but if you don't go back, heh, you'll have to start from scratch. I'm not about to make us repeat all our accomplishments all over again. We've gone very far in these two years, and I'd be a fool if I allowed all that effort to go to waste because I'm paranoid, right?"

"Well, not a fool, but… I don't want us to let that happen either" Sokka nodded. Azula breathed out through her mouth.

"Then it's decided. We'll head to the Dome tomorrow, see what challenges we have pending…" she said, tapping her arm with a restless index finger. Sokka smiled as he wiped his hands with a rug.

"It'll be weird, going back… but we really need to" he said, nodding "Don't worry, though. We'll do as you said, and set the date within a few weeks. We're still about a month away from our dropout deadline, aren't we?"

"We are" Azula said, nodding and looking at him "So you'll likely be completely back to your typical self by then. Bigger muscles, better agility, endless recklessness…"

"Heh, I think I've proven my recklessness hasn't changed because of my health" he said, smirking. Azula laughed.

"No kidding. You've made absurd decision after absurd decision in the past few days" she said. Sokka snickered "Not that I haven't enjoyed them, but still…"

"It's good to know you have, I'll say" he whispered, leaning close and kissing her lips softly.

Azula smirked and fisted the fabric of his changshan to pull him closer to her. She kissed him again, and Sokka complied by embracing her and deepening the contact. If things carried on like this, if he was ready to fight soon, then surely…

The sound of footsteps alerted them right away. Soft, quick footsteps.

And with that, Azula had shoved off Sokka just as easily as she had pulled him closer. But she put too much strength in the gesture, leading the gladiator to topple over and fall on his butt just as Huiwen entered the kitchen again.

"I've meditated! I'm ready!" he exclaimed, proudly, before taking in the scene in front of him.

Azula looked at him with an awkward smile, as Sokka sat on the floor with wide eyes. Both adults stared at the child, who stared back in confusion.

"Is it you don't know how to bow to the Princess?" Huiwen asked, looking at Sokka in confusion. Sokka gulped.

"Y-yeah, I tried but did it wrong so she pushed me as punishment…"

"A master swordsman shouldn't fall over so easily" Huiwen pouted "Are you sure you're one?"

"I… Hey!" Sokka exclaimed, jumping to his feet. Azula grimaced apologetically "If you're so doubtful, then I guess I'll have to show you what a real sword master is like!"

"You will?!" Huiwen said, eyes lit with admiration again. Sokka smirked.

"Get ready, boy. We're about to get serious here"

Huiwen smiled at Sokka, determined not to disappoint him. And in no time, the two of them were in the house's backyard, holding wooden swords.

Azula sat by the steps again, with Xin Long's head on her lap. She smirked, listening to Sokka's speech about the sword being an extension of a swordsman's own body. Huiwen held onto every word he said, though his frequent questions about the matter made it clear he was taking everything too literally.

"Should I tie my sword to my hand, then, sir?!" he exclaimed. Sokka grimaced.

"That shouldn't be necessary, at least not usually" he said, scratching his head "Though no doubt that could be useful in some fights, but still…"

"Then… you mean I should be able to use my arm as I would a weapon!"

"Sure, go on and polish it, sharpen it too so you can slice people in half with the wave of a hand!" Sokka said, smirking and waving the sword. Huiwen gulped.

"I'll do my best!"

"That was just sarcasm" Sokka said, chuckling. Huiwen blushed.

"Oh. Uh. Of course"

Azula sighed as she watched Sokka continue with his long speech to Huiwen. She smiled a little, remembering her first lessons in swordsmanship with Sokka. Her dragon had helped her make her sword, turning it into a unique weapon without their awareness. It had been a long but enjoyable day nonetheless, and the outcome had made everything worthwhile, despite Sokka's frequent foolish comments.

"It's hard to believe it's been that long since then" Azula whispered, stroking Xin Long's hair "We've been together for quite a while now, haven't we, Xin?"

Xin Long groaned happily and rubbed his head closer to her stomach now, startling Azula. She smiled and patted him gently.

"There, there. We shouldn't make such a loving scene in front of such public, should we?" she said.

Xin Long chuckled and relaxed again. Azula continued to stroke his hair as she watched the swordsman and his apprentice take their stances.

Sokka took the first chance to attack, and Huiwen struggled to block him but failed. He had dropped his sword before he knew it, left powerless before Sokka.

"I… I'll do it better this time" Huiwen said, gulping and lowering his gaze. Sokka smiled.

"You can cut yourself some slack, it's only the first round" he said "Parrying an attack is not that easy, especially if it's too strong, so let's practice that specifically, shall we?"

"Oh, yes" said Huiwen, surprised that his master hadn't been harsh about his shortcoming just now. Not a lot of Fire Nation teachers were this easygoing.

The parrying practice took them quite some time, and it helped Huiwen get the hang of a few stances. He flowed through them quite quickly, even though his uncertainty made him waver at times. But Sokka continued to encourage him, sensing the child's eagerness to become a warrior. He wasn't too different from himself as a kid, though he definitely was very different from the children Sokka had taught in the Water Tribe. Only when they were well into their teenage years had they started to take the work of a warrior seriously, after all.

Huiwen was determined to learn, but just as he was passionate, he was holding back. Sokka kept guiding him through sequences of movements, showing Huiwen how to do them, and afterwards playing the part of the enemy whenever Huiwen seemed to have gotten the hang of it, but whenever Sokka had taken his chance to put Piandao in a tight spot during these training sequences, Huiwen didn't dare do the same to him. Was it he respected Sokka too much to do that? Or was it he was, in some way, afraid?

"You have potential and you can move fairly well" Sokka said a few hours later, as they sat on the ground with their wooden swords beside them "But you're uncertain over something, and that's holding you back from finishing me off. What's the matter?"

Huiwen grimaced and lowered his gaze. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"I just… I've seen a lot of gladiator fights" he said "If I finished the sequence, I could have hurt you…"

"Hey, now, I've been hurt plenty as it is, you don't have to feel bad about that" said Sokka, smiling. Huiwen gritted his teeth.

"It's still not right, though. You're… my master. And you're teaching me how to be strong enough so I can fight and protect others… so hitting you would be wrong"

Sokka blinked as the boy swallowed hard. The gladiator chuckled soon enough and patted the boy's shoulder. Huiwen glanced up at him with uncertainty.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Only that I'm pretty sure my old master would have deemed you worthy of learning swordsmanship with what you just said" Sokka said. Huiwen blinked.

"Your old master was Piandao, wasn't he? Was he really the best swordsman ever?"

"Oh, that he was, that he was" said Sokka, with a bitter smile. The memory of all those White Lotus symbols, but also of that feeling of abandonment, had definitely soured his pristine opinion of his former master. Yet there was a part of him that still held admiration for Piandao all the same "He kept saying he was getting old, but heh, you'd have never known it, judging by how fast and strong he was. Truth be told, I'm not sure I'll ever be as great as he was, but the road of a swordsman is one that lasts a whole lifetime, Huiwen. Never make the mistake to think you've reached your full potential. You may yet discover otherwise"

Huiwen was in awe as he heard those words. Sokka smiled, hoping his advice would serve to motivate the child further.

"Do you think I can do it, then?" Huiwen asked "I can be a real swordsman?"

"Well, you're already using a sword, aren't you, Huiwen?" he asked "I'd think that qualifies you as one, doesn't it?"

Huiwen gasped and Sokka chuckled.

"Still, don't get too cocky. We have a long way to go to shape you up right" he said, encouragingly. Huiwen smiled and nodded.

"I won't! I'll do as you say, sir!"

The day continued to pass by, as the swordsman and apprentice practiced many stances. Huiwen was adept to learning, and held onto every correction Sokka made, trying to avoid making the mistake again. By the end of the afternoon, they had a quick sparring match where Sokka went easy on the boy, hoping to see how well he would do against a mediocre opponent.

"Alright, alright! Faster!" Sokka exclaimed, as Huiwen stepped forward and swung his wooden sword on his "Move those feet or I'll turn the tides, Huiwen!"

Huiwen gritted his teeth and obeyed, stepping quickly to pressure Sokka back. His arms trembled a little, for he was already overwhelmed with exhaustion. Yet his pride and determination were strong enough for him to continue fighting until the last moment.

"Find the openings, don't let the enemy catch you unawares!" Sokka called, swinging his sword to Huiwen's left. The boy jumped away, for it was too late to parry the blow "Good call, now, use those reflexes to hit back!"

Huiwen snarled and lunged forth, raising his sword and striking Sokka's again repeatedly. With every blow he stepped forward and forced Sokka to move back. If he interpreted the gladiator's smile for what it was, it seemed he was pleased with his performance.

"You have to keep going, now, you've almost got me! One more push!" Sokka exclaimed, but Huiwen whimpered as he tried to hit him harder.

The blows were actually weaker now, and Huiwen's hands were no longer as firmly set on his sword's handle as before. Sokka gritted his teeth and struck back: it was enough for the weapon to fly out of Huiwen's grip. Sokka bit his lip as Huiwen fell on his knees, his head low.

"Alright, don't be hard on yourself. We've been working all afternoon" he said, with a weak smile "A kid like you? You've done great so far, don't you think?"

"I'm… so tired" Huiwen said, looking at Sokka with defeated eyes now "Can we take a break?"

"You need one, clearly" said Sokka, smiling and ruffling his hair "Don't sweat it, kid. You can practice all you learned once you go home, and when you return for another lesson we'll see what else I can teach you, alright?"

"Okay…" said Huiwen, sighing in relief "Being a swordsman is exhausting"

"Yeah, it definitely can be. That's why we jog so much, got to build up resistance!" Sokka said, smiling and offering his hand to the boy "Now, let's call it a day, shall we?"

Huiwen finally smiled again and nodded. His grip was weak, but it no longer trembled, once he accepted Sokka's hand.

The pair returned to the house and found Azula still sitting by the steps, watching them with curiosity.

"I'm surprised you could still win in the end, gladiator" she said "It was apparent that the child was pummeling you. Maybe I really should change fighters after all…"

Huiwen snorted and laughed loudly afterwards while Azula gave Sokka a meaningful smirk. He chuckled too and shook his head.

"Now, look at what you've done, Huiwen. I'm going to get fired because you're more talented than I am" he said. Huiwen wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

"I have to finish school before I can get a job, though" he said. Sokka chuckled and shook his head.

"And you're making plans to replace me and everything, you're even more shameless than I am" he asked. Huiwen laughed mischievously.

Before the conversation could continue, though, a knock on the door surprised them. Sokka went to check on it as Huiwen sat on the steps, gazing at Xin Long with admiration.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" he asked. Azula stroked Xin's hair as he released his reptilian sounds which startled Huiwen.

"A boy. And a troublemaking one too, at that" said Azula "Don't take his threats too seriously, he just likes scaring people"

"He's really cool" Huiwen said. Xin Long seemed to smirk at the compliment, lifting his head off Azula's lap to flip his hair proudly.

Sokka opened the door to find Zhen on the other side, as he had suspected he would. Song and Rui Shi would have simply come inside without a hitch, after all. The Lieutenant smiled and looked at him anxiously.

"Hey. I'm back" he said, biting his lip "So? How did it go?"

"Heh, your kid has proven well worthy of training" said Sokka, smiling and nodding "Though I can't train him every day, of course, but…"

"But he's good for it? Yes!" Zhen exclaimed. The loudness of his voice alerted Huiwen that his father was back. He smiled broadly.

"Dad!" he exclaimed, running quickly through the house and extending his arms to hug him. Zhen caught him in an embrace when the boy reached him, and spun him in a circle before setting him down again.

"My boy, you smell like you urgently need to shower!" said Zhen, chuckling "You'll have to tell me all about your training, Huiwen!"

"It was awesome, Dad!" Huiwen exclaimed, beaming "I trained with wooden swords, and he thinks I have potential, and the Princess thought she could take me as her gladiator instead…!"

"My, my, that's a steep gamble" said Zhen, eyes wide. Sokka chuckled as he heard Azula's footsteps approaching behind them.

"I'll give it more time before I decide whether to hire him or not, don't worry" said Azula, smirking teasingly. Zhen laughed.

"As you wish, Princess" he said "Thank you, though. You have really made us both very happy by helping Huiwen like this… we won't forget it!"

"Woah, you sound like you're not going to bring him back" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly "Won't you?"

"Oh, perhaps only for the next few months…" said Zhen, grimacing "As it turns out, being one of the lead officers of the airship fleet means I have to relocate completely. There's an island not too far from the Western Colonies, and the airship training will take place there. From what they said, it won't be long before we move away, as I'll have to take my family to Garsai…"

"Do we have to go?" Huiwen asked, a sad grimace on his face. Zhen smiled weakly.

"Not forever, though. We'll be back sooner than you think, but for now… I'm afraid my little dreams of flying may cost us more than we thought. Still, we can discuss this at leisure at home, right?"

"I guess" said Huiwen, pouting and looking at Sokka "Thanks for teaching me so much. It was the best day ever"

"Just keep practicing, kid" said Sokka, smiling encouragingly "Keep it up and you'll surpass me in no time. Heck, who knows? Maybe there will be another sword master for you in Garsai"

"Yes! We can find another, yes we can!" said Zhen, proudly. Huiwen didn't seem too convinced, and he sighed in defeat "Well, anyways, we'll still talk about this later… and of course, thank you very much for today! We're both very grateful for your help and your lessons. I hope you defeat your next enemies at the Arena!"

"You and me both" said Sokka, smiling and nodding "Thanks for bringing him. It was fun teaching a kid who did want to learn from me, for a change"

"Is it alright for me to bring him again next week?" Zhen asked, and Sokka nodded.

"That ought to be fine. We'll make the most of the available time while we still can" said Sokka, and Zhen smiled before turning to Azula.

"Thank you for allowing him to teach my son, Princess" said Zhen, bowing his head to her. Azula nodded.

"Good luck with your new career path, Lieutenant. If you do well, you may yet acquire a new rank by the time we meet again" she said, smiling. Zhen smiled back and nodded.

"Let's hope so! Well then, Huiwen, off we go!"

"Yeah…" said Huiwen, sighing before smiling at both Sokka and Azula "Bye"

"See you, Huiwen" Sokka said, smiling proudly as the father and son returned to their carriage.

The vehicle pulled away and the Princess and her gladiator watched it leave, standing by the door as they had earlier that day. Azula raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

"I guess it is for the better that you won't be teaching him for too long, or too often" she said "You do need a lot of time to train properly so you can fight in the ring as you should…"

"I guess. Still, training calmly with a kid for now is better for my current health than training with you" said Sokka, smirking and closing the door behind him "You're too tough and oh so merciless…"

"Merciless, really?" she asked, smirking at him. He snorted.

"Yes, yes you are" he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and looking at her mischievously "Don't worry, though. I like that about you"

"As you should. You're the kind of man who thrives off real challenges" she said, caressing his chest "So I can't offer you any mercy, or else you'll be bored, won't you?"

"Oh, terribly" he said, sighing and shaking his head. Azula's smirk widened as Sokka chuckled "But alas, I've never had a second of boredom by your side. I wonder why that is?"

"Such a mystery indeed" she said, cupping his cheek and kissing his lips fully.

This time there was no risk for a child to interrupt them, fortunately. The only potential problem they might face was Xin Long, who merely groaned in the backyard and rolled his eyes before focusing on chasing bugs all over the grass. Azula smiled at the dragon's exasperation, and Sokka smirked while kissing her neck. She glanced at Xin Long and shook her head.

"I'm afraid he's going to start regretting bonding with me over all this" she whispered. Sokka snorted.

"If he does, I'll flick him" he said, before sucking her neck softly. Azula moaned "You're the worthiest rider he could have found"

"Hmm, and speaking of riding…" she whispered, biting her lip. Sokka raised his eyebrows.

"What, you do want to finish what we started in the morning?" he asked. She laughed.

"Why wouldn't I want that?" she said, caressing his face "You did fairly well against the boy, maybe you can handle a little more action already after all"

"If the Princess wills it…" Sokka said, smirking before kissing her again.

Her body was closer to his, his arms were ready to lift her, her legs eager to straddle him even standing up as they were…

… And the sound of voices outside the house brought them to stop immediately, for Song and Rui Shi had only just returned.

"So much for not being interrupted by the kid" Azula sighed, dropping her head on Sokka's shoulder. He smiled sadly and hugged her.

"We can try tomorrow…"

"We have to go to the Arena tomorrow" she said. Sokka grimaced.

"Once we're back?"

"You'll have to train" she said, smiling and pulling away "Never mind. When the chance is right, we'll take it"

"That's a depressing prospect, you know?" Sokka pouted, as Rui Shi and Song finally entered the house "Hey, guys! How did it go?"

"Oh, you were just… there?" Song asked, upon noticing them.

She blinked blankly as Rui Shi closed the door behind him. She smiled at them, as Sokka and Azula took in the number of bags the two of them were carrying.

"Yep, we were seeing off the kid just now" said Sokka, smiling too.

"How did that go?" Rui Shi asked "Didn't lose your patience, did you?"

"It may surprise you to hear it, but I actually am quite trained to handle children" said Sokka, smirking "This one didn't even ask for potty breaks. That alone made him the perfect student compared with the nightmarish ones I had to train back in the South Pole"

"Potty breaks, even now…?" Azula sighed, shaking her head and holding back the urge to laugh "Anyways, how about you two? Had a good date?"

"We did, yes…" Song said, smiling and blushing a little. Rui Shi nodded shyly.

"Good to know. Looks like you bought quite a lot of things, huh?" Azula said. Sokka smiled brightly as he looked at the bags.

"Song said we had to buy some extra food from the restaurant we had lunch at, for dinner" said Rui Shi, shrugging "So I suppose we'll have you staying a little longer, Princess, whether you like it or not"

"It's really great food" said Song, beaming "You can stay, can't you?"

"Well… there's no harm in it, as long as I do go home eventually" said Azula, nodding. Sokka gasped happily.

"Lots of food and you'll stay for dinner? This is brilliant!" he exclaimed, hugging her. Azula smiled and patted his arm.

"There there, it's not the first time it happens" she said, as Song and Rui Shi made their way to the kitchen to set up dinner.

"You do realize I woke up absurdly early because you showed up, and now you'll be here late into the night? We've been together all day! As it should be" Sokka said, beaming and burying his face in her hair. Azula laughed and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"And you'll have to deal with me tomorrow morning too" she said "We're off to the Dome, remember?"

"Oh, yeah" said Sokka, nodding and breathing out slowly "Now that's going to be weird, huh? Feels like it was a thousand years ago when we last were there"

"It was about time, I guess" said Azula, kissing him softly "Now come along, or else they're going to get started without us"

"No need to say that again!" Sokka exclaimed, smirking and guiding Azula to the kitchen.

Their gladiator career would resume within a few weeks, and despite it was a worrisome matter in some regards, both Sokka and Azula surprised themselves by looking forward to it. The time had come to return to the long climb through the slots in the ranking.


	134. Chapter 134

The building was as tall and majestic as they remembered it, but the feeling it brought out of them was unprecedented. As they stood on the steps that kept them barely a few meters from the door, both Sokka and Azula remained in reverent silence. Her arms were crossed across her chest, his own were tucked in his pants' pockets.

"After all this time, after all the anguish we've endured at the hands of this accursed business…" Azula said, shaking her head "I can't believe I actually kind of missed this place"

"Honestly, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic too" Sokka admitted, with a crooked grin "No matter how many bones I've broken in there, or how many times I had my ass kicked…"

"All things considered, you've won more often than you've lost, so it's safe to say you've done your fair share of 'ass-kicking'" Azula said, smirking at him "Shall we, then?"

"Of course, Princess" he said, smirking back.

He stepped forward and pushed the doors open for her. And together, they strode through the vestibule with their heads held high, unafraid and unwavering, regardless of all the stares that fell upon them.

Shoji was busy handling other sponsors and gladiators at the moment, but his counter wasn't the only one that was heavily crowded: the betting counter was overflowing, and what was worse, the entrance to the stands was heavily blocked by the masses of people trying to get a seat. Both Sokka and Azula stared at the crowd with confusion, having never witnessed anything like this in their two years of being part of the Superior League.

"You think they're giving away free samples of some sort?" Sokka asked, teasingly. Azula snorted.

"Like what, spicy noodles?" she asked "If that's the case I ought to fetch some…"

"You know, eating so many spices may not be that good for you" Sokka said, chuckling "They might burn a hole through your stomach, or something"

"As if. Spices have never been a hazard for me" she smirked, but her attention was caught by the crowds again "Seriously though, this is not normal. Who on earth is fighting today?"

One glance at the large board, that most of the betting line was obscuring, provided the answer to all questions. The name that headlined today's main battle was the only explanation they needed.

"Combustion Man, huh? Makes enough sense now. I wonder if Zhao's sponsoring him today" Azula whispered, raising her eyebrows as they stepped forward in the line that led up to Shoji. Chances were the man in front of them was the sponsor of Combustion Man's upcoming rival.

"He should be" Sokka commented "He said he ought to get back to it soon, and if Zhen's so busy…"

"Huh, you really haven't disclosed much about your great conversation with Admiral Zhao" said Azula, smirking teasingly at him "Other than, of course, that you fell square for his perfectly innocent act…"

"I didn't fall for any act! He says he respects me more after enduring Hahn, that's all" Sokka pouted "And, uh, it's also because of my display of loyalty towards you, looks like. He seems to think you and I are like him and your dad…"

"Goodness, I hope not" said Azula, with a dry smile and wide eyes. Sokka snorted and covered his face before he started laughing.

"You know he didn't mean… of course he couldn't mean that!" he said, as she held back the urge to laugh too.

"Do elaborate, then" she said, smirking at him. Sokka smiled and shook his head.

"He didn't mind that I had called you by name once. Yeah, uh, it slipped out before I knew it" he said, with a grimace now. Azula sighed "But he said he did the same with the Fire Lord because they've been friends for very long"

"Well, we've definitely not been friends for as long as they have" said Azula, looking at him skeptically "In fact, I question that we're friends at all"

"Oh, really? Even after all this time?" Sokka asked, smirking. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

"Would you really consider me your friend, Sokka?" she asked, in a lower voice. He laughed and nodded.

"The best one, actually" he said, smirking at her. She sighed and tried to hold back from blushing.

"You need more friendships in your life, then" she said "All I do is torment you, after all"

"Maybe I have no common sense and I like to befriend my tormentors" he said, shrugging.

"Well, the part about your lack of common sense is unquestionably true" said Azula, smirking as the man in front of her finally moved away, headed towards the stairs.

Shoji's eyes lit up, as they often did, when he laid eyes upon the Princess and her gladiator. He smiled brightly, though with some melancholy too.

"Oh, I was hoping you'd be back, but I didn't know you would be here today!" he exclaimed, almost tearful "You're both okay!"

"Yes, the piles of of creepy rumors can be debunked officially by now" said Azula, nodding. Shoji giggled and nodded.

"We had heard the Blue Wolf was invited to some event with the Fire Lord, but it was very exclusive so nobody knew if it was true or not" he said "I'm so glad, though. So many awful things were said…"

"Well, now you know the worst of them weren't true" said Sokka, smiling encouragingly at Shoji "It's good to see you too, Shoji"

"I'm glad you two are okay!" he said, happily sighing and looking at them expectantly "I suppose you came here to see the ranking? I doubt you want to watch Combustion Man…"

"Even if we wanted to, we would never find a place to sit if the stands are that crowded" said Sokka, with a skeptical smile. Shoji shrugged.

"You don't have to sit there with them, though. But you did come for the ranking yeah," he said, with a gentle smile, as he picked up the scroll "You've actually stayed in a good position, despite you haven't fought for some time. But all the victories from Yu Dao really gave you a good boost that kept you afloat, so…"

"Great to hear" said Azula, nodding "What's his position, then?"

"He's at…" said Shoji, scanning the paper quickly until he found the Blue Wolf's name and smiled "127! And with a grand total of 16,970 points in his favor, no less"

"Woah, seriously?" Sokka said, blinking blankly "Here I thought we'd have fallen down to the 150's all over again…"

"It's a real surprise. I guess the rest of the fighters aren't all that competent if they couldn't make the most of your fighting hiatus" said Azula, with a small smirk. Shoji bit his lip.

"Well… maybe not all of them. But the Blind Bandit got ahead of you again" he said. Both Azula and Sokka sighed.

"By how much?" the Princess asked.

"Just around a thousand points, she's only five positions ahead" said Shoji, smiling encouragingly "You could catch up to her, well, if you're ready to fight again, of course"

"We think we are" said Azula, giving Sokka a meaningful stare. He nodded proudly "So, do we have any worthwhile challenges? Anything good for our return to the fighting ring?"

"You could take on this one firebender, Explosion" said Shoji, picking up her challenge "She's around a hundred positions below you, hasn't been too effective lately, and the Blue Wolf has a good record against most firebenders, so I think of your available challenges she's the best option for the Blue Wolf to get back into the swing of things"

"Seems reasonable" said Azula, taking the challenge into her hands.

"Most the others who have challenged you have a better record, like Pixie, or the Ruthless Hero, so while the Blue Wolf likely could beat them, it might take a lot of work to defeat them. I figure you want something lighter for now" he said. Azula nodded.

"Then I guess that Explosion will do. Who knows? Maybe fighting an explosion can prepare you for your eventual showdown against Combustion Man" said Azula, smirking at Sokka. He stiffened.

"I do hope she's not as explosive as he is" he said, grimacing. Shoji chuckled.

"Nobody is" he said, handing Azula a brush and ink so she could fill in the challenge with her requirements "Though if you want to fight Combustion Man one day…"

"I know, I know, I'd better be stronger than I am right now" said Sokka, with a crooked smile.

"Have you ever seen him fight?" Shoji asked "He's… really scary, I'll say"

"You've seen him, then?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow as she handed Shoji the challenge sheet. He added the rest of the information that was needed to make it an official challenge "You do know quite a lot about gladiators, but I've always seen you sitting here…"

"Oh, I don't watch a lot of fights, but I tend to sneak into the last ones every day" he said, smiling "Usually I won't have much else to do by the time the last fight is up, and as Combustion Man has fought so many times I've caught a couple of his fights… but I don't really like seeing him in the Arena. It's really… daunting"

"How so?" Sokka asked. Azula sighed.

"Do you really want to know?" she asked. He blinked blankly.

"You're not saying we should stay and watch, are you?" he said "People are still pouring in, you know…"

"And those people don't have the privilege of royal blood" Azula said, with a proud smirk "Did you forget where we are, Sokka? The Grand Royal Dome has a balcony for the Royal Family's private use. We can simply watch the fight from there"

"I… forgot" Sokka said, blinking blankly "I mean, that balcony is always empty, so I didn't think…"

"Well, that's because I'm usually only here to sponsor you, not to watch. My father doesn't have enough leisure time to spend it watching gladiator fights, and my brother kept forsaking his royal privileges and lurking around the Royal Dome while hiding under a hood whenever he came here" said Azula, with a skeptical smile "Therefore, royals seldom use their balcony. But today seems a good opportunity to use it again. Maybe this way you'll understand why Shoji is so scared of Combustion Man"

"I… yes, I won't deny I am. But to be fair, everyone's scared of him" said Shoji, blushing. Azula chuckled a little.

"Fair enough" she said, before looking at Sokka again "So, shall we witness the might and prowess of the fearsome Combustion Man?"

"You've already seen him fight, haven't you?" said Sokka. Azula nodded.

"I have no idea if he has improved. Who knows, he might have extra limbs nowadays, or maybe he can set off chain explosions?" she shrugged. Sokka snorted.

"Well, we'll have to watch him fighting to know as much, I suppose" he said, smirking and sighing "Shall we, then?"

"You have a key to the Royal Balcony?" Azula asked. Shoji nodded and searched for it "We'll return it once the fight ends"

Sokka gulped as Shoji handed the key to Azula, already apprehensive about what they would witness. She jerked her head towards the stairs, and they filed through the people warily, with Sokka often sliding between Azula and the eager crowd, protecting her from their brusque movements as they struggled to pour through the doorway and into the stands.

"This is a nightmare" Sokka said, grimacing as someone elbowed his back accidentally "Is this what will happen when we get to the top of the ranking, really?"

"It's likely" Azula said, sliding out of the crowd at last when she reached the second flight of stairs. Sokka followed her quickly, glaring back at the people pushing and yelling down at the stands' entrance "Which is why we'll make sure to arrive at least an hour early once we're that high in the ranking. I won't risk getting caught in this mob"

"I suppose violent people are the ones who like Combustion Man's fights the most, huh?" said Sokka, sighing.

They continued climbing the stairs, headed not to the usual balcony Azula frequented, but to the next floor. Sokka had only climbed these stairs fully once before, when he had hidden in the Dome's roof. He had never stopped to ponder what the Royal Balcony was like, let alone did he think he'd ever enter it.

"It's no surprise, though. He's the most popular fighter in a business that revolves around violence and fighting" said Azula, shrugging "And showcasing that much power and strength is something my culture largely admires. He used to fight random Agni Kais, from what I know, until he started doing less classy jobs…"

"Yeah, Zhao mentioned he was an assassin. Not the stealthiest one, apparently" said Sokka, as they reached the door that led into the Royal Balcony.

"He didn't need stealth to do his job. He simply took out his mark, and if anyone else saw him and wasn't supposed to, he'd blow them up too" said Azula, with a shrug "Fortunately he was mostly hired for genuinely gruesome business, so he never did blow up half the capital just to take out someone who had given his client the stink-eye"

"I guess all his fans down there wouldn't be that excited about him if he'd blown up their city" said Sokka, with a crooked smile.

"Controlled violence that doesn't affect them is certainly more their style, yes" said Azula, sliding the key into the door's lock "Now, what you're about to experience may be a little too luxurious for your usual standards, but please try not to lose your mind, gladiator…"

"What?" Sokka snorted, as Azula smirked at him "I've been in the Palace, Princess. I've… slept in your bed"

He whispered the last bit while leaning close to her ear, just in case there was anyone nearby despite it didn't seem to be the case. Azula's smirk only widened.

"I'm pretty sure I can control myself at a luxurious place. Unless, that is… are you worried that I might do something crazy because we'll be alone?" he asked, with a crooked smile "Are you trying to convince me into doing something crazy, rather?"

"Oh, I definitely am, it would be so much fun…" she said sarcastically, smirking before finally pushing the door open.

Sokka's eyes widened as he took in the red-and-gold room. It was pristine, completely out of place even for the most luxurious of the arenas in the Gladiator League. It looked like a sitting room of the Palace instead, with top quality paintings decorating the walls, that were covered with red and gold tapestries. The furniture was mostly gold, from the shelves at the walls to the chairs and couches at the center of the room. Crimson silk curtains were drawn back so that the balcony would allow them to look out into the ring with ease. The sunlight filtering through the dome's glass was almost blinding up here.

Sokka swallowed hard and looked at Azula in disbelief. She smiled.

"So, do you really want to do something crazy for everyone to see, then?" she asked, spreading an arm towards the crowd below.

Sokka gulped again and approached the balcony. He felt tense upon being at such high balcony, with a perfect view of everything below. He had never looked at the judges from above, but there they were, at the other side of the ring, on the same level as the sponsors' balcony. Sokka tapped the red railing of the Royal Balcony with a finger, guessing Zhao would be right below them.

And of course, from here Sokka could see the crowd, the wild droves of people eagerly awaiting the fight, some of them squeezed into small spaces of the stands, others in outright fistfights as they tried to seize the perfect seat. The sand that he was so familiar with seemed so distant from up here. The roughness of the fighting was a world away from the lavish room he was in, despite it was in the very same building.

"I'm guessing this is meant to be the ideal place for royals to feel detached from the commoners down there, isn't it?" Sokka asked. Azula nodded, stepping closer to him and gazing down at the Arena from beside him.

"Yet we never use it. I guess we're so detached we don't even care to mingle with commoners and their petty entertainment" said Azula raising an eyebrow and smirking sarcastically "At any rate, rejoice. You're one of the few non-royals who has stepped foot inside this balcony without being part of the Dome's staff. Incredible, isn't it?"

"I'd say I deserve it" Sokka said, pouting proudly. Azula looked at him in disbelief "I've risen up to the 127th position in the ranking, after all, with less than fifty fights, right? How many people have achieved that?"

"I wouldn't know. You can ask Shoji, if you're that eager to have your ego boosted" said Azula, rolling her eyes but smiling.

She left Sokka to gawk at the Arena as she made her way to close the door. She didn't think they would speak of anything too compromising during the fight, but she would rather keep the door closed to keep any onlookers from prying into anything that transpired between them here.

"You know, for all its glory, this room is missing something" Sokka commented, as he sank in one of the gold chairs with crimson velvet cushions. Azula snorted as she turned back to join him at the chair beside his.

"And what might that be? Do you want servants? A spa built into the balcony, maybe?"

"No, snacks!" Sokka declared, beaming and stretching back on his chair. Azula huffed and rolled her eyes.

"You do realize we may be about to witness a gruesome and explosive public murder, right?" she said, sinking in her seat. Sokka's relaxed smile waned "If it were a fight between any other gladiators, perhaps you could use a snack or two. But as it is, I think the Arena staff would rather not have to clean up the vomit from people who can't handle the gruesome sights in the ring while gobbling down fire gummies"

"Fair enough, point taken" said Sokka, sighing "It's hard to believe there's such a luxurious way to watch a gladiator fight once you put everything into perspective. While Hui Yi was gruesome, at least it made sense that a horrible business would take place in a horrible fighting pit…"

"Losing sight of reality can be fairly easy when surrounded by all this opulence" said Azula, shrugging "Truth be told, you're the one who has put a lot of things into perspective for me. So don't worry, I'll gladly do the same for you"

"Thanks" said Sokka, with a small smile.

"Anyways… you still haven't said much about your conversation with Zhao" said Azula "Anything else worth mentioning?"

"Uh… well, according to him, he's not simply the top sponsor because he wants to be, it's because he's some sort of political tool for your father" said Sokka.

"He told me the same thing. I suppose it makes some sense" said Azula. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Doesn't that throw off our plans a little?" he asked "I never figured being at the top of the ranking would mean having to do the Fire Lord's dirty work. Zhao talked about being tasked to kill certain gladiators, to send threats to their sponsors…"

"You won't have to" said Azula, reaching over the chair to clasp his hand gently. The railing of the balcony was tall enough to keep anyone from seeing the gentle gesture "We did promise what we promised, Sokka. Whether you chose to go back to your tribe or to stay with me, we never agreed that you would keep the first place forever. At first I did want you to hold dominance over the League for some time, but after you cornered me into taking you home once you became the top fighter, I gave up on that"

"Then, we'll just retire?" Sokka asked "Just after we achieve the unthinkable, we'll step right out of the business?"

"Why not? I can't think of a more legendary way to succeed at our goal" said Azula, smirking "Defeat Combustion Man, take over the League… and then we take our leave by our own choice, so no challengers can force us to step down. We'll have damaged Zhao's image, as his undefeatable gladiator would just so happen to fall against a non-bender…"

"We really would be legends" said Sokka, chuckling "But what would we do then? Once everything's finished…"

"Well, I do mean to fulfill my promise" she said, looking at him meaningfully "You're going to see your family again. But I suppose you're asking after that…"

"Yeah, once we come back" Sokka said, smiling. Azula smiled too.

"Depending on our circumstances… I could, perhaps, help you become a renowned sword master" she suggested, shrugging "If anything, we've proven you'll be a good teacher for anyone who wants to learn"

"That wouldn't be a bad idea" said Sokka, but he frowned "Though… I will admit, thinking of it on the large scale of things, it means I'll be helping strengthen a whole generation of Fire Nation soldiers?"

"You can do what Piandao did, then" said Azula, with a sarcastic smile "Raise them into being critical of the Fire Nation so they won't use their power for the forces of evil…"

"You sound oh so cynical about that" he said. She laughed.

"It's hard to imagine you deliberately manipulating children or even grown men in any way" she said "Then again, look at what you've done to me. I shouldn't underestimate your manipulation abilities"

"Hey, I didn't manipulate you!" Sokka said, laughing in disbelief. Azula shrugged.

"So you say…" she smirked, looking away pointedly. Sokka chuckled.

"Still, being a sword master could be fun if I can be as picky about my students as Piandao used to be" he said "That way I'll make sure I won't get stuck with kids who don't want to be there, eh?"

"Seems like your tribesmen were quite stubborn, weren't they?" said Azula, with a sympathetic smile. Sokka sighed.

"I would put my everything into motivational speeches and they'd just run off at every opportunity to play at sticking their tongues to ice blocks" he said, rolling his eyes "They were totally receptive to my teachings, really. Anyways, as long as you drop by for classes with me regularly, I'll be pleased with this procedure"

"Oh, so I still need lessons on swordsmanship, then?" Azula asked, with a questioning stare. Sokka smirked.

"I'm afraid you do. Lots of them. You really have much more potential than what you've shown me so far" said Sokka, winking at her. She rolled her eyes.

"That's certainly flattering, just as it's insulting" she said. Sokka chuckled.

"Come on, do you have any better ideas for us to still be in touch if not this?" he asked. Azula smiled and shrugged.

"I thought we would marry each other and all that… seems to me that we'll stay in touch if we do, right?"

Sokka bit his lip and smiled at her. She avoided his gaze, focusing instead on the sand pit below, as the megaphone man stepped forward to deliver his usual introductions. As their hands were still linked, Sokka squeezed Azula's fingers gently, knowing all this talk about the future was hard for them both. There was no telling what could happen, even in the best-case scenario. But dreaming of a bright future was inspirational nonetheless.

"Welcome, all, to another match in the Grand Royal Dome!" the man with the megaphone exclaimed. A loud cheer answered him from the public "Today, we shall witness the prowess of the finest competitor in the League, the most remarkable of our gladiators, as he fights yet another foe who dares challenge his iron rule over the Superior League! The stands are packed, the crowd is wild, and everyone's ready for the showdown of the week!"

"I suppose he does fight around once a week, if not more often" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "His full record is insane compared to everyone else's…"

"It's a shame the announcer can't make it sound more epic than 'the fight of the week', though" said Sokka, smiling a little.

"I suppose, yet I doubt it's that epic after the eight hundredth time it's happened. Most of Combustion Man's fights must be the same, endless repetitions of the same story" said Azula "Gladiators always try to hold their own against him, yet aren't strong enough to withstand his power. I don't fault them for it, though. That bastard always has been ruthlessly powerful"

The golden grids were rising by then, and the two combatants stepped out into the sands. The one to their left was a pale, sturdy man in a green attire. He would have towered over most anyone, at around two meters of height, and his fists were rather large, furnished with gauntlets. His hair fell over his face in a wild mess of dark brown strands, and his every step seemed to make the Arena shake…

No, it wasn't the earthbender who was achieving that effect. Sokka frowned as he glanced at the other end of the fighting pit. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of an even taller and burlier man, yet with a perfectly shaved head, and a metallic arm and leg. What looked like a smudge on his forehead had to be some sort of tattoo, but as the balcony was up so high, Sokka couldn't see it properly.

His clothes were light, and maroon. It was hardly an extraordinary outfit: many men in the stands who had dressed casually for the occasion were wearing similar garb. Yet the man underneath that simplistic apparel was anything but ordinary. Merely looking at him sent a shiver down Sokka's spine, and not of the good kind.

"Combustion Man…?" he asked. Azula swallowed hard and nodded.

"In the flesh. And steel" she said "Finally you get to meet him. He's not the kind of gladiator you'll be able to distract with chitchat, as he's far from talkative…"

"Sounds like fun" said Sokka, with a grimace "Who did they say was his opponent, again?"

"Blunt Blockade" said Azula "The announcer said he was in the 45th spot, so he might actually survive. Let's hope he makes it in one piece"

"I've got a bad feeling about this fight" Sokka gulped, as the megaphone man told the gladiators to get ready.

"Three! Two! One…!" he bellowed, as the deafening cheers in the stands grew wilder "START!"

Blunt Blockade pulled up a large wall as soon as he heard the command. But it was no ordinary wall: it had to be around eight meters wide, providing Blunt Blockade with a thick defense that he planned on using to attack his enemy. Sokka blinked blankly, in surprise.

"Huh. That's a smart idea, or isn't it?" he said. Azula sighed "I mean, a small wall would fall within seconds, but a thick one…"

"You underestimate the power of that beast" Azula said, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Sokka frowned warily, and just on cue, Combustion Man seemed to breathe deeply. In a matter of seconds, shockwaves seemed to pour through the space between him and the wall, and light sparks set off just before the full blast took Sokka by surprise.

The size of the explosion was terrifying. The center of the wall was engulfed in a sphere of flames before blowing up, and people all around the stands screamed and cowered away from the projectiles. Sokka flinched, but Azula didn't. She had known what to expect.

"What the…? What the hell?!" Sokka asked, his eyes wide. Azula frowned.

"That is why his grandiose name is Combustion Man" she grunted "And that is why he's killed all the enemies he's been told to"

"Why do so many people come watch him?! He's a hazard to everyone!" Sokka exclaimed "Look, some of those people in the crowd were hurt by the debris!"

"They probably think it's worth it" said Azula "A great anecdote to share with friends and family later. How epic can it be, to bear a wound caused by the greatest gladiator of the Superior League?"

"I've got a very different idea on what's epic, if that's really what they think" said Sokka, grimacing as the smoke from the explosion cleared out. Blunt Blockade was nowhere in sight "Where is he?"

"I have no idea" said Azula, shrugging "Maybe he got blown off by the attack, or maybe, if he's lucky…"

A burst of earth came from behind Combustion Man, as Blunt Blockade rose from within the sand: he had, presumably, bent his way underground and towards the enemy, hoping to catch him unawares.

His surprise attack failed. He had been too loud. Combustion Man was ready to swat the earth away with his metal claw, and a massive barrage of regular firebending was wrapped around his left, non-prosthetic hand. The fist impacted directly into Blunt Blockade's attempt of a shield. The small earthen wall was relentlessly destroyed.

Blunt Blockade was above the surface again, and he made to bend the earth below Combustion Man to knock him off his feet. But in a display of agility, Combustion Man jumped powerfully before shooting another combustive blast into the sand. Another scream shook the crowd as carbonized dirt flew all over the place, but this time Blunt Blockade was not as lucky as before.

When Combustion Man landed again, he made his way to where Blunt Blockade lay, having flown off in the explosion: his clothes were burning, as was his hair, and his pale body was now reddened, burned. He was shivering violently, shuddering against the sand in hopeless attempts to put out the fire. But once the fire had dissipated, and the scent of cooked flesh and burned hair had spread through the Arena, Combustion Man stopped next to him and picked him up by the neck with his left hand.

Blunt Blockade was tall, but not as tall as Combustion Man. He struggled, using a stream of sand to strike the behemoth, but Combustion Man merely angled his body away from each stream, without the slightest effort. He was suffocating the enemy, as though it were no challenge. And everyone was left to watch the scene in tension, while Blunt Blockade kicked, scratched, and tossed streams of sand, each weaker than the next.

By the end, he couldn't bend anymore. He couldn't kick. He couldn't breathe. Combustion Man simply waited until his enemy had stopped resisting before dropping him on the scorched sand. And then he waited.

"He's… he's not dead yet, is he?" Sokka asked, shivering. Azula frowned.

"I can't tell from here. He might not be, if someone does something quickly…" she said.

"But… he won't fight anymore" Sokka muttered. Azula sighed and shook her head.

"I doubt it. Look at him, he's got second-degree burns all over, at the very least" she said "Surviving that choking attempt is already difficult, but to get up and keep fighting afterwards? It doesn't seem likely…"

And indeed, Azula's prediction came true. The fight hadn't taken over two minutes, and that was all Combustion Man had needed. The judges declared him the winner within ten more seconds, and a team of physicians rushed in to pick up Blunt Blockade for the emergency medical treatment he would need.

But what Sokka registered was the loud cheer. The deafening, proud support of a crowd that had basked in watching a man blown up by his enemy, just because it was entertaining. Because his life was to be forfeited just to give them a fun story to tell their peers. Anger boiled inside Sokka, and his brow furrowed as he glared at Combustion Man from above.

He only snapped out of it when he felt Azula's thumb gliding over his clenched fist. He blinked himself aware of his surroundings again, and looked at her with uncertainty. She didn't seem too surprised, not by his reaction, not by what they had seen.

"Are you alright?" she asked, despite knowing the answer to that question. Sokka sighed and shook his head.

"What on earth was that?" he asked her, his voice shaking "How could he…? That guy was in the top fifty, he was an earthbender, and…!"

"Calm down. Calm down" said Azula, wanting to hold him and tranquilize him the proper way, but knowing it was impossible under the current circumstances "I know, he's by far the most dangerous gladiator we've ever seen. I've known it for quite a while, but…"

"But you still think I could take him?" Sokka asked, looking at her in disbelief "How? I mean, believe me, I'd love to be the one to wipe the floor with him after this, but… how?"

"We'll have to look for a way, Sokka. It's impossible for him to be utterly unbeatable" said Azula, shaking her head "Somehow, some way, you'll find the one weakness no one else has ever discovered. And once you do, you'll defeat him and everything he stands for. The sickening crowd that loves his every execution, the countless deaths he has delivered and earned nothing but admiration for… you'll put an end to it all. I know you will"

"I… think you believe in me a little too much" said Sokka "I don't think there's any reasonable way, any possibilities, for a guy like me to just… beat him"

"Fine, perhaps he won't be taken down by your hand alone" said Azula, shrugging "But… you're not alone, or are you?"

Sokka's frown softened as he looked at her. She didn't smile, but she squeezed his fingers again. He swallowed hard.

"We've never cowered against any challenges" she said "You've fought death more times than you can count. Combustion Man won't defeat you the way he destroyed Blunt Blockade. You won't be another mark in his history of victories in the League. We'll see to that"

Sokka breathed out but nodded now, looking at Azula with determination. She gripped his hand hard, and he returned the favor.

"Yeah. We're going to do this" he said, with a small smile "I don't know why and it sounds utterly unrealistic, but I'm with you. His reign will end"

"That it will" said Azula, smirking and standing up, letting go of his hand before doing so "So… shall we head home? I think we've done all we had to do in the Dome by now"

"Yeah, please" said Sokka, sighing and shaking his head "I can't believe watching a fight was damn near as bad as being in one"

"Well, now you see why he's the one at the head of the ranking" said Azula, as they moved to the door.

"Do firebenders fare any better against him?" Sokka asked, frowning. Azula shook her head.

"Hardly. Though I suppose you could say firebenders understand fire better, and they can avoid the degree and number of burns that Blunt Blockade couldn't, but that doesn't mean they do much better in general"

She locked the door behind her as Sokka sighed and shook his head. What he had witnessed was still utterly unbelievable. Could a man like that be defeated at all? He had barely needed to attack his enemy thrice before smothering him, and Blunt Blockade had looked like a powerful foe, too. He was a capable earthbender, of the sort that Toph would likely enjoy fighting. Yet he had fallen before Combustion Man so easily…

"How do you think Toph would do against Combustion Man?" he asked, suddenly. Azula shrugged as they moved to the stairs.

"For her sake, she'd better never fight him at all. If someone would be in grave danger facing him, it's her. He attacks with his mind, he barely needs to move at all. If he does that sort of thing to her… well, her friendly fight with me will look like child's play in comparison. Besides, he's ruthless. He's not like either one of you: you'd never kill another gladiator if you can help it, and she decided not to kill you on a whim, even though her sponsor wanted her to. I can't imagine Combustion Man ever holding back from killing anyone else, no matter how blind or small or rich they may be"

"So you'd recommend her not to fight him?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged as they moved down the stairs.

"It's really not our business, though" she whispered "Maybe I'm underestimating her and she might prove to be strong enough to survive him. But I'm not sure she ought to risk her perfect record doing that"

"Fair enough" said Sokka, sighing "And you think I'll be able to improve enough to take him on?"

"In time, obviously I'm not about to send you to fight him as you are" said Azula, raising her eyebrows skeptically. Sokka smiled weakly.

"That's good to know" he whispered.

"But I'm hoping we'll find new ideas to train you" she said, biting her lip "There are quite a few innovative thoughts I've had that you might…"

She stopped talking when they reached the sponsors' balcony's floor. Zhao was there, smiling at some men wearing fancy clothes. Sokka failed to identify them, but Azula knew them from some time ago: they were the chairman and executives in charge of the Grand Royal Dome, and of the Superior Gladiator League.

"Who're those?" Sokka asked Azula, looking at the men with confusion. Azula waved a hand as to give it little importance.

"Just the men behind the Gladiator League" she said "I'm sure you'd love to give them a piece of your mind, of course…"

"Huh, you know, I really would…" Sokka grunted, an eyebrow twitching, but Azula grabbed him by the arm and yanked him towards the stairs.

"Still, you're not going to cause trouble for me, not now, so we're leaving" she snapped. Sokka pouted.

"But…!"

"No!"

Zhao had been smiling and accepting all the greetings and compliments from the men surrounding him when he caught sight of what looked like the Princess dragging her gladiator behind her. He blinked blankly, excusing himself so he could look at the stairs, but the crowd filing out of the stands was so large he couldn't spot them. Still, it had to be them. He smiled a little.

"Keeping an eye on the competition, of course" he said to himself, before turning to the businessmen again "So, where were we?"

"Ah, we're just so pleased you're back, sir, it is an unparalleled delight" said the chairman, beaming at Zhao "Of course your gladiator did the same things he always did while you were gone, but it wasn't quite the same, you know"

"I suppose the parties of the High Tier were a lot less entertaining without me, then?" Zhao asked, smirking. The others laughed.

"Well, of course, Admi-… Princess?"

Zhao raised an eyebrow before turning his head. Indeed, there was Azula, with her gladiator, and the two of them looked very uncomfortable, even a little disheveled.

"Greetings" Azula said, with a curt smile "We were just leaving, but the crowd is akin to a pack of wild animals. They wouldn't let us through, and frankly I didn't feel like mingling with all the commoners, so I guess the roof it is…"

"Oh, no, Princess!" said one of the executives, scared "You can't just climb the outside of the building, that would be so dangerous…!"

Azula looked at him with disgruntled confusion. Sokka actually snorted behind her.

"I have a dragon" she said. The man blushed "I'm not going to jump off the building, if that's what you were so worried about. At any rate, I had to return this to Shoji's counter but I suppose handing it to the League's chairman will be enough?"

The man nodded enthusiastically and extended his hand. Azula passed him the key to the Royal Balcony, and he smiled warmly at her.

"It is no trouble, I shall give it to Shoji after the crowd has left"

"Perfect" said Azula, nodding "Anyways, excuse our intrusion…"

"Did you come to watch the fight, Princess?" Zhao asked, before Azula could push Sokka to the stairs again. She stiffened but smiled at him.

"We decided to stay for it, it wasn't our main goal today" she said "My gladiator will be back soon, so we were scheduling a fight for him when we found half the city was in here to watch Combustion Man at what he does best… utter destruction, of course"

"It's lucky he avoided most the furniture, despite it all" Zhao chuckled, but he nodded in Azula's direction "Have a safe flight. And a safe fight, when you return to the ring, gladiator"

"Yeah… thanks" said Sokka with a small smile.

"Until later, Admiral. Gentlemen" said Azula, nodding in their direction. As they had failed to bow deeply for her earlier, they did it now as she took her leave.

Sokka and Azula rushed to the roof, pushing the door open and watching as the crowds poured out into the street through the twin doors at the building's entrance. Azula shook her head and looked at Sokka in disbelief.

"We really are lucky you're not all that popular yet" she said. He snorted.

"I never realized that was a good thing, but it really is" he said. Azula smiled.

Xin Long fetched them and ferried them off to Sokka's house but, drained as they had been after the fight, all they did was sink on the couch, side by side, staring into the horizon while trying to organize their thoughts. There was nothing but silence in the room for quite some time. But finally, Sokka breathed deeply and spoke:

"We have to beat that guy"

Azula's eyes widened and she looked at him in surprise. He looked right back at her, his blue eyes with a certain determination she wasn't sure she had seen in them before.

"That's odd, coming from you. Are you alright?"

"It's just… I don't know" he said, shaking his head "I never thought that seeing him in battle would make me feel this way, but it does. Maybe it's because I'd never seen such an unpleasant crowd at a gladiator fight, or because of how he destroyed Blunt Blockade like it was nothing… it's not even about Zhao, he's yours to bicker with…"

"Yeah, we know you suddenly like him oh, so much…" said Azula, rolling her eyes. Sokka pouted.

"I didn't say I liked him, I just say maybe he's made mistakes but he might be a nicer guy than we thought. I mean, he seems to be truly loyal to your dad, and with the story he told me, it makes sense that he is. Did you know he saved his life?"

"Who saved whose life?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Your dad saved Zhao" said Sokka. Her eyes widened "Apparently he was going to be executed after he killed soldiers by mistake. He was a kid, had a firebending mishap, lost control after his parents died at the war, and Fire Lord Azulon wanted to have him killed. But your dad intervened somehow and it didn't happen"

"Really?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "Odd that I'd never heard this story before"

"He told me because I was distrustful of him, and because I mentioned he hadn't acted like the nobles or military I'd met so far" he said "I mean, he did act like that back when he first returned, I'm not forgetting how he told you to find another gladiator instead of me… but because of Hahn, and because of what happened with Jeong Jeong, he seems to be considering I'm not as bad as he expected, even though I assume he still thinks I'm a lowly slave"

"So, he decided to share his life's story because you believed he should have been more arrogant, then?" Azula concluded, raising an eyebrow "Odd. But I'll take your word for it. It does make enough sense. I didn't really talk a lot with Zhao, not even when I was younger, and not unless I was in my father's presence. And my father has some sort of unspoken rule about not discussing the past much…"

"So they never spoke of their shared history with you, huh?" said Sokka.

"I knew they traveled together when they were younger" said Azula "But they never spoke much of that. I had thought that was how they had met, but if what Zhao told you is true… well, if it is, of course. It might not be true, you know…"

"Why wouldn't it be?" said Sokka, smirking "What would he achieve by lying to me?"

"Beats me. Maybe he wants to turn you against me" she said, looking at Sokka defiantly. He snorted and shook his head.

"Like I needed his meddling to antagonize you" he said, smirking and leaning closer to her "We are always bickering as it is, he doesn't have to do anything to goad us into fighting"

"You know that's not what I meant, but truth be told fighting with you is entertaining as it is" said Azula, smirking too and pressing her forehead to his "So now we'll get to fight about whether Zhao is a liar or not…"

"One thing's for sure, though… his gladiator needs to go down" said Sokka. Azula smiled.

"And we need to think of how to achieve that"

"What do you know about his skill? What is combustion bending?" Sokka asked "How does it work, what about that tattoo on his forehead…?"

"Calm down" said Azula, raising a hand so she could put her finger on his lips "I'm sorry to disappoint, but there's actually very little, if any, information about combustion bending. I did try to research it after I first saw him fighting, but I found next to nothing. Even the more complex books on firebending didn't feature much more than brief descriptions, merely to say that it was a skill that could not be learned, and that very few people are born with"

"And you're not one of them, are you?" Sokka said. Azula looked at him skeptically.

"If I were, do you really think you wouldn't have seen it by now?" she asked "I never had the skill, neither does any other firebender I know aside from him. It's a rare skill, one of the rarest of all. I could learn to bend fires of different colors, I could produce lightning, but creating an explosion with apparently the power of my mind? It's… unthinkable"

"It's got to have something to do with chi, like all bending does" said Sokka, frowning and slouching on the couch, while stroking his stubble "He seemed to always stare at the very place he was about to blow up, and there were sparks in a straight line, between his face and… wait, maybe that's what the tattoo is for? It focuses the attack somehow?"

"I don't know" said Azula, shaking her head "But no doubt he wasn't born with a tattoo, was he?"

"That would be very, very weird" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows. Azula chuckled.

"If he wasn't born with it, which is unlikely, someone drew it there" she said "Maybe his assassination guild did it?"

"Do you think they have more combustion benders like him?" Sokka asked, frowning.

"I would hope not. One is already bad enough" said Azula, with a weak grin "But if it's not the assassination guild, there's at least someone out there, or there was someone, who drew that tattoo and who presumably helped him control his powers"

"So, a master combustion bender?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow "Maybe they're a secret organization of some sort, then? I haven't seen people with tattoos like that anywhere before, they might be in hiding somewhere…"

"Most likely, but these are all guesses in the end" said Azula "And figuring out who taught him how to do it may not be enough for us to find his key weaknesses. Still… you mentioned chi. Do you think chi-blocking is possible?"

"Not on the metallic limbs, of course" said Sokka, with a small smile "But everywhere else, yes"

"Still, throwing your boomerang at him for long-range chi-blocking won't do much good" said Azula "He could blow it up easily, and you'd lose a weapon just like that…"

"Still, his hand and leg are metallic" said Sokka, tapping his chin "Space Sword has sliced through some really strong metal before…"

"And how will you get close enough to chop them off?" Azula asked. Sokka grimaced.

"Then… I need another meteorite!" Sokka declared. Azula looked at him, dumbfounded.

"For what?" she asked. He scratched his head guiltily.

"To make a Space Boomerang?" he said. She snorted and shook her head.

"You're unbelievable"

"But it would be great!" he exclaimed, looking at her hopefully "If I threw it fast enough it could cut cleanly through his foot and then he'd lose balance and I'd get him!"

"That's a big 'if', and one that could cost you one of five weapons, so I'm afraid we shouldn't rely on that absurd possibility too much" said Azula, smirking "Finding another meteorite of the exact same properties as the first one seems like a stretch, don't you think?"

"We could try, though…" Sokka pouted. Azula laughed and leaned closer, kissing him softly.

"Truth be told, we're getting ahead of ourselves" she said, dropping her head on his shoulder and surrounding his waist with her arms. Sokka held her too, biting his lower lip "Your fight against Combustion Man isn't happening anytime soon, even though we'll do everything in our power to make it happen. We have time to design strategies and procure all the information we can about his skills and whatever weakness he may have"

"We do, we do" said Sokka, with a small smile "But truth be told he's really far ahead, Azula. If he really fights once a week, or more… how are we going to beat him?"

"Feeling sorry that we dumped the Slate when we did, are you?" Azula asked, with a small smile "Events are my best idea, actually. They always provide us with more points than anything else, so even if we never return to the Slate, we can always find other events to join. We're not guaranteed to always obtain absolute victory in them, but it's worth a shot…"

"Seems like a good plan" said Sokka.

"And in the mean time…" said Azula, looking at him meaningfully "We have to keep doing what we always did. You will fight every challenger you can, and we'll try to make that a weekly thing instead of waiting two weeks as we would before. You'll fight, and we'll do our damnedest to get you up to the top hundred. And while you're not in the ring… you'll train"

"Which is what I've been up to lately, anyways" said Sokka. But Azula smiled and shook her head.

"As I was saying before… we may need to go a little further to explore your skills properly. I've had ideas recently for your training. If we put them into action…"

"That look in your face says that either you're suggesting something naughty, which I would never say no to, or that you're planning on pushing me to extremes I've never seen before…" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows.

"And would you say no to that last thing?" she asked, smiling and stroking his chest as if to convince him. Sokka chuckled.

"I'll only say no if you don't wear your necklace while training me" he said, prodding her nose with his. She smiled.

"Of course I'd wear it. So, we're all set" she said, taking his face in her hands "You're going back into the ring, Sokka… and you're going to be better than ever before. Let them all see you are a force to be reckoned with"

"I will certainly try" said Sokka, smiling. Azula sighed.

"After all that motivation earlier, all that eagerness to beat Combustion Man, and this is all you can give me? 'I'll try'? Come on, gladiator, put some spirit into this"

"Okay, uh… I'll leave all our enemies dunked in the sand, where they belong?" he said, tentatively. Azula laughed and dropped her head on his shoulder.

"You'll get motivated soon enough. I'll see to it" she said. Sokka chuckled.

"I look forward to that, Princess"

The real training didn't begin until the next day, once Azula had arranged the preparations she required. Sokka was surprised when she arrived in his house on a carriage this time, bearing a large, heavy trunk filled with what he discovered were weights, not just for him to lift, but some of them to strap on his limbs too.

"The heavier the weights, the more strength you'll build with each of your movements" said Azula, as he tried out the first set of weights, that weighed at least thrice as much as his armor did.

"And once the weights come off, I'll be faster and stronger too" Sokka said, raising his eyebrows. Azula smirked.

"That's the plan" she said "So, without further ado, go ahead and start running, gladiator"

"You should run with me too" he suggested, smiling "I can chase after you, maybe. It could be a lot more fun"

"Or I could chase you, instead" she suggested, with a smirk "Tossing fireballs at your feet, so you'll know to run faster…"

"Hey!"

She surprised Sokka by abiding by his suggestion, but not the way he expected her to. He started out by chasing her indeed, the weights on his limbs slowing him a lot, while Azula's speed remained the same as ever. Within a single lap around the house, she had already put so much distance between them that Sokka was genuinely embarrassed. It didn't take long for him to lose sight of her, and he knew she was going to show up behind him in due time… He tried to move faster, to keep her from burning his shoes as she had eerily suggested, but even though he picked up some speed, so did Azula.

"Ha! Slowpoke! Move faster!" she bellowed behind him barely at the fourth lap. Sokka flinched just before he felt the familiar sensation of heat behind him.

"Dammit, don't burn my shoes!" Sokka shouted, cringing and speeding up further. He was forced to zig-zag to avoid the fire too, but his agility with the weights certainly left a lot to be desired.

Azula was enjoying herself thoroughly by training him this way, clearly. Sokka's body was coated with sweat within an hour or two, despite he was still doing his very best and hadn't asked for a break, but the weights that hindered his every move were a troubling obstacle. The Princess spent that day forcing him to build up further muscles by lifting heavy objects too, but after she ordered him to lift his brand new and remarkably heavy hot-air balloon, he gave her a meaningful glare and lifted her instead. She was laughing as he carried her slung over his shoulder, and he dragged her all the way to the living room, urging her to rethink her training strategies.

The training continued the next day, and the next. Xin Long helped too, once Azula decided that Sokka's agility needed more work as well. As he raced through the backyard of the house, the Princess and the dragon would shoot bolts of fire in any direction, and he would be forced to avoid them. Sometimes they did it by standing on opposite ends of the yard, others they did it while being airborne. After a few close calls, Sokka decided to change into his fire-retardant clothes, for safety's sake.

His afternoon training was mainly about sharpening his senses. What Azula and Xin Long did during the morning certainly kept him on his toes and he knew to expect attacks from any sources, but Azula argued that he needed much more than that. While she didn't expect him to develop his senses as much as Toph had, she did want him to rely on more than just eyesight in the battlefield.

So Sokka would stand in the middle of the backyard, blindfolded, while Azula tossed projectiles at him. Sometimes she threw stones she found on the ground, other times she would use her own fire. Sokka, equipped only with his own weapons, had to deflect the attacks, but he started out very poorly at this exercise. Within a few days he had proved capable of hearing even her stealthiest footsteps, and specially of sensing the pungent smell that accompanied firebending whenever Azula was ready to attack.

This innovative brand of training was taken to new heights when Azula finally brought him back to Ty Lee's house for a session against Haru. Naturally, the chi-blocker had clung onto Sokka dramatically, relieved he was alright, while he looked at Azula with despair, hoping she could get Ty Lee off him. But once they started to focus, Haru had joined Azula in throwing projectiles at Sokka. Mai had brought blunt projectiles herself, which were the hardest to dodge for Sokka, as she was the fastest of them all. Ty Lee would lurk nearby to chi-block him, but as fast as she was, he always could hear her footsteps, so he could fight back or evade her effectively. Azula kept to using her fire only, without risking lightning in case Sokka didn't succeed at avoiding it…

All this was added to his usual training with his usual weapons. He still sparred often with Azula, going all out with her just as she did with him. And even when everyone else was tired out in Ty Lee's house, when Mai had already gone home while Ty Lee and Haru lounged lazily in the living room, Sokka and Azula continued to fight one another in the ragged backyard until finally the Princess declared they ought to stop.

"Your fight is tomorrow, after all" she reasoned during the afternoon, a pleased smile on her face "You'll need proper rest tonight"

"Well, no doubt I'm getting it" said Sokka, looking at her questioningly "Considering that my nighttime activities nowadays involve nothing but sleeping soundly. No company, not one bit…"

"And don't you get much better rest with a whole bed for yourself?" she asked, teasingly. Sokka smirked.

"Who on earth does?" he asked, inching closer and pressing a kiss to her forehead "Meanie. Why do you keep tiring me out this much? I'd gladly work on my endurance in other ways too, if you know what I mean, but you always leave me exhausted with training"

"I'm just not sure that would help you build the kind of stamina we're going for, you know" she said, smiling and stroking a strand of hair that had fallen out of his wolf's tail "Stop thinking so much about it. We'll get back to that line of business sooner than you think"

"Oh, really?" he pouted. She smiled.

"Whiner" she said, bumping him gently with her shoulder.

"Will we stay for dinner here or will we go back home?" Sokka asked "Because I'm so sweaty I should clean up if we do stay. You know, pour a water bucket over myself…"

He bit his lower lip while saying that, his smile growing even as he tried to hold it back. Azula rolled her eyes and glared at him, smiling too despite herself.

"You're getting nothing for the next month if you dare do something like that here"

"Oh, boohoo, I've gotten nothing for well over a month!" he responded, as she laughed and shook her head.

"Whatever. We're going home before you embarrass me, irksome sweaty gladiator"

Sokka chuckled and shook his head, but followed her to say their farewells to Ty Lee and Haru anyways. Ty Lee reconsidered hugging Sokka this time, knowing Azula's good mood could sour if she did. She settled for a smile instead.

"Good luck tomorrow! You two can do this!"

"We'd better. I've never been torture-trained this much, if I fail it'll be because of excessive training instead" Sokka said, pointing at Azula with his index finger. She rolled her eyes again and swatted his finger away, smiling anyways.

"Nonsense" she said "We'll see you, Ty Lee"

"Good luck!" Haru called from the kitchen.

"Bye, Haru!" Sokka exclaimed.

As ever, Xin Long brought them to Sokka's house, sighing through the whole trip as his rider and companion did nothing but bicker foolishly. It was odd that two people would genuinely bond over arguing, Xin Long thought, but his rider had never been all that normal to begin with.

"But really, it's not that late yet…" Sokka pouted, as they touched down on the backyard "A quickie would suit me just fine too, you know? For luck?"

"Nope" said Azula, jerking her head to the side "Away with you now, gladiator. You need to sleep"

"This is torture, I tell you, real torture" he said, shaking his head and jumping off the saddle "All this training for no payoff? It's utter cruelty, you hear me?"

"The payoff will be that you're stronger than ever before, with great muscles and everything" said Azula, smirking as she stared at his arms. Sokka smirked.

"You can check out just how great they are, really, I won't bite" he said. She bit her lip and shook her head.

"You won't? Disappointing. And then you wonder why I don't want to get back in the sack with you yet" she said, prompting him to laugh and rest his head against her side, as she stayed on Xin Long's saddle. She smiled and stroked Sokka's hair "I do like those strong arms, yes, but you should know full well that as soon as we dare rip each other's clothes off, we're going to stay in bed for about three months to make up for all the time we didn't do it…"

"Sounds like fun" said Sokka, beaming. Azula looked at him skeptically.

"Considering we're doing all this so you won't drop out of the ranking, fun isn't in our schedule for the time being" she said, lifting his chin with her hand and leaning down to kiss his lips. Sokka responded gladly "But it will be, if you behave. Get some rest"

"Fine" he surrendered at last, smiling at her "I love you"

"I love you more" she said. He scoffed.

"Not possible!"

"Yes it is" she said, smiling as she stroked Xin Long's side "I'll fetch you tomorrow"

"Can't wait" Sokka sighed, as Xin Long took off into the sky.

The wait wasn't long indeed, as by next morning Azula had returned bright and early. Sokka had finished his breakfast quickly and bid Song a hasty goodbye. As he rushed to the backyard, clad in his armor and helmet, his weapons at the ready, Azula's breath hitched. It wasn't merely because she had missed seeing him in his battle garb, which she had – it suited him so well, more so now that he was buffer than ever –, but he didn't look stronger only on the outside. His eyes gleamed with a different kind of determination than the usual. She smiled upon him as he reached her.

"Ready?" she asked. He smiled and nodded.

"Time for our comeback, Princess" he said.

Azula offered him her hand and lifted him onto the saddle. And with that Xin Long sped his way to the Grand Royal Dome.

They were extremely early, as was to be expected, even though their fight would be the first of the day. But as the crowd entered the building and settled on their seats, Sokka and Azula waited as patiently as they could in one of the waiting rooms.

"I'll do fine, you don't need to pace so nervously" Sokka said, smiling as he sat on one of the couches in the room. His sponsor, as he had said, kept walking with no set destination. She kept her arms firmly folded over her chest.

"It's strange, I just feel like…" she said, shaking her head as she continued to walk "Like it's the first time we do this, all over again. I don't even know why"

"Well, a fair share of things changed since the last time we were here" said Sokka "We've been through quite a few ordeals. And if you're feeling apprehensive, it makes perfect sense…"

"I guess, but…" said Azula, looking at him and sighing "I really want you to win today. For some reason, I just…"

"Don't worry, I feel the same way" said Sokka, with a small smile "But I also feel like I can do it, you know? I feel lighter than I have in weeks, without those weights…"

"No doubt you do" said Azula, smiling too "You do look stronger than ever, though…"

"Of course I do, with all you've tormented me in these last weeks" he said, smirking "You could make it up to me right now too, you know. I've always thought these waiting rooms are so comfortable, too comfortable to be meant just for waiting…"

"How convenient of you to point that out" said Azula, stopping before him and giving him a skeptical look. Sokka smirked, his arms relaxed and spread over the backrest of the couch.

It wasn't long before she found herself smiling earnestly. They had definitely endured a nightmarish setback in their relationship after their first escapade in a room like this, but the memory of that first, fierce kiss remained the only good thing that came from it. And here they were, years later, as good as reenacting it. But without the wrong motivation this time, thankfully.

"You know I'm right, though" he said, smiling "Isn't that why you locked the door?"

"I locked the door because I know I can't predict when you'll pounce on me while we're alone" said Azula, raising her eyebrows "And… I also can't predict when I'll pounce on you, why lie?"

Sokka laughed and she smiled at him. Her hand went down to his shoulder and she leaned closer to him, climbing atop his lap as her lips hovered inches away from his.

"Oh, would you look at that… I just did" she said, smiling before kissing him rashly.

Sokka hugged her and kissed her back, knowing full well what she was doing, and knowing he wanted her to do it, too. His chest tightened with emotions, as the reality of everything they had overcome hit him right then and there. They had already endured so many trials, and survived every single obstacle in their path. In the end, they had come out stronger than ever before, strong enough to be together the way they wanted to be. They were lovers, but they were still gladiator and sponsor. Their lives were interlocked, tied together completely in every way.

Azula pulled away and smiled fondly at him, keeping his face between her hands. He beamed at her.

"That was a lot less desperate than the last time you climbed on my lap in this building" he pointed out. She shook her head and pressed her forehead to his, smiling.

"I still want you as badly as I did that day" she admitted. Sokka blushed, surprised by her honesty "I fear I always will. But… I think we've learned a lot since, haven't we?"

"Much more than I expected us to" Sokka said, smiling at her and stroking her hair "But I'm glad we've come this far, together"

"So am I" she said, dropping her head on his shoulder as he rubbed her back gently now.

She finally settled with sitting on his lap, forcing him to endure as she fixed her makeup as ever, before wiping his lips as ever. He hugged her tightly from behind, though, and he was pondering if he ought to mess with her by kissing her lips again, but a knock on the door forced them to stop their dalliance for the time being.

"Your fight will begin shortly" said a staff member, when Azula opened the door. She nodded.

"Very well. Gladiator, get going" she said, sternly. He couldn't hold back a smile as he fitted his helmet in place again.

"No need to boss me around that much, I'm going…" he complained. Azula rolled her eyes, as the staff member took off. She dared smile at Sokka as he picked up his weapons and reached her at the room's threshold.

"I'll boss you as much as I please, insolent savage" she said, between gritted teeth before smirking at him. Sokka laughed.

They headed to the stand-by room as usual, where Azula stared at the glowing sand with growing apprehension tightening in her chest. Sokka placed his hands on her waist and forced her to turn around to look at him. He smiled serenely, with confidence.

"It'll be over before you know it. You did a great job in getting me into shape, you know"

"Of course I know…" she said, biting her lip but smiling at him "But you know, sometimes it's tricky letting you go to battle. You're supposed to marry me when we're eighty, you know, I just want to make sure there's still some Sokka left by then…"

"There's going to be… at least, I hope so" he said, grimacing "I really wanted to say something overconfident, but I would rather not make promises about how hot I'll still be at that age…"

Azula laughed and dropped her head on his chest plate. Sokka smiled, hugging her and reassuring her with his gentle touch. She finally looked up at him again so she could kiss him deeply, and Sokka complied gladly, enjoying everything she was conveying to him without words. He kissed her back, fiercely, to show her he wasn't scared of whoever waited out there. He was ready. He was out to win this fight.

Azula pulled away, pleased by his determination. She wiped his lips clean again as she always did.

"Make me proud" she said, smiling. He smirked and nodded.

"I will" he said. Her grin broadened as she made her way to the corridor again.

Sokka watched her go, and chuckled when she stopped to fix her makeup, yet again. She gave him a meaningful stare and rolled her eyes, pretending to be utterly exasperated by their impromptu make-out sessions. Sokka could only laugh as she left, but he allowed the joy to join the rest of his resolve once she was out of sight. He stared at the gold grid again, tightening his fists, the weight of the weapons he was carrying reminding him of who he was, and what he would set out to do right now.

It was the beginning of a new era. No longer did he fight with a blurry goal in mind, with a mere glimmer of hope to return home. He didn't do it just to please Azula, either. He did it because he had seen his true rival: he had found the one enemy he needed to defeat, all else be damned, if he was to change the world they lived in. His determination to succeed in Azula's self-imposed quest was stronger than ever, for now it wasn't her goal alone: he believed in it too, and wanted it just as much as she did. One day he would step out into that glowing sand, and he would face that behemoth with metal limbs. And he would do it while feeling every ounce of determination he felt right now.

The grid opened, and Sokka entered the Arena with a steady stride. The crowd cheered him on louder than ever, welcoming him back to the brutal affair he had condemned as much as he had. To the fighting pit where only the strongest could fight, and only the best would win. It was a world he had abhorred, and he still held no love for it: but it was a world he was part of, a world he could only change if he accepted the role he had to play in it.

He would usher change in the Gladiator Business. He would never be the gladiator who did Ozai's dirty work, murdering as commanded, let alone would he be the gladiator to kill for sport. He would fight, and he would be strong, without becoming the ultimate enemy he wanted to dethrone.

Explosion was tall, strong and fair-skinned. Her hair was dark, tied in a tight ponytail, her brown eyes gleaming fiercely. Sokka stopped before her and nodded in her direction. She didn't return the gesture.

"… And in this comeback, at long last, the Blue Wolf will prove no one can destroy his resilience no matter how hard they try! Give it up for the royal champion, and may this combat begin…!"

Sokka breathed deeply and separated his legs a little, as to have better possibilities of movement. His opponent struck a bending stance immediately, one he recognized quickly, for it was one of Azula's basic stances too. He smirked.

"Three…!"

His fingers trembled, hers were rigid and stretched outright.

"Two…!"

The crowd cheered and hooted, and every eye on the Arena gazed upon them intently.

"One…!"

A sponsor dared make furtive eye contact with her gladiator, who allowed himself a quick smirk in her direction…

"START!"

He dodged the fire blast, predicting the firebender's bluff and slipping out of her reach just before pulling out two swords. Explosion cursed, casting a fire punch quickly at Sokka, but Wolf's Bane wouldn't struggle to swat away such feeble power. Sokka rushed in again, zig-zagging unpredictably, and Explosion struggled to keep up with him.

The Blue Wolf wasn't easily daunted by barrages of fire, especially not when he had a weapon that could keep them at bay fairly easily. Explosion struggled, trying to shoot further fire in Sokka's direction, but he was too fast for her. He encircled her tactically, moving closer or farther, driving her to a frenzy and a firebending outburst worthy of a raging child. That would be why she was called Explosion, then…?

She was conjuring a tall tower of fire, and she stood at its center. It would be a great defense, in theory, but it would also blind her. Sokka's projectile weapon would be blocked from sight until it was too close to evade it.

He decided not to waste more time. Boomerang flew past the flames as easily as with other enemies, and just as Sokka had expected, the barrage of flames didn't linger once the bender behind them had been knocked out of balance.

So he charged, with two swords in hand again. Explosion shot a stream of flames at him, but with Wolf's Bane in his left hand he tore through the attack, while holding Space Sword low, at the ready…

Explosion screamed, in panic, at the reckless charge Sokka had done against her. She tried to inch away from him but failed. Her speed couldn't possibly match up with his.

So when she was hit by Space Sword's pommel, right on the side of her head, she couldn't keep the world from disappearing around her as she dropped unconscious on the sand.

Sokka breathed out in relief and watched the woman after she collapsed, hoping she wouldn't wake again until the time was up. But it was apparent that she wouldn't, and he could hear the crowd cheering because they knew that, too.

The cheering was strong, but different from what he had heard from the Royal Balcony. He smiled to himself and gazed at the people supporting him, spotting a few familiar faces from the Wolf's Pack in the crowd.

But what his eyes sought wasn't in the general stands. He lifted his eyes further, and found his sponsor smiling proudly indeed, as the judges announced him as the winner. Sokka's smile grew stronger as he saw the approval in her eyes. As he saw the last shreds of fear disappearing from them. She knew they could do this, he had proven it to her now. And they would succeed at their quest, there was no doubt about it. With resolves burning as fiercely as fire, they felt stronger than they had ever been, together.


	135. Chapter 135

Finding the Avatar had been a challenging quest, one that had taken Zuko almost half his life. Finding the right girl to love, and finding a way to be with her despite all the obstacles in their way, had even seemed impossible for a time, but he had succeeded.

This was what Zuko reminded himself of constantly as he braced against the freezing winds in the South Pole, enduring the painful chill that rushed through his bones and made him feel weak, unsteady, insecure. But the challenges he had faced in the past reassured him: if he had found Suki and was well on his way to marrying her, and if he had found Aang when no other members of his family had succeeded, he could very well stand in the frozen tundra and teach the Avatar firebending.

"It's really not the way it's supposed to be, right?" said Aang, gritting his teeth as he followed Zuko's motions "I… s-should learn each element in each nation, right?"

"That's what… what the legends say" said Zuko, breathing deeply and taking a stance "But neither of us are welcome in the Fire Nation, are we?"

"I doubt it, but… I'd welcome some Fire Nation warmth, myself" said the Avatar, swallowing hard. Zuko sighed.

"Just breathe, Aang" he said "Breathe deeply, and…"

He allowed his power to fill him before punching the air before him. Flames were conjured in the middle of the cold, tearing through the snowflakes and offering Zuko brief warmth before the orange fire was extinguished out of existence.

Aang nodded and concentrated. He pulled back a fist and shot it out as Zuko had, and a smaller burst of fire came out of him. He breathed heavily afterwards, and Zuko shook his head.

"Breathe deeply before bending, not afterwards. The key to firebending is in the breath" he said.

"In some forms of airbending, too" Aang admitted, with a small smile "But this is tricky, Sifu Hotman…"

"I admit, it'd be easier if we were anywhere but here" said Zuko, sighing and glancing around them "And don't call me that"

"Well, why not? It's fun!"

They were outside of the village's walls for now, as the snow fell around them lightly. But the skies above were dark, making it so the only lights outside the village would be those of their fires, blazing in the night whenever they conjured them.

The dark period had begun some time ago, to Zuko's chagrin. He had felt himself drained of power once the brief periods of light grew smaller and smaller. The extending night had reminded him of how long he had been here by now: it had already been months since they had arrived, after all.

In those months, Zuko had helped Aang understand firebending's basics, and he had grasped them quickly. But in this environment, producing flames was more difficult every day. The lack of sunlight drained him, tired him, and made him feel miserable. It was especially a problem when it came to his bending skills: never had he needed to go to such lengths to conjure fire.

"I'm sure we'll be able to train better when the light period returns" said Aang, sighing and looking at Zuko apologetically "It won't be too long now, I think… but will you still be here by then?"

"Huh?" Zuko said, standing upright and rubbing his gloved hands together "I'm pretty sure I won't have a choice. Aren't I a prisoner of some sort down here?"

"Well, maybe you were before, but… after all this time, are you still one?"

Zuko sighed and looked at Aang with uncertainty before gazing at the village. The wall, the old watch tower, the igloos inside, the huts: all of it had been foreign, unwanted, once. By now he was used to it, but more than that…

"Do you really think I should have taken my time to build that igloo just to take off the second I'm finished?" he asked. Aang smiled.

"That's… yeah, that wouldn't make any sense" he admitted. Zuko smiled a little.

"Speaking of which, it's almost done now. If you want to take a break, I'll go work on it…"

"Do you want any help?" Aang asked "Moral support? A handy man?"

"No need" said Zuko, shaking his head as they turned and headed inside the village again "Though if you want to watch me give it the final touches, feel free"

"Ah, really?" said Aang, smiling brightly "I should tell Suki, then! She'd love to come and see…!"

"No, please don't tell her yet" said Zuko, with a small smile "I'd rather surprise her"

Aang chuckled and nodded. The two of them crossed the entrance to the village, finding people huddled around the large central fireplace, hoping to warm up against the freezing weather. Zuko sighed, longing to join them the way Aang would. He sank on a seat next to Katara, who smiled warmly at him until Kino slid between them to ask Aang all about his training session with Zuko.

Unlike how it was during his first arrival at the pole, people were a lot less active. No longer were there multiple hunting trips, as most the men were forced to stick together for their safety in the dark. The women who always worked on crafts also weren't seen as often at their hard work as they used to be. People either warmed up at the central fireplace, or stayed in their igloos or huts if they were warm and comfortable enough.

Suki was sitting at the fire, too, and her eyes met Zuko's when he was about to head to his unfinished building. He smiled sweetly at her, nodding in her direction before getting back to work. Suki sighed and smiled too, watching him move towards the shadowy corner of the village where he was hard at work.

"It won't be much longer before he's finished" Katara said, surprising Suki "Dad said he only needs to fix the bamboo floors by now"

"I'm surprised there were bamboos to be found in the South Pole" Suki commented, smiling "Or… aren't there?"

"Truth is, there aren't" Katara confessed "But we send a group of men to some islands not far away from the Pole, where bamboo trees grow. Zuko didn't have to make the trip, though, as we still had some bamboo left over from this year's haul"

"That's fortunate, though he probably could have benefitted from leaving the pole for a while" said Suki, sighing "He smiles a lot, which is strange, coming from him, but I think the weather is getting to him"

"He's a firebender, it's likely that it is" said Katara.

"It makes me crummy too and I'm not one" Kino said, shaking his head "Poor Prince Zuko…"

"Okay, don't be so melodramatic" said Katara, rolling her eyes "He doesn't need that much sympathy"

"He's a prince! He deserves all the sympathies and all the melodrama!" Kino exclaimed. Aang chuckled.

"Well, at least he's been a good teacher even if the weather is a burden to him" said Aang, smiling "I hope once the light period is back I'll be able to bend better than I already do"

"We watched you guys for a while" Kino said, smiling "It was so cool, two firebenders training in the South Pole…"

"I think it's hindering on my growth as an Avatar, though" said Aang, grimacing "I should learn each element in each nation…"

"The world has changed enough that elements and nations are scattered everywhere" said Suki, sighing "You'll find plenty of earthbenders in Fire Nation lands, Fire Nation lands where it should have been Earth Kingdom… not a lot of things make sense in the world as we know it"

"All thanks to Fire Lord Sozin" said Aang, shaking his head "Why did he have to do all this, really? I visited the Fire Nation a few times when I was younger, you know… why couldn't things stay the way they were back then?"

"Who knows" said Katara, shrugging "Well, maybe Kino does. Why did your nation decide to destroy everyone else?"

Kino blinked blankly and looked at all three of his friends nervously. No good answers came to his mind, and he felt himself sweating with uncertainty.

"Um, I… well, he said it was to spread greatness, b-but… that doesn't make sense, does it?" he said, with an awkward smile. Katara sighed.

"Damn right it doesn't" she grunted.

"It's wrong, everything the Fire Nation did" Suki said "But at least we have each other by now. The world will never be the same, not even after the war ends… but we can work so the next changes won't leave the world in bad shape, right?"

"Right" Aang said, smiling weakly "I still wish I could learn firebending in the Fire Nation, but… who knows, maybe this will actually make me stronger"

"I think it already has" said Katara, smiling at him too.

"It might be making Zuko stronger, too" said Suki, gazing back at him "In more ways than one"

The banished Prince was too far to hear what was being spoken about him, or to notice that all eyes were on him, but he was working too hard on his igloo to pay them much mind. Fitting every plank of the bamboo floor was one of the last things he had left to do before his new home was finally inhabitable, and the sooner he did it, the sooner he'd be living with Suki the way they were meant to.

Building the igloo had been easier during the light period, as he had a better chance to see what he was doing without needing to resort to his bending for a light source. There were obvious risks to that: too often he had melted ice blocks without meaning to, and he had needed to find new ones or ask Katara or Aang to help him rebuild the collapsed ice block. Still, he had worked on his igloo without too many setbacks.

Aang's advice was helpful, but the one who provided the best suggestions was Hakoda. The Chief stopped by to watch Zuko work once in a while, and he would often give him tips on how to work with certain blocks, how to make the walls curve properly, what sorts of animal hides were better for the floor and which ones were better for the walls. He had directed Zuko in the building of the fire pit, advising him on how to work the available rocks that would keep the fire from leaking out into the bamboo floors or animal pelts.

It had been a long, tiresome process, that he had endured no matter how frustrating it could be. But life in the South Pole, hard and rough as it was, had been satisfying in its own way.

He had sneaked inside Hakoda's igloo several times, seeking out Suki just to enjoy her company and to find comfort in her arms, and she had been thrilled every time he had done it. He had taught Aang most the firebending basics, enough for him to be able to bend small wisps of fire. And with every day that passed, Zuko found less scowls on the faces of the tribespeople. He found more welcoming smiles, encouraging words, and even offers of kindness. Where children had usually fled from him on sight, now they watched in fascination as he used his fire to meld the ice blocks together into a steadier structure. The elderly in town also offered him gifts, food, even, and he had been given the opportunity to join groups of hunters too, once in a while.

The almost finished igloo elicited a strange feeling in Zuko's chest. He glanced across it, knowing all they needed to do was bring in everything Suki had been working on in Hakoda's igloo: all their kitchenware, their marital sleeping bag, the soft cushions they would use as mats to sit at the fire. The building would be as good as finished, though, once he set down the final bamboo plank.

"Well?"

Hakoda's voice surprised him. Zuko turned to glance at him, finding him standing at the igloo's door, hunched over to look at Zuko. The firebender smiled a little.

"You don't have a lot more to do, from what I saw this morning" said Hakoda.

"Yeah, this is the last one" said Zuko, showing him the plank before sighing "I… don't know. It's strange. I'd never…"

"What? Built an igloo? Yes, I noticed" said Hakoda, smirking. Zuko laughed and shook his head.

"I was thinking I hadn't worked this hard with my own hands for something so… domestic" he said, smiling and looking around himself "The places I lived in, that I called home, whether it was a palace, or a warship… I never had to build them myself. I never had to tire myself out every day to create something for myself and for someone I love. All my life I've just…"

"Chased the Avatar?" Hakoda asked, stepping inside the igloo. Zuko looked at him with uncertainty.

"Chased for things, in general" he said "I chased after my sister for a long time, trying to outdo her, but it was impossible. Then I chased after the Avatar, and a throne I'd never have. I've never really succeeded at any of those hunts, you know. The goal was always… removed, out of my reach. So this… it's strange to me. Knowing that once I set this plank down, I'll have… I'll have succeeded at something I set out to do? I don't know how to feel about it"

Hakoda smiled, looking at Zuko sympathetically.

"Given the fact that you're smiling, I think you do know how to feel about it"

Zuko's eyes widened. He hadn't noticed he was smiling at all. He bit his lip before laughing and shaking his head.

"I guess I'm not a failure, then?" he said "Even though that's what I've always thought I was…"

"Didn't you set out in every single one of your so-called 'hunts' to prove yourself? Well, I'd think you have proven all you had to, Zuko. It's something to be proud of"

Zuko breathed out and smiled, taking the bamboo plank in his hands and placing it in its slot amidst the others on the floor. He nailed it carefully, the way Hakoda had advised him to a few days earlier. Once it was perfectly fixed where it was, Zuko sank back and took in his creation with amazement.

"You did this, Zuko" said Hakoda, smiling "Sure, you had advice, and a few examples… but who doesn't? What matters is you did it yourself. You have a home now, for yourself, your child and your wife. You've done a good job"

"I have…" he said, his breath hitching "I… I did it. I've done it"

"And, of course, the harder part is what comes next" said Hakoda, smirking "You'll have nightmares about cleaning cloth diapers for the rest of your life"

Zuko laughed at that notion and looked at Hakoda gratefully. The man clapped his shoulder in a congratulatory gesture.

"But before that, the actual celebration of your success will be held" he said. Zuko raised his eyebrow

"Yeah?"

"What, you forgot you did all this so you could get married?" he asked. Zuko blushed and shook his head.

"I didn't forget, I just… figured I'd start planning it tomorrow, maybe?"

"Tomorrow?" Hakoda asked, smirking "If you had any sense of humor I'd think you're joking, but I know you aren't. You're not waiting any longer: you're getting married tomorrow, Zuko. There's no time to waste"

"Wait, what? Really?" Zuko asked, his eyes wide "But…"

"But what? Oh, you want silk dresses and royal outfits for everyone involved?" Hakoda asked, teasingly. Zuko frowned now "Maybe there's some sort of waiting period for weddings in the Fire Nation, maybe you hire cooks or hold great balls someplace or another, but for us it's a community event. Everyone comes together to help you and your bride, providing the celebration feast you deserve…"

"And there's no traditions we need to uphold?" Zuko asked "Like… in the Fire Nation there's some rite about lighting a candle?"

"Oh, our rites are simple too. We'll carve cuts across your palms and then bind your hands together, as you speak the vows with which you will honor one another as husband and wife" Hakoda answered casually. Zuko's jaw dropped.

"Cut our palms? Really?"

"Come on, it won't hurt one bit" said Hakoda, chuckling "You'll both wear shawls, signaling that you're the bride and groom, and we'll simply gather around the fire to celebrate. But you two are not allowed to meet through most the day, as you will go with most the men to hunt for the feast while she prepares here with the women…"

"Okay, then… okay" said Zuko, biting his lip and nodding "We can do this. I can get married tomorrow. I… wow. Married. Tomorrow. Suki's… going to be my wife"

"It's finally sinking in?" Hakoda said, smiling and patting Zuko's shoulder again "She's a good woman. Make her the happiest she can be"

"I intend to" said Zuko, smiling too.

The pair of them left the igloo, and Hakoda smiled as he strode towards the fire to reveal the news. Zuko's chest was filled with an unbelievable, unfamiliar sense of satisfaction he hadn't felt ever before. His eyes found Suki's shape by the fire, noticing that Katara was caressing the large baby bump gently. He sighed in bliss, knowing they wouldn't be apart anymore from tomorrow onwards…

"Everyone, we'll have a wedding tomorrow!" Hakoda exclaimed, earning the attention of all those around the fireplace "Zuko's igloo is officially finished!"

Suki's eyes widened, and she smiled joyfully as she turned to look for her lover in the darkness. Zuko was walking towards her, with a relieved smile on his face.

"You did it? You did it!" she exclaimed, pushing herself up to her feet. Zuko rushed in to hug her before she could jump towards him as he suspected she might. Her arms wrapped around his neck "Katara said you'd be done soon, but I didn't think…!"

"I figured we'd have a bit more time to prepare, but Hakoda insists that this is how it's done in the South" Zuko said, chuckling "Ready to be my wife?"

"Always have been" said Suki, beaming and kissing him happily, not caring whatsoever that they were in front of the whole tribe. But seeing how Zuko had proven himself indeed, the gesture of affection didn't earn as many scoffs as they used to.

"I'll miss having a roommate" Katara admitted, with a smile, as she stood up "But you've been waiting long enough, haven't you?"

"I'll move everything I've made into the igloo right away" Suki said, excitedly. Zuko chuckled and kissed her brow.

"We can do that later, and someone else ought to do it instead of you, too" he said "You're pregnant, remember?"

"So what? It doesn't mean I can't help" she said. Zuko smiled.

"Who can ever say no to you?" he said. Suki laughed.

"Not you, that's for sure" she said, hugging him again.

"Are you ready for the ceremony, then? You'll be off to hunt by morning" Katara told Zuko, who nodded "And I hope you have your gifts ready…"

"Gifts?" Zuko repeated, raising an eyebrow "Nobody said anything about any gifts"

"Uh… I did hear about that before. Katara mentioned it" said Suki, looking at Zuko with confusion. Zuko froze.

"I… nobody told me" he said. Suki chuckled and shook her head.

"It's fine" she said "You built an igloo and haven't had a moment's rest in the past five months or so. What better gift than a home we can live in?"

"Huh… if you want to see it that way, I guess" Zuko said, with a weak grin. Suki hugged him and sighed, her head against his chest.

"It's finally happening, Zuko" she whispered "We'll be together as before… better yet, even. We'll get married…"

Zuko's smile was the most genuine anyone had seen on his face. He hugged back his fiancé, burying his face in her auburn hair. It had been a rough process, and he certainly had second-guessed himself countless times through it… but he had done it. He was ready to be the head of a family… at least, by Water Tribe standards. Still, he felt emboldened, and stronger than he had in a very long time. And it hadn't come from trying to please a father who never cared for him, or from finding someone who wasn't supposed to be found, or from defeating a bitter rival with an uncontestable victory: it had come from opening his heart to the woman he loved, and from letting himself experience happiness, for a change.

"And we shall mourn that Prince Zuko will move out of our home" Kino sobbed, wiping fake tears from his eyes as Aang chuckled and shook his head.

"He's going to be right there, Kino, we'll be neighbors!" Aang exclaimed "You'll see, we'll end up spending so much time together it'll be as if he'd never left"

"Yeah… that sounds like married life, alright" Zuko said, sarcastically. But Kino was smiling brightly now at Aang, and Katara merely gave Zuko a sympathetic smile.

"I guess you won't be rid of your biggest fan that easily" she said. Zuko sighed.

"What should we do, though?" Kino asked, looking at Katara and Aang with confusion "There's never been a wedding here while I've been around, so I have no idea…"

"Well, you could go with Zuko to the hunt for the wedding feast" said Katara "I guess Aang will stay, as he doesn't like hunting"

"And I'll help set up everything over here" said Aang, beaming "Don't worry, Kino, it'll be great! Nobody could get a better wedding anywhere else!"

Zuko smiled and looked down at Suki, wondering if she'd think so too. Wouldn't she rather marry him in Kyoshi Island, with her family and friends, her own people…? Quite possibly, but as it was, they had no choice. And she seemed happy enough in his arms, so hopefully that would mean she didn't care where it happened, as long as they were together.

They kissed good night as they always did, once they were ready to sleep, but even though Zuko's body begged him to get rest, his mind was buzzing with activity. And his roommates weren't helping, either.

Aang had spent quite some time setting up the right accommodations for his igloo, as setting it all up was more difficult than merely placing the ice blocks as he had at first. With Kino's help, they had furnished the igloo completely within four months, but it was a lot less organized and traditional than the other igloos in town. Instead of having the soft cushions around the fire, their sleeping bags were the ones around it, since Kino had insisted that this was the best way to sleep. Their kitchenware wasn't great either, but hardly anyone had decent pots and pans in the South Pole. Most things were scattered in the igloo, without any specific places they belonged in.

Zuko had gotten used to the messiness, but he didn't really like it. He hoped he'd have a chance to live in a tidier igloo once he and Suki moved in together.

"It's our very last night with you, Prince Zuko" Kino sighed, as the three men moved to the fire.

"It's not like he's going far away, Kino, really" said Aang, chuckling.

"But our run as the foreign, handsome bachelors in the Water Tribe will be over!" Kino exclaimed.

"I think that was over for me as soon as I arrived" said Zuko, raising his eyebrows "I've been with Suki since before I got here, remember?"

"Oh. Right" said Kino, smiling awkwardly as Zuko gave Aang a meaningful stare.

"You can take care of the fire, right?" he asked. Aang gulped and nodded.

The Avatar focused as Zuko had taught him, and he took a deep breath before extending a hand towards the fireplace. Embers came alive, sparking over the bones that served as tinder, before the full flames came to life. Aang smiled broadly, and Zuko grinned back.

"Nicely done" he said. Aang chuckled.

"Thanks for everything, Zuko. Yeah, you're not going anywhere and I figure you'll keep teaching me, but still…"

"I probably ought to thank you, too" said Zuko, swallowing hard before smiling "To be honest, I… I can't remember having friends like you guys before. If I've been no good as a friend it's probably because I'm out of practice"

"You're not a bad friend!" Aang said, surprised, and Kino shook his head strongly.

"You are a legend, Prince Zuko!" Kino declared "We are fortunate to have you amongst us!"

"Uh, well…" said Aang, looking at Kino with uncertainty before smiling at Zuko "I wouldn't have put it that way, but he's still right"

"I… now, I don't think I deserve that much praise" said Zuko, with a weak grin "But thanks anyways"

"You'll have to tell us all about your wedding night, though!" Kino said, beaming. Zuko's relaxed mood soured quickly as he scowled at Kino "We deserve to know, as your friends… right?"

"You're not getting anything out of me about that" he said stubbornly, sinking in his sleeping bag as Aang chuckled. Kino sighed.

"No fair" he pouted.

"Come on, it's a special night" said Aang "He's supposed to keep those things to himself. Would you want to disclose your wedding night to everyone if you ever got married?"

"Well, I'd tell my friends about it if they asked…" Kino pouted, and Aang laughed.

"Good things your friends won't ask, then" said Zuko, smirking.

"Yeah, those sorts of details are better kept secret" said Aang, smiling. Kino sighed.

"Such party poopers" he said.

The three men rested on their sleeping bags, their eyes glued to the ceiling. They remained quiet for a while, and the only sound in the room was that of their breathing and the sparks in the fire. Eventually, Zuko sighed and shook his head.

"I can't sleep" he confessed. Aang laughed not far from him.

"You're looking forward to your wedding, is all" he said. Zuko smiled.

"I never thought this day would come. When things didn't work with me and Mai, I… I thought they'd never work with anyone. I didn't expect to find someone else, let alone to find Suki… or to end up marrying her in the Southern Water Tribe"

"Life is full of surprises" said Kino, nodding "And the Southern Water Tribe tends to hide many of them, too"

"Your life will change for the better, Zuko" said Aang, smiling.

"It already has" he said, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.

He didn't remember when was the last time he had felt this way, or if he ever had. He had struggled for so long, tried his hardest and often come short. But right now, his future was humble, but bright. He was going to live a life full of love, with a new family, a chance to be himself without fearing he wouldn't be good enough. A life with Suki. A life with peace.

He sighed as he relaxed in his sleeping bag. Yes, that was what this unfamiliar, but wonderful feeling was: he was at peace, for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

* * *

Zuko was awake a few hours later, by what the Water Tribespeople considered dawn while in the dark period. The only noticeable difference regarding the rest of the day was a mild glow in the horizon, that disappeared soon enough anyways. Zuko gazed about himself in Aang's igloo, smiling to himself as he remembered he'd be sleeping elsewhere tonight. He'd finally be with Suki the way they were supposed to be.

He left the igloo and found a group of men outside, by the waning central fireplace of the village. They were getting ready for a hunt, and Zuko breathed deeply: they were preparing for his hunt. He caught the eye of one of them, Kattan, who smiled and waved at him.

"Ready?" he asked. Zuko gulped before nodding.

"I just have to get my things" he said, smiling a little too "Should I wake up Kino for this, though?"

"Eh, if he's not up yet he probably should just stay here and work on things with the girls" Kattan sneered. Zuko chuckled and shrugged.

"As you wish"

The feeling of being an outsider would likely linger forever, he had no illusions of ever truly belonging here, but it wasn't too different from how he had felt in the Fire Nation a year earlier, or how he had felt while traveling during his banishment. He was used to the feeling of belonging nowhere, even if he didn't like it.

Yet of all places where he didn't belong, the Water Tribe was slowly but surely becoming the one where he felt at most ease in. He didn't enjoy having to hunt for food, and the hard, manual labor was a pain most the time, yet he had made friends, and the people were no longer as cold and aloof as they used to be. They were growing more welcoming, surprisingly so. Even those who had hated him when he arrived five months ago were a lot more amicable these days.

He returned to Aang's igloo and picked up the hunting gear he had been loaned by Hakoda some time ago. He guessed he'd have to make his own gear eventually, but the thought didn't daunt him so much. If he had made the igloo, he could make more things. He could sustain his family, he was sure of it.

Zuko joined the hunting party soon enough. It was a group of ten men, carrying lanterns and all the gear they'd need for today's hunt. The sooner they took off, the better: they wouldn't have all day to hunt, as the wedding would be happening as early as possible. So they wasted no time and started on their journey, searching for prey.

"So, how're your nerves?" Kattan asked Zuko, smiling at him. Zuko smiled too and shrugged, as the group hiked through the snowy plains.

"I'm eager, but… I'm not that nervous, actually" he said "It feels right. And I don't usually feel that way about a lot of things"

"Well, in all fairness, you're marrying someone stunning" said Kattan, chuckling "I'd be pretty pleased too, if I had a girl like that. Most of us can't sway anyone here…"

"If the others are anything like Katara, I can see why wooing them isn't easy" said Zuko "Still, if a guy like me could do it, I'm sure you'll find someone too"

"Oh, I hope so" said Kattan, sighing "The future of the tribe depends on that, after all!"

Zuko smiled warmly at him, and Kattan chuckled as they continued to stride behind the rest of the group. The Fire Nation prince swallowed hard before speaking again.

"I'm glad you're helping me" he said "All of you. I know it's a tradition, but still… I'm surprised I've been deemed worthy of the traditions at all"

"Hey, the Chief says you're worthy" said Kattan, raising his eyebrows "That's all we need"

"Really? You're just doing it because Hakoda asked?" Zuko said, tentatively. Kattan chuckled.

"No, I'm doing it because I want to, like the rest of them" he said "But Chief Hakoda said you'd get the full celebration, and thus we shall help you with it. If he'd said you'd have to get married the Fire Nation way, well, we'd just sit on the sidelines watching whatever traditions you have"

"Huh. That's what you meant…" said Zuko, with a weak smile "Well, thank you. It's great to have help with this"

"Hey, don't mention it" said Kattan, waving a gloved hand from side to side "Besides, you do need help, all the help you can get, and I'm not saying it to insult you: most our weddings happen during the light period because it's easier to hunt by then, and the ceremony can go on for longer, as the sun does help with keeping everyone warmer. But as we're in a tight schedule with you and Suki and the baby…"

"We had to do it this way, yeah" said Zuko, sighing "I hope I can compensate you all for your help one day"

"Hey, no worries. When I finally get a girl you can join my hunting party" Kattan said, beaming. Zuko chuckled.

"I'll agree to that, yeah" he said, nodding in his direction.

The temperatures were extremely low, and the lanterns they brought with them weren't very helpful for their hunt, since animals would escape from the light if they were to notice it. As it was, it seemed they would have to settle for fish, so once they reached a large enough expanse near the shore, the Water Tribe men readied themselves for fishing. But Zuko had never been one for fishing, lacking the patience and disliking the nagging feeling that he could be spending all that time doing something more important than just scooping up fish.

"Do you guys mind if I check whatever's nearby?" he asked the group. They frowned "I just want to try to find something other than just fish, maybe an animal's den or something…"

"You should stay with us" said the oldest of the group, Nanuk "It'll be safer"

"I won't go far" said Zuko "I just… really want to try my luck at finding something special. I'll be back before you guys know it"

The group seemed uncertain about it, but they shrugged and nodded eventually. Kattan clapped him in the back.

"Don't be long. If you find nothing within an hour or two, get back here quickly" he said.

"I will. Thanks" said Zuko, nodding and picking up a lantern.

He wandered the icy plain alone, making sure to stay within range of the hunter group. He couldn't find any prints, though, let alone any special trinkets that could serve as gifts for his bride. He sighed, wondering if Suki might accept wedding presents weeks after the ceremony: despite her assurance that he didn't need to do anything, he wanted to find something meaningful for her. There had to be something, anything…

A gust of wind forced him to turn around so he could brace himself against the cold blizzard, and when he lifted his gaze he spotted something strange. It was a large shape, but too geometric to be natural. Whatever it was, it seemed to be man-made. He frowned and approached it steadily, making sure not to step in any thin ice, and the closer he got, the more confused he grew. It could have been his imagination, he wouldn't have been surprised if it were, but… that shape looked a lot like a Fire Nation ship.

It wasn't his small boat, that was clear, even if it was stranded in the sort of shipwreck that could have only been caused by a waterbender, just like his own had been. But it was a Fire Nation warship for sure, frozen here since decades past.

Zuko frowned as he walked towards it, almost hypnotized by that call back to his past in the middle of his quest for the future. His fists clenched as he stood before the large structure, watching as whatever remained of the ship's flag drifted in the wind. If the rope that kept that flag in place had endured for so long, the ship might be full of dangers inside: Fire Nation people were very protective of their technological advancements, and if they were forced to leave behind this ship, they would have done it only by making sure that the Water Tribe would pay dearly if they ever tried to use it against them.

But knowing that there would be defensive mechanisms didn't deter Zuko. He knew what to expect, and he knew what these ships were like, firsthand. So, if he had been the captain of this ship, where would he have placed each trap?

With a small smile, the banished prince took a step towards the shipwreck.

* * *

The village was barely ever as boisterous as it was right now, and Suki couldn't help but notice it. She hadn't seen it like this before, not even during the light period, and as everyone fussed about all preparations for the wedding, she was told to stay inside Hakoda's igloo. It didn't stop her from watching from the door, or the window, whenever the urge would strike her.

She felt a hand on her shoulder soon enough, and she smiled up at Kanna, who had approached while holding a soft fur in her hands. Suki looked at her with surprise.

"You're supposed to wear this today" Kanna explained, smiling "It's the cloth that symbolizes your status as the bride"

"And I figure it's white because of purity and chastity?" Suki asked, with a sigh and a guilty smile. Kanna chuckled.

"You wouldn't be the first girl who marries a man over a pregnancy, dear" Kanna said. Suki raised an eyebrow.

"Did it happen before around here?"

"No, but in the Northern Water Tribe it happened once or twice" said Kanna, chuckling "It's much harder to have secret affairs in the Southern Water Tribe. Though you and your prince certainly have been sneaking around fairly easily…"

"A-ah… you noticed?" Suki asked, blushing a little. Kanna laughed.

"Everyone but my son did" she said. Suki smiled "But nobody is upset about it. It's wonderful that you two are so eager to spend time together. You should have a happy marriage if you enjoy each other's company so much"

"I sure hope so" said Suki, sighing "I really thought that he'd grow tired of me eventually. That one day he'd wake up and ask himself why on earth was he doing any of this, why work so hard just for a girl like me…"

"Oh, most men do ask themselves those questions" said Kanna "It's in their nature to question if a relationship is worthwhile or not, just as we do it"

"Right" said Suki, biting her lip.

"But in my experience?" said Kanna, moving to sit behind Suki so she could brush the girl's flowing red hair "You know when you're with the right person when you can answer every single one of those doubtful questions. When you know that you're going to lengths for someone just to see them smile, just to enjoy a peaceful life by their side… So Zuko must have answered all those questions for himself already. Do you think he would have finished that igloo if he hadn't?"

"I guess not" said Suki, with a shy smile "I suppose I still feel like… like I'm not that worthy of him. I've had a complicated life…"

"From the sound of it, so did he" said Kanna "Maybe that's why you suit each other"

Suki laughed and Kanna smiled behind her as she worked on Suki's hair. Those auburn locks were quite admired through the whole village, as it was the most unique hair color anyone had ever seen within the Tribe. Suki had noticed how many of the men watched her in awe, and she had also dealt with many women who wanted to touch and brush her hair, often fascinated by its softness. It was amusing, to say the least. But today, Kanna would arrange it into a traditional Water Tribe top knot, paired with small braids that would be attached to the knot in the same way Katara's hair loops were. As Suki's hair hadn't been cut in quite some time, Kanna had everything she needed to work neatly with it.

"I do have to say, I'm pleased I can finally help someone get ready for her wedding" said Kanna, sighing "Katara's suitor is taking so long with his courtship that I most likely will be dead when they finally wed each other…"

"Oh, don't say that" said Suki, with an uncertain smile "I'm sure Aang just needs a little more courage to do it, but he will, eventually"

"I certainly hope so" said Kanna, chuckling "I would love to meet a great-grandchild of mine…"

"You can think of mine as one, if you like" said Suki, smiling a little "We've been living as family for quite some time now. I know it's not the same as a child from either Katara or Sokka, but still…"

"Hmm…" said Kanna, finishing one of the braids "Well, that's very sweet of you, child. I'd love to spoil your offspring as all grandparents should. Though I do hope that, if Sokka ever does have a child, he'll try to send word about it…"

"I don't know if that would be possible" Suki admitted, with uncertainty "Not just that he might never have any, if he's really involved with the Princess, but I have no idea how he might be able to send word…"

"That Princess, then…?" said Kanna "Did she truly save you?"

"Yes" said Suki, without a hint of a doubt. Kanna smiled.

"Then I do hope you're wrong about your assessment" she said "From what you say, and what we know, Sokka might have changed her. It would be lovely if they could have a family, if they wanted one…"

"You don't despise her?" Suki asked, surprised "Most people here can't even tolerate hearing her name…"

"When you reach my age, dear, you realize that holding onto resentment only harms you in the end" said Kanna, sighing "I only want what's best for Sokka. And if he's found love… well, it's much better than for him to be a tormented slave, isn't it?"

"Of course" said Suki, with a small smile "Though he wasn't that tormented when I knew him. I guess he wasn't always cheerful, but the last times I saw him, he really seemed to be happy around her. She was very proud of him after he won in a very hard fight… in fact, I'd never seen her smile the way she did after he won. But it wasn't just because he'd achieved victory, though… she actually left the trophy with her friend and rushed to Sokka's side right away"

"That sounds sweet" Kanna admitted, smiling "I do hope they're happy together, then. And that they can stop by here one day for a proper Water Tribe wedding, too. I'd love to see one of my grandchildren married, and seeing as Katara isn't likely to do it…"

Suki laughed again as Kanna finished fixing her hair. While she couldn't have been more of a foreigner, Suki's hair suited the Water Tribe hairstyles fairly well, Kanna noted.

"You should let me brush it more often" she concluded, as Suki turned to hug her gratefully.

"Thanks for everything so far, Kanna" she said.

"I ought to be the one thanking you" said Kanna, chuckling "This village definitely needed all this new blood. You, Zuko, Aang and Kino… you've given new life to the Tribe, in ways you can't begin to fathom"

"I'm honored to know so" said Suki, smiling warmly at Kanna "The Tribe has felt like a family for us too. For all of us. It had been a while since I last had that feeling at all. I'm glad I could experience it again"

"And you will continue to, for now at least" said Kanna, smiling and taking Suki's hands in hers "And for now, we wait"

"We wait indeed" Suki said, nodding and glancing outside through a small window "I hope the hunt won't take much longer…"

"It surely won't. You'll be joined in marriage before you know it, dear" said Kanna.

Suki smiled as she heard footsteps entering the igloo. Katara ducked under the door and stopped to stare at her friend, taking in her new hairstyle and the ceremonial shawl already adorning her shoulders. Katara's lips curled into a gentle smile.

"You look beautiful" she said. Suki laughed somewhat coyly "The hunters aren't back yet, but it won't be long now…"

"Are we sure of that?" Suki asked, raising an eyebrow "With the conditions they took off in… have any weddings been postponed because the hunting party took too long?"

"Only once in a while" said Kanna.

"I've never seen it happen" Katara confessed "Though I haven't seen too many weddings either…"

"I'm sure Zuko will return before the day is out" said Kanna "And if not, the dark period is dark enough to make it seem as though the day isn't over yet, right?"

"Right" said Suki, smiling a little.

"Kino's moping all over the place" Katara commented. Suki laughed "He didn't wake up on time to join them, so…"

"I guess you're hiding from him in here?" Suki asked "Well, you're welcome to. Even if I'm not great company right now, with how impatient I am…"

"You should enjoy your last minutes of not being married to Zuko, really" said Katara, smirking. Suki snorted.

"You were being so nice to him lately…"

"Where's the point of only being nice?" Katara said, smiling "I can't let him think I've eased up on him completely, now, can I?"

"What harm would there be in that?" asked Suki, shaking her head but still grinning "Oh well. Some things simply won't change"

"But you will" said Katara, reaching out for Suki's hand "You'll get married, and you'll be a mother, too. I'll keep an eye on you every day to make sure the child is growing properly"

"Thank you" said Suki, smiling again "It won't be much longer before the baby is born, will it?"

"It shouldn't be" said Katara, looking at Suki's large belly. She reached out a hand and touched it gently "Have you decided on any names yet, by any chance?"

"I've thought of a few" Suki admitted "Mari, for a girl. Or, well, Kerra would be sweet for one, too…"

"Have you thought about boy names?" Katara asked. Suki laughed and shook her head.

"No, foolish of me not to" she admitted "But Zuko is completely convinced that it will be a girl, so for some reason his enthusiasm made me settle for girl names. But maybe we can name a boy after a family member, perhaps his un-…"

"They're back!"

Aang's voice startled them, and Suki's breath caught in her throat. Katara smiled as she looked at Aang in the doorway.

"Then everything's going according to plan?" Suki asked. Aang smiled and nodded.

"As soon as the cooking is underway, we'll get started!"

Suki smiled, feeling a rush of joy bursting inside her. It wouldn't be long now… and she could barely wait anymore. Zuko was outside, waiting to take her as his bride, and she couldn't have been happier to jump in his arms and pledge loyalty and love for him for the rest of her life.

The wait was a little less worrisome now, as the hunting party had returned, even though Suki had no news of Zuko. She hoped he was getting ready elsewhere, and she tried to stay calm even as she fetched the gift she had prepared for him, waiting patiently until Katara or Aang came looking for her again. The meals for the feast were already being cooked, and she could smell the roasting meat even from the igloo. Before she knew it, her heart was racing. It would be time soon, it would…

"You're going to be born into a legal family after all…" said Suki, stroking her own belly and smiling "We would have loved you all the same, but it's wonderful that you won't have to wait before going home. We'll be all settled when you arrive, ready for you…"

The baby was large enough to kick, or turn, and Suki felt it doing as much right now. It always responded to her voice when she was alone, as if it knew she was speaking directly to it. She thought that meant that the baby would turn out to be remarkably smart.

She was fidgeting and running through all the furniture and wares she had built over the course of these days, the pots and pans, the sleeping bags, everything they'd need for their new home, when Katara finally returned. Suki looked at her eagerly, and Katara smiled.

"It's time"

Suki's hand trembled as Katara helped her up. Together they left the igloo, with Suki's shawl properly wrapped around her shoulders. A group of women were waiting for her at the entrance of the igloo, and they beamed encouragingly while whispering words of luck. Together, the full group walked to the fireplace, where the men waited. Some were sitting around the fire, in a circle, watching as today's hunt was cooked thoroughly, others were standing and glancing over at Suki as she approached.

Hakoda stood at one end of the circle around the fireplace, with Aang and Kino near him. Beside them also stood Zuko, with his usually wild hair brushed and tamed. He wore a shawl much like Suki's, but with inverse colors. When he spotted her approaching, his face lit up, much like hers did.

"Ready?" Katara asked her, still guiding her, hand in hand. Suki smiled at her and nodded.

"Thank you" she mouthed, and Katara smiled brightly too as she stopped before her father, leaving Suki to stand in front of Zuko.

The light from the fire shed shadows over his face, but the lighting couldn't have disguised the tears pooling in Zuko's eyes. Suki laughed, looking at him in disbelief as her own eyes grew tearful as well.

"I can't believe this is happening" she said, and he chuckled too.

"You look beautiful" he said, but when he reached out a hand to caress her face, Katara slapped Zuko's hand away.

"Behave yourself, now. You can touch her all you want after the ceremony is done" she smirked. Zuko sighed and looked at her skeptically.

"Fine" he said. Suki laughed. The relationship between Zuko and Katara wouldn't cease being conflictive, although their problems were a lot lighter and sillier these days.

Hakoda cleared his throat, looking at the group carefully. Everyone was ready, covered with furs and parkas to fight off the chill in the dark period's air. The food would be done soon, so it was time to get started.

He pulled out an old whalebone knife, and held it out ceremoniously so the fire would reflect on it. Zuko and Suki stared at it intently.

"This blade has brought forth the union of men and women through many generations in the Southern Water Tribe" said Hakoda "Today it will witness a new union, one between two foreigners, who have built a home for themselves amongst us, through nothing but hard work and determination. With today's ceremony, they will not only be married, but they will be part of this tribe too, for as long as they wish to be among us"

Everyone else clapped, while Suki and Zuko gaped at Hakoda in surprise. They'd be part of the tribe, officially? They exchanged a glance, and a quick smile. Hakoda chuckled.

"Now, are you two ready? Will you take your vows and pledge love and loyalty to each other for the rest of your lives?"

"Well, this whole matter of being part of the tribe is a surprise" Zuko admitted, and Hakoda chuckled "But… a nice surprise, actually. Thank you"

"We'll gladly be part of your tribe" Suki seconded, and Hakoda beamed "And of course, I'll take Zuko as my husband"

"And I'll take Suki as my wife" Zuko said, smiling at her. She answered the sweetness in his eyes with a tender smile of her own.

"Then, as is my right as Chief, I will proceed to bind you together. Aang, you have the cloth?"

"It's right here" said Aang, nodding and holding it up. Hakoda nodded.

"Remove your right hand's gloves, if you would"

Suki and Zuko obeyed, the chill in the air reaching their hands quickly, but the warmth of the fire kept them from being too cold. Hakoda lifted the knife and approached Zuko first.

"With this mark, we symbolize that your life will forever be changed by this union" he said, carving a line over Zuko's palm carefully. The banished Prince flinched, but endured the pain before Hakoda moved to do the same to Suki "Love can bring pain, but the strongest of bonds will never be torn apart by this. You will become family, and your descendants will share your blood. As of today, with your hands bonded, you'll begin your journey as spouses until the spirits take you"

With that, he brought their hands together. The two cuts were painful, and they were pressed together as Aang bound their hands with the cloth he had been holding. Zuko and Suki endured the discomfort, though, looking at each other meaningfully as they waited to be told what was next. Hakoda placed a hand atop theirs once Aang was finished tying the cloth, and he smiled at them both.

"Now, it's time to make your vows" he said "Your promises for the future, where you shall pledge yourselves to each other as husbands and wives are meant to. Who wants to go first?"

"Uh, well…" said Zuko, gulping. Suki giggled and stepped up, though.

"I was born in a fishing village in Kyoshi Island" she said, as everyone fell into reverent silence as she spoke. She held Zuko's gaze as she did "And never in all those years did I dream of finding a prince and falling in love with him as we eloped into an unknown future together. Yet one day I bumped into someone in the Grand Royal Dome, not knowing who it might be… and it turned out to be the soulmate I never expected to find. It was the man who saved me from myself more times than he ever realized, who encouraged me to move forward when I was overwhelmed by darkness, who offered me kindness when I thought there was none left in the world. You were patient, you were respectful, and you proved to be the best man I've ever known. How was I supposed to help but fall in love with you?"

Zuko laughed softly, tears blinking in his eyes again, as they did in Suki's. She breathed deeply.

"I've found a life worth living for thanks to you, and I hope I can inspire you the same way you've inspired me. It won't be easy, but as long as we head into this challenge together, I know I have nothing to fear. You're my partner, and you always will be, and it's because you chose to be mine. I couldn't be luckier for it. So I promise to be yours, and yours only. I will love you and our family fully, no matter where we are, no matter what life has in store for us. We'll be together for good, and I'll do everything I can to make you happy for the rest of my life. You've chosen to be with me, so… I'll work to make sure you never come to regret that choice"

Zuko laughed again and shook his head, allowing himself to cup her cheek with his free hand.

"You don't need to work hard at all to know I won't regret it" he said, smiling gently "As for making me happy, you always have. In fact, you might be the first person with whom I experienced genuine happiness, but also, genuine peace. It had never happened with anyone before you. You knew me while I was hiding myself, ashamed of who I was, but after I finished that igloo for us and our child, I felt proud of who I've become because I'm a man who can live beside you, and who can support and encourage you as you deserve it. I feel worthier today than I ever have, even though I still think a woman as beautiful and remarkable as you could do a lot better…"

"Not true" she said, smiling. Zuko chuckled.

"You are so biased" he said "But it's also true that nobody has ever loved me the way you do. When everyone else would leave, or forget me, or move on, you're the only one who ever wanted to stay with me. The only one who chose an uncertain future with me over, well, any stability you could have found in the Fire Nation. And the fact that you'd choose me… I'm sure I'll never stop cherishing it. We'll raise our child together, and we'll live our lives with our family, for as long as we may live. I swear I'll always seek to be a better man for you, to be one who's worthy of your love. I will always do my best to respect you, to listen to you, and to help you see how wonderful you truly are whenever you fail to see it. I want you to be the happiest you've ever been, and I'm sure that, together, we'll create a future we'll be proud of. I love you, and I always will"

"I'll always love you too" said Suki, sniffing as the tears rolled down her cheeks now "Thank you for everything, Zuko…"

"I'm grateful to you too" he said, chuckling a little and moving closer to her, still stroking her cheek "Thanks for letting me love you, and loving me in return"

After they fell silent, Hakoda smiled and stepped closer to them, clearing his throat once more.

"Just so you know, you only need to kiss now to make it official" he winked. Zuko and Suki laughed.

She reached up to Zuko's neck with her left hand, and Zuko wrapped his left arm around her waist. When they joined together for this new kiss it felt like the entire world was changing, like every breath they had ever taken had brought them to this moment, like every spirit, like all of nature, was celebrating with them. They heard the cheers and clapping around them, but they were fully invested in each other, forsaking everything else for now as they shared their first kiss with one another as husband and wife.

The celebration afterwards was a blur of joy and song, of excitement and shared enthusiasm through every member of the tribe. The children played together, the men and women worked on the meals, and Zuko and Suki hugged their friends after Aang undid the cloth that had tied their hands together. Their palms were rather bloody after that, but Katara washed them and helped heal them, but only a little.

"You're supposed to bear those marks forever" she said, smiling as she bandaged Suki's hand while Aang took care of Zuko's "So we'll leave them to mostly heal on their own"

"It's a strange practice, cutting the hands…" said Kino, staring at them intently before beaming at Zuko "But you're married! You guys are finally married! How's married life treating you so far?"

"It hasn't even been ten minutes" said Zuko, laughing as Suki kissed his cheek.

"It's been wonderful so far, no matter how little time we've been married" she said, beaming.

The group took their seats at the fire, as Hakoda busied himself with supervising everything about the feast. It wasn't long before plates of food were passed along the crowd, reaching the newly married couple soon. But before they enjoyed them, Suki asked Katara to fetch something she had left in the igloo.

"Thank you" said Suki, once Katara had returned and turned over what Suki had asked for. Katara smiled.

"I suppose I'll give you some privacy now" she said, before turning to talk with Aang and Kino.

Zuko raised an eyebrow as Suki looked at him, clutching onto something that looked like brown clothes to Zuko. She didn't dawdle in offering them to him: they were gloves, not mittens, with individual fingers. Zuko's eyes widened.

"Suki?"

"They should be warm enough for you to fend off the awful cold, firebender" she said, smiling at him "I wanted to give these to you earlier, but Katara told me about the wedding gifts so I figured I'd give them to you now…"

"They're beautiful" Zuko stated, trying out the left one and jumping at the soft padding inside "And comfortable"

"And… remember when we needed fire resistant clothes for Sokka?" said Suki "Ty Lee bought me and Haru a few things too, and I brought mine with me when I came with you. It used to be a vest, but it didn't look like I'd make much use of it in the South Pole. So… that's what the outside layer is made of. You'll be able to firebend with them, I asked Aang to try them out and it worked. So, no more mittens on fire!"

"This is… so useful" Zuko said, his eyes wide "Suki, this is genius. It's perfect for this weather and… oh, you're amazing"

He leaned in and kissed her, and she laughed as she kissed him back. She had thought the gif was somewhat simple, but it seemed their lives had become simpler, in some ways. The Water Tribe was never overwhelming when it came to their traditions, and the traditional wedding gifts Katara had mentioned were much simpler than these gloves.

"Well, I hope you'll like what I got for you, but your gift is very hard to beat…" said Zuko, sighing. Suki raised her eyebrows.

"But you didn't have to…"

"Too late for that now, isn't it?" he said, smiling and standing up to find the present. Suki watched him go, surprised but intrigued by what he'd found. She had told him not to worry, that the igloo was enough… but apparently Zuko had disagreed with that.

He returned within a few moments, carrying something Suki had never seen before. The beautifully decorated box, made of what seemed to be cherry wood and adored with shells, was completely out of place in the frozen South Pole. Her eyes widened.

"How did you…? Zuko, where did you find something like this?" she asked, looking at him in awe. He allowed himself to chuckle.

"I may have stumbled upon some sort of Fire Nation shipwreck while we went out to hunt" he said "I found some animals in there, caught a few, brought them for the feast… but I also looked through the cabins to see if maybe I could find something for you. And after avoiding several booby traps, I did"

"It's… it's so beautiful" Suki said, looking at the box now and opening it, finding a black velvet interior, fit to hold anything for safekeeping "Oh, Zuko, it's so thoughtful…"

"You like keeping mementos, I'd seen them in your bags back when we were still at sea" he smiled "I thought… this way you can keep them safe somewhere, and you'll always know where to find them"

Suki smiled brightly and kissed him. Zuko laughed but kissed her back, his hand on the back of her head. Eyes drifted towards their passionate exchange, and giggles were heard over the circle of tribespeople: their love was moving, and everyone was happy to see them shining with joy as they were now.

"And to think that when I married you, Karok, you gave me a fishhook" a woman said, berating her husband. Everyone burst into laughter.

The evening was the warmest that either Zuko or Suki had ever experienced, no matter how cold the weather was. The food proved to be delicious, even without much seasoning: Zuko was getting used to the different taste of food, and tonight of all nights, the meals were better than ever for him. Jokes were told, advice was given to them, and not long after the meal was done, they were encouraged to dance despite their uncertainties.

The Water Tribe's dance was merely guided by the drums that some of the men were playing, and they were comprised by fast movements and quite a lot of jumping. Both Suki and Zuko were astounded by the fast pace at first, but soon enough they dared join in, albeit with a slower version of the Water Tribe dance, as Suki couldn't move easily with her large belly.

Once the children started to fall asleep, the few liquors they had were shared amongst the adults. It wasn't long after this that people started to take their leave, to rest in their huts and igloos. Zuko took that cue to mean that it was time to finish furnishing his igloo. With Aang and Kino's help, he moved everything he owned into their new home, and afterwards they three did the same with everything Suki owned and had built for the igloo. Katara sat with Suki, smiling at the sight of the Kyoshi-born girl with her reddened cheeks and bright grin.

"I'd never seen you so happy" Katara said, and Suki laughed.

"Would you believe me if I said this is probably the best day of my life?" she said. Katara smiled.

"I would. It was a great wedding" she said "And now you should go and, uh… consummate your marriage again?"

Suki laughed, and Katara joined her with her own laughs, just before Zuko, Kino and Aang returned.

"We can go to the igloo now" Zuko announced, proudly "Are you ready?"

"Of course" said Suki, beaming and standing up with some difficulty. When she made to remove her shawl, Katara shook her head.

"Oh, no, that's yours for the night, and so is Zuko's" she said, smiling "You're only supposed to remove them once you're, uh… exercising your marital rights"

Zuko blushed at the comment while Aang and Kino laughed. Suki gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Well then, no time like the present" she said, taking Zuko's bandaged hand in hers. He smiled.

"It's nothing we haven't done before anyways" he chuckled, before nodding at his friends "We'll see you guys tomorrow, I imagine"

"Or later, if Suki can't get enough of you" said Kino, chuckling. Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Right" he said, with a small smile anyways.

"Thanks for everything, guys" said Suki, smiling at Aang and Kino, and turning to Katara "We're very lucky to have friends like you"

"And we're very happy to have friends like you" said Aang, bowing his head towards them "Sifu Hotman, Suki, have a great wedding night!"

"It's been better than great so far" said Suki, smiling at Zuko and leading him to their new home.

The small space in the igloo was dark until Zuko lit up the lanterns inside the house. Suki gazed about it in wonder, though she still thought that she'd have to rearrange many things that Zuko, Aang and Kino had simply brought in and left near the empty fireplace. She smiled, though, noticing one small room to the left, and a larger one to the right.

Zuko's arms wrapped around her from behind, his hands resting on her womb. Suki smiled.

"It's lovely" she said, shaking her head "It's truly lovely. You did a wonderful job with this"

"You did a wonderful job with everything you made for us, too" he said, kissing her cheek "It wouldn't be a home if we hadn't worked for it together"

Suki turned in his arms and kissed him fully. Zuko smiled as she did, before leading her to their bedroom. A large sleeping bag had been laid there, big enough for them both: Suki had stitched it together while Zuko worked on the igloo.

"Let's see if it keeps us warm at all" Suki said, smiling as Zuko sat on the sleeping bag. He grinned at her too.

"I'm sure it will, but… we can always find warmth in different ways" he said. She smirked.

"Huh. Are you being suave, or are you simply saying you could build us a fire?" she asked. He laughed.

"Well, I could build one, but… we should make something other than a fire tonight, shouldn't we?"

Suki smiled and nodded, before kneeling beside Zuko and kissing him deeply again. It was the first night of the rest of their lives, after all: they had to make the most of it, especially while their child wasn't born yet. Having a baby around would likely keep them from enjoying each other fully.

So as the stars lit the sky brightly, and lights shone in the sky, their two souls merged together in fulfillment of all their earlier promises. Everything was peaceful, and everything felt right in the world, if just for that moment.

* * *

The sun's glow on the Pole was a welcome break a month after Zuko and Suki's wedding. Everything seemed to come to life again, despite the light period was only beginning, but being able to walk through the village without carrying a lit lantern was a relief for many, especially when they were fully loaded up with fishing gear, as Kino was.

"Oh, guys, wait up…" he complained, as he followed Aang and Katara on their way outside the tribe's walls "Can't you slow down?"

"You should hurry up instead" Katara said "The sunlight won't last forever. We ought to be back before the sun is gone again, Kino"

"Okay, okay, but let me catch up at least" he sighed, rushing after them through the tall doors.

"We just had to go fishing…" Aang sighed. Katara looked at him sympathetically.

"I'm sure we'll find seaweed for you too" she said. He smiled weakly.

"Let's hope"

Everyone in the village was used to watching the three of them going everywhere together, and today was no exception. People merely greeted them and wished them luck on their way outside, and children asked them to bring a big haul of fish for everyone, too. Life in the Water Tribe village was growing more active again, at least for around three hours every day, which was all the sunlight they would get.

And while the heat wasn't quite overwhelming, the sight of the sun cheered Zuko up immensely. He was having the best month of his life so far, as he lived with his wife in the house he had built for them, and the sun's return only improved his outlook on life.

"You're gonna keep looking at the sun or are you here to choose a pup?"

Zuko jumped as Nanuk smirked at him. The banished Prince smiled somewhat apologetically.

"Sorry, I keep getting distracted… anyways, do you really just give these away?"

"Sure, everyone could use a canine partner" said Nanuk, smiling and gesturing at his litter of wolf-dog cubs.

Nanuk was a man of nature, always part of every hunting party, and whenever he wasn't hunting, he was the village's appointed breeder of wolf-dogs. He had a fair number of adult wolf-dogs, and recently one of the females had cubs. Hakoda had recommended Zuko to adopt one of the cubs, for they were fierce partners and loyal companions, suitable for any man in the South Pole.

"Which one do you recommend?" Zuko asked. Nanuk smiled.

"There's one back there that's all grumpy. Could suit you, I keep calling him Gruff" he said. Zuko grimaced "See, that's why"

"Heh… fine, fine. When will it be safe to take it home with me?"

"In about a month or two. They're still growing up, as you can see…"

Zuko glanced inside the igloo, watching as the small dogs kept chasing after their mother, bumping into each other in the process. Some were prone to distraction, intrigued by whatever adornment in the wall that might stir their curiosity.

"I'll be training them, so you won't have to work that hard with the one you take" said Nanuk "Besides, you're going to have your hands full with a baby and… Suki"

"Uh, maybe the baby will be trouble, but my wife is a hard worker and I'm sure she won't be a problem…" Zuko said, frowning defensively, but Nanuk pointed at something over Zuko's shoulder.

"Nice as that may be, your hard-working wife is walking barefooted in the snow, Zuko"

The sentence he uttered struck Zuko as completely nonsensical, until he turned on his heels and discovered that, indeed, Suki was right outside their igloo, stepping carefully on the snow without wearing anything on her feet.

All matters of adopting dogs vanished from Zuko's head as he ran towards his wife. Surprisingly, she was smiling placidly while standing where she was, but he certainly wasn't.

"Suki?!" he exclaimed, startling her.

"Uh… what?" she said, shrugging, as he looked at her in disbelief.

"You can't just…! You can't step outside barefooted, you'll get sick!"

"But my feet hurt, Zuko, they're so swollen" she complained, grimacing "And the igloo is so hot even when I put out the fire, and…"

"You have to go back inside. No takebacks" Zuko determined, frowning "Either you go yourself or I can carry you, your choice"

"Come on, do you really have to be so…?" she asked, but he forced her to turn on her heels and head inside "Ugh, Zuko…"

"Stop putting yourself in danger, we can cool your feet down in some other way!" he exclaimed, leading her inside the igloo with determination.

Where the igloo had been orderly when Zuko had left, now there was chaos. He grimaced as he spotted many ornaments on the floor, along with kitchenware and even food. He looked at Suki with uncertainty as she grimaced.

"I couldn't pick up anything with this belly" she said, pointing at it.

Zuko sighed, reaching to caress her womb. It was massive, too big for the girl that was carrying it, it seemed. He wondered if it could possibly grow any larger, though it seemed scientifically impossible, but who knew?

Her pregnancy had been rather complicated because of external factors before, but by now her movements were heavily restricted because a nine-month pregnant belly demanded that it would be so. She was often complaining about the swelling of her feet and ankles, and her back hurt horribly too. She needed help when sitting down, and thus, Zuko offered her his hands so she could take her seat by the empty fireplace.

"Give me a moment, okay?" Zuko said, picking up one of the fallen cups and stepping outside briefly. Suki sighed, but smiled when he returned with some snow in the cup "There, you can press this to the swelling and it'll be a little less risky, don't you think?"

"You're so clever" she said, sighing and grabbing a cloth that she handed to him. He wrapped the snow inside the cloth and pressed it to her swelling feet. Suki sighed in bliss "Yeah, that's what I needed"

"You're welcome" he said, pleased as ever over having helped his wife. Suki smiled "So, how are you feeling now?"

"Uh… you want the truth?" she asked "Horny"

He had to do a double take upon hearing that, and she giggled about it as she watched his cheeks flush.

"Yeah, uh, I didn't expect you to say that" he said, with a small smile too "But it was a good joke, yes…"

"Joke? Your reaction was funny, dear, but it was no joke" she said "Come on, I'll lie down on my side, you know what to do…"

"Weren't you complaining about how hot it is in here?" he asked "Don't you think having sex will just… make things hotter?"

"For a good reason" said Suki, smiling lazily. Zuko snorted "Come on, Zuko…"

"Well, when have I been known to refuse your requests?" he said, moving closer to her "Say, maybe I can just start by pleasing you, and you only…?"

"What do you have in mind?" she asked, as his hand glided over her belly and moved to her private area. Zuko smiled a little.

"Just wanted to have some fun. Let me know if it's no good" he said, and his fingers started to work.

Suki closed her eyes and relaxed, enjoying the sensations, and Zuko smiled brighter, knowing he was pleasing her. Nothing made him happier than watching her reactions to his touch… though nothing alarmed him faster than watching her face clench in pain just as he was touching her.

"Uh, Suki?" he said, as she reached down to her womb "Are you okay? Wait, you're…"

"I'm fine, it's just… baby stuff, you could keep going, it's already gone and I'm feeling better…" she said, but Zuko's hand pulled away brusquely before she could register why "Oh, come on, Zuko…"

"You're soaked"

"Well, yeah, that's what I meant when I said I was…"

"No, Suki!" Zuko exclaimed, blushing anyways "I know what it's like when you're excited, what happened to you just now is… different"

"Different?" Suki asked, frowning.

That was when she noticed it. Something was unpleasantly wet, something she didn't like one bit. When she sat up she felt it gushing down faster, and the strange feeling didn't recede. She cringed and grimaced, but she knew what it meant even though Zuko clearly didn't. The panic in his eyes betrayed as much.

"Suki…?" he asked, as she grimaced at him.

"Zuko…" she muttered, biting her lip "I think my water just broke"


End file.
